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I don’t know how I happened to find myself on Behance late one night looking up illustrations of electro pop artist Grimes, but I was. Probably because it all started with this illustration I saw that was made by Marynn. I always find it fascinating when artists express love for other artists via the medium of their choosing, especially when it comes to music. Unlike actors or models, musicians exist in a non-visual sector of art. The only visual component is the artist itself, who is merely a vessel through which the music is created. But time and time again, artists have shown that when expressing their inspiration, it’s through cheerful homages to the person behind the music.
Grimes, aka Claire Boucher, is an intriguing figure to portray through art. Her music, which dances between avant pop and legit pop, is often compared to the explosive, bubbly sounds of Japanese pop of the mid-90s. So it’s no surprise that her portraits are often exaggerated with lots of pinks and purples, with an almost chibi-like interpretation of her looks. It’s interesting to see how each artist, regardless of how varied their portraits are, all share these similar characteristics. To see for yourself, browse through the gallery above.
| Recommended by Tiffany White | Wednesday, February 24th, 2016 | No Comments » |
It’s rare for us to describe someone’s work as “dainty,” but that’s the first word that enters our head when looking at Portuguese illustrator Raquel Costa‘s work. Her unique aesthetic, which mixes storybook-style art with classic Victorian-esque literature, is one of the most unique things about her. And although she has several ongoing illustration projects in the works, our favorite is Songbook. The series is a collection of illustrated works inspired by song lyrics. From Aimee Man to the Arctic Moneys, the series takes a literal approach to the lyrics, spinning vibrant illustrations that capture the energy of the song without losing Costa’s visual personality. With only six pieces in the series so far–and with “work in progress” plastered across Costa’s site–here’s hoping more illustrations will be added in the future.
| Recommended by The Absolute Staff | Monday, January 4th, 2016 | No Comments » |
The art of film is the art of kinetic, dynamic narrative. One film still is never meant to be inert or isolated, but builds upon and weaves into another. Even films with still frame shots are still in motion – the pause is one through time, it feels unnatural, tortured. But what if you took that dynamic out of film and insert a wholly different sensory narrative – creating in effect a whole way to experience the story?
You would get Peter “Peterski” Nidzgorski’s Nevver.
Nidzgorski’s Tumblr page is, in simple terms, “a song and a film still, daily.” And from the look of it — a plain page with post-card size pictures over unimposing play buttons, a page of more grey-blue negative space with no more than four posts and tiny, oft-missed direction arrows — Nevver is a humble and modest site against which its film stills seem magnanimous and powerful.
And each film still does have power – each comes alive, just not before your eyes.
When Nevver guts every aspect out of a film save a static photo, and re-plugs what was lost through a curated song, it creates in essence a new film, a collage of different sensory experiences, where you hear the narrative and imagine it on what you see.
Nevver is a death of film and a birth of music. Not only does it invigorate what is heard, but it acts as a discovery tool for songs and bands one never knew, never remembered they knew, or never heard played before, the way it is through an emancipated shot.This Tumblr Teaches You The Art Of Hearing Music
| Recommended by Rhys Dipshan | Friday, December 18th, 2015 | No Comments » |
We continue our tour through the world of contemporary Spanish rock with a band that has been described as having great potential to become the next big musical export of the Iberian peninsula: Dorian. Formed in 2004 in Barcelona, the band consists of five members and mixes an eclectic range of sounds, mainly taking inspiration from new wave, indie rock, and electronica.Their song “A Cualquier Otra Parte” is taken from their second studio album El futuro no es de nadie, and perfectly encapsulates the soul of the band’s music.
The song begins with a long instrumental introduction that gets you on beat and ready to go, with the voices of the lead singer and the accompanying vocals later harmonizing very beautifully as the song kickstarts into a harder tune. The lyrics are written as a letter to a lover, or maybe even a monologue of confession, that states the singer would like to escape “a cualquier otra parte” (anywhere else). The feelings conveyed are enrapturing and is another reason to pay closer attention to the boom of new music coming from Spain.
| Recommended by Stefano Llinas | Friday, February 20th, 2015 | No Comments » |
Continuing our short tour through Spanish contemporary rock that started with Vetusta Morla’s “Maldita Dulzura,” this week the featured band is Supersubmarina. This band hails from Andalusia, the southern region of peninsular Spain, and was formed in 2005 when the members began playing together for fun, as is the case with most acts. While composing a song that imitated the sounds of the ocean, the band came up with its name, which roughly translates to English as “super-submarine.”
Their first major album was 2010′s Electroviral, my personal favorite and the one from where “LN Granada” is taken from. The songs in that album carry something very special, each with amazingly poetic and touching lyrics sung by the stupendous voice of Jose Chino, and unique rock sounds that truly remind me of the freedom of the waves. “LN Granada” stands out as the one melody that transports me to another world; the song literally makes me feel nostalgic for places and things I have never done. That long instrumental introduction will gradually put you in the mood to let go of your worries, and by the time you listen to that man’s Godly voice, your senses will be transported to the realm of ephemeral happiness.
| Recommended by Stefano Llinas | Tuesday, February 10th, 2015 | No Comments » |
It was two years ago that I had the pleasure of discovering some relevant contemporary rock bands from Spain, representing that niche musical craving I listen to every now and then, in the form of Supersubmarina, Love of Lesbian, Dorian, and today’s Vetusta Morla. I decided to recommend this one first because I believe it has the softest and perhaps the most refined sound out of all of them, a fact that makes them a perfect introduction to the genre for non-Spanish speakers. One of my favorite Vetusta Morla songs is “Maldita Dulzura,” the one tune that makes me wish I had a good voice so I could karaoke the hell out of it.
| Recommended by Stefano Llinas | Tuesday, February 3rd, 2015 | No Comments » |
Orchestra Baobab has very humble beginnings: they started playing at a local Dakar club (the eponymous Baobab Club) in the 70s for the pleasure of government officials, but they eventually became one of the faces of Senegalese music in the western world. The members are a colorful ensemble of African talent, hailing from their native Senegal as well as Togo and Mali. With musical influences ranging from Cuban, Moroccan, and their own cultural heritage, which includes Wolof Griot culture and Mandinga music from the Casamance region of Senegal, Orchestra Baobab has an incredibly rich repertoire unlike any other band in the world.
| Recommended by Stefano Llinas | Wednesday, January 28th, 2015 | No Comments » |
