Train schedule “split-flap” posters… Man I wish there were more mechanical split-flap displays still in this world…
Train schedule “split-flap” posters… Man I wish there were more mechanical split-flap displays still in this world…
Holy Ghost! / Some Children By lilfuchs (by DFA Records)
Really love the animation, and the song, AND the Michael McDonald cameo.
Also, think this video is pretty great:
MUIR MONDAYS
“Nature is ever at work building and pulling down, creating and destroying, keeping everything whirling and flowing, allowing no rest but in rhythmical motion, chasing everything in endless song out of one beautiful form into another.”
-John Muir
Can’t get this song, “Sabali,” by Amadou & Mariam out of my head. It’s mellow, but with just enough get up and go (a great night-driving song).
After looking up the credits, I found it was produced by Damon Albarn, which explains the electronic deliciousness. (Like Mark Ronson, I seem to like everything Albarn touches these days.) As for the duo, they have a great backstory: both blind, they met at the Malian Institute for the Young Blind, later marrying and collaborating as musicians. I love how their voices, Mariam’s in particular, have this otherworldly quality. The Malian aspect also adds a really unique sound, both tribal and incredibly modern at the same time.
note: I found this track on an unlabeled mix cd in my car, but I have no idea where it came from. I think it was track 2…? let me know if it’s yours so I can give some credit)
(via Shazam)
Following the wildly successful Dimanche a Bamako in 2008, World Circuit decided to bring the blind Malian duo Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia to American shores. Welcome to Mali, issued here on Nonesuch, is their debut in the United Stares (we’re always last, even the Canadians were in on the debut, and their hotshot rapper K’Naan appears on one cut). Blur’s Damon Albarn was enlisted to help out here — and he does as a co-writer and producer on the album’s opening track and first single “Sabali.” It’s a killer track, with waves of Malian blues and incantatory singing, especially from the plaintive voice of Mariam, which contrasts well with the grainy, more guttural inflections of Amadou. Albarn also adds waves of gentle but pronounced electronica and some fine basswork, and pushes Amadou’s raw guitar into the forefront. The rest of the set — whose only real flaw is how long it is — is filed with infectious Malian folk music threaded through with European pop influences. And does it ever work. The best cuts, such as “Compagnon de la Vie” with its funky Hammond B-3, “Ce N’Est Pas Bon” with its driving guitar and marimbas, and the traditional “Djuru” are simply infectious with their rhythmic invention and meld of voices. There is even a love song in English here, “I Follow You,” that works despite the corny lyrics. The title track — also in English — is pure funky goodness with its killer meld of Malian folk forms, perfusion, and European-style street funk. Ultimately, Welcome to Mali is an auspicious and welcome introduction to Amadou & Mariam, whose music has universal appeal and breaks new ground for Afro-pop worldwide. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi
Metropol Parasol
Hubba Hubba.
As I scrolled through these pictures I began to think the whole thing was somehow an amazingly virtual, high-def rendering. But its REAL! I know there are debates about whether a single design can be effective at putting a smaller city, in this case Seville, on the map (so-called architectural tourism or the “bilbao effect”), but I think this has got to be a success story. I want to go there.
The head architect, Jürgen Mayer H., has a fine art background, which I’d say is pretty apparent. In fact, this structure might be somewhat exempt from the critiques given to Frank Gehry “starchitects” because it is less ‘building’ and more ‘sculpture’. Even more impressive, its fairly functional (it blocks the sun and provides a stunning backdrop). However, I’m hoping that’s orange construction netting on the stairs, because in these photos it doesn’t look very well populated, and I notice there are few places to sit. (Check out the excellent database at pps.org to find out more about what makes a space great: Project for Public Spaces.)
The thing I find peevish about starchitects is that they aren’t designing with the occupant, or building user, in mind (often windows can’t open, ventilation isn’t effective, glare and daylight aren’t considered; forget finding your way around!) Instead, the priority is on the wow factor. And of course contractors must hate them because they are very technical to build (read: a pain in the a**), and often defective as a result. (For instance: an iconic Frank Lloyd Wright interior design, the Johnson Wax building, notoriously leaked. Ironic for an architect most famously credited for a house named “falling water,” eh?)
via HUH. Magazine
A large portion of the beauty of this picture (and the home design), must be the light shining from within. It has that lantern-put-out-for-seamen-to-find-their-way-home effect. And the contrast of that candlelight yellow against the steely blue, misty water really makes it pop.
Lakeside Home in Huntsville, Ontario
Ephemeralization
Sounds like the opposite of the twittersphere.
Ephemeralization, a term coined by R. Buckminster Fuller, is the ability of technological advancement to do “more and more with less and less until eventually you can do everything with nothing”
(Source: petervidani)
“thank you, old people and expensive gas.”
Atlanta hits a wall with Peak Car Use
Fast Company magazine reported recently about a downward trend in car use in American, Australian and European cities: Have We Reached Peak Car Use?
The article cites a study showing that many cities—including Vienna, Zurich, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Houston— saw a decline in car usage between 1995 and 2005. Looking at the numbers of the study, you can see that Atlanta experienced a particularly big decline (I suppose there was nowhere to go but down).
The study speculates that this trend will result in a drastic reshaping of our cities:
Peak car use will generate a growing rationale for removal of high capacity roads and conversion of space to support transit, walking and cycling and the urbanism of the new city.
Gas prices and the aging of our population are probably the biggest motivators of driving decline in Atlanta. If those can serve as a catalyst for reshaping our city into a more walkable, less car-dependent form, then I say “thank you, old people and expensive gas.”
In related news, gas prices in Georgia are rising again and your suburban parents and grandparents might need a ride to the store or doctor some day soon because they have no non-car mobility options in their car-centric neighborhood. Have a great day! :)
A flashmob picnic?! Yes, please!
‘Feast Noir’ is based on Paris’ ‘Diner en Blanc’ (above). According to the organizers, it will be the first of its kind in a U.S. city. A first of anything in Atlanta is quite exciting! And while we may not have an Arc de Triomphe backdrop, we’ve got…um…shoot…a building that looks like a giant pencil?
(see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_America_Plaza_%28Atlanta%29)
Anyway, it’s an opportunity to be a part of something special for sure. Scheduled for August 14.
To sign up, visit: http://atlchocolatesalon.com/
*UPDATE*
Dagnabbit! Apparently, this took place in NYC two weeks ago. Of course it did. New York, why do you always have to ruin everything! Going to go play LCD Soundsystem’s “New York I Love You, but…” now and hopefully be buoyed by this adorable youtube of kermit performing the song.
*ADDL UPDATE*
Upon further reflection: maybe NYC feels like its in the shadow of Paris-Amsterdam-Berlin-Milan, etc. I’ve got to keep in mind that Everything is a Remix. And in Atlanta, we’ll be wearing black. So there.
Flipping the Script on the FBI
“How do I not end up getting sent to Gitmo?” That was the question on the mind of Hasan Elahi, a Bangladesh-born artist and professor that was erroneously detained by the FBI after 9/11 and subsequently routinely monitored by the bureau.
“I was erroneously reported … it wasn’t a case of mistaken identity … it was a case of ignorance. But when your own country takes it on as a basis for national policy it’s a little bit scary,” says Elahi of his 2002 arrest at an airport in Detroit.
After months of regular phone calls and visits to an FBI office in Tampa Bay, Elahi started the site TrackingTransience, where in the years since he has broadcast and visually organized more than 45,000 images from his everyday life, most of which are uploaded in real-time using a smartphone camera. The site also includes a map pinpointing his current location. On the rationale for the site, Elahi told us, “It would be incredibly difficult to accuse me of something because I have this long paper trail.”
Brain v Brawn
Amplifier security grate
Icelandic hot dog (‘the bjork?’)
http://blog.iso50.com/playlist-archive/
Mmm, I want to build a playlist archive that’s embedded in my website like this one.
In general, I like some of this guy’s design aesthetic, but I’m most impressed by his output. He’s got a solid blog, is a musician, and does design crossover between the two.
Can’t get this one out of my head at the moment…
Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz - “I Walked”
Also liking the cover art:
http://stereogum.com/486941/sufjan-stevens-the-age-of-adz/news/
