Catching Up

Hey it’s me. I kind of neglected sharing what I like while I was busy being overworked and underpaid, but I quit my internship so now I’m only half as busy. Instead of sharing a sob story I’m just going to share a few things I really liked while I was gone, in no particular order:

Dent May, the king of bouncing while playing, has a new song out that I love. You can read more about it over at MOKB.

Deer Tick released a new music video today via Noisey. It’s creepy to watch on full screen and makes me excited for their new album, Negativity, due out September 24th on Partisan.

Kristen Smith commented on my post about how much I loved her book!

And I bought these crazy pants!

That’s probably enough catching up for now. I’ll be back soon. Thanks everyone!

Colored Emotions Re: “Country Queen”

I fell in love with Minneapolis’ Night Moves when I saw them open for Father John Misty last summer. They share a name with a strip club near one of my favorite breakfast spots in Bloomington, Indiana, so I had high hopes from the beginning  Luckily, with their foil tape wrapped cords, they did not disappoint.  MOKB described the band as creating “a brand of ethereal/cosmic psych-pop but with a laid-back and intimate twang” and posted this excellent live vid of “Country Queen” from a PBR session @ The Do317 Lounge. Keep an eye out for vocalist/guitarist John Pelant’s choice facial expressions.

Art Crush: Monica Ramos

via http://monicatramos.tumblr.com/

Monica Ramos is a Manila born, Brooklyn bred illustrator and designer I discovered where I have been finding most of my art crushes lately: Tumblr. I am in love with most of her work, especially the series “Comfort Food,” featuring tiny people relaxing at a waffle spa, sleeping on a bed of crepes, or taking a dip in a bowl of Cheerios. Of course I was extremely excited when she noted on her blog that prints would be available in her shop, and now am faced with the daunting task of deciding which one will go on the walls of the kitchen I do not currently own.

Monica Ramos

Also recently available is a print from her contribution to Oh Comely Magazine called “I Hate Selfies,” showing women in taking selfies in some extreme positions.  She states on her blog, “the irony of this is that I had to take a bunch of photos of myself taking photos of myself.” I guess sometimes it pays off to suffer for your art.

“I Hate Selfies” via monicaramos.tumblr.com

I’ve been staring at those selfies for a while now and I still can’t pick a favorite. I’m going to take a break and instead decide which Comfort Food print I can’t live without. And maybe eat some comfort food as well.

A Love Letter For Album Art

Album art for Kurt Vile’s “Wakin On A Pretty Daze”

There has been a lot of buzz for Kurt Vile’s Wakin On A Pretty Daze, the follow up to 2011’s Smoke Rings For My Halo, which came out Tuesday on Matador. The album itself is great but what really drew me to it was the mural on the album art done by Philly street artist, Steve Powers.

The video above features Steve, also known as ESPO, and his crew members from ICY painting the mural that would become album art, all set to the title track from Vile’s album. These are the guys behind the A Love Letter For You in Philadelphia, which according to Powers’ website is “an ongoing mural project about the complexities and rewards of relationships” which features more than 50 murals along the elevated train along Market Street in West Philly.

6249 Market
I Want You Like Coffee

5221-25 Market Street Open Your Eyes

You can check out many of the murals on the projects (infrequently updated) website or Tumblr. You can also order the deluxe LP version of album from Matador, which includes a blank wall on the cover art and a sheet of stickers to create your own Love Letter.

.gif via Matador

Book Club: Trinkets by Kirsten Smith

Trinkets

THE HARD FACTS:

• Trinkets is a YA novel by Kirsten Smith.
• Kristen is a screenwriter who co-wrote important films including but not limited to 10 Things I Hate About You and Legally Blonde, and was an executive producer on Whip It.
  
• The story is told from the point-of-view of three very different high schoolers (queen bee, new goodie two shoes, and the girl that wears all black and seems scary but probably isn’t) in very different styles (first-person narrative, poetry, and journal entries, respectively) who meet in Shoplifters Anonymous.
• You can check out an excerpt over at Rookie (whose editor, Tavi, is hinted at in the book) or read more info at the novel’s website.
• It took me less than 3 days to read this book and I am thinking about buying it so I can read it again.

This has been a book review. Kind of. Join me in probably 3 weeks when I finish the next book!

Classics: Dr. Scholl’s Original Exercise Sandal

via SweetLoveVintage

I stayed home sick today and while online dream shopping and fantasizing about warm weather, I stumbled upon these beautiful Dr. Scholl’s Exercise Sandals. According to the Dr. Scholl’s website, the shoes were “originally developed in the late 1960s by the doctor himself, the sandal’s raised toe crest and contoured sole encourage natural gripping and flexing when walking,” and possibly to make “your legs say ‘look,'” but above all, these shoes just look cool. Wooden sole and leather strap, what could go wrong? A lot actually, but I’m not going to get into that right now. Instead, check out this ~groovy~ picture:

I would not mind owning some of these clothes

While still being very 60s/70s, the style is right on trend with many brands and stores showing wooden bottomed sandals and platforms for spring and summer. Unfortunately, it’s rather difficult to find new Exercise Sandals with wooden soles instead of a synthetic one, but The Vermont Country Store has a few colors and might be your best bet. If you are fine wearing someone else’s hand me downs, there are plenty of pairs on eBay and Etsy in good condition, inclduing the pair above from Sweet Love Vintage for $26 — VERY reasonable for the color and condition. I’d buy them in an instant, if they were my size, but instead for me the search continues.

Sunglasses at Night

I have an addiction to buying sunglasses. I just gave away about 10 pairs and I still have too many but that doesn’t stop me from searching for more. I love the bottom two pairs in this set from Triple Graces on Etsy. After years of the Wayfares being the go-to shape, it’s nice to see another classic shape coming back. Once again, at $133.33 this set is a little out of my price range (especially since I am prone to breaking and scratching my glasses) so I’ll have to do more research to find a cheaper pair, and until then, stare at this image with envy.

Another Post on the Internet about Lil Bub! Co-Starring her Bubuddies!

LIL BUB

I’m sure you already know about Lil Bub, the perma-kitty from space/Bloomington and the coolest cat I ever met. Bub looks beautiful in this photo and makes me really miss springtime in Bloom. If you didn’t already think Bub was the greatest creature on the planet, check out Lil Bub’s Bubuddies, where Bub uses her celebrity and GIANT fan-base to “share various fund-raising charities, posts about animals in need, and info about rescues and shelters.” Cute and charitable. Literally the best.

I’m going to stare at this photo for a while and imagine that it’s warm enough to hang out in a bike basket.

Tunesday — NEW RELEASES

A lot of new music dropped today but after spending months drinking Code Red Mountain Dew and practicing my moonwalking skills in the hallway after lunch while listening to Justified,  The 20/20 Experience is the album I am most excited for. There are plenty of reviews out there so I won’t bother with another but I will say that the artwork is PERFECT and I’m glad I got it on vinyl (yes, you can get Justin Timberlake on VINYL) because I can’t stop looking at it. When the power comes back on I’ll be dancing around all night.

If I put all my rampant teenage fangirl-ing aside, my other favorite release today is Purling Hiss’ Water on Mars. I’ve been blasting the album in my car all week and can’t wait until I can listen with the sun shining (no thanks to you, Chicago weather), and the windows down. You can preview the album and order it over at Drag City, so I’ll let you do that instead of trying to describe the sound to you with words. The video above is for “Mercury Retrograde,” one of my favorite tracks on the album, and Mike Polizze’s striped sweater in it is almost as great as the song.

Tune Town

I’m really into La Luz. Surfy girl group sounds from Seattle. This song is perfect for riding through the mountains on your motorcycle with your babe gang. Or doing laundry and dancing around your room. You can listen to their entire Damp Face EP on their bandcamp or get it on cassette from Burger Records and pop it in the tape player of your convertible.