Sunday, 11 March 2012
Little shop of wonders...
I directed my first fashion shoot with the help of the lovely people at two amazing and completely underrated vintage stalls in the prestigious Indoor Market.
Poppy wears (above): 1950s French lace corset, £25; 1980s Monsoon acid floral print pencil skirt, £12; Genuine Whitby Jet cross pendant, £40. All Vintage @ Durham Market. Shoes model’s own.
Poppy wears: Vintage college jersey, £16; Plaid shirt, from £16; Levi’s cut-off stonewash denim shorts, £18; Handmade Dorothy bangle, £10. All Vintage @ No. 14
Photography by Quin Murray – www.Quinography.com
Model: Poppy Wright, Van Mildert CollegeStyled and directed by Olivia Swash
Thanks to Karen, Joyce and Mike at Vintage @ Durham Market, and to David and Victoria at Vintage at No.14.
Monday, 26 December 2011
TheLineOfBestFit.com Review: Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow
Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow
To deem the second installation of Kate Bush‘s 2011 comeback a “Christmas album” would be more than a little off-target. Perhaps it’s Scrooge-like to deny its festive merit, but the seven-track collection is far from the novelty ‘I Wish It Could Be A Wombling Merry Christmas Every Day’ approach to a Christmas release. After all, there isn’t a jingle bell nor a flashing Santa hat in sight.
Supporting vocals come from Kate’s son Albert “Bertie” on ‘Snowflake’, his celestially clear The Snowman-esque vocals contrasting with his mother’s breathy tones. Elton John and Stephen Fry also make foolproof cameos in ‘Snowed In at Wheeler Street’ and ’50 Words for Snow’ respectively; although the latter does come across as a little too predictable. Although comfortable on a bed of tribal beats, the track simply does what it says on the tin and little more. Ranging from the ordinary (“white-out”) to the graceful (“Wenceslas air”), the count-down of increasingly surreal terms seems to exist principally for the sake of justifying the album’s title.
After Bush’s release of re-recordings earlier this year, 50 Words For Snow marks her tenth studio album after a six year hiatus. Whilst clearly standing its ground as a winter-influenced album, any of the more jovially twee aspects of the chilly months are firmly wrapped away. Every song, whether overtly or subtly, seems to tell a solemn tale with a lonely and melancholic ambiance running throughout. Nevertheless the record is anything but frigid; and drifts effortlessly in and out of a twinkly piano-based backdrop, its delicate vocals complemented by jazz-flecked drums.
Supporting vocals come from Kate’s son Albert “Bertie” on ‘Snowflake’, his celestially clear The Snowman-esque vocals contrasting with his mother’s breathy tones. Elton John and Stephen Fry also make foolproof cameos in ‘Snowed In at Wheeler Street’ and ’50 Words for Snow’ respectively; although the latter does come across as a little too predictable. Although comfortable on a bed of tribal beats, the track simply does what it says on the tin and little more. Ranging from the ordinary (“white-out”) to the graceful (“Wenceslas air”), the count-down of increasingly surreal terms seems to exist principally for the sake of justifying the album’s title.
The highlight of the album, ‘Lake Tahoe’ opens with a luscious operatic duet and sails off into beautiful lulling waves of warm, soft piano and sustained strings. This spacious tranquility contrasts with the song’s tale of a ghostly woman rising from the depths of the Californian lake “wearing Victorian dress”. Myth has it that Tahoe’s depths are lined with illicitly dumped bodies, perfectly preserved due to its extreme temperature.
A yellow spot in the more-or-less unblemished whole picture rears its head in the 13 minute long ‘Misty’. Whilst Bush’s vocal is refreshingly raw and gritty, a distinct awkwardness meets these slightly-too-literal depictions of a night of passion with a snowman. She leaves us no clues as to the reasoning behind the surreal fantasy, describing his mouth as “full of dead leaves / and bits of twisted branches / and frozen garden”. Prudishness aside, Bush doesn’t leave much to the imagination with this bizarre narrative, concluding with the universally-dismal lines of ”Sunday morning / I can’t find him / the sheets are soaking”… It could almost be the subject of a French & Saunders Christmas Special spoof, perhaps accompanied by a censored music video.
While the rest of the album fails to rise to the complexities of ‘Lake Tahoe’, 50 Words For Snow is another stepping stone away from the interpretive-dancing-in-a-field Kate Bush of yore. It proves her credentials of distinct maturity as well as exhibiting her ability to experiment successfully with deep-set and sombre but thoroughly captivating music.
Sunday, 16 October 2011
Review for TLOBF: Tubelord – R O M A N C E
Happy-go-lucky Kingston-based rockers Tubelord return with their second studio full-length, along with a fourth band member and a newly honed rhythmic maturity that last year’s Aztec-inspired EP Tezcatlipōca narrowly lacked. R O M A N C E is a collection of jittery noise-pop ditties brimming with a sprightly energy, neatly encapsulating early Biffy riffs with the childlike optimism of Dananananaykroyd.
The growth from a twee fidgety trio through to a fledged and tangible electro foursome is reflected through the concept behind the album. Not that R O M A N C E can be described as a ‘concept album’ per say: there is no overt mystical vein or grand operatic tale running throughout, but the album’s methodical compilation is subtly intriguing. Lead vocalist Joseph Prendergast has rejected a conventionally emotive writing stimulus in favour of a complete lack of personal attachment to the lyrics. Rather than using egocentric references to relationships or even vague abstract depictions of events that hold meaning to him, the words are a hotchpotch of borrowed and adopted references from female poets throughout history. Prendergast defines this emotional disconnectedness as putting himself in the position of reader rather than writer.
But although it could be considered a lazy method of penning lyrics, the words as an essentially meaningless device means that Prendergast’s distinctive voice plays the part of just another instrumental layer in the unpredictable swoops of spacious intervals. The jigsaw of words, sometimes ‘re-wind and double-check that’s what he actually said’ phrases drawing you in (“Sun-tusk haze of golden / east will swallow your Comic Sans lover” – These lines alone cite the works of 6 poets over 3 decades, in case you wondered).
tubelord ≈ my first castle by tubelord The new presence of fourth member and producer James Elliot Field is clear throughout, as the zany and sometimes theramin-reminiscent synths (‘My First Castle’ bordering on Clangers-esque blips and bloops) add a woozy Nintendo level, distinctly separating the sound from their debut Our First American Friends.
For the Poirot wannabes amongst you, the band have created a secret password-protected online index citing the references of dozens of writers from Sylvia Plath to Carol Ann Duffy alongside the lyrics. Only the eagle-eyed fans who spot the details hidden amongst the album artwork will be able to access the expansive appendix and figure out just where those odd lyrics you thought you heard have come from.
While edgy and chipper for the most part with a few deliciously dreamy lulls (’4T3′), the album is never boring. With the help of fans trusting enough to preorder so that the band could afford to create the album, it is the first release from Pink Mist – a collaborative music group made up of Scary Monsters, Holy Roar Records and Blood & Biscuits.
(Oooo!)
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Tracey Emin confirmed for Durham’s Lumiere light festival
By Olivia Swash
Turner Prize nominee and controversial leading member of the Young British Artist movement Tracey Emin will be the highlight of this year’s Lumiere festival. Emin’s neon work will star amongst 30 installations by local, national and international artists and light designers using light art to illuminate the nooks, crannies, bridges and buildings of Durham‘s historical city centre.
The light festival, organised by Artichoke, returns for 4 nights in November at the cordial invite of Durham County Council after their previous successes enticed 75,000 people to the city to witness the unique illuminations.
The globally-acclaimed and oft misconstrued artist is most famous for her ‘My Bed’ piece, which was presented at the Tate Gallery as it was when she had spent many days within it feeling suicidal because of relationship issues. Her Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995 piece also raised eyebrows with an assumed euphemism- a tent with an interior jigsawed together from appliqued names of relatives she has slept next to, sexual partners, and her two aborted children.
Details of Emin’s neon contribution to the festival is still under wraps, although is rumoured to be one of the main pieces exhibited at her major solo retrospective at London’s Hayward Gallery earlier this year. She has previously donated neon work to auction for charity and in 2007 her neon Keep Me Safe reached over £60,000.
Lumiere will catch your eye between 17th – 20th November around Durham city.
Monday, 12 September 2011
Published by NME
Record Store Day: The Movie raising money for UK cinema release
Sound It Out, which offers a fly-on-the-wall look at the last surviving record shop inTeesside, was originally screened back in March at South By South West festival in Austin, Texas. The people behind the film have launched a crowd-funding campaign in order to fund the nationwide UK cinema release. Click here for more information.
Originally a small project by Jeanie Finlay, the documentary - billed as "High Fidelity with a Northern accent" - portrays not only the vinyl obsessions of punters but also store owner Tom Butchard's personal rapport with a host of regulars.
Despite the slump in physical album sales in the download era, some independent shops have clung on - though Butchard is puzzled as to why his store, also called Sound It Out, has weathered the storm.
"It’s a poor area in Stockton so I don’t really know why it’s the only record shop in the area to have survived," he tells NME. "But people want to come in and see what isn’t in the charts."
Butchard is passionate about only stocking independent and unusual music: "Downloading has killed off a lot of shops. Over the years people have told me to sell chart stuff, but if I’d started I would have closed by now."
Adding to the plucky underdog theme is the fact that Sound It Out is not the product of a Hollywood studio; it is entirely fan-funded. Over 250 members of the public contributed towards getting the documentary to Austin, Texas for its world premiere. "Joe public has paid, and it’s incredible," says Tom.
But the store isn't likely to stray far from its North Eastern roots any time soon. Tom assures us: "I want to carry on as we are. People have been coming here for 20 years so I wouldn’t relocate, Stockton is home!"
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
BBC 6 Music News Demo
Just a little somethin' I threw together on my internship at BBC 6 Music. It was my first ever attempt at newsreading so I know it's hardly perfect!
BBC 6 Music News Demo by swashyo
BBC 6 Music News Demo by swashyo
Sunday, 7 August 2011
Published in The Guardian, hoo-ray
Clip joint: Lipstick
This week clip joint focuses on the power of the pout, bringing you five of film's most kissable lipstick scenes
Lipstick and cinema grew up together. Commercially available lipsticks hit the American market in the 1890s, just as Koster and Bial's Music Hall began exhibiting the first moving pictures. Before then lipstick was considered the preserve of the stage actress and the prostitute, a preconception that cinema's luxuriantly lippy-d stars helped to erode.
In the black and white world lipstick provided definition. It helped make great performances ("You know how to whistle, don't you Steve? ...) iconic and later, powered the signature pouts of actors such as Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. Rouged lips came to dominate the silver screen, selling beauty, sex and glamour – the promise of Hollywood applied through the application of a tinted, waxy pigment. Here are five clips that explore the power of that painted pout:
1) The old "look, no hands!" method of application. Demonstrated by Claire (Molly Ringwald) in 1985's The Breakfast Club.
2) Sienna Miller's go-getting Tammy hastily smudges her lipstick in a bid for less blatant sexiness in this scene from Layer Cake.
3) "REDRUM! REDRUM!" Stanley Kubrick's The Shining has a young child (Danny Lloyd) wielding a kitchen knife, a red lipstick and a bowl cut: a deadly combination.
4) Teetering off the surreal end of the B-movie spectrum, Night of the Demons includes a NSFW scene in which a demonically possessed, lipstick-smeared teenage girl ingests the tube through her breast.
5) (3:20) In Black Narcissus (1947), Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron) revolts against the Sister Superior (Deborah Kerr) and nunhood itself by wearing a taboo red dress and applying lippy.
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