Hooray For Earth - "True Loves" (Label: Dovecote Records/2011) Rating: 8.7/10

Fans of Hooray For Earth have been anticipating this album for quite some time and now the wait is finally over. It's safe to say they won't be disappointed, either. Last year Hooray gave a taste of their flavor with the EP "Momo", which could have been considered a full album in its own right, and got a lot of people's appetites going. Then they made those people starve for a year.

True Loves is a big sounding album. Big beats and big, synthy blasts create a big atmospheric feel. Album opener "Realize It's Not The Sun" eases us in with an '80s esque vibe reminiscent of Alphaville's "Forever Young" which leads into the grand and sweeping "Last Minute". On "No Love" we get some horns, wavering synths, and heavy bass that stomps through the song on its way to "Bring Us Closer Together" which has a very early '90s feel with an anthemic, hand-clapping, dance-with-your-hands-in-the-air bravado.

While the whole album is a pleaser, it's "Sails" and "True Loves" that are the clear album standouts. "Sails" is a romping jam that builds to a frenetic pace and begs to be listened to with windows down or at a level that will have the neighbors knocking on the door and "True Loves" is a lead-footed thumper that joyfully lumbers around for 5:14 and will probably have you hitting the repeat button.

True Loves closer "Black Trees" ends the album with slower and more sober tones which, together with the opening song, make for nice bookends to a fun and energetic album. Many may will make comparisons of Hooray for Earth's sound to other bands, which is to be expected. However, that shouldn't detract from a big, beautiful, and original album that begs to be listened to over and over.

Photographer: Vivian Maier

Several months ago, when my mom was up visiting, we popped into the Chicago Cultural Center on a whim and stumbled upon an incredible photo exhibition. Most of the photos were taken in the '50s and '60s and were predominantly of people and city streets. The work was by a woman named Vivian Maier who, we discovered, had only fairly recently passed away. What made it all the more interesting was that none of her work had ever even seen the light of day (and may never have) until a man by the name of John Maloof purchased storage lockers that had belonged to Maier from a thrift auction house in Chicago. What he found inside was a giant cache of negatives which led to the unearthing of this astounding body of work.

At the time I could find almost nothing about Miss Maier as there wasn't any published material by her or about her. Now, there is a website dedicated to her work, a documentary has been made about her, and a book of her work will be available for purchase soon. You can find out all about her on the website and in the trailer for the documentary below. I don't remember when I've seen photography that captures the human condition in more stunning detail or with such a feeling of spontaneity. The people and streetscapes that make up the majority of her subject matter tell a very vivid story of what was or might have been going on in that moment in time. There is so much expression and character and feeling in her portraits that you feel like the people could start talking to you at any moment, though, not all of them would be very pleasant or coherent. If you can find the exhibition in your town I highly recommend seeing them in person.

http://www.vivianmaier.com/ 

http://vimeo.com/23604952

Artist of the day: Barbara Friedman

Hauntingly beautiful work by Barbara Friedman. Her sparse and deliberate use of vivid color is really striking.

http://www.barbarafriedmanpaintings.com/paintings_1.html

Awe-inspiring time-lapse by Terje Sorgjerd.

This is some fantastic imagery. Gave me goosebumps. I'd like to have a wall in my house that just has this playing on a loop 24 hours a day. Give it time to load fully before starting or it's jumpy. Also, I recommend viewing it in full mode, but click the little icon in the upper right of the vid to say "Scaling is off" to keep it from being scaled to fit your screen because it will be pixelated and blurry.

http://vimeo.com/24456787

Nature rules!

Popular Science article listing the Top Ten New Species of 2011.

Amazing stuff. Some of the species, sadly, are rare and endangered. Which I suppose isn't surprising if they're just now being discovered.

James Gulliver Hancock and his dream to draw "All The Buildings In New York"

...and I hope he succeeds.

Don't just check out his "All The Buildings In New York" project. He is very prolific and ambitious and has an amazing body of work that you can check out on his site. Really cool stuff.

Coffee lovers REJOICE!

Go ahead, have another. In fact...have 6!

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/05/18/136402267/coffee-lowers-risk-of-deadliest-prostate-cancer