Hey Team! Even with school taking up nearly all of my time and energy, I have managed to complete 3 mixes! August is rather mellow. For the Summer Honorable Mentions, I took the easy way out and divided the bands alphabetically. One turned out pretty upbeat and one is kinda down. Maybe this is a sign of the early fall to come (for me at least). I hope to have the CDs out in the next couple of days, but I have no idea what Alaska mail is like. Please let me know if and when you have gotten a CD.
Here's what I was listening to in August:
1. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Banned (By The Man)
2. Cults - Oh My God
3. Oh No! Yoko - 90s Kids (Teen Daze Remix)
4. unouomedude - Dream House
5. IDRchitecture - (Sign of the Fish)
6. Collapse Under The Empire - Grade Separation
7. The Dead Weather - The Difference Between Us
8. Make Me! - Matters
9. Sky Larkin - A.T.M.
10. Frontier Ruckus - Nerves of the Nightmind
11. The Farewell Circuit - I Am A Ghost
12. Night Driving In Small Towns - February
13. Bird Talk - Crazy Mad
14. Modern Skirts - Rebecca St. Claire
15. Admiral Fallow - Squealing Pigs
16. Balthazar - Blood Like Wine
17. Owen - Abandoned Bridges
18. Yu(c)k - Daughter
19. Ra Ra Riot - Keep it Quiet (Bear)
20. Nathan Edwin - January 2 (tanto)
Zach's Notes:
1. The critics say this band plays it safe and doesn't do anything exciting, but I still like their music quite a bit.
2. Oh My God, I love this song right now. Probably my favorite!
3. I always died of cholera...stupid cholera - you'll have to listen to the song to understand...
6. A rare non-lyricized song
7. It's taken me awhile to find one of these I truly liked, but I found one
8. A nice punk song
11. I wonder if it is Casper or a Scooby-Doo ghost
12. Again, I'm such a sucker for guys and girls singing in octaves
14. And kids singing...I'm a sucker for those too.
16. Probably the best song I've heard from the vampire thing that's going on right now...
17. Owen gets me everytime.
18. Weird name.
19. Weird parenthesis after the song.
20. See above...
School is going great and I will post an update on that tomorrow. I promise. I actually have a few things to go over so I am ready for tomorrow yet tonight! Keep checking the blog and your mailboxes!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Career
So my career as a teacher has officially begun. Farewell childhood! Welcome adultdom! Gah! When did this happen?!?!
Last Saturday was the first truly beautiful summer day in Alaska since I have been up here. Lucky for me, there was a fair in Kenny Lake (one of the towns I will be teaching in). My teacher neighbor, John, and his wife and kid, Nora and Melanie (respectively) came along with me to the fair. Nora and Melanie did little kid stuff (she is 14 months old) with other moms and new children while John and I scoured the fair for people of interest to introduce me to. I was able to shake plenty of hands and then immediately forget names, but I still think it was valuable. It got to be pretty hot at the fairgrounds and I was looking forward to finding a beer stand and sitting outside in beautiful Alaska listening to a mediocre rock cover band. However, there was no beer to be found. I settled for an indian taco and a soda. From the crafts stands, I bought some Fireweed jelly, which I've been told is delicious, and found some sweet "I Buy Alaska Grown" stickers. That night John and Nora invited me over for Caribou tacos (just a Mexican food day!). I was so nice to sit and be with nice people for a while. They have the sweetest German Shepherd and Melanie and I played keyboard.
Sunday was just as gorgeous so I biked out South of town to some nice overlooks and finally got some good pictures of the Wrangell Mountains. I biked down some amazing hills (and up eventually) and played in some really swift rivers. I love the availability of water here. It's definitely something I missed in Colorado.
On Monday, I forced my way into the school and started the process of getting ready for school. I literally just paced around my area opening all sorts of cupboards and cabinets trying to get a feel for all the STUFF I have and where the most efficient place to put all of this STUFF is. I settled on using 3 of my 4 practice rooms as actual practice rooms and one as an electronic storage so I could keep the expensive equipment under close eye and lock and key. The room itself is pretty large and has okay acoustics. It's in pretty good shape and even has a Promethean board in it. I guess it is like a SmartBoard.
I also got a grand tour of the auditorium. There are lots of opportunities for us to put on amazing productions and have lots of good learning lessons in there. The trick is for me to learn just a little more than the students know before school starts...
By the end of the day, I felt confident that if school started the next day, I would be able to teach in the environment I had set up. I have been slowly organizing my office and other storage areas between and after inservices.
My stuff also came Monday night. John, Chad (another teacher), and Solomone (a junior) came to help out. The trucker paid them all for their services. We basically just threw everything in the apartment. It was a disaster area in here. However, I was resolved to at least set up my bed so I wouldn't have to sleep on the floor again. Thus, that is what I did. And that's ALL I did.
Tuesday morning began New Teacher Orientation. There are 4 of us new to the district. Suzie teaches Special Education at the Glennallen HS. Barbara teaches K-1 at Kenny Lake. Denae teaches Kindergarten at Glennallen Elementary. And me. The morning was spent watching mandatory videos. The afternoon was spent meeting EVERYONE else in the district office: technology, business office, etc...The stat that stuck out to me the most was the fact that our district is the size of the state of Ohio. I am the ONLY music teacher.
That night I worked on getting a functional kitchen and living room. This place was starting to feel like home.
Yesterday was rough. The morning was spent listening to "State of the District" discussions from the superintendent and a pep-up speech of sorts from some lady from Virginia. In the afternoon, we broke into our different school sites. At the Glennallen meeting, we discussed how to utilize a common set of rules across the K-12 campus. We would obviously alter the language depending on age, but the basic set of rules would be the same. Our new principal is big on consistency in behavioral expectations.
Afterward I was completely drained of all energy. Also, I was stuck behind bureaucratic red-tape. I can't write my syllabus till I get a school calendar so I can plan dates and activities. I can't write my lesson plans till I get a class list. I can't work on organizing the auditorium until I get keys for it. It was just a bang-your-head-against-the-wall afternoon. On top of it, I was informed that every Friday, instead of teaching my junior high students music, I will have to teach them Physical Education. No kidding. I am also a gym teacher... It could be a nice release at the end of the week, but I am going to have a heck of a time preparing for my classes as it is. Ugh!
Somehow, I went back to school later that night and cleaned up the August playlist while organizing some more stuff. I am ready for Saturday! Oh, Saturday! I haven't told you about that yet. I have invited students signed up for music to come in on Saturday to help me organize/decorate/eat pizza/set goals/hang out. All the students I have talked to sound really excited. So, I decided where I want everything to go, found paints and tape and old magazines, and am ready to go!
Today's inservice was at the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park Headquarters. It was mostly spent touring the facilities and learning about how we can better incorporate Ahtna (the local tribe's) values and traditions into school. It got a little tedious at the end, but it was rather interesting. Also, the gave us $15 to spend at the visitor center store. So, I now own a sweet topographic map of the park, some stickers, a magnet, and a big bar of chocolate!
This evening I relaxed and had my first fantasy football draft while eating pizza and drinking beer. Ah! The good life! I've been cleaning up the apartment since. The TV and speakers work, my bedroom is clean (we'll see how long that lasts), and I have a box started of things I want to bring to school. I am feeling good, but tired. So, I'm going to head to bed. More updates and more pictures to come. Last day of inservice in the morning!
Last Saturday was the first truly beautiful summer day in Alaska since I have been up here. Lucky for me, there was a fair in Kenny Lake (one of the towns I will be teaching in). My teacher neighbor, John, and his wife and kid, Nora and Melanie (respectively) came along with me to the fair. Nora and Melanie did little kid stuff (she is 14 months old) with other moms and new children while John and I scoured the fair for people of interest to introduce me to. I was able to shake plenty of hands and then immediately forget names, but I still think it was valuable. It got to be pretty hot at the fairgrounds and I was looking forward to finding a beer stand and sitting outside in beautiful Alaska listening to a mediocre rock cover band. However, there was no beer to be found. I settled for an indian taco and a soda. From the crafts stands, I bought some Fireweed jelly, which I've been told is delicious, and found some sweet "I Buy Alaska Grown" stickers. That night John and Nora invited me over for Caribou tacos (just a Mexican food day!). I was so nice to sit and be with nice people for a while. They have the sweetest German Shepherd and Melanie and I played keyboard.
Sunday was just as gorgeous so I biked out South of town to some nice overlooks and finally got some good pictures of the Wrangell Mountains. I biked down some amazing hills (and up eventually) and played in some really swift rivers. I love the availability of water here. It's definitely something I missed in Colorado.
On Monday, I forced my way into the school and started the process of getting ready for school. I literally just paced around my area opening all sorts of cupboards and cabinets trying to get a feel for all the STUFF I have and where the most efficient place to put all of this STUFF is. I settled on using 3 of my 4 practice rooms as actual practice rooms and one as an electronic storage so I could keep the expensive equipment under close eye and lock and key. The room itself is pretty large and has okay acoustics. It's in pretty good shape and even has a Promethean board in it. I guess it is like a SmartBoard.
I also got a grand tour of the auditorium. There are lots of opportunities for us to put on amazing productions and have lots of good learning lessons in there. The trick is for me to learn just a little more than the students know before school starts...
By the end of the day, I felt confident that if school started the next day, I would be able to teach in the environment I had set up. I have been slowly organizing my office and other storage areas between and after inservices.
My stuff also came Monday night. John, Chad (another teacher), and Solomone (a junior) came to help out. The trucker paid them all for their services. We basically just threw everything in the apartment. It was a disaster area in here. However, I was resolved to at least set up my bed so I wouldn't have to sleep on the floor again. Thus, that is what I did. And that's ALL I did.
Tuesday morning began New Teacher Orientation. There are 4 of us new to the district. Suzie teaches Special Education at the Glennallen HS. Barbara teaches K-1 at Kenny Lake. Denae teaches Kindergarten at Glennallen Elementary. And me. The morning was spent watching mandatory videos. The afternoon was spent meeting EVERYONE else in the district office: technology, business office, etc...The stat that stuck out to me the most was the fact that our district is the size of the state of Ohio. I am the ONLY music teacher.
That night I worked on getting a functional kitchen and living room. This place was starting to feel like home.
Yesterday was rough. The morning was spent listening to "State of the District" discussions from the superintendent and a pep-up speech of sorts from some lady from Virginia. In the afternoon, we broke into our different school sites. At the Glennallen meeting, we discussed how to utilize a common set of rules across the K-12 campus. We would obviously alter the language depending on age, but the basic set of rules would be the same. Our new principal is big on consistency in behavioral expectations.
Afterward I was completely drained of all energy. Also, I was stuck behind bureaucratic red-tape. I can't write my syllabus till I get a school calendar so I can plan dates and activities. I can't write my lesson plans till I get a class list. I can't work on organizing the auditorium until I get keys for it. It was just a bang-your-head-against-the-wall afternoon. On top of it, I was informed that every Friday, instead of teaching my junior high students music, I will have to teach them Physical Education. No kidding. I am also a gym teacher... It could be a nice release at the end of the week, but I am going to have a heck of a time preparing for my classes as it is. Ugh!
Somehow, I went back to school later that night and cleaned up the August playlist while organizing some more stuff. I am ready for Saturday! Oh, Saturday! I haven't told you about that yet. I have invited students signed up for music to come in on Saturday to help me organize/decorate/eat pizza/set goals/hang out. All the students I have talked to sound really excited. So, I decided where I want everything to go, found paints and tape and old magazines, and am ready to go!
Today's inservice was at the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park Headquarters. It was mostly spent touring the facilities and learning about how we can better incorporate Ahtna (the local tribe's) values and traditions into school. It got a little tedious at the end, but it was rather interesting. Also, the gave us $15 to spend at the visitor center store. So, I now own a sweet topographic map of the park, some stickers, a magnet, and a big bar of chocolate!
This evening I relaxed and had my first fantasy football draft while eating pizza and drinking beer. Ah! The good life! I've been cleaning up the apartment since. The TV and speakers work, my bedroom is clean (we'll see how long that lasts), and I have a box started of things I want to bring to school. I am feeling good, but tired. So, I'm going to head to bed. More updates and more pictures to come. Last day of inservice in the morning!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Hang It On The Wall
Hey Look! Pictures! Slowly, but surely, I have been posting some pictures from the past X amount of months. Yes, you will have to sign up for Snapfish to see them. No, it doesn't cost money. Yes, it is a pretty decent site if you like having hard copies of your photos. Please check them out if you are interested!
Friday, August 13, 2010
How's Alaska?
This is easily the most frequent question I have been asked over the past week. I guess I ought to have expected it though. Not many people I know have been to Alaska, let alone MOVED there. So, before I start diving into stories of the road-trip up here and other July occurrences, here is how Alaska (at least my part) is.
First, it is still summer here, but barely. The locals say that when the last of the fireweed blooms, it signals the end of summer. The fireweed is at it's topmost and final bloom right now. So, interpret the plants how you'd like.
The highs lately have been in the mid to upper-60s with the occasional breach of 70. Lows are in the low to mid-40s but sometimes it feels colder. Basically, whenever I go somewhere I bring enough clothes to go swimming in AND in case a blizzard hits. It's the ONLY way to be sure. It's been horribly cloudy lately so the panorama of the Wrangell Mountains has been very limited. I'll be keeping an eye to the East for a clear day though, cause it is bound to be spectacular at some point.
Unlike Boulder, where the Westerly flatirons made sunset come quickly in the valley, here the mountains are to the East with relatively flat land (for a while at least) to the West. So, it is 9:15 P.M. now and I wouldn't need my headlights on. It'll be rather dark within an hour. However, I heard someone say we lose about 5 minutes of daylight a day now. So, daylight is a depleting commodity.
The Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve is directly to the Southeast of me. It is the largest National Park in the U.S. and is also one of the newest. 9 of the 16 tallest peaks in North America are in the park. I climbed 3 14,000 ft. peaks in Colorado. If I want to try anything over 8,000 here, I'm going to need a helluva lot more equipment and probably some formal mountaineering training and practice on glaciers. The nice thing about the park is there are very few regulations. All you really need to do is leave your itinerary with someone so they know when to start a search party and you can just walk right in. I would like to do a week-long backpacking trip sometime.
Heading North for about 5 hours is Fairbanks. I am going to wait to explore that area until NMU goes up there to play hockey in mid-November. The city of North Pole, AK is also nearby Fairbanks. If you would like a postcard stamped from the North Pole, let me know and I'll make it happen.
2 hours driving South takes you to the Prince William Sound and the port city of Valdez. It's pronounced Val-deez because the year American settlers arrived to the Spanish explorer-named town was the same year we started the Spanish-American War. It was simply more patriotic to mispronounce the name and it stuck. I went there today and it was all rain and fog. There are some glaciers nearby and the Thompson Pass through the Chugach Mountains is very pretty. I'm sure I just caught it on a bad day.
180ish miles to the West lies Anchorage (and Palmer and Wasilla). Many people in Glennallen head into one of these towns every few weeks to buy bulk groceries and other supplies from Costco or Sam's Club. I don't really want to support either of those businesses, but I will need to find somewhere cheaper than the grocery store in town. It is fully stocked, but the prices are out of control. It will be emergency only/when cravings strike. The drive to Anchorage is absolutely gorgeous. Whenever you come visit, we will have to take it from the airport to here and you will just be amazed. Glaciers, mountains, rivers...it is so cool.
Glennallen exists because a couple different highways merge here and so there is a stop sign. Basically, if you want to go to any of the major cities or to Canada by car, you will need to drive through Glennallen. Glennallen has a post office, library, fitness center, satellite campus of the Prince William Sound Community College, the Alaska Bible College, a church every 1/6 of a mile, a Radio Shack, a Wells Fargo, and assorted other restaurants/gas stations/RV parking which cater to the summer traffic driving through. Many of these businesses shut down in winter, so I'll have to explore them all soon.
Black spruce, white spruce, and aspen trees are all around. Because most of the ground in the area is permafrost (which means the ground never fully thaws), the ground doesn't soak up moisture completely and you get a very soggy top layer that is very cushy to walk on sometimes. There are a TON of mushrooms everywhere and mosses too.
Black Bear and Grizzly Bear are in the area, but I have only seen black bear so far. They are Brown Bears on the coast cause they are so easily fed, they are rarely hostile. But, they are Grizzlies in the interior because resources are scarce so they become edgy, I guess. I have also seen some moose. I really wanted to see a puffin when I was down in Homer, but didn't see one.
The school is pretty new. It is one building and two stories with Elementary (K-6) on one side and Jr. High and High School (7-12) on the other. There's a VERY nice gym, a nice commons area, and they are paving the parking lot for this year. My room, office, and area are kind of an ugly color, but very modern and well-organized. Of course, it's going to take me a while to figure out where everything is and how to use them. I have a Promethean board, which is sort of like a Smart Board, that I am looking forward to learning how to use and integrate. Hockey plays outside, which is a drag cause I wanted to do some hockey pep band. If the interest is there, we could do a brass band...Basketball is big here too as both boys and girls won the regional title last year. I will definitely be doing pep band for that. The auditorium is very nice and the stage has flys and rigs and all sorts of cool technical things I have barely ever worked with but am excited to learn about.
My apartment is ok. It is much too big for me as it is a 2-bedroom. But, I can walk to school (about 2 blocks) and a few other teachers live in my building. I don't have to pay for heat, I don't have to worry about pipes freezing, I don't get a garage, the water is VERY rusty (one of my first purchases was a Brita pitcher), the carpet smells, it's an ugly yellow color, but it's mine. All mine!
If you still have questions about Alaska, let me know! I'd love to learn to answer if I don't know it already. I'll probably do another post like this once winter hits, as I'm certain you'll all be dying to know what that is like up here.
First, it is still summer here, but barely. The locals say that when the last of the fireweed blooms, it signals the end of summer. The fireweed is at it's topmost and final bloom right now. So, interpret the plants how you'd like.
The highs lately have been in the mid to upper-60s with the occasional breach of 70. Lows are in the low to mid-40s but sometimes it feels colder. Basically, whenever I go somewhere I bring enough clothes to go swimming in AND in case a blizzard hits. It's the ONLY way to be sure. It's been horribly cloudy lately so the panorama of the Wrangell Mountains has been very limited. I'll be keeping an eye to the East for a clear day though, cause it is bound to be spectacular at some point.
Unlike Boulder, where the Westerly flatirons made sunset come quickly in the valley, here the mountains are to the East with relatively flat land (for a while at least) to the West. So, it is 9:15 P.M. now and I wouldn't need my headlights on. It'll be rather dark within an hour. However, I heard someone say we lose about 5 minutes of daylight a day now. So, daylight is a depleting commodity.
The Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve is directly to the Southeast of me. It is the largest National Park in the U.S. and is also one of the newest. 9 of the 16 tallest peaks in North America are in the park. I climbed 3 14,000 ft. peaks in Colorado. If I want to try anything over 8,000 here, I'm going to need a helluva lot more equipment and probably some formal mountaineering training and practice on glaciers. The nice thing about the park is there are very few regulations. All you really need to do is leave your itinerary with someone so they know when to start a search party and you can just walk right in. I would like to do a week-long backpacking trip sometime.
Heading North for about 5 hours is Fairbanks. I am going to wait to explore that area until NMU goes up there to play hockey in mid-November. The city of North Pole, AK is also nearby Fairbanks. If you would like a postcard stamped from the North Pole, let me know and I'll make it happen.
2 hours driving South takes you to the Prince William Sound and the port city of Valdez. It's pronounced Val-deez because the year American settlers arrived to the Spanish explorer-named town was the same year we started the Spanish-American War. It was simply more patriotic to mispronounce the name and it stuck. I went there today and it was all rain and fog. There are some glaciers nearby and the Thompson Pass through the Chugach Mountains is very pretty. I'm sure I just caught it on a bad day.
180ish miles to the West lies Anchorage (and Palmer and Wasilla). Many people in Glennallen head into one of these towns every few weeks to buy bulk groceries and other supplies from Costco or Sam's Club. I don't really want to support either of those businesses, but I will need to find somewhere cheaper than the grocery store in town. It is fully stocked, but the prices are out of control. It will be emergency only/when cravings strike. The drive to Anchorage is absolutely gorgeous. Whenever you come visit, we will have to take it from the airport to here and you will just be amazed. Glaciers, mountains, rivers...it is so cool.
Glennallen exists because a couple different highways merge here and so there is a stop sign. Basically, if you want to go to any of the major cities or to Canada by car, you will need to drive through Glennallen. Glennallen has a post office, library, fitness center, satellite campus of the Prince William Sound Community College, the Alaska Bible College, a church every 1/6 of a mile, a Radio Shack, a Wells Fargo, and assorted other restaurants/gas stations/RV parking which cater to the summer traffic driving through. Many of these businesses shut down in winter, so I'll have to explore them all soon.
Black spruce, white spruce, and aspen trees are all around. Because most of the ground in the area is permafrost (which means the ground never fully thaws), the ground doesn't soak up moisture completely and you get a very soggy top layer that is very cushy to walk on sometimes. There are a TON of mushrooms everywhere and mosses too.
Black Bear and Grizzly Bear are in the area, but I have only seen black bear so far. They are Brown Bears on the coast cause they are so easily fed, they are rarely hostile. But, they are Grizzlies in the interior because resources are scarce so they become edgy, I guess. I have also seen some moose. I really wanted to see a puffin when I was down in Homer, but didn't see one.
The school is pretty new. It is one building and two stories with Elementary (K-6) on one side and Jr. High and High School (7-12) on the other. There's a VERY nice gym, a nice commons area, and they are paving the parking lot for this year. My room, office, and area are kind of an ugly color, but very modern and well-organized. Of course, it's going to take me a while to figure out where everything is and how to use them. I have a Promethean board, which is sort of like a Smart Board, that I am looking forward to learning how to use and integrate. Hockey plays outside, which is a drag cause I wanted to do some hockey pep band. If the interest is there, we could do a brass band...Basketball is big here too as both boys and girls won the regional title last year. I will definitely be doing pep band for that. The auditorium is very nice and the stage has flys and rigs and all sorts of cool technical things I have barely ever worked with but am excited to learn about.
My apartment is ok. It is much too big for me as it is a 2-bedroom. But, I can walk to school (about 2 blocks) and a few other teachers live in my building. I don't have to pay for heat, I don't have to worry about pipes freezing, I don't get a garage, the water is VERY rusty (one of my first purchases was a Brita pitcher), the carpet smells, it's an ugly yellow color, but it's mine. All mine!
If you still have questions about Alaska, let me know! I'd love to learn to answer if I don't know it already. I'll probably do another post like this once winter hits, as I'm certain you'll all be dying to know what that is like up here.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
July 2010 Playlist
I've decided the best course of action for my budget and schedule in the next few weeks is to hold off sending out July CDs until August and the Summer Honorable Mentions are done. So, I apologize. Honestly, I figured I would falter much sooner than this. 13 months is the standing record. Let's see if I can break it!
Another decision rendered is that instead of posting one long drawn-out post of all of my July occurrences, I will create a new post for each story and just try and fill them in when I find the time.
My final decision (for now) is that I will start linking pictures to artists in the mix. This came after a discussion with Timothy D about how we feel men are more tolerable of questionable music made by females if they are hot. Though, there is a level where no matter how hot you are, we could care less about your awful music. Much like this Demetri Martin sketch(~4:00 in). Just substitute music for cat.
My neighbor John (also a WI transplant and also a teacher at the school) is letting me steal his wireless until mine comes next week sometime. What a great guy! He and another teacher, Mark (an NMU alum) shot a caribou the other day and might give me some meat!
Anyway, here's the music! Feel free to look up any and all of this cause I think it is pretty awesome. However, I will post it to artofthemix.org if you're feeling lazy.
I am working on the August playlist as we speak and hope all of you can find at least one song to enjoy on the mixes coming your way.
Remember to comment on life, love, and music here! I would love to hear from you!
Here's what I was listening to in July and what you'll be listening to soon:
1. Tokyo Police Club & Born Ruffians - First Date Kit
2. Tegan & Sara - Turnpike Ghost
3. Japandroids - Younger Us
4. Brandon Flowers - Crossfire
5. The Shins - Goodbye Girl
6. Maps & Atlases - Living Decorations
7. Pomplamoose - If You Think You Need Some Lovin
8. Sally Seltmann - Dark Blue Angel
9. The Paper Raincoat - Sympathetic Vibrations
10. Vampire Weekend - Johnathan Low
11. Beach House - Better Times
12. Super Desserts - Wicker Chair, Or What Happened To Steve In The Imaginary Menagerie
13. The Tallest Man On Earth - Burden of Tomorrow
14. Andrew Belle - Tower
15. of Montreal - Coquet Coquette
16. A Fine Frenzy - Electric Twist
17. The New Pornographers - Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk
18. Breakbot - Baby I'm Yours (Ft. Irfane)
19. Eels - Looking up From Tomorrow Morning
20. Grace Potter & The Nocturnals - Goodbye Kiss
21. A Lull - Skinny Fingers
22. Dark Dark Dark - Daydreaming
Zach's Notes:
1. Canadia's best bands team up for rousing opener!
2. A cover originally done by Steel Train who has previously opened for T&S
3. Another Canadian bred group...weird.
4. The lead singer of The Killers on his debut solo project
5. They never left us...and you were worried. This time its a cover from the 70s band Squeeze.
6. Saw them open for Frightened Rabbit and I think they are ready to take it to the big time. Amazing guitar players too.
7. Nataly Dawn is my new Indie crush. She is so hot. There.
9. Some of the most innovative hand-clapping indie has to offer.
10. This song is NOT on Contra. A new release.
11. Could never really get behind the Beach House sound before this tune.
12. A mass and muddle of sound, this band is everything I love about indie: weird instruments, bright colors, guys and girls singing in octaves, and hand-claps.
13. I absolutely LOVE the line, "Rumor has it that I was not born, I just walked in one frosty morn."
15. Finally found a song by them I truly enjoy and here it is!
16. This song will bore into your head and never leave.
17. Love these guys...
20. Heard a lot about this band but finally HEARD them and loved it.
21. A beautiful little song.
Another decision rendered is that instead of posting one long drawn-out post of all of my July occurrences, I will create a new post for each story and just try and fill them in when I find the time.
My final decision (for now) is that I will start linking pictures to artists in the mix. This came after a discussion with Timothy D about how we feel men are more tolerable of questionable music made by females if they are hot. Though, there is a level where no matter how hot you are, we could care less about your awful music. Much like this Demetri Martin sketch(~4:00 in). Just substitute music for cat.
My neighbor John (also a WI transplant and also a teacher at the school) is letting me steal his wireless until mine comes next week sometime. What a great guy! He and another teacher, Mark (an NMU alum) shot a caribou the other day and might give me some meat!
Anyway, here's the music! Feel free to look up any and all of this cause I think it is pretty awesome. However, I will post it to artofthemix.org if you're feeling lazy.
I am working on the August playlist as we speak and hope all of you can find at least one song to enjoy on the mixes coming your way.
Remember to comment on life, love, and music here! I would love to hear from you!
Here's what I was listening to in July and what you'll be listening to soon:
1. Tokyo Police Club & Born Ruffians - First Date Kit
2. Tegan & Sara - Turnpike Ghost
3. Japandroids - Younger Us
4. Brandon Flowers - Crossfire
5. The Shins - Goodbye Girl
6. Maps & Atlases - Living Decorations
7. Pomplamoose - If You Think You Need Some Lovin
8. Sally Seltmann - Dark Blue Angel
9. The Paper Raincoat - Sympathetic Vibrations
10. Vampire Weekend - Johnathan Low
11. Beach House - Better Times
12. Super Desserts - Wicker Chair, Or What Happened To Steve In The Imaginary Menagerie
13. The Tallest Man On Earth - Burden of Tomorrow
14. Andrew Belle - Tower
15. of Montreal - Coquet Coquette
16. A Fine Frenzy - Electric Twist
17. The New Pornographers - Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk
18. Breakbot - Baby I'm Yours (Ft. Irfane)
19. Eels - Looking up From Tomorrow Morning
20. Grace Potter & The Nocturnals - Goodbye Kiss
21. A Lull - Skinny Fingers
22. Dark Dark Dark - Daydreaming
Zach's Notes:
1. Canadia's best bands team up for rousing opener!
2. A cover originally done by Steel Train who has previously opened for T&S
3. Another Canadian bred group...weird.
4. The lead singer of The Killers on his debut solo project
5. They never left us...and you were worried. This time its a cover from the 70s band Squeeze.
6. Saw them open for Frightened Rabbit and I think they are ready to take it to the big time. Amazing guitar players too.
7. Nataly Dawn is my new Indie crush. She is so hot. There.
9. Some of the most innovative hand-clapping indie has to offer.
10. This song is NOT on Contra. A new release.
11. Could never really get behind the Beach House sound before this tune.
12. A mass and muddle of sound, this band is everything I love about indie: weird instruments, bright colors, guys and girls singing in octaves, and hand-claps.
13. I absolutely LOVE the line, "Rumor has it that I was not born, I just walked in one frosty morn."
15. Finally found a song by them I truly enjoy and here it is!
16. This song will bore into your head and never leave.
17. Love these guys...
20. Heard a lot about this band but finally HEARD them and loved it.
21. A beautiful little song.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
A Long Time Coming
Well Team,
It was bound to happen sooner or later. I have failed in my mission to bring you up-to-date music and up-to-date information about me and my life. A lot of this has had to do with my busy July and start of August that has included: a visit from my brother, climbing mountains on the weekend, a trip back to WI for my cousin's wedding, packing, driving over 4,000 miles over a week, and moving into my apartment in Glennallen, AK.
I solemnly swear as soon as I get internet access (right now I am at the public library), I will post the hundreds of pictures I have taken since my last update and I will fill you (the reader) in with highlights from July and all sorts of exciting things about my school. Just be aware - it will probably get PRETTY nerdy.
I do have a handful of July CDs ready to go out, but like I said things have been pretty hectic. I will try to have them out this week, so be looking for them. I don't know what the mail will be like up here.
For those of you lucky enough to have been handed a July CD, I will try and come back here tomorrow or the next day with a playlist to post. I'm not gonna lie, the mix is good. Almost TOO good.
Please keep checking this blog because I WILL be posting more often and it is the best and easiest way to stalk me as a non-facebooker (still cancer-free I may add...).
I must be off! Till next time!
It was bound to happen sooner or later. I have failed in my mission to bring you up-to-date music and up-to-date information about me and my life. A lot of this has had to do with my busy July and start of August that has included: a visit from my brother, climbing mountains on the weekend, a trip back to WI for my cousin's wedding, packing, driving over 4,000 miles over a week, and moving into my apartment in Glennallen, AK.
I solemnly swear as soon as I get internet access (right now I am at the public library), I will post the hundreds of pictures I have taken since my last update and I will fill you (the reader) in with highlights from July and all sorts of exciting things about my school. Just be aware - it will probably get PRETTY nerdy.
I do have a handful of July CDs ready to go out, but like I said things have been pretty hectic. I will try to have them out this week, so be looking for them. I don't know what the mail will be like up here.
For those of you lucky enough to have been handed a July CD, I will try and come back here tomorrow or the next day with a playlist to post. I'm not gonna lie, the mix is good. Almost TOO good.
Please keep checking this blog because I WILL be posting more often and it is the best and easiest way to stalk me as a non-facebooker (still cancer-free I may add...).
I must be off! Till next time!
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