Blog : Music

Angel

My love for Future Islands part II

 

I’m floating on a post-gig dream cloud! I saw Future Islands again last night, and I’m still dreaming about it today. Listening to their songs, and playing the scenes from last night over and over in my head, smiling. The first time I saw them was in Le Guess Who May Day in Utrecht earlier this year, it was fantastic. But this time around was even better! (Didn’t know it was possible!)

Highlights:

1. Their opening act, Celebration also from dream-music city Baltimore (where Beach House is also from), was amazing!

2. Everyone was singing and shouting the lyrics to Future Islands’ songs. Everyone there was just so passionate about them, and that makes the experience even more intense! I was dancing like crazy, smiling and bumping around strangers, looking at each other and exclaiming, “This is so amazing!”

3. They played Tin Man, Balance, Spirit, Back in the Tall Grace, Seasons and all my favourite songs.

4. The best part: Climbing the stage (well, the front row practically threw me up the stage) to dance with Samuel Herring during the finale! EXHILARATING! Have you seen the Melkweg Max packed to the max (hehe) from the stage?! With everyone around you dancing and jumping like whackos? I did!

5. IT’S FUTURE ISLANDS! <3 Like I told M, they're just so positive and full of good energy, the crowd can just feel it. Their songs are so powerful and empowering, with the most beautiful, poetic lyrics. Like a post-it that you want to keep in your mind forever. I once saw an article about their song-writing, the writer said he would like to make kitchen tiles out of Future Islands lyrics. I can totally relate. 🙂 See you again soon, Future Islands. We love you!

Angel

All wishes are ghosts

Perfect title, perfect song. This album by Snowbird is exquisite, beautiful and all the grand adjectives my heart cannot put into words. Stream “Moon” a few days in advance before its official release here.

Oh how music can change everything, in a heartbeat, in a moment.

Just stay here my darling.

Angel

Here Comes the Night Time

Arcade Fire’s latest music video/ short concert film is directed by legendary Roman Coppola, splattered with fantastic visuals, neon lights, dancing and humour. Highlights include cameos by James Franco, Ben Stiller, Bono, and Michael Cera (adorably complaining in Spanish and dropping jokes about Mumford and Sons, hehe).

Coppola directed all of The Strokes’ videos from Is This It, and the song 12:51, which is my favourite Strokes song. He also directed Phoenix’s Funky Squaredance, which is now part of New York’s Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection.

Everything Coppola is just so dreamy and magical, don’t you think?

Angel

Photobooth

Blast from the teenage years past. I can’t believe that this track is thirteen years old. I love how songs transport us to a specific period in our life complete with all it’s minute details and powerful feelings. How it felt like being yourself at that moment in time, the thoughts you were thinking, and the places you were in, vague and distinct at the same time.

With this song, I see flashes of my room and the things in it: dusty photographs in boxes, mix CDs given by friends, notebooks and trinkets. The feeling of getting ready before going out with my friends, that top with the dancing skulls and my neon pink Converses, my mother driving me to Katipunan.

And again, I am in awe with how time flies and how we find ourselves in completely different places (physically, mentally) each time we look back. We never knew and we will never know where life takes us, but we have our shimmering songs as placemarkers and memory-bookmarks for this grand, overwhelming, awesome ride.