Brandon Boyd’s ectoplasm

WE'RE SUPPORTING

There’s something to be said for a really fun collaborative project. Says Ukraine artist, Sasha Shagi, about his Sparrow Project: ‘Twelve years ago, when I first touched the piano keys, I decided to become a famous pianist. I had everything needed to make my dream come true – long thin fingers, an open mind and too much energy. For seven years my friends were sharps, flats, sixths and seconds. Because of some changes in life, I failed to become a pianist and now I have nothing to do with these black and white keys. One year ago I decided to write a story of how I failed to become a pianist. I based it on different psychological experiments and trips abroad. It tells about the life of a guy named King of the Keys in four different cities – New York, Miami, Paris and Kiev’. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

This café, cookie shop, ice cream place in Cobble Hill Brooklyn is all about flavor, aroma and family. Their cookies and ice cream are absolutely to-die-for, and the place is so well-designed, painted in vintage colors with old family pictures printed on the walls, that you’ll want to indulge yourself for more than just a few minutes. Try their Whoopies and Lucia cookies. They’re my favourite.

WE'RE WEARING

When my uber-creative and slightly eccentric twin brother announced one day that chainmail would be making a return, it only confirmed that he’d missed out on the fashion genes. But after checking out the fingerless chainmail glove in Toby Jones’ new collection — My hands are tied — it now appears he had a legitimate vision. Working a look straight out of a Mad Max scene, Jones’ designs will have us accessorizing in true post-apocalyptic style, using everyday objects as adornment. But you don’t need to be cruising around town in a black Interceptor to appreciate them. Be your own character with chain swinging padlocks and multi-purpose shoelaces. It’s about time you got your hands into something different.

WE'RE THINKING

Check out these brilliant origami-inspired Green Berry Tea bags from Russian-based designer Natalia Ponomareva. While the tea seeps, the bag gradually expands into a poetic and delicate paper crane. The design hasn’t made it to store shelves yet but the concept is so impressive that it deserves sharing.

WE'RE READING

DM Stith recently signed to Asthmatic Kitty, the same label as Sufjan Stevens, and has a new EP out this week titled Curtain Speech, featuring contributions from Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond), Rafter, Sebastian Krueger and the string quartet Osso. Think Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear meets Arthur Russell. We got the rundown from him on his eight favourite songs right now and he kicked off with The Shangri-Las’ Out In The Streets [listen below]: ‘1:22 – 1:43 is a miracle. I’ve never been so obsessed with twenty seconds of high-hat and high school girl shrieks: it’s a raging teenage fantasy that all the composition notebooks in all the lockers of 1965 couldn’t write better. That the singers have managed to preserve their naivety perfectly in this three minute song may be the reason I feel recording pop music is worthwhile’. Read the rest of DM Stith’s Secret Playlist.

My favourite cartoon is Home Movies by Brendon Small. Read more

WE'RE LISTENING TO

The Kevin Ayers record Joy of a Toy from 1969 was released by Harvest Records and sits somewhere between Nick Drake and The Byrds. A record slightly ahead of its time, it was filled with enough interesting and clever arrangements and instrumentation to never bore. Girl on a Swing is my favorite tune for the tremolo guitar.