Third World Bling Bling

Kali Arulpragasam is M.I.A.'s very talented sister who designs jewelry under her brand Super Fertile.

Her summer collection depicts the cultural bright spots of countries currently affected by war and terrorism.

The New York Times did a brief about her jewelry this past weekend. You can see more of her excellent work at the Super Fertile website, including better close ups and more countries.

I was hoping for a necklace of Iran, but didn't see one. I totally dig the Iraqi muscle men earrings.

These pieces are so lovely. They remind me of vintage children's encyclopedias. They're priced from $800.

Outta This World

It kinda seems like everyone's most anticipated albums came out last year. So what's there to look forward to? Here's a couple ..

Glass Candy is my favorite band of the past few weeks. I got into them after reading Fluxblog's great write up on "Beatific," which is one of the best electro tracks I've heard in a while. It's a little bit of "Into The Groove," a bit of Blondie's "Rapture" and a dash of PJ Harvey's "Down By The Water."

Ida No has an amazing vocal presence. She takes you back to a different time. Johnny Jewel works those vintage synthesizers like you wouldn't believe. This is glam electro at its best. And to think they're from Portland!

I purchased their B/E/A/T/B/O/X album and the After Dark compilation at Amoeba Records two weeks ago, which was kind of miraculous because I thought these albums were both available on their tour only.

All these great tracks from Glass Candy, and their official album is still to be released this year.

Also, Cut Copy, the Australian electro rock band which released one of my favorite tracks from last year, "Hearts on Fire," is set to release their new album In Ghost Colours. They have a video for their new single "Lights and Music" which is wonderfully produced by DFA and just as addictive as "Hearts on Fire."

I think Cut Copy foreshadowed the revival of 90's house from last year. They sound a bit like New Order and Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr's Electronic project. You can download Cut Copy's free new mixtape So Cosmic, which includes a bunch of their new tracks, at their website.

I've also been listening to DFA Record's reissue of Pylon's Gyrate Plus, which has left a bad note in my ears since I got into a minor car accident on the freeway while it was playing.

There's a great Britney Spears bonus track called "Outta This World" which is much better in its demo version than the official Target special edition version of Blackout.

Did you know Britney Spears did a track with DFA? It's not bad .. but it's not good either. In case you're wondering, cowbells are included.

Fitter, Happier, (Older), More Productive

I turned 28 today. I spent it wandering around the Ferry Plaza with my mom and sister. I got a 12" record from my brother, Bloc Party's "Flux" single with a remix of "Where Is Home?" by Burial. I'm not a fan of dub step, but definitely curious to hear what it sounds like.

The photo is of me and my cousin's dog Mooshie on Christmas Day a few weeks ago. Mooshie means 'like a mouse' in Farsi. Yikes! My eyebrows look pretty sinister.



I've been really into El Perro Del Mar's debut album from over a year ago. It's melancholic yet hopeful. Lines like "God knows, I've been taken a lot without giving back" and "You've got to give to get" are so simple and beautiful. It doesn't drive me nuts that she repeats them for a good 3+ minutes. There's a sense of catharsis when you repeat phrases that you should follow, but somehow still neglect.

She has a new album coming out at the end of February, and I'm glad I had time to catch up on her debut. It's the perfect soundtrack for these crazy January storms we're getting in California.