We’re probably all too young to remember Nipper, the charming little terrier and spokesdog for the RCA Corporation’s phonographs and Victrolas. You can see from his posture that he’s absolutely fascinated by the disembodied noise coming from the bell of the machine. Weren’t we all?

Before 1877 when Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, sound was not recorded. You had to go to the symphony to hear music. From his father (my grandfather, not Thomas Edison’s father), my dad inherited an old Victor Victrola that you had to crank by hand to make spin. It must have been a marvel at the time…and now you just have to click your iPod off “hold.” There are no more grooves, needles or tubes — just electricity. We’ve come a long way. We’re not Nippers anymore because we’re so used to being able to hear what we want when we want to. But for all of the convenience, it’s easy to forget that sound has to come from somewhere.

That’s a long preamble to explain why I like the Phonophonics II from Science & Sons so much (props to Core 77). You connect your ipod—or any other headphone device—to the Phonophonics II and, using nothing but genius acoustic design (no electricity, no “speakers,” no cables), it transforms the whispering buzz of the headphones to a full sound. The Phonophonics II is limited edition, it looks fantastic, and it might just reintroduce you to the physical nature of music. Here’s hoping, anyhow.

–Dan Steckenberg

Every once in awhile, a day comes along when it’s just really freaking hard for a writer blogger to find stuff they’re excited to write about. Sometimes, this kind of day coincides with another kind of day (like the kind when you feel extra stupid and awkward and bad/unbelievable shit keeps happening, like a booger falling straight from your nose into your Americano), and when that happens, you know you’re in for it, and you write posts that don’t do things justice. I am having a day like that today. So, before I write another inadequate summary of something truly wonderful, there’s my disclaimer, and now- assuming that we’re clear on today’s state of affairs, I’m going to tell you about the design portfolio of Kilfish. The number one reason you should check him out is for the beauty of the site itself (delicious use of flash and fish-headed pin-up girls); number two is the variety of very well-developed skills (dare I say, mastery?) demonstrated in his portfolio; and number three is actually number one again- but with more emphasis on the part that said “fish-headed pin-up girls.”

…And that’ll be all from me today, folks, because Kilfish’s amazingness is largely self-explanatory.

…And I have to go strain my mother-&%#$@ coffee.

I can’t tell you about the entirely frustrating battle that my garden pavers and I had against these mutant, pain-in-the-ass dandelions back in California. It didn’t matter what I did — sprays, praying to whatver gardening gods would listen, digging up the whole deal and repaving it — they’d always come back. It got to the point where I gave up and eventually, despite the pollen, it ended up being kind of pretty. Not nearly as pretty, though, as these interior weeds*, which are a rather lovely dichotomy of pest and decoration. No word on how — or if — they are available for purchase, but would make for a fun DIY project, if you’re feeling so inspired.

via NotCot

Last Thursday, I wrote about the new issue of If You Could, the ongoing project that asks artists to answer the question “If you could do anything tomorrow, what would it be?” There are still copies of this book up for grabs, but in case you’ve been searching for more from these artists/designers, prints of the amazing images from issue 2 are now available on limited-edition giclee. They’re are only available through the end of July, and are going for a nicely reasonable $65. I just spent sort of, uh, a long time looking through every single one of them, and they’re mostly miraculous, so if you’re in the market for some wall saviors, go here first.

We like spoofs, particularly ones that involve pretty websites and things we’re madly in love with…like Apple. While we’re not exactly sure what possessed SBD (who by all accounts should be terribly busy with their nice list of clients) to turn the napkin into an iSomething, we are pretty sure that it must have been something a little holier than your average demon, because the iDea site is just plain awesome. And plain silly. And we’re not going to spoil it any further. Just go.

Both Carmel and I are rather fond of Nathan Willett, the lead singer of Cold War Kids. By “rather fond” I mean “completely lose our shit over him at least once a day via IM because we are utter and complete dorks,” but whichever way you look at it, we love him and that band unconditionally. The first time I remember feeling this way was listening to Thom Yorke and Radiohead’s OK Computer, which was released ten years ago (!!!) on July 1st. I know there’s a generation of musicians and fans alike whose careers and lives were shaped, inspired and changed by this album — including our boy, Nathan — and there’s a reason it’s on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Definitive 200 list.

It’s flawless.

Some purists may argue that covering such an album is sacralige, but the kids over at Stereogum beg to differ. In celebration OK Computer’s 10th anniversary, they’ve compiled OKX: A Tribute to OK Computer, featuring twelve of their most favorite indie bands and artists, including Slaraffenland (”Paranoid Android”), My Brightest Diamond (”Lucky”), Marissa Nadler (”No Surprises”) and, of course, Cold War Kids (”Electioneering”) covering each track of the classic album, forging an eclectic mix of emotion and intensity. The album and liner notes are available for download — free of charge — over at Stereogum’s OKX page, and additional tracks and b-sides will be made available throughout July. Full track listing after the jump.

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