(Video link here.) We were stunned by this video of composer Ludovico Einaudi playing a baby grand while floating upon the icy Arctic Ocean in front of a surging, cracking Wahlenbergbreen glacier. His astonishing performance of Elegy for the Arctic was part of Greenpeace‘s Save the Arctic project,
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This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life is a teeny book that we return to, and give, frequently. It’s the commencement speech David Foster Wallace gave at Kenyon College in 2005. Reading it is humbling and an instant shift from default setting to compassionate mindset. Here are 229…
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A couple of weeks ago while we were compiling Artist’s Studios with Sofas + Rest Spaces, we stumbled on picture of earth artist Roy Staab‘s that had the notation: The Site Is My Studio. There was Staab creating in the Hudson River in 1989. IN THE HUDSON RIVER! It got us thinking about what our studio is. We realized…
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Soul Survivor, David Remnick’s moving profile of complex, mysterious, brilliant, notoriously infuriating singer Aretha Franklin, sent us looking for videos of the great diva in action. We stumbled on this rough beauty of seventy-something Aretha playing piano herself, in a mode that was more churchlike gospel – her roots — than theater performance. If you’re tired or troubled, or need uplift to your day, her groove will hearten you.
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We learned the hard way that how we used that first half hour or so that it can set the tone for the whole day. So we’re interested in how people we admire start their day. Mira Keras starts the day with her little girl GoGo making music with whatever is around. Pot lids and pineapples are…
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(Video link here.) We spent part of the weekend binge watching the truly funny, inspired Mozart in the Jungle on Amazon, about what happens when a young, brash, wildly creative maestro takes the helm of a symphony orchestra. It is rich with inspired moments —and improvisation —, like the beauty above. We’re thinking that the mission the maestro gives his assistant is…
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At some point during the Thanksgiving meal (or any meal), taking a moment to acknowledge all we have with whoever we are with is a fine way to give thanks and climb right into the moment. Here are our favorite blessings — which all can be said/read aloud, as a grace or a toast — though…
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(Video link here.) Adele’s Hello IS an amazing antidote to the traditional Thanksgiving family disfunction that occurs when too many disparate people come together. Watch and laugh. And then you listen to Hello all weekend…
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(Video link here.) Open Culture’s The Best Music To Put You To Sleep: Minimalist Composer Max Richter, Pop Phenom Ed Sheeran & Your Favorites put us onto some great resources for relaxing music that would be great for working, winding down at the end of the day or to help you fall asleep. We’ve been listening as…
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After we accidentally sacrified our trusty-ancient-unwieldy speakers trying to counteract the bed vibration that woke us up each morning, we went on the hunt for great sounding wireless speakers. We ended up getting two variations because music is so essential to us. It fuels our work when energy levels are low, helps us chill out, and even…
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(Video link here.) Derek Brown‘s version of Bach’s Cello Suite No.1 in G Major Prelude played on tenor sax in a huge empty warehouse is a pretty surprising rendition of the classic. He jazz’s it up, beat boxes it, and sends it reverberating around the space. We listened, then went back to its roots,
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(Video link here.) A friend sent us this video of Domenico Modugno singing Volare – Nel blu dipinto di blu, a song we’ve heard (and disliked) a million times; we just couldn’t get with Dean Martin. But Modugno’s 1958 version of the song HE wrote is pure joy. It made us look up translations of…
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For us, this image of Louis Armstrong playing his trumpet for his wife Lucille at the Sphinx during their trip to Egypt in 1961 describes “sublime”. It reminded us of that feeling when everything is rich with pleasure, without worries, fine.
But what about those times when things turn in a moment and bad things happen? Armstrong had a powerful answer .
All over town we’re seeing signs of people felled by the stunning heat wave, sleeping on benches under shady trees, lounging lethargically on the grass in parks. We’ve found ourselves working at partial power, desperately needing to nap and recuperate. We’ve found two unexpected antidotes.
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(Video link here.) Experimental vibraphonist Masayoshi Fujita‘s Tears of Unicorn seems like perfect music for starting the morning, or refreshing the day. Somehow watching him play in that big loft makes us feel like he is playing for US. Fujita’s process is compelling:
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(Video link here.) This loving competition between St. Louis-based beatboxer Nicole Paris and her dad, who taught her the basics — between mentor and apprentice —is filled with wonder and beauty,
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(Video link here.) We love the Helio Sequence’s trippy, beautiful, psychedelic-ish animated video more for the visuals than for the music. Turn the sound off and you have a wordless meditation on the inventive, imaginative mind and the many unexpected connections that occur in the creative process. It reminds us of the many ideas we have for…
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(Video link here.) Two minutes of crazy brilliance: DJ Kalan aka DJ Stove in his kitchen in the Philippines spins his fantasies along with Tiesto’s Catch ‘Em By Surprise —sung by Busta Rhymes— using TWO PROPANE BURNERS AS IMAGINARY TURNTABLES. It is the ultimate example of
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We’ve always loved J.S. Bach’s 24 Preludes and Fugues for Well Tempered Clavier and found one of our favorites this video animation. It is wonderful music to start your day —or week— and
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One of the most wondrous website’s we’ve seen lately is Cloudreporter, a site of cloud images that readers have submitted, with an unobtrusive sliding note that tells who took it, the location and date. Some of them have titles like Clouds Hanging Low or Summer in SF, or a poetic notation like “evening sky over…
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