AZM partner in crime Nick just posted about this documentary and I just wanted to spread the word. Filmed in Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Tijuana, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Hamburg, Berlin, Cape Town, São Paulo, and Tokyo Bomb It! examines modern day graffiti culture and its world wide influence.

Here’s how I look at graffiti. For people who can’t afford access to computers or don’t have the money for fancy art colleges or can’t get art galleries or publishers to take their work seriously graffiti is sometimes the only way to get their work seen. And even though galleries are starting to take a serious look at street art, there are still so many talented artists that will never break in to that scene. Besides, our public spaces could use some art. Our cities are clutter with advertisements that destroy the aesthetics of our public spaces. I’d much rather see a great big burner up on a wall or nothing at all rather than some ugly fucking billboard advertising perfume. Bridges and underpasses are ugly as shit. They could use some decent color. And a train with a great piece of art is so much better than a train plastered with ads for the CW. I look at graffiti as a means to fight against the encroachment of ugly advertising in our public spaces.

You can purchase Bomb It on iTunes, grab the DVD and a poster by Shepard Fairey, or possibly catch a screening if they’re in a town near you.

And here’s the very busty DJ Lady Tribe talking about her early days as a graffiti artist.

[Via Bomb It The Movie found via Dead of Summer]

Share This

Quite tasty. This is the Iiro Rantala New Trio performing “Shit Catapult.” I think they’re Finnish. At least the pianist is Finnish. That’s Iiro Rantala on piano, Marzi Nyman on guitar, and Felix Zenger on beatbox. At 0:19, I’ve never heard a guitar make those sounds before! Awesome! I’m impressed at how well the instruments play with each other. The beatbox is a nice change from your typical Jazz kit. Moar pleeze!!

Share This

They gotta play this at the convention sometime next week! Rick Astley FTW!!

[Via The Margins of Error]

Share This

Need some tasty jams to make it through the work day but are sick of the useless schlock polluting the U.S. airwaves? AZM Ally DJ Mike Dent to the rescue! Take a break from the norm and plug into some of the best J-music to rock the rest of the summer.

[Via R5 Central]

Share This

Angry Zen Minion Henry Pootie Chang Pham helped me start my day with this clip of UC Berkeley’s DeCadence performing the theme to “Mortal Kombat” as two shirtless dudes train in Central Park. Strangely, this was more entertaining than the second movie or that TV series they did.

Share This

When last we left the Greatest Online Dance Battle in the History of Mankind, the ACDC crew challenged the M&M crew to a live battle. The two crews met last week live at the Teen Choice Awards. And I’m sad to report, the ACDC crew fell to the M&M crew. Personally, I thought ACDC danced much better. Their performance was much more captivating and energetic. I kind of feel the deck was stacked against them. First, Miley Cirus hosted the show. Home team advantage like a mother fucker. Second, the M&M crew brought out LL Cool J! He didn’t dance, but it’s hard to vote against Rocking the Bells. They’re bells. They must be fucking ROCKED!

In the end, everyone left as friends. That’s what battles are all about. Battles challenge you to perform your absolute best so no matter who comes out on top, both parties win. That’s what Super Art Fight is all about. We don’t really care who wins when all is said and done. We want to put on a great show and push ourselves to our limits.

Thanks to ACDC and M&M for showing us just how fun the battle can be.

Share This

Henny from Tha Bizness demonstrates BeatMaker, an iPhone and iTouch sequencer that allows you to upload your own samples, assign them to pads, and crank out some tasty jams on the go. It’s got a 3-band EQ, bit-crusher, quantizer, along with live pattern recording all for $20.

This is perfect for those times when random inspiration hits you full in the face and you’re no where near a computer. Kinda makes me want to get back into tracking and jamming. Dammit! iPhone, why must you temp me so!! Wonder if there’s something similar for the DS.

[Via Tha Bizness]

Share This

The Buffy episode “Once More, with Feeling” gave fandom its first look at Joss Whedon’s inner Stephen Sondheim. Since then, we’ve been waiting for him to unleash his fully armed and operational choreographed song and dance chi! When the writers went on strike, the time was ripe. Whedon set to work in the dark Mutant Enemy basement devising an ultimate plan. This week, the plan was unveiled!

Enter Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog!

Witness Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible, a failed super villain trying to prove his evil genius to the league and work up the nerve to talk to the love of his life. Pine after Felicia Day as Penny, the object of Dr. Horrible’s affections who eagerly hopes to save the poor and hungry of the world. Guffaw at Nate Fillion as Captain Hammer, nemesis of Dr. Horrible whose might is surpassed only by his smarmy smirk. It’s got action, romance, and singing!

Acts I and II are up for free right now at the site. The final act airs on Saturday. They’ll stay up for free until Sunday night. Then, they will vanish. Not really. You’ll be able to purchase all three acts for download when they’re all ready. And I imagine there will be a big honking DVD sometime after that.

This is pretty freaking awesome. A few people tried to link me earlier in the week, but it was so popular, the site was wanged. It now seems to be working so head on over there and catch the first two acts. Seriously, this is absolutely awesome! I hope Joss makes a habit of this because I want more. Thanks to the readers who sent me the link (William Schwartz, Charm City Shinobi, and Jeff Haut).

UPDATE: You can download from iTunes now! Hooray! $3.99 gets you a season pass which means you get all current and future episodes. So you’ll get Acts I and II with III downloaded when it becomes available. I predict much money for Joss and crew. Thanks Greg.

[Via Dr. Horrible]

Share This

Here at AZM, we like to wear pants. We use our pants as an expression of how awesome a thing can be. It seems we are not alone.

Mikey D sent along this link for Songs To Wear Pants To, an awesome concept where Andrew will make a song based on user suggestions. New songs can be downloaded for free for one week after they’re released and can then be purchased for 99 cents. You can also commission Andrew to write you your very own awesome song.

I’m really loving “Never Been in Love.” It sounds a lot like what might be going through Wall-E’s head as he pines for Eve. Very cute and awesome. Overall, Andrew’s jams are pretty catchy and would make perfect iPod selections for your commute and work day.

Oh, and I’ve never pimped it before, but if you’re looking for more funny music, check out The Funny Music Project created in part by my Erfworld cohort, Rob “Freaking” Balder.

Between the FUMP and the Pants, you should have enough tasty jams to keep you rocking for a good while. Enjoy!

[Via Songs To Wear Pants To]

Share This

First, direct your browser to http://code.google.com/creative/radiohead/viewer.html. I’ll wait.

Back? Wasn’t that FREAKING AWESOME?!

Apparently, you can download the data and create your own visualizations. If you create something cool, you can send it along to the band. They’d love to see what you can come up with.

Here’s a making-of video.

I can’t think of a better band to try this kind of visualization.

And finally, here’s the music video once again. I couldn’t figure out how to stop it from auto-playing so I stuck it behind a cut. Enjoy!

(more…)

Share This