630 bitte orca

if you haven’t heard anything from the Dirty Projectors’ newest album, go buy it now on iTunes. now. do it.
it’s well worth it. aside from the awesome art, the album is full of really fun and intricate melodies and  varied measure and rhythm that you’re constantly kept guessing, but never lost. the liberties taken with some of the beats and the rhythm open your eyes to new possibilities, and it’s really freeing how the emphasis and syncopation dance around the measure, close to ignoring it, but always coming back on time at the perfect moment.
it’s a great album, and i’ve been listening to it since it came out, only now getting around to posting about it.
here’s one of my favorite songs to give you a taste of what the deal is:

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stillness is the move – the dirty projectors

awesome, right? i know. that’s why i suggested them. anyway, check out the album on iTunes. it’s all golden.
(on a side note, they also did a few songs on the Red Hot Compilation, Dark Was the Night. if you haven’t heard about that, please get out from under that rock and buy it.)

627 i’ve got you and you’ve got me

i think i’ve gotten into a habit of not posting as much as i wish i did… and when i do post, it’s usually a video. it’s because i like the videos, they’re good, and i think you will enjoy them. that’s what it’s all about. i like to bring it back to the basics every once in a while.
this is a song by New Buffalo, who i’ve really been digging tonight, and they’ve got this video for the song called “I’ve got you and you’ve got me” and it was remixed by Broken Social Scene. (i guess. i don’t exactly know what that really means)
anyway, good song and good video. it was shot on a kodak 16mm, which i love. it just feels real.

623 death to the tinman

i really like this video by Ray Tintori called Death to the Tinman. it’s based on the novel “The Tinwoodman of Oz” by L. Frank Baum. it has sort of this Wes Anderson style to it, which i really like. it’s done by the same guy who did the music video for Time to Pretend by MGMT.
i think you will enjoy it.

621 rumplo

there are seven things i love in this world. the fourth thing is tshirts and this website is dedicated completely to them. it’s called Rumplo.com and they’ve compiled some of the best tshirts from around the world and the web. some might even say the worldwide web.
i don’t want to waste time you could be using exploring the site, so here’s the link… go buy some tshirts.

609 at home we are tourists

i’ve been going through my usual rigamarole of researching new artists and albums on tuesdays for a while now, basically downloading anything with a catchy song or two, or anything with good album art. yesterday i found this album called at home we are tourists by Settle, and i really like it.
it’s kind of in that same genre with Vampire Weekend, We Are Scientists, and Ra Ra Riot… but with a bit of a Band of Skulls edge to it. if you haven’t heard any of those bands, i encourage you to check them out too.
there’s a little bit of a pop hue to this album, but it’s got this edge that i was talking about that gives me that “drive down a long straight road to nowhere in the dead of summer to do some thinking” vibe. i hear a little bit of punk mixed with Killers-esque disco and a dash of grunge. give this track a listen, i think it’s my favorite so far.

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Murder – Settle

right now, i’m compiling a playlist of driving tunes around this song. Band of Skulls, Pink Floyd, Midnight Show by the Killers… just to give you an idea.
anyway, check these guys out. the band is called Settle, their debut album is called at home we are tourists and it’s available on itunes. i think a lot of you will dig their stuff.

604 tone matrix

just found this adorable little flash piece that allows you to create 16 step tonal loops just by clicking squares.

if you right click, you can copy and paste the pattern to share with others. here’s what i came up with in about 2 minutes. tons of fun!
65542,16404,12,132,65548,4,4096,4,65540,32772,4,4,81984,0,4,4

go play around with it, and comment back with codes of the patterns you created!

601 letterpress poster printing

i’ve always been fascinated by letterpress printing, so i love watching videos of the process like this.
it would have been fun to have to lay out every letter and space by hand, and apply the ink and print it by hand. there’s just something so much more romantic about it than photoshop or indesign.

598 flickr mosaic

my good friend andrew from florida got in touch with me this past week and told me about this user on flickr who used his set as a mosaic to put together one big image. you can see some of it here, but to really get the effect, visit his page.

there are a couple of mosaics there, just go through the sets and check them out.

581 gimme sympathy

i really love this video for Metric’s new song, Gimme Symptathy. it’s really simple with a cool gimmick. i especially love the little kids at the end in butterfly costumes.

if you haven’t heard the album, it’s worth checking out. really good stuff.

576 telekinesis!

the telekinesis debut album came out just a week ago, but i’ve already fallen in love with their sound, and i can tell that they’re going to have a very long shelf life, especially this summer.
it’s been said [by pitchfork] that they’ve got a mix between the shins and death cab and fountains of wayne and superchunk.
i’m not sure how much of that is true, but it’s also been said [by pitchfork] that:

this album announces its utility right away, filling your mind with ideas of how to put its songs in their most ideal contexts: car rides on sunny afternoons, summer-themed mix cds, cookouts, bumper music for teen dramas. It’s like buying a new pair of sneakers and getting the urge to go for a run, even if you’re not normally inclined to do such a thing– the music creates a demand for its own use, and you start anticipating your first opportunity to hear it under perfect conditions.

all of that is completely true. i couldn’t have said it better myself… especially that last part. i keep imagining myself driving around with the windows down and nowhere to go, but loving every minute of it.

go check out the album on iTunes. every song is worth the money.