Grizzly Bear, purveyors of ethereal, experimental and thoroughly excellent indie-pop and stars of our music portfolio in February are currently playing a selection of UK dates. Most of them have been sold out forever, but our spies tell us there are a few seats available at Warwick Arts Centre on Friday. If you haven’t already got tickets — or don’t happen to be in Coventry — here’s a chance to feel involved via this extended interview with multi-instrumentalist/producer Chris Taylor [far left] and vocalist/guitarist Daniel Rossen [far right]. And don’t worry, they’ll be back. (more…)
March 10th, 2010
Music, What we're listening to
When we shot and interviewed Vampire Weekend for our February issue, we couldn’t help but think that Ezra Koenig had something of the Roger Federers about him — charming, neat and with a dashing head of ever-clean hair. He’s done nothing to dissuade us with this tennis-themed video for “Giving Up The Gun”, the second single from superb recent album Contra, which also boasts some wry cameos from RZA, Jake Gyllenhaal and a Jonas boy of some description (Jim? Joe? Jeffrey? Whatever).
March 3rd, 2010
We were alerted to the existence of Swedish popstar Erik Hassle by a breathless young music blogger, who guaranteed he was going to be this year’s “big thing”. The jury’s still out — and when we play his album in the office it’s met with both cheers and complaints of bleeding eardrums — but one thing you can’t dispute is his look, half-Eraserhead, half-Morten Harket, a fact also appreciated by fashion designer-on-the-up, Martyn Bal. (more…)
February 24th, 2010
We always treat a new Shakira video with mild interest (particularly after her bizarre caged pelvic thrusts for “She-Wolf”), but we were more surprised than usual by the news that the skimpily clad Colombian had recruited none other than Spanish former number-one tennis player Rafael Nadal to romp alongside her in the promo for “Gypsy”, see clip below. (more…)
February 19th, 2010
Entertainment, Music, Travel, What we're listening to
A crystal clear sea, a slowly shimmering sunset with palm trees gently slowly swaying in the 30 degree heat. To top that a DJ legend on the decks easing you into a Saturday night. A common enough occurrence nowadays the holiday island Koh Samui. (more…)
February 19th, 2010
Music, What we're listening to
We love “O Maybe I”, the second single by vaunted Dalston five-piece Chapel Club. We love the melancholic, slightly passive sentiment of its chorus. We love its languidly distorted guitars. We love lead singer Lewis Bowman’s majestic polo neck and the way he looks a bit like Vincent Cassel crossed with Marc Almond. (more…)
February 18th, 2010
Design & Technology, Music, Where to buy
Chances are you’ve never heard of Grado. The high class headphone manufacturer’s logo is not as instantly recognisable as Sennheiser’s or as ubiquitous as Sony’s. (more…)
February 17th, 2010
Music, What we're listening to
We’ve always loved Gil Scott Heron, no matter his many and well documented foibles. The great man’s new album, I’m New Here (XL), marks a welcome and long awaited return to form. In the sleeve notes, the hard-living poet, musician and “Father of Rap” sets out his manifesto for enjoying the album. Trust us, you will… (more…)
February 16th, 2010
