Editors
UK band Editors are back with a new album and a new sound. Well, kinda. We spoke to bassist Russell Leetch on the eve of their epic American tour. Looking forward to being stateside again? ‘Absolutely, we always love coming over to the US and playing. This tour is going to be long but the last time we did a similar tour, it was great for us’. Are there any noticeable differences between American, European and Australasian audiences? ‘You do notice similarities and differences everywhere. I think American audiences will tell you if they like it or if they don’t whilst a lot of Europeans will take the whole thing in and let you know at the end’. [Debut album] The Back Room was an absolute juggernaut of a recording. What was the ride like immediately after the album broke internationally? ‘It was great, obviously. I remember the start of 2006 when we were in LA and our album was number two in the UK charts. We started to feel like an international band, the feeling was great’. What was different — apart from budget perhaps — with the recording of [new album] An End Has A Start? ‘We’ve always been a band that like pop singles, so we’ve never had pressure to write one for an album. We had a lot longer to record an End Has A Start and to use the studio, and we really enjoyed the process. It was a very different process to the way we made the first album’. Do you ever miss the quiet life in Birmingham? ‘Well, I’m here for Christmas for two weeks, so that’ll do for the year!’
Also by ZOLTON
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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.
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Brian Carlisle of Shreveport, Louisiana, creates a whole bunch of amazing birdhouses out of scrap metal and beautiful but discarded household items. Read more
UK company Re-Worked turns rubbish into recycled products in an effort to reduce carbon emissions. Their latest effort is Çurface, a range of furniture (including coffee tables, appropriately enough) made from a mixture of used coffee grounds and polystyrene. The pieces can be ordered through their website and apparently they may smell like coffee grounds for the first few weeks. Sounds like a caffeine addict’s dream. Read more
Improv Everywhere strikes again with a spontaneous musical in a Los Angeles mall. Wireless microphones hooked up to the mall’s PA system ensured the feeding masses didn’t slip into Cinnabon-induced comas until after the show was over. Note especially the angry dude in sunglasses at about 2:51 — apparently he thinks nothing can ever top Rent.
Dutch designer Daniel Schipper, the man behind the awesome, oragami-like folding shelter, has just unveiled a frameless, foldable greenhouse that is aimed at the growing urban gardening and farming market.
Writer Warren Ellis and artist Paul Duffield have teamed up for a pretty stunning, albeit mildly cliched webcomic about mysterious survivors in a post-apocalyptic London submerged in water.
Castevet are a promising new experimental black metal band out of New York. They have a much more complex and technical approach than other bands of this ilk, revealing post-hardcore and death metal influences as evidenced by guitarist Andrew Hock’s work in deathgrind outfit Biolich and Boston jazz/death/doom band Ehnahre.
Busy P is the man. This design pays homage to one of the world’s most enigmatic pop-culture mavericks. The French maestro is almost single-handedly responsible for the success of both Daft Punk and Justice. The Midas Touch design references this with the golden robot (representing Daft Punk) and the golden cross (representing Justice) — the idea being that everything Busy P touches turns to gold.
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
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.
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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
Get lost in a daydream or a craving for something sweet while gazing at these cool sculptures by Brooklyn-based WiNK WiNK PONY. Made using clay, tree bark, wood, and mossy moss.
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
Sometime in 2010, the folks behind Dirty Dishes had the slightly silly idea of using cheeky vintage photos and putting them on dinner plates. After doing lots of research, talking to lots of people, and receiving loads of positive feedback, they wondered if this idea was so silly after all. And thus Dirty Dishes was born. Read more
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Belle said | 10 January, 2008
The Editors are amazing… I saw them live last year at the Hifi Bar in Melbourne, Australia and they blew me away. The singer’s voice is *epic*, it booms out of his thin frame, perfectly and loudly with such emotion and class. Their lyrics are also amazing..