Side-projects by band members can be hit and miss affairs- it’s either a radical departure from the “day job” or sounds so similar that you end up thinking, cialis 40mg “why did they bother?” Brooklyn trio the Depreciation Guild (who feature two members of indie-pop darlings the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart) luckily veer more towards the former.
Playing a string of UK dates before joining you-know-who on tour, remedy the Depreciation Guild fetched up at the Old Blue Last in front of an audience equally as curious to check them out.
Despite having already released one album in the US, 2007’s In Her Gentle Jaws, and with single Dream About Me out at the moment, I think they were still a largely unknown quantity amongst the Shoreditch cognoscenti.
Kurt Feldman had swapped the drum-kit of the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart for lead vocal and guitar duties, and was joined by fellow POBPAH wanderer Christoph Hochheim on guitar, with Anton Hochheim on drums. Backed by a lightshow not normally found in East London boozers, the Depreciation Guild treated us to a set of classic shoegaze. Whilst the influence of My Bloody Valentine is never far from the surface of the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart’s sound, here the spectre of Kevin Shields looms large. From the overdriven guitars to Feldman’s indistinct vocal delivery (which, ironically, is spookily similar to POBPAH compadre Kip Berman’s) it could almost be 1991 again, save for some bonkers 8-bit electro backing which sounds suspiciously like a Nintendo Gameboy.
Some of the poppier sensibilities of the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart do occasionally creep in, with songs like Butterfly Kisses sounding not unlike Feldman’s “other” band. There was an emergency guitar change before an ear-searing finale, after which Kurt Feldman had to go and man the merchandise table. He’s certainly not afraid of multi-tasking!
I think the Depreciation Guild certainly made an impression tonight amongst those (like me) who weren’t quite sure what to expect. Musically, their heavier sound is not a million miles away from that of the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, and it’ll be interesting to see how they go down with the latter’s fans when they share stages (as well as drummer and guitarist) in the next month or so.
Side-projects by band members can be hit and miss affairs- it’s either a radical departure from the “day job” or sounds so similar that you end up thinking, troche “why did they bother?” Brooklyn trio the Depreciation Guild (who feature two members of indie-pop darlings the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart) luckily veer more towards the former.
Playing a string of UK dates before joining you-know-who on tour, the Depreciation Guild fetched up at the Old Blue Last in front of an audience equally as curious to check them out.
Despite having already released one album in the US, 2007’s In Her Gentle Jaws, and with single Dream About Me out at the moment, I think they were still a largely unknown quantity amongst the Shoreditch cognoscenti.
Kurt Feldman had swapped the drum-kit of the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart for lead vocal and guitar duties, and was joined by fellow POBPAH wanderer Christoph Hochheim on guitar, with Anton Hochheim on drums. Backed by a lightshow not normally found in East London boozers, the Depreciation Guild treated us to a set of classic shoegaze. Whilst the influence of My Bloody Valentine is never far from the surface of the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart’s sound, here the spectre of Kevin Shields looms large. From the overdriven guitars to Feldman’s indistinct vocal delivery (which, ironically, is spookily similar to POBPAH compadre Kip Berman’s) it could almost be 1991 again, save for some bonkers 8-bit electro backing which sounds suspiciously like a Nintendo Gameboy.
Some of the poppier sensibilities of the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart do occasionally creep in, with songs like Butterfly Kisses sounding not unlike Feldman’s “other” band. There was an emergency guitar change before an ear-searing finale, after which Kurt Feldman had to go and man the merchandise table. He’s certainly not afraid of multi-tasking!
I think the Depreciation Guild certainly made an impression tonight amongst those (like me) who weren’t quite sure what to expect. Musically, their heavier sound is not a million miles away from that of the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, and it’ll be interesting to see how they go down with the latter’s fans when they share stages (as well as drummer and guitarist) in the next month or so.
Side-projects by band members can be hit and miss affairs- it’s either a radical departure from the “day job” or sounds so similar that you end up thinking, viagra 100mg “why did they bother?” Brooklyn trio the Depreciation Guild (who feature two members of indie-pop darlings the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart) luckily veer more towards the former.
Playing a string of UK dates before joining you-know-who on tour, sildenafil the Depreciation Guild fetched up at the Old Blue Last in front of an audience equally as curious to check them out.
Despite having already released one album in the US, 2007’s In Her Gentle Jaws, and with single Dream About Me out at the moment, I think they were still a largely unknown quantity amongst the Shoreditch cognoscenti.
Kurt Feldman had swapped the drum-kit of the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart for lead vocal and guitar duties, and was joined by fellow POBPAH wanderer Christoph Hochheim on guitar, with Anton Hochheim on drums. Backed by a lightshow not normally found in East London boozers, the Depreciation Guild treated us to a set of classic shoegaze. Whilst the influence of My Bloody Valentine is never far from the surface of the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart’s sound, here the spectre of Kevin Shields looms large. From the overdriven guitars to Feldman’s indistinct vocal delivery (which, ironically, is spookily similar to POBPAH compadre Kip Berman’s) it could almost be 1991 again, save for some bonkers 8-bit electro backing which sounds suspiciously like a Nintendo Gameboy.
Some of the poppier sensibilities of the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart do occasionally creep in, with songs like Butterfly Kisses sounding not unlike Feldman’s “other” band. There was an emergency guitar change before an ear-searing finale, after which Kurt Feldman had to go and man the merchandise table. He’s certainly not afraid of multi-tasking!
I think the Depreciation Guild certainly made an impression tonight amongst those (like me) who weren’t quite sure what to expect. Musically, their heavier sound is not a million miles away from that of the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, and it’ll be interesting to see how they go down with the latter’s fans when they share stages (as well as drummer and guitarist) in the next month or so.
The ExtInked project dreamt up by the Ultimate Holding Company to mark Charles Darwin’s bicentennial birthday is no doubt one of the most unique and amazing projects I’ve heard about in a long time. Along with an exhibition illustrating 100 of the most endangered animals in the British Isles, viagra 40mg the event came to an astounding conclusion with the tattooing of 100 volunteers who then became ambassadors for their animal. So as the exhibition closed yesterday, what is to become of the ambassadors, now back in their natural habitats?
My friend Tom was lucky to be involved in the project and here he shares his experiences with me.
So why did you take part in the ExtInked Project?
Since getting involved with UHC sometime last winter, I’ve been a part of a number of really interesting projects with them. ExtInked was something they have been talking about for a long time and the idea always really appealed to me. I think it’s a really great thing to be a part of, people have learned so much about which animals are endangered and hopefully will think about why that is, and what can be done about it. For me, I try to make a lot of environmental decisions in my life and feel extremely passionate about the use of animals and our finite natural resources for human gain.
Wildlife conservation and the environment are extremely important, in our relatively short time on this earth we have managed to destroy so much. Positive and big things are happening from the ground up. There is a fast growing environmental movement, but the important decisions need to be made from the top, which, unfortunately is not happening nearly enough.
It seems easier for leaders of governments and corporations to pretend they are doing something, rather than making an important change, that could make a really big difference.
Ext Inked was a great way to be involved in one of the most creative bottom-up environmental actions I know of, I now have a species permanently on my body, which throughout my life no doubt, hundreds of people will ask about, and I will be able to tell them the information I learned about that particular species, the project, the movement, and, in my case, the RSPB and other organisations helping to protect birds in the UK.
Which animal did you get? Tell me about the tattoo!
I went for the Black Grouse; I love birds, so for me it had to be a bird. The black grouse is found in the north of England, much of Wales and Scotland. I think to me, it was important to get something that I would be likely to come into contact with, I love golden eagles and leatherback turtles, but I’ve never seen either unfortunately! I don’t think it really matters too much which species I had tattooed though, as it’s more about the project and the issues as a whole than one particular species.
Photograph taken by Jai Redman
Tell me about the experience! What happened when you went to Manchester?
We went along on the last day around lunch time, which was bit quieter than when I visited on the Thursday night. I was quite pleased about that as all the tattooing happened much like a tattoo convention. There were barriers up at the front, and a stage with the three tattooists from Ink vs. Steel in Leeds, tattooing live in front of whoever was there to watch. As it was my first tattoo, and I didn’t know how much it would hurt, I was a bit nervous about being watched!
I thought I was being tattooed at 1 o clock, but somebody was running late, and I was early, so they switched our places, I didn’t really have any time to feel too nervous, before I knew it I was laid face down, being tattooed. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hurt, because it did, but the mix of the atmosphere, and the rush of adrenaline you get puts you in a really strange place. I just laid their trying to work out how much it hurt and which bit he was doing, it was actually a pretty good feeling! Having had the tattoo a couple of days now, the pain seems totally insignificant.
Your girlfriend was part of the project too wasn’t she?
My girlfriend Sally got involved too; she got the Rampion Bellflower on her inner arm. She has a lot of tattoos already, so I think she probably had a different experience to me, although she was still a bit nervous. She was really excited to be a part of the project and has already done some good work telling people about the project and spreading the word! Sally is a very creative person, but isn’t able to be too involved in art, so I think it’s great that she really connected with this project and was really receptive to the ideas artists had on conservation.
What about the future? How do you think you’ll feel about the tattoo in 20 years time?
In twenty years time I have no idea how I will feel about the tattoo, but the more I live, the more I learn, and the more I learn, the more passionate I become.
Climate change and human activity is affecting our wildlife, and that’s only going to get worse unless we act quickly and dramatically. If we act now, while we still have a bit of a chance, I will be able to look at my tattoo and think, I’m glad we did something, and If not, I don’t think anybody will see it because my leg will probably be under water!
Photography by Tom Bing www.tombing.co.uk
www.uhc.org.uk
www.inkvssteel.co.uk
To examine artists on display in regards to their own sense of what is intangible; what is the unbeknownst? Cecily Brown (one of the five artists displaying), buy more about once elucidated of her method; ‘Often, I find it really hard to see what I’m doing when I’m in the thick of things (painting).’ This seemed a resonant befall to take into the exhibition, and one that permeated throughout; the artist’s blindness filtering down to the viewers’ perception.
All photographs by Stephen White, courtesy of Parasol unit
On entering the chic industrial space of the Parasol Unit, the viewer is introduced to Katy Moran’s installations of small, yet expressively fueled paintings. Ambiguous and ethereal spaces, you are inserted into a void of instability. She is emphatically a cannon for the abstract. Sometimes unsettling, occasionally frustrating (primarily by the evasive titles), but most of all, her paintings are enchanting. Staring into a framed space of colour and shape, for example Daniel, the warped style within the pieces allude to envisions of nothingness that are quite remarkable.
Shaun McDowell, renowned for his part in the Peckham art squats, uses colour and technique in a vast and expansive means. Glaringly bright and expansively detailed, what initially looks like a lot of fun swiftly augments to a somewhat dark and unnerving visage. Strolling slowly past his paintings, I became ever more hypnotised as the images took on a pseudo stereogram quality. In seeing what wasn’t there, McDowell emulates invisibility by somehow tricking his viewer into complacence, before revealing his true mien.
Spotted throughout the gallery, Hans Josephsohn’s sculptures have a weird (for want of a better word) presence. Remindful of Easter Island Moai, the veteran sculptor’s cast brass creations have a transcendent quality. Although clearly based upon the human form, they seem to capture their own timeless space with an omnipresent earthliness.
Cecily Brown and Maaike Schoorel probably make for the biggest contrast within the exhibition. Feasibly the crux of the collective display, Brown’s paintings are entirely mesmerising. Sensual and figurative, each image draws the viewer in. A lieu of strokes, the paintings seem to shift with every glance, yielding an ever more desire to look. Saturated with existentialist sensibilities, her works exude human instinct. Counter to this, Maaike Schoorel seems to take a much more apathetic stance. Her bleached canvases denote a controlled and methodical temperament. Her works certainly evoke the invisible, and after forcefully adjusting to her palate, figures and landscapes subtlety emerge.
Salters Ridge by Katy Moran
Visible Invisible invites the viewer into an uncomfortable world where a desired truth is obsolete. Each artist takes their own stance on how to barrage their audience with a distinctive underlay. Irritating the senses, the exhibition leaves you wanting for something that evades, and, insofar, wanting more.
Visible Invisible: Against the Security of the Real is at the Parasol unit, Foundation for Contemporary Art, 14 Wharf Road, London, N1 7RW from 25.11.09 – 07.02.10. Gallery opens Tuesday to Saturday 10 am to 6 pm. Sunday is 12 to 5 pm. First Thursday of every month, open until 9 pm. Admission if free. Please note that from 6pm on Friday 18 December 2009 until Tuesday 5 January 2010 Parasol unit will be closed for the holidays.
The Cheek- image courtesy of Fashion Targets Breast Cancer.
Fashion’s finest were out in force recently to show their support for Fashion Targets Breast Cancer as they attended FTBC on the QT, store an exclusive gig at London’s Proud Galleries in Camden. The night saw performances from pop princess Sophie Ellis-Bextor and brand new band, price The Cheek. As if that wasn’t enough we were treated to some exceptional tunes when model/designer Ben Grimes and the boys from Razorlight: David ‘Skully’ Sullivan-Kaplan and Carl Dalemo, took over DJ duty.
Danny Goffey and Pearl Lowe- image courtesy of Fashion Targets Breast Cancer.
The lovely style icon Pearl Lowe hosted the entire evening, which was organised to celebrate the success of the charity in 2009. Celebrities from both the fashion and music scene were in attendance and here’s just a few of the names I spotted having a great time for a fantastic cause: PPQ’s Percy Parker, pop trio the Dolly Rockers, The Feeling’s Richard Jones and Supergrass drummer Danny Goffey.
The Dolly Rockers- image courtesy of Fashion Targets Breast Cancer.
Fashion Targets Breast Cancer was established in 1990 by Ralph Lauren, in response to the death caused by breast cancer of his friend, and fashion editor of the Washington Post, Nina Hyde. FTBC was launched in the UK in 1996 by Breakthrough Breast Cancer, and is now in its 13th Year. Since its launch in the UK the FTBC campaign has raised over £10million for Breakthrough Breast Cancer’s vital research, campaign and education work. This funding has provided the UK with its first dedicated Breast Cancer research centre, which is now home to over 120 world class scientists. Building on this success Breakthrough is in the process of opening three new research units across the UK.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor- image courtesy of Fashion Targets Breast Cancer.
Proud Galleries made the perfect venue for this intimate party, and was festooned with Christmas decorations, adding to the celebratory atmosphere. Newcomers The Cheek kick-started the festivities with an upbeat set that had everyone on their feet. Dressed in skinny jeans and blazers, the boys were the epitome of understated cool. Sophie Ellis-Bextor performed all her smash hits, including latest chart offering ‘Heartbreak (make me a dancer),’ which ensured there was Murder on the Dance floor!
Categories ,Ben Grimes, ,Breakthrough Breast Cancer, ,Dolly Rockers, ,Fashion Targets Breast Cancer, ,FTBC on the QT, ,Nina Hyde, ,Pearl Lowe, ,Percy Parker, ,ppq, ,Proud Galleries, ,Rachael Millar, ,Ralph Lauren, ,Razorlight, ,Sophie Ellis-Bextor, ,supergrass, ,The Cheek, ,The Feeling, ,Washington Post
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