Sigur Rós - Popplagið (Live in Reykjavík)
Recently, for some reason, I'd been feeling the pull to watch Heima again. I hadn't seen it in quite a while, but I remember it being soothing and beautiful—just the thing I needed. What I hadn't remembered was the closing performance of "Popplagið". The slow, repetitive, buildup to the explosive end of the song is nothing less than spiritual.
Softcult on Audiotree Live (Full Session)
We finally get the full Audiotree session recorded back in March 2023, and they played the version of “Uzumaki” with the poem intro. I don't know who hurt her, but she gives them both barrels.
she's green - "Purple"
Minneapolis band she’s green makes songs inspired by the natural world. “Moss rock”, they jokingly call it. Their EP, Wisteria, is lovely. “Purple” is my favorite track full of all my favorite things: breathy vocals, thick rhythm section, textured guitar, and soaring keys.
The best way to spot an idiot? Look for the person who is cruel.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker dropping truth.
COLLAPSE - "PATH"
COLLAPSE leans to the heavier side of shoegaze, and their newest release doesn’t deviate. “Path” locks into a tight groove right away and layers on chiming guitars until it all gets thrown into the most beautiful wood chipper halfway through the song. When the melody to “Row, Row, Row, Your Boat” comes out of nowhere and seeps in under the roar? Hot damn, that’s weirdly nice.
Music Es Bueno
Noah's writing makes me want to try new stuff. I now have a list of new-to-me albums to go listen to, and I'm pretty excited about it. Check it out—you may get excited, too.
Music Costs Money
“Not everyone can budget $100 a month for music, but most people also aren’t as obsessive about music as I am. For those who are, giving 10 bucks to Spotify—which is apparently Roberts’ monthly music budget—will not cut it. Not if the musicians you claim to love are going to eat.”
Damn straight.
A new logo for Thunderbird
Jon Hicks' redesign of the Thunderbird logo is both beautiful and thoughtfully done.
Fin del Mundo live at Radio U, Santiago, Chile
New song alert! "Una temporada en el invierno" sounds amazing. What a vibe.
Taylor Swift - Starboy (AI-generated cover song)
Taylor Swift didn’t record this song. This is an AI cover. Music's about to get *wild*.
Songs at the Shop: Episode 28 - Softcult
Softcult stopped by Walrus Audio and played "Someone2me". The outro is not to be missed.
Former doctor Emma Cheng on switching to illustration, and how her medical background has informed her art
San Francisco-based illustrator Emma Cheng has swapped her stethoscope for sketchbooks by switching from a medical career to a full-time freelance illustrator. Here she explains how her previous profession is shaping her current one.
Happytecture: New book celebrates the playful world of Anna Devís and Daniel Rueda
Spanish artists Anna Devís and Daniel Rueda have captured the world's imagination using various props and backdrops for their meticulously posed photographs. Now you can enjoy browsing some of their favourite shots in their highly-anticipated new book, Happytecture.
A Product Designer's Hilarious "Unhinged" UI Design Features
For his day job, product designer Soren Iverson handles the Cash app's UI. On the side, the L.A.-based designer, who has a wicked sense of humor, design concepts for "unhinged" UI features that no one asked for.
MUNA - I Know A Place (Live From Honda Stage)
I remember being blown away the first time I heard this song, but coming across this live performance the other day took it to a whole other level. The song is six years old, but this is (still) the energy we need right now. Beautiful.
theneedledrop: The Smashing Pumpkins - ATUM (A Rock Opera in 3 Acts) ALBUM REVIEW
Look, I take no pleasure in this album's failure. I would love nothing more than to see the Pumpkins blaze exciting new trails, but ATUM is a colossal snooze fest—lyrically lazy, musically uninspired, and painfully obtuse.
Innotech Group. Identity and Site Business Transformation
Hey, Peter, what's happening? Yeeeaaah, this is really great and all, but I'm still gonna need you to come in on Saturday. Okay? Thaaaaanks.
Translating Song Visualizations Into 3D-Printed Car Speaker Covers
Tasked with developing customized offerings for their automotive clients, Plaghki and his team began looking at using Materialise's technology to produce 3D-printed speaker covers. [...] the team was able to translate those values—amplitude, frequency, beat, pitch, tone, etc.—into a design language.
The Atlantic makes the case for RSS.
"There’s a lot of anger towards Elon for what he’s doing to Twitter, but lets not forget the damage Google did when they turned off their RSS reader. We’ve lost a too much freedom, independence, and curiosity to corporate algorithms."
Amen, brother.
Does It Shoegaze? Harp Edition.
Not gonna lie, I'd listen the hell out of a harp-based shoegaze band. MAKE IT REAL
Wonders of Street View
Virginia-based coder Neal Agarwal has collated some of the oddest pictures from around the world taken by Google in his new website Wonders of Street View.
The Lime Two is a New and Improved Hot Shoe-Mounted Light Meter
After the success of the Lime One in 2020, German-based HEDECO has released the follow-up Lime Two which maintains a small form factor but adds new features and options.
Frankie's Cultural Observations: Goths
"Goths have a morbid fascination with black magic, even though the only spell they've ever successfully cast was summoning their father's disappointment when they started wearing eyeliner at the age of 12."
Photographer Fools the Internet With AI-Generated Cameras That Don’t Exist
But they absolutely should exist. *drools*
Cocona
I don't even listen to rap, but I keep watching this clip. The style, the flow, and the trilingual verses are all amazing. Wow.
Zac Farro
Paramore's drummer is a pretty great photographer & music video director.
IT'S OK TO FEEL THINGS
In case you need this daily reminder. Feel all those feelings! Hand-drawn/cut black felt lettering, machined stitched onto a soft grey linen.
BAND-MAID - from now on
ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THIS??? BAND-MAID's instrumental tracks have always been amazing, but this one goes soooo haaaaaard. I'm crying literal tears. It's so good.
Robert Smith Funko Pop! Vinyl Figure
I don't own any Funko vinyl figures. Yet.
Hans Gruber Advent Calendar
Featuring Hans Gruber falling from Nakatomi Plaza. Happy Holidays!
Reddit: The Smashing Pumpkins - ATUM Act 1
Seems like a lot of fans are having the same reaction. Having just listened to it, I can say with confidence it won't get a second chance. It's truly terrible. Billy seems to enjoy chastising fans who want him to make Siamese Dream 2, saying that he's not interested in rehashing the past, but he's tried putting out the same cheap-synth clown car of a record three times now. How is that not rehashing?
This is the thought leadership we need.
"Seeing Musk and Zuckerberg flail has me wondering how the world might benefit from an arts and crafts mandate for the powerful. Could all of this have been avoided with a $20 Michael’s run?"
Chasing the Deer
The music video for “鹿逐” (Chasing the Deer) by Chinese post-rock band 感覺莓果 (Feeling Berry) popped up on my YouTube feed again. I love the song—especially the end. You’ll see. It’s exciting to see this kind of music come out of a country that is historically repressive.
The Smashing Pumpkins' Spirits On Fire Tour Posters
The artwork for the Pumpkins’ 2022 tour is really gorgeous.
Alvvays at The Depot in Salt Lake City - Oct 19, 2022
I continue to be blown away by the sound of Blue Rev, and these videos from the band’s Salt Lake show convince me that the album is fundamentally a live recording. So good.
I Made a Linguistics Professor Listen to a Blink-182 Song and Analyze the Accent
Wow. Chicano influences was not on my bingo card.
Elon Musk Completes $44 Billion Deal to Own Twitter
And just by pure coincidence, I'm toying with the prospect of rebooting my Links section. Weird.
Blogroll
Folks I keep up with on the indie web.