New Music Video - Asher Arfeen's "Diya"

Film collaborator and friend, Aleksey Siman and I took on the task of making Urdu language singing, Pakastani-American, artist, Asher Arfeen's new music video for his original song titled, Diya. Aleksey and I have worked together many times in the past so our collaboration with him as director and me as cinematographer was natural. It was an interesting challenge making a foreign language video while still making the song's lyrics relevant. In the end, it boils down to the visuals complementing the music. Despite the language being foreign to some (English only speakers), I still feel that the essential message of the song is expressed through the imagery.

Orange Juice has a "Heart Well Fed"

New music from Orange Juice brings about a refreshing feel just as the fruit the band is named after. "Heart Well Fed," the third indie release from the Naples, Florida natives exhibits growth with a more unified sound than their previous works. The band seems to be sticking to their laid back sound with the smooth chords, slow rhythmic bass lines and steady drum patterns. The lead singer/bassist/guitarist, Hunter Robinson seems to pour his soul into songs like "Yellow Eyes," "Hello Good Feeling," and "She's The One" among others. As in their previous works, Kyle Roeser and Alex Casement's vocal interjections all seem to unify the band's sound with songs like "Turn The Page pt.1" and Turn The Page pt. 2 (a metaphorically pleasant separation of one song over two tracks) and "Whatever Happened To The Blues."

The band mixes a variety of genres and styles from folk, blues, alternative and hard rock, a bit of surprise with the track, "Hometown," while essentially keeping true to their sound and feel. The album is mainly a "feel good" one, reverberating with tracks such as "Sunrise," "Smile Twice Daily," "Champagne," and the comedic "Superman." The lyrics seem to manifest life's ups and downs but with an optimistic outlook. The songs are often self-reflective and meditating, "Stay Relaxed" is such a case, where Alex Casement's guitar riffs and solo create a hypnotic medley. The band's love for jamming and having a good time is heard in "Funktastic" and "Second Hand Smoke."

Orange Juice is a band in progression. They don't seem to be static or complacent with their sound rather they're evolving without disregarding their musical roots. This new album is a wonderful ride the whole way through without the need to skip around even though some tracks just ask for a repeat. The great thing about this album is that it seems to have leaped to a new level of complexity and harmony, making it hard to let go. Indeed your heart will be well fed with this album.

Photographs!

It seems that the only time I have now for personal projects is mainly in still photography. I've been posting new photographs on my website, facebook and flickr.