I came across a pretty badass video on vimeo called Nature By Numbers. It’s gorgeous animation was done by Etérea Studios, a graphic and animation studio run by graphic designer and 3D artist Cristóbal Vila. Etérea focuses on CGI services for clients. Nature By Numbers is described as “a short movie inspired on numbers, geometry, and nature.”

Nature by Numbers from Cristóbal Vila on Vimeo.

After viewing Nature By Numbers, I went to Etérea’s official site and watched some of Cristóbal Vila’s other videos. Vila’s work is breathtaking. I’ve included two other videos of his called Isfahan, which is inspired by Persian architecture, as well as Snakes, described as “an animated 3D short based on a woodcut by M. C. Escher.” Both are stunning examples of CGI as an art form. Kudos to Cristóbal Vila for his imagination and technique in creating these videos.

Isfahan from Cristóbal Vila on Vimeo.

Snakes from Cristóbal Vila on Vimeo.

“8 people with 5 instruments from 4 Continents speaking 3 languages for 1 song.” – Cain Masni

That is the simple way to describe Jam Session 2.0.  More difficult than getting everyone on board and doing it? Actually creating a great song that you want to listen to and not have it be just something cool that a few musicians threw together for fun. I can listen to this song and not know that it didn’t come from an album and was completely created online using the everyday communication tools that we all use.

The brainchild of Brian at Cain Mosni, he had this to say about the virtual jam session:

We put together a virtual “jam session” with musicians from all over the world! Music was inspired by Galt MacDermot’s amazing “Coffee Cold”. Handsome Boy Modeling School (Prince Paul and Dan the Automator) flipped that song with J-Live and Roisin Murphy from Moloko and called it “The Truth”.

Now that you know what went into this, check out the video or you can listen to the song below. I’ve also included the lyrics as well as the links for everyone who participated in this musical collaboration. If you want to download the track for free, click here to visit Dumbfoundead.com and choose which quality or file type you prefer.

Jam Session 2.0 from Cain Mosni on Vimeo.

Listen to Jam Session 2.0

Lyrics

Dumbfoundead

A kid at the pawn shop just bought his first drum machine,
From the slums, but them buttons will take him to another kingdom
A woman humming in a kitchen in brazil, while 50 tenants listen by
sticking their heads outside the window sill, this shit is real, hear
the sounds across the land, no name brands, woman and man jam on pots
and pans, a musician with lost dreams, sitting on concrete, playing
his heart out on missing guitar strings, street performers for a
quarter put on the show of there life, an emcee gets put on the spot
rocks it and tears up the mic, the human instrument, reaching
continents in long distances, no need for sophisticated systems for us
to listen in, countries at war, expressing hate through there
aggression. while two musicians on each side are having a jam session,
whether both em know it or not, they are collaborating. You never know
which way your music is navigating,

Esna

Sing your heart out let your soul be heard
Move to the rhythm to the groove of the drum beats
Chill to the lines disappear to the moment
Fly away persuade all the madness
Just bounce just sway just listen

Herbal T

La música es un sonido supersónico
y es por eso que no creo lo que leo en el periódico
presenta un mundo dividido y tóxico
pero ahora por los cables fiberópticos
yo me comunico, así el mundo se pone chico
si no me entiendes yo te lo explico
whether you in the Bronx and you like to spit bars and rock clubs
or Mumbai playin sitars and tablas
the music is a way we escape, heal and grow
and you aint gotta speak the language if you wanna feel the flow
olha só rapaz, a gente vai a gente vem
mas o ritmo é coisa todo mundo sempre tem
tudo bem, faço música com colaboradores globais
utilizando piano voces tambores e mais
es un laso que nos une hasta el infinito
the rhythms in us it travels wherever we go

Esna

Just let the music take you let your mind take you
Way to find a way to need a way to a brighter day
Don’t let it stop in you don’t let it die in you
Breath just breath
Just fly away persuade all the madness
Just bounce just sway just listen

Dumbfoundead

Across the seas I hear piano keys playin, translating languages
through the rhythms in beats bangin, a universal exchange, of personal
pains and joys, it started with a verse, each person just came and
joined in, some are complete strangers, some only teenagers, all of us
creators, , we are the dreammakers, internationally transmittin
through bandwidth, passin this bands passion so the masses can jam
with us, all are invited to play, none are required to pay, let the
virus spread, inspire heads, go pirate away, this is that free music,
for people who need music, just listen and breathe to it, I hope that
you feel movement, different souls around globe, connected through
sound makin, they set the foundation now we take it to groundbreakin,
everybody played there part and now we have one song, and this is how
an unheard voice becomes strong

Esna

Sing your heart out let your soul be heard
Move to the rhythm to the groove of the drum beats
Chill to the lines disappear to the moment
Fly away persuade all the madness
Just bounce just sway just listen

Collaborating together virtually to create one song, the following people made this possible:

Emcee: Dumbfoundead
www.youtube.com/dumbfoundead
www.twitter.com/dumbfoundead

Singer: Esna Yoon
www.youtube.com/esnathesinger

Emcee: Herbal T (Portugese/Spanish/English)
www.youtube.com/waxandherbalt
www.twitter.com/herbaltisgreat

MPC (Drum Machine): CAV3
www.myspace.com/CAV3MUSIC
www.twitter.com/CAV3
“GHOST PHUNK” at CAV3.bandcamp.com

Guitar: Tio
www.myspace.com/tioproductions
www.twitter.com/tiomusic

Scratches: DJ Zo
www.twitter.com/zomanno
www.myspace.com/zomanno

Piano: Lukas (YoungPianoTV)
www.youtube.com/YoungPianoTV
www.twitter.com/ThisIzLukas

Bass: Chris Hong
www.myspace.com/hangukhellking

Mixed Down by: Tio

Original image courtesy of somewhereinak via Flickr

If you love mashups as much as I do, then bask in the goodness of United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It on the Pop). With 25 songs clocking in a 4 minutes and 37 seconds, this mashup is another stunning example of how talented DJ Earworm is. I’ve included the track to listen to, the official mashup video, as well as the link to download the song. Here’s a nice farewell to 2009 and I’m looking forward to what DJ Earworm has in store for us in 2010!

Listen: United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It on the Pop)

Watch: Video Mashup of United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It on the Pop)

Click here if you can’t see the video above.

Download: United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It on the Pop)

(Right click the link above and choose “Save Link As”)

Track listing of songs featured:

The Black Eyed Peas – BOOM BOOM POW
Lady Gaga – POKER FACE
Lady Gaga Featuring Colby O’Donis – JUST DANCE
The Black Eyed Peas – I GOTTA FEELING
Taylor Swift – LOVE STORY
Flo Rida – RIGHT ROUND
Jason Mraz – I’M YOURS
Beyonce – SINGLE LADIES (PUT A RING ON IT)
Kanye West – HEARTLESS
The All-American Rejects – GIVES YOU HELL
Taylor Swift – YOU BELONG WITH ME
T.I. Featuring Justin Timberlake – DEAD AND GONE
The Fray – YOU FOUND ME
Kings Of Leon – USE SOMEBODY
Keri Hilson Featuring Kanye West & Ne-Yo – KNOCK YOU DOWN
Jamie Foxx Featuring T-Pain – BLAME IT
Pitbull – I KNOW YOU WANT ME (CALLE OCHO)
T.I. Featuring Rihanna – LIVE YOUR LIFE
Soulja Boy Tell ‘em Featuring Sammie – KISS ME THRU THE PHONE
Jay Sean Featuring Lil Wayne – DOWN
Miley Cyrus – THE CLIMB
Drake – BEST I EVER HAD
Kelly Clarkson – MY LIFE WOULD SUCK WITHOUT YOU
Beyonce – HALO
Katy Perry – HOT N COLD

I absolutely LOVE the animated music video for the song Hey by the alternative Israeli band Eatliz. The 3D video is described as a “Sci-Fi Fantasy journey of a little girl with a special pet friend, a huge toad. Once the girl loses her pet, which drifts in the sky in a form of a balloon, she is going through different adventurous scenarios by chasing it.”

Not only should the video be considered art, you should definitely check out this band. Be sure to visit the official website and if you register for their mailing list, you get freebies. How nice is that?!

Now watch the video and fall in love with gorgeous animation and Eatliz.

Eatliz – Hey animation music video from Eatliz on Vimeo.

If you would like to see more of these videos, subscribe to the azrienoch YouTube channel or check out his website.

The lyrics are below.

Click here if you can’t see the video.

Minimalism by Jeff Smith-Luedke aka azrienoch

I looked at a picture painted white with a dot
White, with that black dot and I thought
Why bother painting that black dot in the middle
With the white all around it, makes it so little
Just a little black dot all surrounded by white
And I look at this painting and think that I might
Punch a hole through that painting with the fist of my hand
And show that white painting that I was a man
And it looked like it was made by a child
Who was given a paintbrush and told to go wild
But the child was retarded, only managed to poke
The canvass with the brush with the black with a stroke.

And I was going to do it when the artist walked by
Looked at my fist, the painting, asked why
I would want to destroy the black dot made of paint
Saying, “It’s so essential, an essentially quaint
Expression of essential potential in all
Of the people who have a potentially small
Dot of their own painted on their soul;
You see, in the white, there was a small hole
So I covered the hole with paint that was black.”
And then he turned away while I turned back.

I stared, stared, stared til the janitor came ‘long
He saw me, stopped mopping, stopped whistling a song
Stopped to ask me, “Hey sonny, been here long, you okay?”
“This is rubbish, this painting, just rubbish, I say!
I talked to the artist. Didn’t help in the least.
So I stared for a while but my anger increased.
This isn’t art, this white paint and black dot
Oh, it’s a picture of a dot, but art, it is not.”
The janitor nodded his head up and down
And cleared his throat and uttered a sound
That was like an agreement, but more like a laugh
And said, “Sonny, you’ve looked at this more than I have
But whenever I look, I don’t see the white
And with that he leaned over and turned off the light.

And with the light off, the dot grew and grew
Til it covered the canvass and he said, “Who knew
That in the dark every painting looks exactly the same,
Same portrait, same landscape, same romance, same shame,
Could be reddish or yellowed or purpley or blue
Or anything, ’cause, sonny, that’s what the dot turns into.”
He went off and he mopped and he whistled his tune
And I left and walked out and looked up at the moon
Which looked vaguely and oddly familiar that night,
So familiar—a black canvass with a dot that is white.

Thoughts? Leave your comment below!

Here are some video examples of gorgeous sand painting. Some are very moving and inspirational.

Description:

An evolving painting created by four artists working simultaneously on the same digital canvas. The painting process was unplanned and free form. The artists took cues from each others actions and interpretation of various shapes/colors. Communication was made possible by text chat. The total elapsed time was 4 hours.

The music in the video is Beethoven’s Piano Sonata, Opus 53 No. 21 (Waldstein) – Movement 1

Click here if you can’t see the video.

For now, enjoy this great song, because there is a reason that this YouTube video has over 22 million views. Watch it to see for yourself.

Click here if you can’t see the video above.

Tagline: A strange man builds a world using holographic tools for the woman he loves.

World Builder from BranitVFX on Vimeo.

“But you’re just a bro, so you do not understand why when you do not take a shower, you only get a job from a hand…”