TLG Magazine Issue 2

HEADERS UNDERGROUND ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE

FEATURING

JOSEY REBELLE

“The majority of my hip-hop collection is from the 90s. That’s just how I roll.”

DOMINIQUE YOUNG UNIQUE “My sound is unique.”

NATALIE SHARP “I began to explore a world of the dead by collecting stuffed animals.”

FREE /

ISSUE 2 AUTUMN 2011

Salut!

It’s been a few months since the launch of TLG Magazine and launching a brand new magazine with a brand new concept has proven to be somewhat challenging. From interviewing Miss Young Unique from her hotel room bed and catching up with her record label and producers in the hotel lobby, to talking witchcraft and taxidermy with the mysterious, Natalie Sharp, it’s been a very busy, and sometimes surreal few months.

This time, we have managed to bring together two, very different, queens of hip hop. Booty bass diva from Tampa Bay, Dominique Young Unique and classic hip hop DJ, Josey Rebelle agreed to chat to us about their inspirations and growing up with a passion for rhymes. We then decided to spice things up a bit and catch up with gothic/blues singer, Natalie sharp, who explains to us why she hired a full team of filmmakers to help her film the video for her new song, Bijoux Boy.

Cover Girl: Josey Rebelle Photographer: Ollie Adegboye CONTRIBUTORS Alasdair King

- Music Journalist

Lorna Irvine

- Journalist

Stacey Wilson - Graphic Designer

I would like to introduce our brand new designer, Stacey Wilson, who has taken on the role of turning TLG Magazine into a hot new publication, sexy enough to be a collectors’ item. You should check out her page also as her work is amazing! www.deesigngeek.com I would like to end by saying a big happy eighth birthday to the Numbers crew, who celebrated eight years of their service to the Glasgow music scene with a special live set from Floating Points and Spencer at the Sub Club in July.

Congratulations guys!

Photos of the gig are to be seen in our Numbers feature on page 11 and 12.

Evita Akomode - Start Pronto PR

Don’t forget you can also check out our website at www.tlgmagazine.com to scope more of our party pictures, even the explicit ones!”

Stacey Wilson - DeesignGeek.com

Alice Muir, Editorial Director

SPECIAL THANKS

CONTACT Do you have an idea for an article or story that you would like to pitch to us?

We are always looking for new contributors with fresh and innovative ideas!

To get in touch with our editor please contact:

alicemuir@btinternet.com You can find out more about us here:

www.tlgmagazine.com and here:

www.facebook.com/tlgmagazine

contents page 4: page 6: page 8: page 10: page 12: page 14: page 16: page 18:

dominique young ema natalie sharp numbers 8th birthday party josey rebelle jennifer boulton lost gems wewarnedyou

03

My sound is unique.

It’s a mixture of hip hop and pop music and the booty-bass genre is something that I came up with myself. I write all my own lyrics in which my producer found a beat to go with. The music scene back in Tampa, Florida is straight hip hop and this is where a lot of my musical influence comes from. People back home were telling me that I could really rhyme and I never realised it until I actually started listening to my producer who would mix the beats for me, and when we put the whole thing together, we realised how unique my sound was. I started making music when I was eleven as I tried to become a singer but it really didn’t work out! But then I really found my talent within the rap scene when I was twelve years old. It was a friend of mine who started this whole thing with me. I used to write both our lyrics and from there my music career progressed.

Before that, I had a very difficult up-bringing. My mother lost her job and we were really struggling because she couldn’t afford to pay the bills. There were times where shit would get so bad that my mother and I would end up living in our car because we had nowhere else to go and no money for accommodation. She used to go to the Casino often because there was this service at our local Casino whereby if you won a certain amount of points, it allowed you to stay in a hotel for a certain period of time. The worst part of this is that my auntie had all the room to accommodate us but for some reason she just refused to let us stay with her.

Shit was really hard for her though, my cousins were in prison and the man she was with at the time was fucking nasty!

However, I came into luck when I met my producer, David, when I was fourteen and he took me under his wing by flying me out to London to try and make something of those lyrics I was writing.

I would say that my tough up-bringing is what motivates me in my career because it makes me think, fuck it, I’m going for it!

When I first flew to London, I started networking like crazy which led me to performing my first show, and before I knew it, my producer was flying me to bookings all around the world!

My favourite place to perform so far has to be Iceland because it’s just so beautiful there. The club I was performing in over there was so packed; there were people who couldn’t get in because it was so overcrowded! There were even people who were trying to fight the bodyguards to get into the club and watch me perform; it really was such a nice feeling!

Over the years I have supported shows for the likes of Gucci Mane and NERD which was quite overwhelming at first.

But there became a point when I started to think, well I’m playing the same game as them and so it doesn’t feel like such a big deal. However, If Beyoncé asked me to support one of her shows, well that would be a different level!

When I was younger, I used to really look up to Trina, which is funny because a lot of people tell me that I remind them of Trina, which goes to show how much influence

an idol can have on your work. Trina was the only artist I used to always listen to.

The girls over in Tampa go crazy for hip hop in general. You know that way when you’re in the club and a booty-shakin’ song comes on? All the girls in Tampa start dancing and thinking ‘yeah, that’s my shit!’

They really go crazy for it whilst grabbing boys to dance on! The hip hop scene is really huge in Tampa!

For the rest of 2011, I plan to drop three new music videos. The first video will be for my Glamorous Touch mix tape and the second video is for another mix tape called Stupid Pretty. I’m excited to get started on them because they allow me to dance and do my own thing. My videos will be up on YouTube over the next few weeks and you can find my channel on there, which is simply called, Dominique Young Unique. You can also hit me up on twitter: @missyoungunique, I always put news about up-and-coming gigs and about my producer on there. My first video is supposed to be coming out in two weeks, so make sure you keep an eye out for that!

www.dominiqueyoungunique.com

05

EM Florence ‘EMA’ Blanchard began painting the walls of her hometown, Montpellier in France in the early ‘90s. It wasn’t long before she had made her mark across the walls and trains of the South of France, Barcelona, Paris and throughout Europe, before settling in New York for ten years to complete a PHD in Biology.

She’s a lady of many talents!

“I became a graff artist when I was a teenager. The first time I picked up a spray can was when I was around fifteen years old but I only took it seriously after I turned seventeen. I knew some guys from my hometown, Montpellier in France, who were already writing graffiti and it seemed cool at the time so it wasn’t long before I joined in. I knew when I was younger that I really liked to draw and I would always be sketching things when I was as young as thirteen. When I was nineteen years old, I was once painting in an abandoned building and as I was finished my piece, I climbed back out of the building to find a police car just outside, who took me down to the station. I ended up going to court and was put on probation for five years. This caused a bit of tension between my parents and I because they never fully understood what graffiti was all about. It evolved from hip-hop culture and the two things were always very much related. At the time that I became a graffiti artist, hip-hop was a relatively new genre in France and there were in fact only two hiphop artists in the whole country! Music always motivated me in my work.

I didn’t have that many girlfriends as I was growing up, mainly because other girls tended not to understand me or my interests but I had one

friend, Elodie, who always accepted the things I was doing.

When I got my first car, my friends and I used to drive to Barcelona and at that time, it was amazing because you could paint anywhere. Barcelona was a bit of a wasteland back then so it really was a graffiti artist’s heaven!

The funny thing about painting there was that it always attracted an audience of passers-by who would bring us cookies and things to drink!

But I also really loved painting in Brooklyn, when I moved there. New York is made up of different islands and Brooklyn is on the East island. I used to have a spot for painting just on the waterfront and that was amazing!

I moved to New York in 2001 to study biology. It was amazing because during my time at university, I had the opportunity to get involved in the graffiti scene in New York. Graffiti started in Philadelphia in the 70s and so by the time I got to New York, it certainly wasn’t a new thing. I got to paint with a lot of people out there who’s work I had seen in magazines while I was growing up. All over the world people know about graffiti writers from New York so they are very used to other writers coming to the city to meet them and there are a lot of collaboration projects between the New Yorkers and other artists from around the world. The only problem with the graff scene there is that the old-school graffiti writers from the 70s are still around and they tend to monopolise the work that’s spread around the city, which can make it hard for new graffiti artists from New York to find a wall to paint where their work can be noticed amongst more established artists. Before I moved to New York I had never painted with another girl.

I had never even met another female writer and there was no internet when I was growing up so there wasn’t any kind of network to bring female writers together at that time. After I moved to NY I met Lady Pink, who for me was of the older generation of street artists and I also had the opportunity to meet other writers of my own age.

It was so inspirational to meet other girls who were doing the same thing as me. I think it’s unfortunate where we are, in today’s society as women because generally we are less likely to go and explore alternative creative scenes and we tend to have a greater interest in what other women are doing instead of exploring our own interests. It can sometimes be very difficult to find a male graff artist who is open-minded enough to collaborate with the likes of myself, and that’s something that needs to change.

This month marks the tenth anniversary of my move to New York and I really wanted to celebrate that because it was a very important part of my life. It really changed me and the way I look at things now. So my current show in the Recoat gallery is called Breuckelen, which was the original name for Brooklyn and my paintings are inspired by the hip-hop culture that I explored in Brooklyn during my time in New York. The show will run until the 9th October 2011.”

The Recoat Gallery 323 North Woodside Road Glasgow G20 6ND

07

09

N atalie Sharp is a London-based musician, originally from Manchester, who fronts her own band,

The Lone Taxidermist.

She has recently been working on a number of exciting projects including a collaboration project with cinematographer Laura Bellingham, whilst making a film for her new song,

Bijoux Boy.

“...How cool would it be to have a place you could go to every week and just share your ideas and music with other musicians?”

H

istorically, Blues is what always fascinated me the most and gothic music is more of a visual inspiration for me.

I’m interested in combining vocals with visuals.

There’s a song by Odetta that was featured on a Dylan documentary, where she bangs the guitar and howls like a wolf at the end of every line that has really stuck with me.

I think when you cross examine two very different genres or styles it’s easier to come up with something pretty unique.

It was really self-indulgent in a way.

As I took all those art and film references and glued or even stuffed them together in a big cauldron.

With Hitchcock it was more about the way he composes his films, the angle of the lens and the way he warps your eye to feel dizzy. It’s a real skill to be able to alter the viewer like that. I have always been inspired by the world of cinema and there has been one film called Meshes of the Afternoon which stayed in my mind’s eye forever.

I urge everyone to watch this masterpiece. Even A Taxidermist is a craftsman who stuffs and mounts the skins by modern day standards this film of animals for display.

The band started as a duo called has the ability to really stir confuse The Taxidermists. and alter the viewer When I moved back to London I in such a way that decided to go it alone. It also became very personal. And I began you walk away feeling like you’ve just to explore a world of the dead, by woken up from a nightmare. What I collecting stuffed animals. I would took away from it was the idea that make up names and characters for we can find ourselves stuck in this them. At the same time I became fascinated with one man bands such reoccurring dream and not even as Lead belly, Son of Dave and Tho- know that we are experiencing it. mas Truax. The idea of being a one It’s one of the cleverest pieces of short film I have ever seen and woman self-contained band really appealed to me after being in definitely Maya Derrns strongest work. I definitely want to a six piece band incorporate more film into my work.

(The Bottomfeeders). I myself am I have already started researching not a taxidermist. Perhaps sometimes when I catch the mouse the next one. Making the music film short has taught me a lot about in my kitchen! what to do and what not to do. I think I recently made a film for my I threw everything at Bijoux boy. latest song, Bijoux Boy, which There were so many was a real high point for me references and visuals. creatively because I finally got Shot over two days. The most painful the opportunity to combine film part was the editing process because with music.

we had to trim down to just less than 4 minutes. Next time I think my focus needs to be more on one idea or one reference.

I don’t think there is a lack of females producing alternative creative work, in fact there’s a huge number of incredible artists making really unique music such as Planningtorock and Glasser.

But I do think what we lack is an environment where we can just get together and talk, rehearse, write, jam, program, sing and enjoy being in a real physical environment.

I can get so lonely in London; I never had that In Manchester, because as soon as you stepped out of your house you were met with another musician.

I’ve always been more inspired by female musicians, I suppose I can relate to them a bit better. How cool would it be to have a place you could go to every week and just share your ideas and music with other musicians? I’m currently trying to secure funding and a space for it to happen. But I need help as I run my own business as a makeup artist and am recording our debut Album.

I’ve began to realise that i can’t do everything myself and need help from other musicians or people who work in the industry.

This is my official call out!

www.myspace.com/taxidermistsmanchester 11

is eight

Numbers is a label from Glasgow promoting innovative,under the radar dance music from techno to dubstep, hip-hop to electro.

An eclectic music style is mirrored in the Numbers website’s visual approach, which is crunchy, with neon, arresting Imagery to make the retinas pulsate. From Jamie XX to Autechre, if you love underground dance music, you’ll find it here. Most recently, they turned 8, and to celebrate held a club night on July 1st with sets from Floating Points and Spencer.

Fourthcoming nights include more legendary nights across Glasgow and Edinburgh such as the Pearson Sound, Space Dimension Controller & Jackmaster party at Subclub on Friday 4th November.

Keep yer eyes peeled...

Text: Photography:

Lorna Irvine alice muir

Numbers celebrated their 8th birthday with special live sets from Floating Points and Spencer.

The crowd simply couldn’t get enough!

We bumped into the Subby young team who contribute to a weekly radio show called Earthly Matters. Check it out on subcity.org - this shit is dope!

What better time to pray than in a very packed SubClub full of sweaty shape cutters?! God is everywhere.

What happens at Numbers stays at Numbers.

13

Following the success of our first issue, we decided to throw a launch party and the Recoat Gallery were very kind to let us use the gallery for DJ sets and a live paint. We were lucky enough to have performances from the AllCaps Crew and a special set from our own music editor, Alasdair King. All this plus a special live paint from Glasgow graff artist, MASE. As if that wasnt enough, electronic music producer, Koreless turned up and made a special guest appearance which went down really well. Our turnout was fantastic and we are relieved to say that only one bottle was smashed the entire evening. Thanks to everyone who came along and supported us, we really appreciate it. Cheers for helping to make the launch of TLG Magazine a success!

Photography by Felix Welch

15

17

JOSEY rEBELLE

Interview by Alasdair King

Hey Josey, can you briefly introduce yourself?

Hello! I’m Josey Rebelle and I’m a DJ with big hair and a big bag of delicious vinyl discs and a big heart and no, that’s it. That’s all I’ve got for you.

How did you begin DJ’ing and what inspired you to begin?

My brother taught me to mix when I was about 13 years old – I think he basically wanted something cool to show off to his friends and, let’s face it, a 13 year old girl battling big men and making them cry is pretty damn cool. After that I was basically a bedroom DJ for about three hundred thousand years until I decided to start playing out properly just under two years ago.

What style of music do you most enjoy mixing?

I’m really picky about what tunes I buy and only ever get tracks that I love from the bottom of my heart, regardless of the genre, so I enjoy playing all of it. But if you made me choose, I’d probably pick house, everything from deep, soulful stuff through to harder acid sounds. I’m a Junglist to the death, so playing a good old jungle set always makes me mega happy too.

What do you look for in a good DJ set?

Amazing tunes that I haven’t already heard a hundred and fifty times in the last month. I feel bad for those poor little lost souls who go out to the same clubs every single week and hear the same DJs playing the same old mega mix music over and over again and never get bored. Or maybe I’m just jealous; their tenacity is actually pretty impressive when you think about it. Maybe if they just redirected it towards solving world hunger or something, we’d all be much better off.

What is it about ‘90s hip-hop that you love?

People always say it’s the golden age of hip-hop and I have to agree.

There were just so many amazing artists and sounds coming out of that decade and the years leading up to it.So the overwhelming majority of my hip-hop collection is ‘80s and ‘90s stuff, that’s just how I roll.

But in general, I love hip-hop as a culture in all its elements, from MCing through to breaking.

What is the most played track on your iPod? Can you actually find that out? I was wondering because I was watching this film the other day which was an updated Disney version of Cinderella, (obviously only because someone had a gun to my head and was forcing me to watch it). But the glass slipper was replaced with an iPod so the ‘prince’ was looking for the one girl who could identify the most played song on this iPod that was left behind at the prom. And I was thinking, can you actually tell these things? I don’t know how to do it, but I reckon my most played track is probably this jungle mix from 1994 that I listen to when I run.

What have you got scheduled over the next few months?

Oh, you know, Djing lots, jumping on my bed, colouring in, laughing until I wet myself. Think that’ll probably keep me pretty occupied over the summer. And in between all that juvenile stuff, I’ve also got a weekly show on Rinse FM, every Friday morning from 03:00 - 05:00 UK time. A podcast goes up after every show on the Rinse FM site for those who aren’t able to hear the show live. The bastards. I’d like to shout out all my homies and family, as well as Moleskine, Wagamama and the entire cast and crew of Father Ted for making me happy.

www.joseyrebelle.com / @joseyrebelle photographer Ollie Adegboye

19

Jennifer Boulton is a 26-year-old knitwear designer from Fort William who has a real eye for business and creativity.

TLG Magazine took the Caledonia Sleeper train from Glasgow to Fort William at 5am to meet the lady herself and to see what all the fuss was about and we were very impressed with what we saw.

As I arrived in Fort William, I was welcomed into a beautiful white cottage which smelled of log fires.

After having rambled on about how beautiful the journey to Fort William was, Jennifer tells me that most of her design inspiration comes from her surroundings.

I wasn‘t surprised as the scenes of the lakes and mountains really took my breath away. It was a nice change from being in the city, although I couldn’t help but think how isolated a place it was, especially for a designer to be living and working.

“There have been some unusual surroundings, like my final collection for university which was inspired by the human body,” Jennifer recalls.

“I like to study a high degree of magnification in my work, so much that the viewer can no longer tell that it’s a part of the human body but just an

interesting, organic shape.”

Jennifer’s mother was her biggest inspiration as she used both a high level of creativity and scientific knowledge in her work. When she was younger, her mother used to take the sheep from their farm and spin their fleeces to make jumpers, in which she sold under her own brand name, ‘In Sheep’s Clothing.’

It is made clear to me that both entrepreneurial spirit and self-sufficiency are such important factors in the way that Jennifer herself was brought up, and in the way she chooses to run her own business,

Jennifer Boulton Designs.

“My parents used to grow their own vegetables and make their own clothes and that kind of lifestyle is what I’m so used to,” I was so surprised at how switched-on and up-to-date Jennifer was, with everything happening in the urban world, down in Glasgow and the other big cities. She claims that in fact, living and working in Fort William is one of the biggest USPs for her business because

there are so few designers who still operate in the Highlands.

“I use a lot of social media as I find that a really useful tool for networking and promotion and I believe that it’s so important to be constantly researching what’s new and what’s trending.

Although my designs are providing a complete alternative to mainstream fashion, I still believe the trick in business is to keep an eye on what’s going on, to make sure you’re not missing a trick.

I ask her how she turns, for example, scientific inspiration into knitwear garments and she tells me,

“I take the camera with me anywhere I go and I’ll take pictures of interesting patterns and textures. As a designer, you never switch off from thinking of new ideas. You’re constantly looking at things from a new perspective. I keep a notepad by my bed, specifically for this purpose because sometimes I wake up during the night having thought of a great idea and I’m always too scared not to write it down in case I forget it by the morning.

It’s definitely a way of life for me and I think any designer would say the same.”

Text: Styling: Model: Makeup: Hair: Photography:

Alice Muir Jennifer Boulton Designs Rachel Philip Gemma Hegarty Karen Keane Kirsteen Bell Photography

21

LOST

GEMS: STRANGE WEATHER

LEILA: Like Weather (Rephlex,1998)

Leila Arab is a fascinating character.

Born in 1971 in Iran, she fled the political turmoil with her family to move to London.

She became a DJ, producer and musician, and having toured with Bjork in 1993 as her sound technician and keyboard player, it was perhaps inevitable Arab would plough a unique musical furrow.

She still works off and on with Bjork and her partner Matthew Herbert today, notably on recent project Drawing Restraint 9. Dismissed somewhat lazily by certain sectors of the music press at the time of her debut as “a female Aphex Twin”, it cannot be denied that there are shades of the Cornwall techno-boffin- certainly in terms of eclecticism and eccentricity- but there’s more, much more to her.

“ I realised very early on that people don’t really belong anywhere”, she stated in a recent interview,

“that’s what gives me “Where’s your brain/ the reedom to do any where’s your spine?” she snarls. kind of music…”

The clouds clear, and Donna Paul brings Her debut album Like Weather released on Richard D James, aka Aphex Twin’s imprint Rephlex is just astonishing; a seductive, unearthly ménage a trois between Bjork, Aphex Twin and Phillip Glass with Prince watching, aching to join in.

Even the art-work’s cool, with a young Leila riding her bike on the front cover and pictures of kids mockingly posing like grown –ups on the back, evoking an uneasy nostalgia in context of the dark music within.

A collaborative effort recorded in her small studio with friends, Like Weather begins with the soulful vocals of Luca Santucci (Something, Don’t Fall Asleep etc.)- like Motown submerged in some alien planet- deliciously off-kilter.

Then, just when you think you’ve sussed out the genre, Leila’s sister Roya pops up, initially cooing and teasing, before turning belligerent:

a real rawness and vulnerability to the

“tearing each other to the bone” on mix, singing of

the melancholic, stripped-down Feeling.

Piano Key meanwhile, is a pretty, woozy,ambient piece . If all of this

“throw it all in the pot”rest-assured there’s sounds a little too

breathing space within the ideas.

Possibly too lo-fi for most dance aficionados and too hard to pigeonholeambientspacefunklo-fisoultechno-folk, anyone?!?- it’s a shame this gorgeous album remains such a cult concern.

It still sounds magnificent thirteen years later, and you can hear traces of Leila in Battles and Little Dragon’s experimentalism.

Leila Arab still continues to fascinate, titillate and innovate with her amazing music- all hail!

LORNA IRVINE

MUSICREVIEWS

Music Reviews by Alasdair King and Contributor,Lorna Irvine wewarnedyou.tumblr.com

HUDSON MOHAWKE /

Ed Banger Records

SATIN PANTHERS’ EP, War

BREAKBOT

He’s come a long way from being a fifteen year old teen prodigy (with a small ‘p’) turntablist, as nowadays the eccentric Glaswegian (Ross to his mates) can be found working alongside Uffie and Jamie Woon, and touring Europe with the likes of MF Doom, among others.

This, the newest EP due for UK release on August 1st, has been feted by anyone with an ear for floor shakers, from Pitchfork magazine, to more alternative DJs Lauren Laverne and Zane Lowe, It is simply massive. Opener ‘Octan’ is full of shapeshifting sounds, while lead track ‘Thunder Bay’ boasts the kind of thunderous drums, epic horns and bass that nag and throb like a loose tooth.

Full of soul and sonic invention, he’s on the cusp of world domination surelyto paraphrase an old beer commercial, “he refreshes the parts that Chipmunk can’t reach”! Smooth indeed.

AUTUMN DOWNLOADS Metronomy – The Bay (Erol Alkan Rework) “Soothing guitar riff over a simplistic kick drum, music without complications.”

Brookes Brothers – Beautiful “At the top of their game, who said Drum ‘n’Bass wasn’t capable of evoking emotion.”

Deadboy – Wish You Were Here “Despite having a weird fascination with the word “Here” which is the title of his latest EP, Garage and House producer Deadboy has done it again with this release. Dance floor brilliance.”

Tensnake – Something About You “After arguably producing the biggest tune of the summer last year “Coma Cat” Tensnake is back to kill clubs and festivals around the world. This has a 90’s House vibe and who doesn’t love that? Enough said.”

The Ed Banger Record Label is a slick collective of artists who are bringing a rather stylish groove back into the French House scene.

In recent months they have released a stunning collection of tracks from the likes of Justice, Uffie and Carte Blanche and as if this isn’t enough they are playing some of the most pres-tigious club slots around the globe.

The individuality and variation between the artists signed to the label is strikingly wonderful as they all bring their own element to the Ed Banger crew, which is certainly on its way to super stardom. Whilst the crew features many promising artists, one particular artist that has stood out in recent weeks is Breakbot aka Thibaut Berland.

The Frenchman’s latest release titled ‘Fan-tasy’ is a serious throwback to the early days of Disco and Funk. In all honesty, I cannot remember the last time I heard a piece of music that has literally made me smile on every lis-ten.

Breakbot has captured the essence of late city nights and has created a perfect sound for both reminiscing and dancing.

He is certainly an artist to keep an eye on over the coming months and is guaranteed to continue to produce in his own words “cheesy music” which is a great relief to all. The Ed Banger crew shall be touring and resurrecting French House music all of this year so if you have a chance to attend one of their shows, do so and I promise you won’t forget it.

Jehst – The Illest “Back with a brand new album Jehst is one of the few keeping the UK scene alive. Hip Hop with a kick and swift upper cut.”

Theophilus London feat.Devonte Hynes & Solange Knowles Flying Overseas “Originality at its finest, it’s nice to hear something with soul and individuality without having to listen to some lame ass rap about cars and mansions, tight as hell and the vocals are relaxing.”

Fonzerelli – Midnight Party “Jamming seasonal anthem bound to feature in many sets over the summer”

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MUSICREVIEWS

Music Reviews by Alasdair King and Contributor,Lorna Irvine wewarnedyou.tumblr.com

BATTLES

SBTRKT

GLOSS DROP (Warp) As eye-popping graphics go, the cover of Battles’ second album ‘Gloss Drop’ is right up there with the best of ‘em- a pink, viscous gloop, somewhere between paint, bubble gum and something far more unmentionable.

This is a fair representation of what to expect as Battles destroy genres entirely, causing collaborator Gary Numan, who pops up on combative electro-broth ‘My Machines’ to deem them “weird”. Praise indeed...

Yet this tag is perhaps unfair- sure, it’ll never get on commercial radio station playlists, but neither is it unlistenable.

Lead single, the Roobarb and Custard jitter-funk of ’Ice Cream’ and ‘Wall Street’s (percussion) crash give way to more contemplative fare like the beautiful ‘Sweetie and Shag’ with vulnerability in the raw vocals of Kazu Makino cutting through its propulsive Krautrock rhythms.

Playful, yes; inventive certainly, forward-thinking, always- but Battles are never weird for the sake of it.

SBTRKT (Young Turks) “Who is that masked man?”

Well, he may not be some kind of superhero, or deliver boxes of chocolates to frustrated housewives, but Subtrkt, aka. London uber-producer Aaron Jerome, who prefers the anonymity of performing in a mask, has dropped a hell of a debut.

It’s a cocktail of soul, dubstep and more esoteric Oriental and African rhythms but it is never claustrophobic, despite the plethora of influences.

Debut single ‘Wildfire’, featuring Little Dragon is sparse and soulful and will doubtless be the soundtrack to a hundred post-club flings, while ‘Ready Steady Loop’ tickles cochleas with its music box chimes.

Final song ‘Never Never’, a soft reggae shuffle reminiscent of Horace Andy provides the morning embrace. A global jukebox bursting with ideas, Jerome deserves to go stratospheric- whether or not the mask is removed en voyage remains to be seen.

WHATS ON?

DJ SHADOW / TOM VEK

Warning Call (Verve)

How exciting is this... I am on it like a tramp on chips! Two of the most original and innovative people making music today have got together for this track which appears on Shadow’s forthcoming album “The Less You Know,The Better” which drops September 27th.

“Warning Call” is a surging,doom-laden tune featuring ominous,rumbling bass and Vek’s menacing vocal,providing dark musings for the darker nights ahead...

Tribute Present: DJ Stingray (Urban Tribe, Micron Audio, detroit) + Tribute Residents 7th October/ 11pm til late/ La Cheetah, Glasgow/ Tickets: £10 Tribute is a new night set up by various members of well-known Glasgow club nights and crews including; Stay Plastic, Pest Control, All Caps, Scrabble and Jelly Roll Soul. To kick things off they are honoured to present DJ Stingray aka Sherard Ingram. This is a one-off opportunity to see a true Detroit legend at work.

The Arches Present: Foreign Beggars & Lazer Sword 28th October / 19:30 / The Arches Glasgow / Tickets : £9.00 Having recently featured on Vato Gonsalez summer smash “Badman Riddim” Foreign Beggars will pay a visit to The Arches in Glasgow. The pair have worked with a variety of big names recently including Noisia, Plastician and Flux Pavillion and have always been a personal favourite of myself. With aggressive rhymes and dirty beats this is bound to be a messy night.