Mark has one of the most coveted jobs in television. As a senior commissioner at one of Britain’s biggest broadcasters, he controls a budget extending to the millions. And every day, a steady stream of independent television producers arrive at his desk desperate to land a pitch. At just 39, Mark is young to wield such power. After making his name as a programmemaker, he initially became a commissioner at a rival broadcaster before being headhunted five years ago. A string of hits later, he is now one of the industry’s biggest players.
Joined28 March 2014
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The Afrobeat-infused disco project Ibibio Sound Machine, based in London and fronted by Nigerian native Eno Williams, impressed us with last year’s Eiyo EP and the single “Basquiat.”
Dev Hynes has returned to Negro Swan – the latest album under his Blood Orange moniker, released back in August — for a remix of “Smoke,” the project’s closing track.
Planningtorock has a brand new album coming our way in November called ‘Powerhouse’, and this week she is giving us just a tiny taste of what we can expect with the smooth, gooey sounds of ‘Much to Touch’.
We’ve covered Luboku before, back last year when he was releasing his moody single The Surface. Now, he’s well and truly one to keep an eye on in 2018, with the Melbourne musician following it up with something a bit more colourful and vibrant in Without You.
The incantation that begins Octo Octa’s “I Need You,” 30 seconds of euphoric moaning, could introduce any number of songs. A post-yoga chant could develop with layers of blissed-out voices and the hum of a harmonium. A ’90s house sound might emerge, with a diva calling the shots over groovy drums.
So his debut, X100PRE, at first seems like an odd concession to the old-school from an artist who made old-school look thoroughly obsolete — if singles are enough to get you into the studio with Drake, why bother with a full-length?
Last week in my Articles of Interest, I linked to an article about Bailey Richardson, one of the eleven original employees working for Instagram when they were purchased by Facebook for one billion dollars in 2012. The article discusses how Richardson and a few other original employees have now abandoned the popular social media platform by deleting their profiles, citing as their reasons, a move away from the original ethos of artistry, intimacy, discovery and free expression on the platform, giving way to a celebrity-driven marketplace.
I’m a little surprised by how many people tell me they have no hobbies. It may seem a small thing, but — at the risk of sounding grandiose — I see it as a sign of a civilization in decline. The idea of leisure, after all, is a hard-won achievement; it presupposes that we have overcome the exigencies of brute survival.
Usually, Gabe Gurnsey is fifty percent of acclaimed techno outfit Factory Floor which is mostly known for its pumping and eclectic way of designing efficient dance music. It’s probably no surprise that Gurnsey would sooner or later get interested in exploring different structures.
Here’s something weird! Billie Eilish is a 17-year-old pop singer with weirdo aspirations and with a massive online fanbase. Roma, on the other hand, is a slow, lyrical, beautiful Mexican art film about the life of a domestic worker who lives with a relatively wealthy family in Mexico City in 1970 and 1971.
Foxing vocalist Conor Murphy laughs when I say his band’s strange, glittery, and stunningly produced new album, Nearer My God, sounds like they went for broke. “I think we literally went for broke.
In 2015, I contacted Ai Weiwei, then under house arrest in Beijing, to ask if I could exhibit his work on a remote island in the Salish Sea. To my amazement, he agreed.
The world needs to get ready for Little Simz. The British MC continues her rollout of edgy singles with her latest entitled “Boss.” Following in the footsteps of her previous release “Offence,” which was her first since her last album in 2016, “Boss” not only continues a new musical aesthetic with live instruments, but it also shows her with a more fiery attitude as she forges new musical ground.
