BLOG: APPLE iPHONE 5S AND 5C ANNOUNCEMENT

From: Apple

So lots of hype once more surrounding the Apple event yesterday, months of gossip gearing up to the announcement, and really it turned out simply to be a confirmation of the rumour mill. Two new iPhone models, namely the 5S and 5C, will enter the market later this month and they do indeed look very good. The 5S adds a new gold colour option, and is set to feature a fancy fingerprint sensor called Touch iD that will look to fight and replace the password concept in due course. Otherwise, the camera function seems to have vastly improved amongst other things, and the phone looks sound.

The iPhone 5C is what I've really been looking forward to though, essentially a more affordable iPhone. And that makes it a far more attractive replacement avenue for my iPhone 4 that I've used for a solid three years now, unbroken. (Not bad huh?) But it's not affordable, far from it. It would seem Apple have just raised the premium model's starting price making the 5C cheaper only in relative terms, with UK pricing at a stupid £469 (just £40 cheaper than what I paid for mine). That's a major disappointment. And what a shame, because the phone itself is as impressive as we had hoped, fitted with the iPhone 5's guts in a well designed, unashamedly plastic body – I think Apple went in. So you could argue that the price is justified, considering the product is indeed not cheap and deliberately so, but you can't price a budget model at basically the same price as the previous premium model. Silly.

MAG: ACTIVE CHILD RAPOR EP

Two years after his remarkable debut album, Pat Grossi, or Active Child, will finally be dropping his next record. "Rapor EP" will house 6 new tracks, including "Evening Ceremony", "She Cut Me", a new one with Mikky Ekko he just unveiled called "Subtle" and a dream collaboration with Ellie Goulding after she transformed "Hanging On" into a banging cover for her own album. She's the reason I discovered Active Child in the first place and his 2011 album "You Are All I See" showcases a beautiful sound of interesting instrumentation and original production that I've still not heard anywhere else, I'm a big fan. His new material seems to flirt with a more extrovert side that's exciting to hear, and it's an EP I'm highly looking forward to – out October 22. Listen to the latest track above, it's tasty.

MAG: MØ XXX 88 FEAT. DIPLO OFFICIAL VIDEO

So badass. MØ's new video for this epic Diplo collaboration "XXX 88".

BLOG: LONDON GRAMMAR DEBUT ALBUM IF YOU WAIT

Lots of big album releases this week, and indeed this month, but today's highlight is the debut album by London Grammar, "If You Wait". Still a young band they may be, but their sound has attracted many admirers since their first EP "Metal & Dust" of February this year. And it's well worth it, because their music is genuinely beautiful. Soft and delicate, yet textured and intricate, it's drawn comparison to The xx for instance, while for me the album resembles that understated quality of Daughter.

There's definitely something about female-fronted indie bands that we're enjoying as a generation, and that is by no means a bad thing or necessarily a pessimistic view of conformity or trend. Hannah Reid's gifted vocals showcase a range of aspects from the intensity of Florence Welch to the emotion of Adele, from the darkness of Lana Del Rey to the innocence of Birdy – and it's absolutely gorgeous, hauntingly so.

The album is a precious whisper that is utterly worth taking the time to listen to. They've already been tipped for Mercury Prize nomination, they're fucking big. Just a trio of graduates from Nottingham University, they've made magic with their music. With much more to come in the near future, I'm sure you'll hear more about them from me soon, but in the meantime check out their record because you won't regret it. (And watch them cover La Roux in the Live Lounge just yesterday!)

MAG: VOLCANO CHOIR NEW ALBUM REPAVE

"The combination of Collections of Colonies of Bees and Bon Iver," their description reads. And how apparent it is. Volcano Choir are back with their second album "Repave" which was in the making for three years. It may only be 8 tracks long, but they're tracks that each hold their own in that Justin Vernon genre, a beautifully controlled eargasm of layered instrumentation. The album was released this week and I've been doing my best to absorb its ethereal sound, and I really feel that you must too. Two singles have been taken from it thus far, in "Byegone" and "Comrade", with an American tour just begun. Watch this short documentary to see the band in recording action as they prepared the stunning record that is "Repave", available to purchase and download now.

DIARY: WORKING IN THE MONOCLE CAFE

Spent a rather pleasant time in London's Monocle Café yesterday, parking ourselves downstairs for a productive Saturday's work. Nervous at start of holding unwanted attendance for a whole half day, we were welcomed and warmed to by the kind and down-to-earth staff who made us feel very much at home. And aided also by fine Allpress coffee, cake by Lanka and an elegant lunch selection, I really enjoyed my stay. Just an FYI I guess, in case you were wondering.

BLOG: VICTATE SEPTEMBER 2013 SPORTS VEST LOOKBOOK

From: VICTATE

Up on our new Collections page is the full lifestyle lookbook, 10 photographs strong, for the Sports Vest. It's a shoot Edward did over in his Taiwan hometown with some local friends, do take a moment to view the set.

Available in two colour options, we've made the vests with a split of two materials: a basketball-inspired breathable mesh upper and a silk-sheen cotton fabric for the bottom, which is the lovely, soft material we last used for the Liberty sleeve t-shirts last summer (remember them?). We're looking to up the value on sports functionality for our Mainline, more of which you shall see in the coming months. And the next Victate product to arrive will be an addition to Private Stock, which we've been teasing over on Instagram. Very soon that will land, very soon...

DIARY: ELLIE GOULDING LIVE AT MAIDA VALE STUDIOS

I cannot believe this happened...

I just can't believe it, I feel so so blessed. Performing live at BBC Maida Vale Studios for Zane Lowe's Radio 1 show, I was one of just 20 or so guests in the studio audience fortunate enough to have won places to witness Ellie Goulding make magic, and from just a few feet away.

The whole experience was absolutely surreal, from the moment I woke up to a congratulatory email to right now as I recall the events of last night and type up this blog entry. My body was tingling all day yesterday as I could barely contain my sheer excitement at the opportunity of seeing my number one favourite artist live (let alone in such a unique, intimate setting). As massive a fan as I am of Ellie – and I fucking am – I've had the huge black mark of not having attended a gig of hers for one reason or another and I've been gutted to have missed out on multiple occasions. And I've made it my duty to watch whatever I possibly can of her performances, and the internet has been highly kind in that aspect, with live streams and video footage available from her various shows (iTunes Festival, O2 Academy Brixton, HP Connected Music, Big Weekend, Chime For Change, Troubadour, Pinkpop, Lollapalooza, the list goes on...) – point is I've watched her sets well over a hundred times and thus every lick, every trick and every rearrangement of hers I know inside out and it's been painful to have not yet experienced it first hand.

Which, of course, makes it even more special that this event was to be offered to me and words cannot describe how incredible it was. Being so close to the action was overwhelming and the sense of occasion brought goosebumps and a racing heart throughout the show, I was more nervous than she was. We were gifted to a full hour's set, all aired live on Radio 1, with a repertoire including numbers from "Bright Lights" and "Halcyon" to a couple tracks from the newly repackaged "Halcyon Days" record for the first time. The show is available to play back in its entirety on the Radio 1 website for the following week, just FYI and FYR (for your recommendation, I just made that up). And click here to see the official gallery from the event, in one of which you will find myself perched on the balcony amongst the rest of the audience, probably mesmerised in shock and awe.

I'm a fan of Ellie Goulding first and foremost because of her musical ability. Her voice is like nothing else, with its airy, sultry qualities and gorgeous tone, comparable only to a living angel; her songwriting and poetry so meaningful, an enriching expression of genuine emotion and message; and finally the ability and creativity she holds to entertain and so deeply understand the underlying 'music', as showcased via her live performances (enhanced too by her growing confidence and maturity on stage) – she is an incredible artist, it's beautiful.

To really cherish something I believe is rightly quite rare in life, but that last night is well up there with my best ever moments. And I am so grateful. You see, it's these feelings that I wanted to record on this Blog of mine and I'm going to be reflecting on this for years to come. Thanks Ellie.

MAG: ELLIE GOULDING BBC RADIO 1 LIVE LOUNGE

With Fearne Cotton returning to Radio 1 this week, the wonderful Ellie Goulding kicked off a month of Live Lounges with these two incredible tracks. Stripped back and reworked, she performed her triple number one single (yes, triple!) "Burn" and followed it with a perfect cover of Justin Timberlake's "Mirrors". Of course I'm going to be biased – what fan wouldn't be – but this lady can simply do no wrong, her voice just smashes anything it touches and these acoustic versions really puts that in the spotlight.

This was to be only part one of her day at BBC Radio 1, set to perform an extended live session in the evening for Zane Lowe from the very special Maida Vale Studios, as the radio station embarks on a month of "Even More Music" with a feast of events and promotions to celebrate music and reboot the industry's calendar. Oh and I was there at Maida Vale...

MAG: BIRDY LIVE AT ABBEY ROAD

After her successful covers collection that was her debut self-titled album from 2011, Jasmine Van Den Bogaerde, or Birdy, is just a few weeks shy of releasing her follow-up record. "Fire Within" is the eagerly awaited LP in which she can finally showcase her own original material as a singer-songwriter, having earned much praise for her remarkable renditions of what was a mature selection of songs in "Birdy". For the moment though, she reminds us of her exceptional vocal talent in these couple of live recordings from a session at the prestigious Abbey Road Studios, performing two of her new tracks, "Light Me Up" and the lead single "Wings". And they are absolutely stunning. It's almost a guarantee that the new album will be good and I highly look forward to its release on September 23.

DIARY: POLIÇA AND SIGUR ROS iTUNES FESTIVAL 2013

Watching Sigur Rós and Poliça perform live just takes your breath away. I think I was pretty lucky to nab tickets from YPlan (London's spontaneous going-out app) just a few hours before the occasion and I'm definitely trying that again for others, as the lineup for iTunes Festival impresses once more.

Sigur Rós live is a thrilling experience, a cinematic explosion of climax after climax. And the arrangement of the band is like no other, not since I saw Bon Iver anyway, with it very clear that each part and each sound is meticulously considered and present only to provide a valuable purpose. The careful layering of sound was beautiful to absorb, a hugely mesmerising and inspiring show. And as if that wasn't enough, Poliça were the supporting act. I say supporting, but they held their own for a 40 minute set, and what a treat – I'd been wishing to see them perform all summer having missed the chance to attend Night + Day (the new-look festival hosted by The xx). If you're not familiar with them, their debut album "Give You The Ghost" is unbelievably good and they have a second LP "Shulamith" out in October. Performing tracks from both records, they were incredible too last night, I feel so fortunate – what a start to the week huh.

You can re-watch both performances through iTunes, with artists performing for all 30 nights of September. Coming up later are Haim, Ellie Goulding and Justin Timberlake, for whom I will be fighting to get a wristband again. Good stuff.

BLOG: CHVRCHES EP JAPAN LIMITED EDITION PURCHASE

Back in July, CHVRCHES released a limited Japanese record, simply entitled "EP", ahead of their appearances at Summer Sonic in Tokyo and Osaka. It's their first ever CD release and features the singles "Gun" and "Recover" in a six-strong tracklist. My mother was in Japan over summer and so I've been fortunate to get my hands on a physical copy as she returned to London yesterday. Thanks mum. The band's hotly-awaited-for debut album "The Bones Of What You Believe" is fast approaching its big unveiling, to be on September 23. In the meantime though, find CHVRCHES in my Blog Topics and read up on the artist that has simply stolen my attention for 2013. They're going to be big!

MAG: NATASHA KHAN & JON HOPKINS GARDEN'S HEART

A new single by Natasha Khan and Jon Hopkins has just been unveiled along with this lovely music video. "Garden's Heart"And the video marks Natasha's debut in film direction as she takes forth her fascination with the art of moving image, which has inspired much of her Bat For Lashes work, particularly for the latest record "The Haunted Man". The song's been penned for an upcoming Kevin Macdonald film and stars young Irish actress Saoirse Ronan.

DIARY: 8.13 MONTHLY PHOTOGRAPHS PART THREE