Handmade With Love
While his music may be heartbreaking, English singer-songwriter Keaton Henson pairs his tunes to whimsical music videos with a DIY aesthetic. After being mesmerized by a puppet-laden take for “Small Hands,” we delved into the musician’s other visual works and found a bunch of beautiful, often dark videos — some with puppets, masks and fabric decorations, others that highlight raw emotions, and all of which take place in rustic settings, contain retro-style videography and open with wobbly typography that we adore. His tying of arts and crafts and music into a lovely bow is not surprising after you find out that Henson also has a penchant for the visual arts — he’s an illustrator armed with quirky ink and pencil doodles, as well as a line of t-shirts. Listen and watch his gorgeous, yet somber music videos for cuts off his debut album, Dear…, after the jump and visit his website for more.
This week, we learned how to make whimsical paper roses, gawked at playful hand-painted guitars, lost ourselves in Edward Gorey’s The Curious Sofa, fell in love with Peppe Tortora’s dreamy photographs, discovered the origins of Peter Rabbit, and geeked out over Caitlin Shearer’s new illustrated fabric. Check out the rest of our little diary after the jump. xo.
SoKo is one of our favorite artists around here. Her sad-lonely-girl songs make dreary days dealable, and feels like there’s a friend there to hold your hand. And while I pretty much love all of her music, one song in particular has filtered through my speakers more times than I can count. Only one problem — I randomly discovered it months ago under an untitled YouTube video. After hours spent scouring the web with no luck, I finally came across the song again, tonight, and this time with a title: “Little Mermaid Man.” It’s a favorite from the French singer-songwriter, and hopefully you’ll enjoy it, too! So, give it a whirl and check out the lighter, live version full of giggles and crowd-bellowed “ooo’s” below. xo.
While Valentine’s Day came and went, Julia Pott created a quirky video in recognition of the holiday of love for MTV’s Liquid Television. Standing at under a minute long, the super sweet animated short features a boy critter divulging what he though being intimate was — before he knew what it was — to his girlfriend. Swoon over the vid, which is embellished with funny, yet insanely cute lines like “You go down on the floor, on your hands and feet…but like a crab,” after the jump.
Composed by a husband and wife duo at Toronto’s Type Bookstore, this adorable stop-motion animation unveils the secret nightlife of books. The short clip dubbed “The Joy Of Books” runs at nearly two-minutes long, and features novels dancing and twirling throughout the closed shop. If this is any indication of the magical stop-motion shorts the new year will bring, then we’re in luck! Book addicts and lovers of all kinds can enjoy the video below.
