Here’s a new set of 8 tracks to follow on from last years original “Sci-Fi-O-Rama Spotify Playlist” – this bunch I’ve imaginatively entitled #02!
Once again a bit of a mixed bag of spacey electronic sounds starting with the warm, radial ambiance of Loscil’s “Umbra”, before shifting into slo-mo synth house territory, tripped out techno, finally finishing off with a track from my favourite act of the moment; Blondes and “You mean so much to me”.
Here’s a full tracklisting, hope you enjoy!
1. Loscil – Umbra
2. Coyote – Beat Journey
3. Kathy Diamond, Mario Basanov & Vidis – In My System (Downtown Party Network Remix)
4. Gus Gus – Northern Lights
5 Lazersonic, Zak Frost – Aquaplane (Unit 4 Remix)
6. Dance Disorder – Zusammen (Instrumental)
7. Giorgos Gatzigristos – Binary Star System
8. Blondes – You Mean So Much To Me
Here’s the link for the Spotify URL: http://is.gd/dgvou
*Note that you must have the Spotify App installed, and of course be signed up to the premium service to dodge the Adverts. Artwork once again from Eric Carl’s fabulous Flickr Photostream: http://is.gd/dgxcE
Ian Albinson over at the excellent artofthetitle.com got in touch with me the other day asking me to help identify the original artists and books that were used in the title sequence of the 2009 Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) Comedy “Gentlemen Broncos“. You can view a movie of the the whole sequence here: http://is.gd/dbKfK
In total of 24 books were used by production designer Richard A Wright in creating the title sequence, and I’ve included a small selection here. A few of the designs look familiar, but I must confess I don’t actually know for sure and wondered whether any readers can help out?
Some notes on the featured images:
Top: This looks either like a Frank Frazetta or possibly Peter Andrew Jones – not sure though!
2nd Top: I was thinking this has an echo of Peter Elson ? looks like a 70’s cover
3rd Top: A really well rendered painting, an older cover I think – early 60s’?
4th Top: This reminds me somewhat of StarWars concept artist Ralph Mcquarrie – late 70’s?
5th Top: No idea here! cool though…
6th Top: Again this looks slightly older – a 60’s cover?
7th Top: I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this one browsing through the extensive Flickr Sci-Fi-Books Pool but alas I didn’t favourite it.
Please do post a comment if you are familiar with any of the covers featured above or from the movie. Also, do make a point to check out Ian’s site – a superb read & inspiration resource: http://www.artofthetitle.com/
Finally here’s a link to the trailer for Gentlemen Broncos staring the excellent Sam Rockwell http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdpFpfIBkXc
A selection of four Images taken from British Artist Ian Miller’s Illustrated compendium “Green Dog Trumpet and Other Stories” (published by Dragons Dream 1978) a book I’m lucky enough to own.
Green Dog Trumpet and Other Stories contains 5 abstract visual tales, each with a loose narrative but no written dialogue – this works splendidly, forcing you to attempt intense studies of meticulously detailed, chaotic compositions. I tend to find that with each new browsing I notice something new, and it’s hardly surprising – even though some of the illustrations are small there amazingly intricate, worlds you can totally loose yourself in.
As I’ve mentioned in the past Ian is one of my favourite artist’s I feature on the blog, mainly because as a style of illustration it’s just so out there. In fact, fairly recently on a trip to the cinema I caught Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland re-imaging which (superflous 3d aside) looked, as you might expect visually stunning – once again reminding me of certain close similarities between Miller and Burton’s work. I wonder if there paths have crossed at all ? or if Burton and his team have referenced Miller in the same way Roger Dean was obviously referenced by James Cameron and his Designers for last years SF blockbuster Avatar… Just a thought!
Sci-Fi-O-Rama reader and fellow blogger Parker Mason got in touch this week with a link to his recently created, mammoth-sized Flickr Gallery “Nasa 1172″. Literally translated that’s 1172 incredible images of Nasa’s manned and robotic endeavors in the exploration of space. As you can imagine with over 1000 shot’s there’s plenty of variety, I’ve concentrated on picking a small selection of video graphics and diagrammatic Illustrations. Some notes then on the chosen images:
Top: Not exactly sure which Probe/Satellite this is – If you know please post a comment.
2nd Top: I’m guessing this captioned Illustration shows how a comet’s tail starts to form on approach toward the inner solar system.
3rd Top: A diagram showing the voyage of “Ulysses” a joint NASA/ESA probe launched back in 1990.
Bottom 3: These Images I believe are all stills from a 80’s NASA Computer animation showing the trajectory and approach of Voyager 2 to Uranus in 1986. I can’t seem to find the complete clip on youtube, which is a shame because I remember the animation looks really cool as the craft spins over on flyby – anyway here’s a sample of similar footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r46QdcnAYeU.
See the full gallery at: http://is.gd/cU4RE also check Parker @ Nineteen Ninety Never http://199x.org/ and http://twitter.com/parkernow
A selection of differing illustration styles all linked from my Flickr Favourites – I figured that rather than post these one at time It’d be better to pack them into groups as a kinda round up. So here’s the notes on the images:
Top: Ejection “Captain Lockhead and The Starfighters” – A 7″ single sleeve, in a style somewhat reminiscent of Barney Bubbles though it is in fact the work of Rodney Matthews. Love the plum and salmon pink colouring here… Image via Flickr User Daevideo
2nd Top: This is one I spotted a while back via Will Schofield’s amazing A Journey Round my Skull. This cover is from a 1975 Estonian Childrens book “Panga-Rehe Jutud” by Jüri Arrak – a typical of the rare, outlandish source material Will so often posts…
3rd Top: Another lift from “A Journey Round My Skull” this image comes via a special feature “Women Snakes and Stalkers – South Asian Book Covers”. Well worth checking out to see a really diverse range of Illustrative work – also check the source: http://www.womensnakesandstalkers.com/ superb stuff…
4th Top: So back to more SF orientated material, and here’s a cover for the 1975 Robert Silverberg Short story collection “Sunrise on Mercury” art by Peter Goodfellow. What actually caught me eye here was that this wild sunscape actually reminded me very much of the 1988 Sega arcade game “Galaxy Force 2″. Not sure if any of you remember that, it was kinda an evolution of sprite scaling tech used in Sega’s Outrun or Afterburner. Anyway the Coin-Op was pretty rare in the UK, expensive to play and not particularly entertaining. On the plus side the level graphics were pretty imaginative and considering this is a 22 year old game the pseudo 3d effect looks very advanced for it’s age! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaLRLo2yB04. Image via Filckr user: Martin Isaac
5th Top: A 1963 cover for the John Wyndham apocalyptic classic “The Kraken Wakes” art by Denis Piper. Even though it’s over fifty years old (first published 1953) this is still definitely one SF novel I’d class as essential reading – a plot thats mirrors the plight face with potential global warming and rising sea levels – highly recommended! Image via Flickr user: metoikosdraig
Bottom: The final image is another classic penguin David Pelham SF cover. Here’s a link again to the Penguin SF Book covers gallery: http://www.penguinsciencefiction.org/ – this image is via Flickr user levar
