Archive for February, 2009

I don’t post many really upbeat poppy songs on here but its Friday and Phoenix have a new LP coming out and i’m super geeked to find out if its going to be great. It’s been almost 9 years since they released United which I first heard in the Ghostly International office as a intern and fell in love. I feel this track 1901 is going to be played really loud at every bar by June as a LAST CALL song which is good and also really really bad at the same time.

Mux Mool has a new EP coming out in March and has leaked a new song (that will stay unreleased) with the info on the “Just Saying Is All EP”. Nausican has this morning strut feel to it, you know that feeling when your having a good morning and saying hi to all the neighbors kind of like that Blackalicious track Make You Feel That Way.

Alright i’m not sold on this new Royksopp, its not what I like about the earlier material and it’s way too poppy for my taste. What do you guys think?

Phoenix – 1901

Phoenix – Too Young

Mux Mool – Nausican

Royksopp – Happy Up Here

Royksopp – Happy Up Here Video

I’ve always been a huge fan of books on modernism, but unless you’re Dave from Grain Edit, it’s pretty hard to get your hands on the good stuff. And so it was with great pleasure that I stumbled onto Modernism 101 booksellers. the site, featuring a vast collection of rare and out of print books on modern design and architecture, serves up cover images and very detailed information on a wide array of classic design texts. Many of the books featured are have sold, but they archive the pages so it’s a great resource for images and information on many books that you’ll probably not find elsewhere. I’ll be running a (hopefully) weekly feature aptly titled “Modernism 101” highlighting the best examples from their collection.

Today’s selection is a collection of Dutch printmaker H.N. Werkman’s work edited by Fridolin Müller. Enjoy!


H. N. WERKMAN
Fridolin Müller

out of stock

Via Modernism 101

Just got turned onto Dutch studio Almost Modern this morning. I’m definitely a fan of their poster work; there are some misses here and there, but most of it is simple, minimal, and very effective design.

via AisleOne

I’ve been in love with some of the songs on the new Odd Nosdam LP that just came out this month on the hard working Anticon label. I haven’t really heard anything like this song Ethereal Slap since Marumari’s Supermogadon which definitely isn’t as heavy hitting. Root Bark by Odd Nosdam is more soundtrack-ish but really is unhateable, perfect for a skateboarding soundtrack which I think is what this LP is suppose to be for.

Fans of Samiyam and Flying Lotus need to check out Charles Trees, he has an upbeat crunchy authentic sound that might be able to find in Daedelus’ but also hits as hard as Dabrye.

I’m always happy to hear and support Max Tundra, he is needed in music because he breaks down pop barriers and weeds out and finds the real music lovers that care for avant pop, the video below is shot in such a simple yet attractive way in my mind, reminds me of some Electric Company promo.

Odd Nosdam – Ethereal Slap

Odd Nosdam – Root Bark

Charles Trees – It’s The…

Max Tundra – Will Get Fooled Again

Max Tundra – Will Get Fooled Again Video

We all know Polish design is amazing, but every now and then you need a good reminder. Karl forwarded me a Wanken post on the Tonpress sleeves you see above. Tonpress was a government-controlled Polish record label in the 80’s and from the looks of it, they had some quality design staff hanging around. If you want to sift through all the links, lots more cover art is here.

Images via Wanken

P.S. Be sure to check out Karl’s blog, it’s got a new skin that’s dripping with minimal goodness.

I remember seeing Lego a few years back having simple Lego pieces as business cards and thinking that was amazing but they took it a couples steps further by matching hair, gender and glasses for their employees new business cards, pretty creative, read more here.

These 3 songs by Bernhard Fleischmann, Wisp, and Departure Lounge are good examples of 3 completely different genres that I really wouldn’t know how to tag with a specific genre. Wisp on one hand sounds like he should be making all the fantasy video game music for any World of Warcraft game in 2010 specifically any epic winter levels. Bernhard Fleischmann sounds like a sped up Mum song that put the guitar and drums priority in the mixdown while Departure Lounge has more of a northern Midwest feel with layered finger picking and some gently placed feedback that’d probably drive a mastering guy nuts.

I’m not sure where I remember first seeing this La Serenissima video but it hit my nostalgia button right away, seems like the studio that drew the original G.I. Joe animated series must of done it, i’m not exactly sure though. I wish more cartoons we’re drawn like this, i’d probably watch them religiously.

Bernhard Fleischmann – Composure

Wisp – Where It Falls

Departure Lounge – Alone Again But…

Allegro Milano – La Serenissima

Allegro Milano – La Serenissima

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw64StSU8Z0

I’ve always loved the artist series over at Hillman Curtis. Very well produced and put together films; my only complaint is that they are so few and far between. Scott’s recent post reminded me to go back and watch this one on Milton Glaser. I love hearing design heavyweights like him talk about the big issues in design. As far as I know, he still teaches at SVA occasionally—how fascinating it must be to have him as a teacher!

I also enjoyed the films on music video director Mark Romanek, and conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner.

While they’re not quite as good as their big screen counterparts, some TV title sequences are starting to look a lot like what you’d expect from a feature film. Smashing Magazine has an article entitled “20 Brilliant TV Show Titles” featuring some of the better examples out there. My personal favorite has to be TrueBlood; the colors are incredible. Although none of them come close to beating Catch Me If you Can (although Mad Men tries valiantly), there certainly are some nice ones in the list. Link

Just found a nice size collection of 1960’s Advertising from around the world on Flickr, plenty more photos of exhibitions, typefaces, tv ad’s, and print.