This thing’s gonna change everything. The new Operator 1 (OP-1) from Teenage Engineering truly shows how beautiful synthesis can be (though the Buchla 200e definitely has some chips in the pile).
A hybrid digital synthesizer and MIDI controller with enough features to question if this thing is even real.
8 synthesizer models (FM, Virtual Analog, String, +), 8 samplers, on board effects, OLED display, battery powered, built in microphone, FM radio, built in speaker, mp3 export, and a sequencer so cool – it’s still “secret”.
Usually every Monday morning I head over to Resident Advisor to check out what weekly dj mix is up. My all time favorite mix on there is this Mark E mix, It was the 112th one up, I think they’re in the 140’s now . This one really kicks off at the 11:30 minute mark and its literally smooth sailing and slow head nodding in your chair(if you’re working and listening) from there on. Some of the highlight tracks are the LTJ Experience and the Marvin Gaye edits but once you get into the meat and potatoes of it I personally lose it, its like watching saltwater taffy, milk chocolate, and crayons being made in front of you on repeat all at the same time, its just this perfect slow tempo and you end up losing track of time.
TRACKLIST STL – Foggy Beats – Something Amp Fiddler – You – Genuine Try to find me VOL 1 – Make Dance – Golf Channel Cole Medina – Love You Inside Out (Pinches Mix) – House Arrest Mark E – Untitled – Unreleased Grace Jones – La Vie En Rose (Mark E edit) – Unreleased Bogdan Irkuk – Carpice – Rollerboys Recordings Rondenion – Precious Time – Parker Music Works Mark E – Get Yourself Together – Unreleased LTJ Experience – I Love You – Irma Marvin Gaye – Heavy Love Affair (The Revenge Rework) – Unreleased Birth Control – Plastic People (Medit) – Unreleased
When I was down in LA for the Ghostly show, Jakub, Sam and I were talking and this Schaefer’s Beer ad came up. It’s one of those things that’s so great you want to wait to post it for as long as possible. Well, it’s been years since I first saw it and I guess now is as good a time as any.
This is Ed Kalehoff performing a jingle he wrote on the Moog Modular System for Schaefer’s beer. Even if you don’t know of him, you know his work; he did most of the music and cues for The Price is Right. Nothing tops this though, nothing. How great it would have been to live in a time when a beer slogan like that could fly. Also, was he scratching on that 2″ reel? Awesome.
I love digital technology. I love the convenience, the economy, the permanence, and the instantness (yes, that’s actually a word….who knew). So I’m constantly trying to trick myself into believing that I don’t need film photography because digital can replace it. Then I see pictures like the ones above and remember that it’s never going to happen. There’s something going on here that I’ve yet to see captured in a digital image. Sure, I’ve seen incredibly beautiful digital photographs, and they stand on their own. But that’s all they do. They don’t stand over film and they don’t replace it. Film can never die or we will lose our ability to capture the beauty that hides behind the subtlety and nuance that digital seems to miss. There’s a tone, a separation and depth here that I think can only be produced by an analog chemical reaction. The grain is so beautiful it just begs to be blown up to wall-size.
So considering all the infinite hype surrounding it, I’ve finally been experimenting with Twitter over the past couple weeks and I have to say, it’s been surprisingly fun. I hooked the blog up so that all the posts are linked up on my Twitter page (using Twitter Tools) and it’s been an interesting way to communicate via a more direct route than is possible with the blog alone. I’ll be posting up giveaways, extras that didn’t make the blog, process stuff (pictures of the daily work), and random other tidbits here and there. It will also be the front lines so you’ll be the first to hear about anything useful or interesting before it hits the blog.
Dial’s new signing Christian Naujoks shows that the Hamburg based label isn’t just sticking to deep minimal 4/4 music, Naujoks album is full of exciting new sounds like Maladies which is just vibraphone and piano together and somehow it still feels like it fits perfectly on Dial, I should of turned my vibraphone techno demo into them in years ago, oh well.
Osborne(Todd Osborn) aka Soundmurderer aka Clutch aka TNT aka Superstructure(who put out Clone A which was a midi version of the whole Kid A album, its nuts) is one gifted man, i’ve only got to meet him a few times and every time i’ve been lost for words so it only gets weird hah. Todd has an array of unique things about him like building his own computers, instruments, and even a hovercraft. He is also one of the only people I know that has this many monikers but actually makes use of them and are needed since his sound varies so often. As for the song Fire i’m pretty speechless, its simple and classic disco but this is the same guy that puts out ragga-jungle and ghetto-tech, so it just makes me think about what else he has in his vault.
I think Swayzak’s Low-Rez Skyline holds a certain place in my heart for easing me off techno nearly 10 years ago, it was like Ritalin for my friends that only thought techno was for dancing. Its a pretty easy going and perfect song to put on for someone that you may know that needs help getting off club music.
I know i’m bookending today with 2 vibraphone songs but its Moondog a blind American composer who was a terrrific street musician and also built many instruments, he definitely needed to be in the same post as Christian Naujoks and Todd Osborn.
As for the video below, its for Osborne’s song The Count which is on the same EP as Fire, the footage is from The New Dance Show(Detroit’s American Bandstand) that was played on a Southeast Michigan public access channel in the evening on the weekend in the early 90’s if I remember correctly, I remember sitting infront of the tv watching it with my little sister.
Everyone knows the Black Panthers had awesome graphic design skills but who knew they could also paint emergency vehicles with the best of them? National Geographic aired a documentary about the Panthers tonight and in it they showed this brief shot of the most amazing ambulance ever, part of the original Panther’s “People’s Free Ambulance Service“. In reality, this was probably just a standard issue ambulance from the period, it simply had the Panther’s placard in the window. Still awesome. The cross enclosed in the square is classic and orange/black/white color schemes never go out of style.
Can anyone name the font? I’m guessing something like Akzidenz extended? Sound off in the comments if you’ve got it.
These shots by Carlo Van de Roer look like pure and unfiltered tranquility. I’ve never been to Iceland before, but this series captures what I imagine it would be like. It looks freezing and potentially dangerous, but still somehow soothing and comfortable. Probably the most immediately noticeable aspect of these images is the inclusion of the colorful floating orbs. Personally I love them, and I think they are the reason his work has picked up so much recognition. They are a unique touch that brings a little bit of extra magic to his already stunning photography. I’ve read he screen prints the orbs onto the photographs, but I can’t find any information regarding the concept behind the orbs. Perhaps it’s just an aesthetic choice, but I would imagine (and prefer) that there is some deeper conceptual reason for their placement.
