die Bücher

the books

I went with a few dear school friends to see them the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful & horrible time for a concert in that we are currently up to our ears and beyond in work to be done for finals & yet so stressed that an inspiring reprieve like this was much much much needed.

The set was short with no openers, which was lovely but the brevity was a little sad. I believe, in part it was because they were playing two shows that night in a row, the next being a 21+.

I sat practically riveted at the edge of that swanky bench seat in that fancy booth (which we got for being overcharged due to internet problems) the entire time, not wanting it to end. The thing about this performance was that it was not so much inventive in the way the music was presented (though it was, ha), their more constant musical parts being performed live over mp3s of the pieces that could not so easily be reproduced live. But behind their heads was a projection of all of these strange, beautiful, random, intriguing, and at times disturbing film clips, all of which were timed to the music, adding visual crescendos, staccatos, and accents. It was entrancing and I had a particularly difficult time choosing which to watch. The nimble & uncannily smooth fingers of Nick Zammuto (left above) or the subtly expressive movements & bowings of cellist, Paul de Jong (right). He had an electric cello, oh man. And because Nick was blocked by someone’s head unless I craned to the left into my sister’s view, I sat watching Paul, wishing so badly that I had my cello as well. It was the inspiration I needed and though I haven’t the time to venture into that realm of my creativity at the moment, I certainly have ideas that will be implemented.

Whether you’re into innovations in music & sampling or not, I encourage you to give this group a listen. In my mind, they defy any sort of profile I would’ve given them unconsciously by just listening to them. I love that about them. I won’t say to much about their style, so just listen & I’ll recommend a few tunes:

Tokyo
It Never Changes to Stop
Take Time
An Owl with Knees
That Right Ain’t Shit

You can hear them all, albeit low quality here | the books

I do hope that by having read this you will remember & jump at the opportunity to see them should it arise.

p.s. I love books.

10.16.2009 [ seattle.wa.us.earth.solarsystem ]

[ these are the two best shots I got, impressive for film, the amount of light & lack of a tripod ]

Grizzly Bear—as promised though quite late.

The show began with the Morning Benders. I was pleasantly surprised, expecting little and they were so very young. From California, this group got a positively smashing Seattle welcome with a practically monsoon scale downpour. Anyway I think they enjoyed themselves. Interested to see where these ones go.
At one point, frontman Christopher lost his glasses.

I must mention because I am a nerd, that at one point I noticed a few bears, Daniel Rossen & Chris Bear in particular strolling the isle next to me during the opener. Of course I also couldn’t help noticing the fact that Daniel was standing for a few minutes behind my seat waiting for Robin Pecknold at the back door.

After the wrap, the set began with Southern Point from GB’s newest album Veckatimest which, in my observations has been very well received. I cannot list song for song their set nor would it benefit you in any great way but I remember being pleasantly surprised by a few tunes I hadn’t heard from Yellow House. They’ve grown to be two of my favorites: On a Neck, On a Spit and Lullabye. Oh man, I could’ve watched Mr. Taylor (also band producer) work his magic with that loop pedal for eternity. Were all of his instruments to have been kept in a bag, I imagine it would’ve been akin to that of Mary Poppins. He managed to pick up one wind after another brass after another reed instrument, working them all beautifully in to a richly layered mélange of twinkling sound, especially on Lullabye.

The point in the night where my excitement and happiness levels peaked was when I recognized that blissful strum pattern so unique to Daniel’s sea shanty Deep Blue Sea and when it was then dedicated to Seattle. It is a beautiful song, demystified a bit by Rossen:

I had a weird phase of being into sea shanty songs. In some way, it has a little bit to do with my father, because he talked a lot about how he really wanted to go to sea at the end of his life, and he could never go because he couldn’t get up. That was why I did “Deep Blue Sea” originally; I did it for him to hear.

Listen to [ it ].

[ This ] is good too.

The set was brilliant, I was mainly fascinated by their supernatural ability to produce their songs on stage with the same quality and life—if not more—presented in their recordings. Live performance is a strange, challenging and yet important beast. I’m tempted to swear by the modus operandi that you should never record anything that can’t be reproduced live but guiltily I think, where’s the fun in that? I suppose achieving it makes you a more worthy recipient of the praise for good musicianship and brilliance.

I have just realized that I did not describe the lighting. There were several stands, T structured poles with glass jars hanging
from them at various heights at the back of the stage. These jars had bulbs of some sort in them, programmed to light up in time and different patterns for each song. There were some placed in a line out front of the stage, also programmed. Various other cool looking lights would flash around the stage as well. Oh also, smoke machine. Fantastic. And changing colors. Sounds a bit epic and showy, but it was completely appropriate.

If you have not had much exposure to this group and/or are considering getting the newest album please (one) do it and (two) do not illegally download it for the risk of getting a lo-fi leak. You most certainly want the high quality version in this case. I think you should buy it anyways, it is well worth it.

Cheers,

Depending on the weather

[ Saw these cats or bears, if you will on Friday. ]
As I’m exhausted and quite busy, I may or may not eventually get around to posting on that performance (most likely will). Just know my mind was boggled and if I die today, I will die happy. They played Deep Blue Sea,
dedicating it to Seattle.
Yes, yes they did.

Speaking of weather, the rain was positively torrential and absolutely beautiful that night. Classic Seattle.

P.S.
We’ll see how my film came out.
Ha, of course I don’t hold much hope,
but I could not have lived with the
disappointment of no
attempt at all.

i love my school

MUSIC EXPRESS
Art Director & Producer: Todd DeJarlais
Assistant Producer: Emily Goodnight
Camera Operators: Laurie Clark & Royce Thompson
Key Lighting: J.J. Cariaso
Lighting Team: Noel Pogue, Anna Inger, Monique Chung
Video Director: Brian Holliday
Video Team: Holly Bunham, Honna Kimmerer, Anne Dixon
Digital Tech: Matthew Malcham
Continuity: Emily Brewer
Casting Director: Danika Bell
Specialty Casting: Fabio Governato, Brynn Eden
Model Wranglers: Nicole Munoz, Kara Wallace, Nisha Schneider
Props & Wardrobe: Sunny Facer, Jessica Urdaz-White, Luna Aguila
Key Grip: Liz Teasley
Grips & Site Survey: Matt Mayne, Matt Casey
Set Security: Noah Arvan
Craft Services: CC Yagucci
Production Stills: Jeremy Lange & Emily Mayfield
Lighting Provided By: Broncolor
Cameras and Lenses By: Canon
Sponsors: Ivars Restaurants, Seattle Center, Fun Forest, Sinar-Bron
Special Thanks: Tomas & Robbie: our amazing instructors, Erik Skarr, Robin & Co Scaffolding, Stella, Beth and Fun Forest Staff, Seattle Center Staff & Security, Ken at Broncolor, Ralph at Glaziers Camera, Mike Gurley at Canon, Honna’s Dad, Todd’s Dad and all of our fabulous models.
C) 2009 SCCC Photography Program

…

I spot my classmates: Ana & Wyatt.
Travis, Selena, & Andrew, I know you’re there somewhere.

The Old Experiment

So they are far from perfect, but I had no clue how this old camera was going to work. Now I know. I need a tripod. Kodak Duaflex thanks to Dana, B&H for the film.
I have one more roll of 620 color film and a roll of B&W.
Unedited (except for the last – I couldn’t lie to you).

Cover and Spot

Our first year classes are engaging in a little friendly competition to design the cover of the Weekly Volcano – a younger, less developed version of Seattle’s Stranger – and a spot illustration for a fall issue. Here is my cover:

And spot:

-CES

[ 4/21 . 8 pm . 1325 E Madison St . Seattle WA ]

Chloe, Simone, Ross, and I had the immense pleasure of seeing Noah and the Whale Tuesday evening on Capitol Hill. The space was fairly intimate (square-footage wise) and a third of the room was the bar area, which I swear was packed with at least 50% of the crowd. Like sardines they were and that place was toasty by night’s end. Poor fellows, all for the sake of a brewski and some good music. In any case, I came away only with sore feet from straining over the crowd. I swear I felt four feet tall. And I’m not.

Opening for the London based band was one-woman-show Anni Rossi, and Ferraby Lionheart. It wouldn’t be fair to leave you in the dark about these musicians who were fantastic in their own respects.

Anni Rossi blew my mind with the first plucks on her viola and then again with her fantastic voice. I was quite honestly jealous of her uncanny ability to play, sing (quite elaborately and in perfect pitch) simultaneously, something I have not yet successfully accomplished. I greatly enjoyed her song Machine. Visit her blog, or listen here.

Ferraby Lionheart. While in awe of his name, I was more impressed by his voice which possessed a unique textured quality, perhaps that doesn’t make sense when describing a voice but this is how my brain makes sense of it. Spinning lovely lyrics is another of his talents. Please listen here.

[ Check them both out on iTunes. ]

oah and the Whale were entertaining, inspiring, and quite like-ably human to say the least. No one likes to be labeled inhuman but it’s an easy status to earn when nervous spells and cotton mouth are your speciality during a performance. In any case, these young men were lively, spontaneous and quite good at what they do. I find that stage presence tips the balance of the best and worst performances, not to mention audience perceptions thereafter. It’s a terrifying notion for any musician beginning their career but someone wise would suggest an extremely difficult yet imperative concept;

be yourself.

Relevant or irrelevant tangents aside, Noah and the Whale’s performance was in no way a bad one. In fact, this particular show afforded them the opportunity to shine when an electrical problem lasting perhaps a good two or three minutes stripped them of vocals and violin. Quaintly smiling, cracking jokes, requesting that the audience keep their panicking to a minimum, and striking up a jam session were the order of those minutes. Who doesn’t love that?

They played well loved tunes from their old album and several from a new album recently finished, of which I do not know the title but is scheduled for release around August. Upon discussing this topic, bassist and vocalist “Urby” Owens stated rather wryly that “the industry likes to twiddle their thumbs on this matter, maybe smoke a few cigarettes, get together with old music chums from the 60s and then perhaps they’ll get around to it.” August then. In any case, it will be worth the wait. A bit more electronically focused than Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down, I’ve heard but with no scrimping of the violin’s authenticity.

I’ve led myself into a nice segue. At the end of the evening I had the opportunity to grab a word with violinist Tom Hobden, by the elbow, actually. Being a cellist myself I was naturally curious about his experience. Lacking, he most certainly was not. Sixteen years I was told. Classically trained but clearly putting some nicely developing improvisational skills to work. If you like the fiddle in the folk rock genre or just in general, you’ll like Hobden.

They’re all charming fellows with a deep connection to their music, something that shines through their skill, presence, quirks and bloody winsome accents. See them if you can. I believe they’ve got six more performances in the US before heading to The Great Escape Festival in Brighton.

{ t h e  w e b s i t e }

Thanks for the read,
Yours Truly,

How You Facebook: Remix!

Your profile pictures are constantly changing, and so are mine, so what better reason for a follow-up? Besides, it was a hoot last time. R-r-r-remix!

Thanks to James, Frances, Aaron, Annie, Megan, Torbjorn, Naomi, Sarah, Robin, Shayne and Carson.

Erin Kendig

As with Ian, I met Erin Kendig in September. She is very intelligent, knows exactly how to ask the right questions, and uses words like viscus. Yet she is refreshingly quirky. Her art is stylized and tightly focused – her mark as an artist is clear in each piece.

“Hello,” she says on the front page of her website, “I like making things. Thank you for looking at them.”

See the rest of her work at littleredgirl.com and flickr.com.

New Masters of Poster Design

This book is huge.

It’s packed with dozens and dozens of incredible posters, each profiled under an individual or a studio. You’ll see work from Little Friends of Printmaking, Patent Pending Design, Cyan, Fang Chen, Studio Boot, Thinkmule, and Modern Dog (Seattle representing), all packed in a lovely book where even the cover unfolds into a poster.

Here’s what the author has to say:

“The loss of a medium that served as a perfect canvas for creativity simply could not be tolerated. A determined group of designers once again turned to the poster for personal work and as an outlet from more restrictive media; their goal was to prove the poster is still a powerful tool in communicating their clients’ messages. The resulting groundbreaking has brought the medium back to prominence.”

Trust me, you will love it.