For this week’s edition of Audio Visual we’re spotlighting the work of Maurici Mayol. The acclaimed photographer spent a few months in Barcelona and created a beautiful time-lapse capturing the city’s architecture, people, transit systems and more. Shot completely with a Canon 400D and a variety of lenses, Mayol’s work inspires you to visit Spain’s beloved city. We have the video and a few stills listed below.

Words: Taj Reid
Video: Maurici Mayol

LOYAMFOTO
TWITTER

JAPAN BY MIKE MATAS
PANAMA SPIRIT
FLIGHT OF THE FRENCHIES

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Mike Matas is a user interface designer and cofounder of Push Pop Press – the digital publishing company that worked with Al Gore to create the first full-length interactive book Our Choice. You might have seen his work profiled on sites like Cool Hunting. And late last year, he and his girlfriend traveled through Japan visiting Kyoto, Nara, Hakone and finally Tokyo. Along the way they snapped more than 4,000 photos and created an amazing stop motion video of the trip. Each moment is beautifully relayed in this entertaining and inspiring video. View below…

Words: Taj Reid
Photos: Mike Matas

MIKE MATAS
PUSH POP PRESS
ON VIMEO

PANAMA SPIRIT
FLIGHT OF THE FRENCHIES
TOKYO SLO MODE

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Our friend Nalden teamed up with the creative minds at Dough’Nut to shoot an incredible video of their trip to Panama. Commissioned by National Geographic, they were tasked with showing Panama’s vivid culture and one of its most interesting structures, the Panama Canal. They did an excellent job. The video captures the people, their spirit and the region in a way that compels you to visit. As Dough’Nut describes, “Panama is known for the Panama Canal, which allows the crossing between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. But this country has much more to offer than this intercontinental transport hub. It has an abundance of nature, culture and entertainment. And even though we were there for only 6 days, we were able to see a lot.” Click Read More to view this inspiring video.

Words: Taj Reid
Photography: Nalden & Dough’Nut

NALDEN
DOUGH’NUT
NATGEO

FLIGHT OF THE FRENCHIES
TOKYO SLO MODE
CHARLES BRADLEY

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Flight of the Frenchies is an incredible video documenting the brave explorations of a few individuals. Tancréde, Julien, Seb and Antoine are pioneering a new sport called Highlining which combines rock climbing, slacklining, tightrope walking and base jumping. Just imagine crossing a massive gorge in the south of France on a tight rope and then leaping off mid-way! If you can’t, this trailer beautifully documents their adventures and places you right in the mix. It feels like you’re jumping with them. The full film will be available for download on November 11, at 11am, but for now, take a look at this excellent trailer. Click Read More to view.

Words: Taj Reid
Photography: Sebastien Montaz-Rosset

SKYLINERS
VIMEO
SEB MONTAZ

TOKYO SLO MODE
CHARLES BRADLEY
CHICAGO GOING

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Tokyo’s rhythm is hypnotic. The city beats like a metronome. That’s why we love this video by Alex Lee. Armed with his Canon T3i he created a fantastic slow-motion ode to Japan. In the video he highlights everything from architecture and cityscapes, to everyday people and culture. Watch it once and you’ll feel like you visited. It has all the things that make Japan one of our favorite places. And, to top it off, Alex edited these visuals to the beautiful sounds of Flying Lotus and Thom Yorke. It doesn’t get better than that. Click Read More to view the video and a few stills.

Words: Taj Reid
Video: Alex Lee

ALEX LEE
VIMEO

CHICAGO GOING
MOVE EAT LEARN
INSIDE THE TIMES

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Chicago is kinetic. We love visiting. And if you want a quick overview of why you should check it out – view this brief tilt-shift time-lapse by the city’s local WGN television network. We know there are a lot of these videos floating around the net, but this one is really well done.

GIZMODO
PETAPIXEL
FLAVORWIRE

MOVE EAT LEARN
MELBOURNE PIRATE RADIO
BLACK JOE LEWIS

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With just three videos three guys persuasively capture what it means to live. In their words Move Eat Learn chronicles 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, two cameras and almost a terabyte of footage, turning three ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food into three beautiful and hopefully compelling short films. See below to view the videos and photos.

Credits:
Rick Mereki – Director, Producer & Additional Camera
Tim White – DOP & Producer, Primary Editing & Sound
Andrew Lees – Actor, Mover & Groover

VIMEO
VIA THE NOMAD LAB

MELBOURNE PIRATE RADIO
BLACK JOE LEWIS
COLD MAILMAN

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Great song. Great video. Director André Chocron and music group Cold Mailman team up to create a beautiful visual for their song Time is of the Essence. Set against Oslo’s skyline – they animate a group of soon-to-be demolished buildings with an EQ effect that illuminates the rhythmic pacing of the song’s contagious beat. Click Read More to view & listen.

COLD MAILMAN
YOUR MUSIC TODAY
COLOSSAL

INSIDE THE TIMES
NEVER SORRY
QUADRON

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Acclaimed artist Ai Weiwei, his assistants and wife were arrested last Sunday while attempting to board a flight to Hong Kong in Beijing. While his assistants and wife have been released, Ai Weiwei is sadly still missing. The Chinese police have not provided any indication of his whereabouts or why he is being detained.

Over the last 30 years Ai has been a powerful force in the art world and has also been an outspoken critic of the Chinese government. While many speculate that he’s received “leeway” for his criticism over the years due to his global popularity and family ties – his father is a famous Chinese poet – it appears that that time has come to an end. We sincerely hope that Ai Weiwei is safely released. Just before reading about the news of his detention, we came across a great Q&A with Alison Klayman, Director of the upcoming documentary film Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry. Check it out for more information about this influential artist.

NY TIMES
THE GUARDIAN
CURATED Q&A

HEAVEN OR LAS VEGAS
JR’S TED TALK
THE BORDER

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Philly Tech Week is a week-long celebration of technology and innovation in Philadelphia. The annual week of events is intended to grow the impact of this innovative region through programming focused on technology, collaboration and improving Philadelphia. The inaugural week takes place April 25th to April 30th and will feature events from partners like The Franklin Institute, Independents Hall and First Round Capital. Each Philly Tech Week event is independently organized. Get involved today.

Our office playlist has a few new sounds thanks to Quadron. The Danish duo’s latest EP, The Average Fruit Remixes draws on inspiration from their fans by asking them to help with production duties. As they describe it, “We’re so appreciative of our fans so we created this remix contest for Average Fruit to make them a part of our story. We received submissions literally from all of over the world and our fans REALLY showed up! It was difficult to choose the winner because they were all so great, but a few stood out.” We love the tracks they selected. Be sure to check out The Average Fruit Remixes. You can also catch Quadron on tour this year with Raphael Saadiq, Fitz & The Tantrums and at SXSW.

QUADRON
THE AVERAGE FRUIT REMIXES
LISTEN LAST.FM

FAT BEATS BROOKLYN
TV ON THE RADIO TOUR
TORO Y MOI

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If you spot checked our iTunes you’d find a swarm of tracks by TV on the Radio hovering near the top of our most played list. For the last few years they’ve grown on us and hold a special place in our daily run of tunes. In preparation of their upcoming release, Nine Types of Light, they’ve taken to twitter and announced their tour dates. As a convenience for our readers we’ve listed the dates below. Click Read More to view.

TOUR DATES

April 8, 2011 Philadelphia PA – Electric Factory

April 9, 2011 Charlottesville VA – Jefferson Theatre

April 10, 2011 Baltimore MD – Rams Head Live

April 13, 2011 New York NY – Radio City Music Hall

April 16, 2011 Boston MA – House of Blues

April 17, 2011 Montreal CAN – Metropolis

April 18, 2011 Toronto CAN – Sound Academy

April 20, 2011 Detroit MI – St. Andrew Halls

April 23, 2011 Minneapolis MN – First Ave

April 24, 2011 Minneapolis MN – First Ave

April 26, 2011 Denver CO – Ogden

May 2, 2011 San Diego CA – 4th & B

TV ON THE RADIO TWITTER
TV ON THE RADIO MYSPACE
NINE TYPES OF LIGHT

URBANIZED
TORO Y MOI
THE HOUSEMAID

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We can’t wait for the follow up to Gary Hustwit’s series on design. First there was Helvetica, then Objectified and now he’s working to release Urbanized – a full length documentary on city design. Featuring some of the world’s best thinkers, strategists, architects and policy makers, Urbanized reports on the issues facing urban design. It’s an interesting and important topic, because currently over half the world’s population lives in urban areas, and it’s projected that by 2050 more than 75% of the world will call a city home. As Hustwit explains, “But while some cities are experiencing explosive growth, others are shrinking. The challenges of balancing housing, mobility, public space, civic engagement, economic development, and environmental policy are fast becoming universal concerns.” Urbanized is on Kickstarter – help support its completion here.

URBANIZED
GARY HUSTWIT
FOLLOW GARY ON TWITTER

TORO Y MOI
THE HOUSEMAID
BANG BANG BANG

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Thanks to our friend Rucyl, we’ve discovered the eclectic sounds of Chaz Bundwick aka Toro Y Moi. His light-hearted approach to music is refreshing. And we can’t think of a better introduction than his amazing video for Still Sound. It’ll brighten anyone’s day. As Steve Daniels, the videographer describes, “Chaz and I met early on a cold and rainy day in January to shoot this ‘video’. Staying true to Chaz’ DIY aesthetic, It was just he and I, a super 8 camera, and a box full of Kodak film. As the sun made its way from the clouds, Chaz, with the help of some of his closest friends, had danced all over our town of Columbia. This was the funnest I have ever had on a film shoot. My face hurt from all the damn smiling.” Click Read More for additional information and to view the video.

Photo Credit

TORO Y MOI MYSPACE
TORO Y MOI BLOG
TORO Y MOI WIKIPEDIA

BANG BANG BANG
LA MELODIA
SONGDO PERFORMANCE

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We’re really excited about The Housemaid – a new film from South Korean director, IM Sang-soo. It’s the story of Eun-yi, a young woman who is hired by an affluent family and quickly becomes embroiled in the complicated drama of their home after being seduced by the man of the house.

The Housemaid is an excellent examination of class in modern South Korea. The lush cinematography gives viewers a glimpse of a world and a culture that’s still emerging. The film will be available for instant viewing on IFC Films On Demand and will be playing in New York at the Lincoln Center Cinemas and the IFC Center January 21. We highly recommend checking it out. Click Read More for additional information and photos.

—Written by James Oyedijo

IFC FILMS
IMDb

THE NAMESAKE
MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY
TREELESS MOUNTAIN

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Looking back, this week was audio heaven. Just when things were getting musically boring we received La Melodia’s latest, Drake leaked a track with Jay-Z and Kanye provided endless one-liners with his latest entitled Power. We had each one on repeat. But, the big catch of the week was Mark Ronson’s debut single entitled Bang Bang Bang featuring Qtip and MDNR. It’s energetic, light hearted and sonically pleasing. We’re looking forward to Ronson’s album, Record Collection. It’s slated for release this September and is rumored to feature D’Angelo & Ghostface. Sounds like a win all around. Click Read More to listen to Bang Bang Bang.

FROM STEREOGUM
FROM THE FADER
FROM URB

LA MELODIA
BEST COAST
VINTAGE SOUND WITH DELTA SPIRIT

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