Listenable January Playlist

Hey thanks for the tip to put my playlist on playlist.com. They didn't have a few of the songs that I wanted but this is totally a step up. Enjoy!

Andrew's Blog Playlist of the Month: January

January has been an exciting month of music for me. Being in LA means lots of driving and lots of driving means lots of new tunes. These are the songs that have had the most playtime in my car since the new year. I don't actually know if anyone actually even downloads these. You know, I get a lot of instant gratification when I make videos because I can see all the view counts and comments and stuff, but less so when I'm plugging my favorite tunes. Anyone out there actually use these playlists?

1) "When You Love Somebody" -- Fruit Bats
2) "Cousins" -- Vampire Weekend
3) "Got Nuffin" -- Spoon
4) "Bulletproof" --La Roux
5) "That's Not My Name" -- The Ting Tings
6) "This Too Shall Pass" -- OK GO
7) "People Got A Lotta Nerve" -- Neko Case
8) "21 Guns (feat. the cast of AMERICAN IDIOT) -- Green Day
9) "Hometown Glory" -- ADELE
10) "Dreams Come True Girl" -- Cass McCombs
11) "Stillness Is The Move" -- Dirty Projectors
12) "Hell" -- Tegan and Sara
13) "Can You Tell" -- Ra Ra Riot
14) "All My Hallowness to You" -- It's a Musical
15) "Popular Mechanics for Lovers" -- Beulah
16) "Love Me Through" -- Port O'Brien
17) "First Train Home" -- Imogen Heap
18) "Cosmic Love" -- Florence + the Machine

Cortney Wolfson takes the stage!

It's been a while since Corns has performed live (her being on tour for the past year), but it's so nice to hear her sing again. This song's from a concert version of BUNKED!: A Camp Musical. I'm hoping there is a serious double entendre with the word "Camp" because if so they're certainly catering to my readers ;) So far I love what I've been hearing. And of course Cortney sounds gorgeous as ever!

OMFG! TURTLE POWER (MIX)!

Puh-SCUSE mE?! Okay, this video would be rich enough on its own. It's a clip from the 1990 concert version of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." RICH! And I mean, why shouldn't the character April get to sing a belty power ballad? But if a concert version of TMNT wasn't campy enough, leave it to none other than Broadway's own Sherie Rene Scott to sell the $#&% out of it! Work that red weave!

Thanks to Andy Mientus for the delicious tip!

MurphyMade

Hey guys,
My good friend Matt Murphy is a ridiculously talented photographer. It's my pleasure to share his new trendy website with you guys. He is wonderful at what he does and if you're ever in need of headshots or pictures for your website or any other photography occasion, you should check him out. Or if you just want a cool way to spend 10 minutes, pop on some tunes and browse through his portfolio. Pretty amazing stuff.

Check him out at MurphyMade.com

I love this guy!

I might be a little late joining this train but I just discovered an amazing youtuber, Julian Smith. Check out one of his recent videos that totally had me laughing out loud.

I think I'm in Love!

My feelings about the trial to overturn Prop 8 would best be described in song...this song. Thanks Splash for your rich lighting and thank you Jake & Dave Hull for your ridiculous rifftastic vocals. Yay!! I'm so glad Dave is back from tour and in New York!!

The Price Is Wrong...BIOTCH!

So earlier this week the cast and I attended a live taping of The Price Is Right!! I could not even believe how many rich things kept happening to us so I had to make a video. Enjoy!

My Top 10 Films of 2009

1) UP IN THE AIR
This was the movie I was waiting for all year. Simple, nuanced, beautifully acted and heartfelt. The dialogue felt was effortless and the performances by Clooney, Kendrick and Farmiga were flawless. This movie struck an unexpected chord having myself been on the road and away from my family and friends for the past 3 years. The isolation and banal routine that you somehow come to think of as normal, even comforting felt so perfectly relevant. Within the two hours I spent in the theatre I was immersed in the lives of the main characters yet forced to examine my own without even realizing it.



2) INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
In Tarantino's best turn of his career he skates through film genres and almost offensive historical inaccuracies with such hilarious ease. This film had me knotted in suspense one moment, cringing at gruesome violence another and then cheering with excitement and laughs the next. One of the most hugely entertaining films of the decade. Also, Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa was probably my favorite performance of the year.



3) FANTASTIC MR. FOX
2009 was an incredible year for children's films and FANTASTIC MR. FOX led the pack as my favorite. Wes Anderson's crafty and original stop-animation pic was truly a marvel. It was shot so much like a token Wes Anderson film with the exception of, oh right, ANYTHING REAL. It also delivered a wonderfully quirky screenplay that not even for a second talked down to its target audience.



4) UP
A amazing film that packed an unexpected emotional punch. The first 15 minutes was undoubtedly the most beautifully animated sequence I've ever seen. I was almost embarrassed at how hard I sat there just WEEPING through my 3D glasses.



5) CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY
I happen to love Michael Moore films, but I think it has something to do with the fact that 9 out of 10 times I agree with his seriously leftist viewpoints. I can totally understand why people on the right hate this man and his films but I think this one is a little harder to dismiss. In the least sarcastic of his films he shows the horrifying demise of our economic system in the past 20 years. No dramatization in the world could be as deeply affecting as the footage he uses of all these real people losing their homes and life savings.



6) (500) DAYS OF SUMMER
There's one genre I hate more than any other film genre--romantic comedy. Such is not the case with (500) DAYS OF SUMMER. Delightfully breaking all the rules of film in his debut, director Marc Webb reinvents the genre in a way that feels like our generation's ANNIE HALL.



7) WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
One of my most anticipated movies of the year, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE was completely different from what I was expecting yet so pleasantly perfect. I kept thinking of all the little ADHD/emotionally neglected children out there and imagining how epicly fantastic it must be to watch a film like this.



8) DISTRICT 9
After romantic comedy, Sci-Fi is probably next on my list of genres that I have the least appreciation for, yet this year STAR TREK, AVATAR and DISTRICT 9 all fought to change my mind. In the best of the bunch, DISTRICT 9 felt so technically inventive and politically relevant that I couldn't help but buy into everything it was selling.



9) HURT LOCKER
Miserably real, wonderfully shot and powerfully acted, HURT LOCKER is perhaps one of the best war movies I've ever seen. I became so infuriated by my own country through it's intensely visceral screenplay and direction. What are we doing?!! We need to get our troops the #%$@ OUT OF THERE!



10) PRECIOUS
I can't say I very much enjoyed watching this movie. In fact, I was in an awful mood the rest of the day after seeing it, but there's no denying the impact of the performances and story. Gabourey Sidibe and Mo'Nique are heartbreaking and despite it's painfully depressing story, this film is a must see this year.

Why are you guys not watching this show?!?!

Seriously, you guys need to jump in with this musical webseries! I really feel like you will be obsessed! WIENER & WIENER is already on episode 6 and I would love if you guys would flood them with the subscriptions they deserve. Check out their most recent episode. It's probably my favorite one and you truly don't even need to know anything about the show to enjoy it. I mean, there's dancing and singing on subway platforms. Who doesn't want to see that?!!

And be sure to subscribe to their channel!