The pleasure in watching and [listening to] this comes from the reactivity in the same temporality between sound and picture. Abstract animation from the 1920's meets a modern electronic soundtrack. Milant's composition is a subtle shadow to Ruttmann's Opus, allowing the morphic, swooping shapes to oomph and grunt their way through their constantly-changing acrobatics. The sonic theme is continuous throughout the three short works, a pressing beat that's accented by hints and swoops of noise that remind me of a little boy playing with miniature cars and airplanes. The tiny homey touches, like the mumbled voices 'reading' the title cards of each opus, preserve and enhance the whimsical feeling of the animation.
OK, I think that's all the critical bullshit I can summon for this movie. I like watching it better than writing about it, anyway. You'll definitely enjoy watching it more than reading this, too, so... here's some more stuff cribbed from a MeFi post I made years ago about this animation:
Meanwhile, Alexis Milant is known best for his excellent art is a game and game an art, aka awesum fingerboarding video! and the subsequent "Opus" series. Note the detailed sound design.
I gently encourage all who enjoyed these videos to explore the related videos features and other links provided. It feels like I left a lot out of this post. That's ok; it's fun to explore!
EVL has a rich history in creating electronic and computer-based art - from video to animation, through web-based art virtual reality (VR) and other high-resolution visualization systems. Fostering collaborations between artists/designers and computer scientist to blend art with technology using electronic media has been at the core of EVL's creative mission from that lab's inception.
(1976) This is a example of early video art by internationally renowned technologist and EVL/UIC MFA alumni Barbara Sykes using the color capability of the Sandin Analogue Image Processor - the "Color IP".
Calculated Movements
(1985) Calculated Movements by Larry Cuba is an example of early video art using software developed at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL). The video has a minimalist/ambient original sound piece.
Calculated Movements is a sample of Cuba's later work.
Making of the Computer Graphics for Star Wars (Episode IV)
In the 1970s the computer graphics for the first Star Wars film (1977) was created by Larry Cuba at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) (at the time known as the Circle Graphics Habitat) at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Over the past few years a number of my co-alumni Dorados have distinguished themselves on the national level. Certain sporting types I'll avoid mentioning because deep, irrational resentment is so easy to cull from those four long years. However, plenty others have hit it big on the musical stage. I was a total fanboy for my friend Jeremy's band, The Actual (sadly, 2001-2007) and now I've transferred that blind love to another bass player friend's band, The Airborne Toxic Event (myspace). (Should this be another Literary Music post? That's a Delillo reference, if I'm not mistaken.)
Anyway, their new album just came out (buy it!) and received quite a burn review from all-holy Pitchfork. 1.6, ouch. The band has issued an open letter to the review's author in response:
Dear Ian,
Thanks for your review of our record. It's clear that you are a good writer and it's clear that you took a lot of time giving us a thorough slagging on the site. We are fans of Pitchfork. And it's fun to slag off bands. It's like a sport -- kind of part of the deal when you decide to be in a rock band. (That review of Jet where the monkey pees in his own mouth was about the funniest piece of band-slagging we've ever seen.)
We decided a long time ago not to take reviews too seriously. For one, they tend to involve a whole lot of projection, generally saying more about the writer than the band. Sort of a musical Rorschach test. And for another, reading them makes you too damned self-conscious, like the world is looking over your shoulder when the truth is you're not a genius or a moron. You're just a person in a band.
Plus, the variation of opinions on our record has bordered on absurd. 80 percent of what's been said has been positive, a few reviews have remained on the fence and a few (such as yours) have been aggressively harsh. We tend not to put a lot of stock in this stuff, but the sheer disagreement of opinion makes for fascinating (if not a bit narcissistic) reading.
And anyway we have to admit that we found ourselves oddly flattered by your review. I mean, 1.6? That is not faint praise. That is not a humdrum slagging. That is serious fist-pounding, shoe-stomping anger. Many publications said this was among the best records of the year. You seem to think it's among the worst. That is so much better than faint praise.
You compare us to a lot of really great bands (Arcade Fire, the National, Bright Eyes, Bruce Springsteen) and even if your intention was to cut us down, you end up describing us as: "lyrically moody, musically sumptuous and dramatic." One is left only to conclude that you must think those things are bad.
We love indie rock and we know full well that Pitchfork doesn't so much critique bands as critique a band's ability to match a certain indie rock aesthetic. We don't match it. It's true that the events described in these songs really happened. It's true we wrote about them in ways that make us look bad. (Sometimes in life you are the hero, and sometimes, you are the limp-dicked cuckold. Sometimes you're screaming about your worst fears, your most vicious jealousies and failures. Such is life.) It's also true that the record isn't ironic or quirky or fey or disinterested or buried beneath mountains of guitar noodling.
As writers, we admire your tenacity and commitment to your tone (even though you do go too far with your assumptions about us). You're wrong about our intentions, you're wrong about how this band came together, you don't seem to get the storytelling or the catharsis or the humor in the songs, and you clearly have some misconceptions about who we are as a band and who we are as people.
But it also seems to have very little to do with us. Much of your piece reads less like a record review and more like a diatribe against a set of ill-considered and borderline offensive preconceptions about Los Angeles. Los Angeles has an extremely vibrant blogging community, Silver Lake is a very close-knit rock scene. We are just one band among many. (And by the way, L.A. does have a flagship indie rock band: they're called Silversun Pickups). We cut our teeth at Spaceland and the Echo and have nothing to do with whatever wayward ideas you have about the Sunset Strip. That's just bad journalism.
But that is the nature of this sort of thing. It's always based on incomplete information. Pitchfork has slagged many, many bands we admire (Dr. Dog, the Flaming Lips, Silversun Pickups, Cold War Kids, Black Kids, Bright Eyes [ironic, no?] just to name a few), so now we're among them. Great.
This band was borne of some very very dark days and the truth is that there is something exciting about just being part of this kind of thing. There's this long history of dialogue between bands and writers so it's a bit of a thrill that you have such a strong opinion about us.
We hear you live in Los Angeles. We'd love for you to come to a show sometime and see what we're doing with these lyrically moody and dramatic songs. You seem like a true believer when it comes to music and writing so we honestly think we can't be too far apart. In any case, it would make for a good story.
all our best--
Mikel, Steven, Anna, Daren, Noah the Airborne Toxic Event
I think it's a pretty good response, measured and honest. TATE is keeping things interesting for me in other ways, too. In the month or so before their album release they uploaded live acoustic versions of each of the album tracks filmed in unexpected places. The musical renditions are awesome—I almost favor them over the album versions—and the videos themselves are charming. Here they are in the order they were released:
Wishing Well
Papillon
Gasoline
Happiness Is Overrated
Does This Mean You're Moving On? [My favorite!]
This Is Nowhere
Sometime Around Midnight
Something New
Missy
Innocence
Yep, they're good! I saw them perform on the set of the Carson Daly show, which was surreal to say the least. They were also on Conan recently, and tore it up. Here's hoping a Pitchfork pan won't hold this band back. Enjoy!
Two flash games: Rotation Riddle Align the red dots so they match the pattern shown before each level. Fairly easy through the first few levels. The keyboard controls are a little wonky.
light-Bot "Artificial Intelligence is hard to program. Not every bot ever created can maneuver and function on its own. Rather, some bots run along a path that the programmer presets for them for various situations. Your job is to light up all the blue tiles in the factory by the commands you issue to the light-Bot. Good luck." Fun little diversion. The challenge lies in completing each level with the fewest commands possible. Otherwise fairly straightforward. My low score is 174. Update: I understand level 10 is giving people fits. Here's my solution. Update 2:lupus_yonderboy posted his solution over at MeFi. It'll get you the lower score with 6 empty boxes (opposed to my 1 empty box), but the little robot looks like a RoombaTM. The game makes it clear that efficiency is desirable over appearance by the score, but I'm not convinced.
Two music/video channels that classy people listen to/watch:
Trumpet Kings and the corresponding YouTube channel present a blow-out of hot jazz trumpeters. Makes my cheeks tingle!
Dizzie Gillespie - Trumpet Battle 1958
HERstory (nevermind the silly trope) details the history of women in Rock and Soul music over the course of 50 songs from 1958 to 1981. I'm enjoying the essays that accompany each video.
Lorrie & Larry Collins - Mercy
Rockabilly scorcher!
The Collins Kids were the actual thing. While the new music called Rock'n'Roll was mostly sung by adults for young people, these teens walked the talk. Their big break was as regulars on the TV show "Town Hall Party" starting in 1954. Lorrie was 12 and Larry, 10! This Country showcase put them beside June Carter, Tex Ritter, and Larry's guitar mentor, the astounding Joe Maphis. The highlight was watching the elder dueling with his whirling dervish sidekick on double Mosrite guitars.
When Rock hit in '55, the kids were right on it. They pumped out many great singles into the early 60's. This blazing little number runs a two minute mile. Lorrie puts so much gusto into her performance it's startling to realize she's not even 16 yet. But that was the heart of it; the Collins' were the new Rock'n'Roll youth incarnate, on fire and rarin' to go. It's all punk music, and this is where it starts.
All the stuff (pictures and music and videos, mostly) on this blog that ain't my godawful writing may very well expire quickly, so act fast! It's all here for educational and entertainment purposes only, good times with good people, ya know? I have NO intention of profiting or violating any copyright. If anything is not totally cool, or if you'd rather I didn't, please just let me know (email!) and I will remove it immediately!
