{snap} mural + muse

{photo by rob knugg}

me.

under a highway.

on a cold rainy april day.

snapping pictures of maps and writings for their upcoming album release.

an afternoon can vanish in a wink when i am in my element.

street art, friends, and camera in hand...timeless bliss.

{snap} lights + strings

this is the inside of a grand piano.

it lives next door.

there are beautiful golden lights inside.

i love to stare at the mesmerizing inner world of this instrument.

earlier this week, i played these lovely keys and sang a sultry lounge version of prince's song "raspberry beret."

this piano has stolen my heart.

{music} a sweet tweet

please allow me to introduce you to one of my favorite places in the twitterverse:

"We had an idea. What if we picked tweets we liked from people and made them into songs? Would it be easy? Would people like it? We could call them "sweets." 

A social experiment in music. A way to highlight tweets we love from people we love to follow. You tweet it, we sing it. Songs in 140 characters or less."

a month ago, musicians kevyn smith and jeremy johnson selected one of my tweets...

right now: studio. glitter. coffee. @smasheltooth. photography. glorious saturday!

— diane reid (@thedewdropinn) January 14, 2012

and turned it into this...

{my sweet: a song + video}

i was completely over the moon about this! utterly squee-tastic! so thrilled and silly that i've been gushing about it ever since.

this duo is talented, hilarious, and smart. they make me laugh daily! i love their experiment. it makes me happy and is precisely my kind of fun.

gentlemen, thank you for taking the time to turn my tweet into a sweet. bravo for your stellar sense of humor and constant creativity, oh wondrous tweet troubadours!

follow this project on twitter and visit the blog to view a fabulous collection of past sweets.

{music} pretty lights

on constant repeat in my world lately: the music of pretty lights.

in love with this video...

music crush: you will never know

the story and styling in this video are so very lovely...

via yes and yes

{play} sketch * beatbox * fold

my brain has been quite busy lately.

tonight i decided it was time to stop thinking and just play!

i thought you might want to join in the fun...

draw + animate: odosketch

{found via the lovely lynn of hearted girl}

a flash drawing application

which allows you to draw a picture

and then replay your drawing as an animation.

make a beatbox tune: incredibox

a flash application

created by the musician "the incredible polo"

that allows you to mix his beatbox sounds

to make a cool little tune.

fold a toy: the toymaker

a fun variety of toys

that you can print, cut, fold, glue, and enjoy.

sending you a cup of midweek stardust...i hope you take some time to play!

xo

music crush: the harmony festival

we spent our first summer saturday night at the harmony festival, which happens ten minutes from our treehouse...

here are my four favorite moments from the night...

#1: the flaming lips

when we first arrived at the festival, we were greeted with the super stage spectacle of a show by the flaming lips...

{via city sound inertia}

we have loved them for years. they truly are supreme showboats. the songs "yoshimi" and "do you realize" were especially beautiful under the night sky. music, smoke, lasers, video, dancing, and confetti underneath a summery sonoma county moon.

#2: the techno tribal dance

next, we ventured over to this yearly dance event which is produced by a collective called mystic beat lounge...

{at the entrance}

it is in grace pavilion, an old fairground hall which is transformed into a magical space with lights and art...

{the stage}

{the human dance globe}

{the inflatable glowing forest}

{the digital om}

{the silhouette of a stilt walker}

my absolute mind-blowing favorite performance of the night was by ghostland observatory, a duo from austin who put on such an incredible show...

electro funk (think freddie mercury mixed with daft punk, david bowie, and prince) with a wild laser light show. a crazy good time! i danced my heart out...





#3: the silent disco in a geodesic dome

{example via pacific domes}

after techno tribal, i walked outside where i discovered a lovely illuminated dome.

at the entrance, i was greeted by kind people who handed me a pair of wireless headphones. they explained that the headphones had two different channels, one for each of the two dj's who were spinning records inside the dome. they told me i could switch between the two channels whenever i wanted by pressing a button on the headphones.

i peered inside the dome to see a huge group of happy dancing people...but it was completely quiet!

when i put the headphones on, i heard the funky music and instantly entered the world of the silent disco. amazing! it was so much fun to connect with people who were dancing on the same frequency.

#4: the night of bliss

an incredible way to end the night. high-energy electronic kirtan (aka "tribal trance dance"), a brilliant visual show, and wonderful people joyfully dancing everywhere. i got completely swept away by the vocals (jaya lakshmi), drums, flamenco, and beats of the lost at last tribe. a beautiful experience.

music crush: tUnE-yArDs

the unique sounds of the new tUnE-yArDs album 'w h o k i l l' have been floating around in the treehouse lately.

tUnE-yArDs is described as "the lo-fi experimental folk project of merrill garbus."

'bizness' is the song which first introduced us to her music...

the music on this album has a cool sound that kevwrex and i agree is difficult to define. it's a mixture of jazzy-world-pop-modern-folk, and we both find it refreshingly original.

download the song 'bizness' for free via the website or check out the NPR interview if you are interested in hearing more tUnE-yArDs.

the opinion machine

this morning at breakfast, i pondered the giant opinion machine that is the internet.

while sipping my coffee, i considered the impact it has had upon my relationship with experiencing new art, specifically music...

{salvador dali + rhino}

i was listening to a new song when a stream of dialogue entered my head. the conversation was an endless flow of voices questioning, justifying, persuading, arguing, judging, commenting, deciding, and analyzing. it was my own personal collection of imagined status updates, tweets, and posts regarding this song.

somehow, in between bites of cereal, i heard this discussion quite clearly and decided it had to stop.

i closed my eyes and imagined myself back in my childhood bedroom listening to my very first cassette tape...

i was in the third grade. using carefully saved coins, i bought the album at kmart from the bargain music bin. the cover art was the deciding factor. purple music notes playing on a stand mixer? sold.

when i was young, i loved listening to new music by myself in my bedroom. i usually had absolutely no idea what anyone else thought about it. i was geeky, clueless, and lacked MTV. i just loved what i loved, freely and with no judgment. listening to music alone in my room transported me through landscapes of feeling. it allowed me to have a personal response to music without regard for everyone else's opinions constantly pouring in on me.

this morning, i touched that time again. in my heart i felt that freedom. it was delicious. there were no itunes reviews, no snarky facebook comments, no tweets containing commentary, no posts proclaiming yay or nay, no articles with critical reviews.

it was just me and a new song over a morning meal. i felt the freedom to love without boundaries, a cherished childhood space that i adore and miss.

i plan to cultivate this experience more thoughtfully now that i have noticed its absence...

music makes us fast friends

my best friend's toddler twins recently started their first music class...

{jonas bergstrand via animalarium}

i had the pleasure of being with them during their first day in class.

the teacher was wonderful and warm, a person who the kids immediately connected with and loved.

she explained to us that during class, the children are free to explore, express, join, watch, wander, and play.

in the middle of class, she was introducing a new song when one twin felt spontaneously inspired to run up and throw his arms around her in a giant toddler embrace.

she immediately hugged him back, smiled a radiant smile, and without missing a beat said:

my heart nearly burst with joy upon witnessing this scene.

to express my love of this idea, i bring you two videos...

{fast friends}

{music}

{moments} harmonizing

in my corner of the universe, life has been gloomy this week.

when the bigger picture is challenging, i put extra effort into consciously zooming in on the little moments of sheer joy that are always present.

one such moment in my world...

{source}

...singing with my love.

kevwrex teaches choral music and often brings home new songs to practice in his studio.

sometimes he invites me to be a part of the process, asking me to sing either melody or harmony so he can work out musically how to teach the song to his students.

this is a dream for me. i love to sing. and to have the chance to sing with the person i absolutely adore? pure heaven.

we sang a few songs together on wednesday evening. this was a tiny moment in our week (fifteen minutes, perhaps?) but it has made me so incredibly happy in the midst of a tough time.

have you had any small moments of delight or happiness this week? please share with me...i love to read about those moments.

danse macabre: danny elfman + tim burton

check out this amazing project...

it is an enormous box set of the entire span of work produced between danny elfman and tim burton over twenty-five years.

my friend, jeff bond (former editor of geek monthly magazine), wrote the book which accompanies the music.

it is described as an "exclusive, meticulously researched, lavishly illustrated 250+ hardcover book with a forward by johnny depp, as well as rare photos, stories, and interviews from the cast and crew, behind-the-scenes of this classic music — from the early days of Elfman’s band Oingo Boingo to the recent blockbuster film, Alice In Wonderland."

here is a short interview with jeff, danny, tim, and many other incredible collaborators...

imagine

tomorrow is john lennon's 70th birthday...

i fell deeply, madly in love with john when i was in seventh grade.

more accurately, my junior high years were filled with beatles mania. i covered the walls of my bedroom in beatles posters and listened to cassette tapes of 'the white album' nearly every day on my walkman. john was my serious beatle crush. i purchased those iconic wire frames and read everything about him that i could possibly find.

today's google logo is a tribute to john...

visit the site and play the lovely little animation.

side note: this song has always turned me into a teary mess. it probably always will.

my birthday wish for john: i wish for more dreamers to join us and for the world to know peace.

for john's 70th birthday, check out the digital remastering of his solo work + tweet a message to the imagine peace tower tomorrow which will be illuminated in his honor.

i bless the rains down in africa

i am sharing the following video with you for several reasons.

one: i am married to a choral music dude. we love to completely geek out on fun vocal stuff like this.

two: this reminds me of creating rainstorms in my elementary school music class by clapping + snapping + stomping. i really loved doing that.

three: it's by the band toto! it's a classic from the eighties! and it's a great song!

without further ado, i present to you 'africa' as performed by perpetuum jazzile...

funky fun

i had a spectacular time at the techno tribal community dance last night...

techno tribal is the saturday night party at the harmony festival...

it features incredible music and a dazzling stage show with fire dancing and aerial artistry.

i particularly loved the performances of chali 2na (formerly of jurassic five) and beats antique.  amaaaaaazing!

what a wonderful night!  i am deeply happy when dancing with thousands of people to super soul satisfying music.

music crush: meklit hadero

her music is described as jazz + ethiopia + san francisco + poetry...

...i really love it.

check out her website or this NPR feature for a listen and some history.

i'll be back tomorrow with pictures of my journal project and swap with heidi pumpkin pie of bury me in leaves.

and i am thrilled to say this (drumroll please)...

i planted my entire garden on saturday!

update and stories coming on weeds + water wednesday.

i hope your june is just lovely so far.

xo

music crush: robyn

the amazing robyn has a new album being released in june.

i love the first single, "dancing on my own."

here is the video...

...i have adored her for at least a decade!

i don't want to geek out and gush too much, but i think her new album is going to be one of my top summer jams.

music crush: two door cinema club

my hunky resident dj kevwrex introduced me to two door cinema club recently and now i am totally hooked...

you've changed

i. love. sia.

her voice, her vibe, her artistry. 

all good stuff, in my book.

if you are not familiar with her, check this out.

i am excited for her new album "we are born" which will be released in june this year.

check out her video for the song "you've changed" which i think is really fun...

double rainbow + music inspiration

it has been a rainy spring week here on the hill.

we are in the midst of a relaxing cozy art*filled staycation in the treehouse.

yesterday i saw a technicolor super charged double rainbow which didn't last long enough for a photo but was so spectacular!

last night we watched half of this beautiful movie...

...it is especially poignant, since my beloved kevwrex is a choral director and brilliant musician.

speaking of music, kevwrex sent me this fun combo of music and iphone awesomeness last night...