Music / Ianva
Ianva are a fantastically seductive group from Genova, sounding like the house band in an underground cabaret during Mussolini’s rule — at once nostalgic and subversive. Singer Stefania T. D’Altero’s Marlene Dietrich-like croon wafts out from amidst the smoky swirl of sober trumpets, languid strings, and blaring accordions. Meanwhile, frontman Mercy serves as a male counterpoint to D’Altero, conjuring images of handsome, slick-haired men in uniform carousing one last night before returning to the battlefield.
Also by GERRY MAK
Jaime Pitarch’s sculptures and installations made from found objects and discarded junk — furniture, clothes pins, kitchen knives, electric guitars, cocktail umbrellas — as well as video elements, are sort of 21st-century Dada pieces that defy gravity and rattle our conception of the physical universe. Driven by an incessant need to question reality after a traumatic attempt to save a drowning woman in 1996, Pitarch minimalist aesthetic belies the nearly tantric approach he has to his work. Read more
Culture-jammer StSanders strikes again with his re-interpretation of Kiss. This is perhaps his best ’shred’ video yet, and honestly, I’d probably like Gene Simmons and crew more if they actually sounded like this.
Back in the ’90s, just as the gangsta rap phenomenon was winding down and hip-hop was fragmenting into its own subgenres, Prince Paul and RZA kicked off the short-lived horrorcore fad with their group Gravediggaz. At the time, the melding of dark, gothic themes with hardboiled rap seemed gimmicky and awkward, a strange extension of the early and awful attempts to bridge hip-hop and metal, but on closer listen, the now defunct supergroup was way more innovative than they were given credit for. Using horror imagery, crazed and off-kilter rapping styles, and genuinely creepy beats to describe life on the streets, Gravediggaz created innovative, complex, expressive music that was macabre yet socially conscious.
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I wish I could remember where I first stumbled across the work of Oregon artist and illustrator Evan B Harris, but I’m glad I did. There’s an innate sweetness, a comforting whimsical quality in Harris’ work that, coupled with his rich narratives, makes me want to hunt for that old teddy bear I used to curl up with and wash down the nostalgia with strong mug of steaming hot chocolate.
Don’t Shoot the Puppy is one of the more difficult flash games out there, sure to engage you for hours. Strategy is the key, but quick reflexes and a photographic memory don’t hurt either. It’s rare that a computer game challenges the intellect and hand-eye coordination to this extent.
I don’t care if Jimmy Hendrix was dragged kicking and screaming from where he lies, put through a torrid round of detox, and handed an invisible guitar – a Flying V carved out of the bones of Robert Johnson. It would still pale in comparison to this. Read more
This pendant by Portland designer Stephanie Stimek hangs from an eighteen inch 14 carat gold chain. Made from a Japanese quail egg, the entire shell has been coated in plastic for strength and is available for purchase through the Lost At E Minor store.
New Mexico group, Alaska in Winter’s The Homeless And The Hummingbirds is a stunningly beautiful, slowburning song, featuring Beirut’s Zach Condon on trumpet.
Disregard the buzz that surrounds those other cupcake shops in New York City. Cheeks Bakery in Williamsburg houses the best cupcakes that I’ve eaten. The clean and understated decor extends to the menu, where being fancy doesn’t rule on the cupcake shelves. Cheeks offers, simply, vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with either vanilla or chocolate cream. But if you do want more, Cheeks has that as well, a limited selection of pies and cakes.
DJ Spooky — That Subliminal Kid — is just about the deepest crate digger around, trawling the barrels of long-lost record stores for choice vinyl to spin in his wickedly dubby sets. He gave us the inside word last week on his eight favourite songs right now via our sister website, My Secret Playlist. This is what he had to say about Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s Panic in Babylon: ‘If there’s anything that the twenty-first century has told us, it’s that dub is the real original hip-hop. Lee Scratch even had to make it clear in 1965 by adding “Scratch” to his middle name. Take that, Grandmaster Flash!’ Read the rest of DJ Spooky’s Secret Playlist.
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There are two Americas: one which strives to create its own culture, music, and art with a strong sense of ethics in mind, and another that drinks 32-ounce energy drinks before waiting on line to get into a club packed with women trying to get back at their overbearing fathers, and homophobic men with a fondness for Axe body spray. How do we bridge the divide?
Barack sweats it out on Election Night
While the rest of the world spent election night biting fingernails whilst glued to the TV set, it’s kinda nice to know that President Elect, Barack Obama, was doing exactly the same thing, as these wonderfully low-key insider snaps from David Katz reveals. Read more
I like Roots Manuva because he tells stories. I know that sounds simplistic, but honestly, have you noticed how rappers, certainly American rappers, have stopped narrating their lives and are purely focused on how great they are? I know, I know, hip-hop is all about word play, slang, and blah blah blah. Read more
Florida-based artist, Andy Espinoza, studies at the Ringling College of Art and Design, majoring in Illustration. His paintings are beautifully conceptualised, rich in narrative and technically impressive. Of his work, he says: ‘I see each human figure as a unique challenge. I am coaxed to find the unique relationship between the shapes and tones that give the particular subject its subtle appeal and unrepeatable vitality. My paintings are not photographic representations of my subjects, but rather are my elaboration of what I find to be of value in them’. Read more
Pictures taken at just the right time
You don’t have to be a skilled photographer to take the best snaps: some just appear out of absolutely nowhere. This site has collected together some of the funniest, cruelest, most alarming — yet completely spontaneous — photos circulating the web. Thank god for other people’s suffering! Read more
The knuckle sandwich charm necklace by This Charming Man features two pieces of bread on either side of a tiny set of brass knuckle dusters. Rad huh? Get yours now for $140. Read more
Woohoo! We have five copies of the new Faint album, Fascination [Inertia], to give away to randomly selected Australian-based Lost At E Minor subscribers who leave a message under this post telling us about the last time they, ummm, Fainted.
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