As people, we can all find common ground in the things that make us precisely human. 'Just Like Sunlight' is a blog dedicated to examining what we think these things to be. These can range from Music, Arts, Technology, Language, and Human Rights issues to name a few. In order to fully appreciate the world we live in, it is important to illuminate the fact that love and beauty are all around us,
just like sunlight.
Let's get straight down to business. (Please disregard the title, this is serious). I haven't posted in quite a while, but it may not even matter. There is a bill that has been introduced into Congress that would make it illegal to stream copyrighted content online. In other words, bye-bye blog. S. 978, or also known as the "ten strikes" bill, would only allow an individual to embed or stream songs ten times before facing jail time. Literally, up to five years apparently. I admit that my blog is YouTube-heavy when it comes to posted content, because that is the medium easiest for me to share my love for music. However, big-business corporations aren't making any money off of me, so they have hired lobbyists to try and push this bill through Congress. Now, if musicians themselves were coming out in favor of this bill, in order to protect their property, I would perhaps understand. But this is not the case. This is the industry attempting to create a more restrictive definition of what we know as 'internet freedom'.
Let's be honest, I am doing no harm to anyone by doing what I do with this blog. To think that I could face 5 years in jail, for this... is somewhat scary. Please do what you can to prevent this bill from becoming law, by going to the website below and sending a message to your Congressman. Spread the word, because it's important for people, not lobbyists, to be involved in the legislative process.
In the meantime, I might as well take this time to stream and embed some copyrighted content, seeing as it could be illegal pretty soon. Ever since I picked it up, I haven't been able to stop listening to Bon Iver's 2nd and self-titled album. It's just beautiful. It literally makes me want to pack up my stuff and move to the mountains. Without a doubt one of my favorite albums of the year. Check it out and BUY the album now!
I love the Colbert Report. Along with Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert is someone I very much admire. Not only are these two men hilariously entertaining, but their political satire is often brutal and always amazingly witty. While their styles are very different, it always amazes me how some people actually believe that Colbert is the conservative counterpart to the liberal Daily Show. I guess what some people don't realize is that while Jon Stewart often pokes fun of situations from a distance, while still being on the side of 'the people', Colbert personifies what he is making fun of. The character he creates every night is not his true self, but an embodiment of the very way of thinking he disagrees with. Some nights though, Colbert's true self comes out more than others. Lately, he has ongoing coverage of what is named 'StePhest Colbchella '011 (sponsored by Dr. Pepper)'. In a story he did about summer music festivals such as Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, and Coachella, he quite rightly pointed out that these festivals are overrun with corporate sponsorship and advertising all throughout. I'm not gonna lie he is spot on, as I spent much of my time at Bonnaroo at 'There Tent sponsored by State Farm', the 'Miller Lite On Tap Lounge', and so on.
But Colbert took it one step further by announcing that during this week, he will have a different musical guest on each night. Bon Iver performed on Monday, and last night he sat down with Florence Welsh of Florence + the Machine before they performed as well. (Rapper Talib Kweli is on tonight, I believe). The very fact that Colbert has these extremely talented acts on his show makes him so much cooler in my book. I'm not sure whether Colbert himself has an admiration of the acts he has invited, or his hipster interns pleaded with him to invite their favorite bands, but it doesn't even matter. Colbert is awesome. Not only do I agree with his political views and admire his wit, but it looks like we like the same music too. Colbert is awesome.
Florence + The Machine performing 'Dog Days' on the Colbert Report. 6/21/2011
After a week of Broo and a subsequent week of much-needed recovery, I am prepared to return to reality (although I'm not happy about it). I'm struggling to find a fine line between describing every detail of Bonnaroo in chronological order on one side, and understating just how amazing Bonnaroo '11 really was on the other. I will begin by saying that Bonnaroo is not simply an event, but in fact a mindset. One must go in with the knowledge that they will not properly shower for 4 consecutive days, endure the blistering heat, and other details that might dissuade others from attending. For Sarah and I though, these paled in comparison to the positive aspects of Bonnaroo. For four days, we were immersed in amazing music, an amazing atmosphere, and an extremely well organized event overall. Although it was a bit confusing to grasp the names of the tents and stages (they were playfully named, "This Tent", "That Tent", "The Other Tent", "Which Stage", and "What Stage").
One thing I really liked about Bonnaroo was that not only were fans grateful that they could see their favorite bands play at a prestigious venue, but also the modesty of all the bands, who were thankful of the opportunity to play at such a renowned festival. There was a sense of mutual respect between artist and audience that I had never really felt before. It was truly an intimate setting, it created a real bond between everyone at Bonnaroo.
Now, I realize I'm starting to sound like a total hippie, but that's what Bonnaroo does to you. Bonnaroo is its own counter-culture society. Security guards/policemen are at a minimum, especially inside Centeroo itself, and there is no real sense of any authority. But the collective emphasis on having a good time and enjoying music is what comes from this, and it was refreshing to see people simply being nice to each other.
What was also refreshing was the Lemon-Basil popsicle I had from one food stand. Amazing. Insert shameless promotion here: http://www.kingofpops.net/ Seriously check them out. The variety of food was what you might expect from Bonnaroo. Pizza and Burgers and other typical festival food was in abundance, but so was Thai, Greek, Organic, Vegan, and other types of food.
Because it got so hot from 9am to about 3pm, there were several things available to do in order to keep cool. We watched 2 fantastic documentaries in an air-conditioned Cinema Tent, as well as great stand-up from Donald Glover (who really took advantage of his first Bonnaroo appearance) and legendary English comic Bill Bailey). Documentaries, it was said in the Q&A session following 'The Last Mountain', are so important in a democracy as an alternative media source to corporation-funded news and information that we see today. This enforced the counter-culture mentality of the festival and really resonated with me personally.
I could elaborate on so many details so far, but I will restrain in my sorry attempt to keep this post concise and short-ish. What I have failed to discuss so far is the only thing that brought me to Bonnaroo in the first place: The music. It's tough to start, as every act I saw exceeded all my expectations. While most rap acts like Eminem and Lil Wayne are simply not my cup of tea, I was so impressed with Childish Gambino. Aka the aforementioned Donald Glover, the comedian (actor in Community, writer for 30 Rock) turned rapper really gave a great performance with an accompanying band, and will only become more and more popular from here on out.
Florence Welsh from Florence + the Machine belted out an epic set, and sounded even better live than she did on her first album, Lungs. I know I wasn't the only on in the audience who got the chills multiple times from her performance. Every band mentioned in my previous post played better than I could have imagined, especially Mumford & Sons. I think that their encore to what was already a fantastic and pretty ballsy set was the highlight of the entire festival. While the band could have simply churned out their entire first album and given everyone what they wanted to hear, Mumford & Sons really impressed me. They played at least 4 or 5 brand new songs from their upcoming album, songs that no one else had heard yet. I describe this as "ballsy" because not everyone might like something new so soon. (This was M&S's first Bonnaroo appearance as well).
After their last song, they announced that they would like to bring some friends on the stage with them. What this really meant, was that members of Old Crow Medicine Show and the Apache Relay joined the band onstage. With their assortment of slide guitar, accordion, harmonica, mandolin, horns, and harmonizing vocals, they played a rousing rendition of Amazing Grace. After each chorus, a different instrument would solo as they jammed for a good 10 minutes. The entire experience left many in the crowd in tears, and created an atmosphere of such happiness, love, and an appreciation for musical proficiency. And it summed up everything that Bonnaroo is about. The impression that Bonnaroo '11 left on me leaves only one thing to be said: See you at Bonnaroo '12!
Oh and I found a sick video of Arcade Fire playing 'Wake Up'
in front of just about every single person at Bonnaroo:
There are now only 5 days left on my Bonnaroo countdown before I make my way to Manchester, Tennessee, and I couldn't be more excited. This will be my first (of many, I'm sure) Bonnaroo experience so I am not quite sure what to expect. All I know is that I will be camping with my girlfriend for 4 days, listening to amazing bands all week long, and sweating my ass off in the blistering heat. In fact, only those first two matter-- all other details really go out the window. But for the past week now I have been researching and preparing for which bands to see and when. I'm so pumped to see so many names, but I have done my best to make a list of the TOP 5 ARTISTS and I am most looking forward to see play. This list really doesn't mean anything, as I'm also drooling to see Florence + the Machine, Beirut, The Black Keys, Ratatat, The Strokes,etc. and even Eminem. But these select 5 artists and their accompanying songs/videos are what I have been most recently been listening to in order to mentally prepare myself for what is to come. I will most likely post here again before leaving to Bonnaroo, but I doubt I will post updates during the festival, although I will provide an extensive report of course when I return, covering all and everything that is B'roo.
5. The Decemberists
I had not been familiar with several of the bands in this year's lineup, and the Decemberists were admittedly one of them. In researching their stuff though, I was insantly struck by their amazingly poetic lyrics. It continues to baffle me how bands can combine such deep and meaningful words with beautiful melodies, and it is why we all love music so much. I have heard stories about the Decemberists live shows, and how they are fun and that audience participation is often encouraged. This is my favorite video of theirs, and 'Sixteen Military Wives' is a fitting example of the Decemberists' impressive lyrics. I also think I like it so much because I happen to believe the song's criticism of U.S. foreign policy is pretty striking.
The Decemberists - Sixteen Military Wives
4. My Morning Jacket
Despite having been around for a while, My Morning Jacket is another indie band that has managed to slip under my radar, until now. I caught a glimpse of a live YouTube concert they did to promote their latest album, and was pleasantly surprised. I believe this video captures everything about the band, as well as Bonnaroo itself, as it's of a performance from Bonnaroo 2004. If bare feet, long haired musicians, and an atmosphere anything like this vieo is what's in store for this year, then I'll be completely satisfied.
My Morning Jacket - One Big Holiday
3. Walk The Moon
I had been contemplating dedicating an entire post to Walk the Moon, and their debut album, 'I Want! I Want!' for some time, but this will have to do for now. I don't know how I came across this band in the first place, but am so glad I did. (Come to think of it, it was probably hypem.com). The band is made up of a bunch of guys right out of college, who happen to make infectious and addicting indie pop music. Don't let the word 'pop' scare you away, this is good pop I promise. They are my new favorite band, and their sound is just full of energy and fun. The facepaint you'll witness in the video is also mimicked my the band when they play live, and fans get involved in the paint madness as well. I really can't contain my excitement for this one.
Walk The Moon - Anna Sun
2. Mumford and Sons
I had heard of Mumford and Sons in the past, but never really set aside the time to listen and give them a chance. I hope to never make such a grave error in the future. They sound just like any good English indie band would sound, until the banjo kicks in. The Irish twang is instantly recognizable and somehow mesmerizing. The more I listen, the more I like, and the more excited I become to watch them jam out live. I have varied between official band videos and live performances just to mix it up a bit, and here's a performance of one of my favorite M&S songs.
Mumford and Sons - Thistle and Weeds
1. Arcade Fire
Until I heard that Arcade Fire shocked the Grammy world by winning Album of the Year earlier this year, I had not given them a real chance. If this makes me just another bandwagonner, I don't care. I bought the album on iTunes (a rarity these days for me), and never looked back. I spent hours reading the lyrics to each song carefully, when I should have really been writing papers and reading for class. Whatever, I got a 4.0 this semester so my technique works! (Cool brag, right?) Anyway, I fell in love with Arcade Fire and their album 'the Suburbs'. Their subtle theme of childhood nostagia and a concern for our increasingly technological society really fit into not only with how I felt at the time, but even what I was studying! I would read a lyric and think to myself, "that is totally postmodern, I need to tell my Comm&Tech professor...") P.S. If that makes me a nerd then at least i'm a cool nerd that likes good music. Buy their latest album. Seriously. In fact, I would recommend buying each previously mentioned band's newest album. This video was directed by Spike Jonze and the song really is beautiful.
Those who have any interest in electro/dance music that haven't been living under a rock, will surely have heard of Skrillex. Skrillex, aka Sonny Moore, is a name that has created huge amounts of debate about whether he is a music God, or a talentless hack. Seriously, both sides are fiercely entrenched in their positions. Many dubstep and electro music lovers have very much taken to the utterly brutal sounds of Skrillex, and have bridged a line between ravers and moshers recently. There are others, who tend to be more snobby hipsters, that believe that Skrillex has no place among famous DJs, and puts out music that is just unbearable to listen to. I feel it is now a good time to speak on the matter, and inform you who is really right. Kidding of course, but here's my take.
When I first heard Skrillex, I was blown away. The music genre of dubstep is still in its early stages, having been somehow created in English garage sometime in the 90s. But Skrillex is not simply dubstep. His first full-length EP, Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, is a mixture of heavy-hitting electro, choppy break, and filthy dubstep. Together, they make proper good head-banging techno music. The thing is, it's not going to be for everyone- even for people who like both genres individually.
For me though, I tend to like any artist or musician that comes up with something that I find original, and I believe Skrillex is one of those artists. He started off as an emo-rock singer, and has transformed his sound into something that is instantly recognizable. I must warn anyone who hasn't heard of Skrillex- because they probably have no idea what I've been talking about this whole time, but this music is not for the faint-hearted. To the untrained ear it can sound like pure noise, like transformers having sex, or a futuristic and robotic Terminator-machine club rave. Have a listen, and decide for yourself which side of the Skrillex debate you yourself land on.
La Roux - In for the Kill (Skrillex Remix) (This is the track that really put Skrillex on the map)
Skrillex - Scatta (The drop at 1:05 might melt your face off)
Skrillex - Equinox (One of his latest and a personal favorite)
