Minus The Bear
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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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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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.
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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Nicolas Palmer captures candid images from strange worlds inaccessible to many and brings them to our attention through precision linework and vivid color. Palmer studies concept art, storyboarding and comics at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, GA. From graphite drawings to computer animation, Palmer’s surrealistic images travel the territory between cute and terrifying with unflagging boldness and whimsy. Read more
Do you want to be transported back to your childhood dreams? Check out Nike’s latest Dunk Hi for grrrrr girls. Pink, red, green, yellow, blue, white and, wait for it, a golden metallic orange. Oooohhhh. Be your own Rainbow Bright on a mission to save Rainbow Land. Just in time for the London sun, too.
Before MTV, MySpace, and viral marketing, album covers had the potential to make or break a band. First impressions count, and many a music geek have purchased albums on the cover artwork alone. So what these guys were thinking is simply beyond me. Although, if anyone has a spare copy of Devastating Dave the Turntable Slave then I know someone, ahem, who could take it off you. Read more
Tim Lee’s illustrations are wonderfully intricate and precise, a tangled world of escapism and realism mixed into one. Read more
Kirk brings Molly to meet his family for a pool party but she doesn’t have her swim suit. Kirk, an average Joe, can’t believe his luck when gorgeous babe Molly falls for him even though he’s the first to admit She’s Out of My League. In cinemas April 1.
Jean-Julien Pous’ Seeking You is an animated love letter to the city of Hong Kong. It presses all the same buttons as Blade Runner and In the Mood for Love, with a touch of Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s gothic style, and though it’s really amazing eye candy, it also smacks of creepy, orientalist expat. Here, an entire Asian city is exoticized, fetishized, and finally anthropomorphized in a rather unsubtle way. Why are so many creepy old European dudes so lecherous when it comes to Asia?
Bay Area duo The Human Quena Orchestra sounds like a skyscraper falling in slow motion with their scraping, crashing, screeching drone pounded out of guitars, samplers, and circuit-bent electronics. Listen to their track Progress below.
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Greek/Italian artist Angelo Plassas creates flash- based websites that are each interactive pieces of art unto themselves. Read more
The clever folk at Code Organ made a sythesizer that turns webpages into music. Just enter a URL and listen to the sweet, sweet sounds your site produces.
Dennis Pomales is a man after my own heart, creating impulsive yet detailed, tribal-influenced monsters and aliens using watercolors and ink. Read more
Yum, yum, cupcakes are fun. These creations are so clever, so arty, so damn bizarre that it would almost be a shame to eat them. Almost! Read more
Wheeeeee! This game is so freaking fun! You move your cursor over each dot to make them split into four smaller dots ad infinitum.
From afar, Jesus stares serenely at those surrounding you. But up close, Islamic crescents cluster together in abstract patterns. Created by fashion label, the-affair, this tee is printed on beautifully soft American Apparel in a limited edition of 200. Purchase now. Read more
The new Runaways movie looks at the formation of the seminal girls’ group which spawned Joan Jett’s career. We have a Runaways prize pack to give away, including Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway, the Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Greatest Hits CD, the film’s soundtrack, and Joan Jett’s photobook with Todd Oldham. To enter, just leave the name of the city you live in! Read more
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Shea said | 27 September, 2007
Definately one of my favorite groups. With consistantly solid releases these guys have a sound thats not quite like any one else out there right now. Planet of Ice is an amazing cd.