If you're a mediaholic like me, you'll get a kick out of the Gas Book CD-ROM. Now, don't raise an eyebrow or shake your head - even though the concept of the CD-ROM magazine is somewhat passé in the context of both popular, accessible ezines and enduring print periodicals.
The CD-ROM, however, is the perfect medium for the lively content, playful tone, and energetic style of Gas Book, a showcase for some of the world's freshest multimedia and techno music talents. The most recent edition, called "Gas City," revolves around the idea of an imaginary city in which individual boroughs are designed by contributing artists. Instead of merely scrolling through pixelated text and scanned-in images, you navigate through various animated landscapes that serve as an international pastiche of sensory interpretations of city life. The spectrum of work ranges from a deliberately maddening sound and image loop by the New York digital artist Day-Dream to imaginative symbols and collages created by Japanese font designer yo-yo Suzuki and the boogie-friendly drum grooves of Swedish band Sluta Leta.
The experience of Gas Book is a hybrid of flipping through the glossiest fashion rag and watching a hipper version of MTV - presented in the global language of slick aesthetics and butt-shaking rhythms. No, it ain't Tolstoy, but this multimedia diversion - which comes with logo decals, an audio-only music CD, a T-shirt, and a Japanese/English book of artist bios - is certainly frothy.
Gas Book: ¥4,500 (US$34). A & P Coordinator Japan Co.: +81 (3) 5454 0920, fax +81 (3) 5454 0921.
STREET CRED
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Digital Wordsmith
Redundancy Has Its Virtues
A Case for Transvestites
History of Hype
Baby Blue
Seeing Ear Theatre
Gone Gonzo
Dawkins's New Medicine
Put Your Noggin to Good Use
ReadMe
City of Bits
Return of the Giants
Game Boy Color
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