Killola

French band, Cocoon

We’re big fans of French duo Cocoon, so we spoke to frontman Marc Daumail to prove it. Ahead of their upcoming tour of Australia in November, we asked him how vibrant the French music scene is right now: ‘It’s such a relief to be considered like a real band singing in English in a country like France, which is very conservative about its music traditions. We know Moriarty and The Do. They are nice. We all worked a lot to make this scene exist’. Which folk acts have most excited you recently? ‘My albums of the year are not very folky: Grizzly Bear, Lee Fields, The XX. But The Tallest Man On Earth just made one of the best folk albums of all time’. Read Cocoon’s Secret Playlist.

Arctic Monkeys Humbug giveaway

We like monkeys. But we like Arctic Monkeys more. To celebrate the release of their new album, Humbug, we have a very cool prize-pack featuring a Humbug LP, poster, badges and a 7″ and 10″ for Crying Lightning. Just leave a message under this post saying why you really, really want one. Read more

Rare Michael Jackson Motown radio session

From the Motown archives, this is a rare radio session recorded in the early 70s and featuring the original Jackson 5 — Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael — all interviewing one another. During the podcast you’ll hear a very young sounding Michael talk about his favorite sports, bands, even what he looks for in a girl – all an instinctive brotherly banter, providing a nice reminder of where it all began. [Michael Jackson sculpture by Jeff Koons]

Hanoch Piven at New York’s Society of Illustrators

Hanoch Piven, multiple award-winning illustrator, will lead a hands-on collage workshop for professional illustrators who want to free their inner child. Piven’s workshop will focus on the idea of playing intuitively with objects, maximizing trial-and-error and taking advantage of serendipity, which are all very useful tools to explore any creative medium. Piven is known for using ordinary objects to create striking celebrity portraits for such clients as Time, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, The New York Times and Random House. The workshop takes place on Tuesday, November 10, between 6:30 – 8:30pm, and will be produced by Fernanda Cohen.

Teasy T Exclusive teas

Swedish tea company Johan & Nyström’s fourteen luxury teas — Teasy T Exclusive — are packaged in eco-friendly bamboo tubes designed by Seforma.

Robyn Sweaney at Sydney’s Iain Dawson Gallery

Says curator and gallery owner Iain Dawson of Australian artist Robin Sweaney’s work: ‘I first saw Robyn Sweaney’s exquisite paintings when I was invited to a curatorial panel event by the Visual Arts Network and Arts Northern Rivers in 2006. What immediately enthralled me was Robyn’s attention to detail and obsessive capturing of the scene’s she surrounds herself with. The stillness of the works and the contemplation on these uniquely Australian dwellings work strongly on many levels. Firstly the paintings and drawings are aesthetically beautiful and incredibly evocative. Secondly, I’m increasingly fascinated by the subjects of these works, these wonderful houses, soon to be lost to the collective consciousness, superseded by the McMansions of the new millenia. Robyn’s works are a link to our heritage, our collective nostalgia for a simpler, less flashy world’. Her latest series, Home Beautiful, is showing at the Iain Dawson Gallery between 10-21 November. Read more