Purple Snowflakes

posted December 12, 2016 #

Jessie Baylin has a wealth of dark, melancholy songs (often produced by Richard Swift) so it's great to hear her take on Marvin Gaye's Purple Snowflakes. Granted, this cover was released back in 2014 but it's now available on Spotify and the like, so you can more easily dive in and enjoy.

Makeup and Vanity Set Bundle

posted December 11, 2016 #

buy exclusive MAVS music, donate to a healthy cause

Tina Fey, David Letterman Interview

posted December 10, 2016 #

want to read much more of this

Grandaddy - Alan Parsons in a Winter Wonderland

posted December 9, 2016 #

always loved this

posted December 9, 2016 #

@yewknee I knew I would laugh, and I did laugh. Oh, how I laughed.

posted December 9, 2016 #

Me at the beginning of 2016 vs me at the end of 2016. https://t.co/4oBiLIdC90

Friday Videos - Dec 9th, 2016

posted December 9, 2016 #

Cruising in to the end of the year, feels good. Wrapping up projects and prepping new ones is always a good feeling. I've got a mega Christmas playlist brewing, so if you have any gold suggestions be sure to submit them at your convenience.

Farfel and Nestle, 1992 - Farfel the Dog is from the 50's and was resurrected in the early 90's for a Nestle commercial. It's terrifying in the best way.
Secret World of Stuff, Supercut No 1 - adorable short animations of random things around your world. via kottke.
Jon Sudano - Wonderwall - if you are not aware of Jon Sudano's archive of covers, take a moment to dive in a bit. Songs you know, with Smashmouth lyrics. All of them. Every single one. via Daniel.
The 25 Best Films of 2016 - this is, admittedly, 13 minutes and I know you don't have that much time on your hands but it's an impressive homage to the past year in film.
How David Blaine Barfs Frogs - I assume you saw that clip where David Blaine blew some minds, here's how he did it. The answer is Occam's Razor.
Okey Dokey - Congenial Man - I try not to post too many music videos in a Friday video list if I can help but this I'm loving everything I've heard from these guys so far (okay, two songs) and enjoy the video quite a bit.
Jurassic Park Melodica Cover - I know it's coming every time and it still gets me every time.
Julian Casablancas - I Wish It Was Christmas Today - take a silly SNL skit have Julian Casablancas cover it, play on repeat.

Oh, and if you need some quality Christmas music to get you going this season; listen to this or this.

Au Reminder

posted December 9, 2016 #

Friendly reminder that earlier this week I announced the re-issuing of Apollo Up!'s sophomore album, Chariots of Fire. It's been fully remastered by John Baldwin (Public Image Ltd, Jesus Lizard, countless Light in the Attic releases) and sounds better than ever. People are already saying great things about the reissue!

ION Magazine review - "The most illuminating moments of the song happen when he and the band channel the same velvet draped darkness that Greg Dulli and the Afghan Whigs used to so effortlessly harness." Lovely.
Nashville Scene - "...the album is a treasure-trove of interlocking riffage that doesn't sag under the weight of too much calculation - it's a full-throated rock record, with plenty of pop hooks..."

While we all patiently await the December 16th release, have a listen to Walking the Plank, watch the announcement video and, for goodness sake, order the vinyl.

posted December 8, 2016 #

The dog just licked my sandwich but I showed her who's the boss around here and ate it anyway

ORFN

posted December 8, 2016 #

According to this post, it seems the world has lost another artist. ORFN is probably most well known for his pervasive tagging; largely around San Francisco. Taking a cruise through this Tumblr or various galleries showcase just how fearless he was in putting up his pieces wherever he wanted.

I wasn't a known fan of ORFN prior to this news but I'm enjoying the deep dive into his work. It manages to feel simple and sweet but often undercut with a strange sadness to it.

The Glass Room

posted December 8, 2016 #

"If Black Mirror Had a Showroom, This Would Be It" is the headline for The Glass Room; a pop-up shop / art installation showcasing various books and pieces about our online lives. This writeup contains a lot of the details of the sorts of items you'll find - a book of hacked LinkedIn passwords, a book of geolocation destinations stolen from you by Apple and a Data Bar to help you DeTox your online self.

The website has plenty of details to read through and there's plenty of hashtags to help you experience it, even if you're not able to physically attend.

posted December 7, 2016 #

Apollo Up’s Chariots of Fire: “one of the best post-punk albums to come out of Music City” Thanks @NashvilleCream! https://t.co/eJ9XLWUgBe

The Circle

posted December 7, 2016 #

Pretty straightforward first trailer for the adaptation of Dave Egger's The Circle. On the whole, the book is a somewhat scary and prophetic take on technologies invasive role in our lives - much of which we're already seeing happen with Facebook Live, Nest Cameras, Alexa, Google Home, etc. For me, the book's plot took a twist that made it a bit Hollywood and absurd but I think I mostly just interested in a continued exploration of how technology is altering us, sometimes for the worse.

Regardless, the trailer looks pretty dead on and I'm sure I'll see the movie.

HT Kottke.

The Mysterious Package Company

posted December 7, 2016 #

The Mysterious Package Company is, truly, mysterious. In that, after reading over the site you really have no idea what it is they are offering. It's a mystery. You send it to someone. What is it? Who knows!?

Actually, you can get a halfway decent idea of what it is by reading this but the vagueness is intentional. It feels like a version of Sleep No More or The Game but done through the USPS. I am certainly intrigued.

via Jon.

yk-044, Apollo Up!

posted December 6, 2016 #

TLDR: yk records is celebrating the ten-year anniversary of this record by re-releasing it on vinyl for the first time.

Without sounding too schmaltzy, I think Chariots of Fire came before it's time. Nashville has always had a rich history of respected country music (Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, The Opry, etc) and recently has found some solid footing in the rock world (JEFF the Brotherhood, Bully, Third Man) but there's a gap of time in between there where plenty of great albums slipped through, particularly in terms of a wider recognition.

Apollo Up! has always been one of my favorite Nashville bands. I've seen them more times than I can count and never been disappointed. It's always been the perfect blend of upbeat, intense rock songs with just the right amount of melody. Sometimes it feels aggressive but you can still shimmy and sing to it.

So, upon learning that 2016 was the ten-year anniversary of the album's release, I knew I wanted to release it on yk records. Re-mastering an album like this takes time and that's why the announcement is coming so late in the year but it wouldn't be right to not do it in 2016.

You can pre-order the limited edition Gold Vinyl here and await the freshly remastered tracks for official release on Friday, December 16th. Until then, enjoy Walking the Plank.

10x16

posted December 6, 2016 #

Hopefully you recall the 10x2015 project from last year.

If not, they're up to it again at 10x16. A group of extremely talented designers is asked to contribute a re-imaging of their favorite album covers from 2016 but restricted by a particular color palette.

The list of talent is, unsurprisingly, incredibly impressive - Jessica Hische, Shawna X, Mark Weaver and Richard Perez to name just a few.

At this time, only the first day of designs has been released but it's extremely inspiring, not to mention a great resource to find some albums I most likely missed.

The Outline

posted December 6, 2016 #

Part of me wants to put The Outline up on a pedestal as a "new media" undertaking that subverts the mainstream and presents useful nuggets of information in an extremely well designed way. They approach news differently by making it less snooze to look at. But I'm not sure that's right. I've only spent a little bit of time on it but I'm not quite sure what it is yet.

It's definitely news and it's certainly well designed but it's unclear if it's aggregating chunks of information to tease you elsewhere or if they're presenting their own insights. Maybe both. Maybe it's just an informative homepage.

All that's to say, I can't quite describe what it is but I do recommend reading it. Start here maybe?

posted December 5, 2016 #

The most chilling reveal in last night's Westworld: Maeve's core narrative code has a React.js dependency https://t.co/ONALGqZ3or

posted December 5, 2016 #

@yewknee I set out today simply to have a wonderful Christmastime, then you ruined it with all of this complexity. Thanks.

Wonderful Christmastime Wikipedia

posted December 5, 2016 #

Including royalties from cover versions, it is estimated that McCartney makes $400,000 a year from this song, which puts its cumulative earnings at near $15 million.