Jason Munn @ The Curiosity Shoppe

my personal graphic design hero, jason munn of the small stakes, is having an opening/reception for 20 new posters he's designed with InSound at one of my favorite san francisco stores, the curiosity shoppe!  

check out more posters like the she and him poster above this friday, november 21st from 6 - 9 pm at 855 valencia. 

- Annie

Dept. Of Eagles, School of Seven Bells, Kettel, Near The Parenthesis

I consider my way home from work to be one of the most important daily routines in my life. Some people it's breakfast, some people it's laying in bed before miimiis. To me it's the hour or so it takes for me to get home after work. The time on the bus or in the car or walking, is so important because this is where I have time to live life in between. In between this and that is where I let all the stresses and worries flow out of me and I let myself be overcome by music or reading. Unfortunately this doesn't happen with everyone, so I feel fortunate that music has the ability to really purge tensions that have built up. Without this time to myself I'd probably suffer from anxiety and other crazynesses.
My point:
Here are 5 albums you should look into if your the same. These are my current Way Home albums.

Department Of Eagles isn't the answer to the next Grizzly Bear album, but it's damn close. In Ear Park is much more personal and accessible than Grizzly Bear but still feels hand-crafted and well thought out (Daniel Rossen, from GB, made his way back to the band after a few successful years away). The song structures are pretty similar to other bands that hint to a more innovative approach- think, Bowerbirds, Fleet Foxes, etc. I have a feeling that the album is just one or two songs too long, but with a few different vocal styles and music arrangements, the album definitely leaves a great mark in the genre this year.
School Of Seven Bells (named after a pickpocket training academy, dope) is twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza, from On! Air! Library! (great!!) and Benjamin Curtis from Secret Machines. Right now I'm still debating whether or not to see them with M83 at The Fillmore later this month. I feel like the two bands make a pretty decent pair. Alpinisms starts off feeling very much like a warm-up for M83, but starts to get less dense and makes a break for a more Goldfrapp style of pop.
Kettel is on a super cool label called Sending Orbs, so first off, if you like this then go listen to the few others on the label. So far, Kettel's Myam James Part 1 is the most addicting for me out of the 5 listed here. It's mellow and minimal at parts, with super inventive and catchy beats in others. He manages to surprise you all the way through by adding in perfect little piano pieces within the layers, or for instance just after the 4min mark in this track, he throws just a little sax in then continues to change the structure of the song all the way to the end. Very Very good album.
Near The Parenthesis' L'Eixample is so far the best ambient/minimal atmosphere music I've heard this year. NtP is San Francisco-based musician Tim Arndt. When I'm on my way home, I imagine everyone else listening to headphones on the bus is listening to this album and then this beautiful fog starts to creep all around me and into my nose and ears and eyes and pretty soon I'm in another place where the music is radiating from within me and as I walk the fuzz and shifts and tones of the music leave an afterglow in the wake of my body. Uhh.. I'll just say it's in my top 10 this year.
Sighh. The Remote Viewer. This is the only song (of all 10 untitled tracks) I could get (through a friend no-less) off of the new album I Can't Believe It's Not Better. I don't want to have to cheat and just find this album online somewhere but seeing as there was only 350 albums made worldwide, and so far no one is offering this as an MP3 album, I might have to. If you like the song, you'll love his 3 previous albums. Enjoy the song though!

Department Of Eagles - Phantom Other


School Of Seven Bells - Half Asleep


Kettel - Twinkle Twinkle


Near The Parenthesis - The Second Nave


The Remote Viewer - Untitled 01

A New Monday, Popote music

Excitement might be dying down a bit since last Tuesday, so here's some good music to get your spirits and excitement back up for the coming weeks as we watch how Mr. Obama preps for his new position. Junia and I decided to use a few songs that always stuck out to us as songs for change and songs for pushing through hard times.
Obama might have some toddler shoes to fill (I can imagine W's shoe size is pretty similar to his brain size), he still has some gigantic knots to untie and holes to climb out of (with all of us on his back).

Here's 4 songs that come from Popote's history as songs of hope.

Curtis Mayfield's Move On Up was MADE for Tuesday, November 4th. Even though we all knew we were in a bad state, that night was a monumental night in the history of our country. The song is from 1970's Curtis, his first album after leaving The Impressions. Try listening to this song without moving and feeling good. If you can, you have no soul.
New Order is probably my (Andres) favorite band of all time. Perfect Kiss is from 1985's Low Life WHICH IS BEING RE-RELEASED TOMORROW! Those of you into getting all the remastered albums (My fav's are The Cure and Joy Division ones released in the last few years), GET THIS 2-cd. But, you know, only if you believe in a land of love.
Tears For Fears never gets enough credit and appreciation from my generation :( If you can get past the over-played singles Sowing the Seeds of Love and Shout, they have some super cool songs that I know all you kids would TOTALLY love, like this one: Change. This is from their first (and best) album The Hurting (1983). I like the idea of applying the context of the lyrics to our current situation in the country.
Speaking of not enough love and appreciation, U2 is the same. I think it's because everyone only associates them with post- Achtung Baby (1991) releases. DON'T! They were HANDS-DOWN the best guitar-driven music in the 80's. Bands still try to have this sound but don't even come close. Stories For Boys is about having heroes. Our country finally saw one and I know millions of young kids are already being affected by this man.

The awesome portrait of Obama was an honorable mention in National Press Photographers Association best of 2007.

Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up


New Order - The Perfect Kiss


Tears For Fears - Change


U2 - Stories for Boys

Popote Twitter

For those of you twittering! Or is it tweeting? Popote has recently jumped on the bullet train of death that is racing down the techno-evolving-tracks of the future...or something like that.

Follow us!

i'm sitting at my desk at work constantly nytimes.com for election results (woo pennsylvania!). and after all is said and done i think one the coolest things that has come out of this election is the amazing art that is inspired by and supporting barack obama. this lovely  limited edition print in particular is by chicago-based artist cody hudson. so go vote! theres still a few hours to go for us west coasters!

-annie

School Age Notes + TreeTreeTree + Owls Say Congrats

In between busy work schedules, we've managed to design and create three new irresistibly adorable Popote cards! Head on over to our etsy shop to check out the new vinyl greeting cards that have just been added! If you were one of the many awesome people that were able to make it to the Capsule Design Festival, you may have seen these cards at our booth (see pics below!). We got a lot of great feedback, and hope that you all adore them just as much as we do!

And just a reminder, for a few days we had sold out of Sweet Calavera cards, but we've since made more, so make sure to check those out as well!

After we've all voted today (which we hope you all do as well), Popote is getting together to talk about new designs for the upcoming holidays, so we'll make sure to keep you posted.

Happy Voting!

See more pictures of these cards