something to crow about

Fulton Lights, "Staring Out the Window"
Directed by Ninian Doff

via Colossal

St. Mary's

After posting about paper artist Chad Merritt yesterday, I discovered the man behind monpetitfantome also collaborated with Tracy Uba as the dreampop group St. Mary's. Though I'm a little late to find them (the duo announced the end to their recording days this past july), they're dreaming and haunting melodies will stay in rotation for quite awhile. You can still listen to (and purchase) their complete discography on their bandcamp site.

isn't it enough that I ruined a pony making a gift for you?

For the first few years of high school, my Dad and I rode together in the morning (he would drop me off on his way to work) in an old forest green jeep that still only played cassette tapes. Luckily for us, there are cassette tape iPod connections for such travellers as we that allowed us to listen to something other than bad morning radio talk shows. Dad often chose the music, which meant an odd selection of obscure and typically bizarre songs. Enter "Skullcrusher Mountain." Written and performed by self-proclaimed "geek" Jonathan Coulter (or JoCo as he is more affectionately called by his fans), the song details the wooing of a woman by a villainous genius, in which he traps her in his lair on Skullcrusher Mountain and creates a half-monkey, half-pony monster. Needless to say, she isn't impressed

Now years after this initial exposure, my Dad (a graphic design artist) has brought back the fond memory with his digital rendering of the monster. Though it's a tad strange (and kinda ugly) I love it.

You can visit my Dad's (John Yardley) DeviantArt page here

fabulous fred

Once an assistant to set designer Shona Heath, Britain-based prop/accessory creator Fred Butler is charged with designing some of fashion and music's more innovative and edgy costumery. Her geometric headwear, shoulder pads and costumes have earned her such clients as La Roux, Lady Gaga and Patrick Wolf, including editorial and advertisement work for Teen Vogue, MAC Cosmetics and ASOS. Though her work is reminiscent of set designs/space suits from 70s and 80s sci-fi films, it is this concept from which she seems to borrow that has somehow made her relevant in the modern age (what's old is new again.)

What I wouldn't give to wear a piece of hers...

you're the top

I discovered many of my favorite books, music and movies in 2010.

Here are my Top Ten in each category:

Books:

10. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Mark Haddon)

9. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Jonathan Safran Foer)

8. The Metamorphosis (Franz Kafka)

7. Lulu Meets God and Doubts Him (Danielle Ganek)

6. Psyche in a Dress (Francesca Lia Block)

5. My Friend Leonard (James Frey)

4. Less Than Zero (Bret Easton Ellis)

3. Bright Shiny Morning (James Frey)

2. , said the Shotgun to the Head (Saul Williams)

1. A Million Little Pieces (James Frey)

Music:

10. Veruca Salt Eight Arms to Hold You

9. Charles Aznavour 40 Chanson D'or

8. The Airborne Toxic Event The Airborne Toxic Event

7. My Chemical Romance Danger Days

6. Tori Amos Crucify

5. The Dandy Warhols Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia

4. Adele 19

3. The Strokes Room On Fire

2. Elvis Costello This Year's Model

1. Elvis Costello and the Attractions Armed Forces

Movies:

10. Basquiat

9. The Science of Sleep

8. Lollilove

7. Easy A

6. The Labyrinth

5. Benny and Joon

4. Before Sunrise

3. Reality Bites

2. Disco Pigs

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Killjoys, make some noise

After a four year hiatus, Jersey post-punk rockers My Chemical Romance released their third studio album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. Seemingly indulgent, Danger Days is set in a post-apocalyptic world and captures the fantasy of classic sci-fi films. A far cry from the band's 2006 release The Black Parade, the album lacks in lyricism what it makes up in danceable hits, like the single "Na Na Na" and "Planetary (GO!)" Fast paced with obvious punk and disco influences, Danger Days allows MCR to shake the "emo" stereotype they earned with Three Cheers in 2004.

have a listen

Laurie Blue Adkins, better known as Adele, captured my heart this weekend with "Rolling in the Deep." With bluesy vocals, the singer wails about a lover who "had my heart inside of your hand." The accompanying video is visually powerful, depicting thousands of half-filled glasses vibrating with the beating of a drum, and a pile of shattered cups and plates. The single will come out stateside in February on her second studio album 21.

Straight from the horse's mouth

As 2010 draws fast to a close, we say goodbye to the trends and innovations of the decade to welcome in another year of advancement. However, it has become abundantly clear that this generation relies too heavily on the convenience of technological development. Gone are the days of thumbing through the latest releases at the local music shop, gone are the hours of skimming through the stacks at the book store and gone are late Friday nights spent hunting for the perfect combination of horror flicks and Brat Packs movies at the video store. Only ten years into the millennium and many people have already forgotten the fun in those days, hours and nights, and instead turn their attention to their iTunes accounts, Nooks and Netflix on Demand. Though we would typically celebrate such advancements, we can’t help but mourn the loss of the entertainment outlets of our childhood.

From the decreasing CD, book and movie sales and skyrocketing popularity of torrent sites, e-readers and movies on demand, our future is looking idle and impersonal. The happenstance of discovering a new favorite among the seemingly odd and previously unheard of and the intimacy of the experience is something the technology of our future will never provide. Remember the entertainment we once relied on, and instead of looking to the future, fondly look to the past.

Listen Up

With 48 studio albums, compilations and collaborations recorded to date, Brit music superstar Elvis Costello, released his twenty-ninth studio album National Ransom November 2. As his second collaboration with music mogul T-Bone Burnett, National is a seemingly disorganized blend of bluegrass, blues, Broadway and vaudeville, but is stitched together seamlessly with Costello's rich, witty and beautiful lyrics. Each evocative song is assigned an exact place and time ("A Drawing Room in Pimlico, London, 1919"), moving through the years and tying each song to the next. Permanently filed away in my Top 10, is "That's Not the Part of Him You're Leaving" and "You Hung the Moon," both of which capture heartache, beauty and juxebox grit. Thougha fantastic leap from his New Wave-y pop from years past, National is a striking album of heartbreak, hope, happiness and pure Costello.