Mree’s second self-produced album, Winterwell, is a passionate blend of heartfelt acoustic folk and plush electronic textures, brought to life by her rich, multi-layered vocals. Mree’s lush harmonies float in and out of the mix like perfumed clouds, drawing you into a dizzying swirl of muted colors and ambiguous emotions. Armed with a guitar and an effects pedal that allows her to loop her vocals into an ever-shifting collage of sound, Mree is able to reproduce most of the album when she plays live. The New Jersey multi-instrumentalist will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new feature on her.
Mree: My Neighbor Totoro, a Japanese animated film by Hayao Miyazaki, was a go-to movie at the Hsiao household. We’ll be sure to bring out the video cassette and the VCR whenever we’re feeling nostalgic. Totoro is a big, friendly fuzzy flying magical spirit/keeper of the forest and “you only see him when you’re very young” (I’m singing the theme song to myself as I type this). Two little girls, Mei (the younger sister who I always pretended to be) and Satsuke (who I pretended was my sister, Lina), move into a new house with their father to be closer to their mother who is recovering in a nearby hospital. They come across dust bunnies, a bus that is also a giant magical cat and, of course, the one and only Totoro. It’s wonderful. Other movies by him that I also adore: Kiki’s Delivery Service, Howl’s Moving Castle and, most definitely, Spirited Away. If you haven’t seen any movies by him yet, Spirited Away is the one to see.
Video after the jump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuLX50_5UAI
