THE FUTURE OF MUSIC

Whilst watching the previously mentioned Daft Punk video featuring Kanye West, I noticed that they were using an interesting form of Midi controller in their set. After some research I found out the name of it and the company that created it. The Lemur by Jazzmutant is a touch sensitive Midi device that gives the user full customisation to the way that they use it and what it controls. It essentially becomes an instrument in its own right because of the vast amount of functions it can hold and use.

A similar device to this is the Reactable. A rare instrument currently unavailable commercially, it is used by Bjork to create some of her music. An example of it can be seen in her live performance.

QUAYOLA

Quayola's work takes on a fresh approach to audio visualisations by taking high definition photography and rendering it in a dysfunctional 3D environment. Rather than just seemingly random shapes like a lot of AV (or VJ) material, the focus is on the original content, and creating something new out of it, whether it is a building, a painting, or even a seascape.
Just like WeWorkForThem, he has used a 3D environment to work in, allowing an aesthetically pleasing depth of field and some pleasant sweeping camera angles.

This use of 3D space and direct relation of audio to visuals is something that I would like to explore within my own work, most likely within the Digitalism video, as there is less focus on a narrative within this piece than there is within Let's Buy Happiness.

Most notably, his Path to Abstraction series is a collection of visuals for music tracks that focuses on extracting each element of sound and representing it visually. There are several videos that have been created and the concept for them comes across quickly and effectively.

More examples of this work can be seen on his website.

TAKE THIS DANCE (OR NOT)

When I first saw this site advertised somewhere, I thought wow, that's a good idea. It is an online music video that takes variable information from API websites such as Flickr, Geonames, and even Google. Alas, the video is actually shit. The concept of using information based on real-world figures is a great idea, yet it really hasn't been done justice in this instance. Rather than use the information to enhance the overall video and get across a message, of which I assumed the song was trying to do—though I couldn't bear to actually listen to his whiny 'Disney-Punk' voice—it merely used the variable figures (or photo in the terribly juxtaposed Flickr instance) as layers that served as a novelty.

Rating 1 star out of 5. And only because it gave me an idea.

THE BLACK HEART GANG

The Black Heart Gang is a collective of three friends who have combined their talents to create the 'Dodo Trilogy'. It started as a literary piece of which was soon composed into a song. Illustrations to the weird beings and environments mentioned in the tales were soon drawn up, and then composited into 2D animations. The 'making of' video shows some of the layering methods used in the piece that could be easily applied to other illustrative works.