A few months back, I got an email from the band Tennis—not because we’re pals, because I’m on their email list—explaining that they were giving up the touring life for the open sea for a while.

To be fair, that’s how the husband-and-wife band started, more or less. As singer + musician Alaina Moore wrote, back in January:

“Six year ago, Patrick and I wrote an album under the moniker Tennis as a way of documenting our time living aboard a small boat, sailing over 2000 miles of North Atlantic coastline. In the following years, our work as Tennis surprised me by out-sizing  and eventually supplanting our dreams of life at sea.” She continued—”The last six years have belonged to music. Voyaging is a way I have found to live close to nature without changing it. It is a way of limiting my social and financial obligations. I find it to be the most cathartic, psychically cleansing way to live event though I am at every moment insecure and subject to the indifference of nature. This time my creative work will be archival, motivated by the desire to show you what I mean rather than sing it to you.”

Roughly every month-and-a-half to two months, the two have sent updates with a few photos, always equally inspiring. The most recent one came this morning, ending with the lines: “Sailing is an act of faith. We strike out into nothing believing that something will be there on the other side. When we arrive, it is like a truth revealed.”

I recommend signing up for the band’s updates—yes, it’s handy to know what such talented music-makers are up to, but, maybe more importantly, we can take these words to heart and find our own new adventure.

Normally I’d insert a song by the band via SoundCloud here, but, with their recent move to keep with subscription services like Apple + Spotify, Tennis’ entire catalog (like many bands’) is on preview lock, so you can no longer listen to them fully there without paying SoundCloud (who does not pay Tennis…or any other artist currently, it should be point out).

So YouTube it is! Oldie-but-goodie.

If you’re a certain breed of nerd of a certain age—let’s say the D+D-playing variety who came of age in the eighties—you know what Zork is.

For those who aren’t either of those two things, Zork, was one of the first interactive adventure computer games and one that was totally text-based. Think that computer game that Tom Hanks plays as a kid in Big, minus the video part. The game was developed in the late 70s by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling—members of the MIT Dynamic Modelling Group—and was noted for its recognition of more advanced sentence syntax than its forerunner, Colossal Cave Adventure, the first computer adventure game but one that only accepted simple two word commands (“hit troll” vs “hit troll with sword”).

If all of that sounds pretty mundane in this day and age, it definitely is, given where we are technologically 40-some years later, but, at this time, this was high art in computing and gaming. In 1981, computing magazine BYTE wrote of Zork “”No single advance in the science of Adventure has been as bold and exciting,” continuing—”That the program is entertaining, eloquent, witty, and precisely written is almost beside the point…Zork can be felt and touched—experienced, if you will—through the care and attention to detail the authors have rendered.”

As a computer-less kid in the early 80s, I remember heading after school to the classroom of my mom, who was a teacher, so I could play Zork on their Macintosh after school hours and, likewise, inviting myself over to friends’ houses with computers so we could try to puzzle the game out together. Much as with D+D—another childhood love of mine—the game forced your imagination into overtime, sitting, staring at a blinking green or amber cursor on the black computer screen trying of so hard to figure out how to advance the game. Among other things, it helped to awaken in me an adolescent hunger for exploration—both real-world and theoretical—that I truly believe to have been key in my personal development.

Now, decades later, those of us who remember the game can revisit the experience via the web, through a number of online emulators. Of them, I like the version of Zork hosted by IPlayIF—a site that acts as a library for text-based interactive fiction. So what are you waiting for—your greatest challenge lies ahead!

We’re really loving the most recent single from Hope Sandoval + the Warm Inventions, “Isn’t It True”. Originally released as a 7″ for this most recent Record Store Day, Sandoval + Colm Ó Cíosóig (drummer of My Bloody Valentine and Sandals partner in the Warm Inventions) the track plays up Sandoval’s voice and the waltzing, soft wash of music that fits it best and it has us excited for the band’s third full-length, whenever it may come out.

The video for the song—below—is a tribute to the late Richie Lee of the Los Angeles band Acetone.

Leave it to the Boss.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band opened their Saturday show at Brooklyn with a touching, emotional tribute to Prince, covering his immortal “Purple Rain.”

As NPR put it: “Bruce’s effort to maintain the song’s building intensity was visible; it felt like it originated from a sense of loss, an expression of the emptiness that accompanies the departure of a kindred spirit more than the original song’s timbre of romantic loss and regret.”

The Boss ends the song with “Prince forever! God bless!”

Thank you Bruce; thank you Prince.

Photo Kevin Mazur/Getty Images.

The race for president has indeed been one of the most crazy, weird, and scary races…maybe ever. But, turns out, it has nothing on the race for US Senate seats in California.

First, we feel the need to point out that two of these 21 candidates will, when all is said and done, win their race and serve as Senators to “represent California’s interests in the United States Congress.” Again, this is the United States Senate. The two new Senators will vote on new national laws and vote on “confirming federal judges, US Supreme Court Justices, and many high-level presidential appointments to civilian and military positions.” Serious stuff, it would seem.

And some of these candidates, judging by their public statements in this year’s California voter guide, do seem plausible, with what read like logical, non-insane statements and legit email addresses—I’d say six or seven of the 21. The rest…not so much.

Some, like Pamela Elizondo, simply reference their Facebook pages, which, to be fair, maybe she’s just trying to be succinct and appeal to the perceived short attention spans of “kids these days.”

Along the same lines, the aptly name Jerry Laws was so succinct with his “Constitutionalist. Americanism.” statements, he didn’t even make time to send in a photo. Note, by the way, I have no qualms sharing candidates’ email, phone, address, and websites as they shared them with all California voters—by all mean, please visit lawsussenate2016.com.

Likewise with fight-the-power.org, a much better designed site than Jerry’s that is FUCKING TERRIFYING, with features like “From a White Guy to Black Americans: You are CHUMPS” explaining, among many other things, that Planned Parenthood has, from the start, acted as a secret weapon of “The Plantation Masters” to stop as many black Americans from being born as possible.

Moving on, we have Ling Ling Shi of Rancho Cucamonga—one of the most fun town names in California—who ensures she will “challenge 10 giant chaos in economy and economy-related sectors.”

And Mr. Agbede who starts out strong with “Rescue America! Rescue America!! Rescue America!!! Californian!”

And Ms. Grappo of Alameda who, by her photo, will simply gouge out your eyes if you do not vote for her (also, “I am mainstream Facebook in social media!”?)

Think that’s all the worst of it? Oh. Oh, that’s so far from the worst of it. Take Karen Roseberry, who states simply “*S.A.V.E. the future!*”

Again, I feel the need to remind everyone—US Senate.

We also have Jason, who, going by his candidate statement, may be in the tech sector and could maybe help you with that slow laptop that keeps crashing.

And finally—best for last, here—we have Mike Beitiks, the no-nonsense most transparent politician of them all, who tells us that “Federal legislators are doing nothing to protect us from the threat of climate change,” continuing with “I will not do nothing. I swear on the graves of future Californians that I will not sacrifice our actual climate to our political climate.” Plus, killer site URL and best photo yet.

So, that guy’s got my vote. I’ve a little over a month to figure out the second one.

Best of luck future Californians. And thanks, Alex. Glad to hear you certified all of this to be correct.

Happy ICRAD 2016, everyone. That’s International Crow and Raven Appreciation Day, for anyone not in the know.

As put by the Facebook page for ICRAD and primary source of information on this—we think—very deserved holiday:

“International Crow and Raven Appreciation Day was started by a small group of corvid enthusiasts on a road trip. These marvelous birds are often the target of rednecks and hillbillies as they try out their newest line of pistols. But we see these birds, not for their value as a target, but rather for their intelligence and grace. They have a curious nature, and have the ability to make you laugh as they tumble down a hill, sliding in the snow on their back. Yes, we appreciate the crows and ravens of the world. To celebrate ICRAD, all we ask is that you wear black on April 27th. If you want to tell people about the holiday, feel free, at first they may question your motives, but after a little convincing i am sure they will hop on board!”

Hear hear!

We’ve always loved corvids, both for their real world smarts and the striking grace they present visually, the main reason behind chasing them for our namesake in the first place. We’re glad we’re not the only ones who appreciate the birds.

And, as reported by CNET, a recent study has found that raven intelligence is on par with that of chimps. How’s that for a bird brain, monkey‽

And now, ravens playing in the snow.

via GIPHY

Though Katie’s a longtime fan of British new folk band Mumford + Sons and I totally appreciate much of their catalog, they’ve never quite been my thing.

But this new collaborative concept EP they’re doing, Johannesburg, is hitting some pretty key notes for me.

Born of a tour of South Africa and writing collaboration with internationally celebrated Senegalese singer and guitarist, Baaba Maal, a longtime favorite Malawi singer of ours Esau Mwamwaya of The Very Best, and Cape Town pop trio Beatenburg, the project brings to mind western artists of past years who’ve looked to African musical roots for inspiration, so, nothing new there, but the result is beautiful and stirring nonetheless.

You can her Mumford + Sons and Maal perform “There Will Be Time” live in South Africa below and along with a trailer for Johannesburg under that. Spin’s got a Beats 1 interview and world first (“WORLD FIRST”) premiere of the track streaming that’s of interest too.

Album’s out June 17, pre-order via M+S.

If the season premiere of Game of Thrones was the only HBO event that dominated your weekend, may we be so bold as to say that you missed out.

As you’ve likely heard by now, pop queen Beyoncé debuted her new album, Lemonade, over the weekend along with the first of its kind—a ‘visual album’ to accompany the new record.

Less a series of 12 videos to accompany the 12 tracks of the album and more a continuous narrative, the visual Lemonade presents the songs as related stories, stringing them all together with poetry, spoken word, sound, and stunning visuals and telling one cohesive story of pain, heartache, loss, anger, and restoration, both personal and in a larger more societal sense. It’s 57 minutes of gifted, heart-laid-bare storytelling from the artist and a bold move to employ a new, innovative format to do so, positioning her solidly as a cultural icon.

Over the weekend, HBO debuted the limited release of the visual album, pairing it with a free preview weekend—both of which have now ended—skillfully stepping out of the cultural white noise and grabbing our oh-so scattered attention in this attention deficit disorder digital age.

In the wake of the loss of Prince, Beyoncé + Lemonade give us hope for the future of pop culture if its in such skilled, thoughtful hands as these.

You can view a trailer for Lemonade below and buy the album—visual and aural—via iTunes + Tidal. And check out Kiana Fitzgerald’s review of Lemonade for NPR, if you get a chance.

As we said yesterday on IG, boo to the fur used in the primary imagery/film; yay to all else.

We’re liking some new postcard sets from local artist and raven + crow studio mate Stacy Michelson. The two sets—Castles + Totems and MAN-imal—are hand screen printed and characteristically quirky.

You can snag both sets (and a ton of awesome pins, shirts, pillows, pouches, and other goodies) over at Stacy’s site.

More on her soon. Bon weekend.

Seriously, 2016‽ What the fuck‽

Still coming to grips with the loss of Bowie and now Prince is gone. We honestly cannot believe this. Two legendary figures in not only music but in culture—two men who shaped our generation in so many ways—gone far too soon and so close to one another in time. This is simply unfair. And terrible.

Our hearts go out to fellow fans of Prince Rogers Nelson, particularly those in his native Minneapolis, who must be reeling right now.

There are far too many songs to chose from to pay tribute to Prince, one of the most prolific popular song-writers of our time, so we chose one Prince didn’t write—Radiohead’s “Creep”, performed at 2008’s Coachella, which he, of course, kills.

Rest in peace, you sexy motherfucker. And please start the coolest band ever in the afterlife with Bowie + Lemmy.