The first ever artist on Ben Watt’s Buzzin’ Fly Records is the dynamic Parisian duo of Mlle Caro & Franck Garcia. Their album, “Pain Disappears” is a collaborative crossover that brings together alt-pop, electro, and mciro-house sounds that appeals to even newcomers to the genre. They are being compared to Air, Gotan Project, and Fujiya & Miyagi, and while I not intimately familiar with those acts, I was drawn into the unique sounds the full week I had this CD on repeat. Their album drops March 4, 2008, but you can check out their single, “Far Away,” right now.

Whenever I turn on the lamp in my room, it's natural that for my rapacious consumption of the earth's energy to remind me that I am in some way shape or form engaging in gluttonous behavior; seeing as gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins, I am sure to be damned to the netherworld. It's a good thing then that Dutch Architect Luc Merx has designed the Damned MGX, a lampshade composed of algorithmically writhing nudes recalling the classical motif of the Fall of The Damned. That way I can get a full on visual of the place where my conspicuous consumption is taking me every time I pop on my lamp to read Dante's Inferno.

Via Veer: The Skinny

Way back on Valentine's Day of last year the folks at Exopolis warmed the cockles of our hearts with their awesomely sentimental old skool mix tape. Well, now that the Holiday season is upon us, we're not at all surprised that our friends at the LA Based creative studio have come up with a novel approach to the tradition of that which is the Holiday card. Exobotics! allows you to build your own customizable holiday dancing Robot by choosing from a generous array of robot parts. Once you've picked all of your components, hit the go button to bring your robot to life and then watch your creation bust a move like it was auditioning for Breakin' 3 Electric Boogalee. Once you're done enjoying the audition you can spread some holiday joy by sharing some of that robot dance fever to your friends.

Beastieland may sound like an amusement park dedicated to three forty-something white rappers from New York City, but it actually has nothing to do about fighting for your right to party. Beastieland is a comic world, created by Pittsburgh based illustrator Jan Descartes, where Beasties live in perfect disharmony with their irresponsible animal friends who just plain don't give a hoot, creating general havoc and hilarity around the town. What kind of havoc you ask? Only you know for sure, because it's your sick mind that's behind the story. Beastieland's story arc is determined by readers who send in suggestions; making for a truly interactive and gleefully outrageous comic experience. If your urge to control plot doesn't stop at the comic you can set up your own Beastieland at home by purchasing your own stuffed versions of the characters at their Etsy Store.

Early last month we told you about the literally brilliant effects behind light graffiti — a method where artists bomb the environment with colorful traces via flashlights but play the waiting game because they don’t get to see the results until the film is developed — but get this: The art’s not relegated to the street alone. Actually, more precisely, it’s moved countryside. The Brazilian photographer Renan Cepeda used the very same method of long exposure times, reliance on various sources of light and curlicue movements of torches to bring an added dimension to his photos of three generations of a family living in a quilombo community, the Portuguese name for former runaway slave settlements that still exist today in rural parts of Brazil. The photos, currently on display under the name “Vao das Almas” in Sao Paulo at the Pinacoteca until the end of January, are sublime and electric. If you want to see more photos, click on “Pichacoes” under the “Projects” section on Cepeda’s site.

Brazil’s biggest graffiti export, the talented and modest Os Gemeos, are exhibiting their first-ever solo museum show in The Netherlands, called The Flowers in This Garden Were Planted by My Grandparents. Next, they’ll take on the universe. As much as I can tell via the photos from my place that’s unfortunately not in The Netherlands, the work is stellar. See the deal over at our pals at CoolHunting.

Via Cool Hunting.