In my never-ending quest for good work music, a friend of mine introduced me to the music of Simon Green who goes by the alias “Bonobo”.  After listening to a few tracks on his iPod, I quickly downloaded the Blank Sands album    and it is quickly becoming one of my most listened-to albums.  If you’re like me and enjoy a good fusion of beats, live instrumentals mixed with jazzy undertones and the haunting vocals of Andreya Triana, than you’re sure to be a fast fan as well.  Enjoy!

Check out their website with access to songs, tour dates, and more.   Oh… and if you get a chance to see them in LA this year, I plan to be there as well.  http://www.bonobomusic.com/

Back when I was a student at Goshen College, I wrote a paper on the movie Seven for my Film Appreciation course.  I recall writing an in-depth description about the film’s title sequence, in particular, its sense of style and cinematography.  At the time, I had never seen a film’s opening sequence that so perfectly setup the movie and was, in itself, a work of art.  Since then, I have come to know that the man behind this and other similarly brilliant pieces of work is Kyle Cooper, a man I both envy and admire.  Cooper is a motion graphics designer who co-founded Imaginary Forces in 1996 and worked on a number of well known films before he left in 2003 and founded the creative agency Prologue.  I invite you to listen to a short talk on film motion graphics and designing by Cooper as well as look over his impressive bodies of work.

Kyle Cooper Demo Reel

Kyle Cooper Interview Part: One (Part Two Link)

Seven Title Sequence:

As a designer I am always looking for music to listen to as I work, music that inspires me and does not distract me from my current project. I tend to listen to a lot of ambiant music and as of late that means I listen to a lot of Schiller. Named after the German poet Friedrich Schiller, Schiller was founded in 1998 by Christopher von Deylen and Mirko von Schlieffen in Hamburg Germany.

Schiller’s uses vocals from famous guests artists from around the world mixed with his own electronic ambiant music which results in a wonderfully eclectic mixture of songs.  A prolific band, Schiller has released 12 albums and 20 singles since forming as well as a large collection of videos and international releases, 7 of which I now own. When I need to get in a great design session I load up his music and start designing.

To get you started I have linked a few videos below, but to get a real feel for Schiller head over to his Youtube channel (Link).

More ambiant goodness.

Check out these great songs as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pkdBeFFcOg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQlxjSm0qU0
http://youtu.be/Nlv_fqdRHsI