this post has been brought to you by the exclamation point! {August 2, 2009}

Just finished my first batch of homemade spiced berry cordial—I'm eager for autumn already! The process was great fun, you simply load up a pot with plump blackberries and boil them until they lose their shape. After separating the juice with a cheesecloth, you mix in sugar, cinnamon & clove and bring the concoction to a delicious, smelly simmer. Finally, you pour in a few glugs of white brandy and seal the batch up & squirrel it away for aging. It will be ready in about 2 months. My taste buds are poised—I hope it will be a triumph!

The endeavor has a soundtrack, of course. This particular mood mix has been warming my ears this afternoon—mmm, nostalgic delight & spiced berry cordial brew: The Playlist. ♥ it. 

Clouds - Will Sturgeon |   
You Are One of the Few Outsiders Who Really Understands Us - Fanfarlo |   
Fresh Feeling - Eels |   
When U Love Somebody - The Fruit Bats |   
I Love How You Love Me - Camera Obscura | purchase   
Bella - Angus & Julia Stone | purchase 
All You Ever Wanted - The Black Keys | purchase 
On Tour with Zykos - Okkervil River | purchase 
Blindsided - Bon Iver | purchase 
The Trapeze Swinger - Iron & Wine | purchase 

ps. Make sure you give the lead-in tune a proper listen. Will Sturgeon sent me his debut EP, Geo, Geo, a couple weeks ago (and one of my favorite blogs, fork/knife, gave it some love too). I've been repeating Geo, Geo during my morning hikes. It's an excellent debut—and the perfect accompaniment as I watch the dawn brighten the edges of the San Francisco skyline. Geo, Geo is a simple, clean broth of youthful expression—it's lovely and distinctive and I am pleased. Moreover, it is the best submission I've received in my inbox all year—better than the stuff the labels are sending me! This EP is brimming with unabashed talent from start to finish, and mister marvel is only nineteen! And... it was recorded on his MacBook with a podcasting USB microphone! He produced it all himself—the writing, the vocals, the arrangements, and the instrumentation! See all of exclamation points that I'm using!!!!!! 

Now that we have all of that important punctuation out of the way, check out Will's Fanfarlo and Grizzly Bear covers as well. Again, self-produced, again, excellent. Okay Will, you have at least 10 fantastic songs all prepped & ready, time to come up to San Francisco and perform them! We're waiting ....

(image's photographer unknown)

Comments

[Jill Pilgrim]

Dude, I am eager for Autumn already too. Lets get on that.

[ac]

great mix.

[matt pearce]

Great soundtrack for booze producing.
My mom used to make apricot liqueur with dried apricots and everclear (I think). We'd get to eat just one apricot before she'd bottle (in awesome bottles she's find throughout the year) at christmas (for gifts)... crap, now I just discovered something about my addictive personality. Damn, this site isn't supposed to be that insightful. Stop it. That's what I pay a shrink for.

LOVE that photo!

[chloe]

love the mix, love will. thanks for sharing!

[Taylor]

Oh wow, Will is really good. LOOOOVE the ep!!!

[Rich]

thanks for the mix, and thanks for the heads-up re. the Sturgeon track. i was a bit uncertain when it started with the "noise mandolin", and might have "moved on", but due to your note, i stuck with it, and now i think it's one of the stand-out tracks from this excellent soundtrack.

quick question, on a semi-related note. i was in a coffee shop this morning, and they were playing a Bon Iver song, lyrics were something like "it's a long way down" or "it's a long way to fall" (?). after i left the coffee shop, i realized i should have asked what the track was, but i didn't. i've tried Googling to find the song, without success. can you, or anyone, help me ID that track...? thanks!