The Music Video of the Year (So Far): Dominic Lord – “Pierce”

Dominic Lord was an early member of the A$AP mob (he was A$AP Dom), but is doing his own thing now. And it’s good. The 18-year old from Harlem has been in the studio with with Hudson Mohawke, Benny Blanco (Katy Perry), Stargate (Beyonce, Wiz Khalifa), and more. The sound is fresh. It’s a little Cudi, a little Kanye, and a whole lot cool. The video for his first release, “Pierce” is (as far as I’m concerned) the video of the year. Directed by Aram Bedrossian, it is less music video and more high art. Elegant and creative visuals are offset by electro dance hooks and distorted rap. Check it out below:

Probably the Greatest Chalk Pastel Drawings of Reality TV Stars Ever

The internet is awesome for a myriad of reasons. This is but one of them. Vancouver-based photographer and artist Karin Bubaš used chalk pastels to render the cast of groundbreaking MTV reality show The Hills for a series of drawings titled With Friends Like These… It’s been almost two years since we’ve heard the lulling tones of Natasha Bedingfield accompanied by the drama and long-suffering looks of Lauren, Heidi and Spencer. Unlike the high gloss of the show, Bubaš’ drawings humanise the cast and make them seem like more sympathetic subjects. Watching The Hills was like a good workout: excruciating yet strangely pleasurable. This year Bubaš will release a book of her pastel drawings of The Hills cast called, To All the Haters. I wonder if they’ll do a reunion show? Like Justin-Bobby said, “truth and time tells all”.

The 2012 World Press Photo Winners

Photo by Samuel Aranda

The international jury of the 55th annual World Press Photo Contest has selected a picture by Samuel Aranda from Spain as the World Press Photo of the Year 2011. The picture shows a woman holding her wounded son in her arms, inside a mosque used as a field hospital by demonstrators against the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, during clashes in Sanaa, Yemen on 15 October 2011. Samuel Aranda was working in Yemen on assignment for The New York Times.

The contest draws entries by professional press photographers, photojournalists and documentary photographers from across the world, with 5,247 photographers from 124 countries participating this year with 101,254 pictures submitted by the mid-January deadline. A group of 19 internationally recognised professionals in the field of photojournalism and documentary photography convened in Amsterdam from 28 January until 9 February 2012 to judge the entries.

Check out a selection of some of my favourites below:

Photo by Vincent Boisot

A model poses in front of tailor stalls in the center of Dakar, Senegal. She wears the creation of a designer, Yolande Mancini, participating in the 9th edition of Dakar Fashion Week.

Photo by Johnny Haglund

A girl fishes in the Congo River, just outside the city of Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She holds the fish in her mouth, a common practice among people there, because the chance of losing it is less than when holding it in her hands.

Photo by Francesco Zizola

A scuba diver near Carloforte, Sardinia, shoots photos of tuna in the local Tonnara, a maze of nets traditionally set to channel tuna into an enclosed space where they are killed.

 

Photo by Ray McManus

Action from a rugby match between Old Belvedere and Blackrock played in heavy rain in Dublin, Ireland.

 

Album Artwork for Ladyhawke’s “Anxiety” by Sarah Larnach

Following on from her multi-award winning, critically acclaimed, self-titled debut album, Ladyhawke (aka Pip Brown) is set to release her second album, ‘Anxiety’ on March 16 via Modular Recordings. Brown again paired up with Sarah Larnach for the album artwork and design. The first single to be taken from Ladyhawkes second album is ‘Black White & Blue’.

The new album was recorded in New Zealand and France earlier this year by producer and long-time collaborator Pascal Gabriel and features ten new songs. Check out the animated album teaser below!

I Am Not A Hipster – Teaser Trailer

One film that got some good buzz for its emotional honesty at the Sundance Film Festival is I Am Not a Hipster. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and starring Dominic Bogart, it tells the story of a San Diego musician who has to deal with himself and his family during not entirely welcome visits from his father and sister. The teaser trailer doesn’t give much away, but the aesthetic looks and sounds pretty awesome. This may be one of those indie zeitgeist-y films that captures the hearts of auidences. Or, like, not. Watch this space.

Thom Yorke vs Rag & Bone – Two New Compositions

Two compositions created by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke for the clothing company Rag & Bone have hit the web. Entitled “Stuck Together” and “Twist”, the tracks soundtracked the company’s New York Fashion Week events last fall. Stream the recordings below.

[via Vulture]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Street Art

Spotted on the streets, Raphael and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles take your pizza leftovers…

[via Juxtapoz]

Intel: Museum of Me

Intel were looking for a novel way to promote their Core i5 processors, and they have found it with the Intel Museum of Me. The Museum of Me produces a “visual archive of your social life” by compiling all your Facebook information and creating a three-minute long walk-through of your online social life. The website showcases data, pictures, friends and locations and turns it all into a personalised art exhibition. However, there is no telling where your personal data goes after you’ve connected Museum of Me with your Facebook account.

New York

 West 88th Street, Upper West Side, where I stayed.

Hey guys, my apologies for the lack of posts over the last few weeks. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, I took advantage of the great Aussie dollar and jumped a plane State-side to New York for a holiday and to visit friends. It was my first time on the East Coast. New York lived up to (and exceeded) all expectation. After a long and cold winter, Spring had sprung and the city was coming alive – it was inspirational. I can now say that I am au fait with New York’s geographic shorthand: Soho (south of Houston), Tribeca (triangle below Canal) and the FiDi (Financial District). Out of all the cities I have had the pleasure of visiting, New York is my favourite (you can scope some pics I took in this post). I want to get back there. And fast! But, it doesn’t seem like you missed me too much: while away, Record | Preserve | Share experienced it’s busiest day since it’s inception with over 21,000 visitors in a single day. Thanks for all your support. Enough out of me – back to blogging.

Central Park in Spring

View from Brooklyn Bridge

NYC by cab

From above

Help Japan

Australian Red Cross is running an appeal to assist people affected by the huge 9 magnitude earthquake and more than seven metre tsunami, which hit north east Japan. You can donate here.

Happy new year…

Image by Paul Ocatvious

[via Today and Tomorrow]

Fistful of Mercy

Fistful Of Mercy is a collab with Joseph Arthur, Ben Harper, and Dhani Harrrison. Nice.