Monday Music Muse: The Botticellis

Why SoCal and Sweden are closer than you think, or how to take the speed lane to SXSW glory.

With harmonies that give Fleet Foxes a run for their money, vocals reminiscent of The Magnetic Fields, and cinematic beats that channel Scandinavian favorites like Sambassadeur, indie popsters The Botticellis took the speed lane to our (disappointingly short) best-of-SXSW-2009 list. 

Their sun-drenched sound and dreamy guitars come, unsurprisingly, from Southern California. And while a clear nostalgic connection with surf culture oozes from their music, deep lyrical sensibility and unique analog production make The Botticellis a delightfully unclassifiable force of their own.

Their debut album, Old Home Movies, is every bit as excellent as their eponymous SXSW track, which you can snag for free right here.

You can also spot The Botticellis (and a ton more free downloads) on Daytrotter, easily the best up-and-coming music site around, and one we’ve been enamored with for a long, long, long, long time.

Earth Day the Wired Way

This year, celebrate Earth Day with a simple but tangible touch to your wired ways.

We’re all for sustainable sustainability — the concept of making simple, everyday changes that enormously benefit the environment in the long run.

So, to celebrate Earth Day this year, we’ve created a neat little graphic to put in your email signature, show off your green bone, and remind people to think about the simple things that matter. We call it an eco-signature.

This Brain Pickings original is a digital freebie, and completely open-license and copyright-free. So snag away — download the image here, or just right-click/ctrl-click the image below and save it to your hard drive, then pop it in your email client’s signature preferences.

Got doubts about how much of a difference this little thing will make? Doubt not: The average employee prints 6 unnecessary pages per day, amassing a grand total of 1,410 per year. How many people did YOU email today?

Learn a couple more smart, handy tricks for easily relieving the daily tree-trashing epidemic.