Lana Del Rey Parquet Courts Damon Albarn Sleaford Mods

# TH I S I S TH E O N E

26 APRI L 2014

Being Kurt Cobain

J Mascis and St Vincent on fronting Nirvana

The Stone Roses

25th anniversary special
It takes effort to sound effortless

If youre going to play it out of tune, then play it out of tune properly

1989
The year baggy hit the groove

STILL ADORED?
What the Roses mean in 2014

THIS IS THE ONE!

T H E PA S T, P R E S E N T & FUTURE OF MUSIC 26 APR I L 2014 | 2 .50

The making of the most important debut album in history

MARK E SMITH

US $8.50 | ES 3.90 | CN $6.99

ESSENTIAL
N E W M U S I CA L E X P R E S S | 2 6 A P R I L 2 0 1 4

TRACKS

4 SOUNDING OFF 8 THE WEEK

16 IN THE STUDIO Parquet Courts 17 ANATOMY OF AN ALBUM David Bowie Diamond Dogs 19 SOUNDTRACK OF MY LIFE Matt Berry

THIS WEEK WE ASK

NEW
BANDS
TO DISCOVER

24 REVIEWS 40 NME GUIDE 45 THINK TANK 65 THIS WEEK IN 66 BRAINCELLS FEATURES

THE

BAND LIST
Lana Del Rey 6, 8 Little Dragon 6 Lorde 33 Lorelle Meets The Obsolete 35 Makthaverskan 22 Marika Hackman 10 Matt Berry 19 MGMT 33 Michael Rault 21 Motrhead 33 Mutual Benefit 7 Nap Eyes 23 Nas 33 Neko Case 32 Nirvana 12 Nothing 23 Ought 7, 28 OutKast 30 Parquet Courts 16 Paul Weller 7 Pharrell 33 Pixies 29 PJ Harvey 65 Pours 23 Primal Scream 53 Protomartyr 35 Pulled Apart By Horses42 Raury 21 The Replacements 32 Rodrigo Y Gabriela 28 Roger Taylor 15 Roxy Agogo 21 Sigur Rs 6 Skrillex 33 Sleaford Mods 25 Slow Club 7 Snack Family 21 Solange 33 The Stone Roses 46, 51, 52, 56 St Vincent 12 Superchunk 58 Taylor Hawkins 15 T Williams 34 10,000 Blades 23 Tigercub 22 Tony Molina 23 Virginia Wing 21 We Have Band 28 White Fang 27 Witching Waves 22 Wolf Alice 7 Wye Oak 28 The Wytches 10 You 22 Youth Code 23 Yvette 20

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE KURT COBAIN?

St Vincent, J Mascis and Deer Tick share their recent onstage experiences

12

The Stone Roses

To celebrate 25 years since the greatest debut album ever, Kevin EG Perry explores how the UK was fertile ground for a cult classic

A History Of Baggy/ War Of The Roses

IS THIS THE REAL DAMON AT LAST?

The musical innovators new solo album Everyday Robots yields clues about the man himself

Gavin Haynes follows the genre that exploded in the wake of The Stone Roses. Simon Jay Catling and John Robb debate the Roses influence on todays Manchester

24

Merge

North Carolina indie label Merge hits its 25th birthday. Laura Snapes runs 25 kilometres to celebrate

Kathleen Hanna & Lauren Mayberry

The Chvrches star meets riot grrrl and The Julie Ruin singer Hanna to discuss feminism, DIY and death
CONTRIBUTORS
Ben Homewood Writer Ben interviewed Klaxons ahead of the release of their third album: Liam Gallagher once told Klaxons that Spongebob and Golden Skans were his favourite things.

WHATS SO DANGEROUS ABOUT NEW YORKERS YVETTE?

Theyll make your ears explode, for a start

20

Arcade Fire 33 Arthur Beatrice 33 A$AP Rocky 7, 33 Band Of Skulls 40 Bez 66 The Black Keys 6 BL_NK SP_C_S 22 Bombay Bicycle Club 32 Brody Dalle 27 Broken Twin 27 Bryan Ferry 32 Chad VanGaalen 28 Chance The Rapper 33 Charli XCX 7 The Charlatans 54 Chromeo 32 Chvrches 32, 62 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah 6 Cruising 21 CuT 23 Cyril Hahn 34 Damon Albarn 24 Dan Sartain 27 Daphne & Owen Pallett 6 David Bowie 17 Deadwall 22 Deer Tick 12 Dinosaur Jr 13 Disclosure 7 Dune Rats 23 Each Other 23 Elephant 29 Embrace 27 Eyedress 6 Faze Action 25 Foster The People 33 Foxygen 6 Frauds 21 Fuck Art, Lets Dance 25 Future Islands 32 Gy 21 Girl Band 7 Girl Talk 32 Haim 32 The Horrors 10 HSY 6 Jacques Greene 29 Javeon 34 Jhene Aiko 33 Johnny Borrell & Zazou 25 Julian Casablancas 32 The Julie Ruin 62 Kasabian 6 Klaxons 14 The Knife 32 Kurt Vile 35 Kwabs 7

Pooneh Ghana Photographer Poonehs been basking in the desert sun at Coachella: Where else can you seea mechanical astronaut, agaleforce sandstorm and Beyonc jumping onstage for a dance?

Laura Snapes Features Editor Laura went beyond the call of journalistic duty by training for a 25k run: I learned the hard way that drinking beer for six hours after a race is a hiding to not being able to walk for a week.

COVER: IAN TILTON

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LETTER OF THE WEEK

WINS 50 OF
www.seetickets.com

TELL US WHATS ON YOUR MIND

Answering you this week: JJ Dunning

EMAIL TWITTER

VOUCHERS!

letters@nme.com @nme

FAC E B O O K

A KURT RESPONSE
Joan Jett, Kim Gordon, Lorde and Annie Clark were absolutely perfect choices to perform with Nirvana at theRock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony. From what Ive heard, Kurt loved strong female musicians; heck, he married one of the most powerful female performers of the 90s! Having them take his place in the band made the ceremony a tribute to him rather than an attempt to replace him, especially as each of the performers embodies an aspect of music or personality that Kurt valued, be it passion, pure rocknroll or musicianship. These ladies absolutely brought the roof down! Isabella Marcantonio, via email JJD: You couldnt be more right, Isabella. They did abrilliant job of fronting Nirvana, performing Smells LikeTeen Spirit (Jett), Aneurysm (Gordon), Lithium (Clark),and All Apologies (Lorde) (see page 12). It was amagnificent evening paying tribute to a band and asinger who meant a hell of a lot to millions of people

facebook.com/nmemagazine P OST NME, 110 Southwark St, London SE1 0SU

By my calculations were looking at 2030. That gives baby John 16 years to learn the necessary chords.

BLUNT VS ALBARN
Why does James Blunt feel the need to poke around in everybody elses business when he cant conduct his own career properly? First his mum defends his poshness on national radio, and now hes having a stab at Damon Albarn because he hides his background! James, you havent released anything significant since Youre Beautiful, and that was awful. Why dont you try sorting yourself out before criticising someone else?
Cleo Greaves, via email

allover the world; and one that was a fitting reflection of how fiercely feminist and progressive Kurt Cobain was when Nirvana were still active. Plus Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic looked like they were having a great time up there, which was heartwarming to see.

OLD MILK
NME, April 12, 2014. Front cover: Damon, The Cure, Jack White, Kate Bush, Blur and Noel. I thought Id picked up a slightly more hip version of Uncut or some such. You are going to have to stop with all this in the past stuff. I know its not all bad, but you do have an obsession with all things done and dusted 20 to 30 years ago. In the following issue (April 19) you were asking various people what the Record That Changed Your Life Forever is. My answer: Cruise Your Illusion by Milk Music. New, exciting and not dragged from a grave and brought back to life.
Neil Porter, via email

in less than an hour. Yes, these artists have been around for a while, but every one of them is doing something in 2014 thats worth talking about. Here at NME we enjoy the past, present and future of music. Cruise Your Illusion is great, and a fine example of a new band creating their own take on the work of Neil Young and Dinosaur Jr. Because, you see, Milk Music too are

inspired byolder artists. And its these older artists who inspire the sounds of today. Dont dismiss them just because theyve got ahistory. Theyre amazing!

WHATS NOTTS TO LIKE?

Nottingham is buzzing right now. You already know about Jake Bugg and Dog Is Dead, and youve proffered teasing sprinklings of Radar love to artists as diverse as Kagoule, Sleaford Mods, Indiana and Saint Raymond. Youve got a proper mag crush on Childhood, everyones fallen for London Grammar, youve honoured Notts adoptees Rolo Tomassi with tsunamis of love but what about the current residents of Hoodtown? Will you listen very loudly to Ronikas forthcoming album, Selectadisc?
Mark Del, via email

warmly. Youre right to point out that Nottingham is exploding with talent at the moment, and whats even more exciting is that all the artists sound completely different. Got any more tips for us? Feel free to let us know

JJD: The Ronika records been on in the office a lot, Mark, and her glamorous pop in the style of Ladyhawke or the returning La Roux has been received extremely

Will Tavener, Poole

NE W M U SICAL EX PRES S | 26 APRIL 2 0 14

WIREIMAGE, DEAN CHALKLEY

CLONE WARS
I was delighted to read on NME.COM recently that Canadian dentist Dr Michael Zuk wants to use the DNA from John Lennons tooth to clone the Beatle and raise him as his son. Id pay good money to go and see aresurrected Lennon live, as Im sure thousands of other people would. Im particularly keen on hearing his youthful vocals blending perfectly with McCartneys more grizzled singing.
Brian Dwiar, via email

JJD: Its interesting that the Youre Beautiful songwriter chooses to accuse Damon of hiding his background, given that his real name is Blount. Apparently, the o was removed to make it easier for others to spell. Not because it sounds loads posher, then?

JJD: Good choice with Milk Music, Neil theyre great. But as for the people who were mentioned on the cover: Damons got anew album out, theres anew Jack White song, The Cure have been playing new songs in their live shows and Kate Bush has just sold out 22 dates at Hammersmith Apollo

LOOK WHOS STALKING

Me and my friend on Pete Dohertys tourbus after a Babyshambles gig in Bournemouth. He sung Dont Look Back Into The Sun to us! He also gave me his jacket and my friend his harmonica!

JJD: Its a magnificent story, Brian. And, if the good doctor gets his way and can find the technology to carry out this tremendous plan, it ensures we can look forward to that long-overdue Beatles Glastonbury headline slot.

TravelTex.com/MusicScene

USE YOUR PHONE

TO

SEE THESE TEXAS STARS

2014 Offi ce of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism.

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TRACK OF THE WEEK
1. Kasabian Eez-Eh
Kasabians comeback single is pure 90s rave. Tired of taking orders/Coping with disorders, spits Tom Meighan, so up in your grill that you can practically feel his fag-breath on your face. Later, he snarls, Ive got the feeling that Im gonna keep you up all night in an off-putting way that makes you hope hes going to be trying out his power toolsin the spare room, rather than actually touching anybody. All Eez-Eh lacks is a donk. JJ Dunning, writer

6. Sigur Rs The Rains Of Castamere

Icelands premier exporters of falsetto-toned orchestral pop might not be the most obvious choice to soundtrack a TV programme famous for its constant copulation, but Sigur Rs Game Of Thrones track makes for a surprisingly good fit. Brooding, atmospheric and restrained, The Rains Of Castamere finds Jnsi not only singing in English, but sounding pretty damn depressed about it too. Maybe someone told him the end-of-series spoiler. Lisa Wright, writer

2. Little Dragon Paris

When Little Dragon told NME at SXSW that new album Nabuma Rubberband would be darker thanpredecessor Ritual Union, they werent kidding. Though not quite as abrasive as first new cut Klapp Klapp, things are far from Paris in the springtime here. Yukimi Nagano strikes a melancholic tone amid sharp, punchy synths and harsh, chrome production, but this brooding number from the Swedes is still catchy as hell. Simon Jay Catling, writer

7. Eyedress Luna Llena

This is one of the 12 tracks on 23-year-old Filipinoproducer Idris Vicunas new Hearing Colors mixtape, and it comes with a nice big slice of Zombys menacing ambience. Eyedress pal SkintEastwood also from the Philippines adds to the unease with a soft vocal full of hard truths: Youre good at pushing everyone away/When you need them the most is when you say youre OK/ But youre alone again. Tom Howard, Assistant Editor

3. HSY Cyber Bully

Loud, blood thinning, temper temper, sludge, crash, reads the description on Toronto punk band HSYs (pronounced hussy) Facebook page. The quartets debut UK release is three and a half minutes of gloomy, industrial-tinged noise, the piercing howls making it even more chaotic and brutal. They head to these shores next week, and judging by this theyll be leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Rhian Daly, Assistant Reviews Editor

8. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Coming Down (feat. Matt Berninger)
Its been three years since Philadelphias Clap Your Hands Say Yeah last put out a full-length record (2011s Hysterical), and Coming Down marks their return to the long-player. The first track to be taken from Junes Only Run has frontman Alec Ounsworth doing his best impression of a cheerful Ian Curtis before The Nationals Matt Berninger chimes in with his baritone. Rhian Daly, Assistant Reviews Editor

4. Lana Del Rey West Coast

Lana Del Rey makes her long-awaited return by ditching the Twin Peaks-style melodrama for something altogether (soft) rockier. Produced by The Black Keys Dan Auerbach, West Coast is packed with pulsing guitars and delicate blues riffs. Shes still banging on the faded glamour of Hollywood drum Down on the West Coast, they got their icons, their silver starlets but now it sounds confident and threatening instead of vulnerable and wounded. David Renshaw, News Reporter

9. The Black Keys Turn Blue

The Iggy Pop song Turn Blue is about heroin, and although theres nothing to suggest this new Black Keys track of the same name is a drug song, it certainly concerns, as Dan Auerbach sings, losing control and hell below. Its the title track from their eighth LP (due May 12), and like Fever, which the two-piece have already posted online, its asoulful, psychedelic groove, doubtless influenced by the albums co-producer, Danger Mouse. Phil Hebblethwaite, writer

5. Foxygen Untitled
The worlds most destructive indie band made awelcome return at Coachella, playing their first big shows since frontman Sam France broke his leg falling offstage last year, and debuting two untitled new tracks. The first of those which opened the set was the pick of the bunch, a Stones-indebted, major-chord ramble that sees the band bolstered by three go-go backing singers, allowing France to live out all his inner-Jagger dreams. Matt Wilkinson, New Music Editor
NE W M U SICAL E XPRES S | 26 APRIL 201 4

10. Daphni & Owen Pallett Julia

Youll need sharp ears or decent headphones to hear the distant rumble of ribcage-rattling bass that drives through the middle of the latest Daphni collaboration. Julia is one of two tracks that Dan Snaith has made with Owen Pallett for his Jiaolong label. Built from Palletts violin stabs, Snaiths beats and syncopated rhythms that seem to come from a deconstructed drumkit, the bass is still the thing that will get to you on repeated listens. Hazel Sheffield, writer

ESSENTIAL NEW TRACKS

LISTEN TO THEM ALL AT NME.COM/ONREPEAT NOW
16. Slow Club Number One
As a curtain-raiser for third album Complete Surrender out in July Number One is asubdued affair. The version previewed on the Mahogany Sessions is stripped back to just resonant piano and Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylors rough, affecting harmonies, its rawness the perfect setting for picking over an old relationship. You dont have to feel like shit and say its OK, sings Watson, and he bluntly heals the wounds. Matthew Horton, writer

11. Charli XCX Boom Clap

Despite a title that makes it sound like a gonorrhea awareness campaign, Charli XCXs new single is a concise piece of punchy electropop. She hasnt lost her way around a hook since the globe-straddling success of the XCX-penned Icona Pops I Love It, and this song from the soundtrack to the film adaptation of John Greens The Fault In Our Stars cements her progression from hitmaker to pop star. Kevin EG Perry, writer

12. Kwabs Something Right

In 4AD producer Sohn, Kwabena Sarkodee has found a partner in misery. Their third collaboration, taken from Kwabs new Pray For Love EP, is wracked with turbulent sadness. The 23-year-old singers voice is ostensibly a post-Lighthouse Family, commercially viable caress, but his damaged lyrics and Sohns frigid beats quake in such a way that they whip up a freezing, doom-heavy feeling. Killing myself just to feel like Ive been here, Kwabs sobs near the end. Poor guy. Ben Homewood, writer

17. Girl Band The Cha Cha Cha

There are three times as many words in this review as there are seconds in Girl Bands new single, which flips the premise of Sam Cookes Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha from unctuous come-on to point-and-laugh ridicule. Wed call it a raspberry blown in the face of some nameless, overconfident jerk, but the Dublin quartet imbue it with such fury and savagery, a pneumatic drill might be a more aptcomparison. Barry Nicolson, writer

13. Ought Habit

Over the six minutes of Habit, Oughts Tim Beeler sings about how we pledge hope of salvation in something as intangible as belief. Salvation never arrives, but he starts to feel it, a transformation marked by his vocal performance: from skittish brashness to tremulous rapture, like Tom Verlaine as a preacher. Meanwhile the Montreal band ply asteady line in wiry melancholy that subtly builds to a roiling climax. Wu Lyf mourners, take note. Laura Snapes, Features Editor

18. Wolf Alice Storms

Wolf Alice have previously looked to Britpop cool kids Elastica for inspiration. Here, on a cut from new EP Creature Songs, its Elasticas transatlantic peers Garbage who provide the blueprint. Storms has thrusting industrial guitars, grungy basslines and Ellie Rowsells sweet-and-sour vocals. If youve ever written them off as a bit wet, think again: this is meatier than cow pie washed down with Bovril. Dan Stubbs, News Editor

14. Mutual Benefit Terraform

ED MILES, POONEH GHANA, DAVID EDWARDS, ANDY WILLSHER, JENN FIVE

19. Paul Weller Brand New Toy

This is a new track from Paul Wellers justannounced second Best Of, More Modern Classics, also available as part of Record Store Day. The bouncing piano is a giant doff of the feathercut to Bowies Oh! You Pretty Things, while the rest of the track has a jovial swing you might associate with his heroes The Small Faces. Despite that, its still unmistakably Weller. Expect volume three of the Greatest Hits to follow in another 16 years. Andy Welch, writer

Lefse Records Space Project compilation has already borne some tantalising cosmic fruits from Spiritualized, Beach House and Youth Lagoon. Mutual Benefits manipulation of NASA spaceprobe recordings is no less enterprising. Twinkling stars and shimmering sci-fi synths mark this far-outfolk number an intergalactic love story that glides andwhirrs, glowing like a lonely spirit. James Balmont, writer

15. Disclosure The Mechanism

Their first album only came out last June but italready feels like summers not summer withoutahousey banger from Disclosure. TheMechanism sees the Lawrence brothers teamupwith pal Friend Within. With a soulful, distorted-preacher vocal sample, sprightly rhythmsand face-scrunching whoomps, it suggeststheyve still got loads more magic tocome, post-Settle. Lucy Jones, Deputy Editor, NME.COM
2 6 AP R IL 20 14 | NEW MU S ICAL EX PRE S S

20. A$AP Rocky Untitled

I aint really into throwin shots, but these motherfuckers better give me props, complains Rakim Mayers (aka A$AP Rocky) on his latest snippet of new music, debuted at A$AP Mob accomplice Fergs Coachella set last weekend. Hes got a point: since his 2011 mixtape Live.Love.A$AP, plenty have mimicked his cloud-rap sound and esoteric fashion sense. Sniping at copycats over awoozy beat, Rocky wants credit where its due. Al Horner, Assistant Editor, NME.COM

EDITED BY DAN STUBBS

Lana Del Rey at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, April 13

Go west
Lana Del Rey debuts new single at Coachella
own on the West Coast, they got a saying/If youre not drinking, then youre not playing/But youve got the music, youve got the music in you, dont you? Lana Del Reys new single West Coast, premiered at Coachella on April 13 following an a capella rendition in Las Vegas two nights previously, is a baroque paean to California. But while its lyrics talk about drinking, Del Rey was more concerned with smoking during her festival set. I cant think if I cant smoke, she told fans, lighting up. Actors Lindsay Lohan and Aaron Paul

CORBIS

(Breaking Bad) were among those in the spellbound crowd watching the singer perform against a backdrop of warped visuals similar to those seen inher 30-minute lm Tropico. Recorded in Nashville with Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach, West Coast is the rst track from Del Reys new album Ultraviolence (due on June2), the follow-up to 2012s Born To Die. While little is yet known about the record, she has described it as so wrong and exquisite. It is absolutely gorgeous darker than the rst, whichsounds like no bad thing. JENNY STEVENS

With more names joining the bill, we spoke to one R&L regular and an artist whos never even been

FIVE TOURING ESSENTIALS

Kris Bell
The Wytches BOOK Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen
It was his second book, before he became a singer. Theres this great line: I am an old scholar, better-looking now than when I was young. Thats what sitting on your ass does to your face.

The Horrors to play Reading & Leeds

T
10

he bumper line-up for Reading & Leeds 2014 just got even bigger. NME can today announce that The Horrors will be joining the bill for the NME/Radio 1 Stage on Friday at Leeds and Sunday at Reading. Theyll be joined on the bill by Blackpools glam grunge trio Darlia, Pennsylvania indie rockers The Districts, Manchesters soulful Bipolar Sunshine and singer-songwriter Marika Hackman. We caught up with Faris and Marika to nd out more.

BOXSET Frasier
So youre looking forward to playing the new record live?
One of my favourite parts about playing live iswatching our songs develop. As we play them more and more, they evolve naturally and warp in a way you cant predict. Its exciting to watch what youve made grow.

I have this unhealthy fascination with it and watch it on my laptop nearly every night before I go to sleep.

What else are you up to in the run-up to the release of Luminous?

Rehearsing. Were doing a cover of a track we really love. And were trying to work out the best way to turn the album into live songs.

FILM Whats Eating Gilbert Grape?

I imagine the plot could be told like an old folk tale. It has all the elements. Its set in a dead old town where the people are left to their own weird devices.

Faris Badwan, The Horrors

What do Reading and Leeds mean to you, Faris? Faris Badwan: Reading was the festival
I went to as a kid; they would have a lot of smaller American bands I loved, like Fiery Furnaces, The Von Bondies and Secret Machines. I loved MC5 and I remember watching an incarnation of them with Evan Dando [DKT-MC5], something I thought Id never see given that most of them were dead. My favourite live moment weve ever had was at Leeds in 2011. The power went out before the end chorus of Still Life. Everything went dark and the crowd started singing. I looked around thinking, How did I get here?

Marika Hackman
How do you feel about playing at Reading andLeeds?
Excited. Ive never been before, so itll be cool to see it for the rst time. I nearly went in 2009 but didnt have the money! The only story that Ive heard about Reading was about a friend of mine Im not saying who being chanted at to take her top o while playing her set!

GAME Tony Hawks Pro Skater 4

The soundtrack is mad. Theres a level in a zoo and the rhinos make dodgy noises if you skate too closeto them.

Did you think youd ever play?

Its something Ive always really wanted to do. Its almost a rite of passage, isnt it. My style is slightly more alternative, but theres bands playing that are a big inspiration to me, like Warpaint. Theres room for me in there; Im looking forward to seeing how it goes down!

So youre into the crowds then?

Yeah. The two are quite dierent. Leeds crowds are a bit wilder, but then whenever I was at Reading there was always an ambulance going past with people piled on top of a trolley!

HOME COMFORT Bombay mix

ANDY WILLSHER, JENN FIVE, REX, ALAMY

Are you excited to experience the crowds?

I maintain a happy disposition, so Im hoping theyll be a nice gang. Ive heard stuff about their reputation, though. People burn their tents and stuff at the end, dont they? Im quite indifferent to that I dont have particularly strong feelings about tents. BEN HOMEWOOD For more info, go to readingandleedsfestival.com. To buy tickets, go to NME.COM/tickets

Are you planning any special laser explosions for your set?
Whenever I get asked what people can expect I always feel itll ruin the surprise. Weve got a new record to play and a lot of new things will spring from that. Were always thinking about ways of twisting things

When I have small change I always buy it. The peas are my favourite. It reminds me of my second home, Brighton, what with the city being famous for its growing variety of Bombay mix.
The Wytches UK tour kicks off on April 30

NE W M U S ICAL E XPRE S S | 26 APRIL 2 0 14

L A I C E SP S R O T C E L L CO N O I T I D E
INE L N O ORDER T A N OW /

M O C . E NM S TO R E

L E TO B A L I AT AVA D A O L D OW N

/ M O C . NME L A T I G I D N O I T I D -E

M E FRO N SA L O E U IS S * B LU R

A P R IL

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Kurt for a day

On April 10, Nirvana played the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and nearby Brooklyn bar St Vitus. Six vocalists filled in for Kurt Cobain; we spoke to three of them about their unforgettable night

John McCauley, Deer Tick

I got an email from Dave [Grohl] the day before April Fools Day. I thought maybe it was an early joke. But a couple of days went by and it became obvious to me that this was actually happening. David Grohl had actually emailed me and asked me to sing a few songs with the surviving members of Nirvana. It was a really cool opportunity to be given. Theyve always been one of my favourite bands. I think for a moment there, my life kind of came full circle. There was a rehearsal at a studio in Midtown [Manhattan] on Wednesday. That was cool. I got to watch them rehearse with J Mascis and Joan Jett. It was pretty funny they were having a hard time remembering how one of the songs went, and Dave called me their Nirvana coach. It was really funny hearing Krist say to me, Hey, John, will you come over here and teach me this song? Deer Tick on occasion perform Nirvana covers sets as Deervana. We rst did it for afriends birthday party. Dave knew that the last time we did a Deervana show we did In Utero in its entirety, so he asked me if I would just pick songs from that album. I had never been to an event like the Hall Of Fame induction before. I didnt see the invitation until the night before and then it said dress code: black tie. I panicked because I was planning on wearing a grey suit. I ran

12

into people that Ive met over the course of my career that I dont see very often, like Jackson Browne. It was a real trip seeing Lorde sing with the guys she was great. Everybody they It must have been late March when I got the picked made a lot of sense to me. Kurt Cobain, call: Nirvana were being inducted into the Rock being an outspoken feminist, would have been And Roll Hall Of Fame, the band was going to really touched by it. I thought it was perfect. perform, and they wanted to include me and the Best of all, I got to introduce other ladies. My manager called my mother to all of the Nirvana me. Their manager had called him. WHO PLAYED WHAT? guys. She took the day o from I had met Dave once before and it work and took the train down was a real highlight of my life. The Rock And Roll from Rhode Island. It was really Im at the end of a nine-week Hall Of Fame induction, sweet. When I rst told her about tour. I had to reschedule a couple Barclays Center, Brooklyn it, she freaked out and started Ohio shows, but I just couldnt pass crying. She turned me on to up the opportunity to play with Smells Like Teen Spirit Nirvana when I was a kid. Any Nirvana. After my band played (vocals: Joan Jett) teenager that doesnt like to do Cincinnati, I ew into New York on Aneurysm what theyre told and doesnt Wednesday morning and we ran (vocals: Kim Gordon) like to follow everybody elses through the songs about three Lithium (vocals: St Vincent) All Apologies (vocals: Lorde) rules, or doesnt quite t in, can times on stage at Barclays. I sang really relate to Nirvanas music. Lithium with the band at the It really taught me to believe in myself and induction the next night. I knew it already realise my dreams and my potential. Like because I used to play along to it as maybe I was worth something after all. a 12- and 13-year-old, but I After the St Vitus performance, it was didnt want Barclays to be the so late that the club owners were really rst time I performed it for freaking out about getting everybody out of a big group of people, so I there. I think everybody was really wiped out. did it a couple times in the It was a long day. I didnt get home until 6am. encore of my own shows. I kind of forgot to eat all day. I was feeling Choosing all women pretty weird by the end of it. to perform [at the Hall Of

St Vincent

NE W M U S ICA L E XPRES S | 26 APRIL 201 4

J Mascis, Dinosaur Jr
I just got an email from Dave Grohl asking if I wanted to play some Nirvana songs at the afterparty. That was maybe last week. The day before the show, we rehearsed, we probably went through the songs, like, three times. It wasnt tootough. I picked Drain You and Pennyroyal Tea. Dave suggested School. Ive heard all those songs so much. It wasnt too hard to learn the lyrics. Drain You, especially, is the Nirvana song I listen to the most. Ever since Nevermind came out, Ive always liked that song. Instead of playing the whole album, Id just play that song over and over for a long time. When I heard Kim [Gordon, ex-Sonic Youth] would be playing Negative Creep, I thought that would be the song for WHO PLAYED WHAT? her. It seemed to be agood t. I was looking The afterparty, forward to that one. St Vitus, Brooklyn And it was awesome. I thought [having all Smells Like Teen Spirit female vocalists] was (with Joan Jett) cool. Kurt would Breed (with Joan Jett) have liked that. It In Bloom (with Joan Jett) Territorial Pissings caught people o (with Joan Jett) guard I think. Drain You (with J Mascis) I hadnt been to Pennyroyal Tea [St Vitus] before, but (with J Mascis) I knew most of the School (with J Mascis) people there. It was a lot of Lithium (with St Vincent) people I hadnt seen in a long About A Girl time, back from that period (with St Vincent) late 80s, early 90s. A lot of Heart-Shaped Box (with St Vincent) people I hadnt seen since Serve The Servants back in that time. It seemed (with John McCauley) so packed full, considering it Scentless Apprentice was only maybe 230 people. (with John McCauley) I always liked Nirvana Tourettes a lot. Nirvana to me was (with John McCauley) a moment in time when Aneurysm (with Kim Gordon) something made sense. Negative Creep A band that should have (with Kim Gordon) Moist Vagina been huge became huge. (with Kim Gordon) That never really happens. It seemed like, for one moment, things made sense in the universe. I bought the rst single when it came out, Love Buzz. That, I didnt think was so great. I thought it might be better. Mudhoneys Touch Me Im Sick had just come out and that was really awesome. Nirvana were sort of the new Sub Pop band that everyone thought was awesome, but somehow the seven-inch didnt really translate. Then Bleach came out and I thought that was really great. I saw them a lot back then.
26 A PR IL 2 01 4 | N EW MU S ICAL E XP RE S S

Ron Howard
Director/Happy Days Richie Cunningham
You directed Jay Zs Made In America movie. Did you say yes immediately? They asked a few weeks before the festival [Jay-Zs Made In America event in Philadelphia last year], so Ididnt have time to say no. Id have chickened out if Id thought about it too much. Why did Jay Z choose you? The festival represents the breaking down of genres, race and expectation across America. Inviting me in is an extreme version of that. What did you know of Jay Z? Basic stuff, that he was from poverty and crime, and hes turned himself into this laudable, inspiring figure. Hes a businessman who wants to make a profit hes open about that but theres an integrity there. Are you now a fan of the bands in the film? I didnt know Jill Scott or The Hives. Loved them. Rita Ora was a blast. And Odd Future. I wont listen to them every day, but I was impressed with their energy. Are you working on the Arrested Development film? This is [creator] Mitch Hurwitzs territory, but I am a cheerleader with a microphone ready to start narrating whenever Im needed.
ANDY WELCH

WIREIMAGE, GETTY, FILM MAGIC, MATRIX

Fame] was a really great way to do it. Those guys are all feminists and Kurt was a feminist. It was a real positive statement, especially considering that the Rock And Rock Hall Of Fame is just a bunch of white dudes. Its cool to be the counter to the norm. Also Im glad they picked Joan Jett, because Joan Jett has not been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame yet and it seems like she absolutely should be. I wouldnt be playing music if it wasnt for Kurt, Krist, Dave and Pat [Smear, sometime Nirvana guitarist]. Nevermind came out when I was nine and it totally change my world. They were just kids who seemed like they were like me or my friends; just suburban freaks, the kids who got picked on instead of the preppy 80s archetype of the popular kid. It just made me think, Oh I can do music. I can do that. I think people were approaching the night with a spirit of generosity, and wanting simply to honour the bands legacy, to honour Kurt. It was very emotional. The loss of Kurt was still very palpable, I felt. I obviously didnt know him, but I was a little heartsick about it going in. It ended up being such a great celebration. I met Courtney, and I met Kurts sister. They were both really sweet. Kurts sister came up and thanked me. Courtney, too, said thanks and that Id done a good job. Thats all you can really hope for to honour the people who were really there at the time.

AS TOLD TO LIZ PELLY

13

(From left) Simon Taylor-Davis, Jamie Reynolds and James Righton

Love hertz
Klaxons talk us through their new album and promise themusical moment of 2014
ack with a third album after afour-year break, Klaxons are achanged band. There were no drugs involved in the making of thisrecord, declares James Righton, matter-of-factly, in the Islington pub where we meet. So why does Love Frequency, out on June2, have a pill on the sleeve? Its not apill its plastic, he explains. Its a piece we commissioned [DJ, producer and artist] Trevor Jackson to design. We asked him to design it using his impression of what the record is. Klaxons may have put their psychedelic voyaging behind them, but theyve broadened their musical palette. Made with LCD Soundsystems James Murphy, Chemical Brother Tom Rowlands, London dance duo Gorgon City and DJ Erol Alkan, plus a truckload of synths, the band hail Love Frequency as the product of years of technical exploration and psychedelic thoughts. Theyve recently road-tested new material on a series of low-key dates, where the bouncy There Is No Other Time and rave monster Invisible Forces were rabidly received even if the press focused more on the presence of Rightons wife, Keira Knightley. (Rage against the extra attention and youre fucked, but people arent Klaxons fans because of our relationship, he says.) Bassist Jamie Reynolds reckons theyve created the musical moment of 2014 read on to nd out which of the 11 tracks youll nd that moment in. BEN HOMEWOOD

LOVE FREQUENCY, TRACK BY TRACK

Out Of The Dark
Jamie: Tom called Simon [Taylor-Davis, guitar] Techno Tull, cos he stood on oneleg andplayed a flute, like [1970s prog rocker] Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull. Its about breaking upwith my girlfriend and the council turning the streetlights offin my hometown.

Liquid Light
Simon: I made this. Its instrumental and inspired by electronic drone and ambient music. Jamie: I reckon Simon has nailedthe sound of the [psychedelic drug] ayahuasca experience. Genius!

14

Children Of The Sun A New Reality

Jamie Reynolds: We started this with James Murphy we watched [Steve Coogan And Rob Brydons] The Trip and then James said he didnt have time to finish it, so Tom [Rowlands] did. Its about that end of the world, 2012 nonsense. It represents uschanging. Simon Taylor-Davis: This was written around a sample of a 1970s Czechoslovakian private pressing Tom had. Bonkers. James: Its the best example of us making our songwriting work in a groove and feel-led dance context. It never repeats itself.

The Dreamers
Jamie: I was midway through an Adam Ant documentary [The Blueblack Hussar, detailing Ants comeback and produced by Reynolds], and I mightve stolen a drumbeat. Theres a hidden psychedelic aspect. Its our LucyIn The Sky With Diamonds, thats all Im saying.

Invisible Forces
Jamie: Weve never worked for two and a half years on asong before. We wrote it on tour, then recorded it, and it was a banger when we played it but people kept criticising it. Its about the idea of a love you cant see. James: We ended up sticking with the original.

Atom To Atom
James: Its self-produced, andwe spun it on its head. A big riff comes in and its completely fucking off on one. We were an idea before we wereaband; weve made the music-making stuff up as wevegone along.

There Is No Other Time

James Righton: The pop tune! We had to make a splash. Wed been away so long, people questioned our existence. Jamie: A catchy, annoying hook is central to our music.

Show Me A Miracle
Jamie: One of three selfproduced tracks. We wanted to make computer music, but we didnt know how. This is us saying, Were having a tough time working this out, behind afeelgood pop song.

Rhythm Of Life
Jamie: Its euphoric. Simon plays a monster guitar solo. James: Our first record was us in a small room out of our minds. But you cant be fucked when youre using computers someones got to control the mouse.

Love Frequency
Jamie: I was deep in apsychedelic world, listening tomeditative music and thinkingabout love as aconcept. This contains the musical moment of 2014. Its an electronicfanfare. Its the best piece of music Ive ever heard.

NE W M U S ICAL E XPRE S S | 26 APRIL 2 0 14

(Far left) Busking in Camden, north London, is under threat from new laws. (Left) BillyBragg, lifelong busking enthusiast

BY JONNY WALKER
AS TOLD TO GAVIN HAYNES (JONNY WALKER), MARK BEAUMONT (TAYLOR HAWKINS) PHOTOS: FILM MAGIC, CORBIS

The campaigner for Keeping Streets Live says moves to sideline street musicians are sanitising culture

For more opinion and debate, head to NME.COM/blogs

#26

Roger Taylor Fun In Space (1981)

Chosen by Taylor Hawkins, Foo Fighters drummer
Its Queen drummer Roger Taylors debut solo album, recorded between tours for The Game and Flash Gordon. I met him 20 years ago or something at the Brits. One of the first things I said to him was, Hi, Im Taylor. He said, Can you please move? I told him that Fun In Space is in the top 10 most important records of my life, and it really is I know every lyric and every drum lick. Hes aphenomenal musician and a quirky, rad, awesome songwriter. Later on he wrote these huge hits for Queen, but I love the weird, dark stuff on this album.
26 A PR IL 2 01 4 | NEW MU SICAL EX PRES S

R E L E A S E DAT E

April 6, 1981 L A B E L Parlophone B E ST T R AC KS Future Management, Lets Get Crazy, Fun In Space
W H E R E TO F I N D I T

Available to download on iTunes, or pick up a secondhand CD for around 18 L I ST E N O N L I N E Only available as a download

15

DONT CRIMINALISE BUSKERS

where buskers are only licensed for certain instruments: using a harmonica could see you facing prosecution. Congratulations, youve just imagined Camden, if our Keeping Streets Live campaign loses its Appeal Court hearing and weve already lost our High Court case. Thats why Im thrilled by Boris Johnsons new Back Busking campaign. The Mayor of London says he wants to make London the most busker-friendly city in the world. In a meeting we had with him the other day, he pointed to busking as the equivalent of yeast in the digestive system for whatever it is that makes culture wonderful, which apparently was meant as a compliment. As weve long been trying to point out, if we dont have clear and universal rules on busking, what youll get are the dull, sanitised buskers who can jump through thelegal hoops. I busk 50 weeks a year: Leonard Cohen, The Beatles, Bowie the classic busking songbook, basically. But Itravelup and down the country. In fact, staying in the same place is kind of against the spirit of busking: it gets boring. Good busking is not outstaying your welcome. Camdens plan is going to tie people to the borough, and once theyve sunk 40 quid into getting registered and waited 20 days for their licence, theyll have to stay there. I love the Mayors enthusiasm, but unfortunately those powers are retained at borough level, so theres alimit to what he can actually do. He has written to all 32 London councils to ask them to harmonise and liberalise their laws. But Camden has yet to back down. Now were staging a protest through the only means left to us: religion. The council has set up a special exemption for religious processions in their byelaw, so we have formed a church: The Church Of The Holy Kazoo. Our ocial hymnbook is, of course, Every Song Ever Recorded. And we will be holding a special meeting in Camden on Saturday, May 4. Hopefully, you will be there too, kazoo in hand not busking, of course, but worshipping. Worshipping every Britons ongoing right to basic artistic freedom.

(From left) Austin Brown, Andrew Savage, Sean Yeaton and Max Savage at Doctor Wus Studio in Brooklyn, March 2014

Parquet Courts
One-minute songs and a lot of emotions on the Brooklyn bands punkiest record yet

arquet Courts have recorded aconcept album, but they dont want you to know what the concept is. I view the record as being to do with restraint and allowing more space for my vocal performance and more time for me to say what I need to say, begins vocalist Andrew Savage cryptically, on the phone from his Brooklyn home. The decision to do that is based on what we view this record as being about. The narrative of it is directly related to our process. So far, so oblique. But heres what we know for sure about Sunbathing Animal, the fourpiece bands follow-up to 2012s self-released Light Up Gold and last years Tally All The Things That You Broke EP. Recorded between tours over three sessions two at The Seaside Lounge Recording Studios in Brooklyn and

ITS MORE LYRICALLY AGGRESSIVE. THE MUSIC STEPS BACK AND THE LYRICS STEP FORWARD ANDREW SAVAGE

and the lyrics take astep forward. The title track, which will be the rst songto be issued ahead of the albums June2 release, certainly attests to this: a nal one at The Outlier Inn in upstate New apropulsive, relentless mix of spat-out vocals York it sees the quartet revise their usual and repetitive guitar motifs, its easily the in-and-out working method (Light Up Gold punkiest thing the group have ever released. was recorded in just three days) for something Never ones to hang altogether more thorough. Its around, Savage says out of character for us. The idea of the band are already Parquet Courts has always been not thinking about their to be perfectionists and to move TITLE Sunbathing Animal next album. I think on once youve got something in RELEASE DATE June 2 there are a couple of the can, Savage says. It was for LABEL Rough Trade songs that serve as avariety of reasons people feeling PR ODUCER Jonathan Schenke ideological anchors like performances werent good RE CORDED The Seaside Lounge for the next record, enough, people wanting to record Recording Studios, Brooklyn; he explains, citing new songs, me feeling like I had Outlier Inn, New York the tracks Duckin songs that needed to be on the TRACKS Bodies, Black And And Dodgin and record. Basically all of us feeling White, Dear Ramona, What Sunbathing Animal. likewe could do something better. ColorIs Blood, Vienna II, With those songs, Deciding to continue working AlwaysBack in Town, Shes Ithink I zoomed in on with long-time producer Jonathan Rollin, Sunbathing Animal, Up an element in Parquet Schenke, Savage maintains that All Night, Instant Disassembly, Courts that [shows] the luxury of studio time hasnt Duckin And Dodgin, Raw Milk, where I want to go dampened the sense of urgency in Into The Garden as a songwriter. Its the bands Pavement and Violent ANDREW SAVAGE SAYS Even about knowing what Femmes-like music. I dont though its a bit different, I dont think itcuts into that at all, he think anyone is going to be really information not to include; knowing when says. There are denitely a lot of offended by how different it is. something is too much emotions on the record; its a pretty Hopefully people can connect and asking yourself why heavy record, Id say. I hesitate to with it in the same way. I think youre doing something. use the word minimalism because they will. A lot of the time in rock I dont think it is, but nothing ever music, people end up gets toograndiose or complex with doing something because its a traditional us. Alot of the songs are one minute long. part of the medium. But what we want to do Alot ofthem have only one or two parts, is something thats our view on music, and and because of that I guess its more lyrically where we want to see it go. LISA WRIGHT aggressive. The music takes a step back
NE W M U S ICAL E XPRE S S | 26 APRIL 2 0 14

16

I FIND IT REMOTE AND A BIT SCARY David Bowie

LYRIC ANALYSIS The diamond dogs are poachers and they hide behind trees/Hunt you to the ground they will, mannequins with kill appeal Diamond Dogs
Bowie conceived the Diamond Dogs as a violent gang prowling the albums dystopian landscape.

WHAT WE SAY NOW

Diamond Dogs isnt many peoples favourite David Bowie album, but its an intriguing document of how far hehadto go to distance himself from ZiggyStardust.

STORY BEHIND THE SLEEVE

Bowie appears as halfman, half-dog character Halloween Jack, leader of the Diamond Dogs gang. Photographer Terry ONeill took the pictures, which were then given to Belgian artist Guy Peellaert to render as a painting. After the initial printing of the album sleeve, RCA execs worried about the dog genitals on show, and censored the next pressing. The only problem with the project is that they removed the prick, Peellaert said. Ithought it was very sad.

FAMOUS FAN
David Bowie is easily the most influential and important artist to come out of the UK, for so many reasons there are musicians who are influenced by him who donteven realise it. Johnny Marr, 2012

The times they are a-telling/The changing isnt free 1984

In the post-apocalyptic world Bowie created for the album, there are none of the feelings of hope that Bob Dylan once sang about. The times are rarely a-changing, and if they are its not for the better.

THIS WEEK...

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

I tried everything myself onthe guitar, drums, saxophone and synthesizers. And so it has a peculiarly idiosyncratic style. I find it very endearing, kind of remote and a bit scary. David Bowie, 1997

David Bowie: Diamond Dogs

Forty years since Ziggy gave way to Halloween Jack, we revisit Bowies farewell to glam rock
THE BACKGROUND
On July 3, 1973 at Hammersmith Odeon in London, David Bowie announced the retirement of the gender-bending persona that made him famous. After Ziggy Stardust..., Aladdin Sane and Pin Ups, hed grown tired of the circus, andwent to dramatic lengths to kill off Ziggy. Ditching key members of The Spiders From Mars (Trevor Bolder and Mick Ronson) and the producer of the Ziggy albums(Ken Scott), on Diamond Dogs Bowie played most of the guitar himself, and took on the production duties. Taking lyrical inspiration from Nineteen Eighty-Four, the album was light on hits; but symbolically, Diamond Dogs was a big moment for Bowie. Ziggy was dead. Halloween Jack, his new character, was born.

The album reunited Bowie with producer Tony Visconti (Space Oddity and The Man Who Sold The World), who parachuted in to help mix the record. Visconti also added strings to 1984. The crowd noises at the beginning of Diamond Dogs were sampled from The Faces live album Coast To Coast: Overture And Beginners. You can hear RodStewart shout Oi-oi! asthe riff starts. Session musician Herbie Flowers plays bass on most of Diamond Dogs. He had previously appeared on Bowies Space Oddity and Lou Reeds Walk On The Wild Side. Released as a single, the albums title track failed to make the Top 20 unusual for Bowie in the 70s. The Nineteen EightyFour theme came about because Bowie had been refused permission to carry out his initial plan: a stage musical of the Orwell book. Big Brother and We Are The Dead were leftovers.

FIVE FACTS

This aint rocknroll/ This is genocide Future Legend

These words are the segue between Diamond Dogs minute-long opener and its title track. They come after Bowie has described a glitter apocalypse in Manhattan, featuring fleas the size of rats and rats the size of cats. The world Halloween Jack lives in aint pretty.

THE AFTERMATH
Bowie kept on changing, following Diamond Dogs with the blue-eyed soul ofYoung Americans (1975), a turn as the Thin White Duke on Station To Station (1976) and the collaborations with Brian Eno during the critically adored Berlin trilogy of Low, Heroes and Lodger, which came outbetween 1977 and 1979.None of this would have happened if Bowie hadnt purged himself ofZiggy Stardust onDiamond Dogs.

WHAT WE SAID THEN

It is pretty much what youd guessed hed do next, spiced with a few quite unpleasant lyrical devices along the way. IanMacDonald, NME, 11 May 1974

WORDS: TOM HOWARD PHOTOS: RETNA

19731974 R E L E A S E DAT E April 24, 1974 RCA L E N GT H 38:25 P R O D U C E R David Bowie ST U D I OS Olympic and Island Studios, London; Ludolph Studios, Nederhorst den Berg, Holland H I G H E ST U K C H A RT P OS I T I O N 1 WO R L DW I D E SA L E S 3,800,000 S I N G L E S Diamond Dogs, Rebel Rebel T R AC K L I ST I N G 1. Future Legend 2. Diamond Dogs 3. Sweet Thing 4. Candidate 5 Sweet Thing (Reprise) 6. Rebel Rebel 7. Rock N Roll With Me 8. We Are The Dead 9. 1984 10. Big Brother 11. Chant Of The Ever Circling Skeletal Family
R E C O R D E D LABEL

26 A PR IL 2 01 4 | NE W MU SICAL EX PRES S

17

THE NUMBERS

Number of football matches to be screened at Glastonbury 2014. No World Cup at Worthy Farm

TOP 40 ALBUMS APRIL 13, 2014

THE BIG QUESTION

THE NUMBERS

Data charge incurred by a British woman who downloaded a Neil Diamond album while on holiday

2,600

WOULD YOU BE PISSED OFF IF YOUR FAVOURITE BANDS MUSIC WAS USED AS TORTURE, LIKE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS WAS?
Matt Hayward Band Of Skulls Id be pissed off if anyone was getting tortured, let alone by music. Torture in general is ahorrendous thing. David Renshaw NME News Reporter Its the volume of the music thats used as a means of torture, not the style or content. As far as Iknow, Al-Qaedas kryptonite is not Anthony Kiedis. It wouldnt change my mind about a band. Nikita Lews NME reader Id be outraged. Its turning something positive into something sinister and negative. Id hate to see my favourite band compromised.

NEW

4h20m
Time it took Klaxons Simon Taylor-Davis to run this years London Marathon

Number of villagers who turned up to see Robert Plant perform at the local church in Northleach, Gloucestershire

400

Five years have passed since 2009s Sunny Side Up, but a harder-edged, more soulful Nutini has made light work of his comeback Caustic Love is on course to be the fastest-selling album of the year so far.
NEW 2 3 4 NEW 5 6 NEW 7 NEW 8 NEW 9 10 11 12 NEW 13 NEW 14 15 16 17 NEW 18 19 20 21 22 NEW 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 NEW 32 33 34 NEW 35 NEW 36 37 NEW 38 NEW 39 40

Paolo Nutini Caustic Love ATLANTIC

01

BIG MOUTH

JAMES BLUNT says he is not the only upper-class musician in the world

GOOD WEEK BAD WEEK

Pharrell Williams
WHO THE FUCK IS

Fat White Family

The Brixton band were deemed unsuitable to play at Londons Somerset House. Fat Whites issued a statement saying it was ironic given that the arts centre exhibits works by impressionist bad boy douard Manet.

The Happy star cried tears of joy during an Oprah Winfrey interview when presented with a montage of people around the world dancing to his latest hit and told how proud his late grandmother would have been.

SOS Africa
The charity is offering people the opportunity to abseil down Glastonburys Pyramid Stage and raise money for the SOS Africa Aftercare Centre, which cares for African children after they finish school for the day. It wont clash with Arcade Fire or Kasabian, right? No, itll happen on September 2021. The charity is inviting participants to take part dressed as their favourite bands, too. Time to order a Beyonc catsuit? Perhaps. What do I need to do to get involved? Anyone interested in entering the event should contact SOS Africa by email at info@sosafrica.com or by phone on 01749 344197.
AND FINALLY

Sour times
Morrissey has out-Mozzed himself with the tracklisting for his new album. Songs set to appear include Earth Is The Loneliest Planet and Kick The Bride Down The Aisle.

Monumental
Gwar have announced plans to build a statue in tribute to late frontman Dave Brockie, aka Oderus Urungus. No word yet about whether hell be posing with his mighty sword Unt Lick.

Common mistake
Pulps Nick Banks has said he initially thought Common People was a tuneless dirge. It was recently voted the nations favourite Britpop tune in aBBC poll.

The Official Charts Company compiles the Official Record Store Chart from sales through 100 of the UKs best independent record shops. This weeks Official Record Store Chart is a four-day chart. The full seven-day chart will be published on NME.COM on Monday.

TOP OF THE SHOPS

THIS WEEK

THE RECORD SHOP AMERSHAM

FOUNDED 2005 WHY ITS GREAT They sell a huge range of music, plus headphones, sheet music andeven instruments. TOP SELLER LAST WEEK Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltrey Going Back Home THEY SAY Our slogan traditional yet surprisingly different sums us up.

Find these stories and more on NME.COM

NE W MU SICAL EX PR ES S | 2 6 APR IL 2 014

NEWSDESK COMPILED BY DAVID RENSHAW PHOTOS: DAVID EDWARDS, NIRALEE MODHA, POONEH GHANA, PROSTATE CANCER UK, WIREIMAGE, SHAMIL TANNA

Damon Albarn, hes right up there. Hes got an orchard full of plums in his mouth and a silver spoon stuck up his arse

Smoke Fairies Smoke Fairies FULL TIME HOBBY Going Back Home Wilko Johnson/Roger Daltrey CHESS Its Album Time Todd Terje OLSEN Do To The Beast Afghan Whigs SUB POP Out Among The Stars Johnny Cash COLUMBIA The Stone Roses The Stone Roses SILVERTONE Amphetamine Ballads The Amazing Snakeheads DOMINO Meet The Vamps The Vamps EMI The Take Off And Landing Of Everything Elbow FICTION AM Arctic Monkeys DOMINO Salad Days Mac DeMarco CAPTURED TRACKS Homo Erraticus Ian Anderson K SCOPE Hendra Ben Watt UNMADE ROAD Education Education Education & War Kaiser Chiefs FICTION Mess Liars MUTE A Perfect Contradiction Paloma Faith RCA Drop Thee Oh Sees CASTLE FACE The Futures Void Ema CITY SLANG Girl Pharrell Williams COLUMBIA If You Wait London Grammar METAL & DUST Symphonica George Michael EMI The Dark Side Of The Moon Pink Floyd RHINO Save Rock And Roll Fall Out Boy DEF JAM Days Are Gone Haim POLYDOR Morning Phase Beck EMI Lost In The Dream The War On Drugs SECRETLY CANADIAN Liquid Spirit Gregory Porter BLUE NOTE Love Letters Metronomy BECAUSE MUSIC The Power Of Love Sam Bailey SYCO MUSIC Bad Blood Bastille VIRGIN Illmatic XX Nas COLUMBIA/LEGACY Singles Future Islands 4AD Present Tense Wild Beasts DOMINO Wolf Tyler, The Creator ODD FUTURE Warpaint Warpaint ROUGH TRADE Himalayan Band Of Skulls ELECTRIC BLUES Hot Dreams Timber Timbre FULL TIME HOBBY Mirrors The Sky Lyla Foy SUB POP Tremors Sohn 4AD

18

Abba

Mike Oldfield

anything like that. You could tell the people in that band werent taught in the conventional way they approached it as ideas first, and that really struck me as being what I wanted to do.

from being saddled with an iPhone reminder.

THE SONG I CAN NO LONGER LISTEN TO Push The Feeling On Nightcrawlers

THE SONG I CANT GET OUT OF MY HEAD Oxygene (Part 4) Jean-Michel Jarre
Its got to the point where if I hear anything that is a C-note standalone I think its going into Oxygene. When Im in the street and a taxi hits its horn and I hear a C, then I think hes going to go (sings Oxygene melody).

Actor and musician

THE FIRST SONG I REMEMBER HEARING Wuthering Heights Kate Bush

It wouldve been on the radio and it caught my attention because of how she sounded. Then I saw it on the TV, and it was 50 times more powerful because of how she looked. As a four-year-old I fancied her, but she frightened the shit out of me. I got tickets for the London shows and I cant wait. The last time she did it she was 20 years old. Youve got to change your act in that time.

I heard it, I just thought, What the hell is that?

THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT Tubular Bells Mike Oldfield

I wanted it and I couldnt afford it. I wouldve been working on the till in Tesco in Bedford and I wouldve been 15 at the time. Iremember telling people

THE SONG THAT MAKES ME WANT TO DANCE Move Your Feet Junior Senior
I heard it on the radio and imagined what the singer was like. Then I saw them on Jools Holland or something and saw some little indie-looking guy and thought, Wow, thats impressive. But the song is great; its got that ABC sample. They may be

THE ALBUM THAT CURES MY INSOMNIA Who On Earth Is Tom Baker? Tom Baker
I tried listening to absolutely everything when I couldnt sleep [as detailed on Berrys new album, Music For Insomniacs], but nothing worked. The most successful thing is spoken-word stuff. Tom Baker reading his own autobiography is superb. He starts by saying, Chapter one: well and youre away.

AS TOLD TO DAVID RENSHAW PHOTOS: SAM JONES, REX, RETNA

KATE BUSH SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME AT FOUR

that I wanted it and they didnt remember what it was because it wasnt the name of a band. a one-hit wonder, but they didnt have to do anything else for me after that.

THE FIRST SONG I FELL IN LOVE WITH SOS Abba

It sounds unearthly. Their accents it was like someone pretending to do a pop song, and in doing so creating something entirely unique-sounding. It has a real sadness to it. Ididnt know that it was Abba when

THE SONG THAT MADE ME WANT TO BE IN A BAND Ladytron Roxy Music

I loved Roxy Musics first album because it just sounded like ideas as opposed to conventional songs. I hadnt heard

THE SONG I DO AT KARAOKE Axel F Harold Faltermeyer

I only do karaoke half cut, so this song [an instrumental] would be the best option for everyone concerned. It would also help me to maintain some dignity and prevent me

THE SONG I WANT PLAYED AT MY FUNERAL Hot, Hot, Hot The Merrymen
It would be a terrible joke, and you need a joke at afuneral. I want to make a mark, because itll be kind of sombre anyway. Especially if its before my time.

Junior Senior

2 6 AP R IL 20 14 | NE W MU S ICAL EX PRE S S

19

Matt Berry

Its too painful, as it reminds me of my shoes sticking to the floor of arandom club, circa 1995, after surfacing at 1.50am, surrounded by strangers, to slowly discover that everyone I know has facked off. And Ive no money for a bus. Its an anthem of desolation and despair.

THE SONG I WISH ID WRITTEN In Every Dream Home A Heartache Roxy Music
Its original and unconventional and the lyric is superb. I have no real interest in how people write songs though were all different. Im as interested as anyone is in how people work, but I dont analyse anyone elses techniques.

LISTEN NOW NME.COM/ NEWMUSIC

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

NEW
BAND OF THE WEEK

DANIEL TOPETE

20

Yvette
their influence, as well as that of Wires and, especially, Liars. But Yvette didnt take a walk deep into the woods to find their implacable sound, as Liars once did; its like they were asked to provide a score to suit amidnight stroll around the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Theyre d like to think it was because of the music, says brutalists, consumed with a sense of the worlds end. Yvettes singer/guitarist Noah Kardos-Fein The feelings in the songs are pretty (above, right), but apparently when we apocalyptic, and that has a lot to do with were in Austin for South By Southwest, ON myown anxiety, says Noah. I worry, and a guy fainted during our set. We were N M E . C O M / Ithink at this point in history theres a lot to wondering why there werent as many people in N E W M U S I C be worried about. the building as there had been for other bands N OW Dale is new in the band, replacing original and it turned out it was because the ambulance Get the lowdown member Rick Daniel, who played on Process. guys who came wouldnt let anyone else in. on everything It was released on former music writer Nick Call them noise rock, industrial or postin Noahs FX Sylvesters Godmode label last year and is punk, Yvette are loud; loud in the way that collection now getting a UK outing in May on Tough My Bloody Valentine were when they played the tools that Love. Peel off the excess, sings Noah on the Roundhouse in 2008, or when Throbbing make Yvette opening track Pure Pleasure, and thats key Gristle were invited to perform at Oundle public sound so unique to understanding Yvettes sonic aesthetic: school in 1980 and you can hear posh kids on the theymake music thats calculated, organised recording of the gig screaming in abject terror. Noah, who and lean, as well as merciless. makes up the Brooklyn two-piece with drummer Dale Weve played shows where people have been holding Eisinger, says theyre major Valentine and Gristle fans, their ears, Noah says. I take that as a good sign. and on Yvettes debut album, Process, you can sense PHIL HEBBLETHWAITE

Brooklyn duo turn apocalyptic anxiety into a brutal sonic assault

BA S E D F O R FA N S O F

Brooklyn Factory Floor,

Health @___YVETTE___ Process is out on May 5. You can streamthe whole album onNME.COM/newmusic S E E T H E M L I V E There areplans to hit the UK in thesummer BELIEVE IT OR NOT Their debut single, Erosion/Cold Sweat, was the launch release for the Godmode label in 2012. The B-side isnt a cover of the James Brown song
B UY I T N OW S O C I A L

NE W M U SICAL EX PRES S | 26 APRIL 2 0 14

MORE NEW MUSIC

Snack Family
Londons Snack Family first stalked into view with Lupine Kiss, a creeping rocknroll monster replete with gravelly drumbeats, striptease guitars and the most gut-twisting sax weve heard in yonks. Ledby cutthroat vocalist James Allsopp, who sounds like hes doing all he can not to vomit up his own tongue, the scuzzy trio drop their debut EP Belly next month. S O C I A L @snack_family H E A R T H E M soundcloud. com/snack-family
Gy

Roxy Agogo
Roxy Agogo sound like agothic experiment to fuse the sleaziness of fellow Glaswegians Baby Strange with the synth-glam of early Eno. Not much is known about them, but theyve just put out a video for their debut track When You Dress Up, which features a retro starlet pouting in front of a mirror. S O C I A L facebook.com/ roxy.agogo H E A R T H E M soundcloud. com/roxy-agogo

in Copenhagen, the band have all the trademarks of their compatriots. Recent single Blue Blue Heart, with its Franz Ferdinand-baiting B-side Paradox Personified, is a must-have. H E A R T H E M soundcloud. com/zoo-music/blue-blueheart

S E E T H E M L I V E Croydon Scream Lounge (May 9), London Old Blue Last (June 10)

Michael Rault
Toronto crooner Michael Rault is a total dreamer, harking back to the sunny classicism of The Kinks and Harry Nilsson on tunes like Too Bad So Sad. And, contrary to the title, hes far too busy creating guitar sounds and vocals that sound like theyve been put through Kevin Parkers distortion pedals to ever feel low. Think Mac DeMarco puffing laughing gas, rather than two packs of Viceroys. S O C I A L @michaelrault H E A R H I M soundcloud.com/ michael-rault

Cruising
Red-raw and absolutely relentless, the Scottish power-poppers You Made Me Do That is an amped-up garage rocker that oozes with fuzziness and feedback. Its their debut single and it will be released on a superlimited cassette via Soft Power Records on April 28. Your speakers definitely arent blown, they really do sound like that.
H E A R
THEM

Lee
Taking influence from the kind of skittering electronica perfected by Flying Lotus, Lee is the nom-de-glitch of prolific Japanese electronica artist Ryuhei Asano. Tanh, his new collaborative album with the like-minded Ar-2, is a gleaming amalgam of sooty samples and stuttering beats. Hear it on his Bandcamp now. S O C I A L @000lee000 H E A R H I M leeeeee. bandcamp.com in the mould of Andr 3000 expect an even more detailed manifesto with his forthcoming 10-track debut EP, Indigo Child. S O C I A L @KingRaur H E A R H I M soundcloud.com/ raury

Raury

Frauds
With a clear yen for laughout-loud punk misanthropes Mclusky, Frauds could be filed between Slaves and The Amazing Snakeheads in aworst dinner-party music ever playlist. The Croydon duo have two EPs I Can See That Youve Got It Bad and Pt Deux out now, and according to their Facebook, one person was introduced to their song Fuck Fuck Goose after Googling How To Fuck AGoose. S O C I A L facebook.com/ fraudsfraudsfrauds H E A R T H E M soundcloud. com/frauds

softpowerrecords. bandcamp.com
BUZZ BAND OF THE WEEK

Raury
Atlanta rapper/vocalist Raury has a sage head resting on those slight, 17-year-old shoulders. Ahigh-school dropout who condemns education as asystem of indoctrination and brainwashing, his first track Gods Whisper lays out similarly grand statements over sacrificial beats and countrified acoustic guitars. The guys a total polymath,

BAND CRUSH

Gy
Theres been no shortage of top-quality acts from Denmark in recent years, from Iceage to Communions, but Radar thinks Gy might just be the best of them all. Although theyre not on Posh Isolation, the label at the centre of all things great

Joe Mount
Metronomy

ROGER SARGENT

Virginia Wing
We took the band Virginia Wing with us on tour. Theres something of Stereolab to them they have nice indie girl/boy vocals.

For daily new music recommendations and exclusive tracks and videos go to NME.COM/NEWMUSIC
26 A PR IL 2 01 4 | NEW MU SICAL EX PRES S

21

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

You
We are a bit weird, but we mean well. So says the mission statement of baroque-pop foursome You. And, after four minutes of In Halves, the title track of their debut EP, no-one is arguing. It floats in on a classical piano motif before quickfire bursts of cymbal and cartwheeling guitar enter the fray, with Anna Waldmanns otherworldly coo. Theyre a strange bunch, but they leave you craving more. S O C I A L facebook.com/ hereyouare H E A R T H E M soundcloud. com/itisyouhere
BL_NK SP_C_S

BL_NK SP_C_S
I dont trust my reflection/ he seems to know more than I do, goes the first line on BL_NK SP_C_S Memory Man, inspired in part by David Bowies cryptic turn in The Man Who Fell To Earth. The song, equal parts chilly krautrock majesty and proto-synthpop menace, will feature on the anonymous New Yorkers self-titled debut, slated for release in June on You Records. S O C I A L facebook.com/ thisisblankspaces H E A R H I M soundcloud.com/ thisisblankspaces

Makthaverskan
The latest record from Gothenburgs tricky-topronounce Makthaverskan, Makthaverskan II, is a triumphant ode to 80s post-punk. Every time a sugar-sweet moment pops up, it ends up drowning in ferocious power chords and soaring vocals, making the band come across as both incredibly tender and razorsharp. Something More is the best track, combining glistening riffs with shimmering atmospherics. S O C I A L facebook.com/ makthaverskanofficial H E A R T H E M makthaverskan. bandcamp.com

Deadwall
Meandering from slickly executed chamber pop to the shoegazier moments of 90s college rock, Bukimi No Tani is the debut from Leeds Deadwall. Produced by Hookworms MJ, it includes glimpses of Big Star and Teenage Fanclub on Two Rakes (Ode To W) as well as the heavier, more stoned elements of Dinosaur Jr. S O C I A L facebook.com/ deadwall
Pours
H E A R

into Gen-Ys Silverchair, were happy to sign up for more. The single is out on May 5 on Raygun Records. S O C I A L facebook.com/ tigercubtigercub H E A R T H E M soundcloud. com/tigercub S E E T H E M L I V E London Shacklewell Arms (May 2)

Witching Waves
deadwall. bandcamp.com
THEM

NEWS ROUND UP
Courtney Barnett

SONIC CATHEDRAL TURNS 10

The indie label is planning a series of events to mark a decade of shoegazing this year, with the first on May 18 at Londons Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen. Although the line-up is secret, it cant be just a coincidence that Slowdive are playing their comeback gig the next night, can it?

JOSH HOMME PRODUCING DOUGH ROLLERS

The QOTSA mainman has produced the new single by NY band The Dough Rollers, fronted by Harrison Fords son Malcolm. Mansion On A Hill sees the band hone their country influences into something decidedly more indie sounding. Its out on Third Man Records now.

COURTNEY FINISHES DEBUT

Courtney Barnett celebrated finishing recording her debut album by Instagramming a picture of her knackered-looking band high-fiving in the studio. The whole band will be making their way to the UK next month, including agig at Radars night at TheGreat Escape on May 8.

SUNDOWNERS RETURN
The Wirral act release The Medicine EP on Skeleton Key Records on May 12. Recorded with The Corals James and Ian Skelly older brothers of Sundowners Fiona at the controls, it sees the five-piece sounding bigger and more brash than on previous material. They play a UK tour to coincide.

For daily new music recommendations and exclusive tracks and videos go to NME.COM/NEWMUSIC
NE W M U S ICA L E XPRES S | 26 APRIL 201 4

WORDS: MATT WILKINSON, DAN CARSON, ALEX DENNEY, TIM HAKKI, SAM LEVAN, TOM WALTERS PHOTO: JENN FIVE

The Dough Rollers

22

Tigercub
Tigercub earn their powerpop stripes on Blue Blood, a surprisingly toothy debut offering that might just give the burgeoning grunge revival its first bona fide hit. Tight and melodic enough to catch Zane Lowes ear, there are shades of early Weezer and Pixies in the tracks tuneful onslaught. Provided the Brighton trio dont turn

Although theyre one of thefew new garage-rock duos who arent obsessed with rehashing the blues, Witching Waves fey stage presence is eerily reminiscent of Jack and Meg White. In thespirit of DIY theyre releasing a limited-edition cassette single on April21. Hear a taster on their Bandcamp now. S O C I A L witchingwaves. tumblr.com H E A R T H E M witchingwaves. bandcamp.com

You

single Time Traveller. Theyre a party band who willgo down well at festivals. S O C I A L facebook.com/ cuttheband H E A R T H E M soundcloud. com/cuttheband

NEW SOUNDS FROM WAY OUT

This weeks columnist

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Each Other
Edinburgh Cabaret Voltaire (April 28)
S E E
THEM LIVE

Pours
Having left behind touring roles in Man Man and Santogold, Christopher Shar has teamed up with fellow Vermont native Bryan Parmelee to paint wispy pop canvases as Pours. Their tunes include Unveiled, which features Parmelees gossamery crowing, similar to that of Youth Lagoons Trevor Powers. Expect a fulllength release next month. S O C I A L facebook.com/ poursmusic H E A R T H E M soundcloud. com/pours

Each Other left their Halifax homes for Montreals bright lights a little while before hitting upon the formula for perfect off-kilter pop songs like Your Ceiling Is My Floor. Their latest full-length, Being Elastic, is packed with similarly whimsical jams. H E A R T H E M eachothers songs.bandcamp.com

HONOR TITUS
Cerebral Ballzy

PARTY TIME, EXCELLENT

As you might have heard, Cerebral Ballzy have been out on the road across the United States for the past few months now, so things are busy. Quite surprisingly though, Ive come across a few contemporary bands most of whom are new to me at the time of writing who are really stoking me out. Nothing (pictured above) have been on my radar for a while now, mebeing the shoegaze junkie that I am, but their latesteort, Guilty Of Everything, was something thateluded me somehow. I caught a set of theirs in Texas during SXSW they seemed to be playing amyriad of shows there and chilled with them post-gig, where they were kind enough to hand me the album. What a mighty record! Its really lovely andseductively heavy. Reminds me a bit of my eortswith Eyeshadow, and I would never say that lightly, ever. Check out Get Well to be swooned ina90s way. Its like touching your girlfriends bum inJNCO jeans sporting a Ring Pop. Youth Code are pretty rad, too. Edgy, subversive, in-your-face type of cool something that Im a total sucker for. Theyre from LA, which is not usually known for the attributes Ive just associated with the band, but theyve totally got them all in spades. Dark samples precede post-punky/blown-out synth lines with pretty brute vox from a gnarly vixen (the kind of girl that would probably despise me saying that, which is hot in itself really). What Is The Answer? is rawkus. If I wasnt dating models or painters exclusively at the moment, Id be soooo down with their lead singer. Shhhhhh. Tony Molina are another band I caught at SXSW this year. I think they are totally one to watch out for. Its indie powerpoppy vox over these metal, Weezer-like ris. I kid you not! Its like watching an army of Rivers Cuomos duking it out, Wayne and Garth style. I was nodding so hard that my earring almost fell in the girls mouth that was trying to whisper in my ear. Dissed and dismissed. Check em all out on your way to the shop to score Ballzys new album Jaded & Faded. And while youre there, buy them all too Next week: DFA Records

Nap Eyes
Its all in the name with Nap Eyes, as their beautiful take on progressive folk is more than suitable for alazy afternoon. Their debut Whine Of The Mystic is full of gentle melodies and glistening guitars. S O C I A L facebook.com/ nap-eyes H E A R T H E M napeyes. bandcamp.com

CuT
Bridging the gap between Splashh and Popstrangers, CuT provide an all-thrills experience on their latest

Youth Code

LABEL OF
THE WEEK
Trashmouth
FOUNDED 2011 BASED London KEY RELEASES

Fat White Family Champagne Holocaust (2013); Lewis Idle Hair & Perfume (2013); Meatraffle Madame Hi Fi (2014) RADAR SAYS The London label has made a name for itself with Fat White Family, but theres much more to celebrate with a recent Bandcamp compilation (entitled Trashmouth Records) including the sludgey doom of Taman Shud, Upminster collective Pit Ponies and outsider anti-folk heroes David Cronenbergs Wife.

This Brisbane trio bring to mind fellow numbskulls Fidlar in their single-minded pursuit of getting fucked up, but theres an unexpected craft to tunes like All You Do and Burning Bridges that suggests theres more to this lot than meets the eye. S O C I A L facebook.com/ dunerats H E A R T H E M dunerats. bandcamp.com S E E T H E M L I V E Their UK tour kicks off at Liverpool Sound City (May 3)

The Garden

10,000 Blades
I found something yesterday that left me with a big fucking shit-eating smile, 10,000 Blades frontman Jon Stone solemnly sighs on the aptly titled Fuck You Die, before following it up with the stern declaration that I havent felt this way in a while. Fans of Sun Kil Moons latest will feel an affinity. S O C I A L facebook. com/10000blades H E A R T H E M 10000blades. bandcamp.com

Youth Code have an edgy, subversive, in-your-face type of cool

Proud to support NME Radar, because the music matters. For more info go to MONSTERHEADPHONESTORE.COM
2 6 AP R IL 20 14 | NEW MU SICAL EX PRE S S

23

Dune Rats

EDITED BY JJ DUNNING

NE W M U S ICAL E XPRE S S | 26 APRIL 2 01 4

ILLUSTRATION: JIMMY TURRELL

24

Damon Albarn Everyday Robots

The Blur frontmans excellent solo debut shows us a bit more of the real him but you have to work hard to find it
Weve had his state of the nation addresses, both pre- and postmillennial. Weve had his fantasies of cartoon musicians on islands made of trash. Weve had his mumbled demos, operas and African jams. But, beyond a few heartbroken moments, weve learnt more from Damon Albarns music about his thoughts on 17th-century alchemy, suburban cross-dressers and really fast jellysh than we have about, well, Damon Albarn. Hes arguably the foremost creative innovator of our times and very outspoken with it, yet hes remained, post-Blur, if not an enigma then at least opaque, hiding behind cartoons, shrouded with collaborators, distanced by storytelling. Now here, were promised, is the big reveal. Adorned with a stark solo shot of Albarn slouched dejectedly

on a stool, Damons debut solo album is touted as Autobiographical Albarn at his most honest and exposed. So what do we learn? First, that the natural base sound in Albarns head is a downbeat, piano-led soulful trip-hop not too far from the work he and XLs Richard Russell did on Bobby Womacks The Bravest Man In The Universe album in 2012; a result, perhaps, of Russell producing here too. And secondly, that Albarn doesnt splay open his soul easily. Modern Life was sprayed onto a wall in 1993, he croons in Hollow Ponds, a song named after a childhood haunt, and there the un-cryptic signposting ends. For the rest of the record Albarn hints and nudges at personal revelations, dropping in references to his past such as having a Pentecostal choir from Leytonstone, where he grew up, bawling along to perky Chilean folk gospel Mr Tembo a song, somewhat baingly, about a wandering Tanzanian elephant.

Fuck Art, Lets Dance!

Atlas Audiolith
Some truths take a little unravelling: a character digging out a hole in Westbourne Grove/Tin foil and a lighter, the ship across/Five days on and two days o in the Eno-abetted You And Me is clearly Albarn himself during his selfproclaimed productive heroin days, and Hollow Everyday robots Ponds is a series of timejust touch thumbs jumping snapshots from - Everyday Robots his life opening with a A classic observation of child setting a toy ship how our seemingly ultraadrift on a pond in the connected Society v2.0 heatwave summer of 1976 is actually less physically a thinly veiled metaphor connected than any in for his own fragile psyche history. Unless youre on cast onto the shallow Tinder, obviously. waters of indie rock. Half my road became Can I get any a motorway in 1991, he closer?/What mutters with a wistfulness anecdote can I bring that suggests its taken 23 you?/When Im lonely years for the dizzying Blur I press play rush to swim into focus. - Lonely Press Play Otherwise, were left A line bewailing the soulwith a general air of a sucking, brain-straining life drifted quietly, but nature of social media, not unpleasantly, out of constantly demanding control. Besides You And our links, life stories and Mes smack revelations, revealing personality the brilliant The Selsh quiz results. Giant, featuring guest whispers from Natasha The dreams that Khan, is a sumptuous we all share on LCDs glitch-jazz ballad about every moment now a relationship suocated and every day by TV and unadventurous - Hollow Ponds coitus. Meanwhile, Hollow Ponds foresees Hostiles, essentially a future where we all atrip-hop Trumpton merge into one gigantic theme, is an artful paean throbbing orgasmatron of to 21st-century social technological unity and ill-communication that digitised feeling. was made to soundtrack an anti-troll campaign. To cloud his portrait further, Damon throws in parables for the soulless technological age on Photographs (You Are Taking Now) and the title track, a tale of mobile-phone myopia that Nexus would sync at their peril. But the seductive music, with its Bon Iver found-sound creaks and crackles of static, its colliery laments (The History Of A Cheating Heart), its gothic calypsos (the second half of You And Me) and its fullon Magnetic Fields alt-showtunes (Heavy Seas Of Love) invite intimacy and the slow picking away of its layers. Albarn pulls you close and whispers the codes of his life into your ear. Switch settings to decipher. MARK BEAUMONT

LYRIC ANALYSIS

Despite their overexcited band name, the first full-length from Hamburg trio Fuck Art, Lets Dance! is less likely to spark wild body shaking than it is steady toe tapping. Atlas is made up of compact synthpop songs with tight guitar lines, smooth keyboard riffs and throbbing drum loops, while singer Nico Cham delivers melodies so crisp they ought to come foil-wrapped. The tempo is quickest on the brawny Dj Vu and the indie bounce of Those Dancing Days, giving the record a much-needed nuance in pace but also enhancing the slower moments; its the serene prettiness of tracks like Hemisphere and Interstate 15 that best show off these Germans talents.
DEAN VAN NGUYEN

Sleaford Mods Divide And Exit

Notts duo tell it like it is with their simple but effective formula

Johnny Borrell & Zazou

The Artificial Night EP
Atlantic Culture

April 28 L A B E L Parlophone P R O D U C E R Richard Russell L E N GT H 46:30 T R AC K L I ST I N G 1. Everyday Robots 2. Hostiles 3. Lonely Press Play 4. Mr Tembo 5. Parakeet 6. The Selfish Giant 7. You And Me 8. Hollow Ponds 9. Seven High 10. Photographs (You Are Taking Now) 11. The History Of A Cheating Heart 12. Heavy Seas Of Love B E ST T R AC K The Selfish Giant
R E L E A S E DAT E

Last year, a misfiring solo debut crucified any lingering memories of Johnny Borrell the pop star. Borrell 1 painted him as a funfair drunkard, zigzagging haphazardly on a unicycle through roots-rock history. It was characterised by preposterous lyrics, boundless saxophone and the fact that very few people bought it. This 14-minute EP remains outlandish. Borrells spirit remains unshackled, embodied by a suitably grand version of Dylans ManGave Names To All The Animals. Brass is mercifully scarce this time; instead, hooky strings and Latin percussion evoke Scott Walker in a 1960s tapas bar. Borrell sounds happier, if still ridiculous (It takes a real bad bitch to make me feel good). His resurrection is now complete.
BEN HOMEWOOD

Sometimes, in times of complacency, what we really need is a band to rock up and tell everyone to fuck o. Introducing Jason Williamson: chippylooking geezer, used to play in mod bands, got nowhere. Then one day he found himself in a studio, ranting over a beat by Andrew Fearn, and Sleaford Mods were born. The formula is simple: Fearn drops the beat, arickety stomp of drum machine and lurking bass guitar. Then Williamson steps to the mic and words pour out like slurry from a pipe. Hes both angry and funny, imagining the Prime Ministers face hanging in the clouds/ Like Gary Oldmans Dracula on Liveable Shit and bellowing The wonderwall fell down on you! on A Little Ditty. We need artists to sneer at the stars and sing songs about the gutter, and right now no-one does it like these guys. LOUIS PATTISON

RELEASE DATE April 28 LABEL Harbinger Sound PR ODUCER Sleaford Mods LENGTH 39:54 TRACKLISTING 1. Air Conditioning 2. Tied Up in Nottz 3. A Little Ditty 4. Youre Brave 5. Strike Force 6. The Corgi 7. From Rags ToRichards 8. Liveable Shit 9. Under The Plastic And NCT 10. Tiswas 11. Keep Out Of It 12. Smithy 13. Middle Men 14. Tweet Tweet Tweet BEST TRACK Tied Up In Notts

Faze Action
Body Of One Faze Action If deep house really is the go-to sound for urban youth, then veteran duo Faze Action ought to reap some wider reward. Back in 1996 their cello-driven anthem In The Trees proved how elegant house music could be. Here they continue this noble pursuit, with influences

ranging from Africa to Ibiza via post-punk New York, all held together by disco drums, rubbery bass and cello. Indeed, the preponderance of strings in the fantastic first half of the album suggests the work of that other famous disco cellist, Arthur Russell. They cant keep it up, though, and the cloying mid-section will seriously test your tolerance of 80s pop production.
BEN CARDEW

2 6 AP R IL 20 14 | NE W MU S ICAL EX PRE S S

25

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Dudesblood One Little Indian One question springs to mind when listening to Dan Sartains new record why does the quintessentially American Alabama native have a song called Smash The Tesco? Whats more, it sounds just like a brash, British anarcho-punk band, English accent and all. Still, maybe the why isnt important, because its a belligerent, berserk gem of a song. Elsewhere on this curiously eclectic record theres a chilling cover of The Knifes Pass This On Im in love with your brother, Sartain sings, sinisterly plus the gentle country swing of Moonlight Swim and MarfaNights, and the darkrockabilly of Rawhide Moon. Not to mention theelectro-punk surge ofthe title track. Its all a bit confusing, but sometimes its good tobe confused.
MISCHA PEARLMAN

Dan Sartain

Brody Dalle Diploid Love

The former Distillers singer returns with someglossy, futuristic rock

JENN FIVE

Embrace Cooking Vinyl Embraces self-titled sixth album is their first since This New Day eight years ago. Inthe intervening years, clamour for a new Embrace album has been minimal, sothe question of why? hangs over the record like aSaharan dust cloud. Amore specific question that arises while listening to lead single Refugees is, Is that a fucking vocoder? Putting it kindly, Danny McNamaras voice was never the best, but at least it was honest; on Refugees, he sounds like Kano. The falsetto on Quarters, meanwhile, borders on embarrassing. Although IRun and At Once are the sort of soaring tunes they always did so well, on the whole theres no compelling answer to that initial question: why?
ANDY WELCH

Embrace

When an artist slips o the radar, it can elicit one of two responses: total apathy or a frustrating sense of loss. The absence of Brody Dalle following the release of 2009s eponymous Spinnerette album cut deep. Her musical time-out not only turned a glaring spotlight onto the massive, female-shaped gap in the contemporary punk landscape but also deprived us ofa truly great, brutally badass talent for almost half adecade. Thank fuck, then, for Brodys return and the unrepentant Diploid Love, the rst album the former Distillers frontwoman has released under her own name. A glossy slab of Blade Runner rock, the nine tracks here make for a 21st-century survival kit channelled through hardcore with a sci- soundtrack sheen. At times its as if Giorgio Moroder is behind the desk, all jacked up on blue steak and bourbon, rather than Queens Of The Stone Age associate Alain Johannes. Punk is usually about breaking down walls rather than building them up. But from the records title, which refers to the

double sets of chromosomes given to an organism by both parents, through to the moody, mothering angst of theimmersive Meet The Foetus/Oh The Joy and the gleeful sound of Brody and husband Josh Hommes kidslaughing on I Dont Need Your Love, Diploid Loveis a record that glows with inner pride rather thanbristling with self-loathing. A string of high-prole guests, including Nick Valensiof The Strokes, Shirley Manson of Garbage andWarpaints Emily Kokal, dont stop it from being Brodys record and Brodys alone. Even Underworld, written when she was still in The Distillers and featuring Mexican horns courtesy of Mariachi El Bronx, breaks any lingering shackles of her old band with its fulsome sound and her mature, subtly mellowed vocals. If any other artist comes close to nabbing Brodys thunder, its Depeche Mode, whose sordid, leather-swathed stomp is hinted at throughout, from the malevolent thrum of Blood In Gutters to the brooding Dressed In Dreams. Elsewhere, jazz-club keys and a skittering drum machinemake Carry On a waltzing oering ofdemon disco, while I Dont Need Your S Lovesees Brody purring rather than R E L E A S E DAT E April 28 L A B E L Caroline P R O D U C E R S Brody Dalle, growling. Its a graceful evolution AlainJohannes L E N GT H 41:36 T R AC K L I ST I N G 1. Rat Race 2. Underworld andone that rocks just as hard as 3. Dont Mess With Me 4. Dressed In Dreams 5. Carry On 6. Meet The thesqualling fury of The Distillers Foetus/Oh The Joy 7. I Dont Need Your Love 8. Blood In Gutter 9. Parties ever did. LEONIE COOPER For Prostitutes B E ST T R AC K Meet The Foetus/Oh The Joy

Full Time Freaks

Metal Postcard

White Fang

Between itsniggling sense of doom, backwater weirdness and absurdist humour, White Fangs new record lends Wavves-style bro-fi a much-needed outsider authenticity. Despite hailing from Portland Americas hipster capital the undertone of contrived nonchalance that usually blights beach-boy

slacker bands like White Fang is absent. As the albums title rightfully proclaims, in a genre rife with fair-weather frauds, the four-piece are indeed full-time freaks. The tracks are both dazed and confused: jangly, messy garage-rock thrashers that grin inanely behind a fug ofbong smoke, shit production values and goofy nihilism. All of which makes for the most natural stoner trash since the Smell bands burnt out.
JOHN CALVERT

May Epitaph

Broken Twin

Theres plenty to admire about Denmarks Majke Voss Romme, aka Broken Twin. The 25-year-olds voice is gently beautiful, quivering between sounding like aless teary Cat Power anda less lispy Antony Hegarty. On May, her debut album, she layers it over softly humming beds of cello, piano and guitar. Its at its most affecting

onThe Aching and the BatFor Lashes-like Sun Has Gone, in which mattersare lullaby-lovely. Her music recalls the quieter moments of Sigur Rs, but unlike the Icleandicgroup she never lets herself soar, keeping things sparse and reined in.It works well, up to apoint, but ultimately means the whole smooth and romantic-sounding affair, though not quite boring, lacks that special spark.
JAMIE FULLERTON

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Shrink Dust Sub Pop To step into Chad VanGaalens world is to go through the looking-glass: up is down, black is white, and when you hack off your own hands, theyll swim away like a pair of bloody crabs. So far, so enchanting? The Canadian freak-folk savants fifth LP (under his own name; hes

Chad VanGaalen

released countless others under assorted guises) is a partial score to a selfdirected sci-fi movie, but for all their aesthetic weirdness, theres something deeply relatable about the flawed protagonists of Weighed Sin and Monster, whose callow whimsy masks a more disquieting melancholia. This madcap might raise the occasional laugh, but inside hes crying, and for all your voyeuristic unease, you wont be able to look away.
BARRY NICOLSON

Movements Naive If your foot isnt tapping along to We Have Bands third album youre probably not actually dead, just overwhelmed. The Manchester/London trio can knock out DFAstyle utilitarian dance until long after the partys over, but this record is also packed to near-excess with dozens of ideas and sounds.Movements is fullof urgency; songs

We Have Band

struggling to keep up with everything thrown at them. Opener Modulate is shimmering digital disco, the careful layering on LookThe Way We Are is acousin of Everything Counts-era Depeche Mode, and theresa muted drumkitimpersonating aDisclosure beat on Every Stone. Suchdiversity sometimes comes at the expense of hooks, butthatsnot such abad thing when every song is an irresistible call to motion. THOM GIBBS

Wye Oak Shriek

Fourth album of eerie, melancholic folk-rock from the slow-burning US duo
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9 Dead Alive Rubyworks Even the most stubborn reveller clinging to the last vestiges of a house party will tell you its time toretreat once the acoustic guitars come out. Thats unless the nocturnal mariachis playing are Rodrigo Y Gabriela, the quick-fingered Mexican duowho spent their teens tirelessly practising scales. Since 2000 theyve sold animpressive 1.2 million records, so this first collection of new material infive years inspired by historical figures from the headstrong 12th-century French duchess Eleanor OfAquitaine onwards promises much. But for allthe fingerpicking pyrotechnics, the songs leave you feeling as empty as the guitar bodies the duo clap for rhythm. Its all jam and no croissant, sadly. JEREMY ALLEN

Rodrigo Y Gabriela

Wasners bass guitar joins in, sounds as though it could be the theme to an 80s game show. But although the nocturnal moodiness is kept to a minimum, the melancholy remains. Glory may show o the occasional synth dalliance that resembles Chairlifts more chipper moments, but the lyrics nd Wasner regarding a potential new beau with suspicion bordering on superstition, asking herself, Oh no, is this another albatross? a pretty glass-half-empty way to look at the joy of fancying people, by any stretch. I Know The Law, meanwhile, is the records emotional anchor and nds the frontwoman wrangling with self-preservation in aloveless relationship, mournfully resolving to preserve the myth, though she cannot deliver. The Tower continues the juxtaposition of styles, pitting gentle, o-beat jabs of keyboard and what can only be described as a bass solo against the fear of dyingincomplete, though the whole thing shimmers bytoo easily to feel weighty or depressing. Perhaps the most amazing thing about Shriek is that its the product of a long-distance S relationship; that Stack and Wasner can R E L E A S E DAT E April 28 L A B E L City Slang P R O D U C E R S Wye Oak, Nicolas make something sound so together while Vernhes L E N GT H 42:14 T R AC K L I ST I N G 1. Before 2. Shriek 3. The theyre physically so far apart. Its been Tower 4. Glory 5. Sick Talk 6. Schools Of Eyes 7. Despicable Animal 8. along wait, but Wye Oak are beginning Paradise 9. I Know The Law 10. Logic Of Colour BEST TRACK The Tower to blossom. JJ DUNNING
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Wye Oaks ascendency has been somewhat splintered. Singer Jenn Wasner and drummer Andy Stack got together in Baltimore back in 2006, but it wasnt until their last record, 2011s Civilian, that they found an audience in Europe. Three years later theyve made Shriek, their fourth album, while living on dierent sides of America; Stack moved to California, while Wasner remained in Maryland to work on her electropop side-project Dungeonesse, with the prolic Canadian multi-instrumentalist Jon Ehrens. It has taken a while for Wye Oak to grow, and their records share a similar slow-burn property. Civilian spun a traditional folk idea beautiful female voice versus melancholy subject matter into something far creepier that seeped into your psyche rather than seizedyour attention. Shrieks twist on the pairs eerie folk-rock aesthetic is to nix the guitars and lean heavily on bass and synthesizers the very rst sound you hear on the very rst song, Before, is the tentative prodding of a keyboard, which by the time

More Than Any Other Day Constellation Still famous for its wild, expansive post-rock, wild, expansive Canada is now also a breeding ground for post-punk groups like Suuns and the late, great Women. Montreal fourpiece Ought are the latest, bursting out of the citys left-leaning loft scene to create protest music you can dance to. Intricate math-rock tendencies lie beneath the Gang Of Four-ish surface, but any cerebral navel-gazing is diffused with sheer aggression. Opener Pleasant Heart shifts from yelping, power-driving punk reminiscent of DC firebrands Nation Of Ulysses to John Cale-esque string drones and twinkling electric pianos, while Gemini builds from Sonic Youth scrapings to Fugazi fury. Outraged and out there, this is an impressive debut.
TOM PINNOCK

Ought

Pixies Indie Cindy

At its best, the Boston legends first album since 1991 is pure Pixies, even without Kim

RECENTLY RATED IN NME Mac DeMarco

Salad Days
Salad Days finds DeMarcos sprightly disposition tested to the full. The title track is a languid shrug of atune with a hint of Ray Davies snark. (NME, April 19)

You cant make a killing on reunion tours for 10 years and not give fans any new music, and in that sense, this rst Pixies album since 1991s Trompe Le Monde is long overdue. That its arrived in the lumpy manner of being made up entirely of songs from three EPs that have already been released mattersfar less; there are no rules for how to release albums any more, and theres no question that Indie Cindy is an album, not a compilation. It comes complete with Gil Norton production and Vaughan Oliver artwork, and it could be just like the old days, except that bassist Kim Deal walked out of the band just as theyd started recording new material at Rockeld Studios in Wales in 2012. The Kim thing: she is missed throughout the album because, especially on early Pixies records, she brought a feeling that helped distinguish the band from all the others in the US in the late 80s. Its too easy to say Indie Cindy sounds more male and classic-rock without her, but not having Kim in the band means that plenty of songs here, like What Goes Boom and Another Toe In The Ocean, could have turned up on the Bluenger/Svn Fngrs-era Black Francis solo records from

Smoke Fairies
Smoke Fairies
200708, which was when Frank Black became Black Francis again and possibly began thinking of songs with the Pixies in mind. Indie Cindy is missing, perhaps, the tension that sprung from Kim and Francis fraught musical and personal relationship, but you also cant forget that it was Kim who was holding the band back from recording new material. Her departure let Black Francis, guitarist Joey Santiago, drummer David Lovering and stand-in bassist Simon Ding Archer loose, and at its best, as on Bagboy, Indie Cindy is free-sounding, adventurous and explosive. Snakes and Jaime Bravo, which sounds like aweak indie band doing a pastiche of the Pixies, are unsurprisingly buried at the end the album, but only the most pious of their fans wont nd lots to enjoy elsewhere. Of Green And Blues, Black Francis has said he needed a new Gigantic to close their live sets with, and its easily the albums most convincing moment of melodic nostalgia. Magdalena 318 is pure Pixies: cutting, deceptively understated and clever. The title track contains a key lyric Well, look-see what the wind washed back/As we follow the bouncing ball/They call this dance the washed-up crawl which is thecentral point: risk or not, the album had to happen, and for a band that is now ostensibly atouring entity, the measure of its songs is whether youd want to hear them being played at, say, Field Day this summer. Slipped between their classics, theyll do just ne.
PHIL HEBBLETHWAITE

Jessica Davies and Katherine Blamire at their atmospheric best. Shadow Inversions pulses with a bleak beauty, and Your Own Silent Movie is gentle and hypnotic. (NME, April 12)

8
29

Ramona Lisa
Arcadia
Arcadia moves away from Caroline Polacheks usually sugary way with a melody and into more esoteric territory. Lo-fi electronica and ambient pop create the spine of a charmingly off-kilter record. (NME, April 12)

R E L E A S E DAT E

Bed Rugs
8th Cloud
Modern Freaks, Trees and Evening Crusade boast the amped-up edge of Grandaddy in crunching rather than crying mode, all topped with a Teenage Fanclub-tight grip on melody. (NME, April 5)

April 19 (on vinyl for RSD)/April 28 (full release) L A B E L Pixiesmusic P R O D U C E R Gil Norton L E N GT H 46:13 T R AC K L I ST I N G 1. What Goes Boom 2. Greens And Blues 3. Indie Cindy 4. Bagboy 5. Magdalena 318 6. Silver Snail 7. Blue Eyed Hexe 8. Ring The Bell 9. Another Toe In The Ocean 10. Andro Queen 11. Snakes 12. Jaime Bravo B E ST T R AC K Bagboy

Elephant
Sky Swimming
Memphis Industries

Theres a disparity between how London duo Elephant began and what they offer up on this, their debut album. Having met at aparty, vocalist Amelia Rivas and studio tinkerer Christian Pinchbeck wrote and recorded during boozy all-nighters. Roughly four years later, they deliver

some alluring analogue-pop textures and nagging refrains, but sound like theyve never ingested anything stronger than milk. There are good moments, such as the whirring keys and booming 60s drums on TV Dinner. But there are bad ones too Shipwrecked drifts towards the vanilla dreampop of Beach House, while Rivas undistinctive voice means the record rarely eclipses the dread term pleasant.
NOEL GARDNER

Jacques Greene
Phantom Vibrate LuckyMe Back in 2010, Montreals Jacques Greene was reviving the fashion for putting R&B vocals on house tracks, earning himself a rep as one of the most exciting young producers in dance music along the way. The Phantom Vibrate EP doesnt exactly deviate from this path. But No Excuse and Time Again (Feel What) show Greene to

be a master of the style, his clipped vocal samples adding a mournful elegance to the woozy synths and hiccupping beats. Night Tracking, meanwhile, eschews vocals in favour ofbeautifully crafted late-night beats. This is dance music for the body and mind, house with a troubled soul that will appeal to fans of both The xx (who Greene has toured with) andRadiohead (who he has remixed).
BEN CARDEW

Fear Of Men
Loom
While the pristine glass surfaces of Fear Of Mens lilting guitar pop offer an illusion of tranquility, beneath the beauty lie troubled depths. Themes of anxiety and eroticism recur throughout Jessica Weiss lyrics. (NME, April 19)

NE W MU S ICAL E X PRE S S | 2 6 APR IL 2 014

LIVE

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Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival

Indio California
April 1113
NE W M U SICAL E XPRES S | 19 APRIL 201 4

OutKast finally reunite: Future (far left) joins Big Boi and Andr 3000

OutKasts return is surprisingly low-key, but theres plenty of excitement elsewhere

After 12 years off the stage and almost eight out of the limelight, OutKast are still refusing to play by the rules. Celebrating 20 years since the release of their groundbreaking debut Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, the Atlanta duos first show together in nearly a decade ends up being one of the least headlineysets imaginable. In a way, its a genius move on their part. Their lack of showbiz finesse and utterly nonplussed attitude towards the whole festival circus brings the vibe back to where they began.

FILM MAGIC

31

LIVE
This is an old-school show that focuses on the music rather than razzle-dazzle. Yet Andr 3000 and Big Bois shuing about the stage, the cramped sound and the low-budget production values arent exactly fair on the thousands of people trying to get a glimpse of something spectacular. Instead, what they get is the bizarre sight of Andr in dungarees serenading a bicycle during She Lives In My Lap. The trouble with playing a club show to a stadium crowd is that however awesome it is down at the front, the further back into the crowd you get, the less well it translates. And this is a bloody big crowd. The strange props ashitty set of pine furniture and a stued polar bear arent quite back-of-the-eldreaching pyrotechnics. Of course there are some moments when the whole experiment stuns, as when Janelle Mone steps up to play her song Tightrope and dazzles with her dance moves. However, an extended cameo from Atlanta rapper Future OutKast perform three of his songs in a row, culminating in Benz Friendz rouses no-one. OutKasts own songs, meanwhile, are peerless, prompting Andr 3000 and Big Boi to smirk and smile together, revelling in each others company, during Roses and opener BOB (Bombs Over Baghdad). Flawless hits Rosa Parks, Ghetto Musick, Ms Jackson and yes, of course Hey Ya! make up for the messier, less nessed elements of the show. The rest of the weekend ts far much more into the standard festival mould. Neko Case is eortlessly sophisticated, her backing band laying down ballsy country blues as she croons Ragtime from her recent album. A sleek mess of denim and licks as big as the hills surrounding the site, California girls Haim nally play the festival theyve been coming to their whole lives. If there are nerves, theyre only shown in the fact that theyre not their Julian normal gobby selves, but Casablancas they still roll o The Wire and Forever like the consummate pros they are. From the clanging cowbell to the severed ladies legs holding up their keyboards, Chromeo are a sinister ashback to

How good?

32

2005 a time when Har Mar Superstar was asex god. Those days are long gone, but sadly Chromeos sexless, artless elektro is still with us, via Needy Girl. Much more slinky is The Knifes o-Broadway-style Shaking The Habitual stage show, which sees the 11-piece cast brandishing Play School percussion instruments, a vision in lurex jumpsuits. In their dickie bows and dinner jackets, reformed rock legends The Replacements have also dressed for the occasion. Cant Hardly Wait and Alex Chilton are ridiculously melodic, although the crowd is evidently more drawn to mash-up artist Girl Talk, aka Pittsburgh DJ Gregg Gillis and a hilarious technical glitch that beams footage of Bryan Ferrys simultaneous set to the big screens while Gillis chops and screws Blur and Disclosure hits.

Saturday begins with Temples, as Keep In The Dark oozes out of the speakers and weed smoke lls the tent. The Kettering four-pieces washed-out sound perfectly suits the desert daze, and kicks o an afternoon ruled by Brits. Chvrches draw a humungous crowd, with The Mother We Share and Recover ocially crowned anthems, while Bombay Bicycle Clubs world-music-minded material from their new album So Long, See You Tomorrow ts in perfectly against the palm trees. The only man rocking a leather jacket in the desert is, of course, Julian Casablancas. Accompanied again by his new backing band The Voidz, the show is no way as brutal as his SXSW appearance last month, but the discordant chainsaw jangle behind his new tracks still grates on a few. This music is meant to alienate all the right people, he sneers as people leave the tent. As asandstorm takes hold of the site and punters shield their eyes and mouths with bandanas, Future Islands prove the power of dancing

LINE-UP

OUTKAST

NEKO CASE

HAIM

CHROMEO

THE KNIFE

THE REPLACEMENTS

GIRL TALK

TEMPLES

CHVRCHES

BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB

JULIAN CASABLANCAS

FUTURE ISLANDS

MGMT

LORDE

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Arthur Beatrice
Haims Danielle (left) and Este

THE WEEKENDS GUEST APPEARANCES ARE OFF-THE-SCALE SENSATIONAL

Nas is joined onstage by Jay Z

LEONIE COOPER

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WILSON LEE, POONEH GHANA, JORDAN HUGHES

like a weirdo on the Late Show With David Letterman something they did brilliantly last month by drawing a big audience. The man responsible for those absurd moves, frontman Samuel T Herring, discusses his trouser-area Sam-eltoe with the crowd before receiving cheers for each and every growl on Balance. MGMTs Time To Pretend kicks o a huge dustbowl dance party, but todays real triumph is Lorde, whose set sees the sparseness of Royals battling with the downwind sound of Foster The People and winning out through the sheer force of the singalong. But if OutKasts headline set was strangely lowkey, the weekends guest appearances are o-the-scale sensational. Beyonc rocks up to dance with little sis Solange during Losing You, Jay Z shows his face during Nas set on Dead Presidents II and Pharrell simply summons the coolest people in the world (and P Diddy). Snoop Dogg, Gwen Stefani, Tyler, The Creator, Busta Rhymes and Nelly all appear during his hit-heavy turn, and Skrillex is at it too, beckoning A$AP Rocky to join his spaceship-sailing banger-thon, while Arcade Fire bring out Debbie Harry for Heart Of Glass, Drake cameos on From Time during Jhene Aikos set and Slash jams with Motrhead on Ace Of Spades. The less said of Justin Biebers surprise spot with Chance The Rapper, however, the better. Coachella might be known for mega-celebs schmoozing in the crowd, but credit to this weekends artists for bringing the most talented ones onstage to earn those VIP passes.

Oslo, London Tuesday, April 8

The demure Londoners borrow Mumford &Sons string section for the evening
Previous Arthur Beatrice shows have seen the band either beset by technical problems or looking nervous. They show signs that theyre growing in condence tonight, however, as the four-piece condently keep the audience rapt in Hackney. Perhaps they feel unburdened, having nally released their excellent debut album Working Out in February, or maybe its the extra muscle lent to their sound by the one-o inclusion of a four-piece string and brass ensemble (all four on a break from their normal job playing with Mumford & Sons). The attendant violinist, cellist, saxophonist and ugelhornist join in to embolden set opener Carter (Uncut), with singer Ella Girardot (pictured above) freed up to dance across the stage. Elsewhere, Orlando Leopards voice adds bass to the excellent More Scrapes and electronica-tinged Midland. There is also some hard evidence tonight that Arthur Beatrice are fuelled by passion. It comes in the form of Councillor, a mild freakout that, as it comes to a clattering end, gives a glimpse of the re that lies below their demure exterior. S E T L I ST This newfound surefootedness means that some of the more stilted moments do stand out at times Carter (Uncut) Late the band still seem a bit too Midland (Open mannered, almost too polite to Assembly Edit Live) let loose, particularly on the sti Ornament & Fairlawn and Charity. Safeguard Those moments are Councillor infrequent, though, and Singles tonight showcases an Fairlawn ambitious band growing ever More Scrapes more comfortable in their Charity Grand Union own skin. DAVID RENSHAW

33

LIVE

T Williams/ Cyril Hahn/ Javeon

The Art School, Glasgow Friday, April 11
West London dance label PMRs new artists let loose

34

Since it started in 2011, west London label PMR has become the go-to imprint for discovering dance musics next big stars. Disclosure and Jessie Ware have both progressed from their rst releases on the Actonbased label to chart successes, while producers Julio Bashmore and Two Inch Punch have been busy causing hype insmaller, more underground circles. Tonight is the second night of the labels package tour featuring the rest of its current roster: T Williams, Cyril Hahn and Javeon. Theyve all made the long trek from last nights show in Paris to Glasgow, and as Nottingham electronic artist Lone (a special guest courtesy of Belgian label R&S Records) warms up the crowd, theyre slowly getting themselves in the zone for another big night by napping in hotel rooms or chilling out backstage. Javeon is the rst of the three to perform, bounding to the front of the platform to begin his set of sultry, club-ready R&B. Dolled-up girls immediately form small dance circles as the Bristol singer plays songs from his debut album Mercy, due out later this summer. Give Up has Javeon crooning about stars that wont align with the same smooth tone as Usher over slick house beats. Breaking, his collaboration with next-on-the-bill Cyril Hahn,

The appreciative Art School crowd

the writhing masses though, doesnt prompt an onstage T H E V I E W F R O M T H E C R OW D the familiar vocals of Destinys reunion, but still zzles with Child dropped down from the downtempo euphoria that it April, 24, Alabama soprano to bass signalling boasts on record, and Lovesong It was amazing. Cyril Hahn was my the eagerly awaited arrival of brings sticky hints of summer favourite, he was Hahns Say My Name remix. to the steadily lling room. It is great I hadnt really heard Though he does away with penultimate track Intoxicated ofhim before but we listened Hahns visuals, former Rinse that shines brightest tonight, to him before we came out. FM DJ T Williams follows up though, and is the most William, 22, Glasgow his remixing skills. Plumes promising sign that its creator Im a big fan of of smoke and the booming could soon be following Jessie Cyril Hahn and chorus of Modjos Lady Ware out of the clubs and on to T Williams. Javeon (Hear Me Tonight) mark the much grander things. was brilliant as well. I didnt know him before tonight but Londoners arrival behind A screen slowly descends I thought he was really cool. the decks and, in the hour from the ceiling as Swiss-born, and ahalf that follows, he Vancouver-based DJ Cyril Hahn Justin, 21, Glasgow transports the remaining gets his gear set up. Initially Tonight was absolutely ravers through selections renowned for his pitch-shifting stunning. Cyril from his Pain & Love EP to remixes of the likes of Haims Hahn was amazing but we a climactic last spin of Daft Dont Save Me and Solanges thought he shouldve been Punks Harder, Better, Faster, Losing You, hes since proved he theend act. Apart from Stronger. Throughout the can make the cut with tracks that that, itwas all great. I really set, there are boys stripping are entirely of his own invention. enjoyed it. their shirts from their sweaty In front of a backdrop of visuals bodies and spinning them around their heads of buildings and landscapes, Hahn constructs and girls giddily running from the bar to the a 90-minute mix of the two sides of his work. danceoor and back again. Its a glorious Raw Cut, with its creeping bassline and slow end to a night showcasing some of the most build into elegantly delivered house elation, exciting new dance musicians and one which forms a beguiling early highlight and, later, its followers dont want to end, his debut single Perfect Form and Solange sending chants of one more tune remix are received with increased enthusiasm. echoing around The Art School as The reworking that initially grabbed fans theyre ushered back into the chill of attention back in 2012 is the spark that ignites Glasgow city centre. RHIAN DALY the match of true, unabashed ecstasy among
NE W M U S ICA L E XPRES S | 26 APRIL 201 4

JORDAN HUGHES, LAURA PALMER

Kurt Vile
T Williams

Cake Shop, New York

Protomartyr

Sunday, April 13

T Williams on...
The resurgence of house
The way things have gone recently, Ive seen other forms of dance music maybe take a step back. Theyre still cool but, like drumnbass, you dont really get into it at a young age. Those guys are still doing their thing but the market for house at the moment is the kids, and if the kids are into it, thats where you get that popularity. Its the kids.

Five days after the release of Protomartyrs second album, Under Color Of Official Right, the post-post-punk four-piece from Detroit take charge of this small underground venue with devastating force. Singer Joe Casey might look like he could be adistant relation of David Cameron, but his snarling, off-key bark and gruff demeanour indifferent yet passionate, lethargic yet energetic are utterly at odds with his stuffy, suited appearance. Rather, the likes of Bad Advice and In My Sphere are gristly, gloomy barrages of nihilistic outrage that pummel the audience.
MISCHA PEARLMAN

GIG
OF THE WEEK

St Jamess Church Piccadilly, London Saturday, April 12

The Philly singers paranoia about this acoustic show turns out to be misplaced
song, sets the tone. Kurt Vile is about to bury us inside his soul. He blasphemes in the rst verse, then turns his amp up. Even acoustically, his pedals are set to hypnotise. Kurt Vile is sick with nerves Its a rousing, frayed Vile number, every time his tour van stops like those on 2009s Childish in London. Tonight will Prodigy. The hour-long set covers be his grandest but most intimate old material and new. Kurt uses capital show yet, in a 340-year-old two guitars (named Big Martin and church that survived the Blitz, Lil Martin) and even busts out and he feels no dierent. I was physically ill today, again. I just want abanjo for another new song the romantic Dont Bite. to be good, he admits, brushing his Ghost Town, with its line Think teeth after the performance. Its brilliant how out of place the Ill never leave my couch again, best sleepy-eyed Philadelphian looks ts the homely half-light hes sitting in St Jamess. Hes talking to NME in, while Dead Alive is poignantly while stood by a rack of vicars self-referencing Youre always robes next to the church tea room, lookin for a few good men, well and his long hair, shiny sports heres one. Vile tells the crowd jacket and sheepish, homesick hesparanoid, as if this brilliant songs seem at odds with the acoustic set, the threadbare older conservative hush of the place. But material especially, is a test hes for some reason, Kurt Vile works in sethimself. church and his crowd have taken During the nal four songs, to the idea, judging by the hum of he relaxes; hes passed the test. weed in the queue. Without strain, Vile He ambles out with makes it feel like hes S E T L I ST a beer and a mug of whispering his troubles something stronger, into individual ears. Dead Hand which he puts on Then,with the blurry Smoke Ring For atable, alongside an twang of his guitar, they My Halo oldtelevision. He sits evaporate. An hour later, Ghost Town in achair underneath as he leaves St Jamess, Dead Alive alamp. If he didnt look toothbrush in hand, Laughing Stock so awkward, he could be KurtVile sounds relieved. Goldtone Dont Bite in his living room. His That was the most Hes Alright socks are even the same honest Ive played Jesus Fever shade of crimson as the in London for a Girl Called Alex carpet on the altar. long time. For Wakin On Dead Hand, which better or worse. A Pretty Day Babys Arms he calls an old new BEN HOMEWOOD

London dance label PMR

With the PMRguys, they find likeminded people and theyve always just thought, Lets put out some good music, despite whats popular. If it is popular then thats just a bonus. It 100 per cent feels like a family. Everyone gets on with each other. Cyril wanted to do some stuff on my album, so we made our track Breaking. He didnt have to do that but he wanted to. Its definitely afamily vibe.

The Shipping Forecast, Liverpool

Saturday, April 12

Lorelle Meets The Obsolete

Cyril Hahn on...

Gigs in Glasgow
I always love it here, its pretty rowdy. Youpretty much always get a crazy crowd. From touring in the past, people mostly come to see my songs and if I dont play them they get mad and start shouting, so I have to play them so as not to get lynched.

A handful of the 30-odd folk watching Lorelle Meets The Obsolete tonight must have been inspired. Were probably not talking Sex Pistols at Free Trade Hall levels of inspiration, but surely one or two will consider sticking a guitar through some meaty distortion pedals after witnessing the Mexican shoegazers cathedral of sound. Mute between songs, but eardrum-baitingly loud during, the four-piece offer more than just a wall of noise. They balance their siren blasts of guitar with real songcraft underneath. Whats Holding You? is even hummable, Lorena Quintanillas icy, detached vocal offering a path out of the smog before the group come together in trippy repetition for a stunning finish.
SIMON JAY CATLING

2 6 AP R IL 20 14 | NE W M U S ICAL E XP RE S S

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Javeon on...

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EDITED BY RHIAN DALY

Sohn
The mysterious 4AD producer doesnt like to talk about his true identity, claiming to have adopted a number of aliases and characters since his youth. Whatever his real name is, as Sohn hes the creator of some of the most refreshing and intriguing electronica around. Hell recreate his recent debut album Tremors at this giant headline show his biggest to date in September. DAT E S London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire (September 12) S U P P O RT ACTS TBC P R I C E 12.50 O N SA L E now F R O M NME.COM/tickets with 2.90 booking fee

shows have been really, really great. Weve made a real point of putting as much of the new album into the set as we can. Weve got this one song on the record called Hoochie Coochie, which has been getting an immediate reaction. Weve never had a song like that as soon as it starts up its like a song weve had for years. Its a really great

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks

At the start of this year, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks returned for their sixth album Wig Out At Jagbags. On it, the former Pavement frontman found a new sense of freedom in nostalgia, sounding more

How are you feeling about playing somewhere as big as Hammersmith Apollo?
Its always daunting it needs to be! Weve been there a lot as fans, so going from being in the crowd to someone on stage is a real sense of achievement for

NE W M U SICAL E XPRES S | 26 APRIL 201 4

JORDAN HUGHES, DANIEL HARRIS, ANDY WILLSHER

40

The Stepkids
Formerly a support act for The Horrors, Connecticuts The Stepkids released their second album Troubadour last year on Stones Throw Records (Dam-Funk, Anika). Now, Tim Walsh, Je Gitelman and Dan Edinberg will hop across the Atlantic to play tracks from that record, and their 2011 self-titled debut, at this one-o show in London. DAT E S London Bush Hall (June 26) S U P P O RT ACTS TBC P R I C E 15 O N SA L E now F R O M NME.COM/tickets with 1 booking fee

BOOKING NOW
The hottest new tickets on sale this week

Band Of Skulls
The Southampton rock trio released their second album Himalayan earlier this year, and theyll be taking it back out on the road in October. thing, such an instant reaction and people jumping around to it. Itsgreat to play live.

Are you expecting the songs to change as you play them more and more before October?
Weve always let them grow naturally. They can extend and change, and that keeps it exciting. By the time it rolls round to the UK tour at the end of the year, who knows what theyll be like!

us its denitely one to cross o the list. Once the rst song is up and running, well be good to go and itll be a lot of fun.

Belfast Limelight 2 (October 30), Newcastle Think Tank (November 1), Glasgow QMU (2), Sheffield Leadmill (3), Liverpool O2 Academy (5), Oxford O2 Academy (7), Southampton Guildhall (8), Brighton Concorde 2 (10), Bristol O2 Academy (11), Exeter Lemon Grove (12), London Eventim Hammersmith Apollo (14) S U P P O RT ACTS TBC P R I C E 17.50; London 20.50; Belfast 19 O N SA L E now F R O M NME.COM/tickets with 1.752.93 booking fee; Belfast from ticketmaster.co.uk
DAT E S

Youve just finished one tour how did that go? Matt Hayward, drums: The

UK GIG LISTINGS AND TICKETS AT NME.COM/TICKETS

FESTIVAL NEWS
Tramlines
The Sheffield multi-venue event will take place on July 2527 this year and organisers have already confirmed Katy B (right), The Cribs and Public Enemy for the bash. Joining them in the latest raft of announcements are Slow Club, Simian Mobile Disco and Lone. Tickets are available from tramlines.gigantic. com now at 28 for a weekend pass or 12 for day tickets.

positive and upbeat than he has done in years. That mood should continue as he and his band make their way back to the UK later this summer to play a handful of intimate dates. DAT E S Brighton The Old Market (August 25), Newcastle Riverside (27), Nottingham Rescue Rooms (28), Liverpool Kazimier (30) S U P P O RT ACTS TBC P R I C E 17.50; Newcastle and Liverpool 16 O N SA L E now F R O M Brighton from gigantic. com with 1.75 booking fee; Newcastle from seetickets. com with 1.60 booking fee; Nottingham from alt-tickets. co.uk with 1.75 booking fee; Liverpool from seetickets.com with 2.60 booking fee

Catch The Cribs at Leefest in the south London suburbs, July 11-13

Cherry Ghost
Since forming in 2005, Bolton indie-rock vepiece Cherry Ghost have worked with Doves Jimi Goodwin and renowned producer Dan Austin (Maximo Park, The Coral, The B-52s). Frontman Simon Aldred has also written for Sam Smith and Kwabs, but now hes putting the focus back on his own band. Cherry Ghosts third album Herd Runners is released on May 12, after which theyll hit the road to promote it. DAT E S Glasgow Oran Mor (May 17), London Islington Assembly Hall (19), Liverpool East Village Arts Club (20), Leeds Brudenell Social Club (21), Birmingham The Temple at The Institute (24), Manchester Cathedral (25) S U P P O RT ACTS TBC

13.50; London and Manchester 15 O N SA L E now F R O M NME.COM/tickets with 1.351.50 booking fee; Glasgow from ticketmaster. co.uk with 2.25 booking fee
P R I C E

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

The New York indiepop group return with their third album Days Of Abandon on June 2, on which they take the dreamy, hazy blueprint of their previous records and rene it a little. Shortly after its release, the band will head for these shores to play ve dates, kicking o in Bristol. DAT E S Bristol The Fleece (June 29), Newcastle The Cluny (30), Glasgow Mono (July 1), Manchester The Ruby Lounge (2), London Scala (3) S U P P O RT ACTS TBC P R I C E 13; Bristol 12.50; London 14.50 O N SA L E now F R O M NME.COM/tickets with 1.251.50 booking fee; Leeds from lunatickets.co.uk with 1.80 booking fee

Leefest
Wakeelds The Cribs are set to headline this years Leefest, held on the outskirts of south London. Elsewhere on the bill are indie-rap star Only Real, Scottish fourpiece Frightened Rabbit, Danish pop princess M, Brighton slacker-rock newcomers The Magic Gang and a whole host of others, with many more acts still to be announced. DAT E S Warlingham Highams Hill Farm (July 1113) OT H E R ACTS Blessa, Childhood, Sivu, The Bohicas, Young Fathers, Years & Years, Sivu, Blaenavon, Frightened Rabbit, Rae Morris, Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip P R I C E 70 O N SA L E now F R O M leefest.gigantic.com with 4.20 booking fee

CC14
Rebranded as simply CC14 and with further names added to the bill, the Camden Crawl festival returns over the Summer Solstice weekend. Emerging acts such as Great Ytene, Pins (right), Crows, Parlour and We Are Catchers will all appear across the events 25 stages, while Laurel Halo, D/R/U/G/S, Orbitals Phil Hartnoll and The Physics House Band are also set to perform. Tickets are on sale now from ticketweb.co.uk, with weekend wristbands costing 45 and day tickets 26.50.

The Pogues
Shane MacGowan and his troupe might be more readily associated with the festive season, but like pets, theyre not just for Christmas. In June, theyll take their classic songs from the likes of Rum, Sodomy & The Lash to two outdoor events. DAT E S Thetford Forest (June 14), Bristol Harbourside (26) S U P P O RT ACTS TBC P R I C E Thetford 37.50; Bristol 34 O N SA L E now F R O M NME.COM/tickets with 3.403.75 booking fee

26 A PR IL 2 01 4 | N EW MU S ICAL EX PR ES S

41

the east London band will play highlights from the record and their self-titled debut at their biggest headline show to date. DATES London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire (April 26) TICKETS 12.50 from NME.COM/tickets with 2.90 booking fee

Rfs
Having sold out three shows in London on avisit last year, Australian electro trio Rfs return to these shores for their debut UK tour. Get to grips with their hooklled debut album Atlas as they perform in ve cities this week. DATES Bristol Start The Bus (April 23), Birmingham Temple (25), Manchester Night & Day Caf (26), Glasgow Stereo (27), London Scala (29) TICKETS 8.50; London 10 from NME.COM/tickets with 11.50 booking fee; Bristol 8.50 from ticketmaster.co.uk with 1.50 booking fee

GOING OUT
Everything worth leaving the house for this week

42

Pulled Apart By Horses

The Leeds quartet will return later this year with an as yet untitled new album. This week, they road-test those new songs as they play some of the UKs more intimate venues. DATES Aberdeen The Tunnels (April 24), Dundee Beat Generator Live (25), Hartlepool The Studio (26), Hull The Welly (27), Leicester The Musician (28) TICKETS 10 from NME.COM/tickets with 1 booking fee; Aberdeen and Dundee 10 from ticketweb.co.uk with 1.25 booking fee; Hull 10 from hullboxoffice.co.uk with 1 booking fee

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats

Cambridge psych-doom band Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats take inuence from the origins of heavy metal specically Black Sabbath, whom they supported on their arena tour at the end of 2013.

The quartet will give last years ri-heavy Mind Control album another airing this week. DATES Glasgow The Garage (April 23), Manchester Academy 3 (24), London KOKO (25) TICKETS Manchester 11.50 from NME.COM/tickets with 3 booking fee; Glasgow 11.50

from ticketmaster.co.uk with 2 booking fee; London 15 from seetickets.com with 3.25booking fee

Band Of Skulls and the release of their psychtinged debut album Soft Friday with a handful of headline shows. DATES Birmingham Hare & Hounds (April 23), Liverpool Shipping Forecast (24), Reading Oakford Social Club (25), Bedford The Pad (26) TICKETS 5 from NME.COM/ tickets with 50p1.25 booking fee; Reading and Bedford free

Womans Hour
Kendal-via-London quartet Womans Hour have just announced their debut album, Conversations. It isnt due for release until July 14, but you can get a sneak preview of some of the albums sparse, ethereal tracks at three dates thisweek. DATES Manchester Gullivers Bar (April 25), Sheffield Cathedral (26), Nottingham Bodega Social Club (27) TICKETS Manchester 6.50; Nottingham 6 from

Toy
Late last year, Toy released their second album Join The Dots, mixing noise and experimentation with bouts of trippy krautrock. Nearly ve months on,

Coves
Leamington Spas Beck Wood and John Ridgard follow support dates with Southampton rock trio

FIVE TO SEE FOR FREE

1. Night Flowers A Nation Of Shopkeepers, Leeds
Hear their debutEP live.
Apr 23, 8pm

Thrills dont come cheaper than this

3. Joseph Coward The Shacklewell Arms, London
Cure-meetsSuede indie inDalston.
Apr 24, 8.30pm

2. Be Forest Start The Bus, Bristol

The xx-esque quartet from Pesaro, Italy head to the UK.
Apr 24, 8pm

4. The Magic Gang Sixty Million Postcards, Bournemouth

Brighton slackerrock newcomers.
Apr 24, 8.30pm

5. Bo Ningen Rough Trade East, London

Japanese acidpunk foursome preview new album III.
Apr 27, 2pm

See Bo Ningen for free in London on April 27

NE W M U S ICA L E XPRES S | 26 APRIL 201 4

Toy

NME.COM/tickets with 65p75p booking fee; Sheffield 5 from seetickets.com with 50p booking fee

Micah P Hinson
Tennessee-born Micah PHinson has led atroubled life, including drug addiction and stretches in prison. Its all reected in his latest, autobiographical album Micah P Hinson And The Nothing. He plays six UK shows this month. DATES Brighton Komedia (April 23), Leeds Brudenell Social Club (24), Nottingham Bodega Social Club (25), Glasgow Broadcast (27), Manchester Ruby Lounge (28), London Union Chapel (29) TICKETS 15 from NME. COM/tickets with 1.501.80 booking fee; Glasgow 15 from ticketweb.co.uk with 1.80 booking fee; London sold out
See Robert Plant with Led Zeppelin on SkyArts, April24

STAYING IN
The best music on TV, radio and online this week

Led Zeppelin
Celebration Day

with producers Four Tet and RocketNumberNine. LISTEN BBC 6Music, 1pm, Apr 29

Gorgon City
The producers behind Klaxons comeback single There Is No Other Time take their rave tunes to Glasgow and London this week. Signed to Black Butter (who launched Rudimental and John Newman), the duo have collaborated with Yasmin, Clean Bandit and MNEK, so keep an eye out for surprise guests. DATES Glasgow The Art School (April 25), London Electric Brixton (26) TICKETS Glasgow 7 from thearches.co.uk with 1.70 booking fee; London 17.50 from NME.COM/tickets with 1.75 booking fee

As the legendary band prepare to re-release their rst three albums, catch footage from their one-o reformation at Londons O2 Arena. John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant played classic tracks like Dazed And Confused and Stairway To Heaven at the 2007 concert, a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun, founder of Atlantic Records. WATCH Sky Arts, 8am, Apr 24

Brody Dalle
The Evening Show With Danielle Perry As Dalle nishes up her rst UK solo tour, tune in to XFM to hear her play two songs over two nights in session for Danielle Perry this week. LISTEN XFM, 7pm, Apr 2829

Coldplay
Later Live With Jools Holland Chris Martin and the band preview tracks from their imminent new album Ghost Stories. From the tasters already revealed, expect more sparse, electronic inuences. Damon Albarn will also play selections from his solo debut Everyday Robots and The Black Keys will perform cuts from their new record Turn Blue. WATCH BBC2, 10pm, Apr 29

of the secrets behind running thefestival. LISTEN BBC 6Music, 7am, Apr 27

Speedy Ortiz Neneh Cherry

The Radcliffe & Maconie Show In February, Neneh Cherry released her rst solo album in 16 years. This week, shell talk to Mark Radclie and Stuart Maconie about the records inuences, and working X-Posure The Massachusetts band recently covered Blurs Bugman in the NME basement (head to NME.COM now to see that), so what treats will they have in store when they visit John Kennedy? If nothing else, expect highlights from their debut album Major Arcana. LISTEN XFM, 10pm, Apr 29

Speedy Ortiz

Emily Eavis
Mary Anne Hobbs Get in the mood for festival season as the Glastonbury organiser joins Mary Anne Hobbs to reveal some

THINGS WE LIKE
PA, DAN KENDALL, JENN FIVE

This weeks objects of desire BOOK Last Shop Standing: Whatever Happened To Record Shops?
Stories and anecdotes from Britains record stores. BUY 12.95, waterstones.com

REISSUE Grace Jones Nightclubbing

The icons classic album has been re-released with bumper goodies including new lost tracks and remixes. BUY 15.85, amazon.co.uk

DVD And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead Live At Rockpalast 2009
The American rock group tear through a mammoth set. BUY 16.73, amazon.co.uk

GAME Mac DeMarco SquishEm

Squash bugs with cigarettes (choose from three brands) in this game made to celebrate Macs new album. P L AY subbacultcha.be/ squishem

2 6 AP R IL 20 14 | NE W MU S ICAL EX PRE S S

43

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QUIZ NME CROSSWORD

1 9 9 11 12 1 2 3 4

Compiled by ALAN WOODHOUSE (answers on page 67)

Compiled by

TREVOR HUNGERFORD

WIN 50 WORTH OF SEETICKETS VOUCHERS

5 6
8 7 10 10 13 11 15 12 17 16 14 17 19 20 21 26 27 28 24 34 32 30 27 38 34 30 41 36 33 29 35 23 36 34 40 22 18 21 23 3 21 27 28 32 30 39 35 31 24 26 25 29 17 13 16 15 19 14 13 14 14 8

1 Which member of The Beatles was the oldest? 2 Which UK Top 10 single did Coldplays Chris Martin write for Embrace in 2004?
3 In which UK town was Slash born?

6 On which track from Pixies 1989 album Doolittle does drummer David Lovering take the lead vocal? 7 In which year was Latitude festival first held? 8 The frontman of which British metal band sings guest vocals on Queens Of The Stone Ages 2000 single Feel Good Hit Of The Summer? 9 Which legendary British band were once known as The Ravens? 10 Whose 2002 debut album was called The Big Come Up?

11 Which other female singer initially formed The Breeders with Kim Deal in 1990? 12 Which act appeared on the cover of NMEs 40th birthday issue in 1992? 13 And who, in 2002, adorned the cover of the 50th birthday special? 14 Who released the solo albums People Move On and Friends And Lovers in the late 90s? 15 Who released a one-off, nonalbum single called Pop Is Dead in 1993?

4 Whose first single was called Brave Bulging Bouyant Clairvoyants? 5 Which US rock band make a guest appearance in 2007s The Simpsons Movie?

37

1 Following a Jump In The Pool they gave a Kiss Of Life (8-5) 2 Blur recordings made in their spare time (7) 3+26D The Nolans and I get moving to Pink Floyds David Gilmour on a solo album (2-2-6) 4 (See 19 down) 5+6D Nobody else except

CLUES DOWN

MARCH 22 ANSWERS

ACROSS 1+21A Come A Little Closer, 7+31A

Bad Mood, 9 Riptide, 10 Its Time, 11 Id Rather Go Blind, 12 Amen, 13 Vic, 15+14D Cathys Clown, 17 Stipe, 19Odyssey, 22 Nas, 24 Spin, 28 Rosetta, 29 I Get Wet, 30 Luna DOWN 1 Carnival, 2 My Perfect Cousin, 3 Adicts, 4+32A If Ever I Stray, 6 Easybeats, 7 British Sea Power, 13 Vee, 16 So, 18+5D Pretty Things, 20 Yes, 21 Coral, 23 A Bird, 25+8D Natty Dread, 26 Halo, 27 Mess

Normal NME terms and conditions apply, available at NME.COM/terms. Cut out the crossword and send it, along with your name, address and email, marking the envelope with the issue date, before Tuesday, May 6, 2014, to: Crossword, NME, 9th Floor, Blue FinBuilding, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU. Winnerswill be notified via email.

26 A PR IL 2 01 4 | NEW MU SICAL EX PRES S

ELLIS PARRINDER, DEAN CHALKLEY, RICHARD JOHNSON, TOM OXLEY, ED MILES

1 Embrace my stalker (6-3-4) 9 Queens Of The Stone Age have a doubt about their own stalker (2-1-3-1-4) 10 American who sang of Past Life Martyred Saints (1-1-1) 11 Krautrock duo Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger get into a tune-up (3) 13+20A A strange outcome for Tyler, The Creator (3-6) 14+29A Having a Chinese with System Of A Down (3-4) 16 A simple etching holds the identity of Editors bassist (6) 18+22A A peculiar place for The Horrors to record an album (7-5) 20 (See 13 across) 22 (See 18 across) 27 Amber Runs momentary flash of brilliance with a bit of noise (5) 28+31D Corals may possibly end up like Steely Dans music (5-4) 29 (See 14 across)

CLUES ACROSS

30 Terrible pests becoming a successful group (5) 32 I took shelter from a shower and I stepped into your arms on a rainy night in ____, The Pogues or Nick Cave (4) 33 Moans about Pink Floyds drummer (5) 35 Manchester post-punks The ____ Babies with a connection to a South American civilisation (4) 36 Having put money aside to get a Bob Dylan album (5) 37 Need something different from Everything But The Girl (4)

The Charlatans were on this album (2-3-2-4) 7 The plane crash caused by Tame Impala (8) 8 Hell Say Nothing but still Wont Go Quietly (7) 12 Pete Wylies group spotted in the few ahead (3) 15 Steve Ignorants insensitive-sounding anarchy punks (5) 17 Their singles include Secret Kiss and Dreaming Of You (5) 19+4D The Subways, Ash and Roxy Music all had hits of this title (2-4) 21 Thirty changes made for a dollar on Pinks album (3-4) 23 Having a singular passion for The Stone Roses (3-4) 24 The Beatles manager until his death in 1967 (7) 25 For their final studio album The Clash decided to Cut The ____ (4) 26 (See 3 down) 31 (See 28 across) 34 __ Tan by The Wildhearts or __ Dinners by ZZ Top (2)

THE NME COVER THAT I GONE AND DONE

by CHRIS SIMPSONS ARTIST

45

THEY W RESURR
46
John Squire, Mani and Reni lurk behind Ian Brown

ERE THE

T HE STON E R OSE S

ECTION
Twenty-five years ago The Stone Roses released their debut album and changed the course of British music forever. Over the next 11 pages we reveal why beginning with Kevin EG Perry, who explains how politics, drugs and music forged an all-time classic
PHOTO BY IAN TILTON

he Stone Roses may have had a well-earned reputation for partying as hard as the best of them, but while locked away recording the album that would later be named NMEs Greatest British Album Of All Time they abided by the eminently sensible credo of not taking any drugs while they were actually in the studio. As Ian Brown told us back in April 1989, when the record was released: You dont need drugs to listen to the record. John Squire added: As for actually recording, you cant get it together when youre smashed out of your face, can you? They did, however, make a rare exception after nishing work on their fth track. The band rolled a giant spli and lay down on the oor of Londons Battery Studios

to hear the nal version of Dont Stop for the very rst time. As they stared at the ceiling and listened to their new song in all its backwardstracked glory, they already knew they had the makings of a classic album on their hands. It was the chance theyd been waiting for. Four years after theyd formed, there was a real sense of anticipation about what the band could produce, although they were still seen as outsiders in the Manchester scene because they werent on Tony Wilsons Factory label, home of New Order and owners of The Haienda nightclub. They called those formative months two years in the wildernessand two years in Manchester. Photographer Kevin Cummins, who shot all of the citys greatest bands for NME, remembers the position the group found
26 A PR IL 2 01 4 | NE W M U SICA L E X PR ES S

themselves in: They were outsiders, and I think the problem was that the Manchester scene was very small, in its own way. Everybody went to the same gigs, and the Roses were slightly apart from that. They pissed everyone o in Manchester by going around spray-painting The Stone Roses everywhere on the sides of major buildings and statues. People saw it as vandalism and decided they wouldnt like this band, whoever they were. Peter Hook had been the rst choice to take on the role of producer, having worked on the bands 1988 single Elephant Stone, but he had to pass as New Order had started work on Technique. John Leckie was chosen in part due to his early experience working on records by the likes of Syd Barrett and

47

TH E STON E R OSES

John Lennon, which meant hed learned his tricks of the trade from the likes of George Martin and Phil Spector. This meant a lot to John Squire, who was brought up listening to The Beatles, as well as Elvis and Peggy Lee compilations. He told NMEs Simon Williams: I didnt hear a bad song until I left home. Ian Brown was less attached to his musical upbringing, admitting: I had an uncle who tried to get me into Led Zeppelin. Squire sympathised: Horrible thing to do to a 10-year-old, isnt it? this house with The Bhundu Boys and wed However, the band had to contend with still be sat up all night doing hot-knives the fact that they hadnt exactly been 100 [apotent way of getting high] while the odd per cent transparent about how many actual businessman would come and go in the songs theyd written. When they signed morning. Hot-knife frenzy. No wonder that to Silvertone, a new indie label that was LP sounds so mellow and laid-back. We were actually a division of the terminally uncool constantly stoned to fuck. Hot-knives and trips Jive Records, theyd told everyone they were the order of the day. had 30 or 40 songs in the bag. The truth Thats not to say they werent putting the was they had about eight. Fortunately, they work in. It takes eort to sound eortless, had also had bags of self-condence and an as Ian Brown told us. Like, its hard work ironclad belief that they could knock out the not working. Being on the dole takes rest in a couple of weeks. great endurance cos you have to use your Rehearsals began at Stockports Coconut imagination, otherwise youll stagnate. Grove studio in June 1988 and then quickly stopped again as Leckie soon realised the alchemy band needed to get their act together. He of the band, the producer and the situation drilled each of them individually and before all came together to create gold. Everything long they were playing as one. The Roses they touched turned into a classic. Cultural strong point was that commentator and they all wanted to be the former NME writer John frontman, Leckie recalled Harris was a teenager later. Somehow we made in Manchester around them into a group. the time the album was Over the week or so released. He remembers: People have to tune in, we dont make it the band wrote Bye Bye There was a club called obvious because that would be less exciting Badman, Made of Stone DeVilles that had an for us. and Shoot You Down indie night that I went Sometimes their political statements were songs that mixed Byrdsto most Saturdays. subtle like the lemons on the album sleeve, style 60s jangle with the I remember thinking which reference the fact that the student atmosphere of acid house what a big record it was protestors in Paris in 1968 sucked them to that was igniting raves the length and breadth because one night the DJ played every track counteract the eect of being tear-gassed by of the country. They also reworked I Am The from it over the course of two hours. the police. Other times, they wore their radical Resurrection, which had previously been As well as the fact that virtually every single colours on their sleeve, as with scurrilous played much faster, basing the new version one of the tracks was groovy enough to pack lyrics like Every member of parliament trips on the fact that Mani would constantly sit a danceoor, there was a real intellectual on glue, from (Song For My) Sugar Spun around playing the bassline from The Beatles weight behind the music. Even on songs that Sister. As Harris points out: The second side Taxman. Reni and John Squire would come weve got that are about a girl, theres always opens with Elizabeth My Dear. You werent in and play over the top, and eventually what something there thats a call to insurrection, in any doubt where they were coming from. started as a joke morphed into one of the said Brown, quoted in Simon Spences They want to kill the Queen! How much more bands signature songs. biography The Stone Roses: War And Peace. blunt can you get? With the sessions now going well the band 1980 August 15, 1985 October 23, 1984 decamped to London, Ian Brown and John Squire The band play at legendary The band play their first gig as moving into Battery play together for the first time Manchester nightclub The Stone Roses, supporting Studios in Willesden. in The Patrol, a band heavily The Haienda. Pete Townshend at an antiThe album was recorded influenced by The Clash. heroin concert in London. outside of working hours, August 19, 1985 All the way from So from seven at night until May 1984 Debut single So April 10-30, 1985 Young to Spike Island sometimes as late as Reni answers an advert looking Young/Tell Me is The band tour Sweden on for a new drummer that the released to little seven the next morning. a trip that had helped give band placed in A1, a music shop acclaim, and the themthe impetus to form Their living conditions on Manchesters Oxford Road. band later disown theirnew line-up. werent exactly idyllic, the record as either. Mani would later a mis-step. recall: We were sharing

We dont make it obvious. People have to tune in

Ian Brown

Somehow, the weird

48

THE ROSES TIMELINE

NE W M U SICAL E XPRES S | 26 APRIL 201 4

The Stone Roses backstage in Japan, October 1989

to do with church publicity. There was a church in town that had a big yellow DayGlo sign up with that line on it. Ian Brown was quick to pour scorn on any suggestion that the song might be mocking religion: No, because I believe in God. There must be some substance to Christ cos the myth has lasted so long, like 2,000 years but its convenient cos you dont have to make your mind up until you get to the gates. Mani, typically, sounded less convinced. Heaven was just created to give us something to look forward to after all this shit, he added. made a quiet impact on release, only receiving a lukewarm 7/10 NME review from Jack Barron. As the months went by, however, the album seemed to grow in stature. Former Melody Maker writer and inuential cultural critic Simon Reynolds puts this down to the band capturing a prevailing sense of positivity: Even though the lyrics are quite angry and political, theres an optimism to the music that seemed to catch the feeling of the year. It was what everyone wanted. The other good music that was around at that time was quite dark and twisted in a fatalistic escapist way, with bands like My Bloody Valentine or Sonic Youth. The Stone Roses were seeing what was happening at warehouse parties in the north so they had another idea. Young people were coming together to create resistance through optimism. By November, the band were ready to grace the cover of NME and Kevin Cummins came up with the idea of shooting them as a Jackson Pollock-inuenced John Squire painting. Its an era-dening picture, along with Shaun Ryder on the E, says Cummins, who set up both pictures to capture the mood of a country that was falling in love with taking ecstasy for the rst time. They were two great NME covers. They were full of acid colours, and captured the zeitgeist in terms of the drugs NME ahead of the albums release. Ian Brown says: We dont just want to be a Manchester band, we want to be big in London as well.

The Stone Roses

Harris argues that The Stone Roses managed to nd a way of engaging with politics without the hectoring sloganeering of the more overtly political bands of the era. Theres this clich that acid house washed rock music of all its political aspects, he says. But Thatcher was still around in 88, and Manchester hadnt recovered from what Thatcher had done to it. Although it was more subtle in The Stone Roses case, it was in there and it was in their interviews. You instantly understood where they were coming from when they were admiringly referencing Tony Benn. Channel 4 had a season of programmes marking the 20th anniversary of Paris 68. Quite soon after that out comes this record which, in the shape of Bye Bye Badman, has

a song that references it. That placed them in the context not just of Thatcher and the 80s, but in the lineage of the Sex Pistols and the 60s counterculture. Im sure they sparked a lot of interest in Paris 68. Away from politics, the band were less keen to get specic about their subject matter. Squire told us that Made Of Stone could be about anything we wanted it to be, and was generous enough to give us his own take: Its about making a wish and watching it happen, like scoring the winning goal in a cup nal on a Harley Electra Glide dressed as Spider-Man. He at least gave a clue as to the genesis of I Am The Resurrection, saying that the Lord himself had literally given them a sign: Thats by New Orders Peter Hook, goes into the indie charts at number27.

July 1987
Mani joins the band after the departure of previous bassists Pete Garner and Rob Hampson.
PAUL SLATTERY/RETNA

June 1988
Rehearsals begin ahead of recording The Stone Roses at Stockports Coconut Grovestudios.

February 1989
Recording for The Stone Roses is completed.

January 1989
The Stone Roses play Tony Wilsons TV show The Other Side Of Midnight, seen as something of a blessing given the Factory bosss previous antipathy towards the band.

May 18, 1987

Sally Cinnamon, the bands second single, is released and hits number 38 in the indie charts.

July 1988
Recording for the album begins in London, at Battery Studios inWillesden.

February 27, 1989

Made Of Stone reaches Number Four in the UK indie charts.

May 1989
The Stone Roses is released and enters the chart at number 32. It eventually peaks at number 19 in February 1990 (the 20th anniversary reissue reaches number five in 2009).

October 17, 1988

Elephant Stone, produced

April 15, 1989

The band are interviewed by
2 6 AP R IL 20 14 | NE W M U SICAL EX PRES S

49

TH E STONE R OSES

Onstage at Liverpool Polytechnic, May 4, 1989

people were taking and so on. It wasan explosion, really. The photoshoot was suitably anarchic. John opened a gallon tin of paint and just threw it across the room, remembers Cummins. I thought: Jesus, this is going to be such a mess! Gradually he built the colours up. Id ask him to add dierent colours and hed get paint on a brush and throw it across them, splattering it. Then hed paint himself and get into the shot. It was playful that I chose sky blue and white as the base colour, cos hes a Man United fan and I support Man City. That was my way of getting one over on them really. At the end of the year NME named The Stone Roses the second best album of 1989, after De LaSouls 3 Feet High And Rising. Thegroup cleaned up at the NME polls, winning Band Of The Year, New Band Of The Year, Album Of The Year and Single Of The Year for Fools Gold. But even at their moment of greatest triumph, cracks were already beginning to show. The pressure of a band who had been knocking around for four years suddenly being pushed into the stratosphere by their awless record was almost too much, and their live performances were struggling to keep pace. When NME sent Stuart Maconie to crown them Band Of The Year, talksoon turned to whether or not their recent Alexandra Palace show in north London had turned out to be an anticlimax. Their biggest gig to date, on November 18, 1989, was branded crap by Mani: It was a disaster. Brown was more defensive. It wasnt crap. It was under par, asserted the frontman. We were struggling all night against the sound. There were a lot of nothing moments, but there were a lot of good moments, too.

The album had that timeless feel straight away

Kevin Cummins
timeless feel and quality to it straight away, he says. When that record came out we played it to death and it sounded fresh every time we played it. The fact that they came back and reunited and did those gigs playing those songs and still sounded like a new band is a testament to that. Two and a half decades later, The Stone Roses continue to show the way. When the band did reform in 2011, their acolytes queued up to pay tribute. Noel Gallagher told NME: In the cold light of day what youre left with is the music, and what it boils down to is that they wrote the greatest songs of the late 80s. Without that band there would not have been an Oasis. Tom from Kasabian added: I must have only been eight or nine when they made that rst album, but its a record thats always NME splattered in paint, then play a troubled live show at Londons Alexandra Palace.

August 12, 1989

The show at Blackpools Empress Ballroom is the first huge show the band play, and many say their best.

and Ian Brown walks off shouting, Amateurs!

screams the NME cover that crowns The Stone Roses as Band Of The Year.

April 12, 1990

Over a hundred Roses fans gather outside Wolverhampton Magistrates Court as the band hear charges related to the FM Revolver attack.

November 13, 1989

Non-album single Fools Gold becomes the bands biggest UK hit so far, reaching number eight.

December 4, 1989
The Stone Roses gets an American release, with Fools Gold included. It enters the Billboard chart at 86.

January 30, 1990

Angry at former label FM Revolvers re-release of their 1987 single Sally Cinnamon, the Roses turn up at their office and throw blue and white paint over boss Paul Birch and his girlfriend Olivia Darling.

September 1989
Making their first appearance on national British TV, the band play the first 40 seconds of Made Of Stone on BBCs The Late Show before theres a power cut

November 18, 1989

The band appear on the cover of

May 27, 1990

The Roses play their now legendary outdoor show on Spike Island, on the River Mersey.

December 23, 1989

Top Of The World,

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KEVIN CUMMINS/GETTY

None of this,

not disappointing live shows nor the prolonged wait for Second Coming, could dent the rst album theyd cast in stone. Cummins says that even a quarter of a century ago he knew there was something about The Stone Roses that meant wed still be talking about it now. I think it had that

been massively important to me. Savages Gemma Thompson has said its the record she learned guitar to. The Roses attitude lived on too. Ask Alex Turner what the best piece of advice hes ever been given is and hell tell you this story: We were at the NME Awards, the rst time we were there, and Ian Brown was presenting us with an award. Afterwards they take you to do a photoshoot. It was us and Ian Brown. Hes got the award and the swagger. Were doing this photoshoot and the photographers like: Oh yeah, Alex, could you just turn to your left? Ian Brown looked at me and said: Dont turn left for no-one. When the author Joseph Heller was asked why hed never written another book as good as Catch-22, he quickly pointed out: Nobody else has, either. Few would argue that The Stone Roses ever quite reclaimed the peak theyd reached in 1989, but when their debut was as unimpeachably classic as The Stone Roses, who can blame them? Ian Brown remembers John Leckie approaching him when theyd nished the album and telling him: This is really good. Youre going to make it. With typical 10-storey condence, Brown thought to himself: I know. This was the one they, and we, had been waiting for.

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T HE STON E R OSE S

THE STONE R OS ES
THE STO NE R OSES
1989 SILVERTONE

n albums greatness can be measured by the number of generations it inuences, and The Stone Roses debut has enjoyed multiple resurgences since its release. The most prominent was during Britpop, a cultural movement that wouldnt have existed without the poppy and positive sound of the Roses-led baggy scene that came before it. It would have had dierent gureheads, too, as the Gallagher brothers and Damon Albarn have all credited The Stone Roses with igniting their interest in music. But The Stone Roses lives on more broadly, too. Any band thats ever decided consciously or otherwise to fuse rock and dance music is cribbing from the work the Roses did in the late 80s. Squire, Reni and Mani are all maestros on their instruments and made a then-daring collision ofgenres seem eortless. But, really, the most timeless aspect of the album is the lyrics. Ian Brown gets a lot of shit for his vocal ability, but thats like slagging o a great author for his handwriting. The important things here are the mood and the message, and the Roses singer is an underrated philosopher. Many great songs contain ameaning thats poignant whenever and wherever theyre played because they speak to fundamental aspects of the human condition: Pulps Common People, LCD Soundsystems All My Friends, Bruce Springsteens Born To Run. On The Stone Roses there are 11 of them. Optimism and hope reign supreme.

THE STUDIO
One of the myths around The Stone Roses is that their success came out of nowhere. But the band formed in 1983, six years before their debut came out, and had been through a lengthy process of trying out different sounds, line-ups and band names. Nothing they did was simple. The same went for picking astudio to record The Stone Roses in. It was made between June 1988 and February 1989, and spread between Stockports Coconut Grove studios, Battery Studios and Konk Studios in London, and Rockfield Studios in Wales. One constant was producer John Leckie, whod worked on John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, Pink Floyds Meddle and Real Life by Magazine. He described the Roses as a band who were very well rehearsed and keen to try lots of things.

titled Bye Bye Badman that was his take on the May 1968 Paris riots. So its obvious why the French flag is on there. But why the lemons? Ian Brown explains: When we were in Paris we met this 65-year-old man who told us that if you suck a lemon it cancels out the effects of CS gas. He still thought that the government in France could be overthrown one day; hed been there in 68 and everything. So he always carried a lemon with him so he could help out at the front. Sixtyfive what a brilliant attitude.

THE RECORDING SESSIONS

On the first day of recording, Reni was late and had to borrow 10 from producer John Leckie to get there in reasonable time. Yet Leckie has positive memories of the band: They werent frightened. What you hear is the band. Thats the way I work, really. They play and I record them and we enhance everything with overdubs and double-tracking any number of different things. You have to do adegree of arranging, but thats part of the creative process. They didnt seem to feel any pressure other than that they were a band making their first album and didnt want to lose the opportunity to make it good. So there wasnt any pressure to prove themselves they knew they were good.

THE LYRICS

THE ARTWORK
The Stones Roses love of Jackson Pollock was well known prior to the release of the bands debut. Two of the singles that came before it Elephant Stone in October 1988 and Made Of Stone in February 1989 both featured B-sides (Full Fathom Five and Going Down respectively) that referenced the American artist in the lyrics, and featured Pollock-inspired artwork by John Squire. For the album, Squire produced a painting

Throughout The Stone Roses, Ian Brown softly delivers lyrics that combine anger at the monarchy (Its curtains for you, Elizabeth my dear) and the government (Every member of parliament trips on glue) with sacrilegious arrogance (I am the resurrection and I am the light) and the unbridled optimism RECORDED June 1988February 1989 RELEASE DATE May of talented youth (Sometimes 1, 1989 LENGTH 49:02 PRODUCER John Leckie STUDIOS I fantasise, when the streets are cold Battery and Konk, London; Rockfield Studios, Wales; RAK Studios, and lonely and the cars they burn London HIGHEST UK CHART P OSITION 5 SINGLES She Bangs below me). These are mood-lifting and The Drums, I Wanna Be Adored, Made Of Stone, Waterfall, I Am The perspective-changing anthems. Best Resurrection TRACKLIST 1. I Wanna Be Adored 2. She Bangs The of all, from She Bangs The Drums, The Drums 3. Waterfall 4. Dont Stop 5. Bye Bye Badman 6. Elizabeth past was yours but the futures mine. My Dear 7. (Song For My) Sugar Spun Sister 8. Made Of Stone Any young person in 2014 who doesnt 9.Shoot You Down 10. This Is The One 11. I Am The Resurrection have that attitude is doing it wrong.
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WORDS: TOM HOWARD

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ALL ABO
For a brief period at the turn of the 90s, it was all pills, thrills and mile-wide flares. Gavin Haynes recalls Madchesters heyday

n July 1972, David Bowie appeared on Top Of The Pops doing Starman for the rst time. A nation of teenagers fell o their settees and within the hour glam was born. In November 1989, The Stone Roses made their rst appearance on Top Of The Pops in the same week as Happy Mondays. For a dierent generation, this was their Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show moment, their Pistols on Bill Grundys Today. It was the sound of a pop-cultural starting pistol being red, and by the end of the show, any A&R who still wanted to be employed by Monday was scouring the country for acts capable of aping the sound the Roses had sketched out that funk-inected, houseaware 60s pop swirl that had become known as baggy, in homage to the wider-than-wide jeans its Manc originators tended to wear. Soon enough, the age of baggy madness was with us a year or so in which ripe invention mingled with bandwagon-chasing cynicism, but both spurred on the creative culture. NME seized on the name Madchester to tag everything that was going down, and this mythical, drug-crazed, baggy-loving place that had once been a relatively small clique began to exist everywhere. Just as The Beatles had birthed a million Merseybeat no-marks, having an M-something postcode and a pair of trousers you could t a sack of potatoes into suddenly became your passport to a megabucks record deal, some breathless buzz in Melody Maker and a Number 23 single, before being quietly

REX, BBC PICTURES

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The Stone Roses perform Fools Gold on Top Of The Pops, November 23, 1989

BAGGY
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ARD THE
dropped. No-one on the business side cared much about the woeful attrition rate World Of Twist, Paris Angels, New FADS and The High were just some of the early stumblers who never thought theyd get namechecked in NME again. For the biz, the dream was to nd just one more Stone Roses a Charlatans at least and a litany of failure would be paid for. dont appear fully formed just because theres a revolution on. Slightly out of sight, lots of acts whod been hanging around in the lower tiers of indie rock for ages began subtly shifting their sounds. In late 1989, no-one in the world was waiting for Primal Scream to become the new heroes of the baggy age. They were waiting for them to die quietly in a corner like a million also-rans before them. Bobby Gillespies band had started out life as C86 twee-popsters, skirting the outer limits of fame with Velocity Girl, before shooting the dog by following it up with a stylistic change of tack into Stooges dirge-rock. Yet just three months after the Roses/Mondays TOTP double bill, they put out Loaded and their newfound dubby wobble convinced the few remaining doubters that there was something in baggy so powerful it could make even Primal Scream good. Likewise, The Soup Dragons had been releasing washy psychedelic records since 1986. But it was only in June 1990 that they found chart success by turning aJagger/Richards song into the baggy

Of course, bands

Primal Scream: from indie jangle to blissed-out baggy

WAG O N
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TH E STONE R OSES

Clockwise from top left: Happy Mondays, The Charlatans, Inspiral Carpets and The Soup Dragons
empowerment anthem of Im Free. Others whod already been kicked into the garbage can of history were dusted o. James had begun life being touted by the rest of Manchester as the next Smiths. That early hype petered out and, dropped by their label Sire, frontman Tim Booth had been giving his oppy body up to medical experiments to supplement his dole payments when a second chance came knocking. In that same month, a remixed version of Come Home now with regulation tinkling house piano and wobbly funk beat entered the Top 40. Down in Birmingham, a guy called Simon Fowler had left his much-fancied local heroes The Fanatics within days of watching The Stone Roses play the local Irish Centre, and started over with the deliberate intent of making something terribly, terribly baggy. But despite the bidding war for his new act, it would take a dierent bandwagon, Britpop, for Ocean Colour Scene to repay the advances. Some merely got co-opted by over-eager journos. In many ways, Inspiral Carpets wouldve been lassoed under some other header had they not happened to live where they did. Like the Roses, they loved 60s garage bands, but they sat far more squarely in the good ol songwriting indie-rock tradition than the snake-hipped psychedelia of Ian Browns mob. The Charlatans were perhaps the most obvious camp followers. They werent exactly copyists, but between Rob Collins funky-wah Hammond organ and Tim Burgess lilting whisper, great minds had evidently thought alike. After releasing debut single Indian Rope in January and scoring a UK Top 10 hit with follow-up The Only One I Know in June,their debut album Some Friendly alighted on became the punchline to the movement. Northside were only on their 10th gig when they were signed, four Blackley lads who could barely play their instruments and had all the raw charisma of an ornamental spice rack. After causing a stir with debut single Shall We Take A Trip (banned by the BBC because of its drug references), they did have two rickety but loveable proper hits in the form of My Rising Star and Take 5. But by the time their debut single hit the racks, eight months on from TOTP, it felt like shark-jump time to some. That same month, Camden chancers Flowered Up released the baggy equivalent of easy listening, Its On, bagging an NME cover in the process. By now, the Roses, after the double whammy of Spike Island and Glasgow Green and the relative disappointment of new single One Love, were about to begin their slow descent into lordly seclusion, lawsuit madness and implosion. The party was drawing to aclose, though it would be another year before the Northside album arrived to nail closed the con. Back in that London, editors began reaching for the big backlash lever theyd been waiting to use all along. At the time, the demise of baggy felt like promise squandered. But looking back, its end feels less like game over and more like the half-time whistle in a bigger movement that had Britpop as its second act. The curtain came down, but the primacy of the four-piece guitar band was reasserted a format that mid-80s cultural commentators had often pronounced doomed. For better and worse, melodies, jangling, the 60s and moptop hairdos would all continue to take centre stage in British music until at least February 1997.

Acts whod been put in the garbage can of history were dusted off
rush-recorded to the extent that they had to make up a number of tracks in the studio to pad it out shot to Number One in October 1990, the same month that little-known London chancers Blur strapped themselves to the baggy wagon, at their labels insistence, with the rather late-in-the-day Shes So High. label that had a better claim than most to be at the heart of the baggy party, Factory, to sound the beginning of the end. Tony Wilson already had the Haienda and Happy Mondays in his arsenal, but he wanted a guitar band who could rival the Roses. This despite the fact hed apparently never liked the Roses; Mani has claimed that he shut doors in their faces all over town in their pre-fame days. With that much cynicism in the game, its not totally surprising that the act Factory

It took the

A YEAR IN COVERS
How NME made baggy front-page news

November 18, 1989

Yes, THAT one. The gurning Roses, dipped in paint, was a 10/10 start to their long and chequered career on NMEs cover.

December 2, 1989
Pinching the old Morrissey line, Manchester: so much to answer for, a very youthful-looking Shaun Ryder and a very youthful Tony Wilson talk Haienda ina joint interview.

June 16, 1990

Northside. They looked like four ordinary boys from Manchester. But, secretly, they were four ordinary boys from Manchester. The Inspirals were clearly busy, so for one week only, Northside get the cover treatment.

July 7, 1990
Tim Booth of James is pictured with his hands locked together in prayer, along with a subhead about the second coming of James. Little did anyone realise just how much coming James still had in them.

October 13, 1990

As the looming Gulf War I threatened to knock over everyones skittles, Andrew Collins was sent to New York to do an interview with Glasgows Soup Dragons aboard an aircraft carrier. The media, huh?

NE W MU SICAL EX PR ES S | 26 A PRIL 201 4

KEVIN CUMMINS, PETER WALSH, DEREK RIDGERS,ED SIRRS, GETTY, RETNA

54

IN THIS MONTHS

ON SALE NOW

MUSIC, MOVIES, THE WORLDS BIGGEST REVIEWS SECTION AND A FREE CD ON SALE EVERY MONTH

WA R OF T
The Stone Roses legacy looms large over Manchester but for better or worse? Simon Jay Catling and Roses biographer John Robb lock horns as they tour the bands old haunts

W
56

hen Ian Brown sang acelebration of music and writing the immortal line organised by Robb that relied on the The past was yours well-worn names of Factory, acid but the futures mine/ house et al rather than lending any Youre all out of focus to the exciting new guard that time on She Bangs congregates in Salford warehouses The Drums, from The Stone Roses 1989 and Northern Quarter dive bars. debut, he couldnthave realised quite how Johns an evangelist for new prophetic it was. Twelve years after punks music, but he has a soft spot for Year Zero, TheStone Roses wanted to reclaim The Stone Roses legacy. Hes their Manchester from post-punks grip, remaking biographer, but rst and foremost the city in their own image. And they did: as theyre mates who met when the amusic fan and writer living in Manchester, it teenage Roses practised next door often feels like their legacy has an overbearing to one of Johns many punk bands inuence on the citys current cultural output at Spirit Studios on Tari Street, in and reputation. between the Northern Walking through the Quarter and Piccadilly Northern Quarter with Basin, in the early 1980s. ocial Stone Roses Ian Brown lived next to biographer John Robb, Johns guitarist. For me, the Manchester Music its not anostalgia thing The Stone Roses Tours bus toots at us the with them, he says. I still driver is Inspiral Carpets Manchester landmarks listen and think, Fuck, drummer Craig Gill. Up that sounds good. It just Haienda the road, Dry Bar (opened gives me those celebratory, Whitworth Street by Factory founder Tony empowering feelings. It Now a block of luxury flats, The The Stone Roses Wilson) will often play doesnt sound like any Stone Roses played early gigs The Stone Roses in full time at all. in Manchester, here in 1985 before headlining ofa week night. February 28, 1989 Tony Wilsons mega-club at John and I have recent the height of their original history: a couple of early Manchester activity popularity in 1989. Tony never months ago, I argued in sounds similar to the way the citys that Morrissey cycles under in the video for wanted them to make it, John NME that Manchesters young DIY bands go about things I Started Something I Couldnt Finish. You says, because they were current musical activity now. The groups romantic ideals had to buy a beer token to get in, to get round managed by former Haienda manager Howard Jones, who bears no relation to about large, united gatherings prethe fact you werent allowed to drink in there. hed fallen out with. the religiously intoned date their famous 1990 Spike Island They had a mix of people there even then narrative about the citys show, and even their classic early Karen Ablaze! [editor of 80s feminist fanzine perceived golden era, gigs at the Ritz on Whitworth Street Ablaze!] was there; its interesting, because she The Ritz spanning post-punk in 1986 and just down the road at the loves The Stone Roses, but I think she doesnt Whitworth Street to Britpop. I cited the Haienda in 1989. John and I reach feel she can talk about it because theyre a big An early Stone Roses haunt, but also important to the bands an underpass o Faireld Street, citys inaugural Louder lad-rock band. recent history: this was where, Than Words festival, just behind Manchester Piccadilly Lad rock is a term my tour guide is happy in 2011, Ian Brown and John station, near where the Roses played to use today, in the sense that their audience Squire reunited onstage for the three Flower Show warehouse ultimately denes that tag, he says. It seems the first time in 15 years, for gigs that started it all in 1985, as to be the side that successive generations of aHillsborough benefit: Theyd Ian Brown once said. Steve Adge, Manchester bands have taken as their MO. have this conversation about their manager, put them on, says The Courteeners followed Twisted Wheel, who Manchester and Liverpool Robb, after a passer-by accosts followed Oasis, embracing the Roses more ending the rivalry and being Simon Jay boorish tendencies: the frontman swagger, asuper-city to take London on. him to ask how to nd the bridge

THE ROSES PATCH

The Stone Roses

Catling (left) and John Robb

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HE ROSES
the Manics got really big and Nicky Wire was getting a load of laughs cos of his leopardskin; but then there were 500 people at the front all in leopardskin who all know why it works. Ive no interest in cars but they get me from A toB, and maybe thats what musics like to those people. Its for getting pissed and copping o.

Apart from late-afternoon

festival slots, playing to almost 100,000 people is something thats unlikely ever to happen to the citys current sons and daughters: the likes of Everything Everything, Dutch Uncles or Pins. Maybe its because their respective takes on pop are weird and skewed but then The Stone Roses also put a warped lter on pop. John makes the point that The Stone Roses feel like the last punk band that made it. It rings true: I wonder whether their shadow lingers over the city because they and Oasis were also the last of a true Manchester movement to have wider cultural signicance. The piece I wrote in January focused on agroup of bands that all sounded very dierent, the connecting thread being that none of them particularly cared for the citys past. Thats great, but it means its easier to look to the past for a shorthand description of the citys musical personality, meaning that Manchester is constantly framed within that era, making the Roses and their kin feel representative. Johns abiding fandom aside, though, he admits that he knows how I feel. He formed The Membranes in Blackpool in 1977, and as punk became post-punk, The Flower Show watched many of his Fairfield Street peers stubbornly refusing The Roses put on two shows to move on from that in an abandoned warehouse movement. Six months in 1985 the first time they after our supposed Year showed their interest in playing Zero you had John gigs in under-utilised spaces. Peel playing some great From there, they went to the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, African and blues music, Alexandra Palace in London and everyones going, and, of course, Spike Island. No, were the Year Zero generation, we cant listen Spirit Studios to it! He laughs. So for the next 20 years the punk Tariff Street This was where John Robb generations going, Oh first encountered the young yeah, I actually quite like Stone Roses in the early 1980s. Led Zeppelin. Id hate to Ilistened to them through the see that happen to other wall, thinking, Fuck, these are generations. Acknowledge really good, he says, but it the history but dont was hard to tell whether theyd be crippled by it. Learn ever make it or not. They were from your mistakes, but one of a clutch of bands vying everyone makes the same to come next after The Smiths, New Order and The Fall. mistakes, dont they?

John Robb
the cocksure, mouthy remarks to the press, the arrogance. The Stone Roses subtleties their obsession with the Paris student riots of May 1968, Ian Browns more poetic lyrics, John Squires shy, creative demeanour have been lost, their macho swagger retained, as evinced at 2012s Heaton Park shows, where

2 6 AP R IL 20 14 | NEW MU S ICAL EX PRE S S

BEN BENTLEY, CAMERA PRESS/STEVE DOUBLE

The Roses were the last punk band to make it

the atmosphere was more like Derby Day than anything likely to attract skinheads and feminists. The artier aspects of their music have disappeared, but I like the sense that the Roses music works on dierent levels, says John. Theres subtleties, but not everyone needs them. They just want to sing along. In a society thats breaking down, its great to see people bonding with each other. Its rocknroll working at a very base, primal level. The idea that you wouldnt like The Stone Roses because 75,000 pissed nutters like them is bullshit. Those lads have some good music in their lives amongst the shite! Its like when

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NO END
On the eve of Merge Records 25th anniversary, the label held the least indie celebration ever: a 25k race. Laura Snapes laced up her trainers and met the founders and bands
PHOTOS BY JEREMY M LANGE

orth Carolina is in the throes of March Madness, a national basketball tournament between rst-division college teams. In Durham, Chapel Hill and Raleigh the three corners of the states Research Triangle team pennants wave from cars and bars roar all day long. Theres an aggressive school spirit in the air unlike anything youll see in the UK. At 6am on a Saturday outside a Chapel Hill high school, a dierent kind of March madness prevails: 700 of us are gathered, wearing uoro Lycra, to run 25 kilometres to Durham in honour of the 25th anniversary of Merge Records, home to Arcade Fire. But really, what better way to let fans share in the exquisite agony of running a beloved independent record label than to compress aquarter-centurys worth of blood, sweat and tears into a three-hour schlep between its former and current hometowns? Im not running it! says Durham-raised label co-founder Mac McCaughan. I wish I did have the fortitude to run 25 kilometres, but Ill be doing what I can, playing records at the end. His fellow Merge co-founder and bassist in their band, Superchunk, which also turns 25 this year Laura Ballance blows the air horn to signal the start of the race. Weaving through beautiful woodland roads, the event doesnt trace the exact route Ballance drove on July1, 2001, the day she moved Merges oces from a house in Chapel Hill to a storefront

58

they had bought in downtown Durham. But its symbolic nonetheless. That day felt momentous to me, she says. We had always rented space before, and long before we moved wed realised, Well, this isnt going away. At this point, Merge was 12 years old, the major releases in its catalogue Superchunks post-Matador albums (1994s Foolish onwards), Neutral Milk Hotels In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (1998) and 69 Love Songs (1999), the triple-album opus by The Magnetic Fields. Their pianist/frontwoman, Claudia Gonson, went to New Yorks Columbia University with McCaughan in the mid-80s, although he returned home to Chapel Hill to nish his degree and run the nascent Merge with Ballance. (At the time they were a couple, although Foolish documents their break-up.) I ran into Mac again at a record store in New Jersey in, like, 1992, says Gonson. By then, The Magnetic Fields had released acouple of singles and albums on tiny labels,

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IN SIGHT
The finish line in Durham
putting out records; we wanted to do that. Thatcomes back to approaching the label as fans. Every decision we make is informed by that. Everything is so personal when you havea small record label.

The seed for the label was sown

including Gonsons own. He said something like, I love that 100,000 Fireies single you guys did! And I said, Cool, do you wanna release our record?! Thats how it worked back then, says Gonson, sort of a Wild West of independent labels. Most of the labels they had worked with ripped them o and dissolved. There was no telling that Merge wouldnt be the same. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Merges beginnings werent particularly serious. It was more of an impulse to do something, similar to being in a band, says McCaughan, who came of age in North Carolinas 1980s hardcore scene, watching Corrosion Of Conformity play church basement shows. I dont think I ever really thought, Well, is that Calvins [Johnson, K Records] job? Everyones just doing cool stu and

by an ambitious pre-Merge project that Mac organised in 1988 with his Wwax bandmate Wayne Taylor, after they realised that itd be easier to release their own records than wait for anyone else to do it. They put out anextravagant boxset comprising ve seveninch singles by local bands. Bill Mooney, now co-founder of Tannis Root Productions, alocal merchandise company, screen-printed the boxes. That was one of the rst local DIY record projects, before indie rock was even really a term, says Mooney. It came from looking at Dischord, SST what few labels existed in the American underground prior to that. Tannis Root also turns 25 this year, and currently occupies two premises in Raleigh: a screen-printing factory by the local jail and a nearby warehouse. They produce merchandise for an array of indie bands, controlling licensing for acts like Sonic Youth, and still have strong relationships with Merge. When I visit
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the factory the day before the race, its the last day to ship T-shirts for Coachella. Like Merge, most of the artists we work with arent local, says Mooney. We try to be supportive of the local scene, and like Merge, its always been a goal to keep the business here, whereas it would make more sense to be in New York or LA. Merge are a product of and huge contributors to the local character, says Mooney. Over in Carrboro (a tiny town bordering Chapel Hill), 40-year-old venue the Cats Cradle kept North Carolina on the touring map, allowing Merge to exist in this part of the world, he says. Theres always been great college radio at the Triangles three universities, to which Ballance says Merge is totally indebted. But then by Merge being here, its kept North Carolina on the map even more, says Mooney. Merges inuence around the Triangle is palpable. Later this year, Mac will throw the rst pitch at a Durham Bulls baseball game where Heather McEntire, singer with Merge band Mount Moriah, will sing the national anthem. John Cook, author of Our Noise: The Story Of Merge Records, a fantastic oral history released to celebrate the labels rst 20 years, tells me about going to aChapel Hill bar with Mac, where everyone wanted to talk to him: It was like grabbing a beer with the mayor.

Durhams mascot, the bronze bull

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25 YE ARS OF MER GE On my rst night in Durham, three days before the race, I head to The Pinhook to see Krill, a Boston band from the same scene as Speedy Ortiz. The young venue has nongendered toilets, the signs to which read Gender neutral (milk hotel). Owner Kym Register credits Merge for ensuring the venues success: It was really hard for us to make alocal splash at rst: there are insanely awesome venues around here. They took a chance on us and encouraged their bands to play. Superchunk are taking her band, Loamlands, out on tour in April. But when Merge moved to downtown Durham 12 years ago, it was a ghost town. In the early 1960s, construction of the freeway decimated a thriving black community known as Hayti. The tobacco industry left in the 1980s. McCaughan chalks up the towns demise to the newspaper leaving in the early 80s: Ever since, everyones been saying, Downtowns coming back. But it never really did until acouple of years after we moved there. The upswing wasnt down to Merge, he says, but property prices in Chapel Hill and Raleigh becoming prohibitively expensive. Merge own their building a handsome threestorey oce with wooden window frames and old-fashioned gold lettering in the windows, anked by posters for a local homelessness charity and the one next door, which they lease to a playgroup. The American Tobacco warehouses were redeveloped in 2004, and recently designated a Tech Hub by Google, who invested millions. For all the development, Downtown still feels quite eerie its deserted and lots Carrboro venue of buildings stand Cats Cradle empty, purchased by speculators waiting for values to appreciate. There used to be a big gay club; there was all this weird, cool stu going on, says Ballance. The bad thing is, as its gotten more developed, all of that has gone away. threats to North Carolinas character. In January 2013, North Carolina got a Republican governor, giving the GOP control of the executive and legislative branches of government for the rst time since the nations post-Civil War Reconstruction. Theyve obliterated unemployment benet (NC has the fth-highest level in the US) and cut school funding. The Pinhooks Kym Register tells me about a motorcycle safety bill that was hijacked into a bill to restrict abortion, and passed. Shes been hosting fundraisers for safe access to abortion clinics ever since. Every Monday since April 2013, protestors have been gathering outside the State Capitol in Raleigh to voice their opposition: both

Bill Mooney of Tannis Root Productions

There are other

McCaughan and Ballance have taken part. I dont know if Merge has strong political capital, says Ballance. But it matters to us personally. Its indicative of Merges approach: they doesnt prioritise local activity over their national or international work, says McCaughan, but it feels more tangible, and easier to eect. Its been cool as the label has grown and as Durham has revitalised, weve been able to be a part of that and be more of a local presence, whether becoming more involved in local charities, or just events like the run. There have been people that have taken Merge less seriously because of where we are, but that does our job[avoiding them] for us. By contrast, the way Merge does business feels like a liberal fantasy almost too good to be true. Unlike peers Sub Pop and Matador, both burned by dealings with majors, Merge has remained independent. Theyre not dogmatically DIY, but nearby Washington DCs punk culture inuenced the young McCaughan. We took the Dischord idea to heart, even though we realised that it wasnt feasible for us

Props from Merges 20th anniversary

Mac and Laura have a special bond

Richard Reed Parry, Arcade Fire
to say, Pay no more than $7 for this. But it was feasible to do things in a way where we felt like there was a shared responsibility between the label and the artists. Merge splits prots 50/50 with its bands the industry standard gives artists about 18 per cent. They operate conservatively, not giving bands huge advances, and taking pleasure in paying them. They keep an eye on the bottom line and theyre great people who want to do right by their bands, says Britt Daniel, whose band Spoon was rescued by Merge after ailing on Elektra. Merge has never gone into debt. I would be very uncomfortable if we did, says Ballance. Thats when Id be like, Were shutting it down. Although releasing a record like Arcade Fires Reektor takes signicantly more manpower than, say, a new album by East River Pipe, the project of FM Cornog, aformerly homeless New Jersey man who now works at Home Depot, they clearly approach both with the same level of care. Records are treated as individual pieces of art, not marks on a prot-margin graph. Thats probably the thing that has impressed me about them the most, says Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak, who have just released Shriek, their excellent fth Merge album. I cant tell you how lucky we feel to be working with a label where were not worried that were going to be dropped if our next record doesnt sell as much as the last one. Their track record ofcomplete loyalty to their bands is, frankly, unprecedented.

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HOW TO START A LABEL

Mac McCaughan, Merge: Anyone could still do it and still does do it. But its harder to get peoples attention than it was with as little as we started with. And one of the downsides of the internet that can work to your favour in some ways but that were always fighting against is theres more access, you can kind of find anything, but it really tends to push you down into the rabbit hole that you already want to go in.
Keep your day job. Work with bands that you

love and can get along with, but really love the music. Dont force growth we saw, even back when record labels were healthy, labels just decided, Were going to be a record label. Theyd hire a bunch of people, get an expensive office, and then they didnt exist in two years because they spent too much money. Grow at your own pace. Follow your instincts.

NE W M U SICAL E XPRES S | 26 APRIL 201 4

HOW TO RUN 25K

bullshit somebody who knows exactly what its like it can work to your advantage and disadvantage! Mary Timony formerly of Merge vets Wild Flag, now singer with Merge upstarts Ex Hex echoes Friedbergers view. I dont think we questioned what other label wed want to be on. Laura Snapes, NME: At school, Id tell our gym teachers that Id be way more inclined to run laps of the field if they somehow procured members of my favourite bands for me to chase. Merges 25k made me put my money where my big stupid mouth is. Prior to the race, I could run for about 90 seconds. But it turns out that all you need is a good trainer Iwas extremely lucky to work for 30 minutes a week with Sapan Sehgal at London Fields Fitness, but ambling/grumbling around the park a few times a week with a good friend or a solid playlist (Factory Floor are amazing to run to) works wonders too. If I can do it, literally anyone can.
Set realistic goals: start gently (there are good apps with training programmes to follow) and build up slowly. Running sucks, so try to make it fun. Podcasts and playlists are your friends. Dont worry if you dont feel like youre making fast progress. Before the race, Id only got up to 8k. Go at your own pace. There is zero shame in starting at the back and finishing there. That stuff about surviving a race on adrenalin and crowd enthusiasm? Its true, somehow.Take all the high fives you can get.

More than 500

releases in, on the eve of the race and a proper festival to celebrate their anniversary this July McCaughan and Ballance arent letting Merge Records themselves get misty-eyed. co-founder Laura Were busy continuing to be Ballance (centre) a record label, says Ballance. A lot of time when we have these anniversary things it makes me a little bit uncomfortable its so much, Look at us! I hope its not annoying. If theres an analogy for the label within the It seems unlikely in retrospect, but Arcade run, its about pace. Merge survived for 25 years Fires Richard Reed Parry was worried his band on their own terms because, as the subtitle of would get lost among the likes of Neutral Milk John Cooks book puts it perfectly, they got Hotel if they signed to Merge. I wanted our big and stayed small. The business idea of band to be something that stood out from the growth being a goal is weird, says McCaughan. rest of the label, he says. But we got along Thats never been one of our goals. Its more immediately. Being in a band is literally being just maintaining the ability to do what we do married to people you never wanted to marry. well for the artists we work with. Thinking Mac and Laura have that special bond. Its about working constantly and running more palpable at the heart of the label. than one oce makes Ballance want to take Arcade Fires 2010 album The Suburbs won a nap, she says, laughing. Merge their rst ever Grammy 2011s Album Theyve stayed true to their musical Of The Year although Ballance remains reassuringly nonplussed by such accolades and instincts even as their tastes have evolved, writes Matador co-owner and Superchunks averse to rocknroll behaviour. They refrain former label boss Gerard Cosloy. But theyve from pushing Merge as a brand because also learned how to grow their its really just a behind-thescenes business, as Ballance Durhams business in an industry thats says, quite sensibly. They sign tobacco mostly run on fear and copycatting. Ive never looked at bands that show commitment district Merge as our competition, to taking the long view, says and I dont say that to slight McCaughan, and theyre them. I feel like were allies hesitant about doing too in a battle to keep music much marketing as they know or at least its commercial no-one likes having music consumption interesting. forced down their throats. But modest success and integrity no longer McCaughan fancies opening a Merge shop, work as insurance for the future. Fewer but Ballance says no. The way Merge do things and fewer records get sold every year, says seems like raw common sense, I suggest to Ballance. It used to be that we pressed too Eleanor Friedberger. I know, I wish you could few. Now it seems like we make too many. With nd some dirt! she says. She recorded her asmall band, we could sell 3,000 records. Now rst solo album, 2011s Last Summer, under it might be 500. We want to keep putting those her own steam, and emailed it to a handful records out, but no-one is going to make any of labels to see if anyone was interested. money if you just manufacture enough to sell McCaughan immediately replied saying yes. 500. Long-term, I dont know The fact that theyre a label whats going to happen. If started by a band theyre on things keep going the way the artists side, she they are, I dont know says. They actually how smaller bands get how it works will be able to record to be in a band. albums in a decent Its pretty simple. way and release them. Though you cant
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The evening before the race, I get a text from Mike Caulo, Merges junior publicist and newest employee, asking if I want to go for a beer with a bunch of Merge employees, four of whom are running the race tomorrow. We drink small cans in the bare yard of Surf Bar, chalking it up as totally necessary prerace carb-loading. Caulo moved from Boston to Durham in December, just to work for Merge. Its a familiar story: Merges longeststanding publicist, Christina Rentz, has been there nearly 13 years. She optimistically followed a friend to Chapel Hill from the Texan Bible Belt her aim had always been to work for Merge, not in the record industry at large. Two weeks later, she had her dream job. The race was her idea, and despite being 38 weeks too pregnant to run, shes handing out coee at the start line at 6am, and bounding around more energetically than the rest of us at the nish line. The agony of running 25k is mitigated by pints of Bloody Mary with bacon and jalapeo at the excellent after-party, where McCaughan DJs. The Mountain Goats John Darnielle (another Merge luminary) is walking around, and Ballance stands right up at the front of the stage (ear plugs in hyperacusis led her to quit touring with Superchunk) for performances by The Love Language and Vertical Scratchers, two smaller Merge bands. A tiny girl in a toddler-size Merge T-shirt keeps running to the front of the stage, pointing and laughing at the bands. Tannis Roots Bill Mooney told me that they now nd themselves making band shirts in adult, kid and baby sizes, as the rst generation of indie-rock fans grows up and spawns. Today, half a dozen people are wearing a shirt that perfectly sums up Merges unassuming condence and unwaveringly practical nature: Merge Records: 1989?

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NM E H ER OES

PURE HEROIN

62

ES
Chvrches singer Lauren talks DIY ideals and the benefits of maintaining control with riot grrrl icon Kathleen. Jenny Stevens takes notes

Chvrches Lauren Mayberry interviews Kathleen Hanna

Lauren Mayberry: One of the things that
I always think is really interesting about your work is how you were so successful in making feminism less abstract and more approachable. Tell me a bit more about why you wanted to start doing that, and how you went about it. Kathleen Hanna: In the 90s, there was this huge backlash against feminism. A lot of articles came out saying, We dont need feminism any more because there was this belief that women were already equal. I was worried about feminism. Me and my sister were the rst people in my family to go to college. It felt really important to share the knowledge I was getting at school with people who wanted to go to school even people who believed that feminism is only about having hairy legs and hating men. Lauren: It startles me that people still think that. In a recent interview, somebody asked me, Do you think that youre marginalising people by saying the feminist things you say in interviews? Do you not think that youll come across as angry? I was like, Erm I think Im angry about stu thats important to be angry about. Im not going to stomp about and be
26 A PR IL 2 01 4 | N EW M U S ICAL EX PRE S S

ast time NME met Chvrches Lauren Mayberry, she confessed that she once ditched a boyfriend because he didnt understand her love of Bikini Kill. Today, as she waits for the bands founder riot grrrl pioneer, feminist icon and punk tour de force Kathleen Hanna to call, she reveals that it wasnt just her romantic choices that were shaped by her work. Hannas music, from the punk screech of Bikini Kill to the electrodisco of Le Tigre, was a key inspiration behind Chvrches ercely DIY attitude, and the reason Lauren pursues her feminist collective in Glasgow (called Tuck Your Cunt In) with such vigour. We introduce them to talk about the DIY scene, feminist protest and dealing with douchebag critics

completely outraged all the time, unless its called for! Kathleen: Its really weird. Ive felt that way on tour sometimes. Theres a stereotype that all feminists are kind of joyless, so I feel like when I arrive at a show I have to be extra nice to everybody to prove that thats not the case. Do you ever feel that pressure? Lauren: Sometimes. I think especially on tour days where Ive not slept and I just want to keep to myself, I feel like if I do that, people are gonna say, Shes such a bitch. I feel its important to make a good impression with everybody you meet in venues and at festivals. But I feel like weve been lucky people have been reasonably supportive of us to our faces. Most of the shit we get is comments at shows and on the internet. The internet is half amazing and half really evil, I think. Kathleen: Ive been told, The only reason your band got attention is because youre agirl. And its like, yeah, the only reason my band got so much shit and had to put up with so much more than my male counterparts did is because were female. When I was in Bikini Kill, it wasnt the internet but reviews. One review in a so-called alternative magazine

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NME HER OES

Kathleen Hanna fronts Bikini Kill in New York, July 14, 1994

just said fuck you 11 times! Its the same thing now, but its just online. You have to have a strong enough sense of self to be like, this is toxic and Im going to delete it and do my best to forget it. How are you dealing with that? Lauren: It depends. Im trying to develop a thick skin. I think generally Im pretty tough. But if I read the wrong thing at the wrong time, its surprising to me how quickly I can descend into complete neurosis. I guess Im torn between wanting to continue to talk to people on the social networks that essentially got our band to where it is now and the part of me who realises thats not necessarily a healthy thing to see every day. I saw your documentary The Punk Singer and I was so struck by the bit where you talk about what people would say to you when you were in Bikini Kill. I cried a little because I was like, I think Ive got problems! It was so brave, what you did. It really is an amazing documentary you shared so much. Was it a big decision to make a lm like that? Kathleen: I was really sick and I thought I was going to die [Kathleen was later diagnosed with Lyme disease]. I realised that if something bad was gonna happen to me, I wanted to make sure I was remembered. So I let the lm be made and I didnt edit it or choose what was in it that was up to the lmmaker. I think the fact that I was really sick when it was being made really inuenced how vulnerable I was able to be. I was at the end of my rope. Lauren: The tone was perfect. I have all your records and have read all your interviews and perceived one person, and it was really cool to see a dierent side to you. I guess thats what a good documentary is meant to do. Kathleen: Did you think that I was a really strong person who had a super amount of condence and then you saw the movie and realised I was a mess?! Lauren: I think that was what really got me with it It was quite a weird time for us as aband. Wed just nished having debates with labels and guring out what we were gonna do. And I think I was feeling like Id spent so much time saying no to things: things that I thought were better for us in the long run. I just felt like, Ugh Im always that guy, you know? The dicult one. Then I watched your lm and realised youve done all these amazing things and have inspired me in so many ways, but I started to see that everybody cant be completely strong all the time. In a way its the vulnerabilities that make people who they are. Thats why I wept when I saw it, right before we played a show! Kathleen: In my life I went through a no, no, no phase, and then I just went to yes, yes, yes! A lot of the anti-feminist hatred Igot towards Bikini Kill made me start saying no. We stopped doing interviews because the very few times we did they were absolutely awful. People would just be like, So, did your father rape you? Is that why youre so angry? They would only ever ask me about

Lauren: Sometimes the cocoon is the best bit. Kathleen: What you said about playing to 10 people is funny because at the time you wish you had a bigger audience, but then sometimes you miss that challenge. Thats why I miss playing festivals where people dont know who you are, because you have to prove yourself. Lauren: We came from indie backgrounds and its been weird having people tell us, being a stripper and never about my music. Youre not alternative any more, youre not It became too painful. We actually said no to DIY any more. Its weird dealing with other most documentation of the band. A lot of the peoples perceptions because were still totally footage in the documentary was done without involved in everything that were doing; we our permission. I had to go back to these just play music that sounds less obscure. Its people Id yelled at for lming us and ask them weird juggling those expectations. I dont if we could have the tapes! But eventually you know if you found that when you started to grow and learn, and we hired a friend of ours make dierent kinds of music to document our tour so that we had a good Kathleen: I didnt know that that was still record of what we did. That was going on and Im not pleased to hear that it is. when I started saying yes again. In the 90s everything was about indie versus Lauren: Whats it like being mainstream and if you were on a major label back on the road now with The you were a super asshole. So you had to do Julie Ruin? Youve had so much everything DIY. We were so DIY to the point time out was it hard to build that I started to feel like up the stamina again? theres this whole sexist The heros hero Kathleen: Its been really great. thing where women are bell hooks I havent physically crashed supposed to volunteer all Kathleen: I guess Id say [my afterward, which is the fear. Im the time and do work for hero] is bell hooks, a writer and taking it easier and I just feel so free. Later on, we started a professor. Reading her books, much more thankful than I ever charging more money for particularly Margin To Center, did. Im really thankful that Im shows, and that actually changed my life. Her work not 23 and in Bikini Kill any more cut down on how many totally inspired me to write lyrics. Shes super-intellectual, and taking the abuse that we took people came and threw but shes able to write in a way back then. Theres so many people bottles at our heads, thats understandable. So she inspiring me now, Im not totally which was great. And really inspired me to take the weighed down by trying to write the we got a manager theory of different writers and next feminist anthem or whatever. We were on a major philosophers and turn it into Ireally like your record, by the way. label for, like, ve minutes practice, which meant being in Lauren: Wow, thats so kind of you! a punk-rock feminist band with for one record. It wasnt Kathleen: What are you guys successful and I didnt get Bikini Kill and going on tour. doing next? what I wanted out of it. And later being in an electronic feminist band, Le Tigre, and Lauren: At the moment were But I did learn that people taking those ideas out of a booked up until after festivals. After who work at major labels college atmosphere and into that, were going to pull the live stu are just people. The music male-dominated spaces and back so we can start writing. Its scene was so dogmatic taking over. weird because we started the band about it in the 90s. But as a kind of writing project. We didnt really I realised that it was my choice, and women know how much wed tour it. Its gone to the should have choices about how we get our opposite extreme now, so I think it will be good art into the world. Thats what feminism is to do something more creative. Playing shows about, not this dogma of what it means to is really amazing and its insane to me that be punk or DIY or feminist. How could more than 10 people come. But I think itll be Icriticise a major label if I didnt even know good for us to keep the brain busy. what theyre all about? Its like criticising Kathleen: Were in exactly the same place! a book you havent even read. It just wasnt Im already starting to write because I get for me, which is why The Julie Ruin has its bored very easily. Although I love playing live own label. Like you guys do, too. I really and trying to gure out how to make songs love your band and what youre doing and more interesting, its fun to think about not your voice is so fucking incredible. We were pleasing people when youre writing. I miss gonna cover one of your songs and I was, the cocoon of writing. like, Its too hard!
NE W MU S ICAL E XPRE S S | 2 6 APR IL 2 014

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NME EDITORIAL (Call 020 3148 + ext)

EDITOR Mike Williams EDITORS PA Karen Walter (ext 6864) ART DIRECTOR Mark Neil (ext 6885) EDITOR, NME.COM Greg Cochrane (ext 6892) DEPUTY EDITOR Eve Barlow (ext 6854) DEPUTY EDITOR, NME.COM Lucy Jones (ext 6867) ASSISTANT EDITOR Tom Howard (ext 6866) FEATURES EDITOR Laura Snapes (ext 6871) NEWS EDITOR Dan Stubbs (ext 6858) NEW MUSIC EDITOR Matt Wilkinson (ext 6856) DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR Jenny Stevens (ext 6863) ASSISTANT REVIEWS EDITOR Rhian Daly (ext 6860) NEWS REPORTER David Renshaw (ext 6877) DEPUTY ART DIRECTOR Tony Ennis DESIGNER Dani Liquieri DIGITAL DESIGNER Jon Moore PICTURE EDITOR Zoe Capstick (ext 6889) DEPUTY PICTURE EDITOR Patricia Board (ext 6888) ONLINE PICTURE EDITOR Emily Barker (ext 6852) PRODUCTION EDITOR Tom Mugridge SENIOR SUB-EDITORS Kathy Ball, Alan Woodhouse SUB-EDITORS Nathaniel Cramp, Mike Johnson PRODUCER, NME.COM Jo Weakley VIDEO PRODUCER Andrew Rawson WITH HELP FROM JJ Dunning, Harriet Foley,

JAMMY DODGY
NME writer Johnny Dee is driving around Camden Town in a Citroen 2CV with freaky dopeniks Dodgy, on a mission to convince readers that the band arent a complete joke. He points to the wonderful new single Lovebirds and suggests forgetting about riot grrrls, slackers, shoegazers, 70s glam kitsch and all those other shoeboxes. Frontman Nigel Clark agrees: We say were the best band in Britain. Every band should think like that. If they dont theyre not worth a shit.

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SOUL FOOD
James Brown is promoting his 79th album, Universal James, in his spiritual home of Paris. Back in 1988, Brown had been imprisoned for six years for atraffic offence and aggravated assault. Released on parole in 1991, hes a free man. But, he says, A man of my stature will always be on parole. He adds: When I went to jail, I slept for three months. I was tired, tired. A man in his late fifties goes in there after doing what I done, every day you sleep like a baby.

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PJ Harvey unplucked
Polly talks battery-hen rescues and mental breakdowns in the build-up toRid Of Me
Polly Harveys second NME cover feature begins with a story about the singers family rescuing 15 chickens from a battery farm when she was a child, and relocating them to their farm in Dorset. Pictures of Harvey in her glad rags and standing next to some sheep accompany a tale about the fragile mental state she was in while recording her new album, particularly when she was away from home. I had a couple of breakdowns last year, she says, when I couldnt do anything for myself for weeks on end really little things like having a bath and brushing your teeth. I never want to get back to that again. Id say the whole album is a result of living in London for the time that I did, and the relationship that I was in. The resulting record is Rid Of Me, described by interviewer Stuart Bailie as like being at a train station and watching these couples breaking up and saying goodbye, and theyre weeping and kissing, oblivious to the rest of the world.

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REVIEWED THIS WEEK

The Fall The Infotainment Scan 8/10 Since the iffy I Am Kurious Oranj, The Fall have failed to deliver a less than great album, and The Infotainment Scan stands at the very peak of their canon. KEITH CAMERON
Evan Dando is pictured eating

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ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

chips out of a Sheffield Sound City programme. It always rains when I come here, the Lemonheads singer moans. Warp Records co-founder Steve Beckett talks about his labels success. We sign people who have a long-term attitude, he says of his artists, who include Aphex Twin and LFO. Madonnas film Body Of Evidence is out. NMEs Gavin Martin places it in a long and grisly line of female protagonist movies, such as Thelma & Louise and The Blue Angel.

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STEFAN DE BATSELIER

SUBSCRIBE TO NME. Call +44 (0) 844 848 0848 Subscription rates: one-year rates (51 weekly issues) UK 129.90; Europe 154.40; United States (direct entry) $233.15; rest of North America $307.15; rest of the world 192.70 (prices include contribution to postage). Payment by credit card or cheque (payable to IPC Media Ltd). Credit card hotline (UK orders only): 0844 848 0848. Write to: NME Subscriptions, IPC Media Ltd, PO Box 272, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 3FS. All enquiries and overseas orders: +44 (0)330 3330 233 (open 7 days a week, 8am-9pm UK time), email ipcsubs@quadrantsubs.com. Periodicals postage paid at Rahway, NJ. Postmaster: Send address changes to: NME, 365 Blair Road, Avenel, NJ 07001, USA. BACK ISSUES OF NME cost 4.50 in the UK (5.50 in the EEC, 6.50 in the rest of the world) including postage and are available from John Denton Services, The Back Issues Department, PO Box 772, Peterborough PE2 6WJ. Tel 01733 385170, email backissues@johndentonservices.com or visit mags-uk.com/ipc LEGAL STUFF NME is published weekly by IPC Inspire, 9th Floor, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU. NME must not be sold at more than the recommended selling price shown on the front cover. Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper. All rights reserved and reproduction without permission strictly forbidden. All contributions to NME must be original and not duplicated to other publications. The editor reserves the right to shorten or modify any letter or material submitted. IPC Media or its associated companies reserves the right to reuse any submission, in any format or medium. Printed by Wyndeham Peterborough. Origination by Rhapsody. Distributed by IPC Marketforce. 2014 IPC Media Ltd, England. US agent: Mercury International, 365 Blair Road, Avenel, NJ 07001

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Ed Rochester (ext 6725) Stephanie McLean (ext 6723)

Julia Roberts

WE FIND THE ROCK STAR, YOU ASK THE QUESTIONS

Who played you in Michael Winterbottoms film 24 Hour Party People?

Josh Moffatt, Brighton, viaemail

Whats the full title of the debut Happy Mondays album?

Heather Taylor, London, onFacebook

Debbie Harry in 1985

Yeah, Chris [Coghill]. Hes agood friend of mine. CORRECT When the film was first coming out, I was going round saying I was gonna batter whoever was playing me, cos I had a bit of afallout. Then when I met him, Icouldnt believe he was such a lovely lad.

Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic People Carnt Smile (White Out). CORRECT Do I get bonus points for the brackets? The Happy Mondays tunes Step On and Kinky Afro reached the same position in the UK charts. What was it?
Simon Docking, Bristol, viaemail

Which Debbie Harry song did Happy Mondays cover?

Becca Wilson, via email

Fuck, was it The Yayo Song? Is that the one? WRONG. Rush Rush Good song that. I used to fancy her when Iwas a kid.

Alex Dent, Huddersfield, viaemail

In what country did you live in a cave?

Bez
Happy Mondays dancer and percussionist
In Happy Mondays band code, what was Kentucky Fried Chicken?
Pete Noble, Birmingham, viaemail

Which Hollywood actress did Shaun Ryder claim you once turned down adate with?

Connor Lockley, Sheffield, viaemail

Andy Hughes, Manchester, via email

KFC: Bezs code for heroin

Oh bloody hell. I do remember it but not the exact amount. I think it might have been around 1,200 or something. WRONG. 405 Dedications what you need if you want to be a recordbreaker! Do I still hold the world record? I hope it doesnt get broken.

SCORE = 6
Thats a good score. At least I know more about myself than most people do.

NE W M U S ICAL E XPRE S S | 26 APRIL 2 0 14

WORDS: GARY RYAN PHOTOS: REX, DAN DENNISON

Heroin. When you were going for a KFC, it meant youd go get some gear. CORRECT. Why KFC and not McDonalds? They just loved chicken. And heroin it was fingerlicking good! They had all this slang it was linked to clucking, which meant withdrawing, a bit like cold turkey. So theyd say they were going to Kentucky Fried Chicken as a play on the terms for withdrawing.

Julia Roberts! Istill kick myself about it now. CORRECT We were at some warehouse party, after wed just played the Viper Room in LA. Its actually true. Ididnt recognise her. How many people performed with you when youbroke the Guinness World Record formaraca-shaking?

Er I cant remember. 10? WRONG. Five Better than Ithought then. Did you keep an eye on the charts? No. I was in my own little world, not taking much notice of what was going on. The Black Grape song A Big Day In The North was used in the 1995 film Virtuosity. Who were the stars in that film?
Emma Thorpe, Coventry, viaemail

Morocco. I lived there for two weeks. Id lost all my dough and was caught thieving. I was being chased around town by these guys who wanted to kill me, so Ihad todo one. CORRECT When I was homeless as akid, I used to live in bushes as well. What does the acronym PISPIT mean that you mention in your book Freaky Dancin?
Mike Myk Hayes, via email

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10

I couldnt tell you.Ive not seen the film. WRONG. Denzel Washington and RussellCrowe Good actors. Ill have to watch it. Right now, I keep hearing Step On on adverts. I wish theyd fucking use some other tune because we dont get any royalties for that. Somebody else wrote it Johnny Kongos. He must bea multi-millionaire because of us lot.

What biscuit? Oh, pallets Isee, pallets I take. Wed go out nicking pallets; we were getting up to 16 a night. It used to pay for our ganja and our dinner. We used to have alaugh with it we put PISPIT on the side of the van as ajoke, as the name of our business. CORRECT

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