I learned to love cooking from my mother, who practically has a library of cookbooks. From Julia Child to Ferran Adrià, she uses great chef’s recipes primarily as a source of inspiration, not as a set of instructions. Niki Segnit’s book The Flavour Thesaurus is my new go-to book for dinner ideas. Beautifully printed and humorously written, this book the new definitive guidebook for people like me who wish they had a more developed palate.

The post NEW BOOK: The Flavour Thesaurus appeared first on Lost At E Minor: For creative people.

LA-based blogger extraordinaire/graphic designer Bobby Solomon’s site The Fox is Black is pretty much my morning paper. A balanced survey of design, typography, architecture, music and more, Bobby and his editorial team also publish a few regular columns, including the Space Suit of the Week. This collection of interstellar fashion concepts takes you to that soothingly nostalgic place at the intersection of childhood wonder and great design.

The post The Fox is Black: a design-based website appeared first on Lost At E Minor: For creative people.

The folks over at the Moby Dick Big Read describe Herman Melville’s novel as ‘Sprawling, magnificent, deliriously digressive…the great unread American novel’. After my best friend tried for years to get me to read Moby Dick, I finally moved the American bible of whaling off of my bucket list and onto my bedside table after he spontaneously tattooed a sperm whale on his forearm as an homage to the behemoth in his favorite book. Now I understand what all the fuss is about. Moby Dick is manly, cosmopolitan, and above all, nerdy in the best way possible.

Nevertheless, tackling this epic saga can prove an inaccessibly daunting task for the average roman de gare reader. Fortunately, the likes of Tilda Swinton, Simon Callow, Stephen Fry and countless other talented entertainers have teamed up to release each chapter of Moby Dick in 135 downloadable audio tracks over the course of four months. Let them inspire you to dive into one of the best books ever written.

The post Read Moby Dick a chapter at a time over four months appeared first on Lost At E Minor: For creative people.

Before I wandered over to my current residence in Berlin, I spent four years sampling Baltimore’s seemingly endless source of musical inspiration. Famous for producing Animal Collective, Beach House and Dan Deacon, Baltimore’s cheap rents and ample space for creative exploration have attracted the best the East Coast has to offer, and then some. Among the awesomely talented Charm City groups to ride the wave of success more recently, Wye Oak is one of my iPod staples. Now singer/guitarist Jenn Wasner (who used to wait tables at a restaurant I cooked at #namedrop) is out touring her marvelous Robyn-inspired solo project, Flock of Dimes. Wasner’s combination of catchy folky vocals combined with new-wave wailing guitars and drum machines is especially stirring. I’m excited for more.

The post (This Is Why) I Can’t Wear White by Flock of Dimes appeared first on Lost At E Minor: For creative people.

A synthpop ode to a breakup, the track Last Calls is my first release as PVTLVS (Private Lives) – a duo comprised of yours truly and long-time collaborator Vasco Cesaretti. A mashup of found stock film footage from the 1940s, our debut video has been described as ‘A slow build of lovelorn suburban ennui, all filtered through a visual lens of collected Americana’. Due out as a digital download and limited vinyl pressing this winter, we are currently recording our debut album in our basement studio tucked away in a rather beautiful corner of Berlin’s Kreuzberg neighborhood.

The post Last Calls: new music by PVTLVS appeared first on Lost At E Minor: For creative people.

Yes it’s true. London’s Natasha Kahn’s NSFW black and white album cover portrait is on the front page of pretty much every indie music publication this month. Thirty seconds into the video for her single Laura off of her new album, The Haunted Man, and I too became a converted follower in the kult of Kahn. While most of The Haunted Man is more upbeat than haunting, this wintery track drags you through glorious swells of sorrow. Directed by the collective that go, who also created Röyksopp’s epic short film for their album Senior, the accompanying music video is as gorgeously delicate as the song itself. I’m looking forward to some great covers of this track (Rufus Wainwright, that’s your cue).

The post Laura: the new music video by Bat For Lashes appeared first on Lost At E Minor: For creative people.

I recently stumbled upon the Etsy store Clockwork Universe and immediately became obsessed with mechanical wristwatches. They just make sense to me. In a society overwhelmed with non-durable high tech gizmos, a hand-wound watch helps take the edge off.

Although there are plenty of eye catching Swiss watches out there, they usually carry a hefty price tag. The truth is, the Soviets made tons of fine timepieces that continue to function perfectly a half-century later and look way less conservative than their Western European rivals for a fraction of the price.

The post Vintage Soviet wristwatches appeared first on Lost At E Minor: For creative people.