You know I would have to say that I love making the Playlist's every month because I find new bands that fit the style that I'm currently enjoying. This month I have been getting down to the sounds of The Whitest Boy Alive. This band started as an electronic dance music project in 2003. It has slowly over time developed into a band without any programmed elements. The Whitest Boy Alive is frontman-ed by Erlend Øye, the lead singer who gives this band it's unique sound. You might recognize his vocals fromThe Kings of Convenience(his other band) which by the way is another great band. The groups sound is a mix of plucking guitars, synths, with a steady drum beat and soft vocals to make for some great easy listening. Once you have listen to a few TWBA tracks you’ll be hooked and you'll be looking for more.
I was looking at Justin Carrasquillo's photography series called "Night Photography". I was going to do a post about this series but after doing more digging. I found his other series and I couldn't just do it on one of his collections. Justin definitely has talent when it comes to finding and understanding light sources. So in the light of things (pun intended). I picked a couple from each collection that I thought where eye catching for you to get lost in thought. If you get time check out more of his work on his site and his blog.
So there seems to be a big buzz about a new FREE iPad app called Flipboard. This app gives you a reason to feel good about your decision to drop $500 bucks or more on your iPad. Flipboard is a new "social magazine" application that grabs info from your Facebook and Twitter feeds, as well as from other sources around the web, and presents them in a magazine-like layout, complete with large images, clean typefaces, and a general panache that goes well beyond the average client. This app from watching the video posted below makes me want to open my wallet just to have this app. Flipboard is more than likely the cream of the crop on being able to integrate your content to make it easier and more organized so that your always up to date on social media. If you don't think so watch the video.
P.S. The music in the video is a cover of the Aphex Twin song Flim by the jaz trio The Bad Plus.
It's that time again for another Playlist and this one has a 50's-esque surfing summer sound. Playlist-16 is definitely a summer jam to listen to while hanging on the beach or just chilling on a summer night. When I listen to this playlist it reminds me of surfing and just being a kid messing around on the beach having fun. So have a listen to the NEW Playlist-16 and join in on the end of summer playlist.
If you want to check out any of the other Playlist then click on Archived Playlist in this post or on the right hand side of this blog.
Cover Art by: Damion Schweizer
Tracklist
1. Sleep by Rollerskaters
2. Orange X by The Seabellies
3. All Summer by Kid Cudi, Best Coast and Rostam of Vampire Weekend
4. Sleepwalkers by The Hundred In The Hands
5. Roman History by Pet Lion
6. When They Fight They Fight by Generationals
7. Hannah by Freelance Whales
8. Intentions by The Whitest Boy Alive
9. Sink Let It Sway by Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
10. Summer Heart by Blackbird Blackbird
11. Boyfriend by Best Coast
12. Summer Holiday by Wild Nothing
13. 11th Dimension by Julian Casablancas
14. Summer Sun by Batte
15. Waves by Princeton
16. Too Beautiful for Smiles by Chromatic Flights
When choosing your watch it can tell a little about who you are and your style. It gives someone a look into your taste whether it be modern, luxury or vintage. Here are some different creative watches that you might find inspiring or that you may want. If you get a chance check out Tokyo Flash Japan which is a watch company that sells some interesting watches to fit your stylish needs. Let me know what you think of these watches.
It seems that Matthew Lyons has produced a new series called "Locations". If you haven't heard of him then let me tell you about him. He is a big buzz at this time on blogosphere and design world with his unique and 50’s-esque brand of image-making. His retro-contemporary vision is certainly making a place for itself. Matthew uses many saturated color, moody lighting and “grit” which make for a vintage style that is being recognized by many. Matthew has a very good eye for color and for finding the right composition to use in his work. You can read a post by ISo50 that goes into the thought process of one of Matthew's pieces to have an in-depth look at how his design process flows.
I enjoy coming across short film movies. They seem to have an ambiance to them. The short 3D film Descendants fits this description. This film is a 14 minute animated short about the wish of attaining the unattainable and about the fact that something good can evolve from something evil. This film is definitely a aspirational piece of art and it even goes deep with it's philosophical core. An interesting fact about this film is that one of the characters voice over was done by Whoopi Goldberg which it's nice to see that she was interested in something like this. If your interesting in learning about the making of the film. Then check out Binary Alchemy where you can read all the details of this project. Leave a comment about the film. I would like to hear about what you think about the film.
When I think of this design I think of James Bond. It's like hey check out my nice garden but then bam! All of a sudden your tricked out Porsche starts to rise up out of the ground. Well a company called Cardok has made such a James Bond garage design possible.
Cardok is a underground parking solution that doubles as your parking space and provides greater security than a locked garage. And it looks pretty good too. The platform is lowered and raised using hydraulics. If the power cuts off, small backup generator will help you access your car. The architect’s that made this design couldn't help but think how great this solution is for off-street parking, especially when you have limited space and it can enhance your curb-side appeal. It also gives you that James Bond appeal. Your neighbors would be jealous.
3D usage has become the new thing for 2010 with it's over use in movies, 3D TV's and now we have 3D camera's. Sony has started joining the 3D momentum in their new camera the Cyber-shot TX9. This sleek new camera with it's svelte, pocket-friendly number that creates 3D panoramas automatically in one press and sweep motion will run you about $400 bucks. This camera is priced about right for the features that the TX9 offers. Here are some other features of this camera. It includes a 3.5-inch LCD touchscreen, a 12.2 megapixel Exmor R back-illuminated CMOS sensor, 10fps burst shooting, 1080i HD video recording, Optical SteadyShot image stabilization, and a Carl Zeiss 4x optical zoom lens. If you want to find out more about this camera check out Sony's site.
Here is a little short video talking about Sony's new camera's that are coming out and their features. The video is kinda shaking just an fyi.
Michael Vincent Manalo did a photography series on the "Tales from the Story Teller". This collection depicts stories that can be seen as freedom to tales of despair and misery to the simple yet memorable days of pure ecstasy. Michael has always found that life is fascinating and to capture these moments gives him a feeling of pride and enjoyment in what he does as an artist. So enjoy today's images and reflect on what you think might be happening in each photo. Leave a comment and tell me what you think. If you get time as well check out his other works on his site.
A collaboration has been joined by Kid Cudi, Rostam from Vampire Weekend and Bethany fromBest Coast to create a single for Converse All Summer Jam. It is an innovated advertising campaign by Converse to remind you to keep on liking the brand. I think they did a great job on this by adding in three talented people and coming up with a great idea for the music video. The way that the video was created is awesome. I'm all about the vintage burn look with the overly large paper mache heads. They must have had a blast making this video. You can tell just by watching this music video. If you like the song you can download it here
Lots of video content and words on the artists and their work up at Converse.com
The great thing about the summer time is there full of festivals and who doesn't like festivals right? They're full of great bands, food, people and good atmosphere. So seeing how festivals rock. This year I have decided to attend the Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco August 14-15th at the Gold Gate park. This festival will give me the first time visitor a taste of the San Fran scene because this festival is like a taste of San Francisco with music, food, wine and art. I will tell you though I'm looking forward to some of the bands that will be performing this year. You have bands like Toyko Police Club, The Strokes, Phoenix, Slightly Stoopid, and many other great bands to fill your festival going ears.
I think another great thing about this festival is the wine tasting which California is known for its wineries. It looks like from the website that they have added 3 more wineries to the lineup. Berryessa Gap, Long Meadow Ranch and Palmina have been added in the ranks of an already impressive lineup of wineries featured in Wine Lands part of the festival. So if don't live in area you should travel on over to California and check out the Outside Lands Festival.
The time has come for this video to be shared. It was directed and created by Chris Wang. It's actually a viral campaign, and half website content made for Else Mobile Phones. The time has come acts as an intro for a new mobile device. It seems that this company is looking to utilize many new features that are not being used due to real world: complexity, usability, and the endless menus preventing them from being used. So they created a new phone called ELSE to address these issues, with an entirely different approach. You can go to the site and see a small demo of the phone and also get the specs for it.
I also have to give props to the creator of this video because the cinematography on the videos is amazing with its darker vintage look and it's technological data being portrayed all over the place. Plus it's kind of moving and you're hoping its for a new movie but nope it's a commercial.
This IF Mode Bike is a designers dreams. It's a beautiful piece of art work but it's also part transportation. This high-end foldable features large, monoblade wheel mountings, an enclosed trasmission, patented linkage that guides the wheels when folding, a heel push shifter, a Velo saddle, a disc brake, and supple handlebars. It also comes in two different colors that you can choose from cream or black. It was designed by acclaimed industrial designer Mark Sanders, is now available for purchase in the USA for a whopping $2,500 bucks.
Mark states that the IF Mode is aimed at commuters of the mobile generation who, until now, may have not considered cycling or folding bikes to be an option. IF Mode avoids oily chains, complex tubes with hidden dirt traps, and the clutter of traditional bike features. So if you got some cash you want to throw down on a new bike. Maybe you might consider this one as an option.
I can say that I'm enjoying the works of Berlin based photographer Matthias Heiderich. The collection that caught my eyes is his Berlin Color series. It's filled with photos taken at different locations around Berlin. His style and photo-graphical view points give a brighter and crisper view of the city. As a landscape photographer, Matthias cares about compositions and colors. Most of his work seem unreal and timeless, particularly Berlin Winter and Berlin Colour series. I also found out that he is a musician as well and was enjoying his tracks on Myspace while writing this post. So if you get a chance check out more of his work and have a listen to his music.
The other day I was check out the ISO50 blog and saw that Ghostly was doing a giveaway and seeing how I'm a fan of that label I had to check it out. When I was checking out their store I came upon the Card Speaker($75). This speaker is no bigger than credit card and as thick as a blister pack of chewing gum, the Card Speaker puts most every mp3 accessory to shame with its good looks and crisp fidelity. It was designed by IDEA International with the concept of being a speaker that wasn't a pain to carry around and easily accessible. It comes in either black or silver, with a mirror-polished back, and includes a protective carrying case, a 3.5 mm connection plug, and a USB battery charge cable. The speaker has an operating time of approximately five hours on a two-hour charge.
