Yeojin Bae’s Autumn-Winter 09 collection

WE'RE SUPPORTING

Way back in the ’90s, Eric Conveys and Emotion asked visitors to submit emotions for site owner Eric Wu to act out. Around the same time Wu’s website petered out, illustrator Adam Culbert, aka Sam Brown, launched explodingdog, a site on which people submit sentences for Culbert to illustrate in his hilariously crude style. The site is still going strong, averaging about three new illustrations a week. Read more

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Don’t be afraid of the word retro. It has haunted us all from time to time, but one group that has embraced it with open arms is UK duo, La Roux. Their music is synth pop in the vein of Calvin Harris, Human League, The Eurythmics, and The Knife. There are quite a few of these young and ambitious pop starlets on the scene including Goldielocks. But La Roux takes the cake. Literally. I’m obsessed with their song In For the Kill and have a feeling summer will take it and make it a hit.

WE'RE THINKING

The work of French Illustrator Chamo is every bit as fun as her name seems to imply. Employing a bright, candy colored, retro feel, Chamo’s illustrations come off feeling like the ultimate feel good joyride.

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

The Suit Up exhibition comprises a number of artworks from various Australian street, comic, and illustration artists, each of whom has applied their unique style to that ubiquitous — yet, rarely tapped — canvas, the playing card. The designs have been produced as giclee prints, signed and numbered by the artists, and are limited to 10 prints of each design. Real-size decks of cards have also been produced for sale. The Suit Up crew is a close-knit group of predominantly Melbourne-based artists who are passionate about Australia’s ‘low-brow’ art scene, which is more collaborative and less ego-driven than much of the the high-brow art world. The exhibition runs between February 13 and 25.

The philosophy of a beginning is to me, a wonderful concept. I really enjoy flicking through the back catalogues of a musician and discovering their origin, then tracing their musical journey to the present. So for American-born, Paris-based sister duo CocoRosie, who released their third album The Adventure of Ghosthouse and Stillborn to much acclaim, making the trip to their beginnings is more than worth the journey: their debut album, Le Maison de Mon Reve (released back in 2004) was a gentle stroll through their pop and classical influences, which melt together seamlessly into a backdrop for their unique and enchanting voices.

WE'RE WEARING

The eagerly anticipated collaboration between Spanish footwear label Camper and Bernhard Willhelm debuted on the catwalk for the designer’s Spring 09 collection. Camper Together fuses the references and inspirations from Willhelm latest collection with Campers’ quality production techniques. Most popular is sure to be Willhelms’ take on the gladiator, with sandals constructed of ribbons and piping.

WE'RE READING

DJ Spooky — That Subliminal Kid — is just about the deepest crate digger around, trawling the barrels of long-lost record stores for choice vinyl to spin in his wickedly dubby sets. He gave us the inside word last week on his eight favourite songs right now via our sister website, My Secret Playlist. This is what he had to say about Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s Panic in Babylon: ‘If there’s anything that the twenty-first century has told us, it’s that dub is the real original hip-hop. Lee Scratch even had to make it clear in 1965 by adding “Scratch” to his middle name. Take that, Grandmaster Flash!’ Read the rest of DJ Spooky’s Secret Playlist.