Going ¡Apeshit!

Polvo playing free New York show this Friday

Seminal Chapel Hill indie rock act Polvo are ramping up to the release of their album In Prism in early September with a free show at Manhattan’s Seaport Music Festival this Friday night. For a taste of their forthcoming album, check out this track, Beggar’s Bowl, below. Polvo also wrote a Secret Playlist for us.

The Woods Themselves

There’s an early Split Enz feel about the music of Sydney indie rock band, The Woods Themselves. It’s particularly evident in the double-tracked vocals and the offbeat arrangements that the group employ. So we checked in with frontman Davey Cotsios and asked if the legendary New Zealand outfit were an influence?
 ‘That’s so insane it’s brilliant! Had you have said Crowded House, then we’d have some real beef. Seriously, I’d find you and punish you. I really do dig Split Enz, but I can’t say I’ve ever had them close in mind, and I’ve never looked to them for guidance. My buddy Danno – he lived below me years back – gave me this Enz record that we found in his mum’s attic. We’d get messed up on Tuesday nights and jam it. That Leaky Boat song was a favourite. We thought we heard the guy across the street beating on his woman one time while we were jamming that Leaky Boat song. We watched the cops arrive and she denied it in tears from the front door. We kicked his motorbike over later. Just to be sure, you know. Bad neighbourhood man’. The Woods Themselves’ album, (C’Mon) Do The Beach Thing, is out now on Understandation through Inertia.

Download their track, Groove Wind

The Grates: an ongoing diary by Patience

We love Australian band The Grates. So much so that we asked their frontwoman Patience to write an exclusive diary for Lost At E Minor over the next week, giving us the inside word on what the band are up to. We’ll run a new posting from it each day. This is her entry from last Saturday: ‘Today nothing happened. Actually, that’s not true. Today by sheer coincidence we all went and saw Batman independently. Awesome. So good. Don’t see Batman because you want to, see it because you need to. I don’t care what you think, just see it. Spend your money. At the very least it will give you something to debate with your friends about. This is something we do all the time at Grates headquarters. It’s a fun way to find out more about your friends and also solidify your own opinions. Who knows when your already explored opinion on weather it’s okay to kick a robot dog will be challenged. Trust me, something like this will one day happen to you and if you take part in regular debates with friends you will be more than able to cope with the situation’.

Listen to The Grates track, Sukkafish.

Luke Butler’s Enterprise series

My roommate is on a big Star Trek kick, re-watching the entire original series. I forgot how amazing and progressive and ahead-of-its-time it was. Actually, Star Trek: the Next Generation is also just as good. Hopefully Luke Butler will paint images from that series next or superimpose Captain Picard’s head on a nude body of Adonis. Read more

Tom Fun Orchestra’s Bottom of the River

This video for Nova Scotian gypsy folk-punk ensemble Tom Fun Orchestra is so effectively simple, matching the imagery to the song perfectly.

Cheeming Boey’s coffee cup art

California-based artist Cheeming Boey makes super-wowza drawings on styrofoam coffee cups. He also keeps a web comic documenting his daily life that is at times hilarious at others rather touching. He reminds me of my friend Jon from high school. Read more