Top More Than Three: Summer and Fall 2018

I’m trying to decide if I should work backwards from now until May, when I last wrote, or vice versa. I think instead of choosing, I’m gonna write about some music instead.

Songs:

Anthrax Shirt— Just Nick

This is a great song by one of Fiona’s friends named Nick. It’s just him. I accidentally played it for my friend from Minnesota who has purple hair, and I think she thought I did it on purpose. It be like that sometimes.

Howl— Walter Mitty and His Makeshift Orchestra

I like the songs from the first three seconds I ever heard it. For real. The beginning is so catchy and the lyrics are so good and his voice fits the tone very well. I spent a lot of time driving in the car trying to get all the words right because I like how they sound together and they kept getting jumbled up in my head. I just leaned that it’s named after the poem Howl (by Allen Ginsberg) and that they have the same beginning.

TenTwentyTen— Generationals

I don’t know what it is about this song. It just makes me want to dance.

Next Year— Two Door Cinema Club

This song makes me think of Colin sometimes because it’s on that playlist he likes. Sometimes it just makes me think of driving in the car. I think you should go listen to the original first, and after you’ve listened to it enough times you should go listen to this remix. They’re both very good.

 

Albums/EPs:

Bear Creek to Dame Street— Hudson Taylor

Yay Hudson Taylor! Woohoo! It’s always fun when they put out something new. It’s even more fun when it’s (mostly) good! (Sorry, but I can’t really so You Don’t Wanna Know. Too dramatic.) The new stuff is good, but the live stuff is better. This is the first time Hudson’s Taylor’s officially put out anything life, which is kind of surprising given how much live stuff they’ve put up online over the years. the last four songs showcase their energy, and they’ve got a great crowd to back them up. It even has Chasing Rubies with a proper amount of “and I don’t want to let you go”s! Top track: I Love You and You Don’t Even Know.

Nina Cried Power— Hozier

NEW HOZIER. I REPEAT— NEW HOZIER. This completely blindsided me. I did not know there would be new Hozier (cause I apparently do not pay enough attention) and then it was there. And it’s great. It satisfied my constant need for more of Hozier’s incredible voice, reassured me that the next album would be on par with the first, and made me hungry for more. He’s just the best. Top Track: Shrike, but it’s all good. If anyone fought me about that it would be fair, because it’s all so great it just comes down to a matter of taste.

And The War Came— Shakey Graves

Dearly Departed is the best halloween song. The drum beat makes you want to head bang and wave your body around and yell. And it’s about ghosts. For a while, it was the only Shakey Graves song I really knew. Alden put some more of his stuff on a playlist they made for a drive we went on last fall, and while I liked it, I never really thought twice about it. When I was making a fall playlist for this year, I went back to that playlist, and moved a few things over, including Pansy Waltz, which is really just an incredible song. The beat drives his voice so well, the lyrics are interesting, and they chorus is incredibly catchy. Since then I’ve been listening this album (which both songs are from) and it’s just perfect for the fall. Shakey might take a little bit of getting used to, but it’s worth it for sure. Top track: I can’t decide. Both songs I’ve mentioned are so very good, and so very different and you should listen to both.

Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down— Noah and the Whale

I’ve known about this album for a while, and known at least two or three songs from it, but I didn’t really listen to it all the way through until this summer. It has a great flow, and Charlie has a unique voice and range that add a lot to their sound. The songs can be fun, and sad, heartwarming, and all together they compliment each other very well. Top track: Give a Little Love.

Live at Cedar Rapids— John Denver

I feel like everybody has at least some relationship with John Denver, and it’s always a good one. I had always listened to specific versions of specific songs from various specific albums (once you get attached to one version there’s no going back), and none of them were live. We’ve been listening to a lot of John Denver at school this year, and Trisha told us about how she and her oldest sister, separately, and different point in their lives, memorized everything he says at the beginning of one of his live albums (I don’t remember which but if i find out I will edit this) and a few days later I decided to listen to a live album of his while I did my homework. His interludes and stories between the songs are incredible and add so much more to his music that what is already there. I just love him. Go listen to him talk— whether it’s this album or any other live one. Top track: impossible to say.

 

Bands:

Hippo Campus

I already knew some Hippo Campus before this fall. I saw they open for the Mowgli’s in 2015, and they just had an EP at the time. They were fun, and I liked them well enough, but I only really hung on to one or two songs. Over winter break of last year, after their first album came out, Jordan and Amy played this song on our way to the beach. It’s fantastic and probably remains my favorite of theirs. When I learned they were coming to New York right after my birthday I though I might get a ticket, but figured it was best to learn more of their stuff before I committed. I listened to the This Is Hippo Campus playlist pretty much everyday from mid September to mid October. Jake has a fantastic voice (and falsetto!!!!!), and their music is so much fun. Highlights: Buttercup, baseball, The Halocline, South.

Patrick Schneeweis (Pat the Bunny; Ramshackle Glory; Wingnut Dishwashers Union)

Kevin has being trying to get me to listen to Pat the Bunny for at least two years— little did either of us know, I already had! I hadn’t heard any of Pat’s stuff as Pat the Bunny, but I did know stuff by two other groups he fronts (Ramshakle Glory and Wingnut Dishwashers Union). I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know enough of his stuff, but I can say pretty confidently that Pat is one of the best folk punk artists there is. His lyrics are honest and sad and encouraging and they give me the shivers every time. Pat retired in 2016, but has a bunch of amazing stuff out that everyone should give a listen to. Highlights: I’m Going Home; Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of Your Fist; For a Girl in Rhinelander, WI.

Mal Blum

Mal Blum is so frickin’ cool. So cool. They went to Purchase! They just toured with Welcome to Nightvale! They once signed a fan’s lab coat “Be gay, do science”! Their music is catchy and funny and real. Their songs tell good stories and it makes you feel just like how they say they’re feeling. New Year’s Eve is sort of always stuck in my head. Highlights: New Year’s Eve, Baltimore, Watercolors.

I’m With Her

We saw I’m With Her at Traveler’s Rest! They were wearing matching jumpsuits and were extremely cool. The three women making up the group all have had separate careers solo or with other groups, and they clearly have so much fun playing together. They’ve go a very fun folky sound with lots of string and banjo, and seeing them live was great. They only have one album out right now, but it’s definitely worth a listen! Highlights: Game to Lose, Ain’t That Fine.

The Oh Hellos

I love them. Everyone knows I love them. This is nothing new. But I saw them last night and they’re on my mind and I want to talk the time to go tell everyone to listen to them. The rock to hard and folk so hard and they’re great. Their album concepts are incredible, and very worth listening to and learning more about. Highlights: all of Through the Deep, Dark Valley.

 

This is mostly what I’ve been listening to this summer and fall that’s new to me. You should listen to some (or all) of it and tell me what you think!

 

 

 

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11:20am, November 3rd, 2018. Rye Arts Center.

I haven’t written a blog post in a long, long time. But I’m a work and trying not to fall asleep, so I thought I might because now I have a lot of things to write about. I think I’m probably going to do a couple separate posts so I can sort out my thoughts (music, concerts, the summer, this semester, etc.) but I didn’t want to just pop up with a bunch of new posts our of the blue and now let you know they were coming. Who knows. Maybe I won’t write any posts. Maybe a stampede of rhinos will run into the Rye Arts Center and I’ll have to jump up and run around trying to get all the rhinos out and I’ll forget what I was doing and start playing tetris. It’s hard to tell. Lest you think I’m a giant slacker at work, I promise there’s not much to do unless there is, and then it usually comes all at once. I do like this typing thing though cause the click clack of the keyboard makes it sound like I’m doing something important, like writing a work email (which I rarely have to do. No one emails my work email.) It feels very sneaky. I’m going to go write a different post now. We’ll see.

Top Threes: April

EDIT: I’m lame. I started this post on April 30th, but never finished it because I couldn’t come up with a final album. How lame is that? Anyway…

Remember when I was gonna start blogging every day again? Whoops. I am happy to say that I’m feeling more back in my groove through, and I’m so excited to be home soon!

Here are April’s top threes:

Songs:

Instead of My Room— Charlie Burg

Lost Coastlines— Okkervil River

Honeybody— Kishi Bashi

Albums:

People Who Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World-— AJJ

Come on and Slam— Sledding with Tigers

Dear Wormwood— The Oh Hello’s

Artists:

Honestly, I haven’t really been into any particular artists this month. You should check out my radio set from last Thursday though, because that’s most of what I’ve been listening to this month!

Hello!

I was going to do a definitive ranking of something important today, but I was trying not to get distracted, so I studied for my test instead. Anna’s best friend from home, Makenzie, flew in today and they are so happy to be with each other it’s so good. She’s so nice! I’m excited for it to be the weekend and for my test to be done and for it to only be 4 more weeks!

Top Threes: March

I feel out of wack. I feel like I need to reestablish all my schedules and get myself back into check and I think part of that is going to start with actually blogging again. I hate to admit defeat, but Lori Farrell has been kicking my ass at blogging recently, and definitely wins the blogging everyday award.

To restart my blogging I picked an easy post that’s about a week overdue: Top Threes!

March’s Top Three’s were:

Songs:

Heart It Races— Dr. Dog (covering Architecture in Helsinki)

Dream Boy— The Prettiots

Buttercup— Hippo Campus

Albums:

A Necessary Bummer— Sledding With Tigers

I’ll Be Your Girl— The Decemberists

Feel It Again EP— Hudson Taylor

Artists:

Birdtalker

The Prettiots

Sledding With Tigers

 

 

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Comes Out On Top?

Hamilton is sitting in a really good place with me right now. I don’t listen to it often (maybe once a month?) and now every time I listen to it I can appreciate it for how great it is. It’s fun to know all the words and it’s fun to be able to appreciate the artistry without having it all stuck in my head always and driving everyone around me up the wall. I got a little riff from something stuck in my head and put on the song (I don’t even remember which one is is now— a lot has gone on since then). After a few songs passed, I switched my conversation with Hannah about very small clothes to one about said friendly neighborhood musical. It went like this:

And so, I would like to proudly present Quinland and Hannah’s Unofficial Hamilton Bracket:

I have not filled this out yet. Hannah has not filled this out yet. But we’re gonna, and you should to. And you should tell me when you have. And you should send it to me so that I can see them, and maybe they will go on the blog! Woo!

The Long Week

The last few days have been so packed that I haven’t even thought about blogging. Like it completely left my mind. I wish that I had thought more about blogging, but I’m glad to say that I truly didn’t think about it, instead of having thought about it but putting it out of my mind.

I really need this week to be over. I have a group presentation due on Tuesday, and a paper due on Friday, and both will be looming until they are due. Next week is my spring break, and I’m excited to spend the week here without anything going on. I think I need a really slow week to balance me back out. Once spring break is over, there are five weeks until I am home!

I’m so excited to be home. Nine weeks has felt like one million years. Luckily, fifteen weeks will feel like one million and two thirds years, and that’s how long I’ll be home!

One thing that has really been getting to me lately is the weather. It’s horribly depressing. It’s always either too cold, too windy, or too gray to want to be outside, and it’s killing me. 46° feels like incredible spring weather. It’s ridiculous. I need the sun and to want to spend time outside again. The spring will be nice.

Dinostory

We had a serious blast today. It was awesome. Grace and I were out the door by 9:15, and we met Alejandro at the Natural History at 10. We spent a long while looking for dinosaurs before we realized the map had a back, but we eventually found them!

They were awesome.

Really, really awesome.

And, as a bonus, lines were short because there was a snowstorm today! It was the first snow Gracie had seen all winter, and it was her first time building a snowman!

It was really more of a snow cat-dinosaur, but that was ok. We walked through snowy Central Park on the way to eat pizza (which was really yummy) and then we headed to Carlo’s Bakery (like from Cake Boss, but the knockoff version near Times Square). We were massively underwhelmed. (You should be able to see the disappointment behind that smile).

After Carlo’s we headed towards the MoMa, and on our way, ran into Sofia! And by ran into I mean both parties past each other, and then Sofia yelled my name and gave me a heart attack, causing me to go “AH!” in front of a number of passerby’s. We went to the MoMa, which was lovely even though we had to speed through a bit since we got there 90 minutes before closing.

We got bagels at Absolute Bagels, Zoë’s favorite bagel place, and then parted ways with Alejandro, who was going back to White Plains to stay with one of their friends from school. Gracie and I headed back to Josephine’s where we ate pasta, made brownies, played five crowns, and learned what is apparently a mid-west favorite: euchre. Team Gracie and Madison beat team Josephine and I, but it was still super fun, and I want to play again! Gracie and I have plans to get lunch with Sofia tomorrow before we head back to Purchase, which should be nice.

I had such a great time in the city these last few days. It was so nice to see Josephine and to get to learn more about navigating the city, and I hope I get to come back soon!

Four Days Down

It’s been a wild four days and it is going to continue to be wild but it is so good. On Saturday morning Lois arrived in the city, and I met her in the middle of the day. We went to the Strand, ate French fries, walked around Greenwich Village, and slowly but surely made our was back to the hotel room she was going to be staying in with her mom. We hung out there until her mom got in from the airport and sat and talked for awhile before they went to go get dinner and I went to meet Alejandro, who was supposed to get in at 7. I met them near Madison Square Garden, and we walked up through Times Square before going to get pizza at a place Zoë suggested. The pizza was alright, but I pretty much never want to walk anywhere near time square again. There’s like 2,000 too many people. We went back to Josephine’s which was lovely, and slept really well. On Sunday we went to Washington Square Park in order to find what we have deemed to be the most iconic intersection in New York:

Then we walked up to Union Square when we spotted a big red sign. We found the Kellogg’s store.

It was incredible. They had a cereal bar with toppings and different kinds of milk (imagine a fro-yo place but for cereal). There was Kellogg’s memorabilia (including our iconic white plastic Kellogg’s bowls), Kellogg’s merch, giant cereal boxes hung from the ceiling, and huge murals of the characters from Kellogg’s cereal. We ate our Froot Loops and played Bananagrams and basked in the glory that was the Kellogg’s store.

And we took cute pictures in front of the Froot Loops wall.

Then we walked along the high line, looked at buildings, when we stopped to paint! There was a little city made of tiny paintings, and when we were admiring it, the guy running it asked if we wanted to contribute.

Alejandro’s is the left, mine is the right. Don’t ask me why the Columbia river is running through Idaho or why Oregon’s basically a square or why it looks like Portland has just been blown up.

We laughed hard at that.

We took the subway to get bagels, stopping to pose with these cool subway tiles:

And then we made our way home! It took us a million years. Weekend trains our awful. Everything was wrong. But we were troopers and we made it home eventually.

Yesterday we had just a nice, chill day. Alejandro and Anna and I went on a walk, and I climbed a big rock, after many attempts.

It was a good time.

I spent most of today studying for my midterm, but as soon as it was over I started my journey to Gracie. We met in Grand Central, got shake shack, and went back to Josephine’s. We’re both exhausted (Grace is already asleep) but tomorrow is going to be amazing! Posts might keep being sporadic because of all this craziness but I will make sure to say something everyday.

I hope this post shows you all how cool New York is so that you will all come visit me. The end.

Whoops

Too sleepy to post. Long, full days. Everyone is getting along really nicely, and Gracie comes tomorrow! I can’t wait. I’ll keep you updated tomorrow. Goodnight!