11 Days of Thanksgiving: Piano

We all have triggers to our memories. One thing that is constantly on my mind is the immediate relationship of music with distinct nostalgic memories. I write about these moments frequently, as second behind my photography, music transcends time and distances and can instantaneously send you to a moment you could never reach in your deepest of efforts.

Although the snow has yet to fall here in Baltimore, there is one relationship within the winter season that goes together as perfect as a warm jacket and scarf. That is the sound of a finely played piano, with stark contrast to its fellow instruments in any arrangement of music-- alone in the song, you might say. With that piano comes the pairing of the cold chill of that particular time during the winter season when the feeling outside is that snow is on it's way.

Hailing from the upper North East, this time of year happens around Halloween. The ground gets its morning frost and the clouds blanket the sky with gloomy grays as the air gets dry within your lungs and underneath your fingernails. This is winter's welcoming.

Music Make Me Happy

So as of recently I have had some people requesting to give them some new music suggestions. I personally droll at the thought as music is such a big part of my life, so when I was composing a list for my friend Deirdre, I realized that I might have gotten a bit more into it than I thought.

20 minutes into the email I realized I had just practically did a run-through of my iPod and covered it like the Rolling Stones album review section (not nearly as well though). So I figured why not tell the world? And since my photography is on a hiatus due to technical issues with my computer and hard drives, I figured, I'd drop some musical knowledge on you.

I hope to try and do this every once in awhile, refresh the ol' music library, so keep an eye out for it again. But for now, enjoy the music!

Mumford and Sons - "Sigh No More" ... little dated from last year's Grammy's but this album kills it
Fleet Foxes - "Helplessness Blues" ... newest album from the greatest travel music made
Feist - "Let It Die" ... most people don't have her first album since she didn't get popular but this one i think is MUCH better than her others
Florence + The Machine - "Lungs" ... another Grammy's boomer but she's unreal
Broken Bells - "Broken Bells" ... Lead singer of The Shins with some melo-hip hop is a lethal combo
Cut Copy - "Zonoscope" ... close your eyes and you'll think you're stuck in Ferris Bueller's Day Off straight outta the 80's but fun
Bon Iver - "For Emma, Forever Ago" ... Hands down, no sugarcoating, probably the greatest album made in decades. I could write novels on this album, but let's just say its on a cult-ish level and will surpass generations.
Blue Merle - "Burning In The Sun" ... pretty old (2005) but a truly incredible album by a band that has no other albums. sad.
Ben Harper and the Relentless7 - "White Lies for Dark Times" ... plain and simple, Ben Harper gets raw on this more rockish album.
Ben Folds - "Ben Folds Presents: University a Cappella!" ... Pretty much a "Best of..." album but with amazing a cappella arrangements from various universities. Blows Glee or American Idol outta the water. (word up, Chimes)
Beach House - "Teen Dream" ... Baltimore based "dream-haze" band, with the lead singer formerly a waitress at Holy Frijoles in Hampden. She's a good server but an unreal singer.
Aqualung - "Magnetic North" ... as ALL of his albums, this one is touching and incredible. Top 5 albums of last year on my iPod
Alexi Murdoch - "Four Songs" ... the quite literal album which is small but packs a punch in just four slow and smooth songs
Adele - "21" ... obviously hitting pretty famous levels now but the album is amazing and MIGHT top her debut album of "19". It's just unreal that only two years after the debut she's blowing up the charts and legally of drinking age (well she was in her native England at 19 anyway)
Guillemots - "From The Cliffs" ... a little dated but a cool mix of various kinds of sounds and melodies with some killer drumming and vocals
The Temper Trap - "Conditions" ... probably heard the popular song "Sweet Disposition" on TV, but the rest of the album is fire
Guster - "Easy Wonderful" ... their most recent album and it's already up there as one of my favorites and I only just started listening to it. "Bad Bad World" is a great song.
The Baltimore Argument - check out their site and see what is really good with Brutzy and the boys from Bmore. Newest single was released called "High Rise" and the free download is making some noise. Give credit when credit is due and give promotion to good talent... these guys deserve every bit of it.


... drop me some comments or line on what you think of any or all of these artists, I personally love them all but if you have any others that you think are worth talking about, I want to know.

One Night in Brooklyn ~ Travelog Thursday

Many times I find lyrics in music that click with moments in my life, like anyone. Sometimes randomly, sometimes with precise detail to my life. But there is a lyric that I connected with that made me think back on my past year and change. The line is from hip-hop artist Mos Def:

"sometimes I sit back and just reflect,

Watch the world go by and my thoughts connect, 

I think about the time past and the time to come..."

Back in September I was in New York on my journey down from New Hampshire to Baltimore. I spent about a month going from one friend's bed to another friend's futon throughout Hoboken, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Baltimore, etc. The night before my birthday I traveled out to Brooklyn to do a photo shoot of the three musical members of NYC indie band, Ghost Ghost! 

Karl, Kevin, and Tim had asked me to take some photos of them to promote their gig they were playing at the CMJ Music Marathon in October. The idea was to actually make the photographs capture them "training for the marathon" as the humor was that the marathon was actually of auditory nature and nothing to do with physical endurance. Once that idea clicked, then the idea of adding 80's style attire and attitude was too perfect to ignore.