My friend Sam turned me onto this. Portfolios that use Google Maps coding. From Heavy Backpack:

“…you can replace image map tiles with any image tiles you like including other maps, or more importantly for designers and artist, replace them with portfolio images!”

LINK

Or not. But thought it was a nice distraction from trimming the hedges.

Butterfly

The Sydney Morning Herald has posted a new song from the Ben Folds/Nick Hornby collaborative record that I’m very lucky to be working on. You can check it out here:

Ben Folds/Nick Hornby – Picture Window

Pheonix under the microscope at United Record Pressing.

Nic and I went to United Record Pressing today to pick up lacquers and stampers of The Chocolate Horse record Patience Works! and while we were waiting, were offered a personal tour. The place is incredible.  A bunch of really friendly staff took us through the entire record making process. We got to see stampers being pulled off lacquers, being aligned and prepped for pressing; vinyl being pressed and finished records coming off the machines and stuffed; and the rooms where Motown producers listened to records and slept, since back in the day they couldn’t get a hotel room. If you ever get a chance to visit, I highly recommend the tour. And of course if you’re ever getting a record pressed, they’re pretty good at it.

United Record Pressing

Check the photos. Most are by Nic. I really wish I’d been prepared and had a real camera, but alas, these are all taken on our phones.

Bedroom curtains

Last one. Just wanted to do it with a real camera.

Another attempt at an iPhone shot of the bedroom curtains at 9am.

just a test to see that I can upload photos from my iPhone. ta da.

I found one place where this is still knocking around: the Jimmy Kimmel show with me sitting on Ben’s piano playing the saw. Ben Folds and Inara George (of The Bird and the Bee) perform a cover of Carly Simon’s Bond theme, “Nobody Does It Better.”

WATCH THE VIDEO

Also: The Bird and the Bee

A couple reviews of Brendan Benson’s new record, My Old, Familiar Friend:

• LA Times
• Pitchfork

I played keyboards, horn and saw on this record, and helped write two of the songs. You can buy it here:

iTunes | InSound | Amazon