Archive for the ‘music’ tag
‘Cirrus’ By Bonobo
2010’s Black Sands got some serious rotation in our studio, so we’re happy to hear that Bonobo has a new album on the way. The first single –– entitled Cirrus –– features a frankly mind-warping video by Brighton-based director Cyriak. A kaleidoscopic collage of ’60s film footage slowly evolves into a surreal suburban landscape. Go watch it. Then go lay down.
- Via The Fox Is Black
On Zen and Japanese Pop Punk
Disclaimer: if you’re the kind of person who can have an office meltdown in front of others while listening to a song about banana chips, then frankly you deserve some kind of medal. And a sabbatical.
I earned my art-working stripes in a busy large format printing company in London for several years. The hours were long, the deadlines short, and in that cramped studio tempers flared with an alarming regularity. I was once asked by a visitor how I managed to maintain the air of ‘a calm island in a turbulent sea of chaos’ (their words, not mine). It turned out my secret was neither profound nor especially esoteric. I used music.
The twist is I didn’t listen to anything you might find at a spa or yoga class. Truth be told, I find myself entering a bloody-minded rage if I even see a pan-pipe, and I will merrily eat my own keyboard if I’m subjected to more than two bars of Enya. Which band did I turn to when the expletives start flying?
Shonen Knife.
Once those three minute candy-filled nuggets of bubble-gum pop started blaring out of my speakers I found it impossible to become irate – not because they’re soothing, but because you look like a complete tit if you decide to blow your top while an all-girl Japanese pop-punk group regales you with a paean to Sushi Bars.