On this day: The Joshua Tree
It’s a puzzle, liking U2. They make it so easy, and yet they make it so hard. From their post-punk 80’s through their post-modern 90’s to their post-post-modern 00’s and beyond, they’ve bombarded an impressionable world with suitably impressionistic music, music whose core concern often se
A Story of Spaces: the mind, the page, and the natural world
David Attenborough’s Planet Earth II has recently fallen prey to an attack by Martin Hughes-Games in the Guardian for presenting a view of the natural world that is too polished: too “luxurious” and too “escapist.” Despite Attenborough’s closing plea for us to “do everything within o
Strangers in a Room: An Interview With Mazdak Sanii
Mazdak Sanii is the COO of Boiler Room, the largest underground broadcasting platform in the world. Besides overseeing the day-to-day running of the company, Mazdak is in charge of cultivating one of the most exciting brands in the music industry. Wearily, he answers the phone. The last time we were
Faire Battre le coeur de la France: Benoit Hamon’s bid for French Presidency
I was told to open my bag, then my coat. All the volunteers were wearing thick coats, and were all very young or very old. The Japy location for Benoit Hamon’s political meet could welcome about 2,500 people. When I got there, at seven thirty, it was about half-capacity. On the first of Decemb
Post-Brexit Theatre: An Interview with Jeremy Herrin
As the initial outrage over Brexit begins to simmer, the Arts community remain among the most outspoken critics of the decision to leave the European Union. It’s no secret that the majority of the cultural sector voted to remain; a poll of the Creative Industries Federation members put this at a s
A Life of Grime
‘Without this shit I be losing my mind (…) So much more than drugs and violence it’s young black kids refusing to cry.’ – J-mal, A Life of Grime (2016) It’s dark in the studio. The room sits just above a railway line on the outskirts of Stratford, and Sam, the so
You’ve Got a Sweet Voice: Police, Guns and Protest Songs
On the 27th of October, this year, American singer songwriter Kevin Morby released his new single, ‘Beautiful Strangers’, and the next day, Vic Mensa, one of the biggest new names in hip-hop released the video for his song ‘16 Shots’. Although the two songs could not be further apart in thei
“Rescued by the grace of a miracle”: An Interview with Yen Siow, former Vietnamese Refugee
It was an average rainy August morning in Singapore when The Real Singapore Expat Wives (RSEW) online Facebook forum was woken by a rather out of place post from a woman by the name of Yen Siow. “I’m looking for help translating a letter to Norwegian as I’m writing to a lady who might be [&hel
Over a week with Jean-Paul Mulot, ex-editor of Le Figaro
In April this year I went to stay with Jean-Paul Mulot and his family on the Île de Ré, a French island off the coast of La Rochelle, famous for its oysters and sweeping light. I was there for a tutoring job, but I took the opportunity over the course of ten days to quiz […]