Difficult to Tell

There is such a huge amount of brilliant photography coming from all corners of the world that when I glance through highlights on VSCO, flickr, or Instagram It has become difficult to tell the difference between photographers.

All The Things – 50 Foot Shadows

Agreed. There’s so much good stuff out there, it’s all blurring together. Great portraits, great landscape shots of the Pacific Northwest, great shots of guys with beards in flannel at a bonfire living out of their car.

Lately, I’ve started to follow more photographers focusing on unique portraits, conceptual work, and urban landscapes. For this year, I want to try to find photographers who are not from New York / Portland / SanFran / etc. How about some more Midwestern shooters, or folks from the south?

If you have any follow suggestions, let me know.


Top Music Picks for 2014

This has been a pretty memorable music year for me. I can’t think of another year, except for maybe 2004-2005, or 1994, when things have lined up so well (maybe you need a 4 in the year number?).

Here are a few albums/songs/artists I enjoyed this year.

††† (Crosses) – The Epilogue

While not exactly new this year, and maybe not so witch house, Crosses is a great mashup of the best of Deftones and electronica. Grab a few samples and check it out – definitely sexy stuff.

The War on Drugs – Under the Pressure

This was on a lot of people’s “best of” lists this year, including mine. It only took about a minute into the lead song on Lost In A Dream for me to hit “buy.” Even better is “An Ocean Between The Waves.”

Flyings Colors – Mask Machine

I’m actually a bigger fan of their first album, but Flying Colors – a prog super group I should’ve known about their first go-‘round – had a second great album with Second Nature. The breakdown at 3:28 is great with Neal Morse taking over vocals. Also check out “One Love Forever,” my favorite from the album.

Mastodon – The Motherload

Definitely NSFW after the 0:40 minute mark, but man – what a song, and what an album. I finally got to see Mastodon live this year, and while there was little to no twerking, they’re a great band.

“If you want you can will it. You can have – I can put it right there in your hands.”

View on YouTube

TV On The Radio – Careful You

Apparently everyone else has heard of TV On the Radio except for me. But now I get it. Especially with “Careful You” on their latest album.

Tycho – See

Pretty amazing video for a great song – just like all of Tycho’s stuff. Think early morning on a west coach beach, set to music. Great for working, or relaxing. Tycho does a great job of mixing analog with digital to build these lovely soundscapes – all to a catchy beat.

Beck – Waking Light (Live on The Tonight Show)

The whole “Morning Phase” album is a gorgeous piece of mellow gold (pardon the pun), but it starts so perfectly with “Morning” and winds through “Waking Light.” A lot of people are calling it the spiritual successor to Sea Change – I like to think of it as Beck doing John Denver.