Howard Halifax and Township Funk

Maybe its as a result of the World Cup but a light has certainly been cast over the South African music scene recently, and certainly the African scene as a whole. This little video is brilliant. FACT recently recently described it as a cross over of Howard (from the Halifax) and Township Funk (Dj Mujava).

Nwa Gezani My Love / SHANGAAN ELECTRO from outsidemusic on Vimeo.

The Cadbury's Zingolo campaign was further testament of this, lets just be thankful we don't have to listen to those wasps anymore, until the next World Cup maybe. On that subject, here is a Vuvusela remix of an old classic which found its way over here a few months ago - I give you Pigbag...

All Day I Dream About Sponsorship

Adidas unsurprisingly have pulled out the stops. Similarly to Nike, the sports giant has thrown in as many celebrity faces they can get their hands on. Any actor, musician or sportsman the brand managers deem cool enough has got a call up for this. The Adidas tie in with Star Wars over Death Stars at the beginning of 2010 is another example of major league product placement.



If brands are not only looking forward for branding opportunities but also in the past for potential profits what's next? Snickers with B.A is another example of this, how many avid A-team fans are being targeted by Mars in their latest run of ads. It begs the question once again, how far will it go? Will all our favourite films and shows being intrinsically paired up with brands? Some might argue people these days feel so strongly about brands that they may not want the wrong tie in taking place as it could be of detriment to the brand.

Certainly for music its essential in generating money for artists to finance their creativity moving forward, so making the correct choices for brands is central to the equation so both parties are able to benefit. This is only achievable to brands to take an independent approach and only use the right artists.

Guillaume Nery - drifts with the rift

This film is brilliant and the track (Archive - You Make Me Feel) has a storming riff. We hope both divers had it playing in their heads as they descended in to the depths of Dean's Blue Hole in the Bahamas. We like these stunts, who doesn't, well done Sony Ericsson. Like many mobile companies they're big into their music so this is a victory on You Tube alone.

Nike Write The Future - Transmission Error

Following ITV's Champions league transmission error Nike are understandably up in arms over their latest World Cup spot - Write The Future. Conspiracy theories have been rife in the midst of this 'programming error' and Nike have been said to have been paid a considerable compensation. With such a massively important piece of media failing at just the wrong moment no wonder people are suspicious. What are the chances of an error of this magnitude happening at such an important time. 




Some may argue that ITV have have increased Nike's World Cup exposure by effectively previewing the ad, a trailer for the final full length if you like. Viewers only have to hop on a computer as they would anyway to see the ad in its full glory, generating immediate consumer activation. YouTube hits have already reached 11.5 million from the fall from Nike's posting alone. With money of this magnitude being spent on marketing brands such as nike its little wonder  people have raised an eye brow in the wake this proverbial cock up.


The ad itself is a gem and the music throws itself around in style mashing together bits of sound design with any number of musical references. well done to W+K Amsterdam and to Alejandro G Inarritu for realizing the idea so well.

Gigs and summer

Good things of late have been Philadelphia Grand Jury, a brilliant new act, catch them if you can, the thing is, they do want to party, and they're good at it...



...and the new film from Danny Perez and Animal Collective - Oddsac that was screened last night at the ICA. Animal Collective are brilliant and although the film wasn't everyone's cup of tea, it's fun and requires a good dose of imagination. The band hung around afterwards to spin some tunes and the ICA as usual put on a great night.

Google Chrome Speed and Honda magic

From BBH New York this film shows the making of the latest 'Google Download 
Speed' spot. Drastically nerdy, but brilliant.



We like the music used in this documentary also, it has elements of the True Romance
theme and similarities to this Honda spot showing how wonderful some advertising can 
be.

San Francisco

Here is a lovely little film from the guys at Stones Throw. What a great tour of the city.

Stateless for Open Uni

The new Open University TV spot features Stateless 'Crash' which is a beaut. Tsunami found, negotiated and licensed the track. Director Matt Nelson's enchanting film looks and sounds great, we hope you agree.

theagencyisacunt.com & theclientisacunt.com

Like many of you we have found both theagencyisacunt.com & theclientisacunt.com make for an amusing read. We're undecided as to whether we like this site but reading the postings is pretty wholesome, often a smile is enough to get over a creative issue - when it's not, sites like The Agency Is A Cunt & The Client Is A Cunt are useful! On a completely different note, in response to those who got in touch last week with regards to ‘rubbing the lotion on its skin’ this is genius…

And on the good-bye horses tip, these guys have been one of our favourite new bands over the last 12 months, simply brilliant.

With EMI’s woes mounting  in the face of further financial problems the music industry is having to be as agile as possible in its response. The impressive growth in the live sector is starting to slow but still represents a massive success and underlines the popularity of music in this age.

Line ups are being bolstered across the world and reports from SXSW have been brilliant with the Texan music meet hosting some of the newest and best. Sonar, Coachella, Melt, Exit, Secret Garden, Burning Man, Glasto and Bestival all on the radar, how does one choose? What summer festivals we attend have a massive impact on the summer as a whole with weekends being eaten up by music, canvas and cider.

What's coming up

Charlie made it back from Le Haute Route alive to find LCD Soundsystem topping the bill at Wireless for 'The Dance Day', along with Unkle and 2 Many DJs, hoooraaaa! Buy your tickets. There will be a tsunami presence there naturally, who knows we may even give some tickets away! Either way there will be a party, a big one.

We've just had a couple of new Peter Broderick tracks in from Bella Union, they are very very good. We hope to be placing a PB track soon as he's quality.

Catskills were also kind enough to send over the new Husky Rescue album. We're on track 4 and its really really engaging, engaging on a first listen means it might feature on the playlist - happy, happy, happy.

The Gorillaz album has gone down well in the office, Snoop Dog has never sounded so bad ass! Pity they are selling tickets to their shows for £45, a further £25 to join their fan club and get priority, oh and they are selling tickets to their rehearsals at £15. Don't laugh.
 

With so much good news it only seems right to give a little bad news, ying yang and all that!? The New MGMT album has yet to impress in the office but we will continue to listen. Apart from that, it's cloudy - quel sooopriz.