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Day: 22 October 2015

Cambridge Master scolds student bullies for “sadistic initiation rites”

The Master of Gonville & Caius College at the University of Cambridge has sent out an outraged e-mail to students following the annual ‘army pub crawl’ held two weeks ago.

The e-mail, sent by Professor Sir Alan Fersht, a 72-year-old don at the University of Cambridge, demands that behaviour such as that he witnessed on CCTV at the pub crawl be “nipped in the bud.”

Fersht described the event as “a national scandal of students drinking irresponsibly, indulging in laddish behaviour and sadistic initiation rites, and men plying women with drink and abusing them.”

Foremost on the Don’s list of grievances was older student’s “bullying” first years into drinking, which he claimed to have witnessed on the university’s CCTV system. Bystanders are just as much at fault in Fersht’s book for not attempting to stop the events.

“I fear that these bullies,” Fersht explains, “will leave the College and become unethical pariahs like insider traders, exchange rate riggers and corrupt Volkswagen engineers.”

The Professor’s duties are first and foremost to monitor the welfare of the student body. Behaviour such as this, he fears, are becoming far too common, and pose a serious threat to the wellbeing of his students.

Fersht cites how “incapacitated students were dumped on other students’ floors without any regard to the consequences that there could have been a fatality because of inhalation of vomit.”

Alcohol-fuelled “initiations” such as these are, as Fersht states “deeply rooted” in universities throughout the UK. This incident is far from the first in Cambridge’s track record of such behavior.

An ex-Cambridge student described to The Mancunion how, as a first year, “you would get ‘parents’ who would be two second years and they would get you drunk.”

The colleges would also host “swap” events, she tells us, where a small group of females from one college organise a night with a same-sized group of males from another college. All attendees were required to bring a bottle of wine to the event.

“The same thing for societies as well; the Natural Science society took us to the Mahal [restaurant] and you take wine and play drinking games all night.”

Cambridge also made headlines this past summer when 2,000 undergraduate students took to a city centre park “Caesarian style” and engaged in drinking games while stripping off clothing.

The don concluded his e-mail imploring students to “not indulge in irresponsible drinking but take advantage of all the academic, social, sporting and cultural activities that make up our unique environment and will shape your future lives.”

In the meantime, the college’s “Fresher’s bop” has been cancelled. Fersht also has encouraged the pub crawl’s leaders to right their misdeeds “by writing letters of apology to your victims and by discussing the events with your Tutors.”

The fickleness of fame

Now that the internet has become firmly ingrained in all of our day to day lives, more and more people are finding themselves stamped with the label of ‘celebrity’. Although internet fame is a relatively new phenomenon, it’s one that has taken society by storm, prompting millions of young people across the globe to take to their computers in bid to post something funny/controversial/disturbing enough to go viral. This type of fame is a particularly fickle one, with many people being forgotten just days after they’ve achieved international celebrity status. However, there are some who have managed to stay the test of time.

One such figure is 18-year-old Kylie Jenner. You might know her as the youngest member of the infamous Kardashian-Jenner clan (who—admit it, we all love to hate), but it has been through social media that this young lady has truly managed to find her calling. Amassing over 39 million followers on Instagram and 1.8 million on Twitter, Jenner epitomises all that is to be an ‘internet famous’ teenager.

Distinguished by THAT bee-stung, overfilled pout, a typical selfie from her generally garners over a million likes—though that is not to say that she’s no stranger to criticism. Not too long after the brunette controversially enhanced her lips with surgical fillers, the #kyliejennerchallege took the internet by storm. Millions of people across the globe began posting videos and pictures of themselves using shot glasses, bottles and cups to suction their lips into ‘the perfect Kylie pout’—however the method may have taken an attempt at humour a bit too far.

The reportedly painful process was said to leave results that could last for hours—even days, when blood vessels in the lips burst. Although the teen tried to distance herself from the challenge and its promotion, it certainly worked in thrusting her even further into the internet spotlight. Her social media followers increased dramatically, and she began to overtake nearly all of her sisters in terms of popularity—something that was dramatically pointed out for all to see when the ‘Klan’ each released their own personalised apps last month.

Kylie topped the iTunes app chart in just one day after releasing her digital hub—beating her older sister (and argued ‘leader’ of the famous family) Kim. When looking at the app, it’s easy to see why she did it—it costs $2.99 to access its content and it’s also full of links to clothes and accessories that ‘King Kylie’ recommends, earning her thousands of dollars in advertiser’s fees alone.

As much as she’s been criticised, it’s somewhat hard to blame Kylie Jenner for utilising her status as a celebrity to further her income. Given the chance, wouldn’t we all do the same? However, money making isn’t the only side effect that social media can have. Nearly everyone we know has at least some form of it on their phones or laptops, and more than most have the whole lot: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and so on. But hardly any of us seem to understand the risks that such profiles pose. While we might think social media is a great resource for stalking our exes to see whether or not their new babes is as hot as us, when you really think about it, the fact that we have the capability of doing that is actually quite scary.

While what we’re doing is pretty harmless, there are people out there that use the same methods to do a distinctly more sinister type of stalking. It’s easy to forget the safety measures you’re willingly foregoing when you sign up for social media, perhaps that’s something that we, as young people, need to become more aware of.

Preview: Unravel

If you told me this time last year that one of the games I would be the most hyped for in 2015 would be about a ball of string in a field, I would have questioned whether you were feeling alright. But there I was, intently watching a developer presentation on the EA stage about Unravel and the only thing stopping me from jumping to grab the free shirts they were throwing out was the fact I was standing in the queue to play it.

Unravel is a physics based game where you play as Yarny, an anthropomorphic ball of string that tries to traverse the world around him using his string to climb, bounce off and manipulate the environment.

Initially starting off at an elderly woman’s house, you travel through distant lands using nothing but your twine, and with distant lands comes different puzzles. You’ll find yourself navigating a small pond one minute and then the next having to deal with radioactive waste.

However, you have to be frugal with your yarn as if you run out you can’t progress, and have to back-pedal to try again. Solutions in this game are always quite novel and require a degree of lateral thinking before the sudden “Eureka!” moment hits.

The creative director on Unravel, Martin Sahlin, made a prototype Yarny doll while on holiday with his children and took pictures of him in different scenarios, which speaks volumes for the amount of heart and charm this game has.

When Sahlin speaks about the game it is always with a strong passion for the project and a love for what he is doing. His natural nervousness on stage and seeing him discussing how he wanted the game to feel and how fun he could make it was more effective than any focus group or rehashed old IP could ever be. I for one cannot wait for this game to come out in 2016.

Is our pursuit of A.I. as intelligent as we think?

Throughout the last decade, we have seen unprecedented, and perhaps to some, unimaginable technological growth. With each year that goes by, the power and influence technology possesses grows at a rate unseen in any other industry.

Whether it be for the social, economic or medicinal aspects of our lives, it is undeniable that we are rapidly heading for an existence in which we are rarely detached from technology’s influence. Whilst this growth and expansion has it indisputable benefits, are we really ready for the world which we seem so desperate to attain?

For the past few decades, science fiction has enabled us a glimpse into the future of technology and how it impacts our lives. From Ridley Scott’s dystopian and pessimistic look at our relationship with artificial intelligence in Blade Runner, to Spike Jonze’s Her—which takes a less noir approach to what it would mean to fall in love with an intelligent computer operating system—the broad scope of theories regarding the future of tech and artificial intelligence have been represented again and again.

Yet, as time goes on, such scenarios are becoming less of a figment of imagination, and more of a hard hitting reality. With 64 per cent of Americans owning a smartphone and Silicon Valley boasting an estimated GDP of $176 billion, we can see first-hand how technology and our relationship with it is shaping our society.

This growth has, of course, had numerous positive, and often life-saving, consequences. For instance, the summer of last year saw Colorado resident Les Baugh become the first double amputee to wear and operate modular prosthetic limbs. What separates these prosthetics from others previously developed and used, is that Baugh was able to operate them simply by using his brain as if he were moving his own limbs. These prosthetics are also able to simulate feelings of touch, whilst simultaneously interacting with existing muscles in the torso to enable realistic movement.

Yet, alongside undeniably important and positive developments such as this, has come an arguably darker and more troubling side of technological advancement and intelligence.

Implants and microchips have long been of interest to many, and have, again, been the subject and premise of many science fiction stories. But with both large tech companies and individual ‘biohackers’ now pursuing the development of them in real life, we are faced with an increasingly important and tough question regarding how far we should take such modifications.

Arguably, the ability to monitor and alter things such as our blood sugar through the use of a small implant in the forearm can only bear positive implications. As would brain implants, proposed by a number of companies, which offer a similar package but with the combined ability to download and store an incomprehensible and inhuman amount of data within seconds. It is this ability to take us into the realm of inhumanity, however, that is the troubling part.

Case in point—American company RealDoll are currently collaborating with robotics companies in order to produce lifelike sex dolls that allow for artificial intelligence to be installed in order to replicate ‘sex talk’ and the discourse of a real relationship. Although to some this offers a solution to a number of issues prevalent in modern day society which make it difficult to engage in a real relationship, to others it signifies a problematic and dangerous step towards the death of relationships as a whole.

This may seem like a far-fetched and unrealistic outcome, but one only has to look to Japan, a country synonymous with technological advancement, to recognise that this is not the case.

As a nation constantly in the pursuit of technological superiority, Japan are at the forefront of an artificial intelligence revolution—the revenue from their Robotics industry is expected to reach $75 billion within the next ten years. Yet, although this may do wonders for the development of useful technologies such as those previously mentioned, it is also having a dangerous and dramatic effect on their society as a whole.

With a median age of 46, Japan is the second oldest country in the world. Although not the sole cause of this issue, one factor in their reaching of such an old age may be the development of companion and sexual robots that negate the need for human interaction. Much like the aforementioned biometric implants, such a denial of the fundamental human need for relationships with one another can only signify a damaging deduction from the human experience.

It is undeniable that technology and artificial intelligence is necessary to a number of aspects of human life. And yes, it has had endless positive ramifications everywhere from the labour market to medicine. However, can we afford to take it to a a level which sees our existence as social, cohabiting people threatened? Or even to a level, as seen in Japan, that leads to the negation of reproduction itself?

Stephen Hawking said in December 2014, “the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.” This may seem far-fetched, but as the pursuit of an enhanced human experience continues, it seems we are in actual fact doing more to undermine and diminish it.

Play Expo 2015

This year, I went to Manchester’s EventCity to experience Play Expo 2015. An annual event that brings together game lovers from all around the country, Play Expo lived up to the hype of previous years whilst still bringing something different this time around.

Play Expo 2015 was all about the indie-gaming experience. Although there were many games on display from the established markets, the indie games were the ones that really stood out from the crowd. That’s not to say some of the mainstream titles weren’t good. I dabbled briefly in playing Dark Souls 3 for the PlayStation 4. The game itself was beautiful, the graphics were crisp and the gameplay was definitely both engaging and lived up to the difficulty of its predecessors.

However, as someone who has never personally been a die-hard fan of the series, having only really played the first one, the game seemed to play almost identically to the first. There was nothing unique that I could pick from it that made it stand out from my previous experience of the series.

Dark Souls was the only non-indie game that I played before the indie games quickly took over. The first of these was a third person shooter called Beyond Flesh and Blood. The game is available on PC, however it will also soon be available for Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Those who were at last year’s Play Expo may recognise the title as it also made an appearance there. However, for 2015, the game made a comeback with a far more polished design.

For those who are less familiar, the game is set in a post-apocalyptic recreation of Manchester. This for me became quite entertaining as I quickly began to notice landmarks from the demo area that were familiar to me. However, as far as third person shooters go the game is quite generic.

Its appeal lay mostly in the familiar setting and the fact that it also supports the Oculus Rift. Being able to engage with a virtual reality headset and play the game with a new dimension is always a bonus for any gamer, however it did not necessarily make the game itself any better. In any case, I was only able to play for about five minutes with Oculus Rift before I began to feel slightly light-headed and had to move on!

Photo: The Mancunion

The next game that caught my attention was a Mario Kart style game called Coffin Dodgers, in which players play as elderly characters who are on the run from death. Yes, it was just as funny as it sounds, however the AI did not do it any justice.

It was disappointing that the demo itself had so many flaws, such as being impossible to beat on later courses. Certain promised aspects of the game, such as items, were also not working. However, hopefully we can assume that whatever feedback is taken for the game will be implemented as this quirky racing game has a lot of potential. Personally, I think this will be the case as game representatives were on hand to provide an insight into the game’s features that were not part of the demo, such as the upgrading and customisation of your scooters.

The last game I played was a Minecraft-style, free-to-play MMO title called SkySaga, although categorising the game with the other Minecraft clones would be greatly devaluing the game as a whole.  From the very start, it is quite evident that a lot of passion had been put into the game with no assets being taken from Minecraft itself. The game is completely unique in all regards, from the models, the textures and the objectives.

Within the gameplay there are three pathways that can be undertaken: exploring and questing a procedurally generated world which requires the use of gem keys to access; house management through which you can decorate and expand your own personal island; and the coliseum which makes up the PvP section of the game that is crucial to traditional MMOs.

However, as is the case with any free-to-play MMO, micro-transactions will most definitely play a major part in the game. Although this was not too evident in the demo, there were instances that I noted in which the gaming experience could be sped up or made better through the use of real-world money, such as farming for gem keys, and I’m sure these instances will become more embedded as the game develops further.

Besides these three ‘major’ indie titles, I would like to briefly write about two smaller titles that I believe are worth mentioning: City of the Shroud, and Sokos. The former is a strategy RPG much like the Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem series but with real-time action and even a stamina meter thrown in. The game seems to require a lot of micro-management and quick thinking skills, however it has the potential to be a fun and successful strategy RPG once finished, especially as it also offers a nice multiplayer touch.

The second game, Sokos, is essentially a cross between Portal and Lemmings. You play as a creature called Soko who has the ability to create portals – you enter the green ones and exit the purple ones. Once these portals have been set, Soko runs freely through them without the player’s control, therefore adding a dimension of difficulty to the game as the portals must be laid out for Soko to run through them successfully. The overall gameplay was enjoyable and the level designs were good for the most part.

The introductory world was great and engaging as it taught the in game mechanics without the need for text boxes. Both of these games are available on mobile platforms as well as PC, with Soko looking to be green-lighted for release on Steam.

Photo: The Mancunion

Besides the gaming experience, there was much more to be seen and enjoyed. Browsing around the stalls I came across a lot of retro and arcade type games such as pinball machines and lines of cabinets and consoles. On the Saturday this area was far too busy to enjoy however on Sunday it was less packed and I tried my hand at some classic games such as Donkey Kong, Popeye and Pac-Land.

There were also card games being played including Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh! as well as a merchandise and memorabilia section. There was plenty to buy as there was something for everyone. I found myself spending a lot of time just window shopping as well as buying the odd game here and there. And, of course, no gaming convention would be complete without cosplay and Play Expo was no exception. There were contests held on both days for the best cosplays and there were a lot of participants!

The overall experience at Play Expo 2015 was definitely one to remember and I am confident that I will be back again for 2016!

How to measure a nation

How much does Gross Domestic Product (GDP) affect you? Do you share in the celebration when the Chancellor tells you how much that figure has grown? Many of the statistics we are told are flawed, and there are plenty that are simply avoided.

The ways in which we measure and define national success are extremely important in how citizens understand, perceive, and react to the actions of governments. In this digital and highly observed age, there are statistics for almost everything. Yet, what the media, study groups, and governments report is narrowed down to a few recognisable sound-bite figures. This has a significant impact on the thinking of citizens, and can shape movements and discussions, from the grassroots to the high tables of global politics.

It may be argued that many of the measures we use today are signs of the neo-liberal and hyper-globalised era. GDP—the main culprit—acts as a useful method of grouping the entire output of a nation, and applying it to everyone’s lives. It ignores issues of inequality and the potentially damaging dominance of particular sectors, as finance arguably is in many western economies.

This is a convenience for governments that are less focused on using growth to improve the living conditions of the many, but instead show a preference to transnational corporations, showing might on the world stage of global economies, and arguably using national statistics as a subtle method of encouraging nationalism.

Forms of GDP per capita are not much more use. By simply dividing the figure between how many people live here, we gain no understanding of how that money is spread out in reality. Placing more emphasis on people’s actual incomes is far more beneficial. It is crucial that this figure involves the cost of living; otherwise it is useless in comparing progress in prosperity.

However, on balance, basic economic statistics are not the major problem. Although they definitely need tweaking, they serve as a fairly good guide of how the nation’s finances are faring. The recent fall in unemployment to 5.4 per cent, for example, should be welcomed, and is an example of an effective statistic.

But there are more pressing issues that are not adequately considered by the mainstream. Whilst the economy is a very important factor in a nation’s ‘success’, there should be far more consideration in statistics for the environment, and the social implications of policies.

There are a few voices for this broadening of statistics. Notably, Jeremy Corbyn, in an interview with YouTube channel Novara Media (‘Things Are Not Going To Be The Same In 2020’) declared that if he were Prime Minister, there would be a far greater range of statistics that would be presented—from energy consumption, to biodiversity, to inequality indexes.

This is, then, a political issue. The current Conservative government could present these types of figures; only its core vote cares little for them, and it would shine light onto previously buried issues, such as their U-turn on environmental policy since the election.

There are social measures that could be used too. Figures for homelessness, obesity, or mental health are examples of measures that could be made more prominent in government reports. It is very important that the public are more aware of the effects of the policies they have voted for, and the wider state of the nation.

More ambitiously, a national happiness index, such as is carried out in Bhutan, could be very useful. This may seem like a weak fad, but it has found some very interesting results. Unmarried and younger people are the happiest, the urban are happier than the rural, and (on average) men are happier than women. Having this kind of information readily presented, and then analysing it, could be useful for raising public awareness, organising grassroots movements, and further holding governments to account.

The index does probe a deeper question over what we seek from life. Do we want high output and high performance? Interestingly, it was found that the unemployed are happier than corporate employees, and that whilst primary education increases happiness, higher education does not.

These kinds of debates could be very useful for helping to heal society; where many trudge around in growing but miserable offices, breathe polluted air, and endure mental illness or social dislocation. The country may well be recovering from a recession in economic terms, but what for?

Goodcountry.org is an example of how countries might be alternatively ranked across all spectrums. Figures on health, economics, charity, trade, peace, education and more are averaged out to form an index. The index—as promoted by Simon Anholt’s accompanying TED talk—highlights the word ‘good’ as the opposite of selfish. He criticises nations that seek to only gain prosperity (and even happiness) for being selfish, and not looking outwards. Global problems require global solutions.

He argues, rather convincingly, that in order to tackle climate change, end war, find solutions to pandemics, defend human rights, quell the roots of terrorism, design methods of dealing with demographic changes, and a whole host of other issues, nations need to look outwards more, which should involve promoting the use of an index such as his.

An overhaul of measurement is required. For too long we have remained obsessed with growth and material wealth. From the global changes in our climate, to the stressed and depressed in our offices, we are measuring our nations and our world in ways that are so detached from the issues we face. The measurements need broadening, with particular emphasis on national happiness and observing what makes a ‘good’ country.

The hypocrisy of white western feminism

In the western world, to say you are not a feminist is to send yourself to the gallows. Our increasingly informed public society has moved beyond race to focus on gender in discussions of equality, inherent rights, and systemic prejudices. This has materialised in the mainstream acceptance of feminism, being that it’s the loudest and most prominent voice offering solutions.

To say then, that you are against feminism is often equated with the idea of disagreeing that women are equal to men. What is missed however, are the subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, transgressions committed by the group. Well-intentioned genesis aside, the suffrage campaign has historically excluded black men and women. This continues into the modern feminist movement, where a complete disregard for other disadvantaged groups, stemming from a passive stance, is the norm. In fact, the feminists of today have dwarfed their predecessors in their degree of false virtues via hostile intimidation methods and insolent effrontery of other cultures. What results is a limited agenda that exclusively benefits the white, educated, middle class female.

Today’s feminists dotingly reference Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her entourage of suffragettes with romantic deference. A principle actor in pushing for the 19th Amendment giving women the vote, she is commonly seen as progressing women’s rights in America. And initially, her relationship with  social reformer and ex-slave Frederick Douglass reflected how white women associated with black men within the movement: Equally supportive of the each other’s crusade.

But after the 15th Amendment was passed, allowing black men to vote, a bitter vitriol filled the air: “What will we and our daughters suffer if these degraded black men are allowed to have the rights that would make them even worse than our Saxon fathers?” Stanton clearly sees herself as superior in class and culture; disappointingly ironic since that is exactly what she’s fighting against. Her bigoted sentiments translate throughout the pro-women organisations, where privileged white women drew on their connections with powerful white men to further their cause—one that did not include poor women, immigrant women, or black women.

The exclusion was entirely premeditated. By distancing themselves from black women, suffragettes from the North were able to appeal to Southern women using race. What arises from such racism is Ida B. Wells, a black suffragist and leader of an anti-lynching campaign, being forced to walk at the end of the famous Women Suffrage Parade in 1913—despite many states being desegregated. Racist language among prominent female figures persisted in the two years after women were allowed to vote; Rebecca Ann Latimer Felton, the first woman to serve in the Senate and white supremacist, asserted “I do not want to see a negro man walk to the polls and vote on who should handle my tax money, while I myself cannot vote at all.”

The hypocrisy of working to progress one group’s liberties while feeding the toxic machine that hinders another can be seen in this country as well. Emmeline Pankhurst, leader of the British suffragette movement, strongly believed in colonisation (a detail that is noticeably absent from BBC’s history page on the activist).

Another prominent figure, Millicent Garrett Fawcett considered women in New Zealand being able to vote before women in the home empire to be appalling. This humiliating woman-on-woman racism becomes outright shameful when the modern feminist movement does so little to address past faults or improve current relations.

Feminism’s severe inability to embrace women who have two equally important identities (black women, trans women, impoverished women) has rendered their dogma into little more than entitled complaints. Because when slut-shaming and rape culture is being preached, the rules of defense should also cover women of color. The current state though, is that the particular issues that are specific to non-white women are either being ignored or translated into generalised white feminist issues—ignored when the feminist sphere has accidentally acted insensitively toward another race, and translated when they see a potential member in the black girl.

The black female community simplified this in the 2013 hash-tag, “#solidarityisforwhitewomen”, pointing out the complete disregard feminists—and by extension, the media—have toward addressing black female problems. Like their predecessors, feminists are excluding black women for the advancement of their own cause—only bringing them back into the dialogue when convenient.

Women of the movement borrow their perception of conservative cultures from misconceptions originating from the opposite hemisphere, immediately leading to feminism acting as a vehicle for western jingoism. Some that subscribe to this overweening mentality that Islam or any traditionalist culture suppress women as an inherent tenet are also the ones that take violent reactionary measures. Last month at a French Muslim conference, Ukrainian feminist group Femen forced presenters and audience members to submit to their credo via their signature topless screaming. What they, and feminism as a whole fail to understand, is that Muslim teachings are not black and white. They have defended themselves since the dawn of Islam, and are presently using sharia arguments to fight against rulings that penalize rape victims in Pakistan—they do not need white women to save them.

Instead of antagonizing Islam, these Muslim women are using it to contest sexism in a way that is still respectful to their religion. Feminism doesn’t seem to comprehend that Islam is empowering to women because a large part of it intersects with the white saviour complex, whereby white people go to “fix” dilemmas of developing nations without understanding the country’s history. This can be seen in their brazen positions on male-female relations in India, and in Muslim women’s donning of veils.

Feminism needs to shed its sanctimonious tone and be more inclusive of all women. If a movement claims to defend the rights of a group, there cannot be any picking and choosing when it comes to equality.

Review: Bedwyr Williams: The Starry Messenger

Galileo’s short book Sidereus Nuncius (1610) announced to the world that the moon’s surface was uneven and the sky was more densely populated by stars than previously thought. His groundbreaking flight into space was soon pulled back to earthly corruption, however, when he had to sweeten his heretical findings by naming the moons of Jupiter after the Medici. The Starry Messenger, recreated in The Whitworth after its initial display at the 2013 Venice Biennale, is a loose artistic translation of Galileo’s title. Four centuries apart, the theme that connects the two works is exploratory verve struggling against doubt and disbelief.

Galileo’s telescope spotted wonders; Williams’ dark humour doesn’t permit such luck. In Wylo (Welsh for wailing or weeping), a garden-shed sized observatory contains items that indicate an eager star-gazer has recently left: A stack of books, star maps lining the walls, a flask of tea and a laptop on standby. Without any visible mourner, a low heavy sob repeats over and over. These tears are not celebrating a eureka moment but seem to be shed over the promethean nosiness of modern science, which is too keen on knowing everything. In a comic touch, the laptop’s looped standby screen shows stars whizzing by.

The main exhibit is a surreal film starring Williams as a disembodied head, covered in stuck-on mosaic fragments, giving a short mockumentary about our material connection to space. Clips of dentists’ drills grinding down teeth, cranes crashing into quarries and views of the Milky Way build up to depict the universe as a heap of excess dust, chipped off some great block. Throughout these sequences, his dry voice-over is a mixture of BBC astronomy presenter and mopey victim of alien abduction—a clear example of Brian Cox’s influence.

As we’ve seen recently, Galileo’s modern successors are rewarded for their long study with the prestigious Nobel Prize for Physics. Each year a different underground base conducting incomprehensible research at great expense is given the award. Prof Katija’s neutrino flipping lab, one half of this year’s winners, resembles a metallic torture chamber with a kinky central disco ball, and could easily feature in one of Williams’ surreal works. This show cuts through the dry science of the stars and offers up a playful alternative to the Nobel Academy. If you fancy a bizarre tour through space, then definitely take a look.

Visit whitworth.manchester.ac.uk for more information

Album: Alex G – Beach Music

Released on 9th October via Domino

5/10

Although speckled with occasional moments of sonic brilliance, a blatant sense of tiredness is sadly what stands out most on Alex G’s newest LP, Beach Music, his first major label release.

Alex Giannascoli has made a name for himself as a lo-fi icon, with this being his seventh release in five years. Last year’s DSU, his first record under a label (Brooklyn-based Orchid Tapes) saw his popularity levels explode. It was always going to be a difficult one to follow.

Opening track ‘Intro’ gives little indication of what’s ahead. 50 seconds of dark, trippy noise fade in and out, before ‘Bug’, one of the three tracks released as singles, brings the listener back to what they’d expect from the 21-year-old.

The record focuses on experimentation, instrumentally and production-wise. Radiating an almost extended jam-session vibe, Rhodes-esque keys and funky drums open ‘Salt’ with a tasteful, Latino feel. Harmonics and mathematical guitar riffs repeat, under depressing, moaned lyrics. Pitch-shifted vocals add a weirdness to tracks, with the lyrics, “bug in a crosshair” repeated in a chipmunk style during the outro of ‘Bug’.

‘Brite Boy’, with its call and response vocals, feels like an uncomfortable primary school sing-along, before an odd, riff-stacked outro takes over.

With the album barely passing the half-hour mark, many of the tracks live up to their snappy, single word names. ‘Look Out’ sounds like a demo recording, leaving the listener itching to hear more.

‘Walk’ again returns to a more minimalistic style, this time in instrumental form. However, repeated ideas begin to show cracks in Giannascoli’s song-writing skills. By the time you reach the tenth track, ‘Mud’, these recycled ideas start to lose their grasp on your attention.

Although all the lo-fi elements are there, disappointingly, Beach Music does not possess that minimalistic style his niche audience craves. This record doesn’t feel like it was created due to necessity or ease, but more as a tool in order to show off. Occasional coughs in the background keep you reminded of just how ‘lo-fi’ this guy wants to remain. We get it Mr. G, one mic is all you need.

The destruction of Palmyra is a very human tragedy

Imagine a dear family heirloom. Perhaps it’s a wedding ring, a clock or an old diary—something that’s been passed through the generations, symbolic of your family, their happiness, and their achievements. Maybe it’s something that makes you feel secure, or reminds you that you will always have that small group of people to whom you’re related, connected with, and from whom you descend. Maybe it’s just something that gives you a sense of collective identity. Now imagine a stranger stamping on it, burning it or throwing it in a river—not only destroying the object, but spitting in the face of this heritage. This is what is happening to Syrian culture with the destruction of Palmyra; IS is destroying the past and all that it means.

The most recent act of historical extermination—at the time of writing this—is the blowing up of the Triumphal Arch, the centrepiece of a grand portico that led to the great temple. This monument was of great cultural significance and actually was of a fairly unique style—even at the time of its construction, one that was distinctive to the region, based along the shores of the Euphrates River that runs through Iraq and Syria.

Possibly the most striking feature of the site, was the Temple of Bel. 15 metres high and consecrated to the Mesopotamian sun god, it was the best preserved building of its type. It displayed a unique synthesis of Greco-Roman and ancient near-Eastern architecture that could not be found anywhere else; classical columns adorned with ancient near-Eastern friezes and masonry. It was awe-inspiring and incredibly significant, as a cultural landmark and as a piece of monumental art, not only in Syria—but in its part of the world. It was blown up in August.

Shrines to gods such as Bel are what keep our knowledge of ancient religious practices alive—imagine how many films wouldn’t have been made if we didn’t know about Zeus and Poseidon from all those Greek temples. It seems small, but the cultural point is that it would be tragic if this knowledge about regional ancestry dies out. It is fascinating to the foreign eye to observe and learn about something like this, which is not only beautiful, but also truly, truly unique. Yet, more to the point, for the people who live in the neighbouring modern city of Tadmur, this is their culture. This is their heritage and they are losing it.

A child born tomorrow in Tadmur will never see the legacy of this site, and might not ever be taught in school that this ancient city was known as the ‘Venice of the Sands.’ They may not know that it was a major trading site in the deep web connected to Silk Road, and how it became exceptionally wealthy under Roman rule. They may never see the huge diversity that shaped the place; it has been under the influence of religions including Christianity, Greek and Roman Paganism, Judaism and Islam—along with the worship of Mesopotamian and Arab gods which were native to the area.

IS are ridding the land of any ideology which predates their own, and Syria is all the poorer for it. People may grow up never to have known anything other than the institutionalised violence, sexism and fanaticism that the group has come to represent, all because the history of this city is considered ‘idolatrous’.

There are, of course, those who label it crass that the media even covers the loss of some ancient ruins while the loss of human life in the same area is growing to the point of abstraction. Perhaps we have heard about bombings, beheadings and needless brutality so much over the past few years that we have become inured to it. Maybe now, in our internet-age boredom, we have simply moved on, and are now bemoaning the loss of a few stone pillars because it’s different news.

I strongly dispute this logic. They are different kinds of loss, that evoke entirely different types of mourning. It is astonishing that people are able to, in some way, communicate with the words, deeds and intentions of their forebears of two millennia through these priceless monuments to civilisation. And yet this is what is being cut loose with the systematic destruction of Palmyra—a connection between generations. ‘Blocks of stone’ these temples, arches and libraries may be, but they stand for much more. Just because the tangible loss is comparatively small, the intangibility is bigger.

Consider this—the Colosseum in Rome has stood for 2,000 years, the Parthenon for nearly 2,500, and the Great Pyramid in Giza over 4,500. These are testaments to humanity. Palmyra is of the same ilk and was first mentioned in the early 2nd millennium BC. When it is destroyed, the people whose memories that lived on in its spectacular architecture, inscriptions and art are forgotten. And this humanity dies.

These are not just the bitter rantings of a Classics student whose academic niche is slowly being wiped out by IS; cultural eradication on this level is, without a shadow of a doubt, a very human tragedy.

An insider’s view of the Tory party conference

All is abuzz in the conference hall. One can hear nothing but the murmurings and merry chortles of party activists that come with winning your first majority in 23 years. The protesters outside are inaudible. Numerous and vocal though they may be, their effect on the interior is underwhelming.

“Tory scum!” and “Shame on you!” shout the crowd, creating a sound I doubt has been heard on British shores since the Jacobite charge at Culloden. It is of course, the Conservative Party Conference that has drawn such a crowd, both in and out of the conference hall.

It is indeed a momentous occasion for the Conservative party with attendance up 30 per cent and, for the first time in many students’ memories, a majority Conservative government in power. They went into the last election insisting a majority was possible whilst the pollsters and media sat in a circle and talked endlessly of the most ghastly coalitions their imaginations could conjure up. So now they have power for the first time since the 1990s and, if the protesters are to be believed, the end of the world will come about as a result.

The first major speech is from the party chairman, Lord Feldman, who talked about the election victory and what is needed to achieve a second victory in 2020, after which the attendees were treated to a montage of the events of the general election. The biggest cheers came from the clips showing Vince Cable and Ed Balls losing their seats to Tania Mathias and Andrea Jenkyns, respectively. Speeches from the Secretaries of State for Defence and Foreign and Commonwealth affairs were largely inconsequential, and had very similar overtones regarding Russia and Daesh (I refuse to give that death cult the legitimisation of statehood) breaking no news.

The media seemed much more interested in the events that were unfolding outside. A journalist was punched, a young Tory threatened with rape, two more journalists spat on—one of whom was Michael Crick from Channel 4.

Most infamously, I took an egg to the face.

In my defence I was not brandishing Lady Thatcher’s face at the protestors; rather, I was carrying under my arm a copy of the Sunday Telegraph that happened to feature a picture of the Iron Lady on the front cover. I have no doubt that the person who threw the egg thought it would be the spark of some revolution but, in the end, all it achieved was an unexpected trip to the dry cleaners.

It was not until the next day that I quite realised the amount of coverage that what I considered to be an incident of minimal significance had received. Upon waking up on Monday morning it was to my disbelief that I had made it into every national newspaper, prompting the BBC, ITV and LBC to hound me for an interview for the remainder of the conference.

Much was said by the baying Left of how I was clearly an old Etonian who had never worked a day in his life. If they ever learnt the truth—that I am in fact state school educated and the son of two teachers, whose first proper job was in a garden centre—I doubt they could comprehend such a revelation. Taking the time to explain to them that you can be both a Conservative and not have been educated at an elite boarding school would be would be about as useful as tits on a fish. Their world view is one very much rooted in 19th century class structure, where your place in the social ladder dictates your political persuasions and where revolution is just around the corner, something they have been saying since the Victorian period.

The Conservative Party nowadays is quite a broad church, welcoming all classes, races and sexualities. Hence why it is the Conservatives who have given this country its first female prime minister, first Muslim woman in the cabinet, first Chinese MP, and currently has an ex-miner as the secretary of state for transport. I also hasten to add that, unlike the Labour Party, the Conservatives have a woman occupying one of the four great offices of state.

It was also the first year when journalists have had to enter the party’s conference alongside the rank and file members, and they got a shock. Even Owen Jones, of all people, was called “Tory scum” on his way in. Never before have I seen anything quite like it, and it has woken up the press to just how violent the radical left can be. Your average Conservative party activist will have dealt with this abuse from day one, but journalists have not ever really been on the receiving end until now. The criticism brought about by the media is rightly placed: Where is the new “gentler, kinder politics”?

I would argue there never was going to be any such thing from a man who so openly has endorsed the IRA’s attacks on British troops and civilians, and who has described the death of Osama Bin Laden as a tragedy. I only single out Jeremy Corbyn because I was there. I saw the placards in the crowd proclaiming support for Corbyn, and I have no doubt that many moved on to see him speak at a rally on the Monday evening. He has the power to tell them firmly to stop and embrace civility when dealing with one’s political adversaries, but only timid bleats can be heard from his cabal of terrorist-sympathising front benchers.

But comrades, I digress. The second day of conference began with slightly sore heads, as most members remained in the Midland bar until about 2am. While most speeches of the day were rather lacklustre—with the exception of George Osborne—the best aspect was that Liz Truss had managed to avoid making another awful speech regarding imported cheese and the opening of pork markets in China.

The Chancellor made his speech to a crowd that, even without the help of Mystic Meg, could probably have predicted most of its contents a week in advance. It mentioned a fair bit about builders and the “Northern Powerhouse” but it was a powerful speech nonetheless. Osborne talked about rebalancing the country’s economy, investing in infrastructure and of course, let’s all say it together now, “to fix the roof while the sun is shining,” this being one of the Chancellor’s favourite catchphrases that appeared in a speech so full of buzzwords, you could probably create a good drinking game out of it.

On the other hand, the fringe events were a whole different ball game. Owen Paterson MP hosted two retired army officers who talked candidly about the situation in the Middle East, and were probably the most informed people on the subject I had heard speak on the matter in a long time. One event called Open Europe, where free beer was provided in copious quantities in return for listening to a small speech on the benefits of free trade within Europe, was a firm favourite.

I was lucky enough to grab a ticket to possibly one of the most sought-after events at conference: Zac Goldsmith’s reception. It was fairly inspiring stuff and, with it being so late, one often finds politicians tend to drop the media polished façade and become more like actual people. He spoke passionately about London and his plans for it, ranging from his plan to build on Transport for London land and his opposition to a third Heathrow runway.

One thing that must be emphasised is that these are the situations where politics becomes personal. Gone are the bodyguards, lecterns and camera crews. Instead, these events tend to be held in small, crowded rooms where personal space is often something of a luxury. Zac’s event was held in the upstairs of a small, cramped, poorly lit bar, but it allowed members to get a one-on-one with the politicians. It is often said that politicians are inaccessible or too distant from reality, but they are not going to come to your door and have a chat with you about immigration in your pyjamas. An effort must be made and it is truly an effort, as this bar had noticeably failed to discover the wonderment that is modern air conditioning.

Tuesday came and with it, a new energy. It was the day the conference was going to hear from the likes of Iain Duncan Smith, Theresa May, Zac Goldsmith, Jeremy Hunt, Nicky Morgan and, of course, Boris Johnson. Seats in the main conference hall became the hottest tickets in town. Duncan Smith was one of the few that really inspired the conference hall to stand up and applaud following his speech. A standing ovation is usual procedure following each speech but his felt more deserved, like he had touched a nerve amongst the party faithful, which made one want stand up and begin singing Land of Hope and Glory. I feel his image would be much improved if people realised that “Iain Duncan Smith hasn’t actually been offering up human sacrifices to Adam Smith in the basement of the Department of Work and Pensions,” as The Telegraph put it.

However, of all the speeches that day, Theresa May’s got the most attention, and rightly so. For me, it felt as if every minister had toned down from the rhetoric of last year’s pre-election conference, except for Mrs May, who opted instead to up the ante which, though it sat well with the party faithful, did not chime as universally outside the conference hall as Osborne’s or Boris’ speeches. Some suspect her of trying to use it as a springboard for a future leadership bid, but it seems unlikely to me that the party will choose her to lead them into 2020.

The audience warmly received Zac Goldsmith, though there was a sense that he was merely the warm-up act for the Mayor of London. Boris’ speech was probably the best of his career to date. He talked on matters that ranged from the protestors outside whom he called socialists with “vested interests and, indeed, interesting vests,” a clear quip about Corbyn’s sartorial taste, to the cutting of child tax credits, his opposition to Heathrow expansion, increased life expectancy for Londoners and his proximity to hookers whilst playing rugby at Eton.

His was without a doubt a leadership bid, and you didn’t need to be a political analyst to see it. He made honeyed overtures to both the Tory heartlands and to the floating voters who always decide an election, consciously trying to seize the centre ground and embody the one nation appeal that the party has been trying to emphasise in recent years.

There was much talk at conference of George Osborne being a serious contender for the leadership, but most members are still of the opinion that Boris will be Cameron’s successor for the simple reason that, when photographed, he doesn’t look like he is diabolically plotting something, and that he can stand properly on a stage.

The final day of conference had a completely different feel compared to those previous. The usual relaxed atmosphere had gone. People queued for over an hour to get a seat in the main hall which today was focusing on Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, followed by the Prime Minister. With the assembly elections coming up next year, Andrew Davies and Ruth Davidson both brought great energy into the hall, the latter being one of only three speakers at the conference to receive a standing ovation as she entered the stage, a testament to her popularity. These two speakers however, while both giving excellent speeches, were completely eclipsed by the Prime Minister.

He entered the room to thunderous applause and cheering, having to signal four times for the crowd to stop applauding and take their seats. When he eventually did get on with his speech, it was not until the end that any of us quite realised the gravity of what had just happened.

As the first majority Conservative PM in eighteen years, his speech went down so well, it even received praise from many left-leaning journalists who normally see Cameron as some kind of incarnation of the Antichrist. In my view, he showed himself to be the true ‘heir to Blair’ by taking on such evils as racial inequality, gay rights and lack of social mobility, parking his tanks firmly in the centre ground from which Labour retreated upon its election of Corbyn last month. His comments on Corbyn received a standing ovation, and he has successfully set the government up as the antithesis of the protest group that is now Her Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition.

As the conference wound down, mostly unaffected by the “nose-ringed crusties” outside, the centre ground of British politics was firmly occupied by the Tories. Boris looks poised to become leader, and the future looks very bright indeed as Labour head down the path to electoral oblivion. But judging by the protests outside the conference, they won’t go quietly.

Live: The Bohicas

4th of October

Sound Control

On a Sunday evening in October, on the top floor of Sound Control, the Bohicas performed to a small but lively crowd on their second tour of the year around the northern cities of England. I must admit that I was sceptical when I turned up to the gig; the critics have not been kind to the new ‘band to watch’ of the indie rock/garage scene. For that is indeed what this band are aiming to be; they’ve stated plainly that they aren’t trying to explore new horizons but are stoking the fire of the genre by sticking firmly to the blueprints of the great bands of the mid-Noughties such as the Arctic Monkeys (who, incidentally, are on the same record label).

With this in mind, my scepticism grew when the support act, Seize the Chair, began their set; this band have been described by one reporter as “barely clinging to the edge of sanity,” trading indie rock for the sounds of synth and echoes with their inspiration coming from bands like The Troggs and The Monks. It reminded me of when I went to see Muse perform in London with Dizzee Rascal as their support; no one in the crowd was interested. This had a similar feel.

However, despite these setbacks, the Bohicas lived up to expectations. The set was punctuated with such album tracks as ‘Red Raw’, with a haunting melody that reminded the crowd of a Kings of Leon track. There was an eclectic mix of crowd-chanting hits like ‘Where You At’, which lifted the atmosphere after the chaotic support act.

This band are destined to be bombarded with comparisons, but no one in the room seemed to be taking this as a negative. As the chorus line of their song ‘To Die For’ states: “You’ve heard it all before, but baby we’re just to die for.” Seems about right; any fan of the Arctic Monkeys, The Hives or Kings of Leon would find themselves tapping along to The Bohicas, wondering how they hadn’t come across them sooner.

7/10

Fish out of Water: Prog rock

Before wading head on into the murky depths of progressive rock for the first time, my surface level exposure led me to associate it with two things. First of all, Pink Floyd. It’s an association that’s largely in the name; they’re a classic band in the history of music generally before being a seminal prog rock outfit, but I’m aware of the connection and like most self-respecting music fans, I’ve heard Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall.  Secondly and almost damningly, I associate prog with excess. As someone who generally likes three- or four-minute-long songs to make up a 40-minute album, the idea of long keyboard solos clocking on to a ten-plus-minute track length sounds like a fucking nightmare. But would pivotal works by King Crimson, Yes and Rush change my mind?

Out of the three albums given to me, In The Court Of The Crimson King by King Crimson was by far the best. Most strikingly, given that it’s the oldest of the three having been released in 1969, is how timeless it feels. The whole album is impossible to pin down to a single year. In hindsight, it’s no real surprise why ’21st Century Schizoid Man’ ended up being on Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. On top of this, the album doesn’t feel excessive. Everything feels like it has its place on the album, despite the fact that two out of five songs are over ten minutes long. A real achievement! Overall, if you want one album to sell you the idea of progressive rock, it’s this one.

Photo: Album Artwork

The other two albums, Yes’s Close To The Edge and Rush’s Moving Pictures, are both definitely prog but differ greatly from King Crimson. Like any genre, I expected stylistic variation, but my main observation on listening to them was how a genre that is stereotypically characterised as stuffy and nuanced can actually be so diverse. A song can be a slow acoustic number one minute, and then a massive cressendo of guitars and synths the next. In fact, both Yes and Rush contain elements of reggae rock—the surprise of which made me burst out laughing.

Unlike King Crimson, both Yes and Rush feel dated, sometimes very much so. Yes fit slap bang in the middle of the 1970s. Keyboard solos aside, even the acoustic moments on Close To The Edge are reminisant of bands like Lindisfarne. Additionally, Moving Pictures is an obvious a product of the 80s. You can imagine songs such as ‘YYZ’ and ‘The Witch Hunt’ being a precursor to hard rock bands such as Metallica. Overall, a lot of what may have been magic to the listeners of Yes and Rush at the time, is simply lost on someone from 2015.

Photo: Album Artwork

My introduction into prog has also made me better understand why punk changed the world in 1976/77. With a single song potentially taking up a whole side on an LP, as well as silly stereotypes such as mythical song settings, daft outfits and the aforementioned keyboard solos, it is easy to see how prog could become a parody of itself. As a result, punk in part feels like a reaction to prog. Cutting away the excess and leaving behind short, speedy songs—songs that are to the point and full of energy. Johnny Rotten even wore a shirt saying “I hate Pink Floyd.”

After listening to these three albums, would I listen to prog again? In some ways, I guess we all kind of already do. Progressive elements can be found in all sorts of music, from Radiohead to Godspeed You! Black Emperor. But actual, dedicated, and certified prog rock? Maybe—I’ve heard Neu! and Can are good! Do they count?

Modern Day Warriors: What we owe Prog

Prog rock was once something that evoked images of balding new age men in record shops discussing various pressings of Bitches Brew and high-pitched wailings of encoded Tolkien references. But in 2015 the genre has managed to stealthily carve a solid place in mainstream culture despite its potently uncool associations. In September an official albums chart for prog was launched, with modern bands like Public Service Broadcasting, Muse and Tame Impala all represented alongside the expected Waters/Gilmour fare. Prog is alive, and unlike the distinctly niche new/nu/post-prog of the mid-2000s, prog has a broad appeal.

With these three popular and often acclaimed bands alone, one can trace several legacies of the genre. Tame Impala offer a psychedelic and poppy sort of prog, a much more self-consciously cool take on the genre. PSB use the motif of progressive musical build-ups to represent an idealised view of scientific advancement, not unlike much of the sci-fi influenced prog of the 1970s. And Muse, far and above the most popular of the three, boast concept albums, long symphonic pieces, absurd vocal agility and The Wall-esque live performances.

Nonetheless, many sneer at the aesthetic of Muse, comparable to Freddie Mercury performing Banksy, and some may even sneer at the NME-approved Tame Impala or the kitschy Keep Calm and Carry On vibe of PSB. Yet the legacy of prog is further evident in some of the edgiest and most unique albums of the last few years. Notoriously, experimental outfit Swans’ 2012 album The Seer packed a guttural, confrontational and occasionally frightening type of progressive rock into six sides of vinyl. Moreover, Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington’s aptly named project DARKSIDE channelled some of the most endearing and exciting qualities of Pink Floyd and others through Jaar’s incomparable style.

These various successes are perhaps endemic of a wider shift in the prog/punk paradigm that has pervaded the discussion of popular music since the 1970s. In the era of mass musical consumption propelled by internet file-sharing, the binaries and tribalism of music fandom are at their least pronounced. The narrative of the year zero of punk toppling the Ancien Régime of prog seems much less reliable than it once did. As such, the King Crimsons and Rushes of the world enjoy a greater retrospective appeal, whilst the grotty works of Pistols-era British punk grow less and less interesting with each passing year. Sure, Matt Bellamy is still a wally, but is he any more of a wally than oh-so-controversial Tunbridge Wells punks Slaves, ostensibly singing about the shackles of corporate barbarism whilst dressed up as 1983 Joe Strummer ?

In a sort of turning of tables, the once-stale and indulgent ethos of prog sounds fresh again. It may even, by proxy, be cool, given the currently cool associations of being an indiscriminate connoisseur of multiple genres. So long as artists like those mentioned keep at skilful, prolonged and imaginative composition, who knows, we may even be ready to let some Jethro Tull flute solos back into our lives.

Live: Hey Rosetta!

7th Sept

Sound Control

You wouldn’t believe that it was the penultimate leg of Hey Rosetta!’s European tour given the amount of energy on show during their two hour set, but what was even harder to swallow was how small their following is in the UK. The band are a well-oiled, indie-orchestral machine with a full sound, that would have absolutely lived up to their studio album sound… in a larger venue.

On a small stage littered with an array of tour boxes, pedal boards, and instruments ranging from a French horn to a Fender Jag, the band began the show with ‘Soft Offering (For the Oft Suffering)’, the opening track of their latest studio offering. This song set the precedent for the gig which, similarly to the track, was to be a series of crescendos and diminuendos.

Most of their tracks started out with frontman Tim Baker singing on his acoustic guitar or his piano, but each was quick to develop. The pure harmonies provided by backup vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mara Pellerin juxtaposed Tim’s raspier voice in a special way; better live than on their record. However, the band were let down by the occasional feedback, most likely due to the small space confining the septet. Frustrating as this must have been given that it was out of their control, it was only a small, limiting factor in the seamless graduation between their heavier tracks from Seeds, to the more refined, Yukon Blonde and Sam Roberts inspired sound of their most recent album Second Sight.

In Canada they may be used to playing on larger stages and to bigger crowds, but their courteous and energised attitude did not reflect this, which was refreshing. You would expect a small gig at the end of a tour to come off as routine, but their set had a spontaneous feel, including a song that was cut from their most recent album called ‘Belle of Batoche’ as well as ‘Cathedral Bells’, which Tim stated that they hadn’t performed in eight years. They even took suggestions from the crowd; a Scottish man made it known that he had driven all the way down just for this gig simply to hear ‘Welcome’, and so the band crashed into it as if it were always part of their plan.

Hey Rosetta! are clearly very successful at what they do, but it would appear that they are a niche band in the UK. Their performance at Sound Control showed this, not just in that their following only marginally filled out a small venue, but also through the relatively scant crowd who were there were mouthing every word of every song. An acquired, but extremely satisfying taste.

9/10

#wtf?

Wine o’clock, NBD, bants and manspreading may not sound like ‘proper’ English, but all make it into the new edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. They reflect the rapid evolution of words and phrases that are occurring as a result of our desire to text and email frequently and not type long, complicated words and sentences.

Our dependence on phones and computers has lead to thousands of new abbreviations and words being created, and it is often hard to keep up to date with an increasingly diverse, but also often incomprehensible text language.

One negative aspect of this language change is the increased difficulty for many people to write ‘proper’, intelligible English. Words and phrases such as ‘lol’, ‘wtf’, and ‘lmfao’ are heavily used, but inserting them into an essay or dissertation is not a good idea. However, whilst these phrases are not considered part of the English language, many are now being officially recognised.

The Oxford English Dictionary was first published in 1884, and contains over 50 million words. New words are now being added to the dictionary at an unprecedented rate, with 1,000 new entries in the quarterly August 2015 edition.

This reveals the phenomenal rate of language development that we are currently witnessing, with new words, abbreviations and linguistic innovations every day. While some tongue twisters and confusing abbreviations will undoubtedly arise, a great number of words and phrases are easier to use and more flexible than those that they have replaced.

Students, as a large, intelligent group of people who are also heavy phone and social media users, are at the forefront of language innovation. So let your creative juices flow, and one day you may see a word or phrase you created in a future edition of the Dictionary!

Top 5: Alternative Mens Hallowe’en costumes

The end of October has crept up on us again and the time is ticking for you to knock up a vague excuse for a Hallowe’en costume. Maybe you want to break the mould this year and swim against the relentless current of ripped t-shirts and half-hearted zombie makeup. Maybe you don’t fancy blowing your loan on an ensemble you’re probably only going to wear once. Here are some original options for this Hallowe’en that won’t leave your bank balance screaming in fright…

 

For the suit-wearers

Shia LeBoeuf

If you want to get one more wear out of your dinner jacket and bowtie this year than just your graduation ball this summer, try this slightly creepy look that epitomises the ‘minimum effort, maximum effect’ idea. This unforgettable LeBoeuf episode took place at the Berlin Film Festival last year, and is promising to be a thoroughly timeless look.

You will need: A suit, a paper bag, a marker pen

 

Photo: nathaninsandiego@Flickr

For the DIY-ers

The Shining

A bit of forward planning and a spare cardboard box or two will help you recreate this classic movie moment. Cut a head-shaped hole in the middle of the cardboard, and some holes to loop the string through so that you can wear it like a mask. To finish, draw on some authentic wood-like markings and of course that famous quote: “Here’s… Johnny!”

You will need: Some cardboard, scissors, string, a marker pen, an axe (optional)

 

Photo: MyModernMet

For the sportsmen

Banksy’s Flower Chucker

Fancy dress doesn’t have to be fancy, no need to change out of your sports kit for this one. Don some black trackies, a hoodie, a cap and wrap a scarf around your face. Source some real or fake flowers and even apply some white face paint to exposed skin for a finishing touch. Strike the pose and you’ll be easily recognisable and highly commended for your artistic flair.

You will need: A black tracksuit, hat, scarf, a bunch of flowers, white makeup (optional)

 

Photo: courtarro@Flickr

For the facial hair-cultivators

Alan and Baby Carlos

If you’re going for the comedy value at Hallowe’en, this is sure to be a winning look. Source the toy baby and carrier from a younger sibling or the toy section of a pound shop and you’re good to go. A fake beard can be purchased at the wearer’s discretion.

You will need: A toy baby with a baby carrier, two pairs of sunglasses, a fake beard (if applicable)

 

For the group costume lovers

The Zombie England Rugby Team

Can’t face not doing a collaborative fancy dress with your mates this year? Here’s one option that thankfully isn’t The Smurfs. A slightly more current variation on the zombie theme, dust off your England rugby shirts that you’ve probably stashed away in disgrace and go as the walking dead England rugby team. All in all quite a plausible costume idea, as Robshaw et al. have all probably died of shame…

You will need: Friends, an England rugby shirt, shorts, socks, face paint

Relationship status: It’s complicated

“It’s like a game,” says Fiona, a final year student, as she sips a coffee in the Students’ Union and texts, “laying here thinking bout u” to a boy she is interested in. Mobile phones have led to texting and flirting becoming an easy element of everyday life, where having multiple ‘love interests’ on the go at the same time can now be easily maintained in one inbox.

However, this has also led to our love lives becoming more complicated. Dating. One night stands. Hook-ups. Booty calls. Randoms. Flings. They are all now part of the dating landscape, and making decisions when drunk, lonely, and wanting attention can and will result in poor decisions made. (Beyonce failed to mention drunken texts and other things you regret in the morning in ‘Drunk in Love’…)

Fiona describes her dilemma. “My life is ruined. It’s only a matter of time before my boyfriend finds out about the guy I’m in love with, or my fling with his best mate. I wish I could wake up and just not be me for a day.”

This sounds like the perfect scenario to describe as ‘It’s complicated’. However, the truth is never as bleak as it may seem. Time will make a funny story out of most complex situations, and it is important to not feel too down about a relationship not working out. If you feel it is not going to work out with someone, it is better to be honest and admit it as soon as possible, rather than letting something drag on. It can be difficult to say, but it is always best for both people, and it prevents awkward situations and even more difficult conversations in the future.

Jen, now a postgraduate student, regretted lingering in a relationship for too long: “I didn’t want to hurt his feelings so instead of breaking up with him, we just stayed together for far too long, even though we both liked other people, until eventually we admitted it to each other. It really wasn’t worth it and we wished we hadn’t wasted time and had just been honest sooner. If its not going to work out then there’s no point feeling bad about it.”

University is an opportunity to figure out exactly who you are. A new environment, and the chance to meet new people and experiment, without the attention and the ‘fishbowl’ atmosphere that can exist in your home town. It is important not to attach too much significance to mistakes or errors in judgement. They’re part of the journey of self discovery.

Some great advice for us all is provided by Stacey, a second year, who had the following to say about university relationships: “We are all learning about ourselves, and who we are, as well as meeting other people. You may have to kiss some frogs before you find your prince. Or princess, or whatever it is you’re into.”

Get out there, stay safe and most importantly, have fun.

Record Reappraisal: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Released Nov 2010 via Roc-A-Fella

On seeing that last week’s record reappraisal was Radiohead’s Amnesiac, I pressed the head-ed as to why it wasn’t Kid A, as it’s clearly superior. Quite rightly, he responded that such a review would be redundant; countless critics have talked the album into journalistic sludge and there’s simply nothing left to say.

The same could be said of Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Putting aside the fact that it’s only five years old and so a reappraisal seems a little premature, it’s probably the most acclaimed album of the decade so far, garnering top marks from a ridiculous amount of music publications (seriously, look on Metacritic—I don’t think even The Beatles were treated that well).

So what’s left to say? Well this week we’re talking prog and aside from dusting off my old Rush albums, I couldn’t keep my mind off of Kanye. Is My Beautiful Dark… a prog rock album? I think that would be stating the case a little too strongly, but it is his prog rock album.

Let’s address the elephant in the room. ‘Power’ samples King Crimson. It’s a prog classic, but if this were the extent of the comparison, I’d be just as entitled to call To Pimp A Butterfly an indie-folk record because it samples Sufjan Stevens. Even out of prog rock context this fact is talked over to death and I’m not quite sure why. Sure it’s a bold move, but he’d sampled Curtis Mayfield and Daft Punk prior to this; I’d say that’s bolder.

Kanye doesn’t give good taste and respect for musical history the time of day, he’s Kanye fucking West damn it, he’ll do what he wants. This is precisely the reason, contrary to the opinion of many a critic, that I think the sample is so perfect. On this album, Kanye fully embraces the persona of the 21st century schizoid man: Erratic, indulgent of modern pleasures, a force of pure ego.

Prog is an intrinsically egotistical genre. It indulges in lengthy solos, high concepts, and pulls from a variety of styles for the primary purpose of showing off. My Beautiful Dark… is certainly a diverse album; ‘Devil In A New Dress’ is smooth as caramel soul, and ‘Hell Of A Life’ shuffles along with the clip, clop noises of an old western soundtrack.

Many elements of the instrumentation are shared with prog itself, such as the symphonic horns on ‘All Of The Lights’ and with swirling, screaming guitars scattered all over tracks like ‘Power’ and ‘Gorgeous’. In terms of solos, the nine-minute centrepiece ‘Runaway’ ends with what I can only describe as an autotune jam. This thick, distorted drone has become somewhat of a trademark of his, but on first listen it took me totally by surprise. It serves as a brilliant FU to anyone who’s criticised his singing abilities or professes that use of auto tune cannot be artful: an absolute highlight of his career.

When it comes to high concepts, to quote theatrical opener ‘Dark Fantasy’, “can we get much higher?” The album isn’t set in a mythical land or dystopian future in the conventional prog sense, but instead twists his own life into a dark fantasy, where he’s the most powerful man in the world, has daily orgies with porn stars and dances with the devil herself. Don’t take him for not being self-aware though; after the climactic closer ‘Lost In The World’, which acts as an operatic reprise, we’re left with patchy applause from a small room. It’s as if the original college dropout has woken from a perverted day dream.

It’s impossible to talk about prog without acknowledging the backlash of punk and appropriately, Kanye created his own. Perhaps disillusioned by excess and grand orchestration, Kanye’s followup Yeezus is stripped back, visceral and angry. Compare the “I, I, I” of ‘Runaway’ to the ‘yous’ in spat out in ‘New Slaves’ and you have the punk/prog conflict in a nut shell.

One of the virtues of a re-appraisal is the ability to step back from the hype of the time. Is My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy overrated? Well it’s certainly not perfect. I can never tell if I’m missing something when listening to ‘So Appalled’ or if it really is just as vacuous and self-serving as it seems on the surface. The misogyny smeared over ‘Blame Game’ ruins an otherwise beautiful and fantastically produced song. However, picking flaws is like passing up an enormous cream cake because of the calories: The pure hedonism draws me in every time. It’s the most grand hip-hop record ever made and is unlikely to be matched, because only one man has the perfect balance of talent and ego to pull it off.

THE COFFEE COLUMN: North Tea Power

For this week the ‘Coffee Column’ has been hijacked because, after being greeted by a friendly “hello,” the first thing that strikes you about North Tea Power, as you may have guessed by the name, is the vast quantity of tea that’s on offer. You can get anything from the standard breakfast tea to the rarer ‘Bolivian Cascara’ or the more unusual ‘White Hairy Monkey’. This small but busy establishment is set back into a commercial cloister on Tib Street in the Northern Quarter, and its popularity is understandable.

There’s a relaxing atmosphere to this place and it’s an ideal spot to socialise with friends during the day. The rhythmic, indie music creates an ambience that lets you know you’re still in the city but still somewhat detached from the crowds. Inside, the room has an organic feel with jars of tea leaves lined up on wooden shelves, flowers sat upon wooden tables and chairs that stand on the reclaimed floorboards. There’s something dishevelled about North Tea Power that is rather enchanting.

What makes this special is the almost overwhelming array of loose leaf tea. Just by sitting here and enjoying the coffee, you feel as though you’re learning something about tea. For instance, judging by the list, the British go-to tea is black tea, but then of course there’s green tea and herbal tea, what’s more is that there’s oolong and white tea too. Each of these categories of tea have a number of species, so to speak, from various countries, with as many flavours as you can imagine.

But alas, this is the ‘Coffee Column’ and NTP also serve a great tasting range of the stuff. It’s certainly better than the standard coffee that you usually find, but then it’s also not as refreshing or individual as other coffees you can find elsewhere. During the warmer seasons, they serve cold brew as well as iced varieties of the classic coffees. There’s not much to say other than it’s a good, standard coffee.

It may also be noted that if you want something a little stronger, NTP is licensed and has a comprehensive selection of bottled craft beers, though there are cheaper places around the NQ for a drink, with the cheapest bottle priced at a rather dear £3.50.

This is an ideal place for a light lunch or snack with a selection of sandwiches, baked products and vegetarian food on offer. The breakfast food is available all day if you fancy a bowl of cereal or egg on toast after lectures. The food and soft beverages are all sold for a reasonable price that shouldn’t trouble the budget-conscious too much.

This place scores full-marks for its originality and atmosphere but, for a coffee lover, it feels slightly uncomfortable sampling their coffee when tea is clearly their pièce de résistance. So after sitting here for an hour and contemplating the idea, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to try a ‘White Hairy Monkey’…