Updates, Galore!

Hello peeps,

I wanted to post a bit about what I'm doing these days, as well as some of my most recent musical explorations, so here we go.

Halloween - The Halloween costumes came out perfect. All of the sewing injuries were worth the final product. Here's a picture of BK and I in them:


Future appearances of the shark - You will undoubtedly see the shark costume again, as I have signed up for 2009's Polar Plunge to benefit Virginia Special Olympics, and plan to wear the shark costume when I submerge myself in the frigid Atlantic Ocean next February. Care to donate to this great cause? Click here :)

Volunteerism - I am still with Big Brothers Big Sisters, and have been assigned a new "Little" named Julia. She is adorable and we've had lots of fun so far. I hope to form a lasting friendship with her. I have also joined the Kiwanis Club of York. Many people ask, "what is Kiwanis?"...well, do you remember the Key Club in high school (or Keyettes for the ladies), or Circle K in college? Well, these are divisions of Kiwanis for younger folks. My grandparents have been members of Kiwanis for years, and it's a good way for me to spend some time with them and do some good things in the community as well. I'm excited and inspired to be associated with such a caring group of people! If you're interested in joining, click the link above or send me an e-mail for more deets. Meetings are held the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month.

MUSIC!!! - So there are many new albums that I've downloaded recently, and I'll give you a brief summary of a few:

Liechtenstein ~ an indie-pop girl-group from Sweden, these ladies harmonize very well and their music is upbeat and happy. (album Survival Strategies in a Modern World released May 2009)

Mayer Hawthorne ~ an old-school Motown-style R&B singer, Mayer Hawthorne is my new John Legend. (album A Strange Arrangement released October 2009)

The Very Best ~ reggae, world, and pop all mushed into one sound. This album is fantastic and will keep me feeling warm and fuzzy all winter long. (album Warm Heart of Africa released September 2009)

If you're interested in hearing more from any of these amazing musicians, let me know, or request a copy of my Top Songs of 2009 List, coming soon. BK talked me into making a 'top songs list' for this year, and I've decided to do 100 songs instead of 40, basically because I'm an overachiever in every sense of the word. ;)

Concerts - So as I previously mentioned, I will be attending Camera Obscura's show this Saturday in Norfolk. Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings will be coming to The National in RVA in December, and I'll be there as well. And although it's a long, long, ways away, I'll be seeing Pavement's reunion concert in Central Park next September. Not sure what I'm more excited about: Pavement, or the fake Prada bags I'm destined to buy in NYC. (j/k, j/k!)

I have a few topics in mind to blog (rant) about in the coming days (weeks?), so I'll try to be back soon, so as not to keep you on the edge of your seats for too long.

xoxo

It's Time to Bat Your Lashes

Meet Natasha Khan, aka Bat for Lashes. I watched her 48-minute documentary this afternoon, and she is pretty much the bees knees. You can watch a documentary of the making of her 2009 album Two Suns for free on Pitchfork for *one week only*, so click here to watch it before it's gone!

Here's the video for "Pearl's Dream", which will undoubtedly be in my top songs of 2009 list (if the vid below doesn't play click here to go to you tube).

Bat for Lashes - New Music - More Music Videos

Back to work on the Halloween costumes! I swear, I've had more injuries from making these costumes than 4 years of field hockey (sans broken nose). I have poked myself with many a needle while sewing, gotten numerous papercuts while putting together BK's Eagle Lord headpiece, and burned myself with countless globs of hot glue (hotter than hell's hot tub ya'll). I will need a mini-vacay after these masterpieces are complete - good thing yet another bogus federal holiday is coming up in November!

Hope you enjoyed the Bat for Lashes video. Natasha Khan is my second-favorite saucy indie chick (next to Emily Haines).

Have a spook-tacular Halloween! Sorry, had to say it...

A weekend in movies...

Rawr!
This weekend I saw two incredible movies. The first: Where the Wild Things Are. The majority of people I've talked to that have seen it did not like it. I became very discouraged last week as more and more people were telling me that it sucked. Then I talked to a friend of mine, and she told me: "The people who hate this movie do not enjoy art and music in the same way that we do." This gave me hope (thanks Lori!), and I can confirm that after seeing it Saturday afternoon, it is most definitely one of my top 5 all-time favorite movies. Indeed, WtWTA is now amongst the ranks of Goonies, The Princess Bride, Wit, and Mary Poppins. For those who say the movie is "dark"... "depressing"... "not for kids"... "scary", I have one question: have you read the book? It was dark, scary, and depressing in 1988... and that was ok back then. Why are (some) parents so quick to sugar-coat everything nowadays? I think if I had a child I'd read the book to them when they were small and let their imagination run "wild" with it, and give the movie to them when they were much older. I found the movie extremely touching and Karen O & the Kids' soundtrack is incredible. Here's a link to the single "All is Love." I've also become very fond of Karen O's rendition of Daniel Johnston's "Worried Shoes," as it is a wonderful fit for the movie/soundtrack. I'm just proud that I only cried (hard) once during the film...

Ég elska þig Sigur Ros
A slightly angry colon kept me in the house Saturday night, so Brad and I watched the Sigur Ros documentary Heima(translation: "Home") I Netflix'd a while back. The band played a series of free, unannounced shows throughout Iceland and filmed segments of beautiful scenery set to their music. Well, I only wish it had made it to the top of my queue sooner, because it was amazing. Here's a clip:

I strongly suggest you watch this. It left me with a desire to surround myself with nature and art and music, and even more, to go to Iceland. Unfortunately tickets to Iceland are $1200, so at this point in my life I may have to settle for a bangin' wool sweater made there...

Well, I hope you all had a great weekend. Being that it's 2:45am and I have to be at work by 8:30, I am going to attempt to sleep again. My body is all out of whack after the weekend (I just couldn't sleep until I wrote this blog), so I predict fatigue throughout the day tomorrow. I will be sleepily listening to Sigur Ros, dreaming of the black sand beaches of Iceland.

Goodnight friends!

instead of Hank Williams Jr...

I've never seen anything like this video. The music is beautiful. If only the NFL played neo-classical during MNF games...

Ólafur Arnalds - Ljósið (Official Music Video) from Erased Tapes on Vimeo.

a little something to warm up your weekend...

Hello!

To combat the rainy, barely 50-degree weekend we're looking forward to, I thought I'd post a link to download a free track from The Very Best's Warm Heart of Africa. Listening to this is sure to keep you nice and toasty this weekend. Or you can buy a Snuggie. It's your call. Click here for the free download.

xoxo,
~Amber

Grizzly Bear and Beach House

So I saw Grizzly Bear and Beach House at the Norva last night. Here are some highlights, and a couple of fuzzy photos taken on my Blackberry (crackberry?). I was hoping to have some great video/sound footage to share but BK's camera died 2 pictures into the show...

First, Beach House was amazing. Seriously. Victoria Legrand's voice is just as poweful and pretty live as it is on the albums. The new Beach House record will be out early 2010 on Sub Pop. Want to know how I knows this? I bought their album Devotion on vinyl for Brad last night, and was lucky enough to get Victoria to autograph it later in the evening. She was super cool and "saucy" and informed us of their upcoming album. They played a few songs from it last night and they were really really good. Really. Here's a blurry photo of their set - if you want more click here or check out the video below.





Grizzly Bear started soon after the Beach House set, and I totally called it that they would open with "Southern Point" from their 2009 album Veckatimest. It was a great song to start off with in my opinion - the build up to the chorus got everyone in the audience amped. I have to say that I have somewhat of a crush on Ed Droste. His voice on "Two Weeks" is amazing, live AND on the album. They brought Victoria Legrand (from Beach House, see above) back out to sing background vocals on "Two Weeks" as she does on the album, and they also played the upcoming single "Slow Life" from the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack. Here is a low-quality photo from last night's show!



Need more Grizzly Bear?(as you most certainly should) Click here and check out the video below for "Two Weeks", which could also be a public service announcement warning children about the improper use of sparklers on the 4th of July...



I'm currently torn on which Grizzly Bear track will make my top 100 of 2009 list, as there are three that I love equally but for different reasons. Hope you check out both Beach House and Grizzly Bear, as they are amazingly talented bands.

Camera Obscura is coming next month to Norfolk and I won't be missing them, as their 2009 album My Maudlin Career has rarely left my ghetto, 6-disc-in-the-trunk-CD-player.

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Hello Again!

Sorry for the absent summer- a lot of work and a little traveling have hindered my blogging abilities. I am working on some upcoming blog topics, but wanted to post an amazing video of one of my new favorite bands: Dirty Projectors. The ladies of the group make this special for me, as they harmonize like nothing I've ever heard before (consider them 2009's Fleet Foxes or SVIIB). Thanks to BK for sharing this vid - I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.



Don't believe all of those sounds are coming from them and not keyboards? Go to the article and check out the second video of them performing the same song in the dressing room.

I'm working on my top songs of 2009 right now, and thus far I've got 60 songs on the way to 100. I'll be sharing some of the new (and not so new) music I'm discovering along the way. Check out some of the websites I've listed to the left if you want to explore some new music and other neat things.

Looking forward to a mini-camping trip this weekend, and I hope to blog again soon, as long the Wii doesn't take over my life (which is very possible considering Super Mario Galaxy is the coolest game... in the galaxy).

Have a great week blog friends!