Quench - Issue 87

V

SWN Going out:

review

THE biggest nights

FASHION: ON THE CHEAP

BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB

contents: Issue 87 // Nov 9th - 22nd

THE STUDENT MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR AT 8!

200 RDS AWA DIA GUARDIAN STUDENT ME NOMINATED THIS YEAR!

ROBBIE BLIND DATE FEATURES

MUSIC p. 39

FOOD GAY TRAVEL INTERVIEWS PHOTOS FASHION ARTS

FILM p. 53

GOING OUT BOOKS MUSIC FILM LISTINGS

GOING OUT p. 34

04 05 06 10 12 15 19 24 28 30 34 36 39 49 55

Cover Design: Simon Lucey Editor Simon Lucey Executive Editor Emma Jones Assistant to the Editors Elaine Morgan Arts Amelia Forsbrook, Rachel Yates Blind Date Sarah Kilby, Caroline Baldwin Books Emma Pocklington Fashion Emily Cater, Kate Eaton Features Ellie Woodward, Sarah George Film Lloyd Griffiths, Natalie Stone, Steve Wright Food Harriet Davies, Hayley Pyper Gay Lucas Owen Going Out Jack Doran Interviews Jody Tozer, Steve Beynon, Tom Rouse Listings Steve Beynon, Tom Rouse Music Sam Smith, Phil Guy, Si Roach Photos Jake Yorath, Liz Foggitt Travel Dom Kehat, Paul Stollery Proof Readers Amelia Forsbrook, Kate Boddington, Lloyd 'the welshman' Griffiths, Martha Partidge, Natalie Coop, Natalie Stone,

printed on recycled paper. PLEASE RECYCLE.

robbie

Give it up whilst you still have your own teeth!

With Morrissey collapsing on stage last month, Robbie Wells questions why the old timers bother to keep going way beyond their shelf life...

“I

t’s better to burn out than to fade away”: These are the most poignant words that Neil Young has probably ever sung, and are made somewhat ironic by the fact that this year he was headlining the Glastonbury Pyramid Stage at the grand old age of 63.

Why have I begun by banging on about Neil Young and a clever little aphorism that he wrote into a song decades ago? Well, because Morrissey has been making the news recently for being, well…old.

There hasn’t been a day in Morrissey’s singing career when he hasn’t sounded in pain, with his plaintive croon swimming over guitar riffs like a dying seal on a rock, but after collapsing on stage a few weeks back at 50 is he too old to perform?

Of course he’s not, but he should be. Some people’s bodies might be able to take it physically, but who really wants to see a band, no matter how great, when they’re old and frail? Rock and Roll is based on energy, exuberance and extravagance, and if you’re not going to bring that to the table then what’s the point?

With the exceptions of Bruce Springsteen and Elton John, who are rock automatons, who can claim to be as lively live as they ever have been?

Chris Martin of Coldplay fame has

04 /robbie@gairrhydd.com

never really been one to look to in terms of Rock commentary (except in the purely geological sense), but he declared recently that bands shouldn’t keep going past 33. A precise age to fall upon, especially considering that gives him precisely one year left, but for once he’s got a point.

"Artists should leave at the top of their game, with the audience always craving more" I’m not trying to cause controversy, but imagine if Michael Jackson had packed it in at 33? His legend would have been completely untainted by the Dangerous and Invincible albums, two of the steamiest polished turds ever created. Burning out at 50 may have been the best way to salvage the genius portion of his life.

Kurt Cobain can fall under the exact same category. Nevermind

shot him to a kind of fame he never craved, but his music was taking a fast turn for the shit. The aforementioned Neil Young lyrics eventually made it onto his suicide note (if we believe that’s what it was). I’m not suggesting that successful artists should kill themselves, but at least leave at the top with the audience always craving more.

With the painful reinvention of Take That, every codger from Fleetwood Mac to Queen has felt the need to eke what remains of their talent at the risk of blemishing their legend.

The Jam, the Stone Roses and the Libertines have all enjoyed brief histories, but can be looked back upon in their prime, and their original greatness will not be hindered.

That is of course until Pete Doherty runs out of sweet money and tragically reforms the band. The bizarre thing is I would be desperate to see the Libertines live, but in doing so, a large piece of the romance would be killed. Therein lies the problem.

Too many people don’t listen to the rest of “My My, Hey Hey”. If they did, they’d heed the line, “Once you’re gone, you can never come back”.

Maybe Kurt took it all too literally.

blinddate

Blind Date

Samya and Rob were sent on a date this week to a Latin American restaurant, but will there be more spice in the food or conversation?

"His friends were secretly taking photos of us in the restaurant"

Samya So what were your first impressions?

He was dressed unusually smartly and had a big grin on his face!

The best bit?

We randomly met my friends in town and all went clubbing together. Also I absolutely loved the food in Las Iguanas.

And the worst...?

When I realised his friends were secretly taking pictures of us in the restaurant!!

Were there any embarrassing moments?

He gave me a back and shoulder massage in front of everyone in Tiger Tiger!

Were you nervous?

I was very nervous before the date but he is the kind of person who puts people at ease. Five minutes into the date I was completely relaxed.

Rob in three words?

Generous, smart and clingy.

It has to be done - chuck, fuck or marry?

Chuck - he just wasn't my type at all.

Rob What were your first impressions of Samya?

She had amazing hair and an awesome smile!

The best bit?

Going to the Prince of Wales after, I'd never been in and it was awesome!

Learn anything interesting?

She was born and raised in Kenya then went to Rome before eventually coming to the UK. What about embarrassing moments?

Haha yeah! I made the mistake of telling my friend where I was going on the blind date, and half way through the date Samya says 'Why are there people taking pictures of us...?' He'd managed to get a table RIGHT NEXT to ours!!

Do anything special to get ready?

I did something hardly any students do - ironed my clothes!

Samya in three words?

Funny, interesting and evil :P And finally, chuck, fuck or marry?

I'm going to have to say chuck.

Samya and Rob enjoyed their meal thanks to Las Iguanas, Mill Lane.

They offer 20% student discount, Sunday-Thursday and 2-4-1 on selected cocktails all day Sunday and Monday.

Call 02920 226373 for bookings.

blinddate@gairrhydd.com / 05

features

When looks could kill...

When the Summer tan starts fading, for many people there seems to be just one port of call - the sunbeds. Kate Weeden explores the dangers of the exposure to artificial UV rays.

T

he leaves are falling, the temperature is dropping and the tan so meticulously maintained this summer is fading.

So, in the desperation that inevitably follows the slow reappearance of fair skin, we turn towards other means of achieving that summer glow. Unfortunately for many, the alternative chosen is sunbed tanning, with little thought about the serious risks that this decision incurs.

Sunbeds tan your skin using ultraviolet rays emitted from fluorescent light tubes, the same radiation that is found in sunlight. However this direct exposure to UV is far from that found on a Welsh Summers day; on average, ten minutes of sunbed tanning can be equated to around the same time unprotected in Mediterranean Summer sun. It is this UV exposure that links sunbeds to cancer, and is thought that around 100 deaths from skin cancer are caused by sunbed use each year in Britain.

These harmful rays not only severely increase the risk of skin cancer, long term effects also include severe eye damage, eye cancer and premature skin aging, the symptoms of which can take up to 20 years to manifest.

There's also short term damage caused to the skin such as dryness,

itching and blotches. Sounds attractive doesn’t it? Despite these risks, around 24% of British 16-24 yearolds have used a sunbed at some point, and there has been a concern that teenagers as young as 13 are using this form of tanning.

"The IARC claim that sunbeds belong in the same risk category as tobacco smoke" The Department of Health is currently reviewing its stance on sunbeds following the International Agency for Research on Cancer’s (IARC) decision to upgrade its assessment of the risk posed by sunbeds and sunlamps. The IARC claim that sunbeds belong in the

06 / features@gairrhydd.com

same risk category as tobacco smoke and a comprehensive analysis concluded that the risk of skin melanoma is increased by 75% when use of tanning devices starts before 30 years of age. Everyone has seen the hundreds of adverts and signs warning about the risks associated with smoking, and one would hope that this recent assessment will be followed by a similar campaign on sunbeds. Jessica Harris of Cancer Research UK released this statement in response to these findings: ‘Given the dangers of sunbeds we want the government to act now to ban under-18s from using sunbeds, close salons that aren't supervised by trained staff and ensure information about the risk of using sunbeds is given to all customers.’ The Sunbed Association has already agreed to prevent under 16s from using its members’ salons, however this has proved hard to enforce as a large part of the industry is unregulated and there are even salons which have automated coin operated beds that any person of any age could gain access to.

Addiction to tanning has become a large problem, with addicts now being dubbed ‘Tanorexic’. Beauty Queen Brittany Lietz claimed she almost ‘tanned herself to death’

features through an addiction to tanning which saw her using sunbeds for around two and a half hours every week.

"Addicts are now being dubbed 'tanorexics'" At 19, Brittany developed stage two melanoma and had to undergo 30 operations to remove cancerous moles. Her addiction began when she started entering pageants and using the sunbed once a week for eight minutes at a time. However she claims that ‘within two years I was going five or six times a week for 30 minutes a time.’ After her mother took a photo of one of her moles into a dermatologist Brittany was called in for immediate treatment. She now has scars all over her body from the numerous surgeries, the largest of which is ‘seven inches long’. Brittany was lucky to have escaped with only her scars to show for it. In 2007 Zita Farrelly, died of skin cancer after using a

sunbed twice a day for seven years.

Her aunt, Tina Farrelly, said Zita had saved up for a sunbed when she got her first job.’Her mum stopped her using it more than a couple of times a week, but she would go to a friend's house to use theirs...When fake tans and health warnings came out she stopped using them…but unfortunately she stopped too late.’

Despite chemotherapy, Zita passed away three days after her daughter’s first birthday.

A quick Google search for sunbed availability in Cardiff produced five pages of separate establishments offering sunbed tanning, the majority of which were in the Cathays and Roath areas. Most of the websites given seemed to offer no information on the risks of sunbed use or any obvious limitation to the quantity of sunbed time allowed per person. It is this wide availability and lack of health warnings that needs to be addressed by government legislation and that many charity organisations such as Cancer Research are campaigning for. The Welsh Assembly has taken a step in the right direction as last month they passed a legal age limit of 18 for sunbed use and Scotland has also taken this step, with a threat of a

£100 fine to any salon caught breaking this ban.

"This direct exposure to UV is far from that found on a Welsh Summer's day" So this autumn let’s embrace the paleness that inevitably accompanies a constant cover of cloud and revel in the ‘British Rose’ look. And if that really seems like a little too much to handle then remember; the only safe tan is a fake tan.

Turn the page to see how a serious fake tanner coped without the bottle

features@gairrhydd.com / 07

features

Diary of a Fake We all succumb to it at some point in time - bronzing our bodies and tanning our But can we actually live without fake tan? Georgia Hathaway decides to ditch

Monday

I

Before

scrubbed the remainder of my recent spray tan off last night ready for this experiment. Can’t say I’m looking forward to it, but hey, I’m always up for a challenge.

It’ll be interesting to see how I’ll cope for a week without hitting the bottle. Of tan that is. I can’t live without it. I know that sounds like an exaggeration but it’s true. I love the whole fake tanning process: the exfoliating, the moisturising and then applying a magic lotion that makes my skin bronzed overnight. An all year round tan and none of the health risks - result!

What’s not to love?

I haven’t

seen my natural skin tone in a while and I’m definitely a whiter shade of pale. Gross. Well, if Nicole Kidman, Lily Cole and the like can look half decent with fair skin, then I can, right?

Tuesday Ok, I’m vile. I look in the mirror and feel like the love child of Casper the ghost and Wednesday Addams.

Pale, but certainly not interesting.

Even with make-up on, I still look deathly. I try to cover up as much as possible but I still feel like I’m radiating pastiness. It’s not cold enough to dig out the gloves just yet so my milky white hands remain exposed.

Bad day to wear navy nail varnish, my fingers look frostbitten!

"I'm surrounded by tanned, glowing beauties... and that's just the guys!"

Wednesday Going out tonight and dreading it. I never out without tanning up, I

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just don’t feel complete! I normally use a wash-off variant on top off my existing tan to look extra brown but tonight I’m going au naturel. Oh well, it’s dark in nightclubs so no one’s going to notice. I hope.

Arrive at the club and feel like I’m hitting ten on the ugly scale. I’m sickeningly pale and far too hideous for photos. In fact, I will kill anyone with a camera. I try to channel alabaster skin chic but feel really self-conscious. I’m surrounded by tanned, glowing beauties...and that’s just the guys. As for the girls, they’re either going for the Jordan or the oompaloompa look. They’re that orange.

I’m so jealous.

Thursday One of the downsides of fake tan is that it stains everything it touches so it was nice to wake up today with clean bed sheets. Feeling satisfied that one good thing has come from this experiment, I shower without having to worry about scrubbing old tan off. By now, tan that I would have applied earlier in the week would have started to go patchy and a scarf would be essential to disguise my streaky neck. Another disadvantage to fake tan, it doesn’t last long.

I head into Uni and am feeling pleased with myself until my friend Jodie, well and truly bursts my bubble. “George, you feeling alright babes? You look anaemic!”

Great. I look ill. My bad mood is back. I check Facebook later and have been tagged in about a million photos from last night. I look lifeless in every single one. Untag, untag!

features

Tanner torsos to perfection through the application of one simple concoction to our skin. the bottle for a week!

Friday

"I can't bear the thought of unleashing my milkbottle legs in public" The weekend is here! And I’m still disgusting. I pop into town after lectures to indulge in some retail therapy. There’s nothing Topshop can’t solve. Heading into my favourite Queen St. haunt, I spy a fabulous purple one shouldered playsuit that I have to have. I grab it and make a dash for the fitting room. I try it on and feel like crying. There’s no way I can pull it off. Not with these corned beef legs. My skin looks see through and has an attractive blue tinge.

Thank god, I’m only going to the pub with the girls tonight. At least I can cover up and wallow over a glass of wine. 5 down, 2 pale days to go…

Saturday Its my friends birthday today which means it’s a big night out tonight and I have no idea what to wear. All the girls are wearing dresses but I can’t bear the thought

of unleashing my milk bottle legs in public. But then again, I really want to wear my new LBD - it would be sinful to waste such a gorgeous dress. I decide to take the plunge and wear it anyway but getting ready is taking a lot longer than anticipated. I attempt everything to make me look healthier, I exfoliate all over to look glowing but scrub too much and look like I’ve lost a fight to a brillo pad. I apply more blusher to give me a bit more colour but end up looking like a member of Crazy Clowns Anonymous. I try wearing tights but they look weird with the dress. I slip on a little jacket to hide my arms but realise I’m going to have to carry it around if I get too hot later. Oh sod it, I’m being ridiculous. Who honestly cares if I’m tanned or not, it’s only one more night!

Sunday Last night wasn’t so bad. I felt a bit odd at first but when it started raining in the Oceana queue, I didn’t have to worry about my tan running, which was a bonus!

This was an interesting experiment but not one I want to repeat in a hurry. I felt self-conscious at the best of times and looked ill without any colour. However, I did manage to save time and effort, plus I didn’t smell like digestives for a whole week! So perhaps ditching the bronze in a bottle wasn’t all that bad.

But I doubt I’ll be giving up the glow anytime soon. Now someone pass me the St.Tropez pronto!

After

features@gairrhydd.com /09

food

bored of the Kebab?

pick up a parmo!

Do you ever get put off your kebab by the realisation that someone has just shaved it off a massive rotating oblong of sweaty meat pulp? Yet you still crave hot and greasy calories after a night of heavy drinking? Fear not! Laura Peart is here to tell us about a very northern after-hours speciality..

O

ne thing I hate is eating take-away after a night out in Cardiff. The greasy smell of sausage batter and ketchup as I stagger down Salisbury road at 3 in the morning makes my stomach turn. I’ve even been known to make friends throw away their precious ‘Kebab, chips and gravy’ (often to an ugly reception)! But if I was at home, things would be pretty different…

I’m from Hartlepool, a town in North-East England, and up there you wouldn’t see anybody with a chicken or döner kebab after a night out...it’s all about Parmos!

The Parmo is a Teesside delicacy (strictly only to be eaten after the consumption of at least five pints!), and you can’t get your hands on (a genuine) one anywhere else in the world other than Middlesbrough and Hartlepool.

So what is it? I hear you all crying out to know! Well, it’s served in a pizza box, and kind of looks like a pizza, but it is so much more than that! The base of the Parmo consists of white meat, usually chicken, sometimes pork, sliced thinly or bashed into an escalope. It is then

10/food@gairrhydd.com

dipped in a breadcrumb batter (imagine a gigantic chicken nugget that’s been flattened with a rolling pin) and deep fried. Then spread on top, is that ‘well lush’ stuff you get in lasagna, known as ‘béchamel sauce’. Lastly, the entire dish is all covered thickly in cheddar cheese and baked until all melty and crisp on top. In some takeaways, you can even customize your Parmo with a variety of classic pizza toppings, such as pepperoni or ham and pineapple. They come in two sizes: ‘full’ or ‘half’ and are always served with chips, coleslaw, and red cabbage salad.So how did these tasty cheesy-meaty things find their way to Middleborough? Despite their Italian-sounding name, the Parmo was in fact inspired by an American chef named Nicos Harris. During the Second World War, Harris was injured in France and was brought to Britain for treatment. Once recovered, he moved to Middleborough and opened up a restaurant called ‘The American Grill’ in 1958 - and thus the Parmo was born, sold, and loved by all. The restaurant is still open today, run by Harris’ family.

Although the dish is named Par-

mo, it doesn’t actually involve any parmesan cheese. It is, however, thought to be adapted from an Italian dish named ‘parmigiana’.

Last year, I took a Welsh friend back home to Hartlepool (or ‘Partypool as it’s better known) and after listening to me rave about how amazing Parmos are since we met, I let her try one for herself. She was not in the slightest disappointed!

“Absolutely lush!” is how I think she described it, “Why don’t they sell this in Wales?!” she asked.

Unbelievably, just this year, ASDA supermarkets in the Teesside area have started selling microwavable Parmos, as they’re just so popular!

Although these ready-made amateur versions are nowhere near as good as the real thing from a Parmo House, rumour has it that ASDA are considering selling them in other branches. So fingers crossed guys, soon Parmos will be available all over the country!

Us monkey-hangers love’em, and I’m positive if you tried one, you would too!

food

WHAT

have

you got

Cardiff?

Quench Food Editors Harriet Davies and Hayley Pyper went to check out the new restaurants and cafes at the opening of St. David’s 2.

T

he Lower-East Side food quarter lives up to its urban-chic title with some of the biggest names in trendy city eating out, many of which are introducing their first branches in Wales. We spoke to Jay Chapman, the head of Communications at one of Britain’s most popular good-food cafe’s, Pret A Manger.

Pret A Manger has been a large name in the fast food industry since the late 1980s, with the majority of its branches in London. Although the shop does not offer particularly student-friendly prices, it prides itself on providing consistently fresh, high quality home-cooked food, selling everything from a hearty Sausage and Mash wrap to a Deluxe Sushi box. Jay assured us that the company would never compromise on the quality of food to improve shelf-life or cost, which is why none of the products sold in Pret contain a sell-by date. When asked about the target market of the Cafe (considering that 10% of Cardiff’s population consists of poor hungry students), Jay stated that “foodies” or anyone looking for “proper food your mum used to make” would particularly

enjoy what Pret has to offer. We also disovered that Pret plans to donate all left-over food each evening to Huggards homeless shelter in Cardiff. Good food and ethics...

Another big name in trendy restaurant chains to introduce their first branch in Wales in St. David’s 2 is Yo!Sushi. Without doubt the most popular Sushi restaurant in the UK, Yo!Sushi offers the entertainment of a proper Sushi bar conveyer-belt designed around an open-plan kitchen, along with a massive variety of tasty healthy Japanese food. With a 25% student discount from studentbeans.com, if you’ve never tried sushi before, Yo!Sushi in St. Davids 2 is the perfect place to give it a go!

The Upper-East-Side provides late-night alfresco dining and introduces Chimichangas Tex-Mex food to Wales for the first time, in addition to a few old favourites such as Cafe Rouge, Pizza Express and Nando’s. So if you fancy exactly the same menu and surroundings but a different view out the window, why not give them a try?

food@gairrhydd.com /11

gay

Homoflexible?

In this week's issue, Rachel Henderson argues that sitting on the more openminded side of the sexual fence doesn't necessarily mean that if you're bi now, you're gay later...

12 /gay@gairrhydd.com

gay

K

aty Perry kissed a girl, Megan Fox confirmed thousands of male fantasies, and I won't even get started on Lady Gaga. As for the male half of the species, some rather controversial answers were thrown up in Google searches so refraining from conjecture seems the safest option. Still, you can't deny that bisexuality did seem to become more prevalent in the media for a while. After a surge of 'popular' bisexuality, why is it that 'bi-invisibility' seems to an increasing problem in the LGBT community?

It could have something to do with the persecutions many bisexual people face from both sides of the fence. An adamantly straight friend of mine often refers to bisexuals as being 'greedy'. Worse still, it seems like the great deal of the population need better dictionaries to help them stop confusing the term bisexual with that of nymphomaniac. Just because someone likes both men and women does not mean they are selfish and easy. Unfortunately this kind of labelling has become synonymous with bisexuality over time, causing the reality of being bisexual to be greatly overlooked.

Despite forming part of the LGBT acronym, bisexuality often causes some raised eyebrows within its own community. Accusations of cowardice or attempting to ease their way out of the closet are often levelled at those who refuse to be either/or. For some who come out as gay first and then realise their bisexuality they can even be accused of attempting to return to the closet or to be more 'mainstream'. Whatever that means.

You would expect that, as a minority group, the LGBT community would respect one and other at large – but unfortunately this is far from always the case. So, where does this leave those who play on both sides of the street?

Slap bang in the middle of the road with very little recognition from either side, it seems. With negative views and reactions to bisexuality from all sides, it is little wonder that it can seem like the forgotten letter

in 'LGBT'. Particularly when the assumption is that if you are in a same sex relationship you are gay/lesbian, or if you are seeing someone of the opposite gender you are straight. Bisexuality is not about swinging from one side to the other - it is about being both at once, even when in a monogamous relationship. Someone who is bisexual is not straight at one point and gay/lesbian at another.

They're one and both at the same time - all the time.

It is not just general society that

Even transgender people are better represented, with the occasional hard-hitting ' shockumentary' & Hayley from Coronation Street." helps create this feeling of 'bi-invisibility' though. Even advice centres for the LGBT community often have similar prejudices. Those who ask for help on coming out as bisexual can suffer the same labelling often given by the community at large.

As supposedly neutral services that are there to offer help and support it seems wrong that they should accuse those seeking help of trying to ease their way out of the closet, automatically making the assumption that bisexuals are just taking half a step to admitting their complete homosexuality.

Did you ever hear of anti'biphobia' campaigns or training?

Many of you who use the train will be used to the “Some people are gay.

Get over it” posters that Stonewall has implemented in many train stations (as well as other places) across the country. Yet, why not have some with the slogan “Some people are Bi”? No wonder 'bi-invisibility' is a key issue when bisexuality gets such little recognition, even from rights campaigners, as it is overshadowed by gay and lesbian issues.

The media also plays a role in 'bi-invisibility'. Despite the examples given previously, there are very few positive portrayals of bisexuality in the media. If there are any they do not seem to make much of an impression as my housemates have failed to come up with examples.

On the other hand, gay and lesbian characters in television are reportedly on the increase and there is gay and lesbian specific programming with shows like The L Word.

In more 'real-life' media examples, promiment gay people include the likes of Elton John, Ian McKellen and Stephen Fry. The lesbians have Ellen DeGeneres, kd lang and Jodie Foster. Even transgender people are better represented, with the occasional hard-hitting shock-umentary and Hayley from Coronation Street.

The letter B is brought to you by...? Personally I blanked on this one, but a little research reminded me of Megan Fox, Pink and Angelina Jolie to name but a few. Yet these media representations seem to have just furthered the opinion that bisexuality can be cool - which undermines those who don't think of bisexuality in the same manner as a designer label.

Bisexuality has been condemned on all sides, over-shadowed by gay/ lesbian issues, picked up as a fashion accessory and occasionally used to increase viewing figures or record sales. With such cynicism it just goes to show how being bisexual is neither fashionable or cool but certainly marketable. The latter of which very few people are going to worry about.

arts@gairrhydd.com / 13

y e n d y S

travel

by night

This week, Simon Lucey travels to Australia and discovers the very best watering holes Sydney has to offer. All in the name of journalism, of course

L

ook at the tourism website for any major city and it will proclaim to be a ‘24-7 city that never sleeps’, or something equally vague and meaningless.

I had assumed that this was yet another hollow PR phrase that told me nothing. Sydney however, proved just how wrong I could be.

The options for nightlife in Sydney are plentiful, whether you fancy upmarket drinks on the Rocks overlooking the harbour, pretending to behave badly with gappies in the well trodden backpacker bars, or truly misbehaving in the shameless Kings Cross area.

The Rocks, the name given to the area first colonised by Captain Cook and his band of men 150 odd years ago, is now the most fashionable area for Sydney’s young elite to be seen. With its twisting little alleys and endless charming pubs, it is the perfect place to start a pub crawl. These pubs can all provide hearty meals including crocodile and kangaroo pizzas.

If this seems too highbrow though do not fear, this is a city of many

faces, and some of them are far filthier. If you are on a tight budget or travelling on your own then the infamous backpacker bars are a good

Emirates flies to four Australian cities, starting from £664, for more information, visit www.emirates. com/uk

YHA has over 120 hostels across Australia, for more information, vist www.yha.com.au

"ScuBar; famous for its cheap beer, excitable 18-yearolds and crab racing" place to start out.

Conveniently located underneath the Sydney Central YHA is the world renowned Scubar. Famous for its cheap beer, excitable 18 year olds and Monday night crab racing it may not be everyone’s cuppa tea, but blimey, it’s popular. In similar fashion, Side bar run a slightly bigger night around the corner and is worth heading to when it gets to the 18 year olds bed time.

Both places are perfect for picking up a meal on the cheap, whilst the quality will not necessarily be good, you can guarantee you’ll be full for $8 AUS. Once it gets to the dirty hours though there is only one place to head to. King’s Cross - Sydney’s red light district. A pleasure playground, it's host to an eclectic mix of pubs and clubs which cater to the most outrageous of tastes. The area, famous for its gay scene and underground dance music can only promise to shock you.

For me this came in the form of interrupting my hostel managers and a couple of prostitutes in the room next door, after stumbling in from a night out. Turns out maybe it would have been safer to stay in that Sydney Central YHA! Assuming you are staying in the centre of Sydney the perfect end to the nights shenanigans is to wander back through Hyde Park and take a look at the sobering war memorial as the sun rises, clutching chips watching commuters go to work.

For more information about Australia and the Working Holiday Visa visit www.australia.com/ workingholiday

travel@gairrhydd.com / 15

travel

They've had their fun, As Rough Guide launches a competition to find two students to go to Central and South America to update their 'On A Budget' editions, these Cardiff students explain why it's truly the opportunity of a lifetime..

Ecuador S

outh America is famous for its range of diverse cultures, and Ecuador is one of its more extraordinary ones.

Located on the west coast of the continent, between Columbia and Peru, Ecuador, the second smallest country in the region, has a large mixture of modern cities, beautiful landscapes and traditional ways of life; a large amount packed into its tiny space.

Within the many cities you can experience normal day to day life, mixed with the historical past of the country. Both the capital Quito in the centre and Cuenca in the south are recognised as World Heritage Sites with an assorted mix of modern living within unchanged, historical buildings, whilst cities like Loja and Guayaquil embrace the modern, western way of life, making travellers feel very much at home.

However, once you get out of the cities, you begin to experience what Ecuador is really famous for; its breathless scenery. For the more adventurous travellers, the country is home to many remarkable but challenging mountains, including the two closest places on earth to the sun, Mount Chimborazo and Mount Cotopaxi. For the less experienced climber there are also many lower, easier mountains, like Rumiñahui or Pasochoa, which offer a gentle trek and amazing views throughout,

whilst some offer the opportunity to go in search of rare, exotic animals.

If mountain climbing is not your cup of tea, you can also visit many of the small cities located within the Amazon basin, from which you can trek through the country’s vast amount of rainforest, experiencing the many local tribes traditional way of life. If you fancy a more leisurely trip, there are many historical locations for tourists to marvel at, from the Mitad Del Mundo monument, the middle of the world to you and I, located slightly north of the capital to Ingapirca, the largest Inca ruins in Ecuador, situated in the south.

The country is also home to some of the world’s most amazing but unique creatures, most of which can only be found within Ecuador. One

key location is the world famous Galapagos Islands, located off the western shore of the country. Here you can marvel at the many rare but unique animals that will wander past you without fear. It is definitely one place that will leave you speechless.

However, if you are travelling on a budget, you can always visit the Isla de la Plata dubbed the Poor Man’s Galapagos Island, home to many of the animals located on the Galapagos Islands, just slightly closer to the coast.

Ecuador is one place that needs to be visited to be believed and with the many different places you can visit, you can change where you are quick enough to suit you moods.

Becky Bartlett

For more information on how to enter this competition, please visit http://www.roughguides.com/onabudgetwriter

16 /travel@gairrhydd.com

travel

now have yours...

Chile

C

hile is very a diverse country- reflected in its spectacular geography that ranges from the Northern desert down to the freezing Antarctic, and it was with this beautiful landscape as my surroundings that I spent three months working as a teacher.

Chile is a fascinating mix of old and new with the capital Santiago being an excellent example of this richness. I remember spending days walking around the city, ending up in the most random situations -being the only woman in a fly infested restaurant (having a pint at noon- I blame the time difference) to being approached by some strange people as I sat outside the National Library.

The city was truly intoxicating and the gorgeous view of the sun setting behind the snow topped Andes was one of the most impressive things I have ever seen. Concepcion is a mix

Brazil B

razil is an impressive country full of colour and cultural experience to be had. Views from Rio Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue are some of the most beautiful I saw in the whole of South America.

The city is buzzing with life and the beach location of the Copac-

of beautiful countryside (the lagoon at Andalué being a personal favourite) and hectic busyness, with its colonial past etched into its buildings.

As for things to watch out for: when in Chile you must try Pisco that can be mixed into two popular drinks: Piscola (Pisco and Coke) or Pisco Sour (Pisco, lemonade, lemon juice and syrup)-yum!

My favourite memory from Chile is the celebrations to commemorate Chilean independence which

abana area makes it a great place to stay, along with the cocktails of course! As well as buzzing city life, Brazil is also home to vast areas of tropical jungle, some of which I was lucky enough to see by helicopter, whilst flying over the breathtaking Iguassu waterfalls.

Islands off Brazil’s east coast offer a relaxing getaway from the great adventure that can be found in the mainland and the islands Ilha Grande combine tropical forests with beach side restaurants and

involved weeks of planning and allowed the children to showcase national dances (such as “cueca”) and Mapuche (indigenous Chileans’) legends about their country.

From Santiago to the legendary Easter Islands or striking PatagoniaChile is sure to entertain, intrigue and charm you; I learned to love this unique country and its friendly, affectionate people.

Kayleigh Toyra

shopping. The activities on these small but stunning islands include snorkelling, surfing, hiking, getting a massage, getting tattooed (although the last of those is probably the least recommended!) and you even arrive in what can only be described as resembling a miniature pirate ship!

The influence of Portugal can be seen in several towns including Paraty, which offers stunning beaches as well as colonial architecture. Brazil is a popular tourist hot spot famous for its carnival and party culture that can be found in Rio. However even in Rio itself, even more so in the country’s capital Brazilia, the rich poor divide can be seen, with shanty towns still present in Brazil’s larger cities. Tourists have the opportunity to contribute to these hardworking communities through donation or through volunteering in education, arts and sports programmes with children who live in the slums.

Gemma Budge

travel@gairrhydd.com / 17

travel

Orkney Islands . . .

Photo: Christina Mackie

IN F BRITA BEST O

This week, Christina Mackie travels north to explore the Orkney Islands. Local brews, surfing and a road sign to Twatt are just a few things on her itinerary.

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rystal clear water, soft white sand, and some of the best shallow depth wreck diving in the world. It sounds like the perfect holiday, and it's a lot closer to home than you'd think.

I'm talking about the Orkneys. A scatter of islands off the northern tip of Scotland, they're probably not the first place you'd think of to visit.

First things first, flights to Kirkwall are available from £95 return, from Edinburgh and other major airports.

If that's too pricey, there's always the option of the ferry from four different ports, including Aberdeen. If there's a group of you it's worth taking a car up and splitting the ferry costs, as the route up through Scotland passes some really spectacular scenery.

There are places to stay no matter your budget. For the penniless student, the Orcades Hostel offers fantastic accomodation for £15 a night, within staggering distance of the nightlife of Kirkwall.

In Kirkwall make sure you visit Nimm's old fashioned sweet shop for a scoop of Orkney icecream. In the evenings, relax with a pint of Dark Island at the Bothy Bar and have a chat with friendly locals, or if you fancy some traditional pub grub with

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an Orcadian twist, visit Helgi's by the harbour. I'd happily recommend their haggis lasagne. If you fancy a bit of a dance try Torvaug or Fusion on the waterfront, and party late into the night.

The Orkneys aren't all about

"The Orkneys aren't all about partying, although the local brews are dangerously drinkable" partying, although the local brews are dangerously drinkable. If you like the outdoors there are plenty of things to do. Hire a bike if you're feeling energetic, or a car if you're not, and explore.

If you're into climbing then a short ferry trip away is the Old Man of Hoy, a tempting challenge for rock climbers from all over the world. A longer ferry trip will take you to Westray, a beautiful island to the north where you can catch a flight to neighbour-

ing Papa Westray, officially the shortest scheduled flight in the world.

They'll even give you a certificate to prove it!

Another option is to explore the wrecks around the islands. At the Churchill Barriers, several wrecks at a shallow depth offer a fantastic experience for beginner divers, while the Scapa Flow area gives more experienced divers the chance to explore the scuppered German War Fleet from WWI. Skaill Bay, as well as being the location of the famous Skara Brae prehistoric village, is a prime spot for surfing with its wild Atlantic waves.

Even if the weather's bad there's plenty to do. The Highland Park Distillery is the world's most northerly whiskey distillery, with tours (including a tasting) running several times a day. The Orkney Museum in Kirkwall is free, and full of interesting little knick-knacks from Orkney's rich and varied past.

You can even head up to the north of Mainland to visit the delightfully named Twatt and have your photograph taken by the road sign with the arrow pointing at your head! The Orkney Islands might be an unusual choice for a holiday destination, but with so much to do, and a place called Twatt, well... why not?

interviews going out

Bombay or bust This week Jody Tozer meets up with Bombay Bicycle Club, a band who haven't had a normal start in life. Being discovered whilst still at school, winning a reality TV show and performing in beach huts, they have now reached the limelight.

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n the same day as hearing that I would be doing an interview with Bombay Bicycle Club I coincidentally heard their new single ‘magnet’ playing on Radio One. Tracking this song down on Spotify, I decided to check out the rest of the album and now this band have made my ‘ultimate songs’ playlist on Spotify. The album ‘I had the blues but shook them loose’ is full of potential hits for this band, a helping hand given by the

quirky voiced singer and catchy almost haunting melodies. With ‘magnet’, the third single from this album just released and a tour underway, we caught up with the band when they performed a sell out gig at Clwb Ifor Bach.

Sat on the sofas of the dressing room with Jack Steadman the lead vocalist, I nod towards one of the support acts of the evening ‘Lo Fi Culture Scene’. A bunch of five young teenagers ranging from 15-16 years old, including the brother of

Bombay Bicycle Club’s lead guitarist Jamie MacColl. I asked Jack if this reminded him of when he first started with the group at school to which he replies that it does, but these guys are taking it far more seriously.

This is something that seems to be fairly obvious with this band, with adopting the name of a curry house, it seems that starting so young can have its hindrances.

interviews@gairrhydd.com /19

interviews

"I PUNCHED HIS TV..."

"WHAT?!"

"...YEAH A BIG WIDESCREEN TV" 20/interviews@gairrhydd.com

interviews

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ow did you get discovered?

It was kind of unfair, someone’s cousin was in management. It's all about how lucky you are and being in the right place. Loads of people ask advice, but you can't give a straight answer. It can be quite disheartening for some bands as they might be really good. It's a lot easier these days with myspace and you can get what you deserve.

You won battle of the bands, that must have helped you a lot?

A huge help, it kind of sped everything up a bit, 'cos it was on TV, right after big brother so we gained a lot of people who would never have heard of us.

Why the name?

Laziness, we copied it from an Indian takeaway. We were 15, we came up with so many names that we hated. I hate that name, but it's too late to change it. BBC is alright or just Bombay, if I could change it and everyone would remember it then I would.

Starting so young, has your music changed with your age?

Yeah definitely, not so much the album we just released but what we're about to do in the future. I personally have stopped listening to a lot of music that I was listening to back then.

How would you describe your music?

It's a hard question but we listen to a lot of American guitar music, we prefer American indie to British indie.

So do you feel like you are missing out now that your friends are moving onto University?

Yeah at like every fresher’s gig we play. Although I don’t think I would have any friends at university, everyone just dresses up and gets really drunk. I think I would just want to sit down and have a conversation with someone, it’s a bit cliché and cheesy for me, it makes me cringe most of it.

So you’re not too envious of us students then?

Some of it, we don’t have enough money yet to even move out of our parent’s houses, it doesn’t exactly pay well this job...we’re all just dying to move out.

Apparently, you’ve played in a beach hut, how did that come about?

We had this thing where we asked people if we could play at a place they suggested, we got quite bored of just playing at venues so we ended up playing at some old castle ruins, we played down in a mineshaft, someone's beach hut, there's something a bit monotonous about tour.

"I think a lot of bands would be sad if we sold out, we're that type of band."

Your single 'Magnet' was released this week, do you know how that’s doing?

I don’t know, I feel very out of touch with news like that. I'm really glad its on vinyl though, I thought they were joking when they said it wasn't, when's it on vinyl, it's more of a collection, something you can give to your grandkids.

You have been nominated as best

breakthrough festival act, how confident do you feel?

Not too confident as I had a quick look at who was nominated like Bon Iver and I fucking love him. I think he should win.

You are supporting White lies and Pixies, how exciting is that?

It's like the best thing to happen to us, we’re all such big pixies fans, and you almost don't believe it.

If it all ended after that, you'd be happy?

Yes definitely.

So the future's looking bright and you may actually earn some money?

Yeah to hopefully move out and pay this guy back for his TV. I punched his TV, a big widescreen TV. Oh well I'll get the money.

I'm surprised that you make such little money, is it really that bad?

It's really hard to make money in a band, it's sad, that is why a lot of bands resort to being in adverts.

People think you're so lame, you sold out but it's the only way they can make money, we’ve tried as hard as we could not to do any of that stuff, 'cos I hate when a song is in an advert and you really like it but it ruins it for you. I think a lot of fans would be sad if we sold out, we're that type of band.

interviews@gairrhydd.com /21

goinginterviews out

JOHN COOPER CLARKE Being the alternative choice for a support act, John Cooper Clarke has captivated crowds with his poetry at gigs ranging from Joy Division to Jerry Lee Lewis. Joe Shervelll found himself going for a curry with the punk

"You are the future and that, so just have fun"

Illustration - Ian Wright; Cover design - Steve Beynon

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interviews

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hat does Cheese say when it has its photo taken?’, John Cooper Clarke asked a packed-out Cardiff Barfly; warming up the crowd with a few more one-liners before diving into a recital of one of his better-known poems, ‘Hire Car’. The audience remained transfixed for an hour and a half as ‘The bard of Salford’, now into his sixties, fired off favourite verses from his back-catalogue of culture-critical poems.

After the gig, I asked John if he could spare a few minutes to answer some questions. He said it was fine, before pausing for a moment and announcing in his trademark Mancunian drone: ‘I’m starving. Let’s get a curry’. 10 minutes later we sat down to eat; his burly back-combed barnet and dayand-night ornamental sunglasses drawing the attention of everyone in the restaurant. He looked like a rock star. And why not? Here’s a man who’s toured with the likes of Joy Division, New Order, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Fall and even Jerry Lee Lewis. A man who stands tall in the punk hall of fame, not for his music, but for his poetry.

The first question one feels to ask him is who, from this set of the most influential artists in modern music, has left the biggest impression on him? ‘I always say The Fall’, he says. ‘They’re just constantly good, aren’t they?’ Clarke has opened for The Fall on countless tours but still swells with excitement discussing them. ‘They’re still rocking like a motherfucker!’ It would

be safe to assume that in all these years around the massive stars of the punk and eventually post-punk movements that one could be star struck, but he’s quick to point out ‘that doesn’t really happen when you’re around people you’ve started out with’. The electric-charged anarchist Joe Strummer ‘was a top geezer’ and the enigmatic Joy Division front-man Ian Curtis ‘liked a pint. He was just one of the guys’.

"I liked the idea of those 19th century guys pissing around and getting paid top dollar" John did confess to being star struck once when Sterling Morrison and Nico, of The Velvet Underground spent some months living in his flat. ‘Nobody would ever believe me about it, but I couldn’t really just take everyone I met back to my pad to prove it’, he laughs.

When asked who his favourite musician is at the moment, John quickly says ‘Alex Turner. He’s

cracking’. He then falls into an excited review of a Blues musician James Hunter. ‘He should be mega!

Van Morrison can’t stop talking about him... he can sing anything; plays guitar like anybody’s business!’

Turning to the subject of poetry, I ask John whether he agrees with the label that most critics seem to give him: punk poet. He tells me it’s not something that he ever tried to be, but ‘there’s no point moaning about it. Who cares? You Know?’

I ask him what influenced him to write poetry and it seems that his inspiration came from less noble factors. ‘I liked the idea of those 19th century guys pissing around and getting paid top dollar. For a while in the eighties I forgot I had to write poetry’. Despite this apparent break in writing, John has written dozens of poems on all kinds of subjects, from health-obsession, to marrying monsters from outer space. Of these poems, John says he is most proud of ‘Evidently Chickentown’ which is arguably his best known poem. ‘I always was proud of it, but even more so since it’s been on The Sopranos’. He confesses to being a huge fan of the American Drama, adding ‘it’s the best show ever... after The Simpsons.’

John tells me that the tour is going ‘really well. We’re banging them out; selling out everywhere.’ He says he’ll be back in Cardiff soon enough, and his advice for Cardiff’s student population? ‘Get a job! Start earning! Pay your parents back! But you are the future and that, so just have fun.’

interviews @gairrhydd.com /23

photos

p e e l y s t i A C in the

iz Foggitt L d n a h t . a . Jake Yor graphy expertise k e e w is Th ight photo n e m o s share

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aking decent photos at night is perceived as, no pun intended, something of a dark art. There are a lot of pot holes, that you probably can’t see, but we’ll give you a hand and steer you towards better results.

The thing with night is, there isn’t much light. Photos need light, so you need to give the camera more time to soak it up. That means a longer exposure (leaving the shutter open longer). To avoid camera shake, you’re going to need to lean your camera on something. If you’re rich, drop a bag full of quids on a hardwearing Manfrotto tripod (www.manfrotto. com). It’s a life investment, and I’ve never known anyone have a problem. If you’re neither a sheikh nor reckless with your loan, Poundland have a teeny little tripod in stock but you need a fairly small camera or it’s going to collapse. You could also try the Jessops Pod (www.jessops.com), which comes in at £15 it’s just a bean bag with a tripod mount, but you can use it anywhere. Again, it’s not great for a hefty load but it is pretty useful. Failing any of those, just rest it on the floor, or a nearby cone/pillar/passed out vagrant. Just beware him waking up and nicking your stuff. Point your camera at what you want to take a photo of, set a nice, long exposure, and press the shutter.

In terms of composition, try and get some traffic in the shot the lights moving across will make it look a whole lot cooler. Make sure your shutter speed is long enough for the traffic to move all the way across the frame, though, or you’ll

have traffic starting and stopping all over the place in your frame.

No-one needs that…

For photos that need to be captured quickly and without movement you’ve got a few options.

We’ll get to flash in a moment, but first we’ll talk about a fast lens.

Fast lenses mean lenses with a smaller minimum aperture, and that means they can let in more

"Most cities look pretty good when they're lit up at night - even Cardiff." light faster. Yeah, wrong way round don’t blame us. Most manufacturers have a compatible 50mm F1.8 (prime) lens, and there are other options- the Nikkor F1.4 being a good example. The advantages are many great depth of field, sharp image quality and, especially with a 35 or 50mm, an excellent day to day portrait lens too.

They vary in price over the various manufacturers, but expect to pay about £100-£150 for a Nikon or Canon fit prime.

Another option is increasing your ISO. Most cameras have a range from about 200 to 1600.

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The higher you go, the less natural light the camera needs. However, it incurs a large amount of grain pixels on the image that the camera has guessed wrong. It has to guess, because it’s working too fast to do anything but. In black and white, though, it looks really sweet.

Most flashes aren’t powerful enough for a long range because unlike indoors there isn’t anything for the light to reflect off. This makes using a flash for night scenes frankly, a bit useless. You should be able to turn it off on most cameras. Instead let the shutter stay open a long time to absorb all the light. But the flash isn’t entirely useless, for night scenes that are a bit closer to you, it can come in very handy... you can use both a flash and a long exposure. For scenes in clubs, gigs, or street scenes the flash will illuminate your subject, but the long exposure will give you interesting shapes and light patterns.

You can get some really fascinating effects with the lights in clubs, try wiggling the camera around once the flash has gone off to get cool lines from the lights.

Cityscapes are, as it has been eloquently put, “nice and spectacular.” Most night scenes are of cityscapes and they are a good way to practice taking photos without much light because the buildings and lights are completely still which makes your job easier. The same tips apply: use a tripod or flat surface and a long exposure. Most cities look pretty nice when they are lit up at night – even Cardiff.

So why not capture it? It's not as hard as you think!

Photo: Jake Yorath

photos

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." il Dawn elow. 't k s u ss b rom D eme "F s to the addre h t e h t on trie round 3 Send your en Y T O P enter quenchphotos@gairrhydd.com / 25

photos

Photographer of the Year Round 2 "Face Off" Winner: Sam Smith "Self"

quenchphotos@gairrhydd.com

fashion

Cheap & Chic

Given the nature of today's economic climate, it's no wonder people are turning towards a more cost effective way of shopping, Fashion shows cheap can still be chic.....

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hrifty fashion allows us to re-vamp our wardrobe and look stylish, without running up credit card bills or making a huge dent in our student loans. It gets us away from those high priced stores, and allows us to look good and be creative by recycling old clothes, or adding cheap alternatives to our wardrobes.

Even the stars are getting involved, with celebrities such as Fearne Cotton and Angelina Jolie wearing clothes from cheaper vintage stores and often seen shopping for bargains on the high street. Thrifty shopping doesn’t have to mean a compromise with quality either. Top designers have

jumped on the recession bandwagon, with the world famous Jimmy Choo and Matthew Williamson

" Thrifty shopping doesn't have to mean a compromise with quality" designing collections for H&M, and Biba designer Barbara Hylanicki

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adding her artistic flare to a collection for Topshop. They’ve added a new element to the high street that means you can still get high quality fashion, but with a cheaper price tag.

To get a successful result from being thrifty with fashion, it’s helpful to think outside the box - accessories and customization are great ways to save money and create a unique look on a low budget.

Thinking thriftily isn't just spending your days roaming around charity shops or going to Primark for everything you wear - it's about looking for cheap deals in unusual places and re-thinking your wardrobe with new tricks.

Kirsty Dagnall.

The Top 5 Essentials

fashion

Wise wardrobe investments for the season...

The Investment Bag

The Little Black Dress Think Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s: Priceless! The LBD is a classic piece that saves the day when all other outfits fail.

Lingerie & Hoisery Feeling glamorous underneath means you’re halfway there. Invest in the perfect fitting two-piece and remember quality counts - boost your confidence and feel sexy not shabby! Tights are another essential, whether sheer, patterned, extra denier or winter woollies they are the perfect way to decorate your pins.

Every fashionista must own a statement bag that makes every outfit. Go for a classic yet functional style that suits you, such as hobo or tote. And no need to feel guilty - it will never go out of fashion and should last a lifetime.

Winter Coat No need to worry about what to wear, a gorgeous winter coat covers all manner of sins. A classic trench is perfect for that autumn/winter transition – flattering all shapes and sizes. It's a wise investment that you can depend on for years to come

Statement Jewellery Accessorising is something that can certainly be done cheap and cheerfully, but have that one glamorous necklace or statement cocktail ring that can add sparkle and instant glamour to any outfit.

Lydia Korol-Bluring

Re-vamping a tired wardrobe...

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e’ve all had that feeling: I’ve got a wardrobe of clothes but nothing to wear.

Following fashion doesn’t always have to be expensive. Instead of going out and buying something from Topshop for £30, re-vamp a tired wardrobe by simply customising.

Customising isn’t as scary as it sounds; it’s not about how good you are at making things, it’s about being creative.

If you go down to any Haberdashery you can buy various materials at low prices. Cardiff is bursting with sewing shops there are two in the Indoor Market, Crafty Sew & Sew on City Road and many more hiding in various vintage/charity store hotspots.

Lace is a big trend this season, so instead of buying something new, you can simply buy some lace and give an otherwise bland top some sleeves or a detailed neck line. Studs are also key and can be bought and super glued to a belt, a dress, shoes etc, for a more edgy look. Charity and Vintage shops are another great place to find interesting things to liven up an outfit - even changing the buttons on a cardigan can instantly make it feel less ‘boring.’

As students in a recession, we should be looking for ways to keep our wardrobes exciting without stretching too much into our student loans, so why not try customising some clothes and see what you can come up with!

Emma Wilford

fashion@gairrhydd.com / 29

arts

Painting: Rachel Yates and Josh Krip

ART attack Rachel Yates takes the up the challenge in an attempt to tackle the question 'Can anyone be artistic?'

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square on a piece of paper, a trip to the museum, tattoos, a finger painting done by yours truly. Are any of these arguably ridiculous things art? Well I decided to spend a day being as arty as physically possible, which for me, who can make a simple beaded necklace become covered in glue – even when I haven’t used glue, is practically impossible. However, I am never one to miss out of challenge even an artistic one!

My first task of the day: Buy a cheap canvas for £1.99 from Home Bargains in Roath and borrow some paints from a slightly more artistic housemate, while roping him in to help me paint my masterpiece.

Well, I must say my first attempt at art since junior school was epic. As you can see the mixing of paint to make purple ended up as more of a muddy brown and the kidney bean

30 /arts@gairrhydd.com

looks more like a mutant foetuswhy there was a kidney bean to begin with is another matter.

"That's what arty people do... right?"

Not to be deterred from my failings as an artist I knew there were plenty more arty things to be done! So after lunch I ventured into the world of art in Cardiff – more specifically the Welsh Museum. I wandered round the art exhibition pondering, well, life in general (as that’s what arty people do right?)

Surprisingly, I managed to enjoy

quite a lot of the paintings, maybe because there were no ridiculous squares in sight.

I then ploughed on to my evening activity; watching Michael McIntyre – in my opinion funniest man ever. Of course, originally I was rather confused that comedy could be described as art. However, art is meant to inspire many emotions and questions and for me McIntyre considerably inspires laughter on mass.

Suffice to say I was exhausted after my terribly artistic day. But did it change my life; was I artier than the day before? I think the highlight of my day was definitely my attempt at painting. Not only was I covered in paint (including my top which will never be the same again), I also discovered that my talent may lie else where – perhaps in the production of kidney beans?

arts

Creativity is often hard to express, so Martha Partridge takes some time to bring Quench readers up to speed with a different way to be artistic.

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o you ever get that urge to be a little creative for the day, but you’re just not sure how? You wonder about it for a bit, then get a cup of tea and go back to Facebook. Stop right there! There’s a great way to release that inner-artiste and you don’t have to be remotely artistic, really, give it a go and get some pretty good results.

Have a go at making your own jewellery. You can do this with a couple of mates to get those creative juices flowing. You can be as intricate or as simple as you want.

Even just shoving one massive bead on some thread – voila, you have yourself a pendant necklace!

Us girls love to treat ourselves to a spangly new pair of earrings or the latest chunky necklace. Homemade is so much cheaper than high street, so now we can treat ourselves more often.

Simon Amstell: Do

This made for a predominantly autobiographical set which provoked laughter and sympathy in equal measure from the excitable crowd.

Nothing Comedy 22/10/09 Staring: Simon Amstell

St David's Halll

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pon seeing his stand-up set, it becomes clear that Simon Amstell is a very troubled man. Underneath his celebrity-bashing TV persona resides a shy, introverted and lonely soul, desperately distressed by the constant presence of two sinks in his bathroom and no one to share them with.

Indeed, much of the show revolved around Amstell’s loneliness and his quest to find the perfect man whilst staying safely within his “troubled genius” comfort zone.

"Get those creative juice flowing" It doesn’t just stop at jewellery, you can accessorise bags or

"It provoked laughter and sympathy in equal measure from the excitable crowd" Dressed simply in black, Amstell’s appearance was suitably inconspicuous. An initial bout of flash photography prompted a threat of “I’ll cut you bitch!”, showcasing the quick-witted humour that made his name. Determined to prove himself as more than just a presenter however, Amstell avoided his trademark critique of the stars but couldn’t resist the occasional quip (“La Roux…

I don’t trust her”).

Whether discussing his “syco-

clothes you already have - What could be more satisfyingly individual?

As for the boys, so it’s not the manliest of activities, but just imagine your girlfriend’s or your mum’s glee when you present to her a necklace lovingly made by your own fair hand. She’ll wear it whatever it looks like simply for the effort you’ve made, that’s a promise (sort of). Plus, don’t deny all those little beads shining up at you look strangely tempting anyway.

Two bead shops in Castle Arcade are waiting for your enthusiastic business, both crammed with everything you’ll need to create some seriously funky accessories.

phantic” grandma, cat AIDS, or mistaking interesting girls with those who just have short hair, every topic was tinged with a sense of melancholy. This became more apparent with potentially uncomfortable subjects, including religion, racism and sex with 18-year-olds (“I’ve been on TV for 8 years. I made him”) but Amstell’s smooth subject transitions ensured that comedic effect was never lost.

Although billed as a comedy act, the evening felt like therapy for Amstell and every laugh at his expense felt slightly awkward. If anything it was a reminder that even pop show presenters have problems.

Michael Brown

arts@gairrhydd.com / 31

arts

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GIANT Success

The B.F.G. Theatre

The New Theatre

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ticket to Roald Dahl’s The BFG is something of a Golden Ticket amongst my flatmates. All claiming to be the most loyal bedtime reader of the bunch, squabbling broke out at the chance to see a show bursting at the seams with brightly coloured fairy lights and “whiz bangers” galore. The website announces that it is the perfect

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school trip for Key Stage 2 so is it really going to enthral a student who has left the days of the The BFG long behind her?

This question is answered with a resounding yes as soon as Anthony Pedley makes his entrance complete with cloak, dream catching device and tufts of white hair, emerging as the BFG of your childhood dreams.

Although Sophie the puppet, played

by Becky John, is a tad too squeaky for adult ears, it is clear that the shows target audience love her. A band of bulbous nosed Blood Bottlers, who happen to play a mean bit of saxophone, accompany them.

Restrain yourself from asking the small child next to you who is rustling their Jelly Baby wrappers to

“sit bloody still”. Aware of the audiences’ relatively low attention span, there is always a new visual to feast your eyes upon. Personal favourites included the use of shadow puppets, luminous bottles of dreams and the delicious, Milky Way inspired backdrop of Dream Country sprinkled with fondant icing clouds and smatterings of stars.

The audience of eager human beans were left suitably impressed, with one theatre goer vowing to her exasperated mother to speak only in grammatically challenged BFG language from now on, concluding that The BFG is a slice of scrumdiddlyumptious theatre for chiddlers and students alike.

Kirsty Allen

"Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit"

Matthew Bourne's Dorian Gray Dance 29/10/09

Welsh Millennium Centre

W

hether we know it or not, most of us are probably familiar with at least a handful of Oscar Wilde’s sayings. The man is renowned for his immense power over the English language, and his reputation is predominately built on this ability to playfully manipulate words.

Perhaps with all of this, it’s somewhat ironic that Wilde’s only novel (one of his few literary works that was made without the direct intention to be performed) is forced into the visual medium of ballet and stripped of the banter and critical wordplay that led it to be such an initial success.

Set within the image-obsessed fashion world, the scantily-clad characters prance around in what closely resembles a Calvin Klein photo shoot. In this setting, the ballet struggles at an over-laboured pun that acts as a poor substitute for

Wilde's humour. Dorian is the model for perfume line, ‘Immortal’ and the billboard for this replaces the portrait we know from the novel. As the billboard becomes worn the brand rather predictably becomes ‘mortal’, a superficial commentary on the theme at the very core of the novel.

"The scantily-clad characters prance around in what closely resembles a Calvin Klein photo shoot" Although not vocal, Bourne’s production invites us to think again about how we treat language. The world Dorian inhabits is chic and monochrome, thoroughly exposing the moral uncertainty of the character Gray through the visual ambiguity from which he takes his name. A giant skull disco ball forms an allusion to Damien Hirst’s ‘For the Love of God’, which also works to raise questions about the value of art, glamour, decay and hedonism.

Bourne comes as close as possible to silent wit through theatrical echoes of more traditional ballet.

We see Dorian awakening to Tchaichovsky, and Prokofiev’s Dance of the Knights is played between scenes, linking the piece to some of the most popular ballets. This intelligent inclusion works to not only add a touch of humour through a subtle reference to the origins of modern ballet, it also neatly converts the Sibyl Vane of the novel (who Dorian watched playing Juliet) into her male counterpart of Cyril Vane, Dorian’s unattainable Romeo.

The verdict: Although not technically witty, Matthew Bourne’s work is stylish and sexy and certainly brings out the discussions of art and aestheticism scattered throughout the novel in a humorous manner.

Indeed, this is certainly not the art of Wilde, but I can say with confidence that this is probably what Wilde would want art to be.

Missed it?

Contemporary dance fans will love the Mark Morris Dance Group, on at the Millennium Centre on the 10th and 11th of November.

Although somewhat unfortunately named, this group offer what the Independent describe as "some of the best dance in the world today".

For around a tenner, it's certainly worth it.

arts@gairrhydd.com / 33

goinggoing out out

Recommended Jack Doran presents a low down on the hot tickets this fortnight...

Mampi Swift

Fake Blood

Mr. Scruff

Friday 13th October

Saturday 14th October

Friday 20th October

Glam

Millenium Music Hall

The Great Hall

H

is name means big, powerful and quick. An accurate description of both the man and the tunes he spins.

Familiar to any drum and bass junkie, Mampi is best known for his double-drop filled sets at all the major institutions of the genre, from Fabric to Slammin' Vinyl.

With a career spanning a decade and a half, he has established himself as one of the major players on the drum and bass scene.

Joining him will be MC Foxy and a whole host of Frequency Domain residents.

A

s if we would expect anything less, those boys at c-y-n-t have only gone and done it again.

After a sell-out show last year, the ever more popular Fake Blood returns to Cardiff with his brand of rinsing electro. Joining him will be the elusive Surkin, an internationally acclaimed French house producer, and Italian Riva Starr for some housey/tech fun.

The venue for this feast shall be the Millenium Music Hall, just big enough to fit the huge demand for nights of this scale.

If the last big c-y-n-t, featuring Annie Mac, is anything to go by, Saturday the 14th is going to be a huge night!

34/goingout@gairrhydd.com

M

r. Scruff can only be described as an institute in the world of dance music.

Whilst his talent as a DJ and producer doubtlessly justifies his success, it is his messy illustrations and love for a brew that resonate in every one's miinds.

Back in Cardiff, the scruffy one will be embarking on a mammoth five hour journey through his big bag of records. Expect to sway, bop and smile as the DJ effortlessly meanders through a multitude of genres. This will no doubt be bolstered with his quirky brand of visual treats. Delicious.

going out

Dance of the Dead Reviewed

S

o the clocks went back, and summer is officially, which led nicely to the first date on the partygoers autumnal calendar; Halloween.

"The undead closely resembled the Thriller video" Admittedly, one may not find the customary dressing up associated with Halloween to be too much of a

shocker amongst the student population, a group more than a little au fait with the idea of assuming another persona for the sake of a night out, but on all hallows eve the weekly masquerading takes an indiscriminately chilling edge. Dead sailors, dead doctors, dead bunny rabbits for Christ sake, all of which find themselves wandering the streets, reminiscent of many a George Romero.

But it wasn’t human brains that the wandering masses were hungry for this Halloween, it was the much anticipated, live (not undead mind you) return of Ms. Dynamite at Shout Out Loud’s Dance of the Dead.

It’s been something of an age since Ms. Dynamite left our stereo’s in favour of our television screens, trading her undeniably melodic brand of urban grit for a seasoned attempt at the reality TV circuit, and I must admit that the cold hand of cynicism took hold when I caught wind of Ms. Dynamites appearance at Dance of the Dance. How appropriate, I thought, with only the slightest tinge of irony, that she would be re-establishing her initial career route on Halloween. A veritable re-emergence from the shallow grave of reality television, with it’s vapid smiles & dead eyes, to the world of real artistic integrity. One must not forget how

heavily accoladed Ms. Dynamite is for her early, almost universally critically acclaimed work.

The rather paltry crowd belied the sparks of Ms. Dynamites set, and whilst not quite the white hot cultural critic of her formative years, there were definitely nods to the flare that made her the darling of the Urban world just a few years ago.

"It was a veritable re-emergence to the world of artistic integrity" Other highlights included Sheffield’s Toddla T. or Mr Annie Mac as he’s known in certain circles, who’s post Dynamite set to rally the undead into a state which closely resembled the Thriller video, minus the synchronisation.

Jon Berry

goingout@gairrhydd.com/35

books

The Ayatollah Begs to Differ Hooman Majd

Pub: Penguin Press

I

n his first book, based on the contradictions of contemporary Iran, Hooman Majd begs western readers to differ from their media based views of Iran as he delves into every unfamiliar nuance of Iran’s culture. An Iranian who lives in New York, Majd has the perfect perspective to deliver a deeply personal and revealing account of his homeland that successfully peels back the prejudice from our eyes.

Although each chapter focuses on separate areas of Iranian culture, the book largely concentrates on politics.

At times, this can be hard for a western mind to follow, particularly when Majd writes about Supreme Leader Khomeini, former President Mohammed Khatami, Ahmed Khatami and

36 /books@gairrhydd.com

Ali Khamenei simultaneously. Majd’s lucid and fluid prose, however, never falters in affording the reader a complete understanding.

"Majd's deeply personal account of his homeland successfully peels back the prejudice from our eyes" With occasionally blasts of humour, ‘The Ayatollah begs to differ’ reveals bizarre realities about Iran, from a nation addicted to opium to streets stained red with the blood of sacrificed camels. Of course, a

book describing contemporary Iran couldn’t possibly avoid exploring the potentially hostile relationship with the United States. Tired of being pushed around by the larger powers, Iran yearns to be an independent force to be reckoned with and respected.

This book, however, reveals a country that certainly isn’t violent.

Although Majd discovers shocking murals declaring ‘Death to America’ that cover entire buildings, we are informed that such statements are rarely meant literally. As the book concludes and Ahmadinejad takes over from Khatami, the reader is left with a sense of uncertainty regarding Iran’s future. Will Iran manage to maintain a peaceful relationship with the United States with Ahmadinejad in charge, or will Iranians beg to differ with their leader’s intentions?

This is certainly an enlightening book and a refreshing deviation from impressions of Iran imprinted on our minds by the media. Well worth reading if you want to understand the country behind the headlines.

Chris Humphrey

books

This is the Woman Who Claudia Jessop

Pub: Cinnamon Press

T

his is the woman who is a début collection of poetry from Claudia Jessop. Claudia Jessop is a little known poet but is quickly building a name for herself, even being short-listed in the Second Light Poetry Competition 2008.

If you like your poetry with oodles of metaphor and device then this collection probably is not for you.

Jessop's imagery however, is wonderful. She combines the subject of everyday life with a sense of enigma and wonder to create a beautiful

I Spy Pinhole Eye Simon Denison, Philip Gross

Pub: Cinnamon Press

I

f you enjoy pondering the little things in life, questioning the philosophical nature of ordinary objects, and daydreaming about inorganic matter, then ‘I Spy Pinhole Eye’ is the perfect refuge.

"His camera represents the simplist form of photography"

compilation of uncomplicated yet evocative poetry.

"Jessop takes the reader on a journey through female struggle and oppressionm in a moving and emphatic poem" The first poem in the collection, Day Starting on an Upper Floor, is

The book is a collection of poems and photographs created by Philip Gross and Simon Denison. Denison used a homemade box of boards with a pinhole in it as a camera. He duck-taped the device to a 6X6cm film, and applied a piece of tape to use as a shutter. His camera represents the simplest form of photography and features no lens; his medium strives to be no more than light itself.

The subject of Denison’s photos is even more surprising as he chooses to capture pylons, more specifically their legs and bases. Denison refers to them as ‘the pariahs of the landscape’ unwanted by everyone. The photos inspired the poems in the book and the sonnets subsequently completed the images.

The detached nature of the snaps and their method of collection are infused by Gross’ complex use of personification and metaphors.

Together they make the inanimate world of pylons become animate.

The viewer/reader is invited into the world of these seemingly mundane, but certainly strange creators that

a deceptively simple portrait of a view into someone's world framed by a window. The characterisation and ordering of Jessop's language in Day Starting on an Upper Floor earned her runner-up in the Mslexia Women's Poetry Competition in 2007.

My favourite piece in the collection is the title poem this is the woman who. Jessop takes the reader on a journey through female struggle and oppression in an extremely moving and empathetic poem.

There is an essence of fairytale in the poem with imagery of apples and glass slippers which draws you in and, although based on very real events, takes the form of something much more mysterious.

I would recommend this is the woman who to any person who wants accessible, understandable poetry yet still appreciates the beauty of language and careful, lucid description.

Michelle Taylor

are likened to migratory animals roaming the land.

"The art form invites the audience to really look" In the way that photographers like August Sanders have in the past used typologies to classify objects and people, Denison classifies pylons. The sonnets are eclectically put together and ask only for the audience to think about the process of photography, the randomness of mundane things, and our perception of the world we live in. In essence the composite art form invites the audience to really look, closely.

Tim Hilhorst

books@gairrhydd.com/37

books

Thanks fo r

No t h ing

Once a year Cheltenham, renowned for horse racing, the middle classes and not much else plays host to some of the most renowned authors in the world.

Quench sends Emma Pocklington along to find out what all the fuss is about.

T

his year the Cheltenham Literary Festival was graced with the presence of the likes of Richard Hammond and Judi Dench. Tickets sold out fast.

For two weeks buzzing Cheltenham was a teeming hive of celebrities, Mark Watson strolled down the street with his wife, Chris Evans hung out in the Waterstones tent signing books and chatting with fans, my chaperone for the day pounced upon Red Dwarf’s Robert Llewellyn and had an extensive conversation about electric cars and Jack Dee lingered outside the main hall before his interview. By the end of day I found myself becoming immune to the constant barrage of celebrities.

When we arrived in Cheltenham the atmosphere was fairly relaxed, the day’s entertainment was drawing to a close. There had been street poetry and open mic slots throughout the day, as well as regular talks from various authors on their new books. We were there to see Jack Dee talk about his new memoir, ‘Thanks for Nothing’. He was interviewed by a capable, unassuming man from the Guardian who, like all good interviewers, basically stayed shtum and let Dee get on with it.

As it turns out Jack Dee isn’t as morbid and grumpy as he appears, he’s really a nice, chatty man. He began by explaining that he had been asked to write a book about how he had got into comedy, which promised from the start to be a pretty interesting story. Dee began his professional life gripped by the idea that there is one perfect job out there for everyone, and so with dogged passion he went out and tried every job he could until he found the right one. He worked in

38/books@gairrhydd.com

an artificial leg factory, he delivered incontinence pads for the NHS and he managed to bluff his way into the kitchen of the Ritz.

The tales of his former jobs culminated in a story of his four hours spent as a motorcycle courier that left us crying with laughter. After getting lost Dee panicked and left his bike to get on the tube, in a vague attempt to find his way, he then forgot which station he got on at and subsequently mislaid his bike too.

Dee’s book goes on to describe how he discovered comedy by

volunteering at open mic sessions.

With much of his story told I was still curious to discover how it was he became to be quite so grumpy, numerous failed jobs aside I felt that there must still be more to it now that Dee had found his calling in life. It unfolded that at one point early on Dee became sick of comedy and decided to give up, however he first had to finish the gigs he had already been booked to do. It was at one of these gigs that he went on stage, thoroughly pissed off and indifferent as to whether or not the audience laughed. From that night on his attitude stuck.

The interview finished with questions from the audience, which proved to be quite a worrying experience. On being asked what kind of biscuit he would want to be Dee replied that he would like to be a jaffa cake. The gentleman in the audience went on to enquire if, as a jaffa cake, Dee would like to be dunked.

Another woman asked who would be his victim if he had to leave the hall that night and murder someone.

Dee diplomatically gave a brief story about an encounter with a telephone salesman; the interviewer from the Guardian then wisely rapped things up before the great British public could pounce with any more disturbing questions.

And so a week of literary festivities drew to a close in Cheltenham for another year and we made our way back to Wales with our pockets stuffed with autographs and our bags full of books. The festival celebrated its 60th anniversary this year and reached a record-breaking size. With the event continuing to grow its worth putting a large red circle around October on your 2010 calendar.

music

music live:biffyclyro

local:review quench live + LMS stage

T

his year’s SWN saw Quench team up with the Live Music Society for the Friday night.

The result was a heaving top floor in Dempsey’s that replicated the celebratory atmosphere passed around at Swn this year.

Dempsey's top floor - modest in decor, shall we say - was injected with some plucky student enthusiasm that was perhaps pivotal in creating the relaxed and cosy vibe offered that many of the other venues included this year seemed to lack - partuclarly the likes of The Gate, etc.

As the drizzle persisted outside, a mixed crowd of Swn-goers - this wasn't just one for the students - enjoyed Gideon Conn’s folky sing-song humour as they sat on the carpet and obeyed his instructions to perform actions to his um... pensive lyricism regarding electricity pylons. That was the highlight for me, but also worth mentioning are Elephant & Soldier who opened; their brand of easy-going guitar-pop set the tone.

Dimbleby & Capper closed with a show that was as memorable for the visual effect as the sonic, their low key folk perfectly complemented the previous acts while her risqué appearance meant the crowd's attention never wandered.

feature:swn09

albums:twilightsad

newsinbrief cardiff arts institute opens

T

here's been a flurry of activity recently when it comes to venues in Cardiff; the reopened Coal Exchange, St. David's Hall turning to live music, The Gate successfully fulfilling its role as Swn HQ 2009, it's all looking very promising for the months ahead.

The new Cardiff Arts Institute or CAI - not to be confused with epic riff-off the CIA - is now open on Park Place, complete with its own creatively-minded manifesto. A self-proclaimed 'space to explore creative vision', the kitchen and bar aim to 'push the boundaries of what it means to live, work and play in Cardiff.'

What that means exactly is anyone's guess, but believe us, the thing sounds pretty darn great.

It's got an interactive Lego wall for starters and being as these are the people behind Milgi over on City Road and Start The Bus in Bristol, you get the idea for the kind of vibe they're going for.

Cate Le Bon and The Joy Formidible opened last week, and with South African boundary breakers BLK JKS paying a visit in the coming weeks, the live music on offer is looking good. The SWN team are in on the act too, so keep a look out for some exciting bookings.

quench loves local

S

o as this section has supported for the last few weeks, things are looking as positive as any of us can remember for Cardiff's live music calender. Gone are the days where a commute to Bristol was the only way to fulfill our needs for music at excessive volumes.

Now with new venues opening regularly and fantastic bookings coming thick and fast, it's all on our door-step. November 20th sees Cardiffian superstars Super Furry Animals play the Coal Exchange on the same night as Mr. Scruff plays The Great Hall: terrible news for the indecisive and a treat for the rest of us. These are decisions we've never had to make before in Cardiff - normally it's just between tribute acts and open-mic nights, where the answer is normally obvious (stay home).

This week is no slouch either, and sees travelling hobo-man Seasick Steve stop by on the 12th at the Wales Millenium Centre, as well The Holloways, The Fall Of Troy and US supergroup Monsters Of Folk on consecutive days that follow.

So don't fear: just because SWN is over for this year doesn't mean that we have to mope until next year, or go to Bristol for that matter.

music@gairrhydd.com / 39

music-feature

Photographs: Sam Smith, Liz Foggitt, Tom Armstrong, Steve Beynon Words: Phil Guy, Simon Roach, Sam Smith, Nick Cook, Liz Foggitt, Steve Beynon, Matt Wright

40 /music@gairrhydd.com

feature-music

Quench Music looks back at the highlights of Swn Festival 2009...

Thursday Wild Beasts – The Gate

C

umbrian-based pop oddities Wild Beasts are in demand after the success of second album Two Dancers [see our Wild Beasts Feature, Issue 85], and as a late addition to the Swn line-up a matter of weeks ago, they were a welcome addition. Playing over at the dauntingly-large converted church, The Gate, the foursome did well in nearly filling the place, and the audience steadily grew throughout their performance.

Utilising almost the entirety of their sophomore album, and a number of highlights from the first including The Devil’s Crayon and Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyant, Wild Beasts play through a set that matches their reputation for consistently impressive live performances. Despite some minor technical setbacks at certain points – Hayden Thorpe’s microphone doesn’t cut in until halfway through opener The Fun Powder Plot – the band take little time to recover and provide a highlight for Swn’s opening day. PG Portasound - Y Fuwch Goch Y Fuwch Goch' was an ideal venue for Portasound since their big electro beats and synthesizers easily filled this small and busy bar. They drew a big crowd (including Radio1 DJ and Co-founder of SWN - Huw Stephens). I had the feeling that the music didn’t really stand alone, and the trio needed the atmosphere to carry them, since their stage pres-

ence was basically zero. Having said this, the set was short but sweet and very well received by the Thursday night party-goers in attendance. Portasound are definitely worth checking out for a pre-party pick up. LF Three Trapped Tigers – Y Fuwch Goch This is pretty crazy, and a reviewer’s nightmare unfortunately.

Lightning Bolt-esq drumming – i.e. just utterly ridiculous, this guy is just one big muscle – and some bafflingly complex synth lines and guitar playing, throwing in some jazz, a bit of anthemic rock, and god knows what else into the mix makes for a pretty overwhelming live show.

It’s good – at times it’s a little bit incredible – but I don’t think anyone leaves Kruger’s stage at Y Fuwch Goch without feeling bewildered.

With some refinement of styles, and a possible rethink on some of those synth effects (ray guns…), Three Trapped Tigers might just be fantastic at some point. PG Gold Panda – Clwb Ifor Bach Amidst a very smoky upstairs at Clwb Ifor Bach, a lone figure stands on stage, bent over a wide array of audio equipment, bouncing to a beat that only he knows how to construct.

Creating impressive soundscapes that shift and evolve into thumping electronica, this can be none other than Gold Panda. There’s very little like the sound he produces, each song fusing into the next, building into impressive climaxes and energetic drops. God knows how he creates the music he does, but he should also be commended for having the time to don a panda hat mid-set. SS

Gallops! - Barfly While there seemed to be many rock/electro crossover acts playing at this year’s Swn, bands such as Gallops! ensured that this never became a bad thing. Stomping back for their second year in a row, drummer David Morait even split his snare as they thrashed out some disgustingly catchy prog-rock. The coherent fusion of simple hard-rock riffs, intricate electronics and an energetic live performance make for an invigorating exercise. Unfortunately the keyboard player appeared a little lost as his comrades leaped all around him and so rendered the overall performance a little disjointed, but the rhythmic pounding of feet felt all around the venue somehow told me that it wasn’t enough to negate Gallops!’ fierce brilliance. SR Marina And The Diamonds - Chapter Arts Centre Marina’s voice can be likened to artists as diverse as Imogen Heap and Leona Lewis. She carries off perfectly the mixture of sweet, melodic expression with a huskier edge.

Her music has had airplay on radio 1, and her set at Glastonbury is rumoured to have gone down a storm, so it sounds like Marina is getting the attention she deserves. This was certainly the case in the Chapter Arts Centre, where I stood amongst a crowd who seemed as enthralled as I was. Marina seemed delighted to be playing her first gig in Wales and gave a stunning performance. Her voice is quite simply beautiful and she has enough stage presence, both when sat at her piano, or on her more upbeat tracks, to captivate any audience. LF

music@gairrhydd.com / 41

music-features

Friday Girls w/Swanton Bombs - Y Fuwch Goch There’s nothing sleazy or sinister about watching Girls at half eleven on a Friday night in a backstreet bar called The Red Cow, let me assure you. If anything, it’s less sleaze, more squeeze, considering a) how rammed the place is, and b) the disturbing tightness of some of the jeans on display in the venue. That said there is a swaggering sleazeappeal to the boisterous garage indie of main support act Swanton Bombs, if not also something vaguely sinister about how much noise they make for two people. As for Girls, they’re actually four hippyish blokes from San Francisco who let their dreamy surf pop melodies flow as freely and uninhibitedly as their long hair, while their l’oreal endorsed singer heaps heartbreak and high school upon you in a warm ElvisCostello-y croon. Girls may lack the face pummelling energy of Pulled Apart By Horses or Johnny Foreigner, but they are easily the best thing to SWN to this weekend. MW Vito - The Gate Amongst the many bands taking

42 /music@gairrhydd.com

the stage at The Gate tonight, the unassuming Vito stick out in my mind as probably the best band of the weekend. The band’s stage presence is little more than a handful of guys on stage, but the music they create packs a punch so powerful that you can’t help but give your undivided attention. Their sound is a fine example of post-rock mixed with shoegaze, effortlessly fluid with a touch of melancholy that suggests imaginative stories. Few bands set themselves apart from the indie pop-rock that dominated SWN, but Vito were a breath of fresh air to the festival. SS Pulled Apart By Horses - Clwb Ifor Bach Pulled Apart By Horses swagger onto the stage at Clwb tonight with an absurd amount of confidence, but who can blame them? They’ve been ripping the UK to shreds lately, and after successfully conquering practically every festival this summer, they’ve garnered praise from many sections of the music industry.

Tonight appears to be continuing that trend, as the band storm through a set drenched in riff after riff. The Crapsons is a particular highlight, in which bearded topless frontman, Tom Hudson joins the crowd, screaming every line into the faces of his fixated audience. Hudson clos-

es the set in true-style by gracing Clwb’s floor with his vomit, and then exiting in the same style he entered with, albeit a tad sweatier. NC The Twilight Sad - The Gate Unashamedly angsty, and unashamedly Scottish fivesome The Twilight Sad provide, almost incomparably, my highlight of the weekend. It’s such a shame that they’re given the short-straw of playing at The Gate – a beautiful venue, but clearly too distant from SWN’s HQ on Womanby Street for people to make the trip. The undeservedly modest crowd that do make it over, however, are more than willing to reflect the band’s notoriously impassioned live performance, as the Glaswegians plough through a searing, feedback-tinged performance largely compiled from recent release Forget The Night Ahead. Matching muscular, wall-of-noise instrumental tangents with thick Scottish vocals of oblique inner torments, the performance is by far the most genuine of any on show this weekend. It doesn’t seem to matter how many people are here - in fact The Twilight Sad barely recognise their audience – you get the impression that even if they were playing to an empty room, the performance would be just as fervent, and just as powerful. PG

features-music

Saturday Los Campesinos! - The Gate Los Campesinos! have gone from strength to strength since their debut album at the beginning of 2008.

They offered up a dynamic set in The Gate which was stuffed full of buoyant fans who lapped up the atmosphere. This was by far the most raucous gig I went to that weekend and the mood was infectious. Lead singer Gareth chipped his tooth as he waded into the audience for one track, but that particular drama didn’t interrupt the set for long. If there was one distraction from the performance, it's perhaps that Los Campesinos come across as a little complacent of their audience. It's a successful homecoming from the ex-Cardiff collective, however, and a fitting headline slot for SWN this year. LF Slow Club - Dempsey's Sheffield twee folk-pop duo Slow Club headline Moshi Moshi’s night at SWN, and justify their top-billing right from the off. Opener Because We’re Dead is a sure-fire crowd favourite, as vocalist Rebecca Taylor encourages the crowd to clap along to the chugging country-tinged beat. The beauty of the duo’s live performance

is that they're able to seamlessly shift from fast paced chorus laden sing-alongs to heart-wrenching ballads. Wild Blue Milk is a fine example of the latter, as Taylor and fellow band member Charles Watson exchange vocals, complimenting one another perfectly. The band close with foot-stomper Me And You, leaving the crowd with smiles as vast as the young duo’s talent. NC The Drums - Clwb Ifor Bach The Drums are thousands of miles away from their home of Brooklyn, New York, but look right at home at Dempsey’s tonight. The band are the definition of ‘cool’, as frontman, Jonathan Pierce sways rhythmically to the jangly summer pop, whilst two female backing singers provide additional support to the band’s nostalgic sound. Let’s Go Surfing is a standout track in an impressive set, and is a pop masterpiece driven by a California 1960s-esque bass line, melodic whistles and an impossibly catchy chorus. New York bands have long been criticised with being all style and no substance, but judging from tonight’s performance, The Drums have certainly bucked that trend. NC Danananananakroyd - The Gate The band impossible to pronounce really made a name for themselves at The Gate, taking it

by storm. Second to headliners Los Campesinos, Danananakroyd received the largest SWN audience, to which they showed their appreciation by playing half their set whilst crowd surfing. To cap this off, audience members dutifully followed orders by dividing in two and clashing in a mass wall of hugs. Full of energy on and off stage, with quality ear thumping sounds to boot, we can eagerly await their upcoming album release, though admittedly not as much as the subsequent tour. SB Right Hand, Left Hand - The Model Inn It’s my opinion that this year’s SWN saw a saving of the best til last, with events being appropriately brought to a close by local post-rockers Right Hand, Left Hand. The small confinings of The Model Inn made for a perfect venue for the two-man outfit as every inch of space was filled with their heavy experimentation. Experimental in the sense that a huge range of ideas are lambasted around in order to get the most out of only a single guitar and drum, but never letting this take away from their overall focus and instead resulting in the most head-noddingly good music I heard all weekend. They’re playing in Buffalo Bar on November 23rd – come! SR

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music-albums The Twilight Sad

Mando Diao Give Me Fire!

Universal/Island

A

The Twilight Sad Forget The Night Ahead

FatCat Records

I

t’s not easy being Scottish.

Especially if you also happen to be in a band with post-rock ambitions who have just released a second, moodier-than-the-debut album.

You see, it doesn’t seem like any band north of the border who have a fondness for walls of noise, impenetrable song titles, and who don’t sound like The Jesus and Mary Chain can escape the Mogwai comparisons. It’s a little unfair on near-Glasgow’s The Twilight Sad, but they’ve hardly hidden the similarities here.

Whereas debut album Fourteen Autumns And Fifteen Winters let some light into its world of tormented childhoods, Forget The Night Ahead could be the soundtrack to someone

44 /music@gairrhydd.com

slowly losing their mind in an unlit basement. It’s claustrophobic and threatening throughout, with James Graham’s ominous burr adding to the tension.

He’s left fighting to be heard above the tsunamis of guitars that assault the listener over the eleven tracks though, and when he’s not shouting it sounds a bit like he’s just lost in the mix rather than he’s drowning in the swirling guitars (which, incidentally, sound a bit like someone’s been playing with the pitch bend knob you used to drive the music teacher mad with on school keyboards).

Still, it’s a minor point, and, apart from the unaccompanied vocal intro to Floorboards Under The Bed, is one of the few mis-steps on an otherwise outstanding album. Look what you have done implores Graham on stand-out The Room; The Twilight Sad can look back on Forget The Night Ahead and consider it a job very well done.

Jamie Thunder

9.

lthough primarily famous for introducing the world to ABBA, the smorgasbord and, erm, Stellen Skarsgard, Sweden’s most successful musical exports in recent years have largely been of a garage rock persuasion, with The Hives and jerk-it-outs The Caesars among the most prominent acts. Hoping to match the success of their Swedish peers despite the lack of a ‘the’ determiner are Mando Diao with their fifth album Give Me Fire!

And what a variety-fuelled inferno it is. Lead singles Dance With Somebody and Gloria are filled with indie rock guitars, pounding disco bass lines and 70s-esque harmonies, sounding like a cross between Sweden’s musical past and present. Tracks like High Heels brood and groove while Maybe Just Sad wouldn’t sound out of place in a Quentin Tarantino flick, someone frontman Björn Dixgård cites as a key influence on this latest release.

Lyrically, there are huge contrasts too, with upbeat tales from the dancefloor, uncertain futures and the death of a friend all taking their place in an eclectic, but what soon proves to be fatiguing, collection of songs.

The album is characterised by a lo-fi production that is typical of the garage rock style, ensuring that, despite numerous genre-hopping tunes, the band never stray too far from their core sound; this may well be what holds this release back.

Mando Diao appear to be in a state of flux, caught between pop sensibilities and a rock attitude. This often causes a clash of principles, as seen in the ballad Crystal where delicate guitar chords are offset by slightly intoxicated-sounding vocals.

This clash, of course, may well be what makes Mando Diao such an interesting prospect; neither here nor there, they weave a certain uneasy magic that is difficult to define but remains enthralling, at least for a few songs.

Michael Brown

6.

albums-music Mando Diao

Ian Brown My Way

Fiction Records

F

our years ago Ian Brown could justifiably be placed in the top five artists of his era. Sharp in interviews, great new single, interesting best of.

He maybe had a shot at ‘The Greatest’, as his compilation was entitled.

My Way is the second album he’s released since then. And sadly it’s sometimes rather unsurprising, and occasionally uninspiring. Though most of the tracks aren’t actually bad, and he continues to lyricise with variety and dark humour, musically it’s often endless variations on a single theme, almost all the songs sound like they could be off his previous records.

Opening single Stellify is alright, yes, but it lacks the punch of previous brass-y Brown tracks like Time Is My Everything. For The Glory and

By All Means Necessary are brilliant, though, and So High is a very pleasant surprise, sounding Nineties and Charlatans-esque. But then you get Own Brain which, as he says, is an anagram of his own name. Hmm.

‘…2525’ makes good use of Mexican brass, but is let down by slightly pedestrian lyrics. The best soundscape is easily Vanity Kills, with its spy-theme opening and backing from the wonderful Amanda Ghost.

The skewed beats ending the track are pretty damn fine.

"Musically it's often endless variations on a single theme" Compared to many similar artists who started off in the Eighties or thereabouts, Ian Brown is at least performing consistently, and not consistently badly either. If, as Fred Durst says, it’s a choice between my way or the highway, I wouldn’t flee to the open road just yet. My Way is a worthy if untesting addition to the Ian Brown catalogue - not bad, Ian, but not quite The Greatest either.

Greg Chernenko

6.

AFI Crash Love

DCG Records

A

fter eighteen years as a band, and three years after the phenomenal success of Decemberunderground, I can't help but feel AFI have reached their peak.

The production on this album is flawless and the songs are packed full of catchy riffs and memorable choruses, but it's all getting a bit... 'samey'. It's as if AFI realised what sells well and created a perfect song - two albums ago - and now they're just modifying that song over and over again.

The first single from this album is Medicate which is sure to head towards the top of the charts. This song really iterates how AFI have left their pure punk roots behind and delved into popular music circles.

There's no denying this album is a good listen: Davey Havok's poetic lyrics still resonate beautiful stories (especially on Veronica Sawyer Smokes), but I really expected more originality from AFI with Crash Love.

Michelle Taylor

5.

music@gairrhydd.com / 45

Photographer: Sam Smith

music-live

Biffy Clyro Great Hall, SU

25th October 2009

B

iffy Clyro need no introduction after Puzzle thrust them into the public eye and their sold out gig in the Great Hall fully justified their status as one of the UK's leading rock bands.

Opening up with the first single from their upcoming album Only Revolutions, the Scottish three piece plow into That Golden Rule, sparking off what was essentially an hour and a half's mass sing along as Biffy's devoted fan base shouted every word back at their heroes.

To the uninitiated, Biffy Clyro gigs seem to present something of a conundrum. On the one hand many of their songs seem tailor-made for the mosh pit, but on the albums these sit comfortably alongside anthems and ballads. As such, the show was a unique experience, with the band switching seamlessly from their earlier albums' experimental and heavier rock to the anthemic songs that gave Puzzle such a broad appeal without the switch

46 /music@gairrhydd.com

ever sounding forced. Instead it just seemed like a completely natural performance which was brilliantly complemented by a stunning light show which perfectly captured the mood of each song.

The band raced through their set with minimal chat between songs, though frontman Simon Neil was visibly moved by the crowd's reaction to As Dust Dances which led him to comment on how beautiful the crowds response sounded from the stage. Mountains and new single The Captain sets off another burst of crowd vocal support and provided an energetic and fitting end to the show. Considering the latter wasn't released until a day after the show, you can't doubt the ferocity of Biffy's fans. Older favourites such as Justboy, which devoted fans had been requesting since the very first chord was played, may have been a mystery to sections of the crowd when they were announced, but they received the same rapturous applause as every other song. The effortlessness and fluidity of the performance meant that the hour and a half plus set flew by without the atmosphere ever dropping. Tonights show was a perfect example of the bond between Biffy Clyro and their fans. Tom Rouse

The Cheek Barfly

28th October 2009

S

kinny ties and V-neck sweatshirts? Check. Wideeyed twenty-somethings with abnormally straight hair?

Check. The Cheek, a five-piece band from Woodbridge, comprise the most faithful followers of the ‘Book of Indie: St. Pete’s Gospel’. Choppy bass riffs complement dogged eighth-note guitar rhythms and elementary drumming in each of the songs bashed out by the band last Wednesday at Barfly.

Having started out with the chirpy distinctive-sounding name ‘Cheeky Cheeky and the Nosebleeds’, the band quickly took steps to distance themselves from this early misdemeanour. They are now embarking on their second countrywide tour in two years under their new alias.

One must give the band genuine praise for their much improved onstage performance. The band gave tight and intense renditions of all their songs, and frontman Rory Cottam’s boundless enthusiasm and on-stage antics were enough to

music-singles

Little Boots

singles round-up

Camera Obscura The Sweetest Thing 4AD

5.

With its reverberent vocals and its upbeat drum rhythm, this latest effort from the Glaswegian indie poppers creates an idyllic and dreamlike sound that you can't help but hum along to. The ultimate track for a lazy sunday afternoon, it's simple, elegant and worth a couple of listens. Any more than that though and it may start to get boring and lose its appeal. SS

Pearl Jam

Got Some Universal/Island

7.

The second single from criticallyacclaimed new album Backspacer, Got Some is a ferocious rocker that displays the grunge survivors’ keen ear for a good hook. Coupling the intensity of Ten-era riff-ery with the group’s ever-evolving pop sensibilities, Got Some showcases a band who are always ready to cover new ground but never lose their sense of direction. MB

48/ music@gairrhydd.com

Little Boots Earthquake 679/Atlantic

7.

This latest single follows the same style as her hit single Remedy, with a pure trance-pop feel and catchy lyrics that you can’t help but to sing along with. The song received a great reception at the 33 festival dates she played this summer, and is destined to be a big hit, and help secure Little Boots’ status in the pop world. BB

Twin Atlantic

8.

What is Light? Where is Laughter?

Red Bull Records Twin Atlantic ‘s uncanny juxtaposition of pop sensibility and math-core cleverness has seen them landing support slots with Biffy Clyro, and this energetic guitar-fuelled stomper should be reason enough to justify their fellow Scot’s respect. Poignant lyrics are delivered with an authentic Glaswegian twang, made all the better for its unabashed presence.

Gutsy, personal and highly listenable. MA

The Horrors Whole New Way XL

6.

This offering from the Southend Psychadelic Rockers is full of their signature sound. A funky bassline compliments a hi-hat dominated drum part, and combined with some truly strange but enjoyable synths, you can't help but be charmed by the track. Faris Badwan's melancholic vocals sit as a nice contrast in the mix and endear the track even further. SS

Saving Aimee Fresh Since '88 Autonomy Music Group

3.

This London based pop-punk act at least try to inject some retro flare into a dying genre. The opening shows promise; all dissonant synths and a plodding ‘80s rhythm that sounds like it was plucked straight from some nostalgic John Hughes flick. Sadly, the introduction of whining heartbreak clichés in the key of awful reminds us why boy bands and emo fringes shouldn’t mix. MA

nyo’, the latest studio Ghibli animation has been trailer-ed in the last few weeks. While the actually film will undoubtedly be a heart-warming

film

film and beautifullyReleases animated Upcoming Classic (That’s just a general 4th November: Ghibli rule!)Carol Disney seem A Christmas Jennifer's Body intent on marketing the film as 6th a cartoon The Day After November: 1 Day Tomorrow.

While Miyasaki’s Bright Star films are empathetic and The Men Who Stare At Goats warm, the trailer promises 11th November: ‘the world will never be the Harry Brown same’ as Sōsuke and Ponyo 13th November: seemingly battle the elements Amelia through their friendship. More Cold Souls Taking Woodstock annoyingly, the voiceover The White Ribbon man pronounces Ghibli Jib-li, 2012 like a moronic British tourist asking for Fajeetaas.

We Like...

..We'd Rather Not

- Sir Anthony Hopkins to play Odin in Branagh's Thor. Yes Please.

- Remaking Oldboy with Will Smith.

Don't do it Will. Please.

- Ricky Gervais hosting the 67th Golden Globe Awards. Should be fun...

- Rob Zombie. Not content with ruining Halloween once, the bastard has to go and do it again.

- The Road with Viggo Mortensen.

May it be as good as it looks...

- Adam Sandler to star in the Jack and Jill movie, playing Jack. And Jill. This could go one of two ways, my prediction: very, very badly.

- Scorsese to direct Frank Sinatra biopic, with Messrs Clooney, Depp and DiCaprio all in the frame.

- Sherlock Holmes and Avatar - for once it looks like Christmas may actually be a good time to go to the pictures...

Trailer Trash

- Cirque du Freak, True Blood, and any other shitty teen-vampire cash cow-milking franchise bollocks that dare to befoul my childhood memories of The Lost Boys.

The highly anticipated Ponyo, the latest studio Ghibli animation, has been trailer-ed in the last few weeks. While the finished film will undoubtedly be a heart-warming and beautifully animated classic (that’s just a general Ghibli rule!), Disney seem intent on marketing the film as a cartoonified The Day After Tomorrow.

While Miyasaki’s films are empathetic and warm, the trailer promises that ‘the world will never be the same’ as Sōsuke and Ponyo seemingly battle the elements through their friendship. More annoyingly, the voiceover man pronounces Ghibli 'Jib-li', like a British tourist asking for fajitas.

Nevertheless, Miyasaki never lets anyone touch his films, so expect the retelling of the Little Mermaid tale to be as mesmerising as ever.

film@gairrhydd.com/49

film

Fantastic Mr Fox dir: Wes Anderson cast: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray

T

he eccentric brilliance of Roald Dahl’s writing has been celebrated on the big screen by a diverse collection of directors, from Tim Burton to Danny DeVito. This most recent example in an impressive line of adaptations is a particularly quirky take on a classic piece of children's literature.

A roster of previous friends and collaborators of Wes Anderson each voice their own idiosyncratic critter.

Meanwhile, A-listers Clooney and Streep are cast as a daring pair of star-crossed poultry bandits - a countryside Bonnie and Clyde, if not for their vulpine appearance - Mr and Mrs Fox, no less.

Anderson takes creative liberty over the original story; it is somewhat Americanised; with the introduction of secondary characters,

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additional scenes and high school stereotyping. Whilst this modernises the concept to some extent, much of the anticipated nostalgia that accompanied the film's release is inevitably lost.

The real draw of this movie lies in the uniqueness of each character.

Adolescent fox cubs compete jealously for attention against a backdrop of domestic frustration as Mr Fox struggles through the monotony of a day job, secretly yearning for his old life of crime. This juxtaposition of anthropomorphic creatures with animal instincts results in some surprisingly witty dialogue and charmingly imperfect characterization.

It’s difficult to see Fantastic Mr Fox as just another kid’s film. There might be enough woodland creature related banter to see a child through the 87 minute duration, but jokes about existentialism are undoubtedly for more mature audiences.

Either way, the ingenious narrative and inspired use of stop-motion techniques should prove universally appealing, making this another praiseworthy Roald Dahl adaptation.

Matt Ayres

7.

9 dir: Shane Acker cast: Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly

S

hane Acker’s first incarnation of 9 premiered at Sundance in 2005, where the 11-minute animation of sentient rag dolls in a post-apocalyptic wasteland became critically acclaimed for its striking, surrealist visuals. It only took the curiosity of esteemed oddball Tim Burton to kick-start its transformation to full-length feature.

Through the bionic eyes of 9 (Elijah Wood) and a host of eight other numerically named 'stitchpunk' humanoids, we learn that this harsh environment is the outcome of a Terminator-esque man vs. machine conflict. In a quest to learn the truth of their being, our heroes must utilise the remnants of their decaying world as they are confronted with all manner of nightmarish mechanisms and rusty deathtraps.

film

This is all animated with a meticulous kind of brilliance that rivals Pixar in aesthetics. The restrained cinematography highlights the individualized movements of each character, their somewhat minimal appearances serving to emphasise a broad range of emotions. Dialogue is rendered redundant with such a powerful medium of expression; indeed, Acker would have arguably been better advised staying true to the enchanting silence of his former screenplay.

The new plot seems over-complicated at times, opting to abandon the subtle, surrealist tone of the original. We are left bewildered rather than intrigued, especially with the interruption of vague moral questioning. Is this mechanical hell supposed to be a forewarning, directed at our own technologically dependent society? If so, then the link is tenuous to the point of being forced.

Visually, 9 is a captivating masterpiece, but the film is betrayed by a convoluted script for the pursuit of mainstream acceptance.

Matt Ayres

5.

Triangle Dir: Christopher Smith Cast: Melissa George, Liam Hemsworth, Emma Lung

T

here are so many twists and turns in Christopher Smith’s latest horror that to give even the lightest shred of plot would be risking backlash from the spoiler police. Luckily, the plot itself is neither what is right nor wrong about this film. For the very best horror films, what literally happens on the screen is of secondary importance to the deeper comments on the human psyche.

It is here that Triangle fails so miserably. You aren't left with an interesting commentary on the shortcomings of humankind, nor does the film keep you up at night in nagging fear. Instead, you can’t help but feel a little cheated of your time and money, as your shoulders shrug and you realise that you are totally unsympathetic with the characters

and couldn’t care less about their petty, badly-dialogued lives.

Now, I am not saying that every horror film needs to have some pretentious hidden meaning. After all, the Saw, Hostel and Final Destination series were nothing more than gore-porn, and as much as it shames me to say it, some of them were actually quite good.

"You'll feel cheated of your time and money" The issue here is that Triangle is neither sufficiently gory nor intelligent enough to be a success. Other than occasionally good camera work, Triangle’s inability to create character empathy, its lack of a logical plot and vacuum of meaning or direction render it all rather pointless, and will undoubtedly be forgotten by everyone by November.

Steve Hunter

3.

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film

An Education

Oli Franklin reviews and meets the people behind this years hottest British film.

W

hich area of your life has given you the best education?

Nick Hornby: It definitely wasn’t education! Family, children, and all the things I’ve discovered for myself. Only if they are self-imposed discoveries, not forced upon me. I think that that’s mirrored in the film, although I think Jenny got there quicker than I did!

Carey, you mentioned you didn’t get into drama school. How do you feel about that?

Carey Mulligan: I had to audition.

I went to three auditions, and it’s still the most terrifying experience of my life. I did some awfully pretentious monologue, it was Shakespeare and I’d never studied Shakespeare before or had any classical training.

So it wasn’t a huge surprise when I didn’t get in! I was in New York a little while ago and I walked past Julliard (drama school)…

I would have loved to have gone. I think I’d be more confident, and that sort of thing, but I can’t complain.

How hard was it to tread the line between the comic and the sinister given the nature of the film?

Carey Mulligan: I wasn’t more nervous about it than I am about any part. As Jenny I never really imagined Peter’s character as a sexual predator. I remember being 16…when I was 16 I was in love with the man who mowed the lawn at my boarding school (laughs).

Nick Hornby: Well Lynn Barber’s memoir (that the script was based

on) struck me as it was both funny and painful, and that’s something I tried to capture. It introduced me to a world that I’d never seen before England before the real 60s had ever began. There are always barriers in fiction, but you trust you have been able to observe enough to get it right, and trust in your own powers of observation.

What were you like as teenagers?

Dominc Cooper: I stupidly ignored education completely. I preferred causing chaos, which I regret massively. I have to say I feel guilty towards my teachers! I blame the school…

An Education

Scherfig handle the difficulties of the topic beautifully. An awkward bedroom scene is opened with a shot of David’s camera sitting menacingly on the mantelpiece. In a stand out moment that is both hilarious and deeply unsettling, David has a banana on the bedside to ‘Get the messy bit out of the way.’

the performances. Carey Mulligan is simply stunning as Jenny, perfectly capturing the essence of a girl torn from her suburban lifestyle and revelling in the decadence of jazz clubs, Paris, and haute couture. Its a testament to the superb script and Mulligan’s performance that at no point does Jenny feel like a victim.

The other performances are just as strong, with Alfred Molina’s hilariously awkward portrayal of Jenny’s father pitched perfectly between loveable and irritating. Dominic Cooper (Mama Mia! The History Boys) is also surprisingly good as Danny, David’s effortlessly charming wheeler-dealer friend who has more than a soft spot for Jenny himself.

All in all, An Education is a truly beautiful, quintessentially British film that will utterly captivate you, if you only let it.

Oli Franklin

Dir: Lone Scherfig Starring:Carey Mulligan, Peter Staarsgard, Dominic Cooper

Out Now

S

et in the early 60s, Jenny is a 16-year-old schoolgirl studying hard to get into Oxford, under the watchful eye of her overbearing father. One day on the way from cello practice, she is approached by the charming David, a 30 year old who proceeds to seduce the unwitting young girl and tempt her away from the life she knew.

The script is at once both hilarious and subtly sinister, with the likeable David charming not only Jenny’s parents but the audience.

Nick Hornby and director Lone

52 /film@gairrhydd.com

"Mulligan captures the essence of a girl torn from her suburban lifestyle" If there is one aspect of the film that makes it stand out, however, it is

9.

film

BFI 53rd London Film Festival Arzu Bokhari toddles on down to the big smoke to fill us in on her experience of the UK's largest public film event...

O

ver the weekend of 23rd October, me and 28 other members of the Film Society went to London to attend the British Film Institute’s London Film Festival. Running from 14th to 29th October in its 53rd year, the festival showcased over 100 films from all over the world, three of which – The Disappearance of Alice Creed, The Scouting Book for Boys, and Air Doll – we attended.

I got to go to the Saturday night film, Alice Creed, at the Vue Cinema in Leicester Square in what was its premiere. Prior to its start the director, J Blakeson and the film’s stars, Gemma Arterton (aka Bond girl Strawberry Fields in Quantum of Solace), Martin Compston and Eddie Marsan came out to thank the audience for coming and BFI for the support. The movie itself is a psychological thriller about a kidnapping. Sorry, can’t tell you much more than that… I promised the director. Well, not personally.

He just asked us not to tell. It was his debut feaure and a good effort at that. However, it felt a bit generic.

There were some scenes that were just… strange to put it lightly. Overall I would say it was a film that tried hard to be shocking but instead came across as forced. Acting was fantastic, though.

There was a question and answer session afterward with the director and the cast. It was a typical interview, with the ‘what was your inspiration’ and the ‘how did

you feel doing this scene and that scene.’ One thing that kept coming up was how the cast felt about the script. All three felt it was ‘refreshing’ and ‘original.’ And I must admit that it was remarkable that a film shot in four weeks, in sequential order no less, looked so professional on screen. The script had a few loose ends, but I have no complains about the way it was shot.

"Sorry, can't tell you much more than that... I promised the director" Some of the other members saw two films on Sunday: The Scouting Book for Boys and Air Doll. Comments about the former ranged from the neutral to the negative: 'It was…

strange,' said Claudia Murawski, 'but not bad'. and Dominik Billing remarked that she ‘didn’t like it.' IMDB classifies it as a drama slash thriller in which a little boy, David, helps his best friend Emily, run away after she is forced to leave their caravan park home, with secrets being revealed along the way. Personally, I thought it sounded a bit generic, but I’ll leave you with the others’ comments as I’ve not seen the film.

Air Doll also played on Sunday. A Japanese film based on a manga, it tells the story of an inflatable doll that develops a soul and falls in love. Now that sounds amazing. It was, according to Megan, 'beautifully made,' and had some 'funny moments.'

Overall, it was a fantastic trip, although I missed Cardiff very much.

Many of us are definitely planning to spend another weekend there.

Even though I didn’t originally know anyone at all going on the trip, I am glad I went, as I met loads of amazing people and had a blast. Cannot wait for next year!

film@gairrhydd.com53

film

BesT film foR ...Waiting to change

... Making your relatives

the world

seem

ty

....Admiring beau

normal

Lilya-4-ever (2002)

Volver (2006)

Chéri (2009)

Lilya-4-ever will definitely inspire tears and indignation at the harsh realities of Lilya’s life. Moodysson departs from his usual Scandinavian optimism in favour of exploring the realities of human trafficking.

This film tells the story of Lilya, who is abandoned by her mother.

She then becomes an unsuspecting victim of human trafficking as she leaves her home (a former Soviet country) for Sweden, lured by a man in the hope of a better life, only to be forced into prostitution. This film departs from slick, Hollywood productions and it is shot in a documentary style, making the characters seem real and vulnerable. Though this film isn’t conventionally 'Hollywood', it also isn’t some strange, artsy film you won’t understand - instead it is very real and compelling. I know this all sounds bleak but it is an excellent film and will hopefully inspire people to take human trafficking seriously.

The story is made all the more poignant by the revelation that it is, in fact (sadly) based on a true story.

Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar has a knack for using quirky yet endearing characters in his films.

Volver is a colourful, life-affirming story about two sisters discovering their family’s past. This film delves into the meaning of motherhood, forgiveness and love, with a cast of strange characters making it delightful. This family definitely have their share of Jeremy Kyle moments. Penelope Cruz, playing the feisty Raimunda, is probably the only actor you will recognize (I had never seen the others before) and she does look amazing, but the whole cast do a stellar job. Especially Soledad, Raimunda’s sister (Lola Dueñas), excels as the awkward and shy sister. Volver also has a darker side to it (particularly its themes of death and sexual abuse), but in the sense that real life does too - the ‘bad things’ just make all the other stuff seem so much better.

The visual side of this film is amazing; Almodóvar depicts his characters and scenery with passion and care, making every image count..

This film is like the cupcakes my housemate made this week: incredibly pretty and delicate on the outside, yet heavy and deceptively (ful)filling on the inside.

Chéri is set in ostentatious '30s Paris and maps the affair between an ageing courtesan Lea (Michelle Pfeiffer) and her best friend’s son 'Chéri' (Rupert Friend). The relationship starts off as the older woman 'teaching' the younger guy some moves in the sack, but it soon becomes evident that there is more at play…cue problems. The costumes and houses (check out Lea’s bachelorette pad) are all exquisitely beautiful and Pfeiffer and Rupert are easy on the eyes as far as couples go. But it is not all fluff and gilded staircases; the film also poses interesting questions about the older woman/younger man dynamic. But above all it is a beautiful film; imagine a languid morning in an airy Parisian flat, draped over your lover’s lap in a gorgeous, cream gown…

Kayleigh Töyrä

54 /film@gairrhydd.com

listings

Coal Exchange RWCMD Syymphony Orchestra: St David's Hall

Monday 9th Euros Childs: Clwb Ifor Bach Bryn Terfel: St David's Hall Tuesday 10th Decimals: Cardiff Arts Institute Innercity Pirates: St David's Hall Glass Menagerie: Sherman Theatre Wednesday 11th Aynsley Lister: The Globe Mixtape: Cardiff Arts Institute Thursday 12th Seasick Steve: Millenium Centre Fionn Reagan: Clwb Ifor Bach Bethan Elfyn: Buffalo Bar Terry Alderton: Glee Club Friday 13th Sierra Alpha: Clwb Ifor Bach Islet: Cardiff Arts Institute Saturday 14th The Holloways: Barfly Sunday 15th The Fall of Troy: Clwb Ifor Bach The Mission District: Barfly Face value: Live Lounge Monday 16th Musical Bingo: Cardiff Arts Institute Monsters of Folk:

A^hi^c\h DXi '+i]" Cdk -i]

Tuesday 17th Jimmy Carr: Millenium Centre Horrible Histories: New Theatre Wednesday 18th Go-X Students' Union The Detachments Barfly Thursday 19th Eddie Izzard: CIA Friday 20th Mr Scruff Students' Union Super Furry Animals: Coal Exchange Saturday 21st Micheal McIntyre: CIA Days of Significance: Sherman Theatre Sunday 22nd Al Murray: Millenium Centre

Listings Pick of the Fortnight...

What else but Musical Bingo! Line up outside Cardiff's newest music house to hear calls such as "The Who, Number 22!" Or "Eminem, Number 10!" Its something 99% of us will never have done before and what else is student life about if not trying new things? Bingo.

listings@gairrhydd.com/55