All Things Appealing

RIP MCA/Nathaniel Hornblower/Adam Yauch

Papa Akuffo — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:09:37 +0000

RIP Adam Yauch. This tribute to you is fitting of you, your skills, quality music and humour that you brought to the Beastie Boys and also to Hip Hop. To the rest of you lot – Click play to check out this great version of the iconic Spike Jonze directed video for Sabotage.

How Coffee Revolutionised the World

Abb-d Choudhury — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:30:26 +0000

Almost all of us drink coffee like it’s a religion (I know I do), and some like to go as far as to find out the processes and history behind the cup we drink. Tony Shin has sent us this super cool/informative graphic detailing some of the history and effects coffee has on us. It’s quite interesting, and done in a nice screen printed style.

High Hopes Society

Abb-d Choudhury — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:30:33 +0000

We haven’t done any music reviews lately so here’s a little treat. Who are the High Hopes Society? Well… their aim is to collaborate as a collective with different aspects of media, music, art, visuals, and all things of a similar nature, which ultimately creates a multifaceted project that rises above the average band. They recently gave us an exclusive listen to their ‘soon to be released’ track titled ‘Fathers Day’ due on the 17th next month and after listening, we are left with a blissful/tranquil mindstate.

With remixes coming from Alphabets Heaven, Foreign Skin and a spoken word version from Polar Bear, there is definitely a form of hype to be acknowledged. The tune itself was mixed by Scrimshire (who is affiliated with our good friend Emanative) which instantly adds credibility, as well as a video to come out around the same time of the release by Lightscape Music.

You can check out the High Hopes Society on Soundcloud, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube or over at Bandcamp. We definitely recommend you keep an eye out, as this could be pretty big.

BADBADNOTGOOD

Papa Akuffo — Sun, 13 May 2012 19:47:14 +0000

BADBADNOTGOOD have been making a name for themselves over the past year. They first came to my attention as a jazz group that played J Dilla’s Donuts album in its entirety. The recording was rough but great. They have since gone into the studio and put their performance to tape. For the better as it happens, especially as they decided to release these recordings for free.

Their latest release sees the group take on a number of covers (James Blake and OFWGKTA both get a nod) and original songs. Whilst it is recognisable as Jazz, this does not define what the group have set out to do. They use jazz as a starting block to develop a hybrid sound brings in hip hop and electronica to create a beat influenced improvisation pieces. That may sound a bit pretentious (okay, alot) but it works.

If you want to hear where Jazz could be going in the next few years I suggest you start here. It’s worth much more than you’ll pay for it (which is nothing), so go forth and listen to the future*.

BBNG2 by BADBADNOTGOOD
*Don’t hold me to that

Nicky Barkla

Abb-d Choudhury — Sat, 12 May 2012 10:56:31 +0000

Reigning from Melbourne, Australia, Nicky Barkla makes these psychedelic, mind-blowing paintings which seriously tend to melt your brain. Using whatever process you can only imagine, her pieces come out with significant detail and emotion. Her subjects include hero’s and pop icons such as Einstein, Darth Maul, Heath Ledgers Joker, Spidey, and even Sonic. We’ve picked a selection of works below, however you can visit her DeviantArt page for more artwork and even a bit of photography.

London Coffee Festival 2012

Abb-d Choudhury — Sun, 06 May 2012 11:43:29 +0000

With the London Coffee Festival now over and an array of offers and delectable treats no longer available, we can conclude the caffeine infused festival for another year, and crash hard to signal the end of April. Now I’m going to say it off the bat (and I may offend a few odd people), but this year was not as insightful as the previous. This is mostly due to the fact that 2012 has seen the event become extremely popular, where as last year it was a little more intimate with some of the barista’s and the processes. Nevertheless the festival was a huge success and we had a lot of fun while being there.

Some of the highlighted moments for the festival were the UK Barista Championship, where we managed to see Mark Lamberton serve up a three round course of Espresso, Cappuccino, and a signature drink (which looked immense) within a 15 minute period. The crowd was getting hyped, quite literally, as he seemed to win over the judges with his coffee and smooth charisma.

Other highlights included the True Artisan Café where we got to try Nude Espresso’s Absolut Nude Spicy Martini, live music from artists such as Sherry Davis, Miss Neeks and the Masquarades, The Parish Music Box and many more, as well as a vast selection of independent stores and stalls all showcasing their unique products.

With new comers such as Make Decent Coffee, Workshop Coffee Co. and all the usual ballers and top dogs such as Lavazza, Costa, Small Batch Coffee Co. and many others, we were sure our time would be fully occupied with things to try and product based banter.

During the event we took a few shots below (mostly blurry and not that great) but should atleast give you a little idea of the vibe. And too cut it short, the event was great and the amount of caffeine induced was more than the average human… We’ll definitely be back, and we’ll definitely crash harder.

Inspiring 1970′s NASA Concepts

Abb-d Choudhury — Sat, 05 May 2012 12:29:25 +0000

Everyone knows of Neil Armstrongs ‘Small Step for Man’ during the 1960′s. This was the beginning of a whole concoction of ideas during the 70′s that NASA conceptualised in detailed illustrations. The 70′s became a century of dreams, imagination and space exploration, which lead to the birth of Star Wars and popular tv shows like Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. Check out a selection of concepts below from NASA.

Jamala’s Song – Sing it Out

Abb-d Choudhury — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:30:25 +0000

Front Pictures have released this video backdrop for Jamala’s Song ‘Sing it Out’ which includes the talented collaboration between Pylinsky Eugene (art direction & animation), VikaVitalina Lopukhiny (illustrations).

The video reminds me a lot like DVNO by Justice although a different approach in style, maybe not as elaborate, but equally tantalising. Check out the video below and visit VikaVitalina Lopukhiny page on Behance for some of the illustrations involved for creating the video.

Starbucks Japan

Abb-d Choudhury — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 10:55:06 +0000

Following our previous post of Starbucks’ efforts in Amsterdam to slowly change their model and interiors, for more of an ethical value and approach, they have recently commissioned architect Kengo Kuma to design a branch in Dazaifu, which is a small city found in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture.

The architects say that the design is meant to blend with the other buildings along the road with heavy influence on Dazaifu Tenmangu, the prefectures most famous shrine, dedicated to the god of learning.

“Along the main path to the shrine, there are traditional Japanese buildings in one or two stories,” the firm’s press release states. “The project aimed to make a structure that harmonizes with such townscape, using a unique system of weaving thin woods.”

The New York Times released an online article on how Starbucks is investing millions to re-evaluate hundreds of its stores in France, to appeal to coffee enthusiasts who definitely prefer the chic, personalised spaces. Let’s hope they take a good long look at their presence here in England and rethink not only the quality of their coffee, but also their appearance and value.

With the London Coffee Festival coming up next week I reserve my judgement on the quality of their bean, least to say, they certainly impressed me a bit last year.

Caine’s Arcade

Papa Akuffo — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 17:26:45 +0000

For all the negativity you can be faced with the moment you step on to the internet (I’m looking at you trolls), the online world can also point you in the direction of some perfect uplifting moments as well. Narvin Mullick’s film on a young Los Angelian’s homemade arcade is the later.

Caine’s Arcade is a great little film that does a spot on job of distilling a moment when people come together for a entirely positive reason (no agenda necessary). Check it out below. It really is heart-wamring type stuff. Narvin and co. have now set up a foundation to make most of the goodwill the film has created. You can find out more about the arcade and the new foundation here.