Just finished reading John Niven’s Kill Your Friends
Monthly Archive for March, 2009
Maybe it’s because I work at home, alone, with no one to talk to, that I have a strange obsession with other people’s offices. Call it Office Envy if you like. But thankfully the internet provides satisfaction for every fetish imaginable and my office fetish is no exception. Welcome to OfficeSnapshots.com, one of my favourite websties. I’ve spent/wasted/enjoyed many a long afternoon starring longingly at the monitors, desks and chairs that others take for granted. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
Again, you’re welcome.
*the picture above is of the office of brand development agency The Wonderfactory. I like the shelves. I have a thing for shelves. I like putting things on shelves. I know. I’ll stop.
I am a big fan of Prince. This is no secret. I went to see him 8 times when he played his 21 nights in London in 2007 and would have gone more had it been physically possible. At his best he’s a genius and at his worst… well we forgive his worst for all the times that he’s a genius. Fan that I am though, I’m not sure even I can stump up the $77 to join his new website/music experiment www.lotusflow3r.com.
For that handsome sum subscribers get a t-shirt, concert ticket offers, photographs, videos and all the other stuff you’d expect from a fully functioning Prince website, plus, crucially, you’ll be instantly able to download all three of his new albums, Lotus Flower, MPLSOUNDS and Elixir.
Most people will obviously be paying their $77 (£55) to download the albums, making them roughly $25 (£18) a piece – although they will be available in the US via Target stores for $11.99 each. No news yet as to physical availability outside the US. The thing is, what if the albums, all three of them, are rubbish. I mean, with the best will in the world, and as I said I’m a fan, it’s not beyond the realm of possiblity. $25 (£18) is a lot for an album. Especially a rubbish one. Maybe their all three works of absolute mind blowing brilliance, but you won’t know until you’ve signed-up and paid $77 (£55) for them.
I’m all for Prince’s experimentation when it comes to finding new avenues of distribution, and new business models, but they should always include the opportunity for fans to hear what they’re going to buy before being asked to fork out for them. To make them pay up blind – and the one track samples of each album on the site don’t count – is unreasonable. And it’s not like you can take it back like in the good old days and pretend that you got two copies of it for your birthday, when really you just didn’t like it.
Still, even those determined to go ahead and hand over their $77 (£55) have been struggling to do so, because to sign-up to the site you first have to prove your true devotion to the purple one and answer a riddle – he really does make it hard to be a fan sometimes. For those who are currently finding it all very confusing and just want to sign-up, click on the ticket on the cliff edge – towards to right of the screen – and in the two fields enter 1986 and Los Angeles.
You’re welcome.
Let me know if it was worth the money. Maybe I’ll change my mind.
Can’t wait for the Gorillaz rock-u-mentary? No me either. Looking forward to it even more now that I’ve seen the trailer. Listen out for the line about Pink Floyd. Couldn’t agree more.
Just ordered my one-sheet poster for Gary Hustwit’s new film Objectified. It’s going in the kitchen next to the poster for Gary’s last film, Helvetica.
The film got its world premiere at SXSW in Austin last Saturday. The London screening is in April but it’s sold out. Which is a bugger because I was too slow and didn’t manage to get a ticket (Gary, if you’re reading this, please, I’d be very grateful). If you’ve now idea what I’m talking about, here’s the Objectified trailer.
If that looks liks something you might be interested in then check out the Helvetica trailer.
Gary is also on Twitter @gary_hustwit
I’ll stop now.
As regular visitors will know, I like short films. Often I prefer them to long films. They’re usually smarter. More entertaining. More original. Just better.
Click on the ‘Film’ tag in the tag cloud on the right for to find out more about my short film festish. My favourite is French short On S’Embrasse?, closely followed by BMW short Ticker starring Clive Owen and Don Cheadle. This one, The Black Hole, is pretty bloody good too.
Groove Armada’s new single is ground breaking. Not because it’s released as part of their deal with Baracardi instead of via a traditional record label, but because it’s really good.
DJing. It’s just playing records. No it is. Alright, you’ve got to have taste. And some records. And as with everything in life there are those who are really good at it and then there’s Peaches Geldof. But as Amy Kellner points out in her stupidly funny Vice Magazine piece about her life as a party DJ, it’s ‘the biggest fucking bullshit con of all time!’.
I’ve made no secret of the fact that I think the last 12 months in music have been duller than dull. Well, finally, it looks like things might be on the up.
First there was the superb Chunk Of Change EP from Passion Pit 
.
Now comes the stunning (not a word I use lightly) debut, Fine Fascination, from The Red Light Company . Think: big arena with The Killers performing just their best songs.
All hope is not lost after all.
