the blisslist

bad, blog, bad! {April 29, 2009}

Yeah, I have an ad on my page. I have mixed feelings about it. Since I post mp3s, I have ethical concerns about making money from this site, but breaking even would be very agreeable. (Becoming an editor ≠ uplifting rags to riches story, sorry.)

I want everyone to know that the ad's content is not chosen by me—it is managed by MOG. Fortunately, most of the ads are benign and music-minded. My main gripe is that the revolving ad sometimes clashes with my blog's aesthetic, but I solve this problem by refreshing the page over & over until a happy ad appears—specifically, one that resembles my color scheme! Only then can I sigh with relief and go on with my life.

I doubt any of you have noticed, but The Blisslist was ad-less all last week. That's because early last week I looked at my blog and saw this:

I refreshed the page and this ad appeared:

I sat on my bed, mouth agape, and then burst out laughing. Sure, these ads aren't exactly offensive, but this is THE BLISSLIST—with sweet hearts & pretty flowers strung whimsically from the ceiling. How do you go from ads about music networks, Rock Band, movie promos, and internet connection devices, to giant ads about death preparation? Maybe I've been writing about The Antlers too much (and these ads are pre-Bea Arthur's death), but come on.

Maybe I'm a smidge too unreasonable—music blog readers need life insurance too, right? And what's a life insurance policy ad without the Back to the Future-esque dad figure ominously missing from the family photo? So great. Or the devastated, lonely child sobbing in the graveyard? Classy. Over the weekend I figured out how to delete certain ads from my revolving line-up. But I can't delete everything, so like I said, if the current ad clashes with my pretty set-up, just refresh. (Yes, I know I'm the only one who will ever refresh.)

Ok, I'm done now. I promise to go back to writing about music in my next post. Google Reader music folder status = lone teardrop of neglect, drunk on scotch.  



This new(ish), lovely acoustic version of Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Skeletons" goes out to you, deleted life insurance ads! It's been my favorite song of the week.

Skeletons (Acoustic) - Yeah Yeah Yeahs | purchase 

atwitter. {April 28, 2009}

As you know, I'm terrible at being brief. I like to tell stories and then use at least 11 adjectives to describe why I like certain songs. (& I edit all of my posts!) Still, I end up leaving out items of interest because I am unable to blog every single day. I just don't have time.

With this in mind, I'm going to start twittering more frequently to post music news and interesting art & design links. There will be personal retorts peppered in my feed from time to time, and I promise not to mention mundane details like what I've eaten for dinner. (what exciting/delicious beer I drank though, I cannot promise.)

Yes, this is me swallowing the blue pill of the blogger matrix. Come with. You can take the pill too, right here. I know there is a coupon for Easy Mac competing with this to right, come on, click HERE intead! (I am probably breaking something in my ad agreement. Guess who didn't read her ad agreement.)

Step into My Office, Baby - Belle & Sebastian | purchase  

(graphic by Randy Reddig)

uh-oh {April 27, 2009}

A couple of years ago, a disturbing thought entered my mind after visiting my grandfather in his nursing home. I had observed a few patients with walkers in the lobby—and a small collective of elderly visitors who stood nearby. As my mother and I strode past, I realized that I towered in comparison. Then the thought struck me:

WHY ARE THERE NO TALL OLD WOMEN?!!

I understand that folks typically shrink with age, but still... at that moment I was unable to recollect ever seeing even a moderately tall old woman. We don't all end up shrinking 6 inches, right? I decided to keep an eye out for "the elusive tall old lady" at parks and grocery stores, but after a few days of not seeing a single one and becoming more & more perplexed, I realized with relief that the earth has Bea Arthur from The Golden Girls! She is very tall, around 5'10 or something. I could go on with my life, worry-free. Tall senior citizens may be an endangered species, but I had my mascot: Bea Arthur with a happy, hopeful heart of affirmation drawn around her.

I recently found out that Bea Arthur died. SHE DIED! I need a new mascot immediately—please send suggestions my way. EXTRA BONUS POINTS if you are a tall, elderly reader of The Blisslist. Now that would be unexpected. And awesome.

Until then, I shall remain concerned with my life's longevity. Okay, so I'm totally joking—this fear is ridiculous, hahaha.... (typing this sentence as she shakes her head from side-to-side, wide-eyed. What's that noise outside?)

Miss you, Bea. Goodnight.

Uh-oh, Tall Women Everywhere: The Official Playlist!

The Saddest Story Ever Told - The Magnetic Fields | purchase  
All We Want, Baby, Is Everything - Handsome Furs | purchase  
Grow Up - Metric | purchase  
Aging Faces, Losing Places - Kevin Drew | purchase  
Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town - Pearl Jam (Live) | purchase  
Contrast and Compare - Bright Eyes | purchase  
Small Things - Lali Puna 
We Looked Like Giants  - DCFC  
Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh - Say Hi | purchase  
Idiot Heart - Sunset Rubdown  
We are Beautiful, We are Doomed - Los Campesinos! | purchase  
An Accident - Shearwater | purchase  
New Disaster - Elliott Smith
Sad, Sad, Sad - Arms | purchase  
Gone Gone Gone - The Notwist | purchase  

(image from the shiny squirrel)

perk up {April 26, 2009}

My life has been a little more scheduled lately—hence, the lack of posting. And coachella exhaustion transformed into a few days of hay fever, which then transformed into me sitting at my desk on Friday, severely drugged on Claritin, listening to the new Camera Obscura album and daydreaming about prim lethargy. Within 10 minutes, I sent out a picnic announcement to all of my friends—join me at my Parisian Picnic by the Sea!—a revelry with colorful paper garlands, wine and lemonade, cupcakes & french-style macarons, brie and Tomme de Savoie, red balloons, crafts and board games and felt mustache-making. Yes, I am a dork but I cannot wait for my picnic!

As previously mentioned, I'm bitten and smitten with Camera Obscura's latest, My Maudlin Career. This record hasn't evolved from CO's ever-charming Let's Get Out of This Country, but I don't care. More of the same, yes please! With My Maudlin Career, the listener is blessed & bathed with 12 lovely tunes imparting a sweet, warm nostalgia. I feel like I need to be arranging dahlias, strolling through leafy neighborhoods, looking at old photos, finding a swimming hole to float in, or... planning a perfectly winsome Parisian picnic! 

Here are my favorites from the album:

James - Camera Obscura | purchase  
The Sweetest Thing - Camera Obscura | purchase  

x.

(image by Blanca Gomez)

i'm a festival, i'm a parade {April 22, 2009}

Ah, Coachella 09. I feel like I just returned from music camp (except with large art installations, spendy booze & eats, skinny palm trees, SPF 99, shade sails, and bleeding romantic sunsets). First off, mister Blair, I'm entirely indebted to you. Thank you, thank you, thank you! for inviting me to stay with you & your delightful music-minded friends. (I thought I knew a lot about music, but these folks put me to shame). Our blogger wall-of-tall was unrivaled, and I cannot wait until we band together once more—Outside Lands, my friend! I am ready to resume our heated, "no, you're wrong," "argh, no you!" Jenny Lewis dispute. Huzzah!

(me and Blair, while taking in Fleet Foxes)

My favorite Coachella performances, one through three:

1. Leonard Cohen. I am a moderate Leonard Cohen fan and had been looking forward to his performance since the line-up was announced. Frankly, it was an honor to hear Leonard live. I spent the majority of Leonard's set sprawled out & blissfully exhausted upon the lawn, musing that life doesn't get much better than this. I will never forget his performance & his chill bump-inducing rendition of "Hallelujah." It was a stunning, transcendent singalong—memorable as hell—we were all collectively blinking back the tears. And Leonard Cohen is still on tour, roaming North America until the end of May. Um, sell an egg or something, DON'T MISS HIM!

2. Amanda Palmer. In the vast Coachella haze of bled-together performances and memories, Amanda's cabaret keyboard ballads remain fixed & embedded. Her covers of Muse and Radiohead were excellent. And happily, she played one of my favorites, "Oasis," joking between wine swigs that it had been banned in the UK. She even challenged the crowd's camaraderie (and muscle) by crowd-surfing to an elevated platform in the back of the crowd. I recorded it here:

Check out her Coachella commentary as well. I might just have a new girl-crush, folks.

3. Fleet Foxes. I was unable to get close to the stage for Fleet Foxes (we lolled around listening to TV on the Radio's performance a smidge too long), so their set was absorbed as we relaxed on the soft Coachellawn. In a previous entry, I described Fleet Foxes as more onerous than impressive. While I love their debut album's second track, "White Winter Hymnal," its positive impressions quickly devolve as song-after-song of Appalachian, sun-dappled "oooh-oooing" finally made me holler, "oh my god, enough already!" Well, I've changed my mind. Sort of. Fleet Foxes are meant to be heard live, and that's that. Their set suffered from the loud, poorly-timed (and planned) Thievery Corporation performance on a neighboring stage, yet they still sounded fantastic. I relished their earnest, aural folk-rock set while lounging in the setting sun, and for once, I didn't grow weary for a millisecond. But how could I? What a perfect backdrop, pretties.

See you next year, my love, my Coachella. Ooo la la.

Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen | purchase  
Oasis - Amanda Palmer | purchase  
White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes | purchase  

where are my smelling salts? {April 21, 2009}

I just found out that The Antlers are opening for Au Revoir Simone at Bimbo's in June! It's a rather odd pairing, yes,  but Awesome + Totally Different Awesome = Commandress of Double-Banded Supreme Awesome, and I really cannot begin to wrap my mind around it.

I'm speechless. I've got nothing! My Coachella commentary is coming soon, I promise. I just need to recover from this hefty, heart-arresting news bulletin from heaven.

Don't See the Sorrow - Au Revoir Simone | purchase  
Epilogue (Live on WOXY) - The Antlers

(image by Marc Johns. you can pre-order his new book here!)

dear Friday, April 17, I love you. I love everything about you. {April 14, 2009}

Too cute—this graphic sums up my infrequently-updated twitter page. I'm being a curmudgeon about twitter, yet I'm completely fascinated with it from afar. If we cross paths & you happen to ♥ twitter, I will inevitably interrogate you about it.

This is my final post before I shake up my home life, run away and make-out with Coachella in Indio's alluring, expansive kissing booth of music—oh my! Mister Coachella and I met two years ago and I can't get him off my mind. I think it's going to be a good time. I promise to return with tall tales (literally) & numerous snapshots—and maybe an actual tweet or two.

Have a lovely week, friends!

Heart Swells, Pacific Daylight Time - Los Campesinos! | purchase  


(image by danny jones)

yes, please. {April 10, 2009}

I just bought tickets to see Wilco at the Greek Theater at the end of June. I caught a portion of their set last year at the Outside Lands Festival, but it didn't count since we were positioned a mile away and I was completely distracted by my ex-beau G, who was standing 20 feet in front of us, sporting a new faux hawk. I need a re-do. Their new, still-untitled album drops in June so the timing is perfect. I've been listening to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost is Born all day and wondering what direction their new release will take. 2007's Sky Blue Sky never took hold of me, though I've been listening to it again with a renewed interest. There's something very meh & dad-rock about Wilco at moments, but whatever, Jeff Tweedy & co. can make a damn good album when everything comes together properly. (2002's Yankee is great, great, great!) You Ain't No Picasso posted a few live versions of a few songs from their upcoming album. Check 'em out:

Sunny Feeling (Live) - Wilco
One Wing (Live) - Wilco
Red Eyed and Blue (Live) - Wilco & Andrew Bird (an old song—I just had to include it)

(Wilco poster design by florafauna. It was difficult not to pick the windmill one, yet the slight psychedelic component of the design made my nose turn upward...)

this may surprise you {April 9, 2009}

But I really love Kanye West's blog. I read it several times a week. I am seriously considering a calculated switch to ALL CAPS.

NO ONE CAN PULL OFF THE DELICIOUSLY CRAZY ALL CAP RANT LIKE YOU CAN, KANYE. WHY CAN'T WE LET KANYE BE GREAT?

Favorite Kanye posts of all time: one, two, and today's post, three. & I also love this.

Welcome to Heartbreak - Kanye West | purchase  

(image from threadless)

trios are silly. but quartets are hot. {April 8, 2009}

2008 was the year of a few superficial changes—most notably, I dyed my tresses from blonde (or as I affectionately called "day-glo brass") back its natural shade of chocolate brown. The change was met with a bevy of mixed reactions. The girls loved it. They told me that my eyes seem bluer, my complexion appears brighter, and my hair looks shinier. The majority of my male friends eyed my coif with disapproval. I knew it was coming—what is it with men and blondes? I've lightened my hair several times over the last decade and I've marveled at the increased flirtation that always comes my way. The first time I dyed my hair, I was 19 and had a new job as a ride operator at an amusement park. (Yes, I was a carny for a very memorable summer after my freshman year. I was employee of the week at one point!) I remember four guys watching me from afar and then running in my direction, practically tripping over each other to come and talk to me. That was very new and it happened the day after I lightened my hair. I remember leaving work that day in a haze of marvel. I wasn't the geek anymore. I was the blonde. I was pretty. I'd been asked on two dates in my entire life. That day I'd been asked on four. (holy shit!)

(On the left: me at my most Barbie, 2001)

In reality, I'm not the blonde. And I didn't end up going out with a single guy from the amusement park that summer. I'm the geek—a bookish, giraffe-legged girl who's perfectly fine with purchasing her own beer. I prefer my dark tresses. More importantly (wink, wink), I'd rather fit in with the shy, brunette-coifed lovelies from Au Revoir Simone. I think they need a 4th member.

Here's a new one from Au Revoir's upcoming album, Still Night, Still Light. I'm not entirely infatuated with their new track, yet I remain optimistic. I agree with their critics— the Au Revoir lovelies aren't musical geniuses yet their simple, whimsical sound is extraordinarily well-executed—it's the stuff of heartbreak, ruffles, candied ginger and loose, ceramic buttons. I recently described my blog's aesthetic to a pal, and I used the phrase "very Au Revoir Simone." Although my banner was inspired by The National's "Gospel" (listen to it—it's heartbreaking as hell and it's one of their more complicated songs, just behind "Ada"), the Au Revoir portion of my mind tidied up the sadness and sweetly made it over. And then you have The Blisslist. The convergence addresses all portions of myself. There's immense depth in the aesthetic, it just isn't obvious. I prefer it that way, I'm going to make you work for it. I'm a brat like that.

xo,

Liz

Knight of Wands - Au Revoir Simone  

PS. Au Revoir Simone are coming back to SF in June! Tickets = click, carted, sold.