
Kronos Quartet’s Secret Playlist
The latest release from the Kronos Quartet, entitled Floodplain, contains works written for them by composers from Palestine and Serbia, traditional works from Lebanon, Turkey and Iran, Azerbaijan and India, and popular music from 1940s Egypt and 1970s Iraq. We checked in with them and asked about the music that inspired the latest recordings. They started with the Omar Souleyman song, Dabke 2020 [listen below]: ‘I’ve always been a fan of wild singers, and Omar Souleyman more than qualifies. The label Sublime Frequencies releases some wonderful CDs and Dabke 2020 is one of my favorites. What a vital sound. Distortion rules!’ Read the rest of Kronos Quartet’s Secret Playlist.
Tagged: Dabke 2020, Kronos Quartet, Kronos Quartet's Secret Playlist, My Secret Playlist, San Francisco
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Crimea X is the coming together of two offbeat, disparate characters, DJ Rocca (Ajello, Super Sonic Lovers, Maffia Sound System) and Jukka Reverberi from 90s Italian glam cult rockers, Giardini di Mirò, who have often have been compared with the sound of Mogwai, Arab Strap, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. We asked them about their favourite music and they started with The Smiths song, Ask [listen below] ‘I saw them playing live on Italian TV. It was during the 80s when I was extremely young, and I’ve never stopped listening to this song’. Read the rest of Crimea X’s Secret Playlist.

Boasting members of Serena Maneesh, Harry’s Gym and Danielson, revolving around frontman and songwriter Frode Stromstad — with the album’s supporting cast including Sufjan Stephens and Gary Olsen of Lady Bug Transistor — I Was A King are a misty eyed pop-gaze of West Coast harmonies and ringing Rickenbacker. They have just released a new single — Norman Bleik — through Sonic Cathedral and we checked in with Stromstad to get the inside word on the music that inspired it all. He started with the Flaming Lips song, Slow Nerve Action [listen below]: ‘The last song out on one of my favorite Flaming Lips albums, Transmissions From The Satellite Heart. I think Flaming Lips are responsible for creating the coolest drum sound ever’. Read the rest of I Was A King’s Secret Playlist.

After blowing people’s minds at the Capital Hill Block Party, then surprising everyone at Bumbershoot, then hopping down to Portland for Musicfest NW, Black Whales have made quite a name for themselves in the past year. One listen to “Young Blood” from their brand new EP, Origins, should clue you in on how far this young band is set to go. The EP was released last month on Mt. Fuji Records. We checked in with Davey Brozowski from the band and asked him to tell us about the music that inspired it. He started with Modest Mouse’s Whale Song [listen below]: ‘”I knew I was a scout, I should have found my way out” are the only vocal lines in the song and they only take up a minute or so of time. The rest is a musical jam that builds and builds into an epic ending that’s littered with different layers of guitar hooks, noise and percussion. Live, it’s even better. And did I mention the bassline? It’s good, really good’. Read the rest of Black Whales’ Secret Playlist.
Also by CASPER JOHANSSON

Yigal Ozeri’s photorealistic paintings
Israeli-artist Yigal Ozeri’s provocative photo-realistic paintings of young women in nature look like a large format photographs, but are actually the work of minute brushstrokes laced together. Inspired by the Pre-Raphaelites, the paintings are exotic portraits of woman enraptured by nature, caught in the lens of the artist’s eye. Ozeri’s inspiration lies in Carl Jung’s concept of the Anima, the psychology of the female’s true inner self. Read more

Tired of having your food stolen by sticky-fingered coworkers or roommates? Bullies taking your kid’s lunch? Well, worry no more. Anti-Theft Lunch Bags are sandwich bags that have green splotches printed on both sides, making your freshly prepared lunch look spoiled. So don’t suffer the injustice of having your sandwich stolen again!

Creative advertising packaging
Despite the intentions of many, it’s not so often that advertising — as an industry — truly thinks outside the box. Yet, when executed well, clever eye-catching advertising actually works. It does. As these examples will attest to. Read more
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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
California’s Cerasoli:LeBasse Gallery has just moved to new digs on Washington Boulevard, Culver City. And to celebrate the re-launch they have an exhibition running featuring the work of Deth P Sun, Mari Inukai [above] and Melissa Haslam, amongst others. This inaugural exhibition, the aptly titled Blender, runs until November 1st.
The current economic crisis has got us missing our frivolous spending past. But we need to be strong and resist fashionable purchases, right? Wrong. We’ve just got to get a little more creative with our rationalisation. And that’s why we don’t just want a hand-made one of a kind silk scarf from label Trust Fun. We actually need it. Started by Sydney-based graphic designer, Jonathan Zawada, this label’s signature scarves support our justify-it-to-buy-it philosophy with their multi-purpose versatility. Soft sheer silk in amazing one-off colour combinations just don’t go out of style, and with more uses than we can list, they’re one piece you can validate. It’s the rescue purchase we’ve been waiting for.
Ok, some random news and observations about this thriving, jiving metropolis that is New York City. 1. There are that many tattoos around Williamsburg, Brooklyn that I reckon I’m making more of a statement by not having one! Seriously. People nod at me on the street as if to say, ‘cool man, I love that clean skin. Where’d ya get it done?’ Read more
10:15 is a photoblog on which participating photographers from around the world snap a shot every day at 10:15am sharp and post the results. Read more
Films involving characters faced with an impossible choice never make easy viewing, an example being the Nick Cave Australian gem, The Proposition. A nightclub manager, played with understated power by Joaquin Phoenix, is the victim here, and you actually feel truly uncomfortable as his predicament unfolds. Set in the 1980s, We Own The Night shows a real nostalgia for that period — particularly in the costumes. Read more
Ianva are a fantastically seductive group from Genova, sounding like the house band in an underground cabaret during Mussolini’s rule — at once nostalgic and subversive. Read more
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With the recession still biting, it may be time to whip out the glue and the cardboard and make your next pair of cool kicks. Don’t know how they’d manage in the rain though? Read more

There is not a medium that UK illustrator Lizzy Stewart cannot wrap around her little finger to make the most beautiful, whimsical images. Read more

Scanners’ new single Salvation
I love this track by London based rock group, Scanners, which is off their latest album, Submarine. Having toured with acts such as The Horrors, The Wedding Present, The Charlatans, Electric Six, and Juliette & The Licks, Scanners could well blow up in 2010. Figuratively speaking, not literally. No, that wouldn’t be fun.

I live the upbeat, feel good tempo of the new single — A Hundred Hearts — from Philly group, The Swimmers. Off their latest album, People Are Soft, this song is a strangely fitting anthem for the blustery day outside.

Wheeeeee! This game is so freaking fun! You move your cursor over each dot to make them split into four smaller dots ad infinitum.
Thanks to Sony Australia, four Lost At E Minor readers will win personal audio prizes, including the new 8GB Walkman S series video MP3 player and the MDRXB500 Extra Bass headphones. Read more
Featuring a design by New York Times Op-Ed artist Igor Kopelnitsky these 5×7 cards have been crafted from Crane’s Lettra Letterpress re-purposed textured cotton paper made from fibres from the fashion industry. The set includes 8 blank cards with envelopes. Read more
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