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Year: 2012

Ladyhawke

Written by Sophie Wozencraft on . Posted in Music.

13th November 2012, Academy 2

6/10

New Zealand born Ladyhawke was welcomed onto stage with a roar of cheers from her dedicated fan base whilst her awkward but cool demeanour earned a sense of endearment from the less familiar members of the audience. The set opener, ‘Back of the Van’, a tune from her debut album Ladyhawke, instantly expressed her obvious 80s influences, with the guitar and synth sounds dominating the ear. She continued to perform plenty from her debut album as well as tracks from her recent release, Anxiety. Older tracks like ‘Professional Suicide’, ‘Magic’, ‘Dusk ‘til Dawn’ and ‘Better Than Sunday’ were broken up with some newer repertoire such the singles ‘Blue Eyes’ and ‘Sunday Drive’, however to the untrained ear, the general gist of every song was similar almost to the extent of confusion. Nevertheless, it cannot be taken away from her that her set was exciting, with the soaring synths, accessible melodies and guitar riffs and distorted bass lines being delivered with a cool confidence.

The demographic also showed her 80s influences off, with the younger generations crowded at the front experiencing this electronic rock music for the first time, whilst the teenagers of the 80s were gathered towards the back appreciating the nostalgia of it and the reflection on artists like Cyndi Lauper, Duran Duran and later bands like Nirvana. ‘Paris is Burning’ finished off the set, of which the punchy guitar riffs and rhythms transformed the crowd into a sea of bobbing bodies. The encore started with a cover of Jefferson Airplane’s ‘White Rabbit’, which, admittedly, was lost on the majority of the younger clientele, but her inevitable encore ender, ‘My Delirium’, was received with cheers of recognition and appreciation. So, although Ladyhawke can very much be described as a one trick pony, her live show was energetic and enjoyable.

Jake Bugg & Findlay

Written by Polly Checkland Harding on . Posted in Music.

17th November 2012, Club Academy

Findlay: 4/10

Jake Bugg: 8/10

It’s a brave way to begin. In the basement grunge of Club Academy, low-ceilinged and close-walled, lead singer Natalie Findlay opens with a fiery a capella, her voice curling out like smoke from a cigarette. Yet, stood redundantly around her, the band looks bored. Though they are made to look plain by the grit-glitter of her performance, their blank faces still defuse the song’s power.

Findlay’s first single on release, growling rock song ‘Your Sister’, follows: the band finally ignites and properly conducts Natalie’s raging voice. The microphone, however, does not: her primal sound is shot full of silences throughout the last part of the song. Despite persistent sound jitters during two further songs, needing to switch the mic twice and, at one point, having to physically hold the equipment together, Natalie’s performance never falters. With dark hair wild about her face, mouth defined in red, Natalie finally concedes that “if this doesn’t work I’m going to burn the fucking place down” – just as the glitch is fixed.

The set thrashes on, beautifully managed precision-crashes from Findlay’s leopard-shirted drummer outshining the confident accompaniment of the bassist and baby-faced, Beiber-quiffed electric guitarist. Natalie hurls her noise from the base of her throat and, though she slows for one blue-lit, softer song, she begins to sound like an instrument breaking with its own music. Her voice croaks when she speaks, a possible explanation for why none of the songs are introduced. Considering that, save for a couple of exceptions, there is an astounding absence of Findlay tracks available anywhere online, this omission seems perverse, almost an attempt to repel potential fans. Though courageous, this is music lacking proper projection and outlet: both as a singer and brand, Natalie Findlay needs a better vehicle for her voice.

Jake Bugg’s music has been loaded with enough likenesses to bury him six feet deep. As he walks unassumingly onto the Club Academy stage, you wonder if his teenage frame can take it. He has a hangdog mouth, dozy eyes and the kind of hair that looks like it’s been blow-dried backwards. As both his openers, ‘Kentucky’ and ‘Love Me The Way You Do’, are retro echoes, it becomes hard not to start questioning how progressive this current flashback actually is for guitar music. The audience is dotted with relatively few fresh-faced undergrads, recognizable by carefully high-styled hair and some admirable but unconvinced attempts at Movember. The high average age of the crowd makes me suspicious that Bugg is simply fuelling a maudlin remorse for the sounds of yester-year.

So it is a relief that the twangy ‘Trouble Town’ which follows offers innovative aid: in aged and nasal tones, Bugg sings ‘Stuck in speed bump city / Where the only thing that’s pretty / Is the thought of getting out’, putting his reminiscent sound firmly into a modern context. This is a tricky line to tread: the self-conscious worldliness of ‘Seen It All’ and lyrics such as ‘I’m an old dog but I’ve learned some new tricks yeah’ from ‘Two Fingers’ sits a little uneasy on such a scrawny form. However, the tales Bugg tells in his lyrics go beyond the teller; the audience knows all the words. They lose themselves to the jumping chords of ‘Lightning Bolt’, chanting out above the sound on stage and breaking into sea-surging, crowd-surfing momentum. Wary of being submerged, Bugg chooses the more gently rousing rural pride of ‘Country Song’ for his encore, confirming his place as a new dog using some very old tricks.

Ben Howard

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Music.

12th November 2012, Apollo

7/10

Fresh from his recent appearance at the Mercury Music Prize ceremony, a sold out Manchester Apollo opened its doors and welcomed Mr. Ben Howard and his kingdom of fans, in what proved to be a real indication of how far the singer-songwriter has come in just under 12 months. After what he describes as ‘one of the best shows of the last tour’ at the Manchester Ritz in February this year, his admission of nerves this time round, was no surprise as there was inevitably a strong sense of expectation to see whether a once rising star in the music industry, had really become an established artist in the space of 12 months.

Taking to the dark Apollo stage in equally dark clothing and equipment, Ben Howard and his crew were greeted by thunderous applause and a deafening choir of high pitched screaming. So far so good one could say. His dark silhouette cast a lonely figure as anticipation built in and around the gloomy Apollo, but then without introduction, Howard stormed into the opening three songs, displaying the prowess of an artist way ahead of the game, playing like an experienced veteran who failed to be overwhelmed by the enormity of the crowd.

Then it wasn’t before long until he totally set the place alight, taking centre stage on a now sun-kissed stage, standing in-front of the beaming sun which has become ever so synonymous with his successful debut album ‘Every Kingdom’. His unique combination of both folk and rock has aided his success and gained him the wide fan base which could certainly be seen, a crowd mixing a much younger hipster following with an evidently older and appreciative generation of music fan. And in a world where success as a solo artist is measured against the likes of Justin Bieber, Ben Howard is a much needed breath of fresh air in a very isolated industry.

Although new material was met with open arms by the crowd, his ability to repeatedly interchange between much faster, heavier material to much slower meaningful tracks truly showcased that he can do much more than win the hearts of teenage girls with a series of love songs. Popular tracks ‘Diamonds’ and ‘Under The Same Sun’, helped start to get heads nodding and feet tapping around the room whilst fans favourites ‘Only Love’ and ‘Keep Your Head Up’proved to reaffirm any doubt that Ben Howard has built on and created a loyal kingdom of fans, stood mesmerised by his every lyric throughout the duration of the performance. The highlight and biggest cheer of the night however must have been for ‘The Wolves’, as his 80 minute set was met with a standing ovation from the 3000 sell out crowd. All in all, a truly magnificent performance by an artist that speaks so avidly about Manchester and its musical heritage. With further performances like that, he will soon be up there with the greats he admires so much.

 

Noisettes

Written by Rachel Bolland on . Posted in Music.

14th November 2012, HMV Ritz

9/10

Noisettes have a strange history, jumping into some people’s consciousness with their punky first record, What’s the Time, Mr Wolf? back in 2007.  But then they went pop and ‘Don’t Upset the Rhythm’ was picked up for a car advert and they exploded, with their second LP Wild Young Hearts peaking at number 2 in the charts.  Their new record Contact debuted at 30, which would inevitably have been a disappointment to the band who also replaced their drummer and founding member, Jamie, Morrison, in between the two releases. However, they didn’t let it show in their performance, playing every song with seemingly endless energy and enthusiasm.

Singer Shingai Shoniwa took to the stage in a very small red and gold playsuit with a wire hoop skirt round her, launching straight into ‘I Want U Back’. The songs from Contact were received well but that was nothing compared to the roars that accompanied the beginnings of the big singles from their second record.  ‘Don’t Upset The Rhythm’ was an unsurprising high point with the crowd singing along with every word and the opening bars ‘Never Forget You’ prompted people to start singing along before Shingai herself.

The most wonderful aspect of the evening was the fact that they put on such a show.  There were costume changes, covers, and Shoniwa even ended up walking along the edge of the sound desk for the first song of the encore, ‘Atticus’, a quieter moment before ‘Wild Young Hearts’ sent the crowd wild again.  Finding herself with some extra time she called the wonderful support acts, Marques Toliver and Josephine, onto the stage for an amazing cover of Earth Wind and Fire’s ‘Fantasy’.  Noisettes proved themselves to be a sensational live act at this show and I only hope their next record will allow them to be more than a one-album-wonder.

Gotye

Written by Polly Checkland Harding on . Posted in Music.

15th November 2012, Apollo

9/10

The video for Gotye’s number one selling single, ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’, has been viewed over 300 million times on YouTube. Only a cretin would ignore such concentrated visual popularity: as Gotye’s show unfolds, it’s rapidly apparent that he’s not missed a trick. An enormous bank of screens projects falling plumes of colour as a backdrop to ‘The Only Way’ from Like Drawing Blood, released in 2006. Gotye himself is distracting, his body tightly packed into slate-grey shirt. He thwacks raised synth pads whilst pulsing out vocals, before taking off around the stage to play drums and a tableau of other instruments: an organ flex, omnichord and metallophones.

On his recordings, Gotye’s voice takes on a laborious and distant echo: live, and brought to life with an intense visual accompaniment, his sound is inescapably powerful. Echoing the genre-collage of Gotye’s music, the video changes for each song, styles including stop motion paper animations, anime and fast-forwarded filming. Comic-book graphics in chunked black lines are interspersed with CAT scan flashes as complement to the rock chords of ‘Easy Way Out’, first of the songs played from Gotye’s latest album Making Mirrors. ‘State of the Art’ twists together voice distortion with a reggae beat, the animation of a psychotic computerized device expanding upon the self-reflexive lyrics.

The Apollo audience is even made part of the project: Gotye demands ‘Manchester in three part harmony’ for ‘Save Me’, during which two animated body derivations find each other and make a whole on the screen. By contrast, the monotonous and unfocused visuals for ‘Night Drive’ compound the song’s sentimentality, underlining how influential presentation is in translating Gotye’s work. The show offers an eclectic compilation of sound and effect: as an artist, Gotye is best watched as well as listened to.

Fucked Up

Written by Ol Urwin on . Posted in Music.

14th November 2012, Deaf Institute

8/10

The Deaf Institute has a death wish. Whoever booked Fucked Up here has either never seen the Canadian punks – who once played a 12 hour set – in a live environment, or they’re willing to stick their neck out and accept whatever damage, human or otherwise, comes their way.

Whether it’s by design or by accident, Fucked Up take an awful long time to take to the stage, but when they do, the venue descends into near wanton chaos, but in the greatest way imaginable. Opening with a couple of songs from last year’s excellent, nuanced David Comes to Life, it takes only the second track before rotund singer Damian Abraham is physically pulled into the crowd by the baying yet loving mob, and Abraham is all too willing to reciprocate, climbing across the bar, making his way into the seated area. The squares weren’t getting away so easily.  Despite his intimidating broken glass howl, there’s something infectious about the lilt in his eyes as he hugs fans or attempts to scale the balcony, an incident which could have gone very awry were it not for the faithful willing to catch him.

Musically the band is also a treat. Their Poison Idea meets Broken Social Scene racket is uncompromising but has an almost graceful quality to it; careful melodies peek through the noise. ‘Black Albino Bones’, one of their finest songs, gets a delightful airing, with guitarist Ben Cook swirling dreamy vocals into the mix as Abraham meets his adoring public. Set closer ‘Son the Father’ is what really detonates the building with a coruscating energy, truly making the bouncers sweat. The band returns for a one two punk punch of ‘Police’ and ‘Generation’, bodies flinging themselves everywhere, well and truly, the venue devastated, and the crowd sated.

The Changing Face of Fashion

Written by Chloe Letcher on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

Celebrity collaborations within the fashion industry have become increasingly prominent. The last decade in particular has seen a significant shift in the face of fashion. The high fashion model, well regarded within fashion circles, but otherwise often nameless to the general public, has been replaced with a known face or a household name in the form of a celebrity. The extent to which fashion and celebrities have become intertwined becomes incredibly clear by simply considering the many examples of celebrity fashion lines: David Beckham for H&M, Kelly Brook for New Look, Cheryl Cole for Stylist Pick, Pixie Lott for Lipsy, and most recently the Kardashians for Dorothy Perkins. These examples hardly even touch the surface of an industry that has witnessed celebrity and fashion become dependent on each other. However, this surely begs the question: why are celebrity fashion lines becoming so ever-increasingly popular?

Psychology offers some scientific reasoning behind this question. According to the Hovland and Yale model of advertising, an advert is more likely to be successful in selling products if the person attempting to persuade the audience is an attractive celebrity. This model takes into account how the target audience have a desire to emulate and imitate celebrities in any way, meaning that an audience is likely to buy a product in the hope that it will make them like the celebrity promoting it. This view presents the fashion industry as operating in an ongoing cycle of exposure, attention, recall and PR coverage; all of which it achieves through the celebrity which it uses to front its brand. Yet surely such a view also suggests that the fashion industry, and celebrity fashion lines, are also opportunistic, and often exploitative?

dorothyperkins.com

The Mail Online writer, Liz Jones, surely seems to think so. Jones comments on the ‘cynical greed of celebrity fashion lines’, and how ‘the number of celebrity ranges has mushroomed alarmingly of late as High Street stores clamour desperately to lure customers into parting with their cash’. Although it would be silly to suggest that there is no element of greed in celebrity fashion lines (in particular, she refers to the newly released Kardashian Kollection for Dorothy Perkins) there is also something slightly reductionist in her article. Call me naïve, but I find it highly uncomfortable to think that I am simply a victim of consumerism, conditioned by adverts which tell me I “need” a certain item of clothing, and beckoned into a store because I’ve been hypnotised by the latest celebrity staring at me from an enormous billboard. What Jones fails to take into account is why there is such a big space in the market for celebrity fashion lines, a question which cannot simply be put down to the greed of tycoons like Sir Philip Green. Green evidently recognises how celebrities have become a cultural phenomena within fashion, in that they act as the middle man (or woman) between the customer and the enormous Empire that is the fashion industry.

Take the Kardashian Kollection; the sisters perhaps do not go to the lengths that ‘proper designers do’ as Jones criticises them for, but they have never claimed to be designers. What they and other celebrity fashion lines do offer is a degree of attainability. The Kardashian sisters are feminine, curvy, hardworking, savvy, and it goes without saying, glamorous and impeccably well-groomed. Their fashion line for Dorothy Perkins reflects how female fashion choices are becoming influenced by figures like Kim who, at 5’3 and with a famously large derrier, is slightly more ‘real’ than the 5’11 high fashion model, whose never ending limbs and perfectly airbrushed body is often unattainable for the vast majority of people.

 

lipsy.com

What we are seeing with celebrity ranges is a more representative face within the fashion industry. Consider a programme like The Only Way is Essex. The show is a prime example of how reality television stars are also becoming significant in influencing fashion. Many of the cast members such as Billie and Sam Faiers, Lydia Bright, Jess Wright and Amy Childs, have opened their own boutiques. Similarly, some have also brought out fashion lines because of the show, such as Amy Childs for Lipsy, and Lauren Goodger for New Look. Although the never ending list of merchandise (perfume, autobiographies, eyelash ranges) can sometimes become tedious, the Towie girls have made “Essex style” popular in its own right, and along with sequins and towering heels, have brought an affordable glamour to the High Street. Not every celebrity fashion line will appeal to every single person, in fact some are rather questionable, for example I wouldn’t rush to Lipsy to buy one of Amy Childs’ dresses, as our taste in fashion differs and her collaboration simply doesn’t compliment my own style.

However, celebrity fashion lines are a good thing. We need celebrities, whether they are actresses, singers, reality television stars, or presenters, who come from different walks of life (rather than just the path of the runway) to bring variation to the fashion industry. Aspiring to a certain look because of a certain celebrity encourages people to push boundaries and try something new. Yes, the face of fashion is changing- but that isn’t a bad thing.

‘Amour’

Written by Andrew Home on . Posted in Film.

Michael Haneke has made a name for himself with hopeless, despairing films such as the fourth-wall-breaking torture fest Funny Games (2008) and World War I drama, The White Ribbon (2009). Amour, like The White Ribbon, won the Palme d’Or, in its respective year, and with good reason. Amour is a crushingly bleak but beautiful tale of an elderly Parisian couple and their struggle through their final years.

Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) live with a fair amount of comfort and happiness in a Paris apartment until one day Anne suffers a stroke. Georges tries his best to care for the now semi-paralysed and slowly deteriorating Anne, never once complaining about his wife’s tragic situation. Anne begins to show signs of improvement before another stroke leaves her bed-ridden and incomprehensible. Never even allowing the idea of sending her away to a home to enter his mind, Georges is forced to watch as his wife dies slowly in front of him.

One may be inclined to think that a film entitled Amour would have some sort of clichéd, sugar-coated “love conquers all” message but Haneke is far too melancholic for that. In fact, Amour feels far more like a horror movie than one could reasonably expect. One particularly effective dream sequence has Georges walking through the eerily waterlogged, dilapidated halls of his apartment building while the camera follows him around blind corners, much like it does for Danny’s tricycle rides in The Shining (1980). Amour effectively shows how terrifying growing old can really be.

TOP 5…Puppet films

Written by Leo Mates on . Posted in Film.

5. Team America: World Police – Yeah, it’s a bit childish, and it may have been designed to insult just about anyone who could ever watch it, but let’s face it, it is very funny. It also contains the most swearwords in any film ever.

4. Jurassic Park – Quite possibly Spielberg’s finest film. Anyone who had to watch this as a child will have experienced the terror of thinking dinosaurs could attack at any time. Plus, the animatronics on the dinosaurs still look surprisingly good two decades on.

3. The Nightmare Before Christmas – A fantastic Christmas film that isn’t really a Christmas film, it can also be noted as a rare example of a Tim Burton film that doesn’t feature either Johnny Depp or Helena Bonham Carter. Worth watching just for Danny Elfman’s ‘What’s this?’ which features some of the finest puppet acting ever seen.

2. Wallace and Gromit: A Grand Day Out – The original Wallace and Gromit film featured the inventor and his dog taking a day trip to the moon when they run out of cheese. Single handedly responsible for misleading an entire generation of children on the cheese like quality of the moon, it also featured a sad little moon robot who just wants to go skiing.

1. The Muppet Christmas Carol – Though any of the Muppet movies could have made it onto this list, it always had to be the Christmas Carol. A must watch for Christmas time, where else would you possibly be able to see Michael Caine eating Christmas lunch with Kermit the Frog?

Preview: Zero Dark Thirty

Written by Robbie Davidson on . Posted in Film.

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Starring: Jessica Chastain, Kyle Chandler and Mark Strong 

It seems Kathryn Bigelow is in the habit of breaking records. In 2008 she became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director for the astounding The Hurt Locker. Now, four years later, she has surely broken the record for shortest time between an event taking place and a film based on it being released. By the time Zero Dark Thirty hits screens it will have been little over eighteen months since a team of Navy Seals killed Osama bin Laden in what has become a defining moment of the 21st Century.

Kudos then to Bigelow and her screenwriter Mark Boal (whom she reunites with from The Hurt Locker) for staying topical. But the truth is Bigelow’s film about the hunt for bin Laden in fact precedes the event itself. Before the dramatic events in Abbottabad, Bigelow was already in the process of making a film about the ten year hunt for the world’s most wanted man. Originally it was presumed to focus on the frustration of those most involved in the hunt and the psychological turmoil that came with it. Much in the way The Hurt Locker wasn’t really about defusing bombs, it was about human trauma, Zero Dark Thirty would be more about the emotional impact and dedicated nature of those pursuing bin Laden than the manhunt itself.

But real life events changed things significantly, with Osama bin Laden now dead the nature of the film shifted considerably. Unparalleled access to classified documents means Zero Dark Thirty looks set to be a fascinating insight into how the CIA finally caught their man. That’s is not to say the film has disregarded the themes of its original incarnation. With a heavyweight cast, including woman of the moment, Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty will likely be as engaging as a character study on obsession, as it will be one as one of the year’s best thrillers.      

Japanimation Society

Written by Richard Les on . Posted in Societies.

Every Friday the Japanimation Society meet for a night of scheduled programming free from the tropes and clichés of western film and television. I caught up with Peter Tran to find out more.

‘‘We are a free society that is centred on watching, discussing and enjoying anime, also known as Japanimation. We do weekly screenings to showcase various shows and films to introduce and engage both people unfamiliar with anime and fans who may just be getting involved (or are long-time fans). It’s all about opening up people’s horizons to learn about different and new concepts, which is one of the big aspects of being at University.’’

‘‘Japanese studios treat animation more objectively and use it to match and enhance the content of their work, so it’s not limited to kids-only fare. It can be applied to different age brackets and genres such as fantasy adventure, science fiction and even just serene drama, all of which can be played straight. The strongest benefit of animation is that it frees up the imagination more than live-action, when those images and scenes would then have to be matched to reality, what settings and actors were available and what the bank balance would allow for with effects. In animation however, all that can be interpreted as the creators wish and be presented directly to the audience. Detractors often dismiss anime as simply being weird, but that is one of the great things about it; it can be as weird, as extravagant, as surreal or as small, intimate and tranquil as it wants to be.’’

‘‘In addition, it is always fascinating to experience foreign products and see how it reflects different concepts and thoughts, be it on specific matters to Japan or on general matters observed across other nations (e.g. Environmentalism, technology in society). Plus, enjoyable stories along with enthralling imagery shouldn’t be overlooked by the general public simply because it’s not from a CGI-saturated Hollywood live-action franchise-spinner.’

As well as weekly screenings of TV shows, the Japanimation Society also hold a feature film double bill most months; next up is a Christmas-themed joint film night with the Manchester Japanese Society on Friday 14th December showing one live-action and one animated film. On Sunday 16th December they will also be holding a Christmas Cosplay Party at The Zoo: ‘The event is open to the general public and attendees needn’t have to dress up to get in. But it helps as cosplayers pay £1.50 (instead of the usual £3.50 entry fee). We have a DJ and there’s going to be a vibrant mix of Japanese and Korean music, so it’s going to be a unique event in the society’s calendar.’

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/mujsociety/

UMSU page: http://manchesterstudentsunion.com/groups/japanimation-society

 

Feeder

Written by Fin Murphy on . Posted in Music.

18th November 2012, Academy 1

4/10

In reminiscence and anecdote, it’s often the case that one can hit a nerve, causing an uncomfortable resonance. For Feeder’s vocalist and guitarist Grant Nicholas this comes late in his band’s set when he introduces the recent single ‘Idaho’, and remarks to the packed out room: ‘back in the 90’s, when there was good music’. It’s in this jocularity that one’s reminded of the sheer irrelevance of Feeder, who’ve long since had their day. Few recall their activity in the 90’s, before they shook off their Radiohead impression and created beauty out of tragedy in the form of ‘Comfort in Sound’, their most creative and commercial peak. The ten years since then have been successful to the point where they have a solid crowd supporting them and no need to be at the forefront of British guitar-rock. It is in this context that we meet them at the Academy, touring to support their latest album ‘Generation Freakshow’.

Feeder kick off with opener ‘Oh My’, the same track which begins ‘Generation Freakshow’, a track reliant on the formula the band have spent years crafting: quiet-loud structure, straightforward lyrics and an anthemic quality, perhaps better suited to venues ten-times that of the Academy. Along with the flamboyant back screen, it suggests an uncomfortable yearning to return to the height of their fame all those years ago. Nicholas begins one of about three attempts at banter, of which he calls Manchester the band’s ‘second home’; red-meat to the largely greying crowd, who’ve turned up for a night of reliably hard rocking. All throughout the night, the band are given a warm reception, but that spikes intensely at several points. ‘Just The Way I’m Feeling’ is one of these, an elegant track on record but here lacking some of the atmosphere-building nuances which are paid off so well by the chorus. It morphs into a big rock track, which the house goes wild for. This is followed by Nicholas noting how he lost a ‘coin toss’, necessitating the band perform the following track: ‘Buck Rogers’. Again, uncomfortably resonant of the fact that Feeder are beyond obliged to play that ‘Godzilla’ of a hit live, so overdone by now it’s hard to see them going through anything but the motions. Nonetheless, this track again overworks many pacemakers in the room.

Many of of the younger fans in attendance go most wild upon hearing choice cuts from recent releases ‘Renegades’ and ‘Generation Freakshow’, leading up to the inevitable ‘ending’ and encore. Here, Feeder end with a fair mix of their catalogue. Recent single ‘Children of the Sun’ kicks off proceedings, again enlivening their crowd- particularly the fresher faced among them. That said, they do play their own official video in the background, something Lethal Bizzle would refer to as ‘a bit leave it.’ Up next is rarely heard early track ‘Sweet 16’, which elicits an almost excessive amount of jumping in an up-and-down fashion and fist-pumping (to the point of nearly banging out my +1). This track is played with an almost sloppy enthusiasm, far from the mechanistic play-through much of their set has been. With a death-like certainty, ‘Just A Day’ caps off the concert, with seemingly every mouth attending singing along to THAT riff; by almost the end, even the band are, leading to the insane idea that they’re having fun. In any case, Feeder set many middle-aged paces running and satisfied rose-tinted sentimentalists, but it’s hardly a cutting-edge, fan-gaining concert. It’s more of a celebration of a career while continuing to plod on until their music finally reaches its desired shade of beige.

#demo2012 “We’re still a bit mad, not really sure why”

Written by Lisa Murgatroyd on . Posted in Opinion.

At the NUS National Conference in April 2012, it was voted to hold a national demonstration in the first term of 2012. It took six months to organise and advertise “#demo2012” across the country to attempt to bring every university on board. The NUS estimated that 10,000 students would attend the demonstration in London, with the catchphrase “Educate, Employ, Empower”. Less than half that number made it on the day, leaving many wondering what the point was, if any.

“We all have a responsibility to make sure that our actions don’t alienate the public.” Hampered by the vivid remembrance of the damaging scenes from the last protest called by the NUS, their hands were tied. With a route that aimed to breeze past Parliament, wanting to avoid any chance of a repeat of Millbank, the march seemed to lose its steam as it moved south of the river. The pouring rain was no encouragement, and it seemed that people only continued to wearily plod along because they knew their coaches would be at the end waiting.

I certainly don’t believe that resorting to vandalism and violence is any way to get your point across, but there’s something to be said about the heavy criticisms aimed at the NUS leadership for leading students on a not so merry trail to Kennington. The story was only given a cursory mention in the national media, because let’s face it – a few thousand students walking around waving placards is nothing new or exciting.

The most interesting point of the day was the crowd turning against Liam Burns, President of the NUS, and against the NUS itself. “Liam Burns, shame on you, you’re a fucking Tory too” was just one of many angry chants they shouted over his attempts to reach out to the shivering students student in the rain and mud. The diehard Socialist Workers Party and the so called anarchists were the only ones with enough passion to stick around to the bitter end to get their point across. They seem to think that the NUS isn’t left wing enough, full of career hacks with an eye on a future in the Labour Party (who apparently aren’t left wing enough either).

The buzzwords ‘educate’, ‘employ’ and ‘empower’ were a good attempt to stir some emotion in a distinctly apathetic national body of students. However, it’s a fairly vague statement to make. The demo wasn’t called as a reaction to some new policy, or appointment. It was more of a “we’re still mad about those fees you increased two years ago”. The demo meant something different to everyone, and whilst I agree with the general sentiment, how effective could it really be?

Let’s take each word in turn. ‘Educate’ – according to the NUS, “Education is a good thing in and of itself.” Well, that’s a revelation. Thanks for spelling that out, I had no idea! It’s actually insulting that they felt the need to express exactly what education means to people who have actively sought to further it on their own accord. It goes on to say that “we demand a properly funded tertiary education system, accessible to all” which it goes without saying is a laudable goal. There’s no set idea of what they mean by properly funded though, whether that’s fee free, or with a better system of student loans, or a graduate tax. The minor triviality of demands is clearly left to your own imagination.

‘Employ’ – youth unemployment is on the rise, according to the NUS. But, latest government figures show that youth unemployment figures between 16-24 are finally starting to fall, down 53,000 since last year as of the end of September. The fact is the UK faces a fragile economy struggling to pull itself out of the black hole of a double dip recession. What is important is to make sure that graduates are not being taken advantage of with the increasing popularity of unpaid internships, but these days we seemed resigned to the fact that for most of us, we need to put in the hours for crucial experience to give us the edge over the similarly qualified competitors.

“Politicians have a lot to answer for. Many of them lied to our faces.” That was two years ago. ‘Empower’ is the keyword here, because we musn’t forget that we have a democratic right to protest. But why has it taken so long to organise a demonstration if we’re so angry? This campaign needs a lot more than a flash in the pan protest. If we want to make sure education and employment are high on the political agenda, then there needs to be more effort made to build a momentum.

There are talks of bringing the campaign to campuses now, to continue to raise awareness, but there’s no strong sense of direction. Perhaps anger against the NUS isn’t so misplaced. However, it’s a difficult task to bring students together and unite on issues in their own backyard, let alone on a national level. Perhaps I’m just too jaded to see the potential, but demo2012 certainly didn’t inspire me to hope for anything better.

LSE Students’ Union bans The Sun

Written by Anthony Organ on . Posted in News.

London School of Economics Students’ Union (LSESU) have banned Britain’s most popular newspaper.

The proposal was voted on by around 80 people and passed with more than half the popular vote at the weekly Union General Meeting.

LSESU’s General Secretary, Alex Peters-Day, said that she made the proposal because the paper is “sexist” and doesn’t sell well.

The elected official originally wanted to ban the paper without a vote, saying: “From my point of view if it were a good idea commercially to get rid of it as well as a good idea politically, I didn’t see why we couldn’t just pull it.

“Once Liam and the newspaper [The Beaver – LSE’s student paper] got wind of that they weren’t particularly happy so we had to facilitate a debate on it.”

Liam Brown, Executive Editor of The Beaver, said that Ms Peters-Day spoke to the student shop about removing The Sun.

He said: “They decided that they would pull it but we got a whiff of it and said that you can’t do this without asking people.”

The Beaver published an editorial column condemning Ms Peters-Day’s actions, accusing her of being “willing to stifle free speech”.

Mr Brown said: “These particular figures have done this before so we want to be careful.”

LSESU were accused of censorship in September when they temporarily removed copies of the London Student newspaper from campus featuring a provocative comment piece on gender-neutral toilets.

Mr Brown said: “We weren’t too happy about that because it’s a really bad precedent.”

The papers were later returned including a statement from the Union and Ms Peters-Day said: “We had to physically take it in to put a statement in but that took place within a half hour, so there was a bit of exaggeration there.”

In 2010 there was also a motion to ban both The Sun and FHM from the LSESU shop, but it was voted down at a meeting which included “sexist heckling and wolf-whistling” at the Women’s Officer.

This year’s Women’s Officer, Alice Stott, voted against the ban in the recent meeting and said: “I’m a bit disappointed, but that’s what people voted to do.”

She continued: “I think it’s very easy to single out The Sun as sexist, but in doing so you turn a blind eye to sexism which is pervasive and pernicious across all of the mainstream media.

“It’s simplistic and classist to single out The Sun, it implies that misogyny is something only working class men do when in fact it happens across the national press.”

Asked why The Sun was targeted, Ms Peters-Day said: “I think because it’s quite symbolic to be honest. I know that’s not necessarily the best reason but it is the only mainstream paper that still has a Page 3.

“The fact that The Independent has hardly any woman columnists is a really awful thing, but I’m not sure it’s as bad as The Sun and Page 3.”

This month is the 42nd anniversary of Page 3 and there is currently a campaign against it titled ‘No More Page 3’.

Last week, MMU student and ‘No More Page 3’ activist  Hayley Devlin told The Mancunion that the campaign got under way after its organiser noticed that – despite the success of British women at the Olympics – Page 3 models were still the most prominent women in The Sun throughout the games.

LSE’s Hayek Soceity responded to the ban by organising a free giveaway of The Sun on campus, but their stall was reportedly attacked and vandalised.

LSE student union were wrong to boycott The Sun

Written by Tom Acey on . Posted in Opinion.

There’s a right way to go about making a stand. Major environmental pressure groups, anti-war demonstrators, anti-fascist campaigners have all found ways to promote their cause without exerting an undue political influence. Sadly, as with our own students’ union’s #Demo2012 societies funding debacle, the London School of Economics SU has sacrificed its own political impartiality in boycotting The Sun newspaper.

Let’s make this clear. The ‘boycott’ in this case was not an organised student protest, but an executive decision to remove the newspaper from the shelves of the union shop. The decision to go ahead with the boycott was made by a committee of 80 individuals, comprised from a student population of around 8,600. According to The Beaver, the LSE student newspaper, the union had removed The Sun for ‘economic reasons’, yet most were led to believe that the objectification of page 3 girls, rather than lack of sales, was the union’s main concern.

LSE SU General Secretary Alex Peters-Day went some way to clearing the confusion: ‘The Sun currently has a very low readership on campus, and it would not be to the economic detriment of the SU if we were to stop stocking The Sun.’ she said in her online blog. ‘Given that The Sun promotes such a negative portrayal of women through page 3 this is an example where our ‘political’ motivations complement our commercial decisions.’

Put simply, the only economic issue was as to whether the union could afford to support the boycott; the decision was almost entirely politically motivated.

Should a small committee of students really be allowed to ban readership of student newspaper because of their own political bias?  Many of us may despise The Sun, but it is not for us to decide who should read it. Press freedom may be under greater scrutiny in the Leveson era, but it is still integral to a fair democracy. People have a right to be informed on current events, but it is dangerous for this information to be fed to us according to the political views of one particular group.

The aforementioned voting process has also come under scrutiny, as many students have rightly complained the notion was passed without a proper referendum. The fact that the vote was wholly disproportionate is concerning, but it is a mere side issue in this debate. Even if the process had been properly conducted, the idea that a majority vote could be taken as validation for the removal of a prominent newspaper is extremely worrying. 

It has done nothing to stimulate debate over what is an entirely relevant argument. Many national and student groups have campaigned admirably against the objectification of women, but the reasons behind the decision are now largely irrelevant. Almost none of the recent coverage of the boycott has been about the legitimacy of the sexualised representation of women. Rather than debating the rights and wrongs of the page 3 format, protesters are simply queuing up in support of the free press.

LSE student Ben Green sympathises with the protestors’ stance: ‘Many people might think that The Sun is a horrendous paper, but this is about freedom of choice. I personally believe that the union should be politically neutral – it is worrying that a small group of students were able to make such a decision.’

With hindsight, the continued stocking of The Sun alongside a considerable anti-page 3 campaign might have done more to help the group’s cause. Simply abusing their position in removing a newspaper without reasonable grounds cannot be in their best interests. In reality, the sudden, unexplained absence of a popular daily newspaper is not going to help garner support for the cause among students.

Had those behind the boycott wished to sufficiently dent student readership of The Sun, then they might have been better advised to continuing educating students on the reasons behind it. Speakers’ events, flyers, committee meetings, socials etc. would have given the group the opportunity to explain their grievances and gain support for their cause, without compromising the supposed impartiality of the student union.

As I have made clear already, the LSE student union have every right to raise their concerns about the sexist depiction of women. However, the union’s role should not be to exert political bias, but to ensure that they do not allow their own political agenda to influence their decision-making. It is ironic to think that whilst feminists in the early 20th century fought for so long for the right to vote, a minority of their modern-day counterparts are instead intent on quashing the democratic rights of others. To steal from Voltaire: the union might not agree with what The Sun has to say, but it is vital that they defend their right to say it.

ISOC raise £7000 for charity

Written by Michael Williams on . Posted in News.

The Islamic Societies in Manchester raised over £7000 from a week of charity fundraising.

This placed Manchester third in the Charity Week North initiative, behind Liverpool and Leeds.

The University of Manchester Islamic Society undertook a variety of charity work, including bucket collections around campus, bake sales at University Place and henna designing. The week was rounded off with a climb of Mount Snowdon.

A ‘Sister’s Social’ also took place, where all females could gather and relax.

“As we get two days in the whole year to celebrate, it’s important that we do”, explained Mohammed Ahmed, lead volunteer.

“I learnt a lot, met people from various backgrounds and felt a spirit of unity throughout, coming together for a cause that is close to my heart.”

The total, £7056.01, was more than double that raised during Charity Week 2011. It was put towards the grand total for the North – which was almost £57,000. This placed the North third in the national tables also, with only Scotland and the Midlands raising more.

The Charity Week initiative is a non-profit, volunteer led organisation that raises money for orphans and needy children. They act according to Islamic principles, and do not discriminate against any volunteer, donors or recipients.

In a statement posted on the Manchester Charity Week 2012 page, ISOC thanked volunteers for a “phenomenal week […] full of love, light, unity and smiles.”

“You did something for which you get no personal gain but the privilege of doing it, and that itself inspired us.”

Liverpool edge out plucky Manchester

Written by Andrew Georgeson on . Posted in Sport.

Manchester women were unlucky not to come away with more from the match against a strong Liverpool team at the Sugden centre.

Manchester began the opening set well, dominating the opening exchanges with Kirk looking particularly impressive, picking up three of Manchester’s seven points as they took a comfortable 7-3 lead.

However, Liverpool soon began a fight back, dragging the score back to 7-6 through scorers Cook and Stroscher, with the aid of some Manchester mistakes. Manchester rallied after a timeout to cling onto the lead, holding onto a 2-point buffer, but unforced errors saw the scores draw level at 12-12. The lead changed hands after another Manchester timeout when Liverpool’s Davies hammered a shot through the helpless Manchester defense.

After taking the lead Liverpool started to control the game extending their lead to 17-14. A brief Manchester resurgence saw them bring the scores back to 15-17, but this was short lived as Liverpool began to expose gaps in Manchester defense, forcing ambitious shots from the purples before seeing out the set 25-19.

Despite the fact Liverpool ran out comfortable winners in the first set, none of this momentum would be carried through to the second. Both teams struggled in the opening exchanges as an array of mistakes meant neither got a foothold in the game until the deadlock was finally broken after continuous Liverpool errors, making the score 10-8 in Manchester’s favour.

After taking the lead Manchester began to put more points on the board through Strozik and Gurgul, who despite being ill had an impressive match. Liverpool endeavored to keep within two points of Manchester and it looked like they were going to level the scores before Manchester called a tactical time out.

After the short rest Manchester reasserted themselves in the fixture, and started to exploit Liverpool with a series of good serves, with Morrison, Franceshca and Magda all picking up aces.

Manchester looked to have been in control of the second set with the scores at 21-17, however, they found themselves in trouble again with Liverpool’s Astrid making a last ditch effort to snatch the set for Liverpool with an impressive spike and two aces. Manchester eventually saw out the set through Kirk, leveling out the game at 1-1.

The match remained extremely tight into the third set with neither team being able to pull away in the early exchanges. Manchester did manage to amass a three-point lead at 15-12 through Morrison and Kirk scoring, however, mistakes from Manchester led to Liverpool leveling the scores.

It took until the 20 point mark before any real difference could be made between the two, and with the scores at 22-21, Strozik, Kirk and Tamasi scored to seal the set for Manchester.

Liverpool managed to even the match out in the fourth set after particularly impressive performances from Astrid and Stroshcer saw them pick up the majority of Liverpool’s points. Mistakes again cost Manchester dearly as the set ended 21-25.

The fifth and final set was comprehensively won by Liverpool. Despite strong performances from AnnaLeez and Morrison, the half way point of the set of 15 saw Liverpool carry an 8-4 lead, a deficit which simply proved too much for Manchester to recover from.

Rampant Manchester claim first win of the season

Written by Alex Underwood on . Posted in Sport.

Manchester Women’s Futsal got their first points on the board this weekend by comfortably defeating Sunderland University 10-2 at the Sugden Centre.

Manchester made the better start of the two sides and dominated early proceedings. Throughout the first 10 minutes the home team frequently carved out chances, moving the ball at a good tempo and breaking through the Sunderland defence at will. Despite such impressive build-up play Manchester came up against an inspired Sunderland goalkeeper and were, for a long time, profligate in front of goal. However, Manchester called a time-out in the eighth minute and responded to the brief interlude by opening the scoring. A strong break from midfield allowed Eva Lockner to break through on goal and drive an unstoppable shot into the top right-hand corner to give Manchester a deserved lead.

Yet, Sunderland found a shock equalizer almost immediately; Manchester switched off in defence and allowed Sunderland to put together a quick passing move and finish from the edge of the area from their first shot on goal. The goal was a shock to Manchester, who had controlled the entire game, and caused an animated dispute between Manchester’s eccentric coach and the Sunderland substitutes’ bench. The girls were galvanized into action again and re-took control right on half-time; another midfield break by Yina Luk allowed Lockner to arrive into a similar position and this time she fired calmly into the bottom corner.

In the second half Manchester upped their game and tore into the hapless Sunderland defence. Skilful midfielder Yina Luk commanded the entire game from the middle with her neat control and composure on the ball and deservedly added to the scoring, beating two players before slotting home from the edge of the area. She quickly scored again from inside the area to make it 4-1 before Meida Pociunaite converted from the penalty spot to add a fifth. Lockner was unable to add to her tally after suffering a nasty injury which later precipitated a trip to hospital – Manchester will be hoping she recovers quickly after her strong first half performance.

Sunderland called their time-out in a vain attempt at limiting the damage but Manchester returned even stronger and quickly added a sixth as Teresa Castro found the corner with a neat finish after an impressive run down the left. Sunderland pulled another back to make it 6-2 but in the final five minutes Manchester were rampant. Substitute Abbi Cole finished off a neat move to make it 7-2 before Castro tore through the Sunderland defence again and finished steadily for an eighth. Manchester rounded off the scoring in the final few minutes as Cole and Pociunaite both doubled their tallies.

This was an important result for Manchester after successive away defeats to Newcastle and Durham in their two previous fixtures. Next up is a tricky journey to Leeds Metropolitan University on Saturday evening.

Preview: Arabian Nights

Written by Josephine Lane on . Posted in Theatre.

The Library Theatre Company’s annual Christmas show is always a highlight in  Manchester’s theatrical calendar, and this year is set to be no different. Directed by the North’s very own Amy Leach, a regular on the Manchester theatre scene, Arabian Nights is sure to bring a touch of warmth to us all this Christmas.  I met up with Amy and the cast to watch them rehearse, and to find out more.

The story starts after the discovery (and then murder of) King Sharayar’s wife being unfaithful. His anger causes him to seek revenge on all women: he decides to kill each and every virgin women in the land, after he has married them. That is, until he marries cunning Shaharazad, who tells him all but the end of a fantastical story every night for a thousand and one nights until he sees the error of his ways.

Amy Leach tells me what mainly attracted her to the project was the story-telling aspect. She says: ‘I grew up watching and adoring stories being told in the theatres of Manchester and so feel very lucky to be able to tell one of my own’. She also told me of the epic nature of the show: ‘each story could be a play in itself! The play is being staged in-the-round, at the Quays Theatre at the Lowry, an experience that will surely immerse the audience and transport them to a world of medieval Persia, where stories were traded alongside silks and fine spices.  From watching the rehearsals, it is clear that the show will be a non-stop treat for the senses: music playing throughout, lots of movement and colour and lots of character changes and transitions.

And students, don’t be put off by the ‘family element’ to the show. Talking to Amy, I become aware of the darker and more adult ideas in the play, such as the genocide of a whole nation of women, not to mention the sexuality in the play. And if what I saw in the adultery scene is anything to go by, I’d suggest an adult audience would definitely enjoy the show. This is not to say, of course, that the show will not be fun for all the family. Bring your grandma, bring your six year old cousin, bring anyone so long as you don’t miss Arabian Nights. As all of the cast informed me, it’s sure to bring out the kid in all of us!

Arabian Nights runs from the 30th November to 12th January at the Lowry Theatre

Tickets £8-£18

Magic Mapp keeps Manchester on top

Written by Tom Acey on . Posted in Sport.

Two second-half goals from Chloe Mapp were enough to see off rivals Man Met and keep Manchester top of the Northern 2A Division.

The Manchester midfielder struck midway through the second half, before sealing an impressive performance with a sublime free-kick in the closing stages.

Captain Fionn Andrews scored late on to give the visitors hope, but anything less than a victory would have been harsh on the home side, who should probably have won by a greater margin.

That the game even went ahead was of great credit to the Armitage groundsmen, as much of the playing area was left saturated after 48 hours of persistent rain.

Manchester went into the game looking to continue their 100% league record, and they started in confident fashion.

Winger Sophie Bracegirdle tormented the visitors all afternoon, and it was from her early corner that Manchester almost took the lead. Goalkeeper Elle Stamford failed to deal with a speculative cross, but Simone Wan was disappointed to see her close-range header come back off the crossbar.

That was about as close as Manchester came in a frustrating first half, in which they dominated in possession but failed to create any meaningful chances. Much of the home side’s good work came through Mapp, who repeatedly found space in front of the Man Met back four, and Bracegirdle, who had the beating of full-back Katie Southern and provided excellent service from the right flank.

Man Met were outnumbered in the centre of midfield and struggled to keep the ball, but it was they who came closest on the brink of half-time. A clever turn and shot from Ruth Cornish drifted just wide of the far post, where it was almost met by the sliding Andrews.

Manchester started the second period much as they had finished the first, with Andrews called into action in her own penalty area, nicking the ball from the head of Bergin before clearing off the line after a scramble in the six-yard box.

It was only a matter of time before the hosts’ domination told, and it was no surprise to see Mapp and Wan combine in setting up the opening goal.

Having been harshly ruled offside just moments before, Wan collected the ball 30 yards from goal and, with her back turned, delayed her pass to meet the run of Mapp, who burst between the two Man Met centre halves before slotting past Stamford.

It was no less than Manchester deserved, and despite a brief period of pressure from the visitors, the points were sealed in the 82rd minute when Mapp curled a 20-yard free-kick into the top left-hand corner. Andrew’s late flick was a just reward for her excellent individual performance, but Manchester recorded a deserved win to continue their perfect start to the season.