Lost AT E Minor

WE'RE THINKING

I awoke the other morning from the sleep of the damned, a fitful spell of tossing and turning courtesy of a mild dose of the flu and the constant rattle of the JMZ trains as they hurtle across the tracks outside my window. Read more

WE'RE SUPPORTING

Lily Gottlieb-McHale makes some pretty ingenious kinetic sculptures that incorporate the DIY ingenuity of Rube Goldberg contraptions with intricate and sophisticated sound experimentation. Read more

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Driven by a wide spectrum of influences, the music of Brass Bed moves easily through an eclectic mix of genres: from alt-country ballads and progressive rock hooks, to sticky-sweet, heart-felt lyrics, and dissonant experimental freak-outs. As some wise folk have noted, it’s kinda like a cross between The Beach Boys and The Flaming Lips. Now, how could that be a bad thing? We have two of their songs — Olivia [listen below] and Polar Bird — available for free download in the Music Download section in the third column of Lost At E Minor.
[audio:http://www.fanaticpromotion.com/projects/brassbed/mp3/brassbed-olivia.mp3]

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.

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.

Back in the day, when I was a skinny teenager on the great pedestal of life, I had a real obsession for the understated, low-fi, deliciously melodic and somewhat blurry sounds of the New Zealand Flying Nun bands. I would pool my meagre savings and canvas the local record shops, scouring the racks for the latest cassettes from The Bats, The Chills, The Clean, and, later, The Straitjacket Fits. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

Just a few days ago, Benjamin Verdoncke climbed out of the human-sized nest he’d been residing in for the past seven days. The Dutch artist took six weeks to build the nest, which hung fifty metres high against a skyscraper in Rotterdam. Read more