The 80s in the UK must have been pretty scary, these public information films that detail how to survive a nuclear attack on britain, make for uncomfortable viewing. The sanitation one is pretty nasty. At the end of each film there is a chilling musical phrase, that pretty much sums up the 80s in a single noise.

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GREEN EYED Official Trailer from Nathaniel Lindsay on Vimeo.

We loved Nathaniel Lindsay’s previous film and are pretty blown away from the look of his next one. ‘In the Summer of 1980 a successful yuppie faces an existential crisis when a nosferatic ghoul joins his social circle and undermines his social status.’ Best. Plot. Ever.

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For a person with the musical history of ex-The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite frontman, Mick Jones, he is a very unassuming man. I meet him on a humid afternoon in West London as he and a team of helpers are madly trying to finish putting together the Mick Jones Rock n Roll Public Library — an exhibition of some 10,000 pieces of musical and pop culture memorabilia that Jones has been collecting since childhood. While I wait for my time to speak with the man, as he poses for a photo shoot with a London paper and finishes putting pieces of jewellery into a glass case in a room titled American Artefacts, his press officer relays to him: ‘Southampton University want to offer you an honorary doctorate.’ Jones’ response is: ‘Why would I want to do that? I haven’t done anything.’ But that’s far from the truth.

Mick Jones is the guitarist and vocalist from The Clash – the group widely described as ‘the only band that matters’, whose politicised lyrics and musical experimentation continues to influence musicians to this day.

In the 80s he formed Big Audio Dynamite to critical and social acclaim, and currently performs in Carbon/Silicon with Generation X’s Tony James. He’s also a renowned producer, having helmed The Libertines’ breakthrough album ‘Up The Bracket’ and Hard Fi’s ‘Stars Of CCTV’.

It is less than an hour until the media and other invited guests will arrive for the exhibition opening and Jones is just beginning to place the individual contents of a box of old cameras into an upright glass case.

‘We’re not ready, as you can see,’ he says, but is more than happy to talk as he works.

‘The basic idea of all this was that I had all this stuff and I thought ‘it doesn’t do me any good if it doesn’t do anyone else any good’.

‘I’m trying to put something back; give people something that they can enjoy. I get a lot of enjoyment out of my stuff. It jogs my memory. And when people see it, they have their own personal memory, their own trip; it makes them think about things in their life.’

There certainly are a lot of touchstones of cultural value that visitors will relate to around us – from a signed Beatles poster, to gold records, tour passes, posters, records, clothing, photos and too much more to begin to list.

And that’s not to mention the monetary value. In any auction room or even on eBay these items would be worth a fortune, but Jones is unconcerned about such things.

Nor is he worried about any damage that may occur from the extraordinary opportunity he is offering attendees to handle and even copy items with a giant scanner.

‘It’s only stuff,’ he says.

‘I wouldn’t be worried about it. It’s only here to enjoy while it’s here.

‘That’s just the kind of person I am, you know. When we first started (setting up) someone asked if I wanted to make lists (of all the items), or just wing it. And of course we’re winging it.’

But despite the items’ intrinsic value – and sometimes intensely personal nature, like the hand-written note from Joe Strummer, probably once slipped under a hotel room door, admitting defeat and asking Jones for a reconciliation – to him it just ‘is what it is’ and he remains oblivious to, and untouched by, its ‘worth’.

All Mick Jones is concerned about is ‘doing something with it’.

‘People don’t really have ‘stuff’ in the same way as they used to’ he explains, ‘They put all their music on MP3 and they don’t have the space to put ‘stuff’. Or they put it in storage and then go and visit it on the weekends, instead of visiting their parents.

‘It’s part of the dissolution of society, in some way. If we can, I want to redress that,’ he says.

‘Around the turn of the century I started to want to share (what I had) in some way. I felt compelled to do something. I’ve always been a person who likes to try and do things, and I believe the only way to do something is to actually do it. Believing in that is how I ended up doing this.’

But more than a social remedy, and probably most interestingly to his many fans, Mick Jones’ Rock n Roll Public Library is his new musical project.

‘This is my music at the moment. It’s a big musical arrangement, it seriously is.

‘It’s an extension of the music, but in a visual sense. It’s like when you close your eyes and listen to music and pictures come into your mind’s eye. That’s what this is,’ he says.

‘It’s very personal. The whole thing inspires me. I wonder sometimes what I’m doing. It’s almost got a life of its own. It makes me all dewey eyed.

‘However, I gotta say that I don’t spend a lot of time getting all dewey eyed and mushy about the ‘old days’.

‘These are the good old days now.’

And while you won’t get a chance to see The Clash, in any incarnation, playing again – ‘(The Clash and the songs) were the best with the guys who knew it best, the guys who did it the first time around’ – he is giving people the chance to play with, or at the least be ‘produced’ by, a member of The Clash during this exhibition.

Mick Jones explains: ‘There are two other rooms here. A live room provided by Strummerville (the musical charity set up in honour of The Clash’s front man Joe Strummer) and the other room is a replica of my studio in Acton.

‘We’re getting people to come in and knock out a few tunes. There are people out there queuing now. And other people will be coming down by prior arrangement.

‘Something will come out of it. We’re inviting people to create something. And then we’ll make a creation out of those creations.’

But don’t any preconceptions of what might come out of it. Jones isn’t just into rock and roll, or political messages.

‘There’s still a lot to be said, and I still like the greats, but I am interested in other stuff as well. I like that Rihanna girl and her song ‘Umbrella’, ella, ella, ella. And that song ‘Crazy’ by Gnarls Barkley. I like new shit, I like what’s going on now.

‘I love The Streets. He’s a poet,’ adding, ‘Of course I still listen to Dylan and Bruce.’

And his advice to the musicians out there now – ‘Relax and don’t worry about it. It doesn’t matter if they don’t like it.’

And that’s Mick Jones for you, really – the epitome of relaxed.

Rock’n'Roll Public Library, 18 July – 25 August, 2 Acklam Road, Portobello Green, W10 5XL. 11-7 Wednesday-Sunday. Admission is free

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Cambodian born photographer Frederic Chaubin is the editor of French magazine Citizen K. His photo series on bizarre buildings built in the former Soviet Union during the 1970s and 80s is absolutely fascinating.

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MIXA is an innovative way for people to make, mix and share their music, photos, videos and other digital goodies on an old school cassette tape with a Twitter-generation twist. MIXA in association with Lost At E Minor and My Secret Playlist are giving YOU the chance to win a MIXA.

The 1GB USB tape has the cool aesthetic of the 80s classic cassette tape but meets the needs of the digital-hungry 2009 crowd.

Just like you and I, each MIXA is an individual and likes to standout from the masses.

You can choose from one of the pre-made designs created (with love) by the MIXA team and style it up with the stickers that come with it. Or you can create your own bespoke version by emailing in your designs or images for the MIXA team to play around with on their special digital MIXA maker.

Whatever route you choose, you will end up with a cool, one off MIXA design that has your personality stamped all over it.

Once you have made your MIXA, you become an official member of the gang and get your spot on the MIXA ‘Map of Love’. So get with the programme and undigital your digital.

In order to get your hands on a free MIXA we want to know what song you secretly sing in the shower. Submit your answer below and we’ll pick our favorite. And yes, we happily take bribes. No, really.

Follow the MIXA team on Twitter @MAKEAMIXA for updates.

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In late 80s and early 90s, the Illustrated Laser Ray and futuristic grids aesthetic was a sensation, years before it began to diminish abruptly. But just like every fashion, it became mainstream and mutated into portrait backgrounds. A large amount of these pictures are documented on the Laser Portraits websites.

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It sounds like a cliche to say it, but they just don’t write em’ like they used to: the soulful melodies, the crisp acoustics ringing out across murky lyrical lines. The Alan Parsons Project was an experiment in creating perfect, somewhat sinister, pop. With Eye in the Sky they succeeded, then added in an extra layer of prog-rock for good measure.

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Mark Mothersbough, jack of all trades, most famous as frontman of iconic 80s band Devo, has recently started designing wallpaper and rugs, which are available from Walteria Living. Mothersbough’s designs range from expectedly quirky and off-kilter to surprisingly understated and tasteful — after all, he does compose music for commercials and kids’ shows these days.

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Melbourne’s Cut Copy is the hottest electro act out of Australia right now. We spoke to Mitchell Scott from the group to get the lowdown on their musical highground. Long live the 80s huh! Where would we be without fluro colours, synths and poppy chorus hooks. Any oft-neglected trend from that decade you think should be brought back in? ‘Polystyrene packaging, smoking on planes, slap bracelets, wearing just one glove, Ghostbusters’. Does Melbourne still have a dynamic creative scene? ‘I think it really does — there’s no shortage of people in Melbourne doing amazingly cool things creatively, whether it’s music, art, fashion, or design. There’s a lot going on. Also, for music, there are a million venues, so bands have places to play’. How was the album artwork conceptualised? ‘When we came to thinking about the album cover art, we wanted something photographic, rather than creating graphics. However, we also wanted something that was a bit colourful, a bit strange and that would be striking and interesting to look at. So we came up with the idea of photographing ourselves and then projecting the photos onto ourselves with colours and lights also projected. We ended up really pleased with the end result. And we’ve got some pretty cool plans for how the CD cover gets manufactured, which should be cool if it turns out how we hope’.

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Yes, the 80s were trite, bubbly and a little, errrr, disposal but hell they were fun, as this clip from the 1984 movie Electric Dreams — in which a computer falls in lust with a girl — proves. [watch another tragic 80s film clip and read an interview with Nouveau Vague's Marc Collin on his 80s musical obsession]

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Man, I remember shaking my tail to Come on Eileen many moons ago — when rat-tails were a right of passage and Molly Ringwald held both the lock and the key to my tiny pitter pattering heart. Back then it was all ice-skating and fairy floss; skateboards and trading cards. It was bags of chips by the rusty school fence and sunburnt faces on crackling summer days. It was Pepsi and Milo; showbags at the Easter show; and games of Twister by the electric heater. And all the while a soundtrack of pure musical and lyrical indulgence played on and on and on. Mighty props to the 80s. If it weren’t for the misdemeanors and feeing of unbridled potential that pervaded that decade like a bad New Romantic haircut, then every year since wouldn’t have made any sense at all.

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