The Mirage by Kjellgren Kaminsky

Luke Jackson’s debut album, And Then Some

In the Spring of 2006, a seven-year email correspondence culminated in the meeting of Luke Jackson and Magnus Börjeson. Jackson had long been a devoted fan of two of the Swedish musician’s former bands: Beagle and Favorita, and the two songwriters finally met in Paris where Börjeson was mid-tour playing in The Cardigans. By the end of the weekend, Jackson had accepted an invitation to record in Sweden, which he took up in January 2008. He set to work in the studio with Magnus on bass and Christoffer’s Brainpool bandmate Jens Jansson on drums. Upon his return to London, he sent the rough mixes of the songs to renowned London-based string arranger Robert Kirby (who has orchestrated works by Nick Drake, Elvis Costello, and Elton John). Kirby loved the songs and offered to write orchestrations for the album and accompany Jackson to Sweden to conduct the necessary recording sessions with nine players from Malmö’s Opera Orchestra. It is the collision of these two worlds which makes his album, And Then Some, so compelling. Densely layered guitars and vocal harmonies fuse with sweeping string lines, none of which ever draw the ear too far from what lies at the heart of Jackson’s music.

Sweden’s Ice Hotel

This remarkable construction is located in the Swedish village of Jukkasjärvi and is built entirely from scratch every year. It features 10,000 tonnes of ice from the nearby Torne River, and 30,000 tonnes of snow, covering more than 30,000 square feet in total. Oh, it even has its own ice chapel. But be sure to bring your winter woollens. It could get a little, errr, chilly at night. Read more

Playsam toys

When it comes to toys, these guys really know what they’re doing. Playsam is one of my favorite toy companies. They’re based in Sweden and they make extremely polished, minimal toys for children. Their designs are classic and extremely expensive, but well worth it. When I have kids, I’ll spoil them with these.

The proof that birds compose tunes

Gizmodo ran this story recently that they suggest is proof that birds are secretly composers: ‘A normal person sees these birds perched on electrical wires and worries about getting crapped on. Jarbas Agnelli looks at them and sees musical notes. Maybe he’s smarter than the rest of us because the melody is utterly oh-so-sweet-that-I-could-doze-off-right-now’.

Moustache cufflinks

This November the hottest fashion accessory will be the moustache cufflinks designed by Arbitrage exclusively for Movember. Movember Founder, Adam Garone, worked with Arbitrage designer, Alan Chan, to create the capsule collection of four links, which are rhodium finished. The cufflinks retail for US$65, and for every pair sold, Arbitrage will donate $20 to the Movember charity. We have them for sale in the Lost At E Minor online store.

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.