Saturday, February 28, 2009

Remember Once Upon A Time





It's been a long time since my band, Crux, released music.
A lot of reasons for this.
I (aka NuSol) moved away to go to grad school in Richmond, VA.
Trey (aka spa3) moved to Austin, TX.
Rick (aka Rick Luv) is in his last semester of architecture school out in Lawrence, KS.
Geography alone would be reason enough.

And it is a shame.
But too our fans, both old and new, a good chunk of the wait is over.


Crux's very own spa3 released his solo album, My Life Right Now.
It is a great bridge of where we've been and where we are going.

Download here.

You will not be disappointed.

Crux is back. And spa3 is running point.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

athoughtaboutart

What have I learned in the two years here at Sadcenter
(playful slang we sometimes use for Brandcenter)?
I've learned my view about art.
2 years ago, I wouldn't have cared.
I liked art.
I looked at art.
But I didn't have an opinion.
I didn't understand it at all.
(Not saying I do now, just saying I'm trying to).
I just liked aesthetically pleasing things.
Everybody does.
But that doesn't make art good.
I spent a couple hours thinking about art yesterday at a coffee shop.
And this is what I came up with.

Art must say something.
It must.
Or else it's just non-sensical drivel.
Music must sing.
Film must tell and explore.
Books must inform and inspire.
And art must observe.
It must comment.
'Cause w/o an opinion
Art is just drivel.
A clueless line on a desolate page.

And as I, myself, work my way through the drivel.
I found yesterday,
there in that coffee shop,
that one day I hope to make art.

Monday, February 23, 2009

A New Chapter

As many of you know,
I am co-founder and member of the record label Stratified Vibe.
And although my contributions have been slim,
(with grad school eating up most of my time)
We are still around.
We're still making moves.
And in fact, we're in the middle of a rebrand and reposition.
We've changed the label's philosophy.
Details of which will be released at a later date.
We've hired business manager, old friend and one of our biggest fans, Jaime Zazove.
And we have big plans for this year.

One of our plans/goals has already been accomplished.
We've been blessed with Stratified Vibe artist, Nick West,
Releasing his new EP, "Future's Mystery," this past January.
He's shown tremendous growth as an artist.
And I'll be darned if it doesn't show.


Give it a listen.
And PLEASE GO GET IT!
(available on iTunes)

Be on the look out of what's coming next.

Why another music post

The answer is quite simple.
I miss my former life.
I miss late nights in the studio with the crew.
I miss the lettin' loose on the mic.
I miss the rush of hearing what pushing the line sounded like.
I miss it.
So, whenever I hear or see something that reminds me
Of my former "rock star" days, I can't help myself.
Call it nostalgia.
I call it love.

Enjoy Tony Williams' newest video.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Gotta Love Freshness

Okay.
Say that Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel had a love child.
And say that the Collins/Gabriel offspring fancied Prince.
Say that they started dating. You know, dinner and a movie. The whole bit.
Now say that the Collins/Gabriel child and Prince got married.
And after living the happy life together touring the world,
that Collins/Gabriel and Prince had a baby.
Now say that the Collins/Gabriel/Prince child grew up
and decided to go into the family business.
Yeah, that's this guy, Francis and the Lights.
Enjoy.


A Modern Promise from Francis and the Lights on Vimeo.


The Top (Music Video) from Francis and the Lights on Vimeo.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Wow.

(Note: For the author's thoughts about this piece, please check the title above.)


KANYE WEST "Welcome To Heartbreak" Directed by Nabil from nabil elderkin on Vimeo.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

We've been Googled.

This week, we,
along with The Martin Agency,
were lucky enough to host Google Campus.
For those not familiar with Google Campus,
it is essentially the Google crew from
Google's year-old Google CreativeLab venture.
They feed ya.
They edu-ma-cate 'cha on Google apps
and how they can be used for brands.
They even idea jam with ya on current brands your working on.
Very cool, indeed.

One of the very cool products that they showed us is SketchUp.
It is a super-cool and super-intuitive.
It's perfect for everything from package design to drafting the Taj Mahal.

Download it for free by clicking the pic below.


I was also amazed by the amount of cool products
that Google has for free that no one knows about.

Check them out HERE.

Yeah, it's a shameless plug for Google.
But I can't help it.
They're just so damn cool.