Lost AT E Minor

Dr John’s The City That Care Forgot

Concept albums have always been a hit or miss affair, all too often to be taken with a pinch of salt. Some work brilliantly; many fall flat on their esoteric face. Dr John’s response to Hurricane Katrina is an intriguing album. Some is rousing, some depressing: it’s littered with political statements, perhaps too much at times but given it’s purpose the over-saturation isn’t surprising. In it, he teams up with ambassadors of blues such as Eric Clapton and Willie Nelson — artists who in the past have leant their name to issue-based music. You do get the feeling however that the collaborations are done for commercial appeal: there is something lacking from the original and distinctive Dr John. Regardless, its well worth a listen — there are very touching moments and solid protest songs to re-ignite in the world what three and a half years of other catastrophes may have covered up.

Nobody Was Thirsty

The Nobody Was Thirsty project is a collaboration between Ivan Kane’s Café W as charity — water — and Australia’s own denim label, Nobody. The campaign aims to sell a signature, not-for-profit T-shirt, with all donations helping to fund the world’s water crisis. The sale of one T-shirt alone can provide two people in Africa with clean drinking water for twenty years, something the majority of us take for granted.

Alicia Keys and Jack White Bond theme

See, a video like this would confuse the Pussycat Dolls. It is a super hot-sexy video. But alas, no one is wearing skin-tight black latex pants, or skin-tight pink latex tops. I imagine them screaming at the television ‘where is all the skin! Skin!’ All five (or is it six?) Pussycat Dolls aside, this pairing is super cool. I love that Jack White finally got to do a Bond theme, and I think he’s done a great job on Another Way To Die. I also hear that he is going to work with Miss Keys on her next album. But for now we must be satisfied with watching this video over, and over, and over again.

Seb Lester says ‘Keep It Simple!’

Seb Lester is one of the UK’s most successful type designers. Trained in Graphic Design at Central Saint Martins, he now works in London as a type designer and typographic illustrator. His typefaces are used by Intel, Dell, The New York Times, The Sunday Times, GQ Magazine, amongst many other clients. The Simple screen print [above] is part of his first foray into the world of limited edition art prints and can be seen online, along with some more of his work, at the Keep Calm Gallery. Read more

Omni Chair

Sitting in an Omni Chair is an experience you won’t forget in a hurry. It’s like having a fully moldable friend to lean on at all hours of the day. Remember those scenes out of Live Forever where Noel Gallagher conducts his interviews on a throne in his own living room? Well, this chair is better. And it comes in a wide range of colours, too. Sweet! [note: girl not included]

41 commercials mashed up into a music video

Question: What do you get if you combine a drumming gorilla (Cadbury), Sony Bravia spots (balls, rabbits, dominos), some slow mo explosions, lots of dancing, and a little piece of the late, great James Brown? Answer: two minutes and twenty-seven seconds of editing magic. This video from Roni Brunn is what we call FUN.