An Austin Holy Showing

Coming back from the Greenbelt I crested over a tall hill in Westlake and saw an incredible pre-sunset view of the Austin skyline. At that exact moment the chorus from 'Holy Show' by Pillow Queens and the city of Austin sang to me:

"If you remember a thing about me,
Tell me that it's not bad,
[like] why'd I even say that"

That is Austin talking to me.  Austin is an immature FOMO driven, 25 year-old alcoholic. A replica of myself, refusing to grow up. Austin speaks to me with vocal fry in search of elevating every happening to live in the now without wagering future consequences. It's exhilarating. It's exciting. It's exhausting.
As I flood my apartment with tears pack up my apartment Austin continues singing: 

"If you remember a thing that I said,
Spare me all the details, send me on your regales
If you remember a thing about me
Show me on the playback
Why'd I even say that?
I don't remember a thing"

...

Holy Show Spotify Link

Pillow Queens · Holy Show

Musical 2020 - Part 2: Electro

Oh that synth and beatmaker make me happy, you can even throw in some vocals as well. More importantly this year; it helps me focus. Electro enhances my sensory experience, whether it be grinding through drawings and modeling or biking at night under city lights. There's a soundtrack for almost every activity. 

Here is Jimbo's best of Electro 2020:

Borooney · Jimbos 2020 (Electro)

My history shows a tendency to side with singles and EPs when finding good Electro, but a bunch of these talents produced full albums this year. Hell yeah!  They are quite the blessing. These albums can help with work and passing time without too much lyrical distraction. Some names very familiar others very new. Give one of these a try for productivity:

Liam Back   Don't Cry, Honey, It's Just a Game

Mild Minds   MOOD

Amtrac   Oddyssey

RJD2  The Fun Ones

Photay  Walking Hours 

TOKiMONSTA   Oasis Nocturno 

Tycho   Simulcast

CFCF   Liquid Colors

Affelaye   Clockwork Visit


I'm always open for new tunes so never hesitate to send 'em my way! Feel free to comment or reach out if you wanna discuss any tracks.

Musical 2020 - Part 1: Indie

Hello!  What a year for finding music 2020 was!

 

I don't know about you guys but I found some extra time this year to search out things I like. Another fact; I like music. So believe it or not I found a lot of music. The variety spans from the depths of Indietronica all the way to ElectroIndie and covers every Knick in between. Luckily I have a bunch of awesome friends to help stir this pot into further genres. 

With everything happening this year my two favorite genres luckily fell into two different listening categories:
1. Biking to the court to shoot hoops (Indie)
2. Working from home and staying focused. (Electro) 

I certainly love the spillover and genre mixing but we will break this down into two different posts and playlists. The first being the indie side.  

I love Indie musicians cause they seem the most true to core and they create for creations sake,  which as an architect-artist I can understand and appreciate. And they often put on the best live shows (sigh 2020) at the best small venues (sigh again) where I don't have to spend a huge ticket price. 

If you need a damn good time here are some awesome talents to listen to: Your Smith,   Jordan MacKampa,   Remi Wolf,   Nane.   If you love bass drops try some Goth Babe. Or sometimes you just gotta say Fuck that, gotta ask yourself is this really what I wanted?

So without further ado here is Jimbo's top indie finds of 2020:

Borooney · Jimbos 2020 (Indie)

Mandatory Air-Leg Guitar Solo: 
"Debbie" - Your Smith 

Best unintentionally 2020 Lyric:
I never get why they say you should live like you die 
Don't take me dancing, I think I wanna stay home tonight
from "City Kitty" - French Cassettes

Best 2020 Video:
"Turntables" - Janelle Monáe  
Queen Jane all about that LIBERATION  ELEVATION  EDUCATION!

Cuzcoca!

Hello from Cuzco, the former capital of the Incan empire. Also its high. How high, well if Denver is the mile high city than this is the 2 mile high city at 11,200 ft. (Enjoy your oxygen coastal people's!) Breathing so far hasn't been terrible. It's not hard to breath like asthma but rather you get out of breath often. So I've embraced the local dietary solution of Coca!
Coca tea, coca leaves, coca candy and I even visited the Museo de Coca! Coca is mystical and gives you extraordinary powers. It is ancient and basically built the amazing Incan temples and settlements by giving you energy and reducing appetite.

Also, Cuzco is the preferred starting point for all things Incan. Sunday I took a tour of the sacred valley including a number of sites. The mountains and scenery and scale are unlike anything I've seen before. It takes me a while to comprehend "that peak is over 6000 meters high." Aka 20,000 feet.

Well if you are wondering why I haven't mentioned the big kahuna yet, it's because I'm going tomorrow! An all day trip to Maccu Piccu, I get picked up at my hostel at 3am and won't return to Cuzco till 10pm! Good thing this elevation somehow helps me sleep!
Photos! One of the Pisac terraces and the others are Cuzco.

Viva Peru y Bolivia!

As I was prepping for my spontaneous three week voyage I thought of the cheesy and/or nostalgic junk mail pamphlets that I get from my undergrad. Usually I take a look and then place it in the recycling but I recently began to appreciate HWS's latest perspective hook "Worlds of experience, Lives of consequence." Hoping to emphasize the concept of 'global citizenship.' And as you know I have a huge itch to see parts of the globe.
So here we go! Off in a whirl of gazuppee as my mother would exclaim if she wasn't so nervous! A new continent to explore. Viva Peru y Bolivia!

The Real Big Sur

Forget apologizing for not keeping up. Bienvenidos a Bacon cubierto de chocolate!!

That's right y'all CCB is going Big South on this blog. South America south!
I won't have a computer but will have an iPhone, more to follow soon.

James, CCB

CMJ 2012

Welcome to the second annual CCB review of the CMJ Music Marathon.
I saw about 45 acts ranging in all types and from all locations. Here's a couple. As always I'd be more than happy


Royal Canoe
Canadians are considered tame but produce some of the most talented weirdos. Hailing from Winnistickpeg, Royal Canoe is a really fun live act almost every band member has a synthesizer or keyboard and the occasional autotune.


Kishi Bashi
The definition of Hybrid. This one man Japanese/American sang/played violin dubbed/beat boxed. And repeat/mashed up his own vocals, strings and clapping. Really unique treat.


Gold Fields
As a sucker for nostalgia rock this band hits it on the head. But don't be fooled by there tropical riffs and neo-synth's they come to bring down the house. After seeing them I had to ask the drummer how he managed to keep his head on his shoulders.

Sinkane
Classic good feeling Funk indie. Thanks to Jen and Kerry this guy was a priority and well worth it.


Icona Pop
The Nordic woman are by no means suppressed as compared to there male compatriates. First LCMDF from Helsinki and now these 'get the hell up and dance' chicks from Sweden know how hard beats and beauty can inspire.