This is Living: a short film by Zach Johnston from We Will Build

Something dropped in our inbox and it made us smile, laugh and ponder a little, so we thought it might amuse somebody out there. This is Living is a short film written and directed by Zach Johnston who is the guitarist in the electronic, experimental duo, We Will Build.

It's only a little over three minutes and keeps a lighthearted poke-fun-at-human-nature tone, so even when it ends, you're still smiling. I could be reading too much into this short film, maybe it is to be taken surface value and not showing, how even though we know the phrase, "Take time to smell the roses", we hardly ever put it into action. Anyways, the video begins with a rather morbid statement with birds chirping,

"You may find this hard to believe, but I'm actually dead,"

Download:

This Is Living | Zach Johnston

3D Classic| We Will Build

Links:

>>>We Will Build's Official Site

Oh Snap!

Hey there readers, It's time for Oh Snap! Camera Crowd's weekly photography links. I know it's a bit late and a new week is already starting, but i've finally caught the dreadful flu bug and I just feel gross. It's just been non-stop green tea, supplemental vitamins, airborne, and vitamin water. I hope it leaves soon. Anyhoo, I wanna go back to bed soon, let's get down to business shall we?


I haven't gone out shooting in awhile and my finger is just itching for that trigger. I sold my old camera and the new one is on its way. And when I get it, it's back to the good 'ol routine again, taking the camera with me all the time for some good street photography. If you're like me and prefer street photography more than anything else, you've probably encountered people who yell at you for photographing them, or those pesky security guards. Yes those security guards or rent-a-cops telling you to stop photographing and leave the premises right away or there will be some trouble. I've been stopped twice by security guards, and they had to search my backpack first and inspect my camera. They probably think it's a weapon or something.

Seriously, security guards, cops, and private citizens are treating photographers these days like they're terrorists plotting something. The following links below will provide you with tips if you ever get in a tough situation where you are ask to leave or give up your memory card.


Photopermit.org
If you've never been in a situation where you had to deal with pesky security guards who think they're all that, then photopermit.org is the place for you. It's filled with unbelievable stories of photographers being mistreated including a dad photographing/filming a high school football game and mistaken for a sniper, so the school called the swat team and he was this close to being snipered until they realised he was only filming. With photopermit.org, photographers can really take advantage of the forum, it has first hand accounts from other photographers about their encounters with rent-a-cops and suggestions on how to deal with them.

Photographer's Rights Flyer
So you've read photopermit.org and you tell yourself, "how am I going to remember all of that information?" especially if a security guard is towering over you with his/her beating stick! The only thing to do then is to pull out your Photographer's Rights Flyer. Based on the Bust Card and Know Your Rights pamphlet from the ACLU, this flyer tells you what security guards can and can't do to you. Definitely print this out and take it with you all the time, especially if you're a street photographer like me. Although I haven't used it yet, I know for sure it'll come in handy in the future. When a sleazy rent-a-cop hassles you, just whip it out and BAM!

Flickr pool of the Week : Decisive Moment Pool
As for the flickr pool of the week, we have the Decisive Moment Pool. The pool strictly follows the footsteps of the famous photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson, a French photographer who developed the style of street photography. The pool is pretty strict too, it has no photoshop, no HDR, and no pool spamming rules, so you know the photographs are going to be good, its quality over quantity.


And here's a little advice when it comes to street photography, obviously don't go photographing in a spot where it clearly states "No photography". Also try not to attract too much attention, like in an underground metro station, don't set up your tripod in the middle of the platform especially during commute hours, security guards absolutely hate that! Trust me I know. And as for security guards and rent-a-cops telling you to stop shooting in a place where its perfectly fine, talk to them and show them your photographer's rights flyer, hopefully they'll understand. If not then, then take those shots you wanted and then run!

Here are a couple of songs you can listen to while you read up on those rights.

Rebellion (lies) | Arcade Fire

The Freest Man | Tilly and the Wall


-Charlie

3 minute entry: Fionn Regan

∞

*latest update on (01/27/07)*

Soft-spoken, but strangely confident is his delivery of the twelve songs off Fionn Regan's debut album, The End of History. His voice glides up and down notes with the guitar so smoothly that you'd think the two were one instrument.

What will keep strangers listening to a song of Regan's though is the work of his clever melodies creating a song from beginning to end that reels in even the most unwillingly listener. This is without relying on much else other than an acoustic guitar, a few strings and foot tapping here and there. Don't underestimate the sound of one acoustic guitar, Regan makes the instrument fill the room, quiets it into a whispery lullaby and wakes it up creating climbing waves of intricate finger-picking giving the song, highs, lows and every volume inbetween.

Turning those strangers into loyal fans is his songwriting. He grew up in a coastal town outside of Dublin called Bray, Ireland, which can be pointed back to his frequent details of coastlines, hills and rock pools... Seeing as the lyrics he writes are incredibly short, a sure fan of the traditional verse, chorus, verse, chorus; it's interesting how he can use so few words to trigger so many images that will stick in the listener's mind.

His debut album, though released last summer in Europe is still unavailable in America. He's signed onto Bella Union, fellow Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice's record label, Heffa and Australia's Etch N Sketch. Gearing up for another tour, Fionn Regan will start it off in Bristol next Monday, Jan. 29th and will preform live on the Meteor Ireland Music Awards for his two nominations as Best Irish Male and Best Newcomer, to vote, go here. He will be supporting Damien Rice on some dates and will be joining a nice lineup for the Australia's Laneway Festival. *Regan will also stop byAustin, Texas for South By Southwest and currently scheduled for another US date at New York's Mercury Lounge on March 20th.* Scroll below for all tour dates!

Digging deeper you'll find Fionn Regan isn't exactly new to the music scene at all, in fact he has released two EPs and a single before The End Of History. The only one left available to purchase is the limited edition(1000 copies!) of the five-track, Hotel Room EP released in 2004. To find out more on Fionn Regan please read the two articles I linked at the bottom, especially the one from Drowned In Sound, very interesting stuff.

Tracklisting:





The End Of History | Fionn Regan
(Bella Union/Heffa/Etch N Sketch)

1. Be Good Or Be Gone
2. The Underwood Typewriter
3. Hunters Map
4. Hey Rabbit
5. Black Water Child
6. Put A Penny In The Slot
7. The Cowshed
8. Snowy Atlas Moutains
9. Noah (Ghost In A Sheet)
10. The End Of History
11. Abacus
12. Bunker Or Basement

Stream + Download + Purchase:

The Underwood Typewriter| Fionn Regan

Put A Penny In The Slot| Fionn Regan

Black Water Child| Fionn Regan

Links:

>>> Fionn Regan's Official Site
<<< Fionn Regan's MySpace
>>> Vote Meteor Awards
<<< Buy The End Of History
>>> Buy Hotel Room EP
>>> Read more: Drowned In Sound
<<< Read more: Gigwise

Tour Dates:

01-29 Bristol - Thekla
01-30 Sheffield - Boardwalk
01-31 Liverpool - Barfly
02-01 Dublin - Meteor Awards (live preformance)
02-06 London - Dingwalls
02-07 Brimingham - Glee Club
02-08 York - Pocklington Arts Centre
02-09 Dipton - Cap-A-Pie
02-11 Glasgow - King Tuts
02-12 Aberdeen - Tunnels
02-15 Perth - Fremantle Theatre
02-17 Adelaide - Thebarton Theatre
02-19 Melbourne - Palais Theatre
02-20 Melbourne - Palais Theatre
02-22 Sydney - Enmore Theatre
02-23 Sydney - Enmore Theatre
02-24 Melbourne - Laneway Festival
02-25 Brisbane - Tivloi Theatre
02-25 Melbourne - Laneway Festival
03-03 Brisbane - Laneway Festival
03-04 Sydney - Laneway Festival
03-16 Austin, TX - Stubbs
*03-20 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge*

~anne

Oh Snap!

As you all know, Camera Crowd is also a photography blog. We already have our photoblog, but Anne and I decided that we need photography related posts to go along with it. So here I bring you, Oh Snap! I'll be posting photography related gizmos, and gadgets you've never even heard of. To go along with it, I'll have my choice of Flickr pool of the week. Also if you guys have interesting photography related things that you wanna share with us, just email them and we'll post them the following week along with your name to give you credit.

Let's start things off shall we?


You've all heard about Flickr's geotagging right? I use it all the time to remind me where exactly I took that certain photo in case I wanna go back there again. Well Ricoh has released a new camera, the 500SE. An 8 megapixel camera that has a GPS chip inside so you'll never have to geotag manually ever again. It'll cost you around $1000 though, so you decide if you wanna trade that DSLR for a GPS camera.





Splashr.com
Tired of looking at photos on flickr by clicking photo to photo, or by using their boring slideshow? Well then checkout splashr.com. It has different flash players that will allow you to view/present your photos in a more interesting way. Just put the tags or the user id of the photographer you wanna see and its goodbye boring slideshow.



Flickr pool of the week: Winter Wonderland

With all the unexpected snow falling all over the U.S this week, i just had to pick the Winter Wonderland pool. Part of Texas got a snow day and freeways in So Cal were closed cause of snow and ice. What about San Francisco and the Bay Area? How can you miss us?!
Tip: use splashr.com to view all the recent snow photos. It's better than having to click through the pool.


A couple of songs to listen to while you're looking at the Flickr pool of the week

Snow Song | Habitat

Damn It's Cold | We Will Build


-Charlie

Halfway around the world and back again

{Scroll down and stream the music, while reading this rather long post, it may make the post seem a bit shorter. Sorry for so many words!}

As most of you know, I went to Taiwan during the Christmas holidays to visit relatives and also took a chance to see if where I came from had somewhat of a music scene. (The answer to that question is yes and no.) A little refresher on World Geography as to where Taiwan is located on the map (Hint: look beside China...). So, I went to a few of the regular record stores that appear in multiple cities around Taiwan. Kind of like our F.Y.E. or Warehouse Music, but I think Taiwan record stores have a slight advantage from all the foot traffic. Taiwan's easiest to navigate on foot compared to America's potential customers driving past the small record stores in the suburbs.

Still, the situation may already be changing, since Internet has Taiwan's music industry in a tight hold. This is bad news, especially for the genre specific stores like the one I bought most my CDs from: a hidden indie store underground called White Wabbit Orange. Most people who walk into a record store, which focuses on music that is not on the radio, had the intention of going there for that music in mind: people don't stumble upon a store and decide to go in if they had no interest in what's inside in the first place.

I realized how strange loneliness can be in a foreign country, even though I was born there. (My family moved to Canada when I was 4.) So even Mandarin, the main language there, was a bit of a challenge coupled with the nervousness I had to speak it in front of my relatives. The fact that no one around is interested in the same things you are or even speak the same primary language is frustrating. So when I first discovered a record store, I was elated. Familiar faces staring up at me as I listened to them through the store's headphones. I was saying quiet hellos to home: The Octopus Project, Broken Social Scene and Camera Obscura. It is also a relief to know that there are people in Taiwan who knows the same songs and recognizes the same names. I finally fully understood the line from Almost Famous, "...and if you ever get lonely, you just go to the record store and visit all your friends." Hopefully you'll get to experience this sometime in your life and come to appreciate the great music that is being made today and how lucky we are to be surrounded by it. Okay, so here are the record stores that you will probably stumble upon in any city in Taiwan for a quick purchase.

The first two photos on the top are the regular chain record stores you'll find easily just by taking a walk in any city. If you do find yourself clueless, navigate yourself to a Sogo (one of Taiwan's biggest department store, think Macy's, but bigger) and take the elevator to their book department, they sell music there too and have a lovely music listening station that lets you preview CDs. I was surprised to see a few familiar faces: The Octopus Project, Camera Obscura and Yndi Halda.
There is another chain store I didn't get a photo of: Rose (In Music We Trust), watch for a big pink sign with yellow letters. For the regular CD stores there are for a few familiar names on the shelves and you'll find them under international artists. The very bottom photo is the White Wabbit Orange records entrance: the record store is a branch from the Taiwanese indie record label White Wabbit Records. Their record store is where you'll have to venture out to Taipei for its huge collection of bands you recognize and also the Taiwanese bands you should listen to. White Wabbit Orange is literally underground that sits beside a CD store specializing in metal; it's also where the music venue called The Wall is fitted in. To see them for yourself: you have to first slowly descend a curvy, dark flight of stairs sandwiched between the two walls covered in graffiti, yes slightly creepy, but once you see the record store it's worth it. One thing to remember when shopping for CDs when in a different city/country is to buy CDs from the local bands. Especially in a different country, since some bands won't be able to release it where you call home.

Don't be afraid to ask for help, the people who actually live there probably know more about the music scene there than you do and you might find yourself with good company and in a really nice conversation. I'd just like to thank the person who was working at White Wabbit Orange for helping and suggesting which Taiwanese bands to look into. Most of the bands in this post here wouldn't have been possible without you. I could've just picked random CDs off the shelves based on their band names or the artwork. Another good idea, is grab a compilation or two that's from a local record label. Ideally the more bands you buy from, the better your chance is finding a real jewel. Of course, it's kind of idiotic to buy out the whole record store, so do some researching yourself before getting off the airplane and in a whole different culture, language...etc.

Unfortunately I was not able to attend a show while I was there due to the poor timing of things, so maybe next time. Okay, below is a preview of what I'll write about individually in later posts. We finally figured out how to let you stream the music before you download a song without pulling out our wallets or loading this blog with ads.

(For any other bloggers or anyone else who is interested, we were tipped off from what The Hype Machine uses for music players, make sure you upload everything to a site that allows direct linking: we used filexoom. If you find another site that's better please tell us! Feel free to email us if you run into trouble, I know it took us way too many hours to figure this thing out despite how easy they make it sound.)

For now, this is just a sneak peek of what's coming up, when I do post about the bands separately I'll provide more songs for downloading. Take note that I may talk about more bands later on as they naturally grow on me. Also here are some photos I took from Taiwan if your eyes want the visual side too.

Atonia | Selfkill

So, Let's Go | 8mm Sky

Winter Passing | VARO

Travel With Sound | Cheer Chan

Pendantic Mushroom | Bad Daughter

~anne

sights and sounds

Forget the big budget super bowl ads and the talking animals from insurance companies, the commercials below feature some of our favourite artists. While some of these songs are less than a minute long and will never see the light of day, you can't help but turn up the volume when they come up. Some may say musicians are selling out by putting their songs in commercials, but I say it's a good way to get some exposure without actually putting your name out there. Yeahh know what I mean!?

Below are the videos if you haven't seen them yet. And downloads for each song, so you can finally play them over and over again and not having to channel surf.


Cat Power
According to Matador records, Chan has no plans of releasing these songs, but with another Covers record coming up this summer, we're praying that she includes at least one of these in there. But for now, were stuck with these snippets.




How Can I Tell You ( Cat Stevens Cover) - Cat Power





Hanging on the Telephone (Nerves Cover) - Cat Power



Explosions in the Sky

Although a Cadillac is not exactly our dream car Explosions in the Sky is our dream band so we're okay that they're just paying the bills, because we get two commercials that we will actually want to turn up the volume. One commercial features "Six Days At The Bottom Of The Ocean" and another "Your Hand In Mine", both songs are from their latest album The Earth Is Not A Dead Cold Place. Don't forget February 20th is when their new album, All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone comes out!







Your Hand In Mine - Explosions in the Sky

Of Montreal
You've all seen Outback Steakhouse's ad with the catchy jingle "Let's go Outback tonight.." You've probably figured out by now that's it's actually Wraith Pinned to the Mist (And Other Games) but Outback's cover version. According to Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes, "We thought it would be totally amusing to hear their take on one of our songs as a jingle." I seriously wouldn't mind Outback playing Of Montreal songs while I'm having one of their famous bloomin onion.





Wraith Pinned To The Mist (and other games) - Of Montreal



Adem Ilhan and Megan Wyler
Separate full versions of this cover song are not available anywhere. If you do find them, email them to us!! Adem Ilhan of the band Four Tet and Megan Wyler sing two different versions of Walk The Line, but in the commercial below, the two are combined. The ad works too, it makes me wanna buy those skinny straight jeans like now!!





Walk The Line (Johnny Cash) - Adem Ilhand and Megan Wyler



-Anne and Charlie

Children of Men

Do you ever think about this society, and what the future holds for it? Let's say, 10 to 20 years from now, what do you see? Is it something good? Or is it something people would never expect to happen?

The world is changing so fast, from technology, to the unpredictable government, it's hard to keep up. We get a good glimpse of how the world might be like 20 years from now from the new movie, Children of Men, starring Clive Owen. If you haven't seen the trailer for it, I'm not talking about a future with androids as cops, flying cars, and entire meals that come in pill form. It's the society as we know it, with the problems we have now, but enhanced in a very drastic way twenty years later.

The film starts out in an anti- immigration dominated London in the year 2027. And its a world in which no child has been born for the last 18 years. Africa and Kazakhstan are now uninhabitable due to continuous nuclear attacks. Global pollution have increased dramatically and has ruined the environment. And last but not least, popular cities such as Tokyo, and New York have been neutralized due to acts of nuclear terrorism. Do all these things ring a bell to you yet?

This is where Clive Owen's character comes in, he's a London peace activist turned bureaucrat just minding his own business until he gets kidnapped by a political organization called The Fishes. Here he is forced by the leader of The Fishes who is also his ex wife played by Julianne Moore to help transport and protect a woman who mysteriously became pregnant. They need to take the woman to a certain location to save the future of mankind.

This is by far the best movie that has clearly depicted what the world would be like 10-20 years from now based on what's happening today. I know it's just a movie and all the things in the movie might not even happen in the future, but I hope it'll help gain some awareness as to what's happening in our society today. Especially to younger audiences who are far more concerned about their social networking profiles rather than important current events that may drastically change their lives 10-20 years from now.

Some songs that sorta coincide with this topic.

No Future (God Save The Queen) - Sex pistols

science vs. romance - Rilo Kiley

a distorted reality is now a necessity to be free - Elliott Smith

Links>>

Children of Men Trailer

Official Homepage/showtimes



-Charlie

3 minute entry : Habitat

I wanted to wait till the start of 2007 to write about this band. I was going to write about them before 2006 ended but I didn't want them to end up in the end of the year pile, they deserved better.

Another beautiful band coming out from our neighbour from the north, Habitat, a harmonic duo from Guelph, Ontario. The first time their songs grazed my ears, the sound of the familiar keyboards reminded me of the trio Au Revoir Simone, and hints of softness in the vocals a lot like Camera Obscura. I was immediately hooked. The vocals from Sylvie Smith and John O' Regan along with the pulsating sound of the keyboards create an easy going and catchy tunes that you can't ignore. I just wish I knew where to get their ep which I heard had a nice hand made sleeve. But for now, I'm stuck with their songs on myspace.

Next Year - Habitat

Concrete Love - Habitat


Links:

Myspace

An interesting Habitat bootleg from Bootlog


-Charlie

2007 Here we go.

foto by: Charlie


With 2006 out of the way, Camera Crowd's excited and ready to see what's instore in '07. 2006 was filled with great albums, more than our blog can handle which is why we had to shorten our best of 2006 list. Forget resolutions, nobody keeps them anyway, it's about going forward without looking back and allowing everything to unfold right before you.

So put on your headphones, press play, and let time fly by.

Happy New Year - Camera Obscura

Day One - Explosions in the Sky

Wait and See - Donovan Woods



-love,Team Camera Crowd
(Anne and Charlie