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WELCOME HOW IS IT ALREADY NOVEMBER? Oh my actual god I’m not convinced this whole year even happened, someone must have come along and stolen a few months somewhere. That said, I’m pretty glad it is November because there’s an explosion of music; long-awaited live shows, incredible records and super exciting events this month. Not forgetting the second of our very own GUESS!? nights at Paper Dress (bands, art, pizza, goody bags, cheap beer, all for only £5 - come party with us).
NABIHAH IQBAL (interview, pg: 24)
In this month’s issue we’re all about Nabihah Iqbal, (formally known as Throwing Shade) with her stunning introspective dance debut Weighing Of The Heart coming out on Ninja Tune, she took some time out during her recent trip to Tokyo to chat to us. It’s also worth noting that our Events page this month is really full of some exciting stuff, as everyone gears up for Christmas the city is flooded with opportunities to enjoy the drawn-in nights and we’re ready to embrace it.
STAFF ON REPEAT
STORMZY
the tracks we can’t stop listening to this month JESS: Smerz - No Harm DAVE: Stormzy - 4pm In London LOKI: Slowcoaches - Complex DANNY: RVG - A Quality of Mercy GEMMA: Fever Ray - To The Moon And Back JACK: Sufjan Stevens - Wallowa Lake Monster RACHEL: Sorcha Richardson - Waking Life LiS 05
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THE ORIELLES
MANSIONAIR
HOTEL LUX
PROMISEL AND
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M.I.L.K.
DANIEL OG
JOY CROOKES
MAISIE PETERS ÁINE CAHILL MIK AEL A DAVIS
COIN
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CITY CALM DOWN MONCRIEFF STEREO HONEY
KATIE VON SCHLEICHER THEGREATESCAPEFESTIVAL.COM
CONTENTS LONDON IN STEREO IS: 10
NEW SOUNDS
Editor: Jess Partridge jess@londoninstereo.co.uk
Nilüfer Yanya, Yaeji & more 14
17
INTERVIEW Shamir
Deputy Editor: Dave Rowlinson dave@londoninstereo.co.uk
TALES FROM THE CITY
Online Editor: Rachel Finn rachel@londoninstereo.co.uk
by Torres 20
Sub-Editor : Loki Lillistone loki@londoninstereo.co.uk
NOVEMBER EVENTS
The best stuff happening in London this month
24 COVER STORY
New Sounds Editor: Gemma Samways Staff Writers: Danny Wright, Jack Urwin
LiS meets Nabihah Iqbal 30
Photography: Nabihah Iqbal cover story: Jacob Hodgkinson (jacobhodgkinson.com)
ON THE STEREO
with The Great Escape’s First Fifty 34
INTERVIEW Baths
40
ALBUM REVIEWS
Mavis Staples, James Holden, Angel Olsen, Karl Blau, Snoh Aalegra & more 48
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Contributors: Lee Wakefield, Grant Bailey, Rachel Grace Almeida, Katie Thomas, Rhian Daly, Simone Scott Warren, Lauren Down, Tim Hakki, Lu Willaims, Geoff Cowart, Thomas Hannan.
GIGS OF THE MONTH
Our pick of the best shows this November 50
FULL LISTINGS
Your full guide to this month’s gigs 69
IN LONDON
with Albert Gold 70
LIVE REVIEWS
Living it up with Beck and Lorde 73
PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS
by Lu Williams
SHAMIR
(interview, pg: 14. Photo Jason McDonald)
londoninstereo.com @londoninstereo LiS 07
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MON 06 NOV
MON 06 NOV
HOXTON SQUARE BAR & KITCHEN
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TROMBONE SHORTY BADBADNOTGOOD WILLIAM & ORLEANS AVENUE + REX ORANGE COUNTY THE CONQUEROR
VILLAGE UNDERGROUND
SPECIAL GUEST: AXEL BOMAN MINYANTA (DEBUT LIVE SHOW) SAT 11 NOV
BORDERLINE
MON 13 NOV
+ THE PEARL HARTS + TEAR THU 09 NOV
RED KITE THU 09 NOV
CAMDEN ASSEMBLY
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O2 SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE
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WED 15 NOV
THU 16 NOV
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MON 20 NOV
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TUE 21 NOV
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TUE 28 NOV
WED 29 NOV
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AND THE HERITAGE ORCHESTRA ENSENBLE
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NEW SOUNDS NILÜFER YANYA
by Gemma Samways
Raised in Kensington, with Irish, Bajan and Turkish heritage, Nilüfer Yanya spent her formative years supplementing the traditional Turkish music and Mozart she heard at home with Blink-182, Simple Plan, The Strokes and The Libertines. So while it’s not entirely surprising that she chose to switch allegiances from classical piano to guitar for her solo work, the 22-year-old’s fluid technique continues to entrance everyone exposed to it. Yanya was initially introduced to the instrument via lessons at school from Dave Okumu of The Invisible. Despite the enviable head start, she patently possesses a natural aptitude, as
demonstrated in the relaxed yet supple playing-style that’s been evident ever since she first came to prominence in 2016, via a pared-back Pixies cover. If, on the surface, her own breezy melodies seem defiantly un-showy, listen harder and you’ll find they’re deeply complex and considered. Supplemented with jazzy chords and Tracey Thorn-ish vocals, and usually accentuated by beautifully sparse arrangements, Yanya’s songs don’t scream for your attention; they seep steadily under your skin. If she can keep writing material as compelling as September’s single ‘Baby Luv’ or either of her EPs, 2018 is hers for the taking.
IN TEN: NEW SOUNDS HANNAH EPPERSON 40 NUMBERS
AFRO B
PULL UP
SMERZ
CHYNNA
AJ TRACEY
MALLRAT
EERA
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THE MAGIC GANG
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GABE 'NANDEZ
ASIA BLACK MARKET
BETTER
NO HARM
GIFT
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LIVING
ALRIGHT
PLAQUES
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NILÜFER YANYA (photo: Ronan Mckenzie)
YAEJI
YAEJI
by Jess Partridge
New York-based Kathy Yaeji Lee (aka Yaeji) is already making big waves and, if anything, we’re a little behind here. Having released a self-titled EP earlier this year she’s picked up love from Pitchfork, Gorilla Vs Bear and Loud and Quiet for her near-hypnotic sound. Playing with genre in a unique way, melding trap beats and pop hooks with rap vocals, there’s a playful sense of self-awareness throughout. With a new EP coming imminently, the sneak peek of ‘Drink I’m Sipping On’ this month revealed a chilled-out slice of fun, with her slipping from Korean to English in a dreamy way. It feels like she could go anywhere from here, the sky’s the limit.
LISTEN TO: Baby Luv LIVE: Jazz Cafe, December 16th @niluferyanya
LISTEN TO: Drink I’m Sippin On
/niluferyanya
@kraeji LiS 11
@kraejiyaeji
/yaejiofficial
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TUE 7 & WED 8 NOVEMBER OMEARA
WED 8 NOVEMBER O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE
WED 8 NOVEMBER THE ISLINGTON
FRI 10 NOVEMBER OMEARA
MON 13 NOVEMBER MOTH CLUB
WED 15 NOVEMBER OMEARA
THU 16 NOVEMBER O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN
MON 20 NOVEMBER THE LEXINGTON
MON 20 NOVEMBER BUSH HALL
TUE 21 NOVEMBER MOTH CLUB
LEIF VOLLEBEKK SYD ARTHUR RUKHSANA MERRISE JOHN SMITH NOVO AMOR & ED TULLETT TERRA LIGHTFOOT STRONG ASIAN MOTHERS DELILAH MONTAGU SEA GIRLS THE BARR BROTHERS MARLON WILLIAMS RY X TALOS TUE 21 NOVEMBER THE WAITING ROOM
WED 22 NOVEMBER NOTTING HILL ARTS CLUB
THU 23 NOVEMBER CECIL SHARP HOUSE
THU 23 NOVEMBER SHOREDITCH TOWN HALL
TUE 28 NOVEMBER THE WAITING ROOM
THU 30 NOVEMBER OSLO
THU 25 JANUARY ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH
THU 1 FEBRUARY OMEARA
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WED 28 FEBRUARY SCALA
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interview
he path of least resistance was never going to work for Shamir. Endlessly on the move, the Las Vegas native’s short career has already taken in the peaks of mainstream recognition, disillusionment with the industry and an awakening as an artist forging their own way, all before his third record, aptly titled Revelations, reaches the airwaves. He’s a thoroughly modern musician; progressive, fiercely independent, living somewhat uncomfortably in the shadow of Ratchet, his commercially successful and sweetly addictive debut, and the inescapable hook of flagship single ‘On The Regular’. For the tumultuous start, Shamir is pragmatic: “Ratchet was more of an experiment to me. It was so unexpected that my debut album did for me what it did, and as bad as I feel to move away from the style many of my fans will recognise, I want to try something that’s more representative of who I am now. That time in the music industry was valuable, if only to figure out that I didn't want to play the game.” Shamir doesn’t say this to boast. While ownership over his music and its production is deeply important to him, he’s familiar with the drawbacks of complete creative control: “I’ve always tried to keep it a small operation. I know how to do every aspect of my music – but I am a master of none of it!” he says, laughing. “I like to work with limitations, and if I can make it work, I will.” This shift in approach meant leaving the safety of XL’s recording booth and getting back to the bedroom. The predecessor to Revelations, Hope, was written, recorded and mixed from Shamir’s bed in a single, frantic weekend. He played every instrument. “I didn’t leave my bed or speak to anyone for that whole weekend. I just sat with my instruments and got my friend to mix it for, like, $90. It’s nothing but raw emotion – in your face music.”
The record formed an antithesis to the XL Records-produced Ratchet, which introduced Shamir’s sound, perhaps unrepresentatively, to the masses: “After Ratchet I felt like I was done. I didn’t want to do this anymore,” he says as a matter of fact. “The response to Hope showed me that people are hungry for real, emotional music. Music can be really over-produced and I just want to create something that is the exact opposite.” Shamir considers Revelations a sister record to Hope – which only hit his Soundcloud in April – composed as two radically different snapshots of his life in 2017: “Revelations became an answer record to Hope. Hope is pure frustration. Revelations is the point when that frustration finally burned itself out,” he says. “They are sister records. They sit together in the same realm.” Shamir talks about the short period between these records in soft tones, his voice as high and delicate as his vocal melodies, but reaching these revelations didn’t come without personal cost. At the conclusion of recording Hope, an explosively creative process, Shamir had a mental breakdown: “I was pretty much manic after that. I fell into psychosis and had a really bad psychotic episode, and I needed to go back home to spend the summer in Vegas. I needed time to recoup and get a new lease on life.” From this brief period of emotional upheaval, Revelations has emerged as a moment of clarity for Shamir – a lo-fi rumination on personal identity and perception in the world; a return to the comforts of lo-fi production, but with newly-acquired wisdom and a fresh, outward-facing gaze. LiS
LiS 14
Revelations is released November 3rd via Father/Daughter Records. @ShamirBailey
@Shamir326
Shamir and Father/Daughter will be donating $1 per sale to the Mental Health Association of PA (mhapa.org).
Shamir words: Grant Bailey
“That time in the music industry was valuable, if only to figure out that I didn't want to play the game.� photo: Jason McDonald
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photo: Kain Balzary
TALES FROM THE CITY We ask artists to tell us stories of times spent in London...
by TORRES
photo: Ashley Connor
London feels like a different place every time I visit. The first time I went was on my very first tour and I was so green. I stayed in a one-bedroom Airbnb with my bandmates, my tour manager, and... the man who lived in the apartment. London was experiencing a record-setting heat wave and I remember taking way too much melatonin just to be able to fall asleep. As a ‘thank you’ for ‘letting him stay with us’, the man whose apartment we were in offered to take my bandmates and me out for Turkish food.
He ordered us multiple platters and then realized he’d ‘forgotten his wallet’. Again, I was very green. I’ve travelled to London solo, and though I’m not really prone to loneliness, I’ve felt loneliness there. I sat in a pub around the corner from my bleak Ibis hotel room one winter. I had a glass of red wine and some grey meat and I was reading the Cormac McCarthy novel, Child of God, which made me feel colder. I think too many viewings of Notting Hill had a hand in my romanticization of the place and my subsequent disappointment. (You’re telling me life isn’t just like a Julia Roberts movie?!) At risk of seeming disparaging, I’ll note that I’ve also had fun in London. It’s where I met my producer, Rob Ellis. We bonded quickly and deeply over too many whiskies in a basement pub after one of my first shows there. I also ended up in London just before going to Dorset to record Sprinter and it happened to be the day of the Notting Hill Carnival. My friend and I drank a bottle of tequila (I had one and he had his own) in the streets and danced and merrily met tons of people we’d never remember. We ate street meat and were happy to be out in the rain. Eventually my friend had to knock on someone’s door to ask if I could puke in his bathroom. The man called himself Santa. Santa charged me two pounds for that transaction.
LiS 17
Torres’ new album Three Futures is out now via 4AD. LIVE: The Dome, November 8th. @torreslovesyou
@TORRESMUSICOFFICIAL
www.fabriclondon.com
fabric November 2017
Craig Richards Terry Francis 15 Years of Running Back Andrew James Gustav Apollonia Binh Craig Richards B2B Midland B2B Call Super Dan Ghenacia Dyed Soundorom Function Gerd Janson Henrik Schwarz (Live) Jay Clarke Julia Govor KiNK (Live) Magic Mountain High (Live) Matthew Styles Paul Woolford Planetary Assault Systems (Live) Radio Slave Shed (Live/AV Show) Shonky Zenker Brothers Zip + Many More
NOV — DEC 2017
DANNY BYRD DIMENSION DJ ZINC ED RUSH ELIJAH & SKILLIAM EMPEROR HYBRID MINDS KASRA B2B ENEI LOGISTICS MEFJUS ORIFICE VULGATRON P MONEY REDLIGHT ROYAL-T B2B CHAMPION SAM BINGA B2B CHIMPO SASASAS SERUM & INJA SINJIN HAWKE THE PROTOTYPES TURNO + MANY MORE 11pm—7am www.fabriclondon.com
EVENTS Stuff that’s happening soon which we think will be real great
AN ART AND MUSIC AND PIZZA AND BEER THING
A DISAPPEARING EXHIBITION + GUESS?! We’re so excited to be teaming up with This Must Be For You again. Promoting a heartening message of accessible art and human generosity, the event sees a variety of artists creating one-off sleeves for bands on Transgressive’s sweet-as roster, and on the final night of the exhibition you get to take the art (and the vinyl) home, for free! It gets better though. On the first night we’re putting on the second instalment of Guess. The deal there? Secret killer line-up, cheap drinks, a free screen-printed tote and (oh my) free Yard Sale pizza. The last one was seriously so good and so fun. A Guess ticket will also get you into the first night private view of the art show. What a night that’s going to be. So come see art, eat pizza, drink beer and watch incredible music with us. WHEN: November 14th-19th. Private View + secret Guess show: £5 Where: A-Side B-side Gallery & Paper Dress Vintage, E8 INFO: facebook.com/ThisMustBeForYou // @MustBeForYou
A VERY MELTY CHEESE THING
FONDUE THURSDAYS AT THE CHEESE BAR Our favourite toasted sandwich is made by The Cheese Truck, one of our favourite magazine distribution stop-offs is Archie’s Bar in Deptford. We really, really like melted cheese. Hallelujah hands everywhere then for the other member of this champion fromage gang, The Cheese Bar in Camden. Their normal menu is mouth-watering enough, but on Thursdays through November and December they’re going full winter comfort with Fondue Thursdays. Great starters (mozzarella sticks!), proper fondue and, hold us, one of the sides for dipping is pigs in blankets. Pigs. In. Blankets. WHEN: November & December. WHERE: The Cheese Bar, Camden, NW1. INFO: thecheesebar.com // @thecheesebarldn
AN ARCHIVE CELEBRATION THING
SEASON OF SOUND: 140 YEARS OF RECORDED SOUND The phonograph was invented in 1877 and recorded sound has shaped our existence ever since. This free exhibition in the British Library’s Entrance Hall Gallery explores all that and more as part of their Season Of Sound, an extensive series of events focused around their extraordinary archive. That also includes a Late at the Library series, with performances from the Radiophonic Workshop plus big nights with DJs using the most acclaimed sound systems around.
A FILM THING
PLAY YOUR GENDER (+Q&A) The disparity between the amount of male and female music producers is beyond staggering. Like 95% vs 5% staggering. As part of the Doc’n Roll Film Festival, Play Your Gender sees Juno award-winning producer Kinnie Starr exploring why this astonishing situation exists by speaking to members of Tegan & Sara, Smashing Pumpkins, Hole and many more about their experiences in the recording industry, and the pressures of being a women within it.
WHEN: OPEN NOW - MAY 13TH WHERE: THE BRITISH LIBRARY, NW1 bl.uk // @britishlibrary
WHEN: NOVEMBER 9TH WHERE: BARBICAN CENTRE, EC2Y INFO: facebook.com/playyourgender // @playyourgender
AN IMMERSIVE PUNK THEATRE THING
INSIDE PUSSY RIOT Honestly, as soon as the word ‘immersive’ rears its head we’re normally scarpering in the opposite direction - but this sounds a bit different. Part of the Saatchi Gallery’s Art Riot: Post-Soviet Actionism exhibition, Inside Pussy Riot gives you the chance to sink yourself into the Russian band’s 2012 experience of standing up to the Orthodox Church’s support of Putin. You’ll be in the dock, but will you speak up for freedom of speech and face incarceration for your beliefs? Here’s a chance to evaluate how much you value freedom. WHEN: NOVEMBER 14TH - DECEMBER 24TH WHERE: SAATCHI GALLERY, SW3 INFO: insidepussyriot.com // @saatchi_gallery LiS 21
interview
“...It makes me feel like ‘OK yeah, maybe I’m doing something that’s quite trailblazing’, and there’s a responsibility that comes with it.”
Nabihah Iqbal
(FKA Throwing Shade)
ÑŝƃĉƋ˷ dďď ÑæŇďnjďŊĉ Photography: Jacob Hodgkinson
hile it seems obvious that every musician’s debut album should feel like a summation of everything that has come before, Weighing Of The Heart feels denser and more complex than most. Her first long player perhaps holds greater significance as it represents a newfound freedom for an artist already famed for her skilful and unique channelling of diverse electronic sounds, as well as embracing more traditionally structured songs that, despite their unfamiliarity, bristle with confidence. You probably know her as Throwing Shade but, as the assuredness of her debut makes clear, it’s a moniker Nabihah Iqbal has comfortably outgrown. LiS 24
LiS 25
interview
“It’s a combination of different reasons and I was thinking about it and thinking about it,” she confirms, “and it got to the stage where I’m making a new record now, the music’s moving in a different direction and it could be quite an important point in my musical career, so if I’m going to make a name change, this is the time to do it.” “I’ve been thinking about other things too: representation, who I am and being open about it as well. Up until recently, my extended family had no idea I’ve been doing music, they still thought I was doing law. Now everybody knows and that makes me feel really relieved, so it’s part of that.” “It’s also the fact there aren’t a lot of female, Asian producers in the London music scene doing what I’m doing. I’ve had a lot of messages of solidarity from people on social media, other brown people mostly saying it’s really great to see what you’re doing and ‘I really love music but my parents want me to get a job in finance’ and ‘You’re really inspirational’. But it makes me feel like ‘OK yeah, maybe I’m doing something that’s quite trailblazing’, and there’s a responsibility that comes with it.” If it rests heavy, you wouldn’t know it. Weighing Of The Heart would be remarkable for those feats alone, yet it contains eleven tracks of the highest calibre, each instrument arranged and played by Nabihah herself. Influenced principally by artists from her formative years, (“stuff that you listen to as a teenager sticks with you for life”), youthful obsessions with bands such as Joy Division and Oasis lurk within a more angular, guitar-based sound, although, LiS 26
interview
often coupled with an old Alesis drum machine and Nabihah’s electronic roots, they never dominate the captivating soundscapes she produces. It’s a seamless blending of styles. “I was really trying to do the opposite and not think about what I wanted it to sound like because I really feel that these days, especially in electronic music, there’s so much where you can tell that the person who made it tried to make it sound like something else. You can really tell when someone’s emulating a sound and that’s purely their motivation for making the track.” “I just cut myself off from all of that. I didn’t listen to any new music that was coming out and everyone was like ‘oh, have you heard the new this or the new that?’ and I’d say ‘no, I haven’t heard anything, don’t play it to me’. I just wasn’t thinking about it. So it was kind of a surprise when the whole body of work started to build up and I could see where it was heading.” While its musical touchstones may be a product of Nabihah’s subconscious, Weighing Of The Heart’s ability to incite a response from the listener is very deliberate. If she succeeds on her pledge to make us “feel something and not just listen to it and then forget about it a few minutes later,” the specific themes are forthright and fascinating. Isolation (‘Zone 1 to 6000’), paranoia (‘In Visions’) and dissatisfaction with the state of things (‘Something More’) dominate proceedings. “I just feel like nobody knows anybody else’s true self,” Nabihah admits. “You could be hanging out with the person you’re closest to in the world, but there’s still going to be things those people would never know about you. Maybe that means we don’t actually know anyone really.
It’s spurred on from that initial feeling which kind of forms the basis of a lot ideas in the album.” Intoxicating in equal measure for both artist and listener, it appears that Weighing Of The Heart would regularly position Nabihah outside her comfort zone. “Naturally, I would veer to the more leftfield, experimental stuff but on this record the tracks are a lot more structured. Songs using a lot more vocals, verse/chorus parts, and that was something I wasn’t really used to at the start. But then I really pushed myself to try and do it and once I’d done it, it felt amazing because it’s actually really fun to have an idea or a message that you want to convey through music in three and a half minutes and once you’ve done it, it feels good.”
“For me, I get feelings from music that I don’t get from anything else, like I’ve never experienced before.”
The new direction begins to make sense to the listener as Nabihah, both passionately and profoundly, details her powerful connection to making music, invigorated by the beguiling sounds from around the world that she pulls together for her NTS radio show every other week. “I’d say the main thing was being aware and thinking a lot about what music is and the power of music. In the West, we listen to music purely for music’s sake, as entertainment, and we don’t really think beyond that, even though we might experience things, which are bigger than just listening to music because you like a song. For me, I get feelings from music that I don’t get from anything else, like I’ve never experienced before. Researching more and looking at what music means to people from different cultures and how there’s so many places around the world where music is seen as a healing force and, if there’s so many cultures around the world that give it that importance, then I don’t think we can just discount it.”
LiS 27
“It’s actually really fun to have an idea or a message that you want to convey through music in three and a half minutes and once you’ve done it, it feels good.” So did writing Weighing Of The Heart prove to be a therapeutic experience? “I think it can be cathartic but there’s also times where it’s the opposite. The last few months of working on the record were just so intense: getting to the studio super early at like 6am or 7am and working until late and doing the same again and doing an all-nighter. My one point of solace was every night when I got home from the studio. I’d watch one episode of The Simpsons before going to sleep. It was such a palette cleanser. It really helped me because if I tried to sleep I couldn’t. I was always thinking about what I needed to do
in the studio. That’s literally one of my top tips if you’re trying to write an album.” Whether it’s Springfield, Indonesian gamelan or the rekindling of a love affair with the sitar, as Nabihah Iqbal asserts: “Everything that comes out of a person creatively is a product of everything that goes in.” What makes Weighing Of The Heart such an extraordinarily personal debut is that it’s the ultimate testament to that. LiS Nabihah Iqbal releases her debut album Weighing Of The Heart December 1st via Ninja Tune LIVE: Five Miles, November 11th (DJ set).
LiS 28
@nabihahiqbal
@NabihahIqbalOfficial
ROUNDHOUSE Thursday 17 May
ON THE STEREO with
FIRST FIFTY As if The Great Escape’s reputation for being Britain’s leading new music festival wasn’t well enough established, this year sees the second edition of their First Fifty series. What’s that? Well, put simply, it’s a sweet first taste of what to expect from the 2018 festival and the line-up is as tantalisingly exciting as you’d expect. First off we want to point you in the direction of our First Fifty show at the Old Blue Last which boasts Bad Gyal, Denzel Himself and more on the 22nd, but to be honest every single stage is brimming with acts we want to see. To help guide us around, here TGE give us the low-down on five acts that are sure to steal the show. LiS
1. EBENEZER – CLICHÉ Ebenezer gives us everything we expect to hear from an R&B song of today – passionate lyrics, a smooth and seductive auto-tuned melody driven by a bass-heavy trap beat. Though seeming cliché (no pun intended), the North London singer quickly establishes himself as far from the usual. The lyrics are honest and with careful listening his debut single opens you to an alternative take on R&B… plus all the good bits we love to hear. EBENEZER
First Fifty takes place over 5 East London venues November 21st-23rd. All tickets are just £5 greatescapefestival.com/first-fifty @thegreatescape
@greatescapefestival LiS 30
BAD GYAL
3. FRED WELL - COMPLICATED In his debut single ‘Complicated’ Fred Well shows just how brilliant simplicity can be. The backing track is minimal – finger-click percussion and warm synths, and the absence of reverb combined with his soft whispering vocals layered over each other creates a feeling of summery joy. Think Mura Masa beats and Pharrell-like vocals.
2. BAD GYAL NICEST COCKY Reminiscent of Travis Scott, Bad Gyal’s newest single ‘Nicest Cocky’ is a perfect mix of sinister chords, dancehall rhythms and catchy melodies. Her unique deliverance is what makes her special – heavy use of auto-tune and blending Spanish, English and Patois. She gives us a whole lot of sass too! Truly living up to her name.
5. HUNTER & THE BEAR PAPER HEART
FRED WELL
4. SAM FENDER MILLENNIAL In his latest single ‘Millennial’, Sam Fender shows off his vocal range over a tuneful melody with drive and attitude. Distorted guitars, hard kicks and witty lyrics. Sam challenges stereotypes against millennials and sends a clear message of what we should expect from our younger generation. HUNTER & THE BEAR
Upbeat guitar riffs and fast-paced rhythms drive the song forward and give you a feeling of bliss and brilliance. But listen to the lyrics and there lays bare a broken heart. The chorus sees a beautifully-sung melody and an exchange of emotional fragility, “Is this all there is for me?”, “you left me with a paper heart”. And with a change of pace in the rhythms throughout the song, H&TB take you on a roller coaster of emotions. LiS 31
WINTER 2017 ~ LIVE ~ November 3rd
Girlhood / 7th
9th
4th
Left Lane Cruiser /
Black Moth /
16th 20th
Krept & Konan /
10th
Gospeloke /
17th
13th
Leon Of Athens / 21st
Token /
24th
28th
6th
Central Cee
Warhaus / 19th
Tsar B /
26th
Gold Dust /
15th
Mahalia
Stephanie Sounds
Hunter & The Bear /
City Calm Down / 27th
SONS /
Sounds Familiar Music Quiz
Youth Killed It /
Louisa Johnson /
23rd
8th
5th
22nd
Aine Cahil
Emily Middlemas
29th
Belako
DECEMBER 2nd
Duke Of Wolves / 12th
5th
WOWH /
9th
Fujiya & Miyagi
Blanco White ~ LATE ~
3rd november
4th november
NIGHT CALL
KATE BOSS
Alt-Pop and
A proper old school
contemporary sounds
discotheque
18th november
25th november
THROWBACK
THE DOCTOR’S ORDERS
80s and 90s disco
Exploring every year
designed to keep you dancing
in Hip Hop’s history
Dates, times & tickets: w w w.hoxtonsquarebar.com
| HOXTONSQUAREBAR
interview
Baths
words: Rachel Grace Almeida
ince releasing his first record in 2010, Will Wiesenfeld – aka Baths – has never been an easy artist to describe. Though he exists within the electronic music realm, his songs have never been that straightforward; they’re unorthodox, subdued pieces of chill electronica, layered with clicking beats, bass samples and his brooding falsetto on top. The Baths project – named after his love of dwelling on music in the bath when he was growing up – became an open palette for what Wiesenfeld wanted to achieve as a musician as a whole. As a teenager, he began to gravitate towards being a singer/songwriter, but he felt playing single instruments while singing was restricting; if he was in a traditional band, there was the risk of it all falling apart for one reason or the other. “It was just this immediate appeal to me that’s like, ‘oh, in that realm I can do everything, and I don’t have to worry about breaking up with myself or anything’. If I can get good enough at the different components of making music all on my own, then I don’t have to have that lingering fear of the possibility that it might just stop happening, like I might just stop making music,” he tells me over the phone from his home in Los Angeles. LiS 34
As a solo artist, the only creative ego you have to confront is your own. Wiesenfeld has had enough practice in both the ups and downs of making music in this way; he’s come to terms with the fact that sometimes songs fail, and it’s just part of the process. “I’ve been making music for long enough that I don’t get into cycles of negativity or anything like that; I’ve been doing it for long enough that it doesn’t phase me, and it’s just how it works. So I deal with my ego on that end. On the other end of it, where I think I’m way too cool or something, where I’ve done something especially awesome, I’m good at tempering myself and not having too much pride about it, keeping it in perspective.”
photography: Mario Luna This balance is one that’s not only present in his writing method, but also in the finish product. Baths exists on a plane between happy and sad; tension and release; anxiety and bliss – he acknowledges the darkness but still holds on to the flickering light. Wiesenfeld spends a lot of time in our conversation talking about how – despite the fact he’s
“As long as the song makes you feel emotional, even if you can’t pin down what it is. That’s key for me.”
an overwhelmingly positive person – the intricacies of human emotion inform how he creates the atmosphere in his songs. “I’m a big fan of that movie Inside Out, and I think maybe the most crucial lesson that you can show to, adults, certainly, but to young kids that are just figuring out their emotions. When the main sad character is sad, she doesn’t need happy people around her going ‘what’s going on, why aren’t you happy?’, she needed to indulge in those emotions, and be like ‘I am sad now, I need to feel sad’ in order to overcome them.” He applies this same nuance to his own music, making for an emotionally ambiguous listen, which is what he always sets out to do. “It’s about whether that emotion is strong or not, even if you can’t
LiS 35 36
Baths l-r: Morgan Greenwood & Will Wiesenfeld
really define what’s going on, as long as the song makes you feel emotional, even if you can’t pin down what it is. That’s key for me. Some of my absolute favourite songs in the world, I can’t totally explain what they make me feel or why they make me feel that way, but there’s something that makes me feel really strongly about them,” he explains. However, any darkness of previous albums is completely transposed on upcoming release Romaplasm – it’s heartfelt, romantic and the most unreserved Wiesenfeld has ever been on record to date. Explaining how he channelled frenetic energy into this record in ‘plasma’ and the title is a made-up portmanteau of romantic philosophy, he added: “I just wanted something that was
stronger, but then also at the same time way more in touch with where my heart is actually at. ‘Romaplasm’ just seems like an encompassing space for romanticism, in my head, and I think that makes a lot of sense for the record – a little pocket universe where all the things that fall under that banner can live and coexist.” LiS
Baths release Romaplasm November 7th via Anticon. LIVE: Roundhouse, November 5th with Perfume Genius.
LiS 36
@BATHSmusic @bathsmusic
FRAN LOBO WED 1 NOV CORSICA STUDIOS KOREY DANE WED 1 NOV SERVANT JAZZ QUARTERS RINA SAWAYAMA THURS 2 NOV THE PICKLE FACTORY PELUCHE THURS 2 NOV CORSICA STUDIOS ANDY SHAUF THURS 2 NOV ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL PELUCHE THURS 2 NOV CORSICA STUDIOS BAYONNE FRI 3 NOV SEBRIGHT ARMS PERFUME GENIUS, AUSTRA, BATHS, JULIANNA BARWICK, MIDNIGHT SISTER SUN 5 NOV ROUNDHOUSE
SIMON JOYNER + DAVID NANCE SUN 5 NOV THE ISLINGTON
JUNGLE WED 15 NOV OUT SOLD ELECTRIC BRIXTON
KAITLYN AURELIA SMITH TUES 21 NOV SCALA
MIDNIGHT SISTER MON 6 NOV PAPER DRESS VINTAGE
ANGELO DE AUGUSTINE WED 15 NOV ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH
WOVOKA GENTLE TUES 7 NOV RICH MIX
ANNA MEREDITH THURS 16 NOV OVAL SPACE
WOLF PARADE WED 22 NOV O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN
INSECURE MEN WED 8 NOV SCALA
KÁRYYN THURS 16 NOV BRUNEL MUSEUM
LOW ISLAND WED 8 & THURS 9 NOV CORSICA STUDIOS
LUKE HOWARD FRI 17 NOV ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH
FLIES + FLIES THURS 23 NOV SERVANT JAZZ QUARTERS
GOAT GIRL MON 13 NOV T D OU SOLSTUDIOS CORSICA
FUTURE ISLANDS MON 20D ONOV, UT L NOV TUESSO21 & WED 22 NOV O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON
KANE STRANG MON 13 NOV OSLO HACKNEY ROSTAM TUES 14 NOV OUT SOLD THEATRE COURTYARD
DINNER MON 20 NOV MOTH CLUB
MOONLANDINGZ WED 22 NOV BRIXTON ELECTRIC
THE ZEPHYR BONES FRI 24 NOV THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS CURTIS HARDING WED 29 NOV SCALA JUANITA STEIN WED 29 NOV SHACKLEWELL ARMS COUSIN KULA THURS 30 NOV SERVANT JAZZ QUARTERS
PARALLELLINESPROMOTIONS.COM
FRI.27.OCT.17
SAT.28.OCT.17
SUN.05.NOV.17
WED.08.NOV.17
WED.15.NOV.17
TUE.07.NOV.17
THU.09.NOV.17
WED.15.NOV.17
FRI.10.NOV.17 FRI.17.NOV.17
TUE.07.NOV.17 SUN.29.OCT.17 WED.08.NOV.17 ELECTRIC BALLROOM
MON.13.NOV.17
SUN.19.NOV.17
TUE.31.OCT.17 TUE.07.NOV.17
MON.13.NOV.17
MON.20.NOV.17
WED.01.NOV.17 WED.08.NOV.17 TUE.14.NOV.17
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THU. 30.NOV.17
FRI.24.NOV.17
MON.04.DEC.17
MON.27.NOV.17
WED.13.DEC.17
THU.22.FEB.18
MON.18.DEC.17
SAT.24.FEB.18
FRI.12.JAN.18 MON.04.DEC.17 THU.26.APR.18
TUE.28.NOV.17 THU.07.DEC.17
SAT.27.JAN.18 TUE.05.JUN.18
WED.06.JUN.18
WED.29.NOV.17 THU.07.DEC.17
WED.07.FEB.18 THU.07.JUN.18
THU.30.NOV.17 SUN.10.DEC.17
THU.15.FEB.18
FRI.14.SEP.18
ALBUM REVIEWS RECORD OF THE MONTH
We loved Mavis Staples recent single ‘If All I Was Was Black’ so much we couldn’t wait to hear the album, a collaboration with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. So Danny Wright gathered Thomas Hannan and LiS’ Dave Rowlinson to talk Mavis, Tweedy and the state of the nation. What are your feelings about Mavis? Have you listened to a lot of her stuff?
I suppose that brings us neatly on to Jeff Tweedy, what did you think of their other albums together?
DR: Honestly, I knew pretty much zip about her until she was on the Gorillaz record other than the Arcade Fire track, but I’ve gone back, listened to lots and seen the error of my ways. TH: I first heard her on Graffiti Bridge by Prince. She was one of the few good things about that record. But yeah obviously there’s a whole back catalogue of Important Shit. DR: When I was learning about her I kept finding out things that blew my mind - ‘whoa, she worked with Prince!’ ‘Nick Cave wrote her a song!’ I listened to some Staple Sisters and discovered Salt-n-Peppa sampled them on ‘Let’s Talk About Sex’. So really I’ve been been listening to her for loads of my life. TH: Yeah lots of awesome people like writing her songs, which is always a good reason for further exploration. DR: Her dad was friends with Martin Luther King Jr! TH: Prince aside, it often seems to be indie songwriters wondering ‘What would this song sound like if I had a fucking awesome voice?’ DR: Oh totally - let’s bring Mavis in for some gravitas…
DR: It shows that this is the first one with all new songs - it’s a more consistent album, I think. Plus, it sounds like Jeff is really having a blast on this record. TH: I like the really sparse, loose arrangements. It’s like dive bar gospel in places. So: it’s obviously a good record? How good? DR: I mean, I really enjoy listening to it - I think as much as it is good, it also feels quite an important record - proper state of the nation stuff. TH: It’s a very good record. One of those latecareer Proper Artistic Statements that would be as loved as her earlier work if only it’d have been around for 30 years or so already. DR: Yeah, a bit like that Johnny Cash record... TH: Exactly, David. But she’s more than earned that. DR: It definitely has an air of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On about it. I mean, it’s not that good, but... She’s said “These songs are going to change the world”. They probably aren’t but can you hear that fire in them? TH: I wish they would, Mavis, I’m into this world you’re singing about. And I believe that YOU believe that, yeah. LiS 40
DR: Compare it to ‘Tomorrow’, from the last record, which sounds like the triumphant moment at the end of a Disney movie, and there’s very obviously a shift in purpose. TH: Depends what change you’re after. If it’s getting Wilco fans into Mavis Staples I think that could certainly happen, and that’d be no small achievement.
If All I Was Was Black is released November 17th via ANTI@mavisstaples
How would you describe the album’s sound? DR: It’s incredibly warm, it oozes quality and musicianship which are not normally things I particularly value, but it’s perfect for the album. TH: Like a gospel choir sweeping up broken glass. DR: Oh, what Tom said. TH: The band are incredibly restrained. It’s all scene setting for Mavis. DR: It sounds how I expect a Chicago record to sound, I want to drink whisky and listen to it. I think it works really well as an ~older statesperson~ companion album to Jamila Woods’ HEAVN - which is also Chicago (I might be pushing this angle too hard). What’s the stand out track for you? DR: The title track is A+ but maybe ‘Build A Bridge’. It’s very simple and very heartfelt and very comforting which are good things. TH: It’s the title track. To hear that mixture of anger and empathy in a vocal is really rare. Especially while the band play on like it’s a beautiful sunny day out there all day every day. I like the weird falling-over-itself funk of the first song, ‘Little Bit’, too.
Does it sound like a state of the nation/rallying cry kind of album. Does that come across clearly? TH: For sure. But it also sounds like a great night out. DR: That line in What’s Going On “You see, war is not the answer, For only love can conquer hate” that’s the message of this album. It’s defiant more than angry, hopeful more than hopeless - like, she hasn’t given up on humans - and I appreciate that. TH: Despite her anger at the world it’s not a record that suggests more anger is the solution, and I like that about it. DR: Equally you could definitely DJ these songs and people would dance and the lyrics would matter less. It’s a really good record, that’s my red-hot take. Thanks guys. Anything else to add? TH: She should front Wilco.
SNOH AALEGRA // FEELS ARTium Recordings // Out Now
Los Angeles-based Snoh Aalegra amalgamates nostalgic R&B and soul with contemporary hip hop flair in her debut album Feels. Released on ARTium Recordings – also home to the likes of Jhene Aiko, Common and ‘Nothing Burns Like The Cold’ guest vocalist Vince Staples, Feels draws inspiration from Michael in the vocal and Janet in the R&B sensibility. There’s a hazy west coast feel to ‘You Keep Me Waiting’ which features Vic Mensa and showcases the breadth of Snoh’s vocal range. The album’s title track reaches to Amy Winehouse for inspiration, whilst the lo-fi down-tempo groove in ‘All I Have’ and ‘Sometimes’ feat Logic would be at home on a Soulection mix. Snoh Aalegra commands her own space, simultaneously throwback and brilliantly fresh. Katie Thomas LiS 41
JAMES HOLDEN & THE ANIMAL SPIRITS THE ANIMAL SPIRITS
Border Community // November 3rd
Bigger proves to be better in the case of James Holden’s new band. For the third release on his Border Community imprint and first featuring a five-strong band, the elusive London artist leads a fantastic excursion into the unknown. Gathering his posse to his Sacred Walls studio last summer they recorded all the nine new tracks live. Each one is beautifully imagined and superbly executed, as if Holden was leading a kosmische caravan through uncharted territories of long-form funk and jazz. Featuring the inspired Tom Page (drummer of RocketNumberNine fame), Etienne Jaumet (alto saxophone), Marcus Hamblett (cornet), Liza Bec (recorder) and Lascelle Gordon (percussion) the group get jamming and let rip. Given that, it’s a shame we’ve had to wait more than a year to hear them. But Holden doesn’t do things by halves, having built his own modular synth and software for the album, written the musical charts, as well as recording, mixing and releasing it. It takes time. After all, these are musical ideas that Holden seems to have been percolating since his 2014 trip to Morocco to work with Gnawa music legend Maalem Mahmoud Guinia. Which explain the heady circular jams and upbeat moods that dominate its standout track, ‘Each Moment Like the First’. Yes, the electronic punch of Holden’s previous album The Inheritors sounds more intense and more clinically claustrophobic. But Holden as a mercurial free spirit deserves credit for – once again – bravely cutting loose and exploring new sonic vistas. The results are a joy to behold. Geoff Cowart
QTY
BIBIO
PHANTOM BRICKWORKS
QTY Dirty Hit // November 3rd
Nobody needs to tell you that QTY are a New York band. It's written all over their self titled debut, from the Lou Reed-esque drawl of vocalist Dan Lardner, and the angular Strokes-ian, Ramonesy guitar lines of Alex Niemetz. Opening number ‘Rodeo’ waxes about friendship whilst walking the impossible line between oh so cool and overexcited, whilst ‘Michael’ is a proper foot-tapper; potentially the best song you're gonna hear about stuff on someone’s desk. But where they really work is when the duo’s vocals intertwine; ‘New Beginnings’ comes over like a polished Moldy Peaches, and ‘Sad Poetic’, with it’s ooohing refrain, is super sweet. Comparisons are easy to make, but over the ten tracks of QTY, the pair prove themselves equally as easy to fall in love with. Simone Scott Warren
Warp // November 3rd
Phantom Brickworks opens in ominous fashion: ‘9:13 is meandering and brooding, setting the tone for what’s to follow over the album’s protracted running time. It makes sense for the record to stretch over the seventy minute mark, each track mostly improvised and afforded the room to unfurl and mesmerise with quiet purpose. With that in mind, it’s not easily accessible, as tracks such as ‘Branch Line’ and ‘Capel Celyn’ only beginning to resemble something particularly fascinating if heard in line with what has come before. It’s the triple bill of title tracks, however, that resonate the most; hazy compositions of sparse keys and distant echoes of warped vocals that prove Bibio’s ninth album really does click if strictly appreciated as a full body of work. Lee Wakefield LiS 42
“...bravely cutting loose and exploring new sonic vistas. The results are a joy to behold.” Geoff Cowart on James Holden’s The Animal Spirits
SPINNING COIN PERMO
Geographic November 10th
CURTIS HARDING
FACE YOUR FEAR ANTI- // October 27th
Curtis Harding is the epitome of a genre-eschewing artist. His 2014 debut Soul Power melded garage-rock, funk and Motown with little regard for boundaries, while he says he finds the soul that's often ascribed to him in everything from country to punk. Second album Face Your Fear proves as much, his velvet falsetto the unifying factor between songs as disparate as the acoustic sensuality of 'Welcome To My World' or the Bowie synthladen 'Dream Girl'. Produced in collaboration with Danger Mouse and Sam Cohen, it's also a more refined record. Each flourish earns its place in the songs, while Harding's lyrics make strong statements, romantic or otherwise (the title track speaks to America's current political situation), without overpowering the lush atmosphere of this timeless, eloquent record. Rhian Daly
After several years of gigging and drip-feeding singles to the masses, Glasgow-based Spinning Coin drop their full-length debut on Domino-imprint Geographic. The tracks on Permo cover all sorts of terrain, and that’s due to the band’s two songwriters Sean Armstrong and Jack Mellin taking turns on principal writing duties, creating tracks that oscillate from escapist jangle-pop to rougher guitar-driven gems. At fourteen tracks, it feels slightly too long for an album with such disparate sounds at times, but those differences also become some of its highlights: ‘Magdalene ’ clocks in at the heavier end with its scratchy overdrive outro whereas the nursery-rhyme-esque melody of ‘Floating With You’ is one of Permo’s better slow tracks. Listen for an eclectic mash-up of guitar sounds. Rachel Michaella Finn
CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG REST
Because Music // November 17th
Charlotte Gainsbourg should be lauded for consistently making daring artistic choices, and frequently some excellent ones. For Rest, she enlists Daft Punk’s Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo to conjure an album of somnambulistic dream pop that hits more than it misses. On Rest, Gainsbourg flits between singing in French and English, and sounds just as mysterious whatever language she’s operating in - even if you only find one of them intelligible. The cyclically hypnotising title track and amazing sultry nursery rhyme disco of ‘Deadly Valentine’ are high points of a record that, despite struggling to maintain interest in its final third, ranges from excellent to pleasant throughout. Even if Rest is an album of great bits rather than greatness, its highs are transcendent, and lows forgivable gambles. Thomas Hannan LiS 43
EERA
REFLECTION OF YOUTH Big Dada Records // November 3rd
Just when you’re wondering how long until the Nordic countries’ talent reserves are finally exhausted, along comes another superb Scandinavian musician capable of claiming your heart. EERA is the solo project of Norway’s Anna Lena Bruland, a former member of Farao’s band, and a recent collaborator of Ghostpoet’s. There’s a brooding darkness encircling this debut set, that’s part inspired by her heroes PJ Harvey, Portishead and Blonde Redhead, and part the consequence of her steadfast refusal to airbrush-out difficult feelings or extreme emotional responses. Combine that lyrical candour with an innate knack for fostering atmosphere via haunting vocals, sonorous guitars and icy synths, and you have a fascinating first outing that - while not consistently gripping - does display huge potential and offers a strong foundation on which to build. Gemma Samways
ANGEL OLSEN PHASES
Jagjaguwar // November 10th
It’s easy to dismiss rarities albums as sonic offal. They often possess a discernible crate-digging vibe that makes them uncomfortable listens for even the most loyal stans. Coming into Phases having never heard an Angel Olsen hit is difficult, but not impossible. For those that are considering it, it’s a record that – while predictably scrappy – highlights the deep Americana strands running through her melodies. New song and My Woman off-cut ‘Special’ makes an appearance here. While its Woodstock-baiting sixties psychedelia don’t quite chime with the Mazzy Star-perfection of My Woman, it’s actually better than half that album. This is a rarities collection that charms when you least expect it, the dusty crackle and tender singing on ‘Only With You’ being one of those sublime moments. Tim Hakki
KARL BLAU
OUT HER SPACE Bella Union // November 17th
Recorded in the same space by the same people over the same two-week period as Matthew E. White’s debut album Big Inner, Karl Blau’s latest record Out Her Space finally arrives with a sense of weight lifted, like a piece of a puzzle you never knew you were missing. Out Her Space is an exercise in subtlety - rarely overdone but always busy. We’re talking bubbling percussion, gently grooving bass guitars, whimsical glitches, horns teased from nothingness, freestyle jazz breakdowns and the odd crazed electric guitar to really keep you on your toes. Blau’s voice is light and lithe but his pointed enunciation gives weight to his words, their gravity pulling against the warm, indulgent central swirl. Basically, this is exactly the kind of record we’d expect from a Blau/Spacebomb partnership. Lauren Down LiS 44
wednesday 27 October | 7:00
JOHN MAUS
friday 29 October | 7:00
BAD OMENS
saturday 30 October | 7:00
PUPPY
thursday 2 november | 6:30
saturday 18 november | 7:00
COUNTERPARTS
sunday 19 november | 7:00
ESKIMO CALLBOY
tuesday 21 november | 7:00
THE LAFONTAINES
wednesday 22 november | 7:00
LEPROUS
SECRETS + SHIELDS
AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED
ROYAL THUNDER
friday 3 november | 7:00
sunday 5 november | 7:00
friday 24 november | 7:00
saturday 25 november | 7:30
ABHORRENT DECIMATION BURNING monday 6 november | 6:30
wednesday 29 november | 7:00
DYING FETUS
BROKEN WITT REBELS
JAPANESE BREAKFAST
DAISYHEAD
ALEX LAHEY
MICHAEL MONROE
TORRES
HOT VOX: ROGUES’ GALLERY
tuesday 7 november | 7:30
wednesday 8 november | 7:00 wednesday 8 november | 7:30 thursday 9 november | 7:00
VULTURE INDUSTRIES friday 10 november | 7:00
KYROS
saturday 11 november | 2:00
LENMANIA
tuesday 14 november | 7:30
PROTOMARTYR
friday 17 november | 7:00
THE JB CONSPIRACY friday 17 november | 7:00 XANDRIA
saturday 18 november | 7:00
HARK
friday 1 december | 7:00 friday 1 december | 7:00
saturday 2 december | 7:00
sunday 3 december | 1:00
MAGIC PIE
thursday 7 december | 7:00
NORMANDIE + WILLIAM RYAN KEY
saturday 9 december | 7:00
GIMP FIST
saturday 9 december | 7:00
VUUR + SCAR SYMMETRY
tuesday 12 december | 7:30
CLOUD NOTHINGS + THE HOTELIER
GIGS OF THE MONTH O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE MARIKA HACKMAN + GOAT GIRL + OUR GIRL November 23rd £15adv // @o2sbe
Our pick of the best upcoming shows around London O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON LAIBACH
Shepherd’s Bush
November 23rd £22adv // @O2Islington
Angel
THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS DRAHLA November 9th £6adv // @shacklewell Arms
Dalston Junction / Kingsland
THE LEXINGTON KLANGSTOF LOMELDA
SERVANT JAZZ QUARTERS
Angel
THE CAMDEN ASSEMBLY
LOMELDA November 7th £9adv // @ServantJazz
November 21st £7.50adv // @thelexington
Dalston Junction / Kingsland
CONNIE CONSTANCE November 7th £5adv // @CamdenAssembly
Chalk Farm / Camden Town
THE LOCK TAVERN BDRMM + RADIDAS + INNO70 November 10th FREE // @thelocktavern
Chalk Farm / Camden Town
THE DOME TORRES + THE DOVE & THE WOLF November 8th £13adv // @DomeTufnellPark
BRIXTON WINDMILL
BOSTON MUSIC ROOM
PUBLIC ACCESS T.V. + CHEW THE FAT
ALEX LAHEY November 8th £9adv // @BostonMusicRoom
CONNIE CONSTANCE
Tuffnell Park
Tuffnell Park
November 6th £9adv // @WindmillBrixton
Brixton
MOTH CLUB
FABRIC
GURR
MEFJUS + IVY LAB + EMPEROR + ELIJAH & SKILLIAM + SINJIN HAWKE
November 10th £8adv // @Moth_Club
Hackney Central
HOXTON SQUARE BAR & KITCHEN THE GREAT ESCAPE FIRST FIFTY: ÁINE CAHILL + KATE VON SCHLEICHER + MIKAELA DAVISA November 22nd £5adv // @HoxtonSquareBar
Old Street
November 24th £20adv // @fabriclondon
Farringdon/ Chancery Lane
PAPER DRESS VINTAGE 10TH BIRTHDAY WEEKENDER: MIRACULOUS MULE + BIKINI BEACH BAND & MANY MORE November 3rd-4th £6-£8adv // @paperdressed
Hackney Central
THE SLAUGHTERED LAMB KAIA KATER ÁINE CAHILL
November 16th £12.50adv // @slaughteredlam
JAZZ CAFE
THE WAITING ROOM
Farringdon/ Old Street
DONAE’O + YOUNG T & BUGSEY
WYLDEST + HEAVY HEART & MORE
November 16th £12.50adv // @TheJazzCafe
November 9th FREE // @WaitingRoomN16
Camden Town
MIRANDA AT ACE HOTEL
Dalston Junction / Kingsland
O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN
YUNG FUME + SKINNY MACHO
WOLF PARADE + FRIGS
November 4th £7adv // @miranda_ldn
November 22nd £21adv // @O2ForumKTown
Shoreditch High Street
Kentish Town
ARCHSPACE LAZY HABITS November 22nd + 23rd £10-12.50adv // @Archspace_Ldn
Haggerston
BUSH HALL
OSLO
EIVØR
WEAVES + DAMA SCOUT
November 28th Shepherd’s Bush Market / Shepherd’s Bush £16adv // @Bushhallmusic
November 21st £10adv // @OsloHackney LiS 49
Hackney Central
LONDON’S GIG GUIDE
FULL NOVEMBER LISTINGS
Your full listings guide to all the best shows happening across North, East, South and West London this month. Wednesday 1st November
Thursday 2nd November
visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo Friday 3rd November
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL NOVEMBER LISTINGS
Saturday 4th November
visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo
Sunday 5th November
Tuesday 7th November
Monday 6th November
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL NOVEMBER LISTINGS
Wednesday 8th November
visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo
Thursday 9th November
Friday 10th November
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL NOVEMBER LISTINGS
Saturday 11th November
visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo
Monday 13th November
Sunday 12th November
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL NOVEMBER LISTINGS Tuesday 14th November
Thursday 16th November
Wednesday 15th November
visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo
Friday 17th November
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL NOVEMBER LISTINGS
Saturday 18th November
Sunday 19th November
visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo
Tuesday 21st November
Monday 20th November
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL NOVEMBER LISTINGS
Wednesday 22nd November
Thursday 23rd November
visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo
Friday 24th November
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL NOVEMBER LISTINGS
Saturday 25th November Sunday 26th November
visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo
Tuesday 28th November
Monday 27th November
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL NOVEMBER LISTINGS
Thursday 30th November Wednesday 29th November
FOR THE VERY LATEST LISTINGS, AND TO SIGN UP TO OUR GIGS OF THE WEEK EMAIL, VISIT LONDONINSTEREO.COM
visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email
11—17
Lanzarote
MOTH Club Valette St London E8 Friday 3 November
FRANCOBOLLO Friday 10 November
GURR Friday 10 November
ERIKA Wednesday 21 November
lanzaroteworks.com #lanzaroteworks
Programming
Tuesday 7 November
SAPPHIRE SLOWS Saturday 11 November
WILTED WOMAN Thursday 30 November
KEIR The Lock Tavern 35 Chalk Farm Rd London NW1 Friday 10 November
LEIF VOLLEBEKK
BDRMM
Shacklewell Arms
GOOD GUY CLARENCE
Friday 17 November
71 Shacklewell Lane London E8 Friday 3 November
BAD BREEDING Monday 13 November
LOVE THEME Tuesday 28 November
WHITE ROOM Wednesday 29 November
JUANITA STEIN The Waiting Room 175 Stoke Newington High St N16 Wednesday 1 November
TRANSFIGURE
Sunday 19 November
AND YET IT MOVES Saturday 25 November
OH! GUNQUIT The Montague Arms 289 Queen’s Rd London SE14 Saturday 4 November
MARGED Friday 10 November
PRESTIGE Saturday 18 November
A VOID Wednesday 29 November
BROMIDE
IN LONDON with
ALBERT GOLD Why do you live in London? I was born in Homerton and so I grew up here. London is kinda all I know, it's where music really began for me. What are your go-to food places? Any chicken shop in east London, haha. I’m like the chicken connoisseur. It looks like winter’s here. What’s the best way to get through these months? I’m like a hermit so being at home in my flat in Hackney is my best way of getting through the winter months. Talk us through a great London day. I would say go and see the sights like Box Park in Shoreditch or go to the open mic nights at The Troy Bar in Hoxton. The museums are really good too and there’s the National Gallery and Whitechapel Gallery. Even seeing a gig would be really cool in London: I’m actually going to see Tank and the Bangas at the Islington Assembly Hall in December - they are amazing!! Favourite outdoor space? I love any park in the summer - London Fields, Haggerston and Stratford Parks are mostly where I’m at.
“I don’t really know what type of person I would be if I wasn’t from here.” What’s the worst thing about London? The night life is changing a lot. Many places I used to go to when I was younger like the Joiners Arms, The Astoria, Plastic People and the Rising Tide youth centre have closed down, which is a shame, and prices are going up. Do you have any favourite venues? I would say The Sebright Arms, where I’m doing my EP launch on November 29th, and Birthdays in Dalston. Does living here influence the music you write? One million percent!! I’ve always lived here so I’ve experienced love, loss and a lot of happy memories, which are all the things I write about. I don’t really know what type of person I would be if I wasn’t from here. How would you advise someone to get the most out of London? Just to be as open as you can and attend any events happening like gigs or festivals. It’s definitely an experience you can’t miss!
If you could live anywhere in London where would it be? Where I am now, in Hackney. East London is where my heart is and always will be! LiS 69
Albert Gold’s Second EP is released November 24th via Fierce Panda Records. The single ‘All This Time’ is out now. LIVE: Sebright Arms, November 29th @albertjgold
LIVE REVIEWS BECK, BRIXTON ELECTRIC, OCTOBER 12TH Words: Danny Wright // Photography: Rachel Lipsitz
“We're opening for ourselves tonight,” announces Beck as the band begin with a series of his maudlin, melancholy tracks. “So we’ll start out slow.” It means the set starts with the sun-dappled sadness of ‘Blackbird Chain’, ‘Heart is a Drum’ and the near-perfect ‘Lost Cause’. But Beck dressed in a white suit, Hawaiian shirt and a fedora - seems primed for a party and it’s not long before he gets it started. “I want to break you out of this contemplative mood,” he tells us before they launch into ‘Devil’s Haircut’. From then on he cuts free. It’s like a jukebox of his party songs, as he cherry picks from his bulging back-catalogue: ‘Think I’m In Love’ morphs into ‘I Feel Love’ and there’s ‘Mixed Bizness’, ‘Girl’ and ‘The New Pollution’. Tonight, in this intimate environment, they sound as vibrant as when you first heard them.
This is the night before he releases the bombastic and pop-centric new record Colors and those new songs - ‘Dreams’, ‘Up All Night’, ‘Wow’ and ‘Colors’ - all sound, er, vividly coloured-in. “It‘s so 3D, so alive right now. I wish I could stay all night with you,” he says excitedly. It seems like we’ve seen every side of Beck now - tonight we’ve seen them all in just under 2 hours - but it’s his ability to effortlessly flit between these different personas that make him so brilliant. They end with ‘Loser’ and an ‘E-Pro’ which rocks the room to its foundation before returning to the stage for an encore of covers of The Clash, Tom Petty, Gary Numan and Talking Heads. The set closes with a pulsating ‘Where It's At’ and the harmonica-led ‘One Foot in The Grave’. Beck smirks, “We’ve already played the show… we can do anything we want now.” Beck Hansen has always made up his own rules.
LiS 70
LORDE, ALEXANDRA PALACE, SEPTEMBER 27TH Words: Dave Rowlinson There are old guys telling everyone interested (clue: nobody) they were at Madame JoJo’s for Lorde in 2013, there are popkids pushing to be as close as possible to the front, there are an odd amount of people really ill but refusing to miss this show. There’s an expectant fizz in the air. There’s the inescapable awareness that tonight feels like A Big Pop Moment. What we really witness tonight is confirmation Lorde has crossed into the hallowed level of musician reserved for the sainted likes of Rihanna and Katy. She’s a star now, a proper effervescent glittering pop icon with that intangible gift for having everyone on her side. Plus, there are dancers. Stars have dancers. We all want this show to matter, we want to be moved and to move, and not a soul in this soulless cavern is let down.
What Lorde’s done, and what other acts should maybe think about, is set the bar at ‘My worst songs are really good and my best songs are some of the sweetest around’. Lorde burns through ‘Tennis Court’ and ‘Buzzcut Season’ within the first four songs – casual as you like – and they’re just glorious. Their relevance and freshness a joyful nod to the fact she’s light-years ahead of most others. Cuts from Melodrama stand up equally well to those treasured Pure Heroine standouts. “They’ll hang us in the Louvre, down the back, but who cares, still the Louvre” remains 2017’s greatest lyric, while the absolute rush of ‘Green Light’ remains the year’s most fun comeback single and sees Alexandra Palace united in euphoric glee and enraptured dance as it closes the night. Now, let me tell you more about Madame JoJo’s... it wasn’t as good as this. LiS 71
PRESENTS
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT MYTICKET.CO.UK
PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS D.I.Y ‘til I die trying by Lu Williams It’s a well-known fact that a large part of working as an artist includes counting your pennies, your really tiny amount of pennies. Even with two jobs and my own organisation I’m very much scraping by on-the-daily because of an internal drive to make stuff. Coming from a working class family in Southend, DIY culture has largely influenced the way I create work, through a thorough upbringing in industriousness. Grrrl Zine Fair became what it is after I realised I could make parties as well as sculptures and that it was just like installation or performance; except I could invite friends and get them to show off what they’re good at too. It was a vernacular everyone immediately understood and there were no ‘do not touch’ signs. Zines, bands and artists exhibiting or hosting workshops, film screenings and panel talks come together as a kind of feminist party. This takes up a lot of time and requires a lot of love but it works because the community around it has that same drive to make and collaborate, without any authority. It‘s also a well-known fact that the DIY community is very supportive of one another and very unsupportive of patriarchy and capitalism, providing an alternative to consumer culture, to appropriate, to customise, in music, in art and in self-publishing. I didn’t know any of my friends read The Economist until I was forwarded an article I’d been featured in (look mum, I’ve made it!). Yet it was really gutting that my in first mention in a major publication I’d not only been misquoted but appeared to slag off a really good friend for collaborating with a brand. In a recent Artangel conversation with Jeremy Deller, Miranda July pointed out the significant rise in brands co-opting artists to make their stuff seem cool, and, as a Riot Grrrl at heart this made her uneasy. In her latest work, a pop-up charity shop in Selfridges, she built a multi-faith charity shop. An institution of the working class in collaboration with a luxury shopping brand. July commented that as an artist she used this idea of brand collaboration like it was a material. Like paint and plaster are physically manipulated into a work, could virtual reality adverts, facial recognition billboards, branded content and sponsored ads serve as a new medium? Haven’t artists always co-opted contemporary trends to create something counter cultural? If collaborating with a brand means you can pay fellow women and non-binary artists, whose work you love, who are underrepresented, who are also counting their pennies, then I think that’s really cool. At least it’s a step away from the ‘starving artist’ ‘lone genius artist’ narrative that’s been championed by famous male artists for centuries. Be DIY ‘til you don’t die and can make a semi-comfortable existence for yourself and your community. Lu’s project Grrrl Zine Fair will be launching a pop up shop at JagerSoho from November 6th – 11th, with Issue 2 of Grrrl In Print launching on the 6th and workshops and live sessions throughout the week in collaboration with Soho Radio, Jägermeister, Blue Mary Records featuring Nova Twins and Militant Girlfriend and special guests. The closing party will be an Issue 4 launch of Sassify Zine. For more details visit @grrrlzinefair on Facebook or Instagram.
LiS 73
PRESENTS
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PRESENTS
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S.J.M. CONCERTS PRESENTS
CAMERON AV E R Y PLUS BEC SANDRIDGE
PLUS LITTLE COMETS
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
30 OCT HOXTON SQUARE BAR & KITCHEN
01 NOV O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN
14 NOV ULU
PLUS FLYTE
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
15 NOV O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN
20 NOV THOUSAND ISLAND
23 NOV VILLAGE UNDERGROUND
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
30 NOV SCALA
04 DEC LEXINGTON
07 DEC ELECTRIC BALLROOM
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
PLUS DEMOB HAPPY+ / PINS
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
08 DEC O2 SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE
14+ / 15 / 16 DEC ULU
21 FEB LEXINGTON
IDLES PLUS LIFE / KITE HOUSE
HERCULES &LOVE AF FAIR LD
SO
T
OU
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
28 FEB ELECTRIC BRIXTON
10 MAR ALEXANDRA PALACE
FRIENDLY FIRES PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
05 APR O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON