So lately I've been on this jazz/classical/Romanian/French music kick. Actually, it's not a kick, it's more of like a, "well, if I listen to this often enough maybe the classiness and the French language will rub off on me..."
Obviously it hasn't, but the recent kick HAS opened me up to a lot of good music.
Oh... and once I find a job, I'm saving up to find an accordion tutor in Berkeley. Well, I kinda already found one, I just need the money to hire her. And, rent an accordion of course. ANYWAYS.

Beautiful artists that you should look into!

1. Jacques Brel



2. Billie Holiday



3. Chet Baker



4. Jo Basile & His Orchestra



5. Tin Hat Trio

Go visit the French site, http://www.blogotheque.net/ .

They have been doing a project since 2007 or so called Take Away Shows, where popular bands and musicians would be convinced to perform in unpopular places.

Some bands that have contributed are The Kooks, Grizzly Bear, Au Revoir Simone, Cold War Kids, The Shins, Vampire Weekend, Bon Iver, Dirty Projectors, Andrew Bird, The Ruby Suns, Arcade Fire, yes yes the list goes on and on.

I think right now they have more than 100 episodes already with these performers.

Here are the Fleet Foxes doing Blue Ridge Mountains in an abandoned wing of the Grand Palais:



Beirut playing Nantes in front of a cafe - Zach Condon marry me:



Grizzly Bear with acapella Knife in Paris:



I really like the idea of this project, and I'm glad it has been warmly received by the performers.
And go to yellowbirdproject.com for some neat designs for charity. Enjoy! :)

I'm finished with my AP English work! Whoohoo!

However I think I will take some time to read all the others on the list. They do look interesting. But other than treading through Frankenstein and Hamlet, here's what's on my bookshelf for the next few weeks:






1. This Is Your Brain On Music - Daniel J. Levitin

http://www.amazon.com/This-Your-Brain-Music-Obsession/dp/0525949690

I'm actually half done with this read and I AM LOVING IT. Levitin writes very well, and not only does he combine and explain the science of psychology and music, you can truly feel his love for both subjects in the sentences. It's less of a novel than it is a scientific read. The back cover caught my eye when I read 'Levitin reveals : how composers exploit the way our brains make sense of the world. why we emotionally attach to music we listen to as teenagers, why 10,000 hours of practice - not talent - makes virtuosos, how insidious jingles get stuck in our heads.' Levitin has a background at MIT, Berklee, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and so on. This is a great book that I would recommend to anyone.







2. White Oleander - Janet Fitch

http://www.amazon.com/White-Oleander-Oprahs-Book-Club/dp/0316284955/

To tell you the truth, I've never read a book just because it said "Oprah's Book Club" on it. But I'm giving it a shot. Hopefully it'll be good. Since I haven't started it I don't have much to say about it, but Los Angeles foster homes and poetry sounds a promising combination right?






3. Summers At Castle Auburn - Sharon Shinn

http://www.amazon.com/Summers-Castle-Auburn-Sharon-Shinn/dp/044100928X/

I'm not a big fantasy-medieval book person, but I promised Alicia I would read this this summer so I'm putting it on this list. Alicia won't stop talking about it and from what I heard it seems good. It had great reviews so I hope it'll be a good read. :)






4. A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess

http://www.amazon.com/Clockwork-Orange-Anthony-Burgess/dp/0393312836/

I'm disappointed in myself that I haven't had the chance to read this book until this summer. I have high expectations for this.







5. Ticket To Ride - Larry Kane

http://www.amazon.com/Ticket-Ride-Inside-Beatles-Changed/dp/014303426X/

If you do decide to read this, get the hardcover version with the cd. They have a bunch of 'Ticket To Ride' novels, but please please please get the one by Larry Kane. I'm halfway through this book too and I am enjoying it too much. Everyone knows what a big Beatles fan I am and Larry Kane really did a fantastic job chronicling their coast-to-coast trip on their North American concert tour. They have a good amount of pictures in the book and a really nice cd of recordings of Beatles interviews.






6. Postcards from the Boys - Ringo Starr

http://www.amazon.com/Postcards-Boys-Ringo-Starr/dp/081184613X

I originally wasn't going to put this on this list because it isn't really a book and it was fast to go through, but reading "Ticket to Ride" made me remember about it. It's more of a museum collection of Beatles memorabilia in the form of postcards, from the boys that is. Each postcard from all over the world would have a picture, a phrase, a sentence, and no more. They say so little but it shows the really deep friendship they all have with one another, that a simple "YOU GOT THAT SOMETHING" would mean so much to Ringo. The book would show a picture of the postcard, back and front, and Ringo would write a little of what he remembers from each one. Really interesting and enjoyable to go through.






7. Michelangelo & the Pope's Ceiling - Ross King

http://www.amazon.com/Michelangelo-Popes-Ceiling-Ross-King/dp/0142003697/

I HAVE YET TO READ BRUNELLESCHI'S DOME EITHER. Every time I go to the library its in high demand and checked out. Not fair. But I'm so excited to read this because I've actually been to the Sistine Chapel in Rome and toured Florence and I don't know the historical context of Michelangelo's masterpieces as well as I would like. The Sistine Chapel's ceiling was extraordinary and I remember our tour guide telling us stories and legends of how Michelangelo would work lying on his back or bending backwards on a scaffold to paint. Very excited to read this.






8. Theft - Peter Carey

http://www.amazon.com/Theft-Peter-Carey/dp/0307276481/

I'm usually not a big fan of easy reads and love stories, even mores so, fiction stories that will never in a million years happen, but the cover of the book seemed promising. It centers around "an ex-'really famous' painter, acting as a caretaker for his younger brother, a damaged man of imposing physicality and childlike emotional volatility." And then some "mysterious young women, daughter in law of a late great painter" named Marlene is introduced in the novel. Ok, its cheesy, but if it's about art and love then I'll give it a chance.





9. Great Neck - Jay Cantor

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Neck-Jay-Cantor/dp/0375713395/

Isn't the cover adorable? Something about a comic book artist, the Holocaust, the sixties and seventies, civil rights, and New York. Oh, and friendship, love, sex, politics, drugs, optimism, courage, and "dangerous dreams of a generation who sometimes seemed to think they must be superheroes." I think I will like this.





10. Seven Years in Tibet - Heinrich Harrer

http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Years-Tibet-Heinrich-Harrer/dp/1585427438/

It has a foreword by the Dalai Lama! THE DALAI LAMA!
A FORWARD TO THE NOVEL BY THE DALAI LAMA!
That goes over my head really. But I found this under 'travel/history' and its been made into a movie. So my book has giant pictures of Brad Pitt all over it.
I'm not a big Brad Pitt fan so these pictures are a bit distracting but nevertheless, I think I will enjoy this since it combines both travel and history. Both of which I am a fan of.






11. Picasso's War: The Destruction of Guernica, and The Masterpiece That Changed The World - Russell Martin

http://www.amazon.com/Picassos-War-Extraordinary-Atrocity-Painting/

I guess Russell Martin also wrote a book called "Beethoven's Hair" that I really want to pick up someday, but as for right now I will settle with Picasso's War. I read the description of the novel and there seems to be a lot of drama in it. I don't really like drama, but I really like Picasso, so maybe it'll balance one another out. I think this might be comparable to Candide by Voltaire, lots of traveling, and lots of stories.


The thing about books is that you lose so much time reading them. At least I do, and I essentially don't have a lot of time ever. I'm hoping that I'll work on my time management more this year and improve it, so I get a couple minutes devoted to reading each day, and not at two in the morning.

Here's another playlist of things i've been listening to a lot this past week :)

1. Walking - The Dodos
2. Between the Bars - Elliot Smith
3. Modern Inventions - The Submarines
4. Mary - The Dutchess and The Duke
5. Autumn Sweater - Yo La Tengo
6. Right Hand On My Heart - The Whigs
7. Go On, Say It - Blind Pilot
8. I Woke Up Today - Port O'Brien
9. Brother Down - Sam Roberts
10. Brand New Colony - Ben Gibbard (live in chicago)
11. Pachuca Sunrise - Minus the Bear
12. Little Waltz - Basia Bulat
13. Drugs In My Body - Thieves Like Us
14. Summer of '98 - The Secret Handshake
15. Little House Of Savages - The Walkmen
16. Could It Be - The Mugs
17. Spoonful of Sugar - Of Montreal
18. Holland, 1945 - Canoe
19. We Danced Together - The Rakes
20. Let's Talk About Spaceships - Say Hi To Your Mom

And before i leave you at that, take some time to listen to Phoenix's album: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, especially the songs 1901, Lisztomania, and Fences, because I am in love with their music and this album is ridiculously good.




Also, check out www.villageten.com, the artists collective that supports Canoe, and other bands like Adam and Darcie and Johan the Angel.



And lastly, I've been listening to a lot Django Reinhardt lately, it makes my summer nights oh so lovely. So if you're looking at French/Big Band/Smooth Jazz/ReallyReallyReallyGoodMusicToPutYouInTheMood/ Want to feel like you're in a Chicago night club sipping a martini in the 1940's: then look no further.



Now go get some head phones, a nice cup of tea, and enjoy! :)

I like to pride myself in being a musician, but be aware that I'm by no means a child prodigy at all whatsoever. I'm sure middle school band members can attest to that since I was the one getting in trouble for talking half the time.

People who know me well, know that I love music. But even those people who know me well, don't really know how prevalent it is and has been in my life.

And I'm not writing about loving the new Death Cab album, or being to seventeen thousand concerts, or personally knowing the members of a band, or memorizing every word and every line of a song, or knowing the full discography of multiple artists. Not bashing on death cab here, and there are times when I listen to a song and I'm fully immersed in it, and i do love multiple artists, but that's not the music I'm writing about.
I'm just writing about simply playing music.



I can't remember a single time in life where it hasn't been present in my house.
When I was little, instead of waking up to the smell of a delicious Christmas breakfast, I would wake up to the sound of the piano. It would accompany the voices of my family when they sing happy birthday to me as I blow out candles. Classical music was the only thing playing in our cars as my parents drove me to school and back. I knew nothing of the songs on the radio, didn't even hear of boy bands until the fourth grade when they were slowly declining into obscurity.
My elementary school life consisted of a collection of classics neatly sorted out on a rack separated by composer.

We have five drawers at home filled completely of books; sheet music, college music theory texts, used music books, books my mom used when she was seven, books I used when I was seven, Phantom of the Opera, Haydn, Jack's Mannequin, Fleet Foxes, Ben Folds, even a slowly decaying children's classics book that was originally purchased in 1927 by my grandmother.

My family has gone through instruments like going through old pairs of shoes.
Two uprights, spinets, consoles, disklaviers, baby grands, and grands, Yamahas, Baldwins, Kawais, Schimmels, Steinways. We've tried them all but concert pianos, I don't think those would fit well in our house.

In first grade I would have piano lessons down the street every Tuesdays and Thursdays. It was a life changing moment, I even remember in my first piano lesson, I learnt the middle C and wouldn't stop playing octaves the rest of the week.

In second grade, I was enrolled into an art school where I went after school for five hours everyday to paint, draw, illustrate, play and learn to compose.

In fourth grade, I was given a flyer in the middle of class asking for all interested students who wanted to participate in band to tryout. Then I started taking flute and clarinet lessons three times a week, sometimes double lessons after piano.

In fifth grade, my mom finished the program to be a certified piano tuner, and since then, have been in the music industry. At one point, we had to park our cars outside for a month because we had five very old, 19th century, broken, and coffee stained pianos taking up space in our garage.
Also during this time I've been invited backstage at various philharmonic performances, music warehouses, and have met very interesting people.

In sixth grade, I was given a guitar and started taking lessons then from a college student named Gerard with long, shaggy brown hair. The first song he taught me was Lounge Act by Nirvana. I loved it.

In middle school, I was a giant band geek who played too much of the flute. I continued taking lessons and doing those awkward recitals your teachers have you do.


Freshman year in high school, I started working at Gordon's Music and Sound.
Freshman year was also the year I quit playing music.

And as I ramble on and on about my relationship with music throughout the years, I realize that I should have continued. And its a shame I didn't since I had all these connections, definitely not talent, but the mostly the experience.
And I know now why I had quit.

Music to me is a guilty pleasure. Both my parents have always been supportive of me playing music, but they always stress the fact that its not "practical." It's not practical to major in music, its not practical to be too intwined in it, its not practical to have music in your life as a profession (coming from my mother with experience in the industry herself, I was forced to accept that opinion half heartedly.) I'm definitely not saying music professions are bad, I have the greatest respect for anyone in the music industry. But because of how I was steered away from even thinking of doing music as a profession, I stopped trying to improve. I was scared that I would love it too much, and the thought of parting with it for a future, practical life and eventually a practical job in the next four years that doesn't involve music was hurtful to me. So I stopped early. It's a stupid way to think.

On the topic of meeting interesting people in the music industry, that also shaped my decision to stop.
I've met a man who graduated from Berklee, plays ten instruments, and doesn't have a steady job.
I've met another man who graduated from Julliard, played the alto sax in front of millions in New York, and at this moment is out of a job.
I've met many piano store owners who can't even afford to buy themselves lunch since business is so poor.


Thinking about it now though, I wish I hadn't quit. I have wonderful friends (Katie specifically) whose wonderful parents would support her going to whatever art school if she ever desired to, and I think to myself, I would love to do the same, but I can't because I stopped playing and its frustrating now that what could have been a possibility is now a far off dream to even apply.

On another tangent about music and frustration is when someone asks me what instrument I play, and I say piano, they answer, "Oh but of course, you would, you're Asian, it would either be that or the violin."

Yes, because every Asian knows plays the piano or the violin and therefore we all play the same, spend the same insane amount of time practicing, and we're all forced to do it by our immigrant parents who don't speak English well and probably can't pronounce Beethoven, Chopin, or Bach.

Thank you so much ignorant person of America, you truly understand music and the world around you.
Now get yourself a plane ticket and fly to somewhere in Asia where then you can realize music might be a necessity to us Americans, but its a luxury to everyone else.

And here is my connection to music. I promise you, it wasn't forced.
As a child, I had moved to seven different houses, six different elementary schools, in five different cities. I've had a parent live in another country for two years at one point. I've had an almost separation, neglect, and in sophomore year, went through a case, later treated, of depression.


There are a lot of changes in my life. Change of school, of friends, of family, of culture, and all that with missing my family who are half way around the world, however music was the only consistent thing that I could have depended on that never changed.

And through incidences like the one where my dad had heart surgery during a giant move from two different houses, I never parted with the piano for the whole month. I remember, I would neglect doing homework, and at one point failed my math class, just because I would spend hours with music, and my mom would understand, because it was what I needed to keep myself together.

But sadly in high school, my three guitars and two flutes sat lovingly collecting dust as I worried about life, and eventually forgot that the wonderful remedy to my problems were actually just hiding in the closet.
And for some reason last spring, I realized what I was missing, opened the dusty cases, and once again, fell in love.

And now I want to pursue the goals I had three years ago, to make up for the time and practice that I could have had and I didn't take. Goals of learning the saxophone and the violin that are unfortunately put on hold since I have no money to rent, nevertheless buy any of these instruments... thank god I have a job.

So this is what I wish for in the future.
I wish for parents to immerse their child in the arts, but let them dream, and let them dream big.

So what if your child doesn't have a chance in being a famous actor? A musician? A dancer? Please please please, let them be happy and face their disappointments naturally for themselves, don't impose it early upon them. They might actually make it.

I lost my chance to learn and grow up with the wonderful thing everyone calls music when I called my tutors and told them I was quitting, when I didn't sign up for band on my transcripts, when I refused to look at sheet music for three years because it would hurt me too much, when I would bypass music stores whenever my mom had business there-just because i didn't want to catch a glimpse of the instruments and start missing playing, and when I placed my instruments their cases and told myself to not open them for fear of wanting.

It was a giant mistake, and no one said a word on my decisions, but I really wish someone had.
I'm sure someone in the world out there has a similar story as mine, no matter if its with art, dancing, or acting.

And one more thing, don't expect me to be a great musician. I do it for the joy of playing, not to prove to anyone how fast I can sight read. I hope you won't expect too much out of me after reading this note.

I'm just happy that I know better now, and that its alright to have music in my life, even if that means that I won't be changing the world with it. Most importantly I want other people to know, if it makes you happy, continue with dancing, acting, writing, drawing, no matter how many people tell you how unpractical it is, because you won't be happy if you cheat yourself of what you really need.

And now excuse me while I drool over Yamaha P85S's on Ebay for the rest of the night. :)

i just got back from a week long conference in los angeles where we debated, legislated, and  compromised the future of the state of california.

listening to all these girls and the topics that they presented, i learnt so much about what was important to the youth of america today, and their views to fix it.

but since its in the wee hours of fourth of july (happy birthday america!) and i'm hiding in the back room of a party on their computer, i'm not in much of a mood to type out my point of view on state issues, and instead will give you some music.

these are the songs that kept me going through my week. because 5:30am meetings everyday and not going back to the dorm rooms till 12:30am really tires a person out. 

there's no really any particular order to my playlists. maybe i'll make different ones next time? a playlist for drinking tea in the mornings? a playlist for taking long walks in the park? 

i've been listening to a lot of michael giacchino lately (go figure,) dave brubeck, and mulatu astatke.

they've been the only things that have been able to put me to sleep at night. dorms are very loud places.

anyways enjoy what i have here :)

1. patricia the stripper - the wombats

2. this boy is exhausted - the wrens

3. just impolite - plushgun

4. be still in my heart - the postal service

5. alloway grove - paolo nutini

6. dance anthem of the 80s - regina spektor

7. a short good bye - oren lavie

8. i'll give you a ring - the novaks

9. are you true? - the new amsterdams

10. loose change - the morning benders

11. give peace a chance - aerosmith 

12. anecdote - ambulance ltd

13. cafetorium - anathallo

14. first song - andrew bird

15. wishbone - architecture in helsinki

16. fallen snow - au revoir simone

17. rr vs. dd - au

18. little waltz - basia bulat

19. a little more time - baskervilles

20. recycled air - ben gibbard

21. hospital bed - ben kweller

22. your touch - the black keys

23. autumn - bombay bicycle club

24. come into our room - clinic

25. tell me in the morning - cold war kids

26. gold and a pager - the cool kids

27. ghostfaced killer - the dead 60s

28. herring bone - department of eagles

29. ob-la-di, ob-la-da - the beatles

30. fake plastic trees - radiohead

on that note, i found a really good environment video about water bottles that actually played fake plastic trees in the background. which made me love it so much more. i'll post that next time.

I should be writing a bill for pro euthanasia right now, and packing a ridiculous amount of things for next week, but of course I'm not. Instead I'm typing out twenty songs I've been playing over and over again this month for no particular reason (well partly because I don't want to finish this bill,) and none of them involve Michael Jackson. Sorry.

But yes, some of these like Zee Avi and Regina Spektor, I love waking up to in the mornings. They start of my day in a cheery way.

Regina Spektor's new album "Far" is so adorable. I've always loved her work.

Read the review! (http://www.prefixmag.com/reviews/regina-spektor/far/26895/)

Listen! (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105518205)

Something about her having such a rich family history (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regina_Spektor) makes her music even more unique and special to me then it already is.

And I love how its called anti-folk. I just love it.

Others like Caves by JM and Fleet Foxes, I've been memorizing on the piano so i've been hearing those lately.

I have about 30 ish cds in the car from the library, two of which are the full John Mayer and Belle & Sebastian albums so they've been playing around my head.

The others are just an eclectic mix I've been hooked on and revisiting for no particular reason. :]

1. All 'Cause of You - The 88

2. Honey Bee - Zee Avi

3. Soft Shock - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

4. I'll Believe In Anything - Wolf Parade

5. Gender Bombs - The Stills

6. Letter To Noelle - Something Corporate

7. Folding Chair - Regina Spektor

8. House of Cards - Radiohead

9. Amsterdam - Peter Bjorn & John

10. Wind in the Wires - Patrick Wolf

11. No Such Thing - John Mayer

12. Quiet Houses - Fleet Foxes

13. La Llorona - DeVotchKa

14. Coney Island - Death Cab for Cutie

15. The Canals of Our City - Beirut

16. Famous Flower of Manhattan - The Avett Brothers

17. Caves - Jack's Mannequin

18. Her Tea Leaves - Iron & Wine

19. All The Trees Of The Field Will Clap Their Hands - Sufjan Stevens

20. Step Into My Office, Baby - Belle & Sebastian