coffeeandirony.org

“We wanted to begin a band that sounded gigantic”, We the Living say on their website, but oddly enough, this 3-member indie rock/pop band from Tennessee mostly crafts songs that are beautifully contained and tender, even wistful. Their website is a little too wordy and cerebral (probably an influence of Ayn Rand, from whose book of the same name I assume they got their name) – their first album apparently is split into “heaven” and “earth” sections and their Myspace page lays forth a manifesto about “spread [ing] the idea that everyone needs a personal philosophy”. Since their music is lucid and unpretentious however I won’t hold it against them. Download their newest EP, “Boom Forest”, by signing up for the mailing list. I just did and the EP consists of 5 exquisite songs. Check out “Left and Leaving” and “Re: Stacks” below.

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You can also check out their website and Myspace page

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Oh yes. Oh YES.

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-Netflix expands to Canada

-Youtube videos/clips/fan MVs are finally legal!! (as usual, about 5 years behind the times). Oh, and hacking your iphone is legal now too.

-North Korea warns it will turn S. Korea into a “sea of flame” – oh, and they fight over Kpop as a psychological weapon

-The Hallyu Wave is getting closer

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I can’t decide if this is more creepy or funny…

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I recently finished reading Josephine Tey’s The Franchise Affair, and it was delicious. Well-done whodunits are extremely hard to find, and a mystery which doubles as a romance with thoughtful bits of social and religious commentary along the way is even rarer. The Franchise Affair is all of these, a thoroughly engaging and satisfying novel about a middle-aged barrister who becomes the reluctant defendant of two women charged with the brutal kidnapping of a young girl. Robert Blair, a lawyer who has been known as “dependable” his whole life, is a particularly compelling protagonist as a man whose sense of justice  drives him to great lengths to defend the women he believes to be innocent. Quick-witted Marion Sharpe, her fearsome mother, and Kevin McDermott, Robert’s old friend and a brilliant defense lawyer, are just a few of the other characters who populate this beautifully written novel. Any fans of Agatha Christie should enjoy this, and I have since discovered that Josephine Tey, a Scot, is a highly-regarded mystery writer whose novels are generally considered classics, but who wrote only a handful of novels and is thus well-known than many of her counterparts in the genre.

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On August 17, 2010 ILLZ along with Hot Mop Films and Kristopher Rey-Talley will be releasing a unique project entitled the “In Between Video Series”.

The project will feature new songs from The ILLZ, which will all be released visually in the next upcoming weeks. The main goal of this project is to prove that simplicity truly is the highest form of sophistication.
This project is unique in many ways. Firstly, every song will be released by the release date of August 17th by way of video without the download option. Then on the date of release every song and video will be digitally packaged and made available for download via TheILLZ.com and online blogs/sites. Secondly, almost every song in this project consists of one verse with no chorus, with the exception of the first release “Dreams of Life & Beth”. Lastly, the videos were met with the same approach. Minimal editing and shots. It was the collective effort and goal of The ILLZ, Kristopher Rey-Talley, and Hot Mop Films to create moving visuals for the songs on this project that embodied the same minimalist approach. This project will provide a series of videos that will lead up to the forthcoming video releases from The ILLZ critically acclaimed solo project “The Pursuit LP”.

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-It’s official: Joss Whedon to direct The Avengers. Yessssssss. (Cover your ears from the geek screams of joy everywhere)

-Television aficionados might be a bit tickled to see Kristen Bell of cult hit Veronica Mars and Victor Garber of other cult hit Alias together in a movie. I know that I am obscurely pleased

-Robert de Niro and Sarah from Chuck have been cast in The Killer Elite

-The Tree of Life, a highly anticipated Terence Malick film, now stars Brad Pitt and Sean Penn and will release sometime in 2011

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“The Weakness In Me”, Joan Armatrading

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