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Those Poor Bastards

A lot of horror lies buried in the American landscape, and the nation’s music, since long before the time of Charlie Poole and Leadbelly, has often dealt with themes of death, murder, war, and the occult. It’s funny then that people should be so jarred by bands like Those Poor Bastards, who, drawing from bluegrass and old time music, create menacing, sinister, gothic country. A natural extension of the murder ballad tradition, the Wisconsin-based outfit incorporates sounds and ideas from more contemporary dark genres and acts — metal, industrial, Nick Cave, and Tom Waits — making music that sounds a bit like a zombie Johnny Cash in a top-hat.

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Check out our sister site, My Secret Playlist, where our favorite musicians and DJs write about the music that's inspiring them right now.
Looking for the perfect gift? Check out the goodies in the Lost At E Minor online store or for a curated range, try this selection of cool presents.

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Luke Butler’s Enterprise series

My roommate is on a big Star Trek kick, re-watching the entire original series. I forgot how amazing and progressive and ahead-of-its-time it was. Actually, Star Trek: the Next Generation is also just as good. Hopefully Luke Butler will paint images from that series next or superimpose Captain Picard’s head on a nude body of Adonis. Read more

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Tom Fun Orchestra’s Bottom of the River

This video for Nova Scotian gypsy folk-punk ensemble Tom Fun Orchestra is so effectively simple, matching the imagery to the song perfectly.

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Cheeming Boey’s coffee cup art

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YOU'RE SAYING (1)

Dive Le said | 4 September, 2009

This sounds so cool.

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Wayne Pate — aka Good Shape Design — is pretty inspirational. He worked his way up from a freelance designer, to having his own label, and starting Good Shape Design, to selling both his own work and the work of others; the most notable being Cody Hudson. He sells prints, homewares and artwork which are beautifully framed and presented.


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I just came back from teaching a week-long illustration workshop in Venice, Italy. After finish up the class each evening, the students and I often ran to our favourite gelateria in town, Nico. Read more

Ok, so that’s me up there on the right. Yup, rocking out in the 55DSL tee and feeling a little pleased with how it’s all going down. Well, actually, a disclaimer: it’s not … quite … me. I mean, I’m wearing the same shirt right now as he is, and I’m kinda the same height. But he isn’t the same person. We aren’t one. But I love this 55DSL shirt in the same way that he … ummm … loves himself. So I guess that we’re both damn happy. Read more


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Check out these brilliant origami-inspired Green Berry Tea bags from Russian-based designer Natalia Ponomareva. While the tea seeps, the bag gradually expands into a poetic and delicate paper crane. The design hasn’t made it to store shelves yet but the concept is so impressive that it deserves sharing.

Let them sing it for you is a web widget that allows you to type in a sentence which is then played back using the same words culled from a library of popular songs. For instance if you type the word “I” it will play Chris Isaak singing that word in the song Wicked Games. If a word cannot be found, you can enter a song which contains the missing word and expand the library.

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

London-based DJ, Kelpe, has just recorded a diverse electro mix for the Allez Allez blog, which you can download, turn up to eleven, and nod yo’ head to. It’s just the tonic for an early afternoon kickstart.

WE'RE RESPECTING

WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST

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Paolo Ventura

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Mike Stimpson

Check out Mike Stimpson’s Lego reinterpretations of classic photographs. Stimpson’s version of Malcolm Browne’s iconic 1963 photograph of the self-immolation of Thich Quang Duc is particularly twisted. Read more

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The Swimmers

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Man-Tsun’s painterly images

Hong Kong-based illustrator Man-Tsun draws dark and beautiful painterly images that look like they are straight off a high-end Japanese animated film. Read more

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Kris Kuksi

Good thing Kris Kuksi channelled the trauma of growing up with an alcoholic stepfather, his disdain for ‘the typical American life and pop culture’, and his fascination with the macabre into obsessive, baroque assemblages, paintings, and drawings. Read more


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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

Australian fashion label Das Monk is my new favourite t-shirt label and this shirt is more comfortable to wear that a thousand pairs of Ozone socks. Super soft 100% cotton. Grab one now from the Lost At E Minor store for $35. Read more

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