Don Tercio

La muerte en los ojos

5 January 2013

From the deepest rooms of Caramba headquarters came out last month the release of “Death in your eyes“, David Sánchez’s own drug cocktail who after receiving so much attention over the last couple of years is ready to provide with another paranormal work.

La muerte en los ojos - Autorretrato
La muerte en los ojos – Autorretrato

Only 24 pages of astral explorations and hypnotic methods that you’ll have to interpret (aka David’s own comprehension of what hypnosis should be like), more of a short story as it belongs to the “Jaimito” collection and a serious candidate to join your library.

La Muerte en los ojos 2
La Muerte en los ojos 2

As Jaimito and Caramba keep growing this new year we have to admit we’ll keep en eye on their upcoming releases and of course… on David’s music playlists even if we’re still waiting for LMELO’s one. More info this way.

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Whitey Bare Bones Project

3 January 2013

Whitey decided to give us a big big gift this past Monday when reaching those first £10,000 of his crowdfunding campaign “Bare Bones”; providing us with one another of his elusive & addictive pieces  “No more right or wrong”, something more clubby than what we’re used to.

We have to admit being quite deceived with the lack of attention towards this funding project and precisely the  media disregard… maybe we were all expecting the end of the world instead?

And because we’ve always been secretly in love with Whitey’s dark paths we’re willing to add “BB” to our long-list of supported projects. As Nathan Joseph & the always evolving Whitey project prepare and polish a new work  it looks like they’re willing to stay without label… and KS could help with that.

With this KS campaign they propose to support a physical-release dream and a never-ending tour (amongst many other crowdfunding traditional goodies) … which sounds like fun actually, so we thought…. Bare Bones will probably be released digitally but… it would be even better to hold it, something kind of rare these days.

A rough demo of his track “NMROR” was also made available via his bandcamp page as a first teaser…. have you cracked yet? We did. More info this way.

a title=”kscampaign” href=”http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/njwhitey/whitey-bare-bones-project-new-lp-full-tour-box-set” target=”_blank”

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Global Game Jam 2013

2 January 2013

Game makers rejoice as your favourite game jam is back this month, and if last year over 47 countries participated in this crazy game hackathon with over 2000 games, expectations are high for this fifth edition too…

This year takes place the weekend that goes from 25-27th of January, 48hours of gaming love creation for designers and developers who are willing not-only to create joy under pressure but maybe get noticed and earn some funding for further development.

As it usually happens despite the growth and dimension of the event not all locations can give room or host as many people as desired so maybe it’s worth registering and checking if there are still places left to attend to from one of the already-created locations. More info this way.

Still from Madrid Game Jam 2011 (photo via MediaLab Prado)
Still from Madrid Game Jam 2011 (photo via MediaLab Prado)
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Interview with Jake Elliott

28 December 2012

Harry Purvis sat down by the White Hart’s darts corner another Wednesday with his unmistakable composure…. and ready to give his devoted audience one of those stories which made of him the most famous London sci-fi storyteller from the 60s. That rainy evening he went on about “Proyect Clausewitz”, a 50s’ mysterious super-secret governmental project no-one had heard about before. Apparently, “PC” concentrated some of the best American scientists at that time, and tons of electronic equipment under the Kentucky National park… in a certain cave.

What truly happened under the surface between General “Smith”, “Milquetoast” and “Karl the computer” is something only Harry, his audience and the readers of “Tales from the White Hart” know.

Still from KRZ4 - courtesy of Carboard Computer
Still from KRZ – courtesy of Carboard Computer

The mysteries the Kentucky cave system holds are still today, a big source of inspiration for many writers, storytellers and gamemakers; and much like Arthur C. Clarke back in the 50s or Will Crowther in the 70s, Jake Elliott is willing to invite us all for some subterranean exploration, and many underground conversations.

AQNB: Let’s start with an easy one Jake…. do you consider yourself a caving enthusiast? Continue reading Interview with Jake Elliott

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Jim Curious

25 December 2012

There’s a growing trend in the interactive comic playground that will hopefully expand over the coming years to keep the industry alive. From last year’s SVK by Berg to the latest project from Éditions 2024 “Jim Curious”, comic needs on top of great stories, new attractive elements.

Jim Curious still (all images via Matthias Picard)
Jim Curious still (all images via Matthias Picard)

Nominated for next year’s Angouleme Festival youth section “Jim Curious” proposes a “3D immersive” experience for parents & kids willing to discover the deep blue sea with all those fish, monsters and many other bizarre creatures. Jim will dive into the ocean rediscovering some forgotten WWII wrecks, the remains of a galleon … and a long list of primitive creatures.

Matthias Picard signs this amazing book (halfway between a comic book & an illustration book) which will be presented tomorrow @ the Strasbourg Soif de Lire coffee-bookshop and obviously early next year during the Festival d’Angouleme. More info & images on Edition 2024’s website.

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Mirage

24 December 2012

Fucking armadillos, couldn’t agree more with the old lady. Nordic director Thor Brenne, specialized in Nordic music clip direction, signs this rather epic quest for the young quartet Heyerdahl and their summer hit “Mirage”.

Still a month to go until their debut album ØEN (out on Red Eye Transit) so this one comes as a great reminder that below the arctic circle, and below those idilic archipielagos, things do move during Christmas time.

Heyerdahl - ØEN cover
Heyerdahl – ØEN cover (design by Yokoland)

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Slender: The Arrival

24 December 2012

Following the incredible success of last summer’s “Eight pages” there’s been a good hype around Der Grossman; and many other psychological horror titles & versions of Mark J. Hadley‘s game have emerged (just a few days ago we got to see this trailer for “White noise“).

Amesia’s Machine for pigs won’t be the only eagerly expected survival horror game to come next year as Mark and his Parsec studio along with Blue isleMarble Hornets creators are designing this new version of the game… “The Arrival”.

The informations came up last Sept but yesterday we got this sweet trailer giving us a few more details of the title review, like the cam perspective which has been added (Rec style) and the addition of a few more creatures like the kids Slender loves to kidnap. Looks like 2013 is going to be a frightening year, more info & images on their dedicated website.

Slender The Arrival teaser - Slender
Slender The Arrival teaser – Slender (all images via Slender the arrival)
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The Power of Hundreds

22 December 2012

Last week Semisecret quartet (creators of hit “Canabalt“) submitted their latest game “Playhundreds” to the iTunes App Store, and a few days later game designer Greg Wohlwend (aeiowu) posted the trailer of this upcoming minimalistic puzzle game that if everything goes well, it should hit the Appstore on January 3rd.

Described as “A puzzle game about the space between you and the serene”, “it’s all about seeing the world with Soft Eyes” and tapping & growing floating bubbles until they add to 100… while avoiding their collisions when turning red.

We’ll get to play just in a few days, until then, enjoy their teasing website and trailer.

Playhundreds still
Playhundreds still
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ATARAXIA

21 December 2012

Another month, another Canadian tape, this time from the Toronto-based label “Telephone Explosion” (Teenager, Anagram…) who for this end of year are proposing a 100-copy cassette-only series veering towards the experimental end of the musical spectrum.

TelephoneexplosionThe purpose of “Ataraxia” is to showcase artists who share TE’s artistic vision, but make music much more unorthodox and noise-based than what they have released to-date on vinyl. This inaugural volume is titled “Music from RIP Eifdn AOD Sulie” and is performed by Tonstartssbandht member Andy Boay. RIP Eifdn AOD Sulie is a collection of music extracted from a trio of soundtracked videos created live, simultaneously, via an interactive set-up; all of which can be watched on Andy’s youtube channel… something we highly recommend for an extremely rich and immersive experience in a wintery day like today.

You can listen to the trio of videos on a loop (it’s a playlist after all) or simply get it via TE’s website who released it last week.

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In The Box Beneath the City

21 December 2012

This month finishes Joshua Hagler‘s residence @ San Francisco’s Alter Space Jail Cell Residence, which as its own name suggests, offers any selected artist to work in the dedicated jail cell Alter Space have in their basement. A unique and inspiring (or at least, distraction-free guaranteed) environment apparently Koak and Kevin Krueger decided to keep after installing themselves in the bondage store that previously occupied the building…

In The Box Beneath the City - 2 (Joshua Hagler - image via Alter Space)
In The Box Beneath the City – 2 (Joshua Hagler – image via Alter Space)

For the Sept-Dec period JH proposed his project “In The Box Beneath the City”, an illustrated book where Joshua “frames and contextualizes interviews with artists in a way that is different from the original intentions of the interviewee”.

In The Box Beneath the City - 4 (Joshua Hagler - image via Alter Space)
In The Box Beneath the City – 4 (Joshua Hagler – image via Alter Space)

Material for the book is generated through a sort of game between interviewer and interviewee. There is no record-keeping device except for my sketches and notes. No audio or video.

We make a mutual verbal confidentiality pact. Together with the interviewee, we decide on an alter ego, a spirit animal, mythological character, costume, or whatever, which will determine how he/she is drawn as a character, so that the individual is disguised but still unique.

In The Box Beneath the City (Joshua Hagler - image via Alter Space)
In The Box Beneath the City (Joshua Hagler – image via Alter Space)

The rules and obstructions are designed in such a way as to shift power from interviewer to interviewee, so that I am also required to answer questions. This makes me as vulnerable and requires a mutual trust. As both character and author, the inherent manipulation in storytelling is made transparent. Theoretically, what I want to create is a metalanguage that can tell the story about how the story is constructed while still allowing the story to be told within itself.

(JH “In the Box beneath the city” will be exhibited next January @ Alter Space’s week-long open studio)

He will then be exhibiting his new series of paintings “The Unsurrendered” @ the University of Illinois’ Figure One Gallery next March

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NaissanceE

20 December 2012

Mixing the best retro-futuristic architectural elements of the best sci-fi movie classics & games we end up with this upcoming NaisanceE game whose details are still quite vague although its French creator Mavros Sedeño yesterday posted a few details on IndieDB suggesting a 2013 potential release date.

NaissanceE is an adventure taking place in a primitive mysterious structure. The game mainly consists to explore and feel the deep and strong ambiance of this atemporal world but platforming and puzzles areas will also enrich the experience.

NaissanceE Screenshot (images via IndieDB)
NaissanceE Screenshot (images via IndieDB)

The game continues where his 2007 mod “Naissance Jeux d’ombre” left, with a first person adventure style conceived as a visual and sensory experience in an imaginary universe and presented like a metaphor of birth. Built on the FarCry engine, Mavros’ inspirations (Fritz Lang, Frank Miller… even Jim Henson) may seem obvious but the final result looks psychedelically rich. The 2007 mod can be downloaded here, and hopefully NaissanceE will be available soon…

NaissanceE Screenshot 2 (image via IndieDB)
NaissanceE Screenshot 2 (image via IndieDB)
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Off Life #2

19 December 2012

A few days ago the second number of the new UK mag and e-zine “Off Life” made its appearance on-line, again to fulfill our increasing Brit (and international) comic addiction…. and for the pleasure of Bristolians & Londonites.

Offline 2 (Sam Alden)
extract from Offline #2 (Sam Alden)

And because the street press comic mag has quickly become an instant hit for “bd” talent showcasing (from the well known Tom Gauld or Adrian Tomine to other less-established names like Emix Regulus or  Harvey Finch), it’s a great surprise that both bi-monthly numbers are available on-line for our pleasure and delight.

Offline 2 (Sam Alden bis)
extract from Offline #2 (Sam Alden bis)

Ok ok, they’re mostly pretty well-known names from the indie scene… for now. But hey, pretty much any artist can submit their work to be published in upcoming numbers (btw, the next issue will be out by mid-Feb 2013 and submissions are open until next month) and thousands of people will be taking notice of your artwork off & on-line.

The arrival of a new zine is always good news, especially if it’s made available for free on the Internet too.

Regurgitation (OffLife 1 - Murray Somerville)
extract from Regurgitation (OffLife #1 – Murray Somerville)
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Butterflies

18 December 2012

Horror animation is, unfortunately, not that common these days and let’s not mix up Burton & horror animation because Disney has never been about terrifying movies (even if sometimes we have to praise them for including certain obscure elements).

But Isabel Peppard is and her recent “Butterflies” animated short may open the door to many more horrifying stop-motion works.

Conceived as a mix of fiction and personal biopic (to a certain extent) Isabel directs and co-writes the script (with Warwick Burton) for this 12-minute short which took 3 years to make and was premiered earlier on this year @ the Melbourne International Film Fest.

After visiting last autumn’s Sitges festival Butterflies will continue its festival tour throughout next year starting with Sydney’s Flickerfest next month, and hopefully many more European festivals too. To spice things up Oscar-nominated Rachel Griffiths, Nicholas Hope, Henry Nixon and Honey Spence added their voices to the film.

More info & images on their page.

Isabel Peppard working on her stop-motion film Butterflies (image via Butterfliesanimation)
Isabel Peppard working on her stop-motion film Butterflies (image via Butterfliesanimation)

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Beluga

17 December 2012

Some say today is our lucky day… mainly because 2 of the films which competed in this year’s Canadian animation festival “Sommets du cinéma d’animation de Montréal” have been released on-line for public screening. On one side we have Edmond était un âne by Franck Dion, and on the other we get the latest jewel out of Shin Hashimoto‘s head: “Beluga“.

Shin’s surreal work proposes an extremely noire animated piece on human incomprehension, social marginalization and unconscious suffering. A must-watch but rough piece with music by Marei Suyama and which also got an “alternative version” using some of Lennon’s best-known hits to sweeten the sip…

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Unemployment

17 December 2012

New York resident and emerging rapper Aaron Cohen debuted his mixtape “Murk” on Brooklyn’s apparel & other nice things brand “Mishka” earlier on last September, and after last summer’s Feminist and many other video releases, here’s a new clip by Brook Bobbins and Mosaic NY for “Unemployment” which features Spaceman & ABGOHARD.

A 16-track mixtape which you can download from their dedicated bandcamp page, which may not have received overwhelming critics but whose notable collaborations make it a distinctive collection of daily fights and honest lyrics.

Murk cover
Murk cover
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GameOn Competition

14 December 2012

This past Monday Mozilla opened their very first “GameOn” competition, as a way to promote their own products (how about Firefox and their upcoming Firefox OS) but also as a way to promote web-based games and the technologies that make it possible…. HTML, CSS, JavaScript, but also other open options like WebGL and WebRTC.

A competition divided in  three categories:

– Best hackable game (where any player can remix game mechanics, fork code, or use assets from the web to create their own version.

– Best Multi-Device game … to “explore” concepts like asymmetric gaming, alternate reality games, and companion apps

– And best Web-only Game (for games that can only be played on the web).

And what do winners get? Besides grabbing get a Nvidia GeForce GTX670 if you’re one of the 3 category winners there will be a special prize for the “Grand Champion”… an all expense paid trip to San Francisco for GDC 2013 with hotel accommodation, tickets to the GDC …and a large etc. Sounds about fair.

Bananabread still
Bananabread still

You’ll have to submit your playable prototype by Feb 24 built using open web technologies and the game should run plug-in free on the browser of course. And to get things started properly they’re organising 2 simultaneous game jams in New York and London this weekend (apparently more are coming later on) so if you’re around…. (more info here).

Rules and more info on the GameOn website.

GameOn poster
GameOn poster
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Snake Remix

13 December 2012

Augmented Reality experts and interactive design studio Visionaries 777 (who last February brought us their AR Spaceship app) are back with a new AR game inspired by the popular snake arcade.

“Snake Remix” while it still hasn’t been developed as a full game (it was made in 30 hours during last October’s Unity MIT Game Jam 2012 in Hong Kong) may hopefully join the ranks of Warm Runner and make it to one of those mobile appstores we all love.

Simply put, Snake Remix is a revision of the 70s classic adding some new interactive elements like those falling blocks which destroy the snake’s playground creating deadly craters… and hopefully we’ll see a more complete version of the game in the coming months.

Snake Remix game still
Snake Remix game still
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Emmanuel Guibert wins the French critique Grand Prix

11 December 2012

Emmanuel Guibert’s L’enfance d’Alan (who was also recently included in the list of nominated works for next year’s Angouleme 2013 edition) just happens to have been awarded with the “Grand Prix de la Critique” 2013 the French Comic’s Critique Association awards each year.

L'enfance d'Alan (© Emmanuel Guibert  L'Association)
L’enfance d’Alan (© Emmanuel Guibert L’Association)

From the initial pre-selected 125 albums (down from 4000+ published books) to 15 and with a final list of 5 which included:  Judith Vanistendael’s David, les femmes et la mortEn silence by Audrey SpirySaison brune by Philippe Squarzoni and Emmanuel Lepage’s Un printemps à Tchernobyl, L’enface D’Alan confirms Emmanuel Guibert as one of the masters in the current French comic world.

L'enfance d'Alan - PlancheA (© Emmanuel Guibert  L'Association)
L’enfance d’Alan – PlancheA (© Emmanuel Guibert L’Association)

“L’enfance d’Alan” follows the souvenirs of Alan Ingram Cope, who after telling us all his Second WW souvenirs in “La Guerre D’Alan” will now tell us about his childhood in the 1930s and the post 1929 America, a story once again brought to us thanks to the incredible beauty Emmanuel Guibert is only capable of.

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