You are browsing the Blog for The Web.

← Previous Entries
Next Entries →

FRIED PORK – Watch: “The Pig Farmer” animated short by Nick Cross

January 25, 2011 in art, Global Destruction, Movies / Television, Politics, The Web, With Video

This morning we discovered the work of a Ottawa, Toronto, Canada-based cartoonist by the name of Nick Cross.  Since then, I’ve spent my day watching his various animated shorts and work-in-progress clips, sifting through his print work and reading his blog.  While finding employment through larger animation companies, Cross has managed to make the time to create quite a few gems of his own.  His personal work has been nominated for numerous awards; often transcending the animated world and infiltrating  larger independent film festivals world-wide.  For someone such as myself, who has a very limited vocabulary when it comes to this type of work, Cross seems to utilize a very “classic” style of cartoon illustration in the vein of the New Adventures of Mighty Mouse, Ren and Stimpy, and The Powerpuff Girls.  The dialogue is minimal, if present at all, and the artist is much more inclined to use silent era dialog cards, if anything, to “illustrate” his points.  Beyond the occasional foley sound-effect, the audio is mostly comprised of old stock music, which is used to set the tone and pace.  In other words, the actual animating and the detailed movements of the characters are relied on to relay the storyline and to move it forward.

The video that originally ignited our interest in Nick Cross was his latest animated piece, “The Pig Farmer” (posted below). Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
No Comments »

The Secret Formula to Making a Year End “BEST OF” Album List

January 4, 2011 in Global Destruction, Music, Reviews, The Web

By now you’ve probably checked out an end of the year list or two.  Whether it was the Top 10 or the Top 50 albums, you probably have some sort of opinion about all of these other opinions that people are throwing around like bunk flash grenades.  Do these “Best Of” lists really matter?  Probably not.  The problem that I see with them is the implication that whoever is making the list actually had the opportunity to hear every single release that came out within the year and, more importantly, that they actually had enough time to sit with each one and give it the appropriate attention necessary to to let the corresponding material unfold around them.  In some ways, it can create slight yet unnecessary pressures for both the artists and reviewers.  What is the purpose of these goddamn things, anyway?  I’d like to think that they ARE good for one thing; introducing you to some releases and/or artists that might have slipped past your radar throughout the year.  Other than that, they are pretty much bullshit.  Everyone has different opinions and, although I find value in hearing them and expressing my own, rating/comparing music with a number scale isn’t something that I find a whole lot of purpose in.  Of course that’s also my opinion and it might actually change in the future, but I doubt it.  Maybe it’s because I went to a liberal arts college, but I’ve always been more drawn to the concept of detailed evaluations than grading systems.  It’s true that a good ranking might also help push an act or artist further into the limelight… so… I get it…  Are they necessary?  I don’t know.  Are they expected?  Pretty much.  Still, this mandatory annual ritual of ranking one album over other, often completely incomparable, albums is starting to feel like a tedious and bothersome routine that may even be boring those who actually make them.  Basically, what I’m trying to say is that I have begun to recognize a fairly specific pattern on how many of these lists were constructed this year.  There seems to be a simple “go to” or default mode being used to churn these things out and I’d like to share with you the gist of what I’ve noticed.

Still need to make a best of 2010 list?
Here are a few rules to make it mindlessly simple for you: Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: , , , ,
No Comments »

WU-TANG Gives WU VS BEATLES Mixtape Official “special edition” Release

January 3, 2011 in Music, The Web

In recent years, the art of the mashup has continued to gain more and more prominence in the music world.  Actually, “art” is probably not the most accurate term to use, considering that it has reached a point of excess in which endless amateur Youtube “deejays” are willing to forcefully press together anything that they feel might get them even the slightest amount of attention.  Generally, it’s all about the gimmick and, unfortunately, there is far too often next to no focus on creating anything of substance.  Like I said, it’s all about quick attention and the sheer novelty of seeing if you can layer somethings like a Beyonce vocal over a track from The Man Machine (hmmm….not a bad idea).  If you think about it, the idea really isn’t all that original in the first place, because stacking tracks is the basic concept behind beat juggling and, although there are genuinely some really good tracks to come out of this genre, most of these mash ups just eliminate the requirement for any skills on the tables.  Another thing that has helped to over-saturate the mashup game is that a large percentage of the people creating these things prove to be one-notes.  If you want to hop in with something to grab attention and then step things up from there, that’s one thing, but if you have little more to deliver after that point, it’s pretty much like telling the same joke over and over again.

With all of this being said, it’s is definitely true that something will occasionally comes through that’s actually worthy of the attention. Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
No Comments »

Find The Thin White Duke: EMI re-releases Station to Station w/Scavenger Hunt

November 8, 2010 in Music, The Web

Today marks the highly anticipated re-release of David Bowie‘s classic 10th studio album, Station to Station.  When the original album was released in 1976, it represented a transitional period in Bowie‘s career, with the musical legend adopting his infamous persona of “The Thin White Duke” and incorporating electronic elements into moments of disco/funk and CAN-esque krautrock.  Beyond being hailed as a highly innovative and influential masterpiece, the album also gained notoriety for the controversial rumors and chaos surrounding it’s creator during that time period.  ’76 also brought the release of the Bowie-starring, The Man Who Fell to Earth (the Station to Station cover is a still from the movie), the abandoned soundtrack to that film, and claims that the artist was “burned out“.  Always one to internalize his characters and to invest himself fully into his projects, Bowie stepped out of The Man Who Fell to Earth with one foot still in his character of the tragic extraterrestrial, Thomas Jerome Newton, and straight into the strikingly distant, cold, and emotionless persona of The Thin White Duke.  Where the line between fiction and reality ends can often be hard to determine.  Along with the album’s inclusion of subject matter surrounding the occult, there were many tales of Bowie falling victim to psychotic paranoia and terror.  Furthermore, certain comments made during his period living as the stoic zombie-like “duke” brought on accusations of fascism being directed at the entertainer.  Bowie himself has admitted to drawing a blank, in regards to much of the Station to Station recording sessions, due in part to his ingestion of ridiculous amounts of cocaine.  Whatever the case, Station to Station is a success which continues to draw more and more recognition and garner more and more fans as time moves forward.

Today’s re-release offers more than just an opportunity for a whole new generation to discover the masterpiece for the first time.  EMI is offering two different special edition sets, each of which feature a Dolby 5.1 mix of the album and the incredibly sought after 1976 Nassau Coliseum show in it’s entirety.  The deluxe edition even includes 5cds, a DVD, 3 vinyl LPs and more.  To promote this release they’ve even created an internet-wide scavenger hunt with prizes, including the deluxe box set of Station to Station and the Virgin/EMI David Bowie catalog in full. Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
No Comments »

“The Rent Is Too DAMN High (Vol 1.)” : Jimmy McMillan releases an LP

November 1, 2010 in Music, Politics, Reviews, The Web, With Video

On October 18th, a, now infamous, televised debate was held for New York‘s 2010 Gubernatorial election.  Along with conservative Republican candidate, Carl Paladino, the current NY State Attorney general/Democratic nominee, Andrew Cuomo, and 4 others, there was one relatively unknown third-party candidate that managed to overshadow the other 6 and take the world by storm.  Looking like a cross between Rudy Ray Moore and Dr. Zaius, Jimmy McMillan used his pimp-style cadence to express the core positions of his “Rent Is 2 Damn High Party“, which include a pro-gay-marriage stance and, as would be expected, a belief that the rent in NY is “too damn high“.  Over the last 2 weeks, McMillan‘s stock has risen, as the footage from the debate has continued to spread across sites like Youtube and spring-board him to into full-on internet meme status.  In this relatively short period of time, the McMillan footage has been treated to the usual auto-tune remix treatments and SNL parody, while the man himself has received backlash, due to information suggesting that he doesn’t even pay rent on his own apartment, but rather provides maintenance services in exchange for his housing.  Now, the latest news surrounding the aspiring Governor involves another step towards celebrity status with the release of his very own full-length LP of poverty-inspired soul jams. Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
No Comments »

WOCKA WOCKA! : Baracka Flacka Flames – “Head of State” [Video]

October 22, 2010 in Comedy, Global Destruction, Politics, The Web, With Video

This morning I followed a facebook post of a tweet of a link that was originally a blog post by beat maker/producer Blockhead.  The post was on his blog Phat Friend and, since I never knew that the blog existed and since I instantly liked what I saw him doing with the site, I decided to browse around and scope out what else he had going on.  What I found was crazy as all get out and is something that I have a feeling will be everywhere by tomorrow.  In fact, as I type this, it’s already spreading like swine aids.

Beyond an embedded video, all that Blockhead‘s post said was “I just saw this and I really have no words.  Just watch“.  That’s probably all that needs to be said but, as anyone who has read any decent amount of content on this site knows, I always have words.  This time, however, I’ll leave them until after the video. Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1 Comment »

← Previous Entries
Next Entries →