What's a girl to do for love?

Bat for Lashes (Natasha Khan) is someone you're going to love. Watch her video, What's A Girl To Do?, and you'll see exactly why:



Right? HAC is always looking out for you, and for BMX riders sporting animal masks biking in a choreographed fashion to eerie-licious melodies. Khan totally won us over with this one and director Mattias Montero (a house favorite!) carried out the creepiness we all know we love but are sometimes hesitant to admit.

The video was found after realizing Montero directed Lykke Li's video for Little Bit. He again uses a continuous shot from start to finish with a desaturated and almost overexposed effect, as well as double timing, aka slow-mo vs. fast-mo. It definitely works in achieving great feeling and helping to express what each artist feels:



talk about emotions and inspiration! i draw both from these two.


xoxo

HAC on Refinery29!

Writer Sydney Pfaff (read: TenderNob Travel Guide) gave our blog a plug in today's article reviewing the Acrimony + April77 event we attended last friday here in San Francisco.

Read the full story now!

• French Fashion and the California Sound: April77 Fall Preview at Acrimony

thanks sydney!
xoxo

I Love Counting, Counting to the Number 4

Feist on Sesame Street, duh:


She's hot, penguins are neat, video's pretty cute; but you have to admit the baby-friendly lyrics made it kind of eerie! Right? That or the fact that I can't help but think about all the toddlers who might never come to realize all that is Leslie Feist. Think about it—do you remember all of your favorite guest appearances from the ages of 0-5? Probably not.

Wonder if she'll rejoin Broken Social Scene for any upcoming projects, seeing that she's probably too cool now.

Wheee! Or as the image might suggest, Roooarr!

Work it girl, work it.

For Cyn, BSS - Lover's Spit:


And cover a la Feist:


Cheers

P.S. She's playing in Berkeley tomorrow night if anyone's interested; 40$ a pop.

Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?

We're not dead, promise.

To keep you happy and entertained while we regroup and reassess, here is the first music video from She & Him duo, actress Zooey Deschanel (Elf, The Happening) and singer/songwriter/guitarist M. Ward:



Cute, huh? So cute that many Zooeys, in fact, were decapitated in the making of this video. "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" was directed by Ace Norton who has worked with numerous artists we love, from Death Cab for Cutie and LCD Soundsystem to Simian Mobile Disco and Santogold. Check out his work at Acenorton.com (and be sure to watch Desmondh's review on this video—funny guy).

This past March I saw the two in concert at the Great American Music Hall here in San Francisco as part of Noise Pop 2008 and I have to say Zooey is just as cute live as she is on screen. Below are some photos from Brooklyn Vegan:


Cheers

Afternoon Delight: Feist, "I Feel It All"

Only a couple more hours until the end of the workday... here is something to watch to pass the time:



Feist is amazing as usual.

Lovelovelove,
Cyn

La musique: Coconut Records

I've always been a fan of Jason Schwartzman. I always thought of Jason Schwartzman as that cute, quirky, sensitive, and articulate pocket boyfriend every girl I wish I could have. An actor who chooses the most interesting roles, I particularly liked his latest performances in Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited and Hotel Chevalier. And bravo to him for leaving Phantom Planet before The O.C. could pick up their song "California" and over-play it every week for 4 years.

I read about Jason Schwartzman's solo project, Coconut Records a few months back in an interview he did with Nylon Guys and I never really bothered to check it out. That is... until today.

Jason Schwartzman a.k.a. Coconut Records makes music that is folksy, bittersweet, and at times melancholy. The music he creates is most comparable to that of musician Ben Lee. Jason Schwartzman, however makes the kind of music you could imagine some hip lovelorn L.A. boy with a moderately fancy acoustic guitar, a drum set, and a keyboard that has a piano mode would put together in his garage/recording studio. Reoccurring themes in his music are those of California, girls, and loneliness. Jason Schwartzman's same quirky humor is infused in his lyrics and in the interesting mesh of beats and genres he uses in his songs.

Coconut Records' new album, Nighttiming was released last spring and I believe is only available by download on iTunes, Amazon, etc.

Recommended tracks: Nighttiming, West Coast, Easy Girl, Summer Day*
* with guest vocals by Zooey Deschanel

Check out the video below for "West Coast" featuring skateboarder, Mike Gonzales.




P.S.

lovelovelove,
Cyn

M.I.A. for Marc by Marc Jacobs

Following in the footsteps of Dakota Fanning, Michael Stipe, Sofia Coppola, and Meg White as models for Marc Jacobs (and his diffusion lines) is M.I.A. for the Marc by Marc Jacobs SP/S 2008 collection. The campaign was shot by Juergen Teller (as usual.)

Ads are popping up in the February issues of magazines on newsstands now. I saw photos from this campaign in the newest issue of Lucky Magazine.

Marc Jacobs always seems to choose the most obscure or "of-the-moment" celebrity to model for his campaigns. I personally like M.I.A. and MbMJ separately and I must say that this is a very interesting match. I normally picture M.I.A. wearing a large over-sized t-shirt and some technicolor leggings but I surprisingly like her in menswear esp. in the blue oxford and brown tie. The particular ad you find below is pretty understated and muted. The other ad that I have seen has a more colorful and "pop" sensibility with M.I.A. modeling sunglasses and a bright yellow clutch. I'll try to post photos of that later.

Your thoughts???


lovelovelove,
Cyn