WE'RE SUPPORTING

It’s hard to find a misstep on the full-length debut from Melbourne band, Children Collide. The Long Now doesn’t sound like a first album: its mature, yet completely varied sound and lyrical concept makes it feel like something you’d expect from a band on their third or fourth album (you know, after the ‘cursed’ second album). Children Collide are most definitely in control, something that could have been lost while working with big-name producer, Dave Sardy. It’s rare that you pick up a CD and feel like the band has decided on everything, right down to the artwork that encases their killer album. We threw guitarist-singer Johnny Mackay a few questions about how they managed to wrap everything up in such a … errr … tight little package. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

Last night, I caught Pagan Fest at B.B. Kings in NYC. I missed the band that I was the most excited to see, T˘r, but Turisas and Ensiferum more than made up for it. Americans have been pretty late to warm up to folk and Viking metal, and bands of this sort almost never tour the States, so it was gratifying to see that the show was sold out, and that the crowd was so exuberant. Read more

WE'RE WEARING

Is it just me, or is fake beards on girls becoming a more pronounced part of our zeitgeist? Anyway, Erin Dollar has made some pretty sweet ones that she’ll sell to you via Etsy.

WE'RE THINKING

Berlin-based conceptual illustrator Christoph Niemann’s recent LEGO post on the New York Times blog is fantastic. He recently moved back to Germany after eleven years in New York, and apparently, he misses the city a lot. Read more

WE'RE READING

Writer Warren Ellis and artist Paul Duffield have teamed up for a pretty stunning, albeit mildly cliched webcomic about mysterious survivors in a post-apocalyptic London submerged in water.

Peter Nalitch is Russia’s answer to Manu Chao. His video for the song Guitar is a Borat-like jab at low-budget, post-Soviet awkwardness — absurd English lyrics, Eurotrash earnestness, bad wipes, and cheap subtitles. But its tongue-in-cheekness is quite apparent, and the song is disarmingly catchy and romantic.

WE'RE LISTENING TO

It goes without saying that Hip Hop has taken a few very low hits in the past decade. Thanks to the likes of 50 Cent and company, it accounts for around 40% of all music sold in America. It’s a huge industry. So where does that leave Hip Hop artists doing something a bit different? Lord T and Eloise wear wacky outfits, make crazy music and bring a whole lot of fun back into Hip Hop. What’s more, they’ve started a new genre called ‘Aristocrunk’. Watch out!