Mark Alan is an L.A. based musician who is getting ready to release is second record by his band Alphanaut entitled, “Little Sun.” This post however, is not so much a review of the band or of the record, but rather a post regarding the concept of this album and the accompanying video.

It’s no secret that I am a little over the top when it comes to my love for dogs, so when I received an email from a publicist about this new record that was written as a remembrance and memoriam to Alan’s dog Dingo who died of doggy lymphoma, it was pretty much a done deal.

Each song on the album is a chapter in the story of Dingo’s life, with many of them told from Dingo’s perspective.  The lead single “Back to the Stars,” is an  animated video in which we join Dingo as he dons a space helmet and leaves Earth to explore space, visiting other doggy friends is space (also wearing their space helmets), ultimately transcending into another universe.

Clearly I never met Dingo, but the video conveys the deep love that Mark must have felt for his canine friend; there is a bittersweet sadness to the song, but I imagine that the process of writing the album was cathartic. I can think of no better way to say goodbye to someone you love. See you in the stars.

The “Back to the Stars” video was directed by Tonda Ros of Dogubomb Productions

By now, most of you know that I am one of those awful Radiohead fanatics, one of those snotty indie pricks who believe wholeheartedly, that they are perhaps the most innovative band in the world today. While I was sadly not able to get any tickets to either weekend of Coachella this year (or Santa Barbara or San Francisco or Seattle), I was rather delighted to discover that much of this years Coachella was being streamed live, but more importantly that the entirety of the Radionhead set is (now) available as an on-demand video on YouTube. Here it is.

The entire setlist is also included. Enjoy.

Slowly finding its way around the web is some of the most stunning and incredible time-lapse photography you’ve ever seen, taken by one remarkable Dustin Farrell. Every frame of this video is a raw still taken with a Canon 5D2 DSLR and processed to create the breath-taking landscapes you see here. The quality of these videos is jaw-dropping. Full-screen them on your computer and you’ll see what I mean. WOW:

“The Dark, Dark Hours” was first broadcast live from Hollywood on December 12, 1954 from the General Electric Theater series. It features both Ronald Reagan and James Dean before either of them were huge names in Hollywood.

John Meroney of the Atlantic describes how the footage was found:

“No one has seen this episode in the decades since; the kinescope has been locked away, until now. My friend Wayne Federman, a writer for NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, unearthed the broadcast, condensing it from its original 23 minutes (without commercials) into the six-minute version you see [here].”

The first time I saw the caterwauling ex-Jesus Lizard frontman David Yow, was when the inimitable Scratch Acid came to The Central back in 80…what? 84? 85? Their self-titled 8-song debut masterpiece had been released, and pretty much seemed to be the only record that anybody was listening to at the time. The Seattle music scene was enamored beyond words, so when Scratch Acid finally hit town, it was utter mayhem. utter. blissful. mayhem.

That was the only time I ever got to see SA, but I did manage to catch Jesus Lizard on a number of occasions, most recently at the Henry Fonda Theater here in Los Angeles this last October (15th, 2009). They delivered the goods more than I ever would have imagined, but I’m not going to review that show here because I already promised my friend Cara that I’d write about it for her Ritual Room blog, and I am a man of my word.

Below is a 12-minute mini-documentary about David, entitled I’d Rather Be Anywhere Else which was shot by the Swiss band Ventura this January and posted by the good folks at The Drone. The piece kicks off with Yow commenting on how he’d like the Jesus Lizard to be remembered: “we were a band that never really got anywhere, meant a lot to a few people who don’t know much about anything”. I’m guessing that your fans and readers may beg to differ (we can disagree over a few drinks if he’ll ever let me interview him for RocknRollDating). Yow further talks about getting an agent and becoming an actor, avoiding mirrors, his relationship with his father and doing a public access cooking show with Steve Albini. That‘s something that I’d like to see!

Once you get the video started, hit pause to let the stream buffer a bit as it seems to choke a lot. After you’ve finished, make sure to check out the “Bonus” video of The Jesus Lizard performing “Seasick”.

This was an amazing piece that I discovered while still working @ Creative Asylum overseeing the development and launch of the Peer Squared Project. While this is not a new find, it’s a piece of work that warrants a rediscovery as it’s still one of the more amazing projects I’ve seen in recent years.

Brambilla’s work, entitled “Civilization,” is a continuous HD video collage, “taking hundreds of stock footage, movie footage and original clips and combining them to create a moving landscape depicting the ascension from hell to heaven” (500 clips in all) as an installation inside of an elevator in New York’s Standard Hotel.

The Video moves up and down depending on the direction of the elevator car, and passes through hell, lower purgatory, middle purgatory, upper purgatory, heaven and upper heaven/lower hell (which is where the video collage ultimately loops to create the continuum).

The total size of the piece is in itself daunting: 1920 x 7500 pixels played back on a 42″ plasma screen.

To view the entire piece, read the details of the project along with an interview with Brambilla, please CLICK HERE: it’s well worth the time. You’re welcome!