WE'RE SUPPORTING

Spontaneous, loose and moody, like a hurricane blasting through an art supply store, the work of Washington artist Garric Simonsen is just a little Basquiat — with droll humor mixed up and splattered all over a canvas. I can’t help but chuckle at titles like Damn I Just Ruined My Best Shirt and Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha.

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

There’s something quite captivating about the muted tones and soft textures of Anna Fraser’s photographs. The Australian designer has a very precise sense of framing, which is reflected in the slightly insidery, but beautifully balanced perspective that her work provides on places and scenery that only few people ever get to experience. By her own admission, Fraser ‘prefers things that are not usually very fashionable. Like beige, lots of beige and maybe a bit of taupe’. We think she might be onto something. Read more

WE'RE WEARING

Scott Sternberg created the great Los Angeles label, Band of Outsiders, and it’s one of the few labels that fit a little guy like me perfectly. I live in BOO shirts. They are my second skin.

WE'RE THINKING

The limited and ripe deluxe booklet — The Bearded Lady — is the latest fruits of a collaboration between artists Sune Ehlers (Duudle to his friends and family) and Henrik Drescher.

WE'RE READING

Breakbeat duo, Evil Nine’s new album, They Live!, is one of the standout releases of the year. They Live! is powerful second album after 2005’s, You Can Be Special Too, its gruesome lyrics paying homage to all those misunderstood zombies out there. The duo — Automatom and Pardytron — compiled a Secret Playlist for us, writing about their eight favourite songs right now. Their first selection? Why, Toto’s Africa, of course [listen below]: ‘The epitome of smooth music, words can’t express how much this song rules! When the synths come in and the drums echo in the night, I’[m immediately transported back to my youth. Some people might say this is a guilty pleasure, but I don't feel no guilt. I just stick it on and bask in their mellow might'. Read the rest of the Evil Nine Secret Playlist.

I ran a series of 80s nights in New York last year — showing cult 80s movies and playing classic cuts from that era of kitsch and spice — purely so I could spin After The Fire’s Der Kommissar over and over. Yessir, this was the future of music in 1983. Pity no one was listening.

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Pre-eminent Norwegian Viking metal band Enslaved has evolved over the years from a straight-forward black metal band into a moody, post-rock outfit without completely abandoning their roots. Their last few albums have seen a shift towards English lyrics, sweeping and majestic instrumentals, and diverse influences — everything from Pink Floyd and ’70s prog and psych rock to ’80s goth and shoegaze pop. Read more