The Decemberists at Terminal 5

Photo by QuietColor

I've been slacking off a bit with my blog and for that matter with my concert attendance, but on November 5th I celebrated the Obama victory with The Decemberists sold-out show at Terminal 5. The Chef got me tickets for our 1st Anniversary and even though he tends to prefer punk to prose I think he really enjoyed himself. We managed to navigate the crazy crowd and scored a spot on a balcony with a great view of the stage and the floor. Show highlights included the life-size cut-out of Obama that was paraded around the stage, the crowd chanting "Yes we did!" and my favorite was when towards the end of the set Colin jumped into the crowd and grabbed some random girls cell phone. He preceded to call someone (lucky bastard) and sang "Sons and Daughters" at the top of his lungs into the phone. Hilarious.  Here are some fun videos for your enjoyment. 

The Decemberists from Dan-ah Kim on Vimeo.

The Decemberists from Dan-ah Kim on Vimeo.

And here are two songs just for you. 

The Decemberists - Valerie Plame

The Decemberists - Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect

Swedish Invasion

Thursday night Christina and I went down to the Bowery Ballroom to see Lykke Li, El Perro Del Mar and Anna Ternheim.
I first heard of Lykke Li when Christina sent me a link to her video for "Little Bit" after which I promptly fell in love and within about an hour I had the whole album, some cover songs and tickets for this show. Lykke Li did not disappoint, within seconds she had the sold out venue dancing and when she left the stage we all wanted more. Her set was the high-light of the show for me. However, the mellow sounds of both Anna Ternheim and El Perro Del Mar where also lovely and I'm officially excited that the Swedish invasion of the indie scene has come.


photo by Bao Nguyen

PEHDTSCKJMBA

I never thought I would say this, but I really wish I lived in the South West. Tom Waits is doing a mini-tour this summer but to my great dismay he is skipping my coast all together during his "Glitter and Doom" Tour. However, the news of said tour has re-sparked my love for one of my favorite drunks and I have been contemplating a new mantra:
“PEHDTSCKJMBA” or “People Envy Happiness, Dogs Though, Sense Courage Knowing Jubilation Means Better Assets” ... Nice Tom.

ELASTIC MINDS

one of the (many) things i love about living in NYC is free fridays at MOMA. i took the boy there last week and i must say that i love watching people see the amazing original works of art for the first time, because it makes me see them with new eyes. there is nothing quite like the sound someone makes when they walk into a room and find this. it's like a cross between a gasp and a sigh.
the main reason we braved the tourist masses was actually to see the Design For The Elastic Mind exhibit. one of my favorite pieces of the exhibit was the 3-D printing of sketch furniture. this is a little hard to explain, but basically there is a special pen that you literally draw with in the air. it then goes into a computer and from there to a 3-D printer which creates the piece you drew into a functional piece. VERY COOL. check out the video here.
isn't technology awesome?

get crafty

i am not a crafty girl, ask anyone. i make a mean cocktail, but i couldn't knit a scarf to save my life. i leave such things to my fabulous lovelies auburn & ivory and things i heart today. however, i stumbled across a very cool site today that i think you crafty folks out there would love.
if you can't find what you are looking for at ikea or in cyberspace now you can design it and make it yourself. hell, you can even sell it. god speed crafty folk and check out Ponoko.

your new favorite websites

one of the things i love about my job is that i am surrounded by people who spend most of their time on the interwebs and because of that they know about sites that most haven't found yet. i thought that i would take this opportunity to share some of the many links that i've been exposed to recently in the hopes that i can help make your interweb dreams come true...or at least show you some really cool shit. i will probably do these posts every couple weeks or so as more stuff comes in. so here we go...

Music Stuff:
FoxyTunes Planet is a widget-based search engine for music.

SeeqPod is a playable search site for music as well as video. it allows you to create playlists and then stream them from your computer.

Mp3gle is the new google for audio files. it allows you to search and then listen or download from your results.

Other Stuff:
i love flickr and now i am also in love with FFFFOUND! it's a great source for images that are a art/design based rather than "me and my drunken friends" pics. (not that i don't thoroughly enjoy those)

we all know and love craigslist, but now there is crgslst which is "so web 2.0 we don't need vowels." the new and improved beta site allows you to search craiglist faster and scour multiple cities quickly.

if you are in NYC, broke and/or like to drink these links are for you:
Free NYC
My Open Bar
Unthirsty

irish debauchery

i'm a bit late with this post, but i always figure that late is better than never. last saturday i went to see The Pogues sold-out show at the Roseland Ballroom. i have to admit that my utter lack of knowledge of irish punk music left me wondering what exactly i would be walking into. i bought tickets as a x-mas gift to "the boy" and he has been extremely excited ever since. i figured at the very least i could drink expensive bud-light out of a plastic cup and laugh at the hordes of drunken irish people trying to mosh to music that involves an accordion. i was more than pleasantly surprised to hear some really awesome music and have since been uploading to my ipod like a mad-woman. the infamous front-man shane mcgowan is renowned for his drunken poetry and he did not disappoint. for the record, any man in a black suit sporting a fedora and wandering on stage with a bottle of wine immediatly gets my attention and respect. the show was awesome and i spent most of it pushing the boy into the mosh pit while bouncing on the edges and avoiding the 350lb guys trying to stage dive. here is a little tid-bit for you to enjoy. one bouncy and one a little less so.

Streams of Whiskey - The Pogues

Misty Morning, Albert Bridge - The Pogues

apparently booze leads to good music

How does a "super-group" begin? In most cases, alcohol is involved, as it most definitely was in this one. Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody, chief instigator of this new ensemble, says the world has Lou Barlow to thank for the emergence of The Reindeer Section, for it was at a Barlow gig in Glasgow where Lightbody ran around drunkenly asking people if they would join his band The Reindeer Section. They all said yes, so after sobering up the next day, Lightbody got out the old acoustic guitar and wrote an album's worth of songs.

In case you were wondering what exactly is "super" about the group, here are a few of its 15 or so members: there's Lightbody, who sings and plays guitar, keyboards, and harmonica, his Snow Patrol bandmate Jonny Quinn (drums), Mogwai's John Cummings (guitar), all four members of Astrid, Eva's Jenny Reeve (occasional vocals and violin), Arab Strap's Aidan Moffat (lead vocals on one track), Belle and Sebastian's Richard Colburn (occasional percussion and pigeon noises) and Mick Cooke (trumpet and flugelhorn on one track), Mull Historical Society's makes an appearance, since the album's folky, lo-fi, downbeat flavor is to some extent indebted to his stylistic experiments. It's worth a listen, but just to be safe have a cocktail in your hand when you press play. I've linked one of my favorite songs as my song of the week.

New Tapes n' Tapes

Tapes n' Tapes has a new album out in the US on April 8th. Be one of the first people to hear Walk It Off with a free streaming of the entire album. Now off you go you trend-setter you.

nuff said

found quote with typeset by christina

if i had a wish...

this past year i ended my summer (granted it was october, but it was VERY warm out) with a bang at an all day show on Randall's Island featuring Arcade Fire as well as Les Savy Fav, Blonde Readhead, and LCD Soundsystem.

as far as i'm concerned the best way to top that this year is to go to at least one day of the 3-day awesomeness that will be All Points West Music & Arts Festival this August. seeing Radiohead play live might be the only way to get this city girl out to jersey...but dammit show me the nearest PATH train and i'm on it. if anyone is wondering what i want for my birthday...this would be it.

the beginning

it started with auburn & ivory an amazing, inspiring and crafty blog written by my fabulous friend emilia. what followed was inevitable. emilia has been setting trends since we met and she's become contagious once again. the next thing i know my inbox is graced with a preview of things i heart today by one of my favorite people, the indomitable kristy. the combined inspiration from these two members of my chosen family has prompted me to add my own tiny voice to the sea. so here it is.