Vibe Monitor

AIR – Le Voyage Dans La Lune, new album previewed.

air album cover Le Voyage dans le lune

Listen to the full album here ahead of tomorrow’s release.

Watch a clip from the movie here.

‘Le Voyage Dans La Lune’ (A Trip To The Moon) is a classic black & white silent film by revered French director Georges Méliès.

Released in 1902, this legendary 16-minute film is widely considered one of the most important works in film history, and the very first to use science fiction as its theme, incorporating special effects that were very state-of-the-art at the turn of the 19th century. It was loosely based on two popular novels of the time: Jules Verne’s ‘From the Earth to the Moon’ and H. G. Wells ‘The First Men In The Moon’.

A hand-coloured print, the only one known to survive, was rediscovered in 1993 by the Filmoteca de Catalunya. It was in a state of almost total decomposition, and many years of painstaking, manual restoration took place until 2010, when digital technology finally came to the rescue. Following another year at the Technicolor Lab of Los Angeles, it was finally ready to share with the world. Eager to put a contemporary spin on this classic silent film, the producers decided to approach AIR’s Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel, to compose an original modern soundtrack, an enormous honour for French musicians, considering the film’s place in the canon of French cinema.

Spurred on by their work on this short movie, AIR decided to develop the project into a full album inspired by the film. Expanding the original musical themes beyond cinematic instrumentals, the album also features the vocal talents and lyrics of Au Revoir Simone and Victoria Legrand (Beach House). The band’s lunar fascinations have been evident since the beginning of their career with the release of the seminal 1998 classic Moon Safari. Now in 2012 Nicolas and JB have returned to explore the further regions of their very unique musical “space.” From en.aircheology.com.

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A Tour of The Northern Quarter – Part 2

vintage type writer keyThe weather’s sh*t but the clothes are fantastic!

Manchester would be perfect if it was just a little closer to the equator. The second part of my tour of the Northern Quarter looks at the wonders hidden between the boutiques and the bars.

metal bird sculpture
The light in Manchester can be really stubborn. This picture was unusable until I started experimenting. It’s amazing how much information can be extracted from the pictures we delete. This one went through iPhoto and Photoshop and I was surprised at what came out. These metal birds are just round the corner from my apartment. Everywhere you look in the Northern Quarter there are tiles or sculptures, murals and installations. The streets are paved with poetry! You can read Lemn Sissay as you walk up Tib Street.

Where home
truths trickle
home and confide
where the silent
forests brood

We even had a Banksy which was lovingly painted over by the City Council.

wall tile mural tib street

This mural was right outside my lounge window for years, and it was only when I took this picture that I noticed how rich it is, detailing the history of the neighbourhood.

Tib Street terracotta parrots
These terracotta parrots, loyal to Manchester, can be seen roosting above the flickering neon of Matt & Phred’s jazz bar.

Read A Tour of the Northern Quarter – Part 1 here.

A Tour of The Northern Quarter – Part 3

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A Tour of the Northern Quarter – Part 1

Northern Flower shop digital painting the vibes

Vintage type writer keyIt’s a mecca for DJs and clubbers, artists and fashionistas. Manchester’s funky town features vintage clothing, specialist record shops and art galleries. The Northern Quarter has a rich history boasting Italianate architecture and the first cotton mill. These days it’s all street art and café culture. Bohemian, or ‘vibrant’ as an estate agent might tell you as he shows you round a loft apartment, but you try getting some sleep at night…!

tiled wall art

These are the tiles of Tib Street, the details echoing the famous pet shops which stretched from Market Street to Swan Street.

Read A Tour of the Northern Quarter Part 2 here.

A Tour of The Northern Quarter – Part 3

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Cosmic Jukebox

Exclusive! The Flaming Lips remixed.

It Overtakes Me The Flaming Lips Slow Lane mix CoverIt Overtakes Me – The Flaming lips (Slow Lane Mix)

It’s a huge cosmic sigh, the sound of a man staring into space trying to make sense of it all, and also the sound of me in the bath (stop laughing please, this is serious) imagining new layers to a stark track which needed some starlight. Originally the second half of the single It Overtakes Me, which you may remember from the famous beer commercial (Beck’s 4-Step), The Stars are so Big…I am so Small…Do I Stand a Chance? was the celestial second act which contrasted so much with it’s brother. I took the acoustic guitar from the end and built the whole track around it, taking samples of vocal and making them echo in the style of 10cc’s I’m Not in Love. I also played the flute over most of the song, resulting in richer, warmer layers of sound. As far as I know, I’m the only person to remix this track.

Taken from The Cosmic Jukebox, my remixes, mashups and original music.

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Make me Beauty Fool

photoshopped model

This video by Jesse Rosten really kicks the beauty industry in the rubber parts, spelling it out in plain old pixels. With the right software you can digitally revise just about anything. It seems to be quite a serious issue, giving people impossible standards of beauty, but when you get to ‘adjust your race’ you really start to worry. I’d just like to say I’ve never used Photoshop – sorry Fotoshop to make anyone look better. But I might have used it to make them look worse!
 
Pause the video at 1:00 to compare the model with the image above, which I Photoshopped heavily. Couldn’t resist it. Sorry.

http://jesserosten.com/

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