A Lovely Noise

Lately I've been listening to a lot of Gravenhurst. There's something about those bell-like vocals and the something between Nick Drake and Creation Records era shoegaze that is just tasty.

Below is a Take Away Show Gravenhurst did for La Blogothèque. I recommend browsing around that site any time. I love it, and it's a great way to find interesting music and get to know musicians in a more simple and personal setting. (on that note, they've just done a neat set of songs with Loney Dear in Paris. We saw Loney Dear with Low back in the spring, and I've been curious about them since.)



And here is a pretty little film Gravenhurst made using a Super8 camera. It's slightly "collegy," but the song is lovely, though it sort of cuts off a but abruptly at the end.



I do recommend taking a look at their other videos on Youtube. It's good Autumn music.

I....I don't even know what to say.

This was just posted on Neatorama, but it was too good not to share here. Apparently this movie can be watched as part of Netflix's online video rentals.

There is also a music video complied with scenes from the film. The poo sings so touchingly.

(??!)

The Cusp of Autumn

For those of you wondering, my dad came through heart surgery well, and is making a good recovery--which makes me very very relieved. Life can be pretty sucky at times, but mercies like that can make all the other stuff seem pretty irrelevant and small.

I realize I'm a worrier a lot of the time, but I hope I'm not a pessimist. It's only because I forget to remember the things that are good. Er...unless that's the definition of a pessimist. I think of them as someone who's aware of what's good, but manages to imagine everything is going to be awful anyway. I'm working on encouraging my tiny, withered seedling of optimism to grow up into an oak tree or a skunk cabbage or whatever.

Yes, I know. It's been for-freaking-ever since I've blogged. As an apology, I would like to offer these tasty morsels:

• What do you get when you combine Johnny Cash's vocals, Led Zeppelin's drums, Beastie Boys bass, Ted Nugent's guitar, and the Beatles lead guitar? No, not an apple streusel, silly--It's quite possibly the BEST MASHUP EVER.
  

• When it comes to storytelling flash games, many times they're a digital cacophony of crappy animation and awkward gameplay. However, Samarost is different. It's essentially a beautiful interactive children's book with lovely music, interesting art, and engaging puzzles. I've linked to the walkthrough, because I did get stuck a couple times. Point and click adventures force you to think a little differently, and it takes a bit to catch on. There is a second installation of the game as well.
  

• Also, who doesn't like a simple game that basically just involves Japanese Victorian ladies slapping each other?

• This is a concept I can get behind. "The more unhappy you are, the more ice cream you need."

• For those of you with small dogs, this is valuable info. And it's darn cute.
  

• Here's a highly entertaining look at what the world of 1910 envisioned the year 2000 to be like. The page was originally in French, and I've linked to the Google translation, so the text may be a bit awkward. The ideas are an awful lot like we used to dream up for the future as children. Machines that put on your makeup! Pills for dinner! Ah, the glorious future...

• And if you'll excuse me now, I have to go take my daily chocolate supplement.