Local record label, Shiny, have been doing some very cool things of late, not the least of which is releasing the latest albums from Amy Millan and Jason Collett (of Broken Social Scene fame). Millan’s album — Honey From The Tombs — is an eclectic offering, boldly blurring the lines between country, folk and pop in a way that hasn’t been done since The Band last tread the hallowed stages of west coast America. She says of the album title: ‘It’s from a Tom Waits interview that I read where he had a couple songs that were quite old on his new record that was coming out. He said mummies were buried with honey because it never went bad. So when the archaeologists pulled them up, there was all this honey that was still fine. So he said, that’s kind of how I think of the songs. That they’ve been buried for a long time, but they’re still sweet’.
Collett has been a cog around which the Toronto music scene has revolved for some years now. The Broken Social Scene guitarist lists ‘Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson and Nick Lowe as his major influences, and you can hear this in his solo release, Idols Of Exile. ‘My stuff is based around songs and the Social Scene thing is based around busting songs wide open’, he says. ‘My thing is more schooled. This is the first time anyone has ever given me any money to make a record. I wanted basically to have all my friends on it. That is the spirit of how things are created in our camp right now and I’m smart enough to know a renaissance when it’s happening’.
We have four sets of both these albums to give away to random Lost At E Minor subscribers who leave a comment on our website over the next two weeks.
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Also by ZOLTON
Crimea X is the coming together of two offbeat, disparate characters, DJ Rocca (Ajello, Super Sonic Lovers, Maffia Sound System) and Jukka Reverberi from 90s Italian glam cult rockers, Giardini di Mirò, who have often have been compared with the sound of Mogwai, Arab Strap, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. We asked them about their favourite music and they started with The Smiths song, Ask [listen below] ‘I saw them playing live on Italian TV. It was during the 80s when I was extremely young, and I’ve never stopped listening to this song’. Read the rest of Crimea X’s Secret Playlist.
I love the curated selection of abandoned swimming pool photos on Feature Shoot today, featuring work by Carlo Van de Roer and Albert Jodar, amongst others.
Win a set of Sony personal audio prizes
Thanks to Sony Australia, four Lost At E Minor readers will win personal audio prizes, including the new 8GB Walkman S series video MP3 player and the MDRXB500 Extra Bass headphones. Read more
YOU'RE SAYING (11)
andy shearer said | 9 August, 2006
honey from the tombs… stoked that you guys have brought forward a couple of the arstists of BSS for me to check out their own works.
have you guys checked out much of Magnet – even johansson ? a norwegien dude who has a very moody and beautiful CD out at the moment – ‘ on your side ‘ .
a
Ian M said | 9 August, 2006
Show me the music!!
mindy said | 10 August, 2006
Always love receiving your e-newsletters.. keeps me updated on new talent and new inspirations : )
honey from the tombs.. sweet name ^ ^
Zolton said | 10 August, 2006
yeah, the first magnet ep i thought was hot, but the album didn’t grab me as much. on the subject of norwegian acts though, if you haven’t already, then i recommend you check out the acoustic duo kings of convenience. so damn fine.
Trevor said | 10 August, 2006
Amy’s album sounds something to look forward to based on the little I’ve heard of her stuff. I’m enjoying being switched onto things i wouldn’t normally listen or look at through L@EM
Nicole said | 10 August, 2006
i dont know their music. but i do know things appear at relevant times when you’re meant to notice them.. providing you allow yourself to notice them. i heard the other day in a lecture that honey is the only foodstuff that doesn’t go off, and that ancient tombs contained honey that was still edible. they posited theories as to why, but thats all very much beside the point. that i should look into this music is to me quite relevant.
cindy said | 10 August, 2006
both of these albums sound fantastic. i am giddy with anticpation to listen to them. mer.
Paul said | 11 August, 2006
Well deary me, that Jason Collet sure makes great music! I am eager to hear his new album on high rotate! Thanks for the news Lost At E Minor, I hadn’t even known he had a new album coming until your newsletter arrived in my inbox.
Indebted,
Paul.
Zolton said | 15 August, 2006
hey, ok the winners of this cd giveaway are rachel, andy shearer, nicole and paul … thanks to all who entered! could the winners pls email me with your contact details.
zolton
Lost At E Minor: Music, illustration, art, photography - from Australia and beyond » Helicopter Girl said | 24 August, 2006
[...] Voodoo Chic was the follow up to Helicopter Girl’s Mercury Award nominated album, How To Steal The World and it is suitably lush, dramatic and moodily evocative. Helicopter Girl – aka Jackie Joyce – skirts that mellow sonic realm of chill out but never slips too far into the ambient mode. Instead she creates sultry and sexy music that transcends the moment, its timeless melodic qualities and intricate arrangements hinting at influences as diverse as Macy Gray and Morcheeba. Joyce sings beautifully – her voice is delicate enough to carry the slower songs yet hearty enough to drive through the mid-tempo numbers that spice up the album. Songs like Jakarta Flatline and the opener, White Revolving Circles, work off strong basslines and the lyrical sophistication that Joyce brings to her compositions. It’s an album of considerable depth, dripping with elegance and rooted in subtle earthiness. [see also Amy Millan] [...]
HAVE YOUR SAY
Fashion photographer Melvin Sokolsky’s works from 1960s are still fresh, timeless and so inspiring. Or should I say that they look newer than what’s out there in fashion photography world now? Ah, the world before Photoshop. Read more
I interviewed the mysterious Suitman some time ago for the Australian magazine, Riot. Even then it was clear that, with his immaculately pressed suit and crisp white shirts, he was an icon – both stylistically and conceptually. So it’s no surprise to hear about his latest adventure, The New Grand Tour, ‘an episodic art project featuring revolving guest artists with hyphenated cultural and geographical backgrounds. Read more
Quiksilver, the surfing apparel company, has just released what is being considered the world’s first eco-friendly watch. Made of sustainable ebony wood and running on automatic movement instead of batteries, this limited-edition watch is green down to the shipping of the raw materials. Every raw material used in making this watch is recyclable (the aluminum, the steel, and the mineral crystal are all 100% recyclable), and it also includes solvent free links and is shipped by sea rather than by air. The Ray has a five-year warranty, meaning that it has a longer life than normal watches.
Most people think of the countryside and rural life as peaceful to the point of being profoundly boring. Kate Kirkwood’s photographs captures a less idyllic beauty where life and death intersect in a controlled chaos that is agriculture. Each of Kirkwood’s images have a mythic quality to them — cows and sheep blur past her lens like nymphs or lurk on the horizon like demons and gods. Read more
Fans of Australian buzzsaw rock trio, The Vines, might like to check out our sister site, My Secret Playlist, where drummer Hamish Rosser has written about eight songs he’s digging right now. There’s some interesting choices in there including The Strokes, James Brown, and, gulp, Joan Jett.
Sydney indie heroes (in the nicest possible way), The Paper Scissors (TPS to those that know the secret handshake) have made a video for their new single, The Bandit. And it’s good. Damn good.
‘I have been trying to go with my whims. Fuck it, let’s make an iPod album’. This statement from Team Genius leader Drew Hermiller was the jumping off point in the creation of the band’s debut self-titled full-length album, one of the most interesting and eclectic pop records of the year. ‘Basically it’s a reaction to the modern way music is consumed and listened to’, Hermiller says. ‘The idea of an album with a focused sound and a complete statement kind of gets lost now-a-days. Everyone shuffles around, so I thought “why not write an album that does the same thing?” Luckily, the band did an awesome job of keeping up with it’. Download a couple of free tracks off the album in our Music Download section [pssst, it's in the third column of the site]
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Charlie Immer’s pastel-pallete sometimes obfuscates the gory violence in his surreal images. At other times, it heightens the gut-wrenching and visceral effect of his work. Read more
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Italian-born, New York City-based photographer Paolo Ventura creates fairy-tale like pictures out of amazingly constructed, miniature dioramas that almost trick the eye into thinking he’s a tilt-shift photographer. 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
Check out Mike Stimpson’s Lego reinterpretations of classic photographs. Stimpson’s version of Malcolm Browne’s iconic 1963 photograph of the self-immolation of Thich Quang Duc is particularly twisted. Read more
Thanks to Sony Australia, four Lost At E Minor readers will win personal audio prizes, including the new 8GB Walkman S series video MP3 player and the MDRXB500 Extra Bass headphones. Read more
Made from 100 percent organic cotton and eco-friendly, this super soft tee celebrates a sinister world of kaleidoscopic colours and ripples of psychedelia, of serenading Queens, of dancing flamingos, of unimaginable euphoria. It’s all the work of Sydney label, Das Monk and it’s available through the Lost At E Minor online store for just US$40. Now, there’s one hell of a Christmas present, even if we do say so ourselves! Read more
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Rachel said | 8 August, 2006
I Love Amy Milan from her beautiful voice when she sings in Stars. I have been spending many hours on Arts and Crafts reading about this solo album and even have a downnloaded sample track ’skinny boy’. Would love to check out her whole album and also definately interested in hearing Jason Collett. Thanks for your post on them!