Sasquatch! Music Festival, logos and photography
Thursday, May 28, 2009
After the WebVisions conference last week, I headed north into Washington for the Sasquatch! Music Festival.
Here are the bands I saw at Sasquatch! on Saturday, May 23: Blind Pilot, Doves, M. Ward, DeVotchKa, Animal Collective, The Decemberists, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Crystal Castles. I also caught the last couple of songs from the sets by both James Pants and Kings of Leon. I made the tough decision to see Doves over Passion Pit (who played at the same time) on the strength of their amazing 2000 album Lost Souls. The sheer volume of the Animal Collective and Crystal Castles sets made my ears bleed. The Decemberists and Yeah Yeah Yeahs were probably my favorites, though DeVotchKa was great as well. I tweeted periodically throughout the festival. Watch Sasquatch! 2009 videos on YouTube.
I have to say that Shara Worden‘s performance with The Decemberists stole the show. It was the highlight of Sasquatch! for me. Here are some clips of Shara Worden with The Decemberists: performing “The Wanting Comes In Waves” on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on 5/14; singing the “The Queen’s Rebuke” on 5/19; performing at a Missoula, MT concert on 5/24 and singing “The Queen’s Rebuke” again. The Decemberists (featuring Shara Worden and Becky Stark) also covered Heart’s “Crazy on You†live on 5/26. You can stream (and download) The Decemberists’ latest album The Hazards of Love at decemberistsshop.com. Here is Shara Worden performing solo (as My Brightest Diamond): “Golden Star” and “Something Of An End.”
After the Sasquatch! Music Festival, we headed to Seattle and walked around the Northwest Folklife Festival at the Seattle Center on Sunday, which was also pretty fun.
More music
This is too bad: “Legal Dispute Results in Music-less Danger Mouse Project.” Or not. The blank CD-R thing is funny, in a way. Also see: “Danger Mouse’s Next Album Will Be A Blank CD-R.” Anyway, you can hear the entire album now at NPR.
Want to help save a music/film/culture magazine? Here you go: The Campaign to Save Paste. Donate and get over 70 rare and exclusive MP3s as a thank you, from The Decemberists, Neko Case, She & Him, Of Montreal and many more.
Somehow I got sucked into the Beatbox Battle Online World Championship on YouTube. There was a competition to win a wild card into the event. Here are the top six entries: Julia Dales, Primitiv, D-9, Lytos, The Beatbox Hitman and Daichi. Julia Dales, a 17-year-old blonde Canadian, won.
Logos, brands and photography
This is an interesting list of how some popular logos have evolved: “Evolution of 30 Popular Logos.” Also see changing PlayStation logos: “The Making Of: PlayStation.” This site is really good: Brand New: Opinions on Corporate and Brand Identity Work.
This article is worth a look: “10 News photos that took retouching too far.”
I really like this Flickr photo set: AT-ATs: not just for xmas.
I just helped launch the Where’s Benny? Photo Contest for Oregon State University Summer Session. You can enter via Flickr and Facebook.
A bit of randomness
This is an amazing video of a Malay Eagle Owl named Kitty. Cute, creepy little Furby guy.
Ever heard of a winged cat? Here you go: “Cat in China grows a pair of wings.” You may also be interested in the world’s smallest cat.
President Obama’s ASU commencement speech a couple of week ago was pretty compelling and inspiring. Watch part 1, part 2 and part 3 at YouTube.
I’ll leave you with this: “GeekDad Parents, Kids and the Stuff We Obsess About
Swine Flu Twitterpocalypse: Acting Out King’s The Stand 140 Characters at a Time.”