Check out these t-shirts that Aspecks printed for DJ, producer and author Richy Pitch to help promote the launch of his upcoming album “Ye Fre Mi Richy Pitch”.

Ye Fre Mi Richy Pitch is the name of the album that showcases the latest creative endeavours from our friend, DJ, producer and author Richy Pitch. Reflecting two years spent in Ghana, Richy has collaborated with many local musicians, adding his own unique vibe to distinctly West African instrumentation. Check out exclusive footage of songs from the album being performed live, as well as an intimate discussion with Richy, who is accompanied by the international artist M.anifest. Together they discuss their musical collaborations including the album and the making of the song and video for the original track “Blackstar”.

Check out the Blackstar video and live performances from the Ye Fre Mi Richy Pitchy album after the jump…
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Aspecks would like to introduce our affiliation with I AM LDN Magazine, an enterprise focused on celebrating the vibrant arts, music, lifestyle, fashion, poetry and comedy that makes up London culture. The synergies with our own ethos here at Aspecks are obvious so keep an eye out for future collaborative events. I AM LDN is a trendsetter, an independent arts magazine, a philosophy, a fashion guru and a lifestyle, The magazine encourages a lifestyle based on knowledge, passion, humour and one that is deeply rooted in London’s style. I AM LDN documents observations of London Life and sometimes brings other cultures, arts and ideas to it’s readers attention. A magazine for urbanites; I AM LDN seeks to offer a fresh voice amongst all the corporate pillaging and celebrity madness. Consequently they offer creative people the opportunity to interact with an arts focused media publication that is not focused on the money. I AM LDN does it for the fun and for the love of it.

Look them up and check their website where you can find digital copies of their current issue and back-catalogue for your reading pleasure. Oh and as you can see above if you check out page 26 you will be able to see a nice feature on the Aspecks Global Citizen Campaign Competition.

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The well known saying about New York City which goes “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere” has evolved. New York can be substituted with previously less likely suspects like Lagos, Moscow, Mumbai, Shanghai, Sao Paulo and uncountable others. More than half of global society (and growing) now live in cities. The trend of increasing urbanisation globally is a result of interplay between the pull and push migratory factors which cause people to abandon rural agrarian lifestyles for the allure of ‘relative prosperity’ in cities and towns. Another contributing factor to the trend that finds more of us living in cities would be accelerated population growth due to the higher population density found in urban areas. In some cases the city just lands on you as its residents spill outward from congested city centres and it grows.

Also notable is the fact that urbanisation is growing much faster in the world’s poorer countries where in some cases there are insufficient resources and infrastructure (like pliable roads, running water and electricity). Many reading this will be familiar with water cuts and power load-shedding as a result.  Surely there is not enough room for every person that wants to live in a city, or is there?

Another thing to think about with regards to the consequences of growing global urbanisation is  sustainability and the not so small matter of preserving ‘undeveloped’ land in its natural beauty. There is a wealth of information this issue that you can read up on. There is good place to start courtesy of Aid et Action which you can find here: Global Urban Population in Developed and Developing Countries. In the meantime enjoy this music break by Keziah Jones called Lagos vs New York.

After the jump there is a really enlightening excerpt from the 3-part BBC series Welcome to Lagos that deals with many of the aforementioned issues.

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Ctrl.Alt.Shift is a UK youth initiative set up to engage the next generation in the fight against social and global injustice. Naturally there are many affiliations and synergies between such an organisation and Aspecks and after a meeting with the editor of the Ctrl.Alt.Shift magazine it became clear that through the exchange of knowledge and skills we could achieve a lot more by working together. As a movement they tackle issues such as global poverty, climate change, tax and corruption and HIV stigma though running events and campaigns nationwide, a UK-wide street team of reporters and a bi-annual magazine which can all be read about on their website: www.ctrlaltshift.co.uk. They have even been kind enough to plug the Aspecks Global Citizen Campaign Competition on their blog! Ctrl.Alt.Shift run a wide variety of events and promotions across the UK; from art exhibitions to raves and five a side football games. They even had time to choreograph a protest against the misguided philosophy of the BNP.  Check out the video below too see what we are talking about and do not forget to check their website for more info, or contact editor@ctrlaltshift.co.uk to get involved!

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