Grizzly and Final Fantasy Release “Possibly Maybe”

Ed Droste of Grizzly and Owen Pallett (a.k.a. Final Fantasy) have collaborated and contributed their own fluttering version of Possibly Maybe to Stereogum’s brand-new, 12-track Enjoyed: A Tribute to Björk’s Post compilation. Reports are that they transformed Possibly Maybe into a minimal wonderland of musical twists reminiscent of the late Charles Arthur Russell. They joined covers by other groups, such as Liars, Dirty Projectors, High Places, Bell, Pattern Is Movement, Evangelicals, Xiu Xiu, White Hinterland, El Guincho and Atlas Sound. You can stream or download their MP3 or the entire album and for free. Enjoy it!!

Ed Droste and Owen Pallett/Possibly Maybe:

During the course of their collaboration in Toronto, they were interviewed by Out.com, where they talked about boyfriend issues and such. You can read their interview here.

Plus, here’s Björk’s new Wanderlust video:

Björk: Wanderlust

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The Remarkable Rufus Wainwright: A Revered Diva and Flawed Hero

Rufus Wainwright has been nominated for best International Male Solo Artist at the Brit Music Awards to be held at Earls Court in London on Wednesday night, February 20, 2008. He has been nominated for the single Going to a Town, from his album, Release the Stars (2007). Described by Robbie Williams as “the talent I want to turn into,” he comes from an acclaimed family of folk musicians (his mother is Kate McGarrigle and his father is Loudon Wainwright III).

He has been befriended by artists ranging from Elton John to Debbie Harry and Neil Tennant. However, relatively early in his musical career, expressions of intense, flamboyant extravagance and narcissistic self-absorption drove Wainwright to the very edge of self-destruction. His career almost ended abruptly because of his substance abuse, which led him to enter rehab in 2002. Recalling those days, he has described how the journey back to sanity, back to normality, has been pretty tough for him.

It is because of those harrowing past experiences that Wainwright is desperate not to waste his chances all over again. Reviewers who have watched him get ready to perform now have remarked that looking at him prepare you see a diva, but you also see a perfectionist. One of the reasons other musicians have come to like him so much is because he is a flawed hero. At London’s Brit Awards ceremony, Wainwright will be in his element. Mika, who is expected to walk away with several awards, is one of Wainwright’s most dedicated fans.

Rufus Wainwright: Going to a Town

The music video presented below is a version of Hallelujah, which was originally performed by Leonard Cohen. It was recorded live at the Tribute Concert for Leonard Cohen that was held in Australia at the Sydney Opera House in 2005. The recording features Rufus Wainwright, his sister Martha and friend, Joan Wasser. This particular performance of Hallelujah is remarkably touching for its candid emotional tone of simple, natural dignity.

Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, Joan Wasser: Hallelujah

The final video shown below is from a documentary that aired on England’s BBC Channel 4 in 2005. This particular clip from the documentary focuses largely upon the period of time related to Wainwright’s substance abuse difficulties, the people who helped him get through that wearisome phase, and his re-emergence from the dark and deadly pit of escape back into the real world.

All I Want: A Portrait of Rufus Wainwright

Celebrating Rufus Wainwright: A Revered Diva and Flawed Hero

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There’s Just No Place Like Home

William Hogarth: The Strodes Family

The Idea of the Home

During holiday times, such as the winter season of festivities that many of us are enjoying right now, a substantial number of people travel sometimes large distances to re-connect and celebrate with other relatives back at their families’ homes.  This led to my reflecting not so much about the reality of the home, as the idea of the home.  The conception of the home, or “hominess,” evolved over a period of many centuries.  By the early 1500s, domestic life was rather austere, but had come to reflect a sense of intimacy and privacy.  On the other hand, if we were to have asked any of them if they felt comfortable where they lived, they would have been puzzled by the question and unable to answer.  The first appearance of the word “comfort” to mean a level of domestic contentment is not reported until the eighteenth century.

One illustration of this new found sense of domestic comfort is shown above in William Hogarth’s painting of an early Georgian interior.  Notice how the softened furniture complemented the rich costumes of the time and served as counterparts to the billowing gowns worn by women, as well as to the finely embroidered coats and wigs of the men.

The slightly pompous interiors also reflected the clothing fashions of the time.  Skirted chairs and gathered draperies reflected the details of how cloth had come to be used in skirts and gowns; wallpaper often copied the designs used in fabrics. The lavish Art Deco furniture reflected the homeowners’ own luxurious garments.

My personal thought for each of you who has been able to spend time re-connecting with loved ones is to always remember that home is where all of us started from.  I very deeply hope that going back provided you with strong feelings of warmth and deep affection.

There’s Just No Place Like Home

Michael Buble: Home

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Chilly Winter Snow Scenes

Chilly Winter Snow Scenes

It’s White Out!!

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The Neon Phenomenon: An Interactive Adventure

Music for Neon Bible by Arcade Fire

Neon Bible is the second studio album by the Canadian indie band Arcade Fire. It was released on March 5, 2007 in Europe and March 6, 2007 in North America. Neon Bible has experienced breakthrough commercial success. During its first week, it debuted at #1 in both Canada and Ireland, and #2 in the United States, the United Kingdom and Portugal. It was certified gold in Canada in March 2007.

Throughout the course of the album, the band employs a pipe organ, a hurdy gurdy, a military choir, and a full Hungarian orchestra, among others. Frontman Win Butler described the album as sounding “like standing by the ocean at night.” Butler has stated in an interview that the album is not named after the John Kennedy Toole novel The Neon Bible and that the identical titles are purely coincidental.

Pete Paphides reviewed Neon Bible in The Times (England), describing his experience of seeing its performance in London:

“At times, you wonder if a more emphatically serious album has been made in the past decade. Last week, Win Butler said that the thing that interests him about religion is its reluctance to take a “light-hearted view” of human nature. [At the conclusion] A deafening church organ announces itself like the fist of an Old Testament God smashing through the stained glass, and Butler’s fraught examination of crumbling belief rises to its conclusion over a motif that, consciously or otherwise, seems to turn into We Shall Overcome.”

In October 2007, Arcade Fire uploaded a new website with the date October 6 on it. After speculation over what the website was about, including rumors of new material or a live streaming of a concert, it was eventually revealed to be a video for Neon Bible, featuring the face and hands of Win Butler, Arcade Fire’s Frontman, with which you can interact during the song.

Neon Bible: An Interactive Adventure

(Click Image for the Interactive Neon Bible)

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