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Vampire Weekend

Music / Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend are a buzz band out of New York who play West African jazz-styled music. As the Earfarm blog noted: ‘Vampire Weekend are a quartet of Columbia graduates who, like Islands, clearly share a certain love of the sounds that informed Paul Simon’s Graceland and half of everything Peter Gabriel has ever done’. Their song, Oxford Coma, in particular is very catchy. I’ve heard whispers that they’ve signed to XL Records for the world, but don’t hold me to that. Nonetheless they sound fun and have a very ‘now’ sound. Whatever that means.

Listen to the Vampire Weekend song, Oxford Coma.

Also by ARI STEIN

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Tokyo Flash unleash their latest time keepers

We have featured Tokyo Flash watches before but they recently launched a new generation of time keepers, which are innovative and ahead of its time [pun intended]. The first new watch is the Rogue, which has a vivid green LED light guide that presents the time through a labyrinth of connecting LCD blocks. The outer ring of small dots represents minutes, with every fifth dot being slightly smaller to distinguish five minute groups. Read more

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Marika Papagika

Occasionally you hear something that puts everything musically into perspective. This time it’s come to me via an unknown, obscure Greek recording artist who lived between 1890 to 1943. Marika Papagika was the quintessential East European Bohemian, performing as a gypsy at cafes around Greece and recording for Victor Records in 1913. But none of these recordings were ever found. Her late husband set up a small music venue in New York on 34th St, between 7th and 8th Avenues. I found this one track recently, which is not only haunting and emotional but enduring, even in this day and age. Fascinating!

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Andreas Gursky’s new book: Architecture

German-born Andreas Gursky is a giant in the photography world. His masterpieces have consistently dazzled and bewildered, focused as they are on making the incomprehensible believable. Gursky’s photos theorizes how architecture can shape people’s life by having a decisive influence on their social and cultural structures, in the process underlying how fleeting and fictional today’s values are. His latest book — simply titled Architecture — is accompanied with lengthy essays about his works and is an engrossing introduction to this master photographer. Read more

YOU'RE SAYING (3)

Ryann Identicon Icon

Ryann said | 28 February, 2008

They are such a good and unusual band. a breath of fresh air.

Instant VW Fan... Identicon Icon

Instant VW Fan... said | 5 March, 2008

If the Kinks were way better and the Beatles were way worse, Vampire Weekend would result. This may not sound like a great thing but trust me, its incredible. I was an instant fan after hearing the first song which I investigated after seeing the A-punk video. The first thing I’ve liked/loved in nearly ten years apart from Paulo Nutini. THat’s pretty damn great. Recommend to anyone who doesnt have their head up their ass.

Holly Identicon Icon

Holly said | 10 March, 2008

I agree with Instant VW Fan (see below). I also became an instant fan after the spiffy A-punk video. I love their authetic sound. I thought that all music was starting to sound too machine-like, but VW is one of those bands that breaks that stereotype. And it doesn’t hurt that lead singer Ezra is adorable. :]

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One of our favourite illustrators, the New York-based Christopher Neal, just happens to share a studio space with Sam Weber. Oh man! To be a extra large fly on that wall. It would be so tempting to attach a canvas to your back and just buzz on out of there! Read more

New Mexico group, Alaska in Winter’s The Homeless And The Hummingbirds is a stunningly beautiful, slowburning song, featuring Beirut’s Zach Condon on trumpet.

Seriously, all jokes aside, we really need to tear ourselves away from our computers every once in a while. These shirts, on sale at Threadless, may be intended as a light-hearted jab at modern culture, but who will be laughing when our hands become gnarled claws from decades of ceaseless typing and our spinal columns have fused solid from lack of movement? Evil monkeys, that’s who.

‘Some people call me the space cowboy, some call me the gangster of love, some people call me Maurice, cause I speak with the pompetus of love’. The pompetus of love?! Really. I don’t know what the heck Steve Miller was on the day he wrote that, but I could sure do with some now. Read more

We have a bunch of new playlists up on our sister site, My Secret Playlist, a music discovery website and weekly email publication in which we invite our favourite bands and musicians to give us the rundown on their eight favourite songs right now. Over the past few weeks, acts such as The B52s, Team Genius, Pivot, Jukebox the Ghost, Moby, Katy Perry, and the Dandy Warhols, among many others, have written about the music that inspires them. To sign-up to receive the weekly My Secret Playlist publication, just enter your email address into the website’s subscription box.

Yes it may be cliched to acknowledge it, but having lived for some time now down the barrel of the loaded gun that is New York, it really is difficult to be cynical — as the folk laureate Rufus Wainwright is — about this city. Read more

This interview with James Lavelle gives a fascinating window into the making of the latest UNKLE opus, End Titles, Stories for Film.

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WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST

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The Dodos’ Visiter

Like a packet of perfectly seasoned pistachio nuts, I can’t put this album down until it’s well and truly finished: until every last morsel of taut, snappy percussion and hypnotic vocals have been digested. They’re like Animal Collective at the wind-down hour - slightly more stabilised and with the psychotic fits tempered into a soothing, trance-inducing pace. Somehow it’s also immediately catchy, laced with subtle hooks and soaring backing vocals. It’s the sort of sound that sucks you into their warm world, likely to cause you to miss your bus stop if your mind sinks too far into the rich chasm of tracks like Red and Purple [below] or The Ball. Listen closely, because this might well be one of the releases of the year.

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Andrew Hem

I’m so digging the work of Santa Monica artist Andrew Hem. Painting seems to have become relegated in the illustration world these days, so I’m pleased to see Hem rocking it in a big way. His bold brushwork, lush colors, puppet-like figures and painted type make for a body of work that really hits the painted spot.

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Shadows and Dust

When it comes to making an entrance, nothing says rock star quite like a pair of leather pants. If you’ve tried this look at home, you’d know that finding a flattering leather statement piece is much harder than it looks. So it’s lucky for us that leather is Melbourne label Shadows & Dust’s specialty. Designer Stephen Jones sources skins from all over the world to create butter-soft ruffled jackets, skinny trousers, vests and shorts. And what makes this label stand out from the rest is that it takes three workers an entire day to create each unisex leather garment. In a society of mass manufacture, that’s what we like to call a rarity.

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Beverly St. Clair’s Genome quilts

Artist Beverly St. Clair has translated the four DNA bases into certain shapes and patterns, which she uses to translate genomes into beautiful quilts.

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YoaKustoms

Amanda Yoakum is the creative whirlwind behind YoaKustoms, customised sneakers which stand as ‘an artistic expression rather than just a factory look’. We dig these kicks like we haven’t dug kicks in a long, long time. Read more

a very cheap bag

SHOP

Very Cheap Bag totes are eco-friendly and made from 100 percent unbleached cotton. They’re sturdy, yet lightweight. We love them, and think you will too. So we have them for sale in our online store for less than nine dollars.

end titles

WIN

UNKLE’s new album, End Stories … Music For Film, comes in a limited edition gatefold vinyl gloss with sculptured panel embossing. We have three copies to give away to randomly selected Australian Lost At E Minor subscribers who leave a comment under this post.

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