Cool Hunting
| 08 May 2006view entries from: this week | this month | view previous day | view next day |
Psyop for MTV HD
by Josh Rubin
HD TV was made for the type of lyrical detail in the recent video that our friends at New York-based Psyop created for MTV HD. Set to a score that re-interprets Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata," the 90-second piece features finely-rendered images of flying black birds (alone and in flocks), branching abstract forms, and birch forests that morph into one another against a white background. The high-contrast look and the fluid lines make for a captivating piece that co-director Marco Spier notes would "buzz like crazy on regular television." Watch the video over at Dexigner.
Also on Cool Hunting: adicolor Podcast: Blue, Nike Shoxploitation
Chrysalis Lamp
by Ami Kealoha
During a recent trip to DC, I discovered this amazing, silk cocoon pendant lamp hanging in a restaurant (more on restaurant later) in the buzzy heart of developing "U" Street. From the Thai design firm Ango, it's made entirely of empty(?) cocoons woven together with wire threading and resembles a dense cluster of supernovas in The Milky Way. It is available as a pendant, floor, or wall model by emailing a request through the online showroom Chairs.ws.
Contributed by Edwin Cahill
Guillemots
by SummerSeventySix
When guillemots fly, they look hilarious. A little bit like a cliff-dwelling combination of a puffin and a penguin, they flap their wings like crazy before crash-landing in the sea. The black and white birds are utterly charming, and so is the band that has borrowed their name. Fronted by charismatic singer-songwriter Fyfe Dangerfield, the multinational quartet called Guillemots come from England, Scotland, Canada, and Brazil, and got together in London a couple of years ago.
Their apparently disparate backgrounds and penchant for experimentation made them an unlikely target for several record companies in a bidding war last year, but you only need to hear the tunes to realize it was justified. Leanings towards free jazz and electronica, tracks are pinned down by a love of The Beatles' pop know-how and Bacharach's hooks. The soaring single "We're Here," available on iTunes UK, comes across like the Manic Street Preachers in their pomp with Sigur Rós at the controls. Available outside the UK (from iTunes or here.
A debut album is being mastered as we speak, and is due out in July 2006. For the next couple of weeks, the band is also touring Canada and the US, before returning to the UK for the second half of May 2006.
Spear is on the Move
by Josh Rubin
Our friend and former CH contributor Josh Spear has just launched a redesigned joshspear.com. In addition to some slick visual tidiness (by Grow Interactive), he's added commenting so readers can talk about his finds. There's also a new geo-locator that shows where in the world he's hunting for new and interesting stuff. At the moment he's on his way to Asia for a two week jaunt that will include Taipei, Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. In addition to posting finds to his own site, Spear might drop a few exclusives here as well.
Sky Box
by Josh Rubin
My friend and former colleague Stefan Andrén recently finished the Portland, OR home he and his wife Nicole designed as the showcase for their architecture studio Krown Lab. Appropriately named, Sky Box is modernism for the naturalist. Set in the trees on a hill above Portland, the home not only connects its inhabitants with the surrounding outdoors, it's also built using sustainable materials. Check out their site for more pictures and information.
