ZIGGY November 14 by ZIGGY

November 2014 / Free

Iggy Pop Sucking in the ‘70s

That ‘70s Issue: The Vans Sidestripe Horace Panter Syd Barrett Sheila Rock Annie Hall and disco!

Contents

Noise

Style

Elsewhere

23 Next: Blood Diamonds Fun arrives in the form of Mike Tucker

12 Buzz: Coach Dreamers Stuart Vevers dreams a little dream

28 Profile: Glen Matlock “We knew what we didn’t want to do”

24 Collection: Alexander Wang for H&M It’s game time

60 Feature: That’s ‘70s Crowd Our list of 70 creative cats that kept truckin’ in the 1970s

58 Incoming: Iggy Pop We celebrate the man who made and broke the ‘70s

30 Icon: The Vans Sidestripe How Vans earned its stripes

72 Talk: Jungle “I’m always trying to escape into the music and into the visuals of Jungle”

Cover Photography: Adrian Boot

78 Talk: Little Dragon “We were just ready to open up our little bubble and let other people in”

38 Time: INOX by Victorinox Francois Nunex on the test of time 48 Spread: Shades of Scarlet Conquering When fierce takes over

74 Abc: A New Hope The ‘70s cinematic landscape, told in alphabets 70 Talk: Sheila Rock “If punk means being individual, then I guess I can say that I am punk”

Hello

#31: That ‘70s Issue It gave us disco, birthed punk, widened lapels, made denim, redefined cinema-going, and coated everything else in velvet and glitter – the work of the 1970s still rings loud and proud. Coming after the counterculture breeding ground that was the ‘60s, the era was marked equally by decadence (this being the Me Decade, after all) and disillusionment (with all that went before, including decadence), both of which enabled fearless impressions to be left upon the creative arts and entertainment. The ‘70s run of records, fashions, films and people are still revelatory artifacts today, and in the next few pages, are lovingly resurrected, and celebrated for their originality and longevity. This was a decade that changed the game in more ways than one. Can you dig it?

Editor in chief

General Manager

Min Chen min@ziggymag.sg

Yu-Jin Lau jin@ziggymag.sg +65 9844 4417

Writer

Contributors

Indran P indran@ziggymag.sg

Intern Sweehuang Teo

Amanda Tan Emma Neubronner Chuck Reyes Jeremy Fong Loo Reed Rosalind Chua Stacy Lim Xara Lee

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without permission from the publishers. The views expressed in ZIGGY are those of the respective contributors and are not necessarily shared by the magazine or its staff. Every effort has been made to ensure all information in the magazine is correct at the time it is sent to print. MCI (P) 083/04/2014 ZIGGY is published every month by Qwerty Publishing Pte Ltd. Printed in Singapore by Also Dominie Pte Ltd (L029/09/2013)

Word

“To use a cliché, the ‘60s never really ended until later on in the ‘70s. I sort of remember Exile on Main Street being done in France and also in the United States, and after that going on tour and becoming complacent, and thinking, ‘It’s 1972. Fuck it. We’ve done it.’” – Mick Jagger

Word

Buzz

Still Going Strong Leonard Cohen sings the blues on Popular Problems Text: Indran P In 2008, as he was inducting Leonard Cohen into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Lou Reed broke character and said, “We are so lucky to be alive at the same time as Leonard Cohen”. And as Cohen’s upstanding rep and more importantly, singular contributions to music and literature throughout the decades attest, Reed’s esteem wasn’t so much a personal endorsement as it was an echo of a universal sentiment. Even so, unencumbered by the weight of his own influence, Cohen continues to press on and just a few days past his 80th year, has just released his 13th solo full-length Popular Problems. Popular Problems is quintessential Cohen. In its very title and the songs housed under it, Cohen rekindles the magic of what makes him a sincere, genuine, globally revered name. All the old tropes of war, depression, the pushand-pull play of life and

death, and the multitude of ironies inherent in the human experience are framed as perennial popular problems that he sing-speaks on with liquored charm and implacable cool. Each of the record’s nine songs is a sterling case in point but even amongst these, the bossa-blues number “Almost Like the Blues” is a standout. Weary, squint-eyed and exquisitely grizzled, Cohen dispenses selfaware wisdom in lines like, “There’s torture and there’s killing / There’s all my bad reviews / The war, the children missing / Lord, it’s almost like the blues”, parodying rock’s narcissism with the unanswerable thrall of the Bigger Questions. And underscoring this all is the blues. In all of its 35 minutes, Popular Problems is 2014’s own “Hallelujah”. Popular Problems is out now on Columbia Records

Buzz

Dream Team Coach Dreamers’ next-gen cool Text: Rosalind Chua A new horizon is in sight at Coach this season, as Stuart Vevers steps right up to helm the brand’s creative direction. Fall/ Winter marks his first collection with the iconic New York house of leather and luxe, and while his serving of fresh sportswear-inspired pieces – including oversized coats, leather minis and boots, with fringe and fleece everywhere – did work an especial American cool, there’s no way he’s stopping just there. Enter Coach Dreamers, the brand’s latest campaign, which features intimate portraits of intriguing new artistes whose spirit and talents fall directly in line with Coach’s MO. And in its debut season, these Coach Dreamers come in the form of BANKS, Zoë Kravitz, Odeya Rush and Christopher Abbott, four personalities who, in Vevers’ words,

“lead their lives in an individual, unexpected way”. Indeed, cool and creativity are already writ large in these original talents – in Kravitz’s slinky, synth-y Lolawolf, in BANKS’ hype-raising take on r&b, and in Odeya and Christopher’s dramatic endeavours – and can’t help but translate well onto the Coach Dreamers canvas. Styled by Karl Templer, art directed by Fabien Baron and photographed by Mikael Jansson, these images, whilst showcasing Coach’s newest arrivals like the Rhyder, also come ripe with an spontaneity, optimism and authenticity equally inspired by the house and its Dreamers. “It captures the personality and attitude of the collection,” as Vevers rightly reckons, “as well as the people who will make it uniquely theirs.”

Buzz

Strange Transmissions Thom Yorke partners with BitTorrent on Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes Text: Indran P These days, the everlouder cries about the death of the album and pop culture’s own thirst for spectacle have elevated the process of the album rollout to something that rests closer to artistic statement than marketing gimmick. There’ve been a few revolutionary ones in recent times, with Kanye West and the Arcade Fire opting for a prolonged approach to build anticipation until release day. Then, there’ve been the sudden, take-youby-surprise strategies employed by Beyoncé and U2, which, well, let’s face it, worked a lot better for one than it did for the other. Joining in these ranks, Radiohead honcho Thom Yorke and his producer pal Nigel Godrich, in what they called “an experiment to see if the mechanics of the system are something that the general public can get its head around”, recently released a collection of songs, Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes, into the ether via peer-to-peer file-sharing client BitTorrent.

The first album to use BitTorrent’s pay-gate feature, Modern Boxes was made available as a torrent bundle containing eight MP3 files, a video for the single “A Brain in the Bottle” and the project’s artwork, for US$6. Statistically speaking, the album’s novel form and/or Yorke’s most frontally electronic approach yet seems to have struck a chord with the online community, having been downloaded over almost three million times as of this writing. But though he’s positioned it as a “an effective way of handing some control of Internet commerce back to people who are creating the work”, the sheer novelty of its existence and its all-too-airy songs make it feel less like a self-contained body of work than a lead-in to the rollout of the muchanticipated release by Yorke’s other band... Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes is available for download at bittorrent.com

Buzz

Rock Steady Dr. Martens Fall/Winter ’14: Spirit of 69 Text: Min Chen The English mods of the ‘60s gave us more than scooters and David Bowie; in and around 1969, they also begot the skinheads. As much working class heroes as they were walking fashion plates, the early skinheads were a collision of music, style and politics that defined an attitude and a way of life. Their choice of choons leaned into ska and reggae, their defiant ethos took cues from their mod predecessors, and their style came highly informed by the Jamaican rude boys of the day. Indeed, it’s never been hard to spot a skinhead, not with a detail-obsessed wardrobe that came stocked with fine button-down shirts, braces, flight jackets, slim-cut jeans and a good pair of boots. More than a passing fad, the skinhead look continues to endure even as the subculture itself has undergone numerous revivals and amongst everyone, surely Dr. Martens knows best. As the skinheads’ preferred footwear, Dr. Martens’ ties with the tribe go all the way back and this Fall/Winter, will continue to go

strong with the brand’s Spirit of 69 collection. Celebrating the first-gen skinheads, this launch sees the Doc rope in a number of other brands with equal resonance with skinheads, whilst upholding the principles of style, detail and durability. In here you’ll find subcultural hallmarks like a Brutus Trimfit shirt, Edwin Jeans, Alpha Industries’ iconic MA-1 flight jacket and of course, Dr. Martens’ own Church Monkey Boot, Smiths Shoe, Leroy Loafer and Capper Boot, all of which have been lovingly revived in biscuit-backed leather. To polish up the skinhead shine is also a limited edition leather record box bag, which marks a collaboration between Dr. Martens and the ska/rocksteady legend that is Trojan Records. Still hanging tough and looking snazzy, the skinhead and the Spirit of 69 live again. Shop the Dr. Martens Spirit of 69 collection at Orchard Central, #03-05, Wheelock Place, #0217A, and drmartens.com

Fresh

Text: Indran P

TV On The Radio: Seeds

Way before altr&b became hot property in indie rock, Brooklyn’s TVOTR ushered in the first blush of the new millennium with a sensibility that bore echoes of everyone from Prince to Brian Eno to the Pixies. This month, the band will reprise its head-turning, avant-garde marshalling of rock ‘n’ roll and everything else for the fifth time on Seeds, its first fulllength since the untimely passing

of bassist Gerard Smith in 2011. Recently, the band threw the world a bone in “Happy Idiot”, a new cut from the album that brings eyesdown self-loathing and driving rock hooks together with spectacularly cathartic aplomb. Frontman Tunde Adebimpe has called Seeds, “1,000 percent, without a doubt, the best thing we’ve ever done”. For the rest of us, there is only the waiting. Out 18 November

...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead: IX

Rick Ross: Hood Billionaire

Ariel Pink: pom pom

Trail of Dead has spent its 20-year career mining transcendental noise from rock’s already louder and noisier fringes. And while no songs have been let out to light the way for its ninth full-length, the band will have you know that “this transmission is here to transport and ruin you”. Out 11 November

Having just dropped his sixth LP Mastermind in March this year, Rozay made the news recently when he announced that yet another full-length will be released into the ether this month. And though no listens have been teased out, we know that he compares this seventh showing to having “a gold ring on every finger”. Out 24 November

Weirdo-on-demand Ariel Pink’s got a double LP’s worth of what he’s called his first solo record coming for you. Within its whopping 70 minutes lie creepy, hook-y treasures like the unsettling but sugary folk jangle, “Put Your Number in My Phone”, where he begs an object of affection to do just that in an eerily blissed-out deadpan. Out 18 November

Mark Lanegan Deerhoof: Band: Phantom La Isla Radio Bonita

The alt-rock godhead recorded much of his ninth album on an iPhone app called Funkbox. But trivia like that doesn’t matter when you sound like a rock ‘n’ roll oracle. Whether he’s flying through mythic synths on “Floor of the Ocean” or doing his blues-rock thing on “Harvest Home”, we’re hearing gritty, whiskey-glazed perfection. Out now

Deerhoof’s 12th album was recorded live in guitarist Ed Rodriguez’s basement during a “weeklong sleepover arguing over whether to try and sound like Joan Jett or Janet Jackson”. This fact probably explains why teaser listens “Exit Only” and “Paradise Girls”, pack sugary hooks and a massive punk bite. Out 4 November

Run the Jewels: RTJ 2

Last year, as Run the Jewels, poison-dartspitters El-P and Killer Mike brought the East Coast and the dirty South together with barb-wire bars and megaton beats. And besides the handiwork of Rage Against The Machine’s Zach de la Rocha and Blink-182’s Travis Barker, their new one features feel-it-in-your-gut bangers like “Blockbuster Night Part 1”. Out now

Rewind

Greatest Hits How Sly and the Family Stone defined the ‘70s and beyond on There’s a Riot Goin’ On Text: Indran P

On 20 November 1971, Sly and the Family Stone released There’s A Riot Goin’ On, one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most unlikely masterpieces. As disco threatened to submerge the ‘70s in a haze of false euphoria, Sly Stone shed his old throne as world-conquering hitmaker and rose to his new position as iconoclast, lighting fires around all that was wrong. More than four decades on, Riot continues to exert not just cultural but psychic influence over pop, rock and all their attendant sounds. Let us pay homage.

No fun Five months after Marvin Gaye released his own ever-resounding stocktake of the times What’s Going On, Sly and the Family Stone answered with There’s a Riot Goin’ On. As journo Peter Doggett remembers, “The album reeked of exhaustion and boredom – with America, with the revolution, with activism, with optimism.” Indeed, in what seemed like artistic suicide, Sly had completely abandoned the spirit-raising soul-funkrock-psych mélange that he brought into the world. Riot was a fragmentary, overdubbed and syncopated collection of songs that, to the horror of band’s fans, was largely written and recorded without the Family Stone and also featured a drum machine. Like some of his bandmates but more so, Sly was also addicted to cocaine and PCP at this point and given to wild, erratic behavior. His indecipherable lyrics and yodel-cry delivery on Riot no doubt stemmed from this. Regarding the record a month after its release, Rolling Stone writer Vince Aletti rightly described it as having “no peaks, no emphasis, little movement”. Greil Marcus also famously said it was

“no fun”. But given what was happening, how could there be any fun?

its rep as one of the most fascinating masterpieces ever recorded.

A new funk Riot debuted at no.1 on the US album chart and sold half a million copies in under a month, only this time, unlike the band’s four prior full-lengths, it wasn’t the sound of celebration. Its prophetic opener “Luv n’ Haight” held in germ the record’s overall mood, tone and vibe. Over a latticework of muted horns, keyboards, guitars and a rigidly linear drumbeat, Sly expressed his disillusionment in the mantra, “Feel so good don’t want to move”. Awash in this inertia, later songs like “Africa Talks to You ‘The Asphalt Jungle’”, which housed the album’s most devastating line, “When life means much to you / Why live for dying?” emanated a dread that was amplified by the record’s levelled topography. But though far removed from the utopian flash and bang of Woodstock and the band’s earlier work, Riot marked the evolution of funk from its prototypical, Motowndefined form to a darker, more dynamic and more personal incarnation that prompted vets like Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock to take it up and run wild. Muso Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it “funk at its deepest and most impenetrable”; Bob Stanley called it “dense, rambling and rewarding”; Robert Christgau unequivocally said, “Sly had Made It”. And its influence on everything that came after, from Exile on Main Street to hip hop itself, is testament to

Man in the mirror In 1970, at the apex of his addiction, Sly made an appearance on the Dick Cavett Show, where he said, “I look in the mirror when I write”. More than any of his good-timeevoking earlier hits, Riot marked the greatest triumph of this practice, its length-and-breadth a vivid reflection of the riot of his lived experience. Remarkably, it also gave the band one of its biggest hits in “Family Affair”, a moving, drum machine-led number where Sly presaged the eventual dissolution of the Family Stone: “You can’t cry ‘cos you’ll look broke down / But you’re crying anyway ‘cos you’re all broke down”. Instead of his familiar gospel-shout, Sly sung in a much lower register and mimicked a child crying. Along with the rest of the album, this was one of his gifts to the ‘70s. Drugs, financial mismanagement and entanglements with ill-intentioned folks subsequently made him one of rock’s most tragic casualties but within the grooves of his penultimate record, Sly Stone shared the wisdom of his age for the lifetimes to come.

Runway

Edge of Seventies

Topman Design Spring/Summer 2015 Text: Min Chen Looking forward by gazing back, Topman Design is taking on Spring/Summer 2015 with all the pop and psychedelic glory that made up the 1970s. Yes, those perennially flared, wide-collared and print-coated looks that defined the Woodstock generation

made up the brand’s London Fashion Week showcase, acting not just for nostalgia’s sake, but also with conceptual and contemporary ends in sight. Hippie dippy floral motifs, faded denim, kaleidoscopic zig-zag prints, velvets and silks were out in full force, blanketing

a quintessentially ‘70s wardrobe made up of casual separates – knitted sweaters, suede jackets, bellbottomed jeans – and polished vests, kimonos and two-piece suits. Also providing great directional aid were such statement accessories as vintage frames and

briefcases, on top of a vivid colour palette that shaded from pastels to saturated yellows and blues. However much a sartorial throwback, there’s still enough in here to fuel any freespirited, modern-day imagination. Just ask Richard Ashcroft.

Runway

Epic Theatre

Prada Fall/Winter 2014 Text: Min Chen With conceptual cues gleaned from the avantgarde fringes of German culture, Miuccia Prada’s Fall/Winter collection is no frivolous fashion romp. Instead, finding her muses in the cinema of Fassbiner (notably 1972’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant) and the

dramatic choreography of Pina Bausch (whose work in the ‘70s bred expressionist dance), Prada’s latest creations are stern and moody manifestations of an intriguing and theatrical femininity. It’s in the host of loose and light ‘70s-esque shirtdresses,

sack dresses and slip dresses, boldly set in jewel tones and geo prints, occasionally rendered transparent, all of which are then offset with heavy, boxy outerwear. The masculine edges of these blazers and overcoats, though, come softened with

injections of Mongolian fur, wool and goat hair, offering the latest word in dark sensuality. While pops of red and mustard do lighten proceedings, they rarely stand in the way of Prada giving Germanic ennui all-new chic and cinematic vent.

Listomania

Get Your Groove On

10 songs from the swinging ‘70s Text: Indran P

James Brown: “Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine, Pt.1” Disco wasn’t the only music that the ‘70s produced. The loose, sexy and patently rhythmic form known as funk also came into the world in this era and its chief instigator was none other than James Brown, who greeted the ‘70s by making his arrangements more fluid and spontaneous, and releasing the founding document of funk in “Sex

Machine”. The spry basslines, deft licks and limb-unlocking grooves, as well as the exhortations to “Get up!” and “Shake your moneymaker!” all started here.

Kate Bush: “Wuthering Heights”

Led Zeppelin: “Stairway to Heaven” In 1970, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant spent some time sequstered in the Welsh mountains and emerged with one of rock’s greatest testimonies. In 2007, Page reminisced, “I have to do a lot of hard work before I can get anywhere near those stages of consistent, total brilliance”. ‘Nuff said.

Bob Marley & The Wailers: “No Woman, No Cry” Besides making known the fact that Kate Bush shares the same birthday as the writer of the titular classic, “Wuthering Heights” established the 19-year-old Bush as a star in her own right. It also marked the first time that a female had topped the UK charts with a song of her own. Emily Bronte’d be proud, indeed.

Instantly recognised anywhere in the world it’s played, Bob Marley’s first legitimate hit is both struggle anthem and placeholder in the Greatest Songs of All Time category. Over the lilt and sway of a reggae melody, Marley assures his “little darling” with the now-universal refrain, “Everything’s gonna be all right!” In a word, beautiful.

Talking Heads: “Psycho Killer” This may have been a nod to David Byrne’s fascination with the Joker and Hannibal Lecter, but that bassline, that exuberance that made new wave something we should care about and that sense of arms-open release are pure rock ‘n’ roll deliverance.

Bruce Springsteen: “Born to Run”

Marvin Gaye: “What’s Going On”

Leaving behind the popcentric dictates of the Motown Sound, Gaye embraced a more heartbleedingly earnest, more political sensibility that bluntly dared to ask the question in the title to the police brutality and injustice that bubbled just outside the confines of pop’s bright lights.

The Clash: “London Calling” Before 1975, Springsteen wasn’t quite the Boss, with his two prior albums having flopped quite miserably. Then, he released this wall-of-sound love letter and became a working class hero and subsequently, Boss.

More than three decades on, this heat-seeking punk screed against hype and its beasts (“phony Beatlemania”) and against the death of culture and the lies of civilisation (“London is drowning and I, I live by the river”) still resounds mightily.

Stevie Wonder: “Superstition”

Kingmaker, and pop prophet, Stevie Wonder is a good-time proffering deity. His 1972 single was one such mode of conveyance of armsraised salvation whose funky, metallic guitars and airborne horns made pop a holy matter.

The Beatles: “The Long and Winding Road”

As the implosion of The Beatles reached its denouement in April 1970, the Fab Four bid adieu to their infinitely mythologised decade with this, their last single. In its swooning, melancholic arrangements and tragic air, their last hit was also their least Beatlessounding.

The Sound of Fun It’s always a good time with Blood Diamonds Text: Indran P At its most fundamental level, irony is just plain funny. It’s as funny as Kansas-viaVancouver DJ and producer Mike Tucker making thoroughly contemporary (read: trending) electro-pop under the moniker Blood Diamonds, a term that derives its meaning from an unfortunate and tragic context that couldn’t be further removed from the sun-kissed, Technicolor, yachtparty stylings that the 24-year-old has been carving a big niche with. But what the hell, as he lets on, all he wants to do is make “fun s**t”, so leave him to it and check your gravity at the door. When Blood Diamonds is on, there’s only one thing to do: party. Like the Beach Boys’ ‘60s smash, “Fun, Fun, Fun”, that extolled the cosmological values of

a good time unfettered by the guilt or selfconsciousness and the converse impulse of pursuing a, shall we say, more “intellectual” enterprise, Tucker’s Blood Diamonds project has its roots in the need to make music that articulates a sense of fun without insisting on itself. This is why, even though he studied jazz guitar in middle school and even joined a jazz band, subsequently, he hasn’t touched a guitar since completing high school. This is also why, in 2007, when he “picked up some DJ equipment and fell into the hell vortex of DJing these f**king s**tty art school parties with people wearing jungle spandex and Indian headdresses”, asking him to play Girl Talk, he decided that he was “over it”. It’s then that he dipped into the intricacies of production

software and decided to go back to “that fun s**t that [he] liked”. But that’s not to say that Blood Diamonds is interested only in soundtracking cocktailfuelled, oceanside revels. Like the three albums that serve as lodestars to him, Outkast’s The Love Below, R. Kelly’s Trapped in the Closet and M83’s Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts, Blood Diamonds is interested in using the lowest common denominator of pop in an interesting, escapeoffering way. “Heart”, the marimba-powered, tropical-flavoured house jam that resounded throughout 2010, was his first statement of celebratory intent. This was followed by a series of highlights, including the 2012-owning Phone Sex EP that saw his pal Claire Boucher aka Grimes lending her own

enchantments to the title track. It’s also no surprise why indie powerhouse label 4AD practically begged to have their name on the tin. These days, Blood Diamonds has taken what he calls his “generic-brand pineapple-wave” to the backroom, remixing for artists whose buzzworthiness is matched by his own, such as indie-pop vixen Sky Ferreira, and hip hop hype-magnets IAMSU! and Tinashe. Then, just recently, Madonna announced that she had enlisted him to bring the fun to her upcoming 13th album, particularly to three tracks rumoured to be titled “Iconic”, “Sex” and “Trustnobitch”. Yes, one of the biggest living artists in the world wants a slice of those pineapples too. This is happening.

Collection

Sport On Alexander Wang x H&M is all game Text: Min Chen

In the name of play and performance has Alexander Wang undertaken his landmark alliance with H&M. As the first American to head up a collaborative collection with the Swedish high-street retailer, Wang rightly brings his A-game in a 61-piece range that’s bent on fusing the worlds of sports and performance with

everyday life. What that entails is a vision of urban and athletic elegance, a collection that’s littered with highly technical and functional highlights, and since this is Alexander Wang, a lesson in effortless, minimalist and tongue-in-cheek chic. This being Wang’s first foray into performance wear, the designer has spared no expense in

his delivery of seamless quick-drying tees, tanks and crop tops, as well as sports bras, shorts and leggings, which alternately carry bold logos and pointelle patterns. These performance details further merge with Wang’s signature fabric innovations to create such highlights as the scuba dress, which features interwoven

layers and cut-outs, a leather motorcycle jacket with a nylon puffer back, and sweatshirts that bear foam-injected prints and logos. All of the above also translates into utilitarian pieces, notably in Alexander’s line-up of technical outerwear and city-ready pieces like black leather track pants (to make Kanye proud) and scuba motorbike sweats. And as is Wang’s

signature, the entire range has been served in a muted colour palette that leaves no room for idle pinks or yellows. Finally, making an equal point of Wang’s sense of sporty adventure and humour are the collection’s haul of objects and accessories. Those jacquard beanies, nylon duffel bags and hybrid scuba sneakers

aside, there’s also a good serving of a yoga mat, towels, water bottle, boxing gloves, swim goggles and a whistle on a two-finger ring. What a great way to play. Your move, Stella McCartney. Shop the Alexander Wang x H&M collection from 6 November at H&M Orchard Building and ION Orchard.

What’s kicking on Alexander Wang x H&M

Silver down jacket A reflective wonder complete with hood and side ventilation zips to beat winter

Scuba dress Mixed fabrics, cut-outs and interwoven layers make this an undoubtedly Alexander Wang creation

Baseball shirt This classic sports staple is made new with leather appliques and a nonemore-black colour block

Panelled leggings A mix and mingle of houndstooth jacquard and stretch silver reflective fabric

Sports bra Another tongue-incheek exercise in ‘90sstyled branding, AW’s sports bra ain’t shy about its origins

WANG sweatshirt Just in case you’ve forgotten who’s boss, this sweatshirt bears a bold, foam-injected reminder

Collection

Text: Min Chen

Alice + Olivia Fall 2014

Enchanted is the mood at Alice + Olivia this season, with Stacey Bendet venturing a collection themed “A Midwinter Night’s Dream”. According to the designer, this one’s all about “sexiness and fantasy”, “luxury and decadence”, and she’s duly introduced a world of rich velvets, regal laces, handsome brocades and luxe metallics. Behold pieces like party dresses, tailored jackets and knit coats that bear whimsy in their butterfly motifs, and a romanticism in their jewel tones and lace detailing. All that bohemian beauty will also find a sexier counterpoint in thigh-high boots, ultra-miniskirts and a spread of metallic shades. Dream on, ladies. Available at Alice + Olivia at ION Orchard, #03-17

5cm Fall 2014

Nike Tech Converse Pack Fall 2014 Holiday 2014

Making its way into Fall with its tough, slim-cut figure intact, 5cm is championing a darker edge in its latest seasonal offerings. Its ladies collection leads off with the theme of “Dark Romance”, which sees a ‘50s-styled femininity crossed with tougher elements. Hence: lush wool jackets cut in masculine proportions, sweatshirts with chiffon details and leatherskin A-line skirts. The gents get to pick from a line dubbed “Dark Paradise”, which sports a gothic chic from its prints (marble) to its fabrics (scuba, leather, velvet) right down to its embellishments (studs, sequins, zips). Available at i.t at Bugis Junction, Orchard Gateway and Wisma Atria

Nike Tech Pack’s Fall ’14 iteration is another forward-thinking statement that continues to nail contemporary silhouettes as well as advanced insulation and articulation. Two key pieces make up this latest Tech Pack: the Nike Tech Butterfly Jacket which features an asymmetrical, structured fit and greater range of motion, and the Nike Tech Windrunner IRD which has been cut from water-resistant iridescent woven overlay for increased protection and a handsome chevron aesthetic. The likes of Nike Tech FZ Hoodie, Nike Tech Pants and Nike Tech AW77 round off the collection. Available at selected Nike Sportswear retailers and nike.com/ techpack

Rain, mud, dirt and filth have got nothing against Converse’s spanking new Chuck Taylor All-Star Rubber Collection. These latest Chucks may feature a soft fleece lining on their insides, but their exteriors also happen to boast a waterresistant rubber look to keep your feet warm and dry. Added to that are a gusseted tongue, brass eyelets and all-over popcoloured coats that make these sneakers as sleek as they are festival-ready. Available at all Converse stores and converse. com.sg

Cult

Crazy Diamond Celebrating the madcap genius of Syd Barrett Text: Indran P Illustration: Loo Reed

As the ‘60s drew to a close, two bands began recording at Abbey Road. They were both led by brilliant eccentrics who interpreted the rhythms of life in superlatively dazzling ways. And while both expired under heartbreaking circumstances, one went a lot sooner and more pitifully than the other. Roger Keith “Syd” Barrett was the former and in his unfortunately short tenure as the architect of the zeitgeist in the late ‘60s, he effected a musical and cultural shift that resounded into the ‘70s and beyond. Pop, rock and all their attendant sounds cannot turn back the tide of his doings for which they are all the richer. Revelations from a madman According to cold, hard facts, Barrett was a musician only from 1965 to 1972. But in this seven-year spell he produced music that established him alongside the most influential and inspiring musicians of all time. Under his direction, Pink Floyd’s debut, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, released in 1967, its only album made under his leadership,

into one of the rock ‘n’ roll’s walking wounded before he could allow his visionary flame to prolong its glow.

entered into the cultural bloodstream with the brick-through-windshield shock of its audacity, novelty and vision. Spurred also by the two famously confounding non-album singles “Arnold Layne” and “See Emily Play”, Piper brought pop and rock to bear to on the fractured and fleeting mental and emotional impressions of the everyday and also looked spaceward to produce a hitherto unheard of sound and sensibility. Eerily childlike songs like “Lucifer Sam”, “Bike” and “The Gnome” gave observations made in waking life – like, “I’ve got a bike / You can ride it if you like” – a nightmarish feel, with Barrett’s experimental use of reverb and dissonance providing

a sense of foreboding enchantment. Then, there were the loud, astral freakouts like “Astronomy Domine” and the almost 10-minute “Interstellar Overdrive” which clashed jarring, virtuosic sonic feats together way before “prog” had entered rock’s lexicon. Live, these Barrettpenned compositions were both imposing and breathtaking. Renowned ‘70s photographer Mick Rock had this to say about the first time he saw them, “‘Unprecedented’ is the only word I can use to describe it. There had not been a sound like this before”, adding, “And it was definitely the Syd Barrett band”. Nick Kent concurs, remembering that Barrett “invented a

new way for a rock band to express themselves”. Following his ousting from the band due to his heightened drug problems and chemical imbalance, Barrett released two folkminded solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett, in 1970, before sequestering himself in his Cambridge home. While more musically conservative compared to Piper, these albums, revived a sense of English whimsy that had been overrun by the Americanisms that were creeping into English pop and placed a heightened emphasis on Barrett’s songwriting and lyrical explorations into surreal, altered states. As muso John Harris inquired, “Who else could have

written songs called “Gigolo Aunt” and “Baby Lemonade”? Who else, indeed? The diamond shines on At the time of Barrett’s passing due to complications from pancreatic cancer and diabetes in 2006, Elbow’s Guy Garvey fittingly eulogised, “I wonder what music would be like if he’d never lived.” Seeing that at his peak, he was the only musical force capable of rivalling the din surrounding The Beatles with his own epiphanic moves, Garvey’s hinging of the trajectory of music on just Barrett seems far from nonsensical or melodramatic. But, as the long-told story goes, the twinned grip of drugs and madness turned him

Yet, in the face of his widely known LSD abuse and increasingly bizarre behaviour, he’ll always cast a deservedly and undeniably long shadow over all of music. “The acid brought out his latent madness [but] I’m sure it was the latent madness that gave him his creativity”, Peter Jenner, Pink Floyd’s manager and producer, recounted in 1988. It was this creativity that made Pink Floyd the most thrilling band in rock ‘n’ roll for a flicker of a moment until it ossified into a megacorporation. It was also this same creativity that spurred career iconoclasts like Jim Reid, John Lydon and David Bowie to create worlds of their own, to say nothing of Britpop, freak folk and today’s quirk-prizing indie scenes, that’d be much poorer without his existence. Lost to the world though he may have been, his legacy will always keep giving. To quote one of his biggest beneficiaries, Bowie, he truly was “a diamond indeed”.

No B.S. music

Blurred Lines

iLoveMakonnen is on another level Text: Indran P

The twinned worlds of rap and hip hop are experiencing a limelightbathed interest of unprecedented intensity right now. This glow is thoroughly contemporary and favours indie-minded weirdoes whose hearton-sleeve tell-alls gleam with as much hype cachet as their (inherent and/or acquired) quirks. The legitimately meteoric rise of LA-viaAtlanta rapper-producer iLoveMakonnen, whose breakthrough self-titled

EP propelled him from bedroom obscurity to a namecheked-by-Miley MVP in the currently fertile grey area between indie and rap, definitely owes a lot to the resting position of pop culture’s needle. And fortunately for anyone concerned about the needle at all, iLoveMakonnen’s sudden fame has just as much to do with his far-out, genre-blending, eminently likeable sounds. But first, there’s the issue of his name.

Born Makonnen Sheran, iLoveMakonnen was involved in a gunrelated mishap that led to the death of his best friend in 2008, and though he wasn’t guilty, he was placed under house arrest for two years. Completely isolated, and having to endure the hatred and indignation of the community for a crime he didn’t commit, the then-18-year-old added the eyebrow-raising prefix to his first name to dispel the depression and anger welling up within him. “Nobody loved Makonnen but me”, he remembers, slowly fortifying his self-belief by “making music, drawing, creating, writing stories, designing clothes”. It was the first of these labours, music, that he made available to the world on his MySpace page, sharing his early rock and hip hop alchemy with curious lookers-on, including a then-unknown Adele. A brief dalliance with

lo-fi indie pop in the band Phantom Posse and a short stint in cosmetology school – where he painted the head of a mannequin that he now brings everywhere – followed, until a 2012 encounter with of-the-moment producer Mike WiLL Made It. Impressed with Makonnen’s off-beat sing-speak and ear for kaleidoscopic sounds, Mike introduced him to Sonny Digital and Metro Boomin, tastemaking raptimists who put their starpower behind iLoveMakonnen’s hitstrewn breakthrough EP that dropped in July this year. From that point on, Makonnen’s buzz travlled at light speed. Woozy, psychedelic and arrhythmic, the singles, including the club-readybut-not-quite “I Don’t Sell Molly No More” and the rippling, almostr&b “Club Goin Up on a Tuesday” made the rounds on the Internet,

confusing tastemakers and trend vultures with their swirl of genres and Makonnen’s bemused, almost self-questioning delivery. A Miley shoutout on Instagram for “Molly” then pushed him right into the middle of the spotlight, no doubt piquing the interest of Drake, who smitten with “Tuesday”, requested the beat and returned with a remix two days later. And because Drake likes what he likes, he signed Makonnen to his Warner Bros-backed label OVO Sound, not long after. All this happened in the span of a few months. From having no one else’s love but his own, Makonnen now commands the love of many, including the much-beloved themselves. Still, his new fame and new friends aren’t likely to distract him anytime soon, as he vows to keep it consistently singular: “I represent the do-ityourself people. Let’s just get it, because nobody’s gonna do it for you.” The needle is at a good place, no doubts about it. The iLoveMakonnen EP is out now and available online for free download.

Profile

I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol Glen Matlock never minds the bollocks Text: Min Chen Image: agnès b.

“What does punk mean to me?” Glen Matlock says as he parses that undying question, “People keep asking me that.” And of course they have: as the founding bassist of The Sex Pistols, Matlock continues to be counted on to deliver direct missives from the frontline of England’s First Punk Band. Never mind that Glen was also first to exit the Pistols (and worse

yet, he got replaced by Sid Vicious), and has forged a brilliant latterday career that’s crossed paths with Iggy Pop, Steve Marriott and Earl Slick – once a Sex Pistol, always a Sex Pistol. An equal burden and blessing, the Pistols’ legacy is nonetheless one that Matlock bears with maturity and equanimity: “If I were to put out an album today, the reviews are gonna go, ‘It’s nothing like The Sex Pistols’... but it’s not supposed to be! The Pistols opened some doors, but also made things harder. So my career path has been about trying to keep everybody happy.”

A diet of early Brit-rock and Tamla Motown hardly put a teen-aged Glen Matlock in a likely position to be starting a band like The Sex Pistols. But with help from Steve Jones and Paul Cook (“nefarious characters”), one Malcolm McLaren (“an enabler”) and a want to “do something different”, England’s punk royalty was born. “We didn’t know what we wanted to do,” remembers Matlock, “but we knew what we didn’t want to do.” And empowered by what they were hearing in America (evidenced by the band’s take on “Roadrunner”, a Modern Lovers track that they acquired via McLaren via Nick Kent via John Cale), what the Pistols did was to declare anarchy in the UK, effect a change in values and inaugurate the age of punk with their one-andonly record Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols. Despite the album containing three of his compositions and some of his bass-playing, while being a hallowed punk artifact, Matlock insists, “I never listen to it. There’s some good stuff on it, but I like only about half of it.” And he’s got good reason to not

look back, for, by that time, he was knee-deep in post-Pistols projects from the Vicious White Kids to Rich Kids. “When I started Rich Kids, it would’ve been very easy for us to become a second division Sex Pistols, but I didn’t wanna do that.” It’s that same intent that’s seen Glen pick up work with Iggy Pop and The Damned, and continue to make music today with The Philistines, and his new outfit with Slim Jim Phantom (Stray Cats) and Earl Slick (The David Bowie Band). While his approach to music remains impassioned as always, Matlock’s prolific output is down to his workingman take on the task. “It’s work,” he says, “If you’re a musician and you don’t play, you’re full of s**t, so I keep playing!” Though priding himself on not looking back, Matlock nonetheless played with the reformed Sex Pistols on a series of reunion tours from 1996 to 2008. Fighting the band’s legacy, after all, is a futile thing: “The Pistols were such a big thing that it’s kind of hard to eclipse. I’m never really allowed to forget about it.” But in between acknowledging the Pistols’ impact and braving the future with

new tunes and new bands, Matlock’s found himself a comfortable enough niche where his past and present, work and passion may co-mingle. It may not have kept everybody happy, but at least one guy is. And hey, that’s still pretty punk, right, Glen? “You know, when John[ny Rotten] sang about anarchy in the UK, it’s not that he wanted there to be a political party. Anarchy means doing what you wanna do, when you wanna do it, regardless of what everybody else tells you,” is Matlock’s punk screed, “I could subscribe to that.”

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The Right Stripe From doodle to icon: the Vans Sidestripe legacy Text: Min Chen & Sweehuang Teo

It may have started life as a simple, almost random doodle by Paul Van Doren in the ‘70s, but today, the Sidestripe lives on as one of Vans’ most highly recognised signatures. Initially referred to as the “jazz stripe”, the Sidestripe that now adorns classic Vans silhouettes like the Old Skool and Sk8-Hi has, over the years, become an iconic shorthand for the brand’s storied heritage. It’s a history that has seen Vans upholding its twinned principles of originality and individuality with footwear of edgy form and high function so that even as they may sit largely outside of trends, have found a crowd amongst rebel rockers, Dogtown-era skateboarders and

BMX riders. A good four decades on, Vans’ Sidestripe isn’t solely a marker for all that rich street pedigree, but is also a sweet aesthetic and landmark all of its own. Lucky stripe The Sidestripe first took flight on Vans’ first Old Skool model, then known as Style 36, in 1977, an innovative low-top that incorporated leather into its design to increase sustainability and that was a big hit with the skateboaders. A year on, Vans would continue to find favour with the same crowd with the release of Style 38. Subsequently christened the Sk8-Hi, these sneakers offered more functionality, a fresh style and a sleek rendering of the Sidestripe aesthetic onto

a high-top. The fact that today, the Old Skool and the Sk8-Hi remain two of Vans’ flag-bearing models, whilst being constantly in demand as classic silhouettes, are surely testaments to their timelessness and staying power. And along with these sneakers, the Sidestripe has emerged as an emblem of equal street-worthy potency. Do it yourself The ‘80s further unearthed the Sidestripe’s fashionable potential. This was the era of customisation, when wearers took to individualising their sneakers, whether with paints, with Sharpies or with needle and thread. Vans’ Old Skool and Sk8-Hi silhouettes made for excellent canvases, as Steve Van

Doren, son of Paul and current VP of Events & Promotions at Vans, recalls, “Customisation for the Old Skool became very popular in the early ‘80s because there were so many parts you could change in terms of colours and patterns.” In particular, the Sidestripe was given new shades of paints and embellishments, enabling creative possibilities and a window for individual tastes. Besides putting the Vans Sidestripe back in the hands of its fans and wearers, customisation also ably paved the way for the next phase for the Old Skool and Sk8-Hi – one that was also ripe, rich and ready with artistic expression. Stars and stripes Vans embarked on the

1990s with a slew of collaborations that reflected the impact and versatility of its Sk8-Hi and Old Skool models. Tapping into the worlds of art and haute couture, Vans launched now-legendary collabs with the likes of Marc Jacobs, Pendleton and Supreme, which saw its iconic silhouettes being re-interpreted with premium materials and innovative patterning, before surfacing as hotly sought-after collectibles. But, of course, these collaborative efforts had a good foundation to build upon, as Supreme’s James Jebbia says of the Old Skool, “In 1996, it was one of the best shoes offered by Vans and really stood the test of time.” The Sidestripe’s reach also

dips deeply into music too: besides bedecking the feet of US punks like Henry Rollins, it’s also informed special editions of the Old Skool, created alongside such bands as Slayer, Bad Religion and No Doubt. Vans’ Style 36 and Style 38, then, are certified footwear icons, with their signature Sidestripe coming to symbolise identity and individuality in music, fashion and action sports, as much as the brand’s long-lasting dedication to creative expression. So even as the Old Skool and Sk8-Hi may undergo any number of evolutions and re-issues, the timeless and ageless Sidestripe will certainly get to keep its prime position on the side of and in the heart of Vans.

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In the lifetime of the Vans Sidestripe 1978 In the footsteps of Style 36 came Style 38. Latterly and aptly dubbed Sk8-Hi, these sneakers offered the top skate functionality in its high-top design that shielded ankle bones.

1977 Vans unveils Style 36, featuring the brand’s first leather panels and Paul Van Doren’s so-called “jazz stripe”

2000 Marc Jacobs gets to have his say on his own Vans collab, which sees the Sk8-Hi and Old Skool painted in vivid colourways

2005 Vans’ band shoe program kicks into hi gear with collaborative and commemorative editions of Slayer and Bad Religion Old Skools

1996 Vans launches its longrunning partnership with Supreme, with a trio of Old Skools arriving in grey, white and camo skins

1980s The age of customisation sees Vans’ Sidestripe given colourful, patterned and always bold makeovers

2010s Long a favourite with skaters and athletes, Vans’ ties with the realm of action sports continues to grow strong this millennium, with the likes of Julien Stranger and Dakota Roche pledging loyalties to the Old Skool

2013 Vans Syndicate ropes in Odd Future to do damage on the Old Skool, resulting in four suede colourways with unique “Golf Wang” artwork

2014 The Sidestripe lives on in Vans’ latest line-ups, which see the Old Skool emerging in all-new patterns, and the Sk8-Hi donning fresh skins of leather and suede

Mix

In Lush Company with

Has, Dave Does and KFC A Lush Mix threesome gets up-close and musical Text: Indran P Photography: Sweehuang Teo

New Golden Age

Has: I think the local scene is always thriving and always on the up. With technology and the Internet, we’re exposed to a lot of music, so we get a lot of ideas and inspiration from everywhere. Dave: Yes, the local scene is always moving forward. In its demographic, you have so many different scenes, even just between the commercial and underground ones. KFC: We have the platforms, the opportunities and access to the Internet, especially, which makes things like music and ideas a lot more accessible. There’s no real barrier anymore.

The Call of the Decks

Has: I grew up with a lot of music. Skateboarding took me to hip hop, but what triggered it for me was the birth of drum ‘n’ bass. I was like, “Okay, I want to play this in a club”. Dave: In Australia, in high school, there were limited things to do and going to house parties was the norm. Then, we had the emergence of the rave scene in the early ‘90s. I got really into it and I just wanted to create rave music with a turntable. KFC: I had friends who were DJs and I remember watching them play, and being fascinated by what they were doing. I always loved music and clubbed a lot, so there was a draw. Eventually, I started learning the craft, and saved up enough money to buy my own decks.

Trending Tracks

Has: It’s super trendy but I’ve playing the Âme remix of Dan Croll’s “Flying Nowhere” a lot over the last few months. It’s such a poppy track but they stripped the whole thing down and made it so minimal with just the vocals on top of deep house. It works wonders. Dave: I’m digging the tropical house that Kygo produces. It’s quite slow and in a way, cheesy, but it works. It’s euphoric and soothing, but you can still groove to it. KFC: I kind of stumbled onto an old track from OMD two nights ago and it just opened a major can of worms! I spent the next seven hours looking for stuff on Spotify. That was a huge throwback for me. Very nostalgic and feel-good!

Lush For Life

Has: Lush is the only local radio station that makes a difference in terms of music. It’s a bit more selective than the rest. I wouldn’t DJ anywhere else apart from Lush because of what I do, what I believe in, and the kind of music I’m into. Dave: Lush is the only radio station pushing the underground sound. We need radio stations like this to really keep pushing the boundaries of the musicscape. KFC: It provides a platform for a whole side of music that the general public needs to know about. In that sense, Lush is absolutely essential. Also, it gives us the opportunity to express ourselves, which is just huge.

Collection

Rule Breaker Rita Ora and adidas Originals rewrite the rule book

Text: Sweehuang Teo

adidas Originals’ collaborations have long been hallmarked by their adventurous and fearless flouting of trends and rules, typified by unions with such characters as Jeremy Scott and Pharrell Williams. Equally well-trodden and well-received, it’s a path that the brand continues to amble down with its latest soon-to-be landmark collaboration with Rita Ora. The r&bpop powerhouse, after all, isn’t just a hit-maker with a platinum album under her belt, but has also prided herself on a bold and attitudinal street style. Her energy and spirit of originality, then, are well-tapped in the first of three slated collaborative seasons with adidas Originals, which fully intends to stay close to the cutting edge. With its sights set on breaking rules and

regulations, the debut adidas Originals by Rita Ora collection delivers on one sassy and spunky range. Three different packs are introduced for Fall/ Winter 2014, namely Pastel, Colourblock and Roses. Each draw from Ora’s own personal experiences and attitudes, and translate into a compelling array of sportswear-skewed pieces carrying a variety of colour palettes, patterns and details. Where the Pastel Pack is a feminine spread of powdery hues and feather motifs (inspired by Rita’s own dove tattoo), the Colourblock Pack is strong in its application of primary colours, and the Roses Pack sees an explosion of floral prints in rich and vivid shades. And not just style-inclined, all of the above are also performance-ready, making them equally

perfect for the high street, the track and the field. Young and dynamic to the core, Rita Ora’s first adidas Originals gig is as much a tribute to her bright and zesty personal style as it is a true representation of the brand’s MO of authenticity. Let the rule-breaking commence. Shop the adidas Originals by Rita Ora collection at adidas Originals stores at Pacific Plaza, Bugis+, 313@Somerset, Jem and Changi Airport T1

The top marks on adidas Originals by Rita Ora

Colourblock Pack: Superstar 80s adidas’ flag-bearing Superstar silhouette gets the Rita Ora treatment in the form of suede overlays and a rainbowcoloured outsole

Pastel Pack: Sweatshirt Dreamy and feminine, Rita Ora’s Pastel Pack takes off with this powder blue dove-printed sweatshirt with batwing sleeves and cut-out shoulders

Rose Pack: Jumpsuit Rita’s rose-motif designs have already been given props by Beyoncé herself, and this floralmad jumpsuit comes equally style-certified

Lookbook

Shoot Yourself Daria Werbowy takes a selfie for Equipment

Text: Stacy Lim

When Equipment roped in Daria Werbowy for its Fall campaign, it didn’t just land a beautiful and well-beloved face, but also, a photographer, stylist and muse. Tapped by Serge Azria, CEO of the luxury shirt brand, to deliver a series of self-portraits for the occasion, Werbowy decamped to her home in the Irish countryside and for two weeks, styled, shot and generally matered the fine art of taking a selfie. For the photogenic top model, though, there were the initial nerves (“I thought, ‘Oh my God, how am I going to take five or six pictures of myself?”),

but more so, a process of introspection and selfdiscovery. “I saw certain qualities about myself in the creative process and even some control issues I had,” she’s said of the shoot, “I think it is more of a true representation of myself than people have ever seen before.” No plain gym or bathroom mirror selfies then, Daria’s campaign shots for Equipment are down-to-earth images, which bespeak her casual cool and sensuality, as much as her partiality toward photographers like Lee Friedlander and Henri Cartier-Bresson. The shoot sees Werbowy

style herself in a variety of wigs – including a Joan Jett-styled shag, a blonde pixie crop and a bowl cut – whilst donning Equipment’s signature pinstripe, coloured and multi-print shirts. Shorn of makeup, lighting tricks and the trappings of a studio, her pictures (and the accompanying campaign video) are raw and frank self-depictions, recalling Patti Smith in her youthful heyday, and make a point of the model’s own versatility, creativity and reinventive flair. Yes, selfies can do that too.

Time

Steel Works

Francois Nunez on Victorinox’s lifelong promise Text: Min Chen

Backed by a 130year heritage that began with the iconic Swiss Army knife, Victorinox comes in-built with the kind of strength and authenticity that’s bound to endure for more than a few lifetimes. While its timepieces have long reflected the unique values of its founding artifact – effectively bridging knifemaking to watchmaking – it is with the INOX that

the brand shines anew. This watch marks Victorinox’s 130th year by being a robust and quality try: it’s been crafted to withstand unusual levels of stress, having been put through 130 ruthless tests, and in its stainless steel design, epitomises a sleek architectural intent. Much like its predecessor, the Swiss Army knife, the INOX has been built to last and made for life. But who better to fly the INOX flag than Francois Nunez, Victorinox’s Product Director, who, here, sheds light on our new companion for life.

Tell us about your mission at Victorinox. I’ve been at Victorinox for the last four years with the mission of restructuring the timepiece collection, but with the hidden agenda of developing a watch that will truly translate the philosophy of the brand, a defining and flagship product, which is the INOX. Could you talk us through the brand’s philosophy? We consider our products to be companions for life; they are functional, made to last and are not disposable goods. And how does the INOX express those qualities? Our ambition was to come up with a future classic, both in terms of

design and resistance. We’ve put the watch through a huge battery of tests – from being dropped from 10 meters to being put into fire and frozen in an ice cube for almost 200 hours – to push the boundaries of the regular watch. The objective was to come up with a watch that could be wearable for a lifetime, with a very understated and sleek aesthetic. So it’s also designed to have an architectural interference with light with these polished oblong shapes on the bezel that capture light in an interesting way. You can keep discovering details about the INOX, so it’s not about love at first sight, but the start of an enduring relationship.

How did you balance the watch’s functionality with its design? In reality, I would say the design is the end resonance of the product. We are function-driven company and as such,

function rules design, which does not mean we don’t have a certain credibility when it comes to design. I think when you try to find the most intelligent answer to a specific question, you end up doing great and iconic design anyway.

Could you also take us through your design process, particularly with the INOX? It definitely doesn’t start with design! For the INOX, we had to establish the 130 tests we wanted the watch to withstand, as well as Swiss Army regulations. This watch has no secrets; it’s almost like a suspended bridge, in which everything is measured and very well balanced. We had to consider small elements, like on a normal watch, the glass is flushed with the bezel, but here, it’s been recessed so when it falls on the floor, it’s never going to be broken. And then came

the design element. We were inspired by the ‘70s, because this was when the Swiss industry had to completely reinvent itself after the quartz movement appeared. I thought that was an interesting time period where there was a huge revolution. Stainless steel was suddenly regarded as a high-end material, and since it was a common material for our knives, it was important for us to make that point of reference with the INOX. With INOX now up and about, what is your personal vision for the brand? What’s important for me is that the brand addresses a point of view. It’s not about trying to please everyone, but about having a very clear philosophy that translates into a vision. It’s about pushing the boundaries and challenging every rule; we could leave no stone unturned.

Time

It’s All For Hue The electrifying new skins on Superdry Fall/Winter 2014

The gift that keeps on giving, Superdry is again ready with another drop of its Fall/Winter timepieces. This time round, its beloved silhouettes like the Deep Sea and Scuba have been given fresh bursts of colour, whilst newcomers Trident Rescue and Tokyo Sport surface from outdoorsy roots. It’s just in time for your year-end festivities and a sure-fire match with your equally dazzling personality. Here’s how Superdry will be taking your wrist this season. Text: Rosalind Chua

Deep Sea As one of Superdry’s star players, the all-new Deep Sea is still boldly built with brushed stainless steel and capped off with a silicone strap, but now, arrives in two stealthy colourways that mirror the mystery and enigma of the sea itself. While an IP black base holds court, fluorescent highlights of either blue or orange on the dial markers offer brilliant pop contrast, and an all-together sportysmart effect.

Scuba Rocks Superdry’s iconic Scuba has been given one glitzy makeover to make for one blinding fashion statement. The newly drubbed Scuba Rocks dazzles from its impressive dial, which has been set with Swarovski stones, to its rose gold-plated case that shimmers in all the right ways. Its silicone strap and diamond-shaped crown also make for a luxe and chic play on materials and textures.

Tokyo Sport The funky spirit of the Tokyo Sport borrows from its Tokyo predescessor, but the punch and personality is all of its own. Its game face is already firmly on with its oversized dial, chunky crown and grooved silicone strap exuding a casual exuberance. Add to that a splash of pop colours, and you have yourself a bright and flamboyant creation that’s unmistakably Superdry’s.

Trident Rescue Handsome and robust, the Trident Rescue is a fine notch in Superdry’s already heavy belt. Taking its design cues from the ballistic military jacket, this one’s a package of functionality and an on-trend aesthetic. Its military nylon strap holds together a chunky stainless steel dial that sports a brassy orange (it’s also available in white) and black hands to make for clean-cut time-telling.

Shop Superdry at Tangs Orchard, Tang VivoCity, Metro Compass Point, OG Orchard Point, OG People’s Park, and other selected retailers.

Paint

Could It Be Magic A hit of glitter and shimmer to pave the way to the dancefloor Text & styling: Min Chen

Burberry Make-Up Bold Lash Mascara in Ebony Burberry’s latest wand is set to whip your lashes into full, intense yet natural volume

Chanel Camêlia de Plumes Highlighting Powder in Platine Chanel’s shiny, goldplated star player will be perfecting your decollete for the dancefloor

Donna Summer Live and More

Percy & Reed Perfect Blow Reassuringly Firm Session Hold Hairspray Reassuring, indeed: Percy & Reed’s spray is a strong and humidity-resistant mist that’ll guarantee a robust hold on your locks

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in LSD As part of its Black Magic Eye Pencil Set, this lustrous shade is indeed rich and electric enough to cast a spell

Burberry Make-Up Effortless Eyebrow Definer Nail those signature Burberry arches with this smooth powder formula that glides on, builds naturally and is all-too easy to sculpt

Kate Tokyo Deep Shiny Eyes in BU-1 Each of Kate Tokyo’s Deep Shiny eyeshadow pairings includes an earthy base colour and a shimmering counterpart for that touch of bling

Too Faced Cocoa Powder Foundation Too Faced again harnesses the magic of cocoa powder for a lightweight foundation that conceals imperfections and leaves you with a silky finish

Collection Luscious Lashes in Glam Volume Collection’s debut false lash range points the way to full, sultry peepers

Marc Jacobs Beauty Kiss Pop Color Stick in Crush Besides providing the wow in its kiss-proof formula, MJB’s Pop Color Stick also stuns in this red-hot hue that true to its name, is totally crush-worthy

Lanvin Éclat d’Arpège Arty EDP Here’s Lanvin’s Éclat d’Arpège all-new Arty statement, which champions creativity in its bouquet of lilac, lemon leaves, peach flower and wisteria

Maybelline Color Show Sequins Nail Polish in Red Maybelline’s all-new range of nail polish has been glammed up with 3D holographic sequins to up your sparkle motion

Lunasol AHKAH Collection Cheeks in Light Pink Set your cheekbones freshly aglow with help from Lunasol and AHKAH’s latest collaborative three-shade blusher

Paint

Ladies of the Canyon Head back to the garden with an easy and natural glow Text & styling: Min Chen

Sephora Brilliant Jumbo Cheeks & Lips in Vintage Pink Colour your lips and cheeks in Sephora’s jumbo pencil, which’ll deliver an uplifting pop of colour, whilst nourishing your skin

The Body Shop Fijian Water Lotus Fragrance Mist Even if you can’t get to Fiji, The Body Shop is bringing the island paradise to you in the form of this refreshing Pacific-sent aquaticfloral scent

Laneige Rich Hand Butter Back in new holiday packaging, Laneige’s Rich Hand Butter promises your mitts highly moisturising and anti-aging benefits Linda Ronstadt Hand Sown… Home Grown

RMK Skintuner Treatment in Moist RMK’s improved Skintuner is all set with hydrating properties – in its ingredients like collagen and antioxidants – to duly quench your skin’s thirst

Aesop Parsley Seed Facial Cleanser Ensure your best face stays forward with Aesop’s gentle gel cleanser, which exfoliates as it clarifies

Urban Decay Naked2 Basics The second coming of UD’s legendary nude palette takes off with spanking new taupe-hued shades that’ll fit any skin tone

The Body Shop Colour Crush Nail Varnish in Green The Body Shop’s new nail colours arrive in bright nature-derived shades that don’t end with this verdant green

Chanel The N°5 Bath Soap Chanel’s N°5 has inspired a haul of bodycare products, including this sensual bath soup, which lathers up nicely and diffuses the legendary fragrance

Origins Plantscription Anti-aging Power Serum The collective powers of pea extract, Crithmum Maritum and bamboo are in here to keep your skin moisturised, plump and youthful

Maybelline Big Eyes Love Bag Liner in Nude These days, even your tear bags deserve love, so give them the attention of Maybelline’s Bag Liner for a pearly and plump effect

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Fallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wools and knits herald a new austerity Text & Styling: Min Chen

Stella McCartney Fall/Winter 2014

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Marni Fall/Winter 2014

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A Big, Bad Pop How Iggy Pop owned the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;70s

Language wasn’t designed for the job Most times, the forced ponderousness of those what’s-in-a-name devices rings gratingly hollow. But when it comes to a character like Iggy Pop, an entity that is a world unto himself, a simple thing like a stage name illumines a lot. In the late ‘60s, after his time as a drummer for the local blues band The Iguanas in his native Michigan, Osterberg became Iggy Pop. As he would recall almost 40 years later, within that name lay his destiny: “There is something about that name that is just extra-f**kingordinary, and it used to be like throwing a f**king firebomb into the party. I could walk into a room, and if it was the wrong room, and someone said my name loud enough, you would see sneers of revolution on the faces of the fraternity men of America”. In every respect, the man was a firebomb. His intimidating muscularity and born-ripped physique that he’d mangle with glass and bruise with his microphone and drumsticks onstage affirmed and tested the boundaries of this truth. Then, there was the punk-birthing music. Between 1969 and 1970, Iggy and his partners-in-crime the Stooges released two albums The Stooges and Fun House, which in being custom-built to overwhelm, influenced, nay, invented punk. An amalgamation of Iggy’s love for blues, John Coltrane’s pinging modal freakouts, the cosmic drone of the Velvets (John Cale produced The Stooges) and guitarist Ron Asheton’s distorted obelisks of

Incoming

Colloquially speaking, the ‘70s was a fantastically exciting and interesting time in music. As the Summer of Love withered into a hushed memory and its peace-love-and-mutual-understanding fallacies were banished by the harsh realities of what followed, the new decade brought with it a tide-turning impetus that changed music forever. James Newell Osterberg or Iggy Pop, as he’s better known, rose from these seething currents and with a prodigally wild flourish shocked rock ‘n’ roll out of its stupor with this thing called punk. Not only did he represent the tenor and sentiment of the age with his band the Stooges, he mocked and transcended the mores of his day, leaving in his wake charred revelations for the world to imbibe. Here’s to the man, myth and monster that is Iggy Pop. Text: Indran P noise, the music, was as rock journalism’s elder statesman Will Hermes described, “hell-bent for kicks”. With a feral verve and bloodthirsty cacophony, the band went straight for the throat of an unsuspecting and complacent society. From the underlying rage in the workingman’s struggle on “I Wanna Be Your Dog” – which would later be paraphrased infinitely by Sex Pistols – to the brute carnal energy of “Loose”, the early-period songs of The Stooges were both revelatory and foreboding, depending on who you were. Still, they were just too much for everyone. Anti-tastemaker Robert Christgau’s reaction to Fun House was a good case in point: “Now I regret all the times I’ve used words like ‘power’ and ‘energy’ to describe rock and roll, because this is what such rhetoric should have been saved for. Shall I compare it to an atom bomb? A wrecker’s ball? A hydroelectric plant? Language wasn’t designed for the job.” Raw power, honey, just won’t quit Then, it all ended. With all the Stooges, except Ron and especially Iggy, becoming devastatingly addicted to heroin, the band broke up. Those

hard-living, hard-drinking days would cost bassist Dave Alexander his life in 1975 but in 1971, it ejected the band from its deal with Elektra Records and ended its run. But in the most fortuitous circumstances in rock ‘n’ roll, one David Bowie showed up to save the day. In New York to ink his deal with RCA later that year, Bowie, fascinated by The Stooges’ albums, was asking around about them. With him one night at iconic nightspot Max’s Kansas City were labelmate Lou Reed – Transformer began here – and journo Danny Fields, on whose couch Iggy was at that very moment crashing. Thanks to Danny’s urging, Iggy met Bowie and a few days later, booked himself a flight to London to record the monolithic rock event Raw Power. Released in February 1973, Raw Power condensed, amplified and accelerated the death-tripping energy of the bands’ prior releases and solidified Iggy’s reputation as an ahead-of-his-time prophet. A legitimate sonic assault that was all screeching high-end that still managed a groovy splendour and scorching, mercurial solos, it also saw Iggy throwing bigger, sharper rocks at society.

Where he was once neck-deep in nihilistic vitriol, here he called for nothing short of the apocalypse. “I’m a streetwalkin’ cheetah with a heart full of napalm / I’m a runaway son of the nuclear A-bomb”, he declared on the opening ton-of-bricks “Search and Destroy”. Later, in the title track, he exhorted burnouts to “dance to the beat of the living dead”, in the same breath as he assured you that he’ll never quit, barely a step ahead of the steamrolling instrumentation that seemed intent on crushing him. Oversexed songs like “Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell” and “Penetration” also affirmed that this was a band that wasn’t buying into the whitewashed pop being force-fed to the masses by gatekeepers like Dick Clark. Iggy and The Stooges were enlivening and enriching the intimate youth experience by openly celebrating all their bad moves and wrong choices. For all intents and purposes, Raw Power was the rude awakening that the ‘70s sorely needed. And Iggy was its living, shrieking and literally bleeding embodiment. Comebacks are made of this And yet again, just when

he had come off with a path-clearing, singularly resounding achievement, Iggy flopped right back into his drug habit and dysfunction once again stymied The Stooges. But this time, things were much more toxic. After their last show, remembered more for Iggy vomiting onstage than as a scintillating performance, the band called it quits. Now paralysingly dependent on heroin, Iggy spent the next four years in a deep funk punctuated by countless arrests before sequestering himself in self-exile at mental institution. And like he did before, on one fateful day, Bowie picked his friend out from the dumps and helped him restore his name. Known as the duo’s “Berlin Years”, the period between 1976 and 1978 is immortalised in the personal histories of both Bowie and Pop as one of trailblazing significance. Besides recording the two albums widely hailed as his best work, Low and Heroes, Bowie assisted in writing the music for two of Iggy’s own likewise acclaimed solo albums while the two were in Berlin. The first of these was The Idiot. Released in March 1977, it was Iggy’s darkest album, disregarding as it did his old declarative

mode and opting for a mercilessly revealing and self-referential approach. Iggy’s low, Sinatra-like baritone, unnervingly felt on standouts like the tear-streaked ode to The Stooges, “Dum Dum Boys”, and on the reflective elegies to crazy stupid love, “Tiny Girls” and “Mass Production”, and Bowie’s post-punk-prefiguring spare electronics was a bridge to the future of uncompromisingly original music. Iggy himself thought it was “an awfully good record and way ahead of its time”. But if he thrived in the experimental deep end of The Idiot, Iggy most definitely basked in the familiar environs of redblooded rock ‘n’ roll that made up the landscape of Lust For Life. This is the one about which the exclamation, “He never made a better record!”, is heard the most. A more definably “Iggy” work than the Bowie-helmed The Idiot, Lust eschewed experimentation for life-elevating simplicity, and stripped some of the distortion off The Stooges’ imprint and bestowed it with a sinewy, groovy finesse. Even though its most enduring missive “The Passenger” was a resolutely dark trip through a plethora of excesses, the album’s length-and-breadth, especially the opening title track and “Success”, where Iggy cheekily riffed on his regained fame, was his story of triumph. Incredibly smart, funny, gripping and hard-hitting, Iggy had evolved yet again. After this, in a legacy that is still being written, Iggy would continue to make music, reviving The Stooges and making sure the firebombs keep coming.

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That ‘70s

A roll call of 70 cool and creative cats that made the 1970s the groovy place it Blondie was Like the best bands Text: Indran P & Min Chen

whose early works serve as crystal balls into the future, New York’s Blondie was one such act that dealt in a contemporary sound and sensibility. Punk and new wave forerunners, Debbie Harry and her boys ruled the roost of the ‘70s underground with their poptinged melding of sounds as diverse as rap, disco and punk into a headturning mélange. And besides the enduring image of smouldering sexiness that Harry bestowed on rock, Blondie will always have the ears of the world with hits like “Heart of Glass” and “Sunday Girl”. IP

Robert Redford

DJ Kool Herc

Kraftwerk

Inspiring everything from techno to electro to synthpop to postpunk, these German electronic giants have been regarded as the most influential act in pop history. In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, when r&b, blues and rock commanded a stranglehold of the popular imagination, Kraftwerk helped bring Krautrock, arguably the first real “alternative” music into the light. On albums like Autobahn, Trans-Europe Express (which served as Joy Division’s warm-up music at its live shows) and The Man-Machine, the band gave rock and pop an electronic counterpoint that stood out on its own imposingly dazzling terms. IP

Hip hop was born in the Bronx in 1972 and Clive Campbell was its creator. It all started in his home of 1520 Sedgwick Avenue where he had the epiphany of cuing up the short, heavily percussive section of a record, known as the break, with that of another, to create prolonged, thumping sounds. When he began shouting slogans like, “To the beat, y’all,” over his recorded sounds, rap was born. IP

Halston

With disco supplying the sound, Halston capably provided the look for the decade’s shimmering, sexy, Studio 54-attending jet set. Following up on his Jacqueline Kennedyapproved pillbox hat, the designer unleashed upon the ‘70s his halter dresses and shirtwaist dresses, crafted with “ultra suede”, which hung elegantly on the shoulders of Bianca Jagger and Anjelica Huston, and swept sensually onto America’s dancefloors. MC

Black Sabbath

Shedding blues rock for darker, heavier occultthemed sounds, Black Sabbath released heavy metal’s first statement in its self-titled debut in 1970. This was followed by the talisman that was Paranoid, which brought with it the world-shaking classics, “War Pigs” and “Iron Man”. A few months later, doom and sludge metal as well as stoner rock were born on Master of Reality, an album oft-cited as urging today’s most acclaimed rock stars to pick up their respective instruments. Later, antics and addiction would overshadow the band’s capabilities but at this early-career stage, it was unstoppable. IP

Robert Redford’s impressive run of films in or outside of the ‘70s (All The President’s Men, The Sting, The Way We Were) goes without saying, though more momentous was his hand in inaugurating the Sundance Film Festival in 1978. Adding his name to the fledging festival didn’t just help draw interest to its featured films like Mean Streets and Deliverance, but was also evidence enough of the man’s dedication to the independent cause. Indeed, the landscape of America’s indie cinema would be shapeless if not for Redford’s little spot in Utah. MC

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Crowd Jerry Hall

Yves Saint Laurent

Joan Didion

In Joan Didion’s eyes, her native California is less a West Coast idyll than a town rampant with social dread and disintegration. It’s this disquiet that’s informed her writing – made further unnerving by her stark prose – most notably on 1979’s The White Album, where Didion’s ‘60s memories (The Doors, the Black Panther Party), her view of American politics and spiritualism, and her own psychological unrest culminate in an utterly frank picture of the morning after the Sixties. MC

Yves Saint Laurent’s fashion house and credentials were already well-established in the ‘60s – in his Le Smoking suits and his venture into prêt-à-porter – but it was in the ‘70s that the man’s flourishing artistry led to his most opulent and decadent creations. There was the ‘40s tartness that fired up his Spring 1971 unveil and the brocaded ostentation of his 1976 Opera/Ballets Russes collection, in the interim of which, the way haute couture was made and presented was changed forever. And all because Saint Laurent decided to make art, not clothes. MC

Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe’s early portraits (see Patti Smith’s Horses) and selfportraits were remarkable for their honesty and nuance, but more so, for being elegant frames for his favourite subject of all: the human form. They’d pave to his ‘70s body of work, which saw nudes, celebrities and scenes of sadomasochism lensed as arresting and beautiful sculptures, as his way of acting as “a poet” rather than a photographer. In these idealised and eroticised silhouettes lay Mapplethorpe’s lifelong pursuit for the perfect form and whether he uncovered it or not, his search was what counted. MC

Barry White

John Lennon

The Beatles were no more in the ‘70s, as its four members went their separate ways to varying musical merits. Paul had his Wings, George had his Transcendental Meditation, Ringo had Marc Bolan, but it was John who set out on the most compelling solo career of all. For Lennon, this was a decade of psychological upheaval – made evident by that 18-month-long, Yoko-approved Lost Weekend – that was mirrored in 1970’s John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and 1971’s Imagine. Then again, Lennon did bookend his ‘70s with Double Fantasy, an ode to domestic bliss that saw John finally alight upon the kind of peace he once imagined. MC

The Jackson 5

The Jackson family band doesn’t occupy a mythic place in the pop pantheon just because it served as an incubator for what would become Michael Jackson. Living out the leveling bent of pop, The Jackson 5 were amongst the first black artists to attain a massive crossover following. And when it came to the hits, the band had a deep trove of them. In 1970 alone, the group had made history by being the first act to have its first four singles claiming the summit of the Billboard Hot 100. It truly was as easy as “ABC” for the Jackson clan. IP

The loud and proud glamour of ‘70s fashion found its perfect expression in a leggy beauty from Dallas, Texas. Jerry Hall didn’t just own the face and pose that saw her take over runways, magazine covers and the sleeve of Roxy Music’s Siren, but also the Southern wit and conviviality that made her welcome company at parties and round backstage. Even Mick Jagger had to say “I do”. MC

Bee Gees

It’s not just a bajillionselling numbers game with these guys. Successful throughout the ‘60s as a rock act, the Bee Gees heeded the tenor of the times and went disco in the ‘70s, raking in hits like “Jive Talking” and the chart-killing LP Main Course, when Barry Gibb found his falsetto range. But it wasn’t until the sensation-causing Saturday Night Fever film and soundtrack which the brothers graced with the holy trinity, “How Deep Is Your Love”, “Stayin’ Alive”, and “Night Fever”, that the Bee Gees as we know it truly began. IP

Possessing an instantly recognisable voice that is famed for its baby-making prowess, Barry White was the consummate charmer of the ‘70s. Crooner, lothario and troubadour, White united the thrusting rhythms of disco with the drama and intensity of soul on immortal sex-jams like “You’re the First, the Last, My Everything” and “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe”, which showcased his irreplicable bass-baritone and legendary emoting. Matters of the heart are the high-stakes topic they are in pop today because Barry White first made it so. IP

Philip Glass

New York owes a lot to Philip Glass for its rep as an avant-grade artistic wonderland. Like the city’s most influential iconoclasts, Glass got a handle on a burgeoning form, minimal music, and took it to the stratosphere with his own touch. Inspired by game-changing films of the French New Wave, Glass put together his most revolutionary work Music in Twelve Parts from 1971 to 1974, a 12-part musical cycle that pushed tropes like repetition and drone to new heights of invention and expression. IP

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Genesis

Jamie Reid

Bob Marley

The ubiquity of Bob Marley’s music lends itself to a certain timeless and ageless quality. But it’s in the ‘70s that, with his band, the Wailers, the substance of the mythology surrounding the man materialised. The home of “I Shot the Sheriff”, 1973’s Burnin’ was a powder keg of politically charged songs that like its most celebrated hit, married a socially conscious outlook with pop sensibilities. If this cast him as a rock revolutionary, then 1974’s Natty Dread with its r&btinged hits, “No Woman No Cry” and “Lively Up Yourself”, showed him to be an astute poptimist. Closing the decade with the openly militant Survival, he cemented his rep as pop’s most charismatic fire-starter. IP

Cher

Zeitgeist in, zeitgeist out, Cherilyn Sarkisian is one of the handful of superstars who will be eternally relevant. After her partnership with her husband Sonny fell apart in the ‘60s, she assumed solo form in the next decade on the successive lodestones Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves (whose title track was the best-selling single in the history of MCA then) and Dark Lady, establishing herself as powerhouse that could take on folk, disco and rock. IP

Ed Ruscha

Flagrantly postmodern, Ed Ruscha’s portfolio has been built out of the visual codes of pop culture and corporate art, with his own sense of humour and irony thrown in for good measure. His early stylisation of small-town landmarks and Hollywood’s symbols gave way in the ‘70s to his infamous word paintings, which, with a few wry and aphoristic catchphrases (“ARTISTS WHO DO BOOKS”, “HOLLYWOOD TANTRUM”), invited interaction and interpretation, opened up a can of hot topics, while offering the last word on pop art. MC

If the likes of The Clash and The Sex Pistols provided the sound and voice of British punk, it was Jamie Reid that supplied it its graphic counterpart. Cut-up ransom-note lettering, fluorescent hues and disordered layouts were all part of Reid’s radical, Situationist-informed arsenal (see the sleeve of Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols), but he did the movement its biggest artistic favour with a visual that boldly drove a safety pin through the Queen’s nose. Punk has never looked like anything else since. MC

Genesis made the best of the decade stretching and expanding rock ‘n’ roll to the nth form we call progrock today, and bestowing upon it its sense of theatricality through its elaborate concept albums and colossal live show. From the adventurous folk of early ‘70s albums to the double concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway that was steeped in surrealism to the classical-prog rock hybrid ...And Then There Were Three..., Genesis showed that polymath chops and chart-running success were not mutually exclusive. IP

Marvin Gaye

Farrah Fawcett Diane Keaton

Big Star

In the early ‘90s, Alex Chilton had these selfdeprecating words for his band: “I’m constantly surprised that people fall for Big Star the way they do... People say Big Star made some of the best rock ‘n’ roll albums ever. And I say they’re wrong”. Nevertheless, given the dark, confessional regions of the heart it brought power-pop to on pathlighting albums Radio City and Third/Sister Lovers, that thing known as “alternative” would be pipedream if not for Big Star. IP

Yes, Charlie’s Angels and The Six Million Dollar Man were sizzling television sensations that installed Farrah Fawcett into most American households. But even those were no match for the Farrah flip or that one red swimsuit. As Fawcett herself once contended, “When [Charlie’s Angels] was number three, I thought it was our acting. When we got to be number one, I decided it could only be because none of us wears a bra.” MC

Portraying Annie Hall in all of her funny, selfdeprecating, neurotic and endearing splendour was surely no small feat, though like most things she’s done, Diane Keaton sure made it look effortless. Hers was a personality, often described as “kooky”, that didn’t fit neatly into an industry bogged down by egos and vanity, but Keaton’s navigated all that with individual class that’s seen her excel in comic and dramatic roles, whilst remaining so singular herself. Just watching her collect her 1978 Oscar for Annie Hall in that blazer and two skirts is a lesson in poise and style itself. MC

While the ‘70s may have been swinging for other artists, Marvin Gaye shrugged aside the massive success he brought to the Motown sound and delved deeper into himself, forging a more personal and political sound and sensibility that made him r&b’s most indispensable and adventurous voice. The albums he recorded during this period, including What’s Going On, leveled the boundaries between political consciousness and pop’s sexually charged good-time themes, making the mainstream a smarter, better place. IP

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Nicky Siano

Dance music and club culture would be nothing if not for this pioneering party-starter. In 1972, the young DJ opened The Gallery in Manhattan, an epicenter of cuttingedge sounds that’s now regarded as the first disco in history. Besides launching the careers of Grace Jones and Frankie Knuckles, Siano also invented beatmatching, built the first bass horns and designed the crossover. Quite simply, no Nicky equals no fun. IP

Jackson Browne

At 23, Jackson Browne released his self-titled first showing, regarded as one of the most auspicious debuts in pop history. The spare folk-ish hit “Doctor My Eyes”, with its devastating line, “Doctor, my eyes / Cannot see the sky / Is this the prize / For having learned how not to cry?”, was the first sign of Browne’s gift for blood-letting imagery and evocative flourishes. The widely acclaimed and influential hard-times epic Late for the Sky followed in 1974, and its best moments (“Fountains of Sorrow”) established him as Dylan’s successor for the new age. IP

David Bowie

Not inaccurately did Bowie’s biographer say that he “created perhaps the biggest cult in popular culture”. His dip into psych-folk having flopped at pop’s marketplace, Bowie retreated into the woodwork to rethink his moves, eventually emerging into the light as gonzo glam-rock impresario Ziggy Stardust. His mission statement, 1972’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, used a narrative thread involving the adventures of a bisexual extraterrestrial rock superstar to expand the vernacular of all of rock ‘n’ roll. It’s safe to say that his name wouldn’t be this revered if he hadn’t gone Ziggy in the ‘70s. IP

Francis Ford Coppola

Of all of New Hollywood, there was perhaps no mightier figure than that of Coppola. It was, after all, The Godfather that set the cinematic benchmark for all to follow, and that saw Coppola’s directorial ambition in full bloom. Concluding the decade with Apocalypse Now lands him the finest coup: a film that defied a wayward cast, weather conditions, nervous breakdowns and Marlon Brando to be universally applauded, it was a tour de force so sprawling it could more than fit Coppola’s widescreen vision and resolve. MC

Lou Reed

Hall & Oates

Patti Smith

With a dashingly defiant verve and a spirit that bled with passion as much as it radiated a don’t-f**k-with-me edge, Patti Smith blended poetry and punk into an ethos that helped define New York as a punk mecca in the ‘70s. A true immortal, she made one of rock’s most enduring lodestars in 1975’s Horses, an album that filtered rock, blues, folk and jazz through punk and which, as claimed by one Michael Stipe, “tore my limbs off and put them back on in a whole different order”. IP

Van Halen

Though Van Halen only became a world-devouring rock ‘n’ roll institution in the early ‘80s, their reputation as archetypal and virtuosic rock gods was cultivated in the ‘70s. On their 1976 debut Van Halen, David Lee Roth, with his celebrationevoking bluster and Eddie Van Halen, with his sky-scraping fretboard theatrics laid the ground for the gloriously bloated phase that rock was soon to enter into. And as long as it came from them, no one had any problems. IP

Tom Wolfe

“They’ve created the greatest age of individualism in American history! All rules are broken! The prophets are out of business!” wrote Tom Wolfe in “The Me Decade and The Third Great Awakening”, an essay that effectively defined and christened the 1970s. And as America’s foremost stylist and sharp-eyed spectator since 1968’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, know that Wolfe ain’t the kind to mince words. MC

There is no other duo in this lifetime that will carve as wide a path for itself as Daryl Hall and John Oates. Though the pair has been consistently prolific since its inception, it was only in the late ‘70s that its hit-making magic was apparent. Beginning with 1976’s Bigger Than Both of Us and ending with the 1979 X-Static, the band gave the era some of its most heartfelt songs, effortlessly flitting between pop, rock, disco and soul. IP

By 1970, when the Velvets dissolved, Reed had already swiped at rock’s jugular with the compelling “Sweet Jane” and “Rock & Roll”. He then came up in fine form on 1972’s Ziggy Stardust-assisted Transformer. With glam-my and guitarheavy bombast, gems like “Perfect Day” and “Walk on the Wild Side” gave clear-eyed pop vent to the untouchables of New York’s debauched underground and himself, a new lease of life. Perhaps this was what emboldened him to release the elaborate joke that was Metal Machine Music in 1975. IP

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Annie Leibovitz Lynyrd Skynyrd

Robert De Niro

American cinema of the 1970s fell on the shoulders of a handful of young directors (Scorsese, Spielberg, de Palma), who to their eternal credit, often chose to cast up-and-coming actors who brought grit and realism to the big screen. Standing tall amongst them was Robert De Niro, whose commitment to his craft has entailed total immersion into his roles (he improvised most of Travis Bickle’s infamous monologue), no compromise (he dropped weight for The Last Tycoon) and zero movie star shenanigans. “I had to decide early on whether I was to be an actor or a personality,” he’s said. Good thing he went for the former. MC

The Temptations

Motown has gone down in the history books for its much-celebrated roster, of which The Temptations was amongst the most influential. It’s not only that it’s one of the most successful groups of all time and not only of because its pioneering use of coordinated wardrobe and choreography, but also because, at heart of it, the five-some took the standard form of soul and matched its ballad-bestowing prowess with a psychedelic edge. See “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” for evidence. IP

Hunter S. Thompson

Donna Summer Disco was birthed in the ‘70s and Donna Summer was its undisputable queen. A small-town singer in a church choir who got swept into the folds of counterculture in the ‘60s, Summer eventually met pop’s most esteemed kingmakers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Belotte, who in 1975, gave her the thumping, world-conquering hit “Love to Love You Baby”. Besides being one of the first few sexually explicit songs – complete with moans and sighs – sung by a woman, it spurred the sub-genre of empowerment pop that almost every female pop star would tip her hat to. IP

Elton John

Leaving his old vocation as a pub pianist in the late ‘60s, Reginald Dwight would undertake one of the decade’s most stunning pop careers, hopscotching through rock, soul, gospel and disco across his whopping 13 albums between 1970 and 1979. These contained such evergreens as “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, “Your Song” and “Crocodile Rock” that coupled with Sir Elton’s then-penchant for feathers, costumes and all manner of tongue-incheek whimsy (check his appearance in The Who’s rock opera Tommy), made him one unstoppable powerhouse. IP

The one-man drug-taking, triptaking, gun-toting and truth-spouting machine, Hunter S. Thompson walked right to the edge, if only to bring back visions from the abyss. 1971’s Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (or what was supposed to be a photograph caption), which decried the countercultural idealism of the ‘60s, set the tone and speed for his so-called Gonzo journalism, with which Thompson would further wield to incisive effect on the remainder of the American dream. He would remain unrepentant and untamed to the very end. MC

When the immortal refrain from “Sweet home Alabama” is heard today, peeps everywhere are apt to break out into song, testifying to the time-immune legacy of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Pioneers of rollicking Southern rock, the band released two of the most indelible rock anthems ever in 1974 alone. The aforementioned song and “Free Bird”, described as “the most-requested song in the history of rock music”, Skynyrd made the guitar solo a rite of passage for any musician claiming rockgod status. IP

The Clash

From their 1977 first-stride onwards to the crowning glory that was 1979’s London Calling, The Clash took its punk-infused mix of rock, reggae and jazz, as well as their searing, fist-raised spirit to the highest level of musical and cultural indispensability. Besides having their names on a groundbreaking sound, they also gifted punk’s abrasive thrust with a thought-proving veneer. Bono wasn’t being melodramatic when he called them “the greatest rock band”. IP

In 1973, a young Annie Leibovitz signed on as a staff photographer with an equally young Rolling Stone magazine, kickstarting one of the world’s most impressive photographic careers. Leibovitz’s ‘70s work includes now-iconic portraits of Patti Smith, John Lennon and Bob Dylan, as well as her photographs of The Rolling Stones’ 1971 and 1975 tours. Already, the intimacy and potency of her images were plain to see, and would only grow alongside her reputation. MC

Cindy Sherman Cindy Sherman’s bid to challenge the portrayal of women in society and the media has been a lifelong work. But it all began in the late ‘70s, when Sherman photographed herself in various roles and settings culled from stereotypical depictions of women in film, books and television. These Untitled Film Stills, which blended photography and performance, were a triumph of medium and message that came to form the heart of Sherman’s artistic and feminist intent. MC

Diane von Furstenberg

She may have married into German royalty, but no wilting princess, Diane von Furstenberg sought out her very own niche by embarking on fashion designs that Diana Vreeland herself declared “smashing”. In 1974, von Furstenberg introduced the world to its first wrap dress, which, for all its chic and flattering qualities, would emerge as a veritable fashion phenomenon, land its maker on the cover of Newsweek and serve as a solid enough foundation for the DvF empire to come. MC

ABBA

Sweden’s status as a hit-making fortress might damn well have been established by ABBA. Comprising two then-couples, ABBA was the first act from a nonEnglish speaking country to enjoy widespread and near-unparalleled success in English-speaking markets. At the peak of its powers from the late ‘70s onwards, ABBA gave the world the still-resounding hits that made them pop goliaths: “Mamma Mia”, “Dancing Queen”, “Take a Chance on Me” and “Chiquitita”. The band (and its constituent marriages) would quickly unravel in the ‘80s, but it’ll always have the ‘70s. IP

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Todd Rundgren

While Todd Rundgren’s namemaking 1972 album, Something/ Anything?, which he wrote, performed and produced all by his lonesome, did unveil a master pop craftsman at work (“Hello It’s Me”), a progressive and idiosyncratic sensibility also lay thick within its grooves. “I took no comfort in merely being labeled a ‘singer/ songwriter’,” he’s said. So even though the immense success of Something/ Anything? promised stardom, Rundgren would perversely choose to remain in the fringes. And it was there that he ventured experiments into synth-pop (Todd) and prog-rock (A Wizard, a True Star), which marked him out as a sonic maverick that all subsequent art-rockers remain indebted to. MC

Giorgio Moroder

In the ‘60s, Giorgio Moroder decamped from Italy to Germany and in Munich, set up Musicland studios, where synthesizers reigned and dreams were electric. While sowing the seeds of disco with his Donna Summer chart-busting productions, Moroder, too, was soldiering on with his own electronic forays (From Here To Eternity) and advancing upon the digital frontier (E=MC²). It’s a catalogue that the likes of disco, Italo-disco, Blondie and Daft Punk have a lot to be thankful for. MC

ParliamentFunkadelic

Both of George Clinton’s bands boasted the r&b slink of Sly Stone and The Temptations, the psychedelic sounds of Jimi Hendrix, the bleedingheart soul of Otis Redding and the show-stopping funk-blues of James Brown. Its influence on post-punk and postdisco notwithstanding, P-Funk also enriched Afrofuturism by incorporating sci-fi and revisionist history into its rendering of the black experience, as evinced in the 1975 masterpiece Mothership Connection. Feeling good never looked or sounded this good. IP

Mick Rock

If there was something happening in rock in the ‘70s, Mick Rock was most likely photographing it. In fact, Rock’s images of David Bowie, Lou Reed (see Transformer), Syd Barrett (The Madcap Laughs), Queen, Iggy Pop (Raw Power), The Sex Pistols and Blondie, amongst others, have been iconic enough to become definitive visual statements of ‘70s rock ‘n’ roll. Lou Reed once offered this in the form of praise: “He’s really a guitar player, but he uses a camera.” MC

James Brown

“I’d like to know, are you really ready for some super dynamite soul?”, was how James Brown’s MC would hype the audience at his live shows. And when it came to one of the founding fathers of funk, the “Godfather of Soul” and the “hardest working man in show business”, “super dynamite” was just right. Already a powerhouse artist and performer before the ‘70s, Brown ushered in the first blush of the decade by recruiting a new band, The J.B.’s (obviously), and giving us hits like “The Payback” and “Papa Don’t Take No Mess”. Initially skeptical, Miles and the jazz boys were suddenly full of praise. IP

Arthur Russell

Arthur Russell’s mentor Philip Glass once said this about him: “[Arthur] could sit down with a cello and sing with it in a way that no one on this earth has ever done before”. Spanning rock, folk, classical, experimental, disco, electro and hip hop, Russell’s pan-musical sensibility and appetite fed into compositions that made minimal maximal and vice versa. The casein-points are numerous but none more powerful than “Go Bang #5” which took Bitches Brew to the dancefloor. IP

Brian Eno

As a multi-hyphenate musical icon Brian Eno is nonpareil. Such is the extent of his thrall over popular music that everything from glamrock to ambient bears the shade of his shadow. Quitting Roxy Music in 1973, he released his debut solo album, Here Come the Warm Jets, a year later, hinting at the “generative music” that he would perfect on his fourth album, Discreet Music, and transcend on the first album to be labeled as “ambient music”, 1978’s Ambient 1: Music for Airports. Along the way, he gave David Bowie his Berlin Trilogy and brought no wave to light. IP

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Lester Bangs

While most music journalists of the era chose to grovel at the feet of rock stars, Lester Bangs was downright radical for his decision to provide honest and often scathing commentary. But even amidst his blistering takedowns of Richard Hell, Canned Heat and infamously, Lou Reed, Bangs still found column space to celebrate “NERVE” and “PASSION” in rock ‘n’ roll. His 1972 piece, “Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung”, also happens to contain the first use of the word “punk” in relation to music, because, well, that’s what it was. MC

Richard Hell & The Voidoids

The glowering flame of punk’s first wave, Richard Hell was a poet and a revolutionary. As rock became an increasingly boardroommanaged affair and as disco dulled the sensitivities of society in the late ‘70s, Hell and his band released Blank Generation in 1977. Allergic to the empty sentiment peddled in pop, the record’s highlights like “Love Comes In Spurts” and the title track were sneering screeds buoyed by a blistering pacing and Hell’s mocking, delirious vocals that sent up rock’s own show-stopping theatrics. IP

The Runaways

In 1975, a 17-year-old Joan Jett decided to form an all-girl rock band, and with a little leg-up from one Kim Fowley and a band member recruitment that took place on LA’s club circuit, The Runaways were born. The all-punk five-piece distilled their polyglot rock influences into a heady punklaced onslaught, and sabre-point rendering of sass and hard rock grit, presented on songs like “Cherry Bomb” and “Queens of Noise”. Besides the riot grrrl movement and the larger ground it paved for women in punk, the dudes in The Germs and White Flag are its cardcarrying followers. IP

The Talking Heads

Formed in New York City in 1975, The Talking Heads expanded the lexicon of new wave with its incorporation of post-punk grooves, funk tempos and world music influences. Frontman David Byrne’s perplexingly funny lyrics – “It’s not love / Which is my face / Which is a building / Which is on fire” – also established him as a one of the most interesting songwriters of his day. Universally hailed as essential listening, 1979’s Fear of Music captured the band at their unquantifiable best and showed that intelligent pop could be dance-y. IP

The Ramones

From their rail-thin bodies to their leather-jacketed, skinny-jeaned image and to their rickety two-minute blitzkriegs, The Ramones were punk incarnate. With standouts like “Blitzkrieg Bop” and “53rd & 3rd” providing punk an irrevocable template that the band itself and the legions it inspired found impossible to top. Here’s Tony Flame of Generation X with his two cents: “Punk rock – that rama-lama super fast stuff – is totally down to the Ramones”. IP

Serge Gainsbourg

After building a career at the intersection of sex and pop in the ‘60s, Serge Gainsbourg’s artistic impulse truly kicked in in the following decade. Amongst such wildly divergent discs like the reggae-inflected Aux Armes et cætera and the ‘50s rock-aping Rock Around The Bunker, it is 1971’s Histoire De Melody Nelson that endures. Detailing a Lolita-esque romance over groovy guitar, lush orchestration and choral arrangements, the concept album tread the fine line between the innocent and the debauched, planted the seeds for all tomorrow’s trip hop, and lives up well and truly to Gainsbourg’s genius. MC

Isabelle Adjani

The crowning glory of François Truffaut’s 1975 masterpiece The Story of Adèle H. was surely Isabelle Adjani’s deep, riveting portrayal of a woman in the throes of self-destruction and obsession. That Oscarnominated performance was but the tip of the then-20-year-old Adjani’s promise and prodigious talent, which would go on to flourish in films like Barocco and Possession, and made her the toast of European cinema in the ‘70s. She’s not looked back since: “When work keeps me busy, I feel like I’m drunk. I don’t ask for anything more.” MC

Carole King

Carole King was a Brill Building employee until a move from New York City to Los Angeles at the tail-end of the ‘60s saw her shift gears from writer-for-hire (“The Loco-motion”) to earthy songstress (“I Feel The Earth Move”). Rubbing shoulders with the likes of James Taylor in the then-fertile environs of Laurel Canyon obviously did wonders, and King’s subsequent Writer and Grammywinning Tapestry shone serenely with “songs of hope, songs of love, songs of raw feeling”. It was a feel-good sound that dominated LA’s ‘70s music-scape and continues to stand as a paradigm of fine songcraft. MC

The Who

1967’s My Generation had already established the London quartet as a pulverising force in rock and 1969’s Tommy had burnished its rep as masterpiece-makers of the loudest order. Still, as the succeeding decade showed, the band had many more precedents to set, mods be damned. 1971’s Who’s Next saw then usher keyboard-led drone sounds into rock’s vernacular, presaging the noise rock to come, before Quadrophenia was released in 1974. A concept record that fleshed out the state of schizophrenia through the new development of quadrophonic sound, it was one of rock’s most grandiose and singular events. IP

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Led Zeppelin

All the music Led Zeppelin ever made was produced in the ‘70s, making it, as one enthusiastic critical force opined, “the biggest band of the ‘70s”. How a band can be everlasting influential is revealed in Zeppelin’s merging of the popular styles of the day to singular effect on missives like “Black Dog”, “Immigrant Song”, “Stairway to Heaven” and “Hot Dog”, embracing both excess and nuance. Go hard or go home, we say today. But for Led Zeppelin, hard was home. IP

The Rolling Stones

Cavernous though their body of work may be, it was the ‘70s that saw the Stones at their defining best. When going experimental on 1968’s psychedelic outing Their Satanic Majesties Request turned out to be unwise, Jagger and co. redoubled and returned to what they did best on Let It Bleed (1969), Sticky Fingers (1971) and Exile On Main Street (1972). During this run, rock’s still-gleaming gold standard was outlined in songs like “Wild Horses”, “Brown Sugar” and “Rocks Off”. Later, as punk emerged as a counterpoint to rock ‘n’ roll, the band answered with Some Girls in 1978 and silenced all charges of irrelevance. IP

The Modern Lovers

We sit on an embarrassment of indie-, alt-, punk and rock riches because of the visionary strokes of The Modern Lovers. Deeply influenced by the Velvets though he was, Jonathan Richman added a bleeding-heart earnestness to the off-kilter songwriting style he inherited from his hero Lou Reed and gave every guitar-centric sub-genre of rock founding documents in milestones like “Roadrunner” and “Pablo Picasso”. Never known for their reverence, The Sex Pistols shambolically covered “Roadrunner” early in their career, speaking volumes of the band’s place in the pantheon of rock. IP

Martin Scorsese

“It’s pretty tough stuff, real life,” Martin Scorsese once said, “It’s not like some movie where everybody’s singing and dancing and drinking bottles of Chianti.” And true to what he knew to be real life, Scorsese spent the ‘70s refining his directorial vision on the mean streets, training his hand-held lens on gangsters and taxi drivers, and producing intense homages to his native and beloved New York City. Following the terrific Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, that Scorsese should end the decade with the singing and dancing New York, New York is, well, forgivable. MC

Queen

Genesis P-Orridge

Besides being one of the biggest and best-selling bands in the world, the union of Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon and Freddie Mercury showed that prog rock and metal could be distilled into a critically uncompromising and commercially heatseeking proposition. Kicking it prog on their first two eponymous albums, the band arrived at their big-stride, stadium-friendly sound on 1974’s Sheer Heart Attack, which set the stage for A Night at the Opera a year later, which gave the world “Bohemian Rhapsody”. We could go on. IP

A prevailing quest for “psychic detonations that negate Control” brought one Genesis P-Orridge to avantgarde’s door in the ‘70s, where he unfurled his anti-music and anti-art. First founding COUM Transmissions, he staged a number of cultural offensives (including that infamous Prostitution show), which later mutated into Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV. With those outfits, P-Orridge brandished intense and occult sonic anarchy that besides laying the groundwork for industrial music, attested to P-Orridge’s artistic integrity and experimental unorthodoxy in the face of Control. MC

Nile Rodgers & Chic

He may have given 2013 and beyond one of pop’s most inescapable songs in “Get Lucky” but Rodgers’ and his band’s hit-making run began in the ‘70s, when songs like “Dance, Dance, Dance”, “I Want Your Love” and “Le Freak”, were first gifted to the world. And it’s not hard to see why that ‘70s hip-shaking boogie is something we still can’t do without today. IP

Pamela Des Barres

Putting sex in the ‘70s concoction of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll were a line-up of groupies with first-rate taste in men and music. And chief amongst these band-aiding ladies has been Pamela Des Barres, whose ‘70s was stacked with entanglements with Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page and the like, as well as the experience of being one of Frank Zappa’s GTOs. Des Barres has also been attempting to retrieve the term “groupie” (“All it means is just a music lover who wants to be near the band”) in such a way that pretty much set the backdrop for Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous. MC

Malcolm McLaren

A renegade’s renegade, Malcolm McLaren was always divisive. Not content with owning the hippest corner in London in the ‘70s, he harnessed subversion, cynicism and calculation to embark on the provocative project that was The Sex Pistols. His wiles were as crafty as they were cruel and though he did maneuver the Pistols into infamy, he’s still remembered by John Lydon as “the most evil person on earth”. This, kids, is how omelets are made. MC

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Ska’d For Life

Horace Panter’s lifetime of art and The Specials Text: Min Chen

Horace Panter may ultimately submit to being The Bloke Who Played The Bass In The Specials, but hey, he certainly deserves more credit than that. While he did have his part to play in The Specials, the 2-Toned band that made ska what it is with solid gold nuggets like “Ghost

Town” and “A Message To You, Rudy”, Horace has also been hard at work on what he calls his “solo album”, a very pop-smart and stately body of art. Taking his cues from the likes of Warhol and Lichtenstein, he’s been celebrating and conjuring everyday

sights – robots, Walkmen, road signs, Joe Strummer – in neat and colourful strokes, and imparting them a truly iconic shine. It’s this reverential take on pop iconography that’s lent his Cassette series, for one, equal emotional and visual impact, and made Horace no ordinary

bass player. Here, the legend who was recently in town recently to showcase his work at the ICON Gallery and to commemorate the launch of The Cassette Shirts at the Fred Perry Laurel Wreath Store, talks up his loves for art, ska and of course, fire hydrants.

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with an audience in mind. Does that make it commercial? I don’t know. I’m very aware that there’s art and there’s commerce, and I attempt to take in both. But I’m always pleased with the end product and if I’m not, it doesn’t get shown. Every painting is always the best painting I’ve ever done in my life.

How do you usually feel before the opening of one of your shows? When I first started exhibiting, I felt very strange seeing people who I didn’t know looking at my work on the walls and making a judgement. I was all, “How dare they! That’s my work!” But of course, there’s nothing I can do about it. The work will either succeed or fail, because of how people like it or not. It’s very different to playing music: if the audience isn’t responding, I’ll move around a bit more or play differently to get a reaction, but with the art, there’s nothing I can do about it once it’s on the wall. But I’m used to it now and I’m starting to enjoy the opening event. Does that affect your work somehow – the fact that it will ultimately be viewed and judged? I think it’s perhaps an unconscious decision; it’s not a conscious decision. One gallery owner that we show with always says, “Make sure there’s some red in your picture, people like buying red!” But I wouldn’t go as far as that. I paint things with an audience in mind like how I play music

So back in the beginnning, what was it that drew you to art and an art education in the first place? Ooh, crikey! I was never very good at school academically, but I liked English and the idea of thinking and being creative. Art, I really liked ‘cos there were no rules and I felt a lot more comfortable with it. And then I discovered pop music and that was the end of that! This was in the mid ‘60s with the advent of pirate radio stations in Britain and all of a sudden, you went from hearing half an hour of pop music a day on the radio to listening to pop music all the time. It just boomed in England and along with that came the youth culture, the mods – who later became skinheads if they were working class or hippies if they were middle class – and then the music itself went on to evolve. So I wanted to do art at ‘A’ Levels as opposed to history or maths, so I did that and I went to art college. There was also the fact that a lot of very successful British pop groups went to art school, so I liked to say that in the ‘70s, art school was the reserve of either the eccentric or the work-shy. I like to think I was the former, but actually I was more the latter! And how did music fit into all of that? I went to art college and got my degree, but I was playing music as well in

the evenings. When I finished college, I got a job at a supermarket unloading lorries and stacking shelves, and then, I joined The Specials with Jerry Dammers, who I met at college. But I was always still insterested in art. When the band went to New York in 1980, everybody went out to nightclubs but I went to bed early, just so I could get up the next morning and go to the Whitney and Guggenheim. I was always known as a musician but art was always with me. What was it that bonded you and Jerry Dammers? The music. He wanted to play this music that I thought was very strange. I was not used to playing reggae; it was not music I was aware of and I wasn’t a natural player, so it was interesting and challenging. We worked together from 1977 until the band finally split up in 1981, which was very sad ‘cos he was my best friend. We were very close and we both worked really hard to make this group work, but it just fell to bits, which was an absolute tragedy. But that’s the way groups work… it’s not always about the music; it’s also about personalities. You’ve also recounted your life with The Specials in the brilliant Ska’d For Life. How was it like putting that experience into words? Ska’d For Life was a love letter. There had been several books published mainly by fans about The Specials and some of them were a bit rose-tinted, while some of them were wildly inaccurate. I had actually kept diaries when we toured and I was the one who took only some drugs and didn’t drink too much, so I was the one who was usually sober and remembered a lot of

the things that happened. I had a lot of source material to call upon. I didn’t like doing the last bit of the book, the last six months of the band, but it had to be done, so I just held my breath and wrote about it. The book got published in 2007. I was a schoolteacher at that point and I thought I would retire a schoolteacher. I didn’t think that The Specials would reconvene, and it’s strange when people come to the concerts and ask me to sign the book. And after this many years, what do The Specials mean to you? Well, I suppose they are the defining terms of my life. When I’m dead, on my gravestone, it won’t say, Horace Panter: He Drove a Good White Van, or Horace Panter: He Was a Good Art Teacher. It will be, Horace Panter: The Bloke Who Played The Bass In The Specials. That’s the defining thing of my life, whether I like it or not. That’s why I called my book Ska’d For Life. It’s an acceptance of that. How’s it feel like to be still up on stage with The Specials? Well, Stuart Copeland from The Police once said that musicians stay younger longer, and it’s hard for me to disagree! Do your music and your art share similar traits? Yes, in terms of the marketing of it. The same way your ego says, “I wanna play this music to other people”, my ego says, “I want other people to see these paintings”. A lot of people are very sniffy and art being very elitist, they feel you can only have extreme intelligence to like this, but I don’t like that. My music was made for everybody and with these paintings, I hope everyone can connect with them. That’s one of

the things I liked about pop art – that it was based on ordinary stuff. And like pop art, your work is very icon-based. To you, what makes an icon? I think it’s something which has a cultural relevance… or doesn’t… I don’t know… Well, this is a very long answer. In the 1600s, people discovered these tombs in Rome with lots and lots of skeletons in them and it was decided that they were the tombs of Christian martyrs. So they ended up sending them to churches in Germany and Europe, but since they didn’t know what saints they were, they made up names for these saints. And the people of the churches received them and dressed them in elaborate jewels and made a big deal out of them… and they weren’t! They were just regular folks! The people in Germany thought they were the bones of real saints, but they weren’t! And I think that’s fantastic! That you can get an ordinary object and imbibe it with this power to make it something else! Which is exactly what Andy Warhol did with a soup can. It’s like deifying something, making it something that you revere. It’s also what you’ve done with the humble cassette. Yes. They just remind you about your childhood and that’s all. Practically, it has no use; it is a moribund, useless piece of equipment, except it reminds you of where you were in 1983 and what you were listening to. They trigger a memory and I think I’ve done a good job with them. I was basically just picking what was relevant to me, like The Specials, and a lot of them are

studio cassettes. As a musician I had some of these, and if that recording went on to become a classic, then what you had there was the skeleton of a tune that went on to change people’s life. And if you were a music fan, you’d get it too, since everyone of them used to tape the radio, or you’d make mixtapes to swap with a mate or to impress a certain girl. Over time, that’s become culturally significant and there’s a bit of narrative in that. So here’s something that’s really cheap and disposable and ugly, but made to become something else… just like the bones in Rome. So what do you hope people may take away from your art? I think memories and completeness. I hope it will make people look at things differently. I do! I fall in love with fire hydrants all the time, especially if they’re colourful! There’s one in Toronto airport that’s great, it’s yellow and blue and with a green sticker on it! It’s only a fire hydrant but all it takes is looking at everyday objects a bit differently.

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When We Was Punk Sheila Rock paints a picture of British punk Text: Min Chen Special thanks: agnès b.

It’s one thing to have lived through punk’s heyday – bearing witness to its creative impetus and youthful energy – and another to have brilliantly documented it as it happened. Sheila Rock has done both: she’s rubbed shoulders with the best of ‘em and has got the photographs to prove it. A lush volume entitled PUNK+ collects pictures of Rock’s many adventures in the ‘70s English punk scene, including shots of Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood’s SEX boutique, of Siouxsie Sioux

and The Clash, of Paul Weller and Chrissie Hynde, and of the kids and fans who embodied punk’s DIY ethos. Forming a collective portrait of what she recalls as a “positive time”, Rock’s photographs aren’t just punk in content, but in their raw and spontaneous frames, entirely punk in form too. Sheila was in town to grace the launch of the PUNK+ exhibition, as hosted by agnès b., and took time to walk us through the creativity, the style and the John Lydons that made punk.

How did PUNK+ come together? It’s by accident. I had a French art director come to my home looking for some of my archive pictures of Marianne Faithfull. We were having a conversation and he was saying, “I remember some really great shots that you did of John Lydon.” Then I said, “Oh no, they’re not very good. They’re really technically awful,” but he was still trying to find out more information about them. And Fabrice [Couillerothad, of First Third Books] had just started a new publishing venture, so he showed me his first book, which was done in a very minimal style. It wasn’t like doing a typical book on punk that ends up looking cheap. We also went through my box of photographs and he said, “What distinguishes

your pictures from the others is the fact that you’ve covered a lot of the fashion and a lot of the kids”. A lot of the photographers at the time were photographing the bands and only a little bit of the other people, and not to the extent that I did. So he said he’ll mock up something, and if I liked it, we’d try to do it. And it looked good, so I just sort of went with the flow. So it just happened; it was meant to be, I think. And how does it feel to hold the book in your hands? I’m really proud of it. I love the way it feels and the fact that it’s so heavy. It feels like an important document, a true visual document of that time. I wanted people who didn’t live during that time to get a sense that it was very positive.

How so? In front of the book, there are conversational pieces with the people that I knew during that time, and a lot of what they were saying is that punk was the beginning for a lot of people. None of us really knew about photography, writing, graphic design… we were just trying things out. But it was remarkable that a lot of the people from that time have all done reasonably all right. We’ve all accomplished certain things. Like, Jeannette Lee is now the managing director of Rough Trade Records, but when I met her she was just a shop girl [at Acme Attractions]. Jon Savage, he was probably the most academic – he went to Cambridge, became a lawyer, and was writing for NME and The Face, ‘cos he was always interested in youth

culture. Subsequently, he’s written a book and become a foremost expert on punk. I’ve done all right too as a photographer, so it was a great and positive time. That’s punk, though, having that self-belief to go ahead and do what you want to do. That’s the main thing, believing in yourself. It’s hugely romantic, the idea that you have a dream and you just live it. You try. If you sit at home and wait for the phone to ring, you’re just waiting for something and it will never happen. And how was it like putting together the pictures for PUNK+? Because I’m a self-taught photographer, it took me a long time to really feel like a photographer. Because I’ve never assisted anyone, I

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From left Jordan outside SEX, 1974; Chrissie Hynde with The Moors Murderers, 1977; Sheila Rock; Bat Eyes, 1977; and Siouxsie Sioux in tartan, 1980

didn’t have that period of gaining a level of confidence. There was always this insecurity that the photographs wouldn’t come out right, but I just kind of went for it. So when I looked at the pictures, they were kind of good, but I could hear myself saying, “Do you really think so?” I was suddenly back to feeling insecure about the work, and yet people who didn’t live that time were going, “These are amazing”. And the way that the book’s structured gives this sort of flow of the time, and so it’s made me, not necessarily proud of the pictures, but it’s made me look at them as historical. I was there; I had lived it. But when you’re living it, you don’t know it’s important at all. But I guess I had a sense that it was important enough to just put it away and leave it all in

a box as opposed to just throwing it away. Was there something special you saw in the British punk scene? It was just visually exciting. I knew because a year earlier I was in New York, and Mick [Rock, Sheila’s then-husband] and I went on the first Bowie tour and travelled around America. I was introduced to all these really crazy, mad people. There was a lot of money that was spent on creating this sort of mystique around Bowie, and it’s well deserved because he is so incredibly talented, but this amazing cast of characters was part of that too. And they introduced me to the New York punk scene, which was a little bit more sophisticated than a lot of the English. But the English punk scene was different: it was more

working class, it wasn’t so art school-based, but it was more visual. Even though I wasn’t a photographer per se, I had a camera and I just started to photograph it. Were there some people or bands that were particularly great to photograph? Well, The Clash was amazing to photograph, because they looked so cool. If they walked in now and you asked them to stand against a white wall, they’d just look like a rock band, a cool rock band. There were other people who were great musicians but didn’t have the visual finesse and you’ll be struggling to make them look interesting. But what’s amazing is that a lot of people in bands, certainly in England, have a very strong fashion sensibility. They kind of look either rock ‘n’ roll, or a bit edgy.

They’re not oblivious to style. Music and fashion in England have always been like a marriage. And what was John Lydon like to photograph? He was always very nice to me. I mean, I think he could be very unpredictable and I always felt that he could just get up and go at any minute. But he’s wonderful if he gets into it. He’s not stupid; he knows these photographs will enhance his image. His fashion sense was so incredibly original, and he’s cheeky, a little mad and so photogenic. If you egg him on, he can go over the top and you’ll get some really good pictures. What do you hope thet people will glean from your pictures? Well, I hope when people go through them, they’ll

feel inspired. They’ll see a time in youth culture in history, even though it’s Britain. In England, even though it’s sort of outwardly conservative, it’s also inwardly eccentric, so they kind of encourage that or like that individuality. It’s about being yourself and expressing yourself. I hope people don’t see this book as a terrible bad negative time, I see it as a time of great blossoming in creativity. That was definitely true for you. Yeah, it certainly was my beginning as a photographer. I also met some incredibly individual, maverick characters that have formed who I am today. It’s an interesting tribe to be part of. I’ve never been a punk, but I like that sort of spirit. But if punk means being individual, then I guess I can say that I am punk. Since then, where else has your photography taken you? From the early ‘90s, I just made this conscious decision that I didn’t want to photograph music anymore. I wanted to photograph a writer, a ballet dancer, do some fashion, just try my hand in something else. I was beginning to feel that I

was being trapped in a box. So I started doing more fashion work and advertising, all sorts of different things. It just made me a thicker person and in the last 13 years, I’ve been trying to do more of my own personal projects, which has been an interesting change from commercial work. And what’s been keeping you busy lately? Well, I am still working as a commercial photographer and I think I’m coming out with a book in the spring. These are portraits of the working class English along the coast. I call it Tough and Tender, because the people are kind of tough and working class, but there’s heart to them. So rather than photographing them in a negative way, I try to give a depth to their personalities. Any chance we’ll see more of your music archive? I’ve been very, very fortunate that these things that happened, have just happened. So maybe another music thing will just happen again! Somebody will knock on my door and say, “We really want to see your Marianne pictures from that time.”

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Electric Jungle brings soul to the digital world Text: Indran P

In the late ‘90s, an industry pioneer coined – and trademarked – the term “neo soul” to describe music that grew out of soul, and incorporated elements of

jazz, funk, hip hop and pop. Funny how, almost two decades later, that same descriptor can be applied to the soulful sounds made today, at the apex of the digital age.

But amongst the many digisoul tinkerers residing in the soundcloud above us, London collective Jungle has emerged as a bona fide sensation. Growing from

Facebook-less unknowns, known only as J and T, to nominees for the BBC’s Sound of 2014 prize, to amongst the most buzzed-about in today’s polyglot pop

world, the duo recently released their selftitled debut, proving that it’s still possible to make mesmerising soul with modern tools that packs a resounding

power. Jungle’s due to play in our backyard for Laneway Festival Singapore 2015, and here, we catch up with J for a spot of soulsearching.

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Dreams Part of Jungle’s early charms was its anonymity. What do you make of the surge in exposure since you revealed your identities? I think being anonymous was something that just came up. It was something that we were born out of: we made a video for our first single, did the artwork and used our nicknames. People perceived we were trying to hide. But we were just trying to put out art, put out music really. And with how big we’ve got, obviously we couldn’t sustain that forever. You know, we’re producers at the end of the day. It’s a difficult one because I’m always trying to escape into the music and into the visuals of Jungle.

How did Jungle expand from a production-heavy duo to a live band? There are two sides to music, studio and live, and we enjoy both of them. We listen to records and enjoy them, and when we go to concerts and gigs we enjoy that too. In particular, the idea of playing live is very rewarding because it’s a religion with people who listen to your music. Also, the music has a life of its own when you play it

in a live environment; it has its own continuity; you can be different every night you play. We can play a song for 10 minutes when we play it live, although that’s not what it’s like on the record. It’s a constantly evolving thing.

Would you say that Jungle is a tribute to the soul sounds of the past like Motown and the Philly sound? I wouldn’t say it’s a tribute at all. We kind of think about the future, and I think the songs in some respects are reminiscent of some certain styles. I would say it’s quite difficult to put a certain pinpoint on what exactly they are. We just listen to good music and we play what we think sounds good. And that’s how we get to our end product, that’s how we make songs. Does it sound good and does it make you feel good? Those are the two rules for making music for us. Your futuristic take on certain styles definitely shows in how the album is electronically-minded but also elemental. Yes, very much so. I think the challenge with electronic music

is trying to get the human element into it. We’re in the digital age where so many people are creating electronic music because the technology and software are so accessible, so now it’s about that human element. Look at Thom Yorke in Radiohead and Atoms for Peace, and look at the way he balances the line between live and electronic. It’s fascinating. Where does the computer end and the human begin? Where does the human end and the computer begin?

This interfacing between the human and digital ends definitely shows on “Platoon”. How did that song take shape? It started with a drum beat for us, with just a basic beat that everyone has access to. And I suppose it was inspired by this idea of confidence and being able to take something into your own hands and doing it yourself. It was something that took a little while; we had the first half of the song for a very long time and then one late night, T and I were sitting in the studio and the two guitars kind of came together. When it just happened, it happened, and we

recorded those parts instantly. It’s always about capturing a moment in the studio; it’s always about capturing a certain emotion. Whether it’s lust or anger, with guitars or vocals, you’ve just got to be able to capture it. Another fascinating song is “The Heat”. You’ve said that it’s about a place that may not be real, yet, lyrically it’s incredibly personal. All the big songs in the record came after each other. We had already put “Platoon” up by the time we wrote “The Heat”. I suppose, it was formed when we weren’t taking ourselves too seriously. The samples, the production, the way that the melodies work, it was all quite a fun job. Obviously, the lyrics tell a different story; a more anguished and painful one. The lyrics are always there to be kind of universal; they definitely mean something to us, and we want people to form their own opinions of what it means to them. Your videos are as big a part in the Jungle universe as your music. Is there a specific aesthetic that you look for in your videos?

The videos follow a basic rule: we try to keep things very simple. If it’s complicated, then it’s the wrong idea. It’s not groundbreaking to put a dancer in a video. What I think was kind of groundbreaking was to keep it very simple, holding on the long shots and the motion of the characters and just building that world. It’s the most important thing rather than just using lots of lights and cutting the video very fast. If you actually do the opposite, you actually gain more attention and more plays and make a more captivating video in the process. With Jungle, you joined big names like Daft Punk and Pharrell in reliving old pop sounds electronically. Do you think that this is the trajectory that pop will take in the future? I don’t know for sure. I think it’s at an exciting place, because obviously we’re in the age of digital music. The rise of Apple, the rise of technology and the fact that it’s become much cheaper, has had a massive effect on the music industry and on producers who are now creating music

in their bedrooms. It’s a very important and natural progression, you know? 15-20 years ago, we had Oasis and Blur making Britpop and that was the sound that everybody was making. Now, everybody is on their laptops producing their own beats. I think the real challenge is to see who can bring the most emotion to that; who can create a new blueprint with that kind of music. What are you looking forward to the most about playing in Singapore? Singapore is a multicultural city and we love the idea of multi-cultural places. I think everybody in the world is part of the same thing, and music brings people together and it’s something we can all celebrate. Jungle is out now on XL Recordings. Jungle plays Laneway Festival Singapore on 24 January 2015. Tickets are $165 (standard) and are available from eventclique and SISTIC.

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A New Hope An alphabetical record of the creative and golden highs of the ‘70s cinematic landscape Text: Min Chen

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as in A Clockwork Orange (1971). Amidst the controversy that Stanley Kubrick’s adaption whipped up amongst the authorities, A Clockwork Orange endures as a fearless and confident picture. Its notoriety may have been sealed the moment Alex and his droogs stepped out for a spot of ultraviolence, but its true power still lies in its extreme journey into political, psychological and moral grey areas.

as in Badlands (1973). Terence Malick’s directorial vision is laid bare in the darkly poetic, ironic and nihilistic Badlands – a fictional retelling of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate’s 1958 crime spree – of which, lead actor Martin Sheen has raved thusly: “It was extremely American; it caught the spirit of the people, of the culture in a way that was immediately identifiable.”

as in The Deer Hunter (1978). The Deer Hunter was Michael Cimino elevating the humble war movie to the level of a “parable”. Armed with a heavyweight cast (containing de Niro and Streep) and emotionally charged scenes (including that round of Russian roulette), he unfurls no mere picture but an American epic.

as in Carrie (1976). A landmark in the horror genre, Carrie gave us one solid Stephen King adaptation, Sissy Spacek, a first-rate female-driven plot and due warning that a high school prom is indeed hell.

as in Eraserhead (1977). A surreal horror show straight from the bosom of punk, David Lynch’s theatrical masterstroke required stamina and patience to be appreciated (and even then, was still deemed a “bad-taste exercise” by ‘70s audiences), and three whole decades before the rest of the world caught up with it.

as in The French Connection (1971). Staging the age-old crooks-and-cops drama in a brand new realism, William Friedkin delivered on a first-class thriller that won a whole bunch of awards and set the standard for all future car chase sequences.

as in The Godfather (1972). Never had the life of gangsters been rendered with sympathy or nuance until Francis Ford Coppola stepped in with The Godfather. Still the reigning king of American cinema, Coppola’s classy treatment of the Corleone empire was an artistic and commercial triumph that continues to ripple through contemporary pop culture. Also, Al Pacino.

as in Hair (1979). The big-screen rendering of Hair may have shaved off most of the original Broadway musical’s rough and cutting edges, but still stands as a fun and delightful enough film that looks back on the hippie counterculture of the ‘60s with peace and love.

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as in Jaws (1975). It may have not had the most auspicious of productions (Richard Dreyfuss: “We started the film without a script, without a cast and without a shark”), but trust Steven Spielberg to wield enough heart, ambition and expertise to craft the world its first Hollywood blockbuster. From here, you can just about see the aliens and dinosaurs.

as in Interiors (1978). While the sublime Annie Hall did put Woody Allen on Hollywood’s map, it is the Ingmar Bergmanindebted Interiors that demonstrated his dramatic range. For all of Allen’s anxieties (“I think I’m writing Long Day’s Journey into Night and it turns into Edge of the Night”), the film would land him critical nods and four Oscar nominations.

as in Life of Brian (1979). “So funny it was banned in Norway!” read the marketing tagline for Life of Brian. And indeed, while some deemed Monty Python’s satire on organised religion an allout blasphemous affair, those more enlightened have warmed to the film’s absurd, hilarious and razor-sharp narrative of the life of the titular Brian (“not the Messiah”, but “a very naughty boy”). This still is certified comedy gold, so too bad for Norway.

as in Nashville (1975). Ostensibly taking on the world of country music, the Robert Altmanhelmed Nashville instead employs its 24-strong ensemble cast (who also helped write some of the musical’s songs) to tackle the blurred lines between American politics and entertainment.

as in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975). The big topic here may be the tug-of-war between the establishment and the individual, but this Jack Nicholson vehicle is already powerful at the most personal and fundamental level in its poignant depiction of one man’s bid to live free or die.

as in Vanishing Point (1971). Vanishing Point’s post-hippie burn-out failed to impress ‘70s critics, but latterly, this picture of cars, speed and cynicism has earned itself a nice cult status. If you squint, you might also make out its existential point, however vanishing.

as in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). A musical comedy, a toast to sexual liberation, an exercise in camp, an homage to horror movies and a lesson in the Time Warp – The Rocky Horror Picture Show is all those things, but with extra transvestites, aliens and rock ‘n’ roll.

as in Kramer vs. Kramer (1975). A heart-rending and impartial portrait of a couple in the throes of divorce, Kramer vs. Kramer saw Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman holding court, and exemplified the decade’s reassessment of couplehood and parenthood.

as in Mad Max (1979). The apocalypse first arrived with Mad Max, the Australian film featuring outlaws and warriors (and Mel Gibson) having vehicular fun and games amidst a dystopian landscape. Everyone, from Robert Rodríguez to Gary Numan to Guillermo del Toro, paid attention.

as in Performance (1970). Having scored a dream cast of Mick Jagger, Anita Pallenberg and James Fox, Nicolas Roeg turned in Performance, his directorial debut and a cinematic exploration of identity that was as demented and hallucinatory as any end-of-the-‘60s artifact should be. As Jagger’s Turner character so informs us, “The only performance that makes it all the way is the one that achieves madness.”

as in Star Wars (1977). This, of course, is not a movie, but a pop cultural juggernaut that defied the moviegoing expectations and filmmaking limitations of the ‘70s. As the Millennium Falcon flies, so has this very first Star Wars continued to spring forth prequels and sequels, while inspiring universal love, obsession and costume ideas.

as in The Wicker Man (1973). Wielding its chills and thrills to maximum effect, The Wicker Man is more than a matter of scary things happening to people in scary places, but one of the finest entries in the folk horror genre.

as in Quadrophenia (1979). Being based off The Who’s 1973 rock opera, Quadrophenia is clearly mod-authentic from the roots up. But the scooters, the rockers and rioting in Brighton aside, the film works additional wonders in its framing of the kind of teenage rebellion and restlessness that even John Lydon wanted a bite of.

as in Taxi Driver (1976). As proven by Mean Streets and verified by Taxi Driver, Martin Scorsese is right at home in the gritty, low-livin’, tough-talkin’ curbsides of New York City (soundtrack: The Rolling Stones). On Taxi Driver, things are made more effective by Robert de Niro’s barnstorming portrayal of would-be vigilante Travis Bickle, who delivers the film’s kills and killer catchphrase.

as in Zabriskie Point (1970). Granted the ‘60s hangover that is Zabriskie Point is hardly Michelangelo Antonioni’s finest hour, it still contains gems in its stark visual and aural beauty. After all, from nowhere else will you derive the exquisite pleasure of watching buildings blow up to a Pink Floyd soundtrack.

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The Body Wild Beasts unveils its new arsenal on Present Tense Text: Indran P

Make no mistake: this is a whole different beast from the one you’re used to. In the years since its first missive, 2011’s Limbo Panto, English baroque pop troubadours Wild Beasts have established themselves as amongst contemporary indie rock’s most adventurous forces. With an ethereal, orchestrally-

minded aesthetic that embraces the dreamier, more experimental side of pop, rock and post-punk, the band boasts a rarefied, artisanal modus that, for its sheer intricacy and craft, is irreplicable. But this year, in a shocking overhaul of its stylised moves, the band released the heavily electronic Present Tense. Pulsing with synths

and quivering with minimalism, the record marked the evolution of the band’s crystalline sound into one of menacing incandescence. Harder, bolder and tighter, this was Wild Beasts as no one had ever heard them before. Here, bassist and co-frontman Tom Fleming filled us in on its enchanting transformation.

You managed a fantastic coup on Present Tense. Were you apprehensive about such a drastic revamp of your usual sound? Thank you. I think in terms of all the electronics, it’s kind of where we were heading towards in Smother [prior album]. For Present Tense, we got less shy and more involved in including electronics in the writing process. Building songs from the computer outwards kind of informed the whole process. I don’t know if it’s minimal or maximal but we certainly tried to clean up the arrangements. The record before was very layered and textured,

and I think we kind of got a little bored of that. Much has also been made about how this is your most romantic and sexual record yet and songs like “Nature Boy”, “Mecca” and “Sweet Spot” are quite graphic in this respect. What can you tell us about the romantic framing of this record? I think it’s a less wounded record than the rest of our records. Certainly Smother was quite a difficult and unhappy record. I think this is more forthright. But there are a lot of love songs on this record and also, I guess, some kind of attempt to look at the world a bit more. There’s a lot of performance

here, like “Nature Boy”. That’s kind of a performance sort of a character you put on. It’s telling a lie to tell the truth, exaggerating things and putting them out there. I think it’s very English to be really shy and step back and not make your voice heard. We were very eager to not do that.

That definitely shows on the lead single “Wanderlust”. Wow, I’m glad to hear that. It was a very obvious break with what we’ve done before. It does sound very different; it’s almost dumb compared to what we’ve done before. It had very few instruments, which was kind of deliberate. That’s

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Electric why it’s the first song on the record. It sounds like what the record was going to sound. And from our point of view, it was the best starting point for the record.

We understand there’s also a strong political charge in the song. To a certain extent, yes. It’s about power. If you have no money or status in this country, you really don’t have very much. In Britain, all the things that were put in place to help social mobility in my lifetime have been recently stripped away. We find it frustrating how difficult it is. If it was difficult for us then, it must be impossible now. It makes us angry. Art is the poorer for it because

most people can’t make it and it’s an expensive hobby. We need to hear voices from all over the place.

Another surprise was “A Simple Beautiful Truth”. What influenced this very strong r&b song? Oh yeah, that is kind of a pop song. It’s probably the straightest pop song you’ll ever get from us. We wanted it to have the groove of a Curtis Mayfield or Nile Rodgers song. They kind of don’t try too hard and the groove is just irresistible, you know? There’s not a lot on that song. I think we just wanted to do everything correctly. There’s a guitar line but it’s just one note. I love the kind of stuff where

that one tiny element makes a difference. I also like deconstructing songs and seeing how they work. That song was about using our knowledge to be direct rather than to make something strange.

On the other end, the most chilling song on the record, “Daughters”, reads like a revenge narrative. Yes, that’s fair. Like any sane adult, I have great fears for the future, especially for the next generation and what kind of world it’s inheriting. I think it’s especially hard if you’re a girl. That’s why it’s about a great city built up by rich and powerful men that’s destroyed by little girls.

It’s an image and myth that keeps repeating in a lot of old stories and we were kind of taking it on. It was an arresting idea that I was going for.

It’s great that you mentioned that because your breakout hit “Hooting and Howling” certainly was such an arresting song. That song was actually very simple. It was written with basic chords on a guitar. It was guitar, bass, drums and piano on top of a cheap £30 keyboard we bought! In fact, that whole record was made when we were really broke. We had no money at all; I couldn’t even get a job at a factory. But with all the free time we had, we channelled all

our energies into making music. It was just one of those things which we needed to work and it did. And we got Richard Formby, the producer, to kind of just tell us to when to stop. At one point, he actually said, “No, that’s right. Just record it as it is.” And that was it. Considering that it was made with our cheap, broken equipment, it’s actually kind of funny. Your music has long been tagged as an antidote to lad-rock. What do you make of this? Well, you know what, I think there might be a bit more to it. Actually, when it comes down to it, our music is from the same kind of mentality

and place as that kind of music. In some way, yes, you hear so many bad records by so many bad bands but it’s also a very regional and British form of music. When we were writing songs in 2011 and 2012, we loved Oasis, Travis and all those bands. Whatever we’ve done since has been from that year zero. We make sure our music is imaginative and not metro and progressive and not retro. It seems like we don’t have anything in common with that kind of music, but at the same time, that’s where we started. I personally think it’s impossible to divorce our music from that. Present Tense is out now on Domino Records.

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Rubber Soul Little Dragon breaks new ground yet again

Text: Indran P

into the mix. This time, we wanted to try new things. Dave’s an old friend; he’s someone we really know and like. Robin, we got in touch with more recently. We had him in mind because he’s known for bringing great perspective to his productions. I think we were just ready to open up our little bubble and let other people in and that felt great. And was there any specific sound you were going for? I think we always aim for a “fat sound” that’s electronic but still organic. I’d say we play electro-organic music. Yes, this feel definitely describes your lead single “Klapp Klapp”. I think it also bears the influence of John Coltrane and some Moroccan music, especially where the bassline just goes and goes and you can do

Amidst all the legacy-making stuff, it’s that risk-taking verve that ultimately decides where a band stands in pop culture’s esteem. The leap from Pablo Honey to King of Limbs has been a precedent of how an act can transform its sound; but Swedish genre-confounding act Little Dragon has

anything on top of it, even just clap. From the start, it was just the clap and the bassline. It was minimal but very easy to get ideas for what goes on top. What inspired the song’s legitimately creepy video? Yes, that was the director Nabil’s idea. He wanted to do something kind of scary but also kind of fun; the whole zombie thing. It was his take on the idea of being under a spell. I think it works very well with the energy of the song. The other single “Paris” also has this ghostly, ethereal air about it. “Paris” is very original in the way it became a song. It actually started in Berlin where Fred [bassist] was based. We kept sending ideas for “Paris” back and forth from Gothenburg to Berlin. It was nice to do that, you know? You

out into a dynamic force identifiable only as the band’s imprint. On its recent record Nabuma Rubberband, Little Dragon’s shown that well and recombinative mores good those cerebrally further enrich the minded flights may zeitgeist with yet be, the lexicon of another singular pop is just as ripe testament to why for spectacular changing it up can reinterpretation. be fantastic. And Diligently selfahead of the band’s correcting, the band set at Laneway has wielded soul, Festival 2015, dream pop, trip hop drummer Erik Bodin and electronica in brought us a little a three-record run closer to band’s that has seen these newly chartered sounds balance territory.

Congrats on Nabuma Rubberband. It’s your highest peaking album on the charts to date. How did it all come together? The whole album started basically with us moving out of our old studio and into a new one. We reshaped everything and made more space for everybody to work on their ideas. We also had a lot of time off because we had been travelling so much. At that time, we needed a break and really got deep into making music. We took our own time, just doing sketches, and then we spent a lot of time together, making it rich and adding strings and trying things that we never did before.

Yukimi said it was inspired by Janet Jackson’s slow jams. How did those songs affect the shape of the album? Janet has always been our inspiration. When she sings, she’s super sensual and soulful but really sparse. She doesn’t over-sing. I think that was something Yukimi really wanted to try out on a few songs.

do something and then you send it over and you forget about it. When it comes back and it’s something you don’t recognise, you have this “What’s this? Oh yeah, wait a minute” feeling. After we put vocals on it, we decided to go for a kind of a kind of poppy, uplifting vibe, with sad lyrics. It’s always nice to make things clash like that.

break ground. Once a producer gets the right stuff, that producer really gets to take it far and then somebody comes up after. I like it; I really get a lot of inspiration from that scene.

space now where we can react to what we did last time and do something different. We love to be different.

You’ve worked with many artists and one of your most exciting collaborations was with Big Boi on Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumours. How did you link up and what was it like working with him? It was kind of a surprise, actually. A girl doing press for us in the UK said that “Dre” was a big fan of us. We thought she meant Dr. Dre, but it was actually Andre 3000! Eventually, they reached out to us, and when we happened to

be in Atlanta on tour and had some days off, we actually went to Outkast’s Stankonia Studios. It was great. I actually found out that it was Bobby Brown’s old studio. We really learnt a lot from that experience, and we realised that they also just play around and have fun. Some ideas were bad, some were great and we just kept on going and enjoyed it. It really gave us confidence to keep on having the same approach we have. Also, with its recent collaboration with Future, the band’s shown a deep interest in contemporary hip hop. I love trap music, with its fast, complicated hi-hats and slow, super bouncy gangster vibes. In general, the whole hip hop scene is very large and full of innovative angles and ideas. It’s one of the genres where nothing’s standing still; there’s always a wish to

Nabuma Rubberband embraces a vast amount of sounds, styles and moods. How much of an impression did it make on you, as far as your future work is concerned? We learn from every album we make. From Nabuma though, we learnt when to take our time and when to just go for it. I think we also learnt to be more accepting since this was quite a mellow and slow album. At first we thought, “Oh no, we wanted to make dance music”. But then we realised that this is what we did; this is us. So it’s all good. The next step now is to maybe do a dance EP! We have that

This was also the first time you worked with external musicians. What made you want to collaborate with De La Soul’s David Jolicoeur and Rhye’s Robin Hannibal? Well, I think on our previous albums, we were fragile and really not confident about bringing someone else

And what do you have in store for 2015? In the near future, we’re going to go on tour in America and Europe. We’ll also go to Singapore and Australia for Laneway 2015, and we’re going to keep on making music. We’re going to try to pace ourselves so we can make the most out of it but have as much fun as always and not drown ourselves in work. Nabuma Rubberband is out now on Because Music / Loma Vista Recordings. Catch Little Dragon at Laneway Festival Singapore 2015 on 24 January 2015. For more information, proceed to singapore. lanewayfestival.com.

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It Takes 2 2ManyDJs and other revelations from the dancefloor Text: Indran P

The brothers Stephen and David Dewaele have done it all. As honchos of Soulwax, they ushered alt and indie-rock into their dancier, more electronic present-day incarnations, taking care to make sure that due homage was paid to guitarled hooks, verve and edge on their critically bedecked album Much Against Everyone’s Advice. As 2ManyDJs, the duo injected a celebratory air of joyous caprice into dance music

with its mashups that saw such paradigmdefying splicing as Nirvana with Destiny’s Child, The Stooges with Salt ‘N’ Pepa and Beck with the Prodigy, taking place. Way before the maximal, alland-everything approach became de rigueur in any genre that wasn’t acoustic, they were already ahead of the curve. In our chat with them, the brothers take us through the many ways they changed the game. Strap in.

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What’s behind your name; is it an ironic commentary on dance music? David: Yes! It definitely is. Stephen: We were a little bit ahead of our time with that. There was a song with Soulwax that we wrote called “Too Many DJs” and it referenced people who had power and this idea that there are way too many people being DJs. You go to a club and somebody else is deciding for you what’s good and bad. And then, when we started DJ-ing, we needed a name. We were two, and 2ManyDJs just made sense. But this was way before the DJ thing blew up. It still feels a bit like a Trojan horse when we’re on a line-up with David Guetta and other big names! David: Like a football team called Too Much Money! So where does 2ManyDJs stand in relation to Soulwax? Stephen: I think they feed off each other. When we do remixes as Soulwax for other people, we’ll play them under 2ManyDJs. The focus has been on 2ManyDJs for the past two years, but I think we’re going to do something with Soulwax. It’s cool to have both of them and not one thing constantly. Yes, even the Soulwax sound went in a more explorative and electronic direction after Much Against Everyone’s Advice.

David: I think it was because of 2ManyDJs. Like Stephen said, there’s this symbiosis when you make a track; you can DJ it out and people can remix it. Stephen: We never planned any of this. When we did Much Against, we got to play in the UK, Japan and all over the world. For a Belgian band, that was amazing. But there was a lot of boredom, on the road and in between sets. That’s when we started DJ-ing. And then for some reason, people started going crazy for it. When we had to make a new record, DFA came about and it was a whole new movement. I think that’s what inspired us to be more electronic. Also, I think the cool thing about Soulwax after Much Against was that we were one of the few bands that were doing electronic music with live drums and sequencers. You elevated the mashup genre to the forefront of dance music in the early 2000s. How do you feel about how much a part of popular dance sounds it’s become today? Stephen: First off, we don’t like the word “mashup”. The minute someone coined it, I think that’s when we stopped making it. It was all of, like, a few months of our lives. And it’s not like we dislike it, but it became a sport. It was fun at a certain point because it was between the few of us. We’d go into Rough Trade before the Internet and no one could wrap their heads around what we were doing. But then it started becoming very big. MTV and everyone else was like “Hey, we’ll give you a whole night and you could do this”. Record companies would give us their catalogue and tell us to make whatever we wanted. But we were like, “Okay, but that’s not what we really want

to do”. It’s probably going to be referred to in pop culture as a certain something, and it’s nice that we’re part of it, but it’s not something that was really important to us. So would you have a favourite mashup from the many you’ve done? Stephen: Wow, I’d have to think. I like all of them because they’re funny. They make people smile. What’s cool for me about it was that when we’d play, we could see people going, “What is going on?” It totally blew their minds. One of those times was when we mixed The Residents with “Billie Jean” and made weird reference points. We did all this because we were DJ-ing for ourselves. David: Maybe it was luck, but mine has to be the one with Destiny’s Child and 10cc. It worked so well; all the bits in the 10cc song worked great with the Destiny’s Child one. If you could, which two songs would you like to put together now? Stephen: None. Like I said, it was a specific place and time in pop culture. There’s nothing that I really like now. David: Maybe putting together wasn’t of its time, but what was of its time, then, was something like Destiny’s Child or Missy Elliott sounding exotic to indie kids like us. It was new; fresh territory that indie musicians or fans hadn’t ventured into. Now, it’s normal for anyone to love Radiohead as much as they love Beyoncé. If a song came around today that set up new parameters, then we wouldn’t mind doing something. Stephen: If there’s a border to cross, we’ll try to cross it! As members of a rock band and DJs as well, would you say that dance

music is bigger now than it has ever been? David: Yes. But I think dance is very segregated now and that’s what people want. One of the things that happened with mashups was that all of a sudden, it was like the end of an era for awhile for the superstar DJs. That’s when they started experimenting and doing crazy stuff like dipping into new styles of electro. Once minimal house broke through, everything started to get segregated again. Now, there’s only space in the limelight for one sound only. Look at what happened with dubstep and UK garage, for example. But hasn’t EDM sort of brought everything together, though? Stephen: It’s not musically exciting to me. The only thing that I get excited about is that it brought a lot of people together who are into dance music now. And it’s a starting point, and hopefully, they’ll be like, “Carl Craig is amazing”, and then they start getting into it, and then some journey will start. And some kids would be like, “F**k this, I’m going to make something crazy!”, and blow up the whole thing. And what advice do you have for aspiring or up and coming DJs and producers? Stephen: I would say don’t try to copy something; try and do something which is completely yours. Don’t try and conform too much. At the moment, there’s a lot of room for someone to do something completely new. And the tools are all there. You can make music on your phone now; there’s Garage Band. There’s no excuse. The production value doesn’t matter so much. If the idea’s good, people will like it.

JOIN THE ZIGGY FAM Young, dynamic Account Executive / Manager wanted!

September 2014 / Free

Perfume Genius Hello darkness

The It Issue: Yoyo Cao Max Pittion Sky Ferreira Lana Del Rey Jacques Greene and other great Its

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ZIGGY is growing its team as part of its mission to produce the island’s finest pop culture read. We’re currently on the hunt for an Account Executive / Manager to develop, manage and grow new accounts from new and existing corporate clients. If you’re a positive and responsible individual with a head for sales and a hunger for success, we’d love to have you on board. Interested applicants should write in to jin@ziggymag.sg with a cover letter and resume.

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Requirements • A Diploma / Degree in Business or Marketing • At least one year’s worth of sales experience, preferably in the publishing industry • Experienced in corporate sales account management and achievement of sales targets • Confident in engaging with management of private and public sector organisations • Self-driven, passionate and meticulous in work • A team player Only successful applicants will be contacted

Review

Prince: Art Official Age and Plectrumelectrum

Text: Indran P Comebacks are made of this, aren’t they? After the very public split from his label Warner Brothers in 1996, the Artist Formerly Known As Prince has returned. And he has an album

by each of his two new incarnations. Now, unlike many artists actively releasing albums today, Prince’s place in pop is a tricky one. The facts of his biography and resume attest to his sui generis place in the apogee of the firmament; and everything about him, from his artistry to his antics will forever emanate a deific glow. But 2014 isn’t the same time as when 1999 and Purple Rain burst into the world with paisley-bedecked revelatory force and while his legacy will always be immaculate, as a working artist, Prince cannot be spared from proving his relevance to the current moment. So, balancing historical freight with futurereaching aplomb, Prince

serves up an extravaganza of here’s-what-you’vebeen-missing sounds that are packed with enough signifiers to titillate even the most modern ears. Since he’s been gone, dubstep, trap and thanks to disciples like Pharrell, ‘80s-flavoured retrotics have all been jostling with each other for primacy in pop. And like he did with the sweet spot of funk, jazz, soul, gospel and rock ‘n’ roll, he ties all the favoured tastes of the modern palette together on his opening volley, “Art Official Cage”. With that showboating verve, he plays a bit of a teacher welcoming back a returning class, and takes it to school on an electro-funk romp that sees bass-y EDM breakdowns, trap-rap

bravado and a slick, slinky funk guitar line that isn’t as deferential as the Nile Rodgers one he knows you like. Yes, this is only the first song on Art Official Age and it’s already overwhelming. Next up, is “Clouds” a song as worthy as the best odes to love he’s ever written. Featuring feel-good funk&b theatrics and Lianne La Havas’s honeyglazed soul, the song also boasts a delightful Prince-ism as its lyrical hook: “You should never underestimate the power of / A kiss on the neck, when she doesn’t expect”. But besides its grandiloquent love letters, Age also explores the converse side of heartbreak, and in darker highlights like “Breakdown” and “This

Could Be Us”, Prince’s superhuman vocals come out, in a piercing falsetto on the former and a thin, trembling whisper on the latter. Plectrumelectrum, however, is a much more streamlined affair that plays like an aural spectacle put on by knowing virtuosos. Fronted by Prince, his backing band 3rdEyeGirl compliments Age’s comparative nuance with blinding chop-filled displays of rock and funk tropes. And because this was clearly not designed to be a dynamic record – and Prince knows a thing or two about dynamism – we are meant to take it as a rip-roaring throwback to the days when guitarheavy rock ‘n’ roll as played by Hendrix was

the voice of God or any salvation-proffering force. Opener “Wow” is an audacious scream of riffs backended by sultry groove; the penultimate “Marz” even blitzs with punk pacing and length; “Stopthistrain” packs arena-sized power chords with a ‘60s strut and “Anotherlove” boasts the best guitar solo on the record, which is saying a lot. Unlike indie esoterica, EDM banalities or even his own polyglot masterpieces, Plectrumelectrum is a rock artefact whose charm is derived from the traditions it celebrates: musically-bestowed catharsis on an epic scale and the bravado that comes with the ability to make it happen, the benefits of which are ours to keep.

Review

Text: Indran P

Flying Lotus: You’re Dead! Every FlyLo release has been a post-modern pièce de résistance, a threading together of motifs that’s part meta-commentary and part hat-tip to the touchstones of music history – particularly jazz – that he expertly and playfully invokes. And as you can imagine, a pronouncement like “You’re Dead!” from an eccentric like him would naturally result in a glorious flourish, and there is no shortage of that here. After the pace-setting intro, jazz legend Herbie Hancock and jazz legend to-be Thundercat duel on “Tesla”, twisting bop around curlicues of funk. Then, the dizzying guitars of “Cold Dead” erupting amidst the astral textures take FlyLo’s yen for instrumental interplay in a whole other direction. The bated-breadth collab with Kendrick Lamar, “Never Catch Me”, is another scene-stealer, blending as it does liquid funk, free jazz, drum ‘n’ bass and Kendrick’s perfectly cued flows into a heart-stopping rush that feels much shorter than its four minutes. Underlying all these flits and flashes is a mix of awe and foreboding that makes the exhilaration this disc affords something you’d want to cling to for a long while.

Christopher Owens: A New Testament He got away with it. An indie rock critics’ darling has made the most decidedly unhip record of the year and has emerged with every shred of artistic integrity intact. Hell, he’s even walked away with some new feathers in his cowboy hat. Since he last called the shots in Girls, Owens has been taking a very emphatic dip into Americana, a sound that couldn’t be more out of date with an indie sensibility now fully accustomed to louder electronic sounds. Still, he announced that his second solo outing will be nothing but “three chords and the truth” and subtracting any assumptions of irony or scorn on his part, the rockabilly, country, and gospel sounds here really do sound like they’re coming from an earnest place. The opener “My Troubled Heart” does a great case-in-point job of condensing Owens’ M.O. here into its two minutes of light, rollicking guitars, heart-on-sleeve lyricism – “Lord above / Set me free” – and swelling backing vocals. On the more upbeat rockers, “Never Wanna See That Look Again” and “Nothing More Than Everything to Me”, Owens’ zen-like, cleareyed calm proves that the title of this record is true on more than one level.

Caribou: Our Love

SBTRKT: Wonder Where We Land

Our Love, Dan Snaith’s sixth under the Caribou name is the first reveal of his newfound pop orientation, and it’s no myopic gush to say that it’s his best work yet. Like its title suggests, Our Love is an attempt at teasing out, examining and to a certain extent, celebrating the infinite complications of the manifold forms of this thing we know from experience to be love. “Experience” is the watchword here since the incredibly colouristic sounds that Snaith conjures are designed to evoke memory as well as movement. He starts off with the mesmerising lead single “Can’t Do Without You”, an upwardly cresting house jam where two vocal samples, “I can’t do without” and “I can’t do without you”, meet and intersect at the most climactic moments of this austere-to-explosive track. Later the second single “Our Love” gives expressive vent to the doubt that appends itself to any relationship in its chilling atmosphere and portentous groove. But by closer “Your Love Will Set You Free”, he lets the light in again on a serene fleet of burnished off-disco sounds, offering closure and deliverance to the ensuing drama.

Aaron Jerome’s best gift to his listeners has been his ability to reinterpret the nuances of the zeitgeist on his adopted mode and medium, while maintaining his fundamental purpose of making them dance. And Land, his sophomore, is the best illustration of this yet. Like the maximal bent of today’s pop, Jerome abandons the trappings of the eyebrow-raising term “post-dubstep” and adopts a more unclassifiable approach. This is evinced in the implacable feature list of A$AP Ferg, Jessie Ware, Ezra Koenig, Sampha and Warpaint, whose varied contributions meld under Jerome’s curatorial discernment for an enchanting work. In an album of end-on-end highlights, the Samphaguesting “Temporary View” is a milestone for its reimagining of UK garage with crushing sentiment. Warm and frosty, percolating and expansive, Jerome’s bass-y urgings vary in structure song after song, creating transfixing moods that make rap numbers “Higher” and “Voices in My Head” and the menacing Afropoplaced drum ‘n’ bass of “New York. New Dorp”, more than the sum of their constituent sounds. You’ll never know where you’ll land.

Review

Perfume Genius: Too Bright Too Bright presents us with indie rock’s most drastic image overhaul in recent times. There he is on the cover, coiffed, posed and decked out in a sequined vest, starring defiantly into the distance. If Perfume Genius’ music was inwardly uncompromising before, his new stance takes him to even more inner and now, outer extremes here. He’s said that Too Bright’s beating heart is society’s enforced hatred and other-ing of sexual minorities, and the album enacts fantastic twists and turns on this theme. Opener “I Decline” is pulverisingly self-loathing and reprises the sombre piano-led dirges of his past but in the next song “Queen”, Hadreas throws off the shadows and bathes in the jarring glow of the spotlight. Reverb-less, dense with loud drums and reeling synths, he proclaims in the unforgettable line, “No family’s safe / When I sashay”, asserting both his self-worth and pop sensibility in one spectacular touch. This bigger, louder dimension also marks “Grid”, an electro-pop rager with metallic banshee howls, and “Longpig” a bruising, syncopated synth loop that’s haunting and fearless. This album of ultraviolent pop is an unquestionable highlight of the year.

Alt-J: This is All Yours This sophomore showing is proof that Alt-J is no Vampire Weekend. That is to say, other than timing, a band actually needs to have great songs to go from once- to stillbuzzing. Two years ago, the self-consciously offkilter impression of its debut was a compelling enough appraisal of the triangle-mystifying, ankle-revealing habits of the age. Today, stuff like that doesn’t even pass muster for throwback value. But it’s not that All Yours isn’t contemporary. It’s that, here, Alt-J shoulders contemporary tendencies like cultural appropriation (the album flows on a “song cycle” revolving around the ancient capital city of Japan, Nara), a Miley reference (“Hunger of the Pine” uses a sample of “4x4”) and the now overbearingly trendy use of “electronic” sounds to create “texture”, and makes no lasting impression whatsoever. This is a record that tries throughout its runtime to prove its zeitgeist-worthiness but falls short by being completely listless. If at all, it takes the cake for most facepalm-inducing line of the year with: “I’m gonna turn you inside out and lick you like a crisp packet”. But even in that endeavour, frontman Joe Newman sounds half-asleep.

Kele: Trick

Zola Jesus: Taiga

Would it be indie rock sacrilege to say that Trick is the best music that Kele has made in almost a decade? Well, whatever. It damn well is. Chief of Kele’s clinchers here is the studied grace in which he uses house and disco elements to draw emotion out of soul and r&b sounds. On the great opening diptych of “First Impressions” and “Coasting”, Kele’s suggestive whispers meld with sublime, counterpointing textures, creating an aura of excitement that a lot of the nocturnallytinged pop like this aims for but never claims. Guitar-less, Kele relies a lot more on his vocals to provide instrumental flourish, especially on the desperate lament “My Hotel Room”, where over piercing, windswept sonics, his cry, “Why don’t you? Why don’t you? / Why don’t you come closer?”, feels like it’s coming from a lot closer than through speakers or headphones. Lyrically, if the cringeworthy lines in “Year Zero” – “I came to you full of truth / An open heart, just for you” – are anything to go by, it’s that Trick is more about the thrill of feeling than its content, just like a great night out.

As Zola Jesus, Nika Danilova is a mainstay in contemporary indie rock’s more experimental regions. Updating the gruellingly confessional disclosure with a maximal touch that weaves electronic and classical elements into a baroque thrall, she has established herself as an uncompromising musician with an ear for breathtaking sounds. But a recent redirection toward pop appeal sees Taiga, her fifth album, break from her charcoal-streaked paradigm in an interesting and effective way. The title is a good way to approach Danilova’s newfound dynamism here. Like “taiga”, the Russian word for boreal forests that though desolate, cover large sections of earth, Danilova enlivens the darker regions of the psyche with mythic, earth-moving strains of pop. There’s the lead single “Dangerous Days” where thumping beats and crystalline synths present the best hook she’s ever written; “Dust” is a haunting r&b slow jam that even borrows TNGHT’s famed bass horns and pitches them down, while the widescreen trip-pop closer “It’s Not Over” offers careening sonics that soothe with their lightspeed trajectory. If this phase is permanent, pop will be the better for it.

Review

There Goes Gravity: A Life in Rock and Roll

Other incoming ‘70s-indebted reads

by Lisa Robinson Text: Min Chen

Chris Stein / Negative: Me, Blondie, and the Advent of Punk by Chris Stein

An insider through and through, Lisa Robinson’s spent half a century in the embrace of rock ‘n’ roll – sharing breathing room with its greats, reporting from backstage, and generally getting up-close enough to be a mover and shaker herself. It’s also why her memoir, There Goes Gravity, comes rich with

anecdotes equally fresh off Led Zeppelin’s private plane and the frontlines of Max’s Kansas City. She may have stumbled into music journalism by chance in 1969, but Robinson’s made the best of it in bearing witness to nascent punk bands from New York Dolls to The Clash, joining The Rolling Stones’ ‘70s touring parties, introducing Lou Reed to David Bowie, getting tight with John and Yoko, and more contemporaneously, hanging with Bono and Lady Gaga. “It never felt like a job,” she writes, “it was fun, it was new... it was exactly where I wanted to be.” But while There Goes Gravity contains most

of the above tales, as much as Robinson’s first-hand experience of being a woman in a world of “boys”, they’re often bogged down by rambling and reams of quotations from 30-year-old interviews. There’s the time she ate cheeseburgers with Eminem and they talked about flying, and the other time she had a chat with a teenage Michael Jackson about zoos or something, all of which may make for some sort of niche interest, but hardly serve to paint an illuminating picture. Then again, for all of Robinson’s professed non-critical stance, she does supply the occasional cutting insight. She sheds unrose-tinted light on John

and Yoko’s relationship with the media, offers some harsh words for Madonna and best of all, recollects Keith Richards’ immortal response to the size of Mick Jagger’s penis: “Mine’s bigger”. Laying bare her life in rock ‘n’ roll with affection and just a bit of grit, Lisa Robinson’s memoir performs its most primary function, but could’ve done more in delivering a privileged view and peek behind the scenes. We’re not the ones with the backstage pass, after all.

When he wasn’t shapeshifting the New York sound-scape as part of Blondie, Chris Stein took photographs. In fact, it was his photographic excursions through downtown NYC that led him to Debbie Harry in the first place, prompting the founding of one of the city’s finest acts. Blondie turns 40 this year and to celebrate, Chris has put together Chris Stein/Negative, which assembles his many photographs of the band and the scene it grew up in. Stein is in obvious possession of an unassuming eye, and his spontaneous (or what Harry calls “chunky and bold”) images of such downtown luminaries as Richard Hell, Joan Jett, Iggy Pop, JeanMichel Basquiat, Anya Phillips and of course, Debbie, Gary and Clem, compellingly document style, attitude and the coming of punk.

Spirit of 76: London Punk Eyewitness by John Ingham When it seems like everyone and their grandparents owns some manner of punk experience or memory, John Ingham’s brush with the movement cuts closer than most. The journalist wasn’t just on hand to document the rise of British punk in 1976 – offering bands like The Clash and The Damned their first media coverage, and witnessing The Sex Pistols’ evolution from Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall to san Francisco’s Winterland – but has also had a hand in shaping it with his founding of Generation X. Oh and it was also he who bailed Sid Vicious out of jail. And now: Spirit of 76 brings together Ingham’s recollection in the form of his credible fly-onthe-wall reportage and colour photographs to provide a lesser-seen view of the first-wave of British punk.

Listings

Singled Out Until 6 January 2015 @ tcc “The Gallery” Text: Sweehuang Teo At Singled Out, creative directors, graphic designers, sound engineers, artists, musicians, jewelers and film directors have come together in the name of a pair of passions: music and art. Conceptualised by fFurious, this exhibition aims to reconnect sound and vision by recruiting 50 local creatives to transform vinyl records into works of art. A record, after all, is more than just the musical stuff within its grooves, but also bears an oft-neglected visual aspect that through Singled Out, is given a new lease of life. Singled Out’s artists and designers were asked

to pick a song that had changed or had a positive impact on their lives, and then allowed free reign to re-imagine and reinterpret that personal soundtrack using vinyl sleeves and records. The results range from collages to sculptures to paintings to a recasting of those 12” in materials like metal and glass, all of which have been brilliantly executed by such local notables as Brandon Tay, Ginette Chittick, Theseus Chan, Kiat, Aiwei Foo, Speak Cryptic, Razi Razak, Natalie Pixiedub and Jack Tan, as well as creative agencies like Asylum, Anonymous, Somewhere Else, Fleecircus and Bravo.

Besides providing proof of music’s power to move and inspire, Singled Out’s artworks, now collected into an exhibition that’s running at tcc’s “The Gallery”, will also be going a further mile in creating a positive impact for the future. These pieces are now up for auction online (bids start at $200), with proceeds going toward Thunder Rock School’s music education outreach program for financially disadvantaged youths. As Little Ong, Creative Director of fFurious, puts it, “Parallel to how these artists have been inspired by a track to create an art piece, Singled Out aims to give these children

an opportunity to be inspired by, appreciate and learn music.” A worthy cause that’s sprung from an equally great cause, Singled Out is an excellent meeting of heart, local art and the kind of music that changes everything. Singled Out runs from now until 6 January 2015 at tcc – The Connoisseur Concerto “The Gallery” on 51 Circular Road. Enter your bid for these artworks at singledout. ffurious.com.

Listings

Wax On Wax Off feat. Sampology

29 November @ Loof Text: Indran P

Sam Poggioli aka Sampology is synonymous with electrifying fun and for this edition of everyone’s favourite vinylonly shindig, he’ll show you just why. Besides an antigenre approach that saw him blend a dizzying payload of sounds on his debut full-length, Doomsday Deluxe, the Aussie prodigy also adopts a boundary-burning approach to his incredibly stunning visuals which are likewise geared to bring the dance. But before you start busting the moves, hear him out on the method to his awesome madness.

Doomsday Deluxe is packed with colossal sounds. Was there a unifying concept to it, or were you just having fun with the music? I don’t usually make a record according to genre. I try to make stuff that’s not specifically in one genre and definitely not one tempo. It’s kind of a good insight into the music I might play in a DJ set, like I’m never stuck on one tempo. I don’t think there’s one unifying theme across, but the music I’m working on right now has a lot of Caribbean, Brazilian and world music influences. And what led you to incorporate this big visual element into your performances?

I didn’t actually come from a video background at all; I’ve never studied how to edit on software or anything like that. But I guess I got into it because of the possibilities of what I can do with technology, like taking all this video content and juxtaposing it, flipping it, remixing it. I’m into doing different things and it was appealing to me to perform in a different way while controlling the visuals and audio at the same time. Does the same nonthematic approach apply to your videos too? Yes. I’m just into juxtaposing two things in order to create something new. I play

all kinds of music, but I came from a hip hop background and what I play is like how someone would take a sample in hip-hop and make something completely different. It’s like breathing life into something. I find that fun so that’s the main reason I do it. Given that your live show is inextricable from the music you make, do you see yourself more as a performer or as a producer? I’m not sure, really. I like doing different things. I like mixing it up and being in my home studio and coming up with cool ideas, cool textures and just working on music and visuals. But I also like

performing and doing live shows. There’ll be a huge visual element behind my new album as well, so I’m combining both the stuff that I’ve learnt from doing these visual shows and playing my own original music. You’ve also said before that humour is very much a part of your live shows. I just like the idea of people being in a crowd, dancing, having a good time, but also looking to get emotion out of the experience – like laughter or surprise. I find that happens a lot of the time when I’m juxtaposing things with the visual show, like taking something that they recognise and combining

it with something completely bizarre but funny at the same time. I love looking out to the crowd and seeing the faces when I know this moment is coming in the show. I enjoy that. What’s got you excited about playing in Singapore again? I’m just looking forward to the all-vinyl set because it’s just so much fun. I’m just completely limited to the records that I bring with me so it’s a good chance for me to showcase all of these beautiful physical records that I’ve travelled around with. For reservations, email loof@loof.com.sg or call +65 9773 9304.

Listings

ZoukOut 2014 12 to 13 December @ Siloso Beach, Sentosa Text: Sweehuang Teo

Clear your schedules; our nation’s definitive dance music festival has landed once again. Back at its old stomping ground that is Sentosa’s Siloso Beach, ZoukOut has arrayed a 2014 edition that’s destructive in line-up, massive in musical scope and testament to Zouk’s electronic dominion. The stage is set for a December weekend stacked with more than 30 international, regional and local DJs, who in between them, have Grammywinning clout, volume and credibility to spare. Amongst ZoukOut 2014’s massive buffet of sounds, we pick a number that you’ll have to see and believe...

Above & Beyond Trance will be lacking without Above & Beyond, who in their treks across the world’s clubs and festivals, have made their name on equally euphoric and emotional sets of gold

Skrillex A child of post-hardcore, Skrillex’s dubstep turn has been legendary and lionised, with his albums arriving Grammycertified and his live shows being the stadiumpacked audio-visual spectacles they are

Richie Hawtin The fact that minimal techno is the cutting and edgy thing it is, is because Richie Hawtin got there first

Showtek The brothers Showtek aren’t shy about their love for EDM, as evidenced by their hardstyle beats that’ve inspired awe and dance moves

Maya Jane Coles A writer, producer and performer of club-smashing and smart-talking electronic creations (“Easier to Hide”), MJC is a mistress of house sounds and techno textures whose future’s still brighter than the sun

Martin Garrix Though only 18, Martin Garrix already possesses an electronic savvy and masterful control of the decks that’s made him one of EDM’s fastest rising stars

Dubfire More than just one-half of Deep Dish, Dubfire has paved his own path with techno that’s all dynamic energy and chromatic innovation

Steve Angello Steve Angello helped change the game as part of Swedish House Mafia and under his solo flag, continues to press house music that moves

Nina Kraviz A purveyor of raw and sensual vibes (“Ghetto Kraviz”), Nina Kraviz continues to do good things in the name of house and techno with heart, soul and skill

Damian Lazarus Constantly rebelling against the mediocre and the norm, Damian Lazarus is all energy and idiosyncrasy that have made him an underground figurehead, from Crosstown Rebels to the beyond Tickets: $128 to $158 for one-day passes, and $208 to $388 for twoday passes, available at zoukout.com

Listings

Text: Indran P

Matthias Meyer

Para//el x Vision Tokyo present Paco Osuna

7 November @ kyo

14 November @ Velvet Underground-Dance

One of Berlin’s very best, Matthias Meyer is also a world-renowned purveyor of the hi-tech gold from Detroit and Chicago. Big-room bombs like “Reichenback” and “Voltage” will speak for him, but it’s also better to let him hit you with those grooves in the flesh. Entry: $20/25 (incl. one drink)

ZSS presents Deniz Koyu

NoPartyHere Nomad Series 8 November Part III feat. @ Zouk Jon Hopkins 7 November @ Canvas

He may have made the shift from ambient waters onto the dancefloor on his latest Immunity, but Jon Hopkins has lost none of his organic warmth and atmospheric beauty. In town to grace NoPartyHere’s Nomad Series, the Mercuryapproved producer can be looked to for techno textures of an intelligent yet visceral make. Entry: $20/25 (incl. one drink)

Zouk x Embassy of Sweden present Otto Knows

Midnight Shift’s 5th Anniversary feat. Rødhåd

Discovered by Sebastian Ingrosso and debuting alongside Avicii, Otto Knows is no stranger to the big leagues. If you’ve been privy to EDM gold standards like “Million Voices” and “Calling”, you know what we’re talking about. Come lose – or find – yourself. Entry: $28/33 (incl. two drinks)

It’s been five glorious years since local synaptic animators Midnight Shift enlivened and enriched our national soundscape. To celebrate its trailblazing run, it’s enlisted Berlin’s Rødhåd to assist in the festivities with his dub, techno and house gifts that have previously done their intoxicating work at the temple of Berghain. Entry: $20/25 (incl. one drink)

15 November @ Zouk

15 November @ kyo

With a career spanning

As one of the some 20 years, Spanish techno powerhouse Paco dance world’s Osuna is one of the most bona fide A-listers revered artists in the Deniz Koyu has scene. Besides his deep, dark and mystical sounds, world-resounding, you’ll also receive the dancefloor-ruling heat-seeking grooves of gems to his name Tokyo’s reigning king DJ in hits like “Tung” Emma. Entry: $28/33 and “Hertz”. His (incl. two drinks) widescreen prog and electro house signature has also Steve Bug found its way into 14 November the work of other @ Zouk super-producers, as his remixes of bangers by Zedd, Mikke Snow and, of course, David Guetta, show. And with the recent Thomas Gold collab “Torn Apart” killing 80 releases, at least 40 the charts and filling name-checked remixes and 500 production the floors all over credits – these are the the world, you can facts of this German tastemaker, trendsetter expect this night and mover-shaker to be as mythic extraordinaire’s resume. as a Deniz Koyu And since the numbers production, which more than speak of his techno and acid house is pretty damn chops, you can trust that mythic! you’ll be in good hands. Entry: $28/33 Entry: $20/25 (incl. one drink) (incl. two drinks)

Listings

Other Sounds presents Bill Callahan

Para//el x Watergate Records present Pan-Pot

Darker Than Wax x New Kanada feat. Adam Marshall and Basic Soul Unit 30 November

21 November @ Velvet Underground – Dance

Billing itself as “the dark side of the force”, the duo of Tassilo Ippenberger and Thomas Benedix is one of the most exciting acts in modern techno. With an arsenal that includes subtle pitch manipulations, wall-ofsound distortion and a dark 4/4 stomp, expect nothing but hard-driving, body-jolting techno this night. Entry: $28/33 (incl. two drinks)

22 November @ kyo

KYO001 Release Party with Oxia

29 November @ kyo Besides being a beacon of cuttingedge sounds and a fount of good times, kyo will now dispense its beyond-eclectic sensibility on wax with the launch of its eponymous record label. To fire the first salvo from its stable, the club has enlisted dance polymath Oxia to take the lead on its kyō 001 mix CD, an honour the man himself finds “an inspiration

of the moment”. Known for gliding between Italodisco, new wave and early Chicago and New-York house seamlessly, Oxia can be counted on for a disc of panoramic sounds. And then, there’s the night itself, which, as the saying goes, will be nothing short of epic. Entry: $20/25 (incl. one drink)

It’s always a good time with Darker Than Wax and in this partnership with Toronto’s New Kanada, an even more mind-expanding palette of sounds is assured in the form of bass titan Adam Marshall and deep house stalwart Basic Soul Unit. Entry: $20/25 (incl. one drink)

ZSS presents Gareth Emery 27 November @ Zouk

We don’t need to stress that Gareth Emery is one of the most influential and innovative DJ-producers in electronic music. Besides his chart-topping album Northern Lights, he also has his name on a fusion of dazzling trance, house and progressive sounds, which, as you can imagine, absolutely has to be experienced. Entry: $33/38 (incl. two drinks)

@ The Substation In a prayeranswering flourish, Other Sounds will bring Bill Callahan to our shores. The indie rock and altcountry institution sits atop more than 20 years of scene-defining output that has gifted a spectrum of sounds with an earthy grace that is absolutely transfixing. Just last year, he released Dream River, his 15th solo album, that, besides being one of the year’s highlights, was the best testament of the powers of his mellow baritone yet. Humpback Oak and The Observatory honcho Leslie Low will be supporting. All this means that transcendental sounds await you. Tickets: $35 (early bird) and $40 (standard), available at Peatix

Parties

Biffy Clyro @ The Coliseum at Hard Rock Hotel Text: Indran P Images: Dominic Phua

What: Mon the Biffy! Those in the know are well clued in to the familiar chant heard at any stage that bears the presence of Biffy Clyro. For the better part of almost two decades, the Scottish trio has been purveyors of both parts of alt-rock, refining and tightening its sound as guitar-led movements seemed to recede into a thing of musical memory. But lo, this long in, the band scored its first chart-topper with its 2013 double album Opposites, lending the band’s first ever showing on our shores an uplifting and celebratory air. As foretold, it was a loud, heaving night. Who: Rock ‘n’ rollers, metalheads, anyone who likes it loud and Scots Biffy Clyro boasts a catalogue that has something for everyone. Everyone with a vested interest in heavy music, that is. And the crowd of diehards that showed up attested to each point of the band’s evolutionary stride, from its posthardcore beginnings to its present-day pan-alternative stylings. There were also small but visible pockets of the band’s fellow Scots proudly holding up St. Andrews Cross, joining in the cheers and screams of the rest.

How: Show-stopping rock When was the last time you caught a band play hard-hitting rock music completely shirtless? As their emphatic state of undress revealed, this was to be a sweaty, impassioned performance. Walking onstage as a frenzied taped Scottish chant played, the band kicked it into overdrive from its very first song. As it opened Opposites, so did “Different People” light the torch on the proceedings, as frontman Simon Neil’s gargantuan riffs and anthemic cries melded with bassist James Johnston’s liquid grooves and Ben Johnston’s jet-engine drumming. Older favourites like “Who’s Got a Match” and “Bubbles” followed with pulsating intensity, while even earlier songs “Glitter and Trauma” and “57” added a good dose of nostalgia to the proceedings. At the show’s close, the magnitude of the night was writ large in the echoes of feedback, on the sweating bodies of the band and on the smiles all around. Mon the Biffy, indeed!

Parties

Johnnie Walker Circuit Lounge @ The Butter Factory and Altimate Text: Jeremy Fong Images: Johnnie Walker Singapore What: Putting the glam in Grand Prix As F1 season again warmed up the tracks of downtown Singapore, so too did Johnnie Walker fire up its party engine. Its Circuit Lounge has long been dependable for post-race glamour, fun and festivities, and the world’s leading Scotch whisky brand ain’t putting the brakes on that anytime soon. This year, Johnnie Walker threw not just one, but two Circuit Lounge parties at the hotspots of The Butter Factory and Altimate, delivering the celebratory triumvirate of pulse-racing beats, up-for-it revellers and of course, liquid gold.

Who: The sophisti-cats arrive A unique trait of Johnnie Walker’s Circuit Lounge parties is its unique ability to bring equal groove and sophistication. And it definitely showed on this year’s guestlist, which once again came filled with glamour-clad individuals (including faces like Rosalyn Lee, Hanli Hoefer and Keagan Kang) all set to get down on the dancefloor and partake in Johnnie Walker’s premium whisky. Of course, no one left disappointed.

How: A golden touch Johnnie Walker’s party-filled weekend began loudly enough on a Friday night at The Butter Factory, where dance performances, slick beats and all that golden tipple brilliantly kicked off the F1 season for all gathered. Manning the decks was Spenda C, the Australian DJ whose electric club mixes have cut a swathe through Creamfields and Good Vibrations, and at Circuit Lounge, raised not a few fists in the air. Likewise, Circuit Lounge’s arrival at Altimate on Saturday served up a blistering soundtrack courtesy of LA’s DJ Sophia Lin, who wielded equal doses of electro and hip hop, as well as a vibe that was as glamourous as it was groovy. And, thanks to the unparalleled presence of Johnnie Walker’s iconic Gold Label Reserve, all was confettistrewn and golden too.