She & Him’s Volume One
She & Him are actress and closet singer-songwriter, Zooey Deschanel (Almost Famous, The Good Girl, The Assassination of Jesse James), and juggernaut producer, one-man band and folk troubadour, M.Ward. With help from Portland-based indie music comrades such as Rachel Blumberg from The Decemberists coming together to create 60s inspired indie-pop of the country varietal, the duo evoke the spirit of the Carter family, Chet Baker and Linda Ronstadt to create an uneven number of charming tribute pop songs far beyond their years. If you dig AM classics, this baby was born for you.
Tagged: pop music, Portland, Portland bands
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Portland-based Million Brazillians dole out some dark but groovy psych punk rife with rockabilly and free-jazz flourishes and tribal rhythms.
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Verbs, the second album from Portland band AU (pronounced ‘ay you’), is surprising, and excitingly ahead of its time. Moving through 20-person chorus cries, subtle lullabies, whispered melodies, and screeching and scratched guitars, you never know where the journey will end. Psche-folk, freak-folk, electro-folk-noise, or whatever you want to call it, AU’s genre sprawling music paves the way for a wider breadth of experimentation in folk-inspired electronic production. We interviewed the group’s front man and founder, multi-instrumentalist Lyke Wyland. Read more
Zia McCabe: ‘My Secret Playlist’
Each week, we invite our favourite bands and musicians to give us the rundown on their eight favourite songs or albums right now. This is their words on the music that inspires them. This week it’s Zia McCabe from The Dandy Warhols who personifies everything The Dandy Warhols stand for: sassy, cooly detached, and dripping in attitude. The keyboardist adds a lush sonic wash to the Dandy’s inherent popism, and keeps the lads in check as they wind their way through the stadiums of the world. Well, kinda. To be a fly on the wall on their tour bus! Some folk have all the fun. Read more
Also by MONIQUE ROTHSTEIN
We checked in with Sydney-based songwriter Fergus Brown to get the inside story on his wonderfully quirky and catchy pop song, Nerds In Love [below]: ‘It was was a fun song write. Some songs can be tortuous, but this was an imagined, tongue-in-cheek vignette of my life spent together with a certain girl I’d seen around. That’s all it was. At least, until a friend of mine blurted to this girl that I’d written a song about her. And he gave her a copy. We’re friends now. She’s a very talented, and successful, visual artist. She was flattered. Recently, I heard that another person thinks it was written about them. I’m looking forward to that awkward conversation sometime in the future’. Fergus Brown has just been announced as the support for American singer-songwriter, Martha Wainwright on all eleven shows of her Australian tour.
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Sonic alchemy, lyrical mastery and melodies to melt even the coldest winter heart, anyone? I introduce you to my new favourite indie darlings: The All New Adventures of Us (alternatively nicknamed TANOU). With their offbeat blend of indie pop, this seven piece British outfit evoke elements of their most talented contemporaries such as Belle & Sebastian, Connor Oberst, Sigur Ros, Ben Folds, and even the fragile vocal sensibility of Elliot Smith. Read more
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Pleasingly simple and to the point, the illustrations of Baltimore illustrator Kelly Lasserre are a quirky grab-bag of fleeting thoughts and charming vignettes. It almost feels like the coolest journal you’ve found yourself privy to. Read more
When fashion illustration meets watercolor mastering you know this is going to be a great romance. UK based fashion illustrator Cate Parr takes a plunge into the shallow waters of fashion imagery using this delicate, dreamy and ever-flowing watercolor technique and creating visuals that really carve their way into your memory. Read more
Set in a remote Chinese village in the 1920s during a cholera outbreak and with a revolution bubbling in the background, The Painted Veil is a wonderfully tortured love story which excels on all levels. Based on the W Somerset Maugham novel, it was a labour of love for stars Edward Norton and Naomi Watts, who also produced the film. Read more
Alice in Wonderland-obsessives take note: the fantastical and whimsically surreal artist, Mark Ryden, will be signing copies of his latest book, The Tree Show, at the MOCA store in Los Angeles on Jan 31st. Read more
Now, c’mon, if you had the chance to lay a clever one liner on William Shatner, you would, right? Yeah. If you could look him in the eyes, gently brush his laser gun out of your face, and unleash that killer put down that you’ve had swirling around the deepest cavaties of your subconcious ever since episode six of the fourth series, you’d grab it with both hands and offer up a thanks to those strange looking alien creatures who rule our universe. Well, guess what? You can. And while you’re at it, why don’t you give Dustin Diamond an ear full, too. Ah, the joys of unrequited paybacks.
The AP Tour brought metalcore music heavyweights and a convoy of sponsor vans head-first into a stormy Seattle last night. The Hurley denim reps were rattled; they’d endured a long drive from Utah through what they described as the worst weather they’d ever experienced. Joking around with them before the show I realised how shaken up these guys actually were; hands were still shaking and their laughter was racked by nerves. Read more
ALAS is a sleepwear label from two clever lasses Betony and Kelly. Mindful of our precious environment their philosohy is rather zen and based on sustainability. Their gorgeous pajamas are 100 percent organic cotton and are fair trade accredited, too. Read more
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Pencils made from recycled newspaper
The problem with awesome things like these pencils made out of recycled newspaper is that you almost don’t want to use them.
Baltimore Mural by Josh Van Horne
My friend Josh Van Horne, a local Baltimore artist, did this amazing mural in our neighborhood that depicts the history of this warehouse-laden area.
Cookie Boy’s creative cookie designs
I don’t eat cookies, so good thing Cookie Boy’s cookies are little pieces of art too pretty and cute to eat. Read more
Benjamin Edminston’s psychedelic heads seem to have some fearful wisdom behind their blissed-out eyes. Read more
Francoise Nielly’s Yellow series
Parisian visual artist Francoise Nielly brings technicolour to the forefront in her latest series, Yellow. Featuring thick impasto palette knife strokes and trippy neon hues, Nielly captures the vulnerable expressions of her muses to a tee. Read more
Sometime in 2010, the folks behind Dirty Dishes had the slightly silly idea of using cheeky vintage photos and putting them on dinner plates. After doing lots of research, talking to lots of people, and receiving loads of positive feedback, they wondered if this idea was so silly after all. And thus Dirty Dishes was born. Read more
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