Warning: too much truth.
If you have the time, I highly recommend you check out this documentary. As a music lover and a former media studies major, this really does a great job of summing up all our fears about media consolidation. Shout to Marcus for passing this through in the comments.
I don’t know the back story behind it, but this is crazy. “Comprised using chords, bass notes, and vocal samples” from one of the best films of ‘09, Up.
Sidenote, just saw Up In The Air, which was fantastic as well. Next up is Avatar, but I need to wait until the furor around the 3D IMAX shows dies down a bit…
The new Canon 7D camera apparently shoots incredible video. Peep this clip from aspiring filmmaker Brandon Moza walking around Vancouver, set to Radiohead’s “Go Slowly.”
It’ll cost you a pretty penny…emphasis on the pretty.
Easily one of the darkest moments in human history, but Tewz, a dope producer from Chicago, turns it into a moving piece of art. Here’s his description:
I shot this video in Japan during the Summer of 2009. All of the archival footage was shot entirely from the video monitors in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum at the exact location where the first atomic bomb was dropped. I developed the Super 8 film entirely by hand in the bathroom of my apartment on Grand in Chicago, Il. The music was created from 45’s I purchased in Japan during the same time.
*Speechless*
This was the best concert I’ve ever been too and with everything going on that day (girl was in town, chilling with N.E.R.D., catching up with Lupe, etc.), it was probably one of my favorite days ever. Ah, memories.
Someone buy me this book for Christmas. Kthxbye.
As I was saying, the talent in the 206 is immense right now. I meant to put this on TAOD when Ryan first sent it to me, but I failed. Thankfully, 2DopeBoyz posted it up and reminded me about it.
In Ryan’s own words:
All summer I’ve been working on my thesis project to graduate from the UW. It’s another still-image motion picture like the 2Pac Vs. Franz Ferdinand mash-up I made last year. It features Macklemore and a few other people you may know (list below). Take in mind this is version one. Between limited access, finances, etc I couldn’t really pursue a lot of the ideas I originally envisioned in efforts to make it epic. I feel like the music got there more than the storyline. However, we may do an improved remix of it for the VS. (Macklemore/RyanLewis) EP featuring Mack rapping and a revised production more like a music video, shot with actual video.
It was shot entirely with regular still-image cameras (Canon 5D, Canon 5D Mark II, Nikon D300 and a Nikon D3), batch-edited in Photoshop and produced in Final Cut Pro. The music was probably the biggest Pro-Tools session I’ve ever ran. Although it samples the original Fake Empire’s piano and backing vocals, everything else was recorded live over numerous sessions.
Thanks a ton to everyone who helped:
The National – Fake Empire (Sample)
JkoePhoto.com (Jason Koenig) – Photographer
MazagranPhoto.com (Johnny Valencia) – Photographer
Myspace.com/Macklemore (Ben Haggerty) – Main Actor
Tricia Davis – Actor
Kevin Veatch – Electric Guitar, Electric Bass, Engineer
Andrew Joslyn – Violins and plucking
Zach Fleury – Main Drums, Percussion
Jonah Peters – Percussion
Ryan Lewis – Music Production, Photography, Film Production, Drums, Key Strings, OrganWe shot 100 + strangers portraits who choose a sticker that pertained to an organization/company that has either consumed them or acted as an alternative means of communication to operate with society.
Group Vocals -
P Smoov (Mad Rad)
Rosanna Veatch
Zach Fleury
Sol
Xperience
Macklemore
Anna Clausen
Isabella Du Graf
and more.
Also, Ryan has been working with a dope MC/vocalist named Symmetry for about 3 years now and I believe they’re just about to drop their full project for the masses. Here’s a taste:
This is crazy.
I don’t think anyone is on the same level as Kanye these days – musically, artistically, personally, etc.. There are a lot of different interpretations that you could pull from this short film, but I’d be interested in hearing your take. Keep in mind, this was filmed before the MTV VMA incident and his decision to step out of the spotlight a bit. What do you think?
Sidenote: peep the Mayer Hawthorne track playing during the “love” scene. A-Side FTW!
Wow. This is easily the coolest pool table I’ve ever seen. It’s a far cry from the one the homies and I used to rack every weekend at my friend Greg’s house. Ah…the memories.
Spotted on the BBC Blog.
Super fresh web promo for a new Adidas line, shot by one of Kanye’s favorite directors, Nabil Elderkin. Reminiscent of one of Nabil’s best videos:
Big shout to the new homies over at one of the illest clothing lines around, Acrylick, for sending over some of their gear this week. They really have a great knack for creating designs that are simple and refined, but still colorful and fresh. Plus, they’re some true hip-hop heads so you already know the messages are on point (i.e., peep the “Too Many Mics, Not Enough Emcees” shirt above…cosign). I’ll be rocking these heavy this fall, especially those windbreakers.
Make sure you check out their catalog and cop something. Just like we all need to support good musicians, we should be supporting dope independent artisans in other areas of society too. Shout to all the streetwear stores in the town as well, but again, huge thanks to Acrylick.
