Not everything makes sense at the start and it’s important to test the waters, analyse what you do and re-shape it if necessary. Take NowNow for instance  (also published by Right Angle Publishing), a blog that began about a year ago using software more obsolete than your G3 laptop. It’s now back up though, looking great with logo design from Tristan Ceddia from Never Now and The Serps, and site design from Hammer & Tong. There is also a new content direction with interviews, articles and posts from here and overseas beginning with a special Kim Jones news announcement, a punk rock karaoke photo-journal from April 77, a Q&A with The Virgins (NYC) and a feature on the ‘Blow The City’ art project from Belgium. Admittedly, a new blog is registered every two seconds but we think this one is different and we hope that you do to.

By Chris Barton

 “BIG on the underground”
“What’s the point of knocking me down?”

M.I.A’s new single starts with a vehement call to her critics. Her lines acknowledging that it will be hard to follow Arular, her debut album that blew up worldwide. The aftermath has meant everyone is expecting anything she will drop will explode in their ear drum. This is probably why the first track she dropped since Arular was XR2 Turbo, an ode to everything mid-90’s starting with the popular car at the time Ford’s XR2 Turbo. The track sounds like a revival 90’s rave anthem, but with subdued vocals by Maya. Bird Flu shows an immediate shift as her delivery is yelled over distorted drums that beat a rhythm closer to Batacuda than Baltimore.

The clip features Maya amidst an array of colours and festivals, supposedly shot in a small Indian fishing village. Apparently she funded the clip herself, showing she is eager to build on her work. Recent YouTube footage of herself and Timbaland in studio, plus her collaborations with UK producer Switch, has already excited people. Showing artists it’s all about timing when you drop a track, especially when it’s this infectious.

By Evet Jean

We’ve been waiting for TV to set up shop for a while, and finally it’s time to absorb their new season range rack to rack. No more must we sort blindly through other labels to get to the long, raw cut, multi faceted pieces of Ingrid Verner and Monika Tywanek.

Cross a lithe dancer with a brooding punk and you get close to TV. Bold linear prints weigh down ghost light fabrics, while waifish silhouettes are bound by tight leggings and streamlined pants. Fabrics twist, fall and weave around the body, as if the clothing is at once claiming its wearer as it is worn.

Like its garments, the store itself continues to blend barriers – combining the old and new, the stark and familiar - into a space of neon lights, hydroponic plant life and antique furniture.

By Nadia Saccardo

Do you have a rebel laptop? A cute little MacBook or PC that looks so sharp it refuses to wear a case in fear of hurting its good looks? Well, here’s news. According to Dimitri* from Computer Point*, 87% of laptop-related injuries could have been prevented with the application of a simple laptop case. “But they look so dull” we hear your laptop bleep. “So frumpy, so uncool!”. Not anymore.

Design outfit Haul have released a range of cases that will make the vainest of laptops feel both safe and sexy. Prophyla-p-tics might sound scientific but the idea is simple. The sleeves are fashioned from vinyl advertising billboards, which means they’re tough and no two are ever the same. Now there’s no excuse for protecting one of your most important assets and helping it feel special at the same time.

*Could well be a fictional name and a fictional business.

By Nadia Saccardo

Music and graphic design have been in bed together since the first record was pressed and someone had to think about scratch-proof packaging. One of the greatest partnerships to emerge from this is Ronald Clyne’s work for Folkways Recordings. As a freelance designer in New York, Clyne produced over 500 covers for Folkways between 1951 and 1981, including the famous Anthology of American Folk Music, compiled by Harry Smith.

Contemporary art space The Narrows is launching a retrospective of Clyne’s album cover work for Folkways this week. Highlighting a major contribution to American modernist graphic design, this show should be a holy grail for music nerds and designers alike. Alongside more than 50 LP covers, curators John Nixon and Stephen Bram are presenting an interview with Clyne, who passed away in 2006.

By Penny Modra

The desperation of watching music videos on Rage at 3am can be an intensely private experience.  Waiting for one more good song before you go to bed. Okay, one more after that. Then just one more. So watching quality clips on the big screen with a like-minded audience is healthier all round.

The British Council Australia, in association with ACMI, present Antenna UK 04: showing some of the most promising recent work by British directors of music videos. Featured bands include Badly Drawn Boy, Zero 7, and Death Cab For Cutie’s astonishingly maudlin clip for “I Will Follow You Into The Dark”, where the singer’s bedroom is slowly overwhelmed by an ever-growing hole in his floor.  Alongside these videos are special guests: Joji Koyama (aka Woof Wan Bau), famed UK animator and director of clips for Coldcut, Mogwai, Four Tet and more; and Alex Maclean, creative director of Airside, creators of visuals for Lemon Jelly and the new Beatles video, as well as installation and design work.

Oh, and just like your precious 3am television, it’s free. RSVP is essential: rsvp@britishcouncil.org.au

By Martyn Pedler

Around this time last year, Melbourne experienced eight days of debauchery and music from great bands set in a disused Theatre on Russell Street. This year Children of the Night is back for a one night stand. Featuring Japanther’s (NYC) only Melbourne show they will be supported by Muscles, Fabulous Diamonds, Bret from My Sister The Cop’s new band and Toupee, Bromance, Tranterco and other DJs. Taking place in the brand new club Roxanne, it will be the first time that anyone has seen the venue since its former days as an S&M club and will be a great warm up to their official opening the following night. There is much more to be said but if you like your nights unexpected rather than predictable then don’t miss this one show.

By Chris Barton