Orba Squara
The folky wilfullness of New York songwriter Mitch Davis of Orba Squara is a beautiful thing. We asked him if he still felt the pulse of the city ticking, ticking: ‘I definitely feel creatively stimulated in NYC. There is so much going on around you and things are always moving. I need to be in an environment like that to make music. That is where I feel comfortable. Some people like to isolate themselves and write in the middle of nowhere and some people get their creative stimulation out of adversity. But I am just the opposite of that’. Your website is superbly designed. Perhaps the most artistic band site I’ve seen. It kinda sits in with the general aesthetic of the band. ‘I am very conscious of the artistic direction of Orba Squara. That is something as important to me as the music. Aside from the cover piece, all the artwork, layout and design was done by me. The foldout CD insert partially tells the story of all the songs on the album. If you look at the images behind each songs lyrics, they relate to one another. The website is an animated, somewhat interactive, version of the CD foldout. For people like me, who like to look at the album artwork while listening to the music, I tried to make something that might be fun to go along with that. Kind of like watching the scenery go by through a car window while listening to the radio. A simple little landscape. I have some plans to evolve it a bit further, too’. I see you’re playing a show with Imperial Teen. Where they hell did they disappear to? ‘I can tell you that I am very happy to play with Imperial Teen and I was very excited to see them play. In the time between their last two albums, I know Will from Imperial Teen put out a fantastic solo album under the name Hey, Willpower’. So what’s ahead? And can we come? ‘We are really enjoying the performances now and there is surely more of that ahead. We also have a video for [single] Gravel in production now. There is some other fun stuff happening that is on the way … and of course, you can come!’
Also by ZOLTON
Maths explains the origin of superhero characters
I love the colours and simple reasoning in this clever series by Scottish illustrator Matt Cowen, which uses basic maths equations to explain how certain pop culture icons came to be. Read more
Star Wars Uncut: a fully crowdsourced version of Episode IV
The project of creative technologist, Casey Pugh, this full length version of the George Lucas masterpiece was created from multiple 15 second segments recreated from the original movie and submitted by thousands of Star Wars fans, which were then spliced together by editor Aaron Valdez to form the final product. Genius, as both a commentary on contemporary pop culture trends (there are references to LEGO, stop motion, memes and the like) and on the power of tapping your audience for quality material.
Filmmaker creates LEGO stop motion to propose to girlfriend
Now, this is one for the ages: back in 2010, Atlanta film-maker Walter Thompson created a jaw-dropping LEGO stop motion to propose to Nealey Dozier, his girlfriend of four years. The video took 22 hours of shooting and some 2,600 pictures to splice together, a small sacrifice to pay for years of happiness together. Right? Right! Oh, and she said yes. Bonus.
YOU'RE SAYING (0)
No comments yet.
HAVE YOUR SAY
If I had a third thumb, I’d give Kumi Yamashita three thumbs up. The Japanese artist creates stunning visual effects with lighting and simple forms, like letters of the alphabet, children’s blocks, and shoeprints. Yamashita finds the rare balance between beauty and brains.
We’ve posted about Jennifer Davis before, but the Minneapolis-based artist has some great new work up on her blog. Read more
My favourite cartoon is Home Movies by Brendon Small. Read more
As a child, gold mining towns were exemplified in my mind by boring theme parks populated by out of work actors in naff colonial costumes. My parents used to drag us along in our overheated datsun because they couldn’t afford to take the kids to Disneyland. As often happens, I now appreciate the destinations whose mentions used to prompt a whole lot of whingeing about seatbelt buckle burns and compensation payouts of McDonalds. Walhalla is one such beauty. Set in the misty foothills of Australia’s Baw Baw ranges, it was once a gold era boom-town, but is now home to less than 20 residents (not counting the ghosts). Read more
The New York Times recently posted a selection of Mad Magazine fold-ins from the past 40 years of the magazine’s history. The feature allows you to actually fold the images to reveal the decoded message and picture.
I haven’t bought a CD in a while but I was strolling down Wellington’s Cuba Street looking for a bit of inspiration the other day when Liam Finn’s music tapped me politely on the shoulder and dragged me into the music store. Liam is New Zealand music royalty, of Neil Finn descent, although — with his wild hair and beard — he’s looking a bit more like a young Jesus these days. The record is made with the help of an analogue loop machine, and you’ll find the kind of stunning instrumental crescendos that I haven’t heard since The Beatles Hey Jude. He engages emotionally and spontaneously, with both skill and showmanship.
I’ve always been an avid follower of the Comfort Station brand in Cheshire St, London, so I decided to pop in on Sunday to have a look at their new collection. It’s unique and different, featuring railway tracks and my favourite barometer necklaces, where you can rate the way you, or someone you’ve just met, is feeling, with indications of stormy, fair and excellent.
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Christoph Niemann illustrates a nightmare flight
New York Times illustrator Christoph Niemann has created a brilliant visual diary outlining the peril and pitfalls that beset the everyday passenger based on his recent experience flying from New York to his home town of Berlin. Read more
Nerd-attack! Man, this TARDIS zipper robe is so much cooler than any Star Wars crap people are hawking this days. This is for the true gangsta nerd.
Here are a couple awesome pieces by Matt Leines that were recently on display in the Doubting Thomases exhibit at Nudashank gallery in Baltimore. Gives me ideas for Halloween. Read more
A little infectious lollipop rock anyone? Feel free to embarrass yourself singing along at the stoplight. If the other drivers give you that look, roll down the windows and spread the love.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The return of the Brionvega rr226
Italian brand Brionvega has resurrected the classy Radiofonografio piece first created in 1965. The updated version is just like the original turntable/radio unit, but also has a CD/DVD player.
This pendant by Portland designer Stephanie Stimek hangs from an eighteen inch 14 carat gold chain. Made from a Japanese quail egg, the entire shell has been coated in plastic for strength and is available for purchase through the Lost At E Minor store. Read more
If you have a Twitter feed that focuses on cool pop cultural things and you’d like to swap Tweets with Lost At E Minor and other like-minded Twitterers, drop us a note (with Tweet Swap in the title). We have a system in place and we’d like to have you in on it! [illustration by Brad Fitzpatrick]
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.
