Archive for September, 2011

Amy Henderson of AQ-V recently acquired a large collection of old United Nations stamps:

Because the UN is an international organization, its stamp must bear symbols that will be recognized universally. Besides the beauty of the design, the UN Design Committee must consider the political implications of any symbolism used. Naturally none of them can stand for anything contrary to the standards and principles of the United Nations, nor can they represent any one culture, religion, or race.

It was the Design Committee’s suggestion that the official five languages—Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish—should be used on as many of the stamps as possible. This was the origin of the “five-language border” which has become characteristic of UN stamps.

This set is the first post in a multi-part series, and I can’t wait to see the rest. In the meantime you can check out David McFarline’s flickr collection or previous posts for more stamp goodness.

via AQ-V

The Field has been the contemporary godfather to all the short sample loop based acts that have popped up like dandelions on a grassy hill in recent years. His newest single has a softer touch unlike his club bangers from recent albums but I can’t imagine this album won’t have them, look forward to this one in October. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Pat Grossi is at it again with that untouchable sound he’s created for Active Child, I can’t see anyone else trying what he’s doing on stage. You try lugging around a harp and making R&B across America twice a year, no one has the balls, proper beauty Patrick!

Okay so i’m obsessed with The Miracles Club live because they have a dancer that looks like someone from a early 90s performance of Cirque du Soleil. The combination of sounds is very Detroit House to me but with this perfect twist of softness that comes from Europe, definitely for someone that appreciates what Carl Craig, Kevin Saunderson and Juan Atkins honestly enjoyed making back in the day.

Our first sneak peek of Oneohtrix Point Never upcoming album Replica, man how I love his choice sounds, I can never deny that this man has a great ear for grabbing out the gems from the 70s and 90s.

Ivan Maximov created these opening titles for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for a school project. Relatively simple, compared to some of the intricate excellence you see on Art of the Title these days, but I think they are extremely well executed. I really like the combination of live action underwater footage with some slick After Effects motion overtop. Would love to see a longer version.

Recently found Peaking Lights on last.fm and checked out their episode of Sound Builders, a pretty committed couple doing wonderful things, really inspiring, makes me want to buy a soldering iron too.

Kompakt has really done it with this Walls signing,i’m floored by the beauty of this track, steam filled with a dark drive.

I’m getting into this Thundercat record and its reminding me of what music I was in love with before I found Boards Of Canada, there was that PBS jazz, time to dig deeper for older records like this.

This Balam Acab record is all over the place in the UK I hear, its definitely a refreshing and unique fusion of genres. I find this Welcome track the most appealing because the vox is more on a operatic tip and the texture and warmth in the tone all mold perfectly when the kicks happen.

On the road from LA to Portland right now, thanks to everyone who made it out to the Echoplex show, we had a great time playing. So we’ve got two sets of tickets up for grabs for tonight’s Tycho / Shigeto Portland show (Friday, 9/2/11, Crown Room). Just drop a line in the comments with your email and you’re entered to win. Sorry for the late notice, we’ll try to pick the winners somewhat early in the day. Good luck and see you in Portland.

Tycho live w/ Shigeto
Friday, September 2nd
Crown Room – Portland, OR

Details

A gorgeous informative short documentary about 3/11 in Japan debuted today via VBS.TV and Palladium Boots featuring Pharrell exploring the country and visiting artists and having them share their thoughts, feelings and creative work.

“Tokyo faces a new reality after the tragedy of 3/11. While persistent challenges still lay ahead, the city’s creative class is hell-bent on making sure that their hometown thrives. Innovative and resilient, they are defining the future of Tokyo on their own terms. We put our boots on and went exploring.”