Sunday Soundtrack - Blues Funeral.

If I knew I would be living anywhere for longer than three months at a time any time in the near future, I'd plaster my walls with all of Dianne's photos from Lafayette Cemetery, New Orleans. You can purchase these beauties as prints in her store.

This autumn evening, I'm really loving Mark Lanegan's latest album, Blues Funeral. Fingers crossed I can get tickets for the London date of the tour. I feel like this song in particular fits the mood of the prints - in terms of subject matter, but I also dig how the dusty pink flowers of the album cover echo those in the first photo. 

Sunday Soundtrack - Disappear Here.

Disappear here. from raloup on 8tracks.

A short, slightly sinister mix for summer. 

It's been a while since I put a playlist together. 

I have effectively absented myself from blogging of late - life beyond my laptop screen is moving at breakneck speed, and I've had better things to do, really. 

Still, this is a sweet moment of Sunday procrastination. 

Sunday Soundtrack - Falling Into Place.

Falling into place. from raloup on 8tracks.

Sunday Soundtrack - Such Sweet Sorrow & the Sculptures of Fernando Mastrangelo.

Such Sweet Sorrow. from raloup on 8tracks.

I put together this playlist earlier in the week with relationships in mind; some tracks for savouring bittersweet moments.

Yet after events back in Italy this weekend, sorrow doesn't feel sweet at all. It has been senseless, entirely unwarranted, and horribly inescapable.  

The sculpture pictured in the "album art" is in fact made of sugar, and is by Brooklyn-based artist Fernando Mastrangelo. He works in many unusual materials; over on Hi-Fructose, J. L. Schnabel has pinpointed their striking and strange beauty:

Due to the unique nature of the materials, the sculptures take on a feel of fragility, highlighting the themes of destruction and faith.

Untitled (sugar)

This Too Shall Pass (salt)

See more of Mastrangelo's work and read the full piece here. 

Sunday Soundtrack - Dreamscapes.

Dreamscapes. from raloup on 8tracks.

As the "album art" suggests, I'm still stuck on Michael Rougier's 1960s photos from Tokyo. 

This has been the most popular mix I've put up so far, by a long stretch.  

Slow and quite calming, including Yann Tiersen, Eels, Tim Buckley and Iron & Wine.

Good music for the day before a big presentation...?  

Now I need to get back to work.

Happy, sleepy Sunday to all. Let's hope the sunshine sticks around today. 

Sunday Soundtrack - Wake me up when the bluebells are ringing.

Wake me up when the bluebells are ringing. from raloup on 8tracks.

This week's mix is slower than the last. A more pensive, expectant feel for spring sunshine, featuring Patrick Wolf, Chet Baker, and 16 Horsepower, among others. 

Sunday Soundtrack - Horns & Fins.

Do you remember the shape I was in? I had horns and fins. from raloup on 8tracks.

I expanded my internet presence slightly and got 8tracks. 

I've discovered a load of new music just drifting through different mixes. 

Here, you have an eclectic mix of my own brought on by the tail-end of my term papers. 

The title horns & fins was originally only related to Lou Reed. 

However, yesterday a few friends and I finally got round to seeing Earthlings. 

Detailing the the suffering of animals for food, fashion, pets, entertainment and medical research, this film was quite honestly one of the hardest things I have ever watched. 

I could write a lot more, but essentially I would urge anyone to take the time to see this. It's deeply shocking and saddening, but all the more important for being so. 

Sunday Soundtrack - The Cruellest Month.

Sproutling by Lissy Elle.

Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted - Here

Mark Lanegan - Whiskey for the Holy Ghost - The River Rise

The Breeders - Last Splash - Invisible Man

Songs for a rainy April Sunday.

Sunday Soundtrack - Blood Oranges & Bloodflowers.

The carnage that came out of making two jugs of juice yesterday morning.

The colours were just too lovely not to (attempt to) capture.

The Cure - Bloodflowers

Sunday Soundtrack - Grunge Goodness (& Winning A Giveaway!)

I never win anything. But I just won this beauty from Dear oh Deer and am utterly delighted. Spring colours most certainly putting a spring in my step this Sunday afternoon.

Can't wait to post about it properly at some point in the near future...

Mother Love Bone - Stargazer

Throwing Muses - Not Too Soon

So into all of this right now. (I was born two decades too late, blah blah blah).

Sunday Soundtrack - The End Of The World.

Skeeter Davis - The End Of The World

It's rather obvious I ended my weekend with the last three episodes of Mad Men Season 3, in an adrenaline-filled rush.

Sunday Soundtrack - Valentine's Hearts.

(With apologies for photobooth mirroring).

As someone who regularly voices their dislike of Valentine's day when bearing witness to window displays at this time of year, I was very swiftly seduced by these chocolate hearts in Betty's shop-front.

The ones with the ribbons on are dark chocolate with raspberry ganache; the other is plain milk. You can buy them, among many other delicious treats, here. I look forward to the reaction I'll get from their recipients - so used to my cynical reaction to rampant February 14th consumerism.

As the years go by all I can conclude is that whether you love or hate Valentine's day, it's here to stay.

The Wipers - Window Shop For Love

Sunday Soundtrack - Snow.

The world outside my window this morning is very white and wreathed in mist.

The snow started yesterday afternoon, and has hardly stopped since. I crunched my way round the corner to a friend's house, and walked back at about 10pm, the world completely silent under the snow.

Chet Baker - Almost Blue

Music seems slightly out of place on this muffled and misty Sunday, but Chet Baker fits the bill - and the video is perfect.

Sunday Soundtrack.

Scène d'amour - Vertigo OST - Bernard Herman

Mina - Dracula OST - Wojciech Kilar

A couple of pieces for a very cold January evening.

It may well end up being a snowy Sunday night, and a white start to the week.

Sunday Soundtrack - 1Q84.

Leoš Janáček - Sinfonietta

Ella Fitzgerald - It's Only A Paper Moon

I have spent this very frosty morning immersed in Book III of Haruki Murakami's 1Q84. In the UK, they have tried to imitate the experience of his original Japanese readers by publishing Books I & II together, and Book III in a separate volume (as it was originally released as a surprise, a year after the first two). I was reading Books I & II while I was in South Africa, and during a trip to a rather amazing bookshop, I noticed they hadn't done that there... I think they've published it all as one volume in the US, too. Something a little strange I've noticed is that Books I & II were translated from the Japanese by Jay Rubin, and Book III by Philip Gabriel. It seems like an odd decision, but while it's noticeable it isn't necessarily jarring. Either way, my essays contributed to my further breaking up the reading experience - what with working on those, and reading another book, I was excited to start Murakami's Book III.

Regardless, I look forward to reviewing it in its entirety soon; and as anyone who has read it will know, the two pieces of music above feature prominently in the narrative. I am utterly engrossed, and can highly recommend this surreal, slightly sinister and carefully crafted story.

Sunday Soundtrack - New Year.

Willy Mason - Where The Humans Eat - All You Can Do

"This is the new year
Nobody knows
Where we are going
What's down the road.
The city is humming.
The country is cold.
But you give me something
Something like hope."

Sunday Soundtrack.

Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream - Soma

I think I must have listened to this entire album about 4 times straight through over the past couple of days - the delight of rediscovering beloved records. Siamese Dream is almost too good to be true.

P J Harvey - Uh Huh Her - It's You

Gritty & delicious.

Radio Rats - Into The Night We Slide - ZX Dan

Still hooked on them since coming back from South Africa.

I should be working on essays. Or packing to go home for Christmas tomorrow (!) Or at least doing something productive. Instead I have stayed in bed, peeked out at the frosty grass from my window, drank tea, and read.

Sunday Soundtrack.

Source.

It's amazingly misty here today - you can hardly see more than a couple of feet in front of you. The whole world beyond my window looks like it has been shrouded in cotton wool.

I should be working. Instead I've been drinking tea and wishing I could make these delicious looking rolls. Something about baking from scratch is so wholesome and homely, and perfect for Sundays such as this one...

But in the mean time, some music.

Sonic Youth - Do You Believe in Rapture?

Chet Baker - Little Girl Blue

Sunday Soundtrack.

Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I - 1

Yann Tiersen - Tabarly - Point Mort

Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes - I Know Places (Live on the Moon).

Three songs for a moody misty autumn Sunday.