December 18, 2007 | New Trends | by Toby Nathaniel |
I’m a video game addict and one of my all time favorite PC games was Diablo 2. So I was pleased to discover Hellgate: London, the latest offering from Flagship Studios, the makers of Diablo 2. To game involves killing lots of demons who’ve invaded London — building stats and upgrading equipment in the process. It seems to be a good formula. I’m hooked. [play also Submarine Zero: Ancient Adventure]
December 9, 2007 | New Music | by Toby Nathaniel |
When you’re a musician, people like to ask you who your influences are. If I were asked to choose only one, it would be the Soviet composer Alfred Schnittke. I generally tend to like a few specific pieces from each composer, but not their entire catalogue of work. Schnittke is the only exception. His music is very soulful and listenable on the surface, yet supremely complex upon closer examination. He incorporates ideas from pretty much every genre of music and does it with class and taste. [see also the part-operatic, part vaudeville performances of Coco Rosie]
December 7, 2007 | New Products | by Toby Nathaniel |
A couple of years ago, I decided that I would try and hunt down some current fantasy novels. Little did I know how difficult it would be to find anything interesting, intelligent, or containing any literary merit. I read thousands of wasted pages. Eventually I stumbled upon a few works worth noting. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin is one of them. It’s very gritty and occasionally brutal, with tasteful allusions to the supernatural. [see also Aldous Huxley's The Doors of Perception]
December 7, 2007 | New Music | by Toby Nathaniel |
Coroner was one of the best, and most under-appreciated, thrash metal bands of all time. A three-piece outfit from Switzerland with a relatively short life span (’87-’95), the band were technically proficient and experimental but always operated tastefully, adept at hopping between time signatures whilst keeping the groove throughout. [see also Finntroll]
November 30, 2007 | New Art | by Toby Nathaniel |
The art of Camille Rose Garcia captures the spirit and essence of Halloween as a kid, the wonder of being young and discovering things mysterious and dark. [see also the artwork of Ray Caesar]
*You drag rusted-out refrigerators and bits of confetti home thinking you’ll ‘use them’ some day? You should sign up for our weekly newsletter*
It must be in the jeans. The offspring of musical hedonists Richard and Linda Thompson, Teddy Thompson is one hell of a talented songwriter. Since his debut self-titled album came out in 2000, Thompson has been busy working on collaborative projects (including the ‘I’m Your Man’ tribute to Leonard Cohen) and solo recordings. His latest album, Up Front & Down Low, is a typically skittish and melodic collection of folk tinged melodrama. We spoke to him recently. Read more
On-the-go Rave. I bought this thing last fall from a dude in Brooklyn, and our new album relies on its bass. Many of the melodies are better understood once run through the Prophet. I’m pretty happy with it, but I’ve got my eyes on a Jupiter 6 now. There’s always something missing.
Sparks’ album Kimono My House is a demented mix of hard rock, pop, glam, new wave, and baroque pop. Why this record never caught on in the States I’ll never know. The songs will get stuck in your head and prevent you from sleeping. Oh yeah, and the keyboard player has a nice mustache too, as evidenced by this track above — This Town Ain’t Big Enough.
Dutch designer Daniel Schipper, the man behind the awesome, oragami-like folding shelter, has just unveiled a frameless, foldable greenhouse that is aimed at the growing urban gardening and farming market.
One of my favourite curated art blogs is Booooooom! The site is based in my backyard of Vancouver and features a wide variety of different visual artforms, whether its paintings, photography, design work, and sometimes even videos. I find that I’m always inspired when I visit this site. I think Jeff, the site’s creator and curator, and I have really similar tastes.
Silver Summit make the sort of hazy psych-folk that would suit a long, night-time drive through the badlands. Incorporating an array of acoustic instruments, strings, slide guitar, and haunting female vocals into gossamer melodies, the collective sound like they hail from a dusty town on the Great Plains rather than their native Brooklyn.
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Sao Paulo designer Andreia Chaves created these extraordinary ‘invisible shoes‘, which are made from a ‘faceted mirrored surface allowing the shoe to reflect different angles of the environment around it thus camouflaging itself with its surroundings’. Read more
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Communication prosthesis by Sascha Nordmeyer
This ‘communication prosthesis’ by designer Sascha Nordmeyer is hilarious and awesome. I want to wear one to a job interview.
Christoph Niemann illustrates a nightmare flight
New York Times illustrator Christoph Niemann has created a brilliant visual diary outlining the peril and pitfalls that beset the everyday passenger based on his recent experience flying from New York to his home town of Berlin. Read more
It’s refreshing to see artists like Joe Kievitt who are contented to explore the beauty in simple forms and asymmetrical patterns. Read more
Benjamin Edminston’s psychedelic heads seem to have some fearful wisdom behind their blissed-out eyes. Read more
Francoise Nielly’s Yellow series
Parisian visual artist Francoise Nielly brings technicolour to the forefront in her latest series, Yellow. Featuring thick impasto palette knife strokes and trippy neon hues, Nielly captures the vulnerable expressions of her muses to a tee. Read more
We’re pleased to announce that, as of today, there is free shipping on all items and for all orders in the Lost At E Minor store — our stash of favoured goodies that you can buy for yourself, your friends, or your frenemies (hey, hey, why not?) We’ve got heaps of cool tees, jewellery, watches and other fun items, so knock yourself out. Not literally, of course. [browse the Lost At E Minor online store]
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