BBG has moved! New site!

!!!!

Bumpbumpgrind has now moved to http://bumpbumpgrind.com.

!!!!

ocular-fetish: solar life raft medley

Music. from the album "Solar Life Raft" mixed by DJ /rupture & Matt Shadetek
Director. Sara Taigher
Illustrations. Maria Chiara Di Giorgio

static-admiration: sampa, brazil

ocular-fetish: summer in ottawa time-lapse

A time lapse video from my hometown by the talented people at NiWoTa Studios.

ocular-fetish: god went surfing with the devil

More information via the documentary's website.

ocular-fetish: my recent trip to Brazil

This video was created using clips filmed with a digital camera (Canon G10), so please excuse the quality.

The song is Ribbons by Four Tet, a fantastic electronic musician from the UK.

static-admiration: zoriah photojournalism

Here is a look at Cuba seen exclusively through reflective surfaces such as puddles, windows, windshields etc. These images have only been treated with standard darkroom techniques such as dodging and burning. No photoshop effects, filters or actions have been applied.
- via Zoriah

audible-approval: george reefah

My buddy Marco has been managing this guy for a while, and recently moved to New York with him to get some things going. George has been putting out some great stuff.

audible-approval / ocular-fetish: phoenix - musicvision

"MUSICVISION PHOENIX is twenty tracks that changed our lives", with Thomas Mars, Deck d'Arcy, Laurent Brancowitz, Christian Mazzalai, a film by Guillaume Delaperriere

ocular-fetish: duck sauce - anyway

A throwback to old disco from A-Trak and Armand Van Helden.

audible-approval: delorean

This past weekend, they appeared on Eristoff Internative's webcast-only festival. Performing inside a shimmering box of LED lights and video screens, they debuted two new songs, "Stay Close" and "As Time Breaks Off", as well as a rendition of EP standout "Seasun".
-via Pitchfork

static-admiration: jamey stillings

More via JameyStillings.com

static-admiration: an ancient society faces new change in Brazil

Audio visual presentation describes the impact of environmental and social change on the Kamayura natives of Brazil's rain-forest.

Available via nytimes.

audible-approval: girls "album"

Pitchfork just gave these boys a 9.1 for their new album "album".



More great gig videos at yourstru.ly

audible-approval: fashawn

This kid is 20 years old.

More via his twitter.

via yourstru.ly

ocular-fetish: dent may - oh, paris

audible-approval: gold panda

This is the video for Back Home from his Miyamae EP. The video is cut together from public domain footage.

Gold Panda has been opening up for Simian Mobile Disco this summer.

One of his better tracks here.

More Gold Panda via his myspace.

ocular-fetish: AEC facade visualization

AEC Facade Visualization from Claus Helfenschneider.

audible-approval / ocular-fetish: grizzly bear - while you wait for the others

audible-approval / ocular-fetish: holy ghost remake classic new order music video

Green Label Sound is a music label designed to showcase and empower independent artists.

True to early 80s New York City-style, the video for I Will Come Back is a remake to seminal British band New Orders Confusion.

Getting legendary producer Arthur Baker to reprise his role in the video was Holy Ghosts! biggest coup. "We were going to have James [Murphy] play the Arthur Baker character", says Nick Millhiser, one half of Holy Ghost!, "but one night we were out at a bar and we ran into Baker. Alex told him about the video, and Arthur said, I want to play myself. We couldnt really say no!" Also appearing in the video are Nancy Whang of The Juan Maclean and LCD Soundsystem as well as Drop The Lime.

"I will come back" by the Holy Ghost for free via Green Label Sound.

ocular-fetish: one year walk and beard time lapse

I'm leaving this weekend for a trip to Brazil for a couple of weeks, so I'm in a bit of traveling mood. This video struck a chord.

ocular-fetish: the film Dole Food Co. doesn't want you to see

Juan “Accidentes” Dominguez is on his biggest case ever. On behalf of twelve Nicaraguan banana workers he is tackling Dole Food in a ground-breaking legal battle for their use of a banned pesticide that was known by the company to cause sterility. Can he beat the giant, or will the corporation get away with it?

In the suspenseful documentary BANANAS!*, filmmaker Fredrik Gertten sheds new light on the global politics of food."

More via movie website.

But also, some devils advocate information via bnet.

audible-approval: ZÔL

Dirty french dance music. These guys apparently have a solid VJ gig.

local-nights: on stage with girl talk @ osheaga 09

Managed to get on stage for Girl Talk's set during Osheaga. Wasn't exactly able to keep the camera steady, but it still manages to give you an idea of the awesome energy that his show creates.

ocular-fetish: the mini adventures of nina

Jarbas Agnelli, a Brazilian artist and film maker, has created a handful of shorts showcasing his daughter Nina.

Episode 3: "Nina sees the future. And it's not pretty..."



More episodes and shorts by Jarbas via Vimeo.

local-nights: MTL = MEG + osheaga + picnic electronique

Montreal is the place to be this weekend.



Music: Data - One in a Million

audible-approval: kid cudi / kanye west / common - make her say

Edit: Universal has removed the ability to embed the entire video... sorry.

ocular-fetish: men walk on moon

Exactly forty years ago today, man walked on the moon for the first time.


Louis Vuitton has put together an interesting website capturing this moment in history. It includes a three camera interview with Buzz Aldrin, Jim Lovell, and Sally Ride.

Take a look here.

ocular-fetish: kuroshio sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world

Suggested viewing: full screen and with Vimeo HD set to "on".

A single single shot of the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Japan. Shot using the incredible Canon 5DMKII camera.

"The main tank called the 'Kuroshio Sea' holds 7,500-cubic meters (1,981,290 gallons) of water and features the world's second largest acrylic glass panel, measuring 8.2 meters by 22.5 meters with a thickness of 60 centimeters. Whale sharks and manta rays are kept amongst many other fish species in the main tank." - Jon Rawlinson

ocular-fetish: Tuvalu - a slideshow documenting the sinking islands

"With photography by Robin Hammond of Panos Pictures, this multimedia piece looks at the island nation of Tuvalu, as the Tuvaluan people become some of the first environmental refugees, a direct result of man-made climate change." - Panos Pictures

ocular-fetish: yes, africa can

President Obama visits Ghana on July 11th. It will mark his first visit to an African country as president of the U.S.



"ONE is a grassroots campaign and advocacy organization backed by more than 2 million people who are committed to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. Cofounded by Bono and other campaigners, ONE is nonpartisan and works closely with African policy makers and activists."

More via One

ocular-fetish: vans u.k. bmx team rip up france

Broken Social Scene provides the soundtrack.

ocular-fetish: wax stag 'and how' - impressive short film

Video by Clem Stamation.

"This video was commissioned using RadarMusicVideos. We specialise in unusual and eyecatching music videos and matchmake some of the best new and established director talent on the planet with budgets at all levels."

local-nights: phoenix - live in montreal

Phoenix in mtl. June 16th, 2009.

ocular-fetish: the cove

edit: old trailer has been removed and replaced with link to Apple's exclusive trailer.

ocular-fetish: deadline - post-it stop motion

"This is my senior project at Savannah College of Art and Design. Where my idea comes from is that every time when I am busy, I feel that I am not fighting with my works, I am fighting with those post-it notes and deadline. I manipulating the post-it notes to do pixel-like stop motion and there are some interactions between real actor and post-its."

ocular-fetish: 2009 webby awards

The Webby awards celebrates the best of the internet. Essentially, the Oscars of the web. The academy is an "intellectually diverse organization" that rewards excellence on the internet in a variety of categories including news, music, and comedy. It looks at a variety of aspects including usability, design, and innovation. The current 2009 winners have just been announced, and parts of the award show are available through Youtube.

Check out the winners and nominees here.

ocular-fetish: Eduardo Bertone

Much more via Eduardo Bertone's website.

ocular-fetish: erik johansson

More via alltelleringet.

ocular-fetish: plastiki project

Plastiki from Glenn McElhose on Vimeo.

"A couple weeks ago I had the privilege to visit David Rothschild’s Plastiki project happening at Pier 31 in San Francisco along with treehugger.com founder Graham Hill. We ran in to take a quick look at how things were underway and here’s what we shot on the spot real quick like. There’s a part 2 that I’ll post shortly, but here’s a quick, barely edited version of the tour - this is the rough cut. Enjoy - let me know what you think. I definitely would like to do an updated version later on to see where things are with the project - super inspiring as it is. More to come." - Glenn McElhose

ocular-fetish: interesting "entrepreneur" video

I've been on a bit of a "self-motivation" kick lately. Found this video somewhat inspiring. Pretty music at the very least.



Stolen from Dave Morin's blog.

ocular-fetish: animated interview with john lennon

"In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced him to do an interview...."



Thanks Murray.

ocular-fetish: animated interview with dali

ocular-fetish: ta-nehisi coates talks about bill cosby and black america

More about Ta-Nehisi here and via his blog.

audible-approval: king khan and the shrines

He's been kicking around for a while, but I just recently checked out one of his live gigs and had an absolute blast. James Brown vs Punk vs Circus.

People take music too seriously these days. I figure, if you can't dance to it - F it.

ocular-fetish: photojournalist brent stirton

Brent Stirton is a senior staff photographer for the assignment division of Getty Images, New York. He specializes in documentary work and is known for his alternative approaches. He travels an average of ten months of the year on assignment.


Brent Stirton and writer Mark Jenkins were responsible for unraveling the mystery at the root of the Virunga gorilla massacre. The photos that Brent shot in the Congo helped raise awareness around the world towards an issue that would've gone otherwise unnoticed. He is involved with a variety of humanitarian groups including The Global Fund, The Clinton Foundation, and The Nike Foundation.

Less interesting but still noteworthy; Brent was responsible for taking the pictures of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's first child together. He also helped to coordinate the profit from these photos be given to charity ($14 Million).



More about Brent via his website.

audible-approval: Nomadic Massive

Sad but true from Noé Sardet on Vimeo.

ocular-fetish: dancing building bricks

Obscura Digital has used 7 high power HD projectors in sync to perform a visual masterpiece on the side of the old mint building in San Fransisco.

This is the same company responsible for the light show at the Youtube Symphony last week.

ocular-fetish: naked wizard @ coachella gets tasered

This video makes me feel much better about not being able to attend Coachella.

Pretty funny. And pretty NSFW (video contains Naked Wizard nudity).


Naked Wizard Tased By Reality from Tracy Anderson on Vimeo.

ocular-fetish: moonrise over tallest island mountain in world

Breathtaking photo of a moonrise over Mauna Kea Hawaii, the tallest Island mountain in the world.


Click picture for larger version via National Geographic

ocular-fetish: fan created M83 music video

This is the winning entry for a fan music video contest for M83's "We own the sky".

Great song, fun video.

ocular-fetish: dark knight inspired short film - amazing

Incredible frozen scene short film. Hard to explain, amazing to watch.


Philips: Carousel from CCW - Lab on Vimeo.

Edit: Video went down. Fixed.

audible-approval: Phoenix release "Lisztomania" music vid

Phoenix release their first music video from upcoming (but already leaked) album "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" on Pitchfork. Features helium balloon, Ray Ban's, and 8mm footage.

ocular-fetish: "in a dream" trailer

A documentary about Philidelphia artist Isaiah Zagar, best known for creating stunning mosaics.

The Magic Garden, Zagar's largest South Street mural, is an indoor/outdoor maze of mosaics inlaid with various pieces of poetry. One line reads, "I built this sanctuary to be inhabited by my ideas and my fantasies." Another says, "Remember walking around in this work of fiction."

IN A DREAM: Theatrical Trailer from Herzliya Films on Vimeo.

More photos of his work via Flickr.

ocular-fetish: Green Porno Season 2

Green Porno is a short film series created by Isabella Rossellini. It explores the sex lives of animals and insects with a humorous, almost childlike approach. The first season concentrated on invertebrates, while the second features sea creatures.

Season 2 Promo


Green Porno Season 1 - Bees


Watch Season 2 via Sundance Channel

ocular-fetish: unfinished swan - creative video game

The Unfinished Swan is a first-person painting game set in an entirely white world. Players can splatter paint to help them find their way through an unusual obstacle course.

It could be described as puzzle meets art. It's nice to see originality in a market that is continually becoming saturated with repetitive content.

The game is still in development and no release plans have been announced.


The Unfinished Swan - Tech Demo from Ian Dallas on Vimeo.

local-nights: metric, bedouin soundclash, malajube

Metric has just released a new album and begin touring worldwide this summer. Last night I saw them perform with Bedouin Soundclash, and Malajube. All three bands put on a great performance. I went in knowing and having enjoyed these bands in the past, but not expecting too much. I came out really impressed by all three bands. Great energy and performances - great time.

Metric - Gimme Sympathy


Bedouin Soundclash - Until We Burn In The Sun


Malajube - Montreal -40°C

ocular-fetish: red bull music academy lecture series feat. ?uestlove, cut chemist

The Red Bull Music Academy is an event that is located in various cities across the globe, and which gives participants an opportunity to network and explore different genres and ideas (with an emphasis on spinning and club culture). The roughly 60 hand picked participants include vocalists, DJs, MCs, musicians, studio engineer, and producers. The academy also provides lectures with big names like Cut Chemist, Waajeed, ?uestlove, Arthur Baker, DJ Premier, Architecture In Helsinki, A-Trak, and Benga.

I recently discovered a bunch of these lectures on the RBMA website, some of them running as long as two hours. It's not for everyone, but if you're into some of the behind the scenes dirt and real gritty music history, this stuff's great.

I especially love this line from the ?uestlove bio...

"?uestlove is a Quincy Jones for our times: a living link between the digital science of modern hip hop and the flesh-and-blood textures of vintage r 'n' b."

Also, J.Dilla love all over the place from Waajeed and ?uestlove.



...more lectures here.

The Red Bull Music Academy 2010 starts accepting applicants in May. Find more information here.

ocular-fetish: never before seen beatles/stones pics circa 1960

A series of photos have been released of The Beatles and Rolling Stones during a 1960's U.S tour. They were taken by former tour manager Bob Bonis, and capture a major milestone for both bands. This was both bands' first American tours (1964-66), and just as they began having to cope with exponentially growing fame.

An interesting and candid look into the lives of these rock icons.

"The Beatles take a break from a magazine photo shoot in Bel Air, California "

Photos via The Telegraph (UK)

audible-approval: illinoize - sufjan/hiphop mashup

"Illinoize is a free remix tape put together by Montreal-based producer Tor, sampling songs from multi-instrumentalist and indie hero, Sufjan Stevens. Tracks are sampled from his 2005 LP Illinoise, as well as 3 of his other albums, 'A Sun Came', 'Seven Swans' and 'Songs for Christmas', blending Sufjan Steven's acoustic guitar, piano and horns with MC's Aesop Rock, Big Daddy Kane, Gift of Gab (Blackalicious), C.L. Smooth, Outkast, Brother Ali, and Grand Puba."

You don't have to be a fan of Sufjan Stevens to enjoy this mix. Some great lyrics over mellow beats. A quality mashup.

Listen and download (free) here.

Also, this ones a couple months late, but if you haven't listened to the Doom (formerly MF Doom) track "that's that", grab it here.

audible-approval: slum dog millionaire motivates snoop dogg to do dub-step track

Snoop Dogg was so impressed with the film Slumdog Millionaire's soundtrack that it inspired a track on his upcoming record "Malice In Wonderland". He has teamed up with Tanvi Shah (Oscar winner for Best Original Song, “Jai Ho”) to create "Snoop Dogg Millionaire".

This marks the first time that a major American artist has collaborated with the Dub-Step scene, known for its bass heavy, dark sound. Born out of the early 2000's in London, this genre seems to be ramping up and appearing more and more in mainstream settings.

Speaking of Dub-Step, I'm hitting up Konkrete Jungle tonight.

Snoop Dogg Millionaire direct download via Usershare

Post source via MVRemix

local-nights: bloc party dj set

I attended a Bloc Party DJ set that took place shortly after they finished playing to a sold out crowd on St.Patrick's day. The set featured Matt Tong and Russell Lissack taking turns playing some new but mainly older dance and electro tracks on a CDJ setup.

DJing has become a popular medium for bands to take in the last few years. I've seen DJ sets by Chromeo, The Rapture, and Andrew W.K. The quality of these sets vary greatly. Andrew W.K performs often at Studio B (NYC) where he has become some sort of resident DJ. I hate being a hater, but him (and his friend making random sounds into a mic) are absolute shit. On the other hand, Chromeo (specifically Dave 1) puts on a decent, high energy performance (but this makes sense considering your brother is superstar DJ a-trak).

One of the biggest challenges for new or unknown DJs is figuring out the world of promoting, how to score gigs, and finding a fan base. But most bands already have success in these areas, and using your bands rep to score gigs at clubs during a tour seems like a rather easy (maybe even effortless) transition. 

With all that being said, Bloc Party did an alright job. Not great - not amazing - just alright. Mixing was good, track selection - not so much. But I have to give them credit; finishing a live gig, and playing a 2 hour DJ set can't be an easy task. Especially when you're a novice DJ spinning right after a pro like three time DMC national champ Drastik.

Sometimes you should stick to what you do best. For Bloc Party, that's probably their post-punk rifts, live shows, and being known as the guys that came out with the epic tracks on Silent Alarm (unless you're into that whole Intimacy thing).

Photo credit: Emma Svensson via Rockfoto (for press)

ocular-fetish: vis-ed magazine vol.1

XLR8R has been pumping out some decent content for a while now. One of the things I believe they excel in is showcasing upcoming electronic and hip-hop talent. In many cases, the acts they feature tend to be just about ready to blow up and reach mass audiences. Proof: check out 2008's featured artists and compare it to this year’s line up at SXSW.

They have put together a new magazine called vis-ed which is a mash up of everything from graffiti, photography, industrial and graphic design.

It's quality, and completely FREE. Vol.1 here via Vis-ed.

Also worth mentioning is that this is Scion sponsored, which seems to be a company really getting its hands into music and the arts. Its a marketing/image thing, but I'm down for corporate sponsorship as long as it helps keep creative juices flowing (and free). If you're ever in the Hollywood area, make sure to check out one of the notorious Scion house parties. We're talking top DJs and 1000+ people going dance crazy on a Tuesday night. Epic.

what-what: coachella 09 promo - SUMMER

Two years ago I made plans with a friend to hit up Coachella 08 which never happened (meg/FAIL). Instead, I was hopeful that most of the headliners would make their way through various east coast festivals and concerts. This ended up being the case, with most of the main line making their way to Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, and NY state throughout the summer and fall. Still, I've only heard great things about Coachella and its definitely on my to-do list. The energy of the event is apparently unreal. If not this year, maybe 2010? Either way, this promo pumps you up... SUMMER!!!

P.S: Dear Osheaga, please announce your line up.

what-what: Daft Punk virtual "MPC"

Productivity killer. A kind-of virtual MPC with "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" sounds hooked up to your keyboard. So good. Don't know who Daft Punk are? Get the F off my website.

Check out idaft.

audible-approval: Back to 1994 with Outkast, Fugees, and Nas

I'm throwing up (sure - like barfing) some classics that all come from 1994. I won't lie, picking that year was completely arbitrary - there was very little thought put into it. Still, considering that it was the same year that Ace of Base came out with "The Sign", this could have turned out a lot worse...

I highly recommend the Outkast track...

Outkast - Player's Ball via Youtube

The Fugees - Nappy Heads via Youtube

Nas - It Ain't Hard To Tell via Youtube

"...back in the day, when I was kid, 

mp3 players were as big as your entire upper body. 

When you listened to music while jogging,

you had to lift weights at the sametime." 

- True Story

ocular-fetish: exploring vimeo

Vimeo is to video as Flickr is to photo. It's a video hosting website used by amateur and professional filmmakers to share and discuss their films. It provides a way to share films with a community of users that are more likely to appreciate the intricacies of filming. The user community is what makes the website unique, but the type of content is what separates it from Youtube.

Below are some shorts that are worth a look...


It's Your Ride from Cinecycle on Vimeo.


Voyage from Marco Aslan on Vimeo.


Shake your Shame Off! Get your Game On! from elsakawai on Vimeo.

what-what: how to be cool

Loving number 4 ... learn to speak European.

...appearing many places on the net, but this one via The Daily What.

what-what: photo planets

Not really sure how to describe this one. This guy (Alexandre Duret Lutz; what a name) cuts up and puts together a bunch of pictures to create these seamless planet photo things. Creative, pretty, and proof of having way too much time on your hands (or proof that I need to do something "better" with my free time).

Alexandre Duret-Lutz's planets via The Gaurdian and Flickr

what-what: japanese banana pastry = barf

A guy at work brought in banana custard filled choclate cake things from his recent trip to Japan. The packaging included one of those small packets you find in shoe boxes... I think to make them smell better... or keep your shoes fresh? Oh those crazy robot loving, DDR playing, sumo wrestling Japanese (how I love you). 

By the way, it tastes like poison.

ocular-fetish: justice produced poney poney + video

A while back, I remember hearing on Kissy Sell Out that Xavier from Justice was helping to produce at least part of a new album for the french band Poney Poney.

The first single and video has been released (as I found out while browsing Strictly Social). Decent song, pretty amusing video... very unconventional ...


(edit: original high quality video removed by user, youtube provided above)

... kind of resembles the approach that Roman Coppola took when directing "Funky Squaredance" for Phoenix (also a french band). The Phoenix one is better...



Also, did you hear about Polaroid's new "print and go camera"? So sick.

Poney Poney via Myspace

Phoenix via Myspace

audible-approval: XLR8R 2008 "best" mp3s

XLR8R posted their favourite MP3s of 2008 along with links to download them all (free). Some of the tracks are from artists with albums that made the "best of 08" lists of quiet a few music publications (M83, Hercules and the love affair, and The Kills). But the list also includes a fair amount of heavier, less mainstream tunes (some solid dubstep, electro, and remixes).

Special mention... Matty G - West Coast Rocks (The Glitch Mob Remix)

50 best mp3s of 2008 via XLR8R

what-what: 2008 in photos

A collection of noteworthy photos from 2008 by the nytimes. Covers most major world events (but excludes some pretty significant ones - riots in Athens).

2008 in Photos via nytimes.

what-what: Auditorium - a really good free flash game

Can't really explain this one... essentially a musical puzzle game with a fantastic soundtrack. Can't believe something this good can be this free. Definitely worth a look.

Play Auditorium free.

audible-approval: Proton + free mixtape...

I've been recommending these guys for a month or so. Their mixtape has replay value and has some pretty solid tracks all for a nice price of $0.00. Original and non-generic hiphop. Part of this new sound shared by the likes of kid cudi and the cool kids (sounds inspired by a post kanye world - whether they want to admit to it or not).

Proton mixtape (free) via Mediafire.

2009 blog rules

Posts will be categorized with section titles...

* audible-approval: musical stuff/shit i enjoy (cd, artist, band, dj, performer, noise)
* ocular-fetish: video links with no specific theme
* local-nights: event comments/reviews
* what-what: covers anything else


Also, I lose interest easily which is the reason for shorts bursts of posts followed by 2 month silences. I'm pretty sure I suffer from adult a.d.d. A 2009 resolution is to keep this shit going, no matter how bogus the content of new posts (be prepared for an increase of spelling/grammar mistakes and crappy material in general).

Happy 2009.