Micah P Hinson’s Yard of Blonde Girls

French band, Cocoon

We’re big fans of French duo Cocoon, so we spoke to frontman Marc Daumail to prove it. Ahead of their upcoming tour of Australia in November, we asked him how vibrant the French music scene is right now: ‘It’s such a relief to be considered like a real band singing in English in a country like France, which is very conservative about its music traditions. We know Moriarty and The Do. They are nice. We all worked a lot to make this scene exist’. Which folk acts have most excited you recently? ‘My albums of the year are not very folky: Grizzly Bear, Lee Fields, The XX. But The Tallest Man On Earth just made one of the best folk albums of all time’. Read Cocoon’s Secret Playlist.

Arctic Monkeys Humbug giveaway

We like monkeys. But we like Arctic Monkeys more. To celebrate the release of their new album, Humbug, we have a very cool prize-pack featuring a Humbug LP, poster, badges and a 7″ and 10″ for Crying Lightning. Just leave a message under this post saying why you really, really want one. Read more

Rare Michael Jackson Motown radio session

From the Motown archives, this is a rare radio session recorded in the early 70s and featuring the original Jackson 5 — Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael — all interviewing one another. During the podcast you’ll hear a very young sounding Michael talk about his favorite sports, bands, even what he looks for in a girl – all an instinctive brotherly banter, providing a nice reminder of where it all began. [Michael Jackson sculpture by Jeff Koons]

James Mackay’s Even Though I’m Free I Am Not

Award-winning photojournalist James Mackay’s latest project comes at a time when the world’s eyes are fixed on Burma and the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi. By photographing former political prisoners displaying the names of their colleagues and friends who remain behind bars, Even Though I’m Free I Am Not exposes the enduring pain faced by Burma’s opposition movement. Over 2,100 activists, journalists, lawyers and politicians languish in prisons across the country, and on Friday Aung San Suu Kyi will likely join them. Read more

Secret Supper Clubs

The blind date of the food world has finally arrived, and it’s proving more palatable than the awkwardness of an evening spent in superficial conversation. Secret Supper clubs are springing up in the backstreets of London: what are attics and living rooms by day get converted into makeshift restaurants catering for an evening of surprise tastes and conversations. Read more

Adam Farlie

Young British designer Adam Farlie takes a leftfield approach to how people experience interaction with objects, often taking everyday items and toying with their potential to harbour deeper meaning and greater usage than first perceived. He transforms a bed into a ‘vessel that captures and contains the audio-memories of past occupiers through sound’, allowing those who lie on the bed to recall past intimcaties or conversations from years ago, while his take on a chest of drawers’ purpose of holding records of people is similarly intriguing.