WE'RE SUPPORTING

Featuring the diverse talents of former Gogol Bordello member Ori Kaplan and Firewater member Tamir Muskat — amongst an ever-expanding cast of collaborators — Balkan Beat Box create dynamic and buoyant music which resonates with all the tradition of its Middle Eastern roots. We interviewed the guys recently. Read more

WE'RE THINKING

I spent most Saturdays in my childhood at Chinese school. I hated it with every fiber of my being. I hated it so much I once drew a picture that said ‘I HATE SATURDAYS’ and all the letters were creepy monsters. Michiel van der Born’s work reminds me of that drawing I did. Read more

Having originally sprung from the Shaky Isles (otherwise known as New Zealand), I can appreciate the humour in the New Zealand cartoon series, Bro Town, the first homegrown animated series to screen during local prime time. It’s simply brilliant, a real play on the ‘thuck’ accent and small town ways of our Kiwi brethren.

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

While I’m definitely not into the whole Lord of the Rings thing, I’m convinced Tolkien stole his inspiration from Göreme, in Turkey’s central Cappadocia region. After a mammoth volcanic eruption around 2,000 years ago, the landscape eroded to form a series of valleys, filled with peculiar, phallic-shaped tufts that the locals call ‘fairy chimneys’. Early Christians hollowed out the tufts and turned them into houses, churches and monasteries. These days, most of them are still in use and a few have been converted into cute hotels and hostels. If you’re not too claustrophobic, I’d highly recommend doing the hobbit thing and spending a night in one.

WE'RE READING

I am really into Hong Kong action flicks from the 1980s and 90s. When I first moved to New York, there were a handful of curious friends who were also interested in watching movies such as City on Fire by Ringo Lam, which Reservoir Dogs was based on. How did they find videos like thus? At the legendary Kim’s Video in New York City. These days, City on Fire can be find online, and Kim’s is history. But all the videos that entertained the film geeks of this city for more than twenty years have found a new home in, wait for it, Salemi, Sicily. Yes, the southern island of Italy. Kim has recently relocated there, as this sad but heartwarming story about him in yesterday’s New York Times reveals.

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Listening to Mum’s fourth album — Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy — for the first time, I was awash with sentimentalism. Amidst carnival trumpets and burlesque beats, there’s a sense of this being a bohemian rhapsody. Perhaps it’s the mix of cello and brass with experimental electronica. Or maybe it’s just the soft vocals that cascade over playful, imaginative sounds. Whatever it is, it’s totally brilliant. [see also Sigur Ros' Heima]

Listen to Mum’s track, The Amateur Show.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

WE'RE WEARING

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction which had made its way into the world of fashion. These chrome metal steampunk goggles are interchangeable lenses with anti-fog, shatterproof UV-400, and come with fully functional alligator clips, claw spikes on the top, and a spike in one lens.