Rent Right Now
When I was a kid and first started to play music, my friend, Brian Rickabaugh, told me something. He said that his piano teacher confided in him that listening to music was no longer enjoyable for him because he was constantly analyzing and deconstructing it—worrying over things like time signatures or instrumentation involved or keys or tempo changes. And I remember thinking: That is a terribly sad thing. I understand becoming enamored with or fascinated by something so much that you start to eat and breathe that thing—you have to get closer to it, understand it and be a part of it. But then to be taken over so much by that phenomenon that you lose the desire that got you there in the first place seems to completely miss the point. It seems like it becomes the difference between critic and connoisseur. Or maybe even just blissful audience member.

We must start with an apology, follow with a list of excuses, and then finish with some lovely music.

Vincent Moon Visits Copenhagen
One of my favorite bands, Efterklang, was recently part of an experiment involving Vincent Moon—the filmmaker largely famous for his work with La Blogotheque. A project started with the intention of finding new ways to present independent music, La Blogothequ is a French site that presents quickly-filmed, organic film of bands and musicians playing their songs live. The result is usually warm, intimate, and, in short, beautiful. With Temporary Copenhagen, Moon created a single-take, 3o minute piece in a house in Copenhagen, assembling 9 local bands and having them each play a song on the spot, with one song blending into the next. The result is a meandering, shimmering soundscape of the city and its very talented local music scene. Other than Efterklang, I only knew one other band—Slaraffenland, who is also really superb. They also have a Moon video on this same site of them playing their current album from beginning to end in locations all over Copenhagen. Definitely worth checking out when you get a chance. You can see both videos over at the temporarycopenhagen.com. Have a great one.

Handsome Grocery
Being designers by trade, when shopping, we tend to notice things like packaging, labeling…you know – design. We often buy wine simply because it has a nicely-done label. We’ve recently even gone as far as conducting a “Judge a Book by its Cover” experiment, where Katie and I both bought new novels from Word bookstore in Greenpoint based only on their cover designs. Results: Katie’s—The White Mary, by Kira Salak—awesome; mine—The Island at the End of the World, by Sam Taylor—pretty okay. Check out that cover though, man. Point being, we like to support companies and individuals who hold high a decent level of a aesthetic sense. So imagine our disappointment when, at the store the other day, we noted the new, very lame packaging for Silk Soymilk. Not only did they just redesign their packaging last year, but now they seem to be taking a note from the Pepsi/Tropicana move earlier this year. Remember the new cartons for Tropicana that literally lasted mere months? They were near impossible to decipher and L-A-M-E. I think I stood in the fridge section of a local Associated for ten minutes trying to figure out which one was “Some Pulp.” They soon after wisely switched back to the old packaging (some dudes got FIRED for that, man). I can only hope Silk gets their wisdom on too. As Katie said, “It makes it look like I’m buying generic milk. I don’t want to look like I’m buying generic milk.”

Thao and the wonderfully-named Get Down Stay Down play folksy, upbeat music with smart, vibrant lyrics. Why would you not like that? Why? Plus they’ve got roots in our home state, Virginia, and are managed by Slim Moon—the dude who started the label, Kill Rock Stars, and is therefore responsible for like 90% of what I listened to in college. Now based in San Francisco, T+GDSD are bringing their hand-clappy, feel-goody vibes to bear on the new album, Know Better Learn Faster, in stores tomorrow. Can’t wait? Me neither. Check out the title track, our Song of the Week. What what?!

Home is Where the Bartender Is
So, to follow up on Tuesday’s post, we would like to pass on to you, lovely Internet, two drink recipes that our good friend, Dani, the bartender at Hotel Home in Buenos Aires, created for us while we were there. Keep in mind, this guy is mad skilled, and we honestly were super-psyched that he wrote this stuff down for us, much less gave us permission to post the recipes on-line. His only caveat was that we had to name each of the two drinks. And so we have Lo Siento—”I’m sorry” in Spanish, but literally “I feel it”…and you will—and The Ginger Français—a ginger-infused vodka base with some exotic flavors like a french black currant liqueur to excite up your palette.

This Guy Makes Some Pretty Amazing Music When Not Posing on a Bike in a Park with his Dog, Wife, and Crying Kid
That was actually going to be the title of the new Owen album, but the bigwigs over at Polyvinyl thought it was “unwieldy” and didn’t make for a catchy acronym. Suits, man.

And we’re back. Phew. Vacation’s kinda the best. Not that we’re not happy to see you again, Internet. We are. To prove it, we’re FINALLY posting a new song of the week, this one from French + Danish = really nice pop duo, the Dø (pronounced, “doe,” as in, “do a deer a female deer…”). Cutesy? Yeah sure. But the arrangement is interesting and sweet enough to keep you coming back for more. Plus I’m a real sucker for weirdly beautiful vocals. Enter the Dø. And exit me. I’m going back on vacation, man. Enjoy.