David Mitchell

WE'RE SUPPORTING

I recently discovered Lauren Fleishman’s work while looking at an old copy of The Fader. After a visit to her website, I found myself especially captivated with her Indiana series. Here she talks about her experience shooting in this rural area and exploring the stories that hide beneath the surface. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

As a child, I took piano exams in over-sized white rooms, on baby grand pianos that felt unfamiliar and echoed strangely as someone across the room observed me in silence. It felt clinical, intimidating and completely devoid of warmth. Last week, I started noticing upright pianos, some painted haphazardly, others respectfully untouched plonked in the most unlikely places throughout Sydney. There was one on the edge of the baby pool at the local swimming pool, with a young girl in a rainbow striped dress tapping out a happy but disjointed melody; another shaded under a tree at the park on the way home. Read more

WE'RE WEARING

If you’ve ever wanted to work your alter ego’s dark side without looking like a total emo, now’s your chance. New kid on the block Ben Pollitt is shaking things up with his label Friedrich Gray. And the best part about it? Pollitt’s androgynous range has a little something something for everyone. Read more

WE'RE THINKING

Greg Brotherton creates his sculptures by transforming such common-place objects as vacuum cleaners, mixers and cars, into fantastic interpretations of myth and imagination. With an innate sense of structure and balance, Brotherton crafts surprisingly organic shapes using steel, glass and wood. The strength and fluidity that dominates both his figurative and abstract work is dictated by the process and evolves from a subconscious mechanistic state. Read more

WE'RE READING

Artist Bill Zeman has an ruthless, hard-nosed art director giving him orders — his four-year-old daughter. He posts the products of their stormy collaboration along with her devastating critiques on his blog, Tiny Art Director, where you can also purchase the book version. Read more

The philosophy of a beginning is to me, a wonderful concept. I really enjoy flicking through the back catalogues of a musician and discovering their origin, then tracing their musical journey to the present. So for American-born, Paris-based sister duo CocoRosie, who released their third album The Adventure of Ghosthouse and Stillborn to much acclaim, making the trip to their beginnings is more than worth the journey: their debut album, Le Maison de Mon Reve (released back in 2004) was a gentle stroll through their pop and classical influences, which melt together seamlessly into a backdrop for their unique and enchanting voices.

WE'RE LISTENING TO

At a gig last year Foals were forced to abandon their last song halfway through because the stage was stormed by too many crazed fans. The reason behind the hype they’re creating, both on stage and in the normally merciless media, isn’t immediately clear upon first listen: the sound is less than friendly on the ears, and they don’t employ the same catchy hooks and melodic chorus patterns that shoot your average band to fame in their early years. Read more