Watch It!: The Raveonette's "Black/White"

happy boxing day everyone!!! i have to admit this is one of my favorite days for the year (along side christmas) because of the massive dutch family gathering we always have.  i'm heading off to that in a few moments but i thought i should catch up with a quick post in the mean time.

this is a music video from The Raveonettes, a danish alternative rock duo (i know, again with the northern europe artists! i can't help myself) which was created in 2001. this song comes from their 2008 EP Beauty Dies.  the song itself follows the typical style of the band mashing up sixties laid back swagger including guitar riffs reminiscent of psychedelic rock bands, while infusing a driving beat and rolling bass licks (the coolest of which i've heard in a while). this music video, directed by Chris Ho, uses this rolling motion as the basis of the video.  each scene builds upon the next and is constantly shifting such that you can't really be sure exactly where you are headed.  the video uses graphics which allude towards shadow puppets giving the video a very dark and fuzzy edge. as the song itself explores opposites (black and white), the video represents this through also exploring black and white as well as light and dark, happy and sad, beautiful and ugly, so on and so forth. the music video also evokes images of a fairy tale which in turn represents the elements of dark and light (original fairy tales are quite graphic and gory, while the modern day remakes (thanks to disney) represent a much more toned down light version of the tales).  over all this video is extremely visually interesting and compliments the videos sixties psychedelic vibe. plus the song in incredibly addictive. 

Watch it here

Enjoy

- J

Listen Up!: Fredrik

back to some music that's a little more easily digestible than yesterdays (again, sorry about that, but i just had to) Fredrik is another band i've been wanting to blog about for awhile.  they are a swedish indie experimental band. front man Fredrik Hultin and bandmate O.Lindefelt originally created the band as a duo however have continued to bring on other artists to help with the creation of their albums.  for their release Na Na Ni in 2008, they banned with other artists to create a group fo six, but more recently for their release of Trilogi, they added Anna Moberg.  i think this bringing on of different artists really helps them to keep their sound so fresh and interesting. the music they create is quite solid at the base with lots of hard rhythms and downbeats, however the beautiful part about it is the intricate bells and guitar riffs which float over everything.  this kind of airy music seems to be highly linked to northern europeans (you only have to look as far as music heavyweights Jónsi and Bjorn to see it).  it must have something to do with the landscape or climate.  what i love most about it is that it's energy isn't overwhelmed by its lightness.  there is still a strong driving force behind everything which you both feel and hear.  probably the best description of the band's album Trilogi comes from musicremedy, 

"Together they represent a trilogy of contemporized viewpoints of the Lovecraftian dream passage - orientation at great cost and understanding at the risk of sanity."

unreal

You will like them if you like: Jónsi, Solander, Radiohead, Zero 7, Oren Lavie

Why they are important: the music is simple and soft, yet has an unstoppable driving life force behind it.  none of their songs can be labeled happy or sad or melancholy or whatever because they are constantly mixing elements of darkness and lightness which keep each piece in constant motion.  what i admire most is that they don't simply rely on their own capability as artsits, but are always willing to take on others visions and opinions and thus each time they create something, while it still holds the same basic idea, it never gets stale.

Songs to listen to: "Na Na Ni", "Angor Sleepwalking", "Holm", "11 Years", "Locked in the Basement", "Milo", "Ava", "Viskra", "Black Fur" 

- J

**P.S. if you have trouble finding their stuff on youtube (which is fairly difficult to navigate) listen to them at their myspace page here

Just the Cuddliest Dog

this is magdalene one of my very good friends dogs. she is the sweetest puppy on the block and i love her. thought i should share

- J

Listen Up!: Flux Information Sciences

ok...stick with me on this one because it gets a little weird. Flux Information Sciences is a noise rock trio formed in 1996 (i know, usually i write about newer artists, but this group has been holding my attention in a vice grip since i first heard them).  the last album they put out was in 2001 with a release called Private/Public, and soon after this they went their separate ways, with front man Tristan Bechet forming his own label Pinksock Records and putting out various other experimental albums.  however during the time this band was together, they managed to create some really bizarre but captivating stuff. i don't know that i can fully explain why i'm so drawn to it and i'm sure some of you will disagree with me that this band should even be recognized.  i think it has something to do with their intoxicating rhythms which are really the only element which holds their music together (for the most part).  each song begins very simply, usually with a single beat or note, but very quickly digresses into a symphonic mess with disconnected phrases and some really absurd sound effects.  you never end up quite where you started with their music and are left at the end feeling quite disoriented and strangely energized.  or at least that's what it does to me.  i really suggest to give this band a try, even if they don't become a spotlight on your iPod, because their music truly is an experience.

You will like them if you like: Sonic Youth, Broken Social Scene, The Mars Volta

Why they are important: they start with something extremely simple and take you somewhere so completely foreign that its hard to know where you started. it's a true experience through sound, as opposed to using words to communicate a specific meaning.  there is no definite way to describe their music and so remains more or less mysterious. whether or not you like it, it grabs your attention.

Songs to listen to: "Love", "Priceless Memories", "Luxury and Excitement Meet", "Celebrity Cruises"...i leave it up to you if you are adventuresome enough to explore more

- J

Starting to think of Christmas

- J

Fashion Post?

i know i never do posts about fashion, as much as a love it, but i came across this website today that i thought was really fun.  it's called polyvore and it essentially lets you create a little custom outfit by choosing from a huge list of designer items. this is one i made.

if anything its a fun little tool to help you waste some time

- J

Lazying About

looking for ways to procrastinate from marking papers and studying for exams, i've been fooling around with this app called Hipstamatic that my friend jess is attempting to convince me is the next best thing since brie and baguette at 2am. you judge the results. i'm going to continue to be a bum and not move from my couch for the next couple hours

some neat looking oranges on my dining room table. i then proceeded to eat half of them

my incredibly cute and sad looking puppy  

his favorite stuffy; a bunny he stole from a neighbour dog

i should probably stop stalking my dog

fancy chair

equally fancy carpet

- J

Listen Up!: Pomplamoose

if you haven't heard of them yet, you best start listening. Pomplamoose is an indie youtube band from san fransisco comprised of talented artists Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn. they joined forces in 2008 to create the band and started pumping out covers of popular songs on youtube.  their philosophy is essentially, what you see is what you get.  the two play every instrument themselves and create all the vocals including harmonies out of recording of their own voices. no lipsyncing.  their music videos on youtube, however, are what really set them a part from other artists. each video is cleverly constructed to show every single instrument and every single voice you hear on the track.  it truely is amazing the sound they are able to create out of so very little.  their popularity continues to grow as they have recently been featured on several Hyundai commercials singing popular christmas carols. because they create and mix all the sounds themselves, their music is incredubly organic and underprocessed which makes it truely special to listen to.

You will like them if you like: Regina Spektor, Feist, (honestly they are so incredibly unique i challenge you to find more artists very similar to them)

Why they are important: they prove that truely special music does not need to be created in a massive studio and over proccessed to the point of oblivian (such as music's sad recent obsession with autotune).  their music is true and honest and interesting.  they take popular music and show how it can be completely deconstructed to its base elements making each interpretation completely unique.

Songs to listen to: "Nature Boy" (Nat King Cole cover), "La Vie en Rose" (Edith Piaf cover), "If you think you need" (Pomplamoose original), "Makin' Out" (Mark Owen cover), "Jungle Animal" (Pomplamoose original, compliation with Allee Willis)

- J