Bradford Cox Soundtracks New Doc On Teenagers

Bradford apparently has contributed an "original score" (according to Pitchfork) for the upcoming Matt Wolf doc Teenage...about, teenagers.  Really this makes a lot of sense- Cox's music has a lustful, yearning, sepia toned dream-like quality to it...exactly what I think of when I take a moment to think of teenagers from eras past (which I do a lot).  Unfortunately, the trailer above highlights music Bradford has already released as Atlas Sound.  I have a feeling most of the new material will be on the textured, ambient side of things- definitely not complaining there!

Mount Eerie: One 7", Two Sides, Two Entire Records

Mount Eerie has released a 7" containing both of the records he released in 2012 - Clear Moon and Ocean Roar.  One record per side.  Each side of the release contains every song on each LP layered on top of each other, creating a maxed out sound mash.  Yes, this does sound gimmicky, but there are beautiful sections to it...If nothing else, it has given me inspiration and recording ideas.

Urban Air

While there are certainly similar urban green initiatives, Urban Air is interesting in the fact that it transforms billboard space into bamboo gardens...a welcome site for Los Angeles commuters stuck in hours of gridlock.  This project needs money to be piloted and will be scalable and can have similar applications in other locals.

Studio Roosegaarde on TED

I'm really into the work these guys do -  They are able to connect their technology concepts to make sense in progressing and rethinking our world - a focus on sustainability and efficiency while making our world more pleasant.  Their best example of this is the "Smart Highway" concept which will be tested in 2013 in the Netherlands.  Awesome stuff.

Jason Lytle @ NPR

Sounds pretty spot on to me!

Harmony Korine, and How He Thinks About Film

Collected Harmony on Nowness.com.
Not completely surprising, and completely hard to pin down...Harmony Korine leads the direction of his films by feeling...not dissimilar to some musicians.  Hard to explain, easier to show.

Peter Saville Describes the "Unknown Pleasures" Cover Design

Check out graphic designer Peter Saville describe the iconic imagery he created for the cover of the Unknown Pleasures LP. 

Beck Remixes Philip Glass: "NYC 73 - 78"

This is an absolutely spectacular collage of some of Philip Glass' work that Beck remixed for the Rework - Philip Glass Remixed record.  You'll want to listen up close and in the background, multiple times.  Impressed.

Scott Walker: "Bish Bosch" Preview

Wow.  My primary interest with Scott's recent work is how he comes to record the sounds on his punishingly morose records (see The Drift)...I can't listen to him too much, but I am certainly very interested in his process.  If he didn't scrape these songs from the edge of some dark abyss, in some unlivable location, then he probably made them using knives, barking dogs and ancient instruments made from something which was once alive (or a rack of meat as he did on previously mentioned The Drift).

Brian Eno, Innovator..."Scape"

I'm actually kind of interested in this tool from Brian Eno and Peter Chilvers.  It's an interesting application in the sense that it appears that it takes little to no music playing ability to use, but the real art here would be the user's sense of texture and idea...the algorithm apparently composes the music (generative music)- this means that the curator of the sound has little to no say over the composition as the music plays, but can certainly change the inputs.  As the user gets more familiar with the tones and "scapes," more are unlocked- I like this idea.  It's tempting to just move on to the next option when there are so many, and easy to get overwhelmed.

 I'm warming up a bit to things like this.  Going only from the demo, the tones are excellent, and odd...lonesome in the sense of retrofuturistic film or mid 70's science documentaries- sounds I've always been a fan of.

Brian.  Eno.