bloody brilliant

this. i especially like the self-reference one.

sans titre

yes! all-time favourite! vinyl! in the post!

less excitingly, i thought they accidentally threw in the first LP from 'have one on me'. it's really just the sleeve and the booklet and a couple of charmingly beautiful photos of joanna newsom.

tron

 i've been talking about tron a lot recently.

 most (no, all) people think i'm crazy because of it.

but i know what they're missing out on.

tonal

this is cool. and highly addictive.

when you left the fire

aggy and i spent last night with a very handsome and charming bunch of canadians by the name of wilderness of manitoba. four part harmonies? yes please! cover of CSN's helplessly hoping? fucking gorgeous.

great opener too, nathaniel rateliff.

brooklyn bound

rhea! from byron bay, recent émigré from london to new york.

marissa and rhea, post-vietnamese feast.

the tiniest feather ever. it landed on marissa and kept us (megan, marissa, darling ranya and me) company before floating onto bigger and better things (hopefully).

this was ky's birthday on the beach (fort something...). marissa, megan and mark.

beach scrabble.

rhea in her magnificent, recently acquired apartment. (smug).

me, at rhea's. (not only is there a piano, there's also a glockenspiel).

story

more boy stuff, this time with a bit of narrative.

i went to meet them at their apartment on east third. this is the view from the rooftop.

we were always waiting on someone.

hanging on the fire escape after lunch at katz's deli

the next day we stopped at shakeshack for lunch before trooping up to guggenheim.

we lost/gave up on the others. i had no use for the collection, josh had no use for the exhibition.

the next day the boys made the short journey to brooklyn and we met up at el beit (ky's cafe). though this photo could have been taken anywhere really.

walking around williamsburg.

habana outpost - cuban street food and the best darn corn you'll ever eat.

colourful and hot. stinkin' hot.

this was rupert's birthday at the black keys show in central park.

i was going to give this photo its own post, purely because it cracks me up. dave.

a dapper bunch, the next evening on our way home from seeing al pacino (THE al pacino - forgeddit) as shylock in the merchant of venice. spec-tac-u-lar.

dying

between this and rough travel for a rare thing (bill callahan live album) my heart is being ripped in two (in a good way).


note : annoying that the video is too wide. apologies that i wouldn't begin to know how to fix that.

lazy

i have some things to say about the dirty projectors, but i haven't mustered (mustard) the energy yet. maybe tomorrow.

oh joanna

the third of my big, heartbreaking three (beirut, bill callahan and now joanna newsom). i am completely fulfilled.

rufus

amazing.

good intentions

like a bump  on a bump on a log, baby;

like i'm in a fistfight with the fog, baby;

step, ball-change, and a-pirouette!

and i regret 

how i said to you,

honey, just open your heart,

when i have trouble 

even opening a honey jar....

but i fell for you honey,

easy as falling asleep.

and that right there

is the course i keep.

and no amount of talking

is going to soften the fall

and there is hesitation,

and it always remains

(concerning you, me,

and the rest of the gang)

[arvid, from work]

and i know you meant

to show the extent

to which you gave a goddang

and i do hate to fold,

right here at the top of my game,

when i've been trying

with my whole heart and soul

to stay right here, in the right lane.

recent photos, mostly from my way to and from work. word are all from 'good intentions paving co.' by joanna newsom. it's been about ten years since i've needed to listen to a song at least five times a day. the last one was 'never is a promise' by fiona apple - this one is about a million times more upbeat and delightful and beautifully written.

right

right, that time of year again kids. nope, not christmas, the top ten time of year. i must say it's been an interesting one for me, mainly because i haven't had the means to acquire everything i've liked, nor have i even been that dedicated to scoping out the bright young things. as a result, this year has been simply outstanding for artists that i already love. so without further ado and blah blah blah, my lists (in no particular order).

top albums 2009 (not ten albums, there aren't ten that i adore. it's more accurate this way).

Beirut - March of the Zapotec & Realpeople : Holland

Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle

Emmy The Great - First Love

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

the xx - xx

The Black Keys etc - Blackroc (only just bought it and i love, love, love it. it's so perth to me.)

as a consolation, these are the other albums from 2009 that took my fancy.

Atlas Sound - Logos (very solid)

Dent May - The Good Feeling Music of Dent May and his Magnificent Ukulele

The Mountain Goats - The Life of the World to Come

and now in a completely separate category, the revelation of 2009 (or the revelation of this week) :

the holy trinity of country/folk : guy clark, steve earle and the inimitable townes van zandt. now i admit wholeheartedly to being a recent convert but as a sign of my good faith and commitment, i'm going to 78s tomorrow to stock up for some excellent driving-down-south-in-the-sweltering-heat music.

now, i'm not going to bother with a top ten of the decade because there is one crystal clear winner (and the other nine pale in comparison), and that is (can you guess it?)      Smog - A River Ain't Too Much To Love.

i do hope this has been, in some minor way, enlightening. and if not, it soothes me to do it and that's all that matters. happy christmas to all and to all a goodnight.

devil

“This is what’s wrong with the world. Everything is explained now. We live in an age when you say casually to somebody ‘What’s the story on that?’ and they can run to the computer and tell you within five seconds. That’s fine, but sometimes I’d just as soon continue wondering. We have a deficit of wonder right now.”

too right tom waits. if you haven't ventured to see the imaginarium of dr parnasus i recommend it, if only to see mr waits absolutely kill it as the devil himself.

blanket

i went walking through the fields yesterday and it occurred to me that i've never seen a complete blanket of autumn leaves before. it felt a little anachronistic to be wearing these shoes (which i associate with spring, obviously).

in response : dad, it was amazing, you should have been there. though i was sitting next to the most awful, horrible people. the woman was heckling him from the balcony! i'll tell you the whole story some other time, you have to hear my impression of her.

also josh, be warned i'm about to out-do your condescension for the comment i didn't publish. do try to keep up. and it isn't the same line up.

steve earle

just hanging at the barbican again, eating my improvised dinner from waitrose (sushi and cashew nuts, delicious) and waiting for the show to start. i'll admit it, the only song i recognized was 'can't remember if we said goodbye' (the first song he wrote sober, did you know that?). i've loved that song for a good long while now and the rest just made me want to get home and raid dad's collection. soon.

halloween

i felt incredibly grown-up going to the symphony on saturday night. well, not really. i was going to see the london symphony orchestra yes, but they were accompanying grizzly bear.

and to my absolute delight, and complete surprise (i nearly wet myself i was so excited), st vincent was opening. i listened to her album 'marry me' for about six months straight at the end of 2007 and her latest, 'actor' is equally good.

a very pretty stage set-up. i had a bunch of review-y things to say about it but because the concert was generally absolutely enchanting, all negative comments have fallen by the wayside. also, the few tracks when the orchestra was unnecessary, the conductor did a little dance. it was fantastic.

as an end note i feel the need to show gratitude to all the wonderful music i've witnessed this year. my big three (beck [circa '96], neil young, erykah badu) have yet to be seen but there's still hope (except for the time travel thing). i'm seeing steve earle on wednesday (thanks dad!) which is pretty damn exciting too.

love letter

i used to be sort of blind, now i can sort see.

if you could only stop your heartbeat, for one heartbeat.

there is no love, where there is no obstacle. there is no love, where there is no bramble. there is no love, on the hacked-away plateau. and there is no love in the un-erring. and there is no love in the one true path.

this is bill callahan. he's written some of the most beautiful music you will even hear.

sunday in the life

waiting for a table at albion... admiring the selection.

waiting (forever) for breakfast at albion with steph and hannah.

and temptation was succumbed to. hannah is as good at justifying as me - we worked hard all week and sunday was a beautiful day for the park and you can't go to the park without tasty treats. and there you have it.

steph and hannah.

another gig at climpsons, the end of the triple rosie tour.

ora, lizzie and kerry watching tom - "if whiskey doesn't kill me..."

matt d.

triple rosie. "if i could be a note, i'd be all of them."

that's ish marquez, the guy they were supporting on tour. they wrote some wicked songs on the road.

ora cogan, with help from max.

oscar had really shiny shoes on.