Date Night w/ Alex Grant, N’East Style: A Christmas Story

There isn’t a time of the year that has given me more great memories throughout my 25 years on this Earth. It’s a time of traditions and family, tons of food and good cheer. After moving out after college and coming to NYC, going home for the holidays has been a breath of fresh air (literally and figuratively). I find myself reminiscing about the times that were and reveling in the times that are.

I’m very excited to be a part of this specific “Date Night” as it involves one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time. A Christmas Story is one of those movies you can’t help but see. It’s on for 24 hours starting Midnight on Christmas Day on TNT. The “kids” table (I say “kids” because it really meant anyone under the age of 35) at our Christmas Eve parties would plant ourselves in front of the TV and watch until we passed out. I probably caught the full movie over the course of 6 or 7 hours, watching bits and pieces throughout Christmas Day.

That’s how I remember Christmas over the last decade or so. A fireplace, the smell of pine, some hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps, and A Christmas Story. They weren’t all like that, when all my family was around the NY/NJ we would throw some Cuban bangers. Dancing all night, kids would go to “sleep” at midnight, wake up a few hours later because Santa came, the adults were far more drunk, and the party would continue. Those were my childhood Navidades.

One isn’t better than the other, things change. That’s what the holidays are about, to remember where you’ve come from and think about where you’re going to go. With that in mind, I present to you a cross-section of my favorite Christmas tunes. I’m a big fan of the oldies doing it right – Sinatra, Crosby, Springsteen. I remember hearing the Boss blasting in our stereo on Christmas Eve every year. It’s not Christmas without a little Jersey rock in the Alonso household.

I’m going to forego the usual track-listing as it’s an extensive playlist (32 songs, over 1.5 hours). I couldn’t stop adding songs, they’re all too good! From Bing Crosby to Elvis, from Alvin, Simon, and Theodore to the Beatles, and even some Mariah and Boyz II Men. We’ve got it all!

So, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! I hope you enjoy my gift to you all for reading as much as you do. Click the link below, it’ll be active through Christmas day. After which you know the drill – get at me.

Don’t forget to check out the outfits inspired by A Christmas Story over at N’East Style and Alexander Grant.

“Oh, it’s the most wonderful time of the year…” (link closed)

"Fra-GEE-lay. It must be Italian."

 

Thoughts on “The Sing Off”

I had someone ask me on my Tumblr blog what my thoughts were NBC’s “The Sing Off.” Little did he know he would be opening up a crazy can of worms. I’d like to show you my response here and then add a few more thoughts. Check it out:

Oh, “The Sing Off.” Well, let me begin by saying that I’m slightly bitter. Only because I auditioned with alumni from my College group and we got past the callbacks and were ultimately not chosen by Producers to be on the show. Disheartening, but also encouraging that we got so far. We’ll be auditioning again next year for sure.

As for the quality of the show, if you only watched the finale this season I’d say you did yourself a disservice. The groups weren’t nearly as tight as they were in the elimination episodes. That said, this year’s crop of groups were incredibly talented. I love that we have a show on TV that has embraced music sans instrumentation. It’s so incredibly difficult to create full, engaging walls of sound with no instruments. Adding nuance and personality to a song (that everyone knows) with just your mouth and your voice (and vocal percussionist) is no easy task.

Do I think these record deals they’re offering will do much of anything for the groups who win? No. I think a cappella is a niche genre, that thanks to this show has garnered mainstream praise. I think a model to look at is what Straight No Chaser has done (the dudes behind “12 Days of Christmas”), with touring and theme albums.

Unless we have a resurgence of 50s/60s Motown (which I hope to God we do), a cappella will stay a novelty. But it’s certainly gained a helluva lot of respect and “The Sing Off” has definitely aided in that. People will say what they want, but a cappella music holds nothing back. If you’re out of tune, the song goes to hell. If ONE person is off, it’s very difficult to reign them back in. There’s no auto-tune, there’s no digital enhancement or beats. It’s all human. Pure music. That’s why I love “The Sing Off.” No other singing show showcases what this show does. Yes, even the sham of a show American Idol. Yeah, I said it.

There’s “Glee” too, but that’s not real a cappella (though everyone thinks it is). What they do is show choir. They rarely sing full a cappella.

Ok, now that that’s out of the way let’s delve a little deeper into this, shall we?

Rihanna’s “Only Girl” done A Cappella…And it’s awesome

There have been a bunch of people copy-catting the whole split-screen, do-it-all a cappella videos but this kid is one of the OGs. Mike Tompkins is the guy who created that super viral “Dynamite” cover, that led the Today Show folks do their own version of it. He’s already gotten insane page views (over 5 million on multiple videos) and now he’s back at it again.

Check out his latest video covering Rihanna’s “Only Girl in the World.” I can’t even begin to describe that amount of time, talent, and work that goes into making these types of videos. I’d be impressed even if they were kinda crappy, but thankfully they’re incredible. Tompkins is super talented and the production quality of his videos is pretty damn good. So check out the new Ri Ri cover and a few of my favorites.  Enjoy!

Date Night w/ Alex Grant, N’East Style: Fantastic Mr. Fox

I’m so happy to be doing another installment of “Date Night” with Christine and Skip. This time around we decided to take on a movie that had a decidedly Thanksgiving feel to it. We wanted to make it holiday appropriate, so with that in mind we chose Fantastic Mr. Fox.

I was unfortunately never able to procure a copy in time (blame it on the lack of Blockbusters and I already had 2 DVDs out in Netflix). Instead, I decided to take a different approach. I wanted to focus the playlist on songs I felt embody the Autumn aesthetic. Some of my favorite memories of the Fall are going to Princeton University Football games with my father when I was young. The road to the stadium was shrouded in beautifully picturesque canopies of color-changed leaves, vibrant against the blue cloud-spotted skies. As I grew up, I would take walks with friends (or the girlfriend) around Princeton, through the campus, up and down Nassau Street, around the parks. It made for quite the mood-inducing environment.

So, the music this time will be my soundtrack to Fall, one of the most beautiful times of the year. These are the songs that remind me of my memories, the songs I play on my way to work on those perfect Fall days. I’ll have it available for download for 48 hours before I’ll make the link inactive, so don’t delay!

Enjoy and don’t forget to check the wonderful outfits posted over at Alexander Grant and N’East Style!

The Fantastic Mr. Fox Playlist – Download here (link is now closed, but tweet me and maybe I’ll hook you up *wink wink*)

1. Flowers & Football Tops – Glasvegas
2. Brackett, WI – Bon Iver
3. Tiger Mountain Peasant Song – Fleet Foxes
4. Marengo, Saskatchewan – Jeremy Fisher
5. Careless Love – Camera Obscura
6. Wait and See – Diamond Rings
7. Revival – Deerhunter
8. Happy Alone – Kings of Leon
9. Let the Rain – Sara Bareilles
10. Re: Stacks – Bon Iver
11. Howl – Florence & The Machine
12. Tap at my Window – Laura Marling
13. Scarecrow – Delta Spirit
14. Drowning Men – Fanfarlo
15. Road to Somewhere – Goldfrapp
16. Bushwick Blues – Delta Spirit
17. The Worm in the Apple – Ezra Furman & the Harpoons
18. Location – Freelance Whales
19. Needle Starts to Fall – Lissie
20. Warning Sign – Local Natives

*BONUS TRACK*
21. Lover Lay Down (LIVE) – Dave Matthews & Time Reynolds

Surfer Blood Performs TONIGHT at MTV’s “Live In NYC” CMJ Kick-off Party

 

TONIGHT at The Studio in Webster Hall, MTV will stream the next installment of “Live in NYC” featuring Surfer Blood. As if that wasn’t awesome enough, there will be additional performances byDominique Young Unique, Francis and The Lights, and Fake Problems.  It will be a night filled with great music, great people, and many adult beverages. The doors open at 6pm and being that this is an equal opportunity show, everyone gets in free. So start lining up early, badge or no badge, if you want to get that great spot by the stage.

Read more on MTVMusic.com!

Look Ma! I’m a real blogger!

I wanted to let all you people out there know starting next week, I’ll be focusing my musical blogging energies on MTVmusic.com.

If you are an artist/publicist/blog and have something you think would be interesting to feature, please reach out to me. I’d love to hear from you. Can’t promise it’ll make it on the site, but it’s worth a shot ain’t it?

I aim to bring the site a large cross-section of music from all around the internet. I’d like my posts to be the musical aggregator we all need and want. There’s so much music out there, how can you listen to it all?

If all goes according to plan, you won’t need to. Let me do it. I want to be your best musical friend, your trusted source for great tunes. So sit back, grab a beer, and let me do the dirty work.

Cheers!

GA

2010 MTV Video Music Awards are this Sunday!

Support my and my co-workers hard work this week and check out the show! It’s going to be amazing. The stage is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen.

ALICE by Temperley & The Musebox Present The Dø in NYC – Win 2 Tickets!

Where are my New York City readers at?!

The awesome people behind Alice by Temperley and The Musebox have partnered up to give you an opportunity to witness some great music by an exciting new band, The Dø (pronounced like “dough”). The Franco-Finnish duo has been critically acclaimed all over Europe, becoming the first French Act to grab the #1 spot with an all-English album (the album was released in France in 2008).

Now they’re bringing their act across the pond and Alice by Temperley and Musebox want you to be there. Singer Olivia Merilahti and instrumentalist Dan Levy will be performing on September 7th at the Mercury Lounge in NYC. Head over to the Alice by Temperley blog and enter to win 2 tickets to the show, as well as 2 copies of their most recent LP “A Mouthful.” I’ve had the opportunity to listen through it and it’s a bit of Pop music heaven. The music is instantly catchy, hell even Pitchfork likes it, saying “This record is as ambitious and fun as any coming-out party in recent memory.”

Enter to win the 2 tickets and LPs here at the Alice by Temperley blog. The wonderful Jo Vos at The Musebox (remember her? She’s the mix-tape guru) has also blessed the THOMW readers with a free download of “At Last.” Download by clicking on the link or the album cover.

Free Download:  “At Last”

The Irony of My Life

I started writing about music because that’s what I know best. I know how to listen to a song, so that all I focus on is the 2nd guitar part. I can pick out small idiosyncrasies in arrangements and compare vocal stylings. I can feel the texture of a song and I can describe live shows so that you feel you were standing there next to me. And yet with all that, I never made much headway in the music blogosphere. It’s inundated with people who are far more knowledgeable than me and who devote far more time than I have to writing about it. And I totally understand that, the idea that to be great at anything you must devote everything to it. Like Gladwell says, 10,000 hours right??

Well, over the last 6 months or so, I’ve been following and becoming a part (a very, very, very small part) of what can essentially be called the “men’s style blogosphere.” Through my tumblr page (and via Twitter), Pleats are For Lovers, I’ve been able to converse and share my passion for men’s style with more than a handful of well-dressed men. I am by no means an expert or at the same level as the people I follow. However, it’s been an awesome experience and pleasure getting to know these bloggers (both male and female), some just digitally and others in real life. It’s blown my mind at how easily I’ve been able to meet style bloggers and even hang out with some in New York. The other night I went to a colleague’s birthday party, to which I invited some of the style bloggers I know. My worlds collided and I was frankly a little taken aback. It was awesome!

Another aspect of this style blogosphere is the amazing camaraderie. It seems like everyone knows everyone. It’s a very close knit bunch of guys that compliment, collaborate, and comment on each other’s posts and other work. This feeling of community and positive reinforcement is something you just don’t find much in the music blogosphere. It almost feels like because of the overwhelming amount of music blogs out there, there’s an elitism that’s almost impossible to penetrate. You’re pretty much writing something someone else most likely has already written and they have a better footprint than you do. I’ve gotten far more encouragement and compliments on the style side of what I’m doing, than I have on my music stuff. I think that’s a testament to the quality of men and persons doing their thing in the men’s style blogosphere.

So, in the future you may find me doing larger posts now on more style-related things, whether it’s what I’m wearing or want to wear or a piece on a line of clothing. I’m not too versed in the style universe yet, but everyday I’m learning more and more. Music is still my first and foremost (I will continue to write about artists and music I love), but how I dress has always been my other half. This blog has certainly morphed and changed through the years, staying true to its namesake.

The History of My World – take it or leave it, but this is what it is. An ever-evolving piece of where I am in my life. I appreciate all of you who read my stuff here or on my tumblr or my 140 characters on Twitter. Without you, I wouldn’t have a reason to keep doing it.

This ride I’m on is certainly more fun with people in the backseat. Who wants shotgun?

50 Cigar Bands From Cuba – LA Times

The LA Times (pointed out to me by ValetMag) has a series where they collect 50 of anything – this week it’s pre-revolution Cuban cigar bands. Below are some of my favorites and then a little something on the history of me and cigars and being Cuban.

Although I’m Cuban, I never grew up around cigars. My Grandfather stopped smoking them after an early heart attack (and before I was born) and my Father just never touched the stuff. He would tell me a story about he wanted to try one as a young boy in Cuba. His father let him try it and of course, my father inhaled and proceeded to cough his lungs out. Lesson learned.

Well, regardless of all this I still wanted to try them. I felt like being an American-born Cuban and not being able to visit my “homeland,” smoking a cigar was as close as I could get to the real thing, to being a “real Cuban.” As soon as I was old enough to buy tobacco, the first place I went to was A Little Taste of Cuba – a cigar shop in my hometown of Princeton, NJ. Up until then, the closest I had come to a cigar was when the father of another Cuban family on my baseball team would smoke them in the stands. Let me tell you, there is no finer smell than that of a cigar wafting through the air during a baseball game. Just felt right.

When I walked into the shop, that smell hit me instantly. There were 2 men in Guayaberas smoking on the leather loveseats and the entire shop was themed in Cuban regalia. I didn’t really know what to buy, so I just had the guy help me out. I believe I bought a “Romeo y Julieta” and a pack of Dominican-made “Cohiba” cigarillos.

The summer after my 17th birthday, I went to Cancun and was able to purchase my first real Cuban Cohiba. I sat on the beach with a rum and coke (a Cuba Libre) and smoked that sucker until I burned my lips. I think that was my first “I’m becoming a Man” experience. And it was freakin’ awesome. I cannot wait to visit Cuba on my own terms and finally witness the country that family still holds in such high regard, regardless of what Castro has done to destroy it’s once incredible beauty.