Bombay Monkey’s new album ‘130 Astronauts’ is the third in a “trilogy of four parts” following ‘Vanish’ (2005) and ‘Time Travellers’ (2006). Although ‘130 Astronauts’ is themed around space, the album title is actually derived from the number of space cadets that used to drop by at 130 St Johns Road in Tunbridge Wells, where Bombay Monkey first started making tracks together.

Bombay Monkey describe their sound as being “not unlike alchemy, constantly searching for the perfect balance of numbers – high magic through high maths -  mixing the past with the present and the organic with the chemical.”

 ‘130 Astronauts’ features Rosko John, Mr Thing, Red Eye, Sound Sanctuary and The Origamis and was recorded at their own studio located on a very old farm in The Ashdown Forest, although the initial Bombay Monkey sessions were a very different story. Andy explains:

“Guy shared the flat (the ground floor of an old Victorian semi) with two rappers, Natty and Dwella, and a skater/graffer Jay. I'd turn up with an MPC 2000, a zip drive, and a stack of vinyl while Guy had a mini disc recorder, another stack of vinyl and a stack of DVDs and videos. In the summer, we'd work in the garden - a reasonably over-grown space that was just about far enough away from the road that we could record. In the winter it wasn't quite as easy. The flat was in a pretty bad state of disrepair with holes in the floor, a broken front door, no light in the bathroom and no heating anywhere. Winter recording was never as comfortable. We'd work in Guy' room using an oil radiator for heat when we could afford it and as many tea lights as we could find when we couldn't.”

It was here that Bombay Monkey established their way of making music - avoid computers as much as possible, never use pre-sets, keep tracks short. Old vinyl and old television would prove to be their biggest source of inspiration. Strange coincidences kept the synapses firing, how a sample from a Spanish singer would mesh with Hawaiian guitar in exactly the right pitch and key as Rosco sang about leaving a broken down town.

Bombay Monkey shows utilise custom built visuals created from vintage film clips, fresh film clips and extremely fresh animations care of the exceptionally talented 'CPU'. So far this year, BM have supported Hexstatic at Cargo, appeared at Digital City and played various a/v club nights around London and the South East.

Live Dates:

Sat 19th July - Concrete, Hayward Gallery (Istanbul release party)

Sat 9th Aug - Moorfest, Leeds

Thurs 14th Aug - Big Chill House

Sat 30th Aug - Festinho, Suffolk

For more information go to myspace.com/bombaymonkey or lo-tek.co.uk

Bombay Monkey’s new album ‘130 Astronauts’ is the third in a “trilogy of four parts” following ‘Vanish’ (2005) and ‘Time Travellers’ (2006). Although ‘130 Astronauts’ is themed around space, the album title is actually derived from the number of space cadets that used to drop by at 130 St Johns Road in Tunbridge Wells, where Bombay Monkey first started making tracks together.

Bombay Monkey describe their sound as being “not unlike alchemy, constantly searching for the perfect balance of numbers – high magic through high maths -  mixing the past with the present and the organic with the chemical.”

 ‘130 Astronauts’ features Rosko John, Mr Thing, Red Eye, Sound Sanctuary and The Origamis and was recorded at their own studio located on a very old farm in The Ashdown Forest, although the initial Bombay Monkey sessions were a very different story. Andy explains:

“Guy shared the flat (the ground floor of an old Victorian semi) with two rappers, Natty and Dwella, and a skater/graffer Jay. I'd turn up with an MPC 2000, a zip drive, and a stack of vinyl while Guy had a mini disc recorder, another stack of vinyl and a stack of DVDs and videos. In the summer, we'd work in the garden - a reasonably over-grown space that was just about far enough away from the road that we could record. In the winter it wasn't quite as easy. The flat was in a pretty bad state of disrepair with holes in the floor, a broken front door, no light in the bathroom and no heating anywhere. Winter recording was never as comfortable. We'd work in Guy' room using an oil radiator for heat when we could afford it and as many tea lights as we could find when we couldn't.”

It was here that Bombay Monkey established their way of making music - avoid computers as much as possible, never use pre-sets, keep tracks short. Old vinyl and old television would prove to be their biggest source of inspiration. Strange coincidences kept the synapses firing, how a sample from a Spanish singer would mesh with Hawaiian guitar in exactly the right pitch and key as Rosco sang about leaving a broken down town.

Bombay Monkey shows utilise custom built visuals created from vintage film clips, fresh film clips and extremely fresh animations care of the exceptionally talented 'CPU'. So far this year, BM have supported Hexstatic at Cargo, appeared at Digital City and played various a/v club nights around London and the South East.

Live Dates:

Sat 19th July - Concrete, Hayward Gallery (Istanbul release party)

Sat 9th Aug - Moorfest, Leeds

Thurs 14th Aug - Big Chill House

Sat 30th Aug - Festinho, Suffolk

For more information go to myspace.com/bombaymonkey or lo-tek.co.uk

Investigating the ominous robots, hidden inside furry toys.

Matt Kirkland was born & raised in St. Louis, Missouri. He had trouble keeping his room clean, and often built toy cars, kites, drawing implements, or child-sized weapons from things he found in the garbage. He currently designs websites at a small consultancy in San Diego and has a sideline project whereby he chops up kids toys to show their scary insides.

"I've always been curious about stuffed animals that sing, dance, light up, or talk back. There must be a fascinating robot underneath the fur and fluff, right? Surely the robot hiding in the bear's clothing, vestimentis ursum, is impressive. So: armed with my childish curiousity and the spurious excuse of 'product design research,' I set out to discover what, exactly, these creatures are hiding."

For more information go to www.mattkirkland.com

Halftone Def Studios are a studio duo specializing in what they love, design, illustration, and screen printing.

They started printing silkscreen posters in their garage and have since branched out into all types of design areas such as CD art, packaging, logo design, branding, clothing, and skateboards.

If you are intersted in purchasing one of their prints or in having them do some work for you visit www.halftonedefstudios.com or www.gigposters.com

Check here for blueprints to build your own Nintendo Coffee Table.

Hashima Island (Border Island) more commonly know as Gunkanjima (Battleship island) due to its resemblance to the shape of a battleship, was once the most densely populated place in the world but today is abandoned and derelict.

The island was bought by Mitsubishi in 1890 with the aim of using it to mine coal from the sea bottom. The mine and island were closed in 1974 and today travel to the island is prohibited.

Intelligent quirky sense of humor with heavy leanings towards horror films and slight references to phrases and words which carries historical weight in his memory...

Horribly printed newspaper advertisement he tears apart, collage with something else and redraws with reckless abandon. Christofer is a self professed "dried out, bespectacled art nerd in a massive drawing, painting and designing ocean of dried out, bespectacled art nerds." He lives in NYC and besides running his design company, Steak Mtn., he also participates in many shows around the world and currently is showing in solo show at Threadless in Chicago. It's easy to see references in his work to the great Raymond Pettibon but also very unique and totally his own. We completely dig it....

Go read it on FECAL FACE

"The world is like a ride at an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it, you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it's very brightly coloured and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question: Is this real, or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, 'Hey – don't worry, don't be afraid ever, because this is just a ride ...' And we ... kill those people. Ha ha, 'Shut him up. We have a lot invested in this ride. Shut him up. Look at my furrows of worry. Look at my big bank account and my family. This just has to be real.' It's just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok. But it doesn't matter, because – it's just a ride. And we can change it anytime we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings and money. A choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead, spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace. Thank you very much, you've been great."

[several gunshots ring out, Bill mimes being hit and falls to floor, motionless.]

(Onstage closing comments of Bill Hicks Revelations special from 1993)