I wish you all a very merry indie Christmas! By now you may be thinkin 'tis the season for hearing the same versions of traditional holiday songs over and over again... Well, yabba dabba doo, Karen to the rescue! Here, upon request, is the track listing of my Christmas mix tape for you. Consider it an early gift. Download these songs to save you from repetitive background music torture. You get the beauty of traditional songs + a new take on them that you may not have heard before. So get on iTunes and get downloading!
Carol of the Bells - The Bird and the Bee
Christmas Time Is Here- Au Revoir Simone
Do You Hear What I Hear - Copeland
Lo, How a Rose E're Blooming - Feist
The First Noel - Weezer
We Wish You A Merry Christmas - Weezer
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Bright Eyes
I Saw Three Ships - Sufjan Stevens
Joy To The World - Sufjan Stevens
Kings 'N' Things - The Recital
It Came Upon A Midnight Clear - Sixpence None The Richer
O Come O Come Emmanuel - Belle & Sebastian
Silent Night - Priscilla Ahn
What Child Is This? - Kevin Max
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Coldplay
Winter Song - Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Death Cab For Cutie
Alan Parsons In A Winter Wonderland - Grandaddy
The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) - Catherine Feeny
my Christmas mix tape
toasty warm
right on target
So apparently lil ol' Target has become quite the fashionista playground. All these high profile designers have been coming out with inexpensive collections exclusively sold at Target. I checked out some of the dresses from the Anna Sui for Target collection, only to find out that they only look good if you are a size 0 with no, shall we say, womanliness to your body.
ANYway, I got excited again when I heard about the upcoming Rodarte for Target collection because from the looks of it, it was much more up my alley... I just about died when I saw that amazing rib cage dress. I swear, my fantasy involves half of the time grunging out in skinny jeans (grey plz) and flannels on tour with my band and the other half twirling on ballroom dance floors at formal events where I get to wear mini poofy and/or lacy dresses with tights and gobs of jewelry. Heaven!
Sadly they didn't have the rib cage dress there (where would I have worn that anyway?), so I tried on a few other Rodarte pieces and absolutely fell in LOVE with this little baby blue dress. I have decided that it must be featured in the next photo shoot. So now to complete the concept I just have to wait for blankets of snow and a good hair day!
PS: I also got a totes adorable bathing suit top (ruffles + flowers + cherries + bows!)- I know it's December but it was the cutest thing I've ever seen and I had a gift card anyway! Six months or so isn't that long to wait...
ol' floppy limbs
Dude, this cat just kills me. One second she's all aloof, but then she has those moments of total snuggliness where she just melts into your arms... and just lets it all hang out.
Doesn't she seem like such a person in that last one? There's something going on in that mind of hers...
metric really is better
Did you know that the U.S is one of only THREE countries in the world not to adopt the metric system?
But more importantly, did you know that Metric is like one of my all time favorite bands everrr?? This is mostly due to the musical allure of Emily Haines, lead vox and synth player of said band. She rocks!
They put on an awesome live show, and a lot of their songs are pretty dancey rock, which gets the crowd super amped. Then you've got Emily who has some of the best onstage rock moves I've ever seen. Love!
Some songs to check out:
"Twilight Galaxy" Plug In Plug Out
"Sick Muse" Fantasies
"Combat Baby" Old World Underground, Where Are You Now
"I.O.U." Old World Underground, Where Are You Now
"Monster Hospital" Live It Out
"Empty" Live It Out
one last recital
A couple weeks ago my big bro Chris O's band the Recital celebrated their 10th anniversary (to the very day) by playing a big farewell gig and breaking up. Their friends Thunderbirds Are Now and Zoos of Berlin opened for them, and like all the indie kids Chris has ever known were in the crowd. Seriously, pretty much every dude there had thick rimmed glasses and skinny jeans. I felt like I was returning to my homeland.
Anywho, the show rocked. It was really cool to see people come out (some people were from out of state and made the pilgrimage just for the show!), and it was mostly cool to see them singing along super excitedly to all the words and dancing like crazies. I was like dude my brother wrote that song that you are super into right now. And that song. And, well, all of them actually.
They played an hour and a half long superset, but (in such a Recital moment) when the crowd chanted for an encore, they kinda sheepishly confessed to the crowd that they hadn't anticipated that kind of excitement and they played all the songs they practiced. "Repeat a song then!" the crowd yelled. So after asking what they requested, they obliged... this time with a mic in the crowd for the eager fans to sing along.
In the end, they totally proved their show poster wrong ("Commemorate 10 years of empty rooms with an empty room?") because the place was packed and the energy was awesome. Sad to see it end, but how many local bands really get that kind of a send-off? Thanks for the great decade, Recital!
Check out this article in the Metro Times!
grey anatomy
The other day I was feelin rather dreary. I also happened to be wearing like 8 pieces of grey clothing. I never knew I was so literal.
By the way I don't know what's up with my emo-y posts lately. Apparently in the internet world I'm kinda a downer this week. Oh man I can't believe I let some sad-ish song lyrics slip out yesterday. It's like it's 2002 all over again and I've got Dashboard Confessional excerpts in my AIM profile...
they echo me in circles
Sometimes I want to get swallowed up in a song. Not even always the words but the sounds. Usually at one part that I keep rewinding and wanting to hear again and again just because it is so perfectly crafted. Do you know what that feels like? We should be friends.
Knight of Wands - Au Revoir Simone
Calculation Theme - Metric [i wish we were farmers i wish we knew how to grow sweet potatoes and milk cows i wish we were lovers but it's for the best]
Maybelline - Ida
Radiator - Ida
Twilight Galaxy - Metric [i know all the demons that you got if you're not all right now baby i'll pick you up and take you take you where you want]
Cheerleader - Grizzly Bear
Lisztomania - Phoenix
The Good That Won't Come Out - Rilo Kiley [i do this thing where i think i'm real sick but i won't go to the doctor to find out about it 'cause they make you stay real still in a real small space while they chart up your insides and put them on display they'd see all of me all of it all of me all the good that won't come out of me and all the stupid lies i hide behind it's such a big mistake lying here in your warm embrace]
Um and also this amazing cover of Paramore's "Misguided Ghosts":
the snuggle sessions
For your next photo shoot, may I interest you in a couple of professional models for hire?...
WARNING: Cat model is 93% of the time antisocial (may claw or bite), 7% of the time snuggly. Hire at your own risk. Girl model also may claw and bite if provoked.
steak em out
Why have I been posting so many food-related things lately??
Mike recently cooked me this amazing meal, made even more amazing by the fact that he doesn't eat red meat yet managed to cook this perfectly! Plus a real baked potato made in the oven not the microwave! Mike, I'd like dinner reservations for the rest of the week pleasssse.
falling away
Goodbye for awhile, leaves on the tree I walk by every day. You lasted a long time and you were very pretty with your golden color and cute lil berry friends.
Hello empty icy branches (which sounds quite dreary but is actually pretty sometimes too).
BLEEP BLEEP BLOOP
Those are the sounds I have always imagined this remote making. I can't help but stare whenever I see these at the store. It is a lifelong wish to go to someone's home who owns one of these in all seriousness.
