FMS Issue 04

S A/W TREND S T O O FASHION SH D E N G SI FIVE UN CARD AND A POST FROM TOKYO

IAN. n w o Br

£3.00

SEP/OCT/NOV 2009

P // TEMPER TRAIX // IS R R A // H IN N PLUS // CALV ILEY // PHOE// W // k l o f f o monsters // noah and the whale KID // PIXIE LOTT S // DAN BLACK // KILL IT WILD BEASTds // and MORE… young lor Feel My Soul

02

on/your/cd RAY DAR VEES 1.White Gold Tears 2.Heart Attack THE BRUTE CHORUS 3.All The Pilgrims 4.Send Me A Message THE ARCADIAN KICKS 5.19 Days 6.Standing In The Road THE RULING CLASS 7. Flowers CATHERINE TRAN 8.Home 9.Walk Out

BONUS TRACKS YOUNG LORDS 10. Pretty Little Mess 11. Turn It Up NEWISLANDS 12. Paradise (Demo) THE BUDDA CAKES 13.Love Dies Young WILL AND THE PEOPLE 14.Knocking ALEX STARLING 15.We Should Be Together

We don’t just write about our favourite sounds here at FMS, we share them with you too. So see that strange looking thing to the left of this text? Get it on your noughties turntable ‘cause you won’t be disappointed.

Please your ears with choice tunes from our handpicked Five Unsigned and a tasty bonus helping from the likes of NewIslands, The Budda Cakes and err... say no more.

Just go knock yourself out with sound, we only aim to please.

All rights of the producer and the owners of the work reproduced reserved. Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting of this record prohibited.

Sponsored By

www.breedmediagroup.co.uk

03

04

MASTHEAD Editor-in-Chief Sarah Hardy Photo Editor Michael Robert Williams Art Editor Elliott Webb Music Editor Andrew Future Style Editor Jodie Ball Sub-Editor Matthew Finnegan Editorial Assistant Connie Hart Web Editor Kellie Watton Sales & Marketing Lucia Anna Camilloni Contributors

Alex Palumbo, Aline Bentley, Allison Mulimba, Bertan Budak, David Tshulak, Dom Gourlay, Edward Thomas, Evelyn Hughes, Evie Stoddart, Graham Cruz, Isabel Dexter, Jade Lord, James Parsons, Jenna Walker, Jordan Dowling, Laura Nineham, Leonie Cumiskey, Love Ticklemouse, Mary Robertson, Naoimh Wilkins, Nick IDM, Oli Pritchard, Phillipa Duff, Rachel Wood, Rebekah Roy, Richard Chesterman, Rosie Bea Williams, Rosie Jackson, Roxanne de Bastion, Shain Shapiro,Tim Frussedonn @ Toni & Guy

Special thanks to

All Star Lanes, Bookings Models, Breed Media, D1 Models, Donal Rogers, Harvey Haydon, Next Models, Solomon Thomson, Sophie Lewis,The Bathhouse,The Brunel,The Hoxton Pony,The Paragon Hotel, Tolula Adeyemi, Tom Hunt and all of the above! **********************************************************

Publisher Sarah Hardy FASHION.MUSIC.STYLE Limited Printers Progressive Print Services Limited www.progressive-print.co.uk Tel: 01562 747 356 Distributors World Wide Magazine Distribution Limited www.wwmd.co.uk Tel: 0121 683 7569 Staff Contact first name@fashionmusicstyle.com Advertising Contact sales@fashionmusicstyle.com Sponsorship Enquiries sponsorship@fashionmusicstyle.com ********************************************************* Disclaimer Views expressed within the pages of FASHION.MUSIC.STYLE are those of the contributors and not necessarily those shared by the publisher.

All content is believed to be correct at the time of printing. Unauthorised reproduction of any editorial or images is strictly prohibited

Editor’s letter Issue 4! And we just keep getting better. How chuffed was I to meet Ian Brown, the legend who wrote the soundtrack to my youth? Very chuffed! What a talented and genuinely lovely bloke. Read our meaty eight page interview with the man himself. We don’t mess about.

And we’re pretty sure that we’ve nailed interviews with some of the bands who’ve produced other top albums of the year too – Phoenix, Wild Beasts, Noah and the Whale…I could go on but its not all about

music. We have fashion too and our style editor, Jodie Ball, has pulled together eight of the best new trends and faced them head to head to battle it out among our pages. What’s more? Two fashion shoots including Sophie & Solomon shot at super stylish venue, The Bathhouse. Do note my addition of Daphne’s clothing credit on page 57. Yes, I amuse myself at least. Now check out the mag…’cause it rocks! Big love to you and many thanks to my fabulous team xxx

Sarah Hardy Editor-in-Chief

COVER: IAN BROWN - PHOTO: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

05

ian brown

Legend

42

brendon benson

Back To The Old House

wiLd beasts

Animal Nitrate

38

34 calvin harris

Social Outkast

58

five unsigned With the birth of FMS came the Five Unsigned and our desire to scout out the best new talent in the UK; not only giving them the opportunity for print exposure but to publish music on CD for the masses. So draw your attention to who we believe have captured that star quality.

FMS Five Unsigned is sponsored by Breed Media.

Breed Media Group Ltd Tel +44 (0)114 255 2460- www.breedmediagroup.co.uk

06

ray dar vees.....................................12 the brute chorus...........................28 the arcadian kicks.......................40 the ruling class............................62 catherine tran...............................82

contents sep/oct/nov 2009 ISSUE 4

features

10. DAN BLACK –

74. NOAH AND THE WHALE –

14. THE TEMPER TRAP –

77. PHOENIX –

18. KILL IT KID –

78. FESTIVALS –

20. EARTHBOUND –

84. ALBUM REVIEWS –

30. PIXIE LOTT –

86. THE HOXTON PONY –

50. SOPHIE & SOLOMON –

88. ISSUE 3 BIRMINGHAM LAUNCH –

64. MONSTORS OF FOLK –

90. ISSUE 3 LONDON LAUNCH –

68. YOUNG LORDS –

92. FMS presents –

Out Of The Blue

System Of A Down Under New Kids: Chipping Off The Old Block Layering: It’s all about survival

Pop Will Eat Itself In The Bathhouse

Bright Eyes Find Heaven Rodeo Songs

The Cinematic Orchestrators

Fresh Air

Home Or Away?

Sounds like…?

Ride On Time, Good Times The Rainbow, Deritend The Monarch, Camden

Saturday Afternoon Live! @ The Flowerpot

70. TOO COOL FOR HOXTON? – Well that’s a matter of opinion…

regulars 10. NEWS -

80. trend on trend -

16. trend on trend -

66. POSTCARD FROM tokyo -

36. trend on trend -

95. BRIEF ENCOUNTER: wiley -

60. trend on trend -

98. Ask the DJs -

Take Note…And Win Stuff

Roman Warrior vs Winter Nomad ApRockalyspe Now vs Military Precision 80’s Dynasty vs 40’s Austerity

Classic Style vs Future Sports Oli Pritchard sends us a note

The True Godfather of Grime

The top ten tunes to rebel without a cause

07

fms news fms news fms news fm fms news fms news fms n fms news fms news fm news fms news fms new breed fmsa living news fms news f news fms news fms isolated atoms news fms news fms news fms news fms news fms news fms news fms news fms new ffms news fms news fm Our lovely CD sponsor has way more than one string to their bow. Breed Film is the newest arrival to the Breed family, joining Breed Media and Breed Digital in empowering the music and entertainment industries and unleashing creativity across multiple platforms.

Embracing cutting edge digital technology, Breed Film produce high quality, economically-sound film and video creative for music videos, promotion, brand and cause communications.

Broadcast on Channel 4, E4, MTV, Channel U, Sub TV, Bubble Hits, Top Shop TV, NME TV, BBC Switch and with a focus on the massive power of Internet platforms, their clients include Sony/ Columbia, Universal and 1965 Records.

Breed Film enrich music videos and advertising with viral hooks that breed new interest in their clients’ communications, proven by the online successes of such productions as Toddla T’s Sound Tape Killin’ and Shake It. From concept creation to shoot, edit to delivery, Breed Film work with the client to ensure their story is told. That story can then be unleashed to a global audience with Breed Digital distribution and Breed Media’s value-added creative and ecological media manufacturing.

Managing Director Tom Hunt, finalist in the UK Young Music Entrepreneur Awards 2009, says “Breed is about creating. We help our clients express their message, their band, their brand with a suite of creative services designed to cross-pollinate content across today’s diverse communications eco-system. We do this with deep creative insight and experience, and in a way that reduces our impact on the environment See, why go elsewhere when Breed has all you need?

Give them a shout…

Tel: 0114 255 2460

www.breedfilm.co.uk info@breedfilm.co.uk www.breedmediagroup.co.uk

tell me what i want

This October we’re very pleased to present the single launch of this band straight from the Black Country. Isolated Atoms are about to pace the music world with their own brand of highly introspective rock.The missing link between Joy Division and New Order bring you their debut single ‘Tell Me What I Want’, a track saturated in dark eighties drama and swelling atmospheric vocals with a sincerity The Killers would die for. Thankfully this offering is lacking the affected glitz and replaced instead with a refreshing depth of perspective taken from the post modern morbidity of White Lies, intensified with fractured shards of new wave, and hazy electro rock atmospherics.

The bewitching intonation of lead singer Grant Ashman is deeply acute, passionate, and suggestive of Interpol’s Paul Banks’ having been fed a good meal of angst and excitement. Highly emotive, and viewed through a ‘torn up, confused, outsider’ frame with big production, high definiton keyboard atmospherics and an image Robert Smith himself would give the once over, Isolated Atoms – co-managed by Jon Brookes (The Charlatans) and Steve Burrows – deliver their ability to rouse with a compelling and beautifully sombre yet musically spirited track well suited for the dance floor or as a soundtrack to your despairing week. Either way, we love them and New Order’s Peter Hook (himself a huge fan) is all set to produce their next single ‘The Truth’. So get listening.

‘Tell Me What I Want’ is released 5th October 2009 on Weekender Records. myspace.com/isolatedatoms

08

ms news ms@the boogaloo ws fms

fms news

This 1st November sees the launch of our fabulous new bimonthly fashion and music events at The Boogaloo in Highgate, north London.

Imagine the most stylish fête with pop-up shop and retro tombola where you can actually win decent prizes! Yup, no dodgy food hampers and, what’s more, all raffle ticket funds go to charideeee…so it’s all for a good cause. The Boogaloo will have a rip-roaring fire on the go to keep you toasty and also be serving up tasty food; not to mention our own unique FMS cocktail. They’ll be model scouts looking out for new talent and our very own style hunter taking photos of trendy peeps for publication in the mag. Oh, and of course we’ll also have live acoustic music and DJs. You excited? We are! To receive your personal invite drop your details in an email with ‘Party’ in the subject line to party@ fashionmusicstyle.com. See you there! www.theboogaloo.co.uk Photo: Jenny Hardcore

number 1 brand FMS magazine has a new partner in crime. We’re collaborating with Ron Brand (father of world-famous comedian Russell) to hold events at his two east London venues and stages across UK festivals in 2010. FMS will be hosting single/album launch parties and band showcases at The Gramaphone on Commercial Street along with complementary events at The Rhythm Factory on Whitechapel Road. Pete Doherty is a regular performer at the latter and the venue recently played host to an impromptu Libertines reunion.

The London venues are just the tip of the iceberg for Ron however.

His management company and label, Grammaphone Records, is pushing forward the careers of four bands – The Munroes, Melody Nelson,The Summons and The Shackletons – and they’re certainly in good company.

“I’m looking to build an organisation that creates a platform for the acts’ label and management to all benefit from it. I see The Gramophone and my other club The Rhythm Factory producing the early revenue and profits which will in turn produce seed money for the acts as they develop” said Ron. Watch this space.

ws ms

www.themunroes.co.uk myspace.com/melodynelsonuk myspace.com/thesummons www.rhythmfactory.co.uk www.gramaphone.co.uk www.grammaphonerecords.co.uk Photo: Melvyn Altwarg (Pressmen)

win vodka and stuff!

Win this summer’s essential house party kit courtesy of Smirnoff Flavoured Vodka® This summer, to celebrate the launch of two new flavours of Smirnoff®Vodka, Green Apple Flavour and Lime Flavour,The Smirnoff Co. has created the ultimate house party kit, containing all the necessities for you to host an extraordinary night with your friends.

The kit contains a bottle of Smirnoff Green Apple flavoured vodka - best enjoyed with lemonade and a bottle of Smirnoff Lime flavouredVodka - which tastes great with cola.

As well as your very own party drinks, the people from Smirnoff are throwing in a green iPod shuffle, complete with a docking station, a mini-fridge, some hi-ball glasses, a chopping board and some lime ice trays. Now, there’s every reason to enjoy a Green Apple Smirnoff or Lime Smirnoff with friends. We’re offering one lucky reader the chance to win this fantastic prize. For your chance to win, simply answer this question: Which mixer is Green Apple Smirnoff best enjoyed with? a) Ginger Ale b) Lemonade c) Cranberry Juice E-mail your answer to win@fashionmusicstyle.com along with your name, contact number and address.

Terms & Conditions - 1. Open to all UK residents aged 18 or over only excluding the promoter’s employees, their families, their agencies and anyone professionally connected with the promotion. 2. All entries must be received by 30th November. Only one entry per person will be accepted. 3. No purchase necessary. To enter, email your answer to win@fashionmusicstyle.com along with your name, contact number and address. 4. No cash alternative is available 5. The winner will be selected at random and notified on the 1st December by phone 6. For details of winners please email celia@splendidcomms.com. No other correspondence will be entered into concerning the result and the Promoter’s decision is final. 7. The Promoter reserves the right to withdraw or amend the details of this prize draw in the event of any unforeseen circumstances beyond their reasonable control. 8. The Promoter reserves the right to terminate or temporarily suspend this promotion in the event of technical or other difficulties that might compromise its integrity. 9. The Promoter and their agents accept no responsibility for difficulties experienced in submitting an entry to this promotion. 10. This promotion and these terms are governed by English law and subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts. 11. The Promoter does not accept responsibility for entries lost, delayed, damaged, incomplete or illegible. 12. Data will only be included for the purposes of the prize draw and not used for any other purpose. 13. By entering this draw the participants are deemed to have accepted these terms and conditions.

Promoter: Diageo Great Britain Limited, Lakeside Drive, Park Royal, London, NW10 7HQ. The Smirnoff word and associated logos are trade marks.

09

out of the blue

E

Words: EVELYN HUGHES - photo: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

arly on a weekday morning, Brick Lane is just starting to fill up with Shoreditch hipsters on their way to work at the area’s shisha cafes and vintage shops. Waiting outside one of the former, the likelihood of spotting self-styled ‘alternative pop’ artist Dan Black among the crowd seems slim.

I needn’t have worried though; with his chiselled features, sharp style and remnants of silver stage make-up still visible in his stubble after his Cargo show a couple of nights earlier, he stands out even in the bustle. He’s also one of the friendliest, most amiable musicians I’ve met, with none of the pretensions of some artists who’ve found relatively rapid success.

Perched on high stools at a tiny table, over coffee and fruit he explains why he decided to go solo after almost a decade with his former indie band The Servant.

“When I write music I tend to have quite a complete vision, and that’s always been a problem in bands I’ve been in,” he laments through a mouthful of grapes. “I’ve always been so enthusiastic and full of ideas that it’s slightly oppressive and annoying for other members of the band. A lot of the artists I’m attracted to, it’s one person’s really strong vision of good or bad - Bjork or Prince, for example.

“I was also just tired of arguing with people. A lot of the time when I’ve been in bands it felt like it wasn’t four people’s unified vision; it was four people compromising, and I was tired of that. I wanted to do something I believed strongly in as opposed to just going ‘well, that’ll do.’ ” Like fellow ‘auteur’ Frankmusic, Black wrote and recorded his debut solo album as pretty much a single entity, dictatorship over his songs proving a palatable contrast to band diplomacy, but he admits that he is nonetheless a formidable critic of his own work; many tracks go through a number of incarnations before he considers them ready for public consumption, not least latest single Symphonies. The track started life as the much-lauded Notorious B.I.G. cover ‘HYPNTZ’, which Black self-released in 2008 before refusals from Biggie’s estate forced a comprehensive rework. It’s easy to see why he didn’t want to let the song die, and the ambitious original concept has been masterfully reworked into a quite different but no less impactful song.

In both its finished forms, the song showcases Black’s ability to mix and match genres and experiment

10

until he hits gold, sampling Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’ and the soundtrack to John Carpenter’s 1985 sci-fi movie Starman as well as using the lyrics from Biggie’s ‘Hypnotise’ almost unedited (save for substituting ‘people’ in place of the original’s judiciously used ‘niggaz,’ probably sensibly).

“Innovation’s a weird thing,” says Black, “because we’re obsessed with its importance and we seem to desire and want things to be innovative and original, but it’s difficult to give a rational reason for that. My theory is that the universe is built on change - at one point we were sludge in the sea or monkeys in a tree and now we’re at this point - and, somehow, there’s some mysterious law that says that everything must keep changing. That weirdly feeds into innovation and so it’s almost an artist’s responsibility to try, and I don’t perceive myself as a revolutionary artist, I haven’t invented reggae or anything but, for my own selfish reasons, I try to find something that I don’t think is boring and predictable. One of the fun things about making music is that you keep going ‘Woah, how did I make this? Where did it come from? This thing surprises me!’ That’s thrilling.”

Keen as he is to keep stretching himself and making music that excites him, though, Black admits that part of the learning process has been learning to accept his limitations.

“You want to make music like things you love, but there are certain things where you have to go ‘Alright, maybe I’m not very good at rapping’,” he laughs.

“I think being an artist is about being continually in movement and continually changing.The point of what I and, I think, most artists, do is about the process and about the pursuit of something. The thing that’s most stimulating and exciting is the chase; every time you write a new song you have to dupe yourself into a state of mind you’ve never been in before.”

So, one album down, a successful summer tour completed and recognition from the lines of Justin Timberlake (who has praised Black on both Twitter and his official blog). Is it time for a well-deserved rest?

Nope. The day after playing his last big show of the summer at Proud Camden, it’s straight back to his basement studio in Paris’s fashionable Marais district for more musical experiments. We may just be in for a treat. • myspace.com/danblacksound

dan black 11

G...

IN ODUC INTR

FIV-E UN NED SIG

28 12

ray dar vees Flying Vees

Hair and Make-Up: Evie Stoddart using Nars

B

ands such as Passion Pit and Temper Trap have recently emerged on the indie music scene breathing a wave of well-needed fresh air into what has of late become a rather stale genre. And Ray Dar Vees believe they too are doing just that.

Bassist, Fred Murray sums this thought up perfectly: “Indie music now just feels a bit, well, pretentious.”

Murray, Gaz Southwell and Matt Gwyer became firm friends at college, “after a few drunken nights out.” With their combination of MGMT inspired rock-pop and gritty rhetoric lamenting on the despair of growing up in South London. Ray Dar Vees are convinced they’re “bringing something new to the plate.”

“Much of the London music scene seems to be regurgitated from the early 2000s” Murray continues refusing with ardent diplomacy to name anyone in particular. “At the start it was real, now it feels fake.

As soon as an original band comes along the industry will jump on it.” He agrees that ‘making it’ in the music industry is so hard because it’s such a vicious circle: “There’re a lot of money hungry people in the industry who can be right c@*ts and there always will be. But at the same time their hunger drives the industry. You just can’t win.”

They describe their music as “Paranoid, rock, art, pop” a confusing if not vague description. But it seems that Ray Dar Vees are still in the process of finding themselves and their position in music, as they’ve only been playing together since March this year.

Ray Dar Vees make it clear that they think “the whole indie scene is dead.” So who do they like?

“I’m really diggin’ the latest Phoenix album” says Fred.

“Their riffs are awesome,” agrees guitarist Gwyer. “I’m also really getting into that Empire of the Sun band at the mo’, I think they’ve got a cool style.”

Their approach to song writing is far from clinical as Gwyer describes how ‘I Want To Stay’ was a result

of recording after a night of hedonistic drinking. “I worked it out even though it was a bit blurred, I can’t play when I’m drunk.” Murray goes on to explain the lyrics behind ‘The Life He Doesn’t Know’. “It’s about becoming the things you tried so hard not to be without even realising. Until all of a sudden, bang!

You’re fucked.”

Ray Dar Vees are already creating a buzz; with comparisons to early Bowie they’ve been described as one of the best unsigned bands around.Vocally Murray cites artists such as Marc Bolan and Brett Anderson as inspiration. Gwyer tries to blend elements of Slash and

“There are a lot of money hungry people in the industry who can be right c**ts and there always will be. But at the same time their hunger drives the industry.

You just can’t win.”

Van Halen in his guitar playing but tries to give it “a modern twist with a nice melodic touch to it.”

The boys agree that success would be headlining a major festival and admit they don’t know what they’d do if they couldn’t make music. There is something endearing about their youthful optimism. Fred says: “We would take up something creative to fill the black hole, don’t know what though. I wouldn’t mind doing voiceovers for Asian martial art films.” • myspace.com/raydarvees WORDS: ALLISON MULIMBA PHOTO: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

13

system of a down under

L

Words: andrew future - photo: michael robert williams

et’s be honest, Australia isn’t famed for its music heritage.All we’ve had in recent years is dross like the Vines, Wolfmother and Jet. And while Natalie Imbruglia might be making a comeback, there is one other antipodean outfit turning heads you should get your chops round. Not only do The Temper Trap actually have ability, but they’ve got some songs. Better still, they may even make a second record you’ll get to hear.

Plus, anyone still lamenting the fact that ever since X&Y it’s been a war crime to admit to liking Coldplay will be thrilled by this Melbourne quartet. The Temper Trap are basically a Coldplay Nicorette inhalator that allows you to get your fix without having to stand out in the cold this winter.

And if that’s not clear enough, then draw a circle with U2, A-Ha, Mew, Radiohead and Brian Eno dancing round the edges, colour it with the ghost of Jacko, and this lot would be having a party in the middle with a huge smile on their faces. Indeed, when half the British music industry decamped Down Under earlier this year, they weren’t racking up air miles just for the cuddly toys.

They scented something a little bit special.

Of course, anyone not mortally offended by a guy in falsetto whose big anthemic songs are plastered all over Sky Sports, phone adverts and various TV shows will probably warm quite quickly to Conditions. The band’s debut is an ambitious and literate album and while it won’t set any benchmarks for musical innovation, for the most part it manages to successfully digest its very obvious influences, while wearing a few of them with pride.

“Radiohead would be up there,” singer and guitarist Dougy Mandagi says of his influences. “I dunno what else, but definitely a lot of introspective kind of thoughts, thinking out loud type stuff that motivates me to write.

And I guess world events and things like that.”

The resulting songs are thankfully free of any attempts at social commentary, sticking instead to the tried and tested themes of cranking the Edge’s guitar pedals up to 11 and watching Mandagi’s vocals soar over the top of it all. The obvious big hitters here are ‘Love Lost’ and the single ‘Sweet Disposition’ and although they strive worryingly towards Bono territory at times, there’s something thankfully much more genuine behind Mandagi’s cosmic bellow.

Forming the band with bass playing schoolmate Johnny Aherne and drummer Toby Dundas, who Mandagi worked with as a teenager, guitarist Lorenzo

14

Sillitto was drafted in about five years ago after two previous guitarists quit.

Their big break finally came last year at the Musexpo industry show in London where they impressed former Warner Music supremo Korda Marshall to the point that he readily came out of retirement, rekindling the defunct Infectious label which released the likes of Ash and Garbage during its heyday in the nineties.

“We just kept trying and always had a belief that we could do this for the rest of our lives,” Mandagi adds, recalling how within a matter of months, they were recording with Jim Abbis, the man behind the Arctic Monkeys’ all-conquering debut.

Although now an Australian citizen, Mandagi grew up in Indonesia, moving to Melbourne aged 19. “To be honest, it didn’t have that much of an influence on me,” he shrugs. “Even as a teenager when Britpop was huge here I was listening to Blur, Pulp and Nirvana. As a kid I was quite young and impressionable, so whatever my parents listened to was obviously what I was listening to. They listened to a lot of cheesy stuff – Boyz II Men, Whitney Houston. Cheese is good.”

And while he doesn’t admit it, there’s a fair amount of R&B choir boy sweetness to be heard in Mandagi’s voice. “When I wrote the songs, I was really into Curtis Mayfield, Al Green and Prince. It’s this soulfulness that stops The Temper Trap straying into Muse-style histrionics, and keeps them very much within the confines of daytime radio.

Are they pop fans at heart? “Yeah totally,” Mandagi says unequivocally. “There were two songs that I really wanted on the record that got voted out for not being as poppy. I think the label kind of thought, you know, debut record, let’s not put out something too weird.”

Still, The Temper Trap have their fair share of weirdness. “When we played South by South West, a Mexican cowboy plunked this whole plastic bag of raw sausages on stage in the middle of the set,” Sillitto explains. “He’d made friends with our bassist on the plane and told him how this small German community in Austin loved keeping the tradition of making sausages.

He was like ‘I’ll come to the gig and I’ll bring you some’.

“So we’re in the middle of the song and this guy just walks along and shouts ‘Johnny!’, and dumps 2kg of sausages on the side of the stage. That night Johnny ended up with a stomach ache.” • myspace.com/thetempertrap

the

temper trap

15

ROMAN WARRIOR VS.WINTER NOMAD

roberto cavalli

balenciaga

A new slant on power dressing for winter sees fashion take inspiration from the gladiatorial goddesses of the Roman Empire. Think sensuously draped dresses topped with rugged, primal furs and the glint of a gilded snake coiled around the waist or neck. It’s also the perfect look for incorporating the season’s studded embellishments, particularly for leather.

4

1

6

2 5 1.

2.

3.

topshop, topshop, £25 asos, £55

4.

5.

asos, £60 asos, £50

6.

primark, £18

16

3

WORDS: jodie ball

Matthew Williamson

Missoni

Battling the tough warrior goddess this season is the peace-seeking nomad whose hippie ideals embrace a softer mood. This look is all about cosy layering and the comfort of snugly knitted pieces, from oversized snoods and scarves to cardigan coats and toasty socks. After all, there really is nothing better than wrapping up warm on a cold winter’s day now is there?

1

2 6

4 5 topshop, £35 1.

M&Co, £35 2.

People tree, £30 3.

3

people tree, £38 4. river island, £40 5. red herring at debenhams, £15 6.

17

kill it kid 18

moody blues

D

espite forming at Bath Spa University little more than a year ago, recent One Little Indian signing Kill It Kid sound like a musical concoction reared on forties jazz, pre-rock’n’roll skiffle, and a slight smattering of disparate alt-country. Debut single ‘Send Me An Angel Down’ is undoubtedly one of this year’s finest, due to its unexpected bouts of urgency and remarkable – not to mention unique – vocal performance of lead Kid Chris Turvin, while current 45 ‘Burst Its Banks’ shows a more widescreen view of their world, confusing those even further who like to be able to pigeonhole their bands with regular abandon.

However, the five-piece – Turvin, fellow vocalist and keyboard player Steph Ward, fiddler Richard Jones, drummer Marc Jones (not related) and bassist Adam Timmins – really come into their own as a live act, as anyone who’s had the fortune to have witnessed them in the flesh can wholeheartedly establish.

Kill It Kid, named after a Blind Willie McTell song, may have experienced a meteoric rise from college band to fully fledged recording artists in a matter of months, but Chris Turvin is simply taking it in his stride.

“When we got signed we literally only had four songs, and the current line-up had been playing together for no more than three months, so in that respect it was something of a fairytale beginning, but if we didn’t believe in what this band were capable of achieving, none of us would be here. I mean, it is quite scary in that we’re no different to any other bands out there as primarily, we make music to please ourselves.”

Mention the word ‘hype’ and the diminutive front man is even more perplexed. “We don’t go to the same shows many other people in bands go to. We don’t read the same magazines either, so we’d be the last people that would be able to tell whether there’s been any hype around the band or not.”

Nevertheless, signing to a label such as One Little Indian that can boast the likes of The Sugarcubes, The Shamen and Sigur Ros amongst its highly extensive roster of releases must surely be quite daunting.

“They’ve been overly supportive so far. We have 100% creative control and the label have openly admitted to us that they see us as a band who can develop, and that the first album is likely to divide opinion because its so different to pretty much anything else that is out there at this moment in time.They’ve been putting out records themselves long enough to realise that it will take a couple of albums and extensive touring for us to recoup any kind of investment they’ve put into us.”

The band’s sound is certainly audacious and unexpected, as Turvin explains: “I listen to a lot of twenties and thirties blues, and that’s when I started experimenting trying to dredge up these root sounds.

It was a similar story for Steph [Ward]. She grew up listening to people like Etta James, and we saw these influences as the foundation for what this band should be about rather than standard run-of-the-mill indie music. I mean, that’s not to say we’re trying to rehash what’s gone before – if anything I see us a type of music many dismiss as being for an older generation dragged into the present via modern day instrumentation and recording techniques.”

Ask him how he would describe his band’s music in the context of the day and he’s as perplexed as the rest of us: “I wouldn’t call it blues, but then I read a review somewhere that called us ‘nu-folk’ and that was even more horrible to me! I guess you could say we’re borne out of the folk tradition but I think our music is a lot heavier than any of the bands who seem quite happy to be labelled with that kind of sub-genre.”

Their as-yet untitled debut album, recorded with esteemed producer Ryan Hadlock of Foo Fighters, The Strokes, The Gossip and more recently Metric fame, saw the band decamp to Seattle for month in January of this year, finally hitting the store racks in October, followed by a single, ‘Heaven Never Seemed So Close’, which Turvin describes as “something of a big hitter.”

Mention the prospect of radio play listing and the singer is both excited and alarmed in equal measures: “We’ve been played by Tom Robinson and Gideon Coe already so I guess anything beyond that is a bonus, although the thought of switching on the radio in the morning and hearing us sandwiched in between Lady GaGa and The Saturdays somewhat petrifies me!”

Still, there aren’t many bands at this stage of their career that can say they had the opportunity to work with and subsequently turn down the likes of M Ward and John Parrish (“He’s done so much for us already” exclaims Turvin of PJ Harvey’s more recent right hand man).

With a twelve-date tour scheduled to coincide with the album’s release this autumn, you too will soon be able to discover what all the fuss is about. • myspace.com/killitkid WORDS: DOM GOURLAY PHOTO: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

19

earthbound.

Photographer: Nick IDM - www.nickidm.com Stylist: Graham Cruz - www.grahamcruz.com Make Up Artist- Love Ticklemouse Hair Stylist: Mary Robertson @ HOB Salons Female Model: Tolula Adeyemi @ Next Models Male Model: Harvey Haydon @ D1 Models she wearsflesh and black silk spot print blouse – Jaeger london dusty purple velvet skirt- Anglomania by Vivienne Westwood vanilla shearling short sleved coat – John Rocha grey leather thigh high boots – Topshop unique swarovski crystal and snake bangles both – Carole Gould he wearsblack and white tux print jearsey jumper, black and white print track bottoms , light grey pony skin slippons all-J.W. Anderson green heavy wool cardigan – K.T.Z claw broach – stylists own

20

21

22

she wearsblack/orange geometric print top- Mc Q grey and cream wool coat – Topshop unique grey chunky knit tube scarf- River island charcole pleat front georgette skirt – H & M elastic zip front belt –American apparell black leather boots – L.K. Bennett ethically sourced pheasent wing gloves – Carole Gould (caroleannegould@gmail.com) he wearsas page 21

23

24

she wearsblack/orange geometric print top- Mc Q ethically sourced pheasant feather bib with hood – Carole Gould he wearsblack herringbone trousers- J.W. Anderson grey fine knit long sleve top – Topman short sleved grey cable knit jumper – H & M black patent leather slippons – Repetto grey oversized knitted shawl – Tim Ryan

25

26

she wearsas page 21 he wearsblack/brown/red and cream suit – John Rocha grey and mustard abstract print top – Mc Q grey and pink jong johns – John Smedley grey wool tie – American Apparell light grey pony skin slippons – J.W. Anderson

17 27

G...

IN ODUC INTR

FIV-E UN NED SIG

28

the brute chorus it’s alive!

Hair and Make-Up: Evie Stoddart using Mac - Stylist: Sana Zod

O

ozing animalistic energy, dissonance and pulsating beats, The Brute Chorus are a folk-rock outfit extraordinaire.

Take a rock ’n’ roll back line, mix it with witty folk lyrics and instil it with electricity et viola, a Frankenstein’s Monster is born in the form of a Whitechapel-based band.

These four lads with eccentric hair styles are about to release their debut album, which was recorded live at an exclusive gig at Camden Town’s Roundhouse in a bold attempt to capture their music at its sweaty best. “Our songs only ever really come to life on stage, so it seemed the natural way to record them,” they explain.

James Steel, Nick Foots, Dave Ferrett and Matthew Day are a close knit group and although singer Steel is solely responsible for the lyrics, the band works together democratically to create their unique sound (“There’s no room for egos in our band”).

In addition to a traditional rock ‘n’ roll line up, The Brute Chorus stomp on wooden boards, beat the cowbell and just about anything else they get their hands on in order to emphasise their ‘home made’ approach to music making.

Their previous single ‘Chateau’ is built on foot stomping and clapping and culminates in an explosion of drum beats and dissonance. Steel compares their compositions to recycling and after a short bouncing of ideas they wittily conclude: “We’re trying to make something new and tatty out of something old and beautiful.”

The jagged, raw music is juxtaposed with the lyrics, full of allusions to Greek mythology and folklore. Vicar’s son Steel explains: “I’ve always loved mythology and wanted to be an archaeologist as a kid! I choose the characters, such as Ulysses, Samson and Joan of Arc to represent certain kinds of people and situations.”

One soothingly conventional thing about this band is that behind the energetic sounds and unusual lyrics, a love song is hidden. Hesitantly they admit that most

songs are in fact about relationships. ‘Let’s Grow Fins’ is one of the quirkiest love songs ever (“I said I loved her, she didn’t ignore me”) and comes across as a genuine romantic triumph. In fact, with its punchy hook and evocative vocals, this song has serious anthem potential.

Ever rocked out to a cowbell solo? Wait until you hear this track!

The Brute Chorus have worked relentlessly, from their residency gigs at the infamous Hawley Arms to playing last years BBC stage at Glastonbury. They also, however, talk very openly about the hard reality of being a working band in London, the unglamorous day jobs and the constant tug-of-war between touring and employment.

Steel compares their compositions to recycling and after a short bouncing of ideas they wittily conclude: “We’re trying to make something new and tatty out of something old and beautiful.”

Why are they so honest when it comes to this? “We don’t want to portray ourselves as anything we’re not. It’s hard work being in a band! Most people our age are 10 years into their career and pay to go to festivals and gigs.

We get paid to play them, what more can you want?”

Self-titled album, The Brute Chorus, is out on the 19th October . • myspace.com/thebrutechorus WORDS: ROXANNE DE BASTION PHOTO: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

29

Pixie Lott pop will eat it self

WORDS: ANDR EW FUTURE PHOTOS: MICH AE

L ROBERT WILL IAMS

I

pop when the tabloids on t was the death knell for t,” she adds, commenting Libertines and Topshop train home is par t of tha shock!’ started writing about The diva a g h bein oug not in thr ie ds cre indie ban tabloid splashes of ‘Pix began piping tepid, medio may sound, rather than nowhere to go other had You see, however dirty it pop per Pro rs. doo its tlight diva, Lott is a r’s spo yea the this in il s unt ond of reality TV being a two-sec than the cultural graveyard d to have. Where use ts we Boo alded La Roux, Little career pop star. The kind , female synth revival her lously planned, airbrushed ia ‘Pixie’ Lott of course. every little thing is meticu e may som ile and Florence. And Victor Wh . fect the per is t k Lot loo ex-born Pixie tuned and made to ry, At just 18 years old, Ess the ther major label accesso and the most junior of unfairly dismiss her as ano kids e thre of st nge comes along, you one t e nex fram the en ive wh inut ed pite her dim set to be discard that female Brit-pack. But des that, although she knows one monster of a voice and Lott’s music stands above d tan ers und “I d. and puppy eyes, she’s got tee ts n’t guaran everyone else. Little Boo success and longevity are but I’m ver, ate it’s this that lifts her above wh or ne x’s Sto Rou La Joss e synth thing and that things can dip, like may have that silly Japanes hair t’s gonna happen right now antics with that cum-inyet not really scared that tha Mo I on Alis te d-ra thir als voc more that I wanna do and t’s ch Lot mu so but t records, because I’ve got Morrissey look might shif nce fide ” n It Up show a con wanna build up so much. across her debut album Tur equally well across all novelty. deliver y and range work r any He ond bey way lity sati and ver infectious club fillers but from s, rs age vee for industry the tracks.The record “I feel like I’ve been in the rings mixed with pou ” lful out a bona-fide pop star yet, to the lavish, more sou tery anthems.

I don’t know if I feel like blus and the sass ping all top ’ ceh Do dan le ‘Mama large doses of their own find she says of her debut sing to ed in ect ies whopping 200,000 cop Few artists should be exp e right to quit charts in June , shifting a is t got y and Lot feel like my schedule has defining sound right awa the process. “I definitely the it’s And ” f. of pop star stuf dismiss her critics. absolutely crazy with lots the album, it’s come from p star stuff ’ that makes her “Because I’ve co-written ‘po as it to rs refe she way ” she says. “I didn’t want e, ctiv spe per an 18-year-old’s that little bit different. my nge ieve will ever cha “Nothing that I do or ach ’s and still getting the ndo Na in ing eat so , ality per son

30

31

too old for me to sing to write anything that was ge of audiences to be able about. I want a wide ran k it caters for the young thin I e to relate to it becaus eration.” people and the older gen h travels everywhere wit o wh – m Lott’s mu sic as a mu of iety var e wid a her - used to play her e “She’d play me ear ly Tak youngster - and it shows.

I just picked and , sics clas pop old That and all of the like Mariah, Whitney and up the big diva voices “I used to be like ‘Wow! alls. rec t Lot ” Celine Dion, sing all of the classic diva to d They’re amazing!’ I use songs.” uld much rather be As you’d expect, Lott wo at way to wind up gre r the Mariah than Björk – ano a big inspiration was e “Sh . ade brig g the chin-strokin ’t think anyone don “I , says t to me growing up,” Lot could ever beat her.” going out to America, From a young age, Lott was and planning what ord rec taking loads of time out to always trying to ly nite defi was “I ng. she’s now doi different ways for king loo , this find ways to get into there and out sic my mu and opportunities to get she met her how ing crib des , says meet people,” she ad in The Stage newspaper first manager through an atre. the l sica mu while studying t to New Yor k was “The first time I ever wen amazing,” she gushes as any when I was 15 and it was h a buzz, looking at the suc was “It teenager would. er there to pur sue my care yellow taxis. I went over k Yor w Ne in I’m sed by it. If but wasn’t really that pha zing and buz so it’s like , ined dra for a week I feel so over New Yor k because of busy. I prefer Los Angeles ch clothes all the time.” bea r wea sunshine. You can unded for a teenager gro Although clearly quite the first class world of with an open return to insaw. “I’m really excited cha a A-list, she buzzes like I just wanna make sure about the next single and ing massive shows, like form per I’m r that by next yea everywhere really.” are D&G and Armani, Lott’s favourite designers being Topshop and ice cho of ps with high street sho rsiz ove ed jumper s and Urban Outfitters. “I love how much she enjoys ng sayi s, add cardigans,” she ll vintage outlets that sma rummaging through the big London. “I’ve got some litter Brick Lane in east y. Lowie cos k loo t tha ter win for thick knitted socks ones.” do some lovely handmade drobe is fast becoming war her , ect As you’d exp nice wintery stuff that of Narnia-sized. “I’ve got lots says, referring to some of I got from Mulberry,” she

30 32

ets “I’ve got a couple of jack her outfits for our shoot. ally long, actu not y’re the l wel – and some long dresses ,I t short. Medium dresses they’re short, but not tha e they make her aus bec s jean of fan a guess!” She’s not t’s, enough. With legs like Lot feel “enclosed” and it’s fair . too m the see world to you’d probably want the er & Gir ls’ hitting the Numb With recent single ‘Boys top the into ight stra g goin 1 spot, and her album ad ard to her Christmas ball six, Lott is looking forw advice her at’s wh So . ring tou and a year of relentless ng pop star lets? “If you’re for any other budding you enough about your music ined passionate and determ go many opportunities and then you have to grab as just keep doing you If . can you as ns itio to as many aud our e’s gonna hear you.” Like the rounds then someon peeled.. • eyes, we’ll keep our ear s myspace.com/pixiesongs

31 33

34

animal nitrate

A

year ago, Leeds quartet Wild Beasts were seen as a baffling anomaly. Debut album Limbo Panto was 2008’s archetypical ‘marmite’ record, both revered and reviled in equal measures.

Fast forward twelve months and the goalposts have shifted somewhat. Last month’s Mercury Music Prize shortlist didn’t raise too many eyebrows, but sophomore record Two Dancers is a sure-fire frontrunner for 2010’s award. Recorded earlier this year at a secluded farmhouse in Norfolk with legendary producer Richard Formby,Two Dancers not only highlights Wild Beasts originality, but also re-ignites the notion pop music need not be bland, derivative or nonsensical in the process.

“You’ve got to believe what you’re doing is worthwhile and hope people like it,” explains Hayden Thorpe, guitarist and distinctive vocalist. “Limbo Panto was a good record in its own right,” adds bass player and fellow vocalist Tom Fleming, “but we wanted this to improve on what we’d already achieved and we’re confident it has.”

Of that there is little doubt, and what’s even more remarkable is the time it took to create. “Most of it was written within a month during rehearsals and then it took about three weeks to record,” reveals Fleming. “We put a lot of what we’d learnt making the first record into practice with this one.”

The final part of the jigsaw, previous single ‘Hooting And Howling’ created a buzz initially with its fascinating, underwater video. “The river in the song was always central to the video’s theme,” admits Thorpe, “and rivers are used in a lot of classic pop songs; Bruce Springsteen’s ‘The River’ being the essential one. Then there’s the River Kent in Kendal which is very symbolic to our hometown.”

Thorpe, guitarist Ben Little and drummer Chris Talbot initially formed the band in Kendal back in 2004, moved to Leeds a year later and subsequently recruited Fleming.

“It was inevitable that a change of scenery would have an impact on our song writing,”Thorpe explains.

Without being explicit, Two Dancers contains a plethora of sexual innuendos. “I wouldn’t say it was a concept album,” suggests Thorpe, not entirely dismissive of the theory. “We did have other songs that we thought would work, but then the track listing changed at the eleventh hour.”

“We really want people to pick up on our humour,” adds Fleming. “A lot of the songs are specific about certain times and places. In the end, we went with what felt right without much need for over-thinking.”

The lyrics certainly offer an extra insight into Wild Beasts facetious world. From the title track’s did-theyreally-just-say-that moment (“His dancing cock, down

by his knees”) to current single ‘All The Kings Men’s less than subtle reference to women as “birthing machines”, it would be hard to take such verbal trysts seriously were they not undercut with a level of intelligence superior to many of their contemporaries.

“It’s like that Scott Walker song, ‘Jolson And Jones’ where he sings, ‘I’ll punch a donkey in the streets of Galway’” declares Fleming. “When I first heard it I kept replaying that line over again. My first instinct was “Did he really say that?” I want people to react the same way to us.”

“A lot of the songs use metaphors associated with dancing and dance music,” explains Thorpe. “We used explicit language on the first album too, but here dancing is a recurring theme which manages to retain a flow. People like being titillated; it’s an art form and not only about what you give, but also important to make people’s ears prick up as a result.”

Nevertheless, the differences between Limbo Panto and Two Dancers are almost as manifest as black and white, the latter coming together like a fully formed protégé of the formers unorthodox experimentalism.

Hayden Thorpe takes up the story: “It was a logical step, quite deliberate in fact. We set out to make something calmer. There was never an intention to make ‘a Wild Beasts record’; the last thing we want is to be pigeonholed so Two Dancers was really just a small progressive step forwards.”

Having already wowed many a festival crowd this summer, most notably at Latitude and Field Day, how do the band feel the new songs manifest themselves in a live setting?

“We actually learnt a lot about these songs by playing them live,” admits guitarist Little. “It also helped influence us which songs made the album; how people responded when they first heard them.”

It’s hard to envisage where any of the songs on Two Dancers would fit onto Limbo Panto, or vice versa, with perhaps the exception of former single ‘The Devil’s Crayon’, which acts as a bridge between the two records.

However, when broached on the subject, Wild Beasts view things differently. “None of these songs existed around the time of Limbo Panto” they assert.

What is without question is that Wild Beasts have redefined pop music in the same way The Cure’s Head On The Door or The Associates’ Sulk did over two decades ago, and unlikely as it may have seemed this time last year, mainstream success surely beckons. “The mainstream is a slippery thing, and we’re a slippery band,” interjects Fleming, “so who knows?” • myspace.com/wildbeasts

WORDS: DOM GOURLAY PHOTO: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

35

APROCKALYPSE NOW VS. MILITARY PRECISION

Gareth Pugh

Kris Van Assche

A dark, apocalyptic vibe fuses with a punk rock attitude for guys this winter. Think post nuclear attack where everything is ravaged and worn - shredded jeans, dusty biker boots and salvaged accessories. Add a touch of futurism to the mix with visor sunglasses and there’s only one key colour. Black, black and more black.

3 1 5 4 2 1.

2.

3.

Tonite at www.oki-ni.com, £29

4.

5.

Topman, £30

6.

River Island, £65

18 36

Martin Margiela at www.oki-ni.com, £149 Martin Margiela at www.oki-ni.com, £299 Damir Domar at www.oki-ni.com, £375

6

WORDS: jodie ball

Z Zegna

Belstaff

Take your cue from vintage military uniform – shiny brass buttons and elbow patches, khaki jumpers and navy pea coats. Work accessories into the look too - add medals, dog tags and aviator glasses. But this is regimental smart, so ditch the camo print cargo pants and scruffy parkas, and don’t forget to give those boots a darn good spit and polish.

1

3 2

4

5 Veronique Branquinho x Linda 1.

Farrow at www.oki-ni.com, £165 Aldo, £5 2.

George at Asda, £22 3.

Reiss, £165 4.

Martin Margiela at www.oki-ni.com, £169 5.

19 37

Brendan Benson back to the old house

I

t’s 9:30am and Brendan Benson’s cab is due to arrive in twenty minutes, one that will whisk the songwriter to the airport where he will return home to Nashville to begin his first America tour in support of My Old, Familiar Friend, his fourth solo effort.

Even though he picks up the phone sounding as ebullient to talk about his new material as a singer awaiting his first interview, the man is obviously groggy, worn out and tired of answering the same questions over again.

Those usually revolve around his relationship with Jack White, whom he founded The Raconteurs with a few years back. While the dark, forceful pop that incurred from the collaboration thrust Benson further towards personal self-sustainability, the man has been recording under his own right since 1997, and his solo career deserves more kudos.

Yet, playing with The Raconteurs, a band in every sense of the word, changed Benson. Usually, Benson would treat his solo material as a truly individual endeavour. He would camp in his home studio, perform as many instruments as possible and self-produce, ultimately masking the usual full-band aesthetic with crafty overdubs and multi-instrumentation. Being in a band changed that. And out of that change came My Old, Familiar Friend.

“Normally, in the past I’d do it myself; that means perform it, produce it and record it,” reveals Benson from his soon-to-be vacated hotel room. “I was talking to my publisher a while back about this new record, and we both agreed that it might be time to work with someone else and get a new perspective involved, you know, someone with more input, so we could make the record that I’ve always been avoiding.

It was a cathartic experience, and it was nice to know that I can record this way, that I’m not a hopeless recluse. I just wanted to let someone take control. I was tired of making all the decisions the whole way.”

The producer brought in was Gil Norton, the

38

Liverpudlian known for his work with The Pixies and Foo Fighters, and the band comprised of Nashville’s The Features and former members of Ben Folds Five.

Much of the recording was done in Nashville, with the finishing touches added on in London - Benson wanted Nashville, Norton wanted London, prompting the compromise - and for once, Brendan Benson has a band album, instead of the usual solo fare his first three efforts adhered to.

So, inasmuch as being in The Raconteurs influenced this project, the sound is more similar to Brendan Benson’s older output than anything he performs in that does not bear his signature. Much of the material, from opener ‘Whole Lot Better’ through Wall of Sound plucked ‘Garbage Day’, build on the best of Alternative To Love, showcasing bright, summery pop recalling the best the genre has to offer. Much of the record was

“It’s more comforting for me to return to my own stuff. I think that’s why I titled it My Old, Familiar Friend.” recorded live off the floor, so the energy that approach procures lilts through the listen, elevating the majortoned tracks into more shimmering territory, similar to Clearlake or The Mystery Jets.

“It’s more comforting for me to return to my own stuff,” adds Benson. “I think that’s why I titled it My Old, Familiar Friend. That refers to my solo work, after being away from it for a while. I certainly loved being in a band, and that’s nowhere near over for now as I’ll definitely return to it, but it’s nice to focus on being Brendan Benson, at least for the duration of this record.”

Yet, what pleases Benson the most as we finish our chat, to enable him time to wash up before his taxi arrives, is the fact that his sound now mirrors the image it’s presented as. It’s always been a full band, and now with My Old, Familiar Friend, Brendan Benson is a full band. “I can’t do this myself,” reveals the songwriter. “People seem to think that it’s a solo act, but these songs are very much written for a band.

I don’t write songs by myself in the Bob Dylan vein.

Those ideas do not easily translate with me, and never

have. It’s been that way the whole time. It’s always full on band rock. I don’t know why people always think otherwise.”

Well, now, there’s no reason to do so. My Old, Familiar Friend is out on V2/Cooperative on August 18th. • myspace.com/brendanbenson WORDS: SHAIN SHAPIRO PHOTO: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

39

G...

IN ODUC INTR

FIV-E UN NED SIG

58 40

the arcadian kicks kick out the jams

Hair and Make-Up: Evie Stoddart using Mac - Stylist: Sana Zod

T

he Arcadian Kicks are five 19-year-olds from just outside Birmingham who met in GCSE music class. Becky, Rebekah, Tom and Tommy got together for a house music competition, formed a covers band, recruited drummer Harry and started writing songs. Two years in, they have a couple of Isle of Wight performances under their collective belt and show no signs of slowing down.

Sitting in a red velour-upholstered booth with Tom Holloway at Low - the appropriately gritty basement bar of Great Portland Street’s The Albany - the guitarist reveals surprisingly simple ambitions for a group that has enjoyed so much early success.

“We don’t really think about what we want to sound like,” he says, rolling the thought around in his head.

“We all have quite similar taste in some ways - sixties music and new bands like The Horrors - as well as our own things that we’re into. Trying to write good pop songs, whatever other genres they might fit into, is our common ground.”

As The Arcadian Kicks take to the stage later, it’s obvious that they’re a live band first and foremost. As waif-like singer Becky Wilson swings her hips, poutily at ease in the body of a thirties star straight out of Belleville Rendez-Vous, the band builds momentum behind her, displaying huge energy right from the outset.

Despite their diminutive age, the band are selfassured on stage without ever verging on arrogance.

Rather, they look like they know what they’re doing and are enjoying every minute of it. It’s hard to make a valid comparison because there aren’t a huge number of bands doing what the Kicks do; Wilson’s clipped vocals are somewhat reminiscent of Noisettes’ Shingai Shoniwa, but she has considerably less energetic firestarter about her and more of the troubled artist - no bad thing. She sips a glass of rosé between songs and it just wouldn’t be right if it was a can of Red Stripe.

A stand-out song of the set is ‘Tiny Machines’, a funkier Franz Ferdinand track played with huge passion and a definite potential first single, followed by the very different ‘Caroline’. “I wrote this song about my little sister,” Wilson smiles, launching into a fondly despairing ballad about wanting to keep a younger sibling safe and stop them from repeating your mistakes, while knowing that they need to make their own.

Saxophonist, keyboard player and backing vocalist Rebekah Pennington ably closes ‘Caroline’ with a blinding sax solo, but really gets her chance to shine on final song ‘Standing in the Road’, where her stylish

“We all have quite similar taste in some ways. Trying to write good pop songs, whatever other genres they might fit into, is our common ground.” instrumentals interact beautifully with Wilson’s vocals.

Later, she puts down the sax and the two girls end the song with seamlessly pretty dual vocals, tottering on huge platform stilettos at the mic in a rare moment of overt interaction between band members.

It’s hard to predict what will come next for The Arcadian Kicks, unique as their sound is, but with plans to put out a single before the end of the year it’s worth catching them now while they’re still gigging in noirish basements; it suits them.• myspace.com/thearcadiankicks WORDS: Evelyn Hughes PHOTO: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

59 41

42

IAN. Brown The uncompromising self-belief that’s fuelled most turbulent, controversial one of the and richly productive careers in musical history has inspired two generations.

As the paradigm for Britpop and father to Oasis and Arctic Monkeys, Ian Brown ’s instinctive, idiosyncratic consistently found pop has new ground amid mariachi trumpets and electronic, three -dimensional soundscapes King Monkey treads . As the down memory lane Future, he reveals all with Andrew about autobiographical My Way and tells us masterpiece that the only John in his sights is Marr not Squire. , words: Andrew Fut ure PHOTOS: Michael Rob ert Wil

Photo Assistant: Lol a Peach Thanks to All Star Lanes

liams

19 43

A

t primary school in the early seventies Ian George Brown wanted to be George Best.

From the day they won the European Cup in 1968 when he was five, the joiner’s son grew up a Manchester United fan in a family of City supporters.

Now they play Stone Roses classic ‘This Is The One’ before every home game at Old Trafford.

As a teenager, his love moved to karate, but Brown gave up just before winning his black belt. He’d previously called it a regret, but it’s not mentioned today.

Attacking a bowl of chips in a diner near his west London

44

home, Brown’s glowing sense of satisfaction and slight frame belie the monumental personality and towering pout that has been his trademark ‘King Monkey’ look for two decades.

But far from any egotism one may expect from a musician who’s influenced two generations, it’s the simple warmth of a family man that he exudes.

While the teeth-marks of time creep across those patented cheekbones and his hair begins to chalk over at the ends, Brown’s boutique Japanese attire is as sharp as his wit. And at 46, his penchant for dissecting any subject you lay before him with a crucifying sense of honesty and pub

wisdom has, like his music, only got stronger.

While 20 years on The Stone Roses still invariably tops polls and unites the imaginations of millions, Brown’s solo output has consistently improved. From the experimental electronica of early hits like ‘My Star’ through to the idiosyncratic anthems like ‘F.E.A.R.’ and current single ‘Stellify’, he’s moved with the times, embracing technology where most of his contemporaries are still messing with the same old guitar licks.

Although he dismisses the reunion rumours by comparing the Roses to an ex-girlfriend you might still love but avoid because you’re married, new record My Way was not only recorded at Battery Studios (where the Roses signed their deal) but also references, quite openly, his former band. Written with ‘F.E.A.R.’ producer Dave McCracken, it’s his most emotional record by a mile.

‘Crowning Of The Poor’ is a twisted, drum-looped lament to the working class Brown came from while ‘Always Remember Me’ is a sweeping, majestic chugger of an anthem, recalling early Stone Roses melodies, remembering when they ‘had it all’.‘By All Means Necessary’ is the darkest song here as lines like ‘Even though you did me wrong/Still I wish you well’ swoop over brooding, war-torn synths.The unsettling orchestration evolves with typical fist in the air gusto.

But the album’s open-hearted standout is ‘For The Glory’, a driving piano anthem talked up for its ‘When the bombs began to fall/I didn’t do it for the Roses’ chorus line. It heralds a new-found peace for Brown, rekindling past song

“I’m not proud to be Mancunian, I’m just glad, because I think it’s a great city full of great people. I’m not proud of it. Be proud of something you’ve achieved.”

just hope I don’t make my own Let it Be. If I quit at Abbey Road I’ll be alright.

There’s a lot of paranoia in your lyrics and you’ve become increasing political, with 2007’s ‘Illegal Attacks’ being the most vehement anti-war song released on a UK major label in years.

When you say political, I say social comment. ‘Illegal Attacks’ was called political, but I see a 17-year-old join the army. Six weeks after joining he gets his legs blown off in Afghanistan. That to me is a social problem. They call it politics so we’ll get bored of it and we won’t get involved.

Why do you? And why don’t others?

They’re scared it’s going to affect the record sales in America, whereas I don’t really have any.

When you were locked up for four months in 1998 for air rage, how did you come through it?

It was that burning sense of innocence that keeps you going. I went in there with very little respect for authority and I came out with absolutely none whatsoever. I lost my faith in it a long time ago. Outside your family and friends, no-one gives a shit about you. No-one cares if you live or die, they just want you to pay your tax and that’s it.

Speaking of family, you claim to be from the ‘Republic of Mancunia’ yet dismiss patriotism saying you’re ‘not proud to be English’, why is that?

I don’t know how anyone could be proud of an accident.

No-one decided to be born, we all got born accidentally. I don’t get it. Be proud of something you’ve achieved.

But what’s the difference between being proud to be English and being proud to be a Mancunian?

I’m not proud to be Mancunian, I’m just glad, because I think it’s a great city full of great people. I’m not proud of it.

Be proud of something you’ve achieved. I’m proud I’m still making music. 20 years later I’m still selling concert tickets and people still love me and my music. Where I was born was an accident. I’m not a typical Mancunian, because 90% of Mancunians don’t leave Manchester.

writing genius, not just with Squire but with McCracken with whom he wrote ‘F.E.A.R’.

And 90% of Man United fans live in London…

So they say, but where I sit in the East Stand you only hear Manchester accents.

So you two were writing for Rihanna and Kanye West?

We wrote ‘Stellify’ for Rihanna but then I kept it for myself. Dave [McCracken] has just been signed to Roc Nation [Jay-Z’s label]. We wrote a song for Kanye called ‘Vanity Kills’ but then we were a bit late in sending it in and I thought I’ll keep it. I love Kanye and Rihanna. She’s got a killer voice - what a singer. I’m always trying to improve. I look at The Beatles and every album gets better than the last and I

A more sombre 20 year anniversary than your debut is of course the Hillsborough disaster. Do you still remember it?

I still don’t buy the Sun newspaper because of that, yeah.They said the fans were animals, but it was actually the police’s fault wasn’t it? The police forced everyone into the terrace. And no charges were brought but it was the police that killed those people. Liverpool used to be the most

45

hated and most feared in the country and now thanks to the Roses, Happy Mondays and Oasis it’s the Mancs.

Are we starting to see a regression with football violence?

There is that tribal thing in it that is unhealthy and negative, yeah. It’s the borderline between banter and violence. I don’t know how you can solve that. My answer to it is to take my kids to Liverpool so they know Liverpool people are good people. I sit in the car and say: ‘You want a Subway, you go and order your own.’ I take them and say: ‘Look how Liverpool people live.’

Do you think about embracing life a bit more and leaving England?

It’s only my kids and my friends that keep me in England.

It’s too cold and rainy. I wanna see some palm trees in the morning. Eat some mango up in the hills somewhere. My wife’s Mexican and I’ve been there a dozen times - it’s fantastic. There’s a big love of music and the culture’s five thousand years old. It comes from native Indians and the culture that they lived. What a life: being an Apache Indian with your family and your friends, being surrounded by nature.

Mysticism has always figured in your music, what’s inspired those ideas?

‘My Star’ was about how the space race was a military front. The astronauts were ex-fighter pilots from the US Air Force and the whole thing is a complete con. It’s like marketed as if it’s finding other life-forms but it’s about military domination, which is a lie. There’s few things more inspiring than things which are free - birdsong, women and the stars in the sky.

What do you think about music being free?

Maybe the record industry has had a stranglehold over people for 50 years and now they’ve lost it.They’re trying to get into live shows and t-shirts ‘cause they can’t sell music anymore. It’s probably not good news for people like me who make music because we’re not getting paid for it, but it’s like karma.A CD costs 10p to produce and its £15 in the shops.They’ve been squeezing us for years and now karma’s bitten them on the arse.

You considered making your own bootlegs with the Roses while you were fighting the Silvertone Records court case didn’t you?

We were gonna bootleg gigs and sell that. It was forward thinking back then. If we hadn’t won that court case we would have only survived by playing shows.

What’s the Ian Brown that we don’t see much of like?

What are you like at home with your wife?

Well I won’t wash any pots up because I used to be a

44 12 46

kitchen porter so I feel I’ve done my share of pot-washing. I would rather put the pots in the bin, go to the market and buy another load of plates. So my missus does all that kind of thing. It’s not that I’m a male chauvinist; it’s just that I can’t wash pots up. I did two years of it and I swore after that I’d never do it again. I’ve got a dishwasher and I sometimes load it, but that’s as far as I’ll go.

And what about being a 21st century dad?

It’s the best thing that’s happened to me aside from all me musical success.They’ve all got a little bit on me.They’re all a bit smarter, cooler, better dressed, they’re all a bit better then I would have been at that age. They’ve all got totally different personalities but they’re all free spirits and that’s all I could give them really. I love that you can make a child but you can’t control its thoughts.That’s a beautiful thing.

One of the other things you’ve fathered is Oasis. Have they blown it?

Well The Stone Roses had a massive worldwide record deal and we split up after the second album so we still had another four records to make.We maybe should have been a bit bigger than we were, so we blew it. But Oasis have had an amazing run. They’ve had 15 years in music. That’s

“I don’t care about a legacy to be honest. It don’t bother me either way. I won’t be here.” one great run. You’re lucky if you get five minutes at that level. I don’ t think they’ve blown it.They’re the biggest, most successful band since The Beatles, that isn’t blowing it. I think Noel will do a solo album and then he’ll tour for a year and then they’ll get back together.

Would you ever do a record with someone like Noel?

I’d like to work with Johnny Marr. We talked about it a few times over the last few years. We got some songs on the backburner, just hoping to do it when we’ve both got some time. Obviously he’s a bit busy at the minute being a full time Crib. We haven’t got as far as titles yet, but they’re gonna sound soulful.

What are your thoughts on your peers, like Morrissey and New Order?

Morrissey was a great lyric writer, a great popstar, the most unlikely popstar. I think ‘First Of The Gang To Die’ was one of his best ever songs. It’s brilliant that you can do that 25 years after you come out. I think he’s really great. And again, New Order had quite a run. It’s funny that you’ll never find a Manchester band slagging off another Manchester band but every Manchester band will rip each other apart.

Speaking of which, you played with The Verve in Spain didn’t you?

They had separate dressing rooms. One had The Verve on and the one next door had Richard on it.Ashcroft arrived five minutes before the show and he left five minutes after. I thought that was a bit strange: that you’re gonna reform but not even talk to each other in between shows.

You’ve said that you regretted singing John Squire’s songs and didn’t like the big solos, would you like to do a big guitar record again?

I don’t really like guitar music to be honest. I only really like The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix and since the Sex Pistols there hasn’t really been a guitar band that I’ve liked. I like the Roses and I love Squire’s guitar playing on the first album.

But on the second it’s derivative. It’s like he’s trying to ape someone else’s style. But his original fluid psychedelic style is second to none for me. But I don’t like guitar music. I never liked the Pixies and I don’t own any Oasis albums. I like hip hop, reggae and soul.

As a kid, the Sex Pistols showed that you didn’t have to be a virtuoso musician or Oxbridge educated to get into music. You could be a working class kid and not have any musical abilities but still express yourself.

And your quip that you’d be dangerous if you could sing like Elvis underlies that.

Right, yeah.

You say you have no regrets but if you could go back to 1993/94 and change anything would you?

I would have quit the Roses in 93/94 and gone solo a

45 13 47

lot earlier. I used to think they were my destiny but now I feel like this solo thing is. I’ve played in 35 countries solo, places the Roses never got to. I did leave in ‘93 but the manager persuaded me not to. I look back and think I should have quit then.

industries that were sold off.That’s our oil up in Scotland that Thatcher went and sold to BP and a load of fat cat Americans who got rich off it. If you live in Brunei you don’t pay tax and you get something like two grand a year ‘cause every citizen shares in the profits.

The political situation is all very ‘1994’ at the moment, like the dying days of John Major. What do you make of the possibility of a Tory government again?

Pretty amazing innit? They’ve got no ideas and no ideas men, but ‘cause of the shambles Labour made of it they’ve got a chance of getting in through the back door. It’s not like they’ve got a strong alternative, they’re the only alternative.

Labour’s let everybody down. I thought they were dead and buried already after John Major drove them into a brick wall and I thought everyone would see through the lies.

But where would you get the money from to start paying kids benefit now?

I’d dismantle the army and all nuclear weapons. Melt down all the bullets. I don’t believe there’s anyone who wants to take over England. I don’t believe the Russians ever wanted to and I don’t believe Al Qaeda want to either, so I don’t know why we’ve got an army.

One of your own legacies was changing the way kids dressed, yet you’ve said that was unintended.

That was the Manchester look.We definitely didn’t know that the kids were gonna copy us. I think it was the Blackpool show where we realised that everyone had flares and beanie hats.We thought it was great that we wore flares because no other band did and that separated us, but we didn’t realise the crowd were gonna do it as well.

I think it’s great that the kids have got their own sense of style and it’s like the younger and younger they are, they’ve got more style than ever. Like I look at my kids who are like 13 and they’ve got the coats and the trainers. My nine-year-old likes straight jeans because he sees me in baggy jeans so those to him are for old men, and he wants a pair of tight straight trousers on.

What about your own threads?

I’ve got a Japanese designer friend who sends me clothes.

He’s called Kazuki Kuraishai and he does Wizz, Resonate, Neighbourhood, mainly Japanese labels and since ‘99 I haven’t actually been shopping. This shirt was made for me by him and these are Fenom jeans. I’m an anti-consumer, I’m trying to wean myself off what I’ve been indoctrinated with, which is to consume.

So what else would you like done to improve society?

I’d get rid of the royal family because they’re parasites, for a start. Prince Andrew spent £3 million on transport alone last year. How much of that was flying to the golf course? How can we call ourselves a 21st century industrialised nation and have a royal family? They own all the best property because their ancestors robbed it. I’d give it to the homeless and the poor. I’d close down the skyscraper estates of Salford and Liverpool and they could move into Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.

I’d also bring back unemployment benefit for 16-18 year olds because the welfare state that’s slowly being dismantled is a right our forefathers earned. And I’d re-nationalise all the

48

To protect against potential threats perhaps?

There’s no photograph of the 7/7 bombers all on one day – the only photograph came from the supposed reconnaissance. Not one witness saw four Asians.The British army are only in Helmand province protecting the oil fields and a pipeline being built up to the sea to move that oil.

It’s the same as 100 years ago when we put the king of Afghanistan on the throne. Now we’ve put the governor of Afghanistan on the throne. It used to be the opium and silk routes and now it’s the oil. How are they gonna take Afghanistan? What they call an insurgent is someone who doesn’t want foreign soldiers on his land. Well, if there was a foreign army in England, people would be out fighting and that would make us insurgents. Who are we to determine what goes on 5,000 miles away in a culture that’s 5,000 miles away as well. It’s all about oil and money and power. I don’t believe it’s about the war on terror – it’s a joke.

What does the future hold for you?

I think I’ve got another album in me. I haven’t got concrete plans for that one yet but if I get the chance to do it I’m gonna go for it. But I’d like to help younger people. I’d rather do that then attempt to be a film star. I’m quite happy with the position that I’ve got. I wouldn’t swap lives with anyone anytime in history. I think I’ve had the best life a man could have.

What will be written on your tombstone and what will be your legacy?

I don’t intend to have one. I don’t think you’ve got a right to take up land with your body. My dust is gonna be scattered wherever. All those people in graveyards now from 1801 who remembers them? Nobody. And I don’t care about a legacy to be honest. It don’t bother me either way. I won’t be here. • myspace.com/ianbrown www.ianbrown.co.uk

18 14 46

49

50

Sophie & Solomon.

SOPHIE Jacket - William Tempest Trouser - Jacob Kimmie Necklace - Pebble

Solomon Black patterned Jacket - Favourbrook Black neckpiece - Reem Jeans - Royal Underground Ring - Pebble

Photographer: James Parsons Stylist: Rebekah Roy Make-Up: Rachel Wood Hair Stylist: Tim Frussedonn (Toni & Guy) products: using Label M Models: Sophie Lewis, Solomon Thompson & Daphne Many thanks to The Bathhouse

47 19 15 51

78 54 52

SOlomon

SOPHIE

Neck Ruffle - Danny Tang Shirt - Favourbrook Military Jacket - Urban Outfitters Ring - Pebble Jeans - Reiss 1971 Boots - Tim Hamilton

Dress - Harriet’s Muse Bow Neckpiece - Reem Bracelet - Mimco Tights - Topshop Boots - Neosens

SOPHIE skirt - tour de force jacket - boudoir d’huitres Black Tights - Topshop Shoes - J Shoes Cuffs - Bryce d’Anicé Aime

SOlomon Military coat and shirt - Royal Underground White Neck Ruffle - Timo Black ¾ length trousers - Tim Hamilton Ring - Pebble Shoes - Ben Sherman Happy Socks - Urban Outfitters

79 55 53

SOPHIE Strapless Dress - Luella @ Urban Outfitters Lace Shrug - Topshop Tights - Topshop Necklace - Mimco www.mimco.co.uk Shrug Sharon Wauchob

50 54 56

SOlomon Jeans - Royal Underground Shirt - Favourbrook Union jack blazer - Bolongaro Trevor Knitwear red waistcoat - Farah @ Urban Outfitters

55 57

50 54 56

Stockists: Ada Zanditon- sales@adaz.co.uk : Ben Sherman at www.vivaladiva.com : Bolongaro Trevor: Bolongaro Trevor Store, 61 Broadwick Street London : Bora Aksu:Selfridges-London 0800 123 400 : Boudoir D’huitres - at www.boudoir-dhuitres.com : Bryce d’Anicé Aime at Apartment C 02079351854 - www.BryceDAniceAime. com : Danny Tang Made to order only, 02077376433, www.danny-tang.com : Dimitri Stavrou- For personal orders please contact daniel@iroquois.co.uk : Farah at Urban Outfitters : Favourbrook - 55 Jermyn Street, London, SW1Y 6LX, 02074935060 : Harriet’s Muse – www.harrietsmuse.com : Imogen Belfield available at Daniel Bexfield Antiques, Burlington Arcade : Jacob Kimmie – www.jacobkimmie.com : Merle O’grady - at www.brittique.com : Mimco www.mimco.co.uk 0207 377 1002 : Myasho at www.myasho.com : Pebble www.pebblelondon.com 0207262 1775 : Pudel at www.pudel.co.uk : Qasimi www.qasimi.com - My Sugarland 0207 8417131 : Reem www.reemalasadi.com - My Sugarland 0207 8417131 : Reiss 1971 at Reiss Stores / Selfridges : Royal Underground - 0207 377 1002 : Sharon Wauchob at Concrete : Tim Hamilton at Browns : Timo 0207 377 1002 or www.timoweiland.com, : TopShop www.topshop.com : Tour de Force www.tourdeforce. com: Urban Outfitters –www.UrbanOutfitters.co.uk : William Tempest at Browns Focus 020 7514 0000

SOlomon Jacket and Trousers - Dimitri Stavrou Shirt - FavourBrook

SOphie Top - Ada Zanditon Necklace - Merle O’grady Trousers - Jacob Kimmie

Daphne Coat - Model’s Own

51 55 57

58

social outkast

M

WORDS: BERTAN BUDAK

eet Calvin Harris, the most uninteresting person in the world. And when we say ‘uninteresting’, well, we’re being kind. Our 30-minute phone chat with the Scottish DJ is hardly what you’d call a lively conversation at times.

“No” and “I’m not interesting” are two of Harris’s favourite expressions. Ask him if he’s single, and what do you get? “No.” Is he on the prowl? “No.” Is he gay?

Okay, so we didn’t quite ask him that, but had we, we’re a million percent certain that the answer would have been a flat “No.” In all honesty, we were a little caught off guard by his simple, one-word answers. After all, this is the same man whose fiery rants have been feeding the gossip hungry pages of the tabloids for several months now.

So, what gives?

“I just don’t think I’m very interesting,” he says. “I don’t live a very interesting life, so I just try and steer away from it and talk about other things. I reckon music is the only interesting thing about me.”

He couldn’t be further from the truth.

A couple of weeks after our chat, he released his critically acclaimed single ‘Ready For The Weekend’, an electro-clad club banger that has already received over half a million hits on YouTube. His first single, ‘I’m Not Alone’, reached the number one spot in the UK Singles Chart on downloads alone.

There is no denying that in music, Calvin Harris remains a force to be reckoned with. He has a number of successful collaborations tucked tightly under his belt, including the 2008 hit single ‘Dance Wiv Me’, with UK rapper Dizzee Rascal, and has also produced hits for a number of high-profile musicians such as Kylie.

Not long after working with the Aussie star, rumours surfaced that the two were apparently dating. Were they true?

“No,” says Harris. Ah, another one of those singleword answers.

Let’s try another question: why did he decide to turn down Lady Gaga when her management approached him with a collaboration opportunity?

“I didn’t think the song was that good, so I said: “No thanks,” he says confidently. “I’m a fan of Lady Gaga but I wasn’t a big fan of that song. Do I have any regrets about turning down the song? No! What’s the point of working on a rubbish song that you don’t like?

I don’t even know what song it was now, but it weren’t any of her big ones.”

At last, he has managed a sentence.

In an industry dominated by new talent, it took a

while for Harris to finally secure a recording contract with music major SonyBMG. But unlike most musicians chasing a dream, he had no hopes of being jobless whilst in the process of looking.

“My first job was at a fish factory,” he says. “I had to make mini fillets by putting big chunks of fish into a machine where they came out in these small oblong shapes, and then I had to put them onto a baking tray.”

Did he enjoy working there?

“God no, it was terrible.”

As well as a stint in a fish factory, Harris has also worked in a number of supermarkets such as Safeways and Marks and Spencers (“I used to steal packets of Percy Pigs for my lunch,” he admits). But how has his transition from behind the till to behind the decks affected his social life?

“I’ve given up on my social life at the moment and I might have to remake some new friends after this is over,” he says. But to be honest, I’ve waited a long time to have the opportunity to do music work - I’ve been waiting for years – and I don’t really want to turn anything down at the moment.

“I’ve been working the hardest that I’ve worked in my life, which isn’t a bad thing obviously. For the last couple of years, I haven’t really gone out partying.

I’ve kept everything work-based, which is okay as the work mostly consists of DJing at venues, so it’s kind of like partying anyways.”

And it’s not just the music industry that Harris has dabbled in. He’s also produced a song for Coca-Cola’s ‘gremlins in the piano’ advert.

“I thought the concept was amazing,” he says. “At the time, [Coca-Cola] they were looking for songs to feature in the advert, and so I pitched my song. A lot of people put their songs in and so I was lucky to have been chosen.

“It was great because I’ve done a few advert pitching’s before and they seemed to end pretty badly, and I did tell myself that if I didn’t get it then it would be the last time I’d pitch a song to an advert. It was such a surprise when I got picked.”

This is what’s so great about Calvin Harris. He appreciates every bit of work he can get, and, unlike most artists in his position, he’s far from big-headed. A number one hit, an advert, numerous club bookings – not bad for such an uninteresting bloke. • myspace.com/calvinharristv www.calvinharris.co.uk

59

80’S DYNASTY VS. 40’S AUSTERITY

’ssty 80a n y D marc jacobs

zac posen

Think of everything gloriously distasteful from the eighties: shoulder pads, lamé, cubic zircona and cocktail dresses with enough heaving cleavage to make even the most powerful oil magnate in Denver go weak at the knees.Yes, this winter fashion takes its cue from rich bitches Alexis and Krystle Carrington, as trashtastic glamour goes full throttle.

4

1

3

6

1.

2.

3.

Rokit, £60 Office, £68 Dorothy Perkins, £12

4.

5.

Dorothy Perkins, £25 Topshop, £28

6.

asos, £38

50 16 60

5

2

WORDS: jodie ball

lanvin

antonio marras

Riding high on the unstoppable trend for all things vintage, designers tapped into the understated glamour of the 1940s.This is ladylike fashion at its best and fused with an air of wartime utility chic.Think neat skirt suits that gently brush the knee and coats with a hint of military detail, but most importantly never leave home without your hat and gloves.

6

1

4 2 3 5

Luella, £525 1.

DKNY (jacket), £268 DKNY (skirt), £135 2.

dune, £45 3.

Devoted 2 Vintage, £38 4.

Rae Jones, £170 5.

J by Jasper Conran at Debenhams, £25 6.

17 61

G...

IN ODUC INTR

FIV-E UN NED SIG

62

the ruling class top dogs

Hair and Make-Up: Evie Stoddart using Nars

H

uddled round some rusty bike railings to escape the noise of the east London’s 1234 Festival, the wind is making it difficult for north London four-piece The Ruling Class to light their Benson Silvers. With just two singles under their belt they haven’t quite broken into the mainstream yet, but are already being compared to indie legends such as The Stone Roses and The Charlatans. As you’d expect, their baggy jeans draw looks of derision from the skinny-legged Shoreditch masses.

They manage to seamlessly combine late eighties baggy rock with early nineties shoegaze, resulting in a nostalgic concoction which has earned them the rather cringeworthy ‘shaggy’ tag, (shoegaze and baggy, geddit?!). Psychedelic elements also shine through on their simple but effective melodies, and Jonathan Sutcliffe’s effortless vocals recall Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie singing ‘Velocity Girl’.

Founding members Tomas Kubowicz and bassist Anton Lindberg first met in 2005 in their native Stockholm, but had difficulty finding likeminded band mates. “We couldn’t really find people with similar tastes in music or ambition so we moved to London,” Kubowicz says.

Their quintessentially British sound is due to Kubowicz – the band’s self-proclaimed ‘musical dictator’ – being heavily influenced by nineties British indie. Sutcliffe and Needle are, quite fittingly then, northerners, albeit from Harrogate, not Manchester.

Bound by a shared love of psychedelic music, Lindberg and Kubowicz found front man Sutcliffe and rhythm guitarist Andrew Needle at, fellow early nineties revivalists, The Tamborines’ gig one New Year’s Eve. The addition of Italian-born Alfie Tammaro on drums completed the group.

Lindberg admits that the band are self-consciously derivative, saying, “When Tomas started writing these songs, he wasn’t trying to invent a new genre of music.

Although that sort of music isn’t around right now so I suppose that is innovative in itself.”

What about image though? “The music is primary,” explains Tamarro, “once you get the music right everything else should just fall into place.” Sutcliffe agrees that unlike a lot of contemporary bands they’re more concerned with substance over style but they “still look great anyway!” Just don’t compare his choice of hairstyle to Tim Burgess’s – “I would say my hair was more Guy Fawkes. A true revolutionary haircut.”

And if they could rule Britain for a day, what would they change? “The music,” Sutcliffe replies almost

“Psychedelic elements also shine through on their simple but effective melodies, and Jonathan Sutcliffe’s effortless vocals, recall Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie singing ‘Velocity Girl’.” instantly. So they’d ban terrible music like Cascada and Soulja Boy then? “No, no. We’d just educate people – teach them to appreciate good tunes again,” he asserts. Hopefully it won’t take a Guy Fawkes-style attempt at revolution to achieve that anyway. • myspace.com/therulingclassuk WORDS: LEONIE CUMISKEY PHOTO: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

63

Monsters of Folk bright eyes find heaven Words: andrew future

64

I

think that when some people hear the words ‘folk music’ they picture three guys on bar stools playing acoustic guitars or something,” says Conor Oberst. But far from desecrating Dylan’s legacy and making Nick Drake turn in his grave, Monsters of Folk are as super a super-group as you’ll hear all year.

Comprising Bright Eyes’ main man Oberst, his longterm producer Mike Mogis, My Morning Jacket singer Jim James and rising solo star Matt ‘M’ Ward, their selftitled album is spiritual without being self-righteous; soulful without becoming pastiche and above all, a joyous rout of emotion and uplifting melodies.

“I like that there are elements of vulgar country or whatever, but I like the fact that it’s also modern sounding,” he adds and of course Oberst is right.

Despite taking very deliberate reference points from the bar-stools of yesteryear, the quartet are little short of a musical wet-dream for many fans of one of indie music’s pin-up boys of the last few years.

The quartet came together on tour across American five years ago. Although ‘Monsters of Folk’ was originally a tongue-in-cheek moniker from the crew that stuck. The record (where every instrument is played by one of the four) has been created with same care and attention you’d expect from their solo work.

While the likes of M.Ward and My Morning Jacket are a little more anonymous than Oberst’s Bright Eyes – who crossed over in 2005 to occupy both the top two places in the Billboard charts – all are exceptional musicians in their own right. In spite of this, there was never likely to be a clash of egos. “There was like a lot of mutual appreciation and the whole reason I did this was for the collaboration part of it,” Oberst says, adding: “no one tried to exert their will really strongly or anything. Everybody was always really excited about the other people’s ideas and it made for a really pleasurable experience all around.”

The album’s finest moments come when all three singers get on the mic. ‘Magic Marker’ is a wonderful rush of wistful imagery; a rainbow of harmonies that edges towards Hidden Cameras territory, while ‘Say Please’ is the obligatory gushing, radio-friendly stomper.

Obviously there’s huge dollops of pure, distilled folk, reinvigorated for the Guitar Hero generation, but they’re infused with the kind of jaunty blues that makes ‘The Right Place’ as fine a travelling song as you’re likely to hear all year. The Oberst-led ‘Ahead of the Curve’ meanwhile, is more focussed than much of Bright Eyes’ recent albums.

“What a lot of songs end up being about is trying to understand human nature and the human condition,” Oberst says, commenting how the looped opening blast of ‘Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.)’ loops trips around themes of finding meaning and truth.

“That’s what a lot of people are looking for and a lot of times you can get to it through a creative process.”

And it’s been one of the recurring themes throughout Oberst’s decade-long career.

Cited by some as the ‘new Dylan,’ and organically grown from his Nebraskan roots into a worldwide icon, Oberst had what he describes as a ‘fortunate’ upbringing. Hanging out with a group of older friends who let him tag along, he got a head start into music.

His transition to international cult hero was a long time coming though, despite his youth. “If it happens too quickly it’s difficult to stay in it,” he says, describing “little milestones along the way,” that included playing one-off shows in New York before securing a distribution deal.

Known for his acerbic and often overtly political lyrics, Monsters of Folk is largely free of any big political statements. And indeed, one of Obersts’s most crushing and beautiful songs is a b-side from 2005 called ‘When the President Talks to God’. Despite backing Obama, Oberst still has his own presidential agenda in mind.

“Obviously a big thing right now is universal health care,” he says outlining the three things he’d do if he were president. “If I was president and I had complete power, I would just spend money much better. We just spend money building crazy weapons when we should be dealing with education, healthcare and the less fortunate. People forget we have a lot of extremely poor people here, even though it’s such a rich country.

There’s a lot of suffering that could be easily remedied if we just got our priorities straight and spent wealth for a positive, sustainable future that everyone can be a part of.”

Recorded over two years, the songs came together through many random song ideas that were played out in front of each other at the studio. “Someone would be like ‘OK, I like what I’m saying up to this point, but I’m not sure about this line’ and then we’d all kind of look at it and be like ‘Well, maybe we could change this’. Arranging the songs was a real experience because all three other guys in the band have such really powerful, musical minds.”

Indeed, the sheer quality and variety on the album suggests a great deal of game-raising as each member gives it their all, with a fair amount of love to boot.

“To have two of my favourite contemporary artists adding pieces to ideas that I had and then vice-versa where I was able to contribute ideas to their songs, was really cool.” • myspace.com/monstorsoffolk

65

d r a c t poS ◊ fROM tokyoRD◊ ES BY OLI PRITCHA

WORDS AND IMAG

I

nese friends are lost, t’s 11 o’clock and our Japa ster clothes shop hip a as usual. We duck into sequester some advice. (open ‘til midnight) and behind the counter kid The glum faced fashion le and leads us out the breaks out into a huge smi n a back street, into an dow , door, round the corner r, re corner s, up an elevato alleyway, round some mo we bar the side out us es along a corridor and leav she didn’t lock the doors, were looking for. After all, her shop right now. ting so anyone could be loo apartment block. Surely We’re in the middle of an Despite the location, . ong it’s a house par ty? Wr lest bar s. It has a ping this is one of the city’s coo an impromptu tourney and pong table in the middle t. You’d never find it takes place around midnigh t an escort and it’ll hou wit in a month of Sundays ful. Welcome to care not ’re you if you bankrupt . san Japan, foreign barbariany say. Well, Japan is Asia is different, or so the n erficially, England and Japa even more different. Sup peoThe y. rain n ofte r’s the are ver y similar. The wea also insufferably arrogant. ple are reserved, polite yet of the music is brainlot a And, just like in Blighty, R’n’B. But look past this dead pop or shitty generic fucking different. Hot lly Rea and Tokyo is different. ring trainer s, bubblegumcoffee in a can, dogs wea g as you remember you’re lon flavour chocolate. As rything will be fine in the not in Kansas anymore, eve is Tokyo. t tha mad future-alien world

64 66

Tokyo is not laid out according to any helpful sense of what a city should be. You’d expect a busy, packed centre, a couple of satellites like Shoreditch, Camden, Earls Court etc, all important in their own way but paling in insignificance against The Centre.

Tokyo, though, is a whole city comprised entirely of satellite sub-cities, each miles from the next and just as important. Just like London, there’s a cool side and a tear-inducing dull side.

But Tokyo is different. Here, the east is old school minted and the west is for the cool kids.

Shimo-Kitazawa has a laid-back easygoing charm; all recycle shops and handmade furniture by day, live houses by night. Naka-Meguro is like Shoreditch without the grime and hoodrats, replacing them with eclectic boutiques and custom bike shops.

Harajuku and Shibuya are well known epicentres of urban cool, but a bit young and frankly a bit too WAGish. Shinjuku is perhaps the closest Tokyo has to a real centre. It’s not at all central, but it is the hub of all the Tokyo clichés. Further out, Koenji and Nakano are the studenty, artsy-but-not-so-minted areas. Plenty of grungy dive-bars and rock clubs, all underpinned by live houses that won’t require you to print your own money. Oh, and the best tapas in the city, run by a Geordie!

Drinking in Tokyo is an odd experience. Sometimes merely getting in the door is a challenge as it’s quite common here for a bar to have a capacity of six people. One of our local bars has no seats, just scaffold poles on the inside to perch on. Clubs are bigger, of course, but dancing after midnight is illegal. It’s not a shooting-Welshies-after-dark-with-acrossbow-in-Chester law either. Clubs routinely have to have someone dash from the front desk to tell everyone to stop dancing while the police check all is in order. Clubs are sell-your-grandma expensive to get into, but the drinks are usually no more expensive than the bars. Those beers will make

your eyes water from the price, though spirits are half the price, due to a funny total volume tax system on booze. Brilliantly, there’s often a vending machine for beer, so if you go in underage (common in a few places) you can merrily drink the night away.

Fashions come and go but the number one rule for dressing in Tokyo is do what the fuck you like. Four rainbows’ worth of colour on a single pair of sneakers? Sure. Old school casual kimono teamed with Disney socks? Fine. As long as you like it, it’s fair game. Still, plenty of folk follow the dozens of fashions around at any given time. Most common outfits right now are denim dungarees, swishy gypsy skirts and parasols for the ladies. For the gents, it’s trousers five inches too short and waistcoats. For accessories, may I suggest making your hair big, Dallas-big, and make sure you comb it at least once every five minutes, in public.

Make-up should be caked on and if you can make your eyelids look a bit like a double chin, then that’s perfect.

Tokyo is different. All of this just scratches the surface, of course. Buildings, scenes, bars, fashions all come and go in the blink of an eye. So if you’re looking for a city to party away in and New York’s too American, Berlin/Amsterdam too techno-arty, Scandinavia too bijou, Paris too, well, Parisian then I suggest you try Tokyo. After all, either the earthquake or Gojira will raze it to the ground again soon. •

67

“Music is im p here. It’s qortant refreshing uite vodka lem . As is o I never had nade. that before” 68

rodeo songs WORDS: EVELYN HUGHES - PHOTO: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

I

t’s the first night of New York hipsters Young Lords’ first ever European tour. We’re in the sweaty confines of Shepherds Bar, west London.

Last minute visa issues mean they arrive without equipment, so it’s with a heady mix of excitement and inherent NY cool that they overcome mild technical chaos.

Coming from a scene that boasts The Strokes, The Virgins and misleadingly-named Pennsylvania upstarts The Takeover UK, Young Lords own an aesthetic that the UK loves. Their drawling, nonchalant Americana image is backed up by classic country-tinged rock‘n’roll, which the band describe as “Tom Petty meets The Clash.”

Having started out playing untainted country music, Texas natives and brothers Blair (vocals) and Reed van Nort (guitar) met Adam Gerard (guitar) at Manhattan’s New School, before recruiting Maxwell Kamins (bass) and persuading Grant Anderson (drums), who had previously played on EP Ride the High after their previous drummer’s unexpected departure in 2007, to relocate from Austin to join them for first album Rodeo Songs, released in October 2008.

As a record, it swings between bouncing, handclapping exciteability and more subdued but nonetheless dazzling offerings, often in the same song.

That loping Americana is evident throughout;, title track ‘Rodeo Songs’ opening in a blaze of southern church organs and sunlight on dust.They couldn’t have chosen a better first track for the album, evocative as it is of the start of a journey. One definite stand out track is ‘Pretty Little Mess,’ Reed’s more gentle vocals beginning the song before Blair’s take over, building riffs bursting into an anthemic chorus which sees guitars and bass harmonising tightly in a fashion reminiscent of The Strokes.

As Blair approaches the mic, having stepped out for a cigarette while the rest of the band fine-tune, it’s clear that this boy was born to be on stage. White vests have never looked quite as cool as they do draped over his shoulders, and it’s obvious why they’re the new darlings of the New York fashion press. Was it a conscious decision to have a cohesive ‘look’ among the band?

“Not at all,” exclaims zebra print legging-bedecked Gerard. “We’ve never actively pursued that, you know?” agrees Kamins in his trademark subdued tones.

“People have always come to us. This is just how we dress.”

If it wasn’t planned, image is nonetheless obviously important to the band. Blair is genuinely troubled by

the untimely death of the cowboy boots he had worn for every previous gig, just before they left for London.

“I ordered some new ones and paid, like, an extra 30 bucks for express delivery,” he laments, “but they still didn’t show up on time.”

Sartorial and instrument-related mishaps aside, the Lords are enjoying their time in London. “I love it here!” Blair beams. “I’ve been here for two days and I’d take London over New York any time!”

As the rest of the band enthusiastically nod their agreement, talk turns to the differences between the live scenes in the two cities. “People actually seem to enjoy going to a show here,” observes Anderson, “whereas in New York...”

“People don’t really care about music,” Gerard interjects, Blair agreeing: “To see a band play is a hassle ‘cos you gotta pay 20 bucks to get in, 20 more bucks to get drunk- people don’t really bother to go to shows. A lot of the clubs there aren’t really bandfriendly; they’ll book five bands that don’t really make any sense to play together.”

Anderson nods. “The shows I’ve been to here, I’ve enjoyed the whole bill. It seems like when they bill a night it works as a whole. It’s a cohesive show rather than just five completely different bands playing together.”

Were they tempted to play the festival circuit during their trip? Glastonbury would be a dream, says Anderson, but they had no idea festivals were so popular in the UK: “In America it’s not really cool to go to festivals,” Blair explains. “I didn’t think that everybody would be going to Glastonbury, you know, and I think that’s the difference in the culture, those things are important here. Music is important here.

It’s quite refreshing. As is vodka lemonade. I never had that before.”

With a new single and video released before the end of the summer and plans to come back to London in late September following warm receptions this time round, ‘one to watch’ might be too small a sentiment for Young Lords. File this band under ‘imminent explosion.’

Cultural differences notwithstanding, there’s no denying that the New York scene is vibrant at the moment, producing bands that translate well to London’s live audiences. Citing bands like Your 33 Black Angels, The So So Glos and Calypso as their current favourites, the Lords agree that it’s hard to predict the next big thing owing to the difficulty of breaking out of New York.

Despite this, says Gerard, there’s a clear choice. “We’re next in line!” he laughs. “We’re the last gang in town right now,” winks Blair. myspace.com/younglords

69

too cool for

hoxton?

Until recently, Hoxton Square just north of the City of London, was the height of cool. Legendary fashion-focused and dress-up nights such as Golf Sale and Boombox pulled in the capital’s most sartorially inventive partygoers and the place was buzzing with creativity. Now all that’s come to an end and some say that the area is losing its edge. Fashion blogger Ed Thomas finds out where the fashionistas have headed and discovers a brave new world of dressing up just a stone’s throw away.

66 70

W

hen Jim Warboy heard that a new venue was about to be born in an old Turkish bathhouse just off Bishopsgate in the City earlier this year, he became a man on a mission. Having chatted with friend and fashion stylist Leo Belicha about opening a new concept club, he realised their time had come. Even before the new owners got the keys to the run-down locale, he had launched a campaign to secure a regular night there.

To the occasional Hoxton reveller, this mission may seem hard to understand. After all, isn’t the area full of established venues desperate for seasoned promoters like Jim to run events at their venues? Perhaps; but the promoters don’t necessarily want to run them there anymore. As Jim puts it “It’s just the nature of the beast that club nights like ours become a victim of their own success.You make it popular, a broader crowd turn up who don’t offer the same magic and the cool people and fashion types don’t want to be there.

They always want to ‘ghettoise’ themselves.”

Jim knew The Bathhouse would give him what he was looking for, specifically because it was off the well-trodden nocturnal east London path.“Its location away from Hoxton means people have to look for it. People don’t like to feel something’s already in the popular domain.”

So, whereas five years ago promoters looking to put on a cutting edge night would have been eager to get a central location, by last summer a strong centrifugal effect had taken place with the cooler stuff spun out to the surrounding areas. Many fashion-forward nights headed up to Dalston with others heading further to the east of London in places like Bistrotheque and Bethnal Green Working Men’s club, or under the railway arches of London Bridge in SE1.

It was around that time that bespoke fashion designer Lyall Hakaraia started to think about turning the basement of his four-storey live and work space on Stoke Newington Road into an underground members club.

Hakaraia began juggling irregular parties with crafting his one-off fashion pieces at the end of last year.The to-do list for his studio work includes creations for Italian Vogue and another for Naomi Campbell to wear in a shoot for American Photo. For him the exodus from the east of London’s City area has been as much about economics as style snobbery.

“In Hoxton the rents went up, and as the area became really expensive so the only people who could afford it were working nine-to-five,” he explains. “Then draconian laws to finish parties at 2:00 am or 3:00 am came in and the inspirational people left. Freedom and choice left with them.”

Helen Noir of Film Noir experienced the effect of this economic shift first hand.“We were doing a night in a large central Hoxton bar and pulling in a crowd from 11:00 pm,” she says. “Then the landlord’s policy changed and they said they needed it to be busy from 9:00 pm. But the regular crowd that goes to our type of night doesn’t go out until later.We realised it was time to move on.”

Moving to cheaper spaces away from the so-called ‘Shoreditch triangle’ - between Old Street, Great Eastern Street and Shoreditch High Street - has reduced the pressure from venue owners to admit every man and his dog who wants a pint at 9:00 pm and freed Noir up to create the nights she originally set out to.

ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN But what is it that makes these nights cooler than the traditional Hoxton hangouts? Despite boasting the coolest atmospheres and attracting some of the most creatively dressed revellers in the capital, none of the promoters admit to consciously setting out to establish dress-up or even fashion-led nights. Instead, most of them agree that what they’re trying to do is simply offer nights where they and their friends can feel safe to express themselves. Noir explains: “You don’t need to be wearing drag or crazy clothes to get in but we do want to create an environment in which the people that do feel safe.”

Meanwhile, Leo Belicha has pretty firm ideas about what he set out to achieve with Caligula. He says: “People have always had somewhere to go out but it’s got to the

63 67 71

stage where there’s not enough sex out there.

There are too many people going for a night out, coming home at the end of the night and just hanging up their Margiela in their wardrobe. But then what? The two reference points that Jim and I had for Caligula were Cabaret Voltaire and Studio 54.These were the kinds of places where anything could happen.”

When asked the question ‘how do you take an empty space and turn it into a night being hyped as the coolest in the capital’ most of the people running these parties agree that, with such small numbers filling the space - The Bathhouse’s capacity is 300 and Vogue Fabric’s considerably less - mixing the cocktail of partygoers correctly is crucial. Facebook pages are started and invite lists are kicked off by the promoters’ ever-growing friends lists. After that comes the door selection with a top no-no being large single sex straight groups as they tend to skew the audience in one direction.

Leo is very candid about how he sets the balance of clientele at Caligula. “We’ve had some very important people from the worlds of fashion, music and films at Caligula and we also have the 18 to 20-year-old kids and taxi drivers,” he says. “But

let’s be honest, some of these people are just props and you wouldn’t want to have too many of them. I’m always watching people. If one wrong person comes by them self it’s not too bad because they won’t really change anything; but if lots of people come in one group it can bring the wrong vibe. It’s something that I’m constantly concerned about.”

As the venue owner, Lyall’s crowd control tactics focus on choosing the right people he invites to run his nights. He explains: “I select the promoters than run parties at my place very carefully. Most of them have their own people who follow them around and know where they are.”The result is a legacy of loads of hot underground promoters being associated with his venue which can come back to haunt him when he least wants it. “Sometimes I’ll be at home at 2:00 am and I hear people knocking on the door looking for a party downstairs. When I tell them there’s no party it feels like a whorehouse after all the whores have left.”

72

CARRY ON UP KINGSLAND With dozens of vacant retail units left in Dalston, as well as London’s undying hunger for anything pop-up and the continued mainstream saturation of Hoxton, the path up Kingsland Road will be increasingly well-trodden by the East End fashion set.There’s even a stack of larger venues suitable for less regular parties waiting to be colonised by the set, as shown by the success of places like world music venue Uplifting Church on Richmond Road. But the area is already very residential in places and the hub of the scene, Dalston Superstore, is still hampered by a 2:00 am licence.

Lyall reckons things could go either way. “Until now, Dalston’s been very middle of the road, not posh,” he says.

“Now the Superstore’s arrived, things could start to turn posh or they could stay as they are. Personally I prefer the status quo.” But with everyone from Italian Vogue to the Guardian hailing Dalston as the new cool place, it seems unlikely that things will stay the same for long. •

LEOBELICHA

(l)

PR,caligula.

Brazilian born fashion stylist and veteran of the legendary mid 90s New York club scene where he worked for Patricia Fields by day, as a door whore at places like the original Disco Bloodbath, Limelight, Sound factory and Palladium.When he slept he rested his head at the infamous Chelsea Hotel.

jimwarboy

(r)

PRomoter,caligula.

Previous nightclub credits run like a roll call of the hottest underground clubs of the last decade including Anti-Social, All You Can Eat and the hugely influential fashion/dress-up night Kashpoint.

Lyallhakaria owner,vogue fabrics

Bespoke fashion designer who’s made one-off creations for pretty much every fashion magazine that counts including French, Italian and British Vogue and younger titles like i-D and Dazed and Confused.

He occupies an entire terrace house on Stoke Newington Road: parties in basement, works out of ground floor and lives upstairs. http://www.hakaraia.com/

Club Details: Caligula, every Friday at The Bathhouse, 7-8 Bishopsgate Churchyard, 11:30-5:00am Film Noir, every third Friday at The Ghetto, 58 Old Street and occasional parties at Dalston Superstore, http:// www.filmnoirrecords.com/

helennoir

promoter&dj, filmnoir Started Film Noir nights 3 years ago to enable her to get more DJ sets.

Helen unofficially advises on music and creates edits for catwalks for fashion designer friends…and her friends include Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci.

Dalston Superstore, 117 Kingsland High Street, parties most weekends, open all day till 2am Vogue Fabrics, Stoke Newington Road, members’ club with occasional parties

By Ed Thomas ManAboutWorld.blogspot.com

29 73

noah and the whale 74

the cinematic orchestrators WORDS: jenna walker - PHOTO: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

B

arely looking up from his guitar, as his pre-Raphaelite curls fringe over his eyes, songwriter Charlie Fink is weary from a day spent auditioning guitarists. But set him off about films (Wes Anderson is a huge influence) or the music industry and he snaps into life, gesticulating wildly.

Two years after Noah and the Whale’s debut album Peaceful,The World Lays Me Down won critical plaudits for its sauntering beauty and Elbow-style despondency, the Twickenham four-piece have written a film to accompany their new album The First Days Of Spring.

The front man sits cross-legged and thespian, missing only a Virginia slim and a quarter-filled glass of Hennessey. Subconsciously flicking from bumbling poet to erratic young school boy, Fink speaks mellifluously, trailing off on sentences when he loses interest or momentum. But there are times his face hardens. Like, for example, when asked about what the band has learned. “Our biggest ambition was to support this folk singer from Portland, Oregon called Thanksgiving.

We did that in Manchester to, like, 30 people. Since then it’s been downhill,” he explains wryly, putting down his guitar.

Nevertheless, ambition drips from Fink’s ever pore and, as you’d expect, so does their second album The First Days of Spring. It’s a world away from the handclapping, maypole-dancing, pocket whistle-blowing jingle of their first LP. The whole album is a desolate, Oscar Wilde-induced break-up LP for the postPavement generation. Co-produced by Emery Dobyns (who’s worked with Patti Smith and Anthony and the Johnsons) its powerfully maudlin opening, set around two lifting instrumentals, collapses into a confused and broken conclusion.

The album’s songs juxtapose melting pots of hopeful strings and brass alongside widowed and contemplative lyrics and epic guitar explosions, while Fink’s hushed, pencilled-in-and-rubbed out vocals possess a humble selflessness. Songs skip from Keatsian melancholy to joyously orchestral. Not in a Chris Martin jerking-off all over his piano-type way, but with a more Spiritualized style grace.

Fink describes the last time he was overjoyed. “I’d just been to see this film on my own and I was walking back home, listening to Beethoven’s Violin Concerto – I sound like such a twat, I’m not this big a twat – walking through Tottenham Court Road, and some of the most vile scenes you’ll see in the world happen

there, but I’d just seen this film, I was listening to this music.”

If there was ever a point to fall in love with Charlie Fink, this was it. His eyes start darting about with the endearing vulnerability of Ian Curtis and, for the first time in the interview, he appears youthful. “I see the narrative having redemption,” he declares of his new record and the film accompanying it. “There are low moments but it’s a whole story, it’s how it resolves.”

Both the album and the film have their own narrative and complement each other, but Fink stops short of using the ‘c’ word. “People have called it a concept album, but, I don’t know, who cares.”

The First Days of Spring poses a thousand profound questions and explores them all with painful intimacy. Fink fires couplet after gloomy couplet (‘Last night I slept with a stranger / She lay on my chest.’ ‘I don’t think I ever loved you / but my door is always open’) dripping them through lackadaisically-sung melodies over syrupy tunes that wouldn’t be out of place in a Disney film. Never once seeking empathy or reassurance, The First Days Of Spring, in all its schizophrenia, chooses to cathartically self-prescribe and resolve.

With an obvious resemblance to Wilco, Arcade Fire and The Postal Service, there’s also a significant nod to Johnny Greenwood, whose score work the band admit to having taken inspiration from. “I’d watch There Will Be Blood and say ‘wouldn’t it be cool to have strings like that?’ ” Despite his over-education, Fink isn’t above cringing about the past. “It’s like when you get really drunk, wake up and think ‘what the fuck were we doing?’ ” he says of the early music videos that saw them clowning around in cartoonish Mortal Kombat-style outfits.

“I hate [being called] whimsical. I hate ‘twee’ and I hate, hate the word ‘rollocking’. We’ve made decisions that I regret. But we were young and naïve. They [the music industry] were all tricksters. I can’t believe I thought anyone on a record label cared about music.

Not all their blood’s made of acid, but they just don’t understand that your definition of success is different to theirs.”

If they hadn’t already convinced critics that they’re not just another ‘and the’ band, this latest venture from Noah and the Whale will prove not only their musical talents, but also their incredibly bright appreciation and talent for film. myspace.com/noahandthewhale

75

SUBSCRIBE TO FMS...

It takes only the name to work out our content without science or equations. At one glance, absorbing the bright bold pink lettering should highlight the fact that we don’t take things too gravely. Its fashion and music with an extra loud drizzle of style.

What’s more, with every single issue comes a FREE CD to accompany our regular Five Unsigned feature, and we top it up with bonus tracks contributed by musicians profiled within our pages.

If you’ve only just stumbled across FASHION.MUSIC.STYLE then you’ve missed out…but don’t cry. If you order a subscription to FMS magazine online then we’ll send you a back copy of your choice absolutely free*

1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION (4 COPIES) including P&P: UK £12.00 Europe £20.00 Rest of World £24.00

Order online at www.fashionmusicstyle.com *Dependent on availability and while stocks last of course

phoenix fresh air

T

WORDS: ALLISON MULIMBA

here’s always been something naturally cool about the French. Whether it’s Breton stripes or a Jean-Luc Godard film, they have a coolness that many people try, and fail, to emulate.

And whatever that je ne sais quoi is, it’s clear that Phoenix have it. Preparing for their US tour, front-man Thomas Mars talks from San Francisco about success and being France’s most un-French band.

The Gallic four-piece first formed whilst at school in Versailles. Mars describes growing up in the Paris suburb as ‘boring’; far from the historic romanticism it apparently evokes in his girlfriend Sofia Coppola’s biopic Marie Antoinette.

Mars’ French nonchalance is immediately apparent as he remains unsurprised by their level of success.“We knew that music would be very important for us, we knew we would be doing this for a very long time.” Mars appears unaffected by fame and success. He describes touring very simply:“it’s the best way to travel the world, you meet people and you give something and get a nice reward.”

When English appears to fail him he adopts that quintessential French mannerism “How do you say...?” adding an ‘err’ on the end of every other word whilst trying to come up with an appropriate French to English translation. Naturally his abstract ideas don’t always translate well on paper but this disengagement adds more to his continental charm.

Mars describes the thinking behind their latest album’s title,Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.“It’s almost like a kid drawing a moustache on the Mona Lisa.We’re taking something that’s very symbolic and messing with it.”

This is their first album since leaving label Astralwerks.

“We wanted to make the album something unique and see who understood us the most.” Unsurprisingly it was indie labels that did just that as the major ones “felt it would

be commercial suicide.”This new found creative freedom allowed them to talk about subjects which had little relevance to anyone but themselves, as a result the record is a “mash up of a lot of weird things.”

In the three years it took Phoenix to write the latest record they rented a houseboat on the Seine hoping to gain inspiration from the beautifully bohemian surroundings.

“It didn’t work. It would have been better if we wrote everything in a very dark closet.”

It seems that Phoenix work their best when inspiration isn’t forced. Mars describes how a road trip from Paris to Versailles inspired the instrumental passage ‘Love Like A Sunset Parts 1 & 2’.They were enthused by listening to ‘Drumming’ by Steve Reich.“It fitted with the tunnels and the rhythm and the lights so we tried to recreate that feeling and at some point it became a song.”

Mars recognises that Phoenix have a sound which is not always typically French. He attributes this to their decision to sing in English, a choice which initially caused French radio stations to refuse to play them.There is a sharp change in Mars voice as he begins to get serious, expressing his severe annoyance when the French question his decision to write in English.“It reflects how people are narrow-minded. The beauty of music is that it goes beyond language.”

Things are beginning to change massively for Phoenix.

Their blend of guitar and drum chops with a bit of harpsichord thrown in for fun has established their rightful position alongside Daft Punk and Air in the trinity of contemporary French music.They are inspired by tunnels, childlike innocence the importance of “trying not to please anyone.”The result is an unabashed form of rock-pop perfection. • myspace.com/wearephoenix

77

festivals: homeoraway?

European music festivals have been all the rage in recent years with cheap flights, cheap beer and better weather. But with a strong euro and killer line-ups back home is it still worth the hassle? Hardened festival hack Andrew Future heads to Austria and Leeds to compare festivals home and abroad.

Words:Andrew Future

W

elcome to Jarvis Island,” proclaims Jarvis Cocker three songs into his midafternoon set at Frequency in St. Pölten, about an hour from Vienna. “There are no rules here,” he continues, before announcing 30 minutes later that he “has” to finish his set of new solo material. In the blazing sunshine, you don’t care that the main arena at Frequency is a car park crossed with a quarry. But with a Glastonbury-style monsoon on the final day, the unset concrete becomes almost as painful on the feet as the woeful Subways are on the ears.

But that doesn’t matter, because we’re all here for Radiohead, right? Well, yes.

That’s less true at Reading and Leeds which have always been the kings of English festivals. Just as many people are here to see the return of Arctic Monkeys. And despite eight pound pizzas, dodgy weather and a history of unsettled crowds, particularly on the last night, Leeds is relatively peaceful.The line-ups seem to get stronger as the crowds get younger, but with the A-list line-up stretching from Faith No More to Florence and the Machine, the 2009 event was always going to be rather amazing. Chuck in a few gallons of Gaymers, and we’re on an apple cloud all weekend.

78

The immediate problem Frequency has is that the big bands (Radiohead and Kasabian) use it as a warm-up show, while various others (Bloc Party and Glasvegas) don’t seem to really give a shit.While Kasabian’s miserable performance can be put down to Tom not being properly recovered from swine flu, Glasvegas just look like they cannot be bothered.

Despite the shocking percentage of their music not played live,Ting Tings are irresistible fun if only for two reasons (which are ‘Shut Up and Let Me Go’ and ‘That’s Not My Name’ in case that wasn’t clear). Fellow blonde Little Boots is also a highlight, along with Enter Shikari who single-handedly destroys the Green Stage by setting crowdsurfing targets of 50 people per-song.

The problem is that between the decent English bands, there’s not really anywhere to go.There’s little shade outside and when it does start to piss down on the final day, no way of escaping it and still watching anything half decent. Unlike Belgium’s Werchter festival, it doesn’t have lush greenery throughout or a similarly heavyweight line-up, and there’s none of the beach side action you’ll find in Spain at Benicassim.

Yes, it’s got a few good bands, but you could be at any dust-bowl in the UK. And with the hassle incurred getting

yourself to Austria, like us, you’d probably wish that you’d done just that.

Editors, however, are worth the trip. Even though their new material is mostly devoid of guitars, despite being even gloomier, their edgy new sentiment is a real leap forward for the quartet and unlike many of their countrymen, they attack the set with venom and gusto.

As you would expect, Radiohead are awesome at both Leeds and Frequency. In front of the same forest of hanging lights, they alternate set lists bursting through classic after classic. However, it’s testament to the poor planning of Frequency that none of the British journalists on our press trip are allowed photo access for the major acts. Nice one guys.

The air of Leeds is one of real fun and while the ticket prices are one-and-a-half times that of Frenquency, there’s three times as many great bands to check out.

Monumental sets from Crystal Castles and Faith No More plug the rather middling affair that is Arctic Monkeys’ return, as they inflict a load of untested new material on a crowd that wants a Friday night dance.While Kings of Leon manage to wind up the masses in Reading, stomping off early in a tantrum, they do Leeds proud and even their staunchest critics are left applauding.

So what’s the moral of the story then? Well, if you can guarantee things you cannot get at home (bands, sex and sunshine), go abroad. If not, don’t bother. Or least not where it involves flights, transfers and a host of possible extra costs.While flights themselves are quite quick, by the time you’ve gotten in and out of airports and suffered the indignity of decanting your expensive cosmetics into plastic bags, you won’t want to bother at all. And with most of the great bands on the festival circuit playing if not originating from Britain, for music festivals, there really is no place like home. • Frequency.at Leedsfestival.com

79

CLASSIC STYLE VS. FUTURE SPORTS

alexander mcqueen

gucci

Menswear sees a return to classic styling this winter as everything quintessentially British sees a revival, from Saville Row suits to natty pocket handkerchiefs. The key is to smarten up with tailored waistcoats, neat shirts and polished boots. But smart doesn’t have to mean serious – add a touch of British eccentricity with a dapper cravat or a neat bowler hat.

2

3 1

4

1.

2.

3.

Burton, £55 Beyond Retro, £35 ASOS, £25

4.

5.

ASOS, £25 Reiss, £169

6.

Fred Perry at www.oki-ni.com, £49

80

5

6

WORDS: jodie ball

Christopher Shannon

calvin klein collection

If suited and booted just isn’t your thing, try going back to the future as sports style gets a sleek new look. Retro favourites such as puffa jackets and high top trainers are updated in slick, high shine finishes and even the naff old bum bag gets an injection of cool this season! Also look for offbeat pieces such as the Raf Simons coat with neoprene sleeves.

6

1

3

2 Lacoste, £220 1.

Born by Ted Baker, £110 2.

Raf Simons at www.oki-ni.com, £1399 3.

5

Master-Piece at www.oki-ni.com, £155 4.

Ato at www.oki-ni.com, £199 5.

4

Hederus at www.oki-ni.com, £349 6.

81

G...

IN ODUC INTR

FIV-E UN NED SIG

Catherine tran

82

acoustic lady land

Hair and Make-Up: Evie Stoddart using Elemis and Nars - Stylist: Sana Zod

I

’m the drop out of the family,” declares Catherine Tran wryly. With a sultry smile, the 28-year-old singer and guitarist from Eastbourne explains that she’s not going to furnish her Vietnamese parents with a career in dentistry, law or medicine like her three sisters.

She’s probably far too emotional to do any of those jobs anyway. Her unassuming demeanour, pretty smile and flowery dress belie her truly captivating voice and one imagines a fiery temper to match.

But it’s the human-ness, the fragility and the total lack of any pretension that make her one of the most exciting new female songwriters we’ve seen in many years.

Tran’s tear-tugging music is as timeless as it is simple. Tracks like ‘Move Here’ are infused with the kind of glorious, wistful space-folk that saw Nick Drake and Grandaddy produce classic records decades apart. Meanwhile ‘Home’ is a plucky break-up tune that could similarly come from any decade.

“I don’t know if I’m über-sensistive but I do write a lot about people who are close to me; people I love and hate.” She doesn’t hate “too many” people though.

“Actually, hate is a strong word. I take it back.”

Lying somewhere between After The Gold Rushera Neil Young and Coldplay before Chris Martin put his snout in the U2 trough, Tran sings of wonder, lust and lovelorn vulnerability. “I don’t want to look back and regret that I didn’t try,” she says.

At the tender age of 18, Tran bagged a support slot with “some old guy” who turned out to be Robert Plant. “He heard me and wanted me to play. I was so ignorant back then, I didn’t listen to Led Zeppelin,” she laughs.

Her music began to take shape in 2004 when Tran quit east London and a university course in social policy to head to Denmark. Playing South By South West festival in Texas, she befriended Joshua, producer of revered Danish groups Mew and Kashmir. Once out working with him in Copenhagen, she formed a band, wrote a load of songs and honed her live show.

“In Denmark you actually get paid pretty well, even for support slots,” she recalls fondly. “I was doing a lot of gigs and I learned heaps. It was our second home. I really changed the way I thought about things because they’ve got such high standards. When I came back to London we thought it was absolutely horrible at first.”

Despite classing herself as “Vietnamese” the only Vietnamese people around Tran during her childhood were her family. Unsurprisingly, her music is very much

the product of an English childhood and everything that goes with growing up in the nineties.

“I never socialised with Asian people which may explain why I got into this music,” she explains, adding that inspiring other females from ethnic minorities to get into music is certainly on her agenda. “Yes. It does sound really clichéd, but I didn’t grow up wanting to make a point.

“I was really into Green Day, Radiohead and Smashing Pumpkins rather than R&B and hip hop. All my friends were into Take That and Spice Girls.They all cried when Take That split and I didn’t give a shit.”

Joni Mitchell’s Blue, The Cure’s Disintegration and Red House Painters 1 join Radiohead’s The Bends and OK Computer among Tran’s favourite records, but she’s not a snob. “People say music has to be this ‘meaningful’ or ‘arty’ thing. I just strive to write good pop songs.”

Interestingly though, one of her biggest modern influences are Danish prog band Mew.Their acclaimed new album No More Stories is currently top of Tran’s listening pile. “They’re one of my favourite bands.

They’re amazing guys and for a time I was sat in a van travelling round with them. They really changed the way I listened to music.”

One of Tran’s biggest fans is Coldplay producer Ken Nelson, with whom she recorded ‘Move Here’ ‘Warning’ and ‘Waiting For You’ at the legendary Parr Street Studios in Liverpool. Another notable collaborator is Joseph “Joey” Waronker, who’s played drums with the likes of Smahshing Pumpkins and REM. Right now though, Tran wants to finish a new fivetrack EP and release it herself to test the water for bigger things. “I’ve written a ton of new songs,” she says, “I’ve been playing so much I’ve kinda neglected that. I wanna push out this personal thing that I’m doing with really simple recordings. I’m proud of my roots and who I am, I don’t know if that works against me when it comes to the industry trying to categorise me and finding I don’t fit into the Florence or Lady Gaga box.”

Do you have a bra with sparks on? That’s the question.

“I may have to get one.”• myspace.com/catherinetran WORDS: andrew future PHOTO: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

83

EDITORS

alberta cross

Columbia

Ark Recordings

For a band nearing Keane territory, discarding guitars for their third album is a big risk. Despite the Joy Division jeers, Editors have been rightly adored by those who appreciated Tom Smith’s brooding, Interpol-ish vocals and Chris Urbanowicz’s edgy Suede-meetsColdplay guitars.

While this synth-fest may be a natural progression for a band running out of guitar riffs, it’s no easy listen. ‘Papillon’ might offer quick thrills for old fans but the majority of this sounds like Kraftwerk scoring Robocop.

While there are genuine moments of brilliance (‘The Boxer’) you also find yourself asking how a happily married man with a child can write something like ‘You Don’t Know Love’. Still, despite its Morrissey-vsRadiohead title, ‘Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool’ is an example of how Editors, bleak, robotic gloom sounds at its best, and as long as you don’t expect instant gratification, In This Light… is a great, if rather unsettling adventure.

Who would have thought that after relocating to New York, this ScandoBrit blues rock coupling would be back within months supporting Oasis on an arena tour as Noel’s new favourite band? Indeed, after an acclaimed major label EP glistening with the hallmarks of great, classic song writing, Alberta Cross’s full length debut is more of a heavy, early-Verve affair.

There’s crunchy, screeching riffs (‘ATX’), soaring walls of sound (‘Broken Side of Time’) and countless pounding, heart-breaking moments of beauty (‘Leave Us or Forgive Us’).

At the opposite end of the scale, is the more country-tinged material written before they headed Stateside to form a new band. The flowery melodies of ‘Old Man Chicago’ are timeless, while the desolate, cinematic grit of ‘TheThief and the Heartbreaker’ underpin a masterful debut. Singer Peter Ericson Stakee’s pained and paranoid vocals chill your spine like NeilYoung in his heyday and when contrasted with the kind of mesmerising psychedelic beauty on show here, it’s a pleasure to behold.

Words: Andrew Future

Words: Andrew Future

The Raveonettes

the twilight sad

Fierce Panda

Fat Cat

The Raveonettes’ fourth studio album In And Out Of Control is a massive departure from their trademark sound.

Gone are the songs only written in B-flat major and minor – they’ve been replaced with crafted pop tunes. ‘Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)’ is sung in the most light-hearted way.

There seems to be little correlation between the lyrical tone and the mood of the music that carries them. It’s a theme that runs through the whole album.

The harmonies are still there and while the songs are still just as catchy as anything they’ve done, tracks like ‘Suicide’ and ‘Last Dance’ side-step the band’s past into soaring, electro-stompers.

‘Oh I BuriedYou Today’ is unrecognisable as a Raveonettes track, as are most of the songs, but the new sound could well win over new fans.

The band’s sound has never been so literate or expansive and what they’ve lost by shedding the dark trademark sound has been replaced ten-fold with a maturity and pop sensibility that makes this a truly great, if unexpected, album.

The minute you put this record on, it’s clear that the latest album from this quartet from Kilsyth in Scotland is the most exciting thing to hit British music in a long time. It follows their acclaimed 2007 debut Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters.

Seconds into opener,‘Reflection OfThe Television’and you’ll be hooked by a row that’s part Nine Inch Nails, part Cure and all brilliance. Amid the attack of percussion and scattered guitars is a wall of wailing from front man James Graham. And as his vitriolic howls he draws you in, the result is nothing short of captivating.

Best listened to ear-splittingly loud, this is a mesmerising, dark and almost celestial record. Although it’s unlikely to follow Glasvegas into the charts, it’s safe to say that the Twilight Sad have created the gutsiest rock album of the year.

Words: Laura Nineham

Words: Alison Mulimba

In This Light and On This Evening

ALBUM REVIEWS

In and Out of Control

84

Broken Side of Time

Forget the night ahead

the hidden cameras

health

Arts & Crafts

Lovepump United

Collaborations in the studio and onstage with Patrick Wolf and the Scissor Sisters have brought Montreal native Joel Gibbs and his Hidden Cameras out of the shadows and into the open. Reaching out from their usual two chord acoustic indiepop template the band veer closely at times to the expansive orchestration of A Silver Mt Zion and fellow Arts & Crafts collective Broken Social Scene (album opener ‘Ratify The New’ and the anthemic mid-point ‘Walk On’)/ At other points they glide near the burrowing whimsical disco of Wham! (the irritatingly catchy ‘Underage’).

Their heart is still the same however, and roughly a decade in, the band still possess the same knack for filling albums with memorable hooks and witty yet heartfelt lyrics. aEven if Origin:Orphan fails to bring the band closer to the spotlight they richly deserve their fifth full-length is another triumph.

Los Angeles four-piece HEALTH’s unique, genre-defying creations draw inspiration from all manner of sources without ever verging on the un-listenable. If 2007’s self-titled debut and subsequent live shows hinted at a darker, more brutal direction, then ‘Get Color’ is the stark realisation of their tendency to mix subtlety and aggression to the maximum.Album centrepiece ‘Severin’ could be their ‘To Here Knows When’, while ‘Die Slow’ is surely HEALTH’s first foray into radio-friendly territories.

Similarly, the incendiary loops of ‘In Violet’ could soundtrack an underwater rave while the ferocious drum-led assault of ‘BeforeTigers’ replete with halos of tremelo-induced paranoia is as close to their live show’s intensity as they’ve achieved so far on record.

‘Get Color’ is not so much a next step, but more a giant leap forwards by one of the world’s most progressive musical collectives.

Words: Jordan Dowling

Words: Dom Gourlay

Blockhead

Sufjan Stevens

Ninja Tune

Rough Trade

New York based hip-menstrualist Blockhead returns with his third studio album for Ninja Tune, still basking in the glory of its Mercury Prize win with Speech Debelle. Dark and menacing, yet heart-warming and luscious, the record’s twist of insanity somehow makes it a rather beautiful listen.

Without a stale drumbeat in earshot, Blockhead breaks the mould like nothing has in a long time. With samples splashed from all across the musical spectrum, his fine production is punctuated with the oddly profound vocal injections that have become a trademark.

As it lurches from creepy jazzy segments (‘The Prettiest Sea Slug’ ) to grim yet majestic bass lines (‘The Daily Routine’), the music often gives way to choral blasts or violent, gory interludes that have to be heard to be understood. This is a wonderful head-nodder that makes you think and, at times, melt.

It has been four years since Sufjan Stevens presented the world with Illinois and he’s since left the 50 state album concept behind replacing it with The BQE, an instrumental celebration of New York City and the notorious urban roadway between Brooklyn and Queens. Originally performed live to accompany a film about the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the studio recording is everything but an ordinary LP as it is part symphony, part film and the 180-gram vinyl comes with its own comic book.

The record is effortless and peaceful, yet powerful as Stevens combines saccharine piano-led melodies with intense orchestral passages.

Seemingly trying to step away from being American indie’s poster boy, his symphonic and cinematic endeavours are often quite profound as Stevens strives to capture one of the world’s ugliest expressways in music. Traffic Shock stands out; its experimental, electronic interlude is a welcomed break from the instrumental fanfares, vampy electronica and choral dreamscapes.

With its combination of piano, horns, brass and sporadic flutes the album’s soundscape is a potent nod to Phillip Glass and, at times, Brian Eno. It’s a pleasant break from Stevens’ folksy past and an inviting dip into far more challenging climbs from one of the most interesting men in music.

Words: Laura Nineham

Origin: Orphan

The Music Scene

Words: Richard Chesterman

Get Color

The BQE

85

the hoxton pony ride on time, good times

S

WORDS: sarah hardy

addle up and head down to a venue that is definitely not pony.Well, not in every sense of the word anyway. FMS headed to The Hoxton Pony in Shoreditch to shoot three of our Five Unsigned for issue four. We had Catherine Tran on the stairs, The Brute Chorus in the corner and The Arcadian Kicks in front of the mirrors. Hmm, yes, scandalous.

No doubt your thoughts have now turned to having your own experience between these fine walls. You’ll not be disappointed.The venue was designed by architect Yanik Allard, with slick interior – no joke but its black, white and red all over – box lighting and large scale visuals, and plays host to a whole heap of electronica fuelled nights. But they’re certainly no one trick pony (that was bad, I know) and aim to please with all sounds vintage and current; including ska, soul, old movie soundtracks and rock n’ roll.

And that’s just half the story. Owner Gerry Calabrese doesn’t mess about when it comes to food and drink

86

either. The impressive bar team is headed by his old friend, Andy Pearson, the current UK Bartenders Guild National Champion. So go chill at the bar and get served by a team of cocktail professionals shaking over 200 hand selected spirits in and out of seasonally emphasized menus. Or dine with a plate of cooked up British tradition including east end favourites with a twist – cockles in malt vinegar, glazed chicken wings with liquorice, or Welsh rarebit fingers… anyone? • The Hoxton Pony 104 - 108 Curtain Road London EC2A 3AH www.thehoxtonpony.com

BRIEF ENCOUNTER WITH... words: bertan budak

the true godfather of grime...

It’s a common trait among many artists in the grime scene to attack their fellow emcees, and 30-year old east London-based rapper Wiley is no different. Only minutes into our phone chat, he’s already dissing Britan’s biggest R&B group N Dubz, who, only a few weeks ago, he was working with in the studio.

Wiley

“I don’t care about them,” he says.“I featured on a track for them, so it’s not for me to promote it – that’s their job.” But why is he so adamant not to talk about the group that has taken the UK singles chart by storm? “It’s not like they really care, they don’t give a damn about Wiley,” he says. “They just care about themselves. We’re not friends anymore, we’re competition. N Dubz, whatever!”

A perfect example of why grime is dark territory. Forget working as a team – it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, well, according to Wiley anyway. He’s fallen out with a number of high-profile artists, including his Boy Better Know brethren, and has been the victim of a number of malicious attacks. If his scars could talk, they’d tell you about the time he was beaten and stabbed repeatedly by a gang of youths several years ago. And chatting with the grime star, it’s easy to see why he was at the hub of several violent disputes.

Hip hop beef aside, it has been nearly ten years since Wiley entered the game and, to this day, still remains a force to be reckoned with. After years of penning underground hits such as ‘Gangsterz’ and ‘Wot U Call It’, he enjoyed mainstream success when his single ‘Wearing My Rolex’ (“That tune was big, still”) became the number one download on iTunes UK, and he was signed to music major Atlantic Records.However,the partnership between the two parties was short-lived.Wiley, being who he is, blames the divorce entirely on the record label.

“It all went wrong because the manager got too excited,” he says.

“It was bad business – people were lying and trying to overrule me. I don’t hate them though, because it’s their money they’re handing out, so they wanted to be careful. But saying that, they’ve rung me back and offered me a label deal. I’m going to have a meeting with them to see what’s going on.”

There is a reason why Wiley has been dubbed the Godfather of Grime. He has a canine-like loyalty to the game, and has managed to thrive in an industry where emcees come and go with alarming frequency. Longevity is key in this business. His route to success has been both a difficult and dangerous journey – he has the mental and physical scars to prove it – but unlike most artists in the game,Wiley has done what most before him have failed to do: he reached his destination. • myspace.com/eskiboywiley

87

m a h g n i m bir nch u a l

issue 3

end t i r e d ow, b n i a r the

PHOTOS - VIKKI COBAIN

To celebrate going national FMS partied twice for the launch of issue 3. First stop was The Rainbow pub in Birmingham and we snapped up a delectable bunch of bands from the Midlands along with our favourite band from Copenhagen, Sha La Las. First on the bill were The Arcadian Kicks, co-managed by Jon Brookes of The Charlatans who also treated us to a DJ set later that evening. Next up,The Black And Reds wowed party peeps with their unique drumming performance.Wolverhampton band The Lines followed with an energetic set that included their latest single, Half Dreams. DJ sets also came from the likes of Midlands favourites Dean Smith and Rag and Bone before Sha La Las wrapped up the party with their seriously seductive package of rock, pop ‘n roll. Many thanks to the The Paragon Hotel who treated the FMS team to bed and breakfast. A mere hop, skip and jump away from The Rainbow made the hotel a perfect hangout for late night drinks and cosy sleep-ins‌check out theparagonhotel.co.uk for a thoroughly decent place to rest your weary dancing feet after a night on the tiles of our beloved Brum.

28 88

Page 88 main pic/top - The Lines left - The Arcadian Kicks right - The Black And Reds page 89 Main pic/top - Sha La Las B/W - DJ Jon Brookes Bottom right - DJ Dean Smith Below - dj Rag And Bone

29 89

n o d n lo nch lau

issue 3

PHOTOS - VIKKI COBAIN

den m a c , rch a n o m the

90

No rest for the terribly wicked. Just two days after our Birmingham celebration FMS hit The Monarch in Camden for our London launch party. Many thanks to both Smirnoff (for their tasty Moscow Mules) and Stella who both treated guests to a complimentary drinks reception. Anders Knudsen of The Delanies and Maria Viskonti first hit the stage to warm up revellers with their endearing acoustic set. Then freshly formed Ray Dar Vees proved why they’re already on the A&R radar before the brilliant 12 Dirty Bullets rocked out the stage. Once again we treated peeps to a heavy dose of Sha La Las who were also celebrating the launch of their single ‘Ode To Nothing’, produced by none other than Paul Schroeder (Stone Roses, The Verve…). Tunes were spun by the delightful Princesses Des Pommes and guests were treated to a copy of the new mag in jam packed goody bags with treats from Red Or Dead (sunglasses), Kangol (hats), Ring Leader (necklaces) and Arrogant Cat, plus vouchers from Wardrobe.com and the May Fair Spa. Safe to say a good time was had by all before FMS drifted into the night with friends and alcohol along the famous Camden Lock.

Page 90 top - Sha La Las left - 12 dirty bullets right - ray dar vees page 91 Main pic/top - Sha La Las Below - anders knudsen & maria viskonti

91

E

azin FMS magS T PRESEN ...

y a d r u t Sa n o o n r Afte Live!

Summer 2009 saw the launch of our fortnightly events at The Flowerpot with bands, DJs, and BBQ free for all.

Check out some of the best and be sure to join us soon…

UPCOMING DATES October: 17th & 31st November: 14th & 28th December: 5th & 19th Many thanks to all the bands that have taken part, not forgetting all our DJs - Dirty Omar (pictured bottom right), George of Screaming 66, Princesses Des Pommes and Daniel of Mucky Pups.

YOUNG LORDS

Rooted in NYC, Young Lords gave Camden a piece of the Big Apple and a chance to totally dig their energetic country infused rock. myspace.com/younglords

THE MUNROES

An exciting, and powerfully worded rock ‘n’ roll outfit, with a unique sound and sex pistol-esque energy; The Munroes can certainly stand and deliver. myspace.com/themunroes

RAY DAR VEES

This magnificent sounding trio with exceptional song writing skills are on their way up and taking with them the captured hearts of whoever listens. myspace.com/raydarvees

92

NIE HART WORDS: CON REAS BELTZER ES 92-94): AND AG (P PHOTOS:

THE

ot

rp e w o l f

14t7own Rd

h kentisondon l

THE BUDDA CAKES

A great taste of random musicality and quirkiness, The Budda Cakes give us their take on modern music with a magical charm. myspace.com/thebuddacakes

MELODY NELSON

They’re loud, raw, and do nothing in half measures; we welcomed Melody Nelson to the stage with their Spacemen 3 meets rock ‘n’ roll. myspace.com/melodynelsonuk

KRISTIAN MARR

Russ Wilson joined Kristian Marr and both treated us to a gorgeous and captivating acoustic set. myspace.com/kristianmarr

93

FMS magazinE PRESENTS...

ay Saturd Afternoon Live!

newislands

Ex-Departure front man David certainly causes a stir with his latest project. Gleaming vocals over electro waves of greatness, this is indie electro at its best! myspace.com/newislands

the dash

With incredible stage energy, passion, and instantly loveable tunes watching The Dash and their adrenaline fuelled punk is always a sheer pleasure. myspace.com/the_dash

alex starling

With beautiful vocals similar to that of Lennon and words delivered straight from the soul, Alex Starling’s wonderful acoustic set wasn’t short of attention. myspace.com/starlingband

94

will and the people

This bright bunch of talent, who bounce the borders of Reggae, Ska, Blues and Rock, are fronted by Will with his marvellous voice and endearing lyrics. myspace.com/willandthepeople

missing andy

Energetic Missing Andy, with jaw dropping attitude and image, certainly know how to draw in a crowd. With experimental sounds worked into a unique blend of urban indie punk, these guys are definitely not for the fainthearted! myspace.com/missingandy

THE HEEBIEJEEBIES

A bass player with entertaining moves, damn good drummer and front man clutching his guitar and singing like his life depended on it. These boys give you lively tropical pop and a put a proper smile on your chops. myspace.com/theheebiefuckinjeebies

mucky pups

Fresh onto the stages of London’s music circuit this band deliver heartfelt lyrics about ‘Friday Night Blues’ tied to charming indie riffs; attracting a toe-tapping audience, I’m sure we’ll be seeing more. myspace.com/muckypupsrule

95

mes top

Des Pom incesses

Pr

ten...

S SONBG E RE UL TO T O T WI H A CAUSE

Are the fifties possibly the coolest decade right now? We know pony tails ain’t so ‘in’ anymore, nor is carrying a comb in your back pocket, but the Rockabilly look is moving swiftly into the mainstream. With Virgin Atlantic painting scantily clad pin-ups on their planes and burlesque dancers at the hippest parties, there’s no denying this summer has been a celebration of all things fifties daddy-o.

And just because us ladies and gents of the noughties aren’t all into regularly applying red lipstick or hair gel, hanging out in car parks, flouting off in poodle skirts or revving that new Harley Davidson, there’s certainly no reason why we can’t still get that ‘all shook up’ feeling on the dance floor. Or even in the bedroom, in front of the mirror...with the hairbrush.

Yeah, we know.

So be it bop, jive, jiggin’, twistin’ or simply rockin’ around the clock, don’t be a square this month. Go Tutti Fruitti to our favourite DJ duo Princess Des Pommes recommendations of golden oldies and recent icons doing their fifties thang… myspace.com/princessesdespommes

ASK THE DJs...

BECAUSE LIFE IS A DANCEFLOOR! 1. Bill Haley AND His Comets- ROCK THE JOINT

“Rip up the floor, smash out the windows and knock down the door” for no reason other than we want to rebel and rock.

2. ESSER - HEADLOCKS His look probably brought the fifties rockabilly style to the men’s high street stores.

3. JACK PENATE - BE THE ONE

A fifties Beat sweetheart brought to this decade for your pleasure, ladies. Check-shirts, rockabilly style, skiffle guitar boogies and stories of trains and escaping to the country. Like a younger Kerouac with a guitar?

4. PUBLIC ENEMY - Rebel Without A Pause 5. AMY WINEHOUSE - CUPID

The voice and look could easily have us wondering ‘is it 2009 or 1959?’

6. Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two I Walk The Line

Well, we don’t really. But this is such a brilliant fifties song.

7. David Bowie - Rebel Rebel You want more and you want it fast. “Rebel, rebel” we love you so!

8. Jamie T -

If You Got The Money

The boy with the Buddy Holly hiccup.

9. Vivian Girls -

I Believe In Nothing So what? Who needs a cause to be a rebel?

10. PalomaFaith - DoYouWant The Truth Or

Something Beautiful

One half Bjork one half Peggy Lee, one perfect 1950s pin-up fashion style.

Illustration: Lucy Barker - Playlist by Isabel Dexter & Aline Bentley AKA Princesses Des Pommes

98