New Music
New Music / Daniel Higgs
July 3, 2009 | New Music | 
by Gerry Mak 
|
Daniel Higgs came to prominence as frontman for Baltimore hardcore band Reptile House and later Lungfish, the first non-DC band to sign to Dischord. Now primarily playing solo, improvised, experimental sets with a banjo and a jaw harp, Higgs has become a bit of a Baltimore icon and counterculture prophet, spouting mystical, Eastern-influenced philosophy and spirituality through his lyrics, spoken word, and amazing art work. He is also a renowned tattoo artist, as evidenced by his own extensive ink.
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New Music / Will Sergeant, Echo and the Bunnymen
July 2, 2009 | New Music | by Amy Freeborn |
Echo and the Bunnymen were spawned in the creative and fertile hub of Liverpool’s late-70s punk scene, borne from oft-discussed ambitions eventually called out. The three original members, who ‘didn’t really know what they were doing’, chose to perform — sink or swim — in support of Teardrop Explodes, and became cult icons; post-punk pioneers. Read more
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New Music / The Psychic Paramounts
July 1, 2009 | New Music | by Gerry Mak |
It’s hard to pin down The Psychic Paramounts. The New York band sounds a bit like My Bloody Valentine at times, and nightmarish David Lynch soundtracks at others, layering folk, rock, and electronic elements to create a moody, auditory haze.
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New Music / The Tinklers
July 1, 2009 | New Music | by Gerry Mak |
The Tinklers suck, but that’s what makes them so great. Their atonal, monotonous singing, and nearly non-existent musicianship have certainly won them some virulent detractors, but their unabashed niceness has attracted just as many loyal fans. Much in the vein of Half Japanese and Daniel Johnston, the Baltimore duo has plunked out silly, out-of-tune folk and pop numbers for 30 years, becoming indie icons in the process. Charles Brohawn and Chris Mason are classic underdogs, plugging on against all odds, and their harshest critics miss the point of what they do. A recent documentary about them, Everybody Loves the Tinklers, explores the impact the band has made, and addresses the controversial space they occupy in pop culture.
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New Music / Vandaveer
June 29, 2009 | New Music | by Casper Johansson |
Vandaveer is the alt-folk project of DC-by-way-of-Kentucky songwriter Mark Charles Heidinger. The son of a preacher, whose father was a gambler, whose father was both judge and US Congressman, Heidinger one day found himself in possession of a golden pocket watch owned, wound, and regularly counseled by each in this paternal line. On the backside of the watch was a family name engraved, passed down for more than a century like the timepiece that followed. The name was Vandaveer. His sophomore effort, Divide and Conquer, touches upon similar themes found in his debut album, Grace and Speed, winding themes of love and death, malice and goodwill, despair and perseverance into short vignettes.
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New Music / The Bloody Beetroots
June 26, 2009 | New Music | by Zolton |
Since bursting onto the scene in 2007, The Bloody Beetroots, otherwise known as Italian producer Bob Rifo, has brought a sense of danger to dance floors. Rifo injects his thunderous grooves with the chaos and larger-than-life persona of late 70s British punk and Oi! The Beetroots’ debut album, Romborama, will be out August 25th on Dim Mak Records. We have the single Butter available for free download via the Music Download section of Lost At E Minor.
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New Music / Major Lazer prize pack
June 26, 2009 | New Music | by Zolton |
We have a Major Lazer prize pack to give away to a randomly selected LAEM subscriber featuring a Guns Don’t Kill People, Lazers Do t-shirt, vinyl and CD. To be in the running, simply be a subscriber and tell us why you want it. Read more
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New Music / The Paper Scissors Howl to the moon
June 26, 2009 | New Music | by Zolton |
Australian indie-rock band, The Paper Scissors, the hippest thing to come out of the dusty streets of Byron Bay since flavoured wheatgrass, have done it again with another awesome single, Howl [listen below], a short, sharp jab of pitch perfect, power pop. We checked in with their David Byrne-ish frontman Jai Pyne and asked him how was the recording process differed for this latest EP from their previous album: ‘It was completely different. We did the tracking live, with all four of us in the room together. It was great. I think it freed us up and let us be more of a band. We’ve come a long way since we recorded Less Talk More Paper Scissors. Now that Ivan [drummer] has been in the band for about a year and a half, it is a lot easier. We are all very comfortable playing with each other. We’ve been doing it live a lot’. Read more
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New Music / Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean
June 26, 2009 | New Music | by Lost At E Minor |
We’ve just had word that the doyen of pop quirkiness, Michael Jackson, has been rushed to a Los Angeles hospital after having a suspected heart attack. It’s tragic news. Such a brilliant performer, an endlessly mysterious figure, and a gifted songwriter, as this classic cut confirms.
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New Music / Screamin Jay Hawkins
June 24, 2009 | New Music | by Gerry Mak |
The fact that most people are only familiar with Screamin Jay Hawkins through his song I Put a Spell on You is really quite a shame. His entire catalog is worth listening to, not merely because they’re hilarious, at times unhinged, and a whole lot of fun. Check out his song Hong Kong to see what I mean. I played it for my parents, who are actually from Hong Kong, and they couldn’t stop laughing.
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New Music / Free download of Polvo’s new single
June 23, 2009 | New Music | by Zolton |
Seminal indie rock band Polvo — who compiled a Secret Playlist for us a few months ago — have reformed, signed to Merge Records, and will release a new album titled In Prism on September 8. We have their new single Beggars Bowl available for free download in our Music Download section (psst, it’s in the Third Column]
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New Music / Lord Scrummage
June 22, 2009 | New Music | by Gerry Mak |
Detroit is fast becoming a city with a reputation for being one of the most dangerous metropolises in America and a population that has been decreasing every year since 1960. Strange then to hear such fun, bubbly, electronic music, such as the kind Lord Scrummage (part of the art collective Scrummage University) makes.
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New Music / James Yuill’s This Sweet Love
June 22, 2009 | New Music | by Zolton |
The slow building melody and delicate folktronica production of London-based James Yuill’s This Sweet Love is the perfect soundtrack to a lazy Sunday morning.
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New Music / Jim White
June 19, 2009 | New Music | by Ron English |
Southern gothic swampwater singer and poet Jim White weaves spooky humanistic tales of the Deep South through beautifully haunting melodies. In his live act, White slips endearing stories of his experiences between the songs, making for an extremely personal encounter with the audience.
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New Music / Loop 2.4.3
June 19, 2009 | New Music | by Casper Johansson |
The music of Brooklyn’s Thomas Kozumplik and Lorne Watson from Loop 2.4.3 utilizes a variety of percussive instruments, from marimba and steel drum to tom-toms, bongos and snares, temple bowls and wood blocks, opera gongs and electronics. On their brilliant new album, Zodiac Dust, the band uses two new instruments, the eLog and Rose Echo, and employs cello, violin, and piano.
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If ever there was an artist more deserving of critical acclaim, it’s Toronto-based, Jon Todd. I first came across his work a number of years ago at an underground art exhibit at the famed Niagara Bar in New York City: it was a painted skateboard deck. Who would have thought four years later that he would be staging his first solo show in the hotbed of Pop Surrealism. Read more
Listening to Mum’s fourth album — Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy — for the first time, I was awash with sentimentalism. Amidst carnival trumpets and burlesque beats, there’s a sense of this being a bohemian rhapsody. Perhaps it’s the mix of cello and brass with experimental electronica. Or maybe it’s just the soft vocals that cascade over playful, imaginative sounds. Whatever it is, it’s totally brilliant. [see also Sigur Ros' Heima]
Listen to Mum’s track, The Amateur Show.
I tossed and turned through three chapters of an epic Russian novel last night. Or so it felt as a constant stream of characters made their way past the stringent casting couch and into the deepest reaches of my dreams. Read more
The duo of Brendan Monroe and Evah Fan are one of those creative, powerhouse couples. Though two entirely individual artists, the influence they exert upon one another is subtle yet undeniable. Both create the kind of art that that makes you giddy with pleasure, while the lack of pretension puts you completely at ease. You get the undeniable sense that these are two people who simply live and breathe creativity and love every moment of it. Two amazing artists with a wholly individual take on life and the world around them. I had the pleasure to grill them both. Read more
Oh man! If I was twenty again, a jumble of nerves and a well of electric energy, I’d be in the front row for every damn MGMT gig. Read more
Mozzarella is the new sushi in New York since the opening of Obikà (pronounced Oh-bee-KA), Manhattan’s first mozzarella bar, at 590 Madison Avenue. Read more
These vegan designer bags from Matt & Nat are made out of anywhere between 15 and 55 recycled plastic bottles. It also uses no leather, which is a big plus given that according to the UN, raising cattle generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined.
WE'RE RESPECTING
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
The work of Chicago artist Nigel Evan Dennis is emphatically modern and sparse, with textures and clean geometric shapes dominating the frame. I get the feeling I could really relax and breathe deeply with one of these beautiful images hanging on the wall. Read more
Argentine illustrator Poly Bernatene miraculously creates many of his beautifully textured, painterly images in Photoshop. Despite his twenty-first century method, his illustrations achieve a sort of timelessness that is bound to mesmerize children for years to come. Read more
Frank Kozik’s Emperor of the Golden Throne
Limited to a set of just sixty-six pieces, each Frank Kozik Hand Painted Emperor Of The Golden Throne El Panda vinyl toy is signed by Kozik and comes bagged with a hand-numbered header card.
Japanese designers Keiichi Muramatsu and Noriko Seki founded the Tokyo-based fashion label, Everlasting Sprout, in 2005, based on their mutual interest in knit design. Each intricate creation in their Spring/Summer 2009 range took up to a week for them to construct. Read more
Saira McLaren’s interpretation of the spiritual world
Saira McLaren is a Canadian born, Brooklyn-based artist whose blurred paintings of the natural and spiritual world are disturbing for what they reference as well as what they deny. McLaren has shown at Heskin Contemporary, New York, NY, Acuna-Hansen Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, and Mississippi State University. Read more
Legendary pop culture artist and Agit Pop founder Ron English will be a guest compiler of an upcoming issue of our email newsletter, writing about his favorite cultural discoveries. To read Ron’s edition of Lost At E Minor, simply sign up to our weekly newsletter. It’s free, you win!
Warning at Work is a silkscreen mini-print from Sussex based illustrator Andy Smith which comes in a limited edition of just 50. Dimensions are 20cm x 15cm. We have them available through the Lost At E Minor store. Read more
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- shoebuy on "art in shoes"
- lucebaz on "Freelance Graphic Designer in London"
- lucebaz on "Freelance Graphic Designer in London"
- JaneAbma on "The Grafik Museum"
- teacut on "Illustration vs fine art"
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