Playlist Four

So, I figured I should post one of these because I´ve been listening to a bunch of cool stuff lately.
Here goes:

(1) Someone Like You (Adele) - Yeah. I jumped on the Adele bandwagon too. Can´t deny her voice is amazing. However, while everyone seems to be in love with "Rolling in the Deep" (which is the next item on this list anyways), I prefer "Someone Like You".

(2) Rolling In the Deep (Adele) - Again, echoing what I said before....this one is good but not as good as "Someone Like You".

(3) Codes and Keys (Death Cab for Cutie) - I just discovered tracks from Death Cab´s upcoming album "Codes and Keys" and they´re really good. I think it is a nice return to the tone and feel of "Transatlanticism" which is my favorite album by them.

(4) Home is A Fire (Death Cab for Cutie) - The video is AMAZING. And it features art by the same guy who did Obama´s HOPE poster design. The lyrics are really lovely too.

(5) The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack (Liars) - I´ve had this one on my itunes for a while now. It was actually on the final playlist for Pulsar (now called "Rain After Winter"). It is just a very uplifting song. Helps wonders with crafting emotional arcs for stories!

(6) Nietzsche (The Dandy Warhols) - N recently gave me the 13 Tales from Urban Bohemia. "Nietzche" is definitely my favorite. A little more on the metal side of things and great for driving or waking up in the morning. Or both.

(7) Shakin (The Dandy Warhols) - Again, on the same CD as "Nietzche" but not so metal and kind of weirdly empowering. Also great for driving.

(8) Doors Unlocked and Open (Death Cab for Cutie) - I like the tone of this...idk. Feels like going on a journey of some sort. Definitely must keep in mind for project playlists!

(9) Death is the Road to Awe (comp. Clint Mansell, played by the Kronos Quartet) - From the soundtrack of "The Fountain". I really love this piece in general, but the Kronos Quartet version is simply amazing. I mean, the Kronos Quartet is amazing in itself - I´d LOVE to see them live...maybe playing some Mansell or Glass or even Sigur Ros (they play a beautiful version of Flugufrelsarinn). Currently working on an adaptation for string chamber ensemble!

(10) Gymnopedie III (Comp. Erik Satie, orchestral arr. Debussy) - We played the Gymnopedie I with the string ensemble which got me curious so I poked around YouTube and found a beautiful orchestration of the Gymnopedie III which I like better because of its lovely dark undertones.

Categories: music, playlist, playlist four

Writing Playlist #1 - Pulsar

So I thought it might be interesting to share a bit of my creative process with you guys! Anyways, whenever I do a project, I'll create a playlist for that project that will sort of mimic the emotional arc that the story is meant to follow. I'm currently working on a new playlist for a new project I'm starting to write soon (it is a 3-part science fiction fantasy that I've been working on to develop since I was 15) so that playlist currently involves a lot of Daft Punk's new stuff for the soon-t0-be-released film Tron: Legacy. Daft Punk is pretty cool. And the stuff I'm adding to this new playlist is pretty amazing.
Well, there's more to playlist authoring for writing than just making a playlist. The playlist evolves as the narrative moves on. Songs are taken out and others are brought in. And at the end you end u with a pretty cool list of songs that follows the emotional arc of the narrative.
Oh, and there's also one song that just really ends up encompassing the tone of the film itself that I just listen over and over again when I need to keep the tone of the film in mind.

Anyhoo, I thought I'd post my final playlist for my recently completed project "Pulsar".
The song that really sets the tone for this film is #14 "World Citizen". My itunes reports that I listened to it 149 times while writing the screenplay.

So, playlist for "Pulsar":

(1) Mushaboom by Feist
(2) Boy With A Coin by Iron and Wine
(3) Nature Boy by David Bowie & Massive Attack
(4) Nature Boy by Nat King Cole
(5) Headlights Look Like Diamonds by Arcade Fire
(6) New Killer Star by David Bowie
(7) Mírame by Daddy Yankee feat. Deevani
(8) Violet Hill by Coldplay
(9) Poker Face by Lady GaGa
(10) Woman King by Iron and Wine
(11) Wait by Alexi Murdoch
(12) About Her from the Kill Bill Vol. 2. Soundtrack
(13) In the Backseat by Arcade Fire
(14) World Citizen by Ryuichi Sakamoto
(15) Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games by Of Monteal
(16) E-Pro by Beck
(17) Free Until They Cut Me Down by Iron and Wine
(18) Space Oddity by David Bowie
(19) Sleep by Eric Whitacre
(20) The Blower's Daughter by Damien Rice and Lisa Tucker
(21) Four Cigarettes by Malcolm Middleton
(22) The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack by Liars

Categories: film, playlist

Playlist Three

So, it's been a long time coming. Here's playlist three. It is mostly stuff I have on the playlist for my script and that I'm hoping I can incorporate into the soundtrack (long shot, but whatever).

(1) Boy with a Coin (Iron & Wine): Has a slightly different feel than most of Iron & Wine's songs. I'm a big Iron & Wine fan, but I like Boy with a Coin because it has this sense of traveling somewhere, leaving something behind, and being nostalgic about it.

(2) Nature Boy (Nat King Cole): Love, love, love the lyrics. Also, love Nat King Cole.

(3) Headlights Look Like Diamonds (Arcade Fire): I have this over a montage of different places in the city as two of my characters drive around in their car. I think it just really captures the different feelings you get within one urban space.

(4) New Star Killer (David Bowie): N has been getting me into Bowie lately. And the intro to this song is simply amazing and epic. But so is Bowie.

(5) Violet Hill (Coldplay): Also really like the lyrics. It is somewhat tragic but beautiful at the same time. I love the opening line "It was a long and dark December, from the rooftops I remember there was snow, white snow". Also, N hates it, and yes, in the context of musical history it isn't fantastic, but I LIKE IT: the little guitar solo at 2:13 is pretty awesome. Maybe because I can actually play it on the guitar....o_o.

(6) Dancing Cheek to Cheek (Nat King Cole): Again, who can hate Nat King Cole? I've been practicing my swing dance moves to this one when I need something a little more mellow.

(7) Four Cigarettes (Malcolm Middleton): N sent this one to me. Right up my alley. Haha. Mellow, slightly depressing, but beautifully haunting. :D

(8) Zoot Suit Riot (Cherry Poppin' Daddies): SWING DANCE! YES!

(9) Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games (Of Montreal): Okay. So I technically don't own the song. I own the video. Which is AWESOME and slightly disturbing. Like the song itself, it is apparently cheerful, but pretty dark. :D

(10) In The Backseat (Arcade Fire): Hmm. I like the the escalation for this piece. And I like the tone it sets. A sort of nostalgic advancing, a nostalgic journey...

Bonus:

(11) Hoppipolla (Sigur Rós): Hoppipolla means hopping in puddles or something like that. The song is absurdly cheerful and hopeful. Perfect note to end a film on!

(12) Sing, Sing, Sing (the BBC Big Band Orchestra): MORE SWING DANCE!

Categories: playlist, playlist three

Playlist Two

Here it is! Playlist Two!

(1) Airplanes (B.o.B. Feat. Hayley Williams of Paramore) - Hey. It's on a lot on the radio! And very catchy. I found myself singing along to it whenever it came on the radio so I got it. I must say I'm enjyoing it!

(2) SexyBack (Justin Timberlake Feat. Timbaland) - I got tired of Bad Romance as an alarm clock and heard this on the radio the other day. And I was like...Oh yeah! That was a good song! It is good to jam along to in the morning. Just my two cents!

(3) Secrets (OneRepublic) - Kind of embodies my feelings about life sometimes, feeling in a rut and wanting to just throw it all out the window and get a fresh start.

(4) Empty Room (Zack Hemsey) - I discovered this little gem when I was looking for the music used in one of the trailers for Inception (which I finally saw! It is absolutely brilliant btw...). Turns out it was composed by Zack Hemsey and I poked around his website and found this really fantastic piece. I think a lot of his stuff is worth checking out.

(5) Mind Heist (Zack Hemsey) - The piece of music used in the Inception trailer I was looking for. Again, absolutely brilliant. But then again, I love film-like music...

(6) Violet Hill (Coldplay) - Recently discovered this while going through my music library. The guitar solo in the middle is simple but amazing. It sounds so so good.

(7) The Child Moves Away (George Purves) - George Purves should have a record. He's a fantastic singer-songwriter I met my freshman year at college. He was there on a Study Abroad program from somewhere in the UK, lived in the floor above me in my dorm, and I met him mostly though his close friendship with my very good friend J (from Pineapple Tacos). I remembered George the other day and looked through his Myspace page and found both this song and my #8 on the playlist. Worth checking out.

(8) Poughkeepsie Bound (George Purves) - See above. Somehow reminds me of being on the train going upstate every semester to go back to college. A bit of a bittersweet memory for me since I sadly won't be doing that journey regularly anymore

(9) Call Me (Elle Lefant) - Another great piece from Elle Lefant.

(10) The Robbery (The Anti-Job) - Haha. Another band I met at college. I met their lead singer Amanda and their drummer Katie at a party two weeks before I graduated. I thought they were both pretty cool people to concluded that their music would be pretty cool too. I was right! They're pretty good! Not my usual fare, but they have an interesting and different sound. I also like their song Love Strange too. You can check them out on Myspace and I think they have a few of their songs on iTunes as well.

Bonus Track:

Rebellion (Lies) by The Arcade Fire.
Love it!

Categories: playlist, playlist two

Playlist One

So, I've decided to have a playlist post every so often of the songs I'm currently listening to. I just listen to an eclectic variety of music, so I thought I'd share. It changes a lot with my mood and with what I'm doing since I usually listen to music when I'm working or trying to write. So here goes!

Playlist One:
(1) "Time" (Hans Zimmer) from the Inception soundtrack - So I haven't actually seen Inception yet, but I'm really dying to see it. It won't be out here in Quito for another 2 or 3 weeks, so that's a little irritating. Anyways, the track itself is great for when I'm writing and I actually used it for when I was meditating yesterday. It is sort of uplifting but with some nostalgic undertones. Right up my alley.

(2) "Death is the Road to Awe" (Clint Mansell) from The Fountain soundtrack. - I really enjoy Clint Mansell overall. He's one of my favorite film composers. Death is the Road to Awe is also one of my favorite pieces by him and a recent discovery. It helps me focus while writing business plans because it is quite cinematic, especially towards the end. I always imagine the trailer for the film I'm working on using the last minute or so of this piece.

(3) "Love the Way You Lie" (Eminem, feat. Rihanna) - Another recent discovery. It is really quite an interesting and intense song. I think what it is trying to communicate - painting the picture of an abusive relationship - is very powerful and really important that awareness of the subject is being raised. Also Eminem and Rihanna did a great job together.

(4) "Homesick" (Kings of Convenience) - I was feeling homesick for the Hudson Valley (which is what I sort of consider my home) and this somehow captured what I was feeling at the time. It's not the lyrics...I think it is more of the melody. Anyways, quite beautiful.

(5) "In Between" (Wouter Hamel) - Great vocals, jazzy...just overall fantastic.

(6) "To be Alone with You" (Sufjan Stevens) - Really love the lyrics, and I feel it is both romantic and a little sad. Although I've heard it is actually about Jesus...in any case, it is still beautiful and I'm trying to learn how to play it on my guitar.

(7) "Alejandro" (Lady GaGa) - Really, who doesn't love Lady GaGa at some level? I actually think she's really talented (I saw a video of her performing an acoustic version of Poker Face on YouTube...holy hell, man, the girl can sing and play the piano!) and I like that she's very vocal about what she stands for but in a good way (I saw her response to some hate protesters at one of her concerts in a very admirable way by asking her fans not to pay attention to those comments...check it out here). And while her music is pop-like, it is quite catchy and Alejandro is a great song to jive to while you're driving. :D Incidentally, I use "Bad Romance" as my wake-up alarm. It's great!

(8) "No Moon" (Elle Lefant) - I actually know the guys in this band. They went to college with me. Nijae was in a short play I directed sophomore year, Max is an acquaintance of mine (met through mutual friends). They're actually quite good! "No Moon" is my favorite of their songs, but I also like "Pulse" and "Runaways". You can listen to their music here.

(9) "Chicago" (Sufjan Stevens) - Yes, another selection from Sufjan Stevens. Not my fault he's good. There's also the fact that N got me into him lately. I can actually play "Chicago" on the guitar.

(10) "Breathe" (Alexi Murdoch) - Up until I got out of the funk, I listened to this one a lot because I felt it sort of captured the feeling of entrapment and the emotional overload that I had sort of been feeling before. I listened to it when I needed to remind myself that I need to remember to breathe and take things slowly as they come and not get overwhelmed.

Bonus:
Didgeridoo and Tibetan Singing Bowls (Music for Deep Meditation) is great music for deep mediation. Playing it in a room that has a nice echo in it makes it even more powerful. It is very relaxing but also allows you to focus on whatever you want to meditate on. I think that's key because a lot of the time you relax with the music but then can't really keep your focus on something and you fall asleep.

Categories: meditation, playlist, playlist one