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
There's been a lot of people thinking about this concept for a while but now they're a reality thanks to the fine people at Klipsh. The system seems pretty cool except that it's only 2 speakers, for now, and they're very expensive at $599. Of course it's worth it if they sound as good or better than other home speakers.
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.
Yeah, I know Jay-Z is a very unlikely candidate for this but just watch. I've seen it like 5 times in a row and can't make any sense of it...totally weird and seems to have nothing to do with the song. C'mon, Cirque du Soliel dancers, crazy white dudes, paint, bullets, human teeth, animal skulls, etc... I'm feeling it though and really dig some of the simple effects. Plus, it's a good club track that I'd definitely play at.
If you haven't already watched it a couple of times, watch The Story Of Stuff before watching this. (or at least after watching this) I'm not taking a side on this issue yet because I don't know enough yet but this is a good introduction. All you designers out there, and just socially responsible citizens, need to get educated on these issues so you really know what 'sustainability' really means and what the issues really are that affect our everyday lives and our futures.
To watch the movie, just click on the image above or click > HERE <
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 the first time I've really seen this phenomenon on video. Too bad it's such low quality but still beautiful to watch. There's a photographer, I think Italian, who does some great black & white photos of this sort of thing too. Sorry, couldn't find the name in the few minutes I had to post this...was in Seed Magazine about 6 issues ago.
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.
I'm not sure why VBS titled their report this way. Maybe they didn't realize 'blog' is short for 'web log' and that the web is not analog. Never the less, this is a good little piece and speaks to the importance of information. If you didn't already know, VBS is Vice magazine's online video service and has some really great content such as a crazy report on North Korea, buying bootleg guns in Pakistan, buying a warhead on the black market and interviews with people like Kanye West and Sasha Grey.
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..
One of my first posts was an animation by this artist by the name of Blu. His style of animation blended with painting and graffiti is really dope. His newest animation is a collaborative piece done with David Ellis and is one of the best motion graphic pieces I've seen in a long time.
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.
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.
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.
Nice animation, I think made with Processing, just simply using graceful strokes of color and quotes from famous designers and artists. This guy has a really impressive portfolio of motion graphics that you should check out.
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!
Interesting piece by German studio Muscle Beaver. I guess with a name like that you need to be dope...really, dope! Which they happen to be. Really good quality work on all fronts and a good range of styles.
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.
Great documentary about gaming addicts. It's presented and put together in such a way that it teeters on the edge of fiction which is fitting given the subject matter but is very real, bizzare and beautiful at the same time. I thought I'd fall asleep watching it at 3am but ended up watching the whole thing. Second Skin is the best documentary I've seen this month so far..highly recommended! It may be coming to a theater near you soon. Check the comments for more info.
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.
I see & study a lot of design that's out there and sure, a lot of it is shiny, cool, smooth, expensive and often useless. Then every once in a while comes along a product that just makes sense and you want to punch yourself because you didn't think of it or do it first. This is one of those brilliant designs.
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.
Ok, back from a little hiatus....I'll be posting a lot over the next couple weeks though to make up for it. I've seen and heard a ton of great things to share but let's start with something that will only happen once in our lifetime. If I had the money I would have flown over there just to witness that.
On July 22 was the longest solar eclipse the earth will witness this century. Unless you were in the right part of Asia you would not be able to see it though. You can find out more about the event from NASA. Speaking of NASA, this eclipse also comes at the same time of the 40th anniversary of NASA pulling off the greatest hoax in history. (the alleged moon landing...ugh, don't get me started on that!!)
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.
The calendar section of Uniqlo's site is a great example of really nice programming and layout. Fun interface, great motion graphics, and really fast. If you have money when you go to Japan you'll also like their stores..they have stores all over the world but they're based in Japan. DO NOT go to Japan without money! You WILL see everything you could ever want and more...no matter what it is. The tilt-shift video shows some cool and interesting parts of Japan that you'll want to go to.
This one is kinda strange because the video seems to have nothing to do with the song. In the end, I like the video and think it's a good video for what was probably a $20 budget. Plus, this is one of my favorite rock jams in the past year.
These images are from the virtual aerial tour done for New York by Australian based firm PixelCase. They specialize in this kind of work and I have to say that I'm super impressed. It's quite amazing really. The distortion features are cool but for some views can be a distraction. Anyway, imagine what the future of this will be!
So what if I'm posting an advertisement...until the last 10seconds you probably wouldn't think it was an ad for Swiss International Airlines. It's a really well put together short film by directore Marc Forster. I've posted the YouTube version but I would recommend watching the HD version >HERE<
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.
I just saw this a couple of weeks back and must say it's one of the best documentaries produced in the last couple of years. Alan Abel has devoted his life passionately to what he believed in and was/is an true unsung hero for modern times and deserves some recognition. On the surface his tricks are funny and clever but his true genius is in his reasoning and execution of his ideas.
Powerful documentary/TV special from Europe investigating the rise of the Soviet Union and communism in the first part of the 20th century. The Soviet Story
My jaw dropped when I saw this! Possibly the worst club track I've ever heard with some pretty good dancin'. I wonder if they were actually dancing to this crap? If so, it could explain the lack of finesse and timing.
This is pretty questionable. Wouldn't a Windows notebook be made of glass versus an Apple that could be made of paper from...you guessed it!..Apple trees.? As a company Apple has become equivalent to Microsoft on some levels but they still make a superior OS and fancy looking machines. This is damn good animation though.
WHOA!! I Just finally got around to watching Manufactured Landscapes last week. This was one of the better documentaries I've seen recently (I watch a lot of documentaries). The imagery is grotesquely beautiful and stunning. This one does not get into the political rhetoric that you may expect from these images. Instead it is just the film version of the images with a little bit of dialog and mostly just following famed photographer Edward Burtynsky to the different locations. He humbly points out that he is in no place to pass any judgement on these industries that humans have created since he is very much a part of these systems and relies on them. What he does point out is the effects that the manufacturing of products and waste management has on cultures and societies.
His work has been shown all over the world and he was even invited to speak at the TED conference.
Hands down this wins for this weeks' weird video. Not because everything is made of Legos (that's pretty average these days). No, it's because they moved all the trees to set up their rave! You can't just move trees that easily...it's a difficult and time consuming process. Also, the cops have a medieval cannon!?
Many of us have probably seen this guy's work but didn't know the mind behind the madness. The man is Keiichi Tanaami. One of Japan's most famous modern artists. He's had tons of shows and has been one of the most prized and celebrated artists of the 20th century. He worked with Andy Warhol in the '60s and has done his fair share of drugs, which may explain some of his work.
I've been feeling this song for a minute now. It's a video for Stone Throw Records artist, Mayer Hawthorne I still need to get the record though :/ This video is dope and I'm especially feeling how the actual record is the object of attention and desire here. It's subliminally telling me/you that the music is more important than the video and we need to love it and buy the cool heart-shaped vinyl- which is a throwback to Bobby Caldwell's 1978 classic, "What You Won't Do For Love", that was also pressed on clear red vinyl and cut into a heart shape.
Louis CK is one of the best living comedians. Watch more of his videos and you'll know why...or just go rent 'Shameless'. Check out more on his site too- LouisCK.com
Nope! Not the version you're thinking of by Michael McDonald (of the Doobie Brothers). This is from a wedding reception for Alex and Sarah, who know a thing or two about music....they got Antibalas with Blinky Griptite to play at their wedding!!!
Thanks to tdw for letting me know about this digital graffiti wall by YRWall. I love it when graffiti can transcend the streets and reach more people. This type of installation has HUGE potential and I'm sure we'll be seeing more of this in the future.
This is kinda dope. Unfortunately, the testers in the video couldn't really do anything but it has a lot of potential and looks like a lot of fun. It's not quite on the level of the Tagged In Motion project I posted back in the summertime (HERE) but, still this is quite impressive.
I can't even front on this song. This is certainly one of the best pop songs from the '80s and undeniably a great song for the ages. Plus, the man can play the bones! Other songs that remind me of this song and vice versa are Every Kind Of People by Robert Palmer (which I posted back in December) and End Of Innocence by Don Henly. The lyrics speak for themselves in all of these...jus' lissen.
