The aesthetics of Lightspeed Champion
As head honcho of my band The Paper Scissors, I am in charge of many things both musical and menial, and then also the aesthetic and web aspects — artwork, blogs, and the whole identity of the band. Bands these days have to offer more than just a product, a CD, a clip and then a live show. There are people that have really embraced the change of the industry, not just the over talked MP3 killing the record industry debate, but the interactivity and dialogue that artists now have with their audience, through the web. One artist who I discovered recently and who epitomizes this is Lightspeed Champion, the solo project of Devonte Haynes, an English singer-songwriter. He plays very melodic pop with elaborate arrangements — Elton John meets Fleetwood Mac with a Jarvis Cocker-like vocal twang. Lightspeed Champion (named after a comic he drew as a kid) is a far jump from his previous job as guitarist with cult London screamos Testicicles. I think a lot of his appeal can be attributed to his aesthetic. He has impressive press shots with his ever present thick rimmed glasses, random animals, ten minute videos, and a blog where he writes and uploads photos and videos every day. There is a thick tapestry that shapes a cult of personality around him. He talks candidly about his friends and his life on his blog; taking in celebrities (doing songs with Klaxons, Patrick Wolf, playing Strokes songs with The Arctic Monkeys), parties, the DVDs that he’s watching, and so on. From the outside, it seems that he is a super connected, prolific, slightly narcissistic, yet brilliant artist who is fully embracing the web and shaping the aesthetic of his music. All of this with only one single lifted so far from his debut album.
Listen to the Lightspeed Champion song, Waiting Game.
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Also by JAI PYNE
The Paper Mill fundraiser in Sydney tonight
Borne out of a desire to invigorate Sydney’s sedate CBD with some beautiful and engaging works of art, The Paper Mill is a new artist run space smack bang in the financial district, on Angel Place. I remember being dumbstruck by the majesty of Grizzly Bear this Sydney Festival, and looking next door to the rather nondescript Christian Book Store. Now I’m not sure if Jesus is all up on Twitter and the hard copy has gone the way of the music industry, but fast forward to today and four young artists with backgrounds ranging from art to graphic design and printmaking have taken over the space. Read more
I came across Darwin Deez when I was doing my daily trawling for new videos, no doubt procrastinating. He and his band were on Vincent Moon’s amazing Blogotheque site doing a live-one shot video. It’s nowhere near as good as some of the better work on the site: the sound is patchy and the performance is fun but not very good. But it still fascinated me enough to click on the MySpace link and discover that Darwin Smith is a talented and enigmatic youngster. He is a great example of Gen Y’s I-can-do-anything-and-everything attitude, making choreographed dance pieces to Passion Pit and short films about the ins and outs of boy-friend relationships (male friends, not lovers) as well as finding time to make an EP and an album of lo-fi pop on a friends PC. Read more
TV On The Radio’s Dear Science
It was a privilege being able to sit down and listen to TV On The Radio’s album Dear Science from start to finish. An added bonus was the fact that I’ve been in the America for a month — the album sums up the atmosphere I have witnessed in the US: tension, money, a bigger gap between rich and poor than I’ve ever seen, a never ending far away war, and some vague hints at political hope. From the inset, TV On The Radio get bad ass on you, combining their trademark layers of barber shop vocals with criss-crossing handclaps over doomsday synth pads and screaming guitars on Halfway Home, which is like a grown up cousin of Wolf Like Me from their 2006 LP Cookie Mountain, easing you into the fact that beyond this point they are going to erase everything you thought you knew about TVOTR. But you should have expected that anyway.
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Aoyama Hina describes her work as ‘super fine lacy-paper-cuttings done by a simple pair of scissors’. I call it unbelievable! The amount of detail in each piece makes you think it was cut by lasers. What I would give for her talent, and her patience. Read more
My friend Damon from Starscream just bought one of these decks, and besides it being super fast and super comfy, it also has a bottle opener in it. I’m super jealous of it.
This is really amazing, a poignant and richly textured video and sound piece from Brooklyn-based artist, Alex Itin. Read more
That PETA-endorsed test-tube meat makes me gag a little. All synthetic food does. But maybe we could find a use for it, like making a meat house.
It’s a fact, people who don’t like clutter don’t collect plush and vinyl toys. The myriad of sizes, shapes, colours and textures in any collector’s display would put any minimal loving layman into a tizzy. Read more
I’ve seen free-jazz spazz outfit Microkingdom many times in their hometown of Baltimore, but their recent gig opening for Skull Defekts was really tight. I found myself head banging to jazz! That hasn’t happened in a while.
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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.
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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
Baltimore Mural by Josh Van Horne
My friend Josh Van Horne, a local Baltimore artist, did this amazing mural in our neighborhood that depicts the history of this warehouse-laden area.
Communication prosthesis by Sascha Nordmeyer
This ‘communication prosthesis’ by designer Sascha Nordmeyer is hilarious and awesome. I want to wear one to a job interview.
Mathematics? Leave me out. Fashematics? Now you’re talking! This gem of a site is a runway equation that adds up to a whole lot of wonderful.
How ’bout this Jose Manuel Hortelano-Pi guy, huh? Quite the illustrator, yessiree Bob. From Spain, too. Spain is great! Read more
Junior Massive is a newly launched Australian boutique t shirt label making limited edition tees using only Australia cotton. It’s street meets indie; design meets durability; edgy fashion meets edgy fashion. We have them for sale in the Lost At E Minor online store. Read more
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Tom Wade said | 29 January, 2008
His album was sitting pretty between Radiohead and Amy Winehouse in the iTunes UK charts earlier this week. He must be quite pleased with that. On some of the tracks on the album his voice sounds just like an English Murray Lightburn (The Dears).