WE'RE SUPPORTING

Painter Amy Crehore’s paintings of nudes hanging out in the jungle with monkeys, cats, lions, and little kids dressed like clowns remind me bit of Frida Kahlo’s work. Crehore seems to be making a comment about the male gaze — the women in her work seem to be both aware of and indifferent to the masculine lust they inspire. Read more

WE'RE WEARING

If on a picture perfect summer’s day, you find yourself wishing for a blizzard, something is wrong. Very wrong. But don’t panic, this weather preference has nothing to do with hatin’ on sunshine, and everything to do with an infamous leather bomber jacket from Claude Maus. It’ll have you hooked with its luxurious soft leather, stitched front paneling, Italian wool lining and the very necessary detachable hood. If you’re somewhere cold, then chances are you’re nowhere near this Australian-based label. So if you’re looking for a push in the purchase direction, it’ll be pleasing to know that the Aussie dollar ain’t doing too good. Gives a whole new meaning to the term ‘investment piece’, doesn’t it? Read more

WE'RE READING

Breakbeat duo, Evil Nine’s new album, They Live!, is one of the standout releases of the year. They Live! is powerful second album after 2005’s, You Can Be Special Too, its gruesome lyrics paying homage to all those misunderstood zombies out there. The duo — Automatom and Pardytron — compiled a Secret Playlist for us, writing about their eight favourite songs right now. Their first selection? Why, Toto’s Africa, of course [listen below]: ‘The epitome of smooth music, words can’t express how much this song rules! When the synths come in and the drums echo in the night, I’[m immediately transported back to my youth. Some people might say this is a guilty pleasure, but I don’t feel no guilt. I just stick it on and bask in their mellow might’. Read the rest of the Evil Nine Secret Playlist.

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WE'RE THINKING

I checked out the Armory Show in Manhattan a couple of weeks back and amongst the aisles of impressive contemporary art I was particularly taken by the work of Japanese artist, Mahomi Kunikata, whose vibrant and colorful paintings are full of mischievous characters and ‘joy joy’ sentimentality.

Date Night, starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey, is an hilarious comedy set in New York City. A case of mistaken identity turns a bored married couple’s attempt at a glamorous and romantic evening into something more thrilling and dangerous.

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

MP5 + TO/LET are a collective of three girls from Rome and from Bologna who have been working on installations and graffiti since 2006. This graffiti was created in Medika, a new squat in Zagreb, Croatia. They were invited there for the Vox Feminae Festival, and this was painted in four days in the main entrance. Read more

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Major Stars are another throwback ’70s rock band, playing Sabbath-flavored, guitar-driven psych tunes. But what sets them apart from the horde of Zeppelin-worshipping clones is vocalist Sandra Clarkson, whose voice is clean and feminine, but loud and aggressive — she doesn’t try to affect a Janis Joplin rasp. The band’s music also skews heavily towards the Acid Mothers Temple end of the ’70s revival thing rather than the Wolfmother side, another plus. Nope, rock still isn’t dead.