Celebrating how the sixties formed the world of music, approved fashion and art as we knew it, the exhibition was brimming with live music, film, fashion shows, dressing up boxes, a David Bailey inspired photo booth and 1960s make over’s.
With daisy chains gracefully decorating every head as the guests listened to the live music from Bebe & Paulo, Remi Nicole and Theoretical Girl and The Equations, this event was everything that it promised to be; lively, entertaining and realistic.
The Original Foale and Tuffin Team
Professional make-up and hair stylists transformed twenty-first century boys and girls into stylish sixties icons. A rail of beautiful vintage clothes and accessories from the sixties were on offer for the guests to dress up in and reminisce about a more radical time.
A David Bailey photo booth was on offer for anyone who wanted to capture the moment with friends. Dancing and smiling in front of the camera, dressed up in their sixties outfits, the guests got to experience what it would have been like to be captured by the famous photographer.
Key pieces by Foale and Tuffin were put on display including a napoleon raincoat, the corduroy brown trouser suit, which famously changed the way women dressed (even before Yves Saint Laurent), the domino dress and the black mini dress with fringe detail.
There was a vibrant catwalk courtesy of Pop Boutique whose models were dressed in clothes from the shop that perfectly represented the sixties era to a tee. Full of enthusiasm and lively music blasting out, the models proudly swept down the catwalk proving that it is still possible to wear sixties clothes and look on trend.
With sixties label such as Biba, Mary Quant and Ossie Clark re-launching themselves, Tuffin has not ruled out the possibility of Foale and Tuffin making a come back. Described as quirky, youthful and sensitive to the latest atmosphere and styles it was good luck and dedication that found them at the centre of the cultural explosion in London that defined the swinging sixties.
Written by Coco Watts on Tuesday December 15th, 2009 1:56 pm
A while back I happened to catch a performance by Lissie at the Old Queens Head in Angel. I hadn’t planned on watching her – truth be told, dosage I was there to check out the band before her; but my curiosity was piqued as I watched the room fill up with an expectant and excited audience, cialis 40mg all craning their necks and standing on their tippy toes to get a better view of the girl serenading us. It’s been a while since I saw someone so captivating. Golden haired, freckled and just a slip of a thing, Lissie entranced the room who in turn treated her to a hushed and reverential silence, punctuated only by bursts of spirited applause and cheers. I watched the audience watching her. Everyone seemed transported out of their location; away from the top room of a pub on grimy old Essex Road and into the world that Mid-Western native come Californian girl Lissie inhabits, laced with the scent of orange blossom, filled with wide open skies, winding rivers and smokey mountains, and night-times spent on porches with nothing but a guitar, a couple of beers and a pack of Marlboro Reds . No wonder we were all enchanted.
A couple of weeks later, I got to meet the busy Lissie. In the time between, Lissie had appeared on Jools Holland, toured around Europe, duetted with Ellie Goulding at The Great Escape, and graced the airwaves, all in the name of the hectic promotion of her debut album, Catching a Tiger (hot on the heels of the release of last years Why You Runnin’ EP). The phrase ‘riding a juggernaut’ comes to mind with Lissie; bursting into our consciousness with the brightest of starts. The day we met was a rare moment of down time; her touring schedule is in a constant state of flux – stretching to accommodate gigs that are being added on a daily basis, and Lissie had only just made it back from the previous nights gigs in Manchester and Newcastle. Curled up wearing her newest ac health Peter_GarethAHopkins_13thJuly2010″ width=”480″ height=”456″ class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-21290″ />
Peter Blake, remedy illustrated by Gareth A Hopkins
Peter Blake is, sickness for the majority, most famous for THAT cover. The one still spawning imitators – frequently seen walking the streets, they can be identified through the wearing of what is now the eponymous band jacket. Blake groaned every time the cover was mentioned. For those, like me familiar with Blake’s influence in graphic design, the talk at the V&A was an eye opener. For all the famous album covers (if you would like the aforementioned album signed, Blake charges a tenner and the proceeds are donated to charity) there were numerous drawing projects showcasing the depth of Blake’s talent that is all to often associated solely with an idea of Pop Art.
Blake received an incredible introduction to a range of technical skills whilst studying at college prior to the Royal College of Art. Fairly recently Blake reintroduced himself to wood engraving, producing prints based on old carnival illustrations. The outcome was a series titled “Side Show,” which with their dark humour and sense of craft could easily have been made in the 19th century.
The series Under Milk Wood appears to be a labour of love. Blake has produced a watercolour for every character, collages of the 28 different dreams experienced by the characters alongside 60 anecdotes. The words of Dylan Thomas appear within the work.
Whilst the talk was organised to champion the release of Blake’s new book: Design, it was full of fascinating anecdotes and tangents as Blake explained the minute reasoning for the appearance of this figure here or that figure there (specifically in relation to the album covers). What came across was the importance of the ability to collect to his work, the treasure trove of his studio and Blake’s ability to embrace the new, demonstrated through his clear admiration for the powers of the computer.
This was a fascinating insight into a polymath of an artist.
Design Museum fashion talk by Leeay
Design Museum fashion talks Marc Jacobs A/W 2010, approved illustration by Leeay
The Museum of Everything by Abigail Daker
Returning for the third time the Museum of Everything’s simply named Exhibition #3 has been put together with the help of British pop artist Sir Peter Blake. It only opened on the 13th October to coincide with the Frieze art fair and is due to close again at Christmas so get down there quick before it’s gone, page I promise you’d be sorry to miss it. A strange little place, the Museum of Everything can be found tucked away down a back street in Primose Hill next to the local library. However, although small in stature this curious museum will still require a good portion of your morning or afternoon to get round because every little space, spot, and shelf is covered with intriguing things to peer at.
Entering through the colourful striped doorway and paying a voluntary donation to a lady in a small kitsch ticket booth and you may be well on your way to guessing that the circus is the theme this time round. Indeed circus mirrors greet you, transforming you into a giant, a dwarf and…God forbid! Someone wider than they are tall! Apt then that round the corner is the ‘gallery of unusual people’ and the beginning of an interesting peek into the world of the carnival and the freak show. The gallery is a selection of historic sideshow memorabilia depicting everyone from bearded ladies and dwarves to a man with the completely smooth appearance (yes! including ‘downstairs’) and webbed feet of a frog. This vast collection of posters and postcards are a “celebration of difference” because “nobody’s perfect”, or at least that’s the idea as Sir Peter Blake himself explains in a video later on.
Giant banners advertising, among other things, “strange little people”, and “the world’s most grotesque creature” are strewn all over the walls in the main hall. Painted by the so-called ‘king of the sideshow banner’, Fred Johnson, his is just one among the many all but defunct crafts that are revered at the Museum of Everything. There’s even a wardrobe door emblazoned with a leopard painted by sign painter Joe Ephgrave, who also painted the iconic drum skin on the award-winning cover of the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album that Sir Peter Blake designed.
Girl by Ted Willcox
In fact that’s the really lovely thing about the Museum of Everything, iconic artworks are mixed in without fanfare among work from less known, brilliant, and usually eccentric artists’ – like the embroidery of Ted Willcox. Ted was taught to sew in hospital while recovering from injuries incurred in WW2. He then went on to spend the rest of his life indoors finding inspiration in everything from Alice in Wonderland to pictures of reclining bare-chested beauties, recreating them all in needle and thread.
In many ways the Museum can be viewed as a potted history of Great Britain, though told from a thoroughly left field point of view. Nothing sums this up better than the Walter Potter section, an example of Victoriana at its most bizarre if ever there was one. Cleary no relation to animal lover Beatrix, Walter Potter’s tableaux are made up of stuffed rabbits, a variety of birds, squirrels, rats, frogs, puppies and kittens – all in a surprising range of poses. They are completely grotesque but also fascinating, and of course, today taxidermy is very much back in vogue with artists like Polly Morgan picking up and popularising the ancient craft once again.
The Museum of Everything managed to impart on me the same kinds of feelings that I imagine may have flashed through the minds of the archaic freak show audience. A mix of morbid curiosity, delight in viewing the strange, and a childish excitement over being reminded what a beautiful and odd world we live in. Catch it while the circus is still in town!
Open Wednesday – Sunday, 10.30 am – 6.30 pm until Christmas. More information on the Museum of Everything website here, and don’t forget to check in with our review from their last show in 2009, which was just as wonderful.
Written by Emma Barlow on Thursday October 28th, 2010 9:43 am
Hawks, more about snakes, seek dinosaurs, discount sharks and bears – there isn’t a kitty in sight in Caitlin Hinshelwood’s excellent fauna. We fell in love with the work from the textile designer and artist when she, alongside partner Rose de Borman, put on the Field Work pop-up shop in Spitalfields last month. In gentle earth tones, patterns of vegetables, flowers and arrows are repeated in the fabric, sometimes interspersed with Caitlin’s scratchy handwriting. The result is ever so subtly brilliant, like a cake that’s not too sweet and gets better as you eat it. I don’t want just a cushion with Caitlin’s prints – I want wallpaper. Because as we all know, too much of a good thing is wonderful.
Ghost arguments
There is something quite playful about your work – like you’ve sat down with your pencils and doodled, almost effortlessly. Is that anything close to the reality of making your art?
In some respects yes; I definitely like to get all my books and photos, put on music and just start drawing or painting with it all out in front of me. But more often than not an image is already partially formed in my mind and it’s a case of putting it down on paper, getting it out of my head. Often it is words and colour that inspire the initial ideas and then the drawing comes, that’s especially true of my paintings. The playfulness is an aspect of my work I am happy to be recognised, I know I am making work I am going to be happy with when I laugh to myself whilst I am doing it.
There’s drawing, painting, etching, embroidery and printing, I think … what’s your preferred medium?
Initially, and most recently, I’d say drawing in pen or pencil. I have rediscovered how much I like using a simple pencil of late. However, I love mixing and using colour so then painting or printing always come in. I love the process of screen-printing regardless of how infuriating it can be, I enjoy the skill of it and building up the imagery. It’s like processing photographs yourself, it still feels like magic when the image appears on the screen.
Whale cushion
Your style seems perfect for textiles – like the fantastic ‘par avion’ swallow cushion. Is the choice to use textiles a commercial one, or is this just how you prefer to work?
I studied printed textiles at the University of Brighton so it was natural to continue using it as a medium for my work and, as mentioned before, I do love the technicality and physicality of screen-printing. Making your drawings translate to textiles gives them a new lease of life, a new context. The confines of designing in a square for a cushion or making things repeat can be part of the enjoyment. I like the variety of textiles; you can produce a print design that can be reproduced and used for fashion but you can also treat a cushion like an art piece in itself. Some of my textiles can mean as much as any painting that I do.
Giving up ghosts
I love the animal themes, and the fact that it’s not just the ‘cute’ animals but also whales, dinosaurs and so on – and the vegetables! What inspires these?
Natural history is something I often gravitate towards. It seems like an obvious thing to me as I have always liked this stuff since childhood; I wanted to be zoologist when I was little, my favourite toys were plastic dinosaurs and I have been brought up to love gardening. One of the places I am happiest is in my garden and growing vegetables. The recent animal drawings are part of a collection meant as a homage to David Attenborough and his ‘Life on Earth’ programmes. Hence my new ‘Attenborough Cushions’ which as well as featuring his portrait, complete with Soviet-esque beams, depicts a different series from ‘Life on Earth’. Whale imagery and all things maritime are a personal obsession of mine I find difficult to move away from and even if I do leave it alone for a while I always end up revisiting it.
Trio of Davids
You have an impressive list of designer names on your client list. How did you build up your customer base?
After university I won a place with Texprint, an organisation that selects 24 textile graduates from across the country and takes them to show at Indigo in Paris. I think this experience really showed me the reality of life after university and what you needed to do if you wanted to work for yourself. And that meant pestering people and slogging my portfolio around Paris, London and New York so people saw my work.
You collaborate a lot with Rose de Borman, both with the homeware range and the recent ‘Field Work’ pop-up shop. Could you tell us a little about how you two work together?
Rosie and I met at Brighton and apart from becoming great friends I think we recognised in each other shared tastes and admirations, and realised our work sits well together. Since we graduated we naturally started collaborating on certain projects, sometimes it’s more enjoyable to work on something with a friend, but we have always maintained working independently of each other. The homeware range is the only truly collaborative design project we have done together and this developed from a commission to go to India and work with a manufacturer in Jaipur to produce the range. Field Work was born in 2009 out of a desire to showcase our work, in all its different forms, in a setting that we could curate and in which we could also celebrate the work of other artists and designers we admire.
Vegetable plot dress
What are you working on these days – any new projects you can tell us about?
I am mainly going to be in the print workshop – I have a load of t-shirt commissions to finish and plenty of production to do. I am going to Mexico later in the year that will hopefully inspire a whole new range of work. It is in its very early stages at the moment but I am going to be doing some work for a Whale Festival in Vancouver, which is exciting and pretty perfect for someone that likes drawing whales. And then there is another Field Work to organise – hopefully before the year is out.
Wittgenstein
Then there’s your printed t-shirt business – will you draw anyone or is it just famous people? By the way I get why you don’t want to draw Paul McCartney, I do. The other three are cool though.
Yeah I don’t have anything against the Beatles; it’s purely McCartney I have reservations about! It doesn’t have to be famous faces; I just want it to be particular to the person that has requested a t-shirt. I’d draw anyone within reason. Obviously some choices are more populist than others and I do prefer the more obscure ones, the faces that people are less likely to recognise. I am slightly dismayed by the serious lack of women though!
Caitlin Hinshelwood
See more of Caitlin Hinshelwood’s work on her website. You can read her blog, visit her shop and look at her t-shirt site too.
Written by Jessica Furseth on Thursday April 14th, 2011 9:33 am
Hawks, more about snakes, seek dinosaurs, discount sharks and bears – there isn’t a kitty in sight in Caitlin Hinshelwood’s excellent fauna. We fell in love with the work from the textile designer and artist when she, alongside partner Rose de Borman, put on the Field Work pop-up shop in Spitalfields last month. In gentle earth tones, patterns of vegetables, flowers and arrows are repeated in the fabric, sometimes interspersed with Caitlin’s scratchy handwriting. The result is ever so subtly brilliant, like a cake that’s not too sweet and gets better as you eat it. I don’t want just a cushion with Caitlin’s prints – I want wallpaper. Because as we all know, too much of a good thing is wonderful.
Ghost arguments
There is something quite playful about your work – like you’ve sat down with your pencils and doodled, almost effortlessly. Is that anything close to the reality of making your art?
In some respects yes; I definitely like to get all my books and photos, put on music and just start drawing or painting with it all out in front of me. But more often than not an image is already partially formed in my mind and it’s a case of putting it down on paper, getting it out of my head. Often it is words and colour that inspire the initial ideas and then the drawing comes, that’s especially true of my paintings. The playfulness is an aspect of my work I am happy to be recognised, I know I am making work I am going to be happy with when I laugh to myself whilst I am doing it.
There’s drawing, painting, etching, embroidery and printing, I think … what’s your preferred medium?
Initially, and most recently, I’d say drawing in pen or pencil. I have rediscovered how much I like using a simple pencil of late. However, I love mixing and using colour so then painting or printing always come in. I love the process of screen-printing regardless of how infuriating it can be, I enjoy the skill of it and building up the imagery. It’s like processing photographs yourself, it still feels like magic when the image appears on the screen.
Whale cushion
Your style seems perfect for textiles – like the fantastic ‘par avion’ swallow cushion. Is the choice to use textiles a commercial one, or is this just how you prefer to work?
I studied printed textiles at the University of Brighton so it was natural to continue using it as a medium for my work and, as mentioned before, I do love the technicality and physicality of screen-printing. Making your drawings translate to textiles gives them a new lease of life, a new context. The confines of designing in a square for a cushion or making things repeat can be part of the enjoyment. I like the variety of textiles; you can produce a print design that can be reproduced and used for fashion but you can also treat a cushion like an art piece in itself. Some of my textiles can mean as much as any painting that I do.
Giving up ghosts
I love the animal themes, and the fact that it’s not just the ‘cute’ animals but also whales, dinosaurs and so on – and the vegetables! What inspires these?
Natural history is something I often gravitate towards. It seems like an obvious thing to me as I have always liked this stuff since childhood; I wanted to be zoologist when I was little, my favourite toys were plastic dinosaurs and I have been brought up to love gardening. One of the places I am happiest is in my garden and growing vegetables. The recent animal drawings are part of a collection meant as a homage to David Attenborough and his ‘Life on Earth’ programmes. Hence my new ‘Attenborough Cushions’ which as well as featuring his portrait, complete with Soviet-esque beams, depicts a different series from ‘Life on Earth’. Whale imagery and all things maritime are a personal obsession of mine I find difficult to move away from and even if I do leave it alone for a while I always end up revisiting it.
Trio of Davids
You have an impressive list of designer names on your client list. How did you build up your customer base?
After university I won a place with Texprint, an organisation that selects 24 textile graduates from across the country and takes them to show at Indigo in Paris. I think this experience really showed me the reality of life after university and what you needed to do if you wanted to work for yourself. And that meant pestering people and slogging my portfolio around Paris, London and New York so people saw my work.
You collaborate a lot with Rose de Borman, both with the homeware range and the recent ‘Field Work’ pop-up shop. Could you tell us a little about how you two work together?
Rosie and I met at Brighton and apart from becoming great friends I think we recognised in each other shared tastes and admirations, and realised our work sits well together. Since we graduated we naturally started collaborating on certain projects, sometimes it’s more enjoyable to work on something with a friend, but we have always maintained working independently of each other. The homeware range is the only truly collaborative design project we have done together and this developed from a commission to go to India and work with a manufacturer in Jaipur to produce the range. Field Work was born in 2009 out of a desire to showcase our work, in all its different forms, in a setting that we could curate and in which we could also celebrate the work of other artists and designers we admire.
Vegetable plot dress
What are you working on these days – any new projects you can tell us about?
I am mainly going to be in the print workshop – I have a load of t-shirt commissions to finish and plenty of production to do. I am going to Mexico later in the year that will hopefully inspire a whole new range of work. It is in its very early stages at the moment but I am going to be doing some work for a Whale Festival in Vancouver, which is exciting and pretty perfect for someone that likes drawing whales. And then there is another Field Work to organise – hopefully before the year is out.
Wittgenstein
Then there’s your printed t-shirt business – will you draw anyone or is it just famous people? By the way I get why you don’t want to draw Paul McCartney, I do. The other three are cool though.
Yeah I don’t have anything against the Beatles; it’s purely McCartney I have reservations about! It doesn’t have to be famous faces; I just want it to be particular to the person that has requested a t-shirt. I’d draw anyone within reason. Obviously some choices are more populist than others and I do prefer the more obscure ones, the faces that people are less likely to recognise. I am slightly dismayed by the serious lack of women though!
Caitlin Hinshelwood
See more of Caitlin Hinshelwood’s work on her website. You can read her blog, visit her shop and look at her t-shirt site too.
Written by Jessica Furseth on Thursday April 14th, 2011 9:33 am
Can it really be a year since the last Glastonbury? In 2009, try for the first time, for saleClimate Camp was given it’s very own space in the Dragon Field just above the Craft Field as you wend your way down to Shangri La. This year we’re back to once again educate and entertain festival goers at our beautiful site only a few minutes walk from the Old Railway Line.
Workshops, illness at play, and First Aid Kit playing at the Climate Camp Tripod Stage in 2009.
In 2010 Climate Camp is targeting the Royal Bank of Scotland, which has been bailed out with £50 billion of public money that is now being used to finance the extraction of fossil fuels across the world, with no regard for climate change or the destruction of communities that it causes. We will be camping near the RBS global headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 19th-25th August, but in the meantime to find out more about why we decided to focus on RBS this year come along and take a look at our exhibition at Glastonbury, then pick up a copy of our Never Mind The Bankers newspaper to peruse over a cup of tea or share with friends. We will be running DIY screenprinting workshops where you can learn how to screenprint your clothing with an anti RBS slogan. Simply bring your own or print onto one of our tshirts or bags. A great activity for kids! There will also be a chance to take part in Tripod Training: Tripods are used to blockade and secure a space on a direct action protest; come find out how to put them up and climb them safely. Good fun, and no previous experience or skills required.
Tripod Training.
Then of course there is our fabulous music, poetry and comedy line up, put together by yours truly. Read on to find out who will be gracing our Tripod Stage…. Pyramid Stage eat your heart out, this is where the real talent is.
Green Kite Midnight.
When I wrote up about the Climate Camp presence at Glastonbury in 2009 in my blog I talked about my hope that my band Green Kite Midnight would be able to play as the Climate Camp house band in 2010, so I’m very excited to report that we will be doing daily gigs this year. Five years ago I co-founded the barndance troupe Cutashine out of a desire to make traditional collective dancing more fun: after all, what’s better than a dance where you get to meet other people and really work up a sweat?
With Cutashine I played at gigs all over Glastonbury for several years, then left to start Green Kite Midnight through my contacts in Climate Camp; a band that supports and plays at direct action protests. Our first gig was at the Climate Camp in Bishopsgate during the G20 in April last year, we played to 800 people at the Blackheath Climate Camp in August 2009, and more recently we went on a 10 day solidarity bike ride together to play gigs to support the struggle against the Shell gas pipeline at Rossport in Ireland. With myself as emcee (I’m a gobby shite, so turn your mind away from those boring barn dances you might have attended as a child) we can teach anyone how to barn dance, so please come and join us.
And now for the rest of our fabulous line-up:
Anna Log
My Luminaries, photography by James Dean White.
On Thursday we kick off four days of renewably powered music with a fabulous folky female. Anna Log – singer with pop folk band We Aeronauts – will be doing a solo set accompanied by her trusty uke. After our first ceilidh Glastonbury Emerging Talent winners My Luminaries round the evening off with a special semi-acoustic set of their epic indie rock.
Kirsty Almeida
Danny and the Champions of the World
On Friday Kirsty Almeida opens for us with her bass heavy soulful Bayou blues, then we’re pleased to welcome the epic musical dreamscapes of Newislands, described as Pink Floyd meets Depeche Mode. After that it’s time for some other Climate Camp regulars, Danny Chivers, Claire Fauset and Merrick, to grace the stage with their “triple-headed tag team political poetry extravaganza”. They’re all friends of mine that I’ve seen perform before so I highly recommend their set, which will be repeated on Sunday afternoon. As a closer we have the country-tinged big band folk of Danny and the Champions of the World.
Kyla la Grange
Patch William
The Federals
Dry the River
To kick the day off on Saturday we welcome an exclusive Glastonbury appearance from a talented newcomer with a stunning voice; Kyla La Grange creates soaring melodies and is nearing completion of her debut album. Then comes Patch William – the dreamy lovechild of Nick Drake and Jimi Hendrix, who are followed by the scuzzy rock sound of York boys The Federals, described as a cross between the White Stripes and The Beatles. Then, time for a very special guest. Following my interview with Robin Ince a few weeks he very kindly promised to come by and do us a *special secret set* which will be a must see for all comedy fans at the festival. Tell all your friends! And come on by for a very intimate set from this well known comedian. Dry the River end the day with their beautiful melodic folk, singing songs of religion, history and community to rival those of Fleet Foxes and Mumford & Sons.
Pete the Temp
Pete Lawrie
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.
Robinson
On Sunday we’ve got another packed day to end the festival. Pete the Temp returns to wow us with his comedic eco-political music and spoken word, then we look forward to hearing the bittersweet gospel blues of latecomer Pete Lawrie, who confirmed just as our flyer had gone to print. I am particularly pleased to welcome Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. the official moniker of singer songwriter Sam Duckworth. He will be showcasing music from his new album due for release later this year, and I’ve got a soft spot for him because he appeared in the print version of Amelia’s Magazine. Robinson will play a gypsy cajun folk set before we round off the festival with our GRAND RAFFLE. If you see our outreach team out and about please give generously to support Climate Camp and come along to our grand prize giving, which will be hosted by the inimitable Danny Chivers.
The Grand Raffle presented by Danny Chivers in 2009.
Don’t forget to follow myself and Climate Camp on twitter to find out how the festival is going; we can always live in hope that 3G reception will be better than it was last year! But most of all, don’t forget to come and visit us… and bring your friends along with you. I will of course write up a full report on my return. For a reminder of what to expect read my blog from last year here.
For a map and full timing information for all bands and workshops see this listings page.
Written by Amelia Gregory on Tuesday June 22nd, 2010 5:47 pm
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.
Written by Ian Steadman on Wednesday April 7th, 2010 10:56 am
Yorkshire right now is covered in snow. Its rocky walls, white capped, its sheep bleeting in the wind. “Bahhh”. Very picturesque, perfect for the nostalgic Victorian Christmas we’ve never seen. Hark! What’s that I can hear? Californian sounding guitar strumming, muffled notes, twinkly idealism? It’s like suddenly I’m on a balmy beach in the 60s with my good friends, Bruce and Summer. Splendid…splendid indeed. Who is this?
It’s the Spectrals, a chap from Yorkshire called Louis Jones. Brought up on a collection of 60s and 70s soul, Motown and doo-wop, alongside elements of garage rock, he’s created an amalgamation of genres in his bedroom. Essentially I would say Jones’ music is dreamy and rock and roll. A perfect antidote to sitting on your squidgy sofa with your pastry pies and chocolate cocktails washed down with warm wine. His voice sounds faintly tinny, old school and a whole world away from seasonal affective disorder. Let’s just for a second, remember what summer is… And now, what it is/could be like to live by the sea… yep, invigorating thoughts.
Originally from Heckmondwicke, West Yorkshire, Jones was in his first band aged 15. He used to record in his bedroom with his brother on drums, but now he has a professionally recorded album; Extended Play on Moshi Moshi Records. Recorded completely on analogue in a local studio, it sounds fresh and yet blurry. Reminding me of watching bands when I was 17, around pubs in Brighton and the countryside’s nether regions. It’s The Sea and Cake, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Arctic Mokeys, Wild Beasts and Beach House. All a tiny bit off note and rolled up in a colourful knitted ensemble. It sounds very American immersed on the first listen, but then as you continue to surf about the room, it is much drier than Californian shiny pop, it’s harder, more pithy and actually, very English.
I caught up with Louis Jones fresh from his tour with Best Coast and asked him a few questions about his music.
Your music has a definite Californian glow to it. Where did you get your surfy sound inspiration from?
I realised that “surf” music was going to be really “cool”, so I made some songs with that kind of sound so I could be rich.
What would you say the music saying to its listeners?
I don’t want to say anything to the listener, the lyrics in the songs are
just about how I feel about a girl.
Do you think the 60s/70s music is preferable to now?
There’ll always be good music and there’ll always be rubbish music.
What does Yorkshire mean to you?
Yorkshire doesn’t mean anything to me, I was born here and it’s convenient
to stay here for now. I’m into both of those.
Who are you touring with at the moment
I just got back off tour with Best Coast, I love them.
Have you done any song writing whilst you have been on tour?
No I never seem to have time.
…This flippant, liberated attitude comes across in Jones’ music. He mixes the surf guitar, psychedelia and rock, before mottling the picture with glimpses of the English, trapped underneath in the exposure, adding a multi faceted quality to the Spectrals. Extended Play has got youth, attitude and style, without coming across as if it ever intended to produce such attributes.
Written by Helen Martin on Thursday December 9th, 2010 10:25 am
Yorkshire right now is covered in snow. Its rocky walls, pill white capped, its sheep bleeting in the wind. “Bahhh”. Very picturesque, perfect for the nostalgic Victorian Christmas we’ve never seen. Hark! What’s that I can hear? Californian sounding guitar strumming, muffled notes, twinkly idealism? It’s like suddenly I’m on a balmy beach in the 60s with my good friends, Bruce and Summer. Splendid…splendid indeed. Who is this?
It’s the Spectrals, a chap from Yorkshire called Louis Jones. Brought up on a collection of 60s and 70s soul, Motown and doo-wop, alongside elements of garage rock, he’s created an amalgamation of genres in his bedroom. Essentially I would say Jones’ music is dreamy and rock and roll. A perfect antidote to sitting on your squidgy sofa with your pastry pies and chocolate cocktails washed down with warm wine. His voice sounds faintly tinny, old school and a whole world away from seasonal affective disorder. Let’s just for a second, remember what summer is… And now, what it is/could be like to live by the sea… yep, invigorating thoughts.
Originally from Heckmondwicke, West Yorkshire, Jones was in his first band aged 15. He used to record in his bedroom with his brother on drums, but now he has a professionally recorded album; Extended Play on Moshi Moshi Records. Recorded completely on analogue in a local studio, it sounds fresh and yet blurry. Reminding me of watching bands when I was 17, around pubs in Brighton and the countryside’s nether regions. It’s The Sea and Cake, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Arctic Mokeys, Wild Beasts and Beach House. All a tiny bit off note and rolled up in a colourful knitted ensemble. It sounds very American immersed on the first listen, but then as you continue to surf about the room, it is much drier than Californian shiny pop, it’s harder, more pithy and actually, very English.
I caught up with Louis Jones fresh from his tour with Best Coast and asked him a few questions about his music.
Your music has a definite Californian glow to it. Where did you get your surfy sound inspiration from?
I realised that “surf” music was going to be really “cool”, so I made some songs with that kind of sound so I could be rich.
What would you say the music saying to its listeners?
I don’t want to say anything to the listener, the lyrics in the songs are
just about how I feel about a girl.
Do you think the 60s/70s music is preferable to now?
There’ll always be good music and there’ll always be rubbish music.
What does Yorkshire mean to you?
Yorkshire doesn’t mean anything to me, I was born here and it’s convenient
to stay here for now. I’m into both of those.
Who are you touring with at the moment
I just got back off tour with Best Coast, I love them.
Have you done any song writing whilst you have been on tour?
No I never seem to have time.
…This flippant, liberated attitude comes across in Jones’ music. He mixes the surf guitar, psychedelia and rock, before mottling the picture with glimpses of the English, trapped underneath in the exposure, adding a multi faceted quality to the Spectrals. Extended Play has got youth, attitude and style, without coming across as if it ever intended to produce such attributes.
Written by Helen Martin on Thursday December 9th, 2010 10:25 am
Having spearheaded the new London folk scene with their debut album, theremedicalNoah and the Whale are back with their hands full up, releasing a new single, album and film out this summer. We talk school plays, Daisy Lowe, weddings, gardening, Werner Herzog in the studio with the effortlessly charming frontman, Charlie Fink.
Photos by Katie Weatherall
Amelia’s Mag: You’ve got a whole host of new releases coming up – single, album, film – how are you feeling about it all, happy/nervous/excited?
Charlie Fink: All of the above… I dunno, we did the album so long ago… From the last album, I realised the only satisfying feeling you’re going to get is the feeling you get when you’ve finished it and you think it’s good, that’s the best it gets. Reading a review of somebody else saying it’s good is good to show off to your mum, but it doesn’t really mean anything. Likewise, if there’s something you believe in and someone says it’s bad, you’re still going to believe in it.
AM: And the live shows must add another dimension to that?
CF: Yeah. What I’m excited about really is that this record realises us as a band more than the previous one. So that’s going to be really exciting to go out and play that live to people.
AM: And is there anything in particular that has done this or has it been the natural progression of the band?
CF: It’s a million small things, from us playing together more, us growing up, learning our trade a bit better, from what happens in lives and the records you listen to. I very much try to rely as much as I can on instinct and satisfying myself. And this is not a selfish thing because the only way you can supply something worthwhile to somebody else, is if you’re totally satisfied with it yourself. Doing the right things for us and hoping that’ll transfer to the audience.
AM: Was there anything in particular you were listening to whilst making the record?
CF: The things I’m listening to now are different from the things I was listening to when I wrote the record. When I first started the record, I was listening to ‘Spirit of Eden’ by Talk Talk, which is a different sounding record to what we did. Nick Cave, lots by Wilco…
AM: So tell me about the film, ‘The First Days Of Spring’, that accompanies the album (of the same name)… which came first?
CF: The first thing was the idea of a film where the background and the pace was defined by an album. But it totally overtook my whole life. It’s one of those things you start for a certain reason and then you keep going for different reasons. The inspiration was sort of how people don’t really listen to albums anymore, they listen to songs. We wanted to try making an all emersive record where the film puts people into it. We’re not dictating that this should be the only way people listen to music, we just wanted to offer something alternative. On a lot of records these days, you don’t feel like the unity of the album gives it more strength than each individual song. Whereas with this record, the whole thing is worth more than the individual parts. That’s how I see it anyway.
There’s this quote from I think W. G. Collingwood that says, ‘art is dead, amusement is all that’s left.’ I like the idea that this project, in the best possible way, is commercially and in lots of other ways pointless. It’s a length that doesn’t exist. It’s not a short film or a feature, it’s 15 minutes and the nature of it is that it’s entirely led by its soundtrack. It’s created for the sake of becoming something that I thought was beautiful.
AM: And Daisy Lowe stars in it, how was that?
CF: She’s an incredibly nice and intelligent person. I met with her in New York when we were mixing the album and I told her I was doing this film… She was immediately interested. And her gave her the record as one whole track which is how I originally wanted it to be released. Just one track on iTunes that had to be listened to as a whole and not just dipped into. She sent me an email two weeks later, because she’s obviously a very busy person. With her listening to the album, a kind of live feed of what she thought of it. Making a film and having her was really good because she kept me motivated and passionate. She genuinely really took to this project. The whole cast as well, everyone really supported it and it was a pleasure to make. I had to fight to get it made and understood. It’s one of those things that people either passionately disagree with or agree with. From thinking it’s absurdly pretentious or beautiful. Fortunately all the people working on the film were passionate people.
AM: So is film making something you want to continue with?
CF: Yeah, definitely! At some point I’d like to make a more conventional film. The thing that really stuck with me about making a film was surround sound. When you’re mixing a film, you’re mixing the sound in surround because you’re mixing for cinemas. You realise the potential of having five speakers around you as opposed to just two in front of you. The complexity of what you can do is vast. So I’d love to something with that. If you record in surround sound you need to hear it in surround sound, so maybe some kind of installation… Then another film after that…
AM: You’ve been put into a folk bracket with your first album, is that something you’re ok with?
CF: I like folk music, I listen to folk music but then every folk artist I like denies they’re folk. It’s one of those things, it doesn’t really matter. We played last year at the Cambridge Folk Festival and I felt really proud to be a part of that. It’s a real music lovers festival. That was a really proud moment so I can’t be that bothered.
AM: I recently sang your first single, ‘5 Years Time’, at a wedding, do you ever imagine the direction your songs may go after you write them?
CF: Wow. That’s really funny. I’ve had a few stories like that actually. It’s touching but it’s not what I’d imagine.
AM: Do you write songs in that way? Some bands set out to write a love song, dance song etc…
CF: I can’t really remember how I write… I was writing last night but… do you drive?
AM: I just recently failed my test.
CF: Perfect! Well, you know when you start driving you have to think through everything – put my foot on the clutch, take it off the clutch etc. Then when you’ve been doing it a while, you just do all those things without even knowing you’ve done them. That’s how it feels with songwriting, I can’t really remember doing it. It just happens how it happens. Or like gardening… you’ve just gotta chop through and it’ll come.
AM: Is being in a band everything you imagined it to be?
CF: For me it’s more about being creative. I do some production for people, the band, the writing and now the film. I just love what I do and just keep doing it. I follow it wherever it goes. The capacity I have for doing what I do is enough to make it feel precious.
AM: So are there any untapped creative pursuits left for you?
CF: At the moment what I’m doing feels right. I never had any ambitions to paint. I don’t have that skill. I think film and music have always been the two things that have touched me the most.
AM: So how about acting?
CF: I did once at school when I was 13. I played the chancellor in a play the teacher wrote called ‘Suspense and a Dragon Called Norris.’ Which had rapturous reactions from my mum. I don’t think I could do that either. When you direct though you need to understand how acting works. It’s a really fascinating thing but I don’t I’d be any good at it.
AM: Do you prefer the full creative potential a director has?
CF: The best directors are the ones that build a character. Building a character is as important as understanding it. It needs major input from both the director and the actor. You can’t just give an actor the script and expect it to be exactly right. You need to be there to create the little details. The way they eat, the way they smoke… That’s an important skill.
At this point, Charlie asks me about a note I’d made on my reporter’s pad, which was actually a reminder about a friend’s birthday present. Which draws the conservation to a close as we recite our favourite Werner Herzog films. Turns out, he shares the same taste in film directors as my friend.
If Charlie from Noah and the Whale tells us he likes Wilco, then we like Wilco. It’s as simple as that. It’s time to get educated.
Wednesday 26th August
The Hot Rats
The Old Blue Last, London
Otherwise known as half of Supergrass plus hot shot Radiohead producer, The Hot Rats get their kicks taking pop classics by, amongst others, The Beatles and The Kinks and infusing their own alt-rock psychedelica – worth a gander.
Thursday 27th August
KILL IT KID Madam Jo Jos, London
Their blend of durge blues, barndance and freestyle frenzy jazz blues make KILL IT KID a gem to behold in a live setting.
Friday 28th August
Swanton Bombs Old Blue Last, London
If you like your indie adorned in Mod and brimming with angularity, then Swanton Bombs will be pushing the trigger on your buttons.
Saturday 29th August
South East in East Festival – Teenagers In Tokyo, Tronik Youth, Ali Love, Publicist Vibe Bar, London
It’s all about South East London – full stop. In this cunning event, it up sticks to East London, where synth-pop Gossip descendents, Teenagers In Tokyo headline a night of New X Rave.
Sunday 30th August
The Gladstone Open Mic Night The Gladstone, London
As it’s Bank Holiday Weekend and all the bands are at Reading/Leeds Festival, London is starved of big gigs. No fear, The Glad is here – A little known drinking hole in Borough that continually serves up a plethora of folkey talent… and pies!
Images throughout courtesy of both Fashion and Textile museum and Felicitie’s Designer showroom
Sally Tuffin and Marion Foale
The Original Foale and Tuffin Team
health
Life on earth
Ghost arguments
Whale cushion
Giving up ghosts
Trio of Davids
Vegetable plot dress
Wittgenstein
Caitlin Hinshelwood
