From the Nest—Vegan Caprese Salad

Perhaps the easiest of the salads to make, the Caprese is the perfect salad for showcasing summer's hottest produce: the TOMATO! Yellow, Orange, Beefsteak, Green Zebra, Heirlooms ... the tomato is all about flaunting its shape, style and color. Who are we to argue?

Caprese Salad What you need:
• 2 Tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick – Go crazy! Try a new variety of tomato! 
• 7oz of Extra Firm Tofu, pressed then sliced 1/4 inch thick 
• 1/2 cup fresh Basil leaves, cut into a chiffonade 
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil, to drizzle 
• Salt and Pepper, to taste 

You definitely want to press the extra water out of the tofu. Our favorite method? Wrapping the block of tofu in 2 sheets of paper towels, then wrapping a clean dishtowel around that. Put it on a plate, place a cast iron skillet—or other heavy object —on top and set aside. The paper towels and dishtowels will soak up the extra water. You can press it for 15 minutes or several hours. The longer it is pressed, though, the drier and firmer the tofu will become. We think it really takes on a nice mozzarella-esque texture.
Layer alternating slices of tomatoes and tofu, then top with basil leaves. Drizzle the salad with extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. 

Behold the power of the tomato!

From the Nest—Chickpea Picnic Salad

Here's the issue I have with pita pockets: they refuse to do their job. They break. They tear. They get soggy. They won't hold their filling. Maybe they prefer to fly solo. Perhaps they prefer to be used as a dipping vehicle. Or maybe, just maybe, they are waiting for the perfect filling to come their way.

Enter, stage left, the Chickpea Picnic Salad.

True, true—picnic season may be rapidly coming to an end, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy this salad well into the fall and winter months. Make these pita pockets, put on your sweatpants, grab a blanket and watch The Proposal on FX. Unlike your friends, this salad won't judge you.

Chickpea Picnic Salad (makes 2 overstuffed pitas)
What you need:
• 2 Pita Pockets
• 1 Can of Chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 Tbl Vegenaise
• 15 Cherry or Grape Tomatoes, cut in half or quarters
• 1 Avocado, diced
• 1.5 Cups of Chopped Arugula
• Salt + Pepper, to taste

Using a fork or potato masher, mash the chickpeas in a medium mixing bowl. Don't be lazy—break all of them up. You don't want any whole chickpeas left. Add the Vegenaise and mix well. Gently stir in the tomatoes, avocado, and arugula, making sure all ingredients are incorporated well. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Fill the pita pockets and enjoy!

Seriously, though, have you see The Proposal yet? Just sayin'.

The Find—New Design Tools

Our second Find of the day (remember, we're doubling down, Reader) are two very different design tools, one free, one...very un-free.

We just heard about the un-free one from our friends at Yellow Owl Workshop and it WILL NOT STOP BLOWING OUR MINDS. It's a new digital sketch pen from Wacom called the Inkling, and it allows you to sketch on paper—like we're all so used to doing—and capture the digital likeness of your sketches, translating them to vectors and even going as far as allowing for layer creation in programs like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. If you're not a designer or illustrator or at least familiar with digital design, you may well be like, "Meh? Meh." Otherwise, you, like us, are probably a lot more like "WHA? WHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" To you, we say—We totally agree. Now get it together, dude. Check out the video below. And yes, that robot is awesome.

The other design find was brought to our attention last week by our good friend, Jacob. Again, if you're not familiar with the design field, you may not be aware that, as designers dealing with layouts for print or Web pieces you're often in need of some filler text. Now, you don't want to just copy a word and hit the paste key a million times because a) this looks lame, and b) this doesn't demonstrate a dynamic layout or give a realistic impression of how elements like images will interact with the layout. 

Enter lorem ipsum—placeholder text used since the 60's or so, written in latin, and—most commonly—taken from Roman philosopher Cicero's writings and rearranged so that it's nonsensical when translated. I know—designers are total nerds. But after placing lorem ipsum, say, ONE MILLION TIMES IN A DAY, it can get a little old. Like reading latin. Now, enter Hipster Ipsum—the filler-text-generator created by LA-based WordPress savant Jason Cosper using a combination of latin and—you guessed it—hipster terminology. Here's an excerpt we just created:

Jean shorts chambray ut tofu mustache, aute sustainable id aliqua wayfarers banh mi Austin. Banh mi american apparel iphone, pitchfork consequat synth tumblr tempor tofu magna 3 wolf moon salvia blog delectus enim. Gentrify sustainable esse DIY occaecat dolor, wayfarers craft beer high life aesthetic. Mlkshk etsy sed placeat. High life thundercats aliqua aute etsy. Whatever et leggings, sustainable ethical synth cillum four loko velit id sunt ea carles. Carles cardigan lomo, farm-to-table bicycle rights portland photo booth nisi +1 consectetur craft beer.

Should latin be totally bumming you out, you can also opt for "Hipster, neat." So, got a client with a sense of humor (we're about to find out, by the way)? Get fillin'!

The Find—Rose Pedals Vegan Weddings

There are tons of reasons for us, as New Yorkers, to be proud of the city and state in which we live. When you look at city and state as an extension of yourself—in the larger sense—it's truly important what decisions your community is making. It's a pretty basic thought and a common reason given for the importance of representation at the governmental and political level for every citizen. 

Which is why we're still so, so proud of New York for passing the Marriage Equality Act and finally legalizing love for all. The resulting passage in June has resulted, obviously, in a lot of long-awaited marriages. It's also resulted in weddings and marriage making headlines in all it's aspects of late. Not wanting to feel left out, we thought we'd jump on the wedding bandwagon by interviewing Kristin Lajeunesse, the creator of Rose Pedals Vegan Weddings—a new online resource for anyone planning a vegan wedding and a source for compelling stories of matrimonial vegan-ness. We chatted with Kristin recently about the woes and wonders of planning a vegan wedding, what it takes to make business dreams a reality, and the band, Creed. That's right—we just linked to Creed, Reader. And we're not sorry.
Rose Pedals illustration by illustrator, Amanda Chronister.

Kindness of Ravens: Alright, as we like to start with the obvious, I'll first ask—what made you want to start a vegan wedding site?

Kristin Lajeunesse: I always have what some would call "business" ideas. As in, my mind is always on the go and any given day or moment could spark a new idea that I “have to” follow. But I've come to learn that I usually pursue something that, when I first think of it, just won’t go away. And it seems incredibly exciting, and maybe a little scary, but I can't stop thinking about it. Several months ago I was putting a lot of energy into coming up with an online business model, and, during that process I thought, “How cool would it be to have a vegan wedding resource online.” 

I still remember the exact moment when I thought, "I MUST do this!" I was standing at the Boylston T stop in Boston, MA... just got out of work at my 9-5 job and kind of out of nowhere I thought—“Rose Pedals. Like a bicycle. Wait, Rose as in the flower but also a person…and Pedals...like petals but also like pedals. Haha!” And then it was like a burst of energy… a Web site name came to me in a blink of an eye and there was no turning back.

From that day forward I started planning the details of the site. And at the time I really had no idea what I was doing so I basically taught myself how to set up a Web site, a business email account, business PayPal account, ad and vendor listings, and all that stuff associated with running an online site of this sort.

The site launched in a rushed two-month timeframe in order to go live in Valentine's Day of this year. It was awesome.

KoR: Man. That is pretty impressive. So, may as well get to the inevitable vegan business-owner question—what made you go vegan?

KL: That's kind of a long story. Do you mind if I refer to you to a section on my travel site that explains the whole thing? Here it is (scroll down to "my vegan story").

KoR: Fair enough. So, I'm assuming you're a big wedding fan?

KL: Hm. Not really. Eeek! I hate admitting it but aside from always kind of having an interest in event planning—I really like to plan and host events... last year I organized the first ever vegan fashion show on the East Coast at a veg expo in Albany, NY! That and I may have spent too much time watching TLC's "Perfect Proposal" in high school. I really am not a wedding person. I don't really plan to get married anytime soon, if ever. Well, it's not totally out of the question, but it's something that isn't super important to me right now. But weddings are cool. I will admit that I usually get choked up when I see a bride walk down the aisle. Aaaaand some of the stories that are sent into us get me a little choked up too. Just sayin'.

KoR: Man, this is like Watergate…. So, pressure's kinda on if you do get married to kinda have a gigantic vegan wedding blow-out, eh?

KL: LOL—yup… I've got more resources now than ever before, and hopefully more will come in over time. So yeah... it better be the kick-assiest vegan wedding of them all… should the day ever come. 

KoR: So you've been up-and-running since February. Going well, I assume? Positive response?

KL: It's been going pretty well. I was running the full one-lady show until a couple of months ago when Melissa came on board to volunteer to manage the blog. She's the best, by the way! There were two kinda big things that happened from the launch—VegNews picked up the launch, which drove mad traffic to the site, and then I hosted an NYC Getaway contest, where one couple won a weekend in NYC and an engagement photo shoot. That drew a lot of attention as well. But since then things have quieted down. I've also been very, very busy working and planning my next 'big idea', so I'm so grateful to have Melissa helping me out. I'm hoping to have a little more time in the upcoming months to invest in the site. It's been up for 6 months now and I think it needs a facelift.

KoR: Okay then, I have to ask—what’s the NEXT big idea?

KL: In just a couple weeks I'm heading out on a vegan-food-focused road trip across the US—all 50 states! The goal is to eat at every 100% vegan restaurant in the country while documenting the trip via my blog, YouTube, and other social media channels. I'll be interviewing restaurant owners, other vegan business owners, and volunteering at farm sanctuaries and animal rescues along the way. You can read more about it here.  This was another one of those ideas that I just couldn't put down until I put it into action. I'm super excited about it!

KoR: Oh, wow, that sounds AWESOME. We’ve got some area recommendations for you when you’re in town. Back to the Rose Pedals site, it seems to provide a fair mix of narrative, story-based content on real-life vegan weddings/proposals and resources for vegans wanting to plan a wedding of their own. Are you finding one part of that more compelling to you audience than others or do they strike a pretty even balance on the site?

KL: People LOVE the real stories. They eat them up... especially when there are food pics involved.

KoR: Have you heard any good vegan honeymoon stories? Any plans on adding that as either a resource or story source on the site, by chance?

KL: Oh, great question—Melissa, who works with me, JUST suggested we add a page for honeymoon stories, so we're workin' on that now! If you've got any, please send 'em our way.

In the meantime, this is one of the best proposal stories on the site. I know, I know, it's not really relevant to this question but I have to share it. When I read this I thought, now THIS is a proposal story I'd like to tell. 

KoR: Man. Hawaii makes everything better! So do you see the site going in a particular direction in the future or sort of just growing within the existing format?

KL: I'd love to update it, make it easier for vendors to submit their info and pics, make it more streamlined…but that costs money I don't have just yet. We did JUST change our vendor offerings because most of the vendors now are listed for free... but I figured, if I really want to give this a go and build up the site, I can't do it out of pocket. I'd also like to add a section about charitable resources for couples who want to have donations sent to their favorite charities instead of getting gifts.

AND...this is kind of top secret but, oh well—I'd LOVE to start a vegan bridal registry. I spent a little time a while back trying to figure out how that would work. But for the time being it's waaaaaay outside of my time and budgetary limits. It's just one of those ideas I can't stop thinking about. So we'll see.

KoR: Oh, that WOULD be cool. More breaking news from Kindness of Ravens!!! So, what's one of the trickier things to pull off vegan at a wedding, in your opinion? I feel like the food and cake are pretty obvious to most people as far as vegan priorities, but, as with any wedding planning, there are ALL these details that you don't consider until you're right up on 'em.

KL: This is true, and being that I'm not a wedding planner, it's hard to say. But from what I've heard, the menswear seems to be the most challenging to veganize.  And sometimes shoes, for the ladies.

KoR: I know you're not based here, but, as someone involved in the greater nuptial world, were you psyched about New York State legalizing same-sex marriage in June?

KL: I'm from New York, actually—upstate (don't judge)—so yes, I was VERY excited!!!!!!!!!! Still am! I hope this progress continues across the country sooner rather than later!

KoR: Agreed! Who are some of your favorite vegan-run businesses, wedding-related or not?

KL: I LOVE Liz Lovely Cookies—I love their branding, their messaging, their Web site, and of course, their cookies! And I have to mention Vegan Mainstream because I've worked as their social media manager for two years and I love my boss, Stephanie. She's so driven and passionate. And how could I ask for a better job? Marketing (my grad degree) + veganism (my life) = happy Kristin. I also adore The Ethical Man and Vaute Couture. Dan and Leanne are adorbs and I can't get enough of how awesome they are!

KoR: A list of VERY admirable vegans, there. Alright, quickfire—favorite vegan restaurant in Boston?!

KL: True Bistro.

KoR: Ooh. Though their use of Papyrus on the menu pains us...their green curry sings to us from afar.... Dog or cat person?!!

KL: Both (more cat)!

KoR: Agreed! Favorite recent vegan find, food or non-food?

KL: TOMS vegan shoes.

KoR: We like the ninja-mummy boots. Band you can't stop listening to lately?!!

KL: Kimbra.

KoR: Hah! We posted a tight song with her in it at the beginning of the month! Favorite recipe of late?

KL: Chickpea cutlets from Veganomicon.

KoR: Oh, good one. Coolest wedding invite you've ever seen?

KL: I tell you when I see it.

KoR: Daaaaaaaamn. I’ll submit our portfolio then. Book you're reading right now?

KL: Sex at Dawn.

KoR: Haven't read it. Best wedding song ever?

KL: “I Want Your Sex.”

KoR: I see a theme here…. Finally, and most importantly in case this ever comes up—If you were presented with the power to suddenly, miraculously make all weddings from here on out totally vegan and cruelty-free...but could do so only by also making everyone's wedding band from here on out Creed performing all original material...peppered with 3 or 4 hip-hop covers....would you do it?

KL: YYYYEEEESSSSSSS.

You can check out Kristin's wedding site, Rose Pedals Vegan Weddings, for both über-sweet vegan wedding stories and wedding planning resources (including a entry for these lovely vegan designers...) and check out her cross-country vegan travel site, Will Travel For Vegan Food, to track her vegan culinary adventures.

Music Monday

Mates of State • Palomino

Reader, it has been a rough fuckin' week. Earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, fires, VOLCANOS...

If you're anything like us, you need a break. And, long being students of the 'Practice What You Blog' school of thought, we are indeed taking a break. A little later in the week, we'll be cruising out of town, late summer beats pouring out of rental car speakers as the skyscrapers and work woes shrink behind us. But, being ever-loyal to our dedicated readership, we're doubling down before we go—proudly presenting you with TWO doses of Wednesday's helpful home-based hints, Tuesday's fine-tuned finds, and Monday's music.

First up—the always pleasingly poppy tunes of the esteemed Mates of State, who have a new album out September 13...probably in honor of our anniversary. I mean, I assume. We're far from alone in possessing a long, long-time admiration for this duo. They rarely disappoint and somehow make the writing of innately emotional, catchy, substantial songs seem effortless. Jackasses. 

Last week, we were lucky enough to catch a private show put on by the band's label, Barsuk, (I know—fancy dancey, right?) that the Mates used as a bit of a tour warm-up and press showcase. In short, they were awesome. More awesome than they've been in the past, and they have indeed been very awesome in the past, Reader. The new stuff is built off solid, solid material that sounds unmistakably Mates-of-State-y but not at all redundant or tiresome to long-time fans. And they're playing with this crazily humorous back-up duo that we're positive is destined for some sort crime-caper-y spin-off sit-com.

Two of our favorite tracks from the new album, Mountaintops—"Maracas" + "Palomino" (one of this week's Songs of the Week)—are especially dynamic pieces of music that pull you along from peaks of upbeat bounciness to tiny hollows of intimate melody. Both last week's showcase and the studio tracks we've heard to date have got us hyped for the new LP—which you can pre-order here—and their supporting tour. 

Yellow Ostrich • WHALE

Serendipitously enough, our other band of the week, NYC's Yellow Ostrich, opened last week's label showcase with a compelling set. We had already heard a track or two from the band prior to the show and liked the sound well enough, but we were especially impressed with how well they translated what came across as heavily produced, complicated studio recordings to their live performance. 

The hook and focal point for many of the band's songs is frontman and songwriter Alex Schaaf's voice. Looped, layered, and woven around and through the musical structure of the songs (skillfully replicated with a looping foot pedal live), the end result is music that's thickly melodic, benefiting greatly from the harmonies Schaaf builds off of his own voice, ranging from viscerally rough tones to whispered swoons. The band's got some pretty tight chops own their respective instruments too. 

After a while, the layered vocals can get a little tired, causing a bit of a repetitive sound, which is why we were happy to hear the newer songs relying on that technique less than most of the album material. You can order the album on the band's site and also download a FREE MP3 of their Beat Happening cover, "Left Behind," which we highly recommend doing.

Alright, corvids out! CAW!

Disaster-ific!

VOLCANO ERUPTS IN SOUTH BROOKLYN
BLOOMBERG URGES POST-EARTHQUAKE, PRE-HURRICANE CITY TO BRACE FOR POSSIBLE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS, "OTHER HEAVY BIBLE SHIT"

We thought we'd take a stab at the whole Onion headline there. I know, I know—keep our day jobs. We will. But for real, Reader! An earthquake AND a hurricane in NYC in one week? We rarely embrace cursing, but what the F? Seriously. What. The. F. 

In all seriousness, for anyone in New York who isn't planning to leave town in the next 24 hours (which they're actually advising us to do) and hasn't yet checked this out, visit the city's Hurricane Evacuation Map. Not only is it VERY well-designed (nicely done John Keefe), it's handy on the whole 'Hey, I wonder if my building's going to flood/fall-down/be smote by god' front. 

Whereas we'll be doing a little bit of disaster prep at the studio today (boooooo, Zone C), happily, our apartment is JUST inside this little Carroll Gardens bubble of safety. So, if you're around, feel free to come on by Sunday. We're planning a day of special hurricane-ready Smoky Jo's Chili, Dark + Stormy's, and some potential huddling in our windowless bedroom. Ooh! And maybe we'll watch The Proposal if it's on FX again this weekend. Oh, Sandra.

And for real, ya'll—be safe this weekend.

Songs to Rock the Earth

I Break Horses • Winter Beats
Reader, let us tell you something—We were right in the middle of posting on our Band of the Week yesterday when, wouldn't you know it, an earthquake struck the east coast. Now, you west-coasters have been enjoying a guffaw or two at our expense here on the east coast, but for real, guys. It was pretty crazy. I mean, we personally did not feel a thing, technically, but just the immediate pandemonium that hit once we were told that we had been through an earthquake was nuts. We're already working on our "I SURVIVED THE EAST COAST QUAKE OF 2011" t-shirts. And give us a break, west coast—we are SO not used to this kinda stuff over here. It'd be like if, all of a sudden, you were struck by a surge of culture and sincerity.... OH! WEST COAST BURN!

Well, our Band of the Week isn't from either American coast, so I doubt they'd care too much about coastal playa' hatin', but they are causing quite the tsunami of aural excitement from coast to coast here stateside. I Break Horses is a Swedish-based duo that plays straight-up dreamy, classic shoegaze. Picking up where superb 90's bands like My Bloody Valentine and Swallow left off, IBH plays simple-but-beautiful songs that harken back to a previous genre that many of us (myself included) miss. Their debut album, Hearts, is now out in the UK via Bella Union and should be out soon in physical form here in the states. If you're REALLY jonesin' to get the whole thing in the US, head over to the iTunes. Oh, and stereogum has another single from the album available for free doanload if you're so inclined. 

PS—Check out the earthquake-related devastation that hit our back yard yesterday.

Journal of the Movement of the World

It's a pretty universal sentiment that some of the coolest toys are the simplest. The simplest of the simple and coolest of the cool have to be wooden building blocks. I can't remember what I did last weekend (no, seriously—why is my head bandaged up and where did this monkey come from?), but I honestly have fond, fond memories of playing for hours as a wee lad with those oh-so-common wooden blocks that were smoothed out into the most basic of shapes—stacking them up, knocking them down, creating and breaking down cities and miniature worlds. Well, these Balancing Blocks make me want to do it all over again. Hand-crafted by Red Hook's product and furniture design company, Fort Standard, these colorful, rustic blocks skillfully balance (hah, get it?) aesthetic wow factor with simple, child-like joy. We seriously want them. Now. Find 'em on Steven Alan's site or get them and many other fine products directly from FS. Now excuse me while I go play with my electric train set.

From the Nest

When we first moved to New York, what seems like ages ago now, we were introduced to the term, "bodega." If you don't live in New York or a largely Spanish-speaking area of the world, you've likely never heard the term. Translating literally to "cellar," in New York City, it's a pretty much universal term for a neighborhood convenience store. For some reason.

Alright, Reader, so you've got that one necessary piece of background information. The other piece: New York is awesome for vegans. But local stay-at-home vegan dad, Eric Hopf, is setting out to make it even more awesome by opening the city's very first  all-vegan bodega. If you're not vegan, you're reaction is probably along the lines of "meh," but to those of us who ARE vegan, we're psyched. So we're more like "YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAH!"

A ton of vegan foodstuffs from all over the world at out fingertips? Super! Dispensing of the need to read the ingredients list for every packaged product? Awesome! I'll shave HOURS off my day. An all-vegan CSA? Sign us up! A brand new deli-style vegan 'meat' slicer? That shit is tight! And they're open to other ideas too, Reader. Check out the project video below and then head over to their Indie GoGo page (it's like Kickstarter) to find out more and contribute to the store's realization. Woo!

Better Late Than Never Music Monday

Class Actress • Keep You
Yesterday we posted a new song by Brooklyn songstress, Class Actress, AKA - Elizabeth Harper. We actually saw Elizabeth play way back when she just went by her name and played nice, catchy folksy inspired acoustic pop music. Stuff your parents would like. It was good. But this is better. 

Harper's taken that same simple, melodic, hook-chockablock writing and translated it to a more electro-based model that's somewhat 80's-inpired but far from stale or derivative. And yes, Reader, I said chockablock. My ONE new year's resolution was to use chockablock more and I'm JUST getting around to it. I know. Resolutions, right?

Harper released an excellent EP last year under her classy moniker and she and her musical partner, Mark Richardson have a full-length debuting October 18th named Rapprocher, which means "to come close to" in French. According to her label, Carpark Records, it's "the soundtrack for a tragic love affair conducted in European discos and New York nightclubs, via smart phone disconnection and jet-lag disorientation, from within the dull opacity of luxurious hotel rooms and anti-anxiety medication." ...we have no idea what that means, but it sounds oddly hot. And if the rest of the record's anything like this first track she's released from it, count us in, Ms. Harper. Er, Ms. Actress?

You can  pre-order the album on CD or vinyl via Insound, and check out the superb "Keep You," this week's Song of the Week. C'est comme les bonbons pour vos oreilles, chers.

Friday Cover Up

Katie and I were lucky enough to catch Ra Ra Riot's show and pirate picnic in the general vicinity of Bon Iver's show in the past couple weeks, both part of the now concluded 2011 season of Celebrate Brooklyn in Prospect Park. I know, right? Summer's FLYIN' by. But, to the point of the post, at both performances, we heard some crazy-interesting cover songs. Which leads us to today's Friday Cover Up—a celebration of five of our favorite recent-ish cover songs. First up, none other than Brooklyn-by-way-of-Syracuse's Ra Ra Riot.

Ra Ra Riot • Hounds of Love (Kate Bush cover)

Truth be told, this totally was not the cover Ra Ra Riot played last Friday—they played an entertaining version of Steve Winwood's Valerie featuring an appropriately screaming solo by Delicate Steve.  But it shoulda been the cover they played. This one's of Kate Bush's 1985 hit, "Hounds of Love," and was performed live in the fall of 2008 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, recorded by Andrew Maury. So, no, not new, but AWESOME, nonetheless and not nearly well-known enough. And singer, Wes Miles, seriously says "Thank you so much" exactly like that a million times a show. Is cute. PS—Welcome to Brooklyn, RRR.

Bon Iver • Who is It (Björk cover)

Okay, this IS the cover Bon Iver—AKA Justin Vernon—played at the bandshell a couple of days ago and, though the recording doesn't quite get across the sheer awesomeness of hearing it in-person live, it's superb. A lovely take on one of Björk's better songs off of Medúlla, recorded live last week at the Black Cat, in DC. Black Cat, Black Cat! 

Computer Magic • Take It or Leave It (The Strokes cover)

Stereogum—purveyor of all things musically awesome—put together a cover tribute to the Strokes' This Is It on the 10th anniversary (10 YEARS?!) of that album's release. This cover of "Take It or Leave It" by Brooklyn's Computer Magic was one of our faves—though the morning benders and Owen Pallett songs are definite runner-ups. You can download the entire tribute over at Stereogum and judge for yourself though. 

Ellie Goulding • Heartbeats (The Knife cover)

Ellie Goulding—who, seemingly has covered half the songs ever written, and covered them well, I should add—delivers a lovely-ly stripped-down version of the Knife's classic, "Heartbeats." I know what you're thinking—"The Kinfe's Web site hurts my eyes." Yes, mine too. And also, yes—José González already did that. But Ellie's SO AWESOME! How could you not love this version. 

Solange Knowles • Stillness is the Move (Dirty Projectors cover)

First of all, in answer to your question, yes, this is Beyoncé's sister, Solange Knowles, covering the Dirty Projectors' "Stillness if the Move," and, yes, it's just as awesome as you want it to be. I don't think a second of all is necessary.

Still cover-starved? Really? Alright, two more items for you—First, check out this newly-released and pretty dope cover of a Ride song Death Cab for Cutie did. And, finally, get excited for the just-announced "Ten Songs, Ten Hours, Ten Days, Ten Years" project that professional champs, Tokyo Police Club announced this week. They'll be recording ten cover songs in ten days, one from each year between 2001 and 2011, the first to be released online August 24. Check out their site for the rest of the details and stay tuned. And good weekend to you, Reader.

Above: Katie and the late, great Ida Malone, under covers.

Pin-Up Pandas

Reader, last month, sadly, we could not bestow you with your regular dose of Pin-Up Pandas. Honestly, it was for your own good—that shit was depraved. I don't know what WWF was thinking that month, but there was just some messed up stuff going on in those photos that we could not, in good conscience, share with you, our valued Reader. August is a TOTALLY different story though. Cute baby pandas AND nut jokes? Win-win, my fiend. Win-win.

Journal of the Movement of the World

File under things to do in New York before the summer ends—visit the Grace Institute at 96th + 2nd Avenue to see Visions: The Personal Images of Contemporary Illustrators. The show opens tonight with a reception from 530 to 8PM and features artist, Marion Bolognesi—who we wrote about last December—among others. Can't wait to see more of Marion's work in-person.

The Find

This week's Find is brought to you by the fine people at Refinery 29 and freelance writer, Alison Baitz, who penned a piece for R29 on eight new print zines that are worth flipping through. Not only are we excited to see a nice 'Print's Not Dead' piece, but Baitz has captured some very noteworthy publications in her write-up. Our fave—Kinfolk, a beautifully laid out magazine from "a growing community of artists with a shared interest in small gatherings." They continue—"We recognize that there is something about a table shared by friends, not just a wedding or once-a-year holiday extravaganza, that anchors our relationships and energizes us. We have come together to create Kinfolk as our collaborative way of advocating the natural approach to entertaining that we love." Pretty cool. And pretty pretty. The first print version has sold out already, but they've done a superb job of replicating the clean, aesthetically alluring, photo-driven pages online, complete with video links. Obviously, we're anti- beautification of bacon and fish-gutting, but the magazine brand itself, art direction, and the idea behind it are all superb.

OOH! Also Found—a really entrancing, beautifully composed piece of pop music (below) via our new best-blog-friend, Electric Panda, by Australian artist Gotye. Check out EP's write-up the artist and track on his blog.

Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra) by Gotye

Music Monday

GOBBLE GOBBLE • Lawn Knives
I remember way back in the early nineties, sitting down in homeroom in my rural Virginia high school and being introduced to "techno music" by one of the many stalwart correspondents of our morning Channel One program. It may have even been Lisa Ling, for all I can recall. Point being, though I was fairly familiar with the semi-electronic and keyboard-driven music of early nineties 120 Minutes mainstays at that point, this full-on computer music was a whole new hat for me and something I wasn't necessarily into quite right away. I mean, how you be cool and screamy and punk and adolescently visceral...behind a computer. No to mention what would have probably been a 500MB hard drive computer with a 5 1/4" floppy and a display that weighed more than I did back then.

But, over time, I warmed to the various genres of music that rooted their instrumentation less in strumming, plucking, hitting; more in 1's and 0's. I think I have Björk and the early Morr Music roster to thank for that largely. Which may explain my fascination and wholehearted love of the more glitchy, start-stop, swell-fade, emotive electronic music. So I was 100% BLOWN-AWAY when one of the various DJ's I share a room with more often than not on turntable.fm played this week's Song of the Week, "Lawn Knives," by a band called GOBBLE GOBBLE. 

Truth be told, I had heard mention of the band on the wonderful ohmyrockness.com back last summer...but was immediately turned off by the name. I know. Shallow, yes, and my loss, again, yes—but it's a known and accepted prejudice I have in such situations. It's what kept me from truly liking Archers of Loaf and Superchunk for so long in college.

The band is the brainchild of ex-hardcore singer Cecil Frena—originally form Edmonton, Canada but now based out of the San Francisco Bay Area—and it blends the best of glitchy electronics with catchy, poppy, emotional song-writing, pulling it safely far from any of that washed out, cold, sterile electronic music that tends to get boring quicker than you can say "vintage drum machine." Check out that photo, for god's sake. These dudes will straight up fuck up your house. 

Some of GOBBLE GOBBLE's songs can veer a little close to the overly abrasive for my tastes, but it's all totally original and most of it's superb. Honestly, hearing "Lawn Knives" and some of the other better tracks ("Boring Horror," "Wrinklecarver") reminds me of the first time I heard Michael Angelakos of Passion Pit prior to band-ing up—less in terms of having a similar sound, more in terms of having a musical energy that's ready to burst from the speakers and out of whatever self-impossed confines currently exist. You can hear more songs and purchase tracks from GOBBLE GOBBLE via the band's bandcamp page. Along with a bunch of WEIRD album covers.

...judge thee not a band's whack name and cracked-out album art lest thee miss out on some super-hype music....

UPDATE: Craziness. As per the commenter below, our band of the week—Gobble Gobble—literally just changed their name right around the time of posting to Born Gold. Coincidence? Direct result of our post? I mean, PROBABLY the latter. We're drunk with power! DRUNK WITH POWER!!! Born Gold also seem to have posted shows on their new splash page (they'll be in NYC for CMJ) and they've announced they'll be releasing their debut LP via Hovercraft/Crash Symbols on September 20th. But you can pre-order the limited edition vinyl at InSound now and get immediate MP3 download. Cool? Cool. You can see the announcement here and preview on of the new tracks (BE WARNED: It's auto-play). GOBBLE GOBBLE IS DEAD! LONG LIVE GOBBLE GOBBLE!