one hundredth monkey

observing the world from afar

Posts Tagged music

da vinci

Mar 31

Posted by shawndagan in art/design, audio, music, stuff | No Comments

Much like the world of espresso, the world of audiophiles is thought to be rather niche and arbitrarily expensive. Well I’ll tell you right now that audiophiles blow espresso lovers out of the water when it comes to expense. “You have to pay to be refined!”, should be the motto of Da Vinci, the company behind products such as this turntable. What’s the big deal? Well, in the world of turntables vibration is your enemy and apparently this turntable (the UniSon MK II) has conquered it. What are you expected to pay for this champion of the stable? A cool $27,800 please. Found via Gizmodo.

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plastic beach

Mar 18

Posted by shawndagan in audio, music, video | No Comments

Gorillaz has finally come out with the new album “Plastic Beach” and it seems to be well worth the wait. I’ve always been a fan of the music, but what really sets their music apart from the rest is their inclusion of animated band members. This is especially effective in their new music videos, that are simply amazing. I would be telling you to go ahead and view the movie below at this point, but guess what? The don’t allow you to embed their videos and you have to go here to view them… As my friend Charlie said recently, “I remember a time when the internet was awesome.” Too true, too true. To get a better perspective on the subject of how music labels are getting in their own way, check out my post on OK Go who recently dumped their label EMI. Go here to check out the album.

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this too shall pass

Mar 4

Posted by shawndagan in Indie, audio, music, video | No Comments

Ok, I know that I’ve already posted a video of OK Go recently, and hell, I’ve even posted a video for this very song… but this was just too good to pass up. I especially dig the marbles on brio, oh the memories.

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broken bells

Feb 25

Posted by shawndagan in audio, music | No Comments

Just wanted to give you guys the heads up on the next big thing… ya, you’ve probably already heard about it. The prolific Danger Mouse is collaborating with the Shin’s James Mercer for a new album. What happens when you combine two artists that you really like? Apparently good things. Go check it out here. The album comes out on March 9th.

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of montreal

Jan 29

Posted by shawndagan in Indie, audio, music, video | No Comments

I’m pretty sure that almost all of you have heard this song by now, as it has definitely made the rounds (even, shudder, on an Outback Steakhouse commercial). But not many of you have probably had the pleasure of experiencing the music video that went along with it. If that’s the case, you should remedy the situation by hitting play on the movie after the break.

Read the rest of this entry »

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vampire weekend

Jan 27

Posted by shawndagan in Indie, audio, music, video | No Comments

Here’s a fun video from the band Vampire Weekend featuring the song Cousins from their newly minted Sophmore album Contra. Great song with lots of energy. As my friend once said “they’re a college band”, and I love ‘em for it.

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ok go

Jan 21

Posted by shawndagan in Indie, audio, commentary, music, video | No Comments

To say that the music industry is in a state of flux would be like saying people shouldn’t talk on headsets while in line at the coffee shop, it’s an obvious problem without an obvious solution. Well, the band OK Go aren’t offering any solutions but the frontman Damien has given an open letter to their fans that sheds some light on the problems, outlining why a band that can pin it’s widescale success to a music video that went viral (yep, the one where they’re dancing on treadmills), can’t get their record company to allow websites to embed their new music videos on youtube. It’s a well crafted letter, that plainly outlines the problem while still being entertaining. So go check it out here on Gizmodo. Otherwise, check out one of their other new videos embedded below. It’s pretty rad too.

OK Go – This Too Shall Pass from OK Go on Vimeo.

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rachel

Jan 10

Posted by shawndagan in art, artists, audio, music, painting | No Comments

Rachel Blumberg has an incredible talent to convey a mood and completely tell a story with a single painting. Though she splits her time between being a drummer for bands like M. Ward and Norfolk and Western, she still somehow has enough time to create these amazing paintings. Go figure.

lonely girl and trumpeter1piano and red bench742man&woman116whitedogandcrow002

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empire of the sun

Jan 7

Posted by shawndagan in Indie, audio, music, video | No Comments

I came across Empire of the Sun some time ago, and though I’ve played their songs over and over again I haven’t gotten tired of their music. Hooks are aplenty in their first album with a sound reminiscent of MGMT. I don’t know, the music just makes me happy. And they are crazy asses. Just watch the video if you don’t believe me. Also, check out their other videos here. As well as the Walking on a Dream below, Standing on the Shore and We Are the People are favorites.

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la blogotheque

Dec 14

Posted by shawndagan in Indie, audio, music, video, websites | No Comments

This is probably one of my favorite sites on the entire internet. It’s so good that I consciously don’t visit it for a certain amount of time, letting it store up material for me to submerge myself in when the time is right. It’s essentially a group of french people that track down some of the best bands in the world, and make videos of them doing a concert wherever they happen to be. Walking down the street in Paris, hanging out in front of a church in San Francisco, crowded on a metro train, these concerts give you an amazing feeling of the surreal that makes you appreciate the special in life and immediately grab the nearest instrument even if you don’t know how to play it (maybe especially if you don’t know how). Some of my favorites include Noah and the Whale playing on the train, Andrew Bird in a room with St. Vincent, and Patrick Watson strolling down the avenue using everything in sight as an instrument. I’ve included Phoenix doing their thing in front of the Eiffel tower and a newly married couple here. Enjoy.

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