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Figurines

Music / Figurines

Hailing from Denmark, Figurines first formed in the mid-1990s. But it wasn’t until the release of 2003’s Shake A Mountain that the group came to the attention of those outside of Denmark’s tightly cloistered music scene. We spoke to frontman Christian Hjelm: It’s hard to believe you guys have been around for over a decade now. How have you maintained the energy and the fun? ‘Well, we started up over a decade ago, but at that time the three of us were just kids fooling around with guitars. We didn’t really consider ourselves being in a band at that point. That didn’t really happen before 2001 or something like that, when we included our drummer, Kristian. From then on it went rather smooth with getting label and a manager, and so on. Being in a band has its ups and downs as does everything else in life. But the fact that we’re still together and enjoy writing material must mean that we have more ups than downs’. [New album] When the Deer Wore Blue is a beautiful and powerful recording. Is it your favorite Figurines recorded work to date and what makes it so different in your mind from [2005’s] Skeleton? ‘Thank you! Whether it’s our favorite work to date is hard to tell. It’s different from the two others that’s for sure. So I guess we’ll have to be boring and say that we love them all equally. Although we definitely feel that we have grown as a band in the way we play together and the way we compose. Since Skeleton, we’ve included Jens Ramon in the band, who’s playing keys. That did a great deal to the way we sound and write. There are some passages on WTDWB that are connected to Skeleton, but in general there is less guitar on this one and the pace has slowed down a bit. It’s more challenging to the listeners, I guess. And these days that doesn’t necessarily sell albums’. You’re all pretty well connected to the creative scene in Denmark. Any talented local artists, illustrators, designers, and photographers we should know more about? ‘Plenty! Julie Nord is a great illustrator; Miriam Dalsgaard and Simon Birk are great photographers. Good Boy Creative makes splendid music videos and I like the new clothing brand Won Hundred. The Danish music scene is very strong at the moment, I feel, with bands like Speaker Bite Me, Oh No Ono, Mew, Under Byen, Spleen United, and The Blue Van. No one sounds the same, but there’s plenty of good rock music to dig if you MySpace these acts’.

Listen to Figurines’, Hey Girl.

Also by ZOLTON

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The Cerasoli:LeBasse Gallery’s relocation

California’s Cerasoli:LeBasse Gallery has just moved to new digs on Washington Boulevard, Culver City. And to celebrate the re-launch they have an exhibition running featuring the work of Deth P Sun, Mari Inukai [above] and
Melissa Haslam, amongst others. This inaugural exhibition, the aptly titled Blender, runs until November 1st.

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TV On The Radio poster and vinyl

Happy, happy, joy, joy! We have a TV On The Radio poster designed by Tunde, as well as Dear Science on vinyl, to give away to a randomly selected Lost At E Minor subscriber who leaves a comment under this post telling us why they simply must have it.

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Ryan Sullivan scarf

Ok, so it’s 3.30 on Thursday afternoon and I’m sitting in a Brooklyn cafe, tapping away as fast as two fingers possibly can. As I look around, discreetly to my left and then more openly to my right, I cannot see a single person in this warm and friendly place wearing a more stylish and comfortable scarf than the one that I have wrapped around my neck. Yes, as my grandfather would say, it’s a very ‘handsome’ scarf — a soft, playful, ‘handsome’ scarf. And you know what? There’s not a single damn person in this room who can compete with it. Ha! That feels good. That feels very, very good. Mind you, it is 76 degrees outside, and I’m starting to sweat, so perhaps I’m just a little … ummm … over-dressed.

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‘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

David Holmes’ fourth solo album has been a long time in the making. The man who is best known for his scoring of films such as Ocean’s 11, 12 and 13, and remixing for bands like U2 and The Manic Street Preachers, took just over ten years to make his latest album. In his own words, he describes the album as beginning the day his mother passed away. ‘I had always wanted to make a record about my life in Belfast and all the things attached to that — family, friends, loss, love and starting a family of my own. All the stuff that shapes the person you become’. The result is a soothing blend of eclectic indie folk, which ranges from the soft and tranquil, to the upbeat and and joyous; an entirely delectable, personal album which touches on the universal trials of human emotion. Listen to the David Holmes track, Holy Pictures.

Australian group Pivot have recently signed with the mighty Warp label and — even better (well, for us anyway) — have written a fun Secret Playlist for us. You can see where the many disparate influences have seeped into their latest recording, the beautiful and colourful, O Soundtrack My Heart.

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.

Czech painter Victor Safonkin does some pretty impressive neo-classical/surrealist paintings that pay homage to all the masters while having a quirky style all their own. They are thankfully free of snarky pop-culture references and irony, which makes the images timeless and strikingly beautiful. Read more

A Melbourne native once said to me: to find the good bars, you have to look for the bins in alleyways. Section 8 totally fits that quota. It is a bar that is a. in an alleyway, and b. filled with trash. As enticing as that sounds, I must make it clear that the alleyway is actually an old carpark in Chinatown and the trash is not exactly trash. But don’t let that stop you. Section 8 is pumping. Filled with forklift pallets for your seating pleasure, this little bar-that-could (also known as the Container Bar) makes a refreshing beverage and plays super cool beats all night. Read more

I don’t know if it’s the name, the relaxed look, or the attitude that just don’t sit too well with authority, but something about New York based label Sophomore has got us reminiscing about the good old days. Their current collection has boys and girls getting back-to-basics. Think jersey sweats and loose tees, mixed with yoke necks, caplet sleeves and tapered waists. And you know what that means? The search for the perfect white tee and the ultimate summer singlet is over. If that’s not enough to get you inspired, pull out your denim, pop on some 1970s vintage Jodie Foster, and get ready to channel some Lower East Side cred.

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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

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Micah P. Hinson takes the good with the bad

We said a few weeks back that Micah P. Hinson is ‘like every rustic, broken down, and pieced back together country great that’s ever been. Only hipper and slightly less sombre’. With that in mind, we spoke to him recently and asked him whether his hometown of Texas was a difficult place for a young, aspiring musician to grow up in: Read more

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Two Americas

There are two Americas: one which strives to create its own culture, music, and art with a strong sense of ethics in mind, and another that drinks 32-ounce energy drinks before waiting on line to get into a club packed with women trying to get back at their overbearing fathers, and homophobic men with a fondness for Axe body spray. How do we bridge the divide?

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The Grind 2.0

The Grind 2.0, a charity auction show to fund construction of the Swift-Cantrell Skatepark in Atlanta, opens on Friday, October 10 at Atlanta’s The Rabbit Hole Gallery. The show features more than 60 hand-painted skate decks painted by some of today’s top underground artists from across America and Europe, and I couldn’t be more excited to be part of it! Other artists include Amy Sol, Dave Kinsey, Chris Stain, Jason Limon, Tara McPherson, Tessar Lo, and many more. The gallery is even offering an online bidding through their website.

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Alison Malone on her Daughters of Job photos

A couple of weeks back we featured the work of New York-based photographer Alison Malone, who went into the secretive environment of the Job’s Daughters to photograph the girls who are direct blood relatives of the Master Masons. This is the second part of that interview. The portraits of girls [below] are angelic. What was your intention of photographing them in this light? ‘There are many reasons that I chose to photograph the girls in this way. The first is the simple love I have of the straight photographic portrait and its ability to transmit the subtle nuances that come from an individual. When a portrait is made there is an opportunity for a delicate exchange between the photographer and the subject that creates a place to examine how one holds oneself in a moment’. Read more

This beautifully soft, handmade and dyed scarf is by the New York-based designer, Ryan Sullivan. They can be purchased through the Lost At E Minor store. Read more

dear science poster

WIN

Happy, happy, joy, joy! We have a TV On The Radio poster designed by Tunde, as well as Dear Science on vinyl, to give away to a randomly selected Lost At E Minor subscriber who leaves a comment under this post telling us why they simply must have it.

WHAT YOU'RE DOING

  • Petit Vulcan is listening to Stop Play Moon

  • Petros is listening to Off Radio

  • Sarah is reading the New York Times

  • Christian is listening to The Revisionists

  • Sally is listening to Nuuro

  • Jess is reading My Secret Playlist

  • Ana is playing a good mood

  • Chanoa is watching Tabatha’s Take Over

  • Sindhu is spotting patterns in the sky

  • Rajasee is reading Garfinkel

What are you doing?

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