Tag Archive for 'The Shins'

Internet Treasure: La Blogotheque

Hello, SuperForesters!

Okay so let me start out by saying I feel a bit silly sharing something that I’m pretty sure most of you have heard of. But nevertheless, I figure if we introduce it to a few people here, that’d be a major win. Plus, you can never have too much of a good thing, right?

Ladies and gents, this is La Blogotheque.

La Blogotheque

La Blogotheque is a website that revolves around the “Take-Away Show” concept. One musician or band has about a 3 song video recording session and apart from them all being in Paris, it is usually in an unstaged atmosphere. Today, over 90 artists have contributed to La Blogotheque providing us with access to fresher than fresh performances.

I think I was first introduced to La Blogotheque a little over a year ago, through this video:

Granted, I didn’t know what “La Blogotheque” was but I did appreciate the impromptu style of the video. The melody would stay with me for a while and the sweet simple lyrics served as a kind reminder of the beautiful potency that lies within each day to be truly wonderful.

Months later, “It’s Nice that” featured La Blogotheque on their website and being that the name struck a very familiar chord, I clicked on the site to check it out. What I found was something truly awesome. Tons of videos shot in the same easy-going mannner as the one I had heard before. My heartbeat quickened as I scrolled through the artists; Bon Iver, Vampire Weekend, Animal Collective, Cold War Kids, Grizzly Bear, The Kooks, Jose Gonzalez, aaaahhh! Needless to say, yes, it is amazing and in debating which of the incredible performances to share with you (and after some prodding by SuperForester Iman), I decided to keep it classic and just share a fun one by The Shins. The sweet sweet Shins.

There’s something about these take away shows that make me so appreciative of music. These videos show a side of our favorite musicians that feels so raw and so genuine. Though all of the videos and music styles are pretty different, there is a key feature in all of the videos that ties them all together. Each video contains an artist and his/her instrument, and with that you see an incredible passion. A love for what they are doing. They are making sound and they are having the time of their life. Check out La Blogotheque here, you’ll love it.

Coincidentally enough, just a few days ago the wonderfully talented SuperForester Iman doodled this for me!

Apparently, the magic of take away shows left some sort of effect on her, too. It IS a lovely day. And I thank both her and SuperForester Jason for that beautiful reminder.

Love to all!

The Yellow Bird Project!

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Howdy SuperForest,

As I was skipping across several of my favorite websites this evening, I discovered an amazing Montreal based non-profit organization called “The Yellow Bird Project”. I’ll let them explain the wonderful work they do…

Yellow Bird Project is a Montreal-based, non-profit initiative. We collaborate with musicians in designing a T-shirt, we print and sell them on our website, and all of the money we make goes to charity. Which charity? Each of the artists gets to choose their own. We have three fundamental aims:

1) To make money for charities directly through T-shirt sales.

2) To raise awareness for charity organizations through artists’ endorsement.

3) To raise the profile of the artists we like.

We have specifically approached individuals that we think are creative and conscientious enough to make a difference.

This is a T-shirt designed by the independent folk band, Bon Iver

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Never heard of them? Neither had I, and my curiosity quickly led me to youtube.

Have you ever had the experience where you listen to a song for the first time and the drop of the first couple notes just feel right to you? An instant connection to the music? That’s how I felt with Bon Iver. It was love at first listen.

And that’s when I realized what an amazing organization The Yellow Bird Project really is! They are not only raising money and awareness to worthy causes, but they are opening our eyes (and ears) to bands we probably would have never been introduced to otherwise. You donate money to charities, get a rockin’ unique shirt, and possibly find a new artist or two to follow. A win, win, win for everyone!

Check out the Yellow Bird Project site, maybe you too will find an incredible artist that tickles your own musical interest.

Love to all,
Carla

P.S. My heart leaped out of my chest and moonwalked across my desk when I saw The Shins are involved and are raising money for the Nature Conservancy. <3

(Found The Yellow Bird Project through It’s Nice That!)