SAGE FRANCIS BEN WATT IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE SUUNS IAN

VU-zine
No. 2
SAGE FRANCIS
BEN WATT
IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE
SUUNS
IAN STEVENSON
KIASMOS
TONY ALLEN
WOOZY
DELS
PETALS HAVE FALLEN
★ ★ ★ ★ – The Times “Album of the Month, 4/5" – Mojo
“9/10” – Clash Magazine ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – Metro
★ ★ ★ ★ – Timeout London
“Back, ten times stronger” – The Fader
Contents & Credits
2
Ian Stevenson
In Four Shots
4
Sage Francis
Staying Sharp at 40
6
Ibibio Sound Machine
Birth of Ibibio
8
VULX
Tracking the Portuguese tongue
10
Ben Watt
Everything but the second album
12
VU Live
A few photos from our world
14
Di Mainstone Human Harp
Playing suspension bridges
16
Woozy Walls
The greek graff scene vs Shoreditch
18
Kiasmos
Colliding classical with electro
20
Suuns
Interview and Interference
22
Tony Allen
Moving on with Afrobeat
24
VU Listings
Who’s coming to play
THE NEW ALBUM OUT NOW (LP/CD/DL)
With production by Kwes., Bonobo, Blue May & Micachu
Guest appearances by Rosie Lowe, Kerry Leatham & Tirzah
26
Kate Tempest
After the media storm settles
Editor: Dan Davies
Design & Cover illustration: Kieren Gallear
Contributors: Ava Szajna-Hopgood, Woozy,
Leo Almeida, Juliet Spare
Photographers: Abi Dainton, Zoe Klinck, Ross Brewer,
Carla Cuomo, Rich Hendry, Pablo Rivera, Jaroslav
Moravec, Jessica Arneback, Marcus Peel, Daddy’s Got
Sweets, Djim
The VU Massive: Auro Foxcroft, Josh Greene, Dermot
Hurley, Jorge Nieto, Kath Khan, Jack Foxcroft, Ty
Vigrass, Lewis Howell, Radek Kieczka, Dominique
Activille, Declan Cosgrove, Ania Buesdorff, Mariana
Duarte Silva, Jowan Sebastian, Biba (cover star),
Glenn Max, Laura Killeen, Alda Petersone, Adam
Peters, Theo Dominian, Gregory Timbers, Keelan
Warr, Joey Jenkins, Jozef Garcala, Amelie Snyers
Promoters: Bird on the Wire, C2C, One Inch Badge,
Erased Tapes, Serious, Black Atlantic, The Hydra,
Fuse, All Tomorrow’s Parties, Rinse FM, NTS, Earnest
Endeavours, Soundcrash, SJM, Mixmag, Mixcloud,
Comono No, DHP, Metropolis, Bugged Out, Two
for the Road, Eat Your Own Ears, Communion,
Magic and Medicine, City of London Sinfonia, Black
Butter Records, Resident Advisor, Rockfeedback,
TrouwAmsterdam, Erased Tapes, Bird On The
Wire, KiliLive, Magic and Medicine, Parallel Lines,
Group, Secret Sundaze
Press Support:
Shaun Bronstein, Will Lawrence, Fanny at Kartel
Kreative, Kate Warren, James Heather
villageunderground.co.uk
vulisboa.com
vuevents.co.uk
vuzine.villageunderground.co.uk
2
IAN STEVENSON
In Four Shots
‘Timothy is a pervert’ (above): People say my art is childish or naive but I like to look for a double
meaning. Look at Timothy all innocent without the writing. Then you look at him with the sign,
he’s suddenly quite sinister. Look at him, trying to appeal to kids. Pervert.
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED’ (above): This is from an exhibition called Satisfaction Guaranteed about
subverting words you see all the time by putting them in a different context. There’s one I want to do
which says “Buy Now, Pay Later”. To me that seems really dark.
‘HAPPY HOUSE: now open’ (below) This is something I’ve been doing quite a lot lately. I like to go out
with just two colours (keep it cheap) and paint things. I kept going past this place on the bus and kept
thinking it looked like a face. So I walked back and painted a simple line and there it is. A face.
‘Revolution is now’ (below): I wanted to be involved with Russell Brand - he seemed like a good guy,
his morals are in the right place. And when I read the book he did seem to be promoting change.
Humour always gets in there, even though I try to be serious, I can’t. ianstevenson.co.uk
4
SAGE FRANCIS
Staying Sharp at 40
SF: Haven’t you heard? I’m a wet, wet
boy in a dry, dry state. No, I don’t think
I’m particularly slick. But as far as email
interviews go, I feel like this would be
any writer’s preference. This is how we
communicate best. When I’m pushed into
giving answers on the spot I feel forced
to fake my way through an explanation or
answer. This is the kind of shit some people
get off on. It’s not for me.
DD: The new album, Copper Gone, remains
pretty passionate – why are you still
raging?
SF: I still care about the operations of this
world and creating inspirational works. It
still excites me to get in front of a crowd
of people and have the ability to entertain
them. Despite all my rage, I’m still just a fat
guy named Sage.
DD: Do you think that your work is worth
SF: Apparently, yes. But not really. My work
is art. It’s what the art represents that is
So it breaks down like this...
Ahead of his London show at VU we were
offered an interview with Sage but by the
time the clearance was given he was up
late and trying to get some sleep before
on his European tour. He offered to do
the interview so Dan Davies sent through
questions which we hoped he might not
have been asked before or that might
provoke answers that he hasn’t answered
in his music. Good to his word, the answers
were returned.
DD: I know you have had trouble with
sleep in the past. Is it still bad and do you
have a way of making this easier on a
world tour?
SF: I can’t remember the last time I had a
predictable sleeping pattern, but touring
kind of forces the schedule. We’ll see
how it works out with the international
touring. So far, so not good!
DD: I liked what you said about e-mail
interviews, that they’re only dry when
you’re dealing with a dry person – what
keeps you slick?
DD: You’ve mentioned different selves
that you represent in rhyme – who are we
speaking to now and what does he think
of your other selves? Will you ever be done
with hip-hop?
SF: You are speaking to the puppeteer of
my other selves. He will never be done
with hip-hop. It’s too ingrained in his DNA.
However, some of the puppets he presides
over are done with hip-hop forever. He, the
puppeteer, is happy about that.
DD: Will hip-hop ever be done with you?
SF: Hip-hop probably wanted nothing to do
deal with me.
DD: I liked your press conference video,
how often do these lame questions get
asked from you?
SF: The press conference video was
incredibly cathartic to create. I got to
express a lot of things artists say behind the
scenes on a regular basis, but you can’t just
come right out and say it without looking
like an unappreciative asshole. I’m glad we
those questions that typically get asked are
ridiculous in nature.
DD: Is thoughtlessness the most annoying
character trait?
SF: I believe that inconsideration is the
most annoying character trait. I suppose it’s
more about carelessness than it is about
thoughtlessness.
DD: Hollywood stars have an incredible
capacity to trot out the same information
have you ever been able to master
this ‘art’?
SF: I mean no disrespect with this answer
as you have been a particularly interesting
interviewer, but a lot of interviewers trot
out the same kind of questions about an
artist and their work. The burden is then
put onto the interviewee to make it seem
fresh for whoever reads the interview. I
don’t know if I’ve mastered this art but I
probably do it better than most. The honest
Sage Francis landed at Village Underground
on 21st October, for the full version of this
interview please head to http://bit.ly/VZSage.
6
IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE
trouble maker and she didn’t like the idea
of us watching half naked girls gallivanting
about the stage. It wasn’t until I got much
older that I actually started listening to his
Making human music
music and appreciated what he was talking
about. Even though he was quite political,
there was a lot of truth in his music. He was
saying a lot of things that made sense. You can
Afrobeat though. You can hear Talking Heads
The Cracked Backed Tortoise
“The studio was obviously the birthing of
the project and taking it on the road is like
It was in the studio, recording with her friends
bringing it forth to the audience,” says Eno “So
Max Grunard, Leon Brichard and Benji Bouton
you’ve conceived it, then you’re breathing life
that Eno Williams started telling the tale of
into it by performing on stage.”
Western electronic music with African music.”
the Cracked Backed Tortoise. Although Eno
World of music and dance
was born in London, this ancient African story
was told to her when she was growing up in
gig below. She talks quickly, bursting with
Nigeria. Different versions of this myth exists
in other parts of Africa and even amongst
some native American tribes. The Ibibio
version is a bawdy retelling that involves a
the way her project has been received.
WOMAD festival and I was surprised how
varied her dedicated audience was. Playing
Not an obvious child
the red tent it was a world away from the leafy
arboretum. I wonder what she thinks about
cunning tortoise who receives a beating after
he cheats a king out of all of his money.
“It’s was great to have a receptive audience
being considered ‘world music’.
because everyone in the band loves the music
The South Eastern Nigerian language is
and is passionate about it too. The music is
“I would say it’s like human music… I’ve been
naturally lyrical and as Eno unravelled the
about celebrating and bringing to life – the
really taken by the way the audience takes
tale, she slipped into her mother tongue and
Afro music and fusion of electronic sound
to the music. Sometimes I teach them a few
sang parts to add extra comedy emphasis.
all mixed together. It was a case of creating
lines and they sing along. It just goes to show
Her friends who are from different countries
something new and unique. That’s what you
how universal music is as long as the spiritual
and couldn’t understand the phrases, but
see in the live show.”
content is good and people can vibe with it,
through Eno. In a twinkle of an eye Ibibio
Eno has been in the studio all day and is still
Sound Machine was born.
impeccably dressed, climbing up VU’s narrow
over the top, of course not go crazy but give it
spiral staircase to the tube carriages in a pair
a bit of a visual oomph if I may say so.”
people just want to celebrate…and dance.”
Bringing up baby
of stunning stilettos. Her black and white
Ibibio Sound Machine quickly grew in size,
VUzine. On stage her clothing and physical
Beyond Fela
taking extra brass and percussion from Tony
would be too easy to compare her to Fela Kuti.
Hayden, Scott Baylis and Anselmo Netto. It
was also able to run before it walked thanks
“I’ve seen lots of shows, musicals and concerts
to the wisdom and wicked guitar licks of
and one thing that always takes me back is the
“Both my parents loved Fela when we were
legendary Highlife guitarist Alfred Bannerman.
visual,” says Eno “What you see apart from just
growing up but we as children weren’t
But it was through touring that ISM really
the music. There’s so much more to putting on
allowed to listen to him. My mum in particular
found its feet.
a show. I thought it would be nice to go a little
thought he was quite controversial and a
Ibibio Sound Machine play Village Underground on
27th November. Tickets are £13.50.
For our video interview and full article visit:
http://bit.ly/VZibibio
8
Pass Me The Lusophone
Taking poetic license with Portguese speaking hip-hop
up by the spread of my native language across
from a shared language was a link that brought us
the globe and I believed that the world needed to
together across continents. We had fun pointing
hear the message.
out how the language had been translated with
different accents and differing dialects changing
In 2006, I started a TV show which featured
the meaning when spoken, even if they look the
live music performances by other lusophonic
same written down.
acts. Vinicius Terra wrote “Programa Na Rua”,
the music for the opening credits of the show.
Together we planned some interviews with Terra
walked with us in Chelas, on the streets where
as the interviewer. Musical link-ups were made
using his own tracks accompanied by other
hard. Then, we met José Mariño, an important
talented lusophones on the rap scene.
journalist who promoted Lisbon rap in its mother
tongue. Other names like General D, Dama
I quit my job as an AV director this year to pursue
Bete, Eva Rap Diva, Dealema, BPM, DJ Alfaiate,
this project full time. Strapped for cash we had
Mundo Segundo, Maze, and Expião shaped the
to think about how we could further spread
documentary in a way I never imagined. I threw
the word with a tiny budget. My plans to live
my script away and started to live the spoken
in Canada and study 3D Visual Effects quickly
history. Now I talk to them not as a director, but
morphed into three airplane tickets to Lisboa.
as a friend and listener.
When we landed in Portugal my documentary
“Versos que Atravessam” came out of the
Off the back of this documentary we’ve formed
shadows and into the light.
and Portugal Mixed). This October we travelled
We suddenly received the help from creative
through Portugal playing in cities across the
people on the ground. When Daniel Medeiros,
country. Today, we’re beginning to think that the
Art Director and rap fan said to me “I’m in”, we
handful of dates that BPM performed weren’t
became more powerful than ever. Raphael Peres
enough. We’ve discovered a new underground
came to the crew as First Assistant, and Frederick
history, we’ve found a global community of
Portuguese rappers and now we have a bigger
camera in his hand luggage and photographer
Only a few months after Village Underground
the spotlight whilst a DJ laid down beats. Not the
Lisbon opened its gates, it has already attracted
most game changing set up, admittedly but there
a range of national and international creative
“cenarium” to research.
numbers on his smartphone.
The link between Brazil and Portugal is only one
Even though we were penniless we shared a
line in the Portuguese and rap diaspora. Next
businesses. Like its London sister, this has made
was more than just a guy with a microphone.
passion to do the best job possible on a project
we’re going to look for connections in Africa and
the venue an inspiring place to work and play.
He was potentially a man who could front a
we loved, which was priceless.
Asia. But for now, we’re heading back to Brazil
with a lot of unpublished material from Portugal’s
movement. In the next decade we become real
hip-hop scene with a history to tell. A history that
Underground’s cultural fertility is Sensemedia
to represent his rap. But this story is bigger than
and Gustavo from Village Underground. They
begins with two friends talking of a bigger dream,
which needed a Lisbon base to put together a
the two of us.
loved the idea of a lusophony documentary
that is now a reality.
documentary on the burgeoning Portuguese
and when we needed a location to shoot our
speaking (“Lusophone”) hip-hop scene pioneered
We came up with the idea of communicating the
interviews and performances, it was natural to
by Brazillian rap ambassador Vinicius Terra.
lusophone rap over a beer - but this was an idea
shoot it at VU Lisboa. It became the spiritual
Director Leo Almeida explains how his mutual
that came from the classroom. Vinicius Terra’s
home of the project. This was our spot.
This synchronicity of life provided us with the best
a movement.
how urban environment was shaping the speech
contacts in town. And for one crazy insatiable
and verse of rappers in Brazil. I was fascinated
month, Daniel’s artistic vision led us further into
I met Vinicius Terra at Madureira, a Brazilian
and I believed it wasn’t just happening in Brazil
some very cool places and unique situations.
neighbourhood, in 2004. He was a lone MC on
but in every urbanized Portuguese speaking
Portugal fed off the Brazilian’s hip-hop artists’
stage, rolling out smart Portuguese rap behind
happiness - and the idiosyncrasies and in-jokes
“Porquê sempre e adiante do princípio é o verbo”.
For more information about co-working in Lisbon
please visit vulisboa.com
10
BEN WATT
30 Year Revolution
In what way does the new album echo where
you were at the beginning 30
years ago?
vintage Solina all over the album. Often it is
The interface of folk and Brazilian and rock still
fascinates me. I grew up discovering artists
like Joao Gilberto, John Martyn, Nick Drake,
Neil Young and they still leave a big imprint
on me now. My dad (a big band arranger and
jazz composer) was always playing jazz in the
house. I also listened to mid 70s Eno stuff
like Before and After Science and Another
Green World, I loved the ambient textures,
the buzzing polysynths. We used that as
background texture on Hendra.
Solo albums can be singular pursuits but
this album has some great contributions.
How important to you is collaboration with
good musicians?
As you’ve completed your 20 year musical
orbit around electronic music what is your
relationship with it now?
In 1983 Ben Watt released his debut
album North Marine Drive on indie
label Cherry Red. Then he met Tracey
Thorn and they formed folk-infused
venture Everything But The Girl. In the
early nineties the band collaborated
with Massive Attack and 1996’s Walking
Wounded melded with future-facing
collaborators Howie B and Spring
Heel Jack. This diversion won Watt a
nomination for producer of the year at
Q Awards and started a loop into dance
music. Thirty years later he’s seemingly
got round to recording his second
solo album.
diverted for 30 years?
The album had been in the back of my mind
on and off for years. I had an emerging career
aged nineteen back in the early eighties where
I had recorded with folk mavericks like Kevin
Coyne and Robert Wyatt in spite of my relative
youth. Then I met Tracey and took a fork in the
road. I thought it would be for three months.
It took 20 years. But someday I knew I would
return to a solo record of some sort. In the end
I wrote it out of a kind of compulsion because
of certain triggers in my life, and I just tried
relaxed, with good stories to tell.
buzzing around the edges.
I turn to people when I need them. I knew I
was writing in a very loose impressionistic
– and at times melancholy – way on the
record, and yet the lyrics were quite heavy,
so I decided I needed a counterpoint in the
music, a darker voice, some grit. So I turned
to Bernard Butler. He brings the edge, the
distortion, the foil.
The plateau of creativity you’ve said you
I was completely absorbed by it for a long
time. But somehow I hit a plateau a couple
of years ago. Things seemed to be either
running out of control with EDM, or returning
to where I was at the beginning of my DJing
with people asking me to play all my early
Lazy Dog deep house records again, and it
felt like a turning point. I hit the pause button,
and realised what I really wanted to do was
write again – words, songs. Another beginning
perhaps, perhaps even an older one, but it felt
like a fresh one.
day or moment when you felt you had to
return to writing and performing live?
For Hendra did you work from your home
studio or did songs come to you when you
were elsewhere with a guitar?
Always. Everything you ever do is done to
make up for perceived mistakes in the past.
I wrote everything for that record on one
guitar or at the piano. I did basic old school
demos. Tried to make sure they worked as
Is there any electronic residue left behind?
Yes, me and Ewan (Pearson) spent a long
time on the background electronic textures
on the record. The opening of the album
actually starts with a heavy ARP chord, but
we also used found sounds, old polysynths,
It creeps up on you. The late nights, the
travelling, the disappointing DJ gigs – you
start to resent them, rather than brush them
aside. In the end I felt my own self-expression
change.
business?
If you could live any year of the last 31 again,
which one would it be?
None. The next one is always the best.
The Ben Watt Trio perform at Village
Underground on 10th November.
For the full interview please visit:
http://bit.ly/VZbenwatt
Ben Klock, New Year Rock Festival, Imaginarium, R-Robot, Blondie
Ben Frost, Secret Cinema, Blood Orange, Snakehips, Crowd for Zoé
Credits: Daddy’s Got Sweets, Zoe Klinck,, Dan Davies, Marcus Peel, Rich Hendry
Carla Cuomo, TMS, Abi Dainton, Ross Brewer, Pablo Rivera
14
DI MAINSTONE
Bowing The Bridges
When I lived in New York I found myself
intervention outdoors, and in unexpected
visiting the Brooklyn Bridge on a daily basis
places. It made me think that I can’t wait
and I was inspired by all the different sounds
to take the new version of this contraption
I could hear - the sounds of footsteps on
outside. To test it on a bridge or attach it
the walkway, chatter as people walked by,
to the nearest tower block, and see what
unexpected things happen.
down below. I wondered if there was a way
to create an instrument that would allow all
of these sounds to be harvested, captured,
and remixed. I then wondered if all of these
journey sounds were travelling through the
cables of the bridge, and if there was a way to
create an instrument that would actually bow
the bridge and release all of these sounds.
Living in New York I felt like a very small
person in a very big place. Creating the
Human Harp seems like quite a big symbol
of my visit there. A small person like me
managing to strum or pluck the Brooklyn
Bridge, seemed quite magical. I’m fascinated
by that - the string connecting from the
human body to something that’s giant and
almost overpowering. Yet, somehow you’re
controlling it and you’re making music out of
we were right at the beginning of our journey,
it.
and all that we really solved was the answer
of how to make a piece of retractable string
My project at the Roundhouse in August
make music, but we hadn’t really worked
has massively accelerated my research and
out how to unearth the sound of the cables
development. It’s enabled ten of us to be
yet. What we’ve managed to do this year is
together, in the space, and talk and solve
do a lot of experiments with that and I hope
problems that if we weren’t together and
that with the performance at Clifton. We’ll be
able to play as a group, could take months
truly playing the bridge like a harp, and we’ll
Staring up from the street below at Village
Mary University of London, and has spent the
ordinarily. On top of that, it’s allowing
be unleashing those hidden sounds that are
Underground’s tube trains, it often looks
last few years working with scientists and
members of the public to swing by, pass
running through the cable, pitching them up
as if the carriages hover in the Shoreditch
musicians to create new musical instruments
through, and test and give us feedback, and
to audible levels and releasing them to the
skyline, forming a small collective in the EC2
that use body movement to trigger sound.
for us to observe them in a non-contrived way.
people of Bristol and all those who visit on
troposphere. For a handful of artists, this is a
After a month spent at the Roundhouse
If we were to do it ourselves we know how the
that day.
slice of the city to own, because it’s a rare day
developing her Human Harp, we wanted to
device works, so to see someone cold test it is
when London doesn’t feel overpowering.
hear from the movician about the aspects
very useful.
of city life that have inspired her to create
Capturing a part of the city, bringing it to heel
her body-centric sonic sculptures, and how
Seeing the Human Harp set up in a theatrical
and training it, is precisely what appeals to
this will inform her upcoming work at Clifton
space was wonderful, and something we’ll
Di Mainstone. Based at Village Underground,
Suspension Bridge in March 2015 for its 150th
always remember but it also made me
Di is also an artist in residence at Queen
anniversary.
realise that this instrument is built for sound
For the full scrolling story including an incredible
video please visit: http://bit.ly/VZharp
WOOZY
16
Makari na litourgousan oi krtakoi organismoi
Before the mural, I’ve already spent many
kai na ginotan kati xoris na iparxei mesa I miza
kai I kataxrisi xrimaton.
perfectly. Similar to Picasso’s desire to work on
a big white canvas, what counts to me is the
The Greek Graff Scene vs Shoreditch
When I began to paint in the 90s, things were
size of the wall. You get a greater interaction
entirely different. Living in Athens at the time
with the audience and a greater freedom to
was like living in the 70s in New York. Some
be creative, small art works generally limit me.
of us were lucky and we had international
contacts and commuted to places like France
and learned how this street art culture worked
abroad. We returned to Greece with new
knowledge about fresh talent and new ideas.
I wanted to do something for the country that
I loved.
Because I was young, all my energy was
spent organising this new wave of artistic
expression in Greece. Carpe Diem developed
as a platform of communication between
European magazines and the network of
cultural industry contacts. I became the “go
It was really hard to learn and to organise
orthodox society that didn’t want things to
change. They saw us as aliens! The years
passed and I fell more in love with street
art and that’s when I started making the
magazine with the support of some friends.
I love futurist landscapes, mythology,
geometry, and politics. My direction and
changeable British weather, determined
inspire new creativity. I believe that there is a
seriously, and not see those artists as young
perspective give an open space to one kind
greater need for society to express itself.
children who are just doing it for a reaction.
of freedom. This is what I want to believe
So I started an NGO that spun off the big
and this is what I try to leave behind: a loud
feeling.
off the Holywell Lane wall by the
In the big capitalist economies like New York
event ‘Chromopolis’, as part of the culture
“Power of Girl”. But the ever resilient Woozy
or London where everything works with
Olympiad for the 2004 Olympic games. I
(real name Vaggelis Hoursoglou) stayed
immense civilized order, people try to make
invited my friends Os Gemeos and other big
in Shoreditch and left his mark on other walls
things look pretty and beautiful. This situation
names to help with the promo and since then,
before heading home. We’ve given him
has its negatives and positives; I’m not saying
I believe Greek culture started becoming more
more space to speak out.
the art is sterile or boring, but as an artist there
isn’t anything to kick against. It’s not by chance
The chaotic order in Greece is productive
the big event Documenta will be taking place
exists a fresh appetite and willingness without
and tiring, if you aren’t used to swimming in
in Athens for 2015. Meaningful art comes from
sponsors, events, or other hype clouding the
the deep end, you might drown. In a country
a place of struggle and cannot simply arise
art. Creating work for the public keeps me
where there is crisis, the underground
from where places are stable and set.
Pictures by Marcus Peel
For the full Woozy rant please visit:
http://bit.ly/VZwoozy
18
KIASMOS
At The Apex
those trips we found this common interest for
who are in similar places as you and having
electronic music which, at least, I hadn’t really
similar ideas - just talking to them. Me and
explored before. We were just both interested
Nils [Frahm] became best friends eventually -
and wanted to start experimenting.”
and every time we see each other we inspire
each other so much and we get so many more
Filled with energy of a new musical
ideas we wouldn’t have without each other –
relationship, early material focused on a
so this is a label with very useful friendships.”
shared love for minimal techno, but when it
came to putting the debut album together,
their music became more considered. On the
phone from the Faroe Islands Janus considers
the current body of work. “I didn’t know it was
going to be this ambient, but I guess that was
nice, it’s kind of new for me – I’ve always made
dance music but in a way we’re meeting in the
middle.”
Also on the conference call, Ólafur agrees:
“This is more clubby than I usually do but more
ambient than Janus usually does.”
The concept of meeting in the middle is at the
core of what Kiasmos achieves. Named after a
mis-spelling of Chiasmus, a literary technique
whereby two clauses are related to each other
by reversing them in order to make a larger
idea (“Ask not what your country can do for
When an island such as Iceland is shaped so
plate is techno musician and vocalist Janus
you, ask what you can do for your country”),
Taking a project out of the secure environment
Kiasmos revels in the uncertainty of turning
of a studio and trying to replicate it for a
something on its head and taking it out of its
live show brings another dimension to the
comfort zone.
performance. Ólafur explains that they
easy for stereotypes to take hold, especially
Rasmussen, one quarter of Icelandic band
when there isn’t a huge amount of people
Bloodgroup who are specialists in catchy
The overall sound Ólafur and Janus produce
and ensconce the audience in what Kiasmos
to defy them. But despite the country’s
dance music earning them early comparisons
is one enriched with both experience and
achieves: “A live show should be a moment
impeccable cultural heritage, there’s a new
to The Knife. With a new date announced on
uncertainty and the very idea of playing
that you experience, and it only happens
wave of artists not content on relying on the
29th November for Superstition, we spoke to
outside familiar territory. But instead of
there, and it doesn’t happen again in the same
drawing inspiration from the environment
way. And what we want to do with the live
eponymous album, made after setting aside
around them, it was the band’s work with
show is reinforce that- to help people get lost
2014 for collaboration in Reykjavík.
Erased Tapes that continued to encourage
in that moment. And forget about everything
experimentation: “It’s offered me this
else.”
their nation’s musical output.
Cue Kiasmos, two musicians seemingly
decided to stick to the vibe of the album,
standing on different tectonic plates. On
“We met through music,” Ólafur says, “I was
opportunity to grow as an artist”, says
one side is Ólafur Arnalds – a BAFTA-winning
working as a sound technician back in the day,
Ólafur of the London-based label. “It invites
multi-instrumentalist, composer and
and Janus’s band, Bloodgroup, was playing
collaboration - and it doesn’t have to be a
producer, whose work comprises post-
at a venue I worked at, and I ended up going
serious musical collaboration, but just talking
classical strings and piano nudged gently
on tour with them as their live engineer. On
about ideas. You know, having these friends
Kiasmos will headline a special Superstition show
in collaboration with Last.fm and Erased Tapes on
29th November 2014. For this full interview, please
visit http://bit.ly/VZkiasmos
20
SUUNS
“Feels like a crazy slap in the face.”
D: Last time you played here was two years
that had its challenges as well - a lot of songs
ago and you were on our smaller stage setup
were not tested live, so we were just sort of
underneath the arches. This year you’ll be in
working on them in the studio and we had no
the main space, a move which you must see
idea if they would really do well live before
happening a lot for the second album run of
we started recording them. I hope it’s not a
tours and gigging. Do you think playing to
case where each record will be the magnetic
larger audiences affects the atmosphere on
opposite of the previous ones - but I don’t
stage?
think so.
J: Yes I do remember that gig - and I think in
general we are just a different band, so I think
it will be a different show than it was almost
two years ago.
D: Is there a danger as you become more
popular that you lose that intimacy and
response from a small audience? Do you think
there’s a risk that something gets lost when
you scale up?
D: You’ve named your album after the Images
Du Futur exhibitions in Montreal, and you’ve
reason to claim it’s not as intimate - which is
all lived there for at least ten years - do you
totally understandable - but I guess naturally
think the album in a way celebrates that
it would happen if you were playing a bigger
legacy of Montreal?
especially good to musicians. It’s cheap to live
you feel you’ve learnt from that and how did it
here, everything is very close and compact - I
affect your approach to Images Du Futur?
Let’s set the scene: It’s four in the afternoon
in London, eleven in the morning in
Montreal. Dan is sat in a recycled Jubilee
line tube train on top of Village
Underground in Shoreditch, amid the
sounds of computer keys and answering
every other member of our band. Everything
grinds by as car horns congregate, children
we do is in some way an homage to this place
goad for attention and the phone buttons
are accidentally pressed, the signal drops,
we were completely independent, and we
- this band would not have started. It means
echoes and distorts. These bursts disrupt
the conversation like Suuns music: the drone
The downside to that was we didn’t have
we’ve been able to put a lot of work into the
and hum of technology and modern living
much money or that much time to do it. We
band because we don’t need to put a lot of
with surprising sounds taking them in new
had been playing those songs for the better
work into surviving. It frees us up to be really
part of two years, and we kind of rushed in,
devoted to do what we want to do, which is
played most of them live and then did a few
priceless, really.
3,243 miles away, Joe Yarmush, guitarist,
bassist and founding member of Suuns,
overdubs.
from Montreal’s Breakglass Studios, where
their second album, Images Du Futur,
came into being.
Throughout the interview, life is condensed
across the Atlantic and returned to Shoreditch
Images was really songs that were written
in September with a new album for a new
in a short period of time in early 2012, and
stage - an eigen pun that serves to highlight
sound and cohesion-wise, the songs are a lot
just how much has evolved for a band
better, in the respect that it sounds more like
previously named after nothing.
an album that came from a certain period. But
For the full Suuns interview and interfering
audio please go here: http://bit.ly/VZsuuns
22
TONY ALLEN
The Afrobeat Goes On
Erykah Badu, Fatoumata Diawara and many
them because they don’t have the correct
others as part of Africa Express.
papers. It’s like playing the Lottery. I’m
His approach to collaboration has always been
every time.”
open and accepting and this remains the same
“I’m not like Fela who writes compositions
with music direct,” says Allen “I’m composing
with my drumset. I’m not going to assume
that I can write for instruments that I never
played with before. After the drums are there
like the bass, guitars horns and keyboards.”
Allen is keen to encourage the best from
settled in Paris in the early 1980s.
musicians that he works with on his own
Nefretiti, Kuku and Damon Albarn all setting
the tone for the music. Allen talks about the
song he created with his The Good, The Bad
and The Queen collaborator.
“I would never dictate anything to him,
because when I’ve invited Damon, I want
Damon, you know? As long as he doesn’t
settled in Paris in the early 1980s.
dictate to me what he wants when he’s invited
Tony Allen started making music with
It comes as no surprise that his new solo
Fela Anikulapo-Kuti in the late 1960s and
album Film of Life isn’t a perfectly preserved
me. I know he will give me back something.
“I think Paris is happening for music. I also
I don’t need to tell him what to do. It’s like
chose France because here I can walk, legally.
telepathy he can read me and I read him too.”
I want to be able to walk freely across the
world. In England I was stuck, they wouldn’t
retrospective but a future-gazing album of
Certain tracks on the album also have a
new material. It has the similar hypnotising
political message to his African brothers and
polyrhythms but doesn’t sound stuck in an era
sisters, no more so than Boat Journey, which
or musical style.
warns against the dangers of migration.
This doesn’t mean that his work is without
“The song is about leaving your country
continues to break the form rather than get
teeth, his laconic vocal delivery often conveys
because you have a bad situation but you can
stuck in a loop.
a strong message. The opening track Moving
often face persecution elsewhere. Like me, I
Nevertheless, Village Underground has
On lays down the musical manifesto of what
left Nigeria to come to Europe to change my
tempted him across the Channel in November.
at one point he calls “Afrobeat Espresso”
situation because it was crazy back there. But
This is the perfect chance to catch a man who
and at another point he calls “Afrobeat
I never lost my life. Even if the boat doesn’t
refuses to stand still.
Express”. This is perhaps a reference to the
capsize, they can face detention and if they’re
supercharged Rocket Juice & The Moon
lucky and they enter the country they don’t
continued to be the rhythm powerhouse of
Afrika 70 during the self proclaimed “Black
“The approach is Afrobeat” says Allen, “it can
applied to my whole life. It’s the ups and
keep moving on.”
And if I did make music there there’s always
back every time to catch you if you were
as Art Blakey with African Highlife to create
the backbone for Afrobeat. But Afrobeat
give you the right papers. For me it meant
collaboration with Damon Albarn, Flea,
performing.”
Tony Allen comes to town on 20th November.
Please head to http://bit.ly/VZallen
Jungle by Night, Crowd for Zoé, Sohn, Trouw Takeover, Stuart Lee
Kwabs, Crowd for Claude Von Stroke, Slow Club, Years and Years, Discreet
Credits: Abi Dainton, Zoe Klinck,, Dan Davies, Marcus Peel, Daddy’s Got Sweets
Abi Dainton, Ross Brewer, Marcus Peel
Coming Up
Coming Up
2014 / 2015
2014 / 2015
6.11.14
Roni Size Reprazent - Sold out!
28.11.14
Trouw: Makam, Sandrien, Patrice Baumel And Job Jobse
10.11.14
Ben Watt Trio feat. Bernard Butler & Martin Ditcham & Special Guests
29.11.14
Erased Tapes x Superstition: Kiasmos
11.11.14
Kate Tempest + Rag ‘n’ Bone Man - Sold out!
6.12.14
White Mink
13.11.14
The Growlers + Pins
7.12.14
Los Campesinos - Sold out!
14.11.14
Wildbirds & Peacedrums + Blood Sport
14.11.14
Gaiser + Ambivalent
15.11.14
Mixmag Live Presents Marc Kinchen
17.11.14
The Bad Plus + Support
18.11.14
Bob Mould - Sold out!
20.11.14
Tony Allen + Aziz Sahmaoui & The University Of Gnawa
22.11.14
Life and Death x Superstition: Tale of Us, Mind Against, DJ Tennis
24.11.14
Melanie De Biasio
27.11.14
Ibibio Sound Machine + Afrikan Boy & Afri-Kokoa Djs
13.12.14
Running Wild: Stephan Bodzin, Marc Romboy, Aidan Doherty, James
Sison B2b Edward Antonio, Jorge Martins
31.12.14
Krankbrother: New Year’s Eve With Mr. G, Gerd And Ivan Smagghe
29.01.15
Julian Cope
24.02.15
Baxter Dury + Special Guests
2.03.15
Benjamin Booker
4.03.15
Yelle
10.03.15
Rhodes
11.03.15
Vaults
9.04.15
Polar Bear
KATE TEMPEST
Flushed with success
on a mission that is
ongoing, obsessed.
Words by Dan Davies
You can curse and call it typical
You can welcome the inevitable
But we missed the boat
Our ship had sailed
When Tempest stormed the critical.
It’s been ten years in port
But far from docked, she’s more than caught
Attention
She’s held court, spoke forth
Waving, drowning, craving, storming, sailing.
As long as they’ve listened, they’ve heard her
As long as they came, she’d be there
Jumping genre fences at festivals
Being drunk on rhyme and rum, in bars and cafes
Ranting late night in kebab takeaways
The beat, her heart, her own, inaudible, invisible.
Go back, way back, before that
Kate Tempest spat
before she spoke
Drummed out her words
In school cloakrooms
The rhythm of being in the womb
Hip hop, the wet nurse
Cries full of hunger and meaning
Giving voice to the wounded, alone, stranded,
abandoned.
Writing plays for tomorrow and today
Softening the life of the hard living
Giving
Whether whittling words or treading boards
Stirring souls, portraying passion, long rounds of
applause
Village Underground
London, EC2A
Thursday 29.01.15
into awards.
So let the broadsheets bang on about background
and beginning
Before being shredded and forgotten.
Let Jon Humphries get back round to pillaring
politicians
Rather than hastily constructing pedestals of
jauntiness (and Jim Naughtiness)
Let the bookies stop taking bets on fake
measures of success.
Because after the fawning journos, the fakers,
potshots
After the Gogglebox gogglers and the blank
switch off.
Leave the musicians and the makers,
Leave those who hear more with repeated listens
Standing in the wings being lifted up with words
Or pushing to the front
Pinned against the band,
The following, the follower,
The fanzine and the fans.
villageunderground.co.uk
vuzine.villageunderground.co.uk