A leave taking

A video announcing A leave taking, the debut solo album by Bill Ryder-Jones (2011). The forthcoming album was inspired by Italo Calvino's novel 'If On A Winter Night A Traveller'.
In order to listen to 'A Leave Taking Soundrack', press here.
The above video is directed by the very same young photographer/video artist whom Gem showcased here a year or so ago: Adeline Mai.

A soundtrack to a weekend

A music video for 'A Thing For Me' by Metronomy: the band from Devonshire (UK) behind the Mercury Prize nominated album 'The English Riviera' of this year.
The song above is from 'Night Out', Metronomy's preceding album described by the band as 'a soundtrack to a tumulous weekend' (2008).

Li Lately

This is the latest in the series of videos by Lykke Li.
The song, Sadness is a Blessing, is from her recent 'Wounded Rhymes' album.
The man appearing in the video is Stellan Skarsgård, an well known Swedish actor.
Directed by Tarik Saleh.

Songsmiths

Tu Fawning's 'Heart on Holds'(2010) is a project album by two Portlanders: Joe Haege of the '31 knots' and Corrina Repp. The song here featured is 'I know you now'.

Juffrouw Jo

On a lucky day, you may come accross Miss Jo Hedwig Teeuwisse on her stroll through Amsterdam. It is easy enough to spot her. Always and everywhere, she wears period clothing from the 1930s and 1940s (see for yourself in her photostream).
Juffrouw Jo is not alone: there are 80 members and counting in her Club Interbellum.
Jo's years long passion for this historical period eventually led her to invent a dream job for herself. For 10 years already, Jo has been advising clients - film producers, theatres, museums, schools... - on how to visually and otherwise correctly recreate this historical period.
The above photographs feature the interior of Jo's Advising Buro 30-45 that can be found in Amsterdam (Oost) at Tweede Boerhaavenstraat 71-2. The buro also doubles as a WW2 apartment (still in the works): before it is finished, it can be rented as a film location at a reduced fee. The Amsterdamse School furniture originates from the 1920s, the radio from the 1930s, and the magazines from the 1940s.
In the apartment, it is still war.
The year is 1943.

De Batavier outdoor library

This library of 250 ceramic books in the facade of De Batavier was created by Sanja Medić, an artist resident in Amsterdam. It was commissioned by the housing organisation De Alliantie and HVDN Architects in the process of developing a new residential building in Lootsstraat in Amsterdam.
The streets in this neighbourhood in Oud West are named after the Dutch poets and writers, and the titles on the spines of the books are taken from the works of these same authors.

Oerol

We are now a mere week away from Oerol. During Oerol, the entire Frisian island of Terschelling is turned into an off-Broadway stage with a circus atmosphere. Nomadic old-fashioned caravans of art troupes, and an odd art installation here and there, are scattered amidst the grazing sheep and horses. You will find actors on the beach, in the dunes and even in your room or tent.
Act normally. People may otherwise mistake you for an act. They might sit down in a circle around you and wait for your next move.
Bring a hat.