The Playlist: Nas / Sigur Ros / Sol / Electric Guest / Arcade Fire

Nas - The Don



Sigur Ros - Ekki Mukk



Sol - Yours Truly



Electric Guest - Jenny



Arcade Fire - Sprawl 2 (Soulwax Remix)

Steve Jobs: Billion Dollar Hippie

We have all read pages and pages of text on the late Steve Jobs, his stories and quotes are very much part of modern folklore. Steve Job was genuinely one of the most important people of the modern era, he has changed the way we live our lives in a very real and tangible way. Jobs was a man who, most importantly for me, understood so many different areas of the world. He understood consumers, the technology and the market and manage to blend them all seemlessly. He was a man who trusted his instincts over anyone and anything else and, more often than not, he was right. The man was a contradiction, as much of a hippie as a hardcore business man. He was a beautiful contradiction and combination.

There are few people that you can learn lessons from that are so relevant to the current world, which makes the BBC's Billion Dollar Hippie program a must-watch.

Odd Future: Oldie

I think it's fair to say that few music videos can sum up a band as Oldie did for Odd Future. And it's far from the most complex of videos.



From the start Tyler could sense that there this was something worth filming and didn't care if it pissed people off or ruined Terry Richardson's photoshoot. This song is ten minutes long. Yet that is not long enough. This is largely due to the fact that almost every member of OF (no doubt Syd was on the beat) gets their camera time to spit their verse. And they spit it well. The mysterious Earl is there. Even Frank Ocean (who looks like the group's babysitter more than ever) can rap. Tyler doesn't hog the lime-light, yet you always get the feeling this is all going to his plan.

The Odd Future boys have clearly stepped up their game with their second mixtape. As a collective, they never really hit it for me, never lived up to the hype - if possible. There was always talent in there, see Hodgy, See Tyler, see Syd - but it was always just a bit of a mess together. But they're most definitely stepping up their game. However at no point in the video do they take it too seriously (see Jasper yelling out he's not a rapper and doesn't know his verse, see the water pistols and lightsaber). It is Odd Future after all.

Tyler's final lines sum up OF perfectly: "They say we ain’t acting right / Always try to turn our fucking color into black and white / But they’ll never change him, never understand him / Radical's my anthem / Turn my fucking amps up / So instead of critiquing and bitching, being mad as fuck / Just admit: Not only are we talented, we’re rad as fuck."

TED X Observer: Plan B

Now this may not be one of the most slick or smoothest TED talks I've watched, but it is by far one of the most relevant, compelling and important ones I've watched.



Plan B, aka Ben Drew, is a phenomenal talent, I've thought that since his debut album, Who Needs Actions When You've Got Words. That was an album that, like many hip-hop albums, I could not necessarily relate to, but it was one that I could understand and appreciate. The content of his songs, the aggression in his convinction and language he used, although all intelligent and true, was never going to make it mainstream. Plan B knew this. So he made an album that would, in the form of a concept album Strickland Banks. And it did. Not only did it reach number 1, he recieved an Ivor Novello award for it. Plan B's talents lie not only within acting but also movies, directing and acting in Harry Brown and Adulthood, both to much critical and commercial acclaim.


But perhaps the most important thing about Plan B is his need and desire to do something good, to help those that he believes he can. He has used his talent and hardwork to put himself on a platform that enables him to do just this. From this TED talk you really get the impression that, not only does he want to do good, but he understands how to make a difference, perhaps the most important thing. He talks on the power and importance of hip-hop, something I've mentioned before, the need to listen and look after youth, not encourage the press to chastise them and also the importance of hope. He is relevant and intelligent, somethings that most politicians will never be. Kids will listen to him, he is putting his real power to real use. And as he says, it's not just him that is doing it, we all can. Brilliant stuff.

Made In Iceland: Klara Harden

I shouldn't have watched this.



For the past few months I've been nursing a real urge to go and visit Iceland. It is a country for whom I've had a soft spot for for many years now, mainly due to beautiful Sigur Ros videos. It is a country that, for it's relatively small size, has a vast range of diverse landscapes. From volcanos to green fields to stunning lakes it is a country that seems to look beautiful from every angle. So as I watch the slightly bonkers Klara Harden trek her way across the country, all on her own, I feel the urge going stronger. I need to get myself in that country.

Google ReBrief: The Idea Is Still King

Advertising is an interesting and exciting industry for many reasons. It is an industry that is on the very forefront of technology, yet one that can and still is, learning so many lessons from the past. One of the (few) things I really remember from uni was that a the idea should be able to work across any media, "content is king" in the words of Amil Gargano, creative on Volvo's Drive It Like You Hate It campaign.

Google's ReBrief puts this theory to the test, taking some of the most iconic adverts from 40 years ago and attempting to recreate them in a digital world through Google's display ads. The stuff of advertiser's wet dreams.



It is truly fascinating to watch and listen to those behind Coke, Volvo, Alka-Seltzer and Avis' most famous ads. Some of the most iconic adverts ever. As I started saying, there are still so many lessons to be learnt from the past in advertising, which is why the words and experiences of the greats such as David Ogilvy, Bill Bernbach and John Hegarty are still as valuable today as they've always been. At it's very basic level, advertising has always about connecting to people, and over the last 40 years or so, people haven't really changed that much.



It is also quite humbling to see very intelligent and creative people completely baffled by the simple technology that we take forgranted. But they don't shy away from it, they embrace it and thrive upon the challenge and opportunities. And they really prove that not understanding new technology is not an excuse, it always has been and always will be about the idea. Sure how you execute it is vital, but a great idea is a great idea. End of.

The Playlist: Alabama Shakes / Theme Park / Hooray For Earth / Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

Alabama Shakes - Hold On



Theme Park - Two Weeks



Hooray For Earth - No Love



Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - Tapes & Money

Alexa Chung X Vero Moda

The ever beautiful and ever stylish Alexa Chung shows off her latest range for Vero Moda.

Drake: Suitable Style

Boy got style.

We Stopped Dreaming.

Maybe this video overplays the importance of going into space and exploring. Maybe not. Make tomorrow come. Rather than thinking short-term, about budgets and elections, we are urged to get excited and to dream. To create adventures and to create heroes. Something in our day and age that is often forgotten. Heroes rarely exist anymore. Those that do the really incredible are shunned to focus on the celebrities and their mundane lives. Those that adventure, do less so than ever before. Many are constantly connected online or to safety. The adventures of today and not as they were. Again, I raise the point, maybe the importance of NASA is overplayed, and the budget is complicated and dangerous, yet it gives us something to dream about. And that is something that shouldn't have a price on it.

The Playlist: Electric Guest / Klangkarussell / NATIVES / Deaf Havana

Electric Guest - This Head I Hold



Klangkarussell - Sonnentanz



NATIVES - Big Plans



Deaf Havana - Leeches

Kony 2012 #invisiblechildren

I've made a lot of posts on my blog over the years and while I like to think it is always cool or interesting, rarely is it something really important. This one is.



We all know about some of the absolute horrors that happen across Africa every single day, yet we ignore them. And even when you think you know of all of the horrors, there are always more you never even knew existed. That is exactly the insight behind Invisible Children's campaign Kony 2012. Kony is the number one most wanted international criminal, yet most of world, including myself until now, had ever heard of him. Rather than pretending that he doesn't exist, this campaign endevours to make him famous, let the world know of his horrors. Let the world know that they need to stop.
This campaign could not have been more relevant to today. It galvanizes the youth, it has a guerrilla feel to it and uses social media as a natural form of communication to connect people around the world.
HOW TO HELP: Join TRI or Donate to Invisible Children: bit.ly/yp5Ffv Purchase KONY 2012 products: invisiblechildrenstore.myshopify.com/ Sign the Pledge: causes.com/causes/227-invisible-children

Don't ignore.

Grimes: Oblivion

It's a track that could be right at home in the Drive soundtrack and that is by all means a very good thing. The video is wonderfully shot, slightly odd, but fun and carefree from beginning to end. Bit obsessed

Danny MacAskill: Insight 2012

The usual stuff from Danny MacAskill, but by no means is that a bad thing. Beautiful landscapes, nice music and wonderfully shot videos. And of course Danny himself, supremely talented and thoroughly nice guy, a potent combination.

You Have To Begin.

Connect Things.

Blood Brother Trailer

Blood Brother is the story of group of children infected with HIV and Rocky Braat, a disenchanted young American drifting through India. He wanted to save them all, but in reality he couldn’t cure even one of them. He had to stay. It’s a hard life. He faces opposition in many forms. He lives in a concrete hut. Sometimes, he is close to despair. But working with the kids gives him a sense of purpose. The truth is, he needs them as much as they need him. They teach him, daily, that love is the only thing that makes life worth living. (Blood Brother)

The Playlist: Plan B / Hodgy Beats / J.Cole / Madeonn

Plan B - Ill Manors



Hodgy Beats - In A Dream



J. Cole - Grew Up Fast



Madeon - Icarus