A few months ago I posted a short piece discussing the soundtrack to the film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Morley Safer, of 60 Minutes, recently interviewed the film’s director, Julian Schnabel. While Safer seemed preoccupied with proving that Schnabel has an ego ”the size of Manhattan,” it provides a nice summary of his interdisciplinary creative work nonetheless.
A transcript of the video also exists.
Dan Lissvik, half of Studio, has formed a solo project named D. Lissvik and has recently released an album called 7 Trx + Intermission. He retains Studio’s gentle disco sound but his tracks shimmer in a subdued psychedelic exotica, much like the video they made for track 5 of his release entitled “B1.”
http://www.vimeo.com/2240401Clocking at a little under 44 minutes, not all of the tracks are as long as you might expect from Studio’s normal 7 minute or longer track duration. However, riffs on the shorter tracks feel just as at home as the instrumental solos do on the longer ones. As a whole, the album flows effortlessly and 44 minutes seems brief, tempting repetition.
7 Trx + Intermission is available in CD, vinyl, and digital (320 kbps) form from the Information Records store. If you visit the store, make sure to check out their posters too. The one accompanying this release is pleasingly geometric.
Read all about it in a post on The Stranger’s Line Out music and nightlife blog.
The latest issue of the University of Washington’s Northwest Science & Technology News magazine was recently published online. The publication is geared toward informing the general public and the most current issue can be found here. It includes topics ranging from data visualization to understanding how plants produce important amino acids.
My article was more concerned with physical science. If you’re interested in stuff like gravity waves, gamma ray bursts and how we could possibly detect them, give it a read. Here’s an excerpt:
“They are one of the greatest mysteries in our universe,” says University of Oregon physics professor Raymond Frey. These remarkable yet perplexing events are known as gamma ray bursts (GRBs). They typically occur when two very massive systems collide, such as neutron stars or black holes. Such a burst (GRB070201) was detected on February 1, 2007 in the direction of the Andromeda galaxy 2.5 million light years away.
The University of Washington’s Henry Art Gallery has a new website. At its core is a slick, flash powered calendar in the form of an interactive timeline. It’s even possible add events to Google Calendar, iCal or Outlook. Check out more features here.
The redesign was performed by the same folks who worked on KEXP’s branding and web site.
Online electronic music magazine Resident Advisor listed their top 10 international music festivals in September a while back. Decibel Festival is number 5!
Welcome to the start of the Giraud Podcast! It will be a semi-regularly updated catalog of mixes where I play songs which I’m playing in clubs or just ones which simply interest me. The first mix is entitled Volume I.
Giraud - Volume I tracklist:
Professor Genius - ‘La Grotta’
Kasper Bjorke - ‘Back & Spine’
!!! - ‘Must Be The Moon (Emperor Machine remix)’
David Gilmour Girls - ‘Tune In Your Aura’
Knightlife - ‘All Systems 1′
Axer - ‘321′
Justice - ‘Phan†om (†hunderous Olympian’s Li†e Ghosts remix)’
Tiger Stripes - ‘Survivor’
Justice - ‘Phan†om pt. II (Soulwax Remix)’
Partyshank - ‘Untitled’
Russ Chimes - ‘She’s Got The Heat’
Thieves Like Us - ‘Drugs In My Body (Sir Graves remix)’
Sebastien Leger - ‘Terra (Earth)’
Deadmau5 - ‘Faxing Berlin’
VNDLSM & LCD Soundsystem - ‘UH OH Get Innocuous! (Giraud mash)’
You can stream it below:
Or you can subscribe to the podcast feed in a program like iTunes here.
Light fixtures and the Big Bang theory of the universe aren’t two things I think of together very often. However, I stopped by the Henry Art Gallery the other day and I discovered a very interesting piece of art. Entitled The Last Scattering Surface, Josiah McElheny drew inspiration from chandeliers found in the New York Metropolitan Opera House and the theory of the birth of the universe. In fact, the original chandeliers were commissioned right around the same time important evidence for the Big Bang theory was developed in the ’60s. Working with a cosmologist at the University of Ohio, McElheny formed his structure from actual mathematical relationships in the theory while still retaining a kind of ’60s pop art aesthetic. His sculpture is accompanied by Conceptual Drawings for a Chandelier, 1965, a film which he discusses below:
If you’re interested in more, there’s an interview with McElheny over at the art:21 blog. The Last Scattering Surface and Conceptual Drawings for a Chandelier, 1965 are on display at the Henry Art Gallery through August 17, 2008.
Whew, what a weekend. With incredible weather setting the stage, the weekend was full of great music, food and company. It got off to an awesome start Friday night with a private house party which never seemed to let up. DJ Roy got the dance floor hot and sweaty without any problem. By the time I went on, people were soaked. In fact, it was so sweaty that my trackpad stopped working half way through. Between DJ Roy, myself and resident of the apartment, we switched off every 15 to 30 minutes. I recorded my mini-sets and have made them available for download below along with tracklists. I should note that the some of the EQing was done on the mixer (doh!) so some of the levels sound a bit off (i.e. too much or too little bass in some places). Anyway, thank you to everyone who came out and made it an incredible night! (photo courtesy of Chris Grunder)
Giraud @ Tank Top Party 5-16-08 part 1 (31:54):
The Who - Baba O’Riley (Giraud’s smoking kills wannabe edit)
ZZT - Lower State of Consciousness (Justice remix)
Roman Salzger - Lollipop Machine
M.I.A. - 10 Dollar
Alan Braxe - Addicted
DJ Edjotronic & Spoek - Dirty & Hard
Top Billin - Hoes & House
Steve H - Don’t Stop Dancing (Steve Angello and Sebastien Ingrosso remix)
Federico Franchi - Cream
Soulwax - Another Excuse (DFA remix)
Giraud @ Tank Top Party 5-16-08 part 2 (17:21):
ACDC - Thunderstruck (Crookers remix)
Kylie Minogue - Boombox (Revolte remix)
DJ Mehdi - Signature (Thomas Bangalter remix)
Mekon - Yes Yes Y’all (Duke Dumont remix)
Axer - 321
Giraud @ Tank Top Party 5-16-08 part 3 (27:49):
The Hollies - Long Cool Woman
Midnight Juggernauts - Devil Within (snippet)
LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum (Ian St. Laurent’s South Philly Scum remix)
Uffie - The Party (LA Riots remix)
Klaxons - Gravity’s Rainbow (Soulwax remix)
Buy Now - Bodycrash (Streetlife DJs remix)
Chemical Brothers - Do It Again (extended mix)
Quench - Dreams (Sebastien Leger’s 2007 boot)
Headman - On and On (Riot in Belgium remix)
Giraud @ Tank Top Party 5-16-08 part 4 (12:21):
The Juan Maclean - Give Me Every Little Thing (snippet)
Cut Copy - Lights and Music (Moulinex remix)
DJ Falcon & Thomas Bangalter - Together (snippet)
Claude Vonstroke - The Whister (Vandalism vocal remix)
The Gossip - Standing in the Way of Control (Playgroup remix)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a film based on the memoir of Jean-Dominique Bauby, a French journalist, and editor of Elle magazine. After experiencing a severe stroke, Bauby awakens from a coma to learn that he suffers from locked-in syndrome. His entire body is completely paralyzed with the exception of his left eye. He learns to communicate by blinking in response to someone who reads a list of letters in the order in which they most often occur in the French language. Along with the patience and enduring love of those around him, the film tells the story of living and looking back on his life after his stroke. I haven’t read the book, but the movie adaptation is moving enough that I might.
While the acting and cinematography were stunning, the soundtrack fit remarkably well. It managed to be subtle throughout and evocative at just the right moments. The New York Post has an article in which the director of the film, Julian Schnabel, speaks about his track selection:
I always listen to music, carry it around with me. I know [certain songs] are going to pop up [in my films] some time or another. I always thought [the Velvet Underground's] “Pale Blue Eyes” was going to play in that scene on that boat.
Paul Cantelon [who composed the score] was a child prodigy and then was hit by a car and had total amnesia. Years later, he was playing the piano and said, “Hey Mom, listen to this,” and she said, “That’s Bach.” So he identified with [Jean-Do's] life and his problem. One day he came to me with these preludes he had written. One of them was perfect, so that was it.
Cantelon’s main theme simple but achingly poignant. It reminds me a bit of Yann Tiersen’s work. Check out the track below and rent/buy the movie if you can. It’s worth it.
Paul Cantelon - Theme for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
P.S. Big ups to Mark and Jeremy.