The Angel – About time album dropped this week, It’s a jam packed CD or Double CD if you grab yourself the deluxe edition of hits from Angel and also some of Britain’s finest Urban Chart toppers. The Album is the final piece in the puzzle of designing the look and feel for this up and coming UK artist Angel.
ANGEL ABOUT TIME
CATEGORIES: Art, Design, Miscellaneous, Music, Photography
DEMDIKE STARE AND LEE GAMBLE AT FLATPACK
The programme of events lined up for Flatpack Festival at the end of the month is looking pretty special; among the ever growing list of shows we’ve got our eye on, one stands out in particular: the live AV sets from un-categorisable electronic acts Demdike Stare and Lee Gamble. In a live show with visuals stitched together from a collection of VHS horror, Demdike Stare’s music which includes ingredients of film scores, obscure jazz and Iranian folk to name a few, will be coming to Birmingham on the 29th March at the Flatpack Palais, so you probably shouldn’t miss out.
THE MAKING OF JOHN MAYER’S ‘BORN AND RAISED’ ARTWORK
A sumptuous album cover treat for you this Friday, in the form of American blues-man John Mayer’s ‘Born and Raised’ which has been given a blow-out treatment from traditional sign-writer David A. Smith. David specialises in hand drawn, ornamental reverse glass signing and gilded mirrors, and what’s more – he’s English – and you know how those Americans love our turn-of-the century English style. This making-of video released alongside the album showcases David’s talents, detailing the lengthy, dedicated process that goes into producing such ornamental work. A+ for craftsmanship.
1D “ONE WAY OR ANOTHER” TOPS WORLD iTUNES CHART
We knew it would be big, but this is big…One Direction’s official Comic Relief single, “One Way or Another” was released 3 days ago and has shot to number one on iTunes in 63 countries, yes that’s correct – 63 countries, and is the fastest selling single of the year! We’re delighted for its success, of course because Comic Relief is such a worthy cause, but also because… we designed the cover art!
Its tipped to be the highest selling Comic Relief single to date – and certainly will be if it continues at this rate – beating previous Red Nose Day singles Peter Kay’s ‘Is This The Way To Amarillo’ and Westlife’s ‘Uptown Girl’, which have raised millions for the charity. This is the first Red Nose Day single that has had a massive global response, so well done One Direction for spreading the good word of Comic Relief out to their gigantic worldwide fanbase!
SECRET 7″S
We’ve just finished up a couple of sleeve designs for the annual Secret 7″ project run by Talenthouse, a project bringing music and art together for a good cause. Designers, artists and photographers from across the globe are invited to design an original vinyl sleeve for a selection of artists involved with the project – (our choices – Laura Marling and Elton John!) 30-50 winners for each artist will be selected, a copy of their design produced and given exposure online and at an exhibition space at creative agency Mother. The 700 final vinyls will go on sale – but you don’t know what you’re going to get until its in your hands.
The project is set up in conjunction with Art Against Knives, a charity that funds arts led initiatives to discourage youths from violent gang culture. So why not take a look, design your own sleeve and do something for charity too…
CATEGORIES: Art, Design, Music, Photography
THE DISINTEGRATION LOOPS
Another interview with an artist (two in one day?) – this time William Basinski, creator of The Disintegration Loops, tells his story to The Quietus. He discusses how the loops came to be in the 80s, how they disintegrated upon recording, and recounts the story of how he watched the World Trade Centre collapse before his very eyes from his apartment while the tapes played on in the background. Basinski acknowledges the cultural significance the tapes have developed over the last ten years, with many considering them to be “one of the most pre-eminent American artistic statements of the 21st Century so far”.
Even if you’re not into avant-garde music as a rule, the story itself told in Basinski’s own words is really pretty amazing and is definitely worth a read.
ONE DIRECTION FOR RED NOSE DAY
We’ve been busy of late designing the cover art for the official new Red Nose Day single, One Direction’s cover of Blondie’s “One Way or Another” and it’s a privilege to be involved with the charity. The cover incorporates a great shot by photographer John Wright and marks the first of Fluid’s cover sleeves of 2013…what a great start to the year!
The boys have been tweeting from their trip to Ghana for Comic Relief earlier this month, and seem to have taken away a lot from the experience, describing it as ‘amazing’, ‘inspiring’ and I think Niall might be lost forever in the excitement judging from this storm of exclamation marks.
The single is set to be released on the 17th February, and you can watch One Direction’s adventure in Ghana on Comic Relief on the 15th March.
LITTLE MIX: MIXER’S MAP
We are excited to announce that we’ve been busy creating the content for Little Mix’s new worldwide competition: Mixer’s Magnets. Launching today, our Mixer’s Map allows Little Mix fans from around the world to register their locations on a map to compete – country vs. country in a magnet showdown in order to win prizes. Take a look here.
GOODBYE HMV?
HMV has gone, along with Blockbuster and Jessops, making more room on our high-street for PoundStores, 99p Stores and those shops selling acid green lycra leggings and zebra-print jackets that always seem to be closing down.
In honour of its passing, we’ve compiled an exciting fact-file about HMV with things we are pretty sure you never knew about the lost high-street giant…
- The first store was opened on Oxford St in 1921 by Sir Edward Elgar.
- HMV stands for His Master’s Voice, inspired by the title of this painting (which later became the company logo) by Francis Barraud.
- Its original name was The Gramophone Company.
- HMV sold some of the first ever commercial television sets in their stores and its flagship Oxford St store is probably the only record store in the world to have sold every music format since the invention of recorded music.
- In the 30s it had its own special ‘tour train’ traveling the country, promoting products.
- The basement of its flagship Oxford St store doubled up as an air raid shelter during WW2.
Can Apple’s iTunes store really say the same? Apparently HMV has been experiencing ‘near Christmas levels’ of footfall since the announcement, presumably we’ve all gone a bit nostalgic for HMV this week and with Hilco apparently about to rescue at least part of its debt and keep a few stores open, maybe its not really the end for HMV…
CATEGORIES: Music
MYSPACE RETURNS
It’s feeling like 2004 all over again, entering log-in details and clicking the sign-up button to the new MySpace (purely for research purposes, of course) as the long suffering site has been re-designed and quietly re-launched to the public this week. The design of the site is a complete aesthetic break from any of its past incantations, and Justin Timberlake is one of the primary investors with quite a bit of input into the creative direction. True to form, his face looms at you from the start, beckoning you to listen to his new song, or one of his friends, Jay-Z or Timberland, from the very first page.
The emphasis here is on music, and music discovery, but it kind of feels like the entire re-launch is little more than a platform to advertise Timberland and his cronies’ careers…
We’ll see if it catches on.
www.myspace.com
CATEGORIES: Design, Music, Technology