nine

Wish I could dance like that!

eight

News of the surprise release of a new album by Radiohead made Monday the best Valentine's Day ever! So very, very excited!

Terminal 5 = No Pictures

For my birthday, Simon treated me to four (!) gigs, and last night we saw The National play at Terminal 5.  Unfortunately I had to check my camera, so I have no photos... boo.

We've seen The National before, but always outdoors, and we had been a little disappointed at the sound... particularly Matt's voice, which never seemed as good live. But on several occasions last night I was convinced he was miming, he was that good.

They played a perfect mix of old and new - although Ada didn't make an appearance Dónal! ...and as they ended with a thundering "Terrible Love," I was left wondering, just who was Glen Hansard smooching with on the balcony!?!

Musique

I can't believe I had never heard of La Blogotheque/The Take-away Shows before... Simon stumbled across it on youtube last night while trying to learn a Yeasayer song. An absolutely incredible and vast collection of candid, raw performances from lots of bands and musicians I know and adore, like Beirut, The National, Fleet Foxes, Andrew Bird, Bon Iver and Sigur Rós. But there are many many more from bands I haven't heard of, how am I going to get through them all?

This one from Yeasayer gives me goosebumps!


Now that I think about it though, there is another fantastic project, devised by Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich - From the Basement. I came across it ages ago, when Thom Yorke performed, then promptly forgot about it! D'oh! There's oodles more fantastic stuff on there, including Radiohead,  PJ Harvey, Band of Horses, and Beck. Ooooh, (re)discovering new music (even if it's only new to me) makes me so profoundly happy...

Roderigo y Gabriella

Simon used to go see them every Wednesday Monday in the pub around the corner across the road. Last night we saw them at a packed Radio City Music Hall. They were amazing, of course!

[Update 5/1/10]: Edited to correct factual errors regarding the day and location that Simon used to go see Roderigo y Gabriella in Rathmines. Also, I forgot to mention that we were very lucky to have received guest list tickets for the gig - big thanks to Kris and Emma! I've never been on a guest list before and it was very special - we were practically in the front row! I hope we can return the favour sometime.

Atoms for Peace

We waited for hours (due to a freak accident around the corner - thankfully no one was hurt), the set was (very) short and the venue was stuffed to the gills...

...but it was worth every bit.

The guy is a genius.

It was my first time to see Flea live, and that too was worth it... his bass really filled out Thom's songs and seeing the two of them jumping around the stage like crazy was priceless. I'm a lucky girl.

And while I was out enjoying myself, my poor husband was fretting over his interview. Well, he did himself proud and bowled them all over with his charms (and intelligence)... we just have to keep our fingers crossed now!

Adam's Frapeze

We are so exited... amidst some crazy ctrl+r'ing this morning Simon managed to get us two tickets to see Atoms for Peace (or, Adam's Frapeze, as Simon had thought). I was shaking so badly that I messed it all up, but thankfully Simon was cool as a cucumber!

I wanted to post last Sunday about how productive my weekend was.. mostly because I didn't do any *real work* but now a whole week has gone by it doesn't quite feel like as big an achievement! Well, at least I finished off one project (Tibetan prayer flags for baby Will), and almost finished two others (quilts for James and Sean that have been sitting half-done on the ironing board for almost a YEAR!). Plus I made some very delicious chocolate souffle cupcakes and a carrot cake (from this fantastic cookbook).

This weekend? A 5km race tomorrow morning followed by brunch in our place... I am determined to fill everyone with of Bloody Marys to help make a dent in our huge vodka stockpile!

Yeasayer

On Tuesday night we went to see Yeasayer in the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

They were simply amazing.

I've been listening to Yeasayer for about 2-3 years now - ever since our friend Ian introduced us to their first album (All Hour Cymbals), and we saw them open at Central Park Summerstage, for The National, another favorite.

If you were to give me their new album, Odd Blood, and it was the first that I had ever heard of the band, I don't know if I would like it... In fact, I don't think I liked their first album the first time I heard it. But, given time - a couple of listens - their brilliance becomes clear: the complex layering of instruments and effects, the unique voices and harmonies, the opaque, mind-bending lyrics. There's just nothing else like them at the moment.

I think of them as being carrolesque, if that makes sense... which brings me to something else I am very, very excited about...

Matt Lucas as Tweedledee and Tweedledum? Pure genius!