Lost AT E Minor

Roots Manuva’s Slime & Reason

I like Roots Manuva because he tells stories. I know that sounds simplistic, but honestly, have you noticed how rappers, certainly American rappers, have stopped narrating their lives and are purely focused on how great they are? I know, I know, hip-hop is all about word play, slang, and blah blah blah. But I listen to music for stories and heart-felt sentiment. Roots Manuva gets that. He’s old school that way. His latest album, Slime & Reason, is still rooted in the UK grime scene (does that still exist, or has it gone the way of electroclash? I’m earnestly asking), but a lot of it is more overtly dub than anything he’s done so far, and he’s got some beats and samples on this record that are as dramatic and epic as some of the metal bands I listen to. He talks about real sentiments and earnest emotions and believable and relatable experiences, which may make him uncool amongst the sneaker-collecting kiddies, but even though this isn’t his best record, I still like where it’s coming from.

Jeff Luker

Seriously, nothing beats good old 35mm film. To me photography isn’t about capturing every pore in someone’s face, or even making slick, magazine-ready images. The imperfections in film put just enough distance between the viewer and the moment that allows room for an emotional and nostalgic response. Digital photos are generally so vivid that it eliminates all the mystery of an image. Check out Jeff Luker’s photostream to see what I mean. Read more

Alison Malone on her Daughters of Job photos

A couple of weeks back we featured the work of New York-based photographer Alison Malone, who went into the secretive environment of the Job’s Daughters to photograph the girls who are direct blood relatives of the Master Masons. This is the second part of that interview. The portraits of girls [below] are angelic. What was your intention of photographing them in this light? ‘There are many reasons that I chose to photograph the girls in this way. The first is the simple love I have of the straight photographic portrait and its ability to transmit the subtle nuances that come from an individual. When a portrait is made there is an opportunity for a delicate exchange between the photographer and the subject that creates a place to examine how one holds oneself in a moment’. Read more

Two Americas

There are two Americas: one which strives to create its own culture, music, and art with a strong sense of ethics in mind, and another that drinks 32-ounce energy drinks before waiting on line to get into a club packed with women trying to get back at their overbearing fathers, and homophobic men with a fondness for Axe body spray. How do we bridge the divide?

David Holmes’ The Holy Pictures

David Holmes’ fourth solo album has been a long time in the making. The man who is best known for his scoring of films such as Ocean’s 11, 12 and 13, and remixing for bands like U2 and The Manic Street Preachers, took just over ten years to make his latest album. In his own words, he describes the album as beginning the day his mother passed away. ‘I had always wanted to make a record about my life in Belfast and all the things attached to that — family, friends, loss, love and starting a family of my own. All the stuff that shapes the person you become’. The result is a soothing blend of eclectic indie folk, which ranges from the soft and tranquil, to the upbeat and and joyous; an entirely delectable, personal album which touches on the universal trials of human emotion. Listen to the David Holmes track, Holy Pictures.