I always have tons of music to share, so here's round one of awesome music.

Starting with music of the classical genre, then moving onto other kinds of music. These first two are ones I enjoy listening to while coding or drawing before a deadline.

Dvorak- New World Symphony (Mvt 4)
Era: Late romantic
This symphony is definitely very well known and often played. You may recognize it even if you aren't into classical music. It's a grand piece.

Shostakovich- Symphony No. 7
Era: 20th century
Ah, now what would this post be without dear Shosty? It's hard to pick a favorite Shostakovich symphony, but this one comes quite close. The opening draws you in, and DAMN. THAT FINALE. Possibly one of the most epic endings ever. Okay, that's a daring statement to make seeing as how there are plenty of boss symphony endings out there. What really adds to his symphonies are the historical/political contexts as well as his talent for hiding  meanings/interpretations within them. Oops. I'd better stop now because I could go on forever about this composer.

Khachaturian- Flute Concerto
Era: 20th century
Flute music because I said so. This... was actually a violin concerto, but then Rampal came along, being the bamf he was, and made it available for flute. This recording is performed by my favorite flutist ever, Emmanuel Pahud.

Eric Whitacre- Water Night
Genre: Modern classical- choral, orchestral
I don't have this album yet, but I plan on buying it with my next Amazon purchase. Whenever that may be.
This album features the LSO , cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, and soprano Hila Plitmann (aka Mr. Whitacre's wife). Too much awesome contained in one album.

Philip Glass & Leonard Cohen- Love Itself
Genre: Minimalist, operatic
I adore both Philip Glass and Leonard Cohen- Glass for his compositions and Cohen for his poetry. This song is an odd one, I know, and I don't expect many to understand or enjoy it. But for me, it holds deep meaning and penetrates the soul. So is the case with many of Glass' and Cohen's respective works. I got really excited when I found out that they did a collaboration.

Speaking of collaborations, Eric Whitacre says he might do one with Imogen Heap soon. I'm looking forward to that.

Arvo Part- Tabula Rasa
Genre: Spiritual minimalist
Arvo Part composes such fascinating music. It's so simple, yet so powerful. I don't think you even need to fully understand it to enjoy it.

Niia- Outside Your World
Genre: Not totally sure... classical influenced pop?
Niia's voice is heavenly. This song is absolutely beautiful and strangely describes my artistic muse pretty well.

Jang Woo Hyuk- Time is Over
Genre: kpop
All right, I know this song is "old" by now (especially by kpop standards or whatever), but it's still nice to listen to. Those are some mad dancing skills. I'm actually rarely in the mood to listen to kpop, but when I do listen to kpop, it's great kpop.

Jonathan Coulton- Want You Gone (Elegant Too Remix) (page goes to his music downloads page)
Genre: Folk rock
Out of all the music I've listed here, I've been listening to Jonathan Coulton for the longest. He's also the only musician out of the ones here that I've seen live. If you've played the Portal games, you'll recognize him as the man who wrote both ending songs. JoCo is mostly known for his geeky songs. c: And breakup songs, haha.

and then a life update thing

After waiting over a year in excitement, I saw The Avengers. Not getting over that movie for quite a while. It's such a great movie, ugh. What I enjoyed most about that movie was the characterization. I'd go on, but I'd rather not spoil anything. I'm a bit obsessed at the moment.
Also, the season 2 finale of MLP:FiM... wow. I was very impressed. Those were definitely among the best episodes thus far.

Expect some fan art from both! No crossovers, I promise. I'm also looking forward to the ending of this season of Glee! (Don't judge.)

Hm, remember how I said I was intimidated by my discrete math class? It turned out to be my favorite class.

Anyways, I hope you are all doing well! To those of you who are going to Fanime and AM2 (and other cons)... have fun and I hope you see you at AX!

Works in Progress

• #Eden-OCT audition


• AX Prep