Things have been busy at work lately, to where most of my days have me with headphones on and music playing (well, on a good day I remember to turn on the music). When there’s a set amount of work to be done and I want to focus, I invariably lock onto a song or two on repeat. Sometimes, it’s a whole album… but whatever it ends up being, I tend to prefer a perpetual loop of music during these times.
I’ve been really taken with The Wallings Jr. lately, and have been listening a lot to their album Before the War. There’s something about their voices that I just love, and can’t seem to get enough of.
Hallelu, Hallelu, praise the lord and pass the ammunition too
They say Jesus is coming, he must be walking, he sure ain’t running
Who can blame him, look how we done him, Hallelu
“My foolish nature,
the chase for the paper,
I would deal in the broad daylight
18 years old,
head full of psilocybin
and howling at the moon all night”
I was randomly browsing around Vimeo, and happened across this video by William Williamson, featuring Sir Derek Jacobi. Wasn’t sure what to make of it, but I dug it and thought I’d share.
A recent favorite group that I’ve found via Rdio is The Wallings Jr. Their latest album is entitled Before the War, and there are several songs that I’ve just been listening to, over and over. I take this as a good sign, as bands I fall for tend to move me into an obsessive listening loop for a few weeks.
Set up as though you were watching TV, this is a very fun and interesting take on the classic Dylan song. At first, I wasn’t sure what was happening with the fake TV shows I was seeing… but after a few moments, I caught on. A pretty nifty effect (and must have been crazy to coordinate).
I found out this weekend that Kutiman has a new video, entitled Thru Tokyo. Created for PBS Digital Studios, this video delights both eyes and ears.
It’s funny how, despite all the differences in hair styles and clothes, I find myself locking eyes with everyone almost immediately. It’s almost a magnetic feeling, where you feel drawn to everyone’s eyes so that you can better “see” everyone as they flash by. I’d recommend listening/watching the video all the way through, if you can. Although it’s tough to resist stopping and starting throughout, as it’s pretty amazing just how many people were involved in this thing.
While at work yesterday, I started browsing around the portfolio of an agency that had done a video for my work place. I happened across this random video by Ben Pearce, consisting of a wide mix of individuals (old ladies, drag queens, east London hipsters) simply dancing to the song.
For their song Wor, Django Django decided to focus the music video entirely on the Well of Death riders in Allahabad, India.
Not sure what I was expecting when I saw the title of this, but I was mesmerized from the get go. At times frenetic, at other time jazzy smooth… this was a fun video to experience. The trio is composed of Finnish jazz pianist Iiro Rantala, guitarist Marzi Nyman, and beat boxer Felix Zenger. Now how’s that for an interesting lineup?
Towards the end he gets very emotional, and verges on breaking down and crying. I keep going back and forth on how I feel about it – at times, it’s super uncomfortable to watch; at other times, I’m in awe of how he fights against his emotions, and gathers himself to finish the song.
Another one of the songs I’ve been looping lately, from Gregory Alan Isakov’s album The Weatherman. I’m finding myself following a similar pattern as when I first got into The Low Anthem and began to seemingly post up nearly every song on the album here.
Recently Liz and I travelled to southern Illinois for a family wedding, and this album is something that kept us company for the long drive up and down I-55. In particular, it’s what I listened to on a brief loop while Liz took a late afternoon nap on our way back to Chicago.