Voxtrot,The Little Ones @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (10/14/07)

Sunday night, Voxtrot brought Texas to Williamsburg and what a wonderful and energetic show it was. Doesn't seem a little surgery prevents Ramesh or the band from putting on a freakin' fantasticsuperstellar, show not that I doubted them for one nanosecond, get better Ramesh! The Little Ones also put on a great set, with their sunny LA smiles and addictive melodies and shaking maracas. Both The Little Ones and Voxtrot will be playing CMJ showcases (Voxtrot is playing at BV's Bowery Ballroom show tonight and at 4PM they're playing a free all ages show with Jack Penate at Fontana's!), so make sure you check them out this week and for those who don't live in NY no worries, both bands will most likely be touring in a city near you, just check out their websites listed in links below. The setlist for Voxtrot's set is right after the photos and you can also view all of the photos from this show here.

Setlist:

Introduction
Kid Gloves
Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives
Your Biggest Fan
Ghost
Soft & Warm
Firecracker
Raised By Wolves
New Song
Brother In Conflict
The Start of Something

Download + Purchase:

Ghost | Voxtrot
Lovers Who Uncover | The Little Ones

Links:

» Voxtrot's Official Site
» Voxtrot's Official MySpace
» The Little Ones' Official Site
» The Little Ones' Official MySpace

~anne

PS. We will have a new kind of post that is a sort of follow-up to select show posts. They'll be titled Series: followed by the band name, date and location of the show. (this is what I'm talking about when I said 'special' Beirut post in the pass it on box) These are posts that will only have black and white and one day color photos that are taken by film cameras (not digital pretending to be b/w).

These may be posted as late as a month after the show has happened, since it takes time to process film, develop prints individually, scanned, uploaded, etc. I've been taking photos of shows with 35mm for awhile now, and I guess it's time to share some of them. Since I'm talking about it on this post, you've probably already figured out the second Series post is Voxtrot, but in case, it's a late night where you are, now you know.

Voxtrot @ The Proletariat, Houston (06/30/07)

Live reviews, shmive reviews...do I really have to describe how painstakingly amazing a Voxtrot show is? Though it wasn't a surprise to me since I've seen both bands live before, I do have to mention to you, oh fellow reader, how Brazos and Tacks, The Boy Disaster were the best opening bands I've seen for a long while...they are from Austin after all. Some photos, some links, some words below...

» More photos from the show.

Voxtrot's setlist:

Introduction
Kid Gloves
Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives
Your Biggest Fan
Soft & Warm
Raised By Wolves
Brother In Conflict
The Start of Something
Missing Pieces

Songs I wish were on the setlist, just pure 2AM blogger wishful thinking/fun:

Ghost
Steven
Every Day
Real Life Version
Blood Red Blood
Wrecking Force
Four Long Days
Dirty Version
This Is Not My Bloody War

To everyone who was rushed (rudely) out of the venue and didn't get a chance to buy their new merch, please order it online here at the Voxtrot store. More tour dates will be added, that means you Europe and select US cities. For now there is Pitchfork Festival & Siren Fest and two remaining dates for the Wrecking Force to road-trip to.

Word of advice: To the people who live in Austin or near it, you should all go to Belaire's CD release party at Emo's on July 6th, it's a foolproof fun show to attend. If this motivates you in any way, Jason Chronis and Matt Simon from Voxtrot are in the band!

Links:
» Voxtrot's Official Site
» Voxtrot's Official MySpace
» Order Voxtrot Merch
» Voxtrot on NPR
» Voxtrot + Sparrow House "Take-away Show" videos by La Blogothèque
» Brazos's Official MySpace
» Tacks, The Boy Disaster's Official MySpace
» Belaire's Official MySpace

~anne

Voxtrot @ KTRU benefit, Houston (04/28/07)

Last night, Voxtrot played a free show for the KTRU benefit at Houston's Rice Village Urban Outfitters. This is the second engagement of Free YR Radio's efforts to raise awareness and funds for noncommercial radio stations. The next benefit is for Seattle's KEXP with The Long Winters to play on May 1st. For more information on the next ten benefits, click here.

A line started growing outside Urban Outfitters an hour and a half prior to the 7:30 door time. I was impressed with how they had an actual stage for the band to play on, I originally thought it might just be in the center of the store and a free-for-all chaotic event. Though it's still a bit strange to be around clothes racks and dance to live music.

The set included a well-rounded range of new songs off their upcoming album and material from their old EPs. The setlist as best I remember included, "Raised By Wolves", "Kid Gloves", "Ghost", "Soft & Warm", "The Start Of Something", "Brother In Conflict", "Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives" and "Your Biggest Fan". Their new album is self-titled and will drop in stores on May 22nd, you can pre-order it at Insound here(Type in voxtrot to get 15% off). Urban Outfitters was filled up all the way with listeners, in fact during the set there was this guy who was crowd-surfing to Voxtrot. It was absolutely a fun show, everyone was dancing, clapping and singing along to the songs. For more photos from the show go here. For Houstonians, Voxtrot is coming back on June 30th at an all ages show at The Proletariat with fellow Austin band Tacks, The Boy Disaster.

Stream + Download + Purchase:

Kid Gloves| Voxtrot

Links:

>>> Free YR Radio's Official Site
<<< KTRU's Official Site
>>> Voxtrot's Official Site
<<< Pre-order Voxtrot's debut album
>>> Purchase Voxtrot's EPs
<<< More photos from Voxtrot's set

Our Related Links:

>>> Anticipate: Free YR Radio
<<< Singled Out: Kid Gloves by Voxtrot
>>> Anticipate: Voxtrot's Upcoming Summer Tour

~anne

Singled out: Kid Gloves by Voxtrot

∞

{Here is a new addition to the different types of regular posts we write here. You could say this song inspired this new type of regular post, to be honest we just really wanted to post about this song and then it seemed like a good idea to make it into something bigger than just a one-time post. There were a lot of songs that could've started this, "Heretics" by Andrew Bird, Arcade Fire's "Intervention", but it seems Voxtrot's a stronger incentive. Maybe we're trying to right some wrongs, but in the end it was this song that made this post happen.

Anyways, not all the songs we'll feature will be technical "singles" the name was just too good to pass up. But the mp3s of the songs featured have to be offered to the public from either the band's own site, MySpace, record label and/or their promotional company websites. These are the kind of songs that everyone will know the words to at a show and we hope you will learn them too.}

This is the first song offered by Voxtrot to preview their self-titled debut album slated for May 22nd. This isn't going to be the first single though, that's "Blood Red Blood", which will be available on May 14th on a download and a limited edition 7" for UK featuring the single with a b-side called "New Love & Loan Shark". Anyways, there are a lot of mixed feelings on "Kid Gloves" and here is our take on it...WE LOVE IT.

It starts out with a swift stroke of guitar and a dark atmosphere is unveiled by the hard as nails drumming, ominous background vocals "uh-uh" and a skittish xylophone that you'll hear repeated throughout parts of the song. Ramesh Srivistava's voice rings out and there's a sense of urgency with the stressed words and sharp intakes of breath; it comes off more like what Voxtrot sounds like live. When Ramesh is singing the instruments seem to distance themselves from the vocals. Instead of crowding up the song, there are long notes held down on the keyboard and occasional shimmering crashes of cymbals.

There are quite a few places where the song builds up, that job falls to the keys and the drums, both working together sharing the same rhythm. The "uh-uh"s come back with a cleaner layer with faraway drums and a soft quilt of guitar and bass-work. Then the fuller noise returns increasingly building up to a potential climax. There's a neat guitar solo fuzzing out paired with faint background "woooos". Just when you think the song ends, they build up one last time and by now Ramesh's voice can almost be considered a growl having increased with emotion as the song moved on.

For people who have been familiar with Voxtrot's previous material, this is drastically different. I think the closest song we can connect this to is "Missing Pieces" off of their first EP Raised By Wolves. From this song we feel they're moving away from The Smiths and definitely their Belle & Sebastian references now, but we'll see on the album in May. "Kid Gloves" has the bark and the bite, actually there is more of everything really. More instruments and much more going on in the song compared to their past songs. "Kid Gloves" will probably need to be allotted some time for it to grow on listeners, which may come across as alien for Voxtrot fans so use to falling immediately headoverheels. So fans suck it in and grow up, they did.

Stream + Download + More:

Kid Gloves| Voxtrot

Links:

>>> Voxtrot's Official Site
<<< Voxtrot's MySpace
>>> Purchase Voxtrot's EPs & other merch
<<< Read our post on Voxtrot's summer tour

~anne

SXSW: Day Two | 03/15

St. Vincent + The Octopus Project + Voxtrot

Wow, just came back from the Kork showcase mainly cheering on The Octopus Project and Voxtrot! It's three minutes away from 4AM, so I'll try and make this as short as I can. For anyone who might have gone to the Tonewheel Collective's show at Progress Coffee today from reading the post from yesterday night, I'm really sorry and I'm doing the best I can to double-check everything. Thank you so much for reading...okay here we go.

First off, not only were we turned away at shows/parties that did not mention it was RSVP or 21+ on their websites, we spent almost the entire half day going back and forth causing us to miss a key artist, Andrew Bird. But enough complaining, just make sure and double-check if the event needs RSVP or if it's invite only or it's 21+.

We ate breakfast at a neat place on W. 4th Street called Halcyon, the blue sign has a drawing of a couch! It has really nice seating, couches, sofas everywhere, but also big tables for larger groups and tables for two and higher level small round tables for people with laptops nursing a cup of coffee. The food and beverages aren't bad either and there is a wide variety, if you're a sweet tooth like me, their chocolate cake is heaven.

Anyways, we found ourselves at Jo's Coffee to see St. Vincent and also saw the band before them called The Missing Tapes. St. Vincent is from Dallas and is also one of the guitarists for The Polyphonic Spree, her solo stuff is definitely different from the Spree. Annie Clark has darker songs under her belt, just listen to "Paris Is Burning", "Your Lips Are Red" and "Bang Bang". She played a slew of new songs off her upcoming album releasing sometime in June, songs like "Bang Bang" and "Now Now" gives me shivers to think what the album will be like. She alternated between two mics, one regular and the other was this strange neat vintage sounding one. She stomps with one foot as makeshift drumming giving her set an attention-grabbing sound.

Now she'll be playing two events on Friday (today), first one is a 21+ event at Mohawk for the Hot Freaks!: Blogger Curated Music Experience hosted by some of the best music bloggers out there sharing a stage with Bishop Allen, Sea Wolf and many more! The second one is the Billions showcase at Antone's with My Brightest Diamond and more! After that she'll be getting ready for her wide-range April tour with John Vanderslice!

Download + Purchase:

Paris Is Burning | St. Vincent

Links:

>>> St. Vincent's Official Site
<<< St. Vincent's MySpace
>>> More info on Hot Freaks! show
<<< More info on Billions showcase
>>> Read more on St. Vincent with our three minute entry
<<< St. Vincent's blog
>>> See tour dates for her April tour with John Vanderslice!
>>> More photos of St. Vincent's set


We missed Andrew Bird's free show at Emo's by mere minutes! After going on a shopping spree at Waterloo Records to cheer us up, we speed walk-ed all the way back to Emo's to join a huge line for public tickets to the Kork showcase. Thankfully we got in and slowly made our way to the front of stage after each band finished their sets. The Octopus Project was incredible, the absolute genius of the band's use of keyboards, theremin, laptop, multiple keyboards, drum machines, samples, basic drums, guitar and bass shone like a beacon. They give electronic music a nice makeover glazing it with a bit of energetic rock vibes. They played a lot off their latest album, The House of Apples And Eyeballs and also of course the popular oldies "Music Is Happiness" and "The Adjustor".

Also they make their sets more unique by decorating the stage with cute ghosts made from white sheets over amps draped over Christmas lights and sometimes if you're lucky they'll have pinatas! Even if you don't know their songs, they are after all instrumental making the set more comfortable with strangers to The Octopus Project, all in all extremely fun and energetic!

They're playing at a 21+ venue called Elysium [ 705 Red River St. ] on Saturday the 17th with 65daysofstatic, Girl Talk and many more. For more info go here! After that they're traveling to Taiwan for the annual Spring Scream Festival! Also if you haven't gotten it yet grab the latest issue of the Austin Chronicle that has The Octopus Project on its cover, hint: it's purple.

Download + Purchase:

Lollipopsichord | The Octopus Project

Links:

>>> The Octopus Project's Official Site
<<< The Octopus Project's MySpace
>>> Purchase their new album, The House of Apples and Eyeballs!
<<< Info on their show at Elysium
>>> More photos of The Octopus Project's set


Sometime after 1AM, Voxtrot's set started and I think that the audience was amazing, it seemed like everyone was singing along to their songs and cheering like there was no tomorrow. They brought in the Tosca String Quartet, which is the same group that you've heard on the past EPs and will hear on the upcoming Voxtrot album due out on May 22nd. I really thought they were going to play "Sway", but nevertheless their set was amazing. I loved the new songs they played, "Kid Gloves", "Brother in Conflict", "Steven" and many more which I can't remember the names. Though I think "Steven" was written a long time before, maybe they touched it up a bit. I would do anything for them to include "This Is Not My Bloody War" on an EP or something tangible!

Anyways, they included old songs like "Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives", "Soft and Warm" and "Raised By Wolves". I think one more, due to my carelessness of forgetting my journal on the Emo's stage which has a concrete, fuller setlists of the bands I've seen so far and just a lot of past journal type writings/sketches. I'm going to go back and see if they didn't trash it, just in case anyone picked it up please be kind enough to leave a comment so I can get my journal back.

Also, Voxtrot will be having a listening party of their new self-titled album at the backroom of The Whisky Bar [ 303 W. 5th St. ] from 5PM~6PM this Friday(today), yes it is 21+. The only other show they will be playing until their summer tour is going to be in Mexico City at Pasageuro celebrating Ibero 90.9FM anniversary show on March 22nd. For what info I can find on this party, please go here. The anniversary show for 90.9FM was canceled, sorry guys!

Download + Purchase:

Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives | Voxtrot

{ Tip: if you want to buy their latest EP, Your Biggest Fan from InSound, go ahead and get 15% off just by typing in voxtrotdiscount!!! }

Links:

>>> Voxtrot's Official Site
<<< Voxtrot's MySpace
>>> Purchase any/all of their 3 EPs
<<< Read about Voxtrot's upcoming summer tour
>>> More info on the Ibero 90.9FM anniversary party
<<< More photos of Voxtrot's set

I am so elated that I got to see Voxtrot and we caught the 2:10AM bus just barely! Okay I will have more photos hopefully uploaded by tomorrow morning before I leave for Day three of SXSW. It is time to catch some sleep.

~anne

Anticipate: Voxtrot's upcoming tour and debut album!

{Photo by Rebecca Miller}

Finally! Go run around the house and kiss the ground and yell to the neighborhood that "Voxtrot is going on tour!" It seems too good to be true, Voxtrot is finally touring and will start off by playing overseas in Europe for most of this month and have two shows in Germany in early March, then it's flying back to Austin for South By Southwest! For all tour dates, please scroll down. {If anyone knows if Voxtrot is playing shows outside of the two SXSW showcases during that week, please let me know!}

When summer rolls around, they're going to headline a tour with Brooklyn's Au Revoir Simone, who will release their sophomore album, The Bird Of Music on May 1st, listen to some songs on their myspace!

Voxtrot will be starting this tour with a CD release party at Austin's Emo's on May 25th. Voxtrot's debut album produced by Victor Van Vugt (Nick Cave, PJ Harvey), still untitled will release worldwide on May 22nd on Beggars/Playlouder. Pitchfork has a nice interview up with singer/guitarist Ramesh Srivastava on the debut album. There will also be a UK-only limited edition 7-inch with "Trouble" and a download available on Feb. 26th.

Tour Dates:

02-21 London, UK - Rock Sound
02-22 Manchester, UK - Night And Day
02-24 Glasgow, SCT - The Hold w/Big Face 18+
02-25 London, UK - NME Awards (The Astoria) w/The Shins!
02-28 Paris, FR - La Fleche D'Or

03-02 Berlin, Germany - Mudd Club
03-02 Hamburg, Germany - Molotov
03-12 Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa (Austin Chronicle SXSW Film party PASSES ONLY)
03-14 Austin, TX - SXSW Beggars showcase (inside Emos) AA
03-15 Austin, TX - SXSW Kork showcase (outside Emos) AA

(touring w/Au Revoir Simone)
05-25 Austin, TX - Emo's (CD release) AA
05-29 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey AA
05-30 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall AA
06-01 Portland, OR - Doug Fir 21+
06-02 Seattle, WA - Crocodile 21+
06-05 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock AA (5pm)
06-06 Grand Rapids, MI - Intersection AA
06-07 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick AA
06-08 Toronto, ON - Sneaky Dees 19+
06-10 Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place
06-11 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom AA
06-12 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar AA
06-13 Washington, DC - Black Cat AA
06-14 Boston, MA - Middle East 18+
06-15 New York, NY - Webster Hall 18+
06-16 Philadelphia, PA - Pure (Making Time)21+

Download + Purchase:
{click on artist/band name to purchase!}

Your Biggest Fan | Voxtrot

Four Long Days | Voxtrot

Through The Backyards | Au Revoir Simone

Links:

>>> Voxtrot's Official Site
<<< Voxtrot's MySpace
>>> Pitchfork Interview w/Ramesh
>>> Au Revoir Simone's Official Site
<<< Au Revoir Simone's MySpace

~anne

Camera Crowd's Best of 2006

This year for music has been F-A-N-tastic: long-time favorites two-stepped back into the music world again. (look: Cat Power, Bob Dylan and Cat Stevens...) On the other hand, new favorites settled so quickly into our ears that we're almost scared to wonder if 2007 can top this year.

Okay, so we couldn't figure out who would get to write on these four albums, since we both loved them immensely and we mean immensely. To the point where Anne called dibs on all four of them, but realizing that wasn't exactly fair. We decided to rest assured that you knew who these four were and decided to not fistfight over googletalk about who gets to write about comeback Chan Marshall, Austin favorite indie pop Voxtrot, Jenny Lewis's first solo album or Voxtrot-keyboardist Jared Van Fleet's solo EP. Although it would be interesting to see how that would go over.

Camera Crowd's Picks
(Not in any order)

The Greatest Cat Power

Living Proof - Cat Power



Rabbit Fur Coat Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins

Rise Up with Fists - Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins




Falls Sparrow House

foxes (sighing like a furnace) - Sparrow House






Your Biggest Fan Voxtrot

Trouble - Voxtrot



Anne's Picks


Lightness Peter and the Wolf
Some bloggers have touched on Peter and the Wolf, but too few haven't even mentioned Red Hunter's first official release Lightness. This album revolves around Hunter's seemingly hundred-year old voice is full of wisdom and comes off as if its owner has traveled every corner of the world and sat down to tell stories, which is of course in the form of the songs. Ooooh along, listeners!

The Highway - Peter and the Wolf

Gulag Orkestra Beirut
A breath of fresh air and lifts the listener out of troubles and into the cobblestone European scenery. There is plenty to sing and dance along to and youngster Zach Condon is the tour guide around the place providing a warm golden trumpet sound to melt anyone's heart.


After the Curtain - Beirut

The Life Pursuit Belle and Sebastian
Hello, polished version of Belle and Sebastian. For longtime, B&S fans this may sound fatal and a sure sign of disappointment, but relax it only means a new direction for this catchy Scottish band. This album introduces Stuart Murdoch flexing his voice into new places making the listener think twice during "Sukie in the Graveyard" and double-checking it wasn't a David Bowie song lost in the mix. Lively electric guitar solos and in-the-gut drums rolls the album forward while hooking onto your pants to throw you in the passenger seat along for the ride into the new horizon.

Sukie In The Graveyard - Belle and Sebastian


Charlie's Picks

5:55 Charlotte Gainsbourg
Having influences from her world famous father Serge Gainsbourg, Charlotte easily infuses together a feeling of calmness and rush in this album. With help from the band electronic pop band Air, listening to Charlotte Gainsbourg's 5:55 is like going on a short drive while cars blur by and slowing down time, creating this tiny moment of peace.

5 55 - Charlotte Gainsbourg

Show Your Bones Yeah Yeah Yeahs
A lot of people I know counted out Show Your Bones because it brought out a totally different sound compared to Fever To Tell. This time around, Karen O and the gang provides us with a much softer sound, not the Yeah Yeah Yeahs we know. And was this a bad idea? Absolutely not! Give this album a couple of listens and it'll reveal the other side of YYY's we weren't familiar with. The softer side that still packs a powerful punch.

Cheated Hearts - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Ys Joanna Newsom
It's pronounced (ees) and it was on a lot of bloggers favourite list. Joanna Newsom and Ys lived up to the hype of many bloggers and critics. It's nothing but praise for this 55 minute beautifully painted canvas of music. I just hope, with 2007 right in the corner, bloggers and critics would focus more on her music rather than what she wears on her shows. I recommend getting into Milk-Eyed Mender first before getting your hands and ears on a copy of Ys.

Cosmia - Joanna Newsom


love, Team Camera Crowd
(Anne and Charlie)

Camera Crowd Holiday Buzzz

The big day is only four days away, I'm done with my shopping and you are too right? You know how we seriously love playlists here at the Camera Crowd, so we've come up with several Christmas songs to get you through the hordes of last minute shoppers and the number of unexpected paper cuts while wrapping those presents. With hundreds of shoppers buzzing around for last minute bargains, you're going to need something pleasant playing in your ears to avoid that holiday "buzz".

(If you already bought the Sufjan Stevens : Songs for Christmas box set, or you took time and entered our contest to win one like our reader Susan, then you are all set and ready!)

If you're low on cash and don't wanna resort to the all popular gift card, then check out the affordable gift ideas on our holiday gift guide below.

P.S: I included a song from a duo I discovered lately and they're really good, It's Snow Song from Habitat, expect more from them after the New Year.

1. Christmas is Coming - Vince Guaraldi Trio (Peanuts)
2. Sister Winter - Sufjan Stevens
3. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Coldplay
4. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Death Cab for Cutie
5. Jinglebell Rock - The Arcade Fire
6. Handjobs for the Holidays - Broken Social Scene
7. Christmas Cake - Rilo Kiley
8. Snow Song - Habitat
9. Warmest Part of The Winter - Voxtrot


~ Love, team Camera Crowd
(Anne and Charlie)

Camera Crowd Holiday Gift Guide

Christmas is only two weeks away and if you still don't know what to get your friends or what to do with that $10 bucks you have left, don't panic. Here at the Camera Crowd, we've come up with some neat gift ideas, ones that won't burn your wallet, a couple that will, and several that will go towards a good cause. Also just because we link to one store, does not mean you can't shop around. So if you let out a humbug at the price, shop around before that perfect gift is officially off your list.

Finally, sometimes the best gift you can give to someone isn't something tangible that you can get with a swipe of a credit card. Spend some money here and there, but most importantly spend time with the people you love. Cheesy yes, but this part is easily forgotten when people are agonizing over finding that "perfect gift".

Let's start off with some picks and a few random things we thought were cool.

Charlie's Picks:

CD's:

Voxtrot : Raised By Wolves
Your Biggest Fan just came out but Voxtrot's first EP, Raised By Wolves is by far my favourite out of all them. All five tracks are just loveable. If you're planning a 25 minute party for yourself anytime in the future, then this CD that started it all is a must.

Raised By Wolves - Voxtrot

Buy Me

Phoenix : It's Never Been Like That
This Parisian quartet can easily explode and be the next "it" band. I got a first taste of Phoenix two years ago after seeing Lost in Translation. They have a "perfect for radio" sound, so get to know Phoenix before the teeny boppers take over.

Long Distance Call - Phoenix

Buy Me


Oh No! Oh My! : Oh No! Oh My!
Another band from good ol' Austin. Oh No! Oh My! will have you singing, whistling, and head bobbing. Seriously! A bird outside my room tweeted along with the the tunes of "Walk In The Park." I had to stop the song cause it was just getting creepy.

I Have No Sister - Oh No! Oh My!

Buy Me



Dvd:

Amelie
You know I love my French flicks, and this is just one of them. Played by my favourite actress, Audrey Tautou, Amelie goes on a quirky mission to make everyone happy and at the same time chasing true love.
Buy Me



Jeux d'enfants ( Love me if you dare) English Title
It's another French movie, starring the beautiful Marion Cotillard. It started out as a harmless game between a boy and a girl, as time passed by, the dares get tougher and began torturing their lives. It's a crazy adventure from beginning to the twisty end.
Buy Me


The Simpsons on DVD (any season available right now; 1-9)
The Simpsons is by far my favourite sitcom out there. It's one of the longest sitcom still running up to this day, I remember seeing the first episodes of The Simpsons when I was around 8. Classic man, classic.
Buy Me



Anne's Picks

CD's:

Beirut: Gulag Orkestra
Hearing this, makes me feel like I'm walking down the cobblestone paths of Europe and a group of troubadours are playing on the sidewalk with every possible instrument you could imagine. You can't help but to have fun to sing, dance and clap along to.

Postcards From Italy | Beirut

Buy Me

Sparrow House: Falls [EP]
Sit back and take a breather this holiday to Sparrow House's soothing debut EP, you deserve it. To the lone guitar on "When I am Gone" and "Last Fall" to the a fuller lush sound of "You Sang Along" and "Blindfold Waltz", this is the cure to those bad days. Curious? Read our lengthier post on Sparrow House and Falls.

Foxes (sighing like a Furnace) | Sparrow House

Buy Me

Sufjan Stevens: Songs for Christmas [box set]

I hope you've heard about Sufjan's box set by now, if not you probably either live under a rock or just woke up from a coma. Aside from all of that, don't feel embarassed, but do treat yourself to the Christmas covers and new Christmas favorites that Sufjan Stevens presents in five volumes. Stream the whole thing here!

{We will have a post soon with more downloads and information on to learn how to win one!}

Put The Lights On The Tree | Sufjan Stevens

Buy Me

DVD's:

The Office: Season Two
Michael Scott, the "best boss in the world", is in charge of Dunder Mifflin, a paper company based in Scranton, PA. Although, this already sounds too dull to be a TV show, it really isn't, thanks to the power-hungry, though harmless Dwight and down-to-earth Jim who pulls pranks on him. Pam is the receptionist who assists Jim in the mischief of annoying Dwight to his wits. Through all that we have Michael Scott and his antics trying to make his employees think he is funny and a good boss. This is shot documentary style or some call it mockumentary and there are parts where you have a character who just talks to the camera. This is not slapstick humor, where someone gets hit with a wrench, this is subtle humor that lasts in the long run.

Buy Me


A Charlie Brown Christmas
There is nothing that beats this Christmas classic. It offers something to all ages. When I was younger I'd enjoy it for the animated characters and songs and now I also discover the subjects they touch on too: the question of whether consumerism has "consumed" us with the tin-colored Christmas trees. The lonely neglected tree that Charlie Brown brought to his friends. Make some hot chocolate and feel like a kid again.




Buy Me


Almost Famous
Possibly my favorite movie of all time. William Miller is a 15 year old outcast growing up under the wings of a protective mother gets thrust into the world of rock 'n' roll writing for Creem magazine and soon Rolling Stone magazine. The movie was based on the director, Cameron Crowe's own life as a teenager writing for Rolling Stone. This coming of age story will make you feel every emotion possible and will shuttle William and the viewer through the '70s when rock 'n' roll was on the edge of falling into the jaws of money machines.


Buy Me

Camera Crowd's Picks:



Holga
The cool thing about the Holga is that you don't have to be a great photographer and the pictures that will come out will look pretty amazing. This is for casual photographers and also a lot of seasoned photographers love it too. It's plastic and is easy to carry around, each with a neat color wheel to tint the photo if you'd like! Every Holga is different; light leaks and scratches enhance the individuality of every Holga. Learn more about Holga and just look at some of these!



Buy Me


Yellow Bird Project Tee Shirt
Get a name crossed off your list and help out, cool huh? Not only that but these tee shirts are designed by some of our favorite bands: Rilo Kiley, Stars, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Devendra Banhart and more! It's called the Yellow Bird Project and it's a nonprofit organization working to raise awareness of the charities and the bands that design the tees. The bands themselves choose which charity the money goes towards and all the shirts are printed on American Apparel.

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Filter Magazine Subscription
The gift that keeps on giving, well at least for one year. Give a magazine gift subscription, they may not be "wowed" on Christmas Day, but they will thank you for the rest of the 364 days when they don't have to go out and buy it themselves. Instead, it will just arrive in their mailbox all ready to read with the morning cereal. Also the Filter magazines that are bought in Barnes & Nobles and any other bookstores don't have the sampler that is included every issue for the subscribers and who does not want a nice mix CD once in awhile? For the people who like to keep up with music, movies and all good stuff like that.

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Poketo Wallet
Durable vinyl wallets that has unique designs on them that can fit in your pocket! They hold coins, bills and credit cards, the usual stuff is now organized in a neat two-fold wallet that the owner just can't stop showing it off.


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Flickr Pro account
For the avid photographers and also to the ones who don't want to resize every single photo they take to fit the 100mb limit. Unlike the limit of having only 200 photos uploaded onto a free Flickr account, people with pro-account has unlimited storage and no monthly limit. Also unlimited photosets, ad-free browsing, permanent archiving of all the photos you upload and the ability to replace a photo. Convinced yet?

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~Charlie and Anne (team cameracrowd)