NOS PRIMAVERA SOUND 15. Are you coming?
Just as summer is about to start, NOS Primavera Sound is preparing to kick off the Portuguese festival season.
Just as summer is about to start, NOS Primavera Sound is preparing to kick off the Portuguese festival season. Whilst less well-known than its cousin in Barcelona, NOS Primavera Sound manages a delicate balancing act of mainstream and alternative, distinguishing itself by variety of style. As well as a wide selection of internationally established artists, the festival boasts a significant representation of up-and-coming talent, from Portugal and abroad. With a lineup including acts ranging from Ariel Pink, Viet Cong and FKA Twigs to Patti Smith to Mac DeMarco to Jungle and Caribou, NOS Primavera Sound promises something for everyone.
Nestled by the Porto seaside, Parque da Cidade creates the ideal framework for the festival. Within the city, yet by the coast and with easy access and scenic surroundings the park itself is one of the main attractions of the event. Apart from the main stage and the Super Bock stage, All Tomorrow’s Parties commissions a stage responsible for the more experimental programming, in various musical styles and the Pitchfork stage, commissioned by Pitchfork Media will bring some of the emerging names of international alternative music.
Compared to many of its European competitors, NOS Primavera Sound, which runs for three days, promises great value at a relatively low price allowing for a great mix of people to gather together under the southern sun, sharing music and summer vibes. We are certainly excited to pack our bags and head off to NOS Primavera Sound 15.
All images via © NOS Primavera Sound
When: 4-6 June 2015
Where: Porto, Portugal
True Multi-Love for Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s recent gig at the Islington Assembly Hall
Building up the greatness for the last moments, Unknown Mortal Orchestra triumphs when you think the night is old – carrying out their performance to its apogee at a hot and intimate after-gig show in Birthdays, Dalston.
Seeing Portland’s Unknown Mortal Orchestra live is nothing compared to listening to their funky indie pop songs on full blast at home – while the latter is impeccable and commands foot tapping and stumbling dance moves, the experience of seeing them live is like a good and hopeful amorous relationship that only grows stronger with time.
Starting the night with Like Acid Rain from their new album Multi-Love (Released on 25.05.2015 on Jagjaguwar), it is the kind of concert that is exhilarating – the sound is faster, louder and an explosive burst of psychedelia that sets the tone for the rest of the evening. The new album, which somehow finds a way into disco, explores the different meanings of love and polyamorous relationships on refreshing layers of upbeat tunes, fuzzy rock guitars and ethereal vocals.
As the classic tunes from their previous album were filled with their distinct boombox lo-fi sound, it is good to see Unknown Mortal Orchestra evolving and incorporating more funky, disco touches to their already irreproachable music. When they started performing one of their iconic songs, From the Sun, the crowd cheered and happily became one with frontman Ruban Nielson, clamouring their famous line ‘Isolation can put a gun to your head’ – their sweetest and catchiest tune.
While the other band members were brilliant (particularly Riley Geare on his drum solo introducing Ur Life One Night after the equally great How Can You Luv Me; and new band member Quincy McCrary’s piano solo after the timeless So Good At Being In Trouble – live, it was faster and possessed more edge), Nielson seemed to tire easily and did not deliver as much as he could have on So Good At Being In Trouble and Swim and Sleep, leaving it mostly to the audience and other band members. While raspy, out-of-breath, and woozy singing may at times enhance and bring an extra layer to a song, Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s music is one that is enjoyed when polished at its best. Fortunately, Nielson makes a show out of being on stage; dancing, lying on the floor and sitting at the front of the stage, leaning towards the audience with vocal melodies embracing jerky undertones, before finishing off with a jazzy version of Ffuny Ffriends that got the entire crowd clapping along, and a cosmic rendition of Multi Love, greatly enhanced by Quincy at the keyboard. The encore song, Can’t Keep Checking My Phone, left the audience dancing along on a positive disco vibe, before everyone hurried to Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s just announced after-gig show in Dalston.
The after-gig show, which started around 1AM, started with a surprising beat in the intimate and dark underground room at Birthdays, with crowds cheering louder than ever. Coupled with some upbeat mixes and spontaneous new drum nuances that made the music even more great in a head-banging, toe-tapping way, the entire band seemed to be even more energetic than at their concert, greatly encouraged by fans singing along to all their songs. Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s performance of So Good At Being in Trouble was the definitive climax of the show, proving once again that they do indeed become better and better as the night goes along – and we can’t wait for more.
Photos by Suzanne Zhang
Kojey Radical's BAMBU : A masterpiece of progressive Hip-Hop
Kojey Radical, a British-Ghanian, self-styled artist, poet, and artistic director of his own clothing brand rewrites hip-hop and makes it entirely his own with his new single, BAMBU.
Kojey Radical, a British-Ghanian, self-styled artist, poet, and artistic director of his own clothing brand rewrites hip-hop and makes it entirely his own with his new single, BAMBU.
Kojey’s style is forward thinking. In BAMBU we find criticisms of the superficiality within urban society. He metaphorically grabs Hip-Hop by its horns and steers it towards a progressive dimension, where the focus lies mainly in the lyrics themselves rather than (as he puts it): “pussy, weed, money.”
In the single we find a more passionate and personal response to his previous work. BAMBU is a story in itself. Lupus Cain’s minimalist trap production leaves much room for Kojey’s deeply intense and profound lyrics. The beat remains as such and crescendos until the climactic end of the song. The snare drums resonate and bang harder alongside Kojey’s visceral, coarse-grained repetition of the lyrics: “Can’t see the truth when you’re six feet deep.”
And yet the song remains more spoken-word than anything else. Which is why it is unsurprising that he has been likened to Kendrick Lamar. Both artists make use of poetry to make social commentaries. Be they condemning or evaluating, This style of critique within a song is certainly garnering attention. Are we seeing a poetic style of rapping emerging in the UK hip-hop scene? As long as singles like BAMBU exist, we can only hope so.
KOJEY RADICAL - BAMBU
RELEASED JUNE 1st 2015 ON SELF RELEASED
Tour Dates
MAY 20TH 2015 GLASGOW, UK ART SCHOOL
MAY 21ST 2015 NEWCASTLE, UK RIVERSIDE
MAY 22ND 2015 LEEDS, UK BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB
MAY 23RD 2015 KNOCKENGORROCH, UK WORLD CEILIDH FESTIVAL
MAY 25TH 2015 MANCHESTER, UK GORILLA
MAY 26TH 2015 NOTTINGHAM, UK RESCUE ROOMS
MAY 27TH 2015 CARDIFF, UK CLWB IFOR BACH
MAY 28TH 2015 LONDON, UK KOKO
MAY 29TH 2015 BRIGHTON, UK THE HAUNT
MAY 31TH 2015 SOUTHAMPTON, UK ENGINE ROOMS
JUN 1ST 2015 GLOUCESTER, UK GUILDHALL
JUN 2ND 2015 OXFORD, UK O2 ACADEMY 2
JUN 3RD 2015 BIRMINGHAM, UK HARE & HOUNDS
JUN 4TH 2015 STOKE-ON-TRENT, UK THE SUGARMILL
JUN 5TH 2015 NORWICH, UK NORWICH ARTS CENTRE
JUN 6TH 2015 SHEFFIELD, UK O2 ACADEMY 2
Terakaft takes to centre stage – again
It was a music extravaganza. The deep Saharan blues still boom – hallelujah. There was the screaming of devotees dancing up a storm. Their gig at the intimate arts space at Rich Mix for the launch of Terakaft's new album “Alone” was simple magical.
It was a music extravaganza. The deep Saharan blues still boom – hallelujah. There was the screaming of devotees dancing up a storm. Their gig at the intimate arts space at Rich Mix for the launch of Terakaft's new album “Alone” was simple magical. These guys can hold their own. They were cool, calm and tough in equal measure. It was quite a night, it was extraordinary. Dressed in their desert attire, complete with robes, veils, and sandals – and, of course, armed with their electric guitars, they greeted an eagerly awaiting crowd to the spontaneous enchanting sounds of the Saharan desert rock-blues. Terakaft is fronted by Liya Ag Abil (aka Diara) and his nephew Sanou an outstanding guitarist, self-taught in the pure “Ishumar” tradition by his uncles Diara and Intiyeden – the two considered to be the backbone of the group were joined on stage by British guitarist, and the producer of their latest album Justin Adams.
Diara photographed by Sylvie Escande
They immediately had the crowd clapping, and tapping their feet to the deep Saharan rhythms. In an uncomplicated performance, Terakaft had the audience falling into a day dream-like state with most songs sung in Tamasheq, the language of the Tuareg people. But that didn’t prevent the crowd from fully grasping the performance. This is a real display of how music truly transcends cultural and language barriers. In an alternate reality, one where talent was shared out differently, this is the kind of music I would make. It’s truly modern and unique while being massively emotional. Diara the front man, lead guitarist and founding member talks to us about their trials and tribulations and how the band came to record their new album “Alone” across three countries.
A very special and rare Terakaft performance at the Rich Mix yesterday (29/04/2015). How would you sum it up?
The concert was very good. And I know that because the public were dancing, jumping and screaming. I could see the joy and happiness being expressed. The energy was electrifying and we on stage felt it.
What in your opinion is the difference between Western audience and audience in Africa?
I must say this and stress that it is the same wherever we perform because when we play we can see the people happy. They are happy everywhere be it in any country in Africa or any country in Europe. People from any country just want to listen to good music and enjoy good music no matter where they come from. They all expect high standard of course. That’s been our experience. We always get people singing and dancing.
How long did it take for Terakaft to decide what the new album “Alone” would look like and what it will include?
For the “Alone” album it took us a bit more than one year, because it was done naturally between concerts and touring. It was not a straight studio-base thing. “Alone” was done in two pieces. First we recorded half of it at the famous Real World Studious in Bath, England. And the second half in France. And then we sent the complete album to Justin Adams, the British musician/producer who has delved deep into Tuareg music and Justin Adams is known for his work with Tinariwen another desert rock group. So Justine worked on the final mixing. So this Album encompass Mali, England and France. We all decided together to include only nine tracks and name the album “Tenere Alone”.
At the lunch album and gig show at the Rich Mix venue – you guys were just three on stage but it sounded like you were 20 and still manage to bring the crowd to a standstill. How did you guys managed to achieve that?
It is a kind of mix between me and Sanou Ag Ahmed. Sanou is an outstanding guitarist. And when we play the energy we generate is just out of this world. And performing with Justin Adams who joined in with his guitar was magical. The show just exploded. We enjoyed it and the crowd did too. We felt it.
Since formed in 2001, where has been Terakaft desert rock band finest moment on stage in in all these years?
There is a tricky question and a difficult one to answer. Because we have had many concerts I would label as finest. It is too difficult for me or for any members of the group to choose one or two. All I can say is that finest moment are many.
Are you guys still able to make your kind of music sculpted by the desert, weathered, dusty and relentless in this era of commercialism gone wild? Are you under any pressure from your record company to do some commercial and some of who you are?
No pressure whatsoever. Let your readers know this, we’ll never play that game. There’s no arrogance to that. We are still playing the same music as back when we were members of Tinariwen. Terakaft do not think about money first or commercial goal first. We still do sound that is purposeful and even more intense on the desert rock sound that is more symbolic of our lives and about our journeys. Terakaft do not believe in I am going to take your money for you to listen to me. Or we should sing something interesting to you for money. We believe that if we do good, beautiful, music it would sell. Money will come after. More young musicians need to hear that.
There are few countries with a richer musical tradition than Mali. And your country is awash with musical greats such as Amadou et Mariam, Rokia Traoré, Bassekou Kouyate and Oumou Sangaré to name but a few. I wonder what’s the competition like? What’s going on with the battle to be on top?
Yes Mali has many musicians to be proud of and of international standard, but there’s room for everybody and more. The more the merrier. I do not talk about competition for sure, because our kind of music, the desert tang rock music is not played by others. I am known as the master of the Saharan rhythm guitar. Together with Sanou my nephew we do music that no other band from the desert is closer to Terakaft.
We’ve been saddened to read about the recent political turmoil in the northeast of Mali, a country that’s known more than its fair share of political turmoil over the years. How has the turmoil affected the band?
The war has not really affected us that much. We still find time to write and perform. Nothing can stop us really. Two months ago, in February, we played in Mali for the peace concert which is an annual music festival in the desert. And for this festival we played three gigs in South Mali. No war can destroy music. Our music stands for peace, dreams, true friendships and more importantly tolerance.
Would any of the band member find it out of the ordinary to go solo as a one-off?
I have tried playing solo and I have played with many other musicians and I would admit, it was not the same but nowhere near out of the ordinary. But I really enjoy playing with my band. It is home for me anytime.
Music collaboration can be a tad tricky. Is there a musician or a group out there that Terakaft would like to collaborate with?
Oh yes there are many musicians out there that Terakaft would like to collaborate with. But for now we wish we could collaborate with Justine Adams our producer of the album Alone. He is also a great friend of Tinariwen group and Terakaft group. Right now he is a fantastic guitar player as you can guarantee for at the Rich Mix concert. But Justine Adams is on tour at the moment.
Does the group ever have a chill out time together outside music? Or is it all handiwork and no fun?
For us music is our lives and playground too. But, outside music I have a wife and four children and I keep many different types of animals in my farm that takes my mind off the crush of music. But between concerts and studio recordings I find little time to take care of my animals and really enjoy them in the fullest. But I am not complaining.
The group have achieved incredible success – how do you stay motivated now that the dream has come true? Do you feel that adrenaline you had when you got together in 2001?
For us the dream is like making things and the idea we get to continue making things is exciting. Yes and yes. We are still that pretty ecstatic to still be going through that level of joy at this stage in our life, I (we) never thought that would happen. The band formed in 2001 and we are still enjoying every minute and we still enjoy very much every bit of our profession.
There comes a time in every music group’s life when they need nothing more than a good sit down on a comfy chair and say I have down tools. I retire. Can you guys see that in the horizon sooner rather than later?
I don’t think there will be an epiphany moment the doors opening and saying it’s time for us to vacate. I know one day we’ll stop touring and making music and switch off from the music and just be there for our family. But I do not know when we’ll do that and I cannot imagine retirement anytime soon. I still find myself writing songs. We have got enough for another album. The truth is that for sure that day will come but not without hesitation.
‘Alone’ is scheduled for release May 11. If you missed them in London you can catch them next at the Attend Concert De Roma, Borgerhout, Belgium, 12th June 2015
TERAKAFT
FIELD DAY 2015 LINEUP
“I refuse to believe that Hendrix had the last possessed hand, that Joplin had the last drunken throat, that Morrison had the last enlightened mind.”
— Patti Smith
“I refuse to believe that Hendrix had the last possessed hand, that Joplin had the last drunken throat, that Morrison had the last enlightened mind.”
Field day, the much-awaited London festival, returns this year with some of the most cutting-edge artists of the last few years. The line-up, which reads as a who’s who of artists who have been under the radar in the past few months, comprises of new acts, and returning legends including Patti Smith.
East London’s Field Day Festival brings together over 80 performers and is now well-known to be one of the best places to encounter underground artists before they hit the mainstream, already established talents such as FKA Twigs or Caribou, as well as regular acts like James Holden and Four Tet. Although a number of them are DJs, the festival still makes room for a variety of genres including electronic, rock, indie, pop, hip hop and R&B.
The recipe for Field Day Festival’s success lies in its location –it’s situated in Victoria Park, which makes it cool and spacious enough to attract all six zones (and more) of London, and means that the satisfied crowds can go back to their own beds at the end of the night. Because of this, Field Day possesses a distinct London edge and reflects its culture –creative, vibrant and powerful.
Exciting performers this year include Baxter Dury and his genuine retro-pop sound, Todd Terje who is performing with his band The Olsens in London for the first time and local artist Shura, whose early ‘90s infused soft pop and R&B has put her on BBC Sound of 2015’s longlist.
With a line-up such as this year’s, Field Day Festival is sure to be one of the most promising live music events of the year, and remains a testament to today’s talents who believe that there is still musical history to be written.
Field Day Festival, Victoria Park, 6th-7th June 2015.
Images via Field Day
Resistance is futile against the slick new album Alone by the iconic Terakaft
Terakaft presents album Alone at the Rich Mix, London.
By Bunmi Akpata-Ohohe
Formed in 2001 and hailing from Mali, a landlocked nation in West Africa, the Tuareg band Terakaft (meaning “The Caravan” in their mother tongue) are regarded as the forerunners of desert rock/desert blues. The group are back with a new album, their fifth, titled Ténéré, which translates to Alone. All nine tracks in Alone will delight both aficionados of African music and newcomers to the genre, with their immense talent and fresh vibes, firmly rooted in tradition. The album expresses the kind of feeling and emotion that can’t be summoned up by commission in a studio. Also, it is an extremely personal nine-song discussion of love and identity which is what you want from a singing/songwriting group. According to the press statement by ilkamedia, the group’s music PR Alone was born out of “a need to maintain sanity in times of broken dreams and lies. It might be their most rock oriented album to date but at the same time it is their most poetic.”
It fuses the rhythms of Afrobeat, hi-life and that deep Saharan mesmeric rhythm into one infectious whole. It has the kind of poetic self-reflection of the pre-war years of Mali. “There are too many characters in the picture, too many chiefs and not enough people“, says Liya ag Ablil (aka Diara: guitar and vocals), when asked about the political developments in his country in the last years of conflict that only ended in December 2014. Diara used to sing political songs back in the days of his rebel youth when he was still playing guitar with Tinariwen, a Grammy award winning group of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali. Critics have pigeon-holed their songs as protest songs and protest vibes. Call it what you will, but Terakaft just keeps doing dazzling music and dazzling political stuff. It’s like they are a piece of equipment – always finding some novel issues to sing about.
These Malian desert blues legends are a band that must be seen live in all its amazing fierceness. They make their return to London for their album launch gig on 29th April 2015 at the intimate arts space Rich Mix venue.
35 - 47 Bethnal Green Road
London E1 6LA
United Kingdom
REVIEW | Klangkarussell @ The Nest
Austrian house duo Klangkarussell showcase an impressive ability to mesh thrusting bass lines with electronica and jazz-infused house.
You’re in a dry, dust infused desert with nothing but the hot hot sun beating down on your neck, a lost cause, clinging onto the visions of a river that once flowed; breathing, meandering, in and out and you’re tired. Your mouth is dry, your feet blistered and you need water.
And then suddenly, as if burst forth from your own teardrops, you see a cloud. Its drops of rain hit you like stones to water and you feel graced, graced by the reassuring sensation that is life. Living. Water never tasted so good.
Put that feeling into a song and you get ‘Netzwerk’ by Austrian house duo Klangkarussell (Tobias Rieser and Adrian Held) who showcase an impressive ability to mesh thrusting bass lines with electronica and jazz-infused house.
Following on from the release of their hugely successful single ‘Sonnentanz’, their new album in 2014 stood out for its jolting pulses of twisted beats and synth driven bass lines that propelled the tracks forward to culminate in a fusion of beatific synths, vocals and sunny melodies. What made this album so special was its ability to evolve so steadily, each track effortlessly combined like the sequence to a good film. The intoxicating beats of Sternenkinder for example, climaxing in a meticulously edited patchwork of African chants and tribal baselines. These are tracks that would erupt even in the biggest of venues, so when Klangkarrussell announced a set at Dalston’s intimate venue, The Nest, I was beyond excited.
Truth be told, few of the album’s tracks were played, but I took comfort in the fact that it is not always the technical skill of the performer, explicitly, that makes a performance. Often the energy that fills the room is of utmost importance and Klangkarussell did well to prove exactly that. And when they did play some of their better-known tracks, Dalston’s dark cavern of a venue erupted within seconds, the crowd’s energy in complete symbiosis with the duo’s, feeding off of one another to ensure the extremely up-tempo, infectious layers of electronic house were kept going up until the early hours.
Their set marked an album that few will grow tired of and a combination of tracks that are only going to get bigger and better.
Catch them next at London’s XOYO, Sunday 3rd May
Unknown Mortal Orchestra release video game
Unknown Mortal Orchestra have unveiled a video game to coincide with the release of their latest single, Multi-Love.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra have unveiled a video game to coincide with the release of their latest single, Multi-Love.
Based around the title track from their forthcoming album of the same name, the video game takes players on a kind of kaleidoscopic rollercoaster ride of palm trees and techni-coloured fractals. It's available for PC, Mac and Unity.
As well as forming an apt means of deliverance for a brilliant piece of progressive shoe-gaze, the project has offered a platform for director Lionel Williams; a man who describes the work as representing “the vacuum of space by impressing upon inter-dimensional unfolding, immaterial objects, and time-driven reverberation of events. The virtual space allows for most 3D objects to trail in time – based on the directions one moves. You can construct & paint the objects in space to stretch them in any direction, to create infinitely vast compositional spaces.”
As much as the release of Multi-Love represents a novel multi-media move by a psychedelic band of Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s ilk, there is a long history of musicians involving themselves in the lucrative video games market.
The bonus Hotter Than Hell level on Tony Hawk’s Undergroundremains iconic for all mid 2000s, part-time skating fans. Hit a certain number of vert transfer in order and from a burst of green flames come glam-rock gods Kiss, valiantly strutting through a vaguely pixilated, hugely puppety version of God of Thunder.
In similar scenes of ridiculousness, The Beastie Boys feature on a version of NBA Jam as unlock-able characters. As well as bringing the heat against other secret characters, including Mr Leader of the Free World himself, President Obama, NBA Jam players could double up with the ludicrously bouffant Mike D and the late, great, 3 point specialist, MCA.
And from the sublime to the obscene, in 1994 Aerosmith released dystopian thriller/inexplicable rail shooter, Revolution X. In the game, players battle the oppressive New Order Nation regime in order to retrieve the kidnapped rockers. People from the ‘90s would use a mounted gun to control onscreen crosshairs and shoot enemies with compact discs.
Multi-Love is out on the 26th May on Jagjaguwar. Unknown Mortal Orchestra start their UK tour in Brighton on the 22nd September.
You can download the 3D Multi-Love app here: Mac | PC | Unity Pro Source file
UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA UK TOUR DATES:
May 20 Bristol, UK @ Thekla SOLD OUT
May 21 London, UK @ Islington Assembly Hall SOLD OUT
May 22 Coventry, UK @ Warwick University w/ Django Django
May 23 Liverpool, UK @ Liverpool Sound City
Sep 22 Brighton, UK - Concorde 2
Sep 23 London, UK - O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Sep 24 Birmingham, UK - The Library at the Institute
Sep 25 Manchester, UK - The Ritz
Sep 26 Dublin, IE - Whelan's
Sep 28 Nottingham, UK - Rescue Rooms
Sep 29 Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club
Sep 30 Glasgow, UK - QMU
Music is like all the drugs people are talking about : Ela Orleans
Polish musician and multi-instrumentalist, Ela Orleans is the first signing to the legendary Howie B's Label, HB Recordings, and her single The Sky and The Ghost is out on 27th April. We chat with Ela about her musical journey and feverish devotion to music.
Polish musician and multi-instrumentalist, Ela Orleans is the first signing to the legendary Howie B's Label, HB Recordings, and her single 'The Sky and The Ghost' is out on 27th April. We chat with Ela about her musical journey and feverish devotion to music.
When I was 8, my parents decided for me…
I had a good ear, so my dad took me for an audition to the local music school. I went to two primary schools at the same time: one regular, which I hated and the music school, which I loved. I loved it for being MUSIC school, but also for being a shelter for a little weirdo like me, who hated sports and school trips, I loved it because teachers there were way more stylish,
because it was "school bell free" and because I could be myself - quiet, serious and sensitive. The first thought of my regular school was stinky toilets; my first association with music school, big wooden, sound proof orchestra room. The choice was very easy.
The earliest memory is my mom playing Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald,
by Johann Strauss on piano. She had to play it a lot, poor thing. I also loved listening to the radio and audio books on tape. I knew one story so well, I memorised it backwards.
The first tune I learned.
Mozart’s “Ah! vous dirai-je, maman” known also as “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”. My performance didn’t sound very good.
There is nothing more unique in the sound of the song than the sound of human voice,
and my favourite singers are : Billie Holiday, Mohammed Rafi, Roy Orbison, Neneh Cherry, Curtis Mayfield, Francoise Hardy, (there are more, I am sure)… their voices have everything I love: tenderness, easiness, clarity and strength.
My first instrument.
It was violin. Stradivarius actually. Size 1/8. It read inside “Anno Domini 1890”. It smelled of resin and for a while I believed there is a little family living inside it. My mum made me a shoulder rest from an old towel – not very stylish.
I am sure the violin had a great potential to sound wonderful, however, the only magical power it had, was making my family vanish from the house during my practicing hours. My second choice instrument was piano and later I picked the guitar. Now I am pretty much only using my midi keyboards and synths. But it is my vocal which is the most important instrument and probably the only one I know how to use. I was trained by a few opera singers in Poland. One of them, Olga Szwajgier, discovered I have quite unusual range while she was working on my speech difficulties. She was the one who encouraged me to sing.
When I lived in New York I would go to MET or Film Forum and be instantly blown away.
Whenever I am in London I always go to TATE Modern or Whitechapel Gallery… Nothing compares to those two cities. In Glasgow, where I live, I go to my favourite record store, Monorail and always come back home with something amazing. At the moment I am listening to Flying Lotus, Andy Stott and Polish artist Zamilska – I love everything that Awesome Tapes from Africa puts out. I have a few "cultural Willy Wonka” types of friends, who keep sending me music, inviting me to see great movies or texting art recommendations. So I am bombarded with ideas without even trying to find them. Internet can be great for that. When it comes to my music writing, Howie B opened up a whole new perspective into my creative process. Last but not least, without the support of my friends and family I would have given up long time ago; they gave me a proper, wholehearted kick.
I work from home, so being disciplined is quite a challenge.
I usually make a plan and try to stick to designated hours. I try to work Nick Cave style. No pyjamas in the office. I start with one or two (or three) espressos. I used to chain smoke but I quit five months ago, so my studio doesn’t smell decadent anymore, just Fabreeze or Dettol now. I spend about ten, twelve hours every day working in the front of the computer and my synth. Sometimes longer… Sometimes way longer. I often get my groceries online, so I don’t waste time on going out. I see people maybe twice a week these days. I have a lot of projects but also I have to prepare my live show which makes me sleepless. Next week I am moving to a rehearsal studio, so that will be me, being forced to fit all in eight hours.
I make a ton of notes, which I can’t understand the next day. I get carried away by listening to one little detail over and over again. Sometimes I will leave one beat on the loop until it brings in the tune or until it makes me sick. I truly hope my neighbours can’t hear it. I often hoover during the breaks, which is a great way to clear my head from sound clutter. My space is pretty organised, and I like to keep things very simple. I am not a gadget hoarder. I rely on a good software, which gives me endless opportunities. Having Howie B as a producer makes my life easier, but also there is a higher quality demand. There is no half-baked project bullshit with this guy. We are already discussing the next project. Considering my TV and film work, my workload is kinda bonkers.
Music is…
Feeling safe while feeling feverish. I am quite awkward and uptight at times, but music lets all my guards go to hell. Some people take drugs to make music, but to me music is like all the drugs people are talking about, it makes me fly and trip and have nightmares and hear voices. It makes me mad and it makes me serene. It gives me the reason to wake up in the morning and stay up until the next day.
Introducing TOPS : Pop made in Montreal
TOPS are a four-piece band from Montreal, Jane Penny (vocals, keyboard), David Carriere (guitar), Riley Fleck (drums) and Madeline Glowicki (bass). We chat with Jane ahead of their European tour in May 2015.
TOPS are a four-piece band from Montreal, Jane Penny (vocals, keyboard), David Carriere (guitar), Riley Fleck (drums) and Madeline Glowicki (bass). We chat with Jane ahead of their European tour in May 2015.
We started TOPS in the Spring of 2011
David and I had already been playing music for a couple years but it was mostly just fucking around, we would make songs in his room on a computer. I'd just started to get really into synthesizers and David has always played a guitar, we wanted to be in a proper band with instruments instead of computer music so we asked Riley to try jamming with us. He would practice at this loft space we all used like everyday for hours by himself so we figured he'd be pretty good, and we were right! He's great.
A lot of nights we'll be at the studio really late
we've got a little recording and rehearsal room set up at the Arbutus Records Office. Sometimes we'll be walking back down Parc Avenue and I'll have the song we were working on in my head, when it's sounding real good and your excited about the beginning of a new track and it's circling around in your brain, those are a lot of the best moments. That and there have been a lot of really great times at shows.
The first songs I learned
were songs that David wrote with our friend Sean Nicholas Savage. They convinced me to start singing because they'd written a bunch of songs for a girl to sing. Before that, when I was a teenager I got really into playing flute, specifically playing Charlie Parker solos, that was the first music that I really loved playing.
I admire musicians who have a unique voice
and an intellectual inner life that guides the art they make, like Joni Mitchell. I also really like musicians that make really satisfying music to listen to, like J Dilla or Chic or Art of Noise. Sorry I'm not very good at explaining my taste, I just like what I like.
I've been listening to Jessica Pratt and Kendrick Lamar lately, their new records are both very inspiring to me. The Doldrums record too, it's coming out soon.
My first instrument
It was a cheap flute, probably cost my parents like 200$ at the local music store. There was a piano at my house growing up but I didn't get into playing piano until much later so even though I play it a lot now I would consider my flute my first instrument. I left it on the bus once growing up, I was freaking out but the bus driver picked it up so it was all good.
It just happens
The bigger struggle is doing the normal everyday shit properly so my life can keep going, like getting groceries and replying to emails. That other stuff is constantly in the way of time I would like to spend by myself working on music but you have to handle your shit if you want to live off music. I'm hoping that at some point in the summer I can take a few weeks to just work on new songs.
A day in the studio
It depends on what we're up to, but usually I wake up at home and make coffee, then play my synth at home for a while. David usually heads to the studio early and he'll start doing stuff on the computer or playing guitar and I usually show up around 2. We'll work on stuff, record or whatever and then Riley will come by the evening and we'll practice for like 4 hours.
Music
It's really everything to me. It helps me get through life, but it also is my life in the sense that I define my success on this earth by how much time I devote to it and my progression musically, playing instruments or just improving my musical consciousness.
Jane Penny from TOPS | TOPS Tour Dates
SXSW Music: five good reasons to be excited
SXSW, a multi-genre culturefest conference taking place in Austin, Texas, has arrived this March; and we have five very good reasons to be excited.
SXSW, a multi-genre culturefest conference taking place in Austin, Texas, has arrived this March; and we have five very good reasons to be excited.
From March the 17th to the 22nd, South by Southwest (SXSW) will platform hundreds of talented musicians of varying levels of fame to exhibit their new work. This is really a show with no limits in terms of genre, ingenuity and creativity; consider this a supermarket for your next favourite bands. Whether you are an electronica, classical, blues or R&B fan, this is a great opportunity to hear the voices of tomorrow and find your next musical crush.
To give you a flavour of just how much talent is on offer, here are a few of our favourites:
Benn Ottewell | Genre: Rock
This guy has the most delicious voice I’ve heard in ages: it’s not aggressive or too pitch-perfect; just filled with passion and an impressive range from emotional high notes to guttural rock bass.
He plays the guitar with no limited ability to make the simplest of riffs sound exquisitely flawless. His lyrics are beautiful, taking a nice cross over from country to form a gentle simplicity with rock’s hard emotion. If you haven’t googled him yet, get a move on.
Carolyn Wonderland | Genre: Blues
Compared to Janis for her voice- and it is easy to see why. She has a touch of gospel about her and there is a really sweet sadness in her voice; she goes from roaring euphoric passion to a heartbreaking mellowness in a few minutes and it’s just so lovely to listen to. It’s also fantastic to see people coming to the more side-lined genres to re-create them and capture what worked.The electric guitar adds a modern update to the genre and the whole thing comes off as very theatrical. This woman is the Meryl Streep of music.
Mother Falcon | Genre: Classical
If you think classical music is outmoded, acoustic and dull, think again.This band bring an almost orchestral approach to music where the lyrics, however beautiful, play second fiddle to the incredible intricacy of the melodies. It is like watching Vivaldi coming out a time machine to perform his new single inspired by Daughter. This is a developing field and I for one will be fascinated to see how it develops.
THE NIGHTOWLS | Genre: R&B
Yes, no spaces, I checked. This is a pretty large band, and I think this actually works for the sound they are creating; they are not selling themselves as packages but the music and interpretation they create. They go back to the roots of R&B, there are traces of soul still in the seams of the melody and I really like the return to a toned down backing to focus on the power of the vocals. Definitely worth checking out if you don’t like the sliding merger to hip-hop.
Bronze Whale | Genre: Electronic
Other that a seriously cool name, this duo has a terrific amount of creativity. Sentences don’t end unless these Texan maestros permit it to, the beat and melody are carefully cut apart and rearranged in something more outrageous, thought provoking and new. This is a really great place to start if you are an alternative music novice; they cross over modern and synth hip hop with inventive keyboarding and simplistic electronica. They are the bridge between the two realms; a bridge you won’t regret crossing.
Courtney Barnett; Harsh, honest and new
Debuts are often overlooked by many as a stepping stone to greater things. Not for Courtney Barnett; her harsh lyrical wit and simple guitar riffs have already earned her a large following and critical acclaim.
Debuts are often overlooked by many as a stepping stone to greater things.
Not for Courtney Barnett; her harsh lyrical wit and simple guitar riffs have already earned her a large following and critical acclaim.
Her album Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I just Sit is being presented to the public in what is probably the most unusual and artistic manner ever attempted by a PR company.
Marathon Artists is holding a public session in which the audience can experience the visual and audial talent of her album; using an eclectic mix of objects, music and space to represent an archetype for Barnett’s development. The exhibit is based on the song Kim’s Caravan which is in turn centred around a real caravan on Phillip Island, Australia. To represent this, there will be a caravan near Truman Brewery whereby members of the public can enter the structure and interpret the space inside as part of Courtney's album.
Forget surround sound or 3D, this incorporation of sound, sight and metaphor gives a heightened meaning to the phrase ‘unique experience.’So what will a viewer and listener experience in this small caravan? They will be encompassed in her world , surrounded by the objects that helped her develop as an artist and represent the point she has come to.
The album will play on continuously, and the caravan will represent a world in which Courtney herself is part of, having just left. You will be surrounded by her favourite and influential books, piled onto shelves and on top of an old fashioned record player. Walls will display posters that inspired the album title, as well as objects like a taxidermy fox will be sleeping on the bed, which will soon be the focus of her next single. All this very much echoes Barnett’s work; an exploration of self, a blunt telling of her experiences and being, a very stark reality into the mind of a brilliant and thoughtful young woman. The eclectic nature of the room also forms the claustrophobic feel of the album itself.
It will, the creators hope, lead the public to engage with their surroundings by ‘filming the space, record themselves sitting there listening to the album and take photos with the props.’ This will, once shared on social media, promote the album and discussion on what is ultimately, an album focusing on self-reflection and thought.
This will then, if all goes to plan, lead to a twitter hashtag, where people globally can experience the exhibit in real time. Whether you live in Australia or not, or even know of Barnett, this is definitely a new, inclusive idea in campaigning and advertising that deserves to be checked out.
“SOMETIMES I SIT AND THINK, AND SOMETIMES I JUST SIT”
Rocket Girl Label: Eclectic Indie sounds at its best
Rocket Girl, a London based label that boasts one of the most eclectic rosters in the British music industry, emerged in 1997 as the brainchild of still owner Vinita Joshi
Rocket Girl, a London based label that boasts one of the most eclectic rosters in the British music industry, emerged in 1997 as the brainchild of still owner Vinita Joshi. In the years prior to Rocket Girl’s founding, Joshi worked in turning an emerging, Essex based rock scene into Ché Trading; a label that transformed the nomenclatural brilliance of Animals That Swim, Tripmaster Monkey and Bardo Pond into a string of releases. Rocket Girl continues this strong early venture into the odds and ends of indie music.
At the other end of the numerical and style spectrum, Pieter Nooten works with Rocket Girl in composing solely from his laptop. Born in the Netherlands, Nooten’s quality is rooted in a minimalistic style of composition that builds a real sense of tenderness with each layer, underlying piano and violin with fuzzy electronic touches. Nooten’s work is not limited to a string of releases, foremost of which is the 2013 release Haven, or even his place in exemplary 90s synth pop group, Clans of Xymox. His expansive back catalogue is regularly re-worked live and backed by the video works of Miryam Chachmany, who's conceptual pieces can be found in galleries from New Mexico to Amsterdam.
Generally understood as skirting round the peak of the curious fame of cult stardom, Television Personalities are a Rocket Girl signing cheerfully ripping up the manual of indie conventuality. Not only with a musical style that unashamedly mixes neo-psychedlia with pop and punk, but with a colourful history that has taken in addiction, homelessness, numerous line-up changes and a couple of nervous breakdowns. Not to be overshadowed by their personal lives, Television Personalities can also boast some truly wonderful records amongst their obscenely large discography, most recently A Memory Is Better Than Nothing.
Füxa (pronounced similar to the colour fuchsia) are a Detroit lo-fi outfit that pay testament to the longterm outlook of Rocket Girl. Formed in 1994, Füxa have worked with Joshi since their first LP, 3 Field Rotation, was released on Che in 1996. Their sound is more likely to be located to the East Coast, treated guitars and vintage synths blending together in a drone more reminiscent of Michigan grunge than the rich heritage of their hometown. Füxa’s swift accession to cult status shows such a cultural fusion to be no bad thing.
One of the labels most intriguing signings is Arms. Based in London, Arms represent the kind of band formation more often seen in the super-group heyday of the 70s. With five lead singers and four nationalities, Arms are six-strong collective formed of out of work solo artists who felt “that the collective sum of their parts could be best utilised as a single unit.” Testament of the group’s successful cohesion can be found in their pin-point lyricism, crisp production and recent LP, Are We All In This Together?
Rocket Girl
TOY, A psychedelic update
This isn’t a tribute band to the great eras past; this is an updated, interesting and totally re-invented perspective on the idea of rock and post-punk invention
TOY, a rising band on the rock and psychedelic scene, made a significant breakthrough last year with their new song It’s been so Long.
Bursting through in a wave of 80s nostalgia and an updated beat, this is a song that paves the way to a new era in today’s music. Say goodbye to the angry four chords of the Noughties and hello to the mellow tones of Tom Dougall, alongside rippling strumming and an interesting manipulation of backing vocals.
This isn’t a tribute band to the great eras past; this is an updated, interesting and totally re-invented perspective on the idea of rock and post-punk invention. Electric pianos have not sounded this cool since 1989; and this band hits a hard punch to the criticism of modern music. This band proves you can be new different and relevant while drawing on the ideas and forms of the past.
The album Join the dots is a bit like an Klimt painting; it is dazzling, outrageous and undeniably beautiful, while unashamedly bringing what worked from the previous genre and leaving what didn’t. The musicians, especially guitarist Dominic O’Dair and bassist Maxim Barron perform with a fluid talent and ear for tempo, while the dark softness of the vocals contrasts with the metaphoric lyrics.
Every song is different; you time travel from a dark concert in the late eighties to the strange lucidity of sixties indie concerts. There are even elements of goth from the nineties somewhere in the collage of ideas and forms, that actually work really well. It sounds overwhelming, but, as much as it shouldn’t, it really works.
One member, Alejandra, the phenomenally talented keyboard player, stands out as bringing a great deal of mystery and depth through her formulaic but unusual interpretation of electric keyboard and synth melodies. She adds not only a brilliant update on the breakthroughs of the past but a strong identity. to the work of the band
We spoke to her about her experiences working in the band and the genre.
When and why did you start playing?
We started playing a few years ago, we all have played instruments individually since we were very young, but as a band we have been playing for at least 5 years.
What are your fondest musical memories in your environment around you?
My fondest musical memories would definitely have to be with my mum, she had a great record collection which we used to
listen to together in different situations. It was never forced, music was just always going on in the house. It was just normal.
What was the first tune(s) you learned?
Well, I am the synth player in the band. I don't think I have ever tried to learn tunes like a
guitar player would do. You just have to get used to your machine, experiment and see what happens!
Which musicians do you admire?
There really are many, in different genres, eras, bands... I guess the first who comes to mind is Lou Reed, he is very important, but naming just him would be limiting myself, there really are many many many...
Describe your first instrument.
My first instrument was a Spanish guitar that I got when I was 6, I still have it and has holes and cracks everywhere, but it's a classically built guitar and it still sounds better than any non electric guitar I've ever heard.
Which sounds/visuals/artists/albums give you a real buzz-how do you stay inspired?
I stay inspired by making music, I get inspired by any record, artist I listen to that means something, I get inspired by playing together, by anything meaningful really, I don't think there is anything specific or tangible.
What is a day in the studio like?
We play through ideas, develop songs, practice songs we know already, or just see what happens, we always have a great time, it'd be pointless otherwise.
Spring Festival Awakening
Synonymous with dreams of scorched earth, sun warped vistas and crushed beer cups, a short trip away from our overcast shores will find a desire to unfurl a tent unencumbered by drawn out winters
As much as the British festival scene is one inexplicably bound to the fairer months, synonymous with dreams of scorched earth, sun warped vistas and crushed beer cups, a short trip away from our overcast shores will find a desire to unfurl a tent unencumbered by drawn out winters.
In Tilsburg, The Netherlands, a city otherwise known for its 10 day long gay pride funfair and as the country’s former wool capital, Roadburn festival delivers the world’s foremost selection of psychedelic, doom and avant-garde metal. Now in its sixteenth year, Roadburn succeeds not only in fulfilling its mandate of pushing the boundaries of “left field, sonic pleasures’, but also in booking the most eclectically named line-up imaginable. This year’s roster achieves nomenclatural brilliance through stoner metal outfit Acid Witch, Italian prig-rockers Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin and blackened death champions Goatwhore.
Frozen Dead Guy Days Festival
Way out West and on the weekend of the 13h of March, the small town of Nederland, Colorado will host the 14th annual Frozen Dead Guy Days. The festival is conceptually based on the story of Bredo Morstøl. At the start of the 90s, Bredo posthumously found himself in California after his grand-son Trygve flew him across the Atlantic in a cryogenically frozen state. After several years on ice at Trans Time Cryonics, Bredo decided to bridge the middle management gap and set up a facility of his own in Nederland. A couple of visa failures and a house eviction later, and word of Trygve’s corpse, located in a small, unpowered shack, leaked to the public and became a sensation. The subsequent rallying around of the aptly named “Ice Man” led to the town’s sponsored upkeep of the corpse and the initiation of the Frozen Dead Guy Days. This year’s festival highlights include Coffin Racing, Costume Polar Plunging, live music, a frozen t-shirt contest, Ice Turkey Bowling, Brain Freeze Contests, a parade of hearses, the Frozen Dead Poet Slam and the now infamous, Frozen Salmon Toss.
National Pyrotechnic Festival
In the southern Mexican town of Tultepec, the first half of March is dedicated to honouring the towns booming fireworks industry. In celebration of St John, patron saint of the pyrotechnics guild, the National Pyrotechnic Festival is two weeks filled with firework displays and firework based events. As well as a strong selection of regional food, attendees will witness the Castillo de Torre, a musical firework competition fought between 7 display teams, and the Pamplonas; a take on the Spanish bull running event in which 300 bull shaped wagons rumble through the town, firing rockets and roman candles at the hoards of scrambling onlookers.
New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
And in conclusion of the rich, overlooked months of the spring festival scene, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival offers the perfect transition into the summer month of May. Alongside the Folklife Village, its cowboy bullwhip weavers and handcrafted accordions, this year’s festival offers a particular focus to the influence of Louisiana native American culture in the shaping of New Orleans. With music from Elton John, The Meters and Gurrumul, the lineup is also phenomenal.
Catching up with Rachel Kennedy from FLOWERS
UK based trio Flowers released new album Do What You Want To, It's What You Should Do earlier this year. As the band gets ready to start their UK tour we have a chat with Rachel (vocals, bass synths) on piano songs and her love for music
THE BEGINNING
I started playing piano when I was about 4, and have played music ever since though on a variety of different instruments.
I loved singing along to music with my mum in the car on long journeys or even just home from school... She always had loads of Dolly Parton, Nina Simone and Tom Waits CDs in her car, and all the Tarantino sound tracks, so it was always stuff like that. Also my dad is an amazing classical cellist, and I used to go stay at his flat on weekends, and I loved waking up listening to him practising the Bach cello suites on Sunday mornings.
FIRST LYRICS
"C The Cat"... Followed eventually by "D The Dog" (the first consisted of playing LOTS of "C" notes on the piano... You can guess the second!)
FASCINATED ABOUT…
I just always think it's amazing how someone can write a song and it come out so good... I don't even know how we do it when we write a song we like ourselves! It always seems like magic to me.
MY INSTRUMENTS
My first instrument was my piano... I still have it today, had to get a winch to get it out of our old flat into this one through the window! It's over 100 years old now so it sounds very soft but it still sounds bell-like and beautiful. Currently my favourite instrument to play with is a Fender Jazzmaster... I'm really bad at guitar but the neck on the Jazzmaster really fits my hand well and it just sounds great so it's helping me get better at guitar, along with lots of help from Sam!
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO…
We go through periods of listening to different albums over and over, so the answer to the question is always different... But the last few days we've been listening to Closer by Joy Division lots, as well as Ramones (we always listen to lots of them) and Evans The Death's new album which we think is brilliant.
STAYING CREATIVE
For me anyway that's not really a conscious thing or something I have any control over even... I feel like I've always had bursts of feeling very creative and wanting to make something (not always music necessarily), and some days I just don't feel like it. I never try and force it because if I'm having an uninspired sort of day and I try and make myself write a song or paint a picture it won't come out so good. Luckily, most days we feel like writing songs so we have a lot of them!
A DAY IN THE STUDIO…
Mostly our home is our studio so we just sit down with some tea and have fun making noises and eventually a song comes out! We usually write them very quickly and record as we're writing so that all happens very quickly and spontaneously. Once the song is recorded the process of mixing starts (which mostly falls to Sam as he's much more technically apt than I am) and that's a very concentrated few hours and usually we end up with big headaches and tired eyes, but also with a new song to be excited about.
MUSIC IS…
Pretty much everything. Music and the people (and dog) I love are my whole life.
LAST WORDS
We're on tour tomorrow, and very excited about it!
TOUR DATES
Tue 3 March - BRIGHTON - The Prince Albert
Wed 4 March - FALMOUTH - Shipwrights
Thur 5 March - BRISTOL - Roll to The Soul
Fri 6 March - MANCHESTER - The Castle
Sun 8 March - BIRMINGHAM - Hare and Hounds
Mon 9 March - NEWCASTLE - The Cluny
Tue 10 March - YORK - The Basement
Wed 11 March - LEICESTER - Magic Tea Pot
Thur 12 March - RASMGATE - Music Hall
AIAIAI, Branko and the ‘Real Booty Music’ project
Described as ‘music made by the booty – for the booty,’ Copenhagen based headphone company, AIAIAI, have combined music and the movement of the ‘booty’ for their new collaborative project
Described as ‘music made by the booty – for the booty,’ Copenhagen based headphone company, AIAIAI, have combined music and the movement of the ‘booty’ for their new collaborative project.
The aim behind the project was to provide AIAIAI headphone-users with a new music, brought to them in a unique way. The Danish audio designers created new, inventive technology that essentially allows dancers to play music along to the rhythm off there rear-end.
From the heritage of bass-driven club culture, where booty-shaking is a fundamental component, AIAIAI wanted to explore if it was possible to change the perception of twerking.
Their creative approach and technology-driven concept allows the music to ‘do the talking.’ They teamed up with producer Branko, from the successful tropical bass band, Buraka Som Sistema. Allowing him to use the movements of buttocks to produce the final product. By using a dancer as his instrument, the final track was created shaped by the dancers twerking styled movements.
At the centre between high-brow and low-brow, technology and music, serious and all together eccentric, this project is all about that feeling you get when you hear a beat and just can’t stop moving. It’s one for the music lovers, and movers.
Five Springtime Releases: Girl Band, Godspeed, Skelton, Braxton and Copeland
Girlband, Godspeed, Skelton, Braxton and Copeland are releasing new music. Soon.
Girl Band - The Early Years
Dublin four piece Girl Band will soon be dropping their latest slice of panic-attack inducing, alternative noise rock. The Early Years, released through Rough Trade, is restricted to a 500, 12” run predominantly available on their North American tour. If the stickle-brick adorning artwork and teaser song ‘Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage’, a cover of Blawan’s “terror techno” masterpiece, are adequate barometers, The Early Years will capture the same mechanistic krautgrunge that has been unbalancing sensibilities since 2011.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress
Godspeed You! Black Emperor are releasing their fifth studio album Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress in March. Clocking in at 40 minutes, it is their first average length album since their 1997 debut F#A#∞; a record that introduced the world to a shifting, mysterious Canadian collective with touches of political anarchism. Asunder’s opening track 'Peasantry or 'Light! Inside of Light!’ is available to stream and suggests both an immediate return to form and re-entrance back into the world of metal-flecked minimalism that surrounds their cult following.
Richard Skelton - Belated Movements For An Unsanctioned Exhumation August 1st 1984
Artist, musician and author Richard Skelton has just announced a new record, titled Belated Movements For An Unsanctioned Exhumation August 1st 1984. With over 30 EPs to date Skelton’s music is hard to define. In the broadest of senses it is a contemporary form of classical. In terms of effect however, it feels closer to a Brian Eno landscape; piercing violins dart above weighty, layered down cellos in works of haunting melancholy, anxiety and dreaminess. With a title referring to the Lindow Man, a bog body found in Cheshire, Skelton’s latest offering appears as a aural follow on from his written studies of rural Lancaster and the mythology of rivers.
Tyondai Braxton - HIVE1
Former frontman of Battles Tyondai Braxton has just announced his first new release in six years, HIVE1. The album is the end product of his work on a performance piece premiered at the NY Guggenheim and described as “a live multimedia work that was part architectural installation and part ensemble performance.” With the visual side stripped away, an oily texture of discordant synths and 70s Sci-Fi effects rises to the surface of Scout1. If this initial release and the mounds of frantic percussion are anything to go by, Tyondai has retained the brilliance of Battles whilst veering off into slightly spacier pastures.
Inga Copeland - RELAXIN’ with Lolina
Noise maker, former vocalist of Hype Williams and Estonian Inga Copeland may or may not be releasing new album RELAXIN’ with Lolina. The argument for? She has recently debuted new tracks whilst playing at Dalston’s Café OTO. The argument against? The release date is set for the non-existent February 29th. If the calendar does allow for its manifestation, a full return to the texturally chunky, sometimes humorous, often bazaar feel of last year’s Because I’m Worth It can be expected.
Addictive TV present: Orchestra of Samples
On Thursday, 26th February, production duo Addictive TV are bringing their unique brand of sampling to the Rich Mix Studios in Bethnal Green.
On Thursday, 26th February, production duo Addictive TV are bringing their unique brand of sampling to the Rich Mix Studios in Bethnal Green.
Formed at the hands of veteran audio/visual remixers Graham Daniels and Mark Vidler, Orchestra of Samples takes clips, videoed by the pair over the course of five years and globally sourced, and melds them together live.
An analogue accompaniment of Beatbox Collective’s Bass6, violin, BBC young musician of the year Shona Mooney and sitarist Baluji Shrivastav will offer a live, physical presence beneath the towering wall of pre-recorded video.
The conceptual inspiration for the project is one rooted in diversity. Alongside the competent, seemingly contrasting live task-force are a mixed platter of noises, melodies and rhythms, picked up from everyone from acoustic guitar players and hang drummers to flautists and a man hitting a spring with a stick.
The resultant effect, backed as it is with a small visual glimpses of whichever of the fifty countries the pair travelled to for the project, is one that implies a richness of culture and genre; brought together by a pair who have been at the forefront of live DVD turntable and AV mixer work throughout the entirety of their 10 year career.
So far Orchestra of Samples has been performed in France, Spain, Brazil, Russia and Morocca before it closed the RomeEurope festival last week. Thursday’s concert will be the first time Addictive TV have graced London since May, when they played the Looking Outside my Window festival. For £9 advance and £12 on the door, punters will not only be offered the broadest, most intricately crafted version of a live show that has won Addictive TV two DJ Mag best visual DJ awards, but accompaniment from veteran electronic experimentalist, Howie B.
Atomos by Random Dance at Sadler’s Wells
As a choreographer Wayne McGregor is not just ground-breaking, he is more like colossal. The Artistic Director of the company which bears his name, the Wayne McGregor|Random Dance, is notable for creating choreographies at the limit of what the human body is capable of achieving through performance. Hence this frontier between mind and body is one of the features of McGregor’s work that often resonates in our senses.
Atomos is a piece that reflects on the nature of the human body and the shape of its movements. The choreography is enveloped by the music of A Winged Victory For The Sullen, a tailor-made suit, builds surprising forms in expansion, complex contours and curved lines which produce esoteric shapes.
In short, Atomos is essentially a spectacular piece of visual and plastic art which releases a symphony of colours, thanks to magnificent lighting design by Lucy Carter and costume design by Studio XO, all highlighted by the appearance of 3D displays by Ravi Deepres in the heart of the show. Superb set.
