KARBORN: Labyrinth

posted October 14, 2016 #

My ongoing obsession with the works of Karborn has not faded one bit, particularly when viewing his latest offering - Labyrinth. It's all the things I love about what he does - scan lines, vhs texture, glitch, ominous ambiguity - with a few surprises thrown in.

2016 Brand New Conference Identity

posted October 14, 2016 #

Really enjoying this thorough rundown of the Brand New Conference Identity from their 2016 gathering. It's an excellent nod to the history of Manuel Cuevas, Hatch Show Print and the record industry in general (the name badges were cut from old vinyl). It's an astounding attention amount of attention to detail and well worth a deep dive.

The conference itself looks like a healthy amount of great speakers and I'm sad to have missed it. Next time.

HT kottke.

posted October 13, 2016 #

Absolutely devastating. https://t.co/n6Y6NOZvCe

posted October 13, 2016 #

Just remembering how annoyed I was at that "Footer is the New Header" post I read last week.

F**k You Startup World

posted October 13, 2016 #

lots and lots of vitriol here. the end is disappointing but the rest is perfect.

yk-041: Brigador, Volume 2

posted October 13, 2016 #

Much like the surprise release of Volume I, the latest from Makeup and Vanity Set is being released quickly, to further enhance excitement and enjoyment.

We are happy to announce not only is Volume 2 now available to pre-order the vinyl but the entire record will be streaming next Wednesday (the 19th) and there's a free EP worth of b-sides and extra songs entitled the Uplink EP.

The second volume of works is much more long form - tracks are 7 to 8 minutes long, creating a much creepier atmosphere to immerse yourself in. John Carpenter would be proud.

posted October 13, 2016 #

$25 to the person who can tell me what?s going on here https://t.co/gYGMZY31Ng via @chadsnuts

Pete Campbell Lands the KFC Account

posted October 12, 2016 #

the harmonica chicken breast is the perfect amount of weird

posted October 12, 2016 #

One Million One Million One Million from @jayleophillips is now available in full. I?m biased but the album is FIRE. https://t.co/8UFUvbXDBG

One Million One Million One Million released

posted October 12, 2016 #

Today's the day! The first debut album from Jay Leo Phillips is now available in its entirety. The Nashville Scene described it as "Elvis Costello backed by Wire" - a succinct description if ever there was one.

You can hear the record here or in the embed below. It's also available on limited edition gray vinyl; which I recommend you pick up.

I know I've been posting a lot of yk records news here on the blog lately but it's an undertaking that has really taken off for me this past year with a litany of releases I couldn't be more proud of. I've been listening to music that Jay has been involved with for over ten years, I'm honored to help facilitate his solo endeavor out into the world.

You Might Not Need JavaScript

posted October 12, 2016 #

hah, nice!

Shortcut, from This American Life

posted October 12, 2016 #

This American Life (the podcast) just launched a new podcast sharing tool entitled Shortcut. It allows you to easily highlight a portion of any of their episodes and share that out on social media. It even includes a transcript to go along with it. You select an episode, highlight a portion and then the site creates a video preview that gets shared to social media. It needs a bit of fine tuning to make it even lower friction for sharing but, on the whole, it's a great way to share specific portions of a podcast that you might not listen to otherwise. It takes the hurdle of listening to a 2-hour podcast down to a lower commitment of a 10-second clip. Pretty smart on their part.

Even smarter on their part is the fact that they'll be open-sourcing the project so any podcast can use it. This is the kind of smart tech you expected from Startup Season 1 but, of course, it's good ole, reliable, This American Life that makes it happen.

Doughnut Kitten

posted October 11, 2016 #

Sometime work is overwhelming. Sometimes you just need a respite from the grind of daily life. Welcome Doughnut Kitten into your life. Or, if you're feeling up for it, the Interactive Version.

It's a silly thing but sometimes you need a silly thing.

Summer Is Gone

posted October 11, 2016 #

I've been following the work of Bill Baird since his time in Sound Team, an Austin band well worth your time if you are unfamiliar with them. Since his departure from that band he has put out a number of impressive musical projects - DIY bedroom records, reel to reel experiments, etc. His latest is a generative album called Summer Is Gone. You visit the site and a unique combination of tracks is compiled for your ears only, never to be repeated again. From Baird:

I personally mixed 250 mixes of these tracks to curate the whole thing. Every decision was intentional. Every accident was my own. The website is a set of "turning gears" that endlessly changes sequence. Every hour, a new sequence, never to be repeated in our lifetimes or approximately 1.5 Billion years before the first iteration repeats itself.

There have been plenty of other generative album projects out there - Brian Eno is well known for it - but this feels like a truly cohesive album. Not ambient noise or purely atmospheric; these are traditional songs but never to be heard more than once.

Natalie Bookchin: My Meds

posted October 11, 2016 #

This weekend I had the pleasure of diving into the Public, Private, Secret exhibition at the International Center of Photography and was rather struck by the work of Natalie Bookchin. Her pieces in the show consisted of compiled clips from YouTube thematically stitched together. My Meds is a short undertaking but a powerful one - as it shows the state of prescribed medication told through real people's hardships with finding the proper balance. It's powerful because it's simple.

The I Am Not piece is similarly powerful, as are all of her Testament pieces.

Trump: Warren Buffett avoids taxes like me. Buffett: Nope, and here's my taxes to prove it.

posted October 10, 2016 #

doi

What font do you use in your code editor?

posted October 10, 2016 #

oddly enjoyed this

Jay Leo Phillips - City Is

posted October 10, 2016 #

As we hurdle towards the release date of Jay Leo Phillips release date for One Million One Million One Million, I wanted to make sure you had one more taste of what to expect from the album before it's available everywhere. So, here is the debut of the second track from the record, "City Is".

It's a rather bombastic affair that shows off a bit more diversity of the record and its high energy. Oh, and if you haven't heard the first track - "(Do the) 20th Century" - get into it here.

Merijn Hos

posted October 10, 2016 #

I have plenty of gushing things to say about the artists roster at UNA but, currently, I'm deep diving into Merijn Hos. His portfolio is massive and contains a great deal of perfectly textured works. There's something about many of them that remind me of French design from the 70's - just the right color palette and grain.

It's definitely an immersive body of work so it's hard to point out what "not to miss" - as there is so much that is worthwhile. This animation, this album art or this book are a good start.

Shawna X: Netscape

posted October 10, 2016 #

I haven't had a chance to visit it in person yet but I'm rather smitten with the images and videos from the Shawna X art show, Netscape. It's a wonderful mix of vibrant color palettes, nods to 8-bit culture with a dash of sex and floral work. It's a somewhat simplified version of what I'm used to seeing from her but it's a refreshing turn while still being, clearly, the same artists work. I was already an unflinching fan but this just sealed the deal even more.