2 great videos/ tunes from Japanese band Omodaka

(According to their myspace) Omodaka is the name of the project developed through a trial and error process of mutational fusion of music and motion graphics. It will knock over your existing image toward a music video by a beautiful trajectory.



Yosawya san: old school computer graphics and sounds to match:



( I recommend watching it in high def over on youtube)


This one seems to just be called music school orchestra - the video is nuts and the song is catchy as:



(Nerd alert: Although at first glance that appears to be a teenage mutant ninja turtle to our uncultured western eyes, it's actually a kappa - a mischievous Japanese water sprite that eats children. Which seems a little bit more than mischief)

http://www.myspace.com/omodakafareastrecordings

Chris Morris' terrorist comedy: Four Lions

Chris Morris (Brass Eye, Nathan Barley) has written and directed his first film - a satirical account of 4 hapless young British muslims attempting to become jihadis:



It's getting mixed reviews but I love Chris Morris more than is probably healthy and the movie was shortlisted for the Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Narrative Award, whatever that is. So I can't wait to check it out. You should come, dollsnatch, it's going to be totally fucking Mexico.

2 deadly tunes

1. Mr. C is back after a 5 year hiatus and his new tune "Full Moon" from his Lunar EP is amazing. It's minimal and builds slowly; it's very slick- and I just have it on repeat all day. Check it out over at http://www.myspace.com/mrcsuperfreq - you can buy it at Juno Records.

2. This track "It's Just Muzik" from Laurent Garnier is pretty filthy and heavy and great:



http://soundcloud.com/laurent-garnier

Tron. And on... and on...

Tron was on in the IFI as part of the current Jeff Bridges season - I hadn't seen it before - to my eternal shame - it is basically my ideal film. Jeff Bridges (young, dreamy) plays Flynn - a computer programming genius who got shanghaied by The Man (who stole all his rad computer game ideas) and wants to hack into The System to find the evidence. Unfortunately The System has other ideas and zaps Flynn into a computer gaming world where anthropomorphised computer programmes are pitted against each other gladiator stylee and Flynn and his friend Tron have to save the day. It is completely ridiculous and the graphics are amazing - particularly considering it was made in 1982. Definitely worth a look - especially as they are making a sequel called Tron Legacy due out in December and you want to be able to follow the plot, right?

Check out the trailer in all its 80s glory:


P.S The IFI is also playing The Big Lebowski at 2pm on Sunday 28th February. The Dude abides.

Ladytron: Use Your Mind

Can't wait for Yo Gabba Gabba! to release a greatest hits compilation.
I was going to post Ladytron's video for 'Destroy Everything You Touch' aswell but seeing as Universal Music Group (who own pretty much everything) are systematically removing their whole catalogue from the internet I couldn't find it. BOOOO! But that's a rant for another time.

www.ladytron.com

DFRNT: dubstep

It might make sense to you when DFRNT says 'Accidentally played these chords out today, and ended up working an entire tune around them. Was in a bit of a 2562 mood with the rhythm. Watch out for the 4-4 switch-up on the second drop' about his tune 'Short Bus.' It sounds made up to me - like when Dan Ashcroft pretends he knows about wine in Nathan Barley. However fortunately for the world people like DFRNT are making the music and not me - I don't know much about dubstep but I know I like this and will be checking out more of this guy:

DFRNT - Short Bus by DFRNT


Check out his website for lots of free downloads and mixes.
http://www.dfrnt.co.uk/
http://www.myspace.com/dfrntdubstep

Bike Love

I don't usually get personal on the blog but recent events have got me misty-eyed and wanting to share. I just got a new bike on Saturday, it's beautiful, smooth and sturdy; all the things I look for in a bike yet sadly, something is still rotten in the state of Danish roadsters. It took me a while to figure out where my feelings came from but I realized something last night and I reckon it's probably applicable to all sorts in life.

For years I was the proud owner of not one but two rather distinguished bi-peds. The first a 1920s' Joycean jobbie rescued from abandonment down the docklands on a Post Picnic session and dragged home for a fix up. The other, an inheritance from my cousin who was no doubt as well-served as I. She was probably a good thirty years old, spent more time with her chain off than on and didn't handle bumps well but if you knew how to treat her, she was never a chore. Both were tragically taken from me in their prime, I say prime because I don't think bikes ever really get too old for use, only moving on to their next life when they fall victim of theft, which is exactly what happened my lovely pair.

My new bike though beautiful, was a purchase, even though she came from an amazing home (rothar.ie) her lack of personal heritage and the fact that her presence serves a constant reminder of the untimely departure of her predecessors make her a bit of a sore point. I know this is terrible and I feel awful for even thinking it, I know if she could read this.. and had feelings she would be pretty hurt so I do feel guilty but can’t help my feelings.

I started writing this post as a tribute to my faithful departed, remembering the good times… the ride out to Seapoint for a swim, the mad dash from the Kraftwerk gig an hour earlier than needed due to botched 24hr clock reading (on my part), the constant record ferrying and the many backers. Instead in an unexpected turn all this reminiscing has started me thinking about the good times that lie ahead with my new steed. What capers will we get up to? Who will grace the backbar? How many punctures are in-store? That truly was unexpected and now I feel that perhaps the therapeutic writing of this coupled with the recent addition of a Kryptonite to the relationship will see a steadfast bond, in more ways than one.

Happy Times

Backers

No pics of Tour de France unfortunatly

And Many More to Come?

My new ride

J.D. Salinger = integrity

click on image to read full letter

J.D. Salinger died just over a week ago. Check out this amazing letter where he explains why he won't sell the rights to his 1951 novel The Catcher In The Rye, (which still sells 250,000 copies a year, 60 years on) about disillusioned teen Holden Caulfield.


"The weight of the book is in the narrator's voice, the non-stop peculiarities of it, his personal, extremely discriminating attitude to his reader-listener, his asides about gasoline rainbows in street puddles... he can't legitimately be separated from his own-first person technique. True, if the separation is forcibly made, there is enough material left over for something called an exciting (or maybe just interesting) evening in the theater. But I find that idea, if not odious, at least odious enough to stop me from selling the rights."

Makes me want to read the novel again. The letter is on sale for a mere $54,000 over at www.momentsintime.com

Jerome David Salinger
Jan 1, 1919 – Jan 27, 2010
R.I.P

Datarock - Smile for the camera!

More from genius American kids' tv show YO! Gabba Gabba - this time Datarock are getting kids to smile for the camera - it's a pretty catchy tune as per usual:



I won't harp on about how amazing (and wasted on stupid kids) that show is anymore. But it is. And check out Chromeo, Of Montreal and Money Mark on YO! Gabba Gabba in previous posts if you haven't before.

www.myspace.com/datarock
www.datarockmusic.com

Groundhog Day - the movie not the day

I don't actually care that it's Groundhog Day I just want to play clips from the movie as it is one of the best things ever.

This is the needle-nose Ned Ryerson scene:






Rita: You speak french?
Phil: ... Oui.

Oni Ayhun = CHOOOOON

A mate of mine sent me this video a little while ago and I haven't stopped listening to it since. I gather there was some mystery at first as to who Oni Ayhun was, but it transpires it is the guy from The Knife - Olof Dreijer. This tune OAR 003-B was released last year but if you haven't heard it yet get your ears ready - it's beautiful but at the same time makes you want to hear it REALLY loud in a club - in short, it's savage.



The OAR label is stocked over at the quality Clone Records (where The Hasbeens and Detroit In Effect are artists), or, if like me you prefer your music digitally you can pick up OAR 003 A and B for a mere €3.32 over at juno. ENJOY.

http://www.oniayhun.com/