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.
Une Fille Comme Les Autres from Jalouse blog on Vimeo.
Fantastic viral ad for French fashion mag, Jalouse. Bam, hipster from the book store.
Tony Schwartz: The Myths of the Overworked Creative from 99% on Vimeo.
Great talk from ‘renowned media guru’ Tony Schwartz (no, me neither) about how it’s not how much time you have, but what you do with it that counts. The obvious is stated repeatedly – it’s not multitasking, it’s spreading yourself too thin; giving your full attention to one thing results in better work than giving a little bit to everything; email is evil, but addictive; working instead of sleeping will not make you more productive – but all of it is worth hearing again, especially Tony’s suggestion that our ability to work follows the same 90 minute cycle format as our sleep. Basically, everything he said explained my current struggle to get my head into anything like a creative space, so in future I’ll be sleeping more and turning the internet off.
So, having complained that there are in fact bugger all ‘ones to watch 2012′, I have been pointed in the direction of Red Kite. They release first single Montreal as a very limited edition on Dec 5, and if it’s anything to go by, a large part of 2012 might well be theirs.
So, after hours of listening to ‘ones to watch 2012′ tracks posted on Soundcloud by various PRs and record labels, the only one which really did it for me was Lana Del Ray’s Video Games, which has been kicking around for months now. Still, it is good. Like her description of herself as ‘the gangsta Nacy Sinatra’ too.
Current favourite song, Breaker by Low. Can’t stop playing it. Had it on constant loop for hours. Be warned though, the video will put you off cake forever.
Trailer for Gary Hustwit’s new film, Urbanized. The Barbican have a week of screenings, 16-23 December 2011, tickets and info here. Big fan of Gary’s work and this looks amazing. Can’t wait.
Excellent short film about the internet and how we’re all going to be nodes on a big super connected network of exciting shit in the future. Can’t wait. Can I get a jetpack with that.
Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.
Amazing video of a Murumuration, which apparently is what starlings are when they get together.
Saul Bass: A Life in Film & Design from Laurence King Publishing on Vimeo.
Short film about the new Saul Bass book from Laurence King Press. You don’t get to see much of the book, but what you do see looks amazing, as do the spreads from it at the bottom of the info page.
Thanks, you put me onto some very cool new music.
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