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Walking Down The Political Line with Keith Haring
Keith Haring is a figure that hardly needs an introduction. Eye-catching recognisable style, murals, sculptures, drawings in public spaces - all this intense artistic presence settled firmly into the...
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Poppies for the Fallen: Art Reflects Upon Remembrance Day
This Armistice Day marks the centenary of Britain's participation in the Great War, a moment which turned the tide of history for all nations. 11 November is a time of reverence and honour, a...
View ArticleTina Arena, Undoubtedly the Best Gig I've Been To
Seeing an act live has the ability to turn you from impartial listener to major fan. It's happened to me only a couple of times. Seeing Muse at Australia's Big Day Out Festival. Bombay Bicycle Club at...
View ArticleA Long Time Between Drinks
It was late 1995 when I flew over to London for the very first time. I was 27 years old. I'd spent so much time in Australia and the USA I'd never managed to get to London before this, surprising...
View ArticleMaking the Album
When I decided to go to South Africa to record mi Mandela, I contacted some producers to help me express my ideas. Several musicians came with me from England, including Ben Hudson, George the Poet,...
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UnderWire: Supporting Women Filmmakers
Image courtesy of UnderWire Festival On Tuesday 11 November, the fifth UnderWire Festival will open at The Yard in Hackney Wick. Founded by Gemma Mitchell and myself in 2010 with the aim to foreground...
View ArticleTea: A Very British Beverage
This is a lovely little full teacup of a book; light and refreshing yet full of body, a fresh new blend of narrative and anecdote. Paul Chrystal's new book "Tea: A Very British Beverage" offers a...
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Film Junkies Rejoice, Underground Film Club Can Make You a Star Too
I got off my bike in Lower Marsh. It was dark and drizzling. At the entrance to a side street a man with a hood up against the weather pointed me towards a railway arch. As I approached I could just...
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Grayson Perry Who Are You? At National Portrait Gallery
Celebrated artist Grayson Perry has been examining identity and how we define ourselves in his programme on Channel 4, Who Are You? The 14 works of art he created off the back of the interviews and...
View ArticleHistory, Fools and Russell Brand
Lots of people think historians spend their time in libraries blowing dust off books no one else has (wanted to) read, looking for false doors in grand houses that hide undiscovered manuscripts, or...
View ArticleThe X Factor 2014 MJ vs Queen
The spooky costumes and eerie backdrops have been packed away for another year and this weekend we move on with a Michael Jackson vs Queen theme. Last weekend we sadly lost Team Midas' brilliant Lola...
View ArticleDapper Laughs' ITV Show Has Been Cancelled - Here's the Question That Really...
On Monday night it was announced that ITV have finally seen sense, and decided to axe Dapper Laughs On The Pull, the TV show starring the controversial Vine star. However, before we start the parties...
View ArticleChantal Akerman: Film-Making as Composing
Looking forward to a screening of three rarely seen films by Chantal Akerman. What can a film-maker learn from music? Music is a source of primal pleasures, pleasures such as rhythm (things happening...
View ArticleFame Costs: And This Is Where They Start Paying
Out of morbid curiosity and voyeuristic interest, we all love a good trial. Particularly if it involves a well-known personality. Call this entertainment? You betcha. Anyway, here's a few that...
View ArticleReal Housewives of Atlanta Recap: "Mama Mean-a"
We need to talk about Mama Joyce. I don't remember her ever being this mental before. From what I recall she used to turn up from time to time at Kandi's events with an ever-changing hairstyle to give...
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How Passion Can Ruin A Filmmaker's Career
Call it the paradox of filmmaking: The very thing it takes to make movies often ends up destroying filmmakers and their careers. I started Raindance in 1992 when many of the filmmakers submitting to...
View ArticleRyan Adams: Gifted With Something Gold
I am writing this into night, into the darkness of an early morning's overture, a morning that will then eventually dance with light. Rain claws at the window, and I sense there is some form of fury...
View ArticleDoes Taylor Swift Really Know The Future of the Music Industry?
News from the music industry recently has been about Taylor Swift's departure from streaming site Spotify. Swift said that she didn't want to invest her creativity in someone else's experiment. Of...
View ArticleThe New Narcissists!
Is it me, or are we in the Western World, becoming the New Narcissists? I'm not referring to some 80s pop movement here, and by 'we' I mean me, and all the me's who see our smartphones as our BFF's and...
View ArticleInterstellar (Review)
The time is some time in the not-too-distant future; the place, some generic American state. But really it doesn't matter when or where this movie is set, Interstellar is a filmic no man's land....
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