These incredible Illuminated Pink Octopi — which appear to be folded paper in the style of Japanese origami, but which are more likely fabricated from hard plastic — are part of a kinetic light display adjacent to one of the Jellyfish tanks at the Vancouver Aquarium. The colored lighting rotates continuously through all the colors of the spectrum, accompanied by lulling ambient music that recalls Brian Eno’s Music for Airports if he had composed a similar piece for public Aquariums. Needles to say, but you can see I am about to, it is quite mesmerizing.
It’s always an extra-special treat when I can find an animated clip for the weekly Sunday Jam, because it brings the whole concept that much closer to a ‘Weekend Morning Cartoon’ vibe, which I secretly live for. You’re Welcome.
Today we have an instrumental clip with the enigmatic title “Eno Nothing,” from Nashville’s Steelism — a group comprised of core-members Jeremy Fetzer (guitar) and Spencer Cullum (pedal steel player). “Eno Nothing” kicks off with our fearless duo leaving the house, embarking on an existential journey, and getting beamed aboard a drone-like craft. After stopping at an inter-galactic gas station to fuel-up, they visit many, many strange planets where they encounter such creatures as a gigantic purple tortoise, a Cthulhu and one of the benevolent aliens from Star Trek (I think). Later, they drop in on avant-garde composer and bonafide music legend Brian Eno, before ending up back where they started. Musically, “Eno Nothing” is The Toadies meets Steely Dan. Trust me on this one. It’s like Flight of The Conchords are writing the soundtrack to an imaginary sci-fi/fantasy flick!
“Eno Nothing” can be found on Steelism’s sophomore album, Ism, released in June via the band’s own imprint, Intoxicating Sounds (distributed by Thirty Tigers). Ism marks the first time the band brings featured vocalists into their instrumental canon, with guest appearances from Tristen, Ruby Amanfu, Andrew Combs and Jessie Baylin. Enjoy!
Hey what’s up. Happy Easter, if you celebrate, and Happy Spring if not! While I could not find an Egg, Bunny, or Jesus-themed video for this holiday posting, I did find one that repeatedly mentions a type of candy, so, somewhat appropriate! This fun and super engaging video for the song “Taffy Come Home” by the Brit-Pop quartet Telegram feels wildly retro on a couple of levels. First of all, there’s the use of the rotary-dial telephone motif as the video’s primary image — an anachronism that many people under 20 will be entirely unfamiliar with, but one which takes me right back to my youth. Also, lead singer Matt Saunders‘ voice encourages a deeply-nostalgic feeling for The Undertones and their vocalist Feargal Sharkey. What a great band they were.
The press release that accompanied this video clip calls Telegram‘s new album “… a series of frenzied meditations on Time and Speed, steeped in the sensitivity and strangeness of Kurt Vonnegut and approached through the erstwhile themes of love and intoxication. Melding post industrialist kraut rock with garage rock and the best bits of Eno and Bolan, the record offers twelve luminescent tracks, rooted in solid grooves but anti-gravitational in your mind’s eye.” Wow, high praise indeed. I would tend to agree with the Brian Eno comparison, specifically because “Taffy Come Home” reminds me of Eno’s glam rock masterpiece, “Needle in the Camel’s Eye,” which is a work of genius.
Saunders‘ band mates in Telegram are bassist Oli Paget-Moon, lead guitarist Matt Wood, and drummer Jordan Cook. The groups’ eagerly awaited debut album, Operator, was released last week via Red Eye. Enjoy!
And Don’t They Have a Good “Rock Star” Look, as Well?
Art Decade adopted its name from a Brian Eno-produced David Bowie instrumental track, which gives the band a sort of built-in, arsty fartsy clout right off the gate. Their new video for the song “Breeze” — soothing, Sunday morning orchestrated pop taken from the band’s 2012 album Western Sunrise — was filmed on a beach with bunch of 3-D geometric effects tossed in during post production. The visual result is like Pink FLoyd’s Dark Side of the Moon…on the Beach.
Here’s what Ben Talmi, Art Decade’s vocalist/guitarist/arranger has to say about this clip: “With the animation skills of Whitney Alexander and Kipp Jarden, I saw the opportunity to combined the Impressionistic styles of painters like Degas, Renoir and Turner with the world of surrealists like Dali and Ernst in a setting of the beach, which was influenced by Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal and Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2. The animated subconscious dreamscapes Whit and Kipp created in the video are just like what I see when I close my eyes.”
Art Decade is putting the finishing touches on 11 songs that will make up their new self-titled album due in September of 2013. Enjoy!
As previously reported on Boing Boing, above you will find a ’70s-era print ad for Purina tinned Cat food featuring electronic music pioneer and glam rocker Brian Eno, and his cat, Eric.
Thanks to Evelyn Chote for the Image!
Update April 2, 2017: Apparently this Ad is Fake. Oh well, it’s still Hilarious!
