a.community.service.announcement

Special Problems, formed in 2007, is a multi-disciplinary creative studio with a focus on video, print & web projects, based in Auckland and London, but operating globally. It has some nice stuff to show, like the artwork for the new zeland's pop band cut off your hand. But, my favourite one is the music video of the australian band Jonathan Boulet, for the most identifiable track of the album.

music.revision

december, is the month of the lists. top albums, top movies, worst cover albums, and the story goes on.. at gone4sure's blog the greek bloggers voted for the top 20 album of the year and the decade. i've also participated. so, this is my list with what i have listened most this year..
Animal Collective-Merriweather Post Pavilion
The Horrors- Primary Colours
A Place To Bury Strangers-Exploding Head
The XX-xx
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart-S/T
Grizzle Bear-Veckatimest
Lotus Plaza-Floodlight Collective
Boxer Rebellion-Union
Fuck Buttons-Tarat Sport
Τhe Big Pink-A Brief History Of Love
Girls-Album
Wooden Shjips-Dos
Sebastien Schuller-Evenfall
Noah & The Whale-The First Days of Spring
JJ-no 2
Moderat-Moderat
Four Tet-Love Cry
Jori Julkkonen-Man From Earth
The Flaming Lips-Embryonic
Larry Gus-Stitches
Mary & The Boy/Felizol-Time Machine
Old Adam Brown-Alive In Winter
Dead Man's Bones-S/T
Ducktails-Backyard
Moby-Wait For Me
The Raveonettes-In and Out Of Control
Atlas Sound-Logos
Fever Ray-Fever Ray
Gliss-Devotion Implosion
Jeniferever-Spring Tides
Pan American-White Bird
Julian Plenti-...Is A Skycraper
Piano Magic-Oviations
Silversun Pickups-Swoons

wizard.smoke

i don't know why, but i have always been in love with the skate culture. maybe is the motion of the board, the freedom when u ride it, or the whole crew around it. or maybe is me, my unsuccessful attempts when i was a child. but, whatever it is, this video is one of the best and well directed i 've seen lately. made by salazar, a motion picture collective. (same tip as previous, see video in vimeo, hd is a must)

cousins

it's time for updates.. i have promised to try to write more, but 'miracles' don't happen?
very nice video, and addictive song. fucking vampire weekend. (tip, go to utube site, hd version)

raindrops

winter is coming here in kos.
weather is changing. the first raindrops, the first really dark grey clouds are real. that's why i am feeling better. i am more of a winter guy, i think. watching clouds leaving, raindrops falling. spending more time alone. listening to more and more music. stuff like Hood-Cold House, Notwist-Neon Golden, The Middle East-The Recordings Of Middle East seem to fit my mood more now. too romantic eeh?
i was never good at writing. cause i didn't have the guts? too shy maybe? but these days, i have the 'want'. i want to write, to scream all my thoughts. and i think all the time, all the fucking time.

Hood-You Show No Emotion At All

Can we walk in hope
Into another new year
Just to cast away the ghosts
Or to have the time to again
You said hold on to dreams
But I know you don't try
Cos you're innocent I know that you won't survive
I heard the phone ring
So late at night that I
I thought someone had died
Someone had died
But your voice was full of hope
Like it was on better days
On clear mornings when the rain had left the sky
I can't stand the thought of you alone
Don't try to get close to
Us because there's nothing
But our souls laid bare
Will we survive
I know we will

winter is coming, weather is chaning, and i hope that i won't change in here. i don't want to change.

i.am.talking.about.you.you.you

it's been time since the last time i wrote something here. thinking it's the period that we call between-seasons. in july i finished the exams of my school and for one week of sleepiness i was working for my main project. two weekly trips with friends, some good shots with my lc-a, and then comes the 17th of august. army time, obligatory in greece. and here is where shit comes. taking orders, no time out, and 'all the strange people of the world'. like not fitting with anyone. hopefully i have music, books, and series. and much time to think and speak with myself.

when i have created the blog, i was thinking to use for the header, one phrase from a song that has stuck in my mind for days. now, i 'have' the meaning and is on repeat for hours, days..
i am talkin about you, you, you. i am talkin about you, you, you. some people always gonna break my heart.

from now, i'' try to be more updated. here are some albums that i am listening now:

-the xx-xx
-the raveonettes-in & out of control
-flaming lips-embryonic

-motorama-bear ep, motorama-horse ep & manicure-s.t. (reviving joy division's sound)

synesthesia

synesthesia by Terri Timely. "a condition in which one type of stimulation evokes the sensation of another, as when the hearing of a sound produces the visualization of a color. a sensation felt in one part of the body as a result of stimulus applied to another, as in referred pain. the description of one kind of sense impression by using words that normally describe another". they are Ian Kibbey and Corey Crease. check their site, for more short films and music videos.

surface: a film from underneath. what would the world be like from an underground perspective? more info @ surface.film

revelation

photo story from Jay Van Dam. here is his behance's portfolio, and here his new site (under construction)

the.beatles.rock.band

uber.cool video made by Passion Pictures and Harmonix.

unit.3

clever idea. simple design. practical planning. neat redering. by Matthias Kaeding, designer from nyc.

fuckin exams

the last days, i had no time at all. all day reading and writing for exams. but, tomorrow is the last fucking day. yeahyyyyyyy.
so, for now, only some photo's features (don't forget to press on each foto & name for more fotos):
~ Guillaume Lechat, 26 years old, parisian photographer. projects at los angeles and australie. nice color and and black & white fotos.

~ Scarlett Hooft Graaftland from Netherlands splitting her time in between amsterdam and nyc. surealistic and contemporar fotos of her interventions in desert-like locations.

~ series of Khristian Mendoza called transparency.

~ a very nice collection of black & white fotos, most of the times kind of oldy, and with a retro touch.

~and here, some nice colors from the beloved Lc-A.

clock is ticking, time to go back to my books.

collider

today's feature is Collider. a Sydney based design and film company that covers a whole range of creative fields from typography to animation direction, branding, art direction and web. As a company, Collider has generated a lot of attention for both its commercial and personal work. well-deserved for sure. the 1st video, 'we have decided not to die', is an awarded short film.

they have made video clips for blur, phoenix, digitalism, placebo, pet shop boys and many more. the really amazing though is that every single one, is different from the other. they orrientate to the style of each band. even some tracks sound better, become more beautiful. my two favourite are : unkle-reign & sia-breathe. u have to check their site (a well designed one). as i did, and end up looking for long time. so, they are really, really, really, really, really, really amazing.

words.are.something.else

new album from the boats, and here comes a surprise. new sounds and new territories. i have bumped into them, while discovering the moteer label. their previous albums have leaning toward classic genres and melodies with experimental elements. now they seem to base on their 'tradition' and create soundscapes of deep tech & techno. 4-to-4 rhythm, deep melodies and voice of Chris Stewart’s, all painted with an almost acid character. this is 'words are something else'.
thanks to monsieur hulot for the recommendation. .

eoghan.kidney

surely not the best and more interesting songs from 'fight like apes' & 'valerie francis', but the music videos. both directed by Ireland based visual artist/film-maker, Eoghan Kidney, are really inspiring. u have to watch then. both.

we.have.band

second personal 7'' from the triangle London's group, 'we have band'. and this is the official music video. directed by David Wilson in collaboration Fabian Berglund and Ida Gronblom (from Wieden & Kennedy). this is a video stop frame animated by 4816 still images (& here u can see all the fotos in high resolution). interesting work.

Sébastien Schuller

time to see me here. but this is a fucking exams period.
i started one week ago and i'll finish at 1st of july. i wish i could close my eyes, and open them then. but this can't happen, at least not in the real world. damn. today, i find some free time for me, and i am all over the net. and find some real good stuff.

one of them, is a french guy, Sebastien Schuller and his album evenfall, released by 'green united music'. Sebastien will surprise you pleasantly with his enha-

ncing sounds of acoustic and natural resonance with touches of electronica. Agnes Montgomery is responsible for the great artwork of the cd. if u don't know who is this amazing collage artist, take a look at the stunning album cover of panda bear-person pitch.

banksy.attacks.bristol.museum

the Bristol museum closed the doors, and let Banksy free to interfere with the exhibits and create his own. it seems great. watch the official clip of the exhibition.

stereo.nova.

ένας απέραντος διάδρομος μ' ενώνει με σένα
ένα τρένο που χάνεται σ' ένα σχεδιάγραμμα
κι ο απόηχος ενός ανθρώπου σε κάδρο
να κοιτάζει τον κόσμο μέσα απ' τα μάτια ενός άλλου
του είπε "πες μου, πες μου τι βλέπεις;"
Ο πατέρας μου ήταν εργάτης
η μάνα μου φρόντιζε τα παιδιά και το σπίτι
συνηθισμένα πράγματα
έπρεπε να πάρω τη ζωή στα χέρια μου
κι όταν έφτασα εκεί που ήθελα
είδα πως τίποτα δε μου ανήκει
ούτε καν εσύ
και με τα χρήματα τι μπορώ πια ν' αγοράσω;
κάθε εικόνα είναι προέκταση μιας άλλης
η ελευθερία μου είναι η αλυσίδα ενός άλλου
κι απ' όλα τα σπίτια που διασχίσαμε κανένα δεν ήταν δικό μου
δεν έχω τίποτα
μένει μόνο να περάσω αυτά τα σύνορα
με οποιοδήποτε τρόπο
και θ' αγαπήσεις μαζί μου τον ανοιχτό ουρανό
γιατί η γη είναι πιο όμορφη από εμάς

. . Stereo Nova-Atlas . .

old.adam.brown

3 kids from Usa, Carson Lund, Dylan Vukelich, and Erik Lund. recording their first album, alive in winter, all alone. although they have no label, they sound like pros, like the job is done in one of the best studios. trumpet, keyboard and piano compose a great atmosphere. Carson with his voice and effects on the vocal can be compared with cold war kids, but to be honest, these kids are better, or far from better. influences from radiohead, coldplay to sigur ros & band of horses, an album u have to listen.

flashing.red.light.means.go

~ Benoit Paillé, a self-taught photographer, with vivid colors & great compositions, nice portraits and some good series. more, here and here.

~ Jolijn Snijder, photographer & creative director of ilovefake magazine. here for his photos, and in any case, check his black & white photos.

~ here is a nice set with polaroids, mostly with expired films. and by the way, polaroid is saved. an Austrian artist & businessman named Florian Kaps, the owner of Polanoid.net, working together with Ilford to produce film of two exposure types, each compatible with both the classic SX-70 cameras and the modern 600 series. hell yeah.

these.walls.are.thin

this time i want to mention some artists. found them here, around the 'net'.

~ first, Alex Asher Daniel. 'playing around' with several mediums, but recently he had a painting exhibition in nyc. searching for his site, but google denied to help me, so check here.

~ here is Alvvino, a surrealistic illustrator with great power. this is my personal favourite. check his site for more . .

~ Non-Format is the creative duo Kjell Ekhorn and Jon Forss. they work on a range of projects including art direction, design, illustration and custom typography. they worked for a lot of known firms, such as nike or lg, and they have art directed the wire magazine.

~ last, go here for an interview of Holis Brwon Thornton. very interesting and inspiring artist using and combining much different techniques, from abstract's earlier works to more recent collages and still lives.

save.your.day

In September 2008, architects Filipe Balestra and Sara Göransson were invited to India to design an Incremental Housing Strategy. That is to develop slums into permanent urban districts through a process of continuous improvement to existing dwellings instead of demolition and rebuilding. As, they found it essential to work for the ones who cannot pay.

They developed 3 basic prototypes of 270 sq foot area, with the principal idea that "neighbors remain neighbors, local remains local". Also, each family can help with the construction process, customize each building and choose the one they like.

House A is a two story home, but structured like a 3 story home to ensure safety in future extension.

House B has a big ground floor, which is left open for either parking or for the family to turn it into a shop.

House C has a big middle floor, to hang clothes or to be used like a living room.

The strategy strengthens the informal and aims to accelerate the legalization of the homes of the urban poor. As the 1/3 of the world's urban population lives in slums, Filipe, Sara & Sparc try to implement this strategy in other countries with similar needs, such as Brazil, Kenya, South Africa, Philippines . .

out.my.window

something old this time. not so old, really. one year back. koushik & out my window. i had listened it some months ago, and the next moment it was deleted. don't know why, but i wanted to give it a second chance. and the timing couldn’t be better. palettes of flutes, harpsichords, mellotrons & ethereal singing create a sound of pop, hip hop, nostalgically looking to the past, but also to the future. it's the sound of koushik, offering a point of departure. turn the volume ooooon.

who.can.say

the horrors. again.and again. every single time, getting better. perhaps one of the best releases of 2009 until now..

flooded.london

what if global warm leads to a flooded London? then images are optimistic and reveal that humans will adapt to changed landscape & floods will bring a much-improved way of life . .
photos are part of London Festival of Architecture 2008. the award-winning media production studio Squint/Opera has imitated some of the techniques of the super-idealistic Victorian landscape painters, and have used a combination of photography, 3d modeling and digital manipulation to present unique visions of a tranquil utopia in a familiar, yet drastically altered landscape.

*thanks to savina for the link.

real.human.interface

it's been days now that i've bumped on this project. multitouch-barcelona. each time i see one of their video, i want to make a post. but i am bored of writing all the 'muble muble'. this night, i am more bored of reading about my exams, and i am doing everything else but reading. damn " 'water' course". so, as they claim: multitouch-barcelona is a recently born interaction design group that explores natural communication between people and technology. we design experiences that merge real and digital into a creative environment where people are invited to touch, play, move, feel as they do in the real world. work to mention: an interactive art installation, for the red bull music academy 08 & the participation to openroom of OFFF in 2008. think this project will match perfectly with the live of animal collective.
their last project called 'HI', is a real human interface. music by lullatone. genius and unique stuff.

turned.50

~ dan witz. nice street & not only artist. check.

~ new kid on the block.only for greek speaking people. πάτα εδώ, για να ξεκινήσεις. με έναν εφιάλτη.

anti.smokin

quit the damn thing.

more more more more more, here . .

offf

the prologue video from "offf", a festival for the post-digital creation culture from Portugal.

roots: the heart of the festival. the main stage where presentations, keynotes and live performances take place. artists like Alva Noto, Fennesez, Atom, Chris Milk ..
loopita: the place for experimental electronic sounds, an area to listen to live performances of electronic music by the most important and innovative names in the international digital scene .
openroom: the area for the new names in the digital scene who are developing inspiring independent projects on the web or through digital technologies.
cinexin: screening room showing the OFFF Film Festival selected films, special sessions, animation, motion graphics, microfilms.
showplace: the main exhibition of the festival, where the audience has the chance to explore and interact directly with the latest projects.

color.of.feels

~a 3d movie created by three students, Aurélien Martineau, Etienne Métois, Moana Wisniewski from Supinfocom Arles in 2008. a story about a sailor on an aircraft & an unexpected visitor, a kite. stunning work with camera, color, contrast and sound.

~a part of F5 RE:PLAY Film Festival created by Shilo. nice idea, great detail with cool background music.

~an experimental narrative from William Campbell, about our constant hunt for perfection and the more distorted our memory becomes, while chasing it.

bass.&.go

while listening to Apparat's album, 'things to be frickled', i remember one cool video of him.
want to see him live. now . i mean now now. anybody out there????
eeeeeeyh. waiting for my 'new' used Lomo LC-a . . don't forget to mention: ebay rulez, yeahyyyy

when.i.grow.up

Fever Ray, one half of The Knife, releases her debut self-titled album on Mute. Give it a try. . It might 'reward' u.

wolf.club

~New collaboration. Wolf Club is Burial & Four Tet, two of the most innovative & beloved producers are together. And they bring us a single 12" with two tracks. Two tracks, full of emotion & urban atmosphere. U can listen music elements from both of the producers, such as tribal rhythms, building melodies, deep end female's vocals. My personal choice? Moth is just a killer. On repeat for the last hour. Is released by "text recordings" & here u can preview it.

~photos are from a great French artist, called C215. His stencils from all around the world (brooklyn, berlin, athens, new delhi, sao paolo, ..) have something revolutionary, something that moves u. Be sure to check out more of his work at flickr.

~at last check this video, a really nice piece of art:

tamayom.museum

This is the cultural museum in Mexico, the Tamayom museum, designed by Rojkind Arquitectos and BIG (Copenhagen architects). It will be a kernel of education and culture - locally, regionally, and internationally- that will be overlooking the city from a big roof on the top of the building, which 'fits' perfectly to the topography of the area. The whole idea is a cube that is unfolded, and creates a lot of big spaces, which provide artists with the maximum freedom of expression and also plenty of natural lighting. For more infos & photos go here . .

shot.in.the.back.of.the.head

On repeat at least for one hour, and every time seems to fit better & give u more.
And what if Moby sounds something like this? Then it would be definitely a very promising album. A clean, new start. Something to wait for . .

back.to.basics

Back to Athens/Patras, back to basics. Some days to Venice/Milano, had some rest & no daily thoughts. I think it is the first time of Easter not going to church, but if our church were something like this, i would have gone for sure. Don't know why i can't find these days any good music.photos.videos&generally art. Maybe is that i have no time in front of the pc, or maybe that i am thinking all that i have to do from now until august and my mood it turning shity.
Anyway. Here u can find some random, cool stuff. Press on each photo for further "infos".

& here is a last's night addiction.