Here are some songs to listen to if you are falling asleep:

If you don't know what to do on a cloudy Sunday afternoon in London, visit the Somerset House in Charing Cross, for the Rene Gruau exhibition. It's on until the 9th of January 2011.
He was a fashion illustrator and he did illustrations for magazines, parisian clubs and also collaborated with Christian Dior on many advertising projects in the 50's.
He is one of my favourite illustrator; his drawing style is minimal but striking, delicate and strong, sophisticated and timeless. For a man I think he has a very surprising and feminine drawing style:

Let's go back to the 90's with"Around The World" from Daft Punk.
The clip was made by Michel Gondry. I remember watching this video on TV when I was a kid, I found it so bizarre & hypnotic:


It's amazing how modern their stuff are still 10 years later!

"The Age of Adz" review

Sufjan Stevens new album is finally out.
For impatient people like me, I've already listen to it on NPR's website which offered a free streaming of the entire album.
You will love it or you will hate it. It's very different from what he has previously created with his album "Seven Swans" or "Illinoise".
It will definitely surprise your ears and your concentration, so leave what you was doing, sit on you sofa and turn up the volume.
The backing vocals are still there, but banjos, intimist and peaceful folk ballads are gone. This album is anger, passion and madness.
Sufjan has taken a completely different orientation with "The Age of Adz", using synth and electronic sounds for a schizophrenic, dynamic and pop effect.
It's busy, complexe, mad, possessed. You will need more than 1 listen to have a point of view of the album and adapt your ears to these suprising sounds.

 "I Want To Be Well" - "Vesuvius" - "I Walked" and "Impossible Sound" are particularly awesome...

"(...)I remember once when I was a kid and I was showing an interest in art and music, and my dad sat me down and said, ‘All art comes from the dark side,’" he said.
"He said the dark side isn’t evil or bad but that’s where it resides, and if you choose a creative life, then you’re choosing to reside in the darkness." He paused. "I don’t know where he’s getting that from. Maybe he was high or something. But that really has stayed with me."
- a Sufjan Stevens interview from the New York Times

I discovered Ernst Haeckel's illustrations by doing some research about "Art Nouveau", a movement in the history of Art characterized by organic, especially floral and other plant-inspired motifs, as well as highly stylized, flowing curvilinear forms in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I particularly like this movement and I'm amazed by Ernst illustrations, they are so detailed and subtile. He was a scientist and an inspiration for many artists from the "Art Nouveau" period.

Funny bat faces below. I would be scared if they were my friends.
All illustrations comes from the book "Kunstformen der Natur".

The National

Do you know a band called "The National"? It's an indie rock band from New York and they've collaborated with Sufjan Stevens on their album "Boxer" (2007) below. Matt Berninger, the singer has a deep voice - perfectly accompagned with beautiful instrumental arrangements. It's melancholic, dark and beautiful. You should listen to their songs "Fake Empire" - "Mistaken For Strangers" and "Start A War" from the album below.

They've also released an EP in 2008 "The Virginia EP" which comes with a documentary called "A Skin, A Night" and filmed by Vincent Moon, the creator of the amazing music platform "La Blogosphere". This EP is a little gem. Check the beautiful "Whithout Permission" song on your Spotify. This song is puuuure beauty!


I find their album cover absolutely beautiful - in line with the dark and pure atmosphere of their songs.
I saw them at Elysee Montmartre, maybe 4 years ago. Really good.

Jason Munn & the indie rock bands

Castanets album cover designed by Jason Munn and released on the Asthmatic Kitty label. A band you must listen to and an independant label you must discover. This album cover reflects perfectly the atmosphere of this album, cold and dark like a morning in Winter.

Sufjan Steven's gig poster designed by Jason Munn. I'd say these posters (on the top) reflect very well the music of Sufjan Stevens. His music is a bundle of instruments and orchestration. On stage he plays with 5 to 10 musicians and he's also part of the Asthmatic Kitty label.
But you can maybe listen to his songs: "Sister Winter" by looking at that poster or "Chicago" by looking at the next one (the clouds) which demonstrates something celestial. 2 completely different songs, one dark, one dynamic and positive like these two posters.

Conor Oberst is another very talented kid known to be part of the band named "Bright Eyes". We can imagine the musician with the hat on the poster playing some nice folk songs and telling us stories coming from his life and imagination...

I find Jason Munn's work so well composed, minimalist but with strong images. He nicely plays with the colors, the typography, the icons. The results is poetic and modern.

He started a design studio in 2003 "The Small Stakes" and his work is mostly focused in independant music. His posters became a fixture in the local independant music scene.