the ihlest

The future of the album.

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 10:50:59 -0400

As we all get to grips with the the innumerable ways to discover and digest media, more of which spring up every day, it’s easy to get excited about the challenges and opportunities ahead. These next few years can and will carry us in to a new age where entertainment is alive all around us.

Amidst all the innovation, hype, and clutter, the outlines of a new music industry are beginning to take some kind of blurry shape. Album “experiences” which deliver much more than an “iPad version” hold more promise than pretty much any format in the history of recorded media. The untold promise of classic albums like Ready To Die or Nevermind is rivalled only by the frenzy that continues today for more pictures, more video, more behind-the-scenes access to the components that made those masterpieces whole.

Bjork’s new album Biophilia embraces this potential with arms wide open, in a more instinctive, innovative and genuinely intimate way than similar recent offerings, like the visual opus which accompanied Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Nightmare or Swedish House Mafia’s multimedia-heavy “Until One” ipad App.

Although I have not seen the Apps in question yet, nor am I a huge fan of Bjork’s music, her approach has me enthusiastic about the future of the album and where we can take it next.

From The Guardian:

“The app that goes with the first single, Crystalline, includes a game in which you collect crystals in a tunnel, through which process you alter and customise the music. The app also includes an abstract version of the musical score; and an essay by Dibben that explains, in this case, how the structures of crystals relate to the musical structure of the song. The app for another song, Cosmogony, presents a 3D cosmos you can navigate. Each app has been created by a different – often rival – developer. “To me, it feels like the birth of opera or the birth of cinema,” says Snibbe.”

We’ll always have Selfridges.

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 07:35:40 -0400

We’ll always have Selfridges.

Davies Street, London

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 07:33:00 -0400

Davies Street, London

Egyptian Hip Hop are too rad but I kind of wish they actually...

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:00:54 -0400

Egyptian Hip Hop are too rad but I kind of wish they actually made Egyptian Hip Hop

#1 on the App Store in 48 hours. If you don’t know, now...

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 08:32:23 -0400

#1 on the App Store in 48 hours.

If you don’t know, now you know…

The Smith Westerns take an interview in the hot tub. Plus:...

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 12:12:00 -0400

The Smith Westerns take an interview in the hot tub.

Plus: waking up.

The Notorious XX (Mashup Album)

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 11:41:50 -0400

The Notorious XX (Mashup Album)

Fillematique Mixtape for your ears

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:07:05 -0400

Fillematique Mixtape for your ears

Listen to your Mother.

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:31:24 -0500

VEVO is here! http://www.vevo.com

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:04:35 -0500

VEVO is here!

http://www.vevo.com

Pac Div give a rough rendition of new track “Doom”...

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 12:53:23 -0400

Pac Div give a rough rendition of new track “Doom” in the studio with DJ Khalil.

Watch BeYoung kill it from 0:47 to 1:33.

And if you haven’t already, download Pac Div’s new mixtape Church League Champions.

Cool Kids video shoot… via Facebook

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:49:53 -0400

Cool Kids video shoot… via Facebook

Hygeia // Gustav Klimt, 1907

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:42:05 -0400

Hygeia // Gustav Klimt, 1907

Os Gemeos put the finishing touches on their new mural on...

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:54:45 -0400

Os Gemeos put the finishing touches on their new mural on Houston

Somewhere off the coast of Montauk this weekend…

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:26:00 -0400

Somewhere off the coast of Montauk this weekend…

The Game on Change of Heart

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:08:17 -0400

The Game on Change of Heart

Newport Coast // John Frederick Kensett, 1865

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:25:03 -0400

Newport Coast // John Frederick Kensett, 1865

I saw them filming this last night at corner of Ludlow &...

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:20:01 -0400

I saw them filming this last night at corner of Ludlow & Grand

Kanye West for Louis Vuitton

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:52:08 -0400

Kanye West for Louis Vuitton

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:05:38 -0400