DELS interview

"The political rhetoric on his track 'Capsize' (“Kick down the doors of Parliament for the truth”) is also, albeit in a different context, concerned with youth culture. “I left the end of the lyrics in 'Capsize' open because politics is something I'm interested in but don't really understand. I think that's a problem for a lot of young people. The media don't make it easy for them to understand what's going on.”"

My Tour Dates interview with Big Dada artist DELS, on the power of hip hop's story narratives, challenging the (problematic/bastardized) tradition of "keeping it real" with something more authentic and personal via "out-there" fantasy, addressing the exclusionary nature of politics and where this leaves youth culture, and his plans to create new mediums by merging music and graphic design. BIG.

The great NHS swindle - a breakdown

For those big, unwanted beats

Beardyman - I Done A Album

Debut LP from Beardyman, reviewed for The Guardian:

I DONE A ALBUM

Smiley Culture press conference

An incredibly tragic death under some incredibly suspect circumstances.

Marilyn, the last sessions

As a major Monroe fan, I totally get the ongoing fascination, but riffling through transcripts from her therapy sessions for prime time TV entertainment seems totally unethical; like some kind of gross psychic autopsy. I detest the idea that the death of a face/body who has become a complex part of  cultural history/iconography give us any kind of ownership rights or free-pass into their heads. 

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/marilyn-the-last-sessions/episode-guide/series-1/episode-1

"You make it look so good/the way you put it like that"

My first First Sight feature for The Guardian Film&Music is out today, featuring Emika. She's a Berlin-based producer, originally from the UK. She makes creepy, seductive, bass-heavy songs. Get to know: 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/mar/10/first-sight-emika

"Fuck tha upper class"

Is that the same bed she tied up Diplo on?

Ghostpoet interview

I chatted to Ghostpoet a lickle while back. We talked about comfort food, abstract rhymes,  anxiety of the existential kind, and his debut album Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam (which is really rather good). Click click below for full reading pleasure.

http://www.tourdates.co.uk/londontourdates/issue-070/2011/02/18/2548-ghostpoet-blue-notes