Babel - Nortec Collective

Today is one of my favourite London weather days - chilly but gorgeously sunny, everything & everyone radiant & alive ! So logically, this week's wake up song is from Mexico. I wonder how much of our listening is shaped by the weather ? Some people see music in colours but because of my English education I see music as a meteorological report ! The groove of Nortec Collective's track from 'Babel', is joyous, it just tumbles & makes me dance around my apartment in the morning, hope it does the same for you ! Love tt

Metropolis, Brigitte Helm

I caught a screening of the recently restored and reconstructed version of Metropolis this week [link]. It's the first time I've seen this 1927 classic and I was mesmerised. I know the movie bankrupted a film studio but it was probably worth it to create such an amazing work of art !! When Brigitte Helm who played the dual role of Maria and the Maschinenmensch ( machine human ) is in her first incarnation as Maria, I was thinking 'ok, this is a good performance but it's your standard vision of the innocent & virginal young woman that you find in most silent films' but when she becomes the diabolical and very worldly Machine Human I was petrified ! She's able to express every sin just by raising an eyebrow - and she was only 17 when she played the role !! Brigitte Helm was clearly a strong character in real life as well, in 1935 angered by the Nazi control of the German film industry she retired to married life in Switzerland and never granted even one interview about her film career. Of course, that just makes her more fascinating ! Love tt

Video Journal - The Mellotron & the Chamberlin (HD)

This a video journal I recorded when I was in L.A. It's about two of the vintage instruments that belong to my producer Paul Bryan which I find very interesting and will be heard on my new record. Hope you enjoy, love tt.

Museum of Everything

Yesterday, I discovered the Museum of Everything [link]. Perhaps, I have been sleeping under a rock because it's near my neighbourhood & I should have noticed such a wonderful thing much sooner ! Artist Peter Bake has curated the collection, you will find Walter Potter's Museum of Curiosity, rather sinister dolls, Punch & Judys', miniature fairgrounds among other delights & the buzz of being in a genuinely exciting space. They also serve tea for free ! What stronger recommendation could you want :) love tt

Jamais Seule - Loane

This week's wake up song is 'Jamais Seule' by French singer-songwriter Loane. It's so jolly & bouncy it's the perfect way to start the day ! I hope you enjoy, lots of love tt

Catch Up !

When you finish making an album, there's the euphoric bit ' Wow, I've just made a record ! ' and in the weeks that follow there's the bit where you feel slightly lost. I'm experiencing that bit right now. So, I've been catching up on some theatre, I saw 'Deathtrap' [link] with a great cast led by Simon Russell Beale, miraculously I did not know the story & was the perfect audience member, jumping out of my seat with every twist in the plot. I also saw 'A disappearing Number' which had a brief revival in the West End. This was the second time I've seen it - why am I so fascinated by a show which has so much mathematics (by far my worst subject at school) ?! Well, it is poetic and ends up being as much about love & loss as mathematics and there is the comforting thought of all the infinities :) Saw the film 'Winter's Bone' [link] great performances, you will either be a little frustrated by the vagueness of the plot or find that the most compelling thing about it. I'm also listening to a lot of music in a wonderfully intense way, the process of making a record makes you hyper aware of every nuance of other records not just your own. I was listening to the radio & discovered the American librettist & lyricist Dorothy Fields [link]. One track after the other, 'I can't Give you Anything but Love, baby', 'The Way You look Tonight' and 'If they could See Me now' came on & I was just floored. The lyrics are extraordinary. I've started Field's biography and I'm sure I will discover more of her great music. Anyway, please enjoy Judy Garland's live version of 'I Can't Give You Anything but Love', it's heartbreaking & glorious, lotsoflove tt