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
- 1
- 0
RELATED
I saw Norwegian duo Kings of Convenience play the other week in New York. As a long time fan of the group, this was a much anticipated show. And while I was a little disappointed that they opened the set playing their entire new album — Declaration of Dependence — from beginning to end (which no one had been able to hear yet), and not any of their earlier material, there were some truly beautiful songs amongst it all that have quickly become oft-repeated favorites. At the top of that list is this typically wistful and melancholic track, 24-25.
Findlay Brown’s Love You Will Find You
A former bare-knuckle boxer from Yorkshire, England (for real), Findlay Brown was heralded by many as the UK’s answer to Jose Gonzales when his debut album, Separated By The Sea, was released on Peacefrog Records in 2007. Love Will Find You moves beyond his earlier folk sound to a more ambitious — and soulful — place. Produced by Bernard Butler (Suede), the album features songs that are lush and intimate, influenced as much by Phil Spector and Ennio Morricone as by Roy Orbison or The Beatles. The album came together while Brown was stuck on his sister’s couch nursing a broken leg, having been run over by a cab driver: ‘I’d already started going back and listening to a lot of records I’d grown up on, like Elvis Presley, soul music, doo wop, Phil Spector, The Righteous Brothers and the like. I had an idea about making a modern record influenced by the songwriting of the late 50s and early 60s. I just started writing, trying to work out what made a universally great song, like Stand By Me. These new songs are the first part of that process’. You can download his new single, Holding Back The Night, for free in our Music Download section.
The music behind the new Howling Bells album, Radio Wars
The last time I caught up with London-based, Australian band, Howling Bells, was in New York in early 2007 when they played a show at one of the many seedy Lower East Side bars. Since then, they’ve recorded a new album, the aptly named Radio Wars [listen to their song, Treasure Hunt, below], a remarkable follow-up to their 2006 self-titled debut. I checked in with guitarist Joel Stein to find out what music the four-piece had been listening to around the time the album was written: ‘The Byrds’ Eight Miles High always sounds so futuristic to me. It has one of the best guitar sounds ever and really moves me with its color and power. Every time I hear the Tortoise track, I Set My Face to the Hillside, I instantly get transported to the ocean. Beautiful! Joy Division’s Isolation is incredible. I love the intro keyboard riff, in particular (the keyboard was self-built). It expresses urgency and truth. And then there’s Neu!’s Hallogallo, a truly inspiring instrumental track that I always want to go on for longer. Its fuzzy guitars are so warm and vibrant. Perfect!’ Read frontwoman Juanita Stein’s Playlist of inspiring songs.
Also by ZOLTON
Crimea X is the coming together of two offbeat, disparate characters, DJ Rocca (Ajello, Super Sonic Lovers, Maffia Sound System) and Jukka Reverberi from 90s Italian glam cult rockers, Giardini di Mirò, who have often have been compared with the sound of Mogwai, Arab Strap, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. We asked them about their favourite music and they started with The Smiths song, Ask [listen below] ‘I saw them playing live on Italian TV. It was during the 80s when I was extremely young, and I’ve never stopped listening to this song’. Read the rest of Crimea X’s Secret Playlist.
I love the curated selection of abandoned swimming pool photos on Feature Shoot today, featuring work by Carlo Van de Roer and Albert Jodar, amongst others.
Win a set of Sony personal audio prizes
Thanks to Sony Australia, four Lost At E Minor readers will win personal audio prizes, including the new 8GB Walkman S series video MP3 player and the MDRXB500 Extra Bass headphones. Read more
YOU'RE SAYING (0)
No comments yet.
HAVE YOUR SAY
We love the work of American illustrator, Hope Gangloff. It captures the disposable elements of pop culture in an irreverent and witty way. We interviewed her recently. Read more
The bright, racing, digital, 12 million person metropolis of Tokyo has gone all quiet and traditional. Read more
We love the range of prints created by graphic-tee fashion label, the-affair. Each limited edition print is produced on beautifully soft American Apparel t-shirts, which is why we’re stocking a selection of their t-shirts in the Lost At E Minor online store. Read more
In late 80s and early 90s, the Illustrated Laser Ray and futuristic grids aesthetic was a sensation, years before it began to diminish abruptly. But just like every fashion, it became mainstream and mutated into portrait backgrounds. A large amount of these pictures are documented on the Laser Portraits websites. Read more
This one-stop shop for all things eco-friendly is proof that protecting the environment is becoming a popular pastime. Almost every material category that comprises our society, from design to celebrity to transport, is looked at through a green lens. They’re ranked number twenty-two on Technorati’s list of 75,000,000 blogs, and even Daryl Hannah is singing their praises. Why? Its writers, they claim, ‘have the ability to take topics that most of us snoozed our way through in school, and make them the addictive juicy, green bits that they are’.
Back in the day, when I was a skinny teenager on the great pedestal of life, I had a real obsession for the understated, low-fi, deliciously melodic and somewhat blurry sounds of the New Zealand Flying Nun bands. I would pool my meagre savings and canvas the local record shops, scouring the racks for the latest cassettes from The Bats, The Chills, The Clean, and, later, The Straitjacket Fits. Read more
Fate is the record, Dr. Dog were destined to make a timeless yet contemporary distillation of the band’s open-armed, big-hearted sound. Inventive, magnificently realized, and absolutely irresistible, the Park The Van Records release sees the Philadelphia-based quintet filtering the gamut of American popular music into its own idiosyncratic brand of blue-eyed, dilated-pupil soul. As ever, Dr. Dog makes magic from an enduring pop palette of intricate harmonies, shape-shifting melodies, and ramshackle audio ingenuity all presented through their slightly skewed and utterly individualistic outlook.
WE'RE RESPECTING
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Trip out with Sparrow Vs Sparrow’s retro illustrations, I love their aesthetic, color use and sense of humor. Read more
Hong Kong-based illustrator Man-Tsun draws dark and beautiful painterly images that look like they are straight off a high-end Japanese animated film. 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.
Charlie Immer’s pastel-pallete sometimes obfuscates the gory violence in his surreal images. At other times, it heightens the gut-wrenching and visceral effect of his work. Read more
Thanks to Sony Australia, four Lost At E Minor readers will win personal audio prizes, including the new 8GB Walkman S series video MP3 player and the MDRXB500 Extra Bass headphones. Read more
The Plus One t shirt by New York designer Ryan Sullivan is printed by hand, one at a time, using a dye-based print and printed on cotton/poly blend tees. Size is true to fit.
Read more
FOLLOW US
DISCOVER MORE
SO...
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. 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.
