This is Screen Time – a new series where artists share the digital spaces that inspire, inform, and distract them.

Earlier this summer, the British-Nigerian composer and multidisciplinary artist Tony Njoku returned with A WORLD OF BODIES ON FIRE, released on PRAH Recordings. Created after a period of burnout and disillusionment, the four-track project channels bottled-up emotion into a collection of instrumental compositions that meditate on inner turmoil and collective catastrophe, tracing a path through tension, catharsis and release.

“I needed to get a lot off my chest, and thought the best way to do that was through my synths and piano,” Njoku said. “This project is a collection of raging exhalations, quiet revelations, subtle smirks of humility, meandering through emotional temperatures, laments and meditations. The objective was to splurge on feelings and to move through the fire that was building up inside.”

As he looks towards what’s next, for Screen Time Njoku shares the tabs he keeps coming back to, from albums and essays to digital archives, creative tools and internet rabbit holes.

A Bandcamp album, SoundCloud mix, or radio show you listen to on repeat:

I’m not sure how I came across Halvcirkel’s music, or if I ever met them, but I have known about their work for years now. Anders Lauge Meldgaard I got familiar with through his collaborative album with the Copenhagen Clarinet Choir. This record, SPIRIT, has been on repeat this summer whilst cycling through London and Berlin in the evenings. 

An overlooked film, documentary or video living somewhere online

One of the most beautiful films that I often watch online is Ashes and Snow. It’s a multidisciplinary project by Canadian artist Gregory Colbert. The work explores the poetic relationship between humans and animals, creating dreamlike images that blur the boundaries between species, nature, and spirituality.

A cultural archive, digital library or image board you use for deep research

I’m giving away the sauce… UbuWeb is my go-to when I’m in a rut, or I’m beginning to work on material that’s out of my comfort zone. It’s the internet’s largest archive of free avant-garde materials.

An article that shifted your perspective, or a newsletter you look forward to each week

Amongst the many talents and skills in her arsenal, mate Dabs is a writer, and we have some really great intellectual back-and-forths about all sorts of things. We were in Lagos a while back and got talking about the impact colonialism still has on present-day Nigeria. A few months later she sent me this essay she wrote, and I find myself returning to it quite often for insight. It’s essentially a meditation on decolonisation, intuition, and myth that explores how reclaiming embodied ways of knowing offers a path beyond the psychological legacy of colonialism.

A niche website we definitely won’t know about

I have an obsession with mythology; something about it feels as though it’s at the cornerstone of what it means to be human. All our stories can be abstracted into some mythological tale from our ancestors. The archetypes that we embody at various points in our lives are all present in the myths of the world. This website, The Internet Sacred Text Archive, has a lot of detail on various world myths, religions, and more.

A sound library, field recording archive or sample pack source

I rarely use samples or sounds that I don’t record myself or at least someone I know recorded. When I was making much more electronic experimental stuff, I used to get sound effects from the BBC’s archive, but I’m not sure what’s on there now.

A page you return to for comfort, not information or inspiration

Nowness has a section of its site dedicated to architectural videos. Some are about just about the buildings; some are cross-disciplinary, but they’re all tranquil. I just watch them back-to-back when I’m feeling overwhelmed or overstimulated.

Also, The Local Project channel on YouTube is a hot one. I watch that channel endlessly for the same reason. There’s just something relaxing and poetic about listening to architects narrate over slow footage of nice buildings. 

At the afters, you’re pulling up…

Right now it’s the new Kelela album. Honestly, that’s on at the party, predrinks, and car ride over, too.

Finally, your Screen Time last week:

 70h 48m.