Lightening blue eyes
So I interviewed Bianca, one half of Coco Rosie, the other morning. Love their music: very dramatic, almost operatic in its scale yet imbued with a sense of sonic unease that carries the divine melodies well beyond their maudlin minor key progressions. I’ve got a mild cold — and it’s early on a chilly day in Sydney anyway — and I’m talking to this very talented, creative gal while she’s walking around the backstreets of New York City, giving me a guided tour of her surrounds. And all the while I’m thinking that my voice is sounding a very nice shade of husky — kinda like Michael Douglas meets Sean Connery after he’s gargled whiskey and rubbed his tonsils with grade three sandpaper. ‘Yes, dammit, I’m the man, and I have the deep-throated coarseness to prove it’. So I’m on a bit of a roll, enjoying the sound of the rich vibrato booming out of my voicebox, when she suddenly interrupts me mid-sentence, her high pitched falsetto cutting through my baritone like drawl, and says with a hint of insolence: ‘Hey, you’re sounding a little sick, by the way. have you got a cold?’ Talk about bringing me back to earth. Sigh. Please let this boy soar. Have I got a cold? Really. Really?! No, it’s called resonance sweetheart. And it’s all goooooood! [paintings by Andrew Hem]
Tagged: New York bands
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Cocorosie back on the road again
On September 2, New York duo Cocorosie will kick of their first North American tour in over two years. Sisters Bianca and Sierra Casady will be joined by bassist Josh Werner and beatboxer Spleen on fourteen shows, playing a mix of old and new material from their forthcoming album, slated for a 2010 release. We checked in with Bianca and asked her how things were progressing with the new recording: ‘The album is getting very hot. Like a glowing piece of glass in a fiery kiln. A roasting apple ready to burst’. When asked what they’ll be playing on the tour, Bianca said: ‘We go back to before we were born. We steal old songs of our Mother, family songs, old gospel, opera … lots of La Maison, little parts mostly, like the first toys and tapes and broken things’.
The Walkmen: ‘My Secret Playlist’
We asked Ham and Pete, from New York band The Walkmen, to give us the rundown on the music that is inspiring them right now and they started off with a track from that elder statesmen of indie folk, Bonnie Prince Billy, Goin’ to Acapulco: ‘He did a remarkable job of putting a unique spin on a classic. It’s no small feat, and it’s a really impressive version’. Read more of The Walkmen’s Secret Playlist.
Interview with Eugene Hutz, Gogol Bordello
Gogol Bordello’s frontman, Eugene Hutz, was born in Kiev to a Romany family which fled their home following the Chernobyl disaster when he was a teenager. He spent years travelling through Eastern European refugee camps before arriving in Vermont, in the north-east American region of New England, as a political refugee. He eventually established himself in New York as a musician and artist, and became the resident DJ at the Bulgarian Bar, Mehanata, which, thanks to Eugene’s ‘kidnapping’ of touring Romany and Gypsy bands and artists to perform there after their official seated concert hall shows, helped turn it into the ‘CBGBs of Gypsy Punk. Gogol Bordello formed after its original members met at a Russian wedding in Vermont, and soon snow-balled into a fully-fledged immigrant orchestra. Debut shows at famous New York venues, including the Mercury Lounge and the Bowery Ballroom, saw them banned for performances that were ‘too over the top’. Read more
Also by ZOLTON
Ok, so I’m wearing this t-shirt right now. It’s by Singapore-based fashion label Hooked Clothing, and it’s just about my favorite tee at the moment. Why? Why not. Tees are fun and Hooked has me hooked. Read more
Following on from the People of Walmart website, comes People Of Public Transit: ‘The public bus and subway systems are littered with amazing photo opportunities. Many of us have been sitting alone witnessing something amazing and only wishing we could share the experience with our friends. Well now you can!’ Read more
Milk and Honey necklace by Stephanie Simek
Milk and honey, an indubitable pair. In this necklace by Stephanie Simek, a golden honeycomb beeswax pendant is encased in plastic and hangs from an oxidized sterling silver chain. The links are interwoven with a milk protein-based fiber. We have it for sale in our online store.
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The work of Spanish artist Noelia Requena is perfectly charming in a raw and spontaneous way. Colors and textures are layered on top of one another, seemingly on the slightest whim. The result being a collection of wonderfully captivating vignettes.
I caught Austin band Watch Out For Rockets playing the other week at the Beauty Bar, a small smoky den on a bustling hipster strip. Although they hit the stage a few hours late, they still cranked out an awesome set of guitar-based power pop, though they left out my favorite track, Urgent Serpent Merchant (below).
I checked out the Armory Show in Manhattan a couple of weeks back and amongst the aisles of impressive contemporary art I was particularly taken by the work of Japanese artist, Mahomi Kunikata, whose vibrant and colorful paintings are full of mischievous characters and ‘joy joy’ sentimentality.
With the streets of New York already covered in a thin layer of ice after a heavy snowstorm yesterday, it’s interesting to see how other cold winter cities deal with this ubiquitous companion. At the annual Ice and Snow Festival, in Haban, China, they get kinda creative with it: building an entire city out of ice and then lighting it up like an extra frosty, colourful Christmas tree. Read more
Lasse Gjertsen is the future of cut and paste music. He’s just arrived ten years too early and with a really bad haircut.
Goodone is a UK-based sustainable fashion label who design and produce innovative, one-off clothing made from hand-picked, locally-sourced, recycled fabrics.
I am really into Hong Kong action flicks from the 1980s and 90s. When I first moved to New York, there were a handful of curious friends who were also interested in watching movies such as City on Fire by Ringo Lam, which Reservoir Dogs was based on. How did they find videos like thus? At the legendary Kim’s Video in New York City. These days, City on Fire can be find online, and Kim’s is history. But all the videos that entertained the film geeks of this city for more than twenty years have found a new home in, wait for it, Salemi, Sicily. Yes, the southern island of Italy. Kim has recently relocated there, as this sad but heartwarming story about him in yesterday’s New York Times reveals.
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I live the upbeat, feel good tempo of the new single — A Hundred Hearts — from Philly group, The Swimmers. Off their latest album, People Are Soft, this song is a strangely fitting anthem for the blustery day outside.
There is not a medium that UK illustrator Lizzy Stewart cannot wrap around her little finger to make the most beautiful, whimsical images. Read more
Hong Kong-based illustrator Man-Tsun draws dark and beautiful painterly images that look like they are straight off a high-end Japanese animated film. Read more
With the recession still biting, it may be time to whip out the glue and the cardboard and make your next pair of cool kicks. Don’t know how they’d manage in the rain though? Read more
Almanac Market in Philadelphia is slightly pricey, but you definitely get what you pay for. Offering fantastic bread, cheeses, produce, and cured meats such as sopressata and pepperoni, it was a great pit stop when my band played in town, and definitely more economical and tasty than hitting a greasy spoon for road snacks.
Wolfmother. Rock n roll. Mystical lyrics. Heavy riffs. They have a new album out, Cosmic Egg, and we have five copies to giveaway, along with their debut album. To enter, tell us your favorite Wolfmother song and the city you live in. Yo! Two fingered salute. Read more
From an artist selection of t-shirts comes this limited edition David Bray illustrated silkscreened tee, distributed in a vinyl sleeve with a biography of the artist on the back of the sleeve. Every t-shirt is numbered and signed by the artist, and comes in organic American Apparel cotton. We like! Read more
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Lost At E Minor: Music, illustration, art, photography - from Australia and beyond » Kenzo Minami said | 19 August, 2006
[...] With recent credits including Nike, Flaunt magazine and International Deejay Gigolo, Kenzo Minami is simply one of the hottest illustration and design talents around right now. [See also: Sophie Toulouse; Yoshi Tajima] [...]