Midlake
by We’re big fans of Texas-based group, Midlake, whose melodic indie-rock is deliciously produced. We interviewed guitarist Eric Pulido. There was a pretty big shift in sound between the first album and [new album] The Trials…, the latter being much more mellow, acoustic-based. What brought on the change? ‘We started getting influenced by bands and artists of the 70s folk era, such as Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, CSNY, Jethro Tull, Jimmie Spheeris, and so on. We were always aware of those bands, but not as immersed in the sound. While for the first album we were listening to bands like Grandaddy and The Flaming Lips, to name a couple, for the second album we switched gears, and so did our sound’. Whatever the shift, you’ve seen far greater success with it. Was the comparatively quiet response after the first album constructive for you guys? ‘Well, we got right to work on the second album after we toured briefly on the first. It was motivating to get back to recording because we felt like we hadn’t quite found the sound we wanted on the first album. Even though we’re still striving for better songs and sounds, we feel like we’re evolving and hopefully getting better’.
Tagged: acoustic music, rock music, Texan bands
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Having played South By South West over the past couple of years, Golden Bear have just released a souped up new EP, Everest, which sees the Texan rock band playing together like they would at a rehearsal or a show. Says frontman Chris Gregory: ‘I was a little anxious about being able to approximate the sound of our live show in the first place, but I figured to hell with it-let’s give it a shot. And I’m glad we did. There were no endless nights of playing the same song 150 times, no overscrutinaztion, and in all honesty, no hitches in the plan whatsoever. It was loose, rowdy, and rewarding, just like our shows’. You can download the Golden Bear track, All The Stars [listen below], for free via the Music Download section in the third column of the Lost At E Minor site.
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There’s a world-weariness about Two Gallants frontman Adam Stephens. It reveals itself in the Tom Waits-like raspiness that permeates his gin house drawl and in the talkin’ blues narratives that he weaves around his simple acoustic fingerpicking. They are the new superstars of the West Coast scene, majestic showmen in homespun rags.
Listen to the Two Gallants track, The hand that held you down.
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I am so happy that Brooklyn rock band Oneida is still making great music. They have a new album, Absolute II, coming out soon and I can’t wait to hear it.
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Also by FRANCIS ANDREWS
Irina Werning’s Back to the Future photo series
Argentine photographer Irina Werning has complied this beautiful and poignant collection of portraits of adults re-enacting images of themselves as kids. From what I gather, she has asked people to submit photographs of themselves and then returned with them to these same spots at the same times in their lives. She’ll take this project round the world, from Baghdad to Eurodisney, and is looking for willing participants. Read more
Bug fighting in South East Asia
Of all the little idiosyncratic activities I’ve come across since living in Southeast Asia, this nears the favourite. The bug fights are held in a cemetery about half an hour outside of Chiang Mai late in the year when the stags are at their randiest. It pulls an impressive crowd who bet some hefty dollars on the winner, claimed by the beetle who throws its opponent off the revolving log and struts (or crawls) to victory. Read more
What The Fuck Should I Make For Dinner
All hail the magic 8-ball of cooking; the answer to those painful moments of indecision that plague every shopper at around 6pm on a hectic Monday evening. It’s not the nagging voice that questions every decision you make, but the blunt, obnoxious hollering of an online Gordon Ramsay. The kitchen abides.
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I was watching the Rolling Stones documentary Gimme Shelter by Albert and David Maysles, and I was amused by the fact that all the hippie kids in the film look pretty much like young people these days. Read more
Not that we’re ones to poke fun (gettit?) at the Facebook supremo, but what the hell: M.I.C Gadget did it for us. Though I say, ‘did’. Their cheeky Poking Inventor toy — ‘the next greatest action figure for tech nerds’ — has just been quietly discontinued. We wonder if Zucks got the sooks? Read more
If animated wall drawings of severed heads and insect men ejecting their brains from their craniums is what people produce when they have too much time on their hands, then we should do their laundry for them and cook them dinner so they’ll have even more time on their hands.
Aesop’s signature space in Fitzroy, Melbourne, looks amazing, we’ve got the word on how and why. Why was Gabriel Garcia Marquez chosen as the featured author? ‘There are literary giants and then there are writers like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, whose talents redefine not only the genres they choose to work within but what’s possible in literature as a whole. The fact that his work has transcended his own language and culture has also prompted our decision to pay homage’. Read more
The future, and how people imagined it back in the day, is the subject of the Paleo-Future blog by Matt Novak. Since Janury 2007, he has become what he calls ‘an accidental expert on visions of the future’, gathering a gigantic collection of retro-futuristic documents, art and media. Read more
The Phenomenal Handclap Band is a collection of musicians and artists from Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn who perform live as an eight-member powerhouse, creating an eye-popping spectacle more akin to a spiritual church revival than a rock show. We have their single, 15 to 20, available for free download via the Music Download section of Lost At E Minor.
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Ben Lee upped the label a while back, but Band of Outsiders is still probably the best label you’ve never heard of. Read more
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
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
Cookie Boy’s creative cookie designs
I don’t eat cookies, so good thing Cookie Boy’s cookies are little pieces of art too pretty and cute to eat. Read more
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.
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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It’s refreshing to see artists like Joe Kievitt who are contented to explore the beauty in simple forms and asymmetrical patterns. Read more
Each one of these Bracelaces by Itunube is turned into an elegant drawing on the skin using different kinds of lace combined with leather, metal components and glass beads. They are just US$25 in the Lost At E Minor store. Read more
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