DIY, April 2012 by DIY Magazine

E D I TOR ’S L E T T ER I’ll be honest, dear readers. I’m not even going to entertain the ridiculous notion that rock is dead. Your broadsheet think-pieces may be packed with suggestions that guitar music is in a slump, quoting a slew of sales figures, chart stats and the like, but try asking a You Me At Six fan if their beloveds are pushing up the daisies. Good luck with that one. Truth is, beyond the nay-saying, a batch of British rock bands are making a land grab for the mainstream. Just check out the Radio1 playlist; at the time of writing Young Guns sit pretty on the A list, while Deaf Havana are just as comfy on the B list. These are acts who really do make up a scene; they’ve toured, played and risen the ranks together. If we’re measuring music on pure fan power alone, they’d most likely give One Direction a shiner. That’s why we’ve put them on our cover; rock is not a dirty word. Hell, if the six string is something of the past, someone tell Graham Coxon. The Blur guitarist is back (back! Back!) with a new solo offering, and it’s his best to date. You won’t find a more interesting, or talented, subject than Coxon in modern music - all the synth stabs and chill waves in existence won’t change that.

CONTACT For DIY sales: nigel@rewindcreative.com matthew@rewindcreative.com tel: +44 (0)20 31764299 For DIY online sales: email: lawrence@sonicdigital.co.uk tel: +44 (0)20 76130555 For DIY editorial: email: info@thisisfakediy.co.uk tel: +44 (0)20 76137249

staff list Editor: Stephen Ackroyd

TV Editor: Christa Ktorides

Senior Editor: Emma Swann

Editorial Assistant: Jamie Milton

Deputy / Online Editor: Victoria Sinden

Extra Editor: Amy Rich

Features Editor: Harriet Jennings

Editorial Intern: Luke Morgan Britton

Film Editor: Becky Reed

Head Of Marketing & Events: Jack Clothier

News Editor: Sarah Jamieson Games Editor: Michael J Fax

Art Director: Louise Mason

Contributors: Alex Lynham, Andrew Backhouse, Andy Bustard, Colm McAuliffe, Coral Williamson, Daniel Wright, Digby Bodenham, Edward Clibbens, El Hunt, George Boorman, Greg Inglis, Jess Bridgeman, Joe O'Sullivan, Joe Skrebels, Kosta Lucas, Kyle Forward, Lauren Down, Leah Henson, Martyn Young, Mary Chang, Matthew Davies, Sam Faulkner, Simone Scott Warren, Tom Baker, Wayne Fanagan, Wendy Davies Photographers: Dan Smyth, Kevin Morovsky, Kieran Pharaoh, Lindsey Byrnes, Paul Harold Seele, Richard Isaac, Sam Bond

Cover photography: Sam Bond DIY is contract published by Rewind Creative Media Ltd on behalf of Sonic Network Limited. All material copyright (c). All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of DIY. 25p where sold. Disclaimer: While every effort is made to ensure the information in this magazine is correct, changes can occur which affect the accuracy of copy, for which Rewind Creative Media Limited or Sonic Network Limited holds no responsibility. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of DIY or it’s staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions. Distributed nationally.

Eugene mcguinness

tegan & sara

the shape of rock to come

grimes

Mystery Jets

blood red shoes

Alabama shakes

breton

santigold

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Ta k e s H i s T i m e

McGuinness tells Sar ah Jam i es on ab o u t his forthcoming new a l b u m , ‘ T h e I n v i tat i o n T o T h e V o ya g e ’ . Eugene McGuinness is already attracting quite a fuss. Having unleashed the first two singles from his forthcoming album, there’s already a definite buzz about the Leytonstone artist. With his slick attitude and insatiably catchy songs, there’s no wonder he’s causing a stir, but this is all just the beginning. Having recently finished up three dates supporting the gorgeously pop Marina & The Diamonds whilst gearing up to join Miles Kane on the road next month, Eugene’s proving his worth across all manner of stages. Right now though, he’s preparing to release his latest full-length album and we were given the opportunity to find out exactly what’s to come.

wanted to make a pop album, but I didn’t want it to come across as some sort of mad experiment. It goes off in a few different directions and it embraces a few different things, just mashed together.” As with any musician who decides to really explore their artistic options, the album took time. “I wanted to shift gears a little bit, and to do that I had to take my time with it; write loads and record a lot of the tunes, and then throw a lot of them away. I wanted to find out what position I wanted to be in for the next couple of albums, rather than just bash out another record in a couple of weeks. I worked with a couple of different people and spent a lot of time crafting a record to really be proud of. “I started writing about two years ago but the recordings were on-off, in little pockets of time that I had free, because I was touring with Miles Kane for a year and a half and that took up a lot of my time. So, we would have a pocket with a couple of days here and there when we were back in London.

“I wanted it be a modern record,” Eugene begins. “I didn’t want it to be a retro thing, and I didn’t want it to be just a rock and roll record. I didn’t want it to be a weird Shoreditch geezer-y thing. I mean, it took a while to realise what that sort of sound was going to be, but that was about embracing all of the things that are around at the moment, and without making it modern for the sake of being modern.

“The sessions were spread across a good year and a half to two years while I was very busy. That kind of helped actually, because you’d do a little bit of work, go off and live with it a bit and chew on it. So, when you’d go back in the studio, you could decide if you actually wanted to carry on writing or if you wanted to try something new. It was really helpful, as opposed to going into the studio for two or three weeks and just bashing it out, then deciding later.

“I wanted it to be an honest account of where I’m at, and what I want to do. I also

“It was very gradual. After a while, the songs would accumulate and you could

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tell which ones were the real belters and which weren’t up to scratch. Then you could carry on at that pace, and wait for the others to arrive.” So, in terms of influences, who helped to inspire this modern pop record? “I was listening to things like Primal Scream and David Bowie and Iggy Pop, who had these big, sonic monsters; these landscapes of sound that they’d created. Even with Iggy or Bowie, I see them as very modern records. You can’t really associate the sounds of those records to punk or rock: they sound like they just stand alone in their own right. “A lot of the time, they didn’t know what they were doing, but they wanted to do something new. I wanted to do something different to what I would’ve naturally done. It’s then, once you know what you want to do, you can knock ‘em out. I could record another album this week if I wanted to!” And what exactly will this record be called? “It’s called ‘The Invitation To The Voyage’. It’s quite a grand title, but the record took two years, so I thought, f**k it, why not?!” Eugene McGuinness’s new album ‘The Invitation To The Voyage’ will be released this summer via Domino.

photo: Sam Bond

news

miike snow R e le as e C om pi l ation Al b um

By the time you read this, it’s highly likely that Miike Snow will have just released their brand new album ‘Happy To You’, due out on 26th March. This release, however, is not all they’re working on. We caught up with the trio not so long ago and they revealed that this spring they will also be releasing a compilation, through their very own label, INGRID. The band’s Pontus Winnberg told DIY: “We’re releasing a… what would you call it? A collection of songs from all the members, it’s a double vinyl. It comes out in April.” “It’s kind of like a sampler from everyone involved in what we do,” Andrew Wyatt clarified, “that will give people a better idea of what INGRID is all about.” Alongside Winnberg, Wyatt and their bandmate Christian Karlsson, taking part will be a plethora of talent including every member of label co-founders Peter, Bjorn & John, singer-songwriter Nicole Morier, Teddybear’s Klas and Joakim Ahlund, and Lykke Li. Read the full Miike Snow interview now on thisisfakediy.co.uk.

Fourth Album “Every record has pressures,” begins The Gaslight Anthem's Brian Fallon. “You always strive for something equal to or greater than your previous work.”

So, what is it we should expect from ‘Handwritten’ itself ? “I wouldn’t really compare it to our older work. That was us then, and this is us now. It’s all snapshots of time.

S ta r t W o r k On Second Record

It seems like only yesterday the New Jersey band were releasing their incendiary 2010 effort ‘American Slang’; the second of their full-lengths to have been recorded in New York with Ted Hutt. Two years on and the band have changed things up a little for album number four, ‘Handwritten’. Settling in Nashville, Tennessee early this year, the band began their work with esteemed producer Brendan O’Brien. Boasting a list of credentials that includes Springsteen, Dylan and Young, it’s safe to say the Jersey boys were in safe hands. “It’s a trip to be able to make a record with a guy who’s done some of your favourites. Brendan taught us a ton about songwriting and recording as a band. It’s been one of the most enjoyable times I’ve had making a record.” And with the move to Tennessee, came another change in the band’s regular pace: “The idea of recording in Nashville came from us not wanting to be distracted; it’s busy enough to have something to do when not recording, but far enough away that we didn’t know anyone. Plus, Nashville’s a music town, there’s a vibe for sure.”

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Finish Work On

“Lyrically, I wanted to get away from writing in ‘jive talk’. On our old records I had this slang that was sort of early Springsteen-eese, Central Jersey slang, and poor grammar. I ran out of steam, and the only thing left was what I am right now, so that’s what I wrote about. I tried to be as precise as I could be. “I think the music did the same thing, stripped away all the extra bits that didn’t need to be there. We looked to the things we loved collectively: 70’s rock bands like The Who, and Led Zeppelin, and 90’s music, like Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. Some of the songs even have a Neil Young vibe from when he went electric. “I’m really impressed with what we’ve made here, and I love this record. All a band should really do is keep achieving excitement, stay hungry, and stay inspired. I don’t know what anybody else thinks because at this point no one has heard it, but I love it.” The Gaslight Anthem’s new album ‘Handwritten’ will be released this summer via Mercury Records.

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news

Radiohead have announced three mammoth UK dates, set to take place this October. The giants will play Manchester Evening News Arena (06) and London O2 Arena (08, 09) in support of their latest album ‘The King Of Limbs’.

B e ach House Pl an Ne w Al b um Beach House have unveiled plans to release their highly anticipated fourth album in May. The follow up to 2010’s ‘Teen Dream’, ‘Bloom’ is due out on 14th May through Bella Union.

Ma x i mo Park Plot Ne w L ive Dates

Maximo Park are set to play two intimate shows to preview material from their fourth album. The record, which will be released later this year, will be showcased in May, at The Sugarmill in Stoke (08) and The Duchess in York (09).

B est C oast Alb um D ue I n May

Best Coast have confirmed the details for their forthcoming second album. Entitled 'The Only Place', their sophomore record was produced by Jon Brion in L.A. and will be released through Wichita Recordings on 14th May.

Th e H ives TO Re l eas e ' Le x Hives '

The Hives will release their fifth studio effort later this summer. The Swedish five-piece have confirmed that 'Lex Hives' is due on 5th June.

G o s s i p re turn with n e w LP

Gossip's fifth studio album, 'A Joyful Noise', is set to be released in May. The first single taken from the record, 'Perfect World', is available digitally now. For all the latest music news, visit thisisfakediy.co.uk/news.

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photo: Lindsey Byrnes

Radioh e ad C on fi r m O ctob e r UK Tour

In The Studio

For Tegan and Sara, it’s been a long run. Forming way back in 1997, the Canadian duo have a staggering six albums already under their belt, and show no signs of slowing down. “We’re trying to sound like we just got started, while also exuding 13 years of professional experience!” jokes Tegan Quin, speaking to DIY about the pair’s current studio time. As of right now, the twins are in L.A., two weeks into the extensive - and somewhat unusual - recording process for album number seven: “I submitted nearly 45 songs for this record. We were able to cut it down to 14, which we will be recording over the next three months with three different producers here in Los Angeles. “When we started looking for the perfect producer it became obvious that we weren’t going to find one. Unlike in the past, instead of using different musicians to reflect the different styles on the record, we decided to have different producers. Our intention is to create a whole new sound for T&S while still relying on the sound we built over the last 13 years. It’s tricky, but so far, it’s working!” The first of the three producers is Greg Kurstin, the man behind both The Shins

and Katy Perry. “Greg is awesome! He mixes the pop world with the indie rock world and we love that about him. He’s also very sarcastic and dry and we liked that immediately. He doesn’t appear to take music too seriously, while also applying every single ounce of energy to the process. It’s quite magical to watch.” So what should we be looking forward to? After all, their last studio effort ‘Sainthood’ was released almost three years ago now. “We definitely learned a lot from making ‘Sainthood’. That record was approached quite traditionally; we recorded 30 - 40 takes of each song. It left me thinking... no wonder bands always break up. Ha! It was hard. I think it’s our best record to date, but I felt a bit stuck. I worried we had strayed too far from pop and the music we loved growing up. “We want to entertain and wow and move people. We don’t want to play it safe. We don’t want to bore anyone. That is our worst nightmare at this stage in the game. Our intention is to have fun but also show off our new skills. We learned a lot in the last three years and it’s time to put that out there into the world. I just hope it’s ready for us!” Tegan & Sara's new album is expected to be released later this year.

DAVID LYNCH

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P l ay s

Secret Show

arlier this month, we played host to a very special show.

photo: emma swann photo: Emma Swann

When the wonderful Kevin Devine told us he'd planned a day off from his recent UK tour, we figured, who needs time to rest? DIY teamed up with his label Big Scary Monsters, and invited a handful of competition winners along to a really, really warm basement in Dalston’s Power Lunches café where we coaxed him into taking to the stage for an intimate acoustic set. With a list of requests as long as his arm, Kevin powered through the heat to play for an hour or so, performing renditions of some of his hits, some rarities and a rather glorious attempt at Eminem’s ‘Stan’. We had a catch up with Kevin before the show, for a little chat about how he was feeling, and of course, what he

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thought of all those requests. “I saw the list and it’s like seventy songs! I hope they don’t kill me if I can’t get to all of them. I think we’d still be here tomorrow!" Maybe next time, eh? But, what is it that makes an evening like tonight special for you? “It’s really nice for a number of reasons. It’s nice because it’s a reminder that people really give a s**t about it, and are connected to it. They care to such an extent that they will go and try to procure tickets to this kind of thing. That’s really cool. “And for me it’s nice because I’ve been playing with the band for the last two and a half weeks. I love that, but it’s a really different experience when I get to go play acoustic. I always like to be able to switch back and forth. I think one informs the other, so tonight will be really nice to be able to get to do that.” But, can it not be a little daunting to take

to the stage alone? “I think I’m at a place where I feel more comfortable performing than I ever have. I feel more peaceful, even when I’m opening for someone else. You’ve gotta get up there and: a. captivate people, but also; b. understand that if I’m opening for Bright Eyes and there’s 1,500 people in the room, there’s gonna be some that aren’t going to be locked in. But, there’s going to be people that are! If I get up and I’m confident and I present myself accordingly, that’s the best I can do. I don’t really feel uncomfortable either way now. I try to get to a place where I can be present and level. Try to not go in there and be set off too easily by the talker in the back, or the guy in the front on his cell phone. “I dunno, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen but that’s a little too vulnerable. I’m trying to keep myself… you know. I’ve been that guy, but I also want to be able to enjoy what I’m doing and play for me and play for the people that are going to hear it. I just feel really comfortable right now, more than I have ever in my life I think.” For videos and more from the show, visit thisisfakediy.co.uk. Kevin Devine will return to the UK later this year.

photo: emma swann

Ta k e O n T h e O l d B l u e L as t When we heard that one of the noisiest and most exciting bands to come out of Australia (or anywhere else, for that matter) were going to be playing a three night residency at our ol’ faithful Old Blue Last, we couldn’t grab an evening for ourselves quick enough. In fact, we managed to nab the perfectly placed middle night, officially naming DIY the awesome filling of a DZ Deathrays sandwich. Mmmmm, tasty. And to make the evening extra special, we invited along some friends. Opening up proceedings were the lovely Matt Emery and Kevin Watts, swiftly accompanied by the ever excellent Crushed Beaks, before Bos Angeles came and blew us all away. However, there was something infinitely special about the night’s headliners, who, we can safely say, laid waste to the venue by the time their set was done. An absolute assault of trashy, grungy riffs, doused with a good spray of synth, the Aussie duo’s set is incendiary. Showcasing a handful of tracks from their forthcoming album ‘Bloodstreams’, the band also crack out old favourites from their earlier EP. There’s even an invitation for Matt Emery to join the band onstage to play

his rendition of ‘The Mess Up’, which he covered especially for DIY earlier this month (find it at thisisfakediy.co.uk). Ending their set perched upon his drum kit still clashing the cymbals, Simon Ridley grabs the lighting rig above him, swinging into the crowd as Shane Parsons thanks the audience one last time for their rowdiness, ending their second show on a total high. So evidently, we all had a great time, but how was that for the band? “It was pretty insane! We got a good crowd and loads of people were jumping around, which is good for a Wednesday! “We’d never really thought about doing a residency,” explains Shane, “We’ve never done one before, but it was something that was put together by the team over here, and we thought, ‘This could be cool.’ We needed to come over here, otherwise we’d have been here in October and the next time we’d be back is May, so we need to keep touching base.” DZ Deathrays will play this year’s The Great Escape Festival in Brighton.

comi ng up

Date 12th April 2012 Venue New Slang, Kingston Line Up Hatcham Social, Terrible Eyes Date 17th April 2012 Venue Old Blue Last, London Line Up Holograms Date 9th May 2012 Venue The Garage, London Line Up Tellison, The Bots, Stagecoach + Very Special Guests For up-to-date listings and ticket information, visit thisisfakediy.co.uk.

news festivals

festivals

Once upon a time, if you wanted to go to a festival, your only choice would be to grab a pair of wellies and hit the muddy fields; tent and sleeping bag in tow. That's not the case anymore, though. These days there are so many different kinds of festival, and in so many different locations, that you really are spoilt for choice. If you're still up for getting dirty, be our guest, but you can do almost anything whilst seeing all of your favourite bands in the space of one weekend. Whether you fancy heading to Brighton pier, the depths of Camden or even catching some rays in the beautiful city of, erm, Leeds, there is definitely a festival for you. To help you choose which is right, we've pulled together some of those much needed details.

live at l e e d s

cam de n c r aw l

g r e at escape

There aren't many festivals confirmed so far this year that have as strong a showing from new bands as Live At Leeds.

This year, DIY is going to be taking part in quite a few festivals, bringing you some of our favourite bands old and new in the process.

It's getting boring by the sea - so the song goes. Not that boring this May, though. DIY is quite excited about the return of Maximo Park, who will be following two low-key shows later this spring with - you guessed it - a spot at the Great Escape.

There's former DIY Class Of 2012 alumni Friends, Niki & The Dove, Jessie Ware and Spector, alongside the likes of Alt-J, Gross Magic, The History Of Apple Pie, Novella and Jamie N Commons... It's a long list. They'll all be joining headliners The Enemy, Marina & The Diamonds, Ladyhawke, Los Campesinos! and The Subways - the first three of which have new albums due out this spring. Sat slap bang on the East Coast Main Line and M1, Live At Leeds is neither just a festival for locals, nor just a live music event; their annual Unconference will this year be discussing the role of digital platforms in the distribution, marketing and promotion of music. There's also a 5-a-side football tournament in aid of Sports Relief; they're not merely a bunch of pretty faces. Live At Leeds will take place at various venues in Leeds from 4th - 7th May.

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The first of these is the Camden Crawl - one of the original inner city events - where we'll be playing host to one of the daytime venues. We're not letting the cat all the way out of the bag just yet however, you'll have to check thisisfakediy.co.uk for the details. Elsewhere on the bill you'll find the likes of Death In Vegas, Icona Pop, TOY, Willy Moon, The Futureheads, Echo Lake and Fear Of Men across NW1's premier boozers and venues, with a side order of comedy, performing arts and other interesting 'stuff '. Camden Crawl will take place at various venues in Camden, London from 4th - 6th May.

Performing brand new material from the band's forthcoming fourth album, Paul Smith & Co. have taken the headline spot at the Brighton Dome, but that's not all the annual industry talking-aboutmusic-and-watching-bands extravaganza has to offer. Also appearing at the event are Mystery Jets - fresh from releasing their new fulllength, 'Radlands' - Friends, Grimes, DZ Deathrays, Zulu Winter, Gaz Coombes, and many more. Oh, and DIY also has a stage there again this year. Hurrah. More details will be announced shortly, promise. The Great Escape will take place at various venues in Brighton from 10th - 12th May.

news

reading & leeds Name Reading & Leeds Festival Location Richfield Avenue, Reading; Bramham Park, Leeds Dates 24th - 26th August 2012 Tickets ÂŁ197.50 Headliners The Cure, Kasabian, Foo Fighters The initial line up for this year's Reading & Leeds Festival has finally been announced, with the dual site event set to be headlined by The Cure, Kasabian and the Foo Fighters. Foo Fighters, who headline the Friday of Leeds and Sunday of Reading, will be joined by The Black Keys, Kaiser Chiefs, Bullet For My Valentine, All Time Low, The Gaslight Anthem, Eagles Of Death Metal, Band Of Skulls and Pulled Apart By Horses. The Cure will headline the Saturday of Leeds and the Friday of Reading. Alongside them are slots for Paramore, Bombay Bicycle Club, You Me At Six,

Crystal Castles, Angels & Airwaves, Coheed & Cambria, Cancer Bats and Deaf Havana. Kasabian, who will headline the Sunday of Leeds and the Saturday of Reading, will appear alongside Florence & The Machine, The Vaccines, Enter Shikari, The Shins, Odd Future, Mystery Jets and Blood Red Shoes. The NME/Radio 1 stage will be headlined by The Maccabees, the reformed At The Drive-In and Justice, with other slots for Foster The People, The Cribs, Two Door Cinema Club, The Courteeners, Billy Talent, Miike Snow, The Horrors and SBTRKT. The Dance Stage will see performances from Metronomy, Katy B, Azealia Banks and Jaguar Skills. This year, the event revealed on Twitter that weekend ticket holders will get a free beer and burger each day of the festival. Good times. Reading & Leeds Festival will take place at Richfield Avenue in Reading and Bramham Park in Leeds from 24th - 26th August.

ATP Name ATP I'll Be Your Mirror location Alexandra Palace, London Dates 25th - 27th May 2012 Tickets ÂŁ130 Headliners Slayer, Mogwai, The Afghan Whigs All Tomorrow's Parties host some of our favourite events, and this year's I'll Be Your Mirror London, curated by Mogwai, looks set to be a blinder. Whilst Mogwai will headline the Saturday themselves, they'll be bookended by Slayer performing their 1986 album 'Reign In Blood' on the Friday, and The Afghan Whigs on the Sunday. Elsewhere on the bill, you'll find the likes of Yuck, Tennis, Forest Swords, Archers Of Loaf, and Sleepy Sun. Washington post-punk band The MakeUp are also reforming for a one-off set. Happy days. ATP I'll Be Your Mirror will take place in Alexandra Palace, London, from 25th - 27th May.

festival news If you fancy heading up to RockNess in Scotland, but think it's a bit too far - fear not! This year for the first time they'll be running their own train, the RockNess Express, all the way from London Euston - visit rockness.co.uk to see if it will be stopping near you. Field Day has started to reveal their 2012 bill. Headlining the Victoria Park event will be Franz Ferdinand, with the likes of Friends, Grimes, Gold Panda, Metronomy, and Sleigh Bells also playing.

primavera Name Primavera Sound Location Barcelona, Spain Dates 30th May - 3rd June 2012 Tickets 190€ (c. £160) Headliners The Cure, Bjork It's a small world. No, really - it is. There was a time our horizons rarely got further than the exotic climes of the Isle Of Wight. Now, with festivals in the UK getting more expensive and flights getting cheaper, pretty much anywhere in the world is fair game for a spot of live music. From a quick pop over to France to all the way to the good old US of A, or even a trip to Eastern Europe, there are a whole slew of options with killer lineups and less chance of camping in a mud swamp. Fast becoming chief amongst those foreign jaunts is Spain's Primavera Sound. 16 thisisfakediy.co.uk

Developed from modest beginnings, the Barcelona based event has built up a fierce reputation for incredible bills. With alumni from Pixies to Arcade Fire, Aphex Twin to Pulp, and The White Stripes to Sonic Youth, few others can pull names quite so brilliant. This year there's a new Portuguese leg Optimus Primavera Sound, and a line up including (deep breath - Ed) Björk, The Cure, Death Cab For Cutie, Justice, Jeff Mangum, Beach House, Chairlift, Lee Ranaldo, Japandroids, I Break Horses, Neon Indian, Grimes, Girls, Friends, Mudhoney, Franz Ferdinand, Forest Swords, M83, Sleigh Bells, Spiritualized, The Weeknd, Wavves, Veronica Falls and Wild Beasts. It's safe to say you'll get value for money. Add to that (hopefully) a spot of sun, and it's not hard to see why a trip to Spain might be a decent bet for 2012. Primavera Sound will take place in Barcelona, Spain from 30th May - 3rd June.

The first few bands have also been announced for Dot To Dot Festival, which will take place in Bristol, Nottingham and Manchester this June. Amongst the additions are: The Drums, Pulled Apart By Horses, Dog Is Dead, Summer Camp and Lucy Rose. In rockier quarters, Killswitch Engage and NOFX will be playing Download this year, whilst Motion City Soundtrack and The Blackout have recently been confirmed for Slam Dunk. The third headliner has been announced for Wireless Festival, which will be held once again in Hyde Park, London, this summer. Joining Drake (7th July) and Rihanna (8th July) will be Deadmau5 (6th July). Speaking of headliners, Latitude has booked Bon Iver to headline this year, along with Elbow and Paul Weller - the latter of which has just released a new album, 'Sonik Kicks'. If you want to catch Lana Del Rey this summer, she's been confirmed for a few bills - the latest of which is Isle Of Wight on Friday 22nd June. V Festival meanwhile is one of the first major festivals to sell out this year, with all but a few coach packages gone. Heading up the Main Stage are The Stone Roses and The Killers.

letters

deardiy... Dear DIY, Reading & Leeds, right? Far be it for me to complain (and I'm not), but who in their right minds thinks that Odd Future belong on the main stage? Surely they're set for either the smallest turnout in Reading history, or a traditional bottling. Poor Tyler. Tom Madden, Brighton We'd worry, Tom, but sandwiched in between Mystery Jets and The Shins, we think the chances of that gentler breed of fans taking up arms are slim. Potentially hilarious, mind.

Dear DIY, I am a Radiohead fan. I wanted to go see my favourite band play at the O2 later this year, until I went to book my tickets. Over 70 quid! Seventy! Seven-oh pounds! What on God's earth are they spending all that money on? Hannah Collins, London Remember The Evil Dead? Thom's new ponytail is possessed by Satan. Has an awful addiction to expensive hats. Poor sod. Dear DIY, Chiddy Chiddy Bang Bang (March 2012). Seriously. What a headline. Well done. Rachel Harris, Bolton We try.

Dear DIY, I've just discovered Willy Moon thanks to your piece in the last issue (March 2012). With so many boring homegrown solo pop stars, it's refreshing to hear someone both exciting and different. Plus; what a name. He should be massive. Tom Davies, Cardiff Willy. Haha. Willy. You said willy.

Dear DIY, I am a massive Gallows fan, and when I heard that Frank was leaving the band, I was gutted. However, once he announced Pure Love, my faith was restored. Not only can Frank sing, but he sings damn well! Pure Love’s album is one of the most anticipated of the year, and if the duo manage to capture their live sound, it will also be one of the best. Dael Brookes We're relieved some of the fans are sticking with Frank, rather than sending him off to the, erm, gallows. To send DIY your letters, either email us at: letters@thisisfakediy.co.uk or post them to: DIY Letters, 1st Floor, 9 Chapel Place, London, EC2A 3DQ You can also find us on Facebook: facebook.com/thisisfakediy & Twitter: twitter.com/thisisfakediy

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...i n r e p ly t o questions we asked If Radiohead sold tickets for their tour in the same way they sold 'In Rainbows', how much would you choose to pay An arm and a leg. Preferably of Bono's. - @mujahidjohar I first saw Radiohead in 95 for £6.50. Does that mean they're 1000% better now than during The Bends? I'd stretch to a tenner. - @HiDavidNewbury 86,000 Ugandan dollars. - @markyriley I'd have paid £1 per song for In Rainbows, so. Same again. As many as they want to play! - @brasseye Can we not just download a Radiohead gig from Pirate Bay yet? - @michaelmphysics Considering they are the best band in the world, they are right to charge a good fee, but not an extortionate one. £35? - @BlushingPanda I would collect them all. Then piss on them. Like Pokemon. - @Thekdawggg About 20 pounds more if they played anything from the Bends and 50 quid if they played Anyone Can Play Guitar. @martynyoung184

Another £40 if they play that brilliant fake Radiohead song from around Xmas. - @TomDavenport I wouldn't. - @adwards555

Follow DIY on Twitter at twitter.co.uk/thisisfakediy

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first on alt -j

Jamie Milton talks to new Infectious Music

signees

Alt-J in the lead up to their debut album release 20 thisisfakediy.co.uk

There’s more to a band than their name. Several passers by might lambast Alt-J for their adoption of the delta (∆) sign – you press Alt + J on a Mac keyboard and just like magic, there’s the symbol – but in many ways, it was a smart move. ”There’s limitless amounts of fun you can have with it; it’s a prism to explore within,” says Gus, keyboardist and vocalist in the band. Indeed, when you’re able to produce triangular shaped vinyl for your debut EP

release, you know you’re on to something. Is there a danger though, that Alt-J might forever become associated with this threesided visual? “We don’t want to be corseted by our aesthetic choices – I think that would be terrible. But certainly, it looks like it could be a nice current running through our body of work.” Already, the symbol has become synonymous with the band, similarly versatile to the songs themselves, their ability to adapt and turn on a whim. Speaking to Gus, you gain an insight into a band with a long-term vision. Contrary to the mad rush that’s received debut single ‘Matilda’, they’re a group who have been plugging away for quite some time now. Experiencing several name changes and in Gus’ own words, “setbacks,” the last twelve months are the reward of three-and-a-halfyears' worth of hard work.

first on

"I WORRY THAT IF I SHARE MY IDEAS, THE OTHER PERSON MIGHT THINK I'M AN ABSOLUTE PSYCHO!”

"We don’t want to be corseted by our aesthetic choices”

in, really.” But here lies a band that will inevitably be judged not on their name, not on their hype, but on the success of their debut album. In conversation, you hear relief and immense excitement; a great deal of pride towards the finished piece. The record is described to us as “challenging and coherent” and “nicely-crafted.” Quite wisely, despite the success of songs like ‘Fitzpleasure’ and ‘Breezeblocks’, there’s an acknowledgement that a great deal of those who buy the album will be newcomers to the band: “You have to view it as objectively as you can… We don’t want it to be referred to as ‘Matilda: The Extended Edition’!”

Today, such a dilemma seems almost comical when you regard Alt-J’s recent surge in popularity. Gus describes regular coverage on Radio1 as “staggering,” that all this recognition “almost hasn’t sunk

From what we’re told, an extraordinary amount of work has gone into every single song. Again, with Alt-J, what at first meets the eye is never entirely telling. For instance, we’re told that ‘Fitzpleasure’’s

The hardest challenge came when the band were still based in Leeds – they’ve recently relocated to London. Having made ripples in the water, gaining fans for their work as Films, they were prompted to change their name because it was shared with so many other bands. “That was a struggle,” recalls Gus. “At the time it seemed like we were going to be destroying a lot of hard work, in really silly ways; worrying about how we’d be losing all our MySpace plays!”

opening chant of “Tra-la-la-la” is actually based on a character in a Hubert Selby Jr. book named Tralala. Think about that: a monosyllabic chant, one that might be equated to a simple vocal texture, actually carries genuine meaning. Another album track tells the tale of the relationship between war photographers Robert Capa and Gerda Toro; the latter of which became the first female war photographer to die in battle. Intricacies emerge that you would never imagine out of each song. Such indepth levels of songwriting, such a scale of ambition, only go to confirm that Alt-J are not a band who can be dismissed over an aesthetic choice. Alt-J’s debut album 'An Awesome Wave' will be released on 28th May via Infectious Music. 21

first on profiles

first on

The myth that guitar music’s on its last legs could finally be put to bed, if Peace end up anywhere near as big as they deserve to become. Living by a motto of “they put the ace into Peace!” the Birmingham fourpiece give anthemic quality to a Horrors circa-’Primary Colours’ sound. Guitars are ramped up to their highest level, while vocals soar at the top of the mix. Instead of wallowing in a series of warped textures and experimental synthwork, the group put more onus on giant hooks and unforgettable choruses. Recent single ‘Follow Baby’ is a prime example, morphing from abrasive, spiky guitars into a skyscraper chant of “We’re gonna live forever, baby.” Both chart-ready and suitable for some serious critical acclaim, it’s a strong indication of a band going places. 22 thisisfakediy.co.uk

You can’t feign a slacker image. Only Real aka. Niall Galvin’s Facebook page is more charming than most others. He posts pictures of himself eating cereal with a furrowed brow, hanging out in his hometown near West London. He’ll post about songs he’s seen on Pitchfork (mostly hip-hop), before every so often exposing his fans to a new song of his own. You imagine he wakes up, puts on Jeremy Kyle, considers writing a song but chooses to have a nap instead. Every single track unveiled to date has been brilliant. Each carries a ‘don’t-give-a-f**k’ attitude, an earnestness that you only hear from young upstarts. The most recent, ‘Cadillac Girl’, is built on a scratchy beach-pop riff, before cheap electronic drums enter and distinct, snarling vocals steal the scene.

In between the first time First On was sent No Ceremony’s music and today, a cloud of suspicion has gradually risen. Some bloggers were quick to spark excitement; others were careful to distance themselves from a potential major label inside job. Few clues have emerged since, but the truth is No Ceremony are impressing more and more and are becoming nigh on impossible to ignore. The two singles to their name are exciting works respectively, with a ferocious 4am pulse, blending club-trance with hard-hitting guitar sections. True to our early premonitions, vocals are warped and de-tuned, acting as instruments rather than a driving force. You hear the recent material, you watch the arty videos and you see something of genuine substance.

It seems like virtually every act we write about in First On has a clear, well-constructed visual identity. I Ching are no different, working with eyecatching collages for artwork and symmetrically-skewed black-and-white footage for their music videos. The visual stuff suggests a fusion of classic styles of pop with an experimental edge to boot. And indeed, by the time ‘Drive’ hits its full stride, that’s essentially what we’re given. The London group blend ghostly synthetics with a rapid, ever-evolving pulse. It’s the sort of sound that might not immediately entice, however on a full-length or a live set, you could see yourself devoting every one of your thoughts to what’s in front of you. A new single (‘It’s Me’) on emerging label Best Fit Records awaits on 23rd April.

Last year DIY devoted much of its listening time to two Swedish pop acts, Icona Pop and Niki & The Dove. Both seem on the brink of gigantic achievements. Therefore it seemed worthwhile to check out another Stockholmbased talent, from the same production company as the aforementioned. Elliphant is a one-woman adventurer, whose debut track ‘In The Jungle’ arrived via an extraordinary, hyped-up two minute video showing a child being swept through streets in a shopping trolley, before encountering an intimidating looking tiger face-to-face. Just like the tiger encounter, we’re left completely unaware of what lies next for Elliphant, be it pop stardom or cult fame. Either way, the debut track was strong indication of an ambitious artist with inclinations to dance music; hearty synths and thick, facemelting bass suggests as much.

Whether through purpose or accident, Arthur Beatrice's debut single somehow manages to encompass at least a dozen delightful, audible influences. Amongst them, you hear the isolation of the debut xx record, a frenetic clash of guitars that revisits Warpaint's first work, and an immaculate vocal exchange that pays homage to Laura Marling. How on Earth then, is the band's introduction so refreshing? Perhaps it's because we've yet to hear such a polished combination of these. 'Midland' is the sound of London; dark and vulnerable, with its late night feel giving a strangely beautiful edge. It's also stylish; perfectly turned-out. And the song's opening lyric suggests a fragility, something we'd like to see develop in a full-length, which is apparently in the works. 23

first on holograms

Sweden’s Holograms tell us a bit about t h e m s e lv es ahead of forthcoming DIY Presents…

little their show

photo: Julia Persson

What with the level of sparkling Swedish-based pop emerging in recent years, anyone might’ve envisaged the country as a virtual haven, whereby people lead rewarding, affluent lives. Several things can counter this unrealistic impression: one being an immersive listen to The Knife’s intensely dark ‘Silent Shout’ album, another a read of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, and the last being a glance over of Holograms’ back-story. Three of the band’s members work in a warehouse part time, in between converging and playing at an underground club in Stockholm “It’s a really s**tty form of employment,” they tell us. “But we just wanted to play together.” Everybody deserves a break from such levels of tedium; a balance between enjoyable leisure and mind-numbingly dull labour. Holograms began by meeting up and playing in Savage, a venue built on an old shipping boat in the country’s capital city. Now, there’s further light at the end of the tunnel, with prestigious label Captured Tracks having recently snapped up the band for a debut 7”, ‘ABC City’. “We sent our video to Mike [Sniper, label owner] and he instantly jumped on it and told us not to send it to anyone else.” The video itself is full of twilight skies, members of the band trudging around in the snow in areas around their workplace, as well as shots of them all playing strobeheavy shows. 24 thisisfakediy.co.uk

"It’s a really s * * t t y form of employment" The song encompasses all the frustration of waking up early and taking off for yet another grim working day. Incorporating old-school punk influences (the band list Modern English & Siouxsie And The Banshees), as well as honing in on the sound of Nordic contemporaries Iceage (while the group admit; “we aren’t as abrasive as them”), there’s a raucousness, an urgency to their music that can only jolt you up from a dozing state. Electronic elements also appear from time to time, helping the band shake off any

nostalgia accusations, instead building something entirely unique. After putting the initial touches to a forthcoming full-length, the band come to London’s Old Blue Last to a DIY Presents... show. We can only pray that the venue’s thick walls can cope with the levels of noise emerging from the four-piece’s guitars. Even though financial concerns are already tainting plans to tour the States, you expect the band’s working days of warehouse chores to be nearly over. Holograms play a DIY Presents... show at London’s Old Blue Last on 17th April. Their new single ‘ABC City’ is out now via Captured Tracks.

first on Citizens! have announced a London residency. Catch them at Ridley Road Market Bar on 28th March, 12th April and 18th April. Their debut album will follow in May. First On favourite Willy Moon has a new single: ‘Yeah Yeah’, due 23rd April.

Fear Of Men meanwhile have released a series of art prints. Visit fearofmen.bigcartel.com for more info.

First On Mix: Profiling all these hot new acts and musicians is all very good - but what makes them tick? What influences them? Rather than ask a bunch of typically cliche questions, we’ve been getting some of our favourites to create a special First On Mix. A series of tracks, mixed together into one big splurge of amazing music by our chosen subject. When we asked Brighton electronic two-piece Regal Safari to compile one for us, we were met with a hugely enthusiastic response. The final mix - which circuits through various styles and eras of electronic music - makes perfect sense. Each act featured has their own impact on Sean and Guy’s sound, be it the abrasiveness of Neu! or the absorbing repetitive style of Food Pyramid. Each track can be linked to the group’s debut EP, ‘R G L S F R’.

TOY will release their next single ‘Motoring’ on 16th April, with their debut album currently expected in September. Jack Goldstein of Fixers has put together a summery mixtape which we premiered on DIY - visit thisisfakediy. co.uk to hear it.

Keep Shelly In Athens will re-release their first two EPs. ‘In Love With Dusk’ and ‘Our Own Dream’ will be available on vinyl from 16th April. Following a couple of singles and an EP

in 2010, Two Wounded Birds plan to release their self-titled debut album on 25th June.

When speaking to the pair about their beginnings and their potentially stratospheric future, you’re almost thrown back by the level of ambition that they seem to have. They’re perfectionists; totally in control of how they want their music to be conveyed. So far so good, as Regal Safari have already enjoyed a positive 2011 with blogosphere hype, the evolving of their live shows and several high-profile, high-standard remixes to their name.

reptar have signed to Lucky Number for a Record Store Day (21st April) single.

To check out an interview with Regal Safari, their mix, plus other First On Mix offerings from Shells, Jewellers, Tourist and NZCA/LINES, head to thisisfakediy.co.uk/first-on.

Best Fit Recordings have unveiled their first few releases, one of which will be a

Husky have signed to Sub Pop for their debut album, due 28th May, whilst

single from fanzine, due 30th April.

'Bloodstreams', the debut album from DZ

deathrays, is

due on 7th May. It features previous singles ‘Gebbie Street’ and ‘No Sleep’.

2:54 will release their self-titled debut album on 28th May via Fiction. DIY Class Of 2012 alumni

Winter

Zulu

have announced their first major headline tour, in support of their forthcoming album ‘Language’. Visit thisisfakediy.co.uk for dates.

first on mixtape

Not content with giving you a free magazine, we've put together a free mixtape full of our favourite new bands; download from thisisfakediy.co.uk/mixtape

1/Story Books Peregrine

Someone who has played as part of Laura Marling’s touring band is bound to gain a sense of poignancy and melancholy but one in a thousand will make a track as touching as Story Books’ ‘Peregrine’. Resolute but with an obvious vulnerability, it’s a sweet and tender effort, running closely in tow with fellow First On favourite Daughter.

4/Tall Stories

Things Are Strained

Any band who base their website design on the (unfortunately nowdeceased) Teletext theme deserve our respect. As chunky blue, yellow and black pixels invade your vision, your ears are similarly vulnerable to a blast of sharp-edged synth and guitar interplay. DIY Radio’s very own Charlie Ashcroft is a big fan and it’s easy to see why.

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2/Yukon Blonde Stairway

This band had a debut album nominated for the Polaris Prize, but they’ve yet to make the deserved breakthrough outside of Canada to bigger audiences. ‘Stairway’’s chantable chorus and frenzied energy is a good way to go about making these inroads. It’s an impressive take from the Vancouver band’s sophomore LP, ‘Tiger Talk’.

3/Magic Castles

Death Dreams

Woozy, spacious psychedelic rock might not suit every music listener’s tastebuds, but there’s something extremely charming about ‘Death Dreams’’ sedated guitars and saccharine vocals. Signed to the record label of Anton Newcombe (of Brain Jonestown Massacre fame) Jason Edmonds makes music under the alias of Magic Castles, making anthems for acid trips and sore heads.

5/ Hospitality 6/Bondax Argonauts Not being immediately struck by Amber Papini’s vocals would be of a similarly criminal nature as being hit by a twenty-ton truck without feeling the slightest twinge of pain. Papini works under the name Hospitality, playing alongside fellow New York musicians who have thus far combined to create a glorious, deftly-applied, eponymous debut, out this month. ‘Argonauts’ is a clear standout, contrasting Papini’s signature vocals with a punchy array of backing instruments.

Just Us

A whole host of acts out there are cutting vocal samples into tiny little fragments, manipulating, skewing them and giving them a musical cosmetic surgery, but no one is quite as refined and assured at this as Bondax. The Lancaster-based pair represent everything that a late-night, sweaty London club on a Saturday night offers; soulful songs dripping with cool.

frst on

7/ Pinkunoizu Time Is Like A Melody

A scurrying of guitars, combined with floating synths and some warm, Fleet Foxes-style vocals, ‘Time Is Like A Melody’ is exactly the kind of soothing introduction you need for Pinkunoizu. With a debut album out on Full Time Hobby (home to School Of Seven Bells and Timber Timbre), the Copenhagen via Berlin group have built on a superb ‘Peep’ EP, showcasing a strong wealth of influences, with plenty of room to grow still.

10/Lower Dens Brains

'Brains' is the sound of a tick-tocking of the clock, the dutiful routine of a day at work, the get-up-and-go of every waking morning. Yet lurking inside of its hustle-and-bustle percussion, its static outer layer, is an emotional heart ready to let loose. A whole range of atmosphericleaning guitars try to escape out of a disciplined song structure, as hazy vocals layer on top of one another, creating the sound of complete escape. Lower Dens’ comeback effort is an effortlessly beautiful being.

8/M A D C O LOURS Verda Hugo

The supreme Too Pure Singles Club brought out ‘Verda Hugo’ under their March edition, giving their subscribers a timely introduction to M A D C O L O U R S. The three-piece throw a kinetic energy about the place, blending harsh, raw guitar lines with an almost samba-like style of percussion. Half Amazon rainforest, the other half a dingy basement in east London, the band apparently sport a “Creativity or Death” ethos - and it’s paid off.

11/Joe & Will Ask Last Forever

You could easily crown Joe & Will Ask with a “dance veterans” tag; they held a monthly residency at the Ministry Of Sound, before headlining a New Year’s Eve slot at Club NME. It’s easy to understand, considering how ridiculously infectious ‘Last Forever’ is. A blast of Simian Mobile Disco-style electronics is all the festivals need to kick into gear, and you can envisage this lot ruling every stage they choose to grace in the summer.

9/Doe Paoro

Run Through The Door

She might hail from a continuously blossoming Brooklyn scene, but there’s something to Doe Paoro’s sound that places her closer to the suburban, dully-lit streets of London in the middle of nighttime. ‘Born Whole’ carries a sparseness that touches upon James Blake’s debut, but the rest of debut album ‘Slow To Love’ offers a wide range of triumphs.

12/ Selebrities

Night Heat

Selebrities have a knack for transporting their listener into another dimension altogether, but 'Night Heat' takes the biscuit. Firmly rooted in a decade that would be alien to me, were it not for watching 'Drive' and growing up on 80s synth-pop, the song dives into a smoke-filled disco, with lust and excitement soaking the walls. A work of cinematic brilliance, few tracks conjure up such a vivid, complex image.

you me at six

photos: sam bond

the early days

Max Helyer For me, it's important for people

to realise what the band has been through. They say, "Oh, you've just come out of nowhere" or "Oh, your band are only big because of one song." Well, not really, you know? We did have a song that connected with people but we had other songs that connected with people as well. It's important to realise what a band's journey has been about, and what they've gone through. It hasn't been the easiest of rides. People say, "Oh, you've had it on a plate", but no, we haven't. We worked it up from playing to four people in TJs. It's all about getting yourself out there. If you want something so badly, you're going to have to go out and do it.

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the

shape of

come Sarah Jamieson meets the bands proving rock isn’t dead

listening to a fairly average guitarist unable to control the feedback through his amp. But then there’s that rare occasion where you’re nowhere near prepared for what’s about to happen to those guys on stage, the ones who spent last night sleeping on a friend’s floor.

“These days, my friends aren’t who they used to be. We were all sinners and drunks, but now they’re too mature for me. Mike’s on daytime radio and John played at Reading and Leeds, and I’m still playing the Purple Turtle on New Year’s Eve.” Don’t get us wrong, it seems cliché to start quoting lyrics, but somehow Deaf Havana’s James Veck-Gilodi hit the nail on the head with the opening to his band’s latest album. In fact, it feels like he’s managed to single-handedly voice what any fan of UK rock music is thinking right now, and all in one simple verse. The characters to which he is referring are Lower Than Atlantis frontman Mike Duce, and John Taylor, guitarist of Young Guns, and they’re not the only ones leaving behind dingy venues and cramped vans. Somehow, somewhere along the line, the UK rock underground has started to take on the mainstream.

As with any music scene or era, there will always be the lingering myths of days gone by; stories from those few who “were lucky enough to be there at the start.” The ones who were stood in a crowd of eight people, watching a less than eager band who had just loaded their own gear into a venue that probably underpaid them. There’s a certain romantic mystique around any band’s ‘early days’; we’ve all wanted to be that kid, discovering that band before anyone else. It is however with a jaded sigh that we must admit, sometimes it doesn’t feel all that special. Sometimes, you really are just stood in a pub with grimy walls

Right now the UK rock scene is the strongest it’s been in years, with a whole new generation of bands finding themselves touring worldwide, playing major festivals and gaining radio airplay like it’s no one’s business. There’s an entire breed of talent emerging in the bright lights of the mainstream that have been slaving away, playing those grimy pubs and sleeping in vans for years. And, whilst there’s many a great band flying the British rock flag for us right now, there are evidently some forerunners. Thus, enter our big players: You Me At Six, We Are The Ocean, Canterbury, Deaf Havana, Young Guns and Lower Than Atlantis. Six bands that have all, coincidentally, been sharing stages together for the past half a decade. Back in February 2008, on a distinctly average Friday evening in York, a fairly 29

small crowd were gathered within the confines of Fibbers; a bar that could easily be mistaken for a bus stop. Taking to the stage that night were three otherwise insignificant bands, whose most remarkable quality was how young they were in correlation to how damn far away from home they had somehow got. That was the evening we were introduced to both We Are The Ocean and You Me At Six. At the time, You Me At Six were embarking upon only their second ever headline tour, and decided to take out some of their friends. The tour openers, All Forgotten, were a five-piece based in Woking whose members mostly attended the same school and college as the YMAS boys, while Essex-based We Are The Ocean were invited along to undergo some of the band’s first ever shows outside of London. The average age of the touring party was barely legal, and none of the bands even had a full EP release to their name. If we remember rightly, You Me At Six had about three different merch designs total, and All Forgotten sold demos burned onto discs for £1. “That was our first ever proper tour!” The words fall quickly from WATO frontman Dan Brown’s mouth as we recollect memories of that show. “Obviously, we’d done kind of… weekend stuff, before that; going up North, playing a couple of shows and coming back because we had college during the week. But that tour with You Me At Six was the first proper thing that we did; it’s still one of our favourite tours. We remember so much about it because we were experiencing everything for the first time.” The same sentiment is mirrored by You Me At Six guitarist Max Helyer, who happily reminisces about his band’s earliest memories: “I think you always remember the first time you ever do a van tour. We had Jack from Not Advised driving us because he had a van. That was the first tour Dan [Flint, drummer] was on as well, so it really felt like the start of a brand

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new You Me At Six. We were all just in this van every day, having chats, listening to music. We slept in the van, we slept in people’s houses. We didn’t really spend much money, people just looked after us. It’s those first times that you do things in your band’s career; every first time you do something, you’ll remember it.”

Goodbye who are now Futures, they were playing. Kill The Arcade who are now Viva Brother, they played. It was this whole big family.”

It seems evident then, that geographical elements also played a major part in the early careers of these bands. With You Me At Six hailing from Surrey, We Are The Ocean from Essex, Canterbury from And with his mention of fellow friends Farnham, and many others from the Not Advised, Max seamlessly proves one surrounding regions, it would only make of our points about UK rock music: the sense for bands to form their own musical absolute sense of community felt between community. bands. As aforementioned, both of the “The south definitely has some kind of support acts for their 2008 bill were great weird... thing,” says Mike, unsure of how friends of the headliners and it’s that kind to really word what it was that the south of friendship that is built to last. got so right. “I remember when I was “We’ve stayed really close friends with all young and all of my friends were in bands. of the guys on that tour,” explains Dan, “So You just had to be in a band. A lot of them it’s always good to reminisce, because it now aren’t, but there was such a massive was where we started. You meet people on music scene down here.” tours and end up making friends for life. “Everyone knows each other,” he adds, We’re still really good friends with both before beginning to voice the clear respect You Me At Six and All Forgotten, who that a certain one of these band’s holds. might have split up now, but we still speak “You Me At Six are such a prime example to all of those guys regularly. ” of people that help out their bands, their “Touring with friends is the most friends. All of the people that are on tour important,” adds Max. “It makes touring with them are their friends. Their tour so much nicer. You could have a band on manager is their tour manager from ages your tour that you’ve never met before and ago, their lighting guy is it could go one of two their mate who knows ways: they could either how to do lights. One of be amazing people and “Everyone their cousins is a guitar you could get along so tech. Things like that. well, or you could not knows each Everyone knows each get along with them other and other and it is a huge, at all. It was all about huge family.” helping everybody out; it is a huge, giving somebody a foot no secret then that up because it’s not the huge family.” It’s You Me At Six are easiest industry to be in.” leading the pack, with their third album crashing into the charts Offering up a new memory of those at Number 3 last October, but their ethos early days is Mike Sparks, one of the two was something only ever encouraged by vocalists of Canterbury, who tells us a little the artists who helped them gain their about one of the band’s first shows, all the success in the first place. Max explains: way back in 2007: “I remember playing “It’s all about helping your friends out with You Me At Six at Farnham Maltings at the end of the day. We had our first Social Club; it’s on one of our web videos chance when we went on tour with from ages ago and it was one of the biggest Fightstar. We didn’t expect to get such a shows we had ever played. It was an all day big tour. That was like, ‘Wow, we’re going festival, but it was just all of the bands that on our first proper tour.’ We had the we knew getting together, like Tonight is

we are the ocean

the early days

Dan Brown The first memory that springs

to mind is that we played Brixton Academy on Taste of Chaos. It was an Ernie Ball competition and we thought, "Yeah, we'll enter it. It'll be fun," and we ended up winning it! We hadn't really done much touring at all and already we'd played Brixton Academy. It was kind of weird. It was hard to take in because we didn't expect to be playing there at such a young age. That show will always stand out to me. We haven't been back to Brixton since, which is kind of weird to think how early in our career we did it.

canterbury

the early days...

Mike Sparks

My first ever tour, my band had one of those tiny vans that window cleaners use. It had two seats in the front, and then a little area in the back, which we put all of our stuff in. Then, we just sat on top of our equipment. We would drive the four hours down to Plymouth and and it was the most uncomfy thing in the world. We didn't even have a place to stay. We had to ask if anyone in the audience could put us up for the night, which they did, which was quite cool!

opportunity to play in front of people that had never heard of our band before. For us, that was a massive opportunity for us to really impress and show new people our music and what our band’s about.” It’s that sentiment that has been carried through even to present day, with the idea of inviting smaller UK bands to support 32 thisisfakediy.co.uk

on their headlining runs; an opportunity most recently awarded to both Deaf Havana and Lower Than Atlantis. “For us, Deaf Havana and Lower Than Atlantis have been working their arses off,” Max states, in a completely matter-offact tone. “They’ve both got albums out, they’ve both been touring for a long, long time and we got along with them really well. There’s a lot of music in the UK that is amazing, it just needs to be shown to a lot of people and that’s one of the reasons that we took both those bands out. They both deserve it. They both deserve the recognition they should be getting.”

And opportunities as such aren’t something lost on the bands given them, as James Veck-Gilodi of Deaf Havana explains earnestly: “That was a smaller tour for them [You Me At Six], but for us, those were the biggest shows we’ve ever played. That was incredible and, whilst there were people there who already knew who we were, there were a lot of people who were watching us for the first time. That was great. I think to keep that British community together is really important.” “That was my favourite tour of all time,” pipes up Lower Than Atlantis frontman Mike Duce. “I wish I was still on it!” “I think [being surrounded by friends]

“It's a really exciting time to be in a band.”

the early days...

James Veck-Gilodi In the early days, when Ryan

think,” begins James, when we recount our own memories. “We’d always been friends with Young Guns, so we knew that was going to be fun: we didn’t know The Casino Brawl but we just got on with them immediately. It was just a laugh. It was so much fun. I miss that tour a lot!” But, surely, it must be difficult in the beginning when your band is forced to play shows to a handful of people, before having to struggle to find somewhere to stay? “It’s what you have to do if you want it to work,” simply states Gustav Wood, vocalist and focal point for Young Guns. “A lot of the time what separates bands that do well and bands that don’t is that drive and commitment. Being in music is a very difficult thing; you’ve got to do it because you have that passion. I think that’s why the current bands are the ones

d e a f h av a n a

be in that community.” makes it easier, certainly when you’re on It was on one of those early tours that tour,” reiterates James. “You can be away Deaf Havana played alongside Young from home and I get pretty homesick Guns in the dark depths and it’s horrible. When of Rio’s, a bar situated at you’re surrounded by “People think the end of a shopping your friends though, arcade in Leeds. It was it makes it that much touring must September 2009 and easier.” the crowd must have “We were friends with be the best life only been about twenty Lower Than Atlantis people deep, with and Young Guns, and in the world, little to no one even we all sort of worked up together. I feel but it can be a fully knowing who the bands were. The show really proud of those two bands in particular bit of a strain.” was opened by thenNewcastle heavyweights because we all came The Casino Brawl – another band to have from exactly the same place. We did our since parted ways – but it was evident first two tours with those two bands, so from the word go that the three bands had that helped us out a lot because we had bonded perfectly. other people to relate to. We were all in “That was one of my fondest tours I the same boat. It’s definitely important to

[Mellor] was still in the band, it was hard to tour, in the sense that no one came to see us play, but we didn't really take it that seriously. It was literally just fun, we took it for what it was. But for me, the hardest part was when Ryan left. I never really wanted to be a frontman and I just got shoved into this situation where I had to be a frontman live and that was really hard for me. But, I knew that if I stuck at it and saw it through, it would potentially benefit us more in the long run and it has.

that are doing well; they’re the ones who really give a s**t and were willing to throw everything away in order to pursue that. There’ve been times when we’ve played to maybe five or ten people and it was hard and sometimes heartbreaking. You think, ‘I’ve devoted my entire life and all my energy and emotion into this thing and it doesn’t feel like it’s working.’ But, if you can have a good show with ten people, then chances are you can go back and play to more.” “It is tough touring,” adds Max. “Many people turn around and say, ‘Yeah, cool, touring must be the best life in the world,’ but it can be a bit of a strain. It can put you in positions where you think, ‘Why are we doing this?!’ Especially when you’re starting off. Some people might not even care about your band, and you’re trying so hard. There’s a point where you’re thinking, ‘We’re only just starting up, we’re spending all of our money travelling, we’re not really getting paid much for a show, we’re not selling much merch…’ It can be difficult, but it’s about persevering and working really hard because it is something that you really want to do. If you put all of the hard work that you can into it, then it’s going to pay off.”

“We’ve stayed really close friends.” However, there is undoubtedly, a sense of accomplishment that comes along with those early experiences, as Gus explains. “Getting out there and starting off, playing shows to two people, then going back and playing shows to ten people because hopefully those two people enjoyed the show and they brought their friends back. You end up being in a situation where you have a real intimacy and a connection because they’ve been with you since the beginning.” “We were lucky if we got a floor in someone’s house to be honest,” Mike offers on the difficulties of touring. “It was more like fighting over floor space in the van, but I guess, looking back on it now, I enjoyed it because it was unpredictable and fun, having a laugh and enjoying my youth. Having so much s**t stuff happen early on makes you appreciate stuff now. A lot of bands have immediate success and I’m not naming names - but I know a few bands personally that take everything for granted and don’t appreciate anything at all. We’re not like that and we’ll never be like that. Nor will most of the bands that 34 thisisfakediy.co.uk

we’re talking about.” And it seems as though the hard work is paying off. At present, You Me At Six have scored a top three UK album, Young Guns’ sophomore record entered the charts in the top twenty and Lower Than Atlantis recently signed to major label Island Records. Deaf Havana have sold out their biggest London headline show to date, months in advance, We Are The Ocean recently played the main stages at Reading and Leeds Festivals and Canterbury have received some major radio love.

And granted, yes, you can quote facts and sales figures all you want, but it’s the mentality of these artists that really proves their worth. The clear sense of friendship and support that’s been developed throughout the insanely early years of their lives already exudes through everyone we’ve spoken to, and it’s that that really pushes these young men to be at the best of their games. In fact, chances are, it’s easy enough to pass these bands off as temporary adornments

So, surely then, this is all an extraordinarily special time to be apart of the British rock scene? “There are certain times when we’ll be

hanging out with friends and playing shows with them and it’ll be really great, having drinks, having fun and partying...” starts Gus. “Then, you’ll have these moments when you realise, ‘I’m in the middle of something really special here.’ Everybody that I know is a creative and talented young person and that is really inspiring. I can’t say it enough, but it’s just a really exciting time to be in a band.” 'And thus, we return to James' opening lines, because these days, those friends aren't who they used to be. They may or

may not be sinners, drunks or immature, but they're definitely on daytime radio and they're playing at Reading and Leeds. And as for The Purple Turtle? We'll leave that in the past where it belongs.'

yo u n g g u n s

of the music industry. It might be quite easy to ignore them on the radio, or palm them off as ‘just another band for teenage girls’. But, hey, with an arena tour – for one of these bands, at least - closer than you can imagine, you’re going to have to pay attention sooner or later. Whether you like it or not.

the early days...

Gustav Wood

I remember the first time that Daniel P Carter played one of the songs off our first EP. It was a song called 'In The Night'. It was late at night and it was on his rock show and we were coming back from some show in Wales. This show in Wales, I believe, had twenty people there, and I think it was with Deaf Havana actually. It was a small show and it was a bit s**tty, but it was fun. So, we were driving home and Dan Carter played our song on Radio 1. That was the first time we had heard it, and it was quite amazing. Then, he liked it so much that he played it again. We were just in the van, driving home from this s**t show and we were kind of blown away by it. It was really special. That was a really fond earlier memory for us.

interview grimes

Harriet Jennings and claire boucher discuss the evolution of grimes following the release of her third album, ‘Visions’ It’s the first album I made as an actual musician.”

By the time an artist gets around to releasing their third album, it’s usually safe to presume that they’ve been around for a good few years, have a solid team working with them and that they’ve earned their stripes with countless support tours. But with Montreal’s Grimes, none of this is true. 24-year-old Claire Boucher is no ordinary young lady. Releasing her previous two albums ‘Halfaxa’ and ‘Geidi Primes’ both in 2010, her third release ‘Visions’ (and her first through her new label 4AD) finally hit the shelves last month. “Grimes is exactly who I am,” she begins, in a voice a lot lower than you might expect. “I don’t like the idea of a persona or anything. For me, Grimes is just life totally uncensored.”

Despite her lack of formal training, Claire is determined to stick firmly at the helm of Grimes and no one else is getting a look in. “When I make art, I need to be 100% in control,” she says. “When we make videos, we have other people doing stuff but I still want to be heavily involved. Everything that comes out under the name Grimes is Grimes and I’m not going to be happy if it’s not by Grimes. I think a lot of people want me to work with a producer but it’s my goal to be a producer. You learn from your mistakes. The more you talk to people and figure s**t out, the better you’ll get so I need to make albums that are not perfect and then I’ll figure it out.”

Uncensored seems an accurate starting point to describe her releases. Without a background in traditional music lessons or theory, Boucher was free to explore sound unconfined by the rules. “A lot of the things I do now are because of the stage,” she explains when asked about how she’s learned her craft. “I don’t sing properly, I sing from my head; you’re supposed to sing from your stomach. I learned how to make music really publicly. The first music I ever made took off into the blogosphere but I feel like my first few albums were a pretty intense learning curve for me. They didn’t have a real sound, whereas with this album, I really did. It feels like my first album in a lot of ways.

Shaping her craft in the creative breeding ground that was Montreal’s Lab Synthese, Grimes is keen to play homage to her hometown. “Lab is the place I first played live and got introduced to music culture by people actually making music. It’s changed a lot, but most of my favourite musicians are associated with that scene.” Working in her bedroom and splicing all of her records together herself using GarageBand, Grimes’ DIY ethos is echoed across all aspects of her art; doing it herself is the only option. “I need solitude. I need to be in my room for a length of time without seeing anybody,” she explains. “A lot of my friends are in bands and they don’t have

That intense and almost claustrophobic sound comes across in ‘Visions’, an album critics have cited as “an evolution” for Grimes. “As a human, it is very important to me to keep evolving,” she says. “I’d like to become better and take personal risks. I want to make a record that I’m afraid of.” But where can we expect this evolution to take her in the future? Re-invention is decidedly off the cards. “I feel like being receptive to change is what I do but I don’t believe in reinventing,” she states. “I’m getting into bass music. I want to work hard with percussion and getting out of this 4/4 s**t. I’m also working on super-forward and unaffected vocals. I want to make something extremely clean, sparse, scary, neo-industrial. I want it to still be feminine but in the way that ballet is feminine – because at the core of ballet’s femininity is an incredible hardness, dedication, intensity and simplicity. I’ve just started my next album but it’s hard to work when you’re on the road this much. Hopefully I can take some time off in the summer to start working.” And with that, our time with Grimes is over. We don’t know where she’s headed next, but we’re very much looking forward to finding out.

“I want to make a record that I’m afraid of.”

“Visions’ feels like my first album. It’s the first I’ve made as an actual musician.”

36 thisisfakediy.co.uk

that luxury. It’s something I really like about being a solo artist. I think one of the reasons the album is so sonically coherent was that I made it all in one time, you can really hear that phase of my life in it. I technically did the whole thing in about three weeks, which is the shortest time I’ve ever spent on an album.”

Grimes’ new album ‘Visions’ is out now via 4AD.

interview mystery jets

Mystery their

38 thisisfakediy.co.uk

Jets recent

tell

Harriet adventures

Jennings in

about America

“America is the land of the new. You can go to America and change your name. You can have a facelift and plastic surgery and you can totally be someone new.” William Lees settles into a wooden bench in an East London cafe. He has the smile of someone thoroughly relaxed as he tells us about the band’s recent travels, and toys with some potential colours to decorate his new flat. Fresh from recording their fourth album in Austin, Texas, the Mystery Jets guitarist probably need not deliberate too hard if their upcoming touring schedule is anything to go by. “I think we’re going to do a bit off every record because we’ve got four albums now and we

"It’s our first c o n c e p t r e c o r d ” want to be proud of that,” he smiles. “We’ll play a few tracks from the first, second and third, but mainly I think it will be new song heavy.” And why not? The band’s forthcoming record, entitled ‘Radlands’ after the name of the Texan house-come-studio they wrote the majority of it in, marks a definite change for the London band. “After our third record came out, we felt that we’d reached the end of a trilogy,” Lees explains. “It was time that we just got

away from having the older influence of a producer and put ourselves in a situation where we could make mistakes and hopefully learn from them. America felt like a really good place to go and do that.” Heading out into the woods to a house jammed full of musical equipment in a place stuffed to bursting with musicians and creative individuals sounds like the perfect place to reinvent your sound, and it seems that Mystery Jets have done just that. Allowing the influence of the area to soak into the bones of the album, lyrically the record largely steers away from their usual topic: romance. “This is our American album, basically,” he shrugs. “But weirdly, I think we sound more like us than we ever have. Although, I feel that after every record; we get closer and closer to pulling back the layers and finding out exactly what’s behind there. “We’ve always harboured an interest in making an album in America. Everyone in Austin is in a band or works in a bar. There are instruments everywhere, people playing everywhere; it’s just a very creative, buzzing place.” Following the band’s stay at Radlands, they employed the production talents of Dan Carey to help to share some of the duties. “Getting a producer came out of necessity really. When we were back in London, we sifted through it and felt at first that there

wasn’t a complete album there. And also, secondly, that it needed some polishing really.” William smiles, “I don’t think I’ve ever had as much fun working with a producer as I have with him, he just speaks our language. “We did about 25 tracks in Austin, five of which we thought were right for the record. Then, between Austin and working with Dan we also did a lot of writing, so everything we did with him was new. But I think we knew what we were writing for.” He pauses briefly. “I think once you stand back, you can see it clearly. It’s like a painting. We didn’t really know we had a record, to be honest, until about three months ago. We had all of these songs but it was just chaos. Our manager listened to all of it and he said that he could hear a concept in all of it so we wrote this narrative about it. It’s a story about someone called Emmerson Lonestar, who’s basically based on Cass McCombs. He’s this wandering musician who travels the badlands of America, going from one disastrous relationship to another. So in a way, it’s our first concept record as well,” he grins, visibly eager to talk about the release. “Everything on that record is true. Everything that’s being sung about has happened to us in America; we met Sister Everett, all the heartbreak stuff, it happened. But the nice thing about having this alter-ego is that you don’t feel responsible for it. It’s his fault, he’s the bastard... unless, of course, you admit to it, which is what I’ve just done.” Taking a short turn for the serious, Lees is keen to assure us that these experiences are key ingredients. “Music comes from experience because the one thing that “Everything has anyone is really happened to us, but authorised to write about is their own the nice thing about experience. If you’ve through having this alter-ego lived really is that you don’t feel something intense... that’s why responsible for it.” people write about break ups a lot – or heartache – because it’s a very intense, often painful, experience. When you sit down to try to tackle that and you’ve done it, you’ve really suffered for it. You can’t write about things you don’t know.” And the natural choice for Mystery Jets when beginning to make the album was to set themselves up for some unusual experiences. “As a band, we like doing things like going to America and putting ourselves in situations where real experiences and intense things can happen,” he explains. “If you’re in London, you’re so

that's a different record. There used to it, you don’t notice it are a lot of areas we'd all really anymore. You don’t notice all like to explore, and whether of the colours or what people they're best explored as a say because you’re one of Mystery Jets thing or not, I them. America’s such a weird don't know, we'll wait and see.” place. All of the cults and the religious side to it and the attitudes people have. It’s “ W e ’ v e a lways amazing and it’s h a r b o u r e d strange and it’s so a n i n t e r es t different to English making people. They’re so i n album in positive but then a n there’s a real dark A m e r i ca . ” side to America. We had lots of conversations about religion. We wanted to make a religious Whether or not 'Radlands' album, an album that looks at marks the start of a new wave all of these different beliefs and of Mystery Jets albums or questions them. It was a relief simply acts as a minor tangent actually because we're so used on their otherwise consistent to writing about relationships path remains to be seen, but and love songs that it was nice what is obvious is how excited to just write about this. This is the band are to share their new new, this is different.” record and the experiences they had making it. That Different it certainly is, but excitement is infectious and what of the tracks that didn't fans can expect a renewed make the final cut, what can sense of enthusiasm, if they tell us about possible nothing else, from the Eel Pie future directions? "They're Islanders. in the Trash section of our laptops,” William gestures. Mystery Jets' new album "Some of them weren't great, 'Radlands' will be released on some were cool. We've got a 30th April via Rough Trade. couple of great hip-hop tracks actually,” he grins, not quite clear about whether or not he's joking. "I want to make a hiphop record next but I don't think it will happen because everything I want never happens. We've got these two songs that are all sample based, very rhythmic… but anyway,

40 thisisfakediy.co.uk

interview blood red shoes

E d wa r d C l i b b e n s b at t l e s w i t h dimmed lights and an airing o f L o s t I n T r a n s l at i o n t o ask Blood Red Shoes some questions about their new album, ‘In Time To Voices’.

42 thisisfakediy.co.uk

photo: Kevin Morovsky

Don’t ask Blood Red Shoes what their favourite album is though, because “that’s impossible” according to Steven. However, their favourite gigs draw a better response. “I’ve seen Mogwai be “ e don’t know where it amazing. I saw Queens Of The Stone Age came from. It just came out somehow,” be amazing once, great loads of times, but explains Laura-Mary Carter, the really amazing one time. Rolo Tomassi unassuming lead singer and guitarist for were incredible as well.” Laura-Mary rock-punk band Blood Red Shoes, of concurs and adds, “PJ Harvey at Reading. the title of their new album ‘In Time To Sonic Youth when I was about 15 was one Voices’. In a thankfully not over achinglyof my favourite gigs of all time.” A band trendy Shoreditch bar, the band are telling of quality taste then it seems. Mogwai and us about the origins of their lyrics. “This album has a lot more vocals, but there isn’t Queens Of The Stone Age really are about any particular meaning.” as powerful as live music gets. The album is indeed a lot more lyric-based Briefly we return to than their two previous outings. Where the small matter of ‘Box Of Secrets’ and ‘Fire Like This’ were what inspired Laura"I absolutely s**t generally smash-and-grab affairs of frantic It’s always interesting Mary to take up the guitars and crashing drums, ‘In Time To when you find myself when we guitar. “Probably Kat Voices’ is far more restrained, allowing the out what specific Bjelland from Babes have to do TV." vocals to play a much more prominent influences a band In Toyland. Well, it and equally welcome role. “We’ve learnt had when making an started off as Hole not to question ourselves. If we both feel album, and this time is ‘cos I love Courtney Love, but then I like something’s right, you’ve just got to no different. “I think on this album [Stevie realised she can’t play guitar very well.” It’s trust that,” muses drummer Steven Ansell Nicks-era] Fleetwood Mac is what we probably for the best to aim a bit higher in agreement, playing up to his ever more took most influence from. Just because of than Courtney Love levels of playing. mature appearance by sipping whiskey on all the harmonies and stuff that they did.” the rocks. And again on this album, their progress Now, Blood Red Shoes couldn’t sound much more different to ‘Rumours’, but as musicians shows through. The more It’s obvious when you hear the record this shows the band’s new focus on vocals complex song structures are accompanied that the band have done something quite and harmonies. Of course there are the by more complex playing; only one drastically different; sonically it’s far more more obvious influences as well, “Black straightforward power chord punk jam impressive. The songs are deeper, the sound Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, remains, ‘Je Me Perds’. is grander and the album as a whole feels Queens Of The Stone Age”. But Steven more coherent. “We really does emphasise In terms of what the band have to look used to just jam it out their current obsession forward to in the coming year, Lauraall together, and then with vocals. “If we both feel Mary is overwhelmingly positive. “All of start singing over it” it really, I’m looking forward to travelling like something’s Laura-Mary explains. On the album, the again, being able to play our new songs. This makes perfect heavy songs are right, you’ve just There’s just so much to look forward to.” sense if you consider heavier than ever got to trust that. It’s also obvious that the band haven’t the raw nature of their before, whereas the got carried away with their ever growing work up to this point. addition of the softer, You don’t have to But obviously this more melancholy success. “Yeah I get nervous [on stage], explain or justify it had its limitations, “It tracks demonstrates dunno about Steve though…” “…I could make you sing the two extremes the to yourself.” haven’t got nervous so far. Though I do something in a certain band are going for. “It’s get really nervous when we have to do way, so this time we cool that you noticed TV. I absolutely s**t myself when we do did each bit separately.” And it shows. that actually [brownie points for us!]. TV.” Yet, with an album as strong as ‘In The album seems far more meticulously We definitely wanted to vary our sound. Time To Voices’, it’s hard to see anything We wanted the heavy songs to be really put together, with a greater attention to going wrong for the band this year. With heavy…” “…And the melancholy stuff to detail. “By the time we came to make this a big summer of festivals ahead, they’re be…” “…Really melancholy,” they agree, record, we had a pretty decent recording guaranteed to gain fans with their new finishing each other’s sentences. The track set up in our practice space,” says Steven of material, as surely their biggest crowds to ‘The Silence And The Drones’ sums up the money the band have steadily invested date await them. the band’s progress best - a blend of their over their eight years together. “So I could existing love of big guitars, with a sense of record a guitar part, then try something Blood Red Shoes’ new album ‘In Time To atmosphere that’s brand new. Wonderfully on top of it. That’s the biggest difference,” utilising loud-quiet dynamics. Voices’ will be released on 26th March via V2. enthuses Laura-Mary. Whilst incredibly unassuming for two people lucky enough to have spent essentially all of their twenties going around the world playing music, they’re also incredibly self-assured and seem to have an impressive personal relationship. “We’ve spent 300, at least, days a year together for about 8 years; so for someone else to come into that chemistry, it’s basically f**king impossible,” Steven responds to the idea of introducing more band members. Laura-Mary strongly agrees, “We’ve never really felt like we need another member. I think it would really change the dynamics of us.” No doubts here then. They’re sure that they can create the noises they want in the studio, whilst maintaining the raw energy that’s served them so well live, with just the two of them.

interview alabamba shakes

“After doing four hour sets of covers, for a year and half, we just quit playing covers altogether.” Simone Scot t Warren tracks down Alabama Shakes to discuss their evolution from local covers band to Rough Trade signees feted by the likes of Adele and Jack White.

ixed in with the stale aroma of beer and cider, there’s a strong scent of deja vu permeating North London’s Boston Arms this evening. In the same venue that made the White Stripes legendary on these shores, Alabama Shakes are currently finding themselves embroiled in what feels like a remarkably similar state of hype. It’s the final night of their three night residency here, and presumably to allow for all the extra A-list celebrities to cram in, the band have had to relocate to the larger space in the venue. In scenes reminiscent to those that surrounded Jack and Meg’s first London jaunt, the clamour for tickets for these dates has only been outshone by the accolades that follow each show, although this time around, rather than it being the much missed John Peel declaring them the most exciting band he’s heard since Hendrix, instead we have the unlikely figurehead of Hollywood’s own Russell Crowe, proclaiming Brittany Howard’s four piece “the centre of the musical universe” on Twitter. The grapevine’s voices and methods may have changed in the years since 2001, but the overall sensation of a band teetering on the precipice of something huge, well, that remains the same. “I feel like my world is about to change forever, for some reason, like there’ll be no more nights or whatever.” Brittany muses, once their soundcheck is over, and she and drummer Steve Johnson have settled in 44 thisisfakediy.co.uk

meet, and ergo, make sweet sweet music together. Bassist Zac Cockerill and Howard had been playing together since school, writing songs together after class. “I met Brittany when when I was 18 or 19,” Steve picks up the story, “Being the one music store in our town, anybody that played music, that was where they came to to get strings or sticks. Brittany came in, and we started talking. We’d played some Growing up in that particular small town, punk shows together way back in the day, none of the band expected to even find so we knew each other. I was playing with themselves in London, let alone selling some other guys who said that Brittany out venues over here and lining up fistfulls and Zac were playing together and it of festival dates. Making music was not sounded really good, that Brittany could considered a viable career path, and they really belt, she could really sing. One day I entertained no hope that it would go much ran into Zac and I wasn’t doing anything beyond their own small circle. “When by that point, so I was like, “Hey man, I we got together, we were just playing want to play some for fun because we music, how about we knew nothing would come of it.” Brittany “ H o p e f u l l y , w e ’ l l jam?” After that, I just confesses, “Or, well, g e t t o w o r k w i t h wanted to play with them, whatever they we thought nothing a g a i n . T h e were doing, I wanted would come of it. In J a c k Athens, there’s not W h i t e S t r i p e s , to be a part of it.” very many places to go when you’re w e ’ r e h u g e f a n s . ” After heading into a studio to record a a musician, so the couple of tracks, the demo fell into the singer songwriters will go to parties and hands of local guitarist, Heath Fogg. they’ll play songs, or the bands will go to “Heath was in another band that all of us parties and they’ll play, or you have to go had heard of, we’d either been to his shows to the next town to play, but there’s no or heard him play, Brittany had actually scene.” Steve, who was working in the snuck out of her house to go see him local music store when The Shakes (as play when she was in high school.” Steve they were once known, before discovering continues, “So for him to ask us to open that particular moniker was taken), agrees, a show for them, that was a big deal, that “There’s not really the places that cater to was a real foot in the door for us. And he people who play original music. There’s offered to help out on guitar wherever he not really anywhere to play, and it’s not the could. So we threw together a thirty, forty wealthiest town, so people may not be able minute set, went out there and just tore it to spend the money going to shows.” up, we put everything we had into it. And that was pretty much the gist of it. We Living in such a tiny community meant all knew each other growing up, we’d just that it was almost inevitable that the never played together, as a whole.” members of Alabama Shakes would at our table in the empty bar. It seems a certainty that the life Howard once knew is over, and with debut album ‘Boys & Girls’ about to crash land in record stores in April, her days of delivering the mail to the residents in Athens, Alabama (population: 22,000) are far, far behind her.

originals.” Steve affirms, ”We’d throw together 45 minutes sets of originals, As anyone playing music in a small town and just open for someone else.” Finding will testify, Alabama Shakes had little themselves running out of places to play alternative but to start out their musical locally, the band journey as a covers headed off for the band. Fortunately, a r e musical mecca of they quickly tired of " T h e r e playing other people’s n u m e r o u s m e s s Nashville, Tennessee, where they came songs. “Everybody wanted to hear the u p s , b u t w e l e a v e to the attention of, songs they heard t h e m i n t h e r e . I fittingly, one Mr Jack White. on the radio, things they could sing along k i n d o f l i k e i t " “There were these to, dance along to... lawyers vying for us to work with them, drunkenly.” Brittany remarks. “Yeah, but and there was this one guy, putting daisies it got to the point where after doing four on the table, so to speak, and he was all, ‘Oh hour sets of covers, for a year and half, yeah, I’ll get you in a showcase,’” divulges we just quit playing covers altogether, Brittany, “We decided we were going to made the conscious decision to only play

work with him, but that fell through, so we were just kind of stranded. A friend of ours, who was a mutual friend of Third Man Records, said he’d help us out, and he pitched us. Jack was just going to let us play, we went on and played first, and we were like, “So we’re playing at Third Man Records now?!? Crazy!” Turns out, they were recording it, and after the show Jack came in and said they were going to put it out on seven inch. Hopefully, we’ll get to work with Jack again. The White Stripes, we’re huge fans.” Recording the album at Nashville’s Bomb Shelter Studios, ‘Boys & Girls’ is full of yearning old time rock ‘n’ roll, raw and bluesy, and made to sound all the more authentic by the use of analogue recording 45

It wasn’t like I was being a perfectionist, I techniques. “Heath was at the 5 Spot, was just... searching for something.” which is a bar in Nashville, and he saw a flyer for a guy doing home recordings “There are numerous mess ups, mostly for $20 an hour...” Steve tells us, before mine, I can hear them you know, but we Brittany picks up the story. “It was dirt leave them in there, I kind of like it.” Steve cheap. Heath went up there and saw it, interjects. “It’s a performance,” agrees and said the guy was really cool. He had Brittany, “it’s one of those things like, if asked what kind of sound we were looking you listen to Black Sabbath’s ‘Paranoid’, for, because Heath had told him we were you’ll hear them mess up and it makes looking for a sound that we’d tried to you smile, because they’re human. I’m not make ourselves but we didn’t have the trying to compare us technical know-how. to that! It’s just one of That, and I lived next " W h e n w e those things.” to a train track, which was where we were g o t together, year on, with practising, so it was we were j u s t One the album ready to just impossible to do. launch, and with Heath sent him some p l a y i n g f o r f u n " their breakout Devandra Banhart, a performance Candi Staton album, at New York’s 2011 CMJ Festival a bunch of different stuff with all these being accompanied by an Alex Turner interesting sounds, and the guy was like, endorsement, the Shakes found “Yeah, I can do that. We can try that.” themselves signing to Rough Trade in So we came in and we sat on that couch for many many hours, listening to sounds. the UK, after Geoff Travis read about them in a newspaper and headed across “I don’t like the way that snare sounds. the pond to see if the sound matched the Bring it up. Bring it back down. Bring it up again.” We were very much a part of it. hype. Their choice of label was absolutely

46 thisisfakediy.co.uk

founded on the need for creative freedom, “A big part of signing with any label was not wanting anyone to dictate to us about where we’re going to write it or how we’re going to do it.” Steve opines. “Absolutely,” Howard concurs, “I’d rather have fun writing music.” Whilst the band themselves may never have expected to find themselves getting as far as they have already, it’s clear to see that Alabama Shakes are just one Jools Holland appearance away from musical dominance, far beyond anything that Brittany could have dreamt of whilst stuffing mailboxes only a couple of summers ago. As for Howard herself, she’s just excited to finally get ‘Boys & Girls’ out and in record shops. “I can’t wait to show my grandkids,”, she chuckles, before adopting the voice of an old time southern belle, “Look, yeah, Grandma has a record. Oh yeah. From the THOUSANDS.” Alabama Shakes’ debut album ‘Boys & Girls’ will be released on 9th April via Rough Trade.

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photo: Kieran Pharaoh

interview breton

“We of te n worry that we c ome across as c ontrol freaks.” Breton discuss the ir forthc oming debut album with Luke Morgan Brit ton.

“ hings have become so centralised these days,” says Roman - frontman and de facto leader of Breton - as I arrive at their recording space-cum-living quarters, a converted derelict bank now dubbed by the group as the ‘bretonLABS’. The discussion arises after a haphazard journey to the band’s Kennington base on my part; a lost phone weeks prior causing communication, time management and navigation problems in one fell swoop. It’s crazy to think that nowadays we integrate so much of our everyday lives in a single device. 48 48thisisfakediy.co.uk thisisfakediy.co.uk

It seems that not being tied down or “Even something as small as a laptop can pigeon-holed is a key issue to Breton, now be a band, a recording studio and a band that put as much focus on the an editing suite all combined.” This is visual aspect of their work as they do the something that’s pretty central to what traditional audio side. Meeting in film Breton do, a group whose creative freedom school, the band regard themselves equally is all “in house,” quite literally so. short film directors as they do musicians, and their short films – many of which “We try to break out of the habit of using accompany their album tracks – have been the same instruments and detach ourselves nominated by the British Film Council on from routine structures that will inevitably their own merit. cause you to repeatedly generate the same songs each time,” Roman tells " W h y “Directors and artists me as the band arrive w o u l d n ’ t influence me as much in the same way as at their regular meeting yo u p u t yo u r and do bands and musicians. place for our subsequent a l l i n to When you think about photoshoot. “In this same s o m e t h i n g ? " how and why a person way, having our own place responds to a certain to be ‘creative’ means that product, albeit a song or a we can get out of bed in the film, there are always the same universal mornings and work on ideas straight away. rules. For some reason, an image inspires Ideas are not lost on the way to rehearsals you or a sculpture strikes a chord for you. and we don’t have to wait until studio It’s the reasoning that’s more interesting sessions to record things.” than anything else. But it’s the same even

music has for people interested in our group too.” As a group that’s so concise in their artistic vision, it seems strange therefore that they would also be so prolific in But their melding of both film and terms of remixing, having worked with music was never a self-conscious thing the like of The Eighties Matchbox B-Line though, Roman clarifies. “We never set Disaster and Penguin Prison among out to create a project that morphed the others. The method of remixing and the two mediums. Instead it’s just that we’re role of the remixer has always seemed a interested in both, and why wouldn’t little puzzling. How much of yourself can you put your all into something? It’d be you put into someone else’s work? strange to be an artist and be restricted to one medium. It’s not necessarily a The same applies to video way of keeping control of directing, which Breton, things, but instead I think it would just be weird to get “ E v e n predictably, also dabble in. Conversation naturally someone else in to make s o m e t h i n g stumbles upon the topic our videos when we are not as s m a l l of Sinead O’Connor, who only more than capable but as a l a p to p Breton recently produced also interested in that as ca n n ow b e a video for, which was well.” premiered on our very a b a n d. " website last month. “We “I recently finished reading actually spent about six Patti Smith’s book, which hours with Sinead, which was really cool I originally picked up because I am a big as we hadn’t even met before that,” the fan of her music. If you like one thing an singer says with a tone that hints his own artist has produced, you are more likely to self-awareness of how bizarre the situation enjoy another as well, albeit in a different seems. medium. Although it’s literature and not music, I think it informs you of her “It was interesting to work with someone musical work a bit by having this context. like Sinead who already has a refined angle I hope this is the effect that our film and for us as a band, even though we’ve written a track or an album, it doesn’t mean we’re any closer to understanding what we like about it.”

and ideology and seeing if you can add to that but not detract,” Roman explains as he gives us a tour of the building which houses several other “creative types” and exhibits multiple communal spaces. “We often worry that we come across as control freaks who don’t like to have anyone else’s influence in their work, but you have to remember we still each have four other people to pass ideas through. If we can do things ourselves then why not try it?” Knowing the band’s elusiveness to being pinned down, it would be foolish to predict what will come after their debut album, 'Other People's Problems'. As for Roman, he seems quite happy just to get out of the multimedia base he’s created around him. “I just like going on tour because it means we can stay in hotels. It’s a bit cold in here at the moment. In the summer it’s better because people can just sleep anywhere and it’s a lot warmer. But during the winter months all the others magically acquire girlfriends with warm houses. You’re supposed to slum it when travelling but for us, it’s an upgrade!” Breton’s debut album ‘Other People’s Problems’ will be released on 26th March via Fatcat Records.

Hat: Beyond Retro Shirt: Brutus Suit: Topman Jacket: NSW Belt: H&M Bag: Fred Perry Trainers: Onistsu Tiger

interview santigold

Santigold

on why s h e ’ s stuck to her guns o n l at e s t a l b u m , ‘Master Of

My Make Believe’ 50 thisisfakediy.co.uk

and a great musician, so for anything that had more live and less electronic elements he was an obvious choice. John Hill also does that. Some of the people like Switch, Boys Noize and Ricky Blaze are definitely more sit in front of a computer types. It’s nice to have variety because my songs really require different skill sets.

ollowing the release of her selftitled debut album in 2008, Santigold attracted an array of admirers and a lengthy tour to boot. Fast forward four years and she’s preparing to release the follow up to her eponymous effort. When we meet, she sits in an ostentatious leather chair in a room at London’s Landmark hotel, in a scene not too dissimilar to the cover art for her forthcoming album ‘Master Of My Make Believe’. There are no costumes today, and everything we’re about to experience is Santi White and no qualms about it, it will be entirely on her terms. With the album, production duties are very split. Why did you want so many people working on the record? I didn’t set out like, “I want as many producers as possible involved.” I just wanted the songs to sound like I wanted them to sound. Sometimes I’d start with one person that I knew was amazing at one thing and then I’d be like, “You know who would be great on this?” and then I’d jump around. How then do you tend to start with the production of tracks? I had a couple of songs that I’d started writing that needed to be produced. Usually I start from the music so I’ll already have my track and then I’ll start writing lyrics. But this time, I had some songs that I’d started because I’d done a lot of writing with Nick Zinner in the beginning where we fleshed out a bunch of ideas. I wanted to work with Greg Kursten and then I started to think about what songs he’d be good for, so that’s why I started with the songs that I did. Greg Kurstin is a man of many talents. What did he bring to the table this time around? Greg is one of the few people that I worked with on this record that actually plays a crazy amount of instruments. He collects all this old, vintage analogue equipment and he’s such a quick writer

How did you make the album cohesive, working with so many people? Actually, I think the glue is me. It was something that people asked me around the first record a lot but it’s not something I think about very much in the process. If you’re making a collage, you can make anything fit as long as the colour palette is similar, and that’s the same with making music. I don’t ever want to think, “I want to do a song but it wouldn’t fit on this project.” Almost anything could fit on this project and that’s the exciting thing for me. You mentioned working with Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner, and I know you’ve collaborated with his bandmate Karen O before, too. Was this record about working with friends or did you look to target people from further afield? I tried to start with the people that I did the last record with and it just wasn’t the same. It wasn’t really happening the way I wanted it to; I was getting really down about it, and it was my fault because I shouldn’t have expected it to be the exact same process. That was naive. My friend Amanda Blank, who’d gone on tour with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, was like, “Man, you should write with Nick because he just broke up with his girlfriend and he’s really sad right now and you’re really sad right now.” So I called him and we went in and we had the most fun ever. It was so light and so easy and there was no pressure on it. It was a cathartic experience and it was really what set the tone for the new record for me. Eventually, I did go and work with some of the people from the first record but it was with me being in a lighter place so it ended up working out. What made you want to begin the album working with Diplo, Switch and John Hill again? I just felt like we did great work the first time around and they’re some of my best friends. At the same time, everybody is at a different place. The first time, they didn’t have as much going on. They could give me as much time and all of their attention. This time, I was like “What are we going to do in two weeks?” It takes me two weeks to sit down! When you’re so close to people, it’s more drama than it’s worth sometimes and so it was a lot of stupid bickering and stuff. It was actually a great turning point for me because I was like,

“Ok, I’m going to go work with some new people.” Also, I was in Jamaica so I was like, “F**k these dudes, I’m going to get work done.” All these lyrics were coming to me while I was there, and then it ended up great in the end because I ended up working with Switch a lot on the record but it had to come a new way, it couldn’t be forced. It had to come naturally.

“You’ve got to create the world that you live in. You can’t just accept what’s handed to you.” Speaking of lyrics, are there any recurring themes on the album? Well, the record’s called ‘Master Of My Make Believe’ and for me that was as much about the process of making the record as it was my view of how it should be in the world. Because I was kind of at the helm of this one, I had to really dig down and find my confidence and have a tremendous amount of trust in my creative vision. A lot of times, I really felt completely by myself. I switched management, I switched labels. It was hard and there was a lot of doubt involved in the beginning. I had to figure out how I could just be really calm and confident. I ended up doing transcendental meditation, and that’s why I realised that I was the ruler of my own reality. That’s what ‘Disparate Youth’ is about. You’ve got to create the world that you live in and you can’t just accept what’s handed to you. Think about what you believe and make that your reality. The same thing with ‘God From The Machine’, you can make it alone if you try. You have to be the pioneer and you have to go through the hard part by yourself sometimes. You seem to have quite a lot of control over everything that you do, is that something you feel is important for you as an artist? 51 51

I have creative control because I don’t like to compromise. I find that sometimes when you don’t oversee the details, it gets steered away from what you intended. The other reason is that I’m an artist, not just a musician. I love making art and if I just had to make music I’d be really bored, so I’m really hands on with the cover art and costumes and my dancers’ costumes and the choreography and the set design. To me, those are opportunities to do more than just music because that’s not all I want to do. I want to create in as many forms as possible. Nowadays, being a musician, your record is your business card. Your art brands you, you are what your art is, but without that brand you can’t really do anything. Your art is your power in that sense. I just want to make art all over the place. The artwork was all your own design as well, wasn’t it? How did you go about working out which artists and designers to approach? I wanted to do a collaboration with a visual artist because throughout history, I’ve just been so amazed by the collaborations with the great artists of the eras with musicians. Like Andy Warhol and Velvet Underground or Grace Jones and Keith Haring, and they’ve just done these iconic pieces of art around the music and I wanted to do something. Kehinde Wiley is one of my favourite new painters so I 52 thisisfakediy.co.uk

approached him. He had never painted a woman before and so that was special. Even more special was that he agreed to do it!

"Nowadays, being a musician, your record is your business card" What about the rest of the image, what can you tell us about that? ‘Master Of My Make Believe’ so obviously I’m the ruler and I’m the ruler of what? I’m the ruler of this world of my own creation, so obviously I should play all of the characters. I was playing around with the idea of power and my own power and the different manifestations of that power. A lot of the time you think of a powerful

person or a ruler and you think of this masculine energy. It shouldn’t be that way but there are certain qualities that men are taught to have, and qualities that women are taught to have, and especially being in the studio which is a very male dominated environment, you kind of break this down. Men are taught to be really unapologetic and to be really confident and to go for what they want. Women are taught to be supportive and apologetic and to be nurturing, and there’s no place for a lot of that stuff in the studio because you’ll get run over and somebody else will take the reins from you. I’m not apologising and I’m not compromising and I don’t care if I’m difficult or I’m crazy or if I’m a bitch, I want you to do exactly what I want you to do because I want it to sound like I want it to sound like and if you don’t want to do it, I’ll get someone else to do it or I’ll do it. I’m tough but I’m also totally sensitive too. Are you feeling under any pressure now that the release is getting closer? I don’t. What’s the point? I did it and I’m actually really excited for people to hear it and to get out on the road. No matter what happens, I’m sure somebody will like it in the world. I’ll go and play for these people and it’ll be nice. Santigold’s new album ‘Master Of My Make Believe’ will be released on 30th April via Atlantic Records.

interview weird dreams

from another pl ace

Doran Edwards speaks to DIY about Weird Dreams and Lynchian unconsciousness

" ’ve always had very vivid dreams ever since I was a young child, the ones where you would wake up and everything would still appear so clear to you,” says Weird Dreams' singer Doran Edwards as he recovers from an impressive support slot performance backing The War On Drugs at Camden’s Electric Ballroom the night prior. “It’s always been an important part of my life. They become almost like another reality in a way.” Mainstream media has always been keen to blame strange behavioural affectations on video games, music or films but in this case it seems to fit somewhat. Sometimes you wonder that if you were sat in a pub, nursing a pint with one of your heroes, how much you would actually have in common beyond your love of their work. For example, I wouldn’t have thought that Morrissey and I would have too much to agree on sitting in a dark and dingy Wetherspoons. But I don’t think this would be a problem with Weird Dreams and their self-proclaimed hero David Lynch, whose name litters their press releases and crops up somewhere on their official blog on a nearly daily basis. Lynch’s back catalogue of films, and Twin Peaks especially, is centrally concerned with “weird dreams” and often these visions have some meaning or reflection on a certain character’s real life consciousness. “I just love the way that in Lynch dreams and

reality aren’t wholly different worlds, there’s not such a strict distinction in his work. This is something I’ve always felt too.” “I used to get insomnia quite badly,” Doran tells us. “I definitely feel like sometimes the line is blurred between dreaming and being awake, as your sub-conscious sifts through your library of thoughts and your mind goes off on tangents. Sometimes these dream-like states tell you more about you than you can tell yourself.” Unconscious unravellings are not the only thing that links the band to Lynch. As in a Lynchian suburban world, not all is as it seems in the band’s songs. Such a chorus as “Love it when you hurt me bad,” for example, exhibit a bittersweetness. “I’m a big fan of 1950’s era doo-wop and ‘60s girl groups which share this feeling of such idealism, but it’s because a stereotype was to sing these sweet love songs to the point where they became a bit meaningless,” the singer explains. “I really love that contrast.” But ultimately the band has actually been quite a cathartic experience for Edwards. “My insomnia’s gotten a lot better recently. You’d think that being on the road would make you even more nocturnal but we’ve spent the whole tour getting drunk. After getting drunk you don’t really remember your dreams.”

“Dreams and realit y aren’t wholly different worlds.”

Weird Dreams’ debut album ‘Choreography’ will be released on 2nd April via Tough Love.

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photo: emma swann

extra musician ranges

ou’ve heard the saying “if you want something done properly, do it yourself,” right? Well that’s exactly the attitude a wave of artists are taking when it comes to fashion. Long gone are the days where being just A Musician is enough; if you’ve not got your own clothing line, record label, art installation and production company, you’re just being lazy. Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino is one of the latest in a long line to put her mic down and head back to the drawing board, quite literally it seems. Her forthcoming line for Urban Outfitters is set to hit the shelves this May, previewed thus far by an image of an angular romper suit - amongst others. And she’s not the only one: Gorillaz recently teamed up with Converse for a short stint at shoe design, resulting in a limited edition Chuck Taylor collection and a series of pirate radio transmissions from Murdoc; Pete Doherty has collaborated with French fashion fiends The Kooples to create a stunning range of Paris-tinted Dickensian dishevelment; and Kanye West has long been crafting his own take on chic, with his latest creations previewed at Paris Fashion Week. Liam Gallagher’s awardwinning Pretty Green stores are also quickly becoming a regular fit on the nation’s high streets with both his more practical Green Label and luxurious Black Label ranges proving a hit with the public and Paul Weller alike. Gallagher’s hands on approach with his clothing line is one echoed across the rock community with many a musician turning their hands towards tailoring. Cheer Up, Antique and Down But Not Out are all clothing lines curated by members of the rock family, and that’s only the one band (You Me At Six, if you’re interested). Bring Me The Horizon’s Oli Sykes (Drop Dead), The Blackout’s Sean Smith (Dirty Love) and Blink-182’s Tom DeLonge (Macbeth) and Travis Baker (Famous Stars & Straps) have all given it a go. Even Dizzee Rascal has taken a Holiday (sorry) from music making to get involved with Nike Air to produce an exclusive run of 980 sneakers. Blimey. Bethany Cosentino for urban outfitters

Liam Gallagher for Pretty Green

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Pete Doherty for The Kooples

With the trend set to continue we can’t imagine it’ll be long before we see more chart-botherers championing chinos, but for now here’s a look at some of music’s more memorable collaborations.

Lily Allen for New Look

Kim Gordon for Surface To Air

Jay-Z

for Evans

Beth Ditto

for H&M

for Louis Vuitton

Madonna

for Fred Perry

Amy Winehouse

Bethany Cosentino for urban outfitters

extra common sons

profile: Although only a whippersnapper in the world of fashion, new British menswear label, Common Sons, is already causing a stir. With a commitment to keeping everything in the UK (one step ahead of Mary Portas, no?), and a love of quality fabrics and old school styling, the brand is proving incredibly popular. Eagle-eyed trend spotters may well have seen the likes of Professor Green, Ed Sheeran, and JLS getting in on some Common Sons action, while The Guardian singled out their Star Jumper as the G2 Jumper of the Week back in November. So celebrities and media hype aside, just what is it that makes Common Sons a label to watch? As far as we’re concerned it’s down to a couple of things which have coincided at just the right time. Despite the economy being in a state of flux, and money hardly growing on trees, the consumer’s love for fast throwaway fashion is dwindling, and buyers are keen to know about the life of a product before it hits the shop shelves. With yarn from Leicestershire, buttons from Nottinghamshire, and the factory in the Black Country, Common Sons just happens to tick those boxes. They state: “The Common Sons team has a passion for Britain, its industry, and its people. When we create our designs, we borrow a little from your grandad and mix it with offbeat colours, contemporary details and modern cuts to make comfortable and distinctive knits.” And with Selfridges already having snapped up the brand, it looks like Common Sons has got the mix of old, new, and British-made just right. But it hasn’t all been plain sailing as Sam Clapp of the brand says: “It can be difficult to source everything needed to make knitwear from the UK because most of the suppliers have shut down or moved abroad. It took us nearly three months to find a factory willing to produce samples for our first range and we’ve spent ages trying to find a suede manufacturer and still haven’t found one.” But everyone knows ‘nothing worth having comes easy’, so while it might have been a bit of a struggle to get things up and running, it’s clear to see all the hard work is paying off. Currently, Common Sons are getting their SS12 collection out in the shops and into their online store, and we can’t wait to see what they’ve got lined up. To see the latest offerings from Common Sons, visit commonsons.site.powa.com.

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competition palladium

win

With Pall adium

It’s fair to say that when Palladium was first founded in 1920 to make tyres for the fledgling aviation industry, few could have predicted they’d go on to open a plant in Pont De Cheruy, France, to start producing footwear that was as hard wearing as their tyres. But, that’s exactly what happened. Fast forward a few decades and the brand’s Pampa boot has proved so successful it’s even been used by the French Foreign Legion in the harsh desert conditions of North Africa, and throughout the rugged terrain of the Atlas Mountains. For their new Spring / Summer 2012 range, the brand has launched collections

for the more urban of explorers amongst us. There’s the Blanc Collection, available in a series of colourways with contrasting white laces, the ultra lightweight Lite Collection, and the sleek and sophisticated Slim Collection. To celebrate, Palladium have not only given us three pairs of boots and £250 to spend at Boxpark Shoreditch to give away, but also the chance for one of our readers to appear in a magazine shoot. To be in with a chance of winning, all you have to do is visit facebook.com/thisisfakediy. For more information, visit palladiumboots.com

We’re giving away three pa i r s o f b o o t s and £250 in vouchers to s p e n d at B o x pa r k S h o r e d i t c h r e ta i l pa r k , courtesy of P a l l a d i u m Fo ot wear.

extra fashion

spring brights Ice cream, cake and chocolate can all help when it comes to perking up your mood, but for a less calorific fix try injecting a splash of colour into your wardrobe. And don’t worry, there’s no neon in sight…

In a sky blue finish with subtle pink detailing, clock watching has never looked so good. Nixon Time Teller Watch, £65 from Scotts Menswear.

Keep this jacket under lock and key as we have a sneaking suspicion your girlfriend will be after it. Makia Raglan Jacket in green, £139.99 from Surfdome.com.

We’re not sure on the official date when it becomes ok to get your legs out, but if the temperature’s above 18˚c it’d be rude not to. Red Chino Shorts, £75 from Paul Smith.

Candy cotton pink isn’t an obvious choice for a bloke’s tee, but we love this one’s stick of rock stripe feel. Farah Vintage Walter Stripe Tee, £25 from Scotts Menswear. Pillarbox red should not be the soul reserve of a burlesque dancer’s lips. Liven up your feet with this red pair of Converse All Star Hi-tops, £41.99 from Office. 60 thisisfakediy.co.uk

m e n s f a s h i o n g a u g e

on the up Peter Doherty

His fashion collaboration with too trendy French label, The Kooples does the foppish look to perfection. Liam Gallagher, watch your back.

Cord

Whether it’s a jacket, or trousers, cord is the fabric of choice this season. Jarvis Cocker was 15 years too early.

Rucksacks

At school, wearing a rucksack on two shoulders was the height of uncool. But now it isn’t. We don’t make the rules.

Cagoules

Umbrellas are annoying, rain hats are for grannies, by the process of elimination that means the cagoule is the only respectable way to combat April showers.

Down & Out Camel Chinos

Two words: totally over.

Slogan T-Shirts

Yes Cyndi Lauper reckons we should let our true colours shine through, but we wonder whether the world is ready for pink boxers. Pack of two boxer shorts, £18 from Scotts Menswear. In case you’re worried that you’ll look like you’ve just stepped off daddy’s yacht, do not team with boating shoes or anything akin to an espadrille. Slim Fit Chino in Bright Blue, £89 from Ted Baker. Wear on both shoulders for that French tourist look. Adding quotes from Sartre, Moliere and Voltaire in Sharpie ink also obligatory. Rucksack, £30 from Red Herring.

Never clever, witty, or cool. Just plain embarrassing and the reason no one’s standing within a three-metre radius.

Loafers

Too lazy for laces? We despair.

Hoodies

We’re not ditching the casual classic completely, just when it’s worn with the drawstring tied up in a bow and the zip undone. If that’s you, stop it. Now.

extra fashion

spring brights

It takes a brave soul to step away from blue denim, but this spring, jeans are all about rainbow shades. Skinny Fit Ankle Length Jeans in red, £29.90 from Uniqlo For a pop of colour that looks like it’s straight out of a kid’s pick ‘n’ mix selection, this retro-style bag gets our vote. Converse Player Bag, £37.99 from JD Sports.

The candy-coloured stripes on this dress make Breton stripes pale in comparison. Lacee Dress by Animal, £44.99. from Surfdome.com

This kelly green top with ¾ sleeves and vintage-style buttons at the back is as zingy as a Granny Smith. Louche Ilsa Blouse, £32 from Joy.

Ok, so this jacket might bear a slight resemblance to a fisherman’s sowester, but it’s perfect for covering up in spring showers. Plastic Rainmac with Rope Tie Detail, £50 from ASOS. 62 thisisfakediy.co.uk

Bam b o o Pe n & Tou ch RRP £74.99

If you’re the sort of person who gets excited about having a go on an Etch A Sketch (we are) you’re destined to fall for the Bamboo Pen & Touch. Not only does the stylus give you substantially better creative control than two little plastic knobs, the wireless capability means it’s a great way for bringing ideas to life and sharing them, too. Use the stylus for a pen on paper feel – it’s pressure sensitive - or just use your finger to craft images, write notes, and basically get creative. We don’t usually find ourselves having to breathe into a paper bag, but we have to say this has got us more excitable than a bunch of teenage girls at a Justin Bieber concert.

The gizmos and worth get ting about this

gadgets e xci t e d month

Krator Neso 4 5Watt Droplet USB Speakers RRP £22.99

Veho VEP Bluetooth Wireless Headphones RRP £129.95

Back in the day, a pair of headphones was, well a pair of headphones. These days things are different. Some have wires, some don’t. Some are in-your-ear affairs, some aren’t. And some, like these Veho VEP Bluetooth Wireless Headphones feature the works. The only thing that’s missing is scratch ‘n’ sniff. Still, we’ll let them off seeing as not only do they have super-plush leather ear pads, a built-in mic, but they’ve also got a rather space age (as far as we’re concerned) control panel on the side of the headset that lets you control volume and tracks. Our verdict? Pretty special. Just don’t use the built-in mic in public – it always looks weird.

These Neso 4 5Watt Droplet USB speakers might look like they’ve jumped straight out of a Japanese manga cartoon, but they don’t come with trading cards, a sticker book, or a merchandise deal. What’s more, with their aligned audio technology and bass and volume controls, you shouldn’t let their cute and quirky aesthetics dupe you, because these little droplets mean business. Simply plug a 3.5mm audio cable into your iPod, iPhone or MP3 and you’ll soon see why there’s nothing to cry over these tearshaped speakers. The huge sound, tiny price, and dinky dimensions make them perfect for taking anywhere – and equally handy for impromptu parties.

Pink Pebble Smartstick RRP £2 9.99

Picture the scene: you’re slathering on the fake tan, applying the best false eyelashes money can buy, and you’re about to down a couple of Apple Sourz to settle the nerves. Yep, you’ve got yourself a first date and all the info about where, when and who you’re meeting (just in case you’ve forgotten) is stored on your phone. Now you’re on the bus, happy you’re on time and you just want to double check the meeting place. But, disaster strikes you’re out of power. Before you decide to give up and spend the night in with a bucket of chicken and chips, reach for the Pink Pebble Smartstick. Plug it into your phone, let it do its business and watch as your battery gets a full whack of power. With four connectors, the Pink Pebble Smartstick works with most smartphones and mobiles, and £1 from the sale of each one goes to the Breast Cancer Campaign.

63 63

reviews backstory

A&E 2 01 2 s e e m s l i k e i t ’ s g o i n g t o b e a b i g y e a r f o r G r a h a m C oxo n . N o t o n ly h av e B l u r r e f o r m e d ( ag a i n ) , p i c k e d u p a l i f e t i m e ac h i e v e m e n t awa r d a n d a n n o u n c e d t h at t h e y ’ l l b e p l ay i n g t h e c lo s i n g c e r e m o n y o f t h e O ly m p i c s , h e ’ s a l s o f o u n d t i m e t o p ro d u c e t h e s o lo a l b u m o f h i s ca r e e r .

64 thisisfakediy.co.uk

Has the record turned out how you expected it to? Yeah, it pretty much has. I didn’t have much of an idea when I started it. The demos sort of dictated how the songs were gonna be. I had these ideas that - I wouldn’t say were underdeveloped - but they were mostly focused on rhythms and drum sounds and there wasn’t an awful lot of melodies. I thought I’d take them to the studio and see what happened. We used technology in a sort of cackhanded way, not doing everything totally correctly but having fun recording everything loosely and then

relying on scrubbing bits out. But in the end there wasn’t an awful lot of that, they were all pretty close to the demos. It sounds like a fun record to make, it’s a fun listen… Yeah, I think it’s quite a fun listen. I suppose I’m known for a being a bit more post-punk sounding and whining on about girls. But there isn’t a lot of that, which is a relief. Are you happy with how it sounds? Yeah, definitely. I was going into an area which, I wouldn’t say it wasn’t a comfort zone, but I tried not to do my default

guitar playing. Cos it can be totally boring when I’m very ‘Graham Coxony’. Was this album a reaction to that sound on 'Spinning Top'? I think I did want to do something different. Because I love 'Spinning Top' but I wanted to go somewhere different - but without going backwards. It would have been easy to do that 'Magazine'-y type of thing but it would have been a disservice to these jams I was writing. Where does 'A+E' as a title come from? I can’t quite remember when I came up with it. I think it was during it and then I didn’t think of changing it. I suppose you can make it be about whatever you want to make it stand for. If it’s about anything then it’s about nights out, predatory males, sex and drugs and being messed up. That seems to be what it’s loosely based on and I don’t do an awful lot of that so it’s pretty vicarious. I’ve been watching TV and it was almost a shocking revelation about young people and how they get into stuff a lot earlier than my generation did. Programmes like Skins exaggerate it but there are kids doing stuff and I’m like ‘s**t, that would never have entered my head when I was 18’. Do you have a favourite song? I don’t know, it’s odd. I quite like 'Meet+Drink+Pollinate' because it’s so unlike me and it has a cheesy element to it with the clap-clap bits. I suppose a lot of the album is tongue in cheek in that way. ‘Bah Singer’ is a bit more aggressive and written from an American Psycho point of view of a really nasty bloke. Then ‘Knife In The Cast’ is something quite different, almost morose. And then ‘Ooh, Yeh Yeh’ is going out in the morning at 6am and meeting the devil, which happens quite a lot in Camden. You play every instrument on

most records - is that because you enjoy playing every instrument or because you like the control? That’s what I’m trying to figure out. I think it’s a bit of both. I enjoy it and I know it’s going to get done pretty quickly. It’s like when you want a builder in – you don’t wanna pay someone to do something you can do unless they can do a better job. And when I need to get someone in who’s specifically good at something, my needs aren’t particularly for that of a virtuoso – it may be just for a flavour or sound, so I can often do it myself. If I get a brilliant pianist in they’ll be like ‘Why are you asking me to do this? I’m better than this’. And I really wanted to manipulate the sounds anyway - so if you get someone in to play the flute and by the time I’ve finished with it it doesn’t sound like the flute they’ll be annoyed and wonder why they bothered. Why did you choose Ben Hillier as producer? Well, I remembered back to ‘The Golden D’ album and I was remembering how we created those sounds by putting drums and synthesisers together. And Ben has a perversion with sound like me. I just thought the attitude we had and the ideas for this were a perfect fit. He knows what he’s doing and he’s good with drum machines and synthesisers and he’s a lot of fun. If it’s not fun in the studio it’s torture. It sounds like it’ll be great to play live? Yeah, we’ve played nearly every song now and it is a lot of fun to play live. After the initial first rehearsal we were like ‘God, how can we get these sounds across? What are we gonna do?’ But once we were all organised and worked out what to do it was great. It’s good fun cos we’re making a row. Graham Coxon’s new album ‘A&E’ will be released on 2nd April via Parlophone.

Graham Coxon A&E

Camden has always been engrained in Graham Coxon’s DNA. Though now in his 40s and enjoying a relatively sedate life of sobriety, the fact that the Blur guitarist still spends time amongst the grotty havoc means he’s perfectly situated to see how it could all so easily come undone. On his new record, 'A+E', Coxon finds himself preoccupied with these ideas; the pleasure-seeking chaos and confusion that ensues when 5 o’clock on a Friday chimes in modern Britain. It’s a feeling encapsulated by closing track ‘Ohh, Yeh Yeh’, a blues song about meeting the devil at 6am on a Sunday when out trying to buy milk. It's a mirror image of what life could be like. After the acoustic, conceptual (and excellent) ‘Spinning Top’, 'A+E' is a louder and more extreme record in every way. It’s an album that focuses on the excesses of this island and his neurotic response to it - with music to match. Produced by long-time Blur cohort Ben Hillier, there’s a frenetic, dark pulse beating through these songs that makes for the best type of record. This is Graham Coxon at his most uninhibited and confident. Both more rock and more experimental than anything previously released as a solo artist; he weaves together unexpected reference points such as Kraftwerk with slightly more familiar post-punk ones; this is a rough-around-the-edges tour of Coxon’s sonic wanderlust. It begins in familiar enough territory. The stop-starting, headache ridden rock of ‘Advice’ with its self-deprecating lyrics is both great and totally Graham. What follows is very un-Coxon though – ‘City Hall’s’ motorik beat, spidery guitar and the ghostly repeated refrain of "Going down to city hall" could be Neu!. It’s brilliant. From here the album accelerates away, diverting down thrilling side streets and making several handbrake turns along the way. What’s surprising is how much of this album focuses on rhythms and drum sounds. Single ‘What’ll It Take’ is almost dance music - who would have thought we would ever be saying that? This is the sound of the weekend filtered through Graham’s skewed pop sensibilities. ‘Running For Your Life’ shows he’s lost none of his arch wit, while the caustic observations continue with the gonzo robo-pop of 'Meet+Drink+Pollinate' and the macabre blast of ‘Bah Singer’, with its police sirens and accelerating keyboards that speed up until they implode. As with every weekend of excess, we get the Sunday morning comedown. ‘Knife In The Cast’ is the sound of regret and Alka-Seltzer; a hauntingly perfect accompaniment to Coxon's most accomplished solo album to date. (Daniel Wright)

reviews albums

The Futureheads Rant

Tanlines

Mixed Emotions

Tanlines are in the same tropical territory occupied by Friendly Fires and Vampire Weekend, a giddy amalgam of electronica, afro-beat and retro pop that is a thinking man's dance-floor. Where this works best is on the thrilling 'Not The Same', a four to the floor monster complete with finger clicks. 'Nonesuch' is equally good, a soothing electro ballad that channels the sounds of the Eighties. 'Mixed Emotions' has a track for every mood without ever sounding forced or contrived. It could have benefitted from being slimmed down in the musical gym but its lively, tropical vibe will lift the spirits. (Greg Inglis)

Brave, unique and heartfelt or ill-considered novelty? Inspired by their Live Lounge cover of Kelis' 'Acapella' The Futureheads have produced an album made up of instrument-free versions of their own and others' tracks. Their use of harmonies has always been what’s lifted them above their peers and here ‘Thursday’ and ‘Man Ray’ sound even better than the originals. However, their take on 'Meet Me Halfway' crosses too far into novelty territory. Thankfully there’s a superb cover of Sparks to cleanse your ears. At times 'Rant' comes across like a hip church choir having a go at some pop hits. Yet, in the main, this is a fun and genuinely touching set of songs. (Danny Wright)

Hawk Eyes Ideas

The Shins

Port Of Morrow

Four years in-between albums is enough to get anyone feeling a bit negative about the possibilities of fresh material. Yet here they are; The Shins are back. 'Port Of Morrow' might be slightly out of step with some of the more outlandish elements of today's alternative scene, but possesses more than its fair share of good old fashioned songwriting. From opener 'The Rifle's Spiral' to lead track 'Simple Song', it's not rocket science, but for those who were waiting out the storm for a friendly place to dock, this is a more than welcome return. (Stephen Ackroyd) 66 thisisfakediy.co.uk

Formerly Chickenhawk, the newly-monikered Hawk Eyes’ 'Ideas' retains a partial connection with their old material in much the way their name does. Forsaking the metal elements and outright aggression of 'Modern Bodies' for a more straightforward ‘rock’ orientated direction, 'Ideas' sees a streamlining and refining of the band's sound: the rerecorded ‘Yes, Have Some’ being the best example of this. The most noticeable change is the *gasp* singing from frontman Paul Astick (under doctor's orders by all accounts). That’s not to say Hawk Eyes have lost their punch: it’s just now they know when to throw it most effectively. ( Joe O'Sullivan)

Anti-Flag

The General Strike

'The General Strike' is lined with punchy punk fury from the minute Anti-Flag frontman Justin Sane screams, “No justice in a legal system backed by criminals” in opener ‘Controlled Opposition’. There’s no letting up from this point as the album storms on at an unforgiving pace. With the band channelling their political frustrations, the accessible punk-rock formula could see AntiFlag really reach the masses with this one. Throw in a few "woah"s and any of these songs has the potential to get first timers singing. In its entirety this album is as accomplished as you’d expect but with influences ranging from stripped-back folk to hardcore, it’s experimental, tight and so fast you might just miss it. ( Jess Bridgeman)

Clock Opera Ways To Forget

If you’ve ever encountered Clock Opera on a train, noticed their guitar cases and asked what sort of music they play, your answer will have come simply as ‘chop-pop’. Basketballs, old springs, pots and pans - you name it, they sample it. Yes, Clock Opera have pretty much crafted their debut out of junk. And Lord, is it the stuff disco dreams are made of. ‘The Lost Buoys’ sounds like the song they aim to sing should the Brit Awards collaboration with Rihanna ever materialise. It’s a glossy’n’gleaming technicolor dream so lurid you’ll be dribbling with euphoria before it’s even taken off. You don’t see this on Blue Peter. (Andrew Backhouse)

Zebra & Snake

Healing Music

With a name like ‘Healing Music’, you might expect Finnish creatures Zebra & Snake to have created an album that, well, heals. And whilst it might not be the kind of music to cure your hangover, the name matches the themes - going through bad times and coming out alive - and sounds pretty well. Following on from the duo’s ‘Sweetest Treasure’ EP, the debut full-length is more of the same driving synths and anthemic vocals. In this case, it’s very hard to see how you could possibly have too much of a good thing. Through all its highs and lows, ‘Healing Music’ will make you feel better. (Coral Williamson)

Feeder

Generation Freakshow

By now some beleaguered Feeder fans must be close to breaking point. Given a reprieve from ridicule by the trio's last LP 'Renegades', they've elected to follow it with what a cynical person might suggest is a rehash of their pop-grunge opus 'Echo Park'. The keyboards are the same tones, the chords are similar intervals, the vocals are heartfelt without the lyrics really saying anything, and perhaps most tellingly they don't deliver a pop hit to rival 'Buck Rogers'. More digestible than 'Renegades' however, it's easy to imagine a few fair-weather fans will return to the fold in time to sing 'Feeling A Moment' out of tune in a field this summer. (Alex Lynham)

Sleepy Sun Spine Hits

Though 'Spine Hits' never reaches the dizzy heights of previous album 'Fever''s 'Desert God', there's nevertheless a lot to like - in particular 'Lioness (Requiem)', which is as good a track as Sleepy Sun have ever penned. The new record boasts a sleeker rhythm section and arrangements that err towards being tight and calculated where hitherto they were loose and sparse, and consequently it's the tracks that epitomise this new mantra that shine. By and large though they still end up falling on the sword of 'Fever''s brilliance – and while it's certainly a fallacy to judge a band too harshly against previous material, many fans will probably draw the same conclusion. (Alex Lynham)

Breton

Other People's Problems

There was a time, back when Breton first appeared on DIY's radar, we wondered if this was the secret comeback of musical mad scientist turned (at the time) vanishing act Tom Vek. Far from an insult, there's nothing of the 'tribute act' to Breton - on debut album 'Other People's Problems' they plough a furrow of future pop the likes of which others can barely contemplate. From the opening glitcharama-with-a-string-section of 'Pacemaker' to the sing-a-long refrain of 'Interference', few can add an organic texture to electronic led music; Breton do it with ease. (Stephen Ackroyd)

La Sera

Sees The Light

The problem with dedicating almost an entire record to a break-up is that it has to make you side with the singer, but in the case of Vivian Girls' Katy Goodman - aka La Sera - you can’t. The break-up doesn’t seem bad enough to analyse over the LP’s 30 minutes, however much she returns to the subject. By the end of the 10 tracks you just want to slide her a shot of whisky and tell her to man up and forget about the guy. Which is a shame, because the songs are all well-constructed retromania rock and roll numbers. 'Sees The Light’ is a decent solo effort, but for the casual observer it might be worth saving your currency for the next Vivian Girls record. (Digby Bodenham)

Tom Williams & The Boat Teenage Blood

Tunbridge Wells’ finest, Tom Williams & The Boat have returned with their second album, ‘Teenage Blood’. And for those who enjoyed their debut, there is much for you here; Williams and co. have come on leaps and bounds since last time we met. Here you will find a collection of songs that are angrier, catchier and more accomplished. Tracks like ‘Too Young’ boast a bona fide, catchy as hell, pop chorus whilst ‘Teenage Blood’ is a slow burning anthem even Springsteen couldn’t deny. Prepare for The Boat to set sail towards far greater shores. (George Boorman)

reviews albums

Orbital

Weird Dreams Choreography

From their post-punk roots you’d be hard pressed to find many who could have predicted Weird Dreams’ musical trajectory. Yet the band has learned that the power of a glorious melody can dwarf all; ‘Choreography’ is tailor-made alternative pop of the highest degree. The strategically placed breakdowns, expansively drawn guitar chorus’ and glittering pop craftsmanship sees Doran Edwards & co fall into their own unique place on today’s musical spectrum. This is a debut that evokes a keen sense of fulfilment. (Wayne Flanagan)

Wonky Orbital prove in their first album in eight long years that they aren’t content to stand still and rest on the laurels that have made them so engaging at festivals. Case in point: ‘Beezledub’ sees the Hartnoll brothers embrace dubstep, a genre that has only become popular during their absence. Standouts ‘Straight Sun’ and ‘Stringy Acid’ will cement the Hartnoll brothers’ reclaiming of the electronic music crown. Sexy, smart, and filled with the potential to smash the competition. (Mary Chang)

Air Castles Lights

An album called 'Lights' sounds stock, and unfortunately that's how Air Castles' album is. Music of this type jumped the charts in the midto-late noughts; bands like Snow Patrol and Coldplay seemed to epitomise this radio friendly brand of guitar songs, with criticism often centred around blandness and the uninspired. If there was a saving grace for these acts, it's that the execution was strong. But 'Lights' is lacklustre; chords seem constantly repeated, lyrics like high school poetry, and every song sounds like lesser version something else. Air Castles have attempted to soundtrack teenage introspection; instead, it's more likely to soundtrack trolley-pushing at Tesco. (Kyle Forward)

John Foxx & The Maths The Shape Of Things

Internet Forever Internet Forever

If Internet Forever's initial releases were the primordial ooze, then 'Internet Forever' is the fully-evolved creature, a glittering example of intelligent design, having perfectly adapted itself to today's music world. The trio have provided a blueprint of what indie pop should be in our nameless, futuristic decade, and at the same time laid down an album unlikely to be surpassed. The music is full and lush, Dreamtrak and James Rutledge's production like a modern-day wall-of-sound, incorporating crunching drums, brass sections, handclaps, synthesisers, stylophones, and frontwoman Laura Wolf 's bewitching tones. A well-realised delight. (Tom Baker) 68 thisisfakediy.co.uk

John Foxx’s career in electronic music started over 30 years ago. In this time, he has established himself as one of the genre’s most interesting, progressive and venerated characters. John Foxx & The Maths is a collaboration between Foxx and musician-producer Benge, and there is no doubt they work extremely well together. The sound is stark and minimal; early eighties electro-pop and Kraftwerk are obvious reference points. There is a great combination between the retro and the futuristic as Foxx’s synth-pop classicism aligns with Benge’s progressive production skills. John Foxx is still at the very top of his game; ‘The Shape Of Things’ is another compelling collection. (Martyn Young)

King Charles LoveBlood

Beneath King Charles’ trademark dreadlocks lies the kind of capitalist Marxists whisper to their kids about at night. His embarrassing lurch at mainstream acceptance stumbles from one commercially successful sound to the next. 'LoveBlood''s ‘Mississippi Isabel’ steals the already borrowed sounds of Vampire Weekend, ‘Brightest Lights’ drunkenly square-dances around a Mumford & Sons pastoral and ‘Polar Bear’ swerves maniacally from “edgy” musical to horrifying cod rap and into insane stabs at industrial metal. It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so terrifying. Quite possibly morally reprehensible. ( Joe Skrebels)

Lee Ranaldo

Between The Times & Tides

While the security of his day job may have been irreparably damaged with the break-up of Thurston and Kim’s indie rock fairy-tale, Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo has deigned to release his first proper songorientated solo album. Sounding more confident than ever before, Ranaldo shifts from folk fireside singer on ‘Hammer Blows’ to a convincing Stipe impression on ‘Lost (Plane T Nice)'. If anything, the record is steeped in the lineage of power pop rather than anything too leftof-field. 'Between The Times & Tides' is a beacon of craftsmanship and invention coated in marvellously empathetic collection of pop tunes. Not a bad effort. (Colm McAuliffe)

De La Soul's Plug 1 & Plug 2 First Serve

It's rare for an LP to truly engage in a story these days, but 'First Serve' tells the fictional story of two aspiring emcees with dreams of fame. The 16-track offering exhibits impressive cohesiveness, shifting in similar vein to a film score. Ensembles of crashing, orchestral sequences wedded with hip-hop drum loops capture the raw energy of the young rhymers. Don't come looking to 'First Serve' for De La Soul's comeback release. Consider it a curious concept explored by two-thirds of the group. (Andy Bustard)

Sleep Party People

We Were Drifting On A Sad Song

Denmark’s rabbit mask wearing five-piece Sleep Party People are back with their second full-length, one that bears all the hallmarks of post-rock experimentalism while avoiding the genre's much maligned stagnation. Born from the Lynchian leanings of Copenhagen's Brian Bratz, ‘We Were Drifting On A Sad Song’ finds itself in a more lavishly produced and varied territory. An intelligent, delicate, crisp yet hazy and tentatively emotional record, it has been crafted with an authentic, unwavering hand and although its surreality may be enough to prevent a lasting attachment, its enveloping, experimental sound is enough to invoke a meaningful connection, for now at least. (Lauren Down)

Evans The Death Evans The Death

Evans The Death waste no time easing you in to their self-titled debut album, opening with ‘Bo Diddley’ and its instantly catchy guitar riffs. Lyrically, the record is as intelligent as previous singles, with lines simultaneously witty and beautiful. As a young band, Evans The Death wisely choose to write what they know, touching on everything from relationships, to how sucky the next generation of kids is, via the fear of getting a job. Expect to see more from them in the future. (Coral Williamson)

Alex Winston King Con

Detroit’s own Alex Winston has finally released a full-length record. A former opening act for Chuck Berry, the classically trained singer showcases her ability to belt out a good, old-fashioned catchy song. Lyrically, ‘King Con’ is slightly bizarre with Winston swinging from declaring her love for Elvis, fire ants and feeding on hosts, but it’s refreshing to have so many topics as opposed to the usual “boy meets girl”. Winston seems in control of all her songs, and every track on the record deserves its place; no song is there to waste time and that’s rare for a debut album. It’s oddly accomplished. (Leah Henson)

Blood Red Shoes In Time To Voices

"We're not fighting to be heard. We just want to watch it burn." If that line wasn't intending to sum up Blood Red Shoes' third album, it bloody well could do. Long in possession of a pleasing dark side, on 'In Time To Voices' a band that, secretly, the world as always wished would go native turn up all the dials to full. Even scuzzier, louder and, crucially, smarter than before, the satisfyingly thump-a-licious beat of lead single 'Cold' feel like a kick to the balls of 95% of other, more boring bands. If rock is indeed dead (it isn't - Ed), then Blood Red Shoes' re-animated zombie corpses are here to eat your brains. (Stephen Ackroyd) 69

reviews albums

Grimes Visions

It's been claimed that Grimes defies genres. While the hyperbole sounds ridiculous, it’s true to say that at times ‘Visions’ sounds like eight separate radios, coalescing magically together. With so much going on, what makes this record so brilliant is how unaffected it seems. Her innocence and curiosity with sound take her to many places, RnB, K-Pop, electronica, plain old pop. It makes for an album of shifting textures, one on which Grimes effortlessly chisels her myriad influences down into pop diamonds. (Daniel Wright)

Both Lights ‘Both Lights’ is the third full-length from Portland Oregon pop experimentalists AU, and it is an album bursting with ambition and sonic invention. The duo of multiinstrumentalists Luke Wyland and Dana Valatka explore every inch of their musical influences and landscapes over 11 tracks of compelling experimental sounds. There has always been a tinge of the avant-garde to AU’s music but on ‘Bright Lights’ they appear to have harnessed that experimental nature with their most compelling collection of songs yet. There is a lot to take in here but certainly a lot of fun to be had in the process as well. (Martyn Young)

The Cornshed Sisters Tell Tales

Chiddy Bang Breakfast

It was fair to guess that Philly’s own magic duo weren’t going to create the most mind-bendingly experimental, boundarypushing debut, so it was as fair to wonder how it took three years to arrive. The answer seems to be rapper Chidera "Chiddy" Anamege and DJ/Producer Noah "Xaphoon Jones" Beresin were cutting off every inch of fat, honing every beat and checking each pop-culture reference. Where Asher Roth left house-party hip hop, Chiddy Bang pick it up but bring a whole new focus, a pop-sensibility and a nuanced delivery. As cool as they play it, they could probably do this in their sleep. (Matthew Davies) 70 thisisfakediy.co.uk

Tyne and Wear harmony-led fourpiece The Cornshed Sisters let their voices do the talking on 'Tell Tales'. If that seems confusingly self-explanatory, listening to ‘Tommy’ should help to explain - the arresting effect of stark, intertwined a capella vocals is one that never loses its effect. However, vocals can’t account for everything and with some clumsy lyrics and distinctly derivative takes on folk-pop instrumentation, 'Tell Tales' loses the impact it could have had. There’s no doubt that the songs these sisters sing are lovely, but it’s their songwriting that remains lacking. ( Joe Skrebels)

Your Demise The Golden Age

‘The Golden Age’ is the fourth album from British hardcore punks Your Demise and the follow up to 2010’s ‘The Kids We Used To Be’. Hailing from Brighton, the band have been a firm fixture in the UK’s basement hardcore scene since they started out in 2005, but this latest record is set to launch them into new territory. Upping their game with a diverse and thought-out record, YD have taken the modern punk rock sound and stuck a rocket up its behind. Their unique sound showcases a successful blend of five individuals’ tastes and influences. With hearty pop-punk sitting alongside hardcore at its most ballsy, there’s an underlining energy which holds this whole record together. ( Jess Bridgeman)

Lights Siberia

The second album from Canada’s Lights, 'Siberia' is quite a good snapshot of what is currently en vogue; synthpop with accents of dubstep and Nordic dance-pop. Upon first listen, it sounds like an amalgamation of Robyn’s infectious pop structures with Dragonette’s slightly harsher electronics. Throw in some of Bjork’s syncopated and explosive beats and you’ve got the basic idea. This is both the beauty and the curse of this album; while these are all great things to sound like (the dubstep wobble of the chorus in ‘Where The Fence Is Low’ is a wellworn motif, but still so satisfying), Lights risks not being able to shine (no pun) by blending into what is already out there. (Kosta Lucas)

photo: Richard Isaac

reviews live

bush hall, london

"This is the new era of Frank Carter," laughs the man himself, as he grips onto his microphone stand. "There's a lot more smiles involved." That part is clear to see. Tonight, we're experiencing a little moment of musical history. As with any debut show, it's set to be a remarkable evening, but this one feels just a little more special. As of yet, Pure Love have remained entirely quiet; their only musical offering so far being a minute and a half of instrumental. Tonight marks not just their first live performance, but the unveiling of any of their music at all. As the band walk out onto the stage, which has fairy lights draped over amps, red and white

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balloons are floated through the audience. Both members are suited. Guitarist Jim Carroll is a mass of long dark hair, whilst Carter looks almost exactly the same as when we last met, with one subtle difference: that aforementioned smile. The music itself is a breathtaking step away from anything you could've expected. Simmering with bluesy guitars, but occasionally laced with punk tendencies, it's simple and straightforward rock music. There are elements of heaviness, but not in the sense of the duo's previous projects. You can even almost hear the distant sounds of Brooklyn, which seem to work coherently alongside the lyrical stories of London. Above all changes though, the most remarkable lies in Carter's vocals. "So, as you can probably tell, I learned to sing." He's laughing as he says it, but truthfully, his voice sounds wonderful as it carries a passionate - albeit not aggressive - weight through his lyrics.

The frontman himself is full of praise for their audience, full of encouragement. He jokes about the crowd having fun, provoking an unlikely circle pit before crowdsurfing himself. Some would say it's not entirely suited - and he claims to be "too old to be doing that anymore" soon after - but it works perfectly. Throughout the evening, Carter's words are greeted with absolute support, which can only ever be something of a relief. A mention goes out to his brother Steph, who is stood sidestage, before a song is dedicated to his fiancĂŠ, along with the repeated sentiment of "I love you!" It's entirely endearing and completely refreshing. The words that really make you think though, are some of the first he utters tonight: "I haven't been this happy in my f**king life." It's a big statement, but by all means, you believe him. Thus begins the new era of Frank Carter, and it looks like it's going to be an exciting one. (Sarah Jamieson)

photo: Dan Smyth

Electric Ballroom, london It’s a rammed Friday night at Camden’s Electric Ballroom, and there’s a noticeable air of anticipation surrounding the sold-out venue. On the street you can hear excitable murmurs, groups of people rush in with a heightened sense of urgency. Inside the punters are craning their necks and searching for every possible vantage point - the people want Sleigh Bells. In a flurry of technicolour flashes, pouring smoke and studded leather, Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller bound onto the stage, wasting no time in

launching into ‘True Shred Guitar’, and then promptly diving headfirst into the gunshot rhythms of ‘Tell ‘Em’. The volumes are maxed out, and Sleigh Bells are clearly running on full too. “Let's get s**t going London!” roars Alexis before triumphantly hurling her pint into the ecstatic crowd. The spectacle continues as Sleigh Bells shred their way through a whistlestop tour of their two albums. The highlights come in the shape of first album anthem ‘Infinity Guitars’ and the pounding drum machines of ‘Riot Rhythm’, but songs from 'Reign Of Terror' sit comfortably alongside the much-loved 'Treats'. ‘Demons’ seems made for the stage, as does ‘Comeback Kid’. As Krauss sways and thrashes alternately across the stage, roaring into the crowd before producing sugary vocals the next minute it’s clear that she and Miller know that the comeback is complete. Krauss ends the set by throwing herself into the crowd and surfing across the room, before returning to the stage like true rock royalty. The band have just enough time to catch their breath before a rapturous encore of ‘Rill Rill’, and by the end of the set there is no doubt that the reign of Sleigh Bells is set to continue. (El Hunt)

From glancing at the tracklist of Marina & The Diamonds' new album 'Electra Heart', it could be assumed that our favourite kooky pop starlet has developed a rebellious streak. With song titles such as 'Bubblegum Bitch', 'Primadonna' and 'Home Wrecker', the former dark-haired singer has bleached her locks, donned Lolita-esque attire and started singing about stealing other people's boyfriends. But fear not, the new, darker edge to her songwriting has not permeated into real life, with Marina Diamandis taking to the stage and instantly thanking her legions of fans at the packed O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for coming out on a Sunday night. Frankly, if there's anything that would get the working week off to a positive start, it's waking up on a Monday morning and remembering you were present at tonight's show. The darker material sits wonderfully with the singer's vocal ability, with her soaring, operatic voice adding extra depth to the schizophrenic overtones of 'Fear & Loathing' and the eternally haunting love affair that is 'Radioactive'. Slicker production shoots through the veins of 'Electra Heart', with Swedish House Mafia and Diplo having helped out with the album's production, giving the material a dancier, more radio-friendly edge. Of course, classics from first album 'The Family Jewels' are thrown in, with piano laments 'Obsessions' and 'I Am Not A Robot' chased by 'Hollywood', with its sarcastic take on America's unhealthy obsession with celebrity culture. To finish, we have the wonderfully eccentric 'Mowgli's Road', with its tales of stampeding cutlery and jungle shenanigans. To summarise tonight: new hair, new material, same lovely Marina. Just as we ordered. (Wendy Davies)

photo: Paul harold Seele

O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, london

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TV game of thrones

i n t e r v i e w: Game of Thrones S ta r

Sitting down for an interview with the wonderfully open Game Of Thrones fan favourite Kit Harington, Christa Ktorides learns more about his character Jon Snow and the future of the hit HBO show. With the first season of the hit adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s epic fantasy novels on DVD and Blu-ray now, there’s time to catch up before season two begins on Sky Atlantic 2nd April. What have you learned about Jon from George R. R. Martin’s books? I was trying to work him out and I was thinking, “actually is he quite stupid?” Because I made a few decisions about him and it led to this person who in the books makes a lot of mistakes - he acts first and doesn’t think about things and so I realised recently he’s a very instinctual person. He’s a good person, he’ll do the right things for people but he won’t think ahead of time. He’s probably one of the few good people in the entire series isn’t he? Well he does bad things, I think that’s the exciting thing about this series. No one’s really good, no one’s really bad. He’s one

of the more sympathetic characters and you should like him.

Do you think that’s part of the appeal of the series, it’s everyone doing bad things? I think it is yeah. The appeal of this is that there is no Gandalf who’s wonderful and does everything right. Ned Stark did stupid things, was wrong. He fathered an illegitimate child. He’s not completely clean. I think people can relate to this because it’s about people’s faults, it’s about what people do for power. If you weren’t in the show would this kind of fantasy topic appeal to you? It’s really hard to tell “You because I wasn’t a huge fantasy fan before getting n o t into this. I read certain books, which I loved: Jon the Pullman trilogy [His Dark Materials], an Ursula Le Guin trilogy called A Wizard of Earthsea, but I wouldn’t say I was a fantasy fan at all, not in any way. I watched the Lord of The Rings movies, they weren’t my favourites. I maybe even turned my nose up at it at times. But since being involved in this I’ve started to love it. Have you noticed people recognise you since it came out? I’ll tell you what you get a lot of - you’ll

be on the tube or something and you’ll get a lot of people looking at you and going, “I know him, I know him.” That’s quite fun. I had one person reading A Game of Thrones the book sitting opposite me and he looked and went [performs comical double take]. I like to think he was on a Jon chapter. How many seasons are you signed on for? I think it’s six, and I signed that right from word go. Some people have said, “God that’s long.” But my opinion is I’m in an HBO series where I do it six months of the year, I love it, it’s a success. The other six months of the year I get to do other stuff. I think it’s a wonderful thing to have as an actor, to be developing a character for this long and get to do other stuff. What can you tell us about the second season? The world in which we’ve set it in is breaking apart at the seams and there are many different factions who are claiming to be King. As that happens the fantastical element, the magical bits, start to kind of grow and rise. And kind of alongside each other this whole thing of, “winter is coming,” is that everything’s slowly breaking apart and things are getting scarier and bloodier and more brutal. It doesn’t get easier to watch but there are certain elements of humour that come in that are interesting to watch.

know h i n g Snow.”

film the hunger games

It may be attracting the attention of hordes of teenage girls, but trust us when we say The Hunger Games is NOT the new Twilight - heroine Katniss Everdeen is more Sarah Connor than Bella Swan. While on paper it may read like a child-friendly Battle Royale, this tale of government oppression and exploitation

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is harsh, unforgiving and gripping. A post-apocalyptic United States is now split into 12 industrial districts, with the downtrodden, starving inhabitants forced to partake in a yearly lottery deciding which boy and girl will be forced to fight their neighbouring districts’ “tributes” to the death in the televised Hunger Games. Author Suzanne Collins’ rich imagination runs wild as the powerful, rich Capitol devise increasingly twisted methods of manipulation. 16-year-old Katniss causes a stir when she volunteers to take the place

of her little sister, with her increasingly complex alliance with fellow district 12 tribute Peeta set to change the course of history. At time of print we had yet to see Gary Ross’ finished film, but we’ve interviewed the stars. As Katniss, Oscarnominee Jennifer Lawrence is set to be every bit as electrifying as she was in her breakout role in Winter’s Bone, former child actor Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right) plays Peeta, while musician Lenny Kravitz has the crucial role of Hunger Games stylist Cinna. (Becky Reed)

Josh Hutcherson As Peeta On whether the film is as brutal as the book:

Jennifer Lawrence As Katniss On the first time she read the books:

“I loved them. I felt that they were a very important thing for our generation to read, as we live in a world that’s obsessed with reality television, and completely desensitised to the shock factor. We’re using people’s tragedy for entertainment. We live in a world where history repeats itself, where there are governments that gain control over people by separating them and keeping them hungry and weak so they’re not strong enough to fight back. Everyone at Lionsgate, Gary, me, were all genuine fans of Suzanne’s work and wanted to stay true to it. We love what she’s trying to say.”

On the pressure of playing such a beloved character:

“Scary. The stories are incredible, the roles are incredible. This character of Katniss, she’s this futuristic Joan of Arc - she’s a symbol for hope and freedom, a hero that doesn’t want to be a hero, and all of these amazing things. The second you say yes, I knew a year from now my life was going to be completely different.”

On her training:

“Lots of running, because Katniss never walks anywhere. Free-running, track, hand-on-hand combat, climbing, archery, yoga. I’m not necessarily athletic - I run like an idiot, and I’m very uncoordinated, but I love sports. I was willing to do it over and over again, but not very well! Josh is faster than me, but I can hit a bullseye - I was trained by an Olympic athlete. X-Men was actually more difficult, as it was more gym work.”

“It has to be, as it’s part of the essence of the books, capturing how brutal it is. One of the big points of the story is that these kids are forced to be in these situations. It was tough though to find that balance between staying true to the book and the essence of the brutality and alienating the audience with gory visual things. You have to make it for a huge audience. One the reasons Gary Ross was hired is because he knew how to make it work in all aspects.”

On working with the likes of Woody Harrelson: “These are people I’ve looked up to my whole life, and now they’re working with me. Woody Harrelson, out of all the cast members, is the one whose movies I’ve seen the most - White Men Can’t Jump is one of my favourite movies ever. Working with him was an honour, and now we text and talk all the time. He’s not just Woody Harrelson, he’s my friend! How is this even possible? That’s amazing!”

On Suzanne involvement:

Collins’

“She was in the first audition that I had, which was mildly traumatising. She gave me a call when I got the part, saying ‘if there’s anything you need, here’s my cell phone, my home number, my email, just let me know’. She’s so sweet and she was on set a bunch... it gave the fans a sense of calm to know they weren’t just giving it to Hollywood to make whatever version they want. She was great at making us not feel intimidated; she knows we are actors who make our own interpretation of it.”

Lenny Kravitz As Cinna On how he got the part:

“I was in the Bahamas working on ‘Black and White America’. The phone rings and it’s Gary Ross, the director, and he said that he had seen me in Precious, liked the way I had portrayed nurse John in the film, and that the character of Cinna in The Hunger Games had a similar sensitivity and compassion. He offered me the role, so then I had to say ‘What’s Cinna and what’s Hunger Games?’ I had no idea what it was! I was on a very small island with not a bookstore in sight. I had to go to an area where there was signal to download the book. I couldn’t put it down. I called him back and said I would do the role.”

On the importance of his character:

“These performance art, theatrical pieces, where they light her dress, are quite dramatic. Cinna’s purpose is not only to make a statement with the image, but to stop her dying, because you have people that are betting, and wealthy people that can intervene and drop down something that’s very necessary for that person. He tries to develop her character so she’ll be attractive not only physically, but with her personality.”

On his friendship with Jennifer:

“I knew Jennifer from Zoe [Kravitz] from when they were doing X-Men over here in London and Paris. They would take the train, and my house was the flop house for the X-Men cast! Zoe would bring different people - six or seven at a time - for the weekend! I met Jennifer and immediately fell in love with her. Gary liked the fact we already had a relationship - he said it would help as I already look at her as a daughter in a way.” 77

film reviews

The Cabin In The Woods 13th April

A group of friends, including Thor star Chris Hemsworth, head off for a weekend in a remote cabin, where danger awaits. Think you've seen it all before? Think again, as Buffy creator Joss Whedon has scripted a game-changing movie that has to be seen to be believed. It's best to approach this witty horror without knowing a single thing about it, suffice to say even the audacious opening sequence alone will leave you slackjawed and exhilarated. From then on, it's a staggering rollercoaster ride through the genre in the most unique way. The cast - Kristen Connolly, Anna Hutchison and Jesse Williams - are immensely likeable and astute as their characters find there's something not quite right about the creepy cabin, but it's Fran Kranz who steals the show as a stoner with the best bong ever. Special mention must go to Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins - it would be churlish to reveal more, but they're responsible for the moments that will have geeks in tears of joy. Buffy, Cloverfield and Lost writer Drew Goddard makes his tremendous directorial debut a real crowd-pleaser - just when you think things can't get any more enjoyable he pulls out another surprise. Whedon describes his idea as a "very loving hate letter" to horror, and as such, Cabin eschews torture porn and shock tactics for striking, tense and macabre set pieces, and mocks character idiocy with glee. Sexy, savvy and subversive, it's the smartest, funniest horror since Scream. (Becky Reed)

Headhunters 6th April

Based on the 2008 crime novel from wildly popular author Jo Nesbo, this glossy Norwegian thriller manages to be both intelligent and ludicrous, but it's a blast from start to finish. Aksel Hennie is a superbly charismatic anti-hero as a recruitment consultant who compensates for his perceived physical inadequacies by moonlighting as a devious art thief. One particularly fortuitous scam involving Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj CosterWaldau leads him on a thrilling cat and mouse chase filled with icy black humour and shock twists. Tongue firmly in cheek, it's still a genuinely gripping and compelling ride with plenty of memorable and gasp-inducing moments involving an outside latrine, a tractor, a vicious dog and a brilliantly staged car crash. (Becky Reed)

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Iron Sky 4th April

Since 1945, a group of Nazis have been hiding on the dark side of the moon. Now in 2018, they return to earth to continue their war. ThatĂs the bonkers plot of Iron Sky, and it sets a tone that the cast get fully behind, playing a fun script with glee. There's more than a touch of cult appeal to this one, and as a Friday night six-pack movie, itĂs hard not to enjoy. There are a number of laugh-out-loud moments here, notably riffing on other Nazi-themed films with shot-for shot parodies, but whether or not this will appeal all hinges on its rather one-note sense of humour, as it turns its satirical sights onto contemporary world politics. Some of this satire is a little blunt, but slick visuals and a knowing sense of humour mean there is plenty to enjoy about Iron Sky. (Sam Faulkner)

The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists 28th march

Feel like the increasingly dire Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has killed interest in cutlass-waving, sea-faring bandits? Don't panic, as Aardman Animations have teamed up with Sony Pictures for a rip-roaring, risque and utterly enchanting stop-motion clay animation, based on Gideon Defoe's books. If the thought of Hugh Grant voicing a pirate captain who teams up with David Tennant's Charles Darwin to battle an evil Queen Victoria isn't enticing enough, there's an embarrassment of riches in every corner of the screen. From fat, flightless parrot Polly (clearly a dodo), "The Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate", riotous in-jokes and ingenious action-packed set pieces, Peter Lord has pushed the pirate boat out for his finest, funniest creation yet. (Becky Reed)

P OL O B Y LY L E & S C O T T

KELL BROOK PROF ESSIONA L BOX ER

SCOT TSM ENSW EA R.COM

games reviews

Out Now & Coming Soon

Binary Domain

(SEGA) – Xbox 360, PS3

You know when you shout at the screen at your NPC teammates and they don't respond? Now they will! Yelling a set of pre-defined commands orders your troops around this futuristic Neo-Tokyo setting as you tear synthetic flesh off marauding robo-fiends! Unfortunately, its Japanese take on western duck-and-cover games is often too generic and its under-developed 'trust' system that allows your soldier buddies to like or dislike you often seems more of a gimmick than a useful game mechanic. Regardless, shooting the face off a mechanoid is something to behold!

Max Payne 3

(Rockstar) Xbox 360, PS3

Rockstar's most troubled cop returns as an older, wiser and more cynical soul working in executive protection in São Paulo, Brazil only to have his world flipped, turned upside down more than the Fresh Prince as he's pulled into a shadowy world of conspiracy! The series staples all return, including bullettime, as well as a 'last man standing' mechanic giving Max a reprieve from death. Which is a bit handy.

I Am Alive

(Ubisoft) – Xbox 360, PS3 (Download Only)

A third-person post-apocalyptic survival adventure relying on stamina, human nature and intimidation rather than gunning everyone in the face. Ammunition is scarce in this dusty new world where civilisation has crumbled and the survivors act on desperation and primal urges, so you'll be bluffing your way through with empty ammo chambers as you scale huge, collapsing buildings and rescue despair-ridden humans. It's bleak stuff, but with more heart than many big budget releases this year, there's something quite special about this.

Prototype 2

(Activision) – Xbox 360, PS3, PC

A tank-punching third-person action adventure sees you shapeshift your way through a story of revenge and betrayal in this fast-paced sequel. With tendrils springing from your body, there are plenty of ways to dismember enemies and mindlessly leave their loved ones without spouses.

Mass Effect 3

(EA) – Xbox 360, PS3, PC

The third instalment of the 'epic' (original definition please, kiddies) space melodrama also draws a close to Commander Shepard's tale as he defends Earth from the ancient threat of the Reapers. Again. In fact, despite its slick RPG action, refined cinematic combat and layered levels of choice, ME3's only real problem is its repetition of story. Given we've invested so much in the series, it's both a shame and a comfort to see familiar staples like the Krogan genophage and the same old crew return. Where it excels is in its ability to repeat the same thing over and over and yet never get boring! Each samey mission will seem fresher than the one before thanks to a powerfully rich universe and mythos scripted by BioWare. New additions include collecting 'war assets' for the final fight against the Reapers and a fan-demanded co-op multiplayer mode! A fitting and moving epilogue to a classic modern sci-fi tale. 80 thisisfakediy.co.uk

Risen 2: Dark Waters

(Deep Silver) – Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Ahoy me hearties, etc. Revisit the nameless hero from 2009's action RPG as you sail the seven seas searching for booty-licious booty, but not in a sexy way. With a patched eye and a penchant for the booze, you'll fight enemies and monsters gaining XP and discovering new islands in this semi-openworld adventure.

BE SURE TO PICK UP...

FAR CRY 3-ING OUT LOUD...

Rayman Origins (Ubisoft)

Got yourself a new fancy PS Vita future-box but don't quite know what to do with it? Discover Rayman's roots (but not why he has no arms) with this delightful and colourful gem. With classic 2D platforming action, it seamlessly integrates the touch-screen from Sony's hand-held into old school gaming fun. An absolute must.

Retro Game Of The Month far cry 3

LEFT 4 DEAD 3

But it's the overhauled gameplay that's raising eyebrows for this FPS sequel â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the ability to shoot people from crouch mode without popping your head up like an idiot, and the introduction of various 'takedown' melee attacks all make Far Cry 3 mouth-wateringly appealing.

MANIAC MANSION 3

It's a far cry (see what we did there?) from the island paradise that Jason Brody expected as he and his friends are caught in the middle of a violent local conflict that sees the poor fella resort to slicing, dicing, shooting and beating his way through a range of locales in search of his missing girlfriend.

The Terminator (Virgin Games, 1992) Sega Mega Drive

Sticking fairly closely to the plot of the film this is a much forgotten action platformer in which you play younger-than-his-own-son future soldier Kyle Reese as he's sent back in time to save the mother of his unborn child, who'll ultimately grow up to be the leader of the resistance against the machine uprising. If you're unfamiliar with the plot of Terminator, terminate yourself now. Shifting between terminally dull and quite interesting, it never quite hits the mark, but remains special to fans, allowing you to play through some of the key moments from the film. Each level is a scene from the movie, with the general goal being finding a static Sarah Connor.

Don't worry, it's still a sandbox game, but narrative director Jason Vandenberghe has stated the story mode map will be around ten times larger than the previous instalments. TEN TIMES LARGER. That's like Far Cry 2... times ten! Err.. regardless, it'll be massive! So, 2012 is a big year for thirds! Mass Effect 3? Max Payne 3? Now Far Cry 3! Almost every game gets a sequel in this franchise-centric industry, but which ones haven't quite made it to the third yet that we'd like to see?

So Valve don't exactly scrimp on the DLCs for this title, especially after the complaints they got from the community when L4D2 was released so soon after the original. But we'd love to see a whole new story with brand new characters. As much as we'll miss Coach and those other pricks, they're not exactly as close to our hearts as Bill, Zoey, Francis and PEEEEELLLZZZ Louis. We're forever indebted to Maniac Mansion and its spiritual successor Day Of The Tentacle for really pulling us into the Lucasarts point 'n' click adventure world. DOTT had so much time-bending humour and imagination that it still boots the bollocks of most of its modernday contemporaries, so why hasn't this universe been expanded further?! There've been talks of 'episodic' based tales, akin to the new Monkey Island series, but we want a full-blown escapade featuring Bernard and those rocking tentacles.

HALF LIFE 3

Shh, don't go there...

Far Cry 3 is due for release on 6th September for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

When you finally encounter the Terminator, there's a genuine sense of dread at his overwhelming size and the fact you can unload several rounds of bullets into him before he falls, only to get back up like a terrifying Weeble. Tense and frantic dashes through streets, police stations and factories make up a generic, but curious number with some flashes of brilliance. Definitely one of the best Terminator games in a series that got even worse than the film franchise itself. Never did 'I'll be back' seem such an awful threat.

Back page the futureheads

the futureheads L u k e M o r g a n B r i t t o n w i n e s a n d d i n e s s ta r s o f t h e m u s i c w o r l d

photo: emma swann

fter taking one of my favourite bands, Slow Club, bowling last issue, we thought we’d mix things up this time with a band I’m less well acquainted with. Perhaps I’m going to have to start a Match.com account for the mere purpose of the longevity of this column. It would probably read something like: ‘Occupation: Professional Musician Chaperone’, ‘Looking For: Bands and/or Artists to wine and dine’, ‘Specifications: 20k+ Likes on Facebook, 15k+ Twitter followers’. Instead, word got round to us that The Futureheads were just up the road in Highbury doing a press day, so our inboxes were kept spam free from people pretending to be Rivers Cuomo. We thought, what better a way to give the band a time-out than by taking them for a pint in a nearby pub. Nothing can go wrong in a pub, right? Well, that’s what you would think. But like karma clockwork, I still managed to put my foot in it. Entering the bar, with a ‘Home Fans Only’ sign hanging from the

82 thisisfakediy.co.uk

entrance, staunch Manchester United fan Ross catches a glimpse of an Arsenal scarf and gravely announces, “This hasn’t started well.” Just imagine if all dates began this way: the other half reels of every thought like a first-person audiobook. “I don’t like your shirt,” “What have you done to your hair?”, “You’re a lot shorter than your profile picture suggested.” It would be horrible. But perhaps not all is lost, can love survive football divide? “I think if you can accept that your partner supports a rival team to you then you’ve gone through the worst of it,” Ross begins as he takes a sip of his drink. “You’ll be accepting of anything from there on.” If anything it would perhaps add to the pleasure; the forbidden fruit, each of you ravished by the thought of quite literally screwing your enemy. “Take that, Mourinho,” you should probably never say out loud however. The food arrives and we settle down for lunch. If you’re looking to try and woo The Futureheads at home then you will need to purchase Dave a traditional fish and chips,

Ross crudites and a Pepsi, Jaff an egg and cress sandwich on “posh bread” and Barry – ever the cheap date – just a beer. You may try to decipher what this says about each member and how it relates to their role in the band if you wish, but I’m probably not going to bother. As the date comes to an end, conversation ventures on to the band’s worst first dates. The winner has to be Jaff, who tells of a story where he went home with an “art student” only in the morning to be awaken by the noise of said girl shaving her head. “One night with him and she’s ready to convert to being a Buddhist monk,” the others laugh. As we part ways, I’m relieved that nobody is rushing for the clippers whilst screaming “unclean, unclean!”, so I know I’ve done just enough not to top this. The Futureheads’ new album ‘Rant’ will be released on 2nd April via Nul Records.