director paul biedrzycki’s powerful new political documentary the ballot or the bullet just made the cut for this year’s CMJ music festival. it’s a film detailing the political climate surrounding the creation of the new album by long-standing brooklyn rappers, a-alikes and explains the band’s radical stance on america’s recent government overhaul.?the film stars such hip-hop luminaries as chuck d of public enemy and dead prez. included in the film are a series of music videos, one of which we were asked to ‘destroy’ both video + audio for. the end result is what it would be like if you were trying to watch the video using a broken tv and rabbit ear antennae in some forgotten about part of brooklyn.
the above, giant, 3′ x 4′ poster was available exclusively at the protomen’s act II release show last weekend in nashville, TN. we created it with the band as a thank you to fans for making the long trek, as they all did, to see the band perform both their albums back to back in thunderous, conceptual glory. version industries representatives, myself included, attended and helped make sure the performance was recorded both in HD video and with digital still photography. below is a taste of the material we gathered –
you can view the rest of the photographs we took here. you can also expect video footage of the show from us in the coming months. in the meantime check out this incredibly flattering review of the new album by nashville resident?yewknee. a perfect come down to an incredible weekend with our friends in the south.
here’s our poster for the protomen’sact II release show. with two stages, a choir and an orchestra playing both album’s back to back, it’s safe to say you’re missing out if you ain’t going. see you all there. we’ll probably be the ones workin’ whilst you dudes are playin’, though don’t doubt our desire to meet you all and share a few stories. it’ll be our first time in nashville and we’re determined to make it count.
it gives us great pleasure to present the cover for the protomen’s long-awaited second album, act 2 – the father of death. once again a huge thank you to artist john delucca for his stellar draftsmanship. it’s not often you can completely realize a vision, particularly one as vivid and painstakingly detailed as that of the protomen.
we handled all design + layout duties on this project and created the 24 page booklet that comes with the cd. if you are a fan of the film-makers john carpenter, walter hill, sergio leone, ridley scott and james cameron, then this record is for you. for all involved it was an exercise in bringing together every element of the toughest cinematic experiences out there and melding it into an audio-visual experience of the most unique and powerful caliber.
the record is out on september 8th, but you can preorder it now either at zambooie or on amazon. for more information about this and the forthcoming release show, check out the band’s news page.
overall it’s extremely satisfying working with a band like the protomen. particularly when after years of collaboration they still manage to enlighten and inspire with the consistent quality of their musical output.
here, complete with flash design by us, is the first fully mixed and mastered track from the protomen’s forthcoming new album, act II –
lucky pierre music just emerged again for the first time in 5 years. the last time it was around we were just fans of the music they had under their umbrella, this time we had a small hand in heralding their return.
so what’s the story? well, where to even start?
back when everything seemed to matter more, everyone at (v) got into a band called PRICK. we found the band originally because they were on nothing records, like so many other great bands back then. however what made PRICK particularly unique were the unusually crazed vocals and complex lyrical play of their mastermind, kevin mcmahon. a man, we soon discovered, that had a much larger and even more remarkable musical body of work than we could have imagined. with record releases dating back to the late 1970s, it turns out kevin’s musical scope and lyrical imagination was simply vast. in fact so beguiling and intriguing was it, that we flew from london in 2003 to see a rare performance by PRICK in their home town. since then have devoured every rare recording, morsel of news and rumor surrounding kevin’s extremely sparse and mysterious output of work. nothing like being into a cult band that always delivers, huh.
long story short, that was 6 years ago. today version industries are very proud to present the online music store for the entirety if kevin mcmahon’s body of work spanning from the late 70s to the present day, be it PRICK, lucky pierre, (sic) or fear of blue :
customized, reskinned and built with love for a guy who’s work’s kept us company in the studio since the very beginning, we hope you enjoy digging around and taking a good listen to the samples you find. we’ve gone to great lengths to ensure you can get the music in mp3 and FLAC as well as obtain physical copies of the releases. it should be a treat for newcomers and older fans alike.
before you do that though, take a listen to this song:
don’t say maybe, (lucky pierre, late 70s)
and watch this video:
attitude from poortraits of thinking (released 2010)
both should give you a good idea of what it is we do so love about this man’s work. there really is nothing quite like it in the grand scheme of things. enjoy.
we are proud to present the logo for the protomen’s forthcoming sophomore release, act 2. a limited run of t-shirts bearing this new emblem just sold out at their recent bonnaroo ’09 festival performance. stay tuned to the band’s online merch store at zambooie for a forthcoming new run of these shirts and more. in the meantime, check out the animated version that was projected above the band during their bonnaroo showcase:
mellowdrone’s second album angry bear went on sale today from their label, coming home records. as previously reported, we were responsible for the artwork for both the CD and the vinyl. you can view the front and back cover on our website now in the printwork section. fan of the band or otherwise, we hope you enjoy the work. though we must stress, the images won’t really come alive until you’ve heard the music and understood why you are seeing what you are seeing.
david carson has posted a link to our recent article about design and advertising on his own website. we feel vindicated (to say the least) to have received this kind of acknowledgement of our point of view.
