A few personal highlights from this past weekend's Detroit Electronic Music festival:

UNTITLED at the top two floors of the Iodent Building Friday night. Jon Ozias is hands down the most imaginative event producer in Detroit. Great sound, great vibe, and totally unique. (And the music killed.) Quite possibly the best UNTITLED yet.

Perspects live at the Canniball event at Oslo Saturday night + superb sets from BMG, Carlos Souffront, Plaslaiko and Mr. Sines. It was an honor to be a part of this night.

Surprise Minus after-party Sunday morning/afternoon with all our old New York and Berlin friends. The sick new Audion track was played no less than five times between 8am and 2pm, but no complaints here. Sick.

Chemlab Jared accidentally having his earring ripped right out of his head while performing, and not missing a beat at the Labyrinth Sunday night. Not really a highlight, but he'll never forget Detroit. "Yeah, it hurt like a motherfucker."

Stopping in at the pitch black, sweaty, and loud as god Ghostly party around 5am Monday and teaching SV4 the secret bat handshake.

Getting three hours of precious sleep before sound check at Hart Plaza bright and early Monday morning.

The absolutely professional and courteous Darkcourse and Movement staff. The industrial stage ran like a Swiss watch. The sound and video was top notch. Every need was anticipated and dialed in. We were totally blown away.

Not only having the opportunity to see our friends Kill Memory Crash and Chemlab perform at the festival, but playing with them, and later watching Nitzer Ebb stage-side with them, was almost too much. Nitzer Ebb was a religious experience, and it was very refreshing to see a broader range of electronic music represented at the festival. It can only be nostalgic about Detroit Techno for so long.

As far as Dethlab's set went, we had a blast and made a lot of new friends/fans, but were more than a little nervous with so many people watching us. Very important lessons learned: never ever DJ totally sober, and don't leave home without fake blood! The Passion Boys will be pleased to know that Firemans was a hit.

Extra special thanks to Phoenix Perry for flying in on short notice to run six hours of killer live video for the stage. We definitely owe her one. :)

Oh, come on Chris... there is nothing more real than what is created by human ingenuity and craft, of which synthesizers are one of the most elegant examples.

My mistake for misreading Chris' comment. I ought to konw his sense of humor better!

I recently became a bit burned out by electronica (and didn't even have the excuse of DEMF) and picked up a couple of gorgeous albums of "real" instrument magic: Steely Dan"s "Can't Buy A Thrill" and Marvin Gaye's post divorce "Here, My Dear". Both unfortunately a bit lost in the 70's melee of memorables but an oh so warm respite for the synth-weary....

Tonight's DEMF agenda: pure eeeeeeeeeevil.

5pm KIll Memory Crash (Real Detroit stage)
6pm DethLab (Real Detroit stage)
7pm Chemlab (Real Detroit stage)
8:30pm Nitzer Ebb (Main stage)
10pm Richie Hawtin (Main stage)

Because it's not really hardcore unless you can party for FOUR days straight in Detroit...

Tonight:

The working prototype of MIT's $100 laptop was unveiled earlier this week by the non-profit association One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). Photos from the unveiling at Flickr.

I love BMW's "No." campaign.

With North America's biggest electronic music festival starting in two days, visiting ravers should be very weary of taking candy from strangers. Herion and cocaine cut with fentanyl has led to 19 deaths in the past week alone. Not that you should be doing drugs anyway, but consider this a very serious PSA. Dead friends are no fun.

SensiTile is a dynamic light conducting material - consider it a lo-fi and more architectural alternate to reactive sensor and LED-based products, and it's made right here in Detroit.

[I first saw this a couple years ago and misplaced the link. Thanks to Alex@o2 for rediscovering it!]

Tomorrow Detroit institution Neptune Records will close its doors for the last time. As of yesterday there were still quite a few gems to be found at a decent discount.

Neptune's Michael Segal and Ghostly International recently launched Boy Cat Bird dot com, the virtual home to Segal's quirky characters which have become Ghostly's beloved mascots. Check back every week for a new adventure. (It's okay if you don't always get it.)

As the weather has finally stabilized (as much as it can in Michigan,) the planned cours des operations at Burnlab base camp for the rest of the summer is grilling almost every day. To kick off the season, tonight's menu started with caprese salad and smoked trout, followed by grilled asparagus and sweet corn brushed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar with sea salt, and seared (read: bloody) petite lamb chops marinated in truffle oil, garlic and crushed black pepper, topped with a dab of horseradish under a slice of sharp Stilton, and served with a nice Chianti... of course.

I'd write more about DEMF activities, but we're slipping into food coma for evening here...

The world would be a much happier place if everyone consumed more raw meat and good wine.

On a separate note, huge thanks to Jason and Gregory and all of our friends in Toronto for a fun-filled weekend. To save embarrassment, I won't post a link to the photos (but they are floating around on the internets for those willing to dig. tag: OMG RAVERZ)

Dethlab at the DEMF


[click for large image]

Ms. Toybreaker and I are honored to be playing three excellent events with some of our favorite people this weekend:

Saturday, 5.27.06: Canniball [flyer by AS1 front | back]
Oslo
1456 Woodward Ave., Detroit
10pm- | 18+
w/ Shake, Perpsects [live], BMG of Ectomorph, Derek Plaslaiko, Carlos Souffront and more.
[Dethlab 10pm-11pm, so come early!]
info: Interdimensional Transmissions

Sunday, 5.28.06: Old School Vol. 2 [flyer by Klever front | back]
Labyrinth
400 Bagley, Detroit
10pm- | 18+
w/ Chemlab [live], Acid Junkies [live], Asrock of Final Cut and more.
[Dethlab 12am-1am, before Chemlab]
info: Dark Course

Monday, 5.29.06: Movement: Dark Course Showcase [flyer by Klever]
Real Detroit Stage, Hart Plaza, Detroit
2pm- | all ages
updated lineup with set times:
2-3 pm: F.I.S.T.
3-4 pm: Chris Rohn
4-5 pm: Asrock of The Final Cut
5-6 pm: Kill Memory Crash [live]
6-7 pm: DethLab
7-8 pm: Chemlab [live]
8:30pm-10pm: Nizter Ebb [live - main stage]
+ video/animation by Burnlab's own Phoenix Perry
info: DEMF.com

Hot off the internets: Ghostly ringtones!

(I was actually hoping for cheese-tastic MIDI versions of all my favorites. Curse you, polyphonic phones.)

Keeping it evil: Just pretend the rave scene's devastating influence (read: goth trance *shudder*) on electronic body music never ever happened and enjoy this video clip of Motor live in Paris + their new video for Black Powder.

if tom waits, broadcast and esquivel collaborated: Psapp... gorgeously original music (a friend called it "tom waits has sex change and goes samba")

After a winter hiatus, tonight is the triumphant return of We R DJ. Panic, Burgundy, Betty Marie and Alec Metallic invite you to "dance yr head off" at the Bohemian National Home: 3009 Tillman, Detroit MI.




Tomorrow night is the May installment of the party that put the gay back in gay: Nathan Raport and Mike Servito present Sass at OSLO.

Thinking inside the box:

Apple unveils it's long-anticipated glass cube on 5th Avenue, and sharp new Mobius Band video by Wyeth Hansen.

my addition to the color black theme: Massive Black, an entertainment design company a friend is doing some work for...beautiful stuff

Engineering Desire

Two sexy new All is Full of Love-inspired Lexus commercials:

"touchy robots" and "goosebumps".

Get your 'stache on now. The next World Beard and Moustache Championships are coming up Sept. 1, 2007 in Brighton England. More info here.

[this post dedicated to Barbara Frey]

Adicolor: Black

[thanks Jamie Meyer!]

Not to sound like a broken record here, but black is back. (now with a Core Duo processor, starting at $1099.)

Olafur Eliasson at the Tanya Bonakdar Gallery / review from the NY Times

Daft Punk = Cylons?
You decide.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who came out last night and made the opening of Thinkbox: Archive such a success. By all accounts things seemed to go extremely well. If you haven't seen it, the exhibition will be up for your listening and viewing enjoyment through June, and there'll be a closing party featuring live performances and a few other surprises on June 30th. Photos forthcoming.

(also: welcome home Jaron!)

You Can Awesome!
So very, very wrong.

[via Protein OS]

Another remix contest:

"Those cool kids at RES have just announced they are doing a comeptition with Jumpcut and Richard Linklater to find the best trailer remix of A Scanner Darkly. Need an incentive? How about £5,000 worth of prizes, instant industry kudos and hanging out with all the hot celebs at the US premiere. So, what you waiting for? Get your remix on as the deadline is June 7th."

[via Protein OS]

Supreme Commander of Computer Cabaret Maxx Klaxon announces a remix contest for his song Internationale 2000 (based on the classic workers' anthem The Intenationale.)

Read the agreement, download the files, create your own remix, submit it by July 31, and you could win a spot on Comrade Klaxon's next release!

lots o junk on myspace but this is a summertime pop gem: Lily Allen

"Urban Alchemy: Artifacts Transformation" will showcase the work of 27 found-object artists June 10-24 at Detroit's 4731 Gallery and 555 Gallery. Urban Alchemy is the first major fundraiser for the Architectural Salvage Warehouse of Detroit.

Preview and Auction
June 9, from 6-10 p.m.
4731 Gallery
4731 Grand River Ave.

Public Opening and Community Event
June 10, from 3-10 p.m.
555 Gallery
4884 Grand River Ave.

Thinkbox:Archive opens this Friday at the Art Gallery of Windsor, featuring new sound and installation work by collective members Christopher Bissonnette, Mark Laliberte, Chris McNamara, Steve Roy, Rob Theakston and Bill Van Loo. Click here for more information on the work.

Art Gallery of Windsor
401 Riverside Drive West, Windsor Ontario CA
opening reception Friday, May 12, 8pm


Also opening Friday night, Bearlovies: new work by our good friend Lauren Joy Casteel. An assortment of original drawings, illustrated aprons, chalkboard drawings & china painted porcelain including plates, cups, a tea party, and magnets.

Pure Detroit Design Lab
156 West Congress, Detroit MI
opening reception Friday, May 12, 8pm


Once you've gotten your art on, head over to the record release party for the brand new Perspects LP Peopleskills on Interdimensional Transmissions.

OSLO
1456 Woodward, Detroit MI
Friday, May 12, 10pm | 18+
featuring:
BMG of Ectomorph and Carlos Souffront
fashion show by Infinite Dimensions
sound and video installation upstairs by Perspects


This Saturday night UNTITLED returns to its nomadic ways with La Belle Aurore, a spring fling at a new space above Agave restaurant. It's good to be UNTITLED. More here.

Agave Upstairs
4265 Woodward, Detroit MI
Saturday, may 13, 10pm | 18+ | $5
featuring UNTITLED residents:
Mike Servito
Ryan Elliott
Eric Cloutier
Scott Brandon

somethings wrong here: did anyone notice that DJ Sasha's playing SONAR???!! SONAR goes trance....

Fellow Passion Boys admirer Jonny O came up with the brilliant idea of making up t shirts for DEMF, suggested it to the boys, and they came up with one. Nice. Anyone interested please get in touch with me (chris_daniels_@hotmail.com)or Jon ASAP. Note: we'll probably go with muscle t's, not tank tops!

no news flash, but Apple absolutely rules...i just got a MacBook Pro and used the remote for the first time...it has a remote for christ's sake...ridiculous

Original They're Made out of Meat short story, by Terry Bisson. (As published in OMNI Magazine, 1991.)

Video clips from the Coachella installation [by Stephanie Mead]:

Gnomes in action.
Foul-mouthed gnomes in testing.
Chris Bissonnette wiring the underbelly.
On the bicycle carousel.
My colleagues decided it would be funny to surround me with hundreds of empty water bottles while I slept through Tool's set.

Photos from the Gnomads installation by o2 at last week's Coachella music festival.

o2 was invited to design and build one of four chill-out domes on the festival grounds, for which we created a whimsical interactive sound installation and relaxing spring themed environment. Surrounded by sod covered lounge chairs which appeared to be peeled up from the ground, a chunk of "floating" earth was ringed with twelve garden gnomes. Fitted with proximity sensors and each having its own unique voice, the gnomes could be played as a large instrument by multiple people, accompanied by three original backing rhythms triggered by tapping a mushroom (of course.)

Six scorching days in the desert, long nights of hardware debugging, one damaged RV, one badly sunburned Armenian, three pounds of bacon, innumerable cases of water, two liters of Jack and other sundries consumed, and a whole lot of fun - we're proud to say the project was a smash hit from the moment the gates opened. This might sound corny, but the joy the installation brought to everyone who experienced it was absolutely priceless. Extra big thanks to Brian for treating the whole (tired and smelly) team to a night at the Jonathan Adler designed Parker Hotel before heading home.

Oh, and you've probably already read this elsewhere, but Daft Punk owned.

The Archinect image gallery has some nice shots of material samples and prototypes by Herzog and deMeuron at the sales center for Ian Schrager's 40 Bond residential development. (If you were wondering, the property prices around $2,800 per square foot.)

Some photos from my old neighborhood, where Ikea plans to buid their largest store in North America: rendering here.

+ more beautiful shots of NYC textures and moments by Sonja Shield.

Speaking of the sweet Apple clock app, another must have for your PowerBook is the elegant free FLIQLO screen saver from 9031.com. Inspired by classic flip clocks from the 60's (such as the famous Solari Cifra 3) this little gem gives you all the glam of the Cifra with none of the investment. It's even available in a Windows version to bring a little much-needed style to the Microsoft OS.

"They are made out of meat."

[via Core77]

Images from the Sultan's Elephant by French theatre company Royal de Luxe in London this past weekend:



official gallery
from Flickr
from Google Images

Amazing.

This is a couple years old, but no less entertaining: check out all of They Might be Giants Venue Songs videos.

I love this on so many levels.

Inspired to do a little digging about the Banshees/Cure 1983 side project The Glove (five goth points to Ms. Toybreaker for remembering the name of the project,) it turns out their sole LP Blue Sunshine is set to be reissued this summer with unreleased vocal mixes by Robert Smith! A complete tracklisting can be found here.

We here at Burnlab love the new Apple ads even more than the sweet clock ap.

+ Hottest ad evah! (for Campari no less.)

[thanks Bitboy]

On the matter of being two minutes ahead your time:

Rolling Stone Magazine's upcoming cover

Les Infants Terribles Anniversary flyer

...and ours didn't cost $1M. (I should really reassess my design rates.)

Architect, machinist, artist, former SRL member, and our good friend R. Scott Mitchell will be showing new work in HDTS 5/Interstate: The American Road Trip [pdf], a combined two-location group exhibition:

High Desert Test Sites
May 6 & 7 in Joshua Tree, CA

Socrates Sculpture Park
May 21-August 13 in Long Island City, Queens, NY

Also participating in the HDTS 5/Interstate exhibits, our friends at AUDC will be showing their ongoing fascination and study of Telecom Hotel One Wilshire.

Back from Coachella, slowly adjusting to Eastern Standard Time and the non-desert climate. The installation was a huge hit - a full report soon, as promised Friday... sorry. It's been non-stop work hard/play hard all week.

In the interim, black is back big time:



Gorgeous new single and music video by Vancouver's Circlesquare. Sort of imagine Joy Division meets Tiga (or Goth meets Helmut Lang...)

Coca-Cola BlaK, Coke's new coffee flavored cola, is the bomb. I can't wait for this to be available in the Midwest. Mix with Jack for the world's three perfect beverages in one.

A 40ft tall wooden mechanical elephant house will be running around the streets of London today. Its part of a four-day street theatre show put on by French arts company Royal de Luxe. Pictures of the elephants most recent urban invasion can be seen here - Also check out the BBC write up on this spectacular event.

if Wallpaper magazine went cyber-goth it's graphics might look like Akiza (prepare yourself Mike, you're going to drool) (Bethany check the "Toy Division" T)

THE 2006 STUDENT ART AUCTION | FORUM GALLERY, NEW STUDIOS BUILDING | SATURDAY, MAY 6, 4 - 7 pm (Read: good art, cheap.)

This much anticipated annual event features a silent and live auction of works of art by current Cranbrook Academy of Art students. Proceeds to benefit the student scholarship fund.

4 pm - Check-in & Silent Auction begins
5 pm - Live Auction begins
6:45 pm - Silent Auction ends