Ten minute tea with Afternoon Tea. Spend ten minutes with Afternoon Tea. In the time it takes to boil one kettle, and let one cup of tea steep, we will have your daily art + music fix covered. Take your afternoon tea break with our Afternoon Tea curators.
Today’s tea + soundtrack + visuals curated by Vicky von Vicky. Decades spanning Toronto outfit Vicky von Vicky‘s unique sound is a blend of punk, grunge, and classic rock – think Neil Young meets REM meets Modest Mouse, with occasional elements of funk thrown in. But their music is more than just melodies mixed with noise and chaos. They tackle themes like love, loss, and self-discovery with honesty & vulnerability. It’s this combination of raw emotion & raw power coupled with lyrical quirkiness that sets them apart.
On “Jealousy,” they deliver a body-moving jangly track that was written from the perspective that the end of a relationship is not the end of you. “I hope that this song can serve as a source of empowerment for those who may be going through a tough breakup, and remind them that they are not alone and that brighter days are ahead.” – Michael Wynn (Vox/Guitar)
Stream + share the uplifting “Jealousy” now:
Tea: Wild Berry Zinger
Although I’m really a coffee drinker, and my go-to for tea is Chamomile, I do like to have Wild Berry Zinger tea occasionally, the mixture of berries and its unique taste appeals to my palate somehow. For me though, herbal tea has always been about healing, when it’s cold & harsh outside, or my throat is in need of something soothing, herbal tea is where I would usually end up.
When I was young, basically of tyke age, my grandmother, who loved all-things British, introduced me to ‘afternoon tea’. Looking back now, it was definitely orange pekoe and I think I only tried it one time (I mean I was far too young to have it regularly!). At the time I thought: why is this muddy looking water in my tiny cup? She usually added milk & a heck of a lot of sugar. I guess the sugar is what I really liked about it. Kids and sugar right? Although now I avoid adding sugar of any kind into my tea or coffee. honey though, yes that works.
Visual Art: Two Reasons by Young Rival:
The visuals in this video are just amazing. I believe it was shortlisted in 2013 for the Prism Prize. The bass player for Young Rival, John Smith is a friend. He is someone who not only plays music but also has an innovative approach to video and visuals, and has had several high profile contributions lately.
I asked him about this video once and he told me the story behind it. There was this performance/visual artist from Michigan, James Kuhn, who John was a fan of. On a whim he sent him an email (with a link to the song) asking if he’d possibly be interested in helping with the visuals for it, and to his surprise a few weeks later, he was sent back several videos of Kuhn in various face paintings mouthing the words to the entire song.
John took these videos and turned it into this video. Just fantastic, the song rocks as well. I wish these guys weren’t on hiatus anymore.
Music: Every time the Sun Comes Up by The Sarandons (Cover of Sharon Van Etten):
There has been a lot of good music coming out lately. For instance I have been playing Castle Frank & Lenny Bull repeatedly, both of whom I think have recent releases. But the one that has really caught my ear this month is this recently released cover by The Sarandons from Toronto. They put out an album called “Sightlines” earlier this year, it’s a fantastic album end to end. I just like the rustic Canadiana quality it has. Think Blue Rodeo or Cuff the Duke, with some other things mixed in. Although I am not a huge country fan, I can appreciate the tastefulness of this music, I also get sucked into this sort of folksy/country rock once in a while. And this cover is just amazing, I have been playing it over and over ad nauseum.
Tea + Me 