The Fumbata Tumblr blog

I done gots me a tumblr blog. Given that Tumblr is a much easier way to do the same thing I'm doing here, it may eventually replace this blog. Stay tuned...

E-Rockit human-hybrid electric motorcycle

The video is in German, but you'll get the point. The E-Rockit is an innovative new kind of electric bicycle/motorcycle. You ride it exactly like a bicycle, but an electric assist motor amplifies your pedaling, allowing you to accelerate like a motorcycle and reach speeds up to 50mph. In essence - it turns you into superman on a bike. God, I want one.

Electric car kicks ass

John Wayland's electric 1972 Datsun 1200 shows that the environmentally responsible choice can be better, faster, and a whole lot of fun!

“I don’t think you should tell people that they’re bad, but I do think you should show people there’s a better way.”

Unstoppable

Awesome.

The question posed at www.freshcreation.com is: who is the most important person in this video - the first person dancing by himself, or the first person to join in?

Reco: Fat Freddy's Drop, Muse, Grizzly Bear, Seeed, The Decemberists

I've had a few albums on constant rotation for the last few months. The lyrics get stuck in my head, I wake up humming the tunes, and I have to listen to it, which starts the whole process over again. There's a lot of damn good music and lovely production here:



Fat Freddy's Drop is a band from New Zealand that plays Dub/Soul/Reggae/Dance music. Their latest album, Dr. Boondigga and the Big BW, is pure genius. My favorite line from their website: "released after two years of beat reduction and sonic fine tuning."

Unless you've been under a rock for the last year, you've probably heard of Muse. I like to think of them as Queen crossed with Radiohead crossed with Debussy. Pretty impressive for a three-piece. Their latest album, The Resistance, is ambitious to say the least, but they somehow managed to pull it off beautifully. There's a soft spot in my heart for the massive three-part exogenesis symphony at the end. I've heard they even play it live, and I hope like hell they will play it when I see them in Arnhem this summer. The video above is from their previous album, but I had to include it here for sheer awesomeness.

Grizzly Bear is a four-piece from Brooklyn who make gorgeous, melodic, harmonic music - like a modern, indie version of the Beach Boys. They've been blogged to death already, so I'll just say: get a good pair of headphones and listen to the killer production on Veckatimist.

I told you about Peter Fox in a previous post. This is his former dub/reggae band from Berlin, Seeed.

And finally, we have the latest concept album from The Decemberists, The Hazards of Love. This epic album weaves a wonderful story with eloquent storytelling and understated playing. This album is worth a listen if only for the awesome B3 organ. And, they also have an animated DVD version. 

Mmmm, lovely stuff. Must go have a listen now....

Sustainable living

Swedish designer Olof Kolte talks about the incredibly un-sustainable way we are living today, and offers a very simple, common sense way to reverse the trend. He does a very good job of getting to the very core of global sustainability issues. From a TEDx conference.

Dave Barry's year in review: 2009

The Miami Herald published Dave Barry's always excellent, always funny year in review today:

The big health story in April is the rapid spread of swine flu, a dangerous new virus strain developed by the makers of Purell. Public anxiety over the flu increases when Vice President Joe Biden, demonstrating his gift for emitting statements, declares on the Today show that he would not recommend traveling by commercial airplane or subway. A short while later, White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs assures reporters that he is "not aware of any 'Vice President Joe Biden.'"

Read the full story here.

Christmas mix tapes!

Almost every year during the holidays, I make a mixtape to send out to my friends. I've always thought that the gift of new music was just about the best thing you could get, and this is just my way of sharing the wealth. My friends are increasingly spread out all over the world, but I still like to keep the tradition alive. So this year, I made an MP3 mix (which turned into two mixes, because my tastes are too diverse to make one coherent mix!), and sent them out digitally. Here's the playlists:

Rewind, it's 2009

01. Amores Bongo : The Herbalizer

02. Hip Hop : N.A.S.A

03. Joyride : Giovanca

04. Champion (Remix) :  Brother Ali

05. Requiem For a Neo-Con : General Elektriks

06. Warrior's Dance : The Prodigy

07. I Like It, I Love It (Fumbata mix) : Fumbata feat. Lyrics Born

08. Dirt off your Android : Jaydiohead

09. You're Not All That : The Herbaliser feat. Jessica Darling

10. Small Axe : The Wailers

11. Haus Am See : Peter Fox

12. You Can Do It : Giovanca

13. City Livin' : G. Love & Special Sauce

Relax, it's 2009

01. United States of Eurasia/Collateral Damage : Muse

02. Teardrop : Jose Gonzalez

03. Isn't It a Lovely Night? : The Decemberists

04. The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned) : The Decemberists

05. Ley De Gravedad : Ojos De Brujo

06. Deep Water : Portishead

07. The Lowest Lows : Fumbata

08. Paper Bag : Goldfrapp

09. Exogenesis: Symphony Part 3 (Redemption) : Muse

10: Out of This World (Version 138) : The Art of Noise

Send me an email if you like the mix!

Reco: Peter Fox

Peter Fox is my new fave. His orchestrial take on hip hop production just blows my mind. Add in a drumline in monkey masks and I'm hooked.







And lest you think this blog is becoming too multi-cultural, I promise to feature an english-speaking artist on my next reco. Maybe.

Need music for your next movie or YouTube video?

If you are looking for free, legal music for your next video production or YouTube movie, look no further than www.fumbata.com.

As an independent producer, I am always looking for ways to spread the word, and I'd love to hear my music synched your next video. The music on www.fumbata.com is naturally cinematic. There are many different styles, tempos, and moods to choose from. And the best part? It's all completely free. Just download the MP3s and use them. All tracks are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, so as long as you aren't making commercial work, you are completely free to use the music however you want.

The same goes to you commercial producers, excepting the "free" part. But don't feel left out! You are also more than welcome to use these tracks for commercial works: my licensing fees are very reasonable, and clearances are simple and immediate. I'm even available for contract work.

Happy filming!

Food, Inc.

Food, Inc. is a beautifully made, though-provoking movie about the food production industry.

This is no Micheal-Moore schlock-fest. It's a highly polished review of some of the atrocities committed by the people that make our food. And by the "people who make our food", I'm not talking about the hard-working farmers, low-wage workers and illegal immigrants that actually make our food, but the four to six powerful corporations that have those workers, our government, and us securely under their thumbs.

It's definitely an important movie, one that every American should see. And don't worry: it's not all doom-and-gloom. Although it presents us with (yet another) shocking and disheartening issue to worry about, it also shows us the solution.

Simply by choosing organic, natural foods more often, we can send a clear message to the food industry, and eat healthier, yummier food in the process! What's to lose? The only downside I can see is that organic food usually costs more. But consider this: for every 25 cents that you pay extra now, you're probably saving yourself thousands on future healthcare and prescription drugs to combat the damage that you are doing to your body by eating non-organic food!

Reco: Cornelius

Cornelius is a Japanese guitarist/producer that makes beautiful music. He uses clean, minimal sounds and has a glorious way of looking at music. Many of his songs feature delayed bleeps and percussive sounds, with layered vocal harmonies that build up almost mathematically.

His first album is a psychedelic romp that sounds like the Beach Boys experimenting with a sampler, and his albums become progressively more subtle and melodic after that. This video is Cornelius at his best, from his latest album, Sensuous.

Reco: Giovanca

Giovanca Ostiana is a soul singer from Amsterdam. She's enjoyed mild success here in the Netherlands, but this will probably be a nice surprise for you non-Dutchies. Her music is an uplifting, jazzy take on that new-soul-that-sounds-like-old-soul thing.

We saw her perform last year at the Amsterdam Roots festival, and she was every bit as warm and lovely live as she is on the album. Great band, too. Her second single, "Joyride", is the one that's been stuck in my head all day, but I also love her first single, "On My Way". The very nice video is by local Amsterdam photographer Yamandu. I like his style, and I swear I'm gonna hire him first opportunity I get.

ADE NEXT

A few weeks back, I attended the Amsterdam Dance Event NEXT conference. The Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) is the world's premier dance music conference, a 4 day conference and performance festival that attracts all the biggest names in the dance scene. ADE NEXT is their platform for new talent, and takes place on the last day of the conference.

I attended a few workshops to learn more about the ins and outs of the music biz, and had 2 one-on-one review sessions with A&R reps. They both gave me good reviews, and confirmed what I already knew: that the most suitable commercial application for my music is synching to film and TV, and not really suitable for mainstream dance floors/DJs.

The best part of the day was ironically the part I was most nervous about: the Demolition Room. At the end of the day, a panel of 5 industry heavyweights (Moderator: Dave Clarke (GB) With: Hidde Pluymert (Melkweg, NL), Stacey Pullen (US), Jonty Skrufff (Skrufff Media & Skrufff.com, DE) and Tommie Sunshine (Brooklyn Fire, US), pictured above) auditioned demo CDs that the attending producers submitted earlier in the day. Their favorite track would win a prize package including studio time and a bad-ass custom bike.

They had pre-selected about 12 demos. As they cued up the first one, Dave Clarke asked if the producer was in the crowd of about 200 people. No one answered, and as he proceeded to critique the track, Clarke sneered, "you'll probably be here if we decide we like it". Now I was really nervous. Lo and behold, my CD was next up! I cautiously identified myself and answered a few questions, and they played the track "Ghost". I thought it sounded like shit over that sound system - too much high end - but to my surprise the entire panel liked it and gave it high reviews!

After going through the rest of the other CDs, 2-3 of which I would have voted for over my own, they announced the 4 finalists, and I was one of them! I'll be honest, I didn't go there expecting or even wanting to win anything, but now that bike was looking awfully nice. They gave each of the finalists another listen, and mine got another round of favorable head nods, but in the end they chose one of the other tracks, all of which were quite deserving.

I left with some new contacts and a good feeling in my heart. I have a better idea of where I fit into the music world, and the whole experience re-confirmed that I'm exactly where I want to be. See you at ADE NEXT year.

Fumbata.com is green!

I just found out that www.Fumbata.com is 100% powered by wind power. How cool.

The Fun Theory

We'd all like to make choices that are good for the environment, our health, or our communities, but we're lazy bastards. The good news is that people are willing to do the right thing, as long as it is fun, too. The Fun Theory did a few social experiments to prove the point, and their results were more than conclusive. I posted one here, but you can check them all out at their website.

The Heist Series

Brian Gossett makes excellent mix tapes. He's made a whole series of them, called the Heist Series. Each is a soundtrack to a different fictional film, and conjures the feeling of the titular cities. The music's great, the cover art is top-notch, and you can download it all at his blog.

Blue Hawaii

Abigail Prentice: Mr Gates, are you sure you can handle a teacher and 4 teenage girls?
Chad Gates (Elvis): I'll sure try... 

The best bike I've ever owned

...is also the crappiest bike I've ever owned. It has backpedal brakes. It has two gears, which you change by backpedalling, which means that it changes gears every time you brake. All the chrome bits are rusted. It squeaks when you pedal, and clicks when you don't. It is too tall for me. It has a big, very non-aerodynamic crate strapped to the front for the dog to ride in. It used to have mudflaps, but they fell off. The entire bike is worth less than the two locks I use to lock it up at night.

I absolutely love it.

Untitled Sound Objects by Swiss artists Zimoun and Pe Lang

Untitled Sound Objects (Installations 2005-2008) by Zimoun + Pe Lang from ZIMOUN VIDEO ARCHIVE on Vimeo.


Untitled Sound Objects, Zimoun and Pe Lang, 2008