One thing is certain on listening to Swollen and Small; Viking Moses is utterly in love with Neutral Milk Hotel. He knows the songs inside out, for saleinformation pills upside down, and has grown up learning to play along with Jeff Mangum’s melancholic ponderings on life, the universe and everything.
This EP is a collection of four NMH covers, all played uniquely but strangely similar to the original tracks, with the emotion and devotion of a true disciple of the band he obviously so loves.
Having played with the rock stars of the alt-folk movement over the last five years (Devendra Banhart, Will Oldham, Cat Power), Moses has finally decided to do the self indulgent thing of strumming away his favourite songs for all to hear… And I’m damn happy that he did. It’s an interesting selection of songs he has decided to cover, three from the lesser known On Avery Island, and the dance floor filler Holland 1945 (from In the Aeroplane over the Sea), all of which are done justice.
Viking Moses has the same sort of off -beat, powerful and delicate voice as his idol and pulls off the long high drawn out notes in a wonderful, same-but-different manner from the originals. His rendition of Holland 1945 is truly spectacular, edging away from the rollicking, percussion driven original and opting for a quieter and all together gentler rendition which allows for the heartbreak of the lyrics to really come through.
It’s basically a one man and his guitar affair with occasional slide guitar and harmonica, percussion coming from the pounding of palm on guitar, working particularly well on Gardenhead/Leave Me Alone; a brilliant original and a worthy cover. As goes for the rest of the record.
This debut single from hotly-tipped Cardiff students Los Campesinos! suffers from the same problem as past efforts from the very similar Leeds band The Research and Bristol-based Kid Carpet. Namely, more about the whole thing reeks of a kind of contrived wackiness. I’m all for simple pop – The Ramones, shop for instance – but there’s simple pop and then there’s children’s music, and this – so sugary and kooky, veers towards the latter. And yes, the Americans say “math” – how amusing.
The press release for this EP not only offers the terrifying prospect of a “jazz flute” but also the use of something called a “shlang dan”. Thankfully, purchase the prospect of a muso jamming session – high on fannying about, viagra sale low on actual tunes – fails to materialise. That’s not to say, however, that Born Ruffians are particularly tuneful – they’re not. They play an ultimately frustrating kind of country rock reminiscent of Neil Young at his most MOR. What’s more, Luke LaLonde’s singing voice is so whiny it makes the vocals of infinitely annoying Clap Your Hands Say Yeah front man Alec Ounsworth sound like Johnny Cash.
If you weren’t sure with the term ‘neon done well’, pill this could have been your crash course. If you mix ‘indie’ and ‘rave’ apparently this is the uniform! Brilliant, price I got given three glow bracelets from an almost-nuclear guy at the bar. That’ll do nicely.
The creme de la creme of East London’s artists and designers come together for Art Against Knives: a 2 day event and exhibition to raise awareness of knife crime in the community and to raise money for the medical treatment of Oliver Hemsley the 20 year-old Central St Martins student, shopbuy who was left paralysed after being stabbed multiple times on Boundry Street.
Art Against Knives promises to be inspiring both artistically and socially.
Evening of live illustration, animation screenings, raffle brought to you by art whizz kid Rose Blake and the rest of the This Is It Collective to raise money for their degree show at Kingston. There will be DJs as well as live music from Sheeps and Arthur Delaney. General fun will be provided in abundance.
Fleur Oakes- The Glass Pingle “In My Garden I am Quenne”
showing now
A simply beautiful piece mixing embroidery and corsetry by Fleur Oakes illuminates the front window of knitters’ paradise Prick Your Finger. Review and interview with Fleur to follow this week in the mean time check out the knitting projects here.
“In My Garden I am Queene”, Prick Your Finger, open Monday – Saturday, 260 Globe Road, London.
Beneath the pavement… The beach
Sexton (London) & Dominique Lacloche (Paris)
The exhibition consists of new work by the two artists work.
Swine flu art masks- an exhibition of plague masks
Exquisite masks made due to the media hysteria regarding Swine flu, These masks are hand stitched and made as delicate collectable art object.
Hepsibah Gallery, 112 Brackenbury Road, London W6 0BD
30th Apr – 6th May 2009
Constellation
Clay Perry
The exhibiton showcases the photographers images of the 60′s avant-garde art scene.
England & Co, 216, Westbourne Grove, Notting Hill, W11 2RH
Tuesday, 5 May from 11:00 – 18:00
Free entry
Etchings (Portraits)
Glenn Brown
A new collection of etchings from the artist.
Karsten Schubert, 5-8 Lower John Street,London W1F 9DR
Ends on the 8th May 2009, Monday to Friday 10am – 6pm
An exhibition of works by Paul Bennett and Ellie Good
Paul Bennett: expressionist paintings using oil and graphite on canvas. Ellie Good: In this series of oil paintings and portraits exploring light.
Lauderdale House, Highgate Hill, London N6 5HG
28th Apr – 10th May 2009, Tue – Fri 11-4pm, Sat 1.30-5pm Free entry
Art Against Knives
4th-5th May 2009
The creme de la creme of East London’s artists and designers come together for Art Against Knives: a 2 day event including exhibition to raise awareness of knife crime in the community and to raise money for the medical treatment of Oliver Hemsley the 20 year-old Central St Martins student, approved who was left paralysed after being stabbed multiple times on Boundry Street.
Art Against Knives promises to be both inspiring both artistically and socially.
Textured textile temptation at the Hayward’s retrospective of French feminist artist Annette Messager.
Annette Messager, until 24th May 2009, The Hayward, Southbank Centre, London
Art in Mind
ends 11th May 2009
Eclectic collaborative show at the lovely Brick Lane Gallery featuring 13 contemporary artists.
Art in Mind, until next Monday, The Bricklane Gallery, 196 Brick Lane, London.
The Red Room Platform Presents: Women’s Edition
6-9pm, 10th May 2009
Pan-generational artists, activists and thinkers validate the position of feminism in modern society through provocation, performance and debate.
Berlin- born Isa Genzken brings her colourful sculptures to the newly refurbished, East London favourite- Whitechapel Gallery
Isa Genzken: Open Sesame! Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High Street, London
Art Against Knives
4th-5th May 2009
The creme de la creme of East London’s artists and designers come together for Art Against Knives: a 2 day event including exhibition to raise awareness of knife crime in the community and to raise money for the medical treatment of Oliver Hemsley the 20 year-old Central St Martins student, ampoule who was left paralysed after being stabbed multiple times on Boundry Street.
Art Against Knives promises to be both inspiring both artistically and socially.
Textured textile temptation at the Hayward’s retrospective of French feminist artist Annette Messager.
Annette Messager, until 24th May 2009, The Hayward, Southbank Centre, London
Art in Mind
ends 11th May 2009
Eclectic collaborative show at the lovely Brick Lane Gallery featuring 13 contemporary artists.
Art in Mind, until next Monday, The Bricklane Gallery, 196 Brick Lane, London.
The Red Room Platform Presents: Women’s Edition
6-9pm, 10th May 2009
Pan-generational artists, activists and thinkers validate the position of feminism in modern society through provocation, performance and debate.
Berlin- born Isa Genzken brings her colourful sculptures to the newly refurbished, East London favourite- Whitechapel Gallery
Isa Genzken: Open Sesame! Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High Street, London
The spirit is there, check but where are the green fingers? When I was little I used to love watching my mum tending to the garden. I remember the pride and excitement she would feel when her flowers were in full bloom. As I got older, information pills I imagined that the desire to start growing plants, flowers and veg would manifest itself….. but it never really bloomed. It doesn’t help that my ‘garden’ is a small concrete balcony in East End London, and I had always imagined that gardening was essentially a bit of a chore. Then I realized that I was approaching this issue completely the wrong way. Gardening is not just about allotments, trips to garden centres on a Sunday afternoon, and Radio 4 playing in the backround (not that there is anything wrong with these things), its about having fun – creating produce; eating it, drinking it – you won’t disagree when you see the recipe for Grow Your Own Mojito – fundamentally, it is about achieving that sense of intense satisfaction when you realize… “I made that!”. With this newfound understanding, I could see that my lack of gardening space excuse was pretty flimsy. When you grasp that the world is your oyster, you can also see that it is your flowerbed as well.
With this in mind, the imaginative people behind “Growing Stuff – An Alternative Guide To Gardening” have put together a how – to guide to everything horticultural. With sections on guerilla gardening, growing carrots in Wellington boots, and the aforementioned guide to making your own mojito’s; this is not your typical gardening book. There are contributions by ‘punk’ gardeners, ‘worm farming junkies’, teenagers and artists, which makes ‘Growing Stuff’ as accessible as you could hope for. Absolutely every person, no matter their level of gardening skills – or lack of – will be able to grow stuff after reading this book.
I spoke with two contributors to Growing Stuff recently about their involvement with the book, as well as their other activities. Emily Hill and Will Gould are also artists who create ‘living sculptures’ that aim to walk a line between the man-made and the wild.
Hey Emily, I like the suggestions that you and Will have done in Growing
Stuff. There is definitely an element of fun and whimsy to your
gardening ideas; like Cartoon Cress, and Carrot Wellies. Is this the
style in that you two both work? And do you feel that this is the best way to
initiate would be gardeners?
Emily: Life’s too short, get out there and get your hands dirty, just give it a go! Of course it should be fun, and if it isn’t, it’s time to take a minute to think about what’s out of balance in your life; gardening’s a great leveller, and can really help you work things out. There’s nothing like a home-grown cherry tomato bursting in your mouth to cheer you up!
Will: There are plenty of books out there which describe how to grow plants but they are not necessarily accessible to people who don’t see themselves as gardeners. By making the growing a bit more fun and whimsical we hope to de-mystify the growing of stuff. Plants want to grow and if you give them half a chance they will, so we feel it is better to have fun and be creative while trying to grow something. After all even if you fail to grow anything, you’ve had some fun.
What other easy-peasy suggestions might you have for gardening
novices- especially ones in an urban sprawl?
Will: Just try buying a packet of salad seeds-lettuce and coriander are dead easy, plant them on top of some moist compost in a pot and put them on your windowsill. It’s hard to go wrong.
Emily: Tease out a passion, try growing something bright purple, or something that smells nice, or both! You don’t have to do much, just buy a plant and water it! I started with French Lavender on my balcony.
Do you think that growing stuff is becoming more of a young persons
game now?
Will: It’s about time, why miss out on all those glorious years of growing.
Emily: It’s definitely something that has caught our generation’s imagination, maybe its something to do with our collective childhood memories. I remember picking raspberries with my granddad; it was like finding little ruby coloured droplets of edible treasure at the bottom of the garden!
How did you and Will get into gardening, and how did you end up
collaborating with this book?
Will: I grew up in a small house with a big garden, so it kind of came naturally. The book came from a request for artists who work with living things to submit ideas.
Emily: We both grew up in the country, all neglected and wild! For me, artistry came naturally, getting into gardening came later, when I found a bit of outdoor space to cultivate. We saw an advert on the Arts Council’s website and just went for it!
I have read that you two create ‘Living Structures’ – can you tell me a
little about this? What future projects are you working on?
Emily: We started off by making a portable composting toilet for our allotment with old bits of shed and two huge cartwheels; we made a cubicle that looked like a Victorian beach hut and planted a garden on the roof and gave it two window boxes full of flowers. We wanted to recycle ourselves, so we mixed our own wee with rainwater collected from the roof, and created a system to pump the mixture around the plants to feed them, anything left over drained into a reed bed at the back of the structure. It was quite charming really, and very popular…have a look, its called ‘The Jakes’ and was submitted for Margate Rocks last Spring (www.margaterocks.com).
Will: We are both interested in structures, which have a life of their own. For us, this involves growing plants, which either make up the structure, or contribute to the working of a functional building.
We are currently working on outdoor environmental projects in schools and incorporate the growing of stuff wherever possible and it is always possible!
Artist AJ Fosik’s sculpted characters look like your high school mascot that went AWOL and ended up at a full moon party in Thailand. Or perhaps the stuffed and mounted head of some big game he vanquished in a spirit dream and was able to sneak back under the border patrol of consciousness (quite a feat really I hear they’re rather tight). His technicolor wooden sculptures certainly carry the sense of having seen the otherside and with their hypnotic fluorescent eyes they seem all too than eager to take you there as well.
According to his myspace page AJ Fossik is 66 years old. Sure, unhealthy maybe on his second time round on the carousel of life. perhaps wise beyond his years, what is for certain is that this Philadelphia born artist is onto something. Currently exhibiting printed works at Giant Robot Gallery in NY, it is his psychedelic sculptures which have really roared onto the scene. Made of hundreds of small, individually cut and hand painted wood, his animal effigies and their symbolism strike a chord with the collective consciousness, especially in the US. Aside from being the California state animal, a campsite mischief, cartoon character and omnipresent sports team icon, the bear is one of the largest and most regal North American animals, a reminder of the vastness and awesome natural beauty experienced by the earliest pioneers.
A country whose experience at the moment consists of what is referred to as a “bear market”, one in which stockholders, all in the same blind panicked, decide to sell! sell! sell!, driving the value of stocks deep into the ground (sounds familiar). Not that far off really from the wooly winter hibernator’s image of reclusion and introspection. To Native American shamans the bear represents qualities of steadfastness and patience making excellent teachers. In dreams, bears represent a healing cycle, where the dreamer has retreated into himself in order to regenerate and to create something new and valuable in his life.
For this particular breed of artist the road out was not a conventional one. After years as a teenage urban nomad on the streets of Philadelphia, a city often at odds with itself, Fosick eventually drifted to NY where he obtained a degree in illustration from New York’s Parson’s and a 2007 solo show in the city’s Jonathan Levine Gallery. The name he goes by he adopted from an Australian “verb to describe the act of people sifting through mine washings or waste piles to look for any gold that might have been missed; sorting through the garbage to find gold.” However, like many things in our global soup it apparently seeped into another language where it means something different altogether. “From what I can gather,” he says with a good natured appreciation of irony, “the spelling I use means ‘to shit oneself’ in Hungarian.”
A peek into the global origins of this furry ursine idol is just as intriguing. In Hindu mythology the bear’s name “riksha”
(also in Sanskrit, Celtic, Greek and Latin believe it or not) derive from the word for star, which in turn comes from the word light, shine, illuminate. Ahhhha.
The term for Great Bear, “sapta riksha”, is also the symbolic dwelling of the Seven Rishis, whose name is related to “vision” and are called the Seven Luminaries. It was through them that the wisdom of the past was transmitted to the present. A rich past for the unassuming bear.
AJ Fosick is an artist who, one could argue, has an abnormal fixation with carving his own path through the great unknown. No wonder then that he refers to his pieces as “existential fetishes”. And hey, who couldn’t use one of those? And perhaps the missing little league mascots and unemployed stockbrokers of the world have joined Albert Camus on a beach somewhere in South East Asia and are doing some soul searching. In my dreams.
The spirit is there, look but where are the green fingers? When I was little I used to love watching my mum tending to the garden. I remember the pride and excitement she would feel when her flowers were in full bloom. As I got older, ask I imagined that the desire to start growing plants, physician flowers and veg would manifest itself….. but it never really bloomed. It doesn’t help that my ‘garden’ is a small concrete balcony in East End London, and I had always imagined that gardening was essentially a bit of a chore. Then I realized that I was approaching this issue completely the wrong way. Gardening is not just about allotments, trips to garden centres on a Sunday afternoon, and Radio 4 playing in the backround (not that there is anything wrong with these things), its about having fun – creating produce; eating it, drinking it – you won’t disagree when you see the recipe for Grow Your Own Mojito – fundamentally, it is about achieving that sense of intense satisfaction when you realize… “I made that!”. With this newfound understanding, I could see that my lack of gardening space excuse was pretty flimsy. When you grasp that the world is your oyster, you can also see that it is your flowerbed as well.
With this in mind, the imaginative people behind “Growing Stuff – An Alternative Guide To Gardening” have put together a how – to guide to everything horticultural. With sections on guerilla gardening, growing carrots in Wellington boots, and the aforementioned guide to making your own mojito’s; this is not your typical gardening book. There are contributions by ‘punk’ gardeners, ‘worm farming junkies’, teenagers and artists, which makes ‘Growing Stuff’ as accessible as you could hope for. Absolutely every person, no matter their level of gardening skills – or lack of – will be able to grow stuff after reading this book.
I spoke with two contributors to Growing Stuff recently about their involvement with the book, as well as their other activities. Emily Hill and Will Gould are also artists who create ‘living sculptures’ that aim to walk a line between the man-made and the wild.
Hey Emily, I like the suggestions that you and Will have done in Growing
Stuff. There is definitely an element of fun and whimsy to your
gardening ideas; like Cartoon Cress, and Carrot Wellies. Is this the
style in that you two both work? And do you feel that this is the best way to
initiate would be gardeners?
Emily: Life’s too short, get out there and get your hands dirty, just give it a go! Of course it should be fun, and if it isn’t, it’s time to take a minute to think about what’s out of balance in your life; gardening’s a great leveller, and can really help you work things out. There’s nothing like a home-grown cherry tomato bursting in your mouth to cheer you up!
Will: There are plenty of books out there which describe how to grow plants but they are not necessarily accessible to people who don’t see themselves as gardeners. By making the growing a bit more fun and whimsical we hope to de-mystify the growing of stuff. Plants want to grow and if you give them half a chance they will, so we feel it is better to have fun and be creative while trying to grow something. After all even if you fail to grow anything, you’ve had some fun.
What other easy-peasy suggestions might you have for gardening
novices- especially ones in an urban sprawl?
Will: Just try buying a packet of salad seeds-lettuce and coriander are dead easy, plant them on top of some moist compost in a pot and put them on your windowsill. It’s hard to go wrong.
Emily: Tease out a passion, try growing something bright purple, or something that smells nice, or both! You don’t have to do much, just buy a plant and water it! I started with French Lavender on my balcony.
Do you think that growing stuff is becoming more of a young persons
game now?
Will: It’s about time, why miss out on all those glorious years of growing.
Emily: It’s definitely something that has caught our generation’s imagination, maybe its something to do with our collective childhood memories. I remember picking raspberries with my granddad; it was like finding little ruby coloured droplets of edible treasure at the bottom of the garden!
How did you and Will get into gardening, and how did you end up
collaborating with this book?
Will: I grew up in a small house with a big garden, so it kind of came naturally. The book came from a request for artists who work with living things to submit ideas.
Emily: We both grew up in the country, all neglected and wild! For me, artistry came naturally, getting into gardening came later, when I found a bit of outdoor space to cultivate. We saw an advert on the Arts Council’s website and just went for it!
I have read that you two create ‘Living Structures’ – can you tell me a
little about this? What future projects are you working on?
Emily: We started off by making a portable composting toilet for our allotment with old bits of shed and two huge cartwheels; we made a cubicle that looked like a Victorian beach hut and planted a garden on the roof and gave it two window boxes full of flowers. We wanted to recycle ourselves, so we mixed our own wee with rainwater collected from the roof, and created a system to pump the mixture around the plants to feed them, anything left over drained into a reed bed at the back of the structure. It was quite charming really, and very popular…have a look, its called ‘The Jakes’ and was submitted for Margate Rocks last Spring (www.margaterocks.com).
Will: We are both interested in structures, which have a life of their own. For us, this involves growing plants, which either make up the structure, or contribute to the working of a functional building.
We are currently working on outdoor environmental projects in schools and incorporate the growing of stuff wherever possible and it is always possible!
Tuesday 05/06/09
The Real Dirt on Farmer John
Permaculture Picture House
7.00pm
Upstairs at Passing Clouds, visit web
1 Richmond Road, salve E8, abortion ?just off Kingsland Road behind the pub.
A monthly evening of films, presentations, poetry, drink, food and fun ?focusing on positive solutions in the current state of crisis. Each evening ?will have a different theme and begin with a film or presentation followed by? space to meet with others till closing time.? ?When?
1st Tuesday of every month, doors open at 7pm. Films, (when shown) start at 8pm.
How much?
£2.00 donation on the door.
Please try to arrive by 8pm when films are being shown to avoid disruption. ?Entry may be restricted once film has started. ?5th May: The Real Dirt on Farmer John. (82 mins)
Follows Farmer John’s astonishing journey from farm boy to counter-culture? rebel to the son who almost lost the family farm to a beacon of today’s ?booming organic farming movement and founder of one of the nation’s largest? Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms. The result is a tale that ebbs ?and flows with the fortunes of the soil and revealingly mirrors the changing ?American times.
The Stern Review stirred up the controversy surrounding the economics of climate change. This lecture will review these issues and give an assessment of the debate – where it is leading and what issues remain open.
Geoffrey Heal is a visiting professor at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at LSE, Paul Garrett Professor of Public Policy and Business Responsibility, and professor of finance and economics at Columbia Business School.
This event will take place from 6.30-8pm in the Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House, LSE, Aldwych. If you would like to attend this event, please email me on V.Pavey@lse.ac.uk
6pm -7pm
British Museum
Great Russell Street,
London, WC1B 3DG
Oil goliath BP, already forced to postpone its centenary party at the British Museum on April 1st, has rescheduled the event for May 6th. Art Not Oil will be throwing A Wake for BP as guests arrive at the British Museum between 6pm and 7pm on the new date.
People wanting to come and say: “BP — your Party’s over!” and wish the behemoth a ‘happy last birthday’ are more than welcome. The British Museum’s main gate on Great Russell Street will find a contingent of the Brazen Pranksters playing tunes to usher in a new era of Climate Justice and Ecological Sanity.
Thursday 07/05/09
Earthwatch Lecture — Conserving Biodiversity in the Americas
Speakers: Dr. Richard Bodmer (Durrell Institute of Conservation & Ecology, and the Wildlife Conservation Society) & Dr. Kathleen Sullivan Sealey (University of Miami). Chaired by explorer, writer and TV presenter Dr. George McGavin.??The very fact that the Amazon and the Caribbean are such attractive locations renders them all the more vulnerable to over-exploitation. Hear how Earthwatch scientists are addressing this issue in the Peruvian Amazon and on the coasts of the Bahamas.
Saturday 9/10th May
Permaculture Introductory Weekends
Hornsey Rise Gardens, North London
For any further information or to register contact londoncourses@naturewise.org.uk
The Introductory weekend, is a ‘potted’ permaculture course, looking at the foundations of permaculture and learning about some of the practical tools it offers. The weekend course can be considered a ‘stand alone’ introduction to Permaculture ethics, principles and design, or else can be a lead-in to the more in depth full 72 hour Permaculture Design Course. Photos from past courses.
9/10th May, 8/9th August, 7/8th November.
Led by: Mark Warner Graham Burnett and, Nicole Freris ??Fees: Introductory Weekends: £120 full cost, concessions/flexibility available subject to discussion
The beautiful window display this month at Prick Your Finger is bound to catch the eye of even the most unobservant passer-by; Fleur Oakes has embroidered a corset by with mystical and magical creatures and symbols that is bound to have the whole of Bethnal Green gaping. (front view of corset)
In My Garden I am Queene is a stitched homage to yester-year; Fleur sourced the corset pattern from 1585, sale and the style and many of the techniques were those used in the 17th century, cialis 40mg even it’s name is a play on a quote from Pre-raphealite painter Burne- Jones.
The past echoes through the piece from these aesthetic choices to the vintage kid gloves lining whose ghostly fingers that hang down in macabre decoration. (back view with faggot stitch detail)
The corset is lovingly embroidered with intricate flowers, viagra 100mg lace moths, eyes, a magnificent menagerie of bizarre creatures with some of the best names in the history of mytho-zoology, taken from the book ‘House of the Spirits’ by Isabelle Allende. A modern novel that still manages to fit into the quintessentially Elizabethan feel of the piece. (1 of 6 moths all in needle lace, they take 3 hours to make.)
Personal favourties here at Amelia’s Magazine HQ are the Marbat- a combination of marsupial with bat wings, the Maladapard – a mallard’s head with a leopard’s body (of course) and this chap: the Boarfinch. (Boarfinch detail in long and short stitch)
Fleur’s work really needs to be seen to be believed, so head down to Prick Your Finger for a peek and to pick up one of Fleur’s embroidered buttons. (Fleur Oakes embroidered buttons on sale now)
For all you embroidery aficionados more specific details about technique, the lovely staff at Prick Your Finger will be more than happy to oblige .
Prick Your Finger, 260 Globe Road, London.
The Californian cool kids that make up LoveLikeFire are ready to hit the ground running with their new single “William“. Soon to follow will be “Tear Ourselves Away“, viagra dosage which will be yours to own from August 09. While they are looking forward to winning us over with their indie majestic melodies, medicine us Brits are relative latecomers to the LoveLikeFire phenonemon, which has already blazed a trail in America. So what are we waiting for?! LLF will be in England soon, performing at venues around the country. Check their MySpace for details. Hopefully when they perform in London, they will have lined their stomachs, because yours truly has offered to be their official pub crawl companion. I’m thoughtful like that! The other day, I had an online chat with Ann Yu, vocalist of LoveLikeFire. She filled me in on LLF’s bio, their musical sounds and influences, and why we could see a collaboration in the future with a little band called The Killers……
Hey Ann; by the way, I am very jealous of your location. You are in San Francisco right? My brother lives in Mill Valley, Marin County, so I know it well
(Anne) Oh wow, yes that is really close to S.F only twenty minutes or so…are you in London?
Yes, East London. Do you know the area?
No, not very well, I am very excited to spend two weeks there, I hope we can do some sightseeing. I think we’ll be staying one night in East London, in Hackney. I hear it’s the cool fun place with lots of stuff to do at night?
That is near us! And we do make very good tour guides…. our speciality is tours of pubs and bars! So are the upcoming gigs your debut shows in London?
Yes! first time over, and we actually play the day we fly in!
Good luck with that! I wanted to ask a couple of questions about your fantastic new album; you seem to have accumulated a serious fanbase, especially from the US press. But for us Brits who are unfamiliar with your work – how would you describe your music?
In adjectives I would say – somewhat dark and pretty, bittersweet at times, dynamic, emotional not emo, indie rock and pop, at times dreamy, at times more direct.
Good adjectives! Your Wikipedia profile also describes Britpop influences. Is that a fair description?
Has your sound developed with your newest work – or have you always had a clear idea about your musical styles?
It’s hard to try to keep to a specific sound all the time, but there are always similar moods I think. But we’ve gone more in a pop-esque direction with the album, i think we veer in and out of dreaminess always, sometimes more than others – and this album is less dreamy than songs before it.
What was inspiring you when you were making this record?
Lyrically I tried to be very honest with myself, and not think too much about who would be listening really, I would say that sometimes I have tendencies to be imbalanced, and so trying to find inner happiness and well being was a big inspiration – without sound too new agey cheesy .
I’m all for New Age! I’m a bit of a hippy in an urban sprawl
Yes, i feel like i am a wannabe urban hippy!
Do you collaborate with the rest on the band on all the tracks or are you the main songwriter?
For Tear Ourselves Away, I brought most of the songs to the band and everyone contributed their ideas which was great; lately we’ve been much more collaborative but it changes all the time. We try to freshen up the creative writing perspective
There is a story that I have heard about you – an urban myth maybe? That you and the guys from The Killers were room mates at one point?
Oh there are several urban myths with that. I was a roommate of one of the guys in The Killers, where we all practiced. I was in college when they were playing their songs every night, i know those songs inside and out now.
I bet! Could you see a LoveLikeFire/Killers collaboration at some point?
We’ve talked about it with them, who knows when that might be but there are a few things that might happen later this year…..
So watch this space! I am interested in your backround as a violinist – am I correct in saying that you trained as a classical violinist prior to this?
Yes, I took private lessons and played in school for my grade school, junior high years but my private lesson teacher always told me that I should have started much younger – and that at some point I wouldn’t be able to compete with kids who had been playing since they were six.
It goes without saying, but you are obviously now versed in two very different styles of music now. Can you be as personal and honest in both styles? Which do you find is a better outlet?
Definitely playing in a band and writing songs, there is nothing better than this in my humble opinion…you can write so many different stories with a few chords – I never did that with violin – only learned other peoples music.
Do you ever sneak the violin into any of your tracks?
Haha, no, i’m very rusty now, we did have an amazing session violinist and cellist come in and play on a few tracks, they were sooo wonderful. They did the parts in practically one take each.
How long have you been together as a band?
LoveLikeFire has been a band since 2006..
What were you in before?
I was in a twee/indie pop shoegaze band called Evening Lights…we are thinking about putting out a digital release of our material actually!
A website used ‘shoegazing’ as an adjective to describe LoveLikeFire. Seeing that you described your previous band as such – is that fair description for your current band?
There is definitely some shoegazing elements in LoveLikeFire, we’ve never been a self proclaimed shoegaze band but we like some of those elements for sure.
What is the relationship like between you and the others in the band?
There is no Fleetwood Mac action going on with us, although that might be another urban myth! (mmm). I really love them, i enjoy being on stage with them and off stage…sweeet sweet boys – I only mentioned Fleetwood Mac because whenever i see mixed gender bands i am always curious of whether they is any interband relationships happening!
I think it is a wise idea not to base your band on the antics of Fleetwood Mac!
Hahah, at one show someone did call out to me Stevie Nicks!! and i wondered what they meant by that?
High praise indeed! But yes, I can’t quite see it myself
Do you have any other side projects?
I do an electro side recording project, called Adios Control, which lets me have an outlet for something different.
I guess you don’t have much time for that now though?
It’s tough, there is very little time for much at all these days.
And you are off on tour now……. what can we expect from your live shows?
Actually we don’t leave for a couple of weeks, i’m at home in San Francisco! four people that really love being on stage together and my own honest interpretation of the songs at every show at that moment is that too vague?
No that is great! I won’t take up more of your time now…….
But I think when you come over you should get in touch, and we can be your London tour guides…..
We would LOVE that!
This Sunday saw a hoard of eager revelers take a break from sun gauging to descend upon the alternative epicenter of the East End for the annual fun and frolics of the London Zine Symposium.
So I eagerly hop footed down to Brick Lane by 12 o’clock sharp for the highly anticipated event. I was met by a throng of zine fanatics packed to the rafters in the rather cramp confines of The Rag Factory on Henage Street.
With such a vivacious ambience the fair was all a little bewildering, information pills I have to concede I am still a zine novice so I felt a little inadequate amidst the array of comic book sages and regulars! Iconic figureheads in the zine scene such as Mark Pawson are more akin to heroes in this domain then mere artists.
I made a beeline for friend and fellow Amelia’s Magazine illustrator Holly Trill to catch up on how their zine “Meow Magazine” was going down with the punters. I also had an ulterior motive for heading straight over to the stall, order not being one for nepotism but I was actually selling my very own knitted cake creations there! I am sure most readers are now accustom to my knitting fetish/obsession!
Alas they didn’t fly off the table in a flurry of “hot cakes” (apologies pun inevitable). I think I was out shone by the array of delectable and more importantly edible treats that other stalls had to offer. How could I compete with sumptuous vegan cupcakes! However I was pleased to see an abundance of eager fans hastily grappling at issues of Meow Magazine. I had to indulge in a copy myself, there check out the work of Helen Vine, her beautifully intricate approach to mark making creates an almost wooden aesthetic and texture to her drawings. Definitely a lady to keep your eyes peeled for!
I trawled my way through the masses to investigate more stalls, it turned out to be a seemingly impossible quest, the unbearable heat and sheer quantity of people made browsing difficult. However I did unearth a few gems on my escapades round, a particular favourite had to be Brighton based fanzine “Shebang”. It’s beautifully curated, featuring not only aesthetically pleasing cutesy illustrations, but it’s a brimming with interviews, reviews and even travel guides.
The day not only showcased a vast array of diy zines comics and handmade treasures but workshops and lectures for budding artists eager to break into the scene. Seminars ranged from historic overviews addressing the sociopolitical scene behind zine cultures, too practical workshops aimed to nurture new talent addressing key topics such as how to organise a symposium and how to compile your own zines!
All in all it was a frenzine of fun and frolics, roll on the next symposium!ym
Sometimes you have to go out and search for good new music and sometimes you get lucky and it comes to you, sickness Tuesday night was one such evening. Writing for Amelia’s Magazine doesn’t take up all my time and in my other life I’m an art student. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself for handing in an essay so I had a walk over to my local, siteThe Amersham Arms, erectile in New Cross. When I arrived I followed my friends through the busy pub and up the stairs to a small room come gallery. I was just talking to one of them about their weekend getaway to Barcelona when I heard a kind of howl-screech. The kind of noise I imagine a werewolf might make with his last dying breath. As fifty eyes turned to the ‘stage’ we discovered the noise was being made by one Derek Meins. Well that’s one way to get a crowds attention.
It turns out I’d accidentally discovered the first touring Soap Box night. The event is usually held at Trisha’s in central London, but with the night at Amersham a big success they hope to replicate the event once a week, each time in a different venue. The Soap Box is an open mike night of sorts, but by the sound of it a bit edgier than the usual singer songwriter stuff. The fundamental principle though, is no PA systems and it’s through this stripped back style of music that Derek aka The Agitator really gets to shine. With no noisy guitars and drums you can really hear him and boy can he sing. His voice is a kind of throaty, primal mating call – backed up on this occasion by Robert Dylan Thomas and Robert Mauers who were doing back up vocals and hitting stuff to make drum beats. Derek told me after “I have all these friends in indie bands, but I thought why can’t you get people sing and get people to dance without any music?”
Meins used to be a member of Eastern Lane, signed to Rough Trade and since then has released an album under his own name before the change to The Agitator something he has only been doing for “the last couple of months”. His back catalogue of experience is more than evident when I watch him play. He describes his influences as “old gospel and Dubstep”, Surely a match made in genre heaven? The performance does feel a bit like one of those awesome churches where everyone gets up and sings to the Lord, his energy is enormous.
Half way through a song about debt collectors my friend whispered to me, “I’m not sure what I’m seeing. I think I like it though.” Indeed.
The Agitator plays at the end of every Soap Box night (totally free!) and is also going on a countrywide tour so there’s no excuse to miss out. For information on dates visit his myspace.
All photography of Lily Vanilli goodies by Sally Mumby-Croft.
“So what do you do for Amelia?” a gentleman partygoer asks me. I tell him I’m one of her writers, buycialis 40mg and he nods: “I’m Amelia’s father. I’m making myself useful, pharmacy ” he laughs, tadalafil pointing to the camera around his neck. See, we all want to be part of Amelia’s world, and last Friday many of us were gathered under one roof. Illustrators, writers, bloggers and friends were all there to celebrate the launch of Amelia Gregory’s latest creation – Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration.
123 Bethnal Green Road was already buzzing when I arrived, slightly late due to some last-minute fretting over my hair. I’m usually the wash-n-go type, but after following the steadily building party buzz on Twitter all day I’d started to realise some effort was required as this party was going to be of the colourful kind. Just have a flick through the book and you will see it couldn’t be any other ways, really – ACOFI is a riot of colour, creativity and inspiration.
Naomi Law and myself. Photography by Matt Bramford.
Despite having worked with several of the illustrators present, not knowing who was who made introductions a little tricky. But some were pretty recognisable from their self-drawn portraits, such as Abby Wright, Zarina Liew and Naomi Law.
Michael of AnastasiaDuck and Ellen of the Real Runway.
Antonia Parker, Joana Faria and Abby Wright. Photography by Matt Bramford.
After catching up with fellow Amelia’s Magazine writers Matt Bramford and Sally Mumby-Croft, I finally got to meet Helen Martin, Amelia’s new music editor, who had come from Bristol with her boyfriend.
After running into crafts columnist Hannah Bullivant and her husband, our little group hit the dance floor – enjoying a fantastic mix of music ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Mariah Carey. I had to make do without my boyfriend though, who had to take his coughing home to an early night. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy 6 Day Riot, a new discovery for me, and some excellent dancey tunes from The Pipettes and Will from Mystery Jets.
An open bar served up Adnams beer and Vodka O – generously poured by bar boys and girls with some enviable dancing skills. The vodka was kicking the next morning, and I clearly remembered why I‘d sworn off the potato spirit years earlier. But all well worth it to see in this excellent book and meet the people who made it happen. Well done, Amelia – and thanks so much for having us.
She strutted on stage, more about knees rising high and her umbrella twiddling like a fairy’s shield.I wanted to take in the art work that was Gabby Young. For her outfit was an explosion of neck and hemline pomposity, her boots electric blue and stomping, and her right eye was surrounded by a blossoming flower type creation. Her signature vibrant red hair was piled high with blue and pink buns attached, whilst her face looked as beautiful as a doll’s.
With this visual feast I felt revived from the previous evening’s late night antics at the ACOFI launch party (where Gabby also was), preceded by late night chats with a dear old friend and his girlfriend on the floor of their North London flat. Charlie beside me eating toast, we had spiraled from lively and boisterous to as sleepy as moles. The day had been spent on the Heath, and cushioned with carbohydrates. For the love of Gabby and The Irrepressibles, we had trekked to the utter freezing, shiny, high rise blocked world of the Barbican. And, ah it was a theatrical and stunning evening.
Gabby Young & Other Animals played a mixture of old and new tracks, there were lively jives and ballerinas with cut out megaphones flouncing through the audience. Liberating, FUN and creatively inspiring. We are told that a new song is about someone on stage. It is slow, pretty and meaningful. “I wonder who that’s for” semi-whispered Chaz, “I really like this one”. Me too. It was obvious throughout that Gabby has been classically trained. Her notes range up and down like carefully controlled billy-o. It appears easy for her to produce these notes, and indeed her operatic background serves her folk/jazz genre delightfully. We’re All In This Together brought about suitably pleased expressions and murmurs from the crowd. Its often played slow notes shot up and down my spine, before her voice gently streamed out like a delicate flower opening. It felt like an anthem.
Moving on, The Irrespressibles are theatre and gothic glitz. Wearing an enormous and glittery hat from Philip Treacy, Jamie McDermott is basically DRAMA. As the singer, the composer and the spectacle, McDermott has a knack of being captivating to the point of eye locked awe. And he orchestrated the whole event superbly, his stage presence perfectly matching the flashing lights, and blasting instrumentals.
Illustration of cellist, Nicole Robson by Faye West
The rest of the band both compliment him, but also stand alone as individually beautiful creations. And I mean creations. Each of the nine musicians on stage seemed like a Tim Burton fantasy. Moving in unison and then malfunctioning, like bad robots, they move chaotically about like gothic Toy Story characters. Expressions remain serious and playing, precise and perfect. Each wears beautiful outfits, skimming over bodies with a wink of the eye. See this for a taster of what I mean. It’s INCREDIBLE:
Darkness/light/suspense/breathing/noise/explosion/catwalk – Ooo! Highlights included Nuclear Skies, Knife Song and In Your Eyes. But to be honest the whole set was a triumph. The crowd adored them and the atmosphere was hugely flamboyant and expressively fun. The soaring vocals and dramatic instrument use was just breathtaking. With the emotion of Anthony and The Johnsons, but the Brit extravaganza charm of David Bowie, Jamie McDermott is delicious. With the rest of the band, THE IRREPRESSIBLES are unstoppable.
Written by Helen Martin on Wednesday February 2nd, 2011 4:09 pm
Aided in no uncertain terms by a show stopping performance at Texas’ recent South By Southwest festival, ordercase Portland three-piece Menomena present their debut UK release. This is in fact the bands third release – with their two previous albums available in the US exclusively. School friends Danny Seim, mindJustin Harris and Brent Knopf have derived a creative process of much interest that has resulted in a work that is both experimental and forward thinking without being inaccessible.
The bands sound is essentially a combination of looped sounds which are selected from a computer programme called Deeler. The Deeler Sessions culminate in the layering of these looped sounds and vocal addition. The good news is that for the most part this results in songs of sonic density that are out of left field but rich in melody. It is a combination that makes ‘Friend and Foe’ a compelling listen.
Often the fragmented nature of the songs will result in a messy, disjointed sound to begin with. But cohesion arises from moments of inspiration that morph abstract noises into quasi – pop melodies. It maybe a gorgeous piano line, delicate vocal harmony or obscure drum loop. Whatever, these songs keep you guessing, and aside from the odd ill judged inclusion (notably at the tail end of the album) they are nothing less than enthralling.
There are echoes of Mercury Rev on the defiant ‘Rotten Hell’, whilst howling guitars and brooding Saxophone characterise ‘Weird’. Elsewhere Menomena take ‘Up’ era REM as a reference point on ‘My My’- A brilliantly structured song defined by its paradoxical use of warm keyboards and choppy, industrial beats. It is one of many gems.
It’s a shame that the record falls away so badly in its last quarter. The final three songs appear to be an afterthought – lumped on at the end to pad things out when there really is no need for their presence. It leaves a slightly bitter taste in the mouth, but spin straight back to the start and all is forgotten. Friend and Foe deserves attention.
It’s always a danger to be overly vocal about your influences, ambulance it invariably leads people to compare you to those you have cited as inspiration, more about and with a band name taken from a Wilco song, dosage Cherry Ghost have set the bar a little too high. Thirst for Romance is positioned firmly in the folk/country influenced indie rock category and despite not being a spectacular record it has some nice moments, even if they are a little bit uninspired.
Having spearheaded the new London folk scene with their debut album, theremedicalNoah and the Whale are back with their hands full up, releasing a new single, album and film out this summer. We talk school plays, Daisy Lowe, weddings, gardening, Werner Herzog in the studio with the effortlessly charming frontman, Charlie Fink.
Photos by Katie Weatherall
Amelia’s Mag: You’ve got a whole host of new releases coming up – single, album, film – how are you feeling about it all, happy/nervous/excited?
Charlie Fink: All of the above… I dunno, we did the album so long ago… From the last album, I realised the only satisfying feeling you’re going to get is the feeling you get when you’ve finished it and you think it’s good, that’s the best it gets. Reading a review of somebody else saying it’s good is good to show off to your mum, but it doesn’t really mean anything. Likewise, if there’s something you believe in and someone says it’s bad, you’re still going to believe in it.
AM: And the live shows must add another dimension to that?
CF: Yeah. What I’m excited about really is that this record realises us as a band more than the previous one. So that’s going to be really exciting to go out and play that live to people.
AM: And is there anything in particular that has done this or has it been the natural progression of the band?
CF: It’s a million small things, from us playing together more, us growing up, learning our trade a bit better, from what happens in lives and the records you listen to. I very much try to rely as much as I can on instinct and satisfying myself. And this is not a selfish thing because the only way you can supply something worthwhile to somebody else, is if you’re totally satisfied with it yourself. Doing the right things for us and hoping that’ll transfer to the audience.
AM: Was there anything in particular you were listening to whilst making the record?
CF: The things I’m listening to now are different from the things I was listening to when I wrote the record. When I first started the record, I was listening to ‘Spirit of Eden’ by Talk Talk, which is a different sounding record to what we did. Nick Cave, lots by Wilco…
AM: So tell me about the film, ‘The First Days Of Spring’, that accompanies the album (of the same name)… which came first?
CF: The first thing was the idea of a film where the background and the pace was defined by an album. But it totally overtook my whole life. It’s one of those things you start for a certain reason and then you keep going for different reasons. The inspiration was sort of how people don’t really listen to albums anymore, they listen to songs. We wanted to try making an all emersive record where the film puts people into it. We’re not dictating that this should be the only way people listen to music, we just wanted to offer something alternative. On a lot of records these days, you don’t feel like the unity of the album gives it more strength than each individual song. Whereas with this record, the whole thing is worth more than the individual parts. That’s how I see it anyway.
There’s this quote from I think W. G. Collingwood that says, ‘art is dead, amusement is all that’s left.’ I like the idea that this project, in the best possible way, is commercially and in lots of other ways pointless. It’s a length that doesn’t exist. It’s not a short film or a feature, it’s 15 minutes and the nature of it is that it’s entirely led by its soundtrack. It’s created for the sake of becoming something that I thought was beautiful.
AM: And Daisy Lowe stars in it, how was that?
CF: She’s an incredibly nice and intelligent person. I met with her in New York when we were mixing the album and I told her I was doing this film… She was immediately interested. And her gave her the record as one whole track which is how I originally wanted it to be released. Just one track on iTunes that had to be listened to as a whole and not just dipped into. She sent me an email two weeks later, because she’s obviously a very busy person. With her listening to the album, a kind of live feed of what she thought of it. Making a film and having her was really good because she kept me motivated and passionate. She genuinely really took to this project. The whole cast as well, everyone really supported it and it was a pleasure to make. I had to fight to get it made and understood. It’s one of those things that people either passionately disagree with or agree with. From thinking it’s absurdly pretentious or beautiful. Fortunately all the people working on the film were passionate people.
AM: So is film making something you want to continue with?
CF: Yeah, definitely! At some point I’d like to make a more conventional film. The thing that really stuck with me about making a film was surround sound. When you’re mixing a film, you’re mixing the sound in surround because you’re mixing for cinemas. You realise the potential of having five speakers around you as opposed to just two in front of you. The complexity of what you can do is vast. So I’d love to something with that. If you record in surround sound you need to hear it in surround sound, so maybe some kind of installation… Then another film after that…
AM: You’ve been put into a folk bracket with your first album, is that something you’re ok with?
CF: I like folk music, I listen to folk music but then every folk artist I like denies they’re folk. It’s one of those things, it doesn’t really matter. We played last year at the Cambridge Folk Festival and I felt really proud to be a part of that. It’s a real music lovers festival. That was a really proud moment so I can’t be that bothered.
AM: I recently sang your first single, ‘5 Years Time’, at a wedding, do you ever imagine the direction your songs may go after you write them?
CF: Wow. That’s really funny. I’ve had a few stories like that actually. It’s touching but it’s not what I’d imagine.
AM: Do you write songs in that way? Some bands set out to write a love song, dance song etc…
CF: I can’t really remember how I write… I was writing last night but… do you drive?
AM: I just recently failed my test.
CF: Perfect! Well, you know when you start driving you have to think through everything – put my foot on the clutch, take it off the clutch etc. Then when you’ve been doing it a while, you just do all those things without even knowing you’ve done them. That’s how it feels with songwriting, I can’t really remember doing it. It just happens how it happens. Or like gardening… you’ve just gotta chop through and it’ll come.
AM: Is being in a band everything you imagined it to be?
CF: For me it’s more about being creative. I do some production for people, the band, the writing and now the film. I just love what I do and just keep doing it. I follow it wherever it goes. The capacity I have for doing what I do is enough to make it feel precious.
AM: So are there any untapped creative pursuits left for you?
CF: At the moment what I’m doing feels right. I never had any ambitions to paint. I don’t have that skill. I think film and music have always been the two things that have touched me the most.
AM: So how about acting?
CF: I did once at school when I was 13. I played the chancellor in a play the teacher wrote called ‘Suspense and a Dragon Called Norris.’ Which had rapturous reactions from my mum. I don’t think I could do that either. When you direct though you need to understand how acting works. It’s a really fascinating thing but I don’t I’d be any good at it.
AM: Do you prefer the full creative potential a director has?
CF: The best directors are the ones that build a character. Building a character is as important as understanding it. It needs major input from both the director and the actor. You can’t just give an actor the script and expect it to be exactly right. You need to be there to create the little details. The way they eat, the way they smoke… That’s an important skill.
At this point, Charlie asks me about a note I’d made on my reporter’s pad, which was actually a reminder about a friend’s birthday present. Which draws the conservation to a close as we recite our favourite Werner Herzog films. Turns out, he shares the same taste in film directors as my friend.
If Charlie from Noah and the Whale tells us he likes Wilco, then we like Wilco. It’s as simple as that. It’s time to get educated.
Wednesday 26th August
The Hot Rats
The Old Blue Last, London
Otherwise known as half of Supergrass plus hot shot Radiohead producer, The Hot Rats get their kicks taking pop classics by, amongst others, The Beatles and The Kinks and infusing their own alt-rock psychedelica – worth a gander.
Thursday 27th August
KILL IT KID Madam Jo Jos, London
Their blend of durge blues, barndance and freestyle frenzy jazz blues make KILL IT KID a gem to behold in a live setting.
Friday 28th August
Swanton Bombs Old Blue Last, London
If you like your indie adorned in Mod and brimming with angularity, then Swanton Bombs will be pushing the trigger on your buttons.
Saturday 29th August
South East in East Festival – Teenagers In Tokyo, Tronik Youth, Ali Love, Publicist Vibe Bar, London
It’s all about South East London – full stop. In this cunning event, it up sticks to East London, where synth-pop Gossip descendents, Teenagers In Tokyo headline a night of New X Rave.
Sunday 30th August
The Gladstone Open Mic Night The Gladstone, London
As it’s Bank Holiday Weekend and all the bands are at Reading/Leeds Festival, London is starved of big gigs. No fear, The Glad is here – A little known drinking hole in Borough that continually serves up a plethora of folkey talent… and pies!
Sunderland born designer Rosie Upright is truly passionate about design. Aren’t we all I hear you say? Well, health she’s up, recipe all hours, medical day or night… cutting away with her trusty stanley knife… stopping only when her numb fingertips plead for rest. Do your fingertips bleed? I thought not! Rosie developed her unique hand-crafted techniques whilst at university in Epsom, where she learnt all the usual computer design programs… and then decided to steer clear of them. She’s fled the suburbs of Epsom now, to live in London town with all the other hopeful new freelancers. She spends her days photographing, drawing, organising balls of string… and deciding what hat to wear.
We caught up with Rosie for a little chat…
Hi, how are you today?
I’ve got a bit of a sore throat coming on, the irritating children over the road are noisily playing some kind of shooting game, a car is beeping its horn continuously just below my window, itunes is refusing to play anything other than Billy Idol (which I’m not in the mood for), my coloured ink cartridge has just ran out, I’ve got a blister from my favourite pink shoes, an uninvited wasp is stuck in my blinds, my ginger hair has faded to a weird brown, I forgot to buy milk and Ronnie Mitchell is still crying on Eastenders – but apart from that I’m topper thanks.
What have you been up to lately?
Fingers in pies, fingers in pies!
Including…cross-stitch and a week in a cottage in Norfolk (no telephone signal or internet connection, bloody lovely!)
Which artists or illustrators do you most admire?
I don’t think I would have done a degree in graphic design if my ever-encouraging parents hadn’t taken me to a Peter Saville exhibition at the Urbis in Manchester many moons ago. Made me see the ideas process at its very best and the crucial-ness (that’s not even a word!) of initial doodles and sketchbooks.
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” Where would any of us be if it weren’t for Dr Seuss?
I really love a bit of Russian Constructivism, in particular Alexander Rodchenko and Varvara Stepanova, bloody genius. Mr Vaughan Oliver, for making us all think differently about where to crop the image, for being an ongoing influence and for that opportunity. Harry Beck, Robert Doisneau and most recently Philippe Petit.
If we visited you in your hometown, where would you take us?
Stroll down to Seaburn beach because when you don’t live next to the sea anymore you really miss it, and it has really nice sand. Then to my very best friend Sarah Bowman’s house, to play with Peggy Sue the kitten, have mental vegetarian sandwiches off a cake stand, and a glass of red wine, ice cubes and coke. We should pop to an art shop in Darlington and then to The Borough, the best pub for tunes, a pint of cider and a Jaeger bomb.
Who would most love to collaborate with creatively?
Mike Perry and YES art studio please. Thank you.
When did you realise you had creative talent?
When some hippy artist came into my junior school to create banners for some event at the local library with us. I was told after five minutes of colouring it in that I had to go away and read because I couldn’t keep within the lines.
If you weren’t an artist, what would you be doing?
A teenage Mam or an actress, haven’t decided which yet.
Where would you like to be in 10 years time?
I’d like to be the designer than graphic design students hate because their tutors always tell them to get their book out of the Uni library. And I’d quite like to have my own shop in London, Brighton or maybe Newcastle (or all three, and maybe Paris then if we’re going crazy) selling things made by me!
What advice would you give up and coming artists such as yourself?
Take other peoples advice but make your own mistakes, don’t be a dick and always colour outside of the lines.
How would you describe your art in five words?
Hand made/ typography/ narrative/ personal/ I’d like to say idiosyncratic too but don’t want to sound like a twat.
What is your guilty pleasure?
Seeing people fall over.
(and cake)
If you could time travel back or forward to any era, where would you go?
It was horrific enough moving away to University and into London and trying to find a job and start my life up. I think if I had to go backward or forward to another era I would probably just straight up die. Having said that though I would like to be a highwayman’s assistant.
Tell us something about Rosie Upright that we didn’t know already.
I can’t wait till I’m an old lady so I can wear those lacy nighties from Marks & Sparks and I love animals in clothes.
What are you up to next?
Going to make a cuppa tea, kill this wasp and then take over the world.
While most of us at the tender age of 19 rooted our existence in smacking down vodka jelly shots at the bar with kebabs at four in the morning and the Hollyoaks omnibus on a Sunday, pilule some people, of course, are born to shine in different ways. Take, for instance, London College of Fashion student Millie Cockton, somebody who has already had their work featured in a shoot for Dazed and Confused, styled by Robbie Spencer.
As a lover of clean lines and beautiful silhouettes, Millie looks for the wearer to bring their own identity to her gender non-specific pieces. At the moment under new label Euphemia, with her AW09/10 about to be stocked in London boutique and gallery space Digitaria, after being chosen to be the first guest designer at the Soho store. Check out the Dazed piece to see some brilliant Shakespearian-style ruffs that Millie has also created working with paper (a material proving popular as with Petra Storrs, who I featured last week).
Each to their own, mind you. I could totally do all that, if I wanted to.
At the age of 19 you’ve already received quite a lot of attention – how has that been?
It’s been great so far! It’s very flattering but its also very daunting! I am on a constant learning curve and my work is developing all the time so although the attention is great it creates a lot of pressure!
Describe your design aesthetic in three words.
Clean, sculptural, understated.
Who do you see wearing your designs? Are they reflective of your own personality?
I like to think of a real mixture of people wearing my designs. I love the way that the same garment can look completely different on different people- for me its all about the individual and how they carry themselves, bringing their own identity to the piece.
I don’t think that my designs are necessarily a true representation of my personality and personal style. I feel that my designs are more of a reflection of the aesthetic that i find desirable and aspirational.
Thinking about the ruffs featured in Dazed, people have touched on the theatrical nature of your designs – is the idea of performance important to you in fashion?
The idea of performance within fashion is something that interests me but I wouldn’t say that it’s a key element within my own designs. I like the notion of a performative element within a piece or a collection as i think that it helps gain a further understanding and insight of the designers thought process and inspiration.
What else do you respond to?
I am constantly discovering new sources of inspiration, being so young I know that I still have so much to learn!
I like to use elements of craft within my designs, such as origami style folding. Craft elements can add interesting details to simple pieces.
What are your plans for the future? Who would you like to work for?
I am about to launch my new collection which will be stocked in Digitaria, recently opened on Berwick St, Soho. I have just started to work with Digitaria’s creative director , Stavros Karelis and stylist Paul Joyce on some future projects which are really exciting and I am thoroughly enjoying. I want to continue learning and developing my ideas, challenging myself and most importantly keep having fun!
‘Having fun’ of course might well translate to ‘becoming future fashion empress of the galaxy’. This is a talent to watch out for.
The Camp for Climate Action 2009 is almost upon us – now’s the time to gather ourselves and prepare to swoop. Convinced that the response to climate change needs more? Ready to share skills, stomach knowledge and experiences? To be part of the grassroots swell of people demanding a difference? To get out there and do something?
Be ready next Wednesday, 12th August, from noon, in London. We’re going to swoop on the camp location together. The more people the better. Secret until the last moment, you can sign up for text alerts and join one of the groups meeting scattered about central London before moving together to the camp.
Why Camp? We can all meet each other and learn stuff – reason enough? – I mean, an enormous, public, activist-friendly child-friendly student-friendly climate-friendly gathering with an ambitious and well-prepared programme of workshops covering all things from Tai Chi for those of us up early enough, through histories student activism, DIY radio, pedal-powered sound systems, legal briefings, stepping into direct action, singing, dancing, jumping and waving.
Why London? Climate Campers have listed ten reasons to focus on London – right up the top of that list is : tall buildings and low flood plains. London is big corporate central, the City square mile itself accounting for a huge proportion of the UK economy, that FTSE100-flavoured slice of barely accountable, shareholder driven pie. And yet, as the Thames Barrier should always remind us, the whole city sits low on the ground. Just check out what the centre looks like with a few metres rise in sea level.
So what’s first? The Climate Camp Benefit party/shindig/jamboree/palooza/knee’s-up/gala ball/discotheque/rave/soiree at RampART, 9pm-3am this Friday 21st August. Consisting of fun/revelry/ribaldry/tomfoolery/jocularity/jive/merriment/high kinks, low jinks, jinks of all stature/cheer/gambol/horseplay & frolic. With bands & DJ’s including Rob the Rub & Sarah Bear & those amazing skiffle kids ‘The Severed Limb’. That’s at:
9pm-3am
rampART, 15 -17 Rampart Street,
London E1 2LA (near Whitechapel, off Commercial Rd)
Donations on the door much appreciated (and needed!) – all going straight to Climate Camp
And then? The Swoop – Night Before – Londoners and out-of-town visitors are welcome to ‘the night before the swoop’ – near the bandstand in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, 7-8.30pm, Tuesday 25th August – for any last minute info, a legal briefing and an opportunity to join an affinity group and get excited. Lincoln’s Inn Fields is just behind Holborn tube station – this map here might help.
Awesome. See you soon.
Ctrl.Alt.Shift dropped us a line to let us know about a comics-making competition so get your promarkers and layout pads at the ready. Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmarks Corruption is giving you the opportunity to design a unique comic style story. Ctrl.Alt.Shift is the experimental youth initiative politicising a new generation of activists for social justice and global change. The competition hopes to raise awareness of the Ctrl.Alt.Shift and Lightspeed Champion goals and views by inspiring this generation of designers to work together.
Oscar nominated Marjane Satrapi, medical V V Brown and Lightspeed Champion are amongst the judges for the Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption competition launched today. Corruption is both a cause of poverty, and a barrier to overcoming it. It is one of the most serious obstacles to eradicate.
Entrants to the competition will be in with the chance to create a unique comic style story in collaboration with acclaimed musician and writer Dev Hynes aka Lightspeed Champion. After the first round of judging at the end of September, shortlisted entrants will be given Lightspeed Champion’s comic script as inspiration and asked to create a visual adaptation of the story.
The winning commission will be published in a comic alongside new work exploring the issue of Corruption by some of comic’s greatest talents. The work will also be showcased as part of a new exhibition, Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption, later this year at Lazarides Gallery, Soho.
To enter the competition please send relevant examples of your visual work along with your contact details to Ctrl.Alt.Shift by Friday 25th September by visiting www.ctrlaltshift.co.uk/unmaskscorruption.
Five short listed artists will then be given a comic brief to respond to and a winner chosen by a panel of judges including: Marjane Satrapi (Writer and Director of Academy Award Nominated Animated Film Persepolis) Paul Gravett (Comica founder), V V Brown and David Allain (Musician and Comic Book Writer/Artist duo), Lightspeed Champion and Ctrl.Alt.Shift.
The competition is restricted to UK Residents only
For further information about the competition please contact John Doe on 020 7749 7530 or Hannah@johndoehub.com / Jo.bartlett@johndoehub.com Brooke Roberts is my favourite new designer. Why? Well, more about after exchanging several emails with her over the last few weeks, for sale for a young designer making such waves in the industry, her witty and playful personality has impressed even via my inbox! Having worked with such characters such as Louise Goldin and Giles, her avant- garde aesthetic really shines through in her highly tailored and retro-feel designs. Miss Roberts is going places, and she’s more than willing to take us along with her!
What made you want to be a designer? What’s your design background?
I’m definitely not one of those designers who always knew that’s what they wanted to do. I did a degree in Applied Science at Sydney University (I’m from Australia) and worked as a radiographer for a year before moving to London to find out what I wanted to do. I did some work as a stylist with a fashion photographer (random hook-up). I knew his girlfriend and she knew my massive extensive collection of vintage clothes and shoes. My mum had a boutique when I was growing up and I loved clothes – I just never knew it was going to be my career.
I did a few jobs in London (pub, bank – more randomness) before realising I wanted to study fashion. I went to London College of Fashion and Central St.Martins (graduated 2005) wanting to be a pattern-cutter or tailor. I really wanted to create, rather than design. I get most satisfaction from making beautiful things and being involved in the whole process. I have a close working relationship with my suppliers, and go to the factories to develop my garments. I cut them all myself, which is probably bordering on control freakery, but I feel it shows in the final product and I can realise my designs exactly as I imagine them.
I’m waffling. I worked for Giles for two seasons after I left Uni, and started with Louise Goldin when she launched her label. We worked together for three years (until last October when I launched my label).
What are your inspirations for your collections?
I get lots of inspiration from my radiography job (I do that part-time to fund my label). So I’m running between the hospital and my studio all the time. I have used CT (cat) brain scans this season to create knit fabrics and digital prints. My obsession with reptile skins never seems to go away, and I have worked with Anwen Jenkins (awesome print designer) to create skull slice python skin prints. Basically, the python scales are replaced with multi-dimensional skull slices.
Apart from that, I research at museums and LCF Library. This season went to the British Museum and discovered Yoruba sculpture and traditional costumes. I researched these for silhouette and style lines. I also looked at Niger garments. They’re beautifully colourful, vibrant and flamboyant.
What are your favourite pieces from your latest collection?
Umm. I wear the cat suit most. I actually met my boyfriend the first time I wore it. So I’m renaming it Lucky cat suit. I also love the Flex jacket in red snakeskin. The razor sharp points make me feel like I am ready for world domination!
What was it like working with Giles Deacon and Louise Goldin? What did you learn from them?
I learnt that I hate taking orders from others! I’m really not one to toe-the-line. I am a perfectionist and this drives other people mad sometimes. I was a pattern-cutter at Giles, doing mostly tailoring, which suited me fine. Most people wanted to do the showpieces, but I was most happy cutting jackets. Giles is a really lovely bloke. Working with him was really my first experience of doing shows and the pressure and stress of getting everything done.
With Louise, my job was broader because in the beginning it was just the two of us. I learnt so much, I can’t even write it down. I worked in the London studio and the knitwear factory in Italy. I had the opportunity to learn knitwear programming, selecting yarns and cutting and constructing knit. I still work in the factory for my own label and really love it. The other big thing was learning about running a business and starting from scratch. The hoops you have to jump through, the process of getting sponsorship, doing shows, sales and production… It’s a massive undertaking starting your own label. And I still chose to do it! Bonkers.
Who do you think are the most important designers of your generation?
Hmm. Well, I like the work of Tina Kalivas and Gareth Pugh. If we’re talking most important, it has to be Gareth.
What do you think are the problems facing young designers at the moment?
The biggest problems are funding and dealing with suppliers, particularly for production. Creating a beautiful product that you can reproduce is actually really difficult! You need to understand the technicalities of fabrics and construction (or hire someone who does) otherwise it all goes wrong.
What’s next for Brooke Roberts?
In fantasy land, what’s next for Brooke Roberts is a holiday. In reality, I’m working hard on marketing and sales for London Fashion Week. I’m collaborating with jewellery designer Chris Edwards and shoe and bag designer Laura Villasenin on side projects for the label. Look out for skull slice stacked rings and metal bone-fixation embellished super-soft bags for SS10!!
Not slim tomatoes, viagra dosage narrow cucumbers or squashed, um, squashes – no, we’re talking about digging for victory in our own meagre abodes. With allotment waiting lists stretching beyond a century in Hackney and not many of us owning the half-county some how-to books seem to assume, options on grow-your-own approaches might look limited. But before you get the howling fantods at the piling impossibilities. As those of you who read the Amelia’s Magazine review of Growing Stuff (an Alternative Guide to Gardening) will know well, even the meagrest city apartment can burst forth in cornucopic life.
And but so then it seems the thing to do is simply to get a pack of seeds and a container and get growing, no hesitation about it. If a brief pause in favour of screenreading sounds like it could lead to better inspiration, I entreat you, read on. There’s a glut of blogs and enthusiasts all over the place to speak to or read up upon. Here are just a few of our favourites.
Life on the Balcony tells Fern Richardson’s encounters with gardens small and smaller, great for fresh faces and old hands alike, with an awesome friendly dirt cheap ways to garden.
Carrie, of Concrete Gardening blogging fame (true in a juster world), digs organic urban gardening, and has gotten into gardening without the erm, garden, since buying a house in the city (Philadelphia) and sees all the possibilities of planting up, sideways and over – just recently blogging about taking things to the next level and climbing up on her roof to plant out veggies, seedlings to sit and soak up sun.
Herbs and Dragonflies is written by a group set up by Kathy Marshall back in 2008 for the Pudsey Carnival and have been creatively, craftily planting since, encouraging others to get their green fingers dirty – doing activities with children and volunteering about the place. Most recently, they encouraged us blog-readers to leave the comfort of plastic planters and terracotta pots – most anything can sit with some soil in it. They suggest novelty Cadbury’s Fingers tins, I’ve used fancy jamjars, and seen anything from skips to wellington boots enlisted in the service of greenery.
Emma Cooper (I’m cribbing now from the ‘Growing Stuff’ contributor biogs page) lives in Oxfordshire with two pet chickens – Hen Solo and Princess Layer – and six compost bins. She has written an ‘Alternative A-Z of Kitchen Gardening’, which Karen Cannard The Rubbish Diet reckons is ‘an inspirational tour of an edible garden that can be recreated in the smallest of backyards. An essential guide for a new generation of gardeners who are keen to join the kitchen garden revolution.’And she blogs about anything from compost to pod plants to the future of food…
Madeleine Giddens loves herbs, which I guess you’d guess from the name of her blog – Mad About Herbs. But there’s nothing off the wall about any of it, she’s plunged into an obsession and come out smelling of roses and lavender, buzzing about bees too, recently, and their favourite flowers.
So there you have it, just a few spots and pointers. Good evening, and wishes for a fruitful weekend from Amelia’s Magazine.
The Royal Bank of Scotland. RBS. Formally known with pride as the “oil and gas bank” due to their close alliance with the fossil fuel industries. What on earth would I have to do with them? They may have lost the unfortunate moniker, treat partly due to a hugely successful campaign by People and Planet student activists who launched a spoof ad campaign and website named the Oyal Bank of Scotland before delivering a host of greenwashing awards – but they’re certainly not due for any special ethical mentions yet.
Not yet.
There was of course a massive £33 billion bank bailout from the taxpayer for RBS last year. But RBS didn’t spend the money on anything worthwhile. Oh no, the truth is that RBS still has oily blackened hands. Most people will remember the Fred Goodwin debacle, he who managed to retire at the age of 50 on a £16 million pension funded by taxpayers. But that’s not the whole of it – since the bailout some of our money has been used to arrange loans for the fossil fuel industries worth a staggering £10 billion, including a substantial sum for E.ON, the company that wants to build a new coal fired power station at Kingsnorth. Despite the best efforts of activists – there was an impromptu snowball fight during the winter, Climate Rush held a luncheon dance and Climate Camp set up camp down the road at Bishopsgate – RBS continues to invest in unsustainable resources.
But the good news is there is hope for change!
As I’ve got more and more involved with activism I’ve got to know members of PLATFORM, who together with People and Planet and the World Development Movement have launched a legal challenge against our government to make sure that public money used for bailouts is put towards building sustainability. PLATFORM is an organisation that combines art with activism, research and campaigning, so in many ways we are perfect partners and I was really excited when they recently approached me to collaborate on an exciting new project at the Arnolfini gallery in Bristol.
As part of a wider festival named 100 Days, PLATFORM will be co-producing over 50 events, installations, performances, actions, walks, discussions and skill shares over a period of two months. This season is called “C words: Carbon, Climate, Capital, Culture” and is intended to highlight what needs to be done to change the world in the run-up to the incredibly important (but unlikely to solve anything) COP 15 conference (think Kyoto 2 – it failed first time around so why would it succeed now?) in Copenhagen in December.
Your part in this audacious experiment?
We’re going to re-envision RBS as a bastion of sustainability – the Royal Bank of Sustainability in fact. And it will be down to you to create the artwork… once more I will be running one of my becoming-somewhat-regular open briefs. We would like you to submit either a logo or a poster (or both) that will suggest a swing in the direction of all things sustainable in the most imaginative way possible. Around ten of the best artworks will be shown for a week at the prestigious Arnolfini gallery in Bristol as part of the whole shebang, culminating with a public judging and prize-giving overseen by yours truly and helped out by the folk at PLATFORM and no less than the Marketing Manager of the Arnolfini, Rob Webster, and Fiona Hamilton of Soma Gallery (Bristol), a woman with great taste in the arts who runs a cult art shop that has been a long standing supplier of my print magazine. We might even invite someone powerful from RBS! (invite being the operative word) After the event PLATFORM will profile you on their website with links to yours, and prior to the actual event I’ll be posting the best entries onto my website – one good reason to get your artwork in as quickly as possible.
If you are interested read on:
What you need to know:
Ideas:
Yeah yeah – we all know wind turbines are great news and polar bears are having a terrible time, but for this brief we’d like you to think a bit outside the box. We’ll be looking for the most refreshing ways of thinking about how we can live in the most sustainable way possible, and most importantly how RBS could play a possible role in aiding this transition to a low carbon world. Don’t forget that we, the taxpayers, own 70% of RBS – why not make it into the people’s bank? You should make clear in your chosen design the re-imagining of the old RBS into the new. Instead of investing in carbon-intensive industries the new RBS will serve the public interest by investing only in socially conscious, ethically driven, and environmentally sound projects.
Style:
Think serious or earnest, kitsch or ironic, warm and fluffy, abstract or illustrative; whatever best communicates the concept and appeals to the broader public, the press and perhaps even people in government. It should engage and inspire. You can collage photography on your computer or paint with your fingers and toes – what matters is the outcome. We want to see imagery that speaks of something new, radical and POSSIBLE. Think positive social force. We love the Obama image that was used in the run up to his election – the reworking of his image in a simple pop art style somehow speaks volumes about new, positive change – and has fast become an iconic piece of graphic design, so we thought we’d use it here to demonstrate that you don’t have to be too literal in your interpretation of the brief to create a successful image. If you choose to create a poster remember that it could be made as an advert.
Technical specifications:
your image should be created to these sizes and scannable or put together on a computer:
A1 for the poster.
A2 or squared off A2 for the logo.
Please send me a lo resolution version but make sure you work to these sizes. We will arrange for the printing of your image should it be chosen.
Deadline:
We need your submissions to reach me by Monday 2nd November. Please send lo res versions of your design to info@ameliasmagazine.com
Future projects:
Please bear in mind that if we really love your work we might want to use it in further literature and exhibitions. Just think, your work really could persuade RBS to change course at a pivotal point in our history. What a fabulous idea!
Join the facebook event here to stay in touch with updates
And join the “Stop RBS using public money to finance climate change” facebook group here
Below is a list of links you might want to peruse for inspiration:
Get scribbling folks! Any queries please contact me directly via email rather than on the comments below.
If you have been to a UK festival in the last few years, pharm chances are that at some point you found yourself dancing in the OneTaste tent. Having residency at Glastonbury, sicknessBig Chill and Secret Garden Party to name but a mere few, OneTaste have acquired a devoted fan base of festival goers who want a guarantee that when they walk into a tent they will get the following components; top quality live music, an high-spirited and friendly crowd, and twenty four hour revelry.
OneTaste in Hyde Park, London
Yet their festival appearances are just one aspect of the multifaceted music troupe. When they are appearing at say, SGP or Glasto, they perform as a collective of musicians, poets and artists who, for many of the festivals, break bread and share space with Chai Wallahs. When they put on events in Greater London and Brighton, (where every night is different from the last), their roots run deep, towards diverse and innovative singers, performers and spoken word artists. They are fiercely proud of their reputation of facilitating and nurturing emerging talent; promoting, not exploiting it, connecting with the audience and creating a true OneTaste family, both onstage and off.
I have known of OneTaste for years, being friends with some of the artists who have performed with them. Having shamelessly utalised their tent at this years Secret Garden Party to dance, drink, chill, detox and then re-tox, I felt it was time to get to know them a little better. The perfect opportunity came at the recent OneTaste night at the Bedford in Balham which I attended recently on a balmy Thursday night. The vaudeville past of the Globe Theatre within the Bedford was an apposite setting for the style of event that OneTaste puts on. As the preparation for the evenings entertainment began in this deeply historical building, I managed to catch a quick chat with the creator of OneTaste, Dannii Evans, where we talked about the rhymes, reasons and the meaning behind this unique and innovative event.
photograph by Kim Leng Hills
When I saw OneTaste’s excellent night in the Jazz Cafe a while back, I saw a lot of different styles of music and spoken word. What would you say is the one common thread that unites everyone?
We’ve always been trying to find out what the thread is! It is definitely not genre, we do every single style and welcome every style, probably the only genre we haven’t booked yet is heavy metal! The thing that links us all together .. (pauses)… is that everyone has got a massive social conscience; it is not always explicit, but it is implicit within a person, it’s in their art. It’s something that holds us all together, everyone at OneTaste has that in mind – that there is a bigger picture and that we need to better ourselves in everything that we do.
The OneTaste music and spoken word night, started four and a half years ago by myself, and Jamie Woon. We basically started it in order that these musicians can do something where they could get paid.
You pay the performers? That’s so rare!
Definitely. We wanted to put on a night where the quality of every single act was really high and it could be where musicians could start their career, so that was the premise. Also the concept is that the event is always half music, half spoken word.
So is it a collective, a record label, an event? I’m kind of confused!
It started off as an event, with us meeting a number of artists and acts that we got on really well and gelled with, who we took on tour around festivals, and then out of spending three months together we formed the OneTaste collective. It started becoming an artist run collective where people would help with the actual event production and then it ended with them all collaborating on material together.
How do artists become part of OneTaste? Is it something that they can dip in and out of?
Absolutely, it’s not exclusive. It grew organically, it’s not an in or out thing – it happens more naturally than that.
Do you have to audition to get in?
To take part in the OneTaste night, either myself or someone running it have to have seen them live. Audience engagement is very important to us, to reach out and to be able to communicate with the audience is really vital. The live aspect and their live dynamic with the crowd is so important, so while they don’t audition, we do need to see how they will perform.
So it seems to have grown hugely in the last four years; Can you give me an idea of the numbers of acts that you have worked with?
In the collective, we have around 30 acts that we are currently championing, but in the last four years we have worked with around 300 artists. The audiences have grown from 40 people to 300 here at the Bedford, 500 at the Jazz Cafe, and 5,000 at the recent gig we did in Hyde Park.
How does OneTaste promote its artists?
It has always been very grass roots, we’ve never done an advert, it’s always just been people coming down and then telling their friends and from that it grew really quickly.
Are there many of the artists signed to labels, and do you help them along their way?
We do, we give them industry advice – we develop their music, or spoken word, we try to help where we can. Some of the artists like Jamie Woon or Portico Quartet have gone on to get more media attention and they kind of carry the OneTaste name with them and still do gigs for us.
What is the direction that OneTaste is heading in?
Potentially, we might have our own venue at festivals next year, which is really exciting. We have a digital compilation coming out, the first one will be coming out in September, and eventually we may form a OneTaste record label.
Gideon Conn performs at OneTaste Bedford.
Dannii and I continue chatting for a short while, and after this she has tasks to do. The audience is filling up, and the night is about to start. Sitting on a bench in the back with a big glass of red wine, I watch the event unfold. The performers are electric, and completely different from one another, yet equally complimentary. Most appear to be old friends, and loudly cheer each others performances. The atmosphere is infectious, I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed myself so much at a gig (and it’s not because of the wine!). I’m quite au fait with the open mic nights and acoustic gigs of London, but I haven’t been to a night which is as cohesive and inclusive as OneTaste. If you want to experience it for yourself, OneTaste are easy to find. Check out their Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Flickr for images, articles, and dates about upcoming shows, which include a September 8th gig at The Distillers in Hammersmith and 27th September at The Hanbury Club in Brighton.
Written by Cari Steel on Friday August 21st, 2009 4:04 pm
Junky Styling ACOFI in the shop
ACOFI launch party invite for Friday 28th January 2011.
Well, this dear readers, medical today is finally the official launch day of Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, which you have no doubt seen me banging on about on Facebook and Twitter for months now, especially under the hashtag #ACOFI (it’s an abbreviation, geddit, for which I have illustrator Antonia Parker to thank). The book has been in shops since late December, but the party will bring together almost all of the featured illustrators, many of the featured ethical fashion designers, and some of the best journalistic and blogging talent under one wonderful roof: that of 123 Bethnal Green Road, an eco fashion store that is profiled in the book.
During the afternoon I shall be hosting a Pukka herbal tea party for VIP guests in the new Bunker Cafe. We’re going to have a giant ACOFI inspired centre piece and lots of delightful scones and biscuits to accompany it, all baked by the fabulous Lily Vanilli, baker extraordinaire… better still Lily promises me there won’t be a cupcake in sight.
Afternoon guests will be invited to sit for their very own fashion illustration with one of my crack team of illustrators, all of whom who are featured in the book. They will also be able to view my online Skype videos with all the featured illustrators, which just today have gone live on my Amelia’s House youtube channel (go check it), perhaps whilst having a soothing hand massage from lovely ethical skincare brand Dr.Hauschka.
Reclaimed leather key rings made using fobs found in the shop that now houses 123. A wee gift for party-goers.
On the second floor of 123 they will be able to take a look through a selection of the featured ethical designers, who are taking part in a two week Eco Pop Up shop which will be instore until the 13th February. Make sure you get down and take a look – there’s a whole host of talent in there, and if you haven’t already visited 123 this would be the perfect opportunity.
A blurry pic of me trying on my Beautiful Soul shrug. I will try to look more elegant in it today…
The utterly brilliant Courtney at Forward PR is looking after my PR for today so it looks like I’m going to be busy with interviews almost all afternoon… look out for more in depth coverage in the coming weeks on lots of other websites and blogs. Come 7pm the party proper begins in the newly converted Scout Hut, kicking off with a live gig from Amelia’s Magazine favourite 6 Day Riot, fronted by the glamourous Tamara Schlesinger. We’ll be drinking lovely Spindrift and carbon neutral East Green beers from my favourite beer company, Adnams, alongside Vodka O, a pure Australian spirit.
I’m then planning to cut the big Lily Vanilli cake and hand it out in a gloriously sticky manner, hopefully in a way that isn’t too reminiscent of a five year old’s birthday or a wedding with no groom.
I’m going to be wearing these fabulous Nina Dolcetti shoes.
From there on in it’s going to be a big old dance party once The Pipettes hit the decks…. followed later in the evening by my TOP SECRET special DJ… who I will now reveal is none other than Will of the Mystery Jets… it’s going to be a good one.
ACOFI in the Tate Modern.
And of course there will be lots of copies of ACOFI around to browse through… and possibly the most fantastic goodie bag EVER to accompany all purchases of the book on the night, containing gifts created exclusively for the occasion from Tatty Devine, Moleskine, Dr.Hauschka, 123 Bethnal Green Road and Pukka Teas – all presented in a specially designed #ACOFI bespoke tote bag. It don’t get better than that.
My special bespoke ACOFI Moleskine, with a holographic imprint of the logo on the front cover.
Dr.Hauschka goodie bags at The First To Know launch party for Lida Hujic’s new book earlier this week: I haven’t unpacked/packed our goodie bags yet.
So that’s the plan. But it will all probably be fabulously disorganised mayhem. Make sure you bring your camera if you’re coming! And I feel I should state apologies at this point that this party is invite only… but there just isn’t enough room (or drink, or cake) to accommodate any more people. It’s principally a party to promote the book, so I’ve invited the illustrators and fashion designers who features in it, and lots of bloggers and journalists.
All packed in the lovely limited edition ACOFI tote bag, designed to complement the cover by Andrea Peterson.
And please go buy the book… cos the future of this website kind of depends on it… For a sneaky 10% off use the discount code ACOFI LAUNCH – vald for one month only until the 28th February 2011 (coincidentally my birthday… just thought I’d drop that in)
Right, I’m off to get my hair blow-dryed by Shine on the Green… I hope they will be able to tame it into something suitably sophisticated. See you on the other side…
ACOFI launch party invite for Friday 28th January 2011.
Well, advice dear readers, recipe today is finally the official launch day of Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, which you have no doubt seen me banging on about on Facebook and Twitter for months now, especially under the hashtag #ACOFI (it’s an abbreviation, geddit, for which I have illustrator Antonia Parker to thank). The book has been in shops since late December, but the party will bring together almost all of the featured illustrators, many of the featured ethical fashion designers, and some of the best journalistic and blogging talent under one wonderful roof: that of 123 Bethnal Green Road, an eco fashion store that is profiled in the book.
During the afternoon I shall be hosting a Pukka herbal tea party for VIP guests in the new Bunker Cafe. We’re going to have a giant ACOFI inspired centre piece and lots of delightful scones and biscuits to accompany it, all baked by the fabulous Lily Vanilli, baker extraordinaire… better still Lily promises me there won’t be a cupcake in sight.
Afternoon guests will be invited to sit for their very own fashion illustration with one of my crack team of illustrators, all of whom who are featured in the book. They will also be able to view my online Skype videos with all the featured illustrators, which just today have gone live on my Amelia’s House youtube channel (go check it), perhaps whilst having a soothing hand massage from lovely ethical skincare brand Dr.Hauschka.
Reclaimed leather key rings made using fobs found in the shop that now houses 123. A wee gift for party-goers.
On the second floor of 123 they will be able to take a look through a selection of the featured ethical designers, who are taking part in a two week Eco Pop Up shop which will be instore until the 13th February. Make sure you get down and take a look – there’s a whole host of talent in there, and if you haven’t already visited 123 this would be the perfect opportunity.
A blurry pic of me trying on my Beautiful Soul shrug. I will try to look more elegant in it today…
The utterly brilliant Courtney at Forward PR is looking after my PR for today so it looks like I’m going to be busy with interviews almost all afternoon… look out for more in depth coverage in the coming weeks on lots of other websites and blogs. Come 7pm the party proper begins in the newly converted Scout Hut, kicking off with a live gig from Amelia’s Magazine favourite 6 Day Riot, fronted by the glamourous Tamara Schlesinger. We’ll be drinking lovely Spindrift and carbon neutral East Green beers from my favourite beer company, Adnams, alongside Vodka O, a pure Australian spirit.
I’m then planning to cut the big Lily Vanilli cake and hand it out in a gloriously sticky manner, hopefully in a way that isn’t too reminiscent of a five year old’s birthday or a wedding with no groom.
I’m going to be wearing these fabulous Nina Dolcetti shoes.
From there on in it’s going to be a big old dance party once The Pipettes hit the decks…. followed later in the evening by my TOP SECRET special DJ… who I will now reveal is none other than Will of the Mystery Jets… it’s going to be a good one.
ACOFI in the Tate Modern.
And of course there will be lots of copies of ACOFI around to browse through… and possibly the most fantastic goodie bag EVER to accompany all purchases of the book on the night, containing gifts created exclusively for the occasion from Tatty Devine, Moleskine, Dr.Hauschka, 123 Bethnal Green Road and Pukka Teas – all presented in a specially designed #ACOFI bespoke tote bag. It don’t get better than that.
My special bespoke ACOFI Moleskine, with a holographic imprint of the logo on the front cover.
Dr.Hauschka goodie bags at The First To Know launch party for Lida Hujic’s new book earlier this week: I haven’t unpacked/packed our goodie bags yet.
So that’s the plan. But it will all probably be fabulously disorganised mayhem. Make sure you bring your camera if you’re coming! And I feel I should state apologies at this point that this party is invite only… but there just isn’t enough room (or drink, or cake) to accommodate any more people. It’s principally a party to promote the book, so I’ve invited the illustrators and fashion designers who features in it, and lots of bloggers and journalists.
All packed in the lovely limited edition ACOFI tote bag, designed to complement the cover by Andrea Peterson.
And please go buy the book… cos the future of this website kind of depends on it… For a sneaky 10% off use the discount code ACOFI LAUNCH – vald for one month only until the 28th February 2011 (coincidentally my birthday… just thought I’d drop that in)
Right, I’m off to get my hair blow-dryed by Shine on the Green… I hope they will be able to tame it into something suitably sophisticated. See you on the other side…
ACOFI launch party invite for Friday 28th January 2011.
Well, illness dear readers, today is finally the official launch day of Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, which you have no doubt seen me banging on about on Facebook and Twitter for months now, especially under the hashtag #ACOFI (it’s an abbreviation, geddit, for which I have illustrator Antonia Parker to thank). The book has been in shops since late December, but the party will bring together almost all of the featured illustrators, many of the featured ethical fashion designers, and some of the best journalistic and blogging talent under one wonderful roof: that of 123 Bethnal Green Road, an eco fashion store that is profiled in the book.
During the afternoon I shall be hosting a Pukka herbal tea party for VIP guests in the new Bunker Cafe. We’re going to have a giant ACOFI inspired centre piece and lots of delightful scones and biscuits to accompany it, all baked by the fabulous Lily Vanilli, baker extraordinaire… better still Lily promises me there won’t be a cupcake in sight.
Afternoon guests will be invited to sit for their very own fashion illustration with one of my crack team of illustrators, all of whom who are featured in the book. They will also be able to view my online Skype videos with all the featured illustrators, which just today have gone live on my Amelia’s House youtube channel (go check it), perhaps whilst having a soothing hand massage from lovely ethical skincare brand Dr.Hauschka.
Reclaimed leather key rings made using fobs found in the shop that now houses 123. A wee gift for party-goers.
On the second floor of 123 they will be able to take a look through a selection of the featured ethical designers, who are taking part in a two week Eco Pop Up shop which will be instore until the 13th February. Make sure you get down and take a look – there’s a whole host of talent in there, and if you haven’t already visited 123 this would be the perfect opportunity.
A blurry pic of me trying on my Beautiful Soul shrug. I will try to look more elegant in it today…
The utterly brilliant Courtney at Forward PR is looking after my PR for today so it looks like I’m going to be busy with interviews almost all afternoon… look out for more in depth coverage in the coming weeks on lots of other websites and blogs. Come 7pm the party proper begins in the newly converted Scout Hut, kicking off with a live gig from Amelia’s Magazine favourite 6 Day Riot, fronted by the glamourous Tamara Schlesinger. We’ll be drinking lovely Spindrift and carbon neutral East Green beers from my favourite beer company, Adnams, alongside Vodka O, a pure Australian spirit.
I’m then planning to cut the big Lily Vanilli cake and hand it out in a gloriously sticky manner, hopefully in a way that isn’t too reminiscent of a five year old’s birthday or a wedding with no groom.
I’m going to be wearing these fabulous Nina Dolcetti shoes.
From there on in it’s going to be a big old dance party once The Pipettes hit the decks…. followed later in the evening by my TOP SECRET special DJ… who I will now reveal is none other than Will of the Mystery Jets… it’s going to be a good one.
ACOFI in the Tate Modern.
And of course there will be lots of copies of ACOFI around to browse through… and possibly the most fantastic goodie bag EVER to accompany all purchases of the book on the night, containing gifts created exclusively for the occasion from Tatty Devine, Moleskine, Dr.Hauschka, 123 Bethnal Green Road and Pukka Teas – all presented in a specially designed #ACOFI bespoke tote bag. It don’t get better than that.
My special bespoke ACOFI Moleskine, with a holographic imprint of the logo on the front cover.
Dr.Hauschka goodie bags at The First To Know launch party for Lida Hujic’s new book earlier this week: I haven’t unpacked/packed our goodie bags yet.
So that’s the plan. But it will all probably be fabulously disorganised mayhem. Make sure you bring your camera if you’re coming! And I feel I should state apologies at this point that this party is invite only… but there just isn’t enough room (or drink, or cake) to accommodate any more people. It’s principally a party to promote the book, so I’ve invited the illustrators and fashion designers who features in it, and lots of bloggers and journalists.
All packed in the lovely limited edition ACOFI tote bag, designed to complement the cover by Andrea Peterson.
And please go buy the book… cos the future of this website kind of depends on it… For a sneaky 10% off use the discount code ACOFI LAUNCH – vald for one month only until the 28th February 2011 (coincidentally my birthday… just thought I’d drop that in)
Right, I’m off to get my hair blow-dryed by Shine on the Green… I hope they will be able to tame it into something suitably sophisticated. See you on the other side…
So I’m sitting in my studio in British Columbia, stomach Canada, more about looking out at the mountains & snow-covered trees, approved which are glistening in the winter sunshine. And I’m listening to Vessels second studio album proper, Helioscope. It’s a pretty perfect backdrop to Vessels’ expansive sound and what I predict will be one of my album highlights of 2011. I consider myself a lucky girl right now!
Since they emerged onto the experimental post-rock scene in 2008 with debut album ‘White Fields and Open Devices’, I have developed a firm love affair with the Leeds-based five-piece. Their sound has been described as ‘big’, ‘delicate and heavy’, ‘intricate and vast’, and Helioscope certainly lives up to these claims.
To some people, the very label ‘post-rock’ conjures up images of seven minute-long angsty harmonics and tremolo, leading to a vast guitar climax, if you can stay awake that long. But Vessels seem well versed in the art of writing songs with very strong composition, which keep you intrigued as to where the melody will take you and hooked right until the last bar. White Fields… certainly has all these ingredients, so where to go from a critically acclaimed and undeniably accomplished first album? Well, they’ve taken their knack for tight, technically astute songwriting, done away with some of the arguably arbritary vocals, and build on this to create a far more polished and confident sound.
Monoform kicks things off at a nice relaxed pace with some intricate drumming from the uber-talented Tim Mitchell, soft vocals in the background masquerading as another instrument rather than a standalone tune. The only thing that is slightly lacking towards the end is a little extra ‘oompf’, which leaves you feeling that the track never quite realised its full potential.
Vessels in the Studio.
For me, the album highlight is The Trap – I could listen to this on repeat for a month and not get bored. The band have managed to do what so many post-rock outfits have not, combine a really catchy beat and well-rounded melodies with a complex arrangement of instruments, clever time signature changes and a well-written structure.
Other stand out moments come courtesy of the beautiful melodies in ‘Later Than You Think’, Stuart Warwick’s haunting vocals on ‘Meatman. Prostitute. Piano Tuner’ and the juddering ‘Art/Choke’; with its enormous base line & chugging guitar riff set to looped piano tinkelings & atmospherics, this is a fine example of Vessels’ mastery over their instruments. The song ends abruptly and I realised that I’d been holding my breath for the last few bars! In this case, forgetting to breathe is definitely a sign of a flippin’ amazing song.
Overall, what sets this album apart from the debut, is a greater attention to contrast and pace. ‘Heal’ provides a satisfying hiatus from the crunching Art/Choke and the breathy vocals of ‘Recur’ are a welcome addition to an album that is predominantly instrumental. Time signature changes are executed effortlessly with precision and skill. And don’t even get me started on the quality of Tim Mitchell’s drumming – a man whose talents constantly and consistently blow me away. Even though this is by no means a concept album, it still has all the essential elements of a good narrative and takes you on a journey. You can really get absorbed in Helioscope – as every 5/8 rhythm is balanced with melodies verging on the, dare I say it, toe tapping! But this contrast is what keeps you enthralled with the album.
Above all, the obvious technical skill and ability of the band really does shine through on this album. What would be my criticism? Maybe that it is verging on the commercial side (I admit I’m clutching at straws here), but for an instrumental-led album, achieving a more accessible slant is quite an achievement. When it comes down to it though, I suggest you listen and make your own mind up and, if you possibly can, catch them on tour in March in the UK, Ireland and Europe.
Written by Gemma Milly on Monday January 31st, 2011 6:33 pm
Most of us pat ourselves on the back at the thought of having ‘done our bit‘, symptomsinformation pills whether it’s recycling or bringing a load of old clothes to a charity shop. Robert Bradford, ailment in that case, deserves a rather large pat on the back. Not only did he ‘do his bit’, but also got rather creative doing it.
Whilst staring at his children’s box of discarded toys, a beam of light shun down from the heavens, a choir of angels sung and everything was still. Well, perhaps inspiration doesn’t happen like that in real life, but Bradford defiantly had a light bulb moment. Instead of taking the toys to local charity shop, Bradford decided to make sculptures out of them. Bradford assembles the toys into kaleidoscopic life-size dogs and people. Since his foray into toys, Bradford has also transformed other would-be discarded items. Crushed Coca-cola cans, combs, pegs and washing up brushes have also been made into extra family members and man’s best friend. Using what most would describe as rubbish, Bradford is one artist who wouldn’t mind his work being so called. It says so on his website.
Does It Offend You, Yeah?, The Joy Formidable, The Operators and Young Fathers – 229, London Ned Collette Band, Lawrence Arabia and The Boat People – The Windmill, London Good Books, Polka Party and The Molotovs – Proud Galleries, London Monday 27th October Camden Arts Centre, advice ‘Wallace Berman’: Untl 23rd November
Arkwright Road, drugs London NW3 6DG
Considered as a major mover and shaker in the beat generation in the late 50s and 60s, view Wallace Berman’s (1926-1976) jazz record covers, art publications are all on display. Also his 16mm film ‘aleph’ is screened as well as posters, book covers and postcards. Most people recognise his portrait on the cover of The Beatles’ ‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ but he’s got plenty of other art to have a gander over.
Tuesday 28th October White Cube, Sam Taylor-Wood: Yes I No: Until 29th November
Mason’s Yard and No 1 The Piazza, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8HA
This show includes three groups of photographs and a large scale film installation on the subject of absensce and morality. Other photos based on Wuthering Heights with desire and suffering playing key themes.
Wednesday 29th October: V&A Museum of Childhood, Tom Hunter’: until 9th November
Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green E2 9PA
Exploring the changing face of the East End, Hunter’s photographs focus on people, places and community in and around the area.
Thursday 30th October: Stephen Friedman Gallery, ‘Catherine Opie’: Until 15thNovember
25-28 Old Burlington Street?London W1S 3AN
The exhibition title, ‘The Blue of Distance’, is inspired by Rebecca Solnit, a writer on photography and landscape. Here, Opie continues her investigation with two new series of work capturing the remote beauty of the Alaskan landscape.
Friday 31st October: Whitecross Gallery, ‘Girlie’: Daphne Plessner: Until 21 November
122 Whitecross St, London EC1Y 8PU
Whitecross Gallery welcomes you to ‘Girlie’, an exciting and thought provoking solo exhibition of luscious new paintings by talented artist Daphne Plessner.?Her work combines uncompromising social critique with colourful, elaborate surface decoration, and beautifully crafted, exquisite attention to detail.
Saturday 1st November: ICA, ‘Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’ Retrospective: Until 23rd November
The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH
In tandem with Under Scan on Trafalgar Square, a retrospective of Lozano-Hemmer’s moving-image works, via a series of documentaries, spanning the past decade of his career. Lozano-Hemmer has been commissioned for events such as the millennium celebrations in Mexico City, the Cultural Capital of Europe in Rotterdam (2001), the United Nations World Summit of Cities in Lyon (2003), the opening of the Yamaguchi Centre for Art and Media in Japan (2003) and the expansion of the European Union in Dublin (2004).
Warm and jubilant and wholesome. That’s how a Tilly and the Wall gig will leave you – and the title to their debut album in 2004, check Wild Like Children, cheapest is an indicator as to how. Add to this Slow Club, who when I saw several months ago in a weekly slot at The Enterprise in Camden, had brought along home-baked goods to pass round, and you’re wholly rejuvenated.
The ULU played host to this delectable recipe on Saturday, and they do compliment each other incredibly. Dulcet boy/girl harmonies, songs that pay homage to the bliss of youth and spontaneity, and full sounding percussion that is hard to put your finger on until you see it; The Slow Club often bang their drumsticks on chairs, and the percussion for Tilly is tap-dancer Jamie on a mic’ed up wooden box (they used to steal road-signs for the purpose but have since become more legit).
Tilly’s latest release, “o” was produced by acclaimed producer, Mike Mogis. Their kaleidoscopic sound has gotten bigger and fuller, but maintaining to the familiarity of Tilly ingredients. “I feel like I know them”, I heard someone say, and when the encore brought them back on stage with Charles and Rebecca from the Slow Club in tow, tambourines in hand, it felt like we all did. Clapping and stamping along, I thought the experience perhaps drew a thin line next to what I’d imagine an evangelist Sunday session to be like, only without strings attached, a drink in hand, and prophets that chant out about first loves, recklessness and “life that is so wonderful it shines like fire” (Let it Rain – Tilly); so put that in your wine glass and sip it.
Written by Luisa Gerstein on Wednesday October 29th, 2008 3:22 pm
The Union Chapel in Islington was a perfect venue for Daniel Johnston to display his talents to his adoring London fan base. The church setting and pew seating inspired a hushed reverence and allowed almost everyone an unrestricted view of the stage. After two excellent support acts (Jake Bellows and James Yorkston), Daniel Johnston sloped into view and picked up a guitar. Overweight, grey haired and wearing tracksuit bottoms and a sweatshirt he looked exactly like a man who has spent a large proportion of his adult life being cared for.
A transformation happens as soon as he starts to play and sing. It is the contrast between what Daniel Johnston is and what Daniel Johnston does that has provided him with his unique position in modern music culture. His voice has range and emotional intensity, but it is his ability with lyrics and melodies that makes Daniel Johnston into a modern music icon.
His lyrics, which seem to have by-passed most commonly understood notions of lyric writing, could be considered childish or naive at times. Yet somehow they manage to transmit an intensity of feeling or a truthfulness of expression that renders such considerations irrelevant. Playing guitar and piano and often almost unable to control his physical infirmities, he played a long and varied set that mixed his most popular songs with recent work.
Sometimes he performed solo and at others he was accompanied by a whole band or by a varied combination of guitarists and organists. In each of these permutations he produced a performance that convincingly displayed his song writing talents and his unique persona. My favourite combination was the young six-piece band he played with towards the end of this set.
Their slightly ramshackle delivery perfectly matched the material and it was a shame they played only a handful of songs. Between songs and personnel changes he showed the audience that on this particular day Daniel Johnston was happy and well telling jokes and providing pseudonyms for his band members.
I can only guess at the level of support Daniel Johnston had in London prior to the release of the 2005 film “The Devil and Daniel Johnston”, but his audience at the Union Chapel twice gave him a standing ovation, once as he left the stage and immediately after his simple one minute encore.
I really enjoyed this gig and after listening to his last two albums I think that he has a valid present as an artist as well as a rich past. However, I was left with some strange impressions of the audience. Throughout the gig I had a niggling feeling that the varying quality of song writing was being ignored by the audience, though this I suspect was suspect partly because of the partisan nature of the crowd and partly because of a misguided notion that he is somehow not comparable to more conventional musicians or deserves some kind of special consideration. Daniel Johnston’s ‘outsider’ song writing by any conventional comparisons is often excellent, but just like most of his more mainstream peers (a lot of whom are also his fans) he also writes songs that are simply average.
Don’t miss Daniel Johnston when he comes to London again. He may not be the normal mix of mad bad and dangerous to know that you expect from a rock musician, but the unique combination he possesses is equally compelling. James Yorkston was also magical in his support slot and I would also highly recommend seeking out his next performance.
Written by Stefan Proud on Monday July 16th, 2007 5:31 pm
Okay, so the Windmill in Brixton isn’t the kind of venue you’d want to see Beyonce play (and I have it on good authority that if you did want to see her play, you wouldn’t be welcome there anyway) but a perspiring crowd saw Broken Family Band play an intimate afternoon gig there on Saturday. The Cambridge quintet have a wide host of influences, have a very strong fan base, and really enjoy playing together – combined with sounding great, you’ve got a darn good set-up. They’re also really, really nice guys, and front man Steven Adams kept the crowd pleased with his satirical anecdotes and nonchalant charm. I’m not one for quirky tactics, such as plying your audience with booze, jewellery or airline tickets, but the cake-fuelled interval and occasional free glass of wine actually suits this band’s happy-go-lucky, likeable presence. This also gave lead Adams an excuse to hurl expletives at us during the second half, which, of course, had the crowd in hysterics.
Experts in music pastiche, the BFB throw you from melancholic guitar ballads, to anthemic rock anthems, to smooth country and folk inspired rhythms. Seeing them live is a bit like riding a roller coaster that you actually want to ride. Songs like Devil in the Details and Cocktail Lounge are haunting and emotive and show the BFB as natural storytellers. Happy Days are Here Again (as the name suggests) was an uplifting, lively number and a crowd favourite. The somewhat up-tempo Love Your Man, Love Your Woman was a particular highlight for me and definitely worth a mention as it’s their new single – out now!!
They are constantly exploring new directions with their music, and the Summer brings a number of festivals and a new album amidst rising acclaim. The Broken Family Band are deservers of success and I hope that they can manage to retain their intimate charm and like-ability if and when they make it big. Look out for them at a small, sweaty venue near you – there are few better ways to spend a Saturday afternoon.
Written by Matt Bramford on Tuesday June 12th, 2007 11:35 am
Back in the days when climate change was a vague notion – something for the 22nd century, order a problematical J curve for academics to ponder over – I thought nothing of hopping on a short haul from LA to Las Vegas, online hiring a chevvy and heading out towards Monument Valley, decease cool desert and home of the Navaho. On the way I would pass the Grand Canyon, a journey that forced me to redefine my concept of size. For this thing, this hole in the ground was absolutely gi-fucking-normous. It just kept on going. No matter how long you drove, you came round a bend and there it was. Still. So huge was this new huge I even had to redefine my sense of how big infinite space might actually be. At the time is was as mind blowing as taking acid. It changed me forever.
Now I’m not saying the film Dirty Oil has changed me forever. But it has affected my mood. For now I discover a bigger huge. Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada. It is – or was – the biggest unspoilt forest in the world. But just underground it’s the second biggest oil reserve in the world after Saudi Arabia. It’s bigger than Florida. Bigger than England. And it is the single biggest emitter of climate change gases in the world. If the oil industry gets the $379 billion investment it’s demanding we’ll get a rise of between 9 and 15 billion parts per million of C02 in the atmosphere. And you know what that means? It means the tipping point of runaway climate change. It can do this all on its own without any help from us leaving lights on or driving short journeys to Tesco.
This film though isn’t content to be another film about climate change. It brings you the human story of the Beaver Lake Kree – who are having their ancestral lands torn up, their rivers and lakes polluted and their health destroyed. Thanks to the arsenic in their fishstocks, the Kree are 30 % more likely to get cancer, including rare ones, than other populations. And why are they subjected to this? So that America gets cheap oil without having to bully – er bother – the Arabs for a decade. That’s it. A decade of cheapish growth. I could weep – except the film left me emotionally stunned. The problem here is capitalism. An unadulterated free market economy where the bottom line profit – the false prophet indeed – over rides all other considerations, including the survival of life on this planet itself, spews unchecked in Alberta. It’s not just a local pollution issue, it’s a global one. The Co-op, which hosted this week’s screenings across the UK, wants us all to petition companies like RBS and BP through our pension plans. But is that enough? Is it even worth having a pension when the future is governed by this ginormous scrag-heap of crap? “It’s time to start blowing things up,” says a comrade as we leave the cinema a little stunned. “How big?” I jest.
But there is a minute sliver of hope here. They don’t raise this in the film, but it was the Cree Indians who predicted that a time would come when we discovered that we can’t eat our money. I think we’re getting there. And a Cree woman called Eyes of Fire fortold: “A time when trees fall, the rivers are black, fish die in the rivers and birds fall from the sky…
“And when it does a tribe will gather from all the cultures ?of the World who believe in deed and not words. ?They will work to heal it… they will be known as the “Warriors of the Rainbow.” Cree Indian Proverb
I assume that’s us. For anyone calling themselves an activist – if we don’t get together and stop Tar Sands, while forcefully overcoming ignorance to promote alternative ways of running economies and energy supplies, we’re doomed. And doomed is just too huge a deal to imagine.
You can read our preview here and find out where to see the film over the next few weeks here.
Back in the days when climate change was a vague notion – something for the 22nd century, buy more about a problematical J curve for academics to ponder over – I thought nothing of hopping on a short haul from LA to Las Vegas, visit this site hiring a chevvy and heading out towards Monument Valley, medications cool desert and home of the Navaho. On the way I would pass the Grand Canyon, a journey that forced me to redefine my concept of size. For this thing, this hole in the ground was absolutely gi-fucking-normous. It just kept on going. No matter how long you drove, you came round a bend and there it was. Still. So huge was this new huge I even had to redefine my sense of how big infinite space might actually be. At the time is was as mind blowing as taking acid. It changed me forever.
Now I’m not saying the film Oil Sands has changed me forever. But it has affected my mood. For now I discover a bigger huge. Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada. It is – or was – the biggest unspoilt forest in the world. But just underground it’s the second biggest oil reserve in the world after Saudi Arabia. It’s bigger than Florida. Bigger than England. And it is the single biggest emitter of climate change gases in the world. If the oil industry gets the $379 billion investment it’s demanding we’ll get a rise of between 9 and 15 billion parts per million of C02 in the atmosphere. And you know what that means? It means the tipping point of runaway climate change. It can do this all on its own without any help from us leaving lights on or driving short journeys to Tesco.
This film though isn’t content to be another film about climate change. It brings you the human story of the Beaver Lake Kree – who are having their ancestral lands torn up, their rivers and lakes polluted and their health destroyed. Thanks to the arsenic in their fishstocks, the Kree are 30 % more likely to get cancer, including rare ones, than other populations. And why are they subjected to this? So that America gets cheap oil without having to bully – er bother – the Arabs for a decade. That’s it. A decade of cheapish growth. I could weep – except the film left me emotionally stunned. The problem here is capitalism. An unadulterated free market economy where the bottom line profit – the false prophet indeed – over rides all other considerations, including the survival of life on this planet itself, spews unchecked in Alberta. It’s not just a local pollution issue, it’s a global one. The Co-op, which hosted this week’s screenings across the UK, wants us all to petition companies like RBS and BP through our pension plans. But is that enough? Is it even worth having a pension when the future is governed by this ginormous scrag-heap of crap? “It’s time to start blowing things up,” says a comrade as we leave the cinema a little stunned. “How big?” I jest.
But there is a minute sliver of hope here. They don’t raise this in the film, but it was the Cree Indians who predicted that a time would come when we discovered that we can’t eat our money. I think we’re getting there. And a Cree woman called Eyes of Fire fortold: “A time when trees fall, the rivers are black, fish die in the rivers and birds fall from the sky…
“And when it does a tribe will gather from all the cultures ?of the World who believe in deed and not words. ?They will work to heal it… they will be known as the “Warriors of the Rainbow.”
Cree Indian Proverb
I assume that’s us. For anyone calling themselves an activist – if we don’t get together and stop Tar Sands, while forcefully overcoming ignorance to promote alternative ways of running economies and energy supplies, we’re doomed. And doomed is just too huge a deal to imagine.
Back in the days when climate change was a vague notion – something for the 22nd century, search a problematical J curve for academics to ponder over – I thought nothing of hopping on a short haul from LA to Las Vegas, viagra 60mg hiring a chevvy and heading out towards Monument Valley, viagra buy cool desert and home of the Navaho. On the way I would pass the Grand Canyon, a journey that forced me to redefine my concept of size. For this thing, this hole in the ground was absolutely gi-fucking-normous. It just kept on going. No matter how long you drove, you came round a bend and there it was. Still. So huge was this new huge I even had to redefine my sense of how big infinite space might actually be. At the time is was as mind blowing as taking acid. It changed me forever.
Now I’m not saying the film Oil Sands has changed me forever. But it has affected my mood. For now I discover a bigger huge. Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada. It is – or was – the biggest unspoilt forest in the world. But just underground it’s the second biggest oil reserve in the world after Saudi Arabia. It’s bigger than Florida. Bigger than England. And it is the single biggest emitter of climate change gases in the world. If the oil industry gets the $379 billion investment it’s demanding we’ll get a rise of between 9 and 15 billion parts per million of C02 in the atmosphere. And you know what that means? It means the tipping point of runaway climate change. It can do this all on its own without any help from us leaving lights on or driving short journeys to Tesco.
This film though isn’t content to be another film about climate change. It brings you the human story of the Beaver Lake Kree – who are having their ancestral lands torn up, their rivers and lakes polluted and their health destroyed. Thanks to the arsenic in their fishstocks, the Kree are 30 % more likely to get cancer, including rare ones, than other populations. And why are they subjected to this? So that America gets cheap oil without having to bully – er bother – the Arabs for a decade. That’s it. A decade of cheapish growth. I could weep – except the film left me emotionally stunned. The problem here is capitalism. An unadulterated free market economy where the bottom line profit – the false prophet indeed – over rides all other considerations, including the survival of life on this planet itself, spews unchecked in Alberta. It’s not just a local pollution issue, it’s a global one. The Co-op, which hosted this week’s screenings across the UK, wants us all to petition companies like RBS and BP through our pension plans. But is that enough? Is it even worth having a pension when the future is governed by this ginormous scrag-heap of crap? “It’s time to start blowing things up,” says a comrade as we leave the cinema a little stunned. “How big?” I jest.
But there is a minute sliver of hope here. They don’t raise this in the film, but it was the Cree Indians who predicted that a time would come when we discovered that we can’t eat our money. I think we’re getting there. And a Cree woman called Eyes of Fire fortold: “A time when trees fall, the rivers are black, fish die in the rivers and birds fall from the sky…
“And when it does a tribe will gather from all the cultures ?of the World who believe in deed and not words. ?They will work to heal it… they will be known as the “Warriors of the Rainbow.”
Cree Indian Proverb
I assume that’s us. For anyone calling themselves an activist – if we don’t get together and stop Tar Sands, while forcefully overcoming ignorance to promote alternative ways of running economies and energy supplies, we’re doomed. And doomed is just too huge a deal to imagine.
Back in the days when climate change was a vague notion – something for the 22nd century, ambulance a problematical J curve for academics to ponder over – I thought nothing of hopping on a short haul from LA to Las Vegas, hiring a chevvy and heading out towards Monument Valley, cool desert and home of the Navaho. On the way I would pass the Grand Canyon, a journey that forced me to redefine my concept of size. For this thing, this hole in the ground was absolutely gi-fucking-normous. It just kept on going. No matter how long you drove, you came round a bend and there it was. Still. So huge was this new huge I even had to redefine my sense of how big infinite space might actually be. At the time is was as mind blowing as taking acid. It changed me forever.
Now I’m not saying the film Dirty Oil has changed me forever. But it has affected my mood. For now I discover a bigger huge. Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada. It is – or was – the biggest unspoilt forest in the world. But just underground it’s the second biggest oil reserve in the world after Saudi Arabia. It’s bigger than Florida. Bigger than England. And it is the single biggest emitter of climate change gases in the world. If the oil industry gets the $379 billion investment it’s demanding we’ll get a rise of between 9 and 15 billion parts per million of C02 in the atmosphere. And you know what that means? It means the tipping point of runaway climate change. It can do this all on its own without any help from us leaving lights on or driving short journeys to Tesco.
This film though isn’t content to be another film about climate change. It brings you the human story of the Beaver Lake Kree – who are having their ancestral lands torn up, their rivers and lakes polluted and their health destroyed. Thanks to the arsenic in their fishstocks, the Kree are 30 % more likely to get cancer, including rare ones, than other populations. And why are they subjected to this? So that America gets cheap oil without having to bully – er bother – the Arabs for a decade. That’s it. A decade of cheapish growth. I could weep – except the film left me emotionally stunned. The problem here is capitalism. An unadulterated free market economy where the bottom line profit – the false prophet indeed – over rides all other considerations, including the survival of life on this planet itself, spews unchecked in Alberta. It’s not just a local pollution issue, it’s a global one. The Co-op, which hosted this week’s screenings across the UK, wants us all to petition companies like RBS and BP through our pension plans. But is that enough? Is it even worth having a pension when the future is governed by this ginormous scrag-heap of crap? “It’s time to start blowing things up,” says a comrade as we leave the cinema a little stunned. “How big?” I jest.
But there is a minute sliver of hope here. They don’t raise this in the film, but it was the Cree Indians who predicted that a time would come when we discovered that we can’t eat our money. I think we’re getting there. And a Cree woman called Eyes of Fire fortold: “A time when trees fall, the rivers are black, fish die in the rivers and birds fall from the sky…
“And when it does a tribe will gather from all the cultures ?of the World who believe in deed and not words. ?They will work to heal it… they will be known as the “Warriors of the Rainbow.”
Cree Indian Proverb
I assume that’s us. For anyone calling themselves an activist – if we don’t get together and stop Tar Sands, while forcefully overcoming ignorance to promote alternative ways of running economies and energy supplies, we’re doomed. And doomed is just too huge a deal to imagine.
Four-piece Clayton Strange have already been heralded as “Portsmouth’s most promising local band at the moment” by the local press, sickness and they’re gaining popularity across the South Coast. I managed to grab a few minutes with drummer Steve Bull to find out why they’re making a name for themselves in the South, and to find out about their first national tour.
“With our sound we are trying to mix fast, sharp guitar, intelligent driving rhythm and heartfelt melodies,” says Steve after I ask him to describe their music. “We draw influence from electronica, rock and pop acts like Foals, Talking Heads and Metronomy. One thing that is keeping us different from a lot of the other bands is that we steer clear of computers and keyboards, and focus on creating interesting sounds in a live setting.”
Straddling Portsmouth and Brighton, Clayton Strange are made up of four lovely lads who formed the band when they were teenagers. Singer Deniz Muharrem, guitarist Rob Dawson and drummer Steve have been playing the local circuit for a few years, under a different guise.
After honing both their instrumental and song writing skills, the band changed direction and became Clayton Strange. “Our songs have always been about life events and experiences, but our sound had evolved to the point where we felt our old name didn’t fit” says Steve. “We tell stories that haven’t been told; some about us, and some about others.”
Clayton Strange have a new bassist to compliment their new name, after their original bassist left “for personal reasons”. Dan Charter joined the band after playing in a few local bands. “He’s always been around the music scene and has already added a lot to our creative process,” says Steve as he tries to pinpoint just how they know each other. Dan couldn’t have joined at a better time; the four lads are set to dominate the world, providing their gigs go as well as those they played last year.
In 2009 Clayton Strange had a couple of really successful support slots. They played with the Virgins and the Joy Formidable, but the highlight was supporting Let’s Wrestle; it was a rare gig where the support act outshone the headliners.
“We’re looking to build on this success with an energetic UK tour and a debut EP release set for the spring,” explains Steve. He thinks part of their success is down to being friends since school and knowing each other so well: “we have a real understanding of each other’s playing which translates into a tight and exciting live sound.”
Clayton Strange will be kicking off their UK tour in March with a gig in Bristol, before making their way up to Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and York, before heading back south to play London.
Steve concluded: “We can’t wait to get on the road, play to more people and have new experiences. Manchester will be really special as we are playing the Night & Day, such a famous venue, and sharing the bill with our friends Run Toto Run.”
Written by Laura Nineham on Thursday March 18th, 2010 5:14 pm
