Amelia’s Magazine | Sound It Out: an interview with Jeanie Finlay

sounditout by Sarah Jayne
Illustration by Sarah-Jayne Brain

Record shops have always been a particular haunt of mine – from my (short-lived) days as a superstar student DJ when I’d go on the hunt for Friday night floor fillers for the student union, to my weekly shopping expeditions to the much missed Selectadisc in Nottingham to boost my Bowie collection, right up to the present – rummaging through the record racks in such establishments as Rough Trade and Sister Ray.

Being a record geek, I naturally had to check out a new documentary which I’d heard had been made about a small independent record shop in the North East (at a time when such shops are disappearing at an alarming rate), especially when it was then premiered at this year’s SXSW in Austin, Texas, and subsequently became the official film for Record Store Day 2011, picking up plaudits along the way! That film is Sound It Out, by Jeanie Finlay, and it follows the trials and tribulations of running Sound It Out Records, an independent record shop (the last one, in fact) in Stockton-on-Tees.

Sound It Out by Jeanie Finlay
All photography courtesy of Jeanie Finlay.

I caught a screening of the film at Rough Trade East a while ago, which was followed by a Q&A with Jeanie Finlay and a typically robust performance by Stockton’s Chapman Family (who also contributed to the soundtrack). It’s a funny, touching piece, and it’s more than a just film about a record shop, it’s also about a love of music, and what it means to the community that gathers around the shop, and about the larger community, in Stockton, as well.

YouTube Preview Image

Amelia’s Magazine posed a few questions to Jeanie Finlay about the documentary.

What inspired you to make the documentary? Is the finished film how you imagined it when you first started, or has it taken on a life of its own?
Sound It Out is a documentary portrait about the very last record shop in Teesside, Sound It Out Records, Stockton-on-Tees. It’s a film about music and passion and collecting, all encased in a tiny shop on a small street in the place where I grew up. I went to school with Tom (the shop owner) and although Sound It Out isn’t a shop from my formative years (Alan Fearnley’s RIP) it was clear how much the shop meant to people when I’d go in to visit. It seemed like the perfect place to make a film about what music means to people and about the North East, about my home. Over the last five years a record shop has closed in the UK every three days so it seemed important to document Sound It Out in all its glory. It’s the first film I’ve made on my own – I usually work with a crew. For Sound It Out I wanted to just start shooting, just me and the camera and see what happened. I sensed there was a film to be made in the story of the shop but I really wasn’t sure until long into the shoot. I needed to find out by just doing it. All the way through, from the filming, edit, design and distribution I’ve just tried to follow my gut instinct and go with it.

Sound it Out by Jeanie Finlay girl

Was it easy to persuade Tom to let you film in the shop? It must have been a bit of an unexpected request!
He was totally open and gave me complete access to the shop. The filming was a bit of a novelty at first and then I think it just became normal. When I’m filming things get good when it just feels boring – everyone has got so used to me filming that it’s not anything out of the ordinary. I’m just that girl in the corner with the camera. Tom was the only person I knew before I started and it was really interesting getting to know the regulars and deciding who the film would focus on. I was totally drawn to the shyer people who came in.

You get a few candid interviews with a lot of the regulars in the shop. Was that intended, to capture the ‘person behind the record buyer’, or was it something that just happened naturally?
I’m always interested in getting to know people ‘on camera’. The people I met were very candid and generous with what they shared. My films are always pretty personal and aim to find a glimmer of the person inside. I hope that people come away from the film feeling like they’ve got to know the people they’ve met on screen, for a moment. I’m not just interested in music – I’m interested in what it means to people and how it moves them. For me – music is powerful because other people’s lyrics and sounds can tell the story of our lives in a way that could be hard to articulate with words alone.

Sound it Out by Jeanie Finlay

Were you surprised by the critical reception Sound It Out received? And what did Tom and the customers think when they first saw it?
I was really nervous to show the film to Tom and the customers but they all seem to have taken the film to their hearts. Tom had been at a rough cut viewing but the first time he saw the finished film was the world premiere at SXSW, Austin. I was so overwhelmed after I did my introduction I burst into tears. I then just sat back in my seat and watched the audience. They were incredibly warm and Tom ended up on stage giving out advice on the best way to clean records. It was an amazing day. Since then the critical reaction has been kind of crazy. I originally imagined that I would do a small DVD run of the film and sell it in Tom’s shop. The film’s played at festivals all over the world. We’re now looking at a UK theatrical release and putting out a soundtrack EP on vinyl. We did a weeks run in NYC last week and got reviewed in the New York Times. I could not have predicted any of this:

Ms. Finlay’s smartly assembled film is an affectionate portrait of a shrinking group of record collectors under technological siege… Like a mint pressing in a bargain bin SOUND IT OUT is a rare find. Sweet.‘ (Daniel M. Gold, THE NEW YORK TIMES)

I don’t think it’s a film for everyone but the people that do like it seem to really like it.

Sound it Out by Jeanie Finlay man

Teesside has got a pretty vibrant music scene, and you include tracks by a few local artists (such as the Chapman Family, Das Wanderlust and Soviet Disco) in the film. Do you think that the area’s environment has helped create a distinct Teesside sound?
Totally… absolutely. Das Wanderlust makes me think of the strange landscapes of my youth and I love the moody, brooding sounds of the Chapman Family. Teesside runs through their music like words through Brighton Rock.

You’re currently trying to raise funds to get Sound It Out a full UK cinema release. With record shops still in a perilous position, are you hoping to inspire more people to support their local stores?
My film has been made with blood, sweat, tears and the support of (so far) 329 backers on crowd-funding website Indiegogo.com. It’s a micro budget film and we crowd-funded the shoot, the post production and when we got into SXSW we raised enough to get there for the premiere. It’s been like running a sponsored swim with a film as the goal and backers picking perks in exchange for their support. We’re now trying to finish our DIY story by raising enough to take the film to 30 cinemas across the UK. If we reach our goal of $10,000 we will unlock BFI P&A funding which will make it happen. Supporters can choose a limited edition 7” gatefold DVD with a baby blue vinyl soundtrack EP, a tour of the shop, a portable record player or bring the film to their own home. We still have a way to go but I’m hopeful. Each $ pledged gets us that little bit nearer – it’s the power of the crowd! I really do hope that people make the most of their local record shops. One of the pleasures of working on this film has been visiting some amazing shops. If you don’t use it – it will go, forever! We’re planning to hook up with local record shops when we take the film to cinemas. Get people in there buying something surprising.

After all the promotional work for Sound It Out, do you have any other projects in the pipeline?
Yes! Two new films, both feature documentaries – The Great Hip Hop Hoax (for BBC Scotland and Storyville), a film about LA hip hop act Silibil n’ Brains. No one knew they were Scottish, with fake American accents and made-up identities and ORION: The man who would be King, the rise and fall of a masked singer on Sun Records that tens of thousands believed was Elvis back from the grave.

Categories ,Alan Fearnley, ,austin, ,BBC, ,BFI, ,Bowie, ,brighton, ,Chapman Family, ,Das Wanderlust, ,Elvis, ,High Fidelity, ,indiegogo.com, ,Jeanie Finlay, ,New York Times, ,nottingham, ,Record Store Day, ,Record Store Day 2011, ,Rough Trade, ,Selectadisc, ,Silibil n’ Brains, ,Sister Ray, ,Sound It Out, ,Sound It Out Records, ,Soviet Disco, ,Stockton, ,Sun Records, ,sxsw, ,Teesside, ,texas, ,The Great Hip Hop Hoax

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Amelia’s Magazine | Fashion in Film Festival: Moulin Rouge (1928)

Your previous work has explored Poe and Baudelaire – what drew you to their writings and inspire you to visualise their literary landscapes?

They are both writers who utilise the city as a character within their own mythology. They blur the line between the now and another world. There is an atmosphere of insubstantial things, more about buy essences and emanations, check of beauty as a manifestation of a perpetual beyond. Of smoke, fogs, shimmering obfuscations and of a moon setting sail over the city. Through their absent, distant world, I can better see my own city, with its scuffed, graffiti-layered surfaces—another forest of symbols, veilings and half-read signs, a world of unstable meanings, porous images which flow into each other.

Your exhibitions contain both the static and moving image, how would you describe your relationship to these two methods of representation?

The drawn images both in the show and the film are an attempt to crystallise a particular idea or thought, the moving three dimensional fimed sections are more about conjuring up a state of mind or world

What possibilities of expression or narrative does film offer over the static image and vice versa?

I can be more open ended with film. when I’m making the images for my film, I create sets and project light and images into them and take hundreds of pictures ,so I often end up with something very different from what I began with film allows me to juxtapose and arrange images and have more than one thing going on at the same time by appealing to both the eyes and the ears, it also overlays images so someones impression of the film is a group of visual memories

The sets of the film resemble Victorian Children’s Theatre, possibly a stage for shadow puppets, is this a design inspired by research or relationship to the themes within the films?

I think my Poe film was more theatrical because his writing is very stagey and melodramatic

How did you discover Swedenborg and what drew you to his dream journals?

I went into the swedenborg society book shop out of curiosity, I like that part of town. it is also near to where Poe lived in London and also The conway hall and I loved the imagery in the dream diary and the struggle between reason and imagination

Which illustrators, artists or filmakers inspire or are used as reference within your work?

The Quay brothers, David Lynch, Kiki Smith, Paul Klee, Marcel Proust, Goya, Leonardo Da Vinci, Henry Darger

The enigmatic mood of the films feel similar to Alice by Jan Svankmajer, have you seen this film?

Yes I have seen it and I very much like it so I’ll take that as a compliment

What interests you with regards to Alchemic Drawings or the relationship between Science and Faith?

I like the use of Heiroglyphic language in Alchemy, the linking of the rational and the irrational and the idea that the smallest thing is linked to the greatest, the idea that the whole universe is a code where everything is both itself and something else.

Where did you study?

Cambridge University and Chelsea, I studied English BA and Fine Art Painting, which represents both sides of my work really, the literary ideas and the practical realisation.

Watercolours are frequently used within your drawings, what attracts you to the medium?

They’re very bright – I use radiant watercolour inks. also I like their irreversableness

Bellowhead Kayleigh Bluck
Jon Spiers illustration by Kayleigh Bluck

My boyfriend, prostate Charlie started showing me ‘A Folk Song A Day’ a while back. There is one where two men, stuff Jon Boden and John Spiers, frontmen of Bellowhead, sit under a tree, in an (enchanted) forest and sing a nice traditional sounding number. This is the one Charlie particularly loves, it holds the words ‘spotted pig’ within it. Most of the songs come with a healthy dollop of ‘English’ cheek, hence spotted pig.

Just like Bellowhead’s songs, which tend to chat vigorously about strange animals, wizardry and prostitution. But they’re all done with a little glint in the eye and an elbow nudge. ‘English’ cheek makes these things Ok, I reckon. It also makes it all very amusing and you feel yourself holding back an ‘hoooo arrrgh’ as they announce the next song’s topic and sing about ‘whores’. Maybe the ‘hoooo arrrgh’ is because I am watching the band in the West Country and I’ve finally lost my South Eastern ways and become western in spirit. So lovable, they are… and darn! It just seems so quintessentially English to sing like this! *In the depths of dirty 18th century London, a pub glows orangey red, and bursts music from its heart- beers spills from tankards and bosoms heave.*

bellowhead by cat palairet
Bellowhead illustration by Cat Palairet

Of course London and Brighton still love a ho-down. But I have to say it is the county of Cornwall, that Bellowhead reminds me of the most. Cornwall still retains that mystical charm, where the fairies hang out dressed in corsets and the boys wear waistcoats. It is where you will find wooden floor stomping and ‘proper’ local pubs bursting with dancing and singing – natural coloured, ethereally moving fabrics flaying about. Although some Cornish say they are not English, it feels like it is they who hold onto my own nostalgic vision of England hundreds of years ago. And it is true that most music nights in Kernow’s pubs and bars centre around acoustic music and folk struts. You would certainly be hard pushed to find any minimal or electro going on down there.

BUT I digress! We are in Bristol tonight and although I may think i’m entering a pub called Jacob’s Ladder in Falmouth, Cornwall, I am actually in The Bristol Old Vic. Charlie is made up because he is seeing his spotted pig superstars and due to last minute actions, i’ve just had to squash past a row of people to get to my red velvet (?) seat in the middle of the seating line. There are eleven instruments on stage, which the eleven band members begin to attach themselves to. Most of the instruments look enormous. One of them, has to be worn, which makes it look like it is engulfing its player with its own gigantic structure. Like a fish with a massive head.

They start. And it’s like being dunked in ocean water, blasted with air and then bounced up and down. Before you know it, you’re bouncing up and down because you can’t help doing it. Then you’re clapping. Then you’re standing up, and dancing, and clapping. Because you literally can not help it. Bellowhead have injected you and the whole audience with some sort of extreme happiness on a November night. How very talented.

Bellowhead Live Bristol

When looking at the audience, I wouldn’t call it a ‘young person’ – as my Granny would label it – night. However there is a very broad demographic of people in attendance. Which lays testament to their talent. They are able to cross the divisions and bring people together with a related inner excitement. Initially I had thought the lady sat next to me appeared very reserved when I apologetically sank into my seat. But she really went for it, and I mean went for it. I had to tell myself to loosen up a bit, I was so impressed with her enthusiasm.

Bellowhead are so very confident on stage too. Jon Boden leads them on their whizz around their elation inducing music, and they all respect and work together so well. It’s great to see the purposeful movements, belief in performance and joy from being there. Enjoying the riotous music making, Boden continuously raises up his arms, embracing, welcoming and encouraging the spirited feelings. Everyone dances around on stage and I feel like i’m watching a vibrant musical.

This stage presence and professional style now transports them from Cornwall to the Moulin Rouge! Now, Boden is standing on top of the windmill as he sings, and all the players are on a platform in the sky. It’s all loaded with humour and full of energy as I realise that these guys are actually epic.

Abby_Wright_Bellowhead
Jon Spiers illustration by Abby Wright

I begin to wish there had been no seats and we could have pranced around and stamped our feet from the start. However, of course although Bellowhead are about the dancing, they are also about the performance. Huge accolades have been bestowed upon this mega-folk band. They have won the BBC award for Best Live Folk Act four times, with The Independent stating: ‘With the exception of The Who, Bellowhead are surely the best live act in the country.’ Indeed. With 11 hugely talented musicians on stage, I didn’t want to miss a thing.

Before I sign off, going back to A Folk Song A Day, Boden says: “The main idea behind A Folk Song A Day. com is to try and do my bit for raising the profile of unaccompanied social singing. Most of the songs on the site are songs that I have sung for years but rarely on stage and never on albums – songs that I have learnt because I wanted to be able to sing them in a pub.” I’ll tell you this, their album is nothing compared to a live performance by Bellowhead. You WILL want to start singing in pubs and you WILL be singing all the way home.

Details of their tour can be found here

Bellowhead Kayleigh Bluck
Jon Spiers illustration by Kayleigh Bluck

My boyfriend, buy information pills Charlie started showing me ‘A Folk Song A Day’ a while back. There is one where two men, medical Jon Boden and John Spiers, seek frontmen of Bellowhead, sit under a tree, in an (enchanted) forest and sing a nice traditional sounding number. This is the one Charlie particularly loves, it holds the words ‘spotted pig’ within it. Most of the songs come with a healthy dollop of ‘English’ cheek, hence spotted pig.

Just like Bellowhead’s songs, which tend to chat vigorously about strange animals, wizardry and prostitution. But they’re all done with a little glint in the eye and an elbow nudge. ‘English’ cheek makes these things Ok, I reckon. It also makes it all very amusing and you feel yourself holding back an ‘hoooo arrrgh’ as they announce the next song’s topic and sing about ‘whores’. Maybe the ‘hoooo arrrgh’ is because I am watching the band in the West Country and I’ve finally lost my South Eastern ways and become western in spirit. So lovable, they are… and darn! It just seems so quintessentially English to sing like this! *In the depths of dirty 18th century London, a pub glows orangey red, and bursts music from its heart- beers spills from tankards and bosoms heave.*

bellowhead by cat palairet
Bellowhead illustration by Cat Palairet

Of course London and Brighton still love a ho-down. But I have to say it is the county of Cornwall, that Bellowhead reminds me of the most. Cornwall still retains that mystical charm, where the fairies hang out dressed in corsets and the boys wear waistcoats. It is where you will find wooden floor stomping and ‘proper’ local pubs bursting with dancing and singing – natural coloured, ethereally moving fabrics flaying about. Although some Cornish say they are not English, it feels like it is they who hold onto my own nostalgic vision of England hundreds of years ago. And it is true that most music nights in Kernow’s pubs and bars centre around acoustic music and folk struts. You would certainly be hard pushed to find any minimal or electro going on down there.

BUT I digress! We are in Bristol tonight and although I may think i’m entering a pub called Jacob’s Ladder in Falmouth, Cornwall, I am actually in The Bristol Old Vic. Charlie is made up because he is seeing his spotted pig superstars and due to last minute actions, i’ve just had to squash past a row of people to get to my red velvet (?) seat in the middle of the seating line. There are eleven instruments on stage, which the eleven band members begin to attach themselves to. Most of the instruments look enormous. One of them, has to be worn, which makes it look like it is engulfing its player with its own gigantic structure. Like a fish with a massive head.

They start. And it’s like being dunked in ocean water, blasted with air and then bounced up and down. Before you know it, you’re bouncing up and down because you can’t help doing it. Then you’re clapping. Then you’re standing up, and dancing, and clapping. Because you literally can not help it. Bellowhead have injected you and the whole audience with some sort of extreme happiness on a November night. How very talented.

Bellowhead Live Bristol

When looking at the audience, I wouldn’t call it a ‘young person’ – as my Granny would label it – night. However there is a very broad demographic of people in attendance. Which lays testament to their talent. They are able to cross the divisions and bring people together with a related inner excitement. Initially I had thought the lady sat next to me appeared very reserved when I apologetically sank into my seat. But she really went for it, and I mean went for it. I had to tell myself to loosen up a bit, I was so impressed with her enthusiasm.

Bellowhead are so very confident on stage too. Jon Boden leads them on their whizz around their elation inducing music, and they all respect and work together so well. It’s great to see the purposeful movements, belief in performance and joy from being there. Enjoying the riotous music making, Boden continuously raises up his arms, embracing, welcoming and encouraging the spirited feelings. Everyone dances around on stage and I feel like i’m watching a vibrant musical.

This stage presence and professional style now transports them from Cornwall to the Moulin Rouge! Now, Boden is standing on top of the windmill as he sings, and all the players are on a platform in the sky. It’s all loaded with humour and full of energy as I realise that these guys are actually epic.

Abby_Wright_Bellowhead
Jon Spiers illustration by Abby Wright

I begin to wish there had been no seats and we could have pranced around and stamped our feet from the start. However, of course although Bellowhead are about the dancing, they are also about the performance. Huge accolades have been bestowed upon this mega-folk band. They have won the BBC award for Best Live Folk Act four times, with The Independent stating: ‘With the exception of The Who, Bellowhead are surely the best live act in the country.’ Indeed. With 11 hugely talented musicians on stage, I didn’t want to miss a thing.

Before I sign off, going back to A Folk Song A Day, Boden says: “The main idea behind A Folk Song A Day. com is to try and do my bit for raising the profile of unaccompanied social singing. Most of the songs on the site are songs that I have sung for years but rarely on stage and never on albums – songs that I have learnt because I wanted to be able to sing them in a pub.” I’ll tell you this, their album is nothing compared to a live performance by Bellowhead. You WILL want to start singing in pubs and you WILL be singing all the way home.

Details of their tour can be found here

Your previous work has explored Poe and Baudelaire – what drew you to their writings and inspire you to visualise their literary landscapes?

They are both writers who utilise the city as a character within their own mythology. They blur the line between the now and another world. There is an atmosphere of insubstantial things, website essences and emanations, view of beauty as a manifestation of a perpetual beyond. Of smoke, stuff fogs, shimmering obfuscations and of a moon setting sail over the city. Through their absent, distant world, I can better see my own city, with its scuffed, graffiti-layered surfaces—another forest of symbols, veilings and half-read signs, a world of unstable meanings, porous images which flow into each other.

Your exhibitions contain both the static and moving image, how would you describe your relationship to these two methods of representation?

The drawn images both in the show and the film are an attempt to crystallise a particular idea or thought, the moving three dimensional fimed sections are more about conjuring up a state of mind or world

What possibilities of expression or narrative does film offer over the static image and vice versa?

I can be more open ended with film. when I’m making the images for my film, I create sets and project light and images into them and take hundreds of pictures ,so I often end up with something very different from what I began with film allows me to juxtapose and arrange images and have more than one thing going on at the same time by appealing to both the eyes and the ears, it also overlays images so someones impression of the film is a group of visual memories

The sets of the film resemble Victorian Children’s Theatre, possibly a stage for shadow puppets, is this a design inspired by research or relationship to the themes within the films?

I think my Poe film was more theatrical because his writing is very stagey and melodramatic

How did you discover Swedenborg and what drew you to his dream journals?

I went into the swedenborg society book shop out of curiosity, I like that part of town. it is also near to where Poe lived in London and also The conway hall and I loved the imagery in the dream diary and the struggle between reason and imagination

Which illustrators, artists or filmakers inspire or are used as reference within your work?

The Quay brothers, David Lynch, Kiki Smith, Paul Klee, Marcel Proust, Goya, Leonardo Da Vinci, Henry Darger

The enigmatic mood of the films feel similar to Alice by Jan Svankmajer, have you seen this film?

Yes I have seen it and I very much like it so I’ll take that as a compliment

What interests you with regards to Alchemic Drawings or the relationship between Science and Faith?

I like the use of Heiroglyphic language in Alchemy, the linking of the rational and the irrational and the idea that the smallest thing is linked to the greatest, the idea that the whole universe is a code where everything is both itself and something else.

Where did you study?

Cambridge University and Chelsea, I studied English BA and Fine Art Painting, which represents both sides of my work really, the literary ideas and the practical realisation.

Watercolours are frequently used within your drawings, what attracts you to the medium?

They’re very bright – I use radiant watercolour inks. also I like their irreversableness


Illustration by Abi Daker

To celebrate The 3rd Fashion in Film Festival, generic a series of silent movies have been presented at screens around London. After a frolic of veiled dancing at Dreams of Darkness and Colour at the Barbican on Saturday, there Tuesday night it was the turn of the BFI with a screening of the original Moulin Rouge, in its black & white silent glory.


Illustration by Katie Harnett

First presented in 1928, Moulin Rouge transports the viewer into the glamour of life on the Parisian stage and the often more stark reality off-stage that accompanies it. After meandering around Parisian night life, voyeuristically bringing the viewer vignettes of after-dark liaisons (including Toulouse Lautrec busy doodling music hall performances) the movie settles on the story of Moulin Rouge star Parysian. Her top billing and star rating at the Paris music hall does not save Parysian from her undoing, quite to the contrary, it is her profession that comes between her daughter, daughter’s fiancé and father-in-law to be. The film contrasts the harsh reality of Parysian’s life with the glitz of the showbiz world of which she is a part and cannot escape. ‘Madame, it’s time to go to the theatre’; the show must go on.


Illustration by Avril Kelly

The film reflects the sociology of the times – classism, elitism, personal relations, and of course the racy sub-culture of the music hall and Parisian bars are all brought to life. Some scenes were sure to be shocking for the 1920’s, not only the salacious stage performances, but the behviour of the music hall’s more well-to-do patrons, including an impromptu food fight at the show’s after party.


Illustration by Joana Faria

We went to see the fashion, and fashion there was. On stage, there was all the glamour to be found in Vegas, with revealing outfits bejewelled to the max. Off stage, Parysian continued the glamour, even when changing into something less revealing to play good mother-in-law. While lacking the full on sensory assault of its contemporary, given the allure of an old black & white silent, backed with a one-man musical accompaniment, the original Moulin Rouge can still arouse the senses.


Illustration by Karina Yarv

Read our review of Pink Narcissus at the Fashion in Film Festival here.

Categories ,1928, ,Abi Daker, ,Avril Kelly, ,BFI, ,Dupont, ,fashion, ,Fashion in Film Festival, ,Glamour, ,Joana Faria, ,Karina Yarv, ,Katie Harnett, ,london, ,Moulin Rouge, ,Musical, ,paris, ,Parysian, ,Toulouse Latrec

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Amelia’s Magazine | Fashion in Film Festival: Moulin Rouge (1928)

Your previous work has explored Poe and Baudelaire – what drew you to their writings and inspire you to visualise their literary landscapes?

They are both writers who utilise the city as a character within their own mythology. They blur the line between the now and another world. There is an atmosphere of insubstantial things, more about buy essences and emanations, check of beauty as a manifestation of a perpetual beyond. Of smoke, fogs, shimmering obfuscations and of a moon setting sail over the city. Through their absent, distant world, I can better see my own city, with its scuffed, graffiti-layered surfaces—another forest of symbols, veilings and half-read signs, a world of unstable meanings, porous images which flow into each other.

Your exhibitions contain both the static and moving image, how would you describe your relationship to these two methods of representation?

The drawn images both in the show and the film are an attempt to crystallise a particular idea or thought, the moving three dimensional fimed sections are more about conjuring up a state of mind or world

What possibilities of expression or narrative does film offer over the static image and vice versa?

I can be more open ended with film. when I’m making the images for my film, I create sets and project light and images into them and take hundreds of pictures ,so I often end up with something very different from what I began with film allows me to juxtapose and arrange images and have more than one thing going on at the same time by appealing to both the eyes and the ears, it also overlays images so someones impression of the film is a group of visual memories

The sets of the film resemble Victorian Children’s Theatre, possibly a stage for shadow puppets, is this a design inspired by research or relationship to the themes within the films?

I think my Poe film was more theatrical because his writing is very stagey and melodramatic

How did you discover Swedenborg and what drew you to his dream journals?

I went into the swedenborg society book shop out of curiosity, I like that part of town. it is also near to where Poe lived in London and also The conway hall and I loved the imagery in the dream diary and the struggle between reason and imagination

Which illustrators, artists or filmakers inspire or are used as reference within your work?

The Quay brothers, David Lynch, Kiki Smith, Paul Klee, Marcel Proust, Goya, Leonardo Da Vinci, Henry Darger

The enigmatic mood of the films feel similar to Alice by Jan Svankmajer, have you seen this film?

Yes I have seen it and I very much like it so I’ll take that as a compliment

What interests you with regards to Alchemic Drawings or the relationship between Science and Faith?

I like the use of Heiroglyphic language in Alchemy, the linking of the rational and the irrational and the idea that the smallest thing is linked to the greatest, the idea that the whole universe is a code where everything is both itself and something else.

Where did you study?

Cambridge University and Chelsea, I studied English BA and Fine Art Painting, which represents both sides of my work really, the literary ideas and the practical realisation.

Watercolours are frequently used within your drawings, what attracts you to the medium?

They’re very bright – I use radiant watercolour inks. also I like their irreversableness

Bellowhead Kayleigh Bluck
Jon Spiers illustration by Kayleigh Bluck

My boyfriend, prostate Charlie started showing me ‘A Folk Song A Day’ a while back. There is one where two men, stuff Jon Boden and John Spiers, frontmen of Bellowhead, sit under a tree, in an (enchanted) forest and sing a nice traditional sounding number. This is the one Charlie particularly loves, it holds the words ‘spotted pig’ within it. Most of the songs come with a healthy dollop of ‘English’ cheek, hence spotted pig.

Just like Bellowhead’s songs, which tend to chat vigorously about strange animals, wizardry and prostitution. But they’re all done with a little glint in the eye and an elbow nudge. ‘English’ cheek makes these things Ok, I reckon. It also makes it all very amusing and you feel yourself holding back an ‘hoooo arrrgh’ as they announce the next song’s topic and sing about ‘whores’. Maybe the ‘hoooo arrrgh’ is because I am watching the band in the West Country and I’ve finally lost my South Eastern ways and become western in spirit. So lovable, they are… and darn! It just seems so quintessentially English to sing like this! *In the depths of dirty 18th century London, a pub glows orangey red, and bursts music from its heart- beers spills from tankards and bosoms heave.*

bellowhead by cat palairet
Bellowhead illustration by Cat Palairet

Of course London and Brighton still love a ho-down. But I have to say it is the county of Cornwall, that Bellowhead reminds me of the most. Cornwall still retains that mystical charm, where the fairies hang out dressed in corsets and the boys wear waistcoats. It is where you will find wooden floor stomping and ‘proper’ local pubs bursting with dancing and singing – natural coloured, ethereally moving fabrics flaying about. Although some Cornish say they are not English, it feels like it is they who hold onto my own nostalgic vision of England hundreds of years ago. And it is true that most music nights in Kernow’s pubs and bars centre around acoustic music and folk struts. You would certainly be hard pushed to find any minimal or electro going on down there.

BUT I digress! We are in Bristol tonight and although I may think i’m entering a pub called Jacob’s Ladder in Falmouth, Cornwall, I am actually in The Bristol Old Vic. Charlie is made up because he is seeing his spotted pig superstars and due to last minute actions, i’ve just had to squash past a row of people to get to my red velvet (?) seat in the middle of the seating line. There are eleven instruments on stage, which the eleven band members begin to attach themselves to. Most of the instruments look enormous. One of them, has to be worn, which makes it look like it is engulfing its player with its own gigantic structure. Like a fish with a massive head.

They start. And it’s like being dunked in ocean water, blasted with air and then bounced up and down. Before you know it, you’re bouncing up and down because you can’t help doing it. Then you’re clapping. Then you’re standing up, and dancing, and clapping. Because you literally can not help it. Bellowhead have injected you and the whole audience with some sort of extreme happiness on a November night. How very talented.

Bellowhead Live Bristol

When looking at the audience, I wouldn’t call it a ‘young person’ – as my Granny would label it – night. However there is a very broad demographic of people in attendance. Which lays testament to their talent. They are able to cross the divisions and bring people together with a related inner excitement. Initially I had thought the lady sat next to me appeared very reserved when I apologetically sank into my seat. But she really went for it, and I mean went for it. I had to tell myself to loosen up a bit, I was so impressed with her enthusiasm.

Bellowhead are so very confident on stage too. Jon Boden leads them on their whizz around their elation inducing music, and they all respect and work together so well. It’s great to see the purposeful movements, belief in performance and joy from being there. Enjoying the riotous music making, Boden continuously raises up his arms, embracing, welcoming and encouraging the spirited feelings. Everyone dances around on stage and I feel like i’m watching a vibrant musical.

This stage presence and professional style now transports them from Cornwall to the Moulin Rouge! Now, Boden is standing on top of the windmill as he sings, and all the players are on a platform in the sky. It’s all loaded with humour and full of energy as I realise that these guys are actually epic.

Abby_Wright_Bellowhead
Jon Spiers illustration by Abby Wright

I begin to wish there had been no seats and we could have pranced around and stamped our feet from the start. However, of course although Bellowhead are about the dancing, they are also about the performance. Huge accolades have been bestowed upon this mega-folk band. They have won the BBC award for Best Live Folk Act four times, with The Independent stating: ‘With the exception of The Who, Bellowhead are surely the best live act in the country.’ Indeed. With 11 hugely talented musicians on stage, I didn’t want to miss a thing.

Before I sign off, going back to A Folk Song A Day, Boden says: “The main idea behind A Folk Song A Day. com is to try and do my bit for raising the profile of unaccompanied social singing. Most of the songs on the site are songs that I have sung for years but rarely on stage and never on albums – songs that I have learnt because I wanted to be able to sing them in a pub.” I’ll tell you this, their album is nothing compared to a live performance by Bellowhead. You WILL want to start singing in pubs and you WILL be singing all the way home.

Details of their tour can be found here

Bellowhead Kayleigh Bluck
Jon Spiers illustration by Kayleigh Bluck

My boyfriend, buy information pills Charlie started showing me ‘A Folk Song A Day’ a while back. There is one where two men, medical Jon Boden and John Spiers, seek frontmen of Bellowhead, sit under a tree, in an (enchanted) forest and sing a nice traditional sounding number. This is the one Charlie particularly loves, it holds the words ‘spotted pig’ within it. Most of the songs come with a healthy dollop of ‘English’ cheek, hence spotted pig.

Just like Bellowhead’s songs, which tend to chat vigorously about strange animals, wizardry and prostitution. But they’re all done with a little glint in the eye and an elbow nudge. ‘English’ cheek makes these things Ok, I reckon. It also makes it all very amusing and you feel yourself holding back an ‘hoooo arrrgh’ as they announce the next song’s topic and sing about ‘whores’. Maybe the ‘hoooo arrrgh’ is because I am watching the band in the West Country and I’ve finally lost my South Eastern ways and become western in spirit. So lovable, they are… and darn! It just seems so quintessentially English to sing like this! *In the depths of dirty 18th century London, a pub glows orangey red, and bursts music from its heart- beers spills from tankards and bosoms heave.*

bellowhead by cat palairet
Bellowhead illustration by Cat Palairet

Of course London and Brighton still love a ho-down. But I have to say it is the county of Cornwall, that Bellowhead reminds me of the most. Cornwall still retains that mystical charm, where the fairies hang out dressed in corsets and the boys wear waistcoats. It is where you will find wooden floor stomping and ‘proper’ local pubs bursting with dancing and singing – natural coloured, ethereally moving fabrics flaying about. Although some Cornish say they are not English, it feels like it is they who hold onto my own nostalgic vision of England hundreds of years ago. And it is true that most music nights in Kernow’s pubs and bars centre around acoustic music and folk struts. You would certainly be hard pushed to find any minimal or electro going on down there.

BUT I digress! We are in Bristol tonight and although I may think i’m entering a pub called Jacob’s Ladder in Falmouth, Cornwall, I am actually in The Bristol Old Vic. Charlie is made up because he is seeing his spotted pig superstars and due to last minute actions, i’ve just had to squash past a row of people to get to my red velvet (?) seat in the middle of the seating line. There are eleven instruments on stage, which the eleven band members begin to attach themselves to. Most of the instruments look enormous. One of them, has to be worn, which makes it look like it is engulfing its player with its own gigantic structure. Like a fish with a massive head.

They start. And it’s like being dunked in ocean water, blasted with air and then bounced up and down. Before you know it, you’re bouncing up and down because you can’t help doing it. Then you’re clapping. Then you’re standing up, and dancing, and clapping. Because you literally can not help it. Bellowhead have injected you and the whole audience with some sort of extreme happiness on a November night. How very talented.

Bellowhead Live Bristol

When looking at the audience, I wouldn’t call it a ‘young person’ – as my Granny would label it – night. However there is a very broad demographic of people in attendance. Which lays testament to their talent. They are able to cross the divisions and bring people together with a related inner excitement. Initially I had thought the lady sat next to me appeared very reserved when I apologetically sank into my seat. But she really went for it, and I mean went for it. I had to tell myself to loosen up a bit, I was so impressed with her enthusiasm.

Bellowhead are so very confident on stage too. Jon Boden leads them on their whizz around their elation inducing music, and they all respect and work together so well. It’s great to see the purposeful movements, belief in performance and joy from being there. Enjoying the riotous music making, Boden continuously raises up his arms, embracing, welcoming and encouraging the spirited feelings. Everyone dances around on stage and I feel like i’m watching a vibrant musical.

This stage presence and professional style now transports them from Cornwall to the Moulin Rouge! Now, Boden is standing on top of the windmill as he sings, and all the players are on a platform in the sky. It’s all loaded with humour and full of energy as I realise that these guys are actually epic.

Abby_Wright_Bellowhead
Jon Spiers illustration by Abby Wright

I begin to wish there had been no seats and we could have pranced around and stamped our feet from the start. However, of course although Bellowhead are about the dancing, they are also about the performance. Huge accolades have been bestowed upon this mega-folk band. They have won the BBC award for Best Live Folk Act four times, with The Independent stating: ‘With the exception of The Who, Bellowhead are surely the best live act in the country.’ Indeed. With 11 hugely talented musicians on stage, I didn’t want to miss a thing.

Before I sign off, going back to A Folk Song A Day, Boden says: “The main idea behind A Folk Song A Day. com is to try and do my bit for raising the profile of unaccompanied social singing. Most of the songs on the site are songs that I have sung for years but rarely on stage and never on albums – songs that I have learnt because I wanted to be able to sing them in a pub.” I’ll tell you this, their album is nothing compared to a live performance by Bellowhead. You WILL want to start singing in pubs and you WILL be singing all the way home.

Details of their tour can be found here

Your previous work has explored Poe and Baudelaire – what drew you to their writings and inspire you to visualise their literary landscapes?

They are both writers who utilise the city as a character within their own mythology. They blur the line between the now and another world. There is an atmosphere of insubstantial things, website essences and emanations, view of beauty as a manifestation of a perpetual beyond. Of smoke, stuff fogs, shimmering obfuscations and of a moon setting sail over the city. Through their absent, distant world, I can better see my own city, with its scuffed, graffiti-layered surfaces—another forest of symbols, veilings and half-read signs, a world of unstable meanings, porous images which flow into each other.

Your exhibitions contain both the static and moving image, how would you describe your relationship to these two methods of representation?

The drawn images both in the show and the film are an attempt to crystallise a particular idea or thought, the moving three dimensional fimed sections are more about conjuring up a state of mind or world

What possibilities of expression or narrative does film offer over the static image and vice versa?

I can be more open ended with film. when I’m making the images for my film, I create sets and project light and images into them and take hundreds of pictures ,so I often end up with something very different from what I began with film allows me to juxtapose and arrange images and have more than one thing going on at the same time by appealing to both the eyes and the ears, it also overlays images so someones impression of the film is a group of visual memories

The sets of the film resemble Victorian Children’s Theatre, possibly a stage for shadow puppets, is this a design inspired by research or relationship to the themes within the films?

I think my Poe film was more theatrical because his writing is very stagey and melodramatic

How did you discover Swedenborg and what drew you to his dream journals?

I went into the swedenborg society book shop out of curiosity, I like that part of town. it is also near to where Poe lived in London and also The conway hall and I loved the imagery in the dream diary and the struggle between reason and imagination

Which illustrators, artists or filmakers inspire or are used as reference within your work?

The Quay brothers, David Lynch, Kiki Smith, Paul Klee, Marcel Proust, Goya, Leonardo Da Vinci, Henry Darger

The enigmatic mood of the films feel similar to Alice by Jan Svankmajer, have you seen this film?

Yes I have seen it and I very much like it so I’ll take that as a compliment

What interests you with regards to Alchemic Drawings or the relationship between Science and Faith?

I like the use of Heiroglyphic language in Alchemy, the linking of the rational and the irrational and the idea that the smallest thing is linked to the greatest, the idea that the whole universe is a code where everything is both itself and something else.

Where did you study?

Cambridge University and Chelsea, I studied English BA and Fine Art Painting, which represents both sides of my work really, the literary ideas and the practical realisation.

Watercolours are frequently used within your drawings, what attracts you to the medium?

They’re very bright – I use radiant watercolour inks. also I like their irreversableness


Illustration by Abi Daker

To celebrate The 3rd Fashion in Film Festival, generic a series of silent movies have been presented at screens around London. After a frolic of veiled dancing at Dreams of Darkness and Colour at the Barbican on Saturday, there Tuesday night it was the turn of the BFI with a screening of the original Moulin Rouge, in its black & white silent glory.


Illustration by Katie Harnett

First presented in 1928, Moulin Rouge transports the viewer into the glamour of life on the Parisian stage and the often more stark reality off-stage that accompanies it. After meandering around Parisian night life, voyeuristically bringing the viewer vignettes of after-dark liaisons (including Toulouse Lautrec busy doodling music hall performances) the movie settles on the story of Moulin Rouge star Parysian. Her top billing and star rating at the Paris music hall does not save Parysian from her undoing, quite to the contrary, it is her profession that comes between her daughter, daughter’s fiancé and father-in-law to be. The film contrasts the harsh reality of Parysian’s life with the glitz of the showbiz world of which she is a part and cannot escape. ‘Madame, it’s time to go to the theatre’; the show must go on.


Illustration by Avril Kelly

The film reflects the sociology of the times – classism, elitism, personal relations, and of course the racy sub-culture of the music hall and Parisian bars are all brought to life. Some scenes were sure to be shocking for the 1920’s, not only the salacious stage performances, but the behviour of the music hall’s more well-to-do patrons, including an impromptu food fight at the show’s after party.


Illustration by Joana Faria

We went to see the fashion, and fashion there was. On stage, there was all the glamour to be found in Vegas, with revealing outfits bejewelled to the max. Off stage, Parysian continued the glamour, even when changing into something less revealing to play good mother-in-law. While lacking the full on sensory assault of its contemporary, given the allure of an old black & white silent, backed with a one-man musical accompaniment, the original Moulin Rouge can still arouse the senses.


Illustration by Karina Yarv

Read our review of Pink Narcissus at the Fashion in Film Festival here.

Categories ,1928, ,Abi Daker, ,Avril Kelly, ,BFI, ,Dupont, ,fashion, ,Fashion in Film Festival, ,Glamour, ,Joana Faria, ,Karina Yarv, ,Katie Harnett, ,london, ,Moulin Rouge, ,Musical, ,paris, ,Parysian, ,Toulouse Latrec

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Amelia’s Magazine | Sound It Out: an interview with Jeanie Finlay

sounditout by Sarah Jayne
Illustration by Sarah-Jayne Brain

Record shops have always been a particular haunt of mine – from my (short-lived) days as a superstar student DJ when I’d go on the hunt for Friday night floor fillers for the student union, to my weekly shopping expeditions to the much missed Selectadisc in Nottingham to boost my Bowie collection, right up to the present – rummaging through the record racks in such establishments as Rough Trade and Sister Ray.

Being a record geek, I naturally had to check out a new documentary which I’d heard had been made about a small independent record shop in the North East (at a time when such shops are disappearing at an alarming rate), especially when it was then premiered at this year’s SXSW in Austin, Texas, and subsequently became the official film for Record Store Day 2011, picking up plaudits along the way! That film is Sound It Out, by Jeanie Finlay, and it follows the trials and tribulations of running Sound It Out Records, an independent record shop (the last one, in fact) in Stockton-on-Tees.

Sound It Out by Jeanie Finlay
All photography courtesy of Jeanie Finlay.

I caught a screening of the film at Rough Trade East a while ago, which was followed by a Q&A with Jeanie Finlay and a typically robust performance by Stockton’s Chapman Family (who also contributed to the soundtrack). It’s a funny, touching piece, and it’s more than a just film about a record shop, it’s also about a love of music, and what it means to the community that gathers around the shop, and about the larger community, in Stockton, as well.

YouTube Preview Image

Amelia’s Magazine posed a few questions to Jeanie Finlay about the documentary.

What inspired you to make the documentary? Is the finished film how you imagined it when you first started, or has it taken on a life of its own?
Sound It Out is a documentary portrait about the very last record shop in Teesside, Sound It Out Records, Stockton-on-Tees. It’s a film about music and passion and collecting, all encased in a tiny shop on a small street in the place where I grew up. I went to school with Tom (the shop owner) and although Sound It Out isn’t a shop from my formative years (Alan Fearnley’s RIP) it was clear how much the shop meant to people when I’d go in to visit. It seemed like the perfect place to make a film about what music means to people and about the North East, about my home. Over the last five years a record shop has closed in the UK every three days so it seemed important to document Sound It Out in all its glory. It’s the first film I’ve made on my own – I usually work with a crew. For Sound It Out I wanted to just start shooting, just me and the camera and see what happened. I sensed there was a film to be made in the story of the shop but I really wasn’t sure until long into the shoot. I needed to find out by just doing it. All the way through, from the filming, edit, design and distribution I’ve just tried to follow my gut instinct and go with it.

Sound it Out by Jeanie Finlay girl

Was it easy to persuade Tom to let you film in the shop? It must have been a bit of an unexpected request!
He was totally open and gave me complete access to the shop. The filming was a bit of a novelty at first and then I think it just became normal. When I’m filming things get good when it just feels boring – everyone has got so used to me filming that it’s not anything out of the ordinary. I’m just that girl in the corner with the camera. Tom was the only person I knew before I started and it was really interesting getting to know the regulars and deciding who the film would focus on. I was totally drawn to the shyer people who came in.

You get a few candid interviews with a lot of the regulars in the shop. Was that intended, to capture the ‘person behind the record buyer’, or was it something that just happened naturally?
I’m always interested in getting to know people ‘on camera’. The people I met were very candid and generous with what they shared. My films are always pretty personal and aim to find a glimmer of the person inside. I hope that people come away from the film feeling like they’ve got to know the people they’ve met on screen, for a moment. I’m not just interested in music – I’m interested in what it means to people and how it moves them. For me – music is powerful because other people’s lyrics and sounds can tell the story of our lives in a way that could be hard to articulate with words alone.

Sound it Out by Jeanie Finlay

Were you surprised by the critical reception Sound It Out received? And what did Tom and the customers think when they first saw it?
I was really nervous to show the film to Tom and the customers but they all seem to have taken the film to their hearts. Tom had been at a rough cut viewing but the first time he saw the finished film was the world premiere at SXSW, Austin. I was so overwhelmed after I did my introduction I burst into tears. I then just sat back in my seat and watched the audience. They were incredibly warm and Tom ended up on stage giving out advice on the best way to clean records. It was an amazing day. Since then the critical reaction has been kind of crazy. I originally imagined that I would do a small DVD run of the film and sell it in Tom’s shop. The film’s played at festivals all over the world. We’re now looking at a UK theatrical release and putting out a soundtrack EP on vinyl. We did a weeks run in NYC last week and got reviewed in the New York Times. I could not have predicted any of this:

Ms. Finlay’s smartly assembled film is an affectionate portrait of a shrinking group of record collectors under technological siege… Like a mint pressing in a bargain bin SOUND IT OUT is a rare find. Sweet.‘ (Daniel M. Gold, THE NEW YORK TIMES)

I don’t think it’s a film for everyone but the people that do like it seem to really like it.

Sound it Out by Jeanie Finlay man

Teesside has got a pretty vibrant music scene, and you include tracks by a few local artists (such as the Chapman Family, Das Wanderlust and Soviet Disco) in the film. Do you think that the area’s environment has helped create a distinct Teesside sound?
Totally… absolutely. Das Wanderlust makes me think of the strange landscapes of my youth and I love the moody, brooding sounds of the Chapman Family. Teesside runs through their music like words through Brighton Rock.

You’re currently trying to raise funds to get Sound It Out a full UK cinema release. With record shops still in a perilous position, are you hoping to inspire more people to support their local stores?
My film has been made with blood, sweat, tears and the support of (so far) 329 backers on crowd-funding website Indiegogo.com. It’s a micro budget film and we crowd-funded the shoot, the post production and when we got into SXSW we raised enough to get there for the premiere. It’s been like running a sponsored swim with a film as the goal and backers picking perks in exchange for their support. We’re now trying to finish our DIY story by raising enough to take the film to 30 cinemas across the UK. If we reach our goal of $10,000 we will unlock BFI P&A funding which will make it happen. Supporters can choose a limited edition 7” gatefold DVD with a baby blue vinyl soundtrack EP, a tour of the shop, a portable record player or bring the film to their own home. We still have a way to go but I’m hopeful. Each $ pledged gets us that little bit nearer – it’s the power of the crowd! I really do hope that people make the most of their local record shops. One of the pleasures of working on this film has been visiting some amazing shops. If you don’t use it – it will go, forever! We’re planning to hook up with local record shops when we take the film to cinemas. Get people in there buying something surprising.

After all the promotional work for Sound It Out, do you have any other projects in the pipeline?
Yes! Two new films, both feature documentaries – The Great Hip Hop Hoax (for BBC Scotland and Storyville), a film about LA hip hop act Silibil n’ Brains. No one knew they were Scottish, with fake American accents and made-up identities and ORION: The man who would be King, the rise and fall of a masked singer on Sun Records that tens of thousands believed was Elvis back from the grave.

Categories ,Alan Fearnley, ,austin, ,BBC, ,BFI, ,Bowie, ,brighton, ,Chapman Family, ,Das Wanderlust, ,Elvis, ,High Fidelity, ,indiegogo.com, ,Jeanie Finlay, ,New York Times, ,nottingham, ,Record Store Day, ,Record Store Day 2011, ,Rough Trade, ,Selectadisc, ,Silibil n’ Brains, ,Sister Ray, ,Sound It Out, ,Sound It Out Records, ,Soviet Disco, ,Stockton, ,Sun Records, ,sxsw, ,Teesside, ,texas, ,The Great Hip Hop Hoax

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Amelia’s Magazine | Bishi at BFI Southbank: Live Review

Bishi by Margaux Cannon

Bishi by Margaux Quayle Cannon

It was a chilly evening on London’s Southbank, but still buzzing with Friday night revellers, skateboarders and tourists sampling the wares of the newly opened Christmas Market. Nestled beneath Waterloo Bridge, the BFI Southbank was my refuge for the evening, for Bishi’s Albion Voice show. There were a few glamorous individuals (including one half of Robots In Disguise, namely Dee Plume) in the crowd waiting patiently for the doors to open, some looking as though they were auditioning for a Roxy Music album cover. A bit unexpected for the various film goers passing through! As we took our seats inside the plush NFT1 auditorium, there was a brief introduction by Stuart Brown of the BFI’s Sonic Cinema, who had helped organise tonight and, as the lights dimmed, we were underway.

Bishi Albion Voice by Shy Illustrations

Bishi by Shy Illustrations

Bishi at BFI_by Dom&Ink

Bishi by Dom&Ink

A classically trained musician, after learning the sitar, bass and ukulele and developing a love for vintage synths and electronics, Bishi branched out into performance art and DJing, as well as playing with the likes of Patrick Wolf and Róisín Murphy. Acclaimed by the New York Times, no less, as the “New British Diva”, she also features in Julien Temple’s wonderful documentary London: The Modern Babylon. Albion Voice, her second album, is an ambitious exploration of Britain ancient and multiculturally modern (inspired by Michael Bracewell’s book England Is Mine: Pop Life In Albion From Wilde To Goldie), fusing English folk, minimal drones and lush orchestrations, and incorporating the writings of Milton, Chaucer and Mary Elizabeth Frye.

Bishi by Angela Lamb

Bishi by Angela Lamb

YouTube Preview Image

Taking centre stage, with a dazzling array of animations playing on the big screen behind her, Bishi ran through the songs from the album with an equally dazzling array of costume changes. On pieces like the epic Dia Ti Maria, the combination of hypnotic images, with vocal harmonies and a resonant church organ run through the BFI Southbank’s crystal clear PA, created a mesmerising effect. Bishi strapped on a sitar for the album’s title track, Albion Voice, and duetted (on screen, at least) with her mother, Susmita Bhattacharya, on Gram Chara (with lyrics by Rabindranath Tagore, who, in 1913, was the first non-Westerner to win the Nobel Prize in Literature). There was an instrumental interlude for The Last Of England, accompanied by an excerpt from Derek Jarman’s film of the same name (featuring a young Tilda Swinton). One song that didn’t feature on the album but which did appear was St George And The Dragon, recounting the legend of Dragon Hill. A thoroughly awesome set finished with Ship Of Fools, with Bishi inviting the audience to join in with its singalong finale.

YouTube Preview Image

Ship of Fools.Bishi_by Dom&Ink

Bishi by Dom&Ink

As Bishi left the stage to rapturous applause, and with the possibility of another performance at an East London gallery in the New Year, it looks like Albion Voice is finally going to get the exposure it deserves.

Categories ,Albion Voice, ,Angela Lamb, ,BFI, ,Bishi, ,Chaucer, ,Dee Plume, ,Derek Jarman, ,Dom&Ink, ,Julien Temple, ,Margaux Quayle Cannon, ,Mary Elizabeth Frye, ,Michael Bracewell, ,Milton, ,New York Times, ,Nobel Prize, ,Patrick Wolf, ,Rabindranath Tagore, ,Robots in Disguise, ,Roisin Murphy, ,Roxy Music, ,Shy Illustrations, ,Sonic Cinema, ,Southbank, ,Susmita Bhattacharya, ,Tilda Swinton

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