keef

I was just feeling a little nostalgic about my last regular music project, Day for Night and thought I’d share our one release - a self titled EP. The track entitled Badlands is still the only creation of mine that I’ve ever really been pleased with.

The lyrics to David Bowie’s Space Oddity imagined as a children’s book by illustrator, Andrew Kolb. So clever. So cute. I’d love to see a whole series of these. I’m certain my nephews would be big fans of an AC/CD Big Balls inspired book.

(via @kissane)

This music video mixtape is a tribute to visual minimalism.

Director: Grant Gee
Artist: Radiohead
Song: No Surprises

Director: Mike Mansfield
Artist: Grace Jones
Song: Private Life

Director: Jake Scott
Artist: The Strokes
Song: Reptilia

Director: Kevin Godley and Lol Creme
Artist: Godley and Creme
Song: Cry

Director: Spike Jonze
Artist: Wax
Song: California

Director: Roman Coppola
Artist: Sebastien Tellier
Song: L’Amour Et La Violence

Director: Marcus Soderlund
Artist: Avner
Song: Bed For Mig

Director: Johan Renck
Artist: Kent
Song: Karleken Vantar

Director: Nick Knight
Artist: Massive Attack
Song: Special Cases

Director: unknown
Artist: The Police
Song: Roxanne

Imagine Thom Yorke as a woman. This clever little film does just that - seeing a woman fill Thom’s shoes in a remake of Radiohead’s Lotus Flower music video.

If you have never seen Radiohead live, it just might be the experience you need to believe that they are essentially The Beatles for a new generation. Much like the band I’ve just compared them too, Radiohead have continuously taken brave risks as they’ve searched for new sounds throughout their career. They’ve grown from talented rockers into worldclass writers and musicians. Their recent in-studio live performance Sessions From The Basement: The King of Limbs is case in point and so impressive that it triggered the very thought that the band has reached the same level of musicianship as the fab four from Liverpool. Below are some choice cuts without web commercial interruptions:

Little By Little
Lotus Flower
Codex

Yoanne Lemoine is uniquely talented as both a film director and a musician. He combined these skill sets on the stand-out video Woodkid - Iron. Every shot in the piece feels like a picture-perfect composition from the pages of a glossy fashion magazine.

CANADA is a short form directing collective based in Spain. They have received international acclaim over the last several months for their sexy 70s-retro surrealistic style. Here are three of their recent videos (NSFW): Scissor Sisters (Invisible Light), El Guincho (Bombay), Battles (Ice Cream).

Cry Baby: The Pedal That Rocks The World tells the story of a simple electronic foot controlled device that changed the face of music. The film covers everything from the accidental advent of the technology to it’s marketing, and landmark moments of it’s integration into popular music. This 60min documentary is a must watch for music nerds and guitar freaks alike.

Two of my favorite music videos in some time have a few things in common. Both are filmed in black and white, and both feature some rather spastic dance performances. Lotus Flower is the first single release from Radiohead’s latest album. Control is an electro-cover of the classic Joy Division track by Spoek Matnambo.

This is shear genius. Beat box maestro Eklips performs a history of hip hop medley.

I’ve yet to figure out if the Sytheseizer 76 app for the iPad is actually a functioning product or just an interaction design test. Either way, it has me excited. I might have to settle for the Korg iMS20 for just $15.

I must admit that Captain Beefheart is one of those musicians that I’ve been told many times to check out and yet somehow just never did. This morning I read that he just passed away after a long fight against MS. That was the motivation it took for me read up and listen. Clearly, the world is now short one incredibly unique individual. In the early 80’s after being diagnosed with his illness, Anton Corbijn created a short film interview project with Captain Beefheart. David Lynch makes a few appearances asking questions too. Here is part 1 and part 2. Enjoy.

David Lynch is a jack of all trades. He’s been making music in his spare time and just released two singles. I Know is eery and perfect.

Here is a little music video soundtrack mix of my British schoolboy life that I had growing up a Tri-State lad.

The Cure - Lovesong
Morrissey - Suedehead
Siouxsie & The Banshees - Kiss Them For Me
Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence
Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon
The Stone Roses - I Wanna Be Adored
Charlatans UK - The Only One I Know
The Candy Skins - Submarine Song
Lightning Seeds - Pure

Arise Black Man: The Peter Tosh Story is a BBC radio exploration on the life of the reggae legend.

In typical Peter Saville fashion (3 years late), he collaborated as a manner of speaking with his friend Tony Wilson on one last FAC project. The Saville designed memorial is wonderfully appropriate.

I’m in love with Celeste Boursier-Mougenot’s installation at Barbican. See video of her birds on a guitar wire here.

Moby has made a library of his music available for free to projects that are not for profit. That’s pretty cool.

Last night at the MoMA, Chris Cunningham screened his latest work, an audio-visual remix of Gil Scott Heron’s New York Is Killing Me.

I love how this music video re-imagines classic Blue Note album covers in motion.

This collection of 7” factory record sleeves makes me want to go out and buy a record player immediately.

(via Wanken)

The Levis Pioneer Sessions pairs modern musicians with the music that inspired their sound. Watch The Kills take on The Velvet Underground’s Pale Blue Eyes. Other contributors include John Legend & The Roots, Raphael Saadiq, and NAS.

A few days ago, I posted about an artist that I met who uses his own blood to paint. It looks like he’s not the only one with this idea. A designer named Metastazis recently used blood in place of ink on his screen-print poster for black metal act Watain.

I’ve always admired the dots, dashes and shapes that at one time adorned the covers of many jazz and classical music record sleeves. Project Thirty-Three is a blog dedicated to showcasing these kinds of designs that feature bold color combinations and geometric relationships.

Check out this rare BBC in studio session. Jimi Hendrix jams with Stevie Wonder who plays the drums.

From the Basement is the pet project of music production wunderkind Nigel Godrich. An impressive list of musicians are invited to play intimate live in-studio sessions that are filmed in HD and presented online. Godrich’s goal is to create an honest and laid-back environment for his guests to perform. He likens the project to the 70’s BBC 2 program The Old Grey Whistle Test. Here are a few wonderful solo performances: Andrew Bird, Tenuousness and Thom Yorke, Videotape.

Janelle Monae is one styling lady. The choreography and art direction in the video for her single Tight Rope are tip-top perfect. The track which features Big Boi is sonically at home with the retro-soul sounds of Gnarls Barkley and Raphael Saadiq. See her perform the track live on Letterman here.

I’ve just watched two new music videos that I like quite a bit. Both clips explore an odd and unexplained narrative of a rather dark variety. Here is director Pete Riski’s work for Husky Rescue’s track They Are Coming. And here you can see The Space In Between by How To Destroy Angels (aka Trent Reznor and wife), directed by visionary commercial director Rupert Sanders.

As the director for Justice’s Stress promo,  Romain Gavras is no stranger to creating music videos that are both controversial and violent. He has raised the bar this time for the newest M.I.A. track, Born Free.

MIXTAPE 05: MADE TO SEVER AND MADE TO LAST

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Often the simple ideas are the most creative and succesful. Here is LCD Sound System’s newest music video - directed by Spike Jonze.

MIXTAPE 04: PASSING TIME IN BLACK AND WHITE

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This is just too precious - a hasidic wedding band performs Lady Gaga.

Beach House is one of my very favorite music acts of the last few years. Here you can stream the track The Arrangement from their new 12 inch, Zebra.

The thought of Santigold and David Byrne collaborating on a track that nods at the political chess moves made by female leader of the Phillipines, Imelda Marcos towards her male counterparts, makes perfect sense to me. The song sounds exactly like I’d expect it to.

The narrative construct of Andy Bruntel’s music video for The Liars track, Scissor plays like something of a train wreck. This one definitely appeals to my more cynical half. And speaking of cynicism and train wrecks, Lars Von Trier has been tapped to direct a new tourism advertising campaign for Denmark.

I was barely out of my diapers when MTV launched. It was mesmerizing and afforded me an education in the music of the time. This playlist of music videos is an attempt to recount what an afternoon in front of the tube felt like.

Robert Palmer - Looking For Clues
Eddy Grant - Electric Avenue
Madness - Our House
Adam And The Ants - Goody Two Shoes
Billy Idol - White Wedding
Men At Work - Down Under
Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule The World
The Police - Don’t Stand So Close To Me
Peter Gabriel - Shock The Monkey
Musical Youth - Pass The Dutchie
Stray Cats - Rock This Town
The Clash - Rock The Casbah
Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy
Talking Heads - Burning Down The House
Duran Duran - Girls On Film (Uncensored Full Version)
Michael Jackson - Beat It
Genesis - Land Of Confusion
Tom Petty And The Heart Breakers - Don’t Come Around Here No More
Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me With Science
The Human League - Don’t You Want Me
Pat Benatar - Love Is A Battlefield
Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time
Thompson Twins - Hold Me Now
Steve Miller Band - Abracadabra
Huey Lewis & The News - I Want A New Drug
Don Henley - Boys of Summer
The Cars - You Might Think
Van Halen / Jump

Here are two wonderful music videos that I recently came across. Both tracks are fantastic. The first is When They Come by The Deportees. The second is Karibu Ya Bintou by Baloji.

Here is a nice little video from a new record pressing company that explains how vinyl records are made.

MIXTAPE 03: IT IS HAPPENING AGAIN

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Gavin Castelton does a rather wowing one man band live-looping version of Peter Gabriel’s hit single, Sledgehammer.

MIXTAPE 02: BETWEEN THE THINKING AND THE SAYING

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WFMU Radio has launched the Free Music Archive, a wonderful curated collection of music that spans many genres and can be downloaded at no cost. Additionally, these songs have been made available in an arrangement inspired by the Creative Commons licensing movement and are pre-cleared for most uses.

In this digital age, who knows what will become of album packaging. Sleevage is a wonderful archive of sorts that is dedicated to becoming the most comprehensive online resource for record artwork. Below is the LP cover for the first cassette I ever bought with my own money. Between the sleeve cover and the video for Hot For Teacher, Van Halen was most certainly my introduction to sex, drugs and rock & roll at a very young age.

MIX TAPE 01: SAD SONGS IN MY SWEET HEART

This is the first in an ongoing series of short mixes. I’ve been listening to all of these songs on repeat lately.

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Jay-Z has launched 2010 with a mind blowing music video for the track On To The Next One. The promo was directed by British video wiz Sam Brown, the creative force behind the clip for Foo Fighter’s The Pretender clip, also a marvel.

The music video for Teenagers In Tokyo’s track Black Bones is a rather sinister little narrative.

Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros is the musical brainchild of LA based musician Alex Ebert. The project’s music is the backbone to a twelve part music video saga called SALVO. Kisses Over Babylon is the second installment in the series. The mood of the video feels equal parts Sergio Leone and Alejandro Jodorowsky.

Massive Attack’s latest album, Heligoland, releases February 10th. In the meantime, you can check out the music video for Paradise Circus, a track which features vocals from Hope Sandoval. The video is composed of x-rated footage from the 1973 cult classic porno, The Devil In Miss Jones inter-cut with current interviews of the film’s star Georgina Spelvin discussing titillation and her life in erotic films. (NSFW)

Imagine buying a building and discovering a prohibition-era bowling alley and speak-easy in the basement.

Dame Dash and music video directors Coodie & Chike have teamed up to launch Creative Control, a very cool web outlet for inspired content.

I’ll forgive that Beck is one of those wacky Scientologists folks because he also happens to be one of my favorite musicians and always comes off incredibly endearing. That likable quality is on display in the video for his newest single, a duet with Charlotte Gainsbourg called Heaven Can Wait. The director’s very bizarre pitch treatment can be read here.

Jazz act The Bad Plus do a mind blowing live cover of one of my favorite Aphex Twin tracks called Flim. The drummer is just outstanding.

Here is part of a BBC documentary on Kraftwerk that recently aired.

The latest streamable mixtape that I’ve put together is entitled, Buttons From A Dead Man’s Coat.

Though is was originally published in the early 90s, this is still absolutely relevant. Steve Albini on The Problem With Music.

A friend of mine who I haven’t seen in sometime just shared this with me. He provided the soundtrack which accompanies Conor Oberst Sex, a short ebook which is also available online for free. Whether or not this story is based on any truth involving Mr. Bright Eyes himself is kind of irrelevant. The story imagines a quick intimate relationship with Connor Oberst or any object of desire for that matter. I found it to be a nice little read and really like the idea of including a soundtrack with a story.

In this video interview, Moby shows you his downtown music studio that is practically a museum for analogue synthesizers. Now I need to clean the drool off my desk.

You can stream this mixtape that I made for Grey, Cold, Damp Days like today.

Radiohead’s Thom Yorke debuted his musical side project this weekend in LA. The band’s members include Nigel Godrich (long time Radiohead Producer) and bassist extraordinaire from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Flea. In addition to performing songs from his solo album, The Eraser, Yorke also shared some brand new material. See videos from the shows here.

It’s been just over two decades since Living Colour’s anthem, Cult of Personality scorched the airwaves introducing us to a new sound. A young teen at the time, I was obsessed with Jimi Hendrix, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Parliament Funkadelic and Bad Brains - pioneers of sound. Living Colour mashed all of these elements together and served up something completely other-worldly that would eventually inspire a whole new generation of musicians. The band were recently musical guests on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon where they performed their first single in many years, Behind the Sun and also treated the audience to a fiery rendition of Cult of Personality.  Read more about Living Colour’s past and present here.

Crack or no crack? That is the question. Here is the epic tale of one graphic designer’s experience leading to the release of a rather controversial album cover.

Incredibox is an online beat box experience where you can make music with silly animated characters.

See Peter Saville’s classic Joy Division Unknown Pleasures album design set in motion as a music visualizer for the track She’s Lost Control.

A few nights ago, I caught on television Brian Lehrer’s interview with DJ Spooky from a year ago. The timing coincided with Spooky’s book and CD of collected essays - Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture published by MIT Press. This very notion of sampling culture makes for a fascinating and timely discussion.

To see an NIN rehearsal is to understand just how incredibly tight the band performs regardless of who is part of the rotating cast. I happen to be somewhat partial to this line-up because it marked the return of guitarist, Robin Finck and the last round of performances with keyboardist-guitarist, Alessandro Cortini (a friend and salt of the earth person). Here is Echoplex and 1,000,000. Also from The Slip album is Letting You and Discipline. These films were directed by the band’s resident art diector, Rob Sheridan.

Nine Inch Nails have long been one of my very favorite bands. When it was announced that they would be playing a show at the Bowery Ballroom to a capacity crowd of 600, I had to find a way in. So I did. Having never done anything like this in my life, I have no idea what came over me when I crowd surfed during Head Like A Hole and landed on the stage. Unfortunately, this video misses that moment but it does capture the intensity that I experienced way up at the front during the whole show this past Saturday night. It was completely exhilarating to be able to take part in such a rare musical moment.

Bobby McFerrin puts a visual face on the power of the pentatonic scale.

Yesterday, I purchased from itunes a few albums that I once owned on cassette - Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and Ice Cube’s The Predator. As if buying these albums from my high school years didn’t make me feel old enough, I now realize that I am part of a dying breed - those who pay for at least some of their music collection. The NY Times has some staggering information on the continued decline of music sales.

…of the 13 million songs for sale online last year, 10 million never got a single buyer and 80 percent of all revenue came from about 52,000 songs.

I’ve never played my guitars through an Electro Harmonix pedal that I didn’t like. This video takes a look inside the companies production process in their factory located in NYC.

The message is in the music and the music is in the message. Brooklyn is a particularly special place in it that people from so many different places and walks of life live together here in real harmony. Nowhere could this be more obvious than at last night’s Burning Spear show at the Prospect Park bandshell. Also performing was Daptone Record’s Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens. The evening had me feeling so irie that I just had to say so.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Prince & The Revolution’s seminal album, Purple Rain. To celebrate this milestone a sing-along to the film inspired by the album will be held as part of the annual Celebrate Brooklyn summer concert series - Auguest 6, 7:30PM.

Fender has released an Elvis Costello model Jazzmaster as part of their artist series. The guitar was designed as a reproduction of the one he used on his debut album, My Aim Is True. The price tag for this model is just over two-thousand USD. Also in the series are Jazzmaster replicas of those played by J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. as well as Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth.

Jack White’s new project is called The Dead Weather. While White spends plenty of time singing alongside of Alison Mosshart (of The Kills), he also plays the role of drummer in this outfit. The band just released their first official music video for the single Treat Me Like Your Mother which was directed by modern day auteur, Jonathan Glazer. The band will be in NYC this week, where I will see them play to a sold out crowd at Terminal 5 on Friday evening. Get to know the band. Here they are in their own words participating in one of the most ridiculous music interviews ever.

I stumbled across the Black Cab Sessions. The ongoing project sees a list of Pitchfork favorites performing in the back of a cab. I really enjoyed this performance from Lykke Li.

I happened upon a fantastic interview clip from 1977 in which Iggy Pop talks about “punk rock.” Where have all the ambassadors of cool gone?

I wanted to share some of my favorite music videos directed by women making promos.

Director: Sophie Muller
Artist: Radiohead
Song: I Might Be Wrong

Director: Melina
Artist: Snoop Dogg
Song: Sensual Seduction

Director: Dawn Shadforth
Artist: Goldfrapp
Song: Train

Director: Diane Martel
Artist: Finley Quaye & William Orbit featuring Beth Orton
Song: Dice

Director: Kim Gehrig
Artist: Calvin Harris
Song: Girls

Director: Wendy Morgan
Artist: Priestess
Song: Lay Down

Director: Casey Niccolo
Artist: Jane’s Addiction
Song: Been Caught Stealing

Director: Kinga Burza
Artist: The Teenagers
Song: Homecoming

Director: Melodie McDaniel
Artist: Madonna
Song: Secret

Director: Lynne Ramsay
Artist: Doves
Song: Black and White Town

Director: Sarah Chatfield
Artist: Noisettes
Song: Scratch Your Name

Director: Corine Stubi
Artist: Death in Vegas
Song: Black Lead

Director: Floria Sigismondi
Artist: Tricky
Song: She Makes Me Want to Die

Director: Mary Lambert
Artist: Madonna
Song: Like A Prayer

Director: Valerie Faris (w/ Jonathan Dayton)
Artist: Smashing Pumpkins
Song: Tonight Tonight

Director Pete Candeland of Passion Pictures was assigned the dream project of creating an animated opening cinematic for The Beatles edition of Rockband. The brilliant medley tracks through different musical and aesthetic periods of the band’s career, and concludes with a picture perfect visualization of I Am the Walrus. While I’m not quite sure of what John Lennon would think of using his music for video games, I’d be pretty certain that he’d be moved by this short animated film. The project is so wonderful that it actually gave me chills and goose bumps.

Here is a short selection of songs I’d love to put in a movie:

Sharon Van Etten - For You

Lozninger - Nobody Knows

She Keeps Bees - Cage Match

Tickley Feather - Natural Natural

The Kills - Black Balloon

Autolux - Capital Kind of Strain

Mellowdrone - Fashionably Uninvited

Cruel Black Dove - Love Song

The line-up for the 2009 Celebrate Brooklyn concert series at the Prospect Park Bandshell has be announced. This year’s free shows will include performances by Blonde Redhead, Burning Spear, and Big Daddy Kane. The season opening performance will feature David Byrne - Monday June 8 @ 8PM.

One of the liberating things about self-publishing or broadcasting sites like youtube is that they inspire unlikely collaborations. Here is a clever experimental music project in which people have submitted video clips of sounds being made in the key of Bb major for the purpose of creating a sort of user generated symphony.

Here is a minor chord laden playlist that I’ve named This Is Just a Test, Only a Test. The sonics in most of these tracks evoke emotions that are both sombre and uplifting all at once.

I’m diggin on this promo for Mos Def’s new album The Ecstatic, which releases this Spring.

To promote the release of their next album entitled It’s Blitz, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and director Barney Clay collaborated on the Snakesweat Trilogy. These quirky promos seem to give a nod and wink at the works of Russ Meyer and Alejandro Jodorowsky.

Here is a peak at Damien Hirst’s album packaging for the forthcoming album from The Hours. Earlier in the year, Hirst collaborated on a music video for the band with famed director Tony Kaye and actress, Sienna Miller.

(via Kanye University)

D-Nice has put together a series of short docu-style interviews called True Hip-Hop Stories. Here is an episode with Monie Love and here is another with Sadat X of Brand Nubian.

Here is a teaser for a documentary on the one and only old school hip hop lyrical genius Big Daddy Kane. Now somebody has to make one on Eric B. and Rakim.

The theme of this music video mixtape is “taking a walk.”

Director: Ross Harris
Artist: Elliot Smith
Song: Miss Misery

Director: Walter Stern
Artist: The Verve
Song: Bittersweet Symphony

Director: Baillie Walsh
Artist: Massive Attack
Song: Unfinished Sympathy

Director: Jonathan Glazer
Artist: UNKLE
Song: Rabbit In Your Headlights

Director: Mark Romanek
Artist: Beck
Song: Devil’s Haircut

Director: James & Alex
Artist: Coldplay
Song: Yellow

Director: Anton Corbijn
Artist: Depeche Mode
Song: Enjoy the Silence

Director: A/V Club
Artist: Morrissey
Song: I Have Forgiven Jesus

David Lynch is also on twitter and indeed it really is him. Apparently he likes to update with weather reports for LA. I found two gems linked off his page. Here is a clip of David Lynch, the cowboy singing in a studio. And here, he talks about making art. Only Lynch would think to title a painting, Woman with Broken Neck and Electric Knife Speaks to Her Husband.

A dome is such a great shape to project a movie on. I think one day people will have domes in their homes. They’re magical. - David Lynch

Here is an interview with Grace Jones on her newest album and her recent collaborations including a forthcoming project with video auteur, Chris Cunningham. If their recent work together for Dazed & Confused Magazine is any indication, we are in for something naughty.

It was a collaborative experiment. It’s like having a baby.You know you need some sperm. These are my babies and I didn’t make these alone.

Sky Arts and the English National Opera commissioned Sam Taylor Wood, Werner Herzog, and Dougal Wilson to each make a short film.

Here are Art Vinyl’s best record sleeves of 08.

Grace Jones has always been a musician with a unique sense of self with a strong eye for bold aesthetics. Of course she had a fruitful career playing not only the muse, but also mother to the children of design and conceptual thinking genius Jean-Paul Goude. So, should we ever really expect anything short of other worldy from her? In her latest incarnation, Jones has immortalized herself as a bust made of chocolate on the cover of her latest record release.

Peter Saville is certainly one of the most iconic designers of the last thirty years. The stylish designer who is probably best known for his collaborations with Factory Records speaks about his process and the creation of the Joy Division Unknown Pleasures sleave.

(via Kottke)

EBN may have pioneered video remixing and VJing, but it is Eclectic Method who have continued their tradition into the 21st century. The creative group have just launched a new website worth checking out. 

Chuck Klosterman has reviewed the long awaited Guns N’ Roses album, Chinese Democracy. Klosterman likens the act of reviewing the album, which took over a decade to produce to reviewing a unicorn

Rumor has it that the newly launched MTV website is going to have their entire vault of videos uploaded for streaming.

Chris Cunninham performed an exorcism of sorts on a resurrected Grace Jones. Film and music video auteur, Chris Cunningham fell off the creative map several years back. He had given up on promos and slowly turned out a few experimental films that seemed to be an arduous task. Rumors that he would make a feature film proved to be just rumors. And then he resurfaced with a tease; Cunningham shot his first music video in seven years for the breakout act The Horror’s - “Sheena is a Parasite”. Since then, Cunningham hasn’t released anything else. Although the buzz is that he has been working with The Horrors again; only this time in a different capacity as record producer. And now while we wait to see the results, Cunningham has teased us again with a rather disturbing photo spread that he shot for Dazed & Confused Magazine of none other than Grace Jones.

The rock band Foo Fighters are pretty annoyed at the Mcain-Palin campaign. They were unaware that the campaign had been parading around using their song “Hero” as a theme song. The band released a statement against the use of the song.

To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song.

Preview here:

Day for Night
Susu
Naked Hearts

Sir Ben Kingsley as Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat. Just another reason he deserves that knighthood.

My friend Claire Carre is a wonderfully talented music video director who is represented by Partizan, a highly respected production company. Every time she makes a new video, she outdoes her previous work and manages to stretch the boundaries of her budgets like an unbreakable rubber-band. Her newest clip is for singer Sia.

I’ve lived in the south end of Park Slope, Brooklyn for 8 years. The neighborhood is fantastic and the location is ideal. Just a few hundred paces away the neighborhood changes names and becomes known as Gowanus. As a musician who has rehearsed in Gowanus for many years, I was pretty excited when a watering hole called Bar Tano opened up just across the street from my studio. Little by little this industrial area built along a polluted canal is beginning to transform.

The latest news is that two music venues will be opening up in the neighborhood this fall. I’m told that The Bell House will be something very special. Knowing that the venue’s proprietors did a bang-up job with another local bar-venue called Union Hall, I have no doubt that the space will be a success. A hop skip and jump away, a 6200 square foot warehouse has been converted into Littlefield. I guess this is all very exciting. I’m just wondering how long before the Williamsberg hipster population discovers the neighborhood. Between the too-cool-for-schoolers and the hideous over-priced condo buildings going up, I may have to start searching for a new place to call home. European suggestions anyone?

I just listened to the first few cuts off the new Metallica album. Like most critics, I think the band has been on a pathetic decline both personally and creatively since the release of …And Justice For All. I am only three songs in and completely thrilled. For their forthcoming album, the band turned to super-genius record producer Rick Rubin. What a difference he makes. The guy can probably turn water into wine.

Last week, the NY Times did a piece on the collaboration between Metallica and Rubin. Earlier in the year the paper wrote a pretty amazing in-depth feature article with Rick Rubin about his process, the state of the record business and his future. Its still amazing to comprehend that he has cultivated the best of: Neil Diamond, Slayer, Metallica, Johnny Cash, Jay Z, Run DMC, the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, The Dixie Chicks, Public Enemy, Danzig, Tom Petty, Red Hot Chili Peppers…

After seeing Muse perform live several years ago, they became one of my favorite contemporary rock acts. With each album, the band moves into new territory experimenting with sound and genre. I have great appreciation for ambitious performers who refuse to stand still creatively speaking and take risks. Muse have consistently taken huge risks in the types of music videos they have chosen to commission.

Here is a collection of music videos for Muse alongside a behind the scenes peek of each.

Watch: Supermassive Black Hole
Director: Floria Sigismondi
Making Of: Part 1 / Part 2

Watch: Knights of Cydonia
Director: Joseph Kahn
Making Of: Part 1 / Part 2

Watch: Time is Running Out
Director: John Hillcoat
Making Of

Watch: Starlight
Director: Paul Minor
Making Of: Part 1 / Part 2

Clients are always asking designers to “make the logo bigger.”

A few months ago my band shared a bill with the duo She Keeps Bees. We all watched them perform with amazement. An obvious comparison would be something akin to Cat Power, but the truth is that SKB’s passion is truly their own. The band’s new album entitled Nests just released this week and is available at Other Music. Sadly their limited edition hand made collage 12” EP is sold out. But the good news is that She Keeps Bees perform tonight at Cakeshop. I so want to do a video for them.

Filmmaker and music video director Grant Gee created something special when he followed Radiohead around the world filming them during the OK Computer tour. The resulting film. Meeting People is Easy captured a band on top of the world and frustrated with their sudden larger than life image. Ten years later, Gee has pieced together Joy Division; a documentary on the story behind the nearing success and tragedy of Joy Division.

Not since Chris Cunningham’s arrival onto the music video landscape has anyone raised the creative bar so high and challenged the medium altogether. Videos over the last several years have suffered from dwindling budgets, often mediocre concepts and cheap imitations of what others have already done. Though there certainly have been some very memorable promos of late, I’ve yet to see any that I believe to be “ground breaking.” Until now.

To promote their most recent album, The Arcade Fire created interactive-web-based music videos. The first video is for the album’s title track Neon Bible. While I have seen plenty of interesting web-interactive projects, I have never seen anything like this before, and certainly not to promote music. A few months later, the band released another interactive video for The Black Mirror that completely knocked me on my ass. The second video contains six individual tracks of audio that allow the viewer to mix the song on the fly to their liking creating their own version of a score for a rather surreal silent film.

watch Neon Bible

watch Black Mirror

Bill Wither’s voice has always given me the chills. It’s pretty unbelievable to think that the crooner that created classics like Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone, Lean on Me, and Just The Two of Us simply fell off the recording map. A friend just forwarded me an interview with Withers in which he explains his career.  Additionally, here is an NPR radio interview with Withers.

Nine Inch Nails have amassed a huge arsenal of free content for their fans to check out in the last few years. The latest is a series of show rehearsals shot by by Trent Reznor’s creative collaborator Rob Sheridan. Seeing that Robin Finck is back in the band and these sessions are flawless, I’m feeling pretty bummed that the tour doesn’t have any NYC stops planned.

David Byrne and Brian Eno’s first collaboration in 30 years will be released August 18th.

I feel like I am constantly posting something about Radiohead. So here is the latest. The band has collaborated with Blip Boutique’s director, James Frost to make the video for the track House of Cards. The projected was created entirely using lasers and scanners instead of any kind of conventional camera.

This video for El-P’s “Smithereens” is probably one of the most overwhelming music videos ever made. I am hard pressed to think of another music video that has utilized the format to make such a pronounced political and social statement in recent history.

At the age of 60, Grace Jones has resurfaced with her first album in almost two decades. She has released a video for the single, Corporate Criminal. Jones is still otherworldly, sexy and terrifying all at once.

(via videosantville)

This music video for The Prids is all about interpretive dance. The clip probably hasn’t received too much airplay, however; it is a lovely low budget idea that works to the track perfectly.

Here is a very cool theme for a summer music mix and an even cooler design to match.

Steve Albini is a musician and record producer. In the 90’s he was the go to guy for many bands seeking an honest and perfectly raw sound. His work with The Pixies and Nirvana never seems to tarnish. Here is a rather interesting interview of Albini discussing the creative nature of music, the current climate of the industry and more.

“I feel like things as they are have about as much awesomeness as they are capable of having. And you can’t imbue awesomeness into something that actually sucks.” - Steve Albini

So basically, you can polish a turd but it is still a turd. How many times have I wanted to say just that to someone? Here is more info on Albini’s recording studio called Electrical Audio.

(via Textism)

Jeremy Boyle once played in the Chicago based band Joan of Arc. His newest project is a duo that consists of a midi controlled guitar and drums. The instruments are mechanically played without the aid of a musician.

(via It’s Nice That)

Radiohead have released a live video series available for download entitled From the Basement. In addition, to performing the band’s latest album In Rainbows you can catch performances by guests including: The White Stripes, Sonic Youth, Beck, Jarvis Cocker, PJ Harvey and more.

Here are some interesting thoughts on the current state of music videos and their cultural impact.

For their newest music video, The Long Blondes staged a rather unique dog show. The disconnect between the lyrics and visuals couldn’t be more perfect. I’m not sure which is catchier; the track or the video?

Watch a freckled girl in rainbow tiger-striped lycra pants dance in slow motion with her chicken. Dust it off and jerk it.

Musician and all around cool guy, David Byrne, has created a musical sculpture that converts an entire building into an instrument. There is nothing sonically intuitive about the instrument and therefore, all players are on equally unfamiliar ground with no musical advantage.

This year marks the 30th Anniversary for the Celebrate Brooklyn concert series at the Prospect Park Bandshell. This season kicks off Thursday June 12th with a free performance by the legendary Isaac Hayes. 

It’s time for another music video mixtape. It’s the right season to use the theme “shake it.”

Naked Ape - Fashion Freaks - (Dir. Zombie Duck)

The Bubblebeez - Dr. Love - (Dir. Tom Kuntz)

Alex Guadino - Destination Calabria - (Dir. Eran Creevy)

Benny Benassi - Satisfaction - (Dir. Dougal Wilson)

Etienne Charry - Astroclub  (Dir. Gabriel Malaprade)

Freaks - The Creeps - (Dir. Marcus Adams)

Basement Jaxx - Oh My Gosh - (Dir. Matt Kirby)

Detroit Grand Pubahs - Sandwiches - (Dir. Spencer Susser)

Eric Prydz - Call On Me - (Dir. Huse)

Goldfrapp - Train - (Dir. Dawn Shadforth)

LFO - Freak - (Dir. Daniel Levi)

I recently made a muxtape compilation of different tracks by my old band Bastion. I’ve decided to do the same thing with some unreleased demos from the band’s earlier incarnation Secret Demand Sound.  Most of these unfinished recordings are about 8 years old.  Enjoy.

There truly couldn’t have been a more appropriate director than Anton Cobijn to tell the story of Ian Curtis and Joy Division on the silver screen. Though the film only was given limited theatrical release, Control is now available on DVD.

Feeling a little nostalgic about my old band Bastion, I decided to make a muxtape compilation with some of our songs. These recordings were done over the course of several years in different studios; several of them have never been shared with anyone. These raw tracks are all in different phases of recording and mixing, and none of them have actually been mastered. Enjoy.

Goodbye Bo Diddley.

The annual New York City free Summer arts festival River to River is underway. The series which features dance, movies and music will offer performances from the likes of Ted Leo, Sonic Youth, and Atlas Sound. Today post punk legends Wire will play pier 17 at South Street Seaport 7pm.

Sigur Ros have always curated fantastic video and artwork to accompany their releases. In support of the band’s free single download Gobbledigook, regular collaborators Arnie & Kinski directed a video  inspired by and in collaboration with photographer Ryan McGinley. The video falls in line with McGinley’s nudist themed photo series recently on show in New York.

Holy Motorhead!!! A documentary on Lemmy is in the works.

French electro group Justice have stirred something of a ruckus with the video for their new single Stress. Obviously inspired by Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (1971), a young group of modernized droogs uniformed in jackets adorned with the band’s logo are seen making a malenky bit of the old ultra-violent. Perhaps what is most troubling to those offended by the video is not the aggressive nature of the gang, but rather the very clear color of their skin. The boys appear to be of North African and Middle Eastern decent; in other words the Parisian lower-class. The video directed by Romain Gavras has drawn much comparison to La Haine (1985) because of its documentary style of execution. While certainly intriguing and well executed, the video never offers up the kind of social complexity that would allow us to understand this kind of behavior.

I’ve been on a serious Radiohead binge lately. In this amazing clip the band covers Joy Division’s Ceremony.

Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor has worked tirelessly writing, recording and touring the last several years. On the band’s last touring album Year Zero, Reznor created something of an alternate reality designed to engage fans in a world around the music. This massive experiment proved to be hugely successful. As the recording industry continues to wrestle with change, NIN are plowing forward redefining our musical landscape and bringing their fans with them. Since Year Zero, the band has released two more albums. The first is an album called Ghosts I-IV which was intended to play like a soundtrack to an unmade film. NIN have launched the Ghost Film Festival inviting fans to make videos inspired by the tracks. The newest album, The Slip is an entirely free giveaway. The band is also encouraging fans to remix tracks and pass them around. It is quite clear that Reznor has embraced the notion that music can be a dialogue; his list of collaborators continues to grow and now includes his own fans.

Illustrator Patrick Moberg has created a series called Animal Pharm in which animals are anthropomorphized as hip hop greats.

Thom Yorke discusses Radiohead’s new video for All I Need.

Radiohead has teamed up with MTV EXIT on a campaign designed to raise awareness about human trafficking. In a music video for the track All I Need, the band takes the subject matter head on. That’s right; all of the stuff we use and consume is made somewhere by somebody else.

Radiohead was the first musical act to appear on the Late Night with Conan O’brien back in 1993. Last week, the band beamed in an exclusive performance of House of Cards rather than travel by plane and leave a nasty carbon footprint.

Below is something of a music video mixtape that I’ve put together.  The theme is “kissing.”

The Teenagers - Homecoming - (Dir. Kinga Burza)

New Order - Krafty - (Dir. Johan Renck)

Doves - The Man Who Told Everything - (Dir. Sam Brown)

Nine Black Alps - Bitter End - (Dir. Terry Hall)

Soon - Serenade the City - (Dir. Sir Taki)

Animal Collective - PeaceBone - (Dir. Timothy Saccenti)

Koop - Island Blue - (Dir. Jean Francois Julain)

Air - All I Need - (Dir. Mike Mills)

Kent - Karleken Vantar - (Dir. Johan Renck)

Sonic Youth - Sunday - (Dir. Harmony Korine)

Supernatural Superserious is REM’s 14th studio album. The band collaborated with director and blogger Vincent Moon to create an interactive website in support of the new album. The site works within the spirit of Moon’s Blogotheque Take-Away series in which bands are filmed performing impromptu performances in the most unexpected of places.

It is official that My Bloody Valentine will be headlining the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival taking place in upstate New York. Also on the bill will be: Autolux, Thurston Moore, Tortoise, Polvo, & Mogwai.

Oliver Ackerman is the singer and guitar player for A Place to Bury Stangers. The band has generated indie-cult status. In addition to playing very loud music, he is the creator of Death By Audio. Several years back, Oliver had the idea to sell his custom guitar FX pedals that he had designed for his himself. This fruitful experiment lead to something bigger. The very studio where he was working became something of a collective artists space that curates shows and provides bands with rehearsal and recording space. Picthfork has done a feature on Oliver’s brainchild.

Is it possible that in our busy complicated lives, a song can be too long? Are excessive guitar solos wasting our precious time?

Prince has been referred to as “The Purple Man”. Seeing that the performer has signed a deal worth almost $5 million to headline at this years Coachella music festival, he might want to consider changing his name to “The Golden Man.”

Designer Jakob Trollback is curious about the constraints of the music video format. He experimented with the idea of creating a visual echo of a song’s expression, as opposed to a conceptual response. At last years TED conference Trollback introduced the results of his experiment which is set to David Byrne and Brian Eno’s “Moonlight in Glory.” 

Pitchfork is truly one of the greatest websites for keeping track of what is happening in the world of relatively independent music. The music blog has taken a step into a more visual place with the launch of pitch.tv.  During this week only, you will be able to watch clips from a behind the scenes documentary of The Pixies 2004 reunion tour.

Santogold (aka Santi White) is an incredibly talented musician originally from Philly, and currently residing in NYC. Her witty lyrics and beats are only outmatched by her general enthusiasm for what she’s doing. She has written music with Mark Ronson and Lily Allen, and draws obvious comparisons to M.I.A. While at this years SxSW music festival, I watched her win over a crowd of a few thousand strong. The beaming smile never left her face. No wonder Bjork chose Santogold to open for her at Madison Square Garden. Her forthcoming record will drop April 22nd in the US. Get to know Santogold.

On sleepy days I really enjoy listening to Elbow. To promote their newest sleepy single, the band turned to lauded commercial director Ringan Ledwidge. Having won just about every major award in the international advertising landscape with his off-kilter sense of humor, Ledwidge creates something very unexpected and very ironic. The video for the British band has a real punctual way of addressing America’s “housing crisis” as it is being called. Cheap condos in California for sale if you are trading in the pound.  To watch Elbow’s video for One Day Like This in the US, you’ll need to select QT video.

Muxtape is a new service that allows you to make an online streaming mix-tape up to 12 songs.  If you are courting someone and want to put together a clever little compilation to let them know what you think of them, you can do it just like we used to on cassettes. Here is my muxtape.

Martin Scorsese and The Rolling Stones are continuing to make film and music history with Shine a Light. If you’ve never been able to afford the Stones outlandishly priced concert tickets in the past, here is your opportunity to see the band perform at the legendary Beacon Theatre through the lens of Scorsese. The film releases April 4th and will be playing in IMAX for those of you interested in seeing Jagger and Richard’s wrinkles in super sharp detail. I can’t imagine whose genius idea that was. 

In between deep fried burritos and bratwurst sandwiches, I had the opportunity to see an array of different performers at this years SxSW Music Festival in Austin. However, I really never could have foreseen in a million years that I would spend my final night watching the cavemen themed Scandinavian black-metal band Goat the Head awe such a large crowd. Shrouded in animal pelts and smeared with blood, these Norwegian rockers made me realize that to see them was to believe them. Here is a short promo for their forthcoming album.

David Byrne and Thom Yorke discuss how the music business is changing.