Saturday, September 08, 2012

Ear Candy In The City: Two Door Cinema Club – Beacon


Earlier this year, during a long conversation about music with a good friend he brings up Irish import Two Door Cinema Club as one of his “indie rock-ish” favorites and at the time I had only really listened to one track they preformed on Late Night with Jimmy FallonWhat You Know” which I immediately downloaded but being it was sort of late there wasn’t much time to research them. The track stayed in my new finds playlist that month and some time later made its way to other playlist. Since there wasn’t anything else by them in my library I figured it was just some random track I liked and nothing else. After hearing about them again, I looked them up and was hooked on their 2010 freshman album “Tourist History” (maybe I’ll write about this album later).



The Two Door Cinema Club’s sophomore album “Beacon” dropped this week and it has definitely solidified my love for them. Click here to listen to the whole album. The guitar band trio returns with a sleekly-sophisticated and energetically-upbeat album that still holds some of the melancholic love lyrics familiar to their fans. Perhaps that’s why this amazing album has not stopped blasting through my speakers/headphones all week.


No track exemplifies this more than the first single “Sleep Alone” introduced last month on their website and YouTube. Hauntings by ghosts-of-failed-lovers-past is the topic lead vocalist Alex Trimble sings of… “He sleeps alone; He needs no army where he's headed; 'Cause he knows; That they're just ghosts; And they can't hurt him if he can't see them, oh; And I don't know if in the morning I will be here; And if so; Let it be known; That I was worthy, I was worthy, I was worthy, I was.” It is undoubtedly to become a gay boy’s summertime breakup anthem with the androgynous lyrics especially when preformed by a male signer.

The danceable “Someday” is a pessimistic beginning love song that boldly asks “Where do we start; If we will end apart?; Where do we go from here?; It's head versus heart; It will all be clear; Someday.”

Settle”, “Sun” and “Next Year” are refreshing takes on the expected sophomore-album-angst that comes from being on the road touring for the first album – and that of long-distance relationships. “The World Is Watching (with Valentina)” best expresses this distant yearning declaring, “I wont forget the things you said; That's dancing and singing inside my head; You've always known you're not alone; I want you with me.” And it is “Spring” that gives validation to short periods spent together stating,“If I follow you then; I will need you closer; One more day is not enough; I don't mind; If all this time; Is all that we had to spend; Everyone carelessly pretend.”

The Beacon (Deluxe Version) includes 14 additional tracks recorded “Live at Brixton Academy” on 25 February 2012 (according to the bands wiki page) making it a great introduction piece to the bands body of work. This is definitely one album that will have multiple tracks moving on to my “Best of Alternative” playlist.

Here is some more on Two Door Cinema Club

Band's Official Website: http://twodoorcinemaclub.com


Follow them on Twitter:




Two Door Cinema Club (L-R): Sam Halliday, Alex Trimble, & Kevin Baird.



Two Door Cinema Club appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon















Artwork for Two Door Cinema Club - Beacon





































Artwork for Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History




















Monday, September 03, 2012

Getting Back To Work... In The City!


According to Wiki “Labor Day” is an American Federal Holiday that “celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.” Since I started to write this blog with the purpose of making a “social contribution” and hopefully make this my work some day; it feels appropriate that my return be on this day. For sometime now I’ve been trying to get myself back to where I was before life knocked me hard out of the bubble I was living in for some time.

The last 17 months, I’ve been trying to find my balance to get back to doing what I enjoy and write these entries. But for one thing or another I’ve been ambitiously trying to live every minute of life to the max. Time to stop and write has been taking backseat to actually living life, and recharging my creativity as been happening for sure. During this time I have not been able to spot writing notes for entries and topics I’d like to explore here. Reconnecting with friends, making new ones and rediscovering acquaintances that have turn out to become great friends. At the same time I have cut my losses with relationships, got rid of negative people and purged my life of anything that was holding me back in the past. As I start to write new entries I will touch upon all these changes because they have all been the focus of short entries for topics for writing here. The additions to my arsenal of ways to write these by acquiring more portable technology that will make it easier for me to write wherever I find myself. Some more comfortable than others but all give me the freedom to write on the go.

Hopefully you all are not too mad at me for stay away for so long. Hopefully I’ll make it up to you blog buddies and reestablish new ones. 

Until the next posting… BigBearXoxOs!