Wednesday, February 20, 2008
It must be in the air here..
Got an email from Sneak Attack today asking me how I liked the Say Hi show which, I am assuming, is a polite way of saying "are you ever going to post something on that concert that we got you free tickets to?" Which is a fair enough question. Allow four days to pass by in the blogosphere and you might as well forget it; everyone has moved on to the next great fleeting moment. Hell, the fact that I was not posting photos, video and Twitter setlists while at the show itself would suggest that we are now discussing things long since past. But the truth is I have been damn busy since Saturday night and only now find myself with a chance to bash something out, if it evens matters anymore..
We arrive at the gig at around 11pm, the club's backlit sign glowing like a beacon for the young hip party set on a stretch of street whose typical clientèle generally prefer to reside in the shadows. It would be fair to assume, given the small closed off rooms that line the hallway to the toilets, that The Royal Unicorn Cabaret was no doubt once a Chiness brothel. These days it has become the homebase of Salbourg, who seem to be charged with promoting the current dance revival here in Vancouver. And doing a fine job of it from what I can tell. Glancing around the club I can't tell how many people are there to see Say Hi and how many are waiting for the more electronic side of the evening to kick in.
The gig gets off to a sketchy start. The whole setup seems to be put together with the structure of a house of cards. Feedback bleeds out of the speakers throughout the opening songs prompting a mad scrambling and impromptu re-assessment on the wiring. Technical difficulties aside, Say Hi's set is decent. The drums and guitar drive the tunes with a 4/4 trancelike rhythm that surprisingly suggests shoegazer bands of yore. But his vocals don't quite make the cut. In the chorus for "Northern Girls" --the modern day equivalent of a first single-- he fails to hit the high note and ultimately it is that note that truly makes the song. But from what I can tell from his website, this tour is still fairly fresh (Vancouver possibly even being the kickoff show) so he has many nights ahead of him to tighten the gears. No doubt he will be in fine form by the time he passes through a city near you.
Got an email from Sneak Attack today asking me how I liked the Say Hi show which, I am assuming, is a polite way of saying "are you ever going to post something on that concert that we got you free tickets to?" Which is a fair enough question. Allow four days to pass by in the blogosphere and you might as well forget it; everyone has moved on to the next great fleeting moment. Hell, the fact that I was not posting photos, video and Twitter setlists while at the show itself would suggest that we are now discussing things long since past. But the truth is I have been damn busy since Saturday night and only now find myself with a chance to bash something out, if it evens matters anymore..
We arrive at the gig at around 11pm, the club's backlit sign glowing like a beacon for the young hip party set on a stretch of street whose typical clientèle generally prefer to reside in the shadows. It would be fair to assume, given the small closed off rooms that line the hallway to the toilets, that The Royal Unicorn Cabaret was no doubt once a Chiness brothel. These days it has become the homebase of Salbourg, who seem to be charged with promoting the current dance revival here in Vancouver. And doing a fine job of it from what I can tell. Glancing around the club I can't tell how many people are there to see Say Hi and how many are waiting for the more electronic side of the evening to kick in.
The gig gets off to a sketchy start. The whole setup seems to be put together with the structure of a house of cards. Feedback bleeds out of the speakers throughout the opening songs prompting a mad scrambling and impromptu re-assessment on the wiring. Technical difficulties aside, Say Hi's set is decent. The drums and guitar drive the tunes with a 4/4 trancelike rhythm that surprisingly suggests shoegazer bands of yore. But his vocals don't quite make the cut. In the chorus for "Northern Girls" --the modern day equivalent of a first single-- he fails to hit the high note and ultimately it is that note that truly makes the song. But from what I can tell from his website, this tour is still fairly fresh (Vancouver possibly even being the kickoff show) so he has many nights ahead of him to tighten the gears. No doubt he will be in fine form by the time he passes through a city near you.
Labels: Music, The Payola Chronicles
Thursday, February 14, 2008
James Cauty's Gasmask Prints
Monday, February 11, 2008
"..life with the dull bits cut out.."
This month's Hollywood Issue of Vanity Fair features modern day actors, including Seth Rogan and Charlize Theron, photographically recreating classic moments from the films of Alfred Hitchcock. Note the Saul Bass influence on the typography. Super cool.
This month's Hollywood Issue of Vanity Fair features modern day actors, including Seth Rogan and Charlize Theron, photographically recreating classic moments from the films of Alfred Hitchcock. Note the Saul Bass influence on the typography. Super cool.
Labels: Film, Photography
Thursday, February 07, 2008
That Screaming Orange Logo
"[J. Duncan Berry of Applied Iconology] noted the effectiveness of the original Tide package, which communicated “cyclone in a box,” he says. “There’s this great dynamic tension there. The word ‘Tide’ is bursting out of the circle, and the circle is standing out of the box. It’s almost a baroque composition; it’s like what Steven Spielberg would do if he were designing a brand.” The idea was that Tide is “a force of nature — it’s a phase shift.” After all, an effective synthetic detergent was a real innovation in 1947, a result of years of expensive research and development. The bull’s-eye look was actually borrowed from earlier P.&G. products, Dash and Oxydol. But in his memorable culture and design book, “The Total Package,” Thomas Hine noted that “some sophisticated color research” — involving a psychologist who specialized in such things — went into selecting a bright scheme that would suggest “sufficient power,” tempered with the “likable” blue that had a more “sensitive” connotation. Reaching the market just as automatic washing machines were catching on, Tide was a sensation; anecdotal accounts from the time suggest people lined up to get hold of the stuff — as if it were an iPhone."
From NY Times Magazine's "Consumed" by Rob Walker
"[J. Duncan Berry of Applied Iconology] noted the effectiveness of the original Tide package, which communicated “cyclone in a box,” he says. “There’s this great dynamic tension there. The word ‘Tide’ is bursting out of the circle, and the circle is standing out of the box. It’s almost a baroque composition; it’s like what Steven Spielberg would do if he were designing a brand.” The idea was that Tide is “a force of nature — it’s a phase shift.” After all, an effective synthetic detergent was a real innovation in 1947, a result of years of expensive research and development. The bull’s-eye look was actually borrowed from earlier P.&G. products, Dash and Oxydol. But in his memorable culture and design book, “The Total Package,” Thomas Hine noted that “some sophisticated color research” — involving a psychologist who specialized in such things — went into selecting a bright scheme that would suggest “sufficient power,” tempered with the “likable” blue that had a more “sensitive” connotation. Reaching the market just as automatic washing machines were catching on, Tide was a sensation; anecdotal accounts from the time suggest people lined up to get hold of the stuff — as if it were an iPhone."
From NY Times Magazine's "Consumed" by Rob Walker
Labels: NY Times
