I.D. magazine presents the results of the 2006 Annual Design Review.

Low prices meet high design, or blatant Wal-Mart ripoff? I've always had a love affair with Sebastian Wong's Spun floor lamp produced by Flos and sold thru Design Within Reach, but at $1400 it's never moved past being a schoolboy crush. Now it appears that Wal-Mart has blatantly ripped off Mr. Wong and put out their own version of the Spun floor lamp for (drumroll, please)...$70 bucks. I've never considered buying anything from Wal-Mart before, and I certainly disagree with ripping off other designs, but at a paltry $70 I am beginning to understand how people can be seduced by the values offered at by the world's largest, and arguably most evil retailer.

LA Robots, mark your calendar for August 16th when Droid Behavior presents a performance by legendary Electro pioneer Alexander Robotnick. More details to come soon.

This Saturday. Downtown LA.

A group of designers (National Design Award finalists and winners) recently declined to be honored at a White House breakfast:

We understand that politics often involves high rhetoric and the shading of language for political ends. However it is our belief that the current administration of George W. Bush has used the mass communication of words and images in ways that have seriously harmed the political discourse in America. We therefore feel it would be inconsistent with those values previously stated to accept an award celebrating language and communication, from a representative of an administration that has engaged in a prolonged assault on meaning.

There's fantastic article on my favorite art-scientist, Natalie Jeremijenko over at Salon.com. For those unaware, Ms. Jeremijenko creates brilliant installations laden with irony, designed to illuminate our humanity and reveal the chain of consequences of our actions and inactions. In the narcissistic world of art where so much confessional self-absorbed and self-obsessed work is lauded, it's refreshing and inspirational to explore unique work like Ms. Jeremijenko's.

Attn Robots:

TASCHEN Warehouse Sale
June 22, 2006 - June 25, 2006
Thousands of slightly damaged and display copies from TASCHEN on sale at bargain basement prices, 50-75% off for 3 days only!
More information

LA Robots, don't forget, our friend The Hacker will be at Key Club this Sunday night 6/25. Be there or be a plane figure with four equal straight sides and four right angles.

Erlend Oye on how he selects tracks for his DJ sets:

"If they (the crowd) wear colorful clothes, they don't want minimal techno. If they don't wear colorful clothes, they want minimal techno."

Fans of XLOVER have something to celebrate. Mr. No and Bryan Black, the duo behind the dark electro sounds of last year's fantastic album, Pleasure & Romance bring us their first solo effort under the moniker MOTOR with their upcoming album Klunk. Unfortunately, Klunk won't feature the haunting pop vocals of Nina Rai, but from listening to the samples on their website they still have enough dark menacing grooves, corrosive industrial drumming and acid house hooks to keep XLOVER fans on the dancefloor.

Klunk is scheduled for a July 25th release on Novamute records. More information is available on their website.

Not only is pinhole photography fun, it can yield unexpected and beautiful results. One of the easiest ways to get started is by building your own pinhole camera.

Linatree.com has a handy PDF download from which you can cut out and assemble your very own pinhole camera. Check it out!

Right now I'm rediscovering Who made Who; no, not that one, this one. Anywho, while not a typical robot recording, the Danish trio provide enough pure audio serotonin to please anyone who like to hit the floor. You'll find nods to acid, disco, electro, house and indie rock all blended together brilliantly on their 15 track self-titled release. For more information, check their self-titled 2005 release on Gomma records, or their My Space page.

Honda put together an extensive history of its humanoid machines on its website, culminating in Asimo, which debuted in 2000. The first prototype started in 1986 was just a pair of legs that took five seconds between steps and could only walk in a straight line. What will this lineup look like 20 years from now?

Robots, start your Monday off right with a free mix from our friend Erol Alkan. Erol recorded an exclusive DJ set for New York's fantastic Beats In Space radio show, hosted by Tim Sweeney. You can download the hour-and-fifteen-minute-long set as an MP3 file here.

The name's Trev. I'm 27, totally super fucking hip, and am a copywriter at a global ad agency in New York City. More...

A couple of noteworthy LA shows coming soon:
Saturday May 20th, local electro superstar Matt Sims will spin up a storm @ the Echo. $8 after 10:30.

Sunday June 25 catch French electroclash and techno producer The Hacker at Key Club.

Recent CCA graduate Courtney Skott shows off her incredibly cool Cloud Bed. She's got an entire Flickr set up documenting the design and assembly process. Superb!

Synth pioneer Thomas Dolby blinds us with the science behind his music with pictures of gear in his studio. A lovely collection of switches and knobs.

Thanks to Doyle for alerting us of this. A true example of why web video owns.

Less than four months away. For the unexperienced, Current TV's got a well produced overview of the yearly festival.

Sexy new ad from Campari. Enjoy!

Ladytron Update: Stop by the Standard Hotel on Sunset tonight, Thrusday 5/4 for a special end-of-tour party from 10-2am. Ladytron will be DJing. No cover.

Star Wars purists rejoice. George Lucas is fixing the miscarriage of cinema otherwise known as the Star Wars DVD boxed set by releasing special editions of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi from Sept. 12 to Dec. 31 that will contain the original, unmolested theatrical versions of the films. Each one will feature Dolby 2.0 Surround sound, closed captioning and subtitles in English, French and Spanish. Finally, Han will shoot first again.

LA Robots, don't forget Ladytron are at the El Rey tomorrow, Tuesday 5/2. Tickets here.

There's a giant (no pun intended) new Shepard Fairey and Blake E Marquis mural near the corner of La Brea and Melrose. Very cool, worth checking out if you have a chance. And speaking of Shepard Fairey, his show at Groundworks cafe in the Arts District downtown is in its last week. If you want to pick up some of Shepard's artwork now would be a good time.

Mute Records has signed Sweden's dark electro-pop duo the Knife for a US release, making the band's new album, Silent Shout, available stateside for the first time. The CD will appear on June 27 along with a 12-inch and CD EP featuring remixes from Shinedoe, Troy Pierce, and Get Physical's Williams. Silent Shout has earned praise for its acidic, goth-inclined songs and uneasy atmospheres from both The Wire and Pitchfork — which gave the album a coveted 8.6 rating. The duo's debut live performance at London's Scala sold out in a stiletto's flash. [thanks, Earplug]

The ultimate tag. Marc Ecko tags Air Force One. Turns out the whole thing was an elaborate hoax.

The new Headhunter T-Shirt by Syndrome is a must have for anyone who wants to show off their 80's industrialness.

Join the Brothers Quay Friday 4/21 for their first speaking engagement in the United States as they discuss the influences on their work and screen several of their acclaimed films. Prepare for a unique experience of handcrafted animation that manages to push the boundaries of art. Details at oscars.org.

Free Dabrye MP3
Courtesy of the good folks at Ghostly International, you can get your electro-hip hop on with an exclusive 12” remix of Dabrye's Air free of charge, but only for one week (thru 4/24) so get over there and get some.

Oh, and Happy Easter.