Long time Yen contributor, illustrator and all round creative cutey Gini Helie moved back to her hometown of Nice last year and since then has been crafting sweet sounds from an idyllic mountain village with her husband to be. l'aventure is the debut album from Gini and Regis's musical offspring, Milenka and the Pyramids and sees the loved up duo creating a delicate patchwork of melodies, electronic and nature built noises, and swoon inducing harmonies- twinkling treats that evoke imagery of their mountain paradise, as well as all the best parts of falling in love. They're currently touring France and hope to be touching their feather light travelling feet upon Australian shores before the year's out.

The Silent Cinema - where at 1am on Saturday night Little Wings played music to movies.
Oscars- caused a lot of traffic as they closed off Hollywood Boulevard and the Good Year Blimp was blimpin across the sunset.  Soft Boiled Eggies- soundtracked many drives (which are what take up most time in this city) Amoeba- got lost in the biggest independent music store I've ever seen, where the cute staff make the shopping experience that much more entertaining.
Family- the coolest store in town barr none, run by Australian's David Kramer and Tahli Harkham. Tonight is 'Thankyou' their one year anniversary exhibition launch featuring Will Oldham (My husband to be, who's priced his photographs- which are pretty weird anyway- at $35,000 each cause he doesnt want to sell them), Joanna Oldham (Will's mum), Shary Boyle and Mike Mills, amongst many others.
Banana cream pie and fries at Astro Family Restaurant at 3am.  Hyperium Bar- where the walls are lined with books and where every tuesday night Australian ex-pat Mindy "Legs" Le Brock hosts Ding a Ling.  Raw Food - an LA craze that had me sceptical but now after sampling the absolutely delicious hickama ravioli filled with shitake mushrooms and white cream miso sauce has me converted to the cult. Last day squeezed in Chateau Marmont for celeb spotting and The Smell- for all ages punk rock bopping.

Tonight, his slight frame surrounded by the twinkling backdrop of the Famous Spiegel Tent, Andrew Bird was jet lagged. So there was some flailing and floundering, especially during the chorus of his catchy crowd pleaser Nervous Tic To The Left…but his wobblyness did not hinder his charm. A charismatic performer, with the silky smooth voice of a rat pack crooner, he creates a collage of sounds, looping violin, guitar and that other-wordly whistle. Like a canary in a cage he trills effortlessly, sweetly, and long. But while the thread of Birds’ undulating soundscape swoops and layers, it does occasionally dwindle and stutter, tying itself in knots like his tired brain seemed to be when attempting to remember his own lyrics. Enchanting stories of chickens kept us going, and even as he looked more dishevelled towards the end the crowd whooped for an unrequited encore.

A master of the cute and quirky, Japanese artist Takashi Murakami is known for stretching the parameters of conventional art practise - creating work that infiltrates all corners of pop culture, from pens to dolls, while still gaining space in formal art institutions. He’s taken this to the next level with an unprecedented move in museum history, by joining forces with luxury mammoth Louis Vuitton in a show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, where a pop-up version of a LV store selling luxury leather goods has been plonked right in the middle of his exhibition.
Murakami has always sought to break the barriers between low and high art, what better way than to grant free rent to a luxury brand within a non-profit gallery (who will not receive any profits from the sales of the limited-edition Murakami designed handbags going for $875 to $920 a pop). Seems like LV wins this time.

Recently in the basement of an old Hackney shoe shop which has been converted into a kooky curiosity shop by London art mag Le Gun, Container and Simon Husslein hosted a tea party on the threshhold of a nightmare. After crawling through the winding wooden tunnelled maze of the haunted house, tracing the tale of the twins through intricate illustrations which mark the way, the wide eyed wanderer enters a poky room watched over by the evil twins. Two awkward young girls who dutifully and silently serve tea, sherry and biscuits in the claustrophobic interior of their eternal prison. A spooky, surreal, upside down Alice in Wonderland.

Last night I had the pure pleasure of sitting back and listening to the sweet sounds of two of the finest songstresses making music today. Alela Diane, Liz Green, and a new discovery, One Little Plane (with Keiren Hebden of Fourtet on guitar and melodium), graced the grand stage of the Queen Elizabeth Hall's Purcell room on the South Bank, London. The previous night Alela's debut The Pirates Gospel had been crowned, not just the best Americana or folk album of 2007, but THE best album of 2007 by none other than the notoriously picky Rough Trade. And that's out of 100. The humble Alela's response was "Oh that's cool, what is that?" Congratulations lady Diane.

Beach House make woozy music...the kind that envelopes you in a warm fuzz, gives you spectral rainbow vision and makes you wonder if that sunset is never ending. The name may imply some of this, but when French born Baltimore livin' Victoria Legrand (can that be her real surname?), gets to crooning in her smoky husk, everyone in the room sways. She sounds like Nico after a day at the beach. Same as my other dream pop fav's Bright Black Morning Light. it's the kind of music that makes you wanna say words like "groovy", but not in a cringey crush velvet way.