The Natives are Counting Stars

Oh man this has been a great few weeks for music!! I'm lovin life right now. First, Justin T. with his killa album, and now OneRepublic (read: not Direction) whose entire album is on Youtube. Both of them are also on Spotify, so do that too. And iTunes, which I think I'm going to hit up after I write this. I just utilized the Youtube version because Spotify is a no-go on my work computer. At any rate, here's that album!

Enjoy! It's amazing!!

Month of Love

I'm sure you've heard by now...Mackelmore and Ryan Lewis are blowing up! These guys are great, and rap almost in the style of spoken word poets--like Steve Connell. So I thought I'd show you the musical version, and the music-less version, both of which are highly powerful in my opinion. I wish Steve's video was higher quality, but when he's speaking, I'm not sure it matters. Hope your heart gets filled with love by these great guys.

Top: Mackelmore & Ryan Lewis--Same Love
Bottom: Steve Connell--Love

Like there is no morning

 

 

I can't seem to remember, the lights were so bright

And the discoball blurred in the turn of that night
But it was perfect 

 

Fashion Gone Rogue, Mackelmore--The End, Carter Smith, Vogue Russia, Fashion Gone Rogue, Vogue US, Morning Beauty--Tesh, Bergdorf Goodman, Boris Ovini, Morning Beauty--Carter Smith, Elle Ukraine, Fashion Gone Rogue, Glen Luchford, Elle Ukraine

Lightly

Don't you love when you find a new band that imitates the mood your life is in? My sister actually got me acquainted with this band--honestly, she acquaints me with most of the new bands I know--and they're really great. They're The Civil Wars meets Mumford and Sons, two bands that I truly love.

I present to you--The Lumineers. Enjoy.

the lumineers-- Slow It Down

Striped White

jolene--The White Stripes

Queen of California

I know this blog has been John Mayer heavy recently, but this blog's supposed to be a reflection of my life and experiences, right? And my life and experiences has been heavily tinted with shades of John recently. His new album, Born and Raised, is on regular rotation around the house. If you haven't heard/bought/known about the album, I highly recommend it. It will be your summer music, I promise. 

Here's a new version of his song Queen of California. Enjoy!

This picture is from Deutsch Magazine. She looks like a California girl, see?

We're all winners here

A few weeks ago (oh gosh, how time flies!), I was lucky enough to get an invite to the Music Video Production Association Awards. It's basically the Grammy's for the music videos themselves, instead of just the songs. If you want to learn more about the Music Video Production Association, click here.

 It was a pretty spectacular turnout. It was held at the Taglyan Grand Ballroom on Vine in Hollywood

 

-- side note: This place is BEAUTIFUL!! If any of you are looking to get married in the Los Angeles area any time soon, check this place out. It has a striking ballroom and a beautiful garden area.--

and had an amazing dinner before the awards began. I think this was the first time I've had steak, chicken, and fish on one plate at the same time. I took a picture of my plate, but I remembered to do that only after I'd half-eaten everything, so I don't think you guys would want to see it. You'll have to take my word for it; it was quite a spread. 

Then came the awards, where they honored the production side of the videos from artists like Rihanna to The Black Keys to Skrillex to Sara Bareilles. 

Here's some pictures from the night and a few of the winning videos that I particularly liked:

 

 some of the winners were voyeuristic:

 

some of the winners were retro:

 

 some of the winners were patriotic:

 

some of the winners were simple:

 

 some of the winners were cult-y:

 

some of the winners were futile:

maroon 5 - Never Gonna Leave This Bed, sara bareilles - Gonna Get Over You, kanye west and jay z - Otis, the black keys - Lonely Boy, cults - Go Outside, lana del rey - Blue Jeans

John. Just John.

I mentioned in the last post my obsession with John Mayer. I don't even want to hear it from all of you who says he's a jerk or whatever. In his first major album Room for Squares, he has a song called "My Stupid Mouth", so I guess I just feel for him. He's not unaware that he puts his foot in his mouth sometimes. Furthermore, we can all say or do stupid things, but we don't want to be defined forever by these less than glamorous moments. So, I give him a pass and the benefit of the doubt and I think you should too. Capiche? 

Towards the end there I was feeling like an italian momma.

Anyways, the preview of his new album is insane! As in, insanely good. If you preorder the album on iTunes, you get to hear the whole album. I've listened to it no less than 25 times over the past few days. *I did mention I was obsessed at the beginning of this post, right? But I'll wager that you will become obsessed too, because it's JUST THAT GOOD.  Buy it today and enjoy the beautiful melodies and soothing guitar and inspiring lyrics. In the meantime, here is an interview with John talking about his love of guitar and his life over the past few years.

My Name is...

I like to promote a wide variety of thoughts, interests, and preoccupations on this blog and get ready for another one. BAHHHBRA. Streisand, that is. This lady slays it. SLAYS IT. I always forget how incredible she is until I see her again, and then I'm put into another tailspin of joy, jealousy, and awe over her talent. So listen to her voice and enjoy her crazy fantastic nails.  

From the CBS special, My Name is Barbra:

lover, come back to me--barbra streisand

blues and brews

'tis a mood board for the week. feeling a little exotic, hopeful, and melancholic all in one breath. 

 

 

Dennis Morris, the glamourai, Ruffled, 1000 Lost Children, Vanessa Beecroft, 1000 Lost Children, 1000 Lost Children, Dennis Morris

here's a cool song to go along with it:

Tangled Up In Blue--bob dylan

Also, total sidenote, but did you know that there is a Blues and Brews music festival in Telluride from September 13th-16th? I'm seriously considering going based on the name alone (not to mention unlimited beer tasting...). See you there.

lady music

Don't you love a good music video? I particularly enjoy them when huge budgets and special effects aren't required. Maybe it's the young working actor in me, but I just like seeing projects that seem achievable. Just talent, a good song, and creative thinking. Here are two examples of what I'm talking about by two fantastic ladies.

Do You Remember-- ane brun

These Boots Are Made For Walking-- nancy sinatra

i'm leaving town...gonna change my name.

This woman is haunting. Haunting. Check it. or Wreck it.

Ain't No Use - nina simone

Wrong thing to do

Drake. Oh Drake. 

He's killing it lately. I know it. You know it. The radio definitely knows it. But if you've heard some of his CD (not just "Headlines"), you know that he's got soul. I particularly like this song off his album:

doing it wrong--drake

And this line:

When a good thing goes bad, it's not the end of the world. It's just the end of a world.

Truth.

Mind: Blown

I know my last post was musically as well, but this is just too good.

Somebody that I used to know-- Gotye

And its equally awesome and entirely captivating cover by Walk off the Earth:

Beautiful Dark Twisted

I'm gonna need you to leave any preconceived notions behind for this post. A lot of people have issues with Kanye West for whatever unknown (and some obvious) reasons, but I think he is an incredible artist. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw his mini-movie Runaway. This 35-minute mini-movie was created over a year ago, and yet this is the first time I'm seeing it. It's a musical showcase of his album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy which features Selita Ebanks, the Victoria's Secret model. The imagery is gorgeous (as is Selita) so if you've been needing some visual inspiration, look no further. I promise you won't regret spending the time in Kanye's beautiful twisted fantasy.

Yellow Diamonds

It's music video time. We're exploring pop culture today. This Thursday we're looking at Rihanna's new video "We Found Love". Rihanna's videos can verge into a little darkness...and this one's no different. This video first made me wish it was summer again so I could wear cut-offs and little shirts, and by the end made me never want to try drugs. (Side note: I need her America bikini.) Its whole vibe reminds me of NastyGal and Urban Outfitters and Coachella all rolled together. Let me know what you think of it.

we found love--Rihanna

"It's like screaming. And no one can hear."

The Beach Boys

 

There's something about living in California that puts The Beach Boys on permanent rotation on my Spotify account. I know they're not "sexy" like Simon and Garfunkel, or "edgy" like Hall and Oates, but sometimes The Beach Boys just hit the spot. Enjoy.

 

 

 

good vibrations, kokomo, barbara anne, california girls, god only knows

Everyone is, in some way, in the war of their life.

So I've been living in LA for a little over a week now and oh my, what a journey this has been. They say moving is one of the most stressful things a person can go through...needless to say, I'm excited to get to pure fun part. The problem is, when you're moving, it's not only that you're moving locations. You're changing your job, your lifestyle, any familiar stores/restaurants/gas stations, and friends. It's a multi-fecta of change. Every aspect of your life changes in a way, so there's some growing pains to allow for that. That's just my personal take on the whole "Moving" phenomenon. If any of you are considering it in the near future, just be prepared for that.

Maybe some of you are going through stressful times as well. All I can say is good luck. Do the best you can to carve moments out for yourself that make you happy. If the stress is in your control, try to remember why you chose it. If it's not, do your best to realize that it'll pass. Time makes everything go away eventually. In the meantime:

war of my life--John Mayer

Soul Time

The Chi-Lites--have you seen her

Her Hair Alone

Oh man, I'm loving this.

Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga-- the lady is a tramp