Amelia’s Magazine | Malachai – Ugly Side Of Love – Album Review


Do you remember Woodstock? It’s said that, page if you were there, you shouldn’t. Something like six million more people claim to have been there than actually were, if I remember rightly – I’m not sure. A number somewhere in that region, I imagine. Can’t be bothered to check exactly, and Malachai probably wouldn’t either, so I’m acquiescing to their style. Ugly Side Of Love is a rough-hewn 60s throwback that sounds like (what I imagine) what waking up at Woodstock on the final morning felt. I say waking up, I mean coming up with the dawn as Jefferson Airplane stumbled through their set at around 8am, Grace Slick’s voice distorted by many things more than just the distance and the tent canopy and a whole bunch of reverb. Malachai have managed to make an album that is, no word of a lie, entirely summed up in the album cover. Just look at that blue-smoke psychedelic vision (capturing the sound of blue smoke is a terrific achievement, it must be said), those terrible eyes, those colours. Just look at them. Wow.

Malachai are one of those extremely loud duos, a couple of guys who sound like a whole bunch of pissed-off bastards making deliberate noise. They’re from Bristol and have been championed by Geoff Barrow of Portishead, and that makes a lot of sense by the 1:30 mark on opener ‘Warriors’. I say this because they’ve reminded me just how limited, how narrow-minded, most of the current ‘alternative’ music I’ve been listening to is – I may wax lyrical on ‘breadth of influence’ or some similar critically pretentious descriptor, something that is essentially just a re-hashing of ‘they’ve got horns/strings/lots of members/synths’, but we’re talking about bands who pretty much listen to nothing outside of a narrow range of post-punk, 80s indie, 90s indie, and a few token world acts (or possibly just Paul Simon) for good measure.

Malachai – coming from a city that is arguably most famous these days for being something of a hippie outpost, a place spoken of with reverence by those who are really into their psychedelics yet find procuring them a frustrating experience – don’t exactly keep their cards close to their chest, revealing themselves as dedicated acolytes of this intoxicant culture. Ugly Side Of Love reminds me intensely of the (occasionally maligned) Magical Mystery Tour EP by The Beatles – a lot of people only listen to that soundtrack for I Am The Walrus and Strawberry Fields Forever and all those big hits, but there are a couple of instrumentals on there that are pretty, well, weird, even by the standards of the Beatles’ LSD phase. Lots of tape loops and odd psychedelic twinges, and that kind of attitude gets stretched here to something approaching the length of an LP. It’s even got the feel and texture of something you might expect served up by DJ Shadow, but it’s also undeniably a straight-up rock record – a strange combination, but one that clearly isn’t tried often enough if this is indicative of the potential in such experiments.

So we have the stoner-rock and garage-rock foundational stones, but adorned with the tricks and treats that can be found within Bristol’s various musical communities. Barrow’s influence, being producer and all, is evident, and certain tracks bear familial resemblances to Portishead’s trip-hop (‘Only For You’), but there’s also a fair bit of turntablism (‘Fading World’) and hip-hop sample play (‘Meeches Theme’). There are horns lifted straight out of the Arthur Lee playbook on ‘Lay Down Stay Down’, and dancehall drum patterns on ‘Only For You’. In fact, the only place where it’s nothing more than just a plain ol’ garage-rock record is on ‘Snowflake’, which could easily pass on any new Nuggets compilation.

Ugly Side Of Love is, as the name suggests, ugly. It’s all over the bloody place, but, by god, it’s wonderful for it. Every listen suggests new hooks, an extra level of depth that you’d never expect from music that’s usually something so simplistic. A lot of care has been paid here – this sloppiness, it’s intentional. Give it the attention it deserves.

Categories ,Arthur Lee, ,Beatles, ,bristol, ,DJ Shadow, ,Garage-Rock, ,George Barrow, ,Hip-hop, ,ian steadman, ,Love, ,Magical Mystery Tour, ,Malachai, ,Portishead, ,Psychadelia, ,Psychadelic, ,the beatles, ,Trip-Hop, ,Ugly Side Of Love

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Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with Nedry and review of new album In A Dim Light

Nedry by Abi Stevens
Nedry by Abi Stevens.

Nedry excel in a vocal electro dub step mash up genre all of their own. In A Dim Light opens languidly with the blissed out vocals of Ayu Okakita, whist behind builds the soundscape of alternating tensions that characterises this album. One of my favourite tunes comes next: the clattering beats and saws of Post Six providing a lushly chaotic backdrop to the melody. Havana Nights rattles and buzzes with sighing atmosphere, and across nearly 7 minutes Float explores the wonder of the universe. These are melodies to get lost in… sprawling with a danceable yet mellow musical intrigue. I spoke with Chris Amblin, Matt Parker and Ayu.

YouTube Preview ImagePost Six

You have been variously described as post-dubstep, dark electro-pop, leftfield and indie. You cross many genres, what do you think describes you best?
CHRIS: On record I’d like to think we carry on the tradition and attitude of early trip-hop, but with some modern twists: we really look up to bands like Portishead and Massive Attack. The post-dubstep tag has been quite handy, in that we initially aimed to blend our love of post-rock with dubstep and take that into a live setting, but since our first record, Condors, we’ve all further broadened our tastes and I think particularly in the live environment we’re a fusion of lots of flavours of dance music, with almost a rock band aesthetic. So I guess Modern-Trip-Hop works nicely!

Nedry
Where do find inspiration for the rhythmic structures of your music?
CHRIS: I’m not sure if it’s such a conscious thing, but due to the fairly long winded way that we make tunes the rhythm can change from version to version. Quite often I’ll make a quite simple drum track for a song and Matt will subtly change the hi-hat pattern or where the snare falls and totally change the feel of the rhythm, then Ayu will sing on the off-beat or something or put together a very rhythmic backing vocal and by that point it’s difficult to understand where the actual rhythm has come from.

Nedry music “clouded” by claire jones art
Clouded – Nedry by Claire Jones Art.

Short songs are not your forte, why do you prefer to create long tunes?
MATT: Well we have a few songs running under 5 minutes on our new album, a couple even verging on pop song length! We like making longer songs mostly because our music is all about creating mood and a sense of atmosphere and I believe you need to build a piece of music up to create that kind of vibe. 

Nedry album sleeve
Even though you create dance music you relish the act of recreating music live on stage, what can people expect of a Nedry gig?
CHRIS: The experience of playing live is very important to us so we put a lot of time and effort into making the performance of each song interesting and exciting for us and most importantly for the audience. We’re all keen gig goers and have seen some fantastic live performances and also awful ones so we often reflect on these experiences and try to better what we do and take on board the things we like and discard the things that we don’t. It’s important to me to make the live experience different to the album and things are definitely more upbeat and energetic and if we’re lucky with the sound system the beats are more powerful and the sub bass is deep.

Nedrymakesmusic by Fort Rixon
Nedrymakesmusic by Fort Rixon.

Your vocalist Ayu Okakita hails from Japan, how did you all get together?
AYU: I met Matt and Chris through the internet (myspace), I was living in East London then and we happened to be neighbours.

Nedry promotshoot - Abney Park
How do the three of you work together? How does a song come about and who brings what to the mix?
MATT: Every song is different and approached differently although there is a lot of file sharing online that goes on, passing Ableton sessions from one to another and working over the structure of a song. Ayu brings vocals to the mix (obviously) but she also contribute to melodies, piano playing, rhythmic and mood ideas. Myself and Chris work on everything and anything in between. Our creative process is really quite convoluted and it takes a long time to make a song feel right but I guess this is because as a band based solely in the electronic realm, it can be difficult to just get into a room and make something. Saying that though, a few of the tracks on the new album were created entirely in a live environment or at least born in that environment before being given the full studio treatment.

YouTube Preview ImageFloat (edit)

Last year you played SXSW for the first time, what was the highlight and did you get a good response?
CHRIS: It was easily the craziest and most intense week of being in this band, the sheer amount of people and bands performing that week is impossible to describe. There was an amazing build up before we traveled to Austin, starting in November the previous year with our label (Monotreme) receiving the invite for us to play and then all of us working together to make it happen. So we spent a lot of the week in a bit of a haze of joy and relief and jetlag! The highlight for me was after playing our showcase gig at Latitude 30, when a small group of young Texans found us loading out in the back alley and told us that they’d been following Nedry and were over the moon to see us play in the flesh – we chatted for a while and signed a copy of our CD for them. It meant a lot to us and was the best response we could have wished for.

Nedry Photo by Sebastien Dehesdin
What are you looking forward to most in 2012?
MATT: I think we’re looking forward to seeing how people react to our album. It’s been two years since our last release and the musical landscape has shifted a lot since then.

Nedry release In A Dim Light on 12th March 2012 on Monotreme Records.

Categories ,Abi Stevens, ,Ableton, ,Ayu Okakita, ,Chris Amblin, ,Claire Jones Art, ,Condors, ,dubstep, ,Electro Pop, ,Float, ,Fort Rixon, ,In A Dim Light, ,Indie, ,Latitude 30, ,leftfield, ,Massive Attack, ,Matt Parker, ,Monotreme, ,Nedry, ,Portishead, ,post-rock, ,Trip-Hop

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Amelia’s Magazine | Interview with Laki Mera and review of new album The Proximity Effect

Laki Mera by Abi Lewis
Laki Mera by Abi Lewis.

The Proximity Effect is the second album from Glasgow based Laki Mera, order a band who excel in the creation of their own unique trip hop influenced sound. Focused around the luscious vocals of singer songwriter Laura Donnelly, the album moves sleekly between ambient textures and big folk inspired melodies, plucking the best from the electronic and acoustic worlds to create something utterly new. I caught up with the talented foursome: Laura Donnelly, Andrea Gobbi, Keir Long and Tim Harbinson.

laki-mera-The-proximity-packshot
How do you work together to create music as a foursome?
We write in a few, different ways… Some tunes start more as acoustic tunes written by Laura which are then arranged by the band as a whole – introducing beats and electronic feel. Some tunes start off as electronic ideas, from jams or individually from Andrea or Keir. At any stage of the process though, the collaboration between all of us is what creates the Laki Mera sound.

Laki Mera by Michelle Pegrume
Laki Mera by Michelle Pegrume.

Do you all bring different musical inspirations to the table – and if so what are they?
We have a really wide and varied bank of influences ranging from folk and acoustic music to minimal electronica. To list a few… Beck, Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin, Bjork, Radiohead, Datasette, Zombie Zombie, Bat for Lashes, Portishead, Massive Attack, Advisory Circle, Benny Greb… there is a lot of good music coming out of Scandinavia at the moment – Little Dragon, Efterklang, Lykke Li, Fever Ray

Laki Mera by Evan Smith
Laki Mera by Evan Smith.

What brought Italian Andrea Gobbi to Scotland and what keeps you there? 
I travelled up from London in 2001 and instantly felt attracted by the Glasgow music scene… collaborations were born and I got deeper and deeper into both the indie and folk music scene, both as a musician and a producer engineer.

YouTube Preview ImageFool

Is there anything that you miss about Italy? 
I obviously miss my family and friends, but as far as music is concerned not very much at all, I’m afraid… I’m very happy in Scotland! 

Laki Mera night
What’s best about living in Scotland?
Definitely not the food!

Laki Mera by Dan Lester
Laki Mera by Dan Lester.

The Proximity Effect is named for a studio technique – what does it mean and how was it used in the making of the album?
Our album The Proximity Effect was named after the interesting combination of the audio technical term ‘proximity effect‘ and the philosophical meaning behind how people react when in the proximity of other people, how people interact in the proximity of each other and how important these connections are. The actual meaning of the technical term proximity effect… well, it is simply a way to describe how microphones react to the relative closeness of the sound source you are recording… say for instance how a softly spoken lyric would come through when spoken directly into a microphone (i.e. with your lips touching it). 

Laki Mera by Sarah Jayne Morris
Laki Mera by Sarah Jayne Morris.

I haven’t heard the first album, how does the new one differ? 
The first album was a production which took several years, during which studio electronic music experiment and song-writing took their time to develop! The outcome was a very deep-layered production with a much calmer and reflective feel about it. The Proximity Effect still has moments of pause and reflection but it’s a much more direct record, based around tracks that were born playing live rather than in the studio… Most of the electronic music production on this album was inspired by the tracks and not vice versa. 

Laki Mera
How do you ensure that you retain an organic feel to the music when applying so many electronic textures?
Retaining an organic feel to the music is very important to us as we are well aware that electronic music can become too sterile and repetitive if not handled properly. We have a good mix of acoustic and electronic elements to the band and when working on the electronic arrangement we use many analog synths such as Korg Sigma, Korg MS10, Roland Juno 106. We also create our own sounds from samples of real sounds. Also, when playing live we ‘play’ everything rather than relying on pre-recorded loops as so many electronic acts do. This is more fun (if a little tricky sometimes) for us and more interesting for an audience to watch.

Laki Mera by Joana Faria
Laki Mera by Joana Faria.

You recorded some of the new album’s songs in turf house in a small Highland village – what lay behind the decision to decamp? 
We recognised that there was a bit of a difference between the tunes on the album and we wanted to embrace this. We made the decision to spend a week in a remote part of the Highlands to concentrate on the more acoustic, song-like tunes on the album. We felt that the hustle and bustle of our city studio did not provide the right kind of environment to properly capture the more sensitive feel of tunes such as Reverberation, Double Back and Solstice. We needed somewhere with a more quiet feel and a slower pace. 

YouTube Preview ImagePollok Park

Does living in Glasgow influence the sound of the music?
Glasgow has always been a very musical city and I think that’s partly why we have all been drawn there. With its long, dark winters and brooding, grey skies it definitely lends itself well to writing dark, introverted tunes!

Laki Mera laura donnelly
What else does everyone do when you’re not involved in Laki Mera?
Andrea & Keir are both sound engineers, Keir is also a piano teacher. Laura works on graphic design and art projects and Tim has recently completed a masters in Social Ecology.

Have you got any collaborations in the pipeline? 
We’re working on it, so watch this space…

YouTube Preview ImageOnion Machine

The Proximity Effect is out now on Just Music.

Categories ,Abi Lewis, ,acoustic, ,Advisory Circle, ,Andrea Gobbi, ,Aphex Twin, ,Bat for Lashes, ,Beck, ,Benny Greb, ,bjork, ,Dan Lester, ,Datasette, ,Double Back, ,efterklang, ,Electonica, ,Evan Smith, ,Fever Ray, ,folk, ,Fool, ,glasgow, ,Highlands, ,Joana Faria, ,Just Music, ,Keir Long, ,Korg MS10, ,Korg Sigma, ,Kraftwerk, ,Laki Mera, ,Laura Donnelly, ,Little Dragon, ,Lykke Li, ,Massive Attack, ,Michelle Pegrume, ,Onion Machine, ,Pollok Park, ,Portishead, ,radiohead, ,Reverberation, ,Roland Juno 106, ,Sarah Jayne Morris, ,Sarah-Jayne, ,Scottish, ,Social Ecology, ,Solstice, ,Tim Harbinson, ,Trip-Hop, ,Zombie Zombie

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Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with musician and artist Elizabeth Walling, aka Gazelle Twin

Gazelle Twin by Sarah Arnett
Gazelle Twin by Sarah Arnett.

I’ve been keeping a firm eye (and ear) on Gazelle Twin since I discovered her enigmatic first single at the tail end of last year. Changelings was accompanied by a mesmerising video that exemplifies Gazelle Twin‘s approach to music making: creating an overall sensory experience in which the listener/viewer is immersed. That video was followed by the equally transfixing I Am Shell I Am Bone and now her debut album The Entire City is on its way. Not surprisingly she is generating a lot of interest, approved this despite having performed only one live show so far as Gazelle Twin…. I decided to find out a bit more from the lady herself. Meet the genius that is Elizabeth Walling.

Changelings

According to wikipedia the Loplop was a birdlike creature created by artist Max Ernst. Why and how have you been inspired by this creature?
Loplop was a starting point in the ongoing development for the ideas behind my costumes which I use for live performance and in my imagery. I have always admired the painting The Robing Of The Bride by Ernst. It has a sexual-animal-human oddness that drew me in. I saw the real thing fairly recently in Guggenheim’s house in Venice. It was much smaller than I realised, but still magnificently weird. It really beckons you over from the other side of the room.

Gazelle Twin by Amy Brazier
Gazelle Twin by Amy Brazier.
 
Were you trained in music, or is it something that has been building over the years? What other jobs have you done in the meantime if so?
I studied briefly at college and then University but I still consider myself to be self-taught. As a kid I would learn everything by ear, including pieces for piano, flute etc. I still do it that way now. Learning to read and write music obviously helped me develop a lot further, but I rarely return to the theory books and manuscript paper these days, except if I’m arranging something for classical musicians. I’m expecting to do a lot of that for the next album.

I Am Shell I Am Bone

What are your main lyrical themes and inspirations?
Hard to know where to start. I’ve been inspired by the paranormal, under water life, science fiction films, dreams I had as a child, space exploration etc. All these influences and experiences are deeply personal, so it all remains very cryptic to others, I think.
 
How long have you been living in Brighton? What drew you there and what keeps you there?
I came here primarily to study music and never left. It’s a hard place to leave, and I love it here but after 10 years I think I might start to seek new horizons. It’s important to see new places I think.

Gazelle Twin by Lea Rimoux
Gazelle Twin by Lea Rimoux.
 
What is going on in the Men Like Gods video? Where was it shot and who are the dancers? I presume the scenes of burning pyres being dragged through streets are from the Lewes bonfire night, but are some of them choreographed specifically by yourself?
The Men Like Gods video contains footage from a very ancient Pagan festival in remote Sardinia. Some of the footage is my own from earlier this year, some was sourced through Sardinia‘s vast digital library and contains footage from roughly 30 years ago. The festival relates to the changing of the seasons and the life-giving land and cattle. Each village has it’s own particular ritual and unique costumes, so it is very diverse and strange. I went to experience one village’s ritual in March where I filmed the Mamuthones (the men who dance in black masks, bells and sheepskins). There is not much explanation as to why this ritual has such a bizarre aesthetic, but it is a very deep rooted tradition, at least two thousand years old. They take it very seriously there, it’s certainly not the tourist attraction that Lewes’ Bonfire night has become, but then I am sure it started out with much the same circumstances.

Gazelle Twin by gaarte
Gazelle Twin by Gaarte.
 
Do you collaborate with fashion designers to create your stage costumes, and if so who? How does that process work?
I design and usually make all the costumes. The process is very basic; I do a fair bit of research or just get an idea in my head and then I go to flea markets, charity shops and usually Poundland to source materials to work with. I’m unsigned so I don’t have an advance or anything to play with or to commission people, so I have to be imaginative and very frugal. Where I lack sewing skills or equipment I call upon my very talented friend, Gita Mistry. She recently helped me realise a brand new costume, a very striking blue, abstract Gazelle headdress, veil and robe which I might wear at my album launch in September.

gazelle_twin
 
You’ve been compared to the likes of Bjork but I think you also strongly channel more modern experimental electro musicians such as The Knife – who are more about hiding their personal egos behind creativity than extravagantly promoting themselves. Is it safe to say that you have been influenced by this kind of music? What have been your inspirations?
Classical, early music and film soundtracks are the bedrock of all my influences. When I was studying and composing in my late teens and early twenties I only ever really listened to that, maybe with a bit of Portishead and Jazz thrown in from time to time. Pop music is all relatively new to me, but true artists like The Knife, Fever Ray, Planningtorock and Bjork have all intrigued me musically as well as with their boldness of visual images and play on identity. I really admire artists who resist exposing themselves too much or try to divert people’s attention towards the music. I don’t think it’s enough to sport a weird costume or smear face paint on –  the music has to be really strong first and foremost, but the costume should also be relevant to the identity in order to avoid being a slightly vacuous stunt.

Gazelle Twin by Claire Kearns
Gazelle Twin by Claire Kearns.
 
How will The Entire City be available in an interactive web only version? Can you explain a bit more about how this works?
 The album will be available as a digital download in the conventional sense and there will be limited vinyl and CD editions coming out later this year. For the digital release in July there is a special web-based counterpart, which will be available on the website very soon. I wanted to create an interactive, tactile way for people to experience the album in digital form, so I got in touch with Champagne Valentine and they came up with a wonderful application for me. The interactive version of The Entire City will be free to access and contains all album tracks which each have their own interactive visuals. It also features remixed video clips from all my music videos, as well as other, as yet unreleased footage. I’m hoping to make something interactive for every album/project in future, it’s a really satisfying process and I hope makes up for some of the loss of pleasure in buying a physical record.

Gazelle Twin by Lea Rimoux
Gazelle Twin by Lea Rimoux.
 
Why are live performances so rare? Will your fans be able to see more of you now that your album is due to launch? If so where will they be able to find you?
Live shows have been rare because I wanted to take my time with developing the project and make sure it all worked and felt right before I launched the whole thing and took it on tour. I also had to save the money in order to do it properly, so it’s taken a few years to get here. I want to keep shows rare and special; they involve a lot of visuals, choreography and extra musical elements and each one is unique. I much prefer to do a few really special shows than too many run-of-the-mill versions. It makes it more worthwhile as a performer too (and I have experienced many a dodgy gig in the past without this ethos, let me tell you!). I’m really excited to get back to performing this year. My album launch will be on 1st September at Electrowerkz (aka Islington MetalWorks) in Angel, in London. I have curated the event myself and I am making sure it is going to be really unique experience for all involved. I can’t give too much away at the moment, but all will be revealed on my website eventually.

Gazelle Twin by Nicola Ellen
Gazelle Twin by Nicola Ellen.

What do you do to relax? Where might we find you by night time in Brighton?
I tend to spend the majority of my time in the studio at home, I rarely venture out much these days! I play a few video games and watch films to relax – This year I have really sacrificed my social life in order to make this record and really get the project off the ground single-handedly.

Gazelle Twin by Gaarte
Gazelle Twin by Gaarte.

New single Men Like Gods will be released on Monday 11th July alongside the digital release of The Entire City. Here’s a trailer for the amazing video.

Men Like Gods

The opening album track The Entire City can be streamed here

Gazelle Twin will play as part of the Soundwaves Festival on July 14th-17th in Brighton as part of The Infinite Possibilities of Voice at Brighton Town Hall between 5.45pm – 10.30pm on Saturday 16th July. Gazelle Twin will be performing Colossus in the Atrium, a new improvisatory piece exploring the dialogue between human and machine. Voice and electronics will be coupled with darkly theatric sensibilities to create an atmospheric, electrifying and wholly unique experience, in collaboration with artist and musician Ed Briggs. I advise you secure tickets fast! This will not be a performance to miss.

Categories ,Album Launch, ,Amy Brazier, ,Atrium, ,bjork, ,brighton, ,Brighton Town Hall, ,Champagne Valentine, ,Changelings, ,Claire Kearns, ,Colossus, ,Costume, ,Ed Briggs, ,electrowerkz, ,Elizabeth Walling, ,Fever Ray, ,Gaarte, ,Gazelle Twin, ,Gita Mistry, ,Guggenheim, ,I am Shell I am Bone, ,Islington MetalWorks, ,jazz, ,Lea Rimoux, ,Lewes, ,Loplop, ,Mamuthones, ,Max Ernst, ,Men Like Gods, ,Nicola Ellen, ,Pagan, ,Planningtorock, ,Portishead, ,review, ,Sarah Arnett, ,Sardinia, ,single, ,Soundwaves Festival, ,The Entire City, ,The Infinite Possibilities of Voice, ,The Knife, ,The Robing Of The Bride, ,video

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Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with The Raincoats as 1981 album Odyshape is rereleased on We ThRee

The Raincoats by James Shedden
The Raincoats by James Shedden.

The Raincoats are an all girl band who formed during the late 1970s and split up in the mid 1980s. I was very little at the time of their original releases so unfortunately I did not discover The Raincoats until much more recently, online well into my adult years. The band had an exciting can do attitude that melded punk, see classical and reggae influences into spiky arrhythmic folk punk tunes that even today sound way more exciting than many current bands. They reformed in the mid 90s after a resurgence in interest thanks to gushing plaudits from Kurt Cobain and are now widely hailed as one of the seminal post punk bands. I catch up with founders Ana da Silva and Gina Birch as they gear up to rerelease their second album on its 30th anniversary.

Raincoats in Poland

Why did you decide to reissue Odyshape now?
ANA:  This year is the 30th anniversary of this album. So, as we like anniversaries, we decided to release The Raincoats and Odyshape on their 30th… We remastered the albums for Japan and re-did the art work so it would sound and look the best possible. We now own the rights to them and, as they should be available, we thought we’d release them on our own label We ThRee. Both on CD and vinyl. They look and sound the best ever! Theyl also have a booklet and A4 sheet respectively with liner notes, lyrics, photos and a piece of writing from me on the 1st album and from Gina on Odyshape.

The raincoats odyshape
What does Odyshape mean?
GINA: The title was a pun on the odyssey of a body. The idea that a body could have an ideal shape and it if did, what happens when a body doesn’t live up to that ideal. It was at a time, when (as probably now) there seemed to be a body fascism. It was important for women to be this shape or that shape. Thanks to people like Beth Ditto, and hopefully The Raincoats, things have been broken down a little. Hair can be crazy, messy, outfits can be baggy or tight, inside out or upside down, we can be fat or thin, creative, playful, stylish and beautiful without having to subscribe to some fashion mag ideal.

The Raincoats1981
You formed the original band whilst still at art college… how did your studies in art influence how you made music?
ANA: Besides the obvious side of art work, I think we’re trying to do what art should do: create works that inspire other people, that question the status quo, that express ideas which come from our own minds and hearts and also works that look at the human condition and provide some comfort to the listener.

The Raincoats by Karin Soderquist
The Raincoats by Karin Soderquist.

Odyshape seems to owe as much to contemporary classical music as it does punk – was this something that inspired you?    
ANA: We listen to all sorts of music so, intentionally or unintentionally, different  things appear. I do like some classical music very much, like the Bach‘s cello suites, Erik Satie, some opera, etc.  but I don’t think my playing sounds very classical…maybe you mean the violin which was played by Vicky Aspinall who is classically trained.

The Raincoats by Janette Beckman1981
The Raincoats in 1981.

You haven’t produced a new album since the mid 90s – what have you been up to since then?
ANA: I’ve been doing my own solo music and released an album called The Lighthouse on Chicks On Speed records. I’ve also been doing some drawings and paintings some of which I’ll be showing at the Pop Montreal festival, together with Gina’s videos and Shirley’s photographs. It’s really a great opportunity to show our art, visual and musical. It’s the first time we do this and are very happy and excited about it.
GINA: I have been collaborating with various musicians and artists and very involved in a project called The Gluts, (with two women artists) Also I have been playing solo, writing songs, making films, painting and, raising two children.

The Raincoats by Rukmunal Hakim
The Raincoats by Rukmunal Hakim.

Gina – you were an early fan of the craft revival – knitting on tour. Do you still craft and if so what?
GINA: I did knit on the first Raincoats tour, when I wore the jumper at the final gig… and then didn’t do any knittingfor quite a few years but have always liked to paint, draw, knit, mosaic, make films whatever. I have been knitting a lot in the last year or two and have made Raincoats inspired bags, and I have also been sewing banners with lyrics and messages on them.  

The Raincoats by Kassie Berry
The Raincoats by Kassie Berry.

Has Gina Birch’s film, The Raincoats, Fairytales, been completed? 
GINA: The film is still a work in progress. It is an organic process it seems and hopefully will be concluded in the coming six months.

YouTube Preview ImageBaby Song performed live in the 80s

You will be playing your debut album live again at ATP this December – anything special in store and what are you looking forward to most about the Holiday Camp experience?
ANA: Just playing is a special thing, but we’ve played twice at ATP and really enjoyed it: swimming, meeting people, being able to choose amongst so much different music and the relaxed atmosphere. We will be playing the first album at Jeff Mangum‘s request but will play other songs too, not sure which yet.

YouTube Preview ImageThe Raincoats perform live at ATP in 2010

Which other current bands do you enjoy listening to or watching?
ANA: I think P.J. Harvey‘s latest album is so good, so I enjoyed listening to it at seeing them live a couple of times. Also saw Portishead whose music I like but had never seen live and that was very good too. I was listening yesterday to Ponytail, Colleen, Electrelane, Neutral Milk HotelLouis and Bebe BarronJenny O in the car coming back from Portugal.

The-Raincoats-By-Barb-Royal
The Raincoats by Barb Royal.

What next for The Raincoats?
ANA: We’re doing a tour in the U.S.A. and Canada (New York, Washington, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto and Montreal) in September and ATP in December. And because of the re-release of Odyshape and those dates some interviews too… thanks for your part. Otherwise nothing concrete, but I’m sure other things will happen.

YouTube Preview ImageOnly Loved at Night, performed live in 2009

Odyshape is rereleased in heavyweight vinyl and as a special edition CD on We ThRee records on September 12th 2011. The band will tour the east coast of the USA from 16 – 26 September 2011 and play Jeff Mangum’s ATP, Minehead on 3 December 2011.

Categories ,1980s, ,2011, ,album, ,Ana da Silva, ,Arrhythmic, ,atp, ,Baby Song, ,Bach, ,Barb Royal, ,Bebe Barron, ,Beth Ditto, ,Body Fascism, ,Chicks on Speed, ,classical, ,Colleen, ,December, ,Electrelane, ,Erik Satie, ,folk, ,Gina Birch, ,James Shedden, ,Jeff Mangum, ,Jenny O, ,Karin Söderquist, ,Kassie Berry, ,Kurt Cobain, ,Louis, ,Neutral Milk Hotel, ,Odyshape, ,Only Loved at Night, ,PJ Harvey, ,Ponytail, ,Pop Montreal, ,Portishead, ,punk, ,Rerelease, ,review, ,Rukmunal Hakim, ,The LIghthouse, ,The Raincoats, ,tour, ,Vicky Aspinall, ,Violin, ,We ThRee, ,WETHREE

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Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with Nedry and review of new album In A Dim Light

Nedry by Abi Stevens
Nedry by Abi Stevens.

Nedry excel in a vocal electro dub step mash up genre all of their own. In A Dim Light opens languidly with the blissed out vocals of Ayu Okakita, whist behind builds the soundscape of alternating tensions that characterises this album. One of my favourite tunes comes next: the clattering beats and saws of Post Six providing a lushly chaotic backdrop to the melody. Havana Nights rattles and buzzes with sighing atmosphere, and across nearly 7 minutes Float explores the wonder of the universe. These are melodies to get lost in… sprawling with a danceable yet mellow musical intrigue. I spoke with Chris Amblin, Matt Parker and Ayu.

YouTube Preview ImagePost Six

You have been variously described as post-dubstep, dark electro-pop, leftfield and indie. You cross many genres, what do you think describes you best?
CHRIS: On record I’d like to think we carry on the tradition and attitude of early trip-hop, but with some modern twists: we really look up to bands like Portishead and Massive Attack. The post-dubstep tag has been quite handy, in that we initially aimed to blend our love of post-rock with dubstep and take that into a live setting, but since our first record, Condors, we’ve all further broadened our tastes and I think particularly in the live environment we’re a fusion of lots of flavours of dance music, with almost a rock band aesthetic. So I guess Modern-Trip-Hop works nicely!

Nedry
Where do find inspiration for the rhythmic structures of your music?
CHRIS: I’m not sure if it’s such a conscious thing, but due to the fairly long winded way that we make tunes the rhythm can change from version to version. Quite often I’ll make a quite simple drum track for a song and Matt will subtly change the hi-hat pattern or where the snare falls and totally change the feel of the rhythm, then Ayu will sing on the off-beat or something or put together a very rhythmic backing vocal and by that point it’s difficult to understand where the actual rhythm has come from.

Nedry music “clouded” by claire jones art
Clouded – Nedry by Claire Jones Art.

Short songs are not your forte, why do you prefer to create long tunes?
MATT: Well we have a few songs running under 5 minutes on our new album, a couple even verging on pop song length! We like making longer songs mostly because our music is all about creating mood and a sense of atmosphere and I believe you need to build a piece of music up to create that kind of vibe. 

Nedry album sleeve
Even though you create dance music you relish the act of recreating music live on stage, what can people expect of a Nedry gig?
CHRIS: The experience of playing live is very important to us so we put a lot of time and effort into making the performance of each song interesting and exciting for us and most importantly for the audience. We’re all keen gig goers and have seen some fantastic live performances and also awful ones so we often reflect on these experiences and try to better what we do and take on board the things we like and discard the things that we don’t. It’s important to me to make the live experience different to the album and things are definitely more upbeat and energetic and if we’re lucky with the sound system the beats are more powerful and the sub bass is deep.

Nedrymakesmusic by Fort Rixon
Nedrymakesmusic by Fort Rixon.

Your vocalist Ayu Okakita hails from Japan, how did you all get together?
AYU: I met Matt and Chris through the internet (myspace), I was living in East London then and we happened to be neighbours.

Nedry promotshoot - Abney Park
How do the three of you work together? How does a song come about and who brings what to the mix?
MATT: Every song is different and approached differently although there is a lot of file sharing online that goes on, passing Ableton sessions from one to another and working over the structure of a song. Ayu brings vocals to the mix (obviously) but she also contribute to melodies, piano playing, rhythmic and mood ideas. Myself and Chris work on everything and anything in between. Our creative process is really quite convoluted and it takes a long time to make a song feel right but I guess this is because as a band based solely in the electronic realm, it can be difficult to just get into a room and make something. Saying that though, a few of the tracks on the new album were created entirely in a live environment or at least born in that environment before being given the full studio treatment.

YouTube Preview ImageFloat (edit)

Last year you played SXSW for the first time, what was the highlight and did you get a good response?
CHRIS: It was easily the craziest and most intense week of being in this band, the sheer amount of people and bands performing that week is impossible to describe. There was an amazing build up before we traveled to Austin, starting in November the previous year with our label (Monotreme) receiving the invite for us to play and then all of us working together to make it happen. So we spent a lot of the week in a bit of a haze of joy and relief and jetlag! The highlight for me was after playing our showcase gig at Latitude 30, when a small group of young Texans found us loading out in the back alley and told us that they’d been following Nedry and were over the moon to see us play in the flesh – we chatted for a while and signed a copy of our CD for them. It meant a lot to us and was the best response we could have wished for.

Nedry Photo by Sebastien Dehesdin
What are you looking forward to most in 2012?
MATT: I think we’re looking forward to seeing how people react to our album. It’s been two years since our last release and the musical landscape has shifted a lot since then.

Nedry release In A Dim Light on 12th March 2012 on Monotreme Records.

Categories ,Abi Stevens, ,Ableton, ,Ayu Okakita, ,Chris Amblin, ,Claire Jones Art, ,Condors, ,dubstep, ,Electro Pop, ,Float, ,Fort Rixon, ,In A Dim Light, ,Indie, ,Latitude 30, ,leftfield, ,Massive Attack, ,Matt Parker, ,Monotreme, ,Nedry, ,Portishead, ,post-rock, ,Trip-Hop

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Amelia’s Magazine | My Best Albums of 2010


Image courtesy of Rogue

Initiating a relationship over the Internet is an age-old tale and I have friends who have successfully trodden this path, viagra dosage no rx but not without some initial trepidation. There’s always the joke about boys being deluded about their height, unhealthy often adding an inch or four to their profiles (or being axe-murderers), and girls uploading old photos when they were a good few pounds lighter (or being bunny boilers). But beyond the aesthetics, how much do you really know about your online confidante? And on the flipside, how far are you willing to stretch the truth to ensure that you are presenting yourself in the best light?

Produced by filmmaker Andrew Jarecki, who directed the brilliant docufilm “Capturing the Friedmans” in 2003, Catfish is the directorial feature film debut of Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, who explore these themes, human psychology and the modern technological landscape as a medium for communication, closely following a ‘virtual’ relationship as it unfolds over Facebook and phone calls. Made with a budget of only around $30,000, the film was an unlikely hit at the Sundance Film Festival last year, which had audience members and critics alike hyperventilating with excitement.


Illustration courtesy of Avril Kelly

When I received my invite to the press screening, I was urged to read as little about Catfish as possible to avoid spoiling my experience of the film. As I would urge you to do the same, I can tell you that writing this review is going to prove difficult but here goes…

Filmed using a grainy handheld camera, the story revolves around the film’s protagonist, Nev Schulman, a young, charismatic, sleepy-eyed New-York based photographer who becomes involved, via Facebook, with an eight-year-old art prodigy named Abby in Michigan. Abby approaches Nev to ask for his permission to use a photograph for a painting and a fraternal relationship ensues between Nev and Abby, which becomes increasingly complex as Nev becomes involved with the rest of her family: Abby’s mother, Angela, and Abby’s attractive horse-riding, guitar-playing, party-loving 19-year-old sister, Megan, along with Megan’s intricate network of friends.  Needless to say, a less fraternal relationship develops between Nev and Megan and before we know it, they are “sexting”, amalgamating naked photos of themselves and speaking every night via the plethora of the networking tools that we have at our disposal today. Nothing, however, is quite as it seems as the film takes several unexpected twists and turns to reach a not entirely surprising yet poignant conclusion. 


Illustration courtesy of Avril Kelly

One of the film’s key strengths lies in Nev’s engaging hopeless romantic, drawing empathy from his viewers as we are taken on a journey of his evolving feelings for Megan and her family. Throughout the course of the film, we see Nev experience infatuation, doubt, anger, disappointment, betrayal and then sympathy – feelings of which are all doubtless familiar to us, whether in the virtual or real world. The way in which the film is shot, where Nev talks about his thoughts and feelings directly to the camera as if we were talking to a family member or a close friend (fitting really seeing as Schulman is Nev’s brother and Joost is one of his best friends), makes us feel as if we are sharing a very private experience with Nev, helping us to bond and identify with his character.

Where David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin’sThe Social Network” is about the creation of Facebook, Catfish is a film about the consequences of such creations, which may explain why its subject matter has resonated so strongly with audiences, seeing as approximately 5 billion of us across the globe are subscribed to a mobile phone contract and 500 million of us are active users of Facebook (although I exclude myself from the latter).


Illustration courtesy of Avril Kelly

At the risk of revealing too much, “Catfish” goes far deeper than simply being “another film about Facebook”. It throws up moral questions such as to what extent one can indulge in what superficially appears to be harmless innocent fantasies before we start to infringe on the wellbeing of others. This issue, however, is not strictly confined to the realms of an online environment, although it can be argued that modern technological advances, especially social networking, has made this deception somewhat easier to play out and sustain.

There has been much debate about the authenticity of “Catfish” and I for one am not completely convinced that we are not being taken for a ride, however, regardless of whether the movie is a hoax, Catfish is an absorbing, thought-provoking and affecting indie about hope, crushed dreams and the society that we live in where social media and modern technology provides a platform for our inner-narcissist, potential to deceive or desire to escape reality to a fictional world where life is more kind. In Joost’s own words, “Our profiles are a chance to present ourselves to the world in a way we can completely control – unlike face-to-face interaction”.

Read our exclusive interview with the director of Catfish, Henry Joost, here.

Catfish is currently showing at selected cinemas across the UK and available on DVD from today.  

Ariel “Rel” Schulman (left) and Henry Joost (right); illustration courtesy of Matilde Sazio

The co-directors of Sundance favourite Catfish, for sale   Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, page met in high school and have been filmmaking partners since 2006. Together they founded the New York City production company Supermarché and have produced award-winning advertisements and documentaries for well-known companies and institutions, this including Nike, American Express, Harvard Business School, Pitchfork Media and The National Scrabble Association. As an acknowledgement of their talent, the duo’s web short “What’s the Big Idea“, starring Danny DeVito, was nominated for a Webby in 2008.

Born in Frankfurt, Germany, Joost spent most of his childhood travelling the world with his mother, a photographer, and his father, an international banker. He is still an avid traveller and collector of cameras, which he uses to capture both film and still.

To celebrate the release of Catfish, Joost talks exclusively to Amelia’s Magazine about the inspiration behind the film, his views on social networking and the emotional rocky road he shared with the Schulman brothers (Nev, the film’s protagonist and Ariel, co-director), from the moment the cameras started rolling…


Illustration courtesy of Matilde Sazio

How was the initial idea for ‘Catfish’ conceived? What made you start filming Nev in the first place?
From my perspective the film began as one of Rel’s pet projects that I became increasingly interested in. When Nev and Abby’s story became like a living soap opera I joined in, filming Nev as well. We have a deal with each other and with our friends that it’s ok to film all the time. We keep a personal record of our lives with these little HD cameras we keep in our pockets. Sometimes it turns into something but more often than not the footage lives on a hard-drive, unwatched.

Did you have any expectations when you started filming?
Rel had an instinct that he was shooting what could become a charming short film about two artists meeting on the internet and inspiring each other. Or just another strange episode in his brother’s life. That’s enough for us to go on. It was only after 8 months of filming sporadically in the midst of our busy lives, that we realized that true nature of the story we were telling.

What makes Nev compelling as a protagonist? Why should we care what happens to him?
Nev is compelling to me because he’s one of my best friends and plays a huge part in my life. I think he has a natural charisma that people connect with.  He wears his heart on his sleeve and he’s not afraid to expose himself, which people respect. In Catfish he’s an everyman. We’re all looking for connections online, hoping to find love, friendship, or inspiration.

How did you find your directorial relationship with Ariel evolve over the course of filming? Were there any debates at any stage in how you wanted to approach things?
Rel and I have been working together for about 6 years now, so we have a natural and largely unspoken dynamic. I think our personalities complement each other and we rarely disagree. My role was often to keep the peace between the two brothers.


Illustration courtesy of Matilde Sazio

What was the most challenging thing about filming ‘Catfish’?
The most difficult thing for me was balancing making the film with fear for my personal safety, although that fear turned out to be unfounded. There is a moment in the film that was the scariest of my life, but I felt emboldened by the camera and knowing that we were on a quest for truth.

Has Nev’s experience made you more cautious of social networking?
I was cautious about social networking to start with, so this has only confirmed my suspicions. Although the contradictory effect of the film is that I’m also much more open to people I meet online now, because those people could turn out to be real friends or collaborators.

Do you think social networking has served to strengthen or weaken the depth of the relationships that we build with people?
I don’t think it’s possible to have more than a few close friends with or without Facebook.  Social networking has allowed us to maintain more superficial relationships than ever before with incredible speed and ease, but I don’t think it particularly affects our few real relationships.

I don’t have a Facebook account – can you give me one fool-proof reason why I should join?
Wouldn’t you like to know what your boyfriend from 8th grade looks like now?

SPOILER ALERT!! READ ON ONLY IF YOU HAVE SEEN THE FILM…


Illustration courtesy of Aysim Genc

Prior to the revelatory moment where Nev discovers that ‘Megan’ has uploaded Suzanna Choffel’s version of Tennessee Stud as her own, did you at any point have any suspicions about Megan and her family? Did anything seem odd to you?
We did have suspicions at first. It seemed strange that this artist was giving her valuable paintings away for free. But suspicions about a potential financial scam were assuaged when Angela sent Nev a check for $500 – half of the winnings from an art contest Abby won with a painting of one of Nev’s photos. Suspicions were always addressed in a clever way or buried under a mountain of contradictory evidence.


Illustration courtesy of Aysim Genc

What were you most surprised about when you first met Angela?
I was completely surprised by Angela. We imagined a lot of scenarios, but in my wildest imagination I don’t think I could have ever conjured up Angela in all of her complexity. More surprising still was how well we all got along so well.

What were your own feelings towards Angela initially and did they change as you got to know her better?
I expected to meet some kind of villain behind all of this deception, so it was a relief to meet Angela. We found her to be fun, smart, and engaging and were happy that she and Vince really welcomed us into their lives.


Illustration courtesy of Aysim Genc

Is there a message you’d like viewers to go away with after having seen ‘Catfish’?
I think one of the great things about the film is that everyone brings their own experiences into the theater with them, and walks away with a different message. I would hate to color that in any way with my own personal opinion.

Do you think there is an element of Angela in all of us in how we go about presenting ourselves in the ‘virtual world’?
I think we all curate our online personae and what Angela did is incredibly relatable. Who among us has not de-tagged a photo, or agonized about our “interests” or “relationship status” on Facebook? Our profiles are a chance to present ourselves to the world in a way we can completely control – unlike face-to-face interaction.

Read our review of Catfish here.

Catfish is out at selected cinemas across the UK now and available on DVD from Monday 10th January.  
Best Albums of 2010 by LJG Art & Illustration
Best Albums of 2010 by LJG Art & Illustration.

Last year I discovered a whole slew of marvellous new albums. So I thought I would round them up before we got too far into 2011 – some I have already reviewed, approved and some I meant to review but didn’t get around to it, sildenafil thereby giving me the perfect opportunity to do so now. Without further ado here are my picks of 2010.

Trevor Moss and Hannah-Lou by Abigail Nottingham
Trevor Moss and Hannah-Lou by Abigail Nottingham.

Trevor Moss and Hannah-Lou – England
Loose Music
We’ve been championing this duo in various musical guises over the years… and their current husband and wife incarnation perfectly suits the harmonic beauty of their unique song-writing. England is a beautiful folk album that brings a modern flavour to age old tales of “peas, mash and pie” and “the catch of the day.” They have been working on a new album over the past few months and they start their extensive Tin Tabernacle tour soon, full listing here. Last summer they blew me away when they played an impromptu gig with Danny and the Champions of the World at our Climate Camp stage at Glastonbury. Make sure you catch up with them.

YouTube Preview Image

I Like Trains – He Who Saw The Deep
self-released
I first fell in love with the historical tales of iliketrains many years ago when I featured them in the print version of Amelia’s Magazine. Since then they have become I Like Trains (small but crucial difference), parted with their label and lost cornet player Ashley Dean – who has since created a fab video for Our Broken Garden which you can read about here. The crowd funded new album He Who Saw The Deep retains the gravelly baritone voice of lead singer David Martin but ditches the historical references in favour of a stirring elegy to the perils of an uncertain future “as Europe slips into the sea”. They go on tour at the start of February. Full listing info here.

the golden filter by daria h
The Golden Filter by Daria Hlazatova.

The Golden Filter – Voluspa
Brille Records
This album didn’t register on my radar until I saw The Golden Filter play live at Secret Garden Party in 2010. But here lies a clear case of an impressive live performance translating equally well into a recorded version – thereafter I’ve listened to Voluspa on a regular basis. It is impossible to find any information about The Golden Filter on the internet because they have done their best to maintain an aura of mystery around them akin to the swirling atmosphere that surrounds singer Penelope Trappes during their live performances. Other reviews have not been so kind about the hazy noodlings of the album experience but I love listening to it as a whole.

YouTube Preview Image

The Pipettes – Earth Vs The Pipettes
Fortuna Pop
In 2010 The Pipettes staged a come back with a very different flavour to their last studio album, (read our interview with them here). This time the line up features sisters Gwenno and Ani, and they’ve taken a distinctly dancey turn away from their 50′s doo-wap inspired songs… whilst still retaining their deliciously girly harmonies. This should be a good year for this truly independent pop band, starting with their DJing spot for their irresistibly bouncy tunes at my launch party for ACOFI at the end of January. After which they will be guesting on the new Does it Offend You Yeah? album. You wouldn’t find the Sugababes doing that now would you?

Our Broken Garden by Faye West
Our Broken Garden by Faye West.

Our Broken Garden – Golden Sea
Bella Union
Bella Union rarely puts a foot wrong, and Golden Sea by Our Broken Garden is no exception… an absolutely stunning album that I have listened to over and over and over again. If you get a chance to see Anna Bronsted perform live TAKE IT immediately. Her gig at St. Giles-in-the-Fields was one of the most magical performances I have ever seen. You can read my review here.

6 Day Riot by Jenny Lloyd
6 Day Riot by Jenny Lloyd.

6 Day Riot – On This Island
Tantrum
Self released on their own label, 6 Day Riot are a prime example of an uber talented band doing it for themselves. As singer Tamara candidly writes on their blog it’s hard work to get yourself heard when you are up against the promotional purchasing powers of the major labels, a fact which as an independent publisher I know only too well. On This Island is an incredibly rich and rewarding album and 6 Day Riot are just as much fun live. I can’t wait for them to play at my launch party for Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration.

Motorifik secret things

Motorifik – Secret Things
Moto
Despite a pretty terrible name – calling to mind, perhaps, Jeremy Clarkson loving rockers – Anglo-french twosome Motorifik won me over towards the end of 2010 with their 90s influenced shoegaze crossed with dance beats. Well worth checking out if you like your indie music lushly melodic.

Peggy Sue – Fossils and Other Phantoms
Wichita Recordings
Combining indie, folk, doo-wop and blues, this was my stand out favourite album at the start of 2010. The two girls in this three piece line up take turns on lead vocals, singing of complex love lives with heart rending passion. You can read my review here.

Napoleon IIIrd by illustratin grain
Napoleon IIIrd by Kiran Patel at Illustrating Rain

Napoleon IIIrd – Christiania
Brainlove Records
Starting with an intense splash of impassioned vocals yelped against a backdrop of reverberating beats, Christiania means business from the get go. Previous album In Debt To gained Napoleon IIIrd a coveted profile in the printed version of Amelia’s Magazine and this latest release does not disappoint, taking on board influences from genres as diverse as balearic beats, woozy cosmic pop and big bands. It comes out on the Brainlove label, home of all things eclectic and wonderful. Excitingly you can see both Napoleon IIIrd and I Like Trains together when they go on tour this February.

YouTube Preview Image

Malachai – Ugly Side of Love
Flying the flag for totally out there psychedelia is Bristol based Malachai. Ugly Side of Love is a wonderful stoner concoction recently given the blessing of Portishead’s Geoff Barrow. Malachai mash up stomping rock riffs, crashing moogs and sampled loops – it’s totally mental and I bloody love it. You can read our review here.

Laura Marling by Yelena Bryksenkova
Laura Marling by Yelena Bryksenkova.

Other albums that I loved probably need no further promoting as they will have done well on more mainstream “best of” lists but I will give them a brief mention here. Following a storming tour of the festival circuit Villagers‘ Becoming a Jackal did incredibly well and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Read my review here. Perhaps inevitably Laura Marling‘s I Speak Because I Can has also done brilliantly…. because it is brilliant. What can I say? Laura is amazing. And of course you could read about her many years ago in Amelia’s Magazine, which ran one of her first interviews in print. Read our review here. The Irrepressibles finally released their incredible album Mirror Mirror, which I was lucky enough to discover several years ago when I put them in the print issue of the magazine. Read our review here.

Sea of Bees by Gemma Birss
Sea of Bees by Gemma Birss.

Helen Martin has already mentioned Mountain Man, Sea of Bees (tour listing here) and This Is The Kit albums in her excellent round up… and I loved them all too. She has great taste so I’m sure her other nominations are fabulous too, but I must confess that I haven’t heard them all for myself. Which is just as well because it left me space for this little round up.

I do hope you’ll support these incredibly talented musicians by splashing out on one or two of these releases, most of which have come out on tiny labels for the love of music. As for what to look out for in the coming year? I’ll be giving you my low down shortly… watch this space.

Categories ,6 Day Riot, ,Abigail Nottingham, ,album, ,Anna Brønsted, ,Becoming a Jackal, ,Bella Union, ,Brainlove Records, ,Brille Records, ,Christiania, ,Climate Camp, ,Danny and the Champions of the World, ,Daria Hlazatova, ,David Martin, ,Does it Offend You Yeah?, ,Earth vs The Pipettes, ,England, ,Faye West, ,Fortuna Pop, ,Fossils and Other Phantoms, ,Gemma Birss, ,Geoff Barrow, ,glastonbury, ,Golden Sea, ,He Who Saw The Deep, ,Helen Martin, ,I Like Trains, ,iliketrains, ,Illustrating Rain, ,Indigo Moss, ,Jenny Lloyd, ,Jeremy Clarkson, ,Kiran Patel, ,Laura Marling, ,LJG Art & Illustration, ,Loose Music, ,Malachai, ,Moto, ,Motorifik, ,Mountain Man, ,Napoleon IIIrd, ,On This Island, ,Our Broken Garden, ,Peggy Sue, ,Portishead, ,review, ,Sea of Bees, ,Secret Things, ,Tantrum, ,The Golden Filter, ,the irrepressibles, ,The Pipettes, ,This Is The Kit, ,Tin Tabernacle Tour, ,Trevor Moss and Hannah-Lou, ,Ugly Side Of Love, ,Villagers, ,Voluspa, ,Wichita Recordings, ,Yelena Bryksenkova

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Amelia’s Magazine | Interview with Laki Mera and review of new album The Proximity Effect

Laki Mera by Abi Lewis
Laki Mera by Abi Lewis.

The Proximity Effect is the second album from Glasgow based Laki Mera, order a band who excel in the creation of their own unique trip hop influenced sound. Focused around the luscious vocals of singer songwriter Laura Donnelly, the album moves sleekly between ambient textures and big folk inspired melodies, plucking the best from the electronic and acoustic worlds to create something utterly new. I caught up with the talented foursome: Laura Donnelly, Andrea Gobbi, Keir Long and Tim Harbinson.

laki-mera-The-proximity-packshot
How do you work together to create music as a foursome?
We write in a few, different ways… Some tunes start more as acoustic tunes written by Laura which are then arranged by the band as a whole – introducing beats and electronic feel. Some tunes start off as electronic ideas, from jams or individually from Andrea or Keir. At any stage of the process though, the collaboration between all of us is what creates the Laki Mera sound.

Laki Mera by Michelle Pegrume
Laki Mera by Michelle Pegrume.

Do you all bring different musical inspirations to the table – and if so what are they?
We have a really wide and varied bank of influences ranging from folk and acoustic music to minimal electronica. To list a few… Beck, Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin, Bjork, Radiohead, Datasette, Zombie Zombie, Bat for Lashes, Portishead, Massive Attack, Advisory Circle, Benny Greb… there is a lot of good music coming out of Scandinavia at the moment – Little Dragon, Efterklang, Lykke Li, Fever Ray

Laki Mera by Evan Smith
Laki Mera by Evan Smith.

What brought Italian Andrea Gobbi to Scotland and what keeps you there? 
I travelled up from London in 2001 and instantly felt attracted by the Glasgow music scene… collaborations were born and I got deeper and deeper into both the indie and folk music scene, both as a musician and a producer engineer.

YouTube Preview ImageFool

Is there anything that you miss about Italy? 
I obviously miss my family and friends, but as far as music is concerned not very much at all, I’m afraid… I’m very happy in Scotland! 

Laki Mera night
What’s best about living in Scotland?
Definitely not the food!

Laki Mera by Dan Lester
Laki Mera by Dan Lester.

The Proximity Effect is named for a studio technique – what does it mean and how was it used in the making of the album?
Our album The Proximity Effect was named after the interesting combination of the audio technical term ‘proximity effect‘ and the philosophical meaning behind how people react when in the proximity of other people, how people interact in the proximity of each other and how important these connections are. The actual meaning of the technical term proximity effect… well, it is simply a way to describe how microphones react to the relative closeness of the sound source you are recording… say for instance how a softly spoken lyric would come through when spoken directly into a microphone (i.e. with your lips touching it). 

Laki Mera by Sarah Jayne Morris
Laki Mera by Sarah Jayne Morris.

I haven’t heard the first album, how does the new one differ? 
The first album was a production which took several years, during which studio electronic music experiment and song-writing took their time to develop! The outcome was a very deep-layered production with a much calmer and reflective feel about it. The Proximity Effect still has moments of pause and reflection but it’s a much more direct record, based around tracks that were born playing live rather than in the studio… Most of the electronic music production on this album was inspired by the tracks and not vice versa. 

Laki Mera
How do you ensure that you retain an organic feel to the music when applying so many electronic textures?
Retaining an organic feel to the music is very important to us as we are well aware that electronic music can become too sterile and repetitive if not handled properly. We have a good mix of acoustic and electronic elements to the band and when working on the electronic arrangement we use many analog synths such as Korg Sigma, Korg MS10, Roland Juno 106. We also create our own sounds from samples of real sounds. Also, when playing live we ‘play’ everything rather than relying on pre-recorded loops as so many electronic acts do. This is more fun (if a little tricky sometimes) for us and more interesting for an audience to watch.

Laki Mera by Joana Faria
Laki Mera by Joana Faria.

You recorded some of the new album’s songs in turf house in a small Highland village – what lay behind the decision to decamp? 
We recognised that there was a bit of a difference between the tunes on the album and we wanted to embrace this. We made the decision to spend a week in a remote part of the Highlands to concentrate on the more acoustic, song-like tunes on the album. We felt that the hustle and bustle of our city studio did not provide the right kind of environment to properly capture the more sensitive feel of tunes such as Reverberation, Double Back and Solstice. We needed somewhere with a more quiet feel and a slower pace. 

YouTube Preview ImagePollok Park

Does living in Glasgow influence the sound of the music?
Glasgow has always been a very musical city and I think that’s partly why we have all been drawn there. With its long, dark winters and brooding, grey skies it definitely lends itself well to writing dark, introverted tunes!

Laki Mera laura donnelly
What else does everyone do when you’re not involved in Laki Mera?
Andrea & Keir are both sound engineers, Keir is also a piano teacher. Laura works on graphic design and art projects and Tim has recently completed a masters in Social Ecology.

Have you got any collaborations in the pipeline? 
We’re working on it, so watch this space…

YouTube Preview ImageOnion Machine

The Proximity Effect is out now on Just Music.

Categories ,Abi Lewis, ,acoustic, ,Advisory Circle, ,Andrea Gobbi, ,Aphex Twin, ,Bat for Lashes, ,Beck, ,Benny Greb, ,bjork, ,Dan Lester, ,Datasette, ,Double Back, ,efterklang, ,Electonica, ,Evan Smith, ,Fever Ray, ,folk, ,Fool, ,glasgow, ,Highlands, ,Joana Faria, ,Just Music, ,Keir Long, ,Korg MS10, ,Korg Sigma, ,Kraftwerk, ,Laki Mera, ,Laura Donnelly, ,Little Dragon, ,Lykke Li, ,Massive Attack, ,Michelle Pegrume, ,Onion Machine, ,Pollok Park, ,Portishead, ,radiohead, ,Reverberation, ,Roland Juno 106, ,Sarah Jayne Morris, ,Sarah-Jayne, ,Scottish, ,Social Ecology, ,Solstice, ,Tim Harbinson, ,Trip-Hop, ,Zombie Zombie

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Amelia’s Magazine | Latitude Festival 2010: Making Silent Movies Cool With Live Modern Soundtracks

Latitude 2010-Coco de Mer burlesque dancer by Amelia Gregory
Photography by Amelia Gregory.

Following the Graduate Fashion Shows Coco de Mer also hit the Latitude Waterfront catwalk with a range of fun sequinned swimsuits, find advice little tailored jackets and hats by Victoria Grant. Inspired by a Victorian circus ringmaster, dosage sales of this bespoke collection will raise funds for the Circus Child charity.

Latitude 2010-Coco de Mer Circus Child by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Coco de Mer Circus Child by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Coco de Mer Circus Child by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Coco de Mer Circus Child by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Coco de Mer Circus Child by Amelia Gregory
Latitude 2010-Coco de Mer Circus Child by Amelia Gregory

The skinny Elite new faces were completely overshadowed by the fabulous wriggling coquetry of the Burlesque artist who flounced down the catwalk with a pair of huge red feathered fans and a whole lot of sassiness. Now that’s what fit and healthy girls should look like with their clothes off.

Latitude 2010-Coco de Mer burlesque dancer by Amelia Gregory
the-dying-swan-Joby Talbot by jenny-goldstone
The Dying Swan by Jenny Goldstone.

When I was watching Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde set to the soundtrack of Warp artist Scanner at the Purcell Rooms a few months back I had no idea I was witnessing part of an avante garde phenomenon. But it seems there’s nothing more of the moment than the setting of a silent film to a modern day musical score. At Latitude I laid back on the black carpeted floor of the Film and Music Arena (one of the only places not blighted by the incessant dust) to enjoy two silent movies given this most trendy of treatments.

the-dying-swan-Joby Talbot by jenny-goldstone
the-dying-swan-Joby Talbot by jenny-goldstone
Illustrations by Jenny Goldstone.

On Saturday long lost Russian movie The Dying Swan was set to a live string arrangement from composer Joby Talbot. This 1916 classic was only rediscovered as the communist regime went into decline, information pills and director Evgenii Bauer has since been described as “the greatest filmmaker you’ve never heard of.” The mournful violin and cello were a perfect foil to the downfall of a lovelorn mute who finds solace in ballet.

naomi law-joan-of-arc
Illustration by Naomi Law.

On Sunday we once more lay amongst the detritus (the South Bank this wasn’t) to watch the cinematic genius of The Passion of Joan of Arc set to a live score by Adrian Utley of Portishead and Will Gregory of Goldfrapp. The film was made in 1928, more about shortly after the discovery of the original transcripts of the trial, healing imprisonment, torture and final execution of Joan of Arc. To convey maximum emotion it utilises mainly close up shots of the actors, a technique that has inspired many filmmakers since. With strings, horns, percussion, keys and the voices of the Monteverdi choir this was one of my absolute highlights of this year’s Latitude Festival. It’s discoveries like this that make the Latitude experience a tough act to follow.

Categories ,Adrian Utley, ,Avante Garde, ,Communist, ,Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, ,Evgenii Bauer, ,Film and Music Arena, ,goldfrapp, ,Jenny Goldstone, ,Joby Talbot, ,Latitude Festival, ,Monteverdi Choir, ,Naomi Law, ,Portishead, ,Purcell Rooms, ,Russian, ,Scanner, ,south bank, ,The Dying Swan, ,The Passion of Joan of Arc, ,Warp, ,Will Gregory

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