Beirut Blog and Journals

Love it when you get great news in your inbox on a Monday morning. Today the 2009 Treasure Island Music Festival announced their line-up for October 17th and October 18th. If you live in the San Francisco area be sure to get in on the fun. This festival is full of treasures, including a beautiful view, a ferris wheel, spicy pizza pie and back to back music. See the lineup ...

 

 

Something that you might not know yet is that I love making mixes for every occasion. I made one for Summer, of course, and so far, I've enjoyed long walks, picnicks and chill outs with it. I hope you like it aswell.

 

1. A Little Help From My Friends - The Beatles

2. High Score - Eugene McGuinness

3. The Harrowing Adventures Of ... - Tokyo Police Club

4. Crawling Towards The Sun - The Hush Sound

5. Derek - Animal Collective

6. Caring Is Creepy - The Shins

7. Let's Be Natural - The Rutles

8. Normandie - Shout Out Louds

9. She's Got You High - Mumm Ra

10. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds - The Beatles

11. Transantlantique - Beirut

12. New Slang - The Shins

13. Shine It All Around - Robert Plant

14. Le Moribond - Beirut

15. Sunshine Of Your Love - Cream

16. Bron-Y-Aur-Stomp - Led Zeppelin

17. Postcards From Italy - Beirut

18. 1979 - Smashing Pumpkins

19. Summertime Clothes - Animal Collective

20. Over The Hills And Far Away - Led Zeppelin

21. Elephant Gun - Beirut

 

This might be the weirdest mix I've done. First because I've combined bands like The Beatles with Smashing Pumpkins and do not even mention The Hush Sound. I basically put everything that sounded summerly to me there and that I had already been listening to these couple of weeks and noticed that it fit the mood. Second ... second? I really don't know.

Do you have a mix for your summer? If it's so, share it with me. Also, what do you like listening to when you are at the pool, beach, on the fields with your friends or other summerly scene?

I'm off to this college program for a majority of the summer (because that's what nerdy people do!), so I have no guarantee as to how much time I'll get on the internet. I'm bringing my macbook though (I'm not actually supposed to...haha), so we'll see how it goes. I can't, however, bring my Nikon, because I'm too scared that it'll get stolen. Instead, I'm bringing my crappy film camera, which is smaller (& less expensive), but still useful.
I'm hoping i'll have a few good photo opportunities, but i'm not really counting on it.
I apologize for the fact that I won't be able to comment/buzz everyone's postings.
On the same topic, I'd like to give a big thank you for everyone who has commented, buzzed, suggested...whatever. It really means a lot to me. I'm really starting to get quite attached to this site, & I thank you all for being so welcoming.

& to end this post, I made a quick (not very structured) 'muxtape' of some tunes I've been enjoying lately (this is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to summer mixes). Have a listen here:

http://impulses.muxtape.com/

talk to you all soon. :)

tell me your fav bands and explain why ?

my fav are

bat for lashes
beirut
architecture in helsinki
the beatles
the holloways

without those bands, i would be entirely lost

One of the main reasons I started making mixes was because I really love introducing people to new music. There is just something really gratifying of being responsible for someone’s favorite band when knowing with out you they would have never even heard of them. I am not saying I have superior musical taste than anyone (though I do), but I am just good at finding interesting things. & when I find them I like to share them with people because I think everyone has the right to enjoy good music.

Recently, I haven’t made anyone a particularly music centered mix. In high school I used to give my friend Johanna a mix every month of stuff I was really into & thought she would love. But more recently I have been going down a more lyrically based road. I still only use songs that I really like (excluding my Jersey mix), but its more of what they say than the sounds.

As most people know who frequent my page, I am absolutely obsessed with a little band called World/Inferno Friendship Society. The best term I can possibly think of to describe them is “circus punk”. I am not even sure if that is a real musical term. But if we are splitting hairs here, the closest actual musical genres to it are gypsy punk (Gogol Bordello) & cabaret punk/dark cabaret (the Dresden Dolls). After listening quite a bit to aforementioned artists I wanted to find similar things, which led me to making this mix.

The best way to put it, is that this is a gypsy/cabaret themed mix. There is a handful of folk punk on here that I felt really connected musically with the theme. But its less punk & more Balkan beats & cabaret keyboards here. I believe that a lot of this stuff is truly extraordinary & I wanted to share it with all of you in hopes that you lot feel the same way.

I am honestly not expecting a lot of you to like this but I thought it would give it a shot anyway.

 

1. Beirut - Guyamas Sonora
2. Besh O Drom – Tortapapir
3. Gogol Bordello - Harem In Tuscany
4. Fanfare Ciocarlia – Manea
5. The Dresden Dolls – Mandy Goes To Med School
6. The Tiger Lillies – Bully Boys
7. Les Cowboys Fringants – Awikatchikaen
8. Mischief Brew – Nomads Revolt
9. Nervous Cabaret - Pere Lachaise
10. Emir Kusturica & No Smoking Orchestra – Wanted Man
11. Katzenjammer Kabarett – The Crowd Around
12. Vermillion Lies – Circus Apocalypse
13. DeVotchKa – Such A Lovely Thing
14. Forthy Thieves Orkestar/Mahala Rai Ban – The Man Who Drinks
15. Reverend Glasseye And His Wooden Legs – Midnight Cabaret
16. Rasputina – Mama Was An Opium Smoker
17. Kapela ze wsi Warszawa - Styry konie
18. The Zydepunks – Satan/Dance You Fukr
19. Balkan Beat Box – Gypsy Queen
20. Kultur Shock – God Is Busy, May I Help You?
21. Andrew Jackson Jihad - People II: The Reckoning
22. HUMANWINE - Rivolta Silenziosa
23. World/Inferno Friendship Society – Paul Robeson
24. Rock Central Plaza – Anthem of the Already Defeated

 DOWNLOAD ME HERE

I really hope someone enjoys this. I was up all night trying to finish this, its 7:30 now. I have zero intentions of sleeping today & my hair looks like such a mess its can probably pass as fashionable.

I wish I had a cigarette & some coffee.

 

Auditory Blessings,

Shannon

 

(PS - Everything should be in order in the download but I accidentally left Guyamas Sonora so its probably the last track instead of the second. & I say second because I put a nice little opening present there for you called I Was Stolen By The Gypsies)

In 2007, Lukas worked on his own music and made a cameo in My Chemical Romance's music video for "Welcome to the Black Parade."

Top 10 Miscellaneous of 2007:

1. Most listened to record:                                                                           
Radiohead

2. Most listened to song:
Gimme Gimme

3. Best Concert:
Stevie Wonder

4. Concert/tour you were most bummed that you missed:
Led Zeppelin

5. Best musical surprise of the year:
Beirut

6. Worst musical letdown of the year:
"Across The Universe"

7. Favorite Movie:
"Superbad"

8. Favorite TV Show:
"I Love NY"

9. Favorite Video Game:
BrickBreaker

10. Person/Thing Blowing Up:
Perez  Hilton

_________________________________________________________________

The Life of A Soldier
by G W Grant
Fiction
252 pages
Lulu.com (April 11, 2007)
ISBN-10: 1430313722
ISBN-13: 978-1430313724
www.gwgrant.com

G W Grant's solo debut has it all! This is an action packed novel that grabs you on page one and doesn't let go. The reader will find exquisite gems of insight in this original work. Comprised of 252 pages, this is an informative, no nonsense read that leaves you wishing to pick-up a sequel immediately.

The story follows Bill Miles, who at twenty-five had just graduated from college with a master's degree in business, and decided to join the Army. Sharp, quick witted and ready to take on the world, Miles completes Officers Training and receives his commission. Later, he is deployed to the Middle East as the commander of an elite, counter-terrorism and hostage rescue unit, only known to those in the highest levels of government. From Fort Bragg to Iran, Miles finds himself in the midst of an invisible war, tracking a faceless enemy that hides within the civilian population and adheres to no code of conduct. He's even forced to struggle with his superiors as his soldiers are ordered to maintain ridiculous rules of engagement when confronting this new enemy. This same amorphous struggle that now ravages the Middle East, from Gaza to Kandahar, struggles in which religion, nationalism and terrorism have assumed unimaginable degrees of ferocity, are all part of daily life, in "The Life of A Soldier".

Grant delivers the most intimate and detailed look into the life of a soldier, that we are likely to see for some years. Masterful in his presentation of the complexities of the human drama being played out in the deserts of the Middle East. Extremely well researched and brilliantly executed, The Life of A Soldier gives the reader a front row seat, with the counter-terrorism unit, fighting bureaucracy, trying to maintain a personal life, while surrounded by an enemy determined to destroy our way of life. Don't miss this one! Despite your political affiliations this is a must read book.

Happy Reading!
RJ xx
3Rs-Real Reader Reviews


Personal Note:
I've been married 15 years and never in that time has my husband read a book from cover to cover. Not once! However, "Life of A Soldier" changed that. He enjoyed this novel immensely. So much so that he is now searching for a second book that grabs his attention the way this one did!
Thank goodness GW Grant's sequel, "Prelude to 9-11", is scheduled for release in early 2008.

saturday 7/29 blakkbox now in beirut - check site for posts and photos . .