Lost AT E Minor

WE'RE SUPPORTING

Wow! I’ve just realised that I’ve never posted the work of Swedish illustrator Kirsten Ulve before. And that’s just wrong. Her work is exceptional, a colourful, textural realm where anything seems possible. I interviewed her once for a magazine I was editing and asked her what, outside of drawing, she did better than anyone else. Her answer? ‘I bake very tasty brownies’. For real! More please.

WE'RE THINKING

If ever there were an apt description of our time, it would be that we are the ‘mobile generation’, in every sense of the word. We are a people of movers, we are offered choice on so many levels. And, in this way, we are far removed — both in ideology and practice — from those generations before us, who were generally more static and certainly less transitory. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

A Dutch insurance company recently launched a pretty creative ad campaign that was put on the backs of buses in Amsterdam, making them look like they were actually moving backwards.

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Where would we be without synths and drum machines? Probably still listening to Grateful Dead jams in the alleyways of Height-Asbury. Done well, the remix is a wonderful thing. Case in point is Royksopp’s rendering of the Kings of Convenience track I Don’t Know What I Can Save You From. And then there’s Riton’s version of the Mystery Jets song, The Boy Who Ran Away. A White Lines for the 21st Century? I think so.

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.

Seldom has black humour been done so well. On the surface, this film about the everyday lives of some unusually mundane characters, sounds extraordinarily boring. But it is instead a cutting comment on the absurdity and drudgery of everyday life. The characters try to break out or change their lives without success, and the results are bleak and hilarious. Read more

WE'RE WEARING

If only we could swap out every ubiquitous North Face jacket that sits tight on the weather-beaten frames of far too many Manhattanites for one of these wonderful creations by Japanese artist, Kosuke Tsumura. The city would be that much more of an interesting place. Called Final Home, this parka has 44 zippered pockets and is part of Tsumura’s collection of ‘post-apocalyptic streetwear’, designed as a respite — and insulation — from the stresses of modern urban living.