damien rice

I've been a fan of Damien Rice for what seems like forever.  I remember first learning of him after hearing his song, The Blower's Daughter, in the film Closer in 2004.  Ever since, I've been in awe of his powerful lyrics and mind-blowing tunes.

An Irish folk-singer, Damien released his incredible first album, O, in 2003.  Every one of the songs on O has been a favorite of mine because every one has a different story to tell- a different emotion to express.

In 2006, Damien released 9, his second album, which demonstrates his growth, yet still retains the power of his earlier album.

One of the stand-out tracks on 9, Elephant, was originally known as The Blower's Daughter Part Two.  It's absolutely superb and just as heart-wrenching as The Blower's Daughter.

Here's a video of Damien performing the track live.

It blows me away every time.

Recently, none other than the lovely Amy Kuney, my boss, covered Damien's song, The Blower's Daughter, on piano.  The first time that I heard it, I got chills.  The second time I heard it, I got chills.  I've probably listened to her version one hundred times, and I still get the chills.  I love what she did with it.

The best thing about Amy's cover, though, is what happened because of it.

A Damien Rice fansite, Eskimo Friends, featured Amy's take on the song and somehow Damien himself watched the video and fell in love with Amy's voice.

This led to Amy flying over to Iceland to perform two shows with Damien and even singing with him on his songs Cold Water and Volcano.

Absolutely stunning.  I only wish I could have been there to see two of my favorite artists, one of them being my boss, performing together.

It's a beautiful thing, really.

tweak: growing up on methamphetamines

I just finished this book, Tweak, by Nic Sheff.  It's an incredibly honest memoir of his struggle and addiction to various drugs, including methamphetamines.  

I originally heard about the book while still working at Barnes and Noble.  We had a display featuring the book, Beautiful Boy, by Nic's father, David Sheff, and I was immediately interested.  I use the phrase "beautiful boy" frequently, and thought that getting the book only seemed appropriate.

After discovering that the story told the father's perspective of his son's addiction and recovery, I felt even more compelled to read it.

Earlier this year, my good friend Jeff died of an accidental overdose.  I had to read this book.

For some reason, I kept putting off actually buying the book until my last week working at Barnes and Noble.  It was then that I found out that Beautiful Boy was actually a counterpart book to Tweak.  I decided that I should read the son's perspective before the father's and thus started into the story.

Tweak, in it's sincerity, captures Nic Sheff's vulnerability in a way I never expected.  The compelling read really pushed me to re-evaluate the way I view myself and others.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has any connection whatsoever to an experience of addiction.

I can't wait to finally start in on Beautiful Boy.

wall-e: short circuit reinvented

I haven't seen a lot of movies lately, mostly because of a lack of spare time. However, I do manage to get myself to the ones that seem really inviting. This time, that movie was Wall-E.

When I first saw the commercial for Wall-E, I couldn't help but think of Johnny 5 from Short Circuit (one of my favorite films ever...especially the sequel).

Anyways, Wall-E was simply spectacular. The cute little robot put on a good show.

One of the highlights of the film was the marvelous soundtrack. Most of it including composed work made specifically for the film, but there were some special highlights thrown in there.

I especially enjoyed the inclusion of Louis Armstrong's La Vie en Rose. What a magnificent song!

As soon as I got back from the film and caught a few hours of sleep, I went straight to my handy dandy little iTunes and downloaded the track. It's warm, soothing, comforting, and everything else you could want from a song.

Here's the trailer. Enjoy :]