Google's 2007 Zeitgeist.

Doyle reminds us not to forget the utter awesomeness of Circlesquare's video for Fight Sounds Part 1 [directed by Bienvenido Cruz]. I posted about this some time ago, but couldn't agree more that it bears repeating.

Just a few more reasons why I love San Francisco:

...here in a place that seems to channel Vatican City, an actual sovereign city-state whose reach far belies its size:

In 2004, voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition H, which demanded the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq. The next year, voters said yes to Proposition I, which opposed military recruitment in public schools.

A year ago, they voted to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney. As the San Francisco Chronicle noted in a recent editorial, "it's hardly worth getting outraged when San Francisco supervisors load the ballot with measures of more symbolism than substance. It's what they do."

From the LA Times article about San Francisco's new ID program, which would give undocumented immigrants and others who live on the edges of society a way to gain easier access to city and business services and prove residency.

Attentive readers may have noticed a dearth of postings of late, what with travel to Cuba and British Columbia under our belt, and Paris on the radar it’s been tough to find time to share. Don’t be dismayed though, we may be down but not out. Regular postings will resume shortly after the Thanksgiving break (have a happy one!).

Oh, and let me go on record that I think I might be head over heels in love with this:

Our boys from Justice also made a stop by the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show last night as they performed their hit D.A.N.C.E. in a rather unorthodox manner—proxied via Michael Jackson, Rick James, Stevie Wonder and Rod Stewart impersonators. After seeing them perfom at the Henry Fonda, I can understand why they opted for this kind of schtick—taken out of context and divorced from their gesticulating, sweaty multitudes they simply aren't that interesting to watch. I still love their album, their videos and I get a little rush of adrenaline every time Phantom II builds to that slow crescendo, but I think like their countrymen, Daft Punk, their particular brand of beats are best enjoyed on the dancefloor or via cleverly directed music videos—not by way of late night talkshows.

Also, can we all agree GM should simply kill Saab, or sell them to someone who understands the brand? I can't bear to see my once beloved brand with the moniker “The Most Intelligent Cars Ever Built” suffer this way.

Justice and opening band Midnight Juggernauts (whose lead singer is a dead ringer for Bret from HBOs Flight of the Concordes) whipped last night's all-ages crowd into a sweaty, frothy, frenzy last night at Hollywood's Henry Fonda Theater. Despite not having much material (they only have one album) they rocked the crowd for over an hour by integrating much of their work as collaborators and remixers for artists like Simian Mobile Disco and Ed Banger labelmates Scenario Rock. All said, it was a fantastic show and it was great to let loose alongside LA's youth; if they come to your town, don't miss them. [Photo by Delgoff team Zissou]

Blade Runner: The Final Cut is Ridley Scott's definitive director’s cut and plays at the Landmark in Los Angeles this Friday.

Engadget visited the Robot Museum in Nagoya, Japan. From the pictures, it doesn't seem as interesting as one would hope but you can have a look for yourself.

Always having an incredible sense of style, it's no surprise that Duran Duran is promoting their new album on men.style.com. At 45 years, Nick Rhodes still looks awesome and remains my favorite member of the band. Some classic Duran is featured below, in their NSFW video, The Chauffer directed by Ian Emes. This moody black-and-white video is the only one from the album Rio in which the band do not appear at all, and is said to have been inspired in part by Charlotte Rampling's "Dance of the Seven Veils" in the film The Night Porter and the photography of Helmut Newton.

Have a great weekend, robots!

I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the Pacemaker portable DJ device from Tonium. I've been waiting for a device like this; with so many kids DJing in bedrooms all across the globe it's not hard to imagine that this or something like it will become the new iPod for the creative set. It's been getting great pre-release press which indicates it lives up to expectations. At over 500 euros, it won't be a toy for everyone, but if you look at some of the DJ endorsements in their video section, I bet you'll see one in use soon at a nightclub near you.

Check out this cool demo for the TENORI-ON musical interface. Reminds me a little of a low-res JazzMutant Lemur.

I know I'm a little late to the party with this post, but Volvo's recently announced ReCharge concept is a Hybrid that actually looks like a car I would love to drive (I once heard the Prius described as the orthopedic shoe of automotive design, a sentiment I agree with).

The all-wheel drive propulsion will be provided courtesy of wheel motors at all four corners with sufficient capacity for 62 miles of electric driving. Once the battery state of charge dips to thirty percent, a 1.6L four cylinder flex-fuel engine bolted to a generator starts up to re-charge the battery. The ReCharge can also be plugged in to replenish the battery energy.

More at AutoBlog Green.

My weekend in San Francisco was a blast. As evidenced by all the skinny ties and asymetrical haircuts at the Rickshaw Stop, my fellow robots are keeping the irobotnik spirit alive and well. Aside from the Il Flagranti show, and seeing good friends, one of the high points of my weekend was a visit to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts to see the Dark Matters show, a group exhibition of hi-tech installations, photography, video and conceptual projects that uncover the unexpected, the invisible and the hidden.

Two works that I found especially memorable were the internet-eavesdropping installation Listening Post (videos) by Ben Rubin and Mark Hansen and the beautiful collection of photographs in the Library of Dust exhibit by David Maisel.

In Library of Dust, each photograph shows a greatly eroded canister of cremated human remains found in the storage room of an old mental institution in Salem, Oregon.

If you're in SF, I highly recommend checking out the show which runs until 11/11/07.

TONIGHT, robiatches. The prodigal robot (that's me) returns to rock it in San Francisco. Be there.


Rickshaw Stop (155 Fell) $10

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...Sony Rolly.

Summer's almost over—but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy summer's favorite sport: The Hipster Olympics!

[Via swissmiss]

Pitchfork has infiltrated the robot pyramid and bring us a view from inside the vessel Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo use to make tens of thousands of people all jump in unison and gyrate their hips in some grand, cosmic harmony.

Wonderfully bizzare, Japan's Gimmie Gimmie Octopus will leave you scratching your head. Yes, it was a real show, around the same time Sid and Marty Kroft were producing their own brand of American psychedelia.

According to an official report, the US has lost track of about 190,000 weapons issued to Iraqi security forces since the 2003 invasion, some of which will have ended up in the hands of insurgents. Among the missing items are:
- 110,000 AK-47s
- 80,000 pistols
- 135,000 bits of armor
Read the whole article here.

Jenny Holzer's twitters.

Daft Punk Alive Los Angeles
As I previously effused, last night’s Daft Punk concert was less of a show, and more of a religious experience. The robots came not to befriend, but to dominate, and humble Angelinos were all to eager to submit to their overwhelming force. Without a doubt, this was the most dazzling stadium spectacle I have ever witnessed (the robots played their sold-out show at the Los Angeles Sports arena with a 17,000 seat capacity. Considering the general admission floor was packed too, I’d estimate there were 25,000 in attendance). Energy radiated from the crowd–they were good and warmed up by two extended Kavinsky DJ sets, and a live performance by Ratatat that was fantastic.

Kavinsky

Ratatat

When the Robots finally emerged, the sultry crowd literally exploded with excitement. As Guy and Thomas emerged atop the LED flanked black pyramid (with the vocoded ROBOT-HUMAN-ROBOT-HUMAN playing) the cheers of the crowd were almost loud enough to drown out the Sports Arena’s state-of-the-art audio system.

The stage set was beautiful and awe inspiring, consisting the pyramid surrounded by what must have been millions of super bright LEDs, and a Buckminster Fulleresque light grid that displayed shifting colors and patterns that pulsated with the music.



After nearly two hours of continual rocking, and one encore set, I left sweaty, exhausted and a bigger Daft Punk fan than ever. Thanks for rocking Los Angeles guys! Le concert était très bon!

My God! That was an amazing concert!

Today's time waste: Victorian costume drama slapping.

Daft punk is playing in my town, but if you weren't lucky enough to score tickets to the robots' sold-out Los Angeles performance this Saturday night, I'd suggest taking advantage of the lovely summer weather and joining a few thousand Angelinos under the stars at the hollywood forever cemetery as Cinespia screens Dario Argento's Suspiria.
Suspiria is one of the most visually stunning horror movies ever made. Creepy, mind-bendingly beautiful cinematography and a fantastic ghoulish score by goblin add to this dream-like fantasy, underscored by genuine suspense. when a young dance student enrolls in a prestigious school in the black forest of Austria, she accidentally uncovers the mystery of the school's dark secret: an ancient coven of witches. Bring blankets, drinks and picnic dinner, DJ jun spins before and after the screening.

A yellow spot on the horizon slowly approaches the coast. People have gatherd and watch in amazement as a giant yellow Rubber Duck approaches. The spectators are greeted by the duck, which slowly nods its head. The Rubber Duck knows no frontiers, it doesn't discriminate people and doesn't have a political connotation. The friendly, floating Rubber Duck has healing properties: it can relief mondial tensions as well as define them. The rubber duck is soft, friendly and suitable for all ages!

The always insightful Michael Bierut has published another worhtwhile article, Everything I Know About Design I Learned from The Sopranos.

The article is chock full of truisms, including this nugget:

On commitment:"I came home one day, shot her four times. Twice in the head. Killed her aunt, too. I didn't know she was there. And the mailman. At that point, I had to fully commit."

I heard this back in design school, and I still forget it every now and then: if you're going to make something big, make it really big. If you're going to make it simple, make it really simple. Or really small, or really fancy. If you're going after a project, if you're trying to win a competition, if you're serious about getting the job done, don't bother unless you're willing to fully commit.

Demonstrate your patriotism this 4th of July by joining MSNBC's Keith Olberman and demanding the resignation of President Bush and Vice President Cheney.
---------
It is nearly July 4th, Mr. Bush, the commemoration of the moment we Americans decided that rather than live under a King who made up the laws, or erased them, or ignored them—or commuted the sentences of those rightly convicted under them—we would force our independence, and regain our sacred freedoms.

We of this time—and our leaders in Congress, of both parties—must now live up to those standards which echo through our history: Pressure, negotiate, impeach—get you, Mr. Bush, and Mr. Cheney, two men who are now perilous to our Democracy, away from its helm.

For you, Mr. Bush, and for Mr. Cheney, there is a lesser task. You need merely achieve a very low threshold indeed. Display just that iota of patriotism which Richard Nixon showed, on August 9th, 1974.

Resign.
---------

Make your own!

Keempa has this really fascinating story up about the practice of hiding old text adventure games on some of the records released in the 70s and 80s.

Most of these hidden games were written for the Sinclair Spectrum home computer, which is probably why I never experienced the Thompson Twins game first hand. To play the game you had to record the proper section of the record onto a tape and then use a tape recorder to load the game into the computer.

[via Kotaku]

Losanjealous comments on last Sunday's LCD Soundsystem show.

We are the cyclists.

Hmmm. An idea for Burning Man 2008 perhaps?

It was only a matter of time before the original got knocked off. Shame. Lame.

With the notable exception of Apple's WWDC announcements, which you can read at myriad other sites, the one thing that caught my eye today was this beautiful italian commemorative edition of Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea designed by Paolo Orsacchini. It's printed on waterproof paper and enclosed in a clear pouch filled with real sea water. Collectors can either bust it out of its original packaging, dry it under the sun, and enjoy a classic read, or they can preserve this limited piece in all its designed glory. Unfortunately the links over at Core77 didn't work properly, hopefully they'll fix them soon so we can all find out more information.

And if you were wondering, yes, last night's LCD Soundsystem show at the El Rey was uh-mayz-ing...possibly even legendary. Aside from James Murphy's ability to completely rock it while recovering from a nasty cold, I've never, ever seen an LA audience so into it. I don't think there was a single person who wasn't chanting screaming along with LCD's well-known mantras. Yeah, yeah, yeah, ya-ya yeah yeah yeah!

Ah, what would we ever do without all those enterprising young hackers out there? The latest goodness unleashed upon the world is MySpaceMP3.org, a site whose simple purpose is to let you put in a My Space artist and download all the songs listed on their page as MP3 files. The bit rate and sample rate of the downloads is hardly stellar, at 96k and 22,500Hz (same quality is listening on the artist's page), but if you really want a song and if you can ignore the site's popunder ads, this might just be for you.

Today is officially Judge Michael T. Sauer day. Justice has been served.

Likeness courtesy of Plasticgod.

Sony Tokyo's R&D group recently showed Music synchronized artistic expressions for Ferrofluid. The artwork, by Yasushi Miyajima and Sachiko Kodama, consisted of a dome filled with ferromagnetic nano particles suspended in a treacly black oil. Using a combination of voltage-regulated electromagnets and metadata added to music beforehand, the nanites appeared to react to the music, assemble themselves in line and form a stunning tree-like display on a central metal pillar.

I never get tired of looking at the moving sculptures of artist Theo Jansen.

I'm a sucker for good color, and Pantone knows I'm not the only one. In addition to notepads, bags and all sorts of other branded accessories, you can now order Pantone USB flash drive. Available in 13 Pantone Colors, these compact and portable external drives are Mac and PC compatible and feature capacities up to 4GB.

I can't wait for this one...recently premiered at Cannes and directed by Anton Corbijn, Control is a biopic of Ian Curtis, the troubled lead singer of Joy Division, who died at the young age of 23. View trailer

I have 3 invitations to the new Spock people search engine beta. If you want one, just email me with the name of your 5 favorite songs of the moment...I'll pick the top 3 and send the invitations out. Good luck!

According to Pitchfork, one of our favorite acts, Simian Mobile Disco is about to tour stateside. Check the article for more locations and dates.

09-21 San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine
09-22 Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex

Just when you thought t-shirt designs couldn't get any more fun, along came Justice's D.A.N.C.E. Directed by Jonas & Francois. I love it!

Also, for those of you in San Francisco you might want to check out Friday Night at Harputs Market. This week, in exchange for the somewhat steep cover charge of $75 you'll be treated to an evening of wine, art and entertainment including music from The Nice Device. There will also be raffles for some sweet designer clothing and accessories.

Perfect for spring riding, DWR is now offering the new line of Biomega AMS bicycles. Each is beautifully designed, and features a cardanic shaft drive which eliminates greasy chains and greasy trousers.

For all our friends in the EU, Modular Records is throwing down this weekend with a triumvirate of party goodness. Check the cities below for details.

Friday, LONDON - Modular Weekly @ Ditch Bar, 145 Shoreditch High Street with Sinden, Tramp! (Manchester), Nightmoves (Nottingham), FACT Magazine DJs, Baseball Furies and Modular DJs. ONLY £5 from 9pm - 4am. 2 for 1 beer before midnight.

Friday, PARIS - Modular Paris Party @ Showcase - Good Shoes (live), New Young Pony Club DJs, Herve, Fred Falke, Modular DJs and special guests. Free before 11, 10 euros after and from 10pm to 6am.

Saturday, BERLIN - Modular Berlin Party @ Rio- New Young Pony Club DJs, Sinden, Kavinsky, Modular DJs, VICE DJs, Rio Allstars. 10pm to 8am at RIO CLUB.

If you're stuck stateside, just roll west to San Francisco where Modular will be kicking down the beats with the Radio Soulwax Tour:

Friday, April 27
Radio Soulwax Tour featuring:
Soulwax Nite Versions Live
2 Many DJs
Muscles Live
DJs JDH and Dave P (Fixed NYC)
DJs Jefrodisiac and Richie Panic (SF)

Mezzanine
444 Jessie Street @ Mint 9pm
Advance tix $20

But the San Francisco fun doesn't stop there...might as well pitch a tent and create your own version of San Franciscoachella Sunday and Monday with shows by Digitalism, Joakim and LCD Soundsystem. Yeah! It's all at Mezzanine

...and finally, mark your calendars for this, also at Mezzanine:

Joseph Kosinski's new commercial for the Saab Blackbird (Aero X). View a high resolution QuickTime version here.

A grim vision of the future painted by Britan's Ministry of Defense includes: Information chips implanted in the brain. Electromagnetic pulse weapons. The middle classes becoming revolutionary, taking on the role of Marx's proletariat. The population of countries in the Middle East increasing by 132%, while Europe's drops as fertility falls. "Flashmobs" - groups rapidly mobilised by criminal gangs or terrorists groups.

Art imitates commerce; some NYC street artists take the idea behind the groove tube to the public realm with their pixelator project. Check their website for videos and instructions on how to construct your own.

Awesomeness. The New Dance Show (Circa early 90s) featuring Daniel Bell

Nikon's Universcale is like Powers of Ten for the Internet age; it puts 40 magnitudes of measurement at your fingertips.

Supertouch offers us a preview of WK's show in Paris at the Adict Galerie which opens tonight.

Re: Friday Night Videos. Should deux (Agglomerat, France, 1983) be feeling ripped off by Anton Corbijn and DM (Mute, England, 1987)? This wouldn't be the first time.

News from the City of Angels, our favorite purveyor of high-design, All Purpose has joined with Cyberoptix TieLab to illustrate the concept of James Dean's 1955 car crash "Whiplash" intricate prints of auto part schematic illustrations repeated and mirrored into complex, twisted patterns. I'm sure Ms. Bethany or Mr. Doyle will be posting more on this soon.

Until then, enjoy our Friday Night Video tribute to all things French (Videos de Vendredi Nuit?)

Rare cold-wave par excellence
Another French rarity (from 2003)
Even the fake french are fabulous
But we still love North America

Meanwhile, Think Geek introduces a new reason to be gunned down on the streets of L.A.

According to Gothamist, my favorite supplier of all things simple and good, MUJI will be opening a flagship store in The Times building in NYC. This will augment their small subset of goods already offered at MoMA, SF MoMA and MoCA (at triple the JP prices). I'm especially eager to finally have access to some of their larger products that are either too bulky to schlep back from Japan, and that are not stocked at the museums, like this sleek CD clock radio.

5 new Katamari Damacy shirts from our friends at Panic Software up in Portland.

Pitchfork Media has a fantastic interview with the Icelandic songstress Bjork, about her new album Volta, due out May 7. And once again, she's working from the beats outward, just as she did on Homogenic and Vespertine (unlike her vocal-only album Medulla).

In the article, she discusses her influences to the "marching" sounds in Volta. One of the best parts of the interview is when Bjork describes how this album is somewhat a reaction to the world today, particularly all the religious divides;

"I mean, the human race, we are a tribe, lets face it and stop all this religious bullshit. I think everybody, or at least a lot of my friends are just so exhausted with this whole self-importance of religious people. Just drop it. We're all fucking animals, so lets just make some universal tribal beat. We're pagan. Lets just march."

First there was the iPhone, then the Prada Phone. Now Softbank Japan introduces the Pantone Phone. It's a mobile being offered in 20 of your favorite PMS colors. Personally, I'm waiting for someone to release the hexidecimal phone in #6e6b6b.

I have absolutely no use at the moment for a high-end digital multitrack recorder, but if I did, I'd certainly check out the Cantar-X. Aside from it's rugged, blade-runneresque good looks, it appears to be loaded with impressive features like twin batteries and a remote control software so the Cantar-X can be operated from your PDA. The company calls it 'the Stradivarius of new generation, and at first blush I'd have to agree. [via Core77]

Frustrated with the relentless barrage of advertisements in subways, bus stops and other public spaces? Now you can express your frustration with Printable Cold Sores. Excellent!

This week Friday Saturday Night Videos' theme is "Voyage". Enjoy!

Learn your Geography

Take the Train

Head to the Ocean

Bring back some Souvenirs

Tyler Brûlé would Approve

Bon Voyage

Our favorite knob twiddlers and tweakers in San Francisco's Lower Haight (a.k.a. Robotspeak) have just launched an online magazine to compliment their excellent real-world store. The new Robotspeak Digital Magazine will present in-depth Video interviews with artists, A/V demonstrations of Robotspeak gear, quick and dirty software tutorials, streaming live performances and more. Check it out!

Halo inspired suit on eBay

This isn't a joke. Weighing just 18 kilograms, it'll stop a 12-guage-shotgun blast and is purported to be technologically superior to anything issued by the US Army.

Contributing to Mr. Doyle's resurrection of Friday Night Videos, here are a few of my own flick picks to get your weekend started:



No, but that's what makes you interesting

One of the secrets of the universe

Those ah, ah, ah, ah eyes!

Robots resurected from red light recklessness

Saturn dreams. Lazer beams. 21st century sex machines

Continuing with our SAAB celebration, here's a fantastic commercial from the glory days of the classic SAAB 900 Turbo. Enjoy!

Enjoy the sweet, mellow, throaty warble of the 900 SPG.

Longtime readers will undoubtedly recall my fondness for SAAB automobiles (I've owned five different SAABs over the years, a 99GL, 900 Turbo, 900 SPG, 96 and 9-3 Viggen) especially models produced prior to being assimilated and adultrated by the halfwits at GM (were you even thinking when you created the 92x and 97x !?!).

Hopefully innovative concepts, such as the Saab Aero X will lead SAAB back into the unique leadership position they once held with the original 900 series. Until then, you can enjoy this compilation of fun facts put together by Auto Spectator to celebrate SAAB's 60th anniversary [via Core77].