MGMT
Another Brooklyn band (we’re not being sponsored, I assure you), MGMT are following hot on the heels of Yeasayer and Vampire Weekend as the third party to a hub of bands pouring out catchy, melodic and highly original work. The sheer size of MGMT’s sound — as evidenced in the single, Time To Pretend — is conjured through duelling guitars and synthesisers, mastered during the early electronica shows that laid the foundations for the current line-up. At the core of MGMT are two guys who cite mystical paganism, the Incredible String Band and chaos theory as key influences: a decent enough bedrock for their climactic, near-psychedelic songs. Their pending album, Oracular Spectacular, is a mix of beguiling keyboard hooks and simple acoustic-based pieces, and while the lead singer’s voice is one we’ve all heard before, its wild, Bowie-esque, twang is clearly punctuated by his background as a performance art provocateur. Thus, the glam sound is a touch cheesy and clichéd, but given the music world’s current yearning for just that (see Black Kids, Of Montreal), these guys are sure-fire contributors.
Listen to the MGMT song, Electric Feel.
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Also by FRANCIS ANDREWS
James Mackay’s Even Though I’m Free I Am Not
Award-winning photojournalist James Mackay’s latest project comes at a time when the world’s eyes are fixed on Burma and the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi. By photographing former political prisoners displaying the names of their colleagues and friends who remain behind bars, Even Though I’m Free I Am Not exposes the enduring pain faced by Burma’s opposition movement. Over 2,100 activists, journalists, lawyers and politicians languish in prisons across the country, and on Friday Aung San Suu Kyi will likely join them. Read more
The blind date of the food world has finally arrived, and it’s proving more palatable than the awkwardness of an evening spent in superficial conversation. Secret Supper clubs are springing up in the backstreets of London: what are attics and living rooms by day get converted into makeshift restaurants catering for an evening of surprise tastes and conversations. Read more
Young British designer Adam Farlie takes a leftfield approach to how people experience interaction with objects, often taking everyday items and toying with their potential to harbour deeper meaning and greater usage than first perceived. He transforms a bed into a ‘vessel that captures and contains the audio-memories of past occupiers through sound’, allowing those who lie on the bed to recall past intimcaties or conversations from years ago, while his take on a chest of drawers’ purpose of holding records of people is similarly intriguing.
YOU'RE SAYING (2)
Lost At E Minor: Music, illustration, art, photography and more » The Management before they were MGMT said | 8 August, 2008
[...] Who would have thought that an abbreviation could make such a difference? This track is from the older, and in my opinion, better The Management, before they went by the name,MGMT. [...]
HAVE YOUR SAY
After I posted those awesome Turkish knitted accessories, my illustrator friend Sarajo Frieden sent me a link to a mind-blowing show of knitted coral reefs at Gallery Track 16 in Santa Monica. I wish I could be there to see this in person! Read more
With rising fuel prices dominating the news and affecting every level of the global economy, some solutions to fuel-efficient transport aren’t necessarily hi-tech ones. Read more
If only we could swap out every ubiquitous North Face jacket that sits tight on the weather-beaten frames of far too many Manhattanites for one of these wonderful creations by Japanese artist, Kosuke Tsumura. The city would be that much more of an interesting place. Called Final Home, this parka has 44 zippered pockets and is part of Tsumura’s collection of ‘post-apocalyptic streetwear’, designed as a respite — and insulation — from the stresses of modern urban living.
Wheeeeee! This game is so freaking fun! You move your cursor over each dot to make them split into four smaller dots ad infinitum.
Our friends over at SNAP!, Montreal’s only free and independent arts and lifestyle magazine have just released their fourth issue in which they look back and celebrate the faded beauty of past eras, grandmas and grandpas, Polaroids, antique finds, old wisdom and vintage style. Yeeha! They also remember the best of 2008 in Montreal arts, with a variety of writers and photographers giving their take on their favourite cultural discoveries.
How many times can we play the same song in different settings? Hmmm, I don’t know. But it is a hell of a song, from a hell of a band, as that uniquely English oddity, Jules Holland would no doubt concur.
Ianva are a fantastically seductive group from Genova, sounding like the house band in an underground cabaret during Mussolini’s rule — at once nostalgic and subversive. Read more
WE'RE RESPECTING
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
1970s and 80s Soviet Union buildings
Cambodian born photographer Frederic Chaubin is the editor of French magazine Citizen K. His photo series on bizarre buildings built in the former Soviet Union during the 1970s and 80s is absolutely fascinating. Read more
Creative advertising packaging
Despite the intentions of many, it’s not so often that advertising — as an industry — truly thinks outside the box. Yet, when executed well, clever eye-catching advertising actually works. It does. As these examples will attest to. Read more
Forget battery powered vehicles. Cars made from ice are the future of transportation: no pollution, no honking horns, no painful rap music blasting out of souped up stereos. And if they melt, they melt. You just swim the rest of the way down the slipstream.
Hong Kong-based illustrator Man-Tsun draws dark and beautiful painterly images that look like they are straight off a high-end Japanese animated film. Read more
Wheeeeee! This game is so freaking fun! You move your cursor over each dot to make them split into four smaller dots ad infinitum.
Thanks to Sony Australia, four Lost At E Minor readers will win personal audio prizes, including the new 8GB Walkman S series video MP3 player and the MDRXB500 Extra Bass headphones. 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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aj pami said | 23 January, 2008
they’re great.