Posts filed under 'General Ranting'
It was so hard to come up with a list this year because most of 2009 was such a down year for good music. It seems like most of the music industry runs on hype now and the legit mainstream stuff gets bought up quickly and inserted into Cadillac commercials.
Still, it wasn’t all bad so here’s my list for the best new music of 2009. I’m not entirely sure the order is right but I tried to go off of how much I listened to them over the last year.
09. Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs
08. Jay-Z - Blueprint III
07. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II
06. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
05. Black Lips - 200 Million Thousand
04. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
03. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - S/T
02. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears - Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is!
01. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Like I said, pretty crummy stuff this year. Leave me note if I’ve missed anything or if there is something out there I gotta listen to. Hopefully 2010 restores some of my faith in the industry.
January 20th, 2010
I just wanted to re-draw the Morton’s Umbrella Girl and add a little twist—I have no idea why. I think this would make a great cut vinyl decal or t-shirt someday.
Be cool to animals everybody.
May 18th, 2009
I’ve been trying out a few new ways to make oil-like paintings in Photoshop. It’s only a study but I thought I’d share it with you guys. I have a ton of stuff I never show and I’m working on to be more open with it so please be kind. Anyhow, I think this one turned out pretty good for a first shot at it. Might try the real thing next or make these a series.
May 12th, 2009
I’ve being mulling over whether or not to do a Top 10 list for 2008 for a while now. The fact is that 2008 was a crummy year for music no matter how you want to slice it. There wasn’t a great selection of new stuff to choose from but I finally made it down to a final ten so I thought I’d share it with you. (All the links go to youtube vids.)
01. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
02. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
03. Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
04. No Age - Nouns
05. Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
06. Beach House - Devotion
07. Blood Red Shoes - Box of Secrets
08. Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head - Glistening Pleasure
09. Black Milk - Tronic
10. Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules and Love Affair
Better late then never right? As always, let me know who I’m forgetting!
May 11th, 2009
I designed an entry for this year’s Comfest theme. The contest is on March 4th so I should find out sometime soon if I’m going to see this on some beer mugs. Wish me luck! Also, I know the site looks a little plain jane right now but give me some time to fix it up. I want it to look nice for you.
February 27th, 2009
Here’s my entry for this years CD101 calendar poster contest extravaganza. The judging isn’t until the November 1st gallery hop so I don’t know if I’ll even make the final 20 yet. I figured since I have no shot of winning I might as well try my hand at something new, a 4-color PMS job with some overprinting. I’ll be amazed if it looks right when I get it back from the printers. I’ll let you know how it goes.
October 27th, 2008
October 14th, 2008
CD101 had their annual poster/calendar contest again this year and just like last year I entered it and made it to the final show. Also just like last year I was beat out by the same guy. That’s right, the same guy has won the last two years in a row–Can we please change the format so someone else can win? Anyways, this is my entry and I was really happy with my type treatment so I can at least show it off here.
Check out this years winner. Better luck next year eh?
January 3rd, 2008
This year was pretty much dominated by Noah Lennox of Panda Bear and Animal Collective fame. Some people out there just aren’t ready for Animal Collective yet and I understand that. For me, they represent one of the most consistent acts making music who continue to put out great records with vision and Noah is at the forefront of that. Great year for music–Here’s how they broke down this year for me:
01. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
02. !!! - Myth Takes
03. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
04. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
05. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
06. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
07. Black Milk - Popular Demand
08. The National - Boxer
09. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd’s Dog
10. Pop Levi - The Return to Form Black Magick Party
11. Interpol - Our Love to Admire
13. Pharoahe Monch - Desire
12. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
14. Menomena - Friend And Foe
15. Future of the Left - Curses
(All links go straight to the iTunes store.) 
Please let me know what great albums I’m missing! I hate knowing that there are killer records out there that I haven’t even heard. See ya in ‘08!
December 28th, 2007
The recent news out of Boston has shown that people are starting to push the notion of using new technologies for good old fashioned vandalism (see Graffiti). Enter Graffiti Research Lab. They recently have come up with a system that allows you to “paint” a building with a military-grade laser pointer, and then have your movements projected onto the side of a building. You have to watch the video, it’s unbelievably cool. Honestly, everything they do is unbelievably cool.
The Big Bonus:
Arcade Art Library - Hands down the best resource on the internet for classic arcade marquees, bezels, fonts and logos. It’s really an interesting community of people and worth checking out if the word Galaga means anything to you.
The Canadian Design Resource - I’ve got my eye on you Canada.
Joseph Kosinski - He’s the creative guy resposible for that fantastic Gears of War meets Tears for Fears commercial.
Spinto Band (Oh Mandy) - OK, I have to admit I love this music video and pop song. Great idea and well executed. So catchy!
February 21st, 2007
Bored? Need something to entertain you for a while? Well, I made a short list of some awesome flash games (with stars for added blogging equity)! They’re all fun and simple to play but beat my high score and we can’t be friends anymore.
NEO GEO Bowling 
I used to waste quarters on this at the bowling alley when I was a kid (how ironic). This is an exact converstion of that game and it’s still tons of fun for me. Brings back a lot of fond memories of me owning my friends.
Tower Defense 
The aim of the game is to kill the creeps before they reach the end of the maze, do this by building attacking towers on the grass around the maze. Yep, there’s some strategy involved.
Line Rider 
This is more of a toy than a game but it’s extremly creative and creative, simple games are usually the most enteraining. Using your imagination is always fun.
Chronon 
The purpose of this game is to let the little yellow dwarf out of a center cage. The master of this house will come back at 7pm. Time is your weapon.
Sesam Katapult 
Catipult a little Norwegian guy as far as you can. I’m sure there is pleanty lost in translation in this game but it doesn’t make it any less fun so have at it.
Sushi Samurai 
This is a copy of the old arcade game Burger Time except instead of making burgers you’re making sushi! Delicious, delicious sushi!
RED 
Another simple game that is really well executed. It’s similar to Missle Command if you’ve ever played that. I hope someday to be involved in a project like this.
January 17th, 2007
I’ve been playing around with building a flash video player that matches the site. Here’s what I came up with:
The video is the opening to the movie
Master of the Flying Guillotine, one of my all-time favorite kung-fu movies. They just don’t make title squences like this anymore which got me thinking about some of my other favorites. I found some that you might be interested in.
To Kill a Mocking Bird (1962) - Saul Bass
Panic Room (2002) - The Picture Mill
Thank You for Smoking (2005) - Shadowplay Studio
Casino (1995) - Saul Bass
Charade (1963) - Maurice Binder
Catch Me If You Can (2002) - Florence Deygas
Alien (1979) - R. Greenberg
January 3rd, 2007
Previous Posts
