Day: 29 April 2013
Album: Kyle Hall – The Boat Party
Released: 16th April 2013
Wild Oats
7/10
It takes something special in order to emerge from any city with a rich heritage of music, yet this is exactly what Kyle Hall has achieved. Hailing from Detroit, Hall has followed the lead of such tech-house names as Theo Parrish and Omar S in becoming a trans-Atlantic success. However even amongst such talent, Hall manages to stand out for what he has formed since the young age of sixteen. Shortly after Youtube videos showed Hall pacing his school corridor’s making spontaneous beats on a keyboard, the Detroit youngster set up his own label, Wild Oats. With a mentoring influence from guys like Mike Huckaby and Rick Wilhite, Hall has since released on labels such as Kode9’s Hyperdub and now sits firmly at the center of his hometown’s next generation of producers. The excitement surrounding Hall’s latest output is inevitable then, with the eight track Boat Party LP being by far his most expansive work to date.
‘KIXCLAP$CHORD$NHAT$’ may not feel like much at the time, but the cymbal heavy opening sequence merely rearranges the audible pallet in preparation for what is to come – something you’ll no doubt be thankful for later. The following two tracks ‘Dr Crunch’ and ‘Spoof’ represent the Detroit techno influence for all it’s worth. ‘Dr Crunch’ stands out as the hardest track on the release with a punishing kick drum and aggravating melody which feels as if it could lead anywhere. ‘Spoof’ maintains a similar industrial kick, but this time is supported by a much softer wave of sound that is occasionally interrupted by some sharp cymbal work.
Hall proceeds to pull down these techno foundations that he has created by bringing a much more subtle sound to the rest of the LP. ‘Flemmenup’ combines kick, snares and samples in a variety of fashions to create a pulsing if not totally attention grabbing beat. However, upon a first listen to the next track,‘Crushed’, it stands out as being as close to a crossover hit as Kyle Hall would ever want. The sampling of vocal notes which fade in and out over a beautifully constructed beat make for a soundtrack to a lakeside summer in Detroit. Or at least we can dream so.
The upbeat ‘Finnapop’ sounds more like it’s from Chicago than Detroit but this again down to Hall’s imaginative use of sampling. At seven minutes ‘Finnapop’ is the longest track on the release: just don’t expect the relentless vocals to give up at any point unless it’s the last two minutes which form a musical implosion, eventually resting on a crackly dying kick. A brief interlude entitled ‘Grungy Gloops’ is perhaps the best measure of Hall’s diversity as synth meets an explosion of percussion. This storm before the calm is testament to Hall’s originality as the next song ‘Measure 2 Measure’ ties the LP together in a cloud of smooth guitar riff and vocals. If ever the phrase ‘save the best to last’ was put into practice, Kyle Hall has certainly done this here.
Whilst Hall will always be compared to his Detroit peers, on the evidence of this LP alone he deserves to be mentioned in a separate sentence all of his own. Rarely are a combination of tracks able to underpin the sound of a whole city whilst remaining so original and varied.
Men’s Officer idea shot down at Union Assembly
The final round of student Assemblies for this academic year took place last week.
Divided in to three categories, University, Union and Community, they offer the opportunity for students to submit ideas to change Union policy and to mandate the Executive Officers to work on issues.
The idea which caused the most stir was the suggestion of an elected Men’s Officer, put to the Union Assembly last Wednesday.
Following the events on Twitter, the University’s Director of Social Responsibility Julian Skyrme tweeted about the University’s curent level of students from disadvantaged areas, known as widening participation (WP) and low participation neighbourhoods (LPN).
He said, “We have more WP LPN students at UoM (400) than Oxford/Cambridge/Imperial/Kings/LSE/UCL combined (390)”.
The idea for a Men’s Officer was shot down, with 14 votes against it.
The majority of ideas from the Union Assembly are to go to an all-student vote at the next referendum, including the idea that the Editor of The Mancunion should be a non-exec, non-trustee position, but paid and elected. A second idea to guarantee the circulation of the student newspaper passed, meaning that there are now measures to ensure that The Mancunion will have 20 editions of 32 pages printed each academic year.
Following the controversy over voting coercion in the recent Students’ Union Elections, a student submitted the idea to amend election regulations and the by-law as necessary to ban candidates or their campaigners from approaching students with mobile voting devices, such as iPads. The idea passed, to the relief of those in attendance.
“The ban makes the entire process more democratic, and encourages candidates to actually speak to people and attempt to convince them with words, rather than seeking the easy way out,” Marijn Ceelen, who ran for Diversity Officer this year, said. “I wish there would have been a ban already in place – it would have made all the difference for some candidates!”
Other ideas which will go to the all-student vote include, ‘Reduction in waste during Election Campaigning, by banning fly-posting by candidates and implementing alternative means of engaging with Students.’
‘Dedicating a work space to Fuse TV.’
‘Give recognition to students who work for free within the SU by creating a point system and a reward card scheme.’
In the University Assembly on April 23, all the ideas submitted passed except for “The library and Learning Commons should have a nap room”. The notion of a nap room has been a recurring sentiment from students who also suggested the Students’ Union should include similar plans in the refurbishment of their Oxford Road building.
An idea was passed at the University Assembly to provide a bike rental scheme linked to the student e-payment system.
University Challenge: Manchester ready to smash UCL in final
I have a bone to pick with the latest University of Manchester team to reach the final of what must surely be the toughest quiz show on television.
Three members of the quartet – Adam Barr, David Brice and Richard Gilbert – are regulars at my local pub quiz, held at the delightful Fuel in Withington. As if the trio alone could not trounce the competition week after week, the additional presence of a Mastermind semi-finalist and former University Challenge team member, Rachael Nieman, ensures that the team clear up on a frighteningly consistent basis. The result: just two wins in two years for my assembled ragbag of mere mortals, despite our valiant efforts.
But when I meet my nemeses – minus the fourth team member, postgraduate student Debbie Brown – over coffee ahead of Monday night’s University Challenge final, it is their overwhelming enthusiasm for quizzing, rather than a clinical determination to win at all costs, that shines through. “We don’t really go along to pub quizzes to win. We go because we like quizzing,” Adam tells me matter-of-factly.
Indeed, David Brice traces his fascination with University Challenge back to his childhood. “I remember how excited I used to get when I was young and I would get a single question right, if I’d been doing the Tudors or something in school,” he recalls.
For the vast majority of the student population, of course, providing the correct answer to one question over the course of the thirty minutes remains a triumph. Yet we continue to tune in in our droves. The stuffy, Bamber Gascoigne-fronted ode to bookishness which ran for a quarter of a century until 1987 gave way, upon the programme’s return seven years later, to a glossy half hour of quiz kitsch, with the inimitable Jeremy Paxman given star billing.
Excellent though they have been, the University of Manchester’s current team is no exception given the institution’s stunning recent history in the competition. Tonight’s final will be the fifth to feature Manchester in eight years, with the team seeking to defend last year’s title.
This year’s quartet narrowly beat Lincoln College, Oxford in the first round before overcoming a second Oxford college, Magdalen, in round two. They then saw off Imperial College, London in the first of their quarter-final matches before suffering a setback to lose to University College, London. The team eventually made it through to the semi-finals with a comprehensive victory over St George’s College, London before waltzing into the final by beating Bangor University.
But it could so easily have been so different. The road to the final has been anything but smooth, with an unlikely comeback required to pip Lincoln College, Oxford by just five points in their first round match. Indeed, the Manchester quartet spent the first ten minutes of their debut appearance clawing their way back to zero points. “We planned the whole thing,” Richard says, tongue firmly in cheek, before David clarifies: “It didn’t just look like we would lose, it looked like we might get the lowest ever score!”
Manchester’s ongoing success has generated significant media coverage over the past week, with some suggesting that the team’s ‘training’ requires North Korean-style discipline. Not so, says team captain Richard Gilbert.
“These stories about us ‘training’ have kind of got the wrong end of the stick. Basically, we all like quizzes. Stephen [Pearson, team coach] knows we like quizzes, so he says ‘do you want to come round on a Wednesday night to have a bit of a quiz?’ Yes please, because we like quizzes! That’ll be cool – let’s do that then go to the pub. It’s not like, three hardcore sessions a week of training.”
Perhaps understandably, then, the team are keen to refute the suggestion that they take the competition too seriously. “For us it was more of a social thing,” David explains. “There were teams there with huge textbooks and piles of paper – one team with a huge textbook which said ‘KANT’, and over lunch they were just there trying to speed learn Kant’s entire life work.”
Nonetheless, the team meet once a week to practice, fingers on buzzers, in the style of the show. Their success has been masterminded by University of Manchester librarian Stephen Pearson, a one-time University Challenge contestant himself who has been dubbed ‘the Alex Ferguson of the quiz world’. Since taking his team to the semi-finals as captain in 1997, Pearson has assumed responsibility for coaching Manchester’s budding quiz starlets. Over the years he professionalised the application process and compiled almost 10,000 questions in an effort to prepare each team as far as possible.
“The team I’ve got for the current series virtually picked themselves. As soon as I chose the team I thought they could go all the way,” Pearson tells The Mancunion. The practice sessions, ridiculed by some, are vital to ensuring that teams feel comfortable once the show reaches its televised stage.
“I think nerves can be a factor,” he explains. “I used to only run these practice sessions once before the team appeared on television, but now I think it’s important to give them as much experience on the buzzers, in the format, as possible.” His expert tutelage is obviously paying off; I mention the height of the Eiffel Tower to this year’s team, as an example of a fact that could only be recalled via Google. “321 metres,” David shoots back. “And also it increases in the summer, because of the heat,” Richard adds, not to be outdone.
“Stephen helps us out of the goodness of his heart,” David tells me. “The Oxbridge teams have their own inter-college quizzes, so that’s their training. We just meet up and practice by answering a few questions.”
The Oxbridge question is one which has been raised time and time again in University Challenge circles. A 1975 protest against the presence of several Oxbridge teams in the competition – as opposed to the single slot allocated to every other institution – produced perhaps the most infamous moment in the show’s history, when the University of Manchester quartet began the programme by answering each question with the name of a revolutionary leader; ‘MARX!’ ‘LENIN!’ ‘TROTSKY!’
David Aaronovitch, today a distinguished columnist at The Times, was a part of that now-legendary team. Though he admits “I can’t get my knickers in a twist” about the issue almost four decades on, he remains firm in his belief that Oxbridge are overrepresented on University Challenge. “It’s a weirdness of itself, and everybody knows it. I don’t know whether they ask Durham University, for instance, whether they want to be represented by the collegiate system.”
“We were a combination of very arrogant and very innocent,” Aaronovitch notes wryly as he recalls his youthful antics. “The funny thing is that what we did now seems very eccentric, whereas this form of hyper-competitiveness that dominates the show now seems relatively normal. It’s a real reflection of how attitudes have changed.”
To some extent, Aaronovitch regrets that a shift in the nature of the competition has taken place, expressing unease at the training that the Manchester team have received from University Challenge guru Stephen Pearson. “My emotional reaction to it is that it’s a bit like the Sultan of Qatar taking over Manchester City. It reminds me of when the Oxford and Cambridge boat race became semi-professionalised, and they almost bring over these American students on scholarships in order to row.”
He continues: “It’s a development of the competitive spirit, though I wonder whether it’s a step too far. But if people like it and enjoy it and it makes Manchester feel good, then I’m not going to condemn it. I still sit there myself and shout out the answers.”
One thing is for certain: there is no chance of the current crop repeating Aaronovitch’s feat during Monday night’s final. For one, the show is pre-recorded – astonishingly, over twelve months ago – whilst the Manchester team are unsympathetic to the sentiments of that 1975 protest. “If Oxford and Cambridge could only enter one team each, they would be unbeatable,” Adam Barr suggests.
Biased though we are, it has once again been a tremendous achievement – not to mention a testament to the dedication of one remarkable man – for Manchester to reach the University Challenge final. It will be the ultimate monument to Manchester’s devastating consistency if Brice, Barr, Gilbert and Brown are able to return the trophy to its rightful place in the University of Manchester library for a second consecutive year.
University Challenge is on BBC Two tonight at 8pm. For comprehensive coverage check out The Mancunion’s live blog at www.mancunion.com
Five Songs in the Field of… Guilty Pleasures
1) Slipknot – Surfacing
Just fucking YES. You know what I’m talking about here. Six minutes of sheer rage, with THE GREAT BIG MOUTH, Corey Taylor, spewing bile over guitars that screech with siren-esque urgency. If I ever pluck up the courage to attend one of their gigs, expect me to crack many heads when they drop this. Just don’t believe Taylor’s frequent, mid-song proclamations that “you’re all going home in a body bag” – the systematic, nightly massacre of your fans would be a surefire way to sink your record sales, and we all know he’s not that daft.
2) Starsailor – In the Crossfire
One of the least-fashionable bands in recorded history dropped off the radar after Phil Spector selfishly ruined the recording sessions for their second album, Silence Is Easy, by murdering somebody. I’d estimate that around seventeen people heard On the Outside, but its opener, whilst hardly original, is an absolute stormer.
3) Norah Jones – Carnival Town
Big Norah Jones fan, me. It was upsetting when she turned up in the mind-numbingly shit Ted as the butt of a cheap sexual gag. Her newest record, Little Broken Hearts, is a genuinely interesting, Danger Mouse-produced slice of indie pop, but I dig her older, more formulaic stuff too, particularly this mellow cut from Feels Like Home.
4) Gunther – Ding Dong Song
Surely the most erotic piece of music of all time, it’s difficult to believe that self-described ‘former sexy nightclub owner’ Gunther dropped this international smash nearly ten years ago. Timeless, provocative and achingly beautiful, ‘Ding Dong Song’ is a musical microcosm of Gunther’s mantra – ‘champagne, glamour, sex, respect.’ Oh, you touch my tra la la?
5) Gary Glitter – Leader of the Gang (I Am)
Who could have guessed that ‘the man who put the bang in gang’ would turn out to be a dangerous sexual predator? Pretty much anybody, really. This track is an absolute riot, though, and should be remembered as such – good clean family fun. COME ON COME ON! COME ON COME ON!
Manchester go for glory in Challenge final
Manchester have the opportunity to retain their University Challenge title in the final of the popular TV quiz on Monday evening.
Having smashed Bangor University in last week’s semi-final, Manchester will take on University College, London in a rematch of one of their three quarter-final matches, which Manchester lost by 230 points to 150. Team members David Brice, Adam Barr, Richard Gilbert and Debbie Brown will face Jeremy Paxman – and some of the toughest quiz questions on television – as they seek to defend Manchester’s title.
“Let’s just say, it’s pretty exciting!” team captain Richard Gilbert told The Mancunion ahead of tonight’s contest. “Hopefully, our run will do some good towards maintaining the uni’s reputation – some prospective students see University Challenge as something of a gauge, so maybe we’ve inspired some applications!”
The road to the final has been anything but smooth, with an unlikely comeback required to pip Lincoln College, Oxford by just five points in their first round match.
Nonetheless, a win would see Manchester become only the second university to win back-to-back championships in the show’s 51-year history, and would see the 39,000-strong institution draw level with Magdalen College, Oxford at the top of the all-time leaderboard, with four University Challenge victories.
The Mancunion will be joining the team at The Ducie Arms pub and live-blogging the final from 7pm at www.mancunion.com. We’ll be bringing you minute-by-minute coverage and exclusive reaction from the quizzing quartet, as well as the views of some past winners.
The final will be shown on BBC Two on Monday night at 8pm.
The Working Class Movement Library
Ten minutes out of Piccadilly gardens on the number 50 bus is the Working Class Movement Library. A sturdy brick building, you can tell from the outside that what’s inside is going to be interesting. Inside, there is a huge yellow banner hung above the front desk saying in thick, green cut-out letters “ANTI-APARTHEID MOVEMENT”, an armchair covered in a map of Manchester, and a grand staircase leading to the 40 rooms full of books upstairs. The collection records over 200 years of campaigning by men and women for social and political progress.
On the walls there is information about the extraordinary couple Ruth and Eddie Frow, who founded the library. They met at a Communist party summer camp in 1953 and discovered that they had in common a love for collecting books about labour history, so they compared each other’s collections, got married, and started the library in their own house. They spent summer holidays roaming the country in their caravan, searching for books to put in their library, until it got too big for their house and they moved it to its current location opposite Salford University in 1987.
From the main exhibition you can get a sense of the vast kinds of items that can be found in the collection. There are not only books but posters, prints, leaflets, and even the boots of a child labourer. There are items relating to Manchester history such as a drawing of the Peterloo Massacre which occurred at a peaceful protest in St Peters square in 1819, and a huge amount of Irish material such as letters from Irish Republican prisoners in Long Kesh and Armagh in the 1970s and 80s which were written on cigarette papers and smuggled out of prison. There is also a ceramics room featuring a plate which warns, “MURDOCH IS BAD NEWS”. What makes the collection so interesting and exciting is that the items are all so active, they are not just quietly complaining about the world but actively organizing meetings and protests, writing letters of complaints and songs of unity and freedom.
In the reading room there are huge windows and two armchairs next to a packed book shelf, as well as large, wooden serious study-tables for looking at precious material. On my visit the tables were covered with items that members of the general public had been exploring lately, stacked up in piles with their names on top. These piles, as well as the friendly and busy atmosphere of the library and the multitude of flyers advertising current events, illustrate that this is not just a historic library gathering dust, it is a place to remind us that the working class movement is very much ongoing, and that there are people who still believe in the importance of not just observing the world, but changing it.
Why Anthony Trollope is a Better Version of Charles Dickens
On the surface, there appear to be many similarities between Anthony Trollope and Charles Dickens: they were both born in the mid-1810s; both had a troubled childhood, marred by their fathers’ sudden decent into debt, and both became respected chroniclers of life in the Victorian era. But one big difference: whilst Dickens’ works remain household names – regardless of whether you’ve read them, Trollope seems to be becoming increasingly less well known. This seems particularly odd when you consider that Trollope’s output consisted of 47 novels, dozens of short stories, several pieces of non-fiction, two plays and his own autobiography. So why is this important writer not better known? Not as respected as Dickens?
Well, one reason is for his damning examination of the Irish situation. Trollope worked in Ireland for the Post Office between 1841-51, and his early novels depict Catholic/Protestant tensions and harshly examine the way England responded to the Great Famine. Perhaps it is not surprising that these initial novels did not give Trollope immediate success; the English public clearly did not want to be reminded of their appalling behaviour towards their fellow countrymen when reading fictional books. Yet the brilliance of Trollope’s writing was recognised by his peers: Thackeray, George Eliot and Wilkie Collins all admired his work and count him as an inspiration.
Due to Trollope’s early lack of popularity, money became an issue for him in a way that Dickens never felt. Whereas Dickens could afford to be paid on an instalment basis by magazines and newspapers, Trollope found himself having to accept lump sums in advance from editors. Given that newspapers were more accessible to the average member of the public, Trollope’s audience was defined as the ‘novel reading’ classes, a much smaller market than the available to Dickens. However, this did have its literary advantages; Trollope could truly develop a character throughout a book, making them far more believable than Dickens’, who would change their outcomes on public demand. Trollope’s work can seem like the broadsheet press, compared to Dickens’ tabloid. Trollope’s own economic hardship further lent him a uniquely realist portrayal of money. To quote W.H. Auden, “Of all novelists in any country, Trollope best understands the role of money. Compared with him, even Balzac is too romantic”.
In 1868, Trollope was persuaded to stand as a Liberal candidate for Beverley, deemed the most corrupt constituency in the country. He came last, following votes being bought by the two Conservative candidates, and spent £400 on his election campaign. This experience gave him great insight into the Victorian political world, accurately translated into his work in books such as The Palliser Chronicles and his 1875 masterpiece The Way We Live Now. All of Trollope’s works had a deep satirical depth, with detailed examinations of society and its flaws. However, unlike Dickens, Trollope never seems to be preaching from on high, thereby endearing himself and his characters to the reader.
In more recent years, Dickens has been promoted to modern day readers through countless television adaptations, films and even a stage musical. Trollope has not been ignored in this respect , though. The 1982 BBC adaptation The Barchester Chronicles featured a stellar cast, with a young Alan Rickman stealing the limelight as slimy Obadiah Slope. The Way We Live Now was given the Andrew Davis treatment in 2001, to great critical acclaim and several Baftas. Maybe all that is needed is a West End production of Trollope’s autobiography, featuring several songs about his championing the pillar box, and the world will finally acknowledge the true genius of Anthony Trollope’s literary work.
Revision relief
Exams are fast approaching and we don’t want to feel guilty for going wild, having fun and being completely oblivious to the fact that we should be revising. This being said, everyone needs an escape from the monotonous task of studying, so why not check out these three great spots to escape revision and still function perfectly throughout the rest of the day?
An afternoon trip to Teacup
If you fancy a quick bite or a bit of lunch Teacup is the perfect place. Affordable, tasty and rich, Teacup serves up some of the most delicious tea and cake that Manchester’s Northern Quarter has to offer. If you’re more than peckish grab a sandwich or pasty with salad and relax in the warm rustic surroundings. You could even read over some notes or test yourself with revision cards as you eat if you’re feeling particularly studious.
An evening feast at Rozafa
Rozafa is a wonderful Greek Restaurant. You can choose to sit upstairs in intimate candlelight or enjoy live music and dancing downstairs; this spot is the perfect place to eat whilst having a bit of fun. They serve up big plates of food and even bigger helpings of good service and music. From hot or cold mezze to delicious kebabs and fried seafood, there’s no way you could be unsatisfied.
A mid-afternoon treat with a scoop or two at Fresco Freddo’s
With the weather picking up, my final weekday spot is Fresco Freddo’s Gelataria, Manchester’s answer to delicious Italian ice cream in the city. From rich, flavoursome scoops of coffee, nut or chocolate ice cream to sweet or zesty fruit sorbets, this place is an absolute treat. You can chose to have your ice cream in a cone, on its own or even alongside crêpes or waffles. Cakes and coffee are also on the menu, but with such perfectly smooth up ice cream, why eat anything else?
Celebratory sipping
Start as you mean to go on. This was my mantra for this year’s boozy adventures, and indeed 2013 so far had been nothing short of a great boon. So far I’ve revisited old friends and charted new territory, and have a whole host of things to tell you about — from mid-week champers, weekend Gerwürtz, and the finest Old Fashioned this side of Mad Men.
Let’s open with an absolute cracker with the wine bar, Bakerie. Almost too cool for its own good, the vast floor to ceiling, wall-to-wall cellar hosts central Manchester’s most extensive and intriguing vino selection. It is a shop in which you buy your wine, pay a small cork charge then take a pew in this new breed of Northern Quarter joint, which admittedly crosses the yuppie line. But for all the criticisms of pretension, fad and hipsterness of the NQ, if they do what they do well, enjoy it. However, what will have me going back is the cocktails.
Cocktails are great. Sophisticated, delicious, complex, and offer a little of that suaveness reminiscent of messers Draper and Sterling. A top cocktail does positively affect the way you feel about yourself — the cut glass tumbler delicately resting in your hand, a seemingly aloof sip, but then a deep pause of reflection as the flavours explore every last one of your taste buds. Embrace it.
The Knob Creek Old Fashioned from the Bakerie is literally a game changer. Never have I enjoyed that blend of bourbon, orange, sugar and bitters more. The secret was in the opportunity to choose your bourbon instead of being lumped with an inferior house blend. The Bakerie offers a choice of premium whiskey, and Knob Creek is as smooth and creamy as I don’t know what. It is also cheaper than the less good Alchemist smoked version of this Appalachian classic.
A large part of this year has been very cold and very windy and indeed a long way from summer. I thought trying to discover the wonders of Champagne would be a suitable remedy for such blues, and indeed it was. In fact, being a student, popping a cork on a Tuesday evening is a most bizarre, exhilarating and ridiculous notion: I strongly recommend it. I punted for a non-bank breaking introduction into France’s finest fizzy export. In fact it scores significantly higher than Moët & Chandon for me. Sainsbury’s Blanc de Noir Champagne at £20 did the business, oh boy it did the business. The excitement of twisting the bottle and releasing the cork, the pop, the fizz. The golden nectar was full of nutty and toasty notes with a really creamy texture. Much revelry was had sipping this aperitif, though it would have soared with some seafood canapés.
How long have I been decidedly lost in a world of mid-priced pinto grigio, orvieto, sauvignon blanc? Too long. Yes, all these grapes can be delicious; in truth I love orvieto and a Marlborough Sav Blanc is the most standard of bottles. However, everything changed when I discovered the Château St Michelle Dry Riesling and Gewürztraminer (available at Carringtons, West Didsbury). These wines are as good as white can get because they are simply exciting. When bottled, the yeast is still active and thus the wine takes on a slight spritz character, which is a taste bud sensation. A warm, slightly spicy and toasty comfort is delivered in buckets and the aromatic qualities are unrivalled. The £7 Sainsburys Gewürz is a nice introduction to this new ‘go to’ white.
If you are hungering for a pint, however, pack up at the library at 5pm and head straight to the Salutation behind the RNCM. It is the best pub in the University vicinity; it actually lives up to the often misused “purveyor of fine ale and beer”, and is delightfully charming. With either ales on pump or imported bottles, the selection is seductive.
This year so far has been marvellous, it really has. As exams and coursework deadline approach please take time to celebrate with some quality over quantity, something wonderful, something absolutely smashing.
Interview: Frank Turner
“I’ve had people ask me if I’m gonna play ‘Thatcher Fucked the Kids’ and I can’t think of anything more crass.” The singer/songwriter is referring to an old song he penned at the beginning of his solo career in 2005. This interview just so happens to coincide with the former Prime Minister’s funeral, but you won’t catch Turner drunkenly singing ‘Tramp the Dirt Down’ in the streets: “I’m not a fan of Thatcher or her politics and I’m not saying we should gloss over anything she did… but the only people I can think of that celebrate people’s funerals like that are the Westboro Baptist Church. But at the same, I believe very, very, very strongly in free speech, so if that’s what people wanna do they have the right to do that and I wouldn’t stop them from doing it.”
People seemed to have cooled towards Turner ever since it was “revealed” his politics might not jive with the way people wished. “There are lots of people who hate my guts because I don’t want to be that protest singer person, to which I can only go ‘sorry, it’s just not what I wanna do with my life’.” To this end, the singer has long stopped playing his ode to Thatcher: “a lot of people started coming to my shows who were just there because I’d essentially repeated their own opinions back to them in one song and that’s the only thing they gave a fuck about – and I found that very, very frustrating.” Though Turner might’ve toned down his own politics in song, he’s nothing if not populist: “What I’d ideally like is for someone, somewhere to take it and claim it as their own, start playing it yourself, play it at your own gigs, claim you wrote it or whatever, add another verse, whatever.”
Community spirit is certainly a large part of Turner’s music. After shows in America, Europe, China and Vietnam, which he describes succinctly as”‘mad”, Turner and his band, The Sleeping Souls, are back in the UK for the first time since January, and they’ve brought along a little commemoration of sorts: a flag that Turner hopes will be passed from show to show. “I’m just gonna sound like a total hippie throughout this interview” he says, “but I just like the idea that it might just get a whole bunch of people who don’t know each other hanging out and talking and making friends and whatever.” Where does he hope the flag will land? “That I’m not entirely sure,” he says with a grin, “some of the drives are pretty long on the European run, we’ll see how people do.”
The spirit of togetherness conjured up by his music is such that wedding bells are soon to be heard in an unlikely place. “I’ve got a thing in June, basically there’s two people who met at one of my shows, who’re getting married in Pittsburgh and a law in the state of Pennsylvania states you don’t have to get married in a church. They’re coming down to the gig venue and they’re getting married with me as the witness, which I think is pretty hilarious.”
Of his new album, Turner says that although there is no set theme, it’s “kind of a break-up record”. He continues: “I write chronologically and autobiographically, so themes emerge, though not every song’s about it. Some of my favourite records are break up records: Counting Crows, ‘Heartbreaker’ by Ryan Adams, ‘The Midnight Organ Fight’ by Frightened Rabbit – I love a good break-up record, crack out the gin, lock the door and cry at your kitchen table on your own.” After coining many a song about loss, it’s a sentiment surely a lot of his fans share.
Elsewhere, talk turns to the resurgence of bands reuniting. Surely fans are clamouring for a reunion of Turner’s former band Million Dead? “Yeah, people have asked, I’ll take it as a compliment. I’m proud of everything we ever did with that band – I’m fiercely fucking proud of it actually”. But he’s quick to shoot down the idea of him singing those songs again: “it doesn’t really interest me”. In terms of other bands reuniting, Turner’s all for it. “If anybody started to try and lecture me on what I was allowed to do with my music, I would tell them to get fucked”, he states with fiery insistence. “I don’t think that anyone has the right to tell Black Flag or whoever that they’re not allowed to get back together again – bollocks, they’re allowed to do whatever they want ’cause it’s their band, and their music, and they’re the ones that put the hours in.”
Back to his own political decisions, surely the signing to major label Interscope rankled a few dyed in the wool punk rockers? “A couple of people have been kind of annoyed about it and at the end of the day, it’s their right to have their opinion, so cool.” Though Turner might now keep company with ‘the suits’ he’s quick to dispel rumours of (yawn) selling out: “it doesn’t have any impact on my song writing, my organisation – I’m still involved with ticket prices and merch prices, my email address is on my fucking website. All of that stuff remains the same. I do want more people to hear my music and I want to make something of myself in the world but the character to me remains fundamentally the same.”
The Best of Societies 2012-13
This year’s societies at the University of Manchester have been busy with various events, socials, charities, expeditions, shows, conferences and much more. To celebrate the huge range of achievements I spoke to several societies to find out what they’ve been up to all year, what they’re proud of and what their plans and ambitions are for next year.
Joanna Fox, Expeditions Officer from The Duke of Edinburgh Award Society said they had the biggest year for memberships and have been the most active since she’s been at the University: “Our biggest undertaking has been preparing for the Gold Practice Expedition” – this involves working as a team to plan, organise and navigate your way along a three to four-day expedition route.
The Equestrian Club have also faced some challenges on their way to competing at a national level. President Claire Henderson mentioned the sheer time and commitment involved in volunteering for the club, yet also how it was all worth it as it “made my time at university 100 times better. I have made my best friends in the club, and had the chance to compete up to national level at a sport I love. The real highlight came when we qualified unexpectedly for nationals – we screamed like teenage girls at a Justin Beiber concert!”
Similarly, Manchester Sexpression achieved a lot in a year as they are now working with three local schools in Manchester and have taught sixteen classes to educate young people in sex and relationship issues, empowering them to make informed choices. Around twenty-five members of the group have been trained to do RU Clear sexual health testing and they now run a sexual health testing service in the Students’ Union every Monday. Members also took part in the Unity Project Fashion show to raise awareness and money along with six other charities.
Other great charity work has been done by Manchester Rag who raised thousands of pounds for both local and national charities. Beerfest in November alone raised approximately £6000. RAG week included highlights of Take Me Out, Speed Dating and Battle of the Bands along with other events raising around £2000. RAG have also organised shark dives, sky dives, pub quizzes and street collections to keep the good work up all year long.
The Christmas pantomime was also a huge help for RAG as Jo Mortimer explains: “An incredibly enthusiastic, committed cast from all degree disciplines came together to put on Aladdin in December” which raised around £1500, selling out on the final night. “The best thing about Panto Soc is the social elements. Due to spending a lot of time together to construct the show, we all grow incredibly close and this can be seen during the show. Next year we want to put on a show which is as ridiculous, risque and hilarious and raise even more money for RAG. We also want to put on a smaller summer show to keep the involvement going all year long.’
Another charity society that has had a successful year is UNICEF On Campus Manchester. Treasurer Shawkeen Siddiquey told me about the Enough Food for Everyone Concert at Ram & Shackle on 28th February: “It showcased a wide variety of music starting from beatboxing to psychadelic rock to house music, all from local talent or society members. It raised £300 through suggested donations, and gathered a large number of signatures.
The project UNICEF Climbs Mt. Snowdon, in collaboration with the Hiking Society on 17th March 2013 also saw ten of our athletic (and highly non-athletic!) members fundraise and then reach the top of Mt Snowdon in Wales.”
Fahim Sachedina, President of Manchester Entrepeneurs told us about what has made him proud of the society this year, which included “working with an ambitious and focused team of twelve, on over 35 events including workshops, hosting guest speakers, running week-long events and holding one of the most successful entrepreneurship conferences in the Northwest. Speakers included Ex Dragons Den star Julie Meyer.”
The society’s ambitions for next year are to put on an even bigger conference and to help more students actually set up a business.
Toch Eduputa from the society also spoke about the “great opportunity to meet new people, work on exciting projects, organise events, improve employability skills and just have fun.”
If any of these exciting events and huge achievements sound like something you wish you were part of, do not hesitate to join or participate in as many societies and events as possible next year. Not only do you get the satisfaction of being part of something great, but it is also good for meeting new people, adding something extra to your CV, making a difference and trying something new and challenging during your time at university. Well done to everyone this year, let’s hope the next is just as successful, if not more!