THE CULTURAL JACKDAW

Hip Hop: Past, Present & Future

A couple of weeks ago I went to see KRS-One at the Jazz Cafe in London. He was supported by MC Supernatural.

It was hip hop with a message; KRS-One was like a preacher on stage, full of conviction and a vision of what hip hop should be. He's doing some important things for the culture of hip hop including this:

 

Whilst KRS-One is spreading his message, Kanye West is experimenting with a dizzying array of influences on his new album - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - which is being hailed as a masterpiece.

 

And, lastly, introducing Odd Future; a teenage skate rat crew who are shaking up the rap underground and being compared to Wu-Tang Clan.

 

Also known as Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (OFWGKTA).

These guys are going to blow up.

Pulp & Gorillaz

Lovely comic that accompanied the Pulp single Common People, sold in France and Australia.

Designed by Jamie Hewlett.

And a beautifully simple video from Gorillaz that uses the lights of New York as inspiration.

 

Avatar Pop Star

Hatsune Miku is a phenomenon in Japan.

She has...

- No.1 selling single.

- Sell out tour.

- Created over 67,000 songs & 100,000 You Tube videos.

 

But what's so fascinating about Hatsune Mika is that she's part of a game called Vocaloid and her songs and videos have been created by the players of the game.

Users go online and record their own songs via a singing synthesiser application.

On her tour she plays with a live band as she appears in 3D.

All of the songs she performs have been written by the fans in the audience.

Awesome.

 

 

Are Zombies the New Vampires?

Pop culture has been obsessed with Vampires for the last few years -  True Blood, Vampire Diaries, Twilight - but could Zombies be the next big thing? A new film called Play Dead and new TV show Walking Dead are both about Zombies.

Time Obsessed

The Clock by Christian Marclay is a montage of film clips that runs for 24 hours and is made up of time references for every minute of the day.

It's a collage of thousands of movie clips that makes a perpetual artwork.

"This is extraordinary, it's artwork about time, where you sit and think about time, and are reminded about time, all of the time." (Will Gompertz).

I think it's such a fascinating piece because it reflects one of the key modern truths about our society:

We are time obsessed.

Alain de Botton, as always, makes a brilliantly insightful comment on the modern tyranny of time:

"Modern capitalism guards time preciously because it knows it to be one of the raw ingredients of production and financial accumulation. Just as valuable in its own way as oil or a labour-force. As a result time has become oppresive."

The Power of The X Factor

It's amazing to witness the growing influence of TV shows on wider culture.

Pubs across the country (including this one in Bucks) are increasingly using The X Factor to drum up business and get people through the doors.

Fascinating to see The X Factor as the new Sky Sports.

What other TV show could bring a new audience to pubs?

Enlightened Entrepreneur

Alain de Botton is one of my favourite authors. He unlocks fascinating insights into the lives of other people and explores why we do what we do; whether that's our job, travelling, the houses we live in or the people we choose to love.

He shares a trait common in other inspiring people; he's not just a thinker, he's a doer.

A while ago he started this brilliant idea; where anyone can go and learn new tools to help improve their lives. More recently he has launched this ground-breaking project which offers people the chance to experience what it's like to live, eat and sleep in a space designed by an outstanding architectural practice.

de Botton is such an interesting entrepreneur because he gives back to society.

He wants us to live our lives in more meaningful ways.

His ideas (and effort) should be applauded.

Re-thinking the Book

A fascinating new book by American author Padgett Powell. Every sentence is written as a question.

 

And this app for Stephen Fry's memoirs lets you filter his life by different categories (or tags).

Pie Chart Reviews

Infographics used to review films and music.

I spotted these in the new (and badly named) mens magazine Gaz7etta - which is the male version of the UK's Grazia.

William Morris