Music / Ben Lee on NYC
Australian singer-songwriter Ben Lee recently contributed some posts to Lost At E Minor on some of his favourite cultural things and people. We checked in with him to see what sort of head-space he’s been in the time since the release of his latest album, Ripe. It’s been quite a journey from the young Ben Lee of Noise Addict fame to the more at peace Ben Lee with an acoustic guitar and a headful of soulful melodies. How do you look back on your younger self? ‘I was very eager, very earnest, and very honest. I was also pretty hectic. I look back on those days fondly, but I’m really glad I’m no longer there!’ You lived in New York for some time. Fond memories? And where do you escape to in the city for some quiet inspiration? ‘I loved living in New York. I will probably live there again at some point. I moved there when I was 19 and wanted to meet crazy, creative people. I wanted to feel free. New York did the trick. But you have to know how to get quiet to really survive that place. As for places to hang out at, I recommend the Meteor Room at The Museum of Natural History, and Central Park’. On your blog you’ve done acoustic versions of the entire Against Me album. Tell us how that went down. ‘Sometimes when I become a huge fan of something, I don’t just want to passively listen to it, I want to experience it from the inside. That’s what happened with the Against Me album. I really connected with it’. Ripe — a handful of beautiful songs ready for the picking? A piece of fruit, juicy and succulent? What’s your take on the new album in the context of the album title? ‘Enjoying the patience required to get to consummation. The joy of desire. The thrill of correct timing. Everything is fleeting, but a moment that is fully experienced is eternal. What a ride!’ [read a review of Ben Lee's album, Ripe, and watch the clip to his song, Love Me Like The World Is Ending]
Listen to the Ben Lee track, Numb.
Tagged: acoustic music, Australian bands, Australian songwriters, New York, pop music
- 0
- 0
RELATED
Rediscovering the 90s: George Michael’s Too Funky
George Michael’s sold out Madison Square Garden comeback concert on Wednesday seemed like the biggest dance party of the summer. The day after, I couldn’t resist going onto iTunes and get his Too Funkey music video. The original supermodels, not just beautiful but also all powerful women- walk down the runway in, none other than the 90s design genius Thierry Mugler’s clothings. Music, visual, clothing, models, all so fresh. The 90s is cool again. You can watch the video on youtube, but I highly recommend to spend your $1.99 well and get your own video.
The Grates: an ongoing diary by Patience
We love Australian band The Grates. So much so that we asked their frontwoman Patience to write an exclusive diary for Lost At E Minor over the next week, giving us the inside word on what the band are up to. We’ll run a new posting from it each day. This is her entry from last Saturday: ‘Today nothing happened. Actually, that’s not true. Today by sheer coincidence we all went and saw Batman independently. Awesome. So good. Don’t see Batman because you want to, see it because you need to. I don’t care what you think, just see it. Spend your money. At the very least it will give you something to debate with your friends about. This is something we do all the time at Grates headquarters. It’s a fun way to find out more about your friends and also solidify your own opinions. Who knows when your already explored opinion on weather it’s okay to kick a robot dog will be challenged. Trust me, something like this will one day happen to you and if you take part in regular debates with friends you will be more than able to cope with the situation’.
Listen to The Grates track, Sukkafish.
I had the pleasure of seeing Duran Duran play a few weeks back in the balmy drizzle of New York’s Central Park. I always thought the guys had more cheek than they were ever given credit for. But don’t be fooled! For a band so rooted in the immediacy of disposable pop, they wrote some timeless songs, none more so than The Chauffeur.
Also by ZOLTON
Sydney pop starlets, Teenagers in Tokyo, have just released a new remix of their track End it Now dolled up and throttled into shape by local DJ group, Bagraiders. It’s as fun as a triple shot expresso with a dash of laphroaig.
Yves Klein Blue’s Silence Is Distance video premiere
Brisbane band, Yves Klein Blue, as energetic a mash-up of styles and textures as you’re ever going to find, have a new video out. And it’s good. Fun.
Celia Marais’ Field Excursion was originally started as a study for the website for electronic musician Amon Tobin. It consists of “nine portraits of strange creatures made out of pieces of meat and fish, and given the names of existing or imaginary bacterias”. Read more
YOU'RE SAYING (0)
No comments yet.
HAVE YOUR SAY
If ever there were an apt description of our time, it would be that we are the ‘mobile generation’, in every sense of the word. We are a people of movers, we are offered choice on so many levels. And, in this way, we are far removed — both in ideology and practice — from those generations before us, who were generally more static and certainly less transitory. Read more
The incendiary energy of Canadian quartet, Tokyo Police Club is electric. We caught up with keyboardist, Graham Wright. Read more
I’ve been a big fan of Michelle Vandermeer’s work since I came across her Mini Majellen zines at this year’s Sydney Writers Festival. Describing herself as a doer — as in one of those people who are always doing or making something — Michelle’s work, which includes book binding, illustration, jewelery making and her zines, stems from an internal creative springboard and a double degree in architecture and graphic design. Her work is smart and succinct. Read more
In my next life, I want to sing like Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison. Oh, and grow a lush beard, so I can play in their band. Better start cracking.
The young architect Junya Ishigami is pushing the boundaries of the weightless aesthetic stream of architecture. Here, for the Kanagawa Institute of Technology, he has designed a glass and steel pavilion with a roof that floats on a sparse forest of thin steel columns or ‘flats’. Read more
A new idea has emerged in Norway that we think could be the precursor to things to come in the way our societies interact and develop. The general gradual demise of traditional gathering places such as town halls, community centers and churches has seemingly gone in hand with a generational shift and sharp increase in online virtual communities. However, humans still need to rub shoulders at some point to get things done, until, say, we perfect the sensitive hologram. Read more
The Virtual Shoe Museum was initiated by Liza Snook in 2004. Once the idea was born, a long search began for designers, photographers and publishers connected to shoes. New friendships developed and their mailbox filled with loads of material on fantastic shoes, art and design on shoes. The Shoe featured above is the Electric Light Shoe by Strawberry Frog.
WE'RE RESPECTING
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Chris Mars paints the kind of paintings you’d expect to find in the basement of a serial killer after he’s shown the cops where all the bodies are. Read more
A master of juxtaposition, Canadian photographer Liz Wolfe has updated her site with her newest series which focuses on characters and confection. The photos are never what they first seem, revealing something a little more macabre on closer inspection: a meat tree, a diseased dear, a melting icy pole dripping blood. It’s all presented in hyper-real candy colours.
French design dynamo Jean-Marie Massaud has created a Manned Cloud. A cruise airship with a hotel for 40 passengers and 15 staff, Massaud worked with the Office National d’Etudes et de Recherche Aérospatiale in this proposal. Read more
James Jean, a portrait of a young man as an artist
New York artist James Jean doesn’t need any introduction. But, just in case you haven’t seen his work yet, take a peek now. And forever be in awe. We caught up with him recently in his studio and asked him about the props for his daily inspiration: ‘Sometimes I’ll have my laptop setup next to my work station so that I can listen to audio books, the radio, or have videos playing in the background. But mostly inspiration comes from books and magazines’. Read more
On the cattle ranch with Erika Larsen
Erika Larsen’s cattle ranch photographs have a surreal yet timeless quality to them. I would never have guessed that they were commissioned by a business magazine. We caught up with the New York-based photographer recently to find out about her time on the ranch. Read more
Thanks to our friends at Universal Music, we have three Beck 7″ vinyl Chemtrails singles, off his new Modern Guilt album, to give away to randomly selected Australian subscribers. Read more
Discuss
- Zolton on "What's going on inside the Daft Punk pyramid?"
- Zolton on "Workspaces... how does yours compare?"
- Andy on "Workspaces... how does yours compare?"
- sammygee on "Creative Opportunity - Make a TV ad for Virgin Mobile"
- Jimbo on "Workspaces... how does yours compare?"
- Andy on "Workspaces... how does yours compare?"
- Andy on "What's going on inside the Daft Punk pyramid?"
- Andy on "Write here, right now"
DISCOVER MORE
SO...
TAGS: acoustic music animals animation Australian artists Australian bands black and white illustrations black and white photography blogs Brooklyn Brooklyn artists Canada China collaboration colour colourful illustrations comics electronic music flash games folk music France Hip Hop Japan London Los Angeles magazines Melbourne New York New York artists New York bands New York illustrators New York photographers plush toys pop music portrait portraits rock music San Francisco soul music street art street fashion Sydney t-shirts Tokyo typography UK bands
IMAGES:
POPULAR:
- Brittanie Pendleton - loved 45 times
- Elaine Biss's feminine charms - loved 24 times
- Prefab House - loved 18 times
- Andreco's brilliant visions - loved 17 times
- Dongyun Lee - loved 13 times
- Fly Apart - loved 13 times
- An artistic tribute to Bjork - loved 12 times
SEARCH: Can't find what you're looking for? Do a search..
IS IT GOOD FOR YOU TOO?
We hope you're enjoying your time on Lost At E Minor, but it’s not over yet. Got something to share? Tell us about it and we'll look to publish it. If you want to have your work featured on the site, we'd love to hear from you. Or if you’d just like to talk amongst yourselves, that’s cool too. Pssst, we also have an online store stocking some of the goodies we feature on the site.
If you're a media agency and want to use this platform to connect with our readership, then drop us a line and tell us about it. Oh yeah, and we do digital consulting for cool brands that want to reach the sort of demographic that visits this site.
