Tagged with Music!

I've been tagged! I love tags. It's sick, I know, but I can't help it. They are like little presents that say, "Here. Now you don't have to think of a post!"

The lovely Sal of Already Pretty tagged me to list the seven songs that are shaping my Spring. Mine'll be for summer because a.) Spring is over and b.) I love Summer. I'm still a bit of a backwoods blogger, so I'll post links to where you can listen to the songs. No fancy embedding, sorry.

1. "Gobbledigook" by Sigur Ros: What a lovely rush of a song. Pitchfork described it as "Sigur Ros doing Animal Collective" which is totally on the mark. If you aren't familiar with any of those names, let me translate: it sounds like an amazing, ethereal indie rock choir covering a happy, hand-clapping mess of a song.
Listen to: when making dinner on a warm summer night

2. "Death and All His Friends" by Coldplay: It was only a couple of days ago when my boyfriend called me from work and whispered sheepishly, "I have something to tell you." Deep breath. "I like the new Coldplay. A lot." Yes, we're those elitist snobs who think Coldplay is a dirty word or anyhow, we were. Now, however, we're both digging it. This is my favorite song on the album purely for the catchy little chorus that pops up around the 2:40 mark.
Listen to: when reading blogs

3. "Love Made Visible" by The Delays: The whole album was a little bit of a disappointment, but this song sounds like the Delays I know and love.
Listen to: when you are going for a walk and pretending you are in the opening scene of a movie

4. "Mykonos" by Fleet Foxes: I think I've mentioned this song before, but it really bears repeating. A lovely ditty that is reminiscent of a warm sunny day in the 60's/ 70's, laying in a field full of wildflowers or something.
Listen to: on a sleepy Sunday morning

5. "Stop Playing Guitar" by the Promise Ring: There's just something about this song. I mean c'mon--the singer has a lisp. And it's charming. (Please please please do not watch the video when you listen. It's a dreadful video. Just minimize the screen.)
Listen to: when you are sure you're happy

6. "Leggy Blonde" by Flight of the Conchords: My bf's song for me. Catchy and ridiculous. But sweet.
Listen to: when you're reading In Yr Fshn. Duh.

7. "You've Done it Again, Virginia" by The National: If it's not evident, I'm a sucker for sleepy, slow music in the summer. Makes me think of being lazy and sluggish in the heat, doing nothing but reading and laying around.
Listen to: when you're deciding whether to get ice cream or gelato, but know you'll get neither and probably just take a nap instead

So I'm supposed to tag seven people, but I have no idea who hasn't been tagged yet for this one. I feel like I keep seeing it everywhere... if you'd like to be tagged let me know.

Updated to add: I am tagging my friend Mr. Bungle, who is currently attempting to ride across the country on a bicycle. His brave lady, Mz. Bungle, is joining him. They are blogging about it (or will be blogging about it) at Bungles on Bikes. 

Music Post

Just a quickie here...

(Pic from Photbooth.net)
Stereogum had a post about a forthcoming documentary about Liz Phair's album Exile in Guyville and the trailer made it look fascinating. As with a lot of people, I have a love/ hate relationship with Liz Phair. The easiest thing for me to do is pretend that the Liz who wrote Exile is a completely different person who put out the latter day pop songs that wandered up and down the Bilboard charts.

So. Liz Phair. I think she made me a feminist? I remember getting a copy of Exile in Guyville, a purported song-by-song response to the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street, when I was 19 or 20. My fondest memory of this album involves a boy and a broken heart, which sounds sad and is sad, but not as sad as you think. I had just decisively ended a tormented former romance turned friendship--always the worst kind, though I didn't know that at the time--and was still reeling a little bit but I definitely did not want to talk about it, thank you very much.

There was a long drive and a lot of thinking and as I passed over state lines, the thinking became singing and then the singing became a sort of yell-singing like, yes Liz Phair! This is my life you are singing about! You, with your perfect hair and amazing voice and envious way with words! You are singing my songs.

And her music, with it's anger and rue and sweetness, made me feel all better. By the time I reached Cape Cod to meet my grandma and mom for our annual vacation (which, really, can you imagine a worse place to be going for a week when you are so mad at the world you can barely breathe?) I was actually looking forward to every little thing that we do in our mobius strip of a vacation. Whenever some emotion crept up on me that week, I just put on Exile in Guyville and offered to pick up the beach passes or groceries and pretended that I was Liz Phair as I drove there, singing out every thing that had ever pissed me off.

Parade of Wolves

Wolf Parade Poster by El Jefe Design

Since their second EP, Wolf Parade has taken top awards (in my head) as best band. Ever. Well, maybe not ever. I know people get all huffy about The Beatles and whatnot. But Wolf Parade is my favorite band by a good margin: their first album, Apologies to the Queen Mary, has many more plays on my iPod than any other album. I also often obsess over the keyboardist to the point where he has individually become top o' my list of celebrities I am allowed to canoodle with, allowed by the BF. (I am pretty sure the BF knows this.)

Anyhow, these last two days have been utterly thrilling as I've been listening to their new album, At Mount Zoomer, and totally loving it.

Here's to Wolf Parade!


Wendy Brandes Isabella She-Wolf Necklace, price upon request until Wendy gets her website up




Recycled Gold Wolf Ring by Species by the Thousands, $300



Wolf Bracelet by Odin Lonning, $168 (designed in the Pacific Northwest style)




Wolf Tooth Necklace, $40


My little feline, pissed that I just woke her up and am taking pictures just as she's finishing a yawn. (If she were a human, she'd be all, "Don't you dare post this on the Internet for the world to see!" But since she cannot speak...)

More Music

Just a quick music update before my computer goodness is all unhooked...

I am very much digging these songs:

1. "Amylase" by Cajun Dance Party: We had never heard of this band and then it popped up on the, uh, "site" we get music from. Seemed to be very popular, so in a less chancy version of jumping off a bridge when all the other hipsters do, we downloaded. Before I listened to it, I did a little bit of Googling (scarred from all the times I innocently clicked on a band name in iTunes only to have it be one of my crazy boyfriend's beloved German death metal bands) and discovered these kids are very young. Like, juniors-in-HS-young. Also, they were a bit buzzed about last year. A lot of their songs sound  like some beautiful mating of Broken Social Scene and The Lucksmiths. With a Kook or two thrown in.  "Amylase" isn't my favorite; "The Colourful Life" is, but it's not up yet.

2. "Big Guns" and "Rise Up with Fists" from the solo Jenny Lewis album: I was so not into this album when it came out forever ago, but lately I've been far too lazy to get my iPod, so I have to listen to whatever is already on the computer. Jenny comes right after my two downloaded songs by American Idol contestant Jason Castro (swoon and I am totally NOT embarrassed about this); let's just say I've been listening to her a lot. The melodies are exquisite and the gentle cooing from the background singers just about breaks my heart every time. 

3. Have we talked about MGMT? I can't re

member, but the song "Electric Feel" will make you dance even if your brain and body do their darndest to resist. Good luck. 

Guys from MGMT with kittens. You have no soul if you aren't melting right now. 

In a Space

Three Things I am Painfully Obsessed With:

1. Scott Baio is 46... and Pregnant
I wish I could be embarrassed about this, but I just can't bring myself to exude that level of modesty/ humiliation when a predominant part of my daily conversation consists of lecturing Cat A on why it isn't appropriate to steal Cat B's treats. Mr. Baio is surprisingly sharp and the show is hilarious and pathetic and life-affirming all at once. Who knew? (Of course, I also recommend the prequel Scott Baio is 45 and Single.)

2. Bon Iver For Emma, Forever Ago
The back story on this album is classic: a man makes music on his own (after being a part of several failed bands) in an old Wisconsin house in the middle of winter. It's spare in it's way, but more that you can hear the skeleton of each song very clearly, as well as the little notes that build up all over it. My favorite song so far is Skinny Love. I keep hearing a million different artists in this guy's voice: TV on the Radio, Iron and Wine, a tiny bit of Wolf Parade, some Microphones (especially at the end of The Wolves)...

3. How I Met Your Mother
I normally hate shows like this. Hipster sitcoms with little in jokes that you see bantered about the blog-o-sphere the day after it airs... but we finally succumbed to the hype and guess what? This show is really funny. It starts off a little shaky in season one, and the main character is totally unbearable (whiny, sensitive, looking for the woman of his dreams but doesn't notice he's a selfish prick... I have strong feelings about him), but it really gels in season two. By the middle episode, I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. There was some sexy snorting action.

Of course, I'm also (always) still obsessed with jewelry, so let's get cracking! Today's very minimal, silver and outline-y...

Maya Brenner State Necklaces (NY shown), $100




Interlocking Bangles by Nicola Morrison, £80.00







Scottie Earrings by Kris Nations, $34








Japanese Grid Ring by Erin Tracy

Total Eclipse (Of the Heart)*

Packing up my desk as tomorrow is my last official day in the office. Which is very alarming.
Enough about that.
In honor of tonight's lunar eclipse....

Half Moon Necklace by Peggy Li, $49 (gold-fill or sterling)






Conroy and Wilcox 18K Moonstone Ring, $1395







Sydney Evan Crescent Moon Necklace, $950





David Morgan Moon Earrings, $170 (14K)


*Is the song totally stuck in your head now? Oh! That reminds me. I've mentioned before that I am a huge NPR nerd, and that includes, amongst other programs, the show RadioLab. I have never used this word as a verb before, but here we go: I am totally geeked out because they are doing a live season four premiere at the Angelika theatre. That means 200 people will sit around staring at a blank screen listening to a radio show. Sweet! Also, they are looking for submissions to air during an upcoming episode... not quite sure what they actual title is, but they want people to call/ leave a comment about the stickiest song you know. (IE the song you can't get out of your head) Here's the link: Radiolab. I called and left a message disparaging "Apologize" by One Republic.
One more thing! Radiolab now has a blog and they did this little experiment on laughter...

Locked Out

1. I'm a little obsessed with the song "Bed" by J. Holiday. It's an R. Kelly style R&B "we're having sexy sex" type of song, which is generally not my chosen genre, but there is something oddly romantic about this one... especially the following lines:
"First rub my back like you do, right there, you touch me like you care. Now stop. And let me repay for the week that you been through, working that 9 to 5 and staying cute like you do."
What can I say? I'm a sucker for a guy who notices that you (his lady) have been working your ass off and still looking good. That's sweet. Hey, I never said the lyrics were Nobel prize-worthy, but they do have charm. Something a lot of Nobel prize-winning books lack.


2. A lot of people liked the key necklace from the last post (which was, by the way, very affordable at $30 for sterling, $38 for vermeil and $130 for 14K). Here are some alternatives:



Clef de Cour Necklace, $58 and Wood Skeleton Key Necklace, $38 (both by Dejarnette NOLA)



Mini Golden Key Necklace, $10 (Fred Flare)


Antique Model Sterling Silver Key on Chain by Lost Button Studio, $40



Iwona Ludyga Tony Key Necklace, $160


3. Did you listen to "Bed" yet? Listen to it!

Friday Favorites: Anything to Make You Smile*

7Naturally Blue Diamond Shake Necklace by Renee Lewis, $11,440



Art Deco Style Sapphire Dinner Ring, $645



Sterling Silver and Blue Crystal Celtic Necklace, $55
(I've always had an affinity for Celtic design, so much so that my first tattoo is a Celtic knot.)


c. 1925 Diamond and Faux Sapphire Brooch, $1,270.75

Vintage Pearl, Diamond Pave and Sapphire earrings, $1,845


*From my new obsession, listening to a million times in a row song:
Band of Horses: No One's Gonna Love You
(I was told that this album is the result of a break up so bad that the singer had to leave Seattle, Wa and move back home to South Carolina. It's really lovely and so heartbreaking.)

Vampire Weekend + Jewelry=Awesome

I've been a bad blogger! Since laziness, catching up on season three of House and buying jeans don't really seem like valid excuses, let's just say I've been really, uh, busy. At, um, work. That's it! Work. Oh, honey, you have no idea. Work, work, work.

Anyhow, tonight we are going to see Vampire Weekend, a band which I like very much.
Here's the myspace page: Vampire Weekend. Go listen! Then come back, because we have jewelry to discuss.

Oh, wait! I totally forgot to tell you about this awesome thing I read on Yahoo! last week. Apparently, this guy in the UK built a castle and then hid it behind a giant wall of hay bales because it violated zoning restrictions (ya think?), and there were some comments from various spokespeople peppered throughout the article, but my favorite had to be:
"It looks like a mock-Tudor house from the front and it's got two turrets at the back," the spokeswoman said. "I understand there is also a cannon."
It's almost unfair that such a profound sentence gets said so rarely.

I guess let's do African themed jewelry as Vampire Weekend has a major Afro influence thing happening. (Thanks, BF, for the idea.)
Taurag Silver Bracelet made in Niger, $9.90



Glass and Amber necklace from Ghana, $75



Recycled Plastic Bangles from Burkina Fhaso, $2.50-$3.50

Okay, folks. Finding African jewelry is a bit harder than I expected. I've decided to also include Vampire jewelry in the mix!
Baby Vamp Rings, $350 from Catbird
(If I'm not mistaken, I think Jen of Sleep Deprivation and Stories of my Bullshit Youth just received a similar ring when her fella proposed. Congratulations!)


Vampretta Vampire Fang Necklace by Alchemy Gothic, $40
(Huh.)

One year for Halloween, I was a slutty vampire (what other kind is there?), and since my mom works in the dental field, I had a pair of custom fangs made.
That's the whole story!

I've decided that I will limit my updating to at least twice a week, but no more of this every day business! Friday Favorites will resume this week.

Thank you.