Cool Hunting
| 28 November 2007view entries from: this week | this month | view previous day | view next day |
David Shrigley: Worried Noodles
by Ami Kealoha
Glasgow-based artist David Shrigley, perhaps best known for his humorous line drawings, recently released Worried Noodles, a book and concept album that features Shrigley's original lyrics (39 songs in all) performed by 39 of today's brightest musicians. The set, based on the songbook that Shrigley published alone in 2005, consists of a two-CD set and book and includes songs by Scout Niblett, Psapp, Dirty Projectors, Liars, Casiotone, Tussle, Trans Am and Hot Chip, to name just a few.
Like most concept albums, the concept wins out over the album but the bands hold their own, interpreting Shrigley's words with their own style and talent. Artists like Yacht, Islands, David Byrne and Deerhoof seem to naturally do a little better with the faux naivete of the subject matter and simple structure of the songs. Franz Ferdinand (old schoolmates of Shrigley) make it work by turning the song "No" into a driving rock anthem/chant. Others—Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors (no strangers to the concept album) and Final Fantasy among them—channel their distinct sound and avant garde approach so strongly that what's being said becomes secondary.
Overall, for any fan of today's music scene or Shrigley's art, the album is worth a listen (check out his MySpace page for a preview). You can buy it from Insound, Tomlab and Amazon or download from iTunes.
If you're in NYC 5 December 2007, catch Yacht and Islands headlining a show at Knitting Factory.
Ding 3000: Pimp my Billy
by Leonora Oppenheim
Three young designers from Germany, taking issue with Ikea's rather bland Billy shelving units, reinvented the furniture in a series of designs that repurpose the unit. Called Pimp my Billy, the collection of design interventions cheers up a cheap bookcase to no end!
Billy Wilder takes the form of green branch growing across the Billy Bookshelf (above right). Billy Heidenreich is a shelf with a lectern attached for displaying your most beautiful photography books (below left), while the Stütze functions as an extra leg to tilt the bookcase at an angle so there's no need for book ends (below right). All the designs are beautifully made and will probably last longer than your Ikea shelving unit.
Carsten Schelling, Ralf Webermann and Sven Rudolph, all graduates of FH Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts, make up the design collective that is Ding 3000. Check out the rest of their sleek, but entertaining furniture and product design on their site.
