is great design inspiration with 250 album covers from the jazz age.
Eric Kohler, a graphic designer and album artist himself, has chosen some beautiful examples and wonders why graphic artists aren't more often considered great "artists" in their own right.
Interesting commentary about the artists accompanies the imagery.
Urban Funk Breaks Vol.3 is, hmmm... OK, I guess. Very electronica, ravey sort of stuff. OK to drown out the sound of silence in my office, but not much else.
Trip Do Brasil Vol.1 Compilation.
Pretty cool Latin Electronica. Nothing spectacular, but definitely worth a fiver at Fopp.
26 November, 2002 - BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LN. (Nearest tubes: Piccadilly Circus, Green Park)
Synthesising Reality
Synthesising reality showcases a rich and varied mix of artistic, commercial and academic projects which have been developed with real time 3d applications and visual simulation software.
This evening event at BAFTA on Tuesday 26th November starts at 6.30pm and is presented by NMK and BAFTA. The Creative Alchemy season is sponsored by Business Link for London.
A wide and eclectic range of virtual reality and real-time 3D projects will be exhibited alongside practical demonstrations of new technologies and software products interspersed with short presentations. This unique event will demonstrate how various types of 3D virtual environment software are increasingly being adapted for use in live performance, PC games, urban planning, industrial and aerospace product design testing and training simulations.
Sexuality is certainly a part of it as Tantra attempts to provide awareness of all aspects of life and focusses on the interdependence of experience. This means that both the male and female principles, in all their manifestations, are central to our cycle of existence and so both creation and destruction are explored in equal measure.
Says the Dalai Lama:
"Samsara, our conditioned existence in the perpetual cycle of habitual tendencies and nirvana - genuine freedom from such an existence - are nothing but different manifestations of a basic continuum. So this continuity of consciousness is always present. This is the meaning of tantra."
The Tantric Way by Ajit Mookerjee and Madhu Khanna is an academic view of the theory, history, art and ritual of Tantra, primarily the Hindu form.
Recommended.
Santana's follow-up to Supernatural has received rather a lot of criticism and when I first listened to it, I admit to have been somewhat disappointed. But now I find myself playing it over and over.
Santana's distinctive guitar underlays a variety of vocal styles and rather than pointing out the album's inconsistency, seems rather to pull it together. I love it.
"That's rank, dude"
"Gimme a hand here, guys"
"Not gonna happen"
Hilarious and even better in 3D than it was as a side-scroller. The Production values are fantastic, though it's really rather a shame it's an Xbox exclusive as I think it would have done really well on PS2.
Groove Armada's latest is pretty eclectic, from the Hendriks-inspired "Purple Haze" to the hiphoppy, Neenha Cherry vocalled "Groove is On", to the grrriindin' "Final Shakedown" and the soulful, chilled out "Hands of Time". "Remember" is classic down-beat, though a bit derivitive for my taste.
A good mix, though - very enjoyable...
Sublime's first album, 40oz to Freedom is such a classic and really shows their Long Beach roots. I figure they hung out in the Seal Beach reggae club (whose name I can't remember) when they weren't playing the barbeque circuit on the peninsula and Belmont Shore in the late 80s.
5446/Ball and Chain is such a great track.
Apparently they were responsible for the July 4th "riot" on the peninsula in 1988. The 4th used to be huge - maybe still is - 'cause you could sit on the peninsula and watch the fireworks across the bay over the Queen Mary. It was completely packed - wall to wall people and coolers, 'though normally that beach was pretty quiet.
I lived on the other side, facing the canal and so spent that 4th partying away from all the madness and never saw them. Figures...
The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Storytellers and Screenwriters was highly recommended when I was reading Joseph Cambell's Hero with a Thousand Faces . Using Campbell's Monomyth narrative structure, Christopher Vogler offers concrete advice for writers of stories and screenplays using examples from film blockbusters from American Graffitti to the Wizard of Oz. The second edition has been updated with references to such recent films as Titanic and The Full Monty.
The book offers excellent advice and easy techniques for adding structure and emotional depth to stories. Very highly recommended!
Classic Blow-Up from Blow-Up and Sanctuary Records. This is actually a solo voyage from Nasser Bouzida of Big Boss Man who wrote, performed and recorded all the material himself and very fab it is too. Da Boss Man plays bass guitar, bells, bongos (obviously), clavinet, congas, cowbells (moo), drums, farfisa, flute, guiro (huh?), guitar, organ, piano, synth, tambourine, timbales and vibes. Holy, flippin christ on a bike!
Now here's a guy I want to meet - Big Boss Man at the Metro just got even more appealling...
"Ricky!"
I don't know why, but I am completely obsessed with the goings on of these people. And if you don't want to be counting the fingers you haven't got, I suggest you don't be dissing Eastenders.
Latest episode was very exciting, even though I knew what was going to happen due to the bastard TV Soap Mags spilling the beans on their covers every week.
BBC One 4 days a week.