Neon Enlightenment

Two things I forgot

March 9, 2010 – 9:38 pm

So, whilst finishing my Goody Bag post of last week, I kept thinking I’d forgot something but couldn’t put my finger on what it was exactly. Yesterday I remembered: Not Squares!

Not Squares are Irish, rhythmic and loud and make danceable post-punk. Because they are nice, generous and reasonable people they decided to give a song called Asylum out for free. How I know of all this? Well, I have Anthony of God Don’t Like It (who puts on great shows – oh, if only I lived in London) to thank for that. He told me about a show he put on with them headlining and he thought they were great. When I noticed they’d just given out this track I realised there was no reason to hesitate any longer: I had to check this band out.
And so should you!

Not Squares – Asylum [mp3]

Secondly, I went to see Girls on Saturday. Ever since I saw this photo of Christopher

I knew I had to have that patch as well. You can imagine I was rather thrilled when their record label Turnstile announced the patches were now for sale on their website and on tour! Now all I gotta do is find me a nice denim vest (which shouldn’t be too hard with it being one of the biggest trends for Spring/Summer) and I’m all set.

So much for randomness on this Tuesday,
Gerlin

By Gerlin | Posted in Music, Random | Tagged asylum, christopher owens, denim vest, girls, not squares, patch | Comments (0)

Recommended on Monday: Jonathan Boulet

March 9, 2010 – 12:00 pm

Education is not everything. When Jonathan Boulet was 5 years old, his parents got him piano lessons. Little Jono however wasn’t too fond of his teacher and climbed into the tallest tree and refused to climb back down until the teacher had left. But it didn’t end his musical career. A good 15 years later Jonathan Boulet has released his debut album which he recorded entirely in his garage.

Boulet didn’t only record and produce the album himself, he also plays almost every single instrument. Who needs a piano anyway? You’d think that this level of DIY will show in the end result but we couldn’t be further away from the truth. Not all songs on the album are capable of standing out like Ones Who Fly Twos Who Die or 321 Ready Or Not, but there isn’t a single bad song to be found. In the second half of the record the attention tends to slip but the patient and attentive listener will discover beauties like 10 Billion Years, with its harmonious voices. Throughout the album there’s a dreamy sense and combined with repetitive pieces his music might even come off as slightly meditative at times. Jonathan Boulet our new guru? In times of Scientology and fundamentalism, I can’t think of a reason why not. The people at Modular should be grateful for having signed this remarkably talented young Australian, not the other way round.

“And if you ever get caught, you never knew me”. Understood, but for now we want the world to know about you and your music so let’s share two fine tracks of Jonathan Boulet’s self-titled debut.

Recommended for: throwing pineapples at your maths teacher because within 15 years you’ll write a new theory of relativity.

Community Service [mp3][buy]
Continue Calling [mp3][buy]

- Gisèle
[RIP Mark Linkous, "music couldn't save his life, but it stretched it"]

By Gisele | Posted in Music | Tagged community service, continue calling, jonathan boulet | Comments (0)

Calivintage

March 7, 2010 – 6:09 pm

While browsing amongst other blogs, I regularly saw pictures of this girl with a bowl haircut and amazing clothes. Recently, I discovered her blog: Calivintage.

Her real name is Erin, she’s from Oakland and she loves everyting vintage. Her outfit posts are very recognisable, cause most of them are taken on the same rooftop. On her blog, you can take a little peep into her life: from what inspires her to the fieldtrips she takes.

Further, she also has an etsy shop, but currently they are no items posted… but let’s hope she’ll update it soon.

She has been featured in several magazines (N.E.E.T., Glamour, Seventeen magazine,…) and she is one of the delightful dozen. A very inspirational girl, I must say.

Phara.

By Phara | Posted in Fashion | Tagged bowl haircut, calivintage, etsy, magazine, rooftop | Comments (3)

A Spring Goody Bag

March 5, 2010 – 6:14 pm

Lots of stuff to put into the goody bag this week!
I aptly named it the Spring goody bag since Spring seemed to have started earlier this week. Not anymore though, today was drizzly and cold, as ever.

Anyway, onwards to more exciting things than the weather!

1. longtime favourites of mine Born Ruffians have just released a track from their forthcoming second album Say It for you to download for free. I really like it. It’s still Born Ruffians, yet a bit different and fresher than their old work.
There you go: Born Ruffians – Sole Brother [mp3]

2. Sunderbans are another band on the brilliant Young & Lost Club Records who are bringing out their debut single on Monday entitled We Only Can Because We Care. I have the video accompanying the song right here for you + the single is a free download! For once I shall paste what the pr says (cause I just couldn’t say it any better):

“they aim in their sound to set aggression and breathlessness next to melody and gentleness”

Sunderbans – We Only Can Because We Care [mp3]

3. the ever so wonderful Darwin Deez unleashed the video for Radar Detector on Wednesday and it’s just as fun and quirky as you’d expect from them. An absolute delight for the eyes. WRITE DOWN IN YOUR AGENDAS: 22 April, Darwin Deez, Witloof Bar, Botanique, Brussels. Super excited about this!

That’s it folks, enjoy your weekend!
Gerlin

By Gerlin | Posted in Music | Tagged Born Ruffians, darwin deez, goody bag, radar detector, sole brother, sunderbans, we only can because we care | Comments (0)

Marie = Marmushka = Amazing

March 3, 2010 – 4:52 pm

I have expressed my love for LastFM pretty much everywhere already but I’m not sure I’ve done it on the blog yet. Well, there’s a first for everything so here goes: I LOVE LASTFM! Not only does it make me discover new artists based on what I’m listening to, I’ve also made new friends through it. Eno is one of these people (who I actually found through his Flickr account if I’m not mistaken). He told me about a girl in his animation film course called Marie who already has a master degree in illustration. I checked her Flickr and immediately fell in love.

Marmushka is the name she uses as illustrations and she has a really girly and simple style: sleek lines and bright colours. I’m also a bit infatuated with the way she draws legs. You can tell right away she’s very talented.
Apart from the images that are on display in the gallery I advise you to check out her What I Wore Today section on Flickr where you can find drawings of which clothes she wore. Sweet!

Not only that but she also has great taste in music and is rather lovely in real life. At least that’s what it seemed like when I talked to her shortly a couple of weeks ago.
I am hoping she will open an Etsy store (or something similar) in the future so I can buy something with one of her drawings on.

If only I had such skills…
Gerlin

All images by Marie Walgraeve. I have picked my favourites from her recent work but there’s much more to check out!

By Gerlin | Posted in Art, illustration | Tagged eno, flickr, lastfm, marie walgraeve, marmushka, what I wore today | Comments (1)

Lily Shop

March 2, 2010 – 6:32 pm

Two weeks ago I went on a shopping trip to Mechelen. It’s located between Antwerp and Brussels and although it’s a bit smaller, it also has those hidden secrets, like the Lily shop.

I read about Lily in a newspaper and immediately wrote the address down, cause it looked very promising. And it truly is! I almost walked passed it, cause it is so small, but that’s just part of the atmosphere. One room, beautifully decorated with clothes, mirrors, tea-sets, jewellery (a ring with a bow, which was too big for me…), shoes and so on. I was hooked!

Plus, shopkeeper Kelli Van Hees is so sweet and told us she handpicked all the clothes (collections from Paris and London, accessories from LA) and that she loves all the attention the little shop is getting.

I hope it all works out for her! So if you are ever in the neighbourhood, go check it out!

Phara.

By Phara | Posted in Fashion, Shopping | Tagged accesories, clothes, kelli van hees, lily, london, mechelen, Paris | Comments (0)

So So Modern

February 25, 2010 – 11:32 pm

Ever since I started watching Flight of the Conchords (about two weeks ago) I’ve been fascinated with New Zealand. When I heard Lawrence Arabia (supporting Beach House) talk on Monday I immediately recognized and fell in love with their accent. But they’re not the only decent band hailing from NZ.

Meet So So Modern: their single Dendrons is out on Monday, hear it here:

The singer’s voice vaguely reminds me of The Young Knives’s frontman and the song itself is a guitar riff driven stomper. Rather repetitive but that doesn’t bother me at all. This rhythmical beast hits you in the face – in a good way.

So So Modern are a four piece and have been around since forming in 2004. They are set to release their debut Crude Futures on the same day as the single and have come a long way. Bringing out several ep’s, touring extensively along the way and finding their own, unique sound. The album will be released on Transgressive Records (hosting many great bands like – for example – Foals) and is streaming in full on their MySpace till the end of the week.

To end in beauty you can find the video for The Worst Is Yet To Come right here. Intruiging stuff!

Gerlin

By Gerlin | Posted in Music | Tagged crude futures, dendrons, flight of the conchords, lawrence arabia, so so modern, the worst is yet to come, the young knices | Comments (3)

The delightful dozen

February 21, 2010 – 5:08 pm

Recently, a group of 12 bloggers decided to form a community together. The main idea is to swap clothes and see what each individual does with it.

The 12 bloggers are:

adored austin
calivintage
delightfully tacky
idee geniale
jen loves kev
leproust vintage
orchid grey
sally jane vintage
selective potential
the clothes horse
this time tomorrow
what I wore

You can follow their swaps on their facebook page and on the blogs mentioned above. I think it’s a really good idea and will sure be following their adventures. As they mention, it resembles the movie ‘the Sisterhood of the traveling pants’. If you haven’t seen it, I surely recommend it.

Plus, sometimes they will give away some of the items, so keep an eye on those blogs!

Enjoy this lazy sunday.

Phara

By Phara | Posted in Fashion | Tagged 12 bloggers, adored austin, calivintage, delightfully tacky, idee geniale, jen loves kev, leproust vintage, orchid grey, sally jane vintage, selective potential, the clothes horse, the delightful dozen, this time tomorrow, what I wore | Comments (0)

Montage Populaire

February 20, 2010 – 12:22 pm

I know, we’ve had quite the music filled week, haven’t we?
Well, let’s continue that trend and finish it off with Montage Populaire. I’ve been meaning to blog about them for two weeks now or so and I’ve finally found the time.

In one of my first blogposts ever I said (and I shall quote myself now) “Yes people, against certain odds, MySpace can still make you discover nice things”. Truth is, after that I haven’t been looking for discoveries much. But when visiting Is Tropical’s page a band name in the comments got my attention: Montage Populaire – or Mon Pop in short.

Now it isn’t a habit of mine to check out music on MySpace profiles anymore. We get about 3 friend requests of bands on MySpace everyday and most of them just suck, sorry to be so harsh. On top of that we get a vast amount of promo emails as well. But for one reason or another, I did listen to this. And I liked what I heard!

I was pretty impressed when I read they’d only been formed in October 09. They manage to sound like they’ve been doing this for years. In fact, they sound like they could be a band from the 80s. Quirky, catchy indie pop with a twist.
Montage Populaire consists of 6 members with Luke Donovan being their main man. Because they haven’t got a professional press shot yet and because they’re a mysterious bunch the included pictures are visuals created for future gigs by Luke.

I got sent three of their demos but found it extremely difficult to choose one to put up as download. Whilst laying in bed later that day there was a trumpet piece playing over and over in my head and I kept asking myself where it came from when it suddenly dawned on me: Sorrows Well Rehearsed by Montage Populaire!
And so it became clear which one to pick.

So here it is, enjoy it as much as I do:
Montage Populaire – Sorrows Well Rehearsed [mp3]

And keep your eyes peeled the next few weeks cause there should be some new recordings up and who knows, there might even be a proper shot of the band!

Perfect start to the weekend!
Gerlin

By Gerlin | Posted in Music | Tagged is tropical, montage populaire, Myspace, sorrows well rehearsed | Comments (0)

Recommended on Monday: BEAT!BEAT!BEAT!

February 15, 2010 – 3:04 am

The fourth season of Skins has recently kicked off and whether you love it or hate it, the soundtrack is always undeniably carefully thought-out and sometimes they even bring forward some interesting artists. But they have overlooked four young guys from Germany. This week’s band hasn’t been featured in the series (yet) but would fit in perfectly. A drug-infested party, teenage angst or another tragic breakup? Beat!Beat!Beat! will deliver the soundtrack.

Formed in 2008, they’ve only released two EPs so far, but already got the help of the Cinematics who remixed the title track on the Stars EP. On the same EP is the potential hit Fireworks, the track that’s circulating on the internet and even made it onto the NME blog. NME defined Beat!Beat!Beat! as the new Foals but that’s a rash conclusion because Beat!Beat!Beat! are not as rhythm-oriented as their British counterpart. The comparison holds for the rhythmic and repetitive pieces but these guys would sooner opt for a pop song than complex structures. In the early beginnings they started out using a couple of keyboards to craft their songs and they had a techno background. They might have chosen another path now but you can still catch a glimpse of it in the excellent song You’re The Designer.

It’s remarkable how these 18 year olds manage to pull everything off as if they’ve been in the business for more than two years. Best example being the artwork for Stars EP. A simple snapshot and yet it captures the spirit perfectly. Young, ambitious, DIY and appealing to both music lovers as teenage girls. This might be a winner in 2010.

Check out the Stars Tour mini-doc on their myspace page. How to console a drunk friends who’s throwing up? Gather around him and mock him through a rapsong. Today’s youth’s solidarity, it’s a peculiar thing. Too much Skins I suppose.

Recommended for: finally starting to value Germans (yes, I’m talking to you UK citizens!)

Fireworks [mp3][buy]
You’re The Designer [mp3][buy]

On a side note, also give this band a try, they sing in German but hey, they bring a simple message: “believe in yourself”. Even when you’re a slightly pretentious leadsinger and time hasn’t wiped the acne spots off of your face yet.

Love, Gsl.

By Gisele | Posted in Music | Comments (4)

Neon Enlightenment

Two things I forgot

Recommended on Monday: Jonathan Boulet

Calivintage

A Spring Goody Bag

Marie = Marmushka = Amazing

Lily Shop

So So Modern

The delightful dozen

Montage Populaire

Recommended on Monday: BEAT!BEAT!BEAT!

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