This track hit our inbox this morning and we’re suddenly obsessed with it.

“XXVII” is the first official release of NYC-based Camille Corazón—solo electronic artist, bejeweled napper, and—we’re guessing—part-time model. Jest as we will, this song’s awesome and we hope it to be an accurate bellwether of musical excellence. Give it a go:

NYC—catch Corazón live at Gina Martynova‘s solo exhibition  7PM Thursday night, at BRISTLE + CRÈME—416 Third Ave + 30th. RSVP to rsvp@bristleandcreme.com.

Whether they know it or not, dedicated listeners of KCRW are likely already familiar with the songs of Monica Birkenes. Better known in the music world under her moniker, Mr Little Jeans, Birkenes creates catchy, breathy lyrical hooks over largely electronically driven pop songs that have a habit of getting stuck in your head in the most pleasant of ways.

We’ve been fans of Mr Little Jeans since last year, when we discovered her excellent single, “Oh Sailor”—one of our favorite songs of 2013 and a musical inspiration of sorts as we made our first trip from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.

Now, after much anticipation, Birkenes is releasing her debut full-length, with a show to celebrate the release tomorrow at LA’s Bootleg Theater. We got a chance to talk with her about the work that went into the album, get her tips for anyone visiting her native Norway, and find out what she likes about her new home, Los Angeles.

Listen to Yacht‘s remix of the first single from the album, “Good Mistake”, below, and read on.

raven + crow: Okay, so, first—the name. I read that it comes from Rushmore, Kumar Pallana’s character, right?

Monica Birkenes/Mr Little Jeans: That’s correct!

Were you a particularly big fan of his or is it more of a general Wes Anderson thing?

Who doesn’t love Wes Anderson? I’m a big fan but maybe not to the degree that most people would expect me to be. I’ve seen all of his movies and know about 3 quotes if that helps determine the level of my Wes Anderson fandom?

I think that’s a healthy level of fandom. So sad he died recently! …Pallana, not Anderson.

Very sad. But he sure made great use of his time here which is something to celebrate.

Well-put. And now that I’ve effectively started this interview off talking about death, let’s quickly change the subject—your debut full-length is coming out at long last—congratulations!

Thank you!

What was it like putting together a body of work so extensive like that?

I just saw it on I-tunes available for pre- order and had no idea how anxious it would make me feel. As it’s my first album, it took years just trying to get to the point where I could make the album I wanted to make, then some more years trying to figure out how to make it the best it could be, working with different producers/musicians and finding something that felt natural and felt like me. As far as songwriting goes, I’d only written a few songs before Mr Little Jeans, so it was something that had to be developed over time and trial and error. It’s been mine for such a long time, the thought of letting it go at this point is a strange thing.

But rewarding, I hope. It’s funny, we were talking recently with another artist who’s largely built her career to date on electronically released singles and free tracks and EPs as to whether full-length albums are still viable + necessary in this musical, commercial environment. What do you think? …I mean, I guess you’re pro- given the album coming out, but still…..

For me, it’s more of a romantic idea I’ve had since I was a kid and I think a lot of artists and record buyers still feel that way too. Whether it’s needed or not I don’t know. In a way it might have been better to release the songs as they got made, rather than store them up and then put them together in the end. It just feels very satisfying making an album. 

Yeah, we totally prefer buying full albums still and listening to start-to-finish. The narrative that’s presented, both musically and in terms of lyrical content, is just so much more rich and it’s nice to watch that evolve for an artists from album-to-album. We were glad to see “Oh Sailor” made the cut on the album. That was kind of our anthem as we drove cross-country this past August. Such a great song. Was it cool working with the kids form The Silverlake Conservatory of Music Youth Chorale? I feel like adding a youth chorus to an already good pop song just makes it all that much better—like all of Michael Angelakos’ work with Brooklyn’s PS 22 chorus on their first full-length.

“Oh Sailor” drove cross country with you? Amazing! I’m a big fan of throwing kids choirs in the mix. My favorite band doing that was probably Dead Mans Bones. It’s a little hidden gem of an album I think. And I totally ripped them off, going as far as using the same kids; which was a lot of fun—we had kids in the studio doing everything from spitting rhymes to puking in between takes.

Ew? Between that and the Arcade Fire song you do—which, again, we love—I feel like the album covers a lot of ground for you chronologically. Would you say it does so too creatively? Like, do you view the album more as a progressive look at you as you evolve as a musician or is it more of a snapshot of more singular time? …or is that an unnecessarily convoluted question destined to end in disaster?

It’s both. Creatively it’s been a huge learning curve which I feel is still ongoing and massive parts of that have definitely been documented on the album. At the same time each individual song takes me right back to the time of writing it. In lieu of a diary y’know—cringy but true!

Where does the album name come from—Pocketknife?

Thank you! It’s taken from a line in “Good Mistake”. It’s meant to be a good luck charm in a self-made luck kinda way. It might not make sense to anyone but me.

Oh, I like that a lot. So, I know you’re originally from Norway, correct?

Yes, sir.

Any tips on things to see or do for anyone visiting Norway?

The fjords and mountains on the west coast are no less than spectacular. You should also try some salty licorice while you’re there, it’s very scandinavian and a little shocking to anyone who isn’t.

Ooh, that sounds awesome. How long have you called LA home now?

Three to four years.

What’s your favorite thing about it here?

The mountains, the beach, the food, the amount of space, the music. It’s just wonderful.

Agreed! So, I very reluctantly bring this up, because we were there, so we know how painful it must have been for you, but I feel like the KCRW show you played on the Santa Monica Pier last year was cursed…like Macbeth-level cursed. For someone like me who has a lot less experience in the spotlight than you, I feel like I would have just crumbled under the pressure when everything started falling apart on the technical front and mics and PAs and instruments stopped working, but you handled it so well. How do you keep your cool in that kind of situation?

Thank you. I’m not sure how it came across on the outside, but I just wanted to cry. I knew what was about to happen when I went on stage. We never got the music working during the three hour long soundcheck and I knew it wasn’t all of a sudden gonna start working just because there were people there. Going off stage, Anne Litt (KCRW) was the first person to give me hug. I’d never met her before, but I started sobbing into her arms. Onwards and upwards?

Aw! That’s really heartbreaking, but yes—onwards and upwards! And good to hear Anne Litt was there for you—I’ve never met her, but she seems really nice. And you have what will doubtless be a far more smooth-sailing show Saturday at the Bootleg to celebrate the release of Pocketknife. Are you excited?

I’m excited! And a little scared. But I think whoever is gonna be there will be there because they like the music or at least have some kinda interest in it, so I have a feeling it might be a good night after all.

Totally. I feel like, working in the visual field, I’m always curious how much musical artists think about their visual aesthetic, if at all. Do you feel like you have a visual aesthetic that you bring to photo shoots or album artwork or even just live appearances?

I feel like I don’t, but it’s something I’m in the process of figuring out. I’ve been concentrating on the music part of things, but I think it’s time to step up the visual aspect. I very much know what I like and have a direction I’d like it to take it, but it’s been hard to execute so far. It’s a work in progress.

Something to look forward to for us then. Who have you been listening to a lot lately?

St Vincent + Beyonce.

Nice. And, finally, favorite tattoo?

My favorite tattoo belongs to Tim Anderson and is a drawing of a marshmellow captain on a ghostship. He designed it himself from a dream he had.

Dream tattoos are always the best. Thanks so much for talking with us—we’re huge fans and really excited for the new album and Bootleg show!

See you there!

Advance tickets to Mr Little Jeans’ album release at The Bootleg tomorrow night are sold out, but they may have a limited number of tickets available at the door, as space permits. You can buy her debut album, Pocketknife, via iTunes. You can watch her video for “Good Mistake”, directed by Ian + Cooper, below.

Inset photo by Drew McFadden.

Mr. Little Jeans “Good Mistake” from Ian & Cooper on Vimeo.

We just did shoot for the spring 2014 line of NYC-based vegan shoe makers, Novacas—house brand of vegan shoe store MooShoes.

There are a lot of not-so-great faux leather shoes out there, but Novacas has been steadily improving the quality of their product and materials every season and this new batch of shoes seems pretty awesome. What’s more, they manufacture their shoes in worker-freindly factories in Portugal that pay fair rates to their shoe-makers rather than relying on cheaper labor elsewhere.

You can see a sample of the new shoes and shots below and over at the MooShoes Web site.

Brooklyn band, Augustines (nee We are Augustines), is, without a doubt, one of our favorite bands to come onto the scene in the past few years. From the start, we were drawn in by the gruffly beautiful sound of their music and the emotion-laid-bare in singer Billy McCarthy’s voice. We’ve written them up many, many times in this space, most recently just a few months ago as they debuted their sophomore, self-titled album.

We recently got a chance to catch up with one of the group’s two founders, song-writer Eric Sanderson (above, right), to talk about the new album; our mutual love of his current and our former neighborhood in Brooklyn, Carroll Gardens; and forming Augustines after the break-up of his and Billy’s former band, Pela.

“After Pela broke up…we had to really ask ourselves if we wanted to continue doing music or not, because we certainly didn’t have an opportunity” Erica told me. “So it was very much standing at the bottom of the mountain and asking ourselves if we wanted to go through the sacrifice…to start climbing. And it was just really simple; I realized that my goal—once I kind of lost Pela and lost the opportunity to do music, I really just wanted to be happy. I just wanted to get over the misery and get over the suffering and just focus on being and happy and trying to be the best person I could be. And I looked at my life—I took a long, long look at it, a very deep look—and I realized that…the thing that makes me most happy is music. So, even though per suing music is often very difficult, I realized at that moment that, for me to genuinely be happy at my core, that’s what I need to do.”

Eric went on to describe the transformative effect touring the band’s debut—Rise Ye Sunken Ships—had on the three of them and how that affected their sound and subject matter. 

Listen to track from their new album, Augustines, above. Our full conversation can be heard below. You can still stream the full album on our February post; buy it via iTunes, on CD via Amazon, or on vinyl at your favorite independent record store.

Photo by Chris Becker.

We’re keeping it brief today as we’ve only just arrived back from a day-long field trip showing the local 6th graders from Cheremoya Elementary around the virtual orchard that makes up Hollywood Orchard up the hill from their school.

The Hollywood Orchard is a local community group that works “to better neighborhood quality of life by operating a community orchard that is a teaching model for sustainability through its workshops on growing fruit locally, and sharing the food in open-air events held in the Beachwood community, outreach communities, and food-charity organizations.” And, as luck would have it, we ended up moving to Ground Zero for the Orchard—Glen Green Street—and have subsequently involved ourselves in their regular events, like educational Farmers’ Circles, Pick ‘n’ Kitchens, and, today’s

We’ve briefly mentioned the Orchard in other posts—like the lemon poppyseed cake recipe we posted and the interview we did with local cafe owner, Patti Peck—and will surely use this space to tell you about other work we do with them, both design and hard labor. We’ll also be sure to explain exactly what a cherimoya is and why it’s awesome a little down the road.

Right now, though, we need to go sleep off seven straight hours of unforgiving sun, harrowing cliff-climbing, and socializing with 6th graders.  In the meantime, you can find out more about Hollywood Orchard on the group’s site and see pictures as they’re posted to the Orchard Facebook page.

Above, 6th grader, Tad, showing off the local Black Walnut tree branch bearing tiny walnut fruits as George looks tough in the background. Go Team Dragonfruit!

To the right, Cheremoya Elementary, circa 1920.

I didn’t take that photo.

Long-time clients, Farm Sanctuary, just released a new ad that makes a pretty compelling case against bacon and the like.

Created by Culver-City-based One/x Agency, the 36-second stop motion spot takes the cute, endearing route rather than the shock-and-awe one, which we can get behind. Siting scientific studies that show pigs consistently beating both chimps and three-year-olds at video games, the ad aims to deepen our understanding of these intelligent creatures.

Find out more about pigs used for food on Farm Sanctuary’s site.

And next time you’re thinking of chowing down on some bacon or ham, maybe picture Winston, to the right there. Winston was found wandering down the streets of Queens, New York, where—with so many live markets—such sightings are more common than one might think.

Read Winston’s full story—it’s a good one.

All of us grew up knowing that National Geographic went hand-in-hand with powerful, evocative photography. It was a given that, when you sat down with that distinguished publication—framed as it still is in that bright, nearly shouting yellow—you were likely to open to any random page and have your breath taken away by what you saw. Whether I realized at the time or not, the magazine helped teach me the power images hold over us all.

But, evidently, that wasn’t always the case. When National Geographic was first published in the fall of 1888, it was a dry, severely text-heavy scientific publication that served as the sole literary outlet for the National Geographic Society. But, after a resoundingly positive public reaction to full-page photos of Tibet in their January 1905 issue, the magazine made a dramatic + deliberate shift toward the graphically impressive, pulling in photographers to create compelling images to accompany the stories that filled its pages, which had grown from discussing optimal slope grades for water runoff (yes, made that up) to tackling larger environmental, political, and societal issues.

Last fall, National Geographic + LA’s Annenberg Space for Photography opened The Power of Photography: National Geographic 125 Years. Yes, I too wish they had included a little more punctuation in that title, or maybe a preposition, like ‘at’, but that’s all beside the point. The point: Go to this show before it closes.

I’ll admit straight away, when I first heard about the format of the exhibit, I had my misgivings. You see, given the vast, vast collection of outstanding photographs that were to be part of the exhibition, organizers made the choice to rely on photographic slideshows shown on digital displays. Sounds budget, right? Turns out, it’s awesome, in the most literal sense of the word.

Sarah Leen, Director of Photography for National Geographic, explains:

“National Geographic’s photographic archive spans 125 years and includes more than 11.5 million images. In order to truly capture the breadth and depth of the collection we decided to create a show with 501 images alternating on screens, along with a selection of prints and print mosaics. The result not only reflects the general move in photography and the magazine toward digital imagery, but allows for a dynamic, immersive and richer experience of our archive of photographs.”

The Center’s site further explains the set-up: “Thirty professional-grade large format LED monitors are arranged to create video walls throughout the Photography Space galleries. These six video walls, ranging from 12 to 14 feet in width, present both individual images and photographic essays. Given the volume of photographs on the screens, and a format in which the images loop at different times throughout the galleries, the viewing experience is unique to each visitor and each visit.”

The result is honestly a must-see for any fans of…everything, really—animals, nature, people, culture, beauty, color, and that amazing feeling you get looking up into space or out at the ocean when you realize that your problems are usually the smallest, most insignificant things in this vast, limitless world of ours.

Seriously, if you live in LA or are visiting in the next month (the show closes April 27)—go. You’ll see what I mean.

The Annenberg Space for Photography is located at 2000 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA 90067 and is open 11AM-6PM Tuesday-Friday; 11AM-9PM on Saturday + Sunday; closed Mondays. Parking is available in the underground garage next-door (there are signs).

Above, the much-circulated photo wildlife photojournalist Steve Winter took last year of P22, the cougar that lives a short walk from our studio; a fact that both impresses us…and terrifies us. To the right, Steve McCurry’s iconic photo of an Afghan refugee from 1984. See both in person at the exhibit.

Below, a short video featuring photographers from the exhibit.
 

Katie + I first met at a college student activities night in the fall of 1995 over the student environmental group’s recruitment table. So activism—especially in the realms of the environment, animal rights, and feminism—has been at the root of our relationship from its very beginnings.

Which explains the soft spot our studio has for non-profits doing good work in these realms.

One such group was California-based Feminists for Animal Rights , started in 1981. The organization expanded to a national level of activity in the years subsequent to its founding and remained active well into the 21st century, working for over two decades to end all forms of abuse against women, animals, and the earth. From their Web site:

“FAR’s major focus from its inception was on consciousness-raising—in the feminist community, in the animal advocacy movement, and among the general public. FAR sought to shine light on the connections between the treatment of women and animals under patriarchy….

FAR was not, however, just an organization with members and a mission. It was a network of women striving to live cruelty-free lives. They were committed to promoting veganism because they believed in the feminist precept that the personal is political. They knew that it was not enough to claim an abstract respect for animals; they knew they must embody that respect in their daily lives. These women advocated veganism because they thought it was desirable to work towards the elimination of all products derived from or tested on animals—in our food, clothing, household and other products and supplements.”

We were first approached to create an archival, memorial site for the no-longer-active group in 2011 by the group’s founder, Marti Kheel. The goal was to keep the legacy of the group and its mission alive while creating a resource of the articles written by the group’s member through the years. Early in the process though, Marti sadly passed away after a battle with a form Leukemia. Her sister, Jane, stepped in to finish the project for her sister, working with us to create a fitting tribute to her sister’s lifetime of work.

We took FAR’s original logo—which was relatively small and difficult to use at larger impressions without growing pixelated—and recreated it with vector art, allowing for crisper shapes and the ability to resize as needed without any loss in image quality. We then built a site framework around a watercolor version of the fox in the logo, taking the group’s brand and breathing new life into it for this online tribute. Marti’s sister then took our site files and passed them onto her WordPress developer to build out the site and its content based on our framework.

Visit Feminists for Animal Rights finished site to learn more about the decades of activism + education.

You’ve likely already heard about the documentary, Mistaken for Strangers. It started out as a standard rock-doc on one of our favorite bands, The National, created and conceived of by frontman Matt Berninger’s younger brother, Tom when he was asked to tour with the band in their crew.

But the story of the film—inextricably wrapped up in the relationship between the two brothers—evolved as it was being created by Tom and (skillfully) co-edited by Matt’s wife, Carin Besser. The end product is less about the Grammy-nominated band and more about the younger Berninger growing up in the shadow of his sibling’s success, from grade-school popularity to indie rock stardom.

We were able to attend the LA premiere last night—followed by a live performance from The National—and have to highly recommend the film. It’s smart, funny, and endearing in the end.

Watch the trailer for Mistaken for Strangers below. The movie can be ordered via the Web and iTunes and continues to hit the big screen around the US. New York—the IFC Center picks the movie up Friday. Check the film’s site for screenings elsewhere.

Above, Tom + Matt in our ‘hood, Beachwood Canyon! To the right, shots from our friend, Maureen Hoban, as Matt + Tom entered the audience during an encore and (awwww) hugged last night.

Below, a recent interview with Berninger the elder from Brian Ives at radio.com on Mistaken for Strangers, indie going mainstream, and the Grateful Dead tribute album the band is curating.

Yes. You read that right.

File this under Tracks We Like Outta’ the Blue: “My Holding Hand is Empty”—a sweet, soft, sad, folksy tune from LA-based singer-songwriter, Patrick Park.

Park’s fourth full-length album—Love Like Swords—will be out April 22. In the meantime, listen to and download the track above. You can catch him live this spring as he plays music halls, clubs, cafes, and coffee houses across the US. Photo by Mia Kirby.

4/8: Dallas, TX @ Three Links
4/9: Austin, TX @ Lamberts
4/10: Houston, TX @ Rudyard’s
4/12: Birmingham, AL @ The Bottle Tree
4/14: Decatur, GA @ Eddie’s Attic
4/15: Athens, GA @ The Melting Point
4/16: Nashville, TN @ The Rutledge
4/18: Charlotte, NC @ The Evening Muse
4/19: Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
4/22: Vienna, VA @ Jammin Java
4/23: Philadephila, PA @ World Café Live
4/24: New York, NY @ Rockwood Music Hall
4/26: Burlington, VT @ Nectar’s
4/27: Portland, ME @ Empire Dine And Dance
4/30: Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Café
5/2: Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern
5/3: Chicago, IL @ Schubas
5/4: Madison, WI @ The Frequency
5/5: Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St Entry
5/6: Kansas City, MO, Czar Bar
5/8: Denver, CO @ The Walnut Room
5/10: Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court