More slices of vinyl

I forgot to include one photo in my previous post, so I thought I might as well snap another batch.

Been listening to pretty 7″s

Hood – The Lost You (Domino)
Best Coast – The Sun Was High (So Was I) (Art Fag)
The Lilys – Which Studies the Past? (Ché/Sub Pop)
Flin Flon – Swift Current (Teenbeat)
The Members – The Sound of the Suburbs (Virgin)
The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Hide & Seek (Candy Floss)
Pavement – Father to a Sister of Thought (Matador)
My Life Story – Sparkle (Parlophone)
Ivy – Don’t Believe a Word (Seed)
Novak – Boy Scouts of America (Kitty Kitty)
Frànçois/Ray Rumours – Forest Songs (Stitch Stitch)
Plone – Press a Key (Wurlitzer Jukebox)
Kicker/The Butterflies of Love/Comet Gain/Airport Girl – More Soul Than Wigan Casino (Fortuna Pop!)
Stereolab/The Cat’s Miaow – split (Wurlitzer Jukebox)
Vera November – Red Dream (Too Pure)
International Airport & Teenage Fanclub – Association (Geographic)
Hofman – Ladies on the Way (Vibrations From the Edge of Sanity)
Cornershop – 6 A.M. Jullandar Shere (Wiiija)
Urusei Yatsura – Siamese (Ché)
Melody Dog – Cassie (Seminal Twang)
Les Calamités – Vélomoteur (Polydor)
Thee Headcoats – She’s in Disguise (Birdman)
The Wendy Darlings – Not a Match Made in Heaven (Marineville)
Anorak Girl – Plastic Supermodel (Damaged Goods)

Record of the day: Blur – 13

Arthur’s drawings

Check out my little cousin’s drawings here. Arthur is 15 and he has been invited to the famous comics festival of Angoulême thanks to winning a young talent award. I can’t wait to see more of his drawings, I think he’s very promising.

Record of the day: Camille – Ilo Veyou

Listening to music with Baby around

Having a baby at home has changed my habits when it comes to listening music. Now way I would stick to lullabies, but I can’t listen to anything at any time. I’m not sure P. would be into say, Fugazi or The Stooges for now.
My record collection now sort of falls itself into several categories:
- the music I can put on with P. around, when I’m feeding him or when he’s playing (poppy or folksy stuff, gentle sounds)
- what I prefer listening to with headphones on while he’s alseep for fear it’s a bit too much for him to take (more complicated, psychedelic or moody things),
- the music I can listen to loudly when I’m alone in the car or in the bathroom (less ‘sophisticated’).
Of course I will want to expose P. to varied sounds, but gradually is probably be better.
Not having the time to listen to a lot, I have become extremely careful of what I pick to make the most of my listening time. It means a more focused approach on music. Less time for second raters. Not listening as much to bits and bobs /people’s suggestions on the computer as I used to. It does not mean I won’t try anything new, but not too much at once. Resisting the siren call of Spotify. Choosing which albums I ‘accept as friends’ in my little circle. Also, finding the perfect album for the perfect moment is something I’m really after, and it’s very satisfying.

Rollerskate Skinny – Horsedrawn Wishes (through headphones!)

Favourite Winter outfit

Record of the day: Autour de Lucie – L’Echappée belle

A French education?

Yesterday on TV, American journalist Pamela Druckerman was promoting her book untitled French Children Don’t Throw Food / Bringing Up Bébé. She has lived in France and thinks French children are better behaved than american kids. Here is an article about her controversial book.
I wasn’t really aware that we French had a particular way of raising children, but come to think of it, I often found myself more strict than most blogger mums from various countries who share about parenting, but this way of doing doesn’t seem strict to me, just normal. I would be curious to read that book, not to say we are the best or anything like that, but to understand which are the main differences in education.

Record of the day: The United States of America – s/t

Sorry

I’m really sorry not to have replied to some of your comments. My spam detector sometimes mistakingly places non-spam comments in the wrong folder. When this happens, I’m not aware of the comment, so it’s not validated and replied to. I’ll try to fix that, and until then I will check the folder on a more regular basis. Have a nice evening!

Record of the day: Tenniscoats – Papa’s Ear

Canvas tote bags

A small but growing collection…

Record (song) of the day: Lightships – Two Lines

Delicious things vol.7

2 last sweet treats before this space turns into a culinary blog, which wasn’t my intent!

Déclaration d’amour 7 épices by Mireille Oster (Strasbourg, France)

This one looked great, with its icing and orange slices. It is a sort of gingerbread with added candied lemon and orange pieces, aniseed and cardamom. The taste made me think of a cross between German Lebkuchen and French cult biscuits Chamonix! I received a sample of Thé des Fakirs which coincidentally matches it very well.

Turrón de Jijona by Carrefour Selección (Spain)

For those not familiar with turrón, it is a Spanish specialty that comes in 2 varieties. I can’t decide which variety I like best. Turrón de Alicante is the ‘hard turrón’: a rectangle of candy (honey, eggs, sugar) containing whole almonds. This one, Turrón de Jijona is the soft turrón. It also comes in a rectangular shape and is made of the same ingredients but the almonds are toasted and ground. This bar is by a supermarket brand, but from a luxury range with protected designation of origin: very good quality. It must be the richest confection ever, though. You have to be careful when you open the sealed plastic wrapping not to spill oil everywhere. The taste being great, it’s nevertheless worth having every now and then.

Record of the day: Smog – A River Ain’t Too Much To Love

Strollin’

Every day I take P. on a stroll. As I got tired of always going to the same nearby park, I decided to extend the walk. Poitiers is not so great to walk with a pram: the (small) city centre, where I live, is full of cobblestones and roadworks, the pavements are very narrow, and most of all, it is built on a plateau. Basically, wherever you want to go from it, you have to climb down and up long and steep slopes. For a couple of days, I have been taking a 1-hour route to a part of town where pavements are flat and wide and there are few cars. It has a couple of retro buildings too. It does take steep slopes to get to and from, but they’re good exercice for me and I like discovering different neighbourhoods.

Record of the day: Spacemen 3 – Recurring