IM // UR | Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and the new song

BEFORE TODAY by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

It doesn’t take much to make me feel stupid. Trying to find the words to describe the debut album of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti at 4AD is just one of many examples I could give you. To me, ‘Before Today’ sounds like an album that Kevin Barnes could be recording if he loved goth bands more than funk ones. Or like the cold wave genre entering a multicoloured psychedelic stage instead of glazing at it's own depression. Don’t mind my threadbare examples; this is the album that will make it onto every interesting top 10 of the year and you don’t wanna miss it.

WE // R \\ WEARING

I can't resist (probably overpriced) basics-with-a-twist. My wardrobe, full of T by Wang, Oak, Bassike and yes, American Apparel is proof of this; and since in Australia, a new favourite has emerged in the form of Nathan Smith. His selection of supersoft tees, tanks and dresses have sucked me into buying multiples of a number of styles in different colourways. You just can't go wrong with these though! Addictively and endlessly wearable - and not in actual fact, overpriced in the slightlest - Nathan Smith is the way forward for your wardrobe.

WE // R \\ WATCHING

I don’t think any series will treat teenagers the same way that Freaks and Geeks did almost 10 years ago. Although relying on every teen American cliché they could, this series was the closest thing to reality you could get whilst still being something fun and interesting to watch – cause, you know, life is boring. With bands like The Who, The Clash and XTC being either part of episodes or the soundtrack, this 80’s based cult show was short-lived (only 18 episodes), but long enough to enrich the careers of some young actors (i.e. James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Busy Philipps and, erm, Linda Cardellini) and is greatly missed. Can we have a movie about them meeting again in the 00’s?

WE // R \\ GOING

Once, a friend of mine wanted to take me to this 'cheap Chinese restaurant', situated in the heart of Liberdade, a Japanese neighborhood in São Paulo. When we got there the place was packed, but because it looked cheesy and kinda poor, I didn't want to wait it out. It took another friend for me to go back there and fall in love with it. Now, every time the mood for some freshly made noodles (you can watch the chief making the noodle dough through a window) framed in some horribly painted pink walls takes me, I go for Rong He. Did I mention the food is also incredibly generous and cheap?

WE // R \\ READING

The ultimate in peeping tom into other, cooler, more fashionable, richer, quirkier and more-hipster-than-thou lives is Todd Selby's The Selby. Having previously been an internet only voyeur's dream, Todd has just last month released The Selby Is In Your Place, a book the coffee table tome full of twee drawings, colourful interiors and people showering. Half of the images in the books are favourites from the website and the other is stuff he hasn't published online yet. So go check it out, maybe buy it if you can to make your crappy coffee table in your crappy apartment that little bit cooler with pictures of someone else's cool stuff.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and the new song

Tuesday // June 09, 2009 at 14:23 // filed under Music

'The Great Buck Howard' came out in 2008, but apparently nobody watched it at the cinema. Only months later did people find out about the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah cameo in the movie as it hits DVD. The movie features some big stars as John Malkovich, Colin Hanks, Emily Blunt and lots of famous cameos from Tom Hanks (who actually produced the film), David Blaine (seriously?), Conan O'Brien and many more.

But the band did more than just a simple cameo in the film, they also recorded some new songs including 'Telling the Truth and Going Away' which they themselves play out in the final scene of 'The Great Buck Howard'. The song is in typical CYHSY style; a weirdly beautiful ballad in which nobody can understand the words - it sounds much better than most of the songs from their second effort Some Loud Thunder .

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Telling the Truth and Going Away

Although the movie isn't all that exciting (but it's charming) and it was really good to hear some unexpected new material from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah...because to be fair, we all thought the band was long dead - and I still think they are one of the best bands of the decade!

POSTED BY RAPHAEL CAFFARENA

TAGS: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah // LINKS: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah