Tomorrow…..is June 1st.

Which means…..it’s time to sign up for the Happily Handmade Giveaway! This is something that the nice people at Happily Handmade do roughly four times a year, with independent artists and designers from all over the place. This time around, I’m happy to say that a few lucky people will be walking away with things that *I* made. That could be you!

So, go and enter over at the lilybug site, because I know we *all* like free things….and I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you win something cool. And if you’re looking for something new to check out, take a look at the rest of the awesome people participating, below.

• Film-Can has shut it’s internet-doors and won’t be coming around any more. I feel like I’ve just broken up with the movie-guide! Anyone have any suggestions on where to transfer my film-affection?
• World Beats & Eats is coming up on Friday – a *live* version, which will be sure to entertain. Social is apparently going to be cooking up delicacies throughout the night (so there’ll be no more of the insane lineups for food from last month), there’ll be a live band, and live performance art. $15 at the door. COME OUT.
• I am *still* addicted to Making Fiends, and have been singing the vegetable song over and over in my head since Saturday. Argh….crazies.
• Now that I sort-of know how to knit, I want to make this Devil Horn Cap. Because who wouldn’t want one?
• This Fresh Apple Salsa looks so yummy I could eat it all day. Except I’m allergic to apples. Boo. But I highly recommend the blog itself. 101 Cookbooks always has something yummy going on.
• This is dorky, but I almost want to say “screw iPod cases – get me an iGuy!” because he’s so damn cute.

until two weeks ago, I had never heard of efterklang. I certainly wouldn’t have been able to spell it, had you asked. And I wouldn’t have said, instinctively, that I would like them. But I do. Oh, do I ever.

Prompted by a CD swap that included other artists I’ll talk more of later on, the efterklang cd, if interest was driven by album art alone, is fascinating. Two leaves of the paper casing are devoted to tripper-stick drawings – standard arms and legs with the ‘bodies’ filled in by various artists. They’re gorgeous.

The album itself could also be described as gorgeous. Efterklang is a 10-piece, Copenhagen-based band that could best be described as symphonic and shimmering – whispery vocals, smooth strings, ancient piano creaks, lush noise. The name essentially means reverb – literally translated as ‘afternoise’. It’s like music reduced – there is no compulsion to have everyone playing all at once, or for noise just for the sake of noise. The sound they produce is full-bodied, often reduced to just beats with no vocals, or whispery lyrics with slow lush beats to match. At one point, they bring in an entire choir to do some orchestral vocals and they’re so good it sounds as if there is only one person singing, echoing.

If you had to draw comparisons to other bands for a frame of reference, I’d suggest lamb meets symphony orchestera, meets radiohead, bjork, and stars. But even that will probably not give you a good indication of what they’re really like.

I’m sick today, so this is short and sweet. But give them a listen if you have the chance. It’s well worth it.