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Here at Amelia’s Magazine we are keen to nurture new talent as soon as we get our greedy hands on it. Fashion photographer Britta Burger is no exception to this rule. No stranger to the fashion sphere she recently made the transition from fashion stylist to photographer, viagra order illness just like Amelia’s Magazine founder Amelia Gregory. Britta even styled a shoot for Amelia’s Magazine in issue 10, ampoule which is still up for grabs by the way.

Her pictures are a haze of over saturated colours that collide to create a quixotic ambience to her pieces. Utilising pastoral settings and natural lighting Britta has a lucid expressionism to her approach. As a newcomer to the sphere her compositional awareness is mesmerizing, and her shoots have a real sense of fluidity.

I caught up with the talented lady to find out more information and get an insight into her mindset.

Tell me a little bit about yourself Britta?

I was raised in the Austrian mountains, but have lived in London for more than 7 years. I have done all sorts of fashion related jobs – writing, styling, pr, and now photography. I also teach.

What made you make the break from styling to photography?

Some shoots started to bore me, I felt like I was just waiting around while photographers sorted their light out. I also heard so many people say that you can’t really do anything new in photography, but I felt I could. I also wanted to move away from big productions with 20 people in a studio and do something a lot more intimate, with me doing the photography and the styling and not even hair or makeup people around sometimes. The results are quite raw; I’m not a big fan of an overly polished aesthetic.

What do you aim to capture within your pictures?

Youth, a mix of the everyday and the magical.

Your pictures have a rather quixotic feel, is all your lighting natural?

I only use natural light, I don’t want to control light, if it changes it changes. I do however use filters to create some colour effects.

What do you use as a main stimulus when you’re planning a shoot?

Colours, feelings, memories and the model.

What other photographers inspire you?

Wolfgang Tillmans, Venetia Scott, Jürgen Teller, Ryan McGinley, Marc Borthwick, Lina Scheynius

What camera do you use?

My new favourite is the little Panasonic FX150, it’s a digital compact camera, but with 14 mega pixels so you can do double spreads. It also has an amazing Leica lens.

So keep your eyes peeled for Britta Burger, with such an abundance of talent she will have a whole flock of avid fans chasing her tail!
Monday 30th

The lovely and enchanting voice of Polly Scattergood rises at Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen for a ladies night supporting Laura Marling.
8pm. £12.50.

Polly Scattergood

Tuesday 31th

Tuesday`s greatest choice it`s at the 93 Feet East in Brick Lane where Robert Logan launches his new album full of, tadalafil what we can call, an abstract and atmospheric electro. Followed by Bass Clef and Gagarin.
7:30pm. £5 in adv / £7 on door

Robert Logan

Wednesday 1st

The songwriters showcase at Bullet Bar. Great people get together for one more Wednesday Night Showcase at the venue. Aaron Short, Ay Duncane, Lisa Dee, The Magdelaine Cays and Yellow Garage make the best signed and unsigned bands of the week.
7:30 pm. £5, flyer £4.

Ay Ducane

Thursday 2nd

Formerly known as the Third Eye Foundation, Matt Elliott brings some slick and subtle electronica next Thursday together with Revere at Bardens Boudoir.
8pm. £5.

Matt Elliott

Friday 3rd

Time to launch a new single for Ex Lovers, the girl/boy indie pop duo. At Bar Rumba.
10:30pm. £6, concs/NUS £4.

Ex Lovers

Saturday 4th

Enjoy a completely improvised set of techno, house, electro, hip hop, trance and drum ‘n’ bass with The Bays next Saturday at Koko, supported by Red Snapper.
7pm. £14.50.

The Bays

Sunday 5th

The Ruling Class, Hanjiro and The Brights at Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen for some genuine indie.
7:30pm. £5, concs £3

The Ruling Class
I was introduced to Ian Stevenson a couple of weeks ago when I was reviewing the 100 Minutes of Havana draw-off (his team lost in case you were interested) and he very kindly agreed to meet me for an interview. Ian is known for his strange yet charming drawings, buy often infused with his trademark deadpan humour. One only has to look as far as his website welcome page, which opens on a SALE sign, but with the sale crossed out and “EVERYTHING FULL PRICE” scrawled in black underneath. Both funny and depressing considering our current economic climate.

I meet Ian outside Concrete Hermit on Club Row and he passes me a cardboard tube, which I discover when I excitedly rip it open, has an amazing print of his work in it. Yes Mr Stevenson, bribery will get you everywhere! We have a leisurely stroll down to Brick Lane towards The Big Chill and the icing on the (purely metaphorical) cake is when on the walk I discover that he is as lovely and funny as his drawings.

Despite now enjoying measurable success Ian Stevenson didn’t have a straightforward route to illustration. He tells me that he started on an architecture degree but quit after he found he didn’t enjoy it, “after about two weeks something clicked and I thought, this isn’t right.” He then went on to do a foundation before finally returning to do a BA at Camberwell, but in graphic design. “It wasn’t a typical course, we didn’t learn type layout and we’d get projects that were one word, so the title might be fly spray. That’s one of the things I learnt from college, how to not let having no boundaries scare you.”

After finishing university Ian worked at Airside, a graphic design company, for a few years. “It’s the best kind of graphic design job, because we designed T-shirts, animation characters and things.” Not surprisingly for such an obviously creative person Ian became disillusioned with the graphic design world and left, “I was just a bit annoyed, bored by the whole industry and how people follow trends. Not that it was anything to do with the company, but it was just so boring.”

Ian’s break came after leaving Airside when he began to draw in sketchbooks eventually putting them on a website. “A few friends said “Oh you should do some more of that” so I did some more of that. I slowly started to think that I should develop that further.” His first illustration job came when Mother advertising agency asked him to draw in the women’s toilets at their offices. “I’d never drawn on a wall before, but just said yes. Most of the time with a job even if you can’t do it you say “yes”. When someone says can you do this you say, “yes of course I can” and then you think oh, actually can I?”
Ian Stevenson doesn’t appear to have any of the usual embarrassingly bad early work like the rest of us creatives. Despite being one of the earliest illustration projects he did one can see that, while the drawings are perhaps not as developed, they are just as funny and as brilliant as his more recent work.

It wasn’t always quite as easy as it sounds to get work as an illustrator. “You do sit on your own for long periods of time thinking. “Where are they? When are they coming, where are the people?” “At the start it did hurt, because there weren’t many people doing it.” Luckily it would seem those feelings are a thing of the past as people are definitely taking notice of Ian Stevenson. He exhibits here in London and internationally, the most recent an exhibition called Pens on Paper in Paris, with Pictoplasma. “There were lots of artists invited who draw on paper and I did eight drawings. They also asked me to do some more work for another event called Pictopia so I did eighteen drawings from magazines They also screened Staring in to the Sun, a music video animation which Ian is promoting on his website.

As well as exhibiting, success can also be marked by the fact that Ian’s recently gained representation by BLUNT, who have a number of really good artists on their books. I ask Ian why he decided to get representation; he gives me an amusingly blunt answer “Even if you’re perfectly capable of the job they still like to be reassured that you’re with someone who is more adult. Someone with letter headed paper.”

But it’s not only BLUNT and the people curating exhibitions who appreciate Ian Stevenson. A quick look at The Drawing Adventure, an animation he’s posted on Youtube, unearths three pages of comments. My favourites are, “This is special stuff”, “Thank you for putting this in my life” and “Your drawings are like crack to me” high praise indeed.
“If they do appreciate it, which hopefully they do, then that’s nice because otherwise I’d be sat in a room doing it, but no one would like it and that would be quite sad. It is nice when people do like it because it means I’m not completely mental. Yeah, It makes me smile inside… can I say that?” He asks me with a smile that suggests he knows he just committed an interview faux pa.

I was first introduced to Ian’s work at his Lost Heroes exhibition he did in Concrete Hermit and I can’t resist the chance to ask the artist directly about the show, “Imagine a world which is full of Disney characters and they’re real people, but then you have to think that there is a casting for Mickey Mouse, imagine all the people that didn’t get the role as Mickey Mouse.” The result of this concept is a series of not-quite-right drawings of well-recognised characters. There’s Bambi, except he’s slightly cross-eyed and a wannabe Donald Duck but one of his legs is twice the size of the other.

In many ways it would seem Ian works in a similar way to the documentary photographers’ earnest plight to photograph the marginalised members of society. But it’s way funnier, because it’s a community reach programme for drawings. “People might say they’re weird but I might say they’re weird. What I’ve said in the past is that it’s my head, my mind on paper.” So in this way Ian is closer to a novelist constantly thinking about and attempting to understand his characters. This is further evident when we talk about another of his drawings, this time of Pacman’s brother (who works in a supermarket). Ian Explains, “He might have a brother, but he’s not famous. Pacman’s got to have a mum and dad. Doesn’t he?”

With such personal, handcrafted drawings it’s no surprise that Ian isn’t a fan of the increase of computer generated images in illustration. “I don’t like them!” He exclaims before launching into more detail, “That’s what I wanted to get away from…. these computer created characters that have no soul and anyone can do. They’re just a bunch of shapes. With uniform eyes and everything is symmetrical and I just get bored. Maybe one has a big arm, and they seem to have a bit more life…. I’d want to talk to those more than to some kind of egg with eyes that are perfect.”

To try and see what it is that Ian does like I ask him what illustrators he rates, “Can I say there is a lot of people I don’t like?” After some gentle coercing and promises that I won’t name names Ian explains a few of the things that frustrates him about the illustration scene. “Trendy things, yeah that’s bad, anyone that started doing things because it’s now more successful than it was, that’s bad… It’s bad! I draw, and I do it because that’s what I wanted to do. There wasn’t anyone doing this in their advertising campaigns and now over the last three years lots of people have started doing it and sometimes it just makes me want to stop doing it. There should be an artists/illustrators union where if someone does copy they’re brought to some kind of court. We’ll go to Gordon and say “look this is important. I know it isn’t important to you or relevant to the global economic downturn. It’s not war, but it means a lot to me!”

Ian Stevenson for Prime Minister, quick someone start a Facebook group now!
For more information and news on upcoming events check out Ian’s website. His prints are also available online.


Sheesh, adiposity bit of a last minute one this. An email comes through at approximately 7 O’clock confirming tickets to tonight’s gig leaving me with a face full of fish cake trying to sort myself and be out of the house by half 7. Knowing the roadhouse, drug the gig’ll probably finish early, pharm making way for another event straight after, so no time for pontificating. I threw my stuff in a bag and legged it for the next bus, praying the 192 journey be as kind as possible.

I got there as it happens with time to spare before the first band came on. Arficeden appeared and within seconds lunged into a blistering, pounding set of post rock brutality akin to Slint but darker, much darker. Reeling back from this wasn’t on the agenda as five minutes after this onslaught came another in the form of Worried About Satan.

Dark and disturbing techno set to the equally disturbing backdrop of Russian roulette movie 13 TZAMETI. In the film the lead character Sébastien steals an envelope containing instructions for a mysterious job that could pay out a fortune. Following the instructions, the young man unwittingly becomes trapped in a sinister and dangerous situation. I can empathize, that email I opened at approximately 7 O’clock this evening was that envelope and now I’m here embroiled in a sinister and dangerous situation of my own with only a vision of spokes lighting up the end of this tunnel.

Having just signed a contract earlier this year with Ninja Tune, they have a certain responsibility to prove themselves worthy and they do that without even breaking a sweat. Well there may be a little sweat. 45 minutes of pleasure, pain and sweat. Promoting 6-track ep ‘’ they show us a future worth looking forward to.

Monday 6th

Gary Nock brings all his sweet melancholy to 93`s Feet East stage this evening. Supported by up and coming indie youngsters Mad Staring Eyes and The Electric Riot, no rx they are certainly the best pick for the beginning of a worthy musical week.
7:30pm, tadalafil free.

Gary Nock

Tuesday 7th

Swedish married duo Wildbirds and Peacedrums bring blues` best to London and introduce their new album Heartcore at The Luminaire. Supported by American fellows Volcano! they make a perfect foreign match for a Tuesday evening out.

Wildbirds and Peacedrums

Wednesday 8th

After a little break from giging, patient The Lieutenant’s Mistress make a come back at Monto Water Rats Wednesday for a promised legendary performance leaded by The Panics and The Kits.
7pm. £6 advance or £8 on the door.

The Lieutenant`s Mistress

Thursday 9th

Acoustic Ladyland has a new album due later this summer with now added Chris Sharkey on guitar and Thursday they will be playing live in its entirety at The Lexington! Plus all the psychedelic fun from Screaming Tea Party.
7:30 pm. £8

Friday 10th

It’s a night of legends down at Twee as F*** this April where you can get an unique chance of seeing The High Llamas in a venue as intimate as the Buffalo Bar. Support comes from Gina Birch and Downdime.
9pm. £6/ 5 concessions

The High Llamas

Saturday 11th

Bird on the Wire festival at Bardens Boudoir. Three days of great music. Line up for Saturday is We Have Band DJ set, The Big Pink Dj Set, Post War Years, Master & Servant, Fenech-Soler and Papercuts.
7pm. £8 per day. 3 days £17.

We Have Band

Sunday 12th

You last chance to go check the Bird on the Wire Festival at Bardens Boudoir. This time featuring I Am Kloot, Wave Machines, Dent May, Ark People and Spaghetti Anywhere.
7pm. £8 per day. 3 days £17.

Spaghetti Anywhere

Monday 06th April

Wiwa vs Shell

A press conference on the Wiwa vs Shell trial
+ live performances from ZENA EDWARDS, thumb BREIS & BABACAR DIENG
Monday 6th April, 6.30pm
Amnesty International UK, Human Rights Action Centre, London

Entry: Free

Refreshments available

RSVP ben@remembersarowiwa.com

Hunger & Climate Change: Some Practical Answers?
Tuesday, 7 April 2009, 2.00 – 5.30 pm
at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, One Birdcage Walk, London SW1H 9JJ
Followed by reception for the launch of Understanding Climate Change Adaptation

Almost one billion people in the world are hungry today. And the world’s population will continue to grow until it stabilises at nine billion in the middle of this century, by which time our food systems will have to feed 50% more people than they do today. Achieving this would be a challenge anyway. The likely impact of climate change on agriculture will make the challenge even greater.
2009 is a critical year, with a new US President at the start and all eyes on Copenhagen at the end. It follows a year with a global food crisis, an energy crisis, and a financial crisis in quick succession. The underlying context of global poverty and environmental degradation is unchanged and future crises seem almost inevitable. 
But how can we develop sustainable food supplies and tackle hunger in the developing world in the face of climate instability? What would constitute a climate resilient food system? How can we secure sufficient future food supplies and reverse environmental damage?

Baghdad Shorts

Thursday 9th April 6.15pm
Insititut Francais
7 Queensberry Place
London, SW7 2DT
+44 20 70731350

Checkpoints, tanks, car bombs: so much is familiar from the TV news. But how often do we hear directly from Iraqis themselves about their lives, fears and hopes? This exceptional programme of films, two by students at Baghdad’s Independent Film and Television College, offers an uprecedented insight into the lives of ordinary Iraqis in 2007. A Stranger in His Own Country (dir. Hassanain Al Hani) profiles Abu Ali, a refugee from Kirkuk living in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Kerala; A Candle from the Shabandar Café (dir. Emad Ali) looks at the repercussions of the bombing of this favourite haunt of Baghdad intellectuals; The Singing Barber of Mosul (dir. Katia Saleh) follows the fortunes of an Iraqi barber who flies out to Beirut to take part in the Middle Eastern version of Pop Idol. ?

Friday
Arts & Awareness Festival
Date: Friday 10 Apr 2009 to Tuesday 14 Mar 2009 ?Time: day/evening (considerate hours)
Description: Five days of participation, ecology & creativity for adults & children. Intro. to Transition Town Lewes (free), green workshops, belly dance, circle dance, drumming, world music, art-play and healthy foods.
Full listings on website (click on “arts & awareness”)
Venue: Lewes New School, Talbot Terrace, BN7 2DS (and other local venues)
Contacts: Maria Gibbs 01273 475798
E-mail: mariajgibbs@yahoo.co.uk? Web Address: www.worldance.org

sat
(walk & zine launch)

?Savage Messiah zine launch: The Olympic Zone ?Saturday 11th April – walk from 3pm, launch at 7pm
Launch party for Laura Oldfield-Ford’s latest issue of her London-focussed, cult psychogeographic zine, which turns its spotlight on Stratford and the Olympic building site.  ??
Walk
We will be walking around the city of London and drifting towards Housmans where we will be having  drinks and showing films to launch the zine. Meet at Dirty Dicks Public House Liverpool Street 3pm.
Launch
Housmans Bookshop, Caledonian Road N1, from 7pm.
Issue 11 is a drift around the Olympic zone and focuses on a particular moment in the build up to the June the 18th Carnival Against Capitalism riots in the City of London. The riots happened in 1999 and were a protest against the ludicrousness of the global financial system. The zine was written after a day of walking around the perimeter fence of the Olympic zone In March 2009 and is a direct response to the mass destruction of the Lower Lea Valley.
  
 “I found the pub soon after that. From the outside it looked ordinary, an estate pub from the late 60s, early 70s, something of a bunker with fortress windows at the front, plastic hanging baskets and St George flags all over it. I thought at first the old man must have got the wrong place but then I could hear the thudding of the sound system inside, the frantic bpm and chaotic vocoder yelps.
As I got closer I saw all these skinhead types outside wearing tie dyed t shirts and temple of psychic youth symbols tattooed on their arms. There were groups staggering about lighting fires and breaking palettes. This party was the continuation of a Saturday all nighter at one of the massive abandoned factories on Carpenters road. They were all off it, topping up on psilosibin after a big weekend of acid and flyagaricks.”
Laura Oldfield Ford – Savage Messiah Issue 11. March 2009
?For more information about Savage Messiah please visit http://savagemessiahzine.com/
This is a bit of a special edition of the Earth Listings. As we are sure you know, stomach there is plenty going on in the City of London on April 1st, and in all different parts too. Check the listings below for further details.

Monday 30th March

ASEN/Nations and Nationalism Ernest Gellner Nationalism lecture
Empire and Ethnicity in the Modern World
Time: 5.30-6.30pm ?
Venue: Old Theatre, Old Building, LSE
London School of Economics and Political Science
Houghton Street
London
WC2A 2AE

Events Information Line
Tel +44 (0) 20 7955 6043
Fax +44 (0) 20 7955 6272

?Speaker: Professor John Darwin ?Chair: Professor John Breuilly
This lecture will examine the ways in which colonial empires promoted, exploited or repressed ethnicity; the extent to which emergent ethnicities looked to their colonial masters for protection and guidance; and some of the post-colonial consequences of this.
ASEN and Nations and Nationalism sponsor and publish this annual lecture in memory of Professor Ernest Gellner.
John Darwin is a fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford.
This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis. For more information, email nations@lse.ac.uk or call 020 7955 6801.
Media queries: please contact the Press Office if you would like to reserve a press seat or have a media query about this event, email pressoffice@lse.ac.uk 
If you are planning to attend this event and would like details on how to get here and what time to arrive, please refer to Coming to an event at LSE

Tuesday 31st March

My Word Is My Bond? Rebuilding Trust – The G20 and Beyond

St Paul’s Cathedral, EC4M 8BX

11am – 12.30pm. Doors open at 9am. Members of the public should arrive in good time in order to clear security into the event.

On the eve of the G20, St Paul’s is hosting a high level debate about the moral questions raised by the dramatically changing world we find ourselves in.

Can opportunities for society’s good come from the economic crisis? Has there been a disconnection between morality, policy-making and practice? What are the prospects for remaking the global order, rebuilding financial systems and re-establishing trust? How will a new global order actively include development goals and address climate change?

Those on the platform will include a very senior member of the Cabinet, and the debate will be open to questions from the audience.

Doors open at 9am. Members of the public are invited to attend this event. Because it is a high-security event, no one will be admitted without photo ID in the form of passport or driver’s licence, and no large bags, rucksacks or suitcases can be brought into the cathedral. Please be prepared to have your bags searched and ensure that you arrive with plenty of time before the event begins.

This event is the first in the St Paul’s Institute 2009 major programme, Money, Integrity and Wellbeing, which continues in the autumn.
http://www.stpauls.co.uk/institute

Wednesday April 1st

G20 Protests

* Climate Camp in the City. ?The Climate Camp are camping in the European Carbon Exchange, Hasilwood House, City of London 12-noon.?

On April 1st the G20 leaders arrive in London. At a time of climate crisis their response to the market meltdown is emergency loans to car manufacturers, increased spending to encourage consumption, and bailouts for the very people who got us into this mess – just the thing that will make the climate crisis worse.
Don’t let them get away with it: join our camp in the Square Mile!
We will convergence on the European Climate Exchange, Hasilwood House, 62 Bishopsgate, EC2N 4AW (street view) at 12:30 exactly.
Bring a pop-up tent if you’ve got one, sleeping bag, wind turbine, mobile cinema, action plans and ideas…let’s imagine another world.

Climate Camp in the City, London (www.climatecamp.org.uk/g20)?

G20 Meltdown at the Bank of England (www.g20meltdown.org)?

Financial Fools Day Street Party ?Assemble
Cannon Street, Moorgate, Liverpool Street or London Bridge stations 11am to form four marching blocks heading towards the Bank of England for 12-noon, in the ‘Square Mile’ of the City of London.?See: http://www.g-20meltdown.org/?Bring a portable radio!

Fossil Fools’ Day, everywhere (www.risingtide.org.uk/fossilfoolsday2009)?
Times & resource links http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/22258

Friday 3rd April 2009

?Fossil Fuels Day? Royal Bank of Scotland AGM?
The Royal Bank of Scotland (which owns NatWest) is two things: ?1) The UK’s private high street bank with biggest investments in fossil fuel projects around the world ?2) Over 70% owned by UK citizens. People & Planet will be taking action at the RBS-NatWest AGM in Edinburgh and at RBS’s HQ in London. We need as many people there as possible to clean up RBS-NatWest. Especially now that about 70% of the bank is in public ownership, we’ll be telling RBS-NatWest: we’ve cleaned up your finances, now stop messing up our climate.? Edinburgh: EICC, Morrison St, 12.30pm. Time to get out the feather dusters and marigolds for an RBS-NatWest spring clean, let’s tell them to stop sweeping their coal under the carpet!?
London: RBS HQ, 280 Bishopsgate, 12.00 noon. Kitted up as comedy bankers (monacles, giant top hats, and yuppie suits) we’ll expose how greedy bankers vote for a future of climate chaos.? More info here: People & Planet

Saturday 4th April
Future Foods, Science Museum

Daily 10am – 6pm
Exhibition Road, London
London
SW7 2DD

As nearly a billion people go to bed hungry again tonight, the question of feeding the world has never been more urgent. But is genetically modified food a good choice to have on the menu for our planet? Or does it leave you feeling queasy?

This new exhibition explores the science and technology that could boost crop yields. Do we need GM to increase food production in the future, or are there other options? Weigh up the benefits and risks – then step up to the table and have your say.

Find out more about Future Foods, an exhibition debating genetic modification.

This exhibition is supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/antenna/futurefoods/

Contact
(0)20 7942 4000,
(0)20 7938 8118
sciencemuseum@nmsi.ac.uk
www.sciencemuseum.org.uk
I’ve never been a big fan of Shepherd’s Bush Empire, viagra 40mg and no change in sponsorship (from Carling to o2) is going to change my opinion, cheap thanksverymuch. It’s not the sponsorship, visit this nor the ridiculous beer prices, it’s just the venue. Built in 1903 as a music-hall slash variety theater, its flat stall area and high back end make for terrible views.

Despite this, the venue’s top line up always draws a packed out theater, and Friday’s Noah and the Whale gig was no exception. Packed to the seems when we arrived (too late, as always) the crowd were already geared up by supporting band Jay Jay Pistolet, who sadly we missed but fellow Whalers told us were good fun. Moments later, N&TW drift slowly onto the stage without fuss, pick up their respective instruments, and Charlie takes center stage. At the back, there’s a huge ornate frame playing footage of an orchestra. A simple and short ‘Hello’ from Charlie signifies the start. Visuals are projected inside the frame (contemporary animation pieces by Future Shorts fused with 1950s Americana). It’s a nice touch, and compliments each of the songs perfectly. The band kick off and we’re hooked – from here in it’s tune after tune delivered with the casual, cocksure confidence Charlie & co are becoming famous for (and I mean this in the nicest possible sense).

Most of the album is covered and rockier versions of Give a Little Love and Rocks and Daggers are particular highlights, and far from the twee indie sound we were expecting. There’s a couple of new tracks to wet our appetites for June’s eagerly anticipated second release First Days of Spring, which have the same flavour as Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down but with a dash more confidence thrown in.

At the end of the set, eagerly anticipated Five Years’ Time is belted out and sounds just as good live as you’d expect, with footage of youtube videos of fans to accompany (a nice touch, but a little bit of sick did appear in my mouth).

A splendid gig all in all, missing only a female vocalist to supply Beating’s haunting ooos and ahs, and Five Years’ Time’s angelic love love loves. Where was Marling? Honestly.
When you see discarded and used plastic bottles littering the streets and spilling out of bins, view do you see something aesthetically pleasing to the eye? If you do, find then frankly, you have more of a conceptual vision then the average person. And Sarah Turner has not only a discerning eye and a creative imagination, she also has a strong desire to create something beautiful and environmentally friendly out of something which is one of the most un-green products on the market. Sarah makes ceiling, table and floor lamps from waste drinks bottles and recycled card. I spoke to her about this unique and ultimately positive response to the stacks of plastic bottles which pile up around us every day.

 

 Your work is made of recycled plastic drinks bottles – What inspired you to do this? 

-The project originally started as my dissertation whilst I was in my final year of university.  I found through these studies that only 5.5% of plastic drinks bottles are recycled here in the UK.  So I thought that I could save a few from the landfill sites and make something creative with them.  I started collecting waste bottles and did loads of experiments to see how they could be manipulated.  I melted, sanded, sawed, burnt and cut them up.  I wanted to get the most from the waste material, to see what could be achieved.  
 
– Where do you get the bottles from, and how many on average are used per item? Can you describe the process of how an old plastic bottle becomes a finished product?

I collect most of the bottles from local cafes here in Nottingham, plus of course contributions from friends, family.  Occasionally if I see a nice bottle littering the street I have been known to embarrass who I’m with by going over and picking it up!  Once collected I then remove the labels and clean them up, then I sandblast the bottles which if they are transparent turns the surface white.  I then cut them up transforming them into the decorative shapes, which form the basis of the lampshades.  They can be made in many different styles, I feel like I’ve turned it into a bit of an art form!  Using different coloured drinks bottles, different brands and sizes can lead to different designs too.  I make the base of the shades from recycled card, the bottles then get screwed onto this and secured using the bottle’s own top.
I have reused between 1 and 67 bottles in any individual light so far.  Two of the products I am developing currently are called ‘Cola 30′ named as it reuses 30 Coca Cola bottles and the smaller version ‘Cola 10′ reusing 10 Coca Cola bottles.  I have made a light especially for a company in London, which was a very large piece reusing 67 bottles!  The smallest light I have made is called ‘Little Oasis’ as it reuses just the one Oasis bottle. 

 
Are you inspired by environmental issues in general? Do you forsee your future works keeping with these themes?

-I love the challenge of making something from waste materials and it feels so rewarding too.  I like how my work makes people think about what can be achieved from recycling and how ordinary boring rubbish can be transformed into something special.   The novelty of seeing people’s reactions when they realise what the lights are made from has never worn out.  So yes I definitely shall be making many more products from rubbish in the future. 
 
– I have noticed on your website the Past Project and Current Ideas section. Is all of your work made from recycled materials?

Not all of my work on my website is made from recycled materials, the projects in the portfolio section are mostly past university projects from briefs that they set.  Although I did use some recycled materials during some of these projects.  For example, the garden bench I made whilst on my foundation course and is mainly made from an old willow fence.  Also the flat pack stool and Hula lights are made from polypropylene, which is often considered a more eco material.  Since graduating I have concentrated all my efforts on my bottle lights and I do intend to carry on reusing waste materials in my work in the future too.  I just find it so much of a challenge and also find it extremely rewarding saving stuff from landfills!

 

What has the response been to your products? 

The response has been great towards the drinks bottle lights.  They have been in several exhibitions and some retailers have offered to sell them.  They were recently on an American eco blog so that has resulted in many enquiries from the US.  One of the best opportunities I’ve had so far is the Innovation Nation Competition at The Ideal Home Show.  About 25 graduates have been chosen from all over the country to exhibit an innovative product at the show and the winner is chosen by the public vote.  So if you would like to show your support you can vote for the ReDesign Bottle Lights by clicking on this link: http://www.idealhomeshow.co.uk/ideas/innovation-nation/concept-products-2009-vote/

Written by Cari Steel on Tuesday March 31st, 2009 5:22 pm

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Most music lovers have certain labels that they follow, information pills price awaiting releases, viagra 100mg excited by the new directions the people behind these labels have chosen to take. Warp and Planet Mu are two such labels for myself. Years of solid, this web progressive releases have meant I trust their taste – and once again, I think they may have succeeded.

Tim Exile‘s new album bends and shifts between tracks, layering genres from trip-hop to jungle with aspects of punishing techno all combined with stiffly melodic vocals hanging over the top of it all. Each track rolls around almost drunkenly, though perpetually rolling forward – something only possible through the albums astounding production.

There is something about the vocals that don’t strike me as truly necessary. They don’t reach out and suck you in enough and at times and you feel like they’re just sort of there, almost unnecessarily. The tracks speak for themselves; they don’t need Tim’s mutterings splashed across them – often just cheapening the melodies created by his impressive range of synth sounds.

What works much better can be seen in a youtube video of Tim Exile remixing Micachu live. Such an obscure combination that you just know that it could work perfectly, and it does. Well, kind of. It’s interesting.

My highpoint of the album surprisingly comes in the form of ‘Family Galaxy’. It springs from Exile’s past as a Drum and Bass producer (albeit a rather experimental one). On mass, I hate drum and bass. It really is quite ridiculous how much guff can be produced week after week, tirelessly, systematically presenting itself as the same thing. This track however just seems to play with your senses, drawing you in. Then you realise you’re listening to drum and bass and you just have to commend the man. ‘Carouselle’ is also well worth a listen. Truly uplifting experimentations with sounds and melodies it has a kind of dramatic theatricality to it.

This is an album fans of the obscure corners of electronica will enjoy, but not hold up as an album everyone should care about. Intelligent Dance Music is a genre I try to distance myself from (a recent evening spent in a room with Aphex Twin actually scared me away from the genre). This album however seems to bring quite a colorful and enjoyable feel to a genre that seems to thrive in the horrific side of music.

It has to be said I am still trying in vain to establish myself as savvy online shopper. A string of failed eBay purchases led me to become rather despondent about the whole word of online retailing. However recently I found a shop that wholeheartedly restored my faith in the otherwise online abyss.

Hip London based retailer Youreyeslie have emerged on the scene with a shed load of innovative new designers to get our online juices flowing. Branding themselves with the comical slogan “bad taste is better then no taste” its clear to see these guys are not ones for conventional clothing. Featuring everything from bake well tart rings to t-shirts brandishing Nuns with red noses. Their kitsch designs for men and women are sure to make you stand out amidst the city crowds.

The t-shirts feature an eclectic range of styles to suit all tastes from the grunge rockers, hospital the whimsical bohemians to the new rave eccentrics. The site are keen on promoting hand illustration so all t-shirts are beautifully intricate. My favourite has to be the delicate printed tiger oversized t-shirt, I think you will agree he is a handsome beast! I definitely want to take him home.

My Achilles’ heel of the entire website has to be the accessories. They got the entire Amelia’s HQ resorting to excited childish giggles. Each of us tried to conjure plausible excuses to buy a whole bundle of their adorable pendants.The whimsical designs are brilliantly kitsch, taking you on an imaginative whirlwind tour through the fairground, with marching band and tambourine pendants. Then it’s on to the tropical jungle with exotic birds and butterflies and if that’s not enough excitement you’re then catapulted into the realms of outer space with a rocket pendant.

My favourite has to be this bird pendant of two Bluetits, (see a pastoral upbringing has its distinct advantages, well for bird classification at least!) Anyway as an avid bird fan myself these beautifully delicate feathered friends get the thumbs up from me, I happen to think they would be very content perched on my neck.

So give your wardrobe that new leash of life it craves, with free delivery over orders above £50 there is no excuse not to go mad, well that’s my reasoning anyway! Send us stuff by the barrel load, here at Amelia’s we are well and truly hooked on YEL!
I’m sure that all our our wonderful Amelia’s Magazine readers have got a viewpoint on animal testing being conducted for cosmetic products. And I would like to think that the viewpoint is that it is JUST PLAIN WRONG! (Seriously, page what other viewpoint is there?!) I don’t know about you, hospital but I have been under the illusion that we were all in agreement about this, and so were the suits behind all legislations that decided upon animal testing. Apparently I was wrong. Because R.E.A.C.H had got there first. Under this law ( also known as Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals), many more animal tests are taking place as the scientists try to work out which chemicals can harm us. Alarmingly, these include chemicals found in cosmetics and toiletries.

Having found out that one of my favourite brands, Lush, have been campaigning heavily against this, I spoke with Andrew Butler, Lush’s Campaign Manager at Lush H.Q to find out more about this situation.

Andrew, I can’t get my head around this.

“This whole R.E.A.C.H thing is horribly convoluted situation, and a lot of people don’t know about it. R.E.A.C.H is already a reality, people have been fighting it for years, but it went through, largely because its something that people didn’t fully understand, It has been too complicated for the media to follow. R.E.A.C.H affects all products. It is a piece of legislation that is about 10 years in the making, and here’s the backround: consumer and health organisations were concerned that there were chemicals on the market that were potentially harmful, either through direct contact or consumers, or via the environment, and concerned that things were getting into the soil or the water, and getting into food chain or affecting wildlife. The kind of concerns in question were if the substance was an irritant, or carcinogenic, or a endocrine disruptor, – i.e it upset the hormonal balance. and so R.E.A.C.H was designed to be a catch all, and pull together all the diverse different bodies that dealt with chemicals in Europe into one central body and pull together existing information and fill in any blanks that there may be, and this was why R.E.A.C.H came to pass.”

But it sounds laudable, in theory?

“Absolutely, we should be ensuring that dangerous chemicals are not in the marketplace, and anything that is either cancer causing or disruptive of hormone systems should be heavily restricted or banned. But it is the way that the data is collected, and the sorts of data is used to ascertain whether something is safe or not. . And that was something that was not asked of the people who proposed the legislation. The groups were concerned about the chemicals, but not necessarily how the safety would be assessed. Traditional toxicology and eco toxicology involves animal tests, and that has always been the case. Pretty much everything that you can imagine from the carpet under your feet to the painting on the walls has been tested on animals somewhere by someone. Almost everything has been through a lethal dose 50 test which is where a group of animals is force fed a substance until 50% of them die. Its something that is done for virtually everything.

Companies who are concerned with safety testing but also don’t want to use animals have been concerned with the ingredients so there are various mechanism that companies can put in place so animal testing is not used. They can set a cut off date after which ingredients are not tested on animals, or they won’t do business with companies that are testing on animals. There are grave questions about the validity of animal testing, not just the ethics. The animal testing data is not really applicable to people.

As R.E.A.C.H was being developed there was pressure to not rely on animal test data. We ran a campaign in our stores, we collected postcards to MEPS urging them to not rely on animal tests under R.E.A.C.H, we collected 85,000 of those and sent them to MEPS. Many groups, such as Animal Aid and PETA were also campaigning against R.E.A.C.H. In the six years that the legislation was being passed, there were provisions put in place. For example, if animal test data already existed for a particular ingredient, that should be used in place of any new data. So provisions were put in place to minimise it, but not do away with it entirely. ”

I’m sure we already know it, but what is Lush’s stand on animal testing?

Lush goes into the stocks

“For us as a company, we have an objection to animal testing – both because it isn’t ethical to inflict suffering and kill animals in order to assess safety, and we don’t believe that animal tests will result in accurate info, we feel that the animal test data is inconclusive. Generally speaking, animal tests offer an accuracy rate of 40%, whereas the non animal tests are accurate 70- 80%. We are opposed to animal tests being mandatory in R.E.A.C.H. We need to ensure safety without suffering, with modern, non animal testing methods that will give us much more accurate results. ”

When did R.E.A.C.H come into effect, and what kind of ingredients are being tested?

“The legislation passed in 2007, and it has been implemented over the last couple of years. R.E.A.C.H legislation presides over anything that has undergone a chemical process – so e.g. a lavender flower isn’t included, but lavender essential oil would be considered a chemical, because it has undergone a chemical process. Anyone manufacturing or importanting any material in Europe that is over a tone of materials have to register it to R.E.A.C.H, and collectively, almost everything comes under these guidelines. And the deadline for this was December 2008 and the European Chemicals Agency were meant to have sift through all of these registrations, come up with a final list and set deadlines for the testing to be done. 140,000 materials need to be tested and be given safety information. If the data doesn’t exist, animal testing needs to be done. There is a huge degree of uncertainty – how much of that data already exists? How much animal testing needs to be done? Potentially, millions of animal experiments will need to be done. And it tends to be the more natural substances, like essential oils that don’t have all of the data. They are the ones who are going to end up being having to have their products tested; this will be done against their will.”

This is all so bleak! Is there a possibility of a positive outcome?

“We are struggling at the moment, because of the degree of uncertainty. But there is a silver lining. There is the European Cosmetics Directive, which came into force on March 11th 2009, it is an amendment to the cosmetics directive. It says that you cannot test any ingredients for cosmetics on animals in Europe. You can’t even market a product in Europe containing ingredients that have been tested on animals anywhere in the world. So on the one hand you have this, and on the other, you have R.E.A.C.H. ”

Before the last draft of R.E.A.C.H was passed, Lush paid a visit with a manure truck

So which one gets the say so on testing?

“That is a good question! It’s something that has to be tested in court. The whole cosmetics industry sees that there is clearly a conflict. What we need is for more companies to stand up and start questioning this, and to get the British Government to stand up and say that we are questioning this. So our campaign right now is awareness raising. R.E.A.C.H spells the end to cruelty free cosmetics. So if you care about this, you need to be aware of this, you need to start talking about this, and you need to ask other companies what they are doing about this. What are the British Government doing about this? They stood up in 1998 and said no more animal testing. Well they have signed us up to the biggest animal testing programme in Europe’s history, what’s that all about? Lush can engage corporate disobedience, and refuse to toe the line but thats not enough, if everyone is complying with R.E.A.C.H then animal testing will still go ahead. It needs to be collective. And the British public need to get involved too!”

Is there information readily available in Lush stores about this?

“Until the end of Easter there is information in all the stores, it’s being run as an in store campaign. The aim after Easter is to get a more comprehensive leaflet that will be available if you ask for it. There is also always going to be information on our website (www.lush.co.uk/reachout/ ) We are hoping to produce letters to MP’s and other companies, specifically about this issue.”

How has the feedback been from your Lush customers?

“We have had a really strong response. We have run plenty of campaigns about packaging, shark finning, human rights in Guantanamo, all sorts of things and this is one of the strongest customer responses, people have been shocked – they had no idea that this was happening. A lot of the responses have been that this is contrary to my rights, this should be going through the European Human Rights Courts because it should be my right to say, no I am not going to be alright with animal testing.

Information booth outside Lush

R.E.A.C.H is a law, there is not one particular thing that you can do to stop it, but if we do lots of things; if we at least start talking about this, and get large companies to stand up and say that we are not happy about this situation, then we stand a chance.”
If you haven’t come across Etsy before, treatment a bank holiday weekend is a good time to start exploring, find as you could very easily wake up Tuesday morning and find that’s all you’ve done for the last 4 days. www.Etsy.com is kind of like Ebay, but only for handmade items – from cookies to soap, socks to coffee tables – if it can be made, chances are you’ll find someone on Etsy who’s made it. Painter, carpenter and photographer Rob Kalin created the site after failing to find anywhere he could sell his products online. In 2005,the year the site was launched, $166,000 worth of goods were sold. This year, they had already sold $32 million worth by March. The ethos behind the site is responsible for it being such a massive hit in the States, and its starting to become better known worldwide- everyone is reacting against our culture of mass-production and supporting small, home-run businesses where people make things by hand. The following statement fromt the company explains it all…

With the global economic crisis putting finances in a squeeze, Etsy is a great way to maximize a budget. There is an endless variety of unique, quality handmade gifts at affordable prices. Besides being memorable, these gifts are also valuable. They’re made to last a lifetime, not just until next year’s version comes out. Which means less trash for landfills, and more savings for shoppers. Plus, each purchase on Etsy directly supports independent artists and designers.

To ease you in gently, I have picked out some affordable works of art that would be a wise investment and more importantly, might brighten up your home. If you like a seller’s work, click on their ‘Favourites’ tab on the right hand side of the Etsy web page, which will take you to all the sellers they like..and so on until before you know it your cyber basket is full!

Rebellious by Carrina Rothwell
Embroidery is huge on Etsy- these witty pieces really make me laugh.

Aqua interior print by Annechovie
Anne’s amazing paintings of interiors are just gorgeous- if you have a chair, rug or room that you particularly love, commission a painting of it so you can take it with you wherever you go.

I’m afraid I can’t help it by JKLDesign
These paintings are part pop art, part fashion shoot. Check out the photography from this seller too.

Tea Fairy by Winonacookie
Lots of artists on Etsy use old images from vintage photographs and books to create new collages or ‘altered art’. Winonacookie is my favourite, though she’s obviously gained a fair following and her originals are a tad pricey now. Remember- the prices shown are in dollars though- they change it when you check out.

Two photographers making really special work are
Lightleaks and Capree (below).

Their work would look perfectly at home on the pages of Dazed and Confused or Vogue. Nab a print before they make it big.

You can view my favourite spring fashion buys from Etsy by clicking here.
Who would have thought that so close to Oxford Street, information pills headache-inducing caricature of the nation’s identikit high streets that it is, Great Marlborough Street would reside, a civilized and calm conduit of the Capital’s finest culture creators. Culture creators with smart suits and serious rosé habits, who have long since outgrown their boho-clobber. And right between these parallel universes, on the barely-noticeable Ramillies Street, we find the new home of The Photographers Gallery. It is a very efficient three-tier cuboid of display. If Muji did art galleries, they’d be like this.
The prize exhibition began on the 20th of February, and for a few nail-biting weeks of suspense, we wondered where the fickle finger of fate would land, and what arguments we would have to have about it, while the winner went off to Jessop’s to fritter away their £30,000.

The winner, it turns out, is Paul Graham. Graham’s work is pure uninterventionalist America-watching, with a dark profundity to it. A fat man in America pulls on a cigarette like he really needs it outside a drab white building. He’s shuffling about, going nowhere until the end of his fix. And he’s doing the the same again. And again. And again. Some trees in America do nothing. And again. And again. The book that led to his nomination is entitled A Shimmer Of Possibility. It’s all as dry as this, yet strangely moving. A sequence of the book depicts one hard-on-his-luck chap striding across New York tensely, again with a cigarette, yet each shot is followed by a shot of a magnificent, yet naturally composed North Dakota sunset. It’s just the very idea that one man’s drab life and lack of purpose coexists with the world’s beauty. A beauty that cares not at all, but still offers a redemptive temple for prayer. It’s inevitable that this will be compared with Robert Franks’ The Americans. It’s a valid comparison, since critical distance is the backbone of each body of work. But A Shimmer Of Possibility is not an update, but more a change of gear, with all dynamism and gusto drained from The Land Of The Free, the better to imprison them within our gaze. But that’s the book.
The exhibition space doesn’t really have room to display a significant proportion of Graham’s slow narratives. The small selection here should be taken as an existentialist aperitif, and is not necessarily the most potent of his output.

Moving up two floors, you’ll find the three runners-up. Tod Papageorge is responsible for taking pictures of people in Central Park constantly for twenty-two years (1969-1991). These are bizarre little vignettes situated within the expanse of Manhattan’s great lawn. It’s a bit like zooming into a Watteau and finding little scenes depicting the strangeness of twentieth century life. A young couple stretched out on a blanket in the sun. A scruffy man combs his son’s hair in a clearing. In a very compelling shot, a black man lies in repose before a chessboard. The black pieces are his. The white pieces belong to the gallery-going public. Is this a meaningless chance happening, or composed confrontation? It drives right to the core of what apparently out-on-the-prowl photography can be, asking the viewer what they can see, and are they right to see it.

The next encounter is with the work of Taryn Simon. I found her the most fascinating exhibitor here. These photographs constitute a very focused project, to catalogue aspects of America that are normally hidden or unfamiliar. The hydroponic marijuana room at a licensed research lab. A cryopreservation unit that holds the bodies of the wife and mother of cryogenics expert Robert Ettinger. A couple of thousand nuclear waste capsules sitting at the bottom of a watery containment facility in Washington State. A Braille edition of Playboy magazine. Finches in quarantine. The seized contraband room at JFK airport, full of tropical plants, odd food, diseased vegetation, and bushmeat, all awaiting incineration. These glimpses off the radar, though all beautifully captured, lack a consistent visual style. The subject is paramount, to a documentary degree, and each must be captured on its own terms. Simon is really allowing her issues to speak for themselves, be it with humour, disgust, or merely what Stephen fry would call Quite Interesting-ness. It’s a glimpse behind the curtain, bringing your conspiracy theory gland into the real world, for each composition is an altercation between your notions of real and normal, usually wedded, now in uncomfortable stand-off. The most powerful piece is a heart-wrenching portrait of Kenny, a white tiger, residing at an animal refuge, selectively inbred as a status pet by Arkansas half-wits, themselves perhaps inbred. Kenny has breathing difficulties, malformed bones and teeth, and cannot close his jaw. His siblings are even worse off, apparently. Looking into Kenny’s eyes and wondering, identifying, is overwhelming. Elsewhere on the spectrum is an interior of the CIA’s art collection offices. Simple yet sinister, this makes you wonder about all the things you still can’t see, all the dirty interventions by Intelligence Agents in our beloved realm of culture.

Simon’s project is almost journalistic, and the photos need to be accompanied by the little text labels, which explain these otherwise very disparate images. However, if that constitutes a dilution of the definition of a photographer, it’s nothing next to Emily Jacir’s deviation. She presents an archive of the life of Walter Zuaiter, a Palestinian intellectual who was assassinated in Rome by Israel’s Wrath Of God Operation in 1972, after they linked him, perhaps falsely, to the Munich Olympics massacre.
Jacir would have been two years old at the time, and I’m assuming she didn’t take the photos herself. She is an archivist, perhaps a curator, likely an artist, certainly a fangirl, but I can’t see how she could be called a photographer. Photography Prize, remember? It’s easy to redefine art for found objects, but the word photography is a bit more specific than that. I suppose that’s just semantics. It may not be in the right place, but it is worth seeing, and is a tragic memory of this intriguing life. She displays a selection of paperbacks that he had read, along with letters, and old photographs as a way to create some space for the personal amidst the political, the human amongst the historical. And it’s good that not everything here is about America.

The show overall is a pretty still, meditative, even modest affair. Beauty abounds. And thought. The Deutsche Börse Prize turns all of this into a big discussion about art and value. To award one prize is a shame, and probabilistically, only a quarter of people would agree with the choice of Graham, but art, at least, wins on the ground floor, and the second floor. The filling to this Photography sandwich is a shop for photography books and prints and coffee. The hordes of Oxford Street will never know. Don’t be one of them.

The Exhibition runs until April 12.
Monday, what is ed 13th

Enough with the chocolate eating! Music can be delicious as well, so go enjoy your last holiday evening with Bombay Bicycle Club (the band, not the restaurant silly!) at KCLSU (King’s College Student Union). They are launching a very yummy single called “Always Like This” which is the leader one from their new album due this summer.
7:30 pm. £8.50.

Bombay Bicycle Club

Tuesday, 14th

Some Swedish romanticism can`t hurt, right? Well, Loney Dear is back celebrating the release of their fifth album ‘Dear John’ with a full band show at Scala, fresh from an extensive tour around America.
On support duties, welcome Snowbird, a brand new and rather bewitching collaboration from Stephanie Dosen and Simon Raymonde (Cocteau Twins, Bella Union) playing songs of the old and new variety. As if that’s not enough, there`s also the full lavishly appointed and luxuriously hand-tooled 8 piece version of The Leisure Society, a fast rising orchestral folk-pop band whose tour will culminate at this very show.
7:30 pm. £11.50

Loney Dear

Wednesday 15th

Acclaimed indie pop trio The Wave Pictures release their latest album ‘If You Leave It Alone’ on the 4th May. The band is currently on tour in the UK and London fellows can check out the homonym single at ICA this Wednesday.
7:30pm. £8.50.

The Wave Pictures

Thursday 16th

OK, so far it`s been impossible not to go out every single evening in the week. The musical orgy continues on Thursday with all the Berlin coolness of The Whitest Boy Alive, fronted by Erland Oye, formerly Kings Of Convenience. The will be playing “Rules”, the new album, at Scala.
7:30 pm. £15.

The Whitest Boy Alive

Friday 17th

Temper`s Trap new release Science Of Fear is due to 20th April and a preview will be performed this Friday at Koko.
9:30PM. £5.00.

Temper Trap

Saturday 18th

Great music for free? Here we come! To celebrate Record Store Day, Pure Groove will be hosting three gigs where you’ll be able to see Graham Coxon performing live, along with our own Dan Michaelson and Patrick Wolf.
10am to 6pm. Free.

Graham Coxon

Sunday 19th

Everybody is all around talking about “Two Suns”, Bat For Lashes new album. Honestly? When we first listened to it at the office here we all flipped out.
They are playing a second night at Sheperd`s Bush Empire so guarantee your Sunday ticket before it sells out.
7:30 pm. £15

Bat For Lashes

How strong are the bricks and mortar that hold your house together? Chances are they are flimsier then you would think. Especially if you have ever fallen behind on a rent check, sick mortgage payment, drug or found that your job no longer exists, pharm or that your employers can’t afford to keep you on. These scenarios are affecting thousands of people every day, in every party of Britain. Millions of people are trapped in a vicious cycle of spiralling costs, a precarious job market and a serious shortage of funds – all which are contributing to a level of uncertainty that has not been experienced in our life time. When this all hits, it hits hard and its impact is usually centered on whatever place that you call home. It’s at this moment that you realise how fragile your home really is. Suddenly, the idea of becoming homeless doesn’t seem so far removed from your reality. Right now, there are 1.9 million households on council housing waiting lists and repossessions are predicted to rise to 75,000 in 2009. And right now, the entire housing market seems as fragile as a house of cards. Which is why Amelia’s Magazine would like to help raise money for Shelter. Read on for the design brief.

DESIGN BRIEF:

Amelia’s Magazine has been asked to produce a piece of artwork for an exhibition that Shelter will be putting on in the summer. Other designers and artists who will be contributing to the exhibition include Stella Vine, Basso and Brooke and Rachel Whiteread. The final artworks will be auctioned to raise money for Shelter, and it’s a great honour to be asked to contribute to this. I’ve been given the TWO OF HEARTS, and the plan is to put together a patchwork quilt of cards in many different styles and designs, all depicting the TWO OF HEARTS. But I am not going to do this alone; in keeping with the way that I have produced the magazine this patchwork will be made up from contributions from illustrators. So I need your submissions! The best playing card designs will be added to the quilt and your name will be credited in the exhibition which you will also be invited to attend.

TECHNICAL DETAILS:

SIZE: Please design to standard playing card dimensions but larger scale. Your design should therefore be 126mm x 176mm and in jpg, psd or tiff format.

RESOLUTION: 300dpi, as a photoshop file in CYMK mode, using Photoshop print profile: euro standard swap coated 20% (or euroscale V2)

MY STYLE: I am looking for decorative, colourful interesting designs on the theme of TWO OF HEARTS. I’m excited, I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

SENDING IN YOUR DESIGN: Send your design to info@ameliasmagazine.com on an email clearly headed SHELTER CARD QUILT any time before this closing date.

CLOSING DATE: Please send your design into me by the end of June. Closing date for entries is Monday 29th June. If your design is picked to be used on the quilt I will be in touch at some point after the closing date to let you know.

UPDATE: WE NOW HAVE A FACEBOOK EVENT FOR THIS: CHECK THIS WEBSITE FOR THE BEST NEW DESIGNS AS THEY ARRIVE IN MY INBOX!
Fabstraction

Ian Davenport
This will be the artist’s second solo show at the Alan Cristea Gallery and will include 30 new works.

Alan Cristea Gallery 34 Cork Street, viagra sale London W1S 3NU
4th Mar 2009 – 17th Apr 2009

Ad Nausea

Guy Denning – solo show
A collection of powerful, website like this dark expresive Images depicting people at their
best and worst.

Signal Gallery, page 96A Curtain Rd, EC2A 3AA
Open to public: 27th March – 25th April 2009
Tuesday – Saturday 12 – 6pm

New Work

Ron Arad
The exhibition will include some experimental pieces from the designers newly completed selection.

Timothy Taylor Gallery, 15 Carlos Place, London W1K 2EX
8th April- 9th Maf 2009
Monday to Friday 10am — 6pm
Saturday 10am — 1pm

Prophecies and Deceits

Sousan Luqman
The show tackles concealment, transparency and hidden messages. The artist brings a personal insight into current global issues such as religion, war and politics,

Red Gate Gallery
10th Apr – 16th Apr 09
Opening Hours: Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon – Wed 2.30 pm – 6.30 pm
Last day of exhibition: Thursday 16th of April from 11 am to 5 pm
Free

Mimetes Anonthe

Alastair Mackie
The lone chimpanzee lost in the urban concrete formed city jungle.
The artist’s sculptures often explores and questions the need to socially and economically race towards a better future. In this case the chimpanzee forces us to face our distant animal past.

The Economist Plaza, 25 St. James’s Street, London , SW1A 1HG
19th February – 17th April 2009

The Quiet Men

Bernard Canavan, Daniel Carmody, John Duffin, Dermot Holland and Brian Whelan
The exhibition is a visual exploration of the experiences of five Irish immigrant artists in London.

PM Gallery & House, Mattock Lane, Walpole Park, London W5 5EQ
11th Mar – 18th Apr 09

Here at Amelia’s Magazine we were left so in awe by the spectacular vintage emsembles we witnessed at last weeks Affordable Vintage Fair when contributer Robyn got in touch with this interview with 40′s pin up Fleur De Guerre, link we just couldn’t resist the chance to get our mits on all the trade secrets to her immaculate get up!

As a fully fledged vintage enthusiast, Fleur de Guerre was more then keen to act as hair stylist to the masses at this years Affordable Vintage Fashion Fair in Bethnal Green, London. A part time pin up model who dresses daily in full 1940′s regalia, Fleur states “it’s the hair done in rolls and curls, red lipstick and the eyeliner that makes my look”. Something that has come in handy for the 27 year old from Surrey who has straightened, curled and victoria rolled her way through a hoard of customers at The Queens of Vintage stall at the fair this afternoon.

Fanning her face as she walks down the street towards a park opposite the FymFyg Bar where The Affordable Vintage Fashion Fair is hosted, Fleur exclaims “I stayed at my boyfriends house last night. He had forgotten to set his alarm clock forward from last weekend and I woke up an hour late. I rushed all the way here and haven’t stopped since. Im so hot and bothered, it was crazy in there.” Lowering herself onto the grass, Fleur crosses her legs and moves her face away from the sun commenting “I’ve such pale skin, I wish I had of brought my sunglasses, it’s such a lovely day. I think this is the first time I have sat in a park this year.”

Dressed in chocolate brown, high waisted sailor trousers with a pale green and white striped shirt, Fleur looks every bit the preened and perfectly turned out model. Her style is sophisticated and modest, complimenting her good posture and manner. Speaking about the fair Fleur comments “these fairs, there brilliant but they don’t usually have the kind of thing I like” she says in reference to the abundance of 70s and 80s vintage garments at the fair. Instead she says that “very late 30s, early 40s cotton sun dresses and suits are my thing, I probably won’t buy anything today”.

Fleur de Guerre, real name Fleur McGuerre is not a fan of her own name “it rhymes in a sort of embarrassing fashion.” Instead she adopted the alias Fleur de Guerre “when I introduced myself to somebody and they misheard me and thought, oh “Fleur of War”, thats a really cool name. So when I started doing pin up modeling I had a ready made name which fitted in well with my 1940s look. Fleur de Guerre is your war time undercover name, it works.”

Although she has now been modeling for a year and a half, Fleur hasn’t always been so stylish. Picking at the grass in front of her she declares “I’d be lying if I said my mother didn’t think the way I dressed when I was in my late teens wasn’t completely awful.” Remembering really baggy jeans, dreadlocks and heavy metal Fleur states “I had two nose piercing, I was just really unfeminine basically.” Even in her younger years Fleur clearly adored all things unusual “I can distinctly remember the things I really loved. I had this really wacky pair of trainers in the late 80s with these sparkly pink laces, I also had this ra-ra skirt that I absolutely loved.” It was during her middle teens that Fleur’s style took on a much more individual approach, when she was 14 she “started getting into the whole alternative thing. I started to customize my jeans, I would cut up the side to put extra fabric in them.” Fleur’s mum still did not approve “she just wished that I’d wear a pair of jeans that fitted me properly. She was fine, to a certain extent she would encourage my individuality, help me out with my hair do’s when I was younger. She really approves of the way I dress now.”

After studying a degree in English Language and Literature at Kingston University, Fleur now works at The Readers Digest as a full time marketing copywriter. The job pays well enough for Fleur to enjoy suitably niche hobbies such as swing dancing to taking drives with her boyfriend in his collection of vintage cars. However it is modeling that fills the majority of Fleur’s spare time, although she insists with animated excitement “it wasn’t something that I ever thought I would do.” Fleur was introduced to the world of modeling through a friend who took her to a shoot for The Boudoir, a company that offers girls the opportunity to be dolled up in full vintage style hair and make up before taking part in a themed photo shoot. The shoot included 11 other girls who acted as examples of what customers could buy into before the company was fully launched, enabling Fleur to sample the world of fashion modeling for free. Not only did the experience give Fleur her first images on which to build a portfolio, it was also a great confidence boost. Recalling the shoot she exclaims “I did it and it was brilliant. I had a really great time, really enjoyed it, really like the photos.”

Other favourite photo shoots of Fleur’s include a shoot with Tony Rizzetti for lingerie brand What Katie Did in which she learned the traditional pin up poses. Jumping into each pose as she retells the experience Fleur explains “he’s funny because he goes “put your leg in front, you know like that, do an “ooh” for me” and he’ll do it too and put you totally at ease. It’s really helped me get more work”.

However as much as she enjoys her hobby, Fleur doesn’t see it turning into a full time career stating “if I could, I would” however not all her modeling experiences have been positive. So far this year the model hasn’t done much work, she explains looking pensive “by the end of last year I’d kind of killed my social life by going out modeling every weekend. I would be too tired to go out after a shoot in the evening. I didn’t have any more outfits, new outfits, because I don’t like wearing the same thing more than twice, once if I can get away with it.”

Mixing her clothing is something that Fleur is quite accustomed to, she explains that while she prefers not to she “will occasionally be found in Primark. I get an attack of guilt when I come out and am like ‘Oh no! Child Labour!.” The Make Do and Mend ethics of the 1940s is something that Fleur would like follow “I wish I would learn to sew so I can perpetrate the whole Make Do and Mend thing myself, but in theory I support it.”

But for now she is concentrating on the present day, her schedule is waiting to be filled up with photo shoots and events. In the mean time she would like to concentrate on her blog “it is going really well, my readership is going up a lot. I wouldn’t say that I’m aiming for a career as a blogger but I’d like to see if it could get a bit more noticed.” She continues “I would like to try and grow and write some more informative articles about vintage”. However Fleur accepts the limitations of her chosen style “it’s very restricting but I’ve found my niche really, my calling.”
Tuesday 14th April

ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD/Q&A
6.20pm, sales
Renoir Cinema,
Holborn,
London, WC1N 1AW

Certificate:
U
Duration:
99 minutes
Exclusive Preview and Q&A of this Oscar-nominated documentary from Werner Herzog on 14 April at Renoir Cinema. We welcome Clive Oppenheimer, the volcanologist featured in the documentary.
The long awaited new documentary from the director of Grizzly Man and Rescue Dawn, this critically acclaimed film was recently nominated for an Oscar. Winner of the best doc at the Edinburgh Film Festival in 2008, this is the story of an outsider who, for the first time ever, is admitted to the Antarctic community of McMurdo station, and into the heart of one of the most remote places on earth.

Friday 17th April
MST Film Screening

(image courtesy of Lea Jaffy; leajaffy_1@hotmail.com)

doors 7.30pm
Passing Clouds
corner of Kingsland Road
E8 4AA
MST: Landless farmers and the biggest march in Brazilian history , screening of a new film about the MST (Movimiento Sem Terra) in Brazil, to mark International Landless Day, plus Q&A with the director; music til late downstairs
Info: Movimientos/ movimientosuk@gmail.com
http://www.movimientos.org.uk/sitio/

UK AWARE 09 – Ideas for Greener Living
Date: Friday 17 Apr 2009 to Saturday 18 Apr 2009
?Time: 10am-6pm daily
Venue: Olympia Exhibition Centre
Hammersmith Road
London
W14 8UX

Description:
The two day exhibition will offer you hundreds of products, services and ideas that will help you lead a more sustainable lifestyle. Everything from the latest in ethical fashion to the fastest and most ingenious eco cars, from travel options to energy solutions will be there for you to discover.
The event will also include a symposium area, Green Screen Cinema, interactive areas, an ethical business start up surgery and over 40 ‘Green Machines’.
UK AWARE 09 promises to help save you money and cut your carbon emissions without compromising your modern lifestyle.
Venue: Olympia Exhibition Centre
Contacts: UK AWARE team
E-mail: info@ukaware.com?Web Address: www.ukaware.com

Sat April 18th

Turning The Tide

(image courtesy of Lea Jaffy; leajaffy_1@hotmail.com)

Friends House
?173 Euston Road ?London,
NW1 2BJ?
United Kingdom

10am -5.15 pm
Cost: £25.00
Info: Turning the Tide
denised@quaker.org.uk
tevew@quaker.org.uk
phone: 020 7663 1061/1064

* Campaigners do it together! How we can make change, one-day Workshop,
Nonviolence for a change
All over the world, people join together to challenge injustice, overcome oppression and make a more just and peaceful society.
 
Turning the Tide promotes the understanding and use of nonviolence to help such groups become more effective.
 
Active nonviolence is a way of confronting injustice – not doing nothing, not responding violently, but struggling creatively to transform the situation.
 
Turning the Tide takes its inspiration and learning from effective nonviolent movements including those of Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day, Greenham Women, environmental and economic justice movements, land rights nonviolent activists and many more. We offer workshops, speakers, literature, a journal and advice.
Remember last Tuesday when we all had to come back to real life after a long weekend of sugary indulgences? Well, information pills I had a really busy work day, visit but what relieved me was the fact that I had my name on the list for a great gig later that evening, site and that was The Leisure Society playing at the Scala, which I had spent the entire previous week looking forward to.
Seeing them live was sort of like reading a book and then watching the film adaptation: all the images (well in this case vibrations) I had in mind took seconds to became concrete. An enchanting sound fell on stage and all the countless amount of instruments they make use of guaranteed an impeccable performance.

Their latest album, ‘The Sleeper’, holds a lot of great instrumental techniques and varies in the musical genres. The homonym single has a soft romantic feel with the acoustic guitars playing a sequence of music with accompanying glockenspiels in the background to make the sound really interesting. Singer and multi-instrumentalist Nick Hemming plays the sounds from the ukulele, mandolin, banjo, guitar; accompanying alongside him, the keyboardist Christian Hardy forms the core of the group, with impressive arrangements also featuring strings, flute, pedal steel, glockenspiel, thumb piano, among other instruments. It’s clear that the band all share the same vision for music. The piece is sung in synchronisation throughout, by various voices as it would sound. Taking lead vocals, Hemming’s voice is pleasant to listen to, and is clear he has had influences from bands such as ‘The Kinks’ with his use of tones.

It’s a combination played with soft, gentle sounds; it’s a very English song but has some American influences as well. The violins play smooth melodies over the bouncy rhythm of the guitars, and the gentle beat of drums play in the background. Forget counting sheep, the lyrics are repeated throughout, but as it’s called ‘The Sleeper’ you can just need something repeated over and over again to make you fall asleep.

The entire album is just beautiful and serene. Country and Western influences are clear throughout, you can really visualise an image in your mind of how and where the song would be performed and would be set-out.

Their latest single, ‘A Matter of Time’, is a fantastic and captivating song made up with a number of layering instruments all playing melodic and memorable tunes. Obviously it gets a lot better when played live, so that`s the part where we show you a piece of the gig. Enjoy!

A long time ago, purchase I saw David Goo as a solo artiste for perhaps the fifth time, and wondered “What is you?” I’d never known such a hard-working jobless fella. If i went to a mini-festival, he was there, singing and strumming. An open-mic night, he was hosting it. Every other night I went to, there he was. And always giving it the utmost of his energy, always with the audience in the palm of his hand. His humourous ditties never grew tired or stale. No word ever died on the man’s lips. And it was all from a genuinely off-the wall, wacky headspace. Bizarre ideas floating in a general insanity stew. And still, it always worked, and sounded fresh. Where could all this exuberance be coming from?

And then he started to multiply, and multiply more, much like mogwai. New band members sprang forth, and bopped around a lot, and did whatever David told them to. Bands are, of course, very different territory to the solo gig. Would it work? Can you spread that kind of energy around? Would it not thin? Would the stew not turn to broth? I decided to find out for myself at 93 Feet East last night, while the band still numbers in single figures (Seven, at time of writing).
The magic ingredient in David Goo’s expansion to The David Goo Variety Band is drumkit conductor, Gregory De Carte. Dead sharp and precise, yet also ready to ebb and flow in perfect synchronicity with David’s handiwork. They are one. And crucially, said drummer has just as much energy as his lord and master. Energy he uses to stab gentle verses, birth sudden ska-grooves or reggae-bounces, and push rock-out sections to bursting, explosive climax. The bassist is just as tight with these organic grooves, though less dominant, and leaves himself enough resource to generally dick around and pull faces like the band’s self-appointed goon. Bravo.
Sadly, the sound at 93 was such that most of the time, I could only clearly hear one other band member, Angel De Marco, who is a kind of cross between Bez and the rap guy from Linkin Park. You’re probably thinking that sounds awful, but I should mention a tricky subject for the DGVB: genre.

There’s only one musician I’d feel at ease comparing David Goo to, and that is Frank Zappa. Does humour belong in music? asks Zappa. And Goo replies by singing of the lovelife of a black marketeer who specializes in body parts. And by prophesying that a maggot will become the biggest star in the world. I reckon we can take that as a loud “yes, humour does belong in music”.
Genre-wise, then, let’s start with Comedy, then mention Mr.Goo’s slight flamenco touch, the overall folk flavour, the circussy diversions, the high speed vocals with hip-hop back-up, the yodelly melodies, and the strangely metal feel that often accrues, and the party-party feel that comes from the gang-chants. (pause for breath) Then there’s the upper strata of the band, poking through occasionally. A cellist who provides a klezmer relief in the anthemic Keep On Wishing, hunching over his Yiddish melodies with plenty chutzpah. A pale skinny waif-boy gives it some beginners’ jazz on the sax, then turns to a synth for spots of happy hardcore kids’ TV themes. And they have enlisted the help of Miss Jo Williams (genius in her own right with her rather more earnest songs), here providing a sweet, airy backing vocal, as well as some kitsch dance moves.

So it often comes across as parody music, but really I think that’s just a side effect of Goo’s willingness to sound like woteva for a few bars until he gets bored and decides to sound like woteva else. He just throws it around with an it’s-only-music attitude, and three minutes later, you’ve been to hell, Catalonia, The Wailing Wall, Compton, Shoreditch and back.
And that’s why the audience submits. He tells them they should dance, and they realise that they should, and then they get wild, and silly, and it looks a bit like the hokey-cokey for a second. When I arrived, these people were cool. They are now reduced to Stimpy-mode. Idiotic rapture through obedience. In another world, trust me, David Goo is a cult leader, with thousands of devotees happily sacrificing their daughters and taking part in bloody ceremonies. Luckily, in this world, he has chosen to lead his disciples to the Temple of Rock, and London is much better off for it.
Where Goo fundamentally differs from Zappa is the accessibility. Obviously, nobody is exactly identifying with his lyrical protagonists, but these ludicrous fables are presented with such musical gusto and spirit of fun that you can’t avoid infection. While Zappa left many confused faces in his wake, Goo leaves a trail of happy-clapping converts, grinning like Hare Krishna geeks on MDMA and Jelly Babies.
Obviously, I’m going to have to see them again. For one thing, I shall need to review the twelve band members they will probably have by Autumn. But also because it’s such a lush hit of sheer enjoyment, and there is much cause to expect the throng to swell. Talk of a record deal, recent exposure on the omnipotent Rightmove ad, and a new batch of recordings are raising the alarm, and it’s exciting.
Double exciting because there’s no fear of selling out or growing mould. Goo is the genuine gush that never dries, I’d stake my hair on it, so roll up, check it out and do what the leader says: wig out. It’s only music. It’s only fun.

You can get Goo’d at Dragon’s Ball, The Green Dragon, Croydon on May 6 or Dingwall’s, Camden on June 4.
Have you seen The Age of Stupid Yet? If you say yes, viagra then I’m sure that you will have been in parts blown away and devastated, tadalafil and hopefully, galvanized into action to fight climate change. If you haven’t seen it yet, you will soon have a novel and inspired way of doing so.

In keeping with the way that the film was ‘crowd funded‘ and was debuted at ‘People’s Premieres‘, the way that it will soon be able to be screened will be equally as meritocratic. From the guideline of May 1st (exact date is still to be confirmed), the people behind ‘The Age Of Stupid’ will be launching ‘Indie Screenings“, which concept goes a little like this; you (yes, you) rent a copy of the film in DVD format from the team, and pay a screening fee – which is going to be set on a sliding scale; if you are the head of a huge company in the city (well, you might be!) then you will be paying more than if you want to screen it for a local scout group. Then you print off a license, set up your event, and show a copy of the film to your mates!

The key issue with this concept – and how it sets itself apart from most other films is that the team behind the film have made it free of licensing restrictions; so it can pretty much be shown anywhere. The possibilities are endless; schools could rent copies for assembly screenings, local councils could hold screenings in their offices (especially if they are active in the Low Carbon Communities campaign) or pubs,libraries, university campuses, restaurants and village halls could be rented out. Personally, with the summer months approaching, organising an outdoor screening is something that has prompted me to get my thinking cap on. While you will have to pay the screening fee, you can make the money back from ticket sales if you charge for this. Any money that you make will be yours to keep (but I’m sure that you will be putting it towards your climate change campaign, right?)

If you are interested in organising a screening, all you need to to is send an email over to addtolist@ageofstupid.net, with your details, where you would like to show it, a rough guide of how many people that you would like to show it to, etc. And be creative! You could invite guest speakers along – after I had seen the film I had so many questions, so it was fortunate that I attended a screening which had a Q+A from the producer of ‘The Age Of Stupid’, Lizzie Gillett. Do your homework before you decide to hold a screening – think numbers, technicalities- like how the sound and visual equipment will work in the venue, how you will wish to advertise it to your buddies (that’s when Facebook will come in handy). The film, and the message behind it is too important to be missed, and needs to be shared. And this is the perfect way to share it!

Written by Cari Steel on Tuesday April 14th, 2009 6:20 pm

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• Bank Holiday
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A revival of folk music in recent years has caused many to cast off their former preconceptions of it being a little bit twee. It is still yet to be seen as to whether this new lease of life will have a positive or a negative effect on folk music. Will it change the face of folk forever and cause the genre to lose its defining heritage. Or will the new sides of folk work alongside the older forms, recipe web increasing it’s following.

Folk musician Barb Jungr is due to speak at the event

Photo: Steve Ullathorne

All these points and more are due to be discussed at Who gives a folk?, ailment an event which aims to find out who really does give a folk about folk in the 21st century. Taking part in the discussion will be the legendary singer Barb Jungr, buy the Daily Telegraph music critic Ivan Hewett, Time Out music editor Eddy Lawrence, together with the music journalist Neil Davenport, music student Cara Bleiman, folk enthusiasts Don Eales and Abdul Rehman-Malik in discussion with the Institute of Ideas and Guardian arts
blog’s Shirley Dent.

The event is due to take place at Vibe Live, 91-95 Brick Lane on 29th July between 7 – 9 pm. Be sure to get their early to defend world music in its most British of forms.

Written by Charles Drakeford on Tuesday June 24th, 2008 5:41 pm

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