March 18, 2010
» Fuck Buttons – Space Mountain (8:45) – 13.2MB mp3 @ 210kbps
» The Flaming Lips – Worm Mountain (5:22) – 6.3MB mp3 @ 160kbps
Zhou Hongjun and Xiong Lu have created Hermit Mountain, a multifaceted, multipurpose skyscraper, drawing inspiration from both traditional Chinese culture and modern design. The design explores a dialogue between rationality and chaos to achieve a refined yet altogether organic aesthetic.
More images at Designboom.
Designer Enrico Dini has developed a 3D printer that makes rocks.
Dini claims the d-shape process is four times faster than conventional building, costs a third to a half as much as using Portland cement, creates little waste and is better for the environment. But its chief selling point may simply be that it makes creating Gaudiesque, curvy structures simple.
Two-dimensional print may be dead, but 3D is on the up-and-up.
Full story at Blueprint (FastCompany via Inhabitat)
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January 6, 2010
–Pavement’s 2010 comeback continues, this time in greatest-hits form. The “fully remastered 23-track compilation”, entitled Quarantine the Past, “digs deeper than the hits” and is slated for a March 9th release. Matador has challenging fans to guess the final tracklisting in order to win a handful of Pavement-related prizes. (Matador)
–Arrested Motion is on top of its game as usual, with recent coverage of Blu, Os Gemeos, and Ryan McGinley (all of whom are worthy of fuller discussion in future posts), plus a nice December recap. Good stuff.
–Raphael Zarka = Richard Serra × DQM. Awesome. (DB)
–The Knife has posted a new mp3 (download link) from their forthcoming operatic (literally) recording Tomorrow, in a Year. More details here. (The Knife / Soundcloud / YANP)
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December 18, 2009
I suppose we all could have guessed Pitchfork’s album of the year during the very first week of 2009. The rest of the world had 51 weeks to craft a better album than Merriweather Post Pavilion, but it seems that no one was up to the challenge. I also feel like we’ve all seen this album art a billion times, but I’m still not sick of it.
To be perfectly honest, I haven’t heard the majority of their top 50 albums or top 100 songs, much less seen the top videos. (I’ve heard about 40% of the albums and could pass judgment on maybe a dozen of them… and I consider myself a music snob. For shame.) Is it still cool to hate on Pitchfork, or has the pendulum swung back again?
Anyway, I just got into that Fuck Buttons album, it’s fucking epic. I’m also a little late on the Japandroids boat, but Post-Nothing is as promising a debut as I’ve heard in a while, if you’re into that sort of thing (noisy, angsty garage/grunge/indie revivalism, not debut albums). I’m rather embarrassed to admit that MSTRKRFT’s Fist of God is one of my more listened-to albums in the pseudo-scientific terms of play count, though it would probably place towards the bottom of a year-end list, if at all, and definitely not in the top 20.
Given the factors enumerated above (inadvertently missing out on buzz bands and a questionable secret love for garbage like MSTRKRFT), I don’t quite feel fit to generate a year-end list for 2009.
I’ve also decided that there is too much music and bands need to stop making it for a few years so I can catch up.
