Amelia’s Magazine | Music listings

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Dan Stanley is a London-based illustrator and designer who will soon be launching his new range of greeting cards, buy this web Fluffy Thoughts. He graduated from the London Metropolitan University in 2007 and began setting up Fluffy Thoughts. His fanciful daydreams inspire his designs that are filled with mischievous animals and fuzzy creatures! They mix together a childlike innocence with colourful wit, website like this drawing you deeper into the mysterious world of his characters. Dan has plans to develop his character range further to include soft toys, sildenafil vinyl toys, books and clothing – he invites you now to step into his shiny, cloud-filled universe.

Tell me more about Fluffy Thoughts? ??

Fluffy Thoughts is my range of greeting cards that I designed and are soon to be launched! My initial design ideas were based around a set of creature characters that I put together while completing an Art Foundation course. The range will be available through my online shop and I am currently working towards having them stocked in shops too.

You design many surreal, fun characters. What are the biggest influences on your designs?
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I love Japanese design and animation. I’m a huge fan of anything with cute or crazy characters! So I decided to create my own too and had lots of fun doing so! I had designed and produced a number of soft toy monsters and it’s great to see more of my characters come to life through Fluffy Thoughts. I love illustrators such as Alex Pardee, Bubi Au Yeung, and also illustrated brands such as Ugly Dolls and Tokidoki.?

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What are your thoughts on our homegrown artists at the moment? ? 

?There is a growing interest in hand drawn art and illustration, rather than computer generated art, which is fantastic. It’s shifting away from the accurate images created on computers and has moved onto more irregular and rough styles which I feel gives the artwork more of a personal identity. ? ?There is a great interest in Vinyl toys at the moment which has increased the popularity of characters within a larger age group. This is great news, I’ve always been a huge fan of character based designs which spurred me onto design my creatures. I’m a big follower of illustrated brands such as TADO, NOODOLL and LAZY OAF who are all based in London too.

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?What are your other plans for the future???

Greeting cards are only the beginning. I hope to expand on Fluffy Thoughts with a clothing range and various other products. I would love to expand on some of my characters stories with illustrated books also!
I have been a Madonna fan for years and years. When I was younger it bordered on obssessional, buy information pills but has lessened now due to her ill-advised recent collaboration with super producer, page Timbaland, where she just sounded like a guest vocalist on her own album. To say I’m disappointed doesn’t even come close to an understatement. But let’s not dwell on this, as luckily, this collection does not focus on this period – but on the good old glory days, well decades actually.

Described as a collection of memorabilia, there definitely is a lot of Madonna paraphernalia on show here in the Truman Brewery. In the huge concrete car park of the brewery evidently.
The biggest draw being costumes she wore on stage and in films. However, when looking at them, something wasn’t feeling right. Look at the picture below:

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At first glance you would not think this was part of an exhibition about Madonna. Yes, this collection of outfits come mainly from her conservatively dressed role in Evita, but it’s not just that. The clothes don’t fit properly on the many cheap looking identical mannequins:

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I guess for an exhibition about the notorious perfectionist Madonna, you would expect the same high level of professionalism from a show dedicated to her, and that just was not evident here.
Also, considering there is a disclaimer saying that Madonna had nothing to do with it, they have copies of her record and divorce contracts, her old credit card from the 1980′s and pages from her personal diary. I know you can acquire these through auctions but you are left wondering how they have these items, you are also left wondering if, in fact Madonna is gagged and bound in one of the dark corners of the car park, as the ultimate piece of memorabilia…

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Although fascinating to see on a voyeuristic fan level, there was an unsettling atmosphere to the whole experience. Perhaps it was the sparse venue, or perhaps it was because Madonna is such an icon with so much history, an exhibition dedicated to her could have and should have been spectacular. This sadly, was not.
Between January and April 1996 approximately 360 acres of land including 120 acres of woodland were cleared to make way for the building of a new road, drug the Newbury bypass. The demolition was met by one of the largest anti-road protests in history with over 7000 people directly demonstrating on the site. From July 1995 protesters began to occupy the land, pill living in tree houses and tents. It was a long hard fight and a momentous period of social history that is all the more relevant today with the increasing disparity between environmental legislation and climate deterioration, and the growth of environmental activism. Jim Hindle was in the thick of things and has written a book about his experience, Nine Miles.

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What are your intentions for the book and what do you think it’s
relevance is in our present state of climactic urgency?

On the most basic level I wanted to tell the story of what happened; for history’s sake but also due to the relevance that story has now, in terms of the amount of roads being built today and also for the wider
climatic situation. Road transport in the UK accounts for more than 21% of our total CO2 emmision and is set to rise pretty fiercely without efforts to reign it in. But also, I wanted to convey something of the feeling of those times, of the sense of inspiration that was so strong in the campaigns I’ve described;
there’s a sense that that spirit can inform us now however we choose to act or the environment, or changing the world in general, or even simply how we live our lives.

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How does your life now relate to your life in the 90′s? Are you still involved in activism?

I’ve had to knock activism on the head these days, for reasons that are clearer when you read the book. I did go to the first climate camp and while it was amazingly inspiring it was also pretty stressful, the kind of situation that I’m meant to be avoiding. So I limit myself to talking and writing as a way to influence the world now. I don’t live outdoors but camp and walk as much as I can in the summer. Right now I live on the edge of a small town in a converted outhouse with a firepit outdoors but can see myself back in a house or a flat before too long. Living outdoors isn’t made easy in this country but I am at least gravitating away from the middle of cities as places to be in full time.

I‘m quite interested to find out what everyone is doing now-are you still in touch?

Sarah is in the mountains in Wales with a young child. Badger is living in the West Country working as a carpenter with his wife and three kids. Tami studied maths, got a scholarship to Oxford and is now working as a website designer. Many folks are still activists in one way or another but I think everyone holds precious the memory of what happened. There’s kind of an unspoken bond.

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What are your thoughts on the current wave of climate action?

I think it’s really inspiring. I’ve always felt that to be most effective direct action needs to be as intelligent and discriminating as possible and all the signs are that those involved with Plane Stupid, for instance, share this approach. It carries a big responsibility too. Certainly to see direct action as some kind of cure-all or the way to go about things in the first instance doesn’t seem like the way forward. Martin Luther King said it should only be undertaken as a last resort and it takes it’s place within a bigger picture. There’s many ways to campaign for things but I do think direct action has a vital place.

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I think the climate camps have maybe been a bit gung-ho in declaring intentions to shut down power stations and the like; it kind of guarantees a full on police response but I think to be fair there are many folks involved who would agree. And they’re amazing testimonies to how far everything has come, the organization that goes into the camps is truly something else. And it carries the torch of DIY culture, to be involved; people realizing that it’s not enough to wait for someone else to do something, that we all carry responsibilty for our actions and the actions of our culture.

I do sometimes feel too that it shouldn’t be neccessary, that people shouldn’t have to put themselves through it but it raises the stakes and shakes people out of their apathy and there’s as much need for that as ever; steering society to something more sustainable is like steering some massive tanker and when
change is not apparent there’s the danger of inertia creeping in. So it’s important, if nothing else, to raise our voices on the issue, to remind the politicians that there’s everything to fight for, to help give them license perhaps to act for the climate and certainly to hold them to their responsibilities. And there’s a new generation now getting involved, which is amazing, the whole thing has evolved and there’s a freshness and an urgency, which is what we need in copious amounts…

Jim will be reading extracts from his book on 17th March at 7.30pm at The Hornbeam Centre in London and on 28th March for the Climate Camp benefit at Westhill Music Club in Brighton.
Basso and Brooke was, find without a doubt, THE worst organised show of the week. We arrived a bit late, and squeezing our way into the surging throng, rougher than any mosh pit despite the far greater average of lipstick and high heels, it transpired that they’d reached capacity in the Bloomsbury Ballroom where the show was being held and the 200-strong throng of ticket-holders outside weren’t getting in. All that practice at gigs must’ve come in handy as I proved to be a far more effective pusher and shover than our in-house fashion bitch Jenny. I managed to be the last person admitted to the show and was rushed down the stairs by the totally harassed PR going “I told him to get a bigger venue”. Forget about freebies at this one, I didn’t even get a chair.

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That said, I ended up with a pretty good view of the catwalk meaning I could fully take in the Rococo ambience of the show with its sumptuous, brocaded Jackie O suits and dress and distressed hairdos, somewhere between seventeenth century wigs and sixties helmet heads. This was all sound-tracked by string versions of heavy metal songs, a tongue-in-cheek touch that raised a smile on many a frazzled fashion face. The opening notes of Sweet Child O’ Mine had an appropriately frantic urgency to it when played on a violin.

However, the music at Basso and Brooke was as nothing compared with the brilliant horror soundtrack of Ann-Sofie Back that we went to that evening. Her collection was heavily inspired by horror movies such as Carrie, and models wafted down the catwalk wearing white contact lenses, pale face makeup and wild frizz-bomb hair. Ripped denim, dream-catcher feathers and slogan sweatshirts were the order of the day although my most coveted item was a pair of red tinted aviators that turned into little blood drops at the bottom.

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She was in a double bill with Peter Jensen at the Topshop showspace although I only have vague memories of his show, overshadowed as it was by the gothic offering it preceded. I’ve got a general memory of folksy, ethnic embroidery on over-the-knee white boots and boys in puffy waistcoats. Topshop also laid on a good spread of sausage rolls and champagne, although as my Topshop employee cohort pointed out, perhaps Philip Green could have directed some of those funds towards not firing some of his floor staff. Just an idea. Still, I enjoyed the posh pub spread and the ensuing shows and one thing I am definitely going to try and get hold of for this summer is a reduced-rate pair of bloody sunnies.

I have been left so in awe by the sheer quantity of auspicious talent at the Esthethica stand at London Fashion Week this month that I felt just one article would not suffice in covering this fundamental event in the fashion calender. I felt it all to hard to digest all in one sitting so I embarked on another tour of the stands having already covered Beyond Skin, malady Izzy lane and Ada Zandition.I set out to prowl for more talent. The first to lure me into his stand was sustainable fashion designer Mark Lius, doctor a man that whole heartedly deserves the title of forerunner in ethical production. His collection draws influence from the philosophy entitled ” Singularity Point”. The thesis is that a system after time becomes self aware of its own limitations and eventually devises a structure to rewrite its own rules and push itself further. Mark has miraculously achieved to produce his entire collection without the use of a sewing machine!. Astounding I know!!!

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The collection oozes romance featuring a subtle palette which graduates from muted creams through to pinks and charcoals giving the collection a real sense of fluidity .Each of the dresses is beautifully crafted with such intricacy, delicate and understated prints are complimented perfectly by the elegant cut of the dresses .

The next designer to ensnare me was the pioneering label Good One. Having already worked with I-D magazine and juice magazine, and been finalists for the new designer of the year award, this brand are already making waves in the fashion sphere. Made from locally sourced recycled fabrics, Good One proves using old fabrics in your designs certainly doesn’t have to look like a sack of rags from Oxfam!.The collection exudes colour with block shapes and print to create stylish yet individual dresses.

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The brand offers an online shop, which supplies the entire charity range and with prices starting from £30 it wont leave a significant dent in your pockets. To top it all off all the profits go straight back to charity, double bonus!!.

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With the rise of disposable fashion Good One provides a legitimate solution to waste reduction.The brand are also expanding their knowledge to the rest of the fashion industry and have established their own consultancy to educate existing brands to tackle their own waste issues.

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To summarise, Esthetica this month has been a real tour de force of talent that has left me with an overwhelming feeling of amour for our British ethical talent. Watch this space because I have an excitation that this is just the beginning of a outstanding era of success for this talented bunch………………….

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Climate Rush like to do what it says on the tin, dosage so when the Landmark Hotel closed all entrances apart from one heavily guarded by police, it was obvious that a rush was needed in order to make sure that the UK NO NEW COAL AWARDS went ahead as planned. How inconsiderate of them to lock us out when we had a schedule to keep!

So, at 6.30pm on the dot we stormed through the fire exit and elegantly rushed into the Winter Garden area of the atrium, where we planned to hold our counter awards to the UK Coal industry’s annual pat on the back.

To the total bemusement of men and women in black tie stood by, not to mention the hotel staff, we sat down and began to chant “No New Coal.” Tamsin Omond and Marina Pepper, our favourite ex-page three girl, appeared at the balcony above the hall and started to hand out awards, but this being Tamsin the police were on her like a shot; whisking her off and out of the hotel even as she read out the awards. How undeserved!

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As a huge banner was unfurled, bearing James Hansen’s immortal words: “COAL FIRED POWER STATIONS ARE FACTORIES OF DEATH. CLOSE THEM” by two intrepid climbers on the lintel above, Marina instead gave a rousing speech to the hundred or so present, some munching on beautifully sliced cucumber sandwiches that the crusts had been lovingly cut off.

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Marina was informed that the awards had in fact been cancelled, and that the dodgy emails that Climate Rush had received, one signed by Mark Land (hoho) and one from the silly sounding Buster Gonads, were indeed bona fide missives from the hotel’s staff.

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Thereafter followed some dilema, which was solved in style by consensus, when we collectively decided to politely vacate the building. This led to some milling around outside with a bunch of people in black tie who were trying to get inside, as we tried to decide if the claims were in fact true.

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One guest claimed to be from BP, which led to the conclusion that we had been lied to, and so we rushed around to the back of the building where rumours of another entrance spread like wildfire. Hanging onto the gates with sheer force of will, Climate Rushers attempted to stop the police from closing us out.

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Clearly perturbed by the turn of events, Landmark manager Mr. Green then invited two of our kind in on a tour of the hotel to prove that UK Coal had indeed cancelled the event – believed to have taken place during the day instead.

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Marina then returned to tell us the fantastic news that the Landmark hotel have undertaken a pledge never again to entertain Climate Changing industries, and not only this, but they will attempt to push this policy out across the other 25 hotels in this luxury hotel chain. We fully expect Mr. Green to keep to his word!

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With our bike sound system now powered up it was time to complete our rollcall of awards, handing out our fantastic (some might say faintly ridiculous) coalmine canaries (at least, those that hadn’t yet been confiscated by the police – paper mache can be very dangerous) So here, in no particular order, are the UK No New Coal Awards

Science Fiction award 
goes to the most unbelievable technology not yet available to stop CO2 emissions, Carbon Capture and Storage.

Financial Fool award 
goes to the Royal Bank of Scotland, for helping to raise $16 billion in loans to finance the worldwide coal industry over the past two years.

LIfetime Achievement award 
goes to Drax coal fired power station, for the Greatest Emissions in the UK, equivalent to that of the 54 poorest countries in the world.

Best Supporting Role 
goes to the biggest Climate Coward, Gordon Brown, for putting business interests before Climate Change.

Best Newcomer 
goes to the next likely “factory of death”, Kingsnorth coal fired power station in Kent.

and finally…

UK Coal Personality of the Year  
goes to Paul Golby, CEO of energy company E.ON, for outstanding services to Greenwash (whilst plotting to build Kingsnorth)

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We then danced on down the road to a local Wetherspoons (yuk) as recommended by the police, where all celebrated in red sashes, to the amusement of the other punters.

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Remembering that we still had a room available in the hotel, some of us returned to continue celebrating in five star luxury, whilst we crafted a press release and uploaded our pictures. Well, it would be a shame to waste such style!

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Today I woke with my heart singing, for what Climate Rush did yesterday was really rather wonderful. The power of many makes us strong – long may our adventures in stopping Climate Change continue.
Not a Feminists Art Show!
Sixteen artists will exhibit a collection of multi media art work that focuses on women without using the word Female, drug the main focus being how to create modern works of art without it being labeled as feminist especially when its regarding one genre.

Private Viewing will take place on Wednesday 4 March 19:30 – 22:30 and the Exhibition is on from 5 till the 10th of March 11:00am – 18:00pm, viagra dosage Taking place at the electrician’s shop Trinity Buoy Wharf Orchard Pl, Tower Hamlets, London E14, UK

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Picasso: Challenging the Past
The National Gallery has put together an exhibition exploring Picasso’s artistic interpretation and investigation of past masters of art and their subjects, from the female nude to portraits and the female sitter.

Visitors to Trafalgar Square will be treated to spectacular illuminations covering the front of the National Gallery from 25th of February till the 4th of March. The exhibition takes place from the 25th February – 7 June 2009, room 1, admission free

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First Thursdays
On the first Thursday of every month over 100 galleries and museums in east London open until 9pm, giving visitors a chance to see some amazing art work.

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Laura Oldfield Ford: Drifting through the ruins
Hales Gallery, London 2013,
30 Jan – 14 Mar 2009

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Barbara Steinberg: Panoply
Signal Gallery
96a Curtain Road, Hoxton, London, EC2A

Rufus Miller: Sex N’ Death
An exhibition based around the London based artist’s reflections of life.
The Sassoon gallery, 213 Blenheim Grove Peckham
6th- 11th March
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Featured Illustrator

Cristina Petrucci

After a degree in Costume Design for the Performing Arts at The London College of Fashion Cristina began to explore costume design and illustration, she retrained as an illustrator at Camberwell College of Art and Design and as since showed and taken part in various exhibitions.
Her works are dreamy fairy tale like scenes with sharp echoes of surrealism, Art Nouveau and a touch of feminism as seen in the Illustration bellow.

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Where are you based?
I’m based in North London

What inspires you in your work and why?
I got into art at college. I didn’t do a GCSE in art at school which I always regretted I chose to do a GCSE in Drama instead. I’ve always been torn between the theatre and art. When I came to choosing my A levels at college I thought that there was no way I could choose Art. So I chose psychology. I walked out of the first lesson and went straight to the art department and asked for a place. I got it, but had to prove my ability throughout the first year, before I was put forward for A level examination. It was worth the hard work, as I came out with an A and I guess the rest is history. I went on to do a foundation in art and design at Central Saint Martins, continuing by following the normal route of progression…degree to MA.

Who do you aspire to be like and who inspires you at present?
I aspire to be a great technical draughts person. I’ve always been inspired by illustrators such as Arthur Rackham, Aubrey Beardsley and slightly more obscure illustrators such as Kay Nielsen and Jan Toorop. All influential artists at the turn of the 20th century, their art tied into the arts and crafts and art nouveau movements, perhaps my favourite era in art.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?
In five years from now, I see myself teaching art. I’ve been lucky to have great art teachers and feel like in the future I want to be able to inspire and encourage young people to take up art.

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What advice would you give to someone trying to get into the Art?
Above all my advise to people wishing to take up art is to work hard on your basic art skills, such as colour theory, life drawing and observational drawing.

Do you have a muse and if so why?
My work is strongly emotionally focused. Sometimes my work can be literally depictive of my life events. However most of the time I use theatrical narratives to inspire me in conjunction with my emotional state of mind. I guess that life is my muse.

Stephen Jones is one of the fashion world’s greatest living milliners. His collections span the last three decades and he has collaborated with the majority of fashion heavyweights, price including John Galliano, website like this Rei Kawakubo and Vivienne Westwood.

At the V&A until May, Jones presents one of the first major exhibitions entirely and hopelessly devoted to hats, spanning headgear’s illustrious history over the past 400 years. Every type of head decoration is covered: the cloche, the cap, the head-dress, the beret, the visor, the cartwheel, the bonnet, the top, the stetson, the toque, the breton, the turban, the tricone, the hood, the mask, the tiara, the fedora, the fez… you get the idea.

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The exhibition aims to chart the history of hats and hopes to provoke a revival for fashionable, often whimsical head gear. It begins with a display cabinet devoted to the two hat world staples – the bonnet and the top hat – and features Queen Victoria’s former and Prince Albert’s latter. From here, we’re led around the recently renovated Porter Gallery (fashion fans will have seen the disappointing Fashion Vs Sport exhibition here in 2008). Three sections in the exhibition space reveal hats collected together by inspiration, material or client. In theory, this should work – hats of similar materials and processes can be viewed together ranging as far back as the 15th century alongside hats from the last ten years including, predominantly, those by Jones. In practice, the exhibition is a bit of a mess. There’s actually no feeling of history (apart from a few delicious clips from the 50s during the great Salon days). It’s easy to appreciate the beauty and splendour of each hat but hard to get a feel of how things have developed and progressed.

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In the Inspiration area, hats are grouped together by what has aroused particular designs to create these pieces. There’s London – which includes Piers Atkinson’s reworking of 3 New Era caps tailored to appear like Mickey Mouse ears and aptly titled Dalston. Yawn. There’s Jones’ ‘Underground’ hat that takes the form of a pillar-box hat, where the body is the tube emblem and the elastic fasteners are coloured lines like those of the public transport system. I swear this is the only exhibition ever where you’ll find a Smiffy’s plastic policeman’s helmet (2008) given the same prestige as a 1987 Harris Tweed crown (by Jones for Vivienne Westwood).

For materials, Jones collects hats together to depict how the same material has been used in varying ways over the centuries. This is alluring, but it’s easy for the eye to wander to the more striking pieces from the modern era and miss the qualities of more traditional pieces.

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The Client area doesn’t give much away either, but does include a good collection of hats popularised by celebrity culture and has a voyeuristic feel rather than a studious one. There’s headgear from the hat-wearing contemporaries – JK of Jamiroquai, Sarah Jessica Parker, Camilla Parker Bowles, Erin O’ Connor and Kylie Minogue.

Wonderfully, Jones dedicates a corner of the exhibition to today’s up and coming and established milliners. This small collective with a similar base to that of Jones and Treacy (St Martins graduates, mainly) aim to push the boundaries of millinery even further. There’s Nasir Mazher’s stunning chiffon and satin veil, Justin Smith’s Winehouse-inpired ‘Amy’ creation, and Soren Bach’s pom-pom ensemble famously worn by Björk.

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Hats are displayed atop mannequin heads on poles as high as 6′ – with the number of that hat at the bottom. This might work when cross referencing the hats to the information in the gallery by oneself – a luxury any of us are likely to enjoy. Instead, it’s a constant battle to fight past fellow viewers to find the corresponding card (that is, after you’ve found the bloody number of that hat all the way down). There’s also a distinct lack of imagery to accompany the pieces – our appetites are only slightly satisfied by a tiny slide show of photographs of celebrities from the last decade. It’s also a shame that 95% of the hats are on heads alone – to chart the history and recognise a particular hat’s authority and cultural position it would have occasionally been nice to see a hat presented with clothing from the time (particularly with designer collaborations where the piece has inspired the collection, or vice versa).

See Hats… if you can. It’s a fantastic exhibition which presents what can often be overlooked as a statement piece for any man or woman’s wardrobe. It’s a shame that practical layout has taken a back-seat to make way for over-aesthetic and pretentious exhibition design, but this shouldn’t put you off exploring the splendour of all things hats.
Arriving at the Gagosian on the outskirts of Mayfair feels a bit of a three-way clash. I’m a little scruffy and philosophical-looking today, buy the gallery’s doorman is impeccably dressed with one hammerhead eye out the window looking for any limousined celebs he might open the door to… and then there is the work. Approaching a Haruki Murakami is always a bracing experience. You can never have chewed enough bubblegum, try played enough video games or collected enough Pokemon cards that you might feel you belong in front of a work like Lots, cost Lots of KaiKai and Kiki. Yet, aieeeee!!!!: Here I am.

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The first thing that strikes me about this is that it’s an all-over painting, similar in size and shape to a Pollock. It’s as if Pollock’s paint-stick ejaculations had each germinated into a Kiki or a KaiKai (Murakami’s two principal anime-style protagonists – a cute bunny-eared thing and a kooky tri-clops bundle of mischief). Lavender Mist gone Manga, there are well over a hundred faces here. Not one of them is merely here, however. Each is vying for my attention. Either throwing a cuddly grin at me, pulling a smug smile at me, lunging a bewildered face at me, snorting at me, shouting, screaming and going la-de-da-de-da at me. Always, intensely, insanely at me, at me, at me. The smiley flowers in the background are a little less so, but not much.

There’s either too much or not enough purity in this. Sure, it’s a haribo-overdose headache, a million cartoons at once and, of course, Murakami is a canny capitalist industry now, with a marketing department that would make Benetton long for the golden years. But it’s nice, too. You can really just melt into the superficiality of it all. For a while, I wondered if some of the grimaces on Kiki’s face were chastising the toon-world for it’s bondage, forcing innocent toon-babies to be sugar-buzzingly hyper-kerrazy all the time, but I don’t think so. If Murakami’s embrace of the Hello Kitty and Pikachu universe was ever partly sarcastic, it’s not easy to see that anymore. Especially in the show’s animated video piece. Aside from one character declaring that the city in the sky is “a little clichéd”, some remarks about Yin and Yang and the big monster’s crescendo of farting and pooping, this could be on any of the more ADHD kid’s TV channels right now. In fact, even with those things, it would get on Toonami I suspect. Oh, and the animation is just as slick as the painting, i.e. very, very, eyes-glazed-over slick.

Which is when I decide to get down to The Hayward, to try and re-elevate my IQ. The Russian Linesman is a pretty cerebral show about, so says the subtitle, Frontiers, Borders and Thresholds, curated by Mark Wallinger. Now, here’s a chap hitherto obsessed with class division and racehorses. Also, it seems, a chap who doesn’t like to be pigeonholed. Not a sign of class warfare anywhere. And there’s even a drawing by George “I draw horses” Stubbs – and it’s of a human skeleton. What a tease! So, if the subtitle doesn’t allude to class barriers and finishing lines, then what?

Whatever the answer, it must be a sign of a healthy art culture when artists don’t feel forever bound to their established gimmicks. Oh, the nailbiting back when Gary Hume gave up painting doors. There’s none of that fear here, and eclecticism is happily the show’s most obvious feature. A Durer engraving faces three stretches of conceptual twine by Fred Sandback, James Joyce’s disembodied voice recites part of Finnegan’s Wake next to a Blake, while a ballerina dances on a projected video loop round the corner. In my favourite leg of the show hangs a masterful 17th Century painting of a dead soldier, thought once to be a Velázquez. The wall on which it hangs forms part of Monika Sosnowska’s Corridor, one of those rare conceptual pieces which will have you laugh out loud and have a conversation with the laugher behind you. I really must resist spoiling the joke for you, simple as it is, but Escher would have loved it.

The centrepiece is Wallinger’s own Time And Relative Dimensions In Space, which is a full-sized polished-steel mirror replica of Dr. Who’s T.A.R.D.I.S, from which it gets the profound-sounding title. This is a thing of stunning beauty.

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Part of the gag, by the way, is that as you try to look “into” it, you see an art gallery, yourself, artworks, people, thus it’s… you’ve guessed it kids, “bigger on the inside than on the outside”. Sort of. There’s something about the way the geometry of the room continues through it, that makes it kind of invisible, as though halfway through a sci-fi disappearance special effect (after all, it brings no colours of its own to the room, or geometric discontinuities or bends) but it”s also garishly, chunkily, heavily there. And the punters flock to this one. Wallinger has wisely not put anything too attention-grabbing near it, and it’s the magnet of the show. It’s also just after halfway through, so if you’ve been scratching your head a lot, wondering what’s going on, you can check that your hair’s not too badly messed up on the Tardis. Dead handy.

History creeps into the show quite a bit. Anglo-Germanic relations are central to the show’s title (the Russian linesman being the chap who decided that England’s dodgy 1966 World Cup-winning goal against West Germany was legit, allegedly admitting later that Hitler’s bloody march on Stalingrad in 1943 helped him decide). And a wall full of stereoscopic viewfinder images (how fun!) presents us firstly with the Nazi War Effort (oh…), and ends up with our own Teutonic Queen, greeting Nigerian subjects in the 1950s. Plenty of loose ends there. More impressive, however, is Ronald Searle’s set of drawings showing his experiences in Burma in the Second World War. It’s a bit of a jar perhaps, to have these painful and violent images so close to the fun of Corridor or the Tardis, but maybe that’s just another threshold to cross?

There are many ways that borders, etc come into the show. Political borders that divide people and send them to war, between reality and illusion, lines drawn between species, and poetics-of-space type boundaries, but I don’t think it’s necessary to try and see this as a coherent body of work. It’s a bric-a-brac feast, and better for it. It’s Wallinger the artist-as-curator, but, as the gallery makes clear from the outset, also curator-as-artist. The Russian Linesman is his scrapbook, providing a good deal of fresh insight into his ideas and interests. It may not all fit inside the boundaries imposed but it looks like a decent goal to me.

Murakami is at the Gagosian Davies St, 17-19 Davies St, London, W1K 3DE. The Russian Linesman is at The Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Rd, London SE1 8XX. Don’t forget your bubblegum.
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What better way to unwind after a hard day grafting in the big smoke then to retreat back to that quintessential British past time knitting. I think everyone has a fond recollection of their grandma’s knitted jumpers, approved although maybe not appreciated fully at the time.

I knit is a both a sanctuary, page shop and club for avid knitters to retreat to amidst the city hustle. They hold special groups on both Wednesday and Thursday evenings at there shop in Waterloo from 6pm and all for free. With a fully licensed bar what perfect way to juxtapose cultures then with a pint in one hand and a knitting needle in the other! The group have also fused another nostalgic past time into their events, case they hold a Sunday Knit Roast every month, so its knitting with all the trimmings!

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For those complete novices out there, never fear, the group host classes every week to accommodate every level of expertise. From the basics, to the outright bizarre. The weird techniques class takes place on the 7th of March, and includes innovative new methods such as knitting backwards and cabling without a needle, to name but a few.

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Of particular interest to myself was the knit fix class, I am sure the best of us have felt that sense of exasperation when they have dropped a stitch and were not in the slightest bit sure of how to retrieve it. This class will take place on Saturday the 14th of March.Then for the more accomplished knitter there is lace knitting, advanced sock knitting and raglan sweater classes to boot. All workshops start from around £30 pounds and are roughly 3 hours long.

So get your knitting needles at the ready as I knit is a event not to be missed!

Tuesday 3rd March, ask

FrYars

FrYars is the chosen moniker of Ben Garrett, a 19 year old Londoner with a shed-load of talent and the vision and ambition to match. A haunting singer and inspired songwriter.

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Image by Rick Pushinsky

Hoxton Hall, London

www.myspace.com/fryars

Fanfarlo, Yucatan, IVAN CAMPO

Beautiful Wonky Pop from Brit Based Sweethearts Fanfarlo with Support from the mezmerizing Yucatan and Ivan Campo. Coincides with their BBC 6 Music session with Marc Riley.

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The Deaf Institute, Grosvenor Street, Manchester

www.fanfarlo.com

www.myspace.com/yucatanambyth

www.myspace.com/ivancampo

Wednesday 4th March

Shooting Spires

Neo-soul / Live Electronics / Minimalist are on the menu for anyone going to see Shooting spires at Retro bar, Manchester Wednesday. Shooting Spires is the side project of BJ Warshaw of Parts and Labor so expect heart wrenching keyboard melodies with bruising drum thumps.

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Retro Bar, Manchester

www.shootingspires.com

Thursday 5th March

One step more and you die

One of the best Club nights in Manchester. Expect all the usual noises from the likes of Nick Cave, The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Thermals, LCD Soundsystem, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Low, Fugazi, Do Make Say Think, Mew, Appleseed Cast, My Bloody Valentine, King Crimson, Mogwai, Arcade Fire, Spacemen 3, The Birthday Party, Idlewild, The Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins, Pavement, Efterklang, Aphex Twin, M83, 13th Floor Elevators, Cave In, Bjork, Tortoise, David Bowie, Deerhoof, Battles, Slint and many more.

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Tiger Lounge, 5 Cooper Street Manchester M2 2FW

www.myspace.com/onestepmore

Alessi’s Ark

When she and her compadres lay on the strings her songs assume a poppy lushness that is quite captivating. An English take on Americana.

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Image courtesy of DAVID BEECH www.davidbeech.co.uk

McClusty’s, Kingston

www.myspace.com/alessisark

Crazy P

Downtempo, Electronic act formed in 1995, playing a consistently good mix of chill out electronica for more than a decade.

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www.crazyp.co.uk

Friday 6th March

Noah And The Whale

Deep dulcet tones over the sweetest melodic strings come together in Noah and the Whale. Enviably intelligent Alt. Folk with a mix of Silver Jews and Tom Waits.

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www.noahandthewhale.com

Upset the rhythm Party w/ Wavves & Pens

Lo-fi noise-pop musician Nathan William, AKA Wavves embarks on a European tour, which began March the first at Glasgow’s Nice N Sleazy. Support comes from Pop Punk, Thrash all girl combo Pens.

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Wavves allows some of his music to be downloaded free from http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Wavves/music

www.myspace.com/wavves

Frankmusik + DJs Tits Of Death + Skill Wizard

Up and coming ‘Blade Runner’ pop cavalier Frankmusik (real name Vincent Frank) headlines the March installment of On The Up at The Barfly London. In conjunction with his revolutionary and completely interactive tour promoted by Channel 4 and MySpace.

Barfly, London

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www.frankmusik.com

Saturday 7th March

North sea Radio Orchestra

North Sea Radio Orchestra is a unique chamber group who perform music of beauty and originality that has, at its heart, lyricism and melodic richness. Featuring wind, strings, percussion, guitars, organs and voices. They live in a world cushioned by melody and harmony.

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www.myspace.com/northsearadioorchestra

Sunday 8th March

London Word Festival

London’s only alternative literate-arts festival is back. Sunday’s event is co-headlined by Bishi and Lupen Crook. Look out for more events in the following week including a gig with Wave Machines and Serafina Steer.

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Bardens Boudoir

www.londonwordfestival.com

Categories ,Fanfarlo, ,Noah and the Whale, ,Shooting Spires, ,Upset the Rythym, ,Wavves, ,Word Festival

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Amelia’s Magazine | Ones To Watch: Jonquil

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Amelia’s Magazine likes folk music, visit this site drugs and Jonquil are deliciously, timeless folk music. Yet they are also indescribable and I like not to be able to pin point a band’s genre. It could be said, they are folk music because of the tradition of group harmonies, the rich depth of sound created through the carefully crafted relationship between instrument and voice. Furthermore, the entire band appears to be multi-instrumental

This autumn witnesses Oxford-based, Jonquil begin another of their massive European tours of whimsical venues beginning last night in the Macbeth pub, London. They return to Camden’s Proud Gallery on October 24th, miss your second chance to see this band at your peril because as any supporter will tell you there is nothing more enjoyable, inclusive or liable to start a smile on your face than a Jonquil performance.

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Jonquil are six; Kit Monteith plays the drums providing the ever-rhythmic backbone to their songs, Jody Prewitt is on guitar, Hugo Manuel provides the voice for the majority of the songs with the rest of the band contributing to choruses and introductions, Ben Rimmer, Robin McDiarmid, Sam Scott and Hugo Manuel juggle instruments throughout the gig. Swapping from guitar to keyboard to double bass to flute and the accordion with only the occasional hiccup, which by the time this usually happens, the crowd are so enamored with the music that a misplaced flute is the least of anyone troubles.

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This autumn sees the showcase of new songs composed for the eagerly awaited second album (Lions was released in 2007 and Whistle Low an EP in 2006). The new songs see an increased presence of the entire band’s individual voices, whilst Hugo’s remain centre stage. The added depth of sound provided by the variety of voice increases its instrumental presence rather than functioning as ornamentation. The voices of Jonquil complete their harmonious sound, it is this attribute which makes a Jonquil gig so special, as a viewer you feel enveloped in their creativity and part of their imaginary world conjured by the lyrics of each song.

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Moreover, rather fantastically Jonquil started a blog where you can find Kit musing on their recording and practice sessions as well as the lead up to their current tour. It is refreshing to be let into the everyday life of a band and how they essentially function in order to produce songs. The blog is really lovely to read and I look forward to it being updated throughout their up and coming tour.

You can find Jonquil on their myspace www.myspace.com/jonquiluk, which they have recently updated with new songs whilst retaining a known crowd favourite: Lions.

Categories ,folk, ,johnny flynn, ,jonquil, ,mumford and sons, ,noah and the whale

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Amelia’s Magazine | Music Listings

So London Fashion Week is officially in full swing. It couldn’t have kicked off with a nicer day on Sunday as fashion folk of all shapes and sizes donned their finest and turned up at the various venues around the capital to see what’s in store for Spring/Summer 2009. Of course Team Amelia couldn’t possibly miss out on the chance of spotting new talent, medical try so putting all thoughts of Sunday roast firmly to the back of our mind, more about we joined the rest of the fashion community at some of the weeks opening shows.

Now in day 4, price my highlights would have to be the eccentric desert tribe meets punk-rocker collection presented by Horace; a breathtaking show by Quasimi which opened with a dancing violin playing duo and ended with a couture clad Erin O’connor; an exotic Hawaiian themed collection from Antoni and Alison complete with beach scenery, deck chairs and complimentary coconuts, and finally the beautifully detailed range of sculptured metallic shift dresses, oversized caps and two-piece suits from Bernard Chandran.

According to this weeks reoccurring trends, delicate pastels and neutral shades are set to dominate our wardrobes next summer alongside layered ruffles on just about everything. Don’t bother to ditch your gladiator and patent heels too fast because it looks like eccentric heels are set to stay for another season.

That’s all for now, but keep checking the website for detailed reports and pictures from each of the each of the shows.

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Horace

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Horace

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Musicians at Qasimi show

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Finale at Qasimi show

We should have seen the nipples coming, viagra order really. After all, we were greeted on the door by the most exciting clipboard wielder I’ve ever laid eyes on. A taste of what was to be expected…he checked our names off the list showing not one sign of embarrassment over his outfit (nor should he! He was fabulous, dahling), an ensemble that consisted of Russian army hat atop blue hair and teeny shorts held up by Union jack braces. And nothing on top. So, if we had had our wits about us, we should have known that nipples would be on the menu for the night.

We were, of course, at the Under/Current Magazine launch at Cafe OTO in Dalston. All the cool kids were in attendance (tired of heading West for Fashion Week, presumably) with many guys rocking the Giles Deacon/Terry Richardson big glasses look. There were some not so cool ones, too; we were rather put off by a guy who’s jacket was covered in dead foxes – not big, not clever. Still, we averted our eyes by taking a sneak peek at the first, ‘Dynasty’ issue of the new arts and fashion magazine. After taking in the beautiful cover shot by Babette Pauthier we had a good flick through. It’s a lovely size (30cm x 23cm, to be exact), full of avante garde fashion photography and I’m sure it’s set to become a firm favourite of mag junkies like myself. Lot’s of pictures, not so many words – just the way I likes ‘em.

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On to these nipples then. As we watched a few members of Cleckhuddersfax setting up, we noticed a rather foppish guy step on the scene and begin disrobing. ‘How alarming! Would there soon be nudity?’ we whispered amongst ourselves. Alas, no, as we soon realised that this was the lead singer, rather than some strange streaker, and he was only taking off his top layers to reveal his official stage outfit. Suitably under-dressed, and giving us no time to prepare ourselves, Cleckhuddersfax got stuck in.

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Cleckhuddersfax describe themselves as sounding like ‘Fake-Prog Musique Con-cretin’ on their myspace page. Erm… yep, it’s actually a fairly good description. From the looks of the band (excepting the lead singer, of course) long hair and beards had led us to believe that things would be getting pretty old school rock, and we were not disapointed. Cleckhuddersfax also have a bit of that mental operatic thing going on, which did feel pretty prog, but on top of this there’s keyboards and voice warping devices a-plenty.

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Cleckhuddersfax make the most alarming noises; it’s as if Wyld Stallyns had found a Korg and got into Devo. Perhaps it all sounds a little strange, but it was very fun and definitely dance-able with much toe-tapping taking place at the front of the crowd.

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Toe tapping wasn’t enough for the tango-ed front man, however. Seen below giving it his all in front of a video-projection by Adham Faramawy, he rampaged his way into the first few layers of crowd, shouting into audience members faces and daring everyone to dance. Many were glad to take him up on his offer, and things got a little messy in the front row.

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After getting all hyped up by Cleckhuddersfax, it was unfortunate that we had to take our leave. Ahh, well, I suppose Fashion Week is about cramming in as many parties as possible and, to be honest, I think I’d seen quite enough nipples for one evening…

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The Greengaged event organisers (left to right) Sophie Thomas (co-founder, erectile thomas.matthews), price David Kester (CEO, Design Council), Sarah Johnson of [re]design and Anne Chick (Director, Sustainable Design Research Centre, Kingston University)

As the girls were busy planning their outfits and getting their hair done I grabbed my notepad, A-Z and sandwiches and off I trundled in seek of the Design Council. I won’t bore you with the details of my nightmare journey, but all I will say is that London Transport and I have been the least of friends this week. My galloping through Covent Garden and colliding with dawdling tourists payed off and I eventually arrived at my destination to be greeted with a sticky name badge, coffee and biscuits. I poured myself a quick fix and pulled up a pew in the rather minimalist, swish function room (what else was I expecting?!).

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Simon Terry of Anglepoise

With pen and paper poised I sat and listened attentively as the first speaker opened the lecture on the sustainability of Product and Fashion Design. As the managing director of the lighting and manufacturing company Anglepoise, Simon Terry stressed the importance of that “a product should be a pleasure to use” not purely an aesthetic beauty. When addressing the query of how they as designers of the future can help to change the conscience of a consumer Terry spoke of the term ‘world view.’ Within this he outlined that it is not possible to make a consumer conform, instead you must enter their awareness (or world view) through their own agenda.

Cressida Granger, founder of DeWeNe a product design company mirrored these thoughts with their motivation in creating designs consumers ‘need’ not purely desire. Designs are based on utility and function over the ‘look’ of a product, very different to her background career with lava lamp company Mathmos. ‘Hook and Go’, one of their more popular product lines works with the current climate of shopping bag reduction, using a recycled steel trolley with wheels to transport shopping. Carrying up to 8 bags (32 kilos) of produce this design aims to reduce our carbon footprint, decreasing the need to use the car around town.

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Hook…. and go

A future addition is the ‘eco cooler’ worked on by David Weatherhead of the Royal College of Arts. Working with a terracotta dish and bowl, water is dispensed into the dish below which then evaporates and acts to cool the contents of the bowl. Designed for the preservation of our fruit and veg, Granger hopes that this will encourage consumers to use smaller fridges, thus dramatically cutting down our demand on energy. Keen to work with an ethically friendly product line, Granger has set up two places of manufacture, allowing the customer to decide for themselves what is high on their agenda. The cheaper option is made in India and imported, whereas the more expensive same design is constructed in Wales by the social project Crafts for All which employs people with physical and mental complaints.

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The eco cooler by David Weatherhead

Closing this talk was Tom Fishburne of the Method product company. The brainchild of an American product designer and scientist, this product line has only recently cropped up on British shores. They have quite a charming story behind the birth of their cleaning product company…. once upon a time Adam (the scientist) considered why we are encouraged to use registered pesticides (which in turn pollute) when we clean? Meanwhile the product designer was shopping and realised the disgusting array of nasty shaped and coloured cleaning products and began making thoughts on how to develop these. I am a little sceptical of the story (it is a bit cheesy and convenient) but, there is no doubt Method have found a gap in the market with 95% of current cleaning products refusing to bridge into the 21st mentality of green products. Non toxic and sourcing natural ingredients is absolutely the way we should be cleaning.

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The natural ingredient Method product line

In much similarity to the ideas expressed by Terry and Granger, Fishburne spoke of the need of how to shape clients. You can’t make the consumer consume less, instead you have to make them smarter. They are certainly achieving this, with product lines established in John Lewis, Tesco’s, Sainsbury’s and of course online.

Insightful, inspiring and free… to all those designers out there, get your free spaces on the last few days of the workshops here!!

Carianne Laguna may look like a fresh-faced intern entering a building standing among lofts owned by fashion models in Manhattan’s NoHo neighborhood. However, unhealthy the 28-year-old is Vice President and General Manager of Blackheart Records, viagra a label that rock legend Joan Jett helped create in 1980. Laguna, drugs who resides in Brooklyn, tirelessly commutes to her office, where she signs new artists to the label, including punk acts like Girl in a Coma and The Cute Lepers. Not only does she spend days promoting artists, but she manages the “I Love Rock N‘ Roll” rebel. In the music industry – where few women take behind-the-scene roles in impacting listeners, Laguna does it all with a toothy grin. Yet, she wouldn’t have been crowned queen of indie music management if it wasn’t for her family.

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The Cute Lepers

Her father is Kenny Laguna, a music producer who, in 1980, began managing a 17-year-old Jett. Despite Jett joining a band when she was just 15 and befriending Sid Vicious, 23 music labels turned her down, causing her manager to sell demos from the trunk of his car. Consequently, the duo started Blackheart Records, one of the first music labels owned by a woman. Jett would go on to sell millions of albums, becoming one of rock’s top-charting females in history. Laguna, who grew up traveling around the world as Jett performed for thousands, would later carry on her father’s legacy. She graduated from the University of Colorado in 2001, where she took several internships to fully understand the business of music. “When I got to Blackheart Records, I said ‘I’m going to do this, but I would like to sign a lot of new bands that are in it for the music and not the fame,’” she says.

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Joan Jett

Laguna did just that, all while proving herself. “People tend to dismiss you if you’re a girl,” she reveals before groaning at how few females are leaders in the music business. “People think it’s just a fabulous thing to look as young as an intern, until you have to be taken seriously.” After many frustrations from Devil Wears Prada archetypes, she chose to keep moving without ever looking back. She takes a deep breath before gushing about her love of finding overlooked musicians and giving them a chance. “It just makes me feel good that I’m spreading their music. That beats out all those days when people would look down at you just because they had their own hang-ups.”

Just like her father perfected, Laguna is still applying the DIY method. From designing all the artwork, to selling merchandise during Warp Tour, Laguna isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. At times, she would even pass out Cds in bars, restaurants, and any place that plays music. Yet, it’s this technique that’s going to help save the suffering music industry. “This is a great time for indie labels and artists to get their art out there,” she explains. “A lot of people are discovering bands on the internet. You have to hit all the networking sites and play live as much as you can. There’s just no better way of finding new music.”

Speaking of upcoming hits, Laguna happily shared some exclusive news, including of Girl In A Coma and The Dollyrots going to the studio this fall. If that isn’t enough, she also revealed that Lana Davies, daughter of The Kinks founding member Dave Davies, was recently signed to the label and will be recording soon. It’s certain that as long as this bubbly brunette keeps challenging the all-male club known as the music industry, good music, with a woman’s touch, will always prevail.

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The Dollyrots

Appointed with the responsibility of covering London Fashion Week’s opening show – Dublin born and well established Paul Costelloe, there I had dreamt about providing a fabulous and detailed write up complimented by stunning pictures taken with my Canon 5D camera that I’d managed to get in without a hint of a bag search. I was rather perturbed, click as you can imagine then, to find that my review button didn’t work, which meant I couldn’t delete any photographs. From a FULL memory card. So whilst I struggled trying to get it to work, the show started. As guests including Erin O’ Connor and Hilary Alexander enjoyed the show, I went into panic mode in a desperate attempt to fix it. The poor guy sat at the side of me, clearly unsettled by my constant rummaging in my bag with beads of sweat pouring down my face, slid as far across the bench as he could. Before I knew it the show was over, I’d looked up 3 or 4 times, and the delighted audience were clapping while I clacked my teeth and painfully giggled at the irony of Fashion Week’s head sponsor – Canon.

This opening show whizzed by in seconds, or so it seemed, but what I saw of it through the tears in my eyes looked fabulous. With a colonial and uplifting soundtrack, models were adorned in sharp tailored suits (the designer’s signature) nipped in at the waist with a hint of military (just enough, not overdone) first in neutral beige and navy and then in stunning vibrant yellows and hot pinks. Shape here was key – hoods and shoulder emphasis was a fine element and reinforced the female silhouette – as did a combination of a-line and tulip skirts. The third segment displayed even more military flavour along with elegant yet discreet floral patterns. The shoes, supplied by ALDO, were understated and complimented each of the looks.

You’ll be glad to know that my camera is still under warranty, it seems to be working, and I’ll be covering shows later in the week. I do hope I can redeem myself.

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Images courtesy of www.catwalking.com

FELDER • FELDER are German twins Daniela and Annette Felder. They first launched their womenswear line in 2007 whilst studying at Central Saint Martins.

A folksy guitar track begins the show, web complimenting the altogether floaty and feminine look of the first few dresses to hit the runway. High neck lines add to the modesty of these dresses whose natural spectrum includes greys, website like this beiges, sickness mosses and mints. Waterfalls of ruffles flow across the body of each dress, which hang loosely from the tighter fit around the top. Multiple chiffon layers give weight and movement.

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The hues soon turn darker, pebble moving to slate, and ruffles move on to shoulders and skirts. As the music moves to an electro beat we are surprised by a pale teal coloured dress that reveals a bright aqua flash within its ruffles. More shocking is the entirely turquoise piece, a definite ‘neon pastel’, the hot new hue that everyone’s banging on about.

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The music begins to pound as a track from The Duke Spirit breaks out of the sound system and Felder Felder fall in to their stride showcasing a more rock chick look. This is an area that the duo became confident in with their AW08/09 collection that featured black fur, gold studs and leather. For SS09 leather embellishments, short shorts, cropped jackets and cuffs translate their harder edge to become more wearable in the more temperate months. Chiffon overlays soften the look.

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This bandage dress was the real stand out piece of the collection. In an interesting turn, dresses began to emerge on to the catwalk that were made up of shimmering oyster bands of fabric. Much clingier, these dresses accentuated the body and glittered like scales as the models moved. The tops of these dresses were tighter, cut more in the style of a biker vest, again falling into the rock chick category. Bright coral chiffons provided another splash of colour in this segment.

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With this show I was left in two minds about Felder Felder’s direction. I felt the loose silhouettes with frills over the front were unremarkable and perhaps included to fulfil a feminine sensibility associated with the Spring season. However, I enjoyed the self assured woman who later appeared in Felder Felder’s work summoned in by edgier styling and bolder colours.

Watch the show for yourself here.
10.15am may not be early in the real world, mind but in the world of London Fashion Week (especially on Thursday, ailment this is day 5 of 6 for gawdsakes!) 10.15am may as well be dawn. Skip that, I’m sure most fashionistas were still partying at dawn with ‘Mr Diamond-head’ or ‘The Turban Woman’. But, well, you get what I mean.

By Thursday I was already scraping the bottom of the little pot of Benefit ‘EyeCon’ that had come in a goody bag earlier in the week. With eye bags suitably smothered I yawned all the way to the Royal Academy of Arts for the Romina Karamanea show. I was greeted by a very small crowd of hard-core fashion enthusiasts and a helpful girl who told me the show would be starting at least half an hour late. Late? But this is the first show of the day! Oh well, I suppose the later the start the more hung-over LFW visitors they were be able to round up.

When we were eventually allowed to take our seats I was excited to see the whole first 4 rows decorated with goody bags (surely a reward for all those dedicated enough to get out of bed), each one complete with a bottle of Sabai Wine Spritzer and a packet of vodka filled chocolates. Hair of the dog, anyone?

But of course, goody bags aren’t enough to prise a gal out of bed. No, the crowd was eager to see what Karamanea, a St Martins graduate who has worked with leading designers such as Clements Ribeiro, Robert Cary-Williams and Preen, had to offer us. And with the knowledge that Karamanea impressed the late, great Isabella Blow (she reportedly took a shine to an ‘origami dress’ from the SS07 collection) we were expecting a lot.

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The feel of the show was utilitarian, yet sexy. Karamanea has admitted in past interviews that she is influenced by the functionality of the Bauhaus movement and this showed in her SS09 pieces. The clean simplicity of cut brought uniform to mind, indeed it often felt that we were being presented with visions of ‘uniforms of the future’. I don’t really want to reference Star Trek, but I might have to…

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Karamanea’s sculptural style that had been apparent in her origami creations of old came to the fore once more in her new works with almost absurdly boxy shoulders. The often harsh shapes were tempered down, however, with varying techniques. The occasional flash of neon blue found its way underneath garments, whilst sunglasses and Doc Marten boots punkified outfits to give a youthful edge. A very of-the-moment translucent softly flowing tangerine dress even cropped up in the collection.

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More flowing shapes were evident which, twinned with geeky brogues and shades, gave the look of a studious bad girl or an art teacher with a naughty past.

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Slightly less forgiving than the more flowing silhouettes were the tight playsuits, which I imagine the average woman would steer well clear of for fear of the dreaded camel toe.

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Front row fashion is, of course, one of the other spectacles of Fashion Week. Romina Karamanea’s show saw one guest robed in a rather revealing yellow dress, only hiding her modesty by covering her head with the biggest, pinkest hat I have ever seen. I captured her below in some sort of hat stand-off between herself and a model sporting a large black mesh visor. Which one will win in the style stakes?

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Karamanea’s jewellery was note-worthy, with plastic neck pieces that almost looked like ammo straps. High waisted shorts also found their way into Karamanea’s collection, yet another clue that we can be sure that they will feature heavily in our SS09 wardrobes.

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The styling of the models was definitely a hugely interesting part of the show. With hair that was slicked back at the sides but flowed in waves down the back (a look that nodded to Alice Dellal, surely) the girls looked cool and androgynous. Femininity was never girly; even the chosen heels were the brogue-ish Rosie shoe from B Store, their clever sculpted heel adding to the modernist feel. Clever uniforms accompanied by a sound-track that included a tune that told tales of motor cycles setting you free, this truly was a show for the bad girl with brains.

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I really enjoyed viewing Karamanea’s daring pieces and the whoops of appreciation that came at the end of the show meant that I definitely wasn’t alone. I look forward to see the shapes she will create in the future.

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Watch the show for yourself here and here.
In 2005 Helen, page Myra and Cathy, online three graduates from the London College of Fashion, decided to join forces (and the first two letters of each of their names) to become Hemyca. With their first show at London Fashion Week, we were promised a ‘Dream Of Time’, and the show was chimed in, quite literally, by the trilling, ticking and whirring of clocks.

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The ‘Dream of Time’ soon transpired not to be a dreamy Alice in Wonderland style flight of fancy, but rather the modern dream everyone shares of having more time; with models in sharp tailoring marching business-like around the catwalk. Pleats a-plenty softened and added interest and made sure the sillhouettes were anything but straight-laced.

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Catching our eye on the front row of this show was the (now almost legendary) Mr Diamond Head. I wonder if he was a fan of the Hemyca high-waist?

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Well, the high-waists in this collection really caught my eye, with the ensemble below being a particular favourite. Simple and smart, with an elegant attitude, the wide, loose trousers flowed beautifully as they moved and looked hot teamed with the racer back white vest. Inspiration for this collection had apparently come from the idea of a broken clock and garments were printed with illustrations along the same theme. The ensembles were topped off with wire mesh hats by Monique Luttin.

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Just as I was becoming comfortable with the show and enjoying the interesting shapes before me, I was a little bit shocked by some rogue brightly coloured pieces creeping in. ‘Neon Pastels’ is a palette that we’ve been warned to expect from SS09, and many designers have showcased lemon sorbets, candy pinks and aquas with aplomb. Hemyca, however, had concentrated on the ‘neon’ side a wee bit too much, sending a couple of warm canary yellow pieces down the catwalk. This was later followed by a cold, acrid lime coloured dress. The colours felt confusing, as I can’t imagine the two sitting together very well on a clothes rail. The miss-match felt like a curdle in the collection.

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I also can’t claim to be a fan of Hemyca’s use of bright blue tartan. My only explanation for the inclusion of the two tartan pieces was perhaps an over-exposure to Henry Holland. I can’t fathom, however, why yellow ruffles had crept in to one of the tartan dresses. The result was an unfortunate cheapening of some actually well cut dresses.

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After this acidic hiccup the rest of the show carried on as before, demonstrating Hemyca’s love of interesting shapes. Cocooned hips made their way back into the Hemyca catalogue (a hark back to their last SS collection, entitled ‘Secret Garden’), with some lovely jumpsuits. Yes, jumpsuits again! Seen at Olanic and Jacob Kimmie, amongst others, there’s no doubt these will be part of the idealised 2009 wardrobe. And if I’m going to have to struggle in and out of one of these bad boys every-time I need the loo then only the black, bodice topped Hemyca jumpsuit will make it all worth it. Seriously, I heart it.

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On the subject of wearability, that old conundrum the playsuit made yet another appearance on the LFW runway. Of course it looked amazing on the Amazonian model with legs up to her armpits, but how it would translate on the average woman? I just don’t know.

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With their last offering, Hemyca showed us that they can also do full on glamour. A beautiful, billowy, draped dress flowed down the catwalk, embellished with strings of jewels and metallic pieces reminiscent of a watch’s inner workings. Cog like embroidery over the back was a delicious, delicate touch.

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I know I will be keeping an eye on Hemyca, as I really love their interestingly structured garments. I do hope, however, that in the future they will stick to their more restrained colour palette. Either that, or take control of their own colours and not feel pressured by trend forecasts that predict ‘neon pastels’ or way too much tartan.

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See the show for yourself here, or take a peek backstage here.

We’re rather taken with London based Turkish designer, cialis 40mg Bora Aksu, physician here at Amelia’s. Not only was he featured by us way back in issue 1, but his ongoing collaboration with fair-trade fashion pioneer People Tree has got him into our good books AND our forthcoming issue 10. Needless to say, we were looking forward to see his Spring/Summer 09 collection debut at the British Fashion Council Tent.

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It looked like the designer has been partaking in one or two viewing sessions of The Sound of Music as we were greeted by a girl in a white dress and satin sash as the show began. Okay, so the sash was pink, and not blue, but girlish dresses did seem to be amongst Aksu’s favourite things for next Spring/Summer.

The femininity presented at Aksu’s show was not all young and frilly, however, with wonderfully tailored pieces (cropped jackets, high necks and puffed sleeves) giving an assured and womanly aspect to the collection. The head wear veered between youthful oversized bows and grown up Sunday-best hats (both by milliner Misa Harada).

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Aksu’s colour palette was spot on for the season; with frosted peaches, pistachios and lemon tones gracing the runway at the start of the collection. With talk of pastels (from candy colours right up to neon hues) being a big part of our warmer-month wardrobes next year, Aksu’s collection looks set to be bang on trend. Personally, I’m a little hesitant to go all out sugar-sugar with my own attire next Spring, so I was relieved to see daring combinations of purple and black further in to the show.

The striking thing about many of Aksu’s creations was the Art Nouveau style embellishments that drew attention to the contours of the wearer. Ribbon like piping ran across the garments, mapping out curves and acting like the leading in a stained glass window; it was a technique that allowed Aksu to bring in panels of new colour and texture.

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There has been much talk of ‘the modesty dress’ this London Fashion Week, the term referring to a trend for enveloping unforgivingly skin tight body-con dresses with billowing translucent over dresses. The double dresses were seen at Issa, Graeme Black, Aquascutum and, of course, on the Bora Aksu catwalk. Aksu’s take on the modesty dress involved anything from pink chiffon capes cinched in over dresses to Grecian style draping of fabric pieces that concealed choice areas.

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The stand out piece, for me, was a bubbly black party frock. A bustier front over a body of black mesh was both modest and sexy in it’s half revelation of back and shoulders, but this simplistic top soon burst out into an eruption of petal-like layers in the skirt. The movement of this skirt was flighty and fun, being especially voluminous at the back. Can you spy my favourite frock at the rear of the model queue?

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Romantic and whimsical, Aksu’s fairytale collection was the epitome of Spring/Summer 09 style. In a show backed by floaty folk and violins, ruffles and pleats took centre stage and won our hearts.

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Watch highlights of the show for yourself here. And look out for our profile of Aksu and People Tree in our forthcoming Issue 10!
Soft pastel patterns, pill ruffles and high-waisted shorts filled the Trinity Building near Regents Park last Sunday as Poltock & Walsh featured their Spring/Summer 09 collection at London Fashion Week. Think French Riviera in the 1930′s, which is what designers, Fiamma Poltock and Katie Walsh used as inspiration to create this line of elegant, wearable womenswear.

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High-waisted shorts seem to be back for yet another season, and Poltock & Walsh paired them with silk three-quarter length blouses and jackets. The shorts were slimmed for a flattered silhouette, but the tops used ruffled sleeves and square cuts to enhance shape. While the overall appearance may be a bit simple, they’ve accessorized it with just the right block belts to give it enough excitement to perk my interest.

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The ruffles and enhanced shapes continued to be the trend in their lively cocktail dresses. Cut graciously to show off the legs, some were slimming to show off curves, and others hung freely for a looser fit. I also caught a glimpse of print designs in blue and yellow pastels, inspired by the Art Deco movement of the 30′s.

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The duet met while studying fashion design at Kingston University and formed their label in 2006. Although fairly new, they already have quite a portfolio with a successful showing of their Spring/Summer 08 collection at Style 360 during New York Fashion Week. They have since returned to the homebase of London for Autumn Winter 08/09 and this latest show. Already discovered by Vogue as one of the new designers to keep an eye on, they are sure to be a hit in the seasons to come. Their collection is available for purchase at Sefton if you fancy splurging for the look of Poltock & Walsh.

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Olanic‘s collection took inspiration from the British summertime, stuff or lack of it as is often the case. The unpredictability of Spring/Summer09 resulted in a collection of geometric shapes blown sideways. The weather theme was further worked upon within the fabrics, a collaboration with Scottish textile companies. Designed by Niki Taylor the fabrics used abstract weather symbols executed in clashing colours.
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Summery colours of pink, green and blue, were mixed with muted tones more associated with the rainy days a British summer is famed for. Simple silhouettes of shift dresses, blouses and shorts were given a breath of fresh air with subtle details. These simple shapes were adorned with plaited necklines, shoulder wing-tips and fabric bows.
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The jumpsuit, which seems to be a firm favourite with designers for next summer, was reworked into an elegant evening wear piece. Only revealing its shorts form when the model strode down the catwalk. Sequins were sprinkled over a ladylike bustier, a pair of leggings and a cropped tux jackets. Other highlights included balloon tapered trousers in silk styled with an upside ballet wrap draped top, both in jewel colours.

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Olanic almost trademarked punkish Edwardian overtones were also present, the blues and greens gave way to red and black. Vertical striped spray on trousers, striped tux jackets and a marching band style red cape sashayed down the runaway in quick succession.

Creating highly wearable designs (often ignored in fashion), Olanic showed an accomplished collection which will only strengthen the label’s ‘one to watch‘ status.

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Monday 22nd September

Hearts Revolution – Puregroove Records, order London
Iglu & Hartly – Carling Academy 2, Liverpool
Ponytail and Mirror! Mirror! – Durr at The End, London

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Rolo Tomassi – Macbeth, London

I’m hardly the biggest fan of metal, but Rolo Tomassi are something else. I haven’t heard a band so forward thinking in ages and i think a live show would be very exciting.

Dananananaykroyd, Johnny Foreigner, My Psychoanalyst – The Venue, Derby
Undeground Railroad – Rough Trade East, London

Tuesday 23rd September

Adem and Mary Hampton – ICA, London

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Islands – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

‘Rough Gem’ is one of those songs that has stayed in my favourite, despite frequent listenings, and although none of their songs have really matched up to it again, they’re still an ace band.

Black Affair, The Oscillation and Hearts Revolution – White Heat at Madame Jo Jo’s, London
Ladyhawke – Pure Groove Records, London
Attack Attack – Rock City, Nottingham
Hope and Social, Muarena Helena, The Dodo Fightback, Royston Jones and Funny Face – Monto Water Rats
White Lies – Rough Trade East, London

Wednesday 24th September

O’Death – Crane Lane Theatre, Cork
Friendly Fires – The Joiners, Southampton
Little Man Tate and Inner City Pirates – Islington Academy, London
Rolo Tomassi – Barfly, Glasgow
Pete Doherty – Opera House, Bournemouth

Thursday 25th September

Broadcast 2000 and Gold Teeth – Proud Galleries, London
Dragonforce – Carling Academy, Glasgow
Thomas Tantrum – Cockpit 3, Leeds
Esser and Your Twenties – The Macbeth, London
Hot Club De Paris – Banquet Records, Kingston upon Thames

Friday 26th September

Midnight Juggernaughts and Heartsrevolution – ULU, London
Barringtone – Louisiana, Bristol
Chas and Dave – Rayne Theatre, London
Micachu – Down The Rabbit Hole at Barghouse, London
SCUM, Futurism vs Passéism, Vegas Whores and Wire Rooms – Whitechapel Gallery, London
Pete Doherty – Kasbah, Coventry
Lovvers, Bromancer and Sad Shields – Old Blue Last, London
Metronomy and Tubelord – The Macbeth, London

Saturday 27th September

Sky Larkin, Data.Select.Party, Sportsday Megaphone – Notting Hil Arts Club, London
Benga, Late Of The Pier, Metronomy and more – Tate Britain, London

Gig of the week

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Archie Bronson Outfit, Micachu, Clinic, SCUM, Jay Jay Pistolet, Ipso Facto, Polly Scattergood, Hatcham Social and more – Nail The Cross at Various venues, London

A very interesting line-up which promises to be the most interesting event in town on this Saturday night.

Future of The Left, Bearsuit, Calories, Cats In Paris, Chris T-T, Copy Haho, The Deirdres and more – This Ain’t No Picnic at KCLSU, London
The Spinto Band – Arts Centre, Norwich
Primary 1, Frightened Rabbit and The Hair – Weather Club @ 93 Feet East, London
Let’s Wrestle – Push at Astoria 2, London
Artefacts for Space Travel – Down The Rabbit Hole at Bargehouse, London

Sunday 28th September

Foals and Maps and Atlases – University, Cardiff
Polysics, Alan MX, Brontosaurus Chorus, The Duloks, Fighting With Wire, Popular Workshop and more – KCLSU, London
The Duke Spirit – Cockpit, Leeds

I know it’s been long since Bestival, advice but I’ve literally only just finished cleaning the mud off me. Seriously. Okay, viagra dosage maybe not. But it did take a long time and I have also sadly reached the conclusion that perhaps I am not as young as I used to be because it took me a good three days to properly recover from three days of fun, mud, music and random happenings. Still, that doesn’t stop me from wanting to buy my early bird tickets for Bestival next year.

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So, after my copious amounts of fruit smoothies and milk thistle tablets to get me on the mend, I can finally positively reflect on what was a bloody awesome weekend. After a comic session of wading through the mud-river that was the road to the campsite and then setting up our tents in an equally hilarious manner (to any onlookers not hiding in their tents) we gave up hope of ever being dry and warm, and sat and got drunk on rose boxed wine instead.

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Friday night started off poptastically perfectly with Alphabeat, and continued with Chromeo. We were gutted when Sam Sparro and Black Kids had cancelled, however. Something about the BBC Introducing stage being too muddy – um, what? Why not cancel the whole festival then? Bloody squares. (I later found out that Sam did do a set to a small crowd at the X-Box tent, but with no way of communicating this to the crowds, we all missed out.) Anyway we tottered along to CSS instead who were awesome, (although I think the sound technician was on acid) and then we headed to the Bollywood tent for a DJ set.

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Saturday was never going to be dry so we decided to hide in the Restival section instead and after a few games of Shithead, we were treated to some brilliant poetry performances from Hammer & Tongue. Seriously, if you live in London or Brighton or somewhere where they perform regularly, check them out. It’s a night you won’t forget.

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Why I even bothered wasting my time going to see Amy Winehouse on Saturday, I don’t know. Hot Chip were awesome and well worth pushing our way to the front for, but after that we had over an hour of waiting for Miss Amy should-go-to-Rehab-immediately Winehouse to pratt about on stage and manage to sing about 4 recognisable songs. It was pretty funny at the time, but looking back, it meant that I was so knackered after standing around in the cold I had no energy left to dance.

Miracle of miracles, it didn’t rain on Sunday and we made the most of it by finding all the places we hadn’t been to. Bramble FM was a highlight – a seemingly imaginary radio station which appears at all the festivals and gets the crowds dancing around in a circle or cheesy tunes – true story. And actually, it was awesome fun. Which is what festivals are all about – being just plain silly sometimes.

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We kept our blood pumping after a brilliant set by Six Nation State by heading to the ‘come dancing’ tent and showed ourselves up by being the only ones dancing to RnB. After the organisers realised that no true festival goer lowers themselves to enjoying RnB music, let alone dancing to it, they started a dance lesson, teaching us the ‘cha-cha’. That got everyone on the dance floor and after working up a suitable sweat, we watched a powerful performance by thecocknbullkid.

As it had finally stopped raining, we actually managed to have a meal outside our tent for the first time all weekend, and refuelled we headed to the main arena, having a bit of a boogie in the X-Box tent (Bournemouth clubs come to Bestival – hurray! – please note the sarcasm) and then checked out the Cockney Knees Up tent, which was supposed to have some drag acts on, but was actually just a bunch of transvestites dancing around to eighties music. Not really what we were looking for.

The Rizla arena was awesome, and we ended the night in true Bestival style by meeting some randoms and bringing them back to our tent for pointless conversation and more alcohol.

Getting off the island was less than pleasant – after a muddy session of packing up our tents we struggled with our backpacks up numerous mudslides and eventually made it back to land of solid ground.


Monday 22nd

Museum of Brands, online Robert Opie Collection: Until 31st May 09
2 Colville Mews, off Londsdale Rd, W11 (£5.80, concs £3.50, kids £2)
Robert Opie‘s 12,000 original items from his collection moves to Notting hill after seventeen years in Gloucester. Think back to the good ol’ days of vintage postcards, Skippy chocolate bars, cadburys toffee buttons. O.k. you may not be old enough to get too nostalgic but the collection of toys, posters and magazines ensure even the most cynical will get doey eyed at the past as consumer culture is revealed decade by decade. In short, this is a retro lover’s heaven on earth.
(Adults £5.80, Children (7-16) £2.00, Family £14.00, Concessions £3.50. Group discount 10% (groups of 10 or more, pre-booking appreciated).

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Tuesday 23rd

The Gallery at BFI Southbank, London, ‘The all seeing Eye’: An installation by Pierre Bismuth and Michel Gondry: until 16th November
BFI Southbank, Belvedere Rd, London, SE1 8XT
A mesmerizing video installation by the inventive French duo Pierre Bismuth and Michel Gondry, celebrated for their Oscar award winning Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The installation consists of a well furnished apartment involving a central camera revolving around a room where the room spins, armchairs, magazines, houseplants, rugs, mirrors and a dining table appear only to disappear during successive rotations until the apartment is stripped bare. First conceived and shown in Paris in 2005, this new version of The All Seeing Eye has been commissioned and specifically conceived by Bismuth and Gondry for the Gallery at BFI Southbank. A series of films selected by Pierre Bismuth and Elisabetta Fabrizi, BFI Head of Exhibitions, on the theme of erasure has also been included.

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Wednesday 24th
BISCHOFF/WEISS: ‘Our Immortal Souls’: Maya Hewitt: Until 1st November
95 Rivington Street?London ?EC2A 3AY
British born Hewitt juxtaposes childish fantasy with an adult perspective in intricate pieces loaded with symbolism and iconography. Characters are displaced from their original context from the past and placed in the present, allowing for an ambiguous and eerily surreal landscape.

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Thursday 25th
Transition Gallery, ‘Mime 1′ Mimei Thompson: Until 5th October
Unit 25a Regent Studios, 8 Andrews Rd, London E8
Recent RCA graduate Mimei Thompson‘s work depicts dark, mutating cosmic worlds, populated by clouds, probing eyeballs and cartoon brains. Surreal portraits including alien beings connects the real with imagined worlds, evoking questions such as death, decay and regeneration.

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Jaguar Shoes, ‘Horse Tears’: Matthew Hodson: Preview Show
32 Kingsland Rd, London, E2: 25th September: 7pm till late
Why not join us to the preview show of Hodson‘s weird, melancholic and rude illustrations and comic books? Hailing from a small village in Yorkshire Dales, Hodson was soon drawn to the mean streets of London, although he still retains a soft spot for wind, dogs and trees. Although he adopts a simplistic style, do not be tricked into thinking all his work is as sweet as pie-With contemporary references and dark undertones, Hodson allows us to be kept on our toes.

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Friday 26th
The Photographers’ Gallery, ‘Soho Archives: 1950s &1960s’: Until 16th November
5 & 8 Great Newport St, London WC2H 7HY
Three archives from Jean Straker, David Hurn and the Daily Herald newspaper documents Soho in the 1950s and 1960s. They capture a Soho that provided a haven for those dissatisfied by Britain’s provincialism. Also a place known for it’s criminal activity and creativity, as well as scandal and sexuality, images document the vibrancy and eroticism of the time.

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Saturday 27th
Paradise Row, ‘The Day Nobody Died’: Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin: Until 26th October
17 Hereford St, (off Cheshire St) London, E2 6EX
In June of this year Broomberg and Chanarin traveled to Afghanistan along with the British Army units on the front line in Helmand Province. What results is strange abstract passages and patterns of black, white and variegated hues – all modulated by the heat and the light invites us to question the nature of violence, culture, politics and morality.

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Hamiltons Gallery, ‘Bokuju Kitan/ Marvelous Tales of black ink’: Nobuyoshi Araki: Until 19th October
13 Carlos Place, London W1K 2EU
Born in 1940 Nobuyoshi Araki’s photography, heralded as Japan’s foremost contemporary photographer blurs the line between art and pornography. He selects 88 images from over 30 years worth of Kinbaku work (bondage art) and hand-painted calligraphy on each photograph. His erotically charged pieces are both lyrically beautiful and steamy, without being brash. Phwaorr indeedy!

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It doesn’t take much for the East End glitterati to migrate West, generic so a good old fashioned strip show had them flocking in their dozens last night. The reason: the opening of the latest Coco de Mer store in South Kensington in conjunction with London based design duo Fleet Ilya.

Fleet Ilya are son of Russian sculptor Ilya Fleet (see what he did, physician there?) and London gal Resha Sharma. Together they are a ‘taboo-breaking accessories label’ who create stunning, pilule exotic, erotic leather goods, from luggage to, er, strap ons.

The lusty store on Kensington’s chic Draycott Avenue wasn’t too difficult to find. The pummelling music (Studio 54 meets Miss Chuckle Cherry) and flashing lights instantly drawing attention, and quite a crowd of bemused onlookers too. It was hardly Fort Knox:
‘Hi, we should be on the list’
‘Oh, really? Oh, just say who invited you, that will do.’
‘Er, Ilya?’
‘Oh, sure!’

I think if my companion had said we were pals with Coco (de Mer), we’d have been granted access.

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Inside the store

Inside was quite the occasion. The music loud, the lights low, packed to the foundations – punters spilled out into the street or into the changing rooms just for a gasp of air. Canapés were creatively supplied by Passion Organic (an apt title for even the caterers) and pink champagne was aplenty – so much so that just another glass and I might have been tempted to slip into a harness myself. Not that I was without action – whipped and tickled as we all were.

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Clockwise from top left: a Coco de Mer girl; the Dj; Coco de Mer lingerie; A Fleet Ilya harness and corset; An erotic bust, part of the store’s merchandising; Fleet Ilya girls

At the beginning tension was high, you could feel it, and it was down to some very liberated male and female performers with sizeable attributes to get us in the mood for an outrageous romp. Fleet Ilya’s ladies wore constructivist themed black soft leather conical bras, off white corset style belts, brown ponies tails at the rear and harnesses with a nod to equestriana. They carried whips, wore handcuffs and brandished other quintessential bondage paraphernalia. A rotund gent, clearly a professional in the art of erotic movement, gave what can only be described as an eye-watering performance, which I’ll keep censored so you can use your own imagination, but the baying raucous crowd certainly enjoyed his fruitful achievements.

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Models show off Fleet Ilya in the window

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The model who ‘spoilt’ us with his one man strip show

CdM aint no Ann Summers – it’s a tasteful exploration of erotic merchandise and has something for everyone. If you’re not in the market to make a hardcore purchase, then, well, shame on you frankly – but you could be tempted by something from their decadent soft furnishings range, or a discreet title from their vast collection of literature – maybe Tickling or Flogging or The Complete Guide to Cunnilingus. Just suggesting.

Fleet Ilya aren’t just about erotica – their Classic and Concept lines deal in luxury leather goods including oversized luggage and accessories. There wasn’t much of this on show this evening but it’s definitely worth looking out for and you can see a full range of their products on their website – but only click into the Restraint area if you can handle it…

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The Coco de Mer girls

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Make up

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The Fleet Ilya girls

Pictures by Matt Bramford
Back in the mist of time now, stuff well…namely a fortnight ago, viagra order Sarah and I had a rather arty night of mischief and mayhem. First we ventured to the ‘Drawn to each other’ event where I got to go back to A level art years. After drawing various colourful characters with charcoal and also getting my portrait done, see we were in the mood for another dollop of fun. So we went to 93 feet east where ‘Laser fingers’ had an event called ‘Do you want fries with that?’ Unfortunately we didn’t get a serving of fries but we did get to view some cool zines and talk to some art collectives.

My first pit stop was Middleboop , a graphics collective headed by Gordon Reid and Simon Stroud. They describe themselves as ‘two designers who enjoy moaning about the state of art, design, film and music at the moment.’ If you’re a graphics-head check out their blog and let them know what you think.

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Next I talked to ‘Laser Fingers’ Collective who organized the whole affair. The team from Hertfordshire consists of Sophie Buckle (Graphic Design) and two illustrators, Nikki Hemmings and Ella Tamplin-Wilson. With a colourful array of designs and fresh faced illustrations, they are creating quite a buzz within the art collective scene.

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sarah having fun with a ‘laser finger’ pizza box

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derv modelling a felt sandwich badge by ‘laser fingers’

Unkle Baxta is a fashion design label and this girl loves what she’s doing as she pipes her creations are ‘original, unique and they look boss!’ It’s not exactly my cup of tea but if you’re into your bold designs, and indie rock prints have a peek.

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One zine that caught my eye was called ‘the smell of the wild’ by Gareth Brookes. Delicately drawn and with poetry recording the ageless beauty of the countryside, the zine both tickles and delights. It sure is worth the £1.50. Gareth Brookes also contributes to the banal pigs publications.

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Another favourite was Sally Faulkner‘s beautifully naïve zine, English Grub-filled with pastel coloured sprinkled cakes and whippy ice creams. Just graduated from Kingston Uni, and with a recent illustration in the Guardian Magazine; she is definitely one to watch.

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cute badges

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So all in all a good night! After all this creative mingling-it was time for a tipple at the bar.

Starting their catwalk show with a video piece of models contorted into letters of Annalisa Dunn’s and Dorothee Hagerman, label name. Cooperative Designs set the tone for their soon to be paraded original designs .

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To celebrate their offerings Anna Lou of London and Laura Lees held a party in the heart of the West End. Needless to say that the muttering of a party had a sizable group of the Amelia’s lot heading West.

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Party times

We were welcomed by a tasty cocktail – it had things like ginger and berries in it, patient as well as Courvoisier cognac, which was new to me. Problem was it took an age to queue for a beverage, as the guys behind the bar were those cocktail professional types that throw everything around a bit before they pour it. Obviously though, the drinks were not supposed to be the main highlight.

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The fashion pose

The highlight for me was a guy who had turned up with a shaved head covered in diamonds. Though completely impractical (I can imagine your chances of getting mugged on the way home would increase dramatically), it made him look like a disco ball – and nothing says party like coming as the disco ball. I now know that if you want to get you spotted, covering your head in something really shiny is a good way to start.

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Try and spot the diamond head man

Being music editor, it didn’t take me long to take notice of the DJ. He was pumping out a nice mix of James Brown and DJ Shadow, my only problem being his occasional experiments in scratching – a technique that should really just be left to world DMC championships nowadays. The crowd was also obviously far too cool for dancing, although as the liquor began to diminish there was a little more movement on what I assume was the dancefloor.

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I think it’s fair to say fun was had all round, even if I personally left a little puzzled as to what the whole event was all about.

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A central St Martins graduate, visit Scott Ramsay Kyle made his debut at Vauxhall Fashion Scout with his S/S09 collection. Scott took inspiration from The Queen of Hearts‘ henchman from Alice in Wonderland and Grace Jones’ iconic strong style.

Jumpsuits, mind playsuits (surely a double whammy of all-in-ones spells a HUGE trend for next season), shift dresses and tunics were Tabard shaped. Not since the animated cards of Alice in Wonderland did a pack of cards look so appealing. Peek-a-boo sides lead the eye down to embroidered embellishment in metallic shades, that Scott had harnessed during his time at legendary label Biba, adding extra decoration to the sharp clean lines. Scott also used heavier embroidery, with beads and tassles, as focal points on the front of tabards, giving these designs a military-esque feel.

Once again, as seen at many shows, bright colour took a back seat to neutrals and more muted shades. Scott took this to a more extreme level than I had previously seen, harnessing creations in only three colours. White, Beige and Black were the colours to march down the catwalk under Scott’s watch. Laudable in his use of boring beige, Scott gave the much lambasted colour a style injection complimenting it with shimmering gold. This restrained use of colour flattered the structured shapes.

The sophisticated collection had a real summer in city feel to it. Helped by a ‘beep beep’ traffic noise song featuring on the playlist (much googling has not revealed what song this is, if anybody knows please do share). With many of the looks suitably for office wear, well fashion offices anyway. That said some of the more structured tabard shapes may prove a bit difficult to make the skip from catwalk to high street. Easier to wear looks, included the knee-length more relaxed all-in-one’s and tunics worn with 90′s style cycling shorts.

Steve J and Yoni P who hail from Central St Martins and London College of Fashion respectively, pharmacy have been consistently causing a flurry of excitement in their past three seasons at LFW. Bagging a Best Menswear Award (CSM BA graduation show 06), stuff Samsung Fashion Design Fund (07/08) and opening their diffusion range at Topshop; has only gained them more attention. Yet it is their trademark style of modern quirkiness, case with luxurious fabrics and tailored cuts that has ensured their individuality remains intact.

Walking into the Korean Cultural Centre in West London on 16th September, I was greeted by a charming floaty voice and harp. Along with Japanese rice snacks, this created a relaxed yet classical ambiance. With this mood we were taken to our places.

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the harp playing woman with no head

The duo interpreted sculptural elements such as metals and structured blocks into a cool modern look. Being influenced by Danish abstract painter Asger Jorn; they used simple colours such black and white, orange, pinks, blues and whites, with silver and gold as an accent colour.

Neutral whites initially dominated the catwalk, with tailored tops accompanied by geek glasses and bulbous headgear playing with proportions.

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some creams cropping in

Pencil skirts teemed with see-through tops followed.

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cute head-wear!

Little-bow peep and bow head bands also played a big part in the collection. English wool with Italian silk mixed together to juxtapose the casual and luxurious was also used along with architectural transparent dresses.

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.. and back to the simple staple black numbers

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Along with black simple hugging dresses, neutrals such as peach and pink popped up. Intricately draped pleating gave pieces a dreamy quality. With models hugging oversized Japanese bedtime toys, this only made the audience swoon.

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Three sets of ballet dancers dressed in blue and white with oversized bride veils stood on top of white blocks. Each cutting the string which held the veils in place, they individually tottered and spinned onto the catwalk performing graceful fluttery movements. Their performance emphasized the fragility and quiet classicism of the collection.

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Next came more architectural works of metallics and draped pleating. Origami-esque folding, baby doll dresses, fitted pencil skirts with pleat front jackets followed.

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On talking about the collection Steve J and Yoni P have said that were inspired by ‘the surrounding environment, particularly constructive architecture and the linear, almost endlessly repeats of design details in both buildings and supporting structures.’ The catwalk was positively teeming with unique pieces as well as off kilter accessories such as oversized glasses, bows, butterflies and bulbous head dresses. Combining architectural metallics and see through dresses with soft colours and detailed pleats ensured that the duo delivered a collection full of charm, wit and whimsy.

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For their second season at London Fashion Week, viagra approved Aminaka Wilmont’s “Perfect Imperfection” collection took the stage for the BFC Tent’s final show on Friday. Maki Aminaka Lofvander and Marcus Wilmont were inspired by the eyes of modernist architects, recipe Jean Nouvel, Richard Rogers and Frank Gehry, which translated to the catwalk means soft, feminism pieces with a powerful, industrial edge.

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Featuring silk trimmed with leather, and chiffon dresses paired with geometric gray and blue graphic prints, the collection has a futuristic feel to it. The color palette combines soft neutral tones with blacks, grays and blues, coinciding with those colors found in cement, metals and steel.

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The most striking design of the show I found to be the shoes. Binding only to the heel, this leather and wooden device left the sole of the foot completely exposed to the ground below. I question how this would work out on the street, but for the purpose of the avant garde look this design duo desired, this so-called shoe definitely exemplifies the collection.

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Aminaka Wilmont is most notably recognized for being Fashion Fringe’s 2007 winner. You can check out more of their line at net-a-porter.com.

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Robots In Disguise are perhaps not the best way to start an evening. They are usually a band I try to avoid, more about but I was making the effort to try and get a good spot for These New Puritans – who I’ve been desperate to see all year. Robots In Disguise play a set of mediocre, there yet still somehow quite grating, electro/indie/mash-up. The best bit was the guy (or girl) in the big robot mask.

After a break for refreshments, it was time for These New Puritans to take to the stage. Two things that stood out immediately were the overly cool expression the female synth player was sporting (making her look like the most bored person ever) – and the chain mail shirt the lead singer had donned for the occasion. Not only was it fun to look at, but I can also imagine it to be quite practical when walking home through unsafe areas late at night.

They begin their set with the brash intro to ‘Swords Of Truth’. Their sultry vocals, and gothic strut should seem pretentious and dislikable, but something allows them to get away with it. They’re the pinnacle of what so many modern bands aim to do, but they do it the best – so it’s okay.

The highlights of their set were tracks like ‘Elvis’ and ‘Numbers’, which revert against their attempts to be so freakin’ avant-garde. There are moments where they create new wave genius, and the 3-minute psych out feedback marathons in between actually do build the intended suspense. As a live show their music and musicianship would struggle to be beaten, but their stage manner is at times slightly cringing.

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I thought it would be almost impossible for me not to really, really enjoy a Young Knives gig. That was until I saw them play a set of less than stand out album tracks. I know they must have grown tired of playing the same tracks over and over, but they’re the most popular songs for a reason. People like the songs, that’s why they’ve come to see them live.

In all fairness, I missed about 5 minutes of the beginning of their set – but literally the only song I recognized was ‘The Decision’. Unless they filled the first five minutes with an impressive mini mix of ‘Terra Firma’, ‘She’s Attracted To’ and ‘Weekends And Bleak Days’. It was necessarily a bad gig, it just seems like they’ve given up on pleasing their fan base.

After watching a slightly disappointing Ossie Clark show, adiposity I felt I really needed to see a collection that stepped out of the chiffon and floral-patterned safe zone, cost and started London Fashion Week off with a much needed bang. Much to my delight, this came in the form of design duo Horace, who I have to say, managed to impress me the most on Sunday afternoon.

According to their press release, the story behind Horace’s spring/summer 09 collection is ‘a futuristic tribe living in the heat of the desert.‘ With an adventurous teaming of soft black leather and studs with laddered knits and linen, what has transcribed is an interesting punk rocker meets Arabian villager type collection, which was just the edge our senses needed on a Sunday afternoon.

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Designer’s Adam Entwisle and Emma Hales have used a neutral palette of blacks, whites, greys and creams, to create a range of oversized vests and jersey tops alongside figure skimming leather bottoms and socks to create an unusual, but striking collection of day to evening wear.

I wasn’t surprised to find out the label had caught the eye of Kate Moss and Agyness Deyn, as the clothing effectively captures that unique element of effortless chic for which both the models are renowned.

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Monday 10th November

Jackie O Motherfucker, viagra 40mg Valet and Ince Ore – Corsica Studios, London
Youthmovies, Adam Gnade and The Tupelov Ghost – The Portland Arms, Cambridge
We Have Band – Pure Groove Records, London
Fleet Foxes and J Tillman – Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London
MGMT – Academy, Birmingham
Goldfrapp and Eugene McGuinness – Brixton Academy, London
Emmy The Great and Blue Roses – ICA, London

Tuesday 11th November

N*E*R*D – The Roundhouse, London
Kanye West and Santogold – O2 Arena, London
Fleet Foxes – Junction, Cambridge
Grammatics – Bush Hall, London
Hush Arbors and Lawrence Arabia – Old Blue Last, London
Noah & The Whale – Glee Club, Birmingham
Laura Marling – The Scala, London
Lord Auch, Micron 63, Factory Floor and This Tawdry Affair – Buffalo Bar, London

Wednesday 12th November

Black Keys, Liam Finn and Jessica Mayfield – Brixton Academy, London
Jeremy Warmsley – The Soul Tree, Cambridge
Hot Club De Paris, Middle Class Rut and Kieran Leonard – Proud Galleries, London
Biffy Clyro, Friendly Fires and Frank turner – Union Chapel, London
Crystal Fighters, The Third Warning and La Shark – Madame JoJo’s, London
Dark Captain Light Captain – 100 Club, London

Thursday 13th November

High Places – Old Blue Last, London
An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump, Martin Sexton – Seen at The Neu Gallery, London
James Yuill, Mike Bones and Pete Greenwood – Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen, London
The Wombats – Carling Academy, Glasgow
Revere, Artifacts For Space Travel and Upcdownc – 93 Feet East, London
Das Wanderlust and Trouble Vs Glue – Metro, London

Friday 14th November

Violens and Boy Crisis – Barfly, London
High Places, Gentle Friendly and Banjo Or Freakout – The Lexington, London
New Young Pony Club – Rin MY Bell! at Proud Galleries, London
The Stranglers – Shepherds Bush Empire, London
Burningpilot and Gold Teeth – The Monarch, London
Swn Festival – Clinic, Rolo Tomassi, Threatmantics, Indian Jewelry, The Big Pink, Volcano, Johnny Foreigner, Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man, James Yuill, Pete and The Pirates, Thomas Tantrum and more – Various Venues, Cardiff

Saturday 15th November

Let’s Wrestle, The Late Greats, Sound Of Guns and Scholars – Metro, London
Bridgette and Ezra Band And The Hot Machine – St Moritz, London
Foreign Beggars and John Robinson – Cargo, London
Nevereverland – The Presets, Shy Child, Ladyhawke and Van She Tech – The Coronet, London
Boy Crisis and Plugs – Proud Galleries, London
Swn Festival – Paul Hawkins & Thee Awkward Silences, Cats In Paris, Jay Jay Pistolet, Golden SilversHigh Contrast, Chipmunk, Das Wanderlust, The Boy Least Likly Too, It Hugs Back and more – Various Venues, Cardiff

Sunday 16th November

Hook And The Twin, The Clik Clik, Cherbourg and Alexander G Muertos – Old Queen’s Head, London
DRIFTING AND TILTING, THE SONGS OF SCOTT WALKER: Damon Albarn, Dot Allison, Jarvis Cocker, Gavin Friday, Michael Henry and Nigel Richards – Barbican Theatre, London
An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump and Benjamin James Jinx – 93 Feet East, London
Swn Festival – Danananaykroyd, Tubelord, Future Of The Left, Micachu, Sportsday Megaphone, Rob Da Bank, Goldie Lookin Chain and more – Various Venues. Cardiff

Categories ,Adam Gnade, ,An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump, ,Artifacts for Space Travel, ,Biffly Clyro, ,Black Keys, ,Dark Captin Light, ,Das Wanderlust, ,Emmy The Great, ,Eugene McGuinness, ,Fleet Foxes, ,Foreign Beggars, ,Friendly Fires, ,Goldfrapp, ,Grammatics, ,Hook and the Twin, ,Hush Arbors, ,J Tillman, ,Jackie O Motherfucker, ,John Robinson, ,Kanye West, ,La Shark, ,Laura Marling, ,Liam Finn, ,Listings, ,MGMT, ,Middly Class Rut, ,Music, ,N*E*R*D, ,New Young Pony Club, ,Noah and the Whale, ,Santogold, ,The Tupelov Ghost, ,The Wombats, ,This Tawdry Affair, ,Valet and Ince Ore, ,We Have Band, ,Youthmovies

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Amelia’s Magazine | Music Listings

Most of us pat ourselves on the back at the thought of having ‘done our bit‘, symptoms information 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.

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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.

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Images courtesy of Robert Bradford
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Monday 27th October

Connan Mockasin and Drop The Lime – Durr at The End, mind London
Noah & The Whale – Academy 3, dosage Manchester
Jesus & Mary Chain, Black Box Recorder and British Sea Power – The Forum, London
Mystery Jets – Glee Club, Birmingham

Tuesday 28th October

Alphabeat, Das Pop and Pandering and The Golddiggers – Shepherds Bush Empire, London
Fleet Foxes – Waterfront, Norwich
Smokers Die Younger, Wild Beasts, Stricken City, Cats In Paris, Tender Maulings DJs – The Deaf Institute, Manchester
George Pringle and No Bra – The Social, London

Wednesday 29th October

Yo Majesty – Pure Groove Records, London
Lords – The Portland Arms, Cambridge
Ipso Facto, S.C.U.M and Kasms – The Roundhouse, London
The Presets and Micachu – The Royal, Derby
Neon Neon and Yo Majesty – Koko, London

Thursday 30th October

Black Kids and Ladyhawke – Astoria, London
Hot Chip – Corn Exchange, Cambridge
Florence and The Machine and The Big Pink – Bush Hall, London
Anthony and The Johnsons with London Symphony
Orchestra – Barbican Centre, London
Primal Scream – UEA, Norwich
Wave Machines and Micachu and The Shapes – hush at Royal Albert Hall, London

Friday 31st October

Release The Bats – Shellac, Les Savy Fav, Lightning Bolt, Om, Wooden Shjips and Pissed Jeans – The Forum London
El Guincho, The XX, The Big Pink and A Grave With No Name – No Pain In Pop at Goldsmith’s Tavern, London
Peggy Sue and The Pirates, Alessi’s Ark and Derek Meins – The Windmill, London
Pete and The Pirates – The Fly, London
Underworld and Autokratz – Brixton Academy, London
Metronomy – ULU, London

Saturday 1st November

ddd – Barfly, London
The Metros and Lion Club – Push at Astoria 2, London
The Week That Was and The Ruby Suns – Crawdaddy, Dublin
Grammatics – Forum, Tunbridge Wells

Sunday 2nd November

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

Categories ,Alessi’s Ark, ,Alphabeat, ,Black Kids, ,British Sea Power, ,Cats in Paris, ,Connan Mockasin, ,Das Pop, ,Does it Offend You Yeah?, ,El Guimho, ,Fleet Foxes, ,Florence and the Machine, ,Good Books, ,Grammatics, ,Hot Chip, ,Ipso Facto, ,Kasms, ,Ladyhawk, ,Metronomy, ,Mystery Jets, ,Neon Neon, ,No Bra, ,Noah and the Whale, ,Peggy Sue, ,Release the Bats, ,The Molotovs, ,The XX, ,Wave Machines, ,Yo Majesty

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Amelia’s Magazine | Music Listings

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“It’s nice everyone getting dressed up and making an effort, hospital stomach round Christmas time ‘n that”, generic slurred an old man at the bar after telling me this was his local. Halloween did he mean? A gaze and a nod.

Peggy Sue (there were some pirates but they’ve long since fled to the Caribbean to find themselves) have a knack of adding a distinct flavour to everything they do. Brewed in soulfulness and peppered with giggles, they are an intoxicating concoction of many lovely things; compared to the likes of Lauryn Hill and Regina Spektor in a single breath, all manner of genres tossed in their direction.

But references aside, that tend to reduce everybody to something regurgitated, there’s lots of other good stuff – like a compilation CD released for every month (100 copies only, complete with artwork), like how their voices emulate astonishing power and soft effortlessness all at once; or that their low-fi sound is brought together with honeyed harmonies, punctuated Spektor-like noises and an unending supply of bizarre percussion instruments. It is finally exquisitely tied together with lyrics that detach our body-parts as things to be stolen, tell stories of the woes of superheroes, and give life to ‘those fragile little things’ that live inside. It all feels very refreshing, and nicely homemade – ‘Peggy Who?’ asks the drum-face.

The Horror Movie Marathon had the Peggy stamp all over it, made apparent in its details. A projection screen hung behind them playing classic horror gems; a new horror song, complete with screams had been written for the occasion; and the widely acclaimed ‘superman’ was illustrated by a live puppet-show on stage. The wide-eyed Alessi’s Ark and feet-shuffling Derek Meins were there to support, marking the beginning of the Triptych Tour – one bus, two weeks, three acts. Catch them if you can in a venue near you! But what oh what does Triptych mean?

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Be Prepared, sildenafil long the motto of the Scouts, is now being added to by The London Climate Camp Social Group with Be Inspired and Be Involved. A series of nights around town broadly divided into these three headings encouraging all to socialise and fund-raise for Climate Camp.

Be Prepared nights fund-raise with bands, djs and comedy. It’s one to bring your friends who may not be into all the “eco stuff” but would be interested in finding out more about Climate Camp.
Be Inspired focuses on what’s going on at the moment. Film screenings, speakers and debates wil inform people what is happening and why Climate Camp is doing what its doing.
Be Involved is the actions based adventures, such as Climate Rush, the forthcoming Day of Action and what ever else happens in the future.

The first one is tomorrow and is a Be Inspired night held at The Old Crown, 33 New Oxford St starting at 19:00. The line up consists of Alistair James playing music, Leo Murray introducing his excellent animation Wake Up, Freak out and Get A Grip, a short presentation from Climate Camp about what is being done right now and where it’s going and why, including two ladies instrumental in organising Climate Rush. Plus plenty of music to dance the night away.

The Old Crown
33 New Oxford St (corner of Museum street),
London WC1A 1BH.
Between Holborn and Tottenham Court road tube station.

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Hotel International 1993

Dear Tracey, discount

It wasn’t so long ago that I really thought I’d had it up to my neck with you. I think it was one of your columns in the Independent that did it. You’d had a bad day, page you know, one of those ones when you don’t particularly feel like getting out of bed in the morning and then when you do, you burn your toast, or scald yourself in the shower or something. And instead of having a quick cry, or swearing, or generally getting on with things as most people might do, your especially bad day led you toward one overarching question: ‘did my dad ever really love me?’ I thought it was a tad dramatic. So upon hearing about your retrospective at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art I was expecting 20 years of torment in the space of a few rooms. And you didn’t disappoint. But what I wasn’t expecting was that I was going to leave the exhibition liking you. Feeling for you, maybe. Being critical of you, definitely. But actually liking you? No, I wasn’t expecting that. But there is a reason that we hear so much about you Tracey, because you know what, you’re actually a pretty good artist.

Emin’s exhibition opens much like one would expect it to, throwing the viewer head-first into the deep-end. The first work we encounter is a tribute to her deceased grandmother; the second, a graphic description of a traumatic abortion. All the staple Emin classics are here: the neon signs, the tapestries, expressionist etchings, and of course, the infamous bed. And yet after the piss-stains, the used condoms, the confessional video diaries, the purging of torment and the sheer tragedy of it all, something beautiful remains. Emin’s letter to her uncle Colin is a striking example of this. Lucid and incredibly moving, Emin succinctly describes her emotions as she learns of the horrific accident that caused her beloved uncle’s death. Exploration of the Soul, a work comprised of 32 sheets of handwritten text, is similar in its expressive eloquence. You may baulk at the several spelling mistakes, shudder at the sadness of other people’s lives or smile at the moments of humanity within it; Emin will fail to leave you unmoved.

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My Bed 1998

The further we continue through the exhibition the more we feel as though we are Emin’s confidante; her scars are ours now and they are weighing us down. To enter, toward the end, a room removed of much of the abject excess of the others, comes as welcome relief. Two sculptures in particular reveal the diversity of Emin’s talent as an artist. Self Portrait (Bath) comprises a rusty bath filled with bamboo, barbed wire, chicken wire and a contorted neon streak entwined to create a work of great textual interest. In the same room a rollercoaster of reclaimed wood, It’s Not The Way I Want to Die from 2005, dominates the space. Constructed entirely from old crates, the past life of the wood seems to echo Emin’s own (one plank retaining it’s FRAGILE label), but is here reworked into a somewhat rickety yet undeniably beautiful piece.

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It’s Not The Way I Want to Die 2005

Emin is a chameleon, expressing herself in several mediums and seemingly mastering them all. Love or loathe her – you won’t easily forget her, and to my mind, that’s what makes her continue to be worth talking about.

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The Perfect Place to Grow 2001

Images courtesy of Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

September marked the official UK launch of the new shopping/networking website, ampoule ShopStyle. Already popular amongst fashion followers in the US, viagra the best way to describe this new digital phenomenon would be a ‘Google for fashion with a MySpace twist‘. Shopstyle offers a unique online shopping experience, which enables users to browse the rails of thousands of brands through a simple search box option. Just like Google, ShopStyle carries out all the hard work trawling through shopping sites in order to bring you any matching items to your keywords. Users can also narrow down their searches by price, brand, store and size so only the most relevant results are displayed.

The site proved to be heaven sent in my own hunt to unearth a descent pair of gladiator heels, presenting me with options from new and smaller brands that I wouldn’t usually consider in my shopping choices.

ShopStyle’s nifty social networking twist means even those of us a little strapped for cash can still muzzle in on the spirit of fashion. The StyleBook tool allows users to play around and create their own fashion look books based on their own personal tastes and styles. These can be viewed by fellow users who are free to comment and discuss ideas. Unlike other virtual stores, ShopStyle embraces a love for fashion and creativity, moving beyond the simple idea of consumption.

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Keep an eye out next month as three emerging designers, selected by stylist to the stars, Bay Garnett, get the opportunity to display their collection on the site.

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Creaturemag sets out to bring together artists from all around the world, adiposity and produce an online publication, which works as one big collaboration. Being the arty literate types that they are, they’ve also created a sort of character out of the Creaturemag concept. This has led to an entertaining, if not ever so slightly confusing, interview with themselves, or Creaturemag – you kind of have to read it to understand.

They have just released Creaturemag festival edition – a diary of their activities over the summer. Its content though is a little more in depth than trudging through mud and drinking cider though. The wonderful cover has been done by long time Amelia’s contributor Nikki Pinder! It also features interviews with up and coming musical geniuses Alessi and Zombie Zombie.

Being the creative types that they are though, no pages go without a little artistic decoration. A group of top notch illustrators have contributed – bringing the entire thing to life.

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Crafty pirate

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Floating from festival to festival over the summer, the creatives behind Creaturemag have compiled pieces on the more out there festivals like Secret Garden Party and End Of The Road. The festival edition acts as a sort of guide to how they have often created their own arty fun at festivals this year. Perhaps the most intriguing of which is the feature on concrete mushrooms that were taken to festival all over the country. It is also a testament to how devoted they are to their art. The idea of dragging massive concrete mushrooms on top of the mounds of bags and tents I always end up hauling to campsite doesn’t appeal to me.

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Concrete mushrooms

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The whole thing just makes it look like the guys behind it have had the best summer ever, and it really makes me want to go back to a festival.

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As an entity we usually take in music that is self-consciously/appointed art-rock. It is often forgotten that this art-rock did not just pop out of Andy Warhol’s arse as he stood watching the Velvet Underground, more about he just brought an audience to Reed, buy Cale, see Morrison and Tucker’s genius. Although visual art did have an influence, it is the avant-garde classical that clashed with rhythm and blues to start this musical mongrel. LaMonte Young and the Fluxus movement popularised drones; Cage, Reich and Glass atonality and chance. Karlheinz Stockhausen is another visionary whose contribution cannot be forgotten. The great German- who sadly passed away last year- was a key contributor to the zygote cell stage of electronic music and developed his own musical language of complexity and rapturous transcendental irregular noise. Without him the work of- to mention a few acolytes- Kraftwerk, Zappa, Bjork, Can, Aphex Twin, Faust and Sonic Youth would be very different and have a few less words to rely upon in their collective musical lexicon.

The Royal Festival Hall and Purcell Rooms hosted Klang which was intended as a tribute for Stockhausen’s eightieth birthday. I was privy to two nights of the retrospective which proved to be one of the most amazing musical experiences I have ever had. The Friday night in the smaller Purcell Rooms began with Joy the second hour of Stockhausen’s incomplete twenty-four hour cycle. This was a piece composed for two harpists. The two former students of Stockhausen sat illuminated by a single spotlight dressed in white. They completely subverted my expectations of what a harp could do as the cut up fragments of a medieval German hymn mixed plucked or bashed arrythmic textures with youthful voices making strange phonetic noises. Subsequently, Cosmic Pulses (the thirteenth hour) was archetypal Stockhausen electronic music on 24 different tape loops played at differing speeds through eight surrounding speakers in the dark with a single moon like spotlight on stage. Bjork says Stockhausen mixed modernity with the primordial and natural ferocity of a thunderstorm. This displayed that contradictory dialectic as it buzzed brilliantly with unpredictable electric whip crack on rumbling menace.

I feel privileged to have seen the final night at the Royal Festival Hall. First as short electronic work was played, a token gesture for what was to follow. Lucifer’s Dance was utterly batshit. Performed by the Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra, a solo drummer, flautist and opera singer dressed up as Lucifer himself. It was a comment on the spirit of contradiction and independence via the conduit of an orchestra pretending to be a grimacing demonic face. However, Stockhausen made people use their instruments idiosyncratically and it wasn’t a conventional (not that I have been to many) classical concert. The musicians had to dance, uncomfortably, in their chairs as they blew discordant squalling devil’s frown lines. The cameo from the amazing jazz drummer was particularly good, he represented nostrils. Weirdness. As we left the hall from the rooftops Michael’s Farewell was trumpeted over the Thames, a stunning experience, older fans were getting visibly emotional it may as well have been Karlheinz’s farewell for them. Many of his students, collaborators and friends were in attendance. People left with sad smiles and general wonder from what they had just experienced.
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I realised the other day that it had been quite some time since I had rocked out – it kind of just fell out of favour. Mainly because rocking out became so cringeworthy all of a sudden. The connotations appeared to have fallen into something deeply uncool, capsule instead of being the epitomy of it.

The answer to this life problem comes in the form of two bands. Rolo Tomassi; a band that are undeniably too fun for metal and too out there for indie, more about and Fucked Up!; a relentless hardcore band whose live show is almost more about what the lead singer is doing physically, rather than their ear punishing music.

Rolo Tomassi took to the stage and instantly impressed with their musicianship. The music skips from segment to segment with time signatures that befuddle the mind. They’re like some experimental jazz band, in the way that they take an anything goes approach, only more like a jazz band that has been raised by wolves – or something equally ridiculous.

Their set was simply fantastic, though with the catalog of songs they have on their album that came as no surprise. Their keyboard player came into his own during Abraxas, his assault on the keys reproducing something of an assault on my ears. They leave the audience thoroughly shaken, and all I could think about was how I couldn’t wait to see them again some time.

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With a name like Fucked Up! there is a certain amount of characteristics expected. They live up to, if not exceed, any kind of expectations imaginable. As soon as the lead singer hoists himself on stage he is something of a dominating presence, like some jurassic being – I was genuinely scared of this guy. On first hear they sound like a pretty standard American hardcore band, and it’s not until you see them live that you get a full understanding. The lead singer’s nonsensical ventures into the crowd, his hilarious jibes between songs and the general raucous in the crowd caused by their show somehow allows it to make sense.

I left the gig with a level of adrenaline that I haven’t felt whilst walking away from a gig in years. I’d recommend some time at a metal gig of this calibre to anyone, it is still a case of being careful though. As a genre it deals with both end of a spectrum. Prepare to listen to an awful lot of guff before you find the genre’s best bits.

Here at Amelia’s Magazine we’re all about nurturing design newbies, advice particularly if they’re as innovative and inspiring as Karen Karem. We first encountered Karen way back in the days of issue 6. Fresh out of Central St Martins and brimming with ideas, for sale she caught our eye with her funky range of horse shaped bags inspired by childhood dreams of magical fantasy lands. After two long years of hard work and some good ol’ fashioned elbow grease, information pills she’s now back to launch her debut Spring/Summer 09 clothing collection, Hard Cover Candy.

A peak into Karen’s treasure trove of inspirations reveals a concoction of nostalgic teenage memorabilia combined with a haphazard assortment of British items from eras past. Kitch accessories and pastel coloured cupcakes bump shoulders with jars of jellybeans, fluffy cotton candy, 60′s platforms, teenage heartthrobs and images of elegant ladies at brunch.

The collection itself consists of a range of dresses. Each contain a childlike quality but still manage to maintain a sense of femininity and elegance. Like her playful horse bags, Hard Cover Candy is for women who remember raiding their mothers wardrobes and dressing up in pretty frocks for birthday parties at the age of 9. They’re for women who like to daydream and still feel like little girls at heart.

KarenKaram_3.jpg

KarenKaram_4.jpg

With a mixed colour palette of soft pastels and vibrant electrifying tones, Karen’s selection of baby doll dresses and floor length evening gowns use chiffon and ruffles to ensure a high level of grace and movement.

KarenKaram_2.jpg

KarenKaram_1.jpg

With Vogue and Vanity Fair already showing an interest in the collection, it’s likely that Karen Karem will soon be sweeping us all along into her magical daydream world.

KarenKaram_5.jpg
finn%20album%20cover.jpg

To make music relaxing without descending into something boring requires great amounts of skill in arrangement and more often than not melody. These are two things that Finn has in milk tanker sized loads.

The music on this album rises and falls like a souffle. Beginning with the settling whispers of Half-Moon Stunned. Perhaps not the most exciting song on the album it introduces you to the subtle yet brooding voice of Finn. The restrained yet beautiful melodies of this song have an air of Sigur Ros, illness though on a much smaller scale.

Midway though the album things become a little more unsettled, with the romper that is Julius Caesar. All semi off key, there is a sense of panic in his voice – a device that reminds me of Thom Yorke‘s solo efforts. It pulls at the heartstrings purely through it’s melody, even without the hard hitting, blood spill heavy lyrics.

One of my favourite selections from the album is The Truth Is A Lie, again opting for those obtuse melodies, only this time with some very 60s percussion. This sets it off magnificently, making it far less dreary even though it’s steeped in melancholy. Only problem is, about halfway you remember what it really reminds me of. It does sound kind of like Duffy, if she was in a fowl mood and had a record label who had a conscience and would stop forcing that drivel upon us all.
Here’s one for the fashionettes, pharm the glam goddesses, purchase the couture collectors and anyone who dreams in fairytale fashion time. Make way for a new fashion address. Wembley is now the place to head for a truly avant-garde adventure.

Come December, a distinctly unfashionable warehouse on the outskirts of the city, in Wembley, should expect a style onslaught in the form of savvy shoppers and gracious costumiers, each of them on the hunt for a piece of design history. Think hand-sewn sequins and starry silhouettes. Or you might spy a vintage muse in second hand leather and spiky heels falling over flapper dresses and wartime headwear.

For the first time ever, Angels, Europe’s biggest, brightest and most iconic film and theatrical costumier, stages a mammoth clothing sale. More than 30, 000 items of vintage clothing, accessories and jewellery, including pieces featured in films, TV dramas and pop promos, are set for a starring role as a bargain addition to your wardrobe.

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The timing couldn’t be better. Bang in the middle of the credit crunch party season Angels have dropped the frou-frou price tag in favour of a far more festive payment system. You purchase an empty shopping bag on arrival, costing between £10 and £20, and fill it up with lush, lavish or downright ornamental day and eveningwear.

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Tucked away in the fashioned up folds of this supersize event are gowns by Christian Dior and Jean Muir. Perhaps you’ll even come across a corset fresh from its debut on the silver screen. More exciting still for anyone inspired by street style looks are the High Street labels of yesteryear, including Chelsea Girl, Bus Stop and Artwork Blue. The sale acts as an archive of fashion’s forgotten favourites and is a snapshot of retro design pioneers.

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Whatever you find, the event has widespread appeal, from members of the bargain hunter public to history of design scholars. The shopping elite can snatch at consumptive fulfillment in these credit crunch climes without having to settle for the mindless monotony of minimalism, a look traditionally touted by fashion forerunners in times of economic hardship. As the trend for re-wearing, recycling and reworking style statements from the past continues, fashion, at least, can still be fanciful and frivolous. This authentic collection of costumes stalks a precious historical timeline and offers the chance for you to put a new slant on generations of style. So steal yourself away from the urban high street shopping throng and spin North in your second hand heels. This is could be one of the shopping highlights of the season.

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MONDAY 17th November

Amazing Baby, sick Stricken City – The Lexington, viagra sale London
Yo Majesty! – Barfly, London
The Black Keys – The Academy, BRISTOL
White Denim – The Plug, Sheffield

TUESDAY 18th November

Baddies, Dan Black – Hoxton Bar & Grill, London
Metronomy – Rough Trade East, London
Little Noise Session feat. Ladyhawke, Noah and the Whale
The Notwist – Club Academy, Manchester

WEDNESDAY 19th November

TV on the Radio – Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London
Tony Christie – Cadogan Hall, London
Jay Jay Pistolet – The Enterprise, London
Fucked Up – Roadhouse, Manchester

THURSDAY 20th November

Micachu – Corsica Studios, London
Jay Reatard – The Faversham, Leeds
Sway – The Syndicate, Bristol
White Lies – Guildhall, Gloucester

FRIDAY 21st November

Andrew Bird, St Giles Church, London
RAR! All Ages Event feat. Street Riots, Poppy and the Jezabels, Partyshank
The Faint – Brighton Digital, Brighton
Golden Silvers – The Macbeth, London

SATURDAY 22nd November

Buraka Som Sistema – Shoreditch Studios, London
Screaming Tea Party – The Macbeth, London
The Sugars – Bardens Boudoir, London

SUNDAY 23rd November

Those Dancing Days – Thekla, Bristol
Clinic – Scala, London
Koko Von Napoo – Rough Trade East, London
Greg Weeks – Luminaire, London

Categories ,Amazing Baby, ,Andrew Bird, ,Baddies, ,Buraka Som Sisterma, ,Clinic, ,Fucked Up, ,Golden Silvers, ,Greg Weeks, ,Jay Jay Pistolet, ,Jay Reatard, ,Koko Von Napoo, ,Ladyhawk, ,Listings, ,Little Noise Session, ,Metronomy, ,Micachu, ,Music, ,Noah and the Whale, ,Poppy and the Jezabels, ,Screaming Tea Party, ,Stricken City, ,Sway, ,The Black Keys, ,The Faint, ,The Sugars, ,Those Dancing Days, ,Tony Christie, ,TV on the Radio, ,White Denim, ,White Lies, ,Yo Majesty!

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Amelia’s Magazine | Music Listings: 24th August – 30th August

Having spearheaded the new London folk scene with their debut album, there medical Noah 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.

0819%20noah3.jpg
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.

The First Days Of Spring Teaser from charlie fink on Vimeo.

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.

0819%20noah2.jpg

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.

0819%20noah1.JPG

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.

Monday 24th August
Mumford and Sons
The Borderline, more about London

UK’s answer to Fleet Foxes, online Mumford and Sons, visit this celebrate their music video to the first single off their debut album in North London tonight.

Mumford-and-Sons-otw.jpg

Tuesday 25th August
Wilco
The Troxy, London

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.

wilco_2008.jpg

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.

The%2BHot%2BRats%2BCool%2BHat.jpg

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.

kill%20it%20kid.jpg

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.

swanton%20bombs.jpg

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.

teenagersintokyo.jpg

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!

moonmusicorchestra.jpg

Categories ,folk, ,gossip, ,kill it kid, ,Mumford and Sons, ,Noah and the Whale, ,Nu-rave, ,pop, ,punk, ,radiohead, ,rock, ,supergrass, ,swanton bombs, ,the beatles, ,the hot rats, ,the kinks

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Amelia’s Magazine | Noah & The Whale on Film

Having spearheaded the new London folk scene with their debut album, there medical Noah 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.

0819%20noah3.jpg
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.

The First Days Of Spring Teaser from charlie fink on Vimeo.

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.

0819%20noah2.jpg

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.

0819%20noah1.JPG

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.

Categories ,daisy lowe, ,folk, ,johnny flynn, ,laura marling, ,noah and the whale, ,pop, ,werner herzog, ,wes anderson

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