Made in London, New York, Tokyo, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit, Cardiff & Tartu; the Earnest Endeavours worldwide family represent a true worldwide affair.
Our Nest Vol.1 is available for free, but comes with a minor trade-off. Listeners pay with a tweet or Facebook ‘Like’, ensuring that the word travels just that little bit further with every download.
SelfSays, Darkhouse Fam, The Insomniax, Widows, B. Bravo, J Todd, mfp and KiEnRa are the line-up for the label’s first compilation, representing enough eclectic boom-bap to mess up heads and ruffle feathers for some time.
Craig Murray is a creative geyser that blows roughly every week or so, dousing us in directorial greatness in the process. His new showreel contains a dazzling array of work shot between June 2011 and March 2012.
All visual effects are made in camera by a process of photographic long exposure animation. All layers used are hand made. All his tees and jackets would be mine if they weren’t too small for me.
Were I to have received a penny for every programme that has been compared to The Wire, I’d have enough money tucked away to have executive produced Mad Men: one of the few shows worthy of such comparison, and one that has made its return on the Outer Hebredies of British television – Sky Atlantic.
Rather than dwell on my lack of free-viewing opportunities, allow me to delve into the impressive promotional photography’s ode to painter Edward Hopper. Subtlety of this nature is something one can come to expect from a show that is as true to life as it is a supreme work of fiction.
The angst, unrequited emotions and unspoken words present in Hopper’s work flow through Andy Ryan’s images, creating a suggestive, intriguing narrative. I couldn’t state with any certainty what Donald Draper’s take would be on this work, but Ansel Neckles says that if you are going to tell a story through picture, make sure it says the right things and has the viewer asking the right questions.
BBC World Service and documentaries: that’s what’s cracking in my world. But having overdosed on the realities of this planet, it’s time for music to aid with the come down. When I’m not been amazed by the latest intriciacies of The Insomniax’s Love She Wants EP in its pre-release form, I’m revelling in the synth-laden nirvana of upstate New Yorker Seth Haley; otherwise known as Com Truise.
This renaissance man has enough “mid-fi synth-wave, slow-motion funk” to keep any beat junky busy for days. Throw in his Komputer Cast mixtapes and you’ve got plenty of analogue love for a digital age. Definitely makes the world I’ve been reading about feel like a slightly better place.
Our studio mate Craig Murray can be usually found up in the wee hours of the morning and is known to survive on very little sleep. This may well have inspired his latest promo vids for new club night Pap-il-lon and their iD teasers.
Craig captures a trippy dippy fantasia with healthy dollops of retro chic to create films that are both super psychedelic and warm. They feel like they could have been shot in the 70′s and wouldn’t be out of place advertising the latest designer fragrance. Good work Mr Murray!
NTS: a new community radio station based in Dalston, launched in April this year. The community in this instance is the bubbling sub-culture of electronic music influenced by a staple of soul, funk and jazz amongst others.
Their recent short gives you a glimpse into the beginnings of the station, their developing culture and a five-a-side football team. Que Umbro’s involvement and the second reason for my musings.
Umbro having taken tips from Adidas and Puma, have been quietly repositioning the traditional football gear company as a lifestyle brand, producing content featuring musicians Chase & Status, Liam Gallagher and Murkage and other sports stars.
En route to embedding themselves in pop culture, the Umbro Industries campaign focuses on supporting fledgling creative entrepeneurs in Manchester with £10k bursaries.
The trend of courting creative communities looks like one that will last for a while for culture savvy brands, ensuring buy in from taste makers and all that goes with it. Thus giving creatives alternative forms of investment from financial to profile raising.
It’s been no secret that the music industry has been put through it’s paces over recent years, with the internet forcing the industry re-evalute it’s business model and marketing strategies.
One thing that small independent labels have as an advantage over the large corporations is the ‘niche’. Rather than trying to be everything to everyone, independents use selective tastes and underground relevance to be perceptive as well as receptive to changes in audiences tastes. One such movement that looks like it could be on to something is the Independent Label Market.
Last May saw the launch of the initiative on Berwick Street where independent label bosses from labels such as XL, Rough Trade and Mute set up stall and quite simply flogged their gear, which included back catalogues and limited editions and the odd pop star like Jarvis Cocker making an appearance.
In marketing speak, we would call this experiential; bringing the brand to the audience. On October 8th ILM go Stateside, setting up shop at Brooklyn Flea with MTV Hive and The Daily Swarm as partners. As a concept it creates a sense of exclusivity that indulges the senses of avid music fans while at the same time continuing a sense of community. Niche in this instance equals community building, which any brand worth their stock value are trying to invest in.
What to do when you’ve got a range of new hats to market but America’s next top models refuse get out of bed for less than $10,000′s? Call on man’s best friend, the Chimptown Dogs from where else but The Chimp Store.
Snowy and Bailey are the stars, Joseph Dawson and Jonathan Paine the photographers, in a campaign that speaks to pet and cap lovers alike.
