June 7, 2011
Santi White (b. 1976), better known by her stage name Santigold, is an American songwriter, producer, and singer. Her debut album Santogold was released in 2008. The artist got her pseudonym in the 1990s from a friend’s nickname for her. Santigold was the singer of the Philadelphia-based punk rock band Stiffed, whose 2003 album, ‘Sex Sells,’ and 2005 album, ‘Burned Again,’ were produced by Bad Brains bassist Darryl Jenifer. In February 2009, Santogold changed her stage name to Santigold, as a result of infomercial jeweller Santo Gold threatening legal action.
White’s style has been compared often to that of M.I.A. White said of the M.I.A. comparison that they are both ‘women who have similar influences and have worked with some of the same people,’ but that her music is different, adding ‘I can’t think of anybody who would be a better fit of somebody who I’m like… I think what’s accurate about that comparison is that she’s an artist who has loads of different influences… and is putting things together in a way that’s unexpected and genreless.’ Santigold and her friend Amanda Blank have been described as being part of ‘a new crop of young, multicultural, female acts in the wake of M.I.A.’ White also stated her liking for New Wave, stating that ‘My Superman’ is an interpolation of a Siouxsie and the Banshees’ song, ‘Red Light.’
Posted in Art |
Leave a Comment »
June 7, 2011
Sylvester James (1947 – 1988), better known as Sylvester, was an American disco and soul singer, and a gay drag performer.
Sylvester was sometimes known as the ‘Queen of Disco,’ although this moniker has also been bestowed on some of the women of the disco era (i.e. Gloria Gaynor, Donna Summer). His most significant works are the songs ‘You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) in 1978 and ‘Do You Wanna Funk’ in 1982.
read more »
Posted in Art, Sex |
Leave a Comment »
June 7, 2011
A seasoned pan has a stick-resistant coating of polymerized fat and oil on the surface (a polymer is a molecule, made from joining together many small molecules called monomers). Seasoning is desirable on cast-iron cookware and carbon steel cookware, because otherwise they are very sticky to foods and rust-prone. For other pans (e.g., stainless, aluminum, enamelled), the same chemical phenomenon can occur, but seasoning may not be desired for cosmetic reasons (it makes a pan look splotchy), or the pan may already be stick-resistant (e.g., at medium heat, a clean stainless pan with oil is very stick resistant to many foods).
The process of heating a pan to cause the oil to oxidize is analogous to the hardening of drying oil used in oil paints, or to varnish a painting. When oils or fats are heated in a pan, multiple degradation reactions occur, including: autoxidation, thermal oxidation, polymerization, cyclization and fission.
read more »
Posted in Food, Technology |
Leave a Comment »
June 6, 2011
The multiplane camera is a special motion picture camera used in the traditional animation process that moves a number of pieces of artwork past the camera at various speeds and at various distances from one another. This creates a three-dimensional effect, although not actually stereoscopic.
Various parts of the artwork layers are left transparent, to allow other layers to be seen behind them. The movements are calculated and photographed frame-by-frame, with the result being an illusion of depth by having several layers of artwork moving at different speeds – the further away from the camera, the slower the speed. The multiplane effect is sometimes referred to as a parallax process.
read more »
Posted in Art, Technology |
Leave a Comment »
June 6, 2011
‘On Melancholy Hill‘ is the third single from British alternative group Gorillaz’ third studio album, ‘Plastic Beach.’ The song was originally written by Damon Albarn during the production time for his other super group project: ‘The Good The Bad and The Queen.’ The single was released in 2010. The music video (directed by Tank Girl co-creator Jaime Hewlett) was released shortly thereafter.
Band member Murdoc Niccals stated the following about ‘On Melancholy Hill, ‘it’s that feeling, that place, that you get in your soul sometimes, like someone’s let your tires down. It’s nice to break up the album with something a little lighter. It’s good to have something that’s a genuine pop moment on every album. And this is one of those.’
Posted in Art |
Leave a Comment »
June 6, 2011
The Good, the Bad & the Queen is the album by an unnamed British alternative rock supergroup, made up of Damon Albarn, The Clash bassist Paul Simonon, Simon Tong of The Verve, and Tony Allen, the drummer and musical director of Fela Kuti’s band Africa 70. The album released in 2007.
Albarn has stated in several interviews that the band itself is unnamed, and that ‘The Good, The Bad & The Queen’ is simply the name of the album only. It is stated that the record is, in a sense, a concept album, as its songs are all themed around modern life in London. As of 2011, the band has not released any new material, though Simon Tong and Paul Simonon both made appearances on Damon Albarn’s next project, the third Gorillaz album ‘Plastic Beach.’
Posted in Art |
Leave a Comment »
June 6, 2011
Fade to Black is a 2004 documentary about the career of US rapper Jay-Z. Filmed around the time of ‘The Black Album,’ the movie also features many other famous names in hip hop music. This live concert at Madison Square Garden was meant to be Jay-Z’s final performance, as he announced his intentions to retire from the industry.
Fade to Black runs through some of the major parts of Jay-Z’s Madison Square Garden performance while cutting to Jay-Z and his exploits and showing the viewers where his inspiration comes from.
Posted in Art |
Leave a Comment »
June 6, 2011
The Show is a 1995 documentary film about hip hop music. It was directed by Brian Robbins and featured interviews with some of hip hop’s biggest names. Def Jam founder Russell Simmons stars in and narrates the film. The documentary chronicles a diverse group of performers preparing to give a major concert at Philadelphia’s Armory.
Interspersed amongst the preparations are interviews with rappers past and present, looks at their personal lives, and commentary on their significance and upon the music. Featured acts and performers include, Slick Rick, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, LL Cool J, Run-DMC, Afrika Bambaataa, Biggie Smalls, Kurtis Blow, Sean Combs, and Method Man.
Posted in Art, Money, Politics |
Leave a Comment »
June 6, 2011
Audiosurf is a 2008 puzzle/rhythm hybrid game created by Invisible Handlebar, a personal company created by Dylan Fitterer. Its track-like stages visually mimic the music the player chooses, while the player races across several lanes collecting colored blocks that appear in sync with the music. The music used in the game is chosen from the user’s own library, from almost any DRM-free format, as well as stamdard CDs. Upon completing the track, the score is uploaded to the score server together with the track length and form, any feats achieved, and the character used including the ironmode option if this was enabled. Scores are stored per song title, allowing people to compete. The uploaded length and track form make it possible to detect mislabelled or variant versions of songs in the score browser.
Audiosurf synchronizes the environment, traffic patterns and scenery with the events in the current song. Each music file imported to the game by the user is first analyzed by the game engine, and an ASH file (containing the dynamics of the sounds and how the track and blocks are arranged) associated to the music is created and saved (typically around 30 kilobytes). This helps speed up the loading time of future replays of the same sound file. The game loads the environment from the ASH files, with the track’s elevation, surface and layout reflected in the dynamics of the music being played. For example, if a player were to choose to play a very soft and mellow song, the track would be uphill, very slow, relaxing and rich in cool colors. If a player were to choose a very intense and loud song, the track would be downhill, sped up, thick with traffic and lit up with hot colors.
Posted in Art, Games, Technology |
Leave a Comment »
June 3, 2011
Stella is a comedy trio consisting of Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black, and David Wain (all three of whom are alumni of the comedy troupe, The State). The group formed in 1997 as a weekly nightclub comedy attraction, performing at a New York City nightclub from 1997 until 2005. Stella soon gained a wider cult following after a series of self-produced shorts were released in limited quantities on DVD. Now known for their unique blend of potently mainstream comedy and surrealist humor, Stella has garnered a small but dedicated fanbase.
A noted aspect of Stella’s stand-up routine involved the members arguing with each other on stage. Michael Ian Black once referred to it as, ‘professional bickering,’ which some have compared to a ‘postmodern Smothers Brothers.’ Michael Showalter once said of their onstage bickering, ‘When people aren’t sure if what they’re watching is real or not, it kind of creates a tension. We have a certain amount of tension that’s very ripe comedically.’
read more »
Posted in Art, Humor |
Leave a Comment »
June 3, 2011
Daft Punk’s Electroma is a 2007 film by French duo Daft Punk. The plot revolves around the quest of two robots (the band members, played by Peter Hurteau and Michael Reich) to become human. The music featured in this film is not by Daft Punk, which is a first for the duo after their previous film and home video releases, ‘D.A.F.T.’ and ‘Interstella 5555.’
The two lead characters appear as the robotic forms of Daft Punk; one wears a silver helmet and the other wears a gold one. An opening scene shows the duo driving in a 1987 Ferrari 412 with its license plate displaying ‘HUMAN.’ After passing through a Southwestern United States landscape, the duo arrives at a town in Inyo County, California. The town’s denizens are robots physically identical to the two main characters, but at different ages, with different clothing and alternating gender.
read more »
Posted in Art |
2 Comments »
June 1, 2011
The Ethiopians is a ska, rocksteady, and reggae vocal group, founded by Leonard Dillon, Stephen Taylor and Aston Morris. The group started out recording for Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd in 1966. Dillon had previously released some mento songs under the name Jack Sparrow. Around late 1966, Morris left the Ethiopians.
Having left Dodd, the Ethiopians started recording at Dynamic Studios for the W.I.R.L. label, releasing the rocksteady classic ‘Train to Skaville,’ which was their first success. In 1968 they recorded the song ‘Everything Crash,’ their first big hit. The song criticised the political situation in Jamaica at the time, such as water rationing and power cuts that led to unrest; such as an incident in which 31 people were shot by police.
Posted in Art, Politics, World |
Leave a Comment »
The Daily Omnivore 