Webcams At The Hadron Collider

Remember the world might end at any second? Cos there's some experiments going on in Switzerland where they might accidentally create a black hole. Well I've found links to the webcams!


LHC Compact Muon Solenoid Experiment Webcams

Click on the images to check them out. It's nice to check up on them, make sure the Swiss aren't ending the world...

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Cassetteboy

These two geniuses that together make Cassetteboy make me cry with laughter.



Put in their own words: "Cassetteboy are a double act who edit footage they’ve nicked off the telly to make celebrities swear."

Until recently they have only been editing the audio to make funny tracks, but now they've realised that if they keep the original video too, they'll get even more respec' in this YouTube world we live in.

This was released on wednesday, oh my gosh it is funny...



Amongst the shows they've remixed there is: Jamie Oliver, Big Brother, Obama's Inauguration, Match of the Day, Top Gear, David Attenborough shows, Harry Potter, Nigella Lawson and more random quotes from god knows where. Most of them are just audio but check em out on YouTube.

I myself tried my hand at editing some audio clips together, using Cassetteboy's "Joliver" and a Gordon Ramsay cooking podcast, to make this saucy remix in both meanings of the word...

LeGweak vs The Marmalade Cat - Gordon Rams Jamie (Always Use A Lid Remix)

The title is definitely too long. And that's not the only long thing about it. Having realised how much work you need to put in to make something like this just increased my respect for Cassetteboy. So I won't post any links to their mp3's, instead you can buy their work here.

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Rapper's Delight Remix Competition

Discobelle/Green United Music are running a remix competition for the classic Sugarhill Gang track "Rapper's Delight". The myspace has all the details up and you can listen to all the parts of the track seperately. It's weird, I thought the bassline would be the coolest bit but actually it's the drums that sound awesome on their own.

I'm personally hoping this contest produces a banger somewhere close to Deadmau5's remix of Jump Around. I posted it on here a while back when the Bloody Beetroots played it, make sure you've got it.

The announcement of the winner will coincide with the release of Dan the Automator's new production of Rapper's Delight, which features Chali 2Na (Jurassic 5) alongside Domino and Casual (both Hieroglyphics). Seems a bit weird to me that they're doing a new version, it's not like the Sugarhill Gang are dead. I saw them at Bestival last year, they're still unnnnnbelieeeeevable. They pulled some drunks out of the crowd for a rap battle - pretty hilarious. I wonder what they make of this whole remix malarkey, the original is of course brilliant as it is. I think Rapper's Delight is the song that's been most requested by people when I've DJ-ed, if I laid down a remix rather than the original I think I would get killed. By murrrder.

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Faking Retro B&W Videos

After a project I worked on last term I have begun to realise just how difficult it is to fake a retro 1940s/1950s video clip using the modern technology of today. You can put scratches and effects on easily, but making them look right is very difficult, not to mention that any filming needs retro costume, props, set etc.

Here's my attempt at making a retro shoe advertisement, using a variety of styles and effects on After Effects:



Diesel have recently produced a viral advert, styled in a similar manner, but with modern music, and I think it is a triumph, although I have no idea how much actual old footage is involved:

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Mad As Hell

This clip from the 1976 film 'Network' has been cropping up in my life from all angles lately. From kinetic typography animations, to Charlie Brooker news swipes, I just can't seem to get away from it at the moment. It's obviously had a bit of a boost thanks to the credit crunch.

It was simply a matter of time until someone made a dubstep version of it. And that someone is Herbdout.

Herbdout - Get Mad [direct download]

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Painting In The Air

Herraiz Soto & Co are an adverstising agency, who design pieces for the internet, mobile phones, interactive installations and just about anything else they can use as a canvas for design and communication. They recently created this beautiful interactive music video for Labuat's song 'Soy Tu Aire', which translates roughly to 'I am your air'. The video creates and lets you control a flow of ink, as splatters and scratches create illustrations at key moments in time to the song. You can try it out online here, and control it yourself.



But they also took it to the streets of Barcelona and projected it out the back of a van and onto the side of buildings, using a Wii controller to let passers by have a go at directing the animation. Not only is the video a joy to watch but it could also be the inspiration for future interactive musical installations, the possibilities really are endless.

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Mad Decent vs Bugged Out!

Tonight!

Mad Decent Radio 1 Takeover: Diplo/M.I.A./Switch
vs.
Bugged Out! new mixtape: Hot Chip

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Kinetic Typography

I'm currently working on a university project, with a brief to animate a speech or piece of script using only screen typography. 'Kinetic typography', as it's also called, can be mesmerising to watch and is very popular at the moment.

But in some cases it's becoming incredibly generic. Just helvetica letters piling up vertically and horizontally, while an After Effects camera zooms about with no apparent reason.

There are some very high quality pieces of work already on the web, but for me the very best are those that are so well edited they do not rely on the sound. For the perfect piece of kinetic typography you should not 'need' the sound. (although it may add to it)

Anyway, here are the best I found:







I will upload the one I am working on when I finish it next week. :)

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HD Surfing Clip

HD super slow motion video of big wave surfer Dylan Longbottom in a 12 foot monster barrel wave - the first shots of their kind ever recorded.

Click here and then click the 'HD' button for the highest quality...

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Pocketknife

Pocketknife is a little-known DJ and remixer based in Brooklyn, New York, which I have a feeling is growing slowly and steadily to success. I first spotted this guy when I found his Christmas mixtape this December, which became the anthem for my 2008 winter. It was actually recorded for 2007 so I guess I was a bit late but it still doesn't have the web presence it deserves. A danceable, raveable, yet classic and original medley of Crimbo related tracks; I'd like to take this oppurtunity to clumsily drop this metaphor... It's like Christmas pudding: take your family recipe, all the tradition and sweetness, douse it in alcohol and set fire to it. Woooo partay!! It was actually recorded live from Peppermint Palace in Birmingham, so no cheeky recuts to make it tighter, it was already that good.
- Christmas Mixtape [Right-click download]
Tracklisting



Also known as Mr Hockney Peacockney (what a name!?!), Pocketknife regularly doubles up with Cousin Cole to form Flagrant Fowl (quite a lot of crazy names to keep up with here!) and the duo are soon to embark on a tour of the UK catching London around the 23rd July and playing a 6-hour set at Cambridge Secret Garden Party! A few days ago Pocketknife released a new mixtape for Self-titled magazine, it's aptly entitled 'self-titled', which is starting to sound like tittled, but then again it is getting late. I haven't even listened to it yet, but it's probably good!!

- Self-titled Magazine Mixtape [Right-click download]
Tracklisting

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Man Ure

Well yesterday Man United scraped over the line to win the Premier League again. It makes me laugh how all these Man United 'fans' who never go to Old Trafford are texting me claiming they are the greatest team of all-time. Comedy. They may have collected one more point this season than Liverpool will, but they haven't played the best football, as the goal difference suggests. Fact: they couldn't score against Arsenal yesterday.

I hate it when people say "winning games and playing badly is the hallmark of champions". Spending £30million on one man and then nicking a 1-0 from one of his lucky goals is pathetic. Man United's main 20 or so players have cost them well over £500million, I propose Gordon Brown just shuts Manchester United Football Corporation down and uses all that money to sort the credit crunch.











RANT OVER.

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Timelapseman

Lobster Pictures are a Bristol-based company that specialise in timelapse cinematography. They sell clips from their library or you can commission them to do specific shoots for you. Their YouTube channel features some of the best of one of their cameraman's beautiful work, well worth subscribing to.









I always feel DJ Mehdi's songs are good soundtracks for timelapse footage...
DJ Mehdi - Pocket Piano (Joakim Remix)

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FUTUREMILK

...is a blog consisting of basically just images. Stunning visual taste.

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Direct Blog Quote #6: The YouTube Dilemma

Great blog post over on Creative Review, about idea-stealing in the advertising industry...

But is it 'idea-stealing' or is it referencing?

There's actually a whole site devoted to these copycats called Joelapompe.









Ideas cannot be copyrighted, and, as the Norowzian case proved, using the law to prove plagiarism of imagery can be fraught with difficulty, and expensive. But all too often, the idea still gets made, and there is little that the originator of the idea can do about it. In this sense, we are perhaps no further on than we were ten years ago. However, with the internet providing an easy outlet for film makers to complain when they feel their ideas have been pinched, a new wave of consciousness does seem to be beginning to sweep over ad agencies. “I think ad creatives are very conscious of the notion of originality,” says Kate Stanners [Responsible for the VISA advert] in their defence, “because part of your job is to come up with original ideas. There is a respect for ideas and there is a respect for the originators of ideas.”

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The Front Fell Off

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La Roux

Of course you know who La Roux are, the English electropop "synth duo" band made up of Elly Jackson and Ben Langmaid have been in the charts the last few months and In For The Kill has been 2nd for 3 weeks. So you must already know about them right? But did you know how they got their name? Elly found a book of baby names in a bin. Within the book was the name "La Roux", which means 'the red-haired one' in French.

Check out La Roux's new video for her single Bulletproof... Weird eye make-up and a fragmented 3D world. I watched it thinking it was going to kick off at some point, but it doesn't...



The video to Quicksand is way better and is definitely my tune of 2009. They are giving away the track free from their website...



There's a multitude of remixes, but the only ones worth listening to are:
La Roux - In For The Kill (Skream Remix)
La Roux - In For The Kill (The Twelves Remix)
La Roux - Quicksand (Joe And Will Ask? Remix)

I hope someone hurries up and remixes this tune below, preferably Justice/Proxy/Rolf Honey. At the moment it goes a bit 'Sega Megadrive' at the end but it could be so good if it was more raveable.
La Roux - Reflections Are Protections

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Swine Flu

I, as everyone else in the UK has, received a leaflet through the door in the last few days about Swine Flu. But what you may not have noticed, is that on the back it says you can order an audio tape version of this leaflet! I encourage and implore all budding remixers and DJs to send off (freepost!) for this audio tape full of hilarious samples and mash the hell out of it!!

At minimum, we should be able to create something better than Mike Skinner's zombie video...
Beware, it's pretty gruesome.

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Eurovision!! What would Wogan say?

Eurovision 2009 this week is surely going to be nothing without Terry Wogan commentating...



My shortlist of this year's songs summed up quickly.

Belgium - Elvis rip-off named 'Copycat'.
Czech Republic - "They use to call me Gipsy, hello there, I can't rap."
Finland - Club anthem beat with lines like "never thought that I would be the one falling down". Well that's original...
Germany - Enrique Inglesias meets Sam Sparro sung in English filmed in France. Hedging their bets in the music video you sense, getting in references to Italy and Russia too.
Holland - Three 50 year-olds in white suits sing to a bassy beat about letting a light shine. Either high on drugs or religion.
Hungary - Funky disco electro with vacant lyrics and dull singer.
Ireland - Middle aged looking Avril Lavigne style girl band. 21 year olds? I think they lied on the application form...
Latvia - Frantic song clearly written in a traffic jam, about an imaginary girl doing par court.
Serbia - Borat genre with Serbia's Tom Jones and his orange afro singing about a shoe. My favourite.



Slovenia - 4 violinists in picture frames, one other covered up with a sheet. 3 minutes in, the singer, a cleavage wearing a woman is revealed.
Spain - Turkish sounding pale blond girl... Hold on. Spain?! Right...
Switzerland - Indie band, too upbeat, whiny singer. Starts well, leave to make a cup of tea 10 seconds in, come back after two and a half minutes and you'll find another 10 seconds that's ok.
Turkey - Ugly Holly Valance.
United Kingdom - Andrew Lloyd Webber creates dull shit.

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Loot & Plunder, Down Under!

G'day mate! Loot & Plunder are an abso-bloody-lutely great billabong of DJ's. In the last few months they've supported the likes of Sinden, Fake Blood, Cut Copy, The Bloody Beetroots and Van She Tech, so they're doing something right! This bunch of galahs are more ga-ga than a pavlova with dead horse on top! Anyway, I better make tracks and stop waffling up a gum tree before I get in a barney and receive wallop from an ocker!

I've found this bonza mixtape! Click on the image to download!

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Direct Blog Quote #5: Mad Decent iPhone App

Download it here.

Westwood should bring out an iPhone app.
Check out this track with typical Westwood intro. Hilarious.

Ante Up (Robin Hoodz Theory) - M.O.P

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When in Scotland, do as the Scots...

Last summer I went to Edinburgh and attended some of the craziest parties ever. This was the best one.



COME Collective describe themselves as a multi sensorial, interactive music and art club night. They host bands, art installations, performances, DJS and visuals with the aim to create 'a completely different clubbing experience'.

Steven Morrison aka DJ/VJ Get Messy is the kind of crazy chap that will lay down an awesome mix, then jump down into the crowd and dance with them for a bit, before going of to do a spot of painting, all in time for the next mix. Quite Nathan Barley but I love it.

Here's a promo introduction video with a little taster of the visuals, which are not just projected but also screened on this homemade arcade games machine.



I've managed to get hold of some exclusive mixtapes from Get Messy, they are seriously top notch, right click to download...
Get Messy - COME [play] Mixtape
Get Messy - Shall We? Mixtape

The next COME night is at The Edinburgh Bowery this month.

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What do Susan Boyle and Little Boots have in common?

They're both new in town! If 'town' can be used as a metaphor for the pop charts...

Here's Little Boot's music video to her smash hit single New In Town:


And here's Susan Boyle's version:

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Bizarre ER

Those of you with slightly sick-minds, or to put it nicely, those of you who aren't squeamish, will know about BBC Three's highly popular programme, Bizarre ER. The show follows some of the strangest injuries and accidents in the country, from the leads of dogs pulling their owners' fingers off, to farmers with fence posts up their bum.



The graphics and title sequence, done by BDH, recently scooped at the Royal Television Society Awards. The look is a nice mix between the emergency guides you get on commercial aircraft and scientific diagrams in encyclopaedias. They also provide a means for the show to deal with particular gruesome occurences with humour, although the sound effects still make my balls hurt...



The 3rd episode of Bizarre ER Series 2 is repeated tonight at 10:30pm and will be available for the next week on BBC iPlayer. Whilst spin-off series named 'Bizarre Animal ER' airs in June.

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Santigold Causes Panic On Last.fm

Back in February, it was announced that Santi White, the artist formely known as Santogold was to change her name to Santigold. The was assumed to be because she had lost a lawsuit against 'Santo Gold'. This chap that some know as Santo Rigatuso, or even Bob Harris is now widely regarded as a twat, after claiming Santi White was an "imposter" and had "stolen his identity". The one time Bob 'the twat' Harris had used the name Santo Gold was for his 1985 un-released, Cold War horror, wrestling-themed, science-fiction flick. He proudly proposed that he would be using clips from his shit film in infomercials for his gold company...?

Santigold has re-released her album, cancelled her original myspace, and does now not have an official website, with her press releasing the statment: "Change the graffiti on the bathroom wall, get your tattoo fixed, get your T-shirt airbrushed and change the name on your year-end list, Santogold is now Santigold."

The statistic loving Last.fm users (of which I am one) have been outraged at the effect on their precious data, with 'Santogold' clocking up over 5.5 million plays, whilst the official 'Santigold' only has 45,000 as yet. Comments are regularly being posted to try and start a petition/boycott that forces Last.fm to merge the playcount.

Anyway, here's my favourite Santi White song, downloadable in Santigold or Santogold for the OCD massive. It's the remix version by Sinden and Switch. I love that bit where it's starts to loop like crazy.

You'll Find A Way (Switch & Sinden Remix) - Santigold
You'll Find A Way (Switch & Sinden Remix) - Santogold

This bonus track is Switch's far more recent collaboration with Diplo to loop Santigold into yet another dimension... Loving the sound effect of a horse in there...

Major Lazer (Feat. Santigold) - Hold The Line
+ Instrumental & Acapella

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Top 5 Essential Mixes of 2009 SO FAR...

1. Herve 21/2/09

2. Fake Blood 14/3/09

3. Toddla T 2/5/09

4. Tiga 4/4/09

5. Mr Scruff 7/2/09

But Herve is soon going to be knocked off top spot, as this friday Radio 1 blazes live from Blowpop's night in Swindon with an extended essential mix special featuring all the live sets from this crazy line-up...

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Remixed Youth

Remixed Youth is a blog that was started last month by a Rhys Coren who describes himself as an avid amateur YouTube DJ. His blog consists of strange remixes of all genres, mashing up everything from Ghostbusters to Alton Towers to Inspector Gadget to Eastenders.

My favourites include Countdown Beat:


And Drop It Like It's Grange Hill:


Honourably mentions to:
- Captain Scarlet (The Mysterons Rap)
- Funky Muppets
- Pingu Hip-hop (instrumental)
And I've saved the best til last, download this exclusive mp3...
- Henry Mancini - Pink Panther Theme (Fischerspooner Remix)
(The only reason I didn't post the YouTube clip was it's because it's been made unavailable for embedding)

I myself have dabbled in the comedy throwback remix and offer them up for download here:
LeGweak vs The Marmalade Cat - Mario Grindin'
LeGweak vs The Marmalade Cat - The Captain Scarlet Shop
(Music videos coming this summer!)

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Barclays Adverts

You may have seen Barclay's new adverts on telly, once again they've produced a 'good un'.

From their Samuel L Jackson monologues and their Gary Oldman fables to their banned bee sting advert, they've always had the money for good adverts, and now £oneygeddon is upon us they've still managed to pull one out the bag.



For 2009, there's this animated 'rounding up your money' advert. The animation on the pigs is obviously good, but it's the cut to the china dog that cracks me up. Also, I particularly like the way the Barclay's logo screeches in for the final frame. Nice touch. This is one of 3 adverts, the others 'where's the money?' and 'chasing payments' spots also with Stephen Merchant as a voice-over.

But here is their best advert. Yes, the water flume one...

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