I Love You But I've CHosen Darkness: The Owl

Absolutely tense few minutes of video.

The Besnard Lakes: Albatross

This band snuck up on me, as they often do. A download that sat un-listened for at least a year. Well reviewed but last in line for attention. Suddenly i find myself in love with it though. It’s hard/soft dynamic that’s constantly building up to epic moments. See the explosion of bass at around 3:19. If you’re listening to it loud it will knock you over. If you’re listening to it quiet, it will shout for attention. It’s a new favorite.

Tweenbot

As cute a social experiment that could exist without the use of puppies. What happens when you send a robot that can only move in straight lines out into the world with a goal written on a flag? Will people stop to help it? Do people care about a smiling cardboard robot? You would think that in a busy place like Central Park in New York nobody would pay it any attention but surprisingly people did care about the little thing. Some even taking time to talk to it. Every time this experiment has been done the robot has made it to it’s destination. There’s even instructions floating out there on how to make your own (if you want to geek out completely)

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

The whole web seems to be buzzing about this thing and rightfully so. This is as good as any digital piece of work can get right now. Combine beautifully realized visuals with unique interactions and good storytelling and you have the best combination of elements. Of course it comes from an ex-Pixar guy. I’ve been holding off on the iPad but this is the first app that i’ve been so intrigued about i almost want to go buy one tomorrow.

The most intriguing thing about this is really what it represents. I imagine this level of quality story telling and interaction is just going to become more and more prevalent as time goes on. It’s amazing to think that there will be children who grow up with this as their normal. They will just get it and want all storie to be told this way.

Geekery: Bacon Ipsum

The meatier version of Lorem Ipsum has finally arrived. For all your text placement needs. Bacon ipsum flank turkey tail andouille meatloaf spare ribs. Salami bacon drumstick hamburger, bresaola shoulder pork. Jerky short ribs jowl ground round pork chop. Beef ribs meatloaf t-bone pancetta pork, strip steak flank. Venison ball tip ground round jowl, pancetta pig salami. Salami venison hamburger, chuck flank shoulder short ribs spare ribs pig tongue fatback pancetta swine meatball. Drumstick pork chop ham, ball tip hamburger beef pork tenderloin pig cow ham hock chuck short loin chicken. Link here.

Customtone

Just trying to get back into some semblance of a routine after the crazy couple months i’ve had. This video looks as if someone stretched the cover of Flying Lotus’s last proper album out to video length. Absolutely gorgeous video. This whole moleskin aesthetic done right.

Lumi

I’ve had a few short’s in my head for awhile now and i keep hovering around a way of getting them made. It’s probably if you’ve been following LI for a while you’ve seen a bunch of animated shorts pop up on this blog. This one is very nicely done. Lumi discovers his world for the first time and has a chance encounter with a creature that only grows in the dark. Worth a watch. From Big Boom studios

Neomorphus

On this beautiful sunny day i thought why not post something dark an ominous. This short twisted tale is as much about evolution as it is about just stringing together some incredibly creepy imagery. This comes from a little company called Animatorio. They have some great work up on their Vimeo page. Making of clip also included after the jump.

Music For One Apartment And Six Drummers

What happens when you put six drummers in one apartment and let them go at it with whatever they can grab? This video is the answer. A little bit Stomp, a little bit flash mob (fake flash mob at least), a little bit performance art. All pretty awesome.

The Human Spirograph

Tony Orrico produces strange spirograph like designs and patterns using just his body. It’s mesmerizing to watch. Existing somewhere in between art and performance the man uses all sorts of spinning techniques to produce these massive prints. Going beyond simply being ambidexrious it seems like the man can move his body perfectly in symmetrical synch for hours. The guy is a more or less a contortionist. Videos of his technique after the jump. His website is here.

Dogboarding

The name might give it away but what else would you call a video like this. It’s ridiculous but you’ll still get a chuckle from it. No dogs were hurt in the making of this film.

TV On The Radio - Will Do

As a follow up to the previous video we’ve also got a new TV On The Radio release coming up. Considering every album they’ve put out is either great or brilliant it’s no surprise to say i have high hopes for their newest one. This might be an odd single but it’s good enough to keep the hopes high. Maybe that’s all it needed to do.

Rain Machine - Give Blood

Kyp has an epic beard. Really. Take a look it’s awesome. There just aren’t enough black people in rock music. First off; they invented it so you’d think you’d see more picking up a guitar. Maybe the 70′s spandex era scared them away. A whole bunch of skinny white guy’s with perms in spandex. Who wouldn’t that terrify? Coupled with the rise of Hip-Hop it seems like Rock really never stood a chance. It’s been an eclipsing movement that’s defined the black community since the early 80′s. Secondly though, they have an incredible grasp of the genre. The world could use a few more bands like TV On The Radio and people like Kyp Malone creating funky rock tracks like this one.

Rain Machine is Kyp Malone’s solo project. In between the brilliant Dear Science and the upcoming Nine Types of Light each guy from TV on the Radio broke off to do a solo album. We got Maximum Balloon, Fake Male Voice (only a handful of tracks unfortunatley) and this one from Kyp. Rain Machine. It wasn’t on my radar on release but it’s a got a great sound to it, it’s not drastically different from TVotR. The man has one of the most unique voices in rock going right now. More tracks after the jump.

The Incident At Tower 37

A man realizes that the pumping station he works at is slowly causing the destruction of an entire ecosystem. It’s obvious there’s been a lot of love and care have been put into this animated short. The whole thing plays out pretty straight, not really a hint of the comedy you might be expecting from a 3d short like this. It’s only 10 minutes long and is worth your time. It’s too bad the animation is a little bit pre-pixar and lacks a real style, but as a whole it still manages to pack an emotional punch.

Bibio - Excuses

Bibio are sort of the younger brother of Boards of Canada. They struggled at first to define themselves as separate entities. Their first album fi sounds like off cuts from Music Has the Right to Children. That’s no slight. Coming even close to the majesty and beauty of that first BoC album is an amazing achievement. With each album they’ve grown further away from their big brother adding layers of guitars, flutes, and vocals giving their songs much more pop structure then anything BoC do. They’ve experimented with funk, folk, rock, glitch, pop each one with a unique take on the genre. Coming to a head with Ambivalence Avenue, an album that mashed everything they could into one long player churning out what is arguably the best album of 2009. So they’ve become their own beast. Changed their trajectory. Evolved.

This cut from Bibio’s upcoming album Mind Bokeh is a slice of glitchy electronica fused with ambient AND industrial for good measure. Bibio’s later albums have been such a mish mash of styles it’s hard to know what this new one will sound like. Will it all be this glitchy and fuzzed out? I guess we’ll find out shortly.

You probably already know if you’re into this song. It’s easy to gauge. If you listen to anything Warp Records already does you’ll love it. If not it won’t convince to dive into their back catalogue. Some more videos from Bibio after the jump, you can see their folk and ambient leanings pretty clearly in some of these songs.

Movies As Barcodes

This is what happens if you take every frame from a movie and compress it into one image, each frame the width of a pixel or two. It’s actually quite beautiful. Can you guess the film based on the colours alone? Take a look. Prints are also available. Tumblr blog here. This is the only one i got right away.

For the hardcore geeks… and the ones who want to make a movie into one themselves there is actually a script available. It’s in python though but apparently takes .avi files. You can get that here.

Elbow - Open Arms

Elbow continue to release beautifully sculpted, truly moving emotional music that is both subtly brilliant and understatedly experimental. Music that still sounds like poetry. It takes an awful lot of conviction to sing a lyric like “we’ve got open arms for broken hearts” and not seem like you’re cranking the  sap up to 11. Too earnest and it could come off as emotional pandering. Having tongue anywhere close to cheek could just make it laughable. I’m not sure any other band in the world could take those words and transform them into something wholly different then they read. When paired with an uplifting backing chorus, driving drums and drenched with gently plucked strings it almost becomes a rallying cry of comfort. Sounding like prequel to Grace Under Pressure when thousands sang “We still believe in love, so fuck you” so defiantly.

Considering this album is the follow up to their Mercury Prize winning “A Seldom Seen Kid” it thankfully side steps a grab for any sort of arena rock crown. They even seem to pull things back a bit. The album has fewer massive choruses and has their first song that’s over eight minutes long. Everything is stretched out and allowed to breath.

I understand exactly why Elbow will never be a band for everyone. Elbow write rawly emotional music that can often be a slow build. Only revealing itself after repeat listens.  It takes some commitment. More than that though, through all the moments of nostalgia, longing, comfort, joy, and happiness Elbow have a massive undercurrent of sadness.

In a world of dispossible music it’s good to know that there’s still some sincerity out there. Elbow are as sincere as they come.

Deerhunter - Helicopter

Maybe i shouldn’t be calling it Daily Music. Daily get’s pushed aside so quickly. One of the best songs from Deerhunters last album Halycon Digest. A fantastic song. Hopefully a fantastic show.

A Day Made Of Glass

So it’s made by Corning who might be a little bit biased for a future made entirely with touchable beautiful glass surfaces. But the thought they put into this video and the fact that most of these technologies exist in some shape or form already make this video pretty exciting. We may never get our flying cars but this future is virtually here. And it looks to be covered in finger prints.

Literal Trailers

You will either think these are lame or hilarious. I’m in the later camp. There are a few movies and a few video games but they are all pretty funny. What happens if you put literal comentary that’s synched to the soundtrack of trailers? Watch to see. Harry Potter, Assassins Creed, Tron and Dead Island after the jump (also many more on YouTube)

Famous Objects From Classic Movies

Simple enough premise. You see a silhouette of an object from a famous movie and play a hang-man like game to guess the film. Some are easy others way more difficult. The game itself is just incredibly addictive though. Good luck.

350 Earth Art

350 is a green organization that specializes in projects all with the goal to increase awareness of climate change. The number 350 is derived by what’s seen as the goal to stabilize climate change. We need to get the amount of Carbon dioxide below 350 parts per million. We are currently sitting at 388. Earth Art are intstallations done on a scale large enough they can be seen from the sky’s (or in some cases space). It’s a great idea to spark involvement and get people talking about the cause. Thom Yorke is directing the next “installation” which peaked my interest all the more. More pictures of Earth Art here, more about the cause here.

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Say No To Love

Daily Music: Their concert closer from last night was the new first single from their upcoming album. Everything about The Pains of Being Pure At Heart just drips with nostalgia. It’s impossible to hear them with out hearing shades My Bloody Valentine or a jangle cut from The Cure play book. As Kim pointed out last night it’s a bit strange when you start seeing the cycle begin over… seeing the old transform into something new. It’s especially strange when it’s not the first time it’s happened. Personally i’m still waiting for that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles revival. It must be right around the corner now.