I came across Alex Schulz on Vimeo this week and I wanted to share his video called "view". It's an animated short film about "human" perspective. I really enjoyed this video because of the meaning of the film and the concept in which he used to portray his meaning.
Alex who is from Pforzheim, Germany is a very creative artist who not only works with animation but also photography, graphic design, illustrations and producing music. From both videos that he has on Vimeo he has produced the music for each of them. I think their great little tracks that go well with the concepts. So check out his Behance and Vimeo sites and enjoy. Let me know what you think about the video?
The Temper Trap is a 4 piece indie band from down under. This Australian band gives you some Aussie style with their atmospheric sound, that incorporates pulsating drum and bass grooves with fluctuating pitched vocals and arpeggiated guitar chords, and a modest drizzling of synths .
Their album Conditions was release in 2009 and their single "Sweet Disposition" has been used in countless commercials and it's also on the soundtrack to 500 days of Summer. Although this song is their mainstream hit don't let that full you. The rest of the album is full of great fines with the courtesy of Dougy Mandagi and his plaintive vocals and the swelling strings that accompany each track.
This album was well produced and bristlingly melodic, but also sobersided and personality-free, with lyrics that have big themes - life and death, love and faith - in empty platitudes. They are currently starting to work on their second album which I can only assume will be just as unique and filled with blissful sounds as Conditions. If you're looking for something to quiver and tingle your vertebrae and give you goose bumps then this album is for you.
The Malibu 5 is a modern home built in California by Kanner Architect. This house is conceived as a passive solar home. It was built facing the Pacific Ocean to take advantage of the coastal breezes, the energy generated from solar gain, and the natural lights and views. This home has a photovoltaic panels and solar thermal panels for domestic hot water on the roof. The photovoltaic panels generate power for the house during the day. This home generates enough power for the owners needs and the remainder of power is sent to a local power grid. On the ground-levels concrete floors act as heat sinks, pulling in the sun's energy during the day and releasing it at night. This 3300sq ft house not only has some greening properties to it but its design gives them full access to it's surroundings. The Malibu 5 home is a beautiful example of blending shapes with sustainable and eco-friendly technology.
On Mozilla Labs website they launched a Concept Series with an open call for participation. They have received thousand of people who have participated and shared their ideas and concepts. One in particular that caught the attention was Billy May and his Open Web Concept Phone. The input for the phones idea came from users in the spirit of Mozilla's open source. The Mozilla Seabird, part of the Mozilla Labs’ Concept Series, is an experiment in how users might interact with their mobile content as devices and technology advances. Drawing on insights culled from the Mozilla community through the project’s blog, a focus quickly developed around frustrating physical interactions. This phone is full of new options and ways to utilize your potential for this concept phone. Check out the video below to see some of the features of this concept phone.
Playlist-18 has arrived and is ready for you to press play. This an upbeat kinda of playlist which I quite enjoy. One of my top favorites is from the band Kinisi and their song Beach Frogs. It has that pseudo-rhythmic feel with it's soothing electric guitar. This is a band to watch for. If you want to hear more from Kinisi then head on over to their bandcamp site and download three of their tracks for FREE. It's also good to see that Abandoned Pools has released a new track called Legionnaire. It has been a hot minute since they have put anything out but this new track doesn't leave you hanging. So time to get those eardrums working.
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. Golden Age by Beach Fossils
2. Boy by Ra Ra Riot
3. Beach Frogs by Kinisi
4. Almost There with Lauren Hillman by Opus Orange
5. Rill Rill by Sleigh Belss
6. Wood Block by Joe Gil
7. Wide Eyed Legless by Laura Veirs
8. Beach by Mew
9. Nobodys In Love (Xaphoon Jones Remix) by 2AM Club
10. If I Ever Feel Better (Original) by Phoenix
11. Legionnaire by Abandoned Pools
12. Should Have Taken Acid With You (Breakfast Of Champions Remix) by Neon Indian
13. Static on The Wire by Holy Ghost!
14. Flot On Modest Mouse Cover by Blackbird Blackbird
15. All to All (Spirit If Remix by Kevin Drew & Ohad Benchetrit) by Broken Social Scene
A company called Looxcie just came out with a new way of recording your memories. They have built this tiny camera that shoots HVGA footage any time it's on. Letting you record those memories that you wish you would have. This ear wearing camera not only lets you film but it also doubles as a Bluetooth headset which from what I hear you can still record while using it as a Bluetooth headset. It also lets you use your Android handset as a viewfinder and editor. It also gives you access to share these memories on the fly. This little ear wearing camera will run you about $200 bucks. So if your looking for a Bluetooth headset to also have the power to record then this Looxcie is for you.
They have returned to release their seventh full-length studio albumInvented. Jimmy Eat World's new album is due to be released on September 28th but they have been generous enough to allow you to stream the whole album before its release. For the production of the new album they returned to Mark Trobino who produced their earlier albums Static Prevails, Clarity and Bleed American. Jimmy Eat World who has been a testament to the fact that this band has stood the test of time as a band. They are still making great albums more than 15 years later. So click on over to Myspace or their official website to listen to their new album. Tell me what you think?
Since I have been on a 3D art kick I thought I would pick another one that I thought was interesting. This commercial below was made in 2008 for Royal Bank of Canada. The concept was very simple, a man wakes up one morning with endless legs and decides to take advantage of the situation by easily traveling the world with his kids. This video caught my attention due to the style and design of the 3D characters and the textures and color patterns used in the video. Plus it has the Shins "New Slang" song playing in the background. You can't go wrong with the Shins. If your interested in checking out more video's by fxandmatt then check them out on Vimeo.
Director: Fx&Mat Production: Mr Hyde Agency: BBDO Toronto
Aiko Studio is a company that specializes in 3D modeling, texturing, animation, rendering, and effects. In their latest video they generated a 3D computer model of a simple classroom. They did a flythrough of the classroom to get you focused on some details you might not usually focus on in a classroom. What caught my attention to this video is the realism that this video shows. The detail of this video is also spot on with its close up's and its use of different lighting. Aiko studio also has a making of the video that shows the different lighting patterns and the sequences in which the video was designed. It took Aiko Studio about 6 months to complete this video but they stated that this was an in between project and was not a full time job. They used 3D Max + V-Ray to complete this project. So go ahead and have a look at the video and check out more of their works on Vimeo.
I haven't written about bikes in a while so today is your lucky day. Let me introduce the Derringer Cycles, a line of hybrid bikes that were modeled after 1920's racing motorcycles. These stylish bikes are a throwback to the classic that your grandparents might have had. They even feature the Brooks leather saddles and polished copper rivets and the design is reimagined for the modern world. The Derringer cycle allows the rider to either use his own bike pedaling powers or use the Honda overhead valve 4-stroke engine. This little bad boy can get you speeding along the road at a cruise speed of 35 MPH. It also has a 1.8 gallon tank that gives you enough power to go up to 300 miles on one tank of gas.
So I take it by this point in the post your asking yourself I want one but how much does it cost? Well since these are custom made and it's a vintage item that will standout on its own. Your looking to spend somewhere around 3,500 for one of these to go around town and brag about your sweet vintage throwback bike.
Formodesign a Polish architect firm shared their project with Arch Daily called the Doublesingle Storey House. It is located in Grabowa, Poland. This home is currently still under construction and will not be completed till 2011. I do however want to mention that I like the idea of this home. It was shaped and formed to follow the sun's path and site's panorama to deliver a clear interior view opening on the forest, meadows and the stream. It was also the idea of creating a doublesingle storey layout to enable the resident to enter and exit the home no matter where they were. The land which it was built on gives this house style with its sloped hills and view of the nature around it. It also blends nicely with natural looking material used to build this home.
When it comes to going to an event we sometimes are a little cautious on bringing our nice camera for fear of damage or it's just to big and bulky. Well Samsung has come up with the Samsung NX100. It's the latest addition to the NX series of mirrorless compact system cameras and it comes with some innovative new features.
It features a 14.6Mp sensor, a 3.0" AMOLED screen, an ISO range of 100 to 3200, 720p movie recording (H.264) and SD / SDHC card slot. Its new i-Function button on the lens that allows users to to cycle manual through settings like white-balance, ISO, shutter speed, aperture and exposure compensation. It is however lacking in the built-in flash department but it does have an option to add a hot shoe mounted flash gun. It also has a GPS unit and EVF that slots into the back of the camera. It was also advised that this camera will offer a wide variety of lenses to complete your NX100 series.
The NX100 price well that is (TBA) as well as the release date but I do know that it will include the 20-50mm lens and will be available in black, white and brown.
I recently got my hands on a copy of the New Teen Dream album by the Baltimore-based duo Beach House. This is the third album by Beach House and it's packed full of dreamy sounding rhymes and vocals. Scally and Legrand have created a well arranged and constructed sound of droning melodies and waverly vocals to carry you through each song. This album is full of sounds that can be seen as dreamy like the use of vintage organs and the arpeggiating piano.
This album was produced by Chris Coady, who has worked with TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Blonde Redhead, and was recorded in a converted church in upstate New York — appropriately named Dreamland. So I have a feeling that maybe the name Dream in the album title had some influences from the sound of the album and the location of where it was recorded. Either way this is a must have album.
If you like the album or want to check them out. Then if you live in Florida your in luck. They will be playing two shows in Florida with Vampire Weekend. One in Orlando on Oct 11th at the Hard Rock Cafe and then Oct 12th at Jannus Landing in St. Petersburg.
Debbie Carlos who is a photographer from Chicago has an interesting collections of animals. In this collection which she calls "Human Nature". She took pictures of animals that were on display at Chicago's Field Museum. She wanted to capture the natural environment where the animals, long dead, are themselves placed and positioned in scenes that recreate their habitat. These images she captured of the life-like death of the creatures has a murky quality of lighting and has dark desaturated tones that gives these images a very dark vintage feel. I like her point of view on the reasoning why she took these photo's. She states that the images convey a sensuality and romanticism at odds with the sense of stagnant death that lingers in the cracked skin of 100-year-old taxidermied animals and birds strung up as though in flight with fishing line. Inside the museum, nature is labeled, classified, and static, turned into an object of knowledge. These photos attempt to capture the mystery and romance of this very pursuit—the sincerity of the scientific endeavor, the pathos of its visible failure, and the beauty of the attempt to engage with nature. If you have time check out her site and also her blog.
We as a society sometimes forget that on a daily basis we are being watched. Whether were walking around the city or sitting in our cars at a red light. We are being watched. So Thomas voor 't Hekke and Bas van Oerle started the project called "panoptICONS" which addresses the fact that you are constantly being watched by surveillance cameras in the city. Their are so many cameras that most times we never think anything about it. We become unaware and that is where this projects concept came into play. To represent this, camera birds - city birds with cameras instead of heads were placed throughout the city to make us aware of their presence. In addition, a camera bird in captivity was displayed to show the feeding process and to make the everyday breach of our privacy more personal and tangible.
panoptICONS is a project by Thomas voor 't Hekke and Bas van Oerle who work together by the name of 'Helden'. Music: Amon Tobin - Easy Muffin
Marek Rytych Architekt is the one who designed the “Open Air Sculpture” house in the suburbs of Warsaw, Poland. This home is full of different elements that pull all together to make a unique modern home yet with a loft living kind of feel. The designers from looking at their site are specialized in industrial design and you can tell from the materials and textures used throughout the home.
The exterior of the home is an eye catcher for sure with its geometrical shapes apparently abundant on this home. The use of different elevations on the porches and stepping stones gives the home more depth and character. The interior of the home is open with only miniumal separations from other rooms in the home. It's structured on the inside to feel like your in an industrial type loft with a modern look. There are so many pictures of this amazing house so if you want to see more pictures check out Marek Rytych Architekt site.
