Wait until next year

Video | March 22, 2014

Saturday Night Movie: The Man who Fought the Planners – The Story of Ian Nairn

An excellent documentary, and an excellent entry point to Ian Nairn – after watching this you’ll probably find yourself trawling YouTube for more original footage. Here was a man who fought against the destruction of old towns, yet did not consider himself a conservationist. A man who railed against the follies of town planners, but who could appreciate decent modern architecture. This programme also harks back to a time when TV could just be a passionate, articulate and informed person speaking to camera without any gimmicks, and could still be compelling and vital.

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March 19, 2014

The Road to Erith Pier

The other Sunday seemed to be the first proper warm day of the year. A day without coats and without regrets about not wearing coats. A day when you can sit indoors, but will feel the guilt creep over you as you see the sun outside, the weather you’ve been waiting for through those months of damp and cold and wind. You feel compelled to go out. Read the rest of this entry »

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Video | March 5, 2014

Taking Chances

A new Sharon Van Etten track, a taster for her new album Are We There, due for release in late May. Her previous album Tramp is one of my favourite albums of the last few years. Van Etten can clearly write great songs, but can also create a mood. It is a kind of nebulous concept, but her songs have this feel that you just don’t hear elsewhere, sort of smoky, monochrome, but also heartfelt. Rough around the edges without just sounding a bit baggy. Read the rest of this entry »

Video | March 1, 2014

Saturday Night Movie: Don DeLillo Documentary

This documentary was broadcast over 20 years ago, yet a lot of it still feels relevant and true. Don DeLillo worked on the documentary alongside the BBC, touching on the themes of a lot of his novels and explores the interplay between the media, public violence and conspiracy. It is fascinating stuff and more imaginative in presentation than your usual author profile. I just wish they had commissioned a whole series.

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February 28, 2014

Being Boring

Clothes store

So, it appears the latest big thing is normcore. I was hoping this would be some sort of music involving the wit and wisdom of Mr Peterson, but sadly not. It turns out it is the latest hipster (I hesitate a little using that word, but you know what I mean) fashion style. While this piece outlines it better than I can, the short explanation is that normcore is a non-style. Rather than trying to stand out, the feature of most fashion trends since I don’t know when, normcore is all about blandness. Influences are ‘tourist clothes’ or early 90s sitcoms or just the functional clothing the wider non-fashionable world wears without a second thought. Read the rest of this entry »

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