the love language & here we go magic

I'm getting ready for it.
Easter is tomorrow.
Spring is knocking at the door.
And summer will be here before you know it.

So, in the spirit of sunshine and bonfires, camping trips and music festivals, hot dogs and popsicles, I offer up to you this lovely head-bopping number. It's groovy, it's rockin', and it's telling us all to just let go and have fun!

Sparxxx - The Love Language

This next song I haven't been able to stop playing on repeat.... over and over and over again. In a lot of ways it reminds of Simon and Garfunkel's "Cecilia". I suppose it has something to do with the percussion and vocals.

However there is something here that "Cecilia" lacks. There is a subtle sadness in the melody. It's not there for long; escaping by the close of each verse. But it's there.

And don't even get me started on the break. As the bass is plugging away, my heart skips a beat every time that guitar riff comes in ala David Gray circa White Ladder.

Fangela - Here We Go Magic

the water

So I love all things Feist.... I guess that kind of goes without saying. This week, and for one week only, Pitchfork is showcasing "The Water", a 15 minute short film directed by Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene and stars fellow "Scenester" Leslie Feist alongside Cillian Murphy.

***The video has been removed from Pitchfork so I as such must also remove it***


Also, thanks to my friend Debbie for this one, you must see Feist's visit to Sesame Street. So adorable!

the north wind blew south

The North Wind Blew South from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

I was so confused at first. I totally thought these were stop-motion miniatures. Crazy!

things the grandchildren should know

So I just finished Things the Grandchildren Should Know by Mark Oliver Everett (aka EELS). Now this is not a long book - something like 240 pages. But because it's me, and apparently I have a really hard time reading when I'm in LA, it took me 3 months to complete.

You see I started this book back at the beginning of January when I was in Phoenix helping my friend Chelsea shoot her documentary. Partly because Chelsea goes to bed so freaking early, and partly because she also happened to get sick while we were there, I had a fair amount of time to get a jump start on this musical memoir of sorts. However, when I returned to Los Angeles, I put it on my shelf and there is sat for a good 2 and a half months.

So last week, inspired by my friend Alina - the eternal bookworm - I grabbed it off the shelf, blew off the dust that had collected, and finished the sucker.

And I'm glad I did.

If you have any interest in either music history or I suppose biographies in general, I highly recommend checking out this book (if you live near me you may even be able to pester me into lending it to you ;) I'm not much of a book reviewer so all I can really say is that "E" (as you soon come to find out is what Mark tends to go by) has a simple voice that allows for his story to be telling in and of itself. He is just so human. That's really all I can say about it.

That, and when I was at the gym reading it I was on the verge of bursting into tears.

In the spirit of the book, I have a nice little tune in the same vein.


Make Right With You - Luke Temple