Mary Jane’s Relaxing Soda

WE'RE SUPPORTING

You see a man pondering life, but on closer inspection, realisation sets in, and what you actually notice is a sculpture covered in photography prints, creating a truer than life image of art. Gwon Osang is a Korean contemporary artist who has exhibited at the Manchester Art Gallery, among other places. He creates life-size sculptures of people, spending ample time researching his subjects and creating an inspiration for his works.

WE'RE THINKING

Illustrating some of the 24 hour Punjabi I would have gone to in the West Midlands (the home of AC/DC abroad), Sroop Sunar creates very distinctive and colourful work. I like the way it references colonial imagery and Indian culture, but brings them up to date. Read more

Sufjan Stevens creates autistic music for introverts — soft, shy, naive, full of shadows, windows, and insecurities. Yet it all sounds slightly forced, his enigmatic songwriting as comforting as it is unsettling.

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

Just a few days ago, Benjamin Verdoncke climbed out of the human-sized nest he’d been residing in for the past seven days. The Belgian artist took six weeks to build the nest, which hung fifty metres high against a skyscraper in Rotterdam. Read more

WE'RE READING

We asked Ham and Pete, from New York band The Walkmen, to give us the rundown on the music that is inspiring them right now and they started off with a track from that elder statesmen of indie folk, Bonnie Prince Billy, Goin’ to Acapulco: ‘He did a remarkable job of putting a unique spin on a classic. It’s no small feat, and it’s a really impressive version’. Read more of The Walkmen’s Secret Playlist.

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WE'RE LISTENING TO

Already with a Spectrum show under their belt, The Archerbolds are an up and coming Australian band well worth checking out. I saw the Sydney-based lads play recently at the Mars Hill Café and it was evident that they should be permanently rocking out on a real stage; not in front of coffee sippers. Their floating lyrics, smart guitar riffs and meaty bass lines are infused by The Strokes, Mars Volta, The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin — ultimately producing a freshly spun modern-vintage sound. Lead vocalist and guitarist Geoffrey ‘Gep’ Rectin says The Archerbolds plan to create a solid sound for next year: ‘Over summer, we’re recording an EP and working on a set sound, defining more of an image’. If their track, Rest Your Soul, is anything to go by, then it should be pretty dandy.

WE'RE WEARING

We love the range of ultra-stylish ties created by New York-based designers, Ryan Sovereign and William Beck. They’re both graduates of the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, majoring in Industrial Design and Sculpture respectively, and have been long time collaborators both musically and visually. Read more