Tuesday I joined some of my co-workers from the World Resources Institute for the Seu Jorge and Almaz show at the 9:30 Club. It was an excellent concert with Seu Jorge belting out the songs of the latest Almaz album and a few others from here and there. I have to say one of my favorites was his mashup of several famous Brazilian songs.

He doesn’t just sing but interacts with the crowd as well. I was impressed by his English-language skills. After speaking a bit of how Brazil has changed over the years and how the country is moving up in the world, he turns to all the Brazilians in the audience and gives a passionate charge for all of them to return to Brazil – “Pra você brasileiro, volte ao Brasil!” – to take what they’ve learned abroad and apply it to improve the country. It was an excellent concert.

Oh yeah, I got backstage!

Yep, that's him. Seu Jorge.

By Guus Krol

I was looking for free (and legal) music to download yesterday and came across the English folk rock Mumford & Sons at prettymuchamazing.com and then tonight listening to the Santiago Radio stream. I hear Little Lion Man. I like it quite a bit. Take a listen (Warning: explicit lyrics).

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Enjoy!

I recently had a free trial of eMusic.com and to find some good tunes to download I turned to the NPR’s Best Music Of 2009, From Bob Boilen and came across this gem.

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Wavin’ Flag by K’naan

So do you understand what “mark to market” or “toxic assets” mean? This week’s episode of This American Life provides a basic overview of banking and how the U.S. and world economies arrived to where they are now.

Some of the provided statistics:

Bank of America and Citigroup have 25% of U.S. deposits and are they are not doing, supposedly, so hot.
The top 20 largest banks have 90% of U.S. deposits.
Household debt to GDP has been 30-50% until the 1980s.
It reached 100% (i.e. Americans owe more than the entire economy produces.) in 2007.
When was the last time it was that high? 1929.

Listen to or download it (free download until the next episode is posted).
If you enjoy the show that much, subscribe to the free weekly podcast.

I like podcasts and one of the best music podcasts available is from the CBC Radio 3. I can’t stop listening to the podcast from three weeks back. One of my favorite songs from the podcast is the following. A super song.

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The Sound by Human Highway

Subscribe to the CBC Radio 3 podcast via its RSS feed.

*The quote in the title is from MP3 blog Wolves, Hawks and Kites.

el setlist

So I saw a poster for an upcoming The Hives concert a few weeks back and I thought to myself, “Oh! I enjoy the music of The Hives. I shall consider attending.” Well the final decision to go was made about 7P last night, two hours before the band hit the stage at a theater across town. So I get some information on how to get there and get home afterwards, run out the door to catch a bus, and arrive at the department store where Ticketmaster has a counter. So I kindly ask a clerk where the ticket counter is and am politely told, “At the end of that line.”

Madonna tickets had just gone on sale. There would be a wait. A long wait.

So I consider just giving up, but then get the idea “Well I can still go down to the venue and see if there are tickets on sale there.” I get there right about the time the band takes the stage and purchase a ticket for lower than what I would pay at Ticketmaster (no fees).

It was a great show. Pure energy from all band members and a superb Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist (pictured above) taking a decent stab at Spanish. It sure blew away the only other concert I have attended while in Chile – Robbie Williams (I accompanied a friend, i.e. FREE).

Absolute great fun.

My brother and sister-in-law gave me an Ipod nano before I returned to Chile so I was looking around for some free music on the Web and found the DOWNLOAD THIS! section of the staff blog from CMJ New Music Monthly (the monthly free CD mag I used to read). There is a new song offered weekly. Check it out.

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Swing That Tambourine by Kristoffer Ragnstam

I came across The Best CDs of 2008 (So Far) on NPR.org and found this little gem from My Morning Jacket. I first heard of MMJ on WORLD CAFE. David Dye, the host of World Cafe, is a big fan.

Touch Me I’m Going to Scream, Pt. 2

Check out the other songs from Death Cab for Cutie, Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, and Vampire Weekend. Good listens.

So I was in that place between being awake and asleep last night with the TV on and this song came on. This is a simple and incredible song (same title as this post) from Antony and the Johnsons. I had never heard someone sing like Antony.

Here’s a bit:

Hope there’s someone
Who’ll set my heart free
Nice to hold when I’m tired

There’s a ghost on the horizon
When I go to bed
How can I fall asleep at night
How will I rest my head

For some samples from Antony and the Johnsons, visit brainwashed.com

There has been quite alot going on recently. At various moments I have the opportunity to read or do something on the Internet. These are a few of those things I’ve been tuning in to recently:

My brother’s photos (I would like to see what their house looks like)
Candidates + issues matrix
Robert in DC
“Janet Reno likes folk music?”

Interesting stuff. I’ll post soon, I promise, about what’s going on in my life.

Enjoy.