A Return to Form

Damn, been a very long time since I last posted. I would keep saying that "life is busy," but this is really just a permanent condition and part of the post-college, "responsibility" thing that I am discovering. Been back in Lisbon for a week now. Paris was a wonderful break while I was there, filled mainly with trips to and from various food landmarks that my brother has discovered there. This included one of the best meals I have ever had, although those of us who ate there swore a death oath not to spread the word. Don't want the NY Times telling the whole world about it. There was also mojito ice cream, lavender-apricot cake, and the best pastrami sandwich I've ever had (at a Polish deli). We were denied entrance to a barbecue at the American ambassador's residence after carrying a watermelon 45 minutes across Paris, and then proceeded to carry the melon around the rest of the night to various bars (we named it Fred). Fred was eaten over the next two days, and was exceedingly delicious. We drank more, ate more, danced more, and then did it all over again. And while it wasn't quite as good as last year, and at the risk of sounding unpatriotic, I had one of my best, most fun 4th of July's just hanging out at a friend's apartment and then dancing the night away in a club with the great mash-ups of Swinging Monkeys Crew keeping us going until it was late in the early morning and my shirt was saturated with sweat.
Here in Lisbon again, it's been more work, although I've been trying to relax a little more, too. Why not? I was able to get to the beach twice this weekend and went out a few nights in Bairro Alto and last night made it over to Lux for my first time this summer. Before heading out to the club last night, though, I stopped in with a few friends at a free show in Bairro Alto by the Brazilian duo Nativix. The pair mixes catchy-as-hell trance and house beats with live instrumentation and vocals, creating a blend of electronica, reggae/hip hop (think a Brazilian version of Matisyahu?), and flute. That's right, flute. Unfortunately, the sound quality of the bar last night wasn't great for vocals, so the gig mostly turned into a DJ set for Andrea Mochel (including a very solid Digitalism mix), the more electronically-inclined half of the group. However, it was still very enjoyable, and you should definitely check out Nativix's tunes, which is made easy and economical, since their album is available for free streaming and download here.

Nativix - Jah Eh [divshare]
Nativix - Amanheceu [divshare]
Nativix - Dance sem Parar [divshare]

One song that I've been listening to a lot lately, after months of having it in my iTunes, is 'Where Were You Last Night' by San Francisco group Photons, off their . The band's multi-layered, Polyphonic Spree-esque sound, with a good dash of The Shortwave Set thrown in, continues to impress me, and the strained lead vocals work perfectly with the song's message as they cry out over vocal harmonies.

Photons - Where Were You Last Night [divshare]

And since I've been out of posting mode for a while, here are some music-related videos and such that I've been enjoying.

Japanese band Sour put together a very cool video made up of coordinated webcam submissions by selected fans. Really amazing how well this came together.


And very possibly, the funniest music-related thing I've seen in a long time (okay, it came out about a month ago, but I still have had it saved in Firefox the whole time because I like it so much) is this visual representation by artist Andrew Kuo of a Cam'ron concert and the rapper's new album, 'Crime Pays,' which is definitely the funniest thing I have ever seen in the New York Times. Enjoy (click the image or the earlier link to enlarge).



And I end up with a massive remix of DJ Mehdi's 'Pocket Piano' that Zombie Nation was dropping at a festival here in Lisbon this weekend. My friend Filipe, who saw the show, said they were amazing, and it's thanks to him that I found this vid.