This week the most high-profile music releases include new albums from the B-52's and Gnarls Barkley. Read a review about the B-52's new album Funplexhere. Gnarls Barkley comes back after a wildly successful debut album with a good sophomore effort. Here is a review of the new album The Odd Couple.
I love following Argentine soccer players abroad. Whether they are in the Premier League, La Liga or el Calcio I'm proud of seeing former Boca, San Lorenzo, Velez, and other clubs players playing in the best leagues outside of Argentina. In contrast I love seeing former River players play poorly or in a negative light. The latest is Javier Mascherano of Liverpool who was red-carded only 10 minutes into one of the most important games of the season, against Manchester United. Read about the incident here and about Mascherano's point of view here.
I ran across this article today and it made me think again about this terrible period in Argentine history. The 'Dirty War' in Argentina was a time in which those who opposed the government were routinely kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by the state. Many just 'dissapeared' and have still not been found. Read about it here and here. I get chocked up, upset, and scared every time I read about the period and the histories of those involved. One of the more better-known consequences of this period was the literal stealing of children from parents. These children were given to military related families. There is a great movie about this called La Historia Oficial (The Official Story).
Well, the article I read this morning is about a woman who found out she was one of these stolen children and her suit against her adoptive parents. Read it here.
The NCAA men's basketball tournament starts today with games across the country. It's the best time of the year. We don't have TV, so unfortunately, I won't be able to watch any of the games. But, it doesn't matter. I'll be following the tournaments action online. As for my favorite in the tournament, I like UCLA. They have made it to the final four the past 2 years and are a better team this year. Good luck to my two favorite teams, BYU and UNC.
Last year I wasn't so diligent in my finding of new music. As a result, I missed out on some great new music and amazing albums. One of these is the New York-based White Rabbits. I first heard them on a KEXP podcast and thought they were very good. You can listen to them here. Here is there performance on the Letterman Show.
Recently Beckie introduced me to the photo-sharing website Flickr. Since then I've really enjoyed it. There are photos from all over the world of about anything you can think of. But, best of all, the talent of the photographers is amazing. I thought I would start adding some of my favorites to the blog on a regular basis. Here are the first couple.
"Brooklyn Bound" by Ramperto I love New York. The diversity, the culture, the arts, and everything that goes with being a large city. The Brooklyn Bridge is definitely my favorite piece of architecture in NYC. Plus, it goes to Brooklyn, an amazing city. I like the contrast of color in this photo along with the emphasis on the bridge. "Brooklyn, New York" by My World Gallery Another bridge picture. This time of the Williamsburg bridge taken from the Brooklyn side. Just another taste of the city and of Brooklyn.
Largeheartedboy has the notable releases of the week here. Most notably is the new disc from Why?, Alopecia. Check it out there and here. They will be playing in Salt Lake on April 12th at the Urban Lounge.
Animal Collective received the Plug music award for best indie album (Strawberry Jam) and a few days prior to this announced that they will be releasing a new EP on May 6th, Water Curses. Anything new from AC is excellent and I can't wait for this one.
I first read about El Guincho and his latest album Alegranza, a couple weeks ago in a record review on pitchfork. It sounded interesting to me that there was a spanish musician being compared to Panda Bear from Animal Collective. So, I checked it out and really enjoy it. It's just this crazy mixture of pop, afro-beats, chanting, and harmonies. Stereogum also has an article about them. Here are some songs on his myspace page. I especially recommend Antillas and Kalise.
So, on Friday I received a letter from the department of graduate studies at BYU and was pleased to read that I had been accepted as a graduate student in Latin American Literature for Fall '08. We were very happy, this being our first choice. But, being that I applied to 2 other schools, I want to wait for those replies before I choose a school. I just want to be on the safe side in case the circumstances change. But, for now, we are very excited about this and are happy for the opportunity.
Read here at the Largehearted Boy's blog the list of album releases for the week. The blog also includes some samples. They include new music from the Gutter Twins and What Made Milwaukee Famous.
About 3 weeks ago, a heard of elk made its way onto a neighborhood farm in Salem. This farm is about two blocks from my work so I pass them every day. Daily several people stop on the road and park in a driveway overlooking the farm. It's a beautiful sight seeing several of these animals grazing on land that is usually empty. Seeing animals in their natural habitat is always an experience.
My high school alma mater, Marcos de Niza, made it to the state 5A-II Basketball finals by beating top-seed Phoenix North High School. It's only the second time in school history that men's basketball has made it to the final and the only other time they won it. The Padres have been on a monster run in the playoffs after a not-so-great season. They are the first team with a losing record to make it to the state final. Crazy! I know I haven't been in high school for about 8 years but I still get excited about this type of stuff. It's good to see our school excel. Read about the game here and here. Go Padres!
This past weekend Eduardo Da Silva, striker for the London-based club Arsenal, went down to a horrific injury severely breaking his ankle. The worst injury I've ever seen. To understand the severity of it, read here and here. We hope and pray for the best possible recovery for Da Silva.
I heard this song from the Dodos a couple of weeks ago and loved it. The name of it is Fools. It's catchy experimental. They kind of sound like animal collective but with more approachable vocals. More songs can be found here and here. Their new album Visiter comes out March 18th.
While on Christmas break in Arizona we got this great documentary collection from dad. He had found it at a thrift store and was going to sell it on ebay. He sacrificed it so we could enjoy the history of one of our favorite cities. We've been watching it this week and have learned so much about the history of New York. It's really fascinating. The growth of the most culturally diverse city in the world is tragic and interesting, and in the end helped shape it. We love this collection and are looking forward to a future trip to the Big Apple. Thanks Dad!
Yesterday in the Champions League, the best club tournament in Europe, the Argentine stars shined. Carlos Tevez, for Manchester United, saved the Red Devils from defeat with the 1-1 equalizer towards the end of regular time. Leo Messi, the young star for Barcelona, scored two goals in the club's 3-2 win over Celtic, vaulting him to top scorer in the Champions League this year. It's always good to see Argentine players excell in the best leagues in the world. It gives hope for another world cup championship.
Here we go. Shaq's time in Phoenix will officially begin tonight against his former team, the Los Angeles Lakers. Not only is this the first game of the Shaq/Suns experiment but it is against his former team and teammate, Kobe Bryant. It's a great story, Shaq vs. Kobe again, Suns/Lakers rivalry. I don't know how much tonight's game will tell about the future of these two clubs but it sure will be entertaining. Click on the picture to see what the "experts" think about this game and the other issues in the NBA.
Fidel Castro, today, has stepped down from the presidency and his brother Raul will be taking his place. Read an article here about it. Here's an interesting article about Raul as well. The future of Cuba is uncertain, and even though Raul has the same ideals and some of the same characteristics of his brother, we'll have to wait and see what happens to Cuba, Central and South America, and the world.
After a few days break, the snow came back to utah county, and with a vengeance. We were on our way to Thanksgiving Point in Lehi from Orem and never made it. The traffic on I-15 halted and traffic was the worst I've seen it. It was almost 2 hours since we left and we then decided to take a surface street and maybe get there. The surface streets were backed up and after about 3 hours we decided to head back. The snow and wind made it difficult. It was very tiring and frustrating. We got home eventually at about 11pm, relieved to get out of the car. It turns out that there were several accidents and part of the freeway was closed for awhile to let snowplows on. Read about the storm here and here and how kids were stuck in school overnight.
I finished mailing my last two applications for graduate school yesterday. Now, it's time to wait. I've applied to BYU, Arizona, and ASU although the Y is the obvious choice and the best situation. I'll find out by the middle to end of March.
Shaquille O'neal is now a Phoenix Sun. He flew to the valley last night for a physical and the Suns had a press conference this morning to introduce him as the newest player of the team. Here are some articles about it here, here, and here. A lot of the articles have been negative but I've been able to fine some positive ones. The second link to the article by Scoop Jackson from ESPN is a good positive view of the trade. Here is a negative one.
All I have to say is that the Suns weren't going to win a championship the way they were playing and the way they were composed. The lack of interior defense against the centers of the West's elite was an issue that needed to be addressed. Plus, the inconsistency of Phoenix this year (2 losses to Minnesota and 1 to Miami) may have been in part to some lack of desire, focus, and locker room chemistry.
Let's just hope that Shaq can be a good role player and a good teammate and then the Suns may be enjoying their first ever NBA Championship.
The Vampire Weekend cd came out last tuesday and Beckie bought it for my birthday. What an excellent album. It's fun, smart, and very cool. Here are some videos of the band. The first one is the song A-Punk, Beckie and I's favorite from the album. The video is great. The other videos are live from the Letterman and one from the Bowery Ballroom in NYC.
I heard about this possible trade between the Suns and the Heat last night and was pretty surprised. At first I thought it was a horrible idea but now am looking at it differently. Read about it here and here.
Among many great gifts was one I thought was quite excellent. The Flamenco Trilogy box set released by criterion includes 3 movies by the Spanish director Carlos Saura. It is part of the eclipse series which is a "selection of lost, forgotten, or overshadowed classics in simple, affordable editions". The movies are "Carmen", "Blood Wedding", and "El Amor Brujo". Read about the box set here. Thank you Vicki!
This week has been quite a rollercoaster. Applications, a baptism, and snow snow and more snow. Yesterday, Joseph A. was baptized into the church and into the Orem Cherry Hill 5th Ward. The first convert baptism in about 5 years for the ward. Joseph is a young man from Ghana and came into contact with the church while living in Virginia living with his aunt. He literally walked into the stake center only a block away and asked to be a member of the church. 3 weeks later he was baptized. During the week I rushed to try to get a program together and to get the word out because the baptism was not announced in church. What an amazing blessing for him and for all of us. He was confirmed today in church and welcomed by the members of the ward. We're grateful that he is with us.
The snow just hasn't stopped. It's snowed about every other day starting last monday and just left us with about 4-5 more inches during the Super Bowl. We were at a friends house and had a very difficult time getting out of the snow when we left. I thought the car was going to be stuck for awhile. We hope it stops soon. Along with all of this, I've been working a lot with graduate applications. I finished my BYU application on thursday, the day before the deadline. This is really where we want to be for a masters and hope it turns out. I am liking my chances but am trying to cautiously optimistic.
After all of business of the week, I am looking forward to a nice laid-back birthday with Beckie and a not-so-crazy week.
A few months ago I read an article about a church that was going to protest a funeral of a soldier who passed away in Iraq. I was immediately sickened to my stomach that a group would promote their agenda in this type of atmosphere. Well, they haven't stopped. The Westboro Baptist Church will be picketing President Gordon B. Hinckley's funeral promoting their doctrine of anti-gay, anti-semitism, anti-christian, anti-catholic, anti-mormon, anti-black, anti-america, and pretty much anti-everything. In a way they are anti-God, even though they would deny this. And it's not just being anti or against but it is a deep hate for these people that they claim God expresses as well. I can't believe that people actually think like this. This type of religous fundamentalism is one of the reasons people are denying religion completely here in the United States in the whole world. Read about them here and see for yourself. It's truly scary what people are capable of these days.
In 1986 Argentina won the World Cup with brilliant play from the greatest player in the history of soccer, Diego Maradona. His infamous "Hand of God" goal in Argentina's game vs. England, which he hit a ball in with his hand but was not seen by the referees has been the disdain of England for over 20 years. This article here tells about Diego's apology to the people of England.
The videos here are of the "Hand of God" and also another goal in that same goal which is the greatest goal ever made.
Tonight, the Instituto de Estudios Vallejianos is sponsoring an event of poetry and dancing. Like once before, I've volunteered to recite a poem, in Spanish of course. I'm reciting a poem by Chilean poet and former BYU professor, Gonzalo Rojas. I'm not usually one who likes to get in front of groups, but this has become sort of a way to help me overcome this fear of speaking in public. It helps that it is only a couple of minutes and I will have it memorized. Hopefully, things go well tonight.
I've been asked a couple of times the meaning of my blog title or where I got it from. I thought I would make a post out of it. Anyway, when I started this blog, last january I was listening quite a bit to a band called Grizzly Bear from Brooklyn. Their newest release, Yellow House came out in 2006. I found out about the album a little late through a best of the year list in a magazine.
I immediately fell in love with this album. The folk and electronic influences were evident. Some describe it as psych folk, a blending of folk and psychedelic rock, originated in the 1960's. Grizzly Bear is put into this category although other genres are evident as well. My favorite song on this album is "central and remote". Other great songs include, "little brother", "knife", "easier", etc. Here is a video for "central and remote".
For the millions of Beatles fans out there, there is something to look forward to. Unreleased tracks. These tracks come from some of their earliest recordings. Read the article here.
The Take Away Shows website is definitely one of my favorites. Candide music being played through the streets of Paris. I love the feel, the look and the randomness. It makes the music so much more alive. Playing music through the streets, the artists make music part of the scenery. Children dance innocently to the noise and parents watch on happily. It seems like a nice change to the sometimes drub motions of everday life. Here a few videos that I really liked by the duo of Hawk and the Hacksaw. The text below comes from the description on the website and describes the experience through those that were there.
"Paris often made us despair. Gray, cold, flawless, she lets the music wash over her, with at best, indifference, and at worst, contempt. As if wondering, what the hell are they doing here, on my path ? Then, despite the cold outside, the gray sky, this lazy cottony Sunday suddenly proved itself to be a nice surprise. Paris was alive with kids. Jeremy Barnes and Heather Frost, an accordion and a violin, were the ones leading the camera : slowly, slowly, take your time, let the autumn colours leave their mark on you, give some time to the scene to set up, to the kids to meet and stop before us. Slowly, slowly
For me, this first video really gets started at 4:50, when Jeremy Barnes kneeled down in front of the kids and, after letting a few notes echo, playing one or two fugues to gather his momentum, he eagerly started a melody which mingled perfectly with his surroundings. Gosh, this is Paris, both fantasized and real, the two facets banging together. In thirty seconds, Barnes, Frost and all the kids around them knocked out the so-called typical Amélies of a certain insufferable cinema. Look, this is real, this is a public square, in Paris, on a Sunday afternoon. Look, there are kids looking, and they know how to listen to music, unlike us. For eight seconds, from 5:51 to 5:59, there’s nothing to choose between these kids and those from the late century. What faces, what street urchins.
A Hawk and A Hawksaw are paradoxically disturbing : just like Zach Condon (from Beirut), they have been smitten by Balkan music, its exuberance, and went off looking for it. But if Zach throws himself into it on trust, a bit like one jumps from a bridge, our duet goes for it with a more musical and well-considered approach. Also, their ability to draw a certain form of abandon and freedom from this music, in order to create a flood of notes surging onto us, comes from them hardly ever smiling. No, they don’t take their music too seriously ; they are simply unobtrusive to let their music get the leading role.
This specifically, is the paradox in these videos : unlike some others take away shows, here, you’ll find joy in the sound and also in the eyes of people we passed by. Not particularly on Heather and Jeremy faces. That is why we hardly ever invite people to witness the shows, because our aim is that music would attract people who did not expect it. This is true here, more than ever. We should start the Square Sessions, every Sunday, with kids."
Some of the top clubs in England and in the rest of Europe will be missing some of their stars these next few weeks. Ghana is hosting the Africa Cup of Nations the next 3 weeks where Africa gets to show off the world-class soccer talent that they are known for. The favorites include Nigeria, The Ivory Coast, Cameroon, and of course, the host nation Ghana. Didier Drogba (below) will be playing for the Ivory Coast.
The Sun Devils are back! Last week the Devils made it to the top 25 for the first time in nearly 15 years. Last week they beat the University of Arizona and last night Cal. They are tied atop the conference with a 4-0 conference record and a 14-2 record overall. Thanks to the improved play of junior Jeff Pendergraph and the freshman class that has come in and proved themselves, the Devils are looking at a very successful season. Read the espn article from the game.
Excuse the mess. I'm making some big changes to my blog and am taking a few days to do so. My amazing wife is helping me with all the html and the others things needed to improve it. For now, check out my new picture links and enjoy. Thanks
As the end of the years comes, so do the best of the year lists. Here is my own. The best albums of 2007.
10. Boxer by the National
9. Ga Ga Ga Ga by Spoon
8. Neon Bible by The Arcade Fire
7. The Stage Names by Okkervil River
6. The Flying Club Cup by Beirut
5. Mirrored by Battles
4. Random Spirit Lover by Sunset Rubdown
3. Person Pitch by Panda Bear
2. Kala by M.I.A.
1. In Rainbows by Radiohead
Others to consider: Emerald City by John Vanderslice, Rise Above by Dirty Projectors, A Place to Bury Strangers by A Place to Bury Strangers, Untrue by Burial, Strawberry Jam by Animal Collective, From Here we go Sublime by The Field, Sound of Silver by LCD Soundsystem, Fort Nightly by White Rabbits, The Sheperd's Dog by Iron & Wine, The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse by The Besnard Lakes, Friend EP by Grizzly Bear, Marry Me by St. Vincent...
This week has been a crazy one in Argentine Soccer. Juan Roman Riquelme, the second greatest player every to play for Boca Juniors has returned again to his homeland and to the club of first love. The midfielder for the National team has expressed his desire to return to Buenos Aires to his family. It's a great day for Boca Juniors, and all of argentine soccer.
Also this weekend, Lanus soccer club won it's first Argentine championship. The small club in south Buenos Aires was created 92 years ago and finally has a trophy.
Let's just say that our prayers were answered. There's a lot of things to do right now but this is a huge step for Venezuela and for democracy in Latin America.
Last year I wasn't so diligent in my finding of new music. As a result, I missed out on some great new music and amazing albums. One of these is the New York-based White Rabbits. I first heard them on a KEXP podcast and thought they were very good. You can listen to them here. Here is there performance on the Letterman Show.
"Brooklyn Bound" by Ramperto
"Brooklyn, New York" by My World Gallery
Animal Collective received the Plug music award for best indie album (Strawberry Jam) and a few days prior to this announced that they will be releasing a new EP on May 6th, Water Curses. Anything new from AC is excellent and I can't wait for this one.
I first read about El Guincho and his latest album Alegranza, a couple weeks ago in a record review on pitchfork. It sounded interesting to me that there was a spanish musician being compared to Panda Bear from Animal Collective. So, I checked it out and really enjoy it. It's just this crazy mixture of pop, afro-beats, chanting, and harmonies. Stereogum also has an article about them. Here are some songs on his myspace page. I especially recommend Antillas and Kalise.
"Saturnalia" by the Gutter Twins 
I immediately fell in love with this album. The folk and electronic influences were evident. Some describe it as psych folk, a blending of folk and psychedelic rock, originated in the 1960's. Grizzly Bear is put into this category although other genres are evident as well. My favorite song on this album is "central and remote". Other great songs include, "little brother", "knife", "easier", etc. Here is a video for "central and remote".
