Shane Meadows

WE'RE SUPPORTING

Latvian-born, UK-based artist Henrijs Preiss cites Russion Icons and Renaissance paintings as primary influences, but his paintings are surprisingly non-figurative. The images seem to draw from a cryptic system of iconography, as if they were panels from the temple walls of a futuristic solar cult. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

With the streets of New York already covered in a thin layer of ice after a heavy snowstorm yesterday, it’s interesting to see how other cold winter cities deal with this ubiquitous companion. At the annual Ice and Snow Festival, in Haban, China, they get kinda creative with it: building an entire city out of ice and then lighting it up like an extra frosty, colourful Christmas tree. Read more

WE'RE WEARING

LA-based designer label Grey Ant has been under my radar for quite some time now, but the Spring 08 collection is what really made me a ‘Grey Ant junkie’. Read more

WE'RE THINKING

We checked in recently with one of our favorite illustrators — and Lost At E Minor contributor — Yuko Shimizu: How has 2008 started for you? ‘I was just in the French Riviera with eighteen other illustrators and designers. It was our annual New Year’s retreat. People from all over Europe and North America meet up and spend a week together, exchange information, go see things together, or just have fun. It was fantastic, although we didn’t have the best weather’. Read more

WE'RE READING

San Francisco-based illustrator Luke Feldman has just had his first children’s book published, Chaff n’ Skaffs: Mai and the Lost Moskivvy, a collaboration with writer Amanda Chin. The book artfully tells the story of Mai, ‘a young girl who never ventured too far from her home. When a lost mosquito interrupts Mai’s sleep, her friend Chaff suggests they escort Moskivvy back home to a faraway land. So begins a courageous girl’s voyage into a fantastic world’, all communicated beautifully through Feldman’s colorful, dynamic and considered illustrations. Read more

Back in the day, New Zealand pop absurdists, Split Enz were the finest damn Australasian band around. This track, I Walk Away, off their final album — Spellbound — is their ultimate moment: a hefty dose of pure melodic majestry, wrapped around the aching lyrics and quirky arrangements of genius frontman, Neil Finn.

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Japanese artist Toshiya Tsunoda’s field recordings will blow your mind without blowing your eardrums. By placing sensitive microphones inside empty objects, such as bottles and hollow logs, he captures vibrations inaudible to the human ear. Layers of these sounds are artfully cut and composed to produce brute, mesmerising work that challenges our perception of music. Read more