After 100 Records, A Bento Box, July Events Full of Ghostly International
Hardly a day goes by, it seems, that someone isn’t talking about the death of the album, replaced by singles. When they say “album,” however, they tend to mean “pop album,” using as their primary metric sales of the very top end of the spectrum. In electronic music, the album has never been about sales. For one, singles have long ruled the dance floor, long before iTunes began peddling online downloads of a la carte tracks. But more than that, albums are a unit of time, a packaged statement of aesthetic thought. They’re a story. And after an explosion of flash-pot diversity, labels today begin to be valued for their longevity and endurance. Albums once justified the label. Now, labels are a reason for albums to exist.
Of course, actually figuring out how to do that is as challenging – in business and cuisine – as running a restaurant. You need enough diversity to keep people coming back, but without becoming chaotic or losing the plot. You need a quantity / quality list.
Ghostly International is to me one of the superstar musical chefs that’s done it right. This summer, they’ve reached the milestone of 100 album releases. That may sound like a lot, but Ghostly has had just over a decade in operation, meaning they’re averaging just around ten releases a year.
I’m not personally shelling out for one of the 50 in this series, but I really admire its design. It embodies Ghostly’s philosophy – and it’s also a symbolic milestone. With its beautiful, organic design, it’s a physical manifestation of the new, enduring album, the album that survives even in the age of torrent sites and iTunes singles and enormous hard drives and music as commodity. As Ghostly puts it:
The Ghostly Bento was inspired by Japan and its tradition of quality, service, and design—values that Ghostly has always cherished. “Manzoku” is a Japanese word that roughly translates to “satisfaction.” Thus, the Bento is an intimate celebration of satisfaction in multiple forms—tactile, visual, aural—packaged in a handcrafted wooden box, stained and etched with a stunning image by LA artist Dosa Kim.
Putting out pretty wooden boxes isn’t going to justify any label, but Ghostly is busy, as always, this month.
Here in New York at digital tech research hub Eyebeam, a handful of artists will gather to collaborate with the label on visualization of music, under the tutelage of digital artists Aaron Myers and Aaron Koblin, as covered previously on CDMotion:
Matching Visuals to Music: Round-up of Inspiration
I hope to be there covering what happens, and coding myself.
This Friday July 9 in San Francisco and Saturday July 10 in Los Angeles, Ghostly will celebrate its 100 discs with live events, featuring favored artists like Tycho, Shigeto, The Sight Below, and Mux Mool. (If anyone from CDM’s readership would like to go cover, we’d be much obliged!)
XLR8R.com, SF event, LA showcase
And if you want to include records other than just Ghostly’s in your listening queue, check out their lovely look back at the past decade at the end of last year – plenty of agreement in my own music library here.
Ghostly’s 110: Our Favorite Albums of the Decade
Meanwhile, if you want a look behind the scenes with a Ghostly artist, here’s what Christopher Willits is up to with Livid Instruments’ Block (see last week’s round-up) and Ableton Live with Max for Live, for our friends at XLR8R.
View full post on Create Digital Music
VJVault.com / VJloops Annual July Loop Sale –Up to 70% Off
All loops on VJVault.com are now up to 70 percent off. Crazy deals! Get loop packs that are usually 40 Euros for only $15 USD. We also have $5.00 Loop packs specials. See below.
We have added a PAL loop section as well as 14 new loop packs in both secions. This sale runs to the end of July 2010. After that all loop packs go back to normal pricing. Thanks for your support. Partial funds from each sale help keep VJVault.com online. Be sure to check out VJLoops.tv for more exciting loop packs and specials.
640×480 Loop Packs
http://www.vjvault.com/ipnmonitor/index.php?maincat_id=6
720×576 PAL Loop Packs
http://www.vjvault.com/ipnmonitor/index.php?maincat_id=7
Special $5.00 Loop Pack Deals
Big City by AOT – $5.00 – 640X480
Clouds & Terrains by AOT – $5.00 – 640X480
Patriot Act By VJLoops.tv – $5.00 - 640X480 / PAL
Planetary By VJLoops.tv – $5.00 – 640X480 / PAL
Happy looping
Sean – VJVault Keeper
View full post on Inside The Vault
Super Hero Street Fair July 10th (It’s going to be Riot like)
-One big wall.
-3 VJ stations
-5 projectors
-Too many sound systems
-1 Super Hero Fair
1000′s of spandex clad wannabe heros
The Wall
The VJ Station area
From Dusk to Midnight Super Hero Street Fair shed’s it’s Batman beacon directly on the VJ.
The command center will consist of 5-6 projectors and 3 VJ Hero stations. Bring your superhero mix and project extraordinary visuals. Super plasmatic power and radioactive video signals will be provided courtesy of Video Salon from dusk to midnight.
Where ordinary VJs project extraordinary visuals!
Contact vjsuperhero@gmail.com
To reserve your spot.
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StarCulture w/ iCatching July 17th LA
www.vjculture.com
David Starfire and I present our A/V performance, “StarCulture” July 17th @ Air Conditioned Lounge in Venice Beach CA.
Joining us is iCatching, she’s a talented MC that David has produced.
Doors are at 9:00.
Map
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