33 1/3 has been publishing some of the smartest and sparkiest music books for just shy of a decade. These slim volumes can be devoured in a single hit but the best of them roll around your mind for days. David Barker is series editor. We asked him to colour in the background behind the […]
Progressive Rock: The Sound That Time Forgot
In the newly-revised edition of his book The Music’s All That Matters, music journalist Paul Stump finds acceptance of the last musical taboo – progressive rock. Jason Weaver bends an ear In his Spike review of June 2000, Stephen Harper reckoned Unknown Pleasures the definitive work on Roxy Music for many years to come. Its […]
International Festival Musique Actuelle: Victoriaville
Whether you call it improv, avant-rock or noise, Québec has a music festival dedicated to it Where: Victoriaville, Québec, Canada When: 19th to 22 May 2011 What: Michel Levasseur, artistic director and founder of FIMAV: “We did not coin the term, but in those days Musique Actuelle was more clearly defined by what it was […]
Sound Advice: Phill Brown’s Musical Odyssey
Sound engineer Phill Brown has an astonishing musical CV. He tells Jason Weaver how to keep it rolling “I was there!” exclaims James Murphy in LCD Soundsystem’s ‘Losing My Edge’, before listing his crucial interventions in the history of rock music. But Phill Brown’s ‘right place and right time’ memoir of his career in the […]
Literary Graveyards
Bunhill Fields Burial Ground near Old Street in the City of London has been given Grade I protected status. Originally the Dissenters’ burial ground, one great names of English literature have tombs here, including William Blake, Daniel Defoe and John Bunyan. The Department of Culture, Media and Sport has also listed 75 of its tombs. […]
Guernica Magazine
“Guernica is an award-winning magazine of art and ideas. In its short time online, it has grown from one of the web’s best-kept secrets to one of its most acclaimed new magazines.” 01 Guernica: Launched in 2004 by New York-based writers Joel Whitney and Michael Archer, Guernica is an online journal of original creative and […]
YouGov and Political Metrics
The internet has long promised a golden age of metrics, online polling organisation YouGov is hoping to track our political opinions “YouGov is the authoritative measure of public opinion and consumer behaviour. It is our ambition to supply a live stream of continuous, accurate data and insight into what people are thinking and doing all […]
Hong Kong: Film Business Asia
If you have an appetite for Asian cinema, Film Business Asia might become your first port of call “Film Business Asia is a new company, created and run by some familiar names in Asian film: Patrick Frater and Stephen Cremin. Based in Hong Kong and with a reach across the Asia-Pacific region, the company is […]
Made In Europe Film Festival
This year’s Made In Europe Film Festival offered a fascinating snapshot of the continent’s newest cinematic visions. Below are some of the festival highlights to keep an eye out for What: 6th Made In Europe Film Festival. “The cultural diversity of the festival movies reflect this international cooperation. With special attention for small, personal films […]
Joolz Denby and Ignite Books
From New Model Army to award-winning novels, Joolz Denby has created an impressive body of work. Now, with poet Steve Pottinger, she launches Ignite Books Poet, author, artist, vocalist, and all-round force of nature Joolz Denby recently published her latest novel The Curious Mystery of Miss Larkin and the Widow Marvell. Though more playful than […]
How I Work: Nuno Cera
Futureland is a photographic and video portrait of the effects of rapid urbanisation Futureland #17 – Shanghai, China, 2010. Ink jet print, 110 x 145 cm © Nuno Cera and Galeria Pedro Cera, Lisbon, reproduced with thanks Nuno Cera’s project Futureland catches the process of rapid urbanisation in the act. Between 2008 and 2010, the […]
Designs for Living: Jordi Parra
Although you may not know his name, it’s likely you’re familiar with Jordi Parra’s design work Chances are you saw this beautiful Spotify device that was all over the internet a few months ago. The player makes novel use of RFID tags to create exchangeable playlists linking back to the Spotify service. Although haling from […]
Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield
A major new gallery opens next month but could it be the last of its kind? The opening of Wakefield’s stunning new Hepworth gallery on 21st May could mark the end of an era. The 5000 sq m space, designed by David Chipperfield Architects at a cost of £35m, is the largest purpose-built gallery in […]
From Mali to Paris: Donso
Malian pop meets Daft Punk electronica with Krazy Baldhead’s Donso project It is no surprise that Pierre-Antoine Grison should gravitate to African music. His 2009 album The B Suite (put out under the name Krazy Baldhead)was a beguiling mix of tricky time signatures and polyrhythms. Originally from Marseille, Grison made his name as part of […]
Kafka’s Other Trial
Perhaps Josef K will get to testify in the ongoing wrangle over Kafka’s manuscripts in an Israeli court. The Czech author instructed his friend Max Brod to destroy his papers, instead two-thirds eventually made its way to the Bodleian Library via Kafka’s niece. The remainder ended up, after Brod’s death in 1968, with Esther Hoffe. […]
Pinewood Studios in the Dominican Republic
Spike’s brief travel guide to legendary films studios around the world So far, 2011 has been a bumper year for the film production Pinewood Studios Group. The company has just announced a 31% rise in pre-tax profits and now plans to invest in British low-budget filmmaking through direct funding. Chief executive Ivan Dunleavy said, “Although […]
Branching Out: Peepal Tree Press
Peepal Tree Press is dedicated to expanding the Caribbean library and keeping it in print. Spike interviews its founder Jeremy Poynting Working out of the Burley area of Leeds, Peepal Tree Press has been a vital hub of independent publishing for just over 25 years. Founded by Jeremy Poynting to specialise in Caribbean writing, the […]
Brazil: Phonobase Music Services
Brazilian label and distribution company offers artists a unique way of doing business What: A music services company and record label with an emphasis on innovative digital marketing strategies. The company blog is a stimulating source for stories about copyright and technological issues around music. Where: São Paulo, Brazil History: Founded 2007 by Juliano Polimeno. […]
Rhythm Methods: The Physical TV Company and Dance in Second Life
The Physical TV Company is taking dance beyond the body and into virtual worlds. Its founders tell us about movement on screen and the rhythm of editing As much as we love contemporary dance – Siobhan Davies, Wayne McGregor, Liz Aggiss, and others, it isn’t covered by Spike’s remit. We do, however, write about film […]
Australia: Prime Minister’s Literary Awards
The Australian government believes in supporting the arts as the annual Prime Minister’s Literary Awards demonstrates Where: Canberra, Australia What: Australia’s richest literary prize, the winning book in each category receives a tax-free award of AUD80,000. The categories are fiction, non-fiction, young adult and children’s fiction. Entries opened in January. The fiction panel is chaired […]
South Korea: K-pop for the Rest of Us
There has been an explosion of South Korean music in recent years but, apart from slick pop, what else is on offer? Thanks principally to YouTube, South Korea’s videogenic K-pop is reaching a staggering audience around the world. Earlier this year, boy band Big Bang’s EP Tonight received high placings on iTunes charts in various […]
Hanoi: Cityscapes 2011 Blog
Germany’s Goethe-Institut is running a year-long project bringing together bloggers from different cities around the world “Diverse, fascinating, vibrant tales: Responding individually to a collective impetus, teams of three young bloggers from twelve cities upload texts, photos, and multimedia. Every month, they will be given a new topic, so every month, their entries will be […]
Haunts of a Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski’s LA Bus Tour
Take a ride on the wild side with Esotouric’s tours of LA’s underbelly “We’re not your ordinary tour company,” suggests the website of Los Angeles-based Esotouric. Indeed. Rather than curb crawling around Laurel Canyon squinting at George Clooney’s house through binoculars, Richard Schave and Kim Cooper offer tours the rest of us want to see. […]
James Turrell: Roden Crater
James Turrell’s Roden Crater project has been in the offing for several decades, will 2011 finally see it open to the public? James Turrell, Dhātu, 2010 Mixed media, dimensions variable Courtesy Gagosian Gallery “I’m very American, very direct. I don’t want something to be about light, I just want to use light. I want light […]
Contemporary Russian Authors
Russian fiction is on the rise. Spike profiles some of the key authors in translation At the London Book Fair 2011, the Market Focus will be on contemporary writing from Russia. Fifty writers and 60 publishers will present new books, representative of an explosion of literary activity during the past 20 years. Poets such as […]
