tsurufoto presents… you so pretty next to me mixtape

February 4, 2012

Scan “Self-Portrait with Sheila” by me

Howdy kiddos! How the fuck are ya? Me? Well just dandy dandy, thank you for asking… As many of you know, I’ve been a busy boy over at tsurufoto, takin’ lots of pictures, starting a nudie blog, and, of course, running the #1 nudiezine in the world! I’ve taken quite a hiatus from “new music” for a few months and I got to tell ya, it was fantastic. But, after getting a new mp3 player it was time to see what was going on out there in music land and oh my how depressing is it? Of the top 100 artists being blogged about about a week or so ago, I knew maybe 3? Though that lifted my spirits, when I set out exploring all these news bits of data uploaded to the 4 trillion music blogs I was overcome with blahness. Like dear-jeebus-what-is-this-craparoni blahness.

But it ain’t all spaghetti with no sauce out there, there’s a few gems to be found, not that it has anything to do with this mixtape… Nope. Today’s mixtape started when I finally came across Phosphorescent. Where were they may whole life? Fuck. Specifically A Hundred Times Or More. NOM NOM NOM. Anyways, found them, loved them, “Pretty” owned my heart and soul for about 2 weeks and lo & behold a mixtape was born.

But there’s more! You see, I’m one lucky mother-fucker. I’ve got the best job in the world being a photographer & zinester, part of the reason is because I get to do what I love and have a fucking blast doing it, but the other part is the absolutely amazing friends I have made doing it! Sheila, Cherry, Button, Cherie, Angela, Isabella, and on and on and on, so many of the zine’s nudiecranes I’m so happy to call my friends now. Whether it’s going out for a burlesque show and some drinks or simply hanging at Chez Tsuru with arts & crafts time, we love these beautiful women!

“Button being Button”

So, with that and with this I’m dedicating this mixtape to all the nudiecranes out there! From our closest friends to those where we may have only spent an hour together and I never heard from you again. All of you are amazing & beautiful in your own way and it’s your uniqueness that each of you so perfect (and absolutely stunning)! We love you guys!

Okay, enough mushy-pants, let’s get on with the music shall we as tsurufoto presents…

you so pretty next to me mixtape!

PLAY Side A featuring Wilco, Battles, Islands, Radiohead, Justice, Shins, & more

PLAY Side B featuring My Morning Jacket, Sharon Jones, Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s, Silver Jews, White Stripes, Phosphorescent, & more!!!

SIDE A

01 Wilco – Can’t Stand It
02 Battles – Ice Cream (Feat. Matias Aguayo)
03 Violent Femmes – Blister 2000
04 Islands – This Is Not A Song
05 Morphine – I’m Free Now
06 Radiohead – Lotus Flower
07 Justice – On’n'On
08 Field Music – A New Town
09 The Shins – Simple Song
10 Tennis – Origins

SIDE B

11 My Morning Jacket – I’m Amazed
12 Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – Without A Trace
13 Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s – Fingertips
14 The Black Swans – I.D.W.2F.
15 Camper Van Beethoven – All Her Favorite Fruit
16 Silver Jews – Smith And Jones Forever
17 The Rural Alberta Advantage – Tornado ’87
18 The White Stripes – Hotel Yorba
19 Grant Lee Buffalo – Mockingbirds
20 Phosphorescent / Leonard Cohen – Pretty, I’m Your Man

(full zip of the mp3s)

Cheers,
Aaron
tsurufoto.com

“Goodnight Moon” by Said The Whale

September 24, 2011

By Tsuru

Photo by Dona Rita

Said The Whale – Goodnight Moon

tsururadio presents… transmissions from canada — happy canada day!!!

July 1, 2011

By Tsuru

Photography of baby by me.

A long time ago, we were in an epic mixtape battle with the good folks over at The 405. We each took on a country, The 405 represented California (and yes, they do think they are a country over there) and we took on our beloved Canada, home of the unimitatable TsuruBride. Needless to say, we kinda kicked ass. Between that battle & our battle with The Needle Drop, we’ve pretty much been crowned the king of the mountain, the top mixologist, aka the mixtape master!

Well, since that first mixtape battle, our mixtape transmissions from canada has gone on to become what Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, and even Avril Lavigne would probably call “a national treasure, something that every Canadian or aspiring Canadian, should listen to, love, and cherish”. Those would be brave words coming from them, words that I would be proud of, from three of the most important Canadian icons, the holy trinity of the great white north:

Leonard Cohen

Neil Young

Avril Lavigne (seen here in her natural state)

Just looking at their pictures, I’m humbled.

It’s July 1st, meaning, yes it’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day, but it’s also Canada Day! And in honour of the wonderful country I hope to call home one day (after all, I’m a native-Floridian (Canada’s winterland) and an aspiring-Canadian), I felt it was time to re-present our landmark and epic mixtape to you. Why? Because, as the old saying goes, everyone’s got a little Canadian in him on Canada Day… His name is Bob and you might want to get checked out for a V.D. tomorrow.

Photo by futureatlas

Happy Canada Day my friends, love The Tsurus! Have a wonderful weekend, go blow up shit, go ride yer bikes, go take lots of pictures of your boobies, and we’ll see you all before long. Until then, let’s get our Canuck ON as…

tsururadio presents… transmissions from canada

(full zip)

FULL THE LOVE OF BUDDHA, ALLAH, JESUS, ETC… PLAY GAPLESS!

01 Intro
02 Broken Social Scene – Ibi Dreams Of Pavement (A Better Day)
03 Clues – Haarp
04 The Rural Alberta Advantage – Four Night Rider
05 Most Serene Republic – Humble Peasants
06 The Lovely Feathers – Family That Doesn’t Know The Game
07 Islands – Rough Gem
08 Arcade Fire – Rebellion (Lies)
09 Wolf Parade – You Are A Runner And I Am My Father’s Son
10 Destroyer – The Sublimation Hour
11 Rock Plaza Central – My Children Be Joyful
12 Stars – Your Ex-Lover Is Dead (Final Fantasy Mix)
13 Patrick Watson – Luscious Life
14 The New Pornographers – The Bleeding Heart Show
15 Sunset Rubdown – Us Ones In Between
16 Plants And Animals – Bye Bye Bye
17 Outro

Cheers,
Aaron

presents… she stands there stark naked mixtape!!!

March 18, 2011

By Tsuru

Happy Friday to ya, my friends!!! Man oh man have I been a busy little beaver lately. Work has been, well, work and nuttier than ever, but that’s work and who wants to talk about that? Not I said the fly! Now, sure, we got you a badass mixtape to finish off the week all proper style…

How’s THAT for a teaser?

But, before we get to that, let’s talk about the other busys keep us busy.

First up? Maybe you missed it the other day, but Baby’s auction to raise money for Japan ENDS TOMORROW!

The money from the winning bid and the matching moneys ALL go to the Red Cross to help out with Japan. They get a little moneys, you get a Kitsune (fox) purse for you or your honey-bunny, all with free shipping! Not too shabs, eh?

Eh. So..

* CLICK – BID – SHARE *

Next… maybe you missed it but TSURUFOTO NUDIEZINE Issue No. 4 has been released and is out in the wild!

WOOOOOOOT! And this time it’s a doozy! In this issue we got our zinexclusive mixtape, activities, amazing artwork, our articles on REM & a bad ass zine we came across, all kinds of randomness, and, of course, our super hot & awesome photo shoots with Nina, Isabella, Becca, & the awesome Lucy Dominga!

Now, you can get a taste of the photo sets with Nina & Isabella and Ms. Dominga over at our vimeo page full or saucy short films we’ve been making, BUT…. if you want a peek at Issue No. 5′s centerfold set, “How Olive Does Arts & Crafts”:

TSURUFOTO Presents… How Olive Does Arts & Crafts! (NSFW) from TSURUFOTO on Vimeo.

You are going to have to buy a zine…. ;)

Now… if that wan’t enough, oh my, let me tell you about last night. Yes yes, it was St. Patty’s day, but I really could care less about that part. First, anyone who follows the photo part of tsuru industries knows I get to work with some amazing people. Genuinely beautiful inside & out. Well, a couple of them do burlesque. Baby & I have been trying to go see them for, well, forever, but life & shit kept getting in the way until last night when we went to Circus and got to see not one, but TWO troupes perform! The Velvet Hearts featuring the uber-crush worthy Cherry La Voix AND the Ooh La Las featuring my newest friend Cherie!

One word. Amazing.

Bold, strong, beautiful pasty-adorned women flaunting the awesomeness.

And blowing our minds and melting our hearts. Needless to say, Baby & I are smitten kittens. Consider us groupies!!!

Speaking of beautiful women & smitten kittens, my friends, has I gots a mixtap’ems for yas today very much inspired by the love and beauty that seems to be following us around more and more. We had some fun with this one! Yeah yeah, sure, we got a new song or two that might be floating around your hip & hypem blogs here and there, but for the most part this one’s chock full o’ not-so-newness and not-so-knowness! Yep, we dipped deep into our pockets for some pre-double-digit 2000s goodness, maybe something from the 90s, and I think one or two from the 80s, and lots of fresh bandcamp goodness.

Just a little reminder that, yeah, new music is new, but loving and leaving the songs from a few years, months or days ago is not chicken soup for the soul. And remember, as loverly as the pitchforks and bloggerins of the world can be, there’s still so much out there just waiting and wanting to be heard over in the wide world interconnected intertubes of love canals like Bandcamp and etc.

So here we are and here we go as….

photography by me
modeled by tomagochi

tsururadio presents…

she stands there stark naked mixtape!!!

full zip

01 Noah and the Whale – Jealous Kind Of Love
02 Royal Bangs – Tiny Prince Of Keytar
03 Ween – Ocean Man
04 Beulah – Matter vs. Space
05 Bright Eyes – Shell Games
06 Here We Go Magic – Hands in the Sky
07 Radiohead – Nude
08 Violent Femmes – Black Girls
09 The Decemberists – O New England
10 Bill Callahan – Sycamore
11 Beirut – The Concubine
12 Peter Bjorn and John – Amsterdam
13 Paula & Karol – Ontario
14 Son Volt – Drown
15 The Do – Bohemian Dances
16 Jenny Invert – Still Life / Millet Seed
17 Tera Melos – Manar Was A Rat
18 Isaac and Hilltop – Antique Arms and Armor
19 Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s – Real Naked Girls
20 Joan As Police Woman – The Magic
21 Nicole Atkins & The Sea – The Way It Is

BONUS: David Cassidy – I Think I Love You

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. Go ride yer bikes, go take lots of pictures, and we’ll see you before long…

Cheers,

Aaron aka Tsuru

Peanut’s Playground: Forgotten Classics – 11. Sugar – File Under Easy Listening

February 18, 2011

By Martin

Photography by LittleFlair…

Hüsker Dü means nothing to me. Bob Mould means nothing to me either. That is to say, the music that the Dü and the Mould made/make isn’t really the music that I like the Bob to make. The music I love is this:

Sugar – File Under Easy Listening (1994)

1994 was a great year in music, and File Under Easy Listening (or F.U.E.L.) was one of its highlights.

Roaring guitars. Loud guitars. But also, beautiful melodies. A combination I’ve gotten to love, and few albums have gotten it better than F.U.E.L. Bob Mould’s voice has never been angelic or smooth or anything like that, but who knew how well it would fit melodic songs instead of just raging rockers. His gritty vocals over the infectious grooves and chords are exactly what keep this album interesting.

Every song is memorable. Memorable in such a way that even after listening to it only once it will have you singing along full force! The song structures are, without exception, simple and easy to grasp. But simple does not equal dull. It’s never dull! Better still, it keeps on surprising you, more than 16 years after its release.

All the traits of a timeless classic if I’ve ever heard one.

DOWNLOAD FILE UNDER EASY LISTENING HERE

1. Gift

2. Company Book

3. Your Favorite Thing

4. What You Want It To Be

5. Gee Angel

6. Panama City Motel

7. Can’t Help You Anymore

8. Granny Cool

9. Believe What You’re Saying

10. Explode And Make Up

Don’t forget to check out my other articles, in case you’ve missed them (which would be an absolute shame, because they’re great and shit).

Tudels,

Peanut

Link up with me here:

Finally…. Departing by The Rural Alberta Advantage!

February 11, 2011

By Tsuru

Photography by herki

Kaloo-kalay, the new Rural Albert Advantage is finally FINALLY here. Sweet. Jesus. What took it so long? It was WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY back in 2008 (which is 21.4 blog years, by the way) that we first heard of these lovely Canadians.

Back then they were unsigned and, for the most part, unheard of… But oh what a difference 21.4 blog years make, eh? They were eventually signed to Saddle Creek where they then re-released the album and started touring and video making and stuff and stuff.

Which is great and all that, but it also meant we music geeks in freaks down here bloggerin’ land had to wait, sit on our 30+ minutes of Hometowns, barely above the length of your favourite EPs, for what? Forever maybe? yeah… Forever for a new collection of songs.

And, my friends, Departing was oh so worth the wait.

In one sense, RAA picks up where they left off. Same awesomely whiny voice, same haunting female back-up vocals, same noise-acoustic guitar effect, and same balance of frenetic & folk/roots/whatever. That’s kinda their sound, so it all makes since. I think a half-hearted listen may get them the “Hometowns II” tag from a music cricket or two.

Who knows. Don’t care.

In the vacuum of it’s own existence, we have ourselves a beautiful & often woefully sad break-up album. There’s depth to the sound, depth in the lyrics… Like our friends from the great north not only got their collective hearts broke, but also saw it coming and didn’t or couldn’t do anything about it.

It’s wonderful. My only complaint is the same as before. It is so fucking short! God, I want more. So…. me being me, here’s what I think you should do. Make a playlist/CD (it fits)/whatever of Hometowns & Departing played back-to-back. You know what you get? 1.1 hours of Rural Alberta Advantage and one happy mother fucker…….

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! We’ll be doing some arts & crafts (and my first boudoir photo shoot for some awesome & beautiful friends), riding my bike, and (of course) hanging out with Baby.

And….. if the good lard’s a-willin’ and the creeks don’t rise, maybe doing a little zinin’ for Issue No. 4?

;)

Until then… Enjoy!

1. Two Lovers
2. The Breakup
3. Under the Knife
4. Muscle Relaxants
5. North Star
6. Stamp

7. Tornado ’87
8. Barnes’ Yard
9. Coldest Days
10. Good Night

PRE-ORDER DEPARTING NOW!

Previously from Hometowns…
Don’t Haunt This Place
Frank, AB

DOWNLOAD HOMETOWNS NOW!

RAA Love: Official | Label | Twitter

Cheers,
Aaron

Hey! Hey! Hey! The Palace Guards by David Lowery…

February 8, 2011

By Tsuru

Photography by emememily…

I’m kinda obsessed over three albums right now. It’s making it quite hard to do this whole bloggerin’ thing, you know? Three albums are dividing my heart and time right now. So which shall we write about?

Hmm…

You know, you gotta go with who got there first. It’s only fair, donchathink? Besides, with all the break-ups going on in music with the White Stripes & LCD Soundsystems and stuff, it’s kinda nice to see all the old-timers making a go of it this year, take charge, kick ass, take a few names and such. We saw Cake, Ron Sexsmith, and Social Distortion already light up our eyes and we know REM and PJ Harvey are in the pipeline, but today it’s Camper Van Beethoven & Cracker leadman’s solo debut that’s swooning our ears & brainicles.

Yep, David Lowery’s The Palace Guards is out and it’s fantastic. I find it interesting when people have multiple bands for multiple styles or sounds. Cracker was always his roots rock band — oh man, I need to hear “Teen Angst (What The World Needs Now)” like stat…

One sec.

Ah… That’s better. Where were we? Oh yeah, Lowery’s got his original gig with Camper Van Beethoven as his quirkball band (Key Lime Pie is and will always be one of my favourite albums ever).

Considering that, as far as I know, both bands are still intact, Lowery doing “David Lowery” must mean these songs, on some level, just don’t fit with the C&CvB thing.

From an outsiders perspective, some songs like “All Those Girls Mean Nothing To Me” do sound like they could’ve fit elsewhere, but maybe it’s similar to the old axiom, “you can take the boy out of Florida, but you can’t take Florida out the boy” ’cause lard knows I tried… Lowery is Lowery so you could make a case for this whole solo thing being kinda silly. Hell, you could probably make a case that Cracker is Camper van Beethoven is David Lowery and vicey-vicey-versy.

I disagree though. I don’t have to understand the difference between the projects to understand the desire and need to keep them separate. People wonder why I’m spread out more than a 5 dollar whore on two-fer-one night.

snaps!

So, yeah, the comparisons will come in all the reviews, for sure. Hell, I think I just spent a couple paragraphs on it. And for that, Lowery, I’m sorry.

This album is really wonderful. The wonderfully odd (see: “The Palace Guards”). It’s unabashedly kuntry (see: “Raise ‘em Up on Honey”). And dear jeebus on a stick it can be absolutely beautiful (see: “Deep Oblivion”).

Okay, enough with the “see: Song” crap, just get it, play it over and over again. We old timers still gots it mother fuckers!!

DOWNLOAD THE PALACE GUARDS ALBUM NOW!!!

Track Listing:
1 – Raise ‘em Up on Honey

2 – The Palace Guards
3 – Deep Oblivion
4 – Ah You Left Me
5 – All Those Girls Meant Nothing to Me

6 – I Sold the Arabs the Moon
7 – Marigold
8 – Big Life
9 – Submarine

Ah…. and a little old school Cracker for you with “Low”:

yeah, that’s the stuff.

Click here for David Lowery love… He’s on the twitters too!

Cheers,
T.

A little fire & brimstone with The People’s Key by Bright Eyes!

February 2, 2011

By Tsuru

Photography by Harleen…

Someone once told me that Bright Eyes done broke up. I shrugged. I liked Bright Eyes fine, but I also liked his various solo stuff that was showing up, and figuring that Oberst hasn’t hung up his geetar for good, I didn’t really think much of it after that. But then suddenly there was a song that showed up, word of an album, then BLAMO fire & brimstone shows up on the intertubals and I was blown away…..

This is not a repeated-listening in one sitting type of album, like Hazards Of Love by our faves The Decemberists, this is more like a movie than an album. Our opening scene is quasi-religious meets sci-fi meets nut job sermon-of-sorts talking about time, universes, Sumerians, the bible, reptile aliens fucking slave humans to create counter-clockwise dimension-hopping babies… and Hitler.

Then the music starts… No, he’s not singing about the reptilian aliens or Hitler (as far as I can tell), but the mood, the movie’s aesthic, has been set, there’s a layer of darkness and wtf-ness that sits on top of even the poppiest songs on the album.

Periodically, our sermon on the mount shows up again, keeping us grounded in Oberst’s fire.

As much as I like the individual songs just fine, the album works best as an album. If I can’t listen to the whole thing, I find I don’t want to listen to it at all. That sounds like a bad thing, but it’s not. The same was true of Hazards Of Love. It was all or nothing. Yeah, sure, there was a song or two that fit on a mixtape or two, but really my preferred method of ingestion was every. single. course.

Yeah, I just dipped from movie analogies to food. Shake n’ bake, baby!

NOTE: Speaking of Shake N’ Bake… just made some for Baby & I the other night. First time in, what? 20? 30 years? since I’ve had it. Quite delicious! Quite delicious indeedy…

Anywhosals… Get this and enjoy. It’s really amazing….

1 Firewall
2 Shell Games
3 Jejune Stars
4 Approximate Sunlight
5 Haile Selassie
6 A Machine Spiritual (In The People’s Key)
7 Triple Spiral
8 Beginner’s Mind
9 Ladder Song
10 One For You, One For Me

While we are at it… some old Bright Eyes

Bright Eyes lovins: Official | Label

Cheers!
T.

Yeah, I’m kinda obsessed with Dye It Blonde by Smith Westerns…

January 27, 2011

By Tsuru

Photography by effie-fay…

Let’s keep this one tight and to the right, shall we? Played this once on a whim, liked some songs, threw one on a mixtape, moved on, forgot about it. Until this week when I had that “oh yeah, forgot about you!” moment scannin’ ye ol’ iPodaroni. Then I pushed the play button and a little obsession of sorts took over. Yeah, I’m kinda obsessed with Dye It Blonde by Smith Westerns…

When it first gets going with one of their “singles” “Weekend”, you think to yourself, “alright, alright, not too shabby-dabby… not too shabby-dabby at all”. But then “Still New” gets going, and it kiiinda has the same vibe, that is until that lead guitar comes in dripping of 70s rock-operatics, beyoooo be-be-beyoooo! Then the jaunty “Imagine Pt. 3″ continues the feel. And so it goes. What’s interesting his just how, though it contains that hazy pop sunset overall aesthetic, the album seems to get more and more theatric the deeper we go!

Not sure how to explain it… Individually, the songs play as simple pop songs. But taken as a whole, it almost comes off as a rock-musical! Seriously. Don’t know another way to say express it. It feels like there’s a story here. Now, I haven’t quite got into the lyrics, so I could be completely full of shitake mushrooms, but it’s just wonderful.

Listen to the singles below, but really grab the whole thing, turn it up loud, and see for yourself!

DOWNLOAD DYE IT BLONDE

01. Weekend
02. Still New
03. Imagine Pt. 3
04. All Die Young
05. Fallen In Love
06. End of the Night
07. Only One
08. Smile
09. Dance Away
10. Dye the World

Smith Western love: Myspace? Really Smith Westerns? Time to get your shit together, you are too good for myspace.

Cheers,
Tsuru

A weekend without a computer aka my trip to Sedona & the Grand Canyon aka Kiss Each Other Clean by Iron & Wine!!!

January 18, 2011

By Tsuru

Photography by Me…

What a fun weekend! For those of you not following along on the intertubals of love (i.e. me twitters & me facebooks, ARR!), this weekend, I played jet-setter, hopping on a plane down to Arizon-I-A to see my baby cranes, swooping them up and driving up to Sedona & then to the Grand Canyon! Our first times! Wow, what can I say, Sedona is absolutely beautiful…

Our approach..

Wandering around..

View from our hotel’s property..

Sunset…

It was stunning. We went hiking around and exploring before hopping in the car for 2 hours to get to the Grand mother fucking Canyon!

Oh god.

Okay… I need to be honest with you. I have a thing about heights. It’s not that I’m afraid of heights, per se, I can ride on planes and shit all day, though put me on top of the Empire State building and I get a bit jacked-up. But, the bigger fear is the “hey, look at how high we ar-” *poof, dead* that things like the Grand Canyon shoved into my brain, down my spinal cords, and made me shudder with fear.

Yeah. I was terrified. For myself, for my girls. It was intense. I mean, for fuck’s sake, they don’t have barriers on some parts! One little trip up and POOF, gone! Then I read about how once or twice a year, sure enough, someone falls. Last year it was some 4 year old, just there one second, gone the next. There’s no ifs about it, it’s a straight drop to nothing. It should be renamed The Ridiculously More Massive Than You Could Imagine Canyon. It’s that big.

Woo.

You may note that all the photos are from my phone. I had my camera and shot photos & film, but what I didn’t have, a first for me, was a computer. Yep. Computer-free on a trip for the first time ever. Smartphones (I have an Evo) are great, but they are really just crippled substitutes for a computer. I had a hard time staying in touch with some projects, and writing a real email was a challenge, but for the most part, not too shabby! Getting there technology… getting there.

Conversely, oh man, on the plane back last night… A woman in a seat near me had, are you ready for this, an iPod, iPhone, iPad, AND a Mac! 3 of which she was actually using at once at one point on the flight. Quite possibly the most idiotic thing I saw all trip. Didn’t help she was a loud bitchy person.

Anywhosals.

The trip required a quite a bit of driving, 2 hours to Sedona, 2 to Grand Canyon, 2 back, and 2 back to the airport. So, as you can imagine, music was key. Sountracking our trip was new Cake, new Decemberists, new Iron & Wine (more on that in a sec), some mixtapes (of course), and eventually my first official introduction to Lady Gaga.

I’m sorry, but I don’t get it. Woefully generic music. Oh well. Oddly, when it was just her & a piano playing live or some raw version of one of her songs, it was 10x better, but man, the official released songs? I don’t know. Just don’t get it. Oh wells.

But, one thing that got stuck on repeat, not only on the long plane ride down, but during a couple hours of the drivin’ was Kiss Each Other Clean by Iron & Wine!

I’ve always liked Iron & Wine, not loved, just a song here and there, though I really did like his last album. Beyond that, his whispery folk was really not my cup o’ tea. But then I heard “Biting My Tail” and my mild enjoyment went to a weird mix of wtf, worry, and enjoyment. Like fellow acoustic aficionado, Sufjan, Sam gone ee-lectronical! After the initial shock, I liked the song, but I had no idea how far he’d take it on the album proper. Was it going to be filled with silly autotuned vocals & blips & bleeps & lasers like the aforementioned sensitive bear?

The answer was, thankfully, no.

I read somewhere he as going for this AM radio thing, and I certainly hear that (see: “Walking Far From Home” & “Tree By The River”) in some of the tracks. At other times, he drops into tribal “Rabbits Will Run” or funk (see: “Big Burned Hand” or just something otherwordly beautiful (see: “Godless Brother In Love”). It’s an amazing progression of sound, bold, and sure to piss off old time fans. But, all I can say is wow. Amazing. My only complaint? ”Biting My Tail” (so much fun) & “Summer In Savannah” (a jazzy awesome tune) should’ve both been included. Fortuntely, due to the iPod world we live in, mine “copy” does now.

Now this is full-on Major Label now (still can’t believe the dude signed with Warner Bros, dropping, I think, Subpop… oh well, no accounting for taste). Because of that, we are not sharing shit, but we do have the promo viddy:

And… the full album stream via a live performance on NPR that we previously shared and are more than happy to link again here!

Iron & Wine Kiss Each Other Clean (Full Album Live via NPR)

Plus the vid…

I think you can stream more here, but best to just pre-order this bad boy and enjoy for yourself!

Cheers,
T.

TSURURADIO Presents… She Drives Me To Distraction! Oh Yeah, She’s My Passion Mixtape & Short Film!!!

January 14, 2011

By Tsuru

Photography by ME! HOORAY!

*WARNING* The following post contains tons of aural awesomeness, visual naughtiness, & some serious self-pimping. So, you know, you’ve been warned.

Alright my friends… a happy Friday to you and shit! I gots something a little special for you today to wrap up the week that was, make that doubly, no, triply special, no, wait, QUADRUPLY SPECIAL!!! WOOT!

Number 1: If you haven’t notice or paid attention or something, TSURUFOTO NUDIEZINE issue no. 2 is LIVE, LIVE, LIVE!!! BUT…………. Not only is it live on Etsy in paper form, it’s also live via Amazon on their Kindle or iPhone/Android/Blackberry/iPad/PC Kindle App!

Awesome, right? Our 2nd zine!!!!

I guess it’s true what they say… I really am the Hugh Hefner of Zines.

What is TSURUFOTO NUDIEZINE? We essentially took the idea of a classic playboy (photosets combined with articles) and the old punk zines, mixed them together, tsuru-style and this time, built a 20-page (including the cover) 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 closed, black & white photocopied zine!

In our 2nd issue we included…

Letters To Tsuru
T&A (Tweet & Answer)
Photography: White Winter Hymnal with Nina
TsuruBride Present… Craft Corner
A Naughty Wordsearch
Photography & Centerfold: A Walk In The Woods with Isabella Misery
Cookin’ w/Tsuru with Accompany Mixtape
Interview: Katie Pierce of Jack In The Pocket
Photography: Tabs & Tiffany Play Hide-n-Seek
Calendar: Oiseaux retros for February

ALL for only $4 in real live paper form or $1.99 in e-form!

Now, what’s that got to do with today? Well… that brings us to number 2!

Number 2: We gots a big ass mammer-jammer double mother-fucking mixtape for you today inspired by one of the photo sets! Yep, in the zine we had a set with Tabs & Tiffany playing naked Hide-n-Seek in the very very very very cold woods — see mixtape cover photo down below! It’s a mix of old and new and funny and fun, but that brings us to number 3.

Number 3: When we shot the set, we also made a brand spanking new TSURUFOTO Presents short film to accompany the mixtape set to a song IN the mixtape by Cub where some of the lyrics became the name of the mixtape! Very fun & very NSFW & very tsururific!

Ah.. but we ain’t done! There’s a twist!

Number 4: The mixtape is a blind mixtape!

Wait.. What? Why blind?

Well, I just found that listening to a mixtape, completely blind, changes the way you listen to it. Here, I’ll give you an example. One of my favourite moments on a blind mixtape is when you’ll be listening to some song, maybe one you’ve never heard before, grooving along, enjoying it, no clue who it is, then suddenly BLAMO! the first few notes kick in on the next song and it’s immediate enjoyment, excitement, & sheer giddiness as “dude! this is one of my favourite jams!” It’s like a wonderful surprise!

Where otherwise, you might scan and judge a tracklisting, happy to see some songs you like, then decide to give some or all of it a go….. not quite the same thing. Last time we did this as one giant mp3, this time we kept it broke up and don’t worry, I left the ID tags in place so if you grab it, your iPod player of choice can figure it all out & shit, but more fun is to just push play on track no. 1 and let the next couple of hours be filled with music & fun & nekkidness! Doesn’t that just sound grand? Oh, and for all you who just hate surprises or for those who just can’t figure out what some of the songs are… there’s a little spoiler link down there for ya.

So that’s it! Quadruple awesome good times on a stick!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. I’m about to head out on a long weekend to Arizona to see my Baby Birds, sedona, and the grand canyon, & try to snap a few cool pics for ya (I’ve never gone before)…

So while I’m away, I you all have lots of fun, ride yer bikes, go get nekkid, take pictures, and report back here. But, until then, enjoy as…

TSURURADIO Presents…

She Drives Me To Distraction! Oh Yeah, She’s My Passion Mixtape & Accompanying Short Film!!!

(Full Zip – except the film, of course)

SIDE A: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

SIDE B: 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34

Bonus: 35 Why? Because I love you…

*SPOILER*

TSURUFOTO Presents… Tabs & Tiffany Play Hide-n-Seek! (NSFW) from TSURUFOTO on Vimeo.

See ya’ll next week, unless you are all over the twitters & whatnots, then you’ll come on my trip with me!

Cheers,
Tsuru

Kickin’ off a cold monday with Golden Age by Beat Radio!!!

January 10, 2011

By Tsuru

Photography by nylecoj…

Cold out there this weekend! Yesterday’s bike ride in single digits for 20 miles on snow & ice was one of my toughest ones yet! But, with cold comes productivity and my oh my how productive it was! A little glance & a click on the woman in a mask on your right will give you a hint…..

More on that a different day, right now my mind is stuck in the cold ass fall & winter we’ve been having — OMG, the republicans were so right about that no-global-warming thing they talked about in last year’s snowpocalypse.

SIDE NOTE: Dear (kill all) humans. I keep hearing the phrase snowpocalypse and snowmaggedon this year. But here’s the thing, you already used it for last year’s snow — remember Washington DC? Or did it’s mass annihilation also result in it wiping out of your mind?? — so, you know, you can’t use it again. If you must, at least insure to label it so that it’s regional specific, like that shitty CSI show… SNOWPOCALYPSE: NEW YORK! Anyways, moving on..

Where was we? Ah, got my mind on my winter and my winter on my mind. And what dreamy album has been serenading me this winter? I mean, like, since the first cold snap bitch-slapped me on a chilly November bike ride??

Yep, Beat Radio’s Golden Age. It’s got this dreamy electro-rock that just kinda pulls you out of the cold, no, that’s not right… it kinda picks you up and floats you through the cold. Suddenly, as you move through the freezing air with a steady gait or cadence, it feels fresh on your face, like it’s where you belong. Not sure if I can truly describe what I’m talking about. But instead of battling the cold, you kinda become one with it. Does that make any sense?

Probably not.

No matter and (ir)regardless, it’s one sweet album by a wonderful band — who, by the way, are great to hang out with on twitter.

Stream the whole thing via Bandcamp below, love it, then go buy it.

1. golden age
2. everything follows
3. the eternals
4. cold war
5. lonely from rock and roll
6. the best and the brightest
7. high time
8. the world is ours
9. evangeline
10. geography

Beat Radio love: BANDCAMP | OFFICIAL | LABEL

Cheers,
T.

It’s Friday & it’s Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes by Social Distortion! RAWK!

January 7, 2011

By Tsuru

Photography of Sheila Savage by ME for our 3rd Zine! WOOT!

Alright team-o. It’s Friday, been a fun yet busy week! And an even more funner and more busier weekend as we attempt to wrap up Issue No. 2 of our zine! Keep an eye out!

Fortunately, to help take us out for the week, we got another staple in the tsuru bin of awesome bands of since forever in a new Social Distortion album!!!

HOORAY!

It’s interesting… it’s the same conversation we had the other day about Cake’s new album, only to be reinforced in my noggin’ today. What is it about some bands, like Cake & Social Distortion, that they basically can have a formula for pretty much every single one of their songs, make album after album of, essentially, barring any little blips & bleeps here, the same album over and over again, and it be completely okay?

I mean, think about some of your favourite bands. We expect “evolutions of sound”, where they are going next, we love or hate it as this band goes more electronic, more dance, more acoustic, more psychedelic, more whatever, but just cranking out the same shit is uh-uh, no way.

Except… I hear a Social Distortion or Cake album is coming out and I know, pretty much, exactly what I’m going to get and you know what? I still get as giddy as a school boy about to get a blowjob!

I mean, is Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes the exact same album as Mommy’s Little Monster? Of course not, the greys have definitely mellowed Mike out a curmudgeon and this time out, there seems to be a few ladies singing back-up here and there, but, listen to “Alone & Forsaken” and it’s the same guitar technique we know and love by Ness and the crew.

And you know what? It’s such a good thing.

Call it comfort food. Call it white gravy!

Mmm… white gravy, biscuits, fried chicken… Mmm.

But it’s delicious. There’s a reason why Bob Evans is still in business. And that Cracker Country Barrel whatever too! You know what you are going to get and it’s going to be delicious, filling, and oh so satisfying!

Makes you wonder… What other bands could’ve done this and made you happy? Me? Well, you know I love most weezer up to a certain point, but I wonder if, just what if, they did nothing but crank out one “blue album” after another?

Would we really complain? Sure, some people, some music crickets, would dismiss them, but man, what if they just did their one thing and did it well and did it over and over again? Would that really had been so bad? Certainly better than this:

Amirite?

So I say to Mike Ness & the rest of Social Distortion, to Cake and to any other comfort bands you and I may have. Brothers & sisters, don’t stop. Just keep doing what your doing. You seem to enjoy it, I sure as fuck do too. So keep on keepin’ on!!!

Yes.

DOWNLOAD A SHIT-TON OF SOCIAL DISTORTION HERE NOW!

1. “Road Zombie”
2. “California (Hustle And Flow)”
3. “Gimme The Sweet And Lowdown”
4. “Diamond In The Rough”
5. “Machine Gun Blues”
6. “Bakersfield”
7. “Far Side Of Nowhere”
8. “Alone And Forsaken”
9. “Writing On The Wall”
10. “Can’t Take It With You”
11. “Still Alive”

Your SxDx love: Myspace | Official | Label

Cheers,
T.

TSURURADIO Presents… I’ll Be Lonely Oh So lonely Living Only To Remember You Mixtape & Film!

December 28, 2010

By Tsuru

Zine by TSURUFOTO!!!

Howdy kiddos! Got a special little mid-holiday post-xmas pre-new years whoop it up for ya in the form of a mixtape!!! BUT… no no no… that’s not all, because accompanying that mixtape is a sweet little film we made, yep!

Before we get to all of that though, I’ve got some exciting news! See that scan of our zine up top that’s available over at Etsy for the low low price of $4?? WELL… let’s say you don’t like the idea of paper and have, like the incomparable TsuruBride & I, moved on to e-ink (or LCD if you prefer your reading in app form) well, the zine is now officially for sale in the Kindle shop for only $1.99!!!

I know, right? Fuckin’ wow! Pretty cool, eh?

Wasn’t sure if they’d accept it, but they DO have a graphic novel / comic “erotica” section, so I gave it a go. e-ink and black & white photocopied paper seems to be a match made in heaven, if you ask me!

Now, we are already building Issue No. 2, so keep an eye out soon, AND… if you are in or around Columbus & want to be a part of our celebration of all things weird, wonderful, & beautiful, check out our casting call over at Model Mayhem and give us a holler!

Very exciting stuff, eh?

Speaking of Issue No. 2… one page is devoted to the photoshoot that brought about our latest short film accompanying today’s mixtape! WOO! Isabella Misery reprises her devastating role as our modern day Bluebeard, this time kidnapping poor Sheila Savage, holding her captive in a less-than-seemly basement and Bluebeard leaves no survivors…. ever.

We caught it all on film, soundtracked it, and put it all together for you as a finale to our latest mixtape endeavour!! So, with all that said, and that’s certainly a enough said for now, let’s hop to it as….

TSURURADIO Presents…

I’ll Be Lonely Oh So lonely Living Only To Remember You Mixtape & Accompanying Film!

(Full zip)

01 The Black Swans – I.D.W.2F. (thanks Eve!)
02 The Decemberists – Down By The Water
03 The Rural Alberta Advantage – Stamp
04 The Rumour Said Fire – Comfort To The Dalai Lama (thanks Peanut!)
05 R.E.M. – Discoverer
06 Tigers That Talked – The Merchant
07 Iron and Wine – Biting Your Tail
08 Bird and Flower – Jump Out the Way
09 Young Galaxy – Peripheral Visionaries
10 James Blake – Lindesfarne II
11 Geographer – Kites (thanks Elias)
12 Destroyer – Song for America
13 Portugal The Man – 1000 Years
14 Miles Kurosky – I Can’t Swim
15 Weezer – El Scorcho
16 Pomegranates – One Of Us
17 The Greenhornes – My Sparrow
18 Brian Bennett – Thug (from Black Dynamite)
19 The Frowning Clouds – Please Yo’ Self
20 White Whale – The Admiral
21 Elvis Presley & The Jordanaires – I’ll Remember You (thank you Isabella & Sheila!)

TSURUFOTO Presents… The Return Of Bluebeard!!! NSFW!!!

Woo! Hot dayum, eh?

Cheers,
Tsuru

Is it 2011 already?? People Problems by Oh No Oh My!

December 1, 2010

By Tsuru

Photography “Playground Self-Portrait” by Me!

Is it 2011 already?

Well, no. But it certainly starting to feel that way as the leaks of 2010 start to dry up and we start to see the sign of the corduroy show up in our album release dates — 11, corduroy, think the wales on the fabric, get it? We talked about this a bit yesterday, how the coming of US Thanksgiving marks the beginning of list-making season, and boy oh boy, before we head out to vacation, I shoooould be ready to present our very special list to you (with accompanying mixtape, as always).

That’s going to keep me uber busy this week (and force this to be a rather quick post, sorry), but that’s not now, that’s then and until then, we’ve got now and now is the new release from where-the-fuck-have-you-been Oh No Oh My called People Problems!

You can take the debut album genre out of the band, but you can’t take the band out of their debut genre, is what momma always said. And yeah, Oh No Oh My has done an “about face” musically or something, but you know what… They are still Oh No Oh My and that makes this boy very very happy…

1. Walking Into Me
2. You Were Right
3. Again Again
4. No Time For Talk
5. I Don’t Know
6. So I Took You
7. Brains
8. Not The One
9. There Will Be Bones
10. Should Not Have Come To This
11. Circles And Carousels
12. Summerdays

Oh No Oh My Love!!! Myspace | Official | Label

Cheers,
Tsuru

The TSURURADIO Community Presents… 59 of Our Favourite Songs Of 2010!!!

November 24, 2010

By Tsuru

Photography by Me! WHEE!

Happy US Thanksgiving Eve!!! Very excited! Tonight, all across America, people will be placing giblets under their pillows with hopes that the Great Gobbler will swoop down their chimneys, exchanging the less-than-pleasanet-though-very-high-in-iron innards for beer & Stove Top Stuffing brand stuffing!

AND… if you’ve been an extra good boy or girl this year, the Great Gobbler will even insure your favourite team has an extra-special juiced-up syringe of steroids, to help them win “the big game”. Here’s the defensive lineman for MY favourite team last year after I spent the entire year donating all my time and money to local charities….

HOORAY!

Not only does US Thanksgiving mark the beginning of “the holiday season” — anyone else think Christmas covers are the cheapest and laziest way to release music and make a few bucks? — but it also marks the beginning of the next year’s leaks — CONGRATULATIONS Lock Lomond! You are the first leak of 2011 as far as I know!

Loch Lomond “Blue Lead Fences” directed by Alicia J. Rose from Alicia J. Rose on Vimeo.

But, maybe more importantly in Bloggy-Blog Land, US Thanksgiving also marks the time in every music geeks life where we start compiling the year that was, start putting together scratch lists of our favourite albums, EPs, performances, etc, etc, etc, and, in today’s case, songs.

Oh, speaking of…

CALLING ALL SOCIETY MEMBERS!!! Time to list your favourite albums of 2010!!! Click here and get yer list up, STAT!!!!

Okay, so yeah, to kick off this most wonderful time of year of music lists, we down in Our Beloved Society collectively listed out some of our favourite songs of 2010, a couple days later, we got ourselves over 60 songs!!!!

WOOOOOT!!!!

Unfortunately, one of the rules was no dupes of bands, so… that “over 60 songs” got cut down to 59. Can’t blame their excitement though, it’s been one hell of a roller-coaster ride this year of music, eh?

Eh, indeed…

I got to tell you, the 59 songs, what an interesting mix! You got yer pop, yer rock, yer dance, yer noise, and really, everything in between. I’m constantly amazed, after all the music we DO listen to and discuss, just how much music I honestly didn’t even know existed! It goes to show you once again, there’s no such thing as a “bad year in music” anymore, if you ain’t hearin’ what yer likin’, you just ain’t lookin’ hard enough!

I say one last thing before we get to the musical libations and this goes to Our Society…

I love you guys! I still can’t believe that we have a board filled with an amazing eclectic mix of music freaks & geeks that somehow, remarkably, remains douchebag-free. The motto of “to each their own” and “there are no right or wrong songs to love” permeates the board like alcohol in my brain late on US Thanksgiving. Pretty amazing group of folks….

So here it is, our collective collection of our 59 (*edit: and then some) favourite songs of 2010!!! ENJOY!!!

The TSURURADIO Community Presents…

59 of Our Favourite Songs Of 2010!!!

(Full Zip)

Allo Darlin’ – Kiss Your Lips
Kele – Everything You Wanted
Land Of Talk – Hamburg, Noon
Laura Veirs – July Flame
Arcade Fire – Ready to Start
Avi buffalo – Remember Last Time
Basia Bulat – Run
Clinic – I’m Aware
Cloud Cult – You’ll Be Bright (Invocation p.1)
Crash Test Dummies – You Said You’d Meet Me (in California)
Glasser – Home
Hold Steady – Hurricane J
Hot Chip – One Life Stand
Dosh – Gare De Lyon
Efterklang – Modern Drift
Foals – Spanish Sahara (Deadboy Remix)
Four Tet – Sing
Josh Ritter – Southern Pacifica
Junip – In every direction
Kanye West – Runaway (Feat. Pusha T.)
Summer Camp – Round The Moon
Sun Airway – Put the Days Away
The Black Keys – Howlin’ For You
The Books – Beautiful People
LCD Soundsystem – I Can Change
Lovers – Figure 8
Menomena – INTIL
Miami Horror – Holidays
Niki & The Dove – Under The Bridges
Parenthetical Girls – Evelyn McHale
Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip – Cauliflower
Darkstar – Aidy’s Girl Is A Computer
Peggy Sue – Yo Mama
Pepper Rabbit – Older Brother
Phantogram – Mouthful Of Diamonds
Yeasayer – Ambling Alp
Philip Selway – By Some Miracle
PS I Love You – Facelove
S. Carey – In The Dirt
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Critical Drain
Spoon – Mystery Zone
Tokyo Police Club – Bambi
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – In Motion
Twin Shadow – I Cant Wait
Vespers – High Hopes
Stornoway – Zorbing
Suckers – Black Sheep
Sufjan Stevens – I Walked
The Gaslight Anthem – Stay Lucky
The Morning Benders – Excuses
The National – England
The New Pornographers – Crash Years
Deer Tick – Christ Jesus
Warpaint – Undertow
Deftones – Rocket Skates
Diamond Rings – Wait & See
The Radio Dept. – David
The Tallest Man On Earth – The Dreamer
Wolf Parade – Cave-O-Sapien

*Ooopah!!! Isa came in with some late adds!!! Since we are seeing her in Lyon, France soon on our vaca, I’m going to brown-nose a bit and add them here (except the Arcade Fire song, we already got them up above). Here’s her picks!!!

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Half State

Jack Rose – Woodpiles on the side of the road

The Tallest Man on Earth – Love is all

The Besnard Lakes – Albatross

Like what you hear?? Head over to GEMM, or Amazon, or your local record shop and buy it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers,
All of us at the society!

My two winter albums… Hometowns by The Rural Alberta Advantage & Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down by Noah And The Whale!

November 23, 2010

By Tsuru

Photography by Me!

Yes, I may be a winter with my hair & skin, but my green eyes say I’m an autumn. You all know I love autumn, but as the skies turn grey, the wind gets a bit of bite to it, seaping into the layers, and you start to think about studded tires on bike rides.

Though I do my best not to assign specific times of the year for an album, sometimes I just can’t help it and with winter on my mind, I found myself craving, not only hot cocoa & argyle sweaters, but also two albums from years past. Namely, Hometowns by The Rural Alberta Advantage and Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down by Noah & The Whale!

That’s not to say I only listen to these albums in the winter, just like I love a steaming bowl of soup at times in the heat of summer, there’s just something about the overall themes and aesthetic of this album, that call the imagery that is very much like what you see at the very top of this post.

Though I want to say it’s the death & broken relationships of Noah & The Whale and the wintery homeland of The RAA that pulls me into the world of no-slip boots and quilted jackets…

In reality, it’s probably just a matter of “discovering” these albums on a wintery bike ride.

Eggs or chickens, was it the winter that made me connect with the album or was it the album that made me connect it to winter? Who cares, all I know is that I needed them back on my iPod and STAT! Oh man….. it was like pulling on a big ass blanket — are you tired of the winter analogies yet? Me too! — or maybe one of them snuggie things!

Brains are weird things. Weird, weird things. Shouldn’t a good album, a great album actually, be something you should want to listen to whenever and wherever? Why would a few grey clouds and a need for a jacket make you want to listen to an album or two or 40? But here we are, ready to get our winter on!

*happy cozy lip-smacking smiling sigh*

What are your winter albums???

DOWNLOAD HOMETOWNS NOW!!!

1. The Ballad of The Raa
2. Rush Apart
3. The Dethbridge In Lethbridge
4. Don’t Haunt This Place
5. The Deadroads
6. Drain the Blood

7. Luciana
8. Frank, Ab
9. The Air
10. Sleep All Day
11. Four Night Rider
12. Edmonton
13. In the Summertime

DOWNLOAD PEACEFUL, THE WORLD LAYS ME DOWN NOW!!!

1. 2 Atoms in a Molecule
2. Jocasta
3. Shape of My Heart

4. Do What You Do
5. Give a Little Love
6. Second Lover
7. 5 Years Time
8. Rocks and Daggers
9. Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down
10. Mary
11. Hold My Hand as I’m Lowered
12. Death by Numbers

MMmmm…….. winter.

Cheers,
Tsuru…

My favourite story book… The Crane Wife (Tsuru Tracklist) by The Decemberists!!!

November 19, 2010

By Tsuru

Photography by Tsuru & The Bride!

We here at TSURURADIO are all VERY excited about the new album, The King Is Dead, coming out by The Decemberists…

We love the new single ”Down By The Water“, with it’s saucy blend of Fleetwood Mac, REM, and good ol’ fashion Decemberists. Then we got this little teaser thingy

Mmm… Mmm!

BUT, before that, before Hazards Of Love, there was the king of all Decemberist albums…

It was a cold night and the snow lay low…

Everytime I hear the opening lines of The Crane Wife I, I get goosebumps. What this little Japanese folk tale has meant to Baby & I, our Tsuru arts & crafts enterprises, just about everything, even the ink embedded in our skins, has been unreal. A simple story about appreciating, trusting, and loving what you have or lose it forever, it’s not a happy ending for the poor sailmaker, but hopefully you and I can learn from his mistakes…

With our anniversary, so begins a new year, and so my brain wandered to this wonderful album to start the next three hundred and some-odd days off proper-style…

What can I say? I love this album. It is our namesake (tsuru is japanese for crane), cranes represent peace, love, mating for life, and are simply beautiful creatures.

BUT.

A big but.

Yeah, that big….

Over the years, as we have come across little bits & b-sides, seen it live, and listened to it a thousand times, it has evolved. Evolved, dare I say, to where the original release is no longer my favourite version of the album. It’s been… re-tracklisted, tsurufied, if you will, and now, for me at least in this new order it’s a perfect album.

What did we change?

First… the obvious. “After The Bombs” is the perfect denoument. The climatic sing-along of hearing all the bombs fade away of “Sons & Daughters” then the vision of people gathering in the aftermath is, well, just too perfect. Check, done.

The 2nd, slightly more blasphemous. I removed “When The War Came”. Yep. Love the song, pretty bad ass, but it just didn’t fit. Thematically it did, bombs and death and war, are throughout the album, but the sound was off for me. Don’t hate me.

But, and 3rd, I did add more murder! “The Culling Of The Fold”, originally a little too dark for the band to include (according to Meloy during his usual concert banter), is just too perfect after the dancy “Perfect Crime #2″.

The next change is the 2nd more scandalous… We added “The Perfect Crime #1 + The Day I Knew You Would Not Come Back”, yes, the drunken crazy long jam is IN! Aaaand it’s after “Perfect Crime #2″ and “Culling”. Good stories go back and forth in time, where in #2 they pulled off the crime, #1 shows us what happened the last time they tried (the drunken sloppiness actually makes it make more sense)…

The result: 1.3 hours of folk, prog, dance, pop, jangle, sing-alongs and sweeping epics with tales of love, lost, war, death, murder, crimes, separation, wanting, and, and bittersweet fade-out finales.

It’s a story book, you old favourite one, worn at the edges, stained, broken spine, randomly lost only to be discovered again in the attic or under your bed, chock full of stories, all different, but all tied back to that Crane Wife I, II, & III aesthetic.

And when Meloy sings that last line, “until it all… starts over again”, you flip back to the front cover, and you do, you start the stories all over again..

*happy sigh*

DOWNLOAD THE CRANE WIFE NOW!!!

1. “The Crane Wife 3″
2. “The Island (Come and See, The Landlord’s Daughter, You’ll Not Feel the Drowning)”
3. “Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)” (duet with Laura Veirs)
4. “O Valencia!”

5. “The Perfect Crime #2″
6. “Culling Of The Fold”
7. “The Perfect Crime #1 + The Day I Knew You’d Not Come Back”
8. “Shankill Butchers”
9. “Summersong”
10. “The Crane Wife 1 & 2″
11. “Sons & Daughters”
12. “After The Bombs”

Some Decemberists love: Official

Cheers,
T…

Nekkid pictures and Beauregard by Pepper Rabbit!!

November 12, 2010

By Tsuru

Photography by Marta Bevacqua…

Oh my! This weekend is going to be TSURUFOTO TSURURIFIC!!!! So, excuse me whilest I pimperin’ myself out for a sec or two, eh?

1. I’m working on this bad-ass vintage series for a calendar, well this weekend is the final 3 shoots! After this, it’s time to assemble with my font collaborator Jillian and get that bad boy up on the internettals of love tubulars for your datin’ needs! WOOT!

2. With one of the shoots, I’m trying my hand at video! It may be an epic failure of epic portions of epicnosity but I got an idea, I got two incredible people who are willing to play along, so I GOTS to give it a go! If I can pull this off, keep an eye out for the viddy soon!

3. I’ve decided it’s time to try something even newerererer………… That’s right, my friends, I’m goin’ into the boudoir business, but TSURUFOTO-style!!!

i.e….. NOT expensive & NOT glamour-shots! TSURUFOTO-style means polaroids & vintage-style prints, simple, fun, easy-peasy, beautiful, & priced where you don’t need to have $1000 to have someone take a photo of you! We got the Facebook page started and an early-version of a website up!

IF we can get them printed quick enough, we’ll be offering coupons in the goodiebags at Viewfinder on November 20 & 21 at Junctionview!

WOOOOOO!!!!!

Exciting stuff, eh? As if that wasn’t enough (and sometimes it certainly feels like it is), I finally got a sweet idea on how to display our infamous Born In A Bottlerocket series! If I can pull THAT off, who knows? Maybe some adventurous & brave gallery will give us a wall or two for a show, eh?

Oh man. I’m BEAT just thinking about it. Between that and closing in on 6,000 miles on the bike this year, honestly I need all the music I can get just to keep me sane so thank the lardy lard that Beuregard by Pepper Rabbit made it’s way into my ear canals..

Did you know that the difference between an ear canal and an ear river is that the canal is man made? Mmm… rivers of wax.

Beuregard is beureutiful! There’s an element of that whole dreamy beach housey thingy thing that’s been floating around the intertubes since earlier this year, but somehow, I feel like this one feels more organic. Pianos and mandolins and woodwinds and banjos are the instruments from which their dreamscapes are made.

Ew… anyone else think of cheesy crap like dreamcatchers when you read the word “dreamscapes”? lol…

Okay, that’s pretty epic. But alas and know, there’s no Navajo spirit in this release, it’s beach boys and sweet dreams, more Cali than Mesa. And it’s just beautiful…. So load it up, warsh yer worries all away and have a wonderful wonderful weekend, my cranes, we’ll see you before long!!

01 Clarinet Song
02 Harvest Moon

03 In the Spirit of Beauregard
04 Red Wine
05 Snowalker
06 Older Brother
07 None Shall Sleep
08 Song for a Pump Organ
09 Babette!
10 Send in the Horns

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Cheers,
Tsuru

Your body is such a wonderland, so Meet Me At Muster Station by PS I Love You!!!

November 11, 2010

By Tsuru

Photography by matmoon…

Busy boy these could o’ days, but it don’t mean we ain’t listenerin’ to the musics!!!! But, being busy DOES mean we may have to make this one quick! It’s a shame too becaues it’s quite the gem. This one come via recommendation by good friend Kyle on the twitters… The deliciously awesome Meet Me At Muster Station by PS I Love You!

A noisy rocker of sorts! Kinda reminds me of Wolf Parade at their noisiest at times, but a heaping helping more distortion added in for flavour crystals! Now, I know what you are thinking, “Noise? Le sigh”. C’mon now, you don’t have to be all Snooty McSnootyPants about noise, you know? All noise means is that you’ll need to turn it up loud. Like really loud. Like to where the noise & distortion & fuzz drown over, not just your ears, but down your neck and all along yer body WHICH, I hear, is a bit like a wonderland.

Photo via hihosylvia…