It’s been quiet here of late, that’s true.

The past month, I’ve been busy getting a number of things off my plate in preparation of a trip to Tokyo in a few days.

Hopefully I will be back into the swing of things after I return in two weeks. See you when I get back.

Whilst not really being interested in skateboard or surf culture, I’ve always found Monster Children to be an enjoyable read.

Their latest photography themed issue bares a cover image of Kate Moss reclining on a bed, showing just a hint of nipple — beautifully shot by Hedi Slimane. Of course, their distributor bulked, and it won’t appear anywhere except online & select bookshops.

Normally I find this kind of prudishness just backwards, but given trash like Zoo & Ralph are completely acceptable, it just becomes utterly bewildering.

My fantastic girlfriend, Toe, has launched her new blog |es\ says.

Toe & I met through her previous blog Groovisual Diary, so I’m very pleased to see her return to the online world with her homage to all things “S” — stripes, stereo, spin, sound, soul, smile, sky, sleep, scrap, SX-70, Sixties & Seventies, and, ahem… a certain shoegaze geek.

A while ago, my precious Sony Eggo D66 headphones died. Having used my iPhone pack-ins as a stop gap, I grew to become quite reliant on the built in mic/clicker - so when Nixon came out with the iPhone compatible Nomadic, I saw their replacement.

The phones are quite good for portable cans, although there are some minor issues which I’ve covered in my tagged review. Overall though, they’re certainly growing on me.

I discovered Hammock by chance a few years back searching for some other shoegaze music, and immediately ordered not one, but all of their releases on the spot.

Mono No Aware is from their most recent album Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow. More stripped down than previous efforts, and initially written solely for their only live show at a Riceboy Sleeps exhibition, MTWSFUT serves an excellent backdrop for drifting to sleep. But given full attention, it becomes even more rewarding — music that makes the world seem even more beautiful.

In launching Album, I thought it was time to give my folio site a bit of a refresh as well. I hadn’t updated it in years, with a large portion of the work dating back as far as my uni days.

So, that’s all gone now. Instead, the site will now act as a kind of online business card slash landing page, an at-a-glance view of the things I do.

The looping video is of various scenes from parks near my apartment and studio, as the rain settles in and adds movement otherwise mostly static scenes.

A personal blog is something I’ve been toying with for some time.

My intention in building Album was for it to act as a visual diary of sorts. An emphasis on the image, rather than the text. My hope is that it becomes a catalyst for ideas, in addition to cataloguing things I find interesting.