Angel sighs surround me

 

I just pre-ordered the new Asobi Seksu album, Fluorescence. I don't even have a turntable at the moment, but this pink vinyl edition looks so delicious, I had to get it. I've also been listening to the album a lot (some mp3s fell off the back of the internet and onto my hard drive) and I really like it. It's good to hear Yuki's voice again, seems like forever since they put out some new material. They're playing SF in March, too, I'm excited about that. Come out if you can, I'll be there. In the meantime, you can pre-order the album over at the Polyvinyl site.

Asobi Seksu > Perfectly Crystal

The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger

I've always liked Sean Lennon, although, admittedly, I've always given him a pass, too, because of his father. This latest music venture of his, however, seems to bring him into the perfect balance of beauty and fragility that I knew he could be capable of. Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger (GOASTT) is the band he created with his girlfriend Charlotte Kemp Muhl, and for me, it is the comforting backdrop to these pensive Winter days.. I've been listening to the vinyl of 'Accoustic Sessions' a lot (which comes with an added mp3 album download), and recommend it for those nights when you just want a bit of quiet and a bit of wine..

They are also touring smaller venues this Winter and put on an amazing show.. Go see them if chance allows.. x

GOASTT - 'Dark Matter, White Noise'

Trish's Mind Bending Motorway Mix

Shortly before she fell ill, the late Trish Keenan made a mix CD for friends last December. One of those friends has uploaded the mix to Soundcloud in tribute.

"Sorry I don't have a tracklist," the friend writes. "To be honest I like it that way. I think it's less about who you're listening to on this compilation and more about the fact you are listening to something that Trish took time to select and compile for me and in turn yourselves. Please just enjoy the music."

It definitely sounds like something Trish Keenan would put together--psychedelic, cinematic, bewitching, and ultimately very poppy. In other words, great.

Elsewhere on the web, Jess Harvell posts an appreciation of Keenan that I think rings true: "It's hard not to feel like the world lost a major fantasist, an unassuming creator of dreamy other worlds, one who just chose music over books or film."

Thinking of you fondly, Ms. Keenan, wherever you are.

The code, the codeine, the comma, the context

It's been a strange, disquieting weekend reflecting on the loss of Broadcast's Trish Keenan, really one of my all-time favourite singers, at the much too young age of 42. But it has also been an occasion to go back and celebrate her band's amazing decade and a half of work ("and non-work"), which will surely endure.

The band also had a well developed visual style in their videos and live performances that complemented the soft and detached, yet quietly powerful surrealism of their music and lyrics. This is probably my favourite of their videos.

Rest in peace.