Lost AT E Minor

WE'RE SUPPORTING

We interviewed American artist Amy Sol recently and asked her about the influence her Korean heritage has on her technique: ‘Korean art has inspired some of the elements in my work, but I wouldn’t say that this is my main focus. I spent my childhood years in Korea and gained an adoration for Celadon pottery and textile arts. I appreciate and draw inspiration from many cultures, such as Chinese, Japanese, Middle Eastern, and European. I feel very fortunate to live in an environment where I can explore all kinds of things. I stay open to all sources of influence and draw my own interpretations out of this’.

WE'RE LISTENING TO

The Kevin Ayers record Joy of a Toy from 1969 was released by Harvest Records and sits somewhere between Nick Drake and The Byrds. A record slightly ahead of its time, it was filled with enough interesting and clever arrangements and instrumentation to never bore. Girl on a Swing is my favorite tune for the tremolo guitar.

WE'RE THINKING

Whether a torrent of abuse flows in my direction or not, I’ll bite my lip and say that Four Tet’s Rounds is perhaps the greatest electronica album ever released. Read more

WE'RE WEARING

Ed Janssen is famed in Melbourne for his jewellery designs, sold through cult Morrissey-friendly label This Charming Man. ‘The Knuckle Sandwich’ charm necklace (two pieces of bread on either side of a tiny set of brass knuckles, as pictured above) exudes an oddly amusing menace. More recently ‘The Bear Trap’ has been dangling from every second neck, wiping out hope for Melbourne’s unsuspecting tiny forest animals. Janssen is about to launch a new range inspired by the iconography of various secret societies. Melburnians can check out their old and new favourites at the first This Charming Man exhibition launching this week at Alice Euphemia’s new store. Flex those tiny knuckles and watch those tiny feet. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

The controversial and multifaceted International contemporary art exhibition Trailblazers hits Sydney this month. Boutwell Draper Gallery will grace multimedia works by pioneering Australian, American and European artists from November 19 onwards. I’m thrilled to see groundbreaking pieces by Ben Frost, Kill Pixie, Copyright and Cleon Patterson [above], to name a few. The vast array of paintings, photography, sculpture, installation, video and digital arts is on display until December 13. C’mon, you know you want to culture your soul.

Sydney indie heroes (in the nicest possible way), The Paper Scissors (TPS to those that know the secret handshake) have made a video for their new single, The Bandit. And it’s good. Damn good.

WE'RE READING

DJ Spooky — That Subliminal Kid — is just about the deepest crate digger around, trawling the barrels of long-lost record stores for choice vinyl to spin in his wickedly dubby sets. He gave us the inside word last week on his eight favourite songs right now via our sister website, My Secret Playlist. This is what he had to say about Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s Panic in Babylon: ‘If there’s anything that the twenty-first century has told us, it’s that dub is the real original hip-hop. Lee Scratch even had to make it clear in 1965 by adding “Scratch” to his middle name. Take that, Grandmaster Flash!’ Read the rest of DJ Spooky’s Secret Playlist.