thus spoke zakazaka

Part One: “In 2009, Swansea drug agencies reported a 180...

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:41:58 +0000

Part One: “In 2009, Swansea drug agencies reported a 180 percent rise in heroin use, and it’s visible on the city’s streets. Early one morning we meet a young, homeless couple named Amy and Cornelius in a city centre alley. As heroin-addicted alcoholics, they’re smack in the middle of two of South Wales’s most ever-present epidemics.” via vbs.tv

"Successful zealots don’t argue to win. They argue to move the goalposts and to make it appear..."

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:10:58 +0000

“Successful zealots don’t argue to win. They argue to move the goalposts and to make it appear sane to do so.”

- Seth’s Blog: Moving the line (the power of a zealot)

What's the Easiest Way to Share Large Files and Media with Friends? [How To]

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:29:51 +0000

What's the Easiest Way to Share Large Files and Media with Friends? [How To]:

For all my closeted/openly geek compadres out there, Lifehacker comes with the goods… Obviously not to be used to transfer illegal copies of TV shows/films/albums/etc.

lowres: Dante and Sherry had no money, no education, and no...

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 13:24:48 +0000

lowres:

Dante and Sherry had no money, no education, and no marketable job skills. But they had love. Also, rabies.

via heyitsnoah: Excellent (and hilarious) look at how a news...

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:18:12 +0000

via heyitsnoah:

Excellent (and hilarious) look at how a news story is put together.

Charlie Brooker - How To Report The News (via CJN)

DJ Mehdi (feat Chromeo) - ‘I Am Somebody’ Love both...

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:04:40 +0000

DJ Mehdi (feat Chromeo) - ‘I Am Somebody’

Love both the track and the video - well worth a squiz.

You Dropped Food on the Floor. Do You Eat It?

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:00:25 +0000

You Dropped Food on the Floor. Do You Eat It?

Das Racist - Rainbow in the Dark There’s nothing like an...

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:01:22 +0000

Das Racist - Rainbow in the Dark

There’s nothing like an essay that needs writing to spark off a bit of high-end procrastinatory duty. Discovered these chaps the other day after hearing somebody I’ve now forgotten recommend strongly.

Every month Thames Water removes more than a ton of pubic hair at it's water treatment plants, whereupon it is taken away to a landfill site and buried.

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:16:55 +0000

via ohyeahfacts. Did we really need to know this?

love you blackandwtf

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:50:26 +0000

love you blackandwtf

Ellie Goulding >> Under the Sheets {Jakwob Remix}

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:14:23 +0000

Ellie Goulding >> Under the Sheets {Jakwob Remix}:

Click to Spotify. There. That’s better.

Just caught Vampire Weekend playing a free gig at Somerset...

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:53:33 +0000

Just caught Vampire Weekend playing a free gig at Somerset House… Ended up finding out about it via Informed, but was gutted when I realised it had already started - I hot-footed it over the road but the gates were shut. And then I remembered who I worked for and whipped out my building pass for the New Wing. Score.

Dear Lord this is funny…

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:06:54 +0000

Dear Lord this is funny…

Joseph Crook, Islington 20/12/2009

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:37:21 +0000

Joseph Crook, Islington 20/12/2009

Now watching Hot Club de Paris at the Lexington: two gigs one...

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:48:17 +0000

Now watching Hot Club de Paris at the Lexington: two gigs one night yo.

V.V. Brown at ULU, 23rd November 2009

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:12:17 +0000

V.V. Brown at ULU, 23rd November 2009

Karaoke, je t’aime.

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:52:37 +0000

Karaoke, je t’aime.

Photo by cattycamehome

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:40:48 +0000

Photo by cattycamehome

Thus sang zakazaka. Although make no mistake, I am definitely of...

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:59:44 +0000

Thus sang zakazaka. Although make no mistake, I am definitely of the opinion that:

Christmas should be left until… well… Christmas
I can’t sing particularly well (or that Dan chose the wrong takes)

Nonetheless, here I am posting me singing a song called Christmas.

In my (slightly unfestive) defence, there isn’t a sleigh bell in sight (or rather earshot), nor is it the kind of “feelgood” fromage-fest that gets put on infinite repeat in a soul-destroying shopping mall near you from the 1st of September - every bloody year.

Also, Jay Z says autotune is dead, so I think that lets me off the hook on the proverbial “singing in tune” coat rack. And that’s my numbered list put to bed.

Anyway, the whole endeavour is actually part of something much bigger: the fifth album from fellow (honorary) Croydoner Dan Bird (aka The Wind Up Bird), fittingly called Two Hits and Ten Pieces of Junk. Departing from his usual thing of writing all the songs, singing on all the tracks, and playing all the instruments, this time he’s merely done everything except sing (and even there he provides most of the backing vocals).

All the front-of-stage duty gets left to his merry band of friends, with a different vocalist on each of eleven tracks, with everyone recombining for a repeat-to-fade, feel-good finale (Track 12) that culminates in the noise Dan’s Washing machine makes when it’s finished its final cycle. Sublime.

The keen mathematicians among you will realise that this means everyone sings on two tracks, which allows each of us to delude ourselves into thinking that the eponymous “pieces of junk” are the other ten fillers. A winning formula!

You can download/stream the below tracks from the rather unsurprisingly named thewindupbird.co.uk right now! Or just get your right click action going on this lot here:

We’ll be having a wee little launch later on, and videos for all tracks apparently soon come, so this (sadly) may not be the last you hear of my voice just yet. Sorry.

Gents, Pangea Project, Stoke Newington

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:19:17 +0100

Gents, Pangea Project, Stoke Newington