Studio at Dawn

There’s no better feeling than being at a concert.

You’ve got that unanimous feeling of belonging. The feeling that every single person at that show has listened to the same songs by the same band as you and are all there for the same reasons. They’ve all been touched by the same harmonies, the same lyrics, and the same messages. Your lives have all been forever changed by those 3-6 people on that stage.

The band performing is the same band you listened to when you were riding to school on the bus, driving down the interstate with your friends, crying yourself to sleep at night, staying up late on the Internet, singing obnoxiously in your house alone, sitting in your room cooling off after a bad day, blasting at a party, etc. They’re the band you go to when you want a good breakdown, when you’re outside at 3am smoking a cigarette, when you need some good inspirational background noise.

Being with all of those people who, though you have no idea who they are, face the same daily issues as you makes you seem less alone in the world. 
It’s nice. 

(via bodellewithcheese)

“Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves. Heres Tom with the Weather.” ― Bill Hicks

a-rchitecture:

THE PALMACH MUSEUM OF HISTORY
a project by zvi HECKER
tel-aviv, israel, completed 2000
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Most of Zvi Hecker’s architecture achieves a rare combination of originality and modesty. Its originality is not in the introduction of novel forms, but rather in the ways it brings together already familiar forms in relationship to particular sites and programs. The modesty of his buildings is a result …

Image gallery and more information about this project can be found on Google+ at +@rchitecture

Love the effect created by the twisted seat belts, it almost seems to disappear. Very creative use of recycled material.

designismymuse:

edgina:Seat Belt Furniture by Phillips Collection

#1 - Bon Iver, Bon Iver, Bon Iver

Justin Vernon has been busy since the release of 2008’s For Emma, Forever Ago. The past few years have seen a phenomenal Bon Iver EP, a side project, and countless collaborations with artists from Lia Ices to Kanye West. Yet somehow Vernon’s versatility and creative drive were always overshadowed by that mysterious log cabin in northern Wisconsin. With Bon Iver, Bon Iver Vernon makes a bold statement about the identity of the band and of himself, and in doing so breaks free of the myth surrounding them. The two albums often couldn’t sound more different. Rather than the stripped down compositions of For Emma, Forever Ago, this album is made up of lush soundscapes drawing on everything from R&B to soft jazz for influence. And it works perfectly alongside Vernon’s strong but vulnerable vocals and impressionistic lyrics. In short, Bon Iver, Bon Iver is exactly the album it needed to be, a truly great record that gives Vernon the freedom to evolve.

#2 M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is an album with absolutely no restraint, and this is obvious as soon as the first song, “Intro”, comes to life with powerful synth, epic chanting, and children whispering about God knows what, leaving me to think “This is only the intro?” With his sixth studio album, Anthony Gonzalez of M83 continues to unabashedly embrace everything awesome about electro, ambient, shoegaze and dance pop. This is a double album but it doesn’t feel like it, because listening to Hurry Up is an experience and it is easy to get lost in its depths.

#3 - Girls, Father, Son, Holy Ghost

Father, Son, Holy Ghost is an album that hooks you quickly because it works with a familiar set of tools. It is an album that it feels like you’ve known your whole life. And it doesn’t sound the least bit derivative, because it is absolutely genuine. Of course it is difficult to fully appreciate some of the more personal struggles conveyed in Christopher Owen’s lyrics without knowing a little about his complicated back story, but since you’re reading this I’ll assume you do. Regardless, the lyrics and tight compositions speak in the language of Elvis Costello, the Beach Boys, and even Pink Floyd occasionally, unpretentious, honest, and fun.

#4 - Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues

It took me a little while to really warm up this album. I fell in love with the group’s self titled debut when it was released in 2008, mostly because of the way that the vocal harmonies and lush compositions seemed to conjure up a mysterious world that had only previously existed in my dreams. When I listened to Helplessness Blues for the first time, I was dismayed to find the vocal harmonies had taken a back seat to Robin Pecknold’s role as lead singer. As I listened to it more, however, my bitterness subsided and I came to see the album for what it really is: a brave album that avoids the pitfalls of following up Fleet Foxes by continuing to push their sound in new directions. Fleet Foxes could have made another beautiful, harmony-laden contemplation on nature and satisfied the critics, but instead they released an intensely personal and introspective album that reveals the stress and turmoil that went into making it, both between band members and within Pecknold’s own psyche.

#5 - James Blake - James Blake

Well, James Blake had quite the busy 2011. The London dub-producer has released two solid EPs in the past few months, but it was his eponymous full-length debut from early in the year that rewrote the rules on what dubstep can be. Minimalist to the extreme, in some ways James Blake feels like an exercise in restraint. A real departure from his early dubstep, Blake strips away all superfluous noise on this album so that only the bare essentials remain: piano, snare, some distortion, and Blake’s voice. This last tool takes on a whole new level of importance, as Blake finds a soulful yet often eerie voice that makes this album irresistible..

Christmas is over, which means it’s about time to name my Top Albums of 2011! Over the next 5 days that are all that remain of 2011, I will post my top five albums and write a little something about each one. But before I get around to that, I’ll give you the rest of my top 25 albums of the year.

6) Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes

7) Destroyer – Kaputt

8) St. Vincent – Strange Mercy

9) tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l

10) Beirut – The Rip Tide

11) Givers – In Light

12) Radiohead – The King of Limbs

13) Jens Lekman – Having an Argument with Myself EP

14) Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo

15) The Rosebuds – Loud Planes Fly Low

16) The Decemberists – The King is Dead

17) Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Hysterical

18) Washed Out – Within and Without

19) Real Estate – Days

20) The Weeknd – House of Balloons

21) The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Belong

22) Cut Copy – Zonoscope

23) The Black Keys – El Camino

24) The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient

25) Cults – Cults

Honorable Mention: Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto