THIS WEEKEND we left the city behind with friends for a beautiful beach we’d never been to before. (If you follow on Instagram, you would have seen, in our Stories, the photos and video clips of white sands and grassy dunes and the lull of turquoise crashing waves.) After a leisurely walk along the coast in the bright sun and the bluest Mediterranean skies, we stopped in at the most charming restaurant that serves local cuisine, for a long and lingering lunch of the best seafood paella we’d ever tasted so far.
Wiki partnered with two Brits for his latest single “Elixir,” which premiered today on BBC Radio 1Xtra. The track pairs the Brooklyn rapper with a smoky percussion-heavy beat and a soaring patois hook from singer Obongjayar, evoking some of the breakout work by Wiki’s group Ratking.
HAD FORGOTTEN to tell you about the shock of reading Grace’s announcement recently. It’s hard to believe that after nearly fifteen years, this year will be the last for Design*Sponge. Hers was the very first blog had ever read, way back in 2007, and it was the reason why I began TIG.
In a Crate Digging feature with fabric late last year, Daniel Avery named his top tracks of 2018, including Marie Davidson’s ‘Day Dreaming’ within that haul.
THIS NEW YEAR ALREADY seems to be flying by. For some, January was a very long month, but for us, it was one of industry and new beginnings, the start of new (good) habits and the keeping of resolutions, all of which we’ve (more or less) continued into this month, but with far less constraints. This weekend was one of those relaxing ones that one needs from time to time to recharge—long languid mornings and late brunches, books and films and wine and rambling conversations. There are big new projects and life plans in the future, but for the weekend, it was nice to stop time for a moment…
London’s 0171 understand that communication can be tricky. Who among us has not, at some point, not replied to a text or an email? Exactly. “1000 Words” gets at the deeper meanings behind this through the medium of a Glass Candy-esque piece of seductive electronic pop, complete with a stream of conscious vocal delivery.
THIS WEEKEND was a working one in parts, and parts old films and drinks on terraces where it was warm in the sunshine and chilly in the shade—a lucky situation for February, when terraces are still hospitable even in the wintertime. We moved here for the weather, but ended up staying for people, the food, and the laid-back way of life. The endless sunny days, however, will always be our first love and now that February is already nearly half over, it will be springtime before we know it…
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.
THE WEEKEND was spent rediscovering the city, little corners and places for a quiet drink or dimly lit and elegant hotel lobbies where the service is casual and the wine is good. Since keeping the new year’s resolution of reading a few pages from an actual book every morning with coffee instead of scrolling mindlessly through my phone, have already finished two books and am nearing the completion of a third with a few days still left of the month.
THIS WEEKEND we rented a scooter (our first time!) and drove to the beach, the wind in our hair on the quiet city streets. Today, it’s a holiday here, the shops are closed and the city is quiet, with many out of town for an extra long weekend. If you had believed in the idea of “Blue Monday”—that is, the idea that the third Monday in January is the most depressing day of the year, good news: the concept is actually pseudoscience, made up by a holiday company in 2005 to sell summer vacation packages. Don’t you feel better now? January is really not that bad, for it is a time of new beginnings…
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.
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.”
