I guess there aren’t many straight rap cover versions around. After all, saying you’re ‘Straight Outta Compton’ if you are not, sounds a bit silly. Unless you are white, British and into turning black gang anthems into acoustic ballads.
Much better to therefore see Kat Dahlia’s ‘Gangsta’ paying tribute rather than cover 50 Cent’s ‘Wanksta’. Can you believe Good Ol’ 50 rapped a full 10 years ealier? Damn, I’m gettin’ old.
Btw, an interesting collection of stranger rap covers exists here.
Have you ever heard someone say ‘The future of music lies in mobile?” Yeah, I’ve heard that one too. So together with Amnesia Razorfish I took on the challenge of helping mobile music sales with this project. Especially since it was a using a mobile media placement a.k.a. a bus poster.
Sydney Bus at QVB by Neeravbhatt under CC
In collaboration with Starcom and Radio Nova and their talent ‘Smallzy’ we developed a concept that tapped into the insight that everyone on the bus just wants to ‘zone out’. It is called ‘Trak in Transit – tune in and zone out’.This series of music acts, featured within the bus, offer every track ready for download on PopMob.
This bus poster is a template, ready to be changed with different acts. Design Director Toby Caves chose an art direction that allowed him to flex his illustration muscles along the way. Have a look at the various stages of visual transportation:
And as you are coming to the end of the line, listen to this: Can you resist the simple charm of the Bom, Bom ?
Posted in Advertising, Mobile
Tagged amnesia razorfish, Mobile, music, Radio Nova, Starcom
For a while my music finder of choice has obviously been HypeMachine – if you don’t use it already I would seriously recommend it to you. At least till Spotify is officially available in Australia.
As I tweeted a new discovery (go check out Wooden Birds) I was surprised by HypeMachine’s scorebot. A nifty script that automatically comes back with a display of my “musical influence”. I apparently made 39 other people discover and like the same band/act.
Hype Machine's Scorebot
Gave me a little pat on the back, like someone asking you if they could copy your mixtape (I know, waaaay back in the days). Or that nod of approval by the long-time employee of your favourite record shop. Nice.
Posted in apps, interactivity, user generated content
Tagged bot, discovery, hypemachine, music, twitter
Fashion retail has many opportunities to delight customers – many more than just the physical shop experience. Think of everything from events, shmick crowd-sourced catalogs, celebrity PR to pop-up stores. And why not have more connections between the clothing itself and other channels? It seems such an opportunity was lost in the case of The Astral Plane.
The Truth Was Lost At Sea - by The Astral Plane
I just purchased their shirt (shown above) at Scandinavian store and gallery somedays and discovered a “boarding pass”-styled tag attached to it. Its number suggested to be some sort of individual code. It also carried an entertaining blurb on how The Astral Plane is a “tea-sipping, biscuit eating, moustache sculpting collective” that “brings fine art to life”.
Their online presence proves that they dig the music, the tweets and the blogging. Watch their “beautiful people pool party” music video below.
So I had high hopes for the website and myspace profile to deliver me some goodies in exchange for my “code”. With my imagination running wild (free moustache styling? biscuit session with the head designer?) I hit their sites, searched high and low. But nothing. Seems like it didn’t cross their mind to connect those dots. What I do know is that they are going to play a gig in The Cross on April 9 (details here).
Maybe I am supposed to blag my way into the venue, using my special tag? Or will the bouncer tell me “and the blog I rode in on” to get lost at sea?
Addition:
I just received a friendly email from Dan at Astral Plane, saying they are thinking about extending the tag experience (or something similar). And sending me a shirt from their new collection. It’s definitely a great label in the making. 😉
Posted in Convergence, Experiential, Strategy
Tagged astral plane, blog, clothing, fashion, hipster, music, surry hills, tag
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