Reading Rainbow

READING RAINBOW always on my mind from amanda finn on Vimeo.

Twin Sister - All Around and Away We Go

Brush up on your 80s dance moves...

All Around and Away We Go from Twin Sister on Vimeo.

Gala Drop - Drop

DROP (from Gala Drop) from Antonio Contador on Vimeo.

Artist of the Year: Arcade Fire

In case you have been hitchhiking rickshaws through Southeast Asia or gondola riding in the Amazon, I will have you know that Arcade Fire has had the best year ever. After Where the Wild Things ravaged hipsterdome and mass media all at once featuring the band's beautifully anthemic "Wake Up," it seems that the band can do no wrong and is taking all the right precautions to place them atop indie rock royalty. The band has sold out shows at MSG, backboned Haiti relief projects, hosted one of the greatest sing-a-longs of the decade (see Lollapalooza 2010), and exceeded expectations with The Suburbs released this summer. If you still have no idea what the buzz is about, learn ya somethin' below:

Miniature Tigers

Miniature Tigers are just as fun as their name would suggest and one of my favorite new (breakout) bands this year. On their album Fortress listeners will immediately taste notes of Animal Collective, The Dodos, and Deerhunter. The Pringles of music, these guys are addictive and sour cream & onion flavored.

Mari Kanstad Johnsen

Mari Kanstad Johnsen's illustrations are like the whirlwind of discovery and confusion that happens between childhood and adulthood. Utilizing playful imagery with dark undertones, the pieces resemble my high school notebooks and also Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's album covers.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Tamaryn - Dawning

There is a whole lot of shoegaze in today's indie rock scene. If you don't know what shoegaze is, it was a sub genre of rock music consisting of whispery, airy vocals and distorted, reverbed-out guitars. It was popularized by bands in the late 80s/early 90s culminating in My Bloody Valentine's masterpiece Loveless. There have been stints of shoegaze revival, but only a few band have been able to stick to the script while still honing it as their own. Tamaryn is one of those bands.



Their album cover is just as cool as their music and name...how about that?!

RIP Andy Irons

Over the past few years I have become completely enamored by surfing. Even though I have never surfed a day in my life, I am always moved by the level of passion and dedication synonymous with seemingly every surfer's own journey through the water. Andy Irons, one of the most influential surfers in recent years, was found dead today in a hotel in Dallas from Dengue Fever. He was 32.