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WE'RE SUPPORTING

Chris Bianchi is a freelance illustrator based in London. Since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2005 he has self-published two books, The Spinners and Box. He is part of the well-known illustration magazine, Le Gun. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

71 is the kind of place which is small enough to miss, but once you see it, you realize everyone somehow knows about it. It’s set three steps down from the sidewalk level, and it’s always packed, except for week late nights and mid-mornings. Even though their service is not the friendliest — like any other spot in New York that’s too cool for school — 71 has a noticeably loyal clientele. Lots of writers hang out with their computers, while photographers check out the scene, and artists meet up with their reps. Besides hot and cold drinks, including their own coffee, they also offer a great selection of pastries, sandwiches and my friend Nicolas’ favorite chicken soup ever.

WE'RE WEARING

We love the range of ultra-stylish ties created by New York-based designers, Ryan Sovereign and William Beck. They’re both graduates of the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, majoring in Industrial Design and Sculpture respectively, and have been long time collaborators both musically and visually. Read more

WE'RE THINKING

Brooklyn-born and based, Jean-Michel Basquiat was the first African American artist to be feted internationally for his dynamic and exciting street-art style, which mixed elements of inner-city graffiti with vibrant figurative modernism. Read more

WE'RE READING

We’ve just launched a new Bullet Web Studio designed website to complement our new weekly email publication, My Secret Playlist, in which we invite our favourite bands and musicians to give us the rundown on their eight favourite songs or albums right now. The latest band to do a Secret Playlist for us is Washington-based indie rockers, Jukebox The Ghost. Check it out, and check them out below.

This clip had such an impact on me when it first came out, back in the day. There’s just something so poignant about the idea that some people you pass on the street everyday have a little bit more insight into their world — our world — than we could ever imagine. It’s beautiful and confronting, and it’s all set to the most wonderfully evocative music.

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Give me a minor key song anytime. Yup, I’ll take the heartfelt purity of an introspective trawl over any warm and fuzzy major key shimmy. I once asked UK band The Editors why there aren’t more cheerful songs in the world: ‘Three words’, vocalist Tom Smith replied. ‘Shiny Happy People’. He smirked. I grimaced. Enough said.

Listen to Casiotone for the Painfully Alone’s, Don’t They Have Payphones Wherever You Were Last Night.