AU Magazine Issue 58

THE MARS VOLTA DON’T CALL THEM PROG

MOONWALK ONE LANDING LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION

PHOENIX OH LA LA!

THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART HOT FUZZ

THE LUCHAGORS READY TO RUMBLE

#58

SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO FACE OFF WITH THE ELECTRO TITANS MARINA & THE DIAMONDS / TORTOISE / KATIE KIM / MOS DEF PRINCE / CUTAWAYS / FUTURE OF THE LEFT / SEINFELD / DOWNLOAD ANDREW MORGAN / JUNIOR BOYS / THE POLYAMOROUS AFFAIR

WWW.IHEARTAU.COM

£3.30

AUGUST 2009

Iheartau.com

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my inspiration Little Boots

Love knows not of death nor calculus above the simple sum of heart plus heart Sylvia Plath Love Is A Parallax

Photography courtesy of Atlantic Records

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Love Is A Parallax written by Sylvia Plath Faber & Faber Publishing

Issue 58 34 PHOENIX “We’ve had hits in some countries and the next album was a big flop, but in another country it was a hit! We expect this with Phoenix, it’s ups and downs depending on the country.”

38 SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO

“Frankly, if the same people who bought the last record don’t buy this one, I can live with that.”

44 THE LUCHAGORS

“We love proving people wrong, night after night.”

46 THE MARS VOLTA

“People who blow up without going on tour turn into such brats with such high expectations.”

50 THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART

“People spend a lot of time analysing our music. I just think of it as pop.”

52

MOONWALK ONE

“It was mankind that stepped on the Moon. Some of us run spaceships, some of us run hotdog stands.

Some of us paddle a canoe hunting for fish for dinner, some of us grind the corn. We all went the Moon.”

AU #58 Iheartau.com

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EDITORIAL Everyone has a Michael Jackson memory, and I’m no different. Thriller was the first album I became obsessed with, and Bad was the first record I ever actually owned. I was so into the former that I had my dad copy the vinyl onto one side of a TDK tape, then on the other side I made him put the song ‘Thriller’ followed by the song ‘Ghostbusters’, followed by ‘Thriller’ again, then ‘Ghostbusters’, then ‘Thriller, then ‘Ghostbusters’, and so on for the full side of the tape.

I used to make my family listen to both sides on long car journeys. It must have melted their heads, but there was something in my five year old brain that literally could not get enough of Michael Jackson’s music. This feeling has stayed with me to this day, and I still love hearing classic Jackson, though perhaps not the same song on repeat. His music, like his death, has touched millions of people, and though it seems obvious to say, it’s the part of his legacy that will forever live on now that he has gone. Thanks for the music Michael, RIP. Jonny.

STUPID THINGS SAID THIS MONTH ‘How funny would it be if the world ended just now?’

‘I’d have a wank... or grab a sheep.’

I was six years old when an old man showed me his balls.

Do you want a mirror, or will you wait for the big reveal?

That was wetter than I expected it to be.

I come back to the office with tits every time.

It’s not the first time we’ve had tops off to Noah And The Whale.

I’m gonna hunt down the last right wino.

Your dog looks like a computer dog.

I could beat you in a fight.

How trunks was her donkey?

I’d blow his big horn.

Look, other guys I smelled took it clearly sideways.

You don’t have to hug your girlfriend after a wank.

I’ve never licked your face before.

I love talking loud when I’m talking business.

CONTRIBUTORS

* OPEN LATE NIGHT MONDAYS & OPEN EVERY SUNDAY

PUBLISHER / EDITOR IN CHIEF

Jonny ‘Bad’ Tiernan

EDITOR

Francis ‘Smooth Criminal’ Jones

SUB EDITOR

Chris ‘Thriller’ Jones

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Ross ‘Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough’ Thompson

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR

Edwin ‘Dangerous’ McFee

CONTRIBUTORS

Kiran Acharya, Virginia Arroyo, Philip Byrne, John Calvert, Neill Dougan, Mickey Ferry, John Freeman, Lee Gorman, David Hamilton, James Gracey, Ailbhe Malone, Kirstie McCrum, Kenny Murdock, Joe Nawaz, Steven Rainey, Shain Shapiro, Jeremy Shields, Philip Taggart.

DESIGN/ILLUSTRATION

Stuart Bell, Luke Carson, Tim Farrell, Neil Gillespie, Elissa Parente.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Timothy Cochrane – www.timothycochrane.com Richard W Crothers – www.panicdots.com Carrie Davenport – www.carriedavenport.com

PROMOTIONS AND MARKETING ASSISTANT

(028) 90 329146 [4]

AU#58

Kim ‘Beat It’ Barclay

AU #58

CONTENTS UPFRONT Page 6 / The AU Stereo Page 7 / INVADERS MUST DIE

– The prodigy ‘live in the park Page 10 / CUTAWAYS Page 11 / LEIF BOdnarchuk Page 12 / future of the left Page 14 / Radioactive man / tortoise Page 15 / junior boys Page 16 / ON THE ROAD WITH THE ANSWER Page 18 / incoming – marina & The diamonds / katie kim Page 20 / breaking through – THE polyamorous affair / discovery / andrew morgan / telekinesis / the chapman family / imperial leisure Page 22 / hey you! what’s on your ipod?

Page 24 / five to one – celebrity ‘swordsmen’ / board games

REWIND Page 25 / Page 26 / Page 30 / Page 32 /

Flashback – the premiere of seinfeld history lessons – meat puppets respect your shelf – Pedro almodOVar Classic album – Prince

REVIEWS Page 55 / Album Reviews Page 63 / unsigned UNIVERSE Page 64 / Live Reviews

SUBBACULTCHA Page 67 / Most Wanted Page 70 / SCREEN Page 72 / games Page 74 / comics Page 76 / Books Page 78 / Back Of The Net Page 80 / In Pictures – CLUB AU / sketchy vs. wired Page 82 / – The Last Word – dananananaykroyd

AU Magazine Nominated in the Irish Print Awards 2008 Printed by GPS Colour Graphics

To advertise in AU Magazine contact the sales team Tel: 028 9032 4888 or via email jonny@iheartau.com The opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or the publisher. Copyright remains with the author / photographer / designer.

Send demos / mail / material to: AU Magazine, 56 Bradbury Place, Belfast, BT7 1RU For more info contact: info@iheartau.com For all general and editorial enquiries call: 028 9032 4455 AU Magazine graciously acknowledges funding support from the Arts Council Of Northern Ireland

Iheartau.com

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SLOW CLUB

IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE BEAUTIFUL

AU EO STER

(MOSHI MOSHI)

THE SOUNDS ROCKIN’ THE OFFICE AIRWAVES THIS MONTH

AU first caught sight of this boy/girl duo at Iceland’s Airwaves festival in 2007 and was instantly smitten. He, Charles, played guitar and sang; she, Rebecca, cooed sweetly and took care of percussion – clattering drums, pots, pans and, even, a wooden chair. Their folksy ramblings were often about falling in and out of love, with a crisply bitter edge preventing proceedings from becoming too saccharine. This song finds them at their rockabilly best. FJ

PISSED JEANS

HALF IDIOT (SUB POP) They come at you with insane aggression, switchblade guitars brandished with malicious intent, rhythms that intimidate you into a corner as vocalist Matt Korvette screams like a man tossed into a vat of boiling oil. Yes, Pissed Jeans are back and sounding more deranged than ever as they document the brain-splattered demise of Middle America’s suburban dream on forthcoming second album, King Of Jeans. FJ

LA ROUX

BULLETPROOF (POLYDOR) Musically, the Eighties have undergone something of a critical reappraisal in recent years. Once considered the decade that taste forgot, it is now considered the height of cool to be hip to the Eighties beat. Take La Roux as a case in point. Summoning the spirit of synth maestros Eurythmics, the young Londoners’ streamlined sounds hark gloriously back to yesteryear, reminding us of the unbeatable thrill of pure pop. FJ SPINNERETTE ALL BABES ARE WOLVES (HASSLE) Snarling from start to finish, this bombastic cut from Spinnerette’s self-titled debut suggests that former Distillers frontwoman Brody Dalle has lost none of the urgency and emotion evoking power of yore. “Oh babe, I would die for you / Oh babe, I would never stray,” she promises, the words hollered with blood curdling conviction, guitars and drums buzzing like killer bees.

Damn, it’s good to have her back. FJ THE POLYAMOROUS AFFAIR WHITE HOT MAGIC (MANIMAL VINYL) Shimmying their way into our affections through a fog of woozy beats and ultra sultry vocals come Los Angeles dance-glam duo The Polyamorous Affair. Eddie Chacon and wife Sissy Saint-Marie have created one of the year’s most alluring records in the svelte shape of Bolshevik Disco, their sophomore offering chock-full of instantly

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gratifying tunes. However, amidst its many addictive delights, it is ‘White Hot Magic’ that we find ourselves ever drawn to. FJ SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO 10000 HORSES CAN’T BE WRONG (WICHITA) It would be easy to be dazed by the glittering roll call of talent that has been amassed for SMD’s second outing – Gruff Rhys, Beth Ditto, Jamie Lidell, Telepathe and Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor among those called up for vocal duty. Still, despite the name contributors, it is the work of SMD’s main men – Jameses Ford and Shaw – that most beguiles, here stitching a hypnotic tapestry from a weltering barrage of bleeps and beats. FJ IMPERIAL LEISURE ALPERTON (STEAMROLLER) We’ve all been there: merry and addled after a big night out, and then you miss the last train home.

So you walk. Imperial Leisure’s mariachi-fuelled ska-ballad perfectly captures that sobering feeling of the

long trudge, while facing the added complication of “Who knows which way to go home / Or if we’ll have one when we get there”, before ending with the gently-crooned poignant refrain of “That’s what comes of being a wanker”. Charming. JF CHEW LIPS SALT AIR (TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB DUI REMIX) (KITSUNE) Two Door Cinema Club have refashioned the second single from East London’s electro-pop pups Chew Lips into pure dancefloor TNT. Strands of cute synth spin out of control, singer Tigs’ menacing vocal ghosting in before the thud, thud, thud of those righteous beats, pop artillery shells exploding left, right and centre to leave us shell-shocked and almightily awed. FJ ANDREW MORGAN TURN YOUR COLLAR TO THE COLD (BROKEN HORSE) Andrew Morgan clearly subscribes to that old showbiz maxim, ‘leave ‘em wanting more’. He released his

debut album, Misadventures In Radiology, in 2004 and a sun-dimpled delight it was too.

We wanted more. We waited.

We waited some more and, at last, Morgan has delivered the goods in the shape of Please Kid, Remember. Curiously, the various trials and tribulations that delayed its completion are barely evident amidst the romantic whimsy of the music. Prepare to be seduced all over again. FJ TELEKINESIS COAST OF CAROLINA (MORR MUSIC) It washes in ever so gently, all breathy vocal and tenderly strummed notes and then…

CRASH! Guitars and drums come screeching in like a freightliner dashing against cruel rocks, spilling its melodic cargo all over the damn scene. Young Michael Lerner’s songs have etched a lasting impression on AU, but nothing cuts us quite so keenly as ‘Coast of Carolina’. FJ

ASIWYFA

INVADERS MUST DIE

AU REPORTS: THE PRODIGY ‘LIVE IN THE PARK’, DONARD PARK, NEWCASTLE, COUNTY DOWN Words by KIRAN ACHARYA / ILLUSTRATION BY ELISSA PARENTE Bringing The Prodigy to the seaside town of Newcastle was a gamble. When the concert was announced my friends from the town were excited, and proud. “The years of mountain parties have paid off,” proclaimed one exclamation mark riddled email.

“Recognise it as a holy gift and celebrate this chance to be alive and breathing!”

N

ot everyone was pleased.

Opposition came from people in the Tullybrannigan area adjacent to the proposed venue, Donard Park.

The Tullybrannigan Area Residents Association petitioned the district council on behalf of the Glen Fold, River House and Donard Fold; three care homes for the elderly in the immediate vicinity. They opposed the venue rather than the concert but also the council’s complete lack of public consultation.

Within the council the loudest dissenting voice came from Jim Wells of the DUP. “I have been shouted down,” he is reported as saying, “and excluded from the subcommittee dealing with this matter.”

Wells began a campaign to make the event alcohol-free. It didn’t work. “Drinks will be served at the venue,” he conceded, “but the concert will also attract other sellers and the substances they’ll be selling won’t be postcards of Newcastle, let me tell you.”

Wells had reason for concern. PLM Promotions previously held The Beach Party in Portrush, where The Chemical Brothers performed in 2008. Worries over destructive rowdy inebriates and YouTube footage of one man rolling around in cocomania contributed to the vote against

holding ADEBISIanother SHANK such concert in 2009.

But when Newcastle’s headline act was announced, the Coleraine Times ran a story with the headline: ‘Portrush Misses Out on The Prodigy’. Still, business leaders from Portrush sent a letter to Newcastle councillors saying they “were making a huge mistake”.

PLM predicted that 15,000 people would attend. A standard ticket cost £39.95.

There were to be complimentary tickets for people living close by, but the idea existed only as a convenient rumour until letters arrived in homes the day before the show, with instructions to redeem tokens at the Newcastle Centre between the hours of 2pm and 5pm. People with tokens were turned away for not having proof of address and identification.

Other residents, unable to attend at the appointed time, were forced to pay on the day. Eddie Wray, the promoter, repeated the politicians’ line about the event being worth millions to Newcastle’s small businesses. But the concert had a no re-admissions policy. Not all the on-site businesses (including t-shirt stalls, a bungee ball like an oversized baby bouncer, a bar selling fresh air at £5 a hit) were from Newcastle.

Many people chose not to pay. The top

of Donard Park was like Henman’s Hill at Wimbledon, dotted with music fans and curious locals setting out blankets to enjoy the concert from afar. Donard Park appears between the end of the seafront promenade and the foot of the hills, where the Glen River meets the bight of the beach. The top half rises in a gradual incline to the tree line at the bottom of the Mournes. From that angle the event was an organised mass of people swaying in front of a large stage, moving to a bassy pulse.

The interior artwork for The Prodigy’s 1994 album Music for the Jilted Generation shows Les Edwards’ painting of a longhaired raver in heavy black boots holding a wide knife to a rope bridge. The bridge hangs over a canyon separating the dancers in the distance from the polluted, overbuilt city and gathered police forces on the other side. The division is clear.

The raver lifts a firm and defiant middle finger to the forces of authority and prepares to slice the rope.

No such division was visible in Donard Park. Inside the pen, police and dancers and security staff mixed in one breathing mass. I sat with a friend who works in an integrated high school, which had closed early because of its proximity. He felt Iheartau.com

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THE PRODIGY

like a careworn parent. “It’s like looking at the playground from a distance,” he said, using binoculars to watch Hot Chip onstage. “You just hope nobody gets hurt.”

But there was a visible and mildly intimidating police presence all over town. Officers on foot, on bicycles, in vans with roof-mounted cameras patrolling the promenade. All entrances to Tullybrannigan were gated and patrolled

be truly revealing, like indiscriminately stopping people in the street and demanding a £2 tax. But I became the subject of my own experiment when I sat cross-legged on the grass, enjoying a pre-concert Carlsberg. Three security employees approached and asked why I was wearing the jacket.

“You and your housemate,” he asked, kneeling down. “You share the house where you’ve parked the Subaru?”

I knew where the talk was leading and made a quick decision to end it truthfully, with as little friction as possible.

“Not there,” I said deliberately. “From a previous Belfast address.”

“It’s the warmest garment I own,” I replied.

“You don’t own it,” said one guy with a

He asked what this friend’s name was.

I felt like a suspect in the interrogation room. I wasn’t for telling but understood that in the eyes of the law I was a criminal in possession of stolen company property.

It was important they understood I had done nothing under false pretences but the message was clear: we are fond of our coats and don’t like sharing. After emptying the deep pockets of phone, keys, two 20 pound notes and a packet of appleflavoured boiled sweets I shuddered in the breeze and watched as the trio returned to the team leader, trailing the coat along the grass.

“Prodigy fans are not monsters. The town has nothing to fear from the event.”

SDLP Councillor Carmel O’Boyle, April 2009 by officers who granted passage only to drivers displaying paper tokens that identified them as residents. Vectras and white Saracens did loops of the town, heavy black boots visible through heavy metal doors. Some carried Heckler and Koch MP5 machine guns. “British manufacture,” an officer said. “SAS issue – everyone uses them.”

Group 4 Security staffed the site and part of the park that was open to the public.

Hi-viz yellow jackets moved between parents with prams and hallions dancing in white facemasks bought from the novelty shops. For months before, I had worn my own DOE-style yellow jacket, without irony, as a kind of ground-level Milgram experiment. They used to be synonymous with the rave scene but since the increase in health and safety regulations governing, say, construction and public services, fluorescent yellow has become the unofficial uniform of people carrying out the orders of big business, private money and established authority.

In Dublin airport, the lady at the coffee shop took me for a staff member and discounted my Americano. Even after I explained myself she insisted on the reduction. On ethical grounds I couldn’t bring myself to create a scene that might

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headset. “It has our logo on it. Where’d you get it?”

“From a housemate, as a present.”

The two 20 pound notes were for the concert box office, a two-windowed

portakabin between rows of blue portaloos and the entrance to the Folds.

But when I arrived the ticket-teller explained that tickets cost 50 pounds and they didn’t take Switch. The nearest ATM was in Kent Amusements, a large glass-fronted arcade facing the beach. I walked into a stream of people wavering up the gangway past the parked buses on the right, and dodged listless arcs of pee passing through the wire fence on the left. Nine staff in orange jackets gathered around a man in a grey polo shirt lying face down on the concrete.

By the white stone arch at the entrance two heavy policemen in blue hats and coveralls marched past with the reluctant concertgoer wedged between them, his hands cuffed behind his back with a little blood issuing from the wrist.

On the way back in I passed two campaigners in yellow jackets holding home-made placards quoting biblical verses; John 14: 6 and James 4: 14. One was an old schoolmate from Dundrum.

He didn’t remember me, but remembered

my sister, a bit. Churches including the Elim Pentecostal, Baptist and Methodist had united to convert, cajole or convince people attracted by the gig not to attend.

While we chatted a gaunt young guy in a baseball cap with scratches on his nose and forehead stopped to talk. He explained how earlier in the afternoon he had decided to hang himself from Shimna Bridge but the woman in the shop wouldn’t sell him a rope. He was despondent and crying on the beach when two self-identifying Christians appeared and explained that God had a plan for him.

“I’ve been on some drugs in my time,” he said. “But the heart love I felt when those two spoke to me beats them all.

They saved my life.” Everyone nodded silently and approvingly. Some smaller boys dressed in blue tracksuits asked if the guys with the placards ever drank. Not often, they answered, and explained their moderation by reminding us that alcohol was really a poison and an intoxicant.

They handed out leaflets with a picture of George Best printed on the front. Leonard

Charles, regarded as a strolling eccentric with extensive ornithological knowledge, stood with his hands behind his back and countered with the reminder that the Lord turned water into wine. The lad in the baseball cap turned slowly, laughed through his nose and said he’d probably forget his rescue in the morning. A car rolled around the corner and the driver leant out the window screaming “Weeeaaaahhhh!” before disappearing from sight. The unhappy boy was writing his name in my notebook when a passerby said something about a diplodocus.

My schoolmate hustled to the corner with his sign, shouting politely.

“We believe in dinosaurs! God created them!”

“I remember being in bed all day and the curtains pulled on the window when I had the measles. And having the extraordinary experience of ‘raving’, as they called it. It was scaresome but it was a high.” Seamus Heaney, Stepping Stones, 2008

At the portakabin I swapped 50 pounds for a ticket with the numbers 39.95 printed on it. On the way in it wasn’t torn along the perforation but scanned with the dancing red laser of a barcode reader. I consented to a quick search. Without a coat I began to empty my hoodie pockets, producing the apple sweets.

“No,” said the second guard, a tall bald man with an official manner. “I’ll have to take them to the police.”

He was off and away before I could protest. I asked the other guy if it was because the sweets might be riddled with drugs.

“You’d be surprised,” he said, ushering me in without further inspection.

The Prodigy opened with ‘World’s On Fire.’ Yellow and red lights flared from the stage while Keith Flint and Maxim Reality stalked around with intent in their eyes, commanding wireless mics. The set began in daylight, but as darkness fell the stage became more like a controlled explosion of booming noise and blue and yellow and flashes of white light. A crowd of thousands singing, staggering and dancing, looking at the sky and at each other, jumping and rejoicing. Face paint, dreadlocks and electric pink Lycra, leather jackets and beards, cigars saved for the occasion and cameras turning in slow circles to capture the action. Girls on boys’ shoulders, arms aloft in the crowd, heart-shaped sunglasses, hi-viz work wear, mohawks, the unifying thud of ‘Breathe’ and ‘Their Law’ and ‘Poison’ played at proper indecent volume.

Shouldering to turn I looked at the faces picked out by strobes and remembered Jim Wells’ remark about substances and postcards. It made him sound like the kind of man who hurries to strike a match after breaking wind. The effects of cocaine and ketamine were less visible than those of ecstasy and alcohol. The bars sold green plastic bottles of beer for £3 apiece and ran out of stock around the time of ‘Firestarter’. The event was sponsored by WKD and the sticky vibrant liquid was swilled and spilled in massive amounts. But if you start drinking in the

afternoon you’re liable to be dead on the sidelines by dinnertime. Ecstasy shifts you straight into fifth. Liam Howlett could look out from behind his console and see a tribal riot of party people with bloomed pupils and a love for all things. A sea of dancers set against the silhouette of the mountain, each moving like Popeye in a spinach frenzy. The warm smell of sweat and damp grass. Bioluminescent light as the body stretches towards the source of sound. No subtlety or suspense. Foolish even to look for it. Little concern for what happens next. Relax and unravel like ribbon falling from a sun bound kite.

Eyelids flutter like a cartoon character in love. An exalting sort of trance with warmth and blood rushes that you can’t explain other than in vague mystical terms.

If sustained drinking is like slowly sinking in quicksand, ecstasy is like being rushed by an invading army that runs a fast and flashy con-job on the senses. It dazzles but leaves the body bombed out, stocks dangerously depleted. Like the sailors rowing towards Mandeville’s paradise, you might see the horizon, but know you’ll be dead from exhaustion before you reach the shore. Normal healthy neurons in the brain are like the branches of a growing tree, but after extreme stimulation they become brittle and desiccated like an arthritic old crone’s hands. They don’t regenerate.

But in the thump and revelry few people seemed interested in the detrimental longterm effects of any kind of action. Bodies bouncing in unison to the deep thud of ‘Diesel Power’. The flow of ‘Omen’ into ‘Invaders Must Die’, like something from The Dirtchamber Sessions. ‘Out of Space’ was the final full tune before the brassy triumph of ‘Stand Up’. People file from the site, calling friends on mobiles and gathering clothes about themselves.

No fear of a riot. No fear of the dark.

In the final assessment the gamble paid off. The moon was like a lantern held over the ocean. In the motion of bodies moving away from the park there was excited chatter about a mountain party.

Or drinking and dancing at Murlough for seekers who wanted more.

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winning formula. “I don’t believe in hanging around,” explains Ryan. “We knew very quickly that we had something pretty special. We just rehearsed, honed the songs, made an EP and played gigs. It’s pretty straightforward really.

I don’t understand bands that agonise and deliberate over getting stuff together. It’s great fun being in a band and I just want to constantly play.”

NO TIME FOR HANGING AROUND

CUTAWAYS KEEN TO MAKE AN IMPRESSION WITH DEBUT ALBUM

“It

doesn’t feel right going on stage without my blue cut-out bird,” sighs Grace McMacken, singer, keyboardist and self-confessed ‘noise-bringer’ of Cutaways. She’s not being enigmatic, euphemistic or eccentric, it’s just a Cutaways thing. Cutaways are unique, unless you consider cut-out birds (one for each of the band), puppet look-a-likes, impromptu ‘rap’ cameos and fans dressing up as the band as par for the course. But their biggest idiosyncrasy is that Grace, drummer Ryan Simpson and frontman, guitarist and unashamed Def Leppard fan Paul McIver offer up that rarest of commodities in the local music scene: a genuine pop sensibility.

They’re on the verge of releasing their infectiously brilliant debut album Earth and Earthly Things, having recently scooped critical plaudits across the board. Just a year since their formation, they’re now ready to take on the world and, understandably, they’re feeling pretty good about it. Earth and Earthly Things is perfectly poised between boy/girl sugar-rush harmonies and manic amphetamine energy, not

to mention lyrics that capture the beauty in the banal – “I spilled your pint and then you broke my heart” anybody?

“I think our songs are like a series of mini-soap operas really,” explains Ryan. “But they represent the whole spectrum of soaps from Crossroads to The Bad and The Beautiful.

Sometimes there’s an epic sweeping quality to it and sometimes you can see the scenery moving in the background!

“Paul’s lyrics are deceptively dark,” he adds of songwriter McIver. “We don’t necessarily have a serious political message, but he has a pretty warped world view. Take [recent single] ‘Milo of Kroton’; Milo was a great Greek athlete from the original Olympics. He won everything and was a giant of a man. Then apparently he stepped on a rusty nail and died within days. A lesson for us all!”

How the band met is the subject of some speculation and as Grace says, “would take a whole interview to explain,” but what is certain is that almost immediately they hit upon a

Focused around McIver’s words and melodies, with Earth and Earthly Things, Cutaways have now successfully translated the sucker-punch of their exhilarating live shows onto record. “The album sounds very close to us playing live, I think,” says Ryan. “There was a minimum of studio trickery when recording it. The next time we may add more layers and interesting ideas, but not gratuitously. By our 10th album we’ll have gone all out experimental and bombastic with choirs and a cast of thousands!”

Cutaways are in the middle of a mini-tour in the run-up to the album’s release and have recently played some high profile gigs both here and in Britain, supporting the likes of The Maccabees. Reflecting on a recent series of shows in England, Grace feels that people are now starting to “get” Cutaways. ”You can really feel that it’s happening. We used to go to places like London and get the feeling that we weren’t quite nailing it, but our most recent gig there was amazing, we headlined out of three bands, there was a real buzz and we easily got the biggest crowd, which was brilliant. It’s the first time we’ve played there that people have really taken notice.”

With the album imminent, a series of high profile radio sessions recorded and a summer of festivals ahead – including Féile, Gay Pride and trans – you’d forgive the band for taking time out for a little self-congratulation.

MARILYN MANSON

T

o list all that is wrong with Marilyn Manson would require more pages than the latest Argos catalogue. For starters, the man has genuine mental problems. Note his confessions that, one, he’d paid for his da to have a lapdance [kinda awesome] and, two, that he’d dreamed about killing his ex, Evan Rachel Wood, after they broke up. “I fantasised every day about smashing her skull in with a sledgehammer,” he said. What’s more, lately, he’s come to resemble Liquorice Allsorts’ own pimp daddy, Bertie Bassett. In fact, his appearance at this year’s Download festival would suggest that he’s been living on nothing but humungous portions of the sweet black confectionery for quite some time. However, it

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would be easy to scoff at the supersized Goth, and though his weight might have ballooned, he is at least trying to cut the narcotics out of his diet. Not that it’s been easy; Manson admitted that he cried recently when his tour manager denied him drugs. And he’s got no sympathy whatsoever from his contemporaries with Trent Reznor even branding him a “malicious, dopey clown”. With so many issues to address, AU decided it was time for Marilyn to take a break and so we’ve hidden his black bulk within the pages of this very magazine.

Email his whereabouts along with your details to info@iheartau.com for a chance to win a six-month AU subscription.

A coroner has ruled that former Wilco man Jay Bennett died of an accidental overdose of painkillers. The 45-year-old musician had been suffering from a hip condition for some time and had been trying to raise funds for a hip replacement operation. It’s believed that he overdosed on painkillers prescribed to stem the pain resulting from this injury. His death came shortly after he had initiated legal proceeding against his former bandmates in an attempt to recover royalties he alleged he was owed.

“Nah,” says Ryan. “We’ll get as many gigs done as possible and then start thinking about the second album. We’re already got five or six songs and there’s no point in hanging about!”

Joe Nawaz

EARTH AND EARTHLY THINGS IS RELEASED JULY 6.

AVAILABLE VIA iTUNES AND ALL MAJOR DOWNLOAD SITES. WWW.MYSPACE.COM/CUTAWAYS

TOP TEN SONGS FOR MARILYN MANSON

WE MUST HIDE…

Wig wearing, gun toting, woman killing, production legend Phil Spector has been moved to a “sensitive needs facility” at California’s Corcoran prison. Recently found guilty of the murder of actress Lana Clarkson, Spector is currently planning his appeal and continues to maintain his innocence.

1. RELIENT K

MARILYN MANSON ATE

MY GIRLFRIEND 2. MORRISSEY

YOU’RE THE ONE FOR

ME, FATTY 3. LARD

THE POWER OF LARD 4. INSANE CLOWN POSSE

FAT SWEATY BETTY 5. MANIC STREET PREACHERS

DRUG DRUG DRUGGY 6. N.E.R.D. LAPDANCE 7. THE HIVES

BIGGER HOLE TO FILL 8. XZIBIT

CARRY THE WEIGHT 9. RYAN ADAMS

THE DRUGS NOT WORKING 10. WHITNEY HOUSTON

SOMEBODY BIGGER

THAN YOU AND I

Melissa Auf der Maur has pleaded her ignorance of Courtney Love’s recent declaration that she would be involved in a new Hole record. Love stated that her long overdue solo album would actually be released under the Hole banner, even though Auf der Maur would be the only former band member involved. But, the bassist says she knows nothing about Courtney’s plans. “I am very proud of my time in Hole, I’m very grateful for my ‘big sister’ Courtney and the initial door that she opened for me in music and I have literally no comment, other than she and I have been in touch for the first time in a decade, and I know she’s in the studio and I’m excited to hear what she makes.” Auf der Maur also scotched the reunion tour rumours stating that there could be no true reunion without founding member Eric Erlandson.

LEIF’S YOUR MAN

MEET LEONARD COHEN’S DOWNPATRICK-RAISED GUITAR TECH

W

hen Leonard Cohen plays Belfast’s Odyssey Arena on July 26, the legendary folk crooner’s instruments will be under the watch of Leif Bodnarchuk – a punkloving Irish-Canadian who once released an EP entitled Piss Into My Tasty Wide Open Bum. Leif has been the ‘Hallelujah’ star’s unlikely guitar technician since April 2008, and he wasn’t nervous about meeting the famously grumpy singer. “I gave myself no reason to be,” he says.

“The Leonard I know is a kind, generous and humble guy I can have a laugh with in the toilets – not that we meet there intentionally!”

Montreal-born, Downpatrick-raised and now living in Larne, Leif ’s sense of humour survives from the days when he had dyed-green hair and churned out songs like ‘Pissed Forever’ and ‘Let’s Pretend We’re Gay’. His bands – Griswold, Hangover, Chopper and Confusion – didn’t make the big time, but Leif spent 13 years as a roadie for Ash, hobnobbing with everyone from Bono to George Lucas. He was also a guest at Ash’s ‘Sick Party’ – the secret track at the end of 1977 – and has a BPI Platinum award to prove it. “I grew up on the road with those guys,” Leif says. “I did almost every gig with them from June 1995 to September 1999. When I moved to Canada for a few years, they still had me back for more, if the tour was long enough to justify flying me over an ocean to do it.”

Back when Ash were known as Vietnam and were more concerned with learning Iron Maiden tabs than writing hits for Annie Lennox, they often supported Confusion – who featured Oppenheimer’s Shaun Robinson on drums – and remembered Leif when they signed to Infectious Records. “I got the job doing tech stuff for them because I was a guitarist who could insert plug ‘A’ into receptacle ‘B’ and not electrocute myself,” he says, “although that has happened several times!”

instruments and taking them offstage again. After the last song, I pack everything away in a timely, orderly fashion, get showered and get on the bus around 12.30am.”

It’s a mechanical existence, and tensions occasionally rise. Leif ’s previous employers include Sigur Rós, The Libertines, The Kooks and The Wannadies, and he recalls a run-in with The Wildhearts during an ill-fated European tour: “Their bassist, Danny McCormack, gave me a mild kicking after we traded some passive-aggressive insults. Sometimes egos and personalities clash.” As for Pete Doherty, Leif says: “He had very little respect for his craft or the people around him. It was The Libertines’ first US tour, and Doherty didn’t want to play Boston or Philly. He was having way too much fun in New York, doing god knows what, while the drum tech and I waited in the van. It was pretty unrewarding work.”

Leif – whose dream boss would be Madonna (“I wanted to play keyboards for her when I was 12, but I’d settle for handing her a guitar”) – says the main challenge of his chosen career is staying sane and healthy on extended periods away from his wife and kids: “Last year, I was out for 96 days in a row on one occasion. I try to eat well, I’ve quit smoking and I don’t drink as much. The spiritual side is also very important for me now. I’m one of those annoying bornagain Buddhists.” Post-tour, Leonard Cohen’s go-to guy likes to unwind at home on the County Antrim coast with “pear cider, Battlestar Galactica, popcorn and sex – in that order!” ‘Hallelujah’, indeed. Andrew Johnston LEONARD COHEN PLAYS THE ODYSSEY ARENA, BELFAST, ON JULY 26.

On the road, Leif ’s day begins around 7.45am: “I get up, eat, unload the truck, build some risers, lay some carpet, tune guitars, check the audio lines with the PA department, sit around during soundcheck, eat dinner, get changed into my ‘nice’ clothes and tune it all again. Then, during the show, I tune intermittently while putting out Iheartau.com

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Curses and now Travels With Myself And Another, the band has produced two of the most thrilling rock records of the decade. So why the struggle?

For those that failed to get their mitts on it first time around, postpunkers Autoban have reissued their rather nifty, double A-side, second single ‘Sirens’/‘This City’s Fashions’. The new version includes an electro remix of ‘Sirens’ courtesy of fellow Dublin act, Straglers.

Details have been confirmed for the followup to Maps 2007 debut We Can Create. The new album, titled Turning The Mind, was recorded with Tim Holmes of Death In Vegas. Speaking of the record’s recurring subjects and sources of inspiration Maps, aka James Chapman, has stated that it is “essentially an album which explores themes related to the human mind and the way certain stimuli, particularly chemical, can affect the mind in different ways.”

Fans can hear the mindboggling new material when it’s released on September 28.

“It’s probably just that little bit too difficult or weird,” Falkous reasons, “or the humour aspect which is so relatively advertised puts people off. Let’s face it, most music is incredibly po-faced, even from individuals in bands who are very humorous and intelligent human beings. At the end of the day, it’s because we’re the band that we are, and there’s an argument that you reach the people you’re meant to reach. Myself, my ambitions lie beyond playing to 28 people in a club in Carlisle. As you would fucking hope.”

BACKBENCH FURY

ANDY FALKOUS ON RECORD LEAKERS AND WHY HE’D RATHER TOUR THE STATES

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ost-punk provocateurs Future of the Left have had a mixed few months. Their second album Travels With Myself And Another was released in June to critical raptures, but not before it leaked two months in advance.

“It was incredibly disappointing, like somebody holding your birthday party without you,” says Andy Falkous from his mother’s house in Northumberland, where in a rare moment of respite he is acting as a surrogate babysitter while Mrs Falkous is out.

Meanwhile, although a UK tour in May was a moderate success, scheduled shows in Belfast and Dublin had to be cancelled due to pitiful ticket sales. “I don’t even want to tell you, they were so low,” laments the frontman. “Literally, I had three times as many messages and comments on MySpace from people saying they had bought tickets than had actually bought tickets.”

Happily, rescheduled dates are promised for September.

Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon has revealed details of his side project, Volcano Choir. The outfit, Vernon and fellow Wisconsinites Collections of Colonies of Bees, finds him indulging his more experimental side. “I sing on it, but there aren’t a lot of lyrics,” he told Pitchfork.

Debut album Unmap is released September 21 on Jagjaguwar.

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The album leak led to one of Falkous’s typically entertaining MySpace blogs (sample quote: “I’m not angry – I don’t blame you, unless you leaked it, in which case I WILL KILL YOU.”) and though his words are couched in a heavy dose of irony, it’s clear that the episode still stings.

“I think it would be quite an entertaining thing if you could identify the person who had leaked it and string them up in the middle of the street or something,” he says dryly. “If bands were able to take on the people that leaked their album with weapons in gladiatorial combat, then maybe people would think twice about leaking records.”

The critical acclaim that Future of the Left enjoy is entirely at odds with their level of success so far – they get much better press than Falkous and drummer Jack Egglestone’s previous band mclusky, but Andy has gone on record to say that they sell fewer records and play to smaller crowds. Which is a mystery, as in 2007’s

HEARTWORK IN PRAISE OF RANDOM OLD-SKOOL LP ART JONI’S KIDS – I’VE GOT WHEELS

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e’re on shaky ground with this month’s Heartwork. Just look at that cover – it’s a minefield of politically incorrect jokes on numerous and manifold levels. Lesser people, like, say, the late Bernard Manning, might be willing to get stuck in and rip the piss out of this sleeve, but we just can’t bring ourselves to do it. The best thing we can do is to just present the cover to you, and allow you to insert whatever inappropriate jokes come to mind. Even the Oxfam store we found this in acknowledge its strangeness, giving it a price tag that reads ‘£2 Worth Of Weirdness!’.

Personally, we think this level of oddity is priceless, but that any jokes you may have come up with by looking at the cover are plain cheap. Shame on you. ;-)

The band now have the chance to take their bowel-loosening live show to the States and Canada with an 11-date headline tour, their first ever across the pond, starting on July 13. Falkous is glad of the opportunity to play in more glamorous – and welcoming – locales. “We supported our friends Against Me! [in America] last October, and that went incredibly well. I mean, the reactions were superb. We supported them in Europe and the reactions were uniformly terrible.

But yeah, I think this band will rise or fall on its success or otherwise in the States. We’ve had the critical reaction that bands can only dream about in this country, but we’re still not really seeing the benefits or results of that in terms of crowds. It’s going to have to happen in other countries.” Chris Jones

TRAVELS WITH MYSELF AND ANOTHER IS OUT NOW ON 4AD. WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ FUTUREOFTHELEFT READ A FULL TRANSCRIPT OF THIS INTERVIEW AT WWW.IHEARTAU.COM

PROMOTION

ROLL UP, ROLL UP

DID SOMEONE SAY ‘LET’S PARTY’?

SMIRNOFF® MULE TO BRING AN A LIST BASH TO BELFAST

E

veryone loves a party don’t they? In fact, you’d have to be some sort of ultra grumpy, life hating, miserable codger not to love a good shindig. And you know what else people love? Parties that are proper special and have had a lot of effort put into them.

We at AU are particularly fond of a big bash, and have both thrown a fair few and attended even more. In fact, we can’t get enough party action.

Well, news has just come in of a super secret party event that is going to be taking place in Belfast in July that ticks all our boxes. It’s being run by Smirnoff to mark the launch of a new long drink called Smirnoff Mule. ‘Oh no, not another drinks’ company party’, you may think to yourself and, if you have, you’re well out of line. For Smirnoff, have taken an intriguing approach and given the event a bit of a twist to set it aside from the usual, vacuous, PR driven exercises. For starters, they’ve picked a dead cool location for the show. Then they’ve decided that they’re going to have a load of circus performers roaming around the venue to spice proceedings up a bit. Plus, they’ve booked

a certifiably credible and newsworthy star to DJ at the event. Oh, and AU’s very own Jonny Tiernan will be DJing too.

Yes, we know this all sounds very super secret and hush hush, but apparently if the full details are revealed now then the Earth will spin off its axis. OK, that last piece of information was clearly made-up, but they are going to be revealing all the true details over the next few weeks via the AU Facebook and MySpace pages.

Which is nice. This means that AU will be able to tell you where it is, when it is, and who the glam special guest is. What’s more, we’ll also be able to offer our readers the chance to win some of those much coveted tickets.

KEEP AN EYE ON THE AU ONLINE WORLD FOR THE FULL INFO, AS IT’S REVEALED Enjoy Smirnoff Sensibly Visit www.drinkaware.co.uk The SMIRNOFF and SMIRNOFF MULE words and associated logos are trade marks. ©The Smirnoff Co. 2009.

Iheartau.com

[13]

Of course, Meat Market has a certain reputation when it comes to delivering expectation-defying gigs. Since its inception, in early 2008, it has secured appearances from some of the most sought after and revered names in local and international music, including Black Acid/ Death in Vegas’s Richard Fearless, LCD Soundsystem’s Pat Mahoney and DJ T of Berlin’s Get Physical label. The legend of Meat Market is swelling by the event, so best make sure you’re there to cut yourself a juicy slab of the action this time around.

Despite the fact that the shortlist hasn’t even been announced, bookies have been quick to install Little Boots and Doves as joint 5-1 favourites for this year’s Mercury Music Prize.

More remarkably, prior to commercial release, both Florence and The Machine and La Roux have been tipped. AU, however, is having some of that Bat for Lashes action at 6-1.

Hydroponic Music in partnership with Corona Extra PRESENTS MEAT MARKET #7 FEATURING RADIOACTIVE MAN TAKES PLACE AT THE MENAGERIE, BELFAST ON AUGUST 29.

MEAT MARKET GOES ATOMIC Patrick Wolf slammed California’s Proposition 8 law at a recent New York show.

The singer drew parallels with the UK’s now disbanded Section 28 law, which prevented homosexuality being mentioned in schools’ sex education classes. “Who here wants to get married someday?” he asked. “Who here wants to get married to someone of the same sex?

Now what about everyone out there in heterosexual relationships… how would you feel if you got married and then six months later you were told your marriage was illegal?”

WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ HYDROPONICMEATMARKET WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ RADIOACTIVEMAN23

RADIOACTIVE MAN HEADLINES ‘ROCKABILLY TO RAVE’ GIG

F

amed electronica musician Keith Tenniswood aka Radioactive Man has been confirmed for the forthcoming Meat Market #7, the latest in a series of events presented by Hydroponic Music in partnership with Corona Extra.

as Radioactive Man. 2008’s Growl, his third album under the moniker, attests to his continuing creative longevity and the ceaseless sense of adventure that makes him the perfect choice to perform at Meat Market.

Tenniswood first came to prominence back in the mid-Nineties when he founded Two Lone Swordsmen with esteemed DJ, remixer and producer, Andrew Weatherall.

In the ensuing years the pair have gone on to release four critically acclaimed albums and established themselves as a much sought after remix unit, obtaining commissions from a wide and diverse range of acts, including Primal Scream, Spiritualized, Calexico and St Etienne. As if that weren’t enough to be getting on with, Tenniswood spent his spare time compiling the bass heavy and menacing sounds that would eventually comprise his solo debut

Refusing to be bound to either a fixed music policy or particular venue, the ethos of Meat Market is refreshingly renegade and designed with the intention of creating a thrilling and diverse evening’s entertainment. The location this time around is The Menagerie, where Hydroponic Music’s own Michael McKeown will join Radioactive Man in serving up a dazzling array of sonic delicacies. From dub to disco, rockabilly to dancefloor and every genre in-between, the duo promise to offer something to tickle the taste buds of even the most jaded of musical palettes.

And already the band is preparing to explore some of these new directions in a radical approach to re-invent the concept of the album. “Our next recording project will not be an album, it’s undetermined but it will probably be a series of monthly 7” singles. Not dance remixes or anything, it’ll be idea based, but we’ll see how that goes.”

“PEOPLE ARE MOVING IN DIFFERENT WAYS…SMALLER DOSES” TORTOISE REINVENT THEMSELVES (AGAIN)

T

he Chicago based post-rock band Tortoise have never been prepared to rest on their laurels.

Since forming in 1990, the band has released five studio albums, each of which has a profoundly different sound to the previous. One gets the impression that as soon as the band settle on one particular sound, its lifespan is going to be limited.

“It doesn’t feel like we take huge footsteps in new directions, it’s all connected in a ‘Tortoise’ sound,” explains bassist Doug McCombs, in London to promote the band’s new album, Beacons of Ancestorship,

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their first full studio album in five years.

“Work started pretty soon after the last album, but it’s taken us a long time to be happy with it. We’d start on new ideas, then throw them away, before coming back to them two years later.”

Highlighting the band’s instrumental prowess, Beacons moves away from the lush textures of It’s All Around You in favour of taught rhythmic interplay, and a slightly harder-edged sound.

“The concept of the band is for us to explore as many ideas as we have. It’s a responsibility to push ourselves in new directions.”

Perhaps embracing the changing ways in which people are consuming new music, the band appear to be approaching the music making process from the position of the fast moving music listener, listening to an iPod on shuffle, dipping in and out of different sounds whenever it suits them. As music fans favour downloading specific songs, and making their own playlists, Tortoise’s new releases will be made with this in mind, leaving the longplaying album format to gather dust in the corner. Whether this will be successful is anybody’s guess, but it shows that the band who defined the term ‘post-rock’, but managed to escape all of the genre’s trappings and excess, are still as forward looking as they always were.

“I’ve always found the term ‘post-rock’ puzzling. I just thought of us as a rock band, or at least our version of rock. I’m offended by the implications of post-rock, something entirely intellectual.”

This new recording process will also help the band deal with something that McCombs regards as their Achilles’ heel – the fact that they tend to move as slowly as their namesake. “We’re not a pop band

putting out singles. This is an experiment to get us working in a short period of time.

Our weakness is that it takes us a long time to focus on something. This is more engaging, and it’s an exercise to make us work in a different way.”

Rather than a contrived gimmick, this feels like a natural evolution for the band. Making things work in a ‘different way’ has always been a core element to the band’s success. Squeezing post-rock into whatever shape they want it to be, Tortoise have never fitted the model of the archetypical post-rock band, with epic soundscapes, delay pedal guitar arching into the stratosphere. If that genre quickly coalesced into a load of bands making an apocalyptic noise which tends to just build and build and build, formlessly, one of Tortoise’s strengths was to experiment with jazz and contemporary classical, as well as dabbling in electronica. If ‘post-rock’ is to signify the evolution of rock music beyond its basic format, then Tortoise have proven time and time again that they have been successful in that goal. They might not like the label, but they unquestionably epitomise the positive qualities of the term.

“People seem to be interested in our willingness to try different things – some things not as interesting as others. We accept the failures. We just want to break the chain, we’re moving towards a new way of thinking.” Steven Rainey

BEACONS OF ANCESTORSHIP IS AVAILABLE NOW ON THRILL JOCKEY WWW.TRTS.COM

Competition

STICKER FINGERS

AU

is asking its readers to put their digits to deft and devilish use and place AU stickers in the most unusual and exotic places imaginable. Each edition, the entrant with the most inventive sticker placement will win the much fiended after AU award. Stickers can be collected in person from AU Headquarters, or if

you’d like us to post you out a batch, simply email your details to info@iheartau.com.

Now get stickering.

Disclaimer: AU in no way endorses, or encourages vandalism!

HELLO

my name is GARBAGE Things didn’t start well for Shirley Manson’s band. After hearing bits and pieces of their early work, another musician snapped at the band that their work “sounded like garbage”. To which drummer and producer Butch Vig replied, “Exactly. And we are going to turn this garbage into a song.” And that’s exactly what they did, churning out reams of hit singles and albums over the course of their 12 year career.

Competition CAPTURE TICKETS TO THE CASTLE WIN ENTRY TO CARRICKFERGUS EXTRAVAGANZA

C

ourtesy of those nice folks at CDC, AU has a pair of tickets to give away to this summer’s ‘Live At The Castle’ shindig at Carrickfergus Castle. There are two very special performances lined up as Friday night sees headliners Jools Holland & His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra joined by the likes of Dave Edmunds, Ruby Turner and Imelda May. The Saturday bill is topped by the Glastonbury conquering Status Quo with The Saw Doctors, Hayseed Dixie and Thin Lizzy amongst the support.

To win a pair of tickets to a day of your

choosing simply answer the following question…

Which Northern Irish poet wrote the famous poem ‘Carrickfergus’?

Answers along with your details and choice of which concert you’d like to attend to info@iheartau.com.

Winners will be chosen at random from correct entries.

WWW.LIVEATHECASTLE.CO.UK

DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT THE MUSIC MEANT? WITH JEREMY GREENSPAN FROM JUNIOR BOYS What’s your earliest musical memory?

Probably stuff my dad played for me. My dad was really into classical music, so I grew up listening to a lot of classical, especially a lot of baroque music. And he’s also really into show tunes, like Leonard Bernstein and Rogers and Hammerstein and that kind of stuff.

What was the first record you ever owned?

It was 2112 by Rush when I was about eight or nine.

Who was the first band you ever went to see live?

Rush. [laughs] I saw them when I was probably about eight years old, with my cousins. I went to a lot of concerts when I was a young kid. I saw some really cool ones – I saw Sonic Youth when I was, like, nine, and I saw Neil Young and Crazy Horse when I was really young.

What three records could you not live without?

There’d be a Neil Young record – probably Tonight’s The Night or On The Beach. Then there’d probably be… gosh, um… maybe some kind of disco record, like From Here To Eternity by Giorgio Moroder. And maybe… I have no idea! [long pause] Okay, there’s a record by my friend Kelley Polar – I Need You To Hold On While The Sky Is Falling. I’ve played that more than any other record in the last two years.

What was the first act you became obsessed with? [laughs heartily] I think you probably know the answer to that.

Was it perchance Rush?

It probably was, yeah! They had all these interesting sounds, and all their songs were themed so deep. For a kid like me

who grew up loving science-fiction and all that kind of stuff, they were the musical equivalent of Star Trek.

What record would you use to seduce someone?

Definitely not a Rush record… I suppose you could say you’d put on an Isaac Hayes record, but I don’t think I’d actually do that. I don’t think it’d actually work. I’ll go with the most disturbing. Throbbing Gristle.

Who is the most disappointing act you’ve ever seen live?

Probably Bowie. People have told me that he’s really great live, but I saw him on this tour when he was playing only new stuff, and I really didn’t like it very much. It was in the midNineties when he was kind of doing drum and bass.

What piece of music moves you to tears?

Certain things I have nostalgia for, that my dad played when I was a kid, like West Side Story or something. Or Brian Wilson usually has that quality.

What’s you favourite song to dance to, if you dance?

I do yeah, I do like to dance. I was dancing to something pretty funny the other day, ‘In The Bush’ by Patrick Adams [as Musique]. It got banned, actually, because it’s just about fucking. [laughs] Any acts that have emerged recently that you’re a particular fan of ?

I saw a band recently that I thought was good, called High Places. I think they’re the newest band that I really like.

Who’s your all-time favourite band or artist?

Neil Young.

Iheartau.com

[15]

ON THE ROAD WITH...

THE ANSWER So, what exactly is a typical week in the life of a globe-trotting rock band like? Drummer James Heatley gives us a peek at his diary.

FRIDAY 5TH JUNE: AC/DC GIG My first gig back was at Estadio Calderon in Madrid.

We took the stage at 8:45pm, they like to do things a little later in Spain because they sleep most of the afternoon, but so do we, so that suits just fine. It was quite a shock coming back to play to 55,000 people after six weeks off – especially as we had no rehearsal, but as soon as we kicked into the first song we knew we’d play a storming set. We were back.

SATURDAY 6TH JUNE: DAY OFF As always, we travelled on the tour bus through the night and woke the next morning in Barcelona. We hit La Rambla for a few afternoon beers and later headed to a great venue called the Bikini Club to see Joe Bonamasa.

Somehow Joe heard we were in the audience and after the gig we were invited backstage to hang out. We got chatting and the band was telling us how tired they were as they were on a gruelling eight-week tour. I looked around at our boys and, as I expected, Cormac and Micky’s eyes were rolling. I knew exactly what they were thinking, ‘Eight weeks! We’ve been on tour eight months and don’t finish until December!’

SUNDAY 7TH JUNE: AC/DC GIG

TUESDAY 9TH JUNE: AC/DC GIG

Slightly worse for wear we hit the stage the next night just as the sun is setting over the 65,000 strong crowd at the Olympic Stadium, Barcelona.

What a beautiful sight! An incredible stadium and an amazing audience. One we will never forget.

Marseille (Chrisy Waddle) Stadium. Another outstanding audience and gig for us. Plus, we played “Cry Out” for the first time on the big stage. Verdict: It’s a winner.

MONDAY 8TH JUNE: HEADLINE SHOW Tonight’s venue was one of the hottest we’ve ever played – even worse than a full night in Auntie Annies! Sweat running down the walls and dripping from the ceiling! Undeterred we played most of the new album, with a few classics thrown in for good measure. At the minute, we are constantly changing

WEDNESDAY 10TH JUNE: THE ANSWER GIG Tonight we had our own headline show in a town called Clermont-Ferrand. Ever heard of it? During the set we introduced a part called the “Belfast Blues Off ”. The premise is simple, Cormac sings something and the crowd sings it back. Sometimes he holds the stand out over the crowd for their response, but

“We didn’t take ourselves to the Arc de Triomphe, Bastille, the Louvre or even Notre Dame, instead we spent most of the afternoon in a laundrette.” the set. So whilst walking to stage I said to Paul, “Are we playing ‘Highwater or Hell’?” to which he responded, “Sure, why not? We’ve got nothing to lose”. We were in Toulouse! That boy is wasted in The Answer, I tell ya.

tonight, as he did so, the microphone fell out of the stand and hit a teenage girl in the front row right on the head with a thud shooting through the PA. A Spinal Tap moment if ever there was one. The rest of us played on laughing, but as Cormac reached down for the microphone the crowd in the front two rows pulled him in and sent him crowd surfing to the middle of the room. He had gotten away with it.

THURSDAY 11TH JUNE: DAY OFF Another day off, this time in Paris. But, being true rock stars, we didn’t take ourselves to the Arc de Triomphe, Bastille, the Louvre or even Notre Dame, instead we spent most of the afternoon in a laundrette. Unlike AC/DC we don’t have a wardrobe tech! Yet.

FRIDAY 12TH JUNE: AC/DC GIG Venue: Stade de France. Capacity: 78,000 people. I have to say it was the biggest and most spectacular venue I have ever seen. We played another blinding show, getting everyone in the crowd moving so that by the time AC/DC took the stage the atmosphere was ecstatic. Unfortunately we couldn’t hang around, another day, another gig and with no time to lose, we hit the road. The next day we woke around noon, the bus parked up in the paddock at Donington race track for Download. And so it started all over again…

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www.laverysbelfast.com Laverys Bar | 12 - 16 Bradbury Place | Belfast | Bt71RS | 028 9087 1106

bUNKer clUb NIGHts weeKly eveNts moNDays

KITSCH

Classic pop, disco and rock

tUesDays

WHOLE FANDANGO

Eclectic student club

weDNesDays

OMGWTFDISCO

Cut and paste shenanigans

tHUrsDays

RADIATION

Emo, punk, goth and hardcore

frIDays

GIGANTIC

Clutting edge indie and electro

satUrDays

DECKADANCE

Alternative party hits

lavery’s bacK bar free aDmIssIoN every NIGHt moNDays

UPRISING

Reggae ska & dub club

tUesDays

CIRCUS OF SOUND

The roots of rock

weDNesDays

PERFORMANCE

Acoustic sessions

tHUrsDays

YETI

Expanding the underground

frIDays

VINTAGE

Classic alternative music

satUrDays

ECLECTIC ELECTRIC

Genre jumping hits

sUNDays

SOUL SOCIAL

Real r&b, funk and soul. [17] Iheartau.com

»»» INCOMING

MARINA & THE DIAMONDS MEMBERS: Marina Diamond (vocals, keys).

FORMATION: London, 2008.

FOR FANS OF: Kate Bush, Björk. Regina Spektor.

CHECK OUT: The Crown Jewels EP out now

on 679/Neon Gold.

WEBLINK: www.myspace.com/ marinaandthediamonds It’s the voice that first reels you in. Just listen to debut single ‘Obsessions’ and you’ll hear what we’re talking about. Full of bright, crisp cadences it glimmers with all the promise of an oasis in harshest desert. “Because I didn’t listen to other contemporary singers, there wasn’t anyone to copy. Whereas a lot of singers aspire to sound like someone else,” is how Marina explains the development of her remarkable voice.

With her off the wall observations and one of a kind singing style, Marina Diamond presents a most contrary proposition. Struggling to find suitable terms to evoke her bewitching quirk pop, music critics reverted to playing the old comparison game.

Whilst certain names flattered, others left the Welsh-born lass somewhat aghast.

“The worst [comparison] is Kate Nash. It’s genuinely not because I think Kate Nash isn’t good, but I just don’t see any similarity. If you take something like ‘Mowgli’s Road’ [B-side to ‘Obsessions’], well, what is Kate Nash about that?’

Indeed. And don’t go lumping our girl in with yer La Roux, Florence and Little Boots either. “People are like, ‘Marina is the latest of the synth pop girls’, and I’ve never even touched a synth, I know nothing about them,” she protests. “I did a phone interview just before and they said ‘Do you feel you’ve risen out of this scene?’ and I just thought, ‘that’s total bollocks’. I’ve wanted to do this for almost 10 years.”

There is a surety of purpose about Marina. For her, singing and music making are not mere dalliances, instead they represent a true vocation: “When I was 14 or 15, in my head, I was like, ‘I really have to be a singer, I have to’. I’m not really sure why, probably because I really loved singing, but I think everyone probably does. I think I just wanted to find a way to express myself and I love writing too, so… ” So, the life of the singer-songwriter seemed tailor made. Still, Marina has had to put her dainty nose to the grindstone and keep focused in the face of almost daily discouragement in order to achieve even her current modicum of success. “I’ve never even considered failing. If you even think, ‘what if?’, you’ve lost it. You have to be hell bent on doing this.’

That steely resolve seems to be paying off, with Marina & The Diamonds being clutched ever tighter to the bosom of the public, music press and style tastemakers. The recent The Crown Jewels EP served notice of her intoxicating intent and a full album should emerge early next year to rubberstamp the arrival of this singular talent. “I’m about 70% done now,” she confirms. “I have a really clear vision for what I want the record to be, it’s just so frustrating that you can’t put all your songs on – there are so many – but, it’s shaping up well.”

Francis Jones

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»»» INCOMING

KATIE KIM MEMBERS: Katie Sullivan (guitar, vocals,

keyboards), John Haggis

(drums), Deaf Joe (guitar,

saxophone, keyboards, piano),

Ray Kehoe (bass, guitar, lap steel,

noises), John Murphy (bass),

Aishling Browne (vocals, guitar, xylophone).

FORMATION: Waterford, 2007.

FOR FANS OF: PJ Harvey, Grizzly Bear, Cocteau Twins.

CHECK OUT: Twelve, out now on Granny,

It’s Ok To Experiment Records.

WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/ dancekatiekimdance Katie Kim is kind of like PJ Harvey. Kind of. Both are female. Both have fringes. Both have eponymous bands that aren’t quite bands. That’s about it, though.

Certainly, while playing live, Katie Kim’s swooshing guitars and layers of sound echo Polly Jean’s, but that’s where the comparisons end, and the difficulties begin. Katie Kim is the band of Waterford-based former Dae Kim vocalist Katie Sullivan. The group produces songs that are awash with melody, reverb and resonance: the aural equivalent of dipping your hand in a bag of seeds and letting them rush through your fingers. With a sound like this, it’s hard to pin Katie Kim down.

Sullivan agrees – her influences are wide-ranging.

“I can’t ever compare our music with anyone else’s; even when I worked in a record shop I’d have trouble classifying things.” The appropriate section on Katie Kim’s MySpace page begins, “new old school fantasm blues rock” and concludes, several lines later, with, “religious tape music which brings punktrance and visual zoup type undertures into a world of ever the expanding”.

One concrete marker though, is the radio. Sullivan speaks enthusiastically of lying awake, an ear to the speaker, listening to new sounds coming through the wires. “I used to love listening to Donal Dineen’s show so much. It was fantastic, all this new music that seemed to be chosen for me.” It’s no surprise that the most powerful song on Katie Kim’s album is named for the apparatus. Low-voiced and faraway, ‘Radio’ is the standout track. Above a guitar line that creeps upstairs at night-time, onto the landing, and stands outside your bedroom door, Sullivan slowly sings, ‘Can I be your emotional wreck?’. It’s a song made for 3am, a soundtrack to late-night thoughts.

A support slot with Two Gallants and a brief sojourn to Toronto for a few months last year provided the band with a chance to interact with North American audiences. “We played a couple of shows in New York and they went down really well. Obviously, we don’t have a huge following, but we were really impressed by the amount of people that turned up.”

However, they have no plans to leave Ireland, or even Waterford, for the long term. Says Sullivan, “I’m really happy here, to be living in a cottage by the beach, recording and playing music. We don’t really have any touring plans. We’d like to keep playing smaller venues, really – like the Hideaway House [in Blackrock], or The Shed [in Dublin city centre].

Interesting, quirky venues.”

“Interesting” and “quirky” could be a predictable way to sum up Katie Kim’s appeal, but to do so would be an injustice. Elusive and enticing, like a dream half-remembered, but still felt upon waking, Katie Kim are quietly making magic. Ailbhe Malone Photo by Richard Gilligan Iheartau.com

[19]

»»» INCOMING NEW ACTS

BREAKING THROUGH THE POLYAMOROUS AFFAIR MEMBERS: Eddie Chacon (production, vocals),

Sissy Saint-Marie (vocals).

FORMATION: Los Angeles, 2007.

FOR FANS OF: Goldfrapp, Giorgio Moroder, Roxy Music.

CHECK OUT: New album Bolshevik Disco out

August 24 on Manimal Vinyl.

WEBSITE: www.thepolyamorousaffair.com Ok. Let’s get the trivia straight outta the way. Back in 1992, as one half of new soul duo Charles and Eddie, The Polyamorous Affair’s Eddie Chacon crooned his way to international acclaim with the Ivor Novello bagging smash ‘Would I Lie To You?’. However, his latest twosome is a somewhat different proposition. For a start his partner on this occasion – elfin frontwoman Sissy Saint-Marie – also happens to be his wife. Together they create stalactite cool electro-glam with a European disco frisson, music whose beats-rich bounty just demands to be danced to.

New album Bolshevik Disco finds them expand the fairytale world of their self-titled debut, sending the listener hurtling on a giddy merry-go-round on which reality whirrs into the fantastical. Promising insane spectacle and challenging sartorial choices, their live shows are no less extraordinary, with the pair encouraging the audience to join them in jettisoning the everyday in favour of a bout of eccentricity-tinged escapism. AU for one is happy to be onboard. Francis Jones

DISCOVERY MEMBERS: Wes Miles (vocals, production), Rostam Batmanglij (production).

FORMATION: New York, 2005.

FOR FANS OF: Vampire Weekend, The Postal Service, Kanye West.

CHECK OUT: LP, out July 7 on XL Recordings.

WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/discoverdiscovery One good thing about being in a successful band is that it can help your other projects get off the ground, and we have the success of Vampire Weekend and (to a lesser extent) Ra Ra Riot to thank for Discovery. An electro-pop duo consisting of VW keys man and producer Rostam Batmanglij and RRR’s Wes Miles, they got together in 2005 while still toiling in obscurity, but it wasn’t until the storm of hype surrounding Vampire Weekend’s debut album died down that they were able to give Discovery a proper go.

And give it a proper go they have, emerging with an infectious little cracker of an album – one that could be to summer 2009 what Vampire Weekend was to summer 2008. Rather than the Afro-pop of Batmanglij’s main band, though, LP is all about electronic textures – synths, Auto-Tuned vocals and digital handclaps abound, as the duo look towards slick modern R&B and cute synthpop for inspiration. And the songs are there, too – ‘Orange Shirt’ and ‘Osaka Loop Line’ have been building the buzz on MySpace, and there’s plenty more on the album, including a timely cover of the Jackson 5’s ‘I Want You Back’ and a guest appearance from VW frontman Ezra Koenig on the killer ‘Carby’. Sadly, the duo say they don’t plan to perform live, but as studio-bound side-projects go, Discovery have it licked. Chris Jones

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ANDREW MORGAN MEMBERS: Andrew Morgan (vocals, instruments).

FORMATION: Kansas, 1999.

FOR FANS OF: Andrew Bird, Badly Drawn Boy, The Sleepy Jackson.

CHECK OUT: New album Please Kid, Remember out July 20

on Broken Horse.

WEBSITE: www.andrewwarrenmorgan.com Back in 2004 a little known Kansas musician named Andrew Morgan released his debut album Misadventures In Radiology. Rustling by in a blur of daydream pop, the record was a rare and relatively little-heard commodity. Those lucky few, though, realised just how precious this music was and coveted more. The wait has been interminably long. Curiously so, given that Morgan was ready to begin recording Please Kid, Remember way back in 2003. However, events conspired against him, with the intervening years bringing those malicious twins, ill fortune and ill health, a rappin’ on Morgan’s door.

Spiritually, physically and financially he’s been broke. He lost a champion and benefactor with the death of Elliott Smith – in whose New Monkey Studio he recorded Misadventures – and suffered both serious hearing damage and temporary vocal chord paralysis. And heartache? Morgan’s got that bastard on speed dial. Nerves shot, he even contemplated recording an album that took as its theme madness.

However, this concept, titled A Unified Theory Of Everything, would be scrapped with Please Kid, Remember stealing winningly into its place. With 17 tracks stretched taut over 34 minutes, it’s a glorious jamboree of soul-hugging sounds – a brief but thrillingly romantic encounter. Francis Jones

TELEKINESIS MEMBERS:

FORMATION: FOR FANS OF: CHECK OUT: WEBSITE:

Michael Benjamin Lerner (drums, guitar, vocals) and, on tour, Chris Staples (guitar), David Broecker (electric, acoustic, bass guitar), and Jonie Broecker (bass, keyboards).

2008, Seattle.

Teenage Fanclub, Big Star, The Posies.

Debut album Telekinesis! out August 10 on Morr Music. www.myspace.com/telekinesismusic

Michael Lerner had been a drummer in various bands in his native Seattle before decamping to Liverpool to study recording at Paul McCartney’s Institute Of Performing Arts. Whilst there, he began working on his own material for which he assumed the moniker Telekinesis. His melody besprinkled power-pop would prick the interest of one Chris Walla, with the Death Cab For Cutie man eventually going on to produce his debut album.

Together they worked to a strict studio regime, agreeing that one song would be tracked and mixed each day. The following day they would start afresh with another song. No going back, total commitment to the job in hand. The result is a record that pulses with the ever-forward momentum in which it was created. The sound is bold, but unashamed of its imperfections, Telekinesis! gauzy textures bandaging sweet, gooey and blood rich tunes. There is also a contagious wanderlust evident, transporting us from a neon bright ‘Tokyo’ to the smile strewn ‘Coast of Carolina’ on the warm breeze of Lerner’s imagination. Let it carry you along. Francis Jones

THE CHAPMAN FAMILY MEMBERS:

FORMATION: FOR FANS OF: CHECK OUT: WEBSITE:

Kingsley Chapman (vocals), Paul Chapman (guitar), Phil Chapman (drums), Pop Chapman (bass).

Stockton-on-Tees, 2006.

Joy Division, Future Of The Left, The Horrors.

The single ‘Kids’, out now. www.myspace.com/thechapmanfamily

The Chapman Family are sending out mixed messages. On the one hand, they are all mean and moody – enigmatic like an Anton Corbijn photo and full of monochrome intensity in the MTV2-dominating video for the single ‘Kids’.

On the other hand, though, they are unstoppable motormouths. Add them on MySpace, follow them on Twitter, and you will be bombarded with the feverish rantings of a band that has a lot to say about a lot – the BNP, X Factor, playing to disinterested La Roux fans… Frontman Kingsley Chapman (assumed surnames are the order of the day here) comes across like Teesside’s answer to Future Of The Left raconteur Andy Falkous.

Musically, too, there are parallels to be drawn, as the aforementioned ‘Kids’ is a white-hot blast of pissed-off post-punk. “They say it’s alright but I just don’t think so,” spits Kingsley in his proudly unvarnished accent, like The Futureheads (who are from up the road in Sunderland, we know) with a Steve Albini-shaped rocket up their collective arse. Further recorded material is thin on the ground, but their live shows are apparently prone to chaos, while the live B-side ‘A Million Dollars’ is brooding, malevolent and brilliantly nasty. Somehow, they are still unsigned, but expect that to change pretty soon. Chris Jones

IMPERIAL LEISURE MEMBERS: Denis Smith (vocals), Dan Dobson (bass), Billy Chauhan

(decks), AJ White (guitar), Stu Maxwell (keyboards) and

Scott Vining (drums).

FORMATION: London, 2005.

FOR FANS OF: The Specials, The Beat, The Streets.

CHECK OUT: The album The Art Of Saying Nothing is out now on

Steamroller Music.

WEBSITE: www.imperial-leisure.co.uk If their barnstorming debut album is anything to go by, London’s Imperial Leisure have captured the essence of ska and mixed it with rock and rap, to create a monstrous party vibe. The Specials’ reunion has clearly fired the imagination of this gang of childhood friends. Singer Denis Smith is in agreement, “I saw them at Brixton, fucking wicked! A ska comeback is great news; anything that gets people moving is always good.” However, drummer Scott Vining sets AU straight, “We’re not trying to be ska. It’s just an influence that has crept in as it’s such good, energetic party music, which is what we’re all about.” So how did they agree on their sound? “We’ve all been mates for a long time and this means that we can be brutal with each other and wean out the shit to allow the better tunes to come out,” says Scott. “The sound of this album was settled when we added our brass members, who brought the ska element and some seriously catchy riffs.”

The album’s fizzing energy would suggest that an Imperial Leisure gig is quite a spectacle. While Scott is adamant that “people always have a good time at our gigs – guaranteed,” Denis has a warning. “Basically, everything gets destroyed in the name of a good time. So it tends to be a good idea not to bring anything along that you care about, such as expensive clothes, jewellery or even girlfriends.” Women feature heavily in the album’s subject matter; most memorably in lusting after ‘The Landlord’s Daughter’, a track based on someone with a special talent, as Denis explains. “The song is inspired by a friend of mine who married a woman because she could rotate her rather delicious breasts in any direction independently of each other.” An impressive, if painful-sounding, skill. John Freeman Iheartau.com

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WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND? EIBHLEANN CORBETT

WHAT’S ON YOUR IPOD? JUST WHAT DOES THE PERSON ON THE STREET LISTEN TO? P hotos by R ichard W C rothers AU FINDS OUT...

White Lies Farewell To The Fairground Dizzee Rascal Bonkers Vampire Weekend A-Punk Interesting Fact: Eibhleann says she tends to tell secrets in her sleep. Let’s just hope they’re not other people’s.

TIM ‘DA’ MCGARRY The Smiths There Is A Light That Never Goes Out Radiohead Paranoid Android Mozart Requiem Interesting fact: He’s not as old as he looks you know.

Lucia devon White Lies Death Paolo Nutini Pencil Full of Lead General Fiasco Something Sometime Interesting Fact: Lucia is Bangor’s very own hula-hooping megastar.

INSIGHT AND INSANITY FROM THE AU FORUM RE: CHIPZEL I was at the In Case of Fire gig at the Nerve Centre on Friday and there were a few local supports. One of them was a Gameboy artist called Chipzel and she was awesome! I was completely blown away and she’s only 17!

AngelaMOK But why oh why was she on the same bill as guitar bands. It didn’t make sense and it meant that us rock fans who had just thoroughly enjoyed Mojo Fury had to stand and listen to the looped soundtrack to the N64 and watch a crowd of 13yr olds jumping around and “going with each other”.

MRJB3 RE: CONOR MCNICHOLAS ...just resigned as editor of NME after 7 years.

Announced it on his twitter 25 mins ago.

Apparently he’s goin’ to be editor of Top Gear magazine.

Miss O

DAIRE HANNAH

jonny bates

ROSA MORAHAN

Eminem Beautiful Red Jumpsuit Apparatus Godsend Arctic Monkeys Brianstorm

Dizzee Rascal Bonkers Flamboyant Bella Touch Deadmau5 I Remember

Patrick Wolf Oblivion Bright Eyes Ship In A Bottle The Killers This Is Your Life

Interesting Fact: Daire is going to South Africa this week to work in an orphanage.

Interesting Fact: Jonny has had the pleasure of sharing a pint with Derren Brown.

Interesting Fact: When she was three, Rosa won a talent contest for singing ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’.

Oh noes! Maybe he can turn top gear magazine into a steaming heap of shite too.

JohnnyHolywood Watch out for ‘nu-rev’ cars being lauded all over that magazine.

Blonderedhead ...drum n brake revival?

JohnnyHolywood RE: SOUND GUYS BEWARE: Alice Glass went a bit loopy at Sonar the other night cause the sound was crap, punched the sound guy and tried to throw a drum at him.

Craig

(MY MY MY) JEMIMA

sarah mcveagh

CHRIS THOMPSON

Lady Gaga Women Without Whiskey The Dresden Dolls Sing The Beach Boys You Still Believe In Me

Kasabian Fire Frankmusik 3 Little Words Friendly Fires In The Hospital

Yeah Yeah Yeahs Hysteric The Organ Memorize The City Jamie Lidell Multiply

Interesting Fact: Jemima has two webbed toes on each foot. Thanks for sharing Jemima.

Interesting Fact: Sarah has a heart-shaped scar on her thumb (see above pic). She has no idea how she got it though, bizarrely.

Interesting Fact: Ooooh, he’s bendy. So bendy in fact that Chris can put both his legs behind his head.

[22]

AU#58

A Doot Boot would have sorted that out!

Desus JOIN THE FUN AT WWW.IHEARTAU. COM/FORUM

Iheartau.com

[23]

CELEBRITY ‘SWORDSMEN’ BOARD GAMES

TO

Errol Flynn The phrase ‘in like Flynn’ came from Hollywood hunk Errol’s reputation as a drinker, womaniser and brawler.

Stories of Flynn’s exploits are many – it’s alleged he was a fascist sympathiser and Nazi spy, was bisexual, went drinking with Fidel Castro and had the biggest schlong in show business. He died of a heart attack after spending an evening regaling party guests with stories and impressions. That’s how we wanna go, except we want the party to be at Motörhead’s house and we want the guests to be skeletons in sombreros.

ONES

3

2

George Clooney Pamela Anderson has visited pleasure town with silver fox Clooney, as have models Naomi Campbell, Kelly Preston and Lisa Snowdon, but it’s the screen hero’s ability to make the ladies melt while going grey and wrinkly that impresses us most. A mere wink from his immaculately crowfooted eye is enough to reduce even the toughest woman to gibbering, pleading tears. Fact.

Jack Nicholson The mystical realm of the internet tells us that evilgrinned thesp Jack, who was born on the Moon, has bedded around 2,000 women in his lifetime. At a stately 72 years old, that means Jack has bedded 27 women a year since he was born. We wouldn’t put it past a one-year-old Nicholson to have been sweet-talking the ladies from his pram. Jack feasts on grubs and nuts at sunset in the forest before retreating to his sex burrow.

1 [24]

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Julio Iglesias Back in the Seventies, Spanish Crooner Julio admitted to interviewers that he had knocked boots with around 3,000 women – and insists that the number has grown since then. We can only presume his old fella has taken the brunt of this carnage, and now resembles a chewed pencil. Either road, we’re not willing to check: imagine how sore and gory Seventies STDs were.

Gene Simmons As a man who stuck his tongue out at women for a living, Kiss’s Gene Simmons never made a secret of his prowess in the scratcher. Simmons, real name The Bass Player From Kiss, has been shacked up with former Playmate and softcore porn actress Shannon Tweed (we have fond memories of her) for almost 20 years, though he claims to have bedded 4,600 women in his time.

No wonder he looks so knackered these days. Seriously, he looks like a ball bag with sunglasses on.

Buckaroo Buckaroo was a true test of skill.

A steady hand, a tactical mind and an artist’s lightness of touch were needed to prevent your ass from throwing its contents all over the living room – so it’s much like preparing Mexican food in some ways. Even today, Buckaroo still comes complete with all the cowboy kit – holster, lantern, bedroll and frying pan – that you’d need for a night on the prairie. If you were five inches tall. Which we’re not, we’re normal size.

Connect 4 Fast-paced action is the order of the day here: Connect 4 is no game for fools.

One momentary lapse of concentration and BAM! – your little sister has defeated you like a ponce. The game was invented by eccentric Baron de Conequète-Feur, who asked his servant to bring him a grid full of coloured coins after dinner one night. He then inserted all the coins into his brain, dying instantly. A family classic was born.

Guess Who? Here at AU Towers, we pride ourselves at being masters, nay, wizards, possibly lords even, of Guess Who? Our detective skills, honed over decades of gruelling sitting room grudge matches, have won us more little yellow pegs than we can possibly count. Here’s a free piece of advice: ask your opponent if their character has blue eyes – very few characters do, and it can narrow the field dramatically. You can thank us when you’re over in Vegas playing the world champion on a giant board with life-sized cards.

Operation If you had a bucket, a butterfly, a spanner, an apple and a horse – yes, an adult horse – stuck inside your body, the last people you’d want operating on you are giggling children, but these are exactly the ‘specialists’ who have been treating Cavity Sam (yup, that’s the Operation guy’s name) for the last 42 years. It’s a bit like the NHS, but without the flesheating viruses. David Cameron claims Operation is his favourite game, as he likes to ‘kill the little man again and again and again’.

Cluedo Solve a murder (presumably that of Cavity Sam) with the help of clues and detective work in this classic Poirot-inspired board game. Cluedo, or Clue as it’s known stateside, is so popular with Yanks that it was even turned into a crap 1985 movie of the same name. We’d like to see Buckaroo: The Movie, possibly starring Cheech And Chong as unfortunate donkey-tenders, or Hungry Hungry Hippos, which would just have to star bloody Eddie Murphy in a bloody fat suit, wouldn’t it? How we loathe life.

Monster Raving Loony by Philip Byrne

5

FIVE

5 TO 1

FLASHBACK

20 Years Ago The Premiere Of Seinfeld, FLASH BACK

July 5, 1989

As television devours itself whole, facing up to increasing irrelevancy in the face of the internet, we are treated to endless regurgitations of precisely what we don’t want to see – artificial visions of ‘reality’. Big Brother makes its return, vomiting forth another bunch of fame-hungry zeroes, whilst Britain’s Got Talent contrived to show us that the entire nation is built out of people with personality disorders. At this stage in the proceedings, perhaps we must wonder whether television can ever truly attempt to convey reality. And if it could, what would be the point?

Words by Steven Rainey ILLUSTRATION BY ELISSA TIERNAN

THE ANSWER can be found in a television show which made its debut 20 years ago, celebrating ‘normality’ in the most unusual way, becoming a global phenomenon in the process. Seinfeld ushered in a new sensibility in American television comedy, where the rulebook was thrown into the garbage, alongside mawkish notions of sentimentality, and the wholesome family-friendly atmosphere that had dominated American sitcoms since the media had been invented. Seinfeld was the voice of the New; the first truly post-modern sitcom.

Jerry Seinfeld had been a reasonably successful stand-up comedian in New York, and after popular appearances on shows such as The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, he had been approached to develop a television sitcom, with him as the star.

The now legendary partnership of Jerry Seinfeld and writer/performer Larry David ushered in a new way of approaching television comedy, largely reacting against what had gone before.

The dynamic of Seinfeld differed from the norm in that the obligatory ‘family’ relationship of the characters was abandoned, instead having the four principal characters as thirtysomething friends who spent most of their time together, much like a lot of the programme’s audience would do.

The second major difference became the show’s trademark, something that would define public perception of the show – Seinfeld was billed as a comedy “about nothing”. There would be no contrived, self-consciously ‘comedic’ storylines; instead, the show would focus on the kind of situations the audience could picture themselves in – a date going badly wrong, waiting in line for the movies, or trying to get a seat in a restaurant.

Inherent to the central pitch of Seinfeld is the notion that life is full of injustice, and the pathetic little victories we score over them are about as satisfying as life can possibly get. Ultimately, Seinfeld dealt with the comedy of nihilism.

Exemplified by the character of George Costanza (Jason Alexander), our day-to-day lives are filled with misery and frustration, and we are powerless to do anything about it. Over the course of the series, George was put through all manner of humiliations, continually raging to anyone who would listen about the injustice of it all, his own efforts to resolve the situation inevitably making things worse. But lest this sound like clowning pratfalling of the broadest order, the deft touch of the programme led to George being the everyman in all of us who wants to scream at the waiter when he gets our order wrong, the person who explodes

with rage when someone pushes in front of us, the impotent anger that we feel towards existence.

George Costanza is no winking comedy archetype, but rather the ticking time-bomb that lurks within all of us.

Arguably the key to Seinfeld’s success, and perhaps the one aspect of its popularity that was rarely picked up upon by the programmes that were inf luenced by it, was the absence of morality in the programme. Occasionally referenced in the programme itself, Seinfeld had a core philosophy of “No hugging, no learning”. Where, in times past, wholesome American families would go through a journey in life, learning more about themselves in the process, and sharing that knowledge with us, the viewer, Seinfeld’s main cast spent nine years learning nothing other than how to avoid certain uncomfortable social situations. Indeed, by the end of the series’ run in 1998, the characters are as unaware as they were in the pilot episode, having learned nothing from their non-adventures. For the first time, human existence was not portrayed in a sitcom as a linear journey from A to B, with some form of redemption at the end. In Seinfeld, much like in ‘real’ life, nothing much happens, and there’s perhaps not enough of it. All else is bunk.

Iheartau.com

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RY HISTO NS O S LES

Meat Puppets WORDS BY steven rainey ILLUSTRATION BY Neil gillespie

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HISTORY LESSONS

Lost On The Freeway With The Pups’ Curt The wind howls across the face of the desert, the stars brightly in the sky. This is the wild, undiscovered Kirkwood shining country that American dreams are made of. The sun slowly arches over the horizon, its rays cascading over this alien landscape, as a crazed looking trio stands gazing into infinity. They are the Meat Puppets, and they have come to reclaim their country.

AMERICAN HARDCORE is/was a strange beast.

Taking the mindless, nihilistic side of punk, and pummelling it into oblivion, hardcore might be the most violent musical genre in existence. This music has a physicality that powers it along, the aggressive one-two beat forcing you to move to its militaristic rhythm. But it’s also an absurdly limited genre, music over a very defined palette that hinders any form of invention or progress.

Which is exactly why nearly all the original practitioners abandoned it pretty quickly, creatively stif led by the genre’s ‘hard/fast’ rules. Hüsker Dü left behind their lightning-fast hardcore in favour of buzz-saw pop, whilst Black Flag slowed things down to a sludgy metal pace, angular riffs and crushing misery taking the place of mindless aggression.

But one of the most startling transformations has to be the evolution of the Meat Puppets from insane, screaming hardcore punk to shimmering country and funk. Formed in Phoenix, Arizona in 1980, the band’s first album Meat Puppets, is a startling barrage of sound and fury. Unfocussed and messy, the entire album is a blur of manic intensity, possibly one of the most challenging albums ever made. But even at this point, the band’s dalliance with hardcore seems to be tenuous at best. Hidden amongst the hardcore tempos and screamed, unintelligible vocals, are two out-andout country songs, ‘Tumbling Tumbleweeds’ and ‘Walking Boss’. In the no future/no past ideological climate of hardcore, this was treason, almost as bad as admitting to liking the Grateful Dead and growing your hair long. Which is exactly what they did next. Clearly, the Meat Puppets were always going to march to the beat of their own drum.

With the buzz of hardcore still ringing in their ears, brothers Curt and Cris Kirkwood and drummer Derrick Bostrom made an evolutional leap still unparalleled in the history of music.

Meat Puppets II opens with a blast of guitar, shimmering and zooming along at lightspeed. Curt Kirkwood’s vocals are still full of manic intensity, but everything has changed, been altered. This is not punk, but couldn’t be classed as anything else. Halfway through, a psychedelic guitar solo kicks in, dwarfing the rest of the song, dragging it along in its wake. Then it collapses in a pile of fuzz and steam, hot metal glistening in the desert. Immediately, we’re off again, acoustic guitar and bass duelling with each other for space at lighting speed. Once again, this isn’t punk… it’s straight out-and-out country finger-picking done with the intensity of punk rock. Then we get cascading, elegiac guitar lines, framing the heat of the Arizona desert before exploding into

another dimension. Then apocalyptic guitars and howls announce the fact that we’ve gone to Hell.

Then we’re in the desert again, on a whirlwind journey through Mexico, being told “not to drink the water, and not to touch the food”. Then we’re looking out over the wreckage of the Nixon era, still fresh in a generation’s minds. And then it’s over, whistling in the face of oblivion.

There’s no other way of saying it: Meat Puppets II is one of the landmark American albums made in the 20th century, the soundtrack to the punk rock dream of reclaiming America. The journey that ultimately leads to Sonic Youth’s dominance of late 20th century music, and Nirvana conquering the world, begins here. The fact that they are largely unsung heroes – outsiders within outsider culture – remains one of the great mysteries of music history.

“I’ve been pretty lucky, I’m conscious of that!

I just wait for stuff to happen, I don’t push it.

I’ve been prodded a few times, especially in the mid-Nineties after the thing with Nirvana. But I don’t have to think about it. I’m used to those songs and those recordings and they’re kinda like appendages. And my thing is to make more of them. As long as I do them that certain way that I like, and that’s what seems to work. But I don’t feel a burden, for sure.”

Over 20 years after the recording of this landmark work of punk rock culture, Curt Kirkwood seems happy with his place in history. The Meat Puppets guitarist and songwriter speaks to AU in his warm and engaging Southern drawl from his front porch in Austin, Texas. Occasionally a car goes past, whilst birds chirp in the background…

“I feel really lucky to write songs,” he continues, pondering his long journey from punk rock kid with attitude, to elder statesman and respected artist. “If I feel a burden, it’s mainly to just pay my rent.”

Certainly, the Meat Puppets’ new record, Sewn Together exhibits no sign of any creative pressure, sounding sprightly and inspired, and leaping out of the stereo just like Meat Puppets II and Up on the Sun did all those years ago. Despite the absence of original drummer Derrick Bostrom, the magic that made them special in the first place is still there. That surreal and rambling quality that made their best songs work so well on their own logic is still in place, and when one talks with Curt Kirkwood, it becomes apparent that this organic, evolving sense of surrealism is not in any way contrived. Buckle in, because you’re going for an adventure…

AU – How did you become involved with punk rock?

Curt Kirkwood – “I was mainly into motorcycles and guitars. I thought I was good, but I didn’t really work hard at either of them. I ended up getting hurt racing, and I realised I could express myself on the guitar in a similar way to motocross, that free-form thing that motocross had. It’s like I always liked to draw cartoons and paint, and I always wanted to make that more of a focus. What I really wanted to do after the motocross was to work outdoors.

“I moved to Canada when I was 17, and I worked on a sea-plane in Ontario, putting gas into planes for rich businessmen who would fly to remote locations to go fishing. I’d hitch rides with them, and that would be my remuneration. I really liked to fish back then. I wound up getting a job in the Arctic, and I was going to guide fishing boats on a river. I’d run the boat whilst these rich dudes would fish. On the way there, my plane got in a wreck, and I was waylaid for a couple of days, and the job got given to someone else, so I ended up washing dishes for this geophysical survey in the Tundra. They were looking for oil or something. It was really bizarre, the sun was up all night long. But I realised after the plane wreck, I really wanted to play music – I’d never really thought of it before.

“When the summer was over, I moved back to Phoenix to jam. Played a lot of ‘Love Rollercoaster’ and wore powder blue three-piece suits. I was not cool. I liked a lot of prog rock. Derrick started getting me into dub reggae, but I didn’t know anything about punk rock. There was not a huge music scene in Phoenix, you know? It was a metal town… Rob Halford of Judas Priest lived there, Slayer, Sepultura… all the guys from Dokken.

Derrick got me into the dub reggae, and then turned me on to Stiff Little Fingers and the Damned. I really liked the visceral stuff.

“Then me and my brother went to Alaska and the Yukon. And it’s beautiful, but terrifying. You really need your shit together up there. I heard that lots of people move up there and then come back within the first year. So I realised that I need electricity, and I like to play electric guitar, so I came back and formed my own band with my brother and Derrick.”

And that’s how the Meat Puppets formed.

This rambling and incoherent form of storytelling is key to the success of the Meat Puppets. Punk rock, although a galvanising force, was never going to be enough to satisfy the imaginations of these three men. The open spaces of the desert must have Iheartau.com

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HISTORY LESSONS

seemed like a blank canvas when compared to the tight constraints of hardcore. As the Eighties wore on, the Meat Puppets raced from hardcore to country to psychedelia to metal to punk to blues to boogie to funk, absorbing all in their own uniquely Meat Puppets-esque way.

Perhaps that esoteric viewpoint is responsible for the band remaining at a cult level, a religious experience for the fans, but ignored by the masses.

For most of their existence, the Meat Puppets were the weirdo punk rock band that was too weird for even the weirdo punk rockers. Then Nirvana made the world sit up and take notice.

Nirvana’s Unplugged in New York has become the band’s swansong, the first record to emerge in the wake of Kurt Cobain’s death. Perhaps the most striking thing about this record are the three songs taken from Meat Puppets II that lie at its heart.

Joined by the Kirkwoods, Nirvana breathed new life into these songs, giving them to a new generation. Thousands of fans wanted to know who these Meat Puppets were, and why would

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AU#58

Nirvana want to devote a good chunk of their record to them? Finally, the weirdo punk rock band had been given recognition by the biggest weirdo punk rocker out there – Kurt Cobain.

Of course, the band that always did things differently wasn’t able to capitalise on the success, falling out with each other, breaking up, re-forming, getting arrested, and all manner of weirdness. But the point is that they’re still here, and they’re still making music that matters. And they’re still doing it in their own way.

“It’s kind of like a calling. What I really want to do is make music that was immediately recognised as being different – not like outsider music, but outside of the timeframe we live in. I mean, even though we were using punk rock as the medium, I didn’t want this to sound dated.”

29 years after they started out, it’s unlikely that they are going to sound dated any time soon. When these men looked out into the future of America, they saw a new way of doing things, a new freedom. And

through their music, they embraced this freedom and made up a society for themselves, where they could operate by their own rules. Punk rock is a way of living, and the Meat Puppets are the soundtrack to that generation – country music without a country.

And, as pressures pile up on that way of living, from both inside and out, the Meat Puppets are still fighting for their place in the sun.

“I’m pretty detached, spaced out. I mean, I’ve got a chain attached to my wallet and it was a big deal for me to realise that I didn’t have to keep losing my wallet. But I’m still alienated. But I don’t mean that in a negative way. I just have a loose attachment to a lot of stuff. I’m just me at the end of the day. I like to do crosswords, I like them a lot. I pretty much do what I want, but I sacrificed a lot of things in order to do that. But these are strange times, to be sure.”

THE MEAT PUPPETS’ NEW ALBUM SEWN TOGETHER IS OUT NOW ON MEGAFORCE RECORDS

HARDCORE NATION: HOW US PUNK MADE UP ITS OWN RULES The Meat Puppets were just one of the hardcore bands that took off in their own direction to invent their own future. Here’s a whistle-stop guide to the true American pioneers.

that mattered. Eventually the band split and the label faded into irrelevancy, but along the way, they released Damaged, an album which sometimes feels like it owns the copyright on rage.

HUSKER DU

HUSKER DU The Minneapolis three-piece initially attracted attention on account of their sheer speed. Debut album Land Speed Record crams 17 tracks into 26 minutes. However, behind the amphetamine blur lay two phenomenal songwriters itching to break out of the confines of hardcore. Bob Mould played the part of the angry young man, alienated and alone in 1980s America, whilst Grant Hart was the idealistic hippy, with flowers in his hair and no shoes on his feet. Together they brought a new level of depth to hardcore, their 1984 masterpiece Zen Arcade still standing as one of the towering achievements of music in the 1980s.

Healthy competition between the two men compelled both to write stronger and stronger material and the band were the first of the punks to sign to a major label, leading the way for everyone else. Then it all fell apart in a haze of drugs, suicide and personal guilt. But for a time, they were the voice inside America’s head, telling it how fucked up its children had become.

BLACK FLAG

Hailing from a modest background in working class San Pedro, California, the Minutemen became the moral conscience of punk rock. Fiercely politically active, the Minutemen put forth a view of punk rock as libertarian democracy. Here was a world in which you could do what you wanted to, as long as you were prepared to work for it. Even the band’s set-up reflected their ethos, with D. Boon’s guitar carrying all treble and no bass, whilst Mike Watt’s bass avoided all treble. In the middle, George Hurley played everything but the beat, and the band tore their way through scratchy funk, angular art-rock, and everything that avoided the straightforward and the normal.

As they sang themselves, “Our band could be your life.” D. Boon’s tragic death in 1985 cut their career drastically short, but in Double Nickels on the Dime, their 1984 double album, they left behind a blueprint for what punk rock could accomplish – a world without barriers.

MINOR THREAT / FUGAZI

BLACK FLAG Even if Black Flag’s legacy was simply the record label formed to release their music, their place in history would be secure. Guitarist Gregg Ginn founded SST initially to sell mail order radio parts before using the brand name to release records by his own band. Before long, SST was the American punk label, releasing the key albums by all the big names.

However, Black Flag itself blazed a trail across America that is burning still. Relentlessly touring and building up contacts, Black Flag effectively established a touring circuit for punk rock bands, drawing links between underground bands all across the country. For a long time, Black Flag was the band that linked everyone together, and SST was the only label

MINUTEMEN

MINUTEMEN

FUGAZI

Spearheading punk rock’s culture of refusal, Ian MacKaye became punk’s loudest voice when it came to saying, “NO!” MacKaye is the true face of punk’s DIY spirit.

Essentially, MacKaye looked at the world and culture he lived in, found it to be wanting, and made up his own way of living. Along with running Dischord Records, MacKaye spoke to the hardcore kids in their own language. The philosophy of straight-edge was a proactive way of getting control of one’s life, rather than the dogmatic, anti-fun set of rules it is occasionally made out to be.

And when he wasn’t acting as a punk rock guru, or documenting the punk scene of Washington DC, he was releasing albums that took the aggressive side of punk, and bent it all out of shape.

Fugazi’s Repeater still sounds fresh and new, 19 years after its initial release.

Iheartau.com

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RESPECT YOUR SHELF

CT RESPE R U O Y SHELF

The AU Buyers’ Guide

Pedro Almodóvar Words by james gracey ILLUSTRATION BY ELISSA PARENTE

Pedro Almodóvar exploded onto the Spanish film scene in an ejaculation of sequins, chintzy irreverence and more spunkiness than you could shake a castanet at. As one of the figureheads of La Movida, the countercultural movement in Madrid after the death of Franco in 1975, Almodóvar made his name with kinky comedies and edgy dramas. La Movida represented a new era in Spanish culture and it instigated a hedonistic attitude towards artistic expression and uncensored creativity. Almodóvar flourished in this environment; his sultry mix of sex, kitsch and exuberance reflected the freedom and excitement of the time. His first feature film Pepi, Luci, Bom (1980) was Spain’s first ‘youth’ film; a fly-on-the-wall view of Madrid’s transition from dictatorship to democracy. Amongst the golden showers and penis-length contests is a raperevenge storyline and gritty, hand-held aesthetic. The film also starred the director’s long-time muse, Carmen Maura, who has starred in much of his work since.

Almodóvar would gradually achieve worldwide acclaim with his increasingly lavish and vibrant depictions of characters, usually women, existing on the fringes of society. His focus on themes of female solidarity, identity, gender and familial angst has grown with each offering. Never straying from his home turf, the director has maintained that elusive creative control that many other directors can only dream of.

DARK HABITS (1983) A troubled lounge singer seeks refuge in a convent when her lover dies of an overdose. She soon befriends the somewhat unconventional nuns: a lesbian heroin addict, an LSD-tripping masochist and a smutty romance novelist, amongst others. They firmly believe that salvation comes through humiliation and this is reflected in the names they’ve given each other: Sisters Manure, Snake, Sewer Rat and Damned.

Their unruly sanctuary is threatened with the arrival of a newly appointed Mother Superior. Sister Act, this ain’t.

Almodóvar’s third feature film was something of a departure for the director. Gone were the manically disjointed and punkish sensibilities of his previous films, and in their place was a more contemplative approach to ‘grown-up’ subject matter. The Catholic Church, needless to say, was a bit outraged.

Dark Habits confirmed, not that any confirmation was ever needed, Almodóvar’s wild reputation in Spanish cinema. Controversial upon its release because of its depiction of nuns as fallen women who tend to their flock by becoming as lowly and desperate as the women they want to save, Almodóvar’s film is never exploitative – the humanity of his characters is always paramount. The crises of faith many of the characters undergo throughout the film is reflected in the crumbling state of their convent in all its faded grandeur and kitschy decoration.

Best Bit: An overgrown pet tiger. A maternal nun with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. A set of bongos. Magical.

La Triviata: When Almodóvar submitted the film to Cannes, it was rejected outright on the grounds of sacrilege.

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MATADOR (1986)

WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN (1988) A dark and satirical allegory which Almodóvar dubbed the ‘weirdest’ film of his career. Sex and death collide in a bloodied and sadistic orgasm of insatiable desire; where the thrill of the chase and the art of seduction have never been deadlier. Returning to the extreme relationships that inhabited Labyrinth of Passions (1982), and which he would again address in Law Of Desire (1987), Almodóvar creates individuals pushed by outrageous and lustful obsession towards their ultimate demise.

Maria is a reputable lawyer who kills her partners at the height of sexual passion, and Diego, a retired bullfighter, can only reach sexual climax after he kills his lovers. Necrophilia, sadomasochism and overt sex/death metaphors abound and Almodóvar also takes pot-shots at Spain’s patriarchal society and machismo.

The film opens with Maria seducing a man and inviting him home with her.

Approaching the culmination of their tryst, she delicately removes an ornate hairpin and kills him with it as they both climax. This is all intercut with scenes of Diego instructing his students on how to successfully slay a bull. Sensual, provocative, audacious and unsettling, Matador seethes with perverse sexuality and yet, typically of Almodóvar, remains strangely touching and tender.

Best Bit: When Maria and Diego discover their unconventional common interest at a screening of Duel In The Sun starring Gregory Peck and Jennifer Jones.

Pepa (Carmen Maura) is dumped by her married lover via a message on her answering machine. As she tries to find him to confront him, her life becomes complicated by increasingly frenzied events and outrageous confrontations. Adding to the stress is her best friend – on the run from the police – and her terrorist ex-boyfriend, a vengeful and mentally unstable wife and a batch of drugged gazpacho.

This was Almodóvar’s breakout hit and the film that gained him critical attention and a much wider audience outside of Spain. As always with Almodóvar’s films, the absurdity of the story is grounded by sympathetic characters struggling through preposterous situations.

Drawing on the conventions and aesthetics of soap operas, the story twists and turns and presents us with one amusingly ludicrous revelation after another. The 1950s-styled opening credit sequence of glossy lingerie-clad models, giant roses and pop-art red lipstick, instantly sets the tone of artificiality and chic melodrama, as does one of the adverts Pepa appears in as the mother of a serial killer recommending a brand of washing powder. Farce, absurdist humour and tragedy mingle in moments such as when Pepa sets fire to her bed and the scene where she finally has a moment to herself after drugging a roomful of people with her gazpacho. Zany, offbeat, tragic and whimsical – ‘Almodrama’ at its best.

Best Bit: The race to the airport involving a mambo-obsessed taxi driver and a motorcyclist taken hostage by the ultimate gun-toting desperate housewife.

La Triviata: Almodóvar cameos as a bitchy fashion show director who insists that a model parade down the catwalk in a dress she has just thrown up on.

La Triviata: Apparently Fox TV are in the midst of adapting this film as a new drama series. Get your gazpacho ready.

ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER (1999)

TALK TO HER (2002)

The film that critics hailed as Almodóvar’s finest moment, All About My Mother is part heart-wrenching tragedy and melodramatic soap opera. When Manuela’s son is killed whilst chasing the car of his favourite actress to obtain her autograph, she embarks on a quest to find his father and tell him of the son he never knew he had. The fact that her son’s father is now a transvestite hooker with a drug problem isn’t even the crux of the film – Almodóvar is more interested in Manuela’s encounters with a sparkling array of troubled women she becomes a maternal figure for, helping her find renewed meaning in her life.

Homage is paid to All About Eve and the plays of Tennessee Williams in what at times seems like shameless parody. Almodóvar’s usual suspects are all present in the form of transsexual prostitutes, a pregnant nun (Penelope Cruz), a constantly bickering lesbian couple and the distraught mother whose life has been shattered by her son’s death. Their disparate lives converge and a makeshift family is soon formed. Almodóvar’s ultimate love letter to women everywhere explores the burdens of womanhood through its dignified characters and genuinely sweet -natured script.

Best Bit: The carnivalesque red-light zone that encompasses everything that is sad and beautiful about the human condition.

La Triviata: The character of Manuela also appeared in Almodóvar’s earlier film The Flower of My Secret (1995).

GUIDED BY CHOICES: THE AU DEFENCE From the melodic frailty of The Flower of My Secret (1995), kitchen-sink drama What Have I Done To Deserve This? (1984), with its mix of mundanity and magic-realism, to quasi ghost story Volver (2006), the Hitchcockian Bad Education

Two men become friends while they each take care of the comatose women they love. Selflessness and selfishness blur together in the devotion of these men, particularly Benigo as he obsessively cares for a comatose ballerina – while travel writer Marco keeps vigil by the bedside of his ex-lover Lydia, a matador gored by a bull. A shocking revelation sets in motion a series of events that will further taint the lives of all involved.

Almodóvar’s follow up to All About My Mother is concerned with the nature of obsession, objectification, loneliness and commitment.

Flashbacks/forwards unveil how the relationships of all four characters have been entwined and unravelled throughout the course of their lives. The director uses elements of silent-era cinema and interpretative dance to convey meaning throughout a story that has shades of his earlier film Law of Desire (1987) in its depiction of obsession, true love and the shady realm where the two collide.

Best Bit: The faux black-and-white silent movie, ‘The Shrinking Lover’, depicting a drastically shrunken man who, in the most potent act of selfless love and sacrifice, climbs into the genitalia of his lover, never to return…

La Triviata: Cecilia Roth and Almodóvar regular Marisa Parades (from All About My Mother) appear uncredited as guests at a party.

(2004) and the unclassifiable, demented mass-media satire Kika (1993) – in which every character represents a different film genre – Almodóvar’s work swirls the boundaries of gender, sexuality and identity into heady, and unforgettable cinematic cocktails.

The kinky and risqué views on sex and relationships that laced his early, more raucous work would eventually bloom into the

unparalleled emotional maturity of his later films. One thing remains constant throughout all his films, though: the passionate and humane heart that pumps amidst the labyrinth of sex and mascara-coated histrionics, rendering his work instantly recognisable and forever memorable.

Iheartau.com

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CLASSIC ALBUM

IC CLASSM U B AL

Prince And The Revolution Purple Rain (1984) Numbers do not normally impress AU when it comes to classic albums, but check these out: 20 million sales, two US chart-topping singles, two Grammy Awards and one Oscar. As Prince and the Revolution’s Purple Rain reaches its quarter century, AU celebrates an album from a time when, unlike Coldplay’s recent mega-selling yawn-fest, huge sales could also go hand-in-hand with

a breathtakingly good album.

ON PURPLE RAIN, Prince took rock, funk, pop and metal, and melded them into an irresistibly coherent record, so propelling him to superstardom and ensuring that the cover photo of a tiny man on a huge motorbike would become an iconic image of the Eighties.

Recorded at the Sunset Sound studio in his hometown of Minneapolis, and with a number of song sections taken live from a 1983 show, Purple Rain grabbed Prince’s previous electro-funk sound and added muscular rock guitars. His influences were obvious – the album traces a path between Little Richard, James Brown, Sly Stone and, most notably, Jimi Hendrix. It was the first time that His Purpleness’s guitar skills were displayed so aggressively (he would later feature on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of greatest ever guitarists).

Delivered with flamboyance, humour and littered with the little guy’s obsession with sex, Purple Rain was a proclamation: move over Jacko and Springsteen, it said – a new mega-star has arrived.

Rain’ ends with a guitar solo of such ridiculous pomp that only someone as self-absorbed as Prince could dare get away with it.

Purple Rain is actually an ‘Official Soundtrack’ to the film of the same name, a classic movie of the ‘so bad it’s good’ genre. Prince is particularly hammy as ‘The Kid’, a young rock musician (you don’t say) trying to make his name in the Minneapolis scene, while getting friendly with a girly called Apollonia.

De Niro and Streep, they are not.

However, the flimsy semi-autobiographical plot does serve to orchestrate the film’s fabulous set pieces: The Kid, with his band The Revolution, playing ‘live’ on stage. The performances are electric; a breathless run-through of ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ is pretty exhilarating, while those crocodile tears and theatrical guitar twiddlings of ‘Purple Rain’ somehow work.

The genius of Purple Rain is its consistency – it contains nine superbly crafted songs, all demanding to be loved. The big songs are bona fide classics, which, in 2009 when the music of the Eighties is again being explored, still sound great today. ‘When Doves Cry’ is a taut, bass-free sermon, on which Prince appears unusually transparent about his upbringing (“Maybe I’m just like my mother, she’s never satisfied / Maybe I’m just like my father, too bold”), while the giddy cock-rock of ‘Lets Go Crazy’, with its “Dearly beloved” intro, still crackles with adrenaline.

The album is not just a collection of mighty singles, though; its lesser-known songs underlie the high quality flowing through Purple Rain. ‘The Beautiful Ones’ is a screaming ballad on which our preening munchkin cannot suppress his betrayal-inflicted anguish (“Do you want him? / Or, do you want me?” he wails), while ‘Take Me With U’ is a topdown, wind-in-the-hair driving song, on which Prince duets with co-star Apollonia, and even manages to make her sound good. ‘Computer Blue’ is a rugged hard-rock jam and a homage to Hendrix, but it was the writhing, toe-curling funk of ‘Darling Nikki’ that would provide Purple Rain with the oxygen of yet more publicity – controversy.

The album ends with the epic (and in this case it is an apt description) title track; over eight minutes long, overblown with overstated emotion, ‘Purple

With Prince barely able to keep his throbbing libido in check, it was inevitable that aspects of Purple Rain would offend someone, somewhere. The

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Words by john freeman ILLUSTRATION BY ELISSA PARENTE

opening lines of ‘Darling Nikki’ – “I knew a girl named Nikki, guess you could say she was a sex fiend / I met her in a hotel lobby, masturbating to a magazine” – was the final straw for ex US VicePresident Al Gore’s missus Tipper, and she and her ‘Washington Wives’ proceeded to declare war on lyrical naughtiness in all its devilish forms.

Ol’ Tipper seemed less flustered by the opening lines of ‘Computer Blue’ (“Wendy? Yes, Lisa / Is The Water Warm Enough? Yes, Lisa / Shall We Begin? Yes, Lisa”) presumably thinking it referred to two friends doing the washing-up.

By 1984, Prince was writing more songs than he could record, handing out musical candy to his dodgy protégé bands, The Time and Apollonia 6.

The quality of these presents was amazing; he wrote ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ for obscure off-shoot The Family, a gem that Sinéad O’Connor would later unearth, and ‘Manic Monday’ for The Bangles – another perfect pop moment – which would launch the all-girl group.

Following the success of Purple Rain, Prince hit a (cough) purple patch, building his own Paisley Park studios, and in successive years between 1985 and 1987 released his greatest body of work; Around The World In A Day evoked psychedelic folk, Parade was art-house experimentation containing the classic minimalism of ‘Kiss’, while Sign O’ The Times was arguably Prince’s musical high-point, a doublealbum of frightening diversity and talent.

It all seems a far cry from the man who subsequently changed his name to a squiggle, announced himself as a (multi-millionaire) ‘slave’ and continues to this day to release Z-list, jaded funk records. For some artists, 25 years is a very long time.

For You? t I n I s ’ t a h W

BEN ALLEN

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For more info on any of the above: Phone: 02890310845 | Online: www.ohyeahbelfast.com Oh Yeah Music Centre | 15-21 | Gordon Street Iheartau.com | Belfast | [33] BT1 2LG

PHOENIX

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AU#58

Words by Chris Jones

10 years in, these achingly cool Parisians have made the best album of their career with the Technicolor explosion of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Bassist Deck D’Arcy tells AU how a “random” recording process and the vagaries of the internet have resulted in an album that makes them more relevant than ever.

been pegged as Eighties-style soft rock merchants – Hall & Oates, Todd Rundgren and Fleetwood Mac were frequently cited in their early days. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, though, finds the middle ground between the two sides of the band, and it suits them perfectly.

Editor’s note: Deck D’Arcy’s words were transcribed as faithfully as possible, but there are occasions where we had to edit them a bit for clarification. It might help if you read them in a French accent…

“With It’s Never Been Like That, the purpose was to make something very quickly and release it as soon as possible. The second album [Alphabetical] was so painful to make and so long and we stayed two years and a half in the studio, so we wanted the third one to be very fresh and to do it very quickly. But now we were ready to go back to the studio for a longer time and to take the time to produce it more, you know?

It’s not that there are more layers, but it’s a little bit more tricked out and, yes, more synthesisers.”

Phoenix have always been an interesting, occasionally quite brilliant band, but one whose talents have often been overshadowed by the circus surrounding them. The Versailles foursome started life as Air’s backing group and guitarist Christian Mazzalai was once in a band with both members of Daft Punk, while frontman Thomas Mars is the long-term boyfriend of director and cinema A-lister Sofia Coppola, who used their song ‘Too Young’ in Lost In Translation. Meanwhile, the well-connected band’s music has also provided the soundtrack for hip fashion shows, as they developed a reputation for stellar singles and slick, if superficial, albums.

The style over substance charge that plagued (the rather excellent) United in 2000 and (the rather dull) Alphabetical in 2004 began to subside with 2007’s extremely solid It’s Never Been Like That, and in new album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, they might just have cracked it.

The record hits guitar pop paydirt from start to finish, and in singles ‘1901’ and ‘Lisztomania’ – written about composer and pianist Franz Liszt and named after the term used to describe his rock star-esque life – they’ve produced two more solid gold oughta-be hits to add to ‘Too Young’, ‘If I Ever Feel Better’, ‘Everything Is Everything’ and ‘Long Distance Call’. So in the first song and the album title, the band have invoked two of the biggest names in classical music – are they taking the piss or is this some kind of concept album?

“The idea was to create an emotion, whatever it is,” says bassist Deck D’Arcy of the album title. “It can be love, or it can be disgust, or it can be provocative, we don’t care, but just to create something. This was just like a childish idea, to ruin the biggest icon in European music by putting our name close to it. It’s a bit pretentious to say it, but with art the only purpose is to create emotions, and I think this

OLD (AND NEW) FLAMES SOME OF THE SLEBS THAT HAVE CROSSED PHOENIX’S PATH SOFIA COPPOLA Director of Lost In Translation, The Virgin Suicides and Marie Antoinette, daughter of Francis Ford Coppola and Thomas Mars’ girlfriend.

They met on the set of The Virgin Suicides – Air’s ‘Playground Love’ was featured on the soundtrack and Thomas Mars had a cameo in the film. Subsequently, ‘Too Young’ appeared in Lost In Translation, while the band themselves played musicians in Marie Antoinette.

creates one. Some people have this notion that it’s a bit pretentious and it’s quite obvious that it’s not. When people like this title, it’s a pact with the audience. Once they are into it, they are really into it.”

The record was co-produced by the returning Philippe Zdar, who made his name with French house act Cassius before working on United back in 2000. Zdar’s involvement seems to have been a bit of an accident after the band began recording in his studio in Paris.

“He was passing by quite often, just to pick up his records or microphones or something like this, and always listening to what we were doing, and naturally he gave his opinion on everything,” says D’Arcy. “After a while we noticed that he was really

Phoenix’s best songs – and we include the majority of the new record in this – sound precision-tooled.

They burst with hooks and melodies, firing off in different directions but hanging together in such a way that you imagine that they are meticulously constructed in some kind of alt.pop laboratory.

“AN ALBUM IS LIKE A BET – YOU ROLL THE DICE AND YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE IT’S GOING.” helping us and [finding] solutions to problems we had, so we kind of officially asked him if he wanted to be the producer.”

According to the self-deprecating D’Arcy, though, the results are often born more of luck than judgement.

The album harks back to the vibrancy and slick sonics of United, while staying in touch with the breezy garage rock of It’s Never Been Like That, and though it’s tempting to give Zdar most of the credit in terms of how the record sounds, his influence was more abstract than that. “He made us focus on what was important, and be ourselves in a very modern way. To get the best of Phoenix, because for example he would save songs that we would throw away, like [the excellent] ‘Fences’. It’s good that someone makes you step a little bit backward, because we are too much into it. We produce everything and we’ve been producing everything since the beginning, but it’s good to have someone who has an overall vision.”

“We don’t really control anything,” he says. “We always want to, you know, and it never happens. Never. It always ends up in a different way. It’s actually bizarre, because we realised that [with] the human brain, or at least our brain, it’s not possible to create something really original, you need a bit of something superior.

I suppose you call it random, or just accidents.” Or inspiration, even? Luck? “Yeah, you need both, you know? But definitely, you need something exterior.”

When It’s Never Been Like That was released, the Strokes-esque sound and relative lack of synthesisers came as a shock from a band that had

So it isn’t quite as controlled as it might seem from the outside?

“No, but we can’t control these kind of things. We are not musically educated. We never really learned how to play, or musical theory. You know, Ennio Morricone could write music just with a pen, and that’s perfect, but that’s something we could never be able to do, even for two seconds.”

ROMAN COPPOLA His sister and Thomas Mars named their son Romy after him, while he has directed two videos for the band – ‘Funky Squaredance’ and ‘Long Distance Call’.

PHILIPPE ZDAR Co-produced both United and Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. He’s also one half of French house duo Cassius, who had a hit in 1999 with the album, er, 1999.

AIR The band started out as the backing group for a remix of the ‘Kelly Watch The Stars’ single, while Thomas Mars later provided vocals for their single ‘Playground Love’.

HEDI SLIMANE The fashion designer commissioned a remix of the Alphabetical track ‘Victim of the Crime’ for a Dior Homme catwalk show.

DAFT PUNK Phoenix guitarist Christian Mazzalai formed indie band Darlin’ with Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de HomemChristo as a youngster. An early review described their music as “a bunch of daft punk”, thus naming Bangalter and de HomemChristo’s future electro-house act. Bangalter also contributed synths to a track on United.

PINO PALLADINO Legendary bass player has played with Gary Numan, Eric Clapton, The Who, David Gilmour, Erykah Badu, Tears for Fears, Don Henley, Joan Armatrading, Phil Collins, Chaka Khan, Richard Ashcroft, D’Angelo and Phoenix, on three tracks from Alphabetical .

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Every Phoenix single so far has been gloriously pristine, radio-ready fare – smooth almost to the point of being sickly at times, but surely made for cruisin’. Plus, they are a formidable live band and, cleverly, the albums have all been released in spring/summer, when sunshine pop can melt the hardest of hearts. So why isn’t this band massive yet? “We don’t really think in terms of success,” says D’Arcy. “It’s good when your music is being spread around to as many people as possible and people listen to it. We are really satisfied. Maybe this album has had more reactions than the previous one, so I don’t know what’s going on.”

Do you get a sense of that?

“A little bit, yeah. Actually, I have. But it doesn’t really change anything. You know, it’s been 10 years we are doing this, and we’ve had ups and downs in many different countries with all our albums. We’ve had hits in some countries and the next album was a big f lop, but in another country it was a hit! [laughs] We expect this with Phoenix, it’s ups and downs depending on the country. I really think an album is like a bet – you roll the dice and you don’t know where it’s going. It’s good, because it means that it’s something new.”

As the man says, things could be about to change.

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is the best album of their decade-long career, and the best-received by the critics since United. The internet buzz around it has been deafening, and D’Arcy readily admits that the band are enjoying themselves more than ever since leaving EMI and starting to work with small labels.

One tangible result of this has been the advance release of ‘1901’ as a free download from the band’s

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website back in February. That set the bloggers chattering until the record leaked, and since then there’s scarcely been a bad word said about the band.

“We didn’t even know there was blogs and everything,” says D’Arcy. “It was for our website so people could download it and yeah there was kind of a spread around. It was a good surprise.

Some people said, ‘Yeah, it’s the best marketing plan ever!’ and things like this and it’s really funny because it was really not on purpose, but it turned out quite good so far.”

Phoenix are by no means the first band to try giving away their music, but it’s inconceivable that it won’t become the norm in years to come.

set to clips from Brat Pack classic The Breakfast Club, which has received almost as many YouTube views as the official video (watch it at www. tinyurl.com/phoenixbratpack). “Ah, we loved it,” says D’Arcy. “We like those kind of Brat Pack things from the Eighties. We watch them on the tourbus, actually. So, yeah, it’s great. We wrote to the girl that made it, just to congratulate her. The video is really cool.”

The video, which is exclusively made up of clips of the young characters dancing goofily, gets to the heart of what this new album is all about – youthful exuberance and a healthy nod towards the decade that will not die. After a decade together and four albums, the band has finally arrived at a sound that

“WITH ART, THE ONLY PURPOSE IS TO CREATE EMOTIONS.” “I think it’s good, you know – it’s directly to the music and it’s not a matter of marketing or money or advertisement or things like this, it’s just tracks that are spread around. You listen to it and you like it or you don’t like it. You don’t have to go to radio people and things. The key people are kind of disappearing now, which is good because there was a handful of people that were really powerful and could say yes or no to anything, and it’s not very good for creativity and for alternative bands. And since the industry is going down, I think more and more good music is coming up. I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s a feeling I have because there are more and more bands that I like, contemporary bands, and that was not the case before. So in a way, I think there are many positive sides to this situation.”

Apart from ‘1901’, the other viral success of the new album is a fan-made video for ‘Lisztomania’,

pretty much defines the zeitgeist of alternative pop music – big songs, big melodies and lots of synths.

But more than that, this strange guitar band that grew out of late-Nineties French electronica now feels more at home than ever in its own skin.

“Back then, the rock scene, the electronic scene, all of this was really separated. You couldn’t really mix the techno kids with the indie ones, and now it’s all mixed together and I think it’s cool. There’s really exciting music now. Maybe this is what is new from what it was 10 years ago. We have the feeling that it’s random again, [and] this album is more in phase with what’s going on.”

WOLFGANG AMADEUS PHOENIX IS OUT NOW ON V2 WWW.WEAREPHOENIX.COM

PETER BJORN AND JOHN IT DON’T MOVE ME DOWNLOAD OUT NOW

SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO AUDACITY OF HUGE 7" / TWO 12"s / DOWNLOAD 3rd AUGUST

LOVVERS OCD GO GO GIRLS 7" / DOWNLOAD 3rd AUGUST

LOVVERS OCD GO GO GO GIRLS CD / LP / DOWNLOAD 10th AUGUST

BLOC PARTY ONE MORE CHANCE 7" / 12" / DOWNLOAD 10th AUGUST

MARIACHI EL BRONX CELL MATES 7” / DOWNLOAD 10th AUGUST

MARIACHI EL BRONX EL BRONX CD / DOWNLOAD 17th AUGUST

SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO TEMPORARY PLEASURE CD / LTD DELUXE CD / LP / DOWNLOAD 17th AUGUST

THE CRIBS CHEAT ON ME TWO 7"s / CD / DOWNLOAD 31st AUGUST

THE DODOS TIME TO DIE CD / LP / DOWNLOAD 31st AUGUST

WWW.WICHITA-RECORDINGS.COM

WWW.TWITTER.COM/WICHITARECS Iheartau.com

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SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO Words by C hris Jones P hotography by Timothy Cochrane

The beauty of modern dance music is that it can be created in such small spaces. By naming themselves with the German word for ‘power station’, Kraftwerk not only evoked the grey industrial landscape of post-war Germany, they also conjured images of primitive equipment being played in an enormous concrete hangar. By contrast, Simian Mobile Disco’s east London studio is no bigger than a child’s bedroom, albeit with a better speaker system. Size isn’t everything, though, and this unassuming little room in a quiet corner of Premises Studios is where SMD – James Ford (the curly one) and James ‘Jas’ Shaw (the blond one) – go to cut themselves off from the world and make sweet, sweet music together. Ahem.

The focal point is a computer monitor surrounded by an intimidatingly large set of speakers, while on the other side is an impressive array of hardware and a sad-looking bass guitar minus two strings.

Most intriguing, though, is a handwritten sign by the door that reads “I HATE MUSIC”, accompanied by a cartoon sad face. You don’t have to spend time with Ford and Shaw to know that the sign can only have been born of fleeting frustration, as the duo are two of the busiest, most passionate men in the business.

When we meet for the pre-interview photo shoot, they are bleary eyed and recovering from “a heavy weekend of DJing”. Indeed, since the release of their debut album Attack Decay Sustain Release in 2007, they’ve toured pretty much constantly as DJs and as a live act, released a Fabriclive mix album, put together Sample And Hold, a compilation of remixes of their own tunes, recorded the follow-up studio album – Temporary Pleasure, of which more later – and somehow found the time to work on albums by an array of other people. SMD’s parent band Simian were self-produced, and the pair have gone on to forge a parallel career in production, Ford making his name working on debut albums by Test Icicles, Mystery Jets, Arctic Monkeys and Klaxons. And it hasn’t stopped.

“Even this year alone, me and Jas have been involved in Arctic Monkeys, Klaxons, Little Boots, Florence and the Machine, The Invasion…” says Ford, as we sit down to chat. “There’s nearly six or seven albums, excluding our own, plus touring. It has been pretty nuts, to the point where we’re trying to chill out a bit, really, and enjoy making music ourselves.”

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In the middle of the decade, Simian Mobile Disco were among the pied pipers of electro, leading the sweaty, synthy charge for others to follow in their wake. But now, two years after their debut album, the English duo are back with some big name guest stars in tow – older, wiser and ready to test the water again.

The band’s enthusiasm for music is palpable – variations of the word ‘exciting’ crop up a lot when they discuss their work – and although they insist that they love being busy, the workload can be a problem. Shaw affects a face of mock despair when asked if it has taken its toll over the last couple of years; if they find it tough. “It is actually a little bit, yeah,” says his partner, “because it’s been three or four years of constantness. And then added on top of that, your personal life as well. It is like trying to juggle hot coals. But it’s fine, I think we’re mellowing it out a little bit for the rest of this year and trying to enjoy DJing and gigging and just making tunes.”

Which still sounds a bit like work, to be honest.

“It’s sort of difficult,” Shaw adds, “because both of us love DJing and we really like playing live and making our own record, and then production is like a whole other can of worms. You want to produce this band and you want to work with this individual person, and there’s so many different things, and they’re things that we’ve always wanted to do. So

moved and gone is the vocals and the quality of the vocals. Last time, we used the vocals as another instrument, chopping them up and messing around with them, and quite enjoying the mundaneness of the lyrics. But this time, we chose people who have got more songwriting experience.”

On Attack Decay Sustain Release, vocals appeared frequently but only in two instances – ‘I Believe’ and ‘Love’ – were they formed into actual songs.

This time around, things have turned out very differently indeed, every guest adding fully-fledged songcraft to the duo’s typically tight productions.

“The original plan was for it to be a largely instrumental record,” Shaw reveals, “and in order to carry that, we knew that harmonically and melodically, it would have to be stronger. We knew that style changes, but good chords and good melodies still carry across whatever you’re doing, and when we sent the stuff away [to vocalists], we changed our minds immediately about it being an

“STYLE CHANGES, BUT GOOD CHORDS AND GOOD MELODIES STILL CARRY ACROSS WHATEVER YOU’RE DOING.” it is totally self-inflicted, and I think maybe we have pushed it a little too far, but I definitely don’t want to ‘chill out’.” He chuckles with disdain at the mention of the words. “No-one wants to chill out!”

Ford: “I think the thing that suffers at the end of the day is sleep.”

Ah, ‘Sleep Deprivation’, the first record’s opening song – the meaning is clear. That record is being followed up in August with the superb Temporary Pleasure, an album that should cement the duo’s place at the top table of electronic music. It’s a summer party album with a raft of guest vocalists – Gruff Rhys, Chris Keating of Yeasayer, Beth Ditto, Jamie Lidell, Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip, Edinburgh rappers Young Fathers and Telepathe, to give you the full list. The ever-changing vocals take the album in a variety of different directions, and it has its share of electro bangers, but it also feels like a much more substantial, poised and even refined album than the often riotous debut.

“I’d like to hope so, yeah,” says Ford. “I think a large thing that’s dictated how the album has

instrumental record, just [through] the amount and the quality of the vocal contributions.”

The list of vocalists comes across as a bold statement in itself – they are advertised on the track list as featured artists, and most of them are pretty eye-catching. Names of the stature of Gruff Rhys and Beth Ditto will probably sell records in their own right, but the duo aren’t afraid to use lesser-known names either – Young Fathers are still largely under the radar, while Telepathe and Chris Keating’s Yeasayer are very much niche bands, for the time being at least. While some fans may worry that the number of guests will be at the cost of the album’s cohesion, and cynics might argue that it’s just a publicity stunt to get so many ‘names’ involved, Ford insists that it all hangs together and “sounds like one record” and – with a reservation or two, including Taylor’s track, which Ford and Shaw concede does sound uncannily like his own band Hot Chip – we’d be inclined to agree. It’s certainly not the directionless mess it could have been in lesser hands, anyway. So was there a wishlist of potential guests?

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“Not really, no,” says Shaw. “There was a lot of people who we’d met touring the last record, mostly at festivals to be honest, but also just knocking about. We just made loads of tracks and each of those tracks suggested a certain kind of vocal, and that led to us sending them out. We’re pretty bad at writing to spec – I think if we sat down and tried to write a vocal for someone [specific], it just wouldn’t happen.”

“We didn’t cold call anybody,” Ford interjects. “It wasn’t like, ‘We need to get this person’, it was more like ‘We’ve got this track and who do we know that could do a good job on it?’. Pretty much everybody on the album, we’ve met at festivals and we’ve got some sort of a relationship with. It wasn’t like getting a big list of guest vocalists in, it was more like, ‘Beth would sound good on this’, or whatever.”

And sound good Ms Ditto does. The Gossip frontwoman appears on ‘Cruel Intentions’, a surprisingly tender track that mashes up elements of Italo disco and house and winds up as one of the highlights of the album. The restraint she shows in her vocals is about as far from ‘Standing In The Way Of Control’ as it’s possible to be, and according to Ford, her willingness – and that of all the other vocalists except for the New York-based Chris Keating and Telepathe – to come to the band’s studio to finish the track enabled them to take her out of her comfort zone.

“IT WASN’T LIKE GETTING A BIG LIST OF GUEST VOCALISTS IN, IT WAS MORE LIKE, ‘BETH [DITTO] WOULD SOUND GOOD ON THIS’.”

“She’s known for her very flamboyant, loud personality,” he says, “and we wanted to bring out a softer, more melodic side of her. And that’s much easier to do when she’s in the room – to try a few different ways of doing it, and we really liked it when it wasn’t so belted out.

Things like that make it really useful to have people in the studio.”

“With Jamie [Lidell],” adds Shaw, “we loved all the stuff he did with Super_Collider, so we patched him into loads of weird effects so that he couldn’t hear any of the pure sound of his own voice, just the mangled stuff, and it set him off – you can hear him screaming and yelping and all that kind of stuff.”

Sure enough, Lidell’s track, ‘Off The Map’ will come as a surprise to anyone who is only familiar with last year’s Jim, which completed his transformation from the glitchy electro-soul of his Super_Collider days, through the more accessible – but still idiosyncratic – Multiply

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and into an out-and-out soul man, the oldschool arrangements and pure vocals of his latest album bearing comparison to Al Green, Sam Cooke and Stevie Wonder. ‘Off The Map’ has him in attack-dog mode, snarling and shrieking over SMD’s thumping, Morodertinged techno.

Also finding that he’s not in Kansas any more is Chris Keating of Brooklyn psych merchants Yeasayer. Normally, his bold, strident voice is instantly recognisable, but on first single ‘Audacity Of Huge’, you’d be hard pressed to tell that it is the same person, as he drops quickfire cultural references. “I got that Bob Fosse, I got that Joey Ramone / A bag of Bill Murray, Damien Hirst telephone,” he scats. The song doesn’t make a lot of sense, but my god it sounds good – Keating locks his voice into the syncopated rhythms and becomes a percussion instrument himself, bombarding you with surreal images.

“He sent the vocal back and he said in his email that he went for “a creepy N*SYNC vibe”, which we quite liked the idea of!” recalls Ford.

“A horrible, slightly boy band-y vocal mixed with [Aphex Twin’s] ‘Windowlicker’, and then obviously the kind of Italo-y thing that’s in there.

Then we made the track around it. It’s quite different from Yeasayer and it’s quite different from us, really, so we were quite pleased that it ended up in this strange sort of no man’s land that we like!”

Shaw adds, “We knew we were going to get back something unusual from him, but when we got it back, it was like, ‘Where the fuck has that come from?!’.”

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Shaw and Ford had DJed a bit before forming the indie band Simian, who released two albums before being dropped by Virgin and splitting up in 2003.

By that time, the name Simian Mobile Disco had already been coined as an outlet for the band’s DJ gigs and remixes, but it wasn’t long before Shaw and Ford took control, started producing their own tracks as well and things started to happen. It just so happened that by 2007, when Attack Decay Sustain Release came out, hard-hitting party electro was the order of the day, with Justice and the Ed Banger crew, Digitalism, MSTRKRFT and Boys Noize – to name a few – all making their names at just the right time. SMD were no different, as they unwittingly tapped into the electro zeitgeist.

“From the end of Simian,” Ford recalls, “we were getting much more interested in electro-y sort of stuff – you know, like [Mr] Oizo and all that sort of stuff – and that was brewing and you could see a few people start to do things. I think you could feel that an exciting thing was about to happen when we started making tunes, and then it obviously turned into something and lots of other people got onto it.

But I think we were just fortunate to be into that sort of sound early on, as much as anything.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t anything considered,” says Shaw. “But you could definitely feel the difference.

At the time we were doing Simian, we were definitely swimming against the stream, whereas with SMD, everything just seemed to work a lot more easily. It wasn’t because we thought about it, it just turned out like that.”

Ford: “Yeah, we were quite surprised as well.

We weren’t even trying to do anything with SMD, we were just DJing for fun really and then it turned into something a lot more than we thought it would. It was quite weird, really.”

During our hour-long conversation, Justice crop up quite a few times, and that isn’t just down to a journalist throwing comparisons at the band.

The two production duos’ careers have been curiously intertwined over the last few years, each helping the other along without really meaning to. In 2003, just before Simian split, the then-unknown Parisian pair entered their rework of the Simian song ‘Never Be Alone’ into a remix competition, and didn’t win. Not long after, though, the track – named ‘We Are Your Friends’ and credited to Justice Vs. Simian – took on a life of its own and became one of the defining club tracks of the decade, kick-starting both acts’ production careers in the process.

From an SMD point of view, though, how odd that a track they had no involvement in should help their career.

“We definitely thought so,” laughs Shaw. “It’s sort of churlish to not acknowledge the fact that it definitely must have helped. It almost certainly got us some more DJ gigs or something like that. And as much as we’re sick to fuck of it, it is kind of a cool story. It was

genuinely something that just got picked up by other DJs – it was total word of mouth. There was no major label crunching away.”

Then, through some bizarre coincidence (which elicits laughter and sincere denials of any conspiracy when mentioned), both acts released their debut albums on exactly the same day. But for all that tracks like ‘Hustler’, ‘Hotdog’, ‘It’s The Beat’ and ‘Tits And Acid’ were massive party anthems that sat happily beside those of Justice and other electro acts in club playlists the world over, SMD are happy to move on from that sound.

“We’re definitely not really listening to or playing out any of that noisy, distorted sound,” says Ford. “But even after we did that, it really developed into its own scene of thrashy dance music. We ended up doing a lot of gigs of those things, where the DJs were playing 40 seconds of each tune and it’s all really compressed and really loud and there’s no dynamics, and we all got really tired of that really quickly. So I suppose, we naturally moved into deeper, more melodic techno and disco and all that kind of stuff.”

“I think that evolution was starting,” Shaw says. “The last track we did off the last record was [the analogue techno track] ‘Sleep Deprivation’. Probably one of the first ones that made it through was [the harsh, clipped] ‘Hustler’, and I think you can hear the difference in attitude between those tracks. I think we were already heading down that road even back then.”

And they aren’t in the slightest bit concerned if their old fans have lost interest and moved in different directions, either.

T S A C POD

Yeo! AU has a brand new AU Podcast.

Each month we will be releasing a new podcast to run alongside the magazine. It will feature music, interviews and other stuff related to the current issue.

The first episode is available right now and it features lovely goodies such as…

A Simian Mobile Disco documentary, music from Marina And The Diamonds, The Polyamorous Affair, Chew Lips and more, plus other shizz well worth listening in to.

You can download if for free from www.iheartau.com. Sexy times.

“I certainly hope they have!” Shaw laughs. “Do you know what I mean? It’s really natural for electronic music for things to have changed. We didn’t know exactly what we wanted to do, but we definitely knew we didn’t want it to be like the last record.

“CHRIS KEATING SAID HE WENT FOR “A CREEPY N*SYNC VIBE”, WHICH WE QUITE LIKED THE IDEA OF!” Frankly, if the same people who bought the last record don’t buy this one, I can live with that. I think it would’ve been much worse to go, ‘Ooh, we’ve definitely got to get one on there for the old crowd’. I hate all that nonsense.”

“For us,” Ford elaborates, “the quick movement of culture – and especially the recycling of music and especially dance music – we find really exciting and we really like the fact that it’s very forward-moving and everyone’s [chuckles] reaching for the future.

I think it’s really exciting and it’s non-precious. That’s kind of why we called the album Temporary Pleasure – it’s a very hedonistic, of-the-moment feeling, rather than trying to be conservative and make a ‘classic’ record.”

CH EW LI PS

You’ve no eye on your ‘legacy’ then? “No!” Shaw exclaims, laughing. “Fuck, I hadn’t thought about that!”

That isn’t to say, though, that electronic and dance acts can’t make legendary, era-defining albums – think of the likes of Giorgio Moroder and Kraftwerk, who were pioneers perched on the leading edge of electronic music in the Seventies and whose records have not only been immeasurably influential, but hold up even now as sublime pieces of work.

“Yeah, that’s exactly the point!” says Ford, excitedly. “All the records we really like sound really dated. You can tell that it was made in 1983 or 1969, you know? In a way, that makes it more human. You can hear the technology they were using, you can hear the influence they had, and you can really attach to it.

Whereas something where you can’t really place where it is and what it is, it’s more of a removed feeling. So hopefully our album will sound like it was made in 2009.”

S IM IA N M O B IL E D IS C O

As we leave to head home, the pair settle down in that dinky little studio and prepare for an afternoon shut off from the sun, working on extended techno mixes of tracks from the new album.

“I HATE MUSIC”? Yeah, right.

TEMPORARY PLEASURE IS OUT AUGUST 22 ON WICHITA. WWW.SIMIANMOBILEDISCO.CO.UK

TH E PO LY AM OR OU S AF FA IR Iheartau.com

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AU#58

THE LUCHAGORS Amy Dumas is better known to millions of professional wrestling fans worldwide as Lita – four-time World Wrestling Entertainment women’s champion and one of the most popular WWE Divas. In 2005, her three-way drama with then-current and ex-boyfriends Adam “Edge” Copeland and Matt Hardy was voted feud of the year by readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Away from the ‘diving crossbodies’ and ‘jackknife powerbombs’, Amy has enjoyed an exciting and varied life. Her 2003 autobiography, Lita: A Less Traveled R.O.A.D. – The Reality Of Amy Dumas, made it onto the New York Times bestsellers list, while the 34year-old has also had stints as a dancer, DJ and animal welfare activist.

However, since retiring from wrestling in 2006, her main love has been punk rock.

The Luchagors first got people’s attention in 2006 when, during her last wrestling match at WWE’s Survivor Series, Amy wore a T-shirt bearing the band’s logo. Later that year, she and her guitarist boyfriend Shane Morton – who was previously a member of Super X-13 and Gargantua – started playing small gigs in and around Atlanta, Georgia. In 2007, they hit the studio with Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan in the producer’s chair to record their self-titled debut album, with all the material co-written

by Amy and Shane. As a statement of intent, the record was released on September 11, and was immediately hailed by fans and critics as a slab of high-voltage garage rock in the vein of The Misfits and The Ramones.

With their line-up completed by Jay Leslie Hedberg on bass and Racci Shay Hart thrashing the drums, The Luchagors’ ongoing world tour comes to Ireland in July for low-key club shows in Belfast, Dublin and Cork. Amy is the latest in a growing number of wrestlers to swap the spandex for, er, more spandex and take their chances in the cutthroat world of rock ‘n’ roll.

Influenced by everyone from Alice Cooper and Iron Maiden to Minor Threat and Black Flag, she is committed, energetic and full of passion for her new-found career. AU caught a word with her ahead of the Irish jaunt, which promises to unite sports fans and punk rockers in a ‘Litasault’ of brain-shattering proportions. Her wrestling days may be over, but – with a set-list that includes such hard-hitting numbers as ‘Burn’, ‘Bastard’ and ‘March Of The Luchagors’ – the artist formerly known as Lita remains as in-your-face as ever.

Amy, The Luchagors is your first proper touring band. Was it strange going out without a big crew and TV cameras after all you’ve accomplished in wrestling?

I knew going into this band that it was a whole new project. I knew we were not going to be playing arenas and it was going to be bare bones. We don’t even have a roadie! It’s not weird. It’s very comfortable and I enjoy doing it.

You grew up listening to 7 Seconds and early Lookout! Records, and played bass in a band called 3 Card Trick before becoming a wrestler. Has The Luchagors been the realisation of a long-held dream for you?

I would say The Luchagors isn’t so much of a dream realisation, but more just an inevitability. I grew up with punk, I have roadied with and lived with bands, and I think it was just bound to happen.

Words by Andrew Johnston

You toured with Avail and Fifteen as a teenager, two of the more ‘socially aware’ punk bands. Did that give you the idea for doing what you’re doing now?

What can you tell us about the other members of The Luchagors? How’s it working out with Racci, who recently replaced your original drummer, Troy King?

I went to my first punk show at 13. I have been very influenced by all the bands that have crossed my path. I love the honesty and integrity that is the backbone of punk. I would say that is what inspires me in The Luchagors.

We are all excited to have Racci in the band. He is just so easy to get along with, always keeps everyone laughing and has a positive attitude. Oh yeah, not to mention he is a great drummer! Jay has been in bands forever and is always enthusiastic for the next adventure. We grew up listening to a lot of the same music, so he can tell where I am coming from a lot of the times. Shane is always doing 10 things at once, all involving horror or music – painting, tattooing or creating the next chapter in the Silver Scream Spook Show. That is a project Jay and I work on with Shane once a month, where we show old horror movies and perform a live improv variety show.

As a wrestler, you performed in front of audiences of up to 80,000 people at stadiums and regularly in front of huge audiences, live on TV every week. How does all that compare with playing punk rock clubs in front of much smaller audiences?

I get this question a lot. It’s like asking which of your children you love more. Both experiences are very rewarding. But playing a rad show in front of 50 people can be just as great as WrestleMania.

It is about personal success, achievements and happiness, not which event is more hyped or more people see.

What is the breakdown of wrestling fans and music fans in your audience?

In Europe, we tend to get more of a rock crowd.

There are always wrestling fans at our shows, but we are also starting to gain our own fans who have just become fans of the music – except when we play

Are you also still DJing on the PunkRockalypse show?

I love it! I do it every Sunday from 9 to 10pm – an hour of punk rock music. We have a lot of listeners from overseas, so we turned it into a podcast as well.

While you were injured with a broken neck in 2002, you set up your own charity/animal shelter, ADORE. How’s that going?

I have not been doing as much as I would like. I am still very passionate about the cause. My dog

“PLAYING A RAD SHOW IN FRONT OF 50 PEOPLE CAN BE JUST AS GREAT AS WRESTLEMANIA.” in Atlanta, our home town. There never seems to be wrestling fans there. I guess I am old news there, they could see me anywhere.

I imagine it would be financially possible for you to have a big crew and a big bus and to buy onto bigger tours, but you seem to want to do this the DIY way. Why have you chosen this route?

Sure, coming from WWE, it is a big crew and a big production, but I wanted to do this on my own, and DIY is what I know. I feel like the same person I was before I wrestled, just a little older, with some crazy stories to tell and with the experience of having been around the world a few times.

The band is named in homage to the term ‘luchador’, meaning a lucha libre performer – a form of ‘free wrestling’ seen mainly in Mexico – and the word gore, as in horror films.

What are your favourite horror movies?

This really should be a question for Shane, but I enjoy my fair share as well. I love old black and whites – Creature From The Black Lagoon, The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, The Wasp Woman, King Kong. I love all the Santo and Blue Demon films – Vs. The Zombies, The Wolf Man, The Mummy, all those Fifties and Sixties lucha/horror films.

Your album was produced by Rachel from Skid Row. What was it like working with him?

It was great working with Rachel. He is a close friend and is really knowledgeable so I was very comfortable working with him. It was cool to have an outsider come in and look at the band with an external perspective. I learned a lot working with him.

McKenzie is a rescue. She comes on tour with us in the States. We call her our tour manager.

You refused to return to the WWE recently to be part of a match, despite the huge pay-day. Why? C’mon… You saw that ‘match’. No thanks.

You have toured with some great bands including Nashville Pussy, The Circle Jerks and Skid Row, but have you gigged with any other wrestlers-turned-rockers, such as Chris Jericho, Christy Hemme or Alex Shelley?

No, we are really trying to stay separate from wrestling-related stuff, as far as the band goes. I have been doing some Lita appearances recently, though, and it’s been fun seeing some fans and other wrestlers.

What can we expect from the Belfast, Dublin and Cork shows this July?

I like to be pretty ballsy and claim that we can exceed your expectations. We love proving people wrong, night after night.

Belfast has the reputation of being a rough town – are you ready to rumble?

Hmm, my rumbling days are in the past. However, Racci is always ready.

THE LUCHAGORS PLAY AUNTIE ANNIE’S, BELFAST ON JULY 8; EAMONN DORAN’S, DUBLIN ON JULY 9; AND CYPRUS AVENUE, CORK ON JULY 10.

WWW. LUCHAGORS.COM Iheartau.com

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THE MARS VOLTA

ABOUT FACE FROM OUTER SPACE

Words by Ailbhe Malone

The Mars Volta are two men – Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López – and one divisive band. Lauded by some for their sonic soundscapes and scorned by others, the group have nevertheless garnered musical plaudits, including a Grammy last year. While they’ve been on the scene long enough not to take these credits lightly, they’ve also been around long enough to get cranky whenever anybody asks some difficult questions…

In many musical circles, prog is a four letter word in more ways than one. The classroom weirdo of musical genres, wearing tracksuit bottoms and school shoes while drawing unicorns, prog was left to wither in 1974, when the ‘Big Four’ – Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Yes, Genesis and King Crimson – all went on indefinite hiatus or changed their line-ups. The advent of disco, punk and new-wave meant that listeners had little time for hour-long suites featuring elves and/or spirit guides. Though it’s now in its third incarnation, (‘prog-metal’ – see Opeth, Dream Theater) the epithet ‘prog’ remains an uncomfortable one for artists.

Even as recently as 2001, genre behemoths such as King Crimson were still avoiding the ‘prog’ tag.

When asked whether he thinks that prog deserves its bad name, The Mars Volta’s Cedric BixlerZavala becomes defensive. Firstly, he explains that he’s not a fan of prog itself. “I’m not generally a fan of Emerson, Lake and Palmer. I don’t like that stuff really. I more prefer Krautrock. I don’t listen to stuff like that. I don’t like serious prog.”

He then continues to explain how The Mars Volta aren’t a prog-rock band – “I don’t remember there being prog bands that experimented with music in Spanish or having an obvious German influence.

I see our band as coming from more of a Carlos Santana/Krautrock school.”

Bixler-Zavala is right, however – The Mars Volta aren’t a prog-rock band. Formed from the ashes of seminal post-hardcore group At The Drive-In, The Mars Volta have released five albums in as many years. Though their current record Octahedron pays homage to Santana, with searing swooping Spanish electric guitars, the group’s sound oscillates between hard rock, post-rock, and the above-

CEDRIC ON...

SCIENCE FICTION I don’t really follow the new Dr Who, but I like the old stuff. Tom Baker is a big influence, because he’s such a smartass. I’m a kind of a sci-fi geek, and he’s a big influence on the way we write our lyrics and the way I act as well, I guess.

mentioned Krautrock. Eclectic is a hackneyed term to use, but it’s one that fits. Perhaps the band’s mélange of influences could partly be due to BixlerZavala’s mixed heritage.

“I have Mexican and German roots. Funnily enough, because of the colonies, a load of Germans moved over to Mexico. It affects the way I write every day. I try to write in a bilingual tone.” Born in California, Bixler-Zavala terms himself a Chicano – an American of Mexican descent. The term is ambiguous – at times derogatory and at times empowering, similar to the way that the Chicano community is treated. In her seminal study on Chicano culture, Borderlands/La Frontera, Gloria Anzaldúa writes – “At Pan American University, I and all Chicano students were required to take two speech classes. Their purpose: to get rid of our accents.”

Bixler-Zavala agrees with Anzaldúa’s notion of being caught between cultures, in the ‘borderlands’, as it were: “My education included Chicano studies, and that definitely influenced the way I view the Chicano experience. There are a lot of people in America from Mexico that don’t speak English properly, and don’t speak Spanish properly. I always get criticism for it. People say, ‘You don’t write your lyrics in a very grammatically correct way’. Being Mexican-American, growing up is being caught in the middle. I don’t speak English well enough and I don’t speak Spanish well enough. I’m not proper enough for either. As corny as it sounds, I try and express being Chicano, and it comes through in the way that I write – it’s the way that language was spoken in my household.”

Though The Mars Volta’s newest LP – Octahedron – has been described as their ‘acoustic’ album, it’s

TECHNOLOGY People should be reading books, and if their attention span is too short for books, then they should try a graphic novel, or try painting.

But staring at technology... We’re turning into that movie Wall-E .

In Wall-E , everyone’s completely morbidly obese, they don’t bother walking anywhere, they just sit.

My solution is to do something, go enjoy life, go travel.

also the record that’s set closest to home. Taking inspiration from the current political climate in South America and Mexico, where a drug war has been raging since 2007, and over 7,000 lives have been taken, Bixler-Zavala created “a loose concept based on what’s going on in South America and Mexico, people being kidnapped, random vanishings. I wanted to explore what’s happening in Mexico. For example, the workers and whenever they try to organise a union and the random vanishing of women. We had some friends growing up and they either picked up and left, or they were kidnapped or they vanished. If anything when you listen to the record, there should be a concept of what it feels like to set the ransom note down – not to read the ransom note. Once you read a ransom note, there’s this adrenalin rush, like ‘I can’t believe this is happening’. I wanted an empty desert feel of, ‘What do I do now, I don’t have a chance to pay these people’.”

Concept albums aren’t alien ground to the group. Each of the records that they’ve released has followed a concept – either loosely, or very tightly. Their debut, De-Loused in the Comatorium, speculatively details the dying days of a friend of the band, while follow-up, Frances the Mute, was based on a diary found by chance. Amputechture told the same story from different perspectives, in the manner of Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. Their penultimate record, The Bedlam in Goliath, interprets the events recounted by a Ouija board the group used on tour. But, hang on. If The Mars Volta aren’t a prog-rock band, then why use one of the main tropes of prog – i.e. the concept album?

Bixler-Zavala pauses and then responds. “I just thought that it was interesting to write using something that was not cool. A lot of the punks say that [concept albums] are the bottom of the barrel of ideas, the poor man’s whatever you want to call it.

I don’t like being told that it’s not punk to embrace something. To me the more someone says no, the more I want to do it. To have a concept album in 2009, 2005, any of the 2000s – it’s like embracing the uncoolest thing that you can do. I don’t know how it works – I just know that it’s a lot easier to have a ton of songs about one subject. It makes it easier for me to write. To be

THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE Personally, I would love for people to view our albums in the same way as watching a movie. There is a theme, there is a narrative and people in there. It’s not the most normal thing, but it’s kind of like a movie. But it’s a little more art-house cinema than corny rom-com. I want people to be able to pick up our record, take it home, and understand that it’s providing that person a pure hour’s

escape from the mundane day-today life, you know? I know there are records about pop culture, and growing up, and bad weather, and stuff like that, but not all of us are really interested in that. More than the escapism of it, I want to provide someone with a breath of fresh air as regards what cinema, or a book does for you. It helps you get away from the concrete realism, from stuff you have to deal with every day in life.

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honest I have to re-invent saying the same thing over and over again. It’s just something that interests me.”

Clearly bored of the subject or, perhaps, exasperated, the conversation moves elsewhere.

Bixler-Zavala has been a long time making music, and a long time dealing with press. Upon discussion of the environment of a show, he pre-empts a difficult question, and makes a sideways reference to his notorious on-stage rant during the 2001 Big Day Out festival in Sydney. “I think anyone would like to control the show’s environment, but it’s unpredictable. I grew up watching groups trying to instil discipline and kindness in people, but the bigger it gets, and the more alcohol there is at a venue, the more unpredictable it gets too. Standards fall, and there are just dumb fucks who come barraging through. At the end of the day, I don’t really give a fuck – if they want to kill each other, then that’s what they paid for. If I see someone trying to keep calm, while someone else is hurting them, I’m going to do my best to kick them out.”

The man has no interest in looking back. Though there’s talk of a possible At The Drive-In reunion, Cedric has made it explicit that the only motivation would be monetary – the same reason that he allowed ATD-I’s ‘One Armed Scissor’ to be featured on the upcoming Guitar Hero IV. “The way I see it is that we get paid, and I can put that money back into projects that are more worthwhile, seeing as I don’t get that much money from doing this. It’s just another way of funding future projects that have absolutely nothing

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to do with At The Drive-In and Guitar Hero, so, you know. As far as turning on kids to that kind of stuff…

When I’m in the airport, and I see people with kids, and I see that what they’ve got them for Christmas is Guitar Hero, I kind of wish I could go over there and set fire to their Guitar Hero, and buy them a real drum set, a real guitar.

“The amount of times I’ve heard people say ‘Ah, I think I know how to play guitar, I mean, I’m pretty good at Guitar Hero.’ I’m like, ‘Fuck technology’.”

‘Fuck technology’ indeed. Bixler-Zavala is vehemently against using the internet to further one’s music. “I sound old and jaded, but I come from a generation of musicians who, if you wanted to get a gig, you went round door to door. I think using the internet is a very corny way of not wanting to do the dirty work. If you do the dirty work, you build character, you gather an honest following.

Instead of one that’s pre-manufactured because people have heard about you on the internet. The internet spoils people. It spoils artists. And when you spoil artists, their art becomes compromised and diluted. I think that everyone should be a proper band first, instead of being huge in all five boroughs on the East Coast. People who blow up without going on tour turn into such brats with such high expectations. The only expectation you should have heading out on tour is to play to anybody.”

sighs, and replies, “I used to be part of the DIY scene, but it’s a romantic notion. It’s like trying to enforce socialism in a capitalistic society. After a while, I don’t want to sell my own T-shirts, I don’t want to book my own shows. I just want to be able to sit and chill at night, so that when it’s time for me to play, I can really meet the expectations that people have, or that people will remember from the previous show. But I think that most bands should start off that way, instead of cheating with MySpace and Facebook. It’s so easy for them to get their music out there, instead of doing it grass-roots style. You know, going from door to door, saying, ‘Hi, my name is blah blah blah’. If more bands did that, then their gigs would be more honest, and not so computer-generated.”

For a rock star who’s not quite yet 40, he’s coming across as quite the grumpy old man. In Bixler-Zavala’s eyes, the prospects for musicians in the computer age aren’t good – DIY doesn’t work, and the Internet is ‘cheating’. It seems that musicians can’t win either way – apart from constant touring, which costs a lot of money that few have. What, if anything, is the solution? Hard work and humility, it would appear.

“If I have a kid and he wants to play, I’m going to make him join the food service industry for five years so he can be humbled by what it’s like to deal with real people.”

OCTAHEDRON IS OUT NOW ON MERCURY. Such opinions are bizarre, coming from a man who used to play a large part on the El Paso DIY scene. He

WWW. THEMARSVOLTA.COM

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THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART SUPER FURRY ANIMALS

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It’s an early Monday evening in Wrexham and the town has already closed for the night. You have a stinking head cold and a broken amp. Your fellow band mates have been locked out of the venue you’re playing at later. And, to make matters even worse, before you can tuck into a rather dishevelled burger and chips, you have two interviews to endure – one for a local radio station and another with some shady-looking bloke from AU magazine. Kip Berman, lead singer and guitarist of Brooklyn’s The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, is living the rock ‘n’ roll dream.

Words by John Freeman

Since releasing their exhilarating, eponymously titled debut album earlier in the year, and blowing away a huge chunk of the opposition at South By Southwest, The Pains (for short, in the interest of preserving our poor fingers) have nestled easily into the moniker of one of 2009’s ‘hottest new bands’. After a number of blistering shows in the UK, fans and critics have lapped up their sweet noise-pop songs, which pilfer from Nineties fuzzguitar bands like My Bloody Valentine and Ride.

Despite his self-inf licted malady (“due to too many late nights – well, actually two late nights!”), Kip happily chats about his favourite bands (he has lots) while sniff ling from behind his handkerchief.

He speaks quickly and quietly in a soft Noo Yawk drawl, and it seems that even in north Wales on a Monday, Kip and his fellow bandmates (co-vocalist and keyboard-player Peggy Wang, bassist Alex Naidus and drummer Kurt Feldman) are having a ball. “We’ve played in Brighton and a couple of nights in London. The London shows were sold out which was really exciting. It was a thrill, because now the album is out people know the music a little more. It was great touring before, just because it was fun, but now people know the songs it’s really cool.”

It must be stomach-churningly exciting becoming a hotly-tipped new band, but Kip seems genuinely unaware of the buzz in the UK – a singer at the eye of a press storm. “I guess I don’t have perspective on it, and coming from America I don’t have knowledge of what the recognised press is over here.

In America, most of the music press has moved online, so there isn’t even an opportunity for new bands to appear in magazines that might influence people knowing about them,” Kip explains.

“The big magazines have lost their pacemaker status. A publication like Rolling Stone will put the Red Hot Chili Peppers on the cover every month and ask, ‘Is this their greatest album yet?’. That’s great to sell established bands, but for new bands most people use the web and discover them on their own. I don’t know if the [UK] press has been good or bad, but the shows have been really fun.”

A subject that Kip is knowledgeable about (in hugely endearing, lengthy, fanboy detail) is the transparent myriad of British bands that have inf luenced The Pains. AU can hear My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Thorn’ in the machine-gun drumming of ‘Come Saturday’, while ‘Tenure Itch’ sounds eerily like ‘The Hardest Thing In The World’ by The Stone Roses. Kip agrees, sort of. “My Bloody Valentine are a great band. I’m actually a big fan of the earlier stuff the most, like Ecstasy And Wine, when they were more of a pop band. But ‘Come Saturday’ also rips off Teenage Fanclub’s ‘Star Sign’ a lot, at least in the descending chords. I don’t have a problem ripping off either of those bands, because they’re great.”

Kip’s on a roll now, freely admitting to getting Jarvis Cocker’s autograph the other day, before quickly adding “for my girlfriend”. He talks about their UK tour being a pilgrimage to the birthplaces of some of their favourite bands. “Travelling has been really fun and every city has a musical

tradition. Manchester is almost as significant as anywhere. But also, Glasgow is a city that means a lot to us, due to bands like Teenage Fanclub and The Pastels, and going back further to Orange Juice, Aztec Camera and The Vaselines, who were the first one I knew because Kurt Cobain was always name-checking them.”

The man knows his stuff – when AU suggests The Jesus And Mary Chain can be added to his Glasgow list, Kip quickly points out our geographical mistake, “No, they were from just outside Glasgow.” He was right, of course; East Kilbride is a whole seven miles south of the city.

One-nil to The Pains.

artificial – you don’t want every song to be about riding bicycles, holding hands or making cupcakes either. They have to be honest, and we try to be honest about life.

“If people see that as something innocent and joyful, and it makes them happy listening to it, then that’s a good thing and it’s done something. If you can make anything, and it’s a beautiful thing that people like – like a chair, or a building, or a pop song – then it seems like something good to be valued and respected.”

But surely, Kip’s own band comes from what seems currently to be the hottest musical borough on the planet: Brooklyn. Each week seems to reveal an awesome new talent from just a single area of New York. “It’s a wonderful place just to be a music fan”, says Kip. “Even if I wasn’t in a band I’d go and see Vivian Girls, Crystal Stilts or Grizzly Bear. Those bands are bigger now, but you can see great stuff all the time. Every place to make music has its blessings.”

The remainder of 2009 will see the band playing live shows but also finding time to release some new material. “The next phase for us right now is touring. We haven’t gone to many places yet. We also have a couple of non-album singles coming out this summer. It’s kinda nice with those singles, as you don’t have to worry about them in the context of the album, and it opens them up to sound how I really wanted them to sound. They sound a little more diverse than the album – when you do an album you kinda want it to be variations on a theme when you listen to it. But with the singles, each song can be its own fresh world.”

However, he seems less impressed at the notion of a ‘Brooklyn scene’. “It’s more of a journalist thing.

However, don’t expect to see The Pains slogging round the festival circuit this summer – they’re

“I DON’T HAVE A PROBLEM RIPPING OFF MBV OR TEENAGE FANCLUB, BECAUSE THEY’RE GREAT.” Like there will be [an article about] ‘five Brooklyn bands you should see’ and we’ll be on the list. But ultimately what defines a band is if they’re good, not where they’re from. I almost feel more proud to be part of the tradition that created the Ramones and Blondie, like those late Seventies punk bands that became pop bands. We’ve [New York] a huge tradition beyond what is being celebrated at the present.”

Later in the evening, during their 35-minute set, Kip dedicates a throbbing ‘Young Adult Friction’ to notable Welsh music icons “John Cale and Charlotte Church” (that is one duet AU would like to hear). The crowd of about 80 in-the-know folk jostle each other down the front during a gorgeous, swooning ‘Stay Alive’, before a deafening, magical ‘This Love Is Fucking Right!’ shreds their eardrums. But underneath the swathes of feedback are sweet, uplifting pop songs, as Kip is eager to point out. “I think people spend a lot of time analysing our music and try to hyphenate things, like ‘is this noise-pop or is this new-gaze?’. I just think of it as pop and it should work in the context of the songs just being pop; if they’re good songs and they’re catchy and you can remember them.”

The Pains’ music is also often described as ‘innocent’ and ‘joyful’; tags that Kip is not uncomfortable with. “The songs are joyful, they’re not false that way. They don’t exude a kind of false, ‘Oh, everything’s perfect in the world’. But hopefully when you listen to the album, you feel better that you did before. I’d hate to make an album that made people feel worse. But at the same time, you don’t want to create something that’s

only playing one, after being personally invited by Tim Burgess of The Charlatans. “We try to avoid them. Festivals are sometimes a tough way to have a first experience of a new band. They don’t know you and you kinda have to be big to play those festivals. There is a time and a place – if Oasis play a festival it’s a huge cultural moment. However, we are playing the Isle of Wight festival, but that’s because Tim Burgess wrote [to] me on MySpace – and I had to say ‘yes’.”

And then it happens – AU cannot hide its curiosity any longer and begs forgiveness for asking the cheesiest of interview questions – just how did the band come up with their quite brilliant name?

Kip is either a true gent, and/or in dire need of that awaiting burger. “Hey, don’t apologise for asking, we’re a cheesy kinda band! It’s the title of a children’s story written by a friend of mine. And the story’s moral is that the time you spend with friends and the adventures you have are more important than worldly accomplishment or anything like that.

The thing for this band is that we’re all friends and having the time of our lives. We travel and get to play music every night – it’s kinda the greatest thing ever.” Now that is heart-warming.

THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART IS OUT NOW ON FORTUNA POP. WWW.MYPACE.COM/ THEPAINSOFBEINGPUREATHEART

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triggered automatically at launch, but asked what ever happened to that footage. They had no idea. I discovered that it was shipped down to the rocket research centre in Huntsville, Alabama, where I found it jumbled into two cardboard cartons under a workbench. If nothing blew up, the technicians weren’t interested, and after a while they were going to toss it out.”

One of the people familiar with Kamecke’s work was the British filmmaker Christopher Riley.

In time to come, he would play a pivotal role in restoring Kamecke’s vision for a new, more appreciative generation of viewers.

Words by Ross Thompson

History is dominated by tragic events. Wars, famines, assassinations, earthquakes, sieges, plane crashes, scandals, murders… Start talking about those moments that changed the course of human history, and pretty soon someone will mention the day that Kennedy was shot from the grassy knoll, or the moment that two atomic bombs were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. We fail to remember that the passage of time has just as frequently been rerouted by the forces of good. In 1969, the Apollo 11 shuttle shot off into space, with the Moon as its destination. Its passengers, three astronauts would soon stroll across the planet’s surface, whilst around 600 million people watched enrapt in the comfort of their own living rooms. Contracted by NASA to make a “time capsule” to document the event, Theo Kamecke responded with his film Moonwalk One, in which he wrangled with the philosophical ramifications of living in a universe that had just multiplied in size. Here, he speaks to AU about witnessing the dawn of a new era…

It’s amazing how easily accustomed we have become to magic. And not the fake kind either. How casual we are about the sun, moon and stars which give light to our world. Stop. Think about it for a second: somewhere above our puny globe, huge, rolling spheres are suspended in space, gently librating.

These celestial bodies move silently on their orbits on set paths, without colliding with each other or boring a hole through our earth. Day by day these processes take place, allowing our lives to continue, allowing sailors to charter paths at sea, allowing poets to write romantic odes to their lovers, yet still we take such magic for granted. We go about our day to day lives, and somehow forget the mind-blowing laws of physics which hold the cosmos in place above us.

We also seem to forget that 40 years ago Man first walked on the Moon. The Space Race was officially over – or had only just begun, depending on how you look at it – when Neil Armstrong uttered those immortal words about taking one small step. In our era of cleverdickery, we now even regard that as a cliché. This might explain why Moonwalk One, Theo Kamecke’s wonderful account of the build-up to the lunar landing, remained in obscurity for over 30 years. It received favourable reviews upon its release in 1970, but soon afterwards the importance of this landmark event was eclipsed as even something as astounding as space travel became trivial.

WATCH THE SKIES In the fictional world, Apollo 11 was neither the first or last mission from Earth into outer space. Here are some of the most memorable…

LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE (1902) Georges Méliès’ fanciful short in which hirsute gentleman astronomers shoot off in a rocket and poke the Man in the Moon in the eye.

“You have to bear in mind that even after the film was finished there were still Apollo missions going to the Moon,” says Kamecke. “There was better video transmission, rovers they could drive around in, different kinds of rocks they could look for, but on balance just more of the same. The public’s interest in space travel had its limits. This was pretty much what I had expected, and I had moved on. More than a year had gone by when I learned that the film had been shown at Cannes and was awarded a special prize. Nobody bothers to tell the filmmaker until a reviewer from a New York paper calls it a ‘sleeper’ among American films at the festival. But because of its subject matter it still was not of public interest, and so it sank into near oblivion for decades.”

Consequently, the prints of Moonwalk One became as forgotten as the lost ark: some of the footage was presumed lost, whilst the rest of it gathered dust in steel boxes squirreled away underneath Kamecke’s desk. What little original material that remained was pilfered for other documentaries.

“I wonder how many of the producers who borrowed scenes ever gave thought as to how they came to be in the film in the first place – the spectacular footage of the launch, for instance.

I had noticed in a technical manual obtained from NASA that 240 engineering cameras were

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) Stanley Kubrick ponders the existential conundrum posed by human attempts to populate the vast and desolate void of space. Viewer ponders the contents of their bellybutton.

CAPRICORN ONE (1978) After America’s space program falsifies a televised jaunt to Mars, three astronauts go on the run from a massive government conspiracy.

Pure hokum, but entertaining hokum. Contains O.J. Simpson.

“I first came across Moonwalk One about 12 years ago when a colleague at the BBC showed me an old tape of the film,” enthuses Riley. “We were all spellbound by it and would occasionally recut some of the footage from it into our own films. I always suspected that there was a copy on film somewhere still, but whenever I asked at NASA no one knew much about it.”

As the world approached the 40th anniversary of astronauts casually meandering across the Moon’s crust, a group of producers sought out as much original material as they could find. Riley was one of those involved in the project.

“In 2007 we tracked down Theo through the internet and found that he still had a 35mm film print of the full-length director’s cut of the film.

Since then we’ve been working to restore and renovate the film to release for a new 21st century audience.”

Watching the new Director’s Cut of Moonwalk One is, to be frank, a slightly surreal and unsettling experience. It’s coloured by an otherworldly, dreamlike style, as if Nicolas Roeg has directed a piece for the Discovery Channel. To make matters more psychedelic, it’s set against a kaleidoscope of late Sixties and early Seventies sounds: funk and paisley pop are mixed with stretches of eerie silence.

“The film’s composer Charlie Morrow understood how I wanted to handle it,” says Kamecke, “that I wanted it to have a sense of mystery while in other parts to be firmly down to earth. He could write a rock song where it was needed, he could get hold of a cathedral organ where it was needed. For the ‘Earth Poem’ sequence he came up with a heartbeat, breathing and a cello. It brings tears to your eyes if you’re even partially human.”

Moonwalk One opens with a haunting series of shots of Stonehenge, not only because it symbolises human engineering but also because the monument is said to be where man first observed the stars.

It initially befuddles you, and along with the dry, rumbling voiceover, you would be forgiven for thinking that Spinal Tap are about to appear in a cloud of dry ice and studded leathers. The whole of Moonwalk One is driven by this evocative, philosophical approach. It’s fitting, given that the mythical character Apollo is often named as a god of poetry and the arts.

“There are countless ways a documentary about Apollo 11 could have been made,” continues Kamecke. “It could have been highly technical with lots of fascinating details; it could have traced the development of the space program or boasted of

BUTTON MOON (1980 – 1988) In this classic children’s television show, Mr. Spoon jets off in his homebuilt capsule to the titular satellite, where he meets a grasshopper, talking umbrellas and an amnesiac grasshopper. Based on actual events.

APOLLO 13 (1995) Based on the failed lunar mission of 1970, Messrs. Hanks, Bacon and Paxton get into a spot of bother with some faulty cryogenic oxygen tanks. Hanks famously says, “Houston, life is like a box of chocolates.” Or something.

A GRAND DAY OUT (1989) The debut of Wallace and Gromit.

Guess what? The moon is made out of cheese. And cracking cheese at that.

Iheartau.com

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“I think it’s touching to learn that the ladies who so carefully stitched together the spacesuits for the astronauts had white hair and were using foot pedal machines from 1900 for this precision work,” says Kamecke, empathetically. “They dreamed of going into space themselves, and hoped it was their gloves or their boots that stepped on the Moon. Our grandmothers dressed us for a walk on the Moon.”

As Moonwalk One progresses, as you become accustomed to its curious rhythms; you become more deeply convinced of the way in which this event galvanised the world’s populace – even if it was only for a few stolen moments.

“It was mankind that stepped on the Moon,” Kamecke continues. “Some of us run spaceships, some of us run hotdog stands. Some of us paddle a canoe hunting for fish for dinner, some of us grind the corn. We all went the Moon, and that’s what everyone believed at the time. The million who came down to watch the launch and spill food on each other, the crowds who celebrated, and the astronauts who flew down to the surface of the Moon were us.”

If you take the time to pause and consider that such an accomplishment was possible – that human beings really did defy the laws of gravity and probability – it is difficult to believe that it actually happened at all.

When we do not respond to the lunar landing with apathy, we do so with incredulity.

“Your point about it being hard to believe today is also behind the commonly held belief that maybe it didn’t happen,” affirms Riley. “But we can assure you that it did. There isn’t one single conspiracy theory that holds any truth.”

Kamecke agrees: “Notwithstanding how difficult it was to do in actuality, it would have been 100 times more difficult to fake. Can you imagine getting hundreds of thousands of people to keep their mouths shut for the past 40 years? I always wanted to ask a conspiracy theorist how stupid they think the scientists of the Soviet Union were that they fell for this – or perhaps they were in on the scam. No, some things really happened in history just the way the books have it.”

THEO KAMECKE

It is difficult to fathom that a film as valuable as Moonwalk One could have been forgotten, but its most praiseworthy achievement is of coaxing the viewer into experiencing this feeling of awe afresh, or to sense it for the first time.

NASA’s competence; it could have cast a jaundiced eye at the whole program which ignored all the suffering in the world – though probably not on NASA’s coin. I chose to make Moonwalk One like an epic about the time when Man left his earth and walked on another world. If mankind’s history is looked at aeons from now, this point will have to be marked, along with the discovery of fire. So I tried to make it somewhat poetic and myth-like, to have the feel of a tale told round a campfire.”

Like all good SF, one of the most engrossing aspects of the film is found in the contrast between the mechanical and the emotional.

The viewer is reminded that the trio of Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin (famous for being the second man on the Moon. To quote his appearance in The Simpsons: “Second comes right after first!”) were just normal guys who experienced something insanely abnormal. This human element is vital to the success of Moonwalk One. Yes, your spine may be tingled by the site of a huge rocket firing its

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engines and launching upwards into the heavens, but your heart will burst at the countless numbers of regular Joes and Janes who allowed such alchemy to happen.

“It was very, very hard to land men on the Moon and return them safely,” adds Riley, paraphrasing President Kennedy. “It took 400,000 – yes, 400,000!

– engineers the best part of eight years to make it happen. And throughout that time it must have seemed impossible as things would often go wrong.

But against all the odds in July 1969 NASA landed their Eagle Lander on the Sea Of Tranquility. Theo, the only civilian, was actually there in Mission Control at this moment.”

The film goes to great pains to remind the viewer just how much human effort went into keeping the Apollo shuttle aloft. And we’re not just talking about the genius of astronautics which makes spaceflight possible. In a key sequence, we see the women who beavered away to fashion the clothes necessary for the mission.

“I hadn’t given the film much thought in many years,” Kamecke confides. “I hadn’t seen the film as originally edited for almost 39 years. Even the version shown at Cannes was shortened by several minutes in an attempt by NASA to interest distributors. It was nice to put back the footage the way I intended it. The restoration also gave me the chance to do something with the soundtrack of the launch sequence which I had always wanted to do.

Being back in the editing room was not strange at all – it could have been only yesterday, except that the equipment was all leading edge digital, instead of the noisy moviolas we used back then, which looked like small jeeps.”

Now working as a sculptor, and making visually stunning pieces which look like futuristic obelisks modelled on Egyptian architecture, Kamecke has found the process a hugely rewarding one which, and reminded him exactly why he made the film in the first place.

“As I watched Moonwalk One again, I think I hit the mark. Yes, it was sometimes an emotional experience, but I don’t think that had anything to do with my making it. It was because the film did exactly what I meant it to do: to create an emotional and memorable experience for the viewer.”

Moonwalk One does exactly that. Blast off, relive history, feel the magic.

MOONWALK ONE - THE DIRECTOR’S CUT IS AVAILABLE NOW.

RECORD REVIEWS PG. 55 // UNSIGNED UNIVERSE PG. 63 // LIVE REVIEWS PG. 64

UM ALBT HE OF NTH MO

MOS DEF THE ECSTATIC DOWNTOWN/COOPERATIVE MUSIC

It’s just shy of 10 years since Mos Def ’s stonking solo debut Black On Both Sides, and it’s fair to say that his musical fortunes have been mixed since then.

Subsequent albums of questionable quality suggested he was treading water, and in recent years he’s stepped away from the mic altogether, developing a successful sideline as a Grammy-nominated actor. Given that his last release – the low-key and poorly received True Magic – was back in 2006, The Ecstatic will inevitably be billed as his ‘comeback’ album and, as such, it’s a pretty important moment for the Brooklyn native.

Fortunate, then, that The Ecstatic proves to be an absolute riot of diverse, diverting grooves, startling production – courtesy of Madlib, J Dilla, Oh No and others – and that winning, trademark Def drawl.

‘Supermagic’ is a stop-you-in-your-tracks opener, introduced by a sample of a revolution-espousing Malcolm X and riding on a sample of Middle Eastern psyche rock courtesy of Oh No while Mos provides the most enigmatic of lyrics, including

the genius-nonsense chorus “Super-magic-blackorigin-fresh-we-are-the-dopeness.” More ominous altogether is ‘Twilite Speedball’ as Mos mutters about “bad news and good dope” over unnerving brass stabs. Completing a pretty stunning opening trio is the Madlib-helmed ‘Auditorium’, Mos Def laying down some audaciously tight rhymes over a hazy, smoked-out, Bollywood backing before Slick Rick drops in on the second verse to complete what is a quite magnificent track.

One might expect that it would be almost impossible to maintain this standard over an entire album, but damn if Mos Def doesn’t almost pull it off with a series of jaw-dropping tunes. ‘Priority’ is barely 80 seconds long but is absolutely irresistible, based on an insidiously catchy piano-and-horns riff, while ‘History’ (produced by the late J Dilla) reunites Mos Def and Talib Kweli (who previously teamed up together for the classic Black Star album in 1998) for a sumptuous slice of neo-soul. And then there’s album centre-piece ‘Quiet Dog’. Prefaced by a spoken sample from an uncompromising Fela Kuti, it’s a bold statement of intent, propelled by a relentless bass pulse as Mos defiantly states “Quiet Dog – bite hard”. Throughout, the lyrics are by turns thoughtful,

abstract, positive, righteously angry and witty, as on first single ‘Life In Marvellous Times’ when he slams a certain “Mr Showman, what a prick / Attitude matched his wardrobe / Uglier than sin.”

To nitpick, there are perhaps one or two songs on this that don’t quite stand up in such exalted company – the cod-reggae delivery in the chorus of ‘Workers Comp’ is maybe a slight mis-step. But these are very minor quibbles in the context of an album that is almost uniformly excellent. For the most part this is a thrilling ride courtesy of a clutch of awesome producers and, in Mos Def himself, an MC who sounds utterly rejuvenated and on top of his game.

“Don’t call it a comeback,” he warns on ‘History’.

He might protest, but a comeback The Ecstatic most certainly is, and it’s an absolute triumph. Neill Dougan

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘TWILITE SPEEDBALL’, ‘AUDITORIUM’, ‘PRIORITY’, ‘HISTORY’, ‘QUIET DOG’.

FOR FANS OF: A TRIBE CALLED QUEST, THE ROOTS. Iheartau.com

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CUTAWAYS EARTH AND EARTHLY THINGS SELF-RELEASED

They can be a frustrating band, the Cutaways. Capable of moments of sublime indie-pop delirium, they also have an occasional tendency to write songs that just don’t hang together as a whole. First the good news, though.

This self-released debut album features all four tracks from last year’s excellent Start Stop, Start Stop! EP, and while they count among the highlights, the band prove that there’s more punchy exuberance where they came from. The excitable single ‘Milo Of Kroton’ follows the formula set by ‘Lovers Are Lunatics’ and ‘Weapon Of Choice’, with its sci-fi synths, piston drumming and huge, scything chorus. ‘A Better Paul’ and the happy/ sad closer ‘Fight To The Death’ are the other non-EP highlights, but the nervous energy displayed throughout the record is almost to its detriment, as the band refuse to settle on a good hook and instead snatch it away before it has a chance to develop. There is gold here, but it requires a bit of sifting. Chris Jones

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘LOVERS ARE LUNATICS’, ‘WEAPON OF CHOICE’, A BETTER PAUL’.

FOR FANS OF: LOS CAMPESINOS!, BLACK KIDS, OPPENHEIMER.

EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROS UP FROM BELOW ROUGH TRADE

From the opening Spector/Lennon lollop of ‘40 Day Dream’, Up From Below lays out a musical agenda that’s as diverse as it is endearing. Edward Sharpe (his mum calls him Alex Ebert) and The Magnetic Zeros debut initially comes on like a quite good Arcade Fire, or Broken Social Scene B-side, but then the album mutates into something else altogether with the remarkable central triptych of acid-drop duet ‘Home’, the huge psychic howl of ‘Desert Song’ and the echo-laden Fifties balladeering of ‘Black Water’. It’s unsurprising to learn that the band are planning to produce a series of short films to accompany the album. Up From Below could be the soundtrack to a Jim Jarmusch western. Another standout track, ‘Kisses over Babylon’ arrived 44 years too late for Sergio Leone, but just in time for us. Joe Nawaz

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘UP FROM BELOW’, ‘40 DAY DREAM’, ‘HOME’.

FOR FANS OF: ARCADE FIRE, ENNIO MORRICONE, JOHNNY CASH.

THE GHOST OF A THOUSAND NEW HOPES, NEW DEMONSTRATIONS EPITAPH

Along with Gallows and Rolo Tomassi, The Ghost Of A Thousand are flying the flag for British hardcore and giving American heavyweights The Bronx and Cancer Bats a run for their money in the process. This second album expands on the bracingly direct scream-fest that was 2007’s This Is Where The Fight Begins and heads in the direction of Swedish sonic adventurers Refused.

The Brighton band understand that their chosen genre is inherently restrictive, and so you’ll find dynamic variation, actual singing, an atmospheric interlude track and even a guitar solo or two. Most of all, though, it’s a kick-ass punk rock album that rails against all the usual targets while fighting the underdog’s corner – “We’re screaming for the kids that finish last,” vocalist Lacey exclaims on ‘Fed To The Ocean’, and you find yourself willing him on. Things

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do get cringeworthy from time to time (hello, mid-section of ‘Good Old Fashioned Loss’) and individual songs don’t tend to stick around long in the memory, but the album is short and fierce enough to set those issues aside and just think of it as one 35-minute boot to the knackers.

And it does that job admirably. Chris Jones

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘NEPTUNE’, ‘BRIGHT LIGHTS’, ‘FED TO THE OCEAN’.

FOR FANS OF: REFUSED, GALLOWS, THE BRONX.

MOBY WAIT FOR ME LITTLE IDIOT

Freed from commercial constraints by releasing this new album on his own imprint, Moby has decided to delve deep into the world of ambient music. With his trademark hooks checked at the door, this album must stand or fall on its emotional resonance. We know he’s capable of pulling off this particular trick – think of his best soundtrack work or the fascinating Little Idiot CD that came with Animal Rights – but unfortunately, much of Wait For Me falls short, achieving a kind of bland prettiness which fails to engage the listener in any meaningful way. The first three tracks (the ‘Porcelain’aping ‘Pale Horses’ especially) are worthwhile if somewhat truncated, but with so many career ambient artists doing this stuff better, it’s hard to see what purpose Wait For Me can ultimately serve. Lee Gorman

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘DIVISION’, ‘SHOT IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD’, ‘PALE HORSES’.

FOR FANS OF: BRIAN ENO, ELUVIUM, SAXON SHORE.

ODD NOSDAM T.I.M.E. SOUNDTRACK ANTICON

For last year’s This is My Element skate flick, the brand enlisted legendary prog-hop label Anticon to create a pioneering single-artist, original soundtrack. At the helm is Anticon’s veteran circuit-bender Odd Nosdam, fully embracing his muse to mine a rich vein of warm kickflip spiritualism. Grounded by the beautiful affinity that hip-hop rhythms enjoy with freestyle skating, a litter of analogue pops, textural quirks and ambient guitar wash become the alternating grain and imperfections of aging asphalt. A drawback is that, as with many soundtrack albums, the sound is luxurious but frail too and the interludes – designed to accompany the edits and changes of an on-screen skater – don’t entirely make sense without the original visuals.

Incidental music without the incident. John Calvert

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘WIG SMASHER’, ‘T.I.M.E. IN’, ‘ETHEREAL SLAP’.

FOR FANS OF: AUTECHRE, BOARDS OF CANADA, DJ SHADOW.

CLUTCH STRANGE COUSINS FROM THE WEST WEATHERMAKER MUSIC

Nearly 20 years after their formation, Clutch still represent one of the boldest propositions in the world of hard rock. On this occasion, the Maryland fivepiece play it outrageously bluesy on what is surely their most stripped-down and riff-oriented album to date. Their ninth effort, Strange Cousins From The West

is stuffed with bombastic funky rhythms and crispy guitars, sliding seamlessly from blues to hard rock.

Often they achieve this transition within the grooves of one track – as on the staggering ‘Let A Poor Man Be’. Elsewhere, make sure and acquaint yourself with brilliant starter ‘Motherless Child’, the monstrous Hendrix-esque ‘50,000 Unstoppable Watts’ and the almost casually brutal ‘Struck Down’. What’s more, Clutch have chosen ASIWYFA to support them on their European summer stroll. Could they be any more awesome? Virginia Arroyo

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘LET A POOR MAN BE’, '50,000 UNSTOPPABLE WATTS’, ‘STRUCK DOWN’.

FOR FANS OF: WOLFMOTHER, JIMI HENDRIX, BLACK STONE CHERRY.

IMPERIAL LEISURE THE ART OF SAYING NOTHING STEAMROLLER MUSIC

As The Specials’ reunion tour opens ska to a new generation, North London party geezers Imperial Leisure are the archetypal 21st century rude boys.

Their debut album is a riotous head-rush, outlining roguish tales of booze, sexual conquests and general debauchery, set against a musical backdrop of ska, punk and rap. Produced by Junk Scientist, it starts at a ferocious pace, the horn section propelling the irresistible anthems ‘Untouchable’ and ‘Man On The Street’, before the beats per minute actually increase further on the beery chant of ‘In A Letter’. All this testosterone finally fades for the sweetly sardonic ‘Alperton’, before, as boys will be boys, the libidinous ‘The Landlord’s Daughter’ paints lyrical pictures of “jiggly boobs”. A healthy dose of cheeky-chappy self-deprecation saves The Art Of Saying Nothing from outright misogynism, and it’s hard to deny the infectious hooks or Imperial Leisure’s desire to turn the summer into one endless party. John Freeman

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘UNTOUCHABLE’, ‘ALPERTON’, ‘THE LANDLORD’S DAUGHTER’.

FOR FANS OF: THE SPECIALS, THE STREETS.

HOPEWELL GOOD GOOD DESPERATION TEE PEE

Brooklyn-based Hopewell have lashed together elements of gutsy blues, psychedelic rock, mindmelting Hammond riffs and symphonic chutzpah to create this, their seventh studio album. An encyclopaedic array of influences is apparent here, from Stravinsky to Debussy, Pink Floyd to Roxy Music. From the soothing vocals of the opening track right through to the sitar-tinged and maniacal ‘Bury My Standing’, Good Good Desperation is a full-blooded record that offers more surprises than you could possibly imagine. The style shifts evident on each track are astounding, but it’s all carried off with aplomb and held together with spit and deceptive ease. Swerving from anthemic riffs to softly cooing lullabies to wigged-out and trippy frenzies in a heartbeat, the result is a richly textured and provocative record. And while you’re never sure where it’ll veer off to next, it’s a fun and unforgettable ride finding out. James Gracey

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘OVER THE MOUNTAIN’, ‘ISLAND’, GOOD GOOD GOOD DESPERATION’.

FOR FANS OF: THE FLAMING LIPS, DEAD MEADOW, JANE’S ADDICTION.

ALBUM REVIEWS

KANYE WEST & MALIK YUSEF G.O.O.D. MORNING, G.O.O.D. NIGHT: DAWN / DUSK MODULAR

Clever enough to give hip-hop the inventive tweak it needed to push on, Kanye once again reiterates his desire to innovate by allying with spoken word artist Malik Yusef. G.O.O.D. Morning, G.O.O.D. Night is a two-disc set, centred around the struggle between one’s higher and lower selves —Dawn and Dust. In total there are some 30 songs, with each track representing a distinct 48 minute segment of the day. Opening track, ‘G.O.O.D. Morning Luv’ is a sweet and drowsy awakening, with Yusef setting a tender R&B tone. Meanwhile Kanye appears to have snapped out of the forlorn funk of his previous album 808s & Heartbreak, here offering some effervescent tuneage and winning collaborations, most notably ‘U-N-I Verses Mine’ featuring Twista and ‘Promise Land’ with Adam Levine. Elsewhere, first single, ‘Magic Man’ finds Yusef and Common joining forces to compelling effect. The record comes to an end with the onetwo blast of the guitar-laden ‘So Pop U Layer’ and ‘Stop’, a whispered R&B ditty that brings us almost full-circle. Virginia Arroyo

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘U-N-I VERSES MINE’, ‘MAGIC MAN’, ‘KNOW GOD?’, ‘SO POP U LAYER’.

FOR FANS OF: N*E*R*D, COMMON, JAY Z.

PATRICK KELLEHER YOU LOOK COLD OSAKA

Dublin-based songwriter Patrick Kelleher is something of a seductive oddity. Debut record You Look Cold is equally pop-fuelled and ethereal, weaving impressive melodies and catchy motifs. Referencing everything from Dylan to Rothko, Mr Kelleher manages to elicit emotion from the strangest of places; a gifted musician indeed. Fascinating and engaging, Kelleher is home-grown talent of the highest order. Highly recommended. David Hamilton

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘WINTERTIME’S DOLL’, ‘MULTIPASS’.

FOR FANS OF: LABRADFORD, DAVID KITT, BOARDS OF CANADA.

OEN SUJET LIFE GIVEN TO QUIET PLACES LOAF

SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO TEMPORARY PLEASURE WICHITA

Simian Mobile Disco’s debut album Attack Decay Sustain Release was a lot of fun, but often in the same way that Big Macs are enjoyable – a taste sensation as long as they are around, but not a satisfactory meal. Two years on, the likes of ‘Sleep Deprivation’ and especially ‘I Believe’ stand up better than Ritalin rave-ups like ‘Hotdog’ and ‘Tits And Acid’, and it’s not just us that feel that way. It turns out that those first two songs were the last ones written for the first album, and James Ford and Jas Shaw have mostly continued in that satisfyingly restrained vein on album number two.

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They admit themselves that they have become bored of the electro arms race, as producers find new and more obnoxious ways to give you a headache, turning towards the more refined charms of techno and Italo disco while simultaneously embracing songcraft. Ford and Shaw’s startlingly successful last couple of years – both as SMD and working with acts including Arctic Monkeys, Klaxons, Peaches and Florence and the Machine – have seen them build up an impressive black book of contacts, and it’s been used to the fullest here, as they coax Beth Ditto, Gruff Rhys, Jamie Lidell, Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor and Edinburgh hip-hop trio Young Fathers into their London studio, with Yeasayer’s Chris Keating and avant-pop duo Telepathe emailing contributions from New York.

DOWNLOAD: ‘BIRD AND BINOCULAR’.

FOR FANS OF: JUANA MOLINA, PSAPP.

Keating’s appearance on the single ‘Audacity Of Huge’ is, perhaps surprisingly, the highlight. It

Imagine a white room, with no furniture – only a door and a skylight. The shaft of light is coming from the ceiling, making an even brighter patch in the centre of the sparse room. The light highlights how empty the surroundings are, and, by contrast, how different the world outside is. Sparse electronica such as Oen Sujet should be that shaft of light, but instead, the record falls short of its mark. Though rapid violins mix with processed beats (‘Bird and Binocular’) the LP is too sterile and distant to ever inspire reflection, let alone illumination. Ailbhe Malone

marries a bouncy-ball beat to a joyously nonsensical lyric that mentions everything and everyone from Mama Cass and the Sultan of Brunei to floorcleaning robots, and somehow comes up with an emotionally resonant chorus to go with it – “I got it all, so why don’t I get you?”. Keating is clearly some kind of alchemical genius. Another triumph comes from Beth Ditto, who showcases her seldom-seen sensitive side on the lovelorn ‘Cruel Intentions’, while Gruff Rhys does his weirdy beardy, psychedelic thing on the luxurious album opener ‘Cream Dream’. The reining-in of the first album’s noisy electro is, by the way, not at the cost of danceability – 80% of this record will go off in clubs, particularly the soulful ‘Synthesise’ and sweaty instrumentals ‘10000 Horses Can’t Be Wrong’ and ‘Ambulance’.

Unavoidably for an album of so many voices, though, not everything works, and the Young Fathers track in particular misses the mark by some distance, while the Alexis Taylor-fronted ‘Bad Blood’ is a little too close to his own band Hot Chip for comfort.

But the fact remains, SMD have set out to follow up a successful debut with a high profile dance record featuring lots of guest stars and they have done it without sacrificing one iota of credibility. For that alone, they deserve a medal. Chris Jones

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘AUDACITY OF HUGE (FEAT. CHRIS KEATING)’, ‘CRUEL INTENTIONS (FEAT. BETH DITTO)’, ‘SYNTHESISE’.

FOR FANS OF: THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS, DIGITALISM, GIORGIO MORODER. Iheartau.com

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TELEKINESIS TELEKINESIS! MORR MUSIC

Seattle may be best-known as the epicentre of grunge, but obviously no-one thought to inform its latest export. Brainchild of one Michael Benjamin Lerner, there may be a wistful undercurrent running through this stunning debut but it fully earns that exclamation mark, welding sunny vocal harmonies to massive, fuzzy guitars and effervescent pop rhythms. Recorded

by Death Cab’s Chris Walla, this is rock weaned on a thick stew of Pixies and Beach Boys; upbeat and lively, but with a sugar rush tempered by acoustic sections, keys, chimes and dark lyrical twists. Throw in a few curveballs like wonky piano jig ‘Calling All Doctors’ and the excellent bonus Coast Of Carolina EP, showcasing a sparser, more experimental side of the band, and you have a record worthy of soundtracking anyone’s summer. Lee Gorman

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘COAST OF CAROLINA’, ‘LOOK TO THE EAST’, ‘FOREIGN ROOM’.

FOR FANS OF: SMILE, SEAFOOD, THE SPINTO BAND.

ACOUSTIC LADYLAND LIVING WITH A TIGER

tumbles from the speakers. An exuberant, rousing and playful offering that exclaims, ‘Knock it back and get to the dance floor. Now!’ James Gracey

STRONG AND WRONG

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Part of the same F-IRE collective as Mercurynominated jazz darlings Polar Bear and lauded by the likes of Scott Walker and New York no-wave king James Chance, Acoustic Ladyland’s musical credentials are indisputable. A lot has changed since 2006’s acclaimed third album Skinny Grin; for one thing, mainman Pete Wareham has eschewed vocals this time around for an abrasive, sax-led assault. For another, key backing personnel have switched and guest appearances have been kept to a minimum, resulting in a tighter, leaner sound than before. With tracks like ‘The Mighty Q’ or the even mightier ‘Death

By Platitude’ (song title of the year?), they have much in common with the frenetic vibe of early Roxy cuts and erstwhile contributor James Chance. Living With A Tiger, however, is very much its own beast. Joe Nawaz

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘THE MIGHTY Q’, ‘DEATH BY PLATITUDE’, ‘WORRY’.

FOR FANS OF: POLAR BEAR, THE INVISIBLE, JAMES CHANCE AND THE CONTORTIONS.

THE FIERY FURNACES I’M GOING AWAY THRILL JOCKEY

Siblings Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger have once again struck gold with this, their eighth album. Eleanor’s unmistakable vocals constantly seem to jostle and always soar above the wealth of garage blues, jazz, rock and piano-bar joviality of proceedings. Curiously infectious and melodic, there are frantic rhythms that entwine with complex structures to form vigorous and soulful songs such as ‘Drive To Dallas’ and the hit-the-floor-running titular opener ‘I’m Going Away.’ The likes of the stutteringly enthusiastic ‘Charmaine Champagne’ and the increasingly cacophonous ‘The End is Near’ cast the listener adrift on a thrillingly diverse sonic voyage.

Like some manner of untamed beast, this album grooves, struts, slinks and at times just gracefully

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DOWNLOAD: ‘EVEN IN THE RAIN’, ‘CUT THE CAKE’, ‘LOST AT SEA’.

FOR FANS OF: THE WHITE STRIPES, BEN FOLDS FIVE, DEERHOOF.

WHITE DENIM FITS

recording the next instalment, Morgan lost his hearing for six weeks due to being caught in a tornado, and then a toxic allergic reaction caused three months of vocal paralysis. Yet none of the frustration or anxiety that Morgan experienced is evident in the music. The album exudes a sense of familiarity, of childhood birthdays, of dreams remembered (‘Mine and Mine Alone’), and of watching snow fall from behind frosty windows (‘As Long As We’re Together’). Sleigh bells shield the songs from the outside world, and within the LP, a cast of characters wake and sleep, and fall in and out of love. To term it ‘chamber pop’ would be too technical a term. Rather, think of it as ‘music from within a snow globe’. Ailbhe Malone

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 FULL TIME HOBBY

Rarely has an album been so aptly named. Returning to the fray barely a year after Workout Holiday beheaded critics and fans alike, White Denim’s sophomore offering continues in the same wildly spontaneous, spasmodic vein that made their name, defying classification with every jerk and screeching mid-song U-turn. Taking in clattering funk (‘I Start To Run’) frazzled psychedelic garage (‘Radio Milk’) and creeping, bongo-led lounge (‘Sex Prayer’), the album changes moods constantly, often within a few bars. This does tend to strangle some great ideas at birth, stopping great grooves dead just when they threaten to become irresistible, but for many this refusal to play the commercial game will just add to White Denim’s charm. Best just crank it up and enjoy the ride. Lee Gorman

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘RADIO MILK HOW CAN YOU STAND IT’, ‘EVERYBODY SOMEBODY’, ‘I START TO RUN’.

FOR FANS OF: MULE, JSBX, ROYAL TRUX.

ANDREW MORGAN PLEASE KID, REMEMBER BROKEN HORSE

Almost six years in the making, Please Kid Remember is the second recording in Morgan’s ‘Exile Trilogy’.

The opening record – Misadventures in Radiology – was voted one of Uncut’s best albums of 2004. While

DOWNLOAD: ‘TURN YOUR COLLAR TO THE COLD’, ‘FIVE PAINTINGS’.

FOR FANS OF: EVAN DANDO, BADLY DRAWN BOY, ELLIOTT SMITH.

SILICONE SOUL SILICONE SOUL SOMA

Techno and house production duo Silicone Soul have now been producing music for a full decade.

On this, their fourth studio album, the years spent honing and perfecting their craft have paid off in full.

Silicone Soul is a lush and mature record that uses a classic palette to paint fresh soundscapes. Opener ‘Koko’s Song’ uses a guitar line as a backbone and interweaves layers of melody on top, forming something truly emotive and rich. ‘Midnite Man’ has an acid undercurrent that squelches the track along before breaking down into a moment of horror show cinematics before creeping to a finish. There are tones and noises throughout the album that will be familiar to long-term dance music fans, but they’re all skewed and tweaked to march the sound onwards and into the future. Forward-thinking, electronic music of the highest quality. Jonny Tiernan

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘KOKO’S SONG’, ‘MIDNITE MAN’, ‘SEASONS OF WEIRD’.

FOR FANS OF: ORBITAL, SABRES OF PARADISE, SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO.

ALBUM REVIEWS

BILLY TALENT BILLY TALENT III

AUTOKRATZ ANIMAL

JACK PENATE EVERYTHING IS NEW

ATLANTIC

KITSUNE/CO-OPERATIVE

XL

Depending on your point of view, this outing marks either a necessary coming of age, or the stifling onset of maturity. Billy Talent III finds the Canadians delivering energy, angst and powerful beats in abundance. However, on this occasion, there’s also room for greater melody and mid-tempo experimentation. Note, in particular, ‘Sudden Movement’, or the swelling epic that is ‘White Sparrows’. Meanwhile, long time fans will rejoice in the presence of fast-paced drums, crunchy guitars, infectious hooks and the trademark screeches of Benjamin Kowalewicz. Still, it’s a more tempered sound than previously and the moshpit contingent will be concerned by the possibility that the quartet have burnt through most of their wild energy on those earlier outings. Virginia Arroyo

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘DEVIL ON MY SHOULDER’, ‘RUSTED FROM THE RAIN’, ‘SAINT VERONIKA’.

FOR FANS OF: RISE AGAINST, IN CASE OF FIRE, THREE DAYS GRACE.

THE VOLUNTARY BUTLER SCHEME AT BREAKFAST, DINNER, TEA

The debut album proper from autoKratz – aka London duo David Cox and Russell Crank – arrives on the back of 2008’s lauded Down & Out In Paris & London mini-album, and very much lives up to the buzz created by that release. Electro-house is pretty much the order of the day throughout, and it’s relentlessly bangin’ (to use the parlance), with the likes of recent single ‘Stay The Same’ and the frenetic ‘Gone Gone Gone’ proving particularly fearsome. In fact one could essentially pick any tune at random from the 11 on offer and you’d hit upon a dancefloor monster-in-waiting. That said, there’s a pop nous on show here too, Cox’s vocals providing the melodic hooks and occasionally recalling the blissed-out ennui of Bernard Sumner. Perhaps a bit more variety wouldn’t have gone amiss, but what do you expect, sensitive acoustic ballads? Not likely – Animal aims squarely at the dancefloor, and it hits the mark. Neill Dougan

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘STAY THE SAME’, ‘GONE GONE GONE’.

FOR FANS OF: DAFT PUNK, DIGITALISM.

BUTCH WALKER HERE COMES THE… EP POWER BALLAD/STAY PLATINUM

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘TRADING THINGS IN’, ‘MULTIPLAYER’.

FOR FANS OF: BRENDAN BENSON, BADLY DRAWN BOY.

TOBACCO FUCKED UP FRIENDS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘TONIGHT’S TODAY’, ‘EVERY GLANCE’, ‘SO NEAR’.

FOR FANS OF: FATBOY SLIM, GUILLEMOTS, FRIENDLY FIRES.

LISSY TRULLIE SELF-TAUGHT LEARNER EP WICHITA

SPLIT

The Voluntary Butler Scheme is 23 year old soloartist Rob Jones. Using only a bedroom studio “full of wires and keyboards” Jones has crafted an impressive debut record. Mixing elements of classic songwriting and post-modern self-sabotage the songs are fresh and engaging. With a DIY approach and the opportunity for fans to create their own re-mixes of selected tracks on MySpace, Jones has created something which is very much of its time, and all the better for it. David Hamilton

The timing of debut album Matinée was somewhat unfortunate, Jack Peñate becoming associated with the LDN crew just as its squawky social realism was proving tiresome. He was widely dismissed as a lucky scenester riding the coattails of acts such as Lily Allen, The Maccabees and Kate Nash. However, with Everything Is New, we see Peñate carve his own path with a new sound and a new image. Gone is the frantic rockabilly-indie-by-numbers of before and in its stead is lavish production – courtesy of Paul Epworth – tropical drums and future soul. ‘Pull My Heart Away’, ‘Tonight’s Today’ and ‘Every Glance’ are perfect examples of his new oeuvre; grandiose without sounding pompous and steeped in a pained melancholia that recalls Robert Smith. Perhaps not one of the most eagerly anticipated albums of 2009, Everything Is New has turned out to be one of the most surprising. Philip Taggart

Butch Walker has been the prolific wing-man to a plethora of renowned artistes and wannabe rockers from Lindsay Lohan to Fall Out Boy. The Here Comes The… EP is a taster for his new album Sycamore Meadows and the invigorating, soulful country rock of the title track appears in two versions, the opening radio mix featuring blink and you’ll miss them backing vocals from Pink and a tighter demo version to close. ‘I Want You To Want This Again’ is sublimely angst-ridden but not a downer by any stretch. Perfect late night, post-gig listening for those moon-through-the-curtains moments. Jeremy Shields

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: THE LOT. FOR FANS OF: JOHNNY CASH, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN.

THE MARS VOLTA OCTAHEDRON

ANTICON

With model looks and a suspiciously familiar sound, it would be easy to dismiss Lissy Trullie as just another trendy bandwagon-jumper. However, while The Strokes loom large over this outing, there are encouraging hints of their musical forebears Television in her meaty but accessible rock, and the songs are strong enough to merit a stay of execution. It will be interesting to see whether style or substance wins out in the end, but for now this EP will keep us going nicely. Lee Gorman

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘BOY BOY’, ‘READY FOR THE FLOOR’, ‘SHE SAID’.

FOR FANS OF: THE STROKES, THE VIRGINS, SKY LARKIN.

TINY MASTERS OF TODAY SKELETONS MUTE

MERCURY

This first solo offering from Black Moth Super Rainbow’s frontman serves up much of that band’s beautifully befuddled shimmer. The album’s crunching analogue beats and vocoder effects – both so beloved of the Pennsylvania collective – would suggest that it’s business as usual for the enigmatic Tobacco, except that the mainly instrumental Fucked Up Friends trades in tunes rather than moods. Pin-sharp melodies nailed to the reassuringly blissed-out clatter of aged electronica make for a massively compelling record. From the fuzzy bass stomp of album opener ‘Street Trash’ to the loping somnambulant groove of ‘Hairy Candy’, Fucked Up Friends could be a soundtrack to a beautiful summer nightmare. A fucked-up pop album, but a pop album nonetheless. Joe Nawaz

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘STREET TRASH’, ‘TRUCK SWEAT’, ‘HAIRY CANDY’.

FOR FANS OF: BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW, THE OCTOPUS PROJECT, ANIMAL COLLECTIVE.

The Mars Volta in under-egging the pudding shocker!

That’s right, everyone’s favourite OTT prog-metal exponents have taken a step back from the brink, reigned in their penchant for throwing the kitchen sink at every track and taken their foot off the gas.

The result is stunning; eight spellbinding tracks which weave gorgeous vocal harmonies around fantastic, interpretive drumming and their most melodic guitar work to date. Crucially, for the first time since classic debut full-length De-Loused In The Comatorium they’ve given the songs room to breathe, balancing their still jaw-dropping chops and wordy lyrics with strong hooks and recognisable structures. Add this relative accessibility to the sheer depth of emotion on display and you have their strongest recording yet. Lee Gorman

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘SINCE WE’VE BEEN WRONG’, ‘TEFLON’, ‘COTOPAXI’.

FOR FANS OF: LED ZEPPELIN, AT THE DRIVE-IN.

Now a stately 13 and 15 years of age respectively, the trash-punk siblings of Toytown have returned to binge on a pow-wow of genres in augmentation of their mussed garage template. Like bored toddlers rattling wedding gifts, experiments into electronica, hip-hop and dub abound. Each excursion is savvy and keenly observed yet always evident of their desire to still be kids. Extolling the charms of crappy recordings and warped levels, the scuzzy lollipop-punk of ‘Real Good’ and ‘Ghost Star’ is at once skipping and dispassionate and ‘Abercrombie Zombie’, displaying signs of scowling teendom, is a much relished pop at the plastics. Though undercooked in places, this is spookily accomplished and a triumphant evisceration of their image as novelty moppets. John Calvert

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘ABERCROMBIE ZOMBIE’, ‘REAL GOOD’, ‘GHOST STAR’.

FOR FANS OF: YEAH YEAH YEAHS, THE GO! TEAM, THE SHANGRI LAS. Iheartau.com

[59]

COUGAR PATRIOT

EAR PWR SUPER ANIMAL BROTHERS III

YPPAH THEY KNOW WHAT GHOST KNOW

COUNTER

CAR PARK

NINJA TUNE

Cougar describe their music as “emergency rock”.

Fittingly Patriot Provides a pretty good soundtrack for swine-flues, credit crunches and nuclear disasters.

On ‘Rhinelander’ a spooky choir ghosts up on the unsuspecting listener, whilst drums beat a ferocious rat-a-tat machine gun beat. And don’t be fooled by the tender harp and classic guitar on ‘Pelourinho’, because there is more sonic terror to come. Bloodcurdling guitars stampede through ‘Thundersnow’’s open range with those ruthless drums nipping at the ankles. If you’ve survived, you’ll be able to savour the milder menace of ‘Endings’ or ‘Florida Logic’. But remain vigilant, for no one’s safe when Cougar are on the prowl. Virginia Arroyo

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘STAY FAMOUS’, ‘RHINELANDER’, ‘THUNDERSNOW’.

FOR FANS OF: 65DAYSOFSTATIC, BATTLES, DON CABALLERO.

OSKAR LP: 2 INCARNATION

Avant-garde arrangements, spoken word vocals, swirling cellos, Boards of Canada-like atmospherics and a consistent velvety melancholy: Oskar’s second album is a moody and evocative mini-masterpiece. From the rippling, piano-led ‘Eden’ to the cabaret theatrics of ‘Some Song’, LP: 2 is an insidiously captivating record from start to finish. The highlight, however, is without a doubt the epic closing track ‘Sanatorio’. Containing recordings of patients from a psychiatric hospital during drama workshops, spectral vocals and applauses are sensitively incorporated into the ethereal Eno-esque track. The result is like an abstract dream as the samples emerge from the music like ghosts reaching up from the depths of the past, full of loss, longing and hope. A record to remind us that while life can be sad, it is also fraught with great beauty. James Gracey

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘SANATORIO’, ‘EDEN’, ‘REICHENBACH FALLS’.

FOR FANS OF: MERCURY REV, TINDERSTICKS, THIS MORTAL COIL.

BUTANE ENDLESS FORMS

Panned as self-regarding electro-hipsters in the States, Baltimore duo Ear Pwr rake together a half-assed mélange of bouncy Pokemon house, Italo disco, Baltimore club and twee banalities about cats and trainers. Released on Car Park, home of Wham City figurehead Dan Deacon, this is the chancer’s corner of the scene, where sub-CSS posturing is favoured over solid craft. Wacky without being at all fun, their slipshod mash-up fare would function better as either dance or punkish ‘party grenades’ if they employed heavier or even faster beats, but the tracks toddle along inconsequentially in a haze of coy irony, impacting on your consciousness like a cereal advert. Sarah Reynolds’ muppet-baby yap grates interminably, although she does spout nice J-Pop melodies when singing about her lovely new sweater. John Calvert

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘SUPER ANIMAL BROTHERS III’, ‘BEAM OF LIGHT’.

FOR FANS OF: DAN DEACON, FUTURE ISLANDS, CSS.

CORNERSHOP JUDY SUCKS A LEMON FOR BREAKFAST

Houston, Texas-based jack of all trades Joe Corrales Jnr – aka Yppah – comes up trumps with his second album, an astonishingly assured, swirling maelstrom of breakbeats, shoegazey guitars and otherworldly psychedelic atmospherics. Highlights are plentiful, from the trippy, blissful single ‘Gumball Machine Weekend’ to the title track’s narcotic hip-hop (complete with an organ part that recalls the finer moments of The Doors), to the exuberant ‘Bobbie Joe Wilson’. Closer ‘Southern Sky Tells’ builds up to a furious climax of guitars and drums that give way to a gorgeous, soothing coda, the calm after the storm. We’ll have some of what he’s smoking, please. Neill Dougan

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘GUMBALL MACHINE WEEKEND’, ‘BOBBIE JOE WILSON’, ‘SOUTHERN SKY TELLS’.

FOR FANS OF: DJ SHADOW, MY BLOODY VALENTINE, CARIBOU.

DISCOVERY LP XL

AMPLE PLAY

Cornershop’s fusion of Indian rhythms and indie rock were a refreshingly danceable novelty at Britpop’s zenith in the 1990s. Behind the sitar curtain lay a wry contemplation of contemporary consciousness with the fun button pushed to the max, and in the seven years since their last release this vision is still to the fore. Opener ‘Who Fingered Rock ‘n’ Roll’ is a glorious stomper in Primal Scream retro-rock mode.

‘Free Love’ sticks you in a psychedelic tumble drier and switches to spin cycle, while the single ‘The Roll Off Characteristics (Of History In The Making)’ is the essence of Cornershop’s anti-war, pro-people mantra.

A cover of ‘The Mighty Quinn’ works surprisingly well and is in keeping with the feel-good vibe that flows from start to finish. Jeremy Shields

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘WHO FINGERED ROCK ‘N’ ROLL’, ‘FREE LOVE’.

FOR FANS OF: PRIMAL SCREAM, ASIAN DUB FOUNDATION.

Vampire Weekend keys man and producer Rostam Batmanglij is joined in Discovery by Wes Miles of Ra Ra Riot and while the duo’s respective bands’ fans will be intrigued, they may be forced out of their comfort zones. You could peg Discovery as synth-pop, but Erasure they ain’t – the vocals are often AutoTuned to billy-o before being laid over some brittle synths and more than a hint of Timbaland’s off-kilter boom-bap. A cute cover of The Jackson 5’s ‘I Want You Back’ and a guest appearance from Vampire Weekend singer Ezra Koenig on ‘Carby’ will hook a few rubberneckers, but the array of singular pop gems will keep them interested, particularly the opening one-two of ‘Orange Shirt’ and ‘Osaka Loop Line’ and the yearning ‘So Insane’. It’s twee R&B, if such a thing were possible. Chris Jones

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘ORANGE SHIRT’, ‘OSAKA LOOP LINE’, ‘I WANT YOU BACK (IN DISCOVERY)’.

FOR FANS OF: VAMPIRE WEEKEND, TIMBALAND, THE BLOW.

MARC CARROLL DUST OF RUMOUR

FLEA MARKET POETS DIRTY DAYS

HIGH NOON

LEMONTREE

CROSSTOWN REBELS

Making techno listenable, rather than mere dancefloor fuel, is no easy task. Big banging beats sound perfect when you’re shaking your thang in a club, but they’re not necessarily what you want to spend Sunday afternoons with. However, when executed correctly, techno is exciting, dynamic and engaging. Butane (aka Andrew Rasse) has tweaked and experimented with the techno formula to make an album that is intricate, enveloping and, most importantly, a pleasure to listen to. More slow burning than explosive, the cuts here are deep and smart, and there are plenty of layers and nuances to lose yourself in. Jonny Tiernan

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: NITE VISION’, ‘ADAPTATION’, ‘INFERNO JACK’.

FOR FANS OF: KEVIN SAUNDERSON, LAURENT GARNIER.

[60]

AU#58

With all the swagger of a mid-Nineties Britpop beat combo, Irish singer-songwriter Marc Carroll’s third record is as timely as that intro implies. A gentle jaunt through songs of love, loss, and ‘auld Ireland’, Carroll’s view of life from his current digs in Los Angeles reflect his virtual obscurity here and his apparent acceptance over there, with Messrs B. Dylan and B. Wilson lining up to shake his hand. They know what they like – Dust Of Rumour does a really nice line in inoffensive, tuneful pop, but it’s not reinventing the wheel. Strictly for existing fans. Kirstie McCrum

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘AGAINST MY WILL’, ‘ILLUSION AND I’, ‘GOING HOME’.

FOR FANS OF: MUNDY, TEENAGE FANCLUB.

While they may be a multi-national outfit (America, Ireland and Germany), Flea Market Poets are steeped in a brand of earnest guitar rock that evokes memories of the US college radio bands of the Eighties and early Nineties. The infectious piano hook of the title track and the Peter Buck-flavoured riffs of ‘Captain Nate’ and ‘Indie Rock Imperative’ reflect a sweaty club apprenticeship that has served the band as well as it did their predecessors. A seasoned and warm collection. Mickey Ferry

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘EVEN IN THE RAIN’, ‘CUT THE CAKE’, ‘LOST AT SEA’.

FOR FANS OF: THE WHITE STRIPES, BEN FOLDS FIVE, DEERHOOF.

ALBUM REVIEWS

DIRTY PROJECTORS BITTE ORCA DOMINO

Dirty Projectors head honcho David Longstreth is known for making albums with broad, allencompassing concepts, but on Bitte Orca breaks with tradition somewhat by dispensing with a unifying idea, presenting instead a collection of stand-alone songs. In other respects, though, he’s stuck to the formula (if you can call it that) of bewildering musical diversity, unexpected shifts in time signature, obviously outstanding instrumental prowess and lyrical non-sequiturs.

Accordingly the album runs the gamut from twitchy art-rock (the excellent opener ‘Cannibal Resource’) to fragile acoustic ballads (‘Two Doves’) and polished, radio-friendly R&B (‘Stillness Is The Move’) – the latter two showcasing the quite lovely vocals of Amber Coffman and Angel Deradoorian respectively.

Elsewhere the stand-out ‘Useful Chamber’ sees the low-key electro hum of the verse give way to a frantic, riff-heavy chorus.

baffling lyrics, Longstreth’s unusual yelp of a voice, intricate guitar work and myriad stop-start time shifts. That the song – and indeed the album – hangs together at all, never mind that repeated listens reveal it to be pretty fantastic, is testament to Dirty Projector’s singular vision. Neill Dougan

This relentless sense of adventure and genrehopping can make for a head-spinning first few listens and, on paper, it often seems like it shouldn’t work: ‘Temecula Sunrise’ for example, combines

DOWNLOAD: ‘CANNIBAL RESOURCE’, ‘TEMECULA SUNRISE’, ‘STILLNESS IS THE MOVE’.

FOR FANS OF: VOLCANO!, TALKING HEADS.

THE LOW ANTHEM OH MY GOD, CHARLIE DARWIN

SHEKEEPSBEES NESTS

BELLA UNION

NAMES

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

THE PHENOMENAL HANDCLAP BAND THE PHENOMENAL HANDCLAP BAND TUMMY TOUCH

There has been a fair bit of hype surrounding The Low Anthem’s reissued debut album, as those addicted to it compare it with Fleet Foxes’ triumphant chart success of last year, both in sound and fury.

Yet, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin is nothing like Fleet Foxes, or any other artist floating around the mainstream right now. Instead, this is an impressively individual pursuit, one where the band attempts two diverging themes at once; soft-spoken Americana and dirty, dusty blues-rock. Both have their successes and challenges, but it is the languid charm haunting the folk that wins, engendering the more beautiful moments to gawk over here. The opening track, an elegy to the evolutionary soul himself, speaks with maturity and humility, but the more raucous cousins, like ‘The Horizon Is A Beltway’ challenge more, struggling to find footing. ‘To The Ghosts Who Write History Books’, however, is one of the most beautiful songs introduced this year. That alone makes it worth buying. Shain Shapiro

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘CHARLIE DARWIN’, ‘TO OHIO’, ‘TO THE GHOSTS WHO WRITE HISTORY BOOKS’.

FOR FANS OF: FLEET FOXES (TOO EASY), OHBIJOU, NICK DRAKE.

Music fans avidly awaiting the next White Stripes album, (current working title, Coke Zero Blues, possibly) would be well advised to check out this debut from Brooklyn’s SheKeepsBees. They play minimal, mid-paced blues, similar to Congregation or The Pack A.D. but there is something unique in the translation. It could be the effectiveness of Andy LaPlant’s blues rhythms. They are devastatingly repetitive and simple, shifting the focus to Jessica Larrabee’s credible delivery. Part Polly Harvey, part Chan Marshall, Larrabee exhibits familiar dilemmas. Uncontrollably drawn to a destructive relationship and craving the physical thrills, she urges her lover to “work me like my back ain’t got no bone” over a particularly filthy riff. This is but fleeting respite in a landslide of turmoil. Post-coitus, Larrabee displays greater resolve. “I want you gone, gone, gone when I get home, you ought to know what you did wrong,” she admonishes on ‘Get Gone’. This is an impressive debut. SheKeepsBees might just be (excuse the pun) The Real Thing. Kenny Murdock

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘GIMMIE’, ‘FOCUS’.

FOR FANS OF: THE PACK A.D., THE BLACK KEYS.

The Phenomenal Handclap Band pray at the altar of funk: of the dirty, ass-wiggling variety preached by bands like Parliament and Sly and the Family Stone back in the day. Fronted by two New York DJs, Daniel Collás and Sean Marquand, the band is a free-form collective of Brooklyn’s finest musical hustlers, newbies and old-timers. Their debut is a painstakingly created hotchpotch of funk, rock, Brazilian soul and hazy psychedelia using the squidgy bleeps of Hammond’s finest organs. It is an album created out of reverence and joy, and homage comes thick and fast; AU favourite ‘15 to 20’ sees Lady Tigra let rip on a bitchin’ catcall jump-rope jam, while the mighty ‘You’ll Disappear’ is a cosmic psychedelic disco monster. TV On The Radio’s Jaleel Bunton provides molten guitar on the panting, deep funk of ‘Testimony’, before flutes and a vibraphone illuminate the smooth Nuyorican soul of ‘Tears’. Collás and Marquand blend this myriad of styles and beats to perfection, The Phenomenal Handclap Band is a booty-shakin’, soul-stirrin’ triumph – a Maggot Brain for a new breed. John Freeman

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘15 TO 20’, ‘TEARS’, ‘BABY’.

FOR FANS OF: SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE, FUNKADELIC, EARLY PRINCE. Iheartau.com

[61]

ENGINEERS THREE FACT FADER

CHEVAL SOMBRE CHEVAL SOMBRE

BELLADONNA HEY WEIRDO!

KSCOPE

DOUBLE FEATURE

VANDAL

Two years in the making, Three Fact Fader immediately introduces a mild mix of electronica and guitar not unlike co-producer Ken Thomas’s work with M83.

Sadly, the electro fling proves to be temporary, and ‘International Dirge’ and ‘Helped By Science’ establish the core sound of the album, which is awash with harmonised vocals and lush guitars. On ‘Hang Your Head’, the band’s shoegaze impulses reach their summit.

While the album could do with more of its impressive electronic strokes, it is a fine foray into a genre currently enjoying its fair share of revisionism. Mickey Ferry

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘CLEAN COLOURED WIRE’, ‘HELPED BY SCIENCE’, ‘HANG YOUR HEAD’.

FOR FANS OF: MY BLOODY VALENTINE, RIDE, M83.

6 DAY RIOT 6 DAY RIOT HAVE A PLAN

Oh Jesus! Where to start? Cheval Sombre describe themselves as ‘delicate druggy slow-core folk’. Vivid enough for you? Here, we are treated to the same two chords strummed over 11 songs, for almost an hour, while Cheval treats us to readings from his fourthform poetry journal. Here is a sample lyric from ‘The World Is Wrong’ (what a title!): “It feels, sometimes, like this old world is filled with so much pain, let’s hang our suffering on the line and be washed in the rain.” Imagine being cornered at a party by a first-year student who has just discovered marijuana and The Doors. The pits! Kenny Murdock

In dismantling the conventional band set-up, riotous Geordie duo Belladonna have arrived with a debut album packed with trashy glamour. Driven by distorted bass, samples and sassy harmonies that touch on The B-52’s, Hey Weirdo! is the sound of a duo creating gold out of the deliberately minimal sounds at their disposal. When the luscious vocals turn devilish on opener ‘Viva Love’ the album shoots off and doesn’t stop speeding or shaking, confidently switching from one sonic all-girl road-trip to the next.

Belladonna say “burn your guitars”, and on this form they’ll burn all in their way. Mickey Ferry

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DOWNLOAD: ‘THE WORLD IS WRONG’ (YOU’LL PISS YOURSELF LAUGHING).

FOR FANS OF: (POST NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE) SPIRITUALIZED, BRIGHTBACK MORNING LIGHT.

DOWNLOAD: ‘DON’T BE FOOLED BY THE ROMANCE’, ‘WE ARE YOUR DIVERSITY’, ‘VIVA LOVE’.

FOR FANS OF: DETROIT COBRAS, KASABIAN.

NNEKA NO LONGER AT EASE

HELADO NEGRO AWE OWE

YO MAMA’S RECORDING COMPANY

ASTHMATIC KITTY

TANTRUM

It’s difficult to make a folk album these days. More accurately, it’s difficult to make a folk album that won’t end up soundtracking an advert for a probiotic yoghurt drink. Or a computer. Luckily for 6 Day Riot, this is folk, but folk that’s taken a gap year and returned wiser. There are sorrowful vocals and jaunty acoustic guitars, but also tom drums, melodicas and ukuleles. ‘So You’re A Writer’ comes straight from Graceland – the Graceland of Ezra Koenig – while ‘Rise Again’ culminates in a counterpoint between a joyous “hey hey hey” and a right-on “yeah yeah yeah”, over sonorous trumpets and ship-at-sea drums. Have they recruited new members to the Village Green Appreciation Society? Oh yes. Ailbhe Malone

Nneka’s second record kicks off with the spirit that her 2006 debut promised. Making the most of her African roots, Nneka shows a terrific knack for marrying that with her European experiences, making sure to comment on the social issues and pressures facing her native Nigeria. From tracks like ‘From Africa 4 U’ there is a definite maturity on show, while the chilled-out vibe of ‘Streets Lack Love’ is tailor-made for summer. As an African female, Nneka is not alone in recording quality, soulful hip-hop, but hearing a work of such intensity in English can’t fail to make an impression. Kirstie McCrum

Helado Negro is the side project of New York producer Roberto Carlos Lange. Having worked with bands like School Of Seven Bells, Lange has allowed his Ecuadorian heritage to shape Awe Owe. Largely instrumental (the sparing vocals are in Spanish), the album centres on sonic textures and exotic rhythms, crafted from samples and loops. When it works, as on the bewitching ‘Awe’, which couples Andean drum patterns to Eastern mysticism, it is a joy, but a number of tracks merely skim like fleeting aural daydreams.

Helado Negro aptly translates as ‘black ice-cream’: Awe Owe is an acquired taste. John Freeman

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DOWNLOAD: ‘SO YOU’RE A WRITER’.

FOR FANS OF: LAURA MARLING, NOAH AND THE WHALE, SLOW CLUB.

DOWNLOAD: ‘SOMETHING TO SAY’, ‘SUFFRI’, ‘DEATH’.

FOR FANS OF: SISTER FA, ASA.

DOWNLOAD: ‘DAHUM’, ‘AWE’, ‘I WISH’.

FOR FANS OF: ATLAS SOUND, SAVATH Y SAVALAS, AC MARIAS.

NAOMI SHELTON AND THE GOSPEL QUEENS WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, MY BROTHER

FLUNK THIS IS WHAT YOU GET

APOSTLE OF HUSTLE EATS DARKNESS

BEATSERVICE

ARTS & CRAFTS

DAPTONE

There is a wonderful analogous haze shrouding this record, as if Naomi Shelton and her New Yorkbased Gospel Queens went back to 1964 to record in Memphis. The keyboards and bass are pushed to the back of the mix, as focus is centred on Shelton and her vocal accompaniment, probably to emphasize the gospel bent here, above all else. Yet, this is a crowded world she’s entering, and while another voice is welcome, there is little here in her delivery that elevates Shelton to the heights of the greats. There are glimpses of greatness, such as the foxtrot of ‘What More Can I Do’ or the ferocity of ‘What Is This’, but they are only moments, and none are good enough to elevate the collection. On its own, it's competent, gospel-fuelled blues and soul; put up against those that perfected the style, it’s not quite there. Still, it does sounds like a dusty vinyl throughout. That’s lovely. Shain Shapiro

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘WHAT IS THIS’, ‘JORDAN RIVER’, ‘BY YOUR SIDE’.

FOR FANS OF: ETTA JAMES, SHARON JONES AND THE DAP KINGS, NINA SIMONE.

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AU#58

The press release for Norwegian band Flunk’s fourth album says that notable fans include the producers of The OC, L Word and CSI. If you consider that to be impressive, then you’ll love This Is What You Get. What you actually get is detached, female vocals and chiming bleeps, welded to sweet, ethereal hooks. It all makes for a pretty soulless (or soullessly pretty) experience. Polished to the point of being frictionless, you could hear Flunk soundtracking a moving scene of WASP angst for one of those aforementioned producers. ‘Shoreline’, for example, is pure Blue Lines / Protection era Massive Attack. Lovely, smooth but uninspiring. However, the record isn’t entirely without its moments. The best tracks – such as spooky lullaby ‘Down’ – ditch shimmering electronica for something a little sweatier. And their cover of ‘Karma Police’ isn’t bad either: a personal and creepy take on the expansive original. Joe Nawaz

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘DOWN’, KARMA POLICE’.

FOR FANS OF: MASSIVE ATTACK, MORCHEEBA, SNEAKER PIMPS.

Apostle of Hustle have once again become more difficult. Now on their third album, the solo-project of Broken Social Scene guitarist Andrew Whiteman continues to move further towards the periphery of pop. This time, however, he appears to be losing sight of the core melodies that made his debut, Folkloric Feel, so accessible. Here, Whiteman drives through crass lyrics and melodic disenfranchisement, painting a dystopian picture, one that drives the record further into an abyss of sorts, one too dark for pop to flourish.

Regardless, all this crazy reflects one talented soul, and there are some entertaining moments to take note of, especially the female-led ‘Soul Unwind’ or the off-kilter but freakishly catchy ‘How To Defeat a More Powerful Enemy’. Plus, the interludes are genius – the opening gambit especially, about snakes and the transgendered.

But for all this, it can’t escape its flaws. Shain Shapiro

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DOWNLOAD: ‘SOUL UNWIND’, ‘HOW TO DEFEAT A MORE POWERFUL ENEMY’.

FOR FANS OF: TOM WAITS, THE EELS, MODEST MOUSE.

UNSIGNED UNIVERSE

UNSIGNED UNIVERSE YOUR INDISPENSABLE GUIDE TO NEW RELEASES FROM THE LATEST UP-ANDCOMING ACTS WORDS BY VIRGINIA ARROYO

BEFORE MACHINES BEFORE MACHINES EP Take a bit of grunge spirit, some hard guitars and post-rock spice, add an inventive drummer, stir briskly, now empty it all out into a math-rock mould. That’s pretty much what Before Machines have managed to whisk up in just a year. The Belfast three-piece has built a bunch of melancholic yet powerful anthems here. Urgent and devastating, this EP is a true statement of intent, signalling both where the band wants to go and where they are inevitably destined to arrive. Bold, thrilling and full of awing potential.

WWW.MYSPACE.COM/BEFOREMACHINES

NI SOUL TROOP NI SOUL TROOP EP What would have happened if George Clinton had been born in Belfast instead of North Carolina?

He’d probably have joined NI Soul Troop. This 16-legged beast is on a mission to put the soul back into our native scene. They began as a four piece but soon decided to expand their sound by adding new instruments. As a result, their groovy palette contains clarinets, trumpets, percussion, keys, guitars and lots of colourful melodies, NI Soul Troop deliver a bitching brew of funk and soul with reggae influences, a touch of blues and good ole rock ‘n’ roll. And it’s all topped off with a cool female-male vocal duo. Hip-dislocating tuneage of the highest order.

WWW.MYSPACE.COM/NISOULTROOP

THE RUPTURE DOGS WHAT YOU LIVE FOR The Belfast/Newcastle three-piece deliver compelling hard rock on this, their debut album.

Pounding beats and a potent bass line create the rhythmic base over which Allan McGreevy spills his brawny guitar riffs and melodically hollered vocals. Notice the drummer’s backing on tracks like ‘Today And Tonight’. Yes, that’s class. Following determinedly in the path of other powerful Northern Irish acts such as In Case Of Fire, The Rupture Dogs’ astounding debut unleashes an incessant thrashing that threatens to burst your brains and leaves you gasping for breath.

WWW.MYSPACE.COM/THERUPTUREDOGS

IN FOCUS: ACT: BEFORE MACHINES LOCATION: BELFAST MEMBERS: ANDY MELVILLE (GUITARS, VOCALS), DAN LARKIN (DRUMS, VOCALS), DANIEL BLACK (BASS, VOCALS).

FOR FANS OF: Q AND NOT U, FOALS, AT THE DRIVE-IN. RELEASE: BEFORE MACHINES EP The willingness to be self-critical is an important attribute in music making.

Before Machines understand this, hence their application to the craft, with the band continually writing and rewriting until they had gathered the bona fide brilliant tracks that comprise their eponymous debut EP. AU spoke to the band’s Daniel Black about their exacting standards and discovered that these guys not only have excellent musical taste, but they also love Antipodean humour. Cool.

How did Before Machines get together?

Andy was on a local music forum looking for a new band after Jedi Jane and The Remains of Youth had disbanded, and read my post advertising ‘bassist looking for band’, which listed pretty much all the influences Andy was going to list. Then we realised we knew each other from university, so it was pretty ideal. Andy mentioned the idea of getting D. Larkin involved on drums, and things developed from there.

Math-rock and bands like At The Drive-In, Reuben and Q And Not U are apparent in your sound.

All three of those are definitely influences, along with long breaks during practice for cheesy beans on toast, Flight of the Conchords and Summer Heights High! Mewithoutyou and Six Star Hotel have also been an inspiration. We try to write music that we would listen to, and it’s a good sign that people recognise the bands we love as influences!

It’s taken you less than a year to compose and launch a pretty solid and full-bodied debut EP, how do you feel about what you’ve done to date?

Things are going well. We purposely didn’t rush into gigging until we were really confident and excited with our set of songs. We’ve strived to write songs that each had a unique quality.

What are your ambitions for the record?

The EP is an excuse to print some badges and talk to ladies! But seriously we want to offer something for people to take away from our shows. We hope to use it as a springboard to push things on.

What are your forthcoming plans?

We love playing live, so touring is something we want to take seriously in the future and preparations to get over the water this autumn are underway.

We’re really excited about the tunes we’re writing at the moment and are already looking forward to the next recording.

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LIVE REVIEWS

MANIC STREET PREACHERS ULSTER HALL, BELFAST A huge reproduction of the cover of latest album Journal For Plague Lovers hangs at the back of the stage, Jenny Saville’s scuffed cherub gazing down on tonight’s proceedings, the last date of the Manics’ current tour. Tonight, they’ve split their set neatly down the middle. First half, the new album played in its entirety.

Second half, an assortment of “greatest hits”. It’s an interesting approach, an act of appeasement almost and a not-altogether-successful one either. The new songs are politely welcomed into the fold, but you sense immediately that many in an amped-up Ulster Hall audience are keeping their powder dry, waiting for those scorched-into-the-collective-consciousness songs that the second act promises.

JUNIOR BOYS, R.S.A.G., CIRCLESQUARE ACADEMY, DUBLIN Sunday night is never a great time for a gig, and especially not in recession-ravaged Dublin, so when we arrive at a near-empty venue shortly after tour support Circlesquare (low-key but intense, effectsladen art-rock) have begun their set, we have cause for concern. By the time local hero R.S.A.G. finishes, however, attendance isn’t looking so bad. R.S.A.G., or Jeremy Hickey to his ma, is an extraordinary live act.

He drums and sings as visuals of himself playing the other instruments (acoustic guitar and bass, mainly) play on the screen behind him. The jury is out on how strong the songwriting is, but Hickey’s shrill blues holler coupled with exuberant and inventive drumming make him worth a watch.

And so Junior Boys arrive and it soon becomes clear that, although they are pretty far from selling the place out, those that have made it out are determined to make the most of the evening. Beginning with latest single ‘Hazel’, the Boys – Jeremy Greenspan on vocals, keys and guitar and Matt Didemus on a bewildering array of electronics, plus a guest drummer – offer up a rambunctiously fun dance party, which isn’t necessarily what we were expecting. On record, the band are cool and pristine, every inch the studio project; every word enunciated, every sound precisely teased from their machines. Live, though, the songs come alive, compelling the crowd not just to nod their heads, but to outright dance. At times it reaches a carnal level of intensity. “Let’s keep cookin’,” says Greenspan a couple of songs in, and they do.

For the most part, the thump from the (shit-hot) drummer’s kick drum is robust and relentless, propelling the industrial crunch of ‘Parallel Lines’ and the slick

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Photo by Carrie Davenport

Newie ‘Peeled Apples’ goes straight and brutishly for the jugular, its lacerating swathes of sound rolling ominously forwards, guitar making vicious gouging noises and James Dean Bradfield roaring with all the blood-raw conviction of a true believer, ready to burn at the stake for these words. Words that, Bradfield and Wire – the latter dressed in shimmering Saturday Night Fever white – pointedly remind us, belong to Richard James Edwards. Penned some 14 years ago, these lyrics are an intriguing mix of the socially attuned and self-lacerating introspection.

Throughout, Edwards’ bandmates give his sentiments exhilarating form, with ‘Jackie Collins Existential Question Time’ especially compelling.

Pity, though, that the poignancy of album and first half closer ‘William’s Last Words’ is somewhat lost as Nicky Wire struggles with his vocal duties.

A brief interval allows the audience to muster their enthusiasm anew and, having bided their time, they’re ready to cut loose to the band’s bona fide classics. The song choices are a mix of the idiosyncratic and the obvious and we would cheerily trade, say ‘Your Love Alone Is Not Enough’, for a further pick from The Holy Bible. In fact, ‘Faster’ is the only representative from that seminal album.

However, debut Generation Terrorists is choicely plundered with strident versions of ‘Motorcycle Emptiness’ and ‘Little Baby Nothing’. Then there’s ‘Stop In The Name Of Love’ which morphs deliciously into ‘Motown Junk’. It all builds towards the concluding double whammy of a brilliantly snotty ‘You Love Us’ and majestic ‘A Design For Life’, the Welsh firebrands ensuring that the people get what they want and then some. Francis Jones

Italo of ‘Work’. There is more than one side to this band, though, and at times Greenspan’s velvety croon is the star, as the exquisite ‘Count Souvenirs’ and ‘FM’ swoop and hang in the air, the palate-cleansing sorbet to the rest of the set’s wickedly rich main course. Chris Jones

front. His efforts to engage are rewarded with the wave of rambunctious euphoria that greets old hit, ‘First Love’. And, just like the guests at a surprise birthday party, when final number ‘Love You Better’ comes, the whole band seems to leap forwards from the shadows, bursting out in an ecstasy of spiky guitars and providing a final, blissful blast. Virginia Arroyo

THE MACCABEES SPRING & AIRBRAKE, BELFAST A little past 10pm and a close to packed Spring & Airbrake audience are keenly waiting for the lights to dim. Suddenly, The Maccabees bound out, a fierce drum beat kicks in and Orlando Weeks rushes into ‘No Kind Words’. Half asleep, rubbing his eyes with tiredness, Weeks appears the antithesis of chirpy bandmate Felix White. ‘X-Ray’ thuds in and sets the crowd nicely a simmer. However, it takes some four or so tracks for Weeks to cheer up and act like the frontman of a band playing to an enthusiastic audience in one of the city’s best venues.

Roused by the devoted chorusing of the audience, Weeks slowly warms to the occasion, those careering, over-emotional vocals for ‘Can You Give In?’ snagging our affections. ‘Kiss and Resolve’ sounds less appealing and epic than on record, but stands its ground nonetheless. Then comes a gentle, acoustic rendition of ‘Toothpaste Kisses, before the fans’ voices swell in communal rapture for ‘Precious Time’. B-side ‘Accordion’ at last finds Felix step up and deliver the attention grabbing performance he’s earned by sheer sweat and endeavour, as Orlando provides accompaniment on accordion.

As the astounding ‘William Powers’ peters towards a close we sense that the show too is coming to an end and it is just now, at the last, that Weeks comes into his own, peering over the mic with a childish grin, even stopping to chatter with the punters down the

IN CASE OF FIRE AUNTIE ANNIE’S, BELFAST Starting a gig with a B-side is generally considered a bit of a no-no in the world of live music. However, from first to last In Case Of Fire boss this crowd, the opening ‘History Taught Us Nothing’ greeted by the audience like a stone cold classic. Straight-off then, ICOF know they’ve passed the live litmus test.

The guys stalk the stage in their sinister, all-black militaristic garb, a slash of red across their biceps. They tear into ‘Violence and Pictures’, the aural assault subsiding only momentarily as they then bulldoze into a devastating version of ‘The Cleansing’.

Next comes the petulant stomp of drums and the bellydown bass slither of ‘Align The Planets’. ‘Do What I Say’ presents a wholly different challenge, bristling with shrapnel edged menace as frontman Steven Robinson draws upon the breadth of his Matt Bellamy-esque range. And, just when you think they couldn’t possibly push it any further, they loose ‘This Time We Stand’ and spark a veritable rampage. Colin Robinson thwacks the drums with brute fury, bassist Mark Williamson seems set to dislocate something or other and Steven stands, eyes rolling into the back of his head, and lets out larynx shredding howls. Those down the front are reeled in by the sense of euphoria emanating from the stage and before the finish ‘Plan A’ will find our frontman in a crumpled, steaming heap on the floor. In a word, awesome. Virginia Arroyo

Photo by Alan Maguire

Faith No More

DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL DONINGTON PARK, DERBYSHIRE Donington and rock ‘n’ roll go together like ham and cheese, Cannon and Ball and Marilyn Manson and those weird white contact lenses. Steeped in history, Monsters of Rock was reborn in ’03 as Download and since then it has mutated into a three day event with four stages providing sonic kicks for anyone with even a passing interest in rock music. This year’s line-up is almost like a history lesson with Def Leppard and Whitesnake keeping the Eighties end up, a reunited Faith No More giving it some good old fashioned Nineties alt. rock and Limp Bizkit and Slipknot getting all nu-metal on our asses.

It would be foolish of us to try and cover all of the 100-plus bands in the space provided, so here’s some highlights of a handful of acts on the bill. While The Blackout may have perfected the pretty-boy emo look down to a fine art, their songs are as soulless as Count Dracula and it says a lot that the best moment of their set is a medley of Limp Bizkit, Korn and Slipknot.

Lauren Harris fares a little better and it seems like her dad (that’s Steve from Iron Maiden, don’t ya know) has passed down some of his musical ability to his offspring. Lauren’s songs are Eighties-tinged affairs and she’s learned a few poses from Uncle Bruce along the way too, which is really quite sweet when you think about it. Sacramento’s Middle Class Rut are also ones to watch with their punk and new wave noise a welcome change from the Cookie Monster vocals and down-tuned basses that populate the weekend.

Talking of down-tuned basses, the newly reformed raprockers Limp Bizkit provide today’s biggest surprise by actually being really entertaining. Fred Durst still looks like a giant penis and his potty mouth would make even the saltiest sailor blush, but ‘Break Stuff ’, ‘Nookie’ and ‘My Generation’ sound huge in the arena, sparking off numerous circle pits and gang signs a plenty. What little we catch of Korn is as lifeless as expected but Mötley Crüe gee us back up again with an Eightiesheavy set featuring ‘Livewire’, ‘Dr Feelgood’ and more. Sadly though, thanks to singer Vince Neil being a fat bastard (we believe that’s the medical term) and demanding that all of the screens must be turned off

during his performance, we don’t really see a hell of a lot, aside from the odd glimpse of a beer gut.

Still, Faith No More are on next and their hour-and-ahalf comeback set is a thing of beauty. Mike Patton’s percussive scats and hellish howls are as mesmerizing as ever and (nearly) every song is a joy to hear. ‘Midlife Crisis’, ‘We Care A Lot’, ‘From Out Of Nowhere’ and more sparkle like diamonds in the night and this writer for one is glad to have the boys back in action. Gig of the year? Quite possibly.

On Saturday we get entertaining slots from the likes of Hatebreed, In Case Of Fire, The Answer and Lawnmower Deth to keep us away from the hot dog van, but things really go up a notch when New Orleans Sabbath obsessives Down take to the stage. Led by former Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo (now rocking a floppy mohawk harking back to the ‘Cowboys from Hell’ days) it’s a punishing hour of powerhouse vocals and thunderous riffage which definitely blows away any cobwebs still lingering from the previous night.

Therapy?

Steel Panther

The same can’t be said for Marilyn Manson, however, who arrives onstage late and looking a bit like the witch from those Orange mobile phone adverts. Copious costumes changes are a-go-go in an effort to disguise his apparent weight gain and although ‘Irresponsible Hate Anthem’ and ‘Disposable Teens’ get the crowd moving, we can’t stop looking at his weird receding chin. Ewww.

Sunday is full of stonewash denim jackets, bouffant hair-cuts and bright red faces, but this writer has never been a fan of Tesla and Journey so we watch Clutch tear it up on the Dimebag Darrell stage instead. Their half hour set is a master class in blues-based boogie woogie and we think if today’s main stagers ZZ Top were watching they’d be very impressed indeed.

Also impressive are comedy rockers Steel Panther who play to a beyond packed tent giving us more jokes about gonads than we ever thought possible before Therapy? take over and show everyone how it’s done, providing a riotous end to the weekend. Hopefully, next year the organisers will put them back on the main stage where they belong. We’ve already got our fingers crossed in anticipation. Colin Fashion

In Case Of Fire

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Photos by Carrie Davenport

LIVE REVIEWS

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NUMBER ONE:

HOW TO GET AHEAD IN ADVERTISING THE BRILLIANCE OF MAD MEN

W

e’ve said it before, and no doubt we’ll say it again: modern mainstream cinema is dead. Or at least it’s onto its final gasp.

More and more money is pumped into the popcorn movie, but it’s an exhausted, desperate animal in need of a mercy killing. For evidence of this, witness the execrable Transformers 2, a dunderheaded yawnfest which culminates with – yes, seriously – a giant pair of Decepticon testicles clanging together. The resultant ding dong is the death knell of the summer blockbuster.

Television, friends, is where it’s at. Big name actors and talented scriptwriters are increasingly emigrating from the big screen to the small one, attracted by the promise of artistic freedom, access to a dedicated audience and a weekly slot on a prestigious channel.

You could fill a family size bucket with the amount of words we’ve harped about The Wire, but another show is shaping up to be just as worthy of such slobbering praise. Set in 1960s New York, and revolving around the work and pleasures of upwardly mobile executives in a high-end advertising firm, Mad Men is classier than an evening class on cravats with Ron Burgundy.

First off, it has a fascinating ensemble cast of characters, including Don Draper, the impeccably dressed creative director with a shady past; Roger Sterling, a senior partner and notorious boozehound

and womaniser; Pete Campbell, a weaselly and professionally impotent young executive; and Peggy Olson, a put-upon yet ambitious secretary who is a dab hand at copywriting. Much of the show’s plot centres on their attempts to gladhand and backstab their way to the top. These were the days before political correctness and sexual equality, and Mad Men deftly pinpoints how women had to adapt to their men’s love of heavy drinking, heavy smoking and heavy petting.

Second, in terms of visuals, Mad Men is as slick and stylish as they come. From the Hitchcockian opening titles to the set design that’s bathed in magic light, the series is a visual feast – every bit as elegant as the billboards and one-sheets that the advertising firm produces. Which is not to say that it’s shallow and insubstantial – the writing and the acting are superb right across the board. Mad Men might not have guns and drugs and hummers and bling, but it is wholly engrossing. All of these characters are deeply sad, unfulfilled people – an air of melancholy hangs over proceedings like the fug of cigarette smoke that permanently clouds the offices in which they move. As their individual storylines play out, as they are further hemmed in by social mores and their own deceits, your heart will be bought and sold. Ross Thompon

MAD MEN SEASON TWO IS RELEASED ON DVD ON JULY 13.

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THAT DIFFICULT SECOND SEASON Brett McClegnie and Jemaine Clemaine, aka Rhymenocerous and Hiphopopotamus, aka formerly New Zealand’s fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo a cappella rap funk comedy folk duo, aka Flight Of The Conchords, are back for a second bite at the Big Apple. Chasing a music career on the mean streets of New York, the permanently dishevelled pair’s path to stardom is hindered by obsessive fans, an inept manager and fickle girlfriends who don’t understand their art. Now on its second season, the show has an easygoing, whimsical sense of humour which tastes much less sour than the many mean-spirited comedies around right now. Plus, there are cracking songs in the form of ‘Sugalumps’, ‘Hurt Feelings’ and ‘We’re Both In Love With A Sexy Lady’. It’s businesss time again. RT

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS SEASON TWO IS RELEASED ON DVD ON AUGUST 3.

TOWER OF SONG

EAT MY GOAL

TAKING OVER THE ASYLUM

The skill and the passion, rivalry and bragging rights, six-pointers and grand slam Sundays, giddy highs and crushing lows. As Alan Partridge would say, “Twat!

That’s liquid football.” The 2009/10 Premiership season should be one of the most keenly contested of recent years – Champions Man Utd, bereft of Ronaldo and Tevez, firmly in the sights of last year’s runners-up Liverpool. Then there’s Chelsea with new manager Carlo Ancelotti, Man City with their new look, expensively assembled squad and the ever-youthful Arsenal. Just as intriguing is the fight for Premiership survival, with the muck and bullets battles at the other end of the table. Bring it on! FJ

Lego Batman aside, past videogames starring The Dark Knight have failed to do the licence justice. Comprising mostly of repetitive beat-em-ups and lacklustre movie tie-ins, each successive title has been about as much fun as gargling conkers. Arkham Asylum promises to change all that. In part inspired by Grant Morrison’s dark as pitch graphic novel, this blend of stealth and action should give Bat-fans the thrills they have long been slavering after. The titular location is Gotham’s notorious madhouse, home to the likes of The Joker, Harley Quinn, Hush and Two-Face, each of whom will feature in the game. RT

THE PREMIERSHIP SEASON 2009/10 KICKS OFF ON AUGUST 15.

The word ‘legend’ is one bandied about with carefree abandon. However, one man who absolutely deserves the title is Leonard Cohen. Circumstances forced the singer-songwriter, poet, ladies' man and Zen Buddhist out of retirement and back onto the live circuit in 2008.

Those shows, including his performances at Kilmainham Hospital in Dublin, have already assumed near mythical status. Documented on the recent Live In London album, latterday Cohen shows find him plundering his decadesdeep back catalogue, as he seeks to sock the audience with fistful upon fistful of irreproachable classics. This time around Belfast is on the agenda and it’s sure to be momentous. FJ

AN EVENING WITH LEONARD COHEN TAKES PLACE AT THE ODYSSEY ARENA, BELFAST ON JULY 26.

BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM IS RELEASED ON PC, PS3 AND XBOX 360 ON AUGUST 28.

VOYEUR’S DELIGHT Viewers are invited inside the headspace of Mark and Jez as the El Dude Brothers hit the cringe trail once again, stumbling from one social faux pas to another as they search for something, anything, which will give their lives a little meaning. Now at Series 6, Peep Show has thus far maintained consistently high standards, with the dialogue and performances of leads David Mitchell and Robert Webb – not to mention an array of memorable supporting characters – never less than excellent. Thus far there are few clues as to plot lines for the forthcoming episodes, with Webb confirming via Twitter that he “Had first read through of Peep Show 6 scripts… and they’re brilliant. Shooting in July.” FJ

BROADCAST DATES FOR PEEP SHOW SERIES 6 TBC. AVAILABLE ON CHANNEL 4 DVD FROM SEPTEMBER 7.

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DOT DOT DOT… THE BEST OF THE REST IN LIVE MUSIC Wednesday, July 8 Crack The Shutters Exhibition w/Cashier No.9 (live) Waterfront Hall, Belfast trans:mission: Moon Unit, Skibunny (live), Nakatomi Towers (9pm) Stiff Kitten, Belfast The Luchagors, The Dangerfields, Gacy’s Threads Lavery’s Bunker, Belfast (July 9, Eamonn Doran’s, Dublin; July 10, Cyprus Avenue, Cork)

SOME KIND OF MONSTER

DIRTY, SEXY, FUNNY

Rock behemoths Metallica will be unleashing all manner of merry hell as they descend on Dublin for a gargantuan outdoor show this summer. Recent studio albums such as 2008’s Death Magnetic may have enjoyed tepid reviews, but the band’s live shows are never less than furnace intense. The cathartic nature of their performances allows the band to channel all their frustrations and anger into a fearsome sonic assault. A tasty supporting smorgasbord comprising Avenged Sevenfold, Alice In Chains, Mastodon and Thin Lizzy should whet the appetite for that hearty main course. Tuck In. FJ

Define irony: David Duchovny checks into a rehab clinic for sex addiction whilst starring in a television show where the main character has a major problem with sex addiction. In Californication, the former Fox Mulder now plays Hank Moody, a washed-out, drug-addled, tail-chasing author. Emotionally stunted and plagued by a serious case of writer’s block, Moody is hornier than a box of toads and prone to straying, which pleases his wife and daughter no end. That aside, Californication is actually quite sweet and endearing, notably in Moody’s bromance with Lew Ashby, a former rocker with an appetite for self-destruction. Yes, his life might have mirrored art, but Duchovny excels in this role. RT

METALLICA PLAY MARLAY PARK, DUBLIN ON AUGUST 1.

CALIFORNICATION SEASON TWO IS RELEASED ON DVD ON AUGUST 10.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW Mark “E” Everett, the creative force behind Eels, is not a talker. And that’s putting it mildly. This is in stark contrast to his prolific musical output – maybe that’s his preferred channel of communication. However, last year E opened up in his first book, Things The Grandchildren Should Know, a startlingly frank memoir of his life so far. And what a life that has been. An epigram promises “Rock Music, Death, Crazy People and Love”, and you get all four in spades. E has been through the mill and around the dancefloor more than most. To his credit, he never descends into self-pity; every page of this unassuming little autobiography is shot through with gallows humour. The paperback reprint is out now, and well worth a read. RT

THINGS THE GRANDCHILDREN SHOULD KNOW IS RELEASED JULY 2.

THE FAST AND THE FUHRER-OUS Way back in 1992, id Software, the team that would move on to the equally contentious videogame Doom, released the revolutionary first person shooter Wolfenstein 3D. Ludicrously violent for the time, and politically questionable in its depiction of the German army as a purely evil force, the game naturally sold like hot strudels and spawned multiple expansion packs and sequels. The latest instalment, simply entitled Wolfenstein, stomps onto consoles this summer, and is hotly tipped to do big business after a relatively low-key period for gaming in recent months. The single player campaign once again involves peppering lead into hordes of SS troopers and exiles from the Underworld, but most hours will be frittered away on the multiplayer.

Aiming to steal away the millions hooked on Call Of Duty: World At War, developers Raven Software have included a variety of maps and modes to keep those with trigger fingers deliriously happy for months to come. RT

WOLFENSTEIN IS RELEASED ON PC, PS3 AND XBOX 360 ON AUGUST 4.

!!!

Whelan’s, Dublin Thursday, July 9 AU Sixth Birthday Tour: ASIWYFA, Adebisi Shank & support Mason’s, Derry trans:mission: Lowly Knights, Panda Kopanda, Desert Hearts (7pm) Stiff Kitten, Belfast Friday, July 10 AU Sixth Birthday Tour/ trans:mission: ASIWYFA, Panama Kings, Ablespacer, Axis Of (7pm) Waterfront Studio, Belfast

trans/Two Step: Indie Takeaway - Cutaways, Colenso Parade (9pm) Limelight, Belfast Saturday, July 18 LMHR: Super Extra Bonus Party, Team Fresh, more Black Box, Belfast Thursday, July 23 Monotonix Menagerie, Belfast (July 24, Crawdaddy, Dublin) Mark Kozelek Andrew’s Lane Theatre, Dublin Bon Iver, Alela Diane Galway Arts Festival Big Top, Galway Friday, July 24 Spiritualized, Primal Scream, David Holmes The Big Top, Galway Saturday, July 25 trans: Massive Attack (Daddy G DJ set - 9pm) Waterfront Penthouse Bar, Belfast James Holden, Nathan Fake Stiff Kitten, Belfast NoMeansNo The Button Factory, Dublin

trans:mission: When Pilots Eject, The Continuous Battle Of Order, JL Seagull, Chipzel (7pm) Waterfront Penthouse Bar, Belfast

Sunday, July 26 Three Tales, Katie and the Carnival Black Box Cafe, Belfast

Deerhoof Whelan’s, Dublin (July 11, Roisin Dubh, Galway; July 12, Pavilion, Cork)

Thursday, July 30 Smalltown America vs Richter Collective: Not Squares, The Vinny Club, Calories, LaFaro Dockers’ Club, Belfast

Saturday, July 11 Curfew 09: Herv, RL/VL, BATS, Slomatics, more (2pm) Black Box, Belfast Bruce Springsteen RDS, Dublin (also July 12) Prefuse 73 Cyprus Avenue, Cork (July 13, Black Box, Belfast) Sunday, July 12 Curfew 09: The Continuous Battle Of Order, Adebisi Shank, more Black Box, Belfast Tuesday, July 14 trans: Dananananaykroyd, Ed Zealous (8pm) Waterfront Studio, Belfast trans: Telepathe, Doctor Lilt (9pm) Waterfront Penthouse Bar, Belfast trans: LaFaro, A Plastic Rose, The Audiables, The Postbox Theory (8pm - all ages) Oh Yeah Music Centre, Belfast Wednesday, July 15 trans: Ebony Bones (9pm) Waterfront Penthouse Bar, Belfast Emmy The Great Crawdaddy, Dublin Thursday, July 16 trans: FM Belfast, Barry’s Electronic Workshop Waterfront Penthouse Bar, Belfast

Friday, July 31 trans: Micachu & The Shapes (9pm) Waterfront Penthouse Bar, Belfast Sunday, August 2 Ocean Colour Scene, Super Furry Animals and many more Indiependence Festival, Mitchelstown Saturday, August 8 Conway Savage Crawdaddy, Dublin (August 14, Black Box, Belfast) Sunday, August 9 Devotchka Spring & Airbrake, Belfast (August 10, Crawdaddy, Dublin) Tuesday, August 18 The Swell Season Millennium Forum, Derry (then touring) Friday, August 19 Oneida, What What Black Box, Belfast Sunday, August 23 Deerhunter Whelan’s, Dublin Friday, August 28 Biffy Clyro St. George’s Market, Belfast Monday, August 31 Blitzen Trapper Auntie Annie’s, Belfast (September 22, Cyprus Avenue, Cork)

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UP

SHORT CUTS: Back in The Hobbit…

Original Lord Of The Ringers Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis and Hugo Weaving are all set to reappear in Guillermo Del Toro’s The Hobbit.

EEN SCR

Slip him a Mickey…

Leaked pictures from the set of the forthcoming Iron Man 2 show Mickey Rourke’s rather odd costume for the villain Whiplash. Frankly, he looks like a sexually confused Klingon.

To baldly go…

Master of disguise Michael Sheen is being touted to play James Bond’s arch nemesis Blofeld in the 23rd film in the series. Sheen, of course, played Tony Blair before so he’s well used to acting pure evil.

Big Screen

Keeping up with the Joneses…

Despite knocking on a bit, Harrison Ford and co. are chomping at the bit to make another Indiana Jones movie. With any luck, monkeys, aliens and George Lucas will not be included.

SUMMER LOVIN’: THIS SEASON’S BIG MOVIES The clouds have parted, the sun is blazing kindly in a cerulean blue sky, backyards and gardens chime with the laughter of children and the gentle tremble of sprinklers.

What better time is there to sit inside a darkened room for a few hours and watch a movie? Before AU takes our summer hiatus, we detail a few of the most notable films hitting the multiplexes and torrent sites over the holiday season…

UP Anyone with the slightest semblance of a human heart could not fail to be moved by Wall-E, the delightful computer animation from last year.

Pixar’s latest, one of few movies to be named after a general direction, looks just as quirky and quaint. As ever, it has a simple but brilliant premise: a young boy and the neighbourhood curmudgeon take off in a house levitated by dozens of helium-filled balloons. To say what happens next will spoil the surprise of a story that reveals more twists as it unfolds like an explorer’s map. Pixar movies succeed by appealing to both children and adults, and manage to be sweet without being cloying, funny without being cutesy. So human are the onscreen characters that you forget you are watching an animation at all.

Released towards the Autumn time, Up is guaranteed to give your increasingly cloudy, dreekit days a much-needed lift.

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WORDS BY ROSS THOMPSON

TRANSFORMERS 2: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN It beggars belief that there are no international sanctions to prevent Michael Bay from making movies. This human slurry wagon has Pearl Harbour, Armageddon and Bad Boys 2 on his rap-sheet, and shows no signs of flagging in his one man mission to pollute the film industry with his thick-skulled, cold-hearted pap. Overlong and overindulgent, Transformers 2 feels like it lasts three days (and the IMAX cut is even longer!), contains approximately one million fight sequences, and is as subtle as a nuclear anvil. Not that my opinion matters: by the time you will have read this blurb, this whopping slice of soulless 'Bayhem' will have made enough money to reverse the debt of a couple of impoverished countries, ensuring that yet more sequels will pour out of the ninth circle of Hell until kingdom come.

TRANSFORMERS 2: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN

LAND OF THE LOST Will Ferrell wheels out his shouty, mad-libbing schtick yet again for this fantasy comedy based on the classic Seventies television series – where “classic” is presumably a euphemism for “not as good as you remember it”.

Ferrell is Rick Marshall, a disgraced paleontologist (do any dinosaur experts have smooth-running careers?), who, for reasons which we shall skip for the sake of brevity, winds up in a parallel universe populated by amphibian humanoids, giant creepy crawlies and crotchety T-Rexes. With eye candy in the form of Anna Friel, fresh from her stint on cancelled television show Pushing Daisies, and jokes for, yes, all the family, this is one of those effects-led comedies in the same vein as Night At The Museum. Sure to be popular with kids and Richard Dawkins.

The Eh? Team…

In the strangest piece of casting since Danny De Vito appeared as a sandwich in an episode of Desperate Housewives, Liam Neeson is to star in the forthcoming big screen adventure of The A-Team. Angelina Jolie has been named as B.A. Baracus.

What’s on your mind…

According to internet tittle-tattle, David Fincher’s next project could be The Social Network, a biopic of the life of Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook.

The script breaks the world record for the use of “Lol”.

Saw losers…

You would think that horror writers would have run out of inventive ways to kill people with power tools, but with three more Saw sequels on the way, apparently this is not the case.

The power of four…

Watch out for fourquels (is there such a word?

Well, now there is) to Mission Impossible, Scream, Pirates Of The Caribbean and Final Destination. The latter is called The Final Destination - you know Hollywood means business when they use the definite article.

BRUNO

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE We’re nearly at the end, Muggles.

After this outing for every child and emotionally repressed adult’s favourite wizard, there’s only The Deathly Hallows to go (though it will be split into two parts), and then Rupert Grint goes back to the job centre. As is traditional with longrunning series, the dark is closing in. Voldemort and the Death Eaters (you can imagine the interview for that job: “So, what professional

BRUNO “If we offend,” says Shakespeare’s Quince, “it is with our good will.”

Three years after poking the hornet’s nest with Borat, the impressively game Sacha Baron Cohen camps it up as his Austrian fashionista alter-ego.

Adopting the same faux documentary style as its predecessor, Bruno once again walks the fine line between those laughs which make your belly hurt and those which just make you feel queasy – your enjoyment of Cohen’s antics will very much depend on how you feel about mocking American rednecks who are as dumb as a paper bag of gobstoppers. Cohen is an equal opportunities offender though: here, he takes on Congressmen, television presenters, African Americans, Israelis, Palestinians, swingers… some of whom, it has to be said, are more deserving of scorn than others.

There’s cringe-making comedy gold in moments such as Bruno mincing down the catwalk in a Velcro suit, or incensing the attendants of the Blue Collar Brawlin’ cage-fight event with a spot of man on man action. It’s not that Cohen knows no bounds; he just chooses to ignore them.

FUNNY PEOPLE The latest comedy thoroughbred from the Judd Apatow stable promises to make audiences laugh at similarly uncomfortable material. Adam Sandler is George, a narcissistic stand-up

comedian who learns he has a serious blood disorder with no chance of a recovery, Patch Adams style, through the power of homeopathic one-liners.

If the combination of Sandler and terminal illness doesn’t sound like your box of popcorn, consider that Funny People stars Apatow regulars Jonah Hill, Leslie Mann and Seth Rogen, who speaks like Fozzy Bear’s foul-mouthed grandmother. New to the pack is Eric Bana (who, you may or may not know, started out as a comic) and watch closely for cameos from Sarah Silverman, Eminem and (ahem) Ray “Everybody Loves Raymond” Romano. It might sound like a frattish love-in, but if it’s half as funny and charming as Knocked Up, it will be, well, very funny and charming.

PUBLIC ENEMIES Johnny Depp expands an already expansive roster of character portraits in this elegant period piece. It’s all Fedoras and Tommy guns, as in postDepression America, the FBI wage a war of attrition against the gangsters that have sewn up inner city crime.

Depp plays public enemy number one John Dillinger, the notorious real life bank robber who had slightly more savvy than Jack Sparrow. Support comes from the ever reliable Billy Crudup, Giovanni Ribisi and Christian Bale – thankfully, not doing his gravelly Batman voice. Michael Mann is always a class act, and here he returns to the classy crime genre on which he cut his director’s teeth. We strongly urge you to go see it.

and personal qualities make you eligible to be a Death Eater?”) are running amok, causing havoc within the magical kingdom. No, not Disneyworld, you Mudbloods, but Hogwarts. It isn’t spoiling things too much to say that this instalment will feature the death of a significant character, the repercussions of which will change Harry’s life irreparably.

It might be easy to be cynical about the Harry Potter films, but it’s akin to criticising those greetings cards with babies dressed as animals. They might be fluffy and insubstantial, but they’ll still sell by the cartload. The Half-Blood Prince will clean up this summer.

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Quentin Tarantino just loves to confound expectations. One day he’s dreaming up Death Proof, his ode to grimy Grindhouse B-movies; the next he’s blending Anime, kung fu and Eastern philosophy in Kill Bill. This is when he’s not appearing on Sesame Street – as for how American tots were familiar with the man behind shooting, ear slicing and prolific cussing… well, your guess is as good as mine.

QT is set to confound again with the deliberately misspelled Inglourious Basterds, a violent boy’s own World War II potboiler, if those boys had been

raised on Benzedrine and bowie knives.

It’s A Bridge Too Far, as shot by Sergio Leone. A Spiegel Horn Western, if you will. The plot is typical Tarantino: a squad of American soldiers move through Nazi-occupied France, hungry for vengeance and enemy scalps.

They’re led by Brad Pitt’s Lt. Raine, a noose-scarred, Dixie-fried killer who wants little more than to be “cruel to the German”. Oh yeah, there’s also an assassination plot to kill Hitler.

Criticised at Cannes for being too “talky”, which is kind of like saying that breakfast cereal has too much wheat, Inglourious Basterds offers the kind of offbeat, very violent japes for which QT is known. Achtung, baby!

Little Screen

PUBLIC ENEMIES

RETURN TO BENDER The big news in Telly Land this month concerns the prodigal homecoming of Futurama, Matt Groening’s sister cartoon to The Simpsons. Considered by many to be funnier and more subversive than the yellow family’s exploits, the show was continually in trouble at Fox, where it suffered scheduling problems before finally being axed in 2003. The Comedy Central network commissioned four feature-length specials as a final act

of kindness to the many fans of Fry, Zoidberg and robo-drunk Bender, each of which were more outlandish than anything the team had gotten away with on television. After the gang sailed off Into The Wild Green Yonder, it seemed that Futurama was destined to the past. However, Comedy Central have just announced that they have commissioned a new 26 episode season to be broadcast in 2010. As Bender might say, bite my shiny metal ass, Fox! Iheartau.com

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PROTOTYPE

ES GAM

CONSOLE YOURSELF!

OUR REGULAR ROUND-UP OF THE NEW RELEASES: which involves wasting Space Invaders and which is a waste of space… WORDS BY ROSS THOMPSON

All consuming…

civilian, and hey presto, you morph into their likeness to hide from the Black Ops closing in around you. Guess those pesky dieticians are right: you really are what you eat.

You’ve got to feel for Alex Mercer. If waking up on a cold slab in the morgue isn’t a bad enough way to start his morning, before he can pop a couple of Aspirin, battalions of soldiers are unloading an entire armoury of bullets in his direction and calling in choppers to nuke his legs. This would be enough to pickle an ordinary man’s onions, but Mercer is no ordinary man. No, sir. He may be suffering from a serious dose

Each of these abilities are revealed as you gradually level up, and in this sense Prototype follows the tried and tested rhythm of challenge and reward: complete a task to get a health bump, kill off a load of baddies to unlock a new power etc. It’s not long before you’re rampaging through New York, galloping up the side of skyscrapers and caber tossing yellow cabs at Big Bads.

There is a moral question mark over the

PROTOTYPE

(Activision, PC / PS3 / Xbox 360)

“IMAGINE A PICK AND MIX OF THE BEST X-MEN ABILITIES AND YOU’RE CLOSE TO THE KIND OF MEDIEVAL FURY THIS BADASS CAN UNLEASH.” of amnesia, but even he can remember that he probably wasn’t genetically altered the night before. In Prototype, the latest action-filled rumpus from Radical Entertainment, you play this tough-nut with some serious mutant powers. Imagine a pick and mix of the best X-Men abilities and you’re close to the kind of medieval fury this badass can unleash. He can fire out whopping, extendable claws that would turn Wolverine green with talon envy, or change his hands into clubs, whips and blades to dole out the badness to his enemies. Mercer’s most tantalising skill, however, is his ability to “consume” anyone he touches. Slip behind a soldier, a scientist or even an unsuspecting

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PROTOTYPE

fact that there is no limit to your powers – like Superman, you can leap buildings in a single bound, but it is doubtful that Kal-El would have wiped out innocent bystanders without feeling a little bad about it. Dropkicking a crowd of tourists might be worth a few shucks and giggles, but it doesn’t half prick your conscience afterwards.

Whether you will like Prototype will very much depend on how appealing you find “sandbox” titles – essentially, those releases which don’t follow a linear level design, but instead offer an unrestricted, free-roaming world where individual missions are accessed as you choose.

A random, unstructured experience is averted by an intriguing plot, as Mercer uncovers a covert government initiative to unleash a new form of insidious biological warfare: a virus that turns people into rabid, gloopy, bubonic Zombies. Best of all, the hub in which you link memories like a neurosurgeon stitching together brain cells is a rather smart way of revealing plot twists. There is the odd graphical glitch or two in Prototype, but doubtless you’ll be too busy smushing your foes to notice.

BYTES: Shipped discs…

Also sitting pretty on the shelves this month are Call Of Juarez: Bound In Blood (Ubisoft), with gun-slinging in the wicky wild west; Resident Evil Archive (Capcom), a Wii port of the original Zombiethon; Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (Activision), a missionbased smash-em-up with bot on bot carnage; Ultimate Ninja 4, the latest in the longrunning Naruto fighting series; and Red Faction: Guerrilla, a Mars-set shooter with bigger explosions than the time somebody lit a cigarette in a fireworks factory.

MP PS3 Dearie Me… According to our political correspondent, Scottish MP Nigel Griffiths claimed 30 quid of expenses on a PlayStation football game. Will the corruption never end?

The dark is surprising…

After months of rumour mongering, it’s been confirmed that Perfect Dark, Rare’s classic FPS for the Nintendo 64, is coming to Xbox Live Arcade this autumn.

It’s just as good as Goldeneye.

INDIANA JONES AND THE STAFF OF KINGS

STAR OCEAN: THE LAST HOPE

(Lucasarts, DS / PS2 / PSP / Wii)

You just can’t get the staff…

Whose heart doesn’t race a few beats faster when they hear the dum dum diddy dum dums which introduce John Williams’s iconic Indiana Jones score? Something about that flutter of drums awakens the seven-yearold within, and immediately stirs up memories of duffing up Nazis, squelching through tunnels of bugs and raiding dusty tombs for mystical artefacts. The latest Indy adventure doesn’t tie in with any of the films (mercifully, this means no aliens with magnetic crystal skulls) but is an original rollick in its own right.

Set around the outbreak of World War II, the intrepid professor is on a quest for the Staff of Moses, the very same divine rod which parted

the Red Sea and spilled water out of rocks. As you might expect, much of the gameplay focuses on yet more duffing up of Nazis who, to quote an old joke, don’t seem to be coming here for the hunting. If you’re playing the game on the Wii, this involves waving your arms about like a numpty to initiate fisticuffs, clonk someone with a spade or swing your trusty bullwhip, but the other console versions are much more subdued. Clearly designed with younger ones in mind, The Staff Of Kings will not exactly tax the seasoned player, as it feels more like a collection of mini-games than a fully rounded adventure. That said, it does capture the smartass spirit of the movies pretty well, and offers a host of exotic locations in which to jaunt about. Even better, the Wii version comes with the added bonus of the Indy classic The Fate Of Atlantis, which is worth the price of admission alone.

INDIANA JONES AND THE STAFF OF KINGS

STAR OCEAN: THE LAST HOPE

(Square Enix, Xbox 360)

Life on the sonic wave…

With one of the most lucent pedigrees in the industry, Japanese videogame giant Square Enix have been releasing some of the most universally wellloved adventures for over 30 years.

Listing the likes of Dragon Quest, The Secret Of Mana, Final Fantasy and the peerless Chrono Trigger in their back catalogue, the company continues to bust out high calibre role-playing games with impressive regularity.

In Star Ocean: The Last Hope, Earth has been all but annihilated by – guess what? – World War III (if a nuclear holocaust ever does

happen, we should be well prepared; we’ll just need to read videogame instruction booklets for guidance), and mankind is looking to space for new places to live. Enter Edge Maverick, a typically plucky hero with the requisite perfect hair and smart mouth. Like all Square Enix releases, The Last Hope is massive with a capital mass, spanning multiple planets and three discs of content – ergo a total time suck. We’re talking two or three days of solid gameplay here. Like a 20 foot deep bath, it does take a while to get into, but the involving storyline and beautifully rendered cutscenes will soon have you engrossed. More westernised than many Japanese RPGs, it has a more user-friendly battle system, but is still packed to bursting point with side quests, characters, locations, powerups, items and unlockables.

BYTES: E3 and the magic plumber…

E3, the industry’s yearly trade show, which took place last month, offered up an endless list of reasons to remain excited about gaming. The pale-skinned attendants got an eyeful of sequels to Crackdown, Forza and Legend Of Zelda, plus new games for Metroid, Castlevania and Metal Gear Solid, plus two for everyone’s favourite numismatist, Super Mario. 360 owners can also look forward to accessing Twitter, Facebook and Last.fm via Xbox Live, but the big whoop of the expo was Project Natal, a peripheral which takes Nintendo’s motion sensitive Wii ideas and runs with them.

Fully interactive gaming might currently be at the most tentative stage, but Microsoft are expected to make announcements in the coming months.

Twice as nice…

2K Games are bundling Oblivion and Bioshock, two of the finest games on any console, as a lowbudget double pack. Redefines the term “value for money”.

Dead 2 rights…

Nearly 30,000 jarred off Left 4 Dead fans are boycotting the sequel, due out this November, claiming that they are being fleeced by paying full price for a title that should have been offered as an expansion pack.

Other fans have responded by lending their support to developers Valve, saying that the frenetic zombie multiplayer massacre looks fantastic.

Which it does.

FALLOUT 3: POINT LOOKOUT

(Bethesda Softworks, Xbox 360)

Get right to the point…

A definite must for night owls and compulsive gamers, Fallout 3 is still yielding illicit pleasures nearly a year after its original release. This particular player has already racked up 60 hours in the Capital Wasteland, and the addiction shows no signs of subsiding – I would quite happily play it until the two-headed Brahmin come home. In the meantime, the developers at Bethesda continue to bless devotees with care packages of exclusive downloadable content. The latest, Point Lookout, takes a detour

from its parent game’s sci-fi trappings, and dips into the waters of Seventies pulp horror. We’re in Deliverance country here, fellow travellers.

Grody, inhospitable marshland?

Check. Creepy, old lighthouse and derelict fairground? Check. Looney tunes cult who may or may not be up to no good? Check. Yep, before you can say “The Hills Have Eyes”, you’re being hounded by inbred, slack-jawed, deformed hillbilly yokels who have gone doolally drinking the swamp water. It’s all done in the worst possible taste, but it’s fun and more than a little tongue-in-cheek.

Point Lookout is bigger and odder than previous Fallout 3 DLC, so as long as the designers keep filling up these short, sharp shots of Nuka-Cola Quantum, we’ll keep downing them.

Line them up, bartender.

FALLOUT 3: POINT LOOKOUT

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ICS COM

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN NO MORE?

BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS BELIEVES THERE'S LIFE AFTER DEATH FOR SPIDEY As Marvel’s Ultimate Universe recovers from the wreckage of recent events in Ultimatum, it seems like Spidey hasn’t made it out alive. This month we talk to super-scribe Brian Michael Bendis to find out all the answers.

N

ine years ago, the then Marvel president Bill Jemas came up with the idea of the Ultimate Universe.

It was a simple enough concept – take marquee characters such as Spider-Man, the X-Men and Avengers and place them in a world where they first get their super

WORDS BY EDWIN MCFEE

death of Ultimate Peter Parker and with Ultimate Comics Spider-Man issue one due to hit stands in August, we ask series writer Brian Michael Bendis just what the hell is going on.

First off Brian, if Peter Parker really is dead, who plays the role of Spider-Man in the new book?

The first storyline of the new book is going to deal with that and you’re going to find out who Spider-Man is. You’re also going to find out who the supporting cast is too. The new status quo will introduce new characters both

“I promise you, right on the money, this is a Spider-Man story you’ve never read before, and I’ve read a lot of Spider-Man stories.” powers in the 21st century, as opposed to the Sixties. Intended to be new reader friendly, the Ultimate line meant creators weren’t tied to decades’ worth of continuity and it has since become one of the most successful ideas in comics’ history. This year however, writer Jeph Loeb has broken the universe in half with Ultimatum. You see, for the last couple of months or so, the line of books has become a victim of its own success and like its predecessor, is also now swamped with continuity issues meaning the average Joe on the street won’t have a clue what’s happening in issue 90 of Ultimate X-Men (for example).

Thankfully Marvel editors have realised this and they’ve decided to really shake things up and streamline the books to some core titles.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is the apparent

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hero and not-hero. Spider-Man’s relationship to the world will be different than you’ve ever seen in a Spider-Man title before.

You started the Ultimate line almost 10 years ago with Ultimate Spider-Man, and now you’re seeing much of it being destroyed.

Isn’t that a little weird for you?

Well, he [Jeph Loeb] did it politely [laughs].

It’s not like I opened up the magazine and went, ‘What???!!!’ I was in the meeting with [Ultimatum writer] Jeph when it was pitched and I would be a huge hypocrite, if, after what I did to the Avengers, I would say, ‘Hey... not in my book’. I did drop a bomb on the Avengers. I mean, I didn’t kill millions of people like Jeph did, but I did crash into that house. And I know there are people still

steaming about it. Not so many, but I still hear from some. But this is similar to that in theory, because it’s cool to tell this disaster story, but then from there, we have all these other cool stories to tell. I would never drop a bomb on a series or a franchise and then have nothing to offer it and it leaves a horrible taste in people’s mouths where there’s a hit and run.

Did the relaunch have anything to do with the line being bogged down in too much continuity?

No. Although I’m over 130 issues into a run, so I know there’s a great deal of continuity there now. The argument always was, by panel two of an issue, there’s continuity. So it was always there. That’s not really part of

SUPER SHORTS Well, we might have predicted it in AU’s end of year comics round-up of ’08, but we’re still slightly shocked it’s actually happening. Yes, that’s right True Believers, Steve Rogers (aka Captain America) is due to come back this summer in the pages of Reborn. It’s been two and a half years since scribe Ed Brubaker killed off Cap and after a long wait it seems like he’s due back in the next few weeks. The mainstream press Stateside are buzzing about this story so make sure you pick up the first issue on July 2. Don’t say you weren’t warned…

Saucy blood sucker Vampirella is due for a relaunch this summer and will star in the new book The Second Coming which will be published by Harris Comics. This writer for

SUPER SHORTS one is glad to have her back and what’s even better is that it comes with a cheap as Kerry Katona cover price of $1.99.

Fans of DC’s Green Lantern will be pleased to learn that super talented penciller Doug Mahnke is set to take over the reins on the title this summer and we wish him a long and delay free run on the title.

Last month we brought you news of the actors playing Thor and Loki in the up-coming Ken Branagh film and it looks like the mighty Brian Blessed is now set to play Odin, if online rumours are to believed. Now if we can just get Asia Argento to play Lady Sif we’ll be well chuffed.

It’s just been announced that writer James Robinson and artist Mark Bagley are the new ongoing creative team of Justice League of America.

Congrats guys.

this. What’s happened over the years, the fixes we’ve made with the more streamlined recap page and just the way the stories were told and the graphic novel audience being so large – that’s all happened over the last few years. All those lessons got applied to the regular Marvel Universe. It’s all being done in Avengers. I mean, it was just me and Mark [Millar] in the Ultimate line, and now I’m writing the Avengers and Mark’s writing Fantastic Four and Wolverine. There’s a lot of Ultimate feeling going on in the regular universe, you know?

So you’re saying that the new ideas and style and feeling of the Ultimate line are now incorporated into the regular line then?

Yeah and the question follows, then what does the Ultimate Universe mean? And more specifically, how is Ultimate SpiderMan different from Amazing Spider-Man? Especially if, in that book, Peter Parker’s young again? Now here we can take a step back, before things devolve into nonsense, and say, ok, why are we doing this? It’s going back to that Bill Jemas question: ‘Why are we publishing this?’ It should never be just because we’re making money. What’s the point of them? What do we do? So now I can

really look at this book and tell Spider-Man stories that you absolutely aren’t going to see in Amazing Spider-Man. Ok, see, that’s the scary thing because we read Ultimate Spider-Man #133 and it looked like the end of Spider-Man. Is Peter Parker dead?

I can’t really answer that, but I will answer this question that I see on the internet and in every review, and it just broke my heart every time. That was not the last issue of Ultimate Spider-Man. There are two more big, brand new specials. They’re not like some eight-page story with some reprints. It’s two doublesized, big specials, in continuity, following the events of Ultimatum. It’s got Stuart Immonen and Mark Bagley art that we’ve been sitting on for a good long time and they’re great books.

OK, let’s talk about this idea of “new characters” and this new feeling for the Ultimate line. One of the standard story drivers in the Ultimate Universe was to take a character from the regular line and play with them a little bit, just twisting their story a little. It seems like you can’t do that as much anymore, can you? I mean, it’s been done.

What’s funny is we actually thought about that. I mean it’s a huge buzz to see what the Ultimate spin on Kraven is or what’s the Ultimate spin on this or that character, but in many ways that became too easy. It’s just a lazy way of writing, so we’re focusing more on brand new characters now.

Finally Brian, is there anything else you can tell us about your new #1 Spidey issue?

Just that it’s something really new and different that you don’t see in other SpiderMan books. With this issue, you have to understand that I’m very phobic about a cheap issue one and I sat for a long time and thought about what does number one mean. What does the new chapter in Ultimate Spider-Man mean? So people who’ve been buying Ultimate Spider-Man can look forward to a very thoughtful relaunch, and for people looking for a jumping on point, I promise you, right on the money – this is a SpiderMan story you’ve never read before, and I’ve read a lot of Spider-Man stories.

ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN ISSUE 1 IS PUBLISHED BY MARVEL AND SHIPS THIS AUGUST. FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT WWW.MARVEL.COM.

MY FAVOURITE COMIC WITH:KOFI KINGSTON

“My

introduction to comics came from reading a lot of Spider-Man and Venom books. In those days Venom had his own series there for a while and the fact that he knew who Spider-Man was and chose not to expose him, but rather make his life miserable and be his sworn enemy, was interesting to me. That was probably my favorite all-time comic book rivalry I think. Over the years I’ve kept myself in the loop about what’s happening with characters like Venom and I guess I draw a bit of inspiration from Spidey.

“Peter Parker’s not the biggest or the strongest by any means in real life, but once he puts on that mask he’s saving the world and giving it his all for the citizens and for the greater good – kind of like me. Whenever I put my trunks on, I go out there in the ring and give it all I can. I try to do things for the greater good too [Laughs].”

KOFI KINGSTON IS A WRESTLER AND IS THE UNITED STATES CHAMPION IN THE WWE. Iheartau.com

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went off on many incredible tangents about resonances that the storyline set off for us: comic books we had read in the past, music, movies, childhood memories. Once Alan had finished the script, you pretty much had to follow what he had written. Because his work is so complex, you can’t take pictures in or out, you can’t expand things, you can’t change dialogue around. It’s like one of those big stacks of beans in the supermarket – if you pull a can out, the whole thing is going to crash down. I was always very happy to follow Alan’s script.

When you’re drawing a comic, it’s always nice to know that the writer has given it sufficient thought, and never with Watchmen did I feel that I was wasting my time. The challenge was to come up to the same level of involvement and detail that Alan had shown.

KS BOO

WHO SKETCHES THE WATCHMEN? DAVE GIBBONS ON THE TIMELESS GRAPHIC NOVEL If you’re a regular reader, you will already be familiar with our incessant blethering and drooling about Watchmen.

During the past year, we tracked the development of the film adaptation from a sketchy preview to the finished article.

It was the ideal opportunity to re-appreciate the graphic novel, a mesmerising, artistically rich text which has been universally lionised as one of the finest pieces of literature in any medium, not just in the world of comic books. Original artist Dave Gibbons documented his experience collaborating with Alan Moore in Watching The Watchmen, a fabulous coffee table tome that’s part memoir, part commentary, and wholly entertaining.

Now, on the eve of the release of Watchmen on DVD, we chat to Dave Gibbons about the Watchmen affair, and how he came to create what is regarded as one of the best books of all time…

When you first started work on Watchmen, did you imagine that it would become such an artistically rich project?

Yeah, we always wanted it to be artistically rich. We really wanted to do the kind of comic book we wanted to read, and do it as well as we possibly could, to give people the sense of wonder we used to get from reading a really good comic.

We didn’t have any idea that it would stay in print for more than 20 years, or that all that time later it would be turned into a movie and whatnot.

Was it always so ambitious?

Knowing Alan Moore’s other work, I can only imagine that it was.

It grew as we did it. Once we got into the project we got quite caught on the grammar of the way we told it, and we were very aware that we were telling a comic book story about comic books. By issue three The Black Freighter was introduced, and that became a very complex, allegorical sub-story. Alan always thinks about things in great depth and detail, and I tend to do the same graphically.

How much creative input were you allowed on Watchmen? Were you given free rein to follow your own ideas?

Our way of working is that Alan came up with the original outline for the story – what happened, when and in what order – and then I came onboard. I did designs for some

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WORDS BY ROSS THOMPSON

of the characters, suggested some names… before Alan wrote a script we talked for many hours on the phone. He would lay out what would happen in the issue, and we talked about it. We talked all around it – we

Were you surprised that the film adaptation happened? It was stalled in development hell for years.

It was sold to the movies a long, long time ago, and we’ve never thought about it. I mean, lots of things are sold to the movies and nothing ever happens. We certainly weren’t counting on it as some sort of validation of what we had done. We were very happy to have the graphic novel stand as it was, and anything else that happened was secondary to that. It had been rumbling under for a long time, so I was surprised when it finally happened, and very pleased that it was Zack Snyder.

From the first time I talked to him, he impressed me with his energy, knowledge of the story and respect for it. So maybe all those years of development hell were a good thing.

I can only think that this is a good thing, what with the recent advances in green screen and mo-cap technology. If the film had been made 10 years ago it would have looked awful.

There’s always been an element of

timing with things to do with Watchmen, and the timing of this was perfect. Not only because technology has reached a point where you can have a Dr. Manhattan constructed in a computer and be completely convincing in every subtle way, but also because the movie audience is sufficiently familiar with superhero films and ideas so you don’t have to do a lot of explanation. The audience is ready for the whole thing to be deconstructed.

Were you concerned that the film version would not do it justice?

Yeah, the worry with the film was that it would be bowdlerised, that there would be bits cut out, that it would be just like one of the X-Men franchise movies. But that hasn’t been the case. It’s obviously been truncated, and some things have been added to make it flow smoothly, but it’s remarkably faithful. I was concerned, but I think this film version has done as much justice to it as any reasonable man could expect and more.

I can understand Moore’s reluctance to be involved, given the way in which Hollywood has mangled his other books. I’m curious to know what drove you to sign on to the movie.

I introduced myself to Zack Snyder because I was interested to see what his take was. I had just seen the premiere of 300 and was absolutely blown away by how faithful his vision was to what Frank Miller had done. When I spoke to him I really got the idea that he knew what he was doing. So I very tentatively got involved and expressed goodwill towards the project because, you know, if it can be done well, then it’s worth doing. The graphic novel existed, but I found it very interesting to speculate what a good movie version of it might be. Every step I took along the path I felt better and better about what Zack was doing.

and they invited notes from me, which I gave. I drew some storyboards for Zack, including one for a new scene which wasn’t in the original comic book, which again should show his attention to detail. I went to the set, and again was blown away by it. I am an enthusiast by nature, and respond very well to enthusiasm. I was happy to give them my blessing because I thought, ‘Well, if these guys can’t do it right, then it just can’t be done right’. Really, I was just happy to be a part of it. I spoke to Mike Mignola, who created Hellboy, and asked if he could mark my card about the movie experience, and he said, ‘Well, there probably won’t be as much money left as you might like to think, but you’ll meet some interesting people, have some great travel, stay in some hotels. Just enjoy it’. So that’s what I’ve done. My family and I have had a grand old time.

Were you allowed creative input on the film?

I saw a very early version of the script,

Was Watching The Watchmen fun to write?

It was. I proposed the whole project because I had kept all these sketches. I just thought people would be interested in it. I love process books and behind the scenes books. I thought that it would make a good memoir, how to kind of book. I really enjoyed creating it, and that I got my first choices of designer and editor. It was fun to write and fun to promote, and I’m very happy to have it on my bookshelf. Even if I wasn’t Dave Gibbons, I’d have that book on my bookshelf.

WE DIDN’T HAVE ANY IDEA THAT IT WOULD STAY IN PRINT FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS, OR THAT ALL THAT TIME LATER IT WOULD BE TURNED INTO A MOVIE.

Finally then, are you pleased with the Watchmen movie?

It’s not perfect, but the graphic novel isn’t perfect. It’s a wonderful piece of work, but it is fanboy central. It panders as much to fanboys, amongst whom I count myself, as any superhero or science fiction movie has ever done.

There are moments of absolute gold in there: when I first saw the Minutemen photo, that just nailed in every respect the mystique of the golden age of comics. The acting, the photography, the set design… it’s much better than I could ever have realistically expected.

WATCHING THE WATCHMEN BY DAVE GIBBONS IS AVAILABLE NOW FROM TITAN BOOKS (RRP £24.99).

WATCHMEN 2 DISC LIMITED EDITION DVD IS RELEASED JULY 27 ON PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT.

BOOKS SHORTS Fans of clunky dialogue and even more cumbersome plot lines will be breathlessly anticipating the follow-up to publishing phenomenon The Da Vinci Code. Titled The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown’s latest slice of hokum reunites readers with celebrated symbologist Robert Langdon as he hurtles through the story’s 12-hour timeframe towards, we suspect, some suitably ridiculous denouement.

Big scrap. Yes, Richard Dawkins seeks to sock it to creationists in The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. The author of The God Delusion, Dawkins claims that his latest tome provides incontrovertible proof of what he describes quite simply as the “truth of evolution”.

Those who missed out on it first time around, really should make sure and get their mitts on the new paperback version of Outliers: The Story of Success.

What is it that separates the overachievers from the rest of the herd?

It’s a head scratcher alright. Malcolm Gladwell argues that the answers can be found examining where people are from rather than what they’re like.

As with all his works, this latest outing is a thought-provoking and controversial read.

Collaborating with thriller writer Chuck Hogan, acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro – he of Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy 2 fame – takes his first steps into the world of literature with The Strain, the first offering in a planned horrorfantasy trilogy.

Offering an insider’s take on Tinseltown, Graydon Carter’s Vanity Fair’s Tales Of Hollywood takes us behind the scenes of 13 of the most celebrated movies of all time, including Cleopatra, Rebel Without A Cause and Saturday Night Fever. AU expects glamour, titillation and an excess of ego.

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HERE’S LOOKING AT YOU(TUBE) PREFER THE EARLY DAYS

WORDS BY NEILL DOUGAN

Successful bands tend to outstay their welcome, don’t you think? The same pattern repeats itself time and again: a bunch of young tyros bursts onto the scene with a stonking single, EP or album, giving the decrepit corpse of rock the kick up the arse it so thoroughly requires. “Wow,” you think to yourself, “These guys are like The Beatles, only a million times better!” Fast forward a few years and more often than not the very same great white hopes are jaded, cynical, washed-up has-beens coasting on the back of former glories who, quite frankly, you can’t wait to see the back of. Problem is they rarely go quietly. Here are a few examples of big bands, back when they were good.

FOR DRAG QUEENS AND COUNTRY SHIVER ME TIMBERS

READY FOR TAKE OFF

Round at Coldplay HQ these days it’s all celebrity wives, ludicrous baby names and donning silly homemade uniforms for the purposes of promoting your mediocre new album. It wasn’t always this way, though. Here’s the lads giving it loads in the video for their second single ‘Shiver’ and, ruddy heck, they’re a fresh-faced lot. Chris Martin looks about 10 years old, with his lovable mop of hair and chin that has never felt the touch of a razor. They’ve also clearly yet to encounter a stylist at this point in their careers. You keep expecting their mums to burst in and tell them their tea’s ready.

Great Nineties moment here as Oasis make a startlingly self-assured television debut on Channel 4’s The Word, roaring into their first single ‘Supersonic’.

All the elements of classic early Oasis are in place – Liam looking like a little hoodlum in a bomber jacket and sounding absolutely great, Tony McCarroll’s ‘rabbit in the headlights’ drumming style, and Guigsy and Bonehead standing to one side doing not very much at all. It’s quite poignant to watch, really, as you know that Be Here Now, ‘Little James’ and complete irrelevance are just a few years round the corner. Ah, they grow up so fast, don’t they?

WWW.TINYURL.COM/SHIVERVIDEO

WWW.TINYURL.COM/OASISTHEWORD

WEIRDWIDEWEB

IN RUSSIA, WEBSITE WATCHES YOU

BROWSE THE TIME WORDS BY NEILL DOUGAN

Okay, so their newie Journal For Plague Lovers is, by all accounts, a return to form, but Manic Street Preachers had a ropey few years there. This is brilliant though: On The Word (again) in 1991, they’re meant to be playing current single ‘Love’s Sweet Exile’ but instead rip into a truly chaotic version of ‘Repeat’. James Dean Bradfield sports plastic sunglasses and an absolutely hilarious gold blouse, Nicky Wire gives up playing his bass altogether about a minute in and decides to give Richey Edwards a love bite instead, while Richey himself does what he always did best on stage – standing there looking cool.

The song itself is an absolute mess, but it’s a vicious, glorious mess all the same. Impressively frantic guitar soloing, too. Remember them this way.

WWW.TINYURL.COM/MANICSREPEAT

Pretty old school, this one. Simple concept – get loads of photos of completely mad shit from the countries comprising the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and post them on a website. Great stuff it is too, although admittedly slightly patronising at times towards our Eastern European cousins. You want photos of homemade Chechen machine guns?

Or perhaps a series of shots depicting the utterly miserable looking “Russian Disco Party”? Or the frankly scary “Moscow, Police and People”? Right here, bud. Once you’ve finished chortling, you might even stop and reflect that life in Britain or Ireland, even with hapless buffoons like Brown and Cowen calling the shots, ain’t so bad after all.

WWW.ENGLISHRUSSIA.COM

THE SIM-PLE LIFE Alice and Kev are a young girl and her father. Alice is good-hearted but clumsy and suffers from poor self-esteem, while dad Kev is bad-tempered, intolerant of children and, frankly, insane. They exist in a game of Sims 3, and their cruel creator has made them homeless, broke and miserable, sleeping on park benches and scrounging for food. Not only that, he has then blogged all about their miserable lives.

Very funny stuff, but occasionally it’s completely, unexpectedly, heartbreaking. See, for example, the occasion when Alice “asked her dad to help her with her homework, but he’d rather rummage in the dustbin”. Shouldn’t really be this emotionally engaging or addictive. But, somehow, it is. Way better than Eastenders or Corrie, for example.

IT’S FUN TO GET HY

WWW.ALICEANDKEV.WORDPRESS.COM

WWW.TINYURL.COM/C5NXZV

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AU won’t pretend to be able to read Japanese so, frankly, we have absolutely no idea what’s going on in this online game. In fact it appears to be completely mental. Nonetheless, it’s strangely addictive and unbelievably cute looking. Essentially, you play the part of some kind of super-strong baby – a baby with antlers – who runs around lifting stuff up with an adorable cry of “Hoo-Ra!” and smashing it into the ground. Having just read over that last sentence, we feel compelled to add that it’s a lot more fun that it sounds. Absolutely no clue what the aim of the game is, but if you’re in a procrastinating kind of mood this’ll pass a few minutes.

Amazing music too.

STORY OF THE VIDEO WAVE MACHINES

BAND: WAVE MACHINES TITLE: ‘I GO I GO I GO’ DIRECTOR: ALASDAIR BROTHESTON AND JOCK MOONEY With just a keyboard picked up from Cash Converter’s, a start-up drum kit and a little wit, Wave Machines have created sounds beguiling enough to tempt even the most reluctant to the dancefloor. Their recipe is simple: lo-fi art disco with a hint of rock.

Even Kanye West has been smitten, with the hip hop kingpin posting the video for their ‘I Go I Go I Go’ on his blog. Bassist James Walsh talked to AU about the shoot.

OK, first of all, the inevitable question. Lipsticks, a china cat, red nailed hands, masks, a spilt bottle of paint… What’s the video about?

Taking the traditional format of the sexual tension between a pair of gloves and a porcelain cat, then putting it into an Eighties context.

Throw in a band on a revolving plate and you’ve got a hit on your hands.

We mainly wanted to get across a tongue-in-cheek, shoulder-pad Eighties ‘sexiness’ with a side salad of frivolous fun.

What’s your favourite scene from the video?

Our favourite bits are the fox’s orange bum in the air, the point that we arrive on our turntable of joy and the bits where objects appear/disappear

GET YOUR CLICKS

in time with the percussion on the track. Another favourite moment is when the Polaroid pictures of the porcelain cat with lipstick marks hit the screen. Classy.

How did you come to work with Alasdair Brotheston and Jock Mooney from Trunk Animations?

We got a number of treatments through for the video, and overall felt that the one from Trunk had the most room for viewers’ involvement.

There’s no direct and obvious story to follow from beginning to end, it’s up to you, the viewer to fill in the blanks. We liked the fact that it had a brave overall look that could make the video stand out from the crowd.

Hopefully we got this right, and it seems so, it even jumped out into

Kanye West’s face enough for him to blog about it.

And was the final result similar to what you had initially hoped for?

Yeah, they provided us with what they call an animatic, which is like a cartoon version of the video. We really loved it and the final video matched it pretty closely, so it was similar, but better.

WATCH THE VIDEO ONLINE AT WWW.TINYURL.COM/L8RP3M WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ MYWAVEMACHINE

WORDS by neill dougan

OUR GUIDE TO THE BEST ONLINE PLACES FOR THE THINGS YOU NEED.

THIS MONTH: WATCHES

THE RETRO WORLD

A massive selection of truly eye-popping retro watch designs. Some of these old-school designs are just awesome and would grace the wrist of any man, woman or child. Check out the likes of the Spaceman ‘Zeno’ Audacieuse, it’s like something Buck Rodgers would have worn and it rocks. Also helpfully separated into price bands, the lowest being a mere £30, so if you’re broke but you still just simply have to have a chunky, kitschy wristwatch to show off at your next nu-rave hooley (or whatever you kids are getting up to these days), this is the place to come.

WWW.THERETROWORLD.COM

WATCHISMO

POCKET WATCH CENTRAL

There’s an argument to be made that a watch is unnecessary in these days of iPhones, Blackberries and the multifarious devices on the market that will tell the time amongst a thousand other applications.

But this ignores the charm of the humble wristwatch.

Not just a time telling device, but a stylish wrist accessory to brighten up your boring old arm. Check out the wares at Watchismo which has a mindboggling array of timepieces, from the plain, sensible, vintage watches to the funky retro stylings of, for example, the Quicksilver Baron Copper Auto. Enough cool watches to make us want to wear a whole load at once, the whole way up our arm.

Of course, a wrist watch is all very well, if you’re happy to aim for mere normalcy. If, however, you long to separate yourself from the hoi-polloi and prove that you’re a proper person of distinction, a pocket watch is your only man. And Pocket Watch Central will sort you out with almost any type of pocket watch you could possibly desire, as well as any accessories you might require, such as a case (and what kind of fool carries a pocket watch without a case?). Also links to sites where you can get your ’piece engraved – at long last, the pocket timepiece inscribed with the words “Thug 4 Life” that you’ve always dreamed of can be yours.

WWW.WATCHISMO.COM

WWW.POCKETWATCHCENTRAL.COM Iheartau.com

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IN S URE PICT

Gillian & Blaze

Kerri

Kat, Emma & Marian Eoin, Molly & Ingrid

Nigel

CLUB AU Vs. STATE.IE @ Lavery's, BELFAST

Opening act, The Misaligned Men of Automaton did two things, dressed weird and sounded weird.

Next up we had Robotnik, a two man team from Dublin. A hipster out front with his 99p sunglasses and a 6ft spide pushing buttons in the background.

A slow moving crowd soon warmed to the

WORDS & PHOTOS BY RICHARD W CROTHERS Dubliners' electro pop sound and got their groove on. Robotnik were unfailingly charming even when giving everyone a wee blast with their waterpistol. Headliners The Jane Bradfords are always a pleassure to see and hear but, sadly for them, Robotnik had already stolen the show.

Robotnik

Stevie, Adam, Mykie, Jem

Deci, The Jane Bradfords

Paul and Claire

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Claire, Cristine, Paul, Rob, Tina & Katie

Richard & Brian

Jonny

Crowd

Rigsy

Ricky & Andrea

Tweed

Geri

Peter

Gabby

SKETCHY VS. WIRED @ BELFAST

WORDS & PHOTOS BY RICHARD W CROTHERS

Sketchy’s Rigsy takes on Wired’s Jonny Tiernan in a battle of the Thursday night club headliners. The loser of this head to head basement dance battle would never be allowed to DJ on a Thursday again. Luckily, neither ultimately came out on top, with both picking and spinning a quality selection of underground dance.

Rigsy dropped some local band heroes basslines on

top of some ear-drum assaulting beats to devastating effect. Wired's Jonny pulled out some filthy, mingin’ electro in the form of The Bloody Beetroots that got people busting moves at some awkward and dangerous angles. We'll call this one a draw. The party finished off in fine style with some perfect pop courtesy of Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. All night long indeed.

Niall

Steve

Lee

Shane

Claire & Remy

Dave

Nuala Iheartau.com

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JOHN BAILIE JR. OF...

DANANANANAYKROYD When was the last time you were in hospital?

When I had glandular fever almost three years ago. I got really sick with it then went on tour anyway and ended up in hospital in the Midlands where the doctor was convinced I had had a major blow to the stomach because my spleen was so swollen (a rare side effect of glandular fever). The result of this smart move was years of post-viral fatigue, that I still battle today! Yaasss!

What was the last thing you won?

I won a medal at go-kart racing for the fastest lap when the Nice ‘N’ Sleazy [famous Glasgow venue] staff all went.

I was really pleased about this.

The last book I read was actually Down Under by Bill Bryson, which made me think that I cosmic ordered this trip to Australia, which I’m more than happy about!

Where did you go on your last holiday?

I’m just back from Berlin, before then Paris and Copenhagen with my dance project Dolby Anol – that’s as close as I get to a holiday at the moment anyway!

What does the last text you received say?

“So yr night was good til you got dragged out eh? Up to much today? X” from David [Roy, Dana guitarist].

What was the last thing you laughed out loud at?

Uncle Buck, last night, when he drops the plate on the floor and he’s like, ‘Ohh it’s unbreakable’, then he taps it on the piano and it smashes to bits.

What was the last record you bought?

Either In Flagranti – ‘Brash & Vulgar’ (amazing, wonky Italo disco) or Lady Sovereign’s new record.

Who is the last person you would want to be stuck on a desert island with?

Jim Davidson? I think the feeling would be mutual though…

If you were on death row, what would you want for your last meal?

That’s really hard… My mum’s stew, but with a side of one of those chillies that make you hallucinate so I go out pure flying.

When was the last thing you argued about?

Whether to hug a giant girl outside a club on Friday. She was seriously about 6’3” and steaming drunk, falling about asking me to hug her and I wasn’t up for it, believe it or not.

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When was the last time you threw up?

I very, very rarely throw up actually. I think the last time was a few months ago due to some illness. I never puke from drinking – to be honest it would probably help if I did.

What was the last good thing you saw on television?

RuPaul’s Drag Race is one of the finest shows I’ve ever seen, so so funny – I highly recommend it. Either that or True Blood! Sexy vampires and such.

What was the last thing you downloaded?

The vocals for a track I’m doing with Amandah from Operator Please called ‘Synthesiser’ – should be awesome when it’s done!

What was the last good book you read?

What was the last bad job you had?

The last job I had was in Nice ‘N’ Sleazy in Glasgow but it wasn’t bad, and with the exception of the hours it was actually a lot of fun! The only bad job I’ve ever had was when I was 16 and worked in McDonald’s for 3 weeks, but I got sacked for having a few blunt words with my boss. Ahem.

When was the last time you broke the law?

FOOL ME ONCE, SHAME ON YOU, FOOL ME TWICE SHAME ON MEEEE. If the world was about to end what would your last words be?

“Once bitten, twice is nice, three for a girl – eeeeauuuuughh!!”

DANANANANAYKROYD PLAY THE WATERFRONT, BELFAST, AS PART OF TRANS, JULY 14.

DEBUT ALBUM HEY EVERYONE! IS OUT NOW ON BEST BEFORE RECORDS.

famous last words Dr. Arzt, Lost (Just before a bunch of dynamite he is holding blows him up) “Ok, we’re not gonna take anymore dynamite than we need because nitro-glycerine is extremely temperamental.”

Sam Cooke, American gospel singer (1931 –1964) (After being shot in his motel room) “Lady, you shot me!”

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Big wickets and bigger hits, the Lions’ roar, kick-ass triple bills, 6-a-side marathons, rookie DJing, the onset of hay fever, mid-to-late twenties, greedy Real Madrid, guacamole, the return of Blur, correspondence with Hunter S. Thompson, a temporary goodbye to Lavery’s top floor…

...then there was GUITAR!

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LOGISTICS

MICACHU & THE SHAPES

SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO [DJ] MASSIVE ATTACK [DJ] FREELAND DANANANANAYKROYD

EBONY BONES 04/07-31/07

BOX OFFICE

9033 4455

09

tra belfast’s summer festival

A MONTH OF GIGS, COURSES, M O EXHIBITIONS, C .

T S A F L E B SEMINARS TRANS AND MORE. [84]

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