Archive for the ‘Media + Culture + Music’ Category
The Best Camera: Photography For All
I had the sincere pleasure of meeting photographer Chase Jarvis the other night and had a very interesting talk about the ability of social media tools to democratize art, making it more accessible to all and encouraging everyone to explore their creativity. He recently authored The Best Camera is the One That’s With You, and from it has come a website and iPhone app that lets users shoot, edit and publish their images. The concept is cool, and although I’ve had my qualms about phone cameras, I’ve got to say that I like it a whole lot more than I expected. So here’s my first photo.You can check out other user submitted photos as TheBestCamera.com.
The more sites like The Best Camera that can encourage creativity in the world, the better…
Summer Sounds: Céu
Just discovered the fantastic Brazilian singer Céu. Perfect music for a summer afternoon. Learn more about her here.
Scandinavian Electronica: Röyksopp
One of my favorite electronica groups, Röyskopp, who hails from Norway, recently released their new album Junior. This live version of “The Girl and the Robot” features Swedish singer Robyn. Definitely dig it!
Other excellent songs from the album include “It’s What I Want” and “Happy Up Here” (in the video above). Check out Röyksopp’s main page here.
French Flavor: Camille
Camille is one of my favorite French pop singers; love this video for her song Ta Douleur on the album Le Fil. Her latest album, Le Sac Des Filles, is another excellent collection, perfect for warm spring afternoons. Or for dreaming about being in France with a good cafe au lait…
Current beats: Pacifika
Sweet Peruvian sounds and Latin beats inspired by a bit of flamenco mixed with electronica from Vancouver-based Pacifika. Love it!
New Carla Bruni out today (in France at least)
Today marks the release of French First Lady, Carla Bruni’s third CD. Some are skeptical of the ex-supermodel turned politician’s wife’s artistic abilities, but I happened to be won over by her first CD Quelqu’un m’a dit. On top of it — even though I hate to admit it — I just can’t get enough of Bruni-Sarkozy gossip. I write about it frequently over at Gadling (this article for example).
I am therefore a little bitter about not being able to get Comme si de rien n’etait in the US yet… (American release date is set for July 22). But it’s on the list of things to look forward to.
Vanessa da Mata: Good summer music
In order to keep up with my French, I’ve started streaming France Inter, which is a pretty good blend of world news, political analysis and music from around the globe. This is how I came across Vanessa da Mata, a Brazilian pop artist. Her music falls into the Música Popular Brasileira genre, which is Bossa Nova-esque and perfect for summer afternoons spent on the patio. Give her super popular song “Ai Ai Ai” a listen here.
More French electronica
I just can’t get enough of it… this week I am addicted to M83, which works out nicely since he’s playing a show at the Doug Fir on Friday. M83 hails from Antibes, France and consists of Anthony Gonzalez. The music is a good blend of instrumentals with soft lyrics.
For the full M83 effect, it might be worth your time to check out Lakai’s Fully Flared skate video intro. Yeah, I’m not usually into skate videos, but this one is pretty incredible.
Yelle’s in Portland
Why I have fallen for the latest craze of electro pop I’ll never know, but at least I have come to terms with admitting it. Yelle, a slightly wacky French girl who wears fabulous dresses in all of her videos, is playing tonight in Portland at Roturre. Bust out the best of your neon clothing and hightop sneakers and get ready for a night of electro pop a la francaise. Or click here to watch the video of A Cause des Garcons.
French electronica: Justice
As I turned on NPR this weekend, a musician with a hard to go unnoticed French accent was speaking about his music and playing in the United States. I waited to hear who it was, and at the end of the interview I was rather surprised to find out that it was one of the guys from Justice. If you don’t know about Justice, it’s a French electronica duo made up of Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosnay. They wear skinny jeans and are producing some of today’s most popular electronic music. So popular that they make it onto NPR’s Weekend Edition. You can listen to the whole interview, complete with pretty attractive French accents, here. Then be sure to watch their famous video of D.A.N.C.E. with cool t-shirt designs, and you too will be a Justice convert.
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