Richard Hawley's New Video for "Seek It"

A much more intimate turn than his last single, the thundering "Leave Your Body Behind You," Richard Hawley lets the night creep in with "Seek It." And as the daylight quickly slips away into autumnal evenings, "Seek It" is perfectly timed for a nice cuppa on the couch. 'Scuse me while I reach for my battered copy of Jeeves and Wooster, and a smoking jacket to boot.

first aid kit have me feeling "blue"

first aid kit have a lush new video that complements their lush americana harmonies, and all i can do is fall further in love with the haunting sounds that is produced by these lovely swedish sisters. faded glamor, a stunning estate, lots of vintage costume changes and a famed swedish actress to boot (ewa froling), the video has that dreamy sheen that leaves you questioning everything. very ingmar... the girls will be back in america this summer and fall, playing bulkhead theatre on october 4.

paul weller says happy birthday to macca with "birthday"

"they say it's your birthday..." it's the great sir paul mccartney's 70th birthday today. while you let that sink in (that's six years about he turned 64), head on over to amazon.com and download paul weller's version of the beatles' "birthday" for only 70 cents, the proceeds of which go to the brilliant war child charity. it's only available for today, so get a move on.

richard hawley's "leave your body behind you"

it's beyond me how a man like richard hawley just keeps getting better and better with each new tune, collaboration, story and shimmering guitar lick. forget that he was in long pigs and pulp. or that he's cowritten for the likes of robbie williams and arctic monkeys. or collaborated with vocals and guitar for elbow. since 2001 the man has been releasing prime solo material and with each of his six or so releases his well-worn voice and teddy boy style have become more at ease and more dominating than the last. and by the sounds of this lushly layered chamber pop track, the new release, standing at the sky's edge (out in america june 12, on mute), will be just as stunning.

the kid's got swag: lil' danny brown in "grown up"

how adorable and fierce is the wee version of rapper danny brown in his video for "grown up"? that kid would rule this tumblr. and then he'd totally t.p. it too. his flow is equally wicked, and i'll be downloading that single right about now, ta muchy fool's gold.

in every city a record store

it might be a trite thing to say, but music really does connect us all. no matter where I am in the world, chances are I will find myself in a record store, spending copious amounts of money on mammoth vinyl discs that I will not be able to fit into my suitcase, and will instead be awkwardly tucking them under my arm as hand luggage. but to be able to look back at that 45 of Jane Birkin and recall picking it up in Nuremberg and showing it off to my French counterpart in the group of journalists I was with, and then bonding with a Scotch poet over a love of Otis Redding and proudly noting that he is from my new hometown... well, that will be worth the strained fingers and bumbling.

then there is the thrill of buying a mixture of long loves and lush looking album covers by artists you have never heard of before. hence I end up with a combination of Beatles 45s and Joy Division albums, and some red, purple and blue uber-foreign appearing split featuring some smooth-looking chap called Oliver.

and the connections don't stop with the showing off of my finds. this discover leads to another visit to the record store, with recommendations to my Turkish colleague, who left with some Radio 4, Muse and International Noise Conspiracy. my work here is done.

A New Nuremberg

Today begins my two week stay in the famous (infamous?) city of Nuremberg, in Germany's heavily-wooded, incredibly beautiful Bavaria region. I've been welcomed into the home of my charming host family, and am currently staring out of my bedroom window onto roofs tiled with terracotta, aluminum, and more to give it a multicolored landscape that mirrors the city. The buildings vary in style, reflecting he history that saw so much of the city demolished in the war. Even the historic-appearing buildings are usually not so, instead being carefully crafted blocks of flats based on what had originally stood there before the bombs fell. I am lucky enough to be in one of the few historic apartment buildings, on the fourth floor with a rare balcony that plays host to a small collection of plants cared for by Ann and her two children.

I am thrilled to be here with writers from across the globe (Romania, Scotland, Nicaragua, China, Italy and more) as part of the Hermann Kesten grant, which brings writers and journalists from Nuremberg's twin cities to build relationships and dispel stereotypes and old fashioned images.

Hopefully as the stay continues my writing will find a better direction and become less stilted. For now I will blame the stagnant style of this post on jet-lag, as I have only been in the country a few hours. There has got to be a more imaginative way for me to portray my experiences. Maybe it's just the sides affects of too much cabin pressure and bad airplane food. Surely that is enough to kill any creative urges.

"Bis morgen" (until tomorrow) then!

paul weller plays super special show at john varvatos bowery store, aka cbgb's

this is the world now. 35 years ago, the jam played at cbgb's. today that club is fancy-pants (with a rock 'n' roll edge, to be fair) designer john varvatos' bowery store. this month the jam's paul weller is coming back to these fair shores to play a couple of gigs in new york, but just before he does that, the modfather will be playing a special vip event at mr. varvatos' aforementioned store. naturally, you can't buy tickets to this show, you can only win them by checking out the details on the designer's facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/JohnVarvatos. 


that's all very well and good, obviously, but we would still fancy a gig a little close to home. any chance of an atlanta show this century, mr. weller?

john peel's collection comes to the internet; music nerds wet themselves

well, this is nothing but wonderful (from the stool pigeon):

THE FIRST 100 records from John Peel’s personal record collection will be online as of tomorrow (May 1).

The records are being archived as part of an online museum project calledThe Space, which hopes to digitise the entirety of the late Radio 1 DJ’s whopping vinyl stash — some 25,000 vinyl LPs, 40,000 vinyl singles and about a bajillion more CDs than Adele’s flogged in the last 12 months.

With the site apparently looking to post 100 new records every week — and interviews and live sessions also in the offing — there’ll be plenty more to come for a few years yet on this, if our maths does not deceive us.

i am 1) overjoyed and 2) overwhelmed, as many a music nerd probably is, at the possibility of rooting around in the legendary dj's "bajillion" records. maybe we should all just call it a sabbatical now and return in the fall. that sounds like a perfect way to avoid the oncoming blistering heat. we all know how easily music nerd get sunburned.

things i want: liberty teams up with doc martens, which means satchels!

satchels have been floating around the fashion circuit for a couple of seasons now, and while i'm happy toting my little brother's old school one he used when he was 10, i might be swayed to upgrade to this little beauty. liberty is queen when it comes to collaborations, in my book, and while i passed the doc martens boots look some time ago, their satchels are making me drool. there's a big chance i will be forking over the cash for one of these - if there are any left - on my christmas trip to england. check out all the lush items in the liberty doc martens collaboration here.

i'm back!

oh, people. i'm so sorry i've been away for so long. i'm sure you have missed me immensely. or maybe not at all. who knows how this relationship works. maybe i just give, give, give and you just take, take, take.

at any rate, i'm heading back into this crazy world of blogging, as i'm preparing a move to macon, where the hubbie is now working at mercer as the director of the new center for collaborative journalism. fancy, i know. so in the meantime i'll be posting up news i think is interesting (music-related mostly, but probably also macon-, england-, fashion-, craft-, leila-related stuff too), and hopefully also linking to some articles i'll be writing.

so it's nice to see you all again. please keep in touch.

Daily outfit: Thursday, September 10

Bit late today and sadly didn't have time for Tuesday's, which
featured my recently finished summery, stripey jersey dress - will
hopefully be a repeat anyway.

My lovely mum took me shopping as an early birthday pressie (the big
day of cake is Saturday) to Filene's Basement, the happiest place on
earth! After about an hour of rummaging, I turned up with about seven
fancy scarves way out of our budget (Diane Von Fursterberg, Lacquoix,
Valentino) and one coat (Ben Sherman). Mum talked me off the scarf
smorgasbord and into some colorful wooly leggings (green and purple!
Not together, different pairs, the coat and this shirt, below. It's
lovely and sheer and rufflery and floral! Hoping to pair with a
pencil skirt, when I don't have to bike to the station, hence the more
practical jeans today.

Daily outfit: Sunday, September 6

Off to brunch at Amanda and Joe's to celebrate the closing on their
new house! Keeping it comfy for the warm day and onslaught of pancakes
and eggs!

Dress - Mum's, made by her for her engagement party
Shoes - Also mum's, by Nicole
Scarf - Mum's too (sensing a pattern here?)
Bracelet - Gift from the aforementioned Amanda, J. Crew

Daily outfit, Friday September 4

Thanks to the ongoing cool mornings, I had to complete this outfit
with a black cashmere sweater, which looks pretty darling. Will try
and get a pic of it later.

Scarf - H&M
Catsuit - American Apparel
Tunic/Dress - Morgan
Belt - Morgan
Shoes - Nine West
Earrings - gift from Amanda BH, made from old soda cans. Love repurposed/upcycled fashion!
Bracelet - gift from Amanda C, J Crew

Daily outfit take 2!

hubbie took this one, with out lil' dog shadow at my feet. not sure how much better this one looks - maybe outside is the way to go?

daily outfit, thursday september 3

Here's my first attempt at sending pics from my phone to my blog. Not sure how well this will work...

EDIT: well, i think i'm getting the hang of it! am editing online since i can't imagine how i'd do that via email. hoping to have a regular "daily outfit" post but have got to figure out how to get better pics, with me taking them, via my iphone. anyone got any tips?

but on with this outfit.
dress: made by me (and my mum) from vintage liberty fabric she bought before i was born. from a '70s burda pattern. absolutely love that it has big pockets, a matching belt (which we also made) and scarf to boot!

cardigan: j.crew. really need to buy another one of these because i wear it all the time, and it needs a break sometimes. just waiting for one to go on sale...

leggings: target!

hat: vintage, bought in asheville.

acorn bracelet: j.crew, gift from amanda. wear this pretty much every day and love it - acorns have such cool imagery, and amanda knows i have a special affinity for the little oak seeds. in college i thought it might be a good idea to get one tattooed on my leg, but amanda quickly put a stop to that, reminding me it would look like a little smudge of dirt. so she's happy to buy me jewelery etc to satisfy my love for acorns.

will try and get a better pic of this outfit later today, cos this was a bit blurry and not too stylish. hope everyone enjoys the new angle of the blog!

Test

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Sent from my iPhone

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i've been tagged!

the lovely girls at asian cajuns tagged me, the rules of which entail:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.


this is great news for me, cos firstly i hadn't been posting anything for a while because work and the holidays were crazy, then i went on a mope because i lost my job when southeast performer folded right before xmas. harumph. but i'm all feeling better now.

so here goes!

1. i'm 1/2 british and 1/2 iranian, and have both american and british passports
2. i'm thinking about the names "cash," "alfred" and "ferrydoon" for when we have kids (for the boys, of course)
3. i love collecting tea cups, tea pots and other tea paraphernalia
4. i have a mild obsession with hats and got a hefty amount for christmas
5. my english and latin teacher in england also taught the manager/close friend of coldplay. said teacher (called mr. smith, if you can believe it), inspired me to become a writer (of sorts)
6. i've climbed ben nevis (with my dad), the highest peak in great britain. it was july, and i've never been so cold in my life

so there you have it. fascinating huh? if i can find some good pics i'll put them up to accompany the post. in the meantime, i'm tagging:

1. grandweerachel
2. fear of anthropods
3. caren explains it all
4. drive a faster car
5. eskimo bliss
6. cable and tweed

go forth and tag!

to a freelance writer none of this may seem too funny...

all together now! bill dyszel has managed to make our horrible situation in the world of publishing pretty amusing and entertaining. and let's be honest, when the world of media as well writers know it comes crashing down around our heads, especially with the holidays fast approaching, it's all we can do but make up a silly song about it (with the music courtesy of the hilariously witty gilbert and sullivan) and have a good laugh. set to "i am the very model of a modern major general" from pirates of penzance, this song chronicles the demise of many a magazine this year. so funny and so sad.



hope you have a good chuckle whilst raising a glass to those who have passed on this year. let's hope next year will be better!