I’ve blogged before about the general wonderousness of Purity Ring. 

Their latest single is well up to their usual high standards and offers typically off kilter dream pop; all mysteriously murmured vocals, esoteric lyrics and hooks. The cavernous bass sounds excellent through a decent sub-woofer so remember to play loud. Get it now as a free download from their website.

It’s great to see that the long-awaited debut album Shrines will be out on 24 July and is being released by indie legends 4AD. They were always a classic label who had the coolest music, and best design so that seems like a perfect fit. The equally exciting Grimes is a label mate and  having been at the forefront of the best indie (Pixies, Mountain Goats, etc) they are cornering the market in experimental dance music.

It’s sad that the mainstream perception of the genre is horrible nonsense like Skrillex whereas Burial consistently delivers complex, emotionally resonant music that makes demands of the listener and rewards your attention.

Buy it now from our favourite legal online music store and support interesting music.

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs new release Tapes & Money is another excellent release from the Oxford wunderkind. Saw him play live recently in Leeds and it was a terrific show full of energy and personality. The glitter cannon was a great addition too and galvanized the capacity crowd moved into action under a haze of dry ice and strobe lights. Anyhow here’s an exclusive SoundCloud mix:

sterling cooper vader price from Dann Matthews on Vimeo.

Madison Avenue lothario Don Draper and super villain Darth Vader may initially seem to have little in common, but look a little closer and the similarities between both men are startling.

Lack of a Father figure
Draper’s back story is murky and his Father is a distant and mercurial figure.

Anakin lacks a traditional male role model, and despite Qui-Gon Jinn’s best efforts does go a bit off the rails to put it mildly.

Struggling to adapt to the modern world
The growth of Feminism and the beat generation are both sources of tension for the male chauvinistic Draper.

Vader is an advocate of top down management and doesn’t seem to realise that destroying Alderaan isn’t going to win you any friends in the long term.

Masters of reinvention
Draper stole the identity of a deceased Korean war colleague to become a slick and polished corporate executive.

Vader took a more radical route and had himself completely rebuilt after a bit of a skirmish with Obi-Wan Kenobi. Extreme makeover Sith style.

Winning friends and influencing people
All Draper needs to win a new pitch is a belt of Scotch and a few notes.

If things aren’t going his way Vader deploys the force grip. Certainly gets his point across in interminable meetings.

Both have a secret weapon
For Draper it’s his Kodak Carousel projector.

Vader prefers the Death Star.

Both are near the top of their organisation but are stymied by an intransigent boss
Roger Sterling blocks Draper’s progress at every turn.

Emperor Palpatine makes it fairly clear he’s calling the shots to Vader. I mean ‘what is they bidding my master?’ Really? That’s a tribunal waiting to happen…

On the slightly more intense end of the musical spectrum is the mean, moody and magnificent Touch by Holy Other. Definitely fair to say this is an earworm of a record and will burrow its way into your memory banks.

To round off for now, the wonderfully titled L’Equipe du Son remix of Beach by 80s Stallone is the uplifting tonic you need when the temperature around is dropping so rapidly.

This is likely to change though with the release next year of the Little Printer from Berg. Using a set of APIs it grabs data from all your favourite social networks, and produces daily print-outs in a whimsical style for your amusement.

Prepare to want one…

Hello Little Printer, available 2012 from BERG on Vimeo.

The closing film of this year’s Leeds International Film Festival was a real highlight, and perfect antidote to the Autumnal November gloom outside.

The Artist is a lovingly recreated homage to the dawn of cinema. Beginning in the late 1920s the film plots the rise and fall of star George Valentin (a clear reference to Valentino) as he struggles to adjust to the era of talkies, and the meteoric rise of ingenue Peppy Miller.  Norma Desmond’s ‘it was the pictures that got small’ quote from Sunset Boulevard sums up Valentin’s predicament well.

Bravely the film is silent throughout (except for a few brief sequences) and is shot in black and white using Academy ratio. Dialogue is sparse and appears on caption cards in between.

There are some real treats for film fans from the Hollywoodland sign on the hill, to amusing nods to German Expressionism and an inspired use of locations that instantly call to mind a host of early Hollywood classics.

The musical score is stunning thoughout, and cleverly references Bernard Herrmann’s Love Theme from Vertigo to underscore a key dramatic scene. In lesser hands attempting to introduce elements of a late 1950s score would have been crass, but here it worked beautifully.

Cinematography is equally outstanding. A few scenes really explored the use of light and high contrast, and I was instantly reminded of Greg Toland’s experimental tour de force in Citizen Kane.

Performances are excellent across the board. Jean Dujardin as George Valentin represents a blend of charm, raffishness and bravado. Bérénice Bejo plays Peppy Milly as a livewire mix of Louise Brooks, Lillian Gish and Mary Pickford. Look out for a decent Greta Garbo gag too. In the supporting roles James Cromwell as Valentin’s stoic chaffeur underplays things well and makes the most of his small role. John Goodman provides an entertainingly belligerent riff on monstrous moguls Louis B Mayer and Harry Cohn, with Malcolm McDowall offering an uncharacteristically restrained turn in his brief cameo. Oh, and in the shape of Uggie the dog they’ve found possibly the most charming canine actor ever.

As the film ended the auditorium of Hyde Park Picture House erupted in spontaneous and warm applause. It’s since gone on to win the audience prize for best film. See it for yourself when it opens late next month to understand why.

The forthcoming Idea Mine iPhone / iPad app aims to stimulate your creativity by suggesting random scenarios and themes. I’m sure some of the results may resemble beat poetry (I will make my way to a wooden house, I will make images of a squealing dream, etc) but think it’ll be definitely worth a download when it’s released next month.

It also lets you sketch out rough ideas as snaps, and store them for later. This feature would be cool for creating mood boards, and makes a change from running out of pages in Moleskines.

First up here’s the latest offering from Tensnake. Well up to his usual classy standards.

Tensnake DJ Set for Okini by Tensnake

The Magician is on superb form here with Magic Tape 16. I actually think it’s his best yet, although they’re all so good it’s hard to choose. Stephen Fasano we salute you. Got to shake his hand once and he’s a lovely chap.

Magic Tape Sixteen by TheMagician

Last but not in any way least is Little Boots new mix. If you thought she’d been quiet of late it seems she’s been working on new studio tracks, but this selection features a cheeky re-working of Into The Groove and other delights. Play loud with plenty of bass.

SHAKE UNTIL YOUR HEART BREAKS MIXTAPE by LittleBoots