An Art of Living

    What's up, everyone? Well, it has been a crazy week/weekend, with school taking up a lot of it. But it's fine, I'm still finding my peace within it.
    Otherwise, just hanging out with some awesome friends recently and actually got to see Iron and Wine tonight at Millenium Park for free!! I hadn't heard of them, but checked them out when I found out that there was going to be a free concert, and I'm glad I did! The concert was short but it was a lot of fun, and the music was really cool! Very talented musicians on the stage, I suggest you check them out!
     Also got to check out Bluesfest this weekend, and it was pretty awesome!! I also got a new bike, and have been using it quite a bit recently! I love it, it's my new mode of transportation. Lets me save a little on CTA fare. So all and all, it's been a good week/weekend.
     So I have been thinking a lot about my "art" and my "work" and what I do, my writings, etc. And I have been frustrated that I can't always come up with stuff or school distracts me from it. I did come up with one good poem/song, which I am happy about and may release it here in the future, but thinking about my art always gets me going. So I thought to myself "Well, what can I really put in my art that I love more". My love for music is already going, and my love for history is going, and of course there is my love for travel which I am trying to incorporate more, but what can I bring more into it?

    Well, it hit me about a week ago, even though it's been there, I realized it a little bit more. I can explore the art that I am trying my hardest to understand and at the same time, the one I think I'm pretty good at. The art of living.
     What do I mean by that? Well, I mean I love the outdoors, I love emoiton, I love the world, I love feeling, and I love just being. I love to expreience things, and I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to be here on earth and to meet the people I have in my life. What's wrong with being happy? Sometimes I feel like it seems so taboo in an arts school. Believe me, I have my sadder side and my life have certainly not been fun and games, but I've been very good with finding my peace. I think there is a balance when it comes to looking at the world. Yeah, the world can be a really crumby place, believe me, I'm very much aware of that fact. But at the same time, you have to look at all the beauty in the world that is here as well. Too much do we just gloss over what is around us and what we have outside our doors that we pay little respect to the world around us. That's why I feel like I walk around a lot. I do love walking obviously, but I also like exploring and feeling the world around me and looking at where I am. To truly feel the present and the world around, is an art within itself.


Me on some cliffs in Israel

     I am addicted to traveling, and have been fortunate enough to do quite a bit of it in my life. But whether it be somewhere outside the US or exploring somewhere here in Chicago, I always love just taking in the world around me and letting it inspire me. It brings a sense of joy, peace, and connection between me and the world. It fills up my heart, being glad to be where I am right now in life, and I'm glad I have the "gift" of being able to get joy from what surrounds me. I really wish to incoorperate this in my art more, as I would like to make my art have that international flair in it, and with the flair of living. For me, it's like my own kind of drug, reality is my art, and the world around me is my art and far too much do I think we take that for granted, to be glad to be alive. So be happy with what you have and take advantage of the world around you.
    I could go on and on, but I will save more for another blog post.
    Anyway, so I've been on a Coldplay kick and, I will have to say, Viva La Vida Or Death and All His Friends is one of my favorite albums ever, because (like I was talking about before), it has a very international and passionate sound to it, as well as musically and lyrically amazing! So this is the album I'm reviewing today.
   Well, the album has many different influences in it, there is Middle Eastern, Hispanic, European, and more! The lyrics also mention Osaka (Lovers In Japan/Reign of Love), Chinese Sleep Shant, London (Cemeteries of London), and a few more! Actually, it turns out that some of the recording was done in chuches in Mexico and Spain, which I think is cool! Chris Martin also stated reading a lot of Charles Dicken's work, inspiring some imagery in songs such as "Cemeteries of London" and "Violet Hill". Alas, this album is one of the most unique albums I have ever heard in my life.
   It is their shortest album, lasting only about 45 minutes, but that is the way the band wanted it. They wanted to have a much stuff on the album but keep it to a shorter length so one could listen to it in one sitting. But let me just say, this album is a journey, and it's a damn good one.

   This is another album where I must say I don't have favorite songs, as I love the whole album. It feels like you can travel the world in your own living room listening to this. Also, this album has everything I mentioned I love earlier: traveling (the international influences), art (it's experimental style to it and album art), history (album art and lyrics), and writing (lyrics). It also has a lot of passion to it, which I love, and this album can put you in a good mood whether your having a good day or a crumby day (Coldplay is good with doing that).
   So let me ask, who HASN'T heard at least "Viva La Vida"?? If you have not heard this album in full, you are missing out!
   I got to see Coldplay on their Viva La Vida tour when they played Saratoga Springs, NY. One of the most amazing concerts I have been too. Chris Martin is such a performer, he's really something. And the band is amazing!! The stage set up was very simple yet colorful and the lighting was the big thing, in my opinion. Perfect! The band also did an acoustic set in the back of the audience (close to where my friend and I were) and it was awesome! They did a cover of "Billy Jean" which was soooo cool!!
   So yes, world, if you have yet to listen to the album, go check it out. Probably one of the best album to come out the last decade. Personally, this was my first Coldplay album I had ever bought, and did not know much about them. I was in Best Buy the week it came out, and just came across it while browsing through the music section. I saw the cover and looked at the tracklisting in the back. It looked like a very interesting album, and I knew nothing about the music or anything, but I was intrigued by what I saw, so I ended up buying it. Went home, gave it a listen, and I fell in love! One of the coolest albums I ever heard. One of my favorite albums to listen to when I was driving up to Montreal with a friend that summer! Actually, now that I think about, I listen to it a lot when I'm traveling, just because it has that international, adventuristic vibe to it!
   Also, if you have a chance, check out Prospekt's March, the EP Coldplay put out a few months later. It contains music that was very close to getting on Viva La Vida. It has the same kind of atmosphere to it. It also has the song "Lost" but featuring Jay-Z on it, called "Lost+" on the album. There is also "Life In Technicolor ii". The first one, which opens up Viva La Vida is an instumental, but this has lyrics to it and it's a great song! There is also the Osaka Sun Mix of "Lovers In Japan", which is just the song in a faster tempo. And there are also original songs which are all amazing, so check it out!
   Well, that's all I have for now! Hopefully have more for you later in the week. Peace out, and have a great beginning of the week!! : )

- The AR


"Life In Technicolor ii" by Coldplay:


"Lost!" by Coldplay:

Didn't See You There

     What's up everyone? It's been awhile, almost a month since I have written here! Well, now I have a bit more time since it is summer, I'm going to try and get this blog going!
     So what do I want to discuss today? Well, it's been a very long week. One of the reasons was that one of my closest friends from back home was in a bad motorcycle accident. It could have been a lot worse, but it still was pretty bad. He even collapsed a lung and has broken a few of his bones in his spine. It's going to take about three months to heal, which sucks. And what did my friend see when he crawled back to the crash site and collapsed, as he was thrown into a windshield and then into the guardrail and launched into a field?...
   The asshole holding his cellphone, a text ready.

    Well, ladies and gentleman, this again goes into an argument that texting while driving SHOULD be against the law, as stupid irresponsable things like this happen. I'm sorry, but I'm sure nothing is SO urgent that you have to text someone back. If there is, there is such thing as a handsfree phone/bluetooth. Those are a lot safer than looking down, texting, and keeping your eyes away from the road. My friend did not deserve what happened to him, and it's very irresponsable because of the reason he is hurt. This is part of the reason why technology gets to me sometimes, because there are also negative outcomes because of this technology and the need to be so connected 24/7. It's dangerous and I feel like too many of our youth simply do not care. I mean, what's the point? You can't really say "ohh, look at me, I'm a rebel because I text while I drive". At least if you have to text, get off the road and stop driving your vehicle. And you always here these statistics of how many people get hurt from things like texting while driving, I just never thought the statistic could be someone I love, and that's really bad. These reports are made for a reason and we think "oh, we're gonna be fine, that won't happen to me". Well, guess what, it could. You could be the victim or the perpetrator. My generation needs to be a bit more careful with their driving, as it seems like a lot more of people my age are just careless. This goes with drunk driving, reckless driving, and such. When I was in 8th grade, my grandmother was hit with an SUV and was hurt for awhile, because of someone trying to run a red when she was on the crosswalk following the signs, this asshole just came out of nowhere. I mean, for real. Can't we be a bit more careful with our driving? A study showed that nearly 6000 people died in accidents caused by distractions such as these. You would think we would take care of our safety more, wouldn't you? Who knew our technology would come first? I didn't. Value your life. The car is a great invention as are cell phones. I love taking drives at night and listening to music, and I also like talking on the phone (though I enjoy face to face more, obviously, which is another thing that is somewhat dying out). But use common sense!
   So please, don't be an asshole and hit someone because of your texting. Have a bluetooth or other handsfree device if you need to get in contact with someone. Cell phones are definitely a very good invention for the world, but they also bring hazards, so watch out people! I love my friend very much and wish I could be there with him right now, as he is like a brother to me, but I wish this just didn't happen in the first place! So please keep my friend in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks!
  On another note, I also want to write about the Coldplay album, X&Y. I have been listening to it a lot recently, and I really enjoy it.

   This is their third album, which came out in 2005, is musically a little bit more electronic, as they citied in getting inspiration from electronic music from the likes of David Bowie, Brian Eno, and Kraftwerk, to name a few. In fact, they got permission from the German electronic band Kraftwerk to use their main riff from their song, "Computer Love" (or "Computerliebe") for their song "Talk", which is a great song. Anyway, so the album has a little bit of a more electronic vibe, but that doesn't stop it from being beautiful and universal.
  Lyrically, the music has a bit more "fears" into the album, even though I think fear and hope is evident in the album. That being said, this album is really blunt and is not afraid to show insecurities and fears, which I think is very, well, human, as we all have them, wheather we like to admit them or not. It really brings out every emotion in you if you listen to the album closely, yet you don't feel alone in it, you feel apart of something.
    Alright, my favorite songs from this album: "Square One", 'What If", "Fix You", "Talk", "Speed of Sound", "A Message", "Low", "The Hardest Part", "Swallowed By The Sea", "Twisted Logic", and the hidden track, "Til Kingdon Come". So yeah, that's like the whole album haha, so I'm just going to say the whole album is good, but I'll talk about a few songs.
    "Square One", the first track of the album, is great as a first track, as it sets you up for the album. It's almost forshadowing, giving us a bit of hope but also questioning our lives and who is listening to us, as we always want someone listening to us, "it doesn't matter who you are". It sets us up for a journey into our own lives.
    "What If" is the song that follows. And it puts our questions out there pretty bluntly; the "what if" questions. Those questions that worry us everyday, as ridiculous as they may be. It's a scary feeling, and the song lets us know that they are very present. What if you lose a loved one, a family member, or whoever because you think you did something wrong? At the same time, I think the songs also tells you to explore that feeling and why we feel it, learning from our mistakes, but at the same time, sometimes taking risks. "That's the risk that you take".


     Then there is "Fix You". Who doesn't know this song? I love every transition in it, it begins with fear and ends with hope. At first, the singer makes it aware that you have been broken and hurt, and you are aware of the pain, but then, he goes to say that there is a way out of it and that he, along with the music and the recovering journey you are about to endure, will "try and fix you". The music gets louder and epic, until it explodes with emotion, passion and hope. It tells you that you are not hurting alone and that there will be light. At the very end, it is a bit more intimite, but you have made a step. I'm going to say that I have listened to this song when I was going through some rough times, and it puts me in a good mood.
    "A Message" is a very hopeful song, even on a rainy day. Actually, it really does work on a rainy day. Anyway, this is a song about not being alone, and hope, as I said. "My song is love". Yeah, this is a love song, and it's a really different one. I don't think everything is perfect in the singer's situation, as he is telling the person he is singing about to "please come home", but I think that's the tradegy in it, as well as the beauty.
    "The Hardest Part", well, it's in the title. After all the hope and fear you have been through, what ends up being the hardest part? The hardest thing to let go? Is it the memories, the fear, the hurt, the confusion? It all ties in, but it tells you, sometimes it's better to let go and that you have to work it out. And you end up working it out usually, but hey, who said it was easy? The singer is very aware of that.
    "Swallowed By The Sea" is an amazingly beautiful song. It's very poetic and the music is very hopeful and beautiful, and it is like you have gone through a journey in the album and have come out of it a step ahead. This is the second to last song in the album (not including the hidden track, "Til Kingdom Come") and it is a good song to be that close to the album, as it is very hopeful, as it tells you that whatever hard road you go through, you can make it. It is also a love song, as he is singing to someone, but in this love song, things are getting better.
    The album ends (excluding the hidden track) with "Twisted Logic". It is a perfect ending, as it is really a message. A look into the future, and a bit of a rally call. It really reminds me of "Don't Feed The Plants" from Little Shop Of Horrors (stage version) as it ends the album in a very similar way, with a message and a warning of sorts. It tells of a future of over technology (hmm, kind of goes with that I talk about first with the texting while driving). But, it also warns us that there will be more bad times, but to keep pressing on and to try to move forward. We all take punches. Yet again, a GREAT ending.
    Well, that's all I have to say on this post! I hope everyone is having a good summer so far (even if it has been raining as much as it has in Chicago). I'm sure I'll be back soon. Well, everyone, I give you my best, and I'll see ya'll later!! Peace!!

- The AR

Texting While Driving website:
http://texting-while-driving.org/

Shocking Video Warning To Teen Drivers (I can't embed this):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiEFjt6ouqI&feature=related

Swallowed By The Sea (live) by Coldplay:

It's Been Awhile

   Well, it's been a few weeks since I have written here. School has been taking up a lot of my time, which kind of sucks. But hey, it's life. Summer is about two weeks away and soon, I'll be able to write in here more and think of more stuff to write about. Right now, my mind is here in school.
   So it turns out Coldplay is going to be one of the headliners at Lollapalooza, along with Eminem, Foo Fighters, Muse, and many many other bands! I'm really excited for it and I hope I can go, it looks sooo awesome!!
   Well, in the past few weeks I really only had time to sit down and listen to one album full out, and that is A Rush Of Blood To The Head by Coldplay.

   Like Bruce Springsteen's The Rising, some of the lyrics have been affected by the September 11th attacks, as the band started recording in London a week before the attacks. Did this effect the album in the same way, lyrically, as The Rising? Well, yes and no. I think you can see a bit more urgency in this album than it's predecessor, but at the same time I think Springsteen's is a bit more blunt to see, lyrically.
    This album is a bit heavier musically, then the first one. There is a bit more guitar and piano heavy, though there is still acoustic guitar present.
    My favorite songs on this album: "In My Place", "The Scientist", "Clocks", "Green Eyes", and "A Whisper".
   "Clocks" was, I believe, also one of the first Coldplay songs I ever heard, though I didn't know who did the song at the time. But the piano riff, I think everyone knows now (I can also play it on the piano!). Originally, it was not suppose to be on the album, as Coldplay thought it was too late to add it at the time, and put it aside for a bit. But when, after they decided to rework the album a little, was told by their manager Phil Harvey that they would be crazy to NOT do this song, as it felt like it fit with the theme of the album and that it fit with how they were feeling personally at the time.  Alas, it was included on the album.
   "Green Eyes" is such an amazing love song, a serenade to someone who completes you. Yes, I'm a romantic. I just think it's really a good, light, upbeat, and truthful. It's really a beautiful song. The guitar in the beginning until when the band comes in is just very light and personal. When the band comes in, it really brings it to a climax. Great song!
   "A Whisper" is one of Coldplay's lesser known songs but I think it's very underrated. It's one of the more urgent and fast songs on the album, but it really has something to say. To me, it feels like a panic attack, trying to figure out where to go from there. The singer is singing about how he can "hear the sound of the ticking of clocks" and it's like he is being somewhat disturbed by them. One of my favorite parts of the song. I think we all feel the urgency in our lives.


tour poster

    "The Scientist" is pretty well known, but I think it's very blunt in it's message about wanting "to go back to the start". It's life, when it comes down to it. "Nobody said it was easy". This is a very true song, and I really like it. Musically, it is very beautiful as well. But at the same time, it still makes you want to keep going.
   "In My Place" has one of my favorite guitar parts. This is honestly a song I really took for granted before I really listened to it, it is really good. Another song about waiting and time. You can't change what is, and however you must wait for that good thing, it's worth it. This seems like the waiting aspect. The singer is looking at his past and memories and where he is now (very true to how the band felt at the time, just stuck and wondering what to do now).
    Something interesting I just read now on wikipedia: Chris Martin stated that the title track, "A Rush Of Blood To The Head" is a homage to Johnny Cash. Martin considers Cash one of the "greatest men...with just guitars". Can't deny that Cash is amazing.
    Well, lyrically, Coldplay had a new perspective because of the attacks on 9/11. Martin stated "The new songs are reflective of new attitudes. [They tell listeners] not to be frightened. Anybody can achieve whatever they want to". This was pretty important for the listeners at the time, especially to those here in USA who went through the time period of 9/11. We needed all the hope we could get.
   The theme here is urgency, and I think it's portrayed very well in the album. It really is a good listen, so check it out!
    Well, that's all I got for now. Time to get back to life. Peace out for now.
   
  -The AR


Coldplay Interview on MTV about the album in 2002:


"The Scientist":

We Live In A Beautiful World

     Well, it's been about a week or so since I wrote here last, and it's been a pretty good week/weekend. I hope everyone is doing well! School has been kicking my ass. Oh well. As far as what I said in my last post about there being a part II to it, you can scratch that, as it will be it's own seperate post one of these upcoming days.
     So, tonight I am featuring a new artist, as we have already went through all the Bruce Springsteen albums. So this past weekend, I listened to the first album. And that album was Parachutes by Coldplay. So, yeah, I'm am now gonna feature Coldplay on this blog, along with whatever comes along in the life/entertainment/the world. But now on to Parachutes...
     Well, this is Coldplay's first album, released in 2000. I actually first really heard about Coldplay my freshman year in high school. My friend had told me about this movie called Garden State and he let me borrow the soundtrack to it. I checked it out, and the first song on it was "Don't Panic" from this album. I fell in love with the song and that's really where I left it. I listened to that song (and The Shin's "New Slang) quite a bit. I really didn't know it was from this album until I actually bought the album, but hey, it's a small world.

    This album has a special place in my heart now because it has been with me through a few certain personal events in my life. So I love the album. I don't think there is one bad song on it, even though Coldplay has stated that they are not really fond of the album. Anyway, I have to disagree with them. You can definitely see some soft rock/indie rock/alternative rock in this album, and I definitely believe this is a "romantic" album. Now, when I say romantic, for this album, I mean being in love with life and the world, as well as with someone else. Coldplay has a very worldly sound to them, and this first album really introduces that sound; their sound. It has a dark but smooth sound to the music, but the lyrics are really (for the most part) very hopeful. The first song really sums up, in my opinion, their music in general, with the lyrics "we live in a beautiful world" in the song "Don't Panic". From there, the album just soars.
    It's a very intimite album, which is why I like it. It's a good "soundtrack" to life in general, just walking around the city (at least for me) on any kind of day and it really does rock. That's the thing about this album, it really does put you in a good mood, and on a good day, it just makes it better!
    I think the album is also about journeying through your own emotions, as this album lets out a bunch of emotions within you as you really listen to it. But it always gives you the hope as well and the happiness of just being alive and being able to feel.
   "Yellow" is always a fun song. When I went to see them live a couple years back with my friend Tom, they had a bunch of big yellow balls tossed around the audience with confetti in them. It was really cool, and it's always fun to hear the song live. They are a really awesome live band as well, it was a GREAT concert! This song also is probably their most popular song from this album.
    Some songs you may know from the album: "Don't Panic", "Shiver", "Yellow", "Trouble", "High Speed".
    I'll post the video for "Don't Panic" below! Hmmm, so that's that that album. Check it out!
    Well, that's all I have for now. See ya'll next time! : )

-The AR

Don't Panic