Archive for September, 2009

Alex and I were discussing this a while back so it was nice to see the whole subject wrapped up in a nice post over at Shelby White’s blog. Now you can annoy the hell out of all your non-designer friends by constantly correcting them when they use “font” incorrectly. Be sure to start off with “Actually…..”, people love that. I liked Nick Sherman’s take the best:

“The way I relate the difference between typeface and font to my students is by comparing them to songs and MP3s, respectively (or songs and CDs, if you prefer a physical metaphor).”
– Nick Sherman

For a while I thought font was sort of a dirty word, like it really didn’t have any proper usage when talking about design. Typeface still sounds better but it’s nice to know that font does have it’s own place in the world.

Link | Additional Reading

Sad to think that never again will we ever get to discover such a look and feel in a TV show, elegance and hi end style in the aesthetics won’t ever reach this level again, especially with what is on TV now.

The Prisoner – Opening Credits

No matter how much you might hate certain kinds of music you can always find something that appeals to you unless you have a one track mind or prefer a safe and conservative lifestyle. So you’re definitely not looking for trance, you definitely don’t want what’s playing at Crunch gym, and your sick of what your friends are suggesting because the vocals make you uncomfortable or there are too many spare rolls or it gets too cheesy dreamy sounding. Maybe you just want one dancey anthem for the week, well i’m gonna do my best to help steer you in the right direction before you have a bad club remix of Pet Shop Boys on your hands.

The MFA – The Difference It Makes (Superpitcher Mix)

Daso – Meine

Guy Gerber, Shlomi Aber – After Love

Gregor Tresher – A Thousand Nights

I’ve been enjoying the terrific blog Book Worship recently. The images above are some of the many beautiful books that Shawn Hazen has collected. As I’ve mentioned before, I have never had very good luck combing used bookstores in San Francisco — most of the cool stuff seems particularly adept at hiding from me (that or it’s long gone from the troves of other SF designers looking for the same things). Shawn, as you see, is much better at this than I. Definitely going to keep checking back often for more posts about these books he describes as “…graphically interesting, but otherwise uncollectible, books that entered and exited bookstores quietly in the 50s, 60s, and 70s.”

via Colourlovers

Broadcast is back with a collaborative mini album with The Focus Group. Its a pretty psychedelic piece of work, this one song doesn’t give it justice, you might want to hear the whole thing. Look for them to put out the CD/LP on the October US tour with Atlas Sound.

Recent Pitchfork Media approved Volcano Choir should be a big hit among the bearded folk lovers and for the Bon Iver fans out there, yes that’s him singing. I love the gliding drive this song has, it makes me want to go back to the softer side of Broken Social Scene albums.

I don’t know anything about High Wolf but i’m glad I found them, this song alone could replace that Mum void that has been empty for about 5 years now. I can’t wait to wake up on a cold winter morning and have this be my alarm clock song.

Hemingway has fused 2 more genres that should be together and introduces us to Yacht-Funk, not bad I like the sound of that, loving the synth work, its nice to have someone remapping and adjusting this disco direction.

Broadcast & The Focus Group – One Million Years Ago

Volcano Choir – Island, IS

HIgh Wolf – Don’t Fuck With The Tropics

Pelifics – Forever (Hemingway Remix)

Broadcast & The Focus Group Video

Easily the coolest advertisement for a fragrance I have ever seen. Tom and Tim Muller put this together as part of the campaign for Diesel’s new fragrance Only the Brave. There are many other videos up on the site — nothing comes close to this. (Though Si Scott’s could be cool in a few weeks.) This video, in addition to being flat out gorgeous, really captures the essence of the phrase only the brave. The Apollo 15 Mission connection is a perfect match:

As I stand out here in the wonders of the unknown at Hadley, I sort of realize there is a fundamental truth to our nature. Man must explore.

UPDATE: Tom Muller has written a post detailing this project on his blog. Great to hear a bit more about this fascinating project.

via Kitsune Noir

What can I say that hasn’t already been said about these guys, best feel good music video of the year.

Kings Of Convenience – Boat Behind video

Just a quick update on tomorrow night’s ticket situation from the organizers:

Decibel: Ghostly 10 yr showcase tomorrow at the Seattle Art Museum

REGARDING TICKETS
There is a VERY good chance that you’ll be able to get into the Ghostly event in the auditorium. Pre-sale have ended, but I doubt all pass holders are going to show up, which means we’ll have extra seats available for walk up sales. I’d recommend getting there by 6pm. Tycho goes on at 7pm.

Some links to more info:
Homepage story: http://www.dbfestival.com
Story in detail: http://www.dbfestival.com/?p=2808
Showcase description: http://www.dbfestival.com/?p=1083
Ticket link: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/79151
Tweet: http://twitter.com/dBFestival

I always loved the feeling certain lounge songs made me feel, its funny how it always made me think of vintage furniture that I wanted to own or made me daydream about specific Verner Panton and Eero Saarinen interior architecture, its so 2002.

Neon Indian I love your music man but that name is just too hipster for me, its like adding an expiration date to the project, so nice to hear Au Revoir Simone vocals anytime I can, really nice track.

I saw The Drums for the 5th time in like 2 months last night, again one of my favorite live performing bands around right now. If you live in the UK, check for live dates, pure pop fun and probably the best and most entertaining tambourine player of all time.

How can you turn down more Washed Out? its like lo-fi AM Gold with an updated modern indie touch. I like what Toro Y Moi did in this remix by keeping the feel of the song within that family of musicians sound.

Alpha – My Things

Au Revoir Simone – Another Likely Story (Neon Indian Remix)

The Drums – I Felt Stupid

Washed Out – Feel It All Around (Toro Y Moi Remix)

Aaron Draplin (who’s blog is always an excellent source of inspiration) finds gold on the road during “The World’s Longest Yardsale”. I’ll let Draplin explain it in his own words:

THE STORY: Our second annual running of the World’s Longest Yard Sale. Dale, Jess, Evan, Uncle Bob, Dad and Aaron. Four days of wild, sun-up to sundown treasure hunting spanning five states and some 630 fuckin’ miles on Highway 127. Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio. Not for the weak of heart. You man enough? What happens on the road, stays on the road.

Amazing! Check out more of the results at Draplin’s Flickr:
Pregame . Earlybird Day . Day 1 . Day 2 . Day 3 . Day 4