Caught 8handed - Video

8hands featured videos: Joshua Allen Harris' Air Zoo

Dania — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:11:47 -0400

Maya just send me something too good to leave in the 8hands offices and not pass along... The Wooster Collective recently posted pics of Joshua Allen Harris' inflatable bear, and now they've raised the bar and put up videos.

Harris takes plastic bags, transforms them into animal shapes, and ties them to subway grates in New York City. Just watch what happens when a train passes by (and how few people seem to take notice). Is it just me, or are we living in a golden age of street art? Enjoy...

8hands featured show: Epicly Later'd

Dania — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 11:16:43 -0400

Since the first episode I caught on Dustin Dollin, I have been completely obsessed with Patrick O'Dell's self professed "nerdy skateboard show" on VBS, Epicly Laterd. Seriously. I think it's one of the only RSS feeds that I am religious about checking. Before the show, my skateboarding knowledge was basically limited to two movies about the Dogtown boys and the doc on Gator. That's about it. Didn't know a frontside from a backside from a noseflip.

But honestly, Epicly Later'd is way more than a skateboarding history lesson. Each episode (or sometimes series, like the epic 16 parter on the great John Cardiel) is a mini documentary, capturing those special people that are that much more driven to their limits (and the demons that often go along with it). What I love about the show is that O'Dell is obviously part of this world, documenting his friends and heros, doing so without judgement or sugar.

I'll start you all off with my all time top 5 Epicly Later'ds (so hard to pick just 5, you'll have to promise to watch them all). Enjoy...

1) Dustin Dollin

2) Jim Greco

3) Erik Ellington

4) Alex Olson

5) Braydon Szafranski

8hands featured video: I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You

alon — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:32:16 -0400

The best song of 2007 finally got a video of his own. We don't have much to say about it, except for the fact that we can't wait for the Black Kids' full length album. So... DANCE DANCE DANCE!

Edit: Alice just sent me a link to Kate Nash's cover of this song. Listen to the massacre.

8hands featured TV moment: Jeffrey Lewis on the Culture Show

alon — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:40:33 -0400

Jeffrey Lewis is one of my favorite artists – I wrote about him too many times by now, so there is no point in me explaining again why he's such a superior singer / songwriter. All there is to know is that he is amazing, and now, after watching him on BBC's "The Culture Show", I understand that I'm not alone.

If you are not convinced, listen to the man Jarvis Cocker, who, as I learned from "The Culture Show", thinks Lewis is the best lyricist working in the USA today.

Check out the video and let me know if you agree.

8hands Featured Music Act: iBand

Alice — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 11:54:10 -0500

As technology moves forward, new lo-fi musicians pop up every other day. The three members of the iBand, seem to take the tech and music connection a bit too seriously.

For those of you who haven't heard, the iBand is the last word in today's DIY music scene; their musical instruments are solely comprised of 2 iPhones and an iPod touch.

The idea is amazing. What's more, the iPod and iPhone are the ultimate tools for creating great lo-fi music: they are accessible, not really expensive and can be easily self taught. The music you can produce is intimate and simple, making it ultimately extremely moving.

Marina, Seb and Roger from iBand, were the first to see and carry out the potential of the iPhone. On their website they seem to emphasize the fact that they chose these tools, not out of necessity, but out of beliefs and ideals:

"Although skilled in a range of conventional music instruments, we choose the iPhone and iPod touch to create our music" and they go on saying "you can use the technical development to realize yourself and use the life that is given to you to seek something higher".

These words, on the top of their website, make you wonder- does it really matter? If they would have used the iPhone because they couldn't find a real piano, would it make the music sound differently?

Seems like these guys knew they are onto something and thought they better have an agenda to support their innovation.

And this so called agenda doesn't end in their website. The second video and first mp3, "life is greater then the internet", sends out the clear message that life is what happens when you're not online.

These lyrics, if I may add, are not as witty or intelligent as you may expect from musical pioneers. In fact, the words sung above the beautiful iPhone sounds are as childish as the message they are trying to send out.

They sing lines like "a video can't help you when you cry" and "internet is a time killer". Hey, if the iBand are so tech-savvy, why are they such tech-haters? With lyrics like these, it gets very hard to take them seriously.

But even with these downfalls, their creativity is undeniable and they just might be the first iPhone musicians. If all else, they have opened a way for someone who'll execute this great idea in a better manner.

More iPhone musicians to follow or not, no one can't take from the iBand the magic in their music when they shut up. Perhaps it's way too early to judge them and they will learn and get better along the way, but as my favorite lo-fi musician once wrote, some things are best left unsaid ("Love connection", Casiotone For The Painfully Alone).