FMS Issue 05 by FMS Magazine

TRENDS FASHION SHO FIVE UNSIGN OTS ED AND A POSTC FROM berlin ARD

£3.00 Printed in the UK

winter 2010

E // BEACH HOUSM // O R LY CLUB // C Y F PLUS // BIF S YOU // TWO DOOR CINE hAic // DAISY DAREETS // FANFARLO // delp LITTLE COM GTONS // GOLDHAWKS // THE PADDIN MORE… MPHO // AND

Fill My Senses

on/your/cd NEWISLANDS 1.Shivers (Demo Version) 2.Out of Time (BRETON lab Remix B) MY TIGER MY TIMING 3.The Distance 4.I Am The Sound (May 68 Remix) THE HEARTBREAKS 5.Liar, My Dear 6.Jealous, Don’t You Know THE SHOESTRUNG 7.And You 8.Are You For Real MELODY NELSON 9.The Otherside (Mike Bennett Mix) 10.Down (You’re Letting Me)

BONUS TRACKS THE PADDINGTONS 11.Shame About Elle THE WUTARS 12.Oh Roisin (Awustic Home Demo) THE GUILTY HANDS 13.Guilty Hands FOREIGN OFFICE 14.Can’t Stand Defeat

FMS is on a roll, a mighty fine one too and it’s rolling your way. Okay well it’s sort of stuck to the left there, more CD-like than roll-like I guess. But it’s jam-packed and you’re going to love the taste of it. Sound of it rather. We’re ridiculously pleased to present you with another tasty bite of music from some of the best unsigned acts jammin’ their way across the UK, and all feature amongst our pages too. And there’s a bit on the side. Bonus tracks from The Paddingtons plus a choice few from those who’ve played our recent events. Electronica, rock’ n’ roll, or just roll…its all here. Get it on. Jam roll with it. You won’t be disappointed. All rights of the producer and the owners of the work reproduced reserved. Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting of this record prohibited.

Sponsored By

www.breed-media.co.uk

astarswomens.com

MASTHEAD Editor-in-Chief Sarah Hardy Photo Editor Michael Robert Williams Art Editor Elliott Webb Fashion Editor Rebekah Roy Music Editor Andrew Future Style Editor Jodie Ball Sub-Editor Matthew Finnegan Web Editor Kellie Watton Sales & Marketing Lucia Anna Camilloni Contributors

Aline Bentley, Allison Mulimba, Bertan Budak, Charlie Jones, Christopher Dadey, Connie Hart, Dan Thomas, David Sue, Dom Gourlay, Edward Thomas, Elauan Lee, Hannah Rogers, Isabel Dexter, Jordan Dowling, Karolina Kivimaki, Kristy Hotlips Prince, Kyrstle Gohel, Laura Nineham, Leonie Cumiskey, Libby Rose Banks, Luisa Ridge, Patrick Ford, Rachel Jones, Rosie Jackson, Ross Cooper, Roxanne De Bastion, Shirlaine Forrest,Timothy Earl,Virginia Fonderico

Special thanks to

All Star Lanes, Breed Media, D1 Models, Donal Rogers, Holly Swain, Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen, Independent Models, James Meredith, Jess @ Independent, M&P Models, Proud Camden, Punk, Sanctum Hotel,The Elbow Room,The Southern Cross,Tom Hunt and all of the above! **********************************************************

Publisher Sarah Hardy · FASHION.MUSIC.STYLE Limited Printers Progressive Print Services Limited · www.progressive-print.co.uk · 0156 274 7356 Distributors Pineapple Media Limited · www.pineapplemediauk.com · 0239 278 7970 & World Wide Magazine Distribution Limited · www.wwmd.co.uk · 0121 683 7569 Staff Contact first name @ fashionmusicstyle.com Advertising Contact sales @ fashionmusicstyle.com Sponsorship Enquiries sponsorship @ fashionmusicstyle.com ********************************************************* Disclaimer Disclaimer Views expressed within the pages of FASHION.MUSIC.STYLE are those of the contributors and not necessarily those shared by the publisher. All content is believed to be correct at the time of printing. Unauthorised reproduction of any editorial or images is strictly prohibited.

Editor’s letter Welcome to issue five and hello world! Yes, FMS has finally gone worldwide and can be picked up (and paid for mind) in Europe, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Anyhow, those of you who’ve been with us a while can imagine how happy we are to see Ellie Goulding firmly in the spotlight after we featured her in our Five Unsigned some nine months ago.We’re pretty damn confident that The Heartbreaks will be joining her there soon too. And if our music radar is anything to go

by, we reckon Delphic and Beach House will be drawing rather large crowds at the summer festivals. Watch out for our festival preview next issue. After a bit of a lull last year, 2010 is shaping up to be a truly great year for music. Be sure to get involved. As for fashion we mix up the old with the new taking inspiration from Nowhere Boy and all things retro and beyond. Enough from me. Thanks to my amazing team, and love to you petals. Mucho gracias, merci beacoup, mange tak and all that xXx

Sarah Hardy Editor-in-Chief

COVER: LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION - PHOTO: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

lightspeed champion

Flying Solo

biffy Clyro

Take the Long Road and Walk It

beach house Paradise City

70 delphic Pounding

five unsigned With the birth of FMS came the Five Unsigned and our desire to scout out the best new talent in the UK; not only giving them the opportunity for print exposure but to publish music on CD for the masses. So draw your attention to who we believe have captured that star quality. FMS Five Unsigned is sponsored by Breed Media. Breed Media Group Ltd Tel +44 (0)114 255 2460- www.breed-media.co.uk

NEWISLANDS.........................................14 MY TIGER MY TIMING..........................34 THE HEARTBREAKS...........................48 THE SHOESTRUNG..............................68 MELODY NELSON.................................80

contents winter / 2010 ISSUE 5

features

12. two door cinema club –

76. mpho –

16. little comets –

78. fanfarlo –

26. nocturne –

82. retro grooming –

36. daisy dares you –

84. postcard from berlin –

40. goldhawks –

90. fashion.music.style –

46. the paddingtons –

92. fms presents –

50. sixties fashion –

96. fms presents –

60. nowhere boy –

97. FMS presents –

Alex, Kevin, Sam and the Machine Stellify

Style On The Tiles Heart Shaped Boxer

Byrds of Prey

Year of the Bear Movie Groovy

Vintage Gal

Out of the Box

The Drowners Chop Chop

Wish You Were Here?

@ The Boogaloo Fete Style @ The Flowerpot

@ Tommy Flynn’s

NYE Extravaganza

regulars 08. NEWS -

80. trend on trend -

18. shop for trends -

66. album reviews -

Wassup?!

Sneakers & Chinos

42. trend on trend Lolita vs Cadet

52. trend on trend Sixties Style

Beige vs Beige Sounds like?

87. BRIEF ENCOUNTER: aaron johnson Nowhere Boy…in New York

98. Ask the DJs Top Ten Tunes To Get You Through the Week

fMs neWs gavin bond: music

SO...SUB CLUB & SLAM The good people at Smirnoff have once again put their heads together to bring you a series of mind-blowing parties, this time taking place in Scotland's capital of art school cool, Glasgow.This collaboration brings together Glaswegian promoters Slam and Sub Club and will feature performances from the likes of Jeff Mills, Laurent Garnier,Tayo and Hannah Holland. Smirnoff 'So...Sub Club & Slam' kicks off on January 23rd and ends on April 2nd, hosting ten different nights at venues such as O2 Academy, Glasgow Winter Gardens and, of course, Sub Club itself. As well as putting some incredible artists on the bill each night, there will also be a surprise element to make these one-off events truly special. Co-director Mike Grieve, of Sub Club, is enthusiastic about the upcoming months, saying, “We have programmed some amazing nights, bringing some exceptional musicians and DJs to Glasgow, giving the local clubbing community the opportunity to enjoy some unique and unforgettable experiences.” You can win tickets to the events or purchase them, with ticket prices starting at £8.To find out more about Smirnoff 'So…Sub Club & Slam', connect with the Facebook page and also look out for other Smirnoff events in your city. facebook.com/SmirnoffGB Words: Leonie Cumiskey

The Idea Generation Gallery, Shoreditch, which has recently presented John 'Hoppy' Hopkins’ portrayal of sixties subcultures and a collection of Woodstock photos is delivering yet another visual treat to music lovers, this time with an exhibition showcasing the work of contemporary music photographer Gavin Bond. If you think you don’t know Bond’s work, chances are you’re probably wrong, as he is responsible for the sort of high-budget, epic photo shoots featuring bands like The Killers, Kings Of Leon and U2, and has a wealth of Q covers under his belt. Although the theme of the show is ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Royalty’, this exhibition isn’t simply about seeing photographs of our favourite musicians. Gavin Bond started off working within the fashion industry and continues to work for GQ Magazine, as well as shooting fashion and music icons such as Gwen Stefani and Grace Jones. The upcoming exhibition will see iconic magazine images sit alongside never-seen-before candid snaps of musicians behind the scenes.These images document the last ten years of Bond’s career, and subsequently the decade’s most prolific musicians, from Aerosmith to Girls Aloud. The New York-based photographer says he is,“truly excited to come back to where it all started, to have my first show on home turf as it were,” adding, “The diversity in what I shoot is key to keeping things interesting.” ‘Gavin Bond: Music’ at The Ideas Generation Gallery, 23rd February – 21st March 2010 Ideageneration.co.uk Image: © Gavin Bond Words: Leonie Cumiskey

TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED GUILTY PLEASURES London’s best party night comes to All Star Lanes. Celebrate pop in all its glorious forms, every Friday night, 8.30pm till 12.30am Guiltypleasures.co.uk ROUGH TRADE EAST London’s finest music emporium delivers a night of stomping tunes to bowl to, showcasing past and future classics, plus very special guest DJ’s. Every Sunday night, 7 till 10.30pm Roughtrade.com AND… Bowl & bop with All Star DJ’s sound tracking a retro selection, from rock’ n’ roll to disco, reggae to hip hop, and all points between. Every Thursday, 8:30 till 11.30pm & Saturday, 8.30pm till 12.30am All Star Lanes, 95 Brick Lane, London E1 6QL www.allstarlanes.co.uk

OH! YOU PRETTY THINGS

Prepare to be indulged in a night of relentless revelry as Tales Of The Unexpected hits Friday nights at London’s Proud Camden. With a mission statement that promises to conjure up a world of escapism and unbridled fun, thrill seekers and music lovers everywhere will be spoilt wicked. The evenings will be a move away from indie and the music will contain elements of folk, electro and pop providing the soundtrack to the night. Proud will be subject to full decorations; anticipate a dark circus theme with a gypsy caravan, flame throwers, a carousel seating area, intriguing performers, hanging lanterns, psychedelic and beguiling dancers- all led by a motley crew of ring-masters. In the South Gallery there will be a compelling mixture of electro-fuelled party anthems from All Night Long DJ's Ben & Gaz playing the best tracks of yester-year to keep everyone on the dance floor.Think big hair and big hits spanning the last four decades from the likes of Madonna, Starship and Kenny Loggins to name but a few! £10 Standard Entrance £5 before 9pm/ £8 after with guest list or flyer Proudcamden.com Spring Projects presents an exhibition of the new generation of British fashion photographers Alice Hawkins, Dan Jackson, Angelo Pennetta, Jacob Sutton

Josh

Olins,

Stop by London’s famous Liberty store and step into the diverse world of twentieth century fashion photography. A world where fame, luxury, youth and glamour are always rooted in notions of beauty and blur the boundaries between documentation, celebrity, fine art, social commentary and fantasy. All works on show are for sale; original limited edition prints ranging from £250 to £2,500s. 8th February - 14th March 2010 4th Floor, Exhibition Space, Liberty, Great Marlborough Street, London W2B 5AH Open Monday - Saturday 10am - 9pm / Sunday 12pm - 6pm Six-creative.com Springstudios.com Photo: Alice Hawkins

ALEX, KEVIN, SAM AND THE MACHINE Words: DOM GOURLAY - photo: michael robert williams

pewing sexy pop-waves out of Northern Ireland in a Mew-spiked-with-Bloc–Party fashion are Two Door Cinema Club, the latest sprightly challengers to take on Delphic in the race to be this year’s Klaxons.Their dance infused math rock has already created a stir, last year’s ‘Something Good Can Work’ and follow-up 45 ‘I Can Talk’ arousing an initial spate of interest which culminated in a hugely successful tour at the back end of 2009 with Manc label mates, the aforementioned Delphic. Having initially formed at school in Bangor three years ago, the trio – Alex Trimble (guitars/synths/ vocals), Kevin Baird (bass/vocals), Sam Halliday (guitar/ vocals) – finally get to release their eagerly anticipated debut long player ‘Tourist History’ in March. With another long jaunt around the British Isles planned to coincide, their profile can only increase as a result, alongside their reputation as one of the most exciting live acts currently on the circuit. After coming to London to record last summer, the band set up their base in the capital. “The ironic thing is that most bands getting signed at the minute are people like ourselves from provincial towns and cities who’ve moved to London, yet in terms of actual London bands there aren’t that many at present, and hardly any who are getting record deals. The scene there seems to have completely diminished.” Perhaps the most unique aspect about Two Door Cinema Club is the fact that they operate without a drummer, instead employing a drum machine to keep the incessant beats that punctuate their entire repertoire. “We do sometimes use a session drummer for live shows but even then we still keep the backing track running. I guess if we thought we needed another creative member in the band we’d think about recruiting a drummer but the three of us have been writing together since we were fifteen years old and we were friends before that, so in a way I think to bring somebody else into the band at this stage could tip the balance a little bit. We have a really strong bond when it comes to writing songs which I think has come through knowing each other for so long, and that’s how we’d like to keep it. I guess if something isn’t broken then why would you want to fix it?” Musically, Two Door Cinema Club ambitiously straddle both the rock and dance fields (“We didn’t

deliberately intend that to happen and don’t intend trying to create a Two Door Cinema Club sound as it were either, we just write songs naturally and if they veer off in several directions then so be it”), something that led current suitors Kitsune Maison to their door early last year. They’ve also provided remixes for the likes of Phoenix and Chew Lips, while their album was produced by Elliot James, one time associate of celebrated producer Paul Epworth and Philippe Zdar of French dance duo Cassius. “We spent two months with Elliot [James] in west London when we were doing the ‘I Can Talk’ single and we just clicked from there. When we sat down

with the label to talk about the album there was only one person we had in mind to produce it and that was him. As for Philippe [Zdar], we went to his studio in Paris to mix some of the tracks and he got what we were about straight away. Having seen the way he works I can honestly say the man is a genius.” Indeed, their popularity in France is probably bigger than anywhere else, certainly their homeland at any rate, and is largely down to their involvement with Kitsune and their feted warehouse parties where genres of all kind get the mix and mash treatment. “I think the perception that Kitsune is purely an electronic label is wrong. They just like good music of all kinds, simple as that. We are possibly the most guitar orientated band on their roster at present but looking at some of the artists they’ve released records

by in the past it’s quite apparent that they’re more than just dance specialists. From our point of view they’ve given us a much needed lift in Europe which many other bands of a similar standing to us won’t have experienced, and because of their support we actually have a bigger live following in Paris than we do in Belfast!” One would expect the situation to be readdressed shortly as Two Door Cinema Club’s already monumental rise looks set to continue. Kevin Baird has the final word: “Too many bands nowadays believe too much of their own hype. We’ve never been that kind of band. We have an intense work ethic that makes us try harder and continuously improve instead.” • myspace.com/twodoorcinemaclub

G...

IN ODUC INTR

FIV-E UN NED SIG

newislands

hen EMI signed The Departure in 2004 they were heralded as the start of some great new revolutionary force in music. Suffice to say the album received mixed reviews and they were dropped before a second record could follow. Now their former front man David Jones is back with a new band, joined by producer Luke Shoesmith. The bleakness and desolation of their new incarnation sets them on familiar ground, but while Jones sounds a tad like Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke on debut single ‘Out Of Time’, their Depeche ode-edge could spark a bit more interest this time around. “We started life in Luke’s studio in a converted barn in Uppingham,” says Jones.“We began as a duo and now we are five.” Shoesmith cites a love of traditional song

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writing (“verses, bridges, big choruses…the usual rock band stuff ”) as well as dance music. “I’d love to write a song as good as ‘Enjoy the Silence’ by Depeche Mode,” Jones add. “Songs are where it’s at for me.” Shoesmith was bought up on a love of everything from Pink Floyd to Jimmy Hendrix, Oasis and Faithless, “They're the big names,” he says, “the groups that got me into playing guitar, writing songs and producing electronic music at a young age.” Jones on the other hand had a slightly different experience as a youngster. “I was brought up in a Christian community, so up until the age of 16 all I was accustomed to was Christian worship music. We had no TV or radio, so it was only when my friend started making me compilation tapes that I started hearing stuff like Blur and Oasis.”

Styling: Karolina Kivimaki

“It wasn't until a little later on that I was in a band with a guy called Ross who introduced me to things like The Cure and Depeche Mode.That's when I fell in love with dark, uplifting pop music.” And it certainly seems to have stuck with him. Jones originally planned to record a single track at Shoesmith’s studio, but they bonded over Bowie, Pink Floyd, Japan and The Doors and decided to write some more tunes. “We wrote six tracks in as many weeks and then started asking around our friends to see if anyone was up for starting a live band,” Shoesmith says. “We were lucky to find some great musicians who were all really up for it; they've stuck with us and we've become really close friends.” While the band are looking forward to getting out on the road, they’d be content to be back in their

barn at the end of the year making more music. “The best thing about music right now is the availability of it,” Jones says. “The availability of technology to make it and the amount of interesting music that is being made as a result is great. Although it's much harder to make money out of it!” • ‘Out Of Time’ is released digitally, March 2010 through YOUWILLBEFOLLOWING records. myspace.com/newislands WORDS: Andrew Future PHOTO: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

stellify

ittle Comets are the North East’s answer to Vampire Weekend, boasting, as they do, bespoke percussion and peculiar pop melodies. Hailing from Newcastle-uponTyne, they’re sitting comfortably among a new breed of talented home-grown artists set on making 2010 something to get excited about. Vocalist Robbie Coles is reflecting on the decade just gone. “M.I.A was probably the best artist of 2009 and Mika was definitely the worst, he grates on us” Coles declares, neglecting the need for diplomacy with his Mika bashing. As far as far as aspirations for the New Year, he’s less than optimistic: “We’ll see how things pan out, we’re not overly hopeful people in general.” Before forming Little Comets Coles along with his brother Michael, Matt Hall (bass) and Mark Harle (drums) had their heads buried deep in university books. But they soon realised that degrees are pointless anyway and “instead of wanting a normal job” decided to give the music thing a try. Coles, who has a degree in Law and Economics, puffs: “I didn’t enjoy doing that as much as I did when sat with a guitar and Mickey did a degree in Maths and Physics and towards the end he felt the same.” A decision well made as it seems as Little Comets are fast climbing up the ranks of those tipped for success. Just to prove they’re brain-boxes, they cite the likes of Debussy, Miles Davis, Kafka and Roald Dahl among their influences. And presumably their ideal gig would be in a chocolate factory. Indeed, while eschewing the more traditional approach to gigging, they have been known to hijack university lecture halls, trams and office spaces to play secret guerrilla gigs in unusual locations. The idea behind their unconventional means of propagating came from a YouTube video of a man singing Michael Jackson songs on a New York subway. Coles recounts the bands best spontaneous gig: “It was in Salford; the lecturer had gone for a cup of tea and left everyone watching a film, after scouring the place for security guards we came in, stopped the film and started playing. It was mad.” Although set to tour in March, they prefer impromptu gigs to ones in proper venues. “It’s nice to do a gig we’ve organised ourselves with no corporate involvement.” Coles continues, saying that their perfect gig setting would be one where, “people turn up because they want to be there and they don’t necessarily have to pay to get in. To headline Glastonbury would be great but that’s too cliché.” Despite receiving an unofficial police warning for

playing a gig in the bakery aisle in M&S, Little Comets “are not exactly rock‘n’roll,” they’re graduates after all. They’re more into Elgar and “the imagination of Roald Dahl”. So no lyrics inspired by cocaine binges and Jack Daniels? “No, we are more influenced by a book we read.” Their buoyant melodies and jaunty percussions are crafted from all manner of sources; they use hairdryers, kettles and sofas. And their literate-pop is scattered with tales about “broken love, subtext and lies”. The two brothers write the songs although when it comes down to the songwriting they think differently, which makes for the perfect partnership. “Lyrics are really important for me, so I always look for lyrics whereas Mickey will always look for a melody or a hook.” Having spent the latter part of 2009 touring with the Twang, Hockey and the Noisettes, Little Comets hope to release their debut album on Columbia Records in the summer. They’ve come a long way despite only forming in 2008, but Coles shrugs off the suggestion that they’ve ‘made it’, “we haven’t done anything that would be classed as successful, we don’t necessarily set goals for ourselves we just work hard and see where it takes us.” Listen to Little Comets mix of saccharine riffs and jangly afro-beats and it’s clear to see why they’ve earned comparisons to Mystery Jets and Black Kids. Already being tipped as the new ‘nest best ting’, they have been described as ‘kitchen sink indie’, ‘intelligent indie’ and everything in between, but in reality Little Comets pay little attention to the hype. “The term indie gets strapped into everything that has a guitar in it nowadays, we just don't really care that much what people write or what people think.” Coles says, “We just concentrate on ourselves and represent our music as best we can.” But there’s no arrogance in his nonchalance, he really doesn’t care. “People can assume what they want, we’ve often been compared to the Futureheads, but that’s just because we’re from the North-East so I don’t pay attention to people’s opinions of us.” So what would happen if Little Comets didn’t work out? “I quite like early mornings so maybe a postman for me,” Coles says. “Mickey will become the new George Stevenson, Matt could have a career as a male model but he needs to have his hair cut and who knows where Mark might end up!” • myspace.com/littlecomets WORDS: ALLISON MULIMBA PHOTO: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

Words: Jodie Ball - Shopping: Karolina Kivimaki

sneakers - TRENDS - chinos

sneakers

dior homme

jean paul gaultier

You wear them day in, day out – they’re as much a part of your daily dressing routine as clean pants and a tooth brush. So why not treat yourself to a fresh new pair now that your favourite All Stars have worn through and smell more like vintage cheese than vintage style? Whether you want retro plimsolls or new hi-tops, we bring you the best of the bunch.

2 3

1 Alexander McQueen, £315 at matchesfashion.com K-Swiss, £50 at asos.com PF Flyers, £55 Terra Plana VivoBarefoot, £50 Adam Duffy, £30 at asos.com Ted Baker, £50 at asos.com

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

50 16 18

6 5 4

Chinos

dries van noten

lacoste

Once known as the trouser choice of Dads and dorks, the preppy chino makes a comeback this season - but this time they come with a hefty dose of contemporary cool. Whether you wear them loose-fit or skinny, the key is to roll them at the cuff and pair them with a natty blazer and lace-up shoes. We know it’s going to take a lot to wrench you guys out of your skinny jeans but go on, give ‘em a shot.

BEST

SKINN Y

FIT

6 4

1 3 5 BEST

H SLOUC FIT

Dockers, £60 at my-wardrobe.com CP Company, £145 at my-wardrobe.com King Apparel, £60 (white) Acne, £158 at matchesfashion.com PS by Paul Smith, £148 at matchesfashion.com Topman, £40

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

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Biffy Clyro Take the long road and walk it

58 20

It’s taken five albums but Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro have proved to be the most worthy success story of the last decade. Despite graduating to arenas with new album Only Revolutions, the band remain as cherished for their Celtic eccentricity as they are for their hairy, tattooed rock ethic. That said, they found time to have a very Travis-like cup of tea discussing world domination with Andrew Future.

words: Andrew Future PHOTOS: Michael Robert Williams

f you’d said ten years ago that Biffy Clyro would be playing arenas, selling Top 10 albums through Tesco and be on the verge of becoming Britain’s biggest rock band, front man Simon Neil, like most of the world, would have laughed in your face. But 14 years after forming at high school in Kilmarnock, deep within the Scottish nowherelands of Ayrshire, the animated front man is dripping with the same rabid enthusiasm that’s melted countless front rows over the years.

face-stomping, overloaded rock epic it’s stuffed full balls-out anthems.The off-kilter personality remains in-tact even if the weirdness has dropped off slightly. And while the scope of Biffy’s ambition hasn’t changed, the delivery is otherworldly. Album opener – and massive hit single – ‘The Captain’ is sublime, as much as its brass-up-the-arse lavishness is thoroughly ridiculous at the same time. It’s not so much widescreen as drive-in, heralding Biffy’s play for the American Dream that Muse are currently chasing.

“We wouldn’t have even allowed our minds to consider it,” he says with a smile through the dark, Dave Grohl-locks that for once aren’t caked in sweat and festival smoke.The smartly coiffured singer is flanked by twins James (bass) and Ben Johnston (drums) who promptly nod in agreement. “If you’d told us even three years ago that we’d have a record in Tesco we’d have said ’What the fuck is going on?’ It seems wrong but fuck it, why shouldn’t Tesco sell a good record alongside Westlife CDs?”

“The venues have got bigger gradually,” James is quick to point out. And he’s right. Biffy Clyro have come up the hard way, relentlessly touring the same venues year-in, yearout, releasing three albums on legendary indie label Beggars Banquet before Warners stepped in with the cash knowing what Biffy’s army of fans had known for years: that their wired and weird, grunge fuelled stadium-rock wasn’t meant to be contained in student unions.“There’s something about the challenge of playing to a bigger audience that I guess we’ve all hopefully risen to,” the bassist adds.“We never stop enjoying the small clubs, but when you’ve got 5,000 people singing along it’s quite a powerful thing.”

Each of Biffy’s albums has been full of new ideas and fresh song writing ideas. “We didn’t have friends in bands and every time we toured we would be something new every time,” Neil says. “I think if you’re doing music for the right reasons you’re not really looking at the big picture.” And the pictures don’t come much bigger than Wembley Stadium, where the trio supported Muse in summer 2007. But now Biffy themselves are stepping up a gear following the success of fifth album Only Revolutions.A

Playing together when they were 14, it was early-nineties grunge legends like Nirvana and Sound Garden who defined the band’s direction. “Sound Garden were the one band that didn’t sound like anyone,” recalls Neil, “especially their album Superunknown, it was obscenely heavy yet really melodic. I don’t know if music can ever have that effect again because of how much it’s exposed to people.”

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Why is that? “When you’re a kid I think you’re slightly more naive about what you listen to so you take everything at face value. I love Guns N’ Roses, whereas now if a band like Guns N’ Roses came around and released an album like Use Your Illusion, I’d dismiss it as absolutely ridiculous. But being young has the excitement of the unknown and every time you hear a new band when you’re a teenager it opens up a new door. I feel now as though no new genre of music could ever be made and it’s pretty much a shame, but I’m sure someone will prove me wrong.” While the band dismiss the media and “industry greed” as the reason for music being overexposed, naturally they recognise the role it’s played in their own recent success. But back when they released independent albums Blackened Sky,The Vertigo of Bliss and Infinity Land over the course of three years between 2002 and 2004, MySpace was nowhere to be heard and none of the blogs that now set trends had yet matured. “It’s not like you’re waiting for a magazine once a week, you can go online and check bands out immediately and see live footage of them. You know what their guitarists favourite packet of crisps is, the mystery’s gone to a certain extent,” adds the singer.

“We’ve always loved pop music and I think, in those early records, we really had gone as nuts as we could go. It’s not meant to be noise; we’ve always wanted to write songs. Every record should have moments that make the listener go ‘Woah that was weird, what was that all about?”

Mystery is something that Biffy have always managed to hold on to. A large part has to do with their name – a stoner in-joke from their teenage years – which is the subject of many humorous ‘explanations’ from Cliff Richard references to the names of seventeenth century footballers. The obnoxiousness and general desire to alienate the mainstream existed within the band’s music as well as their name. Funnelling American-style, arena anthems through a filter of crack-pot, angular art-rock the trio has literally played every toilet venue in the UK.

As the audiences have increased, Biffy’s tendency to favour jagged riffs and odd time signatures has been replaced by an admittedly more mainstream edge. Neil admits that mixing odd arrangements with good songs is a careful balancing act. “We’ve always loved pop music and I think, in those early records, we really had gone as nuts as we could go. It’s not meant to be noise; we’ve always wanted to write songs. Every record should have moments that make the listener go ‘Woah that was weird, what was that all about?’” But their strange fascinations set them off to a rocky start when they were recording breakthrough 2007 album Puzzle, their first for Warners. The 90 second onslaught of

stabbing strings that announce the arrival of opener ‘Living Is A Problem Because Everybody Dies’ confused producer Garth Richardson, who had presumably been brought to drag them from playing the Lemon Tree in Aberdeen out to the spotlight of Madison Square Garden. “He couldn’t comprehend why we would want to fuck up a part of a song,” Neil recalls. “Sonically, we’ve always wanted to sound confused and as big as possible, but Garth could not comprehend why on Earth we would want to do that he said “Why don’t you just start with the song?” But its part of who we are and is what makes us different.” Being a “different” band with a cult following across the UK, Biffy Clyro albums weren’t exactly topping the Billboard charts stateside, meaning Richardson had had little chance to get to know the band, as Neil diplomatically explains.

“To be fair I think Garth was looking for a new challenge at that point. Our first three records weren’t even released in the States so it wasn’t as though there was an element of exposure.To him we were like a new band and in his mind we were still finding our feet when in fact the opposite was the case and we knew exactly what we were doing. It really was a case of us saying “Look you’re getting paid to make our record so make it sound good and shut the fuck up!”” With the songs influenced by death of Neil’s mother, Puzzle was never going to be an easy album to make, but as sales burst past the 250,000 mark, the eight week long stint recording in LA proved worthwhile. “I’d always written from a very personal point of view and there were always points where you sing entirely from the heart but follow it with something a bit off the wall. Puzzle has that element but it was such an all-consuming experience that there

was absolutely no way on Earth it could be written about anything else. “For better or worse you gotta be truthful in what you’re doing but it’s something I definitely don’t regret.The songs could quite possibly matter to me more than any other songs I’ll ever write because of what they’re about, and I think that’s what art should be about, try to write for yourself and then hope that other people take it.” Current album Only Revolutions, takes its name from Mark Z. Danielewski’s novel of the same name and references Neil’s relationship with his new wife. Recorded at the historic Ocean Way studios on the Sunset Strip, Neil talks gleefully about using the same mic Sinatra sang ‘My Way’ with.“It immediately puts you in a head space of where we want to try and make this good.”

But Neil is still keen to annoy people and isn’t fazed by losing some fans who may not be fans of Biffy’s new stadium sized reality.“It’s nothing to be afraid of.When we started we wanted to alienate people, that’s why we played crazy, crazy songs. We’ve always had an element of being awkward, we almost quite like it when people get annoyed at us – it gives us a fire and it sounds kinda perverse to say it but it has always driven us.That’s why we named the band Biffy Clyro - just to put a spanner in the works from the get-go!” “Only Revolutions is nothing like Vertigo of Bliss so why would they love that as much as they love Vertigo…? To us that’s almost a positive. I would rather that they hated Only Revolutions or Puzzle than we try to re-make an old album. People’s favourite albums always tend to be the first one they hear and anything after that is kind of a shift in your perception.” And as a record, it’s the one that finally takes Biffy Clyro global. From the trippy and immeasurably addictive guitar hook of ‘Bubbles’ that sounds like Kings of Leon without the attitude problem through to the frantic, bulldozer-to-the-stars rush of ‘Mountains’, it’s a joyous gun trip. And rather than sound pompous and out of place, the bruising brass and string arrangements add power to the band’s depth-charge performances. Where Puzzle was Biffy’s shotgun wedding to the mainstream, Only Revolutions is a white wedding with arena rock.

Like many of their fans, Biffy were too young to comprehend what occurred on 21 December 1988 when 270 people lost their lives as Pan Am flight 103 was bombed from above Lockerbie.” It seemed absolutely bizarre that in Scotland something like that could happen,” Neil recalls soberly. “Just to see a wave of grief go over a nation, as a young person, I guess that’s the first time your eyes are opened to that side of the world.”

"When we started we wanted to alienate people, that’s why we played crazy, crazy songs. We’ve always had an element of being awkward, we almost quite like it when people get annoyed at us – it gives us a fire and it sounds kinda perverse to say it but it has always driven us.”

But in spite of this, there’s no lack of personality or introspection here, although like space prog jockeys Muse with whom Biffy now find themselves increasingly compared given their new found love of pomp and orchestration – the trio prefer to keep themselves to themselves. On stage they say little and are generally keen to let the music do the talking, although they don’t believe their homeland should share the independence that’s nurtured their musical career. “For so many years we’ve been part of this great union,” Ben says,“it’s such a huge change, a real leap of faith.” “We wouldn’t have any sway in Europe,” Neil interjects. “If Scotland wasn’t going to have to be part of the UK it’d become the equivalent of Belgium, which is not desirable. I think there’s an awful lot of pros for Scotland to be independent, but there’s just too many cons.The Republic of Ireland have an absolutely wonderful quality of life, but I think it would take a while for it to pay off.” “With the Libyan bomber, I have to say,” Ben continues,

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deepening the political tone, “that the British government put Scotland in the shit. Gordon Brown giving the order and it being arranged with Gadaffi. Then there’s Barak Obama saying that Scotland has let them down - it’s a load of bollocks.”

Looking ahead, over the coming year Biffy will be seeing more corners of the world than they’ve ever seen, leaving the backrooms and sticky pubs of the UK far behind. Talk of bigger amps, bigger stages and a desire to be more like Muse than Green Day sets their bassist off down memory lane again. “We’re almost a generation gap away from our first record,” James observes. “I mean its fun but it’s scary in one sense although it’s only natural that people’s taste might change.” But as with every great band, movement and evolution are the most important things Biffy possess. And the ability to piss people off, of course. “You should always annoy people,” Neil smirks, “You have to annoy people otherwise you just become the norm. I think being predictable is the worst thing a band could ever be.” • myspace.com/biffyclyro www.biffyclyro.com

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e n r u t c o N 26

Photographer: Christopher Dadey www.ChristopherDadey.com Stylist: Rebekah Roy @SLR Hair & Make Up: Rachel Jones using Revlon makeup and L'Oreal hair product models: James Meredith @M&P Holly Swain @D1 Many Thanks to The Southern Cross

Holly

Leather Jacket – Religion T-shirt – American Apparel Necklace – Jamie Jewellery Jeans – Vintage 1 Shoes – Schuh Sunglasses - Ran Ban

James

Leather Jacket - Fly 53 Shirt – Fenchurch Jeans – Penguin Shoes – Red or Dead Ring – Ongwat

James

Coat – Jaeger 125 Skinny Jeans – Topman Cardigan – Uniqlo Polo Shirt – Penguin Original Shoes – Schuh Necklace – Fairy Tales and Hidden Notes Ring – Ongwat

Holly

Jacket – Levis T- shirt – New Look Tights – Red or Read Shorts – Peoples Market Shoes – Red or Dead Necklace, Ring & Bracelet – Freedom

James Page 4

Jeans & T-shirt – 55 DSL Cardigan & Suspenders – Topman Shoes – Schuh Necklace & Ring – Silver Service Watch – LTD

Holly

Studded Blazer – Religion Shirt – Fred Perry Jeans – Fenchurch Necklace – Anna Lou of London Earrings – Freedom

James

Jean Jacket – Topman Jeans – American Apparel Shirt – Full Circle Pin – Fairy Tales and Hidden Notes

Holly

Dress – Ziad Ghanem for Firetrap Clutch – Angel Jackson Necklace & Bracelet – Ongwat Tights – Red or Dead Jacket – Wrangler Shoes – Irregular Choice

James

Jeans – G Star Shirt – Mishka Jacket – Insight Sunglasses – Versace Shoes – Schuh Necklace – Topshop

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G...

IN ODUC INTR

FIV-E UN NED SIG

my tiger my timing J

et funk and jaunty pop define the likeable sound of south London’s latest electro wannabes. Since the release of their debut Pure Groove EP ‘I Am Sound’, the New Cross five-piece has been hammering it gigging across the capital.Don’t be hoodwinked by the super-skittering drums and sing-along choruses; their minimal live sound is wired straight from the Grid. Today AnnaVincent (vocals) and brother James (bass and guitar) have stopped just long enough to feel apprehensive about what happens next.They’re pensive but positive.“The playing field’s very different now because there’s no longer a prescribed route for unsigned bands. Its hard work but rewarding when something comes right.” And it has – they’ve been popping up at Camden’s Koko, on Topshop’s instore playlist, and the latest Kitsuné compilation. Pretty good going considering how much they’ve winged it up until now. “We learnt instruments on

and off, but never that successfully,” James says. “I’d love to be able to play cello or something but it would’ve taken too long!” Before My Tiger My Timing they’d all played in their fair share of rubbish garage bands. “We weren’t good enough to do proper music, but you can blag it in a band,” he adds. But there is one drawback to quick stabs in the dark. “Sometimes we do wonder: is this any good? Cause we’re just making it up as we go along.” This DIY ethic and earnest desire to write ‘good songs’ still drives the band forward. “If you can try to capture a feeling and communicate it, you’re not just falling through a vacuum.” It’s no surprise then that playing live is what makes these tigers tick. “When the crowd’s up for it and you’re up for it, you kind of crash in the middle like two waves breaking on each other. Something unplanned happens, whether it’s good or bad.”

Styling: Karolina Kivimaki

“When the crowd’s up for it and you’re up for it, you kind of crash in the middle like two waves breaking on each other. Something unplanned happens, whether it’s good or bad.””

And if it’s bad? James grins. “You can thrive off that too.” So MTMT are operating on something of a knife edge? “We just think the live performance should be different from the record. You’ve got to leave room for human error.” When passions are running high, that means trembling hands, and Anna occasionally losing her onstage cool. “When the crowd start singing the words I can’t look at them because I’m either going to laugh, or cry.” Relying on backing tracks might work for other artists but not for MTMT. “There’s a lot of soulless bland stuff that people lap up because it’s there – in indie and pop music.” (Anna’s currently favouring Cheryl Cole’s ‘Three Words’, while James prefers silence.) The band hasn’t travelled together for longer than a week, so this year’s epic European tour might be a bit of a head-fuck: “When we spend too much time together, it’s a bit like you and four of your friends going back to school,

learning all the stupid games and jokes kids have, coming back into the adult world and ending up at a friend’s party, where everyone is 25, feeling like smutty thirteen-year-old boys.” Aside from regressing ten years, what else is in store for 2010? James is characteristically matter of fact. “Seeing as the days of Fleetwood Mac are gone, all the artists who just want to be rich will stop and do something else. So we’re hoping for a breakthrough – not just for us, but for culture itself.” • myspace.com/mytigermytiming WORDS: ROSIE JACKSON PHOTO: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

WORDS: ANDREW FUTURE - PHOTOS: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS interview: BERTAN BUDAK - Styling: rebekah roy HAIR AND MAKE UP: Helen Asher @ Era Management using Lancome

f you took the Pepsi challenge with many of Britain’s new female stars you’d be hard pressed to pick some of them apart. But one thing’s for sure, Daisy Coburn AKA Daisy Dares You is no sugar-filled pop lolly. The 16-year-old from Dunmow, a posh enclave of Essex outside London, has the kind of scowl that would strike down both La Roux and Avril at a thousand paces. Luckily, there’s an early warning.“Whatever you do, don’t ask her about the comparison to Pixie Lott,” warns the photographer who has just finished our shoot. “She hates it.” While the songs are melodically wrapped in her Estuary-English, there’s none of the saccharine balladry of Pixie or the fruity electro-lite of Little Boots. It’s a tad dirtier, perhaps reflecting Coburn’s claim to have

dAisy dares you heart shaped boxer

Jacket & Skirt Felder Felder at Browns Focus Glove by Fannie Schiavoni at www.Fannie Schiavoni.com Boots by Dr Martens AT www.drmartens.com

“I’m very pAssionate About what I do, And I know what I want, not to sound brAtty. But I reAlise that I’m not signed to an independent record lAbel, so I know thAt I cAn’t do Anything I want.”

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been brought up on a diet of Nirvana. Actually, if you read her MySpace page, she has more inspirations company loved the idea. We both got introduced, and than she’s had hot dinners. Surely she’s not been we got along quite well, so he jumped on the track of one every to listened have alive long enough to and did his thing.” The pair are on tour as we speak. those artists. Coburn credits Courtney Love as one of her a be to wanting with wrong nothing there’s Still, influences: “I love her to bits,” she says. biggest Courtney than Brit version of Karen-O. Better that Listening to Daisy, you can immediately identify the Love. extent in which the American rocker has influenced bowling Lanes Star All the of On the top floor this young girl. While she belts out every word in a alley in Brick Lane, Daisy is busy finishing off her palpable Essex accent, the choruses in her music burst It’s cameras. the for session posing and pouting in with a flurry of synths and chewy guitars much like Britney given something she’s pretty used to now, the Avril blueprint dictates. Spears’ record label Jive won the bidding war for her Despite the fact that she’s meant to currently be never they’d said sources signature last year. Industry studying hard for her GCSEs, it doesn’t seem school in seen anything like it, but then record labels do have priority list. When quizzed on whether the up high fish. gold a of memory the collective her head in the books, her curt and has actually she industry music Thanks to this heavyweight is followed by a mutter: “I’ll do them, response jabbing backing and Coburn’s mum, who sang backing vocals point. I know what I want to do.” the see don’t I but to tipped is You Dares Daisy for Duran Duran, a particular ly good role model make not might She become one of this year’s hottest stars. People even bandwagon, but Coburn is still a fine education the for Lavigne Avril what UK the for do will she that believe example of a headstrong young woman turning her has done for the US. Presumably they don’t mean dream into reality. make one good record, become a pop muppet, “I’ve been into music since I was a little girl, and my they when him divorce and marry a punk drummer was actually signed to a label, but unfortunately, mother fall out of fashion three months later. But with the get the opportunity to release her music,” didn’t she the poll 2010 of Sound their in Coburn tipping BBC Coburn. says wind is behind her. But it’s not all a smooth ride, as she admits to Naturally, Coburn is keen to distance herself from fall-outs with her label all the time. “There are having genuine her us upon impress the pop mould and people working at the label, so it’s like there of lots ‘musical’ credentials.“I bought ‘Killing in the Name’ like and one opinions and ideas, and then million a are about speaking declares, proudly she ” times, three We always reach an agreement in the me. just there’s . comeback Rage Against the Machine’s Christmas very passionate about what I do, and I’m though. end “Most of these musicians aren’t really artists, they’re not to sound bratty. But I realise want, I what know I ballad after ballad fed spoon just singers. They get an independent record label, so to signed not I’m that from their record labels.” do anything I want.” can’t I that know I old year six a as guitar the playing began She While on the subject of clashes, I finally pluck and pretty soon began adding lyrics to her music. up the courage to ask her about the Pixie Lott But despite her bolshy songs telling tales of siblingcomparison. Who do you get compared to most, I ask person in ips, relationsh and rivalry, teenage angst tentative whisper? Coburn is very relaxed and speaking in a very soft She gives me a stony look before answering hearing trouble have you’ll that fact, in soft So tone. Lott.” “Pixie won’t you and her. Click on the internet though “I respect her as an artist and she’s a great girl,” have any problems at all. Her single ‘Daisy Dares You’ says Daisy. “But we are absolutely nothing alike. In fact, has attracted over 80,000 hits on YouTube, and the the only thing we have in common is that we’re both catchy, light rock-clad ‘Number One Enemy’, which young and blond – that’s it.We are completely different last of one features jealousy, sister’s her addresses in terms of music. It really winds me up when people k. year’s hottest stars, the rapper Chipmun make the comparison. I get really, really angry.”• “There was a gap in the song, so one of the explains. she ” him, with contact producer s got in myspace.com/daisydaresyoumusic “He is also on the same label as me, and the record

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BYRDS OF PREY WORDS: TIMOTHY EARL - PHOTO: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

ounding in their own words like “Bruce Springsteen being played by The Cure”, Goldhawks have received a fair amount of attention over the last few months. The band, who hail from London and consist of brothers Bobby and Jack Cook (vocals and guitar), Colin Straton (bass), Graham Smith (drums) and Nick Mills (keyboards), have been on extensive tours with the likes of Temper Trap and are set to release their first ‘proper’ single ‘Where in The World’ in the very near future. Set to be followed by a debut album in summer it marks a very confident start, although the band are keen to assure us that the best is yet to come. “The earlier release was sort of like a taster,” notes Bobby Cook, Goldhawks’ vocalist, and it’s certainly evident that the band has come a long way since their conception four years ago. Originally started as a way for Cook to bring his own acoustic songs to the public eye, Goldhawks (who previously carried the front man’s name as their moniker) have now transformed into a fully fledged rock outfit – something they believe happened purely as a result of organic progression. “Musically I think that things got bigger,” Cook explains, saying why the band’s name changed. “It turned into more of a big rock band. For starters, I wasn’t playing acoustic guitar any more, I played electric, and everyone just started adding stuff to the table. I think we needed a fresh start and new songs. After every gig people would say ‘what’s your band called?’ and I’d say ‘Bobby Cook’ and they’d be like ‘no, your band’ and it would be like, [sighs, mumbles] ‘Bobby Cook…’” So how would Goldhawks describe the way they sound now? “It’s got certain rock, really epic elements to it but it’s still got a more humble side to it as well,” says bassist Colin, and this is a sentiment shared by the band’s vocalist. “It’s got a quite kind of big sound but at the same time you’ve got nice little cheesy

28 40

synths out on top of it.” However you’d describe their sound, Goldhawks’ influences clearly shine through in their songs. The members grew up listening to the likes of Bruce Springsteen and The Beatles, and they cite Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers as a major inspiration, as well as The Cure and early U2. That’s not to say they’re stuck in the past, though – the band also list contemporaries such as Wild Beasts, The Drums and Everything Everything as new favourites. One thing that’s definite about Goldhawks is that they are no strangers to the road. The band have been touring constantly throughout the last six months, and their penchant for performing has seen them taking the stage at a stunning array of venues and shows – including the Twilight: New Moon fan party. “It was crazy,” recalls Cook, “there were free runners flipping onto the stage and we had dancers surrounding us. Every time they mentioned Robert Pattison’s name people started screaming and running to the front.” This undoubtedly surreal sheen of Pattison and co. isn’t quite what you’d get if you were to see the band playing a normal show, though. “Live, it’s a lot more spontaneous. It’s not so polished and it makes it a bit more real. If you’ve got a good audience you feed off them and they feed off you in return. For the people that are there, it’s an experience you can’t replicate.”• myspace.com/younglords

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lolITA - TRENDS - CADET

WORDS: jodie ball

LOLITA

CHRISTOPHER KANE

MIU MIU

Taking inspiration from Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial underage heroine Dolores Haze (if you haven’t read Lolita, get yourself down to your nearest bookshop pronto) - spring is all about subverted sexuality. Think bra tops, flirty ruffles and cheeky shorts in sugar sweet prints such as gingham checks or polka dots.To finish the look, add a provocative butter wouldn’t melt smile and you’re good to go.

2 1

6 Topshop, £18 Boohoo.com, £30 Urban Outfitters, £75 ASOS, £10 H&M, £19.99 Dorothy Perkins, £65

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Cadet

ALEXANDER WANG

BALMAIN

Military looks are nothing new, but this season’s interpretation takes its cue from utility uniforms. Practical and functional, this look is ultimately more wearable than previous incarnations that were all gold braids and epaulettes – something that should rest with the master of military costume, Michael Jackson. RIP. So, tap into this trend by simply adding a touch of khaki cotton to your wardrobe or teaming your summer dress with a pair of tough army boots – it’s as simple as that.

4 2

6 1 Boohoo.com, £20 Topshop, £35 ASOS, £30 Urban Outfitters, £75 ASOS, £18 Per Una at Marks & Spencer, £140

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

delphic 44

pounding

ach New Year follows Santa by stuffing a sack of hot tips for the year ahead down your chimney. The only thing more predictable is how many will be forgotten come Easter. One act who are unlikely to be anonymously swept aside is Manchester four-piece Delphic. A cross-pollination of rock and dance heritage, plus the kind of killer debut that set Klaxons alight, makes Delphic one of this year’s most exciting prospects. The band have already earned a solid live reputation for their exhilarating beat-laden wall of sound, while early singles ‘Counterpoint’ and ‘This Momentary’ have catapulted Delphic into radio territories long before the label’s marketing machine began to kick in last year. It’s a wintry Friday afternoon and we’re hooked up with guitarist Matt Cocksedge over a spot of lunch, hours before his band take to the stage in their hometown with fellow Mancunian genre transcenders Doves. (“We played a show with them at Delamere Forest in the summer – somewhat by fluke I’d like to add – and they asked us to come back and play some dates with them at the end of the year.”). If this recognition from one of England’s finest bands is an indication of the success Delphic are beginning to enjoy, Matt is adamant that it is no fluke. “All the way along we’ve known how we wanted to make an appearance. We really hate it when a new band comes along that seems to arrive from nowhere. Normally when that happens the band in question has disappeared after six months. We’re really wary of people associating us with this kind of thing which is why we’ve done our utmost to spend 2009 playing as many live shows as possible and building a following via word of mouth rather than record label hype.” And herein lies the beauty of Delphic.While they’ve all been in bands previously, (most notably Matt and multi-instrumentalist Rich Boardman who flirted briefly with critical acclaim in Snowfight In The City Centre), none of them have quite matched praise with commercial success. “We’d just done three dates at the back end of 2007 with Kings Of Leon and that’s when we realised that Snowfight just wasn’t working.The music we were trying to play and the world we were trying to operate in just didn’t feel right to us, and eventually we got bored of writing middle of the road Radio 2 indie fare. I’d known for a while that I really wasn’t into any of the songs we had written, didn’t enjoy playing them, and at that point I think it dawned on us that we were actually writing songs for other people rather than ourselves.” There’s no doubting that Delphic are a vast progression from Matt’s previous outfit, citing influences such as the AphexTwin and Zombie Zombie among others.Naturally,given their Manchester roots, the most obvious comparison lazy reviewers often cling to is New Order, something the guitarist finds perturbing. “Of course it’s flattering but it’s also a double-edged sword. We often wonder if we were a Sheffield band would we be the

new Human League? I guess it’s inevitable that we’re going to get compared to New Order by way of logistical similarities rather than any musical ones.” However, with their debut album, Acolyte, Delphic distance themselves from such convenient labelling. Current single ‘Doubt’ is far and away the most accessible piece of dancefloor centred pop produced by a home-grown band in years. Elsewhere, the laconic ‘Red Lights’ and dub-heavy ‘Halcyon’ provide an alternative side to Delphic’s make-up that owes more to legendary roots imprint Studio One than Mancunian rock folklore. “‘Red Lights’ was a song that we’d first started writing about eighteen months ago but I don’t think we fully realised how far we could take it until we went back to the studio in October to put the final touches on it. It’s the album’s real sucker punch

“All the way along we’ve known how we wanted to make an appearance. We really hate it when a newbandcomesalong that seems to arrive from nowhere. ” in that it doesn’t really sound like anything else on the record, yet somehow fits together with everything else at the same time. ‘Halcyon’ I’d say is probably our homage to that whole Bristol scene that was built around people like Massive Attack and Portishead. I think that may also be the next single we release from Acolyte as well.” Delphic haven’t just stopped with Acolyte. They’re already well on their way to putting together its follow-up, while an untitled EP of new material looks set for release later in the year. “We’re quite a prolific band in terms of ideas, so from that point of view we never stop writing. On the road we’ve got our laptops and so we’re always piecing together new music. I think that’s when we’re at our happiest and definitely our most productive, when we sit down and just write.” • myspace.com/delphic Acolyte was released on Chimeric, 11th January 2010 WORDS: DOM GOURLAY PHOTO: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

year of the bea

williams photo: michael robert WORDS: laura nineham

predecessors. Acts like The Boxer Rebellion only recovered from this since the collapse of Poptones, topping the iTunes chart last year with second album Union. “McGee was predicting the downfall of the music industry 25 years ago or summot,” laughs guitarist Lloyd Dobbs, “now he’s managing fucking Joaquin Phoenix - an actor!” “Who released a rap album!” taunts his brother, drummer Grant Dobbs. In the gap between releases the musical landscape had changed and a flurry of post-Libertines bands like The Others meant The Paddingtons were no longer fashionable. Grant says that some of their fans moved on too: “The 15/16 year-old kids were like ‘Oh! The Klaxons; they’ve got real smart luminous jackets! We’ll follow them.’ Saying that though, we played our first show in Hull on Friday and there was a new bunch of fans there and they all knew the words to our first album, so it’s swings and roundabouts.” The Paddingtons have since turned their focus to their Lady Boy EP, which is out this month. It’s a release they’re particularly excited about, because it’s the first batch of music that Bevan has recorded with them,

Stylist: Elauan Lee assisted by Tuesday Rigby

he most striking thing about The Paddingtons is how jaded they’ve become. Sitting with the lads in a booth round the back of north London’s Proud Galleries, we talk about their time with Alan McGee. “He’s a c*nt,” snarls guitarist Josh Hubbard, “he was kind of like a father figure to us.” He’s laying into the Poptones founder, The Paddingtons’s former label, who helped them get their break before dumping them. “He did a lot of good stuff for us,” said Hubbard, “but then he fucked us off.” Hubbard pulls no punches when talking about being dropped by the fashion industry too. In 2005 The Paddingtons inspired a catwalk collection and singer Tom Atkin was asked by Hedi Slimane to model in a Dior show. But like music, fashion moved on too. “They just use us and abuse us,” said Hubbard, “they just use us and throw us out.” This moroseness has bled into The Paddington’s recent music. ‘Shame About Elle’ is a perfect example of the band’s refusal to celebrate any of the fun they had first time around. The song’s acerbic lyrics reportedly about a pet goldfish – instead wrap bitter heartbreak around the memories of Hubbard’s exgirlfriend model Agyness Deyn, whose real name is Laura. The lyrics (“Poor little Laura, still not happy… Smile for the nice man; smile for the cameras”) make ‘Shame About Elle’ an awkward song to listen to; like the voicemail of a drunk, spiteful and pleading ex-lover that’s been leaked. During the three year gap between the release of their debut album First Comes First and its successor No Mundane Options, they found themselves labelless and without any of the hype that had buffered their early career. The Creation Records founder, who released seminal albums by Oasis, Primal Scream and The Jesus and Mary Chain, has a tendency to inflict what’s commonly known as the ‘Alan McGee kiss of death’ on bands by hyping them to the point where they can only fail compared to the success of their

and they say he brings a “fresh angle” to their songs. “There’s a little bit of everything in there,” declares Hubbard. “There’s a little bit for the emo kids, a little bit for the Britpop kids, a bit for the old school Paddington fans. It’s produced by Anthony Rossomando who worked with Dirty Pretty Things and their former bassist Didz, who was in The Cooper Temple Clause is helping us to produce it too. And it’s got a duet on it.” The title track on the EP is a catchy song about a hermaphrodite from Hull, and features Adam Green from Moldy Peaches. It’s a really funny song with humorous lyrics that takes The Paddingtons out of their comfort zone. Their tried and tested brand of punk is swapped for stripped down acoustic guitars and vocals to produce a song that sticks in your head long after it’s been played. ‘Pretty Pity’ is another standout song on their album. It sounds like ‘Tommy’s Disease’ from their

debut: heavy on the vocals with repetitive guitars. It’s an updated attempt at a familiar style. Lady Boy is a grower; it needs a few listens to really get under your skin. The tracks aren’t instant hits like ’50 to a £’ or ‘Panic Attack’, but they’re good nonetheless. The Paddingtons and their music have certainly evolved. If Lady Boy is anything to go by, their EP should not only satisfy their loyal fanbase, but win them some new recruits too.They’ve definitely improved their live performance and the chemistry between the lads is something special. They’re tighter than ever before and they still know how to work their audience. After a turbulent few years, 2010 might just be the year of The Paddingtons. • The Lady Boy Tapes is out 29th March on Mama Bear Records. myspace.com/thepaddingtons

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the heartbreaks

Styling: Shirlaine Forest

aving breathlessly about the works of Alan Bennett and Joe Orton, the kitchen sink dramas of Albert Finney and their all-time favourite Ronettes songs, Manchester’s The Heartbreaks sometimes seem less like a pop group and more like commissioning arts editors at BBC4. But a pop group is what they most certainly are, and, as those aforementioned cultural references suggest, The Heartbreaks are a band moulded with a distinctly classic British twist. At a packed-out gig in their adopted hometown of Manchester – (the quartet hail from the seaside enclave of Morecambe) – it’s clear to see why The Heartbreaks are being spoken about as the most irresistible union of style and song writing substance since Pete and Carl first set voyage on their ill-fated Arcadian Dream. Formed just a year ago, they deliver a fierce storm of Johnny Marr riffs, gloriously barbed lyricism (“Procrastination pay no heed of time... pursue romance and wine”), and Suede-sized choruses to detonate indie dance floors the nation over. On first glance, you can’t fail to notice those Britpop details: teddy boy singer Matthew Whitehouse, with his teddy boy appearance, would arguably have made a more convincing John Lennon in the recent Nowhere Boy biopic; drummer Joe Kondras has something of Paul Weller’s Style Council-era continental Mod sophistication; while guitarist Ryan Wallace and bassist Deakin might just rescue the skyscraper quiff back from the clutches of those evil Jedward twins. In a nutshell, The Heartbreaks look sharp; and this classic British aesthetic runs fiercely throughout the band’s entire mission statement. “We’re obsessed with British nostalgia and romance,” declares Whitehouse, sipping a glass of water in a Manchester bar. “I think that celebration of romance has either been lost or misused in modern British music. But as young men growing up in the North, it’s writers like Alan Bennett and films like Billy Liar, which have really brought English culture and romance alive for us. People might say we’re being nostalgic – but those people

haven’t lived in the North in a small town. Broken dreams and faded seaside romance – these things still exist, and they are the very heart and soul of this band.” With their debut single, the Smiths-esque bruised lament ‘Liar My Dear’, released next month on new indie label Seven Sevens, you can almost hear the Courteeners-corrupted body of northern guitar pop being rescued from the gutter, given some TLC, before being taken on the romantic odyssey of a lifetime. “We’re still a very young band,” drummer Kondras insists. “We’ve got an average age of 20, so we were too young for The Strokes, The Libertines and even Arctic

“Broken dreams and faded seaside romance – these things still exist, and they are the very heart and soul of this band” Monkeys. It sounds weird, but for the four people in this band, our special life-changing band is the one we’re actually in. Everything about The Heartbreaks is what we’d look for in a band – the lyrics, the songs, the fashions, and of course, the sense of old English romanticism. Not to sound big-headed, but we are our biggest fans.” The Heartbreaks aren’t here to break your hearts. They’re more likely to steal them and run away to the seaside for a dirty weekend. And who knows, they might just be the band to redeem northern indie from its Oasis-era ladrock excess while they’re at it.• Liar, My Dear/Save Our Souls is out 8th March on Seven Sevens Records. myspace.com/heartbreaksband WORDS: DAVID SUE PHOTO: SHIRLAINE FOREST

60’s fashion Libby Rose Banks

ashion is fraught with ghosts: we are constantly reminded of styles past. Recent apparitions include 90s grunge knitwear and 80sWorking Girl shoulder pads – there’s even been a touch of 70s glam rock courtesy of Christophe Decarnin at Balmain. The self-referential and self-renewing nature of fashion means that there’s always another decade lurking somewhere beneath current sartorial taste. But while the influence of a decade on taste can flare and fade within the space of a season, there’s one decade that refuses to be exorcised:The 1960s. Right now, films such as An Education, A Serious Man and the similarly titled A Single Man coupled with the seemingly unstoppable hit TV series Mad Men, have given us nowhere to hide from the mother of all style decades. And the influence of these visual fashion feasts should not be underestimated. The gamine looks and poise of Carey Mulligan has launched the An Education actress into It girl territory. Meanwhile, DonatellaVersace is one of several designers who have admitted an addiction to the dramas of Mad Men’s Sterling Cooper ad agency, while A Single Man is peerless in its fashion pedigree, with Tom Ford as director and costume legend Arianne Phillips in charge of the wardrobe. Julianne Moore’s character in the film exudes the enviable elegance of LA in the 1960s and Colin Firth’s horn-rimmed specs (reminiscent of a young Yves Saint Laurent) and Tom Ford Italian-made suits are certain to spark sartorial envy.

WORDS: Libby Rose Banks photos: courtesy of icon film and E1 Entertainment

he 1960s may have introduced the world to miniskirts, mind-altering drugs, and the Gernreich’s topless swimsuit, but the fashion being captured here is something a little more restrained and sophisticated. It’s Jackie O, it’s Hitchcock heroes and heroines, it’s Sophia Loren - all wrapped up in JFK-era cool. The era evokes demure designer names - some iconic and some forgotten - Givenchy, Grès, Lily Pulitzer, Cassini and Chanel. For the ladies this means feline sunglasses, shift dresses and pencil skirts, pillar-box hats, kitten heels and flawless bouffant hair all of which are experiencing a renaissance on today’s catwalks. But what’s most significant about the current fascination with the decade is that it’s not just about women; in fact it’s probably more about the men. Mad Men costumer designer Janie Bryant’s line of slim-silhouetted sharkskin suits for Brooks Brothers sold out in a matter of days. But why are we so obsessed with this slick, cigarettetoting, whisky-swilling aesthetic now? Bryant believes it’s because we’ve experienced such a prolonged period of deliberate dressing down: “People really react to the

sophistication – fashion has become so casual it’s a shock to experience the Kennedy-era aesthetic.” Post grunge and Skandi androgyny, there’s a pining for something a little more polished. Today, in a world where a wealthy 50-year-old is more likely to be dressed in jeans and T-shirt than a tailored suit, a considered and elegant approach to dressing feels like fashion rebellion. The teens and twenty-somethings shaping the current music scene are more likely to wear a tie than the bands their parents listened to. Look to sartorially splendid collectives like Vampire Weekend and Blood Red Shoes as well as newer names like Hurts and Two Door Cinema Club, - even Pete Doherty is more often than not papped in a suit and skinny tie (albeit blood and vomit-stained, not nice). And it’s not

just the clothes, it’s an attitude. Blogs like acontinuouslean. com, dandyism.net and thetrad.blogspot.com are dedicated to the old-school minutiae of dressing and highlight the growing style age gap. What feels most rebellious is that women look sexy and men look masculine; something that has so long been overlooked by those at the top of the fashion food chain. It’s about a considered approach to dressing that doesn’t bow down to commercially dictated trends. And perhaps that’s why we don’t want to exorcise the 1960s, it’s not a vision of the past – it’s a premonition of our fashion future.•

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1960'S - TRENDS

le shop - sixties sty

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With the early 1960s influencing the big screen and TV alike, it’s only a matter of time before the era begins to take hold of our consciousness. Relish in the style and sophistication of the Sixties and bask in the glamour of a bygone era with our checklist of hit pieces to keep you bang on trend.

Reiss, £135 Beyond Retro, £25 Reiss, £179 Fearne Cotton for Very.co.uk, £35 Piers Atkinson, £100 Marks & Spencer, £29.50 Boohoo.com, £20

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WORDS: jodie ball - SHOPPING: KAROLINA KIVIMAK

MENS

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French Connection, £130 Topman, £16 Topman, £45 Ted Baker, £85 Urban Outfitters, £16 Reiss 1971, £169 Topman, £40

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Since emerging from the ashes of dance -punk trioTest Icicles in 20 06, Dev Hynes has been flying solo under the alias Lightspeed Champion Debut album Falling . Off Lavander Bridge , with its alternative-countr y nod to mid-west America,was an instant classic. Itwas a styl istic sea-change from Test Icicles scene -hugging art rock, successfu lly merged thrash -metal, electronic noise and funk. Hynes has made the move from new-wave trailblazer to alternative anti-folk troubadour with incredible ease .

HTSPEED AMPION FLYING SOLO

words: Allison mulim ba PHOTOS: Michael Rob ert Williams Photo Assistant: Cla re Lewington

e're at the Breakfast Club,an aesthetically retro eatery in Shoreditch, looking out and observing the scenesters. As the east London art kids bustle around Hoxton Square, 50 Cent's 'In Da Club' begins to play on the jukebox. Hynes nods his head to the proverbial intro: "Go Shorty it's your birthday..." he grins, eyes twinkling with youthful enthusiasm. He switches to an odd state of solemnity, then back to a grin again all whilst drumming his fingers on the edge of the table. For a while he seems lost him in the African-American vernacular of Fiddy. "This song is awesome," he says without irony. It's a surprising comment to come from the Texas born singer who, while growing up in Barking, east London, listened to Chopin, musical theatre and Dionne Warwick. But he's actually "really into hip-hop," and even wrote the Tupac entry on Wikipedia. It would come as no surprise if most people knew what Hynes looked like before they ever heard his music.Adopting the habitual Hackney uniform; he is known for his trademark think-rimmed glasses, wayward hair and primary coloured

“The Jungle Book is mind-blowing! It was a huge influence; I don't know why. I try and slip references into every Lightspeed Champion album.” cardigans.Today his hair is tamed by a wide-brimmed fedora, the glasses are still there and so he comfortably blends into his surroundings, although he is far less pretentious than his appearance suggests. His guise may seem gregarious but really Hynes is a self-effacing guy who draws comics in his room and is allergic to everything (pizza, alcohol, fizzy and cheese to name a few). His is incredibly likeable, his musical ethos largely contributing to this fact. "I enjoy music to the extent that I don't take it seriously. If I make a piece of music and its rubbish, it's not the end of the world." He explains the reasons behind Test Icicles decision to part ways. "In the end we were playing music that none of us actually liked and I’m not sure even the fans liked, at the time people didn't understand why we split, but there wasn't much point in sticking with it just for the money." A

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good judgment considering Test Icicles were in retrospect a pretty awful punk band. His new album Life is Sweet! Nice to MeetYou is out now. It’s a grand affair re-moulding Hynes in the shapes of great 1970s solo artists such as Bowie and Serge Gainsbourg. Each track is equally epic with expansive arrangements and brooding melodies. It is a collection of 12 songs each creating a palette of seventies synth sounds, woozy guitar solos and piano etudes. Dev played all of the instruments on the album himself. The hype that surrounded the release of his 2008 debut, Falling Off Lavander Bridge, saw Hynes' name appear on countless 'cool lists' with pictures of him strolling along the Kingsland road with the likes of 'it girl' du jour, Alexa Chung and Alex Turner. Despite this he scoffs at the mere suggestion that he is a recognisable figure. "I don't think I'm

famous! I find that laughable." Thankfully critical recognition was never part of the plan, "but I guess it just happened," he says. "But I haven't changed at all, you kind of assume with the timeline of things that when an artist experiences a certain level of success that the artist thinks what they're doing now is better. But I don't see it like that." Following the success with his first album, Hynes has relocated from the east London arts ghetto of Dalston to the equally gritty enclaves of Brooklyn, New York, stomping ground of MGMT and Vampire Weekend. Sounding worryingly like Kasabian, he claims the inspiration behind his new album, Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You was a return to true English heritage. "I wanted a British theme, baroque and regal," he says, citing it as the antithesis of current bands who he dismisses as "scrappy and talking about the working class."

He continues, citing Gilbert & Sullivan, Queen and British composer Michael Nyman as influences: "I wanted this album to reflect that side of Britain. To me, that is England and I think on a musical level it interests me a lot more than scrappy guitars and lyrics about going down the pub." So he doesn't like bands such as The Courteneers or Arctic Monkeys? He shakes his head fervently, "What they're doing is a whole separate thing and it works for them. I just like that it's not cool to talk about that side of England in music." Hynes is passionate about music in all its forms, his enthusiasm is endearing as he speaks at length about his influences. Weezer, Hair the Musical, Julian Casablancas,The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Serge Gainsbourg and Todd London among them; he is fanatical about music. "As long as it sounds good," he likes it. But ultimately if it weren't for

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The Jungle Book, Hynes wouldn't be doing what he does now. "The Jungle Book is mind-blowing! It was a huge influence; I don't know why. I try and slip references into every Lightspeed Champion album.” An ode to The Jungle Book features on the current one; ‘There’s Nothing Under Water’ opens with the sound of the sea pulsating against the sand before being interrupted by a ukulele which peacefully twangs along to gut-breaking lyrics – the result is nothing short of perfection. Becoming more open to the subject of his synaesthesia, a condition shared by the likes of; Stevie Wonder and Eddie Van Halen, where listening to music is like "staring at moving pictures," the volume, pitch or rhythm of a piece of music is represented by a different colour. It is something Hynes previously kept hidden, "for fear of sounding mental or pretentious." As a result Hynes finds composition fairly easy and so imposes upon himself a set of rules to make song-writing more of a challenge. "I may decide to use only five chords, or only use a certain scale, or I will try and incorporate the musical themes of a composer and assign certain sections to different composers." Hynes is proficient with a variety of instruments despite having little musical training. He appears uncomfortable discussing his many talents, averting eye contact by looking at the laptop in front of him and staring at something imaginary on the floor beneath us. He somehow manages to exude humility and self-confidence at the same time. "It's all self-taught” he says rounding off a list of instruments he’s taught himself how to play over the years, cello being the only one he’s had traditional lessons for. “Piano, drums, bass, violin, guitar; I can play any instrument apart from brass. I find it easy because I see it like colours so I just recreate the colours." He plays all the instruments on his current studio album too.Yet it is the playing live aspect of music which he hates the most. "It just doesn't mean anything to me," he shrugs. "With other bands playing live is part of the whole experience but I don’t have a band, it’s just me so I always feel weird playing live, I don't like playing live anyway." Hynes is an energetic character; constantly giving himself new projects, he often finds himself writing songs into the night, rarely leaving time for sleep. "I'm used to getting only three or four hours sleep, I write pretty much non-stop and it's usually very quick. But that usually means I end up doing more." Hynes blames his synaesthesia for his constant need to keep himself busy. At the moment he is working on another side project, Blood Orange, which he hopes to record and

tour later this year. It is something he has decided to keep separate from Lightspeed Champion to avoid any "biases and connotations" one might have. "If someone doesn't like Lightspeed Champion then they might like Blood Orange. I want people to enjoy things on their own accord." Blood Orange is at its best described as 80s synth-pop; it’s an upbeat antithesis to the acoustic-folk of Lightspeed Champion.The songs, written as first person short stories are the only ones Hynes has written "and not been embarrassed by," unlike Test Icicles then? "Yes," he laughs "I guess I am a little embarrassed about Test Icicles." It is clear that Dev leaves no stone unturned when it comes to genres; his A.D.D approach to genre-hopping is interesting. But he disregards the suggestion that he is an artist who constantly reinvents himself. "It's all me; I look at everything I do as a graph, everything is its own thing. It's not like an album suddenly dies as soon as another piece of music is made. Every album I do is independent on its own." Hynes dreamt up the name Lightspeed Champion aged 13; it was the name of comic book he used to draw about a mathematical superhero. But does it ever get confusing having so many alter-egos? "Well it is weird," Hynes agrees, "but I like to make up names, mainly because there isn't a genre I can easily slip into so the names act like masks." He blames the blog culture for putting pressure on current artists so that they feel the need to slip perfectly into certain genres to be the newest ‘next best thing’. He refuses to be pigeonholed and words like 'indie', 'alternative' and 'rock' make him nervous. "I think about when my mum listens to music and she is not thinking that this song is the best take of this genre. She is just listening to it because she likes it.That's all I want whoever hears my stuff to do." As Lionel Ritchie's ‘All Night Long (All Night)’ begins to play on the jukebox, Hynes clicks back into life. “Man, they keep stepping it up every time!" Hynes declares excitedly referring to the music selection. The familiar nod, smile and concentrated expression returns. He animatedly discusses at length each track from Richie’s album Can’t Slow Down. When memory fails him as he tries to recall his favourite, he attempts to get them up on his ITunes. Alas his laptop has now died, but his disappointment disappears as soon as the chorus comes in. •

myspace.com/lightspeedchampion www.lightspeedchampion.com

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Piano, drums, bass,violin, guitar; I can play any instrument apart from brass. I find it easy because I see it like colours so I just recreate the colours.â&#x20AC;?

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Photographer: Patrick Ford Fashion Stylist: Charlie Jones Hair & Make-Up: Luisa Ridge Model: Jess @ Independent Clothes: Pauls Place @ Portobello Market

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SHOP VINTAGE IN EUROPE: The East End Thrift Store, London, UK Unit 1, Assembly Passage, London E14 7AW Rellik, London, UK 8 Golborne Road, London W10 5UX Beyond Retro, London, UK 110-112 Cheshire Street, London E2 6EJ Absolute Vintage, London, UK 15 Hanbury Street, London E1 6QR Snoopers Paradise, Brighton, UK 7-8 Kensington Gardens, Brighton BN1 4AL Cow, Birmingham, UK 82-85 Digbeth High Street, Birmingham B5 6DY Top Banana Vintage Clothing, Birmingham, UK 14 York Road, Birmingham B14 7RZ Blue Rinse, Manchester, UK 31A Tib Street, Northern Quarter, Manchester M4 1LX

Retro Rehab, Manchester, UK 91 Oldham Street, Manchester M4 1LW Bulletproof Vintage, Liverpool, UK 41 Hardman Street, Liverpool L1 9AS Pop, Liverpool, UK 58 Whitechapel, Liverpool L1 6EG Blue Rinse, Leeds, UK 9-11 Call Lane, Leeds LS1 7DH Chinese Laundry, Hull, UK Norwich House, Savile Street, Hull HU6 8QS Mr Ben, Glasgow, UK 101 King Street, Glasgow G1 5RB Starry Starry Night, Glasgow, UK 19 Dowanside Lane, Glasgow G12 9BZ Armstrongs, Edinburgh, UK 81-83 Grassmarket, Edinburgh EH1 2HJ

Hobo's Vintage Clothing, Cardiff, UK 13 High Street Arcade CF10 1BB A Store Is Born, Dublin, Ireland 34 Clarendon Street, Dublin 2 Freep'star, Paris, France 8 Rue Sainte Croix de la Bretonnerie, 75004 Paris Vintage Madeleine, Paris, France 31 Rue Anjou, 75008 Paris Episode, Amsterdam, Netherlands Waterlooplein 1, Amsterdam James Hand, Mitte, Berlin, Germany Max-Beer-Str. 29, 10119 Berlin Human Empire, Hamburg, Germany Schulterblatt 132, 20357 Hamburg 20134Lambrate, Milan, Italy Via Conte Rosso 22, 20134 Milan

Pulp, Rome, Italy Via del Boschetto140 (Monti), Rome E-vintage, Copenhagen, Denmark Istedgade 92, Copenhagen Fisk, Copenhagen, Denmark Skt. Peders Stræde 1, Copenhagen Lolina Vintage Café, Madrid, Spain Calle del Espíritu Santo 9, 28004 Madrid Blow by Le Swing, Barcelona, Spain C/ Doctor Dou 11, 08001 Barcelona A Outra Face Da Lua, Lisbon, Portugal Rua da Assunção 22, Baixa Pombalina, Lisbon

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the shoestrung

Styling: Karolina Kivimaki

he Shoestrung are a young London-via-Brighton band whose fresh take on r’n’b has, in one short blues riff, alienated them from some audiences and catapulted them into the hearts of others. “The trouble with blues is that it’s a difficult place,” says singer and guitarist Bryn Hoffman as we sit, nursing coffees to warm up, in the back room of the 12 Bar Club in Soho. “The people who are really into it only accept stuff that’s original,” he explains, “and it’s not healthy for it. We’re not purely blues; we like to change it up.” They played a gig with Joe Filisko (“the God of blues harmonica”) last year, and the audience didn’t warm to The Shoestrung. Al Ritchie, guitarist and vocalist, explains that some people were offended by their set, thinking “‘they’re playing a blues-y song but they’re not playing it in the right key.’ ” The traditionalists might not like them, but the Germans seem to; the band describes their German fans as “overly passionate”, hinting that a few of the fans are as passionate about The Shoestrung as the love-struck Mel in Flight of the Conchords. The Shoestrung confess that, for a year, they took every gig going. Once they played at an elderly couple’s mansion. “It was a huge dinner party with about 70 people, full of elderly gentlemen all having lots of champagne,” says Ritchie.“After the gig, they all sort of preyed on us!” they joke. “We’ve had some funny, funny gigs. We don’t make a habit of playing for rich, older men, but I would definitely take another gig,” says Hoffman.The Shoestrung tell me about playing a particularly awful gig in Walthamstow, a place they swear they’ll never go back to.They’ve played in their fair share of pubs too:“once we played behind a pool table. People were playing darts across us.They couldn’t give a shit that there was a band there!” The Shoestrung played the Secret Garden Party last year, and it remains a favourite gig of theirs:“We started at two in the morning and played ‘til three in the morning,” recalls Hoffman. “We got there and there were all these DJs. They had DJs all night.The stage manager was like ‘are you sure you want to do this?’We were in this big tent with a stage in the middle, thinking the crowd were not gonna want a live band.” “We got up and the DJ turned the music off and everyone started booing.We turned on our guitars and luckily they were

digging it. I think one of the things that we are - we’ve got that dance band thing, in that we can play for an hour and get people up and jumping.” “We wear our influences on our sleeve,” says Hoffman. Play any of their music and it’s obvious what these lads have been listening to.There are hints of Dylan in the rhythmic guitar and lyrical delivery of ‘I’m Blind You See’ while ‘Are You For Real’ is a much slower, soulful song that sounds like an updated version of the Chicago blues.Their compositions and Hoffman’s Jaggeresque slur are dead giveaways that these boys have been raised on a blend of musicians ranging from the Small Faces and the Rolling Stones to Willie Dixon and Nina Simone. At 18 The Shoestrung outgrew Brighton and moved to London. In a year they traded their plush but expensive flat for a warehouse, where there’s “a lack of dividing walls.”“I live on top of a mezzanine, as I like to call it,” explains Hoffman, before bass guitarist and cellist Dave Tregenza interrupts him to taunt “he sleeps on a pile of breeze blocks!”“We have arguments about who’s got the best spot,” teases Ritchie.“I think it’s definitely me. I’ve got a tent. It’s like I’m constantly at a festival.” The lads seem happy with their communal bedroom and toilet because they can rehearse downstairs in the warehouse whenever they wish. All that rehearsal time has paid off; the band are currently working on their debut album, which they recorded on analogue tape. “It’s not like we’re trying to be like ‘we’re a retro band’,” says Ritchie, “it’s just that we like that sound.” The Shoestrung have no desire to record it digitally: “Trying to capture a wave of sound and reflecting that in formatted ones and zeros; in my mind that makes no sense,” explains Ritchie. The Shoestrung have plans to tour this year, once they’ve released their album, which they hope to put out independently. “I think we’re gonna release it as a few EPs to test the water really,” says Hoffman.“It would be a shame to release an album and blow our load all at once.” If you can’t wait for The Shoestrung to announce their tour, you can catch them at the Stoned on Love festival in Camden on the 22nd of February • myspace.com/theshoestrung WORDS: LAURA NINEHAM PHOTO: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

paradise city WORDS: ANDREW FUTURE - PHOTOS: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

Once in a while a record comes along to startle you, grip you and not let go. It might not rip your face off with originality or blow your mind with its complexity, but it’ll fill your heart with wonder, sending shivers down your spine at least three times a song. Few had heard of Beach House a year ago, but with their third album Teen Dream set to be the first bona-fide classic of the new decade, it won’t just be MGMT and Julian Casablancas declaring them as their new favourite band. Andrew Future speaks to Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand.

t’s hard to imagine anyone liking it ‘cos I don’t imagine the Europeans ever listening to our music,” says Alex Scally, Beach House’s multiinstrumentalist linchpin. He couldn’t be more wrong because the only dream-pop album in living memory to get everyone this excited was Air’s Moon Safari. And we all know where they come from. But while Scally and singer Victoria Legrand share the French duo’s penchant for old Casio keyboards and occasional prog interludes, the gleeful, nostalgic beauty of Teen Dream is more firmly in the Mercury Rev and Fleet Foxes camp of ‘obscure American band likely to break through this year’. The duo’s third album is, from start to end, a timeless collection of songs that takes the glimmers of brilliance from their first two rather anonymous albums, polishing them beyond recognition.The drowsy introspection and shuffling arrangements of old favourites such as ‘Tokyo Witch’ are replaced by grand, rainbow melodies. From the opening guitar motif of ‘Zebra’ the soundscape gushes with symphonic harmonies and triumphant cymbal bashing. There’s an unearthly consistency too about the quality of the melodies Scally and Legrand create. The often wondrous tapestries alternate between woozy Hammond organs, toy town pianos and clean, shimmering guitars that loop in and out of the mix. “I’ve been obsessed with recording and arranging things since a very young age,” Scally says of his obsession with layering sounds, his face lit up like a teen-flick cliché of the pretty, shy, geekish record shop assistant playing you the 12” just to start a conversation. Although he plays piano, guitar, bass and percussion, it’s synths that get him excited. “I’ve always collected these old crappy organs while Victoria has this insane ability to hear a chord progression or a texture and bring a melody out of nowhere. It’s so amazing, so perfect.” Thankfully, Chris Coady’s production leaves enough pot-holes and patches to maintain some of the rugged edge that keeps Beach House anchored to their shoegazing roots. And with hymn-like standout track ‘Norway’ featuring Legrand’s voice hanging, cloaked

behind the wall of synths, you’ll find it easy to believe that Teen Dream was pieced together in a New York church. Subtle organs give way to cleaner keyboards that waltz with the tragedy of air-raid sirens while Legrand croons about “a hunter for a lonely heart in the season of the sun”, her vocal sloshing around like a paintbrush. As the song expands and changes key, Legrand’s intonation becomes more rhythmical, climaxing amid a much more audible cluster of “heys” as she unleashes the full force of her classically trained voice. Beach House formed in 2004 after French-born Legrand quit studying theatre in France before heading to Baltimore instead to pursue music. “I was asked to join the band but it was more about drugs and fuck-ups, so I just stole her away,” adds Scally. “Ever since then it’s just been music,” interrupts Legrand. “Music was our first language and then we became friends and then we toured. We just happen to be best friends. He’s seen me in so many ways: completely out of control, miserable, happy. So when we’re writing, it’s not superanalytical, if someone has the chords and the melody, we either instantly understand and believe in it or we don’t click on it.” At the heart of Teen Dream is a sense of driving, passionate insanity that really does recall the grip of adolescence. “It’s like unbridled obsession,” Scally agrees, describing his education at a “mostly black high school” before he headed to a rich, liberal arts school that left him feeling like a weird outsider. “I always think that I’ve loved odd things just because I come from Baltimore. All my clothes and instruments come from thrift stores - they’re other people’s trash. I think Baltimore gives you a certain irreverence; it makes you not give a shit about what the rest of the world is doing and Victoria and I have thrived off of that feeling. People in Baltimore can be as weird or esoteric as they want because nobody controls you in Baltimore, nobody says what’s cool.” One artist Scally relates to particularly is film director John Waters, best known for the Broadway hit Hairspray and films such as 1972’s Pink Flamingos and 1994’s Serial Mom. ”He’s crazy,” says Scally, “but I really relate to his aesthetic because he’d see all these really

fucked up things all the time, and rather than being of the songs reaching the type of chaotic climax you ‘I come from a shit town, I gotta move to New York occasionally envisage in your head. ‘Walk In Park’, and live with the society people,’ he loved it and made which epitomises the record’s obsession with romantic art and made these great films about how amazingly renaissance, marches in with piped organs sounding fucked-up Baltimore was.” Although Waters does of almost like a ‘happy’ rewrite of Morrissey’s ‘Everyday Is course own a flat in New York, he continues to spend Like Sunday’. Big, glacial guitars descend over the chorus, most of his time at home in Baltimore. although frustratingly, they’re just buried in the mix. While his friends were listening to grunge, Scally All criticisms are lost when the record tails off listened to his parents’ oldies while growing obsessed with the quite exquisite ‘Real Love’ where Legrand’s with Motown classic ‘What Becomes of the Broken smoky voice narrates solitarily over the album’s most Hearted’. “It’s a tear-in-your-beer kind of song but it’s classical sounding piano part. “Real love, it finds you also triumphant in this weird way,” he says. “It also feels somewhere,” she sings, like a black and white photo like a march and a dance song. You’re feeling so many album of old dreams. Album closer ‘Take Care’, with its things at the same time and I think that when we were playful and jaunty 6/8 beat, brims with sea-side charm, writing this album we wanted the songs to be like that. decked with harpsichords and the same ‘Ahs’ that have We wanted massive songs that encompass complete flourished throughout. emotions instead of just the edge of a feeling, rather “From the first song we did, we instantly had this than ‘I got dumped and I’m sad’.” really spectacular feeling,” Scally adds, dismissing any Legrand’s more traditional upbringing saw her bound suggestion that Beach House could now be set for top around classics like Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky. “The billing in the music pages and cool sheet. “I don’t think classical thing was always a huge part of my life,” she we’re cool. I think we’re lucky that a lot of bands, mostly says, “but we all change and it’s a huge theme in our our friends, like our music But I don’t think there’s a songs.” genuine or unified sense of cool anymore, The post“’10 Mile Stereo’ would soundtrack the ultimate modern era has destroyed it, people do whatever they standing on the cliff moment, pondering the end of want.” the world slash, the beginning of your life epic-ness," What he is resolute about however, is the band’s Legrand says, in monologue mode. “That’s what the live show. “We’ve gotten really serious about being record, to me, feels like. Each song is different. They range from simple, good times to sexual “I’ve always collected these old crappy obsession and very intense dark feelings that organs while Victoria has this insane are often coming after you.” ’10 Mile Stereo’ is probably the darkest song here, with more of ability to hear a chord progression or Legrand’s elongated vowels weaving over synth a texture and bring a melody out of patterns and a splintered yet simple electro beat nowhere. It’s so amazing, so perfect.” that vaguely recalls one of Radiohead’s more poppy In Rainbows moments. Legrand writes her lyrics mostly as the songs evolve. musicians, we want to do something amazing, we don’t “It usually starts with a few chords or a rhythm, then want to be a hype band. We want people to really we let it grow. Sometimes the original thing gets lost experience a feeling and emotion and night after night.” and we have to start over. It’s like Nick Drake’s Pink Legrand too is excited about the year ahead. Moon; it’s such an incredible record but I feel like it’s not “Our lives are changing at home while we’re complete. It’s like a lot of bands where I think ‘You didn’t touring,” she says, “some things are ending but other finish this song did you? You let it begin but you didn’t let incredible things must begin, and it was this feeling that it finish’. Maybe that’s just my song writer obsession, but we could go and run off into the wild. This record, to I have a ton of respect for The Beatles for the way they me, signifies the beginning of our life commitment. It’s seemed to effortlessly take an already great melody your third record that that says how long you will be further and deeper. Fleetwood Mac do that really doing your art for.To me this is a beginning and I already well. I think Lindsey Buckingham is a genius for taking have ideas for the next record. Intensity is keeping something that is already really good and making it fifty intensity breeding.” • times better by adding a few things.” Teen Dream is out now on Bella Union. But if there’s one frustration about Teen Dream is that’s the duo’s restraint occasionally stops some myspace.com/beachouse

WORDS: jodie ball - SHOPPING: KAROLINA KIVIMAK

PETAR PETROV

NEIL BARRETT AS ANTONIO MARR

trends: - beige

l just l a s ’ t i Yes,we hear you but it is time to fall in love with beige again.It’s no longer the word “But .” e g i used to describe anything safe,reliable and inoffensive – plain decor,Volvo cars e b so… or Katie Holmes pre-Tom Cruise. Beige has well and truly returned to the fashion vocabulary this season.

1 6 Urban Outfitters, £85 Urban Outfitters, £38 H&M, £14.99 H&M, £7.99 H&M, £4.99 Reiss, £120 Reiss, £159

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MOSCHINO

STELLA MCCART

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SUM BURBERRY PROR

The recent runways were awash with the neutral shade and all its relatives – from oatmeal to camel, stone to ecru and everything in between. But there is nothing middle of the road about beige anymore – it comes studded or striped, in the richest cashmere blends or prettiest lace. Team with brightly coloured accents or keep it classic with a timeless trench coat. But whatever you do, remember that beige is back

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Burberry, £195 at my-wardrobe.com Insight, £30 at Urban Outfitters PS by Paul Smith, £148 at matchesfashion.com Paul Smith, £60 at my-wardrobe.com Jacamo, £22 Clarks Originals, £69 Hederus at www.oki-ni.com, £349 Reiss, £175

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out of the box WORDS: ALlISON MULIMBA - PHOTO: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

009 was an exciting year for British female artists; with Florence and the Machine, Little Boots and Bat For Lashes. However this year’s rising star, Mpho Skeef, is, alongside the Noisettes Shingai Shoniwa and Remi Nicole, proud to represent a new class of black female artists who refuse to be pigeon-holed into making music expected of their race. “I am mixed; culturally and musically,” Mpho (pronounced mmmpho) says, diving straight in. “I’m not going to pretend to be something else.” She is brassy, assertive and her South London roots feature heavily in her intonation. “I’m not going to try and be more black than I am just to fulfil other people’s expectations or just to fit in with market criteria.” In ‘Box N Locks’, a track off her album Pop Art, Mpho plays homage to her home-town Brixton; it’s all about defying expectations. She sings that she is not just “some ghetto chick, making all this urban music,” but instead is a “Feisty little brown girl, raised in Brixton town. Trying to figure all the sounds in my head go round and round.” She does not want to pander to anyone’s stereotypes and refuses to even define her music. “There is such a mixture, I’d prefer it if people would listen to it and make up their own mind. I think it limits what people hear if I describe it.” Mpho’s background is as colourful as her music, she and her family escaped from South Africa’s apartheid regime and moved to Brixton when she was aged four, and since then she has made sure that her music represents something of her background. “I consider myself African very much so - but I’m also very much a Londoner. People are too quick to jump to conclusions, certainly about me, and definitely about Brixton. A lot of the album is, I guess, about changing people’s conceptions.” R&B, soul, hip hop; you name it, Mpho has been there and done it. “I’ve been involved in music in many, many ways,” Mpho says. And she is certainly no stranger to the industry with her C.V. including singing backing vocals to Natasha Bedingfield and Ms Dynamite, as well as acting as a mentor to a pre-fame Adele. But what she’s always wanted to do is make pure, unabashed pop and thus escape the box that people often put black artists in. “I’d often walk into record labels and they’d automatically assume I was an R &B singer before I’d even had a chance to speak.” Her debut album is a far cry from such a narrow definition however. There are definite traces of M.I.A and Speech Debelle in its gritty rhetoric about urban British

culture but it’s essentially a pop album; though Santigold pop, not Britney pop. “Pop is no longer something that is manufactured,” Mpho says, “It’s definitely growing and expanding, I really like what Marina and the Diamonds are doing and Florence [and the Machine] has started to grow on me a bit, though I didn’t like her at first.” And Mpho’s music is the perfect example of popular music that is all about representing pop culture instead of, as Mpho puts it,“being out there to just sell records.” After years of being a slave to the music industry Mpho is ready to embark upon it on her own terms. She hopes to release her debut album, Pop Art under Parlophone this year. But when asked if she is worried that she may be another of those female artists who are forgotten about 12 months down the line she remains unfazed. “No, not at all,” she states flatly,“It’s taken me a long time to get here. This isn’t some recent fad or anything. I’ve been doing this long enough to know that people are fickle and what’s important to me is that I’m consistent as an artist.” “It’s all about longevity,” she says. As long as she develops a fan base that is genuinely interested in what she’s doing then she’s achieved what she set out to do. In terms of a career she’d like hers to mirror, Mpho’s answer is, without any hesitation, Beyonce. “In the last 10 years she has really grown as an artist, as a songwriter and as a performer, you can’t really touch that.” But in terms of her hopes for the future Mpho says that her ultimate dream would be to work with her idols Prince or Andre 3000. This year though her main aim is to focus on getting her album out.“I want to take things one step at a time and see what happens because it’s so unpredictable. I just want to develop a relationship with my fans.” If anything, Mpho is determined to make a positive impact on the music industry. “Why not make a bit of a statement with my first record, I’m happy to make my point straight and say this is who I am from the offset.” • myspace.com/mphosounds Stylist: Elauan Lee assisted by Lily Thomas-Ratcliffe Make-Up: Kyrstle Gohel Hair & Manicure: Kristy Hotlips Prince MPHO wears bomber jacket by Cassette Playa; black mesh dress from ASOS; earrings and large three-stone ring all by Lucy Hutchings; POW ring by Ambush; various other rings stylist’s own; watch MPHO’s own

MPHO

the drowners Words: dom gourlay - photo: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

hen London five-piece Fanfarlo recorded debut album Reservoir at the tail end of 2008, they threw everything including the kitchen sink at it. Grand Sigur Rós-style strings, Arcade Fire theatrics and a heap of top rate songs. The small problem they had was in finding a label willing to release it. But as with all MySpace generation bands; they stuck their Converse on and bounced along with an extra spring of enthusiasm in their step, finding a label themselves. After five well-received shows at last year’s South By Southwest festival in Texas, up and coming indie Canvasback put their money where their mouth was and promptly signed the band on to their roster. Drummer, vocalist and co-songwriter Amos Memon takes up the story. “We met up with Canvasback after their A&R man had glowing reports from our shows inTexas and we seemed to bond with them personally as well as on an artistic level. He came to see us again and offered us a deal soon after, and

once we’d finally managed to digest the 300-word contract found ourselves signed! It was quite a huge culture shock seeing our album grow from this cottage industry download only available through our website to a finished product, artwork and all, in record shops.” Currently in the middle of a European tour that sees them take in cities as far a field as Zurich and Stockholm before returning to the UK for a week of headline shows next month, they are then off to the States. It’s fair to say it has been a busy twelve months since Reservoir finally hit the shops last May to almost universally positive reviews. “I’d say everything that’s happened to us has exceeded expectations somewhat,” declares Memon, almost surprised at the adulation. “I never expected us to be doing some of the things we got to do last year, for example the arena tour we did with Snow Patrol, which was something else entirely.” Musically, their quirky, folk-flavoured whimsical pop sits

somewhere between the quintessential Englishness of ‘… Village Green Preservation Society’ era Kinks and the less salubrious US college rock of Grandaddy or The Flaming Lips. “I’ve never really understood the concept of genres,” remarks the talkative drummer.“I think we have a really wide cross section of fans to be honest, and that became more apparent to us when we went on tour after the album came out. We seem to attract all different demographics from computer literate teenagers that downloaded the album before we got signed, to old school music fans who prefer scouting through record shops for vinyl copies of albums and seven inches.” Perhaps surprisingly for a band whose profile hasn’t been aided and abetted by substantial marketing budgets or monumental bouts of radio play, Fanfarlo have quite a large following in America, hence their forthcoming eightdate jaunt at the back end of February.

“You meet a lot of anglophiles over there who follow more English bands then they do their own, which I guess contrasts with a lot of our influences, certainly my own personal ones anyway,” quips Memon. “I guess from that point of view it’s kind of nice, if a little strange, to be in a band based in London that seems to be doing so much better in the States.” When I ask why he thinks that is, Amos Memon puts it down to one major source: radio. “It’s an entirely different entity over there,” he says assuredly.“If you play a session on one show that’s a syndicate programme it will just get sold on to many other radio stations and then their schedule would include something Fanfarlo have recorded and then you find yourself getting a lot of publicity across the States without having actually travelled extensively there.” Probably the biggest compliment of Reservoir is its timeless quality, even though some of the songs on the record date back to the band’s embryonic stages of 2006. Amos Memon is only too happy to agree: “While I think its representative of a period in the band’s existence, everything on there still sits pretty well with the whole band to this day. I mean, there are a couple of songs which we’ve kind of re-arranged for the benefit of the live show but as a document of where we were from day one up to the present, Reservoir captures it all.” Produced by Peter Katis, whose previous works include The National’s Boxer, Interpol’s Turn On The Bright Lights and Frightened Rabbit’sThe Midnight Organ Fight, Reservoir perfectly encapsulates Fanfarlo’s lyrical eccentricities and eloquent musical arrangements to the maximum. When asked if the band is likely to work with Katis again, Amos Memon is unsure, but not entirely opposed to the idea. “We’ll wait and see I guess, but I’d like to think we’re a forward thinking band so the thought of trying something new with the next record is even more appealing.” Which of course brings us onto talk of the follow-up to Reservoir. “We’re still road testing several new songs at the minute so we can’t say whether they’ll definitely make the next record at the minute. There’s one called ‘Noose’ which we’re particularly pleased with, another called ‘On A Ledge’ which has been well received when played live, and also ‘Waiting In The Wings’, which are the three we’re rotating in the current set.” One thing’s for sure, when Fanfarlo do get around to releasing that so-called ‘difficult’ second album, the waves of anticipation will have a tidal impact on both sides of the Atlantic.• myspace.com/fanfarlo

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melody nelson

Styling: Karolina Kivimaki

ast End trio Melody Nelson believe they’re London’s loudest rock band. Influences like The Stooges and countless other garage bands ensure their feedback drenched sound makes a welcome change to the current army of wet panted electro pop acts. The boys have successfully toured Europe, headlined shows in London and are winning over one celebrity after another, having opened for Pete Doherty and Sea Sick Steve. Irish-Jamaican front man Aidan Connell and Israeli powerhouse drummer Kapi found each other through an NME advertisement and have been through an array of bass players since. “It depends who can handle my sarcasm,” Connell explains mockingly. The polite and very shy Marco Argenton has been with the band for just over two months and seems to be putting up with his two fiery band mates rather well. “So far so good,” he smiles. They’ve just completed their debut album with mentor and producer David Roback (founder of 90s pop duo Mazzy Star), who they met at a My Bloody Valentine gig. One thing is certain; they’ll be no click tracks or months spent in preproduction for this album. Melody Nelson swear on an organic and raw approach to recording. “Name me one good album that was recorded to a click?!” Connell suggests sheepishly. (Err, any Muse album? La Roux or Florence’s debut? Or Morning Glory maybe? – technically). “We know how to record. If you tell us make an album, we can record an album in a few days,” Kapi adds. The record, provisionally entitled Torch Songs was produced not only by Roback, but also by Mike Bennett (Ian Brown) and Jerry Kandiah (Razorlight). The boys are utterly unfazed by their star producers and unimpressed by the esteemed artists they supported. Their take on supporting Pete Doherty is interesting. “It was a big favour for him. Musically a privilege”, Connell says, half in jest. After

all, they wouldn’t be a proper rock band without a certain overdose of self assuredness. Their songs comprise of energetic four to the floor tracks with feedback and cymbal crashing galore (‘Hung Up’) as well as melancholic laments (‘Would You Miss Me?’) and the usual mix of angst and bluster. At times Connell’s voice has a similar timbre to Jim Morrison, especially in their single ‘The Other Side’. Lyrically, the usual suspects are all here: love, loss and confusion, are given as thematic backdrop. Melody Nelson are not reinventing or innovating – most songs ring a very familiar tone and lean on rock anthems of the past.They’re not trying to create a new sound and

“We know how to record. If you tell us make an album, we can record an album in a few days.” are mainly focused on performing live to the best of their ability. “Nothing really changed in the formula of rock music; it’s just about putting a new spirit to it”, says Connell hinting that they may go it alone to release their record. “If we can’t find anyone great to release it, we’ll just do it ourselves!” he pronounces. Connell’s toying with the idea of setting up his very own 7inch and download label. At this point drummer Kapi springs to the edge of his chair. “It’s very difficult to release albums today. No one cares about it any more. We want to write great songs, but really, we want to play the best gigs.” • myspace.com/melodynelsonuk WORDS: roxanne de bastion PHOTO: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS

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Retro grooming WORDS: Ed thomas

ith the likes of Nowhere Boy and Mad Men hitting our screens and the neverending love for our Beatles era musical heroes, it’s no wonder that retro grooming is becoming more, well…mainstream? But can peeps get down with it at their local salon or are these styles best served up at a more discerning establishment? FMS hot-footed it to two of London’s most established period beauty emporiums to find out

NINA’S HAIR PARLOUR After many years creating period looks for TV and film, Nina Butkovich-Budden opened her parlour in Alfie's Antiques market a year and a half ago, but it's in the last six months that she's noticed a dramatic shift: “Right now we have lots of women coming in asking for a 1950s look.They

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usually say they've been inspired by Mad Men, Nowhere Boy or one of the other films that are coming out. We always find that happens, like with Kiera Knightly's film Edge of Love in 2008 we had an absolute mayhem of women coming in saying ‘I have to have forties style hair!' People are really following what's happening out there in the media and with such a mishmash in music right now, they're turning more to film and TV.” But rather than simply seeing a film and 'getting the look', Nina suggests some more in depth preparation before any consultation with a specialist. “You should really, really research. If you like a look, study it and find out what you like about it. Sometimes people come in and they think they like fifties and they don't: they actually want a thirties look. And of course we need to make sure we know what style we're all talking about before we start creating the look.” Of the huge range of styles from Marcel Waves to

Victory curls and early bobs, is there one easy look for any girl to get? “It's a good idea to start with a study of the contents of your wardrobe to see what you've got to play with,” explains Nina. “Most women start there and move onto the hair and make-up style after that.” And take an honest look in the mirror. It sounds obvious but certain body and face shapes as well as more controllable variables like hair lengths suit certain period looks. One of the benefits of period looks is being able to choose the period which best suits what God has given you: “If curvy I’d go with a late forties or fifties look. If their hair isn't long they're probably looking more at a 1920s or thirties kind of look or certain specific styles from late on.” “Today we're very lucky because people can actually combine quite a lot. I would recommend people do something which is creating a completely new era rather than producing a caricature of one period. Now we get the chance to combine absolutely every decade with 2010.”

MURDOCK BARBERS Brendan Murdock opened his first barbers in London’s Old Street three years ago, aiming to offer his clients a service which draws on the tradition of a golden age of men’s grooming from the post-war period. Taking his inspiration from a variety of sources including the iconic New York magazine Gentry, he set out to “create an environment that felt like it had been around for a while. Our places have flock wallpaper, modernist retail units and forties or fifties barber chairs.Then there's the haircut and the shave.

We're introducing guys to traditional shaves who'd never had them before.” It’s a formula that’s certainly paid off with branches in the basement of London’s Liberty store, Mayfair and soon Japan. If the options open to women are body and face-shape dependent, then Brendan says getting period facial furniture is something even fewer men can pull off. “A lot of men simply can't grow a moustache because it just looks too weird.You might have all the will in the world to grow one but if you don't come out with thick stubble and a strong hair growth there's little point.” Don’t struggle in the dark for months; find out what your options are.“A good barber will give advice as to what moustache shape will suit your face. If you've got a fat round face it won't be the same as someone who has got a nice jaw line and they'll discuss that with you.” The final step to a full 1940s sergeant major or handlebar moustache will take more training: “Guys that want to make the leap to get the curl in their moustache will have to commit to a long beard because you just look weird with two bits hanging down.” Nice. ZZ Top it is then. •

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d r a c poSt ◊ ◊ fROM berlin N ES BY ROXANNE DE

WORDS AND IMAG

ou only think London’s cool because you don’t know Berlin. Trust me, I’m a Berliner. This city is the bohemian art student everybody wants to know and thanks to the likes of Easyjet, flocks of club hungry and beer swilling partygoers from across Europe can now too enjoy an inexpensive weekend of hedonism. We’ve just disembarked at Ostbahnhof, a central S-Bahn station in the former east part of town. If you’re coming from London, one of your first questions will be: ‘Where are all the people?’ Don’t worry, you’re not lost, you’re just alone. Berlin is vast and although there are many popular districts, there is no one centre due to the long East/West division. From the station we make our way to the club and the city is ours. It’s 2.00 am (there’s no point going to any club in Berlin earlier than that) and we walk through this constantly evolving area, which still consists mostly of open space. Behind us there are more clubs; in front of us is the waterside to the Spree - the city’s main river. To our left is the east side gallery, the world’s largest open-air gallery, which was recently repainted for the twentieth anniversar y of the fall of the Berlin wall. Bear right, turn into an inconspicuous street and we’re there. What lies before us looks like derelict wasteland with nothing but a shack on it. Despite the unassuming exterior, this is the entrance to one of Berlin’s most established clubs, the Maria. In Berlin we dress down to go out. Most clubs will prefer jeans and t-shirts to high heels and much ado. This attitude culminates at Maria, where it’s virtually impossible not to get in. Anybody and everybody – goths, indie kids, punks – are all welcome. The inside

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BASTIO

is industrious and the techno is typically minimal, as is the Berlin way. The music scene is highly diversified so you might enjoy techdub, gore, acid house, or any other form of, well, techno! At the bar, I overhear a conversation. Fancy that, two tourists from Kent already sufficiently boozed up (even though the headliner isn’t scheduled to start for another three hours), are comparing beer prices in disbelief. After outing myself as a fellow Londoner, they inform me that they’re on what they call a ‘club weekend trip’. Amazingly, it’s cheaper to book a flight and have a weekend of clubbing in Berlin than staying at home and having a similar night out in London. I must admit I’ve never stayed until closing time, which is more often than not some time around Sunday afternoon. No matter what time you choose to go home though, you can always do so comfortably using the public transportation. On weekends, all train (S-Bahn) and underground (U-Bahn) lines run around the clock. How considerate – Berlin takes good care of its club crazy inhabitants! A town of stark weather contrast, Berlin is not always this kind. Don’t go in the winter, its cold. I mean, really cold… like -15. The long empty streets seem endless when a Siberian wind bites your ears and spits them in your icy face. In the summer, however, it’s warm enough to laze about in Berlin’s many parks. Did you know that Germany has the greenest major capital city in the world? In our parks, you’re officially allowed to BBQ and drink alcohol, so find a green spot and do as you please. Berlin is also one of the only places where it’s completely socially acceptable to drink beer on public transportation.

club and bar owners never took it too seriously and more often than not, it’s totally fine to smoke. Following a successful court case against the government by a small bar owner, small venues that don’t sell food can legally allow smoking. Berlin is going through a heavy retro-chic phase and there’s a great nostalgia for the clothes, furnishing and even food brands from the former German Democratic Republic (DDR). Many bars in the former East are furnished with a mash-up of original DDR furniture. One of my favourite bars is the Bar 23 in the central district of Prenzlauer Berg. Upon entering you’re immediately beside the bar, above which a sign reads ‘We inform and apologise that the consumption of illegal substances cannot be prohibited in these premises’.You’d be ill advised to order anything more complicated than a rum and coke. They say that Berlin is like New York in the 1980s but despite many parallels, this is not totally accurate. With its history and personality, Berlin is one of a kind and I recommend you pay it a visit now while it is still innocent and open. •

And what of the EU-wide smoking ban? Well, that was just a suggestion, wasn’t it? Many

the courteeners

YEASAYER

Universal

Mute

The follow up to The Courteeners’ debut album St Jude, Falcon sees The Courteeners rope in Suede, Pulp and White Lies man Ed Buller to help them march on the charts. It starts with ‘The Opener’ - a polished love song that shows off Liam Fray’s unique voice, showcasing a crisper, more poppy sound. But while The Courteeners have progressed to making songs that are more tuneful and richer than their previous material, all too often the songs lurch into Editors or White Lies territory, seemingly darting between any style likely to reap them a bit of fame. In spite of this, it’s still rather likeable and Fray’s personal ‘everyman’ lyrical style rings out pleasantly enough over gentle guitars. But The Courteeners’ fashion pandering – most obvious on the Killers-sucking ‘You Overdid It, Doll’ takes the sting out of what should have been a much weightier follow up. It needs a few listens to fully grow on you but if you can overlook their obsessions with sounding like last year’s indie heroes, Falcon will become a firm favourite.

Yeasayer have an interesting solution to the 'difficult second album' problem: open with the worst thing you have written and then launch into one huge technicolour party.After 'The Children's’ dull robotics die out 'Odd Blood' morphs into a hazy percussion-driven blend of psychedelica and calypso that will no doubt take a stranglehold on summer dance floors. 'Ambling Alp' and 'Love Me Girls' marry eighties drums to trance synths, with barbershop falsettos floating somewhere above, while 'I Remember' builds a Burj Khalifa of joy and electronics. Yet for all the Vampire Weekend or TV On The Radio comparisons Yeasayer offer a lot more substance and soul.The tone may be playful and the tempo might be high but there is a lot of heart behind Odd Blood. It’s a truly sun-kissed classic, but one that's a gem at any centigrade.

Words: Laura Nineham

Words: Jordan Dowling

lucky soul

The Kissaway Trail

Ruffa Lane

Bella Union

Lucky Soul are content at be unaffiliated to any scene and with their second album, the Londoners reportedly turned down an offer from legendary Bowie producer Tony Visconti to produce it themselves. While it slips effortlessly into the girlpop pigeonhole of unrequited love and first kiss memories, underneath the bubblegum melodies sit lovely slices of Motown and Dusty Springfield-inspired pop gems like ‘Up In Flames’. While sixties music has been over-farmed in recent times, Lucky Soul rework retro chic and make it sound refreshing and current and like Ali Howard's saccharine vocals and giddy syncopated hand claps, it's hard not to get lost in this modern form of no thrills pop. Andrew Laidlaw’s wonderful songs capture teenage emotion (‘That's When The Trouble Begins’) without ever sounding cynical and each well-crafted track is as infectious as the last.

Scandinavia has become a hotbed for breeding new musical talent. And The Kissaway Trail are the latest to follow The Ravonettes out of Denmark to show the world what the icy north has to offer. The band’s second album - which includes a haunting cover of Neil Youngs 'Philadelphia' - was produced at the helm of Peter Katis (The Twilight Sad and Interpol) and its 12 tracks offer a chunk of driven melodies ('New Lipstick'), rocketing walls of sound ('Friendly Fire') and sophisticated lyrics. Six minute opener 'SDP' siphons comparisons to Sonic Youth. It’s a lengthy but euphoric listen with Rune Pedersen's bass becoming the focal point, creating encapsulating moments with every chord. The epic nature of the songs means that mainstream popularity is likely to elude the Danes, but what The Kissaway Trail have delivered is an album full of timeless, contemporary rock in what’s likely to be one of the year’s sleeper hits.

Words: Allison Mulimba

Falcon

ALBUM REVIEWS

A Coming of Age

Odd Blood

Sleep Mountain

musÉe mÉcanique

THE SOFT PACK

Southern Transmissions

Kemado Records

The latest outfit to come out of Portland, Oregon, on paper Musée Mécanique would fall straight off the Americana folk road-trip shelf. But in reality the quintet's debut album is a somewhat wintry affair. Inspired by Portland's Williamette River, each track splinters with a mass of ghostly lullabies, with orchestral waves and acoustic guitars smouldering in pure melancholy. Listen to it and it's easy to draw comparisons to Iron & Wine and Elliot Smith. 'The Things That I Know' and 'Sleeping In Our Clothes' are the most clear-cut folk songs, with gentle finger picked acoustic guitar and the slight pattering of gentle percussion, while 'Somehow Bound' is a dainty lament on a love once lost. Musée Mécanique’s debut is saturated in sadness, yet it's peaceful and wistful sentiment means you can fall asleep to it with a glass of red wine while Micah Rabwin's delicate vocals drown out the sound of a rainy winter evening.

The vintage rock ‘n’ roll feel to The Soft Pack’s self titled debut album seems to have worrying tinges of The Datsuns about it. While there’s a lovely contrast between the riff-heavy guitars and Matt Lamkin’s, the singer’s appealing voice, it doesn’t stop the music sounding tired. There’s absolutely nothing new or groundbreaking here. Only one track on the album seems even remotely original and that’s ‘Mexico’, which sees them finally breaks from their garage rock mould they seem tied to throughout. Sadly, the most interesting thing aboutThe Soft Pack isn’t their music; it’s that they used to be called The Muslims. That’s never a good omen. Perhaps it’s the production that has restricted their first release as The Soft Pack – if it was a lo-fi record it would have a lot more charm and be a lot more pleasurable to listen to. While The Soft Pack feels like an album that would work really well live, there are plenty of better retro-rehashes around for those not fussed about buying into the latest piece of hype.

Words: Allison Mulimba

Words: Laura Nineham

jÓnsi

LOS CAMPESINOS

Parlophone

Wichita

Although it’s merely a solo album, Jón Thor Birgisson, better known to the world as the voice of Sigur Rós, has dug deep with an amazing selection of unused songs that get given the full Disney-overthe-rainbow treatment. Rufus Wainwright-level production, courtesy of Philip Glass protégé Nico Muhly, (Björk, Antony & The Johnsons) ensures weaving percussion floats in and out of set pieces and lovely crescendos. Explosive brass and strings belt along effortless and with more pace than we’ve come to expect from Sigur Rós’s more immediate, coffee-table past. Jónsi’s journey of musical wonder even manages to take in the oddly titled ‘…shopping’ with its flowing, jittery beat and melody that inadvertently rips off ‘The Bucket’ by Kings of Leon. It’s supreme. But as ‘Around Us’ shows perfectly, Jónsi’s innovative ideas drive forward at every point, ensuring Go will be regarded as one of the most exquisite albums of the year.

The hardworking Cardiff-based Belle & Sebastian acolytes have taken their shouty sarky confessions and joyous fiddly rock past the after school music club of previous outings. The 15 songs on second album Romance is Boring are ripped through at breakneck speed, careering through the exuberant post-punk of the title track to the downbeat retrospection of ‘The Sea Is A Good Place To Think’. Though still occasionally jarring, the tunes build far more easily from sometimes shambolic discord, with recent single ‘There Are Listed Buildings’ marking a leap forward in sophistication. Best of all, the album finally dispels the lingering odour of Bis, the ultimately pretty awful nineties bellowers.As with Idlewild, Los Campesinos are developing slowly around the US college rock template, hiding the big choruses behind the sort of strings and percussion that’ll get Chris Martin wanting to do his odd jerky little dance. They will become an essential draw at the summer festivals

Words: Andrew Future

Words: Dan Thomas

Hold This Ghost

The Soft Pack

Romance Is Boring

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BRIEF ENCOUNTER WITH...

aaron johnson words: hannah rogers - PHOTO: courtesy of icon film

FMS shares the very briefest of encounters with Aaron Johnson, star of Nowhere Boy who’s tipped to be one of the hottest actors this year. We talk fashion, John Lennon and animal converse. Johnson may have starred in films such asThe Illusionist with Edward Norton and played Robbie in the teen hit Angus,Thongs and Perfect Snogging, but it’s his most recent lead role that’s thrown him straight into the spotlight. Nowhere Boy chronicles the early life of late Beatle John Lennon in 1950s Liverpool, struggling with school and finding himself. The music is as hypnotic as Johnson’s portrayal of the Beatle legend and the 19 year old oozes so much soulful sexiness that you almost forget that you’re not actually watching the real Lennon. The film has been nominated for four Baftas including Outstanding British Film and has received four out of five stars from the Independent, one of many glittering reviews. Late 2009 Johnson announced his engagement to Nowhere Boy director Sam Taylor-Wood who he began dating after meeting on set. With new film Kick-Ass on the horizon and a growing fan base, FMS attempted to reveal more from the man himself than he was willing to give. We can scramble his eggs at least.

Right now I’m… In New York I’m inspired by… My wife-to-be And listening to… Patti Smith Not a lot of people know that… I want to keep most things a secret!! I’ll never forget the time… I got down on one knee I’m currently wearing to death… Bella Freud's jumpers and my Levis 501's If I could meet anyone (dead or alive) it would be… John Lennon Or have a conversation with any animal it would be… My dog I like my eggs… Scrambled Elvis is definitely… The king

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GALOO the BOOWAY ROAD 312 ARCH LONDON N6 5AT

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Last November saw the launch of our fabulous new bimonthly fashion and music events at The Boogaloo in Highgate, north London. Oh yes, the first Sunday of every other month FMS now hosts a stylish fête with pop-up shop and charity tombola in aid of Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy. We have Next model scouts looking out for new talent and our very own style hunter taking photos of trendy peeps for publication in the magazine. And of course there’s also live music and DJs – standard. Our first event featured MPHO, Catherine Tran and Alfie & The Holics with

3 Princesses Des Pommes taking to the decks with DJ Lewis. Marc B Bags held a stall alongside Emma Brigitte London and Carys Williams exhibited her paintings of musicians and models from pop culture. Many thanks for donations from Nobis, Benrik, Custom Deluxe, Smirnoff, Barbican, Clothes Show Live, Spirit of Christmas Fair, SBC, Label M,ABSOLUT Icebar London, Levi Roots and Urban Outfitters. To receive your personal invite to future events, simply drop us your details in an email with ‘Party’ in the subject line to party@fashionmusicstyle.com

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NEXY EVENT: SUN 7TH MARC H 3PM -9PM 1. Mpho – myspace.com/mphosounds 2. Catherine Tran – myspace.com/catherinetran 3. Artwork exhibited by Carys Williams whose paintings combine her love for art, fashion and rock’ n’ roll. Available to order, for more info email caryswilliams.art@live.co.uk 4. Alfie & The Holics – myspace.com/alfiecicale 5. Bag by Marc B, the brand launched in Top Shop in 2003 that creates affordable bags in trendy and glamorous shapes for the girl about town. 6. Two party-goers model Nobis hats won on tombola. More from them at nobis.ca 7. Chuffed winner of a t-shirt by Custom Deluxe – a new clothing brand which mixes fresh, up to the minute designs with old-skool

favourites. More at customdeluxedenim.com 8. Alfie Cicale and his stylish beau. 9. The finer details from Emma Brigitte’s fashion wares for women who love vintage but favour a crisp fresh look. Favour, not flavour. 10. Melody Gerard, overwhelmed with all that her Marc B stall had to offer. 11. The lovely Aline Bentley, one half of Princesses Des Pommes DJs. 12. FMS party-goer, he wears it well. Fashionmusicstyle.com Theboogaloo.co.uk Nordoff-robbins.org.uk

in association with

FMS magazinE PRESENTS... @ The Flowerpot PHOTOS: ROSS COOPER WORDS: CONNIE HART

FMS loves nothing more than presenting you with a night (or day) of live entertainment. Of course it means we get to party too, not to mention squeeze more great bands between our covers. We like that. Join us the second Thursday of every month at Tommy Flynn’s in Camden for a mighty fine selection of decent bands, and check out the ones you may (or not) have missed right here…

THE SUPERNOVAS

They’re mad, they’re mod, and definitely more than alright. A tight and flawless performance from London’s loved; Supernovas left the crowd with a thrashing mod swagger all the way. myspace.com/supernoveran19

erpot the flowtown road

sh 147 kenti LONDON NW1 8pb

STAND UP AGAINST HEART CRIME

Multi instrumentalist Jo Xorto guides you to another world with spacious, glimmering songs peppered with an eighties synth aesthetic. Minimalism maximised, think Spacemen 3. myspace.com/josepxorto

WAREHOUSE REPUBLIC

This band really got the room up and moving with their infectious stage presence and raucous rock’ n’ roll. If you like yours served up with a helping of provocative lyrics, enjoy. myspace.com/warehouserepublic

FMS magazinE PRESENTS...

shackletons

This band of five from Coventry captivated the Flowerpot crowd with their catchy folk rock. Add a dash of early seventies Stones and an American tilt and you can almost nail their sound. “We’re like when Gram Parsons was hanging with the Stones era” said front man Reid. Joining them on the night were DJs Lewis and Dirty Omar. Shackletons release their demo album on the 10th February and return to London to support Pete Doherty for the second time at Rhythm Factory on the 17th March. myspace.com/shackletonsloveyou

dirty omar

Dj lewis 93 61

FMS magazinE PRESENTS... @ The Flowerpot PHOTOS: ROSS COOPER WORDS: CONNIE HART

KIDS LOVE LIES

Pop perfect Ellen Murphy and her fellow four pull together a fist full of pop power and group chemistry, making them one of the most exciting live bands of the moment. . myspace.com/kidslovelies

GUILTY HANDS

The Guilty Hands provided on-theedge indie, powered by a mysterious malice and beautiful lyrics, leaving partygoers dumfounded. An album funded to the tune of ÂŁ15,000 by music fans and investors at Slicethepie. com is in the making. myspace.com/theguiltyhands

TIPTOE AROUND THE JUNGLE

Bat For Lashes comes to mind, but this time of a more airy and whimsical flow. Madara is a quiet soul but she knows where her porthole is and how to reach it, and from there her sound escalates.. myspace.com/tiptoearoundthejungle

FMS magazinE PRESENTS... O CHILDREN

Some say Bauhaus some say Joy Division, perhaps even Horrors. Decide for yourself, but thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no escaping the dark undertones cascading from a drooling bass line mixed up with icy synths. . myspace.com/ochildren

THE WUTARS

Two out of three Alexâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s from The Wutars joined FMS and infected the crowd with their lively acoustic set laced with humour. Sounds like? Listen to our CD.. myspace.com/wutars

BEAT THE CITY

Oli Mckiernan of Beat The City charmed the crowd with an acoustic set of their rock infused ska. Usually poked firmly by electronics BTC are one to kick back and feel the laid back beats with.. myspace.com/beatthecity

FMS magazinE PRESENTS... nns

@ Tommy fly

PHOTOS: VIRGINIA FONDERICO WORDS: CONNIE HART

Legs eleven

This energetic threesome inject contemporary folk into the midst of indie rock, catchy melodies, and storytelling lyrics. We loved them and are pretty sure you will too. myspace.com/legselevenmusic

foreign office

These guys impressed our crowds to the max with their uber groove, bounce and funky flow. Check out their track on our cover CD.. Myspace.com/newvinyl FLYNN'S TOMMY EN HIGH ST 55 CAMD LONDON NW1 7JH

Johnny & The medicine show

Bringing the fifties melodies to a ‘twist n’ shout’ indie nation didn’t go amiss. The crowd loved a dirty great helping of Johnny’s hipster swagger. myspace.com/johnnyandthemedicineshow

glenn hodge

Painting a picture with his guitar, singer songwriter Glenn captivated his audience with an attack of folk rock and storytelling lyrics myspace.com/glennhodge

tommy flynn's NYE EXTRAVAGANZA PHOTOS: MICHAEL ROBERT WILLIAMS WORDS: CONNIE HART

NEW VINYL

Owning the stage, New Vinyl bailed in with their crashing chords and ‘know who we are’ attitude towards music. There was no escaping their energy. myspace.com/newvinyl1

VISIONS OF TREES

It’s getting HOT in here! With humid, damp beats, glistening vocals and ethnic layering; think tropical, sunny, atmospheric...think Visions Of Trees. myspace.com/visionsoftrees

SEAN REDMOND

The crowd were treated to impressively pure and powerful words from Sean Redmond who is utterly guitar happy and a genuine one of a kind song smith. myspace.com/seanredmond

CATCH ME I’M NAKED

No no, they weren’t naked, and no one had to catch them.You just have to catch their dance-rock beats, oh and catch your step too...’cause you’ll be dancing. myspace.com/catchmeimnaked

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ASK THE DJs...

BECAUSE LIFE IS A DANCEFLOOR! 1- Blue Monday - New Order

"I'm quite sure that you'll tell me. Just how I should feel today" (Or at least your boss will!)

2- Monday Morning - Pulp

"Chuck up in the street on Sunday. You don't want to live till Monday" (Or Friday night, preferably)

If your New Year's resolutions are taking a little time to hit it off (quit the day job in other words), and every week is looking the same fear not. We know the week always get better the closer you get to, well, the end of it. But knowing that your favourite band and song writers are also struggling to make it through the week may just go some way in easing the pain. And if anything our play list only goes to prove that there’s nothing glamorous about days of the week, even when living the rock’ n’ roll lifestyle; its Friday we’re in love! So if you’re stuck with those typical Monday morning blues and the best thing about your job is lunchtime, here’s Princesses Des Pomme’s pick of the best tunes to get you through the working wee… myspace.com/princessesdespommes

3- Manic Monday - Bangles

"Cause it takes me so long just to figure out what I'm gonna wear, blame it on the train..." (tube excuses, works every time.)

4- Gentle Tuesday - Primal Scream

"Can't conceal the way you really feel"(Yes, because you thought it was Thursday, at least by now!)

5- Love You Till Tuesday - David Bowie

"My passion's never ending and I'll love you til Tuesday" (So Wednesday, speed dating then?!)

6- Wednesday Week - The Undertones "Now she wants Saturday's perhaps?)

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week

7- Thursday - Asobi Seksu "All you do is remind me" (...that it's nearly the weekend)

8- Friday I'm In Love - The Cure "But Friday, never hesitate..." (Yeaaahhh!)

9- Saturday - Soulwax

"Saturday, you turn us on and you don't even have the decency to stay" (well, no awkward post-coital breakfast moments, at least!)

10- Sunday Morning - TheVelvet Underground "Early dawning" (or just not been to bed yet...)

Illustration: Lucy Barker - Words and Playlist by Isabel Dexter & Aline Bentley AKA Princesses Des Pommes

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