Sometimes a song can catch you in a moment, striking a deep chord, as if speaking to you from the most profound truth or reality that you could encounter in that moment. So it has been for me recently with this stunning composition from Beth Gibbons (Floating On A Moment – below) which was released […]
Recently came across this excellent recording from 2005 of Slint playing their song Don, Aman live (video below). I’ve written before about Slint and the 2014 documentary Breadcrumb Trail by Lance Bangs that charts their formation and the production of their stunning 1991 album Spiderland, following which they (mostly) disbanded. After finishing that piece I […]
London The Song, London The Poem I ended up getting more than bargained for recently while revisiting this special song ‘London’ (Above) by Sparklehorse. Introduced to me in 1995 by a friend at University when it was released as a b-side. I’ve kind of orbited Sparklehorse in the intervening years, hearing some delights but for whatever […]
The impact of the collaborative work between Mark Fisher and Justin Barton, specifically their audio essay ‘On Vanishing Land’ (released on Hyperdub imprint Flatlines in 2019) has been a slow but powerful permeation (more of which below) – which has led to a renewed focus and interest in their first work of this kind, londonunderlondon […]
The Walls of Perception While recently taking in the lovely 2012 song ‘Lazuli‘ (above) from dreamy Baltimore-sprung synth-pop artists Beach House (Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally) I began to think more about the video directed by Allen Cordell. Along with the song’s beautiful, cascading background-sadness affect, the video quickly establishes itself as being of both […]
Most of us come across the odd meme or video of an extraordinary feat culled from Parkour. Adrift in the seas of algorithmic imagery, it has become an accepted cultural wallpaper of the sublime. Feats of quasi-sorceric accomplishment on the part of human bodies, invested mostly among the unyielding vertiges of the modern conurbation. Looping among […]
Having recently re-watched the deep evolution of story in the Expanse over its six seasons it is hard not to feel that there was (and is) something special at work in this adaptation. Initially cancelled by Syfy channel after three gradually ramped up seasons – it was rescued by Amazon for three more before its […]
There are many reasons to have real reservations and concerns as human beings rush headlong and with maximum speed, the creation and ongoing development of AI, while integrating them more quickly and thoroughly into every aspect of our lives. It is a development that promises more in the direction of its already hugely divisive and controversial […]
I recently found myself going back to songs from the second album by Smashing Pumpkins, 1993’s Siamese Dream and two songs in particular, Hummer (live – above) and Mayonaise (below). Over the last few years I’ve returned to a lot of the music I listened to in the 90’s as I moved through the experiences […]
As I noted here, it took an improbable 8 years for me to record and finish the album ‘Blade of Earth‘ which was posted to Bandcamp in 2021. As my love of music has been influenced by so many incredible artists and styles of song (and sound), the album needed to reflect that variety and […]
I want flatlandsI never cared about money and all its friendsI want flatlands… Chelsea Wolfe, Flatlands One of the things about writing this piece following the passing of Mark Lanegan, that unique American voice of song and words – was that it allowed me to come across this song by Chelsea Wolfe. I want flatlands, […]
Evidence bees are thinking, feeling beings (w/ Stephen Buchmann, Denis Villeneuve) Found myself drawn to this comment piece in the Guardian recently which details research and conclusions of scientist Stephen Buchmann from his latest book on the minds of bees, What a Bee Knows: Exploring the Thoughts, Memories, and Personalities of Bees. “Bees are self-aware, […]
This recent collaboration between Nottingham-formed Sleaford Mods (Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn) and the collage-satirist Cold War Steve (aka Christopher Spencer) has produced this amazing combination of song and video UK Grim. Spencer’s framing for the video, takes our eyes roving precisely across pantomime collages that capture a state of the UK, across the powerful […]
This beautiful and evocative short film, created and animated by hand over three years by Japanese anime artist Shingo Tamagawa gives us – through its journey and exploration of transformation – bearings and direction. A subtle and powerful prompting about the space of human life and the capacity for art and stories to redeploy and […]
(w/ Sigur Rós, Postminimalism) In March 2013, my friend Steve bought us tickets to see Sigur Rós play in London. They played a set that reached lofty if inconsistent heights – at times transporting with brilliant melodic force, aided by an ingenious and huge dual projection system involving two screens, one behind the band and […]
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