thunderheist

my search for good new music is usually fruitless but one day i came across thunderheist. i'm not going to say that their stuff is for everyone; their debut isn't particularly deep conceptually or lyrically. the electro-beats are pretty good though. if i had to say, theirs is like junk food music but the junk food is really good. they could really bring it to the next level though, if the ripples don't stop at the surface. toronto's own grahm zilla and isis salam in moleskine.

studying: drawing or painting?

i have tried some staedtler brush pens in the past but the nibs are essentially foam dewdrops or something with no bristles. they're decent for some effects but i think i like their results more on smoother drawing paper. texturewise, well, it's not so easy to achieve this (for me, but i could just suck). i should probably just watercolour more but the lazy genius in me loves the compactness of brush pens and i've found one that works for me so far. i wish they'd release coloured inks for it here. it's not without it's quirks as well but the range and precision can't be beat in my books. you judge? above is the pentel. this is with the staedtlers.
also, i don't know what to call these? drawings? paintings? the ink seems waterbased so....watercolours? my ignorance knows no bounds.

annie clark

so i've given st. vincent's latest album, actor, a few listens and the consensus is that i like it. her voice is rather calming and sweet but she complements that with some fairly dodgy and even menacing guitars. i'm usually a bit baffled the display of an artist's face on an album with nothing else but i'm a bit compelled to think that's that part of the whole concept as well. people who know how they look (read: beautiful people showing that they know they're beautiful) usually garner a groan out of me but even this seems a little more than that; more than the not just a pretty face idea too. it's a trap! haha. anyway, i thought i'd experiment with watercolours and this is one of the more palatable results. coincidentally enough, one of the characters she plays in her songs talks about being a watercolour painting washing away. give actor a listen for something different. i will keep on doing so, looking for more arrested development references. annie clark in moleskine.