MAG: MØ NEW SINGLE DON'T WANNA DANCE

While I was away, Zane Lowe selected MØ's brand new single "Don't Wanna Dance" as his Hottest Record on BBC Radio 1. A proper, old-school groove track, it's classic MØ character with delicious hooks and attitude throughout this straightforward party number. The Danish artist officially kicks off her debut album year with this terrific teaser single and I'm counting down the days to March 10.

DIARY: SHORT TRIP AWAY

I just returned from an unexpected trip to Beijing and Tokyo for a terribly sad family affair. I know we all have them and that we'll move on in time, but it was really miserable. Deaths of loved ones are always hard. He had a lovely send-off though and I'm glad I feel that way. Good or bad, I can now return to a normal schedule and keep myself (very) busy over the coming few days and weeks. And I thought I'd start here.

DIARY: OFFSCREEN XMAS WISHLIST JOLI ORIGINALS

Offscreen magazine run a Xmas Wishlist competition each year, rewarding one lucky entrant each day in December with one of the goods offered by their kind friends and affiliates. I was fortunately selected to win a neat iPhone pouch by Dutch studio, Joli Originals. Made out of a smooth grey, full-grain waxed leather with black inside lining, it's a jolly solution for my still bare replacement iPhone 4. They even threw in a matching card wallet for me, so thank you for that. Nice, huh?

DIARY: SIGMA 60MM F2.8 DN LENS

I was presented with this new Sigma lens by my good mate this Christmas, another bit of gear to play with and get used to. I'm still pretty high on entering the camera game with my Lumix DMC-G6 and this is a jolly addition to the 20mm f1.7 pancake lens I've been working with so far. Still no clue what have the shit means yet, but I'll get there!

MAG: CHVRCHES LIVE AT BILLBOARD WOMEN IN MUSIC 2013

So apparently this happened before Christmas, when CHVRCHES were invited to perform at the Billboard Women In Music event. It's quite a unique bit of material to be able to see the band in a non-gig, non-television kind of atmosphere and they smash two songs with their 'portable' version of gear, playing the acoustic rendition of "The Mother We Share" and covering Janelle Monáe's "Tightrope". Aren't they just brilliant.

DIARY: JANUARY MAGAZINES FROM JAPAN

Thanks to my mum for bringing these back from Japan, the January issues of design mag Casa Brutus and the popular, highly-acclaimed title for 'city boys', Popeye. I've had a brief flick through already and they are stunning pieces of print work. Can't wait to sit down and immerse myself.

MAG: COACHELLA 2014 LINEUP

From: Coachella

Need anything be said? This is the news that's been circulating the web all morning, as the countdown begins to 2014's festival season. Coachella is arguably the largest in the world (certainly America) and the host of talent confirmed for the inaugural double weekend in April is immense. My favourites Ellie Goulding, Haim, Chvrches, Banks, and Lana Del Rey all involved. Just read through the lineup, there are gems everywhere and frankly nobody missing. How very, very exciting.

MAG: F37 GINGER BY FACE37 LTD

 

From: Face37

A new sans-serif has been brought to us today by Face37, or London-based designer Rick Banks, who's produced some of my personal favourite works such as the Bella typeface, Type Trumps and Football Type. Available exclusively at Hype For Type, it's called Ginger, taking a modernist Swiss style but with a contemporary geometrical twist. I love its cute, clean, round aesthetic and the alternative lowercase Gs are a delight.

DIARY: BROKEN HEADPHONES AGAIN

So I wrote only a couple weeks ago that my Bose headphones broke. Well, since then I've been using my back-up, lightweight option, the AIAIAI Tracks. It's a very good product for its price range, made by one of Denmark's leading brands in audio design. But that too has now broken. And again, it's physical damage whereby it has lost all function. The cable has just detached at the junction. What the fuck. Before, with my Bose On-Ears, I felt emotions of sadness and mourning, but now I'm just pissed off.

MAG: BANKS CHANGE FOR SBTV A64

Set for a massive year, BANKS has been busy being picked up by the likes of the BBC's Sound Of... and MTV Brand New. Today though, SBTV have released an exclusive acoustic session with the LA star-to-be and it's gorgeous. Performing "Change" she shows so much control with a voice that has this addictive, creamy opacity if I can put it that way. I've been intoxicated by her talent since hearing "Fall Over" last year and she'll no doubt be up there in terms of blog entry count as 2014 continues.

MAG: NEW BALANCE 420 SPRING/SUMMER 2014

From: Hypebeast

For the coming spring season, New Balance have readied two new colourways for their low profile 420 model. In tan beige and royal blue options, the athletic sneakers have a nice, rugged quality to them, helped by a grey suede heel, off-white details and black outsole. It's the kind of shoe that works well with a mixture of tone and texture, a liking that culminating in the purchase of my own pair of 410s in December. An inexpensive shoe as well.

BLOG: HITRECORD ON TV THE NUMBER ONE

HitRECord is an open collaborative production company that's been making records of every kind under the leadership of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and participation of thousands of artists from around the world (myself included). And for the past few months, it's all been leading up to the debut of its own TV show, which is just remarkable. With high aspirations and incredible creative talent, the movement has grown so fast with film festival screenings, book publishings and DVD releases along the way, and today its culmination to "HitRECord on TV" was unveiled as Episode 1 took to the air. Just a wonderful array of artistic charm and sheer goodness, it's 20 minutes that inspires and warms throughout. I have got to get recording again because I cannot bear my inactivity.

MAG: SBTRKT RUNAWAY FT. JESSIE WARE, TIC, SAMPHA

A new year's treat from SBTRKT, a short track called "Runaway" with Jessie Ware, Tic and Sampha, apparently an unreleased bit of material from two years ago. Old or new, it's brilliant and I can't wait to see what he's got in store for us in 2014. We're promised big things...

BLOG: LONDON NEW YEAR'S EVE FIREWORKS 2014

London is fast becoming the city to beat with its new years celebrations, certainly up there in terms of soft power in my humble, albeit biased, opinion. And last night was no different as we Londoners were treated to another magnificent display (apparently with flavoured mist and confetti in the air too for the taste buds). I watched from the comfort of my sofa at home with good company, pleasantly surprised, overjoyed even, to find the soundtrack for the 11 minute show included huge parts for my dear Ellie Goulding and artist of 2013, CHVRCHES. Thoroughly deserved acknowledgement for both, who have seen their respective careers blossom in the past 12 months. 2014 will see me attend Ellie's first arena tour at The O2 and also a double attendance for CHVRCHES' two London Forum shows in Kentish Town come March. Happy new year y'all.