Heads up on two things:
1. Crossroads brunch is very much on fleet, but;
2. Crossroads’ famous vegan Bloody Mary cart is not always around for brunch, it turns out, which is very much not on fleek.
Great vegan Benedict though.
We’re reminded this week of the importance of taking time to reconnect with nature, step back to appreciate friendships, and stop and smell the…thistles I guess?
Shot on our way to Inspiration Point and the old site of the Alpine Inn, a hike we’d highly recommend to anyone wanting any of the above, thistles included.
We’ll be upfront about this—we haven’t been huge fans of the past couple full-lengths from Charleston’s Band of Horses. They each had some stand-outs, but, overall, they fell a little flat compared to earlier releases.
But the two tracks that they’ve released from their coming fifth release—titled why are you ok and out next month—have left us with high hopes. Harkening back to upbeat hooks and straight-up southern pop-rock, we like the return to the band’s roots both tracks seems to hint at. Give em a listen below. You can pre-order the new album via Band of Horses’ site.
Some of the heaviest lifting in the making of these monthly mixtapes—besides combing through the wealth of new music—comes with the cull; the inevitable whittling down of twenty-some or even thirty-some songs to our self-prescribed set of 15 songs for each list. This month, it was more difficult than most, but the result is an eclectic mix of great new songs from great artists, old and new.
We’re starting off with a slow-build folky number from Calvin Johnson-approved LT Leif out of Calgary before moving on to a song that hits a little too close to home—”Getting Older” from Brooklyn duo Retail Space. That’s right—the Canada-Brooklyn one-two punch.
This month’s mix also features Berlin’s Slow Steve off of longtime favorite label, Morr Music; a dancer track from Sydney’s Phebe Starr; a musical kicking of our collective asses from Mitski; a long-awaited single from the forthcoming new Local Natives full-length; a new one from another Angeleno, Tokimonsta; a very Belly-esque track from Poland’s Brodka; a nice track from New York by way of Norway’s Okay Kaya, who we caught opening up for Peter Bjorn and John last week; and much more.
Check it out.
How we respond when a client asks us to include the worldwide web acronym in their URL.
If you’ve never been to Colonial Williamsburg—pride of our mutually native Virginia, along with ham, peanuts, and cigarettes—we’d recommend it. The historical park is some beautifully strange combination of Busch Gardens amusement park minus the rides and a giant, constant colonial-era LARP event (live action role playing), complete with battle reenactments, settlement tours, and in-chartacer crafters, glass-blowers, townspeople, and shop keeps.
Years back, on a work trip to the park, I bought this deck of beautifully illustrated playing cards from one such shop keep and have them to this day. They’re reproductions of 18th-century playing cards featuring a selection of Aesop’s Fables, based on a deck printed by I. Kirk circa 1759.
Primary take-aways—Aesop loved the “long s” (a confusingly complicated writing practice we’re happy died out long ago), had a thing for foxes, and did not care for crows.
Greek jerk.
You can order online from Colonial Williamsburg…but then you’d miss out on the in-character shop keep’s totally amusing befuddlement over your strange paper money with confusing faces on it and/or shock at this off plasticine card you wish to somehow barter with. Oh, LARPing.
Stumbled across this long-forgotten photo, shot last year through a telescope at one of Griffith Park’s monthly star parties, which we’d highly recommend as one of Los Angeles’ top public free events. Next one’s Saturday.
For the past 14 or so years, I’ve received email newsletters from Other Music in New York City, which I’ve long-regarded as the best record store in the country. It’s one of the few email subscriptions I’ve never even come close to considering ending, having introduced me to hundreds of now-beloved bands from Vampire Weekend to Efterklang to Monika to Little Simz to countless others. To this day, it stands as one of the best ways I know of to find good music that I’d otherwise likely never know about.
This morning, that same newsletter arrived to inform me, along with all other recipients, that the store was closing after 20 years of serving music-lovers of New York City and the world.
I could on and on about how cities and life have changed—for better and worse—because of the internet; instead, I’d like to simply share both my sadness and my fondness for what I truly regard as a seminal and important institution in the independent music scene, especially in NYC. Other kept a staff that was not only wildly knowledgable about the music world but also feverishly devoted to finding and sharing new independent music with the store’s clientele, which is what made so many of us such fans of the store itself.
The store served as a leader in scene too, holding intimate in-store performances, organizing showcases around the city and at festivals, and more recently starting their own record label, which will continue on.
It seems there are multiple reasons that add up to owners + co-founders Chris Vanderloo and Josh Madell (below) making this decision, but it basically boils down to increasing rent combined with far less record-buying. As they stated in a press release this morning:
“The shop has sold millions of records, won awards and accolades, and hopefully touched more than a few lives. Times change. This business has changed, this city has changed, but records will keep spinning, and they ask only one thing — that you keep supporting great music, wherever and however you can.”
Let’s honor their wishes, shall we?
You can view all 16 years worth of email updates from Other Music in their web archive and the New York Times has a great article on the shop that ran today.
Photo, Hilary Swift for The New York Times.
A restful weekend to you all.
Though we didn’t realize it at first, we’ve been fans of artist and illustrator Tallulah Fontaine for quite some time. We were lucky enough to have been keyed into the music of Purity Ring since their start and Fontaine’s hand-done illustrations and narrative imagery has been integral to the band’s public image and most every release since their first single. From there, Fontaine’s gone on to work with a whole host of musical artists (many of whom we’re big fans of), writers, and collaborators from many creative realms, all the while bringing her distinctive style to each project.
We took a little time to speak with Tallulah about what inspires her art, projects to come, and what she likes about the city of Los Angeles.
raven + crow studio: So, first off, thanks for doing this. We’re fans of your work. I guess the first thing we’d like to know is, how’d you get into illustration and fine art? Did you go to art school or have you just kind of always been doing this?
Tallulah Fontaine: I didn’t go to art school or any kind of college. I waitressed after high school and picked up art again when I was in my early 20s.
Being self-trained myself, I applaud that wholeheartedly. Our first exposure to your work was through Purity Ring, a longtime favorite band of ours. How’d you initially get hooked up with those two?
I’ve known them for ages—we grew up together in Edmonton, Alberta. They asked me to do the single art for their first track they put up on Myspace and I’ve worked with them ever since.
Myspace—that was a while back then. And you know Braids too, yeah? Really love their last album.
Me too! It’s one of my favourites from last year!
I met them in 2009 when they played in the basement of a house in Edmonton we used to call Castle Awesome.
Castle Awesome? Awesome. Yeah, I think the most recent work we saw by you was what you did for LA artist Soayla (above)—are you drawn to work in music in particular or has that more just an effect of your friends being in that business?
A little of both—I’ve always been surrounded by musicians even though I’m not one myself. Music is a really important part of my life and I love to get to be a part of it in some way.
Makes sense. We loved the collab you did with Ali Munn last year and resulting rings too—how did that come about?
Thank you. I’ve admired her work for a long time and approached her to make me a custom ring for a friend. We ended up collaborating on some designs together instead! I’m very happy with them.
No, they’re great. I love the idea of marrying jewelry design and illustration. You’ve done a good bit of work in the literary world too—book covers, magazine and book illustrations. Have books always been an important part of your life? Are you a big reader?
I used to be, especially when I worked in a used bookstore. These days, I don’t always make the time for it like I should.
You and me both. Favorite recent read?
I will never be beautiful enough to make us beautiful together by Mira Gonzalez.
Love that title. Much of your work is so narrative—it seems like there’s a larger story behind so many of your individual pieces. I now you’ve done some zine work, but have you ever considered larger, longer form things like graphic novels or the like?
I’m working on my first short comic to be released this summer. It’s 24 pages, longer than anything I’ve made so far. I’m really enjoying working on it and would love to make more comics after this one.
That is awesome and exactly the kind of answer I was hoping for. Can you tell us more about your process in general? Like, what inspires the pieces you do? For instance, do you try to take content from a song or album or book and illustrate it in a sense, or are you inspired by other things? Or both?
When I work on a book cover or album art I do consider the content and meanings when working on my representation of them. In those kinds of projects, It’s much more of a collaboration with the other artists. My personal work is usually inspired by a significant moment or memory. Something I’m trying to hold onto and remember.
Illustrated memories—I like it. It’s always weird to speak to what or who influences your work as an artist, but who are some other visual artists whose work you admire?
I have so many artists I admire—Georgia O’Keeffe, Kiki Smith, Kenojuak Ashevak. So many of my friends are incredible artists also.
The arts scene in and around Toronto does seem really very vibrant. Am I right in thinking that you recently moved from Canada to Los Angeles…but more recently moved back north?
Yes that’s right. I moved from Montreal to LA for a year and now I’ve been in Toronto since January.
What are your thoughts on Los Angeles? It’s such a diverse city, but it’s also got a lot of common great and not-so-great things about it.
I really loved Los Angeles, although it did take me some time to get used to! I have a wonderful group of friends there and I’m crazy about the landscape and weather. I would definitely move back there again but I would learn how to drive next time! Never want to bus around that city again.
Oh, god no. Any projects we can look forward to besides the comic?
That and the final issue of Home Zine, a collective I co-run with Carla McRae.
Awesome. Thanks so much for talking with us.
You can see more of Talulah’s work and buy some of her pins, jewelry, and prints on her web site. Below, her cover for Purity Ring’s 2015 album, Another Eternity (another one of our favorites last year) and her collab with Ali Munn. Artist photo by Angela Lewis.
