The week Steven was forced to begin drawing cows

 

 Why the cows, you ask?

 

Well, they certainly have little (or nothing) to do with the music in today's post. And before you write me to say how much you hate them/love them, let me just tell you a little about the how and the why of said cows.

 

As a blogger, a music blogger that is, there are essentially three ingredients needed to bake a tasty post. 

 

 1. Music. So this is pretty much how it works: when a band is unknown and can't get even a gig in a retirement home, they love music bloggers. They want to be our best friend. Buy us beers. Help get us laid. laugh at our jokes. They all want to know 'what's up?' As soon as they sell a few records however, this relationship changes. The same bands who kept harassing enthusiastically writing us about their first single now have a record company lawyer/representative/publicist writing us demanding the removal of said band's new single (or else face legal action).

2. Some vaguely witty banter (or simply a cleverly paraphrased press release) about said music.

 

3. Something in the way of a picture to go with the above. Music bloggers often make this easy on themselves by 'doing a Google' for a photograph of the band in question. Which is nice, you know. You get to see the band. Look, it's the band in front of a white wall! Nice shoes!

We of Letters have no Arms however don't particularly care about how the band looks (unless of course that band is Los Campesinos! And I can't even begin to describe how wonderfully cute they look, what with their raincoats, their keyboards, jumpers and cute hairc.. oh never mind that, but you really MUST read their wonderful blog!)

 

But yeah, so while we do stick respectfully to points 1 and 2, we tend to enjoy doing 3 a little differently. Ideally, we enjoy including something we made ourself, a photograph perhaps, a collage maybe. In doing so we obviously attempt at least some degree of relevance to the post. On occasion, however, we simply don't have anything of our own to go with a post (I just don't have any pictures of babies. I've also never been able to photograph a squirrel!). 

 

Which is when we too 'do a Google'. The problem with this, you ask?

The invisible hand of Blogger, swooping in and deleting posts in which we've used something that is not ours. See, apparently, ownership is required for the enjoyment of others. This sucks. Usually, we simply found something we liked, and wanted to share it with others (i.e. you). We do try and include a link to where we found it, though sometimes we just have nice images lying around on our computer for which we simply have no further information. 

So, to cut a long story short, I decided to attempt making my own drawings (well at least this week), in order to avoid the problem mentioned in point 3. So far I can unfortunately only draw cows however, so bear with me.

 

When not (badly) drawing cows, here's what I've been listening to this week:

 

Dan Deacon - Slow With Horns / Run For Your Life 

(oh look, a cow connection after all!)

  

Wavves - So Bored 

If I ever stop talking about it and actually form some sort of a band, this will be one of the first bands whose idea I'll plunder.

 

Camera Obscura - Forest and Sands

Words can't really express how much I love Camera Obscura. So I won't even attempt it.

If you live in the US, France, the UK or Mexico you can see them in May and June, which I suggest you do! They also have an album coming out soon, which you can preorder here (or here if you're in the U.S.)

  

Flight of the Conchords - Hurt Feelings (rap)

Is there any style these guys haven't perfected? This season alone has seen them do 80s synth-goth, rap, French chansons and Asian nightmare karaoke. Long may the remain "formerly New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo accapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo".

  

Matthew Dear - Vine to Vine

From his rather brilliant 2007 album, Asa Breed.
 

I've also done a little 'donking' this week. I was going to upload one of my 'creations' , but decided to spare you. Perhaps the funnest part of 'donking' is making up new song titles. Total Eclipse of the Donk, anyone?