honey honey food for the bees

Being a graphic designer myself, I am a HUGE fan of packaging and poster arts. Naturally, I am in particular interested in album packagings and concert posters or just music related posters. I was visiting All Things Feist today and there was a link to Simone Goes’s blog – the artist who is responsible for designing Feist’s The Reminder. Be sure to check that out… I especially like the four gorgeous promotional posters!

sing like you think no one's listening

Straylight Run will be releasing their sophomore album, The Needles The Space on June 19. You can stream their new track "Soon We’ll Be Living In The Future" [wicked-cool song] below:

Quicktime
Windows Media

For more information, go to Straylight Run's Official Website or their MySpace page.

...and they will be hitting the road shortly, so be sure to check Straylight Run out when they come to your area!

5/28 Phoenix, AZ – The Clubhouse
5/30 San Diego, CA - Soma
5/31 W. Hollywood, CA – House of Blues
6/1 San Luis Obispo, CA – Downtown Brew
6/2 San Francisco, CA – Slim’s
6/3 Reno, NV – The New Oasis
6/5 Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
6/6 Seattle, WA – Neumo’s
6/8 South Ogden, UT – Country Club Theatre
6/9 Denver, CO – Marquis Theatre
6/10 Lawrence, KS – The Bottleneck
6/12 St. Paul, MN – Station
6/13 Madison, WI – The Loft
6/14 Chicago, IL – Metro
6/15 Detroit, MI – St. Andrew’s Hall
6/16 Indianapolis, IN - Irving Theatre
6/17 Grand Rapids, MI – The Intersection
6/18 Louisville, KY – Headliner’s
6/19 Toledo, OH – Headliner’s / ALBUM RELEASE
6/21 Providence, RI – The Living Room
6/22 New York, NY – Irving Plaza
6/23 Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of the Living Arts
6/24 Washington, DC – Black Cat
6/25 Norfolk, VA - Norva

oh how he loved prison... how awfully lovely was prison

So apparently, Cocorosie sadly had to cancel the rest of their North American tour because they were arrested. There is no detail explanation concerning the arrest or if they will re-schedule... I guess we just have to keep our fingers crossed and wait.

Werewolf [wicked-cool song]

buy The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn here

we could go to the cinema, big effects and big name stars

Patrick Wolf will be on Late Night With Conan O'Brien on May 9!!! Watch it!!!

i took the pictures in my head

New Moon, a two disc compilation album by the late Elliott Smith is coming out this week via Kill Rock Stars. The compilation is a collection of b-sides, demos, outtakes, etc. recorded by Smith between 1994 and 1997. At first, I was excited to hear the announcement of this release; however, I later felt afraid to hear New Moon because I thought it would make me really sad. On the contrary, this is actually a gorgeous collection of songs that in a way, celebrates the incredible talent of Elliott Smith. Yes, at certain points, this new compilation depresses me, but for the most parts, it strangely makes me happy to hear Elliott Smith (in my opinion) during the best part of his career! New Moon is not just for diehard Elliott Smith fans, it can definitely act as a brilliant collection of songs to introduce Smith’s music to new listeners!

Looking Over My Shoulder [wicked-cool song]
Going Nowhere
Riot Coming
First Timer [wicked-cool song]

Georgia, Georgia
New Disaster [wicked-cool song]
Seen How Things Are Hard [wicked-cool song]
Either/Or [wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days

buy New Moon here

there's a charm that is greater still

I bought Björk’s much anticipated new album, Volta at a HMV in Sapporo a couple of days ago. I have listened to the ablum a handful of times now, and as I expected, it is fantastic!! The songs with Antony are just lovely!

Dull Flame of Desire [wicked-cool song]
My Juvenile [wicked-cool song]
I See Who You Are (Mark Bell Mix) [bonus track on Japanese import]
***all files expire in 7 days

ten miles i've walked today along the shore

Holy crap, so much had happened during my week in Sapporo, Japan. Patrick Wolf has came out of “retirement” and added US headlining dates, including one in Toronto (which I can’t go because I’ll still be in Japan)... in addition, all-new Patrick Wolf online store is now open for business.

Court in Jaipur issued a warrant to arrest Richard Gere for kissing Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty on the cheeks (seriously, this was ALL over the news in Japan!).

The Format will be announcing dates for the summer tour soon, as well as support. According to their MySpace blog post, there will be at least seven Canadian dates!!!!

New Beirut video for "Elephant Gun".



Lastly, I got like a hundred emails from people either asking me to listen to their music and post about them on my blog or re-upload songs onto my blog. Here are some of the posts that you’ve requested during my absent, enjoy!

Patrick Wolf vCasts and "The Marriage"
Old Joanna Newsom EPs
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who says there has to a beach to wear a bathing suit?

I went record/CD shopping in the Shinsaibashi/Namba area in Osaka the other day and bought the Japanese Version of The Freedom Spark by Larrikin Love. The thing is equipped with three excellent bonus tracks:

Cucumber [wicked-cool song]
A Little Peace In My Heart [wicked-cool song]
Dead, Long Dead [wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days

buy The Freedom Spark here

out this week

Another great week for buying albums:

The Twilight Sad: Fourteen Autumns And Fifteen Winters
Amazing! Amazing! Amazing! I still can’t get enough of this pure hearted album.

That Summer, At Home I Had Become The Invisible Boy [wicked-cool song]
Last Year's Rain Didn't Fall Quite So Hard [wicked-cool song]
I'm Taking The Train Home [wicked-cool song]

buy Fourteen Autumns And Fifteen Winters here


Dntel: Dumb Luck
Dumb Luck features a different vocal every track, it is simply the perfect mixture of minimal ambient/techno techniques with indie pop style!

Dumb Luck [super-wicked-cool song]
Roll On (feat. Jenny Lewis) [wicked-cool song]
Rock My Boat (feat. Mia Doi Todd) [wicked-cool song]
Breakfast In Bed (feat. Conor Oberst) [wicked-cool song]

buy Dumb Luck here


Feist: The Reminder
Most of the world is getting The Reminder this week while the poor people from North America have to wait till next week for this lovely and more poppy release than Let It Die. Without a doubt, Feist will only gain a even bigger fanbase with The Reminder.

The Water [wicked-cool song]
1 2 3 4 [wicked-cool song]
Intuition [wicked-cool song]

buy The Reminder here

***all files expire in 7 days

the saddest day of my life pt ii

Patrick posted this on the messageboard:

dear all...
I should never have read this.. I really shouldn't.
I dont think when I was 16 and dreamt of releasing records there would ever be so much crazy speculation about the person I am and that you want me to be. I have become so tired of this behaviour, sometimes I wake up and have to do six hours of interviews before doing a show, then go straight to bed to sleep a couple of hours to fly to a new country to be cross examined in the same way.. I dont know what is left of me sometimes, some mornings i dont know how i get on the flight or even open my mouth to sing that night. If I choose after working since the early hours of a day and then pouring my heart out for an hour and a half that I really have nothing left to give.. that I cannot be a fake politician and sign autographs for an hour.. does this make an asshole?
because my drummer was causing arguments within my road family, taking sedative drugs before an important show in a city i really love, so much so he could not play the music I wrote, the songs that I have survived on in the last six years... because I had to slap him to see if he was even CONSCIOUS on stage.... the fact that the only thing that got any reaction out his corpse happened to be made of metal.. because all of this.. does this make me seem like I was on cocaine, or on some power trip? I was pissed off because this was just one more musician or businessman taking my good nature and generosity for a ride... trust me, that moment onstage was the end of a long line of bad behaviour that it would unfair to go into in public. Yes I was drunk, but It was one oclock in the morning after seven hours of interviews.. i had been running on about four hours of sleep a night for about two weeks... such is the joy of promoting a record. Anyway, I was having FUN until that moment. So was the rest of my band until we realised my drummer was taking the piss out of all of us and our hard work. I dont work with liars and I dont work with thieves.

I dont want to have to share this information with you but so many seem so interested...

I have made a decision, my final concert will be this november, a retrospective with an orchestra in London. I am not sure wether there will be anymore public communications after that, Infact I am pretty sure there will be none. Of course, this has nothing to do with my drummer.. but a creative clock is ticking and I have many many projects to be creating with my time left on this earth. I hope to share my last shows with you this year.

I have enjoyed making and performing music for you all, I have enjoyed trying to give a little hope
and inspiration to the world. But I feel, especially when I read all this and I go about my days that I have failed.
Im not seeking sympathy or empathy, god, I have to go find something I love and am inspired by in this world again. Many of you will never know the amount of work and emotion that goes on behind the scenes for me and many of your other favourite artists or musicians and why should you? I wanted to give you disneyland.. I wanted to give you a world at the back of your wardrobe, now im just feel a fool for bothering.
I am in berlin today, i know I should never have read this, I dont know who any of you are, just strangers talking amongst themselves,
and I wish I was stronger minded today, but i have to take enough bullshit from other parts of the world for what I do and who I am without getting it from here.

Im going off for a walk now.. clear my heart and head. Thanks to all you with the intelligence to see past the superficial chaos of the media and the various ridiculous personalities and characters that have been painted around me over the years, the problem is, unfortunately many of you will never get to know the truth, but many will still speculate, and play chinese whispers with interviews and
opinions from the friend of a friend. This is nothing new to me, unfortunately, luckily I have always had a close set of dear friends that will always know me for who I really am, just as I do.

If I can give any advice, is, if anything, just listen to the music, watch the videos, read the lyrics, see the artwork, these are my communications, not others.

still love x patrick