Grey Moggie Press

music monday: welcome back edition

I’ve missed this little online space. I’ve got tons of ideas and photos and stories i haven’t had the time or energy to share. For starters, my little family adopted a little (not so little) doggie in July. Her name is Tick, she’s now about 14 months old, we think she’s a boxer mix, and we know she has an endless supply of energy. And she is just the sweetest little furball.

I really want to find more time to post here in the coming weeks. For now, here's a "new" mix cd. "New" to this space but it's actually from May. Enjoy!

Let's Just Be Friends - May 2010

1. Starring :: Freelance Whales

2. Shadow People :: Dr. Dog

3. Lovers’ Carvings :: Bibio

4. Hide It Away :: Retribution Gospel Choir

5. Zebra :: Beach House

6. Valkyrie in the Roller Disco :: The New Pornographers

7. What’s In It For :: Avi Buffalo

8. Harvest Moon :: Pepper Rabbit

9. Living in Colour :: Frightened Rabbit

10. Terrible Love :: The National

11. Rill Rill :: Sleigh Bells

 



Music Monday: Shadow People

I’ve been working on a project that involves song lyrics and also trying to piece together my next mix cd. I was in a creative rut for a bit but all the great music around me has been pulling me out. Dr. Dog’s Shadow People and Avi Buffalo’s What’s In It For have really been resonating in my brain. What have you been listening to? Does it make you want to go out and create a pile of beauty?

I'm a tube sock and I say let's just be friends

Have you guys seen Leigh Ann’s Repeat Power Play feature? On her blog now is a fantastic version of Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros from an appearance on Letterman. That song wrapped its way into my head for weeks this past fall and inspired one of my favorite mix cds.

 I like finding others who can listen to a single song or album on repeat for days (weeks? I’m guilty) because I’ve met a lot of people who think it is so strange (like my husband and my best friend in college). Lately, I can’t get enough of the Freelance Whales. When I found out they were opening for the Shout Out Louds show we were already planning to attend I was beyond thrilled. We saw the tail end of their set at the Rock n Roll Hotel and hearing two and a half songs was enough to prompt me to buy the album AND a poster. And drive everyone nuts for the next 6 weeks as I could talk about nothing else.

In the lead up to this most recent concert, I couldn’t stop listening to the song Starring, which starts with the lyrics “Shut me up with your long tube socks. They don’t scream Hey let’s just be friends.” When I got out of the shower on Monday morning (ok, maybe it was afternoon) I saw that Eric had left one of my American Apparel tube socks (that I bought to dress up like Larry Bird on Eric's 33rd birthday) on the bed with a note "let's just be friends". I swoon.

Two things: (1) Now I'm kind of loving Generator 2nd Floor - have a listen above. (2) The Freelance Whales titled their most recent blog post after a line in the Edward Sharpe song above :)

Your love is in pasta bowls

 
A few years ago we saw a little known (to Americans) Swedish band, the Shout Out Louds, at the 9:30 Club. It was a Sunday night concert and the band didn’t go on until past midnight. It was probably a poor decision since I had Constitutional Law on Monday mornings that semester, but that was a time filled with poor decisions, such as going to Aruba for a wedding three days before final exams. My grades were not stellar that semester, but that concert was amazing and until Sunday night, my favorite show ever.

 We saw the Shout Out Louds on a Sunday at the 9:30 Club again. This time, however, the crowd was about six times as large and the show was several hours earlier. And instead of our usual vantage point on the second floor of the club, we stood three rows from the front of the stage. All the better for the band to see the wonderful sign we made (well, the sign Eric asked me to make).

I’m not sure who brought it up first, but when we listen to the Shout Out Louds song, Impossible, we always hear your love is in pasta bowls instead of the actual lyrics (your love is impossible). On Sunday afternoon, Eric concocted a story about two young lovers and their pasta bowls: A young Swedish woman and a young American man from the Midwest end up as housemates during a period of study abroad in Tuscany. They both love to cook and start going to markets together where they find amazing ingredients. One afternoon they stumble upon these beautiful pasta bowls in an antique shop and buy them for their little house. They fall in love (obviously) but eventually have to go back to their home countries. It is winter and they no longer have access to the best Tuscan food and they miss each other. They are sad. Of course, the song In Pasta Bowls, is about them and features the line: olives are something I cannot remember. “Can you imagine forgetting the way something tastes?” I thought Eric was going to cry while telling the story. (He cries every time we watch Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution so it wasn’t a stretch to think that he would cry over this made up story.)  When he asked me to make a poster based on his story that we could bring to the concert I couldn’t say no.

Eric held up his poster when the band played Impossible during the encore. A couple guys in front of us gave him a high five; I think that counts as success. The concert was amazing and definitely my all-time favorite show. You can listen to it on NPR. (Freelance Whales, the opening band, blew me away. More on them later this week)

Have you ever made a poster to bring to a concert?

adventures in music

I love those weekends when you don’t have to venture far to get into adventures. I went for a long run on Saturday morning and a long walk on Saturday afternoon, talked about a dream printshop with a fellow letterpresser over coffee, and hosted brunch at our house on Sunday morning. We also saw Freelance Whales, Bear in Heaven, and Cymbals Eat Guitars at Rock n Roll Hotel, just a few blocks from home. All three bands were fantastic and sort of new to me. In fact, I’d never heard Freelance Whales before I heard them live on Saturday night. I ended up buying the cd and a super crazy neat poster from a show they had last spring at Union Pool in Brooklyn. Check out their website to see the awesome cover art for the cd - I totally want to recreate it with some fabric scraps. Yay for music-loving friends, awesome music, and the coolest prints! 

a new mix cd: the melting snow edition

The internet has not been gracing our home lately so the blog has been neglected. In better news, I’ve had time to scheme up my next mix CD, which is good because I have plans to make 6 of them this year. It feels like spring here in DC, finally, and this little playlist celebrates the warmth and inspriation that comes with the season of April flowers and May flowers. And maybe it also includes some of the songs that got me through the eeeennndddlleeeess days of snow and cold and ice and puddles and grey skies.

(I can't remember where I found that background image I used on the front cover. If you know please pass it along so I can credit it. Thanks!) Also, the text on the front cover is from the lyrics of Everybody, Come Outside, the Pomegranates song on my mix.

the year in music (according to me)

"You can tell when someone makes a lot of mix cds. I have the same blank cd tower on my desk.” That’s what Kendra said as she was packing up to go back to Austin by way of Philly yesterday. We talked music a lot while she was here this week. We both missed some important music this year (Kendra: Phoenix & Amy Millan; me: Lady Gaga & The Avett Brothers). Then I tried to come up with my favorite albums of 2009.

This list is so totally unscientific. These albums/compilations are those that blew me away and first came to mind when I tried to pick my nine favorites (only those released in 2009, not those I discovered in 2009). I think that’s a perfectly adequate way to do a year-end review. 

TOP 9 in OH NINE

manners::passion pit

fantasies::metric

middle cyclone::neko case

masters of the burial::amy millan

technicolor health::harlem shakes

wolfgang amadeus phoenix::phoenix

dead man’s bones

grrr…::bishop allen

dark was the night

music to take you home

As party favors for Sunday’s birthday brunch I made a few mix cds for friends to take home. I’ve loved the Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ song Home for the last couple months. And since we moved to a new home recently, I decided to make a whole mix based on the theme of home. I used this sweet new font I found and then handwrote some of the lyrics from the edward sharpe song. Then I copied the whole thing onto kraft paper and attached to a cd sleeve. So easy and fun! If you want your own copy, click on the song titles to connect to the song on iTunes. Enjoy!

home | edward sharpe & the magnetic zeros

via chicago | wilco

when they fight, they fight | the generationals

wasp nest | the national

come on home | honeyhoney

i feel like going home | yo la tengo

i’ll take us home | matt & kim

oklahoma | bishop allen

let me go home | camera obscura

to wild homes | the new pornographers

where is home? | bloc party

yankee bayonet (i will be home then) | the decemberists

eviction party | darlings

basic space | the xx

to go home | m. ward

holiday tunes

Is it officially cool to listen to holiday music now? Is it ever cool? When I was younger my mom and I used to groan and roll our eyes when my dad would pull out the holiday records (yes, records) on the day after Thanksgiving. The longer I’m away from home, however, the more I wish I could hear Frosty and Rudolph coming from those old speakers on Black Friday. Over the years, I’ve collected my own stash of holiday music and listen to it as soon as I feel the familiar holiday homesickness.

Now I’ve whittled my massive pile of holiday music into a top ten playlist to share with you in blogland. Do you know how hard that was? I hope you enjoy them! (click on song title to get to iTunes).

joseph, who understood | the new pornographers

we’re goin’ to the country! | sufjan stevens

just like christmas | low

it’s christmas so we’ll stop | frightened rabbit

christmastime | smashing pumpkins

christmas (baby please come home) | death cab for cutie

arms of mary/looking at a baby | the new pornographers

lo! how a rose e’er blooming | sufjan stevens

the cat carol | maryn cadell

song for a winter’s night | sarah mclachlan

happy friday!

This week has been packed. A while back we noticed that three of our favorite bands were passing through town during the same week. We decided to get tickets to all three shows thereby committing ourselves to a three-concert week. On Monday we saw Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros at the Black Cat. Tuesday we were at the Rock n Roll Hotel for Langhorne Slim and Thursday night brought us back to the Black Cat for Bishop Allen.

All three concerts were fantastic and might be worth the exhaustion now setting in. I guess we’ve got a whole weekend to catch up on beauty rest before Thanksgiving arrives on Thursday.

Happy weekend!

get-well playlist

i've been sick. and traveling for work. which is so not a good combination. so it’s a good time to share my 25 most played songs in itunes. yay! songs get onto this list in two ways for me: it’s on a mix that I listen to repeatedly OR it’s a song that omg-i-can’t-get-enough-listen-to-it-on-repeat-for-48-hours. here are the songs that have gotten me through law school exams, the bar exam, and prepping for job interviews, the songs that inspired impromptu dance parties, the songs that made running miles and miles enjoyable, and the songs that live in my head. without shame (even over the one show tune), i'm sharing. enjoy!

 

1. o valencia!...the decemberists

2. mr. november…the national

3. kiss with a fist…florence + the machine

4. spinning compass…langhorne slim (at rock n roll hotel, nov. 17!!)

5. stadium love…metric

6. ageless beauty…stars

7. all my days…alexi murdoch

8. ca plane pour moi…plastic bertrand

9. for the actor…mates of state

10. you, me + the bourgeoisie…the submarines

11. love always remains…mgmt

12. samson…regina spektor

13. defying gravity…idina menzel + kristen chenoweth

14. the crane wife 3…the decemberists

15. death to los campesinos!...los campesinos

16. shake it…metro station

17. time left for love…shout out louds

18. running out…mates of state

19. after hours…we are scientists

20. don’t know why (you stay)…the essex green

21. lloyd, i'm ready to be heartbroken

22. calendar girl…stars

23. angel, won’t you call me?...the decemberists

24. losing streak…eels

25. b******s in tokyo…stars

songs on this list ending with punctuation: 3

most surprising: shake it

bands i’m surprised didn’t make it: the new pornographers + frightened rabbit

song i'm surprised didn’t make it: call it off…tegan + sara

what do you listen to ALL THE TIME?

pizza + kitties + a song

this weekend was filled with kitty love (they are so cute together now), new iphones for me and the mr., lots of coffee dates, and delicious pizza at seventh hill in eastern market. the pizza was fantastic (fresh artichokes!!!) and I loved the design of the logo and menu. you can watch the chef toss pizza dough in the open kitchen, and while the pies are baking he walks around the restaurant chatting with guests. it’s wonderful. 

oh, and passing the bar. I found out from a letter in the mailbox when we got home on friday night. I was so relieved. friends were already on their way to our place for a visit, so we chilled a bottle of champagne and opened it to celebrate with then. now i'm ready for the week, armed with this fabulous little song. i love everything about it!

dead man's bones

for an early lunch on saturday, eric and i took a long walk in the cold rain to get some delicious french food at café parisien express. we both warmed up with some french onion soup and crepes a la reine. we took home some pain au chocolat to share with a pot of pressed coffee during our lazy afternoon. while i nibbled and sipped i caught up on google reader. i noticed that ryan gosling’s band dead man’s bones was playing that night at the historic sixth + i synagogue.  it wasn’t hard to convince two of my best girls to join me for the show. we had no idea what to expect, but: ryan gosling.

the show was fantastic. the music was haunting and beautiful. i had no idea gosling was so talented beyond the movie screen. his voice was deep and melodic and he played several instruments on stage. and he is just so handsome! the rest of the band was fantastic, too. to round out the spooky sound the howard gospel choir joined ryan and zach. the backdrop for the set was perfect with a haunted house and sparkling stars. it made me want a house big enough that i could have a halloween-themed room.

if they'll be in your city, go: tour schedule here. music here. better photos here and here.

welcome fall

the temperatures have dropped and there is a distinct smell of crisp. crisp air, crisp new sweaters, apple crisp. and with a new season, comes new music. here's my latest mix cd, fall in dc 2009.

{fall in dc 2009}

YOUR ARMS AROUND ME jens lekman

SEAWEED SONG passion pit

TOWERS amy millan

DUST ME OFF tilly & the wall

THE MAJOR LIFT years

DOORWAYS/WHY BOTHER smile smile

CONTENDER the pains of being pure at heart

DON’T WAIT UP the takeover uk

ROSE CITY viva voce

ACTION/REACTION choir of young believers

CHAMELEON brendan canning

ACTOR OUT OF WORK st. vincent

TWO WEEKS grizzly bear

HELLO SUNSHINE langhorne slim

TWO DOVES dirty projectors

RED AND PURPLE the dodos

A Grey Moggie Tutorial: CD Cases

If you're coveting some blank CD cases like the ones I used in those Memphis wedding invitations, you can order them from Stumptown Printers. If you want to make your own simple case, here's a quick little guide to making the CD cases from my last post.

Start with a good thick cover sheet. I used French Paper's Muscletone in Kraft. This paper is superbly versatile. I've read that it's great for letterpress printing (I haven't tried it yet) and I love it for mini-book covers. It's a bit like chipboard, thinner but still sturdy, and I like the color better than that of plain chipboard. Trim 2.5 inches off the long end so that the paper is now 6x11.

Next, you'll want to score a few lines into the paper. Score a line one-half inch along the long edge on both sides of the paper.  Then, score a line 5 inches from one of the short edges, and a line 1 inch from the other short edge.  Then, you'll have to trim some of the paper off to create tabs that will fold to close up the case. In the photo below, I scored along the dotted lines and cut out the sections striped in orange.

I rounded some of the corners before folding the paper (those with dots in the photo below). You can do the same if you'd like. Then, you just have to fold along the scored edges and use your favorite adhesive to stick the tabs down to hold the case in place. You can use a kolo tape gun, Zots, a glue stick, scotch tape, or any other adhesive, depending on the thickness of your paper. You may also have to trim a bit more off of an edge or two if your paper is particularly thick (I did) so that the case folds up properly.

I printed the title and the playlist, cut them to size, and then stuck them to the outside of the case with some happy tape. Go out, find some happy tunes, put them on a CD, and stick them in your homemade case!!

Music for the summer of BarBri

Jessie, John Thornley of US Royalty, & me at afterparty; Mom & Dad at grad party

Most lawyers will say law school graduation was anticlimactic. Fortunately, I did not feel that way. My family was here, there were funny t-shirts and pretty dresses to be worn, and Mr. Moggie threw me the most spectacular graduation party. He let me pick the playlist, served amazing wines, cheeses, cured meats, handmade-by-him truffles, and all sorts of other tasty treats, invited so many wonderful people, found a venue with the Post Secret exhibit, and quoted Destiny's Child in his toast.

Jessie & me, after shedding robes at graduation; Steph & me at the grad party

The reason law school graduation doesn't always feel like the deserved reward at the end of a long and difficult journey is that within days recent graduates must begin studying for the bar exam. The exam is administered at the end of July, but most grads take a prep course that puts them back in the classroom by late May or early June. So I'm still spending a lot of time in the library even though school is over. And that means I need good music to get me through the summer.

Here's the current playlist:


Summer 2009: A Summer to Remember
Stadium Love: Metric
Rome: Phoenix
Hold It In: Jukebox the Ghost
Maurine: Say Hi
Free Stress Test: Professor Murder
Signs (Acoustic): Bloc Party
TFO: Harlem Shakes
Along for the Ride: Mates of State
I Love You All the Time: Oh No Oh My
Eight Legs: Eight Legs
People Got a Lotta Nerve: Neko Case
I Was Born (A Unicorn): The Unicorns
Let Me Drive: Winter Gloves
Finish Line: Fanfarlo
Lolita: Throw Me The Statue
The Grey Estates: Wolf Parade
Give Yourself to Me: Honeyhoney
Bang: Rye Rye

xoxo

scanned polaroid from a  party last spring

I've been inspired by love lately. Perhaps it's because the people I adore keep coupling off with other people I adore. Maybe it's printing all these wedding invitations, or maybe it's because we just saw Away We Go. Possibly, it's because we've been planning and scheming about a trip to a very romantic place (tickets purchased today; France in August!).

karaoke at sing sing in nyc last summer

Whatever, the reason, I've been scouring my iTunes library for beautiful music about love. Here's the current playlist to document how I'm feeling about love these days:

All My Days...Alexi Murdoch
I Adore You...Melpo Mene
Everytime...Lincoln Hawk (yes, from Gossip Girl)
Papa Was a Rodeo...The Magnetic Fields
For Real...Okkervil River
Love You 'Till the End...The Pogues
Skinny Love...Bon Iver
Question...Old 97s
Us...Regina Spektor
Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop...Landon Pigg

Seriously, check out All My Days in the video below. Or hear it in the Away We Go trailer, linked above.

What now?

Kara, me, and Jessie at The National show.

The month of May was an absolute whirlwind. There were exams, THE PAPER OF DOOM, and graduation. My parents and in-laws were visited. I had girls' lunches and more than a few shopping trips while we tried to enjoy that small window of freedom between the end of law school and the beginning of bar review.

Dan, Jessie, Kara, Eric, Chris, Annabel, and Tim outside 930 Club for The National show

So that's what's now. I'm studying for the DC bar exam.  I go to class in the morning, study in the afternoon, and I study at night. I'm making flashcards, taking practice multiple choice exams, and writing practice essays until the end of July.

Steph and I eating yogurt and playing Mario Bros. at Mr. Yogato.

I've also got some projects brewing for the summer. In fact, I'm working on invitations for two different weddings. When I get a little farther along on them I'll share photos. For now, I'm sharing photos of these last few fun-filled weeks.

Jon, Jessie, Ryan, me, and Whit celebrating pre-graduation on the waterfront.

Thank you, Month of May for bringing it. See you next year and welcome to June. 

murky music

I've spent a ridiculous number of hours at Murky Coffee's Arlington shop in the last three years.  This last semester, I loved studying there on Saturday nights during the hours leading up to closing time. I loved watching people head out for the nigh, and enjoyed the space more and more as it got later and quieter. I'd get a head start on my work for the week, enjoy some quiet time, and fill up on caffeine so I could head out for dancing or hanging out with friends later in the night. 

The Arlington shop closes later this week, so tonight was my last quiet, productive, Murky kind of Saturday night. Leaving there tonight had more of an effect on me than leaving my last class ever on Thursday, though perhaps it was because I was walking into a downpouring thunderstorm. Here's the music that kept me company during my last Murky Saturday.

Spring 2009 Exam Playlist
Rain...Bishop Allen
Dog Days Are Over...Florence and The Machine
South China Moon...Bishop Allen
When Life Gives Me Lemons I Make Lemonade...The Boy Least Likely To
Natural Man...Harlem Shakes
A Balloon On a Broken String...The Boy Least Likely To
Maurine...Say Hi
Technicolor Health...Harlem Shakes
TFO...Harlem Shakes
Nothing But Change, Pt. 1...Harlem Shakes
Either/Or...Wild Sweet Orange
Sunlight...Harlem Shakes
Angel, Won't You Call Me?...The Decemberists
O Valencia!...The Decemberists
Running Out...Mates of State
Losing Streak...Eeels
Live it Out...Metric
Gimme Sympathy...Metric
Sick Muse...Metric
Stadium Love...Metric

Crazy days ahead but a good soundtrack

A couple weeks ago I got around to making a new playlist for a get-through-the-end-of-law-school mix cd. At the time, I had seven weeks left until my last exam. Now, it's closer to about 5 weeks. It's exciting to think that the end is so near, but I haven't fully realized what that means yet, probably because there is still SO much to do in that time.

20 Songs to Get Me Through the Next 7 Weeks
1. Kiss With a Fist...Florence & the Machine
2. Tessellate...Tokyo Police Club
4. Everyday...Vetiver
5. The Modern Leper...Frightened Rabbit
6. Swimming Pool...The Submarines
7. My Year in Lists...Los Campesinos!
8. A Wedding...Oxford Collapse
9. Bicycle...Shout Out Louds
10. Hummingbird...Born Ruffians
11. Spare Change...Matt & Kim
12. Hey, Snow White...The New Pornographers
13. Sweet Darlin'...She & Him
14. Bow to the Middle...The Rosebuds
15. Ageless Beauty...Stars
16. San Bernadino...The Mountain Goats
17. Don't Forget Sister...Low vs Diamond
18. Washington, D.C....The Magnetic Fields
19. Your English is Good...Tokyo Police Club
20. Click, Click, Click, Click...Bishop Allen

UPDATE: Get the mix here.