Stevie Nicks’ Wild Heart (demo version)

I Met The Walrus

Philip Norman’s recently released biography of John Lennon, aptly titled The Life, captures the true essence of a man who was a well of contradictions, his peaceful exterior masking an explosive temperament that surfaced far too often for those who were in his inner-sanctum. And it was a virtually impregnable sanctum to crack, unless, of course, you were a fourteen year old kid with a reel-to-reel tape deck. In 1969, a Beatles fanatic called Jerry Levitan snuck into John Lennon’s hotel room in Toronto and recorded him discussing his thoughts on peace, love, and all things in between. This amazing video is the end result of that conversation: ‘Using the original interview recording as the soundtrack, director Josh Raskin has woven a visual narrative which tenderly romances Lennon’s every word in a cascading flood of multipronged animation. Raskin marries the terrifyingly genius pen work of James Braithwaite with masterful digital illustration by Alex Kurina, resulting in a spell-binding vessel for Lennon’s boundless wit, and timeless message’.

Ayahuasca

There’s a fascinating sub-culture springing up all over the world full of earnest psychic adventurers, working with this powerful medicine called Ayahuasca from the Amazon. It’s a plant that’s brewed into a syrupy liquid that takes its users on an eight hour journey into the depths of their insecurities, shadows and secret glory. Read more

Muscles’ Guns Babes Lemonade

Muscles is doing a remix of my single I Love Pop Music and I’m really excited to hear what he comes up with. He’s a new electronic artist from Australia and he’s full of piss and vinegar. He’s got that youthful Manchester-esque arrogance that makes rock n’ roll sound life-changing, all set to a surprisingly retro style. Check out his album Guns Babes Lemonade. It’s sort of like thug pop techno made for big teddy bears.

Lion of Panjshir

The Los Angeles musician, Ariana Delawari — aka Lion of Panjshir — is half Afghan and half Sicilian and makes wonderfully enlightened weirdo folk rock. I hope she takes that as a compliment! Her music is delicate and powerful and she is a pure artist. Everything she does has that magic light in it. She made her new album partially in Afghanistan, and many of the lyrics deal with the continued oppression of people’s liberties by the Taliban.