Fairly certain YouTube has got my number when it comes to "weird things you might like to watch." Case in point, this Pixel POV Effect video just 3 minutes long (perfect), displays a baffling visual effect (intriguing) and manages to describe it sufficiently (approved). There's even a follow up that builds on the concepts but still keeps it just to 2 minutes.
Back in December of 2021, Uncle Skeleton released the album Golden Hour. At the time, I had the idea and intention of putting together an album visualizer that featured one long sunset set to the album as soundtrack; a nod to the literal intention of the record - taking time to just reflect. For no good reason, it never happened. Mostly, I just ran out of time with work and couldn't ever get it over the finish line.
I finally put the rubber to the road and put together the video. It's not one long sunset as originally envisioned but many sunsets through the duration. It's not a music video, so I don't expect you to give it your full attention but I do recommend that you toss this up on a TV somewhere and let it roll. It's pleasant and the album is a banger; likely overlooked because it was released in December of 2021; a notoriously terrible month for releasing records.
I don't see near as many music videos these days as I did in my youth but I still know a good one when I see one. This video for "Take Me To A Lake" from Cloudmouth is phenomenal. I suggest you hit play on it right away as it requires no context to appreciate but here's some extra info on the making of from vocalist Kyle Numann:
It was the summer solstice, and I asked my wife Emily "will you bury me in the backyard tonight?". Despite us having a healthy relationship, she said yes.
We'd just finished making a new flower bed in the front yard and had about 40 square feet of topsoil and dirt heaped in a pile in the backyard. For years I'd had a loose vision of a scene of human faces emerges from the earth, and I figured this was as good a chance as I'd get to capture something that would satisfy the creative itch.
We filmed it using a smartphone, with natural light and only an on-the-fly idea of framing and pacing. This ended up setting the tone for the rest of the video: filmed with handheld smartphones, pulling scenes together as we could, using only practical effects, and considering the editing stage as a 'canvas' to bring all these disparate scenes together to form a full visual flow.
The face emerging from the dirt is striking but they continue the trend with plenty of variations with other members of the band. And on top of all that striking imagery, the song is quite compelling as well!
Cloudmouth has a history of interesting videos worth watching (I suggest this one and this one specifically) but something about "Take Me To a Lake" really levels them up. Ya love to see it.
just recently stumbled on this and am intrigued. I have no problem building websites but one that actively updates itself is a pretty neat trick for musicians.
had never heard of this before but it was a challenge to read the contents of ancient papyrus scrolls that had been carbonized in volcanic ash. they somehow managed to actually do it.
My pal Jed is Executive Director over at Radiant Earth now - it's an incubator looking to expand shared data across the planet. I love the Open Data Initiative and this seems to work well right alongside that idea. The more data we share, the better decisions we can make and better tools we can build. Something like that.
In a recent blog post, there's a breakdown of Unicorns, Show Ponies and Gazelles. The basic gist is that Unicorns in the startup world are great - they serve a purpose. Show Ponies are entities that look good on paper but may not provide much function - also great. The Gazelle is a small organization willing to work with others, be nimble, be financially self-sustaining and governed by a nonprofit or trust. Those last two points are especially interesting, imo. Imagine a nonprofit that actually paid employees a reasonable market wage and built a product that they owned. Sounds real good.
All told, it's a metaphor! A creative way to think about an ongoing problem. Others have tred this territory before but that doesn't make it any less valid. Unicorns seem to be what everyone strives for but, frankly, I'm way more interested in being a Gazelle.
Daniel Arnold is a top notch photographer, maybe even some accolade well beyond that. I love his work. This Walkie Talkie episode with him is a solid hour of him walking around NY talking about his process, his relationship with failure and how his addiction to photography keeps him going. An hour is an unbelievably long time for a YouTube video but it's time well spent.
I recently finished watching The Curse and found myself cruising YouTube for further dissection and insight on what I'd witnessed. This Lincoln Center chat with Benny Safdie was a rather enjoyable chat about the production, the end of the show and many audience questions - without ever being too revealing. Safdie does a great job of actively not telling you what anything means, which I highly appreciate.
Why is The Curse Like That? - I normally do not care for YouTuber's giving their opinions on shows but Thomas Flight is thoughtful and insightful, this will likely be good!
If you haven't been keeping up with the latest announcements from The Browser Company and what they're doing with their browser, Arc, I suggest you start tuning in. They are doing their damndest to rethink the paradigm of browsers, search engines, webpages and how you interact with them. It's hard to watch these announcement / explainer videos and not be excited for what they're angling at.
While I am certainly excited by the direction they're headed in, it does make me think about the future of the web in general. I'm not sure I'm able to articulate it yet but we're starting to see a whole lot new experiences that summarize the web, pulling from disparate sources and telling you the highlights of a certain topic or site. If every tool we use simply summarizes information, why would anyone publish anything? Visitors aren't even being taken to the source of the information, they're just being shown summaries.
This is not an indictment of The Browser Company or Arc; everyone is doing this. Google is summarizing, Apple is summarizing, et al. And the web has become littered with ads, popovers and modals that make it very unfriendly. It's a mess and users would benefit from summaries as an experience but it devalues publishing. Not sure what the answer is but some very interesting questions to pose at this time.
A little primer: Total Wife is a band out of Nashville with at least 5 albums, all of which stem from a shoegaze influence and sprawl outwards. Lots of quiet to loud moments, lots of huge guitars with feedback but it's so much more interesting than just a formulaic execution.
taped is a live performance series that focuses on doing something fresh and unique for each artist they work with.
This is Total Wife on taped. Six and a half minutes of building guitars, explosive drums and melancholy vocals. I recommend you see it live if ever given the opportunity, otherwise just watch this with the volume cranked.
I've no idea how long this AI Test Kitchen has been around but it's new to me so maybe it's new to you as well. Google has done a really nice job of making interacting with an AI very easy to use; a gigantic UI, very sensible dropdown's appear on adjectives and the results aren't overwhelming. They're offering Image, Music and Text generation... I assume Video won't be far behind.
YK Records recently had the pleasure of releasing the debut solo album from Roger Moutenot, entitled Microcosm. The video for the track "Art Electro" is available above but I do suggest you dive into the entire record - either on Bandcamp or streaming.
If you're not the type of person to pore over liner notes you might not recognize the name but Moutenot has been involved with an incredible number of records over the last forty years. Take a look at his Discogs and take note of credits for Yo La Tengo, Sleater-Kinney, They Might Be Giants, Elvis Costello, Lambchop and so so many more. It boggles the mind.
You may also notice some other YK Records artists in there - namely Black Bra, Jack Silverman and Stone Jack Jones. As luck would have it, Moutenot's studio is located in the same neighborhood as my office. These factors slowly congealed over time into the opportunity to release the very first solo album from Roger. An opportunity I jumped on.
The record is 10 instrumental tracks, each exploring a little different sonic territory but all feeling cohesive together. The longest song is just over 3 minutes, so no one overstays their welcome.
I worked with Roger to create the artwork based on two intriguing photos he had sent me. I won't spoil the details on what you're looking at exactly but I love the ambiguity.
The Robe is the pseudonym of Rollum Haas, a multi-instrumentalist that's likely best known for being the fiery drummer of The Features. Beyond that he's toured with a ton of other bands and is currently behind the kit in Soccer Mommy. But that's neither here nor there! His solo work is The Robe and he hasn't released anything since 2021's The Jason EP. Fortunately, that drought has stopped and he's released two brand new songs It's So Easy / Never Tear Me Apart.
I am heavily biased but they're both great. They also show a serious evolution in his songwriting and recording.. a practice you always want to see improve over time with anyone!
I had the pleasure of putting together the artwork for the single based on Rollum's art direction. I think it turned out nicely and if you get the reference, it's spot on. If you don't get the reference, it's still a nice cover.
I'm loving this style of Super A, cutting up pop culture entities into their realistic counterparts. There's an obvious dose of nostalgia happening but it works, quite well. There's a ton of them to see so I'd recommend giving it the deep dive.
How long until Bonzi Buddy shows up in an Apple Vision Pro? With this Sketchfab model it seems like it could be a dream within reach.
For those of you that don't remember Bonzi Buddy, it was a 1999 "desktop assistant" that helped with searches, told jokes, etc but it was also spyware that reported user activity without permission. Here's an exhaustive history of it and here's a a total meltdown of Windows Vista because of two Buddies and a virus running simultaneously (for fun).
