This groundbreaking Canadian animated short can now be seen in its entirety at the CBC website. Its been raking up awards and leaving people stunned since the film began its festival run last year.

Dark. Thrilling. Eerie. Beautiful.

I came out of the theatre in awe. I said to my friend, “Those eyes, I can’t believe those eyes!”

9mm Parabellum Bullet, Ogre You Asshole, Nhhmbase, Toddle – Japan’s indie rock resurgence continues with the likes of Far France, a quartet of twenty year olds from Tokyo who possess a level of talent far beyond their age.

I was one of those people that broke down upon hearing the news of Number Girl disbanding. And despite some of the great bands that have arisen out of Number Girl’s ashes – Zazen Boys, Vola and The Oriental Machine, Toddle, Sloth Love Chunks – there exists a void that has yet to be filled.

Enter Far France.

Well not quite. But Mukai and company did seem to have a left an impressionable mark on these talented young musicians.

The Japanese rock music cognoscenti have yet to take notice of Far France, which is expected, their debut mini album was only released last week. Don’t be surprised though when you see Far France on a bunch of “best of 2008” lists.

We’re big fans of multimedia artist Takagi Masakatsu here at Red Ruin. He recently performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. as part of the Japan! Culture + Hyperculture festival. For those of us who couldn’t make it, the entire performance can be seen online here.

And for those of you in D.C. *wink* I sure hope you went out to see this.

This aptly titled song is a wondrous power ballad by Toronto based rock band, Ivory Tree Observatory. Such is the song’s power to capture the mind, I find myself overwhelmed with the sense of flight within the first few notes. As these delightful melodies continue, I imagine myself gazing downwards at vast majestic landscapes, where miniature people are waving at me. One of them is pointing and frantically jumping up and down. It appears to be some kind of warning.

Sure enough, the song takes a violent shift in mood and a torrent of chaos interrupts my flight. As the guitars thrash their way through a metal riff, I am now whirling around in a thunderstorm, desperately clinging onto my hot air balloon. Lucky for me, the unexpected storm is very brief, the sky clears, the guitars calm down and the song returns to its whimsical melodies. I loosen my grip, turn off the burner, and peer over the wicker basket. The miniature people have grown in size. A few of them begin to chase me as I begin to make my final descent. At that moment, the vocalist finishes the final note of the chorus and the song’s satisfying conclusion carries me to a safe landing.

Balloon Ride is one of the five songs from the band’s free demo which can be downloaded via their Myspace. Ivory Tree Observatory can be seen playing at Clinton’s Tavern (Toronto) this Thursday Feb. 7, 2008.

I remember coming home one night from a tough day at work, exhausted, hungry and wet from the rain. Murphy’s law seemed adamant in proving itself to me. “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong,” the law states. And so when I arrived at my doorstep and reached for my keys, I realized that I had left them at my workplace. Nine times out of ten, this would not be a problem, as someone would always be home to let me in. But of course that was not the case on this particular night.

I had no choice but to sit in the cold and wait for someone to return. As the rain clouds continued to mock me with their spitting, I took out my iPod to sooth my pain with music. That’s when I heard the song “Where’s My Love” for the first time.

Upon hearing the song, I was instantly struck with an euphoric sense of weightlessness. My mood went from seething-and-ready-to-explode to calm as a feather. Just moments earlier, I was cursing the rain. After the song, I couldn’t help but remark how incredibly beautiful the raindrops looked as they splashed down onto the wet pavement ahead of me. I began to think that my luck wasn’t so bad, to have been able to experience this kind of transformation, to see absolute beauty in an otherwise gloomy setting, is something I’ll always be thankful for.

The person who wrote that song is Caroline Lufkin. I should say thanks. Thanks Caroline for taking time out of your busy life to do this interview. And Thanks Caroline for sharing your beautiful music with the rest of the world.

You recently finished the European leg of the Mice Parade tour, how did it go?

Mice Parade tour was punk rock….at least for me…traveling with 9 party animals!! haha. Really now…every show with Mice Parade was so special to me! Goodness, sometimes I’ll get so caught up in watching the rest of the band play that I’ll forget to come in with vocals!

Can you tell us about how you came to be involved with Mice Parade and whether or not we can expect you on some of Adam’s future recordings?

Adam was on a mission to find a new vocalist and a friend introduced my music to him. Next thing you know, I was flying to New York for rehearsal, preparing for tour! I think I’m an official member of Mice Parade! Big smile here! In other words, there’s a good chance I’ll be on the next record!

Many electronic musicians like to incorporate projections and other visuals into their live shows. I saw a Youtube clip where you used a smoke machine once. Do you have any intentions of adding more visual elements to your show?

Oh no! The smoke machine was hilarious! That piece of device was not my choosing! I recall having a hard time breathing on stage…then, laughing at its loud entrance. It sounded like a car engine struggling to get going!

Adding visuals has always been my intention! I’ve been gathering clips for a long time! Finally, I’ve found the perfect software program! And finally, bought a computer that can handle visuals!

In that same performance, you managed to force your live partner JJ to sing along to “Where’s My Love” which was hilarious!

I was sick, -fever and all. And at that point, I thought I was going to completely lose my voice. So I looked around and found my solution – JJ.

The crowd loved it. When can we expect you to take to the stage again? Any mini or not-so-mini tours in the pipeline?

My 3rd tour with Mice Parade in January. Australia! As for solo performances, nothing planned. Hoping to at least set-up some local shows! Hoping to tour with my new songs sooooooon!

Before going to music school, had you any idea of the type of musician that you wanted to be? Did learning about the craft change or alter that course?

Before music college, I decided I wanted to study composition. Perhaps, secretly, I prayed that my voice would miraculously become ok enough to do a little singin =) planned nothing further!

Being exposed to a whole world of music styles, instruments, musicians, electronic toys etc., allowed me to play with this and that. Eventually, I found myself gravitating to certain elements… which is what you hear now.

Do you find it surprising then, that so many reviews, be they positive or negative, see your voice as being a special highlight in your songs? I’ve read references to angels (apparently they sound a lot like you, and you tend to make them weep) an innumerable amount of times while reading about Murmurs. I agree with them wholeheartedly, to think that at one point you thought your voice wasn’t okay enough…

Surprising reviewers tend to focus on vocals. I read reviews for entertainment, for a good laugh. Reviews are hilarious. Music is not for judging…or rating how good or bad, technically. At some point, I realized it’s really just an expression. Recently, I heard the most out-of-tune singer/songwriter! But, she meant every note. I understood it, loved it. …when sometimes prodigies don’t get to me. Of course, I feel happy when someone likes my voice. But I could care less if someone dislikes it. It’s not the point. If you don’t like song, then it wasn’t meant for you. Know what I mean?

(Absolutely)

It’s been two years since the release of “Where’s My Love” on Temporary Residence, how has the ride been so far? Everything you expected?

Sincerely, this has been more than I expected. How lucky am I to have a nice cozy home with Temporary Residence? I get tons of love from my label and this has led to wonderful times, with wonderful people.

Do you find that you have to be inspired in order to compose music? Do you tend to draw your inspiration from sources outside of music?

Music has always come from the NEED to write… as an outlet. Maybe the answer is yes. All my music comes from outside sources.

You mentioned on your Blog that you’ll be coming out with remixes soon. Are they remixes of your songs by other artists?

Yes! Friends of mine!

(The Murmurs Remix album will be available January 8, 2008 on iTunes.)

Speaking of which, how you liking the Lullatone remix of Bicycle?

Magical- in typical Lullatone-fashion! Shawn (of Lullatone) remixed this on a plane ride from Tokyo to the U.S.!

Did you get to see them while they were on their North American tour? I’m quite convinced that Shawn and Yoshimi are the cutest things to have ever graced this soil. 99% convinced.

I didn’t get to see them! I remember being bummed they weren’t stopping in LA, and being so close (making their first stop SF).

Oh man, are they cute! Me = 150% convinced. Maybe you haven’t seen their cute music videos? =)

(As one wise man once said about Lullatone, “Music so cute it’ll make you puke cotton candy.”)

Since we try to expose our readers here at RedRuin to foreign art, do you have any favorite non-American artists that you could share with us?

Oh yes indeed! Off the top of my head…check these out:

Yoko Furusho
K-Maki
Oculart
Yoshitomo Nara

This stuff is fantastic. I’m especially liking the digital surrealism from the Oculart page. Any foreign musicians off the top of your head you can introduce us to?

Foreign music? Japanese? My sister is pretty insane! Every now and then, her personality comes through, despite her struggles with major label people. –

Olivia Lufkin
Ryuichi Sakamoto
DJ Krush
Envy
World’s end girlfriend

How is the second album coming along? Will you be working with Andreas Bjorck again?

Second album is shaping up! So far, it’s been just me writing and arranging. As for other programmers and producers…I may or may not include them. At this point, I’m keeping all these little ones (songs) under my wings until I feel they need something else.

Lastly, do you have any words for your fans?

Of course. It makes me happy to share my music with you. Thanks for allowing me to do so. Love to all!

Circuit bending is the art of short-circuiting children’s toys or other electronic low-voltage devices for the purpose of generating new sounds, which can then in turn be used in composing music. There is a strong element of randomness and experimentation with this process in that the resulting sounds created by the toys are largely unknown.

Modified Toy Orchestra, lead by sound artist Brian Duffy, creates music in this vein. Their philosophy centers around the idea of, “finding the surplus value in the seemingly redundant.” Toygopop, their debut album, was five years in the making. – It took two years to make the instruments and learn how to play them and an additional three years to compose the songs.

What’s surprising about Toygopop is its accessibility. In my observations, musicians with the mind to experiment to these sorts of lengths usually end up making music that falls under the category of noise. And unless you like to ask yourself questions like, “What is music really?” you’re likely to be put off. But Toygopop, as indicated by its name, is essentially an electronic pop album. An extraordinary electronic pop album.

The combination of playful melodies and the slight familiarity of the distorted sounds used to produce them is an aesthetic which is thoroughly unique and a joy to listen to. I wanted to showcase the song A Grand Occasion, but I couldn’t resist putting this concert video up. It is too cute and funny to pass up on. Here you get to see the toy conductors play their instruments to the backdrop of a short love story involving two stuffed animals.

China isn’t exactly well known around the world when it comes to turntablism. In fact they’re not even on the radar, which makes it all the more surprising for a world-class talent like DJ Wordy to emerge out of Beijing. A former guitarist, Wang Liang taught himself how to scratch by watching a pirated VCD of the 2000 DMC championship over and over again. Despite having only enough money to purchase one mixer, one turntable, and one record, DJ Wordy honed his skills over a period of six months to the point where he was able to perform in clubs. The internet played a huge part in his music education, it broaden his musical taste and allowed him to purchase vinyl which was nearly impossible to find in local music stores. His efforts paid off, Wordy claimed the top prize three years in a row at the China DMC Championships (2005-07). He is now regarded as a pioneering musician in China, and an educator to the rest of China about the art of scratch.

The VJs over at HaoBuHao created this extremely slick video of DJ Wordy’s 2007 DMC routine. Wordy is also offering his Pocket Dance Mix CD for free here.

Canadian filmmaker Bruce Mcdonald is doing something unprecedented with his newest film. – He’s letting the public edit it.

Tracey Fragments, which stars Canada’s finest actress Ellen Page, is a borderline avant-garde art film with a highly stylized multi-screen aesthetic. In a recent interview on The Hour, Bruce spoke about how films fall into two categories: those that you should make and those that you shouldn’t. Tracey Fragments is definitely from the latter category. Take a look at the trailer to get a glimpse of the film’s visual insanity.

With so many perspectives and angles on the screen at once, the viewing process become much more involved. As a result of not being able to take in all the perspectives, viewers have to “edit” the film themselves by choosing which screens to watch, and when to watch them. This kind of thing happens on other “normal” films as well, but never to this extent.

But this is not Bruce’s novel idea. His idea is to let the audience literally edit the film. The project is called Tracey Re-fragmented. Through the use of a Creative Commons Licence (brainchild of the brilliant Lawrence Lessig), Bruce has made all the the footage he shot for the film available to the public and is letting them make their own cut. The score for the film, which was written by Broken Social Scene, and the dialogue script, is also available on the official website via Creative Commons. A contest will be held for the best cut. If you don’t have the energy to recut an entire film, you can submit a music video, a trailer, or a short. The winner of the contest will get a prize pack which includes Final Cut Studio 2 and they will have their movie/music video/trailer placed on The Tracey Fragments DVD.

Trent Reznor did a similar thing when he released the Garageband source files for his album With Teeth in 2005 and the subsequent Year Zero. But as far as I know, nobody has dared to try the idea with a feature film.

Bruce’s cut of the film plays in theatres on Nov. 2nd, 2007.