It’s finally the last part of my year-end round-up of weekly mixes. The themes included here are: twee, female singer-songwriters, rock, literature, commiseration, numbers, post-punk, Manic Street Preachers, autumn, cover versions, Halloween, Germany, Remembrance Day/war, winter and Christmas.

Speechless With Tuesday – The Apartments

Friday, Saturday, Sunday – DJ Hell

Weekly Mix #77 – Revolt Into Childhood (Download)

Come Saturday – The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
Hit the Ground – The Darling Buds
Sensitive – The Field Mice
Au bord du soleil – Souvenir
Pushbutton Head – Strawberry Story
Crush the Flowers – The Wake
Kid Gloves – Voxtrot
The Instrumental – The June Brides
If You Find Yourself Caught in Love – Belle & Sebastian
The Subtle Art of How to Break a Heart – Blind Terry
Lemonade and Somersaults – The Icicles
Blue – Kicker
Talulah Gosh – Talulah Gosh
Stethoscope Sounds – Bedroom Eyes
Who’s In Your Dreams? – Strawberry Whiplash
Love is…1968 – Beaumont
To the Dancers in the Rain – Emilie Simon
Footloose and Fancy Free – Camera Obscura
Candy – El Perro Del Mar
One Blue Hill – Pale Saints
Breathe Into Me – Kind

Weekly Mix #78 – What’s a Girl To Do (Download)

Never Forget You – The Noisettes
Dance and Boogie – The Pipettes
In These Shoes? – Kirsty MacColl
Them Heavy People – Kate Bush
Listen Up! (MSTRKRFT Remix) – The Gossip
Girl – Robots in Disguise
My Delirium – Ladyhawke
The Ballad of Lucy Jordan – Marianne Faithfull
I Could Be Happy – Altered Images
Backstabber – The Dresden Dolls
Maps – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Blue Jeans – Ladytron
Glamour Girl – Chicks on Speed
On My Own Again – Bishi
Please Don’t Touch – Polly Scattergood
I Muse Aloud – Jane Siberry
Comme des enfants – Coeur de pirate
A Sister’s Social Agony – Camera Obscura
Prescilla – Bat For Lashes
The Hollow Men – Cocteau Twins
Into the Light – Siouxsie and the Banshees
Isobel – Bjork

Weekly Mix #79 – Rock ‘n Roll is Our Only Culture (Download)

Welcome to the Jungle – Guns ‘n Roses
Pink Flower – Daisy Chainsaw
You Shook Me All Night Long – AC/DC
Rock ‘n Roll All Nite – Kiss
Whole Lotta Love – Led Zeppelin
Woman – Wolfmother
Little Girl – Death From Above 1979
Everything’s Ruined – Faith No More
Slither – Velvet Revolver
Plug In Baby – Muse
Icky Thump – The White Stripes
My Generation – The Who
Jumpin’ Jack Flash – The Rolling Stones
You Really Got Me – The Kinks
Clash City Rockers – The Clash
Imperial Bodybags – Manic Street Preachers
Killer Queen – Queen
Seasons – Jeff Beck
Voodoo Child – Jimi Hendrix
Purple Rain – Prince

Weekly Mix #80 – Songbook (Download)

The Small Print – Muse (Reference: German Legend of Faust or Faustus)
Colony – Joy Division (Reference: Franz Kafka’s Penal Colony)
Charlotte Sometimes – The Cure (Reference: Penelope Farmer’s Charlotte Sometimes)
Don’t Box Me In – Stan Ridgeway and Stewart Copeland (Reference: S.E. Hinton’s Rumblefish)
Ichabod Crane – Momus (Reference: Washington Irving’s The Headless Horseman)
Narcissist – The Libertines (Reference: Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray)
Anne Carson – Archivist
Lucy – The Divine Comedy (Reference: William Wordsworth’s The Lucy Poems)
Trainspotting – Primal Scream (Reference: Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting)
Reel Around the Fountain – The Smiths (Reference: Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey)
Buttons – Kingfishers Catch Fire (Reference: Jim Murdoch’s “Cinders”)
The House That Jack Kerouac Built – The Go-Betweens
Billy Liar – The Crooner (Reference: Keith Waterhouse’s Billy Liar)
Oscar Wilde – Company of Thieves
The Sensual World – Kate Bush (Reference: James Joyce’s Ulysses)
Oedipus – Regina Spektor (Reference: Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex)
Like Straw Dogs – Vanilla Swingers (Reference: John Gray’s Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals)
Tea in the Sahara – The Police (Reference: Paul Bowles’ The Sheltering Sky)
Blake’s Jerusalem – Billy Bragg (Reference: William Blake’s Jerusalem)
So Said Kay – The Field Mice (Reference: Jane Rule’s Desert of the Heart)

Weekly Mix #81 – Everybody Hurts (Download)

Sit Down (Rough Trade Version) – James
Sometimes I Scare Children – The Kid
The Number One Song in Heaven – Sparks
Take On Me (Extended Mix) – a-ha
Bizarre Love Triangle – New Order
I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ – Scissor Sisters
Magic Game – Sliimy
This Charming Man (New York Vocal) – The Smiths
The Goodbye Girl – Pluto
Little By Little – The Wannadies
Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse – Of Montreal
Tear Garden – IAMX
The Night Starts Here – Stars
Half Way to Crazy – The Jesus & Mary Chain
Josef’s Gone – The June Bride
Higher Grounds – Cats On Fire
The Man Who Took On Love (And Won) – The Low Miffs and Malcolm Ross
If You Need Someone – Field Mice
No Tomorrow – The Boyfriends
Down the Dip – Aztec Camera

Weekly Mix #82 – Countdown (Download)

In-Joke For One – Fosca
Three and Nine – Roxy Music
Three Cheers For Our Side – Orange Juice
The Four Platitudes (A Bridge Song) – Parenthetical Girls
Eleven Executioners – Momus
Six Different Ways – The Cure
Seven – Fever Ray
Thirty Frames a Second – Simple Minds
Two Divided By Zero – Pet Shop Boys
Eight Flew Over, One Was Destroyed – Mew
Five Ten Fiftyfold – Cocteau Twins
One Thousand Reasons – The Sound
Twenty Four Hours – Joy Division
Sixteen Days – Modern English
Low Five – Sneaker Pimps
Thirteen Days – Sibrydion
Dozen Wicked Words – Longpigs
The Eighteenth Emergency – Butcher Boy
Anthems For a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl – Broken Social Scene
Ten Seconds to Midnight – The Divine Comedy

Weekly Mix #83 – A New Messthetic (Download)

Home is the Range – Comsat Angels
Complications – Killing Joke
A Song From Under the Floorboards – Magazine
Nostalgia (7″ Version) – The Chameleons
Words Fail Me – The Sound
Dark Companion – Tuxedomoon
It’s Her Factory – Gang of Four
Concrete Jungle – The Specials
This is Not a Love Song (Remix) – Public Image Ltd.
Twist Run Repulsion – Simple Minds
Messthetics – Scritti Politti
The Modern Dance – Pere Ubu
Dead Pop Stars – Altered Images
Playground Twist – Siouxsie & the Banshees
Only After Dark – Human League
Thorn of Crowns – Echo & the Bunnymen
Architecture and Morality – Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Strange – Wire
Variation of Scene – Josef K
New Dawn Fades – Joy Division

Weekly Mix #84 – This One’s For the Freaks (Download)

Dead Yankee Drawl – Manic Street Preachers (Horse and Groom, London – 20-09-89)
Methadone Pretty – Manic Street Preachers (Hull Adelphi – 17-05-91)
Crucifix Kiss – Manic Street Preachers (Hibernian Rooms, London – 13-08-91)
You Love Us – Manic Street Preachers (London Marquee – 04-09-91)
Democracy Coma – Manic Street Preachers (The Crypt, Middlesbrough – 07-02-92)
Born to End – Manic Street Preachers (Musik Café, Copenhagen – 10-04-92)
Motorcycle Emptiness – Manic Street Preachers (Eurockeenes, Belfort – 03-07-92)
Generation Terrorists – Manic Street Preachers (Oxford Zodiac – 02-02-91)
Little Baby Nothing – Manic Street Preachers (Northampton Roadmenders – 23-02-92)
Yourself – Manic Street Preachers (Southend Cliffs Pavillion – 07-07-93)
Roses in the Hospital – Manic Street Preachers (Milton Keynes – 19-08-93)
Yes – Manic Street Preachers (Paris Bataclan – 22-11-94)
PCP – Manic Street Preachers (Barcelona – 18-11-94)
Love’s Sweet Exile – Manic Street Preachers (Bangkok MBK Hall – 04-94)
From Despair to Where – Manic Street Preachers (The Hague Parkpop Festival, Holland – 21-08-94)
4st 7lbs – Manic Street Preachers (Nancy, France – 26-09-94)
IfWhiteAmericaToldTheTruthForOneDayIt’sWorldWouldFallApart – Manic Street Preachers (Astoria Theatre, London – 21-12-94)
No Surface All Feeling – Manic Street Preachers (Melbourne Big Day Out – 26-01-99)
Masses Against the Classes – Manic Street Preachers (Cardiff Coal Exchange – 08-03-01)
A Design For Life – Manic Street Preachers (XFM Winter Wonderland, Manchester – 11-12-07)

Weekly Mix #85 – For C + M (Download)

The Samurai in Autumn – Pet Shop Boys
We’re in a Thunderstorm – Gentleman Reg
Gone Like Summer – Strawberry Story
Theme to the Autumn Leaves – Autumn Leaves
Waiting For a Chance – Northern Portrait
September’s Not So Far Away – Field Mice
By the Light of a Magical Moon – Tyrannosaurus Rex
Climb a Tree – Jim Noir
Nothing Broke – Meursault
Apples and Pairs – Slow Club
Summer’s Gone – Sibrydion
Darwin’s Tree – Martin Carr
We Could Send Letters – Aztec Camera
Further to Fall – Trembling Blue Stars
Forests and Sands – Camera Obscura
No Excuses (The Autumn Cantata) – Air France
Road to Somewhere – Goldfrapp
Under the Folding Branches – The Veils
September – David Sylvian
Autumnal – Arab Strap

Weekly Mix #86 – Take Cover (Download)

Pop Goes the World – Hyperbubble (Original: Men Without Hats)
Together in Electric Dreams – The Voluntary Butler Scheme (Original: Phil Oakey and Giorgio Moroder)
With Every Heartbeat – The Rest (Original: Robyn)
Dream Attack – Kites With Lights (Original: New Order)
No Cars Go – vitaminsforyou (Original: The Arcade Fire)
Night Vision – The Twelves (Original: Daft Punk)
Primary – The Dandy Warhols (Original: The Cure)
100% – The Raveonettes (Original: Sonic Youth)
Like a Virgin – Teenage Fanclub (Original: Madonna)
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – The Killers (Original: Cyndi Lauper)
Womanizer – Sliimy (Original: Britney Spears)
Whole Lotta Love (Acoustic) – Prince (Original: Led Zeppelin)
Careless Whisper – The Gossip (Original: Wham)
When You Were Young – The Noisettes (Original: The Killers)
Isobel – Xiu Xiu (Original: Bjork)
Transmssion – Hot Chip (Original: Joy Division)
Down In It – Tiga (Original: Nine Inch Nails)
Love Song – The Big Pink (Original: The Cure)
Islands in the Stream – Feist and The Constantines (Original: Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers)
When Doves Cry – Brett Anderson (Original: Prince)

Weekly Mix #87 – Anglopunk’s Bloody Good Halloween Mix 2009 (Download)

This is Halloween – Danny Elfman
Ramalama (Bang Bang) – Roisin Murphy
Monster Mash – Bobby Pickett and the Crypt Kickers
Purple People Eater – Sheb Wooley
Clap For the Wolfman – The Guess Who
Kandy Korn – Captain Beefheart
Halloween Parade – Lou Reed
Abracadabra – Steve Miller Band
The Time Warp – The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Halloween – Siouxsie and the Banshees
Bela Lugosi’s Dead – Bauhaus
Release the Bats – The Birthday Party
I Put a Spell On You – Arthur Brown
Halloween – Sonic Youth
Don’t Fear the Reaper – Blue Oyster Cult
Halloween on the Barbary Coast – The Flaming Lips
I Was a Teenage Werewolf – The Cramps
Transylvanian Concubine – Rasputina
Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) – David Bowie
Date With a Vampyre – The Screaming Tribesmen
Do the Hippogriff – The Weird Sisters
Secret Vampires – bis
London Ghost Stories – Shirley Lee
Vampire Racecourse – The Sleepy Jackson
Waiting For the Wolves – Daisy Chainsaw
Faces & Masks – The Cherubs
Vampire Love – Ash
Frankenstein – New York Dolls
Halloween – Dead Kennedys
Feed My Frankenstein – Alice Cooper
Vampires Pt.II – The JeanMarie
Tales From the Crypt Theme
Hells Bells – AC/DC
Nanageddon – The Mighty Boosh
Dracula – Gorillaz
Halloween With Morrissey (Ouija Board) – Cheekyboy
Magic Dance – David Bowie
I Want Candy – Bow Wow Wow
My Vampire – Soho Dolls
Vampire – Paul St. Paul and the Apostles
Lust For a Vampyr – I Monster
For Halloween – No Kids
Ghost Town – The Specials
Ghostbusters – Ray Parker Jr.
Ghosts – Comateens
Thriller – Michael Jackson
Every Day is Halloween – Ministry
Batdance – Prince
The Addams Family Theme
Halloween – Japan
All Cats Are Grey – The Cure
Scare Me – Paul Haig
Skeletons – The Sound
Lycanthropy – Patrick Wolf
Dracula – Momus
Please Mr. Gravedigger – David Bowie
Graveyard – Public Image Ltd.
Vampires – Pet Shop Boys
Theme For a Witch – David R. Prangely and The Witches
Ghost – VNV Nation
Waking the Witch – Kate Bush
Bat’s Mouth – Bat For Lashes
They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhhh! – Sufjan Stevens
Hip Deep Family – The Tiger Lillies
Halloween Head – Ryan Adams
If I Only Were a Goth – Thoushaltnot

Weekly Mix #88 – Die Mauer Wird Fallen (Download)

Disco Fantasy – Mikrofisch
Hero – Neu!
Der Räuber und der Prinz – DAF
Pogo (The Horrors remix) – Digitalism
Jeffer (Modeselektor Remix) – Boys Noize
Yeah – Tiefschwarz
U Can Dance – DJ Hell
Showroom Dummies – Kraftwerk
Mother Sky (Pilooski Edit) – Can
Sweet Lies – Booka Shade
Nights Off – Siriusmo
Happy Go Lucky – Polarkreis 18
Tag für Tag – Xmal Deutschland
Tierlieb – Abwärts
The Twist (Live) – Klaus Nomi
Michail Michail (Gorbachev Rap) – Nina Hagen
Steh auf Berlin – Einstürzende Neubauten
Hauberg – Hauschka
Propeller 9 – The Notwist
Limelight – Apparat

Weekly Mix #89 – War Inc (Download)

The Intense Humming of Evil – Manic Street Preachers
An I For An I – IAMX
New Dress – Depeche Mode
He’d Send in the Army – Gang of Four
When Ya Get Drafted – Dead Kennedys
Melancholy Soliders – The Skids
Radio Free Europe (Original Hib-Tone Single) – R.E.M.
Missiles (BBC Session) – The Sound
U.S. Forces – Midnight Oil
Poppy Day – Siouxsie and the Banshees
Straight to Hell – The Clash
Man at C & A – The Specials
Bullet the Blue Sky – U2
Soldier’s Poem – Muse
Army Dreamers – Kate Bush
My Youngest Son Came Home – Billy Bragg
Shipbuilding – Elvis Costello & the Attractions
Universal Soldier – Donovan
Voir un ami pleurer – Jacques Brel
In Our Bedroom After the War – Stars

Weekly Mix #90 – Blow Thou Winter Wind (Download)

The First Time You Saw Snow – Shirley Lee
Winter – The Dodos
The Dead of Winter – Martin Carr
Walk Out to Winter – Aztec Camera
Red High Heels – Jane Siberry
Il Neige – France Gall
Snowfall Sorrow – Secret Shine
A Winter’s Sky – The Pipettes
December – Teenage Fanclub
Permafrost – Magazine
Snow – Pooma
Sit Down By the Fire – The Veils
It’s Snowing on the Moon – St. Christopher
Midnight Sun – David Sylvian
Snow Country – Paniyolo
You and My Winter – Snow in Mexico
Snow – The Trashcan Sinatras
Snowfalls in November – Julie Doiron
Peacock Dance – Matt Kanelos
Eisblume – Hauschka

Weekly Mix #91 – Better Than Mincemeat (Download)

Christmas Number One – The Black Arts
Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight) – The Ramones
Father Christmas – The Kinks
Countdown to Christmas – Glam Chops
Christmas in Killarney – Eugene McGuinness
We Three Kings – Reverend Horton Heat
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen – Bright Eyes
Little Drummer Boy – The Dandy Warhols
Christmas Wrapping – I Love Poland
I Was Born on Christmas Day – Saint Etienne
Away in a Manger – Hyperbubble
Christmas Reindeer – The Knife
Can You Hear What I Hear? – Bodies of Water
Frosty the Snowman – Cocteau Twins
Christmas Fire – The Deer Tracks
She Came Home For Christmas – Mew
Put the Lights on the Tree – Sufjan Stevens
Child’s Christmas in Wales – John Cale
Fairytale of New York – Stars
The Christmas Song – The Raveonettes
Christmas is Cancelled – The Long Blondes
A Christmas Duel – The Hives and Cyndi Lauper
White Christmas – The Pipettes
Sleigh Ride – The Ronettes
Baby, It’s Cold Outside – Tom Jones and Cerys Matthews
You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch – How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Spotlight on Christmas – Rufus Wainwright
It’s Christmas Time – Yo La Tengo
All I Want for Christmas – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Carol of the Bells – The Polyphonic Spree
December Will Be Magic Again – Kate Bush
Winter Wonderland – Goldfrapp
Christmas and Train Trips and Things – Trembling Blue Stars
It’s Xmas So We’ll Stop – Frightened Rabbit
Merry Christmas (I Love You) – Hawksley Workman
Listening to Otis Redding At Home During Christmas – Okkervil River
Last Christmas – Manic Street Preachers
Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy – Bing Crosby and David Bowie
Christmas Song – Mogwai
Douce Nuit – IAMX
Are You Burning, Little Candle? – Jane Siberry
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence – Ryuichi Sakamoto
Remember (Christmas) – Harry Nilsson
There Are Much Worse Things to Believe In – Stephen Colbert and Elvis Costello
Christmas on Earth – Momus
The Christmas Wish – Kermit the Frog

And so ends a year marked by my little weekly mixtapes. A year marked by the death of the “King of Pop” and hopefully the death of Oasis; the return of Blur to the stage and the return of the Manics to North America; the rise of Susan Boyle and the eventual incarceration of Phil Spector. The last weekly mix for this year will be for New Year’s Eve – last year’s mix can be found here. We’ll also see if I can manage a best of the decade post before the new year.

Midst my stumbling and bumbling across the grid last night, post-horrendous-passing out-type hemiplegic migraine, I found these cutesies that lifted my spirits, so here you go, they may lift yours too!

Endless Cycle from Twee

Berry nice colours

Credits

Clothing from Twee – fatpack is excellent value!

Skin: Lucy from Ugly Duck

Hair: Alex II from Maitreya

Shoes: Mina and C.Edo from Truth – you did know he makes other yummy stuff too?

Site

Pre-order

I was so excited when I found out this leaked the other night. Los Campesinos! is a British indie-pop band with influences of twee. They are like a non-stop action fun party with sometimes sad lyrics, but still totally upbeat, yeah! It’s cutesy music for cutesy people such as yourself, and probably going to be one of the best albums of 2010, so you should download.

Haaaj!! I’ve had quite the busy weekend…and haven’t been around to spread some love *cries* and it’s raining outside, and temperatures have gone way down, I’m freezing. I should stop complaining and just shush it. Oh right, happiness!…vacays starting soon..I miss you christmas vacations, hurry up!! <3 Uma

Worn :

Hair – ‘Nimue . Bistre’ (new) by Maitreya

Skin – ‘Elf – Light [Petal]‘ by Curio/Gala Phoenix (group gift)

Hair accessory – ‘Kawaii polka ribbon’ by [Detour]

Choker – ‘Cameo Choker’ Dark/Silver’ by L&E

Shirt – ‘Guppi (white)’ (part of dress) by [twee]

Underpants (part of white tank top) by Camie Cooper

Vest – ‘Tomomo Loose Vest [DARKDEPTHS]‘ by !Oh

Belt – ‘Cropped pants belt’ by *COCO*

Pants – ‘Draped pants – black’ by (Madsy)

Shoes – ‘Dolled up – black’ by [ATOMIC]

Gloves – ‘Half gloves in fuschia’ by Royal Blue

Matt, who has since relocated to Bloomington, Indiana (we miss you!), recorded a band practice of ours last November. You can download several tracks over at Matt’s new blog, Lo-Fi Showcase. Technically speaking, things stayed true to a low fidelity format, as he used an LG PC microphone “haphazardly shoved into a carpet, in the ceiling … using audacity and a lot of moxy.” It sounds surprisingly loose and unpolished. And good.

It’s also worth noting that these are a last, accurate representation of several tracks that either a) won’t be played again or b) will be reworked in accordance with our new lineup. So throw it in your TP archive (as if anyone has one of those aside from Matt and me).

Here’s a link: http://lofishowcase.wordpress.com.

Anyway, it’s almost time for practice, so I’d better put away the old MacBook. Check back soon for more posts and an exposé on the snowfort Kacynna is building in front of our Omaha abode.

-will

Hello folks, it’s that time again. I figured it was time to do something super random and post a lo-fi band practice recording from my band Thunder Power. This is only acceptable because I am taking an indefinite hiatus from the band. If I were still in the band, I would expect you all to sucker punch me, in the bread basket, over and over again. The tracks included in this release are as follows:

1. Take A Hike
2. Imaginary Rules
3. Casanova
4. Home Office
5. Blood Water
6. Heartifact
7. Lucky To Be Alive

This was recorded with an LG PC Microphone, haphazardly shoved into a carpet, in the ceiling of our practice space in Omaha using audacity and a lot of moxy. You can download it here.

Love and Panthers,

Lo-Fi Showcase

Hotbox.

With his latest film, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson seems to have stumbled upon something truly revelatory in his career: The man was born to make movies using stop-motion animation. Anderson is a man obsessed with minutiae, the tiny details in a film that might seem trifling or inconsequential when looked at in a vacuum but actually help to elevate a movie and make the story that it intends to tell that much more palatable. It is an obsession that has come up in his oeuvre previously, from Rushmore to 2007’s Darjeeling Limited. In those live-action films, that particular proclivity was something extra; in Fox, it practically feels necessary. Those tiny nuggets of information about the world that Fox (George Clooney) and his family and friends inhabit are invaluable to bringing that world to life, from an “unaccompanied minor” tag to whack bat (the film’s baseball/cricket equivalent) trophies.

The film, in part, rides on that slavish attention to detail. Anderson, some of you may have read, required his crew to employ a retro approach to creating the world of Fantastic Mr. Fox. Real animal fur was used. Everything you see in the film was captured in-shot, meaning no computers were used to manipulate the film. (Yes, even stop-motion films use computer technology as a tool.) I think sometimes people forget that film is a collaborative effort, and Fox may be one of those rare films that has the power to remind people that it takes more than just a director sitting in his chair*, yelling at actors, to get a movie made. As much as Anderson deserves immense praise for his meticulous, precise vision of what his adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book should look like, the fine people working at Three Mills Studios deserve as much praise for bringing that vision to life.  (If not more; Anderson gallivanted around Paris while the crew toiled for a year in the studio. It’s his movie, but ultimately the fruit of their labor.)

Fantastic Mr. Fox’s world is beautifully detailed and realized; the retro style of the animation makes the film feel dated in a way that only enhances its palatability. A slick, glossier update of the almost 4 decades old story would have robbed the resultant film of the pleasure of its aesthetic graces. Instead, the film’s low-tech sensibilities lend it a natural charm unhindered by modern technology. The departure from using computers as a tool– even for minor aid– is incredibly refreshing, and should show fans of animation what artists and craftsfolk can do without relying on modern technology.

How have I gotten 400 words and change in without actually talking about the story itself? All of the artistry on display would be worth nothing if the film’s narrative turned out to be lifeless. Fantastic Mr. Fox, as you might guess, is about Mr. Fox (voiced by George Clooney), a once-upon-a-time thief of livestock who gives up his ways to raise a family with Felicity (Meryl Streep). When Fox goes through a mid-life crisis, he purloins a bounty of loot from three local farmers, Boggis, Bunce, and Bean; when they take their revenge, he bands together his fellow countryside critters to fight back against the wicked agriculturalists. And of course dispersed throughout are the many themes common to Anderson’s cinema, from children with daddy issues to the portrayal of a deteriorating family.

Whimsy is a traditional component of Anderson’s films, and it works as often as it does not in his live-action films, where those elements can come off as forced. Put more simply, quirks are imposed on the people and the world of the film for the sake of adding quirkiness, and nothing more. However, if the human actors are stripped away, lending only their voices, and if the live-action world and sets are traded in for stop-motion animation, all such peculiarities add to the fantasy of the cinematic world instead of acting as a burden. If anything that alone should prove that stop-motion is the ideal medium for Anderson: In such an animated fantasy world, he is much more free to employ his imagination without risking saturating his film with unbearable levels of “twee”.

But I’m getting away from the story again. Maybe what’s more impressive to me than anything else about Fox is how Anderson has finally chosen a medium for telling his stories that works, totally and completely, in tandem with his director’s propensities. That says much  more about me and my relationship with Anderson’s cinema than it does about the actual film. Aside from being the film that best showcases Anderson’s point of view as a director, it is also, put simply, the best story he  has told since 2001’s Royal Tenenbaums. Fantastic Mr. Fox follows in the footsteps of Pixar’s recent films, such as Up and Wall-E, in that it works as an animated movie for both adults and children. There’s a delightful and rampant silliness running through the entire film, but what else should be said about a movie that features Michael Gambon reprimanding one of his character’s subordinates for bad song-writing and replaces all foul language with “cuss”? None of these elements are underwritten to appeal only to children, or overwritten to please adults; they simply exist and we choose whether to accept them or not. I said this earlier but it’s a matter of the elements that make up the parts of the sum feeling, if you’ll excuse the word, natural and not forced. We might have a hard time accepting, for example, whack-bat, but this is so much a normal part of the world the characters inhabit that acceptance should come easily.

The voice acting here is uniformly excellent, and in an ensemble cast such as this it’s rare that each actor is memorable no matter how big or small their role. But each voice manages to make an impression, from Owen Wilson’s whack bat coach to Willem Dafoe’s turncoat rat, who works security for the three farmers. Clooney leads the pack as the eponymous canid, oozing charisma as he appears to channel Danny Ocean (you could almost consider Fox to be a stop-motion animated play on Ocean’s 11), though he is very nearly upstaged by Jason Schwartzman, playing his “different” son, Ash, who has a major chip on his shoulder regarding his attention seeking father. Streep provides a quiet and nevertheless powerful backbone to the film as Fox’s wife and voice of reason, giving her depth and wisdom as well as immense reserves of strength. Gambon’s villainous Bean, exuding malice, also nearly manages to steal the show with some incredible one-liners, though he never at any point loses sight of his character’s cruelty. The supporting cast does an impressive job rounding out the rest of the vocal talent, from Bill Murray’s suit-wearing badger to Dafoe’s switchblade-wielding rat; it’s hard to pick a real favorite out of the bunch because each performance so perfectly captures its intent.

Fantastic Mr. Fox is, for Anderson, a real triumph. Certainly it is one of the best films of the year, but more importantly it is probably Anderson’s best film period. Here, I think Anderson has really found the perfect technique for telling the stories that he loves to tell, and I can only hope that he is given the chance to try his hand at stop-motion again in the future. Put more simply this is an incredible fantasy animation for adults and children alike, and the kind of world that I would be happy to revisit again and again.

*Or schmoozing in Paris.

Try: Rapidshare

Buy: Amazon

Review

(Note: Due to the sheer number of submissions we receive there is no way we can give each and every album the attention (and word count) they deserve, but we can devote time to at least one song from each. So we started this feature to give worthy bands, and their music a spot to shine. We hope this helps you discover new and exciting acts, and as always if you enjoy the music please make an attempt to support the artist by either attending a show, or buying a record.)

It’s a widely-accepted fact: Myspace is dead. I keep threatening to delete my account, mainly because my friends are all on Facebook and I’m sick of getting messages and friend requests from creepy men. But every now and then a band or a record label sends me a request and I decide to stick  with Myspace for a bit longer.

For instance, I decided to do my semi-monthly Myspace check last week and found a request from Series Two Records (a label I’ll write more about  in the future). I don’t know why I chose their profile out of a plethora of others, but it was a smart decision. The Nebraska label, which releases CD-R’s from musicians all over the world, is a goldmine for fabulous indie pop (read: it’s twee at its finest). So far I have heard songs from eight of their bands and there’s not a mediocre one among them.

One of my favorite Series Two bands is My Autumn Sons. Like the majority of the bands on the label, My Autumn Sons hail from Sweden. Their music sounds like it’s straight out of the late 80s “indie” scene, when the term was first coined. “Plain” is my top pick from their debut album, Perfect.

My Autumn Sons- Plain

Verdict: The combination of the upbeat music and infectious hook with doleful lyrics about a broken relationship makes for a deliciously bittersweet song. And Anna Ödlund’s voice is divine. If I controlled the music industry, “Plain” would be a hit single.

This is gloriously twinkly, you could do a lot worse than download it in time for Christmas.

1. Coka, I’m Fine

2. 在動物園散步才是正經事

3. Victor, Fly Me to Stafford

4. Edward, Had You Ever Thought That the End of the World Would Come on 20.9.01?

5. 柯德莉，關於風景

6. My Little Banana

7. Josephine’s Shop

8. 王菲，關於你的眉

9. You Don’t Wanna Be My Girlfriend, Phoebe

10. Dee, It May All End Tomorrow

El debut en 2004 de la banda hongkonesa de P y Nicole, The OK Thing to Do On Sunday Afternoon Is to Toddle in the Zoo, probablemente sea una maravilla para cualquier amante del twee pop (ese pop con toques infantiles con su propia legión de fans), pero tiene algo más que twee, algo que permite disfrutarlo aun sin ser un adorador del género.

Al contrario que su título, este es un disco muy corto (21 minutos y medio), a medio camino entre el LP y el EP (de hecho, en cuanto a duración hay EPs más largos, pero su concepto es el de un álbum), con 10 canciones que alternan el inglés (la mayoría) y el chino, cantadas por Nicole, cuya voz tiene momentos realmente acertados, como en Edward, Had You Ever Thought…, pero que en general no destaca a favor del disco, seguramente porque no es capaz de aprovechar los cambios de ritmo que puede provocar una voz monótona como la suya.

Pero lo interesante de The OK Thing es la instrumentación, compuesta en su mayoría por P (Lam Pang). La parte rítmica se inspira en los ritmos de los teclados Casiotone, con un frenetismo único como en My Little Banana, o saliendo directamente de los propios (y míticos) teclados de Casio, como en Josephine’s Shop o Coka I’m Fine, tema que abre el disco y que seguramente sea una de sus mejores canciones.

En todas y cada una de las canciones del disco hay algún detalle interesante, como los comentados ritmos, el oscilador utilizado en 在動物園散步才是正經事 o el acordeón de Edward, Had You Ever Thought…

Uno de los aciertos del disco es su corta duración, que no juega en su contra como ocurre en la mayoría de EPs. Al terminar el disco no te queda la sensación de haber escuchado una obra incompleta, sino un álbum proporcionado. Las 10 canciones del disco tienen su propia personalidad, conjuntadas por máximas comunes, donde en no más de 2 minutos (e incluso menos), My Little Airport explota al máximo las posibilidades de cada idea, evitando el ansia de algunos conjuntos de pop en alargar al extremo sus temas, repitiéndose una y otra vez para no aportar nada a la sensación del oyente.

The OK Thing to Do on Sunday Afternoon Is to Toddle in the Zoo es especialmente recomendable para quienes disfrutan el twee pop o las estravagancias que han ido llegando durante esta década del este asiático, pero tiene cualidades de sobra para que cualquiera pueda apreciar su escucha, y dado que sólo dura 20 minutos es difícil considerarlo una pérdida de tiempo.

Afternoon Naps es una banda afincada en Cleveland, Ohio, en los Estados Unidos, la banda se formo en el año 2006 y esta compuesto por 6 buenos amigos, su música nota influencia de bandas como the smiths, beach boys, teenage fanclub, the turtles, the wedding present, y alguna otra mas que me estaré olvidando seguramente, su música es una especie de twee pop, o el indie pop mas dulzón, inspirado mas que nada por the smiths, a pesar de todas las otras bandas nombradas. su único álbum hasta el momento se llama Parade, y salio hace unos meses, en este 2009, disfrútenlo por que  a pesar de tener muy poca fama, el álbum esta muy bueno…

AFTERNOON NAPS – PARADE(2009)

COMENTAR NO CUESTA NADA MAS QUE TIEMPO!!!COMENTEN!!!

Myspace

Buy (for cheap)

A short but sweet EP from a band that should be more popular than they are. It’s pretty much twee/indie-pop but they do have a little surf influence in there. Total west coast feelings, dudes!

Partej:

Pop Crash League - twee, indiepop, rock

au Citron/20 rue St Georges/Lyon

Entrée Libre!

Myspace/Buy

I would normally say here’s some more cute, lo-fi uke-pop for you all, but this bitch got ‘tude. Well, o.k., Jellybean! is soft-spoken, and cute twee-pop but she covers gangsta rap songs ukulele style. Damn, that’s thuggin’. Anyways, download this if you’re into twee….or gangsta rap.

It’s hard to think that it’s coming close to two years since Vampire Weekend found their way to everyone’s iPod with their self-titled début.  They have very recently released their newest music video for the song “Cousins.” The four members once again bring their signature twee-pop into their new material.  The single is very reminiscent of A-Punk, and while the video is nothing too spectacular, the song is fun and catchy as hell.

Vampire Weekend’s Contra is expected to be available January 10th of 2010.

P.S.  Looks like my video died.  You can still watch the new video here http://www.aceshowbiz.com/video/download/00010866/

The lovely pictures are compliments of the amazing Melatonin Hax. Go check out Butterdish! It’s an awesome sim with tonnes of wheat and so I love it.

On Hallie:

Skin:  [PF] Skye <Chai> Beestung
Eyes:  Tres Blah – Brown Eyes
Hair:  Truth – Ann – Chocolate
Sweater:  KiiTos – Long Knit Gown – Black
Shirt:   BP* bottan shirts/black
Skirt:  YFT – white skirt
Socks:  BP*socks/stripe/black
Boots:  Beetle Bones – Snuggies low boots – black
Poses: SMS

On Mel:

Tights: Thimbles – Lucy is a big girl now – Red
Dress: !tb – mod dress (black)
Hair: (Miriel) Gibson Girl Hair – Chocolate
Shoes:
..::A.Y.Y::.. Party Time Chucks – Right (Red)
..::A.Y.Y::.. Party Time Chucks – Left (Sky Blue)
Skin: [ROCKBERRY] Character skin SASHA frx TINT

On Trev:

Hair: Alex AB by MADesigns Hair
Glasses: Vintage Glasses 1 by Twee
Skin: Mathieu med 0-E by Belleza
Jacket: Jacket Brown by Cat’s Eye
Shirt: Cornflower Oxford Shirt by Schadenfreude
Pants: Boyd Dress Trousers Tobacco by Whippet and Buck
Boots: Industria Work Books by TRUTH

afternoon naps : bubblegum 45

afternoon naps : mitten fingers

Προσωπικά αποφεύγω τον απογευματινό ύπνο σαν το διάολο το λιβάνι. Ξυπνάω με κατάθλιψη, κυρίως το χειμώνα. Ίσως μου έχει μείνει τραύμα από τα παιδικά μου όταν ήταν υποχρεωτικός ο μεσημεριανός σκασμός γιατί έπρεπε να κοιμηθούν οι μεγάλοι. Ποοολύ καλύτερη η πνευματική σιέστα με κάτι παλιό, ελαφρύ, γλυκίζον και ευφορικό όπως τα καραμελωμένα των afternoon naps (αυτό κι αν είναι όνομα!) από το Κλήβελαντ. Ποπ του ‘60, twee, αφέλεια και νοσταλγία για τα παιδιά που μεγάλωσαν με Felt, Smiths και…Left Banke. Υπέροχοι!

So, I have received a unanimous, permanent ban from posting Get Up Kids album for the next while, so here’s something different. Seeing the Faux Pas album Max posted a few days ago got me to thinking about this band, Eux Autres. I’ve had their album for a while, and used to listen to it quite regularly, but it kind of fell on the wayside, unfortunately. I’m not really sure how that happened, because this album is actually quite good. 1/3 indie pop, 1/3 being French, and 1/3 handclaps, Hell is Eux Autres is definitely a fun, catchy band. Even though the brother/sister duo is based out of Oregon, a fair amount of the songs are either sung entirely in French or partly in French. The siblings switch vocal duties multiple times over the course of a song, all while keeping the drum beats and guitar riffs tight. The handclaps are also spread everywhere around the album without being overbearing or annoying. Basically, this is a solid indie pop/modern twee album that is definitely worth checking out if you’re into that type of stuff.

MySpace/Buy

-McKenna

Hace un tiempo había dicho que si hay un lugar en los Estados Unidos que me gusta por lo que aporta musicalmente, ese lugar es Brooklyn, y cada vez lo reafirmo mas por que hoy les voy a hablar de “Boy Crisis”, que es una banda justamente proveniente de Brooklyn, formada en el año 2007, la banda esta tratando de resolver que nombre ponerle a su álbum debut ya que se iba a llamar “Tulipomania” y recibieron una demanda departe de una banda con ese nombre, entonces lo cancelaron, y a partir de ahí ellos mismos se han hecho los chistosos en su myspace, ya que generalmente por su música son comparados con MGMT, dijeron en su pagina que su disco se podría llamar “Oracular Spectacular 2″, ya después de todo esto parece ser que el álbum va a ser auto titulado ya que dijeron en su myspace “álbum auto titulado? a quien le importa”. Y ya hablando de lo musical, si su música tiene ciertos parecidos a MGMT, aunque a veces no se parece tanto, su música se podría definir como Electropop, o Synthpop, o New Rave, como mejor les parezca, mejor queda, decidan lo ustedes mismos, al igual que el nombre del disco, jaja(ah por cierto si no se dan cuenta el director del vídeo de estos chicos es el mismo que el de “Time To Pretend” bastante raros y buenos los 2)…

Tracklist:
01 The Fountain Of Youth
02 Dressed To Digress
03 Strawberries
04 Sex And Violence
05 Bohemiam Grove
06 L’Homme
07 To Be Nasty
08 Give Me All Your Friends
09 Ganglion of Lightnings
10 Indian Summer

BOY CRISIS – EX TULIPOMANIA(2009)

COMENTAR NO CUESTA NADA MAS QUE TIEMPO!!!COMENTEN!!!

]]> http://zingzangzung.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/960/ Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:17:20 +0000 zyma caffarelli http://zingzangzung.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/960/

::ZinGZanGZunG presents::

hab´ ich eigentlich schon einmal erzählt dass ich ein grosser fan aller erdtöne bin? von braun über beige bis zu warmen grautönen – hach, wie ich diese tonalitäten liebe. letztes wochenende starteten ein paar designer den WEEKEND-FEVER-EVENT (siehe älteren post). genau richtig für mich, da das motto die farbe “braun” war. soll heissen, in allen teilnehmenden shops gab es was braunes für nur 50LINDEN. herrliche angelegenheit zum teil bin ich wirklich begeistert gewesen und hab ohne lange nachzudenken, zugeschlagen. wie beispielsweise die kette auf dem unteren bild. nichts desto trotz, nahm ich die gelegenheit war und nach einer ausgiebigen tour durch mein inventar, hier das erdtonlastige ergebnis

• skin: League
• haare/hair: UncleWeb
• kette: LaGyo
• shirt: !IMPOSSIBLE
• jacke/jacket: (twee)
• leggins: Dutch Touch
• hüfttuch/waist scroll: Ce Cubic
• boots: Truth (GROUPGIFT)

und hier mal wieder was aus meiner photoshopkiste…ich kanns halt nicht lassen, sorry

The Elephants es una banda oriunda de Copenhague, Dinamarca formada en el año 2006 por 4 amigos  llamados Bjarke Bendtsen, Martine Madsen, Mads Ringblom, y Kim Vestergaard. A mi siempre se me hace que hay bandas que definen un estilo como por ejemplo, arctic monkeys define al indie rock, interpol define al post punk, y así varios mas,(aunque siempre en su música tengan otros estilos como por ejemplo arctic monkeys tiene garage y psicodelia) y por lo menos para mi “The Elephants” es una banda que podría definir muy bien lo que hoy en día se llama “Indie Pop”, por que su música es simple pop, sin pretensiones, dulce, y melancólico por momentos o a la vez, y con muchas palabras  mas se podría definir lo que hacen estos chicos, pero mas vale, una sola que les queda mejor,”pop”, tal vez su música puede ser similar a lo que hacen Lacrosse o bandas así, y en su myspace nombran influencias de bandas como Beach Boys, y the flaming Lips entre las conocidas. Su álbum debut salio a la venta en alguna parte de 2007 aunque no se cual, su titulo es simplemente “the elephants” y su segundo álbum acaba de salir a la venta a final de octubre, y se llama “take it!”, espero que disfruten de esta gran banda, como muchas mas salida de Dinamarca que da de las mejores bandas últimamente…

1. Obvious
2. Ann
3. 5 minutes
4. Seagull
5. Shivers
6. Valentine’s Day
7. The Cruise
8. Caroline Knows
9. New Ark
10. Autumn Hearts
11. Good Time
12. Splinter Song

THE ELEPHANTS – THE ELEPHANTS(2007)

1. The Organ Grinder
2. Take It!
3. Eva
4. The Migrant
5. Turtle Struggles
6. Molehills
7. Nothing But Clues
8. Now
9. What Happened?

THE ELEPHANTS – TAKE IT!(2009)

COMENTAR NO CUESTA NADA MAS QUE TIEMPO!!!COMENTEN!!!