Music Monday : LOQUAT

If you've ever discussed music with me, you've probably heard me rave on and on about the musical stylings of LOQUAT, an indie band based out of San Francisco. And if you've ever ridden in the car with me or had the pleasure of being in my graces around my iPod (kidding, about the graces thing) then you've probably heard some of their stuff. If not, why haven't we hung out lately?!

Anyway, I'm a huge fan, to say the least. A lot of you have followed my blog (back in the LJ days) and probably remember when Adam (the ex) and I ventured to San Fran for our 2 year anniversary for their cd release show. I did an album art redesign of It's Yours To Keep for my InDesign class in 2008 and I was able to hand it to Kylee herself at the show (*squee!*). Okay okay, I promise I'm not the squealing fan girl type... I'm really not. Everyone in the band was really cool and laid back. It was a fantastic show to say the absolute least. Well, Portfolio class rolled around this semester and without a doubt, I wanted to rehash the designs and work out some kinks. I think all of the changes made were definitely for the best and they show a much more mature design aesthetic.

All of the images, typography and illustrations are hand-drawn by me. I went on to design the entire typeface, including numbers, for my Typography II class and I titled it "Moleskine '09" (since that's where the design originated haha). The opening spread (the lyrics and illustration) are based off of a line in "Swingset Chain" which was the first song I ever heard by Loquat. The entire design is based on the whimsy of that line.

Enough about the design.. this is about music. If you CLICK HERE, you can go to their website and listen to some tracks off of their sophomore album, Secrets of The Sea. There's so much that could be said about their music. Kylee's voice has a certain sound to it... something that was jaw-dropping when I saw them live. I thought for sure it was studio-induced but I was so incredibly wrong. There's a catchy side to their music, too, but not too-poppy. I don't even know how to explain it... I guess the best remedy for this is for you to go listen to it yourself and draw your own conclusions. And then gear up for their third album which they're currently recording because I promise, you're going to be hooked!

Here's where you can find them online:

Website // MySpace // Twitter // Flickr

And here are the designs!

♥ (see full size photos HERE) ♥

I guess I was hoping I could kill two birds with one stone (for the lack of a better phrase) and share my favorite band and some of my designs, since I constantly get asked in my FormSpring to post them. :) Don't be too harsh!

Let me know what you think of Loquat! They're really really fantastic, I promise!

Time for me to rush off to bed. Mike is a sleepy bee!

xoxo

Sarah Winters Music!

"You're my roadmap... You know all of my streets..."

There is something absolutely exhilirating about receiving mail via postal service. Something other than bills, coupon books, and spam, that is. To hold a package or to gently tear open a handwritten envelope... ah! It's just invigorating! Today I was overjoyed at receiving a package in my PO Box from none other than my dear darling friend, Sarah in Minnesota!

While Sarah and I have never met in real life, I cherish her to pieces and I cannot wait for us to both be in New York City so we can go on many random adventures. All in due time.

Sarah sent me her new full-length album, Small Bones, and much to my surprise she included two darling little merch pins and THE cutest yellow-&-pink pen which says "This pen was stolen from a Sarah Winters show. Please return to myspace.com/sarahwintersishiphop" How clever and sweet!

Her album is nothing short of brilliant and I'm not just saying that because she's my friend. She has this gorgeous, almost-haunting voice, something you'd never expect from her petite and adorable frame. It's powerful and it simply resonates. I've had the album on repeat while working on a project for the past 3+ hours.

The album was released less than 3 weeks ago so it's still very fresh and new. While there's not a single song on the album that I don't like, I really really enjoy both Not Mine and We All Take (and Strung, too!) Sarah was so kind to upload and offer to all of my readers the track Not Mine from the album for free download! CLICK HERE to download the track and CLICK HERE to visit her MySpace to hear more!

Small Bones can be purchased via iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon, and eMusic. Physical copies can be purchased by visiting her MySpace page.

And if you don't want to take my word on just how adorable and charming she really is, see for yourself!

Give my little lady Sarah a listen! You will be taken with her in a heartbeat!

Thanks for checking out Music Monday on KaelahBee.com! I'll have a new mixtape for download next week!

xoxo