An Empty Nest Still Leaves A Space

Au Revoir Simone - Stay Golden

Scattered

I've not been very productive today at all beyond the minimum.  Instead I've turned my brain towards future projects, making mixes and internet surfing. Here are a few things that caught my eye today.

Adorable vintage dresses from the even more adorable ladies at Neklo.

Gorgeous photos and gorgeous boys, as always, on Hedi Slimane's blog, the designer for Alison Mosshart's fantastic gold boots.

Repetto ballet flats.

Honey Is Cool

I've fallen down a Karin Dreijer Andersson hole again.  This remix of Honey is Cool's Then He Kissed Me by Berlin's I Heart Sharks is epic and relentless.  The Scandinavians somehow capture saudade like no other for me.

Most needed for any escapist heart. 



Ps.  I finally started a new journal this week.  Thump thump thump. It helps me breathe and quiets the animals in their cages.

Irina Ionesco

No words only covetous and dreamy feelings.

Dressed in Black Rain

Rainy Monday. Black clouds, black clothes.

Rut

I'm in a music rut. These three songs have been on repeat for days with small interventionist attempts made by the appearance of old standbys and new charms.  I've even tried classical [to which I rarely listen] to try and shake the addiction.  Here it is already Sunday and still I wake up with their pervasive melodies stuck in my head and listening to anything else would just be lip service.  Like my new favorite pair of corduroys I can't stop wearing, it's only a matter of time before they'll stink and need a wash but until then...

Catbirds

Catbirds, to me, is a bit of a double entendre.  In my neck of the woods, Catbirds is a dingy, dirty watering hole filled with even dingier and dirtier patrons.  A place in which many inebriated nights began innocently enough.  Resolutions to have just one cocktail, I had such good intentions.  Only to find myself drunk as as skunk in a decrepit hole in the wall after hours establishment mumbling esoteric nonsense to anyone in the nearby vicinity.

The new Catbird in my life has me absolutely inspired and drooling over these and so many more gorgeous curios.  The times they are a changing my friends.

1. Yayoi Forest Lace ring  2. Elizabeth Knight Mink Jaw necklace 3. Flotsam & Jetsam Seahorse ring  

4. Digby and Iona Lost Love necklace 5. Digby and Iona gunmetal ring 

6. Elizabeth Knight skeletal frog brooch 

 7. Elizabeth Knight Tree Bark necklace 8. Stephanie Simek Quail Egg necklace

Happy Road to Nowhere

Today marks Crank The Shiny Tune's first birthday!  I've met some really beautiful and interesting people because of this blog and just wanted to say thank you for the comments and lovely messages throughout the year and also for sharing your creative lives with me. You never really know where you'll end up and even if it doesn't seem like it sometimes, no effort really goes unrewarded.

This little cover by Coolrunnings made it into the blogosphere over the summer and as I'm a sucker for the original, I've even been told my car dance resembles the video's rocking moves, which of course makes me the nerd who "dances" jauntily in cars, I thought you might like it too.

Coolrunnings has some fun covers and other stuff out there via soundcloud and other sites.  Happy hunting and thank you!

Coolrunnings - Road to Nowhere [Talking Heads cover]

We're on a road to nowhere
Come on inside
Taking that ride to nowhere
We'll take that ride

I'm feeling okay this morning
And you know,
We're on the road to paradise
Here we go, here we go

There's a city in my mind
Come along and take that ride
and it's all right, baby, it's all right

And it's very far away
But it's growing day by day
And it's all right, baby, it's all right

Amanda Palmer and the Young Punx

I love Amanda Palmer and now she and Michael Pope have taken another step further into hilarity.  The woman is nothing if not bold [for proof just follow her twitter].  Nothing like a naughty crass song about your "map of Tasmania" to chase rainy day ewws away. Her album Amanda Palmer Goes Under is due out 1/21.  Brace yourselves, she doesn't hold back.



Soft and sweet and shaped like a triangle.
Some girls want no shape and they shave it off.
That's so wack, it hurts with the stubble.
walking around look like an eight year old [?]
I say grow that shit like a jungle
Give them something strong to hold onto
Let if fly in the open wind
If you get too bushy you can trim.


Also, stream The Dresden Dolls first album A Is For Accident from their bandcamp. Features collected live recordings from 2001-2003; gems peppered with perfect spontaneity.

RIP Trish Keenan

So sad.  Her voice is so haunting and beautiful.

Fan video by Karl Taul.

Ce Jeu

Yelle - Ce Jeu from Yoann Lemoine on Vimeo.

Frenchy striped pop - total cutebuster.

Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will...

is the awesome title of Mogwai's upcoming latest album.  Due out 2/14 in Europe, Sub Pop will release it stateside 2/15. 

Can't Wait.

Mexican Grand Prix


Death Rays [this one is destined to become a favorite]



You can stream more from this cat's Youtube.

Let's Screw

Let's Screw coasters by Black Dog Press via The Daily Smudge.

The Letter

A letter two years in the making has finally been written and sent.  Now to play the waiting game.

 

All that I've lost
Is bound to pass
Dying to know
Too afraid to ask
She wrote the letter

Go wash your heart in the river till the water runs clear.

Truls Espedal

Smitten, touched and inspired by the mood and content of these paintings. See more here.

Tous Les Temps

Recently, I've finally begun to unpack a mountain of boxes left in a corner to gather dust and talk amongst themselves. Amazing the treasures we forget we have. One of the best bits of unpacking is reliving forgotten moments as a vast array of photos and mixes given to me by friends and unrequited lovers are unearthed. With all the new music I've hunted in the last few weeks, it's been a bit of a relief, like coming home, to listen and remember forgotten faces and moments. Bear with me in the next few days as I churn out stories and nostalgic tunes. Happy weekend everybody!



I set my course sailed away from shore
Steady steady as she goes
I crash in the night two worlds collide
But when two worlds collide no one survives

My biggest fear is if I let you go
You'll come and get me in my sleep.

Queries

One thing I'd like to do this year is stay on top of my internetting and as usual I'm behind answering questions, so here is a recap of some that I've recently answered from my formspring. A lot of these were a lot of fun to answer, thank you very much.

What do you think of love at first sight? 

It's a beautiful, passionate collide of planets, sex and emotion. It's shame it doesn't usually last but it doesn't lessen the experience one bit. It really is the most delicious feeling, the first time you lock eyes with someone and you just know, in the pit of your belly [and nether regions] it will be a good time. Not to quote Interpol or anything. If you're in the throes of the experience, don't think... just go with it. It's a rare thing and not something to be dismissed lightly. If it lasts one night, one month or a year, it's worth it.  Now I have to jump off of my lovebox and take a cold shower.

Do you like to travel?
I love to travel! Road trips are my favorite... I like to fly but I also like to smoke my cigarettes.  [Don't smoke kiddies, it's a bad bad disgusting habit.  Cigarettes are not your friends and will not make you look cool.]

I read your favorites and your music taste is great!  I like all of those artists and all of that music (what i know) is so beautiful...since I like your music taste I'll ask you a music related questions.  What artists have you seen in concert?

Oh gosh, thanks so much for the lovely compliment! I think my music taste is pretty tame and mundane and I know so many people with "cooler" music than my own, that this really means a lot.

I've seen a lot of bands but not as many as I would like. I try to go to concerts as much as I can afford so there's quite a few.  I'll just list some of my favorites and most memorable. First of all I got to see Bjork twice in 2008 and that was pretty much the most awesome thing for this Bjork Dork.  Radiohead's tour for In  Rainbows was beyond beautiful and also this last year I got to see Mono for the 2nd time and that show blew me out of the water. Their music is practically transcendental. The first concert though that I ever went to was DC Talk. Yep, the Christian band.. but that's a tale for another time. My next favorite concerts were The Magnetic Fields, Interpol, The Epoxies, Echo & the Bunnymen, Deerhoof, The Cure and Crystal Stilts.

[Edit: I also forgot A Place To Bury Strangers and The Big Pink. I'm pretty sure there are a few more and tonight while I'm laying in bed I'll probably have a few doh moments.]

Cats or dogs?
Cats for rugs, dogs for hugs.

If you could only listen to one song for the next month, what would it be?
Tonstartssbandht's Black Country or The Big Pink's Velvet.



Who's the most over-rated actor?
Keira Knightley, Tom Cruise or Angelina Jolie.

What is your favorite book/movie?
Like music, this question is difficult to answer too.

Movies: Steel Magnolias is a very old school favorite as is Legend. I also really like Love Me If You Dare, The Idiots, Sex & Lucia and The Family Stone.

Books: I read an awful lot [though lately not as much as I would like]. I can read and re-read anything by Haruki Murakami, Rosamunde Pilcher [yes I'm an old lady in the body of a younger one], Francesca Lia Block, Amanda Davis and Aimee Bender. I loved Ali Shaw's The Girl With Glass Feet and Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. Recently, I read and though confused by the tone of the book, enjoyed Lev Grossman's The Magicians.

What do you mean when you say you want a sven to take care of everything?
Haha, I forgot about that. It's taken from a commercial and basically means it would be awesome if magically there was a person [in the commercial that person is a very tall, very blond strapping Scandinavian named Sven] that could follow me around updating the weather and reminding me where I put my keys since I'm totally distracted and when I have to be tasky I get super cranky and who wants to be around crankpuss??

Here's the commercial link:



Thank you so much for asking questions, now start your own formspring so I can return the favor!

Curious?  Ask me anything.

Lift Me Up

Tonight me and my good friend are having a craft night and it couldn't have come at a better time.



These times can bring me down
But you lift me up

Scandinavia is hitting the pop ball out of the park lately. French Films' Golden Sea EP is fantastic by the way... Here's the title song.

Whispers

Good morning humanoids. 



You feel what I want to feel.
I say what you want to say.
(You are the mirror in my life)

Rotting Peach

The camera took a picture every 15 minutes for 3 weeks.  Enjoy with my compliments Ms. Dinsmoor.

I Need Fresh Blood

Watch yourself little snarky lamb.  Predatory vampires, wolves and unpredictable wild things lurk around every corner.  Tiptoe carefully.



I'm so tired of the same old crud
Sweet baby, I need fresh blood
Howl