ramblings and thoughts
i’m currently out in anaheim, california for the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) trade show. my main purpose for being out here is to talk with a bunch of music companies and artists, and playing great guitars.
so far it’s been a fun time. almost any company having to do with music is here, including all manufacturers and distributors.
i bought sigur ros’ dvd release, “heima” today at borders. i watched through disc 1 twice, and disc 2 once. as a whole, the set is a very solid 8.7/10 for me.
packaging is beautifully minimalist (in the typical sigur ros style), and a small booklet of pinhole photographs was included, which i was not previously aware of.
the set has made me appreciate the lyrical value behind sigur ros’ music more than ever before, and the simple beauty of song that has been born out of the simple beauty of iceland.
When Radiohead first announced the rapidly approaching release of their newest album, entitled “In Rainbows”, Jerome ordered the discbox set immediately (this was in October), and we both swore not to listen to anything from the album until the discbox arrived and we could sit down and listen to the vinyl on the hi-fi system at my place.
Finally, the package arrived on Christmas Eve, and just this afternoon, me, Tyler, and Jerome sat down to have a listen. The discbox is packaged beautifully. 2 LP’s, dual CD set, lyric booklet, large booklet of previously considered cover art images, and a great cardboard sleeve.
After we brewed a couple pots of imported English tea, we sat down and listened to the album straight through, on vinyl.
Needless to say, I am amazed by the material that Radiohead has put out this time, as well as the lovely recording and engineering of the entire album. The opening track, “15 Step”, set the bar for the rest of the album in my opinion. With it’s amazing beat and various loops, it really brings out the experimental side of Radiohead.
“In Rainbows”, really makes use of wonderful ambient synths, strings, and guitars. A lot of the background instrumentals reminded me of Sigur Ros. In fact, Thom Yorke really sounds like Jónsi on this album, with his wonderfully smooth falsetto and reverb on his vocals.
Overall, I feel that this is my second favorite Radiohead release, right behind Kid A, and I believe that it is also the most listener friendly besides The Bends. Almost anyone could listen to this album and enjoy it on some level.
Standout tracks for me were: 15 Step, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, All I Need, Jigsaw Falling Into Place, and Videotape.
here’s a quickly thrown together video of our performance of “Rebellion (Lies”
of the four classes that i’ve taken this semester, i’ve already completed the finals for 3 of them. i’ve got one more (chemistry) tomorrow, and then i’m out for christmas break. feels good.
me and the guys played at the school talent show a couple of nights ago (dec. 15), and it was amazing.
we only were able to perform two numbers, so we played rebellion (lies) and wake up, both by Arcade Fire. the crowd loved it! we’ve decided to band together and play some more gigs in the near future.
the group: nick danforth, evan danforth, graeme danforth, tyler frees, joel frees, jeremiah moon, jon muren
welcome to my new blog. this time around, i’ll be blogging random thoughts, and rambling about music, life, maybe tech, etc.
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nick:danforth 