The Presets’ Apocalypso
Dark and somewhat extraterrestrial, The Preset’s sophomore album Apocalypso has just landed on my desk and I’m beside myself. Starting off with the aptly titled Kicking and Screaming, the boys, true to form, dress their fans in space suits and rocket around the galaxy with techno pop anthems such as My People and If I know You. Halfway along the trip, you’ll discover the inspiration behind the intergalactic soundscape — Prince, Boy George, The Addams Family, and a serious amount of touring in sweaty nightclubs to thousands of fans. I couldn’t think of a better album to play on the first commercial flight into space.
Tagged: electro music, techno pop
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The Music of 2008: a Year in Review
It’s getting towards that time of the year when ‘The Lists’ start to come out. They are the end product of endless screaming matches over whether 2008 was one to remember, or whether it went down deep. Yes, there are still a few weeks left, but mid-December is a time when the belly rolls out and our musicians carry a stiff whiskey into hibernation. Music-wise, 2007 was a hard one to follow. Hidden amongst all the offensive tripe that made the charts were some real gems: Tinariwen, Panda Bear, Yeasayer, and so on. This year was no different, but missing from the respected lists out there were some classics. Yes, Bon Iver may well have trumped it, followed closely by a whole armada of artists such as Fleet Foxes [White Winter Hymnal, DJ Doc Rok Remix below], Santogold, Vampire Weekend, M83, and others — and most people are in agreement about them. But what about the ones that somehow slipped off the radar? The genre-traversing Richard Swift; tropical Velvet Underground-style Shortwave Set; the knee-quaking sexiness of The Do; the afro-dream pop of School of Seven Bells; the beautifully stripped-down subtlety of Au Revoir Simone [above]; and more, more, more. So if your partner thinks you’re pretty cool, thinks you left the middle of the road years ago, then prove her right this Christmas.
The uber-hip French producer M83 has compiled a Secret Playlist for us in which he props Brian Eno, Julee Cruise, and Tears For Fears’ Head Over Heels: ‘This song was the biggest influence for my new album. Our track, Kim and Jesse, takes a lot of inspiration from 80s bands like Tears for Fears. This is one of my favourites’. Read the rest of M83’s Secret Playlist.
Exclusive interview with Fujiya and Miyagi
We love the coolly detached electro mash-up of Brighton group, Fujiya and Miyagi. So we checked in with vocalist-guitarist David Best to find out more about their latest album, Lightbulbs [out on Pod through Inertia], and the place it all started for them — their hometown of Brighton, England: ‘Brighton was just full of wanna-be mods with cravats dancing like they were in Quadrophenia’, he says. ‘It was awful. It seemed to be very unfashionable to be an electronic group back then. Now everybody combines synths with guitars. It makes me want to start a mod group’. Read more
Also by KATE SUTERS
From the dusty depths of Western Australia comes the making of another great Aussie band. Tame Impala have just released their self-titled EP and it’s already seducing ears across the airwaves. With a psychedelic sound akin to the rollicking groove of Led Zeppelin mixed up and delicately caressed with the sound of modern day hope and desire, this is an EP that absolutely deserves your attention.
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. Read more
As the final festival devotees gather their bags, pick up their muddy gumboots, and make their long journey home, the hills of Byron Bay seem eerily quiet. Over 17,500 music fans poured into Belongil Fields for the three day Splendour in the Grass event to watch music juggernauts Devo, Sigur Ros, Wolfmother, The Presets and The Cold War Kids do their thing. Read more
YOU'RE SAYING (2)
Andy said | 17 April, 2008
I’m spinning this for the first time right now, sitting in a very cool outdoor cafe in Austin. Loving it… and had an amused glance around when ‘Together’ was about mid-song… I thought there was some hipster love going down!
HAVE YOUR SAY
Samantha Everton’s latest exhibition, Vintage Dolls, explores ‘history, race and culture through magic realism’. Of the series, Everton says: ‘I was inspired by the innocent act of children playing dress ups and the way they re-enact adult behaviour, concepts and themes, without preconceptions or judgement’. The show runs at the Dickerson Gallery, Melbourne, between March 4-22 and at the Dickerson Gallery in Sydney between April 1-19.
New York-based Japanese artist Shusaku Arakawa designed this small apartment block in 2005 in the Tokyo suburb of Mitaka in conjunction with his poet partner, Madeline Gins. According to the SushiLog: ‘Painted in eye-catching blue, pink, red, yellow and other bright colors, the building resembles the indoor playgrounds that attract toddlers at fast-food restaurants. Inside, each apartment features a dining room with a grainy, surfaced floor that slopes erratically, a sunken kitchen and a study with a concave floor. Electric switches are located in unexpected places on the walls so you have to feel around for the right one. A glass door to the veranda is so small you have to bend to crawl out’. Read more
I think Anne Geddes spent ten years in the desert with Dr. Seuss doing hallucinogens. She woke up one searing Nevada morning and decided her new name was Peggy Noland. Then she moved to Kansas City and released the line that is currently featured on her website. At least, that’s what I think.
Jon MacNair’s illustrations are to-the-point and communicative, summing up big ideas in beautifully clear and whimsical imagery. His fine art pieces are mysterious and dreamlike, often encapsulating entire narratives within one image. Read more
Long before the franchise destroyed our fond childhood memories like Aunt and Uncle Beru on Tatooine, many of us born in the 70s were proud to own the many products associated with the Star Wars movies. Read more
‘Lost’ is the most recent film production in the urban art series produced by Tokyo-based art crew Rinpa Eshidan. Read more
It goes without saying that Hip Hop has taken a few very low hits in the past decade. Thanks to the likes of 50 Cent and company, it accounts for around 40% of all music sold in America. It’s a huge industry. So where does that leave Hip Hop artists doing something a bit different? Lord T and Eloise wear wacky outfits, make crazy music and bring a whole lot of fun back into Hip Hop. What’s more, they’ve started a new genre called ‘Aristocrunk’. Watch out!
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
Alex Passapera’s dizzying pen and ink drawings are cascades of images melting into one another, often looking like contorting, mutating creatures spewing blood-like ink splatters. Read more
Karen Caldicott’s clay head models
British born, New York-based model maker Karen Caldicott has been making clay heads for all major US publications over the last decade. 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.
Check out Mike Stimpson’s Lego reinterpretations of classic photographs. Stimpson’s version of Malcolm Browne’s iconic 1963 photograph of the self-immolation of Thich Quang Duc is particularly twisted. Read more
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
The Offering t shirt by New York-based designer Ryan Sullivan is printed by hand, one at a time, using a dye-based print. Printed on cotton/poly blend tees. Size is true to fit. Read more
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Huna said | 1 April, 2008
Oh I’m so so so jealous you’ve heard this album.
I was ranting today about how excited I am to hear it.