#post-consumer

my boo fuckyeahstellapeach is so amazing!

their new album is dropping tomorrow!

they have a show on november 15th!

Choosing to reduce your impact on the planet can seem restricting at first. You might feel like you should avoid buying new things as a way to cut back on all the water and oil it would take to make them. The reality is that you can be eco-friendly and get cool new stuff guilt-free thanks to the wonderful world of Etsy, the online craft and art market, which has become the go-to source for fans of handmade and unique treasures. I cruised around Etsy today to see what some of the DIY geniuses out there have come with in term of upcycled products. Here are a few of my favorites...

  Pool Table Messenger Bag by luxfordst Made from reclaimed felt from actual pool tables! $69.                        Eco Coffee Sleeve by SoSheSews Layers of old plastic bags and t-shirts fused together to provide a handy way to avoid using a new coffee sleeve on those days you forget to bring your own mug to the coffee shop. $10.                

Men's Suit Pillow Cover by EmmaDear

A vintage wool suit becomes a one-of-a-kind pillow cover. Classy. $16.

[caption id="attachment_101" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Looptworks Women's Pasar Jacket"][/caption]

There are two kinds of waste:

1. Pre-consumer

2. Post-consumer

One thing that has always interested me is getting some insight into the lives of bands before they got big. There's a great Pitchfork documentary series called Classic, where they profile some classic indie albums, and while the main focus of these tends to be the making of the album, there are some cases where said album served as a catapult to notoriety. The most interesting parts of these docs (to me, at least) are always the beginnings, where you get to see where the band was and what was going on with them before they started working on the record. This Modest Mouse one is a great example.

You can imagine how excited I was to find a recording on Bandcamp from an outlet called Post-Consumer from March 2001 of The Shins playing a place called The Crunk House. Now, I can't say for sure what the Crunk House is exactly, but I'm assuming it is (or was?) a show house, as opposed to a more traditional venue, located in Santa Cruz, CA. Either way, the recording is super lo-fi, but it's awesome to hear the guys play through earlier version of tunes that would become favorites from Oh, Inverted World.

As a matter of fact, Oh, Inverted World would be released later that year -- three months later to be exact, in June. As you probably know, Garden State came three years later, featuring some Shins' songs, really helping propel them into the commercial stratosphere. This Post-Consumer recording is a reminder that even the biggest bands can come from humble roots, touring up and down the coast, playing house shows one year, and then headlining festivals just a few years down the line. As a listener, it's an interesting insight into their beginnings, and as a musician, it's great inspiration.

Below you'll find the Post-Consumer recording of The Shins at the Crunk House in Santa Cruz from 2001. Click through to the Post-Consumer Bandcamp for a free download!

Just back from vacation! Of course, tons of amazing new art was created and shot forth via the digital frontier while I was gone, but I think I'll pace myself with sharing it. Sometimes a news round up feels like the right thing, but these videos and tunes each deserve their turn in the spotlight. So lets start with the debut music video from The Hand To Man Band!

The Hand To Man Band features Mike Watt (fIREHOSE), John Dieterich (Deerhoof), Tim Barnes (Silver Jews), and Thollem McDonas. "Supergroup" feels like a cheap description of them, cuz they certainly stand tall on their own. All the members take their unique approaches to avant-rock and wrangle them together into strange little pop songs. Like 4 mother birds all building the same nest. Maybe :) Whatever the case, you can just check them out for yourself with this hypnotizing new music video. Found footage and original animation are combined for effect that makes some truly gross stuff feel strangely pleasant. Director Marcos Sanchez has done an amazing job.

The Hand to Man Band "The Down Moveables" from Post-Consumer on Vimeo.

If you like what you hear, you can get another The Hand To Man Band song for free via the Post-Consumer label sampler. Their new album is out now via Post-Consumer on both vinyl and digital.

(Video via Prefix, fyi)

Death Songs just dropped a new music video for their song "Let This Body Go". A happy picnic jam, and if you look closely you'll see members of Monster Dudes and Yuma Nora in the video! For fans of Moses Campbell and having fun! Plus it has saxaphone, hell yeah!

The song is available on a free sampler from the label. The sampler also includes the first song shared by The Hand To Man Band (member of Deerhoof and Mike Watt!) You can buy the Death Songs album here.