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Day: 16 October 2013

Syria: teaching in a warzone

Written by Jonathan Breen on . Posted in Features.

Academics at the University of Manchester awarded Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with the Notorious Belligerent Prize last week. He won for his “spectacular obtuseness and refusal to put anyone or anything before his personalised rule.” The accolade is intended as a “gentle way of mocking” the Nobel Peace Prize.

But, with reports of atrocities coming out of the country every day, for many the situation in Syria is deadly serious, including for one University of Manchester student who spent his summer on the frontlines of the civil war ravaging the country.

While most students were likely on holiday, or at home, Ibrahim Olabi was in his home country of Syria teaching law to militant fighters.

“I studied last year something called public international law,” said Olabi, a third year law student. “So I came across something called international humanitarian law, or known as the law of armed conflict, which regulates or tries to reduce the consequences of any war.

“Being from Syria I constantly think how I can apply this knowledge to my home country and how I can use this knowledge to its benefit.”

And apply he did. At the end of the last academic year, Ibrahim departed for Turkey, where he would cross the border into Syria and head for the northern city of Aleppo. During his nearly three month stay in the country he lived in an area under constant threat of attack, with next-to-no electricity, and suffering from severe food shortages, in order to establish what is the first organisation inside Syria training non-government fighters in the laws of war.

“It started with the idea of doing face-to-face seminars, so I would go speak to some leader in the Free Syrian army, explain the idea, and then ask him to get other brigades and battalions that may be interested,” Ibrahim told The Mancunion during an interview last week. “So a couple of days later we arrange a time and here I am giving a seminar to a group of fighters who are the ones taking decisions on the ground. Some were directly frontline people who had been called back for this training – I was impressed that the leader did that. He said ‘it is important for you guys to know these laws.’”

Ibrahim Olabi Photo: Peter Chinnock

After his exams in June, Ibrahim visited a friend at Amnesty International in London and they identified the key topics he would need to cover in the IHL training in Syria; the treatment of detainees, summary executions (executions without a trial), child soldiers, and targeting civilians.

A research team of friends based in Manchester gathered material on the relevant laws and then worked to simplify them.

“There is no point for example in going into Navy warfare or warplanes, because the rebels, or non-state actors, do not have this kind of weaponry. So we identified the kind of laws that are relevant to the Syrian fighters, we’ve translated them and made them a lot more simplified,” he said. “Because there is no point in me going to a fighter and saying the ‘third Geneva convention clause number one states…’ and reading it like this, because it is a bit complicated.

“So we’ve simplified them into simple flowcharts of dos and don’ts and put them into a PowerPoint presentation. We sat with a couple of Muslim scholars so that we can focus on the overlap between international humanitarian law and sharia law, because that’s the way that you will be able to convince a lot of fighters.”

As well as straightforward classes, Ibrahim and associates in Syria developed short videos to help visually demonstrate the laws, which are currently being edited with the goal of broadcasting them on local television networks.

“For us to reach more people we created videos,” he said. “One-minute sketches that reflect these humanitarian principles. These videos are acted out, so we’ve got people in military costumes, real guns, real locations, real ambulances, real tanks, areas that were ‘missiled’ – real destruction – things that Hollywood would pay millions to get. The scenarios are either drama or action – at the peak of the drama or action the video stops and the relevant laws are read out on screen by someone.”

Ibrahim and his group, called the Syria Legal Development Programme, have also received help from academics in England, including University of Manchester law professor Mark Reiff, who praised Ibrahim’s work.

“He is really pretty amazing in what he is doing and the amount of effort he has been putting in,” said Reiff. “He is trying to help provide the rebels guidance on how to comply with the laws of way in a way that they trust more than with other more traditional international organisations.

“Most regular armies give their soldiers training in these laws, but as rebel groups are not regular armies they have to look elsewhere. The Red Cross and other international organisations have traditionally been the people who have done this.

“Ibrahim is providing to rebels the training soldiers in regular armies might get. And this is a good thing because the more people understand these laws the more likely they are to comply with them. It is in everybody’s interest.”

Ibrahim has been working in Syria since the uprising started working initially as a “media activist, so I would usually take CNN, BBC journalists, German newspaper journalists around to the frontline so they could get what they want, which they can’t do on their own due to the language barrier and they don’t know where to go.”

Having been travelling back and forth to Syria since the outbreak of war in 2011, Ibrahim has seen harrowing things he will never forget. One of the hardest experiences for him was when enemy snipers opened fire on a group of rebel fighters and he was powerless to help.

“I was on the frontline with a journalist and about fifteen fighters were running to storm a building,” said Ibrahim. “Sadly they didn’t know there were snipers on the other side and they crossed thinking it was clear and when they crossed they shot them all down. They didn’t all die, but they had to stay down.

“It is one of the most horrific things I have seen, because we can’t go out and get them because we will be shot at. There was fifteen or twenty of them, initially about only six died. By the end of the day they had all died, they bled out to death, because we couldn’t reach them.

“We tried everything, we tried burning tires to create smoke so the sniper wouldn’t see, but they would just fire randomly. So that was one of the most difficult scenes, because I could see them they were like one hundred metres away and one, he was looking directly at me and I was unable to do anything. It is a bit emotional. That was one of the most difficult things I’ve seen.”

The Assad regime continues to run a relentless bombing campaign against rebels, using fighter jets to attack at will. The constant threat has led Ibrahim to always be on alert when he hears the sound of a plane flying overhead, which is a habit that has been hard to shake, even back in Manchester.

“When I hear a plane I automatically go into cover, or at least check out what is going on. At Manchester Airport, I know I am at an airport so logically I will hear planes, but even though, I step out, I hear a plane and I go to cover. Its what happens if I hear fireworks or anything like that, there is an initial shock,” he said.

But, things in Syria have changed since the outbreak of fighting, when governmetn jets would fly day and night. Rebels began shooting planes down – now they only fly at night. This presents its own problems to deal with.

“[They] shoot at anything that has its lights on,” Ibrahim said. “You can’t see them and they have night vision. You can travel by care but you have to focus a lot; turn on the light, turn off the light, turn on the light, turn off the light so that if you get bombed there is a little bit of a margin of error – you might a escape.

“Also, there are lots of checkpoints in the city and they tell you to turn off your lights long before you reach the checkpoint because if they see a car stopping with lights on they will know there is a checkpoint down there and it will get bombed. Even at night, in the houses we try to dim the lights, if you had electricity of course.”

The next step for Ibrahim and the Syria Legal Development Programme is to try and register as a charity with the UK government and then start working on funding. The organisation has already has already received numerous emails from lawyers, law students, and other organisations looking to collaborate with them. Among the former is UNICEF, “they wanted to know more about what we were doing for child protection and how I was focusing on this issue,” said Ibrahim. “I told them about the program and they said they were happy to send me any materials they had, materials on laws. And they’ve got a lot of presentations they could send and were happy to offer legal consultation when it comes to questions that relate to children.”

“We also got approached by an organisation called Geneva Call, which is one of the largest organisations that deals with the legal training of non-state actors, it is made for this purpose. They have trained people in Palestine, Lebanon, and now they are trying to train people in Syria but it is difficult because they can’t get into the country easily because of bureaucracy or safety of staff and so on. So they got in touch with us and said how can we help, how can we cooperate.”

Ibrahim added that his teaching in Syria put pressure on him because the fighters take his what he says to be accurate, and that he was warned not to judge his students.

He said, “everything I say they take for granted, which puts huge pressure on me.

“Before I did this I consulted a group called Libyan lawyers for justice – I asked them about the psychology of tackling such seminars, because you need to be very careful and the most important thing that they told me was don’t judge them. Don’t ask them to tell you something that they’ve done, don’t give examples of breaches their comrades have made. Don’t make them feel judged…If they remember something they have done – a breach they have made – they will keep quiet about, but they will not do it again.

“I’m not taking their names, I don’t know who they are. It’s just me knowing one person who knows the rest and I’m speaking to them, and I’m with them at the frontline, we can get bombed together at the same moment and they appreciate that. So they were like ‘yeah sure, give us whatever knowledge you’ve got.’”

Interview: Roy Davis Jr.

Written by Matt Gibney on . Posted in Music.

While the term ‘legend’ is often bandied about far too flippantly these days, it’s a very apt way to describe American house music producer Roy Davis Jr. Hailing from Chicago – the home of house – Davis is perhaps best known to British listeners for his 1996 single ‘Gabriel’ which became a staple in clubs across the world. However that doesn’t begin to tell the full story of a career which has seen Davis release six albums and countless singles, collaborate with Daft Punk and inspire much of today’s talent in the process.

Davis is quick to recognise the influence his Chicago upbringing had on him musically. “I’d probably be doing something different if I hadn’t grown up in Chicago,” he explains. “House music was our culture. We grew up going to parties where it didn’t matter what nationality you were. Everyone danced together and had a good time. There were no problems at a house music party even though there were situations where you had different gangs or whatever. Gangbangers would come in and they would just enjoy themselves and dance.”

Despite the influence of the city’s house scene, Davis reveals his earliest musical inspiration came from non-electronic musicians. “I grew up listening to Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis, Curtis Mayfield and Bob Marley. It was these people who were the artists I looked up to even though I’m from more of an electronic world. Their strength and courage to say something that was meaningful stayed in my heart for a very long time.”

Sustaining a career in music for over twenty years is a rare feat. Davis puts his success down to his own sense of openness. “You’ll never paint a different picture if you’re always staying the same,” he says. “I’ve always tried to have my mind open to all different genres of music and I think this openness to creativity is what still has me here today. I’m not trying to make a hit every time, I’m just being open and some people happen to enjoy it.”

More recently Davis has been collaborating with Manchester native Zed Bias on his forthcoming album for Loefah’s Swamp 81 imprint. “Everything just flowed really quickly. It’s fun when you come together from two different places and see where you’re at in the studio. A lot of people bump heads but we walked right in, went with the flow and got down.” Fans of both Zed Bias and Davis will be pleased to know there are more tracks in the works. “We already have a few more tracks in the can and it’s just up to us when we decide to release them.”

In addition to this collaboration, Davis has recently finished work on his seventh studio album. “The approach to this album was different. My last few albums had pretty straightforward messages but this one I wanted to be more about fun and I’ve tried to reflect the original sound of house music within it.” He explains. “I couldn’t ask for it to come out any better. My travelling enabled me to see what other sounds are going on out there and I’ve been looking at the whole 90s revival thing which seems to be happening in all of the different countries I’ve been playing.”

Davis is planning to tour extensively over the next twelve months in support of the album – soon to be released on Miles End – amongst other plans. “There’s going to be a lot of touring. I’m also resurfacing my old label Underground Therapy and just having fun enjoying life.”

Fortunately all Manchester-based fans will be able to catch Davis at the Manchester leg of the Sound History Tour at the Antwerp Mansion on Tueday 22nd October alongside Eliphino, Shola Ama, Sticky, Oscar Luweez and Moony. Davis talks excitedly about the show, “When I spin I try to reflect the time period I started through to where I am now. I love playing music – new and old.” What can we expect? “Oh man, you can expect everything! There’ll be some deep house through to Chicago Trax as well as some acid house. Just party music man! Everyone’s gonna have a good time. I’d like to stay on the decks for four hours if I can!”

Opinion: Are The Libertines languishing?

Written by Matt Byrne on . Posted in Music.

Back in August 2010 The Libertines were busy giving chaotic, sweat-filled and action packed performances to energized crowds at Leeds and Reading. The anticipation for these performances was high, with the prospect of seeing Pete Doherty and Carl Barat reunite on stage being mouth-watering for many. The Libertines, reliable for once, delivered on all fronts and fans went home happy, hoping that the aftermath of this would be some new music or at least a tour. It appeared though that Pete Doherty was too busy with his acting and so Carl and Pete went their separate ways. What’s clear to me is that the band members’ musical endeavours after splitting have lacked the spark and dynamism that once made The Libertines so loved.

On the Wednesday of Freshers’ week, Carl Barat and Gary Powell (ex drummer and guitarist of the band) played, what I would describe as, a dismal DJ set at one of Manchester’s grottiest venues. Recently they have been dragging themselves to all ends of the country to give this half-arsed set of predictable indie pop songs. Who would have thought two years ago that two members of the band would be jumping up and down to ‘First Love’ by The Maccabees, in front of a crowd of university freshers, at Fifth Avenue? It felt like a desperate attempt to recoup every penny they could be relying on during the glories of yesteryear. There were some similarities to their set at Reading, in terms of the copious amounts of sweat, and the struggle to stand up – but the optimism of fresh creative output seemed to have faded.

Previously when The Libertines had split up, Carl and Gary formed the band Dirty Pretty Things with Anthony Rossomando. The band’s first album Waterloo to Anywhere was a moderate success, and received a warm critical reception. The album really gave Carl the chance to unleash his frustration at the erratic nature of the Libertines and a chance to write, without the bitter spats between him and Doherty getting in the way. However Carl’s only solo album is tinged with adolescence about ‘running with the boys, night after night’. Whilst Doherty’s solo effort did provide a glimmer of his song writing talent, his career has been on the downturn since writing ‘Fuck Forever’. The positive for Doherty is that he will always be an entertaining live act to watch – his recent show at the Academy with Babyshambles confirmed this.

The question on everyone’s lips used to be “when will The Libertines release a new album?”, but now this has changed to “is there a space for The Libertines in contemporary music?”. The most commercially successful British guitar band of the moment, Arctic Monkeys, seem to have constantly developed their sound with each album leading to a heavier, smoother finish. Can the Libertines following the same path? One last hurrah for the Libertines seems inevitable at some point, but would a return be worth it? At this moment, I’d suggest not.

 

Live: Johnny Borrell

Written by Casper Hughes on . Posted in Music.

Ruby Lounge

4th October

2/10

594 album sales in its first week, universal mockery over the unashamedly pretentious track names (the single released as a precursor to the album was called ‘Pan-European Supermodel Song (Oh Gina!)’) as well as a distinct lack of reviewers willing to give the album more than a lowly five out of ten, has highlighted the decline of Johnny Borrell, Razorlight’s indie superstar. We all remember Johnny Borrell, right? A man whose career was born and moulded completely from the early 2000s indie resurgence, someone who along with Pete Doherty and Carl Barat typified the hedonism of that musical era. Despite their arguably more destructive paths however, Borrell, rather than being lovingly pitied like Doherty was, seemed to be always treated with more disdain, often being depicted in the press as the rock star who led a glitzy celebrity lifestyle yet needed to come back down to earth. Furthermore, his overreaching self-assurance was viewed as the main reason for the decline of Razorlight.

I was one of a half full crowd to see the return of the indie Messiah at Ruby Lounge last Friday, where he was supported by his band ‘Zazou’. Songs such as ‘Cyrano Masochiste’, were not only ridiculous in name but strangely and tackily performed with the band ending up all whacking away on percussive instruments – a method which can be fruitful when used at the climax of a powerful song. Yet in the context of the jangly indie-ska which preceded the band’s attempts at percussive improvisation, the effect was a meek one and drew the feeling that although they were busting a gut, their songs lacked enough punch to penetrate a rather distracted audience. In fact, saying that the songs lacked punch is generous. The band’s gimmicky, elaborate costumes (all of them wore some sort of extravagant hat apart from Johnny) and their hyperactive stage presence, failed to mask that the quality of the song writing is truly dreadful.

Having played to 200,000 people at Live8 in London in 2005, here Johnny Borrell was; 150 people or so witnessing the painful decline of one of our generation’s most controversial rock stars.

 

Album: Johnny Flynn – Country Mile

Written by George Bailey on . Posted in Music.

Released 30th September, 2013

Transgressive

7/10

It may have been three years since Johnny Flynn’s last studio album, 2010’s spectacular Been Listening, but life certainly hasn’t been quiet for the Sussex Wit frontman. More accustomed to the theatre stage of late, his performance in hit-play Jerusalem was considered worthy of an Olivier Award nomination, whilst he’s channelled his Shakespearean influences in Richard the Third and Twelfth Night. He’s been cast in a new film alongside Anne Hathaway, and recorded a full soundtrack to the film A Bag of Hammers. A true chameleon of the arts. Oh and he’s become a father, making it all the more remarkable that Country Mile ever saw the light of day.

Those hoping for an album cut from the same cloth as A Larum and Been Listening will be pleased to know that the follow-up doesn’t stray far from their folk-rock formula. The quality of Flynn’s songwriting and the poetic beauty of his lyrics shine as bright as ever, setting this record alight with an earnest delivery and an authenticity that fellow ‘folk’ bands like Mumford & Sons can only dream of.

The title-track’s thrashy opening chords spark the album to life; it’s an electric-infused number where the rich quality of Flynn’s voice blends perfectly with a fierce guitar-led chorus. At the other end of the scale, the stripped-down ‘Gypsy Hymn’ brings the harmonising Flynn siblings to the forefront, where Lillie delivers falsetto vocals that astonish with a beautiful fragility. Underpinned with a warm piano ballad from Johnny, it evokes memories of the similarly-heartfelt ‘Amazon Love’ from Been Listening. This isn’t the only track with an air of familiarity, however. As a consequence of its position firmly inside the safety zone, some of Country Mile’s songs feel almost self-derivative, though at least they’re derived from the most exciting and captivating folk-rock sound in years.

‘The Lady is Risen’ employs the full range of Flynn’s vocals, and the whole spectrum of instruments he lends his hand to, being credited with guitar, vocals, trumpets, organ and piano on the liner notes (presumably not all at the same time, though that would be impressive). His quavering high-notes are nothing short of sumptuous and the crescendos roar with energy.

It’s more of a careful step sideways than a country mile forward, but the heart of the album never strays far from the surface. Imbued with traditional English charm and wit, tales of journeys and countryside, it further cements Johnny Flynn as the real heart and soul of Britain’s nu-folk scene.

Classics digested: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Written by Paul Reilly on . Posted in Books.

WHO is the author?

Flamboyant fop Oscar Wilde was one of the most controversial literary figures of his day. A remarkably eloquent and outspoken aesthete, he claimed to “have made art a philosophy, and philosophy an art.” Before being convicted and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in 1895 for “gross indecency” (legalese for ‘being gay’), Wilde had cemented his reputation as a master of the epigram with his highly popular plays Lady Windermere’s Fan, An Ideal Husband, The Importance of Being Earnest, and his only published novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray.

WHAT is it about?

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a hedonistic romp through the opulent high society parlours and seedy opium dens of 19th century London. Inspired by the hilariously decadent Lord Henry Wotton, the handsome young eponymous character sets out on a life of amoral excess safe in the knowledge that, by way of a supernatural twist of fate, it will be a portrait of him, rather than his own body, which will suffer the debilitating effects. Turning his back on virtue, Dorian spends the next 18 years indulging in every vice, his actual body remaining unchanged and youthful while that of his portrait grows older and more disfigured. However, despite his outward appearance, Dorian realises he cannot prevent the effects of his sins upon his soul, and eventually pays the price.

WHY should you read it?

At turns deeply philosophical and wickedly funny, The Picture of Dorian Gray is both a thought-provoking and hugely entertaining novel. In the figure of Lord Henry Wotton, Wilde gives us one of the most quotable characters in 19th-century fiction, and it is impossible not to be seduced by his witticisms. Watching the 2009 film adaptation pales in comparison to the experience of reading the novel, since much of the dialogue is cut, and we miss out on Wilde’s rich and beautiful descriptive language. Despite being a relatively slow reader, it took me a day and a half to finish it.

Classic quote

“The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.”

Review: Filth

Written by Tom Bruce on . Posted in Film.

“An entertaining punch in the face”; so says James McAvoy of new Irvine Welsh adaptation Filth. While I cannot speak for McAvoy’s pugilistic exploits/masochism, I can confirm that his latest film delivers a real shock to the system. Detective Sergeant Robertson (McAvoy) is a despicable piece of work; saddled with the case of a murdered tourist and obsessed with securing a promotion, Robertson engages in so called ‘games’ to demean and betray his colleagues, thus improving his prospects for the position of Detective Inspector. His delusions of grandeur and moral corruption intensify over time, making his reliability as a narrator questionable. No one around him, save the fiery Amanda Drummond (Imogen Poots), makes any effort to disapprove of his blatant alcoholism, not to mention coke addiction or sexual perversions.

McAvoy as Robertson will intrigue and disgust you, seizing your attention and gripping it in his sleazy, nicotine-stained fingers. His performance in Filth consolidates McAvoy as a great actor, not just a good one; the habitual nature of Robertson’s debauchery is insurmountable and one cannot help but sympathise as he spirals towards the nadir of human existence. The supporting cast are top notch too. Eddie Marsan plays against type as Robertson’s naive, tormented best friend and gets plenty of laughs while Jim Broadbent is outstanding as an increasingly maniacal and wide eyed ‘head doctor’; “Bigger problems? BIGGER PILLS, YEEEEEEES?”

Vibrant and colourful as it is morally revolting, Jon S. Baird’s Filth violates the senses. Baird has come a long way; just seven years ago he was a ‘technical assistant’ on Green Street Hooligans (if you like that film…good for you!). Clint Mansell’s (Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream) haunting original score plus foot-thumping covers of classics like Creep and, ahem!, Winter Wonderland work beautifully in conjunction with the visual bazaar that is Filth.

Author Irvine Welsh claims he prefers Baird’s creation to the book (which you are recommended to read also – it contains some remarkably inventive narrative tools and is even more twisted than the film) and has even suggested that Filth is a rival to Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting. While that may be a stretch, Filth is an emotionally challenging, hilarious and exceptionally memorable motion picture. Sadly though, nobody says “Smaaaaack!”

 ★★★★★

Album: Anna Calvi – One Breath

Written by Samuel Ward on . Posted in Music.

Released 7th October, 2013

Domino Records

7/10

Anna Calvi has so far managed to aim her seductive rhythm stick quite high, with her debut album being highly-regarded throughout the musical mob. However the challenge facing her now is the infamous second album. Calvi spent a good year writing this record and an intense few weeks recording which seems to have done it some good; the concepts behind the music are delicate but the production remains fiery and doesn’t completely overshadow her biggest trademark – passion. It’s hard for Calvi to be boring since her music is already eclectic and flailing, but One Breath manages to strap on some new contraptions to her sound that present a new pocket of flavours.

‘Piece by Piece’ is a brightly coloured track that feels like a rapids, pulling you either side before gently floating you into pockets of smooth, arpeggiated violins. It’s complicated in the best possible way, never giving you time to make full sense of what’s going on. ‘Love of my Life’ is definitely the black sheep of the album which locks you in a garage with plenty of fuzz pedals and beats you silly like you’re its little noise rock bitch. Nevertheless, the album definitely has a tender touch. ‘The Bridge’, the shortest track (unfortunately), is a pure, swooning choral taste of everything that relates the sweeter sides of Calvi’s two albums.

The album succeeds in its aims to present a more focused and wider view of Anna Calvi’s magical, deeply-voiced kingdom. Less of a statement-maker, more of a “let’s see what these feel like together”. There are still small problems. It can get a bit much at times and might feel like one giant church explosion, but that’s probably because this album is obviously deep. It’s the type of deep where you’ll hear a new interpretation with every few listens – which definitely isn’t a bad thing.

All in all, the experimentation and bizarre hooks give the album a very twisted yet harmonic feel. Maybe it is a bit similar to the first album, but Calvi has shown us that she can still write interesting music with the same passion, energy and sexiness that gives it its bite. Breath it and see.

Live: Nick Mulvey

Written by Jamie Bulman on . Posted in Music.

The Lowry

September 30th

7/10

Folk superstar Laura Marling is a tough act to support, especially at a venue such as the breathtaking Lowry in Salford’s Media City UK. However Nick Mulvey, former hang player and percussionist of Mercury Award nominated progressive Jazz outfit Portico Quartet, put on a show which effortlessly measured up to the angsty English rose.

Silence fell across the Lyric theatre as the auditorium lights dimmed and the soft-spoken Nick Mulvey took the stage, as if walking in off the street. In baggy jeans and a t-shirt he looked truly relaxed – no mean feat when standing alone on a stage which has held world-class Operas and groundbreaking theatre productions. Confidently gazing into the bright lights, he launched into the haunting ‘April’. As his fingers glided across the nylon guitar strings in a swirling ostinato, he gave out a ghostly hum that drifted across the silent crowd.

Throughout the set Mulvey’s diverse influences became apparent, as he moved from the rolling picking of a Spanish ballad to slapped cross-rhythms reminiscent of an African djembe, to a cover of Gillian Welch’s country hit ‘Look at Miss Ohio’.

In spite of his instrumental prowess however, it is the lyrics that at points failed to capture the imagination. The title track of Mulvey’s 2013 release Fever to the Form was full of the sentimental clichés that have become definitive of mainstream nu-folk artists such as Ben Howard and Marika Hackman. It was a shame to see an artist with such a genre-defying potential fall at the final metaphorical hurdle.

Live: CocoRosie

Written by Bernadette Chapman on . Posted in Music.

Academy 2

29th September

6/10

CocoRosie hail from a distinctly different background, all spirit animals and home schooling, and it shows. Sisters Sierra and Bianca Cassidy make up half of CocoRosie’s live band, supplemented by keys and a beatboxer.

Keys enter first, segueing so well from the ambient noises playing before their appearance that it’s barely noticeable. Sierra follows, waving her hands about before wailing in to the microphone like a hippy Siouxie Sioux. After this is the Beatboxer followed by Bianca, wild of hair like her sister. The stage is set up with a clothes line, featuring the contents of an idiosyncratic dressing up box, and the sisters pull on clothes from this throughout the set. This dress up continues when they put on some outré make up in a centre stage mirror, action which we see projected through the staging of some innovative live visuals.

All these distractions make the music second place. If they were on a bare stage in jeans and t-shirts, the genuine pop heart of their music would be clearer, but their distinctiveness muted. In such a long set, the songs begin to feel similar, with a change in tempo, a kooky vocal, a wailing banshee. However, tracks such as ‘RIP Burn Face’ demand attention. As Sierra sings this in the mirror we can see an expressive and moving performance from a greatly talented singer. Even Bianca’s vocals, which can jar on record, are tempered somewhat and her abilities as a vocalist are clear.

Their endearing kookiness is infectious, and quickly punctures any cynicism of this free spirited performance. The crowd get involved, and surrounded by unconscious dancing it’s impossible not to join in, with mum dancing meeting fear and loathing style moves. However, whilst the dedicated fans can’t get enough and shout for a second encore, for a more ambivalent spectator, it’s definitely time to leave.

Live: The Twang

Written by Dan Whiteley on . Posted in Music.

Club Academy

30th September

8/10

Depending on your point of view, The Twang are either the loveable everyman underdogs of indie rock, or simply another victim of the notoriously fickle, here-today-gone-tomorrow NME hype machine that has claimed the lives of so many bands and artists. When we last left our heroes, they had just released their third album 10:20 to relatively little fanfare. Filled with the type of danceable lad rock that has become their trademark, the record cemented their status as the Happy Mondays of the Spotify generation – with the fans, if not the public. And, as their live set shows, this is a band that is all about the fans.

Opening act Jaws managed to hold the attention of those arriving early with a short but vibrant set of dreamy jangle pop. By the time Phil Etheridge and his merry men swaggered onstage, the crowd had grown considerably, with first song and early favourite ‘Ice Cream Sundae’ setting the agenda for the night: this was to be an energetic, no-frills crowd pleaser of a show.

With the band in high spirits and delivering a tight performance, recent single ‘We’re A Crowd’ created the first of many mass sing-a-longs, while the rest of the set drew heavily from their much-loved debut Love It When I Feel Like This. The only real lull was the obligatory brand new song, which received polite applause from an audience that had so obviously come to hear the songs they knew. Big name tracks ‘Barney Rubble’ and ‘Wide Awake’ were saved until the encore, and got the best reception of the night, with choruses tailor made for being shouted back at the band by giddy, slightly pissed-up fans. In fact, it was during these moments that The Twang made most sense; these are not songs to listen to alone in your room, they’re meant for singing along to with your mates, beer in hand. And in that sense, they definitely delivered.

Interview: Travis

Written by Dan Whiteley on . Posted in Music.

Travis are a band that, for young and old alike, need no introduction. Famous for making sensitivity fashionable at the turn of the millennium, the Scottish four-piece are back after a lengthy hiatus with their new album Where You Stand.  When I speak to Dougie Payne – founding member, bassist and sometimes-songwriter – he’s fresh off a twelve-hour bus ride to Denver, Colorado, on the band’s first major international tour in half a decade which hits the UK, including Manchester, later this month.

Why, I ask, did they take such a long sabbatical? “It’s quite a long time, isn’t it? We kind of decided after we finished the last tour that we wanted to take some time out, and spend that time just being dads and being at home”, he admits, “Because you can’t get that time back. And if the success of previous records buys you anything, it doesn’t buy you stuff, it buys you time. Also, you need to spend time apart, ‘coz if you don’t, there’s nothing surer to break a band up than getting sick of each other!”

A lot has happened in the time Travis have been away, not least of all the members’ steady embracement of middle age, a fact which Dougie states was not lost on the band. “There was a working title for the record, which was In The Middle Of. You just feel like that when you hit forty, but we all feel really good about it actually. It’s weird, ‘coz it’s like, we’re all forty, and we’re reflecting on what is – hopefully – the first half of our lives, but also we’ve all got kids so we’re looking forward as well. So it’s reflective and positive. That’s very much, I think, a theme of the record.”

Certainly, reflection and contemplation are – in typical Travis style – the order of the day on Where You Stand, an album which features songs written and co-written by Dougie himself, including recent single ‘Moving’. “It was a couple of things: being and living in New York was part of it; a classic cliché.” he says, discussing how the track came about, “I was writing about, basically, moving around. Kelly [Macdonald, Payne’s wife] and I were moving every six months because she’s filming Boardwalk Empire in New York. The logistics of that is tricky, and I was finding it quite hard, and I had this epiphany. I was walking down the street one day, and I was like ‘ah, man, that’s what it’s all about!’ That’s just what it is, you don’t stop, and it’s just accepting that life is movement. Life is change, and that song is a kind of celebration of that.”

Where You Stand reached number three on the UK Album Chart upon release two months ago, which gave the band a return to a level of commercial success they enjoyed a decade ago; their previous record, 2008’s Ode to J. Smith, whilst well received by fans, failed to make much of a splash on the radio. Reflecting on this, Dougie muses “Well, you always want a record to do well, but the nice thing about J. Smith was that it was critically well received, which we never really had before. Even The Man Who got absolutely slated; every single review was terrible. I remember sitting on Franny’s floor in his house and we had all the newspapers out and all the magazines, and we were looking at them all and we were like ‘aww, fuck.’”

The recording of J. Smith was, for Travis, a relatively unorthodox procedure. “We said we were gonna go into a rehearsal room for three weeks, write a record in those three weeks and then we’re gonna record it in two weeks, so within a month we’ve got a new record.” For a band used to painstakingly crafting their music, this was a big leap. “We ended up making this very interesting, odd rock album. It was very rocky, like a garage band, very reminiscent of Good Feeling, so I can understand why radio would slightly balk against that. I kinda got it, but I was still pleased that we made that record. It was huge for us.”

As the conversation draws to a close, I ask Dougie what the future holds for a band that have achieved so many career milestones already. “We’ll see. We’ve got a lot of touring to do over the next year, we’re gonna be all over the place. This tour was a bit of a step into the unknown to be honest, because we haven’t played in the US for four years, and we had no idea if anybody would turn up! We had no idea what our situation was here, but it’s been great, really enjoyable and the shows have been fantastic, so fingers crossed that will continue.” On the subject of future Travis material, he sounds hopeful. “We’ll keep writing songs, and if we get a few songs we feel strongly about, we’ll just keep putting them out; we’ll keep going as long as we have the songs. With J. Smith, it felt like a full circle. This feels like the start of something new.”

Live: Miles Kane

Written by Patrick Barker on . Posted in Music.

Manchester Academy 1

27th September

6/10

Miles Kane is a pretty frequent sight in Manchester, something he was glad to mention at his gig on Saturday. He loves to jam with us and it’s clear we love to too. Sporting a snazzy new haircut, he left much of his Paul Weller-esque crowd disappointed; although it’s become relatively uncommon to see many Noel Gallagher types walking around Piccadilly these days, you wouldn’t  have known it from the crowd on Saturday night who were clearly paying tribute to his usual mod stylings.

Having appeared at Glastonbury, T in the Park and Hyde Park it was no surprise that Saturday’s gig was packed out. He donned the stage with an air of confidence held by those few who know they rock, and right from the word go Miles had everyone on their toes with songs from his first solo album Colour of the Trap performing such songs as ‘Inhaler’ and ‘Come Closer’ along with ‘Give Up’ from his new album released in February of this year. He is a brilliant showman, one whose enthusiasm was reflected vibrantly by the crowd.

Although I had a blast, I still feel for the experience that Miles has he could do more to move off the middle road and try something a bit more daring and new, speaking specifically towards ‘King Crawler’ which although allows for some groovy riffs leaves much to be desired in terms of lyrics.

Miles Kane definitely isn’t for everyone. He performs a mixture of indie/psychedelic rock and mod revival but if you ever liked Arctic Monkeys then Miles Kane might be for you. Many of the songs from his first album are co-written by Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner and it is pretty clear they are. It is definitely recommended if you plan to attend a Miles Kane gig to revise your knowledge of his lyrics, because if Saturday was any testament to the crowds he pulls, you will enjoy yourself far more being able to join in on the many sing-alongs occurring during the course of his gig.