Ear Candy for August

A step up from the Tina Bock Xanga or LiveJournal, a music blog for people who don't like to read.

I'm sitting in my room right now listening to YACHT's new Album "See Mystery Lights", a must listen for anyone who enjoys life Ah, so good. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13334-see-mystery-lights/

So check that one out puleasee.

Nextly, I saw Portugal. The Man on Wednesday night at the Mercury Lounge in NYC, my fake ID worked there which was pretty cool, not to mention Portugal was nasty as hell. They're one of those bands who I can see over and over again and They are unreal each time. I loved the small venue, made some friends, GT's. Check out their new album The Satanic Satanist, I picked up the Vinyl at the show (Vinyl is one of those words I can NEVER spell ugh). Its a good ear full, I promise.


I've always been i LOVE with the Format, if you're the same check out Nate Ruess' new band fun. I just got my hands on their new album "Aim and Ignite", they have a cute girl now and I love a good girl crush. Check it out. http://www.myspace.com/fun


I saw Incubus last night at PNC, so good. But that's obvious.

Let's see, this is a little late but i'm on a huge Jenny Lewis "Acid Tounge" trip (no pun intended?). But seriously, she's so great. Idol. Night.

Now I Can Write About Music Again :)

So, I've been home for about two and a half weeks and being in America has never felt so strange. I've never actually lived in Budd Lake because we moved here right before I went to school in september. I've had a lot of alone time. A lot of work time and a lot of alone time. Most importantly, I've had a lot of time to find new music. These are some albums I highly suggest for anyone whos anyone and it's summertime. Mainly in a car, alone, trying not to think about boys or friends or anything for that matter. Here it goes. Whoever actually reads this blog will get the download links too.. lucky you :)

Number one- Passion Pit- Manners, recommended to my by my best friend in the world, Ted Karczewski

play this as loud as possible where ever you are
http://www.mediafire.com/?adntk5layk1

Number Two- Discovery- LP, the dudes from Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot come together to make fucked up good beats to sing along to in your car... listen very loud also please.

http://rapidshare.com/files/243279318/Di8LP9.rar

And Number Three- Phoenix- Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, the song "Rome" reminds me of Rome. That's a happy tune.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?uhiozy3tmtm

I hope that at least made one persons day. Then I'll feel ok with myself. By the way, I just got back in to dancing since I've be back from Italy. Ouch.

Bye :)

Arsenale

Me and Christian went to the Arsenale on our last day. I guess this was like an Arsenal, it looked like there were military boats there, apparently people could only go on he Bienalle. Well, the Arsenale was even better than the Giardini and I and So So So happy we went. It was just a lot of interactive art which was amazing. We walk in and there is a room full of glass mirrors shattered. In the next room there was a cabinet full of bread, a bunch of rooms with different colors, free candy, post cards titled "Venice" of pictures of places that were not actually Venice, bags of fake cocain, light-up doors, hoses hanging from ceilings, a diamond Unicorn, juust the craziest stuff you could imagine. It was like a fairytale land. I had a lot lot lot lot of fun. Good for a last day if Venice. We also went to the Gugenheim which wasss not as interesting personally. I like art that isn't art. I like people who can smash a bunch of glass and call it expression.

So we are leaving tomorrow. Throughout this experience I've learned a few things. For one, If you want to learn about how to live your life, leave the country. Just go. I know now more than ever that I need to travel. I just can't wait until I can leave New Jersey again. Another thing is, I should learn a different language, really. Also, i now Know that I can do anything, really. It doesn't matter what I'm doing now or who im with. that all changes in life, if you let it. I'm ready to let it. Cioa Venice :)

Giardini <3

Went to the Giardini on Wednesday.... The Bienalle is amazing. It's so interesting to walk around and see art from all over the world. I went to America, Denmark, Spain, Brazil, Egypt, Australia, The UK, Israel, Venezuela, Russia, just to name a few. Russia was by FAR my favorite. It was creepy. Kind of like a haunted house. Loved it. The way this thing is set up is basically its just a bunch of galleries scattered all over a garden. It's AMAZING. It was the best thing I have been in Venice yet...

When we got there, everyone wanted to sit down and get food so I started to wander around myself, I saw so many countries it was amazing. One of my favorites was a film of random people singing "Revolution" by the Beatles. There were even headphones to put on to hear the sound. It was great. It was like a big playground for art lovers. After that I went back to the apartment and eventually ventured over to the Lido (alone) to get dinner with Becca and her friends. It was good, i had some yummy clams. I miss american food.....

Last Week in Venice :(

Tuesday June 9th, We have class in the morning, and then we go and meet an artist names Gaspare Manos- check him out http://www.gaspare-foundation.com/exhibitions.html this dude is amazing. Very inspirational. I think we were all very shocked by how much he touched each and every one of us. This guy starts out living in Thailand, ends up going to school for economics in London, years later decides he wants to be a painter and is now extremely reputable and famous for his work. plus his work is amazing and he is very charming. <3.>

Rome and Florence

So now i'm about to tell you about the weekend long adventure the 9 of us took to Rome and Florence. First of all, we figured it was cheaper to take an overnight train, so that's what we did. Second of all, we also opted not to go with the beds because they were 20 extra euro, we figured we'd be sleeping anyway.... so to make this long weekend story short ill start from the beginning.
We leave the apartment around 1pm, go to the train station, get our tickets stamped, and wait around a while for the train... meanwhile me and Chelsea go buy a bottle of wine and kill it before we went on . i also got lots of snacks for the trip. so we all get on the train in our designated seats (the trains have like 6 seater booths) me, chel, lucero, and tara get in our 4 seats and we're happy. we're ready to pass out and wake up in Roma. But, oh wait slight problem! The lady at the ticket booth so kindly booked our tickets for the NEXT day, even when I specifically remember pointing on a calender to her the correct date, but anyway, we ALL ended up seat less... all 9 of us... so we all start to sit in the hallway until the conductor told us about some seats that were open. Luckily we got in them and ended up sleeping with some random people, who ended up being very nice. Two of them were around our age, one was in medical school and the other was in the Army, both Italians. It's very interesting meeting new people on trains. There is a lot of time for conversation, that's for sure.


ROMA FINALLY! So we get to the terminal and figure out the metro right away. it helped that Amanda had gone down to Rome the weekend before because otherwise i would have been very confused. our hotel is right by the train station, but when we get there at 8am, they tell us the rooms won't be ready until 2pm... so we all just decided to pass out in the lobby. eventually they opened at least one room and the 9 of us sprawled out and slept until 1pm.

After the big sleepover we decide to venture out into the city. Rome is SO beautiful. I fell in love immediately. It's so warm, there are palm trees everywhere and the view is unreal. We decided to take one of those tour buses where you sit on the top. best idea ever. we got to see everything by just sitting down. we got off and saw the Colosseum and some other things and also got invited to do a few pub crawls whiich we did luckily...but before the pup crawl we got some pasteries that weree amazing looking and tasting, the only problem was the service there... terrible. Then that night the pub crawl happend, which may or may not be appropriate for this blog so i'm leaving that part out (no need to thank me mike and kathy :)

The next day we got back on the red bus and went to see the Vadican City. Amazing, amazing, amazing. I felt very fortunate to be where I was. We found this tour guide (well actually he found us), and he ended up being awesome! I hate tours and I hate listening and standing around, but for 5 euro this guy was great. We saw everything in the Vadican and the chapel. it was beautiful. After that he recomended us to an amazing resturant where we had the best food ever. and lots of wine and lemonchello yumm. we checked out campo de fiore after dinner but everyone was too full to party so we called it a night and woke up for Firenze....

So we take the train to Florence, get to the hotel, and it's pouring rain. pouring. we get some food, i'm wearing my poncho, we try and get another tour bus but its too expensive and Florence is small so we just walked to the market. We all split up and me and chel walked around for a while aimlessly. basically I found a map and we just walked and walked. Florence was very pretty but I wish I had more time there. After the day we went back, drank some vino, got some terrible chinese, and go sing some karaoke. good time. go to sleep, wake up for venice.
we get to the station to go back home to venice.. home haha.... anyway the train ride was hell again, we has to wait for abour 4 hours for the train to come... we played cards forever waiting, and when we got on the train people were in our seats bitching and it took a while for them to leave. they hate americans in italy.
anyway, after all of this I feel like i'm leaving too many things a mess at home, just hope it doesnt blow up when i get back....


"even if you can't speak the language, your heart will speak"

Is Venice Sinking???; Contaminated Communities and an Inconvenient Truth

After reading and discussing Contaminated Communities and talking about psychological, social, and emotional impacts on documented cases of toxic contamination, it really had be thinking about Venice and how my life would be if I was a real Venetian. The people who live here are in a constant battle; they need to choose to believe that Venice will eventually be underwater, or they can choose to ignore it. I honestly don't know how I could feel if I knew that the city I lived in was in constant danger. When the high tide arrives in Venice, usually in the winter, Venice becomes totally flooded with water. This causes damage to the city and disruption to it's in habitants. Even walking around looking at the buildings you can see the bottoms of them being rotted away by the salt water. In this WiseGeek article by Gary Crystal I found online (http://www.wisegeek.com/is-venice-sinking.htm), it claims that "Over the last 1,000 years, it has sun by around seven centimeters for every century, but recent reports have stated that in the last century alone, the city of Venice has lowered by around 24 centimeters. This may have more to do with global warming and the melting polar ice caps than with Venice Sinking alone"(Crystal). He goes on to say that global warming is an issue and a huge concern for any costal cities or cities built on Islands. Venice is now considering making huge steel gates to block the floods (which we'll see tomorrow at Punta Laguna). After learning all of this I am really appreciating being here, since it may be the last chance I get.

We also had a chance to watch Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth". Now I saw this movie a few years ago when it first came out, but I'm happy I got a chance to see it again, because this time I was really taking into consideration the place that I am living in. In the film, Al Gore tries to address the public about the climate crisis. He talks about the political affects on Global Warming as well. It made me really try and relate Venice to Katrina. What if some sort of huge flood came over Venice and killed hundreds of people? Where could the inhabitants go and could be city be rebuilt? Does the city need to be evacuated at some point? After we watched "An Inconvenient Truth" we saw some short films that the people over at Punta Laguna gave us. I saw what Venice looked like in the winter with the floods. A friend of mine was here in the winter and told me she has to bring rain boots and walk around in water the entire time. Scary. I just hope we can find a way to save the city.

San Rocco/ Ca'd'oro/ Murano

On Tuesday, we visited the San Rocco church. Marina brought us there and lectured outside before we went in. I learned about the Squale Grade which was for the wealthiest merchants in Venice. You had to prove your family had been in Venice for Centuries to get in. We learned about when Constantine elected Christ as God and the Doge, who was the Duke, or the head of the government in Venice. He represented San Marc. San Rocco is seen at the Top of the Squale with his leg showing his wounds. Inside the Church, there are paintings all over the place. These were by Tintoretto and are found in the Sala Dell'Albergo. The Paintings were beautiful and I could not take my eyes off them. They gave you mirrors so you could walk around looking at the celling. The artwork of Tintoretto was amazing. Luckily after a lifetime of Sunday school, I was able to tell what some of the scenes from the bible were. My favorite one was a huge celling picture of Jona being spit back up by a whale.
After San Rocco we headed over to Ca'd'oro. There we went into this tiny museum with Marina. I wasn't extremly impressed with anything in there because I am more of a modern art fan, the museum is an ancient patrician palace, which houses precious art given to Baron Giorgio Franchetti, who donated it to the Italians in 1894. The museum was very small and we went through it quickly.
After, we went to Murano, the glass capital of Italy. I loved everything about Murano. Right when we got there we saw a glass blowing. It's an amzing artwork. We saw them burn, blow and shape the glass right in front of us. We also got to shop around a lot , but everything was very expensive. I got a couple gifts for my family but that was about it. Murano is a beautiful little part of Venice, I loved it.

Monday June 1st- A Venetian Lecture

On Monday we got up early and went over to the University to see a real Italian Lecture. Of course it took forever for everyone to get out of the apartment and we ended up being late for the class. Strolling in late for this lecture was very embarrassing. It seemed like no one else was coming in after us. The school itself was actually not very different from how a college would be in the states. It's different than Ramapo because of the class size, but that's just because we go to a small school. For one, at Ramapo we have no problem rolling out of bed in our sweats, un-showered with messy hair, hungover from the night before. We also all have our laptops and type away at whatever the professor is saying. In Italy, everyone is dressed nicely, looking like they are ready for the day. Also, I could not even see what the professor looked like from all the way in the back of the room. There were microphones so we could hear him. Although I had a hard time understanding, I could see the respect the classroom had for him. People were taking pictures and no one was asking questions until the end. At Ramapo, all of my classes are discussions. We sit at a round table and basically have talks about whatever the subject may be. People talk without even raising their hands most of the time. Also, the seats were all extremely close together and if you needed to get out, your entire row had to get up and let you. At ramapo, I get up and go to the bathroom as I please. Also, no one was eating in the classroom. At Ramapo I usually have a water bottle and a snack, sometimes even my whole lunch. Although I pretty much had no idea what was going on during the lecture, it was very interesting to notice the differences in the schools. 

Cultural Diffrences

Just a little spiel about the cultural differences here: On monday we had a long discussion about the Hall reading and personal space. People here are not afraid to get very close to you. Especially on the Vaporetto, people are right up next to you and it doesn't bother them a bit. It's extremely uncomfortable sometimes. Things are very culturally different here than they are at home in America. Day after day I am noticing more and more little thing that go on here that we think are so strange. For instance the issue of homosexuality. Here in Italy, if a man is wearing tight jeans and a tight t-shirt and walking around with a purse, that is totally strait and normal. At home, that man would be automatically flagged as a homosexual. Men here have no problem linking arms and being close to one another. In America a man would have to fight to defend his sexuality. Also hygiene is completely different. Here people smell. Or they do to me anyway. No one seems to know what deodorant is here. We have been raised completely different. Also, I have been finding more and more that Venetians are extremely rude to Americans sometimes. Whenever we go out to eat, we are not allowed to have tap water. We are charged for bread and when asked for oil or vinegar they tell us they don't have any. They also refuse to give change or split up checks. Things like this have been happening constantly. It makes me think Venetians hate Americans.

The Italian Apls <3

This past weekend, we were able to take a train up to the Italian Alps to a town called Belluno. We left the apartment at 6:30 to get on a 4 hour train to the mountains. The ride itself was beautiful!  Stepping away from the city and seeing nature for the first time in a couple of weeks was amazing. Just breathing in the clean and fresh air made me feel a million times healthier and cleaner. We were located in the Dolomite region right on the bottom of the Apls. Everything, and I mean everything was green and blue. When we first arrived we met up with Marina's cousin who would be taking us on our trips. We checked into the hostel first thing, which everyone was  a little skeptical about. I personally didn't find that all that bad. But some of the girls were freaking out wanting to get a hotel and blah blah blah, it was a little ridiculous to me, but it ended up not being too bad, because me and chelsea shared a double room which was a tad creepy but it was really fine. The only strange thing about it was that there was a curfew. We had to be back into the room by 11:30 or they locked us out. The place looked like an old convent or something. Very strange, but we made due. The worst thing about it I think was the food. The hostel cafeteria made me want to throw up, no joke. It was disgusting. But luckily we got some good pizza for dinner so that was good. 

After checking in and eating we took a small bus up to a melting glacier called Marmolada. The bus ride was very long and it took us higher and higher up the mountains. It was beautiful but I was hoping we could have done a little hiking but that didn't happen. Chel

sea got sick on the ride up which was no fun but luckily we were able to pull over somewhere and get changed a euro for a cup of water. Damn. Once we g

ot all the way up to our destination it ended up being a ski resort which made me really want to ski. Hopefully sometime in my life I can go back there. Once we got to the glacier we got out of the bus and took pictures. We learned that it was melting over time and we also learned how the towns were being effected by the landslides due to global warming. It must be scary to live in fear like that. The place was beautiful and we spent about 20 minutes just taking pictures.

We drove back to Belluno and stopped for some yummy gelato. We had a long lecture outside the hostel and finally were able to get some sleep. The next morning we woke up and headed to a damn which we learned once destroyed an entire village in Italy. It's insane how something man made can destroy the people who made it. After the long trip we headed back to Venice and went out to San Margerita. It felt good to be home.

Wednesday May 27th- The Ghetto

After watching Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, we had a Scholar some and speak to us at our apartment. His name was Shaul and was a Venetian Jew, one of the few left in the city. It was interesting having him here because of his cultural differences. Right off the bat he told us he needed to sit away from the air conditioning. What?? This was so strange to all of us because it was so hot inside and it's crazy to think that Italians hate the AC. This was not only him, Marina and other Venetians we've met have said the same thing. Anyway after Shaul spoke to us about Shakespeare we ventured off to the Jewish Ghetto of Venice. Not a Ghetto like we think of a Ghetto but it was basically a square that would be locked up where the Jews lives. This was oppression but some could think of it as protection as well. The square was diffrent than any others in the city. The most interesting thing I found about were the trees. There was actually nature there! There was also a lot of solitude about the place. It was quite peaceful. All of the buildings were taller than in the rest of the city as well. This was because the Jews were confined in that one area so they had to continue to build upwards. We went into the museum and got a tour of the few synagogues, it was very interesting to see how they differ from the churches. The Ghetto was both beautiful and quaint at the same time. I really enjoyed looking at Venice through a different religion. 

Monday May 25th-Piazza San Marco

monday as a class, we took a short walk over to Piazza San Marco, the biggest tourist area in Venice. The square was flooded with millions of people and pigeons. San Marco Square is beautiful. Always life music, and always full of life. It makes me happy to be alive. The Bell Tower is gorgeous and right next to St. Marc's Basilica. Now, being in Italy has been very interesting because of my heritage. My mother comes from an Italian Catholic Family with 8 brothers and sisters. My aunts and uncles all believe in the Christina Religion and all throughout my life I have been Baptized and given Sunday school lessons weekly. It has only occurred to me in the past 3 years of my life that I am actually not a Christian. Im' quite the Atheist. Being in the homeland of Christianity has done quite the opposite of restoring my faith in the religion. I've been finding it more and more harder to believe that a huge following is based upon something that has been illustrated by art and not real life. Going to the Basilica (which was amazing, don't get me wrong) was not only breathtaking but also unbelievable. It's hard to believe that so many people follow and believe in something that is by all means a myth. This religion is based on book, pictures, and stories, with no factual evidence. Its very hard for me to put my finger on why so many people are raised to believe in something that they cannot see. It is purely because of tradition or do they need the faith to get through their lives. Do people truly believe that they will spend eternity in hell if they don't follow the Christian Guidelines? Well whatever it is I am interested on finding out.

When we went into the Basilica we were able to see where San Marco was buried. I find it hard to sit and listen to the history of a Religion that I don't believe in. Te me personally, Religion just causes war and trouble between nations and groups of people. I am constantly offending my family by not going to church anymore and being in the Basilica made it harder. 

After we left the Church we went to the Doge's Palace, home to all the govern

ment officials in Venice. The art and architecture inside the building was amazing. There were huge murals and maps all over the walls. It was crazy to think that people actually lived in a place like that. We were able to go down into the basement of the palace and visit the jails. There were small spaces , wooden beds, bars everywhere, and this was where the worst criminals were held. I would be scared to live in the same place as them if I were the Doge! Being down there really scared me and made me feel uncomfortable. Fortunately that part of the tour did not last for very long. Everything about this city is amazingly beautiful. The architecture and art all around is breathtaking. I feel very fortunate to be here. Ciao for now :)

Italy Has Highest Illegal Download Activity, finds ESA

It's so interesting to relate things we do at home to things people our age are doing in italy. A big part of my interest in music has to do with copyright and how the world is changing with technology. In my opinion, as technology is changing faster and faster each day, the law needs to change too. Copyright law is so outdated that it is making children into criminals. Piracy and illegal downloading has become so easy and common to do among teens and young adults that is is now inevitable. To stop the downloading is out of the question. The government is now faced with a choice to change copyright law to all rights reserved to some rights reserved. To sum up my opinion of the situation is to simply pay for music like we pay for water, or cable, or our cell phones. Pay a monthly flat rate so that performing rights organizations can fairly shell out royalties to publishers, writers, and artists, and teens and young adults can stop being treated like criminals and thrown in jail for clicking buttons and listening to art. So simple it's unbelievable. Before I left for Italy I really only studied the copyright laws in the United States. It never crossed my mind that teens and young adults all across the world are doing the same thing everywhere. 

So, last night at Campo St Margarita I found myself in a conversation that blew my mind. As soon as we go there this boy started bothering us to buy us drinks, so finally we started talking to this group of 27-something year old Venetian boys. Anyway, to make a long story short one of them was in law school. We got into a copyright conversation and I had to ask them how they felt about piracy. Not surprisingly these boys who live on the other side of the world use limewire and bittorrents just like we do. I asked them if they were familiar with The Pirate Bay and the recent charges against 4 men who ran the web site. (If you don't know about this basically 4 sweedish guys are in jail for starting a website where you can find bittorrents). The guys told me that they were aware of what happened but it didn't matter. In italy they download for free always, without question or fear. For the rest of the night this subject was on my mind so I had to research it when I got home.

I found an article in GameDaily titled "Italy Has Highest Illegal Download Activity, Finds ESA". The article explains that Italy and Spain were found to be the two biggest offenders for illegal downloads and eastern Europe has always been thought of as a haven for piracy. This is a total shock for me. I had no idea that piracy was so popular in Europe. This just makes me more and more frustrated with the way our government deals with copyright laws. If it isn't already obvious in the United States that the laws need to be changed it is also obvious everywhere else in the world, and I am experiencing it first hand. James Brightman (the author of this article) states that "Data from studies conducted in December 2008 revealed "alarmingly high" volumes of illegal downloads across the leading P2P networks, BitTorrent and eDonkey. Italy led the pack with the heaviest illegal download activity (17%). News to me!

Check it out for yourselves.

http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/italy-has-highest-illegal-download-activity-finds-esa/?biz=1

More Venice!

I'm getting to be so bad at this journal entries! (BTW I'm using these Journals for class so just ignore some things) Anyway since the last time I wrote, I've been to the Lido twice, which is the beach. It's so nice. Free to get on the beach, you can drink anywhere, and people are friendly as hell. We played frisbee with some venetians and went swimming. Going to the beach in Italy is quite different from going in New Jersey. There are cultural differences like girls being Topless or men being in little speedos. That never happens in Jersey. The down side about Wednesday was after drinking coronas and being in the sun all day I got pretty seasick on the Vaporetto. I mean pale, sweaty, nausea, had to get off the boat at one point and vomit in a pizzeria, yum. So after that we got back to the apartment and I completely passed out. I woke up to some pasta and we watched Summertime with Kathryn Hepburn. Pretty good movie and it gave a good view of Venice. I could relate to the main character because she comes to this city completely clueless but in the end finds herself and learns the city eventually. I feel like I can finally get around by myself with no problem. I've learned the Vaporetto and how to get to the grocery store and necessary things like that. I like feeling like I actually live here rather than that I'm just visiting.

After a long day of class on Thursday we decided to go out, but while getting ready our power went out! This was around 10pm so everything was pitch black. My hair was half straitened and no one could see a thing. Thank god some of us had flashlights but no one could figure out the fusebox! Mike's exercise with the blindfolds and senses was applying to our real life. We finally decided to just leave it till the morning because no one had a phone and none of us could figure out how to put the power back on. So far this trip has been a culture shock for sure. Not knowing how to do simple things like fix a fuse box we take for granted at home. Ciao for now bellas! 

Venezia!

So, for the next month this blog will no longer be based upon the music industry but rather by month-long trip to Italy. For the next four weeks I will be living in Venice with 11 other students and studying Environmental Psychology and the Art and Myth in Venice. So far, I have dealt with a 14 hour travel trip, flying to London and then actually getting to Venice, waiting hours in line for boat passes, and worst of all, my allergies. The second I got to Venice I fell in love, but since our arrival on Sunday I have been feeling quite different and strange. My eating habits have become terrible and my patience is getting less and less easy to control. I've also gotten multiple bug bites all over me. It's been difficult adjusting to living with 11 other people and traveling in groups, especially when no one knows where they are going. But aside from everything I just said, the trip has been life-changing already. Just being able to be away from home for a while has changed my perception of myself. I'm a lot more weak than I had thought before. In the Film we watched Summertime, the girl talks about a woman she say on the boat. This woman had come to Venice to find something that In the back of her head she had been looking for, something that has been missing all her life. I presume that's what I shall do myself this month.

The first night we went out in Venice we went to Campo Santa Margherita. We decided to go out and just find somewhere to hang out, but we ended up seeing a couple girls who looks like they were going out, so we asked where they were going. They said to follow them to the square, so we did. It's amazing the type of people you meet. These girls were from Switzerland and Cyprus, Both studying in Venice. We got there, had a couple drinks and met a whole bunch of kids our age. It was great being able to get the hang of how things work here. On the way home, we were more lost than I thought we would be. It took us about an hour to walk home! Getting lost in a strange city can be scary but quite rewarding. It's odd when you're somewhere and you don't know the language at all. I'm happy to say my Italian is getting better just from talking to Venetians. I also feel like I have made incredible friendships with the other students on the trip. I had no idea that I would get along so well with them.

My surroundings have been making it difficult to adjust. For example, today we visited the Lido which was beautiful! It couldn't have been a better beach day. Unfortunately on the way back I came down with some terrible seasickness. My head was spinning out of control and I felt more nauseous than I ever have before. I had to get off at a random stop and use a pizzeria bathroom to throw up. Lucky for my Chelsea and Lucero helped me through it and we finally got back. For now I'm going to try and sleep it off, and hopefully I'll be feeling better in the morning. As for living in Venice, adjusting has been the most difficult part. Being stripped from your daily normal life and being put in a different environment is extremely strange, but rewarding.

The Future of Music: The Celestial Jukebox

The ASCAP Daily Brief features and article titled The Future of Music: The Celestial Jukebox written by Douglas Wolk. The article explains how the ultimate goal for music technology is "The Celestial Jukebox". This means that we will have total access to any music that has ever been recorded at anytime. For some internet junkies or shall I say "pirates", this has been available for years, but obviously not legally. What it comes down to now is how we can please the copyright holders by paying for it. This doesn't just mean the 10 million songs on itunes; this means every song in every archive in recording history. 

Wolk goes on to explain some beta versions that are already doing this, such as Rhapsody. Rhapsody lets its users access a limited library of music for a flat monthly fee, but doesn't stream directly to mobile devices. Itunes on the other hand, has a pay-as-you-go system where users pay for each individual song. But ultimately, searching for free music online is not only cheapter, but gives you more of a variety to choose from. Wolk explains that CDs have become a luxury item, and gives an example of the band Of Montreal, and how they released their latest album on seven different formats. This just goes to show how hard artists need to try to sell physical music. He makes it clear that "a shiny metal disc is now exactly as relevant to the way people experience music as a paper lantern is"(Wolk). 

Wolk believes that soon enough, someone will put a "frictionless design" on the web that users are demanding. This will be a large comprehensive library of music that is easily accessed and shared with friends and strangers. This will make it easier to find new music and have a limitless library, the only problem being how hard it will be to go around the copyright. Legally or illegally though, this will happen. 

Two-Thirds of Music Consumers Still CD-Only

When browsing the ASCAP Daily Brief, I found the article titled "Two-Thirds of Music Consumers are still CD Only". This immediately sparked my attention because it came as a total shock to me. This is because for myself, I personally haven't purchased an actual CD in over 4 years. I can't remember the last time I even thought that I would have to drive to an FYE or a Sam Goodie to purchase an album. I figured all of those stores had gone out of business. The Sam Goodie in my home town turned into a shoe store about 2 years ago, and I remember only going there to buy Alternative Press magazines. To find out that two-thirds of music consumers still buy CDs is a surprise to me. 

The article points out that we are a nation of "Traditionalists", and that we are misreading how MP3 players have changed our nation. He also points out that the dominant ways of listening to music are still AM/FM radio players, and NOT CDs being played on a computer. As someone who is always in their car, I can understand this one, but personally if I do not want to listen to the radio, it is surely easier to browse my ipod while driving than to be changing CDs on the road. He goes on to say that we are still on the bell curve with our iphones, streaming radios, and ipods, and for most people, it's CDs or Radio all the time.

As surprising as this is to me, he also mentions that this is bad news for the music industry, because even though two-thirds of consumers are buying CDs, they are buying 20 million less than they did even in 2006, and that some are just done with acquiring music all together. It seems that people are satisfied with the collections they already have, and are hesitant to care for new music. He ends the article by saying; "so the pressing question for the music industry is how to get those musically apathetic dropouts back into the habit of purchasing new music". Check it out :http://www.appscout.com/2009/02/twothirds_of_music_consumers_a.php

Coldplay Accused of Copyright Infringment

Recently, an indie band from Brooklyn, NY has accused Coldplay of copyright infringement. Guitarist Joe Satriani from Creaky boards has announced on a YoutTube video that the British band copied melodies from him for their new single "Viva La Vida", from one of their If I Could Fly. He is now suing Coldplay for the accusation. They suggested that frontman Chris Martin, was at their show last year at the CMJ Music Festival in New York City, but Coldplay claims that the song was recorded seven months before the show. It was even discovered in Martin's diary that he was in London during the festival in New York. I've listened to and watched the YouTube video myself, and personally, I hear a slight resemblance, but nothing I believe should be considered infringement. Listen for yourselves...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvB9Pj9Znsw&feature=related

FREE SIGOR ROS!?

So as I was browsing Music Industry articles, I came across one on billboard.biz which sparked my attention immensely. The title read UK Newspaper To Offer Free Sigor Ros CD. Apparently, the Icelandic band gave away a CD in the January 31st Issue of the newspaper the Independent. The CD does not contain any new music but has track's from Sigor Ros' previous three albums and it is titled, "We Pay Endlessly". 

This seems to be becoming a patter with artists. Much like how Price gave away "Planet Earth" and Radiohead allowed fans to choose their price for "In Rainbows", Sigor Ros is now going with the free music trend. Hey, if it's going to be downloaded illegally anyway, why not give it away for free for promotion? Nothing is better to sell than something free.

Check It Out:

http://www.mediafire.com/?mnl5ruwmwyn

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i35bdd2d07c21945258331f625a29370d

Best Album of 2008

I'm not going to lie; having to choose one release from 2008 to be my favorite was extremely difficult. With epic releases from artists such as Anthony Green, Fleet Foxes, Death Cab For Cutie, and Lydia to name a few, choosing only one album and marking it as the best was a difficult assignment. But alas, one album kept popping up in my head, proving to me to be the best. This was Portugal. The Man's Censored Colors. Hailing from Alaska, this band one of the most unique post-hardcore bands I have in my collection. Seeing them live is unlike any other concert someone will ever go to. 

Censored Colors, released in September of 2008, is the Band's third album. The music is able to successfully combine ranges of music from upbeat piano, to ambient rock, to orchestrated folk. Censored Colors explores back to the 70's psychedelic phase yet gives us tons of new-wave sounds. Anyone who can combine elements of acoustic, electronic, melodic piano, cello, and metal sounds together successfully is a winner in my book. 

Censored Colors is split in two, like ying and yang; the first half includes songs that have been compared to classic rock. They combine pretty vocals, heavy guitars, and pop melodies to create a musical journey into the album. The third track "And I", is just pure magic and creativity. The song begins with vocal harmonies and acoustic guitars, and eventually turn into a classic rock binge, spitting out poetic lyrics such as " We'll be rebord, yeah we'll simply be free/ And we'll be the colors that pour through the streets". This album can clearly be considered "colorful" because of the lyrics. The band repetitively brings up the theme of colors, relating them to death, like the song "Colors" where the lyrics include, "I'm not afraid to die,'cause all these colors will change". The second half of the album breaks off into an experimental interlude; making the album like ying and yang. The ending half includes songs that seem to blend into each other to make one huge song, with spacey psychedelic rock and a cello. No other band has ever sparked my attention like Portugal. The Man. This album is indubitably worthy of being my top choice for Best Album of 2008.