Franz Ferdinand New Album "Tonight"

Check out FF virtua pick up (incl. built in static...)

Franz Ferdinand "Tonight":

Humm... FF trying to go mainstream.

The record took some time to be completed basically the songs were written already some time ago but FF seem to have spent some time trying to invent some sort of new direction for their sound. Probably conscious of the risk of repeating their previous songs. Possibly the intention has been to bank on their success as star indie rock band to go more in the direction of dance pop music.

They did so through the collaboration with producers which had worked with Kylie Minogue, Sugarbabes, Girlsaloud, etc. In the end it took three successive producers to complete the album. FF members themselves are credited as producers for an unspecified proportion of the album. In addition, another producer who worked more with bands like AC/DC and Metallica was brought in to mix half of the album songs.

The record is presented as a concept album about a night out and the morning after.

Reviews point that the album is very electronic and danceable. Kapranos stated that the album was aimed at the dancefloors.

Also the appearance of band like Vampire Weekend, Hotchips, MGMT has created some competion for FF dancey rock style.

However, in an attempt either to build-up buzz and expectations or simply to confuse the public, in the wake of the release of the album FF have made statements pointing in various directions.

They said the album was influenced by African music and even played a gig with some African musicians.

Then the influence of Jamaica reggae dub was quoted, but apparently all the material that has resulted from this has been put aside on the separate limited edition bonus disc which includes the dub mix of the whole album.




Ulysses



Everybody is questioning the choice of Ulysses as first single. However, I actually quite like it.

FF all seem pretty pissed in the video which seems to mean that a band touring is like Ulysses endless peregrination and that sometimes they despair returning home.

Check out 2 alternate release of the 7" single of Ulysses with different B-side tracks ("Anyone in love" and "You Never Go Out Anymore" on 7"x) and slightly different covers. The b-side on the CD version of the single is also different ("New Kind of Thrill").

The single has been remixed on a 12" vinyl disc, with (good) mixes by Beyond The Wizards, SleeveDisco Bloodbath, Mickey Moonlight and Max Tundra. The bud version of the song found on the special edition bonus disc of the album is also included. It does not include the regular version of the song. The CD version, which apparently exists in promo version only, but does include the original version.

The album is released on regular CD and limited double CD pack including a bonus disc with a dub version of the album called Blood.

A 2xLP vinyl version of the regular album was resealed at the same time.

Album is also released in special edition vinyl set where all songs are on 7" format for a total of 6 discs. The box set that goes for 50 pounds in the UK include a DVD, the album on CD plus the bonus limited CD with the dub version of the album and a booklet.

The special editions of the album are only available in Europe.



Most of the album is composed of songs which could have been used as b-sides for FF hits from their two previous albums.

The most interesting track is "Lucid Dreams" which is basically a built-in remix, with a four-minute jam crescendo which is actually the best part of it. The track is included in a different version in the soundtrack of the 2009 version of the NFL Madden videogame.

The song "No You Girls" is a sort of a parody of ballad (intentional or not) which some in fact may find chauvinistic. Alledgedly, this track uses a human skeleton for percussion.

In the end, the album while pleasing and interesting for some of the new approaches that FF have attempted, is not as captivating as the two previous albums.

Possibly FF moment has passed as the energic neo post-punk trend of the mid of the decade is overtaken by band more influenced by electro-pop and in the end more outright aimed to clubs.

Eggleston @ Whitney

William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961-2008

The exhibition covers various periods of the artist's production. It presents a selection of works from his main projects/exhibitions/books, including early black and white works and video.

Overall, the exhibition constitutes an interesting retrospective of Eggleston work which consist mainly of color photography.

Eggleston and his contemporaries from the 70', such as Stephen Shore and Joel Meyerowitz, contributed to make color photography recognized as a legitimate artistic medium. Still the pictures are not examples of experimentation into the use of color. Probably the photographers of the period were saved by fellows artists who used color to explore abstraction.

Instead, color is used to portray aspects of reality as the photography of that period dwelved quasi obsessively into the dire realism of scenes such parking lots and gas stations, motel rooms, broken toys, etc.

Color became a medium of choice also probably due to its convenience and ability to capture immediacy. For instance, the exhibition include some vintage drug store prints, which are great. Most of the show prints are dye transfer, which like Cibachrome prints, deliver images of popping color and are resistant to fade. The best are the vintage prints included in the "14 pictures" serie which open the show. Modern prints while interesting are less striking. Also very nice are the occasional exhibition prints as well as some inkjet prints, notably from the "5x7" series of portraits.

The exhibition most of all shows Eggleston ease and sophisticated composition skills.

The texts is well written, factual and informative. The relationship between the author and the American south and Memphis in particular is explained in great length.

The early B/W pix and the videos are skipable. In general I would advise against including videos altogether at shows as I find these exhibits noisy and distracting.

Among the series on show

Graceland: Illustrates Elvis kitsch. WE commercial work. Text states WE didn't care much about Elvis.

Election eve: WE to cover Carters election campaign, instead portrays aspects of decaying south, such as old barns. From show/catalogue text

Just before the election of 1976, Eggleston received a commission from Rolling Stone magazine to photograph presidential candidate Jimmy Carter, his family, and their hometown of Plains, Georgia. Carter was away campaigning while Eggleston was there photographing, however, so none of the images show the politician. Although the magazine never printed the photographs, the following year Election Eve was published in two volumes containing one hundred chromogenic prints, taken in Plains and the surrounding area.

The publication’s format was based on Alexander Gardner’s 1865 two-volume Gardner’s Photographic Sketch Book of the Civil War, which contained original albumen prints of sites, scenes, and people associated with the Civil War. More than a century later, Eggleston’s Election Eve presents the South as a place of flat fields, grand old trees, and dilapidated wooden structures interspersed with some signs of modernity, like oil tanks, or plastic flags blowing in the wind. Bypassing any overt references either to the violent war that divided the country or to the important southern Democrat, Eggleston’s images of the land tell their own story of past and present.

Los Alamos: result of several trips WE took in the late 60' and early 70', most spontaneous work, predates "Guide", never published, great example of travel photography.

WE Guide/MoMA 1976: classic stuff

Black Keys Live

Recorded in Amsterdam in 2006





Just to remind how it was supposed to sound before the "mickey mouse experience"...

Check out Dan Auerbach solo album "Keep It Hid" (Nonesuch),

To be released February 10.

Note that Vinyl LP version contains one 180g vinyl LP in a gatefold jacket which also includes the CD in a paper sleeve and free MP3 download.

¡Feliz Año 2009!

Nikon lenses on Canon EOS

It is possible to mount Nikon lenses on Canon EOS bodies with a simple adapter ring that can be found online. All Nikon lenses become mechanically compatible. Only Nikon G lenses are less practical to use as they have no diaphragm ring (not to mention Nikon S rangefinder lenses). Apart from that all Nikon lenses can be mount bot those with F ring (uncut) and AI/AIS/AF/AFD.

Nikkor S auto 50mm f1.4 on Canon EOS 50D

Of course, you have to focus manually and contrary to Nikon bodies, Canon does not provide focus confirmation. However it provides metering. Lenses focus beyond infinity. So overall, this require a bit of attention and is not as carefree as leaving the AF kit zoom all the time. Results may vary in terms of quality of the images produced depending on the lens used.

With 50D, being a cropped sensor camera, the lenses that are most interesting to use are Macros or fixed tele (200 f4). On 5D, being a full frame camera, one can use nikon wides, 50/1.4, vintage 85/1.4, etc. One interesting feature of EOS 50D/5DmkII is the hability to use live view function for fine tuning the focus (not for action photography). Another approach is to use hyperfocal and rely on auto-ISO function given the good high ISO performances of the cameras.

F-35B - USMC Trials

So DoD finally came around to the idea of getting the original Yak 38...

F-35B land VTOL trial




YK-38 sea deployment





YK-36 Trials

LUMIX G1

Ok by now everybody has seen or at least heard about this camera.

It's cool (it comes in red if you want it), compact and delivers good images.

So where is the catch?

No optical view finder - replaced by a electronic one

No prism means no glass - lighter body and less costs

First impressions

Its an improvement compared to bridge cameras but still if you have a nice LCD on the back (which is movable) maybe you don't need at all the viewfinder.

Size - I like the compact camera body and the design, but frankly I hold it with my three fingers (not that I have particularly large hands). In general, I favors using additional battery grips which provide better handling especially with large lenses. For using the G1, I would immediately look for the grip - which btw is not foreseen.

The G1 is aimed at being used with compact lenses, but still despite appearances, the camera is not that compact. Canon G10 is more compact - but it has a built in lens which cannot be replaced, so its not an SLR. But 450D and even its lighter version the 1000D have more resolution has an optical view finder with mirrors and everything (ok don't expect High Point) and sells for less. Pentax KM is also an interesting camera and holds better in the hand.

In fact, probably in this league of cameras, the rangefinder type (such as G10 which is the grand nephew of the Canonet) seems better suited for descreet, available light, quality lens photography. The Lumix is rather based on a video camera design, hence electronic view finder, movable screen, and contrast detection autofocus.

The funny thing is that it does NOT have (yet) video capacity. Panasonic displayed a prototype of an HD capable G1 which will be available in 2009. A full HD version may not be available before 2010. Even then, it will remain to be seen which functionalities the lens will retain when shooting video.


The only "concessions" to SLR design are the use of a mechanical shutter and the use of interchangeable lenses, which with the adoption of the new micro four/thirds format are more compact than ever.

First conclusions

Its a novel design which builds on the bridge cameras legacy of combining features from videocam and SLRs.

The camera seem to deliver, according to various commentators, a good level of image quality which position it above the average compact digital camera and among the medium high level of the most recent consumer DSLRs.

Strong points

Image quality

compactness

Live view and in lens Image Stabilisation

LCD panel is large and moving

More questionable points

Has a lot of videocam genes but... no video

Price - you can get a D60 with double lens kit for the price

New lens (sub?) system

Not that compact compared to G10, 450D or Pentax KM