This is an odd choice. Actually, it's not even so much about the video as it is the song itself. I really don't find the kaliedescopic effects all that weird or surprising for Erykah. The really bizarre part, for me, is that it's featuring Lil Wayne!??? What the HELL is/was she thinking!? Now, he doesn't completely ruin the song but let's just say that I'm glad his verse is at the end. I'd go as far as saying that the dude isn't the worst person I've heard but I'm just not a fan and I still think Lil Wayne is a fucking idiot!! All in all though, I'm feeling this song and looking forward to the new album.
YES! Vinyl is still going strong and is actually been on a steady increase for the last decade and especially these last few years as CD sales plummet. There's about a dozen legit vinyl manufacturing companies still around in the US and they've all doing well. I'm looking forward to talking to these guys and wish them much success! In the meantime watch another good video about how records are made. They only talk briefly about the process but it's still amazing to watch...if you ever get the chance to actually see it in person, DO IT!! I've only visited one plant so far but will visit more when I'm in those areas. If you have any questions about the record making process, feel free to ask me. Or, better yet, ask them!
If you live in the Cleveland area they'll even show you their plant!! Gotta Groove Records
For an upcoming show at the Barbican Art Gallery, French artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot has set up an environment for finches to be musicians. By setting up electric guitars to be the only perches for the birds to stand and play on, they are left with little choice but to make music. What's astonishing is that the little birds seem to enjoy it and try to enhance the sound more by using sticks. This is a fascinating exploration into the relationship of music to all living things in the world. I would love to see this but unfortunately I don't think I will be in London anytime in the near future.
I'm not the biggest Police or Sting connoisseur but of all of their songs that I do know & love this is by far my favorite. Second place goes to "Voices Inside My Head" (although I prefer the deeper dub disco version by Common Sense). Anyway, this song really speaks loud as much now as it did 30 years ago. Excellent song writting, arrangement and production. If I knew how to make music I'd attempt to cover this, and probably fail! hahaha...seriously though, there's certain songs that always sound better by the original artist. Maybe that's why you haven't heard a successful cover of this? I think The Roots could pull it off in a way that makes sense. Perhaps U2 and possibly even Prince & NPG but it would be really tough to top the Police.
Over the years The RZA has always impressed me. I may not always like his music but can't deny how prolific he's been and how he's been able to transcend beyond hip-hop. I'll never forget meeting him like 11 years ago. I've met a lot of people in the music world, specifically the hip-hop world, and he really stood out. He talked to everybody he could, was friendly, warm and lacked any ego that you would expect. (at the time Wu-Tang was on top of the world) He just really seems connected to people and is very open-minded, positive and empathetic to the world but at the same time has been very business savvy. Now, what seems to be no surprise, he's gotten into 19th century style painting. It seems kind of humorous at first but then when you realize that he's reinterpreting classic paintings with white guys and placing himself and other Wu-Tang members in the pieces, the message becomes more profound. This project is a joint venture with W.A.I.L. I'd definitely buy one of these if I had the loot.
Oh, and The RZA is getting into making movies now too!
Just a couple of months ago I posted THESE amazing flat speakers coming out of Taiwan. And now I see these that were actually published even earlier. I think the ones from Taiwan will actually sound better though but still these are amazing!
A groundbreaking new loudspeaker, less than 0.25mm thick, has been developed by University of Warwick engineers, it's flat, flexible, could be hung on a wall like a picture, and its particular method of sound generation could make public announcements in places like passenger terminals clearer, crisper, and easier to hear.
Lightweight and inexpensive to manufacture, the speakers are slim and flexible: they could be concealed inside ceiling tiles or car interiors, or printed with a design and hung on the wall like a picture.
Another video off the Ecstatic album...a.k.a. one of the top 5 albums of the year. If you don't got it, GO GET IT! The video kinda gives me seizures but maybe that's the effect he was going for? And some newness produced by Ski. Be sure to find that 24hr Karate School track too! Mos is killing shit right now..oh yeah, the BlacRoc album is out which he's one as as well! Make sure to watch that other video I posted of Mos Def in Nippon too!
It's been a while since I've posted one of these but this has got to be one of the weirdest music videos made in a while. The techniques are cool and the song's pretty good but what the hell is going on in some of these scenes!!??? Hilarious..weird..intriguing..bizarre..
This is a nice little piece by Daniel Franke called "One Minute Sound Sculpture". The idea of a sculpture made from sound is really intriguing to me and something I hope to explore in the near future. This guy's take on it is pretty cool and he's really good at tracking an animation and placing it in a live environment.
Definitely worth watching! Check the Ecstatic Mos Def on tour in Japan and get some perspective on where his head's at, the importance of hip-hop and how the culture affects the world. Oh, and go get the new album, The Ecstatic!! One of the top 10 albums of the year...sure, there were plenty of good songs (Drake, Kid Cudi, Kanye, Jay-Z, etc...) but very few good albums...in hip-hop, the only full hip-hop albums worth getting this year are the new Raekwon, Q-Tip & the new Mos Def...period. It's a RAP!
Really dope motion graphics by Belgian artist Gwen Vanhee exploring new ways to interpret music. Finding new and innovative ways to translate sound to visuals and vice versa always fascinates me. The graphics by themselves are great but the context and execution really brings them to a higher level. I highly recommend checking out some of his other work on Vimeo and Flickr.
If you're slightly crazy like me, you've thought about the possibility of flat, flexible speakers and if you're even partially out there you've considered paper speakers. Well, our dreams our becoming a reality. Scientists in Taiwan have developed a flexible paper speaker by sandwiching paper and CNTs together.
”Aside from use in family, stereo, or automobile hi-fi equipment, it can also be used in earphones or for industrial antinoise purposes,” says Johnsee Lee, president of Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), where the technology has been under development since 2006.
The device, named fleXpeaker, is basically a sandwich of paper and metal filled with an electroactive polymer that contracts and expands with an audio signal’s electric field.
”It’s soft [and can] easily fit in different curves,” says Ming-Daw Chen, division director of ITRI’s Electronics and Optoelectronics Research Laboratories. ”Therefore, the product customization can be done in diverse fields, such as art for public facilities, interior design,...costume accessories, and others.”
I doubt these will ever fully replace traditional cone speakers but for many applications these will hopefully become the standard. Read more about it >HERE<
Crazy new video from Kanye West...say what you will but the man's got talent, vision and balls...yeah, he makes mistakes too, just like a normal human being...plus, the dude vomits and bleeds rose petals!!
UPDATED- sorry...didn't realize the Vimeo link was broken..Kanye posted it on his own site so you'd think it was legit..anyway here it is..
I'm sure many of us have thought about the possibility of adding to our body's natural architecture. Well Australian artist known as Stelarc (Stelios Arcadious) actually does! Seen here is one of my personal favorites called simply Ear On Arm. The artist went through a series of surgeries to have a prosthetic ear implanted into his arm with a microphone that would send audio to the web. Yeah, really intense and just in the name of art. Think about the possibilities. Here's a brief explanation in the artists' own words.
I have always been intrigued about engineering a soft prosthesis using my own skin, as a permanent modification of the body architecture. The assumption being that if the body was altered it might mean adjusting its awareness. Engineering an alternate anatomical architecture, one that also performs telematically. Certainly what becomes important now is not merely the body's identity, but its connectivity- not its mobility or location, but its interface. In these projects and performances, a prosthesis is not seen as a sign of lack but rather as a symptom of excess. As technology proliferates and microminiaturizes it becomes biocompatible in both scale and substance and is incorporated as a component of the body. These prosthetic attachments and implants are not simply replacements for a part of the body that has been traumatized or has been amputated. These are prosthetic objects that augment the body's architecture, engineering extended operational systems of bodies and bits of bodies, spatially separated but electronically connected.
Definitely go to his site and learn about his other crazy projects such as 1/4 Scale Ear and Ping Body. Click > HERE <
One of the best things I've seen crossing boundaries between music and design is RFID Radio concept by someone by the name of D.A.R.Y.L. His idea is that these paper radios with RFID chips will be programmed only to play a certain station. You would need to subscribe to the station via iTunes and have a special speaker also with an RFID tag. I guess the radio would have a passive tag and the desktop speaker would have an active tag? Honestly, RFID is probably NOT the best technology for this product but it's still a great concept and is along the lines of Yuri Suzuki's Graffiti Radio concept which is also brilliant.
Check out more of D.A.R.Y.L.'s creations at Real Tomato
(I usually wouldn't post my own designs like this but...this relates to music and people have really loved this design since May. So, why not.?)
Designed by Matt Braun (aka The Record Player). Laser cut & engraved business cards that work come with a 45 insert. Shown in here is the version on black mat board. They also come in other colors variations. If you're interested in working with him on similar concepts for your record label or for your self, contact him. Check out some of his other work on-
About 9 years ago I was making some clocks out of records. They were ok and used spraypaint for the markings. These are better though and now with the internet people can share and teach each other how to do simple things like that.
Go to instructibles.com to learn how to make your own vinyl clock or almost anything else. DO NOT USE GOOD RECORDS for projects like this. Only use beat up records that are unplayable.
WTF!!! Only 37 years young! The hip-hop world mourns for the loss of another pioneer. I was just thinking about one of my favorite mix tapes this week, which happens to be an '80s hip-hop mix Roc Raida did around '97. Here' some footage from 13 years ago showing how ill this dude was on the wheels. If you ever got the chance to see him live you know that this video doesn't really capture the energy. He was truly a phenom in the art of DJing. I'll be happy when I'm even 1% as good as this dude.
Here's a more recent video showing how insanely skilled this dude was at beat juggling.
This came up today while my iTunes was on shuffle. I did this mix to be given out at a party I did back in 2004. This was recorded at about 10am on a Wednesday in one session with just a stack of some of my favorite records from the '80s. The theme of the party and the mix was to highlight some of the '80s joints that get overlooked when people talk about "80s music" and to put in context with some of the more familiar classics. Enjoy!
Just as the title suggests these speakers are made of porcelain ceramic and handmade by the designer, Joey Roth. I like the concept of using ceramics for speaker design but I'm curious about how they sound. Also, the speakers themselves are nice but there's a disconnect in choices of form and material for the other components that make up this system. The boxy brushed aluminum interface and 2 part plywood stands are unresolved and are more of a distraction than a compliment to the speakers. Why can't the speakers be made to stand on their own and why do they need their own interface? Just focus on the speakers Joey!
I'm really into this right now...even thought the beat gets pretty boring after about a minute of the same loop. The rhymes are thorough and the video is tight. The Chef Raekwon went with a recipe that works cooked up a classic.
Where do people find time to do these things!!?? Oh yeah, I forgot, some people don't have to actually work or pay bills...or just neglect everything to make awesome lego videos like this for 1,500 hours!! (or roughly 4 months of full-time work.
I need to apologize to you for not posting any of this guy's work sooner! I swore that I did but when I was looking for the back links I realized I did not :( Yuri Suzuki has done some of my favorite installation works that I've seen maybe ever. He is a very multi-disciplined creator but what I'm most interested in is his "sound art" pieces. He really pushes the limits of new uses for vinyl records and turntables in art and finds new and interesting ways to reinterpret how we interact with sound and the connection between music and the tangible medium. In addition to being a great artist, he's also an electronic music producer and an industrial designer. Go to his website and do some searches for him to learn more.
His most recent exhibit is going on now in Luxembourg and is part of a show titled "Coalition Of Amateurs". For this show, Yuri set up a full music production system which recorded music from 3 bands direct to master disk and then they pressed their own vinyl all in the same day!! I haven't been able to find out details yet on how exactly he did it but it appears that he made is own CNC cutter to make the masters on a standard Technics 1200 turntable.
Of all of Yuri's work I've seen thus far, the pieces created for his well-noted "The Physical Value Of Sound" exhibit last year at Clear Gallery in Tokyo. This show included a turntable with 5 tonearms, jewelry with sound etched onto it to be played on a turntable, a piece called "Sound Chaser" that used pieces of records as train tracks for a miniature train engine with a cartridge and speaker in it and a piece simply called "Digital and Analog" which is just a regular CD on one side and the top has grooves etched in to play sound (I REALLY love that one). Some others I really love are his "Jellyfish Theramin","Finger Player" and his "Graffiti Radio" project.
WOW! This is essentially an interface that requires only a computer, a webcam, a printer and a lot of ideas. The D-Touch sequencer and drum machine are available for FREE (both Mac and PC versions). Just watch the video and definately go to their site. Simply amazing.
I know I've missed a lot of weeks but don't worry, I got you covered! I just got to edit that post a bit but be on the lookout for a mega "Weird Video Of The Week" post with probably 6 or more videos. In the meantime, Major Lazor wins again. First it was the epic video for "Zumbies" and now this!
I hope I never need hearing aids but now at least there are options to make my hearing as good or possibly better than before. Plus, I can have music right in my ears via external source- MP3 player, radio, etc... These are attched to your bone behind your ear via small titanium screws that sense vibrations. So, it's basically like dolphins' ears (which have some of the best sense of hearing in all of the animal kingdom by the way). Read more and get your nerd on > HERE<.
It took this video for me to like this song by Mike Snow. I wasn't really into but the video definitely does it justice. Really high quality video shot in India.
I've been overwhelmed by a tidal wave of music recently. Here are 4 of my favorite songs from the past week. Unfortunately all this new music has been digital :( someday when I'm really ballin' I'll buy these on vinyl. That's about $1200+ worth of wax right there IF you can actually find copies for sale. I know the Magnum LP has been reissued and songs off the Copa 7 LP appear on compilations. Good luck on finding clean copies of the Ofege albums..they had 4 albums between 1974-78 and they're all exxxxxpensive!
Everybody Feels The Same by Ofege from "The Last Of The Origins" LP EMI Nigeria 1974
Natural Juices by Magnum from "Fully Loaded" LP Phoenix 1974
Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know this is a little late but I wanted it to be proper and not just a sentence or 2 and 1 song. Nothing against those that did that but as a blog with a main focus on music I think this post deserved more attention.
For most of us soul music fans, aficianados and DJs the last few weeks has been somewhat emotional to say the least. I just wanted to take a couple minutes to reflect. I'll start by saying that I wasn't an obsessed fan like some people are but that I appreciate good music for what it is no matter who it's by. I can say that Michael did have a considerable influence on me as a young kid and of course as a DJ. When I was 6 years old I remember trying to recreate the video for 'Bad' with my friends and play that album back to back on my friends' boombox that was literally about the size of us.
As a DJ of course Michael got PLENTY of play. I think most DJs would agree that the MJ requests did get a bit ridiculous at times and you wished you could go a few gigs without playing anything by MJ. But at the same time you loved making all the ladies happy and also loved playing the forgotten MJ & Jackson 5 songs or just playing their classics in different ways. Don't lie..you know you've played New Edition's 'Candy Girl' just before or after 'I Want You Back'. The point is that there was no escaping the genius of Michael Jackson, he was THAT good! Most of you DJs reading this have probably worn out at least 2 copies each of Off The Wall and Thriller. The constant stream of excellent remixes also kept him at the forefront for many DJs and admittedly, I usually only played remixes of certain songs more than the originals. The 4 Hero remix of ♪"Get It Together", the Todd Terje remix of ♪"I Can't Help It" and the Sean Smith vs. Karu remix of ♪"The Mirrors" are a few of my favorites.
There is no denying that Michael Jackson was a weird guy and struggled with a lot of inner conflict and pain. Yet through all of his personal pain he always gave back to the world. Essentially, he sacrificed his life to giving enjoyment to others through music. No matter what he did, he always gave a lot too the world and was genuinely a good person. Perhaps to his disadvantage he was not too good at explaining himself in interviews. True, he shouldn't need to explain himself but when in the spotlight he was very different off stage. Unfortunately the American tabloids and 'news' media helped to crush his main stream popularity here in the US which caused him to spend a lot of time in other parts of the world.
From the first allegation in 1993, the child molestation charges damaged him severely and I think hurt him immensely. I never believed it. As weird as he was, he was no child molester. Michael Jackson is a man that devoted millions of dollars and thousands of hours of personal time to do good things for children and especially children who had special needs. Children meant the world to him and he truly just wanted to help kids to be kids and prolong a period of innocence. He was often critical of the media for corrupting children too young and honestly just wanted to do for others what he was not able to have as a youth. Every sunday at his Neverland ranch was a free day for children, often from hospitals and charities, to come there and just be kids and feel loved. No individual has personally donated more and been involved with more charities than Michael Jackson. (most famous people are not donating personal money) The American media usually neglected to speak of all the good things the man did around the world...good news isn't really 'news' in America anymore. I can't imagine how hurt I'd be knowing that I only did good in the world and to then be villified. Behind the plastic surgeries, drug addiction and stardom was a good human suffering inside.
The man was a musical GENIUS..absolute prodigy. Most brilliant minded people experience some suffering so maybe it's no surprise that Michael Jackson was a bit 'out there'. It's well known that, similar to Motzart, he heard entire songs in his head before they were recorded and would tape record himself beatboxing, humming and describing every nuance. Even more amazing was his humility and respect for people he worked with and is also known as being one of the best people in music to work with.
Selfishly, most of us would like to have seen MJ live a full life. At the same time people can find solace knowing that he is not suffering. Michael Jackson dedicated his existence to the world through music and humanitarian efforts and we can all learn from his examples, both the good ones and the bad ones. On that note, here's some of the hundreds of great examples of his musical genius.
A great forum of people sharing stories about Michael Jackson > HERE <
Here's a good clip of MJ showing his process of how he starts a song and his writing/anti-writing process...dude was an ILL beatboxer! check it out > HERE <
?uestlove's 132 Michael Jackson memories is good too. Check it out HERE.
Artie Wayne, life long friend of Michael Jackson and all around everything man (seriously, Artie Wayne has done more than you ever will) has posted some good stories and even a lost song he did with Michael.
Just want to post a couple goodies real quick. First up is a killer version of the Eagles' classic "I Can't Tell You Why" by none other than Chromeo!!?? Next is one of my favorite songs by the late great Sun Ra. After going to see King Britt & crew do their amazing "Saturn Never Sleeps" performance which is an amazing tribute to Sun Ra as part of the exhibition at the ICA, I've been going back and listening to a lot of Sun Ra. King consistently pushes the boundaries and is a brilliant producer. OK!...I was only going to post 2 tracks but now I feel I've got to post something from King Britt. I should just do a feature on him. The man has been a very prolific producer/remixer under various monikers for over 15 years spanning all genres and remains one of the most in-demand DJs around the world. Anyway, here’s one of my favorite tracks off his ‘80s inspired Sylk 130 album “Re-Members Only”.
These guys make some really great short films, music videos and commercials. DO NOT miss watching their latest work titled "Synesthesia". Check out their work at Terri Timely.
This building is NOT in The United Arab Emirates' city of Dubai as you may expect for some outlandish piece of architecture like this. It's actually in Huainan, Anhui providence, China and serves as the local urban planning exhibition hall for the developing region. This reminds me of the work of Claes Oldenburg, especially the building he and Frank Gehry collaborated on.
I didn't even know there was a video for this until just now. If I ever saw it as a young'n I don't remember and probably didn't even like it back then. This has become one of my favorite songs by Stevie though...too bad the sound quality sucks here because the mix and mastering on this is phenomenal.
Ok...I'd feel bad if you couldn't actually hear the song so I took the time to add this for you.
Thanks to my man Pete for letting me know about this. It's an online gallery of some really cool portable record players. After seeing the Baird Wondergram in this gallery I regret selling mine..oh well. The english version of this site is still under construction so I'm not exactly sure if this is a physical museum in Austria or if it is a traveling exhibit curated by Austrian collectors. Or maybe it is just an online thing? Maybe someone can help clarify that for me? Anyway, check out their collection of portable turntables. The cover galleries are nice too.
This was playing in my iTunes earlier and I was really into the selection & the mixes so I checked to see who it was. Turns out that it was me! This part of a live session from a few years ago at that party Lil Dave & I did for a while. On this mix is some latiny funk, soul, & afro-beat. In case it matters to you, this happened to be all vinyl. Be sure to download the other live session from this party that I posted a while back. Go to the downloads section or click >> HERE <<
I've been listening to my iTunes a lot of shuffle lately to try to rediscover stuff in my own collection. I've got a pretty large and very diverse collection so it's pretty fun. Here's a few of the 'new' rediscoveries. That Dimenzio post from a couple weeks ago is also technically part of this.
First up is by avant garde '80s funk rockers The Flying Lizards. This group is amazing! They also do a cover of 'Money' by Don Covay which is one of my favorite 7"s to play in the most random places & times. Some of you hip-hop heads will recognize this song even if you've never actually heard it.
The Flying Lizards "Her Story"
Next is a song I never really paid attention to by one of the greatest groups of all time to come out of the African funk & afro-beat movement. They but out a few really good albums that are very expensive when found in good condition...actually even in poor, nearly unplayable, condition these albums still aren't cheap. This is from their compilation on Strut records and is long out-of-print.
Blo "Preacher Man"
Here's a track from a serious jazz group with a silly name on Gilles Peterson's label, Brownswood. They also have the creepiest album cover in this post so let's give it up for Soil & "PIMP" Sessions.
This song produced by Domu with Pete Simpson on vocals is just beautiful. Excellent composition, lyrics and harmony. The latin swing combined with the cadence of the vocals work well together to carry the song without losing your attention. The house remixes are worth checking out too.
Domu presents Pete Simpson "Won't Give Up (album version)"
Remember those dope handmade Audiowood by turntables by FiveTen Studio I posted a few months ago? Well if, not just click that link and check out these other ones by Thai artist/designer DEr' (maybe someone can help with the translation and tell me a little more about him, his design statement or just something worth knowing. In the meantime, those of us that do not understand Thai can just admire the craftsmanship and the idea of turntables as furniture.
You NEED to go get this new Mos Def album when it drops later this month on Downtown records. I'll admit that I was a little skeptical at first but I was pleasantly surprised. This is a refreshingly dope album. No fluff, a couple little anecdotal skits and only 3 cameos. After learning what a huge fan Mos Def is of Doom (here)I was hoping to see a collabo...maybe soon?. My only issues with this album are that some of the songs aren't mastered well and I get tired of hearing Mos Def just rambling for about half of every track...take out the rambling though and each song would only be about 90 seconds! hahaa... It was really hard to pick out 'the best' songs but here are 3 of my favorites:
WHOA! This is a monster tune! I'd expect nothing less from an early eighties Hungarian jazz/fusion group named Dimenzió. Unfortunately, I do not own this record and have not heard the rest of the album yet. From what I could learn this album, Pepita, is the only album they released. Someone should really buy this record for me! This is the kind of music that vinyl was made for.
This is one of the best things I've seen in the past year. At first glance it just seems like some cool graphics and sound...fair enough. What's fascinating though is that every piece in this series was made using the Processing programming language. The project is curated by the design studio Universal Everything (which does some really nice stuff) and musician Freeform. This is only 2 short clips from the series. Here's an excerpt from the Advanced Beauty website:
"The films embrace unusual video making processes, the visual programming language Processing, high-end audio analysis and fluid dynamic simulations alongside intuitive responses in traditional cell animation. Each artist was given the same set of parameters to work within; to start, finish and exist within a white space, creating a seamless coherence, all sculptures sharing the same white environment."
I'm sure some of you have already had a heart attack from watching this. For those of you who haven't, here it is in all it's glory...er, I mean all it's GORY.
This is a concept design by Francesco Cugusi & Roberto Strippoli that combines a cd player and turntable into one. What's really cool though is that after the system plays the record once it would learn it and you could skip through the tracks like on a CD. Would it really work? probably. Will it actually get produced? probably not :( Still a good enough idea for me to put on here though.
True story: About a month ago I was in the zone doing some design work and the mix playing really caught my attention. I look at my iTunes and it turns out it's one of my own mixes! Back when people actually bought and sold mix CDs I sold a bunch of these. Now in this new age of piracy and free music I want you to have it. Actually, I'll be posting all of my older mixes up here for free downloads soon..for now you can listen to some of them in the player on the main page.
Make sure to click on that big 'download' button to get more free mixes from me- The Record Player
You can also download this mix from the Sundae party's website >>HERE<<
WHOA!!! GET THIS ALBUM! The new Sa-Ra album coming out June 9th is crazy....definitely one of the best albums that will come out this year. What is it with Ubiquity records and constantly putting out quality music!? Keep it up! And if you haven't got it already, pick up that Abundance album while you're at it (listen here).
