Lost AT E Minor

WE'RE SUPPORTING

Australian illustrator Ken Taylor has created imagery for some of rock n’ ’roll’s great purveyors of sound, from the Rolling Stones and Queens of the Stone Age, to Nine Inch Nails and the Mars Volta. He has an easily recognizable style that screams sharp edge cool. Bold and bawdy, Taylor’s pieces use vivid colour to create a cut-out-comic-like feel reminiscent of old movie posters from the 1930s and 40s.

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Don’t be afraid of the word retro. It has haunted us all from time to time, but one group that has embraced it with open arms is UK duo, La Roux. Their music is synth pop in the vein of Calvin Harris, Human League, The Eurythmics, and The Knife. There are quite a few of these young and ambitious pop starlets on the scene including Goldielocks. But La Roux takes the cake. Literally. I’m obsessed with their song In For the Kill and have a feeling summer will take it and make it a hit.

WE'RE THINKING

The AirPiano is an innovative musical interface which allows the playing and controlling of software instruments simply by moving your hands in the air. Above the AirPiano is a virtual matrix of keys and faders, each assigned with MIDI messages ready to be triggered. The length of a triggered note is equivalent to the time a hand is placed on the corresponding virtual key, which is also confirmed by LED feedback.

WE'RE WEARING

No matter what’s going on with your outfit, chances are, if you’ve got good shoes on, you’re okay. Keep Company shoes are only going from strength to strength, bringing out more and shoes apparel that are probably going to ruin my savings account. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

This organic form, revealing itself from the sprawling metropolis of Barcelona via the marauding eye of Google, is the Santa Caterina Market. Designed by the late architect Enric Miralles it has a floating ceramic roof that drapes the bustling market below in a parental way. The coloured ceramics, of course, represent the smorgasbord of fruit and vegetables on sale within and enable a majestic view, not only for Google, but also to its immediate neighbours overlooking the site.

Oh man! To be young enough to bop, groove and scratch like these kids. For Japanese superstars DJ Sara (8 years old) and DJ Ryusei (5 years old), there’s no such thing as tomorrow. Read more

WE'RE READING

DJ Spooky — That Subliminal Kid — is just about the deepest crate digger around, trawling the barrels of long-lost record stores for choice vinyl to spin in his wickedly dubby sets. He gave us the inside word last week on his eight favourite songs right now via our sister website, My Secret Playlist. This is what he had to say about Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s Panic in Babylon: ‘If there’s anything that the twenty-first century has told us, it’s that dub is the real original hip-hop. Lee Scratch even had to make it clear in 1965 by adding “Scratch” to his middle name. Take that, Grandmaster Flash!’ Read the rest of DJ Spooky’s Secret Playlist.