Interesting Graffiti.
I've been seeing some very interesting pieces lately. This first one is right around the corner from my place in Chicago. I pass by that very same spot almost everyday and it wasn't there the day before. Basquiat is my all-time favorite fine artist as you all are aware.
About a mile away is this one, another that popped up overnight. It's got that Bratz feel; that cute face with no nose look.
In Berlin, these posters caught my eye. A subversive dig at the hipster scene? Minimal backlash? These were plastered right next to Watergate a.k.a. minimal emo scenester central, so that could be a clue. You can be insulting somebody and still be design-forward. Love it.
This building is right next to Berlin Ostbahnhof, a.k.a. the big train station. What a nice message to start the day.
-AO :: 4:39 PM ::
End of Summer.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Well here we are in the time of year nothing gets done. All my European friends are on holiday. Work continues for me, though. To those who have asked when the trip-hop CD (which I am listening to now) is coming out, I'm shooting for November '07, although release schedules don't matter to me as much as they used to. Shit's finished when it's finished.
My electro project "Elektrofive" is out on vinyl with Keith Tucker, Ultradyne and Mauser on the remixes! Listen and buy direct at:
www.generatormusic.com.
I've been talking with Terrence Dixon about doing something together. I wanna do something really avant-garde.
"From The Far Future" was one of my all-time favorite electronic albums.
And have you checked out
Pure Sonik Radio? All-new unreleased tracks and hosted by me. If you ever wondered what my speaking voice sounds like, now's your chance.
The Mexico City gig has been rescheduled for 15 September. Which makes the below gig in Berlin my last official gig of the best, most productive summer I've had in four or five years.
I thank everyone in Chicago and Berlin, as well as all the promoters who booked me in the USA, that had a hand in my summer being so great.
I'm not one to pub other blogs (especially when they have nothing to do with me!), but a new one has been launched that features interviews with Detroit artists. With all the fakeness out there these days, this blog sets the record straight.
Read for yourself.
-AO :: 1:11 PM ::
More Than Meets The Eye.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Saw "Transformers" the other night. ROCKED. Over $100 million in its opening weekend alone, and over $300 million to date, so all you
Michael Bay haters can fall back.
Plot was cool, but got a little murky with the All-Spark and the Cube and the whosis and the whatsis. But the shit's based on toys, what do I expect? Random elements of "Predator," "T2," "Aliens," and "Independence Day" were scattered throughout. Military scenes were shot right out of the Tony Scott/Jerry Bruckheimer Visual Playbook⢠(see: "Crimson Tide,""Top Gun," and Bay's own "Pearl Harbor").
CGI was the best I've seen yet, up there with "Minority Report." (You know the CGI in the "Star Wars" prequels were bunk, admit it.) They really made you care about the Autobots (well, Optimus and Bumblebee) as characters. Hopefully, you're not too precious about the original cartoon. They upgraded and redesigned the characters since the old days.
Humor bits were a little overly done. Now I know what people were talking about in "Spidey 3" where Peter Parker was struttin' down the street like Tony Manero. Shia was good, though. He's a star after this movie, you realize this. Megan Fox was good, too. Wonder Woman all day long. Casting people take note (like casting people read my dumb blog).
A part I did like was how they explained exactly how the Transformers worked, and how any Earth-made machine could become a Transformer if the All-Spark fell into Megatron's hands.
The movie explodes in the third act, when the full-on Heavy Metal 'Bot War erupts in the streets of downtown L.A. and through the magic of editing, Detroit (right down the street from where I used to work!!!!). CGI was off the hook in this sequence. You really felt that all this metal was coming down on you. There was a bit where Starscream was fighting the Air Force over L.A. that was the SHIT!
(Now that we know they can do Veritech fighters that can transform in midair, where's the MACROSS movie?????)
They stuck the ending on just the right note for a summer movie, unlike the horrendous downer that was "Superman Returns." Yeah, I know that was last year, but I'm never going to get over them wrecking the franchise.
In fact, they should just give the next Superman movie to Michael Bay. He'd give it a much-needed transfusion of action and testosterone.
As for "Transformers," it's well worth full price, on the big screen in THX sound. See it now. Don't wait for DVD!
Transform and roll out!
-AO :: 7:21 PM ::
