the oh so quiet show

Cut Copy, taken by Amy

Last Saturday (only a week ago, really?) I went to Studio B to see Cut Copy with Amy, Jess, and Alex. It was my first “real” concert in…a long time. Strange to think that in high school I had the stamina to go to a concert, say, more than once every two months, but now I kind of loathe the thought of staying out until my contacts adhere themselves to my eyeballs and potentially having to go to work the next day. (I’m going to see Caribou this Friday though. Excitement! Wee!)

The main reason I went to see Cut Copy, besides that I like their music, was because Amy asked me to. Alex was a last minute add-on when he said, “OHAI, I’m coming down from Vassar for the weekend just because!” He didn’t have a ticket, but all we had to do was wait outside in a line moving at the speed of a disabled sloth before he was allowed entrance. Our wait was enhanced by shivering fun!—neither of us had brought jackets so we could avoid checking them in. This was the first time I actually left everything at home (”home” being Tristan’s not-too-far-away apartment) aside from a few necessities I could cram into Alex’s pockets. After waiting forever to check my bag in the last time I went to Studio B, I didn’t want to relive the horror.

This also mean I couldn’t lug my dSLR with me, but sometimes it’s okay not to take photos. I guess. Also, Amy took plenty.

Cut Copy, taken by Amy

So…the concert. I’ve become increasingly horrible at being able to describe these things. Most of the songs they played appeared to be from their first album, Bright Like Neon Love, which worked for me because I hadn’t listened to their newest one, In Ghost Colours. I think I…danced. Just a tad. It’s a rare thing, to see me dancing because I’m too self-conscious and feel like an mal-coordinated idiot when I move in ways beyond walking/running/etc. The band was into it, and the screaming fans led me to believe that the crowd was too.

The only low points of the concert were 1) standing next to or behind super-tall people/hipsters when I am barely over 5 feet tall, but i guess it’s my fault for having crappy genes ill-adapted for going to concerts, 2) standing next to people who wouldn’t stop making out (when people are shouting at you to “get a room,” you know it’s not good), 3) when at least one girl attempted to crowd surf and failed, 4) when this one guy wouldn’t stop hitting on Amy even though she was obviously not interested, although not obvious enough for this guy because her personality does not include “acting like a bitch.” Dear people of the male persuasion: do not talk try to a girl WHILE THE CONCERT IS GOING ON, IT’S KIND OF AWKWARD.

Otherwise, good times were had.

Blip Festival

If you’re in NYC and have no plans for the weekend, check out the Blip Festival at Eyebeam. 8-BUT MUSIC UP THE WAZOOO! WITH A GINORMOUS PIXELATED SCREEN IN THE BACKGROUND!

You know you want it.

You can also buy beer, if that helps.

Bubblyfish

My favorite artist from yesterday is Bubblyfish (myspace). It doesn’t just sound like a bunch of 8-bit goop mashed together…it’s like, oo, songs. Yup. Oo. Her live performance was way dancier than the stuff on her album. Not that people were really dancing. Maybe if half of us weren’t wearing heavy coats and carrying huge-ass cameras…

Becky Stark and David Byrne

Thanks to my awesome friend Janet, on Friday night I saw Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond perform a few songs at the NYPL as part of a Miranda July fun fest. The night ended with David Byrne (who interviewed Miranda during the second half of the night) playing guitar with Becky during the song, “Garden Rose” from the latest Lavender Diamond album, Imagine Our Love. It’s perty.

Lavender Diamond - Garden Rose

Although I knew that I already liked Lavender Diamond, I wasn’t set on seeing them in concert at Maxwell’s this Saturday until seeing Becky perform solo. She is…she is…quite unique. In an awkward way. To the point that I couldn’t tell whether she was really that awkward or if she was being funny for the audience. But does it matter either way? Not really. Because she sings like an angel stuffed with the love of 10000 teddy bears. She spoke softly and lightly with a wide grin on her face most of the time, every so often breaking into a strained giggle, besides the one time she cursed herself for repeating something she had just said. I really wonder what’s going on in her head. Is it just filled with looove and joooy?

“She’s goofy!” remarked a woman sitting behind me. That wasn’t the first adjective to pop into my head—awkwardly hilarious was more like it—but I guess she fits under the category of “goofy”. You forget it all when she starts singing. Her voice rings so clear. Not mature, not immature. Just…I dunno. It’s nice. You know when you have a stuffy nose and it suddenly clears up? Like the mucus has all been whisked away by a magic nose…angel? That moment of clarity is like Becky’s voice. Kinda. I think the audience was hesitant at first, possibly wondering, “What in the…” when she started playing, but I think a little more love was spread after getting us to participate in a sing-a-long (well, I stayed silent for the benefit of everyone’s ears around me).

BECKY STARK, YOU ARE THE QUEEN OF AWESOMETOWN!!!

Sometimes I forget I have this blog. Other times I acknowledge it, but choose to ignore the “updating” procedure.

waiting

I used to really like concerts. Actually, I still do, but now the things that used to only bother me a little about concerts bother me a lot. Waiting for a long time for things to start is bothersome, for example. When I was younger I think I’d have little problem waiting 4-5 hours from standing by the stage to someone actually going on stage and tooting out a few notes. Now that waiting time fills me with bitter hatred and the desire to kill things, which doesn’t do wonders for my blood pressure.

Ah. Well. What can you do. My friend and I went to see Patrick Wolf on Wednesday night at Bowery Ballroom. Since no opener was listed, I naively thought there wouldn’t be one. But there was. And you know, that would’ve been okay if I had that expectation, but I didn’t. So Patrick didn’t actually come on until 11:05, or possibly later. And you know, maybe that would’ve been okay if I didn’t live in NJ and thus could only stay for about half an hour of his performance before having to catch the last train home.

It wouldn’t be much of a problem if I lived in NYC. And headlining artists starting reallllly late is nothing new. I guess I’m coming to the point where as much as I like music, all the standing around and doing nothing doesn’t make going to concerts seem worth it anymore, unless I love the artist to death.

black wig

I don’t love Patrick Wolf to death, but I like him enough to have wanted to see him live.  He puts on a great show and I was disappointed that I couldn’t stay for more of it. He seems to put every ounce of his being into…everything. With the help of glitter. Buckets of it.

unicorn power

I forgot what song he used the theremin for, but…he did. And that was cool. Because. …You don’t see that very often. And as one of my friends pointed out, he has a unicorn tattoo on his chest. Another thing you don’t see very often.

costume change

He changed his outfit after a few songs into a full bodysuit with red and black stripes. Or squiggles. Or somethings. Maybe it helps soak up the…sweat.

violins

And here are MULTIPLE VIOLINS.

I remember a few songs into the concert some seemingly hardcore fans (although not hardcore enough to actually come earlier) shoved/body slammed their way to the front of the crowd. Haha! Humans. Funny.

This wasn’t a concert review, more just a record of my rambling, which is what all my blogs are for. I still haven’t bought tickets for The Innocence Mission, but I’m pretty sure they’d go on stage earlier than 11 PM.

Sleepy.

Cute video from cute band with a cute name: Elephant Parade (myspace). You should buy their album, Bedroom Records. COS I SAID SOOOOooOOO.

I’m pleasantly surprised that I got this “switching servers” thing to work without too much swearing or hair pulling. One lil’ problem I had was that while I used an anti-spam plugin before, all the spam comments that I thought had been deleted were actually still roaming around in my mysql database. All 9000+ of em. I didn’t have enough phpmyadmin prowess to figure out a painless way to delete the bulk of them at once while keeping the legitimate comments, so that process was kind of a huge ass pain in the bum. I think a lot of them are still there, actually.

Oops.

Armchair Apocrypha

The only thing that made me happy yesterday was receiving Andrew Bird’s new album in the mail, Armchair Apocrypha. (Also, I think the redesign of his website is byootiful. Thank you, Mr. Web Dude.) This album is awesome. Because. BECAUSE. ARGH! AWESOMNESS. Listen to some new tracks; isn’t it awesome? Yes.

I had no more adjectives to give you.

Mew!

I saw Mew last Thursday for my first concert-going experience in a while. And they were great. But I was really tired. And thirsty. A sip of my friend’s noxious rum and Sprite did nothing for me except make me hate alcohol even more than I already do. Mew is a magical band, but I think they’re better experienced with enough hydration and not while standing next to a girl screeching, “I LOVE YOU JONAS!” after every song and singing along during Mew’s biggest hits, or the songs I’d rather hear come out of Jonas’s mouth more so than the girl next to me. Not that I don’t understand her enthusiam…because I do. Just. God. I dunno.

Ever since I turned 21 I’ve felt like an old bearded dude trying to get young whippersnappers off his lawn. Damn kidz.

But I have to see Andrew Bird at Webster Hall on May 17th and pray I don’t stand next to a screaming Andrew Bird-obsessed fan.

Andrew Bird, May 17th at Webster Hall

Panda Bear, June 23 at Bowery Ballroom

I am so lazy that that’s all I want to see for the rest of the year. If at all.

Peter is blurry

Posting about a concert a week after I’ve gone to it is somewhat pointless. But I’m really lazy. So lazy that I sat in the balcony at the Peter Bjorn and John concert last Tuesday at Bowery Ballroom. I only sit in the balcony at the insistence of friends, but I was thankful that night to plop my bum down for a few hours and not have my nose squished against the back of an obscenely tall guy (because I almost always end up behind an obscenely tall guy) or suffer from “the nerve endings in my feet have died” syndrome.

crowd

I would have never known the show/crowd was so “bad” if I hadn’t read Brooklyn Vegan’s immediate response to the show. Hmmm. Um. Well, I didn’t go to the first two shows. I’d say that the Bowery show was a lot like the first time I saw them, except I was looking at the band from a different angle. I must be one of those people most other people hate—the kind that doesn’t dance (a rock could dance better than me) or seemingly move to any kind of beat. I sat quietly and still the entire time while staring at the band. That’s how I soak it in. Don’t like it? Eh.

You can download live mp3s from ryspace (plus a few more). I wasn’t annoyed at all by Bjorn’s memory lapse during Amsterdam. It may have bothered me if another artist did it, but Bjorn…nah. They played my favorite songs (The Chills, Up Against the Wall…oh, and that really popular single I overheard someone whistle the other day. Over and over again and over again. DO NOT WHISTLE THE SONG, YOU WILL ONLY KILL IT) and they looked happy while doing it. More people were talking during the show than I would’ve liked, but you can’t do much about that. The show was enjoyable and I left feeling tired and satisfied.

snow?

…And cold. It’s snowing? W-T-F? Ah well, it made the otherwise gloomy Bowery look a bit prettier.

A friend told me that Mew and Magnet were playing at Bowery Ballroom. Huuuh. So I take a lookie at the calendar and for November 3rd I see…a show with a gazillion artists (for the CMJ music marathon) including Mew and Magnet. What the shizz? WHAT IS THIS MONSTROSITY?

I mean, I’d love to go, even if they only played 2 songs each. Or one. Or none. I’d just want to be in their presence.

Hohum.

WHAT THE SHIZZ.

Update (10/14): Nevermind, Magnet isn’t playing for CMJ or opening for Imogen Heap beacuse he’s finishing his new album. I guess that’s a valid reason. :\

—

I’d also want to go to Brooklyn Vegan’s CMJ showcase at Pianos on November 1st. It’s free! And I’d love to see Loney, Dear (actually, that is the only artist in the lineup I’m really interested in). Download some Loney, Dear mp3 clips (or listen at myspace). It took me a while to get into Solonge, but it’s…lovely. So. Yes. That’s all I can come up with. CJ gave me the CD sometime during the summer without explanation. I listened; I liked. That’s how we roll.

Even though a part of me thinks myspace is a virtual bucket of ugly crap, I turn to it as the easiest way to listen to music that I otherwise can’t find. “Huuh, their official website doesn’t have any media, but surely they have a myspace with songs.” This works out most of the time…as long as myspace is working (which happens every now and then). Here are some bands with short descriptions:

Port Largo

Port Largo (myspace): Danish, synth-rock-pop, kinda reminds me of Mew/Sigur Ros…because of somewhat unintelligible high-pitched singing. You know the type. Favorite song: “Another State of Mind”

The Ballet

The Ballet (myspace): New York, indie-pop/”Belle & Sebastian after too much cotton candy” (–Logo), bleepy keyboard and clappy drum machine lines, lovingly handcrafted album (sold out). Favorite song: “In My Head”

Kunek

Kunek (myspace): Oklahoma, atmospoheric, sad, delicate, kinda-reminds-me-of-Coldplay (hope that’s alright). Favorite song: “A Sign of Life”

One Trick Pony

One Trick Pony (myspace): Los Angeles, kinda reminds of Sondre Lerche, but I don’t know why. Is it the croon-y voice? Sorry, that wasn’t much of a description, I’m too lazy. Favorite song: “Box Song”

Hooray for Earth

Hooray for Earth (myspace): Boston, synth-y pop rock, and their name is HOORAY FOR EARTH, which might be the main reason I’m mentioning them because this isn’t exactly my kind of leisure listening music. Favorite song: “Take Care”

squirrels are cool

I’m not sure where the name for Elephant Parade came from, but it seems to fit. What does that mean? …I have no idea. If I replace “elephant” with a different animal, it just doesn’t work–Squirrel Parade, Hamster Parade, Whale Parade? They don’t sound right. (But maybe that’s because there is such a thing as a parade of elephants while as far as I know, a parade of squirrels/hamsters/whales is less common.)

What does Elephant Parade sound like? I would come up with my own description, but other people have done a much better job at it than I could. Here is an equation of choice words pulled from various reviews:

*simple* + *beautiful* + *intimate* + *whispery* + *sweet* + *fragile* + *introverted* = *Elephant Parade*

What I thought most (I mean, aside from the adjectives I just listed) while listening to their album “Bedroom Recordings” was that I felt as though I were listening to something too personal and lo-fi for it to be meant for the general public to hear. A fun album for close friends to enjoy that somehow leaked out to others who were lucky to hear it. And I mean that all in a good way. The occasional bit of unintentional distortion/wind adds makes the songs lovelier. More than that, I like Estelle Baruch’s and Ido Fluk’s soft, effortless singing over simple acoustic guitar and keyboard melodies. My favorite song features Estelle’s warm voice accompanied by sustained piano arpeggios:

Elephant Parade - Boat Song [removed]

They look as cute as they sound, possibly more so:

cue heart melt-age

You can download another song at Zion B’Ayin and read an interview at Whiskey & Apples. If you like what you hear (and you do), support them by buying their painfully short CD. It’s over before you know it, but hey, 22 minutes is still better than zero.

Elephant Parade sounds more “real” to me for some reason than other music. And it’s not like other music sounds…”fake”. But. Well. Maybe you know what I’m talking about after listening to their songs. Nothing is overdone. All I hear is sincerity.

New Yorkers can see the pair in action for free at Pete’s Candy Store on August 25th.

The other title for this entry was “Endless sweating”, but that’s kind of gross.

endless people?

The sun didn’t keep people away from this week’s Pool Party with headliner Of Montreal. The other performers were Asobi Seksu, Irving and Enon. I was mainly interested in Asobi Seksu and Of Montreal, which left a lot of time in between to bake and unintentionally bathe myself in my own sweat.

makeshift pool

You could cool off in this accidental puddle (or the slip-n-slide in the back).

ice cream

Or by eating Ben & Jerry’s. I wouldn’t normally go for a small $3 cup of cookies and cream, but I wasn’t hungry for anything else. Besides liquids.

Asobi Seksu

Irving

I liked Asobi Seksu most out of the first three bands, but that’s probably because I’m most familiar with their music. I don’t have much to say about Irving or Enon besides that they played and…I watched. I’m just glad that no one died in a pool of their own sweat.

Of Montreal

The members of Of Montreal came out waving home-made flags before Kevin Barnes appeared in his stylin’ green miniskirt, ruffled red shirt and red high-heeled, thigh-high boots. Good lord. He changed outfits two more times during the show. Because he is just that awesome.

the sunglasses make sense, but the hat?

I don’t remember the setlist, but I remember them playing “Old People in the Cemetery” in particular because…it’s a song about old people in a cemetery. It’s funny, in case you haven’t heard it before. They played at least new song from their upcoming album…of course, I have no clue what it was. At some point Kevin pointed out that there was a fork on the wall. I liked that. (But why is there a fork on the wall?) The set ended with a cover of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” for an encore.

Aside from the heat and feeling more like a sponge than a human, it was a fun day. The event seemed well organized to me, although I heard that there wasn’t enough water. (After the show there were definitely enough empty water bottles strewn about the pool floor to give someone who likes recycling a bit of moolah.) I’m pretty sure that the beer line wasn’t as scary as at the Bloc Party show, which resembled the DMV. On a bad day.

this pool is too big

I got to McCarren pool yesterday at around 5:45 to see Mew. On the walk from the subway station, we ran into other concert-goers.

“Who are you here to see?” asked CJ innocently.

“Secret Machines and Bloc Party.”

“Annd…what about the opener?”

“Oh no, I don’t care about them.”

“WHAT, I’M GONNA RAISE SOME HELL!” At which point CJ’s eyes shot laser beams.

…Okay, the exchange didn’t happen exactly like that. But I could read CJ’s mind. Lasers, I say.

they’re so tiny

Mew came on at around 6:30 and proceeded to make some people very happy for the next…30 minutes. Yes, I know openers don’t get a lot of stage time, but it’s still a shame. The sound was surprisingly good. Jonas’s voice was as clear as on the album, but better since you could see where the sound was coming from. That little guy on stage, eyes closed, hair being wisped by the wind, standing almost perfectly still, but in a natural way, not rigid. Jonas would go from singing softly enough to put a baby to sleep (and looking like a sleeping baby at the same time) to opening his mouth to Totoro-like proportions and holding out a high note of other wordly pitch and clarity.

so..far…

The setlist:

* Circuitry of the Wolf
* Chinaberry Tree
* Amy I Wry? No
* 156 (or was it something else?)
* Special
* Comforting Sounds

Comforting Sounds is one of the first Mew songs I ever heard and is still one of my favorite songs out of…all songs. Beautiful enough to make me cry, if I felt like it. (No song has every actually made me cry, but sometimes you get the feeling. Yes? Especially when it’s live.) The music video is great:

Download the song:

Comforting Sounds (Frengers version)
Comforting Sounds (Half the World is Watching Me version)

The performance felt peaceful even while being surrounded by a bunch of tall average-sized people and craning my neck every now and then for a better view (overall, I thought the crowd was good. There were either a lot of Mew fans or a lot of Mew fans in-the-making). I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like at Hiro Ballroom in a dark room…hell, in a room. Since some of my friends had to leave early and I figured I already experienced the best part of the concert (for me, at least), I left as Secret Machines started to play. After I got home three hours later (important note: 1 hour isn’t enough time to get from the pool to catch a train in Hoboken), I’m still Mew-happy and feeding their songs into my brain.

More photos:

jen c
baonguyen
tammylo
ewanian
thisismecl
Parka9898
bluberd

—

On a random (but still Mew-related) note, after wondering who sang the other part in “Symmetry” (one of my favorite songs!…damn, there are a lot of “favorites”), but never actually looking it up, I found out that the source is a 13 year old Becky Jarrett. Her story is sweet:

When I was 11, I decided to get on a music chat line to talk to other Hanson fans (yes I use to like Hanson). I asked,” Does anyone listen to Hanson?” and I received a private message saying ” no, but what other music do you listen to?” Little did I know that it was the lead singer for the band Mew. We chatted for a while and exchanged email addresses so that we could keep in touch. I sent Jonas some videos of me singing and he decided that he wanted me to sing a song called “Symmetry” on their upcoming album. So of course I was so excited! My mom and I flew to Copenhagen, Denmark in July of 1999 (I was 13) to meet Mew and record “Symmetry”. It was such a great experience and all the guys were super nice!

Interesting way to find a vocalist, but it worked out. For some reason I didn’t think the singer was actually a young teenager, despite that she sounded like one. I may as well upload these songs too, eh?

Symmetry (Half the World is Watching Me version)
Symmetry (Half the World is Watching Me version)

You know, you should just buy Frengers. I love And The Glass Handed Kites, but not nearly as much as Frengers. God knows why it hasn’t been released in the US by now.

Mew may be touring in the US again this fall. Hopefully as headliners. I miss them already.

—

Update (8/2):

Video of Comforting Sounds from ewanian:

Judging from other people’s reactions, Mew’s show on Wednesday night was awesome. Not that I expected anything else. I figure that tomorrow’s show opening for Bloc Party will not be as awesome. It will most likely be shorter, sunnier, and hotter. But I’m still very muchly excited.

Dedicated Japanese Mew fan no snow rounded up lots of photos and reviews.

taken by newstreamer

Flickred:

blueberd
metal guru
newstreamer
marcymakesaparty
irockiroll

Video (by slidesong):

Update: Another video by marcystuckinjersey:

Reviews:

brooklynvegan
Central Village
JANEMAG
musicsnobbery
cmj blog
the trip wire
Official Mew Forum topic
Sound Bites

Setlist (plus CJ’s excited comments):

* Special
* Shelter….Swanky
* Am I Wry? No…156
* White Lips Kissed
* She Came Home for Christmas
* Apocalypso….Saviors of JAZZBALLET! (WHAT!?)
* Snow Brigade….Zookeepers Boy
* Louise Louisa
Encore:
* Comforting Sounds (AWESOME!)

“They actually were supposed to play SheSpider but Jonas told me that they were running too long (70+ minutes). ”

There was an after-party at The Annex.

ONE MORE DAY UNTIL…TOMORROW!

Why are there still tickets for the Mew show at Hiro Ballroom this coming Wednesday?

EVERYONE SHOULD WANT TO GO! If you’re cool at least. …Then again, I want to go. So maybe I should take that back.

But still, everyone should go. Unless you don’t know who Mew are, in which case you should listen to some of their stuff…and then go. They’re at the top of my list of “artists I’ve never seen live, but really need to before I die”. Before this summer, I thought that would necessitate flying to Europe; I’m glad they’re the ones coming over here.

it creeps me out too

Mew’s latest album And The Glass Handed Kites is coming out in the US on July 25th. Only about 9 months after it was first released elsewhere!…could be worse, I guess. (Such as never being release here.) Here’s a song from the album:

Mew - Chinaberry Tree

And a cool music video for “Special” by Martin de Thurah:

If I weren’t so lazy, I would see Ian Love perform at Knitting Factory tonight. Or rather, if I lived in my old dorm, I would just pony up the $8 and walk over, as opposed to driving, taking the train, taking the path, taking the subway, and then walking.

Ah well, there are worse things. Like lung congestion.

Like I said before, I did buy Ian Love’s album after sample a few songs on his myspage page–it’s easily become one of my favorite albums of the year. Beautiful, sweet songs, somehow energetic and relaxing at the same time. I feel like I could lie around and do nothing all day whlie listening to this album. …Although I guess even without the music I’d feel like doing that. (I’m doing laundry and editing websites right now, mmkay? Multi-tasking!)

I like every song on the album. But I do have a favorite.

Ian Love - Black Diamonds [removed]

The last minute makes me happiest. Nothing like, “And you’ve lost control and have got no hope / You’ve got no hope” to raise your spirits. I’m not joking. He sounds so exuberant that it makes me feel optimistic about my impending doom. Life is just slow death, so you may as well be happy about it. I am prancing around…on the inside.

He’s playing a free show at Punkslope/Bar 4 on Thursday, July 20th. DOESN’T GET MUCH BETTER THAN FREE!

Girl 1: This music sounds tentacle-y.
Girl 2: Yeah, it makes me want calamari!

the human sea

Yesterday I checked out Yo La Tengo at the Propect Park Bandshell to watch them perform Sounds of the Sounds of Science, their instrumental score to a selection of Jean Painlevé’s short undersea documentaries. I had no idea what the films or music would be like, but figured…hey, it’s free, one of my friends is going, and there isn’t much point in going back home to NJ if I don’t have to. (And of course, I like Yo La Tengo. And sea life.) As the bandshell was completely packed, I guess lots of other people had similar ideas.

looks like tentacles?

While watching the films, you didn’t really notice the music. Or maybe that was just me. And by that I mean it went really well with the films–it certainly wouldn’t be the same without any accompanying music. You could also listen to the music by itself, but it makes more sense when seen with…jellyfish budding, octopuses mating, shrimp shedding, etc.

The audience sometimes cheered on the documentary subjects, most notably when the male seahorse painfully birthed babies from it’s engorged egg sac. “The Love Life of The Octopus” was also particularly freakish (cos ye know…they look a bit freaky), but also funny due to the fertilization process during which the male octopus hooks it spermy tentacle into the female’s respiratory cavity and just…leaves it there for a while. Let those eggs and sperm do their thing and voila, end up with a gajillion eggs linked together in a ghostly plant-like fashion.

I probably would’ve focused more on the music if I had sat closer within view of the band (we picked the last row figuring it’d be a good spot to view the film from), but I happily walked away with the message, “The sea is full of crazy-ass stuff.” Which is is. I wouldn’t otherwise think that looking at the development of nearly microsopic jellyfish or the countless undulating tentacles of sea urchins could be so interesting. It made my accomplishments feel highly insignificant; “Damn, I can’t reproduce by budding.” Seeing the survival instincts nature pre-wires into all organisms makes me wonder what’s up with humans (a highly eloquent and deep question). Of course, we’ve had to do many unnatural things to populate the whole world. May someday we can be ROBOTS!!!

…And thanks to Yo La Tengo and Jean Painlevé, now I want fried calamari.

—

Holy crap, it’s birthing time! (Also time to “dissect the male seahorse” and “show the embryos”. The music and film are beautiful. Thanks to John for taking this video:

Better reviews/photos:

Brooklyn Vegan
Qbertplaya
Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society

you should buy this album

Mew at Hiro Ballroom, Wednesday, July 26th. $22 sounds fine to me. This is Mew, ye know. Or if you don’t know, maybe you should go to the show and find out. I’ve never seen them live, but I have no doubt that they’re awesome.

21+ shows make me unhappy. I’m 20.85 years old. (And if anyone knows whether Hiro Ballroom checks IDs/gives a crap, let me know. I’m kind of paranoid from past experiences.)

[via brooklyn vegan]

really small tigers, or giant human?

I’ve been listening to Ian Love a lot lately, although by “a lot” I mean whatever’s on his myspace page since I don’t actually own his album. Yet. It’s only $10, less than what I spend on transportation for a work day, so I don’t have much excuse. By the time I finish this entry, I’ll have bought the album. Which reminds me, I have to pay credit card bills.

Even though I’m not a big fan of babies, I think the accompanying baby photos on Ian’s myspace page influence my opinions about his songs in a positive way. “Aw, babies…hey, this song is nice.” Maybe babies like his soft, sleepy, shuffling acoustic-y songs about lovey dovey things. Listening to his songs is very comforting and almost makes me feel like I’m sitting outside under a cool night sky and not in my humid room with the lights turn off because any excessive light will only exacerbate my sweat glands.

Yeah, I should just turn on a fan.

The only lyric so far that makes me go “Hmm?” is when he says, “As the stars jump side to side.” Why are these stars jumping? Are you nauseous? Is someone shaking you violently? I guess I’m taking things too literally. Thankfully, I don’t write songs; “As the stars stayed put because according to my astronomy textbook they shouldn’t be moving,” isn’t very heartwarming.

Listen to all his songs. They’re lovely. And feature different baby photos.

I wish I were that baby. Oh well.

Levy and Soft are playing at The Delancey this Saturday. Levy goes on at 10 PM, Soft at 11 PM. FUN? MAYBE?

It’s cool to find a show with two bands you like playing the same night. I’m not going because I’m not old enough and I live in the wrong state. (There are worse reasons though, like “MAH LIMBS FELL OFF.”) Maybe youuuu should go. [points]