What Else is There?

A couple of years ago I was stumbled across a relatively unknown [in America] group called Royksopp. Norweigen electronica artists in the same genre as Air and Mirwais, I think I may've seen the cover of their 2005 album "The Understanding" and was curiously drawn to it.

Quite honestly, at that point I recalled having read several complimentary reviews about the album so I made an impulse purchase. After one solid listen I immediately became hooked; there are some phenomenal tracks included. One of my favorite songs has a very "odd" video to accompany it. The track is titled "What Else is There?" and in true fashion of they music I'm typically attracted to, it's got a very solid beat, beautiful melodies, and an intriguing female vocal. Often when I watch the video I'm a little weirded-out, but it is certainly creative...you can't deny that.

Here's the video for "What Else is There?":

Need a Room Makeover?

Do you need a room makeover? No need to fret! A couple of days ago my Techcrunch e-newsletter had a feature devoted to a new a site called Design My Room. Now, I rent the condo I live in so I haven't really done any significant decorating; however, I am borderline-obsessed with home/room makeover shows. Don't ask me why, I just am! I suppose I just love seeing the potential for anything (houses, rooms, people, etc.) to reach their greatness. Anyway, when I saw this DesignMyRoom.com site I was all over it! So...I decided to check out the site to see what it has to offer.

Firstly, I created a profile, which was extremely simple! I love sites that make registering with them easy! Here's a snapshot of the information they require:


Now one of the nicest features about the site--and perhaps it's because they're still in beta testing--is a "pop-up" window (which the user can request to never see again) that provides a synopsis, essentially, of everything that's offered on the site. From virtually redesigning one of your own rooms, to sharing your designed room with other DesignMyRoom.com users, to getting ideas from other site users. It truly is an interactive site.

While breezing through the site I also noticed a feature that's noted as "Coming Soon," and that's submitting your own photo, and having the site digitally enhance your room! So basically you upload the photo of any room you'd like to have redesigned, and the "experts" at the site will add color, wallpaper, etc. Whatever you have in mind so you can actually see what your makeover room will look like before you make any effort at all! Now I think that's really awesome! I'm going to do a little more digging around Design My Room and if I come across any more cool features I'll post them here. In the meantime I'll just imagine what it'll be like when I buy my own place, and can decorate-my-heart-out!

Take On Me

This is undeniably one of the most original music videos, particularly since it was released in the infancy years of MTV. Unarguably a groundbreaking video:

Why? (Pay Attention Please...)

This post has nothing to do with "Music Video Week," although the artist performing this song is definitely a pioneer of the music video era. I ran across this video on You Tube while looking for recent content to post on my MySpace Blog.

While I didn't catch the live telecast of this Annie Lennox classic, when I saw this performane on You Tube, from this Summer's Live 8 I was overwhlemed with emotion. Forget race, forget sexual orientation, forget gender, and forget class. If this performance doesn't move you...well, you might want to take a closer look at yourself:

"Music Video Week": MONDAY

Today's "Music Week Video" is Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy". I remember the first time I saw this video--which was also the first time I heard the song--I was absolutely blown away. The song was like nothing else that was out in the market at the time, and the accompanying video just enhanced the song's groove. I love it!

Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
Uploaded by hushhush112

So when I did a You Tube search for the "Crazy" video I discovered there's also second version, which I wasn't aware of. It's the "UK" version, and it's just as amazing as the first version. The colors are splendid and I love the layers of the graphics. You decide what you think:

Video Killed the Radio Star? (Part 2)

Last week I wrote a post about my infatuation with music videos. Now, mind you...I don't really watch American music video channels like MTV or VH1 because they play nothing but crap, that is essentially bought by powerhouse music companies to get promotion for their artists. (Bitter, party of one, please!) That's OK...I can live with that. (Thank you, YouTube.com.) Anyway....

I always find it interesting to see the visual interpretation of a song, so in paying homage to the artistry of music videos I'd like to kick off "Music Video Week" here on Nifty Nation. That being said, it's only right to begin with one of the most visionary music video artists of our time: Madonna. Now, "How in the world can he choose a video from such a robost catalogue of work?" Well, it's certainly not easy, and there's a possibility another one of her videos may appear in the coming week. But for the sake of recognizing a video for the "creativity" aspect, I'm going with "Nothing Really Matters" from the groundbreaking 1998 release "Ray of Light". An exceptional song lyrically, to the naked eye the video makes no sense, and is really a mish-mosh of weirdness; however, there is a story behind the video, and it was inspired by the story Memoirs of a Geisha. If you'd like to learn more about the backstory click here.

Here is the video for "Nothing Really Matters":

Butt....

Say No to Crack does it again. There are truly no words for this: