I saw this Portland-based/made/themed movie pop up on my blog roll a few months back, and I really want to see it! Not only is Carrie Brownstein (aka that one girl from Sleater-Kinney and Portlandia) in it, but my lovely James Mercer (lead singer of the Shins) plays a character as well.
The movie is about four different, quirky people who are leading lives that go nowhere… they sort of embark on a mental trip into the unknown of their soul, searching for the meaning of life, while conversing with each other.
Here’s the preview, and I really hope I can see this movie in the future:
Hello there! If this is your first time on the site, be sure to check out the about page at the top for more info on my project! Also, sign the guestbook (also located in the top)!
I know I always talk about the Shins (for a little more insight into why, check out day 17), but tonight I want to feature my favorite song by them.
Whenever I’m in a bad mood, I always put on Chutes Too Narrow and listen as I stop myself from freaking out.
So tonight, with a lot of stress in my mind, I wanted to listen to my favorite Shins song and calm down.
While Pink Bullets is a bit of a downer sounding song, it’s gorgeous and always makes me think of the mountains at night time. Why? Don’t as me… it just feels right.
Hello there! If this is your first time on the site, be sure to check out the about page at the top for more info on my project! Also, sign the guestbook (also located in the top)!
As a journalist, I have to have a favorite magazine… or something to look forward to in my career. But when I moved to Washington, I wasn’t into music like I am today. All I knew was my favorite band was the Shins and that was that.
One day, I went to Borders and found Paste Magazine, which is devoted to indie music, movies, and well, mostly everything around that. It’s really cool and fun to read, and to be honest, it is my dream job! I want to work for Paste Magazine more than anything in the world at this point!
(click here to check out their website)
Anyways, every month they release an issue, and for the most part each issue contained a CD sampler of a bunch of songs that Paste thinks we should hear. And once a year, they release an issue with a bunch of music videos and other things.
In 2006, I got the issue with the DVD, and ever since then I’ve been devoted to those videos.
So, for the next week (starting tonight) I am going to feature a video I found on that dvd! I hope you enjoy it!
Tonight’s video is from my favorite band, the Shins, and it’s pretty imaginative. “Kissing The Lipless” by The Shins features a figure skater and the band back in the day.
Hello there! If this is your first time on the site, be sure to check out the about page at the top for more info on my project! Also, sign the guestbook (also located in the top)!
So today’s blogpost is gonna be short and sweet and Shins filled. Because that’s the way I work.
I wanna feature a song that always makes me smile whenever I hear it! Yes, it’s from the Spongebob movie. Yes, it’s about Spongebob. But it never fails to make me happy.
The song is called “They’ll Soon Discover” by the Shins, and if you’re like me, you’ll want to sing along!
Enjoy! (also, sorry for the poor quality video… it’s mainly just for the song)
Hello there! If this is your first time on the website, be sure to check out the about page in the top righthand corner for more info on my 365 day project!
Today is the day before my last final. So I am stressed out of my mind. But in the midst of all this hot air and worry, I always have my one love to fall back on. And that one love is the Shins.
So, today, I’m gonna do things a little differently: instead of bringing you a website or something, i’m just gonna write a bit about why the Shins really help me out.
The video above is from the movie Garden State (2004), starring Zach Braff and Natalie Portman.
Back in early 2004 (and I mean EARLY), my family moved from the little city of Visalia, CA to the even littler city Sammamish, WA. 2 states away from my whole life.
For the first few months of living in Washington, I had a really difficult time fitting in. I had it rough in California when I was little, but this time I didn’t have friends to fall back on like I did. While I had no trouble making friends to hang with while I was at school, I was feeling the pressure of living somewhere I had only been to once in my whole life. I was scared, sad, and unsure about what to do.
Once I saw the preview for Garden State, I knew I was going to see it. So, while I stayed at a summer camp for 2 weeks, I dreamed about Zach Braff and the movie’s bizarre plotline (yeah, I was a movie nerd back then too). When I got home, my mom presented me with the soundtrack, and that was the first time I had ever heard the Shins.
Of course New Slang was my favorite song on the whole soundtrack, and I quickly began to develop and obsession with the band who sang it: who are they and where can I get more of their songs?!
When the movie finally came out, and I went and saw it, I remember watching this scene and thinking that I might take a lesson from it.
And sure enough, 6 years later, I can confirm this: The Shins have changed my life.
After the rubble rested from my obsession with the movie, I finally got around to checking out a full Shins CD. My dad made me a copy of Chutes Too Narrow and I worshipped it until the CD broke. Literally. Every song, every verse, every guitar riff made me feel at home. It made me feel okay. For the first time since I moved to Washington, I felt happy.
6 years, 1 more CD, five concerts, and 1 account of meeting the members later, I am still here, listening to Chutes Too Narrow as I stress out. But even now, 6 years after listening to it the first time, I still feel the same way. Safe. Secure. Home.
The Shins is my home away from home away from home. And I need them to survive.
Thank you, The Shins, for making me feel this way. Without you, I don’t know who I’d be in this world.
Hello there! If this is your first time on the website, be sure to check out the top right hand corner (the about page) to see exactly what my project is all about.
Hello all. Today is once again a dreary day, however I did find my daily does of awesome, in the form of a collaboration between two of my all time favorite musicians!
Broken Bells is a side project of The Shins’ frontman James Mercer and notoriously awesome producer Danger Mouse. The music is chill, very psychadelic in some senses, and totally boss!
Because today has not been the best, I’ve been listening to their debut, self-titled album pretty consistently. So today I bring you “Vaporize” by Broken Bells!
Life As We Don't Know It 