I’ve become a Burial nut over the past year or so, i just had to share this radio clip of this unreleased ambient remix he did, maybe it’ll be on the next K7 DJ Kicks series since Burial is doing it. Either way i hope it comes out soon, i’m really loving it. Also, another favorite Telefon Tel Aviv reveal a new single from their upcoming LP, the free download is on XLR8R, enjoy.
As for newer songs, here are a few that I’ve been listening to over and over. The TV on the Radio obviously is blowing up everywhere, I’m sure they’ll be on the cover of Rolling Stone next month and blog wise I always see this Passion Pit track up, its super short and catchy, I can’t place the girl vocal sample in there, it sounds like its from a Disney movie. As for the Sally Shapiro track, the original is a favorite of mine it’s remixed by DFA’s The Juan MacLean who has an album coming out this year. Last but not least a brand new Jimmy Edgar single called Nothing Is Better that you can download for free.
James White has posted a follow up to his excellent feature on Saul Bass’s branding work, this time focusing on logos by mid-century corporate logo extraordinaire Paul Rand. Very nice stuff, thanks for posting James! Link
Here are some older tracks that I’m pretty surprised I hadn’t posted before. All 4 tracks are a few years old at least, tomorrow i’ll put up some newer releases like TV on the Radio.
"Mindblowing Full HD" was how Gizmodo yesterday described the newly announced Canon 5D Mark II’s video capabilities. Vincent Laforet, who calls the 5D "the best camera ever", was one of the first to take the new camera for a spin and the results are undeniably striking. The stills you see above are from video he shot using the $2700 body and $25,000 in lenses (a list of the lenses he used are at the Gizmodo post). The video, while still not official available, has leaked onto YouTube giving us at least a glimpse of the quality we can expect from the final (view video below).
Gizmodo had this to say about Laforet’s experience creating the video:
"That and a $2700 DSLR body. A testament to its ease of use is that Laforet is a photographer; he has no professional film experience and had never used the 5D Mark II before, yet was able to storyboard, cast, shoot and edit the clip in just two days, with less than 12 hours notice. In particular he noted that dumping the MPEG-4 video takes way less time than it would with an actual HD camera. The only issue that would stop a person from shooting a TV pilot solely with this camera is sound matching, he says. If that’s covered, you’re gold."
I think that’s the most compelling aspect of the 5D: it’s accessibility. Such a powerful tool which yields such amazing results will empower scores of artists looking to break into motion work. I realize that at $2700 the 5D sits at a price threshold a little beyond the grasp of a lot of us, but high-end video of this caliber has never come this cheap and when you take into account the fact that the 5D also more than covers your DSLR needs the whole package starts to look like a sound investment for photographer and videographer alike.
I don’t know about you guys, but the argument for 5D supremacy is becoming more and more convincing as Canon slowly reveals what it’s capable of. I am still holding out for a head-to-head versus the D700 which, although lacking in video capability, is apparently a low light performer. Whatever the case may be, such a versatile tool as the 5D would make a welcome addition to any graphic designer’s kit.
How about you guys, have you started saving up?
Found this gem by Halftone Def Studios on Gigposters. I’m pretty much over the whole "skulls craze of ’06/07", I think there was a law in L.A. for a while that stated all shirts produced within city limits had to include a skull on it. Jakub and I went to the Pool clothing show in Vegas and my actual skull exploded due to the amount of skulls on everything. Skulls.
Doesn’t matter, this poster is still badass. I guess that’s the paradox of ubiquitous design trends: Do it right and you’re a genius; do it wrong and you’re a lowly imitator. Or just use ITC Avant Garde; you can’t go wrong with that one.
Now that the skull-rush of ought seven is over, can anyone guess what the next big trend in design is going to be? I vote for rainbows and deer antlers. Oh woops, that already happened.
These videos were all taken with the amazing Casio Exilim EX-F1 camera which features a variable high speed shooting mode for some serious slow-mo action at up to 1200 FPS. While the name Casio doesn’t exactly bring to mind quality output, you can’t argue with that kind of power for under $1000. Being able to get footage like this would open doors to a whole world of possibilities for aspiring film makers.
There are some more user generated video examples here and here. Casio has some official video examples at their page for the EX-F1, but some of the links are broken. This reminds me of the Canon HV20, a dedicated HD video camera which also has a high speed shooting mode but outputs much higher quality video.
Thanks Kirk for the heads up on this one.
I was on the train to Coney Island this weekend and next to me is the actor that plays PC in the Apple commercials. I really didn’t pay much attention to or bother him since he was probably just enjoying his weekend with his daughter but half way through the ride i noticed that he pulled out his phone, and there it was an Apple iPhone being held by the PC guy. I couldn’t pass up the chance take a quick photo.
As many of you noted, PC is actually John Hodgman of The Daily Show fame who is also an author.