I have a tendency to want to hibernate a little when Winter rolls around, so out come the blankets and the comfy throw pillows. I love spending a snowy day curled up under a blanket with a mug of tea and a good DVD.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who indulges in some wintertime hibernating, so if you have someone in your life who's known for cozying up on the couch, give them what they want: more ways to get cozy!
With that in mind, I've rounded up a bunch of gorgeous throws, pillows, and blankets that will have the cozy cuddler in your life swooning (and then disappearing onto the nearest sofa) when she opens her present.
Anna Spiro created this Christmas window display for her shop, Black & Spiro, in Brisbane, Australia. The display has a blue, white, and pink color palette and uses old Delftware to decorate the tree, as well as silver bowls and pink roses. I think it's a very festive, imaginative design for a window display, but I can't say I'd recreate it in my own home. What do you think? Source
One of the greatest live bands ever, the Jesus Lizard have reunited to play some dates in 2009. (Seeing them at CBGB's in '92 was maybe the best show I've ever witnessed.) For the first time in a dozen years, you'll be able to witness the incomparable original lineup of Duane Denison, David Wm. Sims, Mac McNeilly, and of course, David Yow. (Watch out for the hairy tangerine.) So far they're penciled in for ATP in May and will have a "final appearance" in Chicago next November. In May, Touch & Go will also be reissuing (and remastering) the essential Head, Goat, and Liar. Get more info at ATP.
NAME: Mastodon PROGRESS REPORT: Crack The Skye out early 2009; recorded in Atlanta, Georgia at Southern Tracks studio
You don't need us or Mastodon vocalist/bassist Troy Sanders to tell you what Mastodon's next LP, Crack the Skye, will sound like. It's going to be some combination of "brutal," "fucking" and "epic." But the album does follow some brutal problems for the band. One setback, says Sanders, was Brent Hinds' head injuries following the MTV Video Awards. Band members also had family problems to deal with, which made the time they spent writing and recording in their hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, that much more necessary. It was not only their first real break from touring in eight years, it was also one of the few times they've recorded close to home.
The economy's been tricky everywhere, even Scrooge McDuck's homeland, so when the Twilight Sad went on tour with fellow Scots Mogwai, they put together the Goo-referencing The Twilight Sad Killed My Parents And Hit The Road, a limited-edition collection of covers, live tracks, and instrumentals to help fund the trip. The quartet takes on the Smiths, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Joy Division via Closer's "Twenty Four Hours," which shows up as this week's Drop. We asked guitarist Andy MacFarlane about his band's Ian Curtis impression: Read his responses and take a listen.
By the by, The Twilight Sad Killed My Parents And Hit The Road is available for pre-order via the FatCat USA webstore.
In this week's Drop, we also offered the chance to win a limited-edition Monkey: Journey To The West vinyl boxset designed by Gorillaz's Jamie Hewlett.
In this special Thanksgiving installment of Quit Your Day Job, Frankie Rose and I talk a lot about drinks. When not bartending at Great Jones Cafe in New York City the ex-Vivian Girl plays stand-up drums in Crystal Stilts, the Brooklyn band that recently released Alight Of Night, a tight collection of dark minimalist, melancholic pop. Again, think Ian Curtis-on-Spector on down-tempo Chills. It's one of my 2008 favorites. After our discussion about the Shaggy, Vodka Lemonades, Purple Titties, and strange celebrity sightings take another listen to the harmonica-and-feedback-entwined "Shattered Shine" and detached surf haze of "Crystal Stilts." Pay attention to her drumming.
If Kanye West looked uncomfortable answering Conan O'Brien's questions last night, it wasn't because he was nervous. This defense of Auto-Tune that came eight minutes into the interview should explain things...
"If I sing off-key it really points that out. It points out the bad notes. So I actually have to sing more perfect. But I use it because I like the electronic feel. I like the sound. I want to juxtapose Taiko drums and monk choirs with Auto-Tune. I deliver music like it's art. I feel like I'm a Pop Artist. Sidebar: I have to use the bathroom really, really bad, and they didn't give me enough time, I just wanted to tell you that."
Cue awkward silence. I felt bad for him, but as Conan pointed it, it added a sense of urgency to what he was saying. Based on the dryness of Kanye's khakis during the subsequent performance of "Heartless," it looks like he got to use a restroom during Seth MacFarlane's segment.
Craftster member Tashaduckman recently shared a very cool upcycled project. She writes, "We had to make a lamp for class using a recycled material . . . for some crazy reason, I chose to use pop tabs. It took forever, but here it is! I call it the tree hugger:"
She used almost 500 soda tabs to make the tree light, and as you might imagine, it took her quite a while to construct it! The tree is woven together with ribbon and wire to maintain its shape. I love the way the light plays through the metallic trunk. Have you tried to make any creative upcycled projects like this? Source
Paste's pasty top 50 created a commotion and folks got bent out of shape over Blender's 33 (a Jesus homage?), but for my devalued American buck, nothing's as strange as what you'll find topping Q's end-of-the-year list. Which is why they get the "Shit List" designation. (That's not the only reason.) Actually, they forgot to list album #45: Maybe once we discover what that is, everything else will make sense.
I know it might be a bit much to say Slumdog's a "Great Movie" in a music blog post title because I am not a film critic (yet). But last night I got into a long conversation with Lindsay about it and she agrees, so I'm just gonna say it's the Best Movie and you should see it ASAP. I made a forced reference to the Danny Boyle-directed heartwarmer when talking about Sigur Rós and how "Hoppípolla" is in the film trailer, but that was before I realized Maya's got a new song called "O Saya," with soundtrack composer A.R. Rahman, that turns up in the film. MTV praises Rahman's work on the OST for "mixing the disparate worlds of Bollywood and hip hop," which is true, but as you'll hear it's a more integrated and creative fusion than previous Hindi-hop exercises. Here's "O Saya":
You can count on Kate Spade to infuse full-on girliness into her holiday décor. Spade's candy-colored Holly Heights Tidbit Plates ($50) are good enough to eat! The set of two green/yellow and two red/pink plates has ample festivity for holiday entertaining, but the central starry snowflake pattern is subtle enough that you can pull off the plates all year long. I adore the little dove border and repeated diamond pattern. I think they'd make great jewelry catch-alls for your bureau or coasters even!
Portishead's third album Third deserves to chart high on various end of years lists, though only time (and more lists) will tell. If such a category exists, the Bristol trio should also receive comeback of the year. If you've listened to Third, seen them live, or watched the videos for "Machine Gun" or "The Rip," you know this. On the visual front, "Machine Gun"'s clip featured an icy live approach, while "The Rip" went for surreal animation. Longtime collaborator John Minton's "Magic Doors" combines a bit of both. You don't get straight up band footage, but you will spot Beth looking concerned along with a busy overlay created by dusky sail boats, a Warholian banana, someone chopping a cucumber, words highlighted from the lyrics ("desire," "wrong"), cities, feet, cards, fireworks, a frying egg, etc. It'll take more than a few viewings to piece it all together into some sort of narrative.
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