More than 3000 A4 sheets of colored paper were used to make this video for Gush. The piece is produced by the Solab production company, and is carried out by Romain Chassain. In this day and age of digital special effects (a great example is in the new Coldplay spot), there's something unique about going old school. Stop motion is incredible if nothing more than the sheer effort and time it takes. Check it...
Coldplay unveiled the new artwork for "Viva La Vida" slated to be released next week digitally and in stores on May 17th. They are also playing two free shows... Brixton Academy in London and Madison Square Garden in NYC. If you can't swing getting to either of the shows, you can still get a freebie by heading over to Coldplay.com today to download the single "Violet Hill" for free. According to an interview from Rolling Stone, Chris Martin said they really experimented with this album and took some risks. I guess we'll see a week from now on Tuesday, May 6th.
Death Cab for Cutie | Narrow Stairs | 5/13 Al Green | Lay It Down | 5/27 Coldplay | Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends| 6/17 Ben Folds | Title TBDAugust U2 | Boy; October; War (Reissues) | Summer
Toss out your favorite that your looking forward to... I like to broaden my musical horizons...
Gotta love it! I was just checking my music feeds and Rolling Stone posted up the Best Eighties Movie Themes. Personally, it's a toss up between #5 - Joe Esposito's "You're the Best Around" from Karate Kid and #23 - OMD's "If You Leave" from Pretty in Pink. Of course, two songs scored from the greatest soundtrack of one of my favorite movies of the decade... Top Gun. But just in case you need a little more to get you to hit the jump, here's the top of the list at #25 - Starship's "We Built this City" from Mannequin 2.
I know I promised this earlier so here it is... Everything I've read about U23D: The Movie is right on. "Everything" being rave reviews... giving it five stars... all that. Incredible... awesome... amazing... immersive... Ok, enough with the ambiguous adjectives.
It's not your normal 3D experience where the filmmakers attempt to startle you with hokey gimmicks and corny effects. There's simply a crisp realism in the shots and after the first song or two, you feel as though you are "there." So much so, that at one point I literally moved my head so I could see around some offensive object obstructing my view... The Edge's mic stand. When I caught myself, I had to laugh.
I appreciated the fact that the camera gave equal airtime to all members of the band. One moment you are closeup with Bono or posing with Adam Clayton and the next you are looking over The Edge's shoulder at 80,000 screaming fans. This in itself is a departure from the much smaller arena venues played here in North America and amazingly translates to a relatively small room with a capacity of only 400.
The film was shot entirely during the South America leg of the Vertigo tour and the crowds really brought the concert to life. Bono also played on the fact that he was South of the Equator by singing several lines in Spanish including the entire bridge of Beautiful Day.
Our particular viewing at the Channelside IMAX theatre in Tampa had some real fans. During the show, you could hear people singing along and at times even clapping which seemed completely normal even though we were in a theatre. At one point, my wife even stood up and no one seemed to give attention.
The set is similar to the Chicago DVD with some welcome variations including Bono singing the opera which completely blew me away. I've never really cared much for Atomic Bomb's Love and Peace but this one made me a believer. Some of the visuals during the song were incredible including Bono lightpainting with his finger which appeared to be right in your face.
In short, it's an experience all it's own. It's not a mere concert film and it's not a live experience either. You're all over the place in the stadium. The only complaint I have (if you can call it that) is that I wished the editor would have lingered on some of the shots a bit longer so we could take it all in. The cuts were a bit fast and I found myself really wanting to drink in the entire scope of some of the wider shots. Other than that, it's an outstanding and groundbreaking piece of work. If you are within an hour or two drive, make the effort... it's def worth it. Here's a little teaser I took for you from the iPhone of my favorite member, Adam Clayton... not that it'll do you any good without the glasses.
I love covers and renditions but this takes the cake... your one-year-old baby's birthday cake that is. Rockabye Baby! offers your favorite bands in lullaby form to get your baby started early with those oh-so-luscious jams you've grown to love. I'm not so sure how healthy it would be, but you could if you wanted to. Believe it or not, they offer lullabies of Tool, Metallica, The Cure, Nine Inch Nails and more. Of course, if you or your baby aren't into the harder stuff you may like my personal favs U2, Coldplay, and a few others that won't require the Exorcist to make a visit.
Rockabye Baby! transforms rock songs into beautiful instrumental lullabies, sending your little one to a slumberland of sweet dreams.
It's worth making the jump and taking a listen... it's actually quite entertaining.
I love MC Hammer. I still jam to my favorite Hammer hits at full volume and I know every word. Well, Hammer is making his comeback and insists that he still has more hits in him. I couldn't agree more although I don't think I'll be posting up any dance videos of myself on his latest venture... www.dancejam.com. Hammer and his business partners are attempting to take a cut out of YouTube by launching a user-generated video website that focuses on sharing and watching dance videos.
"DanceJam then hopes to make money by grabbing a piece of the rapidly growing Internet advertising market, which is expected to rake in $27.5 billion in 2008, according to eMarketer.
"If the business pans out, DanceJam could help Hammer compensate for losing his fortune when he went bankrupt in 1996 with nearly $14 million in debts."
"Drawing upon the popularity of reality shows like "Dancing With The Stars," DanceJam will stage head-to-head competitions where contestants submit videos that will be judged by viewers."
I'm not so sure about his takeover of Silicon Valley and I'll skip a predictable end-line about him being 2 Legit 2 Quit, but I sure do hope it leads to him cranking out another album soon.
Last month, I posted about Sony's Bravia Play-Doh ad. And then subsequently, the Behind the Scenes look. Well, Sony has slipped out another ad... this time for the Walkman. Of course, I'm a huge Mac fan and love my iPod/iPhone so I'm not going to run out an buy a Walkman but the ad is definitely worth the look.
"It shows 128 musicians gathered in Alexandra Palace Theatre in London, with each one given just one note to play from a piece of original music composed for the ad by Peter Raeburn. Featured in the spot are 32 electric guitars and 32 drums among the many other instruments." Watching this ad, I was reminded of the Nooma short film, Rhythm.
Like the Play-Doh ad, the Behind the Scenes look gives me more appreciation for the final product (view below). The production and coordination were much more difficult the final proof suggests.
In gearing up for the release The Joshua Tree 2007, U2 released this video of Bono talking about and singing Wave of Sorrow, a song that didn't make the cut on the original album. U2.com writes...
Twenty years after its original release, The Joshua Tree has been remastered for release in a series of special formats. As well as a fourteen track bonus-CD of b-sides and rarities, the 2007 release features a live concert DVD from Paris in 1987, liner notes from band and producers and previously unseen photos in a limited edition booklet.
