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odderevents · 1 year

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I have had a thought. Steve secretly knowing how to play the piano bc he learned as a kid and had to stop bc his dad's an asshole is lovely. I've seen this floating around a few times and I love it. Eddie catching him playing the piano and being so fucking in love with him will never not be perfect.

But.

Consider

Steve playing the Harp.

It's definitely a rich kid instrument. Big ass fucking impractical instrument. Absolutely beautiful to look at and listen to. Hands playing piano is great. But have you ever seen an accomplished harpist? It makes you think impure thoughts about what those fingers can do.

So. Steve secretly knowing how to play the harp

Maybe his mom used to play it, so there's a big harp (the ones with the columns and super intricate base board, not celtic) that's just gathering dust in the basement. Steve started piano lessons, loved learning how to pull music out of an inert object. But his dad decides it's to effeminate, makes him stop. And sure, a harp is a different beast to a piano. But you've still got cords, and Steve's got a pretty decent ear, and he can barely remember seeing his mom play. So one day when he has the house to himself, which isn't an unusual occurrence at this point, he tries it out. And he's admittedly pretty shit at it, but so was he at piano when he started. Only difference is he has no teacher.

So maybe Steve discreetly finds a way to acquire a beginner's practice instructional book for harp. And works on it when he needs to get his brain away from things.

He's even more careful with it than he is with any dirty mags he might later acquire. He knows that worse, much worse than piano, harp is not a masculine instrument and under no circumstances should his father find out about his affinity for it.

It's still his go to when he can't sleep even years later, pulling out the now old and battered booklet of sheet music and exercises. Especially once the upside down bullshit starts. It's soothing and mindless at this point.

The harp that was much too big when he first started with it is now just the right size, it's weight against his shoulder comforting. He can close his eyes and his fingers naturally find where to land and pluck.

Even when he becomes friends with Robbin and then Eddie, both musicians who he knows wouldn't give a damn about him playing a woman's instrument, he can't bring himself to mention it. If he did, they would want to hear him play and he's self-conscious about being self-taught. Both of them play well, they play with other people and people come to listen. He doesn't consider himself a "real" musician. It's just something he does to keep his hands and brain busy on nights where the sheets feel like they're strangling him and the dark reminds him too much of when he can't see not because it's night but because something's hit him in the head again and he can't tell apart the sound of his heartbeat from something pounding through his walls.

So he goes to the basement. Finds his stool. Removes the dust cover. Goes through the meditative motions of tuning it by ear, because that's how he's always done it. And then he plays until the tips of his fingers feel numb. Somehow, he always comes out of it peaceful enough to pass out on the couch in the basement for a couple more hours.

Steve is so used to keeping it a secret he doesn't even think about it when he starts dating Eddie. It's just a thing that's always only been his, and most importantly, it's been vital to keep it that way for so long it's the natural state of things for Steve at this point. It doesn't ever come up. When Steve gets nightmares when he's sleeping with Eddie all he has to do is curl into his boyfriend's chest and feel the warm heartbeat that's not his own to settle back into himself.

The problem arises on a night when Eddie was supposed to stay with Steve but he got held up in Indianapolis when getting a new amp for his guitar. He would come back to Steve but it would be late in the night. Steve has been keeping himself busy all day so he passes out in the early evening on the couch in front of a shitty sitcom he put on to try to distract himself from the empty house.

Nightmares find him, which isn't terribly unusual, but he doesn't have his usual method of coping so he resorts back to his previous habit.

Eddie walks in bone tired after many hours of driving to and from Indianapolis, waiting while the clerk figured out they didn't have the amp he'd been assured over the phone would be available for pickup today, waiting some more while they had the amp driven from a sister shop an hour away because no way was he driving back and forth again to Indianapolis on another day. So yeah. Eddie is beat. All he wants is to dive head first into his boyfriend's impeccable pecs.

He doesn't find Steve waiting with a welcome kiss like he usually would when he walks in. Instead he's greeted with a hauntingly beautiful rendition of the melody of Master of Puppets in a way he's never heard before.

He drops his stuff in the entry hall and goes down to the basement where the music is coming from, curious to see where Steve might have found the recording. Eddie doesn't quite know what to do with himself when he finally lays eyes on Steve, with dried tear stains on his cheeks and his eyes closed as his fingers pluck and strum without hesitation. He's rooted to the spot as he watches Steve work his favorite song in a new and completely heartrending way. He hasn't been able to listen to it since he played it in the upside down. It always brings up the bitter blood tang of the air and the hair raising shrieks of the bats. But this is somehow different, it's soft and melodious but it's still got the same bones.

Eddie feels tears on his own cheeks. He's missed this song goddammit. And he couldn't be happier that it's Steve that's given it back to him

Queue tears and fear and confessions and comfort. Somehow much later in the future there's inexplicably a harp in some of the corroded coffin tracks. And it shouldn't work but it does

#steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #steve harrington plays an instrument #steve harrington plays the harp #this ran away from me #it was supposed to be a random idea #sorry if it's disjointed #it's midnight and the idea was not going to let me rest #I'll probably come try to clean it up at some point #i dont even want to imagine the typos #i hate writing on mobile #but once again brain latched on the the idea like a chewtoy and didn't want to give it back #so you unwitting internet denizen are now graced with the aforementioned mess

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formeryelpers · 4 months

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Golden Delight, 8479 Garvey Ave, Ste 101A, Rosemead, CA 91770

Golden Delight is an upscale yet still reasonably priced Vietnamese and Cantonese restaurant. The menus are so thick with full color pictures. Typically there’s one or two items per page. One menu booklet has Vietnamese food (pho, noodle soups, vermicelli bowls, summer rolls, curry, fish) and the other menu booklet has Chinese food (e.g., peking duck, noodle soup, Hainan chicken).

Bun rieu ($13.50) also called ground shrimp, egg, and tomato soup with vermicelli: What they served looked a lot like the bun rieu menu picture: two cubes of pork blood, fried tofu cubes, large pieces of tomato, a meatloaf cube made out of pork and crab, slices of cha lu, big pieces of bone in pork that had been simmered in broth for hours, a medium thin rice vermicelli, and a clear broth. They served it with a plate of fresh herbs, bean sprouts, cabbage, jalapenos, and a lime wedge and a dish with fish sauce, chili sauce, and shrimp paste. I was hungry but could only get through half the bowl of bun rieu. It was loaded with noodles and the other things I mentioned. The broth was very nice – slightly sweet from the tomatoes, slightly funky from the fish sauce and fermented shrimp paste, light but flavorful. The noodles were nice – separated, not overcooked, soft. The pork on the boiled bones was tough though and the tofu puffs just seemed like empty fried shells. The crab flavor was on the weak side.

It’s brightly lit, large restaurant with a fish tank by the door and huge flatscreens that show someone cooking some of their dishes. They play piano lounge instrumental music. It’s relaxing. They have large tables so it looks like a good place for banquets and large gatherings.

Golden Delight has its own parking behind the restaurant. Service was slower than usual for a Vietnamese restaurant. I went during an off peak time and a lot of people were dining there. Must be a popular place.

4.5 out of 5 stars

By Lolia S.

#Golden Delight #Vietnamese food #Vietnamese restaurant #pho #bun rieu #bun bo hue #Cantonese food #Rosemead

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dustedmagazine · 9 months

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Dust Volume Nine, Number Seven

Chuck Johnson

Is it hot where you are? Has it been raining a lot? Is there smoke in the air? It's been the weirdest, most disturbing summer, and you might think it would make music irrelevant. But no, this is Dusted, and we continue to listen and judge and write about records even at the end of times. So here's another Dust. Enjoy. We hope there will be one next month, too, but let's see what happens, eh?

Contributors include Jennifer Kelly, Bryon Hayes, Jonathan Shaw, Chris Liberato, Ian Mathers, Patrick Masterson, Jonathan Shaw, Andrew Forell and Tim Clarke.

Omar Ahmad — Inheritance (AKP)

Inheritance by Omar Ahmad

Omar Ahmad’s music follows dance pulses through thickets of memory. A glitchy beat sinks into slippery textures of synthesizer, piano, strings and field recordings; the music moves but in a haze of memory, as the sounds of women, children and running water flashes and subsides. Omar Ahmad is a Palestinian-American electronic artist and DJ currently based in Brooklyn and in this first full-length, he explores identity (ethnic and otherwise) through a scrim of memory. These glowing ambient compositions don’t hammer the point home—rather they gently suggest and evoke a dual western/Arabic identity. The baby in “Gesso” says “Daddy” in English but is answered in another language. The cut “usra” whose name translates as “home” or “family” incorporates a ululating non-western vocal alongside the pristine electronic modernity of synths. “Sham Oasis” has, perhaps, the most concentrated array of Middle Eastern sounds, a jangle of not-guitars, the thud of hand drums, a shaker, but it also twitches and glitters with space-age electronic sounds. The songs have lovely, idealized, luminous textures that don’t belong, exactly, to any single culture, yet they are warm and beautiful enough to make it feel like home anyway.

Jennifer Kelly

Animal Piss It’s Everywhere — S-T (Half a Million)

Animal Piss, It's Everywhere by Animal Piss, It's Everywhere

This loose and goofy country ramble obsesses over Jesus and intoxicants, sometimes but not always in the same songs. Indeed these bleary sing-alongs seem best suited for Sunday morning with the sun streaming in on the tail end of a one- or two-day bender. They’re exhausted but full of good feeling, played on muscle memory and love of the game. “Jesus Got Under My Skin,” for instance, ramps up the roadhouse boogie in a stunned and stoned narrative about finding one’s savior—and then trying to ditch him. “Naked” slouches and twangs in a righteous chorus of “Naked…ass…man…blues.” There’s considerable talent on hand, however casually it is deployed, from a confederation of Western Mass freak folk regulars. A guitar-heavy line-up features Anthony Pasquarosa, Clark Griffin (Weeping Bong Band, Pigeons), Shannon Ketch (Bunwinkies) and Andy Goulet on pedal steel (Winter Pills, Lonesome Brothers etc.). Rob Smith from Rhyton and Mouth Painter plays drums and Jim Bliss (of various Matt Valentine projects) sits in on bass. “I’ve found sucksess, sucking at success,” croons the singer, making a point; this band of miscreants achieve their aims without coming within a hundred miles of commercial palatability.

Jennifer Kelly

Aunty Rayzor — “Nina” (Nyege Nyege Tapes)

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Perhaps the hardest song I heard over the last month opens with an almost demented pogoing and a video staring straight at the sun with an airplane’s corpse and a silhouette on the wing fixing her hair before she struts into your life and all over your ears. If you don’t already know Bisola Olungbenga aka Aunty Rayzor, Nyege Nyege Tapes has done a fine job ensuring you’ll want to hear everything the Nigerian has to say after one listen through of “Nina,” the lead single from September’s Viral Wreckage. Veering between red hair and blonde amid rusty MiG-21s, Rayzor takes the hard-nosed rhythm from Berlin-based beatmaker Debmaster — just listen to the way that kick rumbles on the low end — and matches it step for step to powerful effect. You don’t need Nyege Nyege’s effusive description of the forthcoming full-length to gather we have another formidable female rapper waiting in — or is it on? — the wings to embarrass the boys and prolong women’s global chokehold on the genre that little bit longer. Only a fool or an incel could complain.

Patrick Masterson

Aware — Requiem for a Dying Animal (Glacial Movements)

Requiem For A Dying Animal by AWARE

Alexander Glück, who records as Aware, specializes in producing a haunting tributary of ambient sound that aims to cause unease. His music is ghostly, chilling, and morose. It evokes loneliness yet, like most good stories, contains a faint trickle of hope. His compositions encompass vast swathes of tone peppered with microscopic flecks. These resemble large chunks of metamorphic rock that Glück has fused into rich, veiny patterns. These polychromatic constructions tell stories of isolationism and hardship interspersed with hopefulness and joy. They reflect our species’ interconnectedness with a natural world that simultaneously seeks to nurture and destroy us, as we in turn seek to exploit its bounties. With his music, Glück seeks to find an equilibrium, a stalemate between us and our environment. He will likely never solve this riddle, but Requiem for a Dying Animal is a fruitful step on the journey toward his goal.

Bryon Hayes

Blight House — Blight the Way (Syrup Moose Records)

Blight the Way by Blight House

Blight House makes the kind of death metal-infused grindcore that aims for utter absurdity: absurdly heavy riffing; absurdly fast drum-machine blips, blats and thumps; absurdist, so-stupid-they’re clever semiotics. It’s hard not to laugh (or at least ruefully chuckle) at the puns in the band’s name and in the title of this new record. Song titles are even dumber and sometimes even more funny: “Dismembers Only,” “Bible Belt Baby Buffet,” “Walpurgis Date-Night.” And so on. But as is generally the case with records like this, it’s hard to know where the joke ends and the band begins. If it’s all done for laughs, then why is the music executed with such apparent seriousness (n.b., for a less overworked version of a grindy gag act, see this)? And if we’re supposed to hear at least some of Blight House’s stuff with a dash of gravid sincerity, then please, band, send instructions on how to pull off that bit of cognitive jiu-jitsu. Or on second thought, maybe don’t. It’s probably better for everyone involved if we just accept the low-brow yucks to be found in songs like “Acephalophilia III: Hopelessly Headless for You” for what they are, and take the tune at its word. If you think about this sort of edge-lord-adjacent, meme-driven cultural production too hard, you may end up in the writers’ room for Ron DeSantis’s next campaign commercial. Headless and heedless, thoughtless and feckless—blight the way into our collective, idiotic future, dudes.

Jonathan Shaw

Buffalo Nichols — The Fatalist (Fat Possum)

The Fatalist by Buffalo Nichols

Buffalo Nichols’ Carl Nichols has a fine gravelly voice, an unfussy skill with the pick and the slide and the swagger that turns songs of suffering into songs of defiance. In other words, he’s a bluesman of the first order and unusual, these days, in that he’s not 100 years old or a suburban white guy. Yes, Buffalo Nichols is on a mission to reclaim the blues for the folks who invented it—black people—and this very fine album makes a pretty good case for the rightness of his cause. How so? Well, to begin with The Fatalist is mostly acoustic, relying on the speed and accuracy of Nichols fingers rather than a floor sized pedal board; there are no endless wah wah’d solos, no feedback freakery. His vocal delivery matches up, too, quiet but intense, an on-pitch growl that pulls you in and holds you there. There’s a simplicity in the playing and arrangements that underlines the power of these song. Listen, for instance, to the eerie magic of slide, the elemental punch of kick drum on the Blind Willie Nelson cover, “You’re Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond.” Or the winding melancholy on “The Long Journey Home,” which frolics funereally in banjo and fiddle tones. He brings in the Philadelphia singer and songcatcher Samantha Rise on “This Moment” for a duet, her voice warm and resonant, his hoarse with emotion, a violin twining around the both of them in a dizzy mesh of sounds. A subtle album, but a good one.

Jennifer Kelly

Cyberplasm — First Emanation (Iron Lung)

First Emanation (LUNGS-262) by CYBERPLASM

Electro-punk dissonance melds and mixes it up with anarcho-freak industrial noise on this new EP from Olympia-based Cyberplasm. The band doesn’t seek to exorcize the ghost in the machine so much as conjure it, feed it with nerve impulses harvested from your frontal lobes and then unleash it on our various political and informational systems. Chaos ensues. Maybe it’s liberatory, maybe it just wants to raze all signs of institutional power. Too damn bad if your sense of security or self-worth gets in the way — and in any case, the music is perversely enjoyable. Check out the d-beat scree of “Spit from Fluid” or the foreboding, crust-infused “Second Mind.” The EP’s ten minutes flash by in a series of burned-out synapses and frying amplifiers. Cyberplasm makes underground music that captures the grit and weirdness of lawless subterranean spaces, virtual and material. It’s exciting stuff. It feels dangerous. Punk’s not dead.

Jonathan Shaw

Decoherence — Order (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)

Order by DECOHERENCE

If you have been following Decoherence’s coruscating, cosmic circuit through the 21st century, you won’t find much to be surprised by on Order, the band’s new LP. It’s 40+ minutes of pounding, pyrotechnic industrial metal, thoroughly blackened and shot through with enough harsh noise to burn off your eyebrows. The pace is a little slower, vocalist Derek Jacobsen (who appears on Decoherence releases as Tahazu, an anglicized version of the ancient Sumerian word for battle) sounds like another layer of gristle is occluding his vocal cords, and the compositions of musicians Stroda and Prior are marginally less engaged by melody than many of those on the band’s previous LP, Unitary (2020). If you’re into this sort of thing, none of those small changes is a bad thing. But while Unitary represented a profound development when contrasted with the band’s first several releases, Order feels like a consolidation — a band summing its aesthetics and refining its songwriting sensibility. Which suggests an interesting question: How much order do we want in metal music? This reviewer likes it when Decoherence embraces the chaos denoted by its band name. Check out “An Unconfined System” on this new record. Play it very, very loud. Order? Not so much.

Jonathan Shaw

Drekka—The Water of Life (Orb Tapes)

The Water of Life by Drekka

Michael Anderson, the artist who records as Drekka, made these four long-form meditations for a live performance in Indianapolis in 2015, loosely basing his mix of primitive and electronic sounds on the sci fi classic Dune. All four cuts evolve slowly out of hiss and static (the first one is even called “Stasis and Static”), a buzz like live power wires in the foreground, the faint ghosts of bells, altered choral voices rising up occasionally to mysterious ends. You could, of course, construct an imaginary Dune world out of these sounds, its vast deserts and obliterating sandstorms, its mystic addiction to spice, but it would take some active listening and imagining on your part. The title track assists, somewhat, submerging drips of liquid in the rumble of wind flapping through sails, and the nearly human chants that rise as if from a distance out of the noise. There’s a lot of activity here, a scramble to rattle bits against each other, the click and ching of various percussive elements. And through it comes the hum of dawning revelation, just hovering notes rising, but seeming to reach some inscrutable insight out of the noisy scrum.

Jennifer Kelly

The Finks — Birthdays at Solo Pasta (Milk!)

Birthdays at Solo Pasta by The Finks

Courtney Barnett’s recent announcement that her label Milk! Records will be closing down at the end of the year means that The Finks’ Birthdays at Solo Pasta will be one of the label’s final releases. This feels fitting for a label that has quietly released some understated gems over the years from artists such as Tiny Ruins and Mess Esque. The Finks, led by Oliver Mestitz, create the kind of intimate, loosely woven songs that thrive on the obvious ease between the players, as if you’re listening in to a front-room jam session in which everyone is warmed up and starting to develop their instrumental parts into a lively, organic whole. Mestitz leads the way with his quiet, congested voice, as if he’s perpetually getting over a head-cold, often accompanied by the complementary vocals of Sarah Farquharson. The rhythm section, piano and guitar are wonderfully restrained, the woodwinds muted and sinuous, with everything unfolding patiently. At their best, such as on “Marco Polo” and the instrumental “Ego Slump,” The Finks tap into something truly gorgeous and radiant.

Tim Clarke

Frode Gjerstad / Kalle Moberg / Paal Nilssen-Love — Time Sound Shape (PNL)

Time Sound Shape by Gjerstad / Moberg / Nilssen-Love

If you’ve been tracking Scandinavian free music for the past few decades, you might think you know what record sounds like when you hear that Frode Gjerstad and Paal Nilssen-Love are on it. After all, they’ve been playing together since the latter was a teen and the former was trying to lure promising players into the out-jazz life, and they’ve made a fair number of steaming recordings in that time. But they haven’t made anything quite like Time Sound Shape. Recorded at the Gamle Aker Kirke, Oslo’s oldest edifice, in 2021, it may be completely improvised, but it takes its cues from circumstance, space and opportunity, and those cues point the music in a very different direction. The old stone church’s resonance amplifies Nilssen-Love’s all-gongs set up into a massive sonic presence, and accordionist Kalle Moberg conspires with the percussionist to create a solemnly orchestral breadth of sound. Gjerstad, alternating between alto sax, alto flute and Bb clarinet, sharpens the action with short, anguished cries. This is the biggest sound that three guys can make without the assistance of electricity.

Bill Meyer

Gerrit Hatcher — Solo Five (Kettle Hole)

Solo Five by Gerrit Hatcher

Gerrit Hatcher’s learned well. Instead of waiting for fortune, the Chicago-based tenor saxophonist makes things happen. He plays in town quite often, tours econo and self-releases music on his own label, Kettle Hole Records. The title of this album (a real, glass-mastered CD, unlike the blue-faced disappointments so often sold under that name on Bandcamp these days) attests to his devotion to solo performance. It takes practice as well as physical prowess to command the quivering presence and driving force of his tone, which might remind some of Dave Rempis. Each of the album’s seven tracks makes an assertive statement, but not always a big, loud one; windy textures can be as compelling as rippling notes.

Bill Meyer

James Howard — Peek-a-Boo (Faith and Industry)

Peek-a-Boo by James Howard

James Howard’s debut is all stardust and stopped time. For some reason, I’m reminded of that scene in Buffalo ‘66 where Ben Gazzara, in surreal Sinatra-in-a-tee-shirt mode, croons his father-in-law-y feelings to an entranced, doe-eyed Christina Ricci. Except that Howard’s voice is closer to the dreamy, chill side of Roger Waters (see “St. Tropez'' and “Wots… The Deal”). And his songs are about things like meeting up with your drug dealer on the scenic outskirts of town and raising your children to fear nuclear annihilation. The high point of Peek-a-Boo might be “The Reckoning,” where Howard’s fingers tiptoe up the fretboard like a kid on Christmas Eve on his way to peek at his presents, and cymbals splash like someone on tranquilizers falling into a pool. But really the whole record is a gem and feels like one big, wonderful, floaty, pill-powered dream.

Chris Liberato

Chuck Johnson — Music from Burden of Proof (All Saints)

Music From Burden Of Proof by Chuck Johnson

Chuck Johnson has long been a master of eerie pedal steel atmospherics, building shadowy cloudscapes out of shifting, resonating guitar tone. Here he turns his grasp of sonic mystery to cinematic ends, composing music both guitar-based and not for the HBO series Burden of Proof. If you’re familiar with Johnson’s solo work, the opening “Burden of Proof” will catch you up short with its Bach organ cantata ominous-ness, its densely arranged chamber strings. It sounds not at all like the silvery dream narratives of Balsams or The Cinder Grove; it gathers up in stirring crescendos of emotional turmoil. “The Night of the Disappearance” fits more neatly with what you might have heard before from Johnson. It floats lingering traces of bending guitar sound over a slow lattice of electric keyboard. But setting aside expectations of what Chuck Johnson should or shouldn’t sound like, there is quite a lot to appreciate here: the glittering rhythms and bare-bones bass plunk of “Interrogation,” the swelling synth tones of “Ruth Ann,” the bright cerebral keyboard cadences of “The Note.” Not having seen the show, I can’t tell you how the music works (or doesn’t) to support mood or plot points, but here on the record, it’s subtle and varied, and occasionally, as on “More Surreal” has the slow moving contemplative grace that distinguishes Johnson’s best work. He’s making art and likely getting well paid. Good for him.

Jennifer Kelly

Héctor Lavoe — La Voz (Craft Latino)

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After arriving in New York as a teenager, Puerto Rican singer Héctor Lavoe became a key figure in the popularization of salsa during the 1960s and 1970s. As part of the Fania label roster that included Willie Cólon, Rubén Blades and Celia Cruz, Lavoe released nine albums beginning with his 1975 debut, the aptly named La Voz. Produced and arranged by Cólon, the album foregoes much of the instrumental pyrotechnics of his contemporaries’ records to focus on Lavoe’s voice and improvisational talents. Opener “El Todopoderosa” (The Almighty) features frenetic percussion, piano vamps and blasts of brass which, good as they are, have no chance distracting from Lavoe’s caramel smooth tone and timbre. The clarity of his voice carries the emotional weight of “Un Amor de la Calle” even as the horns weep behind him. On the joyful, faster numbers his call and response with backing vocalists Cólon, Blades and Willie Garcia drive the songs forward but there’s plenty in the background to grab the ears. Witness the off-kilter piano and trumpet solo in “Rompe Saragüey” or the percussion and horn breakdown in “Mi Gente.” Whether you’re a salsa fan or not, this is an opportunity to hear one of the great vocalists in his prime with a killer band and irresistible songs. What’s not to love.

Andrew Forell

Natalie Rose LeBrecht — Holy Prana Open Game (American Dreams)

Holy Prana Open Game by Natalie Rose LeBrecht

It would not be accurate to describe Natalie Rose LeBrecht’s new record as a mix between La Monte Young/Marian Zazeela’s (who she’s studied with and assisted) cosmic minimalism and the Dirty Three’s more spacey, searching efforts (that trio’s Mick Turner and Jim White both play on Holy Prana Open Game), but even in its inadequacy the comparison points towards the kind of rarified air the record is floating amidst. It’s kind of wild to remember that “Amok” here is a radically transformed (one might even say, ahem, improved) cover of the Atoms For Peace song, it’s so of a piece with the other five pieces that make up the album. Whether it’s the more open excursions of “Open” and “Prana” or the gentle lilt of the opening “Home,” this suite soars into inner space immediately and rests there contentedly.

Ian Mathers

Gabe ‘Nandez — “Louis XIV” (POW Recordings)

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Anyone paying attention to Jeff Weiss’ POW Recordings has been able to surmise how enthusiastic the label head has been about the hushed husk of New Yorker Gabe ‘Nandez, and Gabe’s returned the favor in kind with polyglot explorations of the inter- and intrapersonal alike, most recently on April’s Pangea, plus a feature alongside fellow East Coast tome spitter Billy Woods on last year’s Aethiopes. The one-off “Louis XIV” finds Gabe talking kingly killings and heartbreak over a sublimely paired beat from Tel Aviv producer Argov (he of “Venus in Mercury” that preceded this) and kitted in a Burberry coat amid London’s Abney Park cemetery. A low-slung, high-intensity performance, “Louis XIV” is self-evident, a perfect portrait of what makes ‘Nandez so lethal (and appealing) as a rapper. Anyone with an affinity for bars ought to appreciate it.

Patrick Masterson

Jim O’Rourke — Hands That Bind OST (Drag City)

Hands That Bind (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Jim O'Rourke

Any word of a new Jim O’Rourke release is justifiably greeted with excitement, especially when that release is via Drag City. However, Hands That Bind isn’t a continuation of the glorious singer-songwriter fare O’Rourke has perfected on albums such as Eureka, Insignificance and Simple Songs, but rather the soundtrack to a new film by director Kyle Armstrong. The instrumental atmosphere is aligned with many of O’Rourke’s Steamroom explorations, which he’s made available in a steady stream via Bandcamp: slow, sparse, mostly abstract synthesizer soundscapes. The difference here, given O’Rourke is responding to a visual medium, is deeper grounding in the creation of an immediate evocative mood. Shimmering synth textures evoke the chittering of crickets and wide-open expanses of countryside, punctuated by percussion and the reassuring thrum of upright bass. Then, suddenly, a detuned piano or dulcimer will cut through the mix, raising an eyebrow of concern, as if uncertainty is looming on the horizon. The drama of this simple juxtaposition creates an addictive tension that sustains this elegant suite’s runtime.

Tim Clarke

Rat Heart — “Flashing Lights Freestyle” (Shotta Tapes)

Rat Heart - Flashing Lights Freestyle by Shotta Tapes

One of Kanye’s most indelible beats is herewith given a kind of Jai Paul-like treatment via Mancunian Tom Boogizm, who runs the Shotta Tapes label that’s known best for the free-for-all experiments of his increasingly visible Rat Heart alias. We’re a far cry from Northern Luv Songs 4 Wen Ur Life's a Mess, obviously, which threw all manner of spaced-out, instrumental guitar hypnotics at the wall only to see it all stick in a manner most Dusted faithful would find familiar — but this isn’t a total left turn for Tom given we’ve also seen stuff like the Actress-esque 'A Blues' come out in the last year. If you don’t know where to start with him, this serves as a good point of entry for his more beat-driven material, the vocals submerged just that little bit too much beneath the fluorescent, once-ubiquitous backing beat of the Graduation staple. Nobody’s asking for a return to 2007 (that I know of, anyway), but it’s enough for a moment to remember the music once outshone the hubris of its creator. Some of us might call that moment simpler.

Patrick Masterson

La Sécurité — Stay Safe! (Mothland)

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Montreal quintet La Sécurité combine insouciant new wave and funk driven post punk on their debut album Stay Safe! It’s a lane that’s been driven before by bands like Romeo Void and Au Pairs, but they bring an infectious energy to bear. Singing in French and English, lead vocalist Éliane Viens-Synnott moves from the ironic detachment of Debora Lyall to indignant recrimination, shaping her voice to inhabit each song. Atop Kenneth Smith’s propulsive drums and Félix Bélisle’s elastic bass lines, guitarists Melissa Di Menna and Laurence Anne Charest-Gagné add chunky chords and sibilant solos. Although you can spend time picking the influences, the songs are uniformly good. The dispassionate sprechgesang of “Le Kick” with its motorik drums and Au Pairs guitar licks, the mocking tone of the Devo like “Waiting For Kenny,” the groove of “Serpent” which sounds like an amalgam of “Snakes Crawl” and “Too Many Creeps.” The rhythms are tight, the guitars slash and chime in equal measure, the quintet all contribute synths, percussion and backing vocals to their stories of toxic men, relationship ups and downs and daily grind of existence.

Andrew Forell

Jumping Back Slash, Būjin — “Order of Change” (Future Bounce Ltd.)

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Would you believe this started as a piano-based folk ballad? Maybe not if you only heard the first half of the first single from a promised forthcoming album due in November. But what originated as a song with a “folklike Kate Bush flavor to it” morphed into a Janus-faced split of a dancefloor-filling first half that runs Brit-turned-South African Jumping Back Slash’s bass-heavy club deconstruction right through Cape Town native Būjin’s delicate but firm vocal before turning into a lush, orchestral outro much closer in spirit to the original idea. The balance works both ways for Būjin, who tightropes across the transition clear to the other side. What else this LP has in store remains to be seen, but it’s a promising first dispatch for those who err on the side of futuristic pop sounds.

Patrick Masterson

Whose Rules — Hasler (777 Rules)

Hasler by Whose Rules

If you’ve got any sort of weakness for airy, breathless, pristine indie pop, may I suggest Whose Rules, the solo endeavor from a busy Norwegian producer named Marius Elfstedt. This first album, Hasler, touches ever so lightly on sonic territories staked out by Elliott Smith: a wistful tenor warble wrapped around softly inevitable tunes. You might even catch a whiff of the Sea and Cake’s breezy artfulness. Yet while the songs aren’t weighted down, they’re not exactly scrubbed bare either. Elfstedt’s producer background shows through in shifting, transparencies of overlaid sound: guitars, synths, percussion frame delicate melodies but don’t overwhelm them. The music wafts by in a flavored cloud, but there’s a good deal of nourishment in its ethereal mix. I like “Stone” with its scrabbly guitars, its rainy/sunny moods, its sudden swells of synth that could easily be horn lines. There’s a bigger, brassier song in here somewhere, but for now it’s hiding shyly, reticently in a private corner of Elfstedt’s imagination.

Jennifer Kelly

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iraempirecom · 6 months

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Nashville Coin Gallery Reviews

What is Nashville Coin Gallery?Nashville Coin Gallery Locations, Timings, Email, Phone, Services

Nashville Coin Gallery, founded in 2002 by Pete Dodgea, is a nationally known and highly respected dealer in rare coins, paper money, and precious metals bullion products, with annual revenue in the millions of dollars.

Nashville Coin Gallery, according to the company, lives on word-of-mouth referrals and online reviews from its many satisfied clients, many of whom are repeat customers. This reciprocity of loyalty is met with the highest respect and gratitude from the gallery's end. Nashville Coin Gallery's foundation has been founded in the pursuit of a unique blend of top-tier customer service and outstanding pricing, setting a standard unmatched in the coin and precious metals industry. The Brentwood location has evolved into an exclusive appointment-only engagement in which the gallery works directly with customers to provide a more personalised experience. The gallery's strategic position, around 10 miles from downtown Nashville and 8 miles from Franklin, demonstrates the gallery's commitment to accessibility. - Address: 500 Wilson Pike Circle, Ste. 227, Brentwood, TN 37027 - Phone: (615) 764-0331 - Email: [email protected] - Website: https://nashvillecoingallery.com/

People Behind Nashville Coin Gallery: CEO, Owner, Co-Founders & MoreWho owns Nashville Coin Gallery? What is the management team behind Nashville Coin Gallery?

The company's website mentions the following team members: Pete Dodge: Founder

Pete is the owner and founder of Nashville Coin Gallery. He is a lifelong coin collector from Brockton, Massachusetts, who was first exposed to the hobby as a child while in the Cub Scouts. After working as a computer programmer/analyst for many years, including in the United States Air Force from 1980 to 1984, Pete decided to make his lifelong hobby a full-time business and founded Nashville Coin Gallery in 2002. Pete is our Head Numismatist, and he is the primary buyer and seller of coins, paper money, and precious metals bullion products at Nashville Coin Gallery. Pete enjoys travelling, creating music, and playing guitar and piano in his spare time. Jonah Nestadt: Coin & Bullion Buyer

Jonah was born in Sydney, Australia, where he got a bachelor's degree in International Business from Macquarie University. He then worked at a coin store in New Jersey for four years before joining Nashville Coin Gallery as a coin and bullion buyer in February 2022. Jonah enjoys hiking, mountain biking, and listening to live music in his spare time, and he has backpacked in several countries across the world. Jackson Taylor: Accounting / Finance / Marketing

Jackson is another Nashville Coin Gallery employee who has been with the company since February 2016. He attended Mississippi State University and majored in economics and accounting. His responsibilities at Nashville Coin Gallery mostly include marketing, bookkeeping, online SEO, and data analytics. He's also been known to help out the Shipping Department when they're in need. Jackson enjoys golf, basketball, and powerlifting. Brian Roan: Shipping & Receiving Specialist

Brian was born in Illinois but grew up in the Dallas area, graduating from high school in Richardson, Texas, just outside of Dallas. He moved to Tennessee in 1990 after spending time in Virginia and Oklahoma and started working at Nashville Coin Gallery in May 2022. Brian is an avid amateur photographer who enjoys photographing birds, flowers, and other animals when he is not performing shipping and receiving chores for Nashville Coin Gallery. He also enjoys travelling with his wife. Sylvia McMillan: Accounting / Payroll / Human Resources

Sylvia moved to the Nashville, Tennessee area in 2020 and was still working part-time from home for a company in Washington doing real estate work when she became interested in investing in precious metals, so she came to Nashville Coin Gallery numerous times to buy gold and silver. She showed interest in joining their team after becoming fascinated by the firm itself, like the way the company conduct business. Sylvia joined the Nashville Coin Gallery team in November 2022 and working in the Accounting & HR department, where she is responsible for accounting functions, payroll, and human resources. Sam Mizell: Photography & Videography

Sam joined the Nashville Coin Gallery team in November of 2020 as a Shipping and Receiving Specialist. He manages all things related to shipping and receiving for a year and a half, from assembling boxes to packing and securing the contents, from ensuring every box is adequately insured to generating shipping labels, from ordering shipping supplies to videotaping all shipping and receiving activities. During his time, Sam also became highly skilled at coin photography and website video production. However, he quit the organization in early May 2022 after taking another full-time position in the music industry.

Nashville Coin Gallery Products: Bullion Coins, Bars, And Rare CoinsAll products offered by Nashville Coin Gallery

Nashville Coin Gallery offers a diverse range of numismatic products and precious metals. Here's a list of the product categories they provide: Gold:

- Gold Coins (Various denominations and historical periods) - Gold Bullion Bars (Assorted weights and refineries) - Gold American Eagles - Gold Canadian Maple Leafs - Gold Krugerrands - Gold Austrian Philharmonics - Gold Chinese Pandas - Gold Australian Kangaroos Silver:

- Silver Coins (Different designs, eras, and countries) - Silver Bullion Bars (Various sizes and manufacturers) - Silver American Eagles - Silver Canadian Maple Leafs - Silver Britannias - Silver Austrian Philharmonics - Silver Chinese Pandas - Silver Australian Koalas Platinum: - Platinum Coins (Assorted designs and origins) - Platinum Bullion Bars (Various weights and brands) - Platinum American Eagles - Platinum Canadian Maple Leafs Palladium: - Palladium Coins - Palladium Bullion Bars Rare Coins: - Collectible U.S. Coins (Historical coins, key dates, and unique varieties) - World Coins (Coins from various countries and time periods) - Certified Coins (Graded and authenticated by professional grading services) Paper Money: - U.S. Paper Currency (Banknotes of different denominations and historical significance) - World Paper Currency (Currency notes from around the globe) Other Precious Metals: - Other Bullion (Such as bars and coins in various metals) - Coin Supplies (Albums, holders, and accessories for coin storage and display) Special Collections and Sets: - Commemorative Coin Sets - Limited Edition Releases It's important to note that the availability of specific products may vary over time, and it's recommended to visit their official website or contact them directly for the most up-to-date information on their product offerings.

Can You Invest in Nashville Coin Gallery IRA?Do They Offer A Precious Metals IRA?

To invest in a precious metals IRA through Nashville Coin Gallery are the general steps: Open a Self-Directed IRA Select an IRA company that handles opening precious metals IRA accounts and fill out an application. You can work with Nashville Coin Gallery to recommend an IRA company and provide the necessary paperwork. However, I don't recommend doing so. Fund Your IRA Once you have selected an IRA company, you can move your funds into your new IRA account. You can work with the IRA company representative to transfer or rollover funds into the new account. Select a Precious Metals Dealer One of the forms you need to fill out along the way is typically called a Buy Direction Letter. This is where you list the precious metals dealer you have selected, such as Nashville Coin Gallery. Decide Which Precious Metals to Purchase You can choose to invest in gold, silver, platinum, or palladium for your IRA. There are some restrictions regarding fineness requirements and allowable coin types, so it's important to get guidance from Nashville Coin Gallery in this area. Place Your Order Once the funds are available in your IRA account, you can call them to place your order for the desired precious metals. However, I don't recommend opening an IRA with Nashville Coin Gallery. Why? Because there are plenty of better options available for you. Opening a precious metals IRA is a major decision. That's why I suggest checking out our top gold IRA providers list. There, you can find the best precious metals dealer in your state and choose accordingly. Also, the list will help you understand what the industry's best has to offer and what you might miss out on.

Nashville Coin Gallery Fees and Charges: Do they overcharge?What are their fees? Do they have hidden fees?

It's important for people to know about fees and charges when they're thinking about investing in things like coins and precious metals. However, Nashville Coin Gallery's website doesn't give clear information about these fees, and that might make potential customers and investors feel disappointed.

When you're thinking about investing your money, it's really helpful to have all the details about how much things will cost. Not having this information on the website can make people uncertain about whether to invest or not. It's like not knowing all the costs before you buy something – you might end up surprised by extra expenses you didn't expect. Even though Nashville Coin Gallery has a good reputation and happy customers, not knowing the fees upfront can create doubts for those who want to understand everything before making a decision. This could also lead to worries about hidden fees that nobody likes. Transparency is Important

Nashville Coin Gallery Reviews and Complaints: BBB, Yelp, GoogleRead all the Nashville Coin Gallery reviews & complaints

Better Business Bureau (BBB) Based on two customer reviews, Nashville Coin Gallery has an A+ rating and a 3/5 rating on the Better Business Bureau website. The company has been in business for 20 years and has been accredited since 2007. One of their customers posted a negative review saying they should be arrested for robbing people, while another customer praised the company.

Nashville Coin Gallery has received #6 complaints on Google The company has received several unresolved complaints from customers. There are also several unresolved negative reviews on different platforms. Our #1 rated gold IRA company has ZERO unanswered complaints on BBB. Yelp Nashville Coin Gallery has a 4.8/5 star rating on the Yelp platform, based on 10 customer reviews. Customers have mostly posted positive reviews, appreciating the company for providing excellent customer service and being open and honest with them.

Google Reviews On Google, the company has received many reviews from customers, both positive and negative; however, the majority of customers have left positive reviews saying that the owner, Pete Dodge, responds professionally and is transparent and helpful to them. It is important to remember, however, that customers have also posted negative reviews.

Overall, the company has an insufficient online presence, and there are no client ratings and reviews on Trustpilot, which could be cause for concern for potential customers. Having a solid internet presence is essential for client trust and Nashville Coin Gallery's online visibility is not so good. Positive Reviews #1. Linda, a customer, described her great experience with the company, stating that the owner Pete was a wonderful guy to work with. It was her first time, and Pete helped set her at ease by explaining value, and condition, and answering all of her questions. Linda further stated that the company gave her more than she expected in return for her collection. Lastly, she said she would recommend this company to anyone looking to sell or purchase coins.

#2. Another customer, Ammon S., also shared his experience, adding that the drive to the company was worthy. Pete was kind and quick in handling the coins he sold. Lastly, he added, he got better deals than he could have received anywhere else.

#3. Mary stated that she liked her overall experience with the company and its owner, Pete. Pete was really polite and accommodating on the phone, she stated, and in person, he was happy to share his expertise on the coins he had. At last, she added, surely would recommend this company.

Negative Reviews #1. A customer, Charles advised that you should not sell your silver and gold here since you will get a higher price elsewhere. He described it as the biggest rip-off he has encountered in years. Lastly, he recommended avoiding doing business with this company.

#2. Another customer, Herman, stated that his experience was terrible and that the staff was rude and short-tempered. He also stated that it is not a coin company, but rather a little office with a table.

#3. Gerald, a customer, explained his terrible experience with the company, starting with its owner Pete, who appeared to be in a hurry to run errands rather than carefully evaluating customer's coins. He also added that he is sure Pete cheated him on his coin. Pete told the customer that his foreign coins were worthless and he did not even look at them. When the customer returned home, he looked up the coins and discovered that it was a $10 Spanish coin. At last, he advised everyone not to do business with this company.

Is Nashville Coin Gallery Legit? Should You Invest With Them?Is Nashville Coin Gallery a scam or legit? Are they worth it?

No, I don't recommend investing with them. Pros: - A+ rating on BBB Cons: - Risk of hidden fees and charges - Lack of transparency - Limited online presence - No Trustpilot rating I believe you have numerous better options available for you. Nashville Coin Gallery has been in the precious metals business for 20 years. On the Better Business Bureau, they have an A+ rating with 3 stars. However, little information on fees and charges has been revealed by the company, and there are few customer reviews. Before you make any final decision, I recommend checking out our top gold IRA providers. There, you will find out what the industry's best has to offer. Also, it will ensure you make an informed decision. Or, you can check out the best gold dealer in your state below: Each state has its regulations and rules, so we've sorted and found the best Gold IRA company for each state. Find the best Gold IRA company in your state Read the full article

#NashvilleCoinGallery

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nickmacleanjazz · 11 months

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THIS FRIDAY!

After crossing the country on an enormous 2-month (50+ gigs/workshops) Canadian national tour, the Herbie Hancock-influenced modern jazz ensemble NICK MACLEAN QUARTET feat. BROWNMAN ALI returns home to Toronto for the tour's final show @ CONTXT. After two months on the road the group's synergy has grown to be almost telepathic, come join us for our welcome home show! TICKETS: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/545543724967 Full Tour Information: www.TourNMQ.brownman.com ----

NICK MACLEAN QUARTET feat. BROWNMAN ALI (Toronto)

FRI-JUN-02 show @ 8pm @ CONTXT 254 Lansdowne Ave, Toronto, ON M6H 3X9 $15 adv, $20 door TICKETS: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/545543724967 Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/579476820874404 Full Tour Information: www.TourNMQ.brownman.com ---- This spring, the multi-award-winning NICK MACLEAN QUARTET feat. BROWNMAN ALI embarks on their extensive, two month national tour across Canada, bringing them from their hometown of Toronto all the way to the Pacific coast and everywhere in between. Led by fast-rising piano star NICK MACLEAN -- an 8x Global Music Award winner and one of the most in-demand young jazz piano players in Toronto -- this contemplative yet thrilling quartet delivers jazz between the two poles of thoughtful introspection and powerhouse conveyance, taking influences from Herbie Hancock's primordial 1960's Blue Note era recordings. Maclean's quartet heavily features one of Canada's most provocative improvising trumpet players -- BROWNMAN ALI -- an internationally acclaimed, multi-award winning jazz iconoclast who has been heralded as "Canada's preeminent jazz trumpet player" by New York City's Village Voice and is best known globally as the last trumpet player to play in the legendary jazz-hip-hop group GURU's JAZZMATAZZ. For this show, Ali & Maclean stand shoulder-to-shoulder with 2 of Canada's top-tier rhythm section players: BENNETT YOUNG on upright bass (in for Ben Duff), and JACOB WUTZKE on drums. - :: Nick Maclean - piano :: Brownman Ali - trumpet :: Bennett Young - bass :: Jacob Wutzke - drums - Come witness these four in full flight, this tour features many nights of deeply exploratory, hard-swinging modern-jazz audiences nation-wide will not want to miss. ----

ALL CANADIAN TOURDATES

All tour information can be found at: http://tournmq.brownman.com/ - Wed-Apr-12: Toronto @ La Rev Thr-Apr-13: Oshawa @ Simcoe Blues & Jazz Fri-Apr-14: Waterloo (workshop) Fri-Apr-14: Waterloo @ The Jazz Room Sat-Apr-15: Sudbury @ The Alibi Room Sun-Apr-16: Sault Ste Marie @ Algoma Conservatory Mon-Apr-17 - travel day Tue-Apr-18- travel day Wed-Apr-19: Winnipeg (workshop) Wed-Apr-19: Gimli @ Ship & Plough Thr-Apr-20: Brandon (workshop) Thr-Apr-20: Brandon @ Vincent Massey H.S. Fri-Apr-21: Saskatoon @ The Bassment (solo piano) Fri-Apr-21: Saskatoon @ The Bassment Sat-Apr-22: Edmonton @ Yardbird Suite Sun-Apr-23: Calgary @ Ironwood Stage Mon-Apr-24: Calgary (workshop) Tue-Apr-25: Canmore @ artsPlace Wed-Apr-26: Canmore (workshop) Thr-Apr-27: Salmon Arm (workshop) Thr-Apr-27: Salmon Arm @ Jazz Club Salmon Arm Fri-Apr-28: Kamloops @ On The Rocks Sat-Apr-29: Abbotsford @ Matsqui Community Hall Sun-Apr-30: Vancouver @ Frankie's Jazz Club Mon-May-01 - travel day Tue-May-02: Nanaimo (workshop) Wed-May-03: Nanaimo (workshop) Thr-May-04: Comox @ Little Red Church Fri-May-05: Victoria @ Vinyl Envy Sat-May-06: Nanaimo @ Simonholt Restaurant Sun-May-07: Victoria @ First Unitarian Mon-May-08 - travel day Tue-May-09: Vancouver @ 2nd Floor Gastown Wed-May-10: Abbotsford (workshop) Thr-May-11: Kelowna (workshop) Thr-May-11: Kelowna @ DunnEnzies Fri-May-12: Penticton @ The Dream Cafe Sat-May-13: Vernon @ Vernon Jazz Club Sun-May-14: Golden @ Rockwater Grill & Bar Mon-May-15 - day off Tue-May-16 - day off Wed-May-17: Calgary (workshop) Wed-May-17: Lethbridge @ Geomatic Attic Thr-May-18: Taber (workshop) Thr-May-18: Medicine Hat @ Casa Amigos Fri-May-19: Regina @ Acfr Le Bistro Sat-May-20: Brandon @ Chez Angela Sun-May-21: Winnipeg @ West End Cultural Centre Mon-May-22 - day off Tue-May-23: Dryden @ Dryden Regional Wed-May-24 - travel day Thr-May-25: Sault Ste Marie (recording) Fri-May-26: Sault Ste Marie @ Algoma Conservatory Sat-May-27 - travel day Fri-Jun-02: Toronto @ CONTXT ---- Presented with support from the Canada Council for the Arts. ---- For more info: www.TourNMQ.brownman.com www.NicholasMaclean.com www.Brownman.com www.Browntasauras.com

#nick maclean quartet #nick maclean #brownman ali #browntasauras records #contxt #trane studios #bennett young #jacob wutzke #modern jazz #toronto #jazz #post bop #herbie hancock #convergence #national tour #canada #canadian #live music #live jazz

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merriammusicinc · 11 months

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Yamaha vs Kawai vs Steinway | Piano VST Comparison | Yamaha CFX vs Hamburg Steinway D vs Kawai SK-EX

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Anyone whose been a subscriber to our channel or blog will know we’ve spent a lot of time over the past couple of years exploring the world of piano VSTs. As a result, our resident piano reviewer and company president Stu Harrison has become something of a VST aficionado.

In today’s video and companion article, Stu will be joined by his wife Annie Bonsignore, who also happens to be a professional vocalist and frequent collaborator of Stu’s.

Annie is going to randomly toggle between three meticulously recorded VST instruments from some of the most well-known brands - Yamaha vs Kawai vs Steinway and some of their high-end models with the Hamburg Steinway D-274, Shigeru Kawai SK-EX and Yamaha CFX Concert Grand Pianos - to see if Stu can actually tell the difference between these three pianos without knowing which one he’s playing and hearing.

This should be a good test to see how our pre-conceived notions about a given instrument affect our musical perception of said instrument since Stu will not know which instrument he is playing.

We’ll get started here with a little bit of background information.

Yamaha vs Kawai vs Steinway - Background Information & Piano Design

Let’s start by covering some of the differences that make a Yamaha, a Steinway, and a Kawai different from one another. These are three of the most recognizable piano brands in the world, and in terms of full-sized concert pianos, their flagship concert grand pianos- the Hamburg Steinway Model D, Yamaha CFX and Shigeru Kawai SK-EX - are among the most commonly selected instruments by pianists who perform in concert halls and with symphony orchestras.

All three piano manufacturers and these specific pianos have a very interesting pedigree and interesting history, but for our purposes, what’s really important is to look at the major differences in the design and materials used in these instruments that contribute to the unique sound that they each produce.

We’ll take a quick look at each instrument.

Hamburg Steinway Model D Steinway Model D - VST UI

The Steinway & Sons Model D’s most people in North America are used to are of course New York Steinways which use Sitka spruce for their soundboards. Since we’re working with a Hamburg Steinway Model D Concert Grand Piano made at the Steinway factory in Germany here, the soundboard will be either be an Austrian or Bavarian white spruce. In either case, it would be slow growth, high altitude spruce grown in the 700 to 1,000-meter range, such as what would also be used in other high-end European pianos like a Bosendorfer or Steingraeber.

This soundboard material is different from what Yamaha and Kawai are using, and the Steinway has some other things that make it unique as well. For one, they use an inordinate amount of Hard Rock Maple in their inner and outer rims and feature a remarkably strong pinblock.

There are several aspects of Steinway design which make it unique. It uses an inordinate amount of Hard Rock Maple in their inner and outer rims, which gives it a very specific tonal flavor that is often described as a blended tone.

The Hamburg Steinway also has a treble bell, and in combination with the specific duplex scale, this tends to create a very particular treble experience with an ambient wash and well-defined attack. Steinway D’s are also known for having an extraordinary dynamic range to them, to the point that it’s almost impossible to make them distort.

Now, they’re not known for having the widest tonal palette compared to other fine instruments, but in terms of dynamic potential and ability to project across the range, they’re really quite exceptional and one of the main reasons Hamburg D’s are often cited as one of the top two or three concert pianos in the world.

Pianos from the Hamburg factory are also generally regarded as a tier above their New York counterparts, and that includes the Steinway Model B, Steinway Model A and Steinway Model M.

Shigeru Kawai SK-EX

The Shigeru Kawai SK-EX has borrowed quite a bit from the Steinway grand piano heritage, as have most modern pianos (fun fact, Kawai manufactures the Steinway sub-brand Boston). The SK-EX uses vertically laminated bridges, just like the Steinway does and a Hard Rock Maple cap, just like the Steinway does also.

The rims also feature some Hard Rock Maple, though not as much as the Steinway, and it also blends a number of other hardwoods as well. The SKEX does not use a treble bell, and the approach to the treble generally in the Shigeru is quite a bit different. The SK-EX also uses Sitka spruce, just like a New York Steinway but different from the Hamburg’s Austrian or Bavarian spruce.

The end result is a tone that isn’t as blended as the Hamburg Steinway, but at the same time, it’s not as clear and defined as a C.Bechstein or Bosendorfer’s tone. Really, it's sitting somewhere in the middle and is overall very warm but also very colorful.

It’s capable of both a very intimate sound but can also be pushed for serious fortissimo volume and power as well. In general, SK-EXs are often regarded as very versatile instruments which is why they’re so popular among

Yamaha CFX Yamaha CFX - VST UI

The Yamaha CFX first hit the market several years ago and served as the next-generation update to the CFIIIS concert grand piano, which was the Yamaha Corporation’s previous flagship model CF Series 9 footer.

That said, the CFIIIS was seen a step below a Steinway or Shigeru Kawai, whereas the new CFX is at a level where it can now properly compete with these other two concert grand pianos by upgrading the specs to what one would expect out of a top-tier instrument,

For instance, they’ve gone with a high-quality European spruce soundboard and are also vertically laminating their bridges. The rim consists of a blend of Beech and Mahogany for its own unique tonal experience as part of what they’ve called their Acoustic Resonance system.

They’ve also improved the piano wire and bass string material and levelled up their hammer design while going with a very realistic ivory substitute they’ve dubbed as Ivorite for the white keys and a matte finish for the black keys.

The end result is a tone that is still on the brighter end of the tonal spectrum, but the middle partials are much more present than they were previously. Overall, it’s a more natural sound than what Yamaha has been able to achieve in the past.

Note that the CFX is also available as the Disklavier Enspire Pro version (DCFX) which allows you to record and playback right on the CFX as a digital piano can.

Piano VST Comparison Kawai SK-EX - PIano VST Comparison

As mentioned above, we’re not going to be in a showroom playing the actual acoustic piano versions of these musical instruments, but rather VST versions. In the case of the Hamburg Steinway Model D and Yamaha CFX, we’re using the Vienna Symphonic Libraries Synchron engines, while for the SK-EX, we’re using the Kawai’s NOVUS NV5’s SK-EX Rendering Engine, which combines a multi-channel sample of the SK-EX with a resonance modeling engine.

The reverb is set up as similarly across the 3 samples as possible, and we’ve tried to make the settings as evenly as possible as well.

Stu’s Blind Playtest

We would definitely recommend checking out the video to see and hear the blind playtesting for yourself. In the end, Stu was able to guess 9 out of 10 right, only at first mistaking the Hamburg Steinway D for the SK-EX, but he would subsequently realize this and eventually change his answer.

Stu is obviously a gifted and highly experienced piano player, but it does speak to how distinct these three samples truly are with how accurate his blind play-testing proved to be.

Annie’s Ranking from a Vocalist’s Perspective

We’d also recommend checking out the latter portion of the video to hear professional vocalist Annie Bonsignore sing along with each sample and give her feedback as to how she would rank in terms of compatibility with a vocalist.

She ultimately enjoyed the SK-EX the most due to its warmth and very dynamic tonal range. She had the Yamaha CFX ranked second and liked it overall, she just, however, felt it was a little bit too bright and perhaps a bit like an upright piano.

In third, she had the Hamburg D as she felt it was least equipped to compliment the contours of the natural human voice.

Closing Thoughts

Thanks very much for reading! This has been a very interesting experiment comparing these three superb concert grand piano samples that we hope you’ve enjoyed.

The post Yamaha vs Kawai vs Steinway | Piano VST Comparison | Yamaha CFX vs Hamburg Steinway D vs Kawai SK-EX first appeared on Merriam Pianos

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#Yamaha vs Kawai vs Steinway #Piano VST Comparison #Kawai SK-EX Grand Piano VST #Hamburg Steinway D #Steinway & Sons

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edactually · 1 year

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Ed POV - 6.2

Stede had neglected to mention who his friend was. Ed had assumed Lucius, maybe Mary or even Anne.

He had not expected to walk into the bar and see Sam and Stede in a corner booth. Sam had his arm slung over the back of the booth’s red vinyl and he wasn’t touching Stede, but Ed knew that gesture. At the first hint that it would be a welcomed touch, Sam’s arm would drop to land around Stede’s shoulders.

He’d thought he’d seen the last of this guy. What had it been, nearly a month since Ed had followed them on their date? He’d witnessed Stede giving Sam the brush off, why was he out with him now?

Unless…

Oh dear god, had Stede been going on dates with Sam the whole time? Had Sam asked Stede to be exclusive and that was why Stede had insisted they go back to being just friends? Was Sam the reason that Stede kept running away every time Ed thought there was a chance something might happen between the two of them?

He could feel the weight around his neck dragging him down, could feel himself struggling to breathe. Izzy had been right. He thought he’d been upset at the suggestion of it but it was nothing compared to actually experiencing it.

Stede Bonnet was drowning him and it fucking hurt .

Ed would have left had Stede not spotted him and waved him over. He could do nothing but let his feet carry him towards him, like he was a ship and Stede was a lighthouse. Lighthouses were grand things if you avoided them, but sailing right towards one just meant you’d crack up on the rocks.

Ed slid into the opposite seat of the booth, looking every bit the third wheel that he was.

“This is my friend, B, the one I was telling you about.” Stede gestured towards Ed as he made introductions. He wasn’t using Ed’s real name, had referred to him only as B. Ed knew he’d done it to be nice and protect his real name from becoming public, but something about being relegated to just the initial of his stage name when Stede always called him Ed was another knife in his heart.

Sam didn’t seem to recognise him, or kept his cool remarkably if he did. “Hey B, heard a lot about you.” He stretched out a hand. “Sam Bellamy, nice to meet you.”

Ed kept his hands firmly by his sides and said nothing, and Sam got the hint and withdrew his arm. “Not a handshaker, that’s alright.” He laughed.

Sam was nice. Sam had backed away when Stede had rejected his kiss, had kept a polite distance for the rest of his first date with Stede afterwards and now he was even laughing off Ed’s terrible manners like it was no big deal and meant nothing to him.

Ed hated Sam.

“Stede says you’ve had a bit of a rough night,” Sam continued. “Sorry to hear that, I hope everything is ok?”

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” Stede quickly butted in, looking at Ed with apologetic eyes. “I just thought you might prefer company to being alone.”

Not if that company was Stede AND Sam.

Stede and Sam, it even had a nice ring to it for fuck’s sake.

Stede and Ed sounded better.

Ed gave a noncommittal shrug that could have been interpreted in any way. Stede and Sam exchanged a look and Ed felt like tearing his own eyes out. He didn’t want to watch them have secret conversations about him without speaking.

“Stede says you play guitar?” Sam tried again. “I play a little myself.”

Sam was younger and hotter than Ed and he played guitar? Why did fate feel the need to kick him while he was already down?

Sam continued, despite the lack of response. “I’m not great at it, personally I prefer the piano.”

“Piano is fucking stupid.” Ed finally spoke, not caring about how rude he sounded.

Stede shot him a look but Sam just laughed again. Did anything get to this guy?

“I don’t know about that, I’ve always enjoyed it. I learned when I was a kid and so did Stede, so we have that in common.”

Ed looked at Stede in alarm. He hadn’t known that Stede played piano. He didn’t think it was stupid, he was just trying to get a rise out of Sam and now he’d insulted Stede as well. He should have known that Stede was a pianist. How did Sam know that but he didn’t?

“Sorry.” Ed mumbled, and Stede gave him an appreciative smile. Stede was the forgiving type, Ed already knew that.

Apparently Sam was as well. “Don’t worry about it, we all have different music tastes right? What music do you like, B?”

If Sam didn’t recognise him, then Ed didn’t want to give the game away. “Bit of everything I guess.”

“Me too. People take one look at the leather and think I’m only into rock or metal, they never peg me as someone who sings along to Dolly Parton.”

“Dolly Parton, really?” Ed tried to switch his tone to sound curious, like he gave a shit about anything Sam told him about himself.

“Love a bit of Dolly. This place has karaoke so I can prove it. Oh god, where are my manners?” Sam slapped the table. “You haven’t even had a drink yet, B! What would you like, I’m buying.”

Ed didn’t want anything from this man. Didn’t want to owe him anything. “Nothing.”

“C’mon now.” Sam had stood up and now he was clapping Ed on the shoulder, and Ed was trying not to let his back arch up like an angry cat ready to start scratching and clawing Sam’s eyes out. “Anything you want.”

Ed fought the urge to ask for the most expensive drink he could. “Water.”

“Really, just water?”

Did Sam want to hear his entire fucking history with alcohol? Fucking hell. “Yes.” He said through gritted teeth. “Just water.”

“If you say so.” Sam grabbed his and Stede’s empty glasses, because of course he was a fucking gentleman and took them back to the bar to save the staff the trouble. “Ste? Another pina colada?”

Ste? Fucking Ste ? His name was Stede. How hard was it to add the extra two letters, it wasn’t even an extra syllable to say them.

Ed was glad his hands were under the table because they were currently clenched into fists.

“You never told me you played piano.” Ed said as soon as Sam was out of earshot.

Stede gave him a curious look. “You never asked.”

His tone wasn’t malicious, but Ed could imagine what was being left unsaid.

You didn’t ask, but Sam did. Sam is so thoughtful. Sam is better than you. Why would I want you, Ed?

Stede had continued speaking. “My mother insisted on me taking lessons as a child. I found it torturous at the time, but it was nice to be able to play for her when she asked. I haven’t played since…” He trailed off and Ed immediately unclenched one of his fists and reached out across the table. So Stede hadn’t played for five years then. Another happy memory of his mother now tainted with grief.

Stede made no attempt to finish his sentence. He didn’t have to. Instead, he looked over to the bar to check Sam was still busy and not eavesdropping before turning back to Ed. “Are you ok? Did something really bad happen in rehearsal?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He did. He really wanted to talk about it. In private, at Stede’s house, curled up under the yellow blanket on Stede’s couch. He didn’t want to pour his heart out in a crowded bar when Stede’s boyfriend would be back at the table any minute.

“You’re not acting like yourself, Ed. I’m worried.”

Ed’s eyes flicked over to the bar where Sam was ordering their drinks. They didn’t have long before he came back. And it was so, so petty of him, but Ed couldn’t help it. He stood up and moved around to Stede’s side of the booth, taking the spot that Sam had vacated. Stede raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.

“I just really needed to see a friendly face.” Ed said. “And you make me feel better.”

Stede’s arms opened to allow Ed inside their warm circle. He rested his head on Stede’s shoulder and closed his eyes as the blonde started to stroke his hair. Stede remembered that Ed liked it when he touched his hair, and it would have been enough to soothe him to sleep even in the crowded bar, were it not for Sam’s return.

“Must have been a really rough day.” Sam’s tone was still cheerful, and he took Ed’s former seat without any complaint, distributing the drinks amongst the three of them. “I get it, Ste gives great hugs.”

He turned his head to glower at Sam. “His name is Stede.”

“I know, I just think Ste is a cute nickname for him. You don’t agree?” Sam had ordered a colourful cocktail for himself that he sipped through a curly yellow straw.

Damn it, Ed would find the thing that broke this nice guy facade if it killed him.

“I like Stede.” Ed said, and he felt Stede’s body stiffen underneath him. Shit, there were other implications to that and he was not telling Stede how he felt in front of this guy. “As a name. It suits him.”

Stede relaxed and pulled his cocktail towards him. He still had one arm wrapped around Ed and Ed made a show of snuggling into his side in plain view of Sam. Stede took a sip of his drink and it left behind a little foam moustache. “You’ve got a little something on your lip there.” Sam chuckled.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it.” Ed smirked and reached out a hand. He hesitated before touching Stede’s face, but the bonde leaned in and allowed it. The pad of his thumb dragged slowly across Stede’s top lip, wiping away the foam as Stede’s lips parted beneath his touch. Once the foam was off Stede’s face and gathered on his thumb, Ed slid the digit into his mouth and licked it away. It tasted like pineapple and coconut and not nearly enough like the taste of Stede’s lips, but it was the closest Ed had gotten to kissing Stede in weeks.

“Well,” Sam’s laugh sounded a touch strained this time and Ed’s grin widened. “That’s one way to do it.”

First Post

#edactuallysmau

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white-poppie · 2 years

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hey there, can I get a Haikyuu and My hero matchup? (any gender). I’m a pretty closed off person and I have a bit of trouble showing my emotions with coming off as mocking. My sense of humor is pretty witty and sarcastic. I was also just informed by my friend that I am a tsukishima kinnie and I am in denial. i don’t like being mean to people, because I am very aware of how easily feelings get hurt. I make a point to try to include everyone around me when I talk, and I don’t like to leave anyone out. also, im the type of person who when they see their friend wearing a different type of clothes that they haven’t tried before, and immediately showers them in compliments. like I will notice if they have a new necklace or something. I don’t hesitate to call people out when they are being rude in general or too others, though sometimes that comes off as blunt. I have a bit more trouble sticking up for myself though.i play volleyball irl!!! and my position is middle blocker. I also play a bit of piano :) I am very interested in learning languages!and I like crystals and reading.I’m about 176, and I have shoulder length brown hair, and brown eyes. my pronouns are she/her ! I’m a Leo sun and sag moon with a Capricorn rising. my mbti type is intj! I still have a bit of a gifted kid/perfectionist mindset where if it’s not 100% it’s failure. I have a tendency to forgive people very easily, and have comforted people who didn’t deserve it/wouldn’t do the same for me. my standards for friendships are also kinda low:(

tysm! <3 im sorry if this was too long!

feel free to ignore this if you have a full inbox!

Hey! You described yourself so nicely that I can almost picture you!

Haikyuu

Pairing: Sugawara Koushi

*Le gasp* *with watery eyes* H..how da..dare you ste..steal my husband! *

He has a soothing and gentle personality for his teammates and acts as a pillar of support for them. He is also intelligent as he can come up with helpful tactics during games that his team members can use. Despite his nurturing behaviour, he is sometimes mischievous.

He has a very brotherly attitude and open-minded personality, a lot like yours, he is quick to notice changes in mood and behaviour and can easily fix it.

He is helpful and dedicated and doesn't easily lose hope.

He is also a bit too honest sometimes and would ADORE the fact that you can also play volleyball.

Overall recommendation: 9.5/10

*sniffs* Yo..you are so nice...b..be good to him, ok? (Forgive my overdramatic self) (To anyone reading this, please don't call him Sugamama, its cringe frl)

My hero academia

Pairing: Shinso Hitoshi

ExCuji me? Why aRE yoU gettIng aLl the chaRacters I simP for??

Hitoshi is a stoic and straightforward person, yet he has the ability to spark conversation with anyone, despite a reserved and quiet attitude most of the time.

His personality is a lot similar to your description, he may seem very rude but is a very kindhearted person driven by the goal of becoming a good pro hero. Since you have the personality of the 'mother' of the group, he is more of the 'delinquent with a heart of gold.'

He also has a dark sense of humour which will really go well with your sarcastic one.

He is often insecure about his abilities and avoided unnecessary conversations. He has also been portrayed as observant and will if you are not able to stick up for yourself, he will do that for you.

Overall recommendation: 9.5/10

Thank you for requesting this, I am trying to answer as many as possible, I apologize for the delay, hope you like it :)

100 Followers pairing event (Open)

#white poppie🌼#match up event #match up requests #match ups #anon #pairing event #hq matchups #hq pairing #mha matchups #mha #shisou #shinso #sugawara

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nitekrawlerz · 2 years

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A few of my SFW Charlie Kelly HC’s

Charlie likes to make jewelry out of cool rocks, stones and gems he finds wether it’s around the bar, in the alleys he walks through, the sewers he plays in or just through digging around dirt. He often makes Dee earrings and bracelets and he made Mac a ring once. It was immediately put on a string and he wears it on special occasions. He made Dennis a necklace and he stomped it to bits because he didn’t want to “come off as gay” and Charlie never made him another thing again. Him and Frank have matching ankle bracelets that were made with twine and some busted up rocks.

He actually really enjoys making art and started when he was in counseling after school as a kid. Even though Mac made fun of him for painting, he didn’t mind when Charlie brought his paints and glues over for collages and paintings and stuff. They’d huff more glue and paint than actually crafting. Charlie realized soon after that he could get more done with a hot glue gun. (And Mac realized he liked the feeling of the hot metal tip against his skin. A win / win for both)

He’s got severe insomnia, which is why he does the cat food cocktail thing, but we already knew this. However, his insomnia started when he began keeping himself awake at night as a kid because he was having night terrors and would rather sit in the floor playing with trains and cars than spending all night fighting for sleep or waiting for his mom to come in and take care of him after she said to leave her alone, “she had clients” he recalls.

He loves being outdoors when it’s nice. He loves sitting on his fire escape playing guitar or piano and singing songs for the alley cats that he’s practically adopted. He thinks of them as his audience even and though he has really bad stage fright, he can play for the cats and feels overwhelmed with joy.

His favorite cat is white cat named Rambo and she follows him everywhere, and he made the kitten mittens for her originally, because he brought her in his apartment and she scratched up his couch a bit. Sometimes when he’s in the alley with the cats, he takes his “digestive chalks” down with him and he makes a racetrack for Rambo. What he loves the most about her though is that when he uses his chalk, she rolls around in it and then he has a rainbow cat for a little while.

He doesn’t know how to drive, he was actually the one driving when they crashed Nikki Potnick’s car. Everyone says they were drunk but Charlie hadn’t had a drop of alcohol that night. He just doesn’t know how to drive and it was always easier for those around him to either drive him, let him catch the bus or walk where he needed to go. It eventually got where Charlie became embarrassed to ask for help driving and he just accepted that he can’t do it.

He’s a terrific ice skater. It started as a hockey thing but then he fell in love with it. He can also do pretty much every trick in the book for skateboarding except for stopping. Every time he tries to stop his board he ends up on the ground. (This being one of the reasons all of his jeans have holes near or on the knees)

He learned to sew, cook and clean from his grandmother. He loved her and loved making her proud. She was the only member of his family growing up that made him feel seen, heard and loved. Of course Bonnie showed him love, but mostly when it was convenient for her. She didn’t truly learn to love her son until he was out on his own. She bought him his grey hoodie for his 18th bday and he still wears it often because when he puts it on it feels like he’s getting a hug from her. She was also the first to ever try a grilled Charlie and while she didn’t like it, she made him feel like a 5 star chef when she tried it…he was 13.

He smokes Mac’s weed out of the back office. It’s in a drawer that says “BUSINESS AFFAIRS, KEEP OUT” but Charlie still takes it to his “bad room” and smokes in there next to the window and blames the rats in the bar for the missing weed. Mac is aware of who is stealing it.

He stalks the waitress because he believes that they were married in another life, believing they died and were reincarnated together in Philly so they could be together again.

He learned to play guitar in high school because he saw the waitress liked a guy who was a guitarist in a shitty band. He developed his stage fright when he sat outside her window at 10pm playing ‘Here Comes Your Man’ by the pixies and she threw a shoe out of said window and then called the cops. He fears now that if people do hear him play they will throw things at him and call the cops again.

#Charlie Kelly HC’s #it’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these #plz be gentle

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toastereno · 4 months

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my final psmd piano cover of 2023: it's none other than dark matter's theme (phase 2)!

HUGE special shoutout to @aimer-arts for the absolutely STUNNING art!!! i'm still so floored that you offered to draw for this one ALKSDJFLKDSJFLKS THANK YOU SO MUCH 😭😭💖 everyone should check out her art right now!!

as the new year approaches, just remember that no matter what hardships you're facing, no matter what life tries to throw at you...don't give up. you have people cheering for you :'^)

(no text ver. under the cut)

#psmd #pmd #pokemon mystery dungeon #pokemon super mystery dungeon #turtwig #fennekin #pokemon #art #music #piano #THE ART IS SO BEAUTIFUL AAAA #I LOVE YOU AIMER <3 #ste plays piano #ste blog

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zeroadult479 · 3 years

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City Online Dating Las Vegas Nv

Online Dating In Clark County, Nevada. Let’s be honest, Las Vegas isn’t the first place that comes to mind when one thinks about trying to find true love or even necessarily a great first date and/or a fun, meaningful six month relationship. Browse Online Personals in Las Vegas! Personals Las Vegas is your #1 online resource for finding a date in Las Vegas! With our free online personal ads, you can find loads of available singles in Nevada. Sign up now at no cost and browse thousands of free Las Vegas personals. Las Vegas is a great city. 4 Local Dating Online- Nevada Las Vegas Area is listed under the Las vegas Bars & Pubs category and is located in 4700 maryland pkwy, Las vegas, NV. It can be reached at phone number (800)637-0948. For other Bars & Pubs listings in Las vegas, please check Rum Runner Lounge, Sac's Bar & Grille, Ellis Island Brewery Casino & Restaurant, Pt's.

Online Dating In Clark County, Nevada

Let’s be honest, Las Vegas isn’t the first place that comes to mind when one thinks about trying to find true love or even necessarily a great first date and/or a fun, meaningful six month relationship. Instead, it’s the destination where you met that random guy you would never have looked at twice outside of Vegas, but – hey – you were wearing a sequin tube top and what happens in Vegas… You see where I’m going with this? But, here’s the thing, some of us actually live here. I know, I know. It’s a novel idea. And while most locals would rather endure an unmedicated root canal than drive to The Strip, park at a casino and navigate through drunk tourists double fisting foot-long margaritas, there are plenty of hidden gems throughout our neon oasis in the desert. Image via LinksmanJD on Flickr.

Fremont East

Until very recently, I lived most of my four years in Sin City a few blocks from Las Vegas Boulevard and while there really is a lot The Strip has to offer, more on that later, I would always prefer to get away from the tourists and the traffic and the blinding Ed Hardy get-ups and head downtown to Fremont East. Let’s keep it real, this is where the cool kids congregate and where some of the most fun, unique places this city has to offer are located. I suggest starting your evening at Bar + Bistro, home of monthly vintage bike night, for some tapas and sangria before making your way down Fremont Street to pop in and out of fun bars while making witty, flirtatious and, most importantly, funny banter. From the bar where you sometimes wish everyone didn’t know your name and your ex wasn’t permanently parked at the bar, The Griffin, to one of the best places to drink a beer and listen to live music, The Beauty Bar, to a place you can play your favorite arcade game while sipping on a vodka tonic, Insert Coins, to the only place in town I know of where you can get on a teeter-totter with your date, Park, the bars on Fremont East have it all. And if I could find a guy who would take me to my favourite piano bar, Don’t Tell Mama, he would pretty much have my heart forever. Image via LinksmanJD on Flickr.

The Beat

While I went here, Republic Bar + Kitchen, on my first online date in Las Vegas, I think the majority of people meeting someone from the internet for the first time worry about a few things: a) Can I make a quick getaway if I’m not feeling it?, b) How big of a time investment do I need to make for someone I may or may not have anything to talk about with? and c) Where is a safe place I will likely survive the first meeting if my date ends up being a serial killer? This is where coffee shops come to the rescue. Sunrise Coffee is definitely my favorite coffee spot in town and makes me feel like I’m back in Seattle (which, in my world, is a very good thing). They are local, independent, serve vegetarian and vegan-friendly fare and draw a crowd that my friends from back home would look at and say, “This is Vegas?” Last, but not least, check out The Beat for your first online date. If you end up with too many awkward silences while sipping your latte, you can thumb through their collection of records or stroll through Emergency Arts. Image via lmundy202 on Flickr.

Nove at the Palms

For a romantic date in Vegas, I suggest taking your special someone to The Strip for a delicious dinner and then out to a show. One thing we have an abundance of here in Las Vegas is a plethora of fine dining options. But, beware, plenty of these options also come with a hefty price tag. Luckily, many restaurants here offer a pre-fixe menu with smaller, more affordable alternatives to their regular priced entrees. Some of my favorite meals I’ve ever had have been here on The Strip. For Japanese cuisine, and a meal that will still make your mouth water two years later just thinking about it, try Shibuya. I still dream about the rock shrimp tempura and the Kobe beef. Another favorite is Nove at the Palms. The dinner I had there is still imprinted on my heart and the view alone is worth the visit. Wherever you choose to dine for your special night, if you give it a quick ten minutes search of the best new restaurants on The Strip, you’ll find just the right one and definitely won’t be disappointed. Trust me. After dinner, I suggest taking in one of the Cirque du Soleil shows. You know I’m still waiting for someone to take me to see Michael Jackson ONE, but you really can’t go wrong with the Beatles LOVE. You’ll leave holding hands, singing songs and believing that all you need is, in fact, love. Image via lmundy202 on Flickr.

Valley of Fire

Dating Service Las Vegas

For a casual date in (or around) Vegas, I have a few suggestions. If you hop on your card and head north with a packed picnic basket, Valley of Fire would be the perfect spot for a sweet lunch with a gorgeous view. Another option is taking a stroll through the botanical gardens at The Springs Preserve. A place that will be sure to impress, and if you bring your camera will provide plenty of vintage Vegas inspired photos, is the Neon Boneyard. This is the spot where the signs of Vegas yesteryear, or what I like to call the Elvis and Priscilla Vegas, have gone to their loving resting place. Trust me, your date will love it, but be sure to book a tour. If a fantastic, casual meal is what you’re in the mood for, please head to my happy place, Yama Sushi. Try the Sun on the Beach roll (I’m not kidding when I say it will change your life) and tell them Kathleen sent you. Image via lmundy202 on Flickr.

The Golden Nugget Pool

For a fun and adventurous date, it would be fun to head back down to Fremont during the day for a swim at my favorite hotel, The Golden Nugget. There, you will find the most magical pool you’ve ever seen. Don’t believe me? TripAdvisor once listed The Tank as the only US pool in their Top Ten Most Amazing Hotel Pools in the World list. This is where you can slide through a glass-enclosed aquarium with sharks. Yes, you read that right. Look into it here. While you’re down on Fremont, take your date on a zipline through the Fremont Street Experience. These rides will be offered again in the fall. Another adventurous activity is a trek to Red Rock Canyon to check out the petroglyphs. Last, but not least, if you’re looking for an adventurous and very memorable date in Vegas, I suggest a helicopter ride over The Strip at night. An added bonus would be to softly play Kanye West’s “All of the Lights” in the background because, in this town, it is Vegas everywhere we are. Image via LinksmannJD on Flickr

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