Crush the Castle

WE'RE SUPPORTING

New Zealand illustrator Yoannah Dieudonne creates beautiful but simple science fiction-themed work based around the notion of the line. Her illustrations are generated by easily accessible media, such as ink pens and unrefined paper. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

On the roof of Bangkok’s Banyan Tree Hotel is a dining experience like no other. The Vertigo Bar sits sixty one floors up, and serves delicious gourmet meals and cocktails. These are expensive by Thai standards, but cheap enough for shoestring travellers to indulge in now and then (a cocktail costs around AUD$12). I’ve spent hour after hour in the bar, drinking and smoking and taking in the amazing view. Most nights at Vertigo end the same, with fast-moving storm clouds rolling in without fail at about eleven pm. While wait staff scurry to move tables, and drunken diners navigate the steep stairs down to the safety of the hotel, the more hardy can sit and watch the clouds race closer and closer towards the building, soaking in both the atmosphere and the rainwater until the lightning gets too close for comfort.

WE'RE WEARING

My friend, illustrator Ai Tatebayashi, is known for her lovely color schemes and she forwarded me the link to this beautiful handknit accessory store from Istanbul. With Etsy, we can now purchase talented designer’s work from all over the world. And I couldn’t resist, I bought a necklace-scarf and cannot wait until it comes to my door! Read more

WE'RE THINKING

Mercedes Helnwein’s pencil portraits are hyper-realistic and expressive at the same time. She stays apparently faithful to her subjects, but utilizes poses and lighting to obtain dramatic and expressive images. Read more

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.

This interview with James Lavelle gives a fascinating window into the making of the latest UNKLE opus, End Titles, Stories for Film.

WE'RE LISTENING TO

NASA has released some pretty amazing audio recordings of sounds from the moons of Saturn. The weirdest thing about them is that they actually sound like Theremin warbles and echoey whooshy sounds from ‘50s movies about space.