There is a new local Nashville band called Mystery Twins that is comprised of members of another more established but somewhat defunct band The Clutters. This is only important because frontman Doug Lehmann's voice is so distinctive. The band will be releasing their debut EP, Love Is Strange, next Tuesday. They've posted this great preview video so you can hear the whole thing beforehand.

I post this for a number of reasons:

• 1) I'm thankful for bands putting up preview videos of their records beforehand.
• 2) Putting it in video form gives you something ambient to look at and makes it difficult to pirate before it's officially released (let's be honest, stealing songs off Bandcamp is not difficult.. you just shouldn't do it).
• 3) It creates something compelling to share around. Always a good thing for a new band.

Long story short, I'm happy to see this video exist and eagerly await the official release of the EP.

Remember this post about Banksy apparently lifting some text from Sean Tejaratchi's Craphound? Well, seems like there has been an update and, as we all hoped, it's nothing as nefarious as it originally seemed. Banksy did give credit in the original edition of Cut It Out and even tried to contact Sean directly with a copy - way back in 2002.

All and all, a misunderstanding and one I'm happy to hear is cleared up... giving Banksy back his proper artistic cred.

HT Austin.

• FixieJS - need dummy content? Fixie takes care of that. Include the javascript, add a "fixie" class to the desired target and you're ready to roll. Get it? Roll? Bicycles. Definitely handy.
• Chrome User-Agent Switcher - spoofing the user-agent isn't always the best way to test cross browsers but it is a convenient technique. I probably should have had this installed for awhile but better late than never...

The Attention Span Film Festival is coming back for 2012. The Santa Fe, NM based undertaking showcases a number of films, submitted by you, that are no longer than 30 seconds in length. Personally, I feel this is a great way to cut your teeth on a quick video that gets to the point with no extra fluff. Submissions are due by June 1st so get to it!

I don't know why this Perfect Strangers Game exists but I don't think it matters. It's ridiculous, absurd and astonishingly well done. Oh, and actually pretty fun to play as well. Be sure to check out the "Dream Board" for some additional goofy entertainment.

via Andrew.

The page design of Graphic-Exchange may not be much to write home about but, man oh man, the content is killer. That's not to say that it looks bad in any way but the actual content has so many inspiring pieces of work, ridiculously great workspaces and top notch photos that it's hard to even notice a page design. This is a huge compliment. Content is king and they've got it in droves.

via Dolan.

Do you have an idea for a TV series that you're sure could be fleshed out into something grander but don't have the connections to get into the Hollywood system? Might be time to check out Amazon Studios Series - a new undertaking where new, original, content is being developed for Amazon Instant Video. They're actually offering $10k for script development (if selected) and $55k for series production - maybe not the world's greatest budgets but seems like the sort of thing that would be hugely beneficial to get in on the ground floor with. Pretty cool to see Amazon looking to compete in the digital video realm with new legit content.

100 Frames is an ongoing series of "stupid 4 second animated films" from Fraser Davidson, Dan Jones and Matthew Harvey. Here's the deal:

Applying the moniker - '100 frames', there are only a few simple rules to what the content on our site can be. Firstly, each creation must be no more than 100 frames of animation. Secondly, it must be funny. Thirdly and most importantly, it must be artistic and beautiful.

It's a bit of light-hearted fun done through some compelling animation style. I look forward to more entries but, for now, suggest you start with M is for Modern Art.

The 2012 Logo Trends Report from Logo Lounge is now available. It's a hefty read but when you're tackling the task of crunching comparisons between 32,000 unique marks it probably should be a hefty read. They break things down into three major categories - Overdone / "Done to Death", Rising Stars, and Firmly Established. It doesn't seem like the report is meant to be a warning sign of things to avoid or an admonishment of any particular design decision.. Rather, it's just an overview of the state of logo design as viewed through the lens of Logo Lounge.

I've zero insight into the story behind Reverend Cohen but, based on the simplest of context clues, I can tell that it seems to be an ongoing stream of vintage imagery paired with tasteful, poignant or humorous quotes. Simple, enjoyable.

via Nevver.

Big thanks to Dan Eden for putting together Just My Type, a collection of well-paired font samples. For me, it's hugely beneficial to have a jumping off point for any design job and these examples of beautiful headlines and body type creates exactly that - a place to start. Consider it bookmarked!

I've been telling you about it for months and now the day has finally arrived. The third full-length from Uncle Skeleton and fourteenth for yk records is now available. Obviously I am biased on how enjoyable the record is and hope that you'll take some time today (and the rest of the week) to give it a listen and maybe even consider purchasing it - though, honestly, that's not the end goal. I just want you to like it.

The tracklisting is massive but please don't let that scare you off - the running time for the whole record is still less than a CD can hold. It's four movements of music spanning the sixty-eight minute runtime and I can't imagine you won't find something in there you like.

I can't imagine the amount of work that The Space has gone through to document John Peel's record collection. Starting today, May 1st, and once a week hereafter until October, they will release the first 100 records from each letter of the alphabet. If the site were simply a list of one hundred records from each letter I could understand the undertaking (though still be impressed) but they've added scans of the front and back album art as well as notecards and personal scribblings from every record. Insane.

Take a moment to read / browse through this great article on the history of collage - specifically how the incredibly prolific comic artist Jack Kirby fits into the overall history. Despite being best known for writing and drawing loads of comics, his work was able to surpass the perceived norm for the medium and elevate into an artistic style that is atypical in just about any storytelling form. It's an enlightening read and the photos that accompany it (along with some unreleased Kirby collages) are a treat to see.

The Old Try may be physically located in the Northern portions of the United States but their minimalist, clean, clever designs are quintessentially Southern. From the Mason Dixon line to Southern summers to Oxford cheers they've got something for just about anyone in my neck of the woods. Even if you're somehow not into their products you have to admire their aesthetic.

This writeup on Media Queries & A Base64 Spacer GIF may be one of the nerdiest sounding things I've posted in some time but it's an interesting solution to a ongoing technical issue with designing for both desktop and mobile via the same markup. The easiest solution would be to find a way to force the hand of the telecom providers to up the ante on available bandwidth to mobile users, right? Okay, maybe not the easiest but certainly the laziest. In the meantime, check this out.

The third full-length album from Uncle Skeleton will be available tomorrow, May 1st. In preparation for this occasion, I've posted up some long-form video previews of the album. As I've mentioned before, All Too Human, is thematically split up amongst the four sides. Side A is danceable electronic goods, Side B is influenced by pop and bossa nova, Side C is a collection of lo-fi audio journeys and Side D (video not yet available) consists of ambient tunes.

I'm excited for the release and hope everyone else is looking forward to it as much as I am.

Sometime in your busy schedule today take some time to read through this excellent article on Singularity University - a gathering of minds spanning the likes of Ray Kurzweil, Craig Venter, Elon Musk, Reid Hoffman and a load more. The symposium itself sounds like a fascinating event but this roundup does a great job of casting a wide net and showing where our technologies are headed (augmented realities, feeding the world, 3D printing, tricorders, robot sex, etc). It's kind of terrifying to see the point of Technological Singularity slowly approaching - mostly due to the inevitability of it all.

No matter what your political affiliation - Democrat, Republican, Green, Independent, Ambivalent - please take time today to watch (or listen to) Jimmy Kimmel host the White House Correspondent's Dinner. He is kind of the perfect choice for lambasting everyone with just the right amount of sly smile behind every scathing bit of insight. It's a proper roast executed with hilarious results and just the right amount of biting truth.

I love submissions from readers! Particularly when they're as engaging as the kind of work I'm seeing from Shane Vincent. The Personal Favorites set is a good place to start to find gems like this or this. I actually would love to see a set of self portraits - not a statement I say very often. Great work all around. Adding to Follow List right away.