Carsick Cars
by Beijing’s thriving music scene has no shortage of good bands, but few are as unabashedly innocent and giddy as Carsick Cars. Inspired by the blazing post-punk of Swell Maps, the aloof experimentalism of 90s shoegaze bands, and occasionally the discordance of Glenn Branca, Carsick Cars are equally influenced by the bands around them — PK-14, Joyside, Gar – singing in Mandarin and transcending the derivative unoriginality that marked the Chinese rock scene just a few years ago. Catch them this month on their US tour with PK-14 and Xiao He.
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Tagged: Carsick Cars, Chinese bands, Gar, Glenn Branca, Joyside, PK-14, Swell Maps
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Buddhist temples all over China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong sell or give away small plastic boxes that play a loop of prayer and chanting. A few years ago, Chinese electronic act FM3 hacked into some of these boxes and programmed their own music into them. The band had their own Buddha Machines manufactured in a wide range of colors, and people went nuts over them. Now, the Beijing-based duo is back with Buddha Machine 2.0 with all new music. As with the first box, the haunting, meditative tracks on the new machine play in a constant loop when it is switched on. Users can adjust the volume, bend the pitch of the music, and plug in headphones. The new machines come in new colors — burgundy, grey, brown, and even a limited edition one made out of real Pu’er tea.
Beijing-based band Hanggai write original songs in the traditional folk styles of their Mongolian ancestors — throat-singing, horsehair fiddles, lutes — spearheading an Asian version of the old-time revival. Though it’s only through the digital age that the rest of the world can access this beautiful music, it makes you want to slow down and reflect on what we’ve lost as a species. This stuff makes every flavor of the month indie band seem vapid and meaningless.
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Anointed Best New Band of 2009 by Baltimore’s City Paper, Sick Weapons embody basically what’s so great about this town — trash, and good times. They spit out sloppy, warbling, ear-piercing punk that’s more giddy than it is snarling, with frontwoman Ellie Beziat channeling Poly Styrene without being overly conscious of it. With songs like If You Love Me Take Me to the Hospital, The Prettiest Racist in Town, and Orgy on the China Train, it’s apparent these guys have their heads in a lot of unseemly places, but not up their own butts.
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Seems like you can’t throw a rock in Brooklyn these days without hitting an awesome illustrator. Thomas Herpich’s work is intricate and really drawerly (you know, like the drawing equivalent of painterly), but also draws heavily from comic books. His style is expressive and moody without being gimmicky — the idea he is trying to convey takes precedent over any kind of visual one-liners. Read more
Hello, my name is Zolton and I’m a text addict. That’s right, an instinctive, compulsive plier of the trade, straight from the Michael Douglas school of confessional proclamation. Yup, I don’t care if it’s quick or protracted; if it’s a group message or one just for me. I’ll take that text any damn way you can give it. And if that’s a crime in these repressed, conservative times, then so be it. Just don’t strip me of my pride. Or my mobile phone. [illustration by Nathan Jurevicius]
We’re launching a new email newsletter in a few weeks time called My Secret Playlist in which a different guest musician each week will write about eight songs that they’re loving right now. Read more
Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs are primarily remembered for the song Wooly Bully, but I’ve been incessantly listening to Little Red Riding Hood. As a metalhead, any song that features howling makes me happy.
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Located on West Houston, Alphaville is my favorite gift store in Manhattan. It offers a great selection of vintage objects, from Nixon’s campaign buttons, to Sesame Street 80s mobiles, 50s greeting cards and the original Mr. Potato Head and his friends. It’s one of those places I walk into just to look but always end up buying something.
I ran a series of 80s nights in New York last year — showing cult 80s movies and playing classic cuts from that era of kitsch and spice — purely so I could spin After The Fire’s Der Kommissar over and over. Yessir, this was the future of music in 1983. Pity no one was listening.
Put simply, Sydney fashion label Andrea and Joen create the hottest shoes around. You’ll find a combination of pure sophistication and rock and roll attitude in every pair from their range. Their sexy style has become a must for contemporary women, including Gwen Stefani, Katy Steele and Pink, all of whom have been seen proudly flaunting them around town.
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Wheeeeee! This game is so freaking fun! You move your cursor over each dot to make them split into four smaller dots ad infinitum.
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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
The Plus One t shirt by New York designer Ryan Sullivan is printed by hand, one at a time, using a dye-based print and printed on cotton/poly blend tees. Size is true to fit.
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We’ve just updated the Lost At E Minor iPhone app in the iTunes store with some new features. It’s a daily snapshot of the latest content from the site. You can download it now. Win? Well, it’s free. So you win, we win. Snap!
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