This album is seriously very good. I shouldn’t like it, check the name So So Modern sounds post-ironically self-conscious enough to sink a thousand Dandy Warhols and any other Bohemians Like You within a massive radius. They wear hoods live in a 3 year out of date nu-rave way and a cold break down of influences tick the boxes of mathsy post-Foals, post-emo,afro,electro blah de blah. But on Crude Futures, the Wellington, New Zealand four piece’s debut transgresses all over familiar tropes to create an immersive, widescreen vision of euphoria.
What is so evident from listening to this album is that it is an album, an actually considered set of songs designed to fit an album format rather than a bunch of tunes slotted together. How old fashioned, how So So Not Modern. Contrariness is rife: on an album impressive for its multi-layered vocals, the single, Berlin, is instrumental. The title here could be a sly nod to Neu! Based around a locked rigid groove that lets the guitars fly around as silvery metallic as prime Kraut. Motion is key. Also, if you want vocals here, leave it a minute and a half for the lead guitar zing to kick in and try singing The Hotsteppa by Ini Kamoze over the top. It fits perfect.
Sometimes the emo pedal is slammed down, The Worst Is Yet To Come, a case in point with its torrent of multiple shouted vocals but the rocking dynamics mutate almost imperceptibly into panoramic electronica – an act of musical sorcery.
This album is seriously very good. I shouldn’t like it, discount the name So So Modern sounds post-ironically self-conscious enough to sink a thousand Dandy Warhols and any other Bohemians Like You within a massive radius. They wear hoods live in a 3 year out of date nu-rave way and a cold break down of influences tick the boxes of mathsy post-Foals, stomach post-emo,afro,electro blah de blah. But on Crude Futures, the Wellington, New Zealand four piece’s debut transgresses all over familiar tropes to create an immersive, widescreen vision of euphoria.
What is so evident from listening to this album is that it is an album, an actually considered set of songs designed to fit an album format rather than a bunch of tunes slotted together. How old fashioned, how So So Not Modern. Contrariness is rife: on an album impressive for its multi-layered vocals, the single, Berlin, is instrumental. The title here could be a sly nod to Neu! Based around a locked rigid groove that lets the guitars fly around as silvery metallic as prime Kraut. Motion is key. Also, if you want vocals here, leave it a minute and a half for the lead guitar zing to kick in and try singing Here Comes The Hotstepper by Ini Kamoze over the top. It fits perfectly.
Sometimes the emo pedal is slammed down, The Worst Is Yet To Come, a case in point with its torrent of multiple shouted vocals but the rocking dynamics mutate almost imperceptibly into panoramic electronica – an act of musical sorcery.
This album is seriously very good. I shouldn’t like it, viagra the name So So Modern sounds post-ironically self-conscious enough to sink a thousand Dandy Warhols and any other Bohemians Like You within a massive radius. They wear hoods live in a 3 year out of date nu-rave way and a cold break down of influences tick the boxes of mathsy post-Foals, order post-emo,afro,electro blah de blah. But on Crude Futures, the Wellington, New Zealand four piece’s debut transgresses all over familiar tropes to create an immersive, widescreen vision of euphoria.
What is so evident from listening to this album is that it is an album, an actually considered set of songs designed to fit an album format rather than a bunch of tunes slotted together. How old fashioned, how So So Not Modern. Contrariness is rife: on an album impressive for its multi-layered vocals, the single, Berlin, is instrumental. The title here could be a sly nod to Neu! Based around a locked rigid groove that lets the guitars fly around as silvery metallic as prime Kraut. Motion is key. Also, if you want vocals here, leave it a minute and a half for the lead guitar zing to kick in and try singing Here Comes The Hotstepper by Ini Kamoze over the top. It fits perfectly.
Sometimes the emo pedal is slammed down, The Worst Is Yet To Come, a case in point with its torrent of multiple shouted vocals but the rocking dynamics mutate almost imperceptibly into panoramic electronica – an act of musical sorcery.
This album is seriously very good. I shouldn’t like it, viagra 40mg the name So So Modern sounds post-ironically self-conscious enough to sink a thousand Dandy Warhols and any other Bohemians Like You within a massive radius. They wear hoods live in a 3 year out of date nu-rave way and a cold break down of influences tick the boxes of mathsy post-Foals, shop post-emo,afro,electro blah de blah. But on Crude Futures, the Wellington, New Zealand four piece’s debut transgresses all over familiar tropes to create an immersive, widescreen vision of euphoria.
What is so evident from listening to this album is that it is an album, an actually considered set of songs designed to fit an album format rather than a bunch of tunes slotted together. How old fashioned, how So So Not Modern. Contrariness is rife: on an album impressive for its multi-layered vocals, the single, Berlin, is instrumental. The title here could be a sly nod to Neu! Based around a locked rigid groove that lets the guitars fly around as silvery metallic as prime Kraut. Motion is key. Also, if you want vocals here, leave it a minute and a half for the lead guitar zing to kick in and try singing Here Comes The Hotstepper by Ini Kamoze over the top. It fits perfectly.
Sometimes the emo pedal is slammed down, The Worst Is Yet To Come, a case in point with its torrent of multiple shouted vocals but the rocking dynamics mutate almost imperceptibly into panoramic electronica – an act of musical sorcery.
Familiarity of 2005 riffs and 2007 afro-tinged’ness a plenty? The more I write about this record the less good it sounds: Yes it is post-emo, yes, you can imagine how the singer twists his head nonchalantly into the mic post- Foals as afro tinged start stoppery is precisely laid down. But the catch is that describing comparisons can be, and frequently is a generic act itself.
So So Modern have laid down a densely layered atmospheric animal of a record. An album built on atmosphere, an album that seems to carve sound out of cavernous spaces, pulling huge rhythmic pulses out of chunks of blistering ocean, recalling nothing short of prime Jane’s Addiction. Or if the machinic urges of Neu! were transported into a natural, jagged terrain over the urban dystopeia of mid 20th century West Germany.
Crude Futures shouts, but this is not Group therapy, this is not cathartic purging but the opposite: paganistic rejoicing. With hoods. This is global rock, a jungle of widescreen textures meshing with powered up rhythms. Brashness is immediate but warmth of texture leeks through over repeated listening. Not so much a set of songs as different tugs of motivation, surges of euphoria, Crude Futures bypasses all expectations and is one of the best crank up loud album albums in ages.
Arcola Theatre’s sutainability plans. Image courtesy of Arcola Theatre
Last Sunday I spent a wonderful afternoon at Arcola Theatre, thumb at one of their regular Green Sunday events. This one was focused on Well-being and Happiness, nurse very fitting for the end of winter blues.’ Initially though, I must admit I was a bit sceptical: I thought I was about to be lectured on all the unhealthy things I’m doing with my life. However, after 20 minutes of amazing free massage from ‘Hands Inc.’ and chilled ginger beer from Mighty Veg Delight, I started to understand the vibe of the day, which is about relaxing, meeting people and having a go a whatever you fancy.
All photos courtesy of Rosie Leach and Rosie Hervey.
After some very tasty Jamaican health food, I spent an enjoyable hour helping children to make soap and bath bombs with Fab Cat on Oats, whilst listening to Mindapples explain their work on ‘the five-a-day ways to mental health.’ They asked us all to come up with our own suggestions of things that make us feel good. Suggestions from the crowd included: good conversation, getting things done, getting up early…and beer!
After a while some of the tables were cleared for adults and children alike to play games with Fun Fed, a group whose aim is “Joy, Upliftment and Laughter for Adults (and we mean that in a non-religious, non-sexual, non-weird way. Just belly laughs and deep sighs of contentment at life)”. We played a variation on musical chairs led to much hilarity. This was followed by some beautiful (and insightful) songs from The Planetell as and a community singing workshop run by Maya Waldman, where all levels of ability were welcome and there was not a piece of sheet music in sight.
At first everyone was quite timid, but soon we began to feel the rhythm and found ourselves singing in harmony and moving in time (well, relatively!). After a short performance of the repertoire we’d managed to build up in an hour, I moved downstairs to take part in, of all things, a laughter workshop with Carrie Graham of ‘Laughing Matters.’ It was wonderful! Here we learnt about the many benefits of laughing regularly: an improved sense of humour; the opporunity to make the most of your mistakes and to burn more calories per minute than a session on a rowing machine! We laughed in a multitude of ways (hohoho, hehehe, hahaha, huhuhuh) and we laughed at each other’s laughter, demonstrating just how infectious a laugh can be.
The evening was rounded off with a discussion about Gross National Happiness with Michael Rutland, former tutor to the Fourth King of Bhutan and Juliet Michaelson from the New Economics Foundation. The speakers agreed that the best way to happiness is not money or ‘economic growth,’ but rather community connections and being active: which was well demonstrated by the whole afternoon! The speakers disagreed on whether or not we can, or should try to measure happiness, which led to a lively debate amongst the audience, and left us with an interesting question on which to ponder and end a great, truly uplifting day.
Amelia’s Magazine interviewed sustainability projects manager Anna Beech last June, read it here.
Categories ,Arcola Theatre, ,Bhutan, ,Carbon Neutral, ,Carrie Graham, ,dalston, ,Fun Fed, ,green, ,Green Sundays, ,Juliet Michaelson, ,Laughing Matters, ,Michael Rutland, ,Mindapples, ,New Economics Foundation, ,Well-being
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