Above, the beautiful video for the equally beautiful song by Low, Make it Stop. One of my favourite songs of the year so far, and one that (beware: unusual honesty ahead) I listened to a lot at the beginning of the year when I was going through a bit of a rough patch. Don’t know why I told you that, but there you go.

And talking of tough times (I’m a regular barrel of laughs this week aren’t I?) Riding motorcycles into storms, and other inefficient therapies is a terrific blog pot by Joel Johnson about the difference between running away from things and running into your future, no matter how terrifying that might be.

In this article for the NY Times David Carr writes an obituary for the ‘media bundle’. I know that sound a bit dull but trust me, it’s not. It’s about how digital audiences are destroying traditional, inefficient business models and what that means for the future of media content.

This i09 post is about fans of The Hunger Games discovering info about the next film by looking at the sets via Google Earth. I’m not a Hunger Games fan (hard to believe, I know), but put that next to the fact that in the past week various fans of Daft Punk have been creating ‘false’ versions of their new single by editing together snippets from around the Web, and there is definitely something interesting there about fanaticism, technology and hype… I’m just not entirely sure what it is yet.

Finally this week: Takashi Murakami is a mad genius, and his new film looks equally bonkers.

A friend recommended the documentary Marwencol to me a few months ago (I tend to ask most people what their favourite documentaries are to see what kind of person they are and to get some good recommendations). So for a few weeks I just had the word ‘Marwencol’ written down somewhere and no idea what it referred to. And then I remembered, found it, watched it and fell in love. I’m not going to say much about it because I don’t want to spoil it (I’d even say maybe don’t watch the trailer), suffice to say it’s touching, funny and fascinating in equal measure.

Another documentary that I’m dying to see, but which isn’t out yet is the Ricky Jay documentary Deceptive Practice. I remember seeing Ricky Jay (alongside people like David Berglas and James RAndi) for the first time on a late night Channel 4 programme The Secret Cabaret when I was a kid and he made a massive impression on me then, and still does. Watch the trailer to find out why.

Every now and again FACT magazine upload old articles from their ink and paper day to their website. The latest is their Essential Arthur Russell feature. Really good stuff.

Just so you know, The Walking Dead and Toy Story are essentially the same story.

Lots of music stuff to get to this week. But before we get into that, you have to watch the video embedded above. It’s one of the most moving things I’ve seen for a long time.

Are you back? Have you wiped the tears off your cheeks and taken a deep breath? Okay then…

I found that video via Mat Osman who also happens to be the bass player for Suede… who have a new album out. Bloodsports (Spotify link) is out now and is well worth a listen. I was dancing round my kitchen to it just this morning.

At another end of the musical spectrum we have Justin Timberlake and his new single Suit and Tie. And, of course, there’s a Four Tet remix of it, why wouldn’t there be?

Via the still brilliant Boing Boing comes this video, described simply as “College student asks if he can play piano for Billy Joel and Joel says OK. The results are fabulous!”

One of my favourite music blogs right now is Last Gas Station, and their weekly Off the Road show never fails to lift my Monday. The latest show is embedded below, you can get more here.

And finally something non-music-related. A fantastic blog post about true customer service: Why I cycled a hundred miles to meet my first customer.

I watched Room 237 this week and I was blown away by it (I also watched Oscar-winning Searching for Sugarman in the past few days but I’d say Room 237 would be the one I’d have voted for). It’s a documentary that “explores numerous theories about Stanley Kubrick’s ‘The Shining’ and its hidden meanings,” and it’s fascinating to me because I don’t think I’ve ever seen an exhaustive, objective examination of this kind of pop culture deconstruction and obsession. And what makes it particularly interesting is the way that technology has enabled that obsessive deconstruction. We are the hi-res, frame-by-frame generation and that high definition leads to a whole new set of interpretations. Also: Stanley Kubrick helped fake the moon landings!

Achewood is (hopefully) getting animated! This is very exciting if you’ve been following the adventures of Ray, Philippe, Cornelius etc for a the past few years. And if you haven’t then you should go straight to Achewood and catch up right now. One question: why didn’t Chris Onstad didn’t Kickstart the series? Surely there’s enough of us out there to make this happen.

Fashion diversion ahead! I was made aware of Mamnick this week, a shirtmakers based in Sheffield (close to where I was brought up). A note to all brands: this is how you communicate with your audience. With pictures of your grandad. No, I’m serious. (Their shirts are nice too).

There’s a blog that’s all about literary and poetry publishing in London. I like this a lot.

Now something heart-wrenching to finish on. Someone has made a film about Edwyn Collin’s physical and creative recovery following a devastating strike in 2005. It’s called In Your Voice, In Your Heart and you can find out more and watch a short trailer here.

I’ve always been a fan of Canongate. Back in the early-interweb days (when all this was just fields) I published a literary ‘zine (for two whole issues) and my first interview was Jamie Byng. I still think there’s a lot to learn from what he and his company are doing, and this interactive, multiplatform novel is a good example of that.

Staying on the same theme, there’s a good article over on Wired subtitled storytelling embarks on an interactive adventure that attempts to take stock of the various ways in which the industry is attempting to drag itself into the near future.

Over on the Web, Nick Denton’s Gawker empire is still experimenting, this time by allowing its readers to not just comment on stories, but to create personal micro sites and discussion areas independent of the site’s editorial staff. More on how it works here.

One of the best articles I’ve read in a long time: The Shooter (a cosy chat with the man who shot and killed Osama bin Laden). And another really good article I read this week: Cinema Tarantino, the making of Pulp Fiction.

Finally, as I’m in the midst of my Earwormery project, this article scared me a little bit.

A little cheesy, undoubtedly, but also beautifully realised and undeniably uplifting, When I Grow Up is two minutes very well spent.

The Pulp-O-Mizer from Thrilling Tales is a thing of beauty that I could play with for hours.

This past week, Netflix released all 13 episodes of its drama House of Cards. According to top producer Peter Kosminsky the industry should be shitting itself, and I am inclined to agree with him.

Another organisation sublty subverting an industry is… Oreo cookies. No, really. Look what they did with their Superbowl twitter ad.

Music -wise this week, how better to spend two hours than in the company of Four Tet and his vinyl collection?