What's Lizzie Linking to? (03/31/09)

Jo's Coffee on South Congress in Austin, TX. Image by Elizabeth Fraser Photography, and Tyranny of Ducks.

* A Jetblue baggage carrier apparently dozed off while on the job INSIDE of a plane's cargo area and was flown to Boston. (NY Daily News)
* From Home Alone to Michael Clayton, Hollywood has invaded NYC for years. (NY Daily News)
* Keep Austin Weird iPhone slideshow. (WorldHum)
* Still waiting on news for when the 'wick will be receiving our new restaurants and bars. (BushwickBK)
* Wavves @ Market Hotel coverage (rawk). (BrooklynVegan)
* Amazon ranks the top 100 Indie Rock albums of all time (Stereogum)
* The oldest known existing daguerreotype (from 1848) sold at Sotheby's for $62,500. Am I the only one who things it's worth more? (CNN.com)

Careful: tomorrow is April's Fools Day!

Video Monday!

Fiume Nights _ Tokyo _ the Pascals, live part3, march 2009 from vincent moon / temporary areas on Vimeo.

So, I've seen this video popping up under my "suggested viewings" area over at vimeo.com for a few days now, but something about the title never enticed me enough to click on it... until today! Oh, and it's pretty, really truly pretty. I suggest you give it a try as well (and don't let the title fool you). If you'd like, you can close your eyes and click on it, and therefore not even know you did it yourself!

HAPPY MONDAY!

Department of Eagles, MoMA video "No One Does It Like You"

The Department of Eagles screened their new music video for their song, No One Does It Like You, at MoMA on March 24th 2008, produced by the Directors Bureau, directed by Patrick Daughters and Marcel Dzama, and featuring costumes and sets designed by Dzama, and it is LOVELY in all it's simplicity. I love that MoMA has the balls to acknowledge the modern day music videos can be held up as art, because music IS art, and the bands/songs I gravitate towards seem even more enticing when they embody the ideals of the modern (and post-modern) era as much as a painting, or sculpture, or photograph ever could. And honestly, this video is pure art to me. It seems to elude back to the first incarnation of film, or early stop-animation, and even the art of surrealism, like Bunuel or Fritz Lang, yet it still plays with me and makes me smile. In total, very, very smart and well done. Really, really wonderful.

Want to know more about Department of Eagles?
Website
MySpace
SxSW Coverage @ BV

I would like to know where they got their name from...

"Where the Wild Things Are" Trailer (featuring "Wake Up" (new version?) by Arcade Fire)

At first I was skeptical, but this looks pretty freakin' amazing to me!

Camera Obscura releases a new LP, My Maudlin Career (due April 20th)

During SxSW, I ran into a fellow Brooklynite in the back of Bird's Barbershop, who said he was on his way to the French Legation Museum to see Camera Obscura. Being a photographer, the term was very familiar to me, and being a 20-something indie music listener, I had heard of the band before, but in that moment I had to confess that I had never listened to this Glasgow based band. The Brooklynite said I should definitely check them out and now, a week later, I have. The result is a new band to add to heavy rotation in my iTunes. So pretty! There is something warmly/hauntingly 80s about the band, yet the sophistication of rhythms and melodies grounds them very firmly in post-modern rock and (as Camera Obscura puts it themselves) the "melodramatic popular song" genre. Horns, guitars, organs, keyboard synth, beautiful voice on the lead singer... all big thumbs up from me. Also, I can picture this music being amazing on a long car ride, which always works well for me (I adore car rides).

Their show tonight for the Mercury Lounge is sold out (lame), but if you're abroad during the next month, check out their tour schedule:

21 April - Newcastle Academy 2 - Tickets

22 April - Manchester Club Academy - Tickets

23 April - London Shepherd's Bush Empire - Tickets

24 April - The Assembly, Leamington (Replaces Warwick show) - Tickets

25 April - Sheffield Leadmill - Tickets

26 April - Glasgow Barrowlands Ballroom - Tickets

29 April - Belfast The Stiff Kitten - Tickets

30 April - Dublin Andrew's Lane Theatre - Tickets

Their new album, "My Maudlin Career" lands in stores on April 20th. Listen to the nifty embedded mp3 player below to get a taste.

Want to know more about Camera Obscura?
Myspace
Twitter
Website

Threadless Spring Cleaning Sale

Ever rocker needs some sweet Ts to do their job correctly, so head on over to Threadless for their $5 Spring Cleaning Sale! At Threadless, all final designs have gone through a rigorous approve process by people just like you to have the honor of gracing the front/back/side/(underside?) of a Threadless T.

Any to my surprise (and utter delight), you can purchase some of the t-shirt graphics for your walls!! Blik is the sister site for Threadless, and offers moderately prices decals for you home or office walls. I've always been a huge graphic arts fan, and now I'm obsessed with finding the right decal for my bedroom. Perhaps this one in black... Which one is your favorite?

What's Lizzie Linking to? (Brooklyn, Mostly)

CFCF - You Hear Colours from tommy boy on Vimeo.

** Please, check out I Guess I'm Floating's coverage of SxSW (and their blog in general). It's lovely.
*The free IKEA bus in Red Hook was slapped with 50 safety violations today.
*Check out Largehearted Boy's Interesting CD Releases for this week, highlighting the Decemberists.
* Ever wanted to make authentic, NYC bagels in your own home? BushwickBK tells you how!
* If you want to know what kind of people make up NYC, check out the 1 in 8 million beautiful photo slideshows at NYtimes.com. This is what beauty looks like.
* Lola is back (!) at Stuff Hipsters Don't Like, and is now writing for FreeWilliamsburg!

Video Monday!! {Marnie Stern, Thao w GDSD, King Khan, and Sigur Ros (Take Away Show)} + SHDL update!

Marnie Stern live on Radio K from Radio K on Vimeo.


WOXY presents Thao with The Get Down Stay Down from Soft City Lights on Vimeo.


King Khan and the Shrines - outta harms way - Live at Sonic Boom Records from Graeme Phillips on Vimeo.


Sigur Ros - Við spilum endalaust - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.


STUFF HIPSTERS DON'T LIKE!

{SxSW} Videos!

Hey guys. So, I'm back home in Brooklyn, and will be writing my recap of the past weeks escapades in a bit. BUT, in the mean time, I thought I would share some videos taken during the week of SxSW in Austin. Sound is pretty terrible on all videos, but I thought it might be nice to try and make a collage of what it is like to experience music at SxSW. I'm very surprised, actually, at the lack of video coverage this year. Perhaps people are still just coming down and need a few days to edit.

Motel Motel @ SXSW from lhl on Vimeo.

Did the lead singer wear that muscle shirt the WHOLE week? I swear I saw him in it at the Ms. Bea's Party on Friday night, too.





These guys rocked my socks off!

{SxSW} Update: Wed and Thurs Shows

Hey all!! So, things have been a bit crazy, so no recent updates (as you might have noticed). In an attempt to give a quick read-through of yesterday (and what has happened today so far), here are some images and quick reviews!!

"HEALTH" is a rockin' band from LA, comprised of 4 high spirited guys who tear the hell out of their instruments. I really thought I was transported to some crazy Brooklyn basement party when I saw these guys today, when we simply had out backs to the bright sunlight streaming through the doors.

"King Khan and the Shrines" just destroyed me today at Bird's Barbershop on the East side of Austin. SO MUCH FUN! I felt like I was watching James Brown in his prime with even MORE funk thrown in there. Definitely a highlight for today (Thursday).

Oh, the lovely "Motel Motel" from my stomping grounds of Brooklyn, all the way in Austin! They played Paradise on Wednesday (seen here) and actually gathered a decent crowd! And as a note, it was 87 degrees this day, and that is why lead singer Eric is wearing a muscle shirt...I hope.

"Marnie Stern" plays the guitar like she was born with it in her hands. Never have I see a girl shred a guitar like this since Annie Clark (WHO I SAW IN PERSON TODAY on the stairs of the Parish, just hanging out. I swear, my brother almost proposed on the spot). But yes, Marnie. She rocks. Amazing girl.

"Here We Go Magic" @ Mohawk's on Wednesday. They did not disappoint! Very awesome live, and were all kinds of smiles to be on the Austin stage (and the media agreed, as you can see!)

"Paper Chase" @ Club DeVille on Wednesday. These guys were very interesting, and as a new listener, I think I might always prefer their live version (who knows what this kind of ENERGY sounds like through a recording).

The next two pictures are "Horse Feathers" @ Club DeVille on Wednesday!! If only Mohawk's next store have been quieter, this would have been an excellent set. But combine the fact that they had to follow up Paper Chase (super punky) and deal with ambient noise, the show was not the greatest, but I was still very happy to see these guys in person for the first time.

And, last but not least, "Thao and the Get Down Stay Down", which was the BEST for Wednesday! I'm a fan, from this point out.

I'm off to the Pure Volume party with friends (which has an open bar every night of SxSW, so a great place to "refuel") but I'll be back with more updates soon!

All images credited to The Tyranny of Ducks through Elizabeth Fraser Photography.

{SxSW} The Onion's Decider Party @ Mohawk's (featuring Low Line Caller, the Lemurs, Evangelicals and The Wooden Birds)

The Lemurs @ Mohawk's

Yesterday was just lovely here in Austin. After a pair of rainy, dreary days on Saturday and Sunday, the sun finally broke through and we reached a delightful 85 degrees! I couldn't help but spend every minute of my day outside, and started with a 5 mile run around Town Lake (originally intended to be 4 before I got lost for a bit), and then skipped over to South Congress where I went vintage shopping and indulged in some street photography. It was all so successful, I might have to put today on repeat! After this, and some lovely BBQ with friends at the County Line (some of the BEST in Austin, imo), tumbled my meat coma induced self over to Mohawk's for the Onion's Decider Party! Man, was the place crowded, and it was ONLY Monday of SxSW week. Pretty soon, just the STREETS will be as crowded as that venue last night.

I missed the first band (Low Line Callers), but was oh so happy to arrive in time for the Lemurs to come on (one of the best local bands around). Mitch Billeaud (lead vocal and guitar) is a sweetie and addresses the audience as if he were the host of the party, and had the responsibility of everyone having a good time on his shoulders (which I guess is how a band is supposed to feel, but rarely does anyone express it so sincerely like Mitch did last night). They rocked, basically, and made me dance in the small space I was occupying in the crowd. Next was Evangelicals, and they rocked, too, only in an INSANE way. Were the Lemurs turn towards a bit more pop rock (with twists of folkiness for the more intimidated), Evangelicals challenge their instruments to push the limits of sound, yet never SO much that I was ever annoyed by it. Ultimately, these two bands made a great pairing. The Wooden Birds (who played last) were completely out of place. I believe on another night, if I had seen them first I might have fallen head over heals, but to have a very subdued, folkish band come on after the ROCK we had just heard was a complete mind-fuck. I know there has been alot of chatter around the venues and blogs about this band, but just because they were the most popular, doesn't mean they still fit in going on stage after a completely different genre of music played before them. It just didn't work.

On a side note, Eugene Mirman was very hilarious, and despite the stupid brats heckling in the front row, did a great set.

Evangelicals @ Mohawk's . Photo credited to The Tyranny of Ducks


Eugene Mirman, giving out "gifts".

Can't wait for tomorrow! It's the official start...

{SxSW} The Calm Blue Sea @ The Pure Volume House Party "Local Music is Sexy" (3.14.09)

Last night, began the "official" arrival of music for SxSW to Austin. True, the OFFICIAL official party does not begin until Wednesday, but bands and companies are all in town and itching to get things going. At about 9pm, my brother and I arrived at the Pure Volume House Party at 2nd and Trinity near the convention center, and stood in line for an absurdly long amount of time (really, only 2 people checking names?) to get into the free RSVP only party. The whole event was dubbed "Local Music is Sexy" and showcased bands originally from our own town of Austin, Tx. Our friends The Calm Blue Sea opened the night with a rockin' set, and the week long part officially began! Free Asahi beer all night? Well, why not?! Access to the nice green room bathroom (over all the port-0-potties) due to my lovely friends in the band: excellent. And a big screen inside of people tweeting about how lame the line outside was? Awesome! It was a wonderful way to start out the festival, though I did think it was pretty lame how far removed the larger mingling area was from the stage. It made it very uninteresting to treck over to the stage to see some new band to only treck again outside to talk with people, over and over. (I'll give the party a B). Check out their myspace to see all of the future shows these guys are playing at SxSW and don't miss the show on April 19th when the open for the Twilight Sad!

Love Language: Daytrotter Session

Quick update:

I logged onto Daytrotter tonight (this morning) to find a wonderful surprise: The Love Language!! Man, how I love this band, and I'm going to pay this whole session tonight, despite being exhausted and leaving for Austin tomorrow at 8am (yay!) For those of you unfamiliar with Daytrotter, it is a studio in rural Iowa which plucks up musicians during their tours and record very raw versions of their wonderful songs. And all mp3s are FREE!! I love the concept, and will always be a big support and fan of their efforts. Please give the Love Language a listen to, and browse their archives to see if one of your favorite bands have recorded with Daytrotter before.

Quack.

Sound of Marching Feet ::edit::

Dan, circa 1990

My amazing, wonderful, uber-talented brother FINALLY updated his blog! Check it out.

Sound of Marching Feet

::edited due to brotherly criticism::

:)

Lizzie Heads to SxSW

Austin Summer Afternoon, created by Stuck in Customs via Flickr

It's official: Lizzie is headed to Austin for SxSW!

After a lot of, "I can't, it's too much money, too much time off, too much I would have to do before hand, so impossible..." (basic, pure whining on my part), it finally kicked in a few days ago that I LOVE SxSW, haven't been to the event in over 3 years, and that I'm in desperate need of some warm weather, amazing music ALL day long (for 4 days straight), and some uber company that I normally only get to see but 2 times a year (I'm originally from Austin, TX, so I have many people down there that I miss on a regular basis). And so, I shuffled around my work schedule, found a $250 roundtrip ticket to Dallas, and arranged for some rides from some AMAZING friends (and brother) all to get me to Austin on the 14th!!

Keep your eyes peeled! If I'm not too giddy from the day (and night's) events, I will consistently be updating this thing with lovely SxSW action.

RAWK!

What's Lizzie Linking To

Photo by Elizabeth Fraser Photography, credited to The Tyranny of Ducks.

** Prince is releasing his newest song through Target. What?! (BrooklynVegan)
* After the lovely show at Sound Fix on Saturday, it may not close after all! (Gothamist)
* Loved Garfield comics as a child? You might find these a bit more disturbing (Garfield Minus Garfield)
* Bushwick has an arsenal of abandoned TVs on its streets! (BushwickBK)
* DUMBO now has a Recycle-A-Bicycle store.
* Love and Style: Christine Norrie on Romance and NYC (NYC Graphic)

Video Monday: Thunderstorms w/ Holly Throsby

Holly Throsby: A Shoot The Player Film from shoottheplayer.com on Vimeo.

Very cool with the approaching storm in the background.

Marissa Nadler @ Sound Fix (Brooklyn, NY)

Marissa Nadler @ InStore space in Sound Fix. Picture by Elizabeth Fraser Photography, credited to The Tyranny of Ducks.

I'm not quite sure what I was expecting when I went to go see Marissa Nadler play the final In-Store show at Sound Fix last night, but I was definitely surprised with what I got. First of all, since this was a kind of "end of the era" show for the once thriving record store, I expected the house to be packed. Add Marissa Nadler, and I expected there to be a decent line out the door. Add the fact that the show was FREE, and I thought there was no chance in hell we'd get in. Well, not ONE of my premenitions came true, because when my friends and I showed up "late" (about only 5 minutes early for the show), we simply and easily walked back into the performance space, and staked out a decent spot 6 heads into the crowd. True, we could have gotten a nice seated spot if we had come earlier, but we were in no way complaining. There were perhaps 5 dozen people in the space by the time Marissa Nadler took the stage, and not many more showed up after that.

For Marissa's performance, I have this to say: grim's fairytale. Standing and listening to Marissa Nadler playing live for 50 minutes made me feel like I was slipping slowly and deeply into a twisted fairytale, that wished to lure me in with comfort, but would eventually snag my heart if I let myself go too far down. Her voice was beautiful (though wavered a few times) and the simplicity of a duo of guitars really let the etherealness wash over the beautiful InStore space and everyone who had come out to see her. My only complaint is I think 50 minutes of her type of music is perhaps a little too much (for me, at least). My friend who had never even heard Marissa Nadler's music before last night, said," You know, one up beat song occassionally wouldn't hurt her" and I had to agree. It's very enticing to be trapped in Marissa's grim fairytale (just let it take you down, lose yourself in the twisted tales) but if you shake off that feeling, and simply sit with the music for awhile, it can become a bit too much. Marissa closed with a lovely, lovely banjo melody, which I adored and pulled me back in to nicely close things off, but in the end, it was a little too late to make me love the whole set. Odd, no one asked for more from her when she was over. We clapped and a few whistled, but I sensed a collective feeling of, "That's enough!"

Overall, it was a decent show and I enjoyed it. I can't believe this space is closing down (and how small the crowd was last night). It's a sad, sad thing, especially with such a unique space and all of those lovely LPs hanging around the store. After the show (and a PBR or two), my friends and I shuffled through the CDs and LPs, and I felt like I was back in high school and Waterloo in Austin, looking for my next, new inspiration of great music. I should go to record store more often.

Quack.