Honda has an interesting series of short documentaries, the first of which deals with Hondas bi-pedal robot, Asimo. Asimo is a prototype of what Honda intends to be a line of service robots that can assist humans with basic tasks around the house. The video isn’t *too* much more than a marketing video, but it’s interesting all the same. Especially if you’re unfamiliar with Asimo.
Monthly Archives: January 2010
L STUDIO – RIFT
A somewhat corny, quick (~10 minutes) little Twilight Zone-like episode about a scientist who maybe took things just a little too far. Let the black holes and dimension hopping begin!
In Chains – Dead Heart Bloom
I guess you would call this folk, but it has a dreamy, ethereal quality about it that transcends genres. It’s just good, relaxing music that will make you fell a bit better about the world. The third track, Halfway Gone, really reminds me of a song by the Beatles, but I can’t put my finger on which song. They’ve somehow invented what can only be called ‘ambient funk’. At any rate, all five tracks on the EP rock. This is definitely one of the best finds so far this year (even though we’re only one month in).
Gary Schlatter – Seascape by Night
Gary Schlatter is a talented photographer who shares a gallery of amazing work featuring some night-time shots that will take your breath away. Be sure to check out the rest of his gallery as well, there is some excellent work there.
Wixel – Clouds
Wixel dreamed up a project in which he would record an album a month; he followed through, bringing to life twelve albums of music (not all of which I’ve checked out at this point). His album from February 2009 stands out to me, with five tracks at just under thirty minutes. Each track is reminiscent of a certain aspect of atmospheric water vapor grouping; for instance, the first track, Cloud Formation, is a rambling and haunting ten-minute build that puts the evaporative process in sonic form. The second track, Rising Clouds, is a slow paced, smooth yet grating discord of sound that makes you feel as though your floating upwards into the sky. Track three is a disonant mish mash of ambient acoustic guitars backed with meandering sounds that tie it all together. Track four, In Clouds, is a fuzzy bit of static that drones on giving the impression that you’ve arrived in the middle of the cloud layer, about to break through into the sunlight at any moment. And when that moment comes, 3:26 later, you’re in a Fog Rainbow, a melancholic soundscape of cloud-like sounds with an atmospheric vibe.
Total Solar Eclipse 2009, Enewetak
Total Solar Eclipse 2009, Enewetak
Miroslav Druckmüller and his companions acheive some fantastic photographic results when it comes to photographing the suns corona during a solar eclipse. Using a technique called photo stacking, a series of images in which you would not see many details can be compiled into one image, bringing out the very faint objects that you wouldn’t normally see. Check out the rest of his site as well, there are many outstanding astronomy photos and tidbits of information to be found there.
Farbo – Far Beyond
Farbo is an artist through and through. His paintings and digital designs are colorful and psychedelic, and this carries over into his music as well. Starting out with a delightfully ethereal and haunting track called Insanity Arise, the release picks up the pace with the second track and takes you on a psychedelic electro journey that gets your heart pumping, but then slows you back down on the final track to let you off easy. I classify this release as progressive-electro.
gradient – seashore
Well, finally after two days of trying, I’ve managed to post this. Seems WordPress puked and died on me a few days ago, so I decided to go ahead and upgrade to the latest version but it required the database to be at 4.1 or higher and of course – it was at 4.0. Gotta love it.
So here is gradient, with a release titled seashore. Four tracks, totalling 23:15, of awesome deep house vibes. This release is so smooth, so calm and relaxing. If you liked cie – bonbon then this is another for your collection.
Technical difficulties
Sorry folks… if you had a membership here you’ll have to redo everything. At least until I figure how to move the member database. I had to create a whole new MySQL database, then import the old one into the new one… it’s a long story. At any rate, WordPress is fully upgraded now and I can get back to the business of bringing you music.
Hypnagog – Dreaming In Pieces EP
Hypnagog gives us a sweet little EP featuring four tracks of glitched out something or other that I can’t quite classify, but believe me – it scratches the techno itch like you wouldn’t believe. The first track, Still Dreaming, will have you bouncing all over the place with its sine-y synth work and dBlue style glitchy drums, followed by Funkdiddle, a house track with a soul that delivers funk straight into your brain. Track three, Tiny Little Pieces goes into a speculation on what its all about with a nice and airy, relaxing tune. I love Hypnagogs use of sinewaves, jumpy but calming at the same time. Track four, Reflections No. 2, starts out as a cinematic, orchestral audio experience that slowly introduces a great bassline and those awesome sinewaves again and almost giving off an 80’s industrial pop vibe. This EP is a great release for starting off the new year, check it out.