When we first heard Balkan Beat Box, the awful connotation of ‘world music’ received a makeover in our minds. The project by former Gogol Bordello member Tamir Muskat takes the rhythmic bounce of traditional music and brings it into the realm of modern production. JDub records, a non-profit label established to shed light on innovative Jewish music around the world, gives us a free listen into the Balkan Beat Box remix album entitled Nu Made. Also available for free play is The Sway Machinery, somewhat of a supergroup lead by guitarist Jeremiah Lockwood of Balkan Beat Box and members of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Antibalas and Arcade Fire.

Prior to 9/11 many New York City-based business proudly displayed the Twin Towers as part of their skyline-centric logos. Even though it’s been nearly eight years since the tragedy at the World Trade Center, many of those same companies still carry the same image on their signs. In an effort to ensure that the Twin Towers will never vanish from our memories, Ji Lee, one of our favorite creative minds, began the WTC Logo Preservation Project. The open project collects logos still utilizing the iconic buildings. It is a great way to uphold that indelible image and meaning of the New York we once knew.

You could be friends with someone forever and think you’re all BFF — complete their sentences, tell secrets … all that wonderful stuff — only to find out one day during your usual Sunday soccer game that they can operate a fork with their toes and has been practicing it since you were both 14. I don’t know Thiago de Souza Queiroz very well because he’s super shy, but I would’ve thought that our mutual friends in Brazil would have dropped me at least some hint that he was such an amazing artist. His style’s clearly inspired by wood block printing and mosaic and geometric arrangements, but I also adore the more candid, still-life pieces. No doubt his talent has lead him to some work for Brazilian magazines, but he seems most comfortable when left to his own devices, as evidenced by the non-commercial, personal-works section of his site. At just 21 years old, Queiroz could still change his style, but we can already get a strong feeling of tranquility when looking at his art, even if it’s in the form of a sharp-clawed cougar. Inspiring.

Rumor around the toy scene is that resin is the new vinyl. The economy plays a big part in this trend. Vinyl is expensive and often involves overseas manufacturing, while resin artists make the toys themselves. With lower costs passed on to collectors, we are again seeing a vibrant global community of art toy creators and fans. This weekend Red Hot Robot in Phoenix will host the first Resin Collective group toy show. The roster of artists is amazing and includes (among many, many more): Cris Rose (UK), Das Mo (Germany), Emilio Garcia (Spain), Itokin Park (Japan), Suckadelic (USA), Tan-Ki (France) and WeKillYou (Canada). Each artist has been sending out sneak previews leading up to Saturday’s opening, and one of my favorites so far is this crew by Pacific Northwest artist, Arbito. You may recognize the psychedelic designs of Arbito from his collaboration with Nike and Danny Kass.