Delphic Take on Japan

Delphic is probably one of the bands I'm most excited to catch at Summer Sonic.

Their debut album Acolyte has been a constant companion in the car this summer. If you haven't given these electronic wizards a spin, CATCH UP HERE. Their videos

Alas, they've already beat me to Japan, it seems...

Two Door Cinema Club

The neatest part of going to a music festival, especially when there are already plenty of bands you know, is the discovery of new things you might like.

Later this summer we'll be hitting one of the Summer Sonic days in Japan. Filled to the brim with up-and-coming musicians we've had on our radar (Orbital, Hurts, Delphic, Passion Pit, Calvin Harris and 3Oh!3 among others), the festival is already having a spillover effect on our iPods.

Take Two Door Cinema Club, for instance. Were they not playing on the same stage as some of the above, they may not have gotten our attention just yet. Effusive and likeable, this Northern Irish group is proving to be a nice frothy summer addition to the ol' iPod.

Something Good Can Work


Undercover Martyn


I Can Talk


Fittingly, they also have a cheeky little lushy tour of Japan they've posted up...

A Better Paper Plate

Disposable table-ware is a pet peeve of mine.

Don't get me wrong. It's not paper plate snobbery we're talking about here, nor a save-the-earth kind of thing. There's a time and place for Dixie-ware, and in some situations doing the dishes can simply be impractical, or downright impossible.

The problem, really, is that paper plates can be simply ugly. My never-ending tower of Costco cardboard dishes that sits somewhere in the garage might feel right at home at a picnic, but it kills me to put them out at home when every other detail has been thought through.

It's an issue of practicality over design.

In a world of ever increasing design possibilities, I have long wondered why no one has tackled this conundrum.

Except, clearly, I just wasn't looking in the right places.


This is Japanese designer Shinichiro Ogata's stunning new take on disposable table settings, by his design house Simplicity.

A fully developed line of dishes, serving trays and cups, not only is it practical, it's also biodegradable, making the need to toss it in the garbage slightly less guilt-inducing.

You can buy these over at A+R.

Sure, for the price they probably won't replace the Costco stack for every occasion. But when aesthetics matter, I can see picking some of these up.

If you're looking for modern stuff for your home, the A+R store is a dependable source for things you simply won't find at your big chain home goods store.

Turning Japanese...

Not that I wasn't already excited to check out the Land of the Rising Sun later this year, but Kirsten Dunst just upped that giddiness.

The erstwhile Mary Jane Watson gets a gold star for pulling off a fun, if obvious, little cover of a classic '80s piece of pop magic!

Warning, there is Japanese comic book cleavage involved, so you may want to check this out away from nervous coworkers:



Arigato!

I look forward to checking out Akihabara for myself soon!

The careful elimination and subtraction of gratuitous features and design unrelated to function

A few weeks ago, my old tea kettle boiled some water, sprung a spring and declared itself retired. I have since been on a quest to replace it -- easier said than done.

Thankfully, Muji has come to America.

A tea kettle does not get shuffled away into a cluttered, darkened purgatory in my kitchen. Sitting on top of the cook top, it is a prominent design element.

Unfortunately, all the mass market kettles I found seemed over-designed and just generally clunky. In trying to be clever with their selection, all the major retailers ended up with odd contraptions instead of simplicity.

Knowing I was going to be in New York City, I made a mental note to check out the new Muji flagship store in SOHO.

Muji's whole philosophy centers around simple clean design.

Forget the bold colors of Ikea or the kitsch design of most American retailers. Here you're talking white porcelain, recycled papers, simple design. They clearly put plenty of thought into their products, but choose not to flaunt it. As a bonus, they are environmentally friendly, especially with their stationary and clothing.

Having just opened this month, the new store was mobbed over the Thanksgiving weekend. It was still easy to appreciate the clean modern space. Unlike the flea market razing that other chic stores in SOHO embodied that day, there was a clear Japanese sensibility and order to the chaos -- even in the way they managed to get the hordes of customers to line up patiently to check out.

Most importantly, I found the perfect tea kettle.

It is genius in its simplicity and stainless-steel construction. It does without the traditional whistle, assuming you know how to keep track of boiling water yourself. The end result is a subtle design element that I am thrilled to use every day.

For clean modern basics, Muji is a reminder that bold simplicity can be the most modern design choice of all.

Come get bitten, it's a biting store!

Insects in Japan are wonderfully odd...



Oshiri Kajiri Mushi!