Alina and The Book of Sounds

Two albums keeping me company on this Sunday as I wrestle with writer's block:

http://rapidshare.com/files/59469213/alina.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/154162339/BofS1.zip
http://rapidshare.com/files/154164830/BofS2.zip

The White Diamond

Herzog.
Airships.
Beauty. 
Lighter than Air...

Thanks KM for the suggestion.

Yard Sale Details

Repost from RFTH:

All the details for our Unknown Treasures yard sale now up on Craigslist (a small grab of my loot pictured above). Selling a bunch of things previously posted on R4TH plus other flea, antique mall finds and wardrobian exiles. Also dapper vintage clothing from Tim, kicks and vintage/designer ladies clothing from Les, Violet and Owley, + Indie records to boot. All in one place, do drop by.

Unknown Treasures

This holiday season, I've been invited to participate in my friends' annual group YARD SALE. It's this Sunday, December 13th somewhere in Silverlake (address to be announced later this week)! Tim and Violet will be selling clothes/wares again, Matt will be selling some amazing things (which I'm not sure what they'll be yet but amazing no doubt) and Ricky and Leslie will be unloading some of their unknown treasures.

Some highlights of Owley's treasures:

*New and vintage designer pieces (Margiela, Comme des Garcons, Sonia Rykiel, APC, Vivienne Westwood, Band of Outsiders, Pendleton)

*Mint conditions records featuring early 90s indie rock

*Various musical instruments

*Vintage pottery from Morocco, Denmark, Mexico and Vietnam

*Vintage books featuring music biographies (first editions)

and Ostwald Helgason masks, Romanian Byzantine eggs, English rose-shaped candle holders, precious gems, rocks and crystals...

Everything is shockingly reasonably priced and erm, negotiable!

And for those who personally know me, I'm taking appointments this week for a presale "open house"!

Here's what it looked like last time... here and here...

And from bread itself comes bread sauce...

This past weekend was an absolute whirlwind for me. After an unforgettable experience at ATP's Nightmare Before Xmas at Butlins, I ended it with a rather amazing and cozy Sunday in Londontown. What can be better than an intimate acoustic performance by the exquisite The Clientele, followed by a delicious traditional Sunday roast (both at The Lexington) and crowned by a proper English bath?

They were out of the roast beef but I settled in nicely with the roast chicken. The bread sauce with its velvety, creamy concoction of milk and breadcrumbs delicately flavored with bay leaf, nutmeg and cloves was the highlight here... Bread sauce is one of the oldest British sauces, dating back to medieval times. A foundation of nearly all other sauces, this is considered one of the "mother sauces," as the French say... Apparently, the use of slightly stale bread is optimal, making it an economical way of using up leftover bread. Indeed! It was the perfect accompaniment to my roast poultry dish..

“If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.” 
Robert Browning (1812-1889)

fall mix, part three

Before winter makes its arrival, here is the last of my fall mixes, beta 3... a bit random at times but these gems have been keeping me company these last couple of months. x

Griffith Park

Thanksgiving Day.
Los Angeles.
80°F, 26°C.

El Perro del Mar

These ladies really did it for me this year... First there was Camera Obscura's My Maudlin Career, then Taken by Trees' East of Eden. Now it's El Perro del Mar's Love is Not Pop. 

I'm a sucker for sad songs sung by sweet voices... and Sarah from El Perro del Mar can make even the worst song sound heavenly. When I first heard her new album, "Gotta Get Smart" was it for me.




Then I found comfort in "A Better Love." These two songs absolutely encapsulate the last couple of months for me.

I think the last time I cried during a show was at Acoustic Mainlines.

Seeing El Perro del Mar play tonight nicely rounded off this year for me. Don't you love it when the music you love listening to at home comes alive right in front of your eyes... complete with the best musicians with the most beautiful guitars, backing up a beautiful singer with the best outfit on, singing like there's no tomorrow? Things have changed since I last saw her a few years ago. She's in a different place now. So am I. Our timing is great.

Ooga Booga Mini Shop opens!

Unstoppable. This past weekend, two formidable figures of Los Angeles, Una and Wendy, joined forces to create the Ooga Booga Mini Shop within the Keep shop in West Hollywood. This just makes me so giddy. I love these girls. 'Tis the season...

Charley Harper goes well with baby Keep shoes.

Look Jeremy, it's the Atherton Lin 2010 Stand Up Straight Calendar prominently displayed!

Keep + Ooga Booga have made fresh fruit preserves and pickled beets in honor of their collaboration.  These limited edition jams and pickles used sustainable produce only.

The ever useful JanSport backpacks.

I learned about "Secret Male Hypotism" in Melissa Ip's zine.

The ribbon cutting ceremony courtesy of the Los Angeles Police department.

A Hottie: Ideal for Cold Winter Nights

I had such an unbelievable time in London Jeremy. Thank you.

You and Jamie completely spoiled me; it was so comforting waking up to homemade granola and the wonderful smell of coffee on those chilly mornings.

I told you that the one thing I wanted to get on this tour was a hot water bottle and London seemed like the perfect place to get something like this. As I much as I adore my Teddy, I need a hottie to keep me company for the coldest nights of the year.

You took me to Labour and Wait to see if there was a nice one. Sadly, my new favorite shop isn't carrying hotties this season (though I did find a lovely Armor Lux Breton red stripe top...)

But Boots have everything don't they? I found a nice basic red one and since I've been back in LA, it's been keeping me warm all week. No more earaches, backaches, muscle aches, tummy aches...

Hot water bottles are common in Europe but not so much in the States. I reckon it could be a liability if the thing pops and someone ends up suing someone else for cause of injury... So American of us innit? BUT a hot water bottle is a great energy-efficient way to stay warm during the winter months. It uses less energy than an electric blanket, a space heater or central heating... And in the mornings, I feed my plants with its lukewarm water. Nostalgically old-fashioned but thoroughly modern with its uses, it's a classic. When I go back to yours in a few weeks, I think I'll buy a few more as Xmas gifts...

An Englishman who is currently living in LA told me this week that the trick to keeping a hottie warm all night is to get all the air out of it before sealing it. His mum taught him that.

In my dreams, the best of both worlds...

A civilized kind of tour

It's been three years since I quit touring. I was beat up at the end of the North American tour and when I finally got home, I canceled the European tour due to "exhaustion." I had it with playing live. Had it with sound check. Had it with looking at the band. Had it with eating shitty random food on the side of freeways (though I did love the truck stops). Had it with sitting at the merch table... Had it with waiting around 23 hours of each day for that one hour we would play. I was done. I was bored.

And then somehow this tour materialized out of nowhere. Last month, I decided to plan a little mini European solo tour for First Husband, Mr. Bickerson, erm Darren Rademaker! This is an "inspirational" tour, greatest hits mixed with new "soon to be recorded" hits! It will mainly be Darren and his electric (in his short shorts) but I think I'll be accompanying him on some Tyde tunes... only if it feels right. The London show will be a special one. We have lovely friends from Fujiya and Miyagi, The Loves and Comet Gain joining in that night. Very loosey-goosey... Part tour, part holiday, I think this might be the best way to go from now on... I'm genuinely excited about playing again... See you out there somewhere Owley fans? And this time, no merch whatsoever...

***

The Short Shorts Euro Tour 2009

30 Oct > Paris @ Panic Room + DJs Magickrew

31 Oct > Paris @ Ground Zero Records
31 Oct > Paris @ Tigre + Deejettes Magickrew

01 Nov > Paris @ La Maroquinerie

03 Nov > Stockholm @ Last Waltz, Bonden Bar

04 Nov > Göteborg @ Woody West, Pusterviksbare 

05 Nov > London @ The Lexington

Pandemonium

Jeremy, didn't it seem like another lifetime when we went to see Pet Shop Boys' Pandemonium Tour at the Greek Theatre? And that was around two weeks ago. It was a hot and humid Indian Summer's evening. Our timing was perfect. We made it to the Redwood Lounge and just had enough time for a drink and barely a second at the mediocre buffet. Then the show started. I'm sure it reminded you of how weird LA music fans can be. Similar to the phenomenon of Latino Morrissey obsessives in Southern California, the mix at the show consisted of drunken sorority girls dressed up to the nines which gave us a good chuckle and a nudge but mostly it was the bears and otters that I was most fascinated by... especially the one standing to your right.

But the show. What a show. We were wowed. We were giddy. The Greatest Hits Tour. The Greatest Art Installation. It was a proper show. True entertainers, Neil Tennant and Christ Lowe are masters at bringing together the high and low, the refined and camp, all with a fun sense of irony. The production value was like no other. It was a visual homage to the masters of contemporary art and their eccentricities. I saw obvious references to Gilbert and George, Derek Jarman, Ellsworth Kelly, Rei Kawakubo, Warhol, Albers, Hockney, Richter and Archigram. Phew. That's a nice nod to a major list.

 

Josef Albers, Study for the homage to the square

 Gilbert and George, Existers (1984)

 Gilbert and George, The Wall (1986)

Ellsworth Kelly, Colors on a grid, Screenprint (1976)

Rei Kawakubo's CDG Spring/Summer 09

David Hockney, Mother I, Yorkshire Moors (1984)

Archigram, Instant City Airships (1968)

 

Gerhard Richter, for the Köln Cathedral (2006)

 

Derek Jarman's Prospect Cottage

PING!

Okay I can't help myself. I seriously was not going to blog on Owley Patrol for a while as I focus on something much more important, much more life-changing and stimulating than erm... this... but this is special...this is precious... I needed to follow up on this... This will complete the cycle.

This morning, a fellow LOS told me about Ping! for the iPhone. Remember how I went on and on about BBM and that's why it's been so hard to fully embrace the iPhone in this last year? Well... Have a look at this application. It is totally Awesome. And it actually works! I've Ping! four friends (John, Amy, Sam and Bob) just in the last hour. I'm hooked! Just like when I was addicted to BBM.

Don't ask for my Ping! ping... You should know that already you dolt... dolt! It's a given! And remember to keep up okay?

Less is More...

And more exists elsewhere now...

Lately, I've been feeling disconnected with Owley Patrol... A break is needed.

But for now, I may be found here sometimes... www.dotcomdotcodotuk.com
(The search engines are not going to be pleased about this.)

Last weekend at El Matador, Malibu. The last of the warm summer rays.

And so I leave you with this song: El Perro Del Mar's "God Knows (You Gotta Give to Get)."

See you soon.
I already miss you.
x

fall mix, part two

Normally my mixes are not made in any sort of order, I prefer "shuffle by song." But somehow in this instance, try playing it in reverse alphabetical order upon first listen.

a bit heavier... it's really fall now...

Bestest Song Ever.

Really? Another blog? I'm in deep now...

http://bestestsongever.blogspot.com/

Somehow, out of nowhere, I got invited to contribute to BESTEST SONG EVER. How did they know? Thanks Duskin... Have fun in Paris. x

The Most Beautiful Swiss Books in the Universe

The most elegant (and Most Beautiful) lady I know, Ms. Cynthia Leung will co-present the Most Beautiful Swiss Books 2008 this weekend.

***

The New York Art Book Fair
Oct 1: (VIP Preview)
Oct 2-4
@ P.S. 1

With a giant bottle of sake and "The Present Issue" for sale.
The winners of the Most Beautiful Swiss Books (2008) will be exhibited, with Cynthia's (!) essay included in "The Present Issue" catalogue...


Only for the true (Most Beautiful) book nerds!

Do You Love Me?

This made my morning.



via Tirado/Thrown via Filastine Frequency.

"I mean it's the nineties!"

Jeremy reminded me of how relevant this song is still today...



I used to think Neil Hannon was such a babe, still do...

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

My friend Mary's blog is pretty cool. And her Still Life Installation was pretty cool too (from what friends told me). Too bad I'm too late in posting it but I truly feel that everyone needs some Slow and Steady in their life (especially me)...