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01/02/10 Kitty Cat Klub, Minneapolis
01/08/10 Club Jager, Minneapolis
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Dear Minnesota,
I’ve been a little busy performing Christmas miracles, lunching with the Obamas, and bestowing bad karma. But I wanted to send you a quick note to say I’m sorry. Sorry for the snow. If it makes you feel better, I was aiming for Wisconsin.
Love,
GOD.
Cold, sad Midwest, warm
your hearts this season with a music video.
Inspired by the misery of being on weather lock-down, our friends in
UltraChorus spent the holidays shooting a video for “Margins” (from the
recently released Ultra-Def). The finished product is both wistful and
mildly unsettling (the shaky camera, bright lights, creepy slow walking, and
2:24 – 2:30 reminds me of a dream I once had wherein the unassuming drifter killed me in the end). Check it out!
Also, Minneapolitans, mark your calendars: UltraChorus is playing at the Kitty Cat Klub
this Saturday, Jan. 2nd (2010!).
Visit their Myspace or website for more information.
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12/29/2009 00:51:52 ♥ lara (
/lara206.vox.com)
♥
ultrachorus.com ♥ myspace.com/ultrachorus Horray, we got a lovely dusting of snow! We actually got more than the day they were predicting a Nor'easter. It's a nice treat because I adore December and I miss it when it's gone. I have whole new ways to celebrate the winter now. I'm thinking about buying some snowshoes. I usually just use my heavy winter boots for the snow.
J got me a Panasonic camera, it's super lightweight and takes lovely photos. Almost everyone at the family gathering was trying to fight clutter - so most of the presents were pure necessity. Gloves. Winter boots and blankets. Datebooks. A few packages of hot chocolate and spices.
The one luxury item was books. Sweet cookbooks, fiction, bird books and art museums. Ah, I love books!! They're borderline necessity, in my mind - but I bought many new books - not good for the forests. I should be using the library or our used book store more often. I won't bore anyone with Resolutions (yet) but in past years I've focused on replacing plastic and meat, and wasteful packaging. This year I must focus on my passion: preserving habitat. Deforestation and cropland will be my focus.
I have the feeling that in the year 2010, we're going to see more Greenwashing than ever before. Businesses and product makers are getting saavy about how they present themselves. They are following the science and keeping up with terms that will impress the public.
Eco-friendly is not just a trend these days, it's a real concern that people have. I'm convinced that commercials will bombard us more than ever with messages that are designed to conceal and confuse. This drives me batty and I hope to debunk these dirty tricks and write (in a fun way) about the truth. So we can all benefit.
And hopefully, I'm going to keep this year light and cheerful, and rustic as well. :D
Civil penguins and elusive Nobbles
Boston Globe Book Reviews By Peter Neumeyer
Entire fictional universes, made to scale and complete in every detail, have been created by daring writers such as Jonathan Swift (“Gulliver’s Travels’’) and Jean de Brunhoff (“The Story of Babar’’). Daniel Schallau’s Icetown in “Come Back Soon’’ warrants inclusion in any listing of great literary landscapes.
Icetown, inhabited solely by penguins, is an architectural fantasy, splendid with a new ice hotel, designed by Elephant, who gets invited back to celebrate his creation.
Amid the festivities, the giant snowball Elephant is riding goes haywire and smashes into the hotel. With the help of all the penguins, matters are soon set aright. Readers will be left with a deep affection for the penguins, who treat each other with unfailing courtesy and rationality, offering us a model for behavior that encourages both civility and thriving commerce. The entire tale intriguingly takes place on two levels: the detailed primary illustrations, which then are platonically repeated in a shadow play against the icy landscape and the wintry sky.
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01/22/10
O2 Shepherds Bush Empire London
Discography
01/24/10 Tivoli Utrecht 01/25/10 Luxor Koln 01/26/10 Knust Hamburg 01/28/10 Nalen Stockholm 01/29/10 Parkteatret Oslo 02/01/10 Lido Berlin 02/02/10 Atomic Cafe Munich 02/03/10 Tunnel Milan 02/05/10 Divan Du Monde Paris 02/06/10 Trix Antwerp 02/08/10 Academy 3 Manchester 02/09/10 King Tuts Glasgow
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brettanderson.co.uk ♥ myspace.com
Those who follows our W♥M Podcast, you'll know that between Sally, Kristen, and I, that we really, really love our Britpop music. When Suede burst on the scene, with all their hype*, I was a bit, what's the word? Resistant.
I eventually got over it when I heard Metal Mickey, a nice rock n roll glammy track with aggressive Butler guitars and Anderson's unique voice. The songwriting duo of Anderson/Butler did not last for long, and Butler's replacement, Richard Oakes, seems only a pale copy of the original. I think everyone knew that, and eventually, Bernard Butler and Brett Anderson got over their differences and re-united - but not as Suede... they were then The Tears. I think everyone was confused on how to interpret it at first (personally I think it's like tears/crying, not ripped/tear).
The Tears didn't live for very long, and by 2007, Brett Anderson releases his inevitable solo self-titled album. I never bought his solo stuff, because I don't think his music post-Suede's Head Music** were ever re-release or re-marketed to the US audience, so the few promo downloads that he's made available for free, I wasn't so impressed with. I remember thinking his debut solo album was trying to be orchestral (based on what I've heard).
Imagine my surprise when I got a chance to listen to a few tracks from his latest album, Slow Attack, officially via We7.com. It was all very operatic, almost minimalistic in its approach of piano and percussions. I did like that it brings out Anderson's voice loud and clear, but it generally made all of his music to be on the sadder end of the scale.
While I think one or two slow songs would be OK for a full length, all of the tracks I sampled were in that very similar tone. Kind of ballady and depressing. I kind of miss the old Suede stuff. The only redeeming value is that at least, his voice isn't altered/over-produced as with Suede's Head Music and Coming Up.
I suppose, Anderson's much older now, wow you can see his cheek bones sticking out of his face... such a difference of imagery, from a time when mean-spirited fans were calling him "fatty" (we all kind of knew it was the getting off the drugs that was causing the weight thing... allegedly).
Anyway, if you were looking for the glory rock days, don't bother looking into Slow Attack. If you're a hardcore fan, chances are you probably own the limited edition anyway. The album will probably not be released in the US, as were all his previous releases. Import costs are generally cheaper these days, but expect to pay about $20 for an import album (Amazon is listing $19).
Brett Anderson is touring in 2010, so if you live in the UK, you can relive your youth days. If he were touring the US, I might leave my hibernation to see him. As you know, I've met the band before at a special "after-party", I'm sure he'll have no idea who I am.
* "Best Band in Britain" before releasing their album? Really, Melody Maker, really??)
** Suede's last album, A New Morning was never released in the US.
TRUE NATURE
truenatureband.com ♥ myspace.com
As you know, I also run a website on artist George Perez, and it's rare when my music and comic website mix. How does True Nature and George Perez cross paths, you ask? The cover artwork for True Nature's EP, Feels Like Centuries, stars actress/model Tonya Kay (with some artwork and directions from Glen Wexler).
Perez, through his associations with Fetish Con, have actually drawn Tonya Kay as a print, for Fetish Con's "Who's the Best Bondage Super Heroine?" contest. The original artwork was auctioned off for charity.
CREATURE (Tonya Kay) (2008), art by George PérezSo, there's the connection. As for True Nature's EP, Feels Like Centuries, based on the cover artwork, it looks like they're also marketing themselves as somewhat of a spiritual rock band. I reckon if you like classic American progressive-type rock, you might enjoy this EP. Despite having only five tracks, the EP is "centuries" long (so long that it felt like a chore to get through). It's not that I dislike singer/songwriter, Lou Barlow's vocals, it's just really not the type of music I enjoy.
Their best track is the opening song, "Truth I Have To Steel (Simple Heart)", which started off strong and remain steadily so throughout the song. You can sample the entire track on their official website.
You can pick up Feels Like Centuries at CD Baby or Amazon. Although, not really my thing, I'm glad that there was at least a common connection for me.
12/26/2009 19:48:38 ♥ vu (
) ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
Hey everyone! I hope you all had an amazing Holiday!! :)
For the New Year, I just thought I'd post links to 3 of my favorite charites. I'll go into more detail on each one later, but for now check out their websites. All are real players working for our planet.
The New England Wildflower Society
See you in 2010!
We had a really nice Winter Solstice. My brother and nephew are visiting from Virginia, and my Mom, Dad and sister came down for the day as well. We had a mellow time hanging out and visiting, while I made chili and corn bread for dinner. I also made our traditional Midwinter Gingerbread for dessert which was a big hit. YUM.
The Peeps and I did our usual thing as well... brought it bunches of greens and holly to decorate and built a solstice cave. This year because of the two feet of snow that got dumped on us, we built it out of snow instead of a cairn of rocks. It looked sooooo pretty glistening in the snow all night! The picture I took of it is from our video camera so I'll add that later. In the meantime, here's a picture of what's left of the Midwinter Gingerbread... I should have snapped a shot BEFORE everyone got to it. It looked so purty! LOL
And here's a random shot of the centerpiece I created with evergreen branches and holly:
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elizabethandthecatapult.com ♥ myspace.com
The last time we mentioned Elizabeth and the Catapult, the song "Race You", went straight to the top ten on The Hype Machine. And it's easy to see why, the song is such a fun and cute pop song.
This Christmas song, "Christmas with the Jews", is also fun and cute (and not to mention quite short). But what you're thinking when you're listening to this song, is "er, aren't you forgetting Hanukkah?"
Maybe you can ask them if you see them live:
- 01/28/10 The Barn Clinton, New York
02/05/10 World Cafe Live Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
02/06/10 8x10 Baltimore, Maryland
myspace.com ♥ twitter.com
Maybe there was a problem with my download, but the MP3 track is 4:56, where the last 30 seconds of the song is complete and utterly garbage... it sounds like it was encoded in error and not part of the song. I've edited out the crap part for you.
The tour information they sent me is as follows:
- January 2010.
Fri 8 USA New York Terminal 5 w/Passion Pit.
Sat 9 USA New York Terminal 5 w/Passion Pit.
Mon 11 USA New York Union Hall.
Tue 12 USA New York Pianos.
February 2010.
Sun 21 Norway Oslo John Dee w/The Temper Trap.
Mon 22 Denmark Copenhagen Vega w/The Temper Trap.
Tue 23 Denmark Copenhagen Vega w/The Temper Trap.
Wed 24 Sweden Stockholm Debaser Slussen w/The Temper Trap.
Fri 26 Germany Hamburg Molotow w/The Temper Trap.
Sat 27 Germany Berlin Postbahnhof w/The Temper Trap.
Sun 28 Germany Cologne Gloria w/The Temper Trap.
March 2010.
Tue 2 Germany Munich Atomic Café w/The Temper Trap.
Wed 3 Germany Frankfurt Nachtelben w/ The Temper Trap.
themanchesterorchestra.com ♥ myspace.com
My favorite track is "One Hundred Dollar", you can simply hear the anger as singer Andy Hull asks to borrow $100. While the song is short and doesn't offer much explanation, you, as the audience makes up your own background to the song. Anyway, the song is from their latest album, Mean Everything to Nothing, they'll probably be playing loads of their new songs on tour:
- 01/29/10
Salt Palace Convention Center^ Salt Lake City, Utah
01/30/10 The Fillmore^ Denver, Colorado
01/31/10 The Black Sheep* Colorado Springs, Colorado
02/02/10 The Marquee* Tulsa, Oklahoma
02/03/10 Juanita’s Cantina Ballroom* Little Rock, Arkansas
02/04/10 New Daisy Theatre* Memphis, Tennessee
^ with Brand New
* with Harrison Hudson
siamusic.net ♥ myspace.com
Finally, we have Sia. This actually has nothing to do with Christmas, unless you count getting a new music video as a holiday gift. But just talking about the video for "You've Changed" isn't enough to warrant its own article, so I thought I might as well stuck her here.
Sia has always seem to me to be this child trapped in a grown-up's body. The latest video is wonderful, it features this weird stop-motion, "dress up" video-gamey feel to it. I don't know who's idea it was, I'll bet it's a combination of Sia's child-mind and director Dennis Liu of @radical.media, but it came together pretty great.
Be sure to watch the high-resolution video of it (you'll need it to read the song lyrics scrolling at the bottom).
12/23/2009 04:58:16 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
A very happy Winter Solstice to all my friends on Vox!!
I'm looking forward to a year filled with new books and travel. I'm also looking forward to unexpected things. I think this year will bring something new. Maybe fruits from some faraway place. Maybe I'll make an art film or study some unusual mammal with an umber and scarlet coat.
I hope you all discover novel things too, and have a great Holiday with your loved ones! May our planet be blessed as well.
Cheers!
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