If You Go Down To The Woods Today.

Fashion feature short we just wrapped with D1 Models. Massive thanks to everyone involved, big heads up to Apparat for being extremely cool about the music, and one of the few electronic artists capable of making australians cry. Support.
Backstage stills and more available on the Offworld Project Facebook Page.

Girls On Film

Something exciting is happening with music videos again, I can't put my finger on it exactly, but space is opening back up for semi-professional productions. Until fairly recently it's either been zero-budget 'quirky concept' or Rihanna, but something in-between is on the rise. Whether or not mid level directors are benefitting is obviously in contention, but I digress from these visual treats.

Hurts have always intrigued me, despite their underground overexposure... a straight pop effort dressed in Joy Division Dior Homme and referencing The Night Porter is definitely something to support, even if everyone is telling you as well. Lady Gaga must approve. UNKLE's latest collaboration with Warren & Nick comes off like a fashion film hybrid, and does it very very well.

Explosions In Space Are Silent (2008)

'I' is generally something that's avoided on this blog, mostly because the non-original material that gets put up wouldn't benefit much from a dear diary accompaniment. This entry is a slight exception however, as there's not really a way to post a piece of work I've been sitting on for two years without some words of explanation.

Once upon a time in a land geographically pretty close but shortly after the first iPhone was released I came up with the idea of Offworld Project, and having nailed my concept, was literally exploding to make something that would encapsulate my style completely, that was every bit my baby from beginning to end. Which I did.

In hindsight, obsessive control is never healthy; spending every penny I had (and more than a few I didn't), months of pre-production, directing and very physical acting (my first time at both), no sleep, and learning colour grading from scratch whilst barely leaving my windowless cave doesn't allow for much distance.

Tragically (but fantastic at the time), I managed to suck a load of very talented people into my black hole of enthusiasm who all worked brilliantly together, and expected something to come of it, but as (ambition - distance x expectation = time), it's apparently taken a long while to work out what it was we made, and it's place in the scheme of things. In other words I never showed it to anyone.

You know when you blow a load of money on something stupid, run out a while later and can't help thinking what you could be spending it on (NTS: 1 Tracey Island = 57 Sainbury's Basics vegetable soup & noodles)... This was kind of like that, except if I used my life savings all over again I might send it to someone this time.
At the time I guess it was hard to watch, having put so much into it, and having to see yourself on screen, or it was just stupidity. Either way I realised the other day it was probably about time to put it online...
(There's also a great little making-of that Kyri made, both songs are M83)

Health & Cheer To All Gingers

Ummm... so a couple of shock-tactic new music videos that both happen to be pretty amazing.
First is for HEALTH's We Are Water by Eric Wareheim (via City Slang), and second is another slice of teenage apocalyptica by Romain Gavras (remember Stress?) for M.I.A's new song Born Free (great song as well)...
I like them, if that's the right word....

One Amazing & Two Very Good Songs. One Amazing & Two Very Good Videos.

Gentlemen Prefer Blonde Fire

It seems about time to get back on the blog updates... I've been too busy with the club night to get on it recently, but with the launch of the new site (isn't it pretty; Offworld's illustrator pin-up Ryan Brown did a standup job on that) it's right back sharing the more disgustingly beautiful things around.

No better way to kick (back) off than with this incredible, disturbing video made by Joe Vanhoutteghem for the Belgian group Hickey Underground. It's always exciting to come across this aesthetic, it's got a real UNKLE feel to it colour-wise/visually, and has all the creativity of the Warp favourites like Cunningham and even a touch of Gondry...

Lazer Pistols, Cowboys, Holograms, Unicorns and Eagles

As Muse disappear yet further into the supermassive black hole started by Queen, it's comforting to remember that someone once told them self parody might not be such a bad idea... Back in 2006, they were responsible for at least authorising, if not conceptualising one of the most enjoyable music videos in mainstream pop.

Directed by Joseph Kahn, it seems to tread a similar path to Joss Whedon's Firefly, and is every bit the compact, high-gloss fun music videos can sometimes be. (A much higher-res version can be found at the directors website).

Moderat Makes Australians Cry

If Apparat isn't everything that's good about electronic music at the moment, he's certainly a reminder that it can be meaningful and emotional. Not the sweaty, pilled-up emotion of Soulwax or Justice, but the heart-string plucking kind; the kind that's usually the preserve of a well scored slice of premium cinema.

He started with Orchestra of Bubbles, a collaboration with Ellen Allien in 2006 that hinted at the human behind the techno beat; placing a subtle question mark over the typically soulless nature of electronic music. Then came the solo Walls in 2007, experimenting with downtempo and providing moments of sheer beauty (Useless Information, Arcadia).

Most recently was the collaboration with Modeselektor; Moderat. Initially I was worried the collaboration might see him straying from this living, breathing roboticism and into the more disposable aspects of his collaborators, but it seems the opposite was the case. What the collaboration brought in repetition and structure seemingly amplified the contrast... the industrial and the mechanical, and the emotive.


A friend recently recounted the following; it was a rainy, artistically productive day, and a group of them were sat smoking weed and drawing. Conditions, as Flight of the Conchords stated, were perfect, my friend put on LP highlight Out of Sight and returned to his drawing. When he looked up, he noticed an Australian, shedding a solitary tear.

If you can find it, there's a deluxe edition of the LP that has a second disk with a visual accompaniment, a sort of minimal series of music videos. Again, a hint at how to progress given the dismal future of albums, music videos and budgets in general.

Simian Mobile Disco Revitalize!

Firstly, apologies to the barely breathing parties for the lack of updates. I've been away with the fairies.

Here's something for you though... a Simian Mobile Disco video. SMD are something of an interesting notion to me, on one hand they were very active during the recent tech-electro boom, but never quite reaching the stratospheres of say Justice. They released some anthems during this period, but at the same time they didn't homogenize their sound, and therefore their appeal in the same way as Digitalism for example.

As those familiar with the history of SMD will know, it is their ability to evolve that has provided them with some longevity without resorting to formula. Both song and video here are testament to a next step. 'Electro' music and the music video concept are currently suffering a troubling period; electro has attempted parallel movements towards disco in the wake of it's over speculative explosion, and the music video is in the process of being over saturated by no-budget concept pieces... you know, the ones with the fingers, people walking on beds on their sides, etc etc etc...

Shrewdly then, we see an example of both being subverted, or progressed perhaps. (This is not the first time they've offered something of a subversion within the video form.) The music is an obvious old-school throwback, but in a somewhat sideward step when compared to their peers. The video takes the no-budget concept, throws it on it's head and reminds us of the fundamental appeal of dance music.

Offworld Bootleg In Youtube Widescreen (UNKLE - When Things Explode)

So it seems Youtube, famed for its viewing experience of watching something through a muddy veil has stepped up its game. Slightly.

Videos are now available in widescreen, and slightly higher quality. While this is good news, it's also somewhat frustrating when you have previous videos in widescreen that are stuck in the old format. Well, last night was tough, real tears of blood were shed in restless waking moments while I thought about all those lost ratings and views.

Here, for your masochistic viewing pleasure is the first in my Offworld Bootleg series, a new form of pirate music video made from bits of feature films, now in full YT widescreen. A divx is also available for download here (right click and save as).

(Please click here for more information on this project, and here for more music/film information)

Chris Cunningham Interview in Vice Magazine

As part of their recent interviews issue (and one of their best recent outputs), Vice interviewed the elusive Chris Cunningham.

With a reputation for being a bit like Larry David crossed with a cave troll, he is surprisingly lucid and upbeat.

However, that might all be a bit boring (/) if he hadn't included a stomach turning 'self portrait', which is interesting as well as disgusting.

Here

Much like the porn he discusses in the interview, the reality is, however clichéd, that people have become desensitised to shocking imagery, and demand more to trigger a reaction. The point of interest here is where it even crosses the limit of human possibility, and much like Lynch's infamous baby in Eraserhead, overtakes genuinely explicit real-life produced imagery (such as war photography and genetic mutation, for example).

Once again Cunningham proving himself to be worthy of his visceral cutting edge reputation. Can't wait for the feature films he mentions, imagine a horror in the style of Rubber Johnny or the 'Sheena Is a Parasite' (pictured) video.

Arcade Fire Interactive Music Video for 'Black Mirror'

It's probably a bit behind, but I've just seen this which is very cool. The always brilliant Arcade Fire have done something really interesting with their video concept for Black Mirror.

Here

It's an interactive video where you can manually select elements of the music... I particularly like it with 2 (drums) deselected... anyway, great concept, good to see people trying new things, even better that it's Arcade Fire.