" We have to stop making the me decision. We have to make the we and us decision "
- Michelle Obama
I love this quote from Michelle Obama for earth day last year and I think about it still each time I have to make a decision that might impact our earth. I have lots of improvement to make but today is a good reminder to keep up the good habits and break the bad ones.
Thanks for Words by Chelsea
We Can Make It!
Happy Earth Day!
* * * * * * * * *
Simply Living Can Be Good for The Planet!
Today is the 41th anniversary of Earth Day. Ten years ago today, I remember spending my Saturday standing near the Washington Monument and listening to James Taylor and Carole King play live at the Earth Fair. It was hot outside, we were guzzling down bottled water, and my friend Rebecca and I had driven my ancient Volvo 30 miles roundtrip to the National Mall for the event.
The electricity necessary to power the music acts on stage, the gasoline my car chugged to drive us there, and the plastic contained in our six or seven bottles of water was certainly an odd way to use resources to celebrate the day.
This year, I'm working from home, drinking water from my tap, and listening to a James Taylor digital recording. It's not nearly as spectacular, but certainly better for the Earth.
As a fan of simplicity, minor efforts you make on a regular basis have the ability to lessen your impact on the planet. Living simply -- a decision that may not be based on an environmentally-friendly agenda at all -- means you probably already have a smaller footprint than most people.
You don't need to go to the extremes Colin Beavan does in the documentary No Impact Man (or his book) to make a difference. Choosing to live without clutter means that you're already making thoughtful decisions about what you buy and bring into your home, which is good for the Earth.
Here are more easy-to-implement planet-friendly ideas for people interested in simple living:
Donate unused items that are in good condition to charity instead of throwing them into the trash. Recycle the rest.
When taking on home improvements, look for "green," renewable, and/or earth-friendly resources.
Have your car regularly serviced to make sure that it's getting the best gas mileage possible.
When looking for a new home, check out WalkScore to find neighborhoods that don't constantly require the use of a car.
There are the rare occurences in this day and age when you go to tell someone about this new band you've been listening to -- only to realize there is absolutely zero information about them on the internet. Enter Dog and Panther. What is known about them? Well, first off, we're not even entirely sure it is a 'them' persay. It could be one, it could be many. Judging by the scope of their debut album "What Happened" -- which was released digitally on June 22nd -- it could be any of the above. A sound so small and personal that it could have been written by one man in his bedroom studio or a sound so lush and full with multi-instrumental hooks that you could picture 7 or 8 members on stage at once. The vocals and production values instantly bring Ben Gibbard or any of his various offshoots to mind.
Names? Negative. Pictures? Nope. What you do have is some amazing new indie-pop music from a band that we don't know much about -- but surely will be hearing a lot more from in the coming weeks. Head on over to bandcamp, open up your wallets, and get your hands on "What Happened". Check out a couple tracks from the aforementioned debut down below...
"On My Friends"- Dog and Pantherfrom What Happened (2010) "Love Make"- Dog and Pantherfrom What Happened (2010) "Homebody"- Dog and Pantherfrom What Happened (2010) "Skin Cloud"- Dog and Pantherfrom What Happened (2010)
“A lovely album from a band who will remind you of The Postal Service's cosy warm sound.”
All about Dog & Panther
A friend once shared these pearls of wisdom through an SMS; it read, ‘The longest distance on earth is not from North Pole to South Pole, it is when I stand in front of you and you ignore me!’ Though the message had a mischievous tone to it, it had darker connotations; a stark representation of the times we live in, aptly summarising the isolationist streak due to strained relationships, disgruntled pasts, the constantly depleting time for loved ones and being a non-participant in their lives, the surfeited madness resulting from over indulgence in materialistic woolgathering and the excessive time spent in achieving monetary security at the cost of the very needs one is so desperately achieving this moneyed blanket for - mental peace and familial happiness. Though the reasons causing it are very personal and painful (some accept the reality and move on, a lucky few struggle initially and later triumph over it and others complain all their life of being stuck in a rut) there are umpteen explanations provided to give self-satisfaction as to why one is a victim and why one’s hands are tied and fists tight. Literati, preachers, psychologists and common people like you and me have extensively investigated this contrast and irony and its deep foothold in our society and why we are a victim of it too; the problem however remains as unsolved as always and most of it can be blamed to inaction, fear of losing it all and just plain ignorance. Many records have tried to address these pertinent and life altering issues with dramatic effect; but, it is mostly from the perspective of the affected person – the self-pitying, the loathing, the loneliness, the pain, the claustrophobia, the insecurities and the subsequent addiction to drugs and alcohol (The National’s Boxer and High Violet serve as near examples) and there are a few that are with respect to the affected individual’s ability, vigour and attitudinal shifts towards life, bringing a positive impact on relationships with friends and family (and the surroundings). It is the latter theme where records mostly falter; they sound cloyingly artificial and insensate and hence do not penetrate the stone hearted psyche and emotionally dead persona. But, when you have boy-next-door but grounded-in-reality and yearning vocals similar to that of Ben Gibbard ( the vocalist’s name is Ben too)that remind one of Death Cab for Cutie, literate lyrics that pack a punch like LCD Soundsystem and some electronica thrown in, the message gets ingrained and the persuasive effect – a hundred percent.
‘What Happened’ is a minefield of messages; every few steps into each song, they burst like bombs in your mind and impact the psyche, but leave you something to enjoy and cheer about with the candy like sweetness of Ben Vrazo’s vocals and the non-overbearing ambiance of the record. The record sends the socially charged messages across, muses about the repercussions and exalts and inspires you to think humanely, but, never cracks a whip or bosses around in the form of tempestuous behaviour. In essence it is a catchy and atmospheric pop record that is laced with good intent and it makes no bones about it. Baroque ingredients embellish the tracks and aggrandize the ambient touch. Also, the record has a structure and tracks have been placed in order such that they meld effortlessly into each other. ‘Love Make’, the album opener, proclaims triumphantly with a pseudo-crescendo of brass, piano notes and scattered gear changing sounds and xylophones, “You have love to give, so give it away and let go of the wrongs you’ve done! You’ve got today, so make your life your own”; asking you to stop inhabiting a world of lies and to start living in a real world. The message is a simple one, but, sung so convincingly that you really want to follow in his footsteps. ‘On My Friends’, a jovial track about refraining from needlessly blaming your friends for your downfalls and the unbreakable spirit of not giving up in life, riding on a wave of war-like drums, warm and frolicking guitar chords and Tuba notes and Ben’s wordless falsetto exultations, wonderfully words, “Losing my mind is never easy; on my friends. Focus your thoughts, pretty deeply. Make it through the dark. No more living alone, no more running away. Singing one last note, before I walk off stage”. Psuedo-crescendos adorn the track again, as if to highlight the messages being sent out. The record does not have skyward pointing Sigur Ros’ like build ups but those that plateau in correspondence with the vocals.‘Else’ takes pokes at a female who is not ready to forego her freedom and her wild ways to settle down in life and then compares her to his mom. ‘The Hungry’ a stellar clanging boom bap track on the album deftly features an interplay of surging atmospherics of charging acoustic guitar chords, synths and brass and pensive deadening passages of scattered xylophones and desolate piano stabs and pads. It muses, “ The shadow’s controlled by the light. But, I live, between day and night. We fool ourselves, the hunger’s in our minds. The mess we’ve made, for ourselves!” how astoundingly it uses words to send a message of how we sometimes complicate our lives to achieve something beyond our control. ‘Hurry Hurry’ has a tension building instrumental prelude signifying the distance between our loved ones and right around the 3 minute mark it excoriates this juvenile behaviour and enunciates, “Let us all be friends, we'll put aside the TV sets, we'll hold each other's hands, we'll wipe each other’s tears, we won't go blow it with simple human fear! Hurry Hurry can't we go for our hearts, we'll all die young, or minds will fall apart, our jobs will consume us, we won't be known apart from the others!”. At this point of time, this statement takes the listener by surprise but leaves a hard hitting and insanely lasting impact. Track after track of goodness; this band is on a roll. Dropping another bomb, on ‘Hollywood’ this time, it animadverts and pities the state of affairs in public life and celebrityhood and takes pot-shots at people who are opportunistic, “Look at the coffin with golden handles, look at the flowers already withered, isn’t it great being dead! Look at the mourners; they are all hypocrites, look at the preachers needing attention! Let’s not have a sniffle, let’s have a good cry home.” It is messages like these that abound the cinematic brilliance and the substance of the record as you can both revel in the cherubic wholesomeness and the awe inspiring enthusiasm of the trio – Ian Sigmon, John Katona and Ben Vrazo.
Till the end of the record which is at the beautiful ‘Skin Cloud’, full of digital reverb, comely strings, uplifting falsettos, it shines like a diamond and pierces like an arrow straight into your heart. The songwriting is superb, the lyrics outstanding and the vocals contingent on these elements. It is really refreshing to hear this record. Also, there is something that needs to be cleared out – this is no Postal Service; this music is original and a lot better than Postal Service.
To kick off your summer weekends in the Songkran Water Festival, on the Thai New Year, Portastudio has a new audio show featuring live music from our favourite artists. The launch edition of A Cosy Summer Series comes to you from My Country with Family joining us in the playlist. We have also flown in some great musical talent from Stockholm in the form of Quiet Nights Orchestra, who perform their sunny tunes for our panel which also includes the Portastylistic, Portastylista and our lovely sister Aüm The Cosy weekend playlist brings together exclusive live music from our favourite Artists cosy sound throughout the Quiet night life of weekend.
ARTIST THIS WEEK IN PLAYLIST
— The Quiet Nights Orchestra Swedish jazz band Quiet Nights Orchestra dazzle us again this year with music from their forthcoming album Trombonist Peter Fredriksson formed the Quiet Nights Orchestra as an instrumental sextet in 2006. Influenced by Blue Note, 1960s jazz and global nujazz, the band has subsequently grown to eight members, and now includes young vocalist Sofie Norling. In April 2009, the Stockholm-based ensembles' first album, Chapter One, was released in Canada and Japan. By the Soundtrack Weekend inaugural music guideline with exclusive live music from Portastudio's playlist, so conclude+Live music performing at the perfect way and welcome to your life join with the cosy music performs a set of songs on your cosy weekend night!
{01} 'Chapter One' |{02} 'Fly me to the moon'| {03} 'Sun'
{04} 'The Search' | {05} 'The Runner'| {06} 'Movin´'
In 2010, the Portastudio Playlist proud to presents A Cosy Soundtrack For Weekend+live Session, Is a cosy music smart playlist and feature interviews. From our panel which also includes selected by the Portastylistic. We focus on the inaugural music guideline, Our favourite musical talent with exclusive live music from around the world to the week ahead.
This Cosy life night weekend for your experience cosy music playlist with some familiar on your cosy night in pop sensation. our panel which also includes selected by the Portastylistic.
A Cosy Soundtrack For Weekend+live Session goes live every Saturday at 8pm. Bkk, Thailand time on Mixpod and right here at theportastylistic.blogspot.com.
PORTASTUDIO PLAYLIST A COSY SOUNDTRACK FOR WEEKEND +LIVE SESSION BY The PORTASTYLISTIC ...................................................................................
Tomura (Eguchi), a legendary patissier who suddenly disappeared from the world of sweets eight years ago, repeatedly declines invitations to show off his skills at a renowned pastry shop in Tokyo where he is a regular. Meanwhile, an unexpected coincidence leads Natsumi (Aoi), the daughter of a Kagoshima bakery owner, to begin working at that same pastry shop after following her boyfriend to Tokyo. With the mystery behind Tomura’s sudden exit from pastry circles still lingering and Natsume still preoccupied with the idea of reuniting with her boyfriend, the unlikely pair both experience personal growth through their interactions with one another.
Yoshihiro Fukagawa (深川栄洋 / FUKAGAWA Yoshihiro) is a Japanese film director from Chiba Prefecture. He is currently represented by 925hPa.
Asmik Ace Entertainment will be releasing “Patisserie Coin de rue” in Japan on February 11, 2011.
“brings about changes in both of their lives.” A trailer has been released for Yoshihiro Fukagawa’s upcoming film Patisserie Coin de rue starring Yosuke Eguchi and Yu Aoi.
—Behind The Scenes
the Hawaii International Film Festival is back in town for spring with a nice selection of foreign films to choose from. and last night i went to see the new film starring Yu Aoi called Patisserie Coin De Rue.
full of delicious sweets any dessert person would die for. with a lot of funny parts, as well as very dramatic scenes, Yu Aoi was a joy to watch throughout this film. but she would probably be the only good reason for me to say that i would want to watch it again : mainly because even though there was a lot of drama going on, the movie seemed to move at a slow pace. the imagery was nice (with the shots throughout Tokyo and the cute cafe shops), but there were some irrelevant scenes that were a bit pointless and confusing. honestly, i liked Rinco's Restaurant much better.
Computer Magic is the solo project of 21-year-old DJ/blogger Danielle (she goes by Danz). She moved from Rock Hill in upstate New York (population: 1,056) to New York City in 2008 to attend Hunter College. Danz started doing Computer Magic a few months ago in her downtime between school, DJing, and graphic designing. She makes bedroom electronic pop music that feels equally whimsical, claustrophobic, and ethereal. “Electronic Fences” was inspired by the Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? You can hear children playing behind the song’s arpeggiated keyboard, making this song feel as if it were inspired by the isolating, introverted act of reading itself, not just the book. (If you ever skipped recess to finish a book, you understand.) “On VHS” has a slightly tropic vibe, while “Teenage Ballad” was partially inspired by The Graduate (she sings about getting good grades and not pissing off parents). It’s the kind of music the female leads in Sofia Coppola movies would make. She’s sharing a bunch of MP3s, so get busy:
“She loves movies like Barbarella, Zardoz, Outland, The Man Who Fell To Earth, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.”
All about
Computer Magic
Computer Magic was created in the Winter of 2010 in Brooklyn.
CM consists of Danz. Originally, Danz is from upstate New York, she moved to Brooklyn after graduating high school.
Computer Magic has been making demos and putting them up online for free, there are no official hard releases (yet).
For live shows, James Morley plays guitar, Justin Coles plays bass, Chris Egan plays drums.
If you’re interested in contacting Computer Magic, please e-mail: computermagictricks@gmail.com
If you’ve picked up the newest issue of the New Yorker — one of my favorite magazines, by the way! — you may have noticed that KH005 artist Computer Magic got a little love from the Night Life crew! The band’s show this Wednesday, November 24 at Pianos in NYC was featured as a show to catch and was filled with lots of glowing complements! (Seriously! Being called an act with “a fully formed set of aesthetic concerns” is pretty incredible by any standard.) The band has also been featured on Stereogum a handful of times.
Our tape with the Brooklyn-based one-girl recording project of Danielle Johnson — which expands to a band for live performances — will be the first-ever physical Computer Magic release! We can’t tell you everything about KH005 just yet, but this will be totally different from any release we’ve done so far! Look for Computer’s Magic’s Get a Job in January 2011
The volumes of great music that artists and bands have been sending in over the past few months is impressive, and taking time to get through – literally hundreds. And so we have to keep slimming down the list to make it realistic. Today we are adding five more bands to watch in 2010.
A couple of weeks ago, we received some tracks from 21-year-old Danielle (last name unknown), who also goes by the nickname Danz. Danz, who is a DIY musician living in New York City, is better known in the musical realm as Computer Magic. She plays guitar and synthesizer, and writes and composes lo-fi indie rock and glo-fi music. And we hope she keeps doing so, because we heart Computer Magic.
Computer Magic is heavily influenced by old sci-fi films and Philip K. Dick books, in addition to many artists, including Belle & Sebastian, Animal Collective and David Bowie.
BTW Computer Magic, aka DJ/blogger Danielle, will be recording sometime this fall. In the meantime she’s been writing and recording new songs, bundling them into mini-EPs for download through her website. “Victory Gin” is her latest track, and it’s inspired by 1984. Victory Gin is a powerful drink that makes you feel like you’ve been hit in the head in the novel. Hard to associate anything dark or dystopian with this sweet, guileless track:
Danielle also put together some of the songs we posted last time — “On VHS,” “Electronic Fences” with some new songs, like the title track to the EP, “Hiding From Our Time” for a free downloadable seven-song EP. That cover works well with her music: innocent, whimsical, and dreamy, with its head in space, rather than in the clouds. Have a listen to “Hiding From Our Time,” and download the EP here. This track kicks off the EP, hence the dramatic opening synth chords:
![[date-header-bg.gif]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCYE3aiPBDWXi-w43FiVfcz7g1sWfQbZekRtSRUquWmWhw6Meh7CwiOGZ_rw2xTPWrmXx1hs9Xdb1po-nZeRoxKqVO1r2IGQRwZqVs3r6Xo7OZP77jnFHpZNSW9kWkvY6Eh_ugorJDgOKe/s1600/date-header-bg.gif)
Posts
