LISTEN: Piratess – Okkervil River (the musical centipedes)

This is totally not the way to introduce new people to Okkervil River, but this is NEW Okkervil River. I am excited. You’ll just have to promise me that the next time I post an Okkervil River song that you’ll listen to it in the knowledge that it will sound a lot upbeat and poppier than this one.

For those who don’t know who Okkervil River are, let’s take a squiz at how the Dutch describe them (translation courtesy of Google):

The musical centipedes from Austin, Texas carpentry for over twelve years unperturbed on the road with their distinctive indie pop with a dash of folk, rock and country, characterized by fine, often at the first hearing is not logical melodies and the special ‘you must there are of houden’ voice of singer Will Sheff.

Musical centipedes.

…

I don’t know what that means, but let’s just assume it means that they’re very talented. Let’s also assume that it has nothing to do with The Human Centipede, despite what Google Images will try to tell you (and the fact that The Human Centipede is a Dutch film…).

Read through my 1am ramblings and still want more Okkervil River? Good on you!:

• Listen to the new album I Am Very Far on NPR
• Watch a live performance of I Am Very Far on NPR

RSS feed is go!

Due to overwhelming public demand (read: the request of one person), I have added links to the RSS feeds for Occasionally Travelled. Check ‘em out on the right-hand-side menu.

Do you want free comics?

Today is Free Comic Book Day! This happy day is the one day each year when you can waltz into your friendly neighbourhood comic store and nab yourself some comics free of charge.

If you’re an interested Aucklander, you can grab two free comics from Gotham Comics in Onehunga, or Heroes For Sale on K Road. Gotham Comics (my comic shop of choice) is offering an additional 2 comics in exchange for a gold coin donation towards Onehunga Primary School.

If you’re at all intrigued I highly recommend popping in to either store. Selling comics is a tough business these days, more so in New Zealand, so go support your local comic shop!

This year’s free comics include Spider-Man, Green Lantern, Mickey Mouse, Star Wars, a story by Mike Mignola (of Hellboy fame) and a Captain America & Thor double up (which could be a good starting point if you’re planning to see either of those characters on the big screen this year). There’s even Darkwing Duck and Inspector Gadget, but I’m not sure if they’re available locally.

Music and current events – T.O.R.N.A.D.O. (possibly)

With a humid, thunderstormy day on the cards tomorrow, there are warnings of possible tornadoes for northern and western areas of the upper North Island. After Tuesday’s tornado in Auckland one supposes that people will be taking heed of the warnings, rather than clowning around.

“when we heard windows smash
we thought,
“maybe we should actually
gaps the scenes”"
- Cornflake the Clown

Seriously Close Up, an interview with a clown?

Like the Go Team’s double drum-kit beats? Have a listen to some of their other tracks!:

• Doing It Right
• Ladyflash
• Secretary Song

Music to sleep by: Sugar Water by Cibo Matto

I have no idea what this song is about (it’s off a food-themed album, if that’s any indication), but I do know that it’s good soothing pre-sleep fare. Fun, slightly mind-bending video to partner with the fantastical and oddly fantastic lyrics.

“The buildings are changing
into coconut trees”

Playing with the royals

Earlier tonight I watched about an hour of cars driving slowly around London to the shrill sound of screaming admirers. Okay, so there was a bit of gawking at well dressed people and ridiculous hats (some of which resembled satellite dishes) in amongst that, which was entertaining enough. The trees inside West Minister were a nice touch (making me think of Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia).

I did enjoy seeing the minor British royals riding in “mini coaches”/”mini buses” as if they were going on a sightseeing tour, and rolling my eyes when the BBC commentators followed up a description of the buses as a mix of “spectacle and identification”, with a comment about the cheering onlookers, who have “no idea, I think, who’s in these coaches, but they get a sense, because of the escort, they sense that it’s going to be an important section of the congregation”. You can’t fault the accuracy of that statement, but that’s kind of my point.

Yes, all the royal wedding stuff is a bit overwhelming, but boy oh boy do a lot of people still seem to be keen on the royals. I’m interested in the media presentation and public reaction to it all, so I’m keen to hear what you (yes, you) think about the wedding hoo ha. Does anyone know if marriage rates tend to increase after a royal wedding?

There is one piece of wedding memorabilia I secretly want – Royal wedding Top Trumps, a limited edition of the popular British card game introduced to me via The Office. Finally we know who is bigger style icon, David Beckham or Elton John (it’s John, apparently). Now where are my DC Comics and Harry Potter Top Trumps…

Acknowledgements:
Thanks CIA for pointing out the royal wedding Top Trumps to me!
Image credits:
Telegraph, Daily Mail

Transform and hope it’s better than Revenge of the Fallen

It’s no secret that I’m a Transformers fan. I’ll spare you my geekier toy collector moments, but here’s something Transformers-related you might be interested in. The first trailer for Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the third instalment in the Michael Bay directed series of films, has just been released. My expectations are set painfully low after the balls up that was Revenge of the Fallen, and I’m sure DotM’s ‘robot aliens take over the world’ plot could go spectacularly wrong, but hey, the robots look snazzy enough.

For those who watched the original Transformers cartoon: The spaceship crashing into the moon at the start of the trailer is the film’s version of the Ark. The one-eyed big bad in the film is none other than Shockwave (will be interesting to see if he is as logic driven in the film as he is in Generation 1, although I doubt he will be). And yes, the bird-thing is indeed Lazerbeak.