6. MEMORIES
2017
CONTENTS 5. EDITOR’S LETTER 6. KING LOUIE’S LAB 7. DAS CAPITAL 8. POLITICS 10. SERIES: NATHAN CROFTON-BOND 18. POETRY 20. MY CAMERA WON’T HELP ME REMEMBER—JULIEN JACOB 42. POETRY 44. SKETCHBOOK PAGES 48. SOUTH SPACE RECORDS 52. MERCH 58. TUNGSTEN
JIGGY LONDON 2017
EDITOR’S LETTER The best thing about taking photos and documenting things is getting to look back at it all and watch how things change: people's appearances, their style, how they mature and start to look older, and also how situations have changed... looking at a photo of a couple that are no longer together, photos of new friendships that have formed, or a photo of someone who's gone away to do amazing things. I think my passion for photography came from wanting to preserve the times I spend with my friends, whether good or bad. It's sitting at a party and thinking "I want everyone to remember this exact moment forever." A lot of the time I get people asking me to delete a picture/video because they don't look good or whatever, but I never do because I know a year, or however many, down the line, they're going to stumble across it and smile, and that's what makes it all so good. In my opinion, it's important to preserve the details of our lives, no matter how insignificant they may seem, all our fuckabouts and shenanigans, all the good times, and the bad. Whether we document these memories by writing about them in a tiny magazine, or posting photos in a Facebook album titled "Lime Time 2017", or even using Snapchat memories, the important thing is that we do. Our experiences are stories that we tell, and they are what makes each of us the way that we are, and that's pretty special. I'll stop here before it gets to cringy... Here's Jiggy, issue 6.
Dominic Linton Check out King Louie’s Lab for more comics created by Dominic Linton and Fred Morris http://cargocollective.com/kinglouieslaboratory
Das Capital Gabriel Newmeir Drury I visited London for the first time when I was around six. A peculiar time- narrowly before 7/7, in an age before the Internet had entered the worldwide zeitgeist. The Iraq War was in full boom. Amy Winehouse was still with us, Marlon Brando and Ray Charles had just left. It was an odd transitory period that most my age can’t remember, and a good deal of adults don’t like to, on account of its misshapen, awkward footing in history. When one travels as a child there’s no sense of connection- the thread of logical familiarity is a half-developed blur of blunt emotions and random, passionate urges for chocolate and video games. We went by car, and although the drab motorway visage along the way isn’t too long, the distance between Brighton and London felt, and feels, colossal. The capital was its own country- or so it felt- and had vast, interlocking tendrils of thousand year old history. It was strange to be surrounded by land that was, literally speaking, embedded with memory. Culture, literature, humanity flowed through the streets. The very size of it was staggering: I remember stopping and wondering just how many millions of people were breathing too at that very moment. I was under the dazzling, overwhelming spell of a city that never really stopped delivering awe to my senses. The very purpose of the trip, a heart check-up, had been swallowed by the immensity of where I was. Even when my tiny chest was being swaddled with electrolyte gel, and I could see my monochromatic heart pounding on a monitor, I was still gazing outside to the city beyond. As we left, we drove out of a gleaming, darkly yellow sunset, as intimidating and grandiose as the place in its light. I remember, in my six year old head, thinking that it didn’t quite make sense how anyone could build it. To me, London seemed to have always been there, amorphous, expanding without the help of people, like the Earth itself.
POLITICS Brexit: A Marxist Perspective and Overview Written by George Thornton & Archie Tighe-Emery
As a major dividing force in UK politics, Brexit has evoked many a response from politicians across the political spectrum. Reactionary members of British politics (The rise in reactionary ideas in my eyes being attributed to the imbecilic need for 24 hour news); the rightward leaning Tories and prominent UKIP figures feared a globalist movement, and sought to paint a nationalist image of Great Britain as the autonomous global superpower of the 19th and 20th centuries, arguing for sovereignty and self-determination against the bureaucratic political bloc (EU). Similarly, and yet in a stark contrast, ideologically socialist leaning figures claimed (correctly) that the EU is a neo-liberal coalition of capitalist states, exploitative through their combined efforts, thus supporting the exit from the confederation of capitalists. Opposing these ideals, the centre oriented neo-liberal British politicians (common place in politics today), understand that leaving the EU will mark a rapid decline in the well-being of British capitalism, while also posing a threat to the overall capitalist confederation. This threat is embodied through the belief that the exit of such a prominent nation within the EU, such as the UK, will result in a domino effect of sorts, posing future withdrawals of other politically weighted European (historically reactionary) nations such as Italy and lesser known eastern European states. While, from a Marxist perspective, this may be an attractive prospect - one must remember that in a capitalist state such as the UK, the well-being of the economy, in the eyes of capitalism unfortunately equates to the well-being of said country’s inhabitants. It has been said that Britain, as one of the first powers to elicit their exit from the EU,
will suffer from a large scale socio-economic collapse. From this, may emerge a strong socialist majority whom could garner support across the UK, however in absolute terms the chances of this happening are similar to finding a politician who answers questions. This type of accelerationism is more applicable as a last resort rather than a plan of action – it is harrowingly plausible that such a socio-economic collapse could further the influence of right wing populism. This is best exemplified through talks within government to nullify the bill of human rights, in favour of a British bill of rights. This being scarily reminiscent, of the Nazi party’s removal of German citizenship of Jewish people. In this case the creation of a new bill of rights would allow those creating said bill to outline who the rights within proposed bill are extended to: in my eyes, this bill will act as a means to further alienate the British working class from the struggles of first and second generation immigrants in the UK. It appears as if our completely unelected prime minister and her cabinet intend to “pickup” where good ol’ Maggie thatcher left off in her unrelenting war against the poor. In fairness, however, there are genuine socialist arguments in favour of Brexit, less shrouded within utopianism – free movement within the EU, while on the surface a progressive and ‘Marxist’ idea, is actually a method of amassing a large, exploitable, transnational workforce. There is little-to-no evidence supporting the idea that free movement within the EU is motivated by humanitarian or anti-racist movements. Furthermore issues arise when questioning the fact that a bureaucratic body such as the EU believes it holds autonomy over the movement of each member within said Bloc. This is evident of the outlining paternalistic nature of general bureaucratic bodies throughout the world. In my eyes, these movement should remain autonomous and (unless one inhibits another’s movement) should remain free from external limits.
The earth lacks agency, yet agency over it has been imposed. Unfortunately, however, due to nationalist ideas prevalent within the arguments presented by those in charge of ‘Little England’, leaving the EU may result in the subsequent deportation of German, Spanish or Polish people, this being in direct conflict with their right to residency within England: something that, if ones politics align with Marxist ideals, combined with limited knowledge of the period prior to world war 2, should present a host of highly distressing comparisons. Fascism (seen in its modern form through the alt right) begins by targeting those most subjugated and if left without a valid counter argument swiftly moves onto military style policing of the general populous.
necessity. While the EU, as a body, does not fully adhere to the socialist model of workers rights and privileges, it is still a foundation for workers rights across Europe. Breaking the tie with Europe means that Britain can completely disregard said regulations and worsen the state of the British worker more-so than before, a huge step away from the development of socialist ideals in government.
To conclude, the knowledge that Theresa May is negotiating the terms of Brexit as I write this is like knowing my electric chair is being mounted and fitted while I scrawl away in my cell like a madman. Brexit, as a plan of action is hugely detrimental to socialist progression in Britain, and telling of a xenophobic attitude which has slowly been growing out of the bed pans of “Little England” since the end This is not just a symptom of the remnants of British of the Second World War. There are positives for the self-assuredness (an illness caught when embarking removal of Britain’s place at the table in Brussels from a Marxist perspective, however these are upon the horrific attempts to colonise 90% of the world) – Joseph Choonara of SocialistReview.org.uk minute positives in comparison to a tidal wave of states that: negatives. Britain is a ship stuck in cold waters, with “The point when EU states began to harmonise Theresa May at the helm – it is up to the British immigration policies in the late 1990s also saw them populous to mutiny. launch intensified attacks on “outsiders” — unleashing a new wave of detention and deportation on those from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Arab world.”
It is clear from this that, while the EU hoists a façade of progressive values for the rest of the world to observe as fact, there is an underbelly of xenophobia in Europe, perpetrated by its neo-liberal agenda of amassing capital. The neo liberal agenda encompasses a psychotic need for control - this in the past being embodied through military control over colonised nations, while today taking the form of economic neo-imperial/colonial control over countries in the developing world, under the guise of “bridging the development gap”. However, it would be grossly inconsiderate to not take into account that leaving the EU will remove the need to adhere to (even if still exploitative) work regulations and legislation in general, issued under the EU. The Working Time Directive made days off and long, consecutive breaks for workers a legal
Series by Nathan Crofton-Bond
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MY CAMERA WON’T HELP ME REMEMBER 2017, alongside the Loire, France by Julien Jacob
Grandmother tongue Sun and morning woke me side by side Bouncing off the reflective green carpet that I can still feel under my feet. Green curtains enclosed this graceful bubble, and I was home here: From the driveway to the duvet cover pattern engraved on my mind.
I was so unaware of what was over your shoulder. I don’t know if you even wanted to look back; over the sea and through the forest, lakes, over tramline I ache when the fish stroke my toes under the surface Water that was once snow, water that was once yours.
Only on landing does the truth crystallise. Only on landing does it become tangible in stories, history and myth meet. Overwhelming emotion confront me on breezy runway tarmac as I enter your home.
Should I wipe my feet on a metaphorical welcome mat?
I don’t want you to be reduced to photographs and ornaments or the last time I went to your house. The cul de sac and frosted sunlight. Silver frames surround faded sunlit scenes. A yellow needle box. A family graveyard on a then-incomprehensible island. There are summer expeditions we could have shared, now undertaken alone.
I can see you in my mother, aunt when they laugh about what they can never forget. Certain types of hair product could only belong to you. I see it in my brother, memorising Bokmål verbs, his verbs, your verbs, maybe our verbs. The verbs of my grandmother’s tongue.
Once loved, now absent
The zebra crossing doesn’t let me move forward, red light glaring. Instead I’m thrown backwards; I can smell your bedroom like I’m here again. Distinctive, sweet yet the memory turns my stomach. Reminiscent of dirty laundry, no surprise as it was piled on the floor: Still I loved it, as I loved you.
I can remember how you walked me to the bus stop and we waited for the green light, That fateful St. Patrick’s Day: “the luck of the Irish”, I laughed. I wonder if you think of my words at the crossing fondly, please say you do or you did“It wouldn’t have mattered if I had done it before, but it’s even more special because you are the first”. I still value your reply, with tears in my eyes: “I want to spend as much time as I can with you” You risked fines for our precious time.
I return, but it cannot be pleasant; it has been a year. As the milestones retreat into the distance, I cannot maintain the fabricated eye contact, The forced coincidences, the hallowed hello. The synapses remain too well worn to erase, I recognise that I venerate my version of events They remain how it could have been.
Poems written by Catherine Wynn-Evans
Sketchbook Pages Miles Jezuita
"South Space Records are a group of young electronic music producers and artists creating innovative sounds and visuals from the heart of South London. Since they started in 2015 they’ve built up their following through the use of visual projects (videos collectively reaching 13k+) and picking up interest from Spotify UK resulting in streams of over 16k on Spotify releases, proving that the rise of the bedroom producer really does exist." We got into contact with them through a mutual friend of ours (shout out to Julia Evans) and discovered that Alex, a member of SSR, had met our JiggyBoy James previously where every south London teenager has been to multiple times, Brockwell park. “He said he had to go and record a mixtape, and then I didn’t see him for three years,” -James on the first time he met Alex.
the next. Everyone has their own style but when they all work together, it comes together under one “weird south space mash.”
When the label first began, it was presumed that it would just be posting stuff on Soundcloud, they never realised it would take off to the level where they’re organising and doing their own live show. We asked if the young visionaries if they thought that there was an event or a particular time, a defining moment, were they thought, “this is it, now we’re actually something,” – when they started selling merch and people were buying, it was an indication that people were actually willing to spend money on the company. They did some films that blew up on Facebook and that’s when they knew that they could put on an event and people would show. If you missed their last show, luckily for you, Stan Sorrell: Label founder/Manager/Artist there’s another one coming up at Corsica Studios this December! 10/10 Finbar Kelly: Creative Director recommended by Jiggy. Lastly, be sure to Eugene Herbert: Visual Artist/Merch check out the new release “ignore me, i’m Designer fine” produced by Ezra Lloyd Jackson under South Space Records, and don’t Ebenezer Koya: Artist miss the reviews on the next page. Cecilia Morgan: Artist South Space live show film/documentary: Alex Macnab: Artist https://www.youtube.com/watch? Sam Hubbard: Artist v=gSMbAkuRKc8Upcoming Show: Oskar Thompson: Artist
Jiggy had the chance to attend their first ever live show back in September and we got to talk to them a little bit about what they get up to. They had spent the entire summer preparing for the near-sold out show, and it was evident. The evening was filled with pure energy and talent, featuring insane lights and images from the visual artists, alongside some amazing beats. Despite the artists producing their own stuff individually, under the label, they all gel together, and bounce ideas off each other. This was demonstrated during the show, with each act flowing very nicely into
South Space Live at Corsica Studios - 18th Dec Tickets: https://www.residentadvisor.net/ events/1015632 Website: www.southspacerecords.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ south.space.records Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ SouthSpaceRecords/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/south_space ignore me, i’m fine: https:// southspacerecords.bandcamp.com/track/ ignore-me-im-fine
In Ezra Lloyd Jackson’s 'ignore me, i'm fine' we witness a crisp and energetic production. A masterfully crafted murky atmosphere is built from the ground up, beginning with ambient noise followed by low, soft voice asserting that he is "fine" when it is clear that is not the case. Erratic yet well executed synths are introduced shortly afterwards which build trepidation and solidify the atmosphere - melancholy yet containing energy - parallels can be drawn to Lil Uzi Vert's XO Tour Lif3 which also opts for a similar effect.
Instead of a typical fade to silence, the track ends in a fast paced, three beat sequence which resembles a beating heart and is a fitting end to this emotional track. It is However, while parallels can be drawn, this as if the song never track stays firmly within its own original truly ends and it leaves the listener craving lane through its distinctive South London more. Overall, this is a very strong piece style. As the track progresses the and Ezra has done a wonderful job on shimmering hi-hats and the pounding creating a dystopian, murky sound which is drums form a perfect union with the full of character and expertly crafted. From synths, filling in the gaps and providing one South London Artist to another I can body and grounding as well as a vivacity which well conveys emotional turmoil: the say he is certainly pushing the scene forward. point of feeling low yet ready to explode. The deep, throbbing bass is a hallmark of many great South London tracks and grabs - Casewick (soundcloud.com/casewick) listeners by the throat and leaves them in a trance, captive to the rhythm. The base also adds force to the song while the voice from the start intercedes which provides an interesting contrast and keeps the tone consistent.
The track opens with the line 'I told you, I'm fine, just ignore me' a phrase that repeats throughout the track, accompanied by haunting retro synthesiser chords - the choppy rhythms of the electric kit then come in, in addition to some more intricate synths that thicken the track. Several different synths are played in a syncopated manner, contrasting to the literal lyrics 'I told you, I'm fine, just ignore me', hinting at the sarcastic manner of the track. A very successful mix, layering the different sounds over another, panning them This song takes you on a mental journey. It's about the unlocking of layers. At first, you might feel that in song there is too much going; on but that's what makes it a vibe. You have to be willing to sit down and unlock the real beauty behind all of the madness.
around the listeners ears, evoking a feeling of uncertainty as well as anticipation, achieving the prevention of many sounds masking one another. Following up from the synths, the lines 'I told you, I'm fine, just ignore me' are then sampled multiple times throughout the track, as well as being cleverly chopped & screwed, forming the sentence with clauses in different orders, experimenting with the structure of the sentence. A haunting yet chilled song that engages the listener to see where the experimentation will take
your subconscious. The buildup of the song allows you to ease into it by hypnotising you with the various beats. The feeling of nature comes into song building up to a melodic rhyme.
Amazon rain forests come to mind when the sound of rain The treble has been smartly comes into play the build which weaved into the song. The use is actually relaxing, and it of high pitches in the blends in well with the voice background create the over. The voice over suits the ambiance of the whole song. It vibe in such an interesting way, makes it feel like an adventure. it almost feels like a diary entry, It makes me think of a 90s a very subtle way of linking the adventure game or even a song to the title. Ignore me, I'm really old bowser level on fine. With all this said the song Mario. It creates a sense of is Only for when you’re on that nostalgia but only comes in for vibe. the first part of the song. That's it I have no more to say. If you like it you, like it. The bass and trumpets make you feel the beat, make you wanna keep going, takes you to
- Fiyin Olayide (Instagram: @olayide.x)
them throughout the track; for those who are interested in electronic music, this is definitely worth checking out. Overall, I'd give the song a 7/10, as I admire the experimentation, production, sampling, and experimental aspects, and crescendo of the whole track, however, in my opinion, I feel that it had a little bit of room for expansion, in terms of melody variations .
- Finn Frank Jain
Check out Tungsten by Jiggy’s own James Greenhalgh! http:// jamesgreenhalghphotography.bigcartel.com/
FIN. Jiggy is still here. 2018. Wait for it.