Christmas time is here...

I'm supposed to be studying for my Art History final, write a nice paper analyzing the signs and symbols of a magazine ad and finish and print that lovely design project. As I was walking around today running errands or was it when I was in the lab hogging the scanner for that end of the semester photo CD?...anyhow I found this Belle & Sebastian song on my iPod. It's nice to slow down and realize it's that time of year. I've been so busy with school that I haven't time to even let the warm fuzzy feelings to sink in.

Though I've been listening to the reliable holiday spirit pick me up aka Sufjan Stevens Christmas songs box set, this B&S Christmas rendition does the trick too. It has an odd bit of a clip at the end that leads into another song, I've no idea what it is.

Anyways it's peaceful, subtle. It makes me think of Charlie Brown and Snoopy and hot chocolate and you know Christmas things. Wouldn't it be nice if the B&S team went around and caroled?
Just a thought.

Download:
Christmas Time Is Here | Belle & Sebastian

I'm back in Texas in six days.
You know we're real sorry we haven't been posting.
We do try, but we haven't exactly had time or found any bands that's worth mentioning.
Wow, that wasn't intended to sound mean.
We'll probably do a 2007 round up post.
monkey see, monkey do I guess.

a rambling list to hold you over:

Ólafur Arnalds:
a band's MySpace I keep going to whenever I'm online.
listen to "Fok".

Yann Orhan:
a photographer in France, his work is dreamlike/surreal.
click on portfolio.

playing "The Kiss", a Judee Sill song, a lot.
reading Nine Stories.
going through Autumn De Wilde's book on Elliott Smith.
reading the usual Time and Newsweek.
somehow have a sudden interest in reading about all the campaigning going on in Iowa right now?
smelling like darkroom chemicals all the time.
looking forward to Cat Power's covers record #2.
other than that, no one's releasing anything exciting too soon,
why is that?
missing texas.

also anyone out there recommend buying the buddha sound machine as a present?

~anne

André Kertész: The Polaroids @ Silverstein Photography

on view October 18 ~ November 24

Silverstein Photography
535 West 24 Street
New York, NY, 10011

***Think we'll start posting about the exhibits, galleries, photography/contemporary art type things happening in New York and San Francisco that we come across and fall in love with. If you know anything that's going on in these two cities that are photography-related and worth checking out, please let us know. I don't know if I want to comment in these posts, because they'll start to sound repetitive partly, because I haven't been to that many galleries to have the right to say anything, but really these posts are more for you and it's up to you to visit the gallery if you wish to see more of the photographer's work. If the photographer is still working, we may provide links + maybe the tiniest bit of info later on. Or leave a comment/email and tell us what you want to know. But right now let's just let the photographs do the talking. Thanks.***

~anne

3 minute entry: The Teenagers

The Teenagers are playing their last show tonight of their tour with Crystal Castles and These New Puritans sponsored by Vice magazine, who has given them free rein to stumble around England, Scotland and other 'lands' playing free shows with special DJ guests! The tour's called UNITAUR, but that's winding down tonight at Goldsmith College. So if you're around, just sign up here and have fun. They've got more tour dates after playing Festival Des Inrocks in their old city, Paris and going back home to London for a show at Se One with Gods Average Speed. Then the trio will be swinging through Brazil and gracing us with a slew of major US cities and two Canadian stops sandwiched in the middle.

I was first hooked by The Teenagers' remix of Au Revoir Simone's "Fallen Snow" last year and their debut full-length is on its way to the finish line just waiting to trip up your feet. Just to name a few, they've remixed Simian Mobile Disco, Lo Fi Fink, Air, New Young Pony Club, Chromeo, etc, you can hear almost all of their remixes at The Teenagers' Remix MySpace. They've only released a couple of their own songs, but each and every one of them is perfect, meticulously stroked, and labored over, tweaked to the glowing songs they are, into well...pure gold! Their latest single just came out and it's called "Starlett Johansson". It's available on Merok Records and if you're lucky you can still purchase their previous singles and the Homecoming EP from Rough Trade Records.

Mostly, their songs are about what every stereotypical hormone-clogged teenager thinks about and yeah they're a little foul-mouthed, but these three guys are not apologetic about it. They make music for music's sake, and these guys know what they're doing or rather they don't really know or care, because they're just playing music for pure fun and maybe that's better than trying to dig deep in this land of talk/hype.

Tour Dates:

11-10 London, UK - Goldsmith College (Vice UNITAUR)
11-11 Paris, FR - Boule Noire (Festival Des Inrocks)
12-08 London, UK - Se One
01-18 Sao Paulo, BR - TBA
01-19 Rio, BR - TBA
01-22 Los Angeles, CA - Echo
01-23 Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland
01-24 San Francisco, CA - 330 Ritch
01-26 Chicago, IL - Sonotheque
01-27 Toronto, ON - Social
01-29 Montreal, QC - TBA
01-30 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
01-31 New York, NY - Hiro Ballroom
02-01 Philadelphia, PA - Pure
02-02 Brooklyn, NY - Studio B

Stream + Download + Purchase:

Starlett Johansson | The Teenagers

Links:

» Purchase Starlett Johansson
» Purchase Other Releases
» The Teenagers Official Site
» The Teenagers' Official MySpace
» The Teenagers' Official Remixes MySpace
» The Teenagers' Official Blog
» The Teenagers' FanClub MySpace

~anne

Team Camera Crowd No. 4

About three months ago we said goodbye to our 3rd batch of photographers and began accepting applications for the new group. It took us awhile to unveil the new group because we were swamped with personal things and the fact that we extended the submission date. I know some of you guys haven't applied due to the traffic in our photoblog. Let's face it, we get more traffic for the music blog rather than the photoblog. But we're a small blog run by two people who don't want to spend the whole day infront of the computer, it's just tough. We're working our way to expanding the photography aspect of this site so that the traffic between the music blog and the photoblog will be balanced.

So without further ado, Anne and I want to introduce to you guys our new batch of photographers who's talented and emotive work will grace our photoblog for the next 3 months. For our last batch, we had two talented ladies and a guy. It's the opposite this time around, we have two talented guys gracing from Eastern U.S and one bright gal from Singapore. Congrats to them and please visit the photoblog every now and then let them know what you think of their work.

Take out the Party Punch from Oh No! Oh My! and let's go go go!


Alexander Bowman, from Greensboro, North Carolina



"I feel like my sense of design and knack for composition , gained from doing other artwork sets me apart from alot of other people. I feel like I can capture colors and moods fairly well, and I still have alot of room to improve."







Christopher Moore, from Westminster, Maryland


"The world is beautiful. People are beautiful. Even if things are not outwardly beautiful…decaying things, destroyed things, things of strife and sorrow…. We can take them in our minds and twirl and twist them with our cameras and our tools and we can take into account the aesthetic and the story and everything that makes this object more than just that and we make it a picture. It is because of this that I think art is the most powerful force of humanity. We change the world around us in six hundredths of a second."





Nurul, from Singapore

"I realize that I’ve begun to shoot with more seriousness. I look out for the messages inscribed in certain compositions I want to frame and emote. Plus, it’s nice to capture these little pockets of reality that is constantly fleeting. Photos help freeze them in thought and memory"









-Charlie and Anne

dear elliott,

I always listen to your cover of Beatles' "I'm Only Sleeping" first, you sound so happy. It's 2002, you're playing in Portland's Satyricon. Remember that's when you invited several people onstage to sing with you and one of the audience members onstage is so into harmonizing the song that you can't help but let out a chuckle while you're singing. There's also a part before that where you say "you gotta get closer to the mic" to a girl on the stage and she laughs. There's a sudden pause during the song, which you fill with a grin and, "oh shit, what's the next part?" When you finish the song and you tell the Portland crowd you have one song left and ask if they want a new or old song, there's silence and then an uproar. People shout their favorite songs and others tell you to play both, and by the time I realize the track ends, I'm listening to another live track which follows right after it on my iTunes.

It's you singing "King's Crossing" at the Henry Fonda Theater, it's January 2003. In the beginning of the recording, I let my mind imagine what it was like. You on the stage alone and a sea of faces all turned to you and you let out a shaky "Hi, how are you y'all?" I can make out some people shouting "We love you," and you return the same three words like you would to your friends in a teasing genuine way, and I can just make out that smile of yours I've seen so many times in photographs, and you follow it by a "thanks for coming..." but sometimes I can't make it through that track, it tears me apart, when you sing "because I took my own insides out", with the last word landing so harshly into the air before it echoes through the theater, how you sound so hurt and in pain.

I never really know what to do when this day makes its way to the front of the calendar, I just know I miss you and I can only hope you finally found happiness and I'll see you in heaven, that is if there is one and if there is one, you're sure to be in it.


Download + Donate:

» I'm Only Sleeping (02.19.2000 @ Satyricon, Portland) | Elliott Smith
» King's Crossing (01.31.2003 @ Henry Fonda Theater, Los Angeles) | Elliott Smith

~anne