Relentless

Parkour leaves the city.

As we mentioned in a previous entry, parkour, or ‘the art of movement’ originated in France and has spread over the globe at an astonishing rate, latest evidence found in Kazakhstan.

Parkour is commonly known for its heart-stopping, high-flying, danger-tempting movements and is ordinarily linked to urbanites who have easy access to roof tops, skate parks and multi storey parks. As of recently, however, the sport has surprisingly hit the coast lines of the former Russian republic Kazakhstan.

Les Paul has crossed the sound barrier

This may be old news for some, but it’s big news nonetheless. Last week a huge chapter in popular music was closed.

Lester William Polsfuss - the inventor of the solid-body electric guitar, the man behind the true sound of rock and roll and pretty much every guitar sound put to tape (also known as Les Paul) passed away at the solid age of 94 on August 13 2009.

As much as this is an undeniably sad turn of events it’s difficult to think of this as a loss – Les Paul has exerted an influence larger, and far more enduring, than any politician, statesman or public figure has ever had on popular culture. And that is why this can never be an obituary – it is a celebration. There is no reason to believe we will ever be Les Paul-less.
 

Buildings aren’t supposed to produce sounds, are they? David Byrne begs to differ.

Surely if a building makes a sound, it’s either a sign of something going wrong, or in the case of the Roundhouse, it is being used as a musical instrument.

David Byrne, lead Talking Head and one of the most courageously eccentric figures of the post-punk movement has seen it all. He helped the Talking Heads sneak in their musical agenda onto the pop radar in a convincing, Trojan horse of a musical format – a loose-limbed blend of post-punk, afrobeat and new wave.

And whilst the Talking Heads stood for a tasteful balance of eccentricity and experimentation, David Byrne consistently sought out other creative outlets to nurture some of the most more game-changing sounds of the 1980’s along with Brian Eno and Robert Fripp.

329 hot-air balloons, shoulder to shoulder, CGI-free.

Lots of hot air this isn’t. Welcome to the world’s largest hot-air balloon gathering.

From July 23 until August 2 some of the world’s most daring enthusiasts gathered to navigate the ether shoulder to shoulder, at the biennial Lorraine Mondial Air Ballons rally in Chambley, France. French people are well-regarded traditionalists and this biennial gathering is in celebration of Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, the pre-eminent thirteenth-century aviation pioneer.