Fuse issue 1

Hot Chip / Bromheads Jacket / Too Human / Winter Film Preview

Fuse.

Feature Music Games

Made in the dark, now in the limelight Joy Division have always had a devoted fanbase and a special place in the hearts of music lovers.

Though that adoration may have faded through time, that lost love has been rekindled over the last year with a feature and documentary film about the band pushing it all back to the forefront of the public’s consciousness. In light of this, doing a cover of ‘Transmission’ is a brave and dangerous thing and one that could be met with some scorn; a sacrilegious act on a par with the recent theft of Curtis’ gravestone.

Hot Chip, however, have a pretty good defence. One, it’s for the next War Child album, so you can’t really argue if it’s all for charity. Two, New

Order asked them to do it and three, you can be sure it won’t sound anything like the original as Felix Martin from Hot Chip explains.

“There are so many bands out there that try and sound like them [Joy Division] and do awful impressions of Ian Curtis’ voice…I quite like the fact that they have chosen a band that sound completely different to cover a Joy Division song because it just seems more interesting to me.

“I don’t think that we felt in awe of doing it or scared about it but at the same time I’m sure there will be people who think it’s bloody awful but that’s just the nature of these things isn’t it? Joy Division were a really good band but they don’t have to be treated as sacred in some way.

“If the people in the band want their music reimagined in a completely different way then we are obviously happy and excited to be involved in that.”

In the same interview with BBC Radio 1 that brought to light the Joy Division cover, Alexis Taylor, the band’s lead vocalist, mentioned another interesting little venture involving Peter Gabriel and the Vampire Weekend song ‘Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa’. Having name checked Gabriel in the song, Vampire Weekend’s label XL dreamt up the idea of him covering the song and drafted in the electropop quintet to produce it.

But this is not the only tangential undertaking for the band. Most members are involved in side projects of some sort and the band

themselves are often in demand to do remixes.

It can all get a little bit distracting as Felix admits, having himself just finished filming a documentary with friends. So how do they divide their time and where do the side projects end and the main goal of Hot Chip

Joy Division were a good band but they don’t have to be treated as sacred start?

“We never really regulate it in any sensible way like that. There’s so much music going around between the five of us. We all like to write and

Fuse

Friday September 19 2008

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Arts

Interview: Hot Chip

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Felix Martin (seated, centre) and the rest of his bandmates. From left to right: Alexis Taylor, Owen Clarke, Al Doyle and Joe Goddard .

produce and there’s a lot of output so sometimes you’ve just got to put it out. EMI [their label] only let us release a record every 18 months so there’s too much music.”

Back in April, the band admitted that the recent takeover of EMI by private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners was causing a great deal of anxiety.

Despite this, the band have “kept [their] heads down” and have started work on a new album.

Felix said: “Alexis has been writing quite a lot and Joe [Goddard, one of the band’s founding members] has been coming up with bits of production, rhythm and melodies and things like that so it’s quite ephemeral with lots of bits lying around but it hasn’t taken shape in anyway.

Alistair White

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‘Ready for the Floor’ and Made in the Dark became an interesting and loveable album that demonstrated Hot Chip’s unique recipe for creating invigorating pop music.

This attitude extends to their live performances. One of the buzz performances of Glastonbury festival was their show on the Other Stage. Adored by all who saw it, particularly the moment when Wiley joined the band on stage, it was overshadowed by Amy Winehouse’s antics taking place at the same time on the Pyramid stage. For their upcoming US tour, the band have brought in a live drummer, something Felix hopes will “get people really excited”.

With the Mercury Prize being picked up by Elbow (a band that have been ploughing away for 18 years now) only a few days before my interview with Felix, the concluding question has to be whether he sees still Hot Chip still being together in 18 years time?

“That’s quite a scary concept,” he says in between laughing. “We are still friends and it’s still working musically. We’ll just keep going with it and if it carries on for that long then fair enough I guess and if we are still making interesting music then I don’t see why we shouldn’t carry on. Just take each day as it comes.”

Arts

“I hope that we will go into the studio and record in spring next year and hopefully to have another album out next year”.

Made in the Dark, the band’s follow up to their breakthrough album The Warning, was released seven months ago and though generally warmly received by critics it was not given the same level of praise as The Warning. Felix, to an extent, can understand the criticism.

“I don’t think it’s the best album of our career, I think we will go on to make better albums, but at the same time I think it was a good record and we all still feel happy with it… I think probably overall I prefer it to The Warning.

“I think it was slightly more adventurous and I think the songwriting improves all the time so I prefer it to The Warning but whether it’s better or not, I don’t really know.”

Perhaps it was this sense of adventure that prevented Made in the Dark being the apple of music journalists’ eyes and maybe even cost them a Mercury Prize nomination, something that seem to annoy Felix a bit.

It possessed a large number of ballads. Not the Leona Lewis type but funky disco beat tales of love where fingers got burnt, such as ‘Touch Too Much’.

Add to this dancefloor killers like

to gather in the garage.

“He seemed to accumulate a lot of dangerous substances. There were lots of sheets of asbestos roofing around because the garages had asbestos roofs and we used to break that up into small pieces and put it into oil cans and start a fire because it used to explode if you got it hot enough and then in one of the garages there was all this red powder around which turned out to be red lead.”

Whilst offering some account of Sheffield’s past, including the industrial aspects and the time when Sheffield was considered “the People’s Republic of South Yorkshire” whilst David Blunkett controlled the city council, it is mostly an account of Jarvis’ love affair with music. he recourses his first gig, which was The Stranglers, and the bands he grew up admiring such as Cabaret Voltaire and Artery.

His concluding tale is about his attempt to impress a girl whilst at a party in a flat on Division Street which resulted in him falling from a window and breaking his pelvis.

As the music fades, Cocker offers his final remarks, something that should be taken on board by anyone new or old to the area: “Although it’s twenty years since I lived there, I still visit the city regularly to see my family. The buildings have changed, the music has changed.

“It’s funny to think that the Arctic Monkeys weren’t even born when Pulp started playing at the start of the ‘80s. But what seems to remain constant is the spirit of the Sheffield people.

“And let’s face it, the people that live in a city are the main thing that make it interesting or not. Things get knocked down, priorities changed but people still manage to have a good time.

“Just like a river will find its way past any obstacles put in its path.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this musical map of Sheffield if you tried to use it to navigate your way through the city you’d probably get hopelessly lost but I thoroughly enjoyed showing you around this place we call Steel City.”

Alistair White

Games

Still taken from video for the Hot Chip single ‘One Pure Thought’.

“My name is Jarvis and I would like to take you on a journey. Sheffield is my home town. It’s where I grew up and although I’m not living there at the moment, I’d like to try and show you around. Sorry if we get lost, it changes every time I come here.”

Cue a bed of condensed musical clips, new snippets and bizarre electronic noises as the odyssey of Mr. Cocker’s life and times in the Steel City begin.

Broadcast on Tuesday, July 1, on BBC Radio 2, Jarvis Cocker’s Musical Map of Sheffield was a personal tour from the Pulp frontman.

Not really aimed at charting the geography of the city, he does still have time to mention the River Don: “One of the most interesting days that I’ve had in my life so far was the day that I got a rubber dinghy from a jumble sale, inflated it and went on a trip down the Don. It was a bit like a cut priced Apocalypse Now”.

The hour long programme was an opportunity to glance into Cocker’s p r i v a t e history as he

reminisced about the years he spent here. But beyond this exciting prospect to learn about the foundations of Cocker’s character, he does take the opportunity to dispense some advice on new arrivals to the city (Freshers take note): “The good thing about the Sheffield character is that people aren’t impressed with whether you’re supposed to be somebody or something.

“It’s something they really don’t like about people. If you start trying to throw your weight around or having airs and graces or whatever, that’s not going to get you very far in Sheffield society. In fact, you’ll just get decked at some point.”

Covering Cocker’s entire time in Sheffield, up to the point when he decided to leave for “the supposed bright lights of London”, he mentions some of his more interesting childhood experience including the dark Lederhosen chapter and the host of possessions his grandfather seemed

Music

Feature

Feature

A intimate tour of Jarvis’ home town

Win Golden Tickets for Plug Competition

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listings page on the back cover of Fuse.

Seamlessly balancing a broad range of club sessions, live gigs and student parties has made Plug arguably one of the best places to party and in such a short space of time too – on Saturday, September 27 Reverend and the Makers will headline their third birthday party.

In order to give you an opportunity to attend all these events, we are giving away a pair of Golden Tickets for Plug that get you in to EVERY Plug event from the closing date of the competition until the end of May 2009. This is for every club, live and student night party so it’s a very big prize.

To be in with a chance of winning, answer this question: What are the three wired contacts found in the majority of AC power plugs for home electrical appliances?

Send your answer, along with your name and contact details to forgepress@forgetoday.com. Good Luck!

Friday September 19 2008

Freshers’ Week at Plug kicks off in fine style with plenty of parties to savour. Kicking off with the Frat Party on Monday, September 22, followed by the Silent Disco Jump Around special on Tuesday, September 23. There’s little time to catch a breath as Urban Gorilla front a midweek jam with Krafty Kuts and Herve on Wednesday, September 24.

Then Jump Around is back on Thursday, September 25, and there’s also a Mighty Boosh party taking place on Tuesday, October 7, too!

The Plug in Sheffield is one

of the country’s leading venues and offers three rooms of live music, club action and student-led fun week in week out. From weekly house party Shuffle to drum and bass exponents Detonate and the long-running Urban Gorilla, over to bassline house frolics at Reflective and unadulterated raving at Uprising, there’s plenty to choose from, and each week there are worldclass live acts too gracing the Main Room including The Streets (Monday, October 6), Roots Manuva (Thursday, October 16) and Dizzee Rascal (Saturday, November 1) all coming up in the autumn. For information on other acts playing Plug, including Lykke Li and Wiley, then go to our

Dizzee Rascal: playing Plug on Saturday, November 1.

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Feature Music Games Arts Screen

What ifs and maybes: strings, success, and going DIY Interview: Bromheads Jacket If you head out of the city centre in the car towards Meadowhall you’ll pass through what remains of industrial Sheffield – a nondescript area that doesn’t seem like the obvious place for a band to base themselves. It is here that Music gets to spend an hour with Bromheads Jacket in the premises they now call home.

On The Brain, the follow up to 2006’s Dits From The Commuter Belt, has been patiently waiting for release since last Christmas.

Singer Tim explains: “The album’s been written for over a year, we were ready to record last August and it was mixed but then held back – mainly as a festival decision as it was too late for 2008 and too early for 2009.”

It should show that we’re a band who loves music and has integrity Whilst this would be understandably frustrating, the band have used this time to settle themselves into the rooms where this interview takes place, setting up their own studio and rehearsal space. The tape machine that they recorded their second album with is already in place for the recording of the third. “We’ve been writing loads, the third album will be done

by Christmas and we want to get it out quickly,” says Tim. But before they get too ahead of themselves, there comes the matter of touring and promoting their current release. They’re excited about it finally coming out and rediscovering the buzz that

they felt when it was finished. sound like a cello (using the bow ‘Promises, Promises’ alongside time to separate from that – even “We’re really proud of it, we on guitar strings technique that the more indulgent instrumental turning down support slots from still think it’s great but it’s kind of he is keen to attribute to a band of ‘Interlude’, it’s fair to say that bands we admired,” says Tim. like [the buzz] has worn off now,” called The Creation rather than this isn’t an album that will easily Yet these are uncertain times continues Tim, before going on the rather more famous Jimmy fit in with what features in the for Bromheads as a band, with the to say how early reviews for On Page) and everyone said ‘Why British mainstream music press current climate of financial doom The Brain are “good enough” to don’t we do it for real?’” He talks at the moment. “It should show and gloom spelling the imminent assure the band that the way they of the band’s dislike for the “same that we’re a band who loves their end of their association with felt wasn’t just unfounded pride in speed, same key” bands that litter music and has integrity,” bassist label Pure Groove. With all this the aftermath of having completed the radio airwaves at the moment, Jono says before adding that he slightly depressing talk it might the record. although they concede that by thinks the album will do better in seem surprising then that they’re On the Brain seizes the baton being reluctant to gear their music a more receptive Europe. “We’ve to be found in a mood which is from Dits From The Commuter towards the Radio One playlists tried to be ourselves, not involved unmistakeably optimistic. They Belt and runs away with they are unlikely to ever really in any scene or fashion.” have only good things to say about it, still giving a nod enjoy huge success.

They hope that their work their soon-to-be former label. to the aggressive With an album that includes and dedication to what they call “A lot of people have been very guitar sounds the gentle strumming and ‘simply writing good music’ will good to us,” says Tim, pointing out of their debut reflective lyrics of serve to make people forget that that Pure Groove are going to carry whilst being the concept of a New Yorkshire on working with the band as they an altogether obsessed with writing lyrics that promised to do until the end of more rounded dealt only with social observation their autumn tour. It’s an amicable musical affair. ever really existed, even if it never parting of the ways due only to the Any cynic truly had the substance to back it label not being able to devote the could say up: “We tried really time, money or staff to the band. that adding hard the whole So, the band are going DIY, strings (on without the security of financial album closer backing, something Tim calls ‘ Ye s t e r d a y ’ s “quite a daunting thing, exciting Antics’) is an too, but we’ve always wanted obvious way for to give it a go.” Testing times a band to ahead then, but you get the claim musical impression that with a bit of p ro g r e s s i o n , hope, being astonishingly but it’s hard prolific and a smattering to level that of devoted fans that they accusation at shouldn’t be harbouring Bromheads any career worries just Jacket. yet.

Tim talks Helen Lawson about the recording COMPETITION: Tell us process: which film the band takes “The strings their name from and get – that’s a signed copy of On The something Brain for your troubles. that just Email press.music@ happened. fo r g e to d ay. c o m I was with your answer by messing Friday, October 3, around for a chance trying to to win. make my g u i t a r Bromheads Jacket (L-R Dan, Jono and Tim): More excited about touring than this picture might suggest.

Sheffield: a guide

Cave’s fear of lying

Fuse

Friday September 19 2008

Introducing: White Lies

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Strictly speaking, White Lies are not entirely new to the music industry. They were a threepiece who used to operate under the name of Fear of Flying, a straightforward pop unit who toured with Jack Penate and The Maccabees; they now produce the kind of epic noise solidly rooted in the dark sonic gloom of the early 1980s.

Bassist Charles Cave gets defensive when asked about the reasons for the musical change of direction: “Fear of Flying was our weekend project when we were still at school doing A Levels; we kind of took it seriously but it got to a point where the songs we were writing were so different from two years previously, we felt it deserved a fresh start.”

When it’s suggested that the move from bright and perky to serious and atmospheric could be seen as calculated, Cave concedes that it “probably was in some ways” and argues that “if you’re in a band and not trying to manage yourself as a band then you’re not doing your job.

“It started by us feeling that we wanted to do it for ourselves but at the end of the day Fear of Flying has had 200% more attention

since White Lies started which proves how fickle and gullible the industry can be.”

Changing names sat alongside changing the way they worked as a band: hiring a keyboard player, being very precise with arrangements and deciding to work in what Cave deems a more “natural” way: “As Fear of Flying we’d listen to everything and every week we’d want to write a song that sounded like our new favourite band, whereas as White Lies we became a lot more picky about what we listened to, not wanting to do anything that was like anything else.”

The end result was the single ‘Unfinished Business’, opening on a church organ before building

to a yelping chorus of “You’ve got blood on your hands / And I know it’s mine / I just need more time”, with bass lines worthy of Interpol’s Carlos D underpinning proceedings. They sound like a band let loose in the studio to explore what sounds they can really produce with each instrument in order to make the biggest possible noise; their latest single ‘Death’ sees them layer vocal harmonies into the mix.

With the foray into doom-andgloom-pop territory comes the inevitable mention of Joy Division.

Cave says it is complimentary but that, as a band, they’ve never really explored the Joy Division back catalogue and don’t tend to agree on many bands that they all like. He name checks Secret Machines and The National as influences on White Lies and raves about his love for Echo and the Bunnymen.

Looking towards the release of the debut album in the New Year, Cave describes it as sounding “big and so cinematic and really varied in texture – very empty at some points where the vocal comes through,” and confirms that they have found a sound that they genuinely consider to be ‘them’, intending to stick with White Lies for many albums to come.

Helen Lawson

When you have a city as rich in its musical heritage as Sheffield it’d be criminal not to make the most of every venue, gig and club night on offer.

Take the tram out towards Sheffield Arena for when the real big-hitters are in town: Oasis and Kanye West are both pencilled before Christmas. The recently opened 2350 capacity Carling Academy on Arundel Gate hosts gigs and occasionally w e l c o m e s Gatecrasher back to the Sheffield fold.

If you’re feeling highbrow you’ll find classical offerings at City Hall, whilst it’s best to familiarise yourself sharpish with the Leadmill (near the train station) and Plug on Matilda Street for acts on the ascent.

Within our own Students Union are three of the city’s most authoritative club nights: The Tuesday Club, Fuzz Club and Offbeat. TTC pulls the most renowned names in Drum n Bass whilst Fuzz is your weekly dose of up and coming live indie bands, possessing a very good ear for filtering out the crap whilst flirting with electro and dancefloor favourites. Offbeat is a DIY affair in its 12th year that is the place

to share the C86 indiepop love amongst friends.

We heartily recommend picking up every flyer and keeping your ear to the ground for news of gigs at The Grapes on Trippet Lane, The Red House on Solly Street and The Shakespeare on Gibraltar Street.

Other vital venues around the city include The Boardwalk, (where The Clash played their first ever gig), Casbah and Corporation where you can fulfil all your metal needs.

For free gigs you’ll encounter live bands every Monday at The Harley and watch out for events at Bungalows and Bears and DQ which often see more experimental live performances.

These suggestions are by no means prescriptive nor an exhaustive list of what, with a little investigative work, you can find in our beloved city. What we can guarantee you though is that you will always find a passion for music and innovation behind each event.

There’s no point us just dictating your social habits though – as ever the best way is to get out, hear and see it all for yourself. Enjoy.

Helen Lawson

brutally honest.

The piano-led pseudo-jazz of ‘I Love You More (Than You Like Me)’ is emotive and raw, yet also captures the sentiments of the album with one pathos-laden couplet: “Acting exciting like a man for a while / Until you realise I can act like a child”.

The ‘man’ is now the lyricist, the thoughtful, sensitive protagonist; Skinner’s latest creation opens with a gospel feel, a hypnotic treatise on the ephemeral nature of a worldly life.

The gently evocative, angelic harmonies and tinkling melodies of ‘The Strongest Person I Know’ and the beautiful ‘On The Edge Of A Cliff’ epitomise The Streets’ latest musical identity; though on an album which preaches experimentation as a means of fighting mortality, don’t expect this sound to be around for too long.

Arts Mike Skinner has swapped druggy ditties for philosophical musings.

Back with a funky bang Enduring talent Review: TV On The Radio - Dear Science

TVOTR: pole-vaulting skywards. single: the ultimate definition of the three-minute hit. It’s a travesty if this isn’t soon filling every dancefloor in the land.

Ffion Thomas

Review: Jeremy Warmsley - How We Became Jeremy Warmsley’s second album is unlikely to make instant impact.

But, that is not to detriment from his brilliance: this is no disposable artist.

He takes you on an emotive journey; his languid vocals are disarming, steeping his songs with an indolent energy. ‘If He Breaks Your Heart’ is a tearjerker. “Will I stand a chance?” he sighs. You pray that the chance is given.

The music is often paradoxical: simple, yet epic. This is best shown in the superb ‘Dancing With The Enemy’; he wraps a serious

subject in grown-up pop magic. It is an upbeat ditty that sets out the illicit relationships between soldiers occupying countries at war and the local women: “It was love in the middle of the war / But now the war is won / In your eyes we are everything that you hate”.

‘Lose My Cool’ exposes his ability to merge different musical styles.

Its erratic, electro-based rhythm is infused with dancing synth lines that give way to a gloriously rocky chorus.

He has messages to espouse; ‘(Sins) I Try’ is a refreshing ‘fuck off’ to all Puritans out there, urging us to embrace our vices.

Warmsley is a quietly understated talent: How We Became is a work of true originality.

Alice Stride

Precocious pop magic Miss Modular Review: Those Dancing Days - In Our Space Hero Suits

Helen Lawson

Review: Ladyhawke Ladyhawke

As with all good pop albums, it can be hard to tell who the real star is. Is it the artist or the producer?

Having written and arranged all the songs whilst playing pick ’n’ mix with a number of producers, it is Pip Brown, the artist hiding behind the Ladyhawke pseudonym, who is responsible for this LP’s sound and consistency.

Recent single ‘Paris Is Burning’ has a particularly youthful allure, with flickering guitars and Lovefoxxx style backing vocals; in stark contrast, ‘Crazy World’ and ‘Oh My’ wouldn’t sound out of place on the Top Gun soundtrack B-side.

The only real suggestion of more eldritch electro-pop elements in a Depeche Mode ilk is on opener ‘Magic’. However, its eeriness is softened by the natural sexiness of Ladyhawke’s voice.

Ladyhawke is set for success.

Light, fun and enjoyable, Brown’s debut is one of the most radio-friendly releases ever to come from über-cool Aussie label Modular Recordings. Drenched in synths and laced with a percussion clashes and chimes, it all makes for a good ’80s-themed wonky-pop party.

Alistair White

Fuse

enough to be in the midst of it.

Two of the year’s finest pop songs nestle in beautifully: the swooning, swirling synths of ‘Hitten’ (it literally translates as ‘The Hit’ - there’s no mistaking their confidence).

It provides the backdrop to a moment of soul-searching, attempting to figure out “what I’m thinking / What I’m feeling”, with Ronettesstyle drums. Self-titled ‘Those Dancing Days’, captures the euphoria of “living in a dance” - a sterling example of melodies that possess feet and propel them across dancefloors.

Precocious talent combined with an ability to nail the perfect pop formula: a dangerous combination meaning this album should be adored.

Friday September 19 2008

If The Pipettes and The Strokes had enjoyed a teenage Grease-style flirtation, then the debut from this Swedish girl group would provide the suitably hip soundtrack, made up of stunningly pretty and achingly cool Northern Soul and indie-pop.

In Our Space Hero Suits sticks firmly to the ’60s pop sensibility of their previous EP release.

Playful bass lines dart all over the frenetic chord-bashing of a Hammond organimitating synthesiser; singer Linnea pouts and teases her way through the trials of late adolescence and dealing with the opposite sex.

“If I get the colours / I will paint

an art piece for you” she promises on ‘I Know Where You Live’. She goes on to break some poor boy’s heart on ‘Actionman’: being “a girl that needs some action” whilst attempting to cushion the blow by saying that she still loves him.

The painful end to first love is accurately committed to record by a band still y o u n g

There’s something in the water in Brooklyn. Vampire Weekend and MGMT set the bar with some of the catchiest songs of 2008; TVOTR might just have vaulted it.

The tone is set from the start by first track ‘Halfway Home’; “baba-bas” and happy handclaps are the order of the day. They feature heavily throughout the record, happily married with TVOTR’s trademark brass instruments and Tunde Adebimpe’s falsetto voice.

The irresistibly catchy ‘Dancing Choose’ is the album’s standout

Similarly, the rapped verses of the funky ‘Golden Age’ explode into a joyous chorus, reminiscent of Beck at his weirdest.

After the blistering start, the second half of the album slows the pace down; the soulful ‘Family Tree’ brings the vocals to the forefront with strings building up behind. Perhaps the biggest success of Dear Science is guitarist Dave Sitek’s production; his rich multi-instrumentation shines through.

There’s a celebratory feel to the ending as ‘Lover’s Day’ builds up into a rousing march of drums and brass. That is as it should be; the battle for the best album of 2008 just got a lot more competitive.

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Ciaran Jones

Games

It seems that Mike Skinner has finally grown up. This fourth (and penultimate) album under the masthead of The Streets – a name and image which Skinner now claims to detest – is his musical bildungsroman, his aural coming of age.

Colloquialism is replaced with convention; the trappings of drugs and fame are supplanted by philosophy and existentialism.

Back in the days of Original Pirate Material when Skinner claimed that he liked to “get deep sometimes” (‘The Irony of It All’), we couldn’t quite take him seriously.

Fast forward six and a half years and we have an album that is in many ways a reflection on those more indulgent times, with a heady dose of reality. Artistically,

The Streets have stepped off a cliff with this album, but the parachute has opened.

Skinner is amusing but not sententious, thought-provoking but not curmudgeonly. Gone are the allusions to drug-addled, Stellaengendered benders; now, “green weeds” are linked to “hayfever”, “lines” are to do with signatures and “rock” has become “rubble”.

Everything Is Borrowed straddles a line somewhere between humanism and libertinism, preaching a doctrine that advises against organised religion, particularly in ‘Alleged Legends’, which opens with a church organ: “Do what you think’s right / And you will feel alright. / Because when you’re bad you will feel sad. / That’s the religion I live by.”

The songs are predominantly didactic, with a synthesis between moral instruction and carpe diem; there is also something cathartic in the album, a sense of selfjustification. As always, Skinner is

Music

Review: The Streets Everything Is Borrowed

Feature

Mike Skinner: a reformed moral guide

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Feature Music Games Arts Screen

Quirky, powerful and funny: Jeffrey Lewis is a hit Live: Jeffrey Lewis @ Plug 13/9/2008 Jeffrey Lewis is a pint-sized fellow.

His features do not betray the fact that he is over thirty; he looks like a small, scruffy undergraduate as he quietly shuffles on to the stage.

Eternally languid, he strikes a casual figure. The atmosphere at Plug is relaxed; the bassist slumps on the ground for the first song, and sits back down for others. (He also has large rips in his jeans through which his pants quite clearly show; there is no effort made here). Despite this lazy approach to performing, there is something captivating about a Jeffrey Lewis gig.

I am unfamiliar with his material, but keen to hear everything. His songs are simple, acoustic-led and oozing cynicism. His lyrics are witty and warped, the pessimism enhanced by nasal, languorous vocals. He doesn’t exactly sing, instead muttering a sort of melodious monologue.

His youthful visage is deceptive; a sizeable bald patch is visable on the top of his head. Age is an important theme to Lewis: in ‘I Saw A Hippy Girl On 8th Avenue’ he laments the end of his youthful

hippy days and becoming “another nondescript” guy.

Accompanying his sad little ditty is a cartoon-strip (drawn by Lewis), depicting him chopping off his locks and abandoning his bellbottoms. It is a quirky touch, and very effective.

Despite its despondent tone, the final message of this song is affirmative: “It’s not what you wear on the outside / It’s what you think and feel on the inside”. Encasing profound messages within selfdeprecating, downbeat tunes is typical tonight: Lou Reed’s influence is clear.

fanciful is juxtaposed with a nod to his punk background as a quiet set of chords develops into full-on noisy jamming.

The majority of the crowd are clearly avid fans. The enthusiastic response he garners when each song is announced is met with mass singing along. That is no mean feat; his songs are fastpaced and bursting with convoluted sentences and peculiar words.

These people truly love him.

The finale is quite something, an epic tale again supplemented with his cartoons. This is how the story goes: a man finds a severed hand wandering around. The two of them then get on a bus of nuns.

The nuns, believing the hand to be Satan’s, squash it with a Bible.

The owner of the now defunct hand comes looking for it; the owner is, of course, a monster (I promise I’m not making this up).

In order to placate the now furious beast, the man tells him to eat the nuns, and then, in order to save his own skin, agrees to keep him company for life. It is vivid, bizarre, but brilliant.

Lewis finishes with another eccentric lyric. “I had to help the monster kill people,” he says, “but that was alright.” Quite.

His songs are simple, oozing cynicism, his lyrics witty and warped He is, not inaccurately, tagged as being part of the “anti-folk” movement: his music is sharp and strange, and features the mundane trappings of everyday life.

But there are surprises in store.

A poignant ballad about a complex woman reveals his tender side; Quick Quip Lewis has opened up.

Elements of the whimsical can be found too: “Where did the tooth fairy put my tooth?” he asks. The

Cartoonist, lyricist and pessimist.

A yobbish letdown Live: Glasvegas @ Plug 14/9/2008 Rolling into town on the back of a chart battle with the mighty Metallica, Glasvegas are the latest ‘cool’ band pounced on by the press. Plug was heaving with

anticipation, but my expectations were certainly not met.

Their opening song, ‘Flowers and Football Tops’, seems to sum the band up: catchy sing-a-long choruses and simplistic, heartfelt lyrics that straddle the thin line between genius and, quite frankly, embarrassing. As the final chorus fades to ”You are my sunshine /

Fuse

Friday September 19 2008

Unappreciative crowd and unfulfilled promise. Photo: Sarah Ropke

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My only sunshine / You make me happy / When skies are grey,” you can’t help feeling that this is a band trying too hard to be embraced by working-class Britain.

Glasvegas may be able to whip up a popular following through a tornado of lad culture, but they are letting themselves down.

The complexity of some of their music is sacrificed to appeal to their uncouth fans; the excellent ‘Geraldine’ gets dispensed midset to a muted response. It seems that it’s too sensitive for this bunch of meatheads.

The football chant-esque lyrics to ‘Go Square Go’ - “ere we go, ere we go, ere we fucking go” - get the crowd going, but nothing else really happens until the radio-friendly ‘Daddy’s Gone’ gets an airing.

Beer in hand, Plug sang along as the rock star posturing of the band against an impressive backdrop finished disappointingly soon.

Natasha Hoban

Photo: Sarah Ropke

Alice Stride

Soulful delight Live: Bryn Christopher @ Leadmill 8/9/2008

its most potent. The combination of melancholy melody, dark lyrics and Christopher’s liquid vocals was absolutely delicious.

Bryn Christopher’s band could have made up a quarter of the twenty-strong crowd that turned up to see him. The audience was mute as he quietly took to the stage in a crisp white shirt, neat tie and grey trousers. You could have heard half a pin drop.

A near-empty venue is disheartening for any performer, but, unfazed, he launched into the opening song, ‘My World’.

It was a toe-tapping, soulful delight, even inspiring some tentative shoulder-shaking from those dotted around the front of the stage.

His singing is superb; strong, elegant and energetic, the entire performance pitch-perfect. A funked-up cover of Portishead’s ‘Sour Times’ exposed his voice at

His performance is pitch-perfect; elegant, energetic and strong You could lump him in with the current crop of Brit-soul singers, but he is unusual. Firstly, he is hugely talented and impossible not to enjoy. His stage-presence is all-pervading; he grooved like he was performing for hundreds.

Secondly, he is male, separating him from the Winehouses and Duffys of this world. There is an element of a young James Brown about him: a definite one to watch.

Alice Stride

Getting the grades

Skelly’s secret

Live: Gym Class Heroes @ Manchester Academy 16/9/2008

Live: The Coral @ Sheffield Academy 12/9/2008

“Sexy is a state of mind!” drawled Gym Class Heroes’ Travis McCoy as he leant over into the adoring crowd of gleeful adolescents whilst raising bushy eyebrows from beneath his signature flat cap.

This kind of pseudo-philosophy might sound as familiar as a Cosmopolitan-like mantra for menopausal housewives but, teamed with a fun, frantic urban dance atmosphere that drifts through the small venue, it succeeds in rousing the giddy

teens at Manchester Academy.

For the most part the focus rested exclusively upon charismatic lead singer McCoy as he promised to “fucking get familiar!” He sauntered and skipped, sashayed and skidded to the hip-hop pop that rocked against the more traditional guitars of the backing band.

Delighted roars accompanied the intros for the most familiar tracks - ‘Clothes Off’ and ‘Cupid’s Chokehold’ - but there was far more to the gig than just these two tracks.

‘Cookie Jar’ exploded with a fresh and carefree rhythm and unclogged any perceptions that Gym Class Heroes are a one-trick

pony.

Yet McCoy’s colourful riddles and comic banter concerning his “spandex cheetah pants” and ambitions to “smoke some pot to forget how angry we all are” were more pertinent than his actual lyrics, which often found themselves lost beneath the sheer noise of the backing instruments.

It is evident that the moniker is spot on; the hip-hop pop style steadily evolving into a teeny bopper-cum-eighties injection.

As a set succeeding at producing more peaks than troughs, Gym Class Heroes just about graduate.

Kate Dobinson

From the ashes of Transmission comes the re-christened, yet practically unchanged Pet Sounds.

Carling’s Friday night team have decided to take their success to a national level and to celebrate they brought in some special Liverpudlian friends.

However, as the venue’s main room began to fill with bristling bodies, The Coral’s hush-hush gig looked like one of Sheffield’s worst kept secrets.

Sauntering on stage to cheers from expectant fans, James Skelly looked his usual schoolboy-self in a

striped jumper and scruffy haircut.

The opening was not as epic as you might have hoped; the band opted to play one of their lesser known songs. Disappointing, but salvageable: they picked the atmosphere up again with the foot-stomping ‘Jacqueline’.

Fan favourite ‘Dreaming of You’ had the sold-out venue cheering and leaping around as they sang along to Skelly’s haunting yet beautiful vocals with fervour.

The delightfully catchy ‘In The Morning’ even inspired the frazzled bar staff to bop around.

The setlist was short but ended on a sweet note with the ethereal ‘Ghostriders in the Sky’.

Stephanie Maskery

The future? Games developers could end up looking like this if they fail to provide innovative classes. will lead to your frequent death, which is made additionally painful by including a pointless scene of a valkyrie carrying you away each time you respawn.

The first time this happens it is mildly surprising as you wonder whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing. But after a while my brain gave up trying to comprehend why this useless feature was added and instead wonder about the infinite vastness of space. Which is a problem, as a game should

enthral and captivate.

Then it came to me. What I was playing was a poor version of Champions of Norrath (which is saying something as that also sucked more than a Dutch prostitute).

That also had pointless gear, no foreseeable plot and pretty much the same classes available. To be fair all RPGs have the stereotypical healer, damage dealer, damage taker but after so many years it is beyond a joke.

I would never recommend this to anyone I liked but if you like seeing people throw away their money or you are just one of those twisted few who likes to see people suffer then this is the perfect revenge.

And here’s a warning to any adventure role play games developers: come up with innovative, fun to play classes or I will send you on a quest to recover your lost teeth.

Screen

Too Human is too flawed. First off is the rubbish title, Too Human, deriving from the fact that the main character, Baldur, is in a world filled with cybernetic gods whilst our main protagonist has few technology implants and as such is considered too human;

Arts

It’s undeniably bad and only starts to pick up just before its swift end

Games

I’ve always had a soft spot for mythology. The concept of all the different gods and goddesses for different things interspersed with the many different tales enthralled me as a kid. And it’s still the same today.

So when I heard of a game featuring the bloodthirsty Norse gods I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to play. It’s a shame noone stabbed me with a mistletoetipped spear beforehand.

‘great’ wordplay.

Sadly this leads onto the second flaw, the plot, which chooses to appear at points thanks to a lack of cutscenes. When it does appear then we’re faced with verbal diarrhoea which is leaking out of the basin they call a game and all over the bathroom floor.

It’s undeniably bad and only really picks up towards the end, when it swiftly ends. And yes, they plan on making two more of these.

This now brings me onto the crown of the crap-heap: the gameplay. The developers clearly had the goal of making an easy to play fun game for friends to mess around on and flex muscles at each other.

What we ended up with is a flawed game that combines all the things we avoid about games.

The camera is poor, sticking to your back like a limpet and gracefully shields your view from the enemies. Even the combat is below average with poor targeting with ranged weapons, and the melee fighting is, frankly, irritating.

This is made ten times worse by the fact that playing as any class other than the bio-engineer

Music

Review: Too Human

Feature

Destroying myths of childhood

Sam Robinson

New WoW disappoints Sequels kill original games

Preview: WoW - Wrath of The Lich King

Northrend killing all who stand in your way, pretty much a standard WoW affair.

The Death Knight does however bring something completely new to the world of Azeroth. As well as a new combat system working on runic power it is the first ever Hero Class in WoW. This allows you to start your Death Knight at a much higher level, on a completely new island floating in the air where Naxxramus used to be.

Elliot Thorpe

Editorial

throughout the year would be a good thing and something that should be considered. If not then be ready for countless reviews of Oblivion or a feature on how to entertain yourself each summer.

In fact why not try and reach the Final Prestige on Call of Duty 4. It’s kept me mildly entertained so far, though mainly because some of the chavs online have been coming out with hilarious comments.

We can learn a lot from them. In the meantime feel free to knife me in the back; my gamer tag on Xbox Live is Ironfighter88.

Sam Robinson

Of these ten games, Wii Music and Little Big Planet are original, and the rest are sequels, of which five are in series which only began in the current generation of consoles.

This shows a trend with the console lifecycle, in which a new system launches with

James Cook

Fuse

It’s been a long summer and nothing of interest has been released as of yet. Each summer this infamous games drought takes place, and I want to know why. Are developers trying to coax us outside? I have a problem with that, mainly because this summer there has been: a) rain of biblical proportions, and; b) wind strong enough to blow away a tank.

Trouble is that this then leads to publications suffering. Look at Ben ‘Yahtzee’ Croshaw of Zero Punctuation fame. He’s doing

features on things like webcomics which, while they are funny, are not on par with his reviews of recent games.

Even the Games page here has had to let the likes of Too Human defile the page just because there was nothing out. I’m sorry for that.

Our jobs suffer because publishers like to cash in on little fat kids begging their mums for Mega Death Spree 5 at Christmas.

So the next few months we’re going to be bombarded with hundreds of games and sequels of which we can only get a few lest we starve to death.

Titles evenly dispersed

Wii – Animal Crossing: City Folk, Wii Music, Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party Xbox 360 – Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts PS3 – Little Big Planet, Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, Resistance 2

some new, innovative titles designed to show off the console, and these games often become exclusive franchises which the console relies upon.

Take, for example, the launch of the PS3. Resistance: Fall of Man and Motorstorm were the big hitters from Sony, and both were very successful.

Now, both development teams are making sequels to these rather than more original games. The list is expanding all the time: Assassin’s Creed, Mass Effect, Wii Sports, Too Human, Saints Row, Rock Band, Dead Rising, Lost Planet, My Sims, Red Steel, Boogie, and even Bioshock have new instalments planned or already out.

Some of these, such as Mass Effect and Assassin’s Creed, were planned as trilogies, so the sequels are necessary to experience the full storyline of the game. However, Bioshock was a game with a complete story, which left almost no scope for a sequel, and this looks like a franchise being built simply to make money.

However, there are some positives.

Games like Mirror’s Edge, Dead Space, MadWorld, Brutal Legend and Braid show that there is still plenty of originality left in the gaming industry, and that it is up to players to buy titles like these or risk losing them completely.

Friday September 19 2008

A summer of discontent

The gaming industry has changed irreparably with the current generation of consoles.

Development costs for the Xbox 360 and PS3 are so high that many games are not managing to sell enough copies to break even, and to counter this problem several publishers are focusing mainly on sequels.

It seems to make sense for everyone, allowing developers to make big budget games for a reduced sales risk and giving the fans more of what they like.

However, it seems now that the number of original games coming out has decreased substantially, as shown by a quick look at some major exclusives for this Christmas season for each console.

The chances are you’ll have heard of World of Warcraft. Well you should have unless you’ve spent the best part of the last three years on the surface of the sun.

Opinions are probably more wide ranging on this game than any other; possibly even more than the awful/excellent (delete according to preference) Halo series.

If you are one of the people that believe that WoW is the gaming equivalent of a mix between religion and heroin then your latest fix comes under the premise of Wrath Of The Lich King.

The two most exciting ‘new’ features to be introduced are an increase of the level cap to 80 and the much anticipated Hero Class, the Death Knight. Not much can be said about the new level cap; another 10 levels to travel through the new continent of

(Apologies to the more casual gamer if the next sentence doesn’t make much sense; just bear with me…) I mean, sure when it originally comes out it’ll be a massively overpowered class and will soundly be trounced with the nerf bat on every patch thereafter, but it’s all in the name of balance.

Other additions include the new profession inscription that allows you to customise your favourite abilities; customisation seems to be a common theme with the new ability to alter everything from your character’s hair to the way that they dance.

Plenty of new dungeons will be added of course, some of which look really unique and promising, and the new option to do every raid on either a 10 or 25 man setting seems a possible improvement, although many hardcore players will disagree massively with this statement.

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shows, with approximately 10 a year.

In addition, Cupola regularly holds impromptu evening events to add a little spice to the gallery calendar, and provides free chocolate cake and hot drinks every Saturday!

Feature Games

Music

Plunge into the art of the city

Screen

Arts

The Graves Gallery: If you’ve popped up to the Graves Gallery before, you’ll be delighted at its recent makeover. Over the last six months the home of Sheffield’s visual art collection has been refurbished and repainted, giving works by legendary artists such as Turner and Cézanne the home they deserve.

New displays take you on a lavish journey, spanning the 16th to the 21st century and including works by famous names such as Edward Coley Burne-Jones and Bridget Riley, and local heroes such as George Fullard and Derrick Greaves.

Street performer The Fluid Druid, pictured outside the Millennium Galleries.

Fuse

Friday September 19 2008

Introductions

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‘All the world’s a stage’ claimed Shakespeare’s Jaques, and whilst he may have been speaking metaphorically, outside of London’s West End Sheffield is the closest British place we can get to a literal meaning of Jaques’ words, as it is home to England’s secondlargest theatre complex.

Whether you’re a Fresher or otherwise, you’ll have become quickly aware that Sheffield serves a student lifestyle aptly in terms of club nights, cheap food and even a library designed for exam allnighters.

However, Sheffield’s theatrical diversity is spectacular and rare, and certainly deserves a great deal of your free time.

It is impossible to do all the theatres justice with this brief description, but hopefully this short guide to what’s on offer should inspire you to go ahead and discover more for yourself.

The Crucible, perhaps the most famous of Sheffield’s theatres, is my personal favourite; its thrust stage has audience seating on three sides that allows you to feel entirely involved in the production at a maximum of 22 metres from the stage.

The Crucible building also houses a lesser-known smaller theatre, The Studio, which maintains this level of intimacy and showcases alternative new work.

Completing the trio is The Lyceum, a more conventionally traditional theatre set-up, hosting most of the touring shows in a

grand nineteenth-century setting.

Expect to see shows such as Evita, Oliver! and The Witches of Eastwick coming here next season.

However, it is not merely the professionals who showcase their talents at Sheffield’s theatres. The university’s own drama company, suTCo, thoroughly deserve their strong reputation of outstanding dramatic talent with their performances at the university’s Drama Studio on Glossop Road.

This provides an excellent opportunity to tread the boards and demonstrate your own theatrical ability, undertake an invaluable backstage role or simply support your peers by going along to watch one of their four student-produced plays each semester.

Sheffield’s galleries are astonishing in number and quality Whilst all this will certainly keep you busy, the comedy Sheffield has to offer should definitely not be ignored. Famous comedians not only bring their stand-up shows to the City Hall but also to the Octagon centre, and the union plays host to a more unique branch of comedic talent with the Last Laugh Comedy Club.

The longest running comedy club in Yorkshire comes to The Raynor Lounge every Sunday night, and is credited with premiering the likes of Peter Kay and Jimmy Carr.

Catch other emerging talents

Photo: Helen Munro

here as The Last Laugh provides an excellent and unrivalled opportunity to see a few comedians showcase their talents in an intimate setting on one night.

Furthermore, The Shrimps, with a performance style perhaps best compared to that of Who’s Line Is It Anyway?, never fail to deliver laughs all round, so try to catch one of their shows at the Union.

If your bent runs more to exhibitions than exhibitionism, Sheffield’s galleries are also astonishing in number and quality; again, we’ve not known a range so diverse anywhere but London.

This isn’t anywhere near an adequate introduction, but the galleries below are remarkable. I can’t recommend enough taking a couple of days for exploration.

Bank Street Studios: Housed in listed Georgian terraces only a stone’s throw from the market and the Cathedral, Bank Street Arts promotes collaborative, cross-media projects, and provides working space for fine artists, designers, illustrators, jewellers and publishers in spaces that range from 100 square feet to nearly 700. An education space and café are due to open in Autumn 2008 along with the main gallery spaces.

Cupola Gallery: With four exhibition spaces plus a fabulous sculpture garden, the gallery stocks work from more than 300 local, national and international artists and makers.

The main exhibition space plays host to a breathless turnover of

Millennium Galleries: The Millennium Galleries are outstanding venues for the visual arts, craft and design, right in the heart of Sheffield.

The four individual galleries under one roof are both elegant and innovative: The Metalwork & Craft and Design Galleries accompany The Special Exhibition Gallery, where a wide range of major ‘blockbuster’ exhibitions takes place, giving visitors the opportunity to enjoy all sorts of national and international masterpieces from places like Tate and the Victoria & Albert Museum.

The Ruskin Gallery contains a unique collection of minerals, paintings, drawings, ornithological prints, medieval manuscripts, books and architectural

plastercasts assembled by John Ruskin.

S1 Artspace: This artist-led organisation provides studio space for over twenty Sheffield-based artists, and a project space that presents an annual programme of contemporary exhibitions, screenings and events.

Site Gallery: The Site Platform (my personal favourite) offers an opportunity for artists to use the gallery space to undertake explorative, cumulative, interactive, performative, experimental, in-progress or durational work, creating a space for artists to develop new work in the gallery setting, whilst also allowing audiences to engage with the process.

From September 24, Ben Cain will develop an exemplary work that involves the space of a book, or a glossary, an A-Z, being expanded into a 3D environment in which pages become walls or doors, and printed images become video projection.

The work will, in part, be formed though a series of workshops during which those taking part attempt to outline the past, present, and future faces of an area, or areas of Sheffield.

Participants and other viewers can roam the spaces, images and texts, literally finding themselves in front of the work, in the middle of it, and behind it; as audience, subjects and producers, they merge and confuse the roles of insider and outsider, inhabitants and visitors. As newcomers both to Sheffield and its art scene, you couldn’t do better.

Laura Carlton & Hannah Kirby

Wuthering Heights changed my life Testimonial Wuthering Heights stands, to me, as an ode to the human condition at its most intense. True, I coped manfully with my GCSE teacher’s monotonous recitation of Emily Brontë’s lyrical prose by regularly drifting off into daydreams (often, I admit, inspired by the more Heathcliff-esque members of the rugby team passing the window) – but left to its own devices, Cathy and her wild paramour’s passion is electrifying.

Brontë’s narrative style is both thrillingly direct and intriguingly elliptical. Her layered focalizations toy with readers’ perceptions and, while ostensibly distancing the author’s potentially prudish public, succeed in entrapping the imagination in a labyrinth of characters’ psyches.

However, what really intensified the book’s hold over me, beyond ‘mere’ literary appreciation, was that its study overlapped, as it so often must as a syllabus text, with my 15-year-old self’s romantic initiations.

I started the novel a cynic, believing that raw emotion, either glorious or devastating, was an invention of artists and idealists, and confined to the enviable domains of Disney and Marvin Gaye.

Halfway through my fifth form, though, I had my adolescent heart so cruelly touched that I was able, suddenly, to see oceans of truth in Cathy’s tumult: my bubble of inexperience was popped and, much as I assume Eve did in one bite, I knew in one term and 300 pages both the torments and ecstasy of the most human of conditions. Wuthering Heights was, effectively, my apple.

Tammy O’Day

Games Arts Screen

Photography, as an experience, can be both personal and shared.

To me, it is both a science, to be studied and meticulously tweaked, and an art, a portrayal of individual creativity.

I must admit to not being blessed with an ease for understanding the scientific side to photography and cameras. However, after an inspirational visit to Southern France on a family holiday I soon found that it was my creative mind that went into overdrive whenever I framed a photo.

Taking mental snapshots has become engrained in me over the last couple of years. Now it feels natural to frame photographs in my mind and I automatically think of which camera settings I would use to capture the low-angled evening sun backlighting leaves or making a lake surface shimmer.

Mundane objects come to life in my mind; I like to photograph things that people normally don’t think twice about, hoping to shed new light on something ordinary by giving it a different perspective.

To me, photography is about portraying a snapshot of real people and natural situations, documenting how things exist without imposing the usual stance on them. I like to think that the viewer also considers the wider context of the photograph and what went on before and after that snapshot in time.

Drawing people in and engaging a viewer is difficult for any photographer and I’ve found that the best instances often happen by chance. The photograph of young boys and a woman walking her dog was taken from my flat, four storeys up. It was a simple case of point, shoot, and hope for the best.

I take a lot of photographs but only small fractions make it to my computer and even fewer make it to the internet. Flickr is my website of choice: similar to Facebook but purely for photography.

Its photographers generally have rather precious egos and the majority of comments are encouraging, and may suggest ways of improving. The social aspect also plays a large part of the experience and I feel as though

Music

Olivia Lightfoot: Photographer

there’s more incentive to go out and photograph something, anything, because I might just get a lucky shot covering a local event with the group.

A favourite photograph of mine is of a bare tree, manipulated by the wind over time. The mist and low contrast along with the unique shape of the tree not only captures natural elements in a powerful state, but there are memories attached to that shot for me too. I took it towards the end of a 25 mile charity walk through the night in the Peak District last year. Cold, wet and miserable, taking photos of the scenery was the last thing on everyone’s mind...except that I just had to get this shot.

Working for the News section of Steel Press last year, I was immediately thrown into the deep end, ‘papping’ the Union elections results night. As a totally new experience I found it daunting, but such challenging and unfamiliar demands only deepen my enthusiasm.

One of the beauties of photography as a hobby is that it is universally accessible.

Providing you have the desire to make the images in your mind a reality, anybody can enjoy it.

as symbols representing the tenets of Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism.

Complementing the ancient collection is a contemporary piece entitled Land of the Peach Blossoms, by artist Gayle Chong Kwan, constructed from recycled packaging, using light and texture to create a mythical community in an ethereal landscape.

Alongside the exhibition is an installation produced by the Sheffield Chinese Community Children’s Project in collaboration with artist Suna Xie, which comprises a series of eight digital

prints which illustrate modern day retellings of the myths of the Eight Immortals set in Sheffield’s past and present. Another project produced by the Chinese community is a scrapbook recounting the memories of ten Chinese residents and their integration into the community.

So if you want an experience of Chinese culture that is a little more refined than a visit to the local takeaway, head down to Graves gallery: chopsticks not required.

Charlotte Rose

I’ll let this one fly by.

Besides, it’s mine, whilst in my eye, Hands held firm and at my side.

Yet wants unscrunch; Brute caterpillar crunch.

That’s unrealistic. Unrealistic.

So I’ll let this one fly by Besides, if I touch the wings they die.

It died, and I did, With dusty butterfingers.

Fuse

If the spectacle of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics has given you a yen for all things Oriental, you can sample a collection of exquisite ornaments from the east at the Graves gallery’s superbly curated exhibition.

The items were originally collected by a British doctor, John Grice, working in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin, who later sold them to Sheffield art collector J.G Graves. Graves exhibited the collection in 1939 as a source of inspiration to Sheffield’s

steelworkers, who used ivory in decorative metalwork.

Grice’s collection comprises a fascinating range of objects, including those which are purely decorative and items which serve a functional purpose: ranging from calligraphy sets and fans, to opium pipes and boxes used to store fighting crickets – a popular 18th century Chinese sport.

The intricacy and detail of the carvings is stunning, and the scenes which they depict contain images of the Eight Immortals, legendary figures in Chinese mythology, as well

The Butterfly Catch

by Sam Newton

Friday September 19 2008

China In Yorkshire at the Graves Review

Feature

‘Point, shoot, and hope for the best’

Original Arts

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Feature Music Games Arts Screen

Sex, spies, villains and vampires Feature: Winter Preview Winter is looming and the nights are drawing in, so what better alternative to clubbing is there than a trip down to the local cinema?

The coming months see a bevy of major releases as studios bring out the big guns to draw in the crowds.

First up is High School Musical 3, released on Friday, October 10, which aims to capitalise on the enormous success of the last two.

The third entry seeks to charm you once again with tales of adolescent romance told through the medium of song, ‘cos, ya know, that’s what happens every day at schools in America. It’s senior year for everyone’s favourite songbirds, meaning this could be the last one!

But probably not. Nevertheless catch it while you can.

Quantum of Solace, that’s the new James Bond film to those of you confused by the slightly bizarre title, sees Daniel Craig picking up quite literally where he left off after Casino Royale on the hunt for those responsible for the death of Vesper in the first true Bond sequel.

The film promises at least double the action of its forbear which is good news for those of you who found the poker scenes a little tedious. Unfortunately for the ladies, there’s currently no word on whether or not Mr. Craig has opted to don those famous blue swimming trunks once again, but you can always live in hope.

Released on Friday, October 31, with a great cast and a surprisingly strong director in Marc Foster, this looks set to be one of the biggest hits of the year and is definitely the one to watch.

Hot on the heels of Bond comes arguably the biggest villain of all time in the form of George W. Bush; Oliver Stone’s W. turns the spotlight on the early career of the beloved American President, chronicling his trials

This winter’s big films: Quantum of Solace (main pic) and (inset, clockwise from top left) Australia, W., High School Musical 3 and Twilight. and misunderestimations up until 2004, meaning we get all the juicy bits seen as he hasn’t been that interesting of late. Supposedly told from an objective viewpoint, the film stars Josh Brolin as the man himself and is released on Friday, November 7.

One of the most eagerly anticipated film of the season arrives on Friday, November 26, with the release of Australia, a Baz Luhrmann epic starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in the romantic tale of a British aristocrat who inherits a ranch the size of Belgium in the north-west of Oz. She is soon challenged by the advances of cattle barons who want to take her land and the onset of World War II which sees a

Quantum of Solace promises at least double the action of its forbear devastating attack on Darwin.

An historical event that slipped under the radar, the film ensures the Aussie involvement in the war will no longer go unnoticed. With such a strong cast and director, this looks set to be a winner.

December sees a remake of the 1951 classic The Day the Earth Stood Still, which tells the story of an alien and his giant robot counterpart who come to visit Earth. So far, so E.T., except the

robot has the power to destroy the Earth if his alien master doesn’t like what he sees. As remakes go this sounds generally promising as long as it can pull off a similar style of success to War of the Worlds, and as long as star Keanu Reeves remembers to emote (even slightly).

With the devastating news that Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince has been inexplicably shelved until next summer, fans of the series will have to make do with another novel adaptation in the form of Twilight, a runaway success in America and the first in a planned series.

Twilight tells the story of Bella Swan, whose move to a rainy little town in the state of Washington

leads to a romance with the mysterious Edward Cullen, who throws an almighty spanner in the works when it turns out he’s a vampire.

Can he manage to stay away from Bella when the more his love for her develops the more his vampiric tendencies urge him to kill her? Or will his dastardly vampire pals get there first? Catch it on Friday, December 19 to find out.

With such an array of excitng pictures on the horizon, surely there’s no need to blow the loan on cheap drink offers down at the Union. See you at the cinema then, anyone? Anyone?

Jamie Cusworth

Ritchie’s rock’n’roll return to form

Fuse

Friday September 19 2008

Review: RocknRolla

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Mr Madonna’s latest foray into the world of the English criminal underworld may not convince those who lost interest with critical and commercial flops Revolver and Swept Away, yet RocknRolla is undeniably a step in the right direction.

One of the most entertaining films of the year, you’re likely to know exactly what you’re paying for if you’ve ever encountered either of the perennial favourites Lock Stock… or Snatch; to which all future Guy Ritchie films will, for better or worse, forever be compared.

RocknRolla falls down massively in the originality stakes, with over usage of mockney slang such as “jog on” and a story that seems to borrow more from his other films rather than reinvent the wheel

in any sense, yet it hurtles along at breakneck speed thanks to a largely fantastic cast.

RocknRolla hurtles along at breakneck pace with healthy doses of humour The opening scene places us in modern day London, with a booming property market and a city on the rise. Clearly such a setup takes a massive hammering from the current credit-crunch climate and it initially seems that Ritchie has completely missed the boat. Not so.

Fortunately, the plot consists of so many layers of dealing and double-dealing that you won’t necessarily care where it began as you’ll be having too much fun seeing where it all ends up.

Tom Wilkinson’s chief villain

Characters One Two and Mumbles have a tete-a-tete.

Lenny is perhaps the weakest link in the chain as a racist property tycoon clinging onto his former glory days, clashing with the slickness of Gerard Butler’s One Two and the ice queen cool of Thandie Newton’s Stella.

As the plot meanders and everyone inevitably ends up having a big punch up at the end,

it’s the healthy doses of humour which keep things moving along at a brisk pace.

A strange focus on gay jokes has a decent pay off when Tom Hardy’s Handsome Bob solicits One Two’s services for the evening in one of the most effective comic scenes, or when a Russian billionaire’s macho henchmen

turn out to be S&M fans; the cliché is an obvious one but its ridiculousness somehow works.

To add to this, a bizarre dance scene between One Two and Stella leaves you scratching your head as to whether it was meant to be serious or a complete pastiche, but instead of damaging the film, it compliments Ritchie’s tongue in cheek approach.

RocknRolla really succeeds when it’s having fun, which, luckily, is for the most part. This, coupled with such memorable characters, results in a film which works far more effectively as a comedy than as a gangster flick to challenge Ritchie’s previous efforts which it doesn’t quite manage.

Take it on its own merits, though, and you’re guaranteed a good time, making the final promise of sequel The Real RocknRolla somewhat more tempting.

Jamie Cusworth

Natasha Lewis

Estevez left-field hit Lost Film: Repo Man (1984)

Despite initial disgust, soon Otto is revelling in the “cops and robbers, real life car chases” speed-fuelled lifestyle of the repo man and “dressing like a square” while hot-wiring along with the rest of them.

The job takes a bizarre twist as the repo men search for a 1964 Chevrolet Malibu that is also being sought by the FBI and causing chaos all over town.

The uncool coolness makes for a refreshing change in the genre of L.A. movies about cars and guns, as the dodgily dressed characters fumble with their guns in a cast of losers and drop-outs.

The hilarious characterisation created by this and the storming soundtrack (including ‘Repo Man’

by Iggy Pop) form a frantic cult classic.

Natasha Lewis

Legally Blonde (2001)

all those who cross your path in the coming weeks.

Natasha Lewis

The Holocaust has always been a tricky subject to tackle; one step in the wrong direction and film-makers can be accused of exploiting the most horrific event of the 20th Century, or on the other hand, not doing it justice.

Brave then, that Director Mark Herman has decided to tackle the issue from the perspective of a small child.

Eight-year-old Bruno’s Nazi commandant father has suddenly upped and relocated the family to the edge of a strange camp surrounded by barbed wire where everyone walks around wearing striped pyjamas.

The obvious horror of this is immediate to the audience, yet to eight-year-old Bruno, ignorance is bliss.

Lonely in his new surroundings, Bruno befriends another young boy who just happens to be from the other side of the wire.

While such a set-up is obviously emotionally affecting with such innocence contrasted sharply with the reality of the situation, certain elements don’t quite ring true.

For example, no-one speaks with a German accent, an issue which is arguably easy to overlook, though it somewhat mars the authenticity of the film as a whole.

Similarly, it is well known that the concentration camps were ruled with an iron fist, leading one to wonder how Bruno and Schmuel’s little chats manage to go unnoticed by the guards for so long.

In addition, it is hard to believe that an eight-year-old boy growing up in Nazi Germany would have no

notion of who the Jews were and be completely devoid of negativity towards them.

These are obviously minor complaints which are necessary for the benefit of the story, and much can be found to admire in Mark Herman’s skill as a director.

The horrors of the Holocaust are never explicitly stated; even Schmuel looks curiously overfed.

Atrocities are merely hinted at by a constant sense of gloom and the clouds of smoke pouring from the crematorium chimney; an effective method of conveying the true nature of the concentration camps whilst deftly sidestepping any accusations of exploitation or ignoring the facts.

The final horror comes with one of the most depressing endings you are likely to see this year; the image of a Nazi soldier pouring Zyklon B gas down a hole is guaranteed to haunt you for days, yet to have any other ending would be to do the Holocaust a massive injustice.

While perhaps not the best film to see with your mates on a Friday night, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is an effective and original way of telling a story which nobody should ignore.

Jamie Cusworth

Fuse

Whether returning or beginning, Freshers’ Week is a week of new starts, new faces and new haircuts.

Shiny-toothed and brighteyed, we return to university in September with deluded visions of budgeting, exercising and meeting deadlines.

In a time of so much new, it is wise to remember our morals, folks: treating others as we would like ourselves to be treated; staying true to oneself; perhaps restricting the volume 13 Rammstein to the headphones; and, of course, not judging books by covers.

Legally Blonde tells the story of Elle Brookes (Reese Witherspoon) whose refusal to be dumped by her boyfriend, Warner Huntingdon III (Matthew Davis) leads her to an enrolment in Harvard Law School.

To the naked eye Elle is an untypical law student (pink, glitter, tiny coiffured dog) and despite their apparent intelligence, this is too much for her fellow students and she is victimised and mocked, until she suitably proves herself in a spectacular court-based finale and grinds their brown woollen snobbery into the ground with her fuschia stilettos.

A feel-good and funny tale of comeuppance, watch it this week and make a vow of acceptance for

Review: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Friday September 19 2008

The Best Film To Watch... in Freshers’ Week

A compelling & original story

“An ordinary person spends his life avoiding tense situations, a repo man spends his life getting into tense situations.”

And if the film is to be believed for “tense situations”, read debacles involving aliens, violent punks and Chevy cargo that evaporates cops.

Directed by Alex Cox (the guy who nearly directed Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), Repo Man is a Tarrantino-lite surrealist comedy about frustration, escape and fear.

Otto Maddox (Emilio Estevez) is stuck in a dead-end job with deadend friends. Upon firing himself with a swift fuck you to the boss, he finds himself penniless and directionless.

Enter Bud (Harry Dean Stanton) who picks him up and cons him into repossessing his first car.

Screen

effect in the first marital sex scene in which Georgiana’s fear and submission are affecting.

Her feisty struggle against the patriarchal world around her is convincing but there is less to be applauded in the scenes of grief.

Knightley’s indignant gasps seem to be her only way of expressing the intense sadness and her frequent close-ups seem only to emphasise her lack of feeling.

A lack of depth also arises in the plot construction as there is a sense of skimming. The duchess’

Arts

Scandal and really high hair: top ingredients for a great period drama

problem with gambling addiction is hardly mentioned; instead her dalliances with betting are shown only as a rather jolly pastime.

Fiennes gives the stand out performance as he brings sympathy to a character whose behaviour throughout the film is abhorrent to the modern viewer.

However, the duke’s treatment of his wife and his misogyny is another theme that is dabbled in and the sheer number of themes and points that are being made mean that it all seems to be spread a little thinly.

This film is an enjoyable watch but it is hard not to feel slightly cheated out of a better film considering the intense drama of the true story that The Duchess was based on. Even the attempt to bring serious issues such as women’s rights into play seems like a calculated crowd pleaser and the overall effect is that of a Georgian skirt: plenty of visually pleasing ruffles and volume, but not all that much to say.

Games

Sex, scandal, aristocracy, misogyny, Keira Knightley, ostrich feathers and really really high hair: with all the ingredients present to make up a great Georgian period drama, The Duchess cannot fail and the result is a visually pleasing waltz through the life of Georgiana Cavendish (Knightley), Duchess of Devonshire.

The titillating tabloid-fodder tale is garnished with stunning costumes, providing light relief from the grittier side of Georgiana’s journey from naïve idealist to reluctant realist and the costumes fit Knightley’s graceful frame with a flamboyant elegance.

The film follows the rocky marriage between the Duke (Ralph Fiennes) and Duchess of Devonshire and focuses on Georgiana’s plight as she struggles to cope with her husband’s unapologetic infidelity and disdain for her.

Her public image as ‘Empress

of Fashion’ is contrasted with her difficult private life, and the divide between surface and substance is a prevailing theme.

Knightley’s portrayal of Georgiana as a flighty, fancy-free youth is strong and her deer-inheadlights eyes serve to good

Music

Review: The Duchess

Feature

Period drama with a feminist twist

11

Fuse.listings

Friday September 19 - Thursday October 9 2008

Fri 19

Sat 20

Sun 21

Mon 22

Tue 23

Wed 24

Thur 25

Tropical Thunder @ Odeon; 8:25pm; £3.80

Wiley + Skepta (Rolex Sweep) @ Plug; 7:30pm; £9adv One of the original founders of the grime scene with Roll Deep, Wiley’s move into the mainstream with hit single ‘Wearing My Rolex’ sees him on a solo headline tour.

Sandman Tour: The Hosts, Twisted Wheel + more @ Leadmill; 5pm; £6

Game Release: Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway; Various prices The third entry in the Brothers in Arms series of video games released on multiplatform. Players are put in the role of Staff-Sergeant Matt Baker during Operation Market Garden in the later stages of WWII. PC version follows a week later.

Offbeat @ Raynor Lounge; 9pm; £3otd Leftfield pop and underground indie.

Ben Cain: A Picture Walks Out of a Place, a Person Walks Into a Wall @ Site Gallery, 1 Brown St; 11am 5:30pm; Free Free exhibition. Question and answer session with Ben Cain on October 4; book in advance.

Metalsammlung @ Corporation; 9.30pm; £1.50 Metal and hard rock club night featuring Leo aka DJ Deth-Egg.

Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying. A US comedy directed by Ben Stiller.

Toddla T + Matt Helders + More @ The Bowery; 6pm - 2am; Free Sheffield’s newest bar opens for business with an all-star local DJ lineup.

Local music magazine hosts its sixth birthday with a packed line-up.

DJ Hype + Bailey + Transit Mafia @ Plug; 10:30pm; £8 Detonate returns with an iconic figure of drum and bass, DJ Hype.

The Little Ones + support @ Fusion; 7pm; £6.50adv WIth their album The Morning Tide being tagged as 2008’s greatest guitar-pop album by NME, The Little Ones open Freshers’ Week.

The Legacy + Gold Kids @ Corporation; 6pm; £6 Double headliner from local metal bands.

Fri 26 Badlands @ Showroom Cinema; 8.50pm; £3- £5 The first of a series of Terrence Malick films being screened. A 1970s US classic.

Harley Live @ The Harley; 8pm; Free Catch several local live acts playing every Monday.

Linha De Passe @ Showroom Cinema; 8:40pm; £3-£5 Walter Salles’ first film since Motorcycle Diaries.

X Factor winner Steve Brookstein stars in the musical about Madness until September 27.

Sat 27

Sun 28

Mon 29

Last of the Summer Festival @ Carling Academy; 2pm; £10adv

Last Laugh Comedy Club @ Union Foundry; 7:30pm; £5adv Curated every week by Phoenix Nights’ Toby Foster. Normally at the Raynor Lounge, this Freshers’ Week special welcomes Edinburgh Fringe stalwart Dougie Dunlop to town, alongside Andy Askins.

Regular Last Laugh host Jason Cook comperes the mirth.

Game Release: Ghostbusters; £49.99

One day, ten hours and thirteen acts starring the likes of Nat Johnson & The Yell.

The Image of Cliff Richard @ Memorial Hall; 7:30pm; £18 Kystun Wolfe performs Cliff’s greatest hits.

The Ghostbusters return on PS3 with an all new story by the original creators. Expect improved realistic graphics and more of a single-player experience.

Threads @ DQ Upstairs; 10pm; £5 Weekly night Threads, with its anything goes play-list, extends the weekend with a one off Sunday event.

Lykke Li @ Plug; 7pm; £7 Swedish indie-pop from Lykke Li, armed with a bass heavy sound.

Support comes from Micachuz.

Dance: Transports Exceptionnels @ Devonshire Green; 1.30pm; Free Watch French dancer Beau Gueste dance on a mechanical digger on the green.

Valve Soundsystem @ Sheffield Union; 9pm; £16 Lemon D and Dillinja come to the Octagon for another evening of drum and bass. With Andy C, Goldie, Plastician and more.

Fri 3

Sat 4

Sun 5

Mon 6

Off the Rails @ Plug; 10pm; £10adv Globally recognised DJ talent with the very best in production. This month’s stars are John Gielen and DJ Shah.

John Gordillo + David O’Doherty @ The Lescar, 303 Sharrow Vale Rd; 7:30pm; £8 One of the higlights of the Grin Up North comedy festival in the intimate setting of The Lescar.

CSS @ Leadmill; 7pm; £12.50 NME favourties CSS. Following their second album Donkey, the Brazilian electro-pop act are back on the road.

The Streets + support @ Plug; 7:30pm; £17.50

Trust! @ The Harley; 10pm; £3

Our House @ Lyceum Theatre; 7:30pm; £14.50 - £28.50

The Duchess @ Odeon; 8pm; £3.80 Keira Knightly and Ralph Fiennes star in the dramatic story of the 18th centruy aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire.

James Zabiela + Jim Rivers + more @ Plug; 10:30pm; £11adv Voted best British DJ in DJ Magazine poll last year.

White Lies @ Leadmill; 7pm; £7adv Following an appearance on the NME New Noize Tour, White Lies perform on the main stage.

Poems & Pints @ Burton Street Bar, Hillsborough; 7-10pm; Free 0pen mic poetry.

Reverend and the Makers + Paddy Orange + more @ Plug; 8pm; Sold Out Sheffield indie hero Jon McClure, aka the Reverend, and his band of merry men hit Plug.

Electro night Trust! celebrates its first birthday with special guest Chewy Chocolate Cookies.

The Courteeners @ Carling Academy Sheffield; 6:30pm; Sold Out Manchester lad anthem purveyors, freshly recommended by Morrissey.

Melee @ Leadmill; 7pm; £8 The pop-rock quartet from Orange County, California, will be headlining the Steel Stage.

Bromheads Jacket @ Foundry; 7pm ; £8adv This Sheffield three piece tour their new album On the Brain which is released on September 22.

Das Pop, Absent Elk + Cut Off Your Hands @ Union Fusion; 7:30pm; £6.50 Spirited guitar pop from Soulwax’s best mates.

Frankie Boyle @ Lyceum; 8pm; Sold Out

Sam Sparro @ Leadmill; 7pm; £10 The singer of one of the summer’s biggest singles, ‘Black and Gold’.

Fuzz returns with Golden Silvers and a DJ set from Steve Lamacq. Expect indie hits in the main room with metal and rock in the side room.

Tue 30

Wed 1

Thur 2

Dance: A Tale of Two Cities @ Lyceum Theatre; 7:30pm; £13.50 - £31.50 A tale of love, sacrifice, revenge and redemption.

On until Saturday, October 4.

Grin Up North @ Various Venues

Rolo Tomassi + Throats @ Fusion & Foundary; 10pm; £4adv Sheffield’s experimental metal youngsters come to Fuzz Club, with support from rising band Throats.

Tuesday Club, Scratch Perverts featuring Dynamite MC + Sub Focus + more @ Sheffield Union Foundry; 10.30pm; £8 Catch popular drum and bass, dubstep and hiphop acts every Tuesday at the Union.

China in Yorkshire @ Weston Park Museum; 10am- 5pm; Free Themes of Beautiful, Powerful & Personal explored by Sheffield’s Chinese community. Until October 4.

Tue 7

Wed 8

Thur 9

Laika Dog + support @ Corporation; 7pm; £8 Ex-Terrovision frontman brings his new band to Sheffield.

Michael Mclntyre @ Lyceum; 8pm; £15 Following the initial success of his sell out Edinburgh show in 2006, Mclntyre embarks on his first ever UK tour.

This Will Destroy You + Lymbyc System + Support @ Corporation; 7pm; £7.50

Tracey Welch Exhibition @ Forum; All Day; Free An exhibition of exclusive photographs of Sheffield bands featuring Arctic Monkeys and Richard Hawley. Runs until October 26.

Hofesh Shechter, In Your Rooms and Uprising @ Lyceum; 7:30pm; £7.50

Maps & Atlases, Rotary Ten + Colour @ The Shakespeare; 7:30pm; £6.50 Having recently supported Foals, the intricate musicians from Chicago take to the stage.

The Scottish comedian from BBC2’s Mock The Week performs his hit solo live show. Call venue for returns.

The Automatic @ Academy; 7pm; £11 Appearing fresh out of the studio from recording their second album.

South Yorkshire’s biggest comedy festival runs for two weeks at venues across the city. See www. sheffieldcomedyfestival. com for full listings.

I’ve Loved You So Long @ Showroom Cinema; 8.30pm; £3-£5 First time French Director Juliette Claudel presents a tale of a dramatic and controversial family reunion.

James Yuill + Tim & Sam’s The Tim & Sam band with Tim & Sam @ Grapes; 7pm; £5 Singer-songwriter Yuill blends acoustic guitar songs with light electronic flourishes, with support from Manchester’s longest named band.

Travis @ Leadmill; 7pm; £18.50 Playing brand new material from their sixth album Ode to J. Smith, Scottish band Travis are back on the road.

Back with their fourth album, Everything Is Borrowed, The Streets launch a new tour.

Krafty Kuts + Herve + More @ Plug; 10.30pm; £6 Martin Randal, aka Krafty Kuts, is an English electronic, dance music and breakbeat producer.

He has won best DJ for the last three years in a row at the Breakspoll awards.

Fuzz Club, Steve Lamacq DJ Set + more @ Union Foundry; 10pm; £5adv

Choreographer of the opening dance sequence for E4’s hit TV series Skins. Here 12 dancers display anguish, loneliness, love and pain.

Hot Club De Paris @ Leadmill; 7pm; £7.50 Complicated messed up changing time signature riffs from the joyful Scousers, touring their latest album Live At Dead Lake.

Amanda Palmer @ Academy 2; 6.30pm; £12 The lead singer, pianist, and lyricist of the “Brechtian punk cabaret” duo The Dresden Dolls, Palmer brings her solo show to the Academy’s smaller venue.

Natty + Karima Francis + 7 Black Tentacles @ Plug; 7:30pm; £8 A unique acoustic based mix of indie, soul, reggae, Afrobeat and hip-hop.

Instrumental American post-rock band from Texas.

The Blackout + Support @ Leadmill; 7pm; £11 Following a new album, six-piece band from south Wales will provide an explosive modern punk rock performance.

Jason Mansford @ Memorial Hall; 8pm; £12-£14 Award winning comedian and star of Eight Out Of Ten Cats embarks on his first national tour.