So last night was probably the first of many nights I’ll spend chained to my desk reluctantly married to Photoshop over the next few months. I’m in full swing with rendering and colouring all the pages for my book and in true Swa form it’s taking me ten times longer than I thought it would to get through all the work… I keep stumbling upon new ways to colour things, which yeah, look heaps better, but take double the time to complete. I’m going with this whole rainbow luminescence device which is quite magical looking (It’s like a poor man’s Avatar in Wonderland). There’s lots of blue and turquoise overlays going on mixed with splashes of magenta and purple.

If I ever get the chance to make another children’s book I think I’ll set it in the daylight hours… night time is cool and mysterious and all but there’s so much darkness that it takes yonks to get everything balanced and the right amounts of variation in tone. I can’t wait til I have all these pictures coloured and I can sit back and actually be nice to myself. At the moment I’m being a hard-ass perfectionist… but hopefully that means I can maintain the quality of the imagery the whole way through and not slack off over time.

And now for a Swaylist. I realised after I compiled it how banjo-centric it is. It must be a mood thing. There’s some other cool snippets in there too.

No One Said This Would Be Easy – The Postmarks – There’s a bit of a Bond film theme song edge to this, which is snazzy. The whole album is reminiscent of that sound.

Roscoe – Midlake – This was the first song I heard of theirs and I’m really enjoy the vibe. I think I might enjoy the older album a bit more than the new one but they’re both really well put together.

Devil’s Spoke – Laura Marling – (may contain traces of banjo) Newish Laura, little bit keen for her new album to be released. I’ve always had a bit of a crush on the whole Indian infused folk thing. I like that her voice is deeper and that it’s different from her other stuff. I imagine not everyone will dig this because it’s not as ‘cute’. It should be noted that Miss Marling was my summer girl.

40 Day Dream – Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes – These guys hit the spot! You know… the place where your inner hippy love child dwells. I can’t stop listening to this song – It’s the magical mystery kind. Can’t wait to see them at the end of March.

Laundry Room – The Avett Brothers – (may contain traces of banjo.. hold out for the hoedown at the end) It was hard to choose which song of theirs to put on this playlist. I’m really quite partial to I and Love and You as well as Ten Thousand Words. Yes they’re country and lots of people hate country but they’re also lovely and wholesome and handsome (sans beards). I want to make sweet sweet harmonies with them.

Another Day – Jamie Lidell – Jamie’s album Jim is pretty swell. This track in particular I can’t help but sing along to. When it hits the little instrumental interlude in the middle I think of dance sequences in old Disney movies. Oh and the birds tweeting= adorable.

Giving Up On Love – Slow Club – This was my Valentine’s Day theme song. It’s good for giving the concept of love the finger in a very simple and a little bit oldschool rock’n’roll way.

Awake My Soul – Mumford and Sons – (may contain traces of banjo.. and ends with a bit of a hoedown too) Mumford have been exposed muchly this summer. I was initially drawn to the “bigger” numbers on the album but this one has really grown on me. I like the jaunty patterns in the verses. Someone let me know when they start auditioning for daughters.

Cement – Washington – I stumbled upon Megan’s stuff as a result of her appearances on Spicks and Specks. I really like her vocal tone. Fun song too.

Pretty Flowers – Steve Martin (It’s actually Dolly Parton and Vince Gill singing) (there’s no doubt about the epic traces of banjo on Steve Martin’s album) This is the kind of music I would have shunned as a kid. Now I’m just totally lame or something but I find myself a bit of a sucker for country. Dolly does it to me every time.

Awesome lyrics include –

Well I took you out to dinner
And I told you funny stories
And I moved a little closer
And you made love to me

And on that note xxxSwa