Penguin Cafe Orchestra
For the first time in years, I left a gig last night with the feeling that I had witnessed something quite special. The ten-piece Penguin Cafe Orchestra are the unsung heroes of contemporary music, playing the most beautiful and understated blend of folk, experimental and classical arrangements: modest, non-climactic soundscapes that expose the roots of muscians such as Susumu Yokota and Four Tet whilst hinting at Fleetwood Mac’s more atmospheric pieces. The gig marked the ten year anniversary of the death of Penguin’s brainchild, Simon Jeffes. The band frequently commented on his love of science, and his compositions reflect a carefully concocted, and ultimately highly successful, experiment: the delicate melodies, in equal measures soporific and invigorating, soaring around the huge chapel they played in, and penetrating right to the core to leave you smiling, warm and full of deep respect. [watch the clip to Penguin Cafe Orchestra's Music for a Found Harmonium]
Also by FRANCIS ANDREWS
Irina Werning’s Back to the Future photo series
Argentine photographer Irina Werning has complied this beautiful and poignant collection of portraits of adults re-enacting images of themselves as kids. From what I gather, she has asked people to submit photographs of themselves and then returned with them to these same spots at the same times in their lives. She’ll take this project round the world, from Baghdad to Eurodisney, and is looking for willing participants. Read more
Bug fighting in South East Asia
Of all the little idiosyncratic activities I’ve come across since living in Southeast Asia, this nears the favourite. The bug fights are held in a cemetery about half an hour outside of Chiang Mai late in the year when the stags are at their randiest. It pulls an impressive crowd who bet some hefty dollars on the winner, claimed by the beetle who throws its opponent off the revolving log and struts (or crawls) to victory. Read more
What The Fuck Should I Make For Dinner
All hail the magic 8-ball of cooking; the answer to those painful moments of indecision that plague every shopper at around 6pm on a hectic Monday evening. It’s not the nagging voice that questions every decision you make, but the blunt, obnoxious hollering of an online Gordon Ramsay. The kitchen abides.
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I saw a show of Cherie Weaver’s a few years back at a local café in Austin and absolutely fell in love with her style and the little goat/human/squirrel creatures that inhabit many of her pieces. So much so that I commissioned her to do the artwork for my album, One Thing Right.
Photographer Mando Alvarez does the whole ‘modern life is lonely and desolate’ thing really well, but there’s a playfulness to his images that keep them from being too depressing. Read more
Not much more needs to be said about this. Ricky Gervais, the funniest man in
Hussein Jarouche’s 3,200-square-foot apartment in Brazil features an amazing, bending bookcase that wraps around the whole apartment. Read more
We love sex in art. No, not in a smutty Benny Hill kinda way, but rather the way in which Australian-based website Sex In Art takes a healthy peek at all things arty and well … sexual. There’s some beautiful illustration work up there and some evocative photography. Heck, I’m getting a little hot under the collar just writing about it. While most of the work they feature is work friendly, some of it isn’t. Still, it’s worth more than a casual glance, like this painting by Chinese artist, Guan Zeju.
Austin-based Future Clouds and Radar, the eclectic art-pop ensemble headed by Robert Harrison, has recently released its sophomore recording, Peoria. Where their self-titled debut album showed Harrison as the central figure in a large musical cast, Future Clouds and Radar’s latest offering finds the core band focusing their kaleidoscopic vision into a single cinematic narrative about the illusory nature of mortality. Throughout, Harrison stays true to his genre-hopping eclecticism, leading the journey through a maze of fuzz-box vocals and ethereal keys.
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If zombies had no teeth, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have our body parts in their mouths. These plush zombie slippers simulate that very experience.
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Benjamin Edminston’s psychedelic heads seem to have some fearful wisdom behind their blissed-out eyes. 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.
Michelle Blade’s psychedelic artwork
Michelle Blade’s washed out paintings are deceptively simple, her washy acrylics creating psychedelic textures and conjuring ghostly figures from the past. Read more
Honest Food Preparation Instructions
Yes, we’ve all been there: the chinese food from last week that still looks edible amongst the bare surrounds of an empty fridge. But really, we shouldn’t. Just let it be. Or College Humor will expose you! Read more
Pencils made from recycled newspaper
The problem with awesome things like these pencils made out of recycled newspaper is that you almost don’t want to use them.
Made from 100 percent organic cotton and eco-friendly, this super soft tee celebrates a sinister world of kaleidoscopic colours and ripples of psychedelia, of serenading Queens, of dancing flamingos, of unimaginable euphoria. It’s all the work of Sydney label, Das Monk and it’s available through the Lost At E Minor online store for just US$40. Now, there’s one hell of a Christmas present, even if we do say so ourselves!
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