a year in soundwaves

Ok!
2009 is getting closer and closer, so I though I'd make a list of a few of my favorite albums from 2008, Ok I realize some of these are actually from 2007 but they deserve a spot here anyway :)
Ok here goes in no particular order:

GIRL TALK - Feed the animals
I saw Girl talk preform at this years Roskilde festival, and it was so good, feel in love with his mash ups immediately. Mixing everything from popular music from the last 30 years or so. Check out his liveset if you get a chance.


THE FOUNTAIN - Soundtrack
Loved the movie "the fountain" by Darren Aronofsky, and the music by Clint Mansell is equally as good.

BRICK - Soundtrack
Another of my favorite movies "Brick". And the soundtrack here also helps a lot. I love how lo fi it is, some parts made with stick hitting metal pipes and pots and stuff like that. Also check out the behind the scene feature about the soundtrack on the dvd, very inspiring.

COCOROSIE - The adventures of ghosthorse and stillborn
Cocorosie's latest album is easily my favorite. And I love the fact that they have moved more and more towards a lofi hip hop sound on some tracks, ditching the normal singing for rap. I hope this evolution will continue.

DAFT PUNK - ALIVE 2007
Daft punk has always been great and here is a collection of all their best stuff but live. I hope I will get to see them live in a near future, seems to be such an amazing liveact.


WHY? - Alopecia
Been a huge fan of Why? for a long time, but felt kind of disappointed on his last few record they've been good but I loved the old more rough sound he used to have, now it more pop than the old lofi rap. But this record is really great everything is so good, and as always the lyrics! gotta love those lyrics!


WHY? - Alopecia demo
Wow this is probably even better than the album it self :) All tracks from the album but in demo versions. Very rough unpolished versions of the songs. Some are just why? singing into his Dictaphone.

DOSEONE - Skeleton Repellent
Doseone has to be one of the most productive musicians alive. And this is his latest solo album which follows in the footsteps of HA, but gets even better here.


HARAM - Drescher
The first Haram album is one of my favourite albums of all time. I haven't found this follow up to be equally as great but it does come close. Never the less a great band.

THE DARK KNIGHT - Soundtrack
Great teatrical and epic soundtrack, love the opening track. This might even get an oscar we will see.

CAGE - Hell's winter
Probably my most listen to album of this year. Great hiphop produced by El-p. Waiting for a follow up to be released early next year.

UNITED NATIONS - s/t
Power violence revivalist united nations with members from Converge and Thursday.

CULT OF LUNA - Eternal kingdom
Easily Cult of luna's best album to date. Darker and more epic than before, can't get much better than this.

SNÖRAS - Plague waters
Norway is on a roll. Enegetic and powerfull, a great follow up to their debut record.

MUSCLES - Guns babes lemonade
"Ice cream is gonna save the day!"

THE HOOD INTERNET - Mixtape vol. 2
Mash up kings!
RADIOHEAD - In Rainbows
Best Radiohead album since Kid A.

DOSEONE - Soft skull
A very limited release by Doseone consisting only of poems read by Doseone. Gotta love those poems.

SUBTLE - Yell and ice
A EP from Subtle featuring guest appearances by cLOUDDEAD, TV on the radio


BLOC PARTY - Intimacy
The latest Bloc party record, actually I've just recently started listening to bloc party, love the band and haven't had time to listen to the new record that much yet but what I've heard is great.

DJ MAYONNAISE - STILL ALIVE
Great lofi electronic record released by Anticon.

LUKE STAR - Lake toba
Great band from norway sounds sometime pretty close to Mew from Denmark.

AMPERE - the first five years
Great collection of Ampere's work over the last five years, they have always done really great records, and this is a good place to start if you've never heard them.

Merry Christmas

Me and Mathias at North Kingdom put together a Christmas card last week for NK. It ended up being like a short film, you can watch it here.
Mathias did the 3D and I did background paintings, character design and snow particles and mixed the sounds together. Above is the Background painting for the end sequence.

Here's the background painting for the end where I've sketched out where the other elements will go.

The Character sketch for Santa.

Hope you all have a great holiday!

Al Hirschfeld

Just had to share this wonderful video I found on youtube of Al Hirschfeld, one of my big idols when it comes to illustration. In this movie he is 99 years old and still drawing such beautiful illustrations :) I hope I will still be drawing when I'm 99 years old :) and have a nice big white beard just as Al :)

Those dancing days grammy nomination

The nominations for the swedish grammies where anouced this week, and the "those dancing days" video I co made with popcore films, got a nomination for the MTV price, which is like the music video of the year. Go vote for it here!



Those dancing days - Home sweet home from picnicwithpanic on Vimeo.

"Whisper optional"

Slowly taking form deep under a surface near you :)

under the sea...

Started working on a new illustration this weekend. Have had this in my mind for some time now and eventually got around to start on it. It's gonna be a underwater scene with lots of animals, more screenshots will follow as it evolves. If you wonder why I usually use verry bright and strange colors when working out the forms and shapes of illustrations it's just that I find it much easier to distinguish the difrent parts from each other when working, the at the end of the process I go on to laying out the correct colors for the piece.

Also played a nice boardgame today called "formula dé". It's a formula 1 racing boardgame haha sound really strange but lots of fun and very strategical. I'm the red car gaining on pole position but eventually finished last, doh!

._.

So time for some new work in progress screenshots, right now I'm wokring on the artwork for a Soldier one 7 inch that will be out early 2009, keep your eyes open :)

A few soldier one live photos from this years trästock festival, photos taken by Pär Olofsson

"Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time"

Let the right one in (låt den rätte komma in). This is a new Swedish vampire movie of all the strangest things. But surprisingly this is a really good Swedish movie, I usually can't stand swedish movie except some 90s tv comedy and the masterpieces of Roy Andersson. But I really likes this one. it's based on a best selller and as usuall I guess the book is even better or so I've been told, so I guess I should go read the book now. Go see it if it hits a theater near you. A english speaking remake is allready in the works but I have a hard time beliving that will even come close to this movie.

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut. This is a story of how Billy Pilgram got unstuck in time. I really like this book, cause I like sciense fiction themed book especially when they consists of timetravel. If you are a fan of the show lost (spoiler alert) this is remakably simular to what happens to desmond in that show in the later parts of season 4. I guess the writters have read the book :) But basicly it's a story about Billy pilgram who is a worldwar veteran, who keeps jumping around in time mentaly one instanse he is in present time the next his back in the war then onto his childhood and so on. Pick it up if you like sci-fi and timetravel stories.

sketchbook october

A few sketches from my sketchbook.

Save the children, illustrations

I just remember that I forgot to post the finished illustrations from my latest project for "save the children" sweden. I was commissioned to produces 1 cover illustration and 5 additional illustrations for a handbook used in discussion groups for young males in school to help them discus diffrent hard to discuse subjects.

I was asked to use alot of colour and I focus on diffrent of discussion topics included in the handbook. So I made these series of illustrations focused around diffrent "clouds" of speach bubbles, thoughts, opinos and questions. I scanned alot of aquarell textures that I used for the coloured segments to get a more flowing and organic feeling to the illustrations.

The faces of the characters where suppose to be rather subtle and unrecognizable, there of no eyes and hair.



This last one is the front cover of the handbook, the right side is the front and then it spreads over to the back on the left. Some additional graphics was later added by the layout designer, such as logos and informative texts about the content not seen in this version.

me circa me

Working on a self portrait, probably the first self portrait I've made or well the first I've made without being pushed to make one at school I guess, some 10 years ago. Anyway it's turning out rather nice will post the finished version in a week or so, stay tuned :)

Me and my trusty assistant mr. Lego :) keeping track of all that paperwork on his mini laptop :)