Though originally hailing from Michigan, the artist simply known as BØRNS, is said to have moved to a treehouse on the east side of Los Angeles in the past year, eschewing Great Lakes, walls of snow, and wolverines for palm trees, near year-round sun, and tacos for as far as the eye can see. Seems like a no-brainer to this fellow Angeleno.

BØRNS is the project of Garrett Borns, the performing name evidently derived from the native ancestral spelling of Garrett’s surname. And—treehouse hooks in press releases aside—Borns shows some exciting promise with his recently released Candy EP, particularly with the lead single, “10,000 Emerald Pools”. The smoothy rolling rhythms, light synth, simple guitars, and choral backing vocals provide a beautifully straightforward pop backbone for Borns’ soft, somewhat androgynous falsetto.

Give “10,000 Emerald Pools” a listen below. You can purchase his new EP via iTunes and check out coming tour dates (starting in late February) on BØRNS’ Facebook page.

According to this field mouse, the wait is over for the previously announced holiday party we’re throwing at MooShoes Los Angeles with Spork Foods + PETA.

We’ll have complimentary drinks, snacks, deals on holiday shopping, and an awesome DJ, so come on out and party with us tonight 6-9PM, MooShoes LA—3116 Sunset in Silver Lake. See you there!

Working on something new. Stay tuned.

For a really long time, when you spoke of Icelandic pop music, you were likely referring to Björk or a performer closely associated with her. In the past years though, it seems like that tiny, isolated gem of creativity between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic can’t stop churning out beautifully original independent music.

The latest find, Júníus Meyvant, creates catchy, orchestral pop that—like much of Iceland’ music—sounds rooted, still, in the traditional frameworks and instrumentation of that country. In his new single, Meyvant adds his gently gruff voice to a bed of music full of orchestral hits + horn lines that, along with the subtly syncopated rhythm section and overall bright feel of the song, creates a sound that’s oddly reminiscent of 60s folk-pop.

We’ve talked before, in a phone interview with fellow Icelander, Sindri Már Sigfússon (AKA Sin Fang) about the oddity of such a small population producing such huge waves in music, but it still wows us every time we stumble across a new one. We’re always glad when we do though.

Listen to Meyvant’s single “Color Decay” below; you can buy the song via iTunes with that gift card you’re about to get in a couple weeks.

For anyone in New York looking for places to finish up (or start, if you’re like me) any holiday shopping, here’s added incentive to include fashion boutique In God We Trust—these stellar holiday themed tote bags, free with purchase. I’m guessing I’m not too far off base saying that this sums up pretty succinctly quite a few people’s take on the holidays.

If you’re not already familiar with IGWT, it’s one of our long-time favorite clothing stores, specializing in both men’s and women’s styles and headed by designer Shana Tabor, who somehow serendipitously constructs shirts that fit me exactly.

You can read a somewhat dated interview we did with Tabor way back in 2011, year of the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, and the 9.0 earthquake that rocked Japan. Crazy year, man.

A fond farewell to New York City and our very generous, gracious hosts there. We miss you all, though we’re happy to travel back to some…kinder weather, we’ll say.

Above, the final scene in this year’s Macy’s windows, which are kinda sci-fi, planetary-themed and totally awesome.

Our final polaroid from the archive—driving down Route 81 in rural Virginia.

Number 4 in our series of old Polaroids, a viewfinder at Niagara Falls, American side, 2002.

Polaroid Archive no. 3—a palm tree (then, a foreign, mysterious thing to us) in Kawaii, 2002, as a storm approaches the island.

A Polaroid from our collection of a costumed stilt-walker in drag on the Coney Island Boardwalk, 2001 or 2002.