I spent many hours toiling over this one but I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I think the cd is released tomorrow. The music on it ain't half bad, neither!

Internet, you really let me down on this one.

On my second night in Australia I got to sing "Conduit For Sale" with Pavement and this photo is all I can find. What the fudge? No Youtube? Surely this was, and will be, the highlight of their entire reunion tour.



As a backstory, Pavement was my 2nd favorite band growing up. I later ended up playing with Spiral in his post-Pavement band, Preston School of Industry and he has become one of my favorite people of all time so when he (and his now wife) invited me out to Oz for their wedding, I couldn't not go. The Pavement shows sweetened the deal, and well, this moment just toppled everything else on my most awesome moments ever list. It's maybe more awesome in my memory than it would be on youtube anyway...

Cuz why not.

Some old pals of mine recently contacted me because they were in a pinch and needed a band name fast. Their old name, The Afternoons, apparently belonged to some band somewhere else that was none too happy about another band gaining glory under that name. They passed on my suggestions (The Language of Tap Water, The Carriage Lamps, Ears Hung Low, LaBrea Carpets - among others) and went with Shadow Shadow Shade. Not sure who came up with that one but I like like love it. Now that I think about it, Among Others is not a bad name either. Anyway, I've been experimenting with subtle vignettes and shading to make things look prettier and I made this today for fun. I am well aware that these colors are kind of the go-to tones these days, which is a shame because I really like them.



To hear the go-to tones of Shadow Shadow Shade, go to www.myspace.com/shadowshadowshade.

This was one of those projects that started as one thing and ended up as something completely different. Through that process I felt that I had failed somehow and was rather unhappy with the work. It's out in the world now and getting compliments so I will shut the fudge up.

Another something I made.

The purpose of this post is two-fold. Firstly, I am excited to see Califone next week. My cousin is running the projector for the West Coast leg of their "All My Friends Are Funeral Singers" tour so I imagine I will sit up in the projection booth with him and a beer and just enjoy how rad everything in the world is.

Secondly, I am going to try and post more random design work here, starting now. I hate when people announce crap on their blogs and never follow through (and I know I am already guilty of this very thing) but it seemed like it needed an introduction. I am going to try and keep things to 400 pixels by 400 pixels when possible. This is important for reasons you will NEVER UNDERSTAND.

I hope you are well.

For this bonus 7" that comes for free with the Spiral Stairs 12", I wanted to keep the design in the same family but move away from that poor raccoon. I think I did a fine job of finding complimentary, and still controversial, polaroids. No doctoring of the photos was done. These two billboards appeared in real life, a half mile or so apart, in one of my favorite places in the world, The San Joaquin Valley.

Speaking of controversy, the A side features a nice Bright Eyes dig.

I saw Spiral over the weekend and finaly got my hands on the final vinyl. It's super pretty and I'm really happy with the way the whole package turned out. I hope to take pictures soon and post here so that those of you who've only seen .jpgs of the cover can get a feel for the rest of the art. It also comes with a free 7" that I designed as well. Those of you who are offended by happy raccoons will likely also find the "boob" reference on that sleeve something to get all worked up about.

I'm looking at you Album Art Exchange!

For the record, and this may be hard to believe, but I had no intention of creating this cover for shock value. Sure, I figured that it might grab attention in a way that some album covers don't, but there is more of a story behind the photograph than just wanting to freak people out. I'll have to share that someday.

To add some balance to this post, I just received this ridiculously sweet email in my box so (thankfully) not everybody hates me.

"i found real fun in some random bookstore in austin, and i have to say it was the best book i've ever bought. your photography is incredible and everytime i look at these amazing photos, i find something new to appreciate. its absolutely incredible, and if theres anykind of follow up, please let me know as id buy it in a heartbeat. thank you, erika

ps. the cd was also awesome. it introduced me to some amazing music. you (and those bands) rock"

Perfect timing, Erika! Glad you liked it!

The rest of you, stuff of mine can still be nabbed at www.pantylions.com!