I’ve been locked in the studio for a while preparing to record some new tracks for the upcoming Tycho album. I reconfigured my whole setup and it’s finally all coming together. I’ve finally added a true analog mixing console and it’s really changed the workflow, been saving a lot of time. Above is a partial shot of the studio in it’s current form, still a ways to go with the acoustics, but I’ve been making do.
On a side note, I temporarily moved back to Windows XP32 since they don’t make the software I use to record (Sonar) for Mac. I installed Photoshop and it’s been running so bad, crashing all the time. Meanwhile, on the Mac side, solid as a rock. I really wish I could just work inside of OS X full time, but Logic and Pro Tools just can’t hang with Sonar in my book. Oh well, here’s hoping for a solid Windows 9.
Matt Maust is the Bassist for Cold War Kids and a great designer as well. Their album Robbers & Cowards has really been a sleeper hit for me. I first became aware of them a while back but sort of thought Hospital Beds was cool and left it at that. But lately I’ve been working to the record and really enjoying it as a whole.
Today I checked on their site to see what they were all about and was greeted by the lovely image you see above. Once inside it just gets better. I’m always a sucker for the big-gothic-type-on-photographs motif, and here it’s done very well. Even with the most talented designers, a lot of the time you can see through to the fact that the artwork for a band was project / money driven. In the case of an outfit like Cold War Kids, I think the (literally) DIY design ethic shines through to great effect. But at the end of the day, it’s not how you look as a band, it’s how you sound.
Bibio’s Flickr is full of some great subtle saturated personal photos that would make amazing album covers for music of his nature. In a good way Bibio has this wonderful european back country feel to everything to puts his hands on. Seems to me that he spends his day taking photos of friends and surroundings with his Holga and records music onto a 4 track recorder in the forest and only goes home because the sun is going down. It’s like some odd Boards of Canada dream that features the early set of Fred Penner’s Place. Let me know if i’m losing you on the Fred Penner part.
Bibio – Aberriw
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Bibio – Looking Through The Facets Of A Plastic Jewel
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Bibio – Bewley In Grey
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You can find all these tracks either off Bibio’s Fi or Hand Cranked LPs on Mush Records.
We’re in Detroit for DEMF (Movement) and it’s pretty insane. I played a set today, thanks to everyone for coming out. I had no idea this thing was so big, and loud. The first picture is unfortunately from my iPhone, so the quality’s not so hot, but it’s all I had on me at the time. I did have my Nikon for (a very small) part of the day and got some interesting stuff here and there. Incidentally, that’s your faithful correspondent Jakub in the last shot; if you see him out, ask him for more information about Willits. We’ll be out and about tomorrow so hopefully I’ll get some better shots of the festival and Detroit in general. I think we’re also taking a drive up to Ann Arbor (always wanted to visit) so maybe I’ll get some up there too.
Hoffman-La Roche commissioned this ad featuring photography by René Groebli for the anti-anxiety drug, Esanin. At first glance I really didn’t grasp how amazing this composition is. If you really study it you’ll see some incredible typography and layout. I love the image, the various faces blending to create these almost psychedelic colors is very striking. Those crazyGermans, why do they have to be so good? You’re making us all look bad.
Apparently Super Bock is like the Budweiser of Portugal; it’s literally everywhere. Caught these kegs stacked up in the warehouse behind the OFFF festival at LX Factory. From the right angle the name reminds me of a nice album by a certain Scottish music duo.
The festival has kept me pretty busy since we arrived so I haven’t had much time to walk around and get some pics. The first day / night I was able to get a few though, they are all from the Campo Pequeno area. We’ll have a couple extra days after OFFF is over to really explore, planning to get some bikes and ride all over this place. Really excited for that, from what I’ve seen there is a lot of visual stimuli out there just waiting to be shot. Still sort of limping along here with my Nikon D80. I’ve found ways around most of my big gripes with it but being at the OFFF I’ve seen a lot of people toting around their 5D’s and D400’s, been getting jealous.
