blog blog blog

so I decided I hate livejournal, mostly because it is really slow on every computer I use, and also because it seems impossible for me to upload pictures somehow.
I'm moving my posts to blogger instead.

So yesterday I went to the hairdresser and just told my stylist to go crazy.
I now have asymmetrical hair, which suits me just fine.



Then I went home and proceeded to create what I like to call 'Crab-Hands' for our friend Joss' flatwarming gift. You see, Joss has an obsession with Dr. Zoidberg from the television show Futurama.


I mean, who doesn't?!

And she is having somewhat of a party tonight.
Which means I will be getting drunk. Which means I will probably end up stealing the Crab-Hands back like a spoilt child and running around Crabbing people's noses.
I still need to make the right-hand claw, and finish them off a little, but once finished I think I should probably make a pair for myself.


[ crabbin' crabbin' crabbin'! ]

Faces in the Rocks

I don't even believe that I will have enough, or the right, words to describe this sound.
You might just have to trust me and have a listen yourself. Check out the myspace for a delicious taste tester - www.myspace.com/marieesioux

If you only have time left to sit and listen to one beautiful album this year, I recommend that "Faces in the Rocks" by Mariee Sioux should be that One.


I stumbled across Mariee's Myspace webpage after reading about Alela Diane, and following links through to discover that the two were actually childhood friends.
It seems Nevada City's an amazing place for soul-wrenching music, I am starting to seriously consider moving there!

'Buried In Teeth' is a melodic finger-picking guitar song, Mariee's cooing voice double-tracked over top. One of my favourites.

"down past the stomachs filled with berries, swallowed down into the gut of centuries"

Her songs make me feel as though I should be living in a commune somewhere in the '70s, surrounded only by guitars and trees... they truly bring a sense of peace to my heart.
Mariee weaves soft threads of words into a strong tapestry of imagery, and the lyrics give a sense that she is an amazingly spiritual person, deeply in touch with the Universe and focused in her personal creative expression of this.



If Mariee isn't quite your cup of tea, consider checking out Alela Diane.

www.myspace.com/alelamusic

Her song "The Rifle" on her myspace is absolutely beautiful and so sad, I have listened to it three times in a row thus far.

I read somewhere that her most recent album was named Album of 2007 by a few blogs.
Sorry, I really can't find where I read that!

If there's any artists you're going mad for at the moment, let us know!

Iron & Wine

my new favourite band

According to Wikipedia, Iron & Wine is the 'stage and recording name of folk rock singer-songwriter Sam Beam'.

Personally, I don't like labelling music as much as I do describing it... I find labels can be inhibiting to your open, honest listening experience, especially when hearing certain music for the first time.

Sam is a full-bearded, kind-eyed Jesus lookalike, whose soft voice is a soothing caress to your soul.

I was first exposed to the music of Iron & Wine while holidaying back home in New Zealand, sitting on the balcony of my good friend's room overlooking Brooklyn, Wellington.

Drinking gin with kiwifruit nectar, my friend played their most recent album 'The Shepherd's Dog', and I was sceptical at first.

As I listened to the whole album, songs like "Lovesong of the Buzzard" and "House by the Sea" became a soundtrack to the day instead of space/time/silence filler.

I love an album that can become background music which fills your heart with joy, and fits the day so beautifully no matter where you are.

Then I discovered that Sam Beam performed a song for a movie that I really enjoyed quite a while ago, called 'Garden State'. If you haven't seen this yet, give it a try - Zach Braff from Scrubs plays the main character.

The song is a cover of 'Such Great Heights' by The Postal Cover.

When I returned home, one of the first things I did was buy the album - and now I am well and truly hooked! Sam Beam is not only a very talented musician, playing rhythms that undulate beneath your skin; arrangements that pull at the hairs on the back of your neck, his voice is so beautiful and soft yet strong, but he is an amazing poet.

His lyrics are rich and strategic, deep and soulful -

"And we’ll undress beside the ashes of the fire, Both our tender bellies wound in baling wire"

"In our days we will live, like our ghosts will live, pitching glass at the cornfield crows and folding clothes" ~ (Resurrection Fern)

"A beautiful feather floating down, To where the birds had shit on empty chapel pews" ~ (Pagan Angel & A Borrowed Car)

'Carousel' has got to be my absolute favourite song from 'The Shepherd's Dog', it's just absolutely soul-wrenching.

Every part of the compositon is beautiful from the guitar picking to the resonant drums, the vibe-echo sound of Sam's voice, and the lyrics:

"...almost home with an olive branch and a dove, you were beatin' on a Persian rug, with your bible and your wedding band both hidden on a T.V stand"

"...while your grieving girls all died in their sleep, so the dogs all went unfed, a great dream of bones all piled on a bed"

Something about this song brings to mind visions of when I was so young that I can hardly remember ~ vague memories of tall trees & driving in an old car that smelt of leather and wet dogs from a time we let them swim in the river, and sitting amongst the birds my mother kept in an aviary in our backyard.

I thoroughly recommend you all give this album a listen, at least a few times to let the joy settle in... it really is hard to put into words the way some of these songs make you feel, so you might as well attempt to experience it yourself!

I apologise, I am not so good with HTML and all that fancy jazz, so here's a couple of links for you to delve into:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quVQ6llbDBM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-qxfeuOgQk

thanks for reading :) keep smiling!

journey to myself

"I said, "Honey, I don't feel so good, don't feel justified
Come on put a little love here in my void,"
- he said "It's all in your head," and I said,
"So's everything" - But he didn't get it -
I thought he was a man but he was just a little boy"
~ Fiona Apple






Those of you who haven't experienced the amazing contralto voice of Fiona Apple, causing both pleasure and pain to embrace your soul at once - should!

Fiona's strong, versatile voice expresses feelings we can all relate to - relationships, pain, emotion, loss, confusion and love - but every song has such amazing beauty & originality that it weaves you into it's own little web.

I love listening to "Paper Bag" , "Love Ridden" , "Slow Like Honey" when feeling mushy

"Tymps(the sick in the head song)" is the best 'i'm-so-messed-up-now-and-nothing-seems-right' song, or for a good cry after a bad day or a breakup, I also recommend "Get Gone", "Window" and "Better Version of Me"

'Love Ridden' s lyrics are simply delicious: (another good one for breakups! I'm seeing a pattern here...)

~ "nobody sees when you are lying in your bed and I wanna... crawl in with you, but I cry instead. I want your warm but it will only make me colder, when it's over so I can't tonight, baby"

along with 'O'Sailor':

~ "everything good I deem to good to be true, everything else is just a bore; everything I have to look forward to, has a pretty painful and very imposing before" .

Fiona began her career in '95 with 'Tidal', followed by 'When the Pawn...', the album which earned a spot in the Guinness Book of Records due to it's title length. It's full title is
When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight and He'll Win the Whole Thing Fore He Enters the Ring There's No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand and Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights and If You Know Where You Stand, Then You'll Know Where to Land and If You Fall It Won't Matter, Cuz You Know That You're Right.

Her latest album 'Extraordinary Machine' became the highest-charting album of her career on release even though some early tracks were leaked onto the internet without consent.

Fiona is a fantastic role model for strong, intelligent individuals. She is a great poet & personally, is one of my key musical inspirations along with Stevie Nicks, Patti Smith, Velvet Underground, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.


* Who inspires you? Who do you look up to, and why?*

Haiku

haha!