Dr. Zilog
Strip away the cookie monster vocals and downtuned, distorted guitars, it’s hard to imagine death metal still reading as death metal, but 8-bit duo Dr. Zilog manage to do just that. The Floridian sound-card tweakers make some pretty amazing original, NES tunes that are strangely compelling, catchy, and actually quite metal.
Tagged: death metal, Florida bands
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Crust bands have always taken from and given to other subgenres of extreme music — after all, Discharge was largely responsible for inspiring the grindcore bands that begat death metal. Until now though, most bands with a crusty feel to them never really appealed to me because they often were still too rooted in hardcore for my tastes. Thou from Baton Rouge, however, are the first crust band to offer epic, evocative riffs, carefully considered arrangements, and ear-shredding vocals that sound more demonic than merely angry. Drawing from black metal, doom, and heavy psych, the five-piece make a unique and crushing sound very much inspired by the swampy, sweaty, tragedy-stricken part of the world they come from while being very light-handed with their politics.
San Diego death metal band Cattle Decapitation are a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. Their schtick is pretty silly — they are anti-human vegetarians who pound out grinding, churning, vomitous songs about mankind getting its comeuppance (I can’t help but chuckle at song titles like Bukkake Tsunami). While fans of ultra-technical metal may look down their noses at these guys, the couple times I’ve seen them, they’ve been loads of fun, with frontman Travis Ryan convulsing and spitting like an epileptic in Times Square. Their latest album, The Harvest Floor, is their heaviest and most technically proficient yet, and while they may still be too silly for the metal elite, anyone who wants a good, entertaining slab of brutality should check them out.
Meshuggah are a much better band recorded than live, at least based on the only time I saw them a couple years ago when they were touring in support of Catch 33. But it’s hard to deny that their albums kick a lot of ass. Their latest video for the song Bleed off last year’s obZen is pretty intense, too.
Also by GERRY MAK
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
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New York artist Louise Belcourt works out of a studio in Brooklyn where she paints with a ‘strong emphasis on line, color and texture, of forms and surfaces brushing up against one another, almost kissing, or pulling apart. Branches and limbs reach out, spread, and sprout new growth. Small buds appear. There is sense of wide-open space, but filled with activity and life’.
Canadian designer Michael Surtees takes pictures of the same patch of sky every day as seen from his Manhattan apartment. Read more
When I first stumbled upon local label, MUSE by Good Mixer, in Bangkok, I knew I’d found something special. In an industry plagued by copycat designers struggling to find their own identity, you’ve got to admire the ones who have carved an original signature style. By taking unlikely inspiration from American football and mixing it with Eastern influences, the latest collection by designer Chaichon Savantrat plays masculine sportswear against exotic evening wear. Teaming structured shoulder silhouettes with free flowing fabrics, Savantrat uses a palette of black, white and red to showcase intricate embroidery. And with pieces for both men and women, he’s got both teams covered. Read more
I recently stumbled across the beautiful work of Isreali artist Tal R in all it’s raw and colourful splendor. Rough, spontaneous texture, tapestry-like compositions, and artfully placed drips all come together within Tal’s folksy oeuvre. I can’t even really decide which I’m swooning over more — the Grosz-like paintings or his fantastically raw drawings. Read more
No one disputes that the Bush Administration is no friend to civil liberties, but this little spot on the ACLU website smacks of paranoia. At least it’s entertaining, and some people might actually welcome the ultra-convenient vision of the future this piece of propaganda offers.
B-Reel is real smooth. And when I say real, I mean really. They created the latest ad for kicks brand Onitsuka Tiger. Read more
The highly polished electronic sound of Minneapolis band UltraChorus falls somewhere between Hot Chip and Phoenix, bringing a cut and paste indie rock aesthetic to late nineties Hip-Hop and R&B. We have their debut single, Words Kept Talking [listen below], available for free download in our Music Download section.
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With the recession still biting, it may be time to whip out the glue and the cardboard and make your next pair of cool kicks. Don’t know how they’d manage in the rain though? Read more
Yum, yum, cupcakes are fun. These creations are so clever, so arty, so damn bizarre that it would almost be a shame to eat them. Almost! Read more
Check out Mike Stimpson’s Lego reinterpretations of classic photographs. Stimpson’s version of Malcolm Browne’s iconic 1963 photograph of the self-immolation of Thich Quang Duc is particularly twisted. Read more
Italian-born, New York City-based photographer Paolo Ventura creates fairy-tale like pictures out of amazingly constructed, miniature dioramas that almost trick the eye into thinking he’s a tilt-shift photographer. Read more
Creative advertising packaging
Despite the intentions of many, it’s not so often that advertising — as an industry — truly thinks outside the box. Yet, when executed well, clever eye-catching advertising actually works. It does. As these examples will attest to. Read more
Thanks to Sony Australia, four Lost At E Minor readers will win personal audio prizes, including the new 8GB Walkman S series video MP3 player and the MDRXB500 Extra Bass headphones. Read more
Milk and honey, an indubitable pair. In this necklace by Stephanie Simek, a golden honeycomb beeswax pendant is encased in plastic and hangs from an oxidized sterling silver chain. The links are interwoven with a milk protein-based fiber. We have it for sale in our online store. Read more
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