Video for Berry Weight's "Equations" which features vocalist Astrid Engberg.

The track is featured on their album Music for Imaginary Movies which is out now.

www.berryweight.com | MySpace | Twitter | SoundCloud

You can listen to the full LP here

When a sniper guns down 14 pedestrians at random on the streets of New York City, cop with a troubled personal life, Peter Nicholas, is up for the job of reasoning with him. Though he doesn’t manage to talk him down from his killing spot atop the water tower, he does elicit a reason from him before he throws himself to his death. As Nicholas investigates further killings across the city it becomes apparent that something connects them all; the killer’s dying confessions reveal that “God told me to.” As the investigation takes shape, the common ground for each killer is having met an elusive long-haired stranger shortly before their crimes, but who is this ubiquitous being and what will Detective Nicholas’s connection to them be? Find out in Larry Cohen’s genre-busting cult classic.

New York City in the 70’s had a tendency to be portrayed in the movies and the seemingly endless cop shows of the same era as the perfect site of public paranoia; a sprawling concrete metropolis breeding suspicion and uncertainty where anything could be possible, and usually was, egged on by the media to fuel the almost palpable air of unrest that floated around the dirty streets. Writer/director Larry Cohen’s God Told Me To is certainly no exception and exploits this feeling well with his bizarre mix of the strange and the serious in this detective/mystery/horror/sci-fi hybrid that is as compelling as it is peculiar.

God Told Me To, despite being a mixed bag generically, belongs for the most part, particularly tonally, to the detective/mystery genres. With the opening scenes of a nauseatingly claustrophobic New York, our troubled detective has to act fast when a sniper opens fire, causing hysteria in the streets below. Reminiscent of the earlier Dirty Harry, God Told Me To uses the detective figure as an urban hero, combating one of the city’s most feared attackers; the sniper. This kind of crime perfectly utilises the self-perpetuating urban fear; a crime which preys on the city but which the city conversely and simultaneously conceals in safety. And if you are thinking there’s nothing too strange or unusual about this, well then you’d be right, but it is as the investigation gets underway that we gain the bizarre turn that has earned Cohen (Q The Winged Serpent and It’s Alive!) his rightful cult status.

Indeed, it’s only as the story develops that the bizarre horror/sci-fi elements begin to enter the arena. As we learn more about the tangled personal life of our hero, of his devout Catholicism, the parallel mystery similarly unravels. But don’t be fooled by Cohen’s crazy generic mix for it masks some grave undertones. There are some serious and still very relevant ideas about religion at play here, which helps to make this film timeless. Cohen presents some surprisingly open ideas about religion which won’t be to everyone’s taste; “You got all the blessing’s who needs religion?!” points to a false and almost greedy human search in desperation for a higher power which, as Cohen rather aptly presents, won’t necessarily be a good one.

Whilst there is some bloodshed in this film it is more a horror of ideas with some creepy and genuinely unpleasant and difficult scenes made only the more so as it is so plausible. As we discover that religion has a hand in the city hiding something more deadly, invested with the power of destruction more precise than a sniper, it is truly chilling. It is an idea even more relevant now than when Cohen wrote it; that the more modernised society becomes the more we search for some lost meaning and the more we open ourselves up to religion, fanaticism and the need to feel the presence of a deity to restore the human purpose (it is no accident that the sniper opens fire above the icon of modern American consumerism that is Bloomingdales). But fear not, if this all sounds a little heavy you can still relax and enjoy the bizarre story, direction and generic mix that make it peculiarly entertaining as this, after all, is what makes this a Cohen Classic; a strange film with intelligent undertones, and who can say fairer than that?

Part warning for modern society, part bizarre generic mix, but all-round Cult Classic.

Beautiful aesthetics are for life, not just for Valentine's Day. But on this annual celebration of love, BoConcept will assure it's at least not good design for which you pine. In matters of the art, it's passion and persistence which fuel their mission to bring the philosophy of beautifully modern design to the urban-minded shopper. 

It will be a stylish marriage for couples looking sweet upon the Terni Love Seat, but for the close comfort of affectionate relaxation, the Lugo Lounging sofa will serve you well. But you needn't follow heart over head when pursuing the object of your design-hungry affections, as BoConcept's highly customisable modular seating units, such as the Como sofa, offer personal lifestyle solutions to suit.

If you're feeling more like spreading the love to a wider social circle of deserving design aficionados, a selection of Veneto chairs will show your warmth through hot aesthetics. But who says you need to be selfless with the love on Valentine's Day? Show some amor to the one you adore with the deliciously selfish contemporary treat that is the strikingly curvaceous Imola armchair.

But if your heart is bigger than your pocket or you simply want to accentuate a room with a lighter stance on the romance, BoConcept offer some beautifully subtle accessories that will still show that love is definitely still in the air.

For celebration of the inspiration of seductive modern design, cast your eyes over the BoConcept 2010 Digital Catalogue.

BoConcept

New York inhabitants seeking to extend their filmic Japanorama need look no further than the Japan Society's upcoming screening of Kenji Misumi's 1962 breakthrough film, Destiny's Son (Kiru.)

Forming part of their Monthly Classic Series, The Double-Edged Sword: The Chambara Films of Shintaro Katsu and Ichikawa Raizo, Destiny's Son sees Misumi (Zatoichi, Lone Wolf and Cub) set the formidable Raizo Ichikawa on a visually stylistic journey of revenge and redemption. 

Destiny's Son screens Friday Feb. 19th at 7.30pm.

See Japan Society for tickets and more info. on current and upcoming events.

When writer-director Jim Groom conceived the idea for an unrelated follow-up project to his underrated 1992 comedy-horror, Revenge of Billy the Kid, little could he have predicted the series of unfortunate events that would set the project back a testing 11 years. But persistence and unfaltering willpower paid off as, with several years now elapsed since Room 36's inception and 2005 theatrical release, this labour of love has finally seen the light of its DVD release day. 

In addition to the smart Brit comedy/noir thriller feature that pitches a chain of unsavoury events in a suitably seedy setting, the DVD comes fully equipped with bonus features that will delight wannabe-filmmakers and those with an interest in the machinations of the industry. On top of trailers and deleted scenes, you'll find a 9-minute featurette on the gross-out, bestiality comedy film extraordinaire, Revenge of Billy the Kid and a feature-length documentary, 11 Years in the Making, which follows the trials and tribulations of the titular feature. 

Affectionately sub-headed The Most Informative Documentary On How NOT To Make An Independent Feature Film, 11 Years is an eye-opening and invaluable watch not only for those who've been following this epic release, but also for those with an interest in embarking upon independent film production themselves. 

Available now from Amazon UK and other quality retailers.

Functionalist design-hunters with an eye for the craftily scholastic pieces of Formes Scandinaves can, for a starting price of £7,633, furnish their lives with this classic contemporaneity by Poul Kjærholm. Introduced by iconic Danish furniture design company Fritz Hansen in 1958, the PK31 Easy Chair is a free-standing integration of comfort and artistic conception met with leather and a matt chromed sprung steel base. Leather is available in a choice of seven colours. 

Available at Nest

Via: Retro To Go

Concept: freedom; realisation: space-egg.

When faced with the limitations of building regulations concerning house extension, dmvA Architects hatched a unique solution; the hard boiled egg-like structure that is Blob VB3. This mobile/art construction is the product of 18-months work of skirting around strict building codes, with the result a polyester ovate spheroid of highly flexible, mobile usage. At 20m2 and containing all relevant necessities for occasional human habitation (bathroom, kitchen, lighting, bed and storage,) Blob VB3 is ideal as an office, guest house or simply a nucleal retreat. The rovin' ovum is currently on exhibition at the Verbeke Foundation.

Have a peek at the construction on our Tumblr.

Via: CubeMe

If you've been wondering what's next on Sony Ericsson's agenda for release from their "communication entertainment" portfolio, wonder no more, for the first quarter of 2010 will bring their new Vivaz handset to the market. 

The Vivaz promises HD video capture and direct upload via pre-loaded applications for the shoot-and-share generation, coupled with the 'human curvature' ergonomics introduced with the Xperia X10. Operating on the Symbian S60 5th edition system and featuring an 8.1-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi connectivity, Media Player and 3.2-inch wide touchscreen, the Vivaz aims to offer an intuitive and spontaneous user experience. The handset will be coming to you in four out of this world colour options - Moon Silver, Cosmic Black, Galaxy Blue and Venus Ruby.

Check out LateMag's Tumblr for Sony Ericsson's Daniel Sandblom giving a video presentation on the Vivaz. 

Sony Ericsson has garnered quite a reputation over recent years for successfully cornering the snap-happy handset market, upping the Megapixel stakes with enough regularity to stay top of the game. Unsurprising, then, that their new Satio model is packing quite the shutter-punch of a massive 12.1-MP. However, this megapixel mammoth expands mere cameraphone kudos with its smartphone multi-media functionality running on the Symbian S60 OS. But does Sony Ericsson’s much-anticipated market competitor live up to the hype or is it just a pretty interface? 

Hands-On And Aesthetics

When you initially handle this surprisingly lightweight model you might well be of the thinking that the overall feel is somewhat marred by the slight extra bulk of the camera. However, as we shall come to see, once you’ve got to grips with testing out the camera functionality all will be forgiven. The 3.5-inch touchscreen is aided only by the call, end and menu hard keys on the upper face, with the sliding keylock, connector and camera control buttons located to either side. All this culminates in the Satio being a pleasingly clean and minimal handset to hold and behold. 

Usability And Functionality

The sliding lock mechanism and resistive touchscreen may be a little trying on the patience of some people who are accustomed to other methods, however, this issue is really one of personal preference. For me, even with my low-level patience, I still prefer to press with intent rather than deal with the hyper-sensitive capacitive option which I find can be massively aggravating when it takes it upon itself to do what you’ve not asked it to do, particularly when you’re in the middle of something else. Similarly, the lock mechanism is actually pretty handy once you’ve learnt to pay attention to it, especially when dealing with almost entirely touch-sensitive commands. If you’ve got sausages for fingers and are worried about getting your digits round the digits, fear not for the stylus is on hand to aid your dexterity.

Once on the home screen, several major feature icons help you access the main functions, so making your way around the handset is pretty self-explanatory. Basic phone functions are easy to use, although lack of hard QWERTY keyboard may take some getting used to if you’re not touchscreen familiar. 

Multi-media functionality is good, thanks largely to the 16:9 screen which makes viewing a pleasurable breeze. Likewise the net, accessed via Wi-Fi, is pretty speedy and when you tilt to widescreen it’s a lot less straining to scan. Movies can be downloaded at Sony Ericsson’s PlayNow arena, and if the demo video quality is anything to go by the resolution is high enough for excellent quality entertainment on the go. Musically, the downside is the lack of 3.5mm headphone jack, although Sony Ericsson fans will know that traditionally, if you’ve opted for the cameraphone, that’ll take precedence over Walkman functionality (their W series has that covered.)With an adaptor, though, you’ll be able to enjoy the FM radio, TrackID and player shuffle capabilities. (Point to note here, though, is that onboard memory is not massive at 128MB, although since Sony have done away with their proprietary memory stick in favour of the microSD card format, that’s easily overcome.)

Camera

And so to the Satio’s true selling point, the mighty 12.1MP camera. As a cameraphone, this is where Sony Ericsson is, of course, seeking to take the leading edge over the competition, but how does it actually fare? Really pretty fantastically, actually. Picture quality coupled with camera functionality is as superb as you’d expect from the people who uphold  the reputation for excelling in this particular field. For a handset camera, this is as near as you’ll get to digital quality at the moment. Pics are crispy gorgeous, with truly impressive clarity in the natural light that’ll delight any roaming snap-fanatic (please see my flickr stream of snowy captures as examples.) Uploading is simple via USB connection, and Picasa and Facebook links are already included to directly share your lovely adventures, which you can happily whizz through with the handy scroll function. Indoor pics will appear a little grainy, though, if you’ve not enough natural light, but with the Xenon flash employed to work its magic, this is much improved. 

Whether you are a snap-and-go pro or less sure of finding your way around a high-spec cameraphone, Sony Ericsson has put in massive effort to ensure you have all you need at your fingertips. There is a vast range of features available to help you make the best of your photographic efforts, including Smile Detection for capturing your less miserable friends and BestPic which is ideal for capturing moving objects in quick succession at an interval speed set by yourself so you may pick the best photo, as the title suggests. Panorama, also, is handy for the great outdoors as it will fuse a triptych seamlessly as a single wide photo. Video shoot/playback/upload follows similar lines and a side button gives the option to move easily and quickly between photo and video.

Overview

Despite some minor niggles, much of which can be open to personal preference anyway, the Sony Ericsson Satio really is smartphone/cameraphone combo well worth investing in. Whether or not the Satio will encroach upon the iPhone market really is a moot point when you consider the steadfast brand loyalty. However, for those open to life outside the Apple brand, the Satio, with its superior camera and smartphone capabilities, doubtless has the edge on its rivals, such as the Nokia N97 and Samsung Pixon 12. Absolutely ideal multi-media phone for those who seek the integration of near-digital quality snaps.  

Sony Ericsson Satio

WARNING: may cause addiction.

Today, readers, we shall be dining once more on the audible delicacies of Absolutive Records, for it is clearly the home of delicious aural sustenance. In the mix today to nourish your lovely listeners is 'Fi's Special Recipe For Audio Goodness.' Please wrap your ears around the player below, combining one part Ryan Davis and one part Micromattic in equal measure, simmer gently over your eardrums and serve with lashings of temporal indulgence. The result? Tasty and nutricious!

For those of you who have been paying attention (spanks a lot if not, I do this for you,) this will be your second helping of Micromattic from the table of LateMag, following hot on the heels of the incredible edibles of his debut EP. But for all concerned, this will be your appetiser de Ryan Davis to get the audio juices flowing.

Changing Skies EP, due to be released later this month on Absolutive Records, is the latest output from Ryan; Germany’s previously classical guitar-playing, currently electronic music-producing traveller on a journey through sound. Where will he go? Nobody knows, but much of that will be in the ears and mind of you, the beholder.

On offer for your delectation will be two divine tracks by the man himself, an equally worthy Matho remix plus a predictably beautiful remix by my latest greatest find, the aforementioned Micromattic. So, get yourselves over to BeatsDigital NOW, lest you should go hungry.

Bon appétit, you mucky pups!

myspace.com/ryandavissounds

myspace.com/microwavesounds

myspace.com/absolutiverecords