The Daily Render

A Digital Scrapbook for the Past, Present, and Future

YouTube Video Clip of the Driving Scene from Babylon Central
|| 7/27/2010 || 10:28 am || + Render A Comment || ||

[ Watch On YouTube ]

With Babylon Central coming out today, I decided to post the final clip that has been placed on-line prior to it’s release. I look forward to receiving my copy.

Interiview with Eric Hilton of Thievery Corporation about his film Babylon Central
|| 6/16/2010 || 10:43 pm || + Render A Comment || ||

[ Watch on YouTube ]

Following up on the Babylon Central trailer, ESL Music has released a short interview with director Eric Hilton of Thievery Corporation about his new film.

Trailer for “Babylon Central” – A film by Eric Hilton of Thievery Corporation
|| 6/9/2010 || 11:52 pm || 1 Comment Rendered || ||

[ Watch on YouTube ]

Back in September of 2006 I briefly blogged about working on the film Babylon Central as a production assistant. I was brought on for the last month of the filming in order to help complete the last major scenes before Thievery Corporation left for a tour in Brazil. I had an absolutely great time working on the film and I’m very excited to see the final cut!

From ESL Music:

The directorial debut from Eric Hilton of Thievery Corporation, Babylon Central is an original screenplay and film, shot on location in Washington, DC. Features a musical score created by Hilton in the style of his record label, ESL Music.

Sebastian James is a courier by day and aspiring DJ by night. When he forgets an important delivery, Seb finds himself an unwitting participant in an economic power-play with a Saudi Prince and his attempt to change the currency for oil. As Seb begins to fall for the Prince’s daughter and his friends are dragged into the conflict, the powers that control modern-day Babylon – Washington, DC – are exposed, and the US Empire is called into question.

Babylon Central will be exclusively released as a digital download on Amazon.com on July 19, 2010 and will be available in stores everywhere on July 27, 2010. The film is being sold as a DVD + CD combo, which includes the DVD of film and CD of the film’s soundtrack. You can also preorder a physical copy of the film and receive it the day the film comes out. At $15 + shipping, it’s a pretty good deal & an innovative way to distribute the film.

My Record Cover Was Featured On Current TV Last Night
|| 11/12/2009 || 1:47 pm || 1 Comment Rendered || ||

Screen grab from the Current TV program Embedded, which features Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation holding up the record Supreme Illusion

Last night a friend of mine from college, Andrew Wiseman, left a message on my Facebook wall saying that he saw the map I made on Current TV. Knowing that I had met the film crew back in June of this year at the 18th Street Lounge, I was expecting the show to eventually broadcast. Earlier today the full show was uploaded to YouTube:

Around 18 minutes into the episode, while Eric Hilton and Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation are at the record shop Som Records (about 4 blocks from my house), Rob picks up the record Supreme Illusion, which I licensed Pentagon Quilt and Lower Manhattan Quilt as the cover artwork.

If you don’t want to watch the entire show, you can skip to 50 second mark on this truncated version of the show:

[Watch on YouTube]

No Requests: a t-shirt for DJs who don’t like to be bothered
|| 7/26/2009 || 10:53 am || + Render A Comment || ||

My DJ friend wearing a shirt that says No Requests

About a year ago I made this t-shirt for my DJ friend Will Griffin. The story behind the t-shirt is as follows: One Wednesday night way back when at the 18th Street Lounge, we were chatting outside while he was taking his break from DJing. He noted the number of times people had come up to him and asked if he had X song & if he would play it. I chuckled and said “Maybe you should get a shirt that says ‘No Requests’ so you can point to your shirt instead of vocally replying” and he said, “why don’t you make me one?” A couple months later I found the right font, a large image of ESL Music’s iconic Eero Saarinen Tulip chair, and ordered the custom t-shirt. A few months later I ordered a second one for the manager of the lounge who also DJs there, but I have yet to take a photo of him wearing it.

Although I don’t DJ anymore, if I were to DJ at a club, I’d probably order one for myself.

YouTube Video of Thievery Corporation’s Radio Retaliation
|| 10/30/2008 || 10:34 am || 1 Comment Rendered || ||

In August I sampled the first 30 seconds of the song above to create the time-lapse video of my nighttime bicycle ride home from the 18th Street Lounge. It’s the title track of Thievery Corporation’s newest CD, Radio Retaliation, which I’ve found to be my favorite Thievery Corporation album to date.

What I like most about the video above is it’s simplicity. You’ve got Sleepy Wonder singing the song in a small crowd, but it’s mainly just him singing and its not laden with fancy editing or too many visual effects that you get in many contemporary music videos. Of all things, the video reminds me a lot of a Wednesday night at the 18th Street Lounge with the band See-I crossed between scenes from the film Rockers. Also, if you look closely, you can see Hutchy in the video :-)

According to my sources, the next video from their new album will be Chuck Brown‘s song “The Numbers Game.” I’ll post the video when it’s released and if you haven’t picked up their newest CD yet, you are missing out on some of the finest music produced in Washington, DC this year.

Click here to watch The Numbers Game.

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Radio Retaliation by Thievery Corporation is in stores today
|| 9/23/2008 || 5:20 pm || Comments Off on Radio Retaliation by Thievery Corporation is in stores today || ||

Image above links to the iTunes Store

Thievery Corporation’s 5th studio album is in stores today. I think it’s their best album yet. It’s well-produced, well-designed, and makes a strong political statement. Click here to listen to the album on Facebook. While I am linking to the iTunes store above, I strongly recommend buying the CD because it comes with a nicely designed poster that features the lyrics as well as quotes and photographs. It’s by far one of my favorite CD’s of 2008.

From Thievery Corporation’s MySpace Page:

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Bicycle ride home from the 18th Street Lounge in time-lapse
|| 8/14/2008 || 8:55 pm || Comments Off on Bicycle ride home from the 18th Street Lounge in time-lapse || ||

Bicycle ride home from the 18th Street Lounge in time-lapse from Nikolas Schiller on Vimeo

After listening to one of my favorite bands, SEE-I, at the 18th Street Lounge, I decided to record my short bicycle ride home in time-lapse. What is nice about the ride home is that I travel in a special bicycle lane for much of the trip. The music that I added is a sample from Thievery Corporation‘s upcoming album “Radio Retaliation,” which is due in stores on September 23rd, 2008. You can watch a live recording of Sleepy Wonder singing “Radio Retaliation” on Thievery Corporation’s Facebook page.

Related Bicycle Entries:

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Cookn’ With Federico Aubele now available on iTunes
|| 5/31/2008 || 4:26 pm || Comments Off on Cookn’ With Federico Aubele now available on iTunes || ||

Image links to iTunes Store

Last week “Cooking with Federico Aubele” [link opens iTunes Store] was released by Washington, DC-based ESL Music. I decided to download the entire album and I suggest you do the same. You can listen to some of his tracks on his MySpace page.

Cookn With Federico Aubele was recorded in Buenos Aires, Argentina in March of this year, this album captures the sound hearing Federico live. In a couple weeks Natalia Clavier, who is the female vocalist on this album & Panamericana, has her own solo album coming out on ESL. I’ll definitely post something here when it’s released.

His last album Panamericana was my favorite album of last year and this studio album features tracks from both Gran Hotel Buenos Aires and Panamericana as well as two unreleased tracks. I’m tempted to post my favorites tracks here, but I’ll refrain for the time being :-)

RELEASED JANUARY 6TH 2009!

ESL Music website upgrade
|| 1/18/2008 || 11:17 pm || Comments Off on ESL Music website upgrade || ||

Screen Grab from the Supreme Illusion product page

Yesterday I was at The Consulate picking up copies of the record and I found that ESL Music has a new website up. Designed by Lightmaker, the website looks incredible. The intro banner animation is top notch! It makes me want to upgrade this website.

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Nikolas Schiller is a second-class American citizen living in America's last colony, Washington, DC. This blog is my on-line repository of what I have created or found on-line since May of 2004. If you have any questions or comments, please contact: