I can't wait to see 500 Days of Summer, Zooey Deschanel's (of She & Him) new movie. It arrives in theaters July 17.
I may have initially resisted Zooey's charms when she joined forces with M. Ward last summer, because I love M. Ward so much I couldn't bear to see him not work on his own music. Thanks to Hold Time, however, and the fact that I'm seeing him on July 30th, I'm less bitter now. But no doubt, she's still a real-life manic pixie dream girl. We'll see if the movie features her as one as well.
She & Him - Sweet Darlin'
I may have initially resisted Zooey's charms when she joined forces with M. Ward last summer, because I love M. Ward so much I couldn't bear to see him not work on his own music. Thanks to Hold Time, however, and the fact that I'm seeing him on July 30th, I'm less bitter now. But no doubt, she's still a real-life manic pixie dream girl. We'll see if the movie features her as one as well.
She & Him - Sweet Darlin'
Labels: indie crush, manic pixie dream girl, she and him, zooey deschanel
Last weekend, (Jason and) I decided that Day 2 of Virgin Festival was worth my $90-something dollars, due to the amazing convergence of Andrew Bird, Martin Dosh, Zooey Deschanel, M. Ward, The Go! Team, The Black Keys, Iggy Pop and Bob Dylan at the same place. I'm not sure I'd do it again (Pitchfork is starting to get pretty high on my agenda for next summer), but it was still a good time.The day began with The Go! Team, who were playing for an audience of the walking dead: no one was dancing!!! I've never been a big fan, and consequently had never seen the Go! Team live before. Now, having seen them once, I'd go see them over and over
and over
and over
again. You get the idea.
Ninja has the hottest British accent I've ever heard.
The Go! Team - Universal Speech
We managed to get good spots for Andrew Bird, who was playing with Martin Dosh and two other tour-buddies. I don't think his performance came across as well as I'd hoped with the huge crowd and the summer heat, if I see him again it'll have to be in an indoor venue. He played a new song I rather liked, it may or may not be on YouTube (some guesses: here, here and here).
I also caught a spectacular whistling segment that you can see here.
Andrew Bird - Imitosis
(Reuters)
Imagine this: You wake up a in field full of daisies and Zooey Deschanel, whose name I can't spell without help from google, is skipping about in a pretty baby blue dress and M. Ward is sulking in a corner and this isn't a dream, it's a nightmare, will somebody please wake me up?!?!
I lied, seeing She and Him live isn't exactly like that. Maybe it was Becky Stark who drove me to not-quite-insanity (even though I like Lavender Diamond). And maybe I just was disappointed because M. Ward did, in fact, spend most of the set in the corner of the stage on a separate plane from the rest of the back-up band to Zooey's one-woman-Powerpuff-girl-act. Loving M. Ward as I do, it broke my heart in two.
I think Jason explained the problem with She and Him to a T by describing Zooey as a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, described by The Onion as,
She and Him - Sweet Darlin'
and over
and over
again. You get the idea.
Ninja has the hottest British accent I've ever heard.
The Go! Team - Universal Speech
We managed to get good spots for Andrew Bird, who was playing with Martin Dosh and two other tour-buddies. I don't think his performance came across as well as I'd hoped with the huge crowd and the summer heat, if I see him again it'll have to be in an indoor venue. He played a new song I rather liked, it may or may not be on YouTube (some guesses: here, here and here).I also caught a spectacular whistling segment that you can see here.
Andrew Bird - Imitosis
(Reuters)I lied, seeing She and Him live isn't exactly like that. Maybe it was Becky Stark who drove me to not-quite-insanity (even though I like Lavender Diamond). And maybe I just was disappointed because M. Ward did, in fact, spend most of the set in the corner of the stage on a separate plane from the rest of the back-up band to Zooey's one-woman-Powerpuff-girl-act. Loving M. Ward as I do, it broke my heart in two.
I think Jason explained the problem with She and Him to a T by describing Zooey as a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, described by The Onion as,
"that bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that 'exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures.""Sweet Darlin'" was the last song of She and Him's set, and some frattish boys behind me, desperate to see the ever-late Lil' Wayne, seemed to miss the point of the song. Then they had to wait "just a little bit longer," for an extra hour or so, to see their beloved rapper. Lesson of the day: don't show up late to your own concert.
She and Him - Sweet Darlin'
Labels: Andrew Bird, concert, m. ward, manic pixie dream girl, she and him, the go team, virgin fest, zooey deschanel
I may have previously expressed my dislike for those indie bands with a token girl who plays the tambourine and sings a bit. Neither do I much like actresses turned singers (or the reverse, to be fair). But listening to M. Ward’s recent collaboration with Zooey Deschanel, I can’t help but enjoy myself. Maybe it was because my first encounter with the duo was a live version of “Magic Trick” on KCRW. Another possible explanation: Deschanel sounds a little bit like Jenny Lewis at her least pretentious, a more charismatic Marissa Nadler, or a less troubled Jenny Owen Youngs. And thanks to M. Ward, the instrumentation is perfect.
She & Him - Black HoleShe & Him - Magic Trick (live on KCRW)
Buy Volume One from Merge Records
She & Him's website/myspace
Labels: m. ward, she and him
Give TGH a thumbs up!
