Lost AT E Minor

Bob Dylan’s Chronicles Volume One

You know that man on the stairs of the local town hall? The one bellowing Mr Tambourine Man at the top of his lungs with rag doll in hand and wearing a lilac jumper, pungent with the aroma of week-old sandwich? Most of us would call him a beggar, a tramp, a hobo; Bob Dylan would say that he had just stepped out of a folk ballad. He would tell us that he knew that this man had a story, a history and possessed bravery. And we all know that bravery is what makes a folk hero. In Chronicles: Volume One, Dylan guides us through the rumble tumble world that is his New York. It is a place that is teetering on the brink of reinvention, only to be held back by the dark confusing days of the 1950s. Read more

Andrew Brandou

California-based artist Andrew Brandou draws from the children’s books, as well as the tripped-out, cult obsessed, disillusioned zeitgeist of the 70s when his early consciousness took shape. The storybook-ish quality of his works creates a sort of narrative of the tectonic shifts that have taken place in the psyche of an entire generation — anthropomorphic animals frolic in subtly Japanese-lacquer-inspired landscapes as gas-mask-wearing cops creep, grinning skulls loom, elevated freeways overwhelm the rising sun, and bloody murder scenes remain hidden just beyond the view of the paintings’ innocent subjects. Read more

Frommers’ 500 places to see before they die

In a twist on the top places to see before you die, guidebook giants Frommers have released the more ominous publication, 500 Places To See Before They Disappear. The point they are trying to drill home is that, such is the rapid pace of change in the world — whether environmental or due to urban growth — that there are established and recognised places that may well die before you do. What’s interesting is that, with climate change dominating headline news on an almost daily basis, a new market has opened up for eco-friendly or environmentally sympathetic products such as this which play on people’s concerns and their need to ‘do something’. It’s being seen on many fronts, from architecture to tourism, to domestic products.

Russion National Fun

I grew up hyper aware of the expectations that people might have of me based on my ethnicity and I always strived to defy them, which is why I decided to suck at math and I refused to go to the kung-fu school they make us all go to when we’re kids. When I see people reveling in their stereotypes, it just makes me feel like giving up and chowing down on a cat.

Senator R. Stevie Moore

There’s not much one can say about an artist who has recorded more than 400 albums — even if you manage to listen to a large portion them, there’s a good chance you’ve missed something. Good thing, as far as I know, R. Stevie Moore is the only person who has released that many records (Daniel Johnston may come close), many of which were cassette-only or printed in limited numbers. Virtually unknown for decades, the obsessive music geekdom that has reached a fever pitch as this generation of fans has allowed Moore to keep his relentless flow of Zappa-esque weirdness, power-chord pop, tongue-in-cheek ballads, satirical new wave, and whatever else we’ve most certainly missed, gushing out into the universe.

Gadget Orchestra

The song here is a little too ‘ambient’ for me, but this ensemble of portable devices (including the Kaossilator Touchpad Synthesizer that we posted about way back when) is pretty impressive. I want to say something about monkeys and typewriters here, but I can’t think of anything except that monkeys murdered the mayor of Delhi in 2007. They’d probably make some pretty evil music with an iPhone and a stun gun.