Alastair Ogle

Top 10 Albums of 2011

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:02:02 +0000

As voted for by me.

1. Radiohead - The King of Limbs

2. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost

3. Bon Iver - Bon Iver

4. The Antlers - Burst Apart

5. Wilco - The Whole Love

6. The Black Keys - El Camino

7. Cameron McGill & What Army - 2011 Is A Beast

8. Metronomy - The English Riviera

9. Atlas Sound - Parallax

10. Other lives - Tamer Animals

Top 10 Albums of 2010

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 14:07:00 +0000

As voted for by me.

1. IRM - Charlotte Gainsbourg

2. Brothers - The Black Keys

3. Oh Heartland, Up Yours! - Owen Pallet

4. Suburbs - Arcade Fire

5. Swim - Caribou

6. Halcyon Digest - Deerhunter

7. I Speak Because I Can - Laura Marling

8. There is Love in You - Four Tet

9. Go - Jonsi

10. Forget - Twin Shadow

A bit of lunchtime photoshop. Coca-cola bubble text. I would...

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 10:51:00 +0100

A bit of lunchtime photoshop.

Coca-cola bubble text.

I would like to say that I was not asked to make this and I didn’t ask permission. I just had a bottle with my lunch while I was working in photoshop.

Busan - Part 2 Our other sights of note were: Haeundae Beach -...

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:19:00 +0100

Busan - Part 2

Our other sights of note were:

Haeundae Beach - Meh. If you are not in the mood to sit around on the beach all day then a beach is just a beach. However it was nice to pop the old feet into The Western Channel/Sea of Japan/Korean Straight or whatever waters it happened to be. Either way, it was waters that these trusty old soles hadn’t touched before.

Busan aquarium - A pretty astonishing aquarium, it lures you into a sense of disappointment as you realise you are coming to the end and then throws you down a tunnel where you are surrounded by sharks, sting rays and other exotic fishes that are best kept behind glass. And yes… I did find Nemo.

Nampo-dong markets - If you want anything without the bright lights or stalking shop assistant, this is the place to come. Just don’t be surprised to find that your Louis Vuitton bag has a suspicious background.

Busan - Part 1 So we have just got back from our little holiday...

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:01:34 +0100

Busan - Part 1

So we have just got back from our little holiday in Busan. Busan is the second largest city in Korea and often touted as the Barcelona of Korea.

Our living quarters were nice however it did appear that it was the type of place that you could rent out by the hour. Late night trips in the elevator were entertaining, a little frightful and educational.

Our first stop was Jagalichi fish market which was both a treat for the eyes and a horror show for the nose. Lots of fish you would like to eat and lots you would run a mile from in live, dead and dried forms.

More updates tomorrow…

Little day trip to a mountain stream.

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:16:10 +0100

Little day trip to a mountain stream.

I seem to be bumping into haunts of my childhood everywhere I...

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:06:15 +0100

I seem to be bumping into haunts of my childhood everywhere I go. First it was Mr. T-800 and now Mr. Alien.

Daegu Part 3 - The fish market.

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:46:41 +0100

Daegu Part 3 - The fish market.

Daegu - Part 2 Another day, another temple. (Well the others...

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:36:00 +0100

Daegu - Part 2

Another day, another temple. (Well the others were palaces but they look the same)

This one, Donghwasa?? was actually much prettier than the palaces in Seoul and surrounded by beautiful mountains. I guess it’s a good idea to put a Buddhist temple in a peaceful place. On our arrival an old man ran up to us clasping pamphlets in English, looking very proud that he got to use them.

That is one thing which still strikes me as odd about Korea. Everyone is Korean. When seeing someone of another race I actually find myself joining in with the Koreans and stopping and staring. It really is a rare sight.

So the temple was good, plenty more for us to visit too.

More updates soon.

Daegu - Part 1 Okay, its been a while since I have posted an...

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 01:17:00 +0100

Daegu - Part 1

Okay, its been a while since I have posted an update, and a long time since there has been any text, so this will have to be in two parts.

First of all here are five facts that I have learnt about Korea.

1. They have a large insect which cries all day and all night.

2. They love their baseball.

3. They believe in ‘fan death’ (which no one else in the world does.)

4. Everyone swims in the sea fully clothed.

5. Fried chicken is extremely popular.

Our time in Daegu has been great and really relaxing. After visiting a few sights we went to a baseball game. The ‘Daegu Samsung Lions v Seoul LG Twins’. They have their own version of the vuvuzela. On entering you are given two blow-up sticks which you bash together to make a clapping sound. I guess it stops your hands from hurting. The atmosphere was great and the sport is nowhere near as boring as I thought it would be, even though it went on for 4 hours. I was also left confused as to the quality of baseball players. Is it usual for people to hit more foul balls than actual hits??? It seems odd to have a game focused on hitting a ball when very few people can actually hit it.

More updates soon…

Day Three Photos Same city, another Palace.

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 18:06:03 +0100

Day Three Photos

Same city, another Palace.

Day Two in Seoul A Palace and the City.

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 16:49:00 +0100

Day Two in Seoul

A Palace and the City.

First Day in Seoul. After a torturous journey from Norwich to...

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:56:00 +0100

First Day in Seoul.

After a torturous journey from Norwich to Seoul we finally made it to our hostel and found some morsels to eat. When I say torturous I only refer to the boring length of time and the fact I managed to burn myself with coffee with 3 hours of flying left to go.

Our initial impressions were confused. “This feels like it could be in Europe.” were our first thoughts, even riding on the underground we were amazed how ‘normal’ everything felt. (Aside from having our photo taken and being laughed/stared at within 30 seconds of getting on there.) However, upon departing the subway station and landing in downtown Seoul the differences became apparent quite quickly. Landmarks are harder to spot when you cant read anything. There are no road names, and a cute alley of shops and restaurants can very quickly turn into the entrance for an office buildings car park. Not being able to communicate is also proving to be a bit of a problem, with my current method of paying for things being just an action of holding out a palm full of money and hoping they only take what they need.

Coming soon… :)

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 21:35:00 +0100

Coming soon… :)

Starting the year off on the right foot. AODL web site updated.

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 13:23:00 +0000

Starting the year off on the right foot.

AODL web site updated.

Top 50 Albums of the 00's

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 17:02:53 +0000

Only one rule - One album per band

1. Kid A – Radiohead 2000
2. Ágætis Byrjun - Sigur Rós 2000
3. Vespertine - Bjork 2001
4. Sea Change - Beck 2002
5. Funeral - Arcade Fire 2004
6. Illinois - Sufjan Stevens 2005
7. Heartbreaker - Ryan Adams 2000
8. Fold Your Hands Child, You walk like a Peasant - Belle and Sebastian 2000
9. Rounds - Four Tet 2003
10. The Campfire Headphase - Boards of Canada 2005

11. You are Free - Cat Power 2003
12. You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine – Death From Above 1979 2004
13. Chute to narrow – The Shins 2003
14. Since I left you – Avalanches 2000
15. Neon Golden - The Notwist 2003
16. White Blood cells - White Stripes 2001
17. Xtrmntr - primal scream 2000
18. The Creek Drank the Cradle - Iron & Wine 2002
19. Feels - Animal Collective - 2005
20. Bang Bang Rock and Roll - Art Brut 2005

21. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes 2008
22. Person Pitch - Panda Bear 2007
23. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – Wilco 2002
24. The Milk-Eyed Mender - Joanna Newsom 2004
25. Supermodified - Amon Tobin 2000
26. Kill the Moonlight -Spoon 2002
27. Turn on the Bright Lights - Interpol 2002
28. Digital Ash in a Digital Urn - Bright Eyes 2007
29. You Forgot It in People - Broken Social Scene 2002
30. Madvillainy - Madvillain 2001

31. Is this it? - The Strokes 2001
32. Gulag Orkestar - Beirut 2006
33. 23 - Blonde Redhead 2007
34. Cast Aways and Cutouts - The Decemberists 2002
35. Silent Shout - The Knife 2006
36. Rock Action - Mogwai 2002
37. The Moon and Antartica - Modest Mouse 2000
38. Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds 2007
39. Let’s Get Out of This Country - Camera Obscura 2006
40. Hospice - The Antlers 2009

41. Apologies to the Queen Mary - Wolf Parade
42. Ballad of Broken Seas - Isobel Campbell + Mark Lanegan
43. Stories from the City Stories from the Sea - PJ Harvey 2000
44. Daisies of the Galaxy - Eels 2000
45. One Word Extinguisher - Prefuse 73 2003
46. Les Retrouvailles - Yann Tiersen 2005
47. Blank Unstaring Heirs of Doom - Jana Hunter 2005
48. the mysterious production of eggs - Andrew Bird 2005
49. For Emma, Forever Ago - Bon Iver 2008
50. Smile - Brian Wilson 2004

Paper Cuts. Nice bit of Monday morning inspiration from the...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:08:00 +0000

Paper Cuts.

Nice bit of Monday morning inspiration from the inter-web.

In praise of the sci-fi corridor - Den of Geek I feel the reason...

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:33:31 +0100

In praise of the sci-fi corridor - Den of Geek

I feel the reason why these corridors are so well developed are because they are one of the first things a concept artist would draw. Its a quick way of defining the style of the environment to a confiend space. The scale and level of perspective required allows for lots of detail to be designed and refined.

But maybe in the world of architecture we need to put in a similar amount of effort to our corridors. Any good real world examples anyone?

Dieter Rams, designer - Cold War Modern on Vimeo (via...

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:27:00 +0100

Dieter Rams, designer - Cold War Modern on Vimeo (via Vimeo)

Really nice little documentary (clip) about Deiter Rams. This man did wonders for product design and his work can be seen as the major inspiration for all Apple products after 1997.

Synaptic Stimuli

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 18:00:08 +0100

Synaptic Stimuli