marimbas + minimalism in a field

punch brothers at town hall

eggboy

iron and wine at ravinia

2012 was themes on a variation of not being in school: exploring what happens when monday and thursday mornings aren't devoted to symphonies, when i don't have excerpts to shed, when genres can collide and people can pee on stage. it was fantastic and eye-opening and i can safely say that despite a popular belief among the percussion studio during my last year of school when i spent more time eating burgers than playing cymbals, i won't be quitting music any time soon. the following list includes just a few of the musical experiences that demanded my love this year.

playing six marimbas in a connecticut field: full on strawberry rhubarb pie, sore from the morning's game of racquet ball, and slightly drunk on the groomsmen's absinthe, five of my favorite friends and i played six marimbas for the hippie wedding of someone else's dreams.

lost in the trees: on some sort of freak accident {i had nary heard of this band}, i checked out their album a church that fits our needs from the library over the summer right before i left for europe. it stayed on repeat, through trains and planes, from berlin to amsterdam and back again, and it never lost its ability to make me bop my head or be calm.

dog days: the internet can tell you what it was like to experience the full production. but being able to play those vibe parts and release all kinds of stress during the 11-minute bass drum roll at the end was something i want to do again and again.

mason bates + cso in mercury soul: raging and dancing to mixed meters and cat calling my dad, the so now alternative to the usual dad concerts of sitting quietly and watching a symphony.

feist at radio city: when, with every fiber of my being, i danced out all of the crazies from my life. and then ran up on stage to hug maria and kyky and didn't even get captured by security.

harmonielehre in a london parking garage: we've all seen a better harmonielehre {right? right?}, but we saw it in a parking garage with a beer and it was one of those things you wouldn't have ever thought of to do, but you're happy that someone else did.

roomful of teeth: it's just so new and exciting and futuristic, like, 2014, like people can do that with their mouths and diaphragms? stfu. i love dancing to roomful of teeth in a roomful of candlelight with no one to judge me but myself.

punch brothers at town hall: the best date i ever asked myself on.

iron and wine at ravinia: perfect summer songs with a perfect summer picnic and perfectly wonderful friends.

san fermin: i'm not biased because bandleader ellis asked me to play glockenspiel with him. you guys, san fermin has so many amazing sounds. in a few weeks, the first cd will be released, and it is so fantastically beautifully fresh. it gives me so much excitement to even play like five glockenspiel notes with them.

gabriel kahane: i'm not biased because we have a shared interest in dumplings and, i don't know, twitter. how i love his songs and the stories they tell, the sound world makes me so happy and nostalgic for things i've never experienced. his album where are the arms definitely holds a space on the soundtrack for the chapter of my life titled "molly moves to brooklyn."

wolfgang rihm's dionysus: my first berlin opera experiences were like eating at roberta's after a decade's worth of jean-georges. different, younger, grittier, but equally as awesome, if not awesomer, than some of the monstrous american productions i'd been used to prior to this year. dionysus had this soprano that sang the highest notes i ever done heard and they were so great.

at the ballet: i saw two ballets this year that had obliteratingly beautiful music: in year of the rabbit, it was sufjan's "year of our lord," and in two hearts, it was nico's breathtaking score. in my next life, i would like to be a justin peck.

eggboy: when i was a wee one, i used to dream of dating a hunky guitar-playing man who wrote songs about me but then i gave up on that dream when i decided that all of those types are douchebags but then i retracted that belief when i met eggboy and now he writes songs about me and i cry and they're my favorite songs ever and i'm not just saying that because they're about me and our bike rides but because sometimes i hear a lyric or a melody and i can't believe that they came from this boy that i get to date {!!!!}.

playlist: for a little sampling of some of my 2012 favorites, or at least of those that were available on spotify, here is a little playlist.