Lost AT E Minor

WE'RE SUPPORTING

San Francisco artist Matthew Palladino’s work is on my obsessive website viewing rotation. His colourful, clean, folksy images have got me, though I must say that I’m not as drawn to some of his more overt examples of political subject matter as I am to his more personal, introverted images. Regardless, Palladino implements the most beautiful patterns and shapes with his watercolors. And I just can’t get enough. Read more

WE'RE THINKING

Autumn Whitehurst is one of my favourite illustrators. The Brooklyn-based artist’s work is clean yet sensual; the characters flawless but full of imperfection.

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

This gourmet paint is made by only two dedicated paint makers without fillers, just pigment and oil, like it should be. There is only one store that sells it and it is run out of the Elisabeth Foundation for the Arts building in Chelsea, New York. They have a table set up there so you can play with and mix any of the colours together to see its effects. I usually go to pick one tube up and hang around asking questions to one half of the duo, Gail, and usually leave with five tubes, having learned a lot about the history and the process behind each colour.

WE'RE LISTENING TO

His name echoes those of colonels and soldiers who fought in the American civil war. But far from that, William Fitzsimmons is actually an obscure songwriter from Jackson, Illinois. Read more

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.

The philosophy of a beginning is to me, a wonderful concept. I really enjoy flicking through the back catalogues of a musician and discovering their origin, then tracing their musical journey to the present. So for American-born, Paris-based sister duo CocoRosie, who released their third album The Adventure of Ghosthouse and Stillborn to much acclaim, making the trip to their beginnings is more than worth the journey: their debut album, Le Maison de Mon Reve (released back in 2004) was a gentle stroll through their pop and classical influences, which melt together seamlessly into a backdrop for their unique and enchanting voices.

WE'RE WEARING

The latest in the Stephanie Simek jewellery collection is the Powder necklace, a pearlized Turbo Cinereus shell with tiny holes drilled into the bottom and filled with a sparkling silver-colored powder. Read more