WE'RE SUPPORTING

Not a lot of architecture firms think a lot about the demolition of old houses unless it’s as a means to make way for new buildings, but Hutchinson and Maul of Seattle drilled holes in condemned farmhouses, sometimes inserting tinted acrylic rods in them, creating beautiful displays of light as the sun streamed in and giving the structures a flourish of renewed life before their ultimate destruction. Read more

WE'RE THINKING

The name pretty much says it all. Frédéric Chaubin’s recently published collection of photographs from the late Soviet-era is truly cosmic. The photographs pop with a surreal grandeur, made more fascinating by the stark contrast of these extraordinary buildings and their very ordinary purposes. Read more

Damn, ten years of playing guitar in loud rock bands, and not once did we have a slamming moshpit like this. Banging heads is so, so fun.

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

Located on a mountain in country outside Mudgee, in New South Wales, Australia, a permanent camp designed by Casey Brown has been set. A timber structure clad in copper has been designed to have a closed state and an open state. From the closed position, the flanks of copper are hoisted and capture views across the valley. With an imagery of structures, materials and mechanics of old, there is something romantic about this foothold on the hill.

WE'RE READING

We like this blog, Silent Cities. We like seeing images of some of the most noisy and crowded places in the world momentarily bathed in silence. There is something both serene and eerie about these scenes. The images above and below are from London, Sydney and Detroit. Read more

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Things continue to improve for New York’s metal scene, if Batillus are any indication. The sludge/doom trio from Brooklyn offer crushingly heavy, down-tuned and down-tempo instrumental riffage that sounds like what a mutant that has crawled out of Newtown Creek might have on his iPod. The band recently added vocalist Fade Kainer of Inswarm (Jarboe’s touring band) to its line-up.

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WE'RE WEARING

My band, Bloody Panda, used to perform on stage wearing executioner hoods. We’ve stopped doing that, but I’m going to suggest that we all wear panda hat/scarves.