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Day: 25 February 2016

Regression Sessions: Valentine’s Special

Written by Hannah Brierley on . Posted in Music.

13th February 2016

If someone had asked me if I would like to celebrate Valentine’s Day by having balls thrown at my face, I probably would have said no. Alas, this is how I spent my V-Day celebrations. Random people throwing space hoppers and the occasional rouge ball pit escapee flying through the air.

The Regression Sessions have a fun child-like aura about them. As soon as you trudge the Antwerp’s muddy entrance, you are greeted with a huge game of ‘spin the bottle’ and two girls dancing miraculously on towering stilts. As the night progressed, so did the bizarreness of the evening, at one point I recall a small old man dressed as a cherub handing out masks of Jay-Z and Kanye West, while the two girls were performing with fire… (I still don’t really understand).

The night overall was enjoyable, but with only two rooms and not a lot of variation in the music on either floor, you can often find yourself walking repeatedly up and down the stairs just to hear a song you like or recognise. But that’s not to say that they play really obscure techno music, with some hits from the likes of Disclosure and some old school 90s thrown in as well.

Antwerp is something completely like no other club in Manchester, and once visited it’s clear to see why as soon as you arrive. Along with this, Regression Sessions are run up and down the country and live for the weird and wonderful. This combination of the two is a strong one, and should be experienced at least once.

…Just mind out for all the couples getting busy outside in the smoking area.

 

Next Regression Session: Hippy Trippy Shakedown, is being held on 5th March 2016 at Antwerp Mansion.

Calais’ Jungle Theatre

Written by Elise Gallagher on . Posted in Theatre.

Two young volunteers, Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson, have set up Good Chance Theatre in the heart of the Calais camp. Aptly named after the seemingly endless optimism that exudes from the camps residents, it has been reported that residents of the camp measure their luck for each day. Either they have “no chance” or a “good chance” of getting across the border on any given day. It would seem that despite being divided by a combination of history, geography, and language the plethora of nationalities—including Sudanese, Ethiopians, and Kuwaitis as well as many more—all share a love for the new addition to the camp.

As well as the theatre, an entire high street has sprung up in the middle of the camp—components to the street include mosques, churches, restaurants, shops and even a hairdressers.

Murphy and Robertson’s aim for the Good Chance Theatre is to create “a safe, warm and welcoming space for the people of Calais to express themselves and their situations within the ‘jungle’.” Running since the 29th of October, the theatre intends to stay for as long as the space is needed by the people situated there.

Backers for the Good Chance Theatre include the likes of Tony Award winner Stephen Daldry and British West End and Broadway theatre producer Sonia Friedman. Support is also given by the Young Vic and Royal Court. Despite the wealth of its sponsors, the theatre itself has been described to be a simple affair. Christopher Haydon writes, “a large geodesic dome with a wooden floor, decorated with paintings and drawings that have been made by the inhabitants of the camp.”

The theatre hosts a range of activities for the camp residents from karate classes, writing and acting workshops; and most recently, volleyball games. Performances are held on most nights and would have been created and rehearsed throughout the week. Their audiences are made up of a combination of the theatre’s regular members and curious newcomers who have encountered the dome for the first time.

A recent development for the theatre is the Shakespeare’s Globe—which took it’s world touring production of Hamlet to Calais’ refugee camp. The Globe to Globe tour aims to perform their production of Hamlet to every country in the world by the 23rd of April. Last year, the company performed for 200 Syrian refugees in the Zaatari camp in Jordan, near the Syrian border. Good Chance Theatre hosted Hamlet to the camp on the 3rd of February. The performance was staged in partnership with the Good Chance Theatre and the performance project was created in the camp by the creators, and playwrights, Joe Murphy and Joe Roberston of Good Chance Theatre.

The Good Chance Theatre relies solely on the help and support of its volunteers and is currently on the lookout for volunteers to help support the people of the Calais Jungle. However, differing slightly from most projects that are co-ordinated by volunteers, the donations of clothes, food, or other essential living items are not accepted. Instead, donations of particular items or musical instruments which will be used within their productions are always appreciated. Specific shout outs are usually posted on Facebook and Twitter.

They will be launching a volunteering page on their website shortly. To find out more about the cause please visit: http://goodchance.org.uk/

The Wembley Way

Written by Daniel Austin on . Posted in Sport.

Supporters of Manchester City and Liverpool will flock to North-West London this weekend in the hope of seeing their side lift the first meaningful trophy of the season in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley Stadium.

Both sides are no strangers to the ‘home of English football’; City have appeared eight times at the new Wembley since its completion in 2007, while Sunday will mark the Reds’ fifth visit. The two have endured success and failure—the Citizens beat Stoke City in 2011 to win their first FA Cup in over 40 years, but lost in the same competition to minnows Wigan Athletic in 2013, while Liverpool lifted the League Cup against Cardiff City in 2012 but lost to Aston Villa in last season’s FA Cup semi-finals.

Having been demolished in 2002 and rebuilt five years later, Wembley Stadium remains synonymous with the game of football as the most famous and prestigious arena in the world. Pelé, the world’s all-time leading goal scorer and erectile disfunction spokesperson, declared Wembley to be “the cathedral of football. It is the capital of football and it is the heart of football.”

At a cost which spiralled to £798m, being cited as the “heart of football” is probably the least the Football Association (FA) should expect for their money. For that amount the entire ground should be plated with gold and be able to shift Transformers style into a new design every season to keep things interesting.

Alas, the FA took a different approach. They ended up constructing a 90,000 seater circular stadium with a great big 1,033 ft arch connecting one side to the other.

That all seems perfect, right? The biggest stadium in the country? Check. A new home for the England national team? Check. A piece of architecture that can be seen across much of London? Check.

But Wembley Stadium is not the perfectly put together footballing behemoth that some would have you believe. A series of flaws mean that those travelling to support their team this Sunday may not have the ultimate day out.

Firstly, the approach to the ground is uninspiring. The fabled Wembley Way links the tube station to the stadium but it remains remarkably ordinary—a concrete walkway filled with throngs of people punctuated sporadically by the odd food stand or half-and-half scarf stall. Aside from that the area is a veritable wasteland of empty spaces and carparks. It’s a shame that such a ludicrous amount of money was spent on the structure itself while the surrounding area was left so mundane.

Wembley is far less impressive than some of Europe’s other major stadiums. It lacks the sense of grandeur that takes the breath away as you climb the concourse stairs and get your first glimpse of Old Trafford. It doesn’t have the character and atmosphere of Anfield. It can’t compete with the bold architecture which bestows the air of a coliseum on the Bernabéu, nor can it match the sheer enormity of Barcelona’s Camp Nou.

In fact, its circular design and industrial estate aesthetic bear a stronger resemblance to a steroid-injected version of Bolton Wanderers’ Macron Stadium and the other assorted soulless bowls that were churned out regularly by mediocre football clubs in the early 2000s.

Once inside, the FA do their best to strangle any possible atmosphere out of the occasion with ‘entertainment’ that renders cup finals more similar to an episode of the X Factor than a football game. Fireworks explode as the players enter the pitch, and EDM blares out of the PA system at every interval.  Supporters can’t generate much noise when the likes of Avicii’s ‘Levels’ are drowning them out, as if they’re at a town centre Baa Bar instead of one of the supposed pinnacles of sport.

For the 2012 FA Cup final the FA even had a go at creating a pseudo-Superbowl half-time show, albeit before kick-off, with a musical act brought onto the pitch to ‘entertain’ the crowd in attendance and those watching at home. But whereas the Americans get the likes of Beyoncé and Bruno Mars, the best booking the FA could manage was, erm, Hard-Fi.

Hard-Fi, with their inoffensive, non-descript rock and roll. Hard-Fi, with that one song that came out in about 2005 that you vaguely remember but never actually liked. Hard-Fi, with 90,000 people stood around them asking: “Who the bloody hell are they?”

Furthermore, between a third and a half of tickets are withheld by the FA for non-team-specific supporters, depending on the occasion. The majority of these are swallowed up by Club Wembley members, who pay a premium for increased hospitality, the kind of people that Roy Keane famously christened “the prawn sandwich brigade”. They sit in the second tier, with supporters of the competing teams above and below them, meaning the atmosphere struggles to travel across the whole of the stadium.

That’s not to say you can’t still have a great time at Wembley. One of the best goal celebrations I’ve been involved in came after Andy Carroll met Craig Bellamy’s cross with £35m worth of sweaty Geordie forehead to give Liverpool a victory against Everton that put them into the FA Cup final. The stranger next to me was so overcome with adrenaline that he bit me on the arm, leaving a mark that lasted for a few days. It’s just a shame that such euphoria comes after much frustration with the FA’s attempts to make enjoying yourself as difficult as possible.

Manchester City and Liverpool fans should most certainly be looking forward to their trip to the capital this weekend, but the myths which surround Wembley Stadium mean that it suffers from overhype and ends up rather underwhelming. It may well be the most famous football ground in the world but it is by no means the best, and the FA’s insistence upon turning the game into a television show does its best to kill any atmosphere.

Top 5: Conceptual art

Written by Ashley McGovern on . Posted in Arts.

5) Piero Manzoni, Merda d’artista (1961)

A small 30-gram tin with a yellow multilingual label reads “Artist’s shit—freshly preserved, produced and tinned.” Apparently Manzoni was told by his father that his early work was shit and he took the insult as literally as possible: tinning his turds and selling them at the corresponding price of gold. Tate’s catalogue entry reads the work as a capitalist satire, focused on the constraints of the gold standard, and ending in financial irony that when one of the 90 signed works was sold in 1991 the gold price by the ounce was $395.77 – Manzoni’s tin sold for $67,000. Regardless of its trumping of the market, the work is really about shock and introduced a dolce stool novo into late-twentieth century art.

 

4) Bruce Mclean, King for a Day (1969/1972)

Conceptual art uses the power of the formless idea. Bruce Mclean’s one-day Tate retrospective in 1972 consisted of a room full of black notebooks and labels inscribed with 1000 ideas for potential artworks. His once sentence ideas included ‘Guy Fawkes piece (smoke bang)’, ‘Touch piece grip, grab, grope piece’, and ‘Phone your mother piece’. There’s a photograph of an earlier incarnation of the piece with a suited museum guard scratching his head in bemusement. The work gains a level of meaning when we consider the puzzled security guard: what is there to protect from theft?

 

3) Sol LeWitt, A Wall Divided Vertically into Fifteen Equal Parts (1970)

Sol LeWitt was a philosopher-draughtsman. He didn’t need to really draw or paint, only contracts or instructions for other people to carry a design out. The literal titles of this work describe certificates that give coloured formal diagrams on how to execute a series of strokes on a wall. LeWitt’s ‘Paragraphs on Conceptual Art’ is one of founding texts of the genre and argues that “the idea of concept is the most important aspect of the work”. It was re-published in inaugural edition of the Art-Language journal, a magazine of philosophical experiments about how we can visualise works with only written evidence.

 

4) Joseph Kosuth, Clock (One and Five), English/Latin Version (Exhibition Version) (1965/1997)

Machina, machinatio, machinamentium—the sounds are familiar and suggestive but the language is long dead. Do these Latin conjugations relate to the workings of a machine-object or the semantic of cunning and deception? Both in Kosuth’s work. This piece is one of his Proto-Investigations series and we get multiple versions of time: Excerpts from dictionary entries on the words ‘time’, ‘machination’ and ‘object’; a real ticking clock; and a frozen photographic still of the same clock. It’s an investigation with no results; the clock’s functions and signage are explored as well as given a chain of potential meanings.

 

5) Marcel Broodthaers, Department of Eagles (1968-1972)

Many conceptualists have created anti-institutional works designed to criticise how museums package meaning or how they avoid real politics. Hans Haake’s MoMA Poll (1970) asked visitors to cast a vote on whether they though Governor Rockefeller’s silence regarding Nixon’s Indochinese foreign policy was reason enough to vote against him. Haake came up with the question on the first morning of the show and knew full well that Rockefeller was one of MoMA’s board members. Over four years Broodthaers created a travelling museum of fakes, empty crates and confusing museum tags that refused to give any context. Once more, conceptual art profits from posthumous irony. MoMA now contains a large collection of the disparate items that formed the original defamiliarising museum.

The Story So Far: Six Nations

Written by Jonathan Cooper on . Posted in Sport.

After two matches, England claim top spot due to their late points surge against Italy. France join them after narrow wins over Italy and Ireland, whilst Wales look to be getting into their stride after a clinical final quarter against Scotland.

For the twice-vanquished men in blue, aspirations of a golden post-World Cup era have faltered. Ireland’s creaking post-O’Connell cohort are also struggling to replicate the form of seasons’ past. Finally, we have Italy, who despite glimmers of promise look set for their annual scrap Wooden Spoon showdown.

Though not perfect, Eddie Jones’ men will be pleased with the development of an effective kick-chase-defend strategy that came to fruition in the final quarter against Italy.

Their bench has proved pivotal in both encounters. Against Scotland, Mako Vunipola and Courtney Lawes had significant impact; in Rome, it was Joe’s Marler and Launchbury alongside Danny Care, bolstered by new-boys Maro Itoje and Jack Clifford.

In the latter two, England’s future is bright. The ex-England U20 captains added pace and energy on debut. Though unlikely to start against Ireland, it will be hard not to sacrifice a backs replacement to accommodate the two, as was done against Italy. Elsewhere, Jamie George is showing promise at hooker and is pushing Hartley for the starting spot.

A somewhat patchy set piece has nonetheless been encouraging. The scrum gained strength as both games progressed, and George Kruis will look to replicate the fine lineout he orchestrated against Scotland. Billy Vunipola has been repeatedly destructive in attack, as has James Haskell in defense.

Behind the scrum, Care should return to the starting lineup. Ben Youngs failed to dictate the game against Italy early on, and Ireland will come out with even greater intensity at Twickenham. England will look to Jonathan Joseph to replicate his devastating performance against Italy with ball in hand.

Ford and Farrell look increasingly comfortable shaping England’s aggressive territorial game: England have put boot to ball 69 times over the first two games. Whilst Jones may be tempted to consider Alex Goode at fullback to compound this strategy, Mike Brown’s security under the high ball will be needed to combat Ireland’s own aerial bombardment.

The men in green will be immensely grateful for the weekend of rest. In a bruising opening fortnight that included a six-day turnaround and an away fixture, Ireland were forced to make 314 tackles, an ordeal that has added key names to the injury list.

The influential Sean O’Brien and Dave Kearney are out, the latter for the tournament, whilst Mike McCarthy and Jared Payne remain under observation. Jonny Sexton was targeted heavily by Wales and France—in dubious fashion by the latter—and is not at his best.

Coach Joe Schmidt will be frustrated with his side’s inability to find their rhythm thus far. They lack confidence and seem to be in transition to, well, somewhere not here. The normally prominent Jamie Heaslip has struggled to impose himself in the loose, as has Rob Kearney from fullback. Ireland would not have enjoyed the trip to Paris and will find little respite against a tenacious English kicking game that will look to pressurize them in their own half.

For Scottish fans, the time has come to acknowledge the dire truth: their near miss in the World Cup quarter finals, losing out to Australia by virtue of a last-minute penalty, was a one-off.

The emphasis on that result has unfairly inflated expectations above and beyond this Scotland team, whose Six Nations’ win rate stands at less than 25%. Salt into wound? Eleven of Scotland’s matchday squad against Wales had never won a Six Nations match. Eleven. Standoff Ruaridh Jackson said that they ‘had not become a bad team overnight’. That’s true: Scotland have been a bad team for a while.

Most maddening about Scotland is that they are capable of some real gems. Finn Russell’s deft chip for Jonny Seymour’s try against Wales was outstanding, and in Stuart Hogg, Jonny Barclay and the Gray brothers, there is real class in this outfit.

They will hope that their trip to Rome ends a miserable 13-match losing streak in the Six Nations. A win there would give the players a huge confidence boost, and could be the spark needed to produce meaningful results further afield. This team needs to learn how it feels to win and hold onto that feeling.

Contrastingly, the victors of Cardiff’s latest showdown will be confident entering the second half of the tournament. Wales look increasingly in form, and like England are looking to utilise their strike runners.

Warren Gatland faces a dilemma in his back row selection. Accommodating two opensides in Justin Tipuric and captain Sam Warbuton has previously enabled Wales to play an expansive style, but the two have struggled to establish the same presence as in previous years. All eyes will be on Dan Lydiate as he turns out for the Ospreys this weekend.

Jamie Roberts, talismanic so far in both attack and defense, typifies the direct style of play known as ‘Warrenball’. However, this has previously been found wanting by more street-wise sides and Wales lack a viable alternative. Expect a test of tectonic proportions when Wales take on the French next Friday.

As it stands, unless other results go their way, Ireland are out of the race. They join Scotland and Italy in the scrap for pride. England and Wales should beat France, meaning that the title showdown will come in the penultimate round when the two sides meet at Twickenham—though England’s final round game in Paris is just begging for an upset…

 

 

 

Sport in the City: Altrincham Football Club

Written by Adam Selby on . Posted in Sport.

Whether it’s a new sport, a team about whom you did not know, or just an event that interests us, we hope that we will be able to entice you to explore the wide sporting variety that the city has to offer during your time studying at the University of Manchester.

In the spotlight this week: Altrincham Football Club

Well… what is it?

We’ve brought you information on both Hyde United and Salford City in previous editions of Sport in the City last semester, and due to the abundance of non-league football across the city, it is perhaps worth exploring the other options for semi-professional football available starting Semester 2 with Altrincham FC. Nicknamed The Robins, Altrincham FC are currently managed by former English professional footballer Lee Sinnott and at this time sit just above the relegation zone in the National League one tier below League 2.

After several years of pushing for promotion from the Conference North, Altrincham finally made it to the National League in the 2013/14 season beating Guiseley FC in a play-off final 2-1 after extra time. Their first taste of top flight football therefore followed a season later and despite finishing slightly above the relegation places in 17th place, Lee Sinnott’s side have once again struggled to avoid a relegation battle and at this time of writing currently sit a mere four points above the dreaded drop-zone. This weekend however presents a valuable opportunity for Altrincham to move up towards mid-table in what could prove to be a crucial month in their quest for survival as they gear up to face Guiseley, in what will also be a re-run of the 13/14 Conference North play-off final, who also find themselves in a battle for survival one place above The Robins.

How do I get there?

Altrincham FC play their home games at the J. Davidson Stadium, situated on the corner of Moss Lane and Golf Road and only a ten minute walk from Altrincham town centre. Unlike many of the non-league grounds across the city which are perhaps more difficult to get to as they are often situated on the outskirts, you will pleased to know that National League football is only a public transport journey away. If you would like to catch the bus to Altrincham’s stadium, the Arriva service 263 and Stagecoach’s X41 both leave from Manchester Piccadilly bus station and go as far as the Altrincham Interchange in the town centre leaving only a short walk to the ground. However despite the bus being a much cheaper option, Altrincham’s official website does recommend travelling via the Metrolink tram service which leaves from Manchester City Centre. Compared to bus travel, the Metrolink takes around 30 minutes and users wishing to use this form of public transport must make sure to depart the tram at Altrincham tram station as several other routes operate to other towns. Altrincham train station offers another method of transportation but from previous experience travelling to the ground myself, I would perhaps recommend the Metrolink for both comfort and ease.

But how much does it cost to get in?

For the level of competition you will be experiencing in front of you, I feel that ticket prices have been set adequately, remaining affordable for fans whilst also reflecting the true reality of the increasing level and importance of finances to compete at each level of the modern game. Although many clubs do offer a student concessionary rate, it appears that Altrincham unfortunately do not include a student ticket in their concessionary pricing, which according to their website is only for females 60 years and over and also males aged 65 years and over. Therefore entry to Altrincham’s upcoming match against Guiseley will cost £14 should you wish to stand or £15 for a seated ticket.

What are the facilities like? 

At full capacity, The J.Davidson Stadium can hold up to 6085 people and is split into four different stands: The Hale End terrace, Golf road terrace, Popular Side terrace and Main Stand. Stand segregation is also in force at Altrincham and traditionally the Hale End terrace is the home of the away support holding up to 1434 spectators with Golf Road terrace assigned for the home support. The ground also can seat up to 1154 fans in their seated terracing section. Additionally during the 2014-15 football season a new Community Sports Hall was constructed and remains open to all fans on most occasions and is equipped with several HD television screens and also broadcasts the respective Premier League match that is being shown on match days too. Food and non-alcoholic drinks are also available at every home game meaning there is something for everyone during your day out in Altrincham.

Tell me something I didn’t already know…

Altrincham are one of very many sides with a history of giant-killing in the FA Cup and in fact hold the record for knocking out more league sides than any other team that has largely spent their time competing in non-league football. Memorable victories in 1979 and 1982 saw Altrincham reach the third round of the FA Cup only to be knocked in two replay matches against Everton and Tottenham Hotspur respectively. Meanwhile Altrincham’s 1992 victory over Chester City at Moss Lane is fondly remembered by many football fans because of a wonderful strike scored by Clive Freeman, a goal which was shortlisted by Match of the Day for goal of the season during the 1992/93 season. Moreover, it is like father like son at Altrincham with former Huddersfield Town midfielder Jordan Sinnott joining manager and dad Lee Sinnott at the club.

Finally, when can I see this in action?

In what will be a fourth successive home game for Altrincham, The Robins take on fellow relegation battlers Guiseley on Saturday 20th February at 3PM. Please take note that adverse weather conditions could the force to game to be postponed and for any further information, please consult altrinchamfc.co.uk.

If you have any requests for local teams, sports, or events taking place in Manchester, or if you wish to be involved, please contact [email protected].

Title Race 2016: Who is best-suited to the challenge?

Written by Toby Webb on . Posted in Sport.

We are observing the most competitive title race in many years: there are four teams in the hunt. The teams can be divided into two categories; the more experienced title-challengers Arsenal and Manchester City, and this season’s surprise packages, Tottenham and Leicester. Leicester’s rise from relegation certainties to title contenders has been nothing short of remarkable.

The four teams in question illustrate differing methods in mounting a title challenge, namely whether it is more effective to have several high-performing individuals driving the team towards the summit of the table, or whether a well-balanced and united team is a more effective machine. It would be naïve to suggest that this classifying is black and white; an element of each team’s success will be down to individual performance and team cohesion. However, an analysis of each team will demonstrate whether emphasis is placed more on the individual or the team.
Leicester

The rise of Leicester has been refreshing for the Premier League, illustrating that big spending on flash players is not the only model for success, which is down to several factors. Firstly, they have several high-performing individuals. In central midfield, N’Golo Kanté is having a magnificent season, plaudits likening him to Claude Makélélé in his ability to nullify and break up opposition play. This is reflected in the stats: he has the most interceptions (109) and tackles won (79) in the league. Additionally, the team contains two out of the top five scorers (Vardy with 19 and Mahrez with 14) in the league. Despite the addition of Mahrez, with his immense skill and eye for a pass, Leicester have remained a direct and straightforward team. Over the season so far, they have the second-worst average possession (45 per cent) and the worst passing accuracy (70 per cent). Low possession and high-scoring point to an efficient team: there is an emphasis on scoring over ball-retention. A resistant defence and a ready-supply of goals has inevitably resulted in success.

Despite the high performance of players like Kante, Vardy and Mahrez, I would argue that Leicester have a balance between team and individual. Over the season, eight players have accumulated over 2000 minutes playing time and four over 1000 minutes. This is illustrative of a tight-knit and united group that remains effective—Leicester is a cohesive team spurred on by several high-performing individuals. The existence of both elements means that, if their star players are having an off-day, the unity and spirit in the team often means they can grind out a result. They are an effective blend of team and individual.

Tottenham

Spurs have been a joy to watch this season. Harry Kane has continued where he left off, with 16 goals already this campaign, while Dele Alli will surely be named young player of the year. Spurs are the ultimate team, their success cannot be attributed to one single aspect or individual. In terms of goals, Kane has provided an impetus, and yet, with 31 goals coming from elsewhere in the team, scoring has definitely been spread among everyone. Spurs boast the meanest defence in the league, conceding only 20 goals this season. Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld have formed a domineering bond at centre back. Spurs are both prolific in attack and imperious in defence. This has resulted in their formidable goal difference (+27), again, the best in the league.

Moreover, they have an impressive squad depth, using 24 players in the campaign so far. As proven in the victory over Manchester City, they have the depth to replace injured players and have substitutes that impact the game; Kevin Wimmer was impressive in deputising for the injured Vertonghen, while Érik Lamela came off the bench and provided the incisive pass to Eriksen for the match-winning goal. Additionally, the Spurs side has an incredible worth ethic. As stated by The Telegraph, the team runs 115.3km on average collectively per match. This is the second best in the Premier League (Leicester’s average is 110.7km and Arsenal’s 110.5km). Squad depth combined with work ethic makes the Spurs side a formidable opposition, and goes a long way to explaining their success this season.

Arsenal

This season is Arsenal’s best chance to win the league since ‘the invincibles’ year. Given the inexperience (Spurs and Leicester) and the wayward form (Manchester City) of their rivals, critics would say it is Arsenal’s to lose. The experience of Wenger and Petr Cech, four-time league winner with Chelsea, should provide the necessary impetus for a successful title pursuit. Arsenal are similar to Leicester; they have benefited from several high-performing individuals. Mesut Özil has finally regained the form he showed in his younger years, with 17 assists and 105 goal-scoring chances created already this season (7 more assists than any other player). Moreover, Cech has kept 12 clean sheets, a clean sheet in nearly half of the games played so far. Like Tottenham, Arsenal benefit from a strong squad. Against Leicester, they brought Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck off the bench; they both scored and Arsenal were subsequently triumphant against a title rival.

Typical of Wenger’s Arsenal, they have the league’s highest possession average (54 per cent) and the highest passing accuracy (85% per cent). While Özil and Cech’s form has helped, Wenger’s passing philosophy requires every player to contribute. Thus, the team as a whole must be credited for Arsenal’s successful so far this season.

Manchester City

This season has been poor by City’s standard, and yet, they find themselves just about still in the title race. Recent losses to title rivals Leicester and Tottenham have severely damaged their challenge. City have been plagued by inconsistency; top players like David Silva and Yaya Toure have been average, key men Sergio Agüero and Vincent Kompany have had an injury-blighted campaigns, and big money signing Raheem Sterling has struggled to find form. The defence of Eliaquim Mangala and Nicholas Otamendi, assembled for the combined price of £70.5 million, has looked very dubious. City are heavily reliant on their individual to perform. At the beginning of the season, City were a team to be feared, acquiring 21 of a possible 27 points (first 9 games). However, since then, with individuals either getting injured or losing form, they have gained 25 of a possible 51 points (next 17 games). City have had too many off-days this season.

The stats that illustrated the fantastic work-rate of the Spurs team illustrate the laziness of the City team. According to The Telegraph, on average they cover 107.3km per match, the 3rd worst in the league. Criticism of the team’s work-rate is completely justified. When their players are on it, City can be unplayable. It must be said that injuries to key players has reduced the cohesion in the City side this year. However, their inability to grind out results when their star players are having bad days is undeniable; their reliance on certain individuals has meant they are behind in the title race.
Arsenal and Leicester are comparable. They have high-performing individuals as well as a cohesive team/squad, meaning they have something to fall back on if players are having off-days. Tottenham are the complete team, a fantastic combination of attack and defence. Finally, City illustrate the issues of relying solely on individuals. The conclusion to be drawn is that, while individual players will inevitably win matches, a cohesive team will be successful more often on average. For this reason, I predict that Spurs will win the league this season.

Album: Animal Collective – Painting With

Written by Eliza Slawther on . Posted in Music.

Released 19th February 2016 via Domino Recording Company

6/10

Painting With is Animal Collective’s latest studio album, and it certainly has retained the unmistakable tone of their previous albums. It is classical Animal Collective through and through—with all the zeal and madness that is to be expected of them. However, as a whole, the album is too similar to all their previous work and—whilst it is a pleasure to listen to—for the most part, it lacks any unique or distinct sound of its own with many of the songs sounding more like they should be B-sides or rejected ideas from their previous projects.

Painting With is energetic and light hearted, but unfortunately it somehow manages to be as forgettable as it is fun. Most songs on the album follow a simple, almost clumsy pattern of production, with a complete overusing of the same catchy beat and alternating layered vocals but devoid of any interesting instrumental or lyrical elements. In this, much of the album feels formulated and unnatural when listened to closely, and the majority of the songs are limited to simply being good rather than excellent.

However, there are a few stand-out songs—with the best being ‘FloriDada’, ‘Golden Gal’ and ‘Recycling’. The track placement is also problematic, as ‘FloriDada’ is the first on the album and ‘Golden Gal’ and ‘Recycling’ are the final two. The rest of the album pales in comparison, with the likes of ‘Hocus Pocus’ and ‘Vertical’ serving as weak and unmemorable introductory songs.

This isn’t to say that the album is terrible or not worth listening to. But overall, the lack of subtleties leads the album as a whole to sound messy and rushed. ‘Golden Gal’ provides some much-needed variety, but it isn’t quite enough to excuse the general lack of diversity throughout the majority of the rest of the album. The problem lies in comparison. As compared to the average indie album, it still holds its own and is bouncy and fun, but it simply lacks musical complexity in comparison to Animal Collective’s usual work. It feels as though with a little more time and care, Painting With had the potential to be a great album, but it just falls short of the mark.

Review: The Face of Change

Written by Neil Greenhalgh on . Posted in Arts.

As Victoria Station enters into its new era, to what extent could we see art exhibitions as a standard facility for passengers? Opposite the entrance to the Metrolink, and right next door to the toilets at Victoria Station, you can find an exhibition space. Even with the A-board outside and the posters in the window, you’d be forgiven for walking past it without acknowledging its existence. The main problem is that in order to access this space, you need to walk through an unlabelled closed door. This isn’t a normal thing to do at a train station; you’d have thought that a closed door would mean no access, unless it was clearly labelled, which is made even more confusing being next door to the toilets. I think the first time I saw it I assumed it was probably a cleaning cupboard. Once you’ve decided to venture into the space, you’ll then need to come to terms that you’re on your own, with no welcomers and no guardians of the artwork —unless you count CCTV and the odd crowd barrier. I wonder how many people make it this far.

The current exhibition is composed of paintings by David Coggins depicting various stages of Victoria’s history and redevelopment. The main focus of the display is a group of 9 paintings hung in a 3 x 3 formation to make a single grid of images that are coherent in form, textural in style and full of Mancunian character. Site-specific exhibitions always have a lot to offer and there’s a really interesting inside and outside idea at play here. Operating in the same field of vision as these paintings is a huge window, broken up into 6 panels and looking out into the station, where we can see the daily hustle and bustle of station life being played out for real, whilst we stand in this solitary semi-closed sanctuary.

Along with the art, there’s some odd pieces of furniture in this space; a two seater settee, an empty book case, and a rectangular school table. The furniture gives a welcoming impression and invites a certain use of the space, which is an odd relation to the closed door at the entrance. But what is much more interesting is the concept for the use of this space; it is at present totally devoted as a temporary exhibition venue, which has delivered a few different shows now, including an excellent ceramics exhibition a couple of months ago. This may well be because the station’s management has no other use for the space, or that they are waiting for a new shop to take residence, or it may well be because they believe in an exhibition space as a facility for customers. I would hope that the latter is true, although it is a positive thing either way. Making art more accessible to the public, in whatever form and in whatever way can only be a good thing and there are definitely too many closed spaces in Manchester for which this could be done.

Breaking Out of the Bad Habit Cycle

Written by Alice Williams on . Posted in Lifestyle.

We all know how it starts. For a good few weeks after returning to uni you kept up your good habits. Exercise was done, vegetables were eaten and smugness runneth over. You are never going to eat badly again. This is your new way of life. You feel so much better, look how great you look. Your friends hate you as you wax lyrical about spirulina while they’re just trying to eat their oven pizza in peace. Then suddenly, disaster strikes in the form of a good weekend. Going out for drinks on a Friday night swiftly turned into a full-on session of hardcore drinking. Talk of lemon water and a healthy gut are obliterated in the face of that lukewarm can of Stella that the equally inebriated guy in the club queue gave you. Before you know it, you’re sitting in McDonalds at 4 in the morning, covered in glitter and inhaling a McChicken sandwich that you don’t even remember ordering. It’s fine, you comfort yourself, a balanced diet clearly can’t always be good. You’ll make up for it tomorrow.

But of course that doesn’t happen. Waking up with a mouth like Gandhi’s flip-flop and still wearing your clothes from the night before, anything that involves the most carbs with the least effort is on your mind. Self-denial creeps in as you find yourself in Wetherspoons with your friends, ordering a massive breakfast and then trying not to freak out when your hungover brain has to deal with the billions of mirrors in the toilets. Having written off Saturday, you promise yourself that you will go for a run on Sunday when you’ve finally recovered.

Waking up at 1 o’clock on a Sunday, the realisation that you were supposed to have read 3 books, prepared a presentation and at least made some progress on your dissertation dawns on you and all else falls by the wayside as the cold dread spreads across your entire body. You hole up in the library and become single-minded in your panicked work. Nothing else can matter, and as a result you end up eating a questionable meal deal and some squashed Mr. Kipling bakewells, panic-bought from the reduced section. You remind yourself of those memes on Instagram that inform you that you can only pick two out of health, social life and work and laugh bitterly to yourself in the self-checkout queue. The girl behind you buying avocados looks mildly concerned. You try to convince yourself that her work is probably going terribly, because of course it’s impossible to concentrate both on looking after yourself and doing uni work…

One of the best options you have to break out of this cycle is sleep. It may seem obvious, but going out for the majority of the weekend causes such a sleep deprivation that it can make you ravenously hungry as your body tries to find extra energy to keep it awake. Try and get to bed early on Sunday night, drink plenty of water and, if you have time, do some exercise when you wake up on a Monday morning. The most important thing is to get back on the healthy-eating wagon and not to convince yourself that you’re so far gone that it’s not worth it. It’s a point said time and time again, but no-one is perfect all the time and everyone has spent a whole weekend eating solely McDonalds at least once. Maybe.

Hearing Protection: The Modern Music Taboo?

Written by Adam Rogers on . Posted in Music.

Being university students of a city as rich and diverse in its music history as Manchester, it’s no surprise that the vast majority of us are familiar with the same all too common sensation after a night out—tinnitus. Whether it’s a gig or a club night, a DJ set or even a house party, that ominous drone starts to sink in as soon as your head hits the pillow. You groan, you roll your eyes, and then you turn over and ignore it. At some point you really have to ask yourself the question: Is it really that bad? Can I really afford to keep ignoring this? What can I do about it?

Bluntly, the answers are yes, no, and hearing protection! Tinnitus actually stems from the sound of your sensitive inner ear cells dying. I hear you cry, “But Adam, I really enjoy music, and wouldn’t want any perceived quality loss listening to my favourite blackened ska crust punk artist! Also, I don’t want to look like a knob!”

Well, my reply is simple: Let’s keep it so you can still listen to your favourite blackened ska crust punk artist, and nobody is expecting you to wear those huge over-ear defenders. Let’s instead consider some vaguely subtle ear plugs, of which there are three main options.

The first option is foam ear plugs. These are by far the cheapest of the lot, but you’ll certainly know it. These are the sort that builders wear on construction sites or grumpy spouses wear because their significant other snores like an earthquake. These aren’t for everyone as there’s a significant drop in quality, and sometimes the attenuation can be too heavy, as well as there being an issue with occlusion (hearing your voice inside your head when you plug your ears with your fingers). They’ll also have to be replaced every few nights out as they wear out pretty easily, although you can nab 50 pairs on eBay right now for £7.50 delivered, so it’s hardly an issue. Comfortable, affordable, disposable—they’re better than nothing.

The second option is silicon ear buds, and these usually clock in at about £14 for a decent pair. Probably the most popular option, they balance cost, performance and style (most of them are barely visible). Silicon ear plugs attenuate the spectrum of frequencies much flatter than foam earplugs, alongside going a short distance to solve the occlusion problem so you can still have conversations. The only downside is that over several hours these will cause your ears to become achy and sweaty, but unless you were planning on a 24-hour session at Berghain, this isn’t really an issue.

Finally, the big expensive custom moulded option. These are the sort of plugs that session musicians go for and tend to come in at a revolting £140—but hey, what’s the price of hearing loss? To obtain a pair you first have to go to an audiologist and have moulds taken of your ear canals (it’s a very bizarre sensation). They’ll get sent away and the pretty casts of the inside of your head are returned about a week later. These are by far the superior option, allowing for the filters to be chosen for the flattest frequency spectrum (hint, hint, audiophiles), a tailored amount of attenuation (looking at you, speaker fiends), and effectively unlimited comfort (albeit it does take a little getting used to). As these can be cast in clear silicon, they are effectively invisible too. Speaking from personal experience, these are the only option I thoroughly recommend and are totally worth the financial hit—you can even find 20% off vouchers for certain companies as a student. Everything just sounds as if the volume had been turned down, although I do tend to mumble when talking because of it.

To sum up, if you’re heading out clubbing every week, then the recommendation on nabbing a pair of ear plugs is high, and if you’re a regular gig goer it’s pretty imperative. The ubiquity of music nowadays from iPod’s or otherwise means you’re already consistently hammering your ears anyway, and leaving permanent hearing damage to chance might not be the best course of action.

Besides, having music slowly ruin music for you is some pretty crap irony, don’t you think?

University wins award for gender equality in physics

Written by George Ball on . Posted in News.

The University of Manchester’s Physics department has been commended on its commitment to equality with an award from the Institute of Physics (IOP). It will receive Juno Champion Status—the highest level available—at the same time as the Open University. It joins thirteen other physics departments to receive the award—including the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London.

The award is part of Project Juno, established in 2007 by the IOP, to reverse the trend of under-representation of women in physics academia in the UK. To gain the award, a department has to demonstrate five major principles: appointment and selection, career promotion and progression, departmental culture, work allocation and flexible working practices. Currently, 21 per cent of physics undergraduates and lecturers are female, whilst 9 per cent are professors of physics.

Professor Stephen Watts, Head of the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester was delighted to receive the award. He said: “I am delighted that the IOP has awarded Juno Champion status to the School of Physics and Astronomy, in recognition of the determined efforts by staff and students in the School to embed the Juno Principles into all our activities.” He expressed a desire to continue the work of the physics department with regards to equality, saying: “We will not rest on our laurels and will continue to work to these principles and explore new ways to deliver equality of opportunity to all.”

Jennifer Dyer, Head of Diversity at the IOP was pleased to have additions to the list of Juno Champions. She said: “The Institute is delighted that the University of Manchester and the Open University have joined our list of Juno Champions, bringing the total number of Juno Champions to 15. They have worked tirelessly to embed gender equality into their respective physics environments and we congratulate all those involved in this achievement. Project Juno continues to deliver real results, demonstrating the efforts that physics departments are taking to ensure everyone has the opportunity to succeed.”

The award underlines the Department of Physics’ commitment to equality, as part of a wider campaign by the university.

A life lecture from British “super-surgeon” Dr. David Nott

Written by Rossy Natale on . Posted in News.

This week, Manchester alumni Dr. David Nott gave a lecture to medical students and the medical faculty describing his work and the importance of humanitarian aid for BBC One’s The One Show.

Dr. Nott alternates his time between his work as an NHS consultant surgeon in London and travelling to war torn and disaster struck countries to provide humanitarian medical aid. After entering a career as an NHS surgeon, Nott travelled to Bosnia during the civil war in 1993. Working in a hospital so full of bullet holes, it had been dubbed the “swiss cheese hospital”, Nott launched his second career as a humanitarian worker.

Since this initial trip, Nott has travelled to dozens of areas including Haiti, Gaza, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Congo, and most recently, Syria, working with the Red Cross, Syrian Aid, and Médecins Sans Frontières; this is all done on unpaid leaves of absences of up to six weeks from his surgical consultant position in London.

Nott detailed some of his most memorable experiences, and some of the decisions he has faced while working. Presenting the audience with pictures and videos of war torn countries and wounded civilians, it is easy to see where Nott gets his drive to help others: “The spark is still there,” he tells the audience.

“It was eye opening and moving,” one Manchester student tells The Mancunion: “If you haven’t heard of him you really should look him up and see the work that he and others have done to help those affected in war zones.”

Working in less than ideal conditions with limited supplies, Nott has not only saved thousands of lives, but he has established a course to train surgeons in trauma surgery. However, this British doctor feels that humanitarian medical aid is becoming less and less possible.

Speaking from experience, he explains how hard it is to come back from these trips.  Nott admits to the audience that he has suffered from PTSD, and explains the constant danger he faces when working in these areas, as humanitarian workers are common targets of attacks.

The areas where most humanitarian doctors are needed are so dangerous that most organisations have withdrawn their help. The threats on humanitarian workers are so real, he explains, that he sends messages to another doctor, a friend of his who is stationed in Aleppo, every day to check that he is still alive.

Humanitarian corridors, Nott argues, need to be established to protect those who want to help. Since his return from Syria in 2013, he has campaigned to British ministers, but has been largely ignored.

“The Geneva Conventions are being completely ignored,” Nott argues. Most of the patients David Nott treats are innocent civilians, many under the age of 18. He does this all while risking his own life.

Amidst the ongoing protests regarding the government’s imposition of new contracts on junior doctors, Nott is calling for a different kind of medical protest from Britain’s current and aspiring doctors: “You shouldn’t have to worry that by putting one foot out to help someone, you might get kidnapped or killed.”

He urges British medical students, the next generation of humanitarians, to join him. “You have to speak out,” Nott tells the audience, “If you believe something is wrong, you have to speak out about it.”

True to his words, Nott is a outspoken about humanitarian aid and has also founded the David Nott Foundation which provides surgical training for surgeons working in natural disaster areas.

David Nott’s lecture is part of the life lecture segment on BBC One’s The One Show.

Interview: Ø (Phase)

Written by Tai Kolade on . Posted in Music.

“Yeah… um what do you mean?”, he replies after my nonsensical first question. My previous night’s antics were clearly evident. Sitting across from me is Phase—Token records loyalist and techno magician. Despite my dislike of Peep Show, I couldn’t help but liken him to Super Hans—not that in that he is unhinged, but he does have a similar look and exudes the same sort of confidence that Super Hans does. Being a genuine fan of his, I felt nerves were maybe getting to me—on top of the lack of sleep so I fixed up, shook off my haziness and calmed myself. I finally found my form to articulate my first question properly; I ask him about his new album, and what exactly he meant when he called it ‘forward facing’?

“I only meant that in comparison to my previous album. It’s hard to say what exactly you put into something. I mean, I didn’t go into some deep concept exactly, but certainly in terms of where I was, what was going on in my life when I did the other album. I guess it also involves things I was going through in my own personal, psychological kind of growth and what not. This one I’m more looking at moving forwards at where my mind is.”

I felt a sense of togetherness dawn over me now, my confidence was building and my synapses were firing up. My newfound clarity allowed me to understand that Phase certainly had his own mantra with how he likes to do his stuff and what he aims to achieve. “When I started making records, trying to release them and get them out there, some of my main goals I wanted were for some DJs to play my records. It was really important to me. If so-and-so can played my records then I felt like I’d achieved something, like I’d earned their respect. If Jeff Mills or Derrick May was playing my record, it’s really important to me to reach that standard… It is subjective, music and art, and someone may say they don’t like it and another says they do, but you can’t let the person who said they don’t like it put you off. At the same time, there are certain people with credentials which you respect, and those are the sort of people you do want to like your records—of course you are going to take notice of them.”

I now unleashed on him my techno fanboy and revealed that tonight would be the third time I’ve seen him this year. Every time it had been somewhere dark and atmospheric. “I’ve said it before, it [techno] needs to be in quite a dark atmosphere, and that it doesn’t work so well in certain environments. The more moody and dark room you have the better… I played a place in the summer for example and it was the wrong venue because it was very light with white walls. Tech-house would have been fine in there, but the event wasn’t quite gelling properly and everyone was a bit frightened and around the edge of the dance floor. It was a really busy club but there was space because it was so light. Its really difficult to try and convey what you want to convey in the wrong space.” His passion for the right type of venue is evident, so I ask which venue is his favourite “I played last Saturday in Gare club in Porto, that’s one of my favourites. It’s underneath a railway (‘gare’ means railway or station I think in Portugese). It has a low ceiling and really nice vibe so I enjoy playing there, so yeah that’s one of my favourite places. Berghain is a favourite because they’ve just got everything right there just on a slightly bigger scale…

“Because of the way they run the door, and because it’s just set up right it works for that sort of music. It’s why it’s got the reputation it has. 2009 was the first time I played there and I didn’t really get what it was all about. But after a few times I stayed there longer after I finished playing and understood what it’s about, and how it’s more of a relaxed pace of partying. Traditionally wherever you go, everyone’s burnt out by 7-8 am.” He looks up at me with a knowing grin and chuckles, “I’m reminding you about last night aren’t I!” I share his laugh. Little does he know, I was actually up until 9.

Live: Floating Points

Written by Spencer Soley on . Posted in Music.

12th February 2016

O2 Ritz Manchester

8.5/10

Transfixed on a mesmerising light painting from the get-go (straight out of the Silhouettes music video), it finally clicked that I was in for a sensory onslaught. I should have seen this one coming. Elaenia, Floating Point’s 2015 debut album, offers an immaculate, unique and rewarding ambient listening experience. In moments of clarity it is gentle, but in moments of pure energy it soars euphorically. I was tentatively curious to see how this would manifest in the context of a live performance. Tentative despite knowing that when equipped with fifteen fellow musicians, Floating Points managed to win Best BBC Radio 1 Maida Vale Session. I should definitely have seen this one coming.

Sitting silently in the shadows at his electronic workstation, you could almost see the brain of qualified neuroscientist Sam Shepherd, a.k.a. Floating Points, precisely map out a variety of intricate details. Accompanied by clearly skilled but appropriately sparsely utilised guitarist, bassist and drummer, Shepherd’s melodies elegantly took centre stage. He toyed with his equipment; constantly experiment and testing, probing the machine for sounds unheard by human ears, like the crazy scientist I really want to believe that he is (but know that he probably isn’t).

To the uninitiated, the opening may have felt like a clichéd build up, but those of us familiar with Elaenia knew we were in for a treat.  Within ten minutes, the arrival of the first all-out energetic passage, Silhouettes I, had gripped the entire audience, rendering us incapable of anything but motion. The previously mentioned euphoric soaring parts of the album had translated perfectly into pure sonic bliss that, when paired with a near seizure inducing display of flashing light, created a weirdly evocative experience.  Masterfully executed yet subtly complex jazz rhythms seamlessly flowed into each other keeping us on the very edge, before we’re repeatedly pushed over that edge, by the sheer awe of numerous climactic moments. Full appreciation of this layered depth really requires listening to Elaenia. A large amount of the crowd appeared to have failed to do so, and instead unappreciatively decided to talk over more minimalistic (but still tense) parts of the performance.

The wonderfully coherent visual and auditory aesthetic continued for less than an hour, regularly swaying from blasting us with an unstoppable four-to-the-floor atmospheric thrash of energy, to relentlessly gripping our attention with an intense display of meticulously designed geometric patterns floating against the back wall of the stage, seemingly opening portals into other dimensions. The experience was an amplified version of listening to the album. A perfect transition from listening in full, eyes closed, whilst lying down, to soaking in a flawless incarnation of modern electronic music in its most authentic form. Floating Points clearly gives it his all at every opportunity, and will be rewarded for that as long as he continues to do so.

Record reappraisal: Third Eye Foundation: Semtex (20th anniversary edition)

Written by Jacob Nicholas on . Posted in Music.

Released 1996 via Linda’s Strange Vacation

From the mid-nineties to the start of the century, there was a scene in Bristol that was dominated by their love of cassettes and strange, spectral sounds. Chief amongst these bands/projects was Flying Saucer Attack, or David Pearce, who made vast, sweeping shoe-gaze tracks. Pearce’s various collaborators all had their own projects, such as Rachel Brook’s Movietone, and most importantly, Matt Elliot’s Third Eye Foundation. Elliot, when using the Third Eye Foundation name, made music that defied genre, best described as a weird hybrid of drum and bass and shoe-gaze. His debut, Semtex, originally released on his own Linda’s Strange Vacation label, has since been seen as seminal by those who listened to it, and now on its 20th anniversary it has been re-released by Elliot’s long time label Ici, d’ailleurs, with a ridiculous amount of bonus tracks and remastered demos. There are 29 songs on the reissue, with a total running time of well over four hours, a quarter of which comes from just two tracks. Typically, the track ‘Semtex’ itself is not included.

Semtex, as with the rest of the scene Elliot was part of, have no real comparisons. There are clear points of reference, from dance music to post rock to shoe-gaze, but the overall sound is completely different to anything else out there, sounding genuinely otherworldly, as wanky as that statement is. A large part of this comes from the production—the scene exclusively used cassettes (Pearce even declared CDs responsible for the death of the music industry in the liner notes for their first album). For Flying Saucer Attack, this meant the music sounded like it was a strange relic from another planet, the layers of feedback and delay mixing with hiss and clipping from the cassettes. For The Third Eye Foundation, the effect is even more important—Elliot’s mixture of drums machines, guitars and samples are all so shattered and mutilated by the production that it becomes impossible to tell what’s a sample and what’s being played. The cumulative effect is proper mindfuckery of the highest order, music free from expectations and normal assumptions about how it was being made, combined to create a wall of sound through the recording format reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine at their best, but in feel, rather than sound itself.

Opener ‘Sleep’ is the closest the album gets to the direct shoe-gaze-drum and bass crossover, a massive, mutilated swirling guitar distorted just shy of becoming actual white noise over a frantic breakbeat. It decays into oscillations and echoes, and sounds like it’s tearing itself apart as you listen to it. Halfway through, the drums drop out and the guitars layer and layer for the remaining three and a half minutes, spiralling into oblivion. It is by far the most frantic track on the album, and so makes sense as an opener. The following track, ‘Still Life’ is similar, but much slower, dragging itself out and revealing itself over its 11 and a half minute runtime, mixed in with distant female vocals and only disappearing into nothingness in the last couple of minutes. ‘Dreams on His Fingers’ is the real winner, though; dub inflected, white noise covered beauty, the vocals this time at the fore, but still incomprehensible over a steady, simple bassline. It’s an exceptional track, along with ‘Sleep’, the best on the album, and possibly one of the best that Elliot’s ever made. The remaining three songs on the album are all brilliant too, from ‘Next of Kin’s’ frantic, wordless charge to ‘Once When I Was An Indian’s’ genuinely unsettling drift, using every one of its near 13 minutes to reinforce the mood and strangeness. Closer ‘Rain’ is a relative relief, repeated synth echoes over gradually increasing samples of something indefinable, before finally closing the album in the white noise that it’s long threatened.

By comparison, the bonus tracks are a relatively mixed bag, being taken from Elliot’s demos from 1991 to 1997. The ones on the second disc are all brilliant, especially ‘Shard’, ‘Alarm Song’, and ‘Get to Fuck’, but the downloadable ones suffer from either too clean a remaster or being left too murky. There are still great tracks: ‘Hymn to Odin’ and ‘Making Waves’ being notable standouts, but for the most part they veer closer to noise and ambient music, not bad in itself, but less immediately appealing than the rest. Semtex remains exceptional two decades on, time only thickening its weirdness. Elliot has recently been hinting at a return to the Third Eye Foundation moniker, and Pearce released his first album in a decade and a half last year, so hopefully the scene will return, and get the recognition that it deserves.