Our sites of the week:
My Parents Were Awesome
A photographic reminder that your parents were probably the hipsters of their day.
http://myparentswereawesome.tumblr.com
Be a Doll
Do you know someone who deserves an action figure made in their image? That would make an amazing present.
http://www.be-a-doll.com
Incredibox
Arrange a tune made from human beatbox samples on this hypnotic flash website.
http://www.incredibox.fr/
The UK’s creative industries and artists have been discussing file-sharing in public recently. Ever since business secretary Lord Mandelson outlined his plan to bring in legislation similar to the Eircom/IRMA agreement here to boot off file-sharers after three warnings, musicians have been writing letters and blog posts about the issue. The problem though is that no-one can agree on anything.
As part of the FAC (Featured Artists Coalition), a team of musicians including Billy Bragg, Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason and Blur’s Dave Rowntree have criticised Mandelson’s plans with Mason quoted as saying “The last thing we want to be doing is going to war with our fanbase. File-sharing means a new generation of fans for us”.
As pointed out though by Lily Allen on her myspace blog , that’s all well and good for established artists like Pink Floyd, Radiohead and Blur but what about emerging artists? Allen’s thoughts are perhaps more realistic as they reflect a more recent successful artist who knows she’s lucky to have paid off her record company advance. Ms. Allen also quite rightly reasons that as record company bosses “start to lose big from piracy, they’re not slashing their salaries – they’re pulling what they invest in A&R,” meaning less room for development and less room for new acts. Her blog sparked replies from both Matt Bellamy of Muse and James Blunt, neither who agreed with her point of view entirely. Allen has since set up a blog at http://idontwanttochangetheworld.blogspot.com to post her fellow artists reactions to her post (which she’s now deleted due to insulting comments). (more…)
Daft Punk – DJ Hero
After the success of Guitar Hero, it was inevitable we’d get more variations on the theme. Daft Punk contribute to this new franchise. Watch the impressive trailer.
Tuts My Barreh
“I want you to caress me like a tropical priest”. Unfortunately misheard lyrics to Mariah Carey’s ‘Touch My Body’ writ large in the karaoke booth. A Youtube classic.
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Cheese or Font
A quiz that proves the world of typography design is very close to the world of cheesemaking in its naming conventions. Is it a cheese or a font? You decide.
http://cheeseorfont.mogrify.org
Elena Kalis photography
Stunning underwater photography from a Bahamas-based mother whose work is akin to Alice in Wonderland Underwater.
http://www.elenakalisphoto.com
My First Fail
It used to be about taking the baby’s first photo. In this modern internet age, it’s all about recording their first fail.
http://myfirstfail.com
Apache Beat
Not to be confused with the sample that birthed hip-hop, this Brookyln quintet who release their debut in early 2010 are sure to grab ears based on their music but it can’t hinder them that their friends are members of Chairlift, The Rapture and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
http://www.myspace.com/apachebeat
New Chromeo
Under-rated ’80s-inspired electro duo return with ‘Night by Night’, an unashamed cousin to ‘Eye of the Tiger’ with vocoders.
http://short.ie/chromeo
Thom Yorke releases 12”
The Radiohead frontman released a new 12″ on Monday featuring two new songs ‘Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses’ and ‘The Hollow Earth’. For superfans only.
http://short.ie/thom12
Washed Out
Sunny day retro electronica from South Carolina’s Ernest Greene. Seek out the Life of Leisure EP in digital format.
http://www.myspace.com/thebabeinthewoods
The 15 weirdest music videos of all time
A pretty comprehensive list of the strangest music videos ever to grace screens.
http://short.ie/weirdvidz
Nerd President
While Obama’s healthcare reform plan might not be going so well, this photo ensures the support of thousands of sci-fi geeks.
http://short.ie/nerdprez
Divorce Cakes
A collection of rarely-celebrated marriage breakups in cake form.
http://short.ie/divorcecakes
On Sunday, Kanye West once again showed the world his douchebag credentials. If you haven’t heard by now (or seen it), here’s what happened. At Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards in New York, Kanye stormed the stage during a delighted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for “Best Female”. He grabbed the microphone from her hands and proceeded to tell the assembled that Beyoncé should have won instead. Cue disbelief, boos, a heartbroken Ms. Swift and Beyoncé looking morto.
Mr. West has a prior history of doing things like this. At 2006′s European VMAs he pulled a similar stunt to protest Justice vs Simian’s Video of the Year win. We all remember his infamous “George Bush hates black people” outburst on live TV or how about his “ I’m typing so hard I might break my fucking Macbook Air!” reply to fans’ disgruntlement at a delayed show.
While Kanye has already issued an apology and appeared on Leno to apologise, naturally the internet is doing what it does best responding and creating video memes of the incident.
Many of the musicians and celebs present at the awards took to Twitter to react with Katy Perry tweeting “F**k you Kanye. It’s like you stepped on a kitten.” Popular Twitter user Graham Linehan and his followers rechristened him Kant and generally people called him self-centered and childish as expected.
The best thing to come out of this though, is the start of an internet meme beginning with the brilliant short video of Obama’s recent healthcare speech being interrupted by the same Kanye diatribe. Something tells me by the time you read this, “Kanye interrupts” could be the next Keyboard Cat viral sensation.
The best of the Kanye interrupts virals after the jump: (more…)
What happens when teleprompters go bad
A deleted full-stop causes a BBC News presenter to say something very weird.
Thundercats fan movie trailer
Innovative and amazing fan-made trailer for a movie that doesn’t exist which utilises scenes from dozens of other movies like Garfield, Planet of the Apes, The Mummy, Troy and 26 others.
The most nonsensical thing you’ll watch this all year
This confusing short clip features baby lasers fired from the crotch, gay wrestlers as automobiles, road rage and lots of other weird cartoon stuff. If you can figure out what’s going on it’s probably not safe for work. More info.
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