21 Grams is a 2003 American drama film directed by director Alejandro González Iñárritu, also the director of: The Revenant, Babel, Birdman. 21 Grams is groundbreaking, in that the storytelling is non-linear. You’re presented with three people, with three seemingly unrelated stories — until they’re […]

I’m very excited to see Arrival — but with a 19 month-old at home, my movie watching has taken a serious hit. Even still, I’ve been a huge Denis Villeneuve fan ever since his movie Prisoners, which is also scored by Jóhann Jóhannsson. Principally, Jóhann Jóhannsson is […]

Jóhann Jóhannsson is an Icelandic composer. He leads the modern post-classical movement, which is identified with experimental, minimalist, drone, and electronic music. Jóhann is best known for his film music, primarily for his Oscar-nominated, Golden Globe-winning score for James Marsh’s The Theory of Everything — […]

In a previous post I had mentioned that I had yet to watch Alejandro Inarritu’s, 21 Grams. I did, but made it a 1/4 of the way through. It’s well done and well acted, but I just can’t take prolonged sorrow in movies these days. […]

When you have kids (mine is 16 months) you really don’t go see movies anymore. My wife and I watch plenty of them — it’s just going to the cinema is nearly impossible. Even still, I’m jerry-rigging my busy teaching schedule to see Captain Fantastic this week. Captain […]

As I listen back to this performance of Radiohead’s True Love Waits, it flows just as easily — as when I first transcribed it. This arrangement took about 20 minutes for me to put together, and it was definitely a “flow state” experience: Flow is […]

To me, each of Jeff Nichols’ four movies exemplify perfectly crafted storytelling. I think of Nichols’ films with the same fondness as M. Night Shyamalan’s first few films. Out of the gates, M. Night, wrote and directed: The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs. All phenomenal […]

Often, what I try to do, is distill a song down to its core elements — then create a guitar arrangement from that. I began this blog in 2011 doing note for note arrangements —  but I soon realized nothing sounds as good (to me) […]

The White Whale Chant, by composer Roque Banos, is from Ron Howard’s In the Heart of the Sea. This song is very reminiscent of something composer Hans Zimmer would do. Zimmer has previously worked with Ron Howard on Rush and you can find my theme […]

*Spoiler Alert* If you’re not caught up on The Walking Dead episode 607 entitled Heads Up, you may not want to read below. I’m not sure what the statute of limitations is on spoilers, but if you’re reading this, chances are you’ve heard this music, […]

“Sometimes I find that music is so much more attractive than love. I don’t know… It’s like some kind of euphoria, that love can’t bring to you.” ― Florence Welch I remember in the late 90’s when ceremonial women artists dominated “alternative” music. By ceremonial, […]

Beyond her music and performance art, what impresses me most about Lykke Li is that she is seems to be the proverbial free spirit. My personality is much like my guitar playing: very precise. I’m comforted by organization. [However, my wife and I just had […]