F/I/M²/P · Issue 00 · May/June 2012 by F/I/M²/P

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CREATIVE DIRECTORS / EDITORS IN CHIEF MOHAMAD ABDOUNI & RUDY SHAHEEN MANAGING PARTNER / CONSULTANT FATIMA M. EL MARINI THE ISSUE

SENIOR EDITOR KARL HITTI FASHION EDITOR CARINE LEMARIN EXHIBITING PHOTOGRAPHERS CLARA ABI NADER AYLA HIBRI LARA ZANKOUL EXHIBITING ILLUSTRATORS PATRICK SFEIR RAMI TANNOUS RAPHAELLE MACARON STEPHANIE RICHA CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

On the cover: JAcket inspired by balmain

JINANE CHAAYA CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATORS

Badaro, sami el soloh blvd. LABBAN bldg . 2nd floor info@fimp-mag.com +961 (0) 1 38 17 73 +961 76 64 41 26 +961 (0) 3 71 90 86 MANAGING DIRECTOR PRINTED WITH

BENOIT DEBBANE CYNTHIA MERHEJ ELY DAGHER FOUAD MEZHER KAREN KLINK SAUD BOKSMATI FASHION DESIGNERS

AHMAD AYASH

RAIDY | www.raidy.com

MISSAK HAJIAVEDIKIAN DANIELE KIRIDJIAN CONTRIBUTING WRITERS MELANIE DAGHER MURIEL KAHWAJI RAPHAELLE MACARON RASHA SHAHEEN TANIA MOKDAD TANIOS EL MALLAH JOEL RUBIN TANYA ABOU GHAZLI

MISSAK HAJIAVEDIKIAN

PATRICK SFEIR

101

RAMI TANNOUS

RAPHAELLE MACARON

Going on a trip with the fashion genius to an alternate universe of corsets and tulles.

DANIELE KIRKIJIAN

119 STEPHANIE RICHA

124 Breathes harmony into every one of her creations in her own little dream world.

DRAGONETTE 38

Sailing towards their third full length drag parade. A full throttle, hold-nothingback interview with one of the biggest musical invention in the history of mankind.

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GENERATION GAP:

MOVIE OF THE ISSUE

56 58 59 60

YEASAYER THE PRETTY RECKLESS NAKED AND FAMOUS ZOWIE

INTERVIEWS

110 HANI EL KHATIB 24 INTENSIVE CARE REVIEWS

MARIE ANTOINETTE - THE SOUNDTRACK

QUEENS OFTHE STONEAGE - ERA VULGARIS

ARCADE FIRE - NEON BIBLE

CLARA ABI NADER

AYLA HIBRI

THE RUNAWAYS

DEAR ABBY 92 94 95 96

ALMOST FAMOUS BREAKING GLASS DEATH PROOF A HARD DAY’S NIGHT

INTERVEW 62

MOHAMAD SABBAH

113 LARA ZANKOUL

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e remember a moment in the beginning when we felt a rush; when we could create whatever we wanted, the way we wanted, because we wanted to. That feeling was lost somewhere while our surroundings and professional experiences got the best of us and stole away some of our boldness and naïvety. But when we went back to it, when we let go and were no longer constrained to certain norms, we remembered why we chose to be artists and creators in the first place: to express what we want, the way we wanted to.

came along as a brainchild of artistic selfishness to allow this playground of creative exploration to exist not just for us, but for others who wish to delve into pure creative abandon once again. The idea was to create a beautiful visual platform for up and coming artists in the fields of Fashion, Illustration, Music, Movies and Photography to share and express their work and opinion on what they think is vital for everyone to see, watch, listen to and know about. For many reasons, most of which are pure whims of our infantile minds, we asked everyone involved in this issue to express what they felt the Rock & Roll lifestyle meant for them. Their perception of this varied widely, ranging from photographs of mountain houses to sixties inspired patchwork, stumbling upon everything in between. It took an amazing group of talented individuals to pull this issue together. We’d like to thank the wonderful Melanie Dagher for her willingness to always be there in times of need. Karl Hitti for his relentless devotion for this project and the yummy juice he sends our way. Our outstanding Clara Abi Nader for her beautiful work and her persistence in letting us know that our naïve minds entertain her. Benoit Debbane for his contribution and continuous support; Karim El Kassir for his guidance; and our beautiful Cathy Frangie for regularly pointing out every wrong move we make. You all are life saviours. We would also like to show our love for Karen Klink, Ayla Hibri, Raphaelle Macaron, Rami Tannous, Missak Hajiavedikian, Daniele Kiridjian, Amer Jabali, Tania Mokdad, Tanios El Mallah, Patrick Sfeir, Lara Zankoul, Cynthia Merhej, Fouad Mezher, Ely Dagher, Saud Boksmati, Joel Rubin, Rasha Shaheen, Muriel Kahwaji, Mohamad Sabbah, Tanya Abou Ghazli and Jinane Shaaya for their superior work. Last but not least we’d like to thank Karim El Kassir, Julie Tegho, Stephanie Koyess, Tracy Dariane, Maria Tannouri, Jana Batal, CynthiaMaria Aramouni, Nour Abu Hamdan, Jad Safar, Mark Eid and everyone we might have skipped out on for their much appreciated time and help. We dedicate this, our first issue to Fatima M. El Marini whose rationality and helping hand made us stronger and pulled us together. We couldn’t have done it without you. To our parents, we thank you for, well, everything that we are. Lastly, as long as there are people out there with a desire to experiment again and feel like the children they once were, will be here, ready to give them a space to do so.

JACKET BY Daniele Kiridjian

PHOTOGRAPH BY CLARA ABI NADER

ARTICLE BY MELANIE DAGHER

ILLUSTRATION BY ELY DAGHER

Rock is immortal. This genre has left its trace in every era and drove through IT without any OBSTACLE. Take a look at the SEVENTIES where punk literally ruled and you’ll understand why Rock is simply a way of life. It’s even a marginal dictator of the occidental market. This proliferation was backed by our obsession with stars and their extravagance. It doesn’t matter if it’s a stage costume or just a random fashion statement, celebrities grabbed a hold of this style and gave it a standing point.

t doesn’t matter if you’re a fashionista, a Rock amateur or just on the bench, the age of a new era has been declared. A walk through the 30’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s clearly shows the chameleon like adaptation of this genre. In the past decades we witnessed young men’s short hair grow tall and female teens idolize Twiggy and Jane Birkin. Rock and Folk are making their massive comeback! All these years marked by technology, the sample culture, the cheap-gold-bling period and last but definitely not least the “put your hands up” attitude, are diving back into musical myths that are more than just a form of self expression; we flew away form a butterfly Mariah Carey to land in the arms of an alcoholic Amy Winehouse. Bono took a bow to give way for Mr Doherty and all this has largely influenced our perception on fashion. Designers and stylists have long ago been entrenched in this Rock ‘n’ Roll attitude: during the 60’s, The Beatles were one of the firsts to portray Rock as a way of life. A simple look at their bowl haircuts, suits and ties gives apparel a whole new meaning. This way of presenting one’s self is still an inspiration for a lot of today’s so-calledartists. On the other polar side, a legend referred to as Mick Jagger, resided in his tight leather jeans seasoned with incitement that clearly showed the colossal differences that defined the musicians of that era. It was only after the hippie period that glam Rock came about with the fantabulous Ziggy Stardust. Mr. Bowie’s incorporation of glitter, glamour and decadence gave fashion in Rock a whole new meaning. In a Baroque component, glam Rock was personified by very different singers ranging from the New York Dolls (a group of protopunk drag queens) to the very sensible T-Rex (founded by Marc Bolan) without excluding the

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always fabulous Queen front-man Freddie (Suede, Muse and Scissor Sisters), dark Mercury. The androgynous note is obviously wave and finally the néo-gothic (Placebo, what boosted Rock’s unmissable figure Interpol…). during that phase. What broke the mold after During this period, the Grunge wave swept that was the punks (suchlike the Sex Pistols the music scene off its feet without exactly in 1976) decision to take out their knitting attracting any major trendsetters. The dress kit and customize union jacket t-shirts. With code during the 90’s was lumberjack shirts, a touch of leather almost crossing to Grunge, torn acid wash jeans and Doc Martins. It isn’t a hiked up inspired collection was present in until fifteen years later that this style found Vivian Westwood’s Balmain 2010 fashion itself being recognized and acknowledged show. Christophe Decarnin however, by the fashion industry with a push by took this style to another level by making Sir Jacobs, Marc Jacobs that is, meeting it more violent and almost punk meets a breeze of enthusiastic fashion forward Grunge: that would women. The trend be deformed T-shirts It doesn’t matter if you’re that same winter was with cigarettes burns a fashionista, a Rock Over-Sized arched and patches with amateur or just on the checkered shirts, safety pins. The look bench, the age of a new softer versions of was complimented era has been declared. cups, leggings with with faded colors no holes and a pair of skinny jeans, torn fishnet tights, studded jeans with velvet jackets. In a nutshell, it’s leather jackets and shredded denim shorts. Kurt Cobain after he actually showers. Olivia Newton John could have easily worn a Balmain outfit in Grease. Nonetheless, only the true Rock ‘n’ Roll references are the ones that made it through Then came the 80’s followed by drastic changes. time. The biggest surprise of our decade was Rock tribes are easily distinguishable by their the interplanetary net movement that ended accoutrement. Goth Rock, for example, is up making way for the Baby Rockers, the known for black dominating the clothing. bands that are widely known for placing The Cure’s front-man Robert Smith’s “THE” at the beginning of their names (The make up largely inspired the metal scene. So Kooks, The Kills, The Gossip, etc…). Their did his attitude and the way he played with average age might be 18 but they are as fashion. The dominance of black and the equally hip as their peers. The guys behind excessive make up, marked by the Romantic The NAAST and the members of Second Movement, are seen as the source of Sex finished school in jackets and slim jeans. inspiration for many designers like Galliano, Gaultier and Martine Sibton. The artists that rhyme with elegance are truely those of the 21st century. The times Later on, style became an element of of trashy punk are long gone. Military distinction and sophistication with the New looks personified by Clapton and Hendrix, Wave Movement lead by Duran Duran and dandies designer suits, black domination its offsprings such as the “New Romantics” and tight jackets are the defining looks of (Depeche Mode, Human League and this century. Eurythmics). Afterwards, Rock underwent a concoction of changes that resulted in the birth of many sub genres like néo-glam WWW.FIMP-MAG.COM

ARTICLE BY MELANIE DAGHER

ILLUSTRATION BY RUDY SHAHEEN

Sarah Burton is a name, but not just any name. These two words should be highlighted, underlined and glittered in everyone’s fashion repertoire. The fucktastic Creative Director of the Mcqueen House, gave birth to a piece of art that deserves its own special room in a museum. This unique clutch easily stands out from all the other ones that were designed before it. One would even say that it’s straight out of a Hitchcock or a Tim Burton movie. This piece has an aura that can only be described as majestically murderous; a single look at its casual foliage throws you into a wild frenzy that is evened out by its minimalist and indescribable elegance. The gold and black colors paired with the signature skull detail can’t help but radiate with the glam fashion opera style that was so elaborately put into place by Alexander McQueen. This piece isn’t bound by space nor time and would easily cover you up even if you decide to wear it alone. No other design embodies the McQueen seduction and femininity like this jewel. The allure that would describe this clutch is a perfect fusion of distinguished rock. This is no normal “purse”. A normal purse would be full of its owner’s belongings; this clutch makes its owner feel whole and complete. Need we say more?

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ARTICLE BY MELANIE DAGHER

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CLARA ABI NADER

is very first words immediately take you on a trip to an alternate universe of tulles, corsets and extraordinary madness. As soon as you’re there, you know you’re dealing with a fashion genius. Missak allows his feel for the fabric and attention to detail to guide him through the process. Here is someone real, someone passionate, someone who imposes his spirit in a world saturated with fashion. He’s lauded for his subtle ways of playing with fabric and texture, his constant crusade to highlighting the female body, and the boudoir feel of the 1930’s he can’t seem to get enough of. This engaging man’s passion will take him places. He’s one to watch.

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INTRO BY RASHA SHAHEEN

INTERVIEW BY TANYA ABOU GHAZLI

ILLUSTRATION BY SAUD BOKSMATI

Four talented artists. Three diverse countries (Lebanon, the US and Canada). One band. Intensive Care is a vivid example of how Art can merge different ethnicities, styles and people, in order to create one unique and beautiful sound. After having listened to Fairytales From The Island for quite a while, and admired their work and their methods of modern experimentation with musical sounds, we were able to reach them and become more acquainted with them… Savor every word.

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INTERVIEW: INTENSIVE CARE What inspires your songwriting? Nadim Montreal is a very multicultural city and it never stops inspiring us. There’s a lot of cultures interacting here and that creates a nice landscape for ideas. We’re also exposed to a very eclectic musical culture. There are tons of great bands here that keep our music evolving, it’s a sort of positive competition in a way. When we go see fellow musicians play we often get blown away and think:“That was so great! Let’s try to make music that’s as good!”... Perhaps most importantly though, our band hails from Lebanon, Canada, and the United States, and all these cultures interact in our music as they do in our personal lives. Songwriting brings us together and provides a nice platform for dialogue, which is very inspiring.

You can’t really bang a computer the way you bang a drum kinda thing! 2) If listeners wouldn’t feel as entitled to the music. I’m not against music being free on the internet, but I think that good music should be remunerated in some way and fans should remember that artists making music have rents to pay at the end of the day. Derek If record labels went back to the business of fostering developing bands into musical leaders, instead of trying to follow the trend of what sells the most. In an alternate universe where your fantasies play out in present time, Intensive Care and which band would be touring together?

Derek In a more traditional sense, we’re also influenced by movies, Nadim The SEA-DERS. They’re an awesome Lebanese psych band comic books, and researching the cell biology of frog embryos. from the 60’s. Check them out! What comes first: lyrics or music? Philippe In the past, music consistently came first and I’d write words that would fit. For the last batch of tunes, I experimented with the lyrics-first approach and it opened up great melodic opportunities for me. I was no longer faced with pre-established song constraints and was able to work in tandem with the music. Is there a song that holds emotional meaning to all the members of the band, if so, what is it? And why? Philippe There’s a song called“Guides”. It was one of the first songs we wrote (it was called“K”back in the day). It was the first song that made us all feel like we had something special going on. It gave us the first hints of confidence in our ability to write songs. We recorded two incarnations of it, each time with a different approach.The song has since been acting as a kind of timestamp that reflects where the band is at a given time. For example, we played it recently and it transformed from a 7 min epic to a 2 min hypnotic mess.This should give you a little hint at where we are heading with songwriting these days. When you first teamed up your talents, did you have bigger plans or was it an organic transformation from a small-time band at McGill University to something larger yet still undefined? Nadim In our early days things were very uncertain. Coming from very different backgrounds, it took a long time for us to see eye to eye on many aspects. I think working hard on keeping the band together and trying to collectively find our identity and sound was totally worth it.At first, we were making lots of compromises to make music that democratically pleased each one of us. With time, we morphed into a strong brotherhood with a unified vision. We believe that despite our inherent differences we can be a band and our aspiration at this point is to share our experience with the rest of the world.

Philippe Touring with Blur would have done it for me. I have such admiration for this batch of people. They found the right balance between smart pop and rock experimentation. I would’ve learned so much from just being around them. Derek Spinal Tap. What musical concoctions are you working on to wow us with next? Philippe We’ve been working hard on a new album for the last year. We’re taking all our time because we’re dealing with very intense and personal matters here and we want to make sure it’s an honest, uncompromising work. We recorded half of the album already (you can hear a preview on our bandcamp) and are now working on the second batch of songs with our producer Jace Lasek (Besnard Lakes, Wolf Parade, Suuns...). He’s been a great help and acts as an essential link between our ideas and our sonic aspirations. Songs on this album will be more to the point, and way more personal.The time for fairy tales has ended. Nadim Yeah, I feel like we’ve adopted a more punk-rock attitude to our writing (not that the songs are punk in style). So you can expect the music to be visceral, more urgent and heavier at times. What’s one thing the world needs to know about you? We’re relentless and are not afraid of being big. We are also very patient so you might have to wait a little until our next offering (but we have a feeling it won’t take too long). If you had to choose: Would you “Accidentally” (and by that we mean intentionally) spill coffee all over Avril Lavigne, or trip Celine Dion on her way to the bar in a hotel lobby? Philipe I’m not a violent type....If I had to choose though, it would be Avril Lavigne for sure. Celine Dion is the best!

Music today would be better if… Nadim I’d trip Celine Dion cause I could have an interesting/ Philippe 1) Less people defined music by reverting to specific genres. insightful discussion with her after apologizing (she’s great!). I don’t 2) If some integrity and substance was restored to music journalism. feel like I’d have much to say to Lavigne... And 3) Focus would be less on tech and more on soul. Derek I’d spill enough coffee on Avril so that it makes a puddle on the Nadim 1) If new electronic instruments had an interface that floor, on which afterwards Celine (yes, I’m on a first-name basis with required us to play them with our bodies as performers; that way, them) would slip and then blame it on Avril. Not that I have any the soulful, more visceral aspect of music isn’t lost by channelling ill-will towards either artist; but we’re having fun, aren’t we? Typical creativity through laptop screens, keyboards and mouse clicks. fantasy catfight ensues.

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ILLUSTRATOR

WHY DON’T YOU tell us briefly about your work

what habit do you have to get your work on form?

It’s weird reading the word “work” for I have never considered myself working. Drawing has always been a part of the person I am, it has shaped me along all these years and is the closest friend I have ever had in my life.

I go out on the streets and spend hours observing everything that is happening around me; drawing what surrounds me in the best way to get a hundred times more creative.

I had the chance to grow up with Disney’s classical animation movies and later on to get to know European and Asian animation movies. I have always dreamt to merge all these styles and have passed countless hours trying to learn them all so that there can be limitless ways to apprehend and create a drawing.

what was the last song you sang from the top of your lungs?

I believe my drawings represent parts of my life, every drawing I make is a feeling I feel and through it all, I get the chance to create a small world where I feel completely free and utterly happy.

Hell or High Water - William Elliott Whitmore

WHAT IS THE ONE THING THAT IS ON YOUR MIND RIGHT THIS MOMENT? Right now I would love to find a job in an animation studio in Asia.

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WRITTEN BY MELANIE DAGHER & KARL HITTI

WE ALL WANT SOMEONE TO SHOUT FOR WOT YOU GOT GARANCE DOREE AFTER HOURS / THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING

WE ALL WANT SOMEONE TO SHOUT FOR (WEALLWANTSOMEONE.ORG)

he name of this blog already gives you a strong idea of its origins and base. The editor,Will Oliver, lover of all things indie, decided to start this chronicle so that he could share what he was obsessing about. Side note: Dear reader, if you still haven’t figured it out, the blog’s name comes from a lyric off the Arctic Monkeys b-side“Who The Fuck Are The Arctic Monkeys?”. If you, like Will, are a fanatic of everything indie, We All Want Someone is your primary destination the next time you surf the web. What’s lovely about Mr. Oliver is that he doesn’t drown you in a sea of random MP3s every day, but instead posts personal and accurately detailed descriptions of every track he so generously drops our way. Apart from the obvious main section, the blog is divided into smaller parts.The MP3 section for example compiles songs that you can stream, download or buy off official online stores. Bands like Dudes, Colossal Gospel and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah usually linger in this section.You also have the chance to hear standout tracks that get you acquainted with new music, like the Australian Peppercorn, and read carefully written reviews before you download them.

I’m probably that tall guy blocking your view at concerts. Sorry about that”. Will is based in New York, and therefore has access to a whole lot of concerts that are going on there. But fear not, because the pictures along with the reviews provide you with a pretty large coverage of the NYC music scene and help you visualize the whole thing. This section is updated weekly, and upon writing this article, it is showcasing Tennis at The Brooklyn Bowl and The Black Keys at Madison Square Garden. In a nutshell, if you want to step out of your cocoon, discover new indie artists and hit on girls/guys in random bars with your Oh So Cool! repertoire of underground music (and quite frankly, who doesn’t?), then We All Want Someone is the blog for you. If you plan on bettering yourself, go educate yourself.

“I run a music blog called We All Want Someone To Shout For.

WOT YOU GOT (WOTYOUGOT.ORG)

ot You Got is a blog. A very good blog. It’s a very very very good blog. Nowadays you have blogs popping up everywhere. Blogs are splashing up in bathrooms. Blogs are mugging you while you walk down the street. Blogs are frying their way onto your plate as you have lunch. Blogs are even trying to cockblock you while you try to get lucky! WHAT HAPPENED TO PRIVACY? IS THAT ONLY A THING OF THE PAST?! (end scene). What if Whitney Houston (bless her soul) sat behind a computer and decided to blog away about everything that was happening in the music scene? As demonstrated earlier, that analogy is a fair description of what this blog is essentially about. What we love about this is that it’s quite kitsch when you compare it to all of the lame crap that’s occupying the net. The founder is a gay Australian man, that’s all we know about him. Well we also know that he is very weird (we mean that in a good way. Like a Bjork kind of weird not an “I’m gonna rape you then eat you” weird, unless you’re into that….we don’t judge). While you might think that the guy is dyslexic when you start following him, we reassure you he just uses a slightly offbeat dialect that is pretty hilarious. One of the major things that keeps this all very lively is the ever changing article titles that are always inspired by song lyrics.

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We have no idea how he does it but the saucy aussie is able to get interviews with the who’s who of up and coming artists and the beautiful people of the English music scene. The interviews are filmed by him with his camcorder. It’s all very intimate. Another thing we adore about this blog is that you won’t find any kind of discrimination when it comes to musical genres: the guy keeps you up to date with EVERYTHING. On a normal day you might find something about raps other plastic princess Nicky Minaj, on others you might stumble on Swedish based ambient duo Carbon Based Lifeforms. Constant album leak notifications are also available, but no download links are actually made obvious. You have to do the dirty work yourself. Live concert footage and performances are there for your viewing pleasure. Most importantly we must not forget the hilarious little comments he posts under every picture. Wot You Got will help you stay up to date with all things music, and as soon as you get used to his slang you’ll find yourself using it daily, which is not such a bad thing, just look at “snoop shizzle my nizzle with your fizzle dogg”. Consider this chronicle as an equivalent to your vitamins (or drugs of choice): concise information inclosed in a pretty pink pill.

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GARANCE DORE (GARANCEDORE.FR)

loggers are invading the fashion industry and Garance Doré is to thank for pioneering this revolution of new celebritystatus bloggers. The woman behind The Sartorialist is an ultra-talented genius of fashion who is always on the look out for the most original street look across New York, London, Paris and Milan amongst others. Ever since she first launched her blog (which one of the most visited in the field of fashion) in 2006, Garance has been revealing her moods through illustration, photography, videos and texts, each funnier than the last.

n a world where hype and the serious dictates of fashion rule, Garance approaches the subject with simplicity, elegance and modesty. She includes everyone, revisits all the styles, cuts across all categories and illustrates her world in a contemporary graphic style; it is not for nothing that she initially started off as an illustrator for Vogue. Her designs are fresh, funny, highly stylized and easily recognizable. She has developed a touch of her own whereas other illustrations in women’s magazines often look like pale copies of what others have done better. As of 2007, Garance began experimenting with street-style photography and quickly became one of the most prominent reference photographers on

the web kicking it up a nudge by combining both illustration and photography in her articles. She almost never posts any pictures of herself, unlike other bloggers, and yet in less time than it takes for a purse to become a must-have, Garance Doré became the most famous French female blogger. She climbed her way to the top quickly and quite elegantly by partnering with leading fashion houses as a fashion consultant and by lending her talents as a photographer and illustrator to several ready-towear brands such as Gap and Petit Bateau: proof that a personal blog can greatly help shape one’s career by exhibiting their talents to the right audience. Madame Doré is far from perfect. She is the IT example of a young Parisian girl who is comfortable in her shoes and is not afraid to mix business with pleasure. Her blog influences some and inspires others. It is somewhat the window from which we discovered the world of real fashion sitting behind our little white macbooks. If you appreciate fashion and the slender silhouettes, Garance Doré is your fresher ad-free Vogue.

After Hours (vintagesunday.blogspot.com) The Unbearable Lightness Of Being (neointimacy.tumblr.com)

athy has been a very “bad blogger”, or so she admits on her last post for After Hours, dated 2009. Fear not however, for she has merely switched from Blogspot to Tumblr, from After Hours to The Unbearable Lightness Of Being. After Hours turned The Unbearable Lightness Of Being is quite the visual trip. The reason we’ve also mentioned her now-no-longerupdated After Hours is plainly because it is worth strolling through her earlier posts; as much as it is a joy to go through her latest findings.

at others very professional; it is obvious that fashion photography rules here. Enjoy a very contrasted view on fashion. The style is reflected in the visual expression of images, unlike other blogs that simply spit out what everyone already knows and has seen. Quite simply, an anti-it-blog (or two) that exudes timeless and daring talent.

For once, it’s not about the shopping and the trends as much as it is about the exceptional visuals that hover around in the fashion world. Both of Cathy’s blogs provide us with everything we cannot find elsewhere: unpublished images from magazines like Vogue, Dazed and Confused, graphic backstage images and a whole lot of beauty for the hungry eyes. What you find in these little treasure chests will keep you entertained for quite a while: young photographers, new styles, beautiful models and unpublished fashion shoots. After Hours / The Unbearable Lightness Of Being is the shrine of pictures that we would all love to see hanging from the walls of our daily lives. All in HD, highly stylized, at some times amateur and

MARTINA’S JACKET WAS INSPIRED BY PACO RABANNE

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ARTICLE AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY MOHAMAD ABDOUNI & RUDY SHAHEEN

Calling Dragonette “the biggest musical invention in the history of human kind” (popjustice.com) is nothing short of an unforgivable understatement, and they seem to take such praise quite lightly. Dragonette discuss their much anticipated third record, dish about Tiesto and share what they’ve been listening to lately (GaGa alert!)

hey were some of the first people to be on board with Dragonette, and they’re just too stubborn to admit they were wrong! They joked. In the span of seven years and only two full length albums, Dragonette have mastered what only few have gotten close to achieving: a distinctively euphoric, electronically heavy, boot-shaking, guiltridden form of Pop perfection. Make no mistake, if it were in our hands, they would have already reached the highest levels of Pop super-stardom, yanking the Lady of all things GaGa herself off her McQueen-skull-studded throne. Do they believe they’re all that and a box of curly fries? Fat chance.

ridiculous! We’ve been trying to make this work from the beginning, trying to make a guitar player work with this band and it just never worked”. Their current line-up seems to be doing wonders for them. “[Becoming a trio] was one of the best things that happened in the past year or two. We became a fucking great band!”

Joel leans down towards a plate of sushi assortments, undecided as to which piece to pick up, twirling chopsticks between his fingers in typical drummer form.“Hey guys! what took you so long?”. If it weren’t for their candid complaints about the excessive traveling they endured touring throughout the summer in support of their Martin Solveigproduced worldwide smash ‘Hello’, you wouldn’t tell that they were worn out. Martina looks fantastic, albeit smaller in size than expected, lying atop a loveseat across from husband/band member Dan Kurtz. The band has been on the road for a while now, constantly jet-lagged, which demanded certain on-the-road-survival essentials such as Earplugs, neck pillows and sleeping patches.“It’s our affordable version of flying first class.”

What should we be expecting from Dragonette’s upcoming batch of new tunes? Well, definitely not an album’s worth of ‘Hello’ sequels. Their Martin Solveig-produced smash may have won the world over and turned the ignorant crowd towards their fantastic repertoire, but the band doesn’t intend on riding that wave further than they already have with their long-charting single and tour.“In the wake of ‘Hello’ there’s been an interest in what the next Dragonette’s going to be like, and we don’t know yet, but there’s nothing on it like‘Hello’.” Martina seems to have a specific vision in mind as to what the sound of the record will be like.“I’ve been obsessed with trying to write like happy, well not happy but like not dark songs. I mean‘Fixin To Thrill’, the song specifically, is quite dark, and I’ve been trying to see what the opposite of it would be like. Without making ‘Hello’ again that is!”, she shrieked,“Nothing sugary! Basically I’ve been listening to Paul Simon’s Graceland, and I just want to make that album.” One of the tracks they’ve already recorded however, ‘My Work Is Done’, has got the darker shades of Dragonette that we oh so love. As Dan so delightfully put it,“that song is a bit more Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Music to our ears!

In 2009, the world could not have been ready. Dragonette unleashed their second effort with no sign of a sophomore slump in sight. Fixin To Thrill was a collection of unapologetic beats and smile-enducing, gloriously-pulsing synthesized melodies that flirted their way from sexy croons ‘Easy’ to jilted country ‘Gone Too Far’, with Martina’s vocals taking the whole thing home, making it the best electropop album of the year. The release of this fantastic record was followed by certain events that resulted in the threesome that is Dragonette today.“[Our guitarist] bailed right before we went on tour for the second album. We tried to fill in the dates and see who could get onstage with us.Then one day I just called Dan and I was like ‘this is

Now that they’ve shed the extra weight, they’re in perfect form to sail forward towards their third LP, but following 2009’s Fixin To Thrill won’t be an easy task and they’re taking their sweet time to ensure that it’ll be worth the wait.“We’re taking a much longer approach. We’re trying to stay out of the spotlight for a while . It’s taking forever but we’re getting there, we see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

It’s always a treat to shed a light over what inspires the making of an album, and in this case, it’s quite the treat! The band has been listening to the likes of Ladyhawke and Washed Out, which can only announce good things.They’ve also been long-time fans of none other than the Lady GaGa herself! “She’s an incredible artist. She gets a lot of shit for copying, but i think she takes the right things and makes them her own. I loved her first record. I dont think the new record is very... Well it’s not as surprising as it wants to be. She wants

DAN’S T-SHIRT WAS INSPIRED BY JEAN PAUL GAULTIER

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JOEL’S MUSCLE T WAS INSPIRED BY JEAN PAUL GAULTIER

to be on top of the world and she rushed through this second record! If she had waited six months, she could’ve released it and it would have been huge!”But it seems as though music is not the only form of inspiration behind the band’s next effort.“Martina and I are listening to a lot of podcasts that have nothing to do with music”.Why not, we say! As long as we get an album of equal epic standards as their last, you won’t hear us complaining. It had indeed been a while, but the guys have not been sunbathing around the beaches of Bali (not that we know of, at least). Dragonette have been working with the you-name-it of the music biz. Martina even had the chance to meet one of her all-time idols Cyndi Lauper, and work with her on a track off her 2008’s ‘Bring Ya To The Brink (Grab A Hold)’. They’ve also had a hand one of the most anticipated releases of last year, Nicola‘Ginger’ Roberts’ Cinderella Eyes’‘Lucky Day’. When we talked to them about their collaboration with the one-time Girls Aloud member, Dan had some interesting things to say about the famed producers behind the most successful girl band in the UK:“I remember Nicola telling me about [Xenomania]. How one would be in one room writing, and then this one writes a verse in this key, at this tempo, and this other guy wrote a chorus in this key and at this tempo, but we’re just gonna mush them together and here’s the new Girls Aloud single! And it works for them! Actually Lady GaGa reminds me of that too in a way where here’s a really cool verse idea, and here’s a really cool chorus idea, and this verse needs a chorus and this chorus needs a verse, so here’s the song. ‘Papparazzi’ for example is a song where I can’t believe the chorus goes well with the rest of the song and [Xenomania] has done that to great effect.”

The Dragonette team seems to have really taken a liking to french producer Martin Solveig, recording up to four cuts featured on his Smash album.They also collaborated with Don Diablo on‘Animale’ and Kaskade for‘Fire In your New Shoes’, resulting in two dacefloor-ready anthems. But it has’nt been all open-doors for the fantastic trio; they’ve hit a few rocks along the road, and we hear Tiesto was quite the speed bump:“I’m not going to trash-talk him!”, Martina redresses herself on the loveseat, gives us a hint of a smirk and keeps going.“He’s a lovely guy, with a lovely... accent! The problem was that his whole team had OKed it, so i had finished it.And then two months later, they were like‘Tiesto’s gonna call you and tell you what he wants you to do’and then he was like ‘yeah I dont want that song.’ But it’s a great song! It’s a fucking great song! It’s called ‘Glow In The Dark’ and everytime i hear it, I go like ‘maybe it should end up on our record!’ It’s just the kind of songs you want to hear smeone else sing. It’s a little out of my theme.” So there you have it, a full-on trio that goes beyond ‘Hello’ and a few electornically engineered beats and hooks. A new fantastic album is being cooked as you’re reading this so make sure you delve into it as soon as it hits the shelves because trust us,there’s nothing better than a Dragonette cleanse of all the sonical polution that’s jamming today’s airwaves.

DOWNLOAD: EASY , VOLCANO , THE BOYS (CALVIN HARRIS COVER) .

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CUT HERE

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OR HERE

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PHOTOGRAPHER

WHY DONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T YOU tell us briefly about your work

what habit do you have to get your work on form?

My photographic works range between documenting the banality and melancholy of everyday life, to the beauty in the extremely obvious and, sometimes, the blunt harsh reality of things.

Good light, fully charged iPod, more than enough films, never on an empty stomach, a bottle of water, skittles, dressed well in winter, barely dressed in summer, prepared for a lot of walking. I usually end up getting lost. I function when I displace myself, habits act like drones.

what was the last song you sang from the top of your lungs?

WHAT IS THE ONE THING THAT IS ON YOUR MIND RIGHT THIS MOMENT?

Happy Birthday

Save the rainforest.

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ARTCILES BY KARL HITTI

ILLUSTRATIONS BY BENOIT DEBBANE

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YEASAYER

t’s a Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel. This is how this six-piece band describes its style of music. The thing with experimental Pop/Rock is that it could endup making you want to run around naked while projectile vomiting on everyone. So basically it could be an epic fail. However sometimes, very rare times, a band will take a great mix of drugs and narcotics that will result into one of the most epic-slap-mesilly musical experiences of your life! (We recommend horse tranquilizer and E with a sprinkle of coke and crystal meth). The Yeasayer have produced a part of the Bat For Lashes sophomore album, and the lead singer provided vocals for Simian Mobile Disco’s ‘Audacity of Huge’. If all of this doesn’t make you wanna raid your nearest music store and get their first two albums All Hour Cymbals and Odd Blood not to mention their EP End Blood *brief pause* then we recommend that you choke yourself with the nearest light-bulb. Really, go do it now. It doesn’t matter if they are on stage or working in the shadows, big things are to be expected from this band. DOWNLOAD: AMBLING ALP, O.N.E. .

THE PRETTY RECKLESS

f someone said to me that a rock enraged sex craving raccoon was running loose terrorizing the set of Gossip Girl a few years back, I would have bursted out into laughter, but seeing Taylor Momsen lately, had me revising my silver bullet stock since she was clearly bitten by it. Peel away the fact that this Nineteen year old youngster dresses like a two-dollar hooker with bad eye makeup (we blame Cherie Currie) and forget about when she fired her previous band mates because they were not “edgy” enough, you’ll find a very gooey, yummy, juicy rock filled guilty pleasure center. Shocking, right? Well her band is called The Pretty Reckless with a debut album titled ‘Light Me Up’ (its cover shows a young girl resembling Taylor Momsen with a lighter in her hand) and the following EP entitled‘Hit Me Like A Man’. The music has the ability to transport you back to the early 90s when Grunge Rock was still relevant and simply good. We can only hope that our little Taylor actually matures and decides to clean up her “I am so rock” attitude. We really don›t want to be looking at a Courtney Love 2.0 situation on steroids. Yet again ... DOWNLOAD: MY MEDICINE , YOU and VOID AND NULL .

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THE NAKED AND FAMOUS

ake an Asian looking girl, have her stripping for you. Take four random guys and strip the woes out of their clothing. Slap them around, kidnap the members of MGMT, cut them into fine thin pieces. Throw them all into the same batch. Juice some shimmering glittery stars and heat the extract to a boil.Take some Xanax (Lexotanil could do the trick, depending on what you have in your medical cabinet), throw it in the boiling juices. Let it all simmer for a while and then take a blender and plug it into an electrical courant. Shove everything in the kitchen appliance and TURN IT ON! Let the carefully studied ingredients mix for about three minutes and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll get one of the most wonderful up and coming alternative Electropop bands (God! that was a long intro but we needed dramatic effect): THE NAKED AND FAMOUS! Passive Me, Aggressive You (pun might and might not be intended. It depends on how perverted you may be) is the name of their debut album.This band is giving MGMT a run for their money and giving these sophomore slump victims a kick in the balls. It would be advisable not to over consume this addictive concoction because it might end up causing some severe hallucinations. DOWNLOAD: YOUNG BLOOD (THE RENHOLDER REMIX) , PUNCHING IN A DREAM and ALL OF THIS.

ZOWIE

f you look up Zowie in the dictionary you get: used to express astonishment or admiration especially in response to something sudden or speedy. That’s exactly how this New Zealander Synth-Punk artist strikes you. You just need to replace the something sudden or speedy by a head-on collision with huge futuristic monster truck.

What we love about her is that she actually makes vampires cool. Her fashion and attitude make for a perfect futuristic bloodsucker that would rip your throat out and then raid your closet. This is one of the first times that we have actually witnessed someone merging Rock ‘n’ Roll swagger and creature of the night attitude so successfully. I secretly sometimes wish that someone would anonymously set up meetings for people addicted to shoulder pads and violent baselines. That’s obviously where I would be able to find and kidnap her. Allow yourself to flap your bat wings, fly away and get her current single ‘My Calculator’ (Get it? No? Die.). Her debut album is supposed to come out some time this year. *dramatic sound of glass breaking* Get them crosses ready. DOWNLOAD: BROKEN MACHINE (THE RAC REMIX), SMASH IT and LOVE DEMOLITION.

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INTERVIEW: MOHAMED SABBAH

Waiting for Mohamad Sabbah to arrive, I’m sitting at Balima in Saifi Village. The streets are empty but the sense that hours earlier, swarms of Lebanese twentysomethings vied earnestly for attention with flashy money clips, expensive cars and high heels, is palpable. Confronting a fake Beirut and its troubled youth are themes Sabbah, a young Lebanese director, deals with directly in his films. ‘Eveil’, his graduation piece, delves into the striking dichotomy between internal and external sexuality, a disparate reality many Lebanese men and women endure. Remarkably, at only 21 years old, Sabbah has already directed two independent movies, which have garnered awards from the NDU Film Festival as well as the Festival du Cinema Européen, and is currently working on his third. Sabbah enters Balima, coyly and we begin.

What subject matter do you enjoy dealing with? It changed. When I started working on my first movies I was really inspired from my personal life. I wrote about my experiences with my family. Then I became really interested in the world of fantasies, exploring body language and the relation between bodies, especially considering we live in a society where talking about the body is not an easy subject. I found that many people my age were suffering from a lot of problems in regards to relations and sex, so this subject interested me. And you can see this in my movie ‘Eveil’. It talks about a young girl who is discovering herself and her eveil of sexuality. Her awakening. In ‘Eveil’, you presented the masturbation scene very delicately, and it was quite beautiful, while the scene in which she loses her virginity is rather brutal, rushed, and sort of ugly. I was wondering why you used this contrast. I wanted to show what she imagines when she’s with herself. She created a world of sexuality that is really soft. But when she entered the real world and she has the first relation, she discovers that it’s not really so. Here is the problem when we live in a place where you have no contact with sex and real bodies. We imagine a lot. So when we arrive to a real moment, we are disappointed. This is what I wanted to illustrate, this disappointment. ‘Eveil’ and ‘Conte de Feu’ are both quite interesting films. How did you get started in film making? Since I was fifteen years old I knew that this is what I wanted to do with my life. I was really attached to the medium and I loved to tell stories, not by writing them, but by filming them. So I enrolled in ALBA. You have already discussed how you think sexuality is mishandled in Beirut. How do you see everyone

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asbeing under sexed while simultaneously over sexed? I don’t want to put it in a clichéd way but you are living in a society where sex is a really taboo subject. No, it’s starting to évoluer but still, it depends on the region in Lebanon. Even the places where the people consider themselves open minded; it’s getting to an extreme. There’s no normal. Either under or over. Could you tell me about some of your influences? When I started working on my movies I was influenced by Pedro Almodovar, a Spanish director. I loved the way he told his stories, and constructed his image. Then I discovered Wong Kar Wai, a Chinese director. And I loved his themes and his image. I am a director that works a lot on my image and I confess that sometimes I put the privilege and the image before the story. But I love to work on the image. Also the themes that he works on, amour impossible, impossible love, impossible contact, relates to what I love to do. In that past two years Wong Kar Wai has been my big inspiration. Also I love the way that Lars von Trier works on his movies. He attracted me with his images and his angles. With directors like Nadine Labaki and the international acclaim that Lebanese cinema is getting, do you think this will lead to lessening of censorship in Lebanon? My film was censored here, ‘Eveil’. It was shown on TV and the masturbation scene and the last scene were cut off. So we hope so. Even with the Nadine [Labaki’s film] we were worried whether or not it would pass. And it did. But there’s also Danielle Arbid’s new movie ‘Beirut Hotel’ which was censored completely. The problem is that the people in charge of the censoring have no relation to movies. They are just people that watch movies with no knowledge of what the movies are talking about. Nor the image work. Nothing. What are you working on next?

You mentioned that you’re looking to incorporate Beirut more as a setting. What about the city would make a good setting for cinema? Beirut is a very inspiring city to work on. My new movie is dealing with the Beirut that has flipped seven times. There are seven Beiruts that exist under the Beirut we are living in right now, and I think the Beirut we are living in now is starting to lose its character. I think my new movie is all about getting back to the old Beirut, searching for old Beirut. And I think this is another thing we should start thinking about. We’re losing our architectural heritage which is dangerous. Sexuality and the human form are really prevalent in your work. Also tension seems to be quite significant. The scene in ‘Eveil’ with the sewing machine, You used tension very effectively. There’s symbolism with the woman working on the sewing machine. You see in the first scene with the father watching TV with the remote. He thinks he has the power to change the channel, but the TV is controlling him. The TV is projecting the images. But I gave the power to the mother who is creating and manipulating with the machine. So the man thinks that he controls the house but in reality the woman is in control of the house. She is the one working with her hands. I gave creation to the woman But with the last scene. Where she steps outside. What were you trying to convey to the audience? You can take it any way you would like. That she tried it and it’s not her life. You can take it that elle est depasser ses desires. Enough! I did it. Now what? She’s not going back home. The third option is that what she did, it made her decide to live her life and go on her own. But no matter what, the fact that she’s going out to the white, it’s positive. And the fact that she’s leaving her home and going out into the world is also a way to say that this girl is like all of the girls. WWW.FIMP-MAG.COM

INTRO AND INTERVIEW BY JOEL RUBIN

PHOTOGRAPH BY JINANE CHAAYA

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PHOTOGRAPHER

WHY DON’T YOU tell us briefly about your work

what habit do you have to get your work on form?

Through photography I tell a story that I don’t quite tell, I avoid reality; my aim is to make people dream.

Put on music, and stare at objects till I get to a kind of a hating state and feel as if I’ m suffocating. Then I get out and change my spot, go for a drive along the coast. I might be inspired, I might not. But I know that if nothing comes to my mind after that, the next day I’ll be working on my project definitely.

what was the last song you sang from the top of your lungs?

WHAT IS THE ONE THING THAT IS ON YOUR MIND RIGHT THIS MOMENT?

Where Is My Mind - Pixies

I’d like to make up my mind, if I should send a painting or not. What do you think, Miss Naccache?

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ILLUSTRATOR

WHY DON’T YOU tell us briefly about your work

what habit do you have to get your work on form?

I have an octopus farm. It’s a love-hate relationship, really.

Music keeps me going.

what was the last song you sang from the top of your lungs?

WHAT IS THE ONE THING THAT IS ON YOUR MIND RIGHT THIS MOMENT?

“Burn the witch” By Queens Of the Stone Age at their live gig in London. (Josh Homme, I want to be your wife, have your ginger babies and go to Sunday Barbecues with Dave Grohl and Jimmy Page) and “Bring The Boys Back Home” at Roger Waters’ concert (I cried my eyes out.) Yes I couldn’t chose. Sue me.

Murder the mosquito that’s been sucking me dry for the last hour.

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FOR THE MODERN DAY ARTIST & CULTURALLY INTRIGUED INDIVIDUAL PHOTOGRAPH BY CLARA ABI NADER

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ALBUM REVIEW

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE ERA VULGARIS ARTICLE BY RAPHAELLE MACARON

ILLUSTRATION BY RAMI TANNOUS

FLIPPING A PERSON OFF USUALLY CONSISTS OF RAISING THE MIDDLE FINGER. THAT’S A SHAME BECAUSE AN ACTION AS SACRED AS SAYING “FUCK YOU” SHOULDN’T BE AS SIMPLE AS A FINGER FLIP. IF OUR ANGER STRICKEN TEEN YEARS TAUGHT US ANYTHING, IT’S THAT “HARD ROCK” IS THAT BIG, ANGRY, STINKY, BULLIED KID IN THE PLAYGROUND THAT RETALIATES BY BEATING THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF THE OPPRESSORS. THAT’S HOW A MAJESTIC “FUCK YOU” IS APPLIED. (CEE LOO SHOULD HAVE PROBABLY LEFT THE ROOM BY NOW).

hen he was asked what inspired him to write Era Vulgaris, The one and only Josh Homme answered: “My daily drives through Hollywood”. Awesome! We couldn’t think of a better way to flip-off today’s society; Hollywood clearly embodies two polarly different groups. In this Common Era, everyone wants to be part of that scene not caring whether they make it or not and clearly not caring about who they need to fornicate with to get to the top. Random thought: we’re open-minded. Just sayin’. With this album, the Queens of The Stone Age carry on the rock tradition of saying what needs to be said without having to lift a finger. Stating that this album is a departure from their previous work would be absolutely correct since they keep on evolving with each record they put out there. However, the uneasy and brooding material gives it more of a push away from the mainstream and familiar. What clearly proves that these guys are Rock gods, is the fact that they were able to translate this feeling of lag through their music. The guitar riffs are completely offbeat when it comes to their accompanying drums. The awing thing about it is that it all sticks together better than a newlywed couple! Dip this nonchalant composition in Homme’s silky-velvetystrawberries dipped in chocolate like vocals and you’ll get one of the most honest rock albums of the past decade. It’s all like some

brilliant improvisation that came down from the sky. The album’s first track kicks in roughly. ‘Turning On The Screw’ is what some might call a morning boner. The vibe mellows down once you get to the mesmerizing ‘Into The Hollow’. Then the whole shit is blown out of the water with the help of ‘Make it Wit Chu’. Standouts consist of the ‘Lullabies to Paralyze’ throwback ‘3’s and 7’s’ and ‘Misfit Love’ that could only be described as invigorating chaos. A word of advice: don’t expect to fall in love with this aggressive piece of art instantly; the obvious homage to old school hard rock turns it into a very intrusive journey. This might explain the general public’s original shock towards the album when it came out. Eventually, it grows on you like crabs which kind of reminded us of our first love, Kurt Cobain (but don’t get us wrong we are not trying to say that this effort matches his holiness, but it’s located on the same nonchalant continent). Briefly, whether you are a rock amateur or an experienced veteran, it wouldn’t be right for you not to own this album and put it on your legendary albums’ shelf along with Icky Thump, Blood Sugar Sex Magic and In Utero. DOWNLOAD: MAKE IT WIT CHU , I’M DESIGNER .

PERFORMANCE REVIEW

ARCADE FIRE NEON BIBLE ARTICLE BY KARL HITTI

ILLUSTRATION BY KAREN KLINK

SOME OF YOU MIGHT KNOW ARCADE FIRE AS THAT WEIRD GROUP OF CIRCUS FREAKS THAT RECENTLY WON THE GRAMMY AWARD FOR “BEST ALBUM”. OTHERS MIGHT DESCRIBE THEM AS BEING THE BEST MOTHERF***ING BAROQUE POP/INDIE ROCK BAND EVER AND A NUMBER OF YOU MIGHT NOT GIVE A FLYING RAT’S ASS ABOUT THEM AND WE CAN’T BLAME YOU.

ou see, these “rockers” are no Girls Aloud (for those of you who don’t know these english goddesses we suggest you inject yourself with soap) so it’s pretty normal that a big number of earth’s population might not like them, know them or even care about them. However, ya’ll need to get familiar cause these carnival weirdos give bizarre alternative Rock a kickass name; by that we mean diarrhea-like fantastically consistent albums. The fact that they are regular Grammy nominees and winners must mean something positive (unless your name is Taylor Swift) which brings us to elevators. This might not seem logical to you but Taylor’s face reminds us of them. E-LE-VA-TOR: the word alone makes us want to get our high on so they basically are drug enablers. They might make life easier but we’ve never had a good relationship with these mechanical monsters. We somehow always seem to end up stuck in them with the wrong people and the fact that we’re a tiny bit claustrophobic doesn’t help at all. Watching a group of people inside an elevator on YouTube gives us a bit of nausea but since we love bands that look like they have a whole lot of orgies together, we really don’t mind. You might be thinking to yourself:

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“who performs in an elevator?” Then our answer to you would simply be: “when we said circus freaks we really meant it”. In order for a band to actually sound good while performing in a small metal container, it logically has to embody a certain amount of talent. Therefore, we would like to tell you that this very random performance is beyond outstanding. The video was recorded in France for the Take Away Show. The whole vibe, colors and angles just compliment the group’s quirkiness. You even get a behind the scenes look at them getting all dolled up for this event, but sadly, no intimate look at their sexual activities. Did we mention that one of the band members successfully tears up a magazine while making it sound like your basic every band instrument? Circus freaks rule! So if you’re taking a break or bored of surfing the same porn websites, we recommend that you view this video. It’s like a tasty fresh hot-dog; you have no idea what it really is made of or where it comes from but you can’t help but shoving down your throat.

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SOUNDTRACK REVIEW

ARTICLE BY KARL HITTI

ILLUSTRATION BY MOHAMAD ABDOUNI

MARIE ANTOINETTE IS THE ORIGINAL B.I.T.C.H. A GAY MAN TRAPPED INSIDE A WOMAN’S BODY. SHE’S THE WOMAN WHO MADE IT TO THE HISTORY BOOKS BY TREATING HER PEOPLE LIKE THE UGLY STEPCHILDREN AND FORNICATING WITH VARIOUS MEN_INCLUDING JAMIE DORNAN. THEY BEHEADED HER LATER ON, BUT STILL, WE DECIDED TO OVERLOOK THAT.

ll of you with half a mind probably watched the Sofia Coppola directed Marie Antoinette and probably have thought to yourselves: “What the hell! This isn’t even historically accurate!” or “Oh My Lord! Look at the size of that cake!” A diplomatic way to describe miss Coppola would be slightly offbeat but after all, that’s what you get when your dad spends your entire childhood directing movies in which a guy wakes up with a dead horse in his bed. When promoting the movie, she notified moviegoers of her free interpretation of Marie Antoinette. Were people listening? Obviously not, and that would explain the majorly negative reactions towards this masterpiece. Let’s get to the good stuff. The movie’s soundtrack contains a big number of new wave rock bands. You see, this might seem strange, because how would a sane minded person decide to include bands that were formed in the late 70’s in the soundtrack of a period piece taking place in 18th century France? Well it all comes down to the way Sofia Coppola wanted you to see Marie Antoinette: an innocent Austrian girl misunderstood by her French entourage

and taking on an identity quest (wouldn’t we all love to look for ourselves while being pampered by an army of servants?) that unrolls on a rocky jewel incrusted road. New Wave bands are known for their lyrical complexity and widely renowned musical experimentation. That alone gives us a big common platform between the fallen queen and this genre of music. Moreover, music critics describe the New Wave genre as being twitchy and agitated because of the choppy rhythm guitars that were laid on fast tempos as well as the always popular stopand-start musical structures. This pairing of different styles is also very present in the movie. The most obvious would be the serious setting paired with the multicolored, multilayered wardrobe and décor. Add to that the framing of the whole thing that varies between very restraint and very large frames (without ever stepping in the middle) and you never get a second of none twitchiness.

listening to The Cure. In other words, being sober while listening to a guy with weird clown/Courtney Love inspired makeup is never a good thing unless you plan on going to an S&M bondage party afterwards. We speak from personal experiences. Highlights are the obvious ‘I Want Candy’ remixed by Kevin Shields, ‘Honk Kong Garden’, ‘What Ever Happened’ by the geniuses also known as The Strokes and the always trippy ‘All Cats Are Grey’. What is sicker about all this is that right after you’re done listening to an Adam And The Ants tune, you’re shoved into the ‘Concerto in G’ by Antonio Vivaldi. That pesky Coppola adopted the fusion of completely different styles especially when it came to the music. The smart thing about all this is that it gives a good balance to the whole piece. You can’t watch a period movie without period music, that would be just like Britney Spears actually taking the time to sing live at one of her concerts. We all know that’s absurd.

Various kitsch bands are featured in the soundtrack raging from Siouxsie to the Banshees passing by The Radio Dept. while managing to throw in a hint of Bow Wow Wow (no, not the child star). If you feel like getting high while listening to it, we really can’t blame you; that’s how we usually enjoy

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MOVIE REVIEWS

ARTICLES BY TANIOS EL MALLAH & TANIA MOKDAD ILLUSTRATIONS BY CYNTHIA MERHEJ

ock and roll and all its associations: sex, drugs, booze and universally -as with all music- love, is enough to drive any naïve teenage boy awry; not so with Almost Famous’ leading man, William Miller (Patrick Fugit), an ultimately triumphant underdog character. Writer/Director Cameron Crowe rarely produces flops (Jerry Maguire, Elizabethtown). Almost Famous is all the more intriguing as it’s loosely based on his own life. He was always two years younger than his school peers and therefore grew up far too quickly. With his direction, all actors give superb performances. Groupie culture, or rather the “Band-aids” as they call themselves in this case, is at first glamorized and then deglamorized – well, it actually does seem like a fruitful and lucrative career path- epitomized by the enticing Penny Lane played by Kate Hudson, the subtle seductress who finds herself in a triangle of love with William and lust with the Still Water band member, guitarist Russell Hammond. William is warned throughout, mainly by his overprotective and opinionated mother and fellow music-journalist/role-model Lester Bangs, not to make friends with rock stars as he was always urged by the writer to be “honest and unmerciful” in his work. “Famous people are more interesting” Penny Lane muses; and in this movie, yeah, they really are. The most beautiful thing about it is that it doesn’t exactly end as you’d expect. It isn’t fast paced or action-filled, but it’s about innocence corrupted, and who doesn’t want to be a voyeur to that?

MOVIE REVIEWS

et against the backdrop of the vibrant and bustling habitat that was England of the 1980’s; Breaking Glass could be summed up as a symphony of revolt. The film follows the growth of the band aptly named Breaking Glass from its formation through the hands of the manager and his discovery of the eccentric lead singer into its ascent. Played respectively by Phil Daniels and Hazel O’Connor, the latter of whom steals the show with an explosive on screen and on stage presence. If there was a slight discrepancy that

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could be pointed out about it, it is that if the audience is not entirely well versed in the ‘cockney’ dialect, the assistance of subtitles may be necessary. The soundtrack is thrilling and drives the film through the atmosphere created by its settings. The impressive thing about the soundtrack is that the leading lady Hazel O’Connor originally sings all the songs. All in all this unusual film is a hidden gem in the history of British cinematography that exemplifies the punk rock era in the region. WWW.FIMP-MAG.COM

MOVIE REVIEWS

eathproof was released in a very different way to the norm of cinematic release in this day and age. The filmmaker behind it, Quentin Tarantino and Director Robert Rodriguez, decided to release two gore-fest movies as a combo known as the Grindhouse Films. This pays homage to the way low-budget action thrillers were released in the 60’s and 70’s. Tarantino adopts a different cinematic style in this picture aiming to give it a certain authenticity in its parody that may well be the

film’s slight downfall. Though it was written with a tongue-in-cheek nature, the film portrays its own atmosphere far too realistically to be recognized as a satire. It is dressed up by small roles from Zoe Bell and Rose McGowan and who better to beef it than Kurt Russell playing the tough as nails Anti-Hero: Stuntman Mike. It is packed in with well-shot car chases, quick dialogue and the awesome thrust that have turned these filmmakers infamous.

MOVIE REVIEWS

et in the swinging 60›s at the height of “Beatlemania”, A Hard Day’s Night takes us through a typical day in the life of the enduring ‘Fab Four’. The best part is that the beatle band members play themselves. Their unique character traits purposefully exaggerated by Director Richard Lester. Paul McCartney is the cute one, George Harrison is mean, John Lennon is the cynic and the sweet Ringo Starr is portrayed as kind of unloved and in the background, all the while holding the band together. It’s shot in black and white. It’s true, everything is better in black

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and white. This is the kind of movies you could have playing in the background and not really have to give your full attention to, because honestly, the soundtrack is more than enough to keep you entertained. At the end, it’ll have you downloading all of The Beatles greatest hits. Their rock music propelled the social and cultural revolution, which budded then exploded in the UK during the 1960’s. The mass hysteria they created in their sea of fans was out of control and unparalleled, and this movie perfectly exemplifies it. WWW.FIMP-MAG.COM

MOVIE REVIEW Emo/vampire teen queens star in a biopic about the most influential all-girl Rock band of all time. We’ll give you about five seconds to absorb this. Oddly enough this almost-all-pussycat cast oozes more testosterone than the whole Twilight cast put together, no shit. Now that the obvious Twilight joke is out of our system, let’s take a quick tour down Rock memory lane. Rock music has more subgenres than all your sexual partners put together (we are assuming that you have the libido of a 13 year old teenage boy), and at a certain point in time before Courtney Love was running around yelling obscenities at random strangers, the Rock scene was dominantly driven by men... Until it got a kick in the ballsack by The Runaways. ARTICLE BY KARL HITTI

ILLUSTRATION BY FOUAD MEZHER

hen acclaimed music video director Floria Sigismondi decided to start working on this movie, she was fully aware of the major flaws worth steering away from: the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hollywood cliché of sex and drugs. Sadly, when a continuous pattern of events is put into motion by different groups of people that work in the same business, it tends to become the norm, and the short-lived life of this band dismally fit the exact same mold that was put into place by its male peers. Thankfully, miss Sigismondi was also able to include the banalities that we thirst for, while adding a new layer to the whole storyline by wrapping it up in a delicious and surprisingly honest, coming of age story that broke a lot of barriers.

during every onscreen moment, even when he has no lines!

The acting is nothing to frown upon; Michael Shannon, who plays Kim Fowley, got everything right. He is a major driving force behind the movie, a cross between David Bowie and the weird drunken hobo from down the street. There is something scary about him yet captivating at the same time. He tyrannizes scenes left and right,

One last note: To all of you who thought Britney came up with I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll, we say shame! (Fine! Joan Jett might have also covered it from Arrows, but give the girl some credit for making it shine the way it was supposed to!)

On the other hand, Dakota Fanning’s portrayal of Brigitte Bardot and Iggy Pop’s love-child, Cherrie Curie, is just as impressive. The teenager will shock you as she effortlessly slips into baby prostitute mode. She was able to pin point the formula that gave the singer her sharp innocence, and marinated herself in it for weeks. You see, Cherrie was the type of girl that had a hard time saying no to anyone, but she liked her men, women and drugs in drippy doses.

The other obvious role worth mentioning is Kirsten Stewart’s interpretation of the raven haired Joan Jett. The actress got so Her previous collaborations with artists such as Marylin Manson, immersed in her role to the point where she ended up having the Fionna Apple and The Cure (to name a few) only works to her same demeanor as the legendary singer. Yes, her broad basketball advantage. She seems to easily exude a visually distorted melancholia player shoulders and beefy arms are there on purpose! What took us that abruptly drags you into the physical and emotional state that even more aback is how she manages to portray this role with delicate these women were going through right before they were thrust into vulnerability. the spotlight. A certain uneasiness overwhelms you throughout the movie, an agitation that clearly portrays how Cherrie and her Petulant and crisp graphics will make sweet/rough love to your pussycats, who were teenagers at the time,were feeling. Experimenting retinas as you watch Rock history unfold in front of your eyes. with drugs while dealing with an abusive manager and trying to Sigismondi cleverly adds pigments where they make more sense and silence an enormous number of cynics, critics and misogynists is no strips the rest bare and mellow. The images in this movie are strong easy task, especially when your family unit looks like something out enough to accurately reveal the story without any help from the of the Jerry Springer Show. element of sound (but let’s face it, this IS a story that revolves around Rock music). The movie’s storyline is based on Cherrie Currie’s autobiography Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway, which in result means you A haze of painful melancholy is put into place by the slightly shouldn’t watch it expecting a detailed biopic of the rest of the band- desaturated colors; you’re looking at something that you know is mates. Not one to be out-shined, Joan Jett is listed as one of the going to crash and burn.What?You were expecting shades of pink? All executive producers, and her on screen persona played by the moody of these drowned out tints are overshadowed by an always overblown Kristen Stewart nabs a consistent time on screen. red hue, right from the eerie opening scene where a young Fanning bursts into womanhood, right there, in front your un-expecting virgin One other issue Floria had to deal with? The dreadful task of eyes. cramming four years worth of mindboggling material into 106 minutes. And so, she had to focus on the monumental and defining There is nothing better than letting a movie point out a cavity in your events that shaped this group into becoming the pioneer that it music collection. The Runaways is a flick that you will be watching became. In order to do so, she had to let go of a whole lot of details. over and over again, even if it is just for the sake of both the music Have no fear, you will witness everything from Joan Jett meeting and the performances. the guy that would ultimately change her life, record producer Kim Fowley, to the girls’ Beatles-like hysteria filled welcome during their Few bands have had as much cultural impact as these talented ladies. tour in Japan (the USA might not have loved them during their rise The Runaways made Rock the liberation movement that it is today, but overseas, their more open minded neighbors greeted them with while shattering an enormous number of barriers and spitting in the wide open arms). faces of their critics.

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ILLUSTRATOR

WHY DON’T YOU tell us briefly about your work

what habit do you have to get your work on form?

I’ve always been fascinated by digital art, and more specifically by how certain artists can still stand out in this ever growing mainstream phenomenon. Having that goal in mind, I attempt to push myself to the limit by trying out different styles or breaking dogmas. Hopefully one day I’ll be able to break free from my comfort zone.

I usually do the dishes, finish my laundry, take out the trash, dust off the table, read a book, re-dust the table... Whatever it is I need to do to keep me from starting to work.

what was the last song you sang from the top of your lungs?

WHAT IS THE ONE THING THAT IS ON YOUR MIND RIGHT THIS MOMENT?

Hell or High Water - William Elliott Whitmore

Order some Burger King

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COMPILED BY THE PEOPLE BEHIND F/I/M²/P

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CAPTURES COURTESY OF A NIGHT OUT WITH OUR FRIENDS

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01 ‘The World Is Ours’ CatCall

Australian newcomer (even if she has in fact been around since 2007) Catherine Kelleher crafts a euphorically catchy pop tune complete with squad cheers and a guitar riff to help you welcome the summer heat.

02 ‘Let’s Fall Asleep Together’ Teen Daze

We are simply in love with one-manband Teen Daze’s carefree love song about beach life. Look back on your past summers, and let this song remind you of some of the good experiences you’ve had.

03 ‘Kids Aren’t Safe In The Metro’ Satellite Stories

Coming all the way from Finland, ladies and gentlemen please make way for Satellite Stories.The indie-poppers are on a quest to make you fall in love again. Who knows, it just might give you that little push you needed to try something new, or someone for that fact.

04 ‘Automatic’ Ronika

Nottingham native Ronika borrows more than a trick or two from the stillreigning Madonna, recreating sounds similar to the queen’s early 90’s pop confections.

05 ‘Amor Fati’

Washed Out Ernest Greene’s filtered vocals over the backdrop of a Balearic-tinged disco sound keeps you company on your long walk/drive home late at night when the city gets quiet.“It’ll be Ok” it reassures you,“you’ll be home soon”.

06 ‘Warrior’

Mark Foster + Kimbra + A-Trak Joining forces together as part of the Converse campaign, this threesome provides the song of this summer. All hope is gone, everybody can go home now, the spot for “beach jam of the year” has been taken.You have all been great!

07 ‘Big Things’ Fiction

We’re not quite sure as to what it is exactly that makes us play this song on repeat over and over again, but there must be something to it.

08 ‘I’ll Never Know’ Chali XCX

She might seem like your typical grungy emo-chic, but beware of appearances. Charli XCX delivers a beautifully tropical cut reminiscent of early Robert Smith (The Cure) that will make you shake, smile, cry or slumber, depending on your mood.

09 ‘Get Free’

Major Lazer Feat. Amber of Dirty Projectors

In preparation for the release of their new full length record, Diplo & Switch lay down a smooth Reggae beat and make way for Amber Coffman on vocals, making this quite the departure from their earlier club-ready sound.

10 ‘Disparate Youth’ Santigold

As soon as the first batch of crescendo notes roll in, you’re ready for war. We won’t lie, Santi had us scared with the first single off her yet-to-be-released sophomore record (‘Big Mouth’? More like shut it!), but a track like this ones puts us back at ease.

11 ‘Cellophane’ Ladyhawke

Ms. Brown has finally graced us with new music, and it is beyond anything we could’ve ever hoped for. Make no mistake, we could’ve included any of her Anxiety tracks on here, but for no logical reason we can currently provide, today, you get this one.

12 ‘Vase’

Miike Snow If ever you’re wondering whether to take a leap and go for it or not, this might not be the best track to have in the background, simply because the pulsing beats will make that decision for you: Go! Do it now! Don’t you want to know what it feels like to jump from a spaceship?

13 ‘Liliputt’

Beth Jeans Houghton Beth is far from normal, to say the least. She is simply not well, and we love her for it. Think of nymphs on unicorns roaming free in a forest where happy pills grow on trees.That’s about it really, the rest is up to you.

14 ‘A New Name To Go By’

Deportees Feat. Lykke Li This collaboration feels so natural it should have happened ages ago, and should happen again and again. Lykke and co. concoct a beautiful winter hymnal that will even hold you tight in the hottest of summer days.

15 ‘Day Dreams’ Midi Matilda

San Fransisco boys Logan & Skyler will make you leave everything and follow their echoey voices and sax-and-synth heavy melody. We believe you should, you could use the break.

16 ‘How Long Have You Known?’ Dive

We’ll be quick. Enjoyed Teen Daze? Get this one.

17 ‘It Never Rains’ Jonquil

These four guys come all the way from Oxford, and are making quite the buzz around the blogosphere. A word of advice: If you don’t surf, you might want to start taking lessons after the first listen.

18 ‘Myth’

Beach House Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand are back with the first single off their next LP. Expect the usual, only ten times better. Legrand’s signature voice flutters over a sounscape of beautiful melodies. Not the most uplifting of tunes, but we all need our downtime at one point.

19 ‘When New Year Comes Around’ Sophie Madeleine

Brighton’s own Sophie Madeleine is a treat for sore ears. Her sweet little jingles are the perfect shade of mellow after a long day at work.White wine, anyone?

20 ‘Hey Jane’

Spiritualized Songwriter Jason Pierce’s 8 minute masterpiece chronicles his coming of age and cancer recovery. Get past its melancholic background and you’ll get to share and enjoy his new perspective on life.

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Saturday nights may, surprisingly enough (or not), be uneventful for many. Most people wouldn’t be able to recall what they did on the eve of Saturday, the 18th of June, 2011. For singer-songwriter Hanni El Khatib, however, Saturday June 18 was anything but uneventful, as the San Francisco native opened for English musician Florence and the Machine at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. Drawing his inspiration from the bewitchingly nonchalant Johnny Cash as well as the Pop Culture of the 1950’s and 1960’s, the American born half-Palestinian half-Filipino multi-instrumentalist found his own voice, creating an unparalleled sound that is engrossing to say the least.

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INTERVIEW: HANNI EL KHATIB

INTRO BY MURIEL KAHWAJI

INTERVIEW BY MOHAMAD ABDOUNI & RUDY SHAHEEN

You’ve opened for Florence + The Machine on their North American tour this summer. If you had to choose one band off the top of your head to open for you on your own headlining tour, which would it be? Even though we just toured with them a little already, i’m gonna have to say another tour with Bass Drum of Death would be rad. What made you decide to leave your spot as a Creative Director at HUFF and focus solely on your music career? It was the fact that i wanted to tour and support the release of my record full time that drove me to that decision. I’m glad i did it too. What is the biggest misconception people have about you? I feel that people think that i’m this obsessive rockabilly 50s dude. I mean don’t get me wrong, i am totally influenced and inspired by that era in certain ways, but i’m not a revivalist. What is the worst advice you’ve ever gotten? “Drink this long island ice tea. it’s tradition” - Nick Walker. What three bands or artists are on heavy rotation during your down time at the moment? The Cramps, Haunted George and MC5. Strippers, drugs and alcohol. You seem to make it ridiculously easy for everyone to get dirt on you. Why is that? Hype? Attention? Glorifying the original Rock ‘N’ Roll persona? I dunno, i don’t really consider those things as “dirt” so it doesn’t really matter if people know that about me. I guess through the internet or whatever people can easily take a look into my personal life which makes it easy for writers to gravitate towards those types of things and publish that. When you were asked about one of your songs being used on the TV show Hung, you said that you didn’t mind it as long as you were getting exposure and getting your music out there

ILLUSTRATION BY BENOIT DEBBANE

to be heard. Where do you draw a line? What would you NOT do for exposure? I think I’d draw the line if someone wanted to use my song for an advert for the military. Given the fact that you were raised in an American environment with English speaking parents, did you ever get the urge to explore any of your Filipino or Palestinian heritage? Have you ever visited or wanted to visit either one of these countries? While I’ve never actually visited either of those countries, I do feel very close to my dual cultures through my family and relatives. As I get older I’m feeling even more drawn to exploring my heritage and I do plan to travel to the Middle East and the Philippines in the near future. HOW WOULD YOU SAY YOU ADD TO THE 50s AND 60s ROCK N’ ROLL STYLE THAT YOU HAVE EMBRACED? I like to think that I’ve borrowed the bits that I appreciate of that era without having to fully replicate the sound. I think that I have a more modern approach to my music. My album is pretty varied, while I’ll have a Doo Wop inspired song like ‘Dead Wrong’ there is also a heavy beat driven song with distorted guitars like ‘Fuck It, You Win’. So I’m not really trying to stay restricted to one very specific style. If you had to choose between getting hammered with Courtney Love, or having a drink with Chan Marshall (A.K.A Cat Power), you would... If your gonna get hammered with anyone, it might as well be Courtney Love. Let’s say Johnny Cash comes up to you backstage after one of your shows and says: “Sonny Boy, Retire”. Would you? (Not that we think you should. EVER!) No, why would I listen to a ghost. DOWNLOAD: YOU RASCAL YOU , LOVED ONE , HEARTBREAK HOTEL .

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PHOTOGRAPHER

WHY DONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T YOU tell us briefly about your work

what habit do you have to get your work on form?

My photography is a mix of conceptual, dreamlike and surreal themes. Inspired from classical tales and childhood memories, I try through photography to give a new vision of the world by recreating the harmony of what I see. In other terms, the moment is created rather than caught, and pictures tell stories. They feature anonymous and timeless characters that are immersed in their own world. Symbols are omnipresent in the picture, and they trigger a thought in the mind of the audience. My utmost goal is to show how meaningful a picture can be.

Obsessing to get it on form.

what was the last song you sang from the top of your lungs? Hanging by a moment - Lifehouse

WHAT IS THE ONE THING THAT IS ON YOUR MIND RIGHT THIS MOMENT? Go to the mountains and take the picture I have in mind

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ILLUSTRATOR

WHY DON’T YOU tell us briefly about your work

what habit do you have to get your work on form?

My work is about the 70’s rock. I chose that era because the freedom was expressed in almost everything, in arts, music and even in clothing. It’s a mix of colorful fabric patterns, vectors and drawings. I used vivid colors to bring the subject I am working on to life and to link it to the 70’s way of clothing and look.

The habit I have is that I practically cut all the contacts with the outside world, open my laptop, put on itunes, and take off to my design journey.

what was the last song you sang from the top of your lungs?

WHAT IS THE ONE THING THAT IS ON YOUR MIND RIGHT THIS MOMENT?

Rainy Day Women - Bob Dylan

Right now I want to go through time, open the fimp magazine and enjoy it

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ARTICLE BY MELANIE DAGHER

PHOTOGRAPH BY CLARA ABI NADER

aniele, otherwise known as Doochi, breathes harmony into every one of her creations. How does she do it? Simple. She aims to make us dream. Her “Creative DNA”, as she describes it, sets itself apart through a particular flow in which her gowns hang on a silhouette, as well as a wide range of fabrics and colors. From pinks and oranges to greens and blues, they all come together with energy like colored crayons on a white piece of A4 paper. Doochi is an ambitious woman; a woman who screams “I do not follow trends” loudly. Quite bold for a fashion designer, don’t you think? She’s different, and we sure as well love it. Her boutique is a secret haven right out of a fairytale. What is more wonderful than finding simple dresses that make you feel naturally beautiful? Dresses that make you feel liberated? Dreamy? Full of life?

DEVIATIONS, Daniele’s little piece of heaven, is located on Gemmayzeh street in the heart of Beirut, Lebanon. We warn you, this girl designs dreams.

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FINAL THOUGHT

ARTICLE BY MOHAMAD ABDOUNI ILLUSTRATION BY RUDY SHAHEEN

othing brings back the sweet smell of the 90’s more than the scented candles spread all over the stage of the ever-enthralling stripped down performances of MTV’s Unplugged project. During its heyday, the show saw Cobain cover Bowie in one of his last televised performances, then saw wife Courtney Love (and band, Hole) lose her ‘Hot Chord’ during a rendition of ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’ (Duran Duran) mere months after Kurt’s untimely death. To say the least, MTV’s Unplugged was an honor shared by a great cast of musicians that defined the 90’s. Skip the part where we discuss even further the history of a show you are all more than familiar with (If not, Wikipedia is your friend) and hop a decade or two forward in time to witness the true comeback of a 90’s favorite: the almighty MTV Unplugged album. This time around, Florence Welch takes center stage, and rightfully so, as one of the defining talents of our generation. This release marks a big return to form for the program on all levels and takes it back to its glory days. We’re not saying Katy Perry was a bad choice back in 2009, but we sure are hinting at it. Perry does in fact fall amongst a group of more-miss-than-hit choices, dear MTV decision-makers. With Ms. Welch’s sleek yet manly physique and gorgeous voice at the forefront of this joyous occasion, an untamed ape running loose around the set could not have jeopardized this performance. If you, however, never really had a penchant for the lovely redhead and her machine, rest assured that this record will not convert you. In other words, don’t bother. Aside from performing a selection of her best cuts from both Lungs and Ceremonials, Florence belts out a jaw-dropping take on Otis Redding’s ‘Try A Little Tenderness’ and teams up with Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age) for a cover of the countryflavored ‘Jackson’ by Jerry Leiber & Billy Edd Wheeler. It is with the release of this fantastic live recording that we usher in the theme of our next issue out in July: Bring out your old cassette tapes boys and girls, the 90’s are back.

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CITYMALL DORA I KASLIK MAIN ROAD I CITY COMPLEX TRIPOLI I

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