In light of expounding on my own affairs, I am currently taking solace in the fact that some “made to be” couples are, indeed, getting together forever: Zooey Deschanel is engaged to Ben Gibbard.

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Everyone should check out HeaveMedia right now because I wrote the top story in the “Music” section.  It’s about two singer-songwriters who live in Brooklyn (and give me inordinate amounts of free coffee)… this is not to mention that they’re pretty good at what they do.

Jump here to the article.

Jump here to the Heave Homepage.

There are scant few times when I put my coffee mug down, shove my headphones deeper into my ear canals so that the vibrations can rest right up against my auditory ossicles, and wave away my flaneuristic yearnings in order to become totally engrossed in something I find online.

La Blogotheque made me do all 3 of these things then made me drop my coffee mug on the floor. This got the attention of the baristas who were on duty and, after paying for the mug, I showed them the site as well.  They agreed, it’s a veritable gold mine of “indie rock” excitement (zeus, how I hate that term).  Though a lot of the site is in French, the key features are displayed in English as well.  For instance, scroll to the bottom of that opening page and click on “All Take Away Shows.”

Here, you’ll find a collection of improvised “shows” by any band that Pitchfork heralded in the past few years.  They are all performed “spur of the moment” in public places, oftentimes involving more people than the typical band line up.  The results are almost always serene, buoyant, transparent versions of songs that are left out of the deepest part of your heart due to production on an album.  Here, each artist is stripped of all semblance of modernity and left to perform the song however they see fit.  The results: inspiring.

Some of my favorites: Continue Reading »