Furnishing Your Life With Bells and Whistles

Atelier van Lieshout - Hermann [of "The Heads" series] (2005)

Furniture shopping is more like adopting a child than purchasing a product, and the decision is blessed with a similar gravity and intimacy. Before welcoming a leather-skinned object into my empty home, I first must accept its texture running past my inappropriately extended fingers and the thought of how its comfort will restructure my life for the better. The difficulty explodes exponentially with the unreasonable expectation that the piece must already feel like it belongs, even before meeting me or my life. And that somehow in the context of a sterile-white show floor it must be able to clearly articulate why its bold, but understated style should be allowed to complement mine. A foster-care return policy could ease the transition, but I'm sure the decision will be made after getting it up four flights of stairs and getting attached when it learns my name.

In case there are any music-loving furniture salesmen reading: I'm looking for a squared, black-leather Ola Podrida that is resistant to spray paint and inspires impromtu black-tie parties, but worried I will be misled by an overstuffed, micro-fiber Jay-Z that won't coexist with an antique writing desk and can't even read music.

Ola Podrida - Jordana (mp3)

Haley Bonar - Ransom (myspace download)

BY THE WAY, if you're not already convinced that your Madison weekend will be best spent with an influx of indie-rock, Madison Pop Festival was acclaimed by Pitchfork today.