25 February 2010
In the next week or two, expect to see a fair bit of new work on the website and on here—both have been sadly lacking in substantial content recently. but, that is because I’ve been busy actually creating the new work. So check back soon. Thanks.
24 February 2010
confession:
I’d say a good 5 years ago my good friend Bardhi Haliti tried to get me into Joanna Newsom. She’s this crazy woodland sprite with a squeaky soprano (I tried to find what was higher than soprano, but couldn’t get a clear answer from Google and Wikipedia) that plays the harp. The harp! It wasn’t hard to see her indie cred, but I had a hard time actually getting into her music.
And then in 2006 she released “Ys” and I kinda thought: that’s a little pretentious… an album name that’s not even a word… but all I did, I’m sure, was display my own ignorance. The album was critically acclaimed as one of the best of the year. I didn’t give it much of a chance.
And then, on a total whim, I go to npr.org today—not to listen or read any stories, but just to look at their playlist functionality for site that I’m working on. I’m haphazardly clicking on any story that has a [+] icon next to it, and I happened to add two stories about Joanna Newsom to my playlist. And, for once—even though my original intention did not include actually listening to anything—I gave her a shot.
And, sadly and predictably enough, she blew me away.
(also surprising to me, because I thought she was creature from the middle ages, she happens to be quite beautiful… definitely giving indie-darlings, Jenny Lewis and Zoe Deschanel, a run for their money)
Anyways, she released a new album, “Have One on Me” on Tuesday and it’s really good. Granted, it is much more accessible than her previous two, but in just one listen today (it’s 2+ hours long) I was blown away. Check it out on NPR—they’re streaming it for free right now.
19 February 2010
Recently, it seems that one of the hottest new clients in Utah county is BYU Broadcasting. While their full rebrand and overhaul is not 100% complete, a few projects have begun to sneak out into the public. I’ve heard and seen a small sampling of some of this new work and have been really impressed so far.
Check it out:
1st: The Generations Project
This is a documentary series that digs into a new individual’s heritage each episode. They’re really interesting and really well-made. My friend, Micah Dahl Anderson, scored the series and that, as well, is incredible. You can watch the latest episode on their website or right below; and you can watch clips on their facebook page.
2nd: KBYU 11
Back when I was in school, KBYU (Channel 11) came to our class to help them with their impending rebrand. Sam Gray kinda stole the show with his simple, strong mark of the state of Utah with an 11 knocked out of the right block of the state. That mark turned into a multi-year gig up there as one of the main creative directors. The work and site are not yet live, so just keep a look-out on Channel 11. Good things coming.
3rd: Classical 89
In addition to channel 11, Sam also spearheaded the rebrand of the Classical 89 brand, shown above, which—par for the course when it comes to Sam’s work—is absolutely solid. I’m seriously in love with the grid and organization of that homepage…
4th: Beehive Stories
Last night, I went to the premier of Beehive Stories—a collection of short documentaries showcasing each of the 29 counties in Utah State through real-life, human, individual stories.
These are really nice short stories definitely worth checking out. And, another friend of mine, Travis Pitcher, was heavily involved in the making of this series, directing one piece, filming two others, scoring one and also composing the main title sequence… jack of all trades.
Brad Barber was the mastermind behind this whole production… These start showing on television today, I believe.
These are, like I said, just the things that I’ve seen—and I know there’s plenty more out there that I haven’t heard about. A lot of really talented people are working on this—beyond the few mentioned above—so keep an eye out… It’s not the BYU Broadcasting that we’ve known in past years anymore.