Doug Hream Blunt: Ride the Tiger

Amateur SF-based musician Doug Hream Blunt only made one EP and one LP, which he pressed himself, dropping them off in the “local artists” bins at record stores—but the lucky crate-diggers who gave the pretty obscure records a chance became hooked. The seemingly repetitive riffs and chord progressions, led by someone who never had formal education aside from a group class called “How to Form …

Beirut: Gibraltar

Set in a dreamscape-like, trash-filled version of Gibraltar, with its famed Rock nothing more than a purple landfill, Beirut’s brand new video (for the appropriately titled track “Gibraltar“) manages to be both charming and inventive. The track itself, off of the forthcoming album No No No, finds lead singer Zach Condon’s warm vocals resting atop keyboards and congo drums. It’s the second preview the band …

A Sleep-Inducing Book for Kids

A new book—”The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep”—promises to put kids to sleep by the end of its pages—and not because it’s boring. The book was created by Swedish behavioral psychologist and linguist Carl-Johan Foreseen Ehrlin and uses tricky psychological and positive reinforcement techniques to lull children into sleep. The 26-page paperback is currently available on Amazon and is the first self-published book to …