Madame Lamb

i said be careful his bowtie is really a camera

2009-11-06T02:17:00.000-05:00

adoring this giant clip-on tartan plaid bow that can be worn as a brooch, hair barrette, belt, etc. available at etsy.

making loveless

2009-11-05T00:37:00.018-05:00

as a fan of shoegaze i'm not quite sure how my bloody valentine's loveless, the movement's consummate album, managed to stay off my radar for so long. with an album that's already received so much critical acclaim it's hard to say anything original about it, so if you're looking for a review i'll direct you here...i did, however, wanna comment on how much more awesome the album became in my eyes after reading about the album's production on wikipedia (sure i'll raise some eyebrows here but wikipedia usually has great info on the "making of" classic albums).

in short, the album was the result of a man possessed of his vision. during the two years it took to produce loveless, kevin shields, the band's principal creative force, saw the band through 19 recording studios and ultimately found himself in charge of every aspect of the process - from laying down bass tracks to mic'ing amps. while estimates vary, the album cost somewhere in the ballpark of £250,000 to produce - a figure so astronomically large, that it begs the question: "was it worth it?" from a financial perspective it was certainly not - while critically respected upon release, i can't imagine those costs were recouped, which leads you then to question the value of art, the importance of unrestrained creative license, and other such lofty questions...i have a sneaking suspicion that shields might have been "difficult to work with," but the whole story and the very idea that someone would go to such lengths to accomplish his creative vision is legendary - of course it's easy to spend boatloads of other people's money, but according to shields' account, he and the band sank a sizeable chunk of their own into the project.

i was particularly taken with a quote by robert smith (of the cure) on the album: "it's the sound of someone [Shields] who is so driven that they're demented. And the fact that they spent so much time and money on it is so excellent."

and, of course, a few album cuts:
my bloody valentine- "blown a wish"
my bloody valentine- "what you want"

elvis meets nixon

2009-11-04T00:44:00.003-05:00

this image, my fellow americans, is the most commonly requested image in the national archives. after an antiwar activist convinced elvis that he was to blame for ingraining drug culture into the antiwar rock-and-roll scene, elvis wrote president nixon a six-page letter requesting a meeting and to be appointed a "federal agent at large" narcotic officer. nixon, in a hopeless attempt to win the support of young americans, obliges, and the two meet at the white house in december of 1970 (four years later, nixon would resign and seven years later, elvis would die of a drug overdose). the meeting was kept a secret until the washington post broke the story in 1972. what a fascinating time to be an american.

to see the letter and more photographs from the meeting kindly refer here.

thank you for the tip, sam bauch.

a sociolinguistic analysis with google

2009-11-03T23:48:00.001-05:00

(via Slate...thnks for the tip TGD)

Awkward SuggestionS: Let's have fun with the Google search box.

By Michael Agger

The Google search box has become the new oracle at Delphi, the thing we consult before all major undertakings. How do I know this?

Through Google Suggest, of course. For the complete take on Suggest, read my colleague Josh Levin in Slate. For those who don't know how Suggest works, he sums it up nicely:

Google doesn't reveal its search algorithms, but the company's engineers confirm that what we're looking at in [Google Suggest] is, essentially, a list of the most popular queries that start with a given prefix. (It's unclear what time period the suggestions are culled during, but a spokesman says they're generated from "recent [search] activity.") A suggestion-enabled search is like an instant popularity contest. Just type in a couple of letters, and you've got access to oodles of data on what your fellow Web surfers are hunting for.

To wit: Google Suggest is a helpful feature. It's a little sliver of the collective mind. It's also a lot of fun to mess with.

The Internet has lots of great examples of misfires served by Google. Here's a favorite: "i am extremely terrified of chinese people." But I was most impressed with this anonymous bit of genius dug up by Digg, which uses Google for some armchair sociolinguistic analysis. The graphic compares "less intelligent" queries with "more intelligent" queries, such as "how 2" with "how might one:"

vs.

and

vs:

Grammar also seems to make a difference:

vs.

Perhaps "less intelligent" vs. "more intelligent" isn't the kindest or most accurate way to classify these queries. Some of the "more intelligent" queries are clearly high-schoolers desperately trying to get their homework done. And some of the "less intelligent" queries are no doubt very smart people distracting themselves with Google in an idle moment. But let's not allow nuance to get in the way of contest. Send me your best example of a "less intelligent" vs. a "more intelligent" query at michaelagger1@gmail.com. The winner will receive my undying gratitude and whatever Slate item in their size that I can find lying around the office. (No umbrellas left, sorry.) I'll announce the winner next week.

friends of ML on halloween

2009-11-03T23:26:00.005-05:00

retro dude?, mountain man, lindsay bluth-fünke, alex from a clockwork orange, tobias fünke

a. Blinken and another man in tights...................white men can't jump

hilary..........bjork, penguin

wayne and garth.........gaga

zombie, genie in aladdin, zombie..... inmates

phone+waldo............nun+bunny

mexican bullfighter and his amor........minnie mouse and miley cyrus

jester........dog, bunny

arctic family (polar bear, penguins, and eskimos).......................mickey and minnie mouse

punk rocker, chicken, cop, hunter, retro dude......penguin

tuesday

2009-11-03T01:10:00.000-05:00

"Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh nevermind, you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded."

— Baz Luhrmann

for british eyes only

2009-11-01T11:49:00.009-05:00

two british bands that have both recently released debut albums...The xx cite various, unrelated influences, but really owe a lot of what they to do to robert smith and the cure...just look at them. this song is the first cut off of their new album and is dark, atmospheric, and cure-like...wish it went on a bit longer. i gave disintegration a good listen on the plane last weekend and i couldn't help being reminded of it. that said it is given a modern treatment with the drum machine, and the rest of the album is very much an original work...just not so sure i like it. i can't deny though that i was excited for it after hearing this one.

The xx- "Intro"

the big pink have nothing in common with the band album of the same name. instead, they mine the british shoegaze and britpop tradition for their inspiration. the melody in this song here strikes me as very oasis-like and would've been right at home on definitely maybe.

the big pink- "tonight"

tgif

2009-10-30T14:00:00.002-04:00

happy halloweenie, kids!
xoxo,
ML

please send us pics of your halloween costumes! email madamelamb [at] gmail.com

photo by matt o'sullivan

thanks, kidrobot!

2009-10-30T00:35:00.005-04:00

boston opens a yummy breakfast kidrobot surprise!

cruising

2009-10-29T18:35:00.005-04:00

valerie posts a lot of second rate material, but every once in a while something god-like like this comes along and so it pays to keep tabs.

this is the B-side of their most recent pressing (valerie is a blog turned record label/collective) if you're into vinyl.

stephen falken- "cruising"

if you're ever in WA state...

2009-10-29T14:10:00.005-04:00

you've gotta get a pint of mac & jack's african amber. i was in seattle last weekend and this is hands down the best beer i've tried in a while.

it was tough to find a good picture of it, but this should do it justice...notice the unfiltered cloudiness and deep amber, almost nectar-like color that appears to glow from within. it makes me sad to know i may never taste this delicious brew again.

tighten up

2009-10-29T00:48:00.007-04:00

here's some trojan records material off of volumes 2 and 3 of their tighten up series. i've posted about trojan records on this blog before, but to bring everyone up to speed, trojan is a reggae label that was founded in the UK in the late 60's. with the large influx of jamaican immigrants at the time, reggae music grew to dominate the scene in england, albeit briefly, and trojan records rode the wave...by the time reggae had seen its popularity wane in the early seventies, trojan was on the outs, but it has since seen a series of resurgences. today it stands as a major reissuer of classic reggae records - mostly in compilation form.

that said, trojan is a mine of obscure reggae gems. these tunes are off of a couple compilations they released in the late 60's - a greatest hits collection, if you will, of singles they had released to date. i highly recommend browsing their catalog and dropping a few bucks.

the hippy boys- "doctor no go"
rudy mills- "john jones"
lloyd & claudette- "queen of the world"

i always think it's really cool to think that this is what kids were hanging out and dancing to in dancehalls and bars/hangouts during that time period...i know that a lot of the punk bands that would spring up several years later were reared on this stuff.

here are a couple of my favorites from some of their other releases:

ike bennet and the crystallites- "bombshell"
the soul rhythms- "soul call"

merkin muffley classic

2009-10-28T18:21:00.013-04:00

no one set down an instrumental groove like booker t. and the mg's, and despite their considerable back catalog, "green onions" will forever remain their most enduring achievement - and a mainstay of the highest order in merkin muffley's all time greatest hits. in this particular version here, donald "duck" dunn takes the bass for a decidedly more brisk walk than in the studio release and the band follows suit...i imagine they could spend hours trading solos on this one.

and for your itunes library:
booker t and the mg's- "green onions"

jaunt

2009-10-28T14:25:00.002-04:00

"Quick Exercise"

thank you to mikey v.b.

storming the palace!

2009-10-28T10:31:00.013-04:00

Artist, Xavier Veilhan, is using the gardens of Versailles to exhibit his contemporary sculptures. Versailles is an exceptional choice for the installations because it is already abounding with lyrical sculptures that compliment the modernity of Veilhan's installations.
Veilhan's monumental sculptures focus on the geometric value of his forms and textures, the quality of repetition (which is an obvious quality seen throughout the Palace), as well as creating an exotic view in an exceptionally traditional location.
His installation titled, "Le carrosse" (The large carriage), for example, contrasts harmoniously to the classical style of the fountain sculpture, "Apollo in his chariot."
Veilhan, a French artist, created works which are relevant to the Palace of Versailles, and presents them with a modern eye as well as introducing entirely new ideas that are so foreign, yet so fitting.

photos from theselby

a talking head's helmet camera

2009-10-28T02:41:00.001-04:00

in 2007, david byrne biked to town hall for an event he organized called "how new yorkers ride bikes". the event kicked off with footage (below) from byrne's journey on two-wheels through the streets of new york to event and on stage. has anyone read "bicycle diaries" yet? i just ordered a copy...

Helmet Cam from Todo Mundo on Vimeo.

i think we'll go with a little bohemian rhapsody, gentlemen?

2009-10-28T02:05:00.000-04:00

happy hump day

the auteurs

2009-10-27T13:49:00.004-04:00

merkin muffley and i just created accounts on a social media site called the auteurs (http://www.theauteurs.com) that is sort of like goodreads.com for film. if you aren't familiar with the site already, it was created by the criterion collection/costa films/celluloid dreams and is a cinephile social media site that allows you to review films and also features an assortment of streaming online films (in decent quality), many of which are free (see: The Auteurs: About).

follow merkin and ML.

tgif

2009-10-23T15:10:00.000-04:00

Penny Lane: Call me if you need a rescue, we live in the same city.
William Miller: Sometimes I think I live in a different world.

enjoy your weekend and stay dry.
xoxo,
ML

the land between here and mountains

2009-10-23T15:05:00.002-04:00

i've got the travel bug on this fine october friday, so i'm living vicariously through a blog called "the land between here and mountains". it features traveler's photographs in between their destinations.

thanks for the tip, adi

between spain and france

held up by a herd of goats on our moped between the lake and monkey temple

sunflower fields between Budapest and Vienna

exploring between trailer parks and lake superior

(adi de bontin)

the frightening beauty of bunkers

2009-10-22T18:22:00.011-04:00

really distinctive looking structures bunkers...raw, monolithic, and strangely foreign looking. these photos have recently been republished in a book by scholar Paul Virilio. An excerpt from the introduction:

"Approximately 1,500 bunkers were built during World War II along the French shores to forestall an Allied landing—“the Atlantic Wall.” Decommissioned after the Allied invasion of Normandy, this elaborate defense system now lies abandoned. At the age of 25, Paul Virilio stumbled upon these relics with his camera and began a study that would continue for 30 years. His 1975 book, Bunker Archeology, has recently been translated into English and reprinted by Princeton Architectural Press: an inquiry of war and its structures and a personal memoir of exploration, merging technical analysis with philosophical questioning."

Read more.

via changethethought.

overpowered by funk

2009-10-22T14:56:00.002-04:00

one of the things i liked most about the movie american gangster is its depiction of the early 70's-style, smacked-out gangster...the kinda guys in 70's blaxploitation films and the harder they come that wore furs and huge gold chains. even though the gangster rapper types of the 90's era were pretty bad ass with crack cocaine and all, i've always felt that they wouldn't stand a chance when pitted against their more hardcore, heroin-fueled 70's counterpart...they didn't dress quite as sharp either.

here's a groove of a tune that capture that 70's vibe:
sly & the family stone- "thank you for talkin' to me, africa"

where the wild things are

2009-10-22T11:52:00.004-04:00

i saw "where the wild things" last sunday and, while i enjoyed the film's cinematography, costumes, and set, i found the script to be confusing at times (perhaps how it feels like to be nine?). undoubtedly, the film is a mood piece. there were definitely some good dave eggers jokes in there, don't get me wrong, and the karen o and the kids score was pretty rad (see prizes below), but the film's strength lies in spike jonze's camera work. that said, here are some behind-the-scenes photographs of the film's 2006 set in australia taken from interview magazine.

spike jonze (second from right) on the set

jonze with actor max records

max records

jonze

and to all of you wearing your ironic WTWTA garb, remember saki knafo's nytimes piece, "They’ll also be making a special effort to reach what one executive described to me as “hip, tastemaker” kids: Ugg will be selling a special “Where the Wild Things Are” kids’ boot, and Urban Outfitters has a collection of “Where the Wild Things Are” T-shirts and shadow puppets." merkin muffley reminds me:

merkin keeps it real.

here are two for you by karon o and the kids, (many thanks, andrew).

karen o and the kids - heads up
karen o and the kids - capsize

marc jacobs shoes

2009-10-22T11:43:00.002-04:00

If Mattel chose to create a "Rebel" Barbie doll, they should look to to Marc Jacobs' Fall 2009 ready-to-wear collection for inspiration on Rebel Barbie's outfits. They should especially take a hint from Marc Jacobs shoe designs (fall '09) for Barbie's high-heels.

The Marc Jacobs' over-the-thigh high-heeled boots are wild, with their psychedelic hot pink and green floral arabesque design and completely sassy with studded wedged heels. The straight lines of the platform and heel balance perfectly with the organic pattern of the floral design. They are couture for your feet and your legs.

His platforms would also suite the color scheme of the fancy footwear of our make-believe Rebel Barbie; the shoes are made in all colors from black matte to shimmering gold and shiny hot pink. Their outlines are bold and have a focus on the ankle, primarily the ankle strap. The shoes each have a different ankle strap from diamond buttons, sliver buckles, plunging cuts down the foot, and dainty bow ties.

Marc Jacobs' shoes are rebels with a cause!

tgif

2009-10-16T11:28:00.000-04:00

get away from your computer screen and enjoy your breathtaking 3D adventures.

xoxo,