The sweet spot for home turntable enthusiasts on a budget seems to be the $200 mark. This might be the best of the bunch.
One can only imagine the sake-fueled club hopping that led to the development of the Seiko Frequency drum machine watch.
Colour me Retro!
By James Grahame
[Giles Perkins took the week off work and mysteriously found himself painting the house. I'll let him tell you more...]
OK, so what can be retro about paint? Surely paint is paint and you slap it on your walls and all's good? Well, having just sampled the King of paints, I'm now an absolute convert to the retro way of decorating.
Farrow & Ball are traditional English manufacturers of decorating products, established in the 1930's by two chemists in Dorset, their paints are highly pigmented formulations which give colours of great depth with a characteristically chalky absolute matt finish (just 2% sheen level in their Estate Emulsions to be precise). Made with the finest ingredients, using traditional production methods, these aren't just any old colours in a pot. And, with most of their range also exceeding proposed 2010 environmental standards in Europe, they're environmentally friendly as well as stunningly good to look at!
With names like 'Elephant's Breath', 'Mouse's Back' and 'Ointment Pink' the limited colour range (just 132 in all) comprises subtle hues which hark back to a pastoral and more traditional look - think English country house or period city abode - but all are strangely bang up to date at the same time.
Whilst these cans aren't cheap, the paint is an absolute joy to work with and coverage excellent, thus offsetting the premium price tag. So, if you want to go retro on your walls, check out Farrow & Ball and maybe 'Pigeon' or 'Dead Salmon' might just be what you've been missing all these years!
www.farrow-ball.com (US$, Can$, Euro and £) including background on some of those whacky names!
