‘Island, IS’ by Volcano Choir

One of my favorite albums of this year is Volcano Choir’s Unmap which features Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and the guy from Collection of Colonies of Bees and a few other gents. The video is for the song Island, IS which I put on a Mixcast No.007, it’s definitely one of my favorite’s off of the album.

The video is a rather simple idea, they’ve taken a projector and projected a series of colored squares that correspond to the song. Certain colors reflect certain instruments while white symbolizes his voice. What’s interesting and totally subtle is that the video is shot during sunrise, so slowly you can see more of the surrounding area but the lights start to get lost.

Bobby

Alphabet City by Scott Teplin

Scott Teplin has created a really fun series called Alphabet City which features letters as tiny dwellings. The little spaces aren’t ordinary homes though, they’re filled with all kinds of random things mad scientist laboratories and piles of what appear to be donuts, as you can see above. Each letter is totally different and unique, so be sure to check out each one.

I love the letter B one, it’s made to have a nautical feeling like a boat which is pretty awesome. each print is a 10 x 12 inch print and they go for $80 each. To order one click here.

‘Alice in Wonderland’ Trailer

The second trailer for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland went up a few days ago and I have to say I’m even more excited to see it. In this trailer you get a lot of sneak peeks at things that I hadn’t seen before.

To start, Crispin Glover looks like an absolute bad ass. I hope he doesn’t say anything in the movie, just fights people. I’m also enjoying the CGI more and more, it’s almost like a cartoon at this point which is kind of exciting. When you look at Johnny Depp’s face it’s almost like it moves in unnatural way, sort of like when you watch an anime and their hair moves to show a reaction to something.

Then there are the little details. The Red Queen, played by Helena Bonham Carter, leads an army of playing cards, while the White Queen, played by Anne Hathaway, leads an army of chess pieces. Alice appears on the side of the White Queen in a suit or armor, perhaps representing the knight on a chessboard. Then toward the end of the trailer there’s something that looks like a giant dragon, which I’m pretty sure is the Jabberwocky, a creature which was first written about in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There.

The film comes out on May 5th, 2010, which now seems farther away then I want it to be.

Bobby

#musicmonday

Good Monday! I’m sure everyone is getting ready for the holidays, hopefully you’re already enjoying yours. This week’s #musicmonday is filled with some new fun stuff. First off though, I was listening to a lot of Wolf Parade thanks in part to the new Moonface EP Spencer Krug just put out. I still think Wolf Parade is better than his other bands, though Mount Zoomer was kinda eh. Then you have Midlake popping up with their new album The Courage of Others. The album is darker in tone than Van Occupanther and I haven’t been totally wowed yet, though it has only been like 24 hours since I got it.

After that is a band called Big Spider’s Back, and though the name is kinda silly, the music is spot on. This was sent to me by a publicist or reader, I can’t really tell, but it ended up being an awesome album with a Panda Bear/Washed Out vibe. Finishing up the list was Los Campesinos and their new album Romance is Boring. So far the album sounds really fun and I’m definitely excited to listen to it more. It’s definitely a more mature album and they’re not so crazy and all over the place anymore.

As usual feel free to add me on Last.fm by clicking here.

Bobby

Skull Flower Pattern by Andy Miller

Last night my buddy Andy Miller posted this new pattern and I was smitten with it as soon as I saw it. I think it’s called Skull Flower and features, well, just that, as well as a few books and some fun abstract patterns. I actually love that it’s black and white, it’s simple that way and colors might just get in the way. I could definitely see this pattern on a pillow in my living room. Wonderful work Andy!

Bobby