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.
The results are in for the Story140 contest on Twitter, organised by Twitter micro-novelist Nick Warren, and I’m suitably pleased to announce that I came joint second, out of 20, with @mikebreed. Apparently were both just two votes behind the winner, @leeporter. To read Lee’s winning story, which I bagged as the winner as soon as I read it, and all the other 140 character stories click here.
I wrote 10 stories for the competition, before choosing this one as my entry:
“Small skinny decaf latté?” repeated the girl behind the counter. Samantha nodded. “Small skinny decaf latté? Do you even like coffee?”
The other nine were…
They told her that he’d been killed instantaneously. What did they know. She’d gone to great lengths to ensure he hadn’t.
The carpark was empty. He heard the footsteps behind him, but as usual, when he turned, there was no one. Always the same disappointment.
The barman poured him another drink, ‘on the house’. “Thanks,” he said. “Hey Dirk, old buddy, anytime.” Who Dirk was he had no idea.
The lift doors closed. He had 4 floors to decide, but knew it wasn’t enough. The deli counter was a minefield for the indecisive executive.
The newsreader stumbled, then broke into a sweat. He wasn’t sure, but he might just have called the Prime Minister Darling.
Every word, every character was beautifully crafted. Now all that was missing was the one thing which had eluded him all his life, a point.
“But I like money,” said Andrews, confused by the suggestion that there’s more to life. “I mean, you can’t eat spirituality.”
“To solve teen pregnancy we must instil in the young a sense of ambition,” the politician said. The student nodded, “Like wanting a PS3?”
Divorce wasn’t an option. Too expensive, too messy, too depressing. But sudden, violent death? It had its benefits. Like keeping the car.
I’ve been invited to write a 140 character story for the Story 140 competition being run by Twitter’s very own micro-novelist Nick Warren. A daunting task. If you haven’t read any of Nick’s stories on Twitter I suggest you stop reading this and go and follow him now. The drama, intrigue and humour he can find in 140 characters (including spaces) is staggering. My particular favourite being his story of Jan 19 2009, the eve of President Obama’s inauguration:
Welcome Mr President, we’ve been looking forward to meeting you. Agent Owen and I are with Alien Liaison sir, perhaps you’d better sit down.
Don’t know if I can match Nick’s pithy prose – as he puts it, a novel is a marriage, a short story an affair, the twitter story is a kiss – but I’m having a damn good go. Have written 10 possible contenders so far. I can only enter one, not sure how I’m going to pick, but so the other nine don’t go to waste, I’ll post them here after Nick has announced the winner of the competition.
So, tomorrow night is the Brit Awards. I almost forgot. Which isn’t good. I’m a music journalist after all. If I don’t care, and I’m paid to, who the hell will? Still, it’s hardly surprising that The Brits 2009 is a contender for the most irrelevant two hours on television. Just look at the nominations for Best Male Solo Artist.
Ian Brown – with the best will in the world, love him, Best Male? Hardly George Michael is he?
James Morrison – music’s answer to woodchip.
Paul Weller – how long can you trade on your backcat? Next they’ll be nominating Sir Two Thumbs Up McCartney for Best New Artist.
Streets – Mike Skinner must surely be the only viable winner, and even then, probably belongs in another category.
Will Young – see Ian Brown.
Compare that to the best International Male category – Beck, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Neil Diamond, Seasick Steve – and British music doesn’t exactly look like a hot bed of creativity, glamour or even memorable music.
With Duffy, Adele and Coldplay confirming 2008 as being one of the least exciting years for music in living memory, it’s no wonder the music industry is tanking. The always overblown U2 are opening the show, the ever stylish Pet Shop Boys are closing, but there’s a good hour and a half in the middle there that won’t have anyone on the edge of their seat.
I received this in the post today.
It’s a pen.
A promotional pen for the Gary Hustwit’s fantastic film Helvetica: The Movie. Don’t know why they sent it to me. Maybe it’s because they know I’m a massive fan of the film and very excited about Gary’s new movie Objectified. Maybe it’s because I’ve blogged about the movies and linked back to their respective sites. Maybe it’s because I bought the Helvetica ‘Meet The Cast’ movie poster last year. Or maybe it’s just because they’re exceptionally nice people. Whatever, thanks very much. Made my day. I know, I’m easily pleased.
Considering Prince practically pioneered the digital distribution of music via his now defunct NPG Music Club, his claims last year that he was finished with the internet – following a brief but damaging war with three fan sites over cease and desist orders regarding unauthorised ‘fan’ pictures – didn’t exactly ring true. From claiming the net was the future to saying that he never wanted anything to do with it again was quite a leap.
A year on from his then site www.3121.com being taken down and replaced by a blank, black page, he’s finally back making his little purple online presence felt. New site, www.lotusflow3r.com will apparently be integral to the launch and distribution of the three new albums he’s planning to release in 2009. At the moment it includes four sections Videos (represented by a TV), News (that’s the newspaper cutting), Gigs (click the concert ticket to join the gig mailing list) and Music (a ghetto blaster with three tapes you can put in to play one new track from each of the forthcoming albums). All three are promising. The club ready electro strut of Disco Jellyfish in particular could kick Lady GaGa’s underwhelming excuse for synthpop all the way from here back to the ’80s.
Watch this video of The Veronicas, Untouched. Starts off Goth. Quickly turns ’80s synth-pop. Then the guitars come in and it’s Euro-Goth-Rock. After the first “I go ooo, ooo” of the verse though, you know it’s full-on, spangly electro-pop. Until the chorus, where it turns into Avril Lavigne. It’s also very, very annoying.
But I kinda like it. Or maybe I just like them.
Do feel free to share your thoughts.
“Pop music’s not gonna die/It just has no direction.” Bis, Action & Drama.
So true.
French Horn Rebellion. Up All Night. Best pop song I’ve heard in ages. This should be No.1. Or at least No.2.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Muhammad Ali’s Esquire cover. A personal favourite of mine. What’s yours? Let me know in the comments, all part of the Definition Of Cool project.
Having stayed up all night on Nov 4 to see history being made, I fully intend to chuck in work early and spend Tuesday afternoon watching hope return to the free world. For anyone thinking of doing the same, the guardian have just put a handy five day guide to Barack Obama’s inauguration online here. You’re welcome.
Love documentary films? Check. Love magazines? Check. Think The Devil Wears Prada was a little too close to the truth to be funny? Check. Can’t wait for the release of The September Issue? Check, check, check.
On the subject of Star Wars, Carrie Fisher’s autobiography wins the 2008 prize for best title and cover. The only thing funnier is that it’s just 176 pages long and the type is MASSIVE. Presumably she couldn’t remember the rest.
Star Wars as retold by someone who’s never seen it. Genius. Especially the ‘whatever’s and special effects – arguably better than anything used in the Digitally Remastered versions.
Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn’t seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.
The other day I did something I never thought I’d do. I emailed Channel 5 with a scheduling query. I know, who’d have thought Channel 5 had a schedule worth querying. I wanted to know when they were going to show the second season of Californication, which started in September in the US. After a week they replied saying that while they held the rights to show season two, they had no plans to do so.
That’s the last time I email them for anything.
If you didn’t see it – and why would you have, it was on Channel 5 – go and buy the season one boxset now. Here’s the season one trailer to explain why.
Feel free to follow me on Twitter. Click here or go to www.twitter.com/dangennoe. I’m quite entertaining. The operative word there though is quite.
