Wordless Wednesday #52

Un anno fa..., originally uploaded by Giuseppe Desideri.

A Golden Combination

Almost everybody knows I love Arcade Fire. And I have spread my thoughts about Spike Jonze on my blog too. He is the director of movies like 'Where the Wild Things Are' and 'Being John Malkovich'. Since the trailer of the Wild Things I knew Spike Jonze probably has a soft spot for Arcade Fire, because he used music from the band. But his soft spot appears to be bigger than I thought. Mr. Jonze directed the music video for the band's latest single 'The Suburbs'. To me this seems like a golden combination!

Wordless Wednesday #51

A bit too late, but here's this week's Wordless Wednesday!

Winter is here, originally uploaded by ancama_99(toni).

Guest Blogger #1

'I'm still alive, she said'. At the moment uni occupies a lot of my time, so I'm afraid I'm neglecting my blog. But here's a new experiment to fill the silence: a guest blogger! I proudly present my very first guest blogger: the boyfriend a.k.a. Sander!

It is an absolute honor to be the first guest blogger here. Lianne told me I could write this blog about anything I like, so that is exactly what I will do.

Music is something I like very much. Especially music that is raw, passionate and played like the life of the musician depends on it. I also like anything that is vintage. As long as it’s old or bares a story, I want to have it. These two ‘likes’ can very well be combined in one video, for example in the one I want to present to you today.

This version of Death Letter by The White Stripes is one of my favorite songs and live videos. It is a cover of Death Letter by Son House, an old blues song from 1930, which makes this already awesome (you should definitely try the original version too!). I also like the raw sound, the badass improvisations, the dedication and last but definitely not least the guitar (for the insiders: it is a kay archtop from the 1950’s ;)). So what’s there not to like!?

Wordless Wednesday #50

Chasing the Freedom - 35/365, originally uploaded by Luca-P.

Wordless Wednesday #49

Blocking The Sunlight, originally uploaded by Fotogravirus.

Music in the Spotlight #14

Steven Wilson is a British musician. He is the man behind the progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. Wilson is a self-taught producer, audio engineer, guitar and keyboard player and he can play a lot of other instruments when necessary.

In 2008 he released a solo album, Insurgentes. Wilson says his album is very noise and drone oriented. The first song of the album is amazing. It blew me away immediately. As the days are getting darker, this song becomes even more interesting. It is called Harmony Korine, named after the American film director.

Reckoner

Aniboom is a website filled with animations. They launch all kinds of contests that are open for everyone. In 2008 the website cooperated with TBD Records, Radiohead's label. Together they launched the 'In Rainbows Animated Music Video Contest'. In Rainbows is the latest album from the band. Out of over one thousand entries, Radiohead chose four winners. They all received $10,000 to complete their music video. So four songs from the album feature a music video made by an animator who won the contest. I really like the one for Reckoner, made by Clemont Picon.

The other winners are:

15 Step

Transmutation

16 Tracks vs. Videotape

A Castle and a Band

An abandoned castle and an amazing band. That must be a good combination. The National played a couple of songs at an abandoned castle on the Hudson River for Pitchfork. The result is quite haunting, but at the same time very beautiful. The setting is perfect for the sound of the band! The songs are 'Terrible Love', 'Anyone's Ghost' and 'Little Faith'.

I can't wait to see these men perform!

Wordless Wednesday #48

Fall through my Lens, originally uploaded by Ekler.

EVOL

Today I want to share some street art with you. EVOL is an artist (or are artists, I don't know for sure) from Berlin, Germany. EVOL transforms everyday items, like trash cans and electric boxes, on the street into miniature buildings. Some examples:

Found via designboom

Wordless Wednesday #47

Arrival of Governor Sir Robert Duff, Circular Quay, Sydney, June 1893 / photographer unknown, originally uploaded by State Library of New South Wales collection.

Meir Shalev - A Pigeon and a Boy

"Not only me. We all saw it," the elderly American said. "They must have, too, because all the weapons fell silent for a moment. Ours and theirs. Not a single gun fired, no grenades exploded, and all the mouths stopped shouting. It was so quiet that we heard the bird's wings beating the air. For a single moment every eye and every finger was following that bird as she did what we all wanted to do: make her way home."

This beautiful piece of literature is an excerpt from the book A Pigeon and a Boy by Meir Shalev. During Israel's War of Independence in 1948, a pigeon handler is mortally wounded. His last act is dispatching a pigeon. Many years later we follow Yair Mendelson, who is a tour guide specialized in tours for birdwatchers. His life is about to change forever.

A Pigeon and a Boy is the story of two pairs of lovers. They seem to have nothing in common with each other, but there is a very deep connection between them. It’s also the story of homing pigeons, who are trained to fly back to their home. And it’s the story of how important it is to have a home in which you feel comfortable and in which you can be yourself.

A must-read: A Pigeon and a Boy by Meir Shalev.

Jonsi Timelapse

This is beautiful! It shows the atmosphere of the concert and the beautiful projections. His show at Lowlands was just as enchanting as this concert.

Shadow Art

The existence of shadows is quite obvious. When you walk in the sun, your shadow follows you. But with the right light something that looks like a random mess can have beautiful shadows. Some artists are experts in creating such shadows. I want to share some of this amazing art with you.

By Kumi Yamashita

By Tim Noble & Sue Webster

By Kumi Yamashita

By Tim Noble & Sue Webster

By Kumi Yamashita

Yellow Bird Project

I am so in love with the Yellow Bird Project. Especially this coloring book! And the best of all: I found it in the mailbox today! A combination of Indie Rock, coloring and charity, does it get any better than that?

A little more information about the Yellow Bird Project:

You can think of us as a tree of creativity, with branches joining together indie musicians, charitable organizations, and t-shirts with a fashionable punch. We’re a non-profit Montreal based organization dedicated to bringing our customers the finest of quality, originality, and philanthropy. We seek out only the coolest of cool artists, collaborate with them to design awesomely awesome tee-shirts, and give all the prettiest of pretty profits to charities of the artists’ choice.

Some testimonials:

"I like coloring books. I also like charity. So as you can imagine, I definitely like this!"
- Russell Lissack of Bloc Party

"This is the greatest coloring book since coloring was invented. I've decided to have kids just so I'll have somebody to give this book to."
- Matt Berninger of The National

I love love love it!

Weird?

Avatar = Pocahontas in Space

With the news that Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 will be produced the next years, I decided it's time to share the truth behind Avatar. Avatar is actually Pocahontas in Space. And I have prove!

Note: If you haven't seen Avatar or Pocahontas and don't want to read spoilers, please stop reading immediately.

Wordless Wednesday #46

yellow stars, originally uploaded by M*LoW - Massimo.

Rango

Next year a brand new computer animated movie will be released. And it has been a long time since I was so curious! Of course there have been funny animated movies, but this sounds more interesting than Kung Fu Panda or Cars. This can become a classic and its name is Rango!

Rango is a pet chameleon who lives in a terrarium. He has long thought himself a hero, but then finds himself removed from his contemporary American southwest surroundings and ending up in an Old West town called Dirt, which is populated by various desert critters garbed like characters out of a spaghetti western. Rango soon becomes the town lawman, an occupation in Dirt that, judging from the tombstones in the local cemetery, doesn't allow for a very long lifespan.

Source: Wikipedia

A teaser:

Like the 'Blend in' part and the entire atmosphere. Can't wait to see this one!

Music in the Spotlight #13

Annie Erin Clark, a.k.a. St. Vincent, is an American singer-songwriter who makes some sort of alternative indie pop. I can't really describe what genre it is, but I do know that I absolutely love it. She has been compared with Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors and Beirut and it has been said that sehe is the second coming of Kate Bush. Her music is quite haunting, but at the same time extremely beautiful. She was a member of The Polyphonic Spree and she played with Sufjan Stevens. She is able to play guitar, bass and keyboard. I instantly fell in love with her second album, Actor.

Strangers from her album 'Actor'

Note from the Universe #14

I always advocate never creating monsters when there are none, Lianne. Primarily, of course, because there are none. Boo, The Universe

Amsterdam

Last week I paid a visit to Amsterdam with the boyfriend. Amsterdam is a beautiful city, but I don't really know it that well. Of course I know the clichéd places like the Dam, but I have never visited the small streets with beautiful small shops. We went to the Haarlemmerdijk and the streets surrounding this one.

One of the highlights of the day was Papabubble, an artistic candy store. They don't just sell candy, they also make it by hand in the store. We were lucky: they were producing candy with cherry and drop taste (drop is a typical Dutch candy). Fascinating to see how they actually make candy! To see pictures of the process you should take a peek on flickr. Their stores can be found at Amsterdam, Tokyo, New York, Seoul, Lisbon and Taipei!

The rest of the day was filled with stores with vintage stuff, drawings, music albums, movies and photo cameras. If I could I would have bought every single thing. We drank great coffee from the Coffee Company, ate Falafel and had a lot of fun.

Another highlight and the actual goal of our trip was attending a television show, De Wereld Draait Door. This show is a combination of news, information and amusement. It was very interesting to attend a live show and see what you don't see on television.

After that Ajax was playing a soccer match for the Champions League, the European cup. Ajax is the soccer club of Amsterdam, so we went to a little cafe and watched the game there. Great atmosphere and a perfect ending of the day!

Timelapse Montage

A lot of time and patience and a haunting soundtrack. Those are the ingredients of this amazing video. The parts with the sunlight are mesmerizing!

Vintage Internet Ads

What if facebook, twitter and youtube would have existed years ago? That's a question the employers of an advertisement agency must have asked themselves. They designed vintage-like ads for the internet. At first sight they look exactly like vintage ads.

Luis Beltrán

Luis Beltrán takes you on a surreal trip through a unknown land, showing you snaps that make you wonder what happened before and will happen the next moment. I don't know anything about this photographer, but I do know his work is mesmerizing! Make sure you take a peek at his website!

Found via My Modern Met