Tonight's entertainment options
It’s ALL about the Mercury prize this evening. Telly coverage begins from 9.30pm on More4, while the Guardian’s Tim Jonze will be keeping you fully updated on this ‘ere liveblog.
Couldn’t give a stuff about the Mercs? Grayson Perry’s excellent series Who Are You continues on C4 (10.05pm), there’s the final Scott And Bailey (for the time being) on ITV (9pm), and anatomist and arachnophobe Alice Roberts clambers into the Spider House on BBC4 (9pm). Don’t do it Alice!
Watch the world's first sushi sequencer (as you do)
There are some DJs/producers who make beats from the sound of their son’s pen hamster gnawing its cage; others that construct albums about the life of pigs using from instruments made from pigs. But never has anyone yet tried to link up a sequencer to a sushi restaurant and create a soundtrack as the plates whizz past and are snaffled by a load of head-nodding diners.
Until now, that is. The Red Bull Music Academy has pitched up in Japan for the month and have decided to see what mischief can be made via their ‘hand-rolled’ beats. Watch Tokimonsta (who’s all over the blog today) having a go up there ^^^ and hip hop chap Just Blaze below. Meanwhile, we wait with baited breath for someone to hook up a pasty to a soundsystem somewhere and share the results. Only a matter of time...
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Thursday: telly's best day
In America Sunday is the undisputed king when it comes to TV, the day when all the water cooler-worthy shows tend to air. Here, erm, not so much. You’ve got the ropey fourth season of Homeland, talent show results and Songs Of Praise, and that’s about it, really.
So what is British TV’s best day? My vote would go to Thursday, which recently has been killing it in the telly stakes. Consider the evidence: on BBC1 you’ve got Attenborough’s gruelling but great Life Story, while on BBC2 you’ve got the daft Brummie bludgeon-fest, Peaky Blinders. Elsewhere, there’s solid comedy from Scrotal Recall and Detectorists (C4, BBC4); and some strong US fare in the form of Arrow, Scandal and The Knick. What’s more, the return dates for both The Fall and Danny Boyle’s Babylon have been confirmed, and you guessed it: Thursday.
Disagree with that assessment? More of a Friday fan? Share your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter
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Parquet Courts, Parkay Quarts, Porky Chords - whatever their name is, we like them
Noted social media non-users Parquet Courts are busy boys at the moment. They recently formed a supergroup with PC Worship called PCPC. Here are the first fruits of that labour, a prickly post-punk number called Fell Into The Wrong Crowd, which clocks in at a Godspeed-y 11 minutes:
Meanwhile, the band also performing as “alter egos” Parkay Quarts, and have an album under that moniker coming out on November 11:
And just to confuse things further, all three bands will be in operation on their forthcoming tour. Here are their UK dates:
NOV 24 @ Ramsgate Music Hall
Ramsgate, UK As PCPC
NOV 25 @ Electroworkz
London, UK As PCPC
NOV 26 @ Wardrobe
Leeds, UK As Parkay Quarts
NOV 27 @ The Laundry
London, UK As Parkay Quarts
Got all that? Good.
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Marco... Polo... Marco... Polo
... is the name of Netflix’s next big drama, out in December. It tells the story of the adventurer’s time in the court of Mongol ruler Kublai Khan. Going by this first look trailer it should have enough stabby, nudey bits to lure in the Game Of Thrones crowd. Plus Khan is played by the marvellous Benedict Wong! He’s come a long way from sexing whitebait on 15 Storeys High:
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Reading list
Here’s a quick re-cap of some worthwhile pieces going the rounds this lunch time:
- Fancy a flutter on the Mercury Prize? FKA twigs is the bookies favourite at 2/1 (so she’s got no chance). Just imagine if Young Fathers won? If you want to troll yourself there’s a Telegraph piece with the headline: Why none of these albums deserves to win the Mercury Prize.
- Read about Premier League ref getting disciplined for knocking off to make sure he got back to watch Ed Sheeran play a gig.
- The AV Club have put together a beginner’s guide to Hammer films, which is lengthy, exhaustive and good.
- Mikky Blanco’s new mixtape is called Gay Dog Food.
- Kelly Rowlands is really really really excited about teaming up with post-dubstep producer Tokimonsta.
Slimzee
There are quite a few decent mini documentaries about grime knocking about. But Rollo Jackson’s mini doc on Slimzee is a cut above. Beautifully shot, with saturated images of east London and some amazing quotes and talking heads. Peerless stuff.
Wu Tang get epic
The artwork for the Wu Tang’s album A Better Tomorrow has been released and sees the group combine most of the world’s most famous buildings into a strangely mesmerising GIF. Form like Voltron y’all.
Music time
Future - Monster
Nayvadius Cash releases a pre-halloween mixtape which sees him return to his street-focused rap after turning on the pop spirit on Honest earlier in the year. Lots of Metro Boomin productions that’ll have you throwing gun fingers at pumpkins.
Sylvan Esso - Coffee (J.Rocc remix)
The rap pop-folk combo no one saw coming is here and Stones Throw mainstay J.Rocc has added his hip-hop heft to the mix. Lopsided, a little bit trippy and still emo - it works!
Belle and Sebastian - The Party Line
Belle and Sebastian do disco. Not the James Murphy I’ve-been-listening-to-loads-of-Patrick-Cowley type of disco either. This is brazen power pop and is all the better for it.
Deers - Between Cans
Madrid’s answer to the Vivian Girls continue their assault on hipsters everywhere with more lo-fi goodness.
RAD-CLIFFE
Morning all,
Last night Daniel Radcliffe joined Jimmy “laughing boy” Fallon on stage for a rendition of Blackalicious’s famous tough-twisting rap A-Z exercise Alphabet Aerobics. To his credit he delivered the goods even with Fallon gurning with excitement in the background.
