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Posts tagged with cool bands

January 24, 2009 | New Music | There's audio in this post. by Francis Andrews |

The crew at 4AD, watching over perhaps the hottest artist roster of any independent label in the world, have put their collective minds together and come up with an album that holds every potential of being the finest release of the year. The formula is simple: you grab a batch of the hottest bands and artists around at the moment (take your pick from Arcade Fire, Yeasayer [pictured above], Bon Iver, Beirut, Sufjan Stevens; the list continues without the slightest dip in quality), throw in David Byrne for a touch of that priceless musical wisdom, quickly hammer together a few inspired duos, like Gillian Welch and Conor Oberst, or The Books and Jose Gonzalez, name it after a seminal Blind Willie Johnson track, and then get the brains behind one of the great bands of the last few years, The National, to produce it. Finally — take a deep breath — all the proceeds go towards the fight against AIDS. Dark Was The Night isn’t released until February 16th, but the scent on the wind is good. David Byrne and the Dirty Projectors’ opening track (listen below) is brilliantly fresh, while Yeasayer have channelled their wild spirits into a song textured as intricately as a Peruvian silk skirt, with a rainstick for effect.

 

James Unsworth creates beautiful but grotesque, interesting yet idealist drawings, all of which taps into your crazy side. Read more


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California’s Cerasoli:LeBasse Gallery has just moved to new digs on Washington Boulevard, Culver City. And to celebrate the re-launch they have an exhibition running featuring the work of Deth P Sun, Mari Inukai [above] and Melissa Haslam, amongst others. This inaugural exhibition, the aptly titled Blender, runs until November 1st.

Made from 100 percent organic cotton and eco-friendly, this super soft tee celebrates a sinister world of kaleidoscopic colours and ripples of psychedelia, of serenading Queens, of dancing flamingos, of unimaginable euphoria. It’s all the work of Sydney label, Das Monk and it’s available through the Lost At E Minor online store for just US$40. Now, there’s one hell of a Christmas present, even if we do say so ourselves!


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French fashion designer and illustrator Cedric Rivrain draws how I’d love to be able to — with amazing attention to detail and patience. He’s designed for Martine Sitbon and John Galliano at Christian Dior and his fashion experience reflects in his work, which has been shown in magazines such as Numéro, Dazed and Confused, Tokion, Stiletto, and A magazine.

Our celebrity-saturated culture makes many of us irrationally hateful of the faces we see on our TV screens and magazine pages. Good thing there’s Celebrity PunchOut to let off some of that steam.

Improv Everywhere strikes again with a spontaneous musical in a Los Angeles mall. Wireless microphones hooked up to the mall’s PA system ensured the feeding masses didn’t slip into Cinnabon-induced comas until after the show was over. Note especially the angry dude in sunglasses at about 2:51 — apparently he thinks nothing can ever top Rent.

French duo Trop Tard make straight-faced, Suicide-esque, synth-and-guitar electro tunes that sound like dark rituals performed in the catacombs beneath the streets of Paris. Repetitive, bleak, and cold, this is dance music for the shambling undead.

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1970s and 80s Soviet Union buildings

Cambodian born photographer Frederic Chaubin is the editor of French magazine Citizen K. His photo series on bizarre buildings built in the former Soviet Union during the 1970s and 80s is absolutely fascinating. Read more

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Cardboard shoes

With the recession still biting, it may be time to whip out the glue and the cardboard and make your next pair of cool kicks. Don’t know how they’d manage in the rain though? Read more

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Sparrow Vs Sparrow

Trip out with Sparrow Vs Sparrow’s retro illustrations, I love their aesthetic, color use and sense of humor. Read more

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Charlie Immer

Charlie Immer’s pastel-pallete sometimes obfuscates the gory violence in his surreal images. At other times, it heightens the gut-wrenching and visceral effect of his work. Read more

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Man-Tsun’s painterly images

Hong Kong-based illustrator Man-Tsun draws dark and beautiful painterly images that look like they are straight off a high-end Japanese animated film. Read more


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Thanks to Sony Australia, four Lost At E Minor readers will win personal audio prizes, including the new 8GB Walkman S series video MP3 player and the MDRXB500 Extra Bass headphones. Read more

From this artist selection of t-shirts comes this Mydeadpony illustrated t-shirt, silkscreened on a limited edition tee, and distributed in a vinyl sleeve, with a biography of the artist on the back of the sleeve. Every t-shirt is numbered and signed by the artist, and comes in organic cotton. Read more

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