asdescribed

Review of 2009

2009-12-16T14:06:00.003Z

Well its coming to that time of the year when we reflect on all the things that have been happening at Asdescribed towers. We started the year with a new company and hopefully a new way of working, and even though its a difficult economic climate we're still here and things are looking promising into 2010, so keep coming back to the blog to see what projects we've been working on and are planning...

Jim's highlights of the year:
> Starting the company
> Touring overseas with Jon Hopkins, starting with Berlin which was an eye opener through to The Sydney Opera House which was a unique experience!
> The Big Chill - VJ programming and seeing just how hard Adam works (and thats why we love him!)
> Festinho - truely a great community festival and the chance to experiment (headlining with Hopkins to a home crowd)
> Madstock- The peoples edit to be released on DVD next spring
> All the other Madness shoots, including the Camden Crawl.
> Being commissioned by Grasscut to make their AV set, couldn't meet a nicer bunch of gentlemen.
> Vjing with the Bays & Heritage Orchestra at the Tower of London
> Having the first HD documentary released on DVD
> Finishing the year with a well earned 2 week break for the first time in 2 years.

see you in 2010

More Grasscut! - Muppet

2009-12-16T14:02:00.002Z

Yes yes, there's more grasscut up on youtube!

This is the 2nd single off their forthcoming album and is released mid feb 10.

This is a combination of footage from Adam & Jims archive edited with new footage shot during the summer.. Look out for the keyboard smashing scene towards the end :)

Sophia Hurdley's "Callas" at Cloud Dance Festival 2009

2009-12-14T13:12:00.004Z

This was such a lovely project to work on with Sophia, and we were so pleased it was so well recieved by the critics. On the tech side, it was also fantastic to spend some time together with a very good friend Ruari Cormack (Technical Director at Riverside Studios)... see you soon Ruari .. Hoots.!!!

Review by Catherine Hooper

A rare Christmas treat for the audience was the chance to see Sophia Hurdley explore the possibilities of choreography. Previously a dancer with New Adventures, Hurdley has an eye for detail whilst still maintaining a bold and stylised creative approach to the piece as a whole. Whilst currently a work in progress, Callas smoothly blends dance, film projection, as well as drama, promoting Hurdley’s skills with multi-discipline performance. The VT clips act as a vehicle for transporting the audience back to the glamorous era of the late 1950s. By utilising the direct interview by .J Murrow, we meet a personal and self-reflective Sophia Hurdley as Maria Callas. Hurdley not only physically resembles Callas but as the score rouses we can almost see the music running through Hurdley’s veins. The choice to not include singing is not an issue as like Callas, Hurdley breathes the score and the connection with music is what is significant. Passionate and intense, Callas focuses on the legend’s infamous relationships, both with her career and the powerful Aristotle Onassis. An emotional highlight is when we witness Callas watching Onassis embark on his love affair with Jackie Kennedy. As the couple perform a duet, contructed of loving partner work Callas echoes the same choreography with the aid of a solitary chair. As Onassis lifts Jackie, Callas struggles but achieves the effect of mirroring their routine. A powerful glimpse into the obsessive world of Maria Callas. The piece is executed to top quality and it is only in the development of the story that we are aware that Sophia Hurdley is presenting a work in progress. I eagerly await the progression of the piece and the opportunity of gaining an insight into more of the legend’s life.

X Factor - Charity Single

2009-12-14T13:04:00.004Z

We worked for Bluman Associates on the X Factor's Christmas charity appeal single for Great Ormond Street Childrens Hospital.

The setup was was 3 x rear projection screens and broadcast playback decks which can be seen towards the end of the above video.

We were very familar with this song by the end of the day and dissapointed that Stacey didn't win ;)

Hopkins 2009

2009-12-14T12:06:00.003Z

Saturday was the last Hopkins gig of the year over in The Haag at State X Newforms. Other artists that played include Peaches, Battles and Gary Newman.

Its been a fantastic year for Jon, with Jim travelling with him to many of his gigs. Highlights were Berlin back in January, and Playing at The Sydney Opera House as part of Brian Eno's festival.

More dates will appear soon, Columbia for starters in march...

Shhh at Cecil Sharp House

2009-12-14T12:03:00.002Z

On the 23rd January we'll be out in full force...

Our Grasscut set will be on show during their set, and Jim is headlining with Jon Hopkins for the first date of 2010.

Full details of the other artists available from the above link..

Grasscut - Swallow the Day

2009-11-11T14:59:00.000Z

first av video up..

Avant Garde Dance

2009-11-11T14:52:00.003Z

A work in progress....

We're spending some time with Avant Garde Dance at the moment, working towards a project early next year. Last week was spent at Stratford Circus doing some R&D towards a full collaboration. more to come soon.. in the meantime here's some images taken during the time we spent together.

festinho a go go

2009-11-11T14:09:00.004Z

well its been a while since we put anything up, and i guess they'll be a flood of posts in the next day or so..

stretching back to september we installed and ran the AV at the charity festival Festinho. We installed the main stage, cow shed and cinema cottage screens. The cow shed screens were more of a lightbox installation than screens as such, but the feedback was fantastic! Jim played with Jon Hopkins as the headline set on the saturday night and took a good week to recover after :)

We're in the planning stages fro next year, and if your planning to go next year then get your skates on and buy a ticket as we think they will sell out very quickly!

Shlomo glastonbury video diary

2009-08-25T11:24:00.001+01:00

It seems like a long time since Glastonbury!

We've been working on a series of video diaries from Shlomo and his Vocal Orchestra featuring amongst others; Jarvis Cocker, DJ Yoda, Imogen Heap and Marcus Brigstocke. Part 1 has just been put up on youtube, watch out for parts 2-5 in the coming weeks..

For more details on shlomo head over here

Tom Middleton one more tune

2009-08-20T11:53:00.003+01:00

Jim joined Tom Middleton to VJ for his 'One more tune' set at The Big Chill after the success of the 'Summer of Love' set last year.

This year it was in The Coop (club tent) and most of it is available to view at http://www.be-at.tv/#/brands/big-chill/big-chill-2009/big-chill-coop-tent/tom-middleton/

Grasscut at The Big Chill

2009-08-17T16:27:00.005+01:00

We've just got back from The Big Chill Festival where amongst other things, we had the premiere of the new Grasscut AV show which we've been working on for the past few months. We've created a setup which can be setup and operated by the band and is sync'd using specialist av software run by ableton.

They opened the main stage of the festival on the friday to much success after Adam pulled a few all nighters to get the set edited in time.

We'll be continuing work on the set over the next few months in preparation for their album launch early next year.

For more details head over here http://www.myspace.com/grasscutmusic

Tom Middleton

2009-07-04T09:42:00.001+01:00

Tom Middleton
Originally uploaded by Fragz

Just found this link on flickr from Jim's set last year with Tom Middleton...

ravecoreoldskoolavinit!

Australia

2009-07-03T17:07:00.002+01:00

Jim vjing for Jon Hopkins at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Brian Eno curated Festival Luminous which also included this video mapping on the Opera House Sails:

and rather worryingly, this notice on the next door dressing room...

Nike - best in Birmingham

2009-05-20T19:26:00.003+01:00

We've just finished directing a short for Nike which can be seen here

Camden crawl - guardian.co.uk

2009-05-16T17:52:00.007+01:00

here's a link to the edit of Madness at the Camden Crawl on guardian.co.uk

Club transmediale - Berlin Interview

2009-05-16T17:31:00.004+01:00

Jim was interviewed by Daniel McGarry on a very cold evening in January about vjing with Jon Hopkins.

See full report...

Whilst we're on the subject of Mr Hopkins, another date has been confirmed for the bank holiday weekend at The Sugar Club in Dublin,

Australia bound

2009-04-27T13:02:00.003+01:00

Jim's off to the other side of the world in June

Playing at the Sydney Opera House from the 6th-8th as part of the Luminous Festival curated by Brian Eno

madnessdust devil/camden crawl

2009-04-27T12:56:00.003+01:00

We've just got back from following madness round Camden for the day.

We started off at the roundhouse and finished on inverness street with a full on madness concert,

To see 6music's edits pop over here

Adam also spent the evening a few weeks ago filming a behind the scenes doc for their new video dust devil, featuring Jamie Winston & Alfie Allen, up soon on youtube!

Madness & Jon Hopkins

2009-03-21T09:34:00.003Z

Well the 2 madness projects we've been working on have been approved, and we're in the process of grading and preparing the final masters. Hopefully the DVD will be released before the summer.

Jim is heading out to europe with Jon Hopkins in anticipation of his new album 'insides' which is released in May.

He's playing the following dates:
8th April - Domino Festival, Brussels, with Johan Johannson and Fennesz.
10th April - Palace Akropolis, Prague
11th April - Motel Mosaic Festival, Rotterdam
18th April - Ether Festival, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, supporting Plaid

www.jonhopkins.co.uk

more dates to be confirmed soon.

SNOW DAY!

2009-02-02T10:06:00.003Z

well it seems along with the rest of the country, its an official asdescribed snow day!

the asdescribed 4x4 is stuck in brighton, with its operator stuck in a premier bin in croydon with only a gideons bible to read...

the asdescribed cruise mobile is under a foot of snow and is going no where fast...

the first post

2009-01-27T13:31:00.003Z

Asdescribed kicked off on the 1st of January, and we already have some exciting projects booked in for this year.

Adam's working on the AV for the Big Chill, and Jim's editing 2 x HD projects for madness (we filmed at the Hackney Empire for 4 days last year). These are The Greatest Hits show and a "Behind the scenes' documentary for their soon to be released Norton Folgate DVD. The main feature of the DVD is directed by Julian Temple.

more soon..