Click here to view the embedded video.

since i’ve already posted one video this week, why not post another – here’s an adorable short film by luke snellin entitled “mixtape” (both art forms happen to have a special place in my heart). i saw it a while ago but thought of it again when i came across an article mentioning spotify, the application that i used to make anonymous mixes for my neighbours back in sweden. this time around a swedish guy used the inbox function and a bit of creativity to create a poem for his girlfriend. perhaps the music itself is not the main focus here – not often will you see fleet foxes and chamillionaire in the same mix – but it’s a sweet gesture nonetheless!

ps. if you look at the picture frame rattling on the wall, you’ll notice that it’s the cover of little dragon’s first album. and this post has come full circle :)

at long last, the 25th and inaugural collaborative edition of ten minutes is up!!! kyu will be making his beautiful illustrations available as desktop wallpapers on his site, but the section doesn’t seem to be up yet – so for now, email either of us and we shall send the file your way.

several weeks ago i decided to initiate part two of my neighbourly music sharing experiment. now that i’ve moved to a new place, i figured that i should try a new medium as well, so this time around i made a playlist on spotify instead (which is basically like itunes but you can stream all the songs on the program for free). i scraped together a pull-tab ad where each tab is a link to the playlist, then placed the ad next to the laundry room booking board – the one common area that everybody accesses in this apartment complex. i didn’t expect anyone to take them but they were all gone by the time i checked back a few days later! i added another sixteen tabs afterwards. i hope whoever took one enjoyed the music :)

and speaking of music, there’s only nine days left to stream to my mixtape club mix… give it a listen if you haven’t already!

hallo! alles goed? i just came back from yet another excursion, this time to the netherlands to attend an iconography and film studies symposium in utrecht. while i was away though, my contribution to the mixtape club was released (i’ve kept it secret for a month or so now) :) it’s a bit like ten minutes, but not completely, because there are nine other lovely contributors to this project – please give them all a listen! many thanks to brian and micah for letting me in on the fun!

when i was home for the holidays i met up with kyu for coffee. we had a laid-back chat about art, ideas, design, everything in between… and just as we were about to head our separate ways, he presented me with the gorgeous print you see above! thank you so much :) true fact: it started to rain the moment he took the print out of its bag to give to me. the vancouver sky has a wicked sense of timing and humour… (ie. winter olympics  in a few weeks and there’s no snow on one of the mountains)

i am also verrry excited to announce that, starting with the 25th edition, kyu will be my newest collaborator for ten minutes! the project began exactly a year ago and i’ve kept it relatively low-key because i wasn’t really sure what direction it was heading towards. one year later and i’m still not sure, but that’s why i love this project so much… the heart of it is just a nebula of sound, it grows organically, without restraint. i do hope to explore further though the dialogue between music, words, thoughts and imagery, and with kyu’s artistic input this promises to be an adventure of substantial creative proportions. can’t wait to see what comes of it all. here’s to another fun year of ten-minute mixes!

hejhej! hope you’ve all been well during my unplanned blogging hiatus – my extended holiday break is almost over and i’ll be back in sweden by the end of the week. until then, here’s some amazing bronica medium format photography by maria luisa morando to tide you over… also be sure to give the new edition of ten minutes a listen, if only because it’s the first of the new decade :)

i realize that i haven’t been keeping up with my mixtapes, but i have one for you now :)

this is a collection of songs loosely inspired by my experience of winter in sweden thus far… the sounds, the atmosphere, twilight at 4 pm today. above me  were long strands of magenta clouds traversing the blue hour sky, and just behind that was the moon, bright and hazy, a headlight in the fog. there was a different coloured glow everywhere i looked, and everywhere i looked became part of a dreamscape.

track listing

musette – 22 december
ossian ekenger – christmas in july
esbjörn svensson trio – i mean you
jan johansson – as time goes by
tvärvägen – september
jens lekman – run away with me
detektivbyrån – kärlekens alla färjor
the mary onettes – explosions
club 8 – love in december
hajen – scapegoat

Click here to view the embedded video.

what i’ve been listening to lately (gotta love the swedish music scene)

so it seems december is creeping up on us much faster than expected… which also means that my week-long trip to london is near! i’ll be taking a short course at central saint martins from the 14th to the 18th, having cancelled all other major plans for november and december to save up for this course. i simply cannot wait to be back in london after a 6-year absence, to experience the city in full holiday spirit, and to be a student (of sorts) at CSM.

i probably won’t have much time outside of class to wander around but if you have any suggestions of things to see, or if any of you are in london at that time, do let me know!

thanks for all your sweet comments last post regarding my curatorial aspirations – who knows, maybe i will end up doing something of the sort, someday :)

in the meantime, i have music for you! this time though it’s a televised concert by the bobo stenson trio. it’s not only a feast for the ears but  one for the eyes as well, as you can tell from the screen caps. my favourite part is when the percussionist (jon fält) starts using the resources around him to create a rhythm (49:26). must have been so much fun…

side note: i’m not sure if the video is available for streaming outside of sweden – if not then i’m sorry!

i’ve been here for a week or so now but i still haven’t met many of my neighbours yet. partly because this is an apartment complex and not an international corridor, and partly because i don’t bump into them very often. so a few days ago i decided to spread some love anonymously via my itunes library. first i renamed it…

….then i made sure people within the vicinity of my apartment could access it through the shared library option. ever since then, every time my itunes is open, someone connects to my playlist – and every time i go to quit itunes, it prompts me that other users are still connected. i end up leaving itunes on not because i’m listening to music, per se, but because someone else might still be listening to it upstairs, next door, or maybe across the courtyard.

it might be a silly project but it makes me happy to be able to share my music, and i hope the music makes whoever is listening happy as well.