First: kind of creepy but mostly super awesome eye ring in brass by Datter Industries.
I never wear rings but boy, this ring I would wear!

Second: everything Barbara Fonesca aka Veils & Mirrors creates.
Her work is delightfully colourful and full of fantasy and humour.

Third: Clairvoyance with Lashes necklace in bronze by All For The Mountain.
So in love but so expensive, unfortunately.

Fourth: zines on a meeting and Spaniards by a couple of funny girls who call themselves Cachete Jack.
Probably highest on my wanted zines list right now!

Last: Arc Hammered Brass and White Sea Glass Daggers necklace by Young Frankk.
So simple and effortlessly looking yet so gorgeous.

BUT this I can say: 2012 has been both the best and worst year out of my lifetime. I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done this year if it hadn’t been for a certain special person. I got into a blogging funk too, as I’m sure you noticed, but these past few weeks I’ve had lots of new ideas and hope to keep ‘em coming in 2013! See you there!

For now, here’s a mix of the 28 songs I enjoyed most this year. The majority dates back to this very year but several things are from last year or a lot of years ago. Hope you enjoy.

I have loved clay animation for as long as I can remember but I don’t think any of the animated films I saw before, has ever struck a chord with me as much as Mary & Max did. There are probably no words to describe what an absolute pearl of a film this so I’m just gonna leave you with some stills that will hopefully tickle your fancy. Trust me, you NEED to see this.

And so, this is what our shop looks like! That space right there used to be an office but we’ve temporarily made it into Beste Winkel Ooit (Best Shop Ever) for Christmas. It’ll be there till the 30h of December so drop by now you still can! We’d be delighted to have you.
We have gifts with price ranging from €0,50 to €125 so fit for every budget. You’ll find lots of different things too: from prints, postcards, secondhand and new clothes to a bike, bags and zines. And much more too!

Deets: Karperstraat 26, Gent

PS: I made that tassel garland myself, thanks Rookie!

Buy it HERE for just 1 euro!

And so I discovered about 104, an arts centre of sorts in the 19th district of Paris. As you can tell from the outside photo, it is one huge enormous building and houses lots of different spaces. I don’t think we got to see even half of it, that’s how gigantic it is.
104 houses a bookstore, secondhandstore, café, restaurant, practice spaces, modern museum and more. It’s aimed at everyone and, unlike a lot of similar initiatives, it actually attracts all sorts of people.
The atmosphere is cosy, grand and no-nonsense. And you can actually get a pretty cheap, decent meal at the café. And all of that in Paris! Who’d have thunk it? Not me, in all honesty. A truly unique space (even just for the architecture), I felt, and most definitely worth a visit.

Last three photos by Jean-Louis Zimmerman

And I’m back. Or, not quite. I have no clue in what direction to head with this blog, all I know is that it will be a lot less music orientated. Or well, not as focused on new music as it used to be. New, hype, buzz, all that shit wears me out. And less words, too.

Instead you’re getting the most wonderful art by Dutch collective Park Pardon.
Their work on show at Grafixx (organised by lovely Mayken, a.o.) this weekend not only made me really enthusiastic, it also genuinely made me laugh. I love their creatures and the surprise element in their work.

All photos by Park Pardon

Sam Kklovenhoof: Sorry I was a little late. I was actually just shovelling manure into the garden and lost track of time. A whole truckload. It was crazy.
Owen Hutchinson: I ate the first cantaloupe I grew this summer for breakfast.

How domestic. Onto a more topical question then: have you guys ever felt naked on stage? (as in, when something went wrong / you were nervous)
Shawn O’Sullivan: (laughs) Owen has a good answer,
OH: Hah yes, for a couple shows early on I’d perform naked or as the set would progress remove items of clothes until the final song I was completely nude. Shawn and Sam accuse me of having done this more times than I actually did but often I’d wear nude leggings, which appeared as though I was naked but not actually.
SO: In Naples we got drinks thrown at us because Owen was naked.

Was that something spontaneous during a show or something you’d come up with before playing?
OH: It was based on feeling of audience, venue or level of drunkenness and as a thank you or a fuck you depending on mood.

Basically Owen, you just like getting naked?
OH: Errr… birthday suit
SO: Owen used to get naked way more though, even at non-LEE events but we’ve all gotten a little tamer.
OH: I wear 3 piece suits now. The other extreme. And I cover my face a lot.
SO: To answer an earlier question: in addition to Owen’s literal stage nudity, we’ve definitely dealt with a lot of on-stage panic moments that have made us feel figuratively nude.

Is there a situation in particular you recall?
SO: The tuning on my sh09 going bonkers in Milan in the middle of the set, the humidity of the venue made it go haywire.
OH: That one time in Berlin when my synth just stopped working and I had to use one of Xeno and Oaklanders.
SO: Yeah that was a rough moment. The last show, that Sam and I played, we didn’t get to soundcheck and I had to play without my reverb unit – that definitely made me feel naked.
OH: Not having soundcheck is bad for us it happens all the time because we play a lot of small spaces that aren’t real concert venues e.g. an Ethiopian restaurant in Richmond, Virginia. So we often run into serious problems mid set.

I was gonna ask you the first question in reverse: have you ever thought of the audience as naked to make yourself more comfortable/because you were nervous?
SK: No.
SO: we’re all usually drunk enough that we’re not nervous.
OH: Yes but not to make myself less nervous, just to imagine. And not everyone Like those goggles that let you see thru peoples’ clothes.

Being in a band mostly involves some serious intimacy. Recording an album I reckon things get pretty personal. Did you guys ever come to a point where you felt too much was exposed?
SO: I think we’re all pretty comfortable with each other at this point. We’ve been through a lot, as a band and as friends. Owen and I have known each other for like 10 years and Sam and I were buddies for a while before the band but I guess our friendship really grew out of working together. We get along well. Sometimes we drive each other a little nuts but none of us are huge drama queens or drug addicts or anything.
OH: We’ve seen each other in so many different phases, with so much context around our friendships it is easier to understand and work things out. I feel blessed to have collaborators whom I like so much that hanging out feels as productive and enjoyable as working on music with.
SO: Awww I almost teared up a bit there Owen. Now I feel a little naked (laughs).

(small silence) Are you collectively crying right now?
OH: No, but mirror neurons (the neuron “mirrors” the behavior of the other, as though the observer were itself acting, ed.) are cool.
SO: Whoa I indexed a book on social cognition last week! There was a bunch of stuff on mirror neurons in that.

If you were sent to a desert island naked and you’d be able to bring only 5 items, what’d you bring? Clothes can’t be one of them.
SO: I guess I’d just bring my modular synth and a laptop for internet access because they always have internet on desert islands.
SK: Champagne yeast, a Swiss army knife, neosporin, a flint stone, and a sewing kit.
OH: Solar satellite tv, a masseuse, a nice couch and lifetime supply of chips.

Do you have a favourite part of the human body? One you could write an infinite amount of songs about?
OH: Teeth.
SK: I think for like kids songs or something I could do some body parts but for LEE I don’t really know. I did some instrumentals for a children’s book I wanted to make about the body. I never finished it but I did make a good track for hair follicles. Only the future holds those answers!

Yep, that’s right, I co-organised a festival that took place on Saturday. The whole story began back in February, when Kasper-Jan told Herlinde and I we were organising a festival, just like that. There was no use in disagreeing, and so we agreed. It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster since with especially the last month being very busy but all our hard work paid off cause it couldn’t have run more smoothly!

We almost sold out beforehand and it didn’t take long on the day to actually sell out. The crowd was a mixture of everything and everyone: from young to old, foreign to Belgian. We had Vegan Peasant taking care of the catering and cooking up some delicious foods and of course our artists playing great sets! And on top of that everyone was super nice and grateful (from the audience over the volunteers and catering to the artists themselves). I couldn’ thave been more pleased with the outcome and won’t forget the experience too soon.

Whether or not there’ll be another edition in the future is unclear for now but I’m not sure we could ever top last Saturday. Here are a couple of pictures that capture the atmosphere perfectly:

(Street Gnar)

(Maria Minerva from far away)

(that’s me down there to the right, in the white dress)

(Ruud performing as Tina Sabrina Joyce during Pictureplane’s set)

(John Maus)

I took lots with a disposable too so you’ll see those appear in the next couple of days / weeks.

All photos by Jens Vranckx

The absolutely stunning jewellery by Pichulik.
Never have I been so in love with any necklace as I am with these.
Little pieces of art really.

This awesome zine by Pauline, given to me after the La Sera show two weeks ago.
It’s most definitely my favourite zine in terms of design. Real DIY in the most pretty way.
Pauline writes about music and more in French, request your copy by emailing sn0w_white@hotmail.fr.

 All of Ben Lewis‘ collages.
These are a few of my favourites from his most recent ones.
My favourite kind of art is the one that contains humour so I dig this, a lot.

Thanks to the awesome Miss Moss for linking me to the first and third – credit where credit’s due.