Lost AT E Minor

Fashion / One Teaspoon

June 30, 2007 | Fashion | by Casper Johansson |

Australian label — One Teaspoon — designs sexy, stylish streetwear for the modern urban sophisticate. Or something like that. Says Trend Central of the label: ‘Designer Jamie Walsham draws on influences from the 60s and the 80s, reinventing classics of both eras such as spandex, neon brights, skinny tights, minis, body suits, t-shirt dresses, pencil skirts, and polka dots’. [see also Don’t Ask Amanda]

Art / James Jean chases ideas

June 30, 2007 | Art | by Casper Johansson |

We love the work of Los Angeles-based artist James Jean, so we tracked him down for an interview: Your work is very dramatic and rich in narrative. From where does the initial seed of any idea generally come from? ‘It comes from a combination of conscious decision-making and deep rooted memories and desires. Sometimes I start with a very clear idea, but inspiration is rare - usually I’m working out ideas through little thumbnails that mysteriously evolve into their own stories’. Read more

Music / The boy who ran away

June 29, 2007 | Music | by Zolton |

Where would we be without synths and drum machines? I mean, seriously. We’d probably still listening to epic Grateful Dead jams in the dusty alleyways of Height-Asbury. Done well, the remix is a wonderful thing. Case in point is Royksopp’s rendering of the Kings of Convenience track I Don’t Know What I Can Save You From. And then there’s Riton’s version of the Mystery Jets song, The Boy Who Ran Away, which they’ve dolled up with disco beats and blasted into the stratosphere. A White Lines for the 21st Century? I think so.

Listen to the Riton rerub of The Boy Who Ran Away and watch the Mystery Jets perform the song live at Fopp London.

Illustration / The magic position

June 29, 2007 | Illustration | by Zolton |

It’s been a while since we last checked in with one of our favourite illustrators, New York based Tomer Hanuka. His work is like the first rays of morning light on the fifth day of a week long vacation - easy on the eye but brimming with nervous anticipation. [see more work by Tomer Hanuka]

Illustration / Andy Kehoe

June 29, 2007 | Illustration | by Zolton |

Andy Kehoe’s bio says it all: ‘Andy Kehoe was the son of a sea merchant that was killed by pirates when he was just three years old. His father barely had time to throw his son overboard before the cargo ship that usually carried pickles and kittens to Spain, carried the burning corpses of his father and all his closest friends to the bottom of the ocean. Young Andy endured three days in the ocean before washing ashore on the Galapagos Islands’. Read more

June 29, 2007 | Video | by Casper Johansson |

A little while back we ran the seventh episode in David Firth’s sublimely twisted Salad Fingers animation series. Video Dating Tape is another Firth creation, and it’s just as brilliant. There’s a fine line indeed between genius and insanity but Firth consistently tramples right over it.

Trends / Desktop Defence Tower

June 28, 2007 | Trends | by Casper Johansson |

You know you’re in trouble when Techcrunch, that oracle of all things online, suggests that one play of the Desktop Defence Tower game - one harmless little dabble - and you can kiss your productivity for the day goodbye. Apparently the game, which was created by Paul Preece, been played 15 million times since launching in March. [see also Human Tetris]

Design / Vertical garden

June 28, 2007 | Design | by Snell |

At 200 meters long and 12 metres tall, this vertical garden is an impressive permanent installation at the Musee du quai Branley in Paris. Read more

Music / Cailfone

June 28, 2007 | Music | by Casper Johansson |

Where has Califone been all my life? I mean, seriously. Orchids is just a cracker of a song. Melancholic, melodic and raspy enough to grate away at the surface while the harmonies work sweet magic beneath the wall of guitars and synths. As the Courant blog so rightfully notes: ‘The quartet creates stunning atmospheric soundscapes, using subtle electronic noise and skillfully deployed dissonance to transform roots-inflected rock songs into sonic works of art’.

Listen to the Califone track, Orchids.

Illustration / Tiffany Bozic

June 28, 2007 | Illustration | by Casper Johansson |

Arkansas raised, Oakland based artist Tiffany Bozic ’sandpapers the surface of her work, which warms the paint with a patina glow and allows some of the wood’s grain to show through’. Of her work she says: ‘I have always been drawn towards finding some kind of common thread or language that binds us to and separates us from nature and each other’.

Events / Electric Chaircut

June 28, 2007 | Events | by Zolton |

Soho-based hairdresser and artist, Nelson Loskamp, does a very strange thing indeed. As part of his Electric Chaircut routine, which he performs at various venues around New York and beyond, he ties volunteers from the audience to a chair, blindfolds them, and then — using amplified electric clippers that are run through a series of guitar effect pedals — cuts their hair. It’s something to behold. A mesmerizing art meets noise meets music meets avant-garde barrage of sensory expressionism. And at the end of it all, a handful of people emerge with a dashing new look. So where did the idea come from? ‘Some ideas come to you and others are thrust upon you’, Loskamp says. ‘I originally started cutting hair to support myself as a painter. Much of what has become Electric Chaircut started as requests and demands from former friends and customers: “do you mind roughing me up a bit? I think I need to be taped down while I get my hair cut. Can we do this in public, like with an audience? I think the scissors and clippers should be louder”, and so on’.

See Electric Chaircut video.

Read more

Music / Grinning Cat

June 27, 2007 | Music | by Zolton |

Susumu Yokota’s Grinning Cat is the sort of richly textured, deeply layered album that reveals more intricacies the longer you obsessively absorb it. It’s like warm Milo and reruns of Happy Days. Endlessly comforting; immersed in the moment. [read an exclusive interview with Susumu Yokota]

Listen to Yokota’s song Flying Cat, off the Grinning Cat album, and watch a short film made to his music

Places / The new old Tokyo

June 27, 2007 | Places | by Andy |

The bright, racing, digital, 12 million person metropolis of Tokyo has gone all quiet and traditional. Read more

Photography / Erin Elizabeth Bardwell

June 27, 2007 | Photography | by Zolton |

Working out of New York, Erin Elizabeth Bardwell captures those moments of guilty vulnerability where the subjects look as surprised by the sudden attention as they’re excited by it. Her portfolio is a gritty, urban diary cataloging the constant sense of flux which overwhelms the city. [see also B Marie Lavioiette]

Illustration / Fernanda Cohen [reloaded]

June 27, 2007 | Illustration | by Casper Johansson |

Interview with New York based Argentinean illustrator, Fernanda Cohen. How’s the illustration scene in New York at the moment? ‘Over crowded, sometimes repetitive and predictable, but there are always jewels here and there. I believe most of the emerging stars in the illustration field in the past few years came out of New York, mostly SVA graduates’. What colours to you tend to gravitate towards? ‘Aqua Green’. Is there a time of the day you feel most creative? ‘Between 2 am and 6 am’. What’s usually playing on your stereo when you’re illustrating? ‘Languis, Jens Lekman, Belle and Sebastian, The Lovers, and Françoise Hardy’. [see more work by Fernanda Cohen one; two; three]