Front back december.indd

Quench
DECEMBER 2014
IN THIS ISSUE:
Quench
Video P.14
Game
Awards
WAS TAYLOR RIGHT TO
REMOVE HER MUSIC
FROM SPOTIFY? P.35
WHAT TO DO IN
CARDIFF THIS
CHRISTMAS
P.14
BOOM! POW! BANG!
ACTION MOVIES P.54
Issue 148
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CONTENTS
FEATURES
6
Why We Write
A collective testament to the written word and why it matters
9
Cuffing Season
Tis’ the season to be saccharine! Ciara Rafter on why we get so sentimental
around Christmas
COLUMNIST
13
The Sketch
Gareth Evans says that the ills of the world have one cause, and that is reality TV
CULTURE
14
Students’ Guide to Christmas
Everything fun to do in Cardiff at Christmas on a student budget.
16
Interview: Radhika Sanghani
We chat to young author Radhika Sanghani about her debut novel
17
Culture in Modern Times: Bookshops
Bookshops are threatened by the digital age, we look at how they are fighting back
56
Gifts for Him & Her
We’ve got all the gift ideas you’ll need, whatever your budget
22
Mallzee
The new fashion-savvy app for your mobile – all your favourite stores in one place
23
Streetstyle Diaries
Following last issue, we bring you Cardiff ’s very own brand of streetstyle
24
Beauty Reviews
Get the lowdown on this season’s most popular winter skincare products
26
Christmas Beauty Hamper
Think Christmas sparkle – the ultimate beauty hamper to keep you looking your best
TRAVEL
28
Christmas Markets
Where to find the best around the globe
30
New Year’s Eve on a Budget
Where to go to get more party for your pound
31
Alternative Winter Holidays
For those looking for something a little bit different
31
32
New/Newydd
New artists to look out for as per our editors’ recommendations
35
The Spotify Debate
We take a look at the fallouts and upshots of Taylor’s trouble with Spotify
36
Interviews: Honeyblood & Superfood
We chat to Honeyblood and Superfood about the changing face of new music
38
Music Reviews
This month’s live and album reviews, including One Direction and The Kooks
VIDEO GAMES
40
COVER: Quench Video Game Awards
The best of the best and the worst of the worst. Awards season is upon us!
46
The YouTube Phenomenon
The shifting sands of Video Game media are analysed this month
47
Early Access
Pay for an incomplete product? Is that really a thing worth doing?
FILM & TV
48
Festive Film Night: 10 Best
Christmas Films
With the holidays fast approaching; we list our 10 best seasonal films
50
For & Against: Period dramas
A to and fro on the very marmite genre
51
Documentaries: An Introduction
Bored of blockbusters? Let us introduce you to the overlooked sector of documentaries
52
The Decline of the British Sitcom
With so many shows debuting from the US, is the Brit-Sit on its way out?
53
The Christmas Special:
What Can We Expect?
It isn’t the holidays without TV specials; we look to what’s coming up
54
Genre In Review: Action
Continuing our editorial series; the next instalment tackles the Action genre
56
Don’t care, JustEat - or help
make it better
Tom Reeder investigates how JustEat have cashed in on our takeaway treats
60
Cardiff Christmas Dinner Guide
Haven’t planned your Xmas meal yet? Don’t sweat; we’ve got it covered
62
Quench Food Evening: The Gutsy Goose
Everything you want and need to know about our latest Quench Food Evening
17
Credits: ‘Shakespeare and Company bookshop’ by Tomer T / Wikimedia Commons
MUSIC
35
FOOD & DRINK
3
Credits: ‘2012 UP200 Dog Sled Race’ by Greg Kretovic / Flickr
FASHION & BEAUTY
20
December
February
The Stranglers
Echo & The Bunnymen
KERRANG! Tour 2015
Sleaford Mods
04/12/14, £26.50 ADV
13/02/15, £16.50 ADV
Enter Shikari
17/02/15 - SOLD OUT
LEGENDS
The Bob Marley
Experience
Chelsea Grin
05/12/14, £13 ADV
17/02/15, £10 ADV
Embrace
The Jesus And Mary
Chain
09/12/14, £19.50 ADV
Funeral For A Friend
10/03/15, £23 ADV
10/03/15, £10 ADV
April
Limehouse Lizzy vs
Livewire AC/DC
17/04/15, £20 ADV
27/02/15, £25 ADV
18/12/14, £16 ADV
March
January
Neck Deep
Stiff Little Fingers
08/03/15, £18.50 ADV
26/01/15, £10.50 ADV
@CARDIFFUNION
CARDIFFBOXOFFICE
CARDIFFBOXOFFICE.COM | All tickets subject to booking fee
Quench
EDITOR
Sum Sze Tam
[email protected]
@QuenchMag
DEPUTY EDITOR
Chloe May
FEATURES
Aimee-lee Abraham
Jason Roberts
COLUMNIST
Gareth Evans
[email protected]
@Quench_Features
@_GarethEvans
CULTURE
Elouise Hobbs
Jasmine Freeman
[email protected]
FASHION & BEAUTY
Franciska Bodnar
Nicole Petty
[email protected]
TRAVEL
Olivia Waltho
[email protected]
MUSIC
Charlie Mock
India Thomas
[email protected]
VIDEO GAMES
Alex Glazer
[email protected]
FILM & TV
Aaron Roberts
Charlie Andrews
[email protected]
FOOD & DRINK
Emma Giles
Kathryn Lewis
[email protected]
HEAD OF DESIGN
Emilia Ignaciuk
[email protected]
ART EDITORS
Franciska Bodnar
Naomi Brown
Eleanor Duffy
Lucy Okell
Olivia Thomas
Georgia Hamer
@QuenchCulture
@Quench_Fashion
@Quench_Travel
@QuenchMusic
QuenchStreetStyle
Quench_Travel
QuenchMusic
@QuenchGames
@QuenchFilm
@Quench_Food
QuenchFoodCardiff
@frankiebods
@honeyandbrown
@eleanorduff y
@lucyokell
@oliviadthomas
@georgialeehamer
SPECIAL THANKS TO
Tom Rudenko, Eranan Thirumagen, Michael O’Connell-Davidson & Rhys
Johns for helping us out with the inaugural Quench Video Games
Awards; The Gutsy Goose for hosting our party of forty hungry
students; India Thomas, Danii Penny, Emily Giblett, Charlie Mock, Zenn
Wong, Aaron Roberts, Elouise Hobbs and Kathryn Lewis for helping us
out on deadline night; Sue Howkins and Julie Giblett for being our most
devoted supporters.
EDITOR’S
N O T E
In which student media has emerged from a cloud of conspiracy; but
everything’s settled just in time for assessment season and then the
holidays. Now, only the sweets, meats and good eats await...
There’s a crispness - on top of the usual perpetual
damp - in the air. Lidl is selling German christmas
sweets, my housemates are bickering over how
much to turn the heating on (not that it does
anything), and people are putting up lights all over
town. Michael Buble and Idina Menzel (two of my
favourite singers, ever) have released a duet of one
of my favourite wintery songs, ever. Christmas has
properly arrived in Cardiff.
We were thinking of running a feature
article this month about how people celebrate the
Christmas holiday differently all around the world,
and also how its meaning changes accordingly. We
scrapped that article because it seemed too cheesy,
and also because there are people out there who are
probably quite fed up of people repeatedly reminding
them it’s Christmas. (How can you possibly get fed
up of Christmas though?!??)
I don’t feel like I’ve written very much about
the editorial process that goes into creating Quench.
We have our biweekly editorial meetings, but not
everyone comes to those. They can be kind of boring
at times, except when feature editor Jason Roberts
cracks out his latest conspiracy theory (ranging
from a worldwide emoji language takeover, to Stevie
Wonder not being blind), or when a section has
happened upon a particularly interesting gem of a
feature.
This month, we’re showing off how much
more of a push we’re putting into the Video Games
section and we’re hosting our first ever Video Games
awards! Obviously we know nobody on our judging
panel is a Big Name (yet), so take their verdicts with
a pinch of salt. Better yet, when the article goes
online, comment and let us know what you think of
the shortlist.
I think a large portion of our readers might
not be hardcore video games fans. At a guess, I think
most of you will be here for the exhaustive music
coverage, the increasingly notorious food coverage
(we did say we were eating our way through Cardiff
with the Quench Food Evenings), and our bangin’
features articles. Despite that, the rate at which the
Video Games section is growing is very impressive.
That’s not to degrade all the work of the other
section editors, or saying that it’s superior in any
way (sorry, Alex). I only chose to talk about it so
much here because the section is a bit of a maverick,
because it often appeals to a different sort of reader;
I see it as an underdog.
I can’t help but be a fan of the underdog.
How can I, when every heroic tale involves a weedy
protagonist overcoming the odds? Sometimes I
think of Student Media as an underdog. After all,
we’re essentially volunteers with the privileges of
an office and just over a dozen computers between
all four platforms. A lot of us are pretty weedylooking (interpret that how you like), too. But we
all aim towards, and indeed, sometimes succeed
in, producing professional-quality work. Despite
that, we’ll always be taken a little less seriously by
both the pros and our peers. To most of the student
population, we’re just a bunch of kids who are overly
enthusiastic about an expensive hobby. Most of our
readers are friends or housemates of people who
were involved; and even those people don’t always
enjoy the product for its own value, and only enjoy it
to support their friends. That’s not something to be
devalued, of course, but the thing that truly brings
us joy is when people pick up and read the magazine
of their own accord; to see them flicking through the
pages, and being pulled in by a deadly combination
of our writers’ conviction and our designers’ skill.
In the very first issue of the year, I set out
a little manifesto of what I’d like being in Quench
and Cardiff Student Media to be. Recent events
have threatened that experience, as well as possibly
discrediting much of the work that’s already been
achieved this year. If you follow us or any CSM
member on social media, you’ll probably have seen
that we recently went on strike. You were probably
plagued by the sounds of John Farnham’s ‘You’re The
Voice’ as you walked through the union. But here in
the office we’re just glad it’s all over, and we can get
on with moaning about our awful computers, the
misuse of apostrophes, and geeking out whenever
we find a new shortcut in Adobe InDesign (the
software we use to design our pages). Bitchery aside,
we just can’t wait to get on with Quench, and slowly
reducing the distance between making something
we want people to read and making something
people actually want to read.
After our first few months, it’s a relief to have
finally settled into this funny routine. If there’s
one thing we’ve learned about recent events, it’s
that people need to come and see how CSM works
and runs before they make judgements about what
would be best for us. So come along to our editorial
meetings, our proofreadings (free pizza!), our
Quench Food Evenings. I promise you that Chloe
May (deputy editor), the Quench team and I plan to
bring you a whole new sea of ways to help out with
the magazine - so keep an eye out; hopefully we’ll
get to meet more of you in the coming months.
5
WHY WE WRITE
6
In light of the recent turmoil in Cardiff Student Media,
Quench Features asked writers from within the Cardiff
Student community to share their motivations for
putting pen to paper. This is the result: a collective
testament to the written word as a means of creative
expression and personal development.
This is Why We Write, and why it matters.
— Illustrations: Bryn Evans
We write to discover our true selves
We write to escape
“You know those moments when you
just want to scream into a pillow,
throw a plate at a wall or punch
someone in the face? Well, generally,
venting frustration through words
is a much safer method. By writing
about things that make you happy,
things that make you want to sing
out loud and shout from the rooftops,
you find escapism. It isn’t a form of
escapism that wastes time, either.
There is the possibility that another
person may read what you’ve written
We write to create
“Words have power. Written words
have even more power. Just try saying
a feeling or emotion out loud. It already
feels more ‘real’ doesn’t it? Now write
it out, take time to immerse yourself in
it, to explain it…it’s almost like giving
your thoughts and emotions the BODY
they need to exist and thrive. For this
reason, I’m a lover of writing. Without
it, I struggle to express myself. Being a
part of Quench and editing the fashion
pages of the magazine is a creative
and productive way for me to express
my passions for fashion with words.
Otherwise, they’d only exist in my
mind. They come to LIFE through the
pages of the magazine. They solidify.
It’s empowering to be able to
take thoughts from my mind (that
may have gotten lost) and bond them
together with words. A hard copy
of my thoughts can be physically
picked up, travelling to the minds of
others. Words are the middle-man
that connects two minds. Writing is
the power to CREATE and with it, we
create Quench.”
— Franciska Bodnar
and be inspired to try something new.
This is a great achievement. Words
are your platform to get viewpoints
across, and they are your right of
expression. This may sound silly: my
passion is writing about food at the
end of the day. But if my string of
words can hold someone’s attention,
encouraging them to do something
differently, or simply entertaining
them on the loo for a few minutes,
I’m content with that.”
— Kathryn Lewis
“The escape I find in the process of
writing is the only way in this world
that I can be victorious in retreat. Its
a way out of the struggle of everyday
life into the comfort of myself, where
I don’t need to create an image crafted
in the likeness of who I want to be, but
where I can sit back and explore who
I am and what I think. I don’t mean
to lionise myself - this is universal. It
could be true of Hemingway or Joyce
or Vonnegut, but it could also be true
of the blogger next door who has
found that their eating disorder is a
little easier to handle if they publicise
it, for whatever reason has meaning to
them and no matter the vanity of their
motive or the merits of their prose. It
brings colour to the monochromatic,
and it brings reflection to a universe
where light otherwise only ever
sprawls in one direction.”
— Anonymous
We write to be heard
I think the need to write stems from
our want to create something that will
last. While conservations can be rich
and long – nothing quite beats the
written word. A story can shoot out
of nowhere. As soon as pen touches
paper, or fingers touch the keyboard,
the jumble of words we know pour
out of us and create something that
is distinctly our own. In the deafening
noise created by so many people and
publications in the world; writing
gives us the space to step forward
and put our ideas down and out for
everyone.
Writing is both for the individual
and for the collective. Student media
resonates with the writer in all of us
as we’re all after the same goal: to have
what we produce on a public platform
seen. It encourages personal and
professional growth, whilst giving us
the freedom to tackle new things and
test our abilities in a supportive peer
environment.
— Aaron Roberts
FE ATURES
We write to feed our egos
We write to preserve
In his essay ‘Why I Write’, George Orwell lists ‘four great motives’ for
writing. One of these is sheer egoism:
‘It is humbug to pretend that this is not a motive and a strong
one. Writers share this characteristic with scientists, artists, politicians,
lawyers, soldiers, successful business men – in short, with the whole top
crust of humanity.’
Sixty-seven years after Orwell wrote that essay, I feel this
motivation drives the majority of all humanity to write. This is not so
negative an attitude as it might appear. It is indeed inevitable now that
everyone effectively carries around a notepad via mobile phones and, if
they have particularly snazzy versions, they can quickly connect to any
social media site you can imagine and put their writing out into the world.
It can never be underestimated how the world has been changed
and, in many ways, shaped by social media. Obviously, these sites serve
ultimately
as
communication
tools but if we probe deeper, their
popularity lies in the desire to be
heard. It would not be unfair to
criticize continual use of these sites
as a childish scream into a void
that is never quiet; the amount of
noise makes such an act almost
impossible to have any meaning.
Nevertheless, there is a pleasure to
be had. I can’t deny having a smug
feeling when a status gets over ten
‘likes’ or my tweet is favourited by
a celebrity. But this smugness isn’t
just a sign that you’re doomed to be
a selfish narcissist. To me, it comes from the satisfaction that my opinion
is being heard and someone has waded through the overwhelming clutter
online to take the time to not only read what I have to say, but let me
know that they actually gained something from its existence.
The fairly ridiculous and unnecessary turmoil around Cardiff
Student Media has brought something positive by reinforcing the power
of the written word. The petition and numerous Facebook statuses
provided enough information to make it clear how CSM was at risk of
having its voice obscured. Making lots of noise, as chaotic as it may be,
can be effective if we all sing from the same hymn sheet.
The power of the written word to affect wider society has always
existed through political pamphlets to influential novels, from revelatory
articles to their later mutations into tweets and blog posts. The power
writing can give you is unparalleled. Writing is one of the oldest forms
of expression we have and we need not look far to see why it remains so
powerful.
—Michael Leitch
“There are so many reasons why I write. To understand and immerse
myself in the world around me and to shut it out in equal measure.
Perhaps the biggest reason, though, is the one I admit to less readily:
the link between my need to write and my complete, vicious denial of
my own mortality. Sometimes writing can feel like spitting in the face of
death. I was a curious child, waking up in the night in a cold existential
sweat long before I knew what existentialism was. When I was eleven my
Religious Studies teacher asked the class to describe what death would
look like if it was an object. I said it would be a tape containing nothing
but white noise. You can imagine how fucking annoying I was. Thankfully
that angsty phase passed long ago: I no longer write terrible lyrics about
unrequited crushes in school canteens while blasting MCR on a pink iPod,
but I still find an immense amount of comfort in putting pen to paper.
Writing can transcend time. It can outlive the writer. It lets people
know that you were here, that you
stood for something. It preserves
things. It captures people and
places as they are, so that we can
remember how they were. When
my Grandfather was diagnosed
with Alzheimers I began feverishly
collecting fragments of his past. I
rummaged through old shoe boxes
stuffed with film. I secretly recorded
our conversations and transcribed
them. I started a blog about his
travels, posting mementos and
anecdotes. I painted his personality
onto a page so that even when he
forgot who he was, the world couldn’t. I wanted everyone to know how
ethereal and endlessly fascinating he was and although words failed to
capture this, they were the only way I knew how to begin. Jonathan Safran
Foer said that ‘everything is illuminated by the aura of nostalgia’. This is
probably true. Writing, unless it’s written as a stream of consciousness,
gives the writer time to beautify their experiences and present them
in a better light. It can turn the mundane and the ugly into something
meaningful, even if it’s just a complete illusion crafted in the imagination.
It’s magical and strange and I don’t think I’ll ever tire of it.”
— Aimee-lee Abraham
WHILE CONVERSATIONS
CAN BE RICH AND LONG,
NOTHING QUITE BEATS THE
WRITTEN WORD. A STORY CAN
SHOOT OUT OF NOWHERE
7
We write to entertain
WE WRITE BECAUSE WITHOUT
WORDS, EVERYTHING WOULD BE
SO FUCKING BORING
“We write because without words,
everything would be so fucking
boring.” — Georgia Goold-Jones
We write to dream
“I write because it gives me the
opportunity to create something
beautifully imperfect and be happy
with that, because in stories people
don’t need to have a happy ending,
We write to learn
but maybe by writing something
interesting and inspiring I can
help real people find their happy
endings.”
— Kalika Puri
We write to heal
My love of writing really took
off after I was diagnosed with
Rheumatoid Arthritis. Being
diagnosed with a disability is like
having your life turned upside
down. Looking inside myself and
writing about the experience
and the illness itself helped me
come to terms with it. It was
also a useful tool in explaining
to my friends and family what
I was going through. I could
communicate on a level that I just
couldn’t express out loud. When
8
To write is to be creative; we write
for joy, to imagine and to make
our passion visible to others.
Cardiff student media has been a
huge part of my life over the past
year, and the experience gained
priceless. Writing has given me
the opportunity to show others
my passion and creativity in print.
— Nicole Petty
We write to express
I posted a piece on my blog and
shared it via social media, it really
seemed to help people take a step
back and think of arthritis from a
different perspective. They were
enlightened; no longer seeing it
as an old person’s disease, which
was very empowering for me.
When you’re speaking about a
topic like disability, people often
blindly stereotype, undermine or
stigmatise. Writing gives me the
power to challenge that.
— Emily Jones
Whether it was prose, poetry or
lyrics, I always wrote as catharsis;
sometimes deeply drenched in
metaphor and symbolism only
I would understand, sometimes
blatantly direct, writing was my
way of dealing with life, dealing
with the world. Things were always
clearer down on the page than
spinning in my head. And I wrote
for the same reason I decided to
make music - that there wasn’t
anything else out there I could
directly relate to. I write the way
I think, in dramatic, hyperbolic
terms. Ultimately I write for
myself, for my own selfish
amusement. It’s through luck
more than design that my words
sometimes resonate with others
who support my writing.
— Sorin Annuar
FE ATURES
All I Want For
Christmas Is You
Ciara Rafter looks at ‘cuffing season’ and asks: is
winter really worse as a singleton?
T
hat time of year is again swiftly
approaching; the time when
Michael Buble’s ‘make all the girls
weak at their knees’ voice reappears.
Everybody’s Instagram feed is overloaded
with Starbucks red cups and a happier
spirit fills the frosty air. That’s right, the
festive season is here. There are always a
few Scrooges lurking around but I think we
can all agree that the ratio of Christmas
jumpers to tinsel-tearing-Grinches favours
the former.
I’m not sure whether you can
pinpoint exactly what Christmas spirit is.
It could be the fact that it’s the only time
of year where we are allowed to eat one
thousand extra calories without anyone
passing judgement, or the way it shows the
generosity of human kind. In a world where
bad things constantly happen, Christmas
is a time of peace. A time of sanity where
we pause, stop thinking with our heads
and start following our hearts instead.
Christmas spirit wouldn’t be Christmas
spirit without that one essential factor:
Love.
Christmas is the exception to the
rule. It can’t be a coincidence that the
greatest love stories of motion picture are
set at Christmas time. Love Actually, The
Holiday, When Harry Met Sally...Maybe
this notion of love has stemmed from the
nostalgia that is attached to the season.
Looking at our elders at Christmas parties;
we see their smiles, we hear their laughter,
we skip through our homes with glee in
our eyes and mistakenly take the wrong
route to get our tenth slice of Grandma’s
homemade mince pies and end up getting
caught underneath mistletoe with that
distant relative who only ever seems to
appear at annual Christmas parties. He
creepily (although, this demographic of
people think it’s cute and fail to see the
utter fear in our eyes) asks for a peck on
the cheek and the whole room is suddenly
watching and ‘aw-ing’ as if we’re on a
chat show with a cue man telling the
audience how to react. All we wanted was
our eleventh mince pie, but Grammy’s
delicious bake is replaced with cold, hard
humiliation.
9
Now, we have reached the age where,
finally, that annually-appearing distant
relative can see the creepiness of asking for
a kiss. We can replace the once humiliating
reality of mistletoe with the magic of it
instead. Winter, alternatively known as
Cuffing Season, is the season that makes
us crave love more than any other season.
There is something about winter that makes
relationships seem so desirable. Maybe it’s
the Christmas spirit that everyone acquires
at this time of year; everyone is nicer to
each other, more caring, more passionate,
and more generous. Maybe the magic of this
spirit is what makes us love harder.
Phoebe Greenland, 20, shares her
opinion on love at Christmas. “It’s lovely
having someone to cuddle up to in the cold
weather. I love walking down the streets
under the lights; it just creates a perfect
romantic setting for you to hold hands
under, especially if it snows. I love helping
my boyfriend with Christmas presents;
he has no clue and can’t be bothered. The
atmosphere is so positive it’s hard not to
enjoy it, especially being with my love. It is
a time of love. You have family and friends,
but being in a relationship is a different kind
of love; it completes you. Being with him
all year round makes me feel complete, and
I know it’s cheesy, but there is a genuine
feeling of emptiness when I’m not with
him at Christmas. That complete feeling is
totally enhanced and it makes me love and
appreciate him more. The spirit of Christmas
correlates the spirit of loving.”
We are at university, the age where
many of our relatives met the love of their
lives, and when we are reunited at Christmas
parties, expectations are high, the pressure
is on for us gals and guys on the verge of
adulthood. Picture this: it’s Boxing Day.
You’re sat at the dinner table with 10+
relatives, you have your newly purchased
maternity pants on (applies to men too - if
Joey Tribbiani did it, you can too) from the
Christmas sales, because yesterday, the big
birthday of JC, got you good and you feel a
little (a lot) restricted to wear jeans today.
You are mid-shoving your sixteenth left over
slice of Turkey in your mouth. You are in your
element. Nobody could ruin this romantic
moment between you and Turk. And that’s
when the prying begins. It happens every
year, yet always startles you like the Lash (or
Yolo, if I must) queue does in the first few
weeks of term. Nobody ever sees it coming.
“Ohhh, university, I bet there’s all types of
“We are at university, the
age where many of our
relatives met the love of
their lives, and when we
are reunited at Christmas
parties, expectations are
high, the pressure is on for us
gals and guys on the verge of
adulthood.”
10
girls/guys there!”, “Who have you got your
eye on?”, when your mother, who truly
believes she is helping, interrupts with “Oh,
she’s never tell. She gets all the attention,
but she gets shy when you ask”. Okay, mum,
if you want to believe that, I’ll let you. It can
be your Christmas present.
Big in the US, Cuffing Season is the
practice of having a significant other during
the season of winter and is becoming a
universal phenomenon. Or is it? Is is a real
thing? Or rather, is it what a single person
wants? Do the movies released at Christmas
give us hope and desire but in reality, we are
still as single as ever?
One of the perks of a singleton’s life
is having the time to look at and analyse
relationships through rose tinted glasses
and create make belief stories of how the
grass is oh so greener on the other side. The
Hallmark image hypnotises us to believe
that our Christmas would be better if we had
somebody to share it with. Does anybody
actually go so far to consciously search for a
partner during this time?
One case of Cuffing Season comes from
19 year old student, she admits “this is my
first Christmas where I won’t be single. I don’t
think it’s a coincidence that my boyfriend
and I made it official at this time of year, I
mean I wouldn’t say that I actively looked for
a quick fix to keep me warm on cold Winter
nights and then chuck them in the New Year,
but I think this season gave us a push and
helped us move the relationship along. I’m
not as grouchy at Christmas, neither is he.
That probably helped. Last week, he hinted at
what present he was getting me, and then he
stopped mid-sentence and said ‘Wait- Is that
weird if I buy you a present?’ because, you
know, do you buy a present for someone you
are only seeing? And that’s when we decided
to make things official.”
With love being all around at
Christmas, when we have given our love to
our friends, family and strangers, we crave
for something else. Another kind of love.
A love that replaces humiliating Mistletoe
moments. When this kind of love is missing,
it makes us want it more. And bam, that’s
why loneliness hits us at Christmas. And
what do you do when something isn’t going
to plan? You fix it! And there we have it,
Cuffing Season - killing loneliness since...
sometime in the Noughties. It makes sense
- sure, the fact we have a name for it is pretty
tragic, but how else do we highlight the fact
we don’t have someone to cuddle by the fire
FE ATURES
“You are mid-shoving your sixteenth left over slice of Turkey in your
mouth. You are in your element. Nobody could ruin this romantic
moment between you and Turk. And that’s when the prying begins. It
happens every year, yet always startles you like the Lash (or Yolo, if I
must) queue does in the first few weeks of term.”
when it snows outside? People need to know,
okay.
Christmas is a time for grand gestures,
a ton of clichés and following your heart.
After a countless amount of films, in our
media-dominated culture, it has become an
expectation for someone to knock on your
door on Christmas Eve and confess their love
to you. Another Cuffer, as we shall call the
people who are fully involved in the notion
of Cuffing Season, said that Christmas time
has a fantasy element. “It feels like your life
is a movie and what’s a movie without a love
story? Cuffing Season is a chance for my
happily ever after.”
It’s not just women who crave love at
Christmas, either. Men get cold too. One
male Cuffer opened up about the season. He
said “it’s just nice to have somebody to do
things with at this time of year. It’s a loving
time and seeing all the happy couples does
make you kind of envious. I think the appeal
of Cuffing Season is the idea of sharing your
happiness with somebody special at such a
big holiday.”
Understandably, it is nice to have
someone to do snow angels with and go
to Christmas markets with, but does that
someone really have to be a significant other?
Not necessarily, but at Christmas, everything
is romantic, isn’t it? And there is something
appealing about being with your favourite
person at your favourite time of year. After
asking friends, parents, strangers, I have
come to the realisation that however big the
internet thinks Cuffing Season is, the general
opinions on why people become over friendly
and flirtatious in winter were:
1.
It is not always the case that people
become more loving, but rather
people don’t want to break up with
people at Christmas time.
2. Everybody is happier and therefore
more attractive.
3. And my own mother offered that
everybody is constantly drunk at
Christmas time so beer goggles are
more prominent. Thanks mum.
Is Cuffing Season something invented by
singletons in the hope that we can join the
couples we see holding hands walking down
the street and sipping hot chocolate together
in coffee shops? Christmas marketing is
all about bringing people together, but in
reality, do we see a separation between those
hopelessly in love and those hopelessly
wanting love? And Cuffing Season is merely
an attempt to rid the separation?
With the three most loved companies at
christmas, John Lewis, Coca Cola and
Sainsbury’s, we annually see their adverts
marking the start of the holiday. John
Lewis’s ‘Monty the Penguin’ advert shows
a young boy in an episode of make-belief
with his toy penguin. In the end, he finds
Monty a companion; this portrayal is
strikingly similar to a single person’s hunt
for love during Cuffing Season. You know the
struggle is real when even inanimate objects
feel the ache of loneliness.
— Illustrations: Bryn Evans
11
COLUMNIST
THE SKETCH with
GARETH EVANS
Screw religion; reality
TV is the opium of the
people - and it’s killing
us all
Let me talk you through some of the most
successful TV shows of 2014. The following
programmes have dribbled, and continue
to dribble, from our telescreens: The X Factor, I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, Big
Brother, The Apprentice, Made in Chelsea, The
Only Way is Essex, Geordie Shore, The Voice
and Britain’s Got Talent. Combined, these
programmes pin millions upon millions of
British people down, fixated and anaesthetised, to their flashy flashy fun boxes. Often,
I am one of these people. Afterwards, I feel
a bit dirty.
With this in mind, let me draw your attention to the often misquoted and overused
Marx quote about religion being “the opium
of the masses.” Now, we can forgive Karl for
being slightly outdated, but the UK is no longer a predominantly religious country. Most
of us aren’t religious at all. This is because we
now worship at the Church of ITV, and congregate every Sunday in living rooms across
the country to hear the mighty Pope Cowell
preach. Reality television is the real opiate of
the masses and, look, the quote still works.
“Reality TV is the sigh of the oppressed
creature, the heart of a heartless world, and
the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” And this is true. It numbs
us, makes us less angry, less self-aware, less
conscious. When we return from a day from
hell at some menial job, to our unheated
flats, to a grotesque gelatinous meal, we
don’t want to question why. Being left alone
with our thoughts is the last thing that the
TV oligarchs want. So we turn on the box and
let ourselves be absorbed into a world of the
inane. It is a place of excessive strobe lighting, shouting, extreme FONTS, vanity and
relentless clichés. Reality television is totally
absurd; just consider some of the concepts.
Yes, they’ve become normalised, but when
you take a step back and consider them it
makes you think. What the hell are we actually doing?
Take I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of
Here!, or, more accurately, ‘I was deemed
worthy of a pay-check, I get said pay-check
regardless!’ This crowd are so washed-up
that when they arrived on the Aussie beach I
struggled to distinguish them from the sand.
The line-up reads like the clientele of the
world’s worst agency firm. Moreover, in what
surely resembles reality TV’s worst excess,
one celebrity, Jake Quickenden (??), is only
regarded as such because he appeared on The
X-Factor weeks earlier. That’s right, ITV are
now finding celebrities by mopping up the
rejects of their other reality shows. There is
also Gemma Collins, star of The Only Way is
Essex, another one of ITV’s televisual blisters. These people exist in a bizarre bubble,
By indulging
ourselves in reality
TV, we’ve made
the likes of Joey
Essex and Spencer
Matthews famous.
Hang your head in
shame.
being recycled between shows and channels
and branded celebrities based on their prior
appearances. All the while, nobody really
knows where they came from.
If anything, we should feel ashamed
for perpetuating this cycle. As a result these
people get to enjoy all the trappings of fame
without any of the talent. By indulging ourselves in the world of reality TV, we’ve made
the likes of Joey Essex and Spencer Matthews famous. Hang your head in shame.
Forgive us, Pope Cowell, for we have sinned.
Yet, the damage is greater than this.
When watching an episode of any given reality show the sheer amount of adverts is
mind-numbing. They are relentless, an inexorable bombardment of sales and shiny
things. The worst are the Iceland ads during I’m a Celebrity. Over the years, the likes
of Kerry Katona, Christopher Biggins and,
now Peter Andre, have endorsed this fauxfood. Individuals who have all appeared on
the show, and have all consumed some form
of testicle as a result. There is a slight flaw in
then paying these people to advertise your
own food. These people eat Kangaroo anuses
for money; they are not going to convince me
to buy anything edible. Regardless, the food
looks awful – less food, more ‘Exhibit A’ in a
child negligence case.
The point is that these reality stars, as
a result of their mass exposure, can then be
utilised as human billboards for a short while
afterwards. Willing to smile and hold any old
sludge, they become cogs in the consumerist machine; cogs that rust quickly and are
soon replaced by new, shinier, cogs. Reality
TV, then, is fuelling commercial culture at an
increasing rate.
It is also fuelling something darker –
societal vanity. These shows, in particular
These people eat
Kangaroo anuses
for money; they
are not going to
convince me to buy
anything edible
the likes of Made in Chelsea and The Only Way
is Essex, foster an environment in which appearances and material possessions are the
ultimate definer of identity. The cast look
like Oxford Street mannequins with a more
wooden acting style. They live lives that
would be untenable without inherited wealth
or some high-earning job which they never
seem to go to. Ultimately, they propagate
vanity and superficiality as not only acceptable, but essential.
This recent phenomenon of ‘semireality’ programmes demonstrates how reality television has reached an ugly peak.
Presumably the phrase ‘semi-reality’ comes
from the state of existence of the show’s
cast. They seem to be 50% on this planet and
50% on some other one. In all seriousness,
the popularity of these vanity programmes
astounds me. The idea of watching a gaggle
of toffs pretend that they aren’t acting is
less appealing than eating one of the aforementioned Iceland meals. I know that art is
subjective, but every rule needs an exception.
When watching these programmes I can feel
my mind entering a state of stasis as I await
the mental arrival of Dermot O’Leary, ready
to declare that my consciousness has entered
‘Deadlock!’ Their huge prevalence is, in my
mind, saddening.
It is saddening because these programmes – these visual anaesthetics – appear
to have reached a point of no return. If you
can think back to the novelty of Pop Idol, or of
the first Big Brother, for example, then you’ll
appreciate how times have changed. Now it
seems like reality television is a permanent
fixture, and in its numerous, ugly, damaging,
forms, I just can’t see it going away.
13
Credits: Jonathan McIntosh / Wikimedia Commons
Try something different
this Christmas!
Zenn Wong
shows us what
Wales has to offer
this festive season
Arabian Nights, Sherman Theatre Main
House
Date: 5 December to 3 January
(previews on 4 and 6 December)
Price: £15 - £25, Previews – £12 - £20,
Concessions – £2 off, Under 25s – half
price
Ages 7+
Ice Storm Exhibition, Wales
Millennium Centre
Date: 24 November to 18 January
Price: Free entry
14
This December, be sure to catch the Sherman
Theatre’s rendition of Arabian Nights.
The star of the show in this adaptation of
the legend, written by Dominic Cooke, is
none other than Shahrazad, an intelligent
and imaginative young lady with a gift for
storytelling who has just been married to
a vengeful and dangerous King. Shahrazad
must now rely on her enchanting tales
of Es-Sindibad the Sailor, Ali Baba and
other imagined stories to save her life and
transform the King. Arabian Nights will be the second piece
directed by Sherman Theatre’s new Artistic
Director Rachel O’Riordan, and will feature
a stellar cast including Joanna Hickman,
Pete Ashmore, and Ashley Alymann as
the King. Award-winning composer Conor
Mitchell from Northern Ireland will also be
performing live on stage an original score,
along with the actor-musicians who will take
on multiple roles in this performance.
As the Sherman Theatre’s main
Christmas production, Arabian Nights is
set to be a musical adventure filled with
laughs and thrilling stories, bringing some
excitement this holiday season.
If you have friends or family members
with autism, learning disability, Down’s
syndrome or a sensory and communication
disorder, Sherman Theatre provides a relaxed
performance on 30 December at 2.00pm,
which will take these into consideration to
ensure that they will be able to enjoy the
performance comfortably. A captioned
performance will also be held on 20
December at 2.00pm.
For more information, please
visit
http://www.shermancymru.co.uk/
performance/children/arabian-nights/.
Paper sculptor Andy Singleton has been commission by the Wales Millennium Centre to
create a series of wintery paper sculptures to
be displayed throughout the centre’s public
areas from 24 November 2014 to 18 January
2015.
Andy Singleton, a Nottingham-born
paper artist and illustrator based in Wakefield, England, studied Animation with Illustration at Manchester Metropolitan
University and graduated in 2006. His work
is described as “an exploration of the natural and manmade world through intricate
paper cuttings, paper sculpture and hand
drawn illustrations”. In addition to having
held workshops in locations such as the Tate
Modern in London, Singleton’s past works
include an installation at the Manchester
Art Gallery, detailed papercut renditions of
London and New York cityscapes, as well as
window displays for luxury fashion house
Hermés.
The large-scale yet intricate sculptures,
hand crafted and constructed entirely out of
paper, will be made to resemble ice formations and clouds of mist, evoking images of
nature on a cold winter’s day. This exhibition
is completely free and not ticketed, so just
show up at the Millennium Centre whenever
you want to enjoy the sight of these magnificent paper sculptures, or make sure to keep
an eye out for them whenever you are in the
area. This fascinating and impressive installation is not one to miss out on.
There will also be an official opening
evening with drinks and entertainment on
28 November at 6pm.
For more information please visit
https://www.wmc.org.uk/Productions/2014-2015/Exhibitions/IceStorm/.
CULTURE
On the 18th of December, the streets of Caerphilly town centre will be illuminated by
hundreds of lanterns carried by participants
in Caerphilly’s annual River of Light Parade.
The handmade lanterns can be made at
the River of Light workshops held on 6, 7, 13
and 14 December from 10am to 5pm, with
the location of these workshops yet to be
confirmed (as of 17 December 2014). These
workshops are a great idea for a fun day out
with friends as they are extremely flexible,
with no set design or level of skill required,
and no set duration or time limit. The workshops are also completely free, save for a £1
cost for an optional light.
The River of Light is the longest running Christmas event organised by the Caerphilly County Borough Council, and has been
Caerphilly Medieval Christmas
Market, Caerphilly Town Centre,
Caerphilly Castle
Date/Time: 13 December 9am5pm, 14 December 10am-4pm
Price: Mostly free (entry fees
apply for Caerphilly Castle)
held annually for more than 10 years on the
last Thursday before Christmas. The parade is
inspired by Scandinavian cultures, in which
there is a tradition of celebrating Christmas
with lanterns.
The River of Light Lantern Parade
is the finale to the Caerphilly County Borough Council’s series of events leading up to
Christmas, and is free of charge, featuring
stalls and entertainment on the evening of
the parade. The parade will leave from the
Caerphilly Railway Station Park & Ride at
6.30pm and will make its way down the town
centre, ending off with a dazzling fireworks
display over Caerphilly Castle.
For more information, please visit
http://your.caerphilly.gov.uk/christmas/lantern/lantern-parades.
Caerphilly’s annual Medieval Christmas Market will return to the Caerphilly Town Centre
on the weekend of the 13th and 14th of December this year.
Have a blast from the past enjoying the medieval-themed entertainment
such as medieval magician, a castle jester,
and dragon puppeteers, whilst browsing
the stalls run by over 150 traders selling everything from food and traditional
crafts to replica medieval goods. Visitors
to the market are sure to find a selection
of unique gifts for loved ones this holiday
season.
Caerphilly River of Light Workshops and
Parade, Caerphilly Town Centre
Date/Time: Workshops - 10am – 5pm on
6, 7, 13, 14 December, Parade – 6.30pm
on 18 December
Price: Free
There will also be a Continental Market
at the Twyn and a Farmers’ Market at Twyn
Community Centre, sure to tempt visitors
with the sights and smells of fresh food and
mulled wine.
Street performers will also be present
to entertain, as will funfair rides, live music
performances and wood carving demonstrations, providing something for visitors of
every age. Real reindeer and Santa’s grotto
will also be present at the market, adding to
the festive cheer of the market.
For the young ones, a large variety of
children’s workshops and entertainment
will be available in Caerphilly Castle. In addition, Father Christmas will also be making his way through the town centre into
the Castle for a meet and greet as well as a
photo-taking opportunity, something that
is sure to delight the young and young at
heart.
Entry into Caerphilly Castle, one of
Wales’ greatest castles, is at a fee, though
most of the entertainment in the town centre outside the castle will be free of charge.
For more information, please visit
http://www.christmasmarkets.com/UK/
caerphilly-medieval-christmas-market.html.
15
INTERVIEW:
What made you want to write a book on
a subject seen by so many as taboo or
would you say that the subject of sex is
no longer a taboo?
I don’t think sex is as taboo as it used to
be. Shows like Sex And The City helped
with that. I do feel like my book breaks
taboos because it doesn’t just discuss sex
and virginity – it does it in a really honest,
and sometimes graphic, way. It doesn’t shy
away from the fact that girls masturbate and
have disastrous Brazilian waxes. They are all
part of a reality for most young women, but
they’re never written about.
A lot of books have sex scenes but they
miss out all the detail – like the pressure for
the girl to shave her legs, and all the awkward
things that go wrong. I wanted girls who have
these experiences to pick up a book they can
actually relate to and laugh at.
Although this book is fictional, were
you inspired by your own experience at
university?
Most of it was inspired by conversations with
friends. I also have a lot of friends who were
virgins well into their twenties, or still are.
Some of their awkward stories really inspired
me. Also, just being at uni gave me so much
material.
Everyone plays drinking games like
‘Never Have I Ever’ where it’s just assumed
that everyone there is sexually active, and
it’s incredibly difficult for virgins to deal with
that sort of social pressure.
Did you do any research before or during
writing the novel?
I spoke to a number of people, whether it
was girl friends who shared their funny
pubes/oral sex/masturbating stories, or
doctors who helped me with the medical
stuff. I put in a lot of the stories my girl
friends told me just because they were
so hilarious and realistic. It means that
anyone reading this book can know that
most of the stuff that happened to Ellie
has happened to a bunch of 20-something
girls out there.
16
Your
book
mostly focuses
on women and
their battles with
sex but do you think
the representation of
men within the novel
paints them in a negative
light?
There’s still a huge lack of books that
show really strong female heroines,
and really go into gender equality
when it comes to sex and relationships.
My main goal was to create a character who
is really influenced by patriarchal norms, but
slowly learns about feminism, and starts
to make decisions based on her and her
pleasure. All too often young women feel like
they have to please men.
I don’t think men come across badly
in the novel. Ellie has Paul as a decent
male friend, who also feels the pressures of
sexual expectations – it shows it isn’t just
a female thing. The main guy, Jack, turns
out to not be exactly what Ellie thought but
I don’t think it’s his fault. The big problem
was Ellie’s desperation to fit in, to be what
society deems normal.
Your novel makes awkward situations
funny. Would you say this perspective
opens up the conversation to talk about
sex openly?
I would love if Virgin inspired more people
to be open about sex. My girl friends and I
are incredibly open with everything in life,
and I honestly don’t know how we would
survive if we didn’t have each other to share
things with. So I think it would be amazing
if the close female friendships in the novel
inspired other people to do that with their
friends.
I also think it’s really important if people
speak to their partners about sex, and what
they want in the bedroom without fear. It
would be great if Virgin can inspire people to
be more up front about that.
— Asal Golshaie
RADHIKA
SANGHANI
Funny, honest and thought provoking,
Virgin is the tale of Ellie, a 21 year
old English Literature student who is
desperate to lose her virginity before
graduation.
Rhadika Sanghani’s debut novel, Virgin,
tackles sex in a modern world with
excruciatingly funny honesty. Quench
Culture caught up with Rhadika to
chat about her inspirations, gender
representations and attitudes to sex
CULTURE
Credits: Martin Hearn
Culture is changing; the
news would have us believe
bookshops are closing,
theatres lie empty and art
galleries use gimmicks to
attract audiences but is this
really the case? Quench
Culture investigates whether
the beloved bookshop is set
to stand the test of time and
the digital age.
CreditsL lilivanili
Credits: Phillip Capper
Credits: Garry Knight
CULTURE
IN
MODERN
TIMES:
BOOKSHOPS
17
THE DEATH
OF THE
BOOKSHOP
The news would have us believe that the bookshop is dead. Libraries are quiet all year except for the week
before deadlines and walking around town it is difficult to spot an independent bookshop. However, all is not as
it seems. Independent bookshop Foyles has just opened a massive shop in Bristol town centre holding 15,000
titles over two floors. Alex Chapman investigates the plight of our local independent bookshops and sees if the
myths are actually a reality.
For many students, there is nothing more enjoyable
than shutting the world out and curling up with a juicy
hardback, to get lost in someone else’s world for a
while. Yet, worrying statistics from the past few years
highlighting the decline in sales of printed books have
hit a nerve. With Christmas around the corner, the offer
of a Kindle as a Christmas gift seems tempting but many
prefer to turn the page and watch the slow progress made
through a novel via the thinning of one side of pages and
the thickening of another. You lose the chance to scribble
on the pages, make notes, highlight your favourite lines; a
bent spine is an indication of a cherished copy.
According to Nielsen BookScan data, book sales
fell by 98 million in 2013, lending to a rise in e-book
consumers and, unsurprisingly, a fall in sales of E.L
James’ record-breaking Fifty Shades of Grey as the craze
slowed (make of that what you will). Aside from this
best-selling anomaly, books are still in an ever-escalating
downfall as the years go by. Borders, a UK retailer which
went into administration in 2009, was where book lovers
spent hours curled up with a new paperback and a hot
chocolate from its café. Many were heartbroken when it
closed down, and have been hunting for another venue to
18
nerd out their reading obsession ever since. So it is nice to
see an independent bookshop, hidden in one of Cardiff’s
arcades, is still standing tall and raking in the business,
around twenty years after it opened its doors.
Troutmark Books (39-43, Castle Arcade) boasts
floor-to-ceiling bookcases teetering with thousands of
books from all genres over three floors, specialising in
FLOOR-TO-CEILING
BOOKCASES TEETERING
WITH THOUSANDS OF
BOOKS FROM ALL GENRES
OVER THREE FLOORS
both first editions and second hand novels. It doesn’t
stop there - venture up to the third floor and find a vast
array of vintage comics, records, annuals and magazines you’ll find you will spend more time in this shop than you
ever intended. Ranging from sci-fi to crime to children’s
and even gardening books, so many volumes are crammed
in that even descending the stairs to the basement floor,
you will find them stacked up underneath the steps. The
beauty of Troutmark’s is that it is basically an instant
Amazon - most books are in good, some even perfect
condition, at a fraction of the cost you would pay in retail
giant Waterstones (and with no delivery price, either).
Even better is if you have a growing pile of last year’s
textbooks at the end of your bed, or collecting dust on a
shelf - Troutmark’s also buy your old books to add to their
enormous collection.
Alternatively, there is Bear Island Book Exchange,
nestled between a sweet shop and a meat and cheese deli
counter, in Cardiff Market. It contains everything from
well-thumbed bestsellers to old-school classics, because
once again, Bear Island buys your books as well as selling
them - and has a mail order service thrown into the mix.
For those (like me) who love antique books, not even
to read, just to look at, they have a healthy selection,
combined with all sorts of novels championing the Welsh
- even if you’d like to learn a phase here and there, there
are beginners books also. Apparently, there are cascading
mountains of Mills & Boon, too. Eat your heart out, Fifty
Shades.
— Alex Chapman
CULTURE
INDEPENDENT
BOOKSHOPS IN
WALES
If you love literature
and fancy getting a
bit more adventurous,
then you can travel the
lengths of the Welsh
borders and discover
some great hidden
gems.
B o o t h ’s
Bookshop
Hay-on-Wye
Literary Festival
For 10 days in May, Wales hosts the biggest literary festival
in the UK. It is a gathering of everyone from comedians and
scientists to poets and novelists, but all these people have
one thing in common; their love of writing. Hay celebrates
writing and the ability to change the way we think. The
festival hopes to use literature to begin a conversation that
has the potential to change society.
It is not just in the UK that the festival is popular,
since the festival was formed in 1987 it has welcomed guests
including Prince Charles, Dame Judy Dench, Stephen Fry
and Toni Morrison. Bill Clinton even referred to the festival
as ‘The Woodstock of the mind’. Hay now hosts events all
over the world from Bangladesh to Lebanon, Mexico to
Hungary. As the festival has grown so much in popularity,
they now also hold a winter event in November and this
year they welcomed Booker Prize-winners Graham Swift and
Eleanor Catton. This shows the intense thirst and interest in
literature and how this interest is growing.
Having this festival on our doorstep is great, even better
if you are a student. Tickets are relatively inexpensive and
better yet, this year they offered students the opportunity to
go to five events for free.
This bookshop is unique in its conception;
tucked away in a small corner in Hay-onWye, Hereford, this bookshop has an amazing
collection of both new and second handbooks.
Oh, and it also has a cinema in a small room
off to the side. This bookshop is surprising
because it is able to blend the forms of reading
and filmmaking: after watching the latest
blockbuster in the intimate 50 seat, vintage
style cinema and you can grab a cappucino in
their café or relax on the sofas and read your
book. It also has a performance space upstairs
which is regularly used for local productions
and visitors. Although it has other functions,
this hideaway is primarily a bookshop where
people who love books can read but also
indulge in some other arts at the same time.
T-Hwnt
Located in Carmarthen, this family affair is run by
four sisters in their twenties and this bookshop is
Welsh. Painted yellow and green to mimic Welsh
national flower the daffodil, the shop stocks
many Welsh titles on everything from poetry to
philosophy to picture books. The interior is bright
and welcoming and the best part is the “cwtch”
in the corner of the shop which is a hidey hole of
pillows which you can sit and while the afternoon
away leafing through your new favourite title.
19
Burt’s Bees Endless Shine Trio Bodycare
Gift Set - £9.99 from John Lewis
Benefit Sweet Tintations Christmas Gift
Set, £19.50 from Boots
These lip glosses from Burt’s Bees are 100%
natural and enriched with apricot wax that
make them mouth-wateringly moisturising
without being sticky. The set contains three
shades (coral, pink and red) and will give your
lips a sheer wash of colour and shiny finish.
Containing two full-sized moisturising tinted
lip balms (worth £14.50 each) and two mini lip
and cheek stains in Benefit’s popular Benetint
and Lollitint formulations, this bang for your
buck gift set is sure to please. Benetint is a rosy
red colour, while Lollitint is candy-orchid shade.
£10
Steam Cream Christmas Star Decoration £7.99 from Debenhams
This award winning moisturiser contains 11
natural ingredients and is
steam infused to allow deep nourishment and
quick absorption. It comes in a stylish aluminum
tin and is suitable for all skin types, including
sensitive skin, so even the fussiest of friends will
appreciate this gem.
£20
GIFTS
FOR
HER
Checked Wool Scarf - £12.99 from H&M
Checked prints are very on trend this season,
with tartan scarves flying off the shelves of
every fashion retailer. This classic red, white and
blue version from H&M is made of 100% wool,
perfect for snuggling up with a hot chocolate on
a cold wintery morning.
— Zenn Wong
Light pink mini satchel - £20 from River
Island
Croc Embossed Leather Bucket Bag in
Navy Blue - £99.99 from Zara
With gold hardware and a vintage-inspired
style, this structured bag will certainly turn
heads by adding a splash of colour to any dull
winter outfit. The pastel pink colour also means
that this bag will see you through to the spring/
summer months. No money-wasting here!
£50
£100
This 100% leather bucket bag embossed with a
crocodile skin pattern will make the fashionsta
in the family a very happy lady. The bag has a
handle and shoulder strap, and is large enough
without being bulky, making it an extremely
practical, yet stylish gift.
12 Days of Christmas Gift Box £49.95 from Lush Cosmetics
With 12 bath products including the
Christmas limited editions, this gift set
from Lush will provide more than 12 days
of pampering. Products include “Honey I
Washed the Kids”, a caramel and honey
soap and “Dashing Santa”, a Satsuma bath
bomb shaped like St Nick himself. After
dancing the night away at the Christmas
parties, a relaxing, soak in the bath would
nurse those twinkle toes back to health in
no time.
20
Jo Malone Cologne Collection £68 from Jo Malone
This set contains five best-selling
fragrances – Lime Basil Mandarin,
Blackberry and Bay, Peony and Blush
Suede, Amber and Lavender, and
Wood Sage and Sea Salt. The scents,
9ml each, can also be layered to form a
unique signature scent - sure to please
even the pickiest of people.
FASHION & BE AUTY
Double Plait Leather Wrap Bracelet £8.50 from Topman
Adidas Originals Classic Backpack - £18
from JD Sports
This black leather look braided bracelet comes
with a magnetic closure for convenience. The
silver clasp gives a subtle industrial look and the
double loop lends some movement while still
retaining its sophistication.
This classic black backpack features a trendy
oversized logo and ample
storage space, lightly padded shoulder straps
and laptop compartment, as well as a large front
pocket for easy access. Practical, easy to clean
and lightweight, this backpack would make an
inventive gift option.
Moroccan Myrrh Shave Cream
50g - £8.00 from Crabtree &
Evelyn
This shaving cream has a moisturising
formula with added vitamin E to
help nourish your skin and ensure
a comfortable and close shave to
avoid unpleasant cuts or irritation.
The scent is exotic and mature,
with traces of myrrh, bergamot,
cardamom and warm amber.
£10
£20
GIFTS
FOR
HIM
Assorted quirky socks, £3.00
for 1 pair or £7.00 for 3 pairs
from Topman
Quirky socks are always fun to
give and receive, and this pair
featuring pandas is cute. Sorry,
we meant manly...very ‘manly.
Calvin Klein CK one Eau de Toilette 50ml £13.50 from Boots
This classic scent is described as naturally fresh
and pure, with fruity top scents including
bergamot and fresh papaya, an aromatic middle
essence including jasmine and nutmeg, and a
warm base scent of musk and amber.
— Zenn Wong
Cade Grooming Collection - £49.50 from
L’Occitane
This best-selling men’s collection features
strengthening and soothing properties of the
wild juniper. The eau de toilette, shower gel,
aftershave balm and pebble soap all have a
woody, spicy scent with a subtle bergamot,
cedar and cade infusion.
£50
£100
Herschel Supply Co. Little America
Backpack in Grey Plaid - £89.99 from
Route One
This unique take on the ever popular backpack,
features a quirky grey, red
and turquoise plaid pattern with Herschel’s
iconic red and white lining. Other features
include a 15-inch laptop compartment,
internal pockets, padded shoulder straps, and a
ventilated and padded back.
Ralph Lauren Big Pony Holster Eau de
Toilette 10ml Gift Set - £34.50 from Boots
This set contains mini versions of all four of
Ralph Lauren’s Big Pony fragrances as well as a
holster. Ralph Lauren Blue is a fresh scent, Red a
spicy scent, Green a crisp scent, and Orange a
unique scent, ensuring that this set will appeal
to a wide range of wearers and compliment a
range of moods.
Fossil Grant Men’s Chronograph Leather
Strap Watch - £95 from John
Lewis
This vintage-inspired watch by Fossil adopts a
classic and simple style. The watch features a
44mm case, cream dial with Roman numerals,
chronograph movement, and a brown leather
strap.
21
MMAA LL LL ZZ EEEE
a Tinder for Fashion
Quench Fashion and Beauty introduces you to technologies newest and savviest app, Mallzee - your very
own portable wardrobe and style guide at the tips of your fingers. Think Tinder with a twist. A whole new
platform of style inspiration, shopping experience and personally tailored style recommendations, what’s not
to love? Words by Adam Steffan Jones, illustration by Stephany Damyanova.
Get those thumbs ready to swipe as there’s one thing in
particular that’s going to be keeping you warm this winter:
that comfy knitwear you found on no other than the new
personal styling app, Mallzee. The Tinder-esque app takes a
new spin on the shopping experience, introducing a simple
yet sleek design that combines social media and your sense
of style as one. Just another tedious fashion-related app, you
might say? Let me convince you otherwise.
The app as a whole is really easy to use: swipe right if
you like the product and then left if it doesn’t quite take your
fancy. Those items that were lucky enough to get a thumbs up
are then saved to the app so you can start building an outfit
together. The app replicates the personal stylist experience,
but instead of paying hundreds of pounds, it allows you to
create your desired look for free. Be always in the know with
the price drop notification which acts as a great way to search
for that chic but cheap garment.
Mallzee is quite literally at hand for every occasion;
whether that being an outfit for a first date or a high street
bargain. The way in which the app brings about its unique
Style Feeds ensure that you never miss out on looking hypercreative and universally individual. The Style Feeds are a new
tool that allows you to generate specific product searches by
specifying colour, price range and desired brand. Mallzee then
creates your style-graph through a mixture of speedy swipes
from the tips of your fingers. The app also offers various
22
recommendations, which you can buy on the app or simply
use as inspiration for future outfits.
Similarly to the TOPSHOP’s personal shopper and
stylist concept, Mallzee becomes your very own personal
fashion guru inside your pocket, introducing over 200 major
brands you might never consider when piecing your outfit
together. These brands range from Urban Outfitters to ASOS,
A NEW PAIR OF SKINNY
JEANS PROBABLY WON’T
STAND YOU UP OUTSIDE
THE PUB ON A RAINY
WEDNESDAY EVENING
therefore, your quest to find that eye-catching dress or musthave blazer as has never been easier.
Still not convinced? There’s more. The Blogger
Showcase is there to help and inspire you with their own
opinion and advice on current fashion trends. Trend of the
week is also a great feature that picks out best sellers, such as
the new blanket jackets that are taking our high street stores
by storm.
What separates Mallzee from other styling apps is that
your friends can see what you’ve liked. Through sharing your
chosen item with them via WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook,
you receive that all-important second opinion from the
people that matter most to you. However, if the majority
of your friends give the item a thumb’s down, Mallzee then
blocks you from purchasing it. So, if you are already addicted
to snatching up bargains on Depop, there’s no longer any
need to feel the financial burn from buying just anything
online because it’s cheap.
Mallzee’s clever way of throwing in your friends’
opinions will ensure that you don’t just buy offensive tat
online, making your purse as well as your wardrobe a lot
happier! Also, for the girls, think of the app as a way of
stopping your boyfriends from buying those God awful shoes
you wish had never left the box last Valentine’s day. The
app tailors for both women and men, so to all the guys out
there, you have no excuses to break those old habits and try
something new this season.
Those of you looking for love on Tinder, ditch the small
talk and awkward dates for great style advice and clothes
from Mallzee. At the end of the day, a new pair of skinny
jeans probably won’t stand you up outside a pub on a rainy
Wednesday evening.
FASHION & BE AUTY
Name: Pip Rule
Age: 19
Studying: Journalism, Media and English Literature
Favourite store: Zara
Current favourite pieces of clothing: Chunky Boots
Fashion Inspiration: Tends to gravitate towards a
monochrome styles and gets day-to-day inspiration
from the people around her.
Name: Louis Browne
Age: 19
Studying: English Literature
Favourite store: American Apparel
Current favourite pieces of clothing: Big chunky clothes
Fashion Inspiration: Gets his inspiration from
magazines and bands as he believes that fashion is
highly manifested within music.
Name: Imogen Philip
Age: 21
Studying: Economics with Spanish
Favourite store: Zara
Current favourite pieces of clothing: Scarves
Fashion Inspiration: Her dressing is mostly dictated by
her mood but she’s inspired by pastel colours.
<Zk]b__Ngbo^klbmrl
Name: Ffion Hopkins
Age: 19
Studying: Fashion Marketing
Favourite store: Miss Selfridge
Current favourite pieces of clothing: Coats
Fashion Inspiration: Inspired by Chanel, lots of colour
and detail and pastel colours.
Name: Simona Daugnoraite
Age: 21
Studying: Psychology
Favourite store: Zara
Current favourite pieces of clothing: Jumpers
Fashion Inspiration: Lana Del Rey and any of the 60’s
fashion trends.
Pictures and words by Chizoba Uzuegbunam and Ana Giraldo
STREETSTYLE DIARIES
23
beauty insider
reviews
Quench Fashion and Beauty know how important
it is to buy the right beauty and skincare products,
and testing each one until you find THE one can
often be a bit of a knock on the bank balance. For
this exact reason, we have asked
some of Cardiff University’s beauty enthusiasts,
Adelle Jones, Vicky Chandler and Sophie Payne,
to shed light on their favourite and most trusted
winter skin care products, sparing you the expense
and bringing you the honest results.
“This product showed
potential to become a
lifesaver after just one
use.”
24
Part 2:
Winter Skincare
It is common knowledge that the harsh,
windy weather can dry out your skin; even
the oiliest of skin loses its ability to maintain
moisture during winter. If like our reviewer,
Sophie, you struggle with particularly dry
skin, you may find that you’ve had trouble
finding a lotion that ticks all the boxes.
During the cold winter months,
moisturising before bed and after showering
becomes all the more essential. This is where
Sophie’s beauty saviour comes in; Dove’s
Limited Edition Winter Care body lotion.
“After previously trying many of their
products I can honestly say this product
showed potential to become a lifesaver after
just one use”. The lotion rubs in extremely
easily and leaves no residue at all, helping you
avoid that feeling of being greasy even when
you’ve just come out of the shower. “I have
noticed my skin is amazingly soft and smooth
even after battling the harshest winter
breezes and it feels exceptionally healthy for
this time of year.”
If you experience more dryness and
roughness to your skin in the winter, Dove’s
lotion is an ideal product for you as it works to
deeply nourish your skin, minimise roughness
and flakiness and replenish the essential oils
that your skin may struggle to uphold during
the colder, dryer days. Sophie says, “I have
noticed in the past with some lotions I have
used in winter that I am constantly reapplying
whenever I have the chance. However, this
product most definitely leaves skin hydrated
throughout the entire day and I have barely
needed to reapply.”
Retailing at £3.99 in most stores, it
may be hard to believe how inexpensive
this product is, considering its quality and
generous size. The amount needed when
applying is minimal and the lotion goes
a long way – perfect for us, students on
a budget. Dove has chosen to make the
product a limited edition which may in fact be
relevant due to the lotion’s rich texture and
consistency as it may not be suitable for the
warmer weather of summer months.
The product contains something which
Dove calls the ‘Care Complex’ which contains
the natural nutrients and oils for skin, though
this could just be marketing jargon. In any
case, the fragrance of the product is beautiful,
it’s clean, extremely pleasant and very long
lasting. The only negative thing our reviewer
Sophie points out is to do with the packaging
– “I wish they had packaged it differently, a
pump instead of the squeeze bottle would be
much more user friendly for a body lotion.”
However, after two weeks of using Dove’s
body lotion, Sophie has reported that her
skin is feeling 100% happier when stepping
out into the cold weather, so for that reason,
it successfully passes our test.
FASHION & BE AUTY
“Dehydration is a state
that all skin types are
prone to, especially
during the winter.”
Another one of our recommended winter
skincare essentials are Nip + Fab’s new
Dragon’s Blood skincare range. It’s a new
range from a great brand that both Kylie
Jenner and Millie Mackintosh admit to
loving. These products help hydrate your skin
and battle against the tough, cold weather
that we’re undoubtedly going to have this
Christmas.
The Fix Pads are filled with salicylic
and hyaluronic acid which deeply cleanse the
pores and the witch hazel it contains helps
to reduce the appearance of imperfections.
They work well as an exfoliator and as part of
your daily morning routine.
The Dragons Blood Fix Mask is an
intensely hydrating gel mask that you can
apply a thick layer of to the face and neck
and leave for ten minutes to restore skin
suppleness and brighten the face. A personal
tip is to put on a thin layer and leave it on
overnight, then wash off in the morning!
The final part of the Dragons Blood trio
range is the Fix Serum, a lightweight serum
that delivers instant moisture to dehydrated
Our second reviewer, Adelle has also
acknowledged that the biggest problem for
our skin in the winter is the combination of
cold, windy weather and dry air from central
heating that can leave your pores more than a
little parched. Of course, moisturiser is vital;
but what you really need is a concentrated
product that works harder than a moisturiser.
Cue the serum.
Dry skin? You need one. Oily skin? You
still need one. Dehydration is a state that
all skin types are prone to, especially during
winter; so even if your skin isn’t looking
typically dry and flaky, its moisture content
might still need a boost. Uneven, bumpy or
rough skin texture, dullness, visible fine lines
or foundation sinking into your skin are all
signs that it lacks hydration.
The Hydraluron serum from Indeed
Laboratories has received rave reviews from
bloggers and skincare gurus alike, and is the
best weapon in my winter skincare arsenal.
Fairly affordable for a serum and no-frills, it
contains a decent dosage of hyaluronic acid.
If the word ‘acid’ is ringing alarm
bells for you, don’t be put off; this skin
enhancing ingredient is naturally produced
by the human body to keep our joints
moving and skin elastic. One molecule can
hold up to 1000 times its weight in water,
and when applied to the skin it functions
as a humectant; drawing moisture from the
environment and helping your thirsty skin
retain its H20 content.
Already a HA devotee? This serum’s
hyaluronic acid has a low molecular weight,
making it able to reach below the skin barrier,
quenching even the lower layers of your skin.
The only downside to this product is
having to resist the temptation to slather
your face in it. A little (pea-sized) blob goes
a long way; with two daily doses before your
moisturiser in the morning and evening, the
tube lasts at least 3 months.
The serum itself is colourless and
fragrance-free (sensitive skinned humans
we’re looking at you), and has a light gel
consistency; not too heavy or rich for oily
skins, and perfect for layering with a rich
moisturiser or oil for dry skins.
Is it really worth the hype? Well,
according to Adelle, it certainly is. “You will
notice real results after a week of regular use,
and I imagine even drier skins than mine will
see a significant improvement. The only way
I can describe the effect this product has on
my normal-ish skin is that it makes it look
juicy; even in the grey, Welsh winter daylight.
The texture is completely transformed; little
bumps and dry patches are gone, and makeup
applies more smoothly.”
Well, it seems to us that this product
ticks all the boxes! Hydraluron is available
from Boots and currently is often part of
money saving deals such as 1/3 off, making
it a price as low as £16.66 for 30ml. That’s
18p a day for beautiful, moisture nourished
winter skin!
skin. It appears to work best under a thick
moisturiser, and it’s fantastic for city folk
who also have environmental aggressors to
battle with such as pollution.
The smell of the Fix Pads isn’t amazing,
but the fruity scent of the serum and mask
makes up for that - it’s lovely. After using
the products for two weeks, our final verdict
from our reviewer Vicky is – “They made a
massive difference to my skin and I would
definitely buy it again. Priced at £34.95 for
all three, they aren’t the cheapest skin care
products out there right now but they really
do work!”
Nip + Fab have just recently been
stocked in St. David’s new Superdrug and it’s
a great place to go and try them out. Based
on our review, it’s ideal for use in the cold
winter months, so whether you want to try
something new for yourself or give them as a
Christmas present to a friend, it’s a trio that
has passed our beauty test and one that we
recommend.
25
CHRISTMAS
1
3
4
2
St. Tropez The Ultimate Self Tan Kit - £25 ASOS - Why can’t we look our best all year
round? For a permanent summer glow we
look to tanning Gods, St. Tropez. Streaky
orange lines have no place here!
Eyeko Skinny Liquid Liner & Skinny Mini
Mascara - £8 - ASOS -≠ All we want for
Christmas is to master the cat-eyed flick in
the way that Eyeko collaborator and it-girl/
goddess Alexa Chung has.
9
10
Stila Colour Outside The Lines - £36 - Fashion
and beauty sensation Zoella is just one of
many who has raved about Stila eyeliners,
and who are we to argue with the leader of
*gasps* six million YouTube subscribers?
Real Techniques Core Collection 1403 £21.99 - Boots - Nothing makes you feel
more in control of your life than owning
a professional make-up brush collection.
These essentials are kindly priced at £21.99.
11
12
Burt Bee’s Essential Kit - £12.99 - John
Lewis - All natural everything. Tough ‘I only
eat organic’ pals - sorted. Contains soap
bark, cleansing cream, hand salve, body
lotion, lip balm and foot lotion.
Benefit Goodies A Go Go Gift Set - £19.50 Set an example by giving someone something
delightfully practical this Christmas. No,
we’re not thinking tool-kit... but we are
thinking make-up tool-kit!
Clinique Power Lashes Set - £20 - John Lewis
- We loooove a Clinique Christmas - we get to
gift our buds - or open for ourselves - makeup magic at a fraction of the price. Clinique
Christmas Gift Sets rule!
19
17
18
Cath Kidston Flora Mini Hand Cream 30ml £3.50 Cath K’s second appearance on this list
and we’re thinking maybe we should just do
a feature on her stock alone. Cute! Stocking
fillers don’t come much more delightful!
26
Urban Decay Shadow Box Eyeshadow, 12
Shades - £22 - We went mad over the Naked3
palette release this time last year, and now
we can obsess over something else.
Too Faced Brow Kit - £35 - Eyebrows frame
the face. Get them wrong, or get ‘Too Faced
Brow Kit’ and get them right. This wax and
gel set with brushes and tweezers is like life’s
number one non-negotiable.
20
GHD Rose Gold Styler & Air Kit - £195 ASOS - Number 1 on our list to Santa - we
want this straighteners and hairdryer combo
in rose gold or we don’t want anything at all!
Well, GHD is the all-time hair champ.
Bliss FatGirlFaves Set - £30 - The ultimate spaexperience in a box: scrubbing, massaging,
and sleeping your way to a cellulite-free state
of body-Goddess-ness in the comfort of your
own home!
FASHION & BE AUTY
BEAUTY HAMPER
5
8
7
6
SensatioNail Deluxe Starter Kit - £50 Boots - Hurry and get your hands on this gel
nails starter kit. No need to fuss over salon
appointments if you have this polish and
lamp set in your (perfectly polished) claws.
Eyelure New York Lash Eye Wardrobe - £12
- Topshop - Our most loved false eyelash
brand has us covered for our Boxing Day
bash and New Year’s Eve.
Sleep-in Glitter Rollers £22.39 - Argos - If
you want to let someone know you love them
this Christmas, treat them to celeb-favourite
‘Sleep-in Rollers’.
Clinique Whole Lotta Chubby Gift Set - £20
- House of Fraser - So, we’ve had Clinique’s
Chubby Sticks as our number one for years,
and now, Clinique have given us four in the
most darling make-up pouch!
14
13
16
15
Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream EDT Christmas
Gift Set 50ml - £53.50 - The Perfume Shop
- A charming variation of the ‘Daisy’ lot, this
scent brings to mind unicorns, candy-canes,
an exotic beach date with David Gandy.
Essie Lux Duo A Cut Above - £13 - Base
coat + glitter top = diamond sparkly fingers.
What part of that doesn’t sound like every
girl’s dream?
Cath Kidston Flora Pink Geranium Scented
Soap Trip - £10 - Okay, let’s admit...we would
buy Cath Kidston products just to keep the
packaging; it’s that adorbz.
Percy & Reed Voluptuous Volume Totally
Tempting Treat Pack - £15 - THE greatest
hair-care products out there, and the best
way to impress a first-time visitor doing the
customary snoop of your bathroom shelves.
22
21
24
23
Yes To Cucumbers Face Mask - £10 - Hell yes
to anything that will give us a pretty glow.
Models Own HyperGel Trio
Christmas Gift Set - £8.
Now let others treat you on this day...
25
Soap & Glory Clean Get Away £10 - Boots
Matte Lip Bullet in Could This Be Love - £8 Topshop - for the perfect Kylie Jenner pout!
Merry Christmas from the F&B team!
27
Credit:Otto Schlappack
Credit:Carsten Pescht
THE BEST
CHRISTMAS MARKETS
Vilnius’ Christmas market traditions are still fairly
new, with the first market in the Town Hall Square
being held in 2009. This year, head to the square to
sample Christmas foods and see all the wondrous
performances. Vilnius is easy to get to with the cheap
tickets Ryanair offer from Bristol to Kaunas, which is
an hour from the capital Vilnius. Another reason you
should go is because this is the last chance for you to
see and use the Lithuanian currency, litas, before the
euro will be introduced on 1 January 2015. Lithuania
is also a very cheap country for Westerners and it
can almost be guaranteed there will be snow for an
authentic feeling of Christmas. There will be a huge,
towering Christmas tree in Town Hall Square and the
international Christmas Charity Fair where you can
buy all kinds of Christmas hand-made souvenirs made
by employees of embassies and foreign ambassadors
currently staying in Lithuania. Cathedral Square will
feature a 25-metre tall Christmas tree with flashing
LED lights and decorations, as well as the lighting show
featuring foreign artists and fireworks. A seasonal
Christmas town is going to be built this year where
hand-made glass products, jewelry, pottery and other
traditional Lithuanian art can be purchased. In terms of
food, one can expect internationally recognized classics
like mulled wine and gingerbreads, as well as authentic
Lithuanian food like cepelinai, a type of dumpling made
from potatoes. What is perhaps the most interesting
attraction, despite being slightly reminiscent of CocaCola’s Christmas adverts, is the Christmas train. All
Vilnius Old Town visitors can have a chance to ride it!
28
Credit: Graeme Maclean
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND
Credit: Gary Bembridge
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
Credit: Eugenijus Radlinskas
VILNIUS, LITHUANIA
A two-kilometre long Christmas market, with around
240 stalls resembling gingerbread houses all the way
through the capital of a country claiming to have more
than 1,000 types of beer should leave no one bored.
The Grand Place UNESCO World Heritage Site holds a
sound and light show that lights up the dark skies of
cold winter, while just around the corner the ice rink,
a Big Wheel, roundabouts and marching bands can be
found. Additionally, this year for the first time a small
skating rink will be put up to please all the little ones.
Free performances and ice sculptures, including the ice
dinosaur monster, are also part of the whole event. There
are many mouth-watering Belgian specialties to taste
like croustillons (doughnuts), caricoles (winkles in spicy
sauce) and, of course, chocolates. The market even has a
name: Winter Wonders, and is located in the marvelous
Place Sainte Catherine. The multinational heritage is
reflected in the architecture and once everything has
been illuminated with Christmas lights, it looks simply
magical. If it’s Christmas presents you’re looking for,
you can easily find them in Brussels because over the
festive period of five weeks, all the shops will be open
on weekends. Traditionally, there is a guest of honour
(a city or a country) at Place Sainte Catherine to show
its gastronomy, music and pottery. In the middle of
December, the Festival of Ice & Snow Sculptures starts
and runs until February, which is one more reason to
visit Brussels during Christmas time. Last year Winter
Wonders was voted as the third best Christmas market
in Europe. With the help of Megabus, you can get return
tickets from Cardiff to Brussels for £50 and discover the
illuminated fairyland for yourself.
Whilst quite small in comparison to its counterparts,
the Christmassy village of rustic cabins and stalls
on Argyle Street still has all the traditional artisan
products such as mulled wine and fresh food on offer
from hog roast to French crepes. Usually the market
takes place on St Enoch Square but due to the squares
subway entrances being refurbished, the market
had to move from its traditional place. Nonetheless,
the location of the market, which is just next to the
St Enoch's Shopping Centre, makes it particularly
attractive for all shopping lovers. The spirit of
Christmas in the market is very international, with
traders from places like Russia, Ecuador and even
Lapland, as well as closer countries in Europe, such as
Italy and Germany. As a result, a wide range of goods
is on offer, with the Meats of the World stall having
palatable exotic meats including wild boar, venison,
springbok, kangaroo and even ostrich! Scotland's
largest outdoor ice rink welcomes all visitors to move a
little after indulging in a Bratwurst or Marzipan. One
could argue that the market is heavily food-oriented
with the huge selection of German foods, but if wellprepared, succulent food is what you're after, Glasgow
market should be your next foodie destination. It is a
seven and a half hour journey from Cardiff and costs a
mere £15 by bus.
—Ingrida Kurlinkutė
TRAVEL
Credit:LenDog64
Credit:Michael Caven
AROUND THE WORLD
The nearest and quaintest Christmas market to
Cardiff, open from the 27 November until 14
December, will provide a perfect weekend away before
heading home for the Christmas break! The streets of
the beautiful spa town, aglow with Christmas lights,
are lined with wooden chalets stocked with unique
gifts, decorations and traditional British Christmas
food and drink to warm oneself on a crisp winters
day! If home baked mince pies with brandy butter
don’t tickle your taste buds, why not try a local Severn
brewed cider or a glass of mulled wine? If you tend to
struggle finding the perfect Christmas gifts for him,
her, friends or family, it’s definitely worth having a
potter around Bath. They really cater for every need
with such a huge variety of gifts, ranging from ‘The
chilli alchemist’ to ‘The wooden tie company’ to
‘The stencil shed’ – which has been inspired by local
street-artist legend, Banksy. This Christmas market
is really special as they promote local businesses such
as ‘Somerset lavender’, ‘The Welsh slate company’,
‘the silver shed’ and ‘the Wiltshire beekeeper’ too.
With such a wide variety, there’s something for
every taste (some very obscure) and every budget,
with beautiful hand crafted gifts and local produce
you will struggle to find elsewhere! To add to the
festive ambiance, Bath Abbey is located in the heart
of the Christmas market, so one can always hear the
sound of carol singers or musicians drifting through
the centre of Bath during the festive period.
STRASBOURG, FRANCE
Credit: Tsteenbergen
Credit: Francois Schnell
BERLIN, GERMANY
Credit: Heather Cowper
BATH, ENGLAND
The Germans are renowned for their Christmas
markets, so where better to go than their capital,
Berlin. Here, there is not just one market but over
50 Christmas markets each year, which begin on 24
November and continue until 31 December. Berlin is
transformed into a winter wonderland; it is impossible
to miss the Christmas festivities with markets spread
along the grand boulevards, through squares and
even into the smallest side streets. The market at
Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche is the biggest and
most popular, people travel far and wide to peruse
the jewelry, decorations and artwork. Expect an array
of smells from your traditional German Christmas
markets: aromas of hot chestnuts, weisswurst (grilled
sausages) and glühwien. The beauty of the German
Christmas markets is that they transport you to the
traditional, romanticism of Christmas, rather than the
tacky, mass-produced and commercialised version that
we see so often. It would be rude to wander the streets
of Berlin in the early evening without enjoying a glass
or two of their deliciously aromatic glühwien to warm
yourself up alongside a weihnactsplätzchen (Christmas
cookies), a piece of Christstollen (a German fruitcake)
or a piece of Pfefferkuchenhaus (one of Germany’s
oldest Christmas traditions, the gingerbread cake).
Strasbourg is home to one of the largest and longest
running ‘Christkindelsmärik’ (Christmas market)
in Europe and has been so popular that it has
been named ‘the Capital of Christmas’, bringing
approximately two million visitors a year between
28 November and 31 December. This market is
famous for its authenticity and fine quality of
merchandise, with hundreds of Alsatian Christmas
huts selling little surprises and treasures, all very
traditionally French. The market is separated into ‘7
countries, 7 atmospheres’, so there is something for
each and everyone of you: the land of taste, the land
of mysteries, the land of light, the land of Christmas
stars, the land of Christmas gatherings, the land
of songs and fine fabrics and of course, the land of
Christmas trees! The streets of Strasbourg are filled
with orchestras, choirs and gospel music during
this period and the Christmas tree is the focal
point for all tourists as it towers up as high as 32.5
metres high. Strasbourg Christmas market prides
itself on sharing and generosity, there are over 80
humanitarian charities that collect donations, toys,
food and gifts for those in need, with the hope
of brightening as many Christmas’ as possible.
Strasbourg has been said to be an unforgettable
Christmas experience for the whole family, and the
children’s village has been said to ‘make children’s
eyes shine’. As with every country, the French have
a collection of Christmas spiced delicacies, the main
one being a sweet biscuit called ‘Bredle’, which can
be found in numerous different flavours including
butterbredle, anisbredle, schwowebredle (almonds
and golden egg glaze), spritzbredle, lebkuchen,
leckerli and springerle. Baking bredle is for the
whole family, not only are they delicious but as they
are colourful they’re also used as decorations on the
Christmas tree. When in Strasbourg, it would be a
shame to not try their famous Christmas beer as
well.
—Lucy Pierce
29
NEW YEAR’S
EVE
...on a budget
Help, Newquay
Newquay is the party capital of the shores. In the
summer it’s a surfing haven and in the winter, clubbing
central. At the harbour, fireworks will be going off for
thirty minutes at midnight and an age-old tradition
of fancy dress consumes the streets in Central Square.
Help (don’t read into the name) nightclub is the place
to be at midnight as the fireworks kick off, onlookers
outside are hosed with fake snow and most other
bars and restaurants clamour to offer the best deals
on booze and food. Another dual offer with a party
package at just £10, these tickets offer queue jump
and entrance to Help and Salt Club, another favourite
on the strip.
30
Garlands, Liverpool
Championing the North is Liverpool’s very own
Garlands. With five enormous rooms catering to
different types of music, this New Year’s special is an
all-white party and goes on until 6am. The ceilings are
starlit, with UV lights and snow everywhere. If you
plan to watch fireworks somewhere else at midnight
(the Albert Dock has fantastic views of the Liver Bird
buildings), last entries are up until 4am. If staying
in the city centre proves too expensive, surrounding
boroughs offer cheaper hotels and hostels- try
Booking.com for individual B&Bs, where some private
overnighters even offer pick ups from town included
in the cost.
Edinburgh
Cardiff Winter Wonderland
Scotland’s New Year Hogmanay celebrations prove
to be an absolute corker, promising a three-day
extravaganza including street parties, concerts,
torch lit processions and ceilidhs (traditional Gaelic
folk dances). This year’s headliner at the Concert in
the Gardens is Lily Allen, who will be followed by a
firework display from Edinburgh Castle. More acts
are yet to be confirmed, but past performers have
included The Vaccines, Friendly Fires, Mark Ronson
and Chvrches. At the end of the night, Edinburgh
bus services will be offering free lifts home all over
the city, ensuring you don’t waste your cash on taxis,
and the entire event will be televised live, all over the
world. The street party tickets are a respectable £20
and even cheaper if you have a Scottish friend who is
living in Edinburgh’s main streets as they’re reduced
to £16.
Of course, starting where our heart is, Cardiff offers
an amazing night at its Winter Wonderland. There’s
ice-skating until midnight, a miniature Alpine village,
fairground rides and a glorious firework display when
the clock tolls twelve. If you want to venture into
town, there is a Party Pass package available to buy
for £18, which gives all-night access to Tiger-Tiger,
Missoula and Walkabout. Bookings can be taken all
the way up to 2pm on New Year’s Eve, and if you can
stay in your student accommodation, you can afford
to splash out on a few extra jagerbombs.
Newcastle
Home of the Geordies, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne has a
massive line-up for the New Year, starting as early as
5pm, and has no clear ending (naturally). Still in the
festive spirit, The Winter Carnival Parade makes its
way through the city, ending at the Civic Centre, with
early 6pm fireworks for families with young children.
The main event, the firework display at midnight,
kicks off over the iconic Tyne Bridge. For something
different, try the 007 James Bond themed fancy dress
party in NE6 Suite. Guests will be greeting by Bond
Girls, casino tables will be in full swing and martinis
will definitely be on the menu. Without food, tickets
are just £6 but if you want to go the whole hog and
have food included, tickets are still only a mere £20.
— Alex Chapman
TRAVEL
A L T E R N A T I V E
WINTER SPORTS
Dog sledding:
Feel the refreshing air rush against your cheeks and
prepare to look majestic as a pack of huskies tow you
at speed. Being able to soar through the snow covered
lands while admiring nature at the speed it was created
to be appreciated at, it’s no doubt that dog sledding
has attracted plenty of tourists across Scandinavia. It’s
a widespread sport in the Arctic regions of the United
States, Canada, Russia and some European countries
and there’s even timed competitions such as sprints and
long distance races. While dog sledding might seem like
a fancy nature excursion, don’t be fooled into thinking
that it’s all about appreciating nature. There will be a
guaranteed workout and you will need to maneuver your
loyal pack and traverse through countless windy paths.
Expect sore arms in the morning!
The winter wonderland season is upon us once again and for many sport enthusiasts, skiing seems to be
Kat Pooprasert explores the weird and wonderful
Ice Climbing:
This sport involves ascending inclined ice formations
such as icefalls, frozen waterfalls and frozen cliffs.
It’s actually simpler than it sounds; all you do is wear
protective and official looking gear, then engage
your glutes, core and all those leg muscles in a pretty
intense workout. When ice climbing, a climber chooses
equipment according to the slope and texture of ice.
For example, on a flat ice, almost any good hiking shoe
would suffice, but for serious climbing, double plastic
mountaineering boots (think Mount Everest gear) would
be used to help maintain ankle support. For longer and
steeper slopes, crampons are used for safe climbing and
in all scenarios, special rope systems, tying in, leading
and belaying techniques are used to ensure safety.
Tobogganing:
Boarding a toboggan will surely send you whirling down memory
lane, back to the good ol’ days when you and your friends
would squeeze together into your magical pretend-ship, and fly
down hills at a million miles per second (or so it seemed at the
time). Whilst you might like to pretend that the toboggan is a
spaceship, a perfect weapon of choice to conquer the world with,
it’s simply a wooden or plastic sled and is in fact, a traditional
form of transport used by the Innu and Cree of northern Canada.
A toboggan is often used to carry one or more people, often
children, down a steep slope, and this action can be repeated
again and again until your hearts content. Almost all ski resorts
worldwide offer tobogganing and there’s certainly no shame in
boarding these vehicles again, even if you’ll most likely be the
only adult amongst a hoard of little people..
Snowkiting:
Snowkiting can be summed up in three simple words: kiteboarding on steroids.
If having to plant your feet firmly on the ground seems oh-so-boring, give
snowkiting a go. In this bizarre sport, you use the kite as your power source and
resisting its pull, the power is transmitted to your body. It’s similar to waterbased kiteboarding, but participants wear footwear used in snowboarding or
skiing, and elegantly ninja-glide over the ice (disclaimer: appearance may vary
depending on level of expertise). In the earlier days of snowkiting, foil kites were
most commonly used, whilst nowadays many kite boarders prefer inflatable
kites. Snowkiting is rapidly creeping into the mainstream consciousness in
places such as Russia, Canada, Iceland, France and Austria as well as Sweden,
Norway and Northern and Central United States.
Ice Swimming:
What’s a better way to celebrate the numbingly cold season than to
fully embrace it (quite literally) by immersing yourself in a chilling
body of water? This is your instant access to join the tough breed
of swimmers with more-than-human and quite clearly, biologicaldefying capabilities. Ice swimming is what the name says: swimming in
outdoor locations or in unheated pools or lidos. There are competitions
globally with strict rules and regulations. The International Ice
Swimming Association (yes, such thing exists), requires that the water
is colder than 5°C, and typically the water can get as cold as 0°C. In
Eastern Europe and Russia, ice swimming is part of the celebration of
Epiphany, a Christian holiday, while in many other countries it purely
serves ‘recreational’ purposes. Many ice swimmers swim with standard
swimming costumes, rather than protective gears such as wetsuits or
other thermal protection, because where’s the fun when you can’t feel
your internal organs slowly freezing? Ice swimming is also a tradition
in the UK, and famous locations include the Serpentine Lake in Hyde
Park, and Highgate Ponds in Hampstead, with races taking place all
year, including Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
31
NEW/
NEWYDD
Whilst Bono recovers from a nasty accident
and Band Aid 30 hits the shelves, we pick out
some of the most promising new artists to look
out for this month
Carneyval
Willow Smith has been getting a lot of attention recently. Whether it’s her sweet,
sweet style or equally enticing voice, there’s
always something flagging her up for comment. This time, though, it’s not about Willow. This time it’s about Carneyval. The 20
year old producer, otherwise known as William Carney, has put his magic touch on the
youngest Smith’s King Krule cover, and my
God, was he right to do so; a glistening example of indie turned pure pop, ‘Easy Easy’
shows Carneyval at his best. With efforts in
funk and dance also firmly under his belt,
this multi-faceted musician has something
for everyone.
For Fans Of: Everything; you can’t not like
Carneyval.
Download: Willow Smith & King Krule –
‘Easy Easy (Carneyval Remix)’
soundcloud.com/carneyvalmusic
@carneyval
thestand4rd
Meet thestand4rd: Spooky Black, Psymun,
Bobby Raps and Allan Kingdom. All brilliant in their own right, this recent project from the St. Paul, Minnesota natives is
exactly what you’d expect. Building beautifully crafted bridges between RnB and
hip-hop, thestand4rd combine daydreamy
synths and hypnotizing verse in an amalgamation of all their best individual endeavors. Clearly practiced at what they do
and showing off the ability to flit between
genres with ease, thestand4rd are not to be
taken lightly.
For Fans Of: SZA, The Weeknd
Download: ‘Binoculars’
soundcloud.com/thestand4rd
@thestand4rd
32
PALMISTRY
There’s something incredibly appealing about
PC music and PALMISTRY has got it spot on.
From swooning vocals dripping in distortion
to blipping synth lines, this London-based
producer comes bearing a musical escape
you won’t be able to turn down. With a fulllength debut album knocking around on
Soundcloud there’s ample to get your teeth
stuck into and by the time you reach track
nine, it becomes clear that there’s going to be
a hell of a lot more to come as well.
For Fans Of: Hannah Diamond, Oneohtrix
Point Never
Download: ‘DROPdrip’
soundcloud.com/palmistry
@Palmistrybeats
Bruising
Enigmatic gets thrown around a lot when
talking about new music. Who are they?
Where did they come from? How are they
so bloody good? Similarly, we know very
little about Bruising; we don’t even know
how many of them there are. What we do
know, however, is that their gritty offering
of shoegazey pop is just what we need
right now. With only one song available for
listening, they’re certainly pulling off the
whole ambiguous vibe - Bruising, we await
your next move.
For Fans Of: Wolf Alice, Honeyblood
Download: ‘Honey;
soundcloud.com/bruising
@BruisingMusic
A SPOT OF
TROUBLE
We weigh in on the Spotify debate;
was Taylor Swift right to take her music
streaming service?
“
Music is art, and art is important and rare. Important,
rare things are valuable.
Valuable things should be
paid for.
”
C
ountry star turned pop giant Taylor
Swift reached the coveted platinum
mark for her newest album, 1989.
Selling nearly 1.3 million copies in the first
week, the album is expected to have the
largest first week sales since Eminem sold
1.3 million copies of The Eminem Show way
back in 2002. This album could be one of
the most important albums for a slightly
downtrodden music industry in quite some
time, and not just because of the amount of
copies that it’s sold; Taylor Swift’s handling
of 1989’s release is an interesting insight
into the way that the music industry feels
about its future, for a number of different
reasons.
Taylor’s milestone has garnered a lot
of media attention recently and not because
it’s a large amount of copies to sell. Swift
should be congratulated for selling so many
in such a short amount of time; 1989 is the
first album of 2014 to reach this milestone.
In 2012, Taylor Swift released Red, which
went on to sell 3 million copies, and in 2013,
One Direction’s Midnight Memories sold 4
million – all figures that add up to portray
an industry experiencing a steady decline.
The RIAA (Recording Industry of America)
puts out a list of the top selling albums of
34
the year,
where the top
ten will all be platinum
certified. In 2013, the tenth
best selling album of the year was
Beyoncé’s self titled album, which sold an
extraordinary 2.3 million copies in the last
13 days of 2013. Compare this to the second best selling album of the 2014 so far,
Coldplay’s Ghost Stories, racking up only
383,000 copies sold, the problems of the
industry are really fleshed out.
Many industry experts attribute this
concerning amount of sales to the new popularity of music streaming websites, namely
Spotify and Pandora. The way in which the
average music listener now gets their fix of
their favourite artists and new releases has
been completely revamped by these, driving
home the way many music lovers are calling the modern era the start of the ‘death
of the full length album’. It’s the singles
that are garnering the majority of attention
leaving it clear why this trend is occurring;
in an era where it’s extremely easy to press
a few buttons and listen to whatever takes
your fancy, it’s understandable that many
people don’t feel they have to plod through
filler tracks to get to the beloved singles.
With 60 songs that selling over one million
copies this year - Pharrell William’s ‘Happy’
selling the most with 1.65 million copies compared to the singular album that has
reached the same heights, it’s clear that the
outlook for the future isn’t too great. So
much so, that Spotify
is now able to boast revenue that is 13% higher than
that of iTunes.
Yet, Taylor Swift has taken a
slightly different approach than the average pop star with her most recent release.
Not only has she put an emphasis on the
physical copies of her album, she has also
somewhat started a beef between herself
and Spotify, potentially paving the way
for many other artists to follow her. Even
though it would be logical for Swift to release the album on as many different platforms as possible in order get the greatest
amount of coverage and plays, she has decided to not release it on Spotify. This is
a tactic that she employed in 2012 for her
album Red, eventually putting it back onto
the site shortly after. But this time, she’s
gone one step further; Taylor has even
has gone so far as to completely remove
her entire discography from the streaming website. This may be seen as a blow to
what Taylor Swift could have potentially
earned from such a hyped up and eagerly
anticipated album, but it could be almost
as damning to Spotify as it is to her. Before
the release and subsequent snub of Spotify
with this release, Taylor Swift, the global
superstar that she is, was one of Spotify’s
most popular artists with 16 million subscribers listening to a Taylor Swift song in
the month of October. The CEO of Spotify,
Daniel Ek, claimed in a recent blog post that
Taylor Swift could expect to earn $6 million
a year from Spotify streams, whilst also
pointing to others such as Daft Punk and
Ed Sheeran, both artists extremely popular
on Spotify but also benefitting from album
sales.
However, it is this potential revenue
that Swift has critiqued in the past. Each
time a song is played on Spotify, the artist
receives royalties of between $0.006 and
$0.0084. Swift, along with other major artists such as Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and
The Black Keys, have all been vocal about
!"#
$
%
MUSIC
their views on the subject, with both Yorke
and the Black Keys also having previously
removed albums of from the system due to
arguments involving these royalty figures.
Swift even went as far as to write an article for the Wall Street Journal concerning
this, where she argued that the amount of
money is effectively nothing compared to
what an artist should be getting paid for
their work, and stated that;
“Music is art, and art is important and
rare. Important, rare things are valuable.
Valuable things should be paid for. It’s my
opinion that music should not be free, and
my prediction is that individual artists and
their labels will someday decide what an
album’s price point is. I hope they don’t underestimate themselves or undervalue their
art.”
Spotify claim that they are paying
out a fair amount of royalties to the artists,
with 70% of their revenue going back to the
artists, which adds up to $1 billion. Yet,
musicians have argued that this revenue
does not directly benefit artists; instead, it
goes straight into the pockets of music labels and the managers of these artists.
Taylor’s refusal has also carved out
a way for her to gain a fairer revenue from
her music, something she, and many other
artists, believe she deserves. Swift has put
a lot of work into the actual physical copies of 1989, especially the CDs. Within the
CDs, there are extensive linear notes along
with voice memos and 13 exclusive polaroid-looking photo prints that are exclusive
to the CD copies only. Whilst the CD business is by no means a small one, this is the
kind of promotion that’s sure to rejuvenate
a format under attack from the easily available music online and a culture that does
not put a premium on the physical copies of
music. This kind of extra content is sure to
entice many a hardcore fan of hers, and the
&
'
figures have clearly shown that this technique has worked; of the 1.2 million copies
that were sold in the first week, over half of
these have been from CD sales.
These kinds of CD sales are quite extraordinary for the modern day, where music downloads have sped past them as being
the most popular way to purchase and own
music. The sales figures have posed a new,
but rather familiar question for music producers, music labels and music consumers
alike: is the CD of the past now the future?
While Taylor Swift’s venture into this new
way of selling her music has turned out to
be a way that has potentially benefitted
her, her case is an anomaly and shouldn’t be
taken on board by too many others artists.
When you have an established and loyal fan
base like Taylor Swift’s, it’s hardly a risk to
take away this music from services that are
so well known and widely used, such as Spotify. But, if a band that has a significantly
smaller following than Swift’s is thinking
of taking a similar route with their album
release, it is likely a risk that is too large to
take. While Spotify has been critiqued for
unfair royalties, it cannot be argued that it
is a service that has helped many up-andcoming bands get a foothold in the music
industry and start to establish a following,
as well as helping give fans the ability to lis-
ten to their albums before purchasing them
in other forms. So, while it is likely that
Spotify will continue to dominate within
the music industry, Taylor Swift’s outburst
and distancing from Spotify may tempt
many other artists like herself, who are able
to absorb the potential losses of consumers
streaming their albums, but ultimately this
course of action probably won’t be a regular feature for many artists into the near
future.
The problem with Spotify and other
music streaming websites in the same vein
is that they are not completely transparent
in their handling of royalties. Although it
may seem difficult to sympathise with large
music corporations and artists that earn
sizable amounts of money, the problem, it
seems, with music streaming websites, is
that they legitimize the thought that music
is a product which should be free. If their
way of thinking becomes fully accepted in
society, the downfall of the whole music industry is likely to follow straight after.
— Jack Boyce
35
SUPERFOOD
Q
We chat to Superfood and
Honeyblood about the 1990s,
being the ‘ones to watch’ and
exactly what they think about
music magazines
Words: Charlie Mock
“W
e didn’t take it very seriously, we were quite bored
at the time.” It seems a
pretty devil may care attitude, the way
Ryan Malcom - guitarist of Superfood speaks of his early days in the band. “We
actually booked a gig before we had any
songs,” he continues, “we kind of just
thrashed out four songs so that we could
play the show.” Cavalier and carefree
spring to mind, but, chatting amongst the
hustle and bustle of the UK’s biggest music magazine’s radar tour, it becomes clear
that the whole doing-a-band-thing wasn’t
quite so off the cuff as it may sound.
Ryan sits with Superfood comrade
and drummer Carl as the stream of fans
flows steadily behind them. “The shit two
[of the band],” they brand themselves,
chuckling, before launching eagerly into a
discussion about their debut album; Don’t
Say That was officially released just under
a month ago. “We’re really proud of the
album.” Ryan looks over at Carl; “we put
so much work in before hand, saw it progress and develop and [now] we’re really
focused on getting the live shows up to
scratch.” There’s an air of integrity in the
way they talk, bouncing off one another’s
sentiments, and when it comes to “it was
just what came out naturally,” you can’t
help but believe them. “We’ve always
made a conscious decision not to let [the
36
“We booked a gig
before we had any
songs”
press] have an influence over what we’re
writing,” they explain, a mantra easier
said than put into practice when picked
up so early on by covetous music publications staking their claim on the next big
thing. “Having people watching you and
watching what songs you’re going to put
out there does play a part [in the writing
process]” Ryan admits, but it’s something
the Midlands quartet have tried to give a
wide-berth. “It’s the worst position to be
in when you’re writing music and you’re
writing with the intention of impressing
people.”
Impressing people isn’t something they needed to be worrying about,
though. Don’t Say That shot straight
into the good books of fans and writers
alike, its addictive hooks and 90s throwbacks satisfying all those who fell into its
grasps. Drawing comparisons to all the
Britpop greats, Don’t Say That has more
What’s it like being on a tour
supported by one of the most popular
music magazines in the UK?
S tina (Honeyblood): To be honest,
from day to day it’s just like any other
tour! The things I have noticed that are
different are the crowds. The people coming to these shows have been great fun!
They’ve wanted to dance about and sing,
and even crowd surf at some of the crazier gigs! When a crowd is like that, I love
every minute of the show.
Ryan (Superfood): There’s been a lot of
work put into the shows promotion-wise.
It’s always a bit daunting when you play
a show and you don’t know if there’s only
going to be like, five people in the room.
It’s nice to know that there’s definitely
gonna be a crowd!
than put the band in good stead for the
coming months, but “they’re my favourite
band from the 90s” harks not to Blur or
Oasis as you might expect. Instead, Carl
has other ideas: “We should sound more
like Steps I think,” he smirks, reminiscing on being caught revisiting Steps’ Gold:
Greatest Hits on a recent trip to Berlin.
Despite the recent release, there’s
an air of confidence that surrounds future work. “There’s always new material
that we’ve got in our sights,” Ryan ensures, detailing hopes of recording ideas
throughout the tour. For now though, it’s
enjoying the fallout of the debut they’ve
worked so hard to put out that’s the priority, and do you know what? We don’t
bloody blame them. —CM
What has your experience of the
music cycle been like over the last
couple of years? With the inf luence
of the Internet, it’s a lot easier for
artists to get music out there… Have
you noticed things moving quicker
than you expected?
Ryan (Superfood): There’s been a
steady progression with us, even in our
live shows. Our last headline tour was to
about 20 or 30 people a night.
Stina (Honeyblood): We have been
lucky; although the Internet really gave
us a big push when we weren’t ready for
it, our label FatCat have given us time
to develop. I think the Internet has advanced music listening so it can’t be
bad! But there are more eyes on the artist now… With Instagram and Twitter,
you’re posting about your life to people,
and it can get quite personal. Gone are
they days when bands were enigmatic!
MUSIC
&
A
HONEYBLOOD
(&
)
anyone can
)
)
*+
Do you think music publications
have become too interested in
ensuring they’re ahead of the up and
coming music nowadays? Words like
‘Buzz Band’ and ‘Ones To Watch’ get
thrown around a lot; can this have
an adverse effect on how people consume music?
Ryan (Superfood): Do you know what?
I think it might be the other way around.
I think it’s normal for the music press to
try and jump on a new band, but I think a
lot of new bands try to milk that. If they
get a bit of hype then they try to go all
out and take advantage of that rather
than develop naturally as a band. You see
a lot of bands start fast then burn out
and by that point, they’ve put everything
out there.
Stina (Honeyblood): I think terms like
‘Ones To Watch’ are for the bands who
are different to their scene in some way,
and that makes them get attention. But
mostly, when I read these terms and the
bands they are quoting, I’ve seen the acts
at festivals or heard their music already;
they’ve been working hard to get noticed
like that.
Ryan (Superfood): People will [always]
dispose of a band if the next hype band
comes along. It’s good to have the kind
of people that will stick with you through
thick and thin and not move on when a
new trendy band comes along, with better hairstyles…
T
here’s little left of the 1990s that
Buzzfeed haven’t got their mucky
paws on; breeding sentimentality and nostalgia is, after all, what they
do best. But back in 2013, a year after
Glaswegian lo-fi indie-pop duo, Honeyblood, first started making waves on the
scene, a somewhat unexpected throwback
list encroached on the World Wide Web.
Their article “Here’s Why The Riot Grrrl
Movement Will Always Be Empowering”
seems a fairly left-field rambling for a site
more concerned with telling you which
Friends character you’re most like, but
perhaps they’d picked up on something
worthwhile this time. “They were my role
models as a teenager,” lead singer and allround girl power advocate Stina Tweeddale explains, speaking of the artists behind one of decade’s most vocal subcultures. Characterised by a DIY attitude and
fanzines galore, the riot grrrl movement
stood up for female-kind worldwide with
an influence still felt nearly twenty years
down the line; it’s 2014 and Honeyblood
are part of a resurgence.
“The biggest compliment is if someone references a [riot grrrl] influence that
is very close to my heart; it makes me feel
that I’m putting across the right ideas,”
Stina goes on to say. For Honeyblood, it’s
the ideas that ground the music; grassroots ethics and honesty in both principal and production. “I don’t think anyone
can successfully set out to make music in
a certain way without making it artificial,” Stina ventures, thinking about their
original aims as musicians.
It’s the authenticity of Honeyblood’s debut self-titled release that has
earned them a place in Rough Trade’s
Top 20 Albums of 2014 and the hearts of
many, a series of events that still seem
phenomenal to the rising duo. “I couldn’t
be more thrilled about the reception the
album has received,” Stina enthuses. “It
makes me proud to hear that people enjoy
it; it makes me think we did a good job by
the people who like the band.”
And they have; Honeyblood went
down a storm, leaving only the future
open for discussion. With a support slot
for Catfish and the Bottlemen lined up,
along with more writing and recording,
Stina and drummer Shona aren’t letting
up anytime soon. For Honeyblood, 2015
is shaping up to be – in their words “really exciting.” —CM
37
MU S I C
REVIE W S
We review the new albums from One Direction,
Savages and Bo Ningen, Parkay Quarts and
Foo Fighters, and shows from New Found
Glory, The Kooks and The Gaslight Anthem
THE KOOKS
The Great Hall, November 22nd
Motorpoint Arena, November 22nd
On a night where they have to compete with the Welsh rugby
team for punters, there’s a worry that The Gaslight Anthem could
play one of their largest shows ever to a half-full room.
Indeed, during Bayside’s angst-punk opening set, the
throng is barely ten deep, with many electing for the seating at the
very back of the arena. The veteran New Yorkers pound through a
half-hour set characterised by earnest vocals and squalling guitar
solos, the highlight being the mellower ‘Mona Lisa’, showcasing
frontman Anthony Ranieri’s vocal ability.
Coinciding with the first influx of boozed up rugby fans,
Rhode Island rockers Deer Tick’s set catches the crowd’s interest
with a gritty blend of good time rock ‘n’ roll that shows off their
versatility. From a twelve bar blues romp to a ‘Replacements’
cover via Dylan-esque melodies and a wild saxophone solo, Deer
Tick win a fair few new fans tonight.
Arriving onstage with no fanfare, The Gaslight Anthem
bizarrely, but brilliantly, begin with ‘Have Mercy,’ a rare B-side
from their latest album; it’s a low-key, husky croon which paves
the way for juggernaut ’The ‘59 Sound’. Their congregation
swollen by the rowdy latecomers, the New Jersey five-piece set
to work on a mammoth set that dips in and out of all of their
releases.
Skilled lighting technician aside, there’s none of the
histrionics associated with arena shows on display here. Gaslight
let their songs do the talking and, lucky for them, they have
bags of them. Bayside’s Raneri returns to duet on a lung-busting
rendition of ‘Great Expectations’, pared back to the bare bones of
Brian Fallon’s fingerpicked guitar and heartfelt lyrics.
Two hours and thirty songs later, The Gaslight Anthem
blast out of Cardiff with a euphoric ‘The Backseat’, having bravely
and successfully rocked an arena audience without compromising
the style they honed in clubs across the globe.
—Dillon Eastoe
Credit:Les Davies
38
Credit: Veryan Leaper
THE GASLIGHT
ANTHEM
It’s been a bit of a musical rollercoaster for The Kooks; with a
slippery on-record slope since finding an incredible debut in
Inside In/Inside Out, they’ve been hanging by a thread for the past
few albums. But, having ownership over the odd tune to keep
them in contention has helped, with 2014 seeing them pick up
the slack with their fourth LP, Listen.
Walking On Cars bring the evening’s support. For a
band that sound a tiny bit like The Wanted on record, the Irish
newcomers bring a combination of anthemic, Coldplay-like
drama, tinged with riffs fresh out of the Bloc Party songbook.
As the stage is illuminated by static-screen TV’s, The
Kooks arrive. They don’t linger on the screaming crowd, instead
jumping straight into into ‘Around Town’; by it’s own admission,
no ‘Ooh La’ or ‘Always Where I Need To Be,’ but a sign of the
band’s progression. The Kooks have rediscovered a groovy niche
and subsequently play their new material incredibly. They bring
the funk ten-fold. Sporting some floral facepaint, frontman Luke
Pritchard struts himself into a visual reimagination of Mick
Jagger, where flawlessly effective guitar solos are laced with retro
synth and a cowbell rhythm that scream both ‘disco’ and ‘why do
Friendly Fires look like The Kooks now?’ in equal measure.
Laying each audience members’ childhood down whilst
making ‘hip gyration’ The Great Hall’s new favourite sport is a
damned task if there ever was one, but The Kooks have pulled off
this show immaculately. They came, they saw, they shook some
ass; they played the hits and they blew our minds all in the space
of an hour.
—Veryan Leaper
POP PUNK’S NOT
DEAD TOUR
with New Found Glory, The Story So Far,
State Champs, Candy Hearts & Only
Rivals
Y Plas, November 23rd
Crack the snapbacks out; the Pop Punk’s Not Dead tour has rolled
into Cardiff. Touring in light of their latest record, Resurrection,
New Found Glory have brought their gang on the road with them
in order to breathe a bit of life into this supposedly dying scene.
Relative newcomers, Candy Hearts, transport us from 2014 to 10
Things I Hate About You in a matter of minutes with their bubblegum punk sound.
New Yorkers, State Champs, take to the stage to a
raucous response, a mere six months or so after their debut
UK performance. Yesterday marks the one-year anniversary
of the band’s first album and the mood in the room is fittingly
celebratory. After a jovial start, anticipation in the mosh pit
reaches fever pitch, ahead of main support, The Story So Far. Hat
on, hood up, Parker Cannon and his crew play an astounding set
devoid of any ‘rock star’ pretension. Their hardcore influence is
evident in their aggressive set, and the sweaty state of the crowd
is testament to their fan’s enthusiasm for TSSF’s angsty anthems.
Bruised and battle-worn, we retreat to the back of the
room in order to watch New Found Glory. Pop punk is familiar,
fun, and far from one-dimensional, as the array of talent tonight
has proven. As long as we have iconic songs like ‘My Friends Over
You’ and ‘Understatement’ supported by fresh material from the
bands coming up through the ranks, we’ll be sticking up for pop
punk for years to come.
—India Thomas
MUSIC
ONE DIRECTION
FOUR
FOO FIGHTERS
Sonic Highways
PARKAY QUARTS
Content Nausea
SAVAGES & BO
NINGEN
Words To The Blind
Despite their meteoric rise to fame and
global success, Four does nothing to cement
One Direction’s status as the most successful
boy band since The Beatles. The aptlytitled fourth album from the band boasts
a more sophisticated 70s pop-rock sound
with Fleetwood Mac-esque guitar riffs and
layered choruses reminiscent of Eagles’ Hotel
California. On paper, this sounds like a step
in the right direction (pun intended) for a
maturing gaggle of floppy-haired, tattooed,
painfully attractive young men, but in
reality, it highlights how One Direction are
awkwardly outgrowing their fan base of 13
year old girls.
The promising subtlety of new tracks
like ‘Fireproof’ and ‘Fool’s Gold’ are muffled
by the expectedly shouty chorus of ‘Girl
Almighty’ and ‘No Control’, which only
serves to make the more refined material
sound like filler. In fact, the only track on the
album that manages to nail the classic One
Direction sing-along crowd pleaser formula,
whilst still pursuing a rougher sound, is the
first single ‘Steal My Girl’.
Another hint that the band are ready
to move on with their music is that Louis,
Niall, Harry, Zayn and Liam have been cowriting many of the songs on this album.
Harry is credited on ‘Stockholm Syndrome’
and Liam and Louis co-wrote ‘Fireproof’.
At a guess, this seems to indicate that they
are no longer willing to be a micro-managed
group of X Factor clones. But, it is this image
that has brought them such overwhelming
success.
Overall, Four is an impressive album,
but it also shows that the band are becoming
increasingly out of touch with their
followers.
—Frances Stewart
If you find yourself stuck indoors on a rainy
day – which in Wales, is very common - a fun
way to pass the time is to compare a band’s
first single release to their most recent. With
many artists, it’s 5 years, maybe 10 if touring
hasn’t broken them, but Foo Fighters’ Sonic
Highways marks the 20th year since their
debut single ‘This Is A Call’. Formed from
the smoking remains of the feral anarchy of
Nirvana, many considered Foo Fighters’ days
to be numbered; many were wrong. Using his
official title, The Nicest Dude In Rock, Dave
Grohl, has been shaking stadiums with his
band mates for quite a long time now, and
unfortunately on this album, it’s beginning
to show.
Sonic Highways was an unexpected child.
After touring Wasting Light, the Foos
announced in January 2013 that they were
taking a break, yet by August of the same
year album number eight was due for a 2014
release. Sonic Highways is an aural road trip
around the USA. The album’s lead single
‘Something From Nothing’ is dedicated to
the windy city, Chicago, while ‘What Did I
Do?/God as My Witness’, an outrospective
stadium track with classic rock twists, takes
inspiration from Austin, Texas. While some
of the tracks such as ‘Feast and the Famine’
retain that ‘White Limo’-esque ferocity,
others like ‘Subterranean’ and ‘In the Clear’
are coming dangerously close to that dreaded
F for Filler, which on an 8-track album should
not exist.
Foo Fighters have been held dear to listeners
for almost a quarter of a century, dragging
kids through feisty adolescence and into
their twenties. They’re an institution; up
there with the untouchables, but this album
may not be up there with them. ‘I Am a
River’ makes the listener feel more like River
Cottage than Rivers Cuomo; bring back ‘All
My Life’ and let us tear pieces out of each
other in the pit one more time.
—Greg McChesney
Parkay Quarts - Parquet Courts’ offshoot
consisting of Andrew Savage, Austin Brown
and a few friends – return with Content
Nausea, juxtaposing the last Parquet Courts
release, Sunbathing Animal, which heavily
featured ideas of freedom, with the idea of
‘content.’
Content Nausea is a slower, plodding
release compared to the more up-beat,
aggressive albums previously released, but
the characteristics of a sharp punk band
are still present. With heavy emphasis on
complacency, Parkay Quarts build on the
already solid foundation they have crafted
throughout their career; lo-fi guitar riffs
laid on top of witty, sleepy lyrics that fringe
on spoken word create a release that is
extremely easy on the ear. With the majority
of tracks running under three minutes,
and three of these under one, there’s an
undeniable encouragement for the listener
to coast through at a leisurely pace.
One track that really disrupts the
hypnotic blend of unhurried punk is the
cover of Nancy Sinatra’s ‘These Boots Are
Made For Walking’, which makes it one of
the true standouts. While sharing the same
tone as the original, Parkay Quarts flip the
pop aesthetic and unite a horn section with
the typical grinding sounds of the band to
climax in a intense screaming battle between
vocalist and instruments.
Content Nausea will be able to stand up
with the other critically acclaimed releases
by Parquet Courts, Sunbathing Animal and
Light Up Gold, as a tight, sturdy take on a
genre of music they are undoubtedly skilled
at. This release serves as a reminder of how
adept Savage and Brown are as lyricists and
musicians, and another flash of brilliance
from a band that seems to keep on delivering
again and again.
—Jack Boyce
Words To The Blind sees two of London’s
most exciting alternative bands, the postpunk institution Savages and Japanese noise
rockers Bo Ningen, perform simultaneously.
At the heart of this 38 minute long
experimental track is the early 20th century
art movement Dadaism, in which artists
valued and expressed irrational thought
through visual chaos and unconventional
structures.
Words To The Blind finds the practice
of automatic writing embodied by music,
forming a simultaneous aural poem. As
such, the track fittingly begins with Savages
frontwoman Jehnny Beth and Bo Ningen’s
Taigen Kaiwabe’s spoken word poetry
intertwined. This first section feels both loose
and lucid, Kaiwabe’s Japanese and Beth’s
French combining into an eerie opening,
followed by a wave of soft feedback. After
the track finds its feet and begins to run,
the two bands hit full force; you can all but
pick out each separate member’s particular
sound, both combining to form a sprawling
and erratic groove. Each sound then begins
to wind down as the track then reaches a
psychedelic peak indebted to Bo Ningen’s
calmer moments.
Being a live recording, the crowd begin
to cheer only to be interrupted by aggressive
guitar feedback. We are, at this point,
midway through. What happens next could
be a particularly sparse Savages track, Beth’s
vocal ring in a section of order, a mesmeric
break from the chaos. Beth’s vocals are fairly
low down in the mix, obscuring the syllables
and letting her words function as another
textual layer of instrumentation.
The track then reaches a natural and
haunting end, leaving just the two softly
spoken vocals ringing out. Then there is
another cheer from the crowd and the bands
suddenly explode back into chaos, three
minutes of pure aural assault, a wall of sound
barely punctuated by any semblance of style,
but gripping nonetheless. Words To The Blind
is a truly experimental endeavour and, for
the most part, is exciting, pulsating work.
—Oli Richards
39
IMAGES FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Shocktilyoudrop / www.avpgalaxy.net, Bungie / www.gameinformer.com, agacross / DeviantArt, Eddie Gluskin / DeviantArt, goku252525 / DeviantArt, gaboxr1 / DeviantArt.
This year Quench Video Games have decided to host an awards segment for the Video Games
industry for 2014. The awards have been divided into 12 categories and our five judges have
decided on their favourites for each category. So without further hesitation, repetition or deviation, let’s
get this started!
VIDEO GAMES
G A M E
O F
T H E
Y E A R
ALEX
GLAZER
TOM
RUDENKO
ERANAN
THIRUMAGEN
MICHAEL O’CONNELLDAVIDSON
ALIEN
ISOLATION
DARK
SOULS 2
THE WOLF
AMONG US
DESTINY
Following the flaming comet of
death that was Aliens: Colonial
Marines, this lauded film
franchise was crying out for
a standout tie-in video game.
Enter Creative Assembly. The
studio most known for creating
the strategy series, Total War,
decided to return to the principle
that Ridley Scott followed in the
first film. Single-player, survival
horror. The reason that this game
gets the nod for GOTY is
that it is revolutionary
in
having
i t s
advanced
AI.
The
Alien is a
masterpiece
and has set the
standard for
years
to
come.
Drangleic, a world of mystery
and strife is the setting for
Dark Souls 2; it is a place
where “the flow of time itself
is convoluted, with heroes
centuries old phasing in and
out”. Many veteran Souls fans
should recognise that quote
and honestly should already
understand why this is Game of
the Year material. A beautiful,
rich lore shrouds the main story
and as you learn more about
the bosses, they become
more endearing to you –
more human. For a fantasy
RPG that doesn’t hold your
hand while being a strict
teacher, this masterpiece
only gets better with
age as more DLC is
released.
A lot of people have heard of
TellTale’s The Walking Dead
and loved it as well as t h e
protagonist
Lee
Everett. In the
Wolf Among Us
there is similar
love but also
hate for Bigby
Wolf. He is a
character you
can connect
to
both
within the
game and from
an
outsider’s
perspective.
Oh, and the
story is
absolutely
smashing.
Destiny is the game of the year
– how could it not be? I’ve
clocked up 10 solid days playing
it, and I’m still
coming back for
more. As someone
who
enjoys
MMOs and FPS
games, Destiny
represents some
really exciting
developments
in
both
genres. Sure, it’s a
flawed diamond –
but it’s a diamond
all the same.
W O R S T
G A M E
O F
ALEX
GLAZER
TOM
RUDENKO
DUNGEON
KEEPER:
MOBILE
CASTLEVANIA:
A n y number of mobile
games could be more
than worthy of this
award. However this
particular one not only
contains some of the worst
microtransactions in the history
of the industry, but also smears
the name of one of the best-loved
franchises ever created.
A new Castlevania game? Yeah! A
brilliant premise which didn’t deliver
on its promises. An addition of an
unwieldy stealth mechanic and lack
of interesting bosses only served
to disconnect the player from the
original series.
LORD OF
SHADOWS 2
T H E
ERANAN
THIRUMAGEN
THIEF
An alerted guard spins on the
spot like a broken ballerina.
Immersion is lost. The plot
never really led on. Story was
lost. Makes you feel more like
a naughty boy rather than a
‘master thief’.
RHYS
JOHNS
WOLFENSTEIN:
THE NEW
ORDER
The newest instalment of this
much-loved franchise boasts very
good writing and characters while
still retaining the well-known flair
of the series, deftly matching the
great gameplay and incredulous
mechanised war machines with
a loyal and unyielding alternate
history that makes the whole game
come to life.
Y E A R
MICHAEL O’CONNELLDAVIDSON
GROUND
ZEROES
I love Metal Gear Solid, and, while
I thought MGS4 was a good end to
the franchise, I leapt at the chance
to see more of Big Boss in Ground
Zeroes. But not like this! Ground
Zeroes should have never been
released. A half-hour long demo
at full price, it’s hard to see what
Ground Zeroes adds to the franchise
– or video games as a whole.
41
B I G G E S T
ALEX
GLAZER
TOM
RUDENKO
WOLFENSTEIN:
LORDS
OF THE
FALLEN
THE NEW ORDER
A first person shooter that isn’t
focused on multiplayer but on
story?! You cannot be serious!
Wolfenstein returned with a
bang and really should not
have been as good as it
was. In a world where the
Nazis won WWII and have
the world under their thumb,
dual-wielding alternate history
shotguns has never felt this good.
S U R P R I S E
A “heavy” version
of the Souls games.
Brilliantly designed
bosses,
immersive
world and lots of
replayability.
This
is
recommended to anyone who
enjoys a dark fantasy setting
and smashing things with
massive weapons!
B I G G E S T
ERANAN
THIRUMAGEN
MICHAEL O’CONNELLDAVIDSON
EVOLVE
SHADOW OF
MORDOR
This game is something
else.
Imagine
Shadow of the
Colossus
m e e t s
Left
for
Dead. Five
hunters
including Daisy the.....
dog (I think?) vs one
epic monster. All player
controlled. Sounds like it
wouldn’t work, but it has
done so beautifully.
Wait, what? A video game
adaptation that’s actually
good?
Apparently
so.
Shadow of Mordor is a
much better game
than it has any right
to be, being set
in Tolkien’s Lord of
the Rings universe. It’s
bleak, dark and crazy fun,
and one of the best things
to come out the industry
this year.
D I S A P P O I N T M E N T
ALEX
GLAZER
TOM
RUDENKO
ERANAN
THIRUMAGEN
MICHAEL O’CONNELLDAVIDSON
RHYS
JOHNS
WATCH_DOGS
THE EVIL
WITHIN
ESO ONLINE
TITANFALL
THE SIMS 4
Ahh. A franchise famous for
epic games sticks its hand into
the epic MMO cookie jar and
pulls out a stale custard cream
from the bottom of said jar.
Should’ve never stuck their
hands into that cookie jar.
Titanfall, oh Titanfall. If there was
any game that tripped up on the
hype it had built up prior to release
this year, it would be Titanfall.
There was so much excitement
that it would break Call of Duty and
reinvigorate the FPS. But once it
was released, it just vanished. My
advice? Just buy Advanced Warfare.
This game was highly anticipated
and promised a great deal of
new features, but fell far short
of fan-expectation. While the
character creation and AI have
been improved, the game is
plagued with bugs along with a
distinct lack of content or openworld play, resulting a generally
disappointing experience. At
least until the issues are ironed
out.
A game that has been talked
about since 2012 should be great,
Right? However a delayed release,
a dreary story featuring one of
the most lifeless characters ever
created and controversy over the
PC release meant that Watch_
Dogs was not what it advertised.
A truly massive disappointment.
42
Bethesda,
please…
You’re
better than this. Unrelatable
characters narrate the campaign
of which is more a gore-fest than
an actual horror game. Enemies
seem cheesy and janky at best.
Black bars encompass the game
and the world too; only twothirds of the game is visible at
any one time.
VIDEO GAMES
F I R S T
P E R S O N
G A M E
ALEX
GLAZER
TOM
RUDENKO
ERANAN
THIRUMAGEN
MICHAEL O’CONNELLDAVIDSON
GTA V –
NEXT-GEN
VERSION
METRO 2033
REDUX
TITANFALL
DESTINY
Look past the hype from the
internet media. This game
delivers what it said on the
package. A new experience.
Moving from a highly mobile
infantry pilot to a less mobile,
but packing waaaaaay more
punch and mech. Look for that
and you will have more fun
in this than almost any other
multiplayer shooter of this year.
We’re back to talking about
Destiny, but, this time, we’re
focusing on the gunplay. And
man oh man, gunplay in Destiny
is fantastic. It comes in many
forms – from hulking hand
cannons to sniper rifles that
turn you invisible when you
look down the scope – but if
there’s one consistency, it’s that
it always feels awesome.
Fantastically improved version
of Metro 2033. The brilliantly
narrated story sets up very
nicely for the sequel while still
keeping its own identity. If you
enjoy well-crafted stories with
an FPS element to them, Metro
2033 Redux will blow you away.
Although GTA V enjoyed a
successful release last year, you
may be asking why it is winning
an FPG award. This is because
a true first-person mode has
been added to the game and it
looks spectacular. Outside of
this the game has been upgraded
graphically and over 150 new
songs have been added to the
radio.
RHYS
JOHNS
WOLFENSTEIN:
THE NEW
ORDER
As a shooter, the gameplay is
excellent and very enjoyable,
allowing
for
unlikely
yet
undeniable fun combinations
(duel-wielded
machine
guns
being a personal favourite). But
it is the combination of gritty
environments and situations with
almost alien mechanical giants and
robotic foes that give this game the
charm that other FPSs are lacking.
S P O R T S / E - S P O R T S
ALEX
GLAZER
TOM
RUDENKO
ERANAN
THIRUMAGEN
MICHAEL O’CONNELLDAVIDSON
NBA 2K15
KILLER
INSTINCT
MADDEN
NFL 15
ULT R A S T R E E T
FIGHTER IV
Ever wanted to chain more than 150
hits in Street Fighter? Now’s your
chance! A free to play game on the
Xbox, this achieves a unique take
on the 2D fighter genre. Gorgeous
graphics and hugely unique characters
combined with an addictive and
interesting combat system lend
themselves excellently to this new
title.
Madden has always been a lot of
casual fun. But now… now you
can actively defend more often
(yay defensive play). Also there
is a lot less of Mario Williams
stretching across the pitch or
pinging into space from a tackle.
Ultra Street Fighter IV is a shot in
the arm for a game that’s been out
for over half a decade now. I’ve been
playing SFIV for years, and Ultra
really represents a step forward.
It’s more than just new stages or
characters – sweeping mechanical
changes make one of the best
fighting games ever even better.
The masters of basketball
simulation games returned again
this year and yet again they really
upped the standard. A graphical
masterpiece and a faithful
recreation of one of the most
exciting sports means that there
is no doubt in selecting it for this
award.
R A C I N G
ALEX
GLAZER
ERANAN
THIRUMAGEN
FORZA
HORIZON 2
NEXT CAR
GAME
The only really notable racing
release on the next-gen platforms
this year also happens to be the
best. Combining the ultra-realism
of the track-based cousin and
the open world from Test Drive:
Unlimited 2, Horizon 2 is the
runaway choice for this award.
You want a realistic car game?
Buy one of the billion others.
You want a fun car game? Buy
this, love it. Something along
the lines of a demolition derby
reminiscent of Carmageddon.
IMAGES FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Bungie / www.gengame.net csteoh / DeviantArt, Titanfall Artwork / imgarcade.com/1/titanfall-fan-art,
Trophy Lives / www.vg247.com, Harkyn / http://lordsofthefallen.wiki.fextralife.com/Harkyn, Hollander Cooper / Games Radar, K_Putt
/ FLICKR, Taxi / Nextcargame.com
43
ALEX
GLAZER
TOM
RUDENKO
ERANAN
THIRUMAGEN
MICHAEL O’CONNELLDAVIDSON
TROPICO 5
HEROES OF
THE STORM
ROME TOTAL
WAR 2:
EMPEROR
EDITION
FTL:
ADVANCED
EDITION
The humour returned to El
Presidente this year. Tropico has
been one of those franchises famed
for its quirky take on the citybuilder genre. Following
a solid entry two years
ago, the fifth instalment
returned to the strengths
of the game and delivered
a
truly
wonderful
experience.
The upcoming new MOBA by
Blizzard puts more emphasis on
team play and communication
than both DOTA and LOL put
together. Focusing more
on map objectives than
individual performance, this
provides a more relaxed, but
equally competitive system
than its predecessors. Perfect
for someone who’s played
WOW and Diablo.
FTL on iPad is pretty much the
perfect version of an already
great game. The UI transitions
nicely to a touch screen, and
it’s the perfect game for a long
journey. The new ships and
new races breathe life into the
space-bound rogue-like making
FTL: Advanced Edition one of
the most enjoyable releases this
year.
Remember all those
problems
people
complained about during
this game’s initial release? All
gone. Now it reveals an amazing
strategy and battle game. Oh,
and this time, be nice to family
members, or else you are in for
a world of backstabs.
R O L E - P L A Y I N G
G A M E
ALEX
GLAZER
TOM
RUDENKO
ERANAN
THIRUMAGEN
MICHAEL O’CONNELLDAVIDSON
RHYS
JOHNS
SHADOW OF
MORDOR
DIABLO 3:
REAPER OF
SOULS
DARK
SOULS 2
DIABLO 3:
REAPER OF
SOULS
WASTELAND
II
This game was better than it has
any right to be. Introducing a
truly revolutionary combat and
enemy system, Nemesis, this
game was most definitely one of
the highlights of the year. A subpar ending aside, this is a must
play for any fans of Middle-Earth.
A great addition to the Diablo
universe.
This
expansion
fixed all of the issues that
the base game had, including
improving the loot system to
resemble that of Diablo 2 and
adding a “seasonal ladder” for
competitive progression. The
story takes up where the base
game left off and definitely does
the lore justice.
I N D I E
44
That moment when you
realise you must have a
masochistic streak for
buying and enjoying Dark
Souls the first. You’re still
going to buy Dark Souls 2,
aren’t you? Yeah you are.
G A M E
O F
Reaper of Souls is another great
overhaul of a great game. The main
thing I loved about D3 was the couch
co-op, which has been improved
substantially by Reaper of Souls.
The new class, new areas, and new
game mode have also done a lot
to add spice to a game with a lot of
repetition, making it more than just
a maintenance dose for those with an
RPG addiction.
T H E
ALEX
GLAZER
TOM
RUDENKO
BANISHED
TRANSISTOR
BROKEN AGE
A fantastic little city-builder
created by just one person.
Banished
strikes
a
perfect balance between
difficulty and fun all while
in a wonderful art-style.
Many thanks to YouTuber
Quill18 who promoted this game
a lot.
Brilliantly crafted story and characters
push this game through the roof in my
mind. In addition to simply beautiful
aesthetics and creative mechanics,
this little indie game surpassed all
expectations. This is to be expected
from the creators of the award
winning Bastion though. A truly
mindboggling game!
Girl is chosen by her village to
be sacrificed to a giant
cloud monster, boy is
forced to stay indoors
on a spaceship
by his motherfigure (who is also a
computer). Girl fights back,
Boy breaks free, Parallel Lives/
Universes. Let’s go.
ERANAN
THIRUMAGEN
This is the long awaited sequel
to the original Wasteland, the
game that inspired the Fallout
franchise, and has revived the
title with all its old-school charm
intact. It still retains traditional
RPG elements and combines
them with wonderfully dark
humour and an enjoyable
storyline to deliver an excellent
role playing experience.
Y E A R
MICHAEL O’CONNELLDAVIDSON
WAYWARD
SOULS
Wayward Souls is Rocketcat Games’
answer to Dark Souls on iOS. A
rogue-like, hack and slash with an
axe to grind, it’s tough but fair and
avoids many of the problems that
come with playing an action game
on a touch screen. I’d recommend
Wayward Souls to anybody with an
iPhone or iPad that doesn’t think the
iTunes store offers enough – it’s a great
little surprise.
IMAGES FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Tropico 5 iTunes / Apple, Artwork 4 / www.totalwar-hq.de, Loic Locatelli Kournwsky / www.comicsalliance.com, Top-Entwickler / www.androidpolice.com, Nathan Stapley / blog.fidmdigitalarts.com, Jen Zee / supergiantgames.com, Nigel Thornberry / Reddit.com, Naomi Yaki / www.naomiyaki.com, Ken Levine / www.
gamefront.com, 2K Games Developer: In-house (Australia) / www.edge-online.com, SurvDonkey / www.tattoodonkey.com
S T R A T E G Y
VIDEO GAMES
Is Nigel Thornberry the only
positive thing about The Sims 4?
G A M E
W E
M O S T
W A N T
S E Q U E L
F O R
A
ALEX
GLAZER
TOM
RUDENKO
ERANAN
THIRUMAGEN
MICHAEL O’CONNELLDAVIDSON
RHYS
JOHNS
SOUTH PARK:
THE STICK OF
TRUTH
SHADOW OF
MORDOR
BIOSHOCK
INFINITE:
BURIAL AT
SEA
WATCH_DOGS
TOTAL WAR:
EMPIRE II
This game was delayed many times
and for a good reason. It enabled
the creators of the show to
pinpoint exactly what South Park
is all about. Comedy. Honestly,
this is one of the funniest games
ever made and a sequel in the
same vein is very much welcome.
Okay, imagine this: Assassin’s
Creed fused with Pokémon set in
Middle Earth. Sounds insane…
and yet it works so well. Aside
from a fun campaign mode,
branding Orc Captains
and promoting them to
“Warchiefs” through
training them
against Orcs
and beasts
is
pretty
satisfying.
Ahem...
A:
Nobody
wants
Bioshock to end I am
sure.
B: They still
got
some
explaining
to do...
Watch_Dogs is kind of crappy. I’ve not
enjoyed anything I’ve really played
of it, and the driving is a bit like
going ice skating for the first time.
But remember the first instalment
of Ubisoft’s last big franchise? The
original Assassin’s Creed was rough
around the edges, but the sequel
and brotherhood are some of the
most enjoyable games from this
generation. Let’s hope Watch_Dogs
ups its game next time round.
S E Q U E L
T H A T
S H O U L D
H A V E
B E E N
M A D E
The first Empire was a brave new
chapter to the Total War series
and introduced line infantry
and naval combat for the first
time. A sequel could bring about
an enhanced political system
and improved real time combat,
realising the title’s almost
infinite potential.
N O T
ALEX
GLAZER
TOM
RUDENKO
MICHAEL O’CONNELLDAVIDSON
RHYS
JOHNS
THE SIMS 4
BORDERLANDS
THE
PRE-SEQUEL
ROLLERCOASTER
THE SIMS 4
The Sims 3 was great. It was a
game where the expansions really
added to the experience. If you
enjoyed building houses, then The
Sims 4 in its current state is not
for you. A massive let down
from EA as they continue
to dumb-down their
games.
2k Australia was the lead developer
rather than Gearbox and it certainly
shows. Most of the jokes
are geared to native
Australians and while
that’s not a bad thing,
the reusing of Borderlands
2’s legendary weapons is.
Small maps, lack of content
and game breaking bugs
induce much rage.
TYCOON 4
Rollercoaster Tycoon 4 is an
unbelievably cheeky offering.
For starters, it’s not very
good, because it’s loaded with
free to play mechanics that
mean rollercoasters literally
take days to build. More than
that, though, RCT4 is a free to
play game that you have to pay
to download. It’s a scam in the
clothing of a great franchise –
and it shouldn’t have been made.
While The Sims 3 deserves a
sequel, this particular sequel
is not what it deserves.
As is the problem with
the series in general, each
iteration brings with it a
noticeable loss in content,
so any sequel should bring
something truly new and
innovative to the table in
order to compensate for
that loss in content. The
Sims 4, however, did not.
45
THE
PHENOMENON
Playing games is a very personal experience. So why do
so many of us choose to spend hours watching others
play instead?
Video games media has been shifting over the last
three or four years. This shift has seen the traditional print media transform into something very
different. This change has manifested itself on
YouTube.
First things first. YouTube was a revolution of its time. It was originally created for the
purpose of allowing other people to share their
experiences for free in the public domain. Now it
has become a career path. From so-called “Let’s
Players” to Reviewers to “Machinimators”, gamers have taken over YouTube and made it their
own. However, the question remains as to why
people spend their time watching these “internet
celebrities” instead of playing the games themselves and formulating their own opinions.
The main element that these YouTubers
add to video games is personality. People such
as Daniel Hardcastle, more commonly known as
Nerdcubed, have struck a perfect balance between
comedy and passion in their coverage of games.
While he also serves a commercial purpose by
identifying what is and what is not a good investment, he mainly serves the entertainment
side of things. He has become rather popular and
the most recent check of his subscriber numbers
has him at nearly two million followers. On the
flipside someone like TotalBiscuit services the
46
more PC inclined gamers with in-depth reviews
that not only discuss the gaming mechanics but
the technical side of matters as well. He has also
checked in at nearly two million subs as of the
latest check. People like these have really carved
out their own niches in the internet by not only
providing a service but by being entertainment.
This is primarily what these people provide. This
is some of the best entertainment you can get and
all you need is a computer and a half-decent internet connection to enjoy it.
However there is still that niggling
question of whether it is really worth it. Surely
you can create your own unique stories when
playing games? This is 100% correct. That is the
big attraction about playing video games. They
are truly interactive entertainment. But there is
just something about watching others do it whatever reason you have for choosing to do so. The
best way to look at it is that what you see on the
screen is akin to watching a movie or a film. It is
someone else’s creation which was created for the
sole purposes of entertaining their audiences.
Take the YouTube channel Rooster Teeth and its
sister channel Let’s Play (Achievement Hunter)
for example. Here is a channel that started out
by making a fantastic and hilarious parody, “Red
Vs Blue”, which was created by filming and voice
acting over footage acquired from the early Halo
games. Now they are a fully-fledged company
with merchandise by the bucket load and their
very own, annual convention, RTX. They have
also spawned hands-down the funniest gaming
related channel on YouTube, Let’s Play. This is the
channel of the ”Achievement Hunters” who are
made up of Geoff, Ryan, Jack, Ray, Michael and
Gavin and they just play games and are generally
hilarious to watch – mostly because they are incompetent fools, particularly Gavin who is doing
a fine job of representing the UK over in the US.
The main point about these guys in particular is
that they embody the joy and fun that we all have
with video games and there is just something
about this that is hard to pin down.
Overall this revolution, if it can be
called that, has brought video games media into
a completely new dimension. While there is still
space for the traditional media, it would be foolish to disregard what these people are doing on
the internet. It is therefore fair to say that it is not
a waste of time to watch other people play games
because if you do not, then you will be missing
out, big time!
— Alex Glazer
VIDEO GAMES
Y ACC
EARL
Many games produced nowadays are done with the help of the general public.
But is it really worthwhile paying for something that is not yet complete?
As of October, Minecraft has sold
nearly 54 million copies over various
platforms such as Xbox 360, One,
Playstation 3, 4 and Vita, Android
and iPhone application and of
course, PC. It is one of the highest
selling and most successful multiplatform video games ever to exist.
To most reasonably informed people,
Minecraft is something they will have
at least heard of, or been in contact
with, or exposed to through friends,
relatives or being out and about in
town. This is much the same with
many games such as Call of Duty,
Grand Theft Auto and FIFA. You may
not have played it, but you have
almost certainly heard of it. The
difference between Minecraft, and the
aforementioned games is that there
was no big studio behind it. It was one
man, Markus Persson, who crafted
the game through crowdfunding via
early access, or alpha-test gaming.
Put simply, early access games
are games that have not been officially
released, and yet are available to game
players for a subscription fee that aids
in the development and maintenance
of the game. Most early access games,
to date, have not seen mainstream
release, just fewer than 25% in fact.
Which does beg the question, why
should you pay for early access to a
game that does not even get released?
Is there even a benefit really for
gamers? Is it just a way for games
developers to get drunk and still
maintain a full bottle of wine?
While there are those that
have had general release, it does not
necessarily mean those that have
not been released yet have not done
well financially. In fact, those that
have not are still “doing well” by
firstly, garnering funding through
the early access subscription base,
which is now seemingly monopolized
by Steam. Secondly, and perhaps
just as importantly, feedback and
developmental bug fixes via the
public, which makes for more
importance perhaps than financial
gain.
It has been embraced by
Steam as an integral part of PC game
development as individuals and
small studios which do not have the
funding and resources to fully test
games, utilise players and subscribers
to test early access games much
like Beta testing does on console
gaming. A prime example of this
being successful in the console world
was when Crackdown was released.
It featured a Beta version of Halo 3,
one of the most successful franchises
ever, and as such, Crackdown,
regardless of how good or bad it was,
saw massive sales due to the chance
to play Halo 3 before completion.
Such is the prestige to gamers that it
satisfies their thirst and anticipation
of the next chapter in their story,
before anyone else. To analogise this,
it is like going to watch your favourite
band early before anyone else and
you get to trial their new album,
and moreover, they request your
feedback and maybe even take heed
of it. Ultimately you can influence the
world you come to love, and have a
hand in creating.
Recent games that are pending
full release are Prison Architect and
Kerbal Space Program. Minecraft was
a game that was placed firmly in the
sandbox, or open-world genre. Many
early access games were based around
this genre, however while PA and KSP
are a construction management and
space flight simulator respectively,
they also have a sandbox element
which gives the gamer free reign.
This aids in the development of
the game from a publisher’s point
of view as they can get a modicum
of genius from even just one alpha
tester, let alone the thousands of
alpha game testers. Kerbal is now
going from “alpha” test mode to
beta, seemingly gaining traction and
moving towards a general release.
It is a testament to why early access
gaming is working, just like Minecraft
did, and is a substantial factor in
the development of a game where
without crowdfunding schemes a
game may not survive to see its full
potential.
Of course there are not always
hits like Minecraft, or even Day Z,
which capitalised on the zombie craze
of the last decade with its open world
survival approach. Some games will
quite simply never amount to the
success such as the aforementioned.
However that is the risk that one
takes when partaking in the world
of early access. The good thing about
this however, is just like watching
a TV series or a film, or listening to
music; you do not have to partake.
It is simply up to you and you do
not have to immerse yourself into
this world. You can pick and choose
which games you like the look of and
avoid the ones you do not. You can
even wait for a few months for it to
develop into something better. It is
still a debate that remains alive and
well. However it can only be viewed
as a good thing that more games are
being developed, and further to this,
the public is not just consuming, but
also producing.
ESS
“AS OF OCTOBER,
MINECRAFT HAS
SOLD NEARLY 54
MILLION COPIES
OVER VARIOUS
PLATFORMS”
— Ian Dunne
47
THE
FESTIVE FILM NIGHT
10
BEST
CHRISTMAS
FILMS
With the nights drawing in and a frosty chill in the air, there’s nothing to get you feeling
festive quite like a Christmas movie washed down with copious amounts of mulled wine and
an entire tin of Celebrations. Whether you fancy a classic or an unknown gem, let Quench
Film & TV give you some suggestions to while away the evenings this Winter with our pick
1
of the ten best Christmas movies for a festive film night.
Love Actually (2003)
It is worth watching Love Actually with a pen and
paper at the ready if you want to successfully track the
multitude of relationships that thread their way through
this countdown-to-Christmas comedy. Featuring names
such as Bill Nighy, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth and
Martin Freeman, who is charming as a socially awkward
and romantically inept movie-sex double, the storyline
follows more than twelve different relationships, both
romantic and familial, towards a timely and unitive
finale on Christmas Eve. Richard Curtis’ directorial
debut, in the words of Hugh Grant’s Prime Minister
character, aims to warm our frost-bitten hearts with
the notion that ‘love, actually is all around’, and,
whilst cheesy in the extreme, is somewhat successful.
48
2
The beauty of Elf lies in the fact that despite essentially
being a children’s film, its humour transcends all ages, so
there’s absolutely no need to feel guilty about laughing
hysterically at a grown man in tights. The decision to cast
Will Ferrell in his first leading role as a human that grows
up as an elf in the North Pole and returns to New York
to introduce himself to his cynical father proves highly
successful as even the most Scrooge-like viewers will
find it extremely difficult to resist his addictive, peppy
outlook and will inevitably find themselves singing loud
for all to hear - it’s the best way to spread festive cheer.
Elf (2003)
FILM & T V
3
It’s A Wonderful Life(1946)
This film is probably around 50 years older than most readers of this
article. However, it has been voted the nation’s favourite Christmas
film in more festive opinion polls than you’ve had turkey dinners.
Downcast bank manager George Bailey intends to commit suicide
on Christmas Eve until his guardian angel shows him the difference
he has made to the world and those around him and he realises that
*spoiler alert* he does indeed have a wonderful life. Don’t be fooled into
thinking that the black-and-white picture will fail to capture the full
festive experience. What this movie lacks in Technicolor, it certainly
makes up for in old-school glamour and a heart-warming message.
Bad Santa (2003)
If the mere thought of another sickly sweet family movie is enough
to send you crackers (no pun intended), then perhaps Billy Bob
Thornton’s portrayal of a safe-breaking sex addict posing as a
department store Santa in order to rob shopping malls is worth
a watch this Christmas. With such a lewd script there is always a
danger of a film like this being offensive enough to overshadow
its own humour, but Bad Santa manages to successfully avoid
this, making it the ultimate in anti-cute festive programming.
4
6
The Muppets Christmas Carol(1992)
It would be hard to find someone in the English-speaking world
who is unaware of Dickens’ infamous Scrooge and his feelings
about Christmas. To find an original take on the story amongst
the sea of remakes therefore, must be even harder. The Muppets’
take on this classic does not, as some might expect, ‘dumb
down’ the storyline in order to appeal to younger viewers, and
many of Dickens’ most poignant lines are lifted straight from
the original text. Michael Caine’s Scrooge never suggests that
the Muppet cast is anything less than human and the result
of this is a surprisingly moving retelling of a Victorian classic.
Home Alone (1991)
After a few cameos in Austin Powers and a recent disastrous UK tour
with his band The Pizza Underground, I think it is fair to assume that
the Home Alone franchise was the high-point of Macaulay Culkin’s
career. The original 90s family favourite sees eight-year-old Kevin
revel in the freedom of accidentally being left behind when his family
fly to Paris for the Christmas holidays. When burglars target the
house thinking that it is empty, Kevin is forced to use his cunning
to outwit the thieves using a series of booby-traps. It’s hard to find
a festive movie that better embodies the phrase ‘Christmas Caper’.
Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
7
Halloween and Christmas collide in this stop-motion animation
that is a result of the characteristically gothic production style of
Tim Burton. After accidentally opening a portal to ‘Christmas
Town’, ‘The Pumpkin King’ Jack Skellington decides to usurp
Santa in order to provide us with a decidedly more creepy
Christmas, flying across the winter sky in a hearse-like
sleigh pulled by skeleton reindeer. Unsurprisingly,
shrunken heads and and vampire teddy bears don’t
feature highly on the wish lists of many children, but
if you’re interested in a spooky departure from the
generic Christmas heart-warmer, then this is a safe bet.
8
9
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Another black-and-white film with a strong message - Santa
exists. Kris Kringle is an old man who takes on a job as a store
santa when the man due to fill the role is found to be drunk. It
soon becomes evident that Kris believes himself to be the real
Santa leading the in-store psychologist to bring a case against
him before a judge to rule that he is insane. What follows is a
surprisingly tense courtroom battle where prosecution fights
for the ruling ‘Santa Claus does not exist’. I won’t spoil the
end for you but I will say that this version is infinitely better
than the 1994 remake that is so sickly-sweet it
actually succeeds in making you feel more
cynical about Christmas than you did
when you sat down to watch it.
Nativity! (2009)
Die Hard (1988)
When considering films that truly
capture the spirit of Christmas, the
original Die Hard movie does not
immediately spring to mind. Amid
the thrilling action that sees maverick
cop John Mclaine single-handedly
battling a gang of terrorists led by Alan
Rickman’s Hans Gruber, it may be easy
to forget that all this takes place during
the office Christmas party. Despite
perhaps not having a completely festive
vibe, this is a must watch, if only to see
what Bruce Willis looks like with hair.
10
If you are sick of the often over-produced sweetness that goes hand
in hand with big-budget festive flicks, Nativity! provides a refreshing
change. Martin Freeman plays a primary school teacher tasked with
creating a nativity play to rival all others (gripping, I know, but bear
with me). The majority of scenes with the children are improvised
(rather than scripted) giving the humour a more home-grown feel and
sweeping even the most cynical of viewers along for the sleigh-ride.
49
F
OR
O
R
A
GAI
N
S
T
P E R I O D
Few genres incite strong
opinion like the marmite
of the world of television:
period dramas. Emily
Giblett and Amy Purdy
'
,'
/
ity for the programme despite the inevitable limits on the amount
of creative license used to create the narrative. In comparison with
television and film set in the modern age, the creators of period dramas are under immense pressure to ensure that the minutest details
of the programme or film are complete in their historical accuracy.
This is an almost impossible task, as the creators of the World War
II themed drama Land Girls found out when the BBC received over
100 complaints from many viewers who had lived through the period and had highlighted numerous errors in costume, set and the
general aesthetic of the programme. More recently, Baz Luhrmann’s
adaptation of The Great Gatsby has come under fire from many critics for various anachronistic features, most notably the soundtrack
produced by Jay Z which perhaps ironically for a film about the ‘Jazz
Age’ contains very little jazz. Period dramas may provide an escape
from the daily grind for the viewers that they entice, but rarely do
they succeed in fully representing the age that they attempt to,
leaving the viewer unimpressed and dissatisfied with the result.
AGAINST
For most people period dramas either strike a nostalgic note or just fall
flat. I for one believe them to be mesmerizing pieces. Period dramas
involve being transported into the past and being able to completely
immerse yourself in another point in history. The best kind of period
dramas incorporate actual historical events; this allows an insight to
the emotional tensions of the time period. One of the most captivating
features of the period drama is the human interest that it generates,
allowing the audience to engage with history on a personal level.
Downton Abbey is one of the best examples of this as the conflict of
World War 1 was incorporated into season two. The producers showed
how every man, woman and child endeavoured to do their bit for
the war effort and how the lives of the characters changed from that
point on. Sometimes political movements and social attitudes are also
explored, allowing the viewer to witness alliances that existed between
classes and permitting them to see how the world has evolved. Upstairs,
Downstairs, The Portrait of a Lady and Bleak House all incorporate this,
and audiences most recently saw Lady Cora Crawley the Countess
of Grantham in Downton Abbey complaining of feeling useless and
—Emily Giblett
without purpose after women were no longer required for manual work
post-war. You can’t discuss period dramas without taking into account
the recreated look of the time they are representing. Mad Men captured
1960s fashions and decor impeccably. Every man donned a well-tailored
suit, every woman sported a different version of the bouffant and
every house was filled with bold colors, floral designs and a housewife.
Consistency and accuracy within the aesthetics and historical
value help period drama to be so popular. The narrative also
plays a big part in keeping an audience captivated. Most period
dramas plots are relatable, either about passionate love, tragic loss,
dramatic conflict, and pure unadulterated hatred, but the issues
within the episode, and indeed within the series, are nearly always
resolved by the end. This keeps it light, easy to follow and enjoyable
to watch. It also evolves subtle plot points into big and exciting
cliffhangers. It’s a genre that has everything needed to be enthralling
viewing, is it any wonder it thrives on TV and in the cinema?
FOR
50
D R A M A S
‘I’ll never get that hour of my life back’. A phrase uttered by many a
viewer after watching a period drama that didn’t quite measure up to
the sexed-up trailer that quite possibly featured the heaving bosom
of at least one Tudor maiden or Colin Firth in a wet shirt. The main
reason that period dramas are dismissed as dull by modern viewers
is that despite the efforts of producers to create narratives that appeal to a 21st century audience, there is only so far they can push
the storyline whilst adhering to historical accuracy. In a time when
programmes with the highest ratings often feature increasingly outlandish and unlikely narratives in order to captivate their audience,
it has become clear that the shock factor is integral to the success of
British television. In order to deliver this within the strict confines
of the period that a drama represents, killing off a central character is
often the method of choice for producers struggling to convince the
viewer that the genre of period drama is not dead. This often causes
sadness and anger on the part of viewers who will waste no time in
airing their discontent via Twitter e.g. “If Matthew is dead I absolutely refuse to watch the fourth season of Downton Abbey. I think
I’m having a stress-induced stroke.” helpfully creating more public-
—Amy Rose Purdy
Period dramas involve
being transported into
the past and being able
to completely submerge
yourself in another
point in history
FILM & T V
DOCUMENTARIES
AN INTRODUCTION
D
Still, how can we judge a useful documentary
With visually stunning backdrops, attractive cast
members and epic
storylines, blockbusters have from a harmful one? Some argue that journalism
never been more appealing. Despite this lack of and accessibility is essential. The best documentaries
glamour in documentaries, audiences still tune in tend to be from companies rather than individuals;
to watch them. Lets face it, no one can resist David the BBC for example create their own documentaries
Attenborough’s charming voice and there is nothing ranging from the discovery of lost Ancient ruins in
like a capital punishment documentary to fuel a debate. Egypt to taking hidden cameras into North Korea. They
Perhaps the greatest achievement of factual films discover places that people are interested in. They also
is their ability to inspire. Three years on and I will never employ specialists that are interviewed, narrate and
forget crying into a box of tissues at the end of Senna, have special access to closed off areas. Demonstrating
a documentary about a Formula One driver who met that the best information and technology is utilisedto
a heartbreaking demise. The novel worthy plot reveals provide a well rounded view on the subject matter.
the strength it takes to follow dreams, be the best, and Now more than ever online streaming sites are encouraging
break boundaries. Yet, not all documentaries have such a broader audience to tune into documentaries. Contrary
a profound effect and though some have Hollywood- to popular belief, there is a significant interest within the
esq appeal to them, they do not neccesarily suit the big younger generation for jobs such as filmmaking. With the
screen. The fact that we can watch them in the comfort rise of online streaming sites, documentaries have become
of our homes is all part of the appeal. It means they more accessible to watch. This means that we can choose
are less commercialised than other types of media. from different genres and eras. Netflix in particular has
There are however, many controversial factual a wide range of well renowned documentaries; Man on
programmes on British television such as Big Fat Gypsy Wire, for example follows Philippe Petit’s journey of
Weddings. Unlike many other documentaries, the purpose travelling between the tops of the twin towers of the
of this offering is to provide light entertainment. It does World Trade Centre with nothing but a net. Post 9/11
this at the cost of placing largely negative stereotypes on it is remarkable to see someone do such a thing and
the Romany Gypsy community. In an interview with the it is something that would not be able to occur again.
One of the best things about filmmaking is that
Guardian, Brian Foster, an educational consultant, stated
anyone can do it. It’s a way of pushing interests and ideas
that the show was harmful in the long term. Despite the
forward to people who are interested in the field or topic.
reception, documentaries are always important to watch
They tend to steer away from mere profit-making, in
as they promote critical thinking. It is one of the best
turn focusing instead on political, social and economical
ways to enjoy something informative, and being able
to choose which topics are relevant to your interests. issues. Many of which are contentious. The BBC’s
The independent industry bolstered
documentaries to a greater standing
this past year, catapulting them into
the mainstream. Here we introduce the
quality that you can expect from this
genre.
Panorama mostly looks at news topics, ranging from a
fake sheikh exposed as a journalist to the significance of
Nigel Farage in politics. They interest people in worldly
affairs, building on popular stories. Documentaries
are important; no reason more so than the fact they
allow us to empathise with the struggling. Watching a
documentary on Panorama about care home abuse caused
me to become aware tof the need for stricter regulations
on time constraints that care workers receive. Those most
vulnerable are the elderly, it is an environment where
they should feel safe, but in some cases they are verbally
and physically abused. This is not discussed mainstream
media it is an integral part of our society and by spreading
awareness it could potentially contribute to the resolution.
So, next time you see a documentary you may
be interested in, do not change the channel or decide
to watch the latest sitcom. You may be surprised
at how much you learn, analyse and enjoy it. Look
back at the other documentaries and ask yourself
why you enjoyed them, what intrigued you? Aim to
watch a documentary every fortnight. Pick ones that
you already have an interest in, then when you’re
comfortable branch out and pick random topics. You
may well be surprised at how enjoyable they can be!
—Rifah Ahsan
Lets face it, no one can
resist David Attenborough’s
charming voice and there
is nothing like a capital
punishment documentary to
fuel a debate.
51
DECLINE
OF THE
BRITISH
SITCOM
With various opinion
polls and a general
consensus from audiences
that the highpoint for
British sitcoms were
decades early; we take a
look at why the Brit-Sit is
becoming no more.
52
While the Brits were too shy to create sitcoms
In a world where Ebola is spreading, ISIS is becoming
a huge issue, and crippling European debts threaten that rivalled their predecessors, the audience still
to engulf the nation, there is one thing that us Brits had an appetite for humour. This led the British
love, and that is a laugh. Helping us to forget the big audience to look for comedy elsewhere, finding more
bad world for thirty minutes or so, sitcoms have been than they could ever want across the Atlantic. Since
providing a welcome escape since the 1970s. But if the emergence of shows such as Will and Grace and
you look through the pages of this weeks TV guide, Friends, the USA have dominated the comedy circuit
both overseas and here, creating a
you’ll notice that sitcoms produced in
trend that started twenty years ago
the UK seem to be dwindling, replaced
WHILE SITCOM
and is still prominent today with big
on screen by celebrity panel shows
comedies such a How I Met Your Mother
and American comedies. Why is this?
CREATIONS ARE
and The Big Bang Theory. Not only do
Twenty years ago British TV
looked very different. Dominated DECLINING, PANEL these shows have much bigger budgets,
but they also cater to a new, younger
by sitcoms such as Keeping Up
audience as opposed to the more mature
Appearances and One Foot in the
SHOWS ARE
audience of classic British sitcoms.
Grave, Britain’s comedy mirrored its
Even in shows created in the
audience; working class, pessimistic
BECOMING MORE
UK, young people are the target
and hugely sarcastic. Bad tempered yet
audience. While sitcom creations are
lovable Victor Meldrew and snobbish
POPULAR
declining, panel shows are becoming
aspiring socialite Hyacinth Bucket
worked their way into the hearts of the nation, not more popular in British television. With anything
just through their highly popular catchphrases (“I from quiz shows to news-related discussions, panel
don’t believe it!” and “The Bouqueeeeeeet residence, shows based on facts and statistics to just an annual
the lady of the house speaking!” respectively), but summary of the past year, its impossible to escape
also through their increasingly relatable similarity the sheer amount of programmes of this genre
to that of the British nation. These hilarious TV featuring on prime time television. What with the
shows lasted well through the 90s, but in the new inclusion of social media interaction and the sheer
millennium the number of sitcoms began to decline. youth of the people who feature on the show, it
Classics such as Blackadder, Only Fools and is clear that the audience who previously enjoyed
Horses, Fawlty Towers and The Vicar of Dibley sitcoms are less than welcome in this genre. Standmade stars of scores of comedians, writers, and up comedy and comedy showcases triumph where
producers, such as Stephen Fry, John Cleese and sitcoms used to live, which could be partly because
Dawn French, highly prolific comedians that still of a lesser commitment to a narrative but also
feature on today’s TV schedule. Bizarrely, talents of the ability to feature many more high profile
this calibre don’t seem to be as prominent in today’s comedians without giving any of them a leading role. So does it really mater what Britain is laughing
television. As these beloved comedies began to wrap
up their narratives and air their finales, no British at, as long as they’re laughing? There is still British
replacements emerged. What could be said for the comedy out there, but in different formations, and
sitcoms, albeit not British, are still prominent in
sitcoms that did surface was that they lacked the
modern TV. It’s clear that the genre has certainly
humour and appeal of the classics, leading
shrunk in the last ten years, as dramas and different
to poor reviews, even poorer ratings and
types of comedy surged in popularity, but does
eventually cancellation. Hard-hitting
this mean that audiences have become more
drama filled the gap left by these
discerning towards sitcoms? Not necessarily.
sitcoms, and became increasingly
Just because they are less common nowadays,
popular with the British audience,
it doesn’t mean that they are not going to
becoming
the main type of
emerge on our screens from time to
television
time. Successful shows
produced
such as The IT Crowd,
Mrs Brown’s Boys
and Outnumbered
prove that the
genre of British
sitcoms is not
dead or even in
fact dying, just less
common. Britain
is still a major
by
U K
player
in
the
comedy
p r o d u c t i o n
circuit, and is
companies. Channels such as
still capable
Dave and Gold air repeats of beloved
c r e a t i n g
TV shows that are no longer created on
comedies
mainstream channels, but very few sitcoms emerge
that are loved
and remain in the current television climate. Even
by
the
nation.
current successful comedies tend to conclude the
—Em Gates
comedies quite rapidly in fear of their once successful
venture turning sour, ie Miranda and Gavin and Stacey. FILM & T V
THE
SPECIAL
S
CA
W H AT C A N W E E X P E C T ?
With Christmas right around the corner, what better way to set the anticipation off by
looking to what Christmas TV has in store for us!
T
here’s no better compliment to
the inevitable food coma that
follows Christmas dinner than
top quality festive television. The hype
for Christmas Specials begins months
in advance; so what can we expect to
see coming to our telly boxes this year?
Soap fans can certainly look forward to
the traditional climax of storylines which
culminate in a mushroom-cloud of melodrama
on Christmas day. EastEnders has promised
a dark and shocking Christmas episode with
the Carter family tree under the microscope.
If EastEnders’ reputation for putting its
characters through hell at this time of
year is anything to go by, things could
get messy. ITV’s Coronation Street
residents are on their way
to a rocky Christmas too,
with the Pratts as the focus;
while Downton Abbey lovers can
expect a very festive episode,
though not starring George Clooney
as rumoured. He will instead be
making a cameo for a charity sketch
on ITV. Over on Channel 4 two
hour-long Hollyoaks episodes will
air on Christmas Eve and New
Year’s Eve and Charlie Brooker’s
dark satire Black Mirror returns
starring Mad Men’s John Hamm,
guaranteed to be a very sinister
addition to the Crimbo schedule.
Call the Midwife will return
to BBC One for a special on
Christmas Day ahead of its fifth
series in the New Year. Following
the departure of protagonist
Jenny Lee in March the show
will welcome two shiny new
midwives. Joining the cast are
Linda Bassett, best known
as the long-suffering
matriarch in
East Is East,
and Charlotte
Ritchie, easily
recognisable
for her role
as try-hard hipster and rebel without a cause
Oregon in the screamingly accurate University
comedy Fresh Meat. Returning characters
include dependable midwives Trixie, Cynthia
and “Chummy” played by Helen George,
Bryony Hannah and Miranda Hart respectively.
The charming family drama is known for its
heart-warming storylines and tender yet
authentic portrayal of domestic working class
London in the 1950s. I can’t tell you what will
be on the cards for the episode, but unless
there is a box of tissues in my stocking I can
bet I’ll be a puddle of emotion by the end.
It’s not all gloom and tears though,
and there will be plenty of comedy to keep
up festive cheer. Miranda Hart will grace
SLIMY MONSTERS,
A BIG OLD SHINY
RESEARCH BASE AND
THE NORTH POLE
(or rather blunder across) our screens in
the role of another loveable buffoon this
Christmas when her sitcom Miranda returns
for two specials to act as a finale after a twoyear hiatus. Last time we saw Miranda she
seemed to have triumphed over her blunders
and was left considering not one, but two
proposals! The specials will finally reveal to
fans whether she chose to accept Michael,
her boyfriend who loves his “Quirky” just the
way she is or Gary, the long term friend who
can never quite get his timing right. Either
way it seems the character, based on Hart
herself, has somewhat grown out of her goofy,
ungainly ways; but you can wager that there’ll
still be plenty of simple slapstick fun. Other
comedies include Lee Mack’s Not Going Out
which will air the final episode of its seventh
series on Christmas day; the classic Mrs
Brown’s Boys in which Brendan O’Carroll will
once again don that familiar wig and get up
to who-knows-what kinds of antics; and the
newer, and perhaps a little fresher BBC Three
comedy Cuckoo will get its first special this
year, returning after its second series which
starred Twilight ex-pat Taylor Lautner. The
series ended with Lautner’s character getting
off with his dead, estranged father’s widow…
that could be an interesting one. Finally,
James Corden and Mathew Baynton will star
as regular-guys-turned-heroes in the second
series debut of their comedy/action drama
The Wrong Mans. Corden will also be seen
narrating the TV film of Roald Dahl’s beloved
Esio Trot, adapted by rom-com genius Richard
Curtis. The 90 minute film will also feature
Judi Dench and Dustin Hoffman, telling the
tale of a hopeless romantic and his desperate
plan to capture his neighbour’s affections.
QI and Pointless will make their
traditional appearance with festive topics
aplenty and Strictly Come Dancing will
showcase celebrities such as Rachel Stevens,
Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Russell Grant.
A special which will be greatly anticipated is
of course Doctor Who. Last year’s instalment,
which observed the loss of Matt Smith in
exchange for Peter Capaldi’s rougher, tougher
no nonsense Doctor, received mixed reviews
with some concerned that the show had
gotten a little too complex. This year’s episode
has gone back to grassroots themes, can you
get much more so than Father Christmas? Yes,
comedy actor extraordinaire Nick Frost will
star as jolly old St. Nick. The teaser promises
a classic: slimy monsters, a big old shiny
research base and the North Pole to boot. Dan
Starkey is even tipped to return as potatoheaded Sontaran Strax. Just as well as the
Doctor’s going to need a distraction after the
heart-wrenching farewell he bid Clara in the
series eight finale; while some fans remain
unconvinced of Jenna Coleman’s departure, her
absence is bound to be something the Doctor
will struggle with, especially considering the
distinct lack of closure in the parting of ways.
Christmas Specials are a chance
to see British television at its best, in
one enormous rich serving. With such
an excess of great programmes and wellloved actors it won’t just be the food that
I plan to over-indulge in this Christmas.
—Hannah Crombie
53
Continuing Film & TV’s exploration
into narrative film genres; this
month we tackle the most explosive
of all, Action.
E IN
NR
GE
:
IEW
REV
N
54
TIO
AC
It is easy to pin point this genre in
the sea of films released: It starts
with a grand opening; the panning
across the open road or a plane
shooting off into the distance
that then cuts to the explosion of
a title sequence. This is an action
film, and by god do the producers
need you to know that. The genre
can be noted for many things,
kicking things off in style is just
part of its all-consuming nature.
Like many genres of this industry it
can be divided into stylistic eras; for
easy exploration and structuring of
this I shall be categorising them as
‘the classic’, ‘the borrowed’ and ‘the
new’. Action films from each decade
have their significance of course:
‘the classic’ period in this instance
doesn’t detail the films of the early
cinema but those that encapsulated
the 80s hyper masculine trend –
you know the type, muscle bound
men going full throttle at anyone
in their way – Die Hard, Predator,
Rambo, Lethal Weapon etc. What
could be said about 90s action films
is that they embody the phrase “if
it ain’t broke, don’t fix it “ – The decade of the sequels saw Die Hard,
Predator and Terminator all get a
second round shot at the box office, with pretty much an identical
narrative structure but made different by adding a ‘2’ to the title.
It is pretty evident as to why they
didn’t change the structure – explosions sell. Heroes sell. Villains
sell. It is a genre that plays out the
same narratives with every release,
and we just need more and more.
FILM & T V
It’s not De Niro fighting in the ring in Raging Bull or
Arnie battling robots in The Terminator or hell even
Stallone going up against the military in First Blood –
it is Sony, Disney, Fox and Marvel fighting in a ring
made solely of CGI centres and editing suites, that’s the
real action sequence.
The shift in this genres evolution came about when the
mainstream took superheroes and the idea of the everyday ‘hero’ into its heart and so cemented action films at
the centre of fictitious dreams held by young viewers;
the hope to be saved or save someone. ‘The new trend’
returned them to the mainstream and gave them fantastical pictures to endorse their homecoming, whilst
also giving those without superpowers a big welcome;
Kill Bill, X-Men, Batman Begins, Bond and all of his chapters and not forgetting Iron Man all supported this structure of heroism and its importance to us, the viewer.
Action films are those typified mainly by explosions. Explosions everywhere they can fit into the frame;
it’s the sort of genre convention that says “balls to plot
development and character construction, let’s see that car
explode and that building on fire!” These sequences of violence exacerbate all expectations from the audiences; we
root for the heroes just as much as we do the villains (who
look totally more suave handling cool looking weaponry).
Speaking of which there is no hero without an enemy
and action films portray some of the worst of the worst
– whether it’s the subtleties of Javier Bardem in Skyfall or
Heath Ledger’s enigmatic Joker in The Dark Knight Rises.
The main pull of this genre is that it presents believable characters in unbelievable situations. We can
agree that a computer programmer can be the saviour of
the world in the Matrix trilogy or that a college student
can hold the key to the Autobots destruction in Transformers, because they present an everyday character and
transform him into a hero (excuse the pun). Whether the
leading man be the nerd, the student, the mechanic or
even the muscle bound god (think the Rock in The Scorpion King) the leading man is always presented as the
ultimate man. He may be flawed and not to everyone’s
physical likening, however men want to be and women
want to be saved by him. If the power of the hero can
help Shia LaBeouf win Megan Fox by the end of Transformers, it reinforces the idea it could happen even to you.
The 2010s are as abundant with sequels, trilogies
and series’ just as much as the 90s were – trends come back
into fashion we know this, and everyone always likes their
favourite films getting another slice of the action pie. The
best way to describe this genres evolution into the 2010’s
would be to entitle it ‘The Battle of the CGI War’ – and I
don’t believe I am overreaching by calling it thus. Inception,
Rise of the Planet of the Apes, its sequel Dawn of the Planet
of the Apes, The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy – just
to name a few, have all stimulated this genre into spectacle that it is. Long gone are the films of the cop chasing
the baddies and groups of non-superheroes fighting crime
(Though The A-Team, The Expendables, Olympus Has Fallen
and White House Down have all made a significant impact to
break up this superhero leaning in mainstream pictures).
The most visible development of this genre is its
change in visuals. Gone are the days of the one-shot one
view point explosions; CGI has taken this genre and ran into
the future, literally with some narratives, and is utilised
to create not just the collapsing buildings and cityscapes
but full on universe bending fight scenes. Thanks to the
godfather of action George Lucas and his otherworldly
visuals within Star Wars; many films to this day are trying to imitate and make better these stunning visuals.
Sharper, crisper camera lenses gave directors of this
bourgeoning genre the freedom to do more than their elder counterparts from earlier decades. Bigger however is
not always better, it’s just to make their production competitors look weaker on the market to audiences. It’s not
De Niro fighting in the ring in Raging Bull or Arnie battling robots in The Terminator or hell even Stallone going
up against the military in First Blood – it is Sony, Disney,
Fox and Marvel fighting in a ring made solely of CGI centres and editing suites, that’s the real action sequence.
However, the most predictable of all genres (though
it is very much on par with the formulaic Rom-Coms that
are released by the tonne), these three act structure narratives are mind-numbing activities. The guy gets his task,
beats the baddies, gets the girl and lives happily ever after. Along the way you may see several explosions,
a couple of tense stare offs and usually a sex
scene or two – which are given the same focus
and production value as the explosions in
the scene before. Action movies are the
films for the boys (speaking strictly in
widely used stereotypes of course);
you find them positioned in cinema
lobbies all gun’s ablaze, exploding
backgrounds and a menacing
frown upon the young hero’s
face. The climaxes of these
films are short, sweet
and usually wasted.
Sure, they were enjoyable whilst it
happened but
once
over
you’re left
with the
thoughts of a not so very satisfying experience. The main
strike against this genre is that it loses its substance and
substitutes it for uniformed sequences of explosions.
Not to end on a negative however, this genre has
some great pictures coming up in: Unbroken, The tale of
war hero and Olympian Louie Zamperini and his years
in several prisoner of war camps in Japan. American
Sniper is a biopic about the most lethal sniper in U.S.
military history – Chris Kyle. This Biblical inspired interpretation, Exodus: Gods and Kings will be depicting
the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt led by Moses
and finally, and certainly not least: The Hobbit: Battle of
the Five Armies, the conclusion to a very well loved franchise and series promises a 50 minute battle scene, the
action fanboy inside of us is crying with excitement!
The link between action and other genres; westerns;
thriller; crime; fantasy; and superheroes all come under the same genre umbrella: Adventure. All of these
genres implore their narratives and characters on
some adventure whether that is physically, mentally
or emotionally. Bolstered by some magnificent imagery, it is no wonder this genre is at the forefront of
technological use and at the hearts of its audiences.
— Aaron Roberts
55
Don’t cook care,
JustEat
As students, we’re familiar with
the odd take away or two, and with
new services such as JustEat.com
it’s becoming easier to have a wide
range of cuisines delivered to our
doors. But are us students really
the ones benefitting from this
service, or is it the greedy pockets
of company directors? Tom Reeder
investigates...
Photography: Tudor Popescu
56
FOOD & DRINK
“There are some gems:
‘Just Eat – what an
absolute clusterfuck of a
shambles’”
Once upon a time, in a land far away, there was a time when
dinner would miraculously appear on the kitchen table.
No matter how long the school day, how much homework
there was to be done, the parent fairy could be relied
upon to prepare the evening meal. Unfortunately, with
newfound independence in student life, came daunting
kitchen responsibilities. Evening fatigue and rumbling
stomachs remain, but gone are the times of supermarket
evasion and kitchen shirking. Unless, of course, you order
a takeaway.
What could be easier than Google searching a
restaurant, ordering over the phone, and having food
delivered to your house? Home-delivery works because
the process is simple. The line of communication is
customer, kitchen, delivery-driver. The operation is
seamless, and it’s unsurprising that the takeaway industry
generates more than £30 billion a year from the hungry
consumer.
Sometimes, though, it can be a little more difficult.
Takeaway cravings tend to creep up spontaneously, and
in a new city it might take longer to build a mentalencyclopedia of favoured restaurants. In situations
like these, a streamlined guide of places to try would
fit the bill perfectly. It was inevitable that this market
gap, albeit small, would eventually be filled. For such a
booming industry, takeaway restaurants have always
had a relatively small online presence, with Pizza giant
Domino’s only introducing their online ordering service in
2007. The year before, Danish company Just Eat moved
to the UK.
Founded in 2001, Just Eat and Foodzoom
merged, attempting to revolutionise the takeaway
process. Keeping the former’s brand, Just Eat was an
online service, acting as a middleman between takeaway
restaurants and customers. Now valued at more than £1
billion, the self-proclaimed ‘leader in food delivery’ has
permeated 13 countries worldwide, and represents over
22 000 restaurants in the UK alone. Just Eat claim to
make the takeaway process more convenient, provide the
consumer with more choice, and better value for money.
Above all, they remove the need to talk to someone over
the phone, which seems to be one of their most appealing
traits. However, despite its commercial success, excessive
complaints on Just Eat’s Facebook page suggest there are
some basic conceptual problems with the service.
In the postcode surrounding Cardiff ’s Student
Union, Just Eat will take orders for 139 restaurants. They
will typically charge these restaurants 10% commission
on any orders placed through Just Eat. Here, we
have a company with the sole purpose of generating
profit.
Obviously, this is paramount to financial
success and growth, but a company like Just Eat has an
immense amount of influence on a city’s food industry.
Unfortunately, to be associated with Just Eat is to be
associated with a company that has no concern for who
they represent. ‘As long as they have a trading licence, they
can join. We do not decide what’s good for you or for me’, said
David Buttress, CEO of Just Eat. They also have virtually
no quality control measures in place. ‘We present customers
with all the options available, and let the reviews speak for
themselves’, he said.
However, even the credibility of the review system
is dubious. Only after placing an order can ‘customers’
review the restaurant they’ve used. There is nothing to
57
stop say, restaurant owners ordering from their own
establishment, and reviewing the order process. Perhaps
coincidentally, of all 139 restaurants in the SU’s area,
not a single one has less than 3/6 stars. The average
star level is 5. Many of the restaurants reviewed on
Just Eat are impossible to find on any third party review
sites. It is somewhat difficult to believe the integrity of
a restaurant’s reviews, when the only medium in which
to read them is on a site that financially benefits from its
takeaway output.
Just Eat’s Facebook page is littered with customer
complaints, usually about the quality of the food, and the
time it took to arrive. There are some gems: ‘[the food]
has turned up burnt and even the dog is rejecting it’; ‘Just
Eat – what an absolute clusterfuck of a shambles’, but most
highlight perhaps the biggest issue with the company.
Their operation as an intermediary allows restaurants
of a poor standard to use Just Eat as a scapegoat. In
response to customer complaints, restaurants frequently
push the blame on Just Eat, normally citing some form
of miscommunication, ‘we don’t deal with complaints
or refunds’. While Just Eat cannot refund customers
instantly (due to banking regulations), they do offer
customers vouchers redeemable on the site so they can
order again. Nevertheless, the process is laborious, and
contrasts greatly with Just Eat’s ‘making takeaways
easier’ ethos.
In our Quench survey on Just Eat last month, we
had a variety of responses, with the general consensus
being that Just Eat is a useful service for lazy nights in.
It helps having Cardiff takeaways listed in one place, and
it’s nice to be able to order online or from a smartphone.
However, many responses suggested that the quality of
food and delivery times varied greatly, and that the blame
should be put on specific restaurants instead of Just
Eat. It is perhaps worth noting here, again, that Just Eat
choose the restaurants they represent, and that they seek
to represent as many as they possibly can.
Just Eat could very easily adapt their selling process
to ensure that top quality restaurants are prioritised.
Why should takeaways selling sub-standard food benefit
from Just Eat’s ginormous consumer base, and free
advertising? Such establishments only create problems
for Just Eat, when they’re met with complaints like ‘[the]
food was disgusting and arrived smelling of sick’, for example.
Just Eat’s problems could be easily rectified, and
they could have a major influence on improving the
takeaway industry for all parties involved. Whether or
not they do so largely depends on the demands of their
customers. If, as students, we are happy to pay standard
takeaway prices for revolting food, then Just Eat will be
immensely successful in Cardiff. Soon, every restaurant
will be pressured to jump on the Just Eat bandwagon.
They will find themselves listed among many highly rated
(on Just Eat) takeaways, all with varying qualities of food.
However, Just Eat will have failed to achieve their main
objective: to ‘empower consumers to love their takeaway
experience’.
The consumer already has the power. If there was
greater demand for provision of good food, and a focus
on supporting local independents invested in quality
produce, Just Eat might change their marketing attitude.
They have the ability to transform themselves into a
unanimously loved brand, which consistently helps its
customers find and enjoy good takeaways. They could
implement more stringent measures of quality control,
applied to restaurants before they are allowed to sign up.
They could streamline their service, incorporating only
the restaurants that meet preset criteria of high standards
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in food.
By no means is Just Eat a bad company, or an
unnecessary concept. As an online directory that
functions as a takeaway ordering service, it has the
potential to be great. To get there, it needs you. If you
have a bad takeaway ordered through Just Eat, make
it heard. Be specific; shame the restaurant. If Just Eat
pay heed to this, we will eventually be left with a reliable
service that is consistent in the food outlets it represents.
We will make it easier for the restaurants that love food,
and lazy dinner disappointment will soon become a rarity.
“As students,
we are happy
to pay standard
takeaway prices
for revolting
food”
FOOD & DRINK
t
chicken katsu curry
1.
2.
3.
4.
Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Finely crush a
couple of handfuls of cornflakes (Lidl’s own
will do). Then grab four skinless chicken
breasts, dip them each in a beaten egg mix
and then coat in the crushed cornflake
crumb. Line up on a baking tray and cook
for 15-20 minutes until they are cooked
through.
Whilst the chicken is cooking, crush two
garlic cloves and add to a pan before adding
two tbsp of korma curry paste, one tbsp of
soy sauce, four tbsp of ketchup, two tbsp
of honey and two tbsp of corn-flour to the
mix also.
Into the pan pour 500ml of water and heat
until it boils and starts to thicken. Cover
the pan with the lid and let it simmer for a
further five minutes.
To serve, spoon some sauce onto plates
before slicing the chicken breasts and
placing on top. Serve with rice and enjoy.
akeaway
akeover
Takeaways will always appeal to the lazy student
due to the lack of effort needed to acquire one, as
well as the calorie loaded treats that promise to heal
our hangover/indulgent desires. Simple. Recreating
this at home often seems a laborious and unneeded
process, therefore week after week we retreat back
to the phone/internet and succumb to the ease of
ordering a meal to our doors. Yet emulating your
own takeaway style meal can not only be rewarding,
but often cheaper too. Taking the takeaway into
your own hands means that you are granted quality
control, therefore reducing the risk of the dodgy
takeaway belly. Here at Quench we’ve compiled a list
of recipes perfectly suited to the student budget, as
well as the less culinary skilled amongst us. So next
time you get that craving for a Friday night curry, dig
deep for the little amount of effort needed to make
these simple dishes and give it a go.
chicken, spinach and
sweet potato curry
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Peel 500g of sweet potatoes and cut into
small chunks before boiling in a pan
with water for 12- 15minutes until soft.
Meanwhile, finely chop one large onion
and heat over some oil until softened.
Next cut up four chicken breast fillets
into large chunks and add to the onions.
Continue to cook for around 5-6 minutes
until brown and cooked through.
Stir in two tbsp of Rogan Josh curry paste
and cook for one minute before adding a
can of chopped tomatoes and cooking for
a further minute.
Add the spinach and cook for two minutes
until wilted.
Drain the sweet potatoes and stir into the
mix before simmering for a further two
minutes.
Serve with boiled rice and naan.
chinese-style pork
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Heat a little oil in a pan on medium heated
hob. Finely chop a bunch of spring onions
and two cloves of garlic and add them to
the pan along with a tablespoon of grated
ginger. Let them sizzle in the oil for a
couple of minutes before adding 200g of
sliced pork.
Give the ingredients a good stir with a
wooden spoon, and once the pork has
cooked remove it from the pan.
Next, add three tablespoons of soy sauce,
two tablespoons of white wine, one
teaspoon of Chinese five spice and a good
helping of salt and pepper to the pan and
bring the sauce to a simmer.
After about 10 minutes the sauce should
have thickened slightly, so it’s time to add
a sliced red pepper and 100g frozen peas to
the mix, along with the cooked pork. Make
sure to give all the ingredients a good stir.
Once the peas are cooked through, serves
with noodles or egg fried rice if you’re
feeling adventurous.
59
Credits: Freakypic
THE CARDIFF STUDENTS’ GUIDE TO:
CHRISTMAS DINNERS
Attending University is good for many
things; earning qualifications, gaining
quality life skills and learning about “the
real world”, but even more importantly,
it provides us students with the excuse to
celebrate the jolliest time of the year twice.
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without
stuffing yourself silly, and studying away
from home usually means you get to
indulge in some serious festive food with
your friends, as well as with your family.
With a brilliant abundance of restaurants
and pubs, Cardiff definitely has every
type of Christmas meal going, from your
traditional pub lunch to alternative festive
cuisines. So, if you’re not sure where to
go yet, don’t sweat. Quench Food has
the lowdown on some of the best festive
feasts for you and the housemates this
Christmas.
Okay, it wasn’t à la carte, but it was pretty damn tasty
If you’re looking for cheap and cheerful,
without sacrificing flavour (or even edibility),
look no further than The Mackintosh.
With three courses for only £10.45, the
Mackintosh Place pub is every scrimping
student’s dream. There’s a good selection of
seasonal favourites to choose from, and the
portion sizes don’t reflect the price (which
is often the case with festive deals). Last
year’s meal was everything you could ask
for from a relaxed and informal Christmas
dinner. Service was quick, even though there
were a few large bookings, and the food was
plentiful and tasty. The breaded mushrooms
starter went down a treat, and the roast
turkey which followed was moist and topped
off perfectly with pigs in blankets, stuffing
balls and lots of fresh vegetables. Dessert
was the Pièce de résistance, a steaming slab
of Christmas pudding smothered in custard,
okay it wasn’t a la carte, but it was pretty
damn tasty, and at this time of year that’s
all that matters. If you’re heading down in
a large group, they’ve got some tempting
drinks offers too, with bottles of wine a steal
at just £7.95.
—Kathryn Lewis
Bill’s:
The Christmas dinner spirit is fully created by sharing
amongst guests
Opening its doors with a warm, rustic and
homely hearth, Bill’s is a rare gem among Mill
Lane’s generally average branded restaurants.
Encapsulating the friendly welcoming feel
of most independents, its pairing of heartwarming food and cosy atmosphere will get
any Scrooge into the festive spirit. The menu
caters to all tastes, from those who want
to fully fling themselves into a traditional
tasting, to those who prefer a lighter option.
Beginning with starters, the delectable take
on the classic prawn cocktail, an avocado and
prawn salad, sits amongst richer offerings
of scrumptious soups or chicken liver pate.
With the choice of a traditional roast turkey
Credits: Rubber Slippers In Italy / Flickr
Credits: Rasmus Lerdorf / Flickr
The Mackintosh:
60
or refined options such as roasted cod and
butternut squash, as well as a flavourful
vegetarian offering, no guest is left uncatered
for. Accompanied by bowls of trimmings, and
steaming vegetables the Christmas dinner
spirit is fully created by the sharing amongst
guests. And then we come to desserts; truly
decadent in all degrees, they end the meal in
the lap of Christmas luxury. Finishing with
complimentary mini mince pies, it’s certain
that no guest will leave Bill’s not feeling full
of Christmas cheer and the faultless festive
food.
—Jade Attwood
Credits: Helen K / Flickr
FOOD & DRINK
Gassy Jacks:
Cheesy Christmas music, paired with the compulsory
crackers and party hats, add to the jolly atmosphere
Giovanni’s:
An exciting menu, filled with pastas, casseroles,
tiramisu, and not a Christmas pudding in sight
If you’re not a fan of turkey, or you’re just
a bit bored of the abundance of seasonal
traditions, why not take the plunge and try
something a little less British this Christmas.
Giovanni’s restaurant, in the city centre,
offers an exciting Italian festive menu, filled
with pastas, casseroles, tiramisu, and not
a Christmas pudding in sight. A cosy little
restaurant, bursting with classic Italian
charm, with a hint of Welsh pride, provides
a warm and friendly atmosphere, perfect
for a small party of intimate friends. The
restaurant, established in 1983, knows a
thing or two about proper Italian food, so be
prepared to indulge in delicious handmade
ravioli and traditional family sauces.
Although the menu may bear a little more
weight on the pocket, wining and dining in
the centre of Cardiff, rather than a scruffy
pub in Cathays, gives you the chance to throw
on the party dress and add a little student
sophistication to the end of the year.
—Kathryn Lewis
Located in the heart of Cathays, Gassy Jacks
is a popular choice for the cosy Christmas
dinner that students treat themselves to
once a year. The popular student venue
offers two separate menus. The two or
three course party menu features all the
Christmas classics including the traditional
roast turkey with all of trimmings and
Christmas pudding with custard. There’s
also a selection of pub favourites on offer
too, for those who fancy something a little
different, including the famous Gassy
Jacks chocolate fudge cake. The alternate
option is the buffet menu, incorporating
all the tasty seasonal pickings such as pigs
in blankets and turkey sandwiches, just
served in a slightly more relaxed style.
With the three-course party menu only
causing an £11 dent in the student budget
and the £7 silver buffet available for those
less willing to splash out, the popular
student venue gets even livelier over the
festive period. Cheesy Christmas music,
paired with the compulsory crackers and
party hats, add to the jolly atmosphere,
making Gassy Jacks the ideal place to
get into the fun festive spirit with your
housemates.
—Imogen Byers
The Taf:
The Taf manages to retain its slightly shabby yet,
undeniably endearing appeal
only £9.95 for three courses it is unbeatable
on price as well as delivering on quality.
Even if you’re a bit of a picky eater, the
three options for starter and dessert should
mean that you find something to take your
fancy. Booking is recommended, as it gets
pretty busy and they’re slightly restricted
on space. Partnered with the usual student
atmosphere, The Taf is a great choice if you’re
looking for convenience, a decent meal, and
the possibility of getting a bit greedy at a
buffet. Five trips to the buffet spread? It’s
fine, it’s Christmas after all…
—Emma Giles
Credits: flipsockgrrrl / Flickr
Credits: Freakypic
Despite having a minor makeover this
summer, The Taf manages to retain its slightly
shabby yet undeniably endearing appeal and
is still treasured by the students of Cardiff. So
why venture out into the city streets to look
for a Christmas meal location? Convenient,
cheap and tasty, The Taf Christmas meal is
not to be overlooked. Mirroring its weekly
Sunday carvery set-up, the Christmas meal
adopts a buffet style dining experience,
including all the trimmings. as well as a
couple of nice surprises such as carrot and
swede mash. With a choice of meats (turkey
or gammon) as well as a vegetarian option
(nut roast), you can’t really go wrong. For
61
The Gutsy
Quench
Food
Evening:
Goose
Photography: Naomi Brown
Zenn Wong
Another month and another chance for Quench to
explore Cardiff’s independent eateries. This time
around, we’re heading to The Gutsy Goose for the
second of our Quench Food Evenings. Despite having
to battle the elements to get to the Crwys Road
restaurant, everyone remained lively and eager to be
let loose on the sizable menu to see what The Gutsy
Goose had to offer.
Dominating the small and perfectly cosy
restaurant, the crowd of self-confessed foodies and
simply hungry students indulged in some classically
British dishes, cocktails and food hedonism before
heading home full and with only a small dent in their
pocket. Considering we had exclusive access to the
restaurant and arriving in quick succession, therefore
dominating the restaurant, the service was excellent;
quick, efficient and friendly, ultimately hard to fault.
The menu itself is centered on British classics
such as pork belly, fish and chips and lamb, served
beautifully as well as being an ample portion. Giving
in to dessert also seemed a wise - isn’t it always? choice, with the appearance of more traditional dishes
including sticky toffee pudding, as well as crossAtlantic cheesecake, ensuring that the menu catered
to a range of tastes. Don’t just take our word for it;
here’s what some of the attendees had to say about
their evening at The Gutsy Goose.
62
“It certainly didn’t
disappoint”
I have always been really eager to try The Gutsy Goose
and it certainly didn’t disappoint. For the starter, I
had the mushrooms with blue cheese and chorizo on
toasted bread which was absolutely beautiful, and
the delicious, rich creamy texture continued into my
mains where I enjoyed monkfish on a bed of noodles
in a cream, chorizo and chilli sauce. The monkfish was
nice and meaty, however it lacked just a little bit of
seasoning. The wine was lovely, and the ambience of
the small venue was equally nice. Would definitely visit
again! —Victoria Chandler
FOOD & DRINK
“I found The Gutsy
Goose a refreshing
experience”
With the gastro-pubs and restaurants of Cathays
usually being so focussed on offering low cost, low
quality food for students, I found The Gutsy Goose a
refreshing experience. Providing fresh tasty food, in
a cosy atmosphere, The Gusty Goose is definitely a
venue where as a student I would be prepared to pay
more. The burger was on point, with crispy onion
rings, delicious seasoned beef and a beautiful homemade chunky salsa, it was perfection within a bun.
—Kieran Patel
“The sweetness of
the whole dessert
was immensely
satisfying”
The pork belly was really tasty, with soft fat that
melted in the mouth and a gravy that was not overtly
rich, which was good as the crackling on the pork was
already salty enough. The vegetables were rather runof-the-mill, but they were cooked to perfection and not
overdone or soggy. The only other thing I would say is
that the sea salted creamed potatoes were somewhat
bland, though the pork and gravy combined packed
enough punch for the potatoes to simply serve as a
stomach filler.
The generously-sized sticky toffee pudding was
another winner. It was somehow not particularly sticky
or toffee-ish, but that didn’t make it any less delectable.
Perhaps the pudding could have been a little more
syrupy and a little less spongey, and the sauce a tad
creamier and toffee-tasting, but the sweetness of the
whole dessert was immensely satisfying anyway.
All in all, a wonderful and value-for-money meal.
—Zenn Wong
“I was terrified I would
regret my decision and fall
victim to the dreaded food
envy, but I couldn’t have
been more wrong”
I’d heard great things about The Gutsy Goose and was
really looking forward to eating there as I love to try
new and independent restaurants. I’m pleased to say
that I was not disappointed. I looked at the menu
online and had been wondering what to have for a
good week beforehand. Everything sounded delicious
and there was something on there for every taste
and mood. When the evening came around, I played
it safe and went with The Gutsy Goose burger. When
everyone’s food arrived, I was terrified I would regret
my decision and fall victim to the dreaded food envy - I
couldn’t have been more wrong. The beef was cooked
to perfection and my chosen combination of cheese
and onion toppings on the burger worked together
beautifully. The homemade salsa was a lovely touch too.
I also swapped the potato fries the burger was served
with for the sweet potato chips. This was the best
decision of the night as I quite literally got a bucketful
of tasty salty sweet fries with the perfect crunch. The
whole evening was great; the staff were helpful and
friendly and the atmosphere and decor added a touch
of class to the evening. I had such an enjoyable night,
and was so desperate to try more of the menu, that I
immediately booked a table for the next week when
my mum was visiting. I couldn’t recommend The Gutsy
Goose any more, the perfect venue for delicious food
at affordable prices, giving you the chance to indulge
in a little foodie luxury and forget that in reality you’re
a struggling student.
—Julia Niblett
63