Here is an ‘interesting’ video to start your work week with.
A music video directed by Blake Salzman.

I picked up (itunes) the latest Flaming Lips album and have been really digging it. Their last album I listened to it so much, I now despise it (in a good way though). This latest album (Embryonic) is really nice because its much more dark and overall just odd, good for my soul right now it seems. So I went looking for any videos released for the new album and came across this one. Not the most amazing video, but its fun for a short break this morning. It will be interesting to see what other videos they release for this album…

In February of 2009 we got a call from Catherine Owens, the long time super creative director for the uber-famous band U2. Catherine came across our work and knew she found the team who could help with U2’s 2009 world tour (titled 360). After a quick stint of meetings in New York, we came back to the Bangkok studio and begin work for the following two months on numerous ideas.

 

We began our development on the videos for the tracks Beautiful Day, Ultra Violet and The Unforgettable Fire. The first series of works involved filming small fish common in the canals of Bangkok for very fluid and dreamlike sequences. For the second series we explored mapping the films into a 3d space and further distorting them for an enhanced depth and perspective. Then for the last series of works we explored more solid colors, 2d and fast paced clips to stimulate lighting effects and screen energy during the performance. In the end we created over 100 different sequences, with over 300 total clips delivered in various formats, colors and speeds.

 

The concert opened in Barcelona on June 30, 2009 to a sold out crowd of 90,000 fans. The screen that displayed this work was designed by Willie Williams, Mark Fisher, Chuck Hoberman, and Frederic Opsomer. The screen was composed of 888 individual hexagonal panels that support 500,000 Barco LED pixels. It can transform from seven meters to 22 meters high and move up and down. To sum it up, this is the most massive and badass screen ever and we were mega-amped to have worked on such an intense project.

 

Music track Beautiful Day is copyright © 2000 U2 & Universal-Island Records Ltd.

As mentioned in a previous post, me and the crew of YouWorkForThem Bangkok recently rocked over 300 videos for U2’s new tour. Finally today, we found some evidence of our contribution on the mega-screen! Not the best quality video (earthquake cam), but at least its a start for now. We hope we they decide to use more of the work in the set as the tour continues. Either way, we will be showing a preview of our contributions in due time. (our work kicks in around 1:10 for a short bit)

Back in February we got a nice call from Catherine Owens, long time super creative director for the uber-famous band U2. Catherine came across our video This is Agostina and knew she found the team who could help rock some video/visuals for this years U2 360 world tour. For the past few months we went to New York for meetings, came back to the Bangkok studio and have been rocking on over 200 video clips for the upcoming show. The concert opens in Barcelona on June 30, 2009 to a sold out crowd of 90,000 fans. For complete tour details you can visit the U2 Tour schedule. To get an idea of stage and the size of screen we created video work for (its MASSIVE), you can check out the U2 360 website.

 

As we come to wrap on this project, we are really excited/anxious to show everyone the video we contributed to the project. As soon as the tour gets rolling we will release more details (permitting all NDA rules of course). Till then, just go check out the show, I am sure U2 will give you one hell of a show!

I am not much of a rock band player, but I did recently have a little jam session when I was staying with some friends in NYC last month. Today, I stumbled across this site with this new promotion for the Beatles version of rock band coming out later this year. I have to say, this is one of the best animations I have ever seen, if not the best. Why? Well for many reasons. Of course working with the Beatles as subject matter only helps push the work to the forefront, but I wont deny the intensity of this work. Overall, the style, the story telling of the bands progression from pop stars to experimenting with drugs, is all so obvious in a very unique way in the promotion. I could go on for many words here, but overall, this animation is just 100% kick ass. See for yourself…

 

A repost from Design Observer. Well worth a look. I think the non-anglo labels are the most interesting of the lot.
Ted Staunton’s 78 RPM Labels

Boom, our latest publication has finally landed! A work of art that explores the relationship between nature, motion and sound, The Interpretation takes us on a languid journey through a slowly flourishing forest. Hinting at vague memories of microbiology and rotating through a cool organic spectrum of greens, blues, browns, blacks and whites; this motion-based work will entrance its viewer as the forest evolves. The Interpretation is set to a minimal score filled with authentic sounds of nature, complimenting the environmental essence of the visuals. One of the movies on this DVD also features a soundtrack composed by various Ghostly Records musicians.

Cinco de Mayo is a regional holiday in Mexico, primarily celebrated in the state of Puebla, with some limited recognition in other parts of Mexico. The holiday commemorates the Mexican army’s unlikely defeat of French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín.

 

I thought I would put together a list of essential latin-themed lps that can get you in the mood to celebrate (I know a lot of them are from Puerto Rico but whatever):

 

Joe Bataan - Riot

Eddie Palmieri - Vamonos Pal Monte

Joe Cuba - Bang, Bang, Push, Push, Push

Cal Tjader - Soul Sauce

Pete Rodriguez - I Like It Like That

Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers - Yaina

Charlie Palmieri - Latin Bugalu

Fania All Stars - Live in Puerto Rico

Charlie Haden - Liberation Music Orchestra

Ray Barretto - Barretto Power

Super nice guy and talented illustrator Damien Correll has been doing these beautiful covers for the podcasts over at Radiozero. Go there and check them out as well as the podcast if you need some tunes to get you set for the weekend.