Wednesday, 12 December 2012

I'm Angry

Interesting piece of contemporary video art / poetry by American YouTube vlogger Bryarly Bishop. Found it to be a hauntingly accurate representation of, for want of a slightly more eloquent phrasing, the modern-age human condition.

Wednesday, 14 November 2012

Brooke Shaden photography

A friend of mine introduced me to this really innovative, unique photography by artist Brooke Shaden. It's so difficult to describe, but this extract from her bio on her website seems to do it justice:

"Brooke works to create new worlds within her photographic frame. By using painterly techniques as well as the square format, traditional photographic properties are replaced by otherworldly elements. Brooke's photography questions the definition of what it means to be alive."

Check out more of her work here: http://brookeshaden.com/
And her blog here: http://shadenproductions.com/blog/







Incredible contemporary dance: Georgian National Ballet and Flying Lotus

I've been stumbling across quite a few breathtaking contemporary dance videos on YouTube and thought I'd share a couple of gems.

Check out this physics-defying performance by the Georgian National Ballet group (HOW DO THEY KEEP SPINNING LIKE THAT?!) -



And this eerie short-film-cum-music-video from downtempo/wonky/experimental hip-hop legend Flying Lotus' new album, starring incredible slow-mo dancer Solomon Gibbs -

Wednesday, 10 October 2012

Harnessing the Crazy

What with it being #WorldMentalHealthDay, I thought I'd share this interesting TED talk. Having myself battled with mental health problems in recent months, I found Joshua Walters' notion of channelling your 'crazy' into creativity. He's definitely one to google.

"At TED's Full Spectrum Auditions, comedian Joshua Walters, who's bipolar, walks the line between mental illness and mental "skillness." In this funny, thought-provoking talk, he asks: What's the right balance between medicating craziness away and riding the manic edge of creativity and drive?"



This also reminded me of Mitchell Davis (aka vlogging sensation LiveLavaLive), his battles with OCD and panic attacks and how he channelled this creatively into his YouTube career. His attention to detail and symmetry is beautiful. See here and here for some examples of his work, and here for his website.

Blind For A Day

I'm going blind for a day for charity!



BLIND FOR A DAY (BFAD) - SATURDAY 13TH OCTOBER 2012

Join the Facebook event page here.

I'm trying to raise money for the Royal National Institute of Blind People and spread awareness about issues surrounding sight loss.
1 in 30 people in the UK suffer from sight loss. The good people at RNIB offer information, support and advice to them and their loved ones. They also support essential research to find out more about and promote their needs, and spread awareness to the general public about the importance of regular eye tests.
Check out their website for much more info: rnib.org.uk

To those people like myself who do not suffer from any severe sight loss, the idea of being blind can be extremely difficult to imagine. To find out more about these issues and in order to gain sponsors, I am challenging myself to wear a blindfold for a whole 24 hours. I will be documenting the experience on camera, and then uploading it to YouTube at the end of the weekend as a 3-part video series!

Any donations large or small would be greatly appreciated! To sponsor me, visit justgiving.com/bfad

Interview I did with a lovely lady called Alba about living with blindness:

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

Author, speaker and international advisor on education Sir Ken Robinson gives an enlightening TED talk about creativity in schools and universities, bolstered with biting wit. Very topical.

Alex Serra

Been keeping an eye on this YouTube musician for a long while now, and he's very talented. Sassy and jazzy, with an incredible voice and impeccable taste (he's covered a lot of the big names in jazz/blues/motown as well as some Bon Iver renditions). And interesting style of videos too. Check him out!







He also has four separate channels where he uploads different content. Explore:

Alex Serra (main channel)
Live Sessions
Car Sessions
Backpack Sessions

And his website: AlexSerraMusic.com

Abortion

In Values We Live By (one of my Philosophy modules at university where we debate about and analyse moral and ethical issues) we've been discussing abortion, and the liberal, conservative and religious standpoints standpoints around it.
It got me thinking - what constitutes a 'life', a 'human being', or a 'person'? Is it down to choosing an appropriate cutoff point, a certain stage during its development when a foetus can or cannot be aborted? Or is the very potential for life from the moment of conception arguably a reason to criminalise abortion altogether? Where do you stand?

My friend and I were discussing this and he linked me to some incredible photographs of babies at various different stages of development in the womb. To see all the pictures and the Telegraph article, click here.

8 weeks

16 weeks

18 weeks

Photographs by Lennart Nilsson

Saturday, 6 October 2012

Knife Painting by Francoise Nielly

Here're some vibrant, dramatic oil paintings by artist Francoise Nielly, sculpted entirely using knives. Find more of her work on her website here.






Friday, 28 September 2012

Drug-Induced Self-Portraits

An artist from Washington DC called Bryan Lewis Saunders created this amazing collection of work called DRUGS by taking every drug known to man and drawing a self-portait after each use. The results are a bizarre and beautiful insight into the effects of drugs on perception and the mind. Below are just a few of my favourites, but I thoroughly recommend you check them all out here.

Cocaine

Crystal Meth

Morphine IV

G13 Marijuana

Huffing Gas

Psilocybin Mushrooms

The End of the Internet

bw.org/end/

'No Homo'


Homophobic language is disgustingly widespread. For those of you who use the world 'gay' as a synonym for 'lame', please look at this. It might make you think twice before it falls out of your mouth next time. 'Nough said. Learn more about the #NoHomophobes movement here.

Monday, 24 September 2012

David Foster Wallace - This Is Water

Absolutely mind-blowing lecture from novelist, essayist and postmodern think-tank genius Prof. David Foster Wallace. Here he unveils an enormous amount of truths about life and about education that we're unable to admit or even put into words. Watch it. NOW.



Tuesday, 11 September 2012

Electric Swing Circus

The Electro Swing Circus are a superb band I saw at WOMAD festival this year. I absolutely swooned when they played their rendition of Everybody Wants to Be a Cat and was beside myself when they followed it with a cover of Minnie the Moocher. They've got a Crowdfunder page to kickstart their debut album, so I recommend y'all check it out and chuck them a couple of quid. These guys are one of the best bands to see live and I'd love to see them touring the country.



Electro-swing is one of my favourite genre combos, and makes for some incredible club nights. Pop it in your Last.fm radio and see where the journey takes you...
Some more electro-swing for you to check out:





Saturday, 1 September 2012

Ways to find new music


I love hunting for new music to put on my iPod, so I thought I'd share with you a few of the best websites for doing so...

YouTube - That's right. Slightly unexpected, as it's not actually a site dedicated to music, but if you know what you're doing you can find some incredible stuff.
A couple of tips and tricks on how to find music on YT:
1. Think of a song that's really unique or that you'd like to hear songs similar to and find a video of it.
2. On the right hand side there'll be 'recommended videos' - click the 'watch later' button on a few of them (sometimes I click on the ones with interesting names or thumbnails).
3. Each video will bring a new selection of recommended videos. See where the journey takes you!
N.B. If you get bored, start again with another song. Usually, the more obscure the music is, the more interesting (and/or alike the first song you typed in) the music you find will be.

BBC Radio 6Music - This UK radio station is the love of my life. Unlike the other BBC stations, 6Music is committed to broadcasting new and different music. I'd thoroughly recommend:
The Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show - Does what it says on the tin.
Don Letts' Culture Clash - A crazy mixture of genres, usually quite roots/underground/revolutionary stuff but can be unpredictable (in a good way!)
BBC Introducting with Tom Robinson - Helps new artists get noticed.
Steve Lamacq - Anything by this guy is usually good (he's got a few different shows). He loves to play a good mixture of classics and obscure/new stuff he's found.
The Huey Show - Huey Morgan from Fun Lovin' Criminals plays you songs from his huge record collection
All the DJs are passionate about music, have extremely eclectic tastes and really know what they're talking about. Don't forget to check out the live studio sessions!

Recommended artists and/or artist radio
An intelligent machine takes your music listening behaviour such as play counts and uses it to recommend new music. Really helpful if you can't be bothered trawling through endless blogs, not knowing whether to trust the recommendations of random internet strangers.

Last.fm - An incredible website I've been using for years which primarily uses a neat little downloadable application to recommend artists, albums, free mp3s and even gigs in your local area.
1. Create an account and download the iTunes Scrobber/Radio app.
2. Scrobble your iTunes playcount history and keep it open whenever you're listening to music.
3. Check out your recommendations via your homepage or the Scrobbler - Last.fm provides a detailed and comprehensive bio, gallery and selection of genre tags and similar artists for every artist.
N.B. Don't forget to use the radio feature via this page. Type in an artist or genre (or multiple artists and genres!), click play, and it'll start playing songs in the Scrobbler. You can also use Last.fm to network with other listeners by seeing how compatible your music tastes are and getting recommendations off them.

Spotify
 - I'm not sure if this is application is free anymore, but it's another fantastic way to find new music and pretty easy to navigate through. Like Last.fm it has similar artists and radio features, though it's a lot quicker to find things, it's easier to create and share playlists, and you can listen to a lot more full songs on there because it's not so bound up by copyright problems.
However, Last.fm's library tends to be bigger with more information available about the artists. That said, you don't have to choose one or the other - in fact, you can connect your Last.fm and Spotify accounts!

Grooveshark - Like Spotify, but an online Flash website. Because it's run by people uploading the music themselves, the system isn't as accurate as other websites, and the radio function isn't as good. However, there's a lot of stuff you'll find on there that you won't find on Spotify like obscure B-sides and live tracks.

Gnoosic - Type in artists' names and it'll draw a 'map' of similar music, with the artist you searched for in the middle, and other artists circling it, nearer or further away depending on how similar they are. Although you can't actually listen to music on this website and it's not always 100% accurate, it's still a really cool idea. Also works for books and movies.

Homemade playlists
Personal playlists made by real people are often the best way to find new music. The people on these sites really care about the music they're sharing, which is often what's lacking in a faceless machine that collects data telling you what you should listen to like Last.fm.

Stereomood - Brilliant peer-led website that categorizes music by 'mood' playlists (e.g. urban, aggressive, sitting on the toilet, etc). Click a tag you like the sound of on the homepage and it'll lead you to a playlist people having been adding suitable songs to. Click play, sit back and relax.

Everyone's Mixtape - A recent discovery of mine, this website shares mixtape playlists people have made. You can also add your own.

8tracks - Kind of a cross between Stereomood and Everyone's Mixtape. People often get quite creative naming and describing their playlists and how/why they made them, which is interesting to read whilst you're listening.

Mixcloud - A sister site of SoundCloud that hosts DJ mixes. Go onto the homepage, click on a genre tag and get listening!

Live sessions
Browsing websites that host live session videos is another way of finding new music. Read more about that here.

HAPPY HUNTING!

Live music sessions

In a digital age where musicians can no longer solely rely on the sales of their CDs, vinyls and mp3s due to peer-to-peer sharing and piracy, it's easy to sort the weak from the strong by watching how they perform live. Some of the best bands in my opinion are those who make their live performances really special and different to their studio-recorded material.
Therefore, these are some of my favourite websites for finding cool new artists with raw talent, showcasing lots of live videos of bands performing their songs and occasionally some covers. I included are a couple of my findings, though it's difficult to pick the best - there are so many amazing acts captured in such interesting locations. Go find!

La Blogotheque - A a huge catalogue of live sessions with an 'arty' feel; filmed in various interesting locations, usually around France or Continental Europe, but sometimes ventures over to the States and beyond.

Here's one of the best live videos I've ever seen, hands down - a really creative performance by Beirut of their song Nantes:

And here's one of my favourite musicians, The Tallest Man on Earth, playing his song The Gardner in a bizarre and enchanting shop full of musical instruments.



Black Cab Sessions - Bands play rough and raw in the back of black London cabs. Like La Blogotheque, they've got a huge archive of artists for your perusal.

And here's the husky Holly Miranda belting out heartbreaking a cover of Lauryn Hill's Ex Factor:



From the Basement - Live performances from the basement recording studio of the bloke who produced Radiohead. A few more well-known artists here, such as Gnarls Barkley and The White Stripes.

Here's one of my all-time favourite live versions of a song, purely because of how unique, haunting and strangely classical it sounds - Andrew Bird's Plasticities:

Wednesday, 29 August 2012

The Ricky Gervais Show


I never really go into The Office. Don't get me wrong, I can't get enough of surreal humour, but that show was just a bit too wacky. Even for me. However, I found Ricky Gervais' more recent project, The Ricky Gervais Show, to be right up my street. The programme is basically an animated adaptation of a podcast of conversations between Ricky himself, the comic Stephen Merchant, and their bizarre friend Karl Pilkington. The hilarious discussions cover a range of topics, from politics to the environment to virtual-reality isolation tanks. And the kooky animation is fun to watch whilst you listen.

You don't have to watch for very long before you realise that the show is really just an excuse for the other two to take the piss out of Karl. Karl is one of the most deadpan, opinionated, embarrasingly British people I have ever laid eyes on, and drives myself, along with Ricky and Stephen, to hysterical squarks of laughter. Many have claimed that wrote his character, but the truth is he's just like that; and that's another reason why I find him so hilarious - he doesn't even try!

Anyway, it's a must watch, and you can see all three series here. Go go go.


If you'd like to see more of Karl, go watch An Idiot Abroad here. The show is basically just Ricky and Stephen forcing him to travel around the world and do lots of crazy things, during which he expresses his opinion. A lot. Comedy gold.

"It's like a game of Jenga that got out of hand." - Karl Pilkington on the subject of the Pyramids in Egypt

And you can see much more of this round headed buffoon on Pilkipedia, "the only encyclopaedia and community based around Karl Pilkington".

Saturday, 25 August 2012

Electric guitar solo... with your mouth?!

Michael Winslow covers the roaring electric guitar of Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love with just his mouth. Absolutely insane skills.



Find out more about this madman on his website: http://michaelwinslow.net/

Wednesday, 15 August 2012

Oxfam

This summer I campaigned with the wonderful Oxfam at the World of Music, Arts and Dance festival, and it was possibly one of the most rewarding, eye-opening experiences of my life. Sitting down with real people and having real conversations about the food system was an extremely honest and fruitful way of getting people to think about it and share their ideas, especially at WOMAD where there was such a diverse range of interesting people. Below is a video blog I made about my personal experience and some of the most poignant things I learnt, but I seriously recommend you check out the photos on Facebook of people with their ideas and contributions. Truly inspiring.




OxfamGB's Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/oxfamGB

Photos from the campaign at WOMAD: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150944847446396.405332.7214031395&type=3

More about Grow: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get-involved/campaign-with-us/our-campaigns/grow
The eBook made from summer 2012's campaigning: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/43bfeae9#/43bfeae9/1

Campaign for Oxfam
At festivals: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get-involved/festivals/campaigners
In your local area: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get-involved

Tuesday, 14 August 2012

The Art of Imperfection

An inspiring TED talk by Phil Hansen.

Taxidermy Art

I came across this bizarre yet moving taxidermy art in the Guggenheim on a trip to New York a few years ago and just accidentally stumbled across again it on the internet. The artist's name is Cai Guo-Qiang.

Here is a piece of his I saw called Head On. Ninety-nine wolves running headlong into a glass wall.



And this is another piece of his I saw in the Gug' called Tiger and Arrows:




Many would argue this to be grotesque beyond meaning, but I feel moved by it. To me it seems to be making a cold, satirical statement about how Man tries to exercise control over everything, mocking even death. Or perhaps it's about extinction. Or a combination of the two. But of course it's up to you how you interpret it. Anyway, it's far less shallow stuff than that bloody Damien Hirst's shark in a tank.

Kimbra - there are no words...

There are no words in the English language for how in love with Kimbra I am right now.





Baby I'm Yours, The Music Scene

A couple of my latest music video finds...


Breakbot - Baby I'm Yours (feat. Irfane) - HD from Ed Banger Records on Vimeo.


"The Music Scene" from Anthony Francisco Schepperd on Vimeo.

Beautiful Sport/Nature Shots

Sport photography usually bores me but when you combine it with breathtaking shots of nature... Well, it's a different story.


Relax and focus

Like most middle class neurotics, I struggle on a daily basis with racing thoughts. I decided to explore the things that relax and focus me, and compiled a short list:

  • Taking a shower
  • Driving
  • Cycling
  • Circus skills like poi or juggling
  • Snorkelling

However, there are times when the above don't work or aren't available options. This is what the internet is for. I found that watching first-person or HD mountain biking or cycling videos whilst playing music really works!

Watch this...

 ...whilst listening to this:

Or this...

...whilst listening to this:


What puts you in the moment? Try making your own video combos.

Nature is beguiling sometimes...

Just some cool nature videos and photography. It's funny how insulated man can be. We're so obsessed with the human world, our 9 'til 5 jobs and trips to the supermarket, that we sometimes forget how beautiful and curious the natural world around us is.








Cano Cristales (Crystal River), Colombia

Volcanic ash cloud, Philippines
Not sure this one's real, think it's artwork called 'Oracle Cave'. But still...
Screencap from BBC's Frozen Planet - deadly underwater 'Brinicle' ice finger in the water under the ice, Antarctic
Swimming with manta rays, Pacific Ocean

Monday, 13 August 2012

Documentaries about North Korea

Really eye-opening BBC documentary about refugees trying to escape from their native North Korea, its tyrannical Communist regime, poverty and famine.

Part 1 (the other parts can be found on YouTube):


And here's another documentary I found just giving an insight into life there. So alike Orwell's 1984 it's unreal.

Part 1:


Part 2:

Sunday, 12 August 2012

Kawehi: vocal loop maestro

When I hear all those tragically unoriginal songs in the charts, it's raw musicians like this that give me hope in the music industry.


You can find more on her website: http://www.kawehi.com/

Google Street View 360 Panoramic Timelapse

Seriously cool. Almost wish the real world looked like this. We're forever looking in front and not around us. Makes you want to stop and appreciate this beautiful planet a bit more.


Chemin Vert from Giacomo Miceli on Vimeo.

Sam Spreckley: Video & Sound Art

"Small moments caught from nature are re imagined sonically in an almost hypomanic style. Seemingly banal or normally unnoticed moments are selected and brought into the foreground via selection and heightened sonic treatments. This work celebrates both the beauty and detail/movement of nature and also the power that sound can have over the image. By creating my own audio interpretation to accompany these images i feel like a new sense can be created. Perhaps hidden sounds come forward to add detail and suggest movements normally unnoticed or maybe the subjects take on a completely new meaning."


Untitled 4 from sam spreckley on Vimeo.

Karmin

Really raw duo I found on YouTube this morning...



Saturday, 11 August 2012

YourTube, MyTube, OurTube

I make video blogs on YouTube and have done for a while now, and I've noticed a real change in the way the website functions and a distinct lack of community and genuine support/appreciation for good and new content creators. The message these two vloggers below are broadcasting is vital if we want to keep the social networking, creative, supportive side of YouTube alive. Please watch...




Friday, 10 August 2012

Karimba / Mbira / Thumb Piano

I just bought myself a 17-note thumb piano for £20 of eBay. After tuning it, I wanted to see what kind of things I could play, and stumbled across this amazing Bob Marley cover on YouTube...

Autistic Artist

Wednesday, 8 August 2012

Piano Juggling

Having recently learnt to juggle with three balls, I wanted to see what the competition was like out there and what new skills I could pick up. I wasn't, however, expecting this:

Les Twins dance duo


There are no words to describe how dope these dancers are. Just watch:



More underwater photography

There's something really magical about underwater photography, whether it be of marine life or of things that aren't meant to be underwater, like this lady in a rather elegant gown. Click here for more.

Jellyfish

Let's just take some time out to appreciate one of the most enchanting, ornamental-looking, graceful animals on our planet. Heck, some of them are even immortal.










Photography: Winter in Ukraine

Moving wintery photographs taken by Daniel Korzhonov in the Crimea, Ukraine. Really love the composition, crisp detail, heady colours and misty lighting. See more here.