Jim Janek's Blog

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Best of '08

It's been a few weeks since I last posted, I think it was something about the new Pepsi logo.

Anyways, it's 2009 now, and I guess I'll post my "Best of '08" Lists, which I posted on Myspace about a month back.

BEST ALBUM: Some of these I'm totally sick of now, but they made '08 "'08" so deal with it.

20. Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs: I was all about this album because it reminded me of older Death Cab, before their songs felt really artificial and radio-destined. They even cranked the reverb on Ben Gibbard's voice, which is not done enough on most of my favorite, dry-sounding, albums.

19.5. Plants & Animals - Parc Avenue: Thanks Chris for leaving this in my car because it's totally great and gave me something to sing while waiting at the drive-thru.

19. Kings of Leon - Only by the Night: Worst Kings album ever, but the first 5 songs are so good, I'm still surprised that Nickelback is bigger than this band in America, oh wait, it's because I'm in America and you know the demographic.

18. Nada Surf - Lucky: I love Nada Surf, but at times this album felt a little too polished. With that said, I'm only saying that because I listened to it a million times and enjoyed the hell out of it.

17. Crystal Castles - S/T: I was always singing the melodies to these songs, it's so good. Half the songs feel like demo's, but still, this is an album I can throw on and dance to sober.

16. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!: Awesome album, this one was a grower as well.

15. Duke Spirit - Neptune: I was kinda like "yea, another one of these bands" until I saw them live in Pittsburgh. Not only is their music great and something I'd actually enjoy, but their singer is one of the most gorgeous women on the planet and she plays the tambourine and she's British and she has these bangs, and you'd just have to see this to believe it. Next big thing, I'm calling it.

14. Ryan Adams - Cardinology: Totally grew on me, I was really into his older stuff for awhile, but his concert was great and I just love the aura of this album, it's very live feeling, which is great. His guitar and amp tone sounds a lot like mine too so I sometimes imagine it's me playing in the left channel of my headphones.

13. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III: Not as good as Da Drought 3, but the remix of Lollipop is better than anything on the album. I only say this because I really get annoyed by the cheesy R&B choruses most rappers need to throw in order to get their songs played on the radio. Weezy doesn't need that, he just guest appears on half of the tracks appearing on Top 40 Rap radio.

12.5. Gaslight Anthem - The '69 Sound: Pop punk is coming back, and it sounds like Bruce Springsteen, so I guess this is good. Music is evolving in front of our eyes.

12. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular: This is pretty much the album of anthems for the year, isn't it?

11. Black Keys - Attack & Release: I loved this album, even the spin Danger Mouse put on all of the tracks, which was actually a good thing, otherwise, this would have sounded like every other Black Keys song...awesome. But, more of the same.

10. No Age - Nouns: Messy and all over the place, but in a really good way.

9.5. Foals - Antidotes: This is a good album. Like a pop, sane version of Battles, but not really.

9. Santogold - S/T: I remember missing her free show at Case because I found out about when it was almost over, but dammit, this album is so good, very versatile. The album starts out like a normal rock album but quickly turns into a dance album and her voice is just as capable of doing whatever it needs to do to get the job done. If that makes sense. She's good, that's what I'm saying.

8. The Constantines - Tournament of Hearts: This guy's voice is just so commanding, like he just out chain-smoked John Mellencamp only his band's songs weren't as bad. And the ballad "Soon Enough" would make me cry if I was capable.

7. Fleet Foxes - S/T: Duh, this one needs no explanation. They sell it at Starbucks now.

6. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges: This is the album that made a lot of people hate MMJ, but I ended up really liking the oddball songs and ignored the "normal" MMJ songs, until recently. "Highly Suspicious" is just such an awesome jam.

5. Hold Steady - Stay Positive: Just a simple album where every song's lyrics portray so much more than given within the song's context.

4. Vampire Weekend - S/T: Pop masterpiece, it's no wonder there's so much hype, it's because they're doing their own thing without likely trying to.

3. The Dodos - Visiter: Such a simple, textured, rhythmic piece of awesome. Really reminds me of Simon & Garfunkel.

2. Born Ruffians - Red, Yellow, Blue: The band plays with such quirk and groove, I can't believe how young they are.

1. Girl Talk - Feed the Animals: If there's one album to sum up all of the drunken, fun nights of '08, this album is it.

Close calls:
Crystal Antlers - EP
Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Deerhunter - Microcastle

And I know, I just got TV on the Radio's new one, so let that sink in. I've been DJ'ing lately, I'm listening to lots of remixes, for better or for worse.

SHOWS. (This was the year of shows, I had to narrow these down.)

25. Eagle Seagull - The Spot
24. Bruce Springsteen - Obama Rally
23. Bob Dylan - Pittsburgh
22. The Roots - Pittsburgh
21. Limbeck - Grog Shop
20. Tom Gable (Against Me!) - Grog Shop
19. The Decemberists - E. Lansing, Michigan
18. Black Mountain - Pittsburgh
17. Duke Spirit - Pittsburgh
16. Gnarls Barkley - Pittsburgh
15. Tokyo Police Club - The Spot
14. Born Ruffians - Grog Shop

13. Ryan Adams - Palace Theatre
12. Neko Case - Beachland Ballroom
11. Asobi Seksu - Grog Shop
10. Fiery Furnaces - The Spot
9. Arcade Fire - Beachland Ballroom

8. Black Keys - Beachland Tavern (& Pittsburgh)
7. Explosions in the Sky - Beachland Ballroom
6. Hold Steady - Beachland Ballroom
5. The Raconteurs - Pittsburgh
4. Nada Surf - Beachland Ballroom
3. Jay-Z - The "Q"
2. Girl Talk - Beachland Ballroom
1. Dan Deacon - Grog Shop

And let's not forget the countless shows I missed that I still regret not going to. And I left the Deerhunter when I couldn't stop puking.

MOVIES.

6. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (it actually sucked, but I still liked it)
5. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
4. Persepolis
3. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days
2. WALL-E
1. Dark Knight

Movies that l'll continue to avoid - Hancock, Saw XIV, Dreamworks animations, Vince Vaughn films post 4 years ago, Transporter 3, most movies that have "unrated" editions

PLACES TO HANG OUT

9. Bean bag chairs (just in general)
8. Mi Pueblo's
7. Random, non-local bars
6. Ryan's House
5. Grog Shop
4. Beachland
3. Teams (some times)
2. Nick's House
1. Practice Spot

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Ballsy move, Pepsi

I can't avoid Pepsi, I mean, I work at a drugstore that makes me constantly lug cases of the stuff around. Sometimes I drink it, even. But anyways, the new Pepsi cans and bottles have been out for a few weeks now, just a playful little tug on the vector strings that are the former Pepsi logo, but this new Mountain Dew bottle looks like a text message inspired futuristic soft drink. The background is slightly not good, but the logo is an improvement over Mtn. Dew's past attempts at looking "extreme," which appears to have subsided since crappy energy drinks like Monster have hit the market and taken over the extreme demographic of teenage boys and corn-holing college kids. These might look like they were designed by students, but these are the real deal.

The Sierra Mist is probably the most literal piece of type I have ever seen in my life, I don't know how that got approved, but Pepsi's clean and simple design without resorting to annoying highlights and obnoxious drop shadows is an improvement for me. I doubt these will last, since it appears people have embraced the hideous packaging that masks those cheesy corn chips we call Doritos.

Anyways, this site has a discussion about Pepsi's new branding, which, like it or hate it, I think is a step in the right direction.

http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/pepsi_new_bottles.php

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

An early Christmas gift for myself

Just ordered this book about sketchbooks! Most of my "non-art school" friends always seem to wonder why I bring a sketchbook to parties and social gatherings, well, this video has an interesting narration over pages from the book. Can't wait for it to get here.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Some Illustrations

Here are a few.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Shading in Animation

John K. of 'Ren & Stimpy' fame has a blog which I read occasionally to hear his takes on the current world of animation versus the golden age, when Hanna Barbara and Walt Disney were at the helm. In his recent blog, he brings up something that has bothered me for so long...

2D shading versus 3D shading in cartoons.

Check it out...

http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/

Meanwhile, the idea of character shading frequently troubles me as I'm stocking cereal at Walgreens. When did it suddenly become a attractive to start shading Tony the Tiger as if he was made of plastic? As if he was 3D? The same goes for Toucan Sam, Snap Crackle & Pop, and shockingly...Fred Flintstone. The Flintstones "look" is based on simplification of color and abstractions in cartooning, yet Post likes to Photoshop little cute airbrush touches to modernize the characters.

Seriously, what is this?

I'm not really a fan of modern animation or design trends, at least the most common, manufactured ones. Luckily, I stumbled across something that gave me a hope...

Notice how the character actually looks 2-Dimensional. They've incorporated a 2D shadow, which doesn't have a feathered edge. I was shocked, and happy to see it.

Look at how amazing cereal boxes looked before the advent of airbrush of Photoshop...

Anyways, check out John K's blog if you get a chance. It's nice to see that someone else, especially his readers, have a passion for the world of art, especially cartoons, which are on a downward slope. Unless something is done, the 'Family Guy' and 'Shrek's' of the world will dominate, and God knows we don't want that to happen.

School starts Monday!

It's almost saddening that this summer is finally coming to a close. It feels like almost yesterday that I was incoherently waving a beer in the air and spraying a pressure washer at everyone on Nick's upstairs balcony.

As many of you know, last year I started my first year at the Cleveland Institute of Art. Previously, I attended Tri-C, which was only a mile from my home, and allowed me to gather credit after precious credit towards my transfer to Kent State University. 3 years later I completely changed my mind, convincing myself that a Graphic Design major was obviously 'bullshit' and decided to branch out, since Tri-C was offering me the complete opposite of a challenge. Anyways, I'm one of the oldest "sophomores" at the CIA, since I transferred so late, but I'm so glad I did. So glad.

I'm finally in my second year, and after throwing darts at my would be major, I decided that Illustration seemed like the major for me. I've had teachers tell me specifically that I should be a painter, or a "drawing major," or a "TIME major," or an "Industrial Designer" but my problem lies in the fact that I want to do everything, but likely can't. I love drawing, I've even gotten to the point where I can start to see that I have a style all my own, which I'd like to develop. Same goes for Design. Same for film and video. I know what I'm doing in so many ways, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to learn to be the best. And for as much as much talent as I hoard by locking myself away for hours at a time, restarting projects numerous times before satisfying myself, I'm looking to step it up and incorporate my, well, brain, into my artwork finally. I mean, I have been all this time, but I feel that I can really create a hybrid of the nonsense that goes on in my head with what I lay down in ink, or whatever. I'm not even sure if that makes sense.

Essentially, I'm just trying to one up myself and stand out from the pack. It's unbelievable how different I am, in thought and process from the students in my "grade" (second year). It's honestly like I'm from a different planet. They like like to draw with Wacom tablets! Draw with them. I'm really nervous about the future, seriously, but I think that with the right determination and the motivation I already possess, I'll do something about it. Maybe, maybe not. But most likely, yea.

And so it begins, this Monday. "Drawing from Imagination" from 9:30 - 4 :30 and "Advanced Video" from 5:30 - 10. This will obviously be a long day. What blows is that I practice with my band Sunday nights, usually until 2 am. This'll change, we'll practice earlier, no thanks to the Browns, who are playing some primetime games this year.

The first blog!

So I've always had a tendency to rant and rave about this and that, most notably all things art, design, film, politics and pop culture. I'm pretty opinionated, which, by the way, has a mass differentiation from "asshole," believe it or not. Anyways, I've been wanting to make a new blog for awhile, a way to show off my work, my opinions, some links, and so on. So, ummm, here it is.