“Companies spend millions trying to differentiate their brand from the others. Yet a quick look at the logos of major corporations reveals that in color as in real estate, it’s all about location, location, location. The result is an ever more frantic competition for the best neighborhood. Here’s a look at the new blue bloods” – Michael Rock, Wired Magazine.
It’s Tuesday, one of the most boring days of the week. But not anymore, here are a few of my favorite latests tracks:
Chromeo has been a staple in my dance mixes for a while now. This Canadian act can make even white people shake their ass. A mix of funk, disco and dance this is the perfect track for your next dance party.
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Download: Chromeo – Night by Night
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I know I Know, it’s Vampire Weekend, they were so summer ‘08. Many found them pretentious and untalented but I could not resist their afrobeat influenced pop tunes. They have finally announced a new album “Contra” and this is their first single.
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Download: Vampire Weekend – Horchata
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Speak of hidden gems, Delorean is such a breath of fresh air when it comes to electronic music. Their dark danceable pop tunes are a delicious cocktail of Passion Pit, Phoenix and The Field. They could have become my ‘09 summer soundtrack only if they were not too late in their release.
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Download: Delorean – Seasun
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Let me start by saying that this is Wayne Coyne nephew’s band, Dennis Coyne. Stardeath & White Dwarfs mimics many of The Flaming Lips space rock aesthetics but they are by no means a complete copy. Living under your uncle’s shadow must be hard but think of all the benefits, one of them being a deal with Warner Brothers.
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Download: Stardeath & White Dwarfs – I Can’t Get Away
It seems like whenever I go out I spend half the time trying to communicate with friends, cutting down my partying time. This Halloween, I was overburdened trying to give directions to friends, comparing parties and trying to tweet for those far away (ahem, Jordan). It was the first time where I had half the conversations of the night looking down at my phone. It’s a tough situation because you’re always on the lookout for the next big thing, so you’re texting friends about directions. In the meantime your friends that are running late to the first party have to be informed that you’ve moved on and therefore will have to be given directions. It’s all one big chain. I feel this is a complex for people in big cities like New York. In other regions there might be one option for the night and all your friends are expected to be there. Twittering has solved some of these problems but not all my friends are on Twitter, so they still rely on one to one conversations. Google also has tried to solve this problem with a great app called Latitude. It works great if you can get your friends to sign up. Many feel it’s too intrusive, as it shows your location to all friends on a map. Social networking can solve this problem, it’s just a matter of deciding on one medium to communicate with all friends effectively, without having to text every 5 minutes.
Earlier this week, 1.5 million people filled the streets of Berlin, Germany to watch a several-day performance by France’s Royal de Luxe street theatre company titled “The Berlin Reunion”. Part of the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Reunion show featured two massive marionettes, the Big Giant, a deep-sea diver, and his niece, the Little Giantess. The storyline of the performance has the two separated by a wall, thrown up by “land and sea monsters”. The Big Giant has just returned from a long and difficult – but successful – expedition to destroy the wall, and now the two are walking the streets of Berlin, seeking each other after many years apart.
I am so amazed by the scale of this production. Not just the beauty of it but also the logistics it must have taken to pull it off. From the images it seemed like such a magical performance, I only wished I was there in person. What a breathtaking view to see immense marionettes performing for four days around Berlin. As one of the commentators observed: “Very European…New Yorkers would want more action & explosions”, sad but true. It really does put the Macy’s balloons to shame.
Make sure to see all images at the Boston Globe’s website: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/10/the_berlin_reunion.html
Not having actually grown up in the States and immersing myself in the book, I had no idea what ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ was. It was not until seeing the breathtaking trailer with music by the Arcade Fire that I began to understand how deeply embedded the story was with my generation. So I’ve taken it upon myself to really embrace the film and everything about it. Here is the full stream of the soundtrack performed by Karen O. of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and her band The Kids.