Amelia’s Magazine | Fashion Talk: Justine Picardie on Coco Chanel at the Victoria and Albert Museum

Illustration by Lesley Barnes

Coco Chanel, sales the name synonymous with Paris fashion, abortion that has been so carefully cultivated by Karl Largerfield. He feels at times, as if a gentle caretaker as well as being an innovative Fashion Designer who is constantly reinventing the Chanel Staples. With each new season Largerfield alters the tweeds, the stars, the monochrome, the pearls or whilst still upholding the simplistic beauty, which Chanel originally conjured. Chanel is coveted, and her sense of style has embedded itself amongst the designs of the high street, during the talk I found myself playing spot the influence, from the cropped bobs to the presence of stripes on pratically every other member of the audience who found themselves at the V&A that blustery Friday night.

The talk was held by Justine Picardie in celebration of the publication of her new book; Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life. Picardie is a journalist for the Telegraph, an author who writes fiction and non fiction and who has spent the last 13 years researching the life of Coco Chanel. This was an opportunity to discover the person behind the label, that was too good too miss.

Illustration by Joana Faria

A talented speaker, Justine enraptured the audience with tales of Chanel’s rise from rags to riches polevaulting through French Society’s regimented conventions. Chanel made ignoring social conventions a habit of a lifetime, luckily, not only for Haute Couture but for women everywhere who wanted to wear trousers.

Not for Chanel the corsets of early 1900′s France – no, the most striking photographs of Chanel shown at the talk, documented her investment in a shocking departure from the norm, single handily promoting trousers and the eponymous Breton stripe. Importantly (I am speaking here as someone who despises how reliant high heels make me on those I am travelling with) Chanel was an avid wearer of the flat shoe – not for her the gravity defying, walk preventing spindly heels that are oh so popular not only on the catwalk but that shop nestling within the heart of Oxford Street; Topshop.

Illustration by Kelly Angood

“Fashion is very dark, what we wear is what we cover up” Coco Chanel

Justine Picardie covered the usual ground of Chanel’s relationship with men, starting with Boy Capel and touching upon her life spent fishing in Scotland with the Duke of Westminister. Through whom Coco met Winston Churchill in the early 1920′s. The discovery of a picture of the two together lead Picard to explore Chanel’s reported relationship with a German Soldier -via the Winston Churchill archives- which may not have been the action of a French sympathiser, as what was reported; but a (slightly naive…) plan -devised perhaps by Coco and regaled to Winston Churchill – to bring the war to an early end. This may seem rather glib, but to find out more and the outcome of Picardie trip to the archives? Sadly the author left this announcement within the pages of her book.

Illustration by Maria del Carmen SmithAn aside, notice how Chanel sits on the horse in jodphurs, rather than side saddle, a fairly political statement at a time when most women were bound in corsets.

It was the perfect talk – full of teasers about the book’s contents alongside interesting insights into the development of the identity of Coco Chanel – from the influence of the monastery where she grew up where the star mosaics would later inspire her future designs. To her meeting Boy Capel and Duke of Westminister (with whom she travelled to Scotland and discovered the Scottish Mills who produced the now famous Chanel Tweed).

Chanel was funded by Boy Capell, the man seated on the horse in the above illustration, however, as the Fashion House began to produce revenue, Chanel paid back every penny. From the start Coco was to be an independent women – an undeniably lucky, for her connections with Boy helped her attract clients, but a financially independent one nevertheless.

Illustration by Abby Wright

Picardie touched upon the importance of certain numbers to Chanel including the infamous number 5, to the constant use and development of the star motif. In a picture of Chanel’s apartment, Picardie touched upon the presence of tarot cards and the importance of magical thinking alongside Chanel’s training as a seamstress in the creation of the House’s style. Justine attributes this ‘magical thinking’ to her time spent as a child growing up in an ancient monastery, suggesting that the epoynmous Chanel star was inspired by the star mosaics made by the Medieval Monks who originally inhabited the monastery. For more detail, I’m afraid you are going to have to read the book!

Illustration by Antonia Parker

During the talk (which occur weekly on a Friday evening) Justine Picardie described fashion as “a series of Hauntings” and finished the talk with a wish for a book on the continuation of Chanel by Karl Largerfield, to conclude that such a book could only be written once Largerfield had left Chanel and quite possibly this planet…

Coco Chanel, The Legend and the Life by Justine Picardie is certainly on my christmas list!

Categories ,Abby Wright, ,Antonia Parker, ,Boy Capbel, ,Chanel 3.55, ,Coco Chanel, ,Duke of Westminister, ,Haute Couture, ,Joana Faria, ,Justine Picard, ,Kelly Angood, ,Lesley Barnes, ,Maria del Carmen Smith, ,Number 5, ,paris, ,stars, ,The Life and The Legend of Coco Chanel, ,Tweed, ,va

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Amelia’s Magazine | Fashion Talk: Justine Picardie on Coco Chanel at the Victoria and Albert Museum

Illustration by Lesley Barnes

Coco Chanel, sales the name synonymous with Paris fashion, abortion that has been so carefully cultivated by Karl Largerfield. He feels at times, as if a gentle caretaker as well as being an innovative Fashion Designer who is constantly reinventing the Chanel Staples. With each new season Largerfield alters the tweeds, the stars, the monochrome, the pearls or whilst still upholding the simplistic beauty, which Chanel originally conjured. Chanel is coveted, and her sense of style has embedded itself amongst the designs of the high street, during the talk I found myself playing spot the influence, from the cropped bobs to the presence of stripes on pratically every other member of the audience who found themselves at the V&A that blustery Friday night.

The talk was held by Justine Picardie in celebration of the publication of her new book; Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life. Picardie is a journalist for the Telegraph, an author who writes fiction and non fiction and who has spent the last 13 years researching the life of Coco Chanel. This was an opportunity to discover the person behind the label, that was too good too miss.

Illustration by Joana Faria

A talented speaker, Justine enraptured the audience with tales of Chanel’s rise from rags to riches polevaulting through French Society’s regimented conventions. Chanel made ignoring social conventions a habit of a lifetime, luckily, not only for Haute Couture but for women everywhere who wanted to wear trousers.

Not for Chanel the corsets of early 1900′s France – no, the most striking photographs of Chanel shown at the talk, documented her investment in a shocking departure from the norm, single handily promoting trousers and the eponymous Breton stripe. Importantly (I am speaking here as someone who despises how reliant high heels make me on those I am travelling with) Chanel was an avid wearer of the flat shoe – not for her the gravity defying, walk preventing spindly heels that are oh so popular not only on the catwalk but that shop nestling within the heart of Oxford Street; Topshop.

Illustration by Kelly Angood

“Fashion is very dark, what we wear is what we cover up” Coco Chanel

Justine Picardie covered the usual ground of Chanel’s relationship with men, starting with Boy Capel and touching upon her life spent fishing in Scotland with the Duke of Westminister. Through whom Coco met Winston Churchill in the early 1920′s. The discovery of a picture of the two together lead Picard to explore Chanel’s reported relationship with a German Soldier -via the Winston Churchill archives- which may not have been the action of a French sympathiser, as what was reported; but a (slightly naive…) plan -devised perhaps by Coco and regaled to Winston Churchill – to bring the war to an early end. This may seem rather glib, but to find out more and the outcome of Picardie trip to the archives? Sadly the author left this announcement within the pages of her book.

Illustration by Maria del Carmen SmithAn aside, notice how Chanel sits on the horse in jodphurs, rather than side saddle, a fairly political statement at a time when most women were bound in corsets.

It was the perfect talk – full of teasers about the book’s contents alongside interesting insights into the development of the identity of Coco Chanel – from the influence of the monastery where she grew up where the star mosaics would later inspire her future designs. To her meeting Boy Capel and Duke of Westminister (with whom she travelled to Scotland and discovered the Scottish Mills who produced the now famous Chanel Tweed).

Chanel was funded by Boy Capell, the man seated on the horse in the above illustration, however, as the Fashion House began to produce revenue, Chanel paid back every penny. From the start Coco was to be an independent women – an undeniably lucky, for her connections with Boy helped her attract clients, but a financially independent one nevertheless.

Illustration by Abby Wright

Picardie touched upon the importance of certain numbers to Chanel including the infamous number 5, to the constant use and development of the star motif. In a picture of Chanel’s apartment, Picardie touched upon the presence of tarot cards and the importance of magical thinking alongside Chanel’s training as a seamstress in the creation of the House’s style. Justine attributes this ‘magical thinking’ to her time spent as a child growing up in an ancient monastery, suggesting that the epoynmous Chanel star was inspired by the star mosaics made by the Medieval Monks who originally inhabited the monastery. For more detail, I’m afraid you are going to have to read the book!

Illustration by Antonia Parker

During the talk (which occur weekly on a Friday evening) Justine Picardie described fashion as “a series of Hauntings” and finished the talk with a wish for a book on the continuation of Chanel by Karl Largerfield, to conclude that such a book could only be written once Largerfield had left Chanel and quite possibly this planet…

Coco Chanel, The Legend and the Life by Justine Picardie is certainly on my christmas list!

Categories ,Abby Wright, ,Antonia Parker, ,Boy Capbel, ,Chanel 3.55, ,Coco Chanel, ,Duke of Westminister, ,Haute Couture, ,Joana Faria, ,Justine Picard, ,Kelly Angood, ,Lesley Barnes, ,Maria del Carmen Smith, ,Number 5, ,paris, ,stars, ,The Life and The Legend of Coco Chanel, ,Tweed, ,va

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Amelia’s Magazine | Interview: Fashion designer Ziad Ghanem introduces new S/S 2014 Couture Collection “HELL O”

Ziad Ghanem S/S 2014 by Claire Kearns

Ziad Ghanem S/S 2014 by Claire Kearns.

We really missed culture couturier Ziad Ghanem on the catwalk last season so I am really pleased to exclusively introduce his new S/S 2014 Couture Collection entitled HELL O, dedicated to Queen Victoria and powerful curvy women. I spoke to Ziad and his stylist, Aiden Connor about the ethos behind the designs.

Ziad Ghanem by Leah Nelson

Ziad Ghanem by Leah Nelson.

You first started out in fashion with quite an urban aesthetic, but have since moved towards haute couture… how did this evolution come about and what is the best thing about working at such a high end?
I am trained in the techniques of couture but the ubran aesthetic is what represents me most, so there is always an element of urban within all my work in both ready to wear and my couture. The best thing about working at such high end is that you have a far more personal relationship with the client. Good communication is the key to a successful outfit.

Ziad Ghanem couture collection Lizzie Chiffon Print dress

Who buys and wears your exclusive couture looks, and how does the process of creation work once a buyer has requested a piece?
We have individual clients that have certain occasions to attend such as red carpet gala parties and other special events. After providing an individual design the client’s measurements are taken, the toile and the fabric samples are provided, the garment is fitted and then we start to produce the actual outfit. What works on paper may not always work in 3D form, so thats why we have fittings and alterations.

Ziad Ghanem by Adam Pryce

Ziad Ghanem by Adam Pryce.

What was the biggest culture shock when you moved from Lebanon to London in the 1990s, and how easy was it to adapt to life here?
Lebanon is a pretty open country to Western culture so I knew a lot about Britain before moving here. Moving to London is one of the best things I’ve done in my life, it gave me so much freedom, courage and inspiration. I felt at home here even from the first day I arrived and up to this day. I am so grateful to this country for everything it offers to creative people like me.

Ziad Ghanem couture collection S:S 2014 - cape

How have ideas and traditions from the place where you grew up infiltrated your designs?
Refinement and sophistication are things I’ve learnt from where I was brought up. I use lots of weaving techniques such as Nawl weaving and Artisan embroideries, which originate from that part of the Middle-East.

Ziad Ghanem couture collection S:S 2014 - pink dress

You have always shown your collections worn on a range of models who are fabulous for what they do as well as looking great. Why is it so important to you to steer clear of the traditional skinny teenage look that most designers show their clothing on?
Because it’s boring… Darling. Fashion should be about fun and not a prison. I strongly believe in individuality and I love the unexpected. My models are my muse. I love them.

Ziad Ghanem couture collection S:S 2014 - striped green dress

Why is the new couture collection titled “HELL O”?
It is titled ‘HELL O‘, because we wanted it to say ‘hello, look at me‘. We split the O from the word because I always get a lot of abuse for my use of my models (because of their sizes) and it feels like hell. I guess it’s nothing compared to their own hell that they must endure because of the industry and media discrimination. I was so, so upset when I read the body fascist comments of Mr Lagerfeld saying ‘nobody wants to see curves on the catwalk‘. I want to prove this statement is wrong, everyone can look good small, medium or large. Just embrace your individuality.

Ziad Ghanem By Lynne Datson

Ziad Ghanem by Lynne Datson.

What aspects of Queen Victoria inspired the latest collection?
Queen Victoria was a grand, majestic woman, and one of the longest running monarchs in history, so she is a symbol of powerful woman that always inspires me. She was no small lady but she never hid this and always showed this off in her full regalia.  

Ziad Ghanem by Hannah Boothman

Ziad Ghanem by Hannah Boothman.

In what way are you ethical in your designs?
I try to source my fabrics as ethically as possible so I use many vintage and reclaimed materials within my work, and I do not produce my pieces in a sweatshop – I treat the people I work with with respect. Ethicality must start with the way we treat the people around us, and the rest must follow.

Ziad Ghanem by Amy Davis

Ziad Ghanem by Amy Davis.

How did your mum get involved with the Paris is Burning collection, and has she contributed anything to the latest one?
My mum has always been the source of my inspiration as she loves glamour and dressing up. The 1980s was very much her area of fashion. She designed all of the accessories throughout the collection. She continually works with me; she is part of the team. 

Ziad Ghanem couture collection Zoe Black dress

Who took the photographs for the new S/S 2014 collection, and what was the art direction for these looks?
The inspiration for the shoot was Disney villains: I wanted it to be a caricature of haute couture and I was very lucky to meet the wonderful team I worked with, especially our models Zoe and Lizzie. Aiden Connor was the creative director for this photos, and it was shot by Andrew Hiles.

We sadly missed you on the catwalk last season (your shows are always a highlight of LFW) – when can we next expect to see you there, and any hints on what we might see? 
Thank you so much Amelia, I’m very thankful of your support since day one (thank you, blush). I will be doing a show during this coming February London Fashion Week. The new collection is looking very sensual but I am still working on the direction of the show. I’m in the middle of an idea that swings between “S & M” or “M & S“… lol

Ziad Ghanem by Avril Kelly

Ziad Ghanem by Avril Kelly.

Your garments really flatter the female physique in whatever form it comes in – what advice do you have for the ‘non-standard’ female when it comes to dressing beautifully?
Thank you for this compliment. My advice is firstly to invest in a good bra that fits well and is comfortable. Secondly, conceal the part you are not comfortable with and highlight your strongest assets. Don’t believe the myth that black is slimming or that a loose sack is flattering. Dress your size, brush your hair and accessorise.  

Ziad Ghanem couture collection Lizzie Black Corset

Finally, do you have any advice for aspiring young fashion designers who dream of entering the couture world?
My advice is, they need to study and learn how to make the classics with traditional techniques before they come out with the inventive pieces. As Alexander McQueen said ‘you need to know the rules before you can break them…’ A great knowledge of the human body is a must as well as an attention to the finer details. 

Thankyou Ziad, we can’t wait to see your new collection x

Categories ,Adam Pryce, ,Aiden Connor, ,Amy Davis, ,Andrew Hiles, ,Avril KellyAvril Kelly, ,Claire Kearns, ,couture, ,Hannah Boothman, ,Haute Couture, ,HELL O, ,interview, ,Leah Nelson, ,Lebanon, ,London Fashion Week, ,Lynne Datson, ,Nawl weaving, ,Queen Victoria, ,S/S 2014, ,Ziad Ghanem

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Amelia’s Magazine | Diptyque Candles

Bands like Okkervil River are eminently missable. They’re so redolent of a slew of others, pill more about and if you’re not on friendly terms with their songs they’ll pass you by like so much jaunty, information pills pleasant Americana. They’re also a great illustration of why you should persist with music.

And that’s not some pious, try rockist view meaning you’ve got to put down what you’re reading, sit up, and pay complete attention. It’s just good to give things a chance to get beyond your initial scrobbler – which makes quickfire connections, comparisons and judgments based on an increasingly convergent shared knowledge-bank of 50 years of pop. It’s about checking in music’s hiding places for that spark that turns a casual recommendation from a friend into your favourite album of the year.

You need to listen to Okkervil River because the real star attraction is the lyrics of Will Sheff. Like a Prozac-ed Conor Oberst words tumble out of him in stanzas, cascading, beautifully chosen, but always controlled. “Although I put my lips to your face / trying to push his kiss out of its place / although my heart started to race / now it has slowed / I’ll let it go,” he sings on ‘Song Of Our So-Called Friend’.

Behind him five guys playing the alt-country instruments you’d expect stay out of the way. Childlike drummer Travis Nelson (who has excellent wiry drummer’s hair) and keyboardist and trumpeter Scott Bracket sing along with every word, like their own band’s biggest fans.

Six members is often a bad, self-indulgent idea but OR’s are always serving and augmenting their songs. The slow-burning ‘The President’s Dead’ segues masterfully into ‘Black’, which is a pretty straightforward three chord stomper but when Okkervillised it comes out yearning, wistful and layered. They’re like “partytime!” Wilco, Being There-era. There’s a touch of Arcade Fire in their scope and ear for an epic. This sometimes skirts too close to hokey, but with lyrics as good as Sheff’s they’ve earned their slide guitar solos.

On latest album The Stage Names, everything comes together during the final song ‘John Allyn Smith Sails’. All the words, all the fear, all the joy, all the themes that have preceded it fall into place when it morphs into something from a very famous album. It’s one of the most beautiful musical moments of 2007. Ruining it before you’ve heard it would be a spoiler on a par with that Planet Of The Apes video cover featuring the Statue Of Liberty.

It’s a transcendent moment tonight. They know exactly how good it is. They audaciously don’t even end the set with it. They’re rightfully confident. They may be America’s best band.

Why is it so great being 16? It’s an angsty, pill uncertain time in which you doubt everything, troche struggle with a bunch of new and confusing ordeals and inevitably puke down your top talking to the guy/girl you like at an underwhelming party. But we largely remember it with total fondness.

You needed to work your problems through to their logical conclusion, buy more about no matter how labyrinthine they seemed. You’d not yet developed the coping strategy for later life – blithely shrugging, saying “well, them’s the breaks” and getting on with it. We can all agree that that’s a far simpler and more practical way to deal with things, but Jamie Lenman of Reuben is stuck in adolescence. His last thought is his best, and he’s going to yell it at you. This is thrillingly vital. I worry for him.

Slightly overweight, borderline ugly, he’s preaching to a small and dedicated throng. It’s a metal crowd – everyone is either unfathomably young and infectious or crusty and old enough to know better. It’s like being back at your first ever gig. An unexpected obscure song, a friendly moshpit, loud, people screaming.

Lenman’s band expends tangible effort, like the best air guitarists. Drummer Guy Davis reaches Canty-like levels of inventiveness, buried under a relentless propulsive drumstorm. He sits up throughout, a skinny Rollins, if he shaved his head he’d be a nutter. Bassist Jon Pearce does a textbook tall man, long instrument, purposeful sway thing. The three of them look moments away from combusting.

They tick lots of my boxes. Inventive, heavy, melodic, loud, fast, screamy, catchy. These are mostly the wrong boxes for 2007. ‘Some Mothers Do Ave Em,’ with a gargantuan riff that Josh Homme would divorce Brody (remember her?) for, is tossed away, apparently unaware of its own greatness. ‘Let’s Stop Hanging Out’ is their pop hit – a problem, because like almost everything they’ve done, it’s structured as if written by an Asberger’s sufferer. It lurches from A to B via, like, 37, each section marginally better than the last.

This analysis is all very silly and waaaay too glowing for a band you could fairly dismiss as dunderheaded nu rock – big riffs, often-daft words, sometimes cheesy tunes. But there’s something elusive, weird and brilliant at work which makes it seem completely unfair that Reuben are playing a half-empty goth club rather than enjoying Biffy-like love and adulation at the Astoria.

Their tour DVD, documenting life in a band too poor to give up jobs at supermarkets, is the saddest music film you’ll see this year, including ‘Control’. There’s a purity to Reuben, because you feel deep down they’ve realised they’re never going to “make it”. They’re getting as much out of nights like this as they possibly can.

They will surely disappear within five years, but Lenman will be back, I assure you. He’s a genius, that kid at school who was amazing at everything he tried but strangely awkward. His songs, once you’re over their ever-so-slight similarity to a bunch of nu metal we all wish hadn’t happened, are like nothing else in 2007.

I emphatically resist that getting older means you need to listen to cerebral, reflective music. It’s patronising, and a denial of where you’ve come from. Reuben are funny, but they’re also extremely earnest, and that seems to be a dirty word these days. But why should we forget what it’s like to be earnest? Why are we ashamed of being heartfelt? Why is it ok to call directionless, indulgent “folk” beautiful and intelligent when loving heroically crafted “rock” gets you laughed at? By your early 20s these are questions that seem too unanswerable to worry about

It’s fair to assume that most bands are having fun; travelling around the country playing music and generally being outrageous on tour buses is fine work if you can get it. Kotki Dwa however sound like they’re enjoying it even more then everyone else, buy more about not only have they rummaged around the musical toy box but they’ve emptied the shop. Robin’s Clogs is a wonderfully crafted indie pop song, mind with slicing guitars not dissimilar to Foals except without the edge and with a squeaking synthesiser over the top playing out a melody as catchy as they come.

Kotki Dwa then are one of the new generation of British pop bands who are re claiming the fun in indie from across the Atlantic. Vocalist Alex, unlike so many of his contemporaries, is actually able to sing melodically and belt out fine vocals with a painfully delicate voice, sometimes sounding on the verge of tears, yet conversely remaining wistfully upbeat, lips smiling but eyes crying. You know the type. This is never more apparent than on B-side Halogen, which holds it’s own to make a single of two fine songs. Oh, and they can even sing in French.
New ways, more about new ways, site
I dream of wires.
So I press ‘c’ for comfort, information pills
I dream of wires, the old ways.
Gary Numan, ‘I Dream of Wires’

Not only an underrated Gary Numan B side, but the latest retro clothing shop to open off Brick Lane. On the opening night, I Dream of Wires offered a kaleidoscopic mix of vintage fashion and nostalgic trinkets creating an environment Mr Benn would have reveled in. Had he actually existed outside of television. (For those who were not raised on children’s cartoons, Mr Benn was my childhood hero and the eponymous character of the classic children’s television show. He tried on clothes and was transported to exciting and dangerous worlds through the back door of the dressing-up shop. Now you know.) The rails ached with an eclectic clothing range as a cropped Moschino jacket with candy-striped lining hung beside a fluorescent pair of ski pants and bejewelled sweatshirt. Carla created a strong look Gary Numan would have loved, pairing a vintage dress with animal emblazoned leggings. In the display cabinets, curious and peculiar ornaments were arranged, the sort your grandparents displayed lovingly on tabletops and shelves. The changing room was continuously occupied as treasures came back and forth to be tried on for size and, happily for all, there were no January sale style brawls. Visiting the shop was like being in my own Mr Benn inspired magical adventure, starting out in the wardrobe of my babysitter in the eighties and stumbling through to my Nana’s bungalow. With so many second-hand and vintage clothing shops located around Brick Lane, I Dream of Wires is sure to appeal to those who get kicks poking fun at retro styles to create eccentric, outrageous ensembles.

carla.jpg
In amongst the glut of sugar coated schmaltz vying for the rather hollow accolade of Christmas number #1 for 2007 is this rather lovely cut from Welsh Wizards Super Furry Animals. A gift it is indeed. The track will be available free to fans in download format, view complete with B side and artwork on Christmas day. It’s safe to say this won’t be troubling the upper reaches of the charts then, viagra but when did SFA ever sell any records? The band’s lack of relative commercial success is still somewhat perplexing.

It matters not. Never intended to be a Christmas single, TGTKOG is one of many highlights from long player Hey Venus! released earlier this year. There are no bells or lyrics about snow. Just Gruff’s gorgeous tones, a meandering brass line and some intricate harmonies. Nadolig Llawen.

Imagine you’re watching one of those American hospital dramas on TV. Perhaps it’s the Christmas episode or season finale, medicine either way something is bound to go wrong. And when the shit hits the fan it breaks down into a montage of various characters in their scrubs, and remorseful, shop head in hands. Then, think of the music that accompanies those tearful medics. It’s emotive, driven by acoustic guitar and piano, with mildly folky vocals and a healthy dose of strings. Deadman, by House of Brothers, is one such track. Both sad and uplifting, this song has been strictly tailored in the studio to drag listeners up to peaks and down into troughs.

House of Brothers is Andrew Jackson’s solo project and is vastly different from his work with Scarecrow and The Death of Rosa Luxemburg. When I read the name of this EP I instantly thought of Jim Jarmusch’s film of the same title. House of Brothers’ release has little in common with the black and white western. I suppose you could say it’s lyrically bleak but the upbeat arrangements prevent Jackson from plumbing the depths.

Although lacking the polish of the title track, the other material has the same guitar/piano/strings, or indie-folk, sound. They are too long and it’s hard to maintain any kind of enthusiasm by the final track, correctly named The Last Ballad.

This EP is also aptly titled, because it retreads a musical style, which doesn’t have much life in it. It feels a little tired, as though most of the effort went into the first track. And was that effort worth it? As Jackson sings, “Don’t want to rise and shine for the second time. Just leave me be.” Perhaps we should.

tnp_press_pic_3_dean_chalkey.JPG

Having already waxed lyrical about These New Puritans after seeing them live in September, viagra approved I was more than ready and willing to get stuck into their much anticipated full-length offering, pharm Beat Pyramid. After much to-ing and fro-ing with release dates, cialis 40mg it looked like this one was going to up in the air for some time, however news is that’ll hit shelves this January and if you’ve an MP3 player, turntable, cassette deck or CD car stereo, I urge you to go out and buy it in every format and play it at high volume wherever you go. This is not THE perfect album, if such a thing even exists, and I won’t and can’t vouch for its life changing properties. However, what this is, I’d like to hope, is the beginning of something great. An album that delivers some absolutely stompingly good tracks, interspersed with a few that never take off; however it’s all a matter of context. Reaching such heights of brilliance at some points, if they fall short for just a moment at others, it hits as a minor disappointment. The fact is some of their lesser tracks would put most ‘indie’ hits to shame. Not a bad position to be in.

Beat Pyramid starts as it means to go on. The opener, …ce I Will Say This Twice which is picked up again in the closing track, sets the scene perfectly for the rest of the album. A beautiful slice of 80′s inspired, sharply constructed electronica, vocals nothing more than a mysterious, androgynous voice stating ‘I will say this Twice’. At just 16 seconds long its peculiar hypnotic effect leaves you wanting more, the sudden end coming frustratingly too soon.

Luckily the stomping drums that usher in Numbers make everything better again. As with their live performances, the beat is king on this record and having seen George Barnett (ringleader Jack’s twin brother) do some quite incredible things with a set of drumsticks, I was more than pleased to see all that demonic, tightly controlled energy translate onto record. “What’s your favourite number/What does it mean?/What’s your favourite number/what does it mean?” Jack never lets up. Insistent repetition is very much the order of the day with TNP, words becoming a beat within themselves, not what is said but more the pattern in which it’s spoken, over and over until it loses meaning but never effect.

Swords of Truth’s distorted trumpets swoop in like the opening of a Dancehall track, the beat conjuring similar reference, it’s easy to spot those unexpected influences that transform this band into something far more interesting and complex than your average post-punk outfit. It would be easy to mistake their eclectic tastes for pretension (Sonic Youth, Dubstep, the Occult, David Lynch) but they’re all laid out here, grabbed and borrowed from seemingly disparate genres. When mention was made of hip-hop whiz kid J Dilla I had my doubts, but they meant it; his irresistible, inside out beats littered throughout.

And now onto Doppelganger. I first heard this track online and immediately spent a good hour trying to track it down and just own it. A stuttering, Timbaland-esque experiment in beat and rhythm, it’s sparsity and directness carried along by, what can only be described as a ‘jangly’ electro dreamscape, giving it a kind of futuristic grandeur and irresistible head nodding appeal. It’s very rare that a band actually creates anything new but Doppelganger is so wilfully unusual and unexpected that it becomes almost impossible to place. At points I’m reminded of The Fall, Aphex Twin, GGD, Klaxons but as quickly as the comparisons come to mind, they’re dashed aside. This is something else and I’m having trouble putting my finger on it. I gave up trying. Whichever way you read it, at its core is something that just works, ultimately making it the standout track of the album.

Infinity Ytinifnl, £4, mkk3, all march along in a similar vein, perhaps a little less instantly striking, they nevertheless continue that ‘new sound’ with some impressive angular rhythms. Aggressive, brash, disjointed, taut. Heard outside of the context of this album, they would probably have had me frantically scrambling for the volume dial. Instead I just sit back and enjoy.

Things come to an unusually melancholic close with Costume, all drawn out, languid keyboards harmonising with Jack’s slow, deliberate vocals as they rise and fall through what feels like one continuous chorus. Interruption in the form of George’s powerful stuttering, staccato drumbeat, take this track to another level. The obligatory ‘Downbeat Finale’ this is not.

So, we return to the beginning again with I Will Say This Twi…, this time just 7 seconds long and ending abruptly like a sudden pull of the plug. The album comes full circle and while none of the mystery surround TNP has been solved, as impenetrable and cryptic as ever in their themes, even their intent, what they do reveal is a unexpectedly accomplished collection of off-beat, otherworldly tracks that remind you that taking a risk sometimes pays off.

Candles – pillar, symptoms tea lights and especially church candles in wine bottles. I love them all. Once I bought a load of tea lights, visit web lined them up on the windowsill behind my bed and lit them, hoping to create a nice atmosphere in my squat (ok it wasn’t actually a squat, but we did have a beetle and maggot infestation – who thought these life forms could co-exist so happily?) This ambiance lasted for about half an hour, until my friend forgot they were lit and leant back too far whilst sitting on the bed. His hair caught fire. After this debacle I’ve been banned from candles just incase I drop out of University to pursue arson as a career. But fate was quick to intervene, as some delightfully scented Diptyque candles were delivered to Amelia and I got to spark up. Diptyque began producing candles in 1963, and in the ensuing 45 years it has cornered the candle market with its exotic wax concoctions and beautiful packaging. In time for Christmas and the New Year, Diptyque have produced three limited edition winter candles – Encens (incense), Gingembre (ginger) and Epicea (spruce). These are candles your mum will actually appreciate as a gift, and so will everyone else within smelling distance. With 60 hours of burning time per candle, this seasonal trio are sure to last through the festive period to deliver the perfect aroma to cure January blues.

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