Red Bull Music Academy have released a fantastic and really interesting interview conducted with Musician/Records Collector/Designer/DJ/misc legend Trevor Jackson. Spread over an hour and 20 minutes, it’s a very personal journey through Jackson’s many achievements in design and music, full of insights and passionate defences of his musical philosophy, as well as some frank words on the music and design industry. Well worth a watch. Also, check this great video out as well from Trevor’s collaboration with the Lemon Jelly crew that took place at the iMax in 2007. (this is discussed about 40 minutes in)
OK Go, nee of the famous treadmill music video have surpassed themselves by creating (in collaboration with James Frost and Syyn Labs) a masterpiece one shot video. If you think you’ve seen it before then you’d be (sort of) right, with the classic ‘Cog’ ad from Wiedens waaay back bearing comparison. This though, is shot through with an unbridled joy and optimism. It’s also a stunning achievement, made all the more satisfying by the ending, by which the hardest soul will struggle not to raise a smile. It also has awards written all over it. Check it out. (and the NYT Op-Ed here)
One of my more recent discoveries is the excellent We Heart. Covering the usual bases of urban and chic culture, it has a great point of view consistently brings us interesting things to the table. On my surfing travels, I found this really beautiful illustrator from Germany; Jörn Kaspuhl. Combining elements of portraiture and pop art, his style is gorgeously detailed and super vibrant. With his work appearing in publications ranging from the New Yorker, GQ and Forbes to Monocle and Wired, there is a good chance you have seen his stuff about. Check out some more after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
BBC4, for those abroad who will not have the pleasure of accessing this fantastic channel, have, since their launch done a series of brilliant deconstructions on some of the most important (and sometimes underappreciated) genres of music in the world. From Folk America, to Synth Britannia, they almost always have the knack to reveal something new about music you know intimately, or have the faintest of knowledge. Filled with first hand accounts, fantastic archival footage and strong, engaging storylines, they have become the highlights of the already strong programming line-up. As this week was Latin Music week, we saw a re-run of one such example. Latin Music USA. Read the rest of this entry »
With the proliferation of Digital Cameras, we all feel we can take a photo. But an ‘eye’ is something different. Something unique and all the rarer. So it was with a smile I flicked through my good friend and fellow blogger’s Roy’s new project. Roy has always been the photographer of the group, a camera dangling round his neck capturing the events of the last seven years of post college fun and games, while also showing what a great eye for detail and humanity he has. It’s a project that’s been a long time in coming and I thought it would be nice to share some of his great work with a wider audience. More shots after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
2010 has started with a bang for the worlds biggest search engine. Firstly, on Sunday, at the most watched Superbowl in history, Google paid $5 million to screen it’s 60 second ‘Parisian Love’ ad. Probably one of the best of the Superbowl ads, it’s simplicity showed the power and scope of Google’s search engine business. It was significant in other ways too. It was the first time Google had ever advertised it’s search engine. This was pounced on by commentators, bloggers and Google watchers as an admission of the pressures Google find’s itself under from Facebook in one corner and the emerging Microsoft Bing search engine.
Events this week have in fact revealed the opposite to be true. Yes, the facts remain Google has lost some market share to it’s rivals, but like any huge global corporation, Google’s not just got it’s finger firmly inserted in one pie, it’s sticky fingers are everywhere, and just like the after the opening credits of Star Wars have rolled, Google’s advancement into almost every single area of your web experience starts to look alot more like the Star Destroyer looming into view. Read the rest of this entry »
Fellow purveyors of cultural artifacts The Scrapbook posted a couple of weeks ago a great collection of 1960’s ads from arguably one of the great ‘lost’ brands of the 20th Century. Pan Am. These ads actually are in the permanent collection of MoMa, a testament to influence that Pan Am had a decades to branding and design as well as perceptions of America and America’s perception of the world. Dig a little deeper and the story becomes absolutely fascinating.
Wrangler has returned to the high fashion fray with a sequel to the Ryan McGinley shot ‘We Are Animals’ from 2008. The last one was well received, winning at Cannes, and certainly helped give some element of credibility to a brand that had been bumping along without a clear direction for some time. This campaign however, is a real winner, beautifully art directed and shot by Jeff Burton, this campaign keeps the the dark brooding theme with stabbing shots of colour that lend a severe edge to the clothes. This stark campaign comes on the back of Wrangler’s relaunch of it’s Blue Bell label. Blue Bell, like Levi’s Vintage Clothing and Levi’s RED, takes classic pieces and cuts from Wrangler’s immense archive and gives them a contemporary release. The website is the real brilliant bit of comms here, I wont spoil it, but it’s one of the best interactive experiences I’ve come across in a while. The shirts as ever are beautiful and certainly worth a look. Certainly of the ‘big three’ Jeans brands, (Levis’ Lee & Wrangler) Wrangler seems to be doing the most interesting stuff. Check out the Blue Bell video and the rest of the ‘We Are Animals’ campaign after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
In tough times, it’s interesting to see how Luxury Brands, specifically ones more associated with frivolity and a certain ‘joie de vivre’ (or recklessness, depending on your point of view) have scrambled to reposition themselves with authenticity at their core. Gucci, with it’s latest ad campaign has taken this one step further by recycling vintage ads with one of the proto supermodels Veruschka and the languid Jetset glamour of Peter Sellers (above – from behind)
It’s a smart bit of thinking from the Creatives at Gucci, serving two roles, establishing an authenticity of product and making you think twice about the longevity of the brand, and the powerful allure of the jetset. Similar to way Louis Vuitton photographs it’s signature bags adorned on the iconic,the famous or just plain interesting, it’s a great way of proving your sticking power when others around you are floundering. It’s a great story, and I wonder if it presages a trend towards other fashion houses recycling their archives in other interesting ways. More ads after the jump. (Source WWD) Read the rest of this entry »
Last month, the fantastic Dance music resource RA reviewed some of the best mixes over of the last decade. The list (here) showed the depth and breadth of Noughties Dance Music, it’s adventuorusness and rejection of the 1990’s superclub cul-de-sac. This was a decade that bought us the filthy fashioness of Electroclash, (anyone who ever went to a Electric Stew event would attest to that) the smooth Germanic innovations of Minimal House/Techno (pioneered by Kompakt, Get Physical et al) and the re-birth of Deep House and Dalston’s blast of Underground Disco. Of all the standout tracks that these genres spawned, there is still one that stands above all others it’s a track that blended the most interesting parts of many of Deep House, Techno and Minimal, that looked back as well as being gloriously futuristic, yet outside of Dance Music’s borders, criminally overlooked. This is Where We At. Read the rest of this entry »
A blog about all the amazing things that our pop cultural, tech obsessed, interconnected and passionate world throws up. If it's interesting, distinctive, opinionated, or worthy of discovery it will (hopefully be here...)
