Hi, everyone! We here at the Indie Handbook have a very important announcement to make. Throughout the (glorious) month of May, we’ll be running a big indie contest, and we want EVERYONE to take part in it. We have some fantastic prizes lined up that I’m not sure I can disclose yet (Eric, I’ll leave that to you), and hopefully, we’ll have some other special surprises to supplement the awesomeness of the contest. I’m actually just kind of throwing the “more cool stuff” idea out there in anticipation that we can come up with other cool stuff, but the prizes are seriously existent and fabulous. But, in order to get this contest up and running, we need some things from you.
What do we need from you?
1. More prizes!! Ok, we will survive without more prizes because what we’ve got is great, but the better and more abundant the prizes, the more fun for you. So, if you are a musician/artist/creative person and you have anything you think would be a kickass prize, let us know!
2. Become our fan on Facebook. This will make more sense later.
Stay tuned–we’ll be announcing the contest and prizes soon. In the meantime, try not to be too bored.
——————————————————————————————————
Now, down to business. I have to admit, sometimes I read things I’ve written, especially things I wrote a long time ago, and I’m really embarrassed. For this reason, I refuse to link to the post I wrote almost exactly a year ago about She & Him and how un-indie they are and how Paste sucks for making the album Best of 2008 and how everyone just likes Zooey Deschanel because she’s cute.
I won’t link to it, but I will tell you right now that I’ve listened to Volume Two and I’ve watched the video for “In the Sun,” (thanks Laura–by the way everyone, Laura’s at an Elton John concert tonight and I am pissed I’m not there), and I love She & Him. You know what? After I wrote that post about how much they annoyed me, and how listening to them doesn’t make a person indie, I listened to Volume One for like 3 weeks at work. I hated Zooey Deschanel because all the indie boys love her, and you know what? I give up. I love her, she’s effing adorable. My god, everything is just coming out, isn’t it?
Volume Two is great, an extension of Volume One in title and sound. Zooey and M. (can I call him M.?) have kept that lovely, melodic, sugary sweet pop sound but have matured in their BGV’s and layered harmonies. I like hearing a bit more of M. and what he can do, and the arrangements/instrumentals are spot on. I mean, let’s be honest. She & Him are like the Fun Dip of the musical world. I can’t listen to it and not be happy. Even the sad songs make me happy. Something about it all seems exaggeratedly simple, almost devoid of the typical emotional connection between the musician and the tunes. If there is even the tiniest streak of confession in this album, it is so heavily veiled that it has little effect on the listener…and I think that quality puts She & Him in a category of their own. Plus, Zooey’s voice is just about perfect.
I’m not going to review the entire album, but I do want to address another thing about that horrible post I wrote a year ago. Here’s the thing…my whole premise for hating She & Him was that people think listening to Paste’s Best of the Year album makes them indie. Eric and I think and talk a lot about what indie is (we can’t really figure it out) and we laugh at hipsters, because gosh, the whole thing just seems ridiculous. When it all comes down to it, we want to listen to whatever the hell we want to listen to, and we want you to do the same. We would just prefer whatever it is to be good, created by talented and creative people who put some heart into what they do, because why wouldn’t you want to be a part of something good? So whatever indie is, I’m sorry for telling you that you can’t be it because you listen to She & Him. Although if you are a hipster, I will still laugh at you.
Next post: Eric, admitting his love for Fleet Foxes. And flannel. Stay tuned.
The Indie Handbook 
lovely post!! 🙂