Street Art in Music Videos: Shepard Fairey's Work Featured in "Money" by N.A.S.A.
Graffiti and hip-hop have long had close ties, but the selection of Shepard Fairey’s street art in the “Money” music video for N.A.S.A. gives this pairing a decidedly highbrow edge.
We’ve covered a wide variety of Shepard Fairey’s work at LoveThatTune. As you’ll recall, he was the artist that designed the infamous Obama “Hope” posters and “Obey” guerrilla campaign. The music video for N.A.S.A.’s “Money” uses Shepard Fairey’s work throughout.
N.A.S.A. is a collaboration between Squeak E. Clean and DJ Zegon; the acronym stands for “North America, South America.” Other artists featured in “Money” include David Byrne, Chuck D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge, and Z-Trip, according to Chunnel. The video was directed by Syd Garon and Paul Griswold.
On January 24th 2009 The End, London's loudest, most intimate, underground nightclub will close. The closure of The End at 18 West Central Street brings the final tally of important electronic music clubs to have closed in London in the last 12 months to five. The End joins Turnmills, The Cross, Canvas and The Key on the list of doomed dance music clubs that have disappeared in a cloud of development dust this year. In December 2007, The Cross, Canvas and The Key got smashed to smithereens to make way for the Channel Tunnel Rail link. Then in March, Turnmills nightclub in Faringdon made way for some real-estate developers who turned the building into a bland office space. So what the hell is going on with London’s club scene? The End was home of many a Drum and Bass, Techno, New Rave, Electro, Funk night and all with the addition of a sound system that would leave your ears ringing for a good couple of days. It's location, in central London, 3 minutes walk from Tottenham Court Road or Holborn mean that it was easily accessable for everyone. This is a real shame, especially as it seems we are left with very few options now. Fabric, Ministry of Sound, SE1, Colleseum, Heaven, Egg are left as the biggies of London. Why? Warehouse parties, Outdoor parties, House Parties? Why? Expensive drinks just aren't covering the costs and keeping developers out. Grrrr..... is all I can say, especially as it is probably going to turn into some average office block or carpark.
Played at Space Ibiza. Loving this tune the moment. Full of cheekyness, just what I like out of tech house hese days. Look out for more from Walley me thinks...
Feast your eyes on the world’s first touch-screen decks. Apple had the idea (see related article below) but this guy got there first.
No, these aren’t the product of a major corporation like Vestax or Technics, they are in fact the brainchild of a design student in Dundee, Scotland. Most students have the same idea at the same points in their lives: “I’ll do something for my final year that I can use to get me a job”. Not Scott Hobbs. Hobbs’ touch screen creations are supposed to be used in a traditional turntable configuration, with two of them connected to a mixer via a line-out. A laptop harbours the MP3 or audio tracks that are then manipulated via the touch screen decks.
Hobbs even wrote the damn software: “I have plans to develop it to work with other DJ software,” he exclaimed.
“The TT would make an amazing Midi controller, as well as just a standalone unit, so DJs can use them as they wish.” Not only could this be the future of Djing but it could revolutionise the AV displays as well.
Check out this cat’s creations at www.scotthobbs.co.uk and BeatPortal for full article.
MastikSoul started his career in 92, in a time where his life was split between Portugal and France, and from where he watched the raise of a new musical culture, that in association with his strong African roots designed his talent in a unique form.Being connected to techno music for a while, where he released his first twelve-inch and developed his dj and producer skills, came in the late 90´s with the desire of embracing other styles. House music became his main inspiration.
This is one the best minimal mixes I've heard recently, full of deep qurky beats. Listen to it all the way through with good speakers to get hear the true potential.
While much of today's dubstep has all the charm of a troll living under a motorway bridge, Belfast's multi-talented Bary Lynn brings us a sort of elated psychedelia, lacing his sub-bass with tricksy drums, soulful flutes, and splashes of live electric guitar. 2006's Oneiric was acclaimed as a new direction for the genre, but his new LP Glyphic is even better.
Interview by Dazed Digital
Dazed Digital: What's changed for you since Oneiric? Boxcutter: I'm making stuff a bit quicker lately and watching that I don't overwork things, just so I can keep it sounding spontaneous. I'm using more hardware stuff too, which suits me because I like playing on instruments. DD: How much of this album is played live? B: Some of it: the guitars and synths. It sounds like a load of jams to me, listening back now. Some of the tracks are edited down from longer sessions. DD: Do you have any interest in producing for the dancefloor? B: Yeah I love dancefloor music, if that's not coming across it's probably my ropey production. I like trying to make people dance without resorting to really obvious ideas though. DD: Have you become more confident about your music? B: I'm never that confident about my stuff to be honest, I like it but it's weird exposing it by releasing it, that's something I'm still sort of getting used to. I'm usually most into the stuff I've just made that no one's heard yet, I like just walking round somewhere quiet playing it on headphones DD: Which Irish artists can you recommend that Dazed readers might not have heard of? B: My mate Filaria. DD: You're influenced by "cosmic" jazz. What are your favourite cosmic jazz albums? B: The first three that come to mind are Kulu Se Mama by John Coltrane, The Elements by Joe Henderson & Alice Coltrane, and Village Of The Pharoahs by Pharoah Sanders.
6 days to go till the best week of my life ... again. Every year it gets better and better, and truth be told the Boom team have promised even more this year. There are a few notable developments that I think you should know. Firstly, the car park has moved! Thankfully last Boom I was not part of the 20 hour long cue to get into the festival. We were staying on the otherside of the lake and so got to the gates fairly early and only cued for a minor 4 hours or so. Anymore and it would have been a little tedious. This year though, they have a different set up, which means Boomers can park further away from the festival, around the lake, and then get a ferry over to the festival. This will hopefully prevent the vicious cues that occured last Boom. The next development, that I'm looking forward to a lot, is the official opening up of Groovy Beach. It was introduced last Boom, but this year, it has expanded and has an official line-up and everything. Boomers should look forward to a selection of Breaks, Playful House, and Dub Step. The Line - Up has got a couple of big game dubstep players in the form of Scuba and Boxcutter, that are sure to bless the beach. I imagine they would never had been to Boom before, so I welcome them... I'm sure it will make an impression. Other developments. The loos are all going to be compost based, and 200 of them, cleaned regularly. Ones for unrine and ones for solids. One thing that always amazes me about Boom is the state of the loos. They are always clean. A breath of fresh air really, literally, compared to the pains of Glastonbury (apparently someone fell in this year).
If you read this please leave a comment. I want to know your thoughts.
In the last 7 years or so, we have seen the switch in DJs tools of choice. Like any industry , this is inevitable, but in an industry as huge and bitchy as the music industry, these changes have provoked certain arguements. All DJs, if they have any style or quality will admit that vinyl is the best way to listen to music, but unless you are a "superstar DJ" and get given tracks by artists and record labels, then DJ vinyl is a costly activity. So came along CD decks. Which incorporated "beat matching" technology and therefore provoked arguments of technicality and cheating. Almost all computers nowadays have a CD writers and almost everyone has there music stored digitally and can burn it CD. The former making DJing a lot easier and the latter a lot easier.
3 x DMC champion DJ Craze then teamed up with a certain technology company and produced Final Scatch. A digital deck that links to your computer, pressing a digital file to a vinyl almost instantly. While Final Scratch dominated the industry for a long while and with a very high premium attached, others have followed suit and it is now readily accessable to bedroom DJs and the rest.
Apple are now set to get involved in this DJing evolution, with the introduction of virtual decks and mixer. On July 10th, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a major Apple patent application pertaining to a system and method of managing, manipulating and editing media objects on a touch sensitive advice. According to a blog post on the Macintosh News Network, the patent "illustrates an embodiment of the invention for manipulating the replay and recording of audio or musical files", and will enable DJs to display and mix a pair of virtual records (graphical representations of digital music files) on a pair of virtual turntables:
"Like a pair of physical turntables, the [styli] can be graphical icon indications of a playback queue, the position of which can be varied by touching the queue on a touch sensitive display screen and dragging the icon to the desired position on the graphical record. The moving of the stylus would cause a jump in the playback point of the corresponding song, as on a physical turntable.
"Also like a pair of physical turn tables start/stop buttons can be touched by one or more fingers to toggle the start or stop/pause of the song reprotuction. Speed variants bars can be linearly adjusted to control the playback speed of the songs. Windows can graphically reproduce the frequency representation of the reproduced songs, while window can display the frequency representation of the actual output of the music application, which can be simply one of the songs being reproduced, or a mixed /combination of the songs. Mixing/pan bar can be manipulated to modulate or demodulate the two songs being reproduced.
"During song reproduction, the records can be manipulated similar to a physical record. For instance, rapid back and forth movement of a record can cause the sound effect of a record "scratching", as disc jockeys often do on physical turntables.
Even by post-millennial standards, six years between successive studio albums is a long time to keep the fans waiting. And then to produce one which sounds half-finished? Well, “Mala Fama” (‘evil fame’) is the title of one of these 21(!) new songs, so maybe Manu Chao is playfully courting obscurity.
La Radiolina sounds like a partially successful attempt to bridge the gap between the studio and his astonishingly energetic live shows, while revisiting his Mano Negra punk-pop roots. However, with many of the tracks petering out in little over two minutes, often roughly edited into one another, it’s not as satisfying or flowing as his early work. Not that there isn’t plenty to enjoy.
There’s a smattering of very appealing slower, sparser tracks such as the Cuban/Catalan rumba swing of “Me Llaman Calle”, which is later recycled – oops, I mean ‘reprised’ – as “La Vida Tombola”. But more typical is the irresistibly racing energy of “Tristeza Maleza”, with its luminous sci-fi synth effects, driving snare, snappy brass motifs and ominous warnings to George Bush Jnr. Unfortunately it’s followed by the unsubtle agit-pop lyrics and reggae chug of “Politik Kills”. Yeah, we knows. When he sings in Spanish, it’s much easier to overlook the formulaic nature of his lyrics, which often still rely on repetition of one catchy mantra-like phrase, with a different ending for each line.
Repeatedly re-using a small stock of sound effects from one album to another is that other great Chao trademark, and it continues here. It looks like the ‘space invader’ sample that peppered Clandestino and Próxima Estación…Esperanza has finally been put to bed, but the cop car siren which decorated Dimanche à Bamako, his fabulous 2004 collaboration with Amadou & Mariam, still seems to have mileage in it. It does make you wonder, though, whether the punk-polka “El Hoyo” and “Panik Panik” aren’t actually also just fragments of the same song. Anyway, La Radiolina has more new gimmicky sounds than ever before – including hysterical laughter, blubbering lips, and hillbilly geetar licks – plus more guitars.
It’s a very good – as opposed to great – album struggling to escape from 50 minutes of often carelessly sequenced clutter. With some judicious pruning, and if he actually bothered to finish some of the songs, I’d be able to like it as much as I want to.
Zen Approach, Broken Home, Candle Chant, Road to Knowhere, The Begginning, Final Home, No More, all the mixing on Cold Krush Cuts, are just the bases of my love for DJ Krush. For the last 6 years, basically as long as I've been into electronica, downbeat, or whatever you want to call it Krush has been my all time favourite. AND I'm not alone. DJ Shadow, Amon Tobin, and DJ Food all claim to hold DJ Krush the closest to their heart.
It took me 5 desperate years to finally see Krush live and after hearing very mixed reports of his live performances, I was extremely over excited to say the least. The gig was at Clockwork, Bristol. The crowd was whack, and there was definitely a huge handful who had no idea what they had actually come for. In the front though was me and that was all that materred. I got in zone, and let the incredible visuals and technical downbeat trippiness take me away. And away it really did. I must admit, when I finally came to going to sleep. It was difficult, I was still well and truly in the Krush warp.
Good news is I can hopefully re-live this adventure twice this weekend. Krush is playing a The Big Chill on Friday and at Koko on Sunday. I will be at one of them that is for sure. The cherry on the top though, is Vadim and Luke Vibert are going to be a both events as well. What an absolute fucking amazing summer treat. Brrraap!
When the weather is like how it is our thoughts obviously turn to the finer things in life and Walter Meego sum things up with their track ‘Girls’. Outlaw Dj’s have remixed it into some weird niceness complete with a surprise sample and loads of super mental old school analogue psychedelic noises.
Secret Garden Party is this weekend, and I'm gutted to be missing it. SGP is all a small english festival should be. Colourful people, fantastic low key music, delicious food, good vibes, performance art, healing areas, therapists and lushous scenary. The Secret Garden Party began in 2004 with 1000 people attending. There was one hand-built stage, two small bars, a naked stage manager and the organisers could be found swimming in the lake at dawn. In 2005 the word had spread and 3000 people turned up...
The Line UP for this year: AbsenteeAdam FreelandAlex MetricAlexander WolfeAli BAlphabeat Alton EllisAnya Marina Alex WaezAtomic HooliganAsteriods Galaxy TourAutokratzBad ScienceBack to BasicsBaxter DuryBeans on Toast Ben BridgewaterBeep SealsBen DeVere and DJ Fun TimesBig...
I had been a bit disappointed by the lack of decent festivals that I had been to in recent years. The usual cliché POOP bands (you know the ones who sing about looking out of windows and being in love!!) playing to a crowd of people off their nuts, singing the same songs their heard on the radio at work!! Being fed adverts on the big screens for washing up powder and Shit films your never gonna see. Well I was glad to find that all was not lost and that there are festivals out there that do have soul.
Hosted in the breathtaking grounds of Henham Park Estate, Southwold the Latitude festival celebrated its 3rd birthday. The festival is not famed for its amazing line up of blockbuster acts or its incredibly large but impenetrable fortress of fences, nor was any of it that ‘spectacular’ (apart from some sheep spray painted pink).However what it didn’t have in wedges of cash, it made up for it in character.
The main stage hosted some big name acts such as Sigur Ros, who played a phenomenal set of their Icelandic falsetto brilliance. Promoting a new album með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust which according to Google means "with a buzz in our ears we play endlessly" which is a pretty f*”king cool name for an album if you ask me. Other main stage highlights include Seasick Steve an inspired American blues singer, who rocked the crowds with song likes “dog house blues” and “Cut My wings”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RlUwS1LKRs&feature=related
Moving around was another major part of this festival, although not long distances, walks had to be made to feast on the best parts of the festival. A few smaller stages situated around the woods and the beautiful river which ran through the festival; which hosted both gondolas; and a fantastic light projection of a spinning globe at night, a real sight to be seen!
The Sunrise Arena, located in the woods – hosted some great acts such as Crystal Castles and Metronomy to name but a few. In addition a great new act called ESSER who I think will be someone to look out for in the future (www.myspace.com/esserhq)
Other music acts which rocked the roof off the tented stages were Sebastien Tellier (http://www.myspace.com/telliersebastien) the French electro pop maestro, who knocked us all into submission with his electro beats and Blondie the punk goddess who still has it considering she is in here 60’s
Other treats included Comedy acts such as Bill Bailey and Ross Noble who went down a storm and upon finishing his set lead a 5,000 strong stampede across the fields. Fun was also had at the countless cabaret acts which continued long into the nights, which unfortunately on all three nights I cannot remember.
As I said before it was great to feel a part of something a bit more special, rather than the mundane churned out rubbish that we are fed most of the time at festival. This wasn’t a festival for festival’s sake. It hard charm, it had atmosphere and most importantly it had pink sheep!!
London has been having one of its wettest summers in ages, and there has been intense flooding around the nation, so when the heavens opened up as I was walking to the beautiful confines of Victoria Park, I worried that day one Lovebox was under threat of being renamed Mud-box. Fortunately the rain gods were only teasing us. When I arrived at around 3.30 p.m., just in time to catch Patrick Wolfe, the sun and blue skies had begun to peek their heads out from behind the grey clouds.
Now in its fifth year, the Groove Armada boys seem to have the festival thing down pat, and there was a good mix of musical talent, eclectic stage set-ups and other attractions.
Dubbed a mini-Glastonbury by organizers, this feeling rang true, as despite some low-key sponsoring, it felt relatively corporate free. Food options were plentiful and went far beyond burgers and chips (with the jerk chicken stall taking my vote).
The tent of the afternoon for me though had to be Secretsundaze. Tucked away in the furthest corner of the grounds, the circular fenced enclosure had a real backwoods feel to it with a bayou porch of a stage. The centrepiece was of course the infamous Secretsundaze disco ball which hung from a giant stump of a tree. Giles Smith and 2000 and One spun house tracks that were perfect for mid-afternoon, the loyal SS crowd responded, and the result was a dirty (in a good way) daytime afterparty-like vibe.
San Miguel are putting on 5 music events over the summer, under the name Hidden Depths. There have already been 2. The first of which was in London at the Soho Revue Bar, which is an amazing venue actually. Prior to the event no one knew what the line up was, just that it was hosted by Mark Jones of Wall of Sound. The secrecy of the line up is the running theme of Hidden Depths. So in the end, everyone was treated to the likes of Shortwave Set, A Human, Propellerheads, and The Infadels, and lots of free San Miguel.
The second event was on the 10th July in Manchester, at a venue called Joshua Brooks. It was a unbelievable night. It was covered in Hidden Depths decor, big leather sofas, and huge LCD screens showing art film. The highlight though was definitely the music... obviously. Again the public were only aware that The Glimmers were going to be there. In the end though the crowd was blessed with the likes of THE Grandmaster Flash, and the Unabombers. The Glimmers smashed it, Unabombers smashed it, and The Grandmaster definitely smashed it. Here is a review from another blogger that paints a good picture http://www.buzzinelectronicmusic.co.uk/the-glimmers-grandmaster-flash-unibombers-hidden-depths-event-manchester/98 .
So that’s Hidden Depths so far. There are 3 more events to come. Secretsundaze, Chromeo, and It’s Pop It’s Art. Secretsundaze is on the 31st July at T-Bar, London. Featuring the likes of Theo Parrish, James Priestley, Giles Smith and 3 more TBC. The Chromeo event is 21st August at The End, there are another 9 acts playing including a certain somebody who was surprsingly epic at Glastonbury. The final event It’s Pop It’s Art, is on the 18th September at The Amersham Arms. Hosted by Fred Deakin of Lemon Jelly who I love.
The great thing about these events is that they are free if you register at http://www.sanmiguel.couk/ and you win tickets. The atmosphere at the last 2 has been amazing, and the line ups for all of them have been spectacular. Very much looking forward to seeing Theo Parrish next week at the T-bar.
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