London in Stereo // September 2017

S EP TEM BER 2017 ISSUE 52 // FREE

HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR

P R E S E N T S

12 | 09 | 17

19 | 10 | 17

DISPATCH

SOUND OF THE SIRENS

- ELECTRIC BALLROOM -

- THE WATER RATS -

12 | 09 | 17

THE DISTRICTS - THE GARAGE -

13 | 09 | 17

24 | 10 | 17

PLAZA

- OLD BLUE LAST, SHOREDITCH -

27 | 10 | 17

JAMES LEONARD HEWITSON

STEVEN PAGE

14 | 09 | 17

PETER PERRETT

- THE WAITING ROOM, STOKE NEWINGTON -

PARK HOTEL

- BUSH HALL -

04 | 11 | 17

- ELECTRIC BALLROOM -

- OVAL SPACE, BETHNAL GREEN OU| T | 09 | 17T 20LD 17 - 21 09OU SO SO| LD

07 | 11 | 17

ZOLA JESUS

22 | 09 | 17

- VILLAGE UNDERGROUND -

- EVENTIM APOLLO, HAMMERSMITH -

HVMM

SIGUR RÓS

22 | 11 | 17

25 | 09 | 17

- SEBRIGHT ARMS, HACKNEY -

- SHAW THEATRE, KING’S CROSS -

JIM WHITE

ROBERT FORSTER

26 | 11 | 17

25 | 09 | 17

- DINGWALLS -

JEN CLOHER

29 | 11 | 17

- THE LEXINGTON | 17T 28 | 09 | 17 - 29 09OU SO|LD

MARIAM THE BELIEVER

- 02 ACADEMY BRIXTON -

SLEEPTALKING

JUSTICE 02 | 10 | 17

- THE LEXINGTON -

30 | 11 | 17

- THE VICTORIA, DALSTON -

ANNIE HART

- SHACKLEWELL ARMS, DALSTON -

09 | 10 | 17

30 | 11 | 17

TOM WILLIAMS - BUSH HALL -

STEVIE PARKER

01 | 12 | 17

JESCA HOOP

- MOTH CLUB, HACKNEY -

10 | 10 | 17

- UNION CHAPEL, ISLINGTON -

- MOTH CLUB, HACKNEY -

BERNARD FANNING

THE PREATURES 10 | 10 | 17

JOLIE HOLLAND + SAMANTHA PARTON - UNION CHAPEL, ISLINGTON -

07 | 12 | 17

- THE GARAGE -

28 | 02 | 18

THE FRONT BOTTOMS - ROUNDHOUSE -

09 - 10 SEPTEMBER 2017

ONBLACKHEATH - BLACKHEATH, LONDON SE3 QUA In partnership with John Lewis A L L T I C K E T S AVA I L A B L E F R O M

SEETICKETS.COM - GIGANTIC.COM - STARGREEN.COM TICKETMASTER.CO.UK - ROUNDHOUSE.ORG.UK - EVENTIM.CO.UK

P R E S E N T S

FRIDAY 13 OCTOBER 2017

O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE LONDON

lambofficial.com

BY ARRANGEMENT WITH PRIMARY TALENT INTERNATIONAL

NEW ALBUM ‘TI AMO’ OUT NOW

MONDAY 16 OCTOBER 2017

ROUNDHOUSE LONDON NEW ALBUM AFTERGLOW OUT NOW

BY ARRANGEMENT WITH CODA AGENCY

BY ARRANGEMENT WITH PRIMARY TALENT INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY 03 FEBRUARY 2018

02 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE LONDON

BY A R R A NGE ME NT W ITH UNITE D TA LE NT A GE NCY

T I C K E T S AVA I L A B L E F R O M

SEETICKETS.COM - GIGANTIC.COM TICKETMASTER.CO.UK - STARGREEN.COM

WELCOME Oh hi September, thanks for the pile of huge albums you've delivered. I'm still trying to climb the mountain of them and I'm not sure I'll ever get there, but goddamn I am going to try. LCD Soundsystem! The National! Wolf Alice! It's just ridiculous. And of course our revered cover stars Hercules and Love Affair. We had a lovely afternoon walking east London and talking big life changes both past and present with them.

Alongside Andy Butler we talk to new comer Anna of the North on her introspective pop debut, and Bristol legend Tricky on his upcoming release. Quite the mix of music if we do say so ourselves but that's exactly how we like it.

Oh and the gigs, be sure to get on the site to get the full list because things are about to heat up in a big way.

HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR (interview, pg: 24)

STAFF ON REPEAT

KELELA

the tracks we can’t stop listening to this month JESS: Alex Cameron - Strangers Kiss feat. Angel Olsen DAVE: Charli XCX - Boys LOKI: Bad Sounds - Living Alone DANNY: LCD Soundsystem - Tonite GEMMA: Kelela - LMK JACK: Partner - Play The Field RACHEL: Amber Mark - Heatwave LiS 05

JOSEPH LAWRENCE AND THE GARDEN

LITTLE TOKYO PRESENTS

SNAKEHIPS

MATISYAHU

SUN 03 SEPTEMBER

ZIGFRID VON UNDERBELLY

THU 07 SEPTEMBER

OMEARA

FRI 08 SEPTEMBER

MON 11 SEPTEMBER

THE MARCUS KING BAND

CHIP

MICHELLE BRANCH

GEORGIE KELLER

WED 20 SEPTEMBER

THU 28 SEPTEMBER

THE SERVANT JAZZ QUARTERS

+ TRIPPY TURTLE + MXXWLL + BLESS DJS ELECTRIC BRIXTON

+ ALICAI HARLEY SCALA

FRI 29 SEPTEMBER

02 SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE

THU 05 OCTOBER

KOKO

THE MODERN STRANGERS

THE HUBBARDS

ZAK ABEL

KURUPT FM

THU 05 OCTOBER

SAT 07 OCTOBER

TUE 10 OCTOBER

BLEACHERS

JORDAN RAKEI

DINGWALLS

BIRTHDAYS

THIS FEELING

FEAT. THE SHIMMER BAND, BANG BANG ROMEO + BLACKWATERS SAT 14 OCTOBER

ELECTRIC BALLROOM

KOJEY RADICAL + CONNIE CONSTANCE WED 25 OCTOBER

VILLAGE UNDERGROUND

+ SHAKING CHAINS SEBRIGHT ARMS

WED 18 OCTOBER

KOKO

KOKO

FRI 20 OCTOBER

O2 SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE

SINEAD HARNETT LITTLE DRAGON SOLD FRI 27OUOCTOBER SAT 28 OCTOBER

OUT TUE 10 OCTOBER SOLD WED 11 OCTOBER

ROUNDHOUSE

IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE MON 23 OCTOBER

SCALA

BASTIEN KEB

T

WED 25 OCTOBER

HEAVEN

ROUNDHOUSE

WED 01 NOVEMBER

ARCHSPACE

TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM TICKETMASTER.CO.UK & VENUE BOX OFFICES

CONTENTS 10

NEW SOUNDS

LONDON IN STEREO IS:

Yellow Days, Denzel Himself & more 14

Editor: Jess Partridge jess@londoninstereo.co.uk

INTERVIEW Anna of the North

17

Deputy Editor: Dave Rowlinson dave@londoninstereo.co.uk

TALES FROM THE CITY

Online Editor: Rachel Finn rachel@londoninstereo.co.uk

by Alex Cameron 20

SEPTEMBER EVENTS

The best stuff happening in London this month

Advertising sales@londoninstereo.co.uk

24 COVER STORY LiS meets Hercules & Love Affair 30

New Sounds Editor: Gemma Samways Staff Writers: Danny Wright, Jack Urwin

ON THE STEREO

Photography: Hercules & Love Affair cover story: Tim Boddy (timboddy.com) Visions Festival (live) Ruth Kilpatrick (ruthkilpatrick.com)

with Strongroom 34

INTERVIEW Tricky

37

In A Day’s Work Illustration: Liyv (liyv.co)

IN A DAY’S WORK

Anonymous tales by...a venue manager 40

Contributors: Katie Thomas, Rhian Daly, Simone Scott Warren, Geoff Cowart, Kate Solomon, George O’Brien, Lauren Down, Rachel Grace Almeida, Thomas Hannan, Lee Wakefield, Grant Bailey, Hassan Anderson.

ALBUM REVIEWS

LCD Soundsystem, The National, Lunice, Hype Williams, Mount Kimbie & more 48

GIGS OF THE MONTH

Our pick of the best shows this September 52

Sub-Editor : Loki Lillistone loki@londoninstereo.co.uk

FULL LISTINGS

Your full guide to all the month’s gigs 69

IN LONDON

with Swimming Tapes 70

LIVE REVIEWS

Soak up a wonderful day at Visions Festival 73

PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

by Danny Wright LiS 07

ANNA OF THE NORTH

(interview, pg: 14)

londoninstereo.com @londoninstereo

AUTUMN 2017 ~ LIVE ~ 01.09

Rachel Foxx / 06.09 ItstheReal with DJ Semtex / 08.09 Only Sun 12.09

Welshly Arms / 14.09 Coquin Migale / 15.09 Ine Hoem

22.09 30.09

Massmatiks / 26.09 Kirin J Callinan / 27.09 The Aces

The Paddingtons / 02.10 Vita and The Woolf / 03.10 J Bernardt 05.10

12.10

18.10 23.10 31.10

Mullally / 09.10 Leyya / 10.10 Tom Figgins

Icelandic Hip Hop in London / 13.10 Bare Traps / 17.10 Jagara Cassia / 20.10 Glass Caves / 21.10 Dark Rooms

The Vryll Society / 27.10 Naives / 30.10 Cameron Avery

Amy Shark / 03.11 Girlhood / 07.11 Left Lane Cruiser / 13.11 Warhaus ~ LATE ~ 01.09

02.09

09.09

NIGHT CALL

THE DOCTOR’S ORDERS

KATE BOSS

Alt-Pop and

Exploring every year in

A proper old school

contemporary sounds

hip hop’s history

discotheque

16.09

23.09

30.09

THROWBACK

OUSE

CLARKS

80s and 90s disco designed

An immersive experience

Exploring every year in

to keep you dancing

in dance music

hip hop’s history

Dates, times & tickets: w w w.hoxtonsquarebar.com

| HOXTONSQUAREBAR

NEW SOUNDS YELLOW DAYS

by Gemma Samways

Discussing his creative approach in Wonderland Magazine last year, Haslemere’s George van den Broek explained, “Life for me is a sort of mixture of depressive, pessimistic and hopeful ambition.” Certainly, his woozy debut single, ‘Your Hand Holding Mine’, corroborated the assertion, as romance came to blows with reality in the central refrain, “I always thought it would be your hand holding mine.” Meanwhile, the lethargic guitar coupled with his gravelly, Howlin’ Wolf-inspired croon made listening as disorientating as stepping inside a house of mirrors, with each panorama warped and distorted beyond recognition.

It’s precisely Broek’s ability to sound both relatably world-weary and utterly otherworldly that makes his output as Yellow Days so captivating.

Following on from 2016’s Harmless Melodies EP, the 18-year-old singersongwriter has announced his next “project”, entitled Is Everything OK In Your World. It’s due this autumn via Lil Silva and Banks’ label Good Years, and being teased with - what is surely - Broek’s most ambitious song to date. ‘Hurt In Love’ explores “the emotional abuse and darkness of love” and pairs blues-y guitar with hazy hip hop production to create immersive, punch-drunk alt-pop. Prepare to lose yourself in it.

IN TEN: NEW SOUNDS FRANCIS SWING

BELLY SQUAD LIFESTYLE

LOMELDA

Photo: Laura Lee Blackburn

FLORIST

CORBIN

JEVON

A HOUSE IN THE TREES

LIZZO

LOMELDA

KLLO

AMBER MARK

GLOWING BRIGHTLY

DO THE ROAD

WATER ME

VIRTUE

ICE BOY

SUMMERTIME

FROM HERE

HEATWAVE

FOLLOW OUR NEW MUSIC PLAYLISTS ON LONDONINSTEREO.COM, EVERY WEEK

YELLOW DAYS

LISTEN TO: Hurt In Love LIVE: Oslo, October 11th @george_vdb

LISTEN TO: Bangin’ @DenzelHimself

/DenzelHimself

/yellow-days

DENZEL HIMSELF

by Jess Partridge There’s something menacing about the swells and glitches that sit behind Denzel’s considered and tense flow that made kicking our Visions Festival off with his show at London Fields Brewhouse a pretty intense start to the day. He has entire control over every aspect of his performance, the beats, the timing and the tension. This power means he has the audience in the palm of his hand throughout. His DIY attitude, which includes directing his own videos and visuals, makes it clear that this control is a huge part of what makes his sound work, and the show come together. It’s mesmerising and unforgettable, because he makes the kind of heavy weight punky rap that is nothing short of electrifying.

LiS 11

SMALL VENUE, BIG HEART 340, Acton Mews Haggerston, E8 4EA

Sep-Oct Listings

Sibusile Xaba + Thabang Tabane

06/09

Grace Savage

11/10

Nightspot Cinema This is England

08/09

A tribute to Ella Fitzgerald

12/10

dBridge

09/09

Nightspot Cinema 24 Hour Party People

13/10

DJ Taye

13/09

Kromestar

14/10

Indian Wells

14/09

Hip-hop Back in the Day

15/09

Andrew Ashong

16/10 17/10

Julia Biel

02/09

Fifi Rong

19/10

Charlotte Dos Santos

18/09

Blak Twang

20/10

Gabriel Poso

21/09

DJ Storm

21/10

Ceiling Demons / Tommy Sissions

27/09

Ishmael Ensemble

24/10

M.Sayyid

27/09

Ider

Gerra + Stone

30/09

25/10 26/10

Beardyman

03/10

Future Dub Orchestra

27/10

JFDR

04/10

Monophona

29/10

Red Snapper

05/10 06/10

Chali 2na and Krafty Kuts

28/10

All tickets available via www.archspace.london

interview

f you don’t believe in fate before you hear Anna Of The North’s story, you will afterwards. Anna Lotterud was happy with her life in a town near Oslo. She had a boyfriend and a job as a manager in a clothes store, but one customer would turn that all upside down. The mysterious woman urged Anna to get out and see more of the world and experience life. Soon after and all alone, she moved to Melbourne where she eventually met Brady Daniell-Smith, who would go on to be her musical partner and help her create what is now their debut album, Lovers.

The mere mention of fate has Anna giggling down the phone from her seat in a sunny Norwegian park. “Sometimes it can feel like there’s something pushing you towards that direction, or there’s something leading you to where you are now, even though you’re not seeing it when you’re in the moment,” she says, her voice still sparkling from her earlier laughter.

The something that drew her to Melbourne, nearly 10,000 miles away from her family, friends and home was a desire to challenge herself and take herself out of her comfort zone. “I had a boyfriend at that point so I didn’t want to be able to just go home every weekend,” she says. “I was like, ‘If I’m gonna leave then I’m gonna leave.’” After being told by everyone around she wasn’t “the person to make it out there on your own”, she packed up and proved them wrong - although it definitely wasn’t easy.

“It was super hard in the beginning,” Anna says, detailing the process of roommate interviews that is arduous enough in your home country, let alone somewhere you’ve never been and don’t speak the language fluently. “I think everyone just thought I was this weird Norwegian girl,” she laughs. “I was quite alone and I had to handle every situation myself.”

LiS 14

“Music is the only way to stop time you can keep it in a song and you’ll remember.”

That solitude and isolation sparked a burst of creativity in Anna and, despite Lovers being about relationships and their various states, you can sense something of that loneliness in its songs. On ‘Always’, a subdued but glistening piece of elegant synth-pop, she sighs “I’m tired of being in love” with the weariness of someone who feels a world away from their partner, even if they’re right there next to them.

While the whole album is packed full with Anna and Brady’s experiences, ‘Friends’ in particular is close to Anna’s heart.

Anna of the North

words: Rhian Daly Written about a break-up, she says that it’s the “most personal” track on the record and a song she’ll always go back to; a pure crystallisation of a particular time, feeling and situation. “Music is the only way to stop time - you can keep it in a song and you’ll remember,” she explains.

Although Anna has always dreamed of being involved in music, it was difficult for her at the start of the project to feel comfortable, especially when it came to performing. “I remember there being a point when I actually said to Brady, ‘I don’t know if I can do this’,” she says.

“That was the first show we had and I felt strangled by my clothes. I had to

take off my shoes and all the jewellery I had on. My mum and dad were in the crowd and they said I looked liked I’d seen a ghost.”

She says there’s no way to get over that fear, but with each performance, each interview, each photoshoot, Anna is growing in confidence. It’s been three years since the release of her debut single ‘Sway’, but she says she’s glad not to have rushed into an album. “I feel good about this now,” she says happily. “It’s the right time.” LiS Anna of the North release their debut album, Lovers, September 8th via Different Recordings.

LIVE: Omeara, September 26th.

LiS 15

@anna_ofthenorth

@annaofthenorth

NOTHING SUN 27 AUG THE LEXINGTON

TONY NJOKU TUES 3 OCT THE WAITING ROOM

MARY EPWORTH WED 18 OCT OSLO HACKNEY

WILL STRATTON WED 30 AUG SLAUGHTERED LAMB

LITTLE CUB WED 4 OCT OSLO HACKNEY

KELLY LEE OWENS THURS 19 OCT OSLO HACKNEY

LEIF ERIKSON THURS 7 SEPT OSLO HACKNEY

MADONNATRON FRI 6 OCT THE MONTAGUE ARMS

DIET CIG WED 25 OCT MOTH CLUB

THE KVB TUES 19 SEPT OSLO HACKNEY

BEDOUINE MON 9 OCT THE ISLINGTON

IDER WED 25 & THURS 26 OCT ARCHSPACE

A HOUSE IN THE TREES THURS 21 SEPT BERMONDSEY SOCIAL CLUB

JERKCURB WED 11 OCT THE LEXINGTON

WOVOKA GENTLE TUES 7 NOV RICH MIX

PENELOPE ISLES TUES 26 SEPT THE NINES

DEAD PRETTIES THURS 12 OCT BOSTON MUSIC ROOM

LOW ISLAND WED 8 & THURS 9 NOV CORSICA STUDIOS

WYLDEST WED 27 SEPT THE WAITING ROOM

RALEGH LONG THURS 12 OCT THE LEXINGTON

GOAT GIRL MON 13 NOV CORSICA STUDIOS

OTZEKI WED 27 SEPT, 25 OCT & 22 NOV ELECTROWERKZ

SIVU, FENNE LILY, PAUL THOMAS SAUNDERS & SIV JAKOBSEN THURS 12 OCT CECIL SHARP HOUSE

ANGELO DE AUGUSTINE WED 15 NOV ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH

BECKIE MARGARET THURS 28 SEPT THE WAITING ROOM

EASTERN BARBERS TUES 17 OCT THE LEXINGTON

LUKE HOWARD FRI 17 NOV ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH PARALLELLINESPROMOTIONS.COM

TALES FROM THE CITY We ask artists to tell us stories of times spent in London...

by ALEX CAMERON photo: Chris Rhodes

London, I like your double decker buses. I like their colour. I like their second level. I like the front seat. Up top is where the bad boys roll. That’s me and my guy Roy. Just sitting back and being respectful to all those willing to shine upon us with their smiles. Plus your buses are huge. Big giant yawning beasts, like Hannibal’s metal elephants crossing the Alps to fuck with the Greeks.

A London summer has a way of making a fella feel like he's already jerked off three times that day. So it’s without hesitation that I choose the blissful high of a two tier traffic terminator over the torturous tyrant-like tube. I even caught a bout of Swine Flu on one of those buses in 2009. In 2012 I wet myself on a late night double decker out of Peckham.

I’ve seen the beautiful people of London sit stoically in the face of interaction. With brave faces pressed upon glass and unblinking against the stench of life - I've sat with them and I’ve thought: ‘let’s hope this never ends’.

Alex Cameron releases his album Forced Witness September 8th via Dead Oceans.

LIVE: The Lexington, August 31st End Of The Road Festival, September 3rd The Scala, December 5th @ALKCM LiS 17

Academy Events present presents

BY ARRANGEMENT WITH ARTERY GLOBAL PRESENTS

IN ASSOCIATION WITH SPIDER TOURING AND THE MAGNIFICENT AGENCY PRESENTS

THE DAMAGE AND JOY TOUR PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS

plus special guests

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

+ CLUB.THE.MAMMOTH. DJs

WEDNESDAY 20th SEPTEMBER 2017 O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN LONDON THEJESUSANDMARYCHAIN.UK.COM ACADEMY EVENTS BY ARRANGEMENT WITH UTA PRESENTS

DEAD EDYS KENN

TUESDAY 26th SEPTEMBER 2017 O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON

Thursday 5th October O2 Academy Islington . London

LONDON

#PLAYINGWITHFIRE : #IAMGIANT : FB/IAMGIANTBAND : IAMGIANT.COM

ACADEMY EVENTS and TIJ present

SAMUEL

facebook.com/thebeautifulgirlsloveyou ACADEMY EVENTS PRESENTS

plus special guests

SATURDAY 21st OCTOBER O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON

PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS

LONDON

FRI 13 & SAT 14 OCTOBER

O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON LONDON DEADKENNEDYS.COM // @DEADKENNEDYS

M+A

ACADEMY EVENTS & CLUB.THE.MAMMOTH. PRESENT

PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS

23.10.2017 O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON LONDON

SAMUELROMANO.IT ACADEMY EVENTS AND TIJ PRESENT

VINICIO CAPOSSELA PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS

APRIL TOWERS | GØSPEL CLUB.THE.MAMMOTH. DJ s

thursDAY 26TH OCTOBER 2017 O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON LONDON MA-OFFICIAL.COM

MONDAY 30TH OCTOBER 2017 O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE LONDON VINICIOCAPOSSELA

SATURDAY 4th NOVEMBER O2 ACADEMY2 ISLINGTON · LONDON

TICKETMASTER.CO.UK ALL USUAL AGENTS

Academy Events present CLUB.THE.MAMMOTH. & Academy Events presentS

ACADEMY EVENTS BY ARRANGEMENT WITH IBD PRESENT

by arrangement with ARTERY GLOBAL presents

+ TALES OF MURDER AND DUST + THE WARGS + CLUB.THE.MAMMOTH. DJs

WEDNESDAY 8TH NOVEMBER 2017 O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON LONDON

THURSDAY 9TH NOVEMBER 2017 O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON LONDON

IGORRR.COM NEW ALBUM SAVAGE SINUSOID OUT NOW ON METALBLADE RECORDS

FACEBOOK.COM/PSYCHICTVTVP3 ACADEMY EVENTS by arrangement with AGMP presents

THE FAMILY SILVER

in association with Spider Touring presents

EXCLUSIVE UK SHOW THURSDAY 23RD NOVEMBER 2017

O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON LONDON

LAIBACH.ORG NEW ALBUM ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA OUT ON 14 JULY 2017

ACADEMY EVENTS and STAR SHAPED presents

Featuring

MATT DEIGHTON

(Mother Earth, Paul Weller, Oasis and Bill Fay)

DAMON MINCHELLA

(Ocean Colour Scene, Richard Ashcroft, The Who)

STEVE WHITE

(Style Council, Paul Weller, Ian Dury and Jon Lord)

plus special guests

SUN KIL MOON Friday 24th November 2017 O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON LONDON

SUNDAY 26TH NOVEMBER O2 SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE LONDON

ON LY UK DATE IN 2017

NEW ALBUM “COMMON AS LIGHT AND LOVE ARE RED VALLEYS OF BLOOD” OUT NOW

CLUB.THE.MAMMOTH. & ACADEMY EVENTS PRESENTS

MATT HOLLYWOOD

PLUS

SPECIAL GUESTS AND

Star Shaped DJs

FULLY SEATED SHOW | TICKETWEB.CO.UK | SUNKILMOON.COM

thefamilysilver.co.uk

FIRST LONDON HEADLINE SHOW IN 19 YEARS

presents

SATURDAY 2ND DECEMBER 2017 O2 SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE LONDON

FACEBOOK.COM/SLEEPEROFFICIALLY | STARSHAPED.CLUB

ACADEMY EVENTS BY ARRANGEMENT WITH ITB PRESENTS

(FORMERLY OF THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE)

& THE BAD FEELINGS

(EXCLUSIVE UK SHOW)

TUESDAY 5TH DECEMBER 2017

SACRED PAWS

FRIDAY 15TH DECEMBER 2017

O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON LONDON FACEBOOK.COM/BADFEELINGSATLANTA

PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS

O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON LONDON

NEW ALBUM ‘EVERY COUNTRY’S SUN’ OUT SEPTEMBER 1ST 2017

SATURDAY 21st APRIL 2018 O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN LONDON THEWHITEBUFFALO.COM

TICKETMASTER.CO.UK ALL USUAL AGENTS

NEW ALBUM ‘DARKEST DARKS, LIGHTEST LIGHTS’ RELEASED OCTOBER 13 PRE ORDER AT EARACHE.COM/TWB

EVENTS Stuff that’s happening soon which we think will be real great

A RECORD LABEL CELEBRATION THING

ERASED TAPES IS TEN Our pals at Erased Tapes are going all out for their 10th birthday this month. And I mean, why wouldn't you when you have a track record as flawless as theirs? Taking over one of our favourite London spaces – The Southbank Centre – with an array of shows including performances from Kiasmos, Penguin Cafe, Lubomyr Melnyk, Dawn of Midi, Rival Consoles and Peter Broderick & Friends. This is basically a once in a lifetime chance to see the past and present figures of this special label all in one venue, it’s a celebration for everyone: fans, bands and founders alike.

WHEN: SEPTEMBER 8TH-9TH. WHERE: SOUTHBANK CENTRE OPENING PARTY, SEPTEMBER 6TH, VILLAGE UNDERGROUND INFO: erasedtapes.com // @ErasedTapes

A MENTAL HEALTH THING

MENTAL WEALTH FEST This year’s Mental Wealth festival will be concentrating on ‘the human face of well-being’; going beyond the statistics and headlines we normally see to find the stories and personal challenges of those affected by mental health issues. Taking place in The Houses of Parliament, The National Gallery and City Lit you’ll be able to check out seminars, panels, debates and even a little music with the likes of Douglas Dare and Eliza Shaddad playing. A day for learning, growing and hopefully leading the way when it comes to recognising and dealing with mental health issues.

WHEN: SEPTEMBER 12-14th WHERE: VARIOUS VENUES PRICE: FROM £3 PER DAY / £5 WEEKEND TICKET INFO: mentalwealthfestival.co.uk // @MentalWealthFST

AN ART THING

BASQUIAT: BOOM FOR REAL Ever since this was announced (what feels like years ago now) we’ve been desperate to find out more about the first ever UK retrospective on the incredible works of Jean-Michael Basquiat. His visceral, impulsive style takes from every and any inspiration meaning this collection of over 100 of his works will give an exciting and unique glimpse into the mind of someone so gifted.

WHEN: SEPTEMBER 21ST - JANUARY 28TH WHERE: BARBICAN CENTRE, EC2Y 8DS INFO: barbican.org.uk/artgallery / @BarbicanCentre

A TRIP THROUGH HISTORY THING

RIDE MAIL RAIL The bigger story here is the brand new Postal Museum opening in the old Mount Pleasant sorting office. But the thing that really sparks our interest is the reopening of the decommissioned (in 2003) mail rail. Take a 20 minute ride through the 100 year old stalactite-filled tunnels that stretch six and a half miles under London connecting post offices across the city.

WHEN: OPENS SEPTEMBER 4TH WHERE: THE POSTAL MUSEUM, WC1X 0DA INFO: postalmuseum.org // @thepostalmuseum

Edo Bertoglio. Jean-Michel Basquiat wearing an American football helmet, 1981 Photo: © Edo Bertoglio, courtesy of Maripol. Artwork: © The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Licensed by Artestar, New York

A PIZZA THING

VOODOO RAY’S OPENS IN PECKHAM We’re not getting into any ‘best London pizza’ stuff, but when it comes to by-the-slice nothing beats Voodoo Ray’s.

North of the Thames is blessed with three outposts, so it’s only fair south now gets a piece of the action (LiS: always refusing the pun). Peckham needs to be ready for their biggest branch yet, a brunch menu and yet another reason to be, like, ‘dude, why would we ever cross the river’?

WHEN: SEPTEMBER 14TH + 500 FREE SLICES OVER OPENING WEEKEND! WHERE: 285 RYE LANE, PECKHAM, SE15 4UA INFO: voodoorays.com/ // @Voodoo_Rays LiS 21

SEPTEMBER 2017 A D R I AT I Q U E A L A N F I T Z PAT R I C K ÂME (LIVE) ANJA SCHNEIDER B E N K LO C K ( 6 H O U R S E T ) C U LO E D E S O N G DEBONAIR DEETRON D E TL E F B 2 B L AT M U N D U B F I R E B 2 B A R T D E PA R T M E N T DUSKY HUNTER/GAME J AY C L A R K E KARENN (LIVE) M A N O L E TO U G H M I DL A N D MIKE DEHNERT (LIVE) N I C K C U R LY PERC PHIL KIERAN (LIVE) R Y A N E L L I OT T S E TAO C M A S S SHIFTED SIGHA TA M A S U M O T R E AT M E N T : O N U R Ö Z E R & B I N H www.fabriclondon.com

SEPTEMBER — OCTOBER 2017

ALIX PEREZ ANNIX BREAKAGE CHIMPO CRAZE CONDUCTA D DOUBLE E DILLINJA DJ HYPE DREEM TEEM DUB PHIZIX & STRATEGY EATBRAIN LEAGUE ED RUSH & OPTICAL EGOLESS FABIO

FRICTION HAZARD KAHN & NEEK LENZMAN LOGAN D MATT JAM LAMONT NERO OBF SOUNDSYSTEM PENDULUM (3HR SET) RANDALL SHAK OUT SOUL IN MOTION TOTAL SCIENCE VOLTAGE AND MANY MORE...

11pm—7am www.fabriclondon.com

HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR Words: Katie Thomas // Photography: Tim Boddy

interview

“After removing drugs and alcohol from my life, I didn’t feel like I had many options in terms of what to write about, I had to talk about the difficult things...”

edonism vs. lyricism; Omnion, the fourth album from Hercules & Love Affair, leans further towards intimate introspection than it does carefree music for the dancefloor. It’s no secret that front man Andy Butler excels in producing fluid, defiant and soulful club-ready music born of the heyday of Paradise Garage and Studio 54. Now, in an album he’s been working on for four years – the same four years he’s been clean after a long battle with substance abuse – he moves in a new direction, challenging himself and the listener with lyrics more profound and more personal than before...

“There is fun to be had. There has to be, or this life would be a joyless life. There is a place for losing yourself, for not thinking.” On the risk of losing the significance of his lyrics in the club, Andy laughs knowingly, he’s practiced in providing liberating and joyful musical moments, and recognises sometimes that’s all we need. With Omnion though, he wants to trigger a feeling, to exercise awareness of our humanity. For Andy, creating this record meant feeling raw

and vulnerable, embracing moments of despondence and hopelessness in the process. He hopes Omnion will allow his listeners to look inward, even if just for a moment. “If they feel a deep human emotion, if it prompts them to go through some amount of emotional process, prompts them to question something, or they are coaxed into a moment of deep reflection no matter how brief, then I’m happy.”

There’s a sense of rehabilitated clarity listening to Omnion. An acknowledgement of living in a world deeply flawed is clear – the album tackles feeling used, feeling helpless, religious faith as problematic, the refugee crisis, substance abuse and the dangers of misinformation – but also evident is a sensitivity, and a feeling of compassion and optimism. Has sobriety offered Andy Butler a fresh perspective of the world? “If we can liken the eyes to the heart, yes” he says, telling me that for two years his brain was unable to function properly, causing him distressing confusion and uncontrollably scattered emotions. Now, with lucidity, he feels overtly sensitised to the world, “you’re forced to look at things when you don’t have a way to check out.

LiS 25

interview

I was made susceptible to pain and difficulty, but also joy, and a new found sense of gratitude for the things I had been ignoring, or even ruining.”

Andy Butler is, in a word, thoughtful. As we chat, there are long pauses as he carefully ponders his response to my questions. He is ‘think before you speak’ personified, an example for us all. His pauses are never laboured, never awkward, instead the silence is warm and considered and it’s comforting to be in his presence. Music has always served as therapy for him, and more than ever, Omnion provided an opportunity for cleansing, facing difficulty and processing it creatively. “It was an opportunity to walk towards difficult emotional landscapes and process them, exploring my relationships with myself, my loved ones, the outside world and the world at large.”

An artist with whom Andy has a close personal and artistic relationship with is Anohni. The creative process behind her solo debut 2016’s Hopelessness produced in collaboration with Hudson Mohawke and Oneohtrix Point Never – served as inspiration for this Hercules & Love Affair record in its extreme sincerity, authenticity and vulnerability. “After removing drugs and alcohol from my life, I didn’t feel like I had many options in terms of what to write about, I had to talk about the difficult things, and Anohni was an amazing model for my artistic expression, we’re kind of kindred spirits in that respect.” Outside of the studio, Anohni’s work is amongst a collection of records he’ll turn to as a healer. “She can make me feel human” he says with admiration, also naming Moondog, Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins and Sinead O’Connor as artists whose material restores him. “Naïve minimalist instrumental music can make me feel human somehow” he explains, talking specifically about the work of Belgian composer Wim Mertens, “when he sings, he doesn't have the most perfect voice LiS 26

interview

but he does some really expressive and beautiful things with it, and he writes these simple cyclical motifs.”

Alongside Anohni, two of Hercules & Love Affair’s key collaborators have also been instrumental in Andy’s recovery. “We’re thick as thieves” he smiles as he talks about his relationship with Gustaph and Rouge Mary, two immensely talented vocalists who both feature on Omnion. Rouge Mary is a French Algerian gospel singer, an intensely spiritual person of faith who’s gender-fluid. Butler describes the first time they met, backstage at a show: “There was this shadowy character in a long black trench coat, black hat, black sunglasses and long black hair. I was like, who is this lingering Goth in the corner?” he laughs, “I had to know her story.” The two have been working together ever since.

“I was made susceptible to pain and difficulty, but also joy, and a new found sense of gratitude for the things I had been ignoring, or even ruining.”

In a particularly special collaboration, Rouge Mary is joined on Omnion’s ‘Are You Still Certain?’ by Hamed Sinno, singer of Lebanese band Mashrou’ Leila. Accompanied by Hercules & Love Affair’s trademark bright synth patterns, the two sing together in Arabic. The lyrics translate to “You, who say you know the truth, how is the truth working for you?” It’s a poignant message about faith, driven by a conversation of consolation Andy and Hamed had shortly after the Bataclan attack in Paris. It’s clear that Andy is impassioned by Mashrou’ Leila’s work. Hamed Sinno is openly gay and supported by his bandmates, who are all self-proclaimed feminists whose work is both politically LiS 27

engaging and provocative. “For me, it displayed a level of ignorance” he explains, “in my brain I was like, how can this be?

They’re from a predominantly Muslim part of the world, they’re out and successful and talking about the things they believe in.” The reality is that Mashrou’ Leila face death threats, they’re banned from performing in some countries. “They’re incredibly brave individuals, we really connected and we’ve written this beautiful song together.”

Omnion is Hercules & Love Affair at its most sincere, most contemplative and most complex. A deeply personal record that marks significant progress, reflection, discovery and awareness, it’s certain that Andy Butler’s own musical therapy will serve as therapy to others too.

It’s now closing on a decade since the first Hercules album - the self-titled debut that came out in 2008 on DFA – if Andy could go back to 2008 and give himself a piece of advice, what would it be? There’s a long pause and he says quietly, “You’ve had a lot of fun making this music, it means a lot to you and you should protect it. But other people see your music as an object, so you have to see it in that way to some degree in order to be more involved in the business side.” After another pause, he laughs, “Well I wouldn’t be able to say just one thing, so I’d also say… Don’t take things too personally.”

The new Hercules & Love Affair album, Omnion, is released September 1st via mr.intl.

LIVE: Shepherd’s Bush Empire, December 8th.

LiS 28

@HerculesLA

@herculesandloveaffair

TICKETS & INFO: rockfeedback.com

23 AUG.

17 OCT.

Adam Torres Sebright Arms

Johnny Flynn 21 SEPT.

Roundhouse

24 AUG.

Aquaserge

18 OCT.

The Finsbury

Birthdays

The Pickle Factory

29 & 30 AUG.

22 SEPT.

Oslo

featuring Jacco Gardner Moth Club

King Nun Beach Fossils 31 AUG.

Cymbals

Thousand Island 04 SEPT.

Waxahatchee The Garage

04 & 05 SEPT.

Courtney Marie Andrews Bush Hall

Merietta & Dead Sea

W.I.T.C.H 26 SEPT.

Anna of the North Omeara

28 SEPT.

Alaskalaska

Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club 29 SEPT - 01 OCT.

By The Sea

Dreamland, Margate

05 SEPT.

02 OCT.

Boston Music Room

The Waiting Room

Starcrawler

Malahini

07 SEPT.

03 OCT.

Village Underground

Oslo

Girlpool

EMA

08 SEPT.

04 OCT.

KOKO

The Islington

Alvvays

Mauno

09 SEPT.

05 OCT.

Sebright Arms

Electric Brixton

Peggy Sue

Ben Frost

Francobollo

18 OCT.

06 NOV.

Moth Club

Oval Space

Frankie Rose 19 OCT.

Elder Island The Lexington 24 OCT.

Hundred Waters Village Underground 25 OCT.

Dream Wife Scala

26 OCT.

Noga Erez Corsica Studios 27 OCT.

Happyness The Garage 27 OCT.

Liars Heaven

27 OCT.

MØ

O 2 Brixton Academy 30 & 31 OCT.

Yumi Zouma

The Dream Syndicate

14 SEPT.

07 OCT.

31 OCT.

The Garage

St. John at Hackney

Electric Ballroom

13 SEPT.

06 OCT.

Old Blue Last

Omeara

Charly Bliss Chastity Belt

Foxygen

03 NOV.

Crooked Colours

The Lexington

Moth Club

Shabazz Palaces 07 & 08 NOV.

Father John Misty

Hammersmith Eventim Apollo 08 NOV.

Visible Cloaks Pickle Factory 10 NOV.

Julien Baker Union Chapel 11 NOV.

Pissed Jeans Electric Ballroom 17 NOV.

Cristobal and the Sea Moth Club 19 NOV.

Lost Horizons 100 Club 23 NOV.

KLLO XOYO

23 NOV.

Marika Hackman O 2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire 23 NOV.

Kevin Morby

Mammút Sebright Arms

14 SEPT.

09 OCT.

01 NOV.

24 NOV.

The Lexington

Omeara

The Lexington

O 2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Henry Green

Shigeto

The Orielles

20 SEPT.

12 OCT.

02 NOV.

St. Pancras Old Church

The Waiting Room

Electric Ballroom

Kiran Leonard

Yassassin

!!!

Blaenavon 30 NOV.

Puma Blue Corsica Studios

ON THE STEREO with

If you’ve spent more than maybe twenty seconds associated with the glamorous business of music then you’ll almost certainly have spent huge amounts of your precious time at Strongroom.

Perfectly located in east London, huge outdoor courtyard, always decent grub and that beautiful Pilsner Urquell tank; it’s got the lot.

You might not know that it started off, 20 years ago, as a studio before evolving into the hub it is today. Labels and PR companies have worked there, while a host of top acts have recorded, hung out and played intimate shows.

With a ton of exciting events planned in September to celebrate those twenty years, Strongroom have taken some time out to talk us through some of their favourite tracks from acts that have been part of their illustrious history. LiS

1. TUNNG - THE PIONEERS This encompasses three connections to Strongroom Bar in just one track! Not only were they regulars and friends of the bar, but Tunng played one of their early gigs here in 2003, just as London was discovering ‘folktronica’. This is their cover of a Bloc Party track. Bloc Party were also often seen around the Strongroom complex in the mid-2000s having just signed to Wichita Records. Wichita are good friends of the bar - we love them for being one of those labels that aren’t afraid to push boundaries (they’re also one of the labels who’ve been based here longest!).

To find out more about Strongroom’s 20 year celebrations, visit strongroombar.com.

We’ll see you there, get us a Pilsner, pls.

TUNNG

@StrongroomBar LiS 30

3. EMMA TRICCA ALL ALONG THE HUDSON London-based, Italian-born Emma Tricca has played here a couple of times over the years and we are welcoming her back again as part of our 20th anniversary celebrations on Sunday 17th Sept when we celebrate women in music. Her blend of traditional and pastoral folk is influenced by her Italian upbringing and excursions through Africa.

JAMES YUILL

2. JAMES YUILL NO SURPRISE James is one of many young musicians who submitted his demo to the bar and was selected to perform at our Unsigned Night.

He ended up playing here on a couple of occasions during 2007 before being signed by Moshi Moshi. Check out his new album, A Change In State, released this summer.

THE BAY RAYS

4. THE BAY RAYS - SATISFACTION The Bay Rays haven't been around for long but we're expecting more good things from them and can't wait to see them perform at our anniversary party on 14th Sept! They've recently been working on a 6 track EP with a dream team - award winning studio engineer and good friend of the bar, Drew Bang, who is well known for his impeccable taste in craft beer (and music of course…), and Iggy B, the hit machine for Bella Union.

5. BAND OF HORSES NO ONE'S GONNA LOVE YOU An example of why Strongroom Bar is a great place to work - Band Of Horses surprised us with a request for an intimate gig, ahead of their headline show at Shepherd’s Bush Empire last year, and played an acoustic version of this track. It was a fantastic gig, just for people who had pre-ordered their album - what a way to reward fans who show support before even hearing the music!

LiS 31

BAND OF HORSES

COMMUNION PRESENTS

TICKETS FROM COMMUNIONMUSIC.CO.UK

interview

“There’s a guy going around Bristol apparently saying that he invented trip-hop, my friend told me.” Tricky, oft credited himself with creating the genre in question, is chuckling at the idea from his Berlin abode. “It’s just really weird. Even the name ‘trip-hop’, it’s such a stupid name.

It’s just so people can label, because when you label something, it’s easier to sell. If I was a trip-hop artist, if there’s such a thing as trip-hop, I wouldn’t be around now. I wouldn’t have a twenty year career if I was a trip-hop artist.”

He’s probably got a point. Whilst every record he’s produced thus far has been seducingly dark, Tricky has always straddled genres, albeit including one he doesn’t believe exists. Case in point, last year he released a rap album under the Skilled Mechanics moniker. He’s shapeshifted his career from the outset, deliberately releasing the radio-unfriendly post-punkhip-hop fusing Nearly God to divert attention from Maxinquaye, his first solo long player.

That debut, of course, was huge, named after his mother, who committed suicide when Tricky was only four. Although he barely remembers her, his mother’s presence has always been felt in his work, and new record Ununiform is no exception.

“I write music now and it’s still about her,” he confides. “It’s like, on ‘When We Die’...

Back in the day, you’d have the coffin at home, so the family could come in and say goodbye. My mum was next door to my bedroom, in an open coffin. I would go in there and stand on a chair and look at her, and that’s the first memory I have. ‘When We Die’ is a conversation with that kid. It’s that kid saying, ‘where do I go?’ And me saying, ‘it’s gonna be alright’.”

That particular album track has fans extra excited, because it features Tricky’s other famed muse, Martina Topley-Bird, the first time they’ve worked together in years.

“That was accidental to be honest.” he admits, “We’ve got a kid together, so we’re always in contact. She wanted to do an album, but I was like, ‘I’m busy right now’.

So I sent her that track but I didn’t put my vocals on there, I just sent her the music. I wanted to see what she came back with.

And it just happened that it totally suited what I wrote, without her hearing it. She wrote the melody, and the vibe really works.

It’s not like it used to be, where I wrote for her, I gave her the melody. So, that could be something new, that could be the start of a new way of working with her...”

That pursuit of ‘new’ seems key to understanding Tricky. “I’m always difficult.

I don’t want to give people what they want.

‘Hell Is Round The Corner’ is one of people’s favourite songs, and I never do that on tour, because whenever it starts people go crazy, and I haven’t done anything yet. I’m like, nah...” he emphasises. But the last few years have seen a mellowing towards his past, to the point of appearing on stage again with Massive Attack at their Hyde Park show last year. “To be honest, I did it because I wanted to see what it was like. I wouldn’t do it again. It just wasn’t my scene. It was great seeing them all and everything, but I’m not a ‘guest artist’. Me and them are cool. I mean, we’ve had disagreements but when you’re in a band with someone, you’re bound to. Because I don’t know their music anymore, people think we’re not cool. I still talk to 3D now.” Do you ever ask him whether he’s Banksy, we enquire jokingly. “I think 3D secretly likes that people think he’s Banksy,” Tricky laughs, “How do I know, it could be him, I don’t really care. If he pulled that off though, that’d be great.

But I’ve got a feeling that he’s not...” LiS Read more from this interview online at londoninstereo.com

LiS 34

Tricky releases Ununiform September 22nd via False Idols. @KnowleWestboy

@TrickyOfficial

photo: Sebastian Pielles

“I’m always difficult.

I don’t want to give people what they want...”

TRICKY words: Simone Scott Warren

LiS 35

artwork: Liyv (liyv.co)

IN A DAY’S WORK ...by a venue manager My day normally begins around 11am when I drag myself out of bed and think about going for a run, or some other form of exercise. A quick look at emails generally puts paid to that idea and I crack on with the tedious part of the day.

Admin work usually takes around two to three hours, booking bands, organising promoters, making payments etc.

Around 2pm I’ll start thinking about heading into the venue where, depending on the day, I’ll have beer deliveries to take in, maintenance work on the front of house PA, line cleaning or venue repairs to get on with.

4pm brings the arrival of the bands for soundcheck, or at least it should. By 5pm we have one hungover drummer from the second support band waiting for the rest of his band who are bringing his drums.

The sound engineer will probably spend this spare time smoking weed.

By 6pm sound checks are in full swing, with three-quarters of of the main support

band tuning-up while waiting for their singer. By this time, the first support band will be demanding their rider. Sorry fellas, but first band on a Tuesday night in a 150 capacity room won’t be getting two slabs of lager and a one litre bottle of JD. The headline act turns up five minutes before doors open and only gets a quick line-check, something that they will blame the sound engineer for later, while on stage.

Doors open at 8pm, and depending on the acts, we have either a trickle or a torrent of customers through the door.

There are always hiccups during the night either on the bar, with the PA or just front of house problems that I’ll have to deal with.

The end of work can be as early as midnight or as late as 4-5am. Normally though, we’re out of the venue by 3ish, a good 13 hour day. Long hours, but no-one complains, after all, we get paid to do what music fans spend a fortune on every day.

LiS 37

SAT.02.SEP.17

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MON.16.OCT.17

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ALBUM REVIEWS RECORD OF THE MONTH

Not many albums get requested by 95% of our reviewers (the other 5%, we guess, were playing it admirably cool), so instead of a regular review we gathered LiS stalwarts and avowed LCD fans Gemma Samways and Danny Wright to talk all things American Dream...

First, please grade your level of LCD fandom.

GS: I think they’re the best band of the 00s.

DW: I would say 9.3/10 - one of the most important bands for me over the last 10 years.

‘All My Friends’ is my favourite ever song.

What is it especially you love about this band?

GS: I remember hearing ‘Losing My Edge’ in 2003 and my mind was blown. I think they got me into more electronic music to be honest.

Before that I‘d probably thought dance music wasn't for me.

DW: Music and lyrics really - he's obviously a great lyricist and a great crate digger. Every album fuses all my favourite musical touch points together. I used to think electronic music + guitars = Linkin Park.

How did you react to the promise of new LCD music. Were you just hoping it wouldn’t be terrible, or expecting greatness?

DW: I thought he's smart enough not to just come back for the money. I trust him like a friend.

GS: I expected greatness. They've never let me down before.

Is there anything on the new album that comes close to your favourite LCD songs?

GS: I think it's pretty different and not all that

comparable - I'm not sure they were looking to emulate the arms-aloft, hug your pals feeling of ‘All My Friends’. It seems more paranoid than that. ‘how do you sleep’ sounds nothing like their other stuff and I really like that there seems to be quite a lot lyrically about disconnection DW: I think that's what it's missing to be honest: a banger. It’s seems a heavier album, less deft and agile, less angular. But I think it fits together well.

Is there anything new going on here? Or is it just another LCD album? Does it remind of anything else? Any influences?

GS: I picked up loads of classic, more rock influences.

DW: I like how some of it sounds like Depeche Mode and Echo and the Bunnymen.

GS: ‘change yr mind’ reminds me of a cross between Fashion and The Slits. Like The Slits with Robert Fripp on guitar.

DW: ‘how do you sleep’ is so 80s. It sounds like Murphy standing in a cave wearing shoulder pads shouting the lyrics. It feels huge by the end with the big puddles of synths.

Is there a sense American Dream is about something in particular? Does it tie in with their previous albums?

LiS 40

DW: I suppose it's that thing he always tries to capture of growing old but not feeling old and what you do with all of that. I can relate.

Any lyrical highlights? I'm still reeling from “These morning ablutions are all part of the dance”.

GS: “Life is finite, but shit it feels like forever” is nice. Also, “You warned me about the cocaine and then dove straight in”.

DW: I like on ‘tonite’ when he says “Good grief, I sound like my ma!” And I still like “The first sign divides us, the second is moving to Berlin” GS: Is there a favourite song question?

Yes. What’s your favourite song on the album?

GS: It's between ‘how do you sleep’ and ‘oh baby’.

DW: Yeah, ‘oh baby’ or ‘tonite’ for me. I also love the last few minutes of ‘black screen’.

GS: A killer opening track is LCD's calling card, and when ‘oh baby’ begins you think they've blown it, but it's that epic slow build they're so good at.

DW: Can't believe they haven't done their novelty ‘Drunk Girls’ / ‘NA Scum’. They're maturing.

GS: If Flight of the Conchords were to parody LCD Soundsystem, they'd have probably written ’other voices’. They might have put even more cowbell on it though.

What’s the worst thing about the album?

GS: It's way too long. All their albums have been nine tracks long until this one. Ten songs clocking in at 70ish minutes is too much.

DW: I do think that sense of fun is missing a bit, there’s always a bit of a raised eyebrow but not as much as I'd like. I'm only disappointed because when they came back he said he had songs in his head he wanted to make so I thought 'these must be amazing'. They're not amazing. They are good though.

Where does it rank in your LCD albums list?

GS: I don't know, I think Sound of Silver is leagues ahead of them all - it's genuinely perfect. I'm not blown away by it, but nor do I feel cheated. They're doing new things, not just retreading old ground.

DW: Probably last at the moment but it might grow on me. I'd give it 7/10 If I had to rate it, and that's holding it up to my high expectations.

Do you want more new music from them? Is there more they can offer? Or are they at the decline stage, like poor old Arcade Fire.

DW: Arcade Fire seem like Benjamin Button, this is more like a Bowie-type maturation.

They couldn't keep making party bangers. It's quite a fucking weird record really, and I like that about it. It would have been easy to just do the same old. It's getting under my skin.

GS: To be honest I put off listening to this album for as long as I could, because I was not impressed by the title track and was anticipating an Arcade Fire-style disaster.

I needn't have. Their legacy remains intact.

American Dream is released September 1st via DFA/Columbia Records.

LIVE: Alexandra Palace, September 22nd & 23rd. @lcdsoundsystem

HYPE WILLIAMS // RAINBOW EDITION Ninja Tune // August 25th

Oh Hype Williams, you mad bastards. Nobody sounds like you, do they?

Nor are they trying to, mind; on Rainbow Edition, their first album in six years, Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland are so far through the looking glass that it must be only the foolhardiest of sonic explorers who are still dutifully paying attention.

You know the drill; chopped and screwed electronica (’Cockblocker Blues’), bastardised classical standards (’Loud Challenge’), songs that exist solely for their stupid titles (’Sweet Chin Musik’). Personally, I'm well up for the lot. Yes, there’s a sense of a joke you’re not in on, and people will single out the exact same aspects of it as deserving the highest praise or bilious condemnation, but fuck if it isn't completely unique. Thomas Hannan LiS 41

THE NATIONAL

SLEEP WELL BEAST 4AD // September 8th

I’m not going to lie. There was a moment, somewhere around my ninth spin of Sleep Well Beast, where I resigned myself to being unable to move beyond opening track ‘Nobody Else Will Be There’. I could live in that song for an eternity.

With each repeat, those four minutes and forty-one seconds stretch out in front of me like an entire record’s worth. It would be greedy to ask for more. Those delicately looped percussive glitches, soft piano swells and brooding, breathy vocals … just one more listen. Ok, track two and beyond. Oh, god damn it ‘Day I Die’ - you’re going to keep me here a while as well aren’t you? So expertly sweeping up my now frayed emotions into your arms and driving me forwards into a reckless euphoria swollen with rallying, perfectly rumbling drum beats and stadium-baiting guitar screeches. The National’s seventh full-length album continues in this manner. Not sonically. Sonically it rallies around introspection, cut-to-the-bone lyrics and classic anthemics as much as it does around experimental expanses, seismic electronics and unexpected rough punk sketches. What I mean is that it sets you up to crave exactly what comes next; each passing track becoming more addictive than the last because of it. Yes, Sleep Well Beast came to me in parts (each track poured over countless times before the next took its place), and I think I could listen a hundred times before it truly reveals itself as a whole, but it’s still the most complete record they’ve made. Lauren Down

ALVVAYS

PHOEBE BRIDGERS STRANGER IN THE ALPS

ANTISOCIALITE Transgressive September 8th

After a three year wait since their self-titled debut, Alvvays are back with what can only be described as a quintessentially difficult second album. Difficult for the listener, that is, because when it’s good, it’s lovely, but when it’s bad, it’s a bit charmless.

Opening strongly with early singles ‘In Undertow’ and ‘Dreams Tonight’, things go awry toward the end of ‘Plimsoll Punks’, when Molly Rankin's vocals sound a bit (whisper it) screechy. ‘Your Type’ is too in debt to The Primitives ‘Stop Killing Me’, ‘Already Gone’ weirdly nicks a guitar effect from ‘Columbia’ by Oasis. The saving grace is found in ‘Lollipop (Ode To Jim)’, which is as lovely as you wouldn't expect a song dedicated to the Jesus and Mary Chain to be. Simone Scott Warren

Dead Oceans // Sept 22nd

You’d be forgiven for thinking Stranger In The Alps must not be Phoebe Bridgers’ debut full-length effort.

The quality of songwriting, and most importantly the composure with which these songs are delivered, screams of a musician far further down the line. The 22 year old can already name Ryan Adams and Conor Oberst amongst her fans - the former produced a 2015 EP, while the latter brings his typical, melancholy vocal brilliance to ‘Would You Rather’ - and blends stunning folk simplicity with haunting, almost Bon Iver-esque atmosphere in a ten song collection far beyond her young years. It is an introspective, personal and utterly moving piece of work from a name who is unlikely to remain a stranger in the burgeoning indie-folk scene for long. George O’Brien LiS 43

The National (photo: Graham MacIndoe)

MEMNON SA

LEMURIAN DAWN Aurora Borealis Records September 29th

TORRES

THREE FUTURES 4AD // September 29th

Torres’ third album is a battle between control and liberation.

Musically, it’s stormy, industrial and tightly wound. Lyrically, it's clear that Mackenzie Scott's tongue and brain want to go wandering. On ‘Skim’ that means burrowing deep into her own sexual desires, while ‘Helen In The Woods’ has her telling the story of a girl who's "funny in the head" via powerful barks and ominous whispers, which only add the to teen-slasher-movie atmosphere.

Elsewhere she plays with gender perceptions, opening the calmer title track with a mournful "I got hard in your car" and raspily admitting "I'm more of an ass man" on the rippling 'Righteous Woman'. Each blow she deals to restraint is subtle and deft, but slowly and delectably you can hear Scott breaking free from the shackles. Rhian Daly

Painstakingly recorded by Misha Hering in his Holy Mountain Studio in Hackney this heavyweight follow-up to his debut album Citadel represents a giant leap forward.

It positively shimmers off the speakers thanks to its distorted and dusted warmth. What sounds like a decent sci-fi film soundtrack at first spin reveals an impressive level of craftmanship with repeated listens.

On opener ‘Celestial Ark’ a sparse drum pattern and growling vocals quickly turns eerie. The arrival of a phalanx of synthesizers and a rush of snares sets up a disorienting tension between its primordial drone and its prescient electronics. Five songs later it’s cleverly resolved thanks to the killer drum kit workout on ‘Ahura Madza’ that brings the cosmic adventure back to earth with a satisfying bang. Geoff Cowart

LUNICE CCCLX

Lucky Me // September 8th

If you’ve single-handedly pioneered a genre, provided beats for Kanye and supported Madonna to perplexity from the woman herself, how do you possibly follow that?

If you’re Lunice, aside from a flurry of standalone tracks, you go to ground and assemble a troop of quick-fire rappers (CJ Flemings, Denzel Curry) to keep up with your dizzying beats. ‘Distrust’ is a bombastic example of the collaboration at its most shatteringly effective, however it’s Lunice’s solo wizardry on ‘O.N.O’ that thrusts CCCLX into exceptional territories, proving that the DJ will display just as much influence in electronic music’s present as he did in its past.

Four years since we last heard from him, on his long awaited debut, Lunice is comfortably at his trailblazing, bat-shit best. Lee Wakefield LiS 43

THUMPERS

WHIPPED & GLAZED True Say Recordings // September 1st

The first thing you need to know about this album is that Thumpers have, for no obvious reason, made all their songs ten minutes long.

The shortest is 6m20s which is almost twice the acceptable length for a song, so I’ve been listening to this album for about 13 hours now and I’m only on track seven. With a title like Whipped and Glazed and a load of sweet-toothed songs like ‘99’ and ‘Caramel’, you’d hope they’d gone down the irresistibly uplifting route as they did with 2014 earworm Galore but this feels a bit like Thumpers have lost their joie de vivre. There’s the odd bright spot but as an album it feels a bit serious and contrived, and the candy references turn out like typing your tweets in all lowercase - a ploy to imply you don’t care when you really, desperately do. Kate Solomon

MOUNT KIMBIE // LOVE WHAT SURVIVES Warp Records // September 8th

Mount Kimbie (photo: Frank Lebon)

Four years after their last album, Mount Kimbie’s third full-length shows the duo stripped back and more ambitious.

Produced predominantly on two vintage synths – the Korg MS-20 and Korg Delta – it’s a more industrial sound than we’re accustomed to. After a hefty tour schedule their practice in live shows is clear, tracks like ‘Four Years and One Day’ and ‘Delta’ feel like an improv onstage jam. There’s hints of old Metronomy and Late of the Pier in the rhythm and guitars, and it’s in album highlights ‘Marilyn’ featuring Micachu and ‘SP12 Beat’ that they really find their groove, undulating and bright with percussion. ‘Audition’ and ‘You Look Certain (I’m Not So Sure)’ fall short, feeling flat and muddled, but overall Love What Survives is a confident body of work, ideal for letting loose and driving with the windows down.

Katie Thomas

PROTOMARTYR

RELATIVES IN DESCENT Domino Records // September 29th

In a decade’s time it will be interesting to see if Donald Trump’s term in office correlates with the birth of the next wave of great US post punk bands. Surely, for Protomartyr, their cup runneth over for social injustices and corrupt systems to knock bloody in 2017’s fractured America, and yet Relatives In Descent sees Michigan’s malcontents sounding the most optimistic of their career. Joe Casey’s hangdog poetry remains the focal point of their sound as he ruminates on ageing (’The Chuckler’), legacy (‘My Children’) and class oppression (‘Up The Tower’). It’s all as rich in love as it is in violence, and backed with the same crackling sonics that elevated their efforts above the pretenders on The Agent Intellect. Grant Bailey LiS 44

09—17

Lanzarote

MOTH Club Valette St London E8 Wedesday 6 September

THE BABE RAINBOW Thursday 7 September

THE HOLYDRUG COUPLE Wednesday 13 September

THE SURFING MAGAZINES Wednesday 27 September

lanzaroteworks.com #lanzaroteworks

presents

Tuesday 12 September

JACK COOPER Wednesday 20 September

PALM HONEY Wednesday 27 September

WYLDEST The Lock Tavern 35 Chalk Farm Rd London NW1 Wednesday 6 September

MARIE DAVIDSON

LITTLE GRIM

Shacklewell Arms

THE NINTH WAVE

Wednesday 13 September

71 Shacklewell Lane London E8 Friday 8 September

THE BUTTERTONES Wednesday 13 September

B BOYS Thursday 21 September

FIRST HATE Tuesday 26 September

GUANTANAMO BAYWATCH The Waiting Room 175 Stoke Newington High St N16 Saturday 9 September

BORUSIADE

Friday 22 September

IAN SWEET Thursday 28 September

LA BETE BLOOMS The Montague Arms 289 Queen’s Rd London SE14 Thursday 7 September

BARBUDO Monday 18 September

AND YET IT MOVES Tuesday 19 September

PALM Friday 22 September

THE MANTIS OPERA

Shacklewell Arms

OPEN TILL 3AM FRI & SAT LIVE MUSIC—DANCEHALL—GARDEN —SPORT 71 @

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LANE DALSTON E8 E W E L L A R

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GIGS OF THE MONTH

Our pick of the best upcoming shows around London JEN CLOHER

O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE MR JUKES September 27th £14adv // @o2sbe

Shepherd’s Bush

SERVANT JAZZ QUARTERS FEBEUDER September 21st £7adv // @ServantJazz

Dalston Junction / Kingsland

JEN CLOHER

THE LOCK TAVERN

September 25th £7.50adv // @thelexington

SOLEIMA September 26th FREE // @thelocktavern

THE LEXINGTON

Chalk Farm / Camden Town

Angel

THE GOOD SHIP LILITHS ARMY + BROSEPHINE + RAZE September 23rd £4adv // @thegoodshipnw6

Kilburn

O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON FREDO BLACK FOXXES

September 28th £11.50adv // @O2Islington

Angel

THE DOME

THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS

BLACK FOXXES

B BOYS

September 29th £10adv // @DomeTufnellPark

Tuffnell Park

September 13th £7.50adv // @shacklewell Arms

Dalston Junction / Kingsland

BOSTON MUSIC ROOM

BRIXTON WINDMILL

STARCRAWLER

SWEATY PALMS + LICE + HONKIES

September 5th £7adv // @BostonMusicRoom

Tuffnell Park

September 14th £5adv // @WindmillBrixton

Brixton

OVAL SPACE

MOTH CLUB MARIE DAVIDSON + NOT WAVING

AFRIQUOI

September 27th £9adv // @Moth_Club

September 29th £9.50adv // @OvalSpace

Hackney Central

HOXTON SQUARE BAR & KITCHEN

Bethnal Green/ Hoxton

INDIAN WELLS (photo Leonardo Calvano)

AVEC SANS September 29th £6adv // @HoxtonSquareBar

Old Street

MONTAGUE ARMS

ARCHSPACE

COURTS + SMOOTH ENDS

INDIAN WELLS

September 9th Queens Road Peckham / New Cross Gate £5adv // @Montague_Arms

MIRANDA AT ACE HOTEL

Haggerston

THE SLAUGHTERED LAMB

CHAKA KHANT September 22nd FREE // @miranda_ldn

September 14th £8.50adv // @Archspace_Ldn

MO KENNEY + PORT CITIES Shoreditch High Street

September 25th £8adv // @slaughteredlam

Farringdon/ Old Street

THE WAITING ROOM WYLDEST September 27th £6.50adv // @WaitingRoomN16 JOSIN

PAPER DRESS VINTAGE JOSIN September 13th £6adv // @paperdressed

Hackney Central

FABRIC ÂME + CULOE DE SONG + MARCUS WORGULL + NICK CURLY September 15th £23adv // @fabriclondon

Farringdon/ Chancery Lane

Dalston Junction / Kingsland

O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN THE BLACK ANGELS + A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS + ELEPHANT STONE September 22nd £23.50adv // @O2ForumKTown

Kentish Town

OSLO DENAI MOORE September 28th £8.50adv // @OsloHackney LiS 49

Hackney Central

monday 28 august | 7:00

saturday 30 september | 7:00

friday 1 september | 7:00

Sunday 1 october | 7:00

FIRST BLOOD

MARTYR DEFILED

saturday 2 september | 2:30

COLD HARD TRUTH

tuesday 5 september | 7:30

KADAVAR

TODAY IS THE DAY

wednesday 4 october | 7:00

GALACTIC EMPIRE

thursday 5 October | 7:00

STARCRAWLER

FRANCK CARDUCCI

VALLENFYRE

THE KENTUCKY HEADHUNTERS

sunday 10 september | 7:00 monday 11 september | 7:00

COVEN

friday 15 september | 7:30

TONY WRIGHT (TERRORVISION)

saturday 16 september | 7:00

GRAVE MIASMA

saturday 16 september | 7:00

SIEGE

sunday 17 september | 7:00

AMERICAN HEAD CHARGE friday 22 september | 7:00

LAGERSTEIN

saturday 23 september | 7:00

VOODOO VEGAS

wednesday 27 september | 7:00

GRETA VAN FLEET

wednesday 27 september | 7:00

FRANK IERO AND THE PATIENCE

thursday 28 september | 7:00

WINTERFYLLETH

friday 29 september | 7:00

BLACK FOXXES

saturday 30 september | 7:00

FREAK + KING NUN

saturday 7 October | 7:00

sunday 8 october | 6:00

BELPHEGOR

monday 9 october | 7:30

SHANNON AND THE CLAMS

thursday 12 october | 7:30

DEAD PRETTIES

friday 13 october | 7:00

THE ONE HUNDRED

SATURDAY 14 october | 7:00

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE MONDAY 16 october | 7:00

UNSANE

tuesday 17 october | 7:00

INGESTED

wednesday 18 october | 7:30

PRIESTS + DOWNTOWN BOYS thursday 19 October | 7:00

DESPERATE JOURNALIST saturday 21 October | 7:00

NEURONSPOILER

saturday 21 October | 7:00

THE FLATLINERS

FULL SEPTEMBER LISTINGS

LONDON’S GIG GUIDE Your full listings guide to all the best shows happening across North, East, South and West London this month.

Friday 1st September

Saturday 2nd September

visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email

LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo Sunday 3rd September

Monday 4th September

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FULL SEPTEMBER LISTINGS

Tuesday 5th September

Thursday 7th September

Wednesday 6th September

visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email

LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo

Friday 8th September

Saturday 9th September

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FULL SEPTEMBER LISTINGS

Sunday 10th September

Monday 11th September

visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email

LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo Wednesday 13th September

Tuesday 12th September

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FULL SEPTEMBER LISTINGS Thursday 14th September Friday 15th September

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LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo

Sunday 17th September Saturday 16th September

Monday 18th September

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FULL SEPTEMBER LISTINGS Tuesday 19th September

Wednesday 20th September

Thursday 21st September

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LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo Friday 22nd September

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FULL SEPTEMBER LISTINGS

Saturday 23rd September Sunday 24th September

visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email

LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo Monday 25th September

Tuesday 26th September

Wednesday 27th September

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FULL SEPTEMBER LISTINGS

Thursday 28th September

visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email

LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo

Friday 29th September

Saturday 30th September

WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing

OCTOBER LISTINGS Sunday 1st October

Monday 2nd October

Wednesday 4th October

Tuesday 3rd October

FOR THE VERY LATEST LISTINGS, AND TO SIGN UP TO OUR GIGS OF TH E WEEK EM AI L, VISIT LONDONINSTEREO.C OM visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email

SOLD OUT

MORE INFO & TICKETS

BIRDONTHEWIRE.NET

IN LONDON with SWIMMING TAPES Why do you live in London?

London has a lot going for it. Whether it’s the sky-high rents, low-quality air, or the constant fear of being knocked down by an over-enthusiastic Deliveroo driver, it’s a city that makes trips back home to a quiet town seem very dull in comparison. The night tube is ok too.

What’s the worst thing about living in London?

There’s a 24/7 convenience “store” in Holloway that often has a “popped out, back in 10 mins” sign outside it, therefore failing to fulfill its sole promise to the customer. That can be very frustrating. I’ve phoned the council and left messages but so far am yet to hear back from them.

What are your go-to places for food & drink?

London is the capital of the world for food trends. Ball pit bar? Check. Naked restaurants? Check. Early adopter of both the avocado and the curly fry? Check. However, if you’re looking for a good ol’ slice of pizza pie – and why wouldn’t you be – don’t look any further than Voodoo Ray’s.

Do you have any favourite venues?

We are all big fans of the Lexington, which we play on the 20th September a few days after our EP launch.

PIZZA ADVICE ALERT It’s summertime in the city - how do you like London when the sun’s shining?

London is a completely different city in the sunshine. The giddy combination of high levels of perspiration and day-time drinking, mixed with a more relaxed approach to bedtime essentially turns London into a city of dangerously dehydrated uber-tanned zombies between May and September. It’s quite an odd vibe.

Does living here influence the music you write?

A lot of us grew up by the sea in Northern Ireland, the ocean spray clinging to our faces; so in some ways London does influence our music because quite a lot of our songs are looking back at that time and wistfully wondering why we’re now in a city where Ocean Spray is the name of a £7.50 smoothie in the vegan “vibehouse” that’s just opened up down the street.

Where else would you like to live in London?

HMS Belfast. Next.

How would you advise someone to get the most out of London?

Call Switzerland and move some money around. Or sell organs. Either way, cash is essential.

Favourite outdoor spaces?

The M25 is an oft-unappreciated beacon of engineering wonder. 4 lanes wide now on large stretches. Unbelievable.

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Swimming Tapes release their second EP, Soft Sea Blue, September 15th via Hand In Hive.

LIVE: The Lexington, September 20th @swimming_tapes

@swimmingtapes

LIVE REVIEWS VISIONS FESTIVAL, VARIOUS HACKNEY VENUES, AUGUST 5TH Words: Hassan Anderson Photos: Ruth Kilpatrick Despite the weather changing course more times than a fidget spinner this year, Visions 2017 turned out to be one of the best yet thanks to another tremendous line up. That plus the fact that the day kicks off with the Visions Dog Show (judged by members of Girl Ray, Mystery Jets and Pond), categories of which included Cutest Pup, Waggiest Tail, and Best Twin Peaks Costume. Any festival that begins with the sight of a pug dressed as a cherry pie could only have meant a damn fine day was in store.

Goat Girl open up at the Mangle (formerly The Laundry) and are more about action than talk during their set. They pack one hell of a punch with their blues-tinged bangers, ending on the fan favourite ‘Country Sleaze’ which helps to thaw the early crowd. Later on, Frankie Cosmos’ raucous, pop-tinged garage rock somehow makes the expansive Oval Space feel like an intimate venue, while Sorry (FKA Fish) do the opposite with their eerie, grunge inflected tunes that seem to rupture the walls of the tiny Sebright Arms basement.

Whilst Happyness are drawing a crowd with an organised game of beer pong in the food court, Shame are busy holding nothing back at Mangle. Frontman Charlie Steen provides both sound and spectacle with his microphone manoeuvres and shirtless crowd interaction and the band’s bulldozer instrumentation shakes the afternoon crowd from their late afternoon slumps, prepping everyone for the evening to come.

One of the true highlights of the day comes from Matt Maltese’s set at NT’s roof top bar. His gut-wrenching ballads combined with a view of the city as the sun set and the overground trains passed is like something from a film. If his song ‘As The World Caves In’ had come true and doomsday happened there and then (not unrealistic tbh), I think most would have died content. Liars’ headline set at Mangle shook people back to life again and the gravity of the mosh pit proves too much for some when the band unleash the choral-punk banger ‘Scissor’, especially with frontman Angus Andrew dressed as a veiled bride.

Hangovers were guaranteed given the wealth of after parties on offer at the end of the night, but headaches could at least be soothed by the memories of another great Visions festival.

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CHERRY PIE DOG!

GOAT GIRL

MATT MALTESE LiS 71

PRESENTS

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT MYTICKET.CO.UK

PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS Meet me in the enormodrome by Danny Wright The bands that captured our youth are reminding us we’re getting old...

It hits you first when you read the 68th 20 year retrospective piece of the week.

Or that press release telling you about a re-release of Embrace’s ‘seminal debut’ The Good Will Out. Even reading Lizzy Goodman’s fantastic oral history of early 00s New York Rock, Meet Me in the Bathroom.

Articles about albums that, in your head, are still recent. And you realise that time has been marching on relentlessly as you try and find the next big thing.

Working in the music industry makes it easy to trick yourself that you’re still young. Cos if you’re always chasing the new, how can you be old?

It hits you a bit harder when you hear the new albums by these bands and realise they’ve become the elder statesmen. You realise those artists you thought of as old, slightly too safe and old-fashioned, those lumbering stadium acts Springsteen, U2 - well, whisper it, our bands have become them. And you really hate to admit that.

LCD aren’t playing Daft Punk in anyone’s house now. They’re making dark, serious brooding Berlin-era Bowie songs. And Daft Punk aren’t shorthand for cool anymore, they’re malfunctioning robots making Chic songs. And over there Arcade Fire seem to be making U2’s Pop album with the same message just slightly updated for the social media age and added #content. Thank god The National always sounded (magnificently) like they were 50, so that hasn’t changed.

And you ask yourself is this something to mourn, really? Have we become the people we didn’t want to be? Or, at least, have the bands we loved? A little older, a little safer? Of course, it’s not all bad - some of this music is still brilliant. But deep down you hate the idea that your youth is over, and you can hear in these albums that it is. And now you just have to prepare to tell your kids that these bands were exciting, they really were, as you drag them to see the LCD/Arcade Fire Infinite, Infinite Content tour in an enormodrome in 2047.

Danny Wright is a music writer who's older than he realised. On Twitter at @dethink2survive

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PRESENTS

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FRIDAY 08 SEPTEMBER

The Garage TICKETS AVAILABLE AT MYTICKET.CO.UK

Simple Things Festival 20 - 21 October, Across Bristol

Metronomy (Opening - Friday night)

Leftfield performing Leftism live

Wild Beasts Daphni Clark Juan Atkins Omar Souleyman John Maus Shackleton GAIKA Nadine Shah IDLES Jlin (Sandy) Alex G The Bug ft Miss Red Kahn & Neek Jane Weaver (4hrs)

+ many more Full lineup & tickets at: www.simplethingsfestival.co.uk