It's a Cover

 

Baby by Warpaint 

Directed by Popping Yolk

A Day for Film and Music

Today has been a day of visiting the distant to relatively recent past. It has been a day of sitting, watching, listening and connecting. I caught up with an old friend today and we watched Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive, as he was kind enough to watch it for the third time on my behalf. Luckily to his advantage it was pretty amazing, which is probably why he agreed to watch it so many times. This film comes with an equally amazing soundtrack, scored mainly by Cliff Martinez with additional tracks by chillwave electronic artists like Kavinsky, College, and Desire. From the 90's style typography of the credits to the 80's style dream pop, I was pushed into the past (not too far though with the cars being a reference to present day). I fell in love with the music immediately and the film soon after. The trailer was definitely misleading, and I honestly didn't have very high expectations going in to it. I went in thinking I was going to experience a series of cliched action film montages so I was definitely thrown off guard with the eerily subtle dialogue and the dreamy yet somehow realistic chase/murder scenes. Slow motion sequences, usually deemed a bit tacky in my opinion, was actually done quite tastefully and worked wonders with the music. Most films that I've seen with one murder scene following another leave me numb to the idea of death, where by the end I'm not even flinching at a gunshot to the head. But unlike these, Drive left me horrified by each death and kept me guessing right up to the very end. Alright so, there are probably a lot of people who could have predicted that ending, but I like to think that I consciously choose not to guess for the sake of enjoying the film the way it was made to be. Here's one of the main tracks from the flick.


I wasn't given much time to digest all of this after it was over, however, because I needed to rush to meet my parents to see the Colorado Symphony Orchestra perform Beethoven's Symphony Number 7, quite the contrast from the former. I thought about all the times they've taken my brother and me to see the Los Angeles Philharmonic perform at the Hollywood Bowl, back when he was still and angsty teenager and I, still a naive child. Of course I didn't appreciate it then, and at every child that crossed my path as we walked in, I wondered how many of them were dragged along against their will, and which ones would come back 10 years later to actually appreciate it. Of course there weren't many children, given the majority of the audience were Denver's white-elite, and well over their 40s. I couldn't help but compare this experience with other concerts I've been to this month. I wondered if any of these people knew what it was like to drink a beer out of a plastic cup, stand in a grimey venue and aggressively nod heads to rock music while screaming, spilling beers and bumping into one another. It was refreshing to see younger groups of people, even though there weren't many, and I almost had the urge to give them a nod as I walked by them as if we had some kind of connection/understanding. A small part of me worries that there isn't a big enough younger generation attending the orchestra to carry on an audience to classical music when the older generation fades. I'll admit, I dozed off a bit during the first Violin Concerto (the opening act), by some postmodern composer by the name of Glass. But when they started Beethoven's 7th, the nostalgia tied to this piece came rushing through me. I remembered hearing this on road trips with my family, or sitting in the living room of our house in California, on a Sunday, having a reading session with my dad as he read the paper and I read Nancy Drew. I melted with his second movement. This holds a special place in my heart more than I believe anyone could understand. This youtube video doesn't nearly do it justice in all of its majesty...

Lomo

Well, it's been about a month now since I've been back in the states, and I've been keeping busy to say the least. It feels weird to be busy, when I'm not even currently working, but it's kind of nice to know that there's always something to keep me occupied. Never a dull moment. Constantly spending money with nothing coming in, and being a witness to my diminishing savings account, however, is pretty depressing. Going back to Vail and back to work is going to be a nice change but a teeny tiny part of me is dreading it (just the work part). I've recently picked up (yet another) hobby, as if I don't have enough hobbies already. Lomography! I'd like to personally place blame on my friend Josh aka Popping Yolk who gifted me my Fisheye Lomo, and I find myself getting more emotionally involved with this toy of a camera with every roll.

Meet Josh. He's a whore... for cameras.

My recent obsession has been Colorado Skies. They're absolutely beautiful damn near every single day. Sometime throughout any given day, you can find me blasting music as I cruise control at 85 MPH down E-470, sticking my camera out the window as I grab onto it for dear life, trying to capture what's in the sky that day.

Jam sesh, pizza and beers downtown

 

A beautiful room with daytime stars.

 

Denver Love

Soo I've been back in Denver for two days now, and I've probably had the best time crammed in the last 48 hours than in the last 5 months spent in Seoul. Not to say that visiting (turned to living in) the motherland wasn't an unforgettable learning experience, but damn, considering I LOVE Denver, and didn't think it'd be possible to love it more, learning that my feelings for this city run deeper than I could have ever imagined is pretty amazing. That being said, I was also quick to realize that having a relationship with your home city is a lot like a relationship between parent and child. You love it more than anything, but know that eventually you have to let it go, and allow it to grow on its own with out you. Sure, I'm back doing the same thing I was last year, but knowing that I'll be leaving Colorado at the end of the season this time around gives me a rather bittersweet feelings towards the short amount of time that I'll be staying here. Currently making effortless efforts to make the most of my time here. It's turning out to be pretty darn easy. Here's some shots from The Ogden in Downtown Denver. Impromptu Concert makes amazing night with amazing friends.

Broken Social Scene & T.V on the Radio

Popping Yolk

Today, September 15, 2011 marks the day my good friend takes his first blinking step (publicly) into the world of photo editing. Please make sure to stop by and acknowledge his glorious day.

Such pretty colors. ;) Seriously though, check out his blog. He's got some good shit goin. And more to come.

Thankful for Daytrotter

As many of you may already know, yesterday was Chu-Seok aka Korean Thanksgiving, so my parents have flown in from the states for this and for a wedding (not mine!) It's 12am and I have just hit day 3 of sharing a room with them. Currently, I am attempting to drown out the sound of my parents obnoxiously harmonized snoring while listening to a couple of (free!) RYAT tracks recorded at the Daytrotter studio, a marvelous site I discovered just two days ago. It was two nights prior, and I was in a similar position, laying on the ground (where I now sleep ever since the parental invasion) surfin blogs, listening to some tunes, when I came across the miracle of Daytrotter. Apparently they've been around for about 5 years now, so it's freakin beyond me how I haven't heard of their marvelous production till now, but hey, better late then never right? Anywho, these guys have a recording studio in Rock Island, Ill where pretty much all of my favorite artists (and then some) have stopped by mid-tours to record original songs and live tracks for our listening pleasure. How neat is that? and Daytrotter ever so conveniently puts it on their page along with a genuine description/review and original artwork for each artist, for ours to take and for us to read. Simply mind blowing. I was honestly, so impressed, I had to blog about it! So since two days ago, I've been able to download/enjoy some new tracks from a bunch of my favorite artists like The Books, Local Natives, The Dandy Warhols..watch some beautiful video sessions like that of the great Iron&Wine and come across a ton of new artists I had never heard of. Serious eye and ear candy. If any of you guys are lookin for some fresh tracks by some wonderful indie artists, or are simply looking for something new, this is it. It's not for everyone I guess, but DEFINITELY for me. love love loving it.

I found a great video about them, showing us the efforts of their work.



<3&Enjoy

Seoul Snaps

Some of the highlights during my time here :) Nephew, Sketchbook, Samsung Yuk, Tattoo Virus, Subway, Mulla, Zacpot, Dong Nim Mun, Gyung Bok Gung

Also, here's a pretty sweet video of a band my friend Jefferson just introduced me too. They're called Gotye. Enjoy!

Ironically, the shapes drawn on the walls and on the people in this video somewhat resemble those of MWM's work shown in my previous post. Funny how life works.