Sound engineering

Here is a hilarious short about what sound engineers have to do. All those knobs.

Jellybean Art

Jellybean art.


22 months
1,357 hours
30 people
2 ladders
1 still camera
288,000 jelly beans

Very impressive. As we all know, animation requires a ton of patience. In the same position, doing the same thing, just perfecting every subtle detail. Kudos to the animators! With Kina Grannis's vocal and jelly animation, it is just killer.

 Be sure to watch the making of.


 

Dubstep Addiction

Recently I'm really into dubstep and I don't know why. I used to hate it with all the beeps, bass and squeaky noise. My friend said it sounds like transformer having sex. Haha! Slowly grow to dig dubstep. It's strange how the mind works. Here is one animation to go with 16 bit - Dinosaurs. Freaky cute and fun!





This cover of Skrillex by Luke Holland is pretty sick!

Old Spice

Old Spice Muscle Music from Terry Crews on Vimeo.



Anyone remembers old spice? Now comes with music. Interactive.

Kimbra

This song is really pretty sick with The Mars Volta vibe. These musicians know how to have a good time.

Collaboration: Mark Foster, A-Trak, and Kimbra

Converse done it again. This time round with three amazing artist  Mark Foster, A-Trak, and Kimbra.




An amazing A-trak mix of Foster the people laid track topped with Kimbra's vocal. Love the layers. We are expecting to hear more of Kimbra collaborating with Foster the People. Their tour in June and July!

Kimbra mentioned it during an interview with Fuse. I can't wait!

Gotye: Music and Animation

This is one of the few artist that I know produces good music and features great animation.

A little bit about Gotye:

• Born in 21 May 1980
• Belgian-Australia
• His real name is Wally de Backer (sounds cool)
• Gotye won the third prize for his song 'Somebody That I Used To Know' for the Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition 2011. (Kimbra was in first place)
• Gotye's 2011 single "Somebody That I Used to Know" hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100
• On 1 February 2012, Gotye made his American television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Check out their collaboration:





So I had been listening to the song a million times since last year and I happen to come across an interview of him. The little riff at the start of the song was actually inspired by Luiz Bonfa, a song called Seville.




He was attracted to a hynotic certain kind of something to it. I guess the reason I'm attracted to his music is also a kind of hypnotizing melancholy feel in his songs. He mentioned the use of esoteric and weird sources of sounds to create his music such as sound samples and instruments he gets from an antique shop. Pretty neat!








One of my favourite Gotye video is Bronte. The tribal vibe of the song is so hypnotizing and draws me in. The animation by Ari Gibson is amazing. The lighting and the dreamy colours is so incredible. The emotions are overwhelming. You have to check this one out.


Here is a more recent track produced.





 The round and round camera movement gives me a headache after awhile but nonetheless an amazing stop motion.

I guess what makes his music stood out is a blend of visuals, peculiar sounds and emotions that are rare to find these days.

Ukulele jam

Here's a ukulele jam session by Sungha Jung, Brittni Paiva, Kalei Gamiao. The classic song Canon in D by Johan Pachelbel taken to the next level. The real deal starts at 1:35. Have you ever seen ukulele shredding?  Killer running notes they got there. This video just makes me smile! Music just brighten up ones day. This is so much fun to watch. Spamming on the play button!

I'm really starting to fall in love with the strings. :)

DoYaThing - Collaboration

"DoYaThing" Official Video - Gorillaz featuring Andre 3000 and James Murphy. I'm still in love with Gorillaz!

This music video produced in line with the new Chuck Taylor All Star Gorillaz Collection near end of February 2012.  Probably one of the coolest video of the kicks out there in my opinion. Awesome motion capture and 3d animation going on with live background. Check out the behind the scenes footage too.

The Grammys - Dave Grohl's speech

I love the Foo Fighters. Here is one of the most touching acceptance speech in Grammys. If you make music or has been listening to music pretty much growing up, you  have to hear this speech.





Transcription:

This is a great honor, because this record was a special record for our band.

Rather than go to the best studio in the world down the street in Hollywood and rather than use all of the fanciest computers that we can buy, we made this one in my garage with some microphones and a tape machine. And we couldn't have done it without the best producer in the world, Mr. Butch Vig. I haven't worked with Butch Vig in twenty years. We meet each other twenty years ago when we made a Nirvana record  and it was an honor to work with you again (looking at Butch Vig) We have a lot of people to thank...

To me this award means a lot because it shows that the human element of making music is what's most important. Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that's the most important thing for people to do. "It's not about being perfect, it's not about sounding absolutely correct, it's not about what goes on a computer. It's about what goes on in here [your heart] and what goes on in here [your head].

Indie: Kimbra

Now here's an uprising star that I adore very much. I found her at Dianna Agron's blog and I was blown away. In a nutshell, Kimbra Johnson (born 27 March 1990),  Kimbra. Her debut album Vows was released on 29 August 2011 in New Zealand, and 2 September 2011 in Australia on Warner Bros. Records Inc.

A few songs that is on loop pretty much everyday: Cameo lover, Good Intent, Settle Down and Plain Gold Ring.

Things that make her awesome.

1) Her music. She's got pretty amazing stuff going on. I love her poetic description and honesty. Her groovy tunes gets me up on my feet. I can't deny the fact that she got some creepy lyrics going on especially 'Settle Down' which may scare people with commitment issues but I love it. I love the crazy stuff she do. I read from the Vanda & Young website that she was announced as 2011 winner of the Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition. That is pretty impressive.

2) She is pretty good live. I checked out some of her live performances. I wouldn't say it is perfect but it is undoubtedly good. Check out some of her studio recordings. It is definitely mind blowing.



4) Her full band. I think one of the plus points is really her band. She is so awesome and her band is really bring her qualities way out. Those crazy harmonies and groove. I adore her drummer too. He impressed me too much.

5)By now you should have noticed her hand gesture. She got all sort of hand signs going on when she's really into the song which I find pretty interesting and attractive. I also love her little dance.

6) Her music videos. Oh my globe awesomeness. She just got all the best people with her.




It was announced today that she will be touring with Gotye (I love this dude very much too) in the states. Check out her website http://kimbramusic.com/   I'm so excited about all these promotions in the states. These amazing musicians needs to be heard. I'm really sick of all those trash on the radio. We need real music in our lives.

Top 10 Paramore Songs

 I'm an ardent fan of Paramore. I love all their songs but I have my favourites. Here's my top 10 Paramore songs! Not ranked though.

Paramore - Singles (2011)

1) In The Mourning



This song can be on the loop all day. Their best song yet.

2) Hello Cold World (2011)

Brand New Eyes (2009)

3)Misguided Ghost



4)The Only Exception



5)Ignorance

RIOT! (2007)

6) Fences



7) For A Pessimist I'm Pretty Optimistic



8)Misery Business

Twilight OST (2008)

9)Decode

All We Know Is Falling (2005)

10)We Are Broken



Leave a comment of your top 10 paramore songs!

Top 10 strange bands I love

Well not really strange i guess. I'm addicted to music that are different. Creating music that differs so much from what we call mainstream music. Justin bieber is definitely not in my list. Not that I hate him or anything, I think he is just to average to deserve so much attention.

The following are strange sound I love and feel that more people should hear of them.

1. Kimbra



She's one of those that draw me in with creepiness. Her music makes me move.

2. Toe



Here's a Japanese instrumental band. They makes music that touches my soul. The drums is simply sick.


3. The XX



Another sick band with soul. Their music makes me feel emo. Good for a rainy day.


5. Lykke Li



Her voice draws me in. Give me those grooves.

6.Rodrigo y Gabriela



If you're looking for some sick guitar skills. This is the band I love. Their music takes me to different places.

7. Peter Bjorn and John



Their sound brings me back to some strange land I don't know. It makes me feel good.

8. DeVotchka



This band drew me in with their soundtrack in Little Miss Sunshine. Their carefree music makes me feel alive.

9. The Temper Trap



Sweet sound that makes me feel like I'm in a trance.

10. The dead weather



Omg. You know when it grooves. When Jack White is there.

Of course there are more strange bands out there. There are still more that I love. Share with us your top 10 strange bands.

Little Miss Sunshine OST

Released: July 11, 2006
Genre: Soundtrack
Length: 46:31
Label: Lakeshore

This is the ost for Little Miss Sunshine movie. It is pretty amazing and  this is one of my all-time favourites movie soundtrack. I love the movie and a big part of it was that the music really brings out the fun in the movie. It is a fresh new way of presenting a film.I love the subtle storytelling through the sounds. It seems to be able to construct a story with the instruments. Devotchka is simply awesome sauce.

Take a listen

Tracklisting:

1. The Winner Is - Mychael Danna/DeVotchKa



2. Till The End Of Time - DeVotchKa



3. You Love Me (Remix) - DeVotchKa



4. First Push - Mychael Danna/DeVotchKa



5. No Man's Land - Sufjan Stevens



6. Let's Go - Mychael Danna/DeVotchKa



7. No One Gets Left Behind - Mychael Danna/DeVotchKa



8. Chicago - Sufjan Stevens



9. We're Gonna Make It - Mychael Danna/DeVotchKa



10. Do You Think There's a Heaven - Mychael Danna/DeVotchKa



11. Catwalkin' - Tony Tisdale



12. Superfreak (Rocca Sound Remix) - Rick James



13. La Llorona - DeVotchka



14. How It Ends - DeVotchka



I don't know about you but I love this soundtrack. Rating: 4/5