If you've spent some time with the Chemical Brothers' latest album, the go-ahead-and-call-it-a-comeback Further, you know that it's filled with endlessly heady jawns perfect for iTunes visualizers everywhere. Well, this totally techy video for Further cut "Another World" renders that program pretty much obsolete.
Put together by directors Adam Smith and Marcus Lyall and the design team Flat Nose George, the clip features digitized green blobs that form sound waves, a person's face singing along with the song's vocals, and, uh, bigger green blobs. Kind of like that video for Radiohead's "House of Cards", only with a lot less Thom Yorke and a lot more green blobs. Just watch, below:
Photo by Kevin Westenberg
We're used to seeing Philip Selway behind a range of drums and cymbals as the unswerving and inventive back beat to Radiohead. But on his forthcoming solo album, Familial, Selway steps away from the kit, singing and playing acoustic guitar on 10 hushed folk songs in the shadowy tradition of Nick Drake. The album is quiet, but there's an unnerving sense of dread that connects the material to his main gig; it's music for a foreboding twilight. Guests including Wilco's Glenn Kotche and Pat Sansone, and veteran singer-songwriter Lisa Germano. (The album's out on August 31 in the UK via Bella Union and a day later in the U.S. through Nonesuch.)
We recently met up with Selway at a posh downtown Manhattan hotel. Floor-to-ceiling windows offered a view of some rare NYC greenery outside. Inside, the drummer/singer/songwriter was thoughtfully polite and casual in a fuschia t-shirt and brightly striped socks that could've been on loan from a pre-teen's dresser. He talked about what it feels like to be the guy answering all the questions for once:
Last night, the Antlers played a free show at Manhattan's picturesque Pier 54 in front of the Hudson River. During the show, they showed off a new song that could be slotted into the U2/Radiohead/Jeff Buckley "rousing ballad" category.
Lucky for you, the folks at (((unartig))) recorded it and put it on YouTube in high quality for your viewing pleasure (via BrooklynVegan):
The just-released trailer for "The Social Network" -- which features co-star Justin Timberlake, and a choral cover of Radiohead's "Creep" -- is as dramatic as a teaser for a movie about Facebook can be.
The comedian and presenter discusses the thinking behind his stage show about pop videos â€' and reveals his favourites
I was first approached to do BUG: The Evolution of the Music Video after I hosted the final two Antenna nights at the BFI Southbank. Antenna was a showcase where fans could watch music videos in a massive cinema with really good sound. I'd never seen anything like it before and was delighted that they'd asked me to host it. With BUG, I thought we'd change the format a bit, show fewer videos, and break it up with more stupidity â€' which is, of course, what I do.
Three years later and we're on our 20th show. I'm not a big anniversary person so can rule out a huge Glastonbury-style celebration. Plus, Stevie Wonder's pulled out, Gorillaz refuse to do it because I'm regularly rude about Damon, and Bowie's just not answering my texts.
Still, as usual, we will have an excellent selection of videos and, hopefully, Cyriak will be our special guest. He's not really a music video guy but he does amazing, trippy Flash animations. He often marries them to his own soundtracks, so he sort of fits into the music and video remit for us. We don't have to be too prescriptive about who's in the show as long as there's some vague connection.
Over the 20 shows, one part of my silliness that has really taken off is the YouTube comments section....
Prince is right to have issues with iTunes and YouTube. But making his album available only to Mirror readers goes against his philosophy of reaching as many listeners as possible
As a Prince fan, I bought the Mirror for the first time on Saturday to get a copy of his latest album, 20Ten. As a musician, I was puzzled by why he felt the need to give away his music with a UK tabloid that costs 65p. I was equally perplexed by his decision to snub iTunes because it doesn't pay advances. Why would he need an advance? He's Prince, for God's sake. Surely he should trust that people would buy his music anyway. Besides, many more fans would have access to iTunes than a newsagent on one day.
In an interview with the Mirror, Prince compared the internet to MTV, saying that its days are numbered. Is this the reason why, when I put his new CD into my computer, Gracenote, the music database used by iTunes, didn't recognise the titles? Is that why there were 66 five-second silent tracks before the bonus track?
It's a strange turnaround for someone who, a decade ago, described Napster as "exciting". "What might happen with young people exchanging music is that they might develop a real appreciation," the "purple Yoda from the heart of Minnesota" said. He also claimed that online distribution could enable...