The Ritz’s The Night of Day
by The Ritz is a Chicago-based underground hip-hop duo comprised of Apoc and Rel. For their first full-length album — The Night of Day — they took their inspiration from the themes and aesthetics of 1940s and 50s film noir, with Rel creating a collection of beats that demonstrate his range as a producer. Apoc handles the majority of the rapping, jumping seamlessly from one style to the next as the album shifts tone and tempo.
Download The Ritz track, Blown.
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Mitchmatic: Why Don’t You Know?
Mitchmatic’s Why Don’t You Know? is syrupy sweet Canadian Hip Hop with a beat straight out of a 1940′s education video. Oh, and it sounds like he might be a stalker.
Mike Jaggerr: Cruise Control (ft. Big K.R.I.T.)
Mike Jaggerr. Hip Hop extraordinaire. The name is insanely similar to rock and roll legend, Mick Jagger, which leads to a bit of confusion with new fans. But, just like Mick, once you listen to a sample of Mike Jaggerr’s music, you’ll become an instant fan. His melodies are unique, his voice is alluring, and his rhymes are captivating. His new album, the Eleventh Hour, is brutally honest, romantic, and most of all, innovative.
Godly MC: Pretty Girl Rock (Remix)
Godly MC, a young emcee hailing from the Washington D.C. area, is a witty lyricist, rhyming over well mixed beats. In a world where rap has become so commercialized and shallow, this guy gets back to the roots of true Hip Hop. He gives us his story, his dreams, and even his shortcomings, using clever word play, bringing us back to a time where Hip Hop wasn’t about just girls, cars, and money.
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.
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Trevor Mikula is a contemporary artist from Nashville. His work is vibrant and whimsical. I love it so much. I kept noticing his paintings around Nashville and finally had to track him down. Read more
Autumn Whitehurst creates beautiful vector works. Her bold use of colour allows her often cheekily themed line drawings to really leap out, creating a sense of visual serenity despite the occassionally dark subject matter.
Heavy metal and hip-hop are perhaps the most popular forms of rebellion for kids the world over. In Malaysia, metal — particularly black metal — has taken such a strong hold that the Fatwa Council there banned it, fearing that the music would compel listeners to rebel against religion. Contrary to the council’s intentions, black metal is as popular as ever in Malaysia, and is a recognizable cultural touchstone there, as indicated by the above clip from the 2005 film Filem Rock.
On the roof of Bangkok’s Banyan Tree Hotel is a dining experience like no other. The Vertigo Bar sits sixty one floors up, and serves delicious gourmet meals and cocktails. These are expensive by Thai standards, but cheap enough for shoestring travellers to indulge in now and then (a cocktail costs around AUD$12). I’ve spent hour after hour in the bar, drinking and smoking and taking in the amazing view. Most nights at Vertigo end the same, with fast-moving storm clouds rolling in without fail at about eleven pm. While wait staff scurry to move tables, and drunken diners navigate the steep stairs down to the safety of the hotel, the more hardy can sit and watch the clouds race closer and closer towards the building, soaking in both the atmosphere and the rainwater until the lightning gets too close for comfort.
Art Traffic is an online platform that offers established, emerging, and up-and-coming artists an opportunity to showcase their work on a global scale and to sell their art at prices decided by them. [artwork by Russ Wheelhouse]
I’ve yet to find out what they put in the water in Germany that generates such a consistently rich stream of good electronica. Carrying the torch at the moment is Hendrik Weber, aka Pantha du Prince, whose early 2007 release, This Bliss, landed on my doormat with a deep bass-kick and hasn’t left my iPod since. Read more
You’ve got to give it to the guys at American fashion label, Attus Apparel. Just over a year into business and already they are producing some of the more … ummm … interesting photo shoots out there. Read more
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Here are a couple awesome pieces by Matt Leines that were recently on display in the Doubting Thomases exhibit at Nudashank gallery in Baltimore. Gives me ideas for Halloween. Read more
Matthew Dear’s Black City album totem
Our friends at Ghostly International are releasing Matthew Dear’s Black City album as a limited edition ‘totem’. A what? A totem – a limited edition metal bar used to access a private music chamber. Cool! Read more
Pitched as ‘Ulterior Motives in Contemporary Art’, Disorder Disorder is running until November 14 at Penrith Regional Gallery. It’ll be well worth the trip out west of Sydney: the Australian, Japanese, American and European cast reads like a warriors of street art roundup and includes Mike Giant, Ed Templeton, Anthony Lister [artwork above], Ozzie Wright, and Jonathan Zawada. 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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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
Junior Massive is a newly launched Australian boutique t shirt label making limited edition tees using only Australia cotton. It’s street meets indie; design meets durability; edgy fashion meets edgy fashion. We have them for sale in the Lost At E Minor online store. Read more
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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