Thinkhouse OLD BLOG

Tune of the week 20

2009-07-06T13:33:00.002+01:00

Our 20th TOTW and it's going up late, what a letdown for all our faithful readers who tune in every Friday for a bit of a weekend warm up, sincerest apologies to you. We have a very special treat for you to make up for it though, it's Thinkhouse's very own James O'Neill and Bitches with Wolves with their future smash hit single... Tip Of My Tongue.
Catch BWW at Oxegen this Saturday in the dance tent at 2.45pm.

Bitches With Wolves - Tip Of My Tongue

Sport scores despite the recession

2009-07-03T12:22:00.004+01:00

Sports nut and Thinkhouse Director David Coyle jotted a few words on sports and sponsorship for Marketing Magazine last month, here is a little snippet...

Brian O’Driscoll lifting the cup celebrating Ireland’s 6 Nations win against Wales marked the end of the recession in Ireland. Leinster’s recent win against Leicester to become Heineken Cup Champions surely marks the beginning of Celtic Tiger Part II? Well, ok, that’s a stretch – but rugby is going some way to give Irish sports fans a form of escapism they so desperately need when times are tough.

Remarkably, despite the economic climate, big brands are spending big money on rubbing shoulders with some of the best sporting teams and individuals in the world. Major visible deals like Leinster’s sponsorship of Bank of Ireland are supplemented with a number of additional off-the-pitch sponsorship deals that stack up to make sport the business to be in. It’s not just teams that are cashing in. Ireland’s rugby stars are individually benefiting from brands that want to be associated with winners. Brian O’Driscoll has deals with among others Gillette, Paul O’Connell with O2 while the younger generation of players such as Rob Kearney have deals with brands Nike, Audi and Glanbia Nutritionals.

Read the rest over here.

'Erbs'

2009-07-01T16:40:00.004+01:00

One week into Thinkhouse’s herbalicious garden of joy and it's going from strength to strength. Having spotted our Twitter post, the very kind people at www.livingflavour.com were generous enough to drop in a few extras for us including some lettuce which went down a storm earlier on some team sambos. We have mint aplenty too so we are currently researching the best Mojito recipe for our next agency BBQ. We are still figuring out what to do with all the parsley in the center which is certainly holding its own against the neighboring coriander. Meanwhile the chives are bringing up the rear while our many cabbages are no doubt just as stumped as to their purpose as we are. Stay tuned for some more updates and recipes as the summer progresses.

Festival fierce

2009-06-30T15:33:00.008+01:00

Festival season has well and truly arrived. To celebrate we’ve compiled two looks to ensure that festival goers stay ahead of the fash pack in those fields. Here’s some hot picks below.

Women
It’s all about toughening up the aesthetic. Get rocking with a studded biker jacket (Religion is your high street go-to) and team with a pair of patent leggings, perfect for wiping off ‘unwanted’ spills. Hunter Wellingtons are a festival staple and this season they’ve gone utilitarian with hard as nails lace up, boots. Team with a bright graphic tee and pair of statement sunglasses (found on eBay.ie) and you are good to go.

Men
Menswear is the opposite to womenswear. Go laidback with vintage 501’s transformed into rolled up shorts, we also found these on eBay.ie . Denim on denim is huge once again, so channel your inner Bruce Springsteen and whack on a vintage sleeveless denim jacket and a graphic tank, such as this Religion one. Accessorise with a bomb pair of shades, like these Zanzan’s from farfetch.com and some Doc’s and you’ll be doing more than just dancing in those fields.

Dear Setanta Claus

2009-06-29T10:09:00.003+01:00

Please please can we have our Barclays Premier League coverage back …..sniff sniff

It seems like only yesterday that Leonard Ryan and Michael O’Rourke launched Setanta back in 1990. The story of the two wise guys charging £10 each to see the Ireland Holland world cup game in an Irish dance hall because UK broadcasters wouldn’t brings a patriotic tear to the eye.

Sadly our friends had to announce this week that the premiership coverage will go to those crazy yanks – ESPN. For Setanta Sports News, a nine-minute greatest hits compilation preceded the big turn-off. Viewers of Setanta Sports 1 got the same result, without the fanfare.

A minute's silence, please, for a departed friend.

Tune of the week 19

2009-06-26T17:08:00.001+01:00

This weeks selection is from the highly anticipated Gossip album which according to some in the office is as you would expect... not as good as the first. Seriously though, how can you follow up 'Standing in the way of control'? Well this is a start.
The Gossip - Heavy Cross

The magnificent 7

2009-06-26T14:02:00.002+01:00

On the eve of tomorrows second test in South Africa we are delighted to get Rob Kearney latest diary entry- “Well it’s been worth waiting for as they say; I’m absolutely delighted to be starting on Saturday in my preferred position – 15!”

We’re sure there are many delighted fans too Rob….!

So tomorrow will surely be another bout of blood sweat and hopefully not tears in the hostile arena that is - Loftus Versfield, Petoria… Rob may fear not though as he will have six more of his Irish compadres on board to cool any nerves. You have to go back to the 1938 Lion tour for the last time there was so many Irish out in force on the tour.

This is a game that the Lions just can’t lose or the series is out the window and It’s fantastic to see so much faith placed with so many Irish grand slammers and this surely really underlines the strength of Irish rugby which has been tirelessly documented already. Irish eyes will have more of an incentive to watch tomorrow and there’s a feeling that Rob’s siege-gun left boot will flourish at high altitude and give us the edge… that we have no doubt!

Check out his latest Provon Revive diary entry to find out what went down behind the scenes this week…

Music and apps

2009-06-26T10:42:00.004+01:00

Thinkhouse's Matt with his favourite audio interface

Techno God Richie Hawtin is quoted at a recent music conference as saying that music is no longer to be thought of as a CD or an MP3, but an experience. More and more artists and labels are getting their heads around this and coming up with other ways to enhance that experience, at live shows it's through interactivity or boundary pushing stage shows like Nine Inch Nail's interactive stage. In retail there is big business in DVDs with premium content and hidden extras. Online and on mobile is where there is some real magic going on, magic you can put in the palm of your hand, through the power of ever more exciting apps. We picked a few of our favorites and stuck em' below.

Starting with Cold War Kids' live video mixer that lets you control the arrangement of pre-recorded loops in their recent music video. Lots of fun.
- Cold War Kids interactive music vid

We talked about the iDaft earlier here but it is also available (and highly fun/annoying depending on who is in control!) for the iPhone.
- The iDaft online and for iPhone

This first generation drum machine suffers from a bit of latency but looks the business.
-Ron Winter's Drums

Taking it to the next level though is electronic music label Mobilee who have come up with a pretty nifty DJ app. This might not look like much to the non DJ but it basically lets you mix records just like a DJ would in a club, on your iPhone. Read about it here - get the app here.

So that last one lets you mix tracks together; breaking it down even further though, Diplo and Switch's Major Lazer have teamed up with iZoetope to create a special edition drum machine app featuring loops and beats from their singles allowing you to remix them how you like. Definitely a fun and creative way to kill time on those bus journeys, it's free too.
Details are here - grab the app here.

Not to be outdone by the serious techno labels and hipster DJs, delicious meat alternative Quorn have their own music making software up on quornmix.com. It’s aimed at school kids so don’t expect too serious a setup but the prize of a mini-bus is pretty meaty.

Ham Sandwich at Tower Records

2009-06-25T13:24:00.006+01:00

We grabbed some footage of the recent Sparks N' Mind release gig down at Tower Live, Ham Sandwich performed a few tracks including their cover of Stay by Shakespeare's Sister which featured on the album. It's up on Tower's Muzu channel alongside a few other classic performances. Check it out below. For more info on Tower Records instores and special offers, visit www.facebook.com/towerrecords.

Tower Records - Ham Sandwich - Stay on MUZU.

Green fingers

2009-06-24T17:15:00.002+01:00

Following the dramatic change in weather patterns, Thinkhouse has decided on a change in company direction. It’s no secret that the organic vegetable trade is a lucrative one so with our sunny aspect and vast storage space we have decided to step into the market.
So - as of today we are no longer Thinkhouse PR - but Thinkhouse Organics. Our computers have been hollowed out and turned into fetching post modern planters and the board room is now a home to rakes, hoes and a supply of compost.

Ok, so we are a little late for an April fool but we are pretty excited by our latest development in THHQ – a brand new herb garden! Here is the before and after.
So far we have rosemary, basil, parsley, some cabbage!, thyme and chives, if anyone any any pointers for us please leave them in the comments below, we are new to this game.

Hard at work

The end result

Forget everything you know about Vampires…

2009-06-23T15:42:00.006+01:00

Dracula is a thing of the past, a new breed of Vampires live among us and are accepted by the living. Such is the scenario in True Blood, the latest HBO series to generate buzz on this side of the pond. To publicise the second series in the US, Digital Kitchen came up with the interesting concept of creating ads on actual ad sites using real life brands… targeted to vampires. They also created a series of virals featuring vampire attacks and news stories. Irish viewers will have to wait a while to watch the show on TV but it looks like Channel 4 has already signed up for the rights. The hit show also features possibly the coolest opening credits ever seen.

That's So-nar

2009-06-23T12:59:00.003+01:00

ireland's Mano and Ruari at the Sonar Dome

Two of our Thinkers were lucky enough to make a trip to Sonar over the weekend. It wasn’t all dancing in the sunshine though (although that was a major part!) as there were some interesting talks taking place too as part of Digital Music 2.0 organised by Business Development Service (SDE) of the Catalan Institute of Cultural Industries (ICIC) in association with Sonar. The conference looked at alternative ways the music industry can survive given the slow rate of growth of digital music sales in comparison to the dramatic fall in traditional income from the sales of physical units. Andrea and Chewy listened to Jack Horner of Frukt Music and Ben Turner of Graphite Media speak on ‘the exploitation of music brands’, a very interesting look at the best practices when aligning musicians and music brands with consumer brands and how the merging of the two doesn’t have to mean a loss of artistic integrity if done in the right way.

Earlier in the day the very colorful (read pink) Mark Jones of Wall of Sound was joined by Niels Traedon of Live Nation to discuss ways on increasing income sources from live music. It’s evident that adding value to musical experiences is key and how new strategies are being taken by the mammoth Live Nation to add layers to the old school ticketing model previously adhered to by the brand. Mark Jones provided the artists perspective of the changes taking place in the live music model.

Musically Carl Craig and Erol Alkan’s Disco 3000 stole the show as well as one James Pants from Ed Banger. There was definitely a smaller Irish contingent over this year but with Mano le Tough and Ruari D from Gaillimh on the bill at the Sonar Dome as part of the Red Bull Music Academy, you couldn’t keep us down. Also in attendance were team Bodytonic who we had a good old catch up with in the sun.

Tune of the week 19

2009-06-22T17:27:00.002+01:00

We love bowties in Thinkhouse, in fact we love anything with a bow. This week’s tune of the week comes from Janelle Monae a fellow bow enthusiast, we have in fact yet to find a snap of her without one. Janelle was a musical theatre song bird before she fell under the wing of a certain PDiddy and has been flying high ever since. This video for Sincerely Jane is a bit shoddy quality but you get the point. To hear the track sans background noise check out the track on Nialler9 he gave us the tip.

Nike gets all Pink Panther on us

2009-06-16T10:22:00.003+01:00

Following a week where 90million Euro’s worth of Ronaldo met Paris - and we all died a little inside, it’s a relief to find that there is still glimpses of depth and personality within the beautiful game…. One in particular is that cheeky little Gallic chappy – Frank Ribery.

The gifted Bayern Munich dribbler is one of a kind, seldom has there been a player who has taken to the European stage like Ribery. The player is admired universally for his behaviour on and off the pitch and the perfect personality for a brand to get creative with.

Nike and Adidas have been battling it out for some time now with their quirky football virals but this find has to be one of the best. To celebrate the controversial new, rather fetching PINK Mercurial Vapor Rosa kicks, Nike join hands with Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam to pay tribute to the iconic Pink Panther with a new video starring the mercurial Franky boy , check it out…. Maybe pink is the new black, hope not!

Tune of the week 18

2009-06-12T17:50:00.004+01:00

Fresh from a liitle trip to the White Isle, 2 of our Thinkers have been raving about this old Hed Kandi hit from Soulsearcher. Quite the anthem it seems, well we couldn't begrudge them their bliss so have instead embraced the happiness that is 'Feelin' Love.' Couldn't find a decent video though so this will have to make do.

Soulsearcher - Feelin' Love

The future is now

2009-06-10T16:35:00.006+01:00

It seems like every week a new technology comes out that makes us feel all 5th Element. Although in the latest case it actually makes us feel all Minority Report. Its' augmented reality and it's changing the way marketeers and advertisers think.

We aren't going to try and explain the technology here, you can learn about that elsewhere, but basically the technology allows computer graphics to be blended with real footage in real time. So by holding a tag in front of a webcam you can literally watch the tag come to life in an explosion of graphics in front of your very eyes. It has already been used on the LCD advertising screens found at London's tube stops and is set to start appearing a lot more over the next few months. Words really can't do this justice so check it out for yourself over here and keep an eye out for the latest edition of Popular Science magazine with its AR cover.

Scott Mills - the user generated musical.

2009-06-10T10:20:00.002+01:00

BBC Radio One has always been an innovator, its music policy ensures that all the smallest niches are catered for (even more so with 1extra) and its ability to have a laugh while still being a serious musical pioneer is truly laudable. Their latest jaunt into interactivity sees them producing a crowd sourced musical based (loosely) on the life of its drive time DJ, Scott Mills. It is currently under development by fans of the show submitting ideas via twitter, email and the purpose built blog (fans are being kept up to date via the same means). So far there are 13 songs submitted as well as some pretty impressive story lines. A truly great example of crowd sourcing and surly the ultimate in user generated content. Keep an eye on progress here.

Dunne and nearly dusted

2009-06-09T10:48:00.003+01:00

We won’t mention any names but a few people in the office had written off any hope of a result for the boys in green in Sofia at the weekend.

Not a great game by all accounts but it was a draw (1-1) that strangely felt more like a victory, edging us closer to good times in South Africa. An awesome performance and a goal from Richie Dunne (pictured), gave us a well deserved point in the Vasilij Levski Stadium. The big man could well have been mistaken for a young Niall Quinn the way he rose like a salmon for the first goal…. such a shame Zinedine Kilbane was caught napping for the equalizer from the Bulgarians.

International rookie and purveyor of the finest London accent this side of the Irish Sea - Sean St Ledger was a rock in the defence whilst other stand out performers included Caleb Folan and that Waterford wise guy John O’Shea.

Italy visit Croke Park in October, could it be that we seal qualification for the world cup finals by defeating the Trap’s own countrymen, tickets can be found here , go on - do it!

A little Twitter bother

2009-06-09T10:00:00.014+01:00

Twitter has been forced to take action due to the barrage of complaints received about fake accounts in celebrities names. This has been a bit of a headache for the service provider and they plan to test a verification system this Summer according to the Daily Online Examiner yesterday. Faux stars on twitter include William Shatner, Megan Fox, Cheryl Cole and the Dalai Lama. Kanye West, ever outspoken, hit the caps lock and went let loose on his blog a couple of weeks ago about the problemo - see that rant right here.

The debate is whether twitter is liable for enabling the infringement of celebrities trademarks and they are potentially looking down the barrel of a number of big old libel and copyright infringement lawsuits. It's not to be forgotten however that Twitter is a great little tool and celebs like MC Hammer, Diddy and Ashton Kutcher have exploited it no end, so hopefully the law won't defeat the tweet and we can all live in twitter peace. Here at Thinkhouse HQ we just follow the celebs that are mates with Stephen Fry because as everybody knows, nothing gets past Stephen Fry. Ever.

Tune of the Week 17

2009-06-08T11:13:00.002+01:00

Such was the drama in choosing our latest 'Tune of the week' that we are only getting round to posting it now. We had 3 big players in the running, two of which have been relegated to that 'another week' pile, no doubt to be forgotten about forever more.

On to the winner though, it's Passion Pit's Sleepy Head. Passion Pit released their first EP last year but are certainly seeing a little more action thanks to the current trend of cosmic sounding, trippy, dance floor friendly electronica (see also MGMT and Empire of the Sun)so currently in vogue. Interestingly enough this track contains a sample of an old traditional Irish song called 'Oro Mo Bhaidin', this version by Mary O'Hara.

Check out the interview with lead man Michael Angelakos over on state.ie here. Passion Pit play Oxegen on the 10th July.

Ham Sandwich & Le Galaxie Gig In Tower Records

2009-06-08T10:33:00.008+01:00

The good people at Tower Records in Wicklow Street are serving up Ham Sandwich for lunch and Le Galaxie for afters (in musical form) on Thursday June 11th for the launch of the Sparks N’ Mind compilation album which is all in aid of Irish voluntary charity Aware. The album is crammed with some cracking cover versions of songs that have inspired the crème de la crème of our little island’s talent to begin their creative journey on that busy road of musical magic. Bands that feature on the album are Bell X1, Republic of Loose, Lisa Hannigan, Cowboy X, Damien Dempsey and The Flaws to name a few. The gig kicks off at 1pm with Ham Sandwich and Le Galaxie thrashing out the tunes later on at 5pm. Pop over to Tower Records and befriend Tower Records Ireland on facebook for further info and updates!

Real life flash mobs

2009-06-03T10:52:00.006+01:00

Now that marketeers have hi-jacked flash-mobs, it's great to see something as real as this video shot at the Sasquatch Festival recently. What starts out as a girl just filming a man's 'funny dancing', turns into a somehow slightly moving piece of footage of carefree human spirit... or maybe we are just reading too much into this.

Gig of a Friday

2009-06-02T17:37:00.004+01:00

This Friday Kormac takes over the Twisted Pepper for the second of his Bakesale gigs featuring the one and only DJ Yoda while the A$$QUAKE crew do their thing in the basement.
DJ Yoda has been pushing the boundaries of traditional DJ-ing since his first ‘How to Cut & Paste’ compilation a few years ago. That series saw him splicing samples and tracks at a ferocious rate to create high octane and often funny mixtapes, the latest of which, the ‘Country & Western Edition', features the likes of Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers … over breakbeats.

Yoda also pioneered his own style of VJ-ing, which sees him scratching and cutting up DVDs in much the same way he would a record in a DJ battle. Looks a lot better than it sounds in type, trust us. Just imagine a 24 foot screen with clips of The Muppets, Full Metal Jacket and Michael Jackson videos being scratched in time to a killer soundtrack.

A crumby video of Yoda in action

The night is hosted by local hero Kormac whose own show is quite the spectacle too, check out his recent Bodytonic podcast for a taster, it features some of his work recorded with full band. It’s 30s and forties swing influenced dance music for the 21st century. Sounds weird but it really works.
Check out Yoda on myspace here.
Check out Kormacs podcast on the Bodytonic website here.
Bonus -Yoda's 'How to Cut & Paste - Country & Western Edition'

Dublin Streets Connect

2009-05-29T13:47:00.003+01:00

Thinkhouser's Matt and Andrea obviously thought they were gas when talking about their baby 'Dublin Streets' at a Connector Tribes event last night

Tune of the Week 16

2009-05-29T11:31:00.001+01:00

Boratto’s Bliss…
Every once in a while, a song comes along and gives you a touch of the butterflies….. Gui Boratto's 'Beautiful Life' is one of those songs, it’s the kind of metronomic beat that's as much pure pop as it is electronic.
Think synthesizers, think euphoric moments at festivals, think a crescendo of melodic waves accompanied by a pint of cider on ice…
A clear winner of tune of the week and we think it’s the perfect song to kick start what may well be the best bank holiday of sunshine ever… mmmm where’s that repeat button again?