Archive for the ‘Music’ Category
Apologies for the delayed post. Things have been quite busy lately for me. Who knew applying for grad school and trying to start a band would be so time consuming?!
I went to NYC to see Hot Chip with one of my very good friends, Miss Wolf. You can see pics of our trip here and here. We ate and drank our way around Manhattan. A sesame bagel with veggie tofu cream cheese and a giant iced coffee is the breakfast of champions. We made a trip to Jonathan Levine Gallery, as per my employer’s suggestion. I especially enjoyed the Date Farmers‘ exhibition, Smother Your Mother.
I met up with SakiWaki, the driving force of IHeartCoolStuff.com and we spent some quality time together waiting in line to get sketches from Alex Pardee and Dave Correia who are touring around the USA on the Sketch4Sketch tour. It’s simple – if you sketch them something, they’ll give you a couple of sketches in return. My sketch was a poor looking representation of a shirt I designed for Makeshift but they humored me, saying it was quite lovely and then they drew a couple of crazy looking narwhals in return.
Next Post (tomorrow I promise): Boston and Local Natives. Yum Yum.
Hey kids.
I’ve been in a music frenzy lately. Although how long does the word “lately” denote? Perhaps it would be more accurate to use “most of my life” instead of “lately.”
Here are some bands you should check out:
I saw these guys live in Chapel Hill not too long ago and it was brilliant. The lead singer is super theatrical in his movements and crowd interaction and I love it. Plus, his voice is what I imagine an energetic pit bull who drank a lot of whiskey would sound like. They’re about to start a tour in May!
I saw these guys play with The White Rabbits at The Local 506 in Chapel Hill (my new Whammy Bar - my new Great Scott). I hung out with them while they were in town before they embarked on a further tour of the USA. They are quite talented and singer Wes has a ridiculously impressive knowledge of music. If you see them, offer them some tea, but make sure it’s proper tea and you don’t just serve them a tea bag in a tea pot. They might get upset with you.
I just saw this band play last night and really dug it. They’ve been getting some well deserved plays on Sirius XMU, which is where I first heard them. Initially they reminded me of Against Me. After going along to their show, I’ve decided that the singer is like a more rockin’ Conor Oberst with the looks of a more bearded Daniel Faraday. Whatdya think? They’re touring now, so check ‘em out!
Now for something a little more poppy hipster accessible:
I like their song “Bang Pop” which you can listen to on their myspace. Not sure if I am totally digging this one, but I’ll let you all have a listen and see what you think. They’re on tour in the USA at the moment. I haven’t seen them live yet but will let you know when I do!
T.S.
I met Tourettes back in Auckland, New Zealand when I was the event coordinator for Makeshift Art Collective. His music is organically poetic, thoughtfully honest and downright catchy. He sent me through the video for his latest single, Miss You feat. Caoimhe (she has an awesome Gaelic name!). Watch this video and then go buy his latest album!
You can also check out the interview I did with Tourettes for The Big Idea.
The other day, on a mission to find my mom the perfect birthday gift, I went into one of my favorite shops in Carrboro, Nested. While there, I recognized some art by 64 colors on an awesome shopping bag.
The company that makes them is Blue Q and they have a wide and varied range of products. Some I really dig and others… not so much. I picked up a tote bag and a water bottle. The water bottle is BPA free and is stainless steel and decorated with lead-free inks! Huzzah, what a find! It’s also pretty awesome that their bags are made from 95% recycled woven polypropylene aaaand that 1% of the sale of their bags and water bottles go to support the work of The Nature Conservancy.
I ended up buying my mom a lovely dish towel, which was hand-woven in India and screenprinted with water-based, non-toxic inks. Lovin’ it. Good job, Blue Q.
NOW FOR SOME AMAZING MUSIC. If you can go to a live show of King Khan and the Shrines, do it.
I was very pleasantly surprised when I found out that both The Ruby Suns and Lawrence Arabia were touring through the States and stopping in my neck of the woods. New Zealand bands have a special place in my heart. When I went to NZ for the first time, back in 2005, I instantly fell in love with the music scene. People there have a very DIY, go get ‘em type of attitude. Music seems to flow organically and a lot of the musicians are friends, intermingling in bands and lending their talents here and there. It’s a beautiful thing.
Go buy The Ruby Suns’ new album, Fight Softly and check to see if they’re playing somewhere near you.
And then see if Lawrence Arabia is coming round to you as well. And buy Chant Darling while you’re at it.
First we had this from Letter Pressed:
And these for goodies bags at Rotofugi:
So now we have this:
Toasted by Rotofugi and Squibbles Ink in Chicago… no two are alike! Gotta love 64 colors.
Misery is an artist from NZ. I just noticed that she has some stickers in at Rivet Gallery in Ohio! nice one.
This photo was taken from thisisrabbit’s flickr account. By the way, you should check out thisisrabbit. He’s just put out a book of his work.
The XX are on tour. This band makes me feel sexcellent. FACT.
Have you gotten your tickets yet? Hurry up because they are sold out in a lot of places!
Sleigh Bells with ”Ring Ring”
Broken Bells with “The High Road” (sound familiar? The Shins. Danger Mouse.)
Awesome prints:
Awesome Japan:
Awesome Cover:
Awesome Potential:
First, here’s some music to titillate your aural sense on a day in February:
Today is Valentine’s Day in the USA! My goodness. Perhaps you would like to make some crocheted amigurumi style hearts to celebrate. I found these on Instructables.com, one of my favorite websites for DIY projects. And make sure to have your fill of tasty treats today.
I’m going to be assembling a heart decoration for my front door out of sticks and copper wire later today… so I’ll have some photos of my endeavors.
Happy Day!