David Giraud

Josiah McElheny’s The Last Scattering Surface at the Henry Art Gallery

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.

Tank Top Weekend

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

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.

Low Motion Disco - Love Love Love

Low Motion Disco is an Eskimo Recordings artist from Switzerland. They plan on releasing a full length album eventually but they’ve kicked off the year with their debut single “Love Love Love”.  With remixes by Aeroplane, Still Going, LSB, and Soft Rocks, this release is definitely worth buying.  It’s available digitally on Beatport and in physical form as a double 12″ here and here.  The original starts off with light piano soaked in reverberation and effortlessly sinks into a natural groove a little more than halfway through.  Check it out:

Low Motion Disco - Love Love Love

Unedited Carl Craig Jukebox

The Wire magazine has posted the complete, unedited version of Philip Sherburne’s “Invisible Jukebox” with Carl Craig on their website. Here’s an excerpt:

PS: You learned to edit on tape?

CC: I learned to edit on tape. I learned from Derrick how to, just, splice.

PS: How painstaking was that?

CC: I mean it could be very easy, if you know what you’re doing. The issue is how to keep track of what’s where. So once you cut something out, if you want to use it later, you have to mark it. So for instance if you’re doing something in a computer program and you cut a piece here and a piece there, you can save them to the clipboard or you can cut and paste them into another document, or you can just put it in a playlist if you want. But I cut it like I cut tape, I don’t put things in playlists. (…)

Check it out here.  Via Philip Sherburne.