Happy New Year !

Happy New Year and a belated Merry Christmas !! I have been away in a very rainy Southern Spain - developing a real weakness for Seville which manages to be both lively and cosy. I'm also impressed by the amount of live music you hear walking around the streets and how many people I saw carrying guitars ! Anyway, I wish everyone a New Year full of wonder and excitement. As for my new year all my new songs are finished it's just a question of recording them and I hope to have more news about that soon, lots of love tt

Photos (c) Sylvie Bardet

Carmen Herrera

Just read this great article from the NYT about the Cuban artist Carmen Herrera [link]. Her story is so inspiring and work so beautiful if you have a moment it is worth checking out and don't forget the slide show ! The above painting is called "Red with white Triangle" (1961). Lots of love, tt

Racha Rizk. Mreyte Ya Mreyte

I have to thank Peeping Tallulah for my choice of wake up song this week, as I had never heard it before she mentioned it in the TT test. The song "Myrete Ya Myrete" sung by Racha Rizk and written by Khaled Mouzanar for the film "Caramel" is truly gorgeous and sensual. I hope you enjoy discovering it as much as me ! Love tt

Peeping Tallulah / Photographer

This week the TT test is taken by the intriguing photographer Peeping Tallulah. In her own words, she plays on the theme of the subservient fear of female eroticism. Taking photographs in public and private spaces, Peeps (as she is affectionately known by her muses) illustrates and annotates a very adult world of submission and domination. Even though this is a world I’m not ordinarily drawn to, I find her work to be challenging and refreshing and her answers to the TT test very interesting !! What is your wake up song at the moment ? I’m totally obsessed with a Middle eastern feel at the moment... And so the song, "Mreyte Ya Mreyte" from the film "Caramel" is what I look forward to in the morning, preferably with a strong coffee and cigarette... Which work of art or single event has most influenced you in your chosen profession ? Of all the art stuff that’s gone in, none really stand out as pinnacle moments. I loved Dali as a child, religious icons, Bacon as I got a little older. And then all the usual, I suppose the Sensation exhibition opened my eyes to something knew. In truth though... I think the biggest influence was my last lover... who taught me something about the darker side of love. If you could travel back in time, which period would you most like to visit and why ? Probably a time where very pale skin, plump bosom and a tiny waste was the fashion... maybe Victorian, but only if I was stinking rich… I've always been intrigued with Neanderthals, so maybe cave man times would suit me best. I love eating out and discovering new restaurants, can you please recommend one to me ? My house... I know its not quite a restaurant, but I can recommend it. Or... if your are ever in Columbia Road market, there's a very sweet coffee shop on Hackney Road. Coffee is superb and they make perfect sandwiches and cakes, "Taste of Bitter Love" [link]. What is the best advice you ever been given relating to your professional/creative life ? "If you think it’s a good thing for you... then do it.” Bonus question: I have 2 questions really: When you first started photographing this night time universe were you looking for something transgressive to document or did you always feel like an insider and were actually telling your story ? I found something like home in the alternative scene in London. It seemed entirely natural to photograph it. Many of the people you photograph are playing roles or living out fantasies that they may not be able to in their daily lives so how do they feel about being photographed knowing that the photos may well end up being published or exhibited to a wider audience or even family and friends ?! To be entirely honest... I'm not sure how they feel about it. I think they like it... being admired, desired... wanted and shared. I only work with people who want it... and feel that its good for them, and then it becomes a shared moment. After that, my work belongs to everyone who wants to see it.

T.TV page

The T.TV page [link] is now online. You can see many of the old videos on this page and hopefully in the new year footage following the making of the next album ; ) love, tt.

Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin : 69 Annee Erotique

My wake up song this week is Serge Gainsbourg’s ’69 Annee Erotique’ featuring Jane Birkin. Perhaps, with this wintry weather I am looking for a little sunshine and as soon I hear the first bars of this song I picture myself driving along the Mediterranean coast in an open-topped car wearing dark glasses. This is really fantastic because I don’t have a car, I'd be completely neurotic about too much exposure to the sun and I hate wearing sun glasses ! Anyway, the following clip, is classic, Gainsbourg manages to sing and smoke (where is he flicking the ash ?!) and Jane Birkin looks beautiful and completely natural lying across a piano... ah, the 60s... early 70s... whatever !… love tt

Langhorne Slim

A really fun night. Over the weekend I was surfing on Spotify and heard this wonderful singer-songwriter called Langhorne Slim [link]. His new album ‘Be Set Free’ is so good, in fact I haven’t enjoyed an album like this for a long time. I then find out he is playing a gig in my town (London) on the Tuesday. Can you imagine ?! And he is playing in a funky little bar where the sound is better if you stand behind the monitors. So that’s where I stood all evening listening to Langhorne Slim and his raucous and energizing band always amazed that there is still so much to discover : ) love tt