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Amelia’s Magazine | Yeasayer at Heaven, Feb 23rd – Live Review

There are few men like Jamie McDermott. A man of his calibre is seldom found in the 21st century. His affection for cheeky baroque arrangements, doctor outlandish but hypnotising woodland performances and a theatrical charm that belies his context in our often over-starched popstar era marks McDermott as one of a very different breed indeed. As the master of ceremonies to the 10-strong orchestral collective The Irrepressibles, information pills McDermott offers pure carnal delight in a debut that is never once short of imagination, gusto or surprise. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the cabaret.

‘Mirror Mirror’ is a soaring, inquisitive and arresting debut that conjures the ethereal atmosphere of theatre in a swell of tempting arrangements and remarkable rhythmic pace. A chorus of strings rises from each song, perhaps to best effect in opener “My Friend Jo”. As the curtain rises, urgent sharp violins introduce the listener to the ‘crazy bitch’ Jo, the finest of introductions to the irreverent humour and talent of The Irrepressibles. As we slip and slide through the first act of ‘Mirror Mirror’, the fits and starts of strings and guitars are bolstered by McDermott’s unnervingly impressive vocal range. Keen to show he does not merely masquerade in the comic, “In Your Eyes” is typical of the vulnerability and touching emotion which McDermott’s voice projects. For all the showmanship there is no hesitation to allow the matters of the heart to take precedence and in moments of lucidity we are granted a glance through the keyhole guarding such secrets.

But everything is not quite what it seems in the wonderfully animate world of ‘Mirror Mirror’; “Knife Song” purrs with the allure of a lover as flutes flirtatiously tiptoe through the verses but the revelation that, “Jamie, it’s such a shame you disappoint me,” marks a song of personal confusion and searing but very human honesty. More than a voice on a record, more than a character paraded on stage, McDermott is a man who has poured not only his creative energies into The Irrepressibles but his heart and soul. We become intermingled in the melt of his thoughts in ‘Nuclear Skies’ as layers of light keys, wailing strings, intensifying reverberations and angelic calls become an otherworldly whirlwind.

Despite a willingness to expose the raw emotion of the heart, The Irrepressibles show a devilish streak. Never shy to taunt, tease and tempt, McDermott takes on Elvis himself to declare, “take my hand, take my whole life too, because I can’t help what I do to you,” in “Splish! Splash! Sploo!”. Crashing cymbals and scaling plucked violins punctuate a mocking warble to the publicly jilted. A complicated man indeed. Undoubtedly the finest moment of ‘Mirror Mirror’ arrives at the tail end in the form of “In This Shirt”, its beauty compounded by glitchy electronic stutters that chatter like birdsong, organs and the rolling expectancy of the cello. Feeling like fresh sun on your face, the finale is truly worth waiting for as it unravels itself in pure mastery.

McDermott’s exuberant performances dance on the border of disturbing, but an ability to melt between the light and the dark with such mesmerising grace has led to comparisons to Anthony Hegarty, though the heights McDermott’s voice can reach sometimes suggest a male Joanna Newsom, minus the folk. The time for the rise of the Irrepressibles is surely upon us. The somewhat poperatic tendencies undoubtedly catch your attention but the flamboyancy can sometimes seem more like a child starved of affection. The positive side to this is The Irrepressibles’s contagious spirit and exuberance for sticking a tongue out or a lithe finger up to convention. McDermott and his cohorts relish the playful charm of Anvil, a galloping soundtrack to a horseback race across the backdrop of twisted romances. The finesse of the orchestral arrangements and assault on the boundaries of musical genres mark ‘Mirror Mirror’ as an album that deserves to be given your time; not only is it a lot cheaper than a ticket to the theatre, but it offers you so much in return.

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There are few men like Jamie McDermott. A man of his calibre is seldom found in the 21st century. His affection for cheeky baroque arrangements, patient outlandish but hypnotising woodland performances and a theatrical charm that belies his context in our often over-starched popstar era marks McDermott as one of a very different breed indeed. As the master of ceremonies to the 10-strong orchestral collective The Irrepressibles, pills McDermott offers pure carnal delight in a debut that is never once short of imagination, gusto or surprise. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the cabaret.

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Being signed to Mogwai’s label certainly sends out indicators to what’s in store. Much in the same way that Rock Action’s inceptors have long become a hardy perennial of having a very particular sound over forking down any new roads, viagra dosage the new album from Glasgow based 4 piece Errors doesn’t take any big risks or curveballs. Two years on from their debut It’s Not Something But It Is Like Whatever, we have more of the same sharp, clean and medically precise electro rock – yet, this is no bad thing.

What they have learnt is a honing in of their craft, they’ve locked it tight, made it solid. Hermetically sealed almost. Admirable though it was, their debut had a feel of studiousnous, of meticulous “rock school” perfectionism that left the end product somewhat cold. Here, much of what flawed their debut works to their advantage.

Errors love clean sounds, precisions, crispness and angles. This is music that could only ever be made after someone had already made Tortoise: that Chicago band born out of an intense one night stand between a Hardcore that can no longer suppress its futuristic inclinations, and its old nemesis musicality, itself tired of the dullness of its own knowledge.

Errors are direct descendents of this spiky yet somehow eggheaded family tree. Cousions of Pivot, nephews of Kieren Hebden and Tyondai Braxton and grandchildren of Mogwai, great grandchildren of Slint, somehow along the way blood ties with Mike Patton and Richard James remain strong.

Although, perhaps just as their great forebeares Tortoise did one hot night, Errors now have a massively aroused horn, a swollen crush on records from Manchester with serial numbers like FAC451, they are eyeing up cocktails at the bar, cocktails with neon tinged 80s names drank to make one feel like your on a yaught. They will go home tonight lusting after these sexy items as they spoon their mathematically precise post rock partners. A few years ago M83 transformed their dreamy layers of synth into something more sparkly, in a similar, if more visible way, here Errors begin a slow, subtle shift.

The 7” A Rumour In Africa is sunny, optimistic and almost sounds like a festival band, clean shiny guitars lay the signature down weaving in and out of the crispy, quantised beats. The stand out comes third in, Supertribe is a beautifully rendered collision of old and new – early nineties clean synths and drum patterns like acid era Factory records mechanically but sensitively rebooted into a post – emo, post – electro, post – post rock world.

This is not a groundbreaking record. It does not move mountains. Yet it is the satisfying site of seeing a previously uptight friend fall in love. In a small way, Errors have found their own mutation of post rock.

Being signed to Mogwai’s label certainly sends out indicators to what’s in store. Much in the same way that Rock Action’s inceptors have long become a hardy perennial of having a very particular sound over forking down any new roads, physician the new album from Glasgow based 4 piece Errors doesn’t take any big risks or curveballs. Two years on from their debut It’s Not Something But It Is Like Whatever, more about we have more of the same sharp, clean and medically precise electro rock – yet, this is no bad thing.

There are few men like Jamie McDermott. A man of his calibre is seldom found in the 21st century. His affection for cheeky baroque arrangements, drugs outlandish but hypnotising woodland performances and a theatrical charm that belies his context in our often over-starched popstar era marks McDermott as one of a very different breed indeed. As the master of ceremonies to the 10-strong orchestral collective The Irrepressibles, cheap McDermott offers pure carnal delight in a debut that is never once short of imagination, gusto or surprise. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the cabaret.

There are few men like Jamie McDermott. A man of his calibre is seldom found in the 21st century. His affection for cheeky baroque arrangements, abortion outlandish but hypnotising woodland performances and a theatrical charm that belies his context in our often over-starched popstar era marks McDermott as one of a very different breed indeed. As the master of ceremonies to the 10-strong orchestral collective The Irrepressibles, McDermott offers pure carnal delight in a debut that is never once short of imagination, gusto or surprise. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the cabaret.

Illustration courtesy of Harry Williams

Yeasayer kicked off their show at the very hot and sweaty Heaven with ‘Odd Blood”s opener track “The Children”. This seemed like a bit of an odd choice to start with, more about considering that it’s the least poppy track of an album that’s an homage to beautifully executed pop. It also seemed like the audience were decidedly underwhelmed to begin with, nurse and weren’t really sure what to do with a less well known song. In fact I’m sure half of them were there only for the purposes of hearing “Ambling Alp” and going home.

In a strange way the sinister distorted vocals of “The Children” set the scene for them to launch into the more upbeat songs from ‘Odd Blood’, information pills and things only improved from there on out. Their set was heavily focused on newer songs, and high points of the night included “Strange Reunions”, “Mondegreen”, “Love Me Girl”, “Ambling Alp”, “I Remember” and “ONE”. By the time they had got to “ONE” the crowd seemed to know what was going on, and had generated some enthusiasm for them at last. To help matters, Yeasayer were accompanied on stage by some trippy flashing light-boxes, which resonated pretty much perfectly with their own somewhat trippy hippy sound.

Photo courtesy of Rachel Lipsitz

I was a little concerned, having listened to ‘Odd Blood’ so much, that the live vocals would be a let down. The singing on the album sounds, at times, as if it’s ventured into the dreaded realm of autotune. However what I discovered is that in amongst all the weird noises and bird calls, there are actually three very talented singers playing off each other. Keating, Tuton and Wilder are practically seamless in their live performance. All of them have a capacity to sing far above the pitch of most normal human men, but it works for them, and it’s actually pretty impressive to witness. Keating really stole the show though. He managed to maintain what might normally be a comical level of Bee Gee-esque crooning without his voice breaking, cracking or dropping notes. In addition to the man being an amazing singer, he was inventive with his voice, throwing in snarls, shouts, and all kinds of bizarre vocal noises which he still managed to blend into the song. Not only that but for a skinny white boy in a suit, he had some some serious rhythm, and could have definitely taught the lacklustre crowd how to throw a shape or two.

The sound of ‘Odd Blood’ was replicated in the best way possible. The tracks obviously didn’t sound identical to the album, and they weren’t always easy to identify at the start, but hearing it live made it far easier to appreciate each individual musician’s contribution. It’s fair to say that the few older songs Yeasayer played sounded smoother to the ear, especially when set aside ‘Odd Blood”s more choppy sound. They also seemed to generate more enthusiasm from the onlookers as well. When they came back for their encore and played Sunrise, it was probably the best song of the night. Although I love ‘Odd Blood”s pop credentials, Sunrise has a sound all unto itself.

The charm of Yeasayer is how many bits there are to it. They’re not content with the standard instruments, they have to throw in extra singers, extra sound effects, and bizarre noises that I don’t even know how to begin to identify. Having heard much of Odd Blood live, all I wanted to do was go home and listen to it again, and that to me seems like the best indication of a night well spent.

Written by Emma Tucker on Monday March 8th, 2010 4:37 pm

Categories ,gig, ,heaven, ,live, ,Odd Blood, ,review, ,Yeasayer

Amelia’s Magazine | Johanna Glaza: Letter to New York – Review and Interview

Johanna Glaza by Daisy Steele.

Letter to New York is a stunning showcase for multi-instrumentalist Johanna Glaza, channeling the vocal gymnastics of Kate Bush and the idiosyncratic song structures of Philip Glass. Here she tells us more about her songwriting influences and process.

Which musicians have inspired you most, and why?
My bible is Henryk Gorecki’s Symphony N3. I heard it for the first time a few years ago and it had such a profound influence on me,as if it cut me into tiniest bits and pieces in order to make something completely new. At the time of recording my first EP I was listening to Philip Glass. When I heard him I thought- oh my god, this guy ripped off my future ideas I would have had by the age of 60 or so ;). Letter to New York came from endless plays of Ravel’s Sheherazade. Listening to it, I imagined not a boring opera diva but some mysterious creature living in a completely unreal world, singing with such unhuman longing. It sounded so unfamiliar I wanted to take this vibe to the contemporary scene. Recently I have discovered Arvo Part, so I guess the next record will have his imprint.

Johanna Glaza by Amelia Grace.

How many instruments do you play and what is your current favourite?
I taught myself to play piano, keys and ukulele. I even attempted a bit of glockenspiel on my recent record. Each time I try out a new instrument I feel like a kid, it gives me freedom of being not perfect. Different songs inspire different instruments. Piano for me is a very independent instrument with a very strong voice of its own, sometimes it feels like a battle of egos when I try to sing to it. So I choose ukulele for more intimate songs. I love how it sounds like a little harp at times. But my top favourite instrument will always be my voice. There’s just so much you can do with your voice. On one of my tracks I used it as a percussive instrument. On others it served me as a ghostly choir. There’s no distance between you and the instrument, you are the instrument yourself when you sing.

What prompted your intriguing song structures, and how are they created?
Well, I sort of always struggled with writing songs of conventional structures. The ironic thing is the harder I tried to make them conventional, the more I’ve been scolded by my first listeners for their complicity. So one day I gave up and decided to try whatever comes instinctively to me, even if I can’t understand it myself. When I wrote Letter to New York I wanted to stay faithful to the linear structure of the letter, because the letter itself can’t be repetitive. So I wrote the words first, and then sat down and sang them to a simple piano riff, and kept all the bits and pieces that came then. I was so surprised when my brother, who is my harshest critic, rejoiced that finally this song’s structure has made sense to him. I was like, you kidding me, it makes hardly any sense to me now!

Why did you want to write a Letter to New York?
To be honest I can’t remember how it came to be. I guess just like with all messages or letters sometimes we have this urge to speak to the person, we grab a phone or a pen so spontaneously. Only in my case it was the place itself I wanted to connect with. I missed New York. My first solo shows took place in that City, it gave me courage to do what I do now. Sometimes I felt so isolated in the basement studio when working on the record, I had to remind myself about the place that inspired me the most, my glass kingdom.

What is your favourite bit of the big Apple?
L trains on the subway. My friend called it the beautiful people line. So true! I met so many beautiful people on L trains and heard some of the most unusual music from busking musicians. Forget about the old tired covers you hear in London. People play mainly their own tunes there, and with an open layout of two way platforms it’s a perfect spot to gather a crowd. I can’t tell you how many times I missed my train to be able hear one more song. And I was never the only one do so.

How did you make the video for Letter to New York? any challenges or best bits?
I’ve chosen to shoot the video in a very wild, uninhibited place in Lithuania called The Dead Dunes. It is a very special place on the coast. No one is allowed to walk there, but a few years ago a local woman showed me the secret path to the dunes. Anyone could be transfixed by the complete solitude there. I imagined this is a place where the main 3 characters of the song – Black Crow, Koyote and the mysterious Wind – could meet. But a week before the filming there was a huge fire in the nearby forest. It’s a miracle we managed to get there at all, and when we did it was an alien world, all black dust. We felt there had to be another scene of the rebirth in the sea. I was with a dream team of crazy inspired people, you see. It was +2C outside, everyone was wearing winter jackets and I went into the sea to be reborn. I would do it again if you ask.

Letter to New York by Johanna Glaza is out now and can be bought here. Catch Johanna Glaza play live in London for free on 11th September at The Finsbury.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday August 7th, 2014 9:51 pm

Categories ,Amelia Grace, ,Arvo Part, ,Black Crow, ,Daisy Steele, ,ep, ,Henryk Gorecki, ,Johanna Glaza, ,Kate Bush, ,Koyote, ,L trains, ,Letter to New York, ,new york, ,Philip Glass, ,Ravel, ,review, ,Sheherazade, ,Symphony N3, ,The Dead Dunes, ,The Finsbury, ,wind

Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with Catherine Feeny

Catherine Feeny, view order illustrated by Emma Block

Catherine Feeny is a rather wonderful folky songstress based in Portland, information pills click Oregon. Her third album, remedy People in the Hole, is out now. I really like Catherine’s music – it’s simple, beautiful, unassuming and charming to listen to. I had the chance to have a chat with Catherine about what’s been happening recently and what the new album holds for us, whilst having a bit of a delve into what Catherine gets up to when she’s not clutching her guitar…

Welcome back! What’s new since Hurricane Glass?
Hey Matt, thanks! A lot’s changed… I am back in the US now – based in Portland, Oregon, which I am really enjoying. Also, career-wise I am rolling independent style now – again – which has its awesome sides and its challenges. And I am married!

Illustration by Jenny Costello

Congratulations! So, How did People in the Hole come together?
It’s a twisted tale! After Hurricane Glass came out independently in the UK, I started recording a new album. Hurricane Glass got picked up by EMI so the new one was put on hold. There was this gap in which my idea of what I wanted to do shifted a bit. It had started out as more of a country-rock record. Then we decided to strap one of the centerpieces of that feel, The Shape You’re In, onto the EMI release of Hurricane Glass.
Coming back to the material months later, some of the other tracks felt like they had lost their urgency for me. And the record got softer, sweeter…. more ethereal and experimental.

Photograph by Devaki Knowles

How would you describe People in the Hole in three words?
Romantic. Ethereal. Vibey. I feel like those words suck. I don’t know.

What’s your favourite song on there?
Wah wah wah. That’s hard! Bleeder is up there. I wrote the lyrics to that one and gave them to Tony Gethin, a ridiculously talented writer and musician I was playing with in England. He came up with the music, and I think it’s such a beautiful marriage. He also came up with the bass line which is just genius to me. Plus, the recording – it’s a live take of me playing with the band and it’s so mellow and groovy. Tricks – the drummer – nailed it. Then on top of that vibe is this gorgeous Russian sounding cello line, played by Ian Burdge so precisely, but with such drama and emotion – he doesn’t waste a note in the instrumental.

One of my faves is Last Night I Awoke in the Midst of a Dream. It’s beautiful. What’s the weirdest dream you’ve ever had?
Hmm. When I was a kid I had a dream I was friends with George Michael and he was wearing that white suit from the Make it Big era… I was so bummed when I woke up and we weren’t friends anymore.

Illustration by Aniela Murphy

You duet with Brian Wright on this album. How did that come about, and how was it?
Brian is an old friend and one of my favorite songwriters. I covered his song Radar on Hurricane Glass. But the Jonny and June duet on this tune was Sebastian’s (the producer and my husband) idea. Being from the US where people don’t have much of a sense of humour about drugs, I was a little nervous about it. But we went for it and I’m glad we did. It’s so wicked and true. We recorded Brian and me together in the dressing room after a show he was playing in London. It was a blast.

I LOVE the illustrations for the new album. Who did those? Why the move from photographs?
The cover painting is by Anna Fidler. She is a brilliant artist I met one evening in Portland when we were forced to share a table in a crowded bar. We got to chatting and exchanged info. I looked at her web site a few weeks later and fell head over heels for that painting, Love and Wisdom. The inside drawing is by a guy named Dennis Stan who showed me his drawings when we did a house show together. I was bored with photos and these things fell into my lap.

Which artists or bands influence (or have influenced) your music?
Oh, so many! Too many ever to name. But I’ll try. My parents records were Simon & Garfunkel, Cat Stevens – they were an influence. When I was a kid I loved all that melancholy stuff from England: The Cure, The Smiths. Also pop on the radio – George Michael, Phil Collins, Whitney Houston. In my twenties I got into Alt Country – Lucinda Williams, Emmy Lou Harris, Waylon Jennings. Always loved Patsy Cline!
There is such a discernible style of songwriting that is popular right now, in the indie-songwriter world – I think of it as wayfarer music. Jolie Holland was the first modern artist that I heard doing it. I like it and it seeps in, but I also find it annoying that it seems like suddenly everyone sounds like that. Before long it will be out of fashion again. Oh! Sinead O’Connor and The Indigo Girls were both huge influences, too.

Do you prefer recording or performing live?
They are so different. I love them both, like two children who are opposite and each beautiful in their own right. Performing is more of a challenge – there are more levels to it. You have the relationship with yourself and the song, and then you have the audience to relate to as well. But they are both about the moment, I guess. Really, everything in life is about the moment, isn’t it?

Photograph by Robbie LeBlanc

What kind of crowd do you get at your gigs?
I feel like I get quite a mix. There are the middle aged folks who like intelligent acoustic music. There are the young girls who relate to the emotional content. I have a really strong relationship with my dad, so I feel like I have a pretty good balance between masculine and feminine, and that is reflected in my audience as well – dudes seem to really identify with my lyrics as well as ladies. Though strictly speaking calling my music “folk” may be a misnomer, I think it has a straight-from-the-heartness that manages to cross some social boundaries. We’ve played to audiences in small towns in Idaho where the median age was 60, and they were some of the most connective audiences we’ve played for.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever seen?
I recently saw Anais Mitchell who pretty much blew my mind. Before that, I would’ve said a Neil Young and Soundgarden double-bill that I saw in college – the excitement factor was ridiculous.

Career highlight so far?
Singing Muhlenberg County with John Prine. Supporting Wilco in London. Playing Glastonbury. These are ones I would stick on a résumé. But sometimes it is harder to enjoy the moments that are supposed to be the big ones. There have been some glorious meals prepared by cultural centres I played at in Belgium that felt like career highlights.

What do you do when you’re not singing, writing or recording?
I love cooking and gardening. I do not love e-mailing, but I do a crapload of it. Being an artist these days there is so much to do that is not strictly about the art. Nobody can afford to hire press people and radio people anymore, and the avenues for promotion seem to be ever-expanding. There is a lot of opportunity, but it is a challenge finding the time to take advantage of it.

Catherine gardening, illustrated by Emma Block

What is important to you, in life?
Love. Family. Friends. Living in the moment. Music. Books. Food! Travel.

Who would you most like to perform/record with?
Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Hands down.

What’s up next? Are you going to come and see us in the UK?
I am touring the Southeast US in August and I’ll be in England at the end of October – I’m really looking forward to it. I will have my band with me, Come Gather Round Us. We are finishing up a new record that sounds phenomenal, if I may say so myself…

As a little treat, you can have a listen to title track from People in the Hole, exclusive to you exceptionally lucky readers of Amelia’s Magazine.

Have a listen here.

Written by Matt Bramford on Friday July 9th, 2010 3:10 pm

Amelia’s Magazine | Brainlove Festival 2012: Live Review

Brainlove Festival by Ed J Brown

Brainlove by Ed J Brown

What a day for a birthday! After what seemed like an interminably wet few weeks, the weather was cooking nicely for a trip to Brixton Hill. As has become custom on what is usually a Bank Holiday weekend, the venerable Windmill played host to the Brainlove Festival, organised by that defiantly square peg in the round hole of mainstream indie music, Brainlove Records. Today, though, was an extra special day, as the festival reached the five year milestone (though, ironically, main man John Brainlove was in danger of missing his own festival, having been stranded in Iceland!).

The first act I caught was AK/DK, helped out by Amelia’s Magazine favourite Napoleon IIIrd. Comprising of duo Graham Sowerby and Ed Chivers, they built up from programmed synth loops to various (often seemingly improvised) patterns, layered with different effects, distorted vocals, Napoleon IIIrd’s guitar and some serious drumming action, creating a very pleasing noise.

I popped out to the beer garden, which was doubling as an outdoor stage, to catch some poetry in the sun, and heard tales of manga, Zooey Deschanel and what you really shouldn’t do with a jar of peanut butter!

It was time to head back inside, as Brainlove stalwart Andrew Paul Regan was about to come on. Previously known as Pagan Wanderer Lu, he still totes guitar, keyboard and laptop to create buzzed up *indietronica*, flavoured with a dash of witty, acerbic lyrics. Prefacing each song (from soon-to-be released new album, The Signal and the Noise) with ‘just pretend that you’re not in the Brixton Windmill..’ Regan weaved his darkly humorous tales.

Out in the sun, Abi Makes Music regaled us with tales of accidentally being locked in the Hackney Picturehouse overnight, before her set of slightly twisted synth pop (which reminded me of You Will Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties era Jona Lewie). Despite an interruption from some random sweary local making his way to the barbecue, she won over the assembled onlookers. Also, I discovered that Abi’s partner is someone I know through work! Small world, eh?

Abi Makes Music by Sam Parr

Abi Makes Music by Sam Parr

Back on the indoor stage, London three-piece (and self-described “techno rock band”) Tall Stories were getting underway. With a keytar sporting bass player, they rocked out the crowd with their spiky, punk-referencing sound. I also noticed, later on, drummer Scott Vining helping out on the barbecue outside. Obviously a versatile sticksman!

Tall Stories by Scott Nellis

Tall Stories by Scott Nellis

One of the highlights from last year’s Brainlove Festival, Mat Riviere was occupying a spot in the beer garden. Crouched down with his keyboard , guitar and various effects, and using (amongst other things) one of the tables as extra percussion, he purveyed some haunting, discordant melodies.

Guitar and drums duo Crushed Beaks let rip with their wall of noise before Dad Rocks! slowed things down a little with some acoustic led melodies. Fronted by Denmark-dwelling Icelander, Snævar Njáll Albertsson, and backed with some trumpet and viola, Dad Rocks! treated us to some lovely lo-fi, almost country tinged tunes, and they also welcomed home the intrepid explorer John Brainlove, as he finally made it to the Windmill.

Continuing the Nordic flavour, as is traditional at Brainlove events, Estonian band Väljasõit Rohelisse took to the stage. Meaning ‘roadside picnic‘ and named after a Russian short story, they were bathed in darkness, save for a green lamp projecting on to one wall, with only guitarist Lauri Tikerpe’s back visible. The music was as dark as the stage, with sampled dialogue, reverb-laden vocals, fractured guitar, brooding bass and drums. There was a very post-punk vibe going on.

In complete contrast, headliner Enjoyed (aka dance music producer Peter Evans-Pritchard) offered up some blissful beats (joystep, as he calls it), which got some of the festival die-hards dancing. There was even, unless my ears were deceiving me, a remix of the old Mark Morrison floor-filler, Return Of The Mack. Didn’t see that one coming!

And so, another Brainlove Festival drew to a close. As ever, it was a rich and varied selection of artists, a contrast of styles and genres that marks Brainlove Records out from the crowd. Wandering out into the South London night, I’m sure I wasn’t the only person thinking ‘roll on festival number six!‘

Written by Richard Pearmain on Wednesday June 6th, 2012 12:36 pm

Categories ,Abi Makes Music, ,AK/DK, ,Andrew Paul Regan, ,Brainlove Festival, ,Brainlove Records, ,country, ,Crushed Beaks, ,Dad Rocks!, ,dance music, ,Denmark, ,Ed J Brown, ,Enjoyed, ,Estonia, ,Hackney Picturehouse, ,iceland, ,indie music, ,indietronica, ,Jona Lewie, ,joystep, ,Lo-fi, ,Manga, ,Mark Morrison, ,Mat Riviere, ,Napoleon IIIrd, ,Pagan Wanderer Lu, ,Post Punk, ,Russia!, ,Sam Parr, ,Scott Nellis, ,Synth-Pop, ,Tall Stories, ,Väljasõit Rohelisse, ,Windmill Brixton, ,Zooey Deschanel

Amelia’s Magazine | Laura Gibson – Live Review

999 it’s time, sildenafil erectile is another green focused campaign. As the website notes “We are in a state of emergency – socially, store economically and ecologically. What do we do in an emergency? In the UK, viagra 100mg we dial 999…” Well that all sounds pretty heartening until you realise that the 999 campaigns reaction to this emergency hasn’t exactly been particularly speedy so far. I can’t help feeling that the climate emergency we are facing means groups should be advocating some real direct action rather than just planting a tree or joining the 10:10 movement. However the campaign has some great initiatives to get the ball rolling and hopefully get more people thinking about the global crisis.

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All illustrations by Suzy Phillips

Of course the campaign does have some credibility, it encourages people to get more environmentally friendly, and behind the celebrity endorsements 999 has some forward thinking ideas about how communities in particular can work together to create a more sustainable world. Transforming rural and urban spaces into shared land to grow food has been one of the most successful elements. Capital Growth is the place to start with a great run through of the process and steps and how to get involved. Land sharing empowers people by growing their own food and creating stronger links in communities as well as reducing the reliance on supermarkets. A definite step in the right direction.

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I caught up with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, the rural country celebrity chef, to talk about his part in the 999 campaign.

Can you outline what 999′s main priority is about and why you’re here today?

999 is about driving home the issue of climate change and what we ourselves can do to combat the emergency situation we have found ourselves in. I’ve come today because our aim ties in with the Climate Rush campaign, and its a great way to get talking with the local community, and of course it’s the 9th of the 9th 09.

How is the 999 campaign coming along? It doesn’t seemed to have gained as much prominence in the press such as campaigns like the recent 10:10?

It’s an on-going process, im specifically been looking at the food aspect, and as the ambassador I’m really interested in what small scale communities can do to combat the threat of climate change.

Can you please give some examples of the message your trying to get across in relation to the food aspect of the campaign?

With my books and TV series I’ve been highlighting the importance of locally grown produce and recently I’ve been pushing the idea of land sharing. The idea is to find land, whether in urban or rural spaces where people can grow their own food, there is so much land wasted around the UK that can be used. With over a thousand people on waiting lists for allotments especially in the south, it is vital we utilize all the land we can instead of relying on foreign markets for our vegetables. Food is a great way to create a cohesive community and bring people together.

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How is the land sharing campaign going, have you had much success?

We’ve had over a thousand land plots given to us and up to 30,000 people signing up to the website, so it’s defiantly getting people interested. The campaign is also working with groups like the Church of England and a range of British NGOs. The National Trust for example has just given us 1000 plots of land, so although it’s quite a slow process, there’s been a real positive reaction across the country.

With your interest in climate change, have the facts about the meat industry’s huge carbon footprint persuaded you to become vegetarian yet?

No, not yet, I’m aware of the issues, and I keep by own pigs and livestock, and always advocate buying locally soured meat to keep the carbon footprint low.

So let’s hope this campaign can help to stop this emergency from escalating, with 1 day, 11 hours, 9 minutes since 999 Day, the pressure is on.
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Designers in Residence @ the Design Museum
September 18 – October 31

The Design Museum’s annual exhibition of young designers begins on September 18 with site-specific works from Marc Owens and Dave Bowker. Owens is inspired by virtual realities – his work Avatar Machine replicates video gaming via a headset (above), order designed to make the wearer see themselves as a virtual character in the real world. Bowker works in data visualisation and will be re-examining the way visitors move about the Museum.

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Open House weekend

Once a year thousands of London’s most interesting and historic buildings are opened to the public, sale some of which are locked up tight for the rest of the year. Although some of the most popular buildings in the centre of London have already been completely booked, drugs there are still plenty of places worth visiting.

If you haven’t got your eye on anything in your local area, consider visiting the house of Dr Samuel Johnson, of “the dictionary” fame. It’s free to visit on Friday (there will be free cake on this day) and Saturday, in honour of the great man’s birthday.

Radical Nature

This exhibition of works revolving around nature and inspired by environmentalism features pieces from architect Richard Buckminster Fuller and artists such as Joseph Beuys and Hans Haacke, as well as newer names such as Heath and Ivan Morrison and Simon Starling. Impactful and timely, there are lots of strong visual statements such as the Fallen Forest by Henrik Håkansson (above) and a visual record of the fields of wheat planted as an act of protest on a landfill site in Manhattan.

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Thames Festival

Sunday

One of the few fireworks displays allowed along the Thames will occur on Sunday when the Thames Festival fireworks are set off in all their glory, fired from barges between Blackfriars and Waterloo Bridge so everyone can get a perfect view. There are also events all day, including fire-eaters, an outdoor ballroom (starting to become the South Bank’s speciality) and the annual Night Carnival, where 2,000 costumed revellers bearing lanterns and luminous costumes will welcome the pyrotechnics.
Another load of talks, healing workshops and activities to get stuck into, information pills don’t forget Co-Mutiny is still on all this week in Bristol, Climate Rush are still on tour, and also make sure you get down to protest against the closure of the Vestas Wind Turbine factory this Thursday. Good luck with fitting it all in, I’m certainly going to struggle!

Illustrations by Emma Hanquist

Cambridge Climate Conference
Monday 14 Sep 2009 to Tuesday 15 Sep 2009 ?

An exciting event has been organised with international speakers and delegates involved in policy-making, business, and academia. Understanding the role of climate change policy is central to a business’s future success. Topics will include the political, economical, technological, and legal challenges and solutions for decarbonising electricity.
To register for a discounted ticket visit the website and enter ‘ge2009′ as the discount code.

Time: 9am-5pm
Venue: Churchill College, Cambridge, UK
Website: www.cambridgeclimate.com/

A Global New Deal needs a Green New Protectionism
Wednesday 16 Sep 2009 ?

An evening to learn and discuss the ‘triple crunch’ that we face: climate change, energy insecurity, and financial and economic meltdown. Colin Hines, Author and convener of the Green New Deal Group will be leading the talks. Colin has worked in the environmental movement for over 30 years including 10 years at Greenpeace. His recent work focuses on the adverse environmental and social effects of international trade and the need to solve these problems by replacing globalisation with localisation. During the evening there will also be a tribute to ‘Teddy’ Goldsmith, founder of The Ecologist magazine.

Time: 6.30pm drinks and food, 7.30pm talk begins at Burgh House
Venue: Gaia House, 18 Well Walk, Hampstead
Contacts: To book email, book online or call 0207 428 0054.
Website: www.gaiafoundation.org

Protest against the closure of Vestas Wind Turbine Factory
Thursday 17 Sep 2009 ?

As well as the continuing protest against the closure of the Vestas Wind Turbine factory at the Isle of Wight, there will also be a chance for people to make their feelings known across the country. People are meeting at the Department of Energy and Climate Change in London to lobby against the government. There will also be speakers including John Mcdonnel, MP (Labour, Hayes and Harlington) and Tracy Edwards (Young Members Organiser for the Public and Commercial Services Union).
Couldn’t put it better than Phil Thornhill from the Campaign against Climate Change “Just when we need a huge expansion in renewable energy they are closing down the only significant wind turbine factory in the UK. The government has spent billions bailing out the banks, and £2.3 billion in loan guarantees to support the UK car industry – they can and should step in to save the infrastructure we are really going to need prevent a climate catastrophe.
Whilst the impact on employment on the Isle of Wight will be quite devastating, this is an issue not just about jobs or one factory but about whether the government is really going to match up its actions to its rhetoric on green jobs and the rapid decarbonisation of the British economy – whether its prepared to act with the kind of resolution and energy we need to cope with the Climate Emergency”.

Time: 5.30 to 6.30pm
Venue: Outside the Department of Energy and Climate Change, 3 Whitehall Place.
?Website: www.campaigncc.org

Out of the Ordinary Festival
Friday 18 Sep 2009 to Sunday 20 Sep 2009
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OOTO is a 3 day family friendly and eco friendly festival set in the beautiful Sussex countryside celebrating the Autumn Equinox. Featuring a variety of live music powered by solar panels and wind generators, fascinating talks and workshops, children’s activities, awesome performances, a green market place and many more out of the ordinary surprises. The festival is also offering Big Green Gathering ticket holders a discount for the event held over the weekend
Venue: Knockhatch Farm, Hailsham, East Sussex
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Website: www.outoftheordinaryfestival.com

Tree-Athlon
Saturday 19th September

Get fit and get your very own tree sapling to take home! Participants run a 5km race to raise money for Trees for Cities, an independent environmental charity working with local communities on tree planting projects. There is also music, entertainment, lots of tree-themed activities, whatever that may consist of, and plenty of other workshops to keep the whole family entertained.
The race is open to runners aged 14 and up and is ideal for beginners or experienced runners alike. Register now, to make sure you can raise as much sponsorship as possible before the day, and look forward to a grand day out.

Time: 9am-3pm
Venue: Battersea Park
Website: www.tree-athlon.org

The Urban Green Fair ?
Sunday 20th September

?The Urban Green Fair is held in Brockwell Park in London this Sunday, Its a free event and with plenty to do and see, the fair is also powered by solar and wind energy.
The annual family event, has a range of films, talks, workshops, kids activities, stalls, sunshine as well as some unusual bicycles. Unfortunatly no bars or big stages but this keeps the emphasis on education and communication. A chance to share ideas, meet familiar faces and make new friends. With little government action on peak oil and climate change there is plenty to discuss and lots we can do as individuals. ?

Time:11am-7pm
?Venue: Brockwell Park, Lambeth
Website: http://www.urbangreenfair.org/

Leytonstone Car Free Day
Sunday 20th September

Leytonstone Town Centre will car free day this Sunday. As well as having no vehicles hurtling around there will also be entertainment, stalls, live music, dancing, public art and childrens’ play areas. Simon Webbe from Blue and Aswad will be headlining! Get yourself down, and make sure you leave the car(if you’ve got one) at home.
Time: 1pm-7pm
Venue: Outside Leyonstone tube station
Website: www.walthamforest.gov.uk

Co-mutiny
Saturday 12th of September until Monday 21st September

A coming together of activists, eco-warriors gardeners, artists, community/political groups, cooks, builders etc. to demonstrate our creative power to build a city/world we would like to see. Co-Mutineers have taken an old cathedral (of the holy apostles) near the Triangle in the Clifton/Hotwells area, it’s a space to converge, eat, sleep meet and discuss, plan and skill-share!
There will be over a week of different activities, direct actions, workshops, film screenings, public demonstrations and parties. It’s happening all across Bristol and the wider South West.

During the week there will be actions happening all across the city, which will climax in a fancy dress carnival through the financial district of Bristol on the Friday.
Venue: Bristol Pro Cathedral, Park Place, BS8 1JW
Website: http://comutiny.wordpress.com/
Monday 14th September
William Elliott Whitmore
The Garage, order London

We can’t get enough of this distilled, medications gravelly bluesman. With Whitmore, it’s almost like you’re listening from inside a huge bottle of JD.

Tuesday 15th September
We Have Band
ICA, London

This trio spin the grooves of Talking Heads via a stop off and natter with Hot Chip, it’ll make you jive and smile.

Wednesday 16th September
Beth Jeans Houghton
Rough Trade East, London

Having supported folk heavy weights, Tunng, Bon Iver, and King Creosote, this ballsy 19 year old manages to blend the vocal lustre of Nico and Laura Marling whilst having an edgy stage presence more like Gwen Stefani. Beguiling.

Thursday 17th September
Alela and Laura Gibson
Shepherds Bush Empire, London

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We chatted to Alela recently and she was as lovely as her music. Gibson toes a similar line of enchanting bluesy folk airs.

Friday 18th September
Metronomy, Male Bonding, Your Twenties and Drums Of Death
The Forum, London

We’re particularly keen on the immaculate indie-pop of Your Twenties after meeting the lovely ex-Metronomy frontman. Nice to see they’re still close.

Saturday 19th September
Tom Paley and Birdengine
The Deptford Arms, London

A traditional folk night in a scuzzy South-East London boozer. You want more reason that that? Well living legend, Tom Paley who played with Woodie Guthrie back in the day and enchantingly odd, Birdengine are two big ones.

Sunday 20th September
Viv Albertine and Get Back Guinozzi!
The Windmill, London

The Slits guitarist has picked up a guitar again after a 25 year sabbatical and come up trumps with punk rock outfit, Albertine.

Monday 14th

Rankin at The Truman Brewery

It’s the last chance to see Rankin’s retrospective in Brick Lane this week. The exhibition moves through Rankin at university exploring the well worn art student quest to find a sense of self to portraying the plight of the Congo. After this introduction the exhibition opens onto his best know fashion, website erotic and beauty editorials. Featuring Kate, Hedi, Tilda Swinton and the Dame of British Fashion, Vivienne Westwood to name a few. Rankin’s strongest work comes through in the portraits where he has assumed a sense of a relationship with the sitter, tweaking out their quirks through the movement of an eyebrow, eye or twitch of the lips or neck. Throughout the exhibition Rankin moved his studio into the space to continue photographing the public portraits. A portion of everyone’s fee goes to support Oxfam’s to work in the Congo.
Until the 18th September.

Tuesday

START KNITTING with prick your finger!

Recent years have seen a rise in designers revisiting craft techniques, with knitting proving to be especially popular with a range of creatives from Louise Goldin to Mark Fast. Last week Amelia’s Magazine participated in a Prick Your Finger discussion on the use and sourcing of local ethical wool and the continuing rise in the popularity of knitting.Join on a Tuesday 7-9 for beginners classes with all your knitting woes and joys.

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Thursday

Fashion Diversity at The Museum of London

The Museum of London is staging a three day fashion diversity event during London Fashion Week. On Thursday the museum hosts a range of workshops from a discussion of the development of sustainable fashion by CHOOLIPS, to a Moving Passion to Profit workshop in association with the MOORDESIGN salon finishing with the importance of branding. Colour Production, addressing how companies interact with their audience visually. Finally 7-16 year olds are giving the opportunity to unlock their creativity in a fashion drawing workshop teaching concentration, communication and dexterity.

Friday and Saturday host the fashion diversity catwalks: Emerging, Established and Honorary designers at 1pm or 3pm Friday and 1pm on Saturday, places are free. Honorary designers Junky Styling and Nico Didonna also present pieces for the runway.

To conclude Saturday’s event, at 3pm student and graduate designers from schools and colleges across London showcase designs inspired by 18th century pleasure gardens and related costumes from from the Museum of London’s archives.

SHOWstudio : Fashion Revolution

Unable to go to Fashion Week? Fear not! As mentioned last week, the Fashion Revolution exhibition opens at Somerset House. The exhibition curated by Showstudio celebrates nine years of Showstudio.com. The website established by Nick Knight has pushed and developed the idea of communicating fashion ‘live’ through films, online live interviews and streamed performances involving photographers, models, stylists graphic designers and cultural figures to create ethereal fashion portraiture and communication through body and style. New fashion films have been commissioned to accompany the exhibition, alongside a live photographic studio that gives the viewer the opportunity to see the whimsical world of fashion in play.

Saturday 19th

GIANT VINTAGE SALE

This just dropped into the inbox – The East End thrift store are inviting all budding clothing DIY’ers to come down to the store and fill a bag with all that you can for ten or twenty pounds. Open Saturday to Sunday from 10-7pm.

The National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery celebrates the icon of 60′s British Fashion photography, Twiggy. Dedicating a room to the most iconic images created with her image by a range of photographers from Richard Avedon to Solve Sundsbo. The exhibition coincides with a publication of a new book: Twiggy : A life in photography. This exhibition is a must for anyone interested in the relationship between sitter and photography in fashion portraiture.

Roll up Roll up and take part in Covent Garden’s fashion fete

Pull the fashion rope, roll around in dressing up boxes courtesy of Costume Boutique. Jump up and Down for the tombola, be styled by Super Super Magazine, scouted by models 1 or preview some of the hottest new design talent with the Fashion and Textiles museum.
Moreover TRAID are holding a stitching workshop on how to transform old clothes into new designs as demonstrated by their remade range.

The London Vegan Festival this year took place in Kensington Town Hall, ask and was absolutely heaving. Usually, store the odds of bumping into another vegan are slightly higher than those of two Esperanto speakers meeting, so hanging out in a hall packed full of them was a new experience – as was not having to ask ‘Is there dairy in this?’ at every food stall. Bliss.

Almost as soon as someone mentions becoming vegan, people start to get a panicked look on their faces and tend to begin listing reasons why they couldn’t possibly give up cheese. The general consensus is that a vegan diet is deprived and difficult. Just a quick glance over these photos ought to give anyone with that mindset pause for thought.
Never-mind having never been in a room with so many vegans before, I’d never been in a room filled with so much vegan cake! I ate my way around the festival, starting with a deliciously gooey chocolate brownie, discovered vegan crème eggs half-way round, swung by the Conscious Chocolate stall for my free samples and a bar of Choca Mocha Magic, then hung out with Redwoods comparing the Lincolnshire sausages to the hot dogs. (Hawt dawgs won, hands done.) Veggies provided me with some real food, in the form of a massive Cheezley burger, giving me the energy I needed to head to some of the talks.

Being vegan isn’t all about the food (though, let’s be honest. It is mostly about the food) and there was a wealth of information at the Festival ranging from talks on vegan nutrition (okay, food again), taking action against animal testing and extreme vegan sports (like regular extreme sports, but partaken of by vegans. Not like preparing scrambled tofu at 30,000 feet. Though, that would be something I would pay to see) to stalls run by the Secret Society of Vegans, animal rights groups and Active Distribution – a bookstall filled with vegan recipe books and anarchist ‘zines. There was information relevant to every level of vegan interest; aspiring, political, dietary…
There was plenty of entertainment too, in the form of magicians, musicians and comedians. (Never let it be said that vegans are without a sense of humour.) I saw Andrew O’Neill, a vegan comedian, who has recently come off the Fringe and was hilarious. Wibbling between whimsical and cruel, from the ‘scat-nav’ to “Kill a Fascist for Grandad” in replacement of the current “Hope not Hate” campaign, he had me laughing from start to finish.

So, why vegan? We already have McCartney pushing for Meat-Free Mondays, do we really need Dairy-Free Days of the Week as well? I’m on the ‘Yes’ side for that one. Going vegan reduces support for the livestock industry down to zero, on a personal level. (Y’know the livestock industry I’m talking about. The one helping out with Climate Change by about 18%.) If you’re serious about wanting to reduce your environmental impact on the Earth and already cycle everywhere, reuse and recycle, turn your taps off when brushing your teeth, then this is the next step in armchair activism. You don’t need to head up to London to protest, or write letters to your MP. Just start buying dairy-free marge approved by the Vegan society, switch to dark chocolate instead of the sugar-filled sweet stuff, experiment with vegan recipes (hundreds of which are on-line) and have fun doing so. Going vegan isn’t scary or hard, but it is inconvenient. Learning to live without dairy, however, is going to be a lot less inconvenient than learning to live without our planet’s natural resources. If you need any more persuading, I make the most delicious vegan cookies. Drop me a line, and I’ll be sure to hook you up.
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2000 Light Years from Home, physician Neal Fox’s second exhibition, prostate opened at Gallery Daniel Blau in Munich this weekend.

A founder member of the infamous Le Gun collective and a character on the debaucherously creative Soho scene, Neal Fox’s reputation just grows and grows. His pen and ink drawings light up the pages of the Guardian and Dazed and Confused, whilst the Le Gun group shows are always packed to bursting on opening nights, providing the London art world with a much needed buzz of youthful excitement. Each picture features Neal’s grandfather Jonny Watson, by whom he was taken on drinking binges with the hedonist iconoclasts of our age. In this latest show he is taken on a doomsday rock and roll trip and psychedelic journey down the Nile.

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Fox has always drawn ( at school he made pocket money by drawing footballers for his fellow pupils) and became inspired by a discovery he made at his father’s friend Les Coleman’s house.
“…he has a massive collection of underground comics by people like Robert Crumb called things like ‘Amputee Love’. So, I was about eight and I would root through these alternative and psychedelic comics and I got really obsessed with Robert Crumb, I spent my teenage years locked up trying to draw like Robert Crumb.”

These years of drawing clearly paid off as Neal went on to study at Camberwell College and then to complete his masters at the RCA where he met Robert Greene, Chris Bianchi and the other founder members of Le Gun magazine.

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With the growing reputation of the Le Gun collective and the progression of Fox’s other work the whole thing is becoming very exciting and he has now exhibited in Soho’s French House, Gallery Daniel Blau in Munich and Loft 19 in Paris.

This latest exhibition shows great development in the work; the gin-soaked nights of his grandfather in Soho have become psychedelic journeys of the mind as we follow Joseph Conrad down the Nile on a Kenneth Anger inspired acid trip. This drawing is an astonishing 10 meters long. Fox’s work seems to grow in size with each exhibition as the content becomes more and more fantastical.

“Since I got into doing the big pictures, they’ve become much more layered…I think it makes your ideas bigger and makes you feel freer. Coming out of being an illustrator where you are tied to working in a certain size at your desk, I thought why not just make it bigger?”
While he was working on this gargantuan work he hung the drawing on an ‘elaborate contraption’ so he could roll it back and forth as the picture came to life.

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“It starts with the Heart of Darkness, it’s meant to be a mixture of the context of the novel, the pictures evoked by the books but rather than just illustrating the book I wanted to put in the context the books came from and how they bled into culture at the time it was published. “
This layering of influences and ideas is key to these amazing pictures. Drawing from many aspects of culture, from Kenneth Anger to colonial politics, Neal Fox sums up the multi-faceted representation of culture in the world we live in.

All theory aside, these are some pretty amazing adventures in pen and ink: not only will they test your imagination, they’ll tickle your fancy.

Leaving the last words to the artist: “I think the drawings have got a lot more context and my mind has opened up a lot more, the pictures in the last exhibition were more about depicting certain scenes, I’m opening up more to what just comes into my head as I work.”
I first noticed Georgia Hardinge’s exquisite autumn/winter collection for the designer’s transcription of fossil’s architecture into the folds of the collection. An idea embellished by the neutral colour palette of both the make up and the clothes themselves. This season sees Georgia Hardinge premiere her S/S 2010 collection at On|Off’s exhibition space at 180 The Strand. This event staged by On|Off is a separate event which coincides with the official London Fashion Week, tadalafil offering young designers the opportunity to show their collections while the fashion industry is in town.

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After graduating from Parsons Paris School of Design Georgia collaborated with Jean-Charles de Castelbajac and was awarded the golden thimble for best designer at her graduation show. I particularly like the draping and pleating of the fabric to embellish the body’s architecture whilst remaining incredibly feminine pieces of design. The S/S 2010 designs continues themes present in earlier collections from the positioning as clothes as architecture for the body encased within sculptural designs based on landscapes and fossils. I look forward to seeing the entire collection at the On|Off exhibition.

Georgia, check what inspired you to study fashion design?

Fashion is my way of translating my thoughts into living entities. I am inspired more by ideas of sculpture, science, and architecture than I am by the fashion industry I think clothing should be unique and trend-less.

When did you creative interests start to develop?

Creating things always interested me, and I remember remaking my friends‚ clothes for fun, and collecting bits and pieces to turn into accessories. We would all go into our mother’s wardrobes and dress up in their clothes.

How important is the natural shape of the body to your designs?

Everyone has areas around their body that they are sensitive about. Manipulating the fabric to draw attention elsewhere makes people more confidant, if I can make people see beauty in what they thought were their faults then I’m happy.

Which designers would you consider to be important currently?

I don’t consider any one designer to be more important than any other. Our work shows our opinions and everybody has an opinion that matters. It’s about what you like and what feels right at a specific moment.

What is your favourite fabric to work with?

I have this obsession with wool! I can always rely on it to structure my work the way I want, and I love playing with the raw edges of the fabric.

How do you incorporate structure into your designs?

Architecture is my ultimate inspiration, if I wasn’t in fashion I would dedicate my time to making models of landscapes and buildings, I’m intrigued by doing this on a living body and challenging myself to turn my ideas into garments. On the body my work can travel, people are introduced to my concepts in the street without having to go to a gallery or museum.

So landscape is important to your SS10 collection?

I wanted each piece to map the lines and curves of a woman’s body. I was just experimenting with the idea of boundaries and contours on the body and trying to recreate this as something we can use everyday.

How does it feel to be part of On|Off at London Fashion Week?

I’m quite excited. This is only my first collection working within my company so I’m just lucky to have this kind of opportunity.

What are your plans for the future?

I have a lot in store for the future. I think all designers have an idea of where they want to be in ten years time. I just hope people stay enthusiastic about my clothes and I keep challenging myself and coming up with fresh ideas.

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Autumn has arrived and with it brings a desire to be contemplatively snuggled up in a quilted blanket wearing your finest armour of knitted garments. Close your eyes and the lilting tones of Oregon native, approved Laura Gibson provides such warmth and opportunity for musing. Open your eyes and you are in the Rough Trade East store surrounded by converse wearing middle-aged men, who’ve heard the media whisper and wanting to ‘keep up,’ have stumbled in on their way home from the office. An altogether less romantic situation but the acoustic ruminations of Gibson provide a suitably poignant escapism nonetheless.

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By Jason Quigley

From the same school of thought as other Portland, Oregon inhabitants, Joanna Newsom and Alela Diane (who she is currently supporting on tour), Gibson is armed with just an acoustic guitar this evening, stripping back tracks from her album, ‘Beasts Of Season’ to the skeletal beauty of their conception. Opening with ‘Where Have All The Good Words Gone?’ she demonstrates the communion of her purposeful yet furtive voice and shimmering guitar motifs. Requests for cloves of garlic came between songs, alerting the audience to an ‘under the weather’ performance that Gibson was doing well to mask in her songs.

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By Jason Quigley

The B-side to her latest track, which went on sale yesterday, provided a highlight within her set. ‘All The Pretty Horses’ is an Alan Lomax collected song, which Gibson describes as “a sweet lullaby that turns into a creepy cowboy song.” This is indicative of the haunting tone in much of Gibson’s music, who coincidentally wrote her album in a room overlooking one of the oldest graveyards in Portland. The acoustic setting is an opportunity for the listener to get lost in the images she creates within such insularity Gibson tells of “bare walls singing” and “pale bones swaying” to their own “Funeral Song” where “Glory” offers a trio of ruminations on father, mother and sister. For somebody who writes with such stark introspection, it is touching when she jokingly invites the audience to embark on a Q & A, bringing me and the middle aged men back into the room to contemplate our journey to the rest of our evening.

After this evening, I’m going to make a point of following the next middle-aged man (wearing converse) I see with a look of intent. They’re probably ‘in the know’ and are heading to a worthy in-store.

Written by Katie Weatherall on Tuesday September 15th, 2009 4:47 pm

Categories ,alela diane, ,caroline weeks, ,folk, ,joanna newsom, ,laura gibson, ,laura marling, ,pop

Amelia’s Magazine | Album Review: Anne B – Outremanche

‘Outremanche’ (French, pharm literally “across the channel”) is the new mini-album from the London-based French singer filled with plaintive pop ballads and electro frippery, cost sung predominantly in her native tongue.

The warming, warped folk-pop of the opening track mixes Yo La Tengo-esque pockets of distant distorted guitars with velvety Stereolab vocals . My state-funded education in the language of love means I can only translate the odd word like ‘minute’ or ‘England’, but it doesn’t matter, that’s the beauty of the French accent – it makes even the most the humdrum subject matter sound alluring and filmic. Therefore, the album works very well when listened to on a walkman, turning mundane acts such as getting the number 12 bus to Totton into a scene from ‘Belle de jour’.

The high-pitch pistons and echoing vocals of ‘Je suis là’ lead into a suitably sultry cover of the Edith Piaf standard ‘Toujour aimer’, whilst the closing track ‘Mars ou avril’ recalls nectarous melancholy masters St. Etienne.

This is a classy, compelling set of songs, and yet perhaps it lacks a sprinkling of avant-garde magic to make it truly show-stopping – but there’s no denying the bewitching appeal of Anne B’s delivery, and a dab of French exoticism will go a long way when it comes to standing out from the UK indie crowd. If Anne B is a bit more adventurous when it comes to recording her full length LP, it could be something quite special.

Written by Tom Stanton on Wednesday March 3rd, 2010 3:14 pm

Categories ,album, ,anne b, ,electro, ,electro-folk, ,folk, ,french, ,london, ,outremanche, ,review

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