UNKLE
James Lavelle and Richard File have collaborated once again for the third full length UNKLE release, War Stories. Unsurprisingly, they have recruited an eclectic array of musicians to work with including Ian Astbury (The Cult), 3D (Massive Attack), Josh Homme (Queens of the Stoneage), Autolux, and the Duke Spirit. Fans that have hung onto Lavelle since the days of MoWax and Shadow’s cut and paste revolution are going to like this. It’s an evolution, more hardware and less software, and though it’s not exactly unchartered territory for Lavelle and File, it’s more refined and brave.
Listen to Uncle’s Burn My Shadow.
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Also by DAN MORGAN
I caught Iron & Wine play live last year and it was a typically soothing and mesmerizing set, until I was introduced to a different side of Sam Beam towards the end when he was joined on stage by co-headliners Calexico and struggled to contain his excitement as Joey Burns and Paul Niehaus worked with him to re-create songs featured on the In the Reins album. Beam has since taken his newfound passion for layered rhythm into the studio. His latest release, The Shepherd’s Dog, is denser, more textured and diverse, and as a result, more listenable than much of his earlier material. He has surrounded himself with a vast array of musicians and instruments that add new textures to his sound without distorting its fundamentals. It really is a classic album, well worth hocking the house for.
Listen to Iron & Wine’s Boy with a Coin.
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I’ve never heard anything like them — so accessible yet not quite pop, devilishly dark yet not quite math rock, and precisely rhythmic yet not quite electro. Seattle band Minus The Bear’s latest release — Planet of Ice — isn’t a massive deviation from their 2005 release, Menos El Oso, though it does have a more confident urgency to it, with tracks like Knights and When We Escape in particular.
Listen to Minus The Bear’s Knights and watch the clip to their song, Pachuca Sunrise.
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Bad Religion released their debut LP way back in 1982. Twenty five years on sees the release of New Maps of Hell, their 14th studio album. I think it’s fair to say that after a quarter of a century most bands tend to sound a little tired. But Bad Religion are definitely not showing any signs of fatigue, sustaining their intense energy levels and continuing to evolve their sound whilst maintaining credibility within the scene. Their sound has helped to define a genre and has been a major influence on many Southern Californian punk bands (no names necessary). So if you want a lesson in hardcore heritage and a taste of punk future at the same time, New Maps of Hell is certainly worth checking out.
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If the thought of owning a digital SLR seems so out of reach, then the next best thing is to get yourself a budget-friendly cardboard camera. American painter and sculptor Kiel Johnson crafts meticulously stunning cardboard recreations in every kind — from vintage Polaroids to 8mm, point and shoots, twin lens and SLRs. Read more
Some people have too much time on their hands. Either that or this was an opportunity just too good to pass up. Regardless of the motivation, this street assembled iPod is pretty damn rad.
Damn, ten years of playing guitar in loud rock bands, and not once did we have a slamming moshpit like this. Banging heads is so, so fun.
New York-based designer, and sometime Lost At E Minor contributor, Deanne Cheuk visited Beijing prior to the Olympics as part of the New Grand Tour. We touched in with her to see how she found the experience of being over there: ‘we visited some really modern art galleries, which seemed to be on par with with the best galleries in New York City’.
When I did the Master Cleanse diet a few years ago — the one where you consume nothing but lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper for ten days — I sat at work looking at pictures of food as if they were porn. Scanwiches would have gotten me hot and bothered like nothing else.
Wow! This song — More Childish Than In A Long Time — from Swedish teenage twins Taxi Taxi! just burst into my headphones like the first welcome glare of a mid-morning sunshine, stinging my ears wickedly with its coarse, repetitive beauty. The forlorn, introspective lyrics and melody tease and shimmer, sending a fleeting and not-so-subtle tap on the shoulder to hit repeat, repeat, and soak it all up again.
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Japanese designer Kazuki Kuraishi has come up with the Ian Brown ObyO KZK shoes for adidas Originals and the ex-Stone Roses frontman has his very own limited edition with a bit of his monkey magic tattooed all over it.
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Get lost in a daydream or a craving for something sweet while gazing at these cool sculptures by Brooklyn-based WiNK WiNK PONY. Made using clay, tree bark, wood, and mossy moss.
Pitched as ‘Ulterior Motives in Contemporary Art’, Disorder Disorder is running until November 14 at Penrith Regional Gallery. It’ll be well worth the trip out west of Sydney: the Australian, Japanese, American and European cast reads like a warriors of street art roundup and includes Mike Giant, Ed Templeton, Anthony Lister [artwork above], Ozzie Wright, and Jonathan Zawada. Read more
Matthew Dear’s Black City album totem
Our friends at Ghostly International are releasing Matthew Dear’s Black City album as a limited edition ‘totem’. A what? A totem – a limited edition metal bar used to access a private music chamber. Cool! Read more
It’s refreshing to see artists like Joe Kievitt who are contented to explore the beauty in simple forms and asymmetrical patterns. Read more
Pencils made from recycled newspaper
The problem with awesome things like these pencils made out of recycled newspaper is that you almost don’t want to use them.
Okayboss is an illustrator based in sunny Sydney who combines the powers of PB&J sandwiches, cats on the Internet, and a pocketful of edible crayons into a rainbow Voltron drawingbot. His shirts are anything from abstract space particles, to hands with expressions, while his music-inspired art prints are playful, witty, and gorgeous. Okayboss items are available for sale in the Lost At E Minor Store. Read more
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