Initiating the experiment...

My Brightest Diamond

So i've decided to relaunch this blog, which I had originally kept to memorialize my study-abroad experience, but had lately served as a constant reminder of why I needed to be collecting more stamps in my passport. Anyhow, there seems to be no earth-shaking need for another blog in the blogger universe, and my roommate pointed out that I may have missed the trend by 5 years (and counting), but it's kind of a fun experiment for me...I did, however, set some guidelines for myself:

a) create a blog pertaining to my current and past interests and let others chime in
b) no proselytizing = any bands i preach, events I tell ppl. to check out, or things i say is by no means indicative of anything objectively true
c) overall, this blog is just another information source, and if you grab something from it that makes you happy (or sad...whatever floats your boat), enjoy it and share it. and for heaven's sake, i love discovering new things so comment and let me know what you would like to see on this blog
d) obviously, this blog is quite geeky and will in no way boost my "street cred" or am i bringing "sexy back," but hopefully it may urge you to do your own "exploring"
e) given my work constraints, i'll update when i get the chance, but ppl. are always welcome to guestblog for me

Here we go:

So I was able to get out of work Friday evening early and head out to see one of my favorite bands. Sufjan Stevens (aka "Soof"). Although, I had been trying to amp myself up for his concert by listening to his discography the whole entire week, I decided by Thursday that I would just let him surprise me. I called Herman, my roommate and fellow i-banker (although he would be prefered to call "trader") and we dodged through the evening Midtown crowd, traversing a staggering, four short blocks. Woe is me, i know. We arrived at Town Hall, a semi-monolithic institution in the NYC cultural scene (usually playing host to music, dance, film, lectures, drama, etc). From the looks of things, you could already segregate out your "music nerds," the holier-than-thou hipsters, the adults who either love NPR or just wish that Sufjan Stevens may be another recreation of Bob Dylan--thus, we are cool again by being at this concert--and muoi, an unsuspecting Asian chap who has yet to master the comfort of this scene.

Enough talking, music!

My Brightest Diamond was the opening act. Here's NPR's description of her:

My Brightest Diamond is the work of singer Shara Worden, known in part for the angelic harmonies she lends on recordings by Sufjan Stevens. The daughter of a champion accordion player, Worden grew up listening to gospel, classical music and jazz. In college she formally studied opera.

All I have to say is = opera + angelic harmonies = lots of fun! Her album does her more justice, but I posted a few songs I really like of hers below...check it out, you might like or (dislike it).

My Brightest Diamond - Something Of An End
My Brightest Diamond - Golden Star
My Brightest Diamond - Disappear

Now, for the headlining act:

Sufjan Stevens (in a bird costume, how haute couture!)

(and his Magical Butterfly Brigade)

According to Wikipedia:

Sufjan Stevens (IPA pronunciation: [ˈsʊf jɑn]) (born July 1, 1975) is an American musician, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Detroit, Michigan. He is known for his lyrically focused and instrumentally rich songs that often relate to faith and family. He has enjoyed wide critical success in the United States. He is considered part of the folk revival in indie pop, but his influences are very broad. His music has been likened to electronica ^[1], the jazz of Vince Guaraldi ^[2], and the academic minimalism of Steve Reich ^[3]. Stevens has announced plans to make an album for each of the 50 U.S. states, having begun the series with the albums Michigan (2003) and Illinois (2005).

Speaking of Steve Reich, I'll be hearing more of his stuff later in the month at Carnegie Hall and with the Kronos Quartet (very exciting, but future post).

Overall, the concert was amazing and the intimate venue definitely enhanced the experience. I thought the bizarre costumes and homemade videos in back just added a lot of color to what could have been your typical stage set-up. Although, I'm jealous that he's enlisting a choir section (ridiculous) when he brings his tour to Berkeley, I was still awestruck to see how well he mixed a string section, horns and trumpets, a piano, a banjo, and vocals. I'm not Christian or from any of the states he's written about, but I think what attracts me to his lyrics is the creativity and just wonderful storytelling that you can extract from it.

Sufjan Stevens - Come On! Feel The Illinoise!
Sufjan Stevens - Chicago (acoustic) - Live on KCRW
Sufjan Stevens - Dear Mr. Supercomputer

(trust me, there will be more songs from him that i have yet to post)

Live Version of "Majesty, Snowbird":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sgt7G1BYZmg
(definitely worth checking out...hopefully, i'll get the youtube blog feature up and running soon)
simply beautiful = can't wait for the studio version