Want to know about the world’s largest living organism? How about the man with the third highest Donkey Kong score? Need the formula for the area of a circle? All of these things and literally every other piece of knowledge can be had with the click of a button. It’s now an age-old adage about the “information age,” a time we seemingly take for granted. But what if you want to know more about Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk? In a time when privacy and anonymity are trivialized, Daft Punk continue to don their masks and create music devoid of desperately appearing as though it was culled from their personal influences.

On Random Access Memories, Daft Punk’s fourth studio album, the Parisian duo turn that formula on its head, trading in their time-tested computer programs for the collected human experience. But it’s still not about their experience; it’s about our experience. When they talk of giving life back to music, it isn’t just about reaching into the past to create the future; it’s about the communal aspects of music: the experience and heartbreak associated with the sounds and its people. Random Access Memories isn’t the album Daft Punk should be making in 2013, and that’s exactly why Daft Punk created it, and why it took eight long years to master. If the series of Creator’s Project videos focusing squarely on the album’s collaborators taught us anything, it’s that the history of music can teach us more about our presence than anything being produced today.

The music of any region is the skin of its culture. Its texture, wrinkles, and colors stretch over flesh, bone, and spirit. Within the open palm of Central Asia, Tuva holds a musical tradition that has been quietly capturing the imagination of the world and which is among the most awe-inspiring vocal arts to have persisted to this day. Also known as overtone singing, and colloquially as khoomei, throat singing is a style of vocal performance that allows a singer to deliver two or more notes simultaneously, while the pitch is naturally controlled by the lips and throat. Overtone singing can be heard in many cultures: for instance, in some isolated regions in Canada’s Arctic; within the Xhosa communities of South Africa; among the Chukchi; and in the memory of the Ainu art of Rekuhkara. Tuva’s throat singing, however, is unlike any other in the world.

On the right, we’ve grouped our selections for 2013 by world region.

Stay tuned in the weeks to come, as we offer updates throughout the festival’s progression, with general thumbs up and thumbs down summaries of the films we will painfully and enjoyably slog and float through, as well as one-off full-length reviews. Happy SIFFing!

Barn Owl’s music seems custom-made for the sweat lodge or meditation hall. As you listen to an amalgam of tribal percussion, temple bells, cosmic synths, and rustic American transcendentalism, you can practically smell the sweet sage burning. Their music knows no bounds, and as such, is a ritual that everybody can take part in.

As increasing amounts of people and culture make demands on our time and attention, the ability to find a quiet, sacred space becomes essential. Barn Owl’s portable ashram is a precious resource — you can strap on a pair of headphones and find some space on a crowded train or a busy street to reflect. They encourage us to slow down, and find a little peace.

Barn Owl’s latest full-length album, V, is out now on Thrill Jockey Records.
PURCHASE BARN OWL’s V ON AMAZON

In her most recent development upon this theme, Woolfalk has incorporated a new element — that of dual consciousness and foreign beings, via the narrative of a fictional species called Empathics. Through the use of psychedelically-colored exhibits, scientific slide shows, dance performances, and a very multi-disciplinary artistic practice, Woolfalk is learning how to use art shows to create utopian worlds in and of themselves.

Few artists are as conscious of their position in the music industry as James Blake. Seemingly spawned from the hype of music blogs and the irresistible “Limit To Your Love” cover which made him famous, Blake knows how volatile and fickle the wicked cycle of fame can be. But such awareness is not necessarily a bad thing; in fact, it is what has driven him to be successful even when the situation was unfair. At the time of his debut album — a record which he was pressured to piece together by his record label — Blake felt cheated out of the ability to craft an album he could truly call his own. On Overgrown, however, Blake has crafted a world all his own. And it’s as beautiful as anything he has ever created before.

In setting the scene, it’s important to note the kind of relationship(s) Blake has been in since his bedroom producer days. Much has already been made of his long term relationship with Warpaint guitarist Theresa Wayman, but it’s an important development that even Blake has admitted to be an influence on Overgrown. In a recent Guardian interview, when asked about being in love and if it affected his process, Blake responded, “Yeah, it did. And the uncertainty also did. The uncertainty of the nature of the relationship. The uncertainty of touring. The uncertainty of the music industry, and the uncertainty of my position in it.” It’s an important shift in lifestyle that bears its weight on the whole of Overgrown, a record more grounded in soulful, downtempo electronica than the booming stretch of dubstep EPs he began his career making. Be it the sound itself or the record’s lyrical content, Overgrown is the natural evolution of a brilliant artist in his early twenties.

In the case of 23-year old Amanda Charchian’s photography, revelation is the goal. It is a desire to construct timelessness that inspires her to photograph nudes. She favors skin over clothes because of its raw honesty, the removal of clothing a path to seeing ourselves in our purest most vulnerable forms.

FANTASTIC BABY: The Opulent Kingdom of Contemporary K-Pop

A selection of music videos and discussion panel, as part of the ongoing SOUND & VISION series at Hollywood Theatre.

Monday June 3rd, 2013 @ 7:30pm
RSVP ON FACEBOOK

Panelists:
Allen Huang (J/K Pop! – Seattle / SSG Music)
Ingmar Carlson (Shy Girls)
Reese Umbaugh (J/K Pop! – Seattle)
Jordan Becke (J/K Pop! – Seattle)

Moderators:
Gina Altamura (Holocene)
Vivian Hua (REDEFINE magazine)

+ DJ Initial P

We’ll be screening delectable eye candy in the form of music videos from BIGBANG, Shinee, 2NE1, EXO, Girls’ Generation and more!

Topics of discussion:
* Repeated motifs and common techniques in filming contemporary K-pop videos: a technical analysis
* Strength In Numbers: the rise of colossally sized K-pop idol groups with 10+ members
* Eroding social conservatism and subverting gender norms in Korean culture through pop music and imagery

Shy Boys Fly Girls K-Pop Mixtape Stream & Download

With PSY having achieved billionaire/Bieber-destroyer status just in time for the holidays, here’s a mix of not-so-Gangnam s(e)oul jams to recap 2012 and usher in the new year. These aren’t quite for the club; they’re more for staying in — with your boo, or just you — and making it through the rest of the winter. And you’d better make it, because 2013 is gonna be the Year of the K-Dragon. (Silly rabbit, snakes are for planes.)

Curated by Ingmar Carlson of Shy Girls

Editor’s Note: Given the valued aesthetics of the K-Pop industry, each of these tracks is paired not only with a track and MP3, but a killer music video as well. Enjoy.