Is it wrong that this video kind of reminded me of Lord of the Rings for a while? “THE KIDS ARE GOING TO MORDOOOR, JESUS CHRIST.”

But the movie was beautiful, so I guess that’s alright. And where is that ginormous pack of kids running off to? Well. You’ll have to watch the video to find out…

windows media format:
low quality | high quality

real media format:
low quality | high quality

More Sigur Ros media…

Even though I wouldn’t want to be married, nor am I a very lovey-dovey person, the idea of Sigur Ros lovey-dovey-ness makes me think, “Awwww.”

bq. it’s time for the annual sigur rós gossip column. orri and his girlfriend lukka were married last week on a beach in hawaii, just the two of them plus the hawaiian priest. georg and his girlfriend svanhvít were also married earlier this summer, by hilmar örn hilmarsson, their friend and head of ásatrúarfélagið, the icelandic religion of norse mythology. kjartan and maría (from amina) got married a couple of years ago in las vegas while on tour. jónsi also appears to have found his soulmate in his boyfriend alex. we’d like to congratulate all the band members on the happiness they’ve found, and hope it continues to be reflected in their music.

This fan interview with a 6 year old also makes me think “Aww.” When I was 6, I don’t recall listening to music that wasn’t Disney related. …perhaps it was a deprived childhood.

The latest DEAD AIR SPACE entry by Thom is especially entertaining.

“what do people write in blogs normally? […random thoughts…] i have absolutely no idea what i am talking about.”

That’s not too far off from how most people write, is it?

… …squirrel marshmallow.

It’s really pretty. Happy.

Dammit, I wanted to wait until it came out! But…it’s much nicer actually knowing the songs before going to a concert. I enjoy them more, at least.

Totally unrelated, but I wanted to shove it in: Sound Mushroom from Japan! Huh? Uh.

Actually, that was the night before. And no, I didn’t go to NYC just for the sake of getting tickets, as I’m not that insane. I had something else to do, but I figured I’d wake up nice and early to get to the box office, involving a leisurely morning walk from the Port Authority terminal. We NJ-ers barely walk. It sucks.

So. I got there at around 10:15 AM and there were already people waiting. Jeez. …then again, I was there too. A few more people came along to get Sigur Ros tickets but by 11, we weren’t a big crowd.

And then…tickets! And then…no orchestra seats? Huh? The woman at the ticket counter told one of the first people in line that there weren’t any orchestra tickets, resulting in much disgruntledness (I don’t think she bought any tickets). By the way, you can still buy orchestra tickets on ticketmaster, at least the last time I checked. It was strange that first thing in the morning, we were apparently orchestra ticket-less. However, some people did get orchestra tickets. It was confusing. Not a very organized operation, I guess.

I ended up with loge, row C, seats 27, 29, and 31 for September 12th. That’s not bad, but those seats are in the leftmost section, which I hope doesn’t suck. The seats seemed incredibly random but I figured…whatever. Gimme. It can’t be worse than when I saw Sigur Ros from the third balcony at Radio City, and it doesn’t really matter as long as you can hear the music, yes?

And at least I got the tickets at face value. Each ticketmaster surcharge per ticket costs more than my round trip bus ticket to NYC; boy, that sucks. Even though it’s not as convenient, you can save quite a lot of money by going to the venue to buy tickets (they only take cash and the guy behind me wanted 8 tickets so…damn). And if you’re a bakery hound (wow, digression), for the money you haven’t given to ticketmaster, I suggest getting something at Lady M: ohh, deliciousness. If you don’t like desserts, something’s wrong with you.

Boo to weird ticket system. Yay to Sigur Ros.

Lastly, Sondre Lerche updated his online journal, talking about how he’s getting older (BUT HE’S STILL INSANELY YOUNG) and honeymooning in Norway.

The new Sigur Ros album is called Takk, to be released September 12th (UK, at least). The album’s second track “Glósóli” will be available to download on August 15th. Look at the flyer thing!

…but they are very good, so if you can go, go.

Actually, I found $55 in an old Christmas card while cleaning out my drawers. Hm.

Random memory: I think I saw a guy eating nachos the last time I saw Sigur Ros. It may have been during the intermission, but still. Nachos? I was in the last row at that concert, but it was kind of a mixed blessing since I got to sit high on the chair and lean against the wall.

On an unrelated note, Do Make Say Think is playing at the Bowery Ballroom tomorrow. $13! I’d like to go, but I’m not.

There are a bunch of new videos at Emiliana Torrini’s website. I like the video for Heartstopper (from her latest album Fisherman’s Woman, which I haven’t gotten yet because I suck) in particular. It’s got…puppets! And. Yeah. Puppets. If there’s one thing the world could use more of, it’s puppets. Watch it: Hi | Lo. Watch the interview video as well, because it’s funny and Emiliana extrudes cuteness. [via it’s a trap!]

On an unrelated note, mp3s sounds like poop (choppy) when I play them on iTunes using my new laptop. Songs work fine in Windows Media Player. So. iTunes. WHAT HAPPENED? WHY DO YOU CRAP UP MY SONGS? Help? Maybe it’s just me. Nevermind, this helped.

I just typed up a long entry and Firefox crashed, which happens …well, almost never. It was probably for the best since now you get a very condensed version of what I originally wrote.

– saw Emiliana Torrini perform at the Housing Works Used Book Cafe; played seven or so songs; forgot some lyrics and looked horrified but is adorable so I don’t think anyone really cared; now I really want Fisherman’s Woman

– wasn’t as into the other performances since I just wanted to see Emiliana but I stayed for the whole show (7:30-10:oo); Damon and Naomi played well — nice combination of acoustic guitar + bass / keyboard; Mike Doughty had a lot of fans in the audience and played an encore; showed us what was in his pockets; needs more people to go to the Philadelphia Zoo with him

So that was kind of random, but there ye go. Overall, it was a great evening worth the $25. Otherwise I would’ve been trapped in my dorm with my roommate watching TV/singing/something else involving sounds I wouldn’t willingly listen to. I’m glad to have heard about the concert or else I may not have heard of the Used Book Cafe. It’s a great place to hang out and impulsively buy books. I was thinking what a great place it would be for Magnet to play. Someday…

I made a few crappy mp3s from Emiliana’s performance [removed]:

• Lifesaver
• Sunny Road
• [a cover?] – she semi-forgets the lyrics midway
• Heartstopper
• Nothing Brings Me Down

Brooklyn Vegan took nice photos. I decided I’d rather sit closer at a strange angle and get a perfect view of the right side of everyone’s body than be father at a good angle. Maybe that wasn’t the best idea. On a random note, the air had a strong beer smell. But hey, everything you buy in that cafe goes to charity so …drink up?

I don’t remember exactly how/when I first heard of Emiliana Torrini, but it was some years back when she released Love in the Time of Science and audiogalaxy was free (I used to be permanently attached to audiogalaxy). “Unemployed in Summertime” is one of my favorite songs from the album but the entire album is good. I know “good” is a useless word but…well. I’m not eloquent.

Her new album Fisherman’s Woman came out this year. Not in the US (except on iTunes) but hopefully at some point it will. It sounds much more laid-back and acoustic than her other one.

Via brooklynvegan I found out she’s playing at Housing Works Used Book Cafe, which means I’ll have something to do on Friday night. Thank god someone just bought something from the poofy shop (hell, you should too!) or I wouldn’t have had enough money in my paypal account. I was hesitant to get a ticket at first since it’s $25, but it’s for charity and the store is cool (I ended up spending $25 there today anyway) and …um…I haven’t spent money on food for a week, so I’ll just pretend that’s what I was saving up for. Amadeep has nice things to say when he saw her perform last month so I’m sure it’ll be a good time.

My favorite music videos are by Bjork (plus cool directors). I haven’t seen many music videos in my lifetime but I can’t imagine how anything else can compare. Matt pointed out the new video for “Triumph of the Heart” at bjork.com directed by Spike Jonze and it’s just enjoyingly bizarre. Whatever that means. I mean, you got a cat, and Bjork running around Iceland in pigtails and a pink dress-thing and a bunch of (drunk) people singing and Bjork falling over exposing golden boots and hearts floating about and Giant Cat…it’s something you want to see, trust me.

As for cats in videos, have you see Fatboy Slim’s “The Joker” video? I’m not a Fatboy Slim fan but, my god, the kittens. They’re everywhere. And so cute and cuddly you could eat em and be like “Oohh yeah, cute kittens, mm mm fluffy like marshmallows.” Or hug them, I don’t know. I’ve never had pets.

No kittens in this one, but it’s another music video: Feist – Inside and Out. [via Brooklyn Vegan via others] I didn’t know it was a Bee Gees cover but that makes me feel less guilty for not liking it as much as other songs on her album. It’s still a nice song though. My favorites are Gatekeeper, Mushaboom, Secret Heart, Tout Doucement, and Now At Least…which is about half of the album. I should probably buy an import before waiting for a domestic release (if that is ever to happen). On a related note, kingsofconvenience.org has KoC’s cover of Gatekeeper on their downloads page. If you like KoC you’ve probably downloaded it already, along with most/all of the stuff on the page.