Archive for February, 2009

Hot on the heels of our recent, and thoroughly rousing, discussion on the subject, I came across B.Caruther’s gallery of “inspired” designs and their original counterparts. I thought it was an interesting illustration of the the whole concept of “borrowing” artwork. If you’re going to make the argument that someone like Shepard Fairey is stealing (and therefore their work has no merit), you would have to make the exact same argument for each and every one of these and the countless others out there.

Sure, that argument would be pretty easy for a lot of them. Many are sort of tongue-in-cheek riffs on design classics while others are what I would characterize and blatant rip-offs. But some do stand up as something new and engaging for reasons other than the imagery they borrow. The “Clockers” poster is a perfect example. Yes, it borrows heavily from Bass’ original, but it takes the imagery and re contextualizes it in a way that creates something fresh and provocative. Nevertheless, Bass regarded the poster as a “rip-off” while it’s creator, Art Sims, called it an homage [source]. I guess with an issue as subjective as this, people will never reach consensus, but it’s fun to try!

A few classics from Milton Glaser.

Apparently the tail lights of the Volvo C30 have inspired industrial designers to construct a well thought out 3 piece chair set.

The record heads over at Kompakt have done it again by continuing to floor ambient lovers with one of the best compilation series of the 21st century. Pop Ambient 2009 has some jaw dropping moments, for example when you pick up the CD and find out that Tim Hecker, Burger/Voigt and Mint all make appearances then its an easy sell for any frequent ambient music buyer. The compilation starts out with what maybe could of been William Basinski’s original Disintegration Loops but with a layer of brass added by the ever talented Klimek. Popnoname comes in with one of the most gentle and entrancing melodic pieces. Freshman Sylvain Chauveau carries us into a more looped lo-fi laptop folk sound that seems to be a new branch that Kompakt has added under the Pop Ambient umbrella. The real show stealers are Burger/Voigt who really knock us back, the song Frieden gets me so excited that I almost become ill from my uncontrollable slow swaying, minute after minute I just think about how exciting it is to be able to own this song. For those who haven’t ever purchased a Pop Ambient compilation than this is a perfect one to begin on since its one of the more diverse and inviting collections because of its use of guitars and soft noise.

Rating: 8.8/10

Similar: Kranky Kompilation | Idol Tryouts 2: Disc 2 SMM | Expanse At Low Levels | Good Night: Music To Sleep By

Sylvain Chauveau – Fly Like A Horse

Burger/Voigt – Frieden

Popnoname – Nightliner

Minotaur Shock at first never caught my ear because I skipped thru the songs too quickly but the meat and potatoes of “Luck Shield” makes me so disappointed in myself that I didn’t catch this song before. The song sounds like a collaboration between Mum, Calmer and Final Fantasy because of the gentle melodies, the jazzier drum at times and its heavy on the strings in the main parts.

Niagara Fall’s americana lo-fi folk artist Joe Lapalgia only has a 5 track EP under his belt but that doesn’t mean his sound isn’t mature, with hints of Red House Painters and Bon Iver on the Day Behind EP I definitely see a bright future for this young man.

If you’re listening to song after song on this post then jumping from lo-fi folk to tech-house sometimes might be a bit of a stretch especially on a Monday but Josh Wink is a definite veteran in making some of the catchiest dancefloor tracks.

I’m still trying to figure out this song that Andy Webb “blended”, is it pieces from different songs by each musician listed? if so, is the song title also pieces of song titles as well? either way it sounds like an extended Cut Copy remix in my opinion thats done really well but pretty much anything Erlend Oye is on is gold so good choice(s) Mr. Webb.

Minotaur Shock – Luck Shield

Joe Lapaglia – Birds Flew By

Josh Wink – Everybody to the Sun

The Whitest Boy Alive vs Mylo vs Cut Copy – Otto’s Golden Journey (Andy Webb’s Dreamy Blend)

There’s no denying the ’57 Ferrari Testarossa was one of the sexiest cars ever designed. As a kid I was obsessed with this car and had no fewer than 5 die-cast models of it placed — for some reason — in strategic locations around my room. But I’ve never seen it presented quite so nicely as in this photo set on Luxist. Designed by Carrozzeria Scaglietti for Enzo Ferrari, the iconic car dominated Le Mans in the late 50’s and early 60’s. One of these sold last year for nearly $11M and this one — which is set for auction — is expected to exceed that. Now I don’t feel so bad about lusting after Herman Miller pieces.

M.S Corely redesigned the Harry Potter Series to look like Penguin classics. They haven’t actually been published like this, but it looks like it would have been a fun project. (He also gave the Lemony Snicket series the same treatment.)

I can always identify a Patrick Rocha illustration because of the strong angles on body figures or his style of drawing hair. One of my favorites is what he did for the JDSY – Adage of Known album cover which is a illustration of a women slowly turning into a deformed monster, another part of this drawing is the use of only red and blue colored pencil was always grabbing. My mother(professor at MIT for fine arts and portfolio preparation) always told me if I was going to get into graphic design then i’d need to relearn to draw again but that was 6-8 years ago because employers would want you to be an illustrator too, do you think that will ever came true?

Below is a song by JDSY that always floors me, it worth seating thru like a well composed classical piece that flows thru 6 different sections in the matter of minutes.

JDSY – Else2

I’ve been buried down in the studio working on this new album for so long I almost forgot how much I love design. But when I see work like this I can’t help but be reminded; Tavis Coburn’s style is very inspiring to say the least. It’s always nice to see an illustrator who has a good design sense, the combination can be quite powerful. And loving the way he uses that moire pattern effect.

Tavis Coburn via abuzeedo

I’ve been meaning to share this reissue of Paul McCarthney’s side project The Fireman. I’m really fascinated in every sound he uses in this collection of songs but almost each song sounds the same on the LP. I’m guessing it might be for something as simple as meditation use or maybe there was a longer version of this LP as just one live set that he pieced out into songs and he ran the same sounds thru the whole piece? what do you guys think?

The Fireman – Trans Lunar Rising

The Fireman – Celtic Stomp