
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.
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Tagged: Australian bands, Brisbane, indie-rock, pop music, rock music
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The music behind the new Howling Bells album, Radio Wars
The last time I caught up with London-based, Australian band, Howling Bells, was in New York in early 2007 when they played a show at one of the many seedy Lower East Side bars. Since then, they’ve recorded a new album, the aptly named Radio Wars [listen to their song, Treasure Hunt, below], a remarkable follow-up to their 2006 self-titled debut. I checked in with guitarist Joel Stein to find out what music the four-piece had been listening to around the time the album was written: ‘The Byrds’ Eight Miles High always sounds so futuristic to me. It has one of the best guitar sounds ever and really moves me with its color and power. Every time I hear the Tortoise track, I Set My Face to the Hillside, I instantly get transported to the ocean. Beautiful! Joy Division’s Isolation is incredible. I love the intro keyboard riff, in particular (the keyboard was self-built). It expresses urgency and truth. And then there’s Neu!’s Hallogallo, a truly inspiring instrumental track that I always want to go on for longer. Its fuzzy guitars are so warm and vibrant. Perfect!’ Read frontwoman Juanita Stein’s Playlist of inspiring songs.
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The secret diary of The Grates
A few weeks back we asked Patience, frontwoman of Aussie pop starlets The Grates, to write about a typical day in her ever-hectic life. Today, it’s drummer Alana’s turn: ‘On the menu. I had soup and a sandwich. How very American of me. Actually, I really miss America. I can’t speak on behalf of the other two but I’m really keen to head back for a tour. Today I had quite a few over the phone interviews (in the biz we just call them ‘phoners’. If you are in an up-and-coming band, saying ‘phoners’ will make you appear as though you have done some too) which was heaps better than usual because my flatmates and I all went in for a cordless phone’. Read more

Producing a string of international hits without releasing an album in the space of four years isn’t the norm for most artists. But Australian electro-pop outfit Miami Horror aren’t your average musicians playing by the rules. The band started off as a solo endeavour turned augmented four-piece live incarnation who incessantly test the boundaries of electro territory. I chatted with founding mastermind Benjamin Plant about their recently released debut album, Illumination Read more
Also by ZOLTON

Maths explains the origin of superhero characters
I love the colours and simple reasoning in this clever series by Scottish illustrator Matt Cowen, which uses basic maths equations to explain how certain pop culture icons came to be. Read more
Star Wars Uncut: a fully crowdsourced version of Episode IV
The project of creative technologist, Casey Pugh, this full length version of the George Lucas masterpiece was created from multiple 15 second segments recreated from the original movie and submitted by thousands of Star Wars fans, which were then spliced together by editor Aaron Valdez to form the final product. Genius, as both a commentary on contemporary pop culture trends (there are references to LEGO, stop motion, memes and the like) and on the power of tapping your audience for quality material.
Filmmaker creates LEGO stop motion to propose to girlfriend
Now, this is one for the ages: back in 2010, Atlanta film-maker Walter Thompson created a jaw-dropping LEGO stop motion to propose to Nealey Dozier, his girlfriend of four years. The video took 22 hours of shooting and some 2,600 pictures to splice together, a small sacrifice to pay for years of happiness together. Right? Right! Oh, and she said yes. Bonus.
YOU'RE SAYING (1)
HAVE YOUR SAY
The Black Cat Balloon Company have created this epic set of Muppet characters out of balloons, air, and hard work. Our favourite? Animal. Of course. Read more
I checked out the Armory Show in Manhattan a couple of weeks back and amongst the aisles of impressive contemporary art I was particularly taken by the work of Japanese artist, Mahomi Kunikata, whose vibrant and colorful paintings are full of mischievous characters and ‘joy joy’ sentimentality.
Comedy troupe Summer of Tears edited itself into the classic ’80s movie Teen Wolf, starring Michael J. Fox, providing a new and gut-bustingly hilarious side-plot.
As a child, gold mining towns were exemplified in my mind by boring theme parks populated by out of work actors in naff colonial costumes. My parents used to drag us along in our overheated datsun because they couldn’t afford to take the kids to Disneyland. As often happens, I now appreciate the destinations whose mentions used to prompt a whole lot of whingeing about seatbelt buckle burns and compensation payouts of McDonalds. Walhalla is one such beauty. Set in the misty foothills of Australia’s Baw Baw ranges, it was once a gold era boom-town, but is now home to less than 20 residents (not counting the ghosts). Read more
My friend Sam moved to Portland and subsequently discovered she hates fedoras. She started this blog to document her hatred.
After getting lost in the quagmire that is the internet, M83’s Digital Shades, first released digitally in 2007, has just been given a space on the shelf in your nearest music shop. Before shooting to acclaim with Saturday=Youth, Anthony Gonzalez looked closer to Krautrock and Eno and produced this ambient sometimes beautiful record. There’s much less of a disco feel than both Saturdays and his first album, Before the Dawn Heals Us. Some might say it’s a bit self-indulgent, not easily accessible, and more of a soundscape than a pop attempt. Yet, like Eno, Gonzalez is slowly becoming a master of the perfect chord sequence, and the result is an interesting, often heart-wrenching, set of compositions. Read about M83′s favourite songs right now.
Converse kicks off its hundredth anniversary with 1HUND(RED), a special artist series with proceeds going to the Global Fund. The project is a year-long release of shoes designed by notable artists, including Auckland-based illustrator, Dennis Juan Ma, whose shoe [above] is number twenty in the series.
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

It’s refreshing to see artists like Joe Kievitt who are contented to explore the beauty in simple forms and asymmetrical patterns. Read more

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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The return of the Brionvega rr226
Italian brand Brionvega has resurrected the classy Radiofonografio piece first created in 1965. The updated version is just like the original turntable/radio unit, but also has a CD/DVD player.

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
We’re pleased to announce that, as of today, there is free shipping on all items and for all orders in the Lost At E Minor store — our stash of favoured goodies that you can buy for yourself, your friends, or your frenemies (hey, hey, why not?) We’ve got heaps of cool tees, jewellery, watches and other fun items, so knock yourself out. Not literally, of course. [browse the Lost At E Minor online store]
If you have a Twitter feed that focuses on cool pop cultural things and you’d like to swap Tweets with Lost At E Minor and other like-minded Twitterers, drop us a note (with Tweet Swap in the title). We have a system in place and we’d like to have you in on it! [illustration by Brad Fitzpatrick]
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The secret diary of The Grates — Lost At E Minor: For creative people said | 22 August, 2008
[...] few weeks back we asked Patience, frontwoman of Aussie pop starlets The Grates, to write about a typical day in her ever-hectic life. Today, it’s drummer Alana’s [...]