My Yoga Story

An open letter to future me (theme: yoga)

Dear Leica,

It's been two and half years since I started my journey with yoga and I can tell you that it hasn't been easy, to say the least. That first week of ever doing yoga was the hardest workout I've ever experienced since the only exercise I did before that was run the treadmill. But it felt so good to turn in those running shoes and step into the studio barefoot. I've never felt so in tune with my body. I only availed the one week beginners package and by the end of that week I didn't want to leave the mat. That's when I knew I fell in love with yoga.

I clicked with yoga instantly and I guess a major contributor to that is because of Yoga+. It's only a 7-minute walk from where I live and 5 minutes if I'm running late. Everything is there already, all I need to bring is my water bottle and myself. It's true what they say that the hardest part of yoga is going to the class because sometimes, your mind tells you to skip today and take a rest day instead - to let your body recover for a day... or two. Good thing I have my sister as my yoga buddy to push me to go practice and vice versa.

Read More.

Coachella: Step Up For The Cool Cats

April has crept upon us which means Coachella is right around the corner. Coachella has become one of the biggest festivals that draws in a huge crowd of people from all over the world. Tickets for the first weekend actually sold out in merely 15 minutes. That's crazy! But if you're one of the 80-85,000 (approx.) who will be attending, make sure you've got everything you're going to need prepared by now... if you're one of the overtly excited ones or maybe you just want to get things prepared early and be hassle-free the day itself. Hey, whatever floats your boat. It's important to have some essential things when you're going to music festivals. It's 3 days of live music under the sun, you're going to need a few things. Here are just a few that I feel the need for: comfortable shoes/booties, a hat, sunglasses, camera/s, and sunscreen. Last year, it actually rained on the first weekend and was extremely hot on the second weekend, so I guess it could go either way with the weather. But it looks like it's going to be a good one this summer. 

With over 170 performers in this year's line-up, it's hard to choose which bands you'll want to see. Here's the short list of who I'm excited to watch (via live stream). But be sure to check out up and coming bands as well like The Neighbourhood, Palma Violets, Divine Fits, Little Green Cars, Guards, DIIV, and many more. And check out the playlist I've made to get you pumped up for Coachella.

Coachella 2013 from leicamont on 8tracks Radio.

Thoughts on Coachella in a different post.

What's your vibe?

Lately, I've been all around the interwebs and reading a lot too, surprisingly. There's been reading of books, magazines, articles, and blogs - mainly some internet vibes. But I've been listening to a lot of new music too. I'm really liking Youth Lagoon's vibe. His music sounds dreamy, like an MGMT feel, but it also sounds quite vulnerable and sweet at the same time. Trevor Powers who goes by Youth Lagoon has described his musical venture as merely a part of himself and his music as somewhat like letting people read his journal. I love these kinds of musicians who are filled with passion and emotion. Check out this music video, Montana by Youth Lagoon, which is very emotional and powerful that people in this video's comments section are all crying, or almost. 

I've got a few more things to share too, like this short film entitled, The Queen, by Christina Choe. The video is described as such: Bobby works at his parents dry cleaners on prom weekend. When the prom queen and her boyfriend stop by with their dress and tuxedo, Bobby has his own prom to remember. 

This next one, The Scared is scared, ensued when Bianca Giaever asked a six year old on what her movie should be about. Don't let the title scare you away, it's not a horror flick. 

Flickering Lights is a project done by hitRECord, a collaborative production company headed by the great, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It's a beautiful video and you should definitely check out more works on hitrecord.org. 

These next three music videos are my recent favorites. Cry Like A Ghost by Passion Pit is actually my favorite song off their album and then to have this masterpiece of a video to boot is nothing short of amazing. The directing duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert have produced great music videos much like this. They were the brains behind Foster the People's Houdini and The Shins' Simple Song. 

Jim Canty gives us four reasons why we should watch Whispers in the Dark by Mumford & Sons four times as much as we should. At one point, it features a cameo by Haim.

Matt & Kim's It's Alright video will leave you dancing along to their tune. I mean, they already are... dancing on their bed and more. Check out Kim twerking at around 2:39. 

Heart of Gold

     I'd like to think my taste in music is pretty diverse but the sad truth is that it's not. I lean towards more on the indie genre and like the occasional pop, techno, and rap. I really like indie rock and indie folk such as Vampire Weekend, Walk The Moon, The Shins, Best Coast, Noah and the Whale, Mumford & Sons, Freelance Whales and the list goes on. There's nothing really wrong with liking just a specific type of genre. I guess, I just know what I like and don't like. But for me, I really want to expand my musical taste because there's so many different kinds of music out there that I have yet to discover and hopefully love. There's afrobeat, worldbeat, blues, ska, trance, soul, and so much more. I mean, I haven't even given jazz a chance yet, maybe now I will.

     Well, recently my dad got a record player for Christmas and he's dug up some of his old records and has been playing it for some nights now. It's relatively different from what I usually listen to but having gone through his little stack of vinyl records, I saw a few that I was already listening to. Which is pretty awesome, I might add. He has some Neil Young and Alphaville which I like. So now, I really want to try and listen to some of his old records. It's a bit diverse but that's the challenge then. Although, I probably won't be going into something like worldbeat or ska. I don't think I'm quite ready  yet. 

Gossamer: My first record

Listen to Neil Young's Heart of Gold

     

Gossamer

If you're one of those who have been the anticipating Passion Pit's new record, Gossamer, and can't wait for another 7 days, then head on to NPR because they're streaming it in its entirety. It's been 2009 since Manners and their newest record doesn't disappoint.



***btw, Vampire Weekend performed last Sunday at Pitchfork Music Festival. It's been 21 months since their last performance and it's great to see them play again [through the stream that is]. They performed a new track off their forthcoming album - New Song #2 (as described from their setlist) which is absolutely amazing. It's such a fun tune and one that could the crowd clapping along. I have a feeling the new record would be released early next year or hopefully, before the year ends. Let's cross our fingers. ***

On The Radar

New music! New music!
I love getting into new songs and then obsessing/over-analyzing the lyrics. Oh, good music is just divine. Here's what I've been listening to.

Passion Pit's new album, Gossamer, comes out July 24th. Here's a single off their new album.


This band called Talkfine describes their music as shimmering electropop. Quirky and fun. They've recently released their album, Lesser Known Hits, but it's still this song off their EP that I really enjoy.


Walk the Moon. Don't even get me started with this band. I love every single bit about them! Ever since Anna Sun, I can't stop raving about their music. They're one of the reasons why I absolutely wanted to go to Sasquatch.
I'm so glad they're releasing their album next week, June 19th, which means new songs to indulge in. There are a few songs from their album, i want! i want!, but with new arrangements that will be on the record. I can't wait! They released this song a few days ago from their new album. Make sure to check it out when it comes out.


Oh look, aren't we all lucky. They premiered their entire record on VEVO.