Tychoand TheCreators Project teamed up for a new video for "See," off of Tycho’s 2013 LP Awake.
The clip was directed by Bradley "GMUNK" Munkowitz, and is described
as a mystic vignette that follows a single heroine's journey through a
series of stunning environments and parallel universes. Rife with shamanic
rituals, hypnotic runes, and an elusive, enigmatic stranger who appears to have
spawned from nature itself, her journey is presented through full-spectrum as
well as infrared photography. So uh yeah, that.
The Arcade Fire return to your screens today with their
latest music video from the recently released Reflektor LP. "Afterlife"
was written and directed by Emily Kai Bock, the narrative is a dark and
compelling, incorporating nightmares, lost lovers, and familial bonds into
a somnambulistic seven minutes. You may recall that Kai Bock
also directed videos for other Onomatopoeia favorites including Grimes' "Oblivion" and
Grizzly Bear's "Yet Again," that were also produced byThe Creators Project.
Midnight Juggernauts are gearing up to release their third
LP, Uncanny Valley sometimes in the very near future. We have already shared
the clever video for “Ballad Of The War Machine” and today the Aussies, in
conjunction with the Creators Project, have dropped an equally creative video
for “Memorium” Check it out below along with a description of the project…
Hybrid art/technology piece visually documenting the
evolution of CGI
WIREFRAME MEMORIES: A CHRONOLOGICAL TOUR THROUGH THE PIONEER YEARS OF CGI
“With Computer Generated Imagery now a standard feature of our visual language
and often indistinguishable from reality, we decided to take a long look back
to the genesis of this technology. Well before the blockbuster milestones and
mainstream acceptance, we chart CGI's origins mid last century within the
experimental computer labs of universities, corporations, and various
trailblazing individuals. These were the pioneer years of CGI.
From the groundbreaking years of these first footprints, we follow the
evolution of the technology as each new trial grows more ambitious and complex.
From basic science/engineering line animations and wireframe oddities, to 3D
and artistic experimentation, and the first trials to replicate human likeness
and emotion. While some may seem crude by today's standards these watershed
trials and experimental demos were all key critical building blocks.
In a field which quickly casts aside milestones as each new technological
advance is superseded, this study sheds light on the pioneers and achievements
which paved the way. Of the early innovators featured here, some went on
to teach, a few disappeared, others started massive software companies, and
some are running Pixar.
Contemplating this subject of early digital footprints of technology, the band
realized it reflected similar themes to their song "Memorium." They each recount
a tracing through discarded remnants of the past. It seemed logical to combine
the two pieces, and so this visual homage was created.”
Now, you can finally hear the album itself, in full, streaming over on iTunes. (Go to Daft Punk's artist page on iTunes to hear it.) After the first listen I’m initially surprised to hear how mellow it is, ith the easy favorite being "Doin' It Right" what says you? Be sure to also check out the latest in the series of Collaborators videos below with the legendaryPaul Williamswho discusses his views on anonymity and fame amongst other things and who 's collaboration on R.A.M. track"Touch" is an album highlight.
Another day and another episode ofDaft Punk’sMeet The Collaborators series. Episode 7 features child hood friend of the robots DJ Falcon. Of course Stéphane has a long rich history with French house music and more specifically Daft Punk having worked with Thomas Bangalter when they formed their band Together. Coincidentally Stéphane is also a cousin of Onomatopoeia favorite Alan Braxe. Falcon discuss' this rich history and his work on Random Access Memories track “Contact” which is due out on May 21st. Check out the video below as well as a decade old “demo/prototype” version of the song which centers around a sample of Australian band the Sherbs' "We Ride Tonight."
Episode 6 of Daft Punk’s Meet The Collaborators series was released this
morning and features Canadian musician Chilly Gonzales who’s work you most
certainly know from his collaborations with Peaches, Fiest and Buck 65 to name
but a few . In the nine minute video Jason speaks of his love of Harmony, the
type of work he did on the upcoming Daft Punk LP, and his chosen approach when
doing collaborations. Jason even goes on to actually play some of the piano
pieces that will appear on Random Access Memories which is due out on May 21st.
Episode 5 of Daft Punk’s Meet The Collaborators series was released this morning and features Animal Collective’s Panda Bear, aka
Noah Benjamin Lennox. In the eight minute video Noah talks about trying to
collaborate with the robotic due on several occasions only to be shot down over
the years, until that is they contacted him and let him know the time was finally
right. Noah comes from of a space where
he composes his music from a very rhythmic place so his contributions to the
new LP should be both interesting and a natural fit, although thinking of both
bands' musical output one might not arrive at the same conclusion. Random Access
Memories drops on May 21st.
This blog is rapidly turning into an all Daft Punk all the
time type of place and we are more than ok with that. “Meet The Collaborators” returned today with episode 4 this time
featuring Pharrell Williams who goes on to speak about meeting Daft Punk at a
Madonna party which eventually lead to his working with the Parisian duo on the tracks "Get Lucky" and "Lose Yourself To Dance" off their forthcoming LP, check it all out below. Random Access
Memories drops on May 21st.
Daft Punk's “Meet The Collaborators” series is picking up
steam having already dropped an episode on Monday, focusing on Todd Edwards, we
get a second one not four days later, featuringChic guitarist and disco legend
Nile Rodgers. Rodgers talks about his own legacy, some of his famous collaborations (of which there are many,) working with “the robots”
and even treats us to a little piece of music that he seemingly might have
contributed to Random Access Memories which of course drops on May 21st.
We got the second episode of Meet The Collaborators Behind Daft Punk's Random Access Memoriesand this
one features Todd Edwards who you may recall collaborated with Daft Punk on
their second LP, Discovery with “Face To Face.” Todd talks about working in
California with Daft Punk and their desire to draw influence from the sound of 1970’s
LA rock and Sound City. On a side note it’s
worth noting that Todd is wearing an After Dark 2 shirt which of course is not
out yet and only leads me to believe it’s got to be coming fairly soon.
With the HIGHLY anticipated release of Daft Punk‘s new
album Random Access Memories coming out on May 21 we are starting to
see and hear more and more info about the project. With that the robotic duo, along side the Creators Project, have
announced a new video series which will shine a light on some of the big names they’ve
collaborated with on the LP including Chic frontman Nile Rodgers, legendary songwriter/actor Paul Williams, Animal Collective’s Panda Bear, and Chilly Gonzales to name but
a few. The first episode features disco legendGiorgio Moroder talking about
his own early work, the evolution of house, his admiration for Daft Punk, and
their time in the studio together. Watch the video above. And prepare to get
even more excited than you already where for this release if that’s even
possible.
For those of you who have been paying attention I
praise the LA noise band HEALTH often, their song “Tears” will be on my best of
the year list, which we promise will be posted by the end of week. “Tears” was
part of theMax Payne III score which came out this past May via
Rockstar Games and the Creators Project just dropped a short documentary about
the collaborative process of building the score.
“Though the story of the game moves linearly, the player has
some freedom within its framework, a style of gameplay that demanded
accompanying music that could ebb and flow with the various moods and settings.
HEALTH’s soundtrack amplifies the intensity of every possible moment within the
game. Using their signature style of melodic yet heavy noise, the band created
a series of “stems” for every level of the game, each a set of related tracks
that flow in and out of one another depending on the action ensuing onscreen while
keeping with the dark, raw and emotional aspect that players have come to
identify the lead character and series with.”
In the video below members
of the band and of Rockstar Games discus the process in more detail…
Thomas
Brown and Anna Burns fed their obsession with classic B movies by
creating an homage video called "POP POP BANG". But here is where things get
interesting. Rather than recreating
scenes in a traditional manner, they instead transferred stills onto umbrellas,
opening them up one by one to reveal the final image. The A-team one that comes
in at two minutes is pretty great.
Is there anything HEALTH doesn’t do perfectly? Continuing
with their streak of excellence the LA band have a new video for the Max Payne OST song, and one of my top tunes of the year, “Tears". David Altobelli& Jeff Desom in conjunction with the Creators Project
directed the video and it is a cinematic feast for the eyes featuring zombie
children, incredible.
PassionPit‘s
forthcoming sophomore album Gossamer is scheduled to drop on
July 24th via Columbia and so far we have had the chance to hear two tracks
from it including “I’ll be Alright” and “Take A Walk.” The later now has a video to go along with it
presented by the Creators Project. The video seems to take the POV of a ball
flying through the scenic airs of the East coast here in the United States, enjoy it below…
Aphex Twin was recently asked to write a few pieces for the European Culture Congress in Poland that took place in September. Initially he was going to fly over and collaborate with Polish composer and conductor Krzysztof Penderecki in person but Richard James had other ideas. Richard decided to try and rig it so that he could control a 48-piece string section and a 24-person choir by remote control—via midi controllers, headphones and remote visual cues. The complicated task fell to Aphex and Weirdcore, a sound engineer, to work out the tricky logistics.
74 pairs of headphones, 36 small monitors and six plasma screens—all split into seven different feeds. In two weeks’ time Weirdcore put together the interface using Max/MSP/Jitter and Max for the live audio, with input from Andrew Benson who recommended the best way to achieve what he needed. As you might notice there are some Guitar Hero-esque color coding bars you can see in the video, Weirdcore explains: “Pretty simple actually. Each part of the orchestra/choir is color coded, instructions wise and lighting wise, which has the volume instructions connecting to the lighting system so the louder they have to play, the more brightly they light up… and vice versa.”
The experiment went so well that James is keen to do more of this kind of stuff in his upcoming gigs, which means they’ll have to refine the whole setup to make something much more advanced.
In celebration the 41st anniversary of Earth Day, Nick Zinner of Yeah Yeah Yeahs fame led an orchestra ensemble to perform an original piece which he composed called “41 Strings.” You can check out a Creators Project documentary which details the complete making of the composition via the video below. The composition was created in collaboration with Hisham Akira Bharoocha and Ben Vida of Soft Circle, You can have a listen to the full arrangement below as well.
As a part of The Creators Project, the Arcade Fire teamed with director Chris Milkfor a unique installation based around the track “Wake Up” during their recent Coachella gig. The video below outlines every intricate detail, the gist is that Milk was able to use the LEDs and IR transmitters of beach balls handed out to the crowd to paint various pictures and patterns. The end result was a landmark in performer-audience interaction. Despite Coachella wrapping up back in April, the project isn’t quite over yet. For those lucky enough to have snagged/violently stolen one of those balls, head here on a regular basis to see updates on sharing/uploading photos, videos, and stories.
