I was going to see this spectacle live at the Gothenburg Film Festival but spaced out (or time traveled as I call it) after having two beers(!) and missed it. Must be the age… Anyhow, the concept was so awesome that I went straight home to google it. Nils Berg Cinemascope is a band that plays along with their favorite Youtube clips of people playing instruments. “This is the smallest band with the biggest opportunities”, as they describe themselves on their home page. The band consists of Nils Berg (woodwinds/electronics), Josef Kallerdahl (bass), Christopher Cantillo (drums). And I’m supposed to give photographer Miki Anagrius credit for the still image.

I noticed that nobody is credited for mixing (or cueing) the videos. What’s up with that? It’s a pretty essential part of the performance. And maybe that part could be done a little bit better. But even if so, it’s a bit charming that they project on a bed sheet and that they probably are using a very simple (and unexact) way of trigging the video clips.

[Edit:] Nils Berg Cinemascope has now joined the Swedish VJ Union. It’s fun to get an audiovisual act that also is more a than v. Here is their profile page.

I’ve been mailing back and forth with my buddy Leo Hallin a.k.a. Leolyxxx during 2009. Leo is a talented illustrator who recently transfered in to the animation scene. He has done some remarkable animations together with fellow artist Finsta. Their animation “Bollen” has reached +15k hits on Vimeo. Leo has talked to me about using his animations for live visuals and he recently took one step closer by making this really nice loop for O-Baren, a popular Stockholm bar.

Even though he has a simple style, he has to work hard to create many clips. The way he makes them he could easily transcend from one clip to another with his own animated transition effects. His figure-ground work is also amazing. I’d love to see leo taking the plunge and mixing his animations live in 2010!

Check out Leo’s homepage.