“My mother never saved anything except nursing school textbooks, but something made her keep that one box of my toddler clothes. Strawberry Shortcake shoes, crocheted dresses, purple printed bell bottom corduroys. Sometimes something possesses you to want to relive your childhood (the good parts) through your children, and dress them in something you can save for their kids…”

So begins the announcement of Vesper’s new line of hand-made cloth goods on Etsy (a very hip online marketplace for buying & selling all things handmade.) Sounds Familyre isn’t just about music, we’ve got some super talented clothiers too! Many of you are already familiar with the wonder of Mamma-Made (take a look at their new summer line here), but did you know that the beauty, power, humor and grace so evident in the blessed vocal-cords of Vesper extended to her work with needle and thread? These people are so darn creative! Do yourself a favor: click here to go to Vesper’s Etsy shop and see her extraordinary handmade clothing and handbags, as well as Ben’s one-of-a-kind handpainted T-shirts! New stuff is always being added, so come back often, and BUY.

In the meantime, check out some of the pictures from her shop below–cool cool!

We’re here to help you woo!

Featured below is a list of ‘Best Love Songs of All Time’ for Valentine’s Day. So, what are your favorites? Cheesy, poignant, silly, achingly beautiful…whatever you’ve got, bring it on (give us your faves by leaving a comment)!

Take care, folks, and happy Valentine’s Day!

LOVE,

Everyone at Sounds Familyre

Lowell Brams:

‘Andmoreagain‘ from “Forever Changes,” by Love (1967). It’s the prime example of the Love enigma; how could an erratic, drugged- to-the-gills wildman like Arthur Lee write and sing such heartfelt, sensitive love songs, and turn them into classic recordings? I don’t know, but there it is, the song that expressed a love that’s remained with me for forty years- the love, not the person. We tried, but didn’t make it, and neither did the band, which broke up after recording Forever Changes, but the brutal aftermath doesn’t diminish the song’s beauty and the emotions it stirs.”

Ben + Vesper:

“Vesper grooves to ‘Hallelujah‘ by Jeff Buckley, but Ben loves ‘Someday We’ll Be Together‘ by Diana Ross and the Supremes, and ‘Mad About You‘ by Belinda Carlisle. Yes, he’s a softie. He gets all melty when he hears those. Ben also loves ‘Bonnie and Clyde‘ as sung by Bridget Bardot. We remembered that because as we were browsing Belinda Carlisle’s ouevre, we saw that she came out with a version of that song on an _all French_ CD last year!”

John Ringhofer:

“Kenny Loggins & Stevie Nicks: ‘Whenever I Call You “Friend“‘

I don’t know if this 1978 duet is actually a love song or not, but it’s sassy enough to be one. It begins with some false starts, gets soulfully acapella, cycles through some deliciously strange melody twists, displays a vaguely Country chorus (accented by cascading strings), and ends with the obligatory key change. Unless I’m mistaken, I’m pretty sure it’s got Michael McDonald’s falsetto singing “Ever and ever!” right when the tempo jumps a couple notches to the third movement. His suspected involvement at least qualifies it for greatness. The lyrics are kind of hard to decipher, with the possibility of innuendo: “I know forever we’ll be doing it…right.” Oh yeah, and there’s a sax solo. Whatever it is, it’s classic!”

Joshua Stamper:

“Without a doubt, one of the most romantic pieces of music ever written is ‘Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major-2nd Movement‘. The piece begins with solo piano, and the central theme is so beautiful it hurts (typically Ravel). About 45 seconds after the the orchestra enters, a sweet chromaticism begins to pervade the piano part, such that harmonies that were straightforward now seem just a bit troubled. The piece continues to unfold with a staggering balance of tension and release, until the end where it resolves sweetly, easily, and gently - how do those guys do that? The result is, to use a hackneyed phrase, breathtaking (hey, it’s Valentine’s Day - I can say ‘breathtaking’). Truly bittersweet. Oh, and it’s in 3/4. Who can resist 3/4?”

Dan Zimmerman:

Doris Day - ‘Secret Love‘
Beatles - ‘And I Love Her‘
Dylan - ‘Love Minus Zero/No Limit‘
Everly Bros. - ‘Let It Be Me‘
J.S. Bach - ‘Sheep May Safely Graze‘

Ken Fabianovicz:

Troggs - ‘Love Is All Around‘
Tom Rapp (of Pearls Before Swine) - ‘Love/Sex‘
Velvet Underground - ‘I Found A Reason‘
Bob Dylan - ‘If Not For You‘
Beach Boys - ‘God Only Knows‘
Delfonics - ‘La La Means I Love You‘
Bread - ‘Baby I’m a Want You‘
Ronettes - ‘Be My Baby ‘
Flamingos - ‘I Only Have Eyes for You‘
Daniel Johnston - ‘True Love Will Find You In The End‘
Glen Campbell - ‘Less of Me‘

Christiaan Pallidino:

Dylan - ‘Love Minus Zero/No Limit‘
Irma Thomas - ‘It’s Raining‘
Nina Simone - ‘Love Me Or Leave Me‘
Biz Markie - ‘Just A Friend‘
Benni Hemm Hemm - ‘I Can Love You In A Wheelchair Baby‘

Ted Velykis:

“My favorite love song has to be ‘When You Need a Laugh‘ by Hank Cochran and made famous by Patsy Cline. I don’t know if it’s just the way Patsy sings it or if the lyrics just touch me somehow - but every single time I hear it I get choked up. Do sad songs count?”

We’d like to thank you for the pleasure of sharing ‘A Familyre Christmas - Vol. 1′ with you all. It was an exciting project, and so much fun to have everyone involved.

If you missed the download window, don’t despair. There is a high likelihood it will be made available again next Christmas season, along with Vol.2!

The complete track listing for Vol.1:

1: ‘Christmas Eve Nite’ - Danielson
2: ‘For There Is Born A Child’ - Lenny Smith
3: ‘Plant A Little Fir Tree’ - Half-handed Cloud
4: ‘Dayspring From On High’ - Soul-Junk
5: ‘Pat-A-Pan’ - Leopulde
6: ‘In The Bleak Midwinter’ - Dan Zimmerman
7: ‘Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming’ - The Singing Mechanic
8: ‘We Wish You A Merry Christmas’ - Sufjan Stevens*
9: ‘What Child Is This’ - Rachel and Jon Galloway
10: ‘I Wonder As I Wander’ - Woven Hand
11. ‘Christmas Is A Holiday’ - Ben + Vesper
12. ‘Immanuel’ - Joshua Stamper
13. ‘O Holy Night’ - Elin

*Recorded with Daniel, Elin, Lilly, and Ida at
the NJ Recreation Rm over Thanksgiving Weekend (2007).

Have a wonderful 2008, folks!

Love,

Everyone at Sounds Familyre

Unedited interview with ‘Boy’, from “Pitchfoible”: 7/6/07

P.F. - Where do you draw your inspiration?

Boy - What’s an inspiration? I don’t know.

P.F. - Is there a deeper level to what your songs are about?

Boy - No, there’s not.

P.F. - What do you think the next step will be with your music?

Boy - I don’t know yet, I have to think about it.

P.F. - Do you have any words of encouragement for younger artists?

Boy - Mmmmmm. I dunno, I dunno.

P.F. - Anything?

Boy - No, I mean yes. I mean NO! NO! I’m just joking. Yes-no-yes. Yesyesyesyesyes.

P.F. - Who’s your biggest influence?

Boy - Pastor Scott.

P.F. - What about the Beatles?

Boy - Yeah, I love that. I love the Beatle musicians.

P.F. - Parting thoughts?

Boy - Ahhh, no. (Hums Looney Tunes theme).

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Dinosaurs Are Big And They Stomp” by Boy

Who were we kidding? We decided to do a work-in-regress instead. We left Boy’s monster-birds (so as not to break his heart).

Let this be a lesson to all! Erasing feels good!
Erasing is good!

Love,
Ben + Vesper

Hang in there! It’s on the way!

This week’s installment is of Ben’s birds. Vesper’s head temporarily blew up and is in the shop this week.

The crane and gulls, phase one.

Close-up of one of the gulls.

A reworking of the crane’s head. We decided on doing the birds in a mostly white palette. That’ll get hard when we do the peacock. But that’s for another installment.

Mom!! Come quick! Ben + Vesper are drawing on the walls again!

Before…the dark, echoing hallway…

Chopin Preludes, played by Géza Anda, for the inspiration of flying birds.

A seagull, by Ben.

A ‘zilla bird, by Boy, and about a million “banister twigs”.

Crane, by Ben.

Lovies, by Vesper.

The ‘zilla bird, by Boy.

A bank swallow, by Ben.

Vesper is drawing an egret perching on the livingroom door. Growing up in Staten Island allowed for a lot of wetland bird viewings.

Ben is drawing the bank swallow. The swallow is one of our favorite birds.

Vesper is drawing a blue heron.



Have fun! Stay tuned for installment #2 of our bird-mural . . .

We are proud to present to you the world-debut of a new composition by Ben + Vesper’s first-born. Punk-rock like you’ve never heard it before…

Enjoy.

Hello Everyone,

We have some very sad news from Ben + Vesper. Sept. 12th, Ben’s butter-yellow G&L guitar was stolen from a church storage-room in Orange, NJ. This was an incredible instrument with a great deal of sentimental value.

Here is some information about the instrument:
-Butter-yellow G&L ASAT
-Tele-style body
-Two G&L lipstick pickups
-All parts of the guitar are original
-Fairly heavy
-Stolen with its case-SKB black hardshell
-Unfortunately, we have no serial number for the instrument.

Any and all information about the whereabouts of this instrument would be extremely appreciated. Please keep your eyes peeled. Thanks everyone.

With love and hope,

Everyone at Sounds Familyre