Saturday 31 July 2010
Boston.com Photo Blog
If you following me on Twitter you've probably seen a few retweets or links I've posted to the Boston.com photo blog, The Big Picture. Perhaps not the most imaginatively named photo blog on the web, however it is well worth a look as they cover current news stories in stunning visual. As you can see from just three that I selected from the latest blog of July in Afghanistan, some are epic, some are beautiful, some are simply realistic. Enjoy these images below and I suggest you follow this blog for more stunning images.
Chase & Status: Missed Opportunity
My blog is often a place for me to share cool and interesting stuff that I want others to see, however this post is not. In this post I simply want to raise how bad the new Chase & Status video is:
This song is an absolute belter, one of my favourite of the summer so far, so C&S are fine there. However the video is terrible. It tracks a Jeremy Kyle-style TV presenter condemning chavs on national TV only to leave the show for his own live of drug abuse, alcohol swilling and prostitute shagging (whilst watching his own show). I can only think C&S were trying to give what is a massive club hit, a video that wasn't simply a massive hit, in a club. For once, the safe option would have been much better. Or an oringial take on an over-used recipe would be Swedish House Mafia's One. Music videos are intended to add a visual element to a song to increase the meaning and presence of the it, yet this does the opposite. It attracts attention away from the face-paced, carefully constructed synths as C&S's beats and Mali's vocals build to what can only be described as an epic ending. Shame, real missed opportunity.
This song is an absolute belter, one of my favourite of the summer so far, so C&S are fine there. However the video is terrible. It tracks a Jeremy Kyle-style TV presenter condemning chavs on national TV only to leave the show for his own live of drug abuse, alcohol swilling and prostitute shagging (whilst watching his own show). I can only think C&S were trying to give what is a massive club hit, a video that wasn't simply a massive hit, in a club. For once, the safe option would have been much better. Or an oringial take on an over-used recipe would be Swedish House Mafia's One. Music videos are intended to add a visual element to a song to increase the meaning and presence of the it, yet this does the opposite. It attracts attention away from the face-paced, carefully constructed synths as C&S's beats and Mali's vocals build to what can only be described as an epic ending. Shame, real missed opportunity.
Kanye West Improv at Facebook HQ
ONLY Kanye West could get away with jumping onto the tables in the Facebook HQ canteen and start delivering an acapella version of tracks from his new album. What initially appeared to be yet another moment of impulse madness from the rapper, see Taylor Swift incident, is likely to be slightly more orchestrated than first appeared. Kanye is a very, very smart guy, and knew the attention and furor his actions would create, increasing the attention and hype his new album is getting. But I'll let him off. Smart guy, smart moves, smart raps.
P.S. It is also worth following Kanye on Twitter (@kanyewest). Most of it is what you would expect, egotisical boosting, but last night Kanye was constantly tweeting whilst getting more and more drunk. And then appeared to wrestle over the output of his Twitter account with some "Swedish blondes" as the tweets becoming more along the lines of keyboard bashing. Followed by this Tweet this morning: "Hangover's ain't good man... hangover's ain't good". Amusing.
My favourite birthday present.
It was my 21st birthday last week and without a doubt this was my favourite present:
Thursday 22 July 2010
How to make a Daft Punk helmet in 17 months
I assume it doesn't have to take you 17 months. But still this is very cool, and I want one.
Monday 19 July 2010
Decoration O'clock
What did I do the entire weekend, I hear you not asking? Well I decorated the hell out of my room. Saturday was spent painting first and second coats of paint that couldn't decide if it was blue or grey. Then Sunday I became a man and learnt how to wallpaper, with wallpaper that couldn't decide between any colour. It's far from the best wallpapering job I've ever heard but it's not too bad for a first attempt. Here's a couple of photos:
Music Monday 14.
Kid Cud/Rostam Batmanglij/Bethany Cosentino - All Summer
As the title may suggest, this is yet another song made for the summer. Converse have dragged together Kid Cudi, Rostam Batmanlij (Vampire Weekend) and Bethany Cosentino (Best Coast) and asked them to kindly produce a song for them. Which they did. Cudi's and Cosentino's voices work well with each other, the drone of Cudi and the excited poppy Cosentino, with Batmanlij on drums, it sounds very rather nice. Plus it's a great video, I want a big cardboard head of my own.
Kano - Upside
The UK hip-hop scene is not my favourite place to be, however I've been a fan of a lot of the stuff that Kano has produced in recent years, not all of it, but some of it. Upside features the lovely voice of Michelle Breeze on the chorus as Kano raps the verses, a big contrast, but it really works. This song is going to get some big radio play. (Apologies for 1 Xtra chatting all over the song)
Swedish House Mafia - One
The song has been out for a little while now but I only caught the video this weekend. And I love it. This is a track that is just begging for a big club type video, although it does that in some sense, it does so much more. There's an amazing use of colour and shots and imagery in the video, that sets it apart from every other dance video, whilst staying true to what the song is for.
As the title may suggest, this is yet another song made for the summer. Converse have dragged together Kid Cudi, Rostam Batmanlij (Vampire Weekend) and Bethany Cosentino (Best Coast) and asked them to kindly produce a song for them. Which they did. Cudi's and Cosentino's voices work well with each other, the drone of Cudi and the excited poppy Cosentino, with Batmanlij on drums, it sounds very rather nice. Plus it's a great video, I want a big cardboard head of my own.
Kano - Upside
The UK hip-hop scene is not my favourite place to be, however I've been a fan of a lot of the stuff that Kano has produced in recent years, not all of it, but some of it. Upside features the lovely voice of Michelle Breeze on the chorus as Kano raps the verses, a big contrast, but it really works. This song is going to get some big radio play. (Apologies for 1 Xtra chatting all over the song)
Swedish House Mafia - One
The song has been out for a little while now but I only caught the video this weekend. And I love it. This is a track that is just begging for a big club type video, although it does that in some sense, it does so much more. There's an amazing use of colour and shots and imagery in the video, that sets it apart from every other dance video, whilst staying true to what the song is for.
Thursday 15 July 2010
Tuesday 13 July 2010
Who Really Won The World Cup?
According to their latest viral, it was Adidas:
The strapline "The Lightest. The Fastest. The Deadliest" appears, before the text "2010 Fifa World Cup Top Scoring Boot", as Adidas claim their F50 won the World Cup. These are the goal stats, according to Adidas: Adidas 63, Nike 62, Puma 9, Other 11 (145 goals). However it looks like these figures may have been tampered. The Adidas goals actually include 2 own goals, and I'm guessing this is not a great selling point for you football boots.
I'm hoping for a Nike comeback viral.
The strapline "The Lightest. The Fastest. The Deadliest" appears, before the text "2010 Fifa World Cup Top Scoring Boot", as Adidas claim their F50 won the World Cup. These are the goal stats, according to Adidas: Adidas 63, Nike 62, Puma 9, Other 11 (145 goals). However it looks like these figures may have been tampered. The Adidas goals actually include 2 own goals, and I'm guessing this is not a great selling point for you football boots.
I'm hoping for a Nike comeback viral.
This is kind of creepy...
Honey Pie from California is a place. on Vimeo.
And weird. And not cheap either at $6000 a go, so to speak.
Monday 12 July 2010
Music Monday 13.
We've had a weeks break. Let's get down to it.
Kid Cudi ft. Kanye West - Erase Me
Yes some more Kid Cudi for you. But why not? His latest collaboration is with hip-hop powerhouse, stage-invading Kanye West and the voices work really well together on this track. With Kanye's name on the record and a catchy chorus, this track is sure to be successful, yet probably not the best from Cudi.
Dels - Shapeshift
Only stumbled across Dels this week. It's nice to see some time, effort, imagination and class put into a hip-hop video these days, as they can so often merge into one basketball court, champagne flowing, diamond encrusted orgy. The almost dub riff underneath this track gives a strong platform for Dels to do what he appears to be best, providing honest and intelligent raps.
DJ Fresh - Gold Dust
Probably not the sort of song I would normally listen to whilst simply sat at my desk as opposed to being in a club, however I'm addicted after one listen. To go with my addiction is also the urge to learn how to skip. But not just skip, skip like a bad-ass. I never imagined that skipping could look so cool and impressive nor being the sole focal point to a music video such as this. They. Got. Skills.
Emancipator - Shook
This song provides the ear drums with a beautiful mix of Mobb Deep and Sigur Ros. There is nothing else to say, but simply listen and enjoy.
Kid Cudi ft. Kanye West - Erase Me
Yes some more Kid Cudi for you. But why not? His latest collaboration is with hip-hop powerhouse, stage-invading Kanye West and the voices work really well together on this track. With Kanye's name on the record and a catchy chorus, this track is sure to be successful, yet probably not the best from Cudi.
Dels - Shapeshift
DELS - Shapeshift from us (design studio) on Vimeo.
Only stumbled across Dels this week. It's nice to see some time, effort, imagination and class put into a hip-hop video these days, as they can so often merge into one basketball court, champagne flowing, diamond encrusted orgy. The almost dub riff underneath this track gives a strong platform for Dels to do what he appears to be best, providing honest and intelligent raps.
DJ Fresh - Gold Dust
Probably not the sort of song I would normally listen to whilst simply sat at my desk as opposed to being in a club, however I'm addicted after one listen. To go with my addiction is also the urge to learn how to skip. But not just skip, skip like a bad-ass. I never imagined that skipping could look so cool and impressive nor being the sole focal point to a music video such as this. They. Got. Skills.
Emancipator - Shook
This song provides the ear drums with a beautiful mix of Mobb Deep and Sigur Ros. There is nothing else to say, but simply listen and enjoy.
Thursday 8 July 2010
Monday 5 July 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)