“Pop music’s not gonna die/It just has no direction.” Bis, Action & Drama.
So true.
IKnowWhat’sTheDealWithMe
French Horn Rebellion. Up All Night. Best pop song I’ve heard in ages. This should be No.1. Or at least No.2.
ObjectifiedByApple
Objectified, the new documentary feature from Gary Hustwit of Helvetica fame, which gets its world premier in March at this year’s SxSW, will include a rare interview with Apple design guru, Englishman Jony Ive (I know, a bit jingoistic, but we have so little to shout about these days). Rarer still, the interview, from whence the above picture came, was filmed inside Apple’s Design Studio. Might not sound like much, but it’s on a par with pulling back the curtain and catching a glimpse of Oz.
BelieveTheHype?
New rap website HipHop.Com launches next month. As a taster they’ve just posted an inaugural address from Chuck D re: the election of President Obama. Brace yourselves.
HoldTheFrontPage
The Guardian’s collected together here the front pages of newspapers around the world to compare coverage of yesterday’s inauguration. Proof, as if any were needed, that the Obama Presidency is already having a positive impact on US international standing.
AVisionOfGreatness
Not since Bobby Kennedy ran for the democratic nomination in ’68 has the idea of a particular individual being elected President stirred so many – particularly in the jaded world of creative media – into action. From the primaries to the inauguration, graphic design and photography have been at the centre of capturing, distilling and expressing the Obama feeling. The posters, the photographs and the graffiti, as much as all the viral videos and Twitter feeds, were key to making him larger than life, aspirational and look like a president in waiting even before he’d won the nomination. Where photographs of John McCain made him look folksy, those of Obama made him seem almost god like. The notion of Obama – not just the colour of his skin but his young, dynamic approach – spoke of revolution while the other candidate looked like more of the same. Those looking for a claim on history sensed the opportunity to take their Kennedy pictures, write their Kennedy stories, to design button badges and posters which just like Kennedy’s would tell future generations that it was the most exciting of times. Obama inspired the best and the most talented and they literally made him history.
See for yourself here, here and here.
AreYouHavingBurritosForLunch?
Goodbye George. Don’t let you door hit you on the way out.
Can’tGetItOutOfMyHead
MirrorKicks’ debut single, “Podium”. Love it, love it, love it. Can’t stop playing it. I’m playing it so much I’m even starting to annoy myself. There’s a higher resolution version of the video over at Facebook, but for some reason I couldn’t get it to embed. Which is odd because I am usually a technical whizz.
TalentGoingToWaste
I’ve long maintained that Lemar is an amazing talent desperately in need of a good song. I’ve also long maintained that the mark of a good song is working in any genre. Am I right or am I right?
Ticker
My second favourite short film.