Look at the graph above, sent to me by Paul Piggott of La Digit PR, breaking down all of the albums to have been shortlisted for the (Barclaycard) Mercury Prize since 1992, by genre.

Now, read this quote from the Mercury’s own website: “One of the founding principles of the Mercury Prize was that all music be treated equally regardless of genre. This principle is followed at every stage of the entry and judging process.”

Now look back at the graph. One genre has been omitted for inclusion every year. All music, treated equal. Except metal, obviously.

As I noted when suggesting points for Mercury Prize reform last year, the prize’s chair of judges, Simon Frith, has said of metal: “[It is a] niche that a lot of people don’t listen to.” Which is why, of course, Metallica headlined Glastonbury this summer, and why Black Sabbath’s ‘13’ went to number one on release a year ago and won the band its first Grammy in 14 years.

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Black Sabbath, 'God Is Dead?', from '13'

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A lot of people don’t listen to jazz, to rap, to overly earnest indie boys with scratchy beards and morose lyrics, but they’ve all been a part of the Mercury story to date. (Of course, albums have to be entered for the Mercury, and some 250 or so are each year, of which only 12 make the shortlist – but in all this time, is the award saying that not one album was entered that was both metal in execution and excellent enough to make the final dozen?)

Now I’m no card-carrying ambassador for all things metal. I wear black t-shirts mainly because I’m told that they hide a man’s gut rather better than white alternatives, and have relatively long hair on account of being too lazy or broke (depending on the week) to get it sorted out. I’ve been known to write a Kerrang! review or two in my time – but a lot of the bands appearing on said magazine’s cover are totally alien to me. Yet I do see a problem with Britain and Ireland’s premier album award never once acknowledging an enduring strain of music birthed on these isles, and exported successfully since the 1960s.

Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Motörhead, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest: these are all fantastically popular British heavy rock bands, metal bands, that have laid foundations for a wide array of contemporary acts to build new tangents upon. Brilliant commercial results for newer bands like Bring Me The Horizon, Architects and Mallory Knox shows that these apparently alternative sounds remain as appealing as ever.

Today, metal fans are so numerous as to represent significantly more than a niche: 50,000 people attended Sonisphere 2014 to watch the likes of Deftones, Slayer and Mastodon, while many more flocked to Download for Avenged Sevenfold, Aerosmith and Linkin Park, the latter performing an album, ‘Hybrid Theory’, that has sold in excess of 10 million copies in 14 years. Radio 1 might only allocate rock and metal three hours’ airtime on a Sunday night as of September, but Daniel P Carter’s show’s slot comes right after the top 40 countdown: a concession, surely, that this music enjoys some crossover attraction amongst mainstream audiences keen to know what’s number one this week.

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Linkin Park, live at Download 2014 - pretty small crowd, pretty niche, yeah?

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But 22 years of hurt have caused a rift to appear between the Mercury and the metal community. Alexis Petridis wrote, for the Guardian in 2011: “the British mainstream media is institutionally biased against heavy metal. For some reason, it’s populated by people who neither like metal, nor understand it, and who believe that the general public follow suit.”

Looking over the judging panel for the 2013 Mercury, though, I’d say that one member of it at least, Mary Anne Hobbs, has a publicly acknowledged respect for rock – she presented Radio 1’s Rock Show from 1999 to 2005. Emily Eavis booked Metallica for Glastonbury, so maybe she’s got a little metal collection tucked away somewhere. Kate Mossman has covered Maiden, writing: “It makes me happy that these bands exist: powerful little worlds spinning on their own axes, free from fashion, running on evangelism and eccentricity.” 

I don’t know about you, but that sounds like precisely the kind of music that an award like the Mercury should be highlighting – music that doesn’t bow to the trends of the right-on-time here and now, but finds its own space, its own settings, its own path to the heart of the sun. Back to the Mercury’s own mission statements: “The main objectives of the Prize are to provide a snapshot of the year in music, to encourage debate and discussion about music, and to help introduce new albums from a variety of musical genres to a wider audience.”

That final point is the most salient when it comes to the “discussion” about metal and the Mercury: if, indeed, the mainstream media is anti-metal, then an event like the Mercury Prize is surely the greatest possible platform to shake up attitudes and opinions about this very British brand of music. But perhaps it’s too late to mend the damage that’s been done.

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Bring Me The Horizon, 'Shadow Moses', from 'Sempiternal'

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Bring Me The Horizon’s ‘Sempiternal’ should have featured on the 2013 Mercury shortlist. I have spoken to dozens of fellow critics who view the Sheffield metal band’s latest set as not just an important release for its genre, but for domestic music in general – its peaking at three on the UK chart, with sales of over 60,000 and counting, indicative of public support for the band, too. (That it went to number one in Australia, and to 11 on the main Billboard chart in the States, shows that British metal remains a powerful force overseas, too.)

I don’t know whether ‘Sempiternal’ was ever entered for the Mercury, though, and if the answers I get from some prominent members of the rock press are anything to go on, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d just not bothered.

Does it matter if metal never makes the Mercury? Personally, I feel that it needs to feature, and in a way that isn’t tokenistic – as and when the right record comes along. But James McMahon, editor of Kerrang!, tells me that time might never happen. “I think that the rock community has just decided that the Mercury is a load of tosh, and so aren’t bothering to put any entries in. I can think of loads of albums that should be considered, but they won’t because a) rock is such an insular, us versus them scene and b) because the labels and bands know they wouldn’t stand a chance if they were nominated.”

Of course, it’s not just the winning that counts with the Mercury – all shortlisted albums see their profiles raised. Savages’ ‘Silence Yourself’ didn’t win the Prize in 2013 – the award went to James Blake’s ‘Overgrown’ – but the record saw a sales boost of 150% as a result of the increased exposure. Sales of David Bowie’s ‘The Next Day’ went up by 200%. A metal album on the shortlist would benefit, even if it stood no chance of actually winning. Imagine something like (Liverpool band) Conan’s ‘Blood Eagle’ making the cut – it’d be amazing, not to mention entirely deserved.

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Conan, 'Foehammer', from 'Blood Eagle'

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James Sherry wrote extensively for rock and metal publications before switching to PR – he co-founded Division Promotions, which looks after acts like The Gaslight Anthem, MGMT and Black Sabbath. He echoes James’ sentiments: “Who gives a shit? The Mercury is for the bland and the mainstream. Why would metal even want to be a part of it?” I ask Raziq Rauf, editor of Thrash Hits, what he thinks. Could a metal album finally make the Mercury shortlist in 2014? “Hell no.” Succinct, and pretty damning of the Mercury’s alleged intentions, to treat all genres equal and to encourage discovery.

So bravo, the Mercury. Seems you’ve successfully ostracized an entire genre. Which rather flies in the face of your own modus operandi, but never mind. But then, when you’ve got a known album-naysayer like George Ergatoudis as part of the decision-making set-up, in 2013 at least, maybe you deserve to be labeled as “bland”, as “a load of tosh”. (Seriously, he cannot be on the panel in 2014. Please.) You could have made metal matter to many more music fans. But, here we are, looking at a 2014 award where you’ll likely give the top prize to bloody ‘Ghost Stories’ or Ed Sheeran or something completely awful. Dodged a bullet with James Blake – let’s see which way you step next.

The shortlist for 2014’s Mercury Prize is revealed in September, and the winner announced in November. If you can bring yourself to give a shit anymore.

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Queens Of The Stone Age are embarking on the final stretch of an extensive and triumphant world tour celebrating the their sixth full-length album, ‘…Like Clockwork’, and intend to crown it with the mother of all Halloween parties in LA.

Seeing as it is a record that was very nearly never written, due to maestro and mastermind Joshua Homme’s “brush with death”, I thought it pertinent to go back and celebrate the band’s 1998 debut, which was also birthed in hardly ideal circumstances. The group’s tightly packed nucleus has proven mercurial, yet the band’s sound has remained utterly distinctive. It’s worth remembering their roots, should we ever lose them to the dust of the California desert for good.

With mortality in mind, ‘…Like Clockwork’ feels like an album ignited and fuelled by retrospection and re-evaluation; the title’s easily overlooked ellipsis becomes an open invitation to remember the genealogy and heritage that defines what we’re about to hear before we plunge hungrily ahead. So, shall we?

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‘Regular John’

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Homme has described the lean, taut sound of his debut record as “robot rock”, stating that he “just wanted to start a band that, within three seconds of listening, people knew what band it was”. The first three seconds of opening track ‘Regular John’ not only introduce Queens Of The Stone Age to the world, but also serve as a formidable statement of intent, for only four minutes and 35 seconds later it’s difficult to remember anything else.

And yet, just as ‘Regular John’’s last gasp of heart monitor-like feedback begins to flatline, the rumbling drums and staccato guitars of ‘Avon’ thunder into glorious, restorative life. In fact, the album’s pace seems to relent only in order to allow the listener a few fleeting, feverous breaths before ramping back up again, faster and more urgent still.

The rhythmic lurch of ‘You Would Know’ somehow rises in perfect synchronisation with the pulsing throb of blood in your ears amid the delirious, cloying fuzz and desiccated hiss. But, just as Homme’s lethargic lament begins to fall somewhere between the lucid and the lurid, ‘How To Handle A Rope’ and ‘Mexicola’ pile-drive the album back into reckless abandonment, all but tripping over themselves in a hail of grit and cymbal howl.

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‘You Would Know’, live in 2002

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It is perhaps not entirely surprising that the intensity of direction on ‘Queens Of The Stone Age’ seems honed almost to the point of audience submission, for Homme wrote and performed much of the instrumentation and produced the lion’s share of the record himself. It may be just as significant, if not more so, to consider that Homme initially wanted no such responsibility, having delegated duties to the inaugural iteration of QOTSA only for it to disband as the debut was due to be recorded.

Without a band and unable to find a frontman for the project, Homme took matters into own hands and started from the beginning again, a sentiment echoed in the development of the most recent album. Therefore it is not only the first three seconds, or even the first song, that defines what Homme set out to create, but the whole of this debut record that serves as a blueprint, a benchmark, an indelible baseline to veer away from and/or return to.

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‘How To Handle A Rope’

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For even though the tightly straining tension of ‘Queens Of The Stone Age’ may sound a far cry from the stomping pomp and wooziness of the band’s more recent output, there are still signs of what was yet to come buried amidst its fevered 4/4 urgency and sinewy, Kraut-soaked down strokes. The instrumental ‘Hispanic Impressions’ breaks this seemingly relentless mould with a rhythmic swagger and flagrant bravado akin to that of 2002’s Songs For The Deaf and, although it has no vocals, suggests Homme’s now well-known aptitude for playful self-awareness and wry observation. Though it is the surreal and sparse album closer, ‘I Was a Teenage Hand Model’, that signifies the album’s inevitable downward spiral, out of control and into delirium. As the record comes to its cataclysmic end, the ‘robot rock’ band that Homme set out to create has started to transmute.

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‘I Was A Teenage Hand Model’

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I think we’re in a sweet spot between Homme’s renewed vigour and the calibre of the musicians he has gathered around him over the last 16 years, supplementing and/or subverting his songs in myriad unexpected ways. I hear more of the evolution of ‘Queens Of The Stone Age’ in ‘…Like Clockwork’ than in any of the band’s other endeavours, and I think that’s due in part to the parallels in each album’s gestation: just as the eponymous set teetered on the brink of undoing, QOTSA’s latest is an album that a new, fragile Homme initially had no intention or desire to make, and yet both have come to define or, in the latter’s case, redefine the band.

Considering this, I wouldn’t be surprised if the forthcoming Halloween extravaganza not only marks the end of the ‘…Like Clockwork’ campaign, but, quite fittingly, celebrates the return from death and the unfathomable experience of beginning again. Which not only excites me for what may be to come, but has me treasuring those first three seconds even more.

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Listen to 'Queens Of The Stone Age' in full via Deezer, below.

Words: Nestor Matthews

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Swords and sandals and sweat and fun… Unless you’re a Secret Cinema goer.

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That was the week in which...

New research demonstrated a decline in the number of women working in major films.

In a week in which a feature examining music industry misogyny became Clash’s most popular read of the week, writer, producer and all-round font of film knowledge Stephen Follows published a study of gender differences within the crews of the biggest films of the past 20 years.

Follows, a sort of Opta Joe of the film world, discovered numerous salient facts: the percentage of female crew members was even lower in the most recent year of the study (2013) than it was in the first (1994); the percentage of female writers and directors declined significantly over the same time period; and the splits between stereotypically gender-orientated roles (art, costume and make-up for women; editing and visual effects for men) were widening.

“I don’t believe that the majority of the industry is fundamentally sexist or anti-women,” says Follows. “But when you look at these results, especially over time, it’s plain to see that something is wrong and it isn’t fixing itself.”

Whatever the reasons, it’s not a healthy trend, whether assessed culturally (obviously), commercially (Follows’ prior research suggests, unsurprisingly, that female audiences are interested in films by creative teams with a significant female input) or critically (see Kathryn Bigelow, Claire Denis, Jane Campion, Clio Barnard, Joanna Hogg, Susanne Bier, Lone Scherfig and Lake Bell as just a snapshot of visionary female directors who have created an eclectic range of acclaimed films in recent years).

As Campion stated at Cannes earlier this year: "It's not that I resent male filmmaking, but there is something that women are doing that we don't get to know enough about.”

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The Big Film: Hercules

Thank the gods Hercules is short. That’s not to say this new movie about the legendary son of Zeus is terrible, but with the advent of massive blockbuster 3D epics, there doesn’t seem to have been a mindless actioner that’s come out since the 1990s clocking in at around the 90-minute mark. And it’s refreshing.

The days when the likes of action-comedy specialist Brett Ratner (Money Talks, Rush Hour) was first plying his directorial trade are long gone – or so we might have thought. Because he’s the guy in charge of this concise swords-and-sandals fight-fest, and it has his stamp all over it. Using up-to-date 3D technology to craft crowd-pleasing special effects, Hercules is also presented as homage to the 1990s action flick. It’s not bogged down with unnecessary sub-plots or romantic entanglements; instead, it concentrates on macho battle scenes and tongue-in-cheek remarks amid its theatrically delivered, bardlike dialogue.

The story goes thus: mercenary fighter Hercules (Dwayne Johnson) is tasked by the Thracian leader (John Hurt) with defeating foe Rhesus (Tobias Santelmann) and his rebel army. But when he finds he’s been double crossed, he gathers together a trusted team of allies to right some wrongs.

Ratner’s agenda is clear: to assemble a boy’s own movie with shouting and fighting, muscles and Machiavellian villains. Hercules is, however, less son-of-a-god powerful, more a bit stronger than a normal man – kind of like Johnson himself. This isn’t Clash Of The Titans – it’s more like the treatment Antoine Fuqua gave to the King Arthur legend in 2004. But we’re good with that.

An incredible cast adds much to this big dumb actioner – as well as the amiable Johnson and roundly adored John Hurt, there’s the delightfully wicked Joseph Fiennes, gruff-voiced Scot Peter Mullan, the eminently watchable Rufus Sewell and scene-stealing Ian McShane all on board, relishing the dialogue and dogfights. It’s not Shakespeare, but it’s fun. Words: Kim Taylor-Foster

Hercules, trailer

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Also Out: Joe

Redemption. It’s a common narrative device and something that unites Joe’s plot, director and star. Ol’ Nic Cage’s recent filmography doesn’t reflect his evident talent; for every moment of inspired genius such as the larger-than-life Bad Lieutenant there’s a wealth of movies that are ill-judged (The Wicker Man) or just plain forgettable (Next). Director David Gordon Green detoured from his early naturalistic style to embark upon goofy fare such as Your Highness and Pineapple Express before uniting the two approaches in Prince Avalanche.

Cage’s title character also faces a redemptive dilemma. An ex-con, Joe is now rehabilited and working as the head of a team of labourers tasked with poisoning unwanted woodland. Nonetheless, he’s always one provocation away from erupting into a ball of rage. It could be a long-running feud with a neighbouring hard man, the barkin’ and yappin’ of his favourite brothel’s dog, or the abusive alcoholic father (Gary Poulter) of his teenage employee Gary (Tye Sheridan).

Joe possesses common Southern Gothic traits: contemplative pacing beaten with bursts of violence; a brooding atmosphere in which the searing heat casts a foreboding shadow over the darkness of life; comically misdirected big brotherly advice by its antihero lead; characters and situations which, to be frank, you’ve seen time and again.

It’s the performances that make Joe worthy of your time. Cage rediscovers the joys of dynamic range with a measured, sombre role cut with explosive energy, and young Sheridan reprises much of what made his role in Mud so memorable, but does it with enough charisma to suggest that he’s just a step away from a huge future. Poulter’s first and last performance is both astonishing and tragic: an alcoholic like his character, he died shortly after filming was completed, his body found after he had drowned in shallow water.

Joe, trailer

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New Talent: Chadwick Boseman

Who? Funky name, right? 32-year-old Chadwick Boseman joins the ranks of the acting world’s most elegantly monikered men, alongside Rip Torn, Yahoo Serious and Arnie Hammer.

What’s he been in? Chadwick’s two biggest film roles have been in the type of sports movies which are big in the US but unknown or unreleased in the UK: 42 with Harrison Ford, and Draft Day with Kevin Costner. He’s also had recurring TV roles in Lincoln Heights and Persons Unknown.

What’s coming up? You don’t often get the chance to play Godfather of Soul James Brown, but Boseman will with Get On Up. Catch it in September. Big-budget fantasy Gods Of Egypt should follow in 2016 and rumours also abound that he’s competing with John Boyega to be Marvel’s Black Panther.

They say:“When he [Boseman] smiles, 42, already such a warm story of such cold times, gets even brighter.” TIME

He says:“With James Brown, there are a lot of people who only know the old James Brown. They've never seen him perform at Olympia or T.A.M.I. Show or any of that stuff. They don't know anything about his influences. And so they're judging you based on the one or two things they know or the one interview they saw.” IndieWire

Get On Up, trailer

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Shorts

“Hello, hello, anybody home? Think, McFly, think!” Last night’s (July 24^th) Secret Cinema / Back To The Future event was cancelled mid-afternoon, leaving many fans to wish they could take a DeLorean back to just before they pressed CONFIRM during the process of buying tickets.

Dawn Of The Planets Of The Apes took a wild swing straight to the top of last weekend’s UK box office. A live screening of the now ex-Monty Python’s final performance took over a million pounds in a single night as it entered at #4. Pudsey The Fecking Dog will probably be put down after whimpering in at #9.

Finally, the first Fifty Shades Of Grey trailer is out. The first minute looks like a dull corporate drama, the second a cinematic Mills & Boon. Still, it has Jamie Dornan topless and Dakota Johnson captured mid-pleasure if either of those float your boat.

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Words: Ben Hopkins, except where indicated

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From strip clubs to the Superbowl, the spectacular ascent of LA’s funk rockers Red Hot Chili Peppers has been a particularly knotted and fractured journey.

Their self-titled debut album turns 30 this August, which marks as good a time as any to succinctly browse through their back catalogue and uncover the drugs, deaths and departures that cursed their heady rise.

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‘The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ (EMI, 1984)

Singer Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea were thrown a curveball from the off; co-founders and fellow Fairfax High School cohorts Hillel Slovak (guitars) and Jack Irons (drums) had jumped ship on the eve of recording in favour of their other band’s prospects. Replaced by Jack Sherman and Cliff Martinez respectively, the band’s intimacy was compromised, and the once sentient material was muddled in translation.

Signed in the wake of their notorious psychedelic-fed, half-naked, raucous LA club gigs, the band did however manage to introduce on their debut the impetuous elements that would come to define them – Flea’s bass puckers and pops in ‘Get Up And Jump’, while Kiedis rolls lascivious raps (getting almost tongue-tied in the autobiographical ‘Out In L.A.’) over serrated funk guitar licks.

It’s injected with playfulness (indeed, they acknowledge their clownish charm in ‘Baby Appeal’), but the whole thing is dulled by the production of Gang Of Four’s Andy Gill, whose conflicting “bubblegum pop” intentions and effects immediately sterilised and dated the material – when I first heard this album in 1991 its echoed snares were already archaic.

Flea made his feelings known at the time, delivering Gill a pizza box with his leaving gift inside: a freshly laid turd.

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‘Freaky Styley’ (EMI, 1985)

Slovak was drafted back in after the dismissal of Sherman, who’d clash frequently with Kiedis, thus reuniting three-quarters of the original line-up. The reconciliation refreshed their identity, and Sherman’s legacy – a schooling in funk for the more punk/rock-oriented group – transpired with the recruitment of Funkadelic guru George Clinton as producer and an array of nods to the genre’s greats across this second album.

Despite the inner-city Detroit sessions being enveloped by a cloud of narcotics – the band (and producer) were indulging in coke and freebasing, while Anthony was battling a heroin addiction – they endeavoured to find their groove. ‘Freaky Styley’ is instilled with that hedonic vibe; the composed motion of ‘Hollywood’ (RHCP’s interpretation of The Meters’ ‘Africa’) is punctuated by bright P-Funk horns, while a brassy cover of Sly Stone’s ‘If You Want Me To Stay’ is positively cosmic. ‘Nevermind’ meanwhile petulantly dismisses current bands like Duran Duran, Wham and Soft Cell (not that they’d notice – ‘Freaky Styley’ wouldn’t break the Billboard Top 200).

Sex permeates, of course, most especially in the successive run of ‘Lovin’ And Touchin’, ‘Catholic School Girls Rule’ and ‘Sex Rap’. Its underlying crudeness and profanities prevented much radio play, but the enduring appeal of ‘Freaky Styley’ – a personal favourite of mine – is in its cheerful character and perky rhythms. This is the sound of a band enjoying life a little too much, and almost discovering themselves in the process.

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‘The Uplift Mofo Party Plan’ (EMI, 1987)

Having lost interest in the music, and dismayed at the drug situation with the band, Cliff Martinez upped (drum)sticks and quit. The original Red Hot Chili Peppers were reunited when Jack Irons was persuaded back into the fold in the summer of ’86 – but not for long. Anthony’s heroin-induced unreliability saw him temporarily fired.

Welcomed back after rehab, Anthony’s enthusiasm (he’d soon slip back into addiction, but his energy was infectious) fed the creative ambition of the Chilis’ third LP, which expanded their sonic palette. Hillel’s guitar softened, Flea’s bass slapped, while Anthony, encouraged by producer Michael Bienhorn, explored his voice in melodic departures from his usual rap flow – as evident in the eco-ballad ‘Behind The Sun’.

Largely though, ‘Uplift…’ celebrates the foursome’s tight bond and is littered with in-jokes; ‘Fight Like A Brave’ defines their idealism, ‘Me & My Friends’ celebrates each member personally (‘Skinny Sweaty Man’ is reportedly Hillel), while ‘Organic Anti-Beat Box Band’ is a self-explanatory outline of their ethos. Today the production sounds a little too ’80s, but it proved their best chart showing to date, and bolstered their cult audience.

Just weeks after returning from an international tour to support the album, during which his escalating heroin use often rendered him incapable of playing, Slovak died of an overdose, aged 26.

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‘Mother’s Milk’ (EMI, 1989)

Grief affected the surviving Chilis differently; as Jack Irons quit in distress, Anthony and Flea chose to soldier on, now requiring a new guitarist and drummer. Enter (after other hopeful try-outs) Chad Smith, a Midwest heavy metal thumper whose skills behind the kit won the audition after his appearance threatened otherwise, and John Frusciante, an 18-year-old guitar prodigy and devoted RHCP fan.

For ‘Mother’s Milk’, John attempted to escape the pervading influence of Hillel, who he’d spent years studying, crafting a distinctive melodic style, but was somewhat badgered in the studio by returning producer Michael Bienhorn, who engineered his own layered sonic ambitions on the band. Flea dominated song compositions, enthused by Anthony’s melodious explorations and John’s imaginative chord structures.

‘Good Time Boys’ introduced the latest incarnation’s spirit (“Funky young kings / We sing of truth and soul”), where band members were allowed to shine – Chad’s machine-gun drumming on ‘Magic Johnson’ was elaborated on stage into a merciless solo. Tributes were paid to Stevie Wonder (‘Higher Ground’) and Jimi Hendrix (‘Fire’, recorded with Hillel and Jack), but it’s ‘Knock Me Down’ that exemplifies the group’s manifestation moving into a new decade; its cognizant structure and admonition on drugs implied a previously unseen depth.

Its success on college radio actualized the sardonic “Put us on MTV” pleas of ‘Punk Rock Classic’ and, as ‘Mother’s Milk’ headed for gold-sales status, RHCP finally found themselves on the brink of stardom, with room to negotiate their future.

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‘Blood Sugar Sex Magik’ (Warner Bros., 1991)

The breakthrough album. After a label bidding war that saw them leave EMI and land on Warner Bros., RHCP began work on their first ever recording with the same line-up as its predecessor. Def Jam founder Rick Rubin was hired as producer, and proved a considerate, supportive foil to the band, encouraging their improvised energy and contributing his arrangement skills (securing the role to this day). He also suggested moving sessions to a Laurel Canyon mansion, where the band lived and played, its communal bond evident in the album’s cohesion.

John evolved his own confident, distinctive style, coalescing with Flea and Chad to push the boundaries of their own definitions of what RHCP music was. Added to this, Anthony’s narratives became more personal, poetic and honest; the tender admissions of ‘Under The Bridge’, a cry for help amidst the isolation and desolation of addiction, was the surprise album stand-out and has become RHCP’s most enduring song.

From the Funkadelic grooves of ‘If You Have To Ask’, the strutting punch of ‘Suck My Kiss’, the gut-busting might of ‘Give It Away’, the savage riffs of ‘My Lovely Man’, to the epic, sensual allure of ‘Sir Psycho Sexy’, the Chilis’ musical palette was being thoroughly tested (they even included a frantic cover of bluesman Robert Johnson’s ‘They’re Red Hot’). Released the same month as Primal Scream’s ‘Screamadelica’ and Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ – the former mirroring the UK’s embrace of rock’s crossover appeal, the latter heralding America’s grunge revolution and focus on all things ‘alternative’ – ‘BSSM’’s brazen exuberance and carnal appeal found an instant audience, finally breaking RHCP well and truly into the mainstream.

It found me, aged 12, and opened the doors to a world of inspiration and passion, and 23 years later sounds as fresh, invigorating and relevant as it did back then. Critically celebrated, the Chilis were launched to global fame, and despite the greater success that was to come, ‘BSSM’ remains the benchmark by which every subsequent album has been – and perhaps always will be – compared.

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‘One Hot Minute’ (Warner Bros., 1995)

The unthinkable happened in the wake of ‘BSSM’ as Frusciante, increasingly uncomfortable with the band’s growing stature and developing his own heroin habit, quit during its tour. A dark and challenging period followed: Flea was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, and was witness to the death of actor River Phoenix; Anthony, meanwhile, relapsed into addiction. A succession of guitarists finally culminated in the engagement of Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro, whose stylistic differences (more rock, less funk) proved problematic.

These elements collided to produce a complex and heavy listen – in style and substance – yet one not without its charms. ‘Warped’ is a full-throttle Zep powerhouse, Kiedis ruminating on his “tendency for dependency”; the slap-bass strut of ‘Aeroplane’ thrills; ‘Deep Kick’ reminisces on Anthony and Flea’s teenage adventures – the latter’s nostalgic coda, and the following ‘Pea’ reflect his significant songwriting contributions on ‘OHM’ (he also wrote the lyrics to distressing closer ‘Transcending’ in memory of River Phoenix).

Its more poignant moments, ‘My Friends’ and ‘Tearjerker’ (a tribute to Kurt Cobain), are too sentimental, while the longer songs (‘One Big Mob’, ‘Walkabout’, the title track) tend to stagnate, which may in part explain the mixed reaction ‘OHM’ received upon release.

I dip in and out of it – ‘Shallow Be Thy Game’ still ferociously pummels my senses – which is more than can be said of RHCP themselves; Navarro was fired in 1998, his drug use and musical differences cited as reasons (despite Anthony’s own ongoing proclivities), and since then no songs from ‘OHM’, with the exception of Flea’s ‘Pea’, have been performed live.

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‘Californication’ (Warner Bros., 1999)

Since leaving RHCP, John Frusciante’s descent into extreme drug addiction and depression left him destitute and near-death, excommunicated from his former bandmates. After Navarro’s dismissal, and learning of John’s success in rehab, an exhausted Flea, drained by the group’s impasse, would only consider persevering with RHCP if John returned. His reinstatement marked a creative rebirth for him, and a burst of new energy for the band, who’d assemble in Flea’s garage to reconnect and jam.

Their reawakening, coinciding with Anthony’s (attempted) and John’s (successful) healthy new lifestyles, imbued ‘Californication’ with a spiritual appreciation, an awareness of nature, the elements, and, in the case of the title track, the seedy underbelly of Hollywood. Kiedis’ melodic flow is in full effect throughout; dreamy on ‘Scar Tissue’, tender on ‘Porcelain’, bucolic on acoustic closer ‘Road Trippin’’. Its hard hitters – the volatile ‘Otherside’, the rigorous ‘Easily’, the hefty Cream-inspired ‘Savior’ – outweigh the more languid funk workouts (‘Get On Top’, ‘I Like Dirt’, ‘Purple Stain’), but the overriding resilient force is undeniable.

This was a group relishing in chemistry, redefining their limits and purging demons through creative self-expression. It became their best-selling album to date. The world’s arenas were calling.

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‘By The Way’ (Warner Bros., 2002)

With their ‘classic’ line-up intact, RHCP confidently began their eighth album with the familiarity and accord that enriched ‘Californication’, Frusciante’s confidence especially reinforced. He proposed a punk influence, and though Rick Rubin ultimately voted in favour of their more melodic songs, John’s creative voice had begun to outweigh Flea’s, tarnishing their earlier camaraderie.

John’s keen analysis of The Beatles’ and Beach Boys’ innovative production, his measured guitar style, plus a current obsession for progressive English artists – The Smiths, Souxsie And The Banshees, The Durutti Column – provided a lavish backdrop to Anthony’s quixotic musings, a reaction to his relationship at the time; the contrasts epitomised by the title track’s throbbing punk verses and delicate chorus.

There’s denseness in the layers of ‘This Is The Place’, ‘Don’t Forget Me’, and the ethereal ‘Midnight’, offset by the effervescent funk of ‘Can’t Stop’, the feisty flamenco-flavoured ‘Cabron’, and the brassy ska-pop of ‘On Mercury’. ‘Venice Queen’ is an elaborate, multi-layered finale, an impassioned eulogy for Anthony’s drug rehabilitation therapist, who’d recently succumbed to cancer.

Said track closes a warm, expressionistic album, which became their biggest seller in the UK, and led to gigantic concerts in Hyde Park and Slane Castle, but its tour further alienated Flea, who came closer to quitting than ever. Their next move would prove critical.

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‘Stadium Arcadium’ (Warner Bros., 2006)

Time to reconnect. Aware of Flea’s creative estrangement, the writing of ‘Stadium Arcadium’ was purposefully democratic, inspiring a flood of energy from all quarters, and unrepressed jams, producing over 30 songs that were carried onto recording sessions back at Rubin’s Laurel Canyon mansion.

With tension relieved and juices flowing, the songs took on epic proportions. John’s minimalist style suddenly exploded into voluminous dynamics, Flea’s visceral spectrum of bass blazed freely, and Anthony, in the throes of a new romance, scaled each challenging new height with penetrating force.

The potent compound produced a double album full of intrigue; disc one’s (‘Jupiter’) highlights range from power-pop opener ‘Dani California’, the fractured funk of ‘Charlie’, the hip-hop flow of ‘Hump De Bump’, to the stark lure of ‘Slow Cheetah’. Disc two (‘Mars’) has sweet textures (‘Hard To Concentrate’, ‘If’), bone-crunching riffs (‘Readymade’) and RATM-like brutality (‘Storm In A Teacup’). Sure, it’s indulgent in parts, but, after 22 years of flexing their (musical) muscles, RHCP were entitled to excess, and most of it pays off.

The album’s diversity was matched by its volume; reflecting the group’s stadium status, John claimed they had “designed music that was able to project to the back row”. Truth be told, I’ve rarely listened to it in its entirety – the mid-paced weaker moments have me scrolling to ‘BSSM’ – plus, the title and cover art is unforgivable. But the vision and execution of ‘Stadium Arcadium’ is to be applauded.

Upon completion of the album’s tour, the group announced they were on an indefinite hiatus, the result of their recent rigorous schedule. In 2009, history repeated itself as Frusciante, eager to pursue his versatile solo work, offered his resignation, but this time, a glimpse of hope for RHCP’s fate had already presented itself.

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‘I’m With You’ (Warner Bros., 2011)

Los Angeles native Josh Klinghoffer had entered John Frusciante’s orbit through mutual friend Bob Forrest, from Thelonious Monster. The guitarists collaborated on Frusciante’s solo material, before the Chili Pepper drafted his friend into the band’s touring group in 2007 to bolster their new, expansive sound.

His proficient chops and familiarity with the band and material proved the foundation of his natural succession to full-time band member when John quit, and after almost a year of rehearsing and writing, ‘I’m With You’ officially began life in 2010. Josh’s incoming dynamism mirrored Flea’s assiduousness yielded from his tenure in musical theory classes at USC (not to mention his stint in Thom Yorke’s Atoms For Peace), and resulted in a fruitful output – almost 60 song ideas were whittled down to a final 14, refining the focus of the album’s predecessor.

This time around we get heavy disco (‘Monarchy Of Roses’), angular post-punk (‘Factory Of Faith’), African rhythms (‘Ethiopia’, ‘Did I Let You Know’) and bombastic funk (‘Even You Brutus?’) in one charming, concise, collection, whose themes cover death, environmentalism, heartache, solitude and friendship. The lovelorn ‘Police Station’ is a personal highlight; its pragmatic maturity is a promising pointer for the road ahead.

‘I’m With You’ endured into 2013 as 17 unreleased recordings became singles’ B-sides, suggesting the plate is clear for the next round of Red Hot magic – their 11^th album, set to mark their 30^th year, is due, but considering their capricious history, can we safely assume a strapping dose of feral funk is imminent? As a wise man once sang: if you have to ask, you’ll never know.

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Flea: founding member, bass stalwart, gap-toothed rascal; still getting naked on stage with RHCP.

John Frusciante: longest-serving guitarist, quit in 2009. Now embracing electronic music in his prolific yet adventurous solo career – his 11^th album, ‘Enclosure’, was released in April.

Jack Irons: founding drummer; left before debut, returned for 1987’s ‘The Uplift Mofo Party Plan’, but left the following year after Hillel Slovak’s death. Subsequently played with Joe Strummer and own band Eleven before joining Pearl Jam in 1994 and leaving four years later. A solo album dropped in 2004; he is currently still active as a drummer in LA.

Anthony Kiedis: chiselled ladykiller, loose-lipped vocalist, ex-junkie, clean since 2000; still leading RHCP from the frontline.

Josh Klinghoffer: the latest six-string recruit; set to appear on RHCP’s 11^th outing.

DeWayne McKnight: ex-Parliament/Funkadelic guitarist served briefly between Hillel Slovak and John Frusciante; plays solo and alongside George Clinton.

Arik Marshall: guitarist for a year after Frusciante’s 1992 departure; now in-demand session musician, having backed Macy Gray, Björk, and Carlos Santana, among others.

Cliff Martinez: drummer on first two RHCP albums; moved to film scoring and a close association with Steven Soderbergh, working on The Limey, Traffic, Solaris, etc. Most noted for the Drive soundtrack.

Dave Navarro: a Chili Pepper from ’93 to ’98, Navarro subsequently reunited his original band, the seminal Jane’s Addiction, while turning himself into a reality TV star.

D.H. Peligro: temporarily manning the drum stool between Jack Irons and Chad Smith, Peligro is a staple in the hardcore punk community and a respected solo artist.

Jack Sherman: guitarist on 1984 debut; Sherman resents his treatment by RHCP, feeling he’s been dishonoured by effectively being written out of history by not being included in RHCP’s Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame induction. Has since played with Bob Dylan, Solomon Burke and Mick Taylor.

Hillel Slovak: founding guitarist, missed the debut but returned for 1985’s ‘Freaky Styley’. Defined the band’s fluid funky signature sound. Died of a heroin overdose in 1988.

Chad Smith: joined RHCP as drummer in 1988 and has been pounding the skins ever since. Powerhouse, legend, professional Will Ferrell lookalike.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers online

Words: Simon Harper (Twitter)

Related: more Complete Guides

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Quite often some marvellous musician type fills in here. But, today, you’re stuck with me. Sorry.

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Lykke Li – ‘Gunshot’

“I am longing for your poison / Like a cancer for its prey.” ‘Gunshot’ isn’t a song for the smiley, happy people in pop, but in its chorus Lykke Li at least lets a little light shine in. It’s essential – in another’s less-able hands, this would be a song so bleak it’d block out the most tropical sun. Quite the strange sync for a car ad. 

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Klangkarussell – ‘Netzwerk (Falls Like Rain)’

A small hit on the continent, this is the sort of Euro dance that stops some way short of Full Calvin, but nevertheless wouldn’t sound half so appealing released in the middle of winter. Video isn’t recommended for sufferers of acrophobia.

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Sivu– ‘Miracle’

Guitars and strings and vocals that are all like, “uh, girl, I like you but you’re just not interested”. It’s a miracle that this kind of identikit emoting ever escaped the late 1990s. Coldplay fans rightly offended by ‘A Sky Full Of Stars’ will lap this up like watered-down milk from the plainest saucer available in John Lewis.

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Vic Mensa – ‘Down On My Luck’

Nailed at the first attempt, Vic. Underground rapper writes chart-savvy single, succeeds at making cynical critic dance around his living room. Sure enough it’s a close cousin of a ‘Disclosure feat.’ type of track, but they’re okay, right? Get down-able.

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Russian Red – ‘John Michael’

“Big in Spain” rarely leads a raid on the UK charts. But it’s easy to imagine Lourdes Hernández piquing Radio 2 attentions with this mid-tempo, mid- ’80s, middle of the road-ness. Someone wake the drummer up for lunch.

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Conor Oberst – ‘Zigzagging Toward The Light’

The chap behind Bright Eyes is a talented guy. I’ve a bunch of his records, and I read, a lot, that he’s super acclaimed. Ask me to sing you one of his songs from memory, though? Nope, nothing. This new one is like how I think I remember Bright Eyes being, but, again, I couldn’t say for sure. He’s just a bit plain compared to someone like Elliott Smith, no? Alive, mind you, which is probably a good thing. Gives him time to work on these dire lyrics.

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Next time: someone who isn’t me does this.

Related: more singles columns

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There’s an old saying that the minute the drummer starts writing songs, then a band should call it quits.

But Hyde & Beast started primarily because two drummers started writing their own material. Dave Hyde (of Futureheads fame) and Neil Bassett (of Golden Virgins) paired up a couple of years back to work on a joint album, released under the snappy Hyde & Beast moniker.

Well received, the two took time out earlier this year to complete a follow up. ‘Keep Moving’ was recorded at the room3recordingstudio in Sunderland, and it’s a neat step forwards from the duo.

At times blissful and almost psychedelia, at others harsh and near post-punk in tone, ‘Keep Moving’ is a diverse collection which more than lives up to its title.

Out on August 4^th, you can pre-order the album HERE.

Before then, though, Clash is able to bring you an exclusive album stream. In true Hyde & Beast style, though, this isn’t some point and click, SoundCloud style embed. Rather, the two have matched each song up to a personally chosen Polaroid, with the collision of sound and image designed to get the most out of their material.

Check it out now.

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Several moons ago – as many as to stretch back to the summer of 2009 – I put on the odd gig or two for Clash at London’s Notting Hill Arts Club. On Saturday, June 27^th, a band showed up at such a show and pretty much blew my mind. They were a sextet from Hereford, at the time with barely any recorded material to their name but a growing fanbase and a string of splendid played-with-them credits: Pulled Apart By Horses, 65daysofstatic, Future Of The Left, more…

What do you call post-rock that goes above and beyond expectations? Most-rock? Possibly. That day, I just called what I was hearing Talons, as that was the band in question. I bought a T-shirt. A debut album followed in 2010, ‘Hollow Realm’, through Oxford’s Big Scary Monsters label. And now, after what feels like a lot longer than four years, comes a pretty damn fantastic sequel: ‘New Topographics’.

Clash already premiered one track from this absorbing instrumental set – ‘The Wild Places’ was published in May – and now we’re really pleased to be able to stream ‘New Topographics’ in its entirety. The album comes out, again through Big Scary Monsters, on August 4^th, on 180g heavyweight coloured vinyl (100 pressings only!), CD and download, and there are some neat limited-edition packages available from the label. Have a gander. 

And have a listen below while you browse. From the gorgeous strings of ‘Reverie’ to the shattering percussion of ‘Rituals’ and the luscious drones of ‘Stay Cold’, this is more most-rock than generic post-anything. For fans of Slint, Explosions In The Sky, bands that go further.

Find Talons (pictured, just there ^) online here. See them live as follows:

September
12th – Birthdays, London
13th – The Flapper, Birmingham
17th – Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds
18th – Shipping Forecast, Liverpool
19th – Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
20th – Southsea Festival, Portsmouth

Related: read an interview with Talons from the time of that Notting Hill show

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Slint was a band. And then, it wasn’t – its members went away and did other bands. But then, Slint was a band again. And then it wasn’t. And now, it is, again. The Louisville outfit – ‘post-rock’ claims Wikipedia, but those familiar with the band’s records may feel that rather undersells their tautly emotive hold – has been reactivated and resurgent since reuniting for December 2013’s All Tomorrow’s Parties in Camber.

It’s a fairly familiar story: band that didn’t gets its dues the first time around comes back and plays to a rather more respectful, receptive audience, now that their music has had time to find its niche. Every other week presents the music press with news of some comeback or other. But in Slint’s case, they’ve always had more to offer, this mystery about them, some mythological aura that manifested properly with 1991’s ‘Spiderland’ LP and has remained ever since, the band originally splitting in 1992. Its pull is irresistible – and the response to their recent shows has been tremendous, likewise the reviews for a remastered ‘Spiderland’, released in June on Touch & Go (review).

Founding members Brian McMahan, Britt Walford and David Pajo – alongside ‘Spiderland’ bassist Todd Brashear – are on the road again in August 2014, playing their own headline dates beside a series of festival bookings including Sweden’s Way Out West and Wales’ own Green Man Festival. I called drummer Walford to see how the band is preparing for this activity, and what the rest of the year beyond the summer may hold.

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‘Good Morning, Captain’, from ‘Spiderland’ (1991)

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Are you all ready for August’s schedule? It’s pretty demanding…

I think that, just from doing this a little bit before, over the years, I’m ready for it – but it is a bit difficult, being away from my kids. But it is easier these days to stay in touch, than it was even 10 years ago, totally.

After coming back for ATP in December, you must have been inundated with festival offers. Have you stepped back and let someone else deal with them?

I think for the most part, lately, we’ve been relying on our booking agent to sort through the offers.

Why choose to play Finland, at Flow (August 8^th), and Sweden, at Way Out West (9^th), over any other European festivals that weekend?

I think that we may have told our agent that we’d like to play some dates north of where we’d ever played before. And I’m pretty sure that I mentioned Germany, too – I’ve always wanted to play there, but we’ve never been able to.  

There isn’t a German date on this run, though.

No, there’s not. But there is always time.

How does the band approach a set when you know it’s not your fans you’re playing to? Does anything change, at all?

I think the only time we’d ever change our set – or, where we have done that – is when we’ve played consecutive nights in the same place. And that’s when we like to experiment a bit, and approach the set in a different way. Otherwise we don’t really change things.

Have you seen the change in newcomers, younger audience members, to the band when they see you – how they get into it, as a set progresses?

I haven’t been able to see that from my position, as the drummer, but I’m very aware of young people coming to see us, and that’s something that never really happened before. But on these shows, and those we played last year, we’ve noticed a lot more young people, which is pretty interesting to me.

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We always wanted our music to be the kind of thing that people found on their own...

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Which might have something to do with how ‘Spiderland’ has stood up to the test of time. You must have been thrilled to see it get such a great reception on its remaster release…

The first time around, we didn’t really get any reviews. So yeah, it’s definitely been really neat to see so many now.

Was the band totally behind the idea of putting the record back out, at the beginning?

I think there was some reservation. We wondered if it would be, like, out of keeping with what we’d done previously. We’d never really pushed our music out there, through promotion as it is today. Our principles weren’t part of that world, and we had a different way of thinking. We just thought it was dumb to have to get a promo photo done, and things like that. But I guess, looking back, we just didn’t know very much about all that.

I think we always wanted our music to be the kind of thing that people found on their own, or, y’know, through friends. It never entered into our thoughts to do anything more publicised, I suppose. We just put music out, and then wondered if people might want to buy it.

After August, will there be more dates? Maybe further afield than Europe and North America?

We’ve definitely been thinking about that, over the past year, getting out to somewhere like Australia. We’re working on making that happen. We haven’t got it figured out quite yet. We don’t want to play too much – we definitely don’t want to do that. But we do all like going places, whether we’ve been there before or not. I like touring and travelling. So that’s something that we’re generally up for.

This recent activity must represent the most concentrated period of Slint activity since you disbanded the first time…

Yeah, I think with the coming month, it does. As far as an extended period of time goes, this last year has been busy.

So that leads to an inevitable question: does this activity, this time spent together, have you thinking about going into the studio and recording new material?

There isn’t any plan to so anything like that right now. At this point, I know I’m not really aiming towards that.

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‘Washer’, from ‘Spiderland’ (1991)

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Words: Mike Diver

Slint’s forthcoming European dates are as follows:

August
8^th– Flow Festival, Helsinki
9^th– Way Out West Festival, Gothenburg
12^th– Old Market, Brighton
13^th– Brixton Electric, London
14^th– Cockpit, Leeds
15^th– The Arches, Glasgow
16^th– Green Man Festival, Brecon Beacons
18^th– Limelight, Belfast
19^th– Button Factory, Dublin

Full dates, including US shows, can be found at the official Slint website. The remastered version of ‘Spiderland’ is out now, and comes packaged with a documentary film on its making, Breadcrumb Trail. Britt also plays in the band Watter, who you can find here. 

Related: Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite on ‘Spiderland’

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Boofy and Lemzly Dale, figureheads of Bristol’s new-school generation of grime producer-DJs, have made quite an impact since first releasing the ferocious ‘Catch A Body’ / ‘Banshee’ last summer.

Hand-stamped and released on their own Sector 7 Sounds label, it was a debut that not only exhibited two cuts of devastating instrumental grime, but also echoed the sensibilities of the past – these are two producers channelling new ideas via the oldest and most cherished of methods.

Continually inspired by a city-centric producer network that also boasts Kahn & Neek, OH91, Breen, Hi5Ghost, Gemmy, Joker et al, as well as contemporary, like-minded labels in Bandulu, Hotline and the freshly-inaugurated Parison, new ideas are often, and quite literally, around the corner. Fuelled solely by a desire to produce and oversee the release of good music, it’s this grounding that has seen Impey, Sector 7’s latest recruit, sign ‘Bangclap’ to the label ahead of notable, chart-worthy independent PMR and land as one of 2014’s best grime debuts in the process.

With this in mind, it felt like the time was right to catch up with both Boofy and Lemzly Dale to get the inside track on Bristol, Sector 7 and some of their favourite dub plates…

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Boofy and Lemzly Dale, ‘Catch A Body’

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Talk to us a bit about Sector 7…

Boofy: I think the whole process of the label was really innocent. We set out to create a platform we could start from ground zero, something we would both be proud of. After the attention ‘Catch A Body’ had, I just wanted to do a white label. Then after that came out, with no intention of doing anything else, we were getting questions asking what was next. We went back to the drawing board and here we are. Lemz can tell you more about how the name came about.

Lemzly Dale: The name came from the game Final Fantasy 7. My brother and Gully Shanks – the other half of 2hAtCoMbO – started calling our area Sector 7 Slums after an area in the game and it just stuck. As the whole label came around naturally it felt right, so we just ran with Sector 7 Sounds.

Did you think you could make such an impact with just two records?

B: Honestly, no. Although, I still don’t think it is anywhere near its full potential. I’m pretty amazed at how people perceive the label. Of course, we were aiming to have a solid ground in the scene, otherwise what’s the point? I’m really glad we’re doing things right, though – and that people love what we’ve done.

L: We were really unsure about how well the first record would go down. It was only because ‘Catch A Body’ got such a good response initially that we went ahead with it, and it couldn’t have gone better. We wanted to make sure the second release was as strong as the first, and Impey’s ‘Bangclap’ was the perfect answer.

What’s been the secret? The physical element, do you think?

B: I think just as much as [the] physical [aspect], we tend to want to put a personal touch on everything. I think that's what does it more than anything, to be honest. It’s things like hand-stamping every record and putting all the early presses in a rucksack the morning after making it available, then heading straight to the post office that morning.

L: What Boof said. All we’re doing at the end of the day is putting out music we think deserves to be heard – but it’s important to put your own spin on it and do something other labels don’t. Like, what other label gives out wallpapers for your £10 phone?

There’s also Bandulu, Hotline and now Parison Records all based in Bristol and sharing a similar ethos? Is that what makes the city special?

B: I suppose we have a tendency to want to do things ourselves I think, and for those that put the effort in, it works for them. There’s probably something in the water.

L: I don’t know what it is. Bristol’s full of creatives and I guess because it’s a fairly small city (it’s actually the 10^th biggest district by population in England, ahead of several London boroughs – geography ed), we inspire each other and work together. I can sort of see how we stand out, but I’ve never really got the whole ‘Bristol sound’ thing. We’re all different in our own way – the same as in any city.

Does your music help define Bristol, or do you think Bristol defines your music?

B: I think, as a whole, the music defines Bristol’s bass culture. Everyone’s doing their own thing, so I think that’s the whole DIY Bristol touch. You’re not far from anyone who’s making music or being creative. Like, the people you look up to, who do everything you love, they basically live down the road. It’s mad.

L: It’s a little of both for me. The music that was coming out of Bristol when I was a teenager was a big influence, and still is. Now that our music’s being heard all around and people relate it to our city, I guess we’re partly responsible for how Bristol music is defined, at least grime-wise.

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Impey – ‘Bangclap’

- - -

Could you pick out your top three Sector 7 moments since you started?

B: Top of the list would be seeing Lemz’s face when he heard ‘Banshee’ on vinyl. It was exactly the same reaction I had when I heard the test press for 001.

Another moment was when Impey agreed to let us go ahead with the presses, mainly because I was about to get it sent off to prepare in the first place, before PMR got in touch with Impey to say they were interested in ‘Bangclap’. It took about a month, but Impey ended up choosing us over the ‘German Whip’ guys, so that was a big deal.

Finally, one of the most important memories was paying for everything to get underway with 001. I did it with my best friend who is sadly no longer with us, but we dedicated the first release to him. Everyone with that early copy should know.

L: For me, seeing the response on SoundCloud when we put up ‘Catch A Body’ was massive. Likewise when Boof rang me and said we’d got ‘Bangclap’! And definitely the Bandulu 003 release night, which was around the time of our first Sector 7 release. I’m sure anyone that was there would agree – it was dumb.

To finish, do you reckon you also pick out your top three vinyl-only dubs?

B: Since you said dubs, I'll choose cuts I have in my suitcase. First, Breen with ‘Hooded Up VIP’ backed by Boofy’s ‘Since When VIP’ Trends’ ‘Hypnotized’ with Bok Bok’s ‘Silo Pass’ (Breen Edit). And Hi5Ghost’s ‘Kung Fu Kick’ (Lemzly Dale Remix) with Wen ft. Riko’s ‘Play Your Corner’ (Kahn & Neek Remix).

L: I’ve never cut any dubs, and nothing will top Breen’s ‘Silo Pass’ edit for me, but… Wiley’s ‘5:27am’, the ‘Bills Bills Bills’/‘A Milli’ Destiny’s Child/Lil Wayne release on Harmonimix, and DJ Shaggy’s ‘Under The Influence’ EP on Swag.

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Words: Tomas Fraser

Find Sector 7 online here. 

Related: more Life At 140 grime columns on Clash

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From over the fence… Death Grips broke up via a napkin, Flavor Flav got a ticking off for over-exuberant July 4^th fireworks, the Wu were supposedly looking for social media interns, and Kanye got a big round of Wireless boos in another month of bigmouth striking again. US soccer captain Clint ‘Deuce’ Dempsey prepped a hip-hop album, the Tupac musical quickly closed on Broadway, and one-time Clash cover-star Earl Sweatshirt announced a sabbatical for the good of his health.

The Azealia Banks Twitter amnesty didn’t last long, embarking on a mahoosive feud with T.I.. Elsewhere, Drake was at the centre of an improbable tennis-related double, firstly embroiled in beef with Common over Serena Williams and then getting into it with Oz drop-shotter Nick Kyrgios.

Ja Rule told anyone who was listening that he beat up 50 Cent back when. Fiddy in turn bought an entire shipment of TreySongz’s new album, just ‘cos. And DMX admitted to being a dog food connoisseur.

On tour, Deltron 3030 take on Camden’s Electric Ballroom in November. Atmosphere’s North of Hell tour includes six UK dates in October. The Jungle Brothers are a September must-see at The Jazz Cafe, and Sage Francis crosses the British Isles for a two-week October run.

In collector’s corner, J Dilla’s (pictured, main) ‘The King Of Beats’ box set is painstakingly drool-worthy for vinyl and cassette heads, coinciding with an announcement that his trusted equipment will become an exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

J Dilla, ‘Won’t Do’

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Single syllables: “Stick out like a sore thumb, so I gave him the finger”

Juna Cosmos gets frank ‘On The Wire’, an unsettled piece of trap wrestling with a dreamy backdrop.  Amongst Jon Phonics’ hi-def sea of beat scene synths on ‘White Neckle’ is a typically belligerent spot from Rup, telling you to ‘Give It Up’. A revisit to the Kingdom of Fear has Kashmere and Jehst failing to heed their own advice on the wavy ‘Be Still’.

Tumbledown jazziness allows Count Bass D (pictured above) and friends to take five; ‘FromThenToNow’ goes to vertical lengths of laying back. More explicit about their lethargy are King Chip and Blended Babies, promoting themselves as ‘Lazy and Lucrative’ on a low-trapping amble with a surefire hook. Jonwayne taking over a 20-track, DOOM‘Special Herbs’ medley is self-explanatory, and naturally so good.

Shaking things up, Ugly Heroes prep a new EP targeting ‘Naysayers & Playmakers’, bringing soulful nods to potent spits. It’s a design that serves Dizzy Wright and Bishop Nehru well on the produced ‘BrILLiant Youth’ EP, produced by the ever-eloquent 9^th Wonder. Boom-bap against the clock from Stu Bangas tells Blacastan and Apathy to reset ‘The Machine’ with swift tongues, and Busta Rhymes thrashing it out with Eminem is a lung-collapsing redecoration of House Of Pain. ‘Calm Down?’ Phat chance.

Busta Rhymes and Eminem, ‘Calm Down’

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ReaLPolitiks: happy snappers, hip-hop karma and quality coiffures

This month’s star prize is Dilated Peoples’ (pictured above) first LP in eight years. Never taking its eye off the ball and as consistent and clinical as ever – beats flower and bosh, and rhymes slouch on a razor blade that tucks into the turntables – ‘Directors Of Photography’ is pretty much everything you’d expect from the unwaveringly slick telepathy of Evidence, Rakaa and DJ Babu.

In similar circles and continuing to beat a dusty, rugged trail, gruff underground ranger Planet Asia comes correct ‘Via Satellite’. Partnering producer TzariZM and his “new age boom-bap” made to loosen your earwax, this is an absolute deadweight in the ring – just try knocking it down.

Planet Asia & TzariZM, ‘Satellite Channels’

Obviously there’s a lot of underground Weetabix being eaten this summer, as REKS & Hazardis Sounds’ ‘Eyes Watching God’ is another heavy hitter giving the mainstream a shiner. From its mixtape precursor, NORE, Saigon, Terrmanology and Ruste Juxx feature on a two-sided good/evil concept always up for a fight. Statik Selektah has always been a three bowls a day man, providing yet another roundtable for guests to recognise the real. ‘What Goes Around’ obviously comes around, with Joey Bada$$, Talib Kweli, Action Bronson, Snoop, REKS and Dilated Peoples among those accepting invites.

Statik Selektah, Action Bronson, Royce Da 5' 9"& Black Thought, ‘The Imperial’

Touted Aussie rhymer Remi works out ‘Raw X Infinity’ and comes up with a range of mic manoeuvring. Whether the scenes he sets are fast or measured, everyday, personal or out-there, he’s always assembling easy wordplay and engaging ears. He appears at London’s Birthdays in October. Zion I’s Amp Live reveals his inner conductor on ‘Headphone Concerto’, brainstorming very much on his own terms, with hip-hop still within earshot via guests The Grouch, Opio and Gift Of Gab.

Congolese-Finn Gracias debuts ‘Elengi’, an album regularly energised by darkness. Level-headedly finding solace in the doldrums, he sneaks in and becomes a tour de force when the mood closes and begins to drip with ill repute. It makes a mark on 2014 like a bloodied lovebite. Busdriver’s ‘Perfect Hair’, an indie blow-dry that’s as wordy as it is wired, quirky as it jerky, has Aesop Rock, Danny Brown and Open Mike Eagle helping out with style tips. Off-radar rap done to a tee – a little bit of everything, held together with equal parts entertainment and confusion. 

Busdriver, ‘Ego Death’

UK bread-‘n’-butter from Enlish tucks into ‘Delicious Heat’. Bluntly delivered attitude, chuckles and namedrops come loud and clear out of Brighton from the man also known as Big Dave. Instrumental weight on Stealf’s ‘Sling Me Down’ gets jazz between its teeth for a very steady set of driven rockers.

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Tape measures

Spida Lee’s ‘Life’s A Gamble’ is a good punt, the Huddersfielder who’s “so chilled, I sleep in the fridge” spreading his chips across the board and showing a firm hand throughout. Mixed and cut supremely by DJ Severe, ‘A Decade of Dope’ bulldozes through the BBP roster across 32 tracks of home truths. BoB’s ‘No Genre 2’ criss-crosses with that song-ready flow of his. Always quickly into the action and never needing a jumpstart, he provides food for thought, pop hooks and rams down the throat.

Calling your mixtape ‘I Can’t Rap’ is just asking for trouble, Waka Flocka Flame (pictured above) – fortunately, he absolutely rules a badbwoy set of head ringers. DJ Nick’s second ‘The Big Payback’ mix, with A$AP Ant popping up repeatedly, scuttles like an irksome army of millipedes breaking into the shimmies of a sidewinder.

Videos… Beardgang Kilkk represent (1), Problem Child go in for the kill (2), native tongue lashings come from Jman (3), and Mike Boyd hogs the mic (4)

1

2

3

4

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Words: Matt Oliver

Related: more Rapture & Verse columns

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Feeder got big, eh? I remember the days when they’d play Eastleigh’s Home Tavern on a tour – and that’s not even a gig venue these days (it’s a Wetherspoon, of course). The Welsh rock threesome has been through its ups and downs, to say the least, since forming back in the early 1990s, but the hits speak for themselves: with ‘Buck Rogers’, ‘Just A Day’ and ‘Tumble And Fall’, the band achieved some substantial mainstream traction.

Now, though, the band’s on hiatus – their generally well-received eighth album of 2012, ‘Generation Freakshow’, marking their last studio set (to date). But fret not, Feeder fans, as the voice of the band, Grant Nicholas, is about to release a debut solo set – ‘Yorktown Heights’ comes out via Popping Candy on August 11^th.

To mark this transition from band frontman to solo artist, we asked Grant to put together a playlist of his favourites who’ve taken the same step – from a group dynamic to playing all by themselves (well, you know what we mean). A solo track and one from the band the artist is best known for, following the new video for Grant’s own ‘Time Stood Still’.

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John Lennon

The Beatles – ‘Across The Universe’
“No playlist would be complete without a Beatles track. I am definitely in the Lennon camp on the songwriting side, although Paul is an incredible talent also. ‘Across The Universe’ is, I think, one of Lennon's best vocal performances. Classic.”

John Lennon – ‘Love’
“I covered ‘Beautiful Boy’ a few years back for an NME Warchild CD, and have always been a Lennon fan. Love is a timeless classic.”

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Tom Petty

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – ‘Learning To Fly’
“I sometimes do a cover of ‘Learning To Fly’ live. Petty is one of my favourite songwriters and this is such a simple, well-crafted song.”

Tom Petty – ‘Free Fallin’’
“Towards the end of the 1980s Petty went solo, although his studio musicians included members of the Heartbreakers. Stylistically similar to ‘Learning To Fly’, this is simple but massively effective.”

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Paul Simon

Simon & Garfunkel – ‘The Boxer’
“Paul Simon can sometimes be overlooked as a songwriter because there were so many great writers during this period. But he’s one of the most consistent songwriters of his generation, and I love this song.”

Paul Simon – ‘Kodachrome’
“Few realise what a great guitarist Simon is, as well. There are so many choices from his songbook, but ‘Kodachrome’ is a standout.”

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Neil Young

Neil Young – ‘A Man Needs A Maid’
“Neil’s ‘Harvest’ is one of my favourite albums and possibly the most played during the sessions for my own record. I love the arrangement of this song and I will be doing my first solo festival show at his Hyde Park show next week.” (Which already happened, obviously.) 

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – ‘Ohio’
“Some writers have likened ‘Yorktown Heights’ to the sound of Laurel Canyon. While I am very flattered, few other writers summed up that sound and period than this four. Supposedly this was done in one take.”

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Van Morrison

Van Morrison – ‘The Way Young Lovers Do’
“‘Astral Weeks’ is such a complete album. Van Morrison’s earlier releases are some of the best of this late-1960s period. He was certainly a match for many of the US writers mentioned here.”

Them – ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go’
“Probably more famous for being on film soundtracks, but the musicianship on this track is really impressive.”

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Grant Nicholas online. See him live as follows:

September
20^th– The Haunt, Brighton
22^nd– Ruby Lounge, Manchester
23^rd– Cluny, Newcastle
25^th– East Village Arts Club, Liverpool
27^th– HMV Library, Birmingham
28^th– The Wardrobe, Leeds
29^th– Globe, Cardiff

October
1^st– Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
2^nd– The Fleece, Bristol

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Five years ago, Tinchy Stryder was crowned Britain’s highest-selling solo artist. A year later, he embarked on his second sold-out national tour. And then, he vanished.

Now 27, the man born Kwasi Danquah III is feeling revitalised. “I feel like I’m in a different space”, he says, in the midst of a hectic schedule for fourth album ‘360’, due later in 2014. “It’s been a busy few years, but it’s been worth the wait.”

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‘Misunderstood’ (2014)

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His hiatus from releasing music – he never stopped making it – sanctioned Stryder to capitalise on his newfound commercial potential, primarily drawn from a wave of national and international success. Tinchy became grime’s second artist to penetrate pop culture, after fellow East Londoner Dizzee Rascal, leading to approaches from Dixons and Japanese car manufacturer Honda. The latter venture saw him front up the brand’s European marketing campaign.

As a result, Kwasi was catapulted from underground luminary to a household name, beamed into the homes of the public via appearances on numerous TV channels. Triumph after triumph was his to enjoy – but while this period was gratifying, it took its toll. Anxieties began to play on his mind about having to eventually top that success.

“You get caught up in yourself, the pressure was on,” he admits. “The first three singles of [my second album, 2009’s] ‘Catch 22’ went top three so it’s like, okay, what do we do now then?”

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‘Number 1’ (which went to number one, in 2009)

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Instinctively, Tinchy attempted to better his first three albums – ‘Third Strike’, featuring the MC-pile-on of ‘Game Over’, emerged in 2010 – by starting work on a fourth album in 2012. But he soon enough scrapped that progress to start afresh by beginning his own imprint, Takeover Records. It’s a move that he says has unburdened the decision process when releasing music.

“It’s my own label and my choice,” he explains. “I mean, you’ve always got a choice within a team and I’m open to opinions, but I can go with the record that I’m feeling. It reminds me of working on my first album, (2007’s) ‘Star In The Hood’ – back then, I had the freedom to work.”

“I’ve been with a major label and everything, but now it’s independent,” he says, beginning to delve into the concept behind the new album. “That full creative control alone is 360 degrees, back to where you were, but in a stronger position.

“And, away from that, the music, the sound and how people are hearing it is coming full circle. People have told me, ‘You’re sounding like the fire, old you,’ and what not. It’s the energy.”

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‘Game Over’, featuring just about everyone (2010)

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The decision to follow the independent route was somewhat shaped by the changing landscape of an industry where traditional methods are succumbing to the impulsive nature of the digital age. Industry wide, record sales are declining and, coupled with the emergence of streaming and social media, some of the more familiar ways and means have become outdated.

“It’s a challenge, but that’s the most interesting part about it. Before, it was more of a formula: do this and do that, the same routine. But now it’s exciting. With music these days, you can put a song out today and in a week’s time it feels old – we’re at a stage where things come and go so quickly.

“Things have changed, so you have to progress yourself. That’s why so many different people have their own lanes and strategies. It’s great that everybody’s reaching out and trying to find their own way.”

Grime’s coming of age. Inaugurated by Wiley and the rest of Roll Deep, it was stunted by a turbulent phase of censorship where the genre drew criticism from all quarters – including Downing Street – meaning the sound was ultimately pushed back underground. Tinchy and the rest of grime’s second generation picked up the baton on the other side, and have again steered the garage offshoot to broader territories.

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It feels like sometimes you’re a bit ahead of your time in a way, but there is nothing wrong with that because sooner or later things come back around…

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“Music is like fashion,” says Tinchy, “it always comes round. Now the interest has come back to grime a bit more.” He identifies Skepta and the Boy Better Know camp as a few of the scene’s frontrunners in 2014.

“The music is connecting with people, doing well and charting, that’s always good and always a positive thing,” he says, before adding words of caution: “But if you pay too much attention to the chart side of it, you can lose focus.”

To some we’re in a golden age for grime, with acts selling out shows – when they are permitted to go ahead – and once again taking the scene to an international stage. This is momentum initiated in part by Tinchy, who was one of the first amongst grime’s new school to broaden his sound.

“When I released ‘Third Strike’ people were like, ‘Wow this is different,’ especially with the single ‘In My System’. But that sounds like a lot of the music out right now.

“It feels like sometimes you’re a bit ahead of your time in a way, but there is nothing wrong with that because sooner or later things come back around.”

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‘In My System’ (2010)

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In keeping with the era of new rules – or no rules, depending on how you see it – Stryder’s new single ‘ESG’ was available on iTunes and Spotify minutes after surfacing online, a shock tactic that has experienced high levels of success across the pond.

“It looks like I’ve been chosen,” closes out the penultimate verse on the single, the second from ‘360’. “Everything that’s happened isn’t accidental but people don’t see the level of work that goes into my career,” says its maker. “People miss the discreet things that aren’t seen by the everyday eye.”

“So much grind we’ve done, from the very start, at pirate radio stations,” he says, recalling the earliest phases of his career. “We definitely helped pave the way and open doors, but it’s not meant to be easy or we’d all being doing it.”

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‘ESG’ (2014)

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Words: Aniefiok Ekpoudom (Twitter)

‘ESG’ is out now. Find Tinchy Stryder online here. 

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The American Dream?

The American Nightmare, more like. The decline of the pristine, white picket fence vision of Americana has led to a plural identity, one which focusses on the good alongside the bad, the beautiful alongside the ugly.

It's the latter which concerns Kiran Leonard. The youthful Mancunian songsmith has made waves of late, with his intense live show matched to material which is as dextrous as it is promising.

Agreeing to craft a guest mix for Clash, Kiran Leonard decided to focus on 'ugly American music made by beautiful Americans in the 80s and 90s...'

Introducing the mix, here's what he had to say:

"THE AMERICANS ARE AWFULLY GOOD AT MAKING UGLY MUSIC. I THINK THE FIRST UGLY AMERICAN BAND I HEARD WAS "THE LOCUST". MY BROTHER INTRODUCED ME TO THEM IN THE BACK OF A CAR ON A TRIP SOMEWHERE. HE PLAYED ME "THE HALF EATEN SAUSAGE WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU IN HIS OFFICE" AND IT CHANGED MY LIFE. WAS IT RELEVANT THAT THEY WERE AMERICAN? I DON'T KNOW, BUT I'VE FOUND THAT FOR SOME REASON OR OTHER AMERICANS ARE EXCELLENT AT MAKING UGLY, BUT IMMENSELY EXPRESSIVE AND POTENT MUSIC. IN MY OPINION THEY WERE BEST AT IT IN THE 80S AND 90S. I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHY THAT IS EITHER. PROBABLY THE INTERNET THAT DONE RUINED IT, OR SOME SHIT. THAT'S WHAT THEY ALL SAY. TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH, THAT'S THE ONLY CRITERIA FOR THIS MIX: THAT IT OCCURRED IN A VAST TIMESPAN IN A VAST COUNTRY, A SPECIFICATION ENCOMPASSING ENTIRE COASTS, SCENES, LABELS, GENRES, GENERATIONS. BUT AN APPRECIATION FOR AMERICA, AND THAT INCLUDES ITS MUSIC, IS ALL ABOUT CELEBRATING ITS DIVERSITY, AND THAT DIVERSITY THRIVES EVEN IN THE WALLOWS OF THE MURKIEST AND FOULEST FORMS OF SELF-EXPRESSION!

BASED ON THIS IDEA THAT I HAD, THE KIND PEOPLE AT CLASH MUSIC SUGGESTED CALLING IT AN "ANTI-AMERICAN DREAM MIX"... BUT IF IT'S UGLY THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT IT ISN'T DREAMY! THESE ARE YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN AT THE PEAK OF THEIR POWERS, PUSHING SELF-EXPRESSION BEYOND DIATONICISM, BEYOND CHROMATICISM! SOMETIMES THEY WERE EVEN EDUCATED! WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE DREAMIER?"

Listen to it now.

Tracklisting:

Sun City Girls - Horse Cock Phepner [Phoenix, AZ] (1987)
Harry Pussy - 'Chuck' [Miami, FL] (1993)
Polvo - 'Sure Shot' [Chapel Hill, NC] (1993)
Big Black - 'Passing Complexion' [Evanston, IL] (1986)
Deerhoof - 'Gold On Black' [San Francisco, CA] (1997)
Emil Beaulieau - Excerpt From 'America's Greatest Living Noise Artist' [Lowell, MA] (1990s)
Lync - 'Perfect Shot' [Olympia, WA] (1994)
Mars & DNA - 'Gavanti Samba' [New York City, NY] (1980)
Bikini Kill - 'Star Bellied Boy' [Olympia, WA] (1993)
Frederic Rzewski - 'Scratch Symphony: 2. Mit Dirigent' [Westfield, MA] (1997)
The Residents - 'Moisture' [Shreveport, LA] (1980)
DJ Paul - 'Sweet Robbery [Edit]' [Memphis, TN] (1994)
Negativland - 'Time Zones' [Concord, CA] (1987)
Swans - 'Yum Yab Killers' [New York City, NY] (1996)
Swing Kids - Blue Note [San Diego, CA] (1994)
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Dirty Blue Gene [Glendale, CA] (1980)
No Trend - Teen Love [Ashton, MD] (1983)

Interspersed w/ samples from the short films 'Entering Texas: The Bar-B-Que Movie' (1988) and 'the Bogus Man' (1980)

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To fans, life on the road is a hopelessly romantic experience.

To bands, though, it's often a chore. The touring circuit can offer up all kinds of pleasures, but it can also push musicians to the brink.

Good Trip, Bad Trip sets the wheat from the chaff, probing bands on their very best - and worst - memories of life on the road.

Texas psych-rock outlaws The Black Angels know a thing or two about this. Based in the Lone Star State, even domestic tours across the United States involve long, arduous journeys.

Now gaining an international profile, the group's music has taken them across the globe. With new album 'Clear Lake Horizon' lingering on shelves across the land, Clash decided that the time was right to probe the band on their touring experiences.

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Best Trip...
Costa Rica, 1996.

Worst Trip...
Food poisoning sickness on flight from New Zealand to Turkey. I was in bathroom during takeoff.

Our favourite foreign venue...
La Cigale, France.

We’re surprisingly popular in...
Seabrook, Texas.

Best or worst exotic foodstuff...
Worst thing ever was the dog penis but we were too polite to say no.

Most interesting individual you've met on the road...
Bodini.

Worst on-tour injury, or accident...
I rubbed mountain mint on my face because I hadn't showered in a few days and had a horrible reaction. I found some near our campsite and woke up the next day with a very swollen face and this stuff oozing out me. I had to finish the tour looking like that.

My essential travel item...
Eagle creek compression bags for separating clean clothes from dirty. Thanks Ian, our tour manager.

My essential travel tip...
Never lose your passport.

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'Clear Lake Horizon' is out now.

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I’ll save you the effort of stating the obvious: no, of course they’ve no responsibility to highlight what’s happening to thousands of people in a country divided, thousands of miles away from the comfort of number one singles and fanbase adoration. But overnight I’ve been struggling with the realisation that, seemingly, not one of the UK’s most prominent pop stars has tweeted a word about the increasingly tragic Gaza conflict. Nothing.

Which, again, is fine and fair – nobody is saying that you have to be a husk of a human to not be stirred, deeply affected, by some of the footage that’s come out of the area – by the film Jon Snow shared online a few days ago, which has been viewed over half a million times, or by the disturbing imagery posted by the BBC, reporting the shelling of a Gaza school. Sometimes, just to keep it together and function through another working day, the best advice is to turn two blind eyes, to bury your head in the sands of entertainment – to put on a favourite song and forget the darkness tearing at the seams of an already fractured society.

But, equally, awareness is the only way that change can possibly begin to happen. And awareness amongst those yet to reach voting age, the time where they can make their opinions count, is vital. For a long time now there’s been a strange apathy amongst this country’s first-time voter pool – general elections aside, turnout at the polls for by-elections and the like is rarely high.

In 2012, the Police and Crime Commissioner elections in the UK attracted 15% of the available vote. Two years earlier, The X Factor pulled in a greater percentage of its eligible voters – just over 23%. The last general election, of 2010, saw 65% of possible voters make the effort. In 2005’s general, the turnout amongst 18-to-24-years-olds was a depressing 37%, up to only 44% in 2010.

So: pop has an attraction that politics alone can rarely reach, evidenced by that X Factor figure – not to mention the social media follower figures for prominent artists compared to party leaders. David Cameron, 736,000; Cheryl Cole, number one in the singles chart at the time of writing, 4.67 million. 

Earlier in 2014, a local elections turnout of just 37% had some commentators arguing for compulsory online voting, which while sounding dramatic is something enforced elsewhere in Europe to the tune of great success. Perhaps it needs to happen here. Something does, to get the young engaged with their futures, actively arguing their cases against a Britain seemingly content to let once-fringe political ideals become front-and-centre agendas.

But that’s beside the point of the immediate action necessary, which is to stop the killing. Isn’t it? I’m not about to patronise any readers by posting some sort of layman’s terms account of why these two sides are warring in the Middle East, and nor am I positioning Clash as taking one side over the other. It’s not about that – the wounds are too deep, the divisions too wide, for any such rhetoric to resonate even the slightest. And it’s not like we’re the BBC, or the Guardian, or CNN or Al Jazeera – our reach is minimal, whatever we publish easily lost in the cacophonous chorus of the internet’s every-day schedule of blog entries, micro-missives and selfie snaps tuned out by the majority, those searching for cat gifs and whatever the next festival-headdress fashion statement is.

What we – what I – can certainly say, though, is that the loss of life in the Gaza conflict is simply too great to be ignored, and that those best connected with the young and impressionable, those who will become our future leaders charged with making decisions of global ramifications, could be acting as messengers right now. I don’t know if I feel more strongly about what’s happening now than I have before, when the same border conflict has flared into violent life in the past, because I’m settled nowadays in my dad role. Perhaps it’s a factor – I know that seeing reports like this, examining the impact of the Gaza and Syrian situations on children, just tears my passion for music right out and replaces it with the very real acknowledgement that the arts, while an effective mirror for the world’s greatest turmoil, is rarely a powerful tool for widespread action.

Couldn’t it be, though? Ed Sheeran is number one in the UK’s album chart with ‘X’, an album so obviously awful that nobody in the PR world thought to send a copy to Clash. He’s been there for five weeks, though, which proves that he is liked. Indeed, he’s more than liked – he’s the most powerful figure in British urban music. He’s also someone who, to his credit, has used his music to increase awareness of ills affecting our society – his breakthrough hit, ‘The A Team’, might be a mawkish monster, but at its heart lies a very worthy message of helping the homeless, the addicted, the helpless. He’s performed to raise money for charity, but he’s kept his political persuasion in check, publically. Tory, Labour, something else – who cares, I guess. But it’s obvious that Ed has been touched by sadness around him in the past.

So what’s he been tweeting about Gaza? Not a lot, unless that’s also the name of a club in Madrid, where he was yesterday for promo work. Again, I’m not saying that he must mention Gaza, of course not. But he’s a young and affluent musician with a massive fanbase, a Twitter following of 10 million. He’s somebody that people respect more than they do the politicians playing for future-polls points on the topic. “I want more people to be involved in politics,” tweeted Labour leader Ed Miliband on July 27^th, earning just under 200 retweets. On July 26^th, Sheeran tweeted that he’d “had a lovely night in Derry” with some lad from Snow Patrol – an update retweeted 2,941 times.

There’s a clear message here: pop stars reach people, who don’t simply read their words but share them with their own followers, their own friends and family. How does thought become effect? Through people power, and our biggest pop stars have loyal audiences of millions. Cheryl Cole and Adele are big-selling British artists with a combined Twitter following of 25 million people. The latter is a mother who, surely, can’t see things like this and not feel a deep ache. Does she need to express something – sympathy alone, or maybe a link to any number of emergency appeals to help the civilians, the children, caught up in the crossfire? She doesn’t have to. But what a difference she could make if she did.

The same can be said of One Direction (19.9 million Twitter followers), of Jessie J (6.65 million), of Coldplay (12.8 million), of Gary Barlow (3.57 million). I’m not after these celebrities to make a stand for either side of the Gaza conflict – but what a thrill it would be to see someone with a huge social media reach offer something in the way of support, something that might ultimately help to save lives. I don’t know. Perhaps it’d change nothing if One Direction tweeted links to Christian Aid, to Save The Children, to the Red Cross, Oxfam or Muslim Aid. Perhaps the reaction would be a stream of “OMG I LOVE ZAYN”, or something like that.

Or maybe they’d get burned by ridiculous death threats, as said Muslim-raised member of the group did when personally tweeting nothing more than “#freepalestine”. Perhaps they’d have to do what Rihanna did, and delete the exact same tweet as the One Direction singer after eight minutes after receiving a barrage of abuse. These type of messages imply a side taken, so inevitably there will be repercussions.

But, maybe, with their messages articulated the right way, the balanced way, these people really would help get the innocent out of a war that’s too entrenched in the region’s recent history to stop in a heartbeat, on the say-so of a pop star so removed from the realities of the conflict that they might as well be a wizard from the moon. There are children quite clearly in need here, and that’s always been a cause that’s drawn thepop fraternity out in great numbers. So why not now?

It’s time for someone amongst pop’s biggest to stand up to the faceless, nameless stick they might get for encouraging necessary change. Or was Simon Cowell’s $150,000 donation to the Israeli Defense Forces last year enough to prevent any individual thoughts amongst his pop progeny? Sample tweet to his 10 million followers, posted July 18^th: “I think Best In Show is the funniest film ever made.” Two thousand favourites.

Jon Snow, tweeting on the same day: “Awful danger that the shooting down of flight MH17 will provide cover for an intensification of Israel’s ground war in Gaza.” Seven hundred and sixty-one favourites. Something is wrong. But pop can help to make it right, regardless of any professional duty or label liabilities. It can reach the young and empower them to speak up against atrocities, to share their concerns with friends, to progress understanding and use that to affect future political policies. Nothing is achieved with silence. Televised news cannot impress as it once could, that much is clear. So, who is going to step up?

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This article is the opinion of the author only and does not reflect any wider Clash position on Gaza or the effort to help relive the suffering felt by civilians in the area. However, if you wanted to donate to the campaigns helping to prevent more innocent lives being lost, just Google “Gaza Conflict Charities” and take your pick. This is not about sides. It is about stopping the needless deaths. And if pop can make a difference, it should. 

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Seventeen years after Biggie’s ‘Life After Death’ and with Rick Ross still at the height of his career, it feels like rap has always had a Mafioso air about it. Likewise post-Slim Shady and with Tyler, The Creator aka Wolf Haley, Tron Cat, Young N*gga, Dr. TC and Thurnis Haley (to name but a few) leading a generation of young rap listeners, it feels like rappers’ multiple alter-egos have always been switched on and off like a light bulb.

But this wasn’t the case until Raekwon’s 1994 solo album ‘Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…', a bona-fide rap classic that introduced the music to organised crime and saw the Wu-Tang Clan appearing under Gambino aliases such as Lou Diamond, Tony Starks, Maximillian, Noodles and Rollie Fingers.

However, like many rappers who hit their debut out of the park, Rae’s output, while undeniably consistent and high quality, has struggled to have the same impact since he first made a solo impression. His name is often left out of conversations that he should undoubtedly be part of with regards to the greatest MCs of all time. To put it bluntly, Raekwon The Chef is underrated.

And yet, we haven’t reached a point where Rae feels like a legacy artist, by any means. His last two albums, both independently released, have been as relevant as any other rap releases in the years of their respective releases.

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‘All About You’, feat. Estelle, from ‘F.I.L.A.’

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2009 saw him demonstrating how to pull off a classic sequel with ‘Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Part II’, a far cry from the usually abysmal follow-up albums that clench at classic status to win over a few extra sales. ‘Cuban Linx II’ was absolutely a classic in its own right. And 2011’s ‘Shaolin Vs Wu-Tang’ saw him stripping back the Wu-Tang philosophy to deliver a hard-hitting street album straight from the slums of Shaolin, one that had him working with a wider range of guests including Nas, Black Thought, Rick Ross, Lloyd Banks, Jim Jones, Estelle and Raheem DeVaughn.

“I still feel new, I still feel fresh,” Raekwon says ahead of his recent show at London’s Brooklyn Bowl. “But I’m a 20-year veteran. So everything that I do, I want the whole world to be able to capture it.” He is talking about his highly anticipated sixth solo album ‘F.I.L.A.’ – an acronym for ‘Fly International Luxurious Art’ – which aims to further cement his reputation by delivering a set that can be enjoyed by the masses without compromise or trend-chasing.

“On this album there is something for everyone. Of course I’m still catering for my audience that have been supporting me for the longest, I’ve gotta make sure I feed them, but then you’ve got other people that respect me just growing with the music.

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‘Heaven & Hell’, from ‘Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…’

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“When you’ve been in the business for 20 years it’s all about growing and expanding, and I think this album has given me that opportunity to show people that side of me. If I wanted to go in and make another dark album and keep it 100% underground that’s easy, but then that’s not me growing at the level that I want to grow. I want people to understand that as an artist you’re supposed to indulge in many different sides of your music, many different productions. And that’s why I had to go out there and get the best people to be involved with it, to make this come true.”

He hopes that ‘F.I.L.A.’ will allow him to connect with music fans in general, opening himself up to the live sector. “If I was to go do a festival or something like that, I would be able to have a rounded album that could satisfy everyone,” he says. “I wanted this album to have a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Definitely from a worldwide perspective of music. You’ll be hearing stadium-sounding music – the music is bigger now, it’s more worldwide.”

To help him create this sound he has enlisted the help of Jerry “Wonder” Duplessis, the producer and composer best known for his work with The Fugees on ‘The Score’, a 1996 album that certainly cut loose from hip-hop audiences and infiltrated the masses without compromise.

“He came on board to help me make a solid album,” says Rae. “So I definitely want to shout him out, because he had a lot to do with it as well.” When questioned further about the sonics of the record, he expands: “Oh it’s definitely a colourful album. I’ve got this kid named Scoop DeVille, Swizz Beats, Scram Jones, a couple of colourful cats. S1 (Symbolyc One), he did a lot of work with Kanye before – strong producers man, strong producers.”

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As ‘F.I.L.A.’’s October release date moves closer, Raekwon is keeping his name in circulation online with a new series of SoundCloud-released tracks collected under the Throwback Thursdays banner. The concept is simple: Rae selects his favourite throwback soul and R&B tracks, spits over them and posts one each Thursday.

“I’m giving people the opportunity to see an MC have fun and do stuff that we all grew up on,” he says, quickly remembering his younger fans. “Some of us may not have grew up on it, even! It’s fun to go back and listen to some of my favourite records, even if they wasn’t hip-hop, they was great music to me. I’m paying homage to all the throwback music that paved the way in my life. These records I grew up on, they’re special to me as well as to the fans; I’m sure they probably can remember some of them. It’s just having fun down memory lane and giving you another side of Rae until the album drop.”

Having taken on tracks by The Isley Brothers, Rose Royce, The Spinners and Teena Marie, Rae isn’t worried about finding heavy drum samples that can be flipped – he’s just taking the tracks head on.

“And that goes back to me telling you that, the way I’m looking at music, I’m looking at going back to being an MC as well as an artist,” he explains. “MCs, we can rhyme over anything. If you’re a real MC and you love something, you challenge it, whether it’s R&B, whether it’s hip-hop, whether it’s slow jams, you bring your skills to the table. I figure I’ll make people smile with records that they can relate to, like the Teena Marie record – you never really heard an MC rap over something like that, and I’m a big Teena Marie fan. You’ll hear me rhyme Ron Isley, somebody who I look up to in the music business as a great artist, a great songwriter, a great singer. I just wanted to indulge with his production as well.”

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I love my brothers and business is business. Now I got my business together, I can go into it with a happy smile on my face…

- - -

He pauses before jumping back into promo mode for ‘Flyest International’: “Now when the album drops, that is when you’ll go back to saying, ‘Okay, now Rae is back to business, He’s preparing us to hear what he’s been working on the past two years.’”

Having cleverly utilised online platforms to keep his name on the end of people’s tongues (or at least on the end of their fingertips), Rae hopes that people will still go out and buy physical copies of the album, as opposed to downloading it.

“I understand the digital side of things, I understand business, and I know the most important thing right now is to let your music be internationally heard. And that’s where the digital world comes in. But I want to be able to capture that world and still make people go out there and buy albums. I think we’re missing that in hip-hop.”

Rae isn’t referring to the old argument about illegal downloads though – he’s interested in fans enjoying the experiential side of buying a physical album. “I love to go out and get an album that I know is going to be solid, I can read the credits while I’m listening to it and check out the pictures, little stuff like that makes it fun for the artist to give to the world,” he says.

“It just shows all the hard work you’ve put in, that’s what I want to do. I don’t want people to feel like, ‘I can download it,’ or whatever. You can do that if you have to, but at the same time why not be able to go get up and go jump in your car, jump on the train, stop in the record store and pow, there goes Raekwon’s new album, let me pay attention to that. That’s important to me.”

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‘New Wu’, from ‘Only Built for Cuban Linx… Part II’

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His name has also been in the media recently for his dispute with the RZA, which almost saw him cut from the forthcoming Wu-Tang Clan album, ‘A Better Tomorrow’, which Raekwon claims he didn’t even know about until the release was announced publicly.

“We finally reached some kind of great agreement, me and RZA,” he states, a sigh of relief for Wu-Tang fans. “And, yeah, everything is starting to happen, it’s starting to make sense. I can’t really give you too much ballistics on that, but as far as me being on board to do what I’m supposed to do, my team is telling me that it’s going to be a great situation.”

He pauses before opening up more. “I’m excited. Of course, things are already starting to heat up and all I can tell you is just you gotta get ready for it. I love my brothers and business is business. I’m glad everybody else had they business together. Now I got my business together, I can go into it with a happy smile on my face, instead of feeling like I’m being taken advantage of. I don’t think nobody needs to be taken advantage of. I’m just excited man, I’m excited to work. That’s what I’m here for, I’m here to do my job.”

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Words: Grant Brydon (Twitter)

Raekwon online. 'F.I.L.A.' is due out in September.

Related: read our three-part interview with Wu-Tang Clan

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Famed for its fish, fog and cable cars, San Francisco is also home to Charles McCloud Duff AKA Matrixxman, our guest vinyl selector for this edition of Electric Selection. The deejay and producer, who in the past has tussled with muscular Chicago basslines and futuristic tech, is gearing up to release an EP that he’s described as “a Jungian-like approach expounding upon and unifying seemingly disparate archetypes of deep house and techno”.

We decided to put the Bay Area wordsmith’s pen to the test by giving some love to six of his top recent slabs of wax.

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HUERCO S
‘AVERDIGRIS READER’
(PROIBITO)

“Where do I even start? The textures and emotions conveyed on this 12” are off the chain. ‘Emotional austere bangers’ would be my preferred category for this record. My personal favourite is ‘Track 3’ which starts off with a slightly menacing yet soothing sustained singular note, modulating in and out of tune. Then those chords come in. Jesus. This is that real futuristic dark-ass deepness right here. Keep doing what you are doing homie, because this is some cold shit you are making.”

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DEETROIT
‘CONSPIRACY EP’
(UNKNOWN DEETROIT) 

“Stripped back, raw, minimal yet soulful house with perfect amount of grit. Joints like ‘U Feel It’ demonstrate an impeccable ability to blend multiple Roland drum machines seamlessly. Just when you think it can’t get any better the vocals slide in and it’s pure house perfection. Whoever the hell this is, they’re totally killing it. Do yourself a favour and pick up anything you see with ‘Deetroit’ on it next time you are in a record store.”

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FRED P/KAI ALCE
‘FINALE SESSIONS SELECT VOL 1’
(FINALE SESSIONS SELECT)

“Fred P is just so nasty. I f*cks with this dude, hard body. The title joint ‘Ram’ is a subtle number exercising precision and restraint. The driving chords pan gently to and fro, providing an enchanting yet transcendental ambiance for the hypnotic steady groove. Obscured and looming in the distance, ethereal vocals slowly zoom in and out of focus. This shit is beautiful. If you played this to people on psychedelics it might engender a mass catharsis on the dancefloor.”

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VIN SOL
‘WESTERN WAYS EP’
(SOO WAVEY)

“Much to the chagrin of your readers, I find myself here plugging a record that I am affiliated with – albeit with just a feature on one track. Nevertheless, I can’t help but feel proud to have this coming out on our label. Vin Sol takes you on a journey here that really encapsulates our ethos at Soo Wavey. While ‘Cookies’ offers more straight forward and up front club vibes, the real gem to me here is ‘Pyramids’ as it sounds like some long lost Larry Heard track from the 1980s. Wow.”

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GENE HUNT
‘LIVING IN A ROOM EP’
(HARDMOON)

“For all of you alt-bro violators that don't know yet, Gene Hunt was around since back in the Music Box days doing the damn thing as a prodigy of Ron Hardy. You can’t front on the truth. Listen to those whistles while he beats up the box on GH-326. Fierce as hell jacking vibes that would potentially scare your neighbour’s kids. I’m loving it.” 

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DJ SLUGO
‘LIVIN’ IN THE GHETTO’
(GHETTO HOUSE CLASSICS)
(Reissue of the 1995 Dance Mania original, ‘Livin’ That Ghetto Life’)

“Minimal utilitarian hood club workouts. Tracks like ‘Work It’ prove that you really can't go wrong with just a proper TR-808 beat and a catchy vocal sample. As a producer who tries to abstain from overproducing tracks, I naturally have a penchant for those whose works employ a Zen-like restraint in their arrangements. Upon giving this 12” another listen, I am fairly certain Slugo did not use even one single synth on this vinyl. Just drums and samples. Genius!”

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Matrixxman online.

Related: more Electric Selection 12” round-ups

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Berlin experimentalists To Rococo Rot have just recently issued their eighth studio LP, ‘Instrument’, through City Slang. A study of delicate minimalism, buzzing electronics and driving rhythms, it’s a record that long-term fans will likely have seen coming, but that doesn’t make it any the less engrossing for newcomers to the band. (Here is our review.)

To mark the album’s release, we asked brothers Ronald and Robert Lippok and bandmate Stefan Schneider to put together a more interesting-than-usual Playlist feature, focusing on the key musicians to have defined German music since reunification in 1990. And, they did. So, enjoy, right after To Rococo Rot’s own video for ‘Classify’, taken from ‘Instrument’.

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Bleibeil  

Let’s get sentimental. Berlin was so nice and grey in 1990. Shoot it with Supercolor film, and that wouldn’t have made much difference. The only thing I like about the GDR was the look. Somehow it was unreal, but at the same time you got always reminded of the Second World war, with bullet holes everywhere, and that Berlin was the epicenter and the source of it all.

Bleibeil was formed out of members of our older band Ornament und Verbrechen, an East German experimental underground combo. Later, Bo Kondren founded Calyx Mastering and Bernd Jestram worked as Tarwater with my brother Ronald. I don’t know how, but somehow Bo got the money to buy an Emax Sampler, which was incredibly expensive, esspecially for a bunch of East Germans. 

In 1988 we started a series of acid house concerts, building the live set out of the 2MB RAM that the Emax had. Ah, it was fun. 

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‪Kreidler – ‘Glashütte Gerresheim’ / ‘Flames’

In 1995, the Düsseldorf-based band Kreidler was invited to play at Mutzek, a former butcher’s shop turned into some sort of strange saloon. Later, this place became the famous Panasonic.

I was the DJ at that night. It was fascinating to see how Kreidler merged electronic, bass and live drumming. Stefan was playing the bass and after the show we started talking. I invited him to Berlin for an undefined project, which later became To Rococo Rot. I still like the sound of Kreidler, and just bought they recorded at Rough Trade, London after we played there. 

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Rhythm & Sound w/ Tikiman – ‘Never Tell You’

In 1996 I was sitting in a taxi, just passing Alexanderplatz, when I heard this track for the first time. I wanted the music and the taxi ride to last forever. 

I started to explore the music of Moritz von Oswald and the Hard Wax shop, and I’ve still got many of their records. And, of course, I will never sell my Rhythm & Sound 10”s. 

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Peaches – ‘F*ck The Pain Away’

Starting a revolution with one of the worst musical instruments ever built? I’m talking about Roland’s late-1990s attempt to get into the techno market, the MC-303. 

And Peaches had only this machine! This mix of punk and rough electric sounds was unique at that time, in 2000. While clubs like Berlin Tokyo were entering the scene, artists like Peaches and Jeans Team became famous. I had the strong feeling that a new decade was just starting to begin.

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errorsmith – ‘in a sweat’ (live version)

The first track I heard by errorsmith was a remix for the German band Surrugat, in 1995. I love everything errorsmith does. Even when it’s killing me while listing. Sometimes it’s getting very radical, and when he plays live you think you are jumping into an eternal looping, electronic hell. 

There is a lot humour in this, and also in (the man behind errorsmith) Erik Wiegand’s other project, MMM, even though you might not hear this in the first second. Besides making great music, Erik is friend of the Hard Wax gang and worked for Native Instruments. He developed a software synthesizer called Razor and it’s one of the few virtual instruments I really, really like, and that I use (in nearly every track).

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Ester Brinkmann – ‘Maschine’

Maybe my favourite project from everything in the Cologne techno scene, based around Kompakt. In the early- to mid-1990s, some club nights tried to play just one beat. How long can you enjoy a night out with just one drum sequence running? Quite a long time in those days. 

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Vert – ‘Drawers Of Water’

Once there was a big music fair called Popkomm in Cologne. We went every year, performing or just hanging out with friends at Hallmackenreuther, the place to be.

Close by was one of Germany’s best record stores, a-Musik. It was also the home base for many projects, like Pluramon, and Mouse On Mars. Vert is the alias of Adam Butler, and is a good example of the sound world of a-Musik at that time. Glitchy, brittle, beautiful.

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Arovane – ‘Theme’

This is the best release on the Manchester- and Berlin-based label, CCO (City Centre Offices). The whole album, ‘Tides’, is great. Around 2000, many electronic projects worked on epic melodies. It was the time of Isan and Boards Of Canada, for example. CCO was one of the leading labels for that kind of music, releasing ground-breaking records by Dub Tractor, Ulrich Schnauss and I’m Not A Gun.

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Schloss Mirabell – ‘Little Cygnet’

Schloss Mirabell is a good example of a new breed of improvised music in Berlin. She combines acoustic, in her case cello, and electronic elements with no fear of jumping over the genre borders.

The scene is growing and there are many new venues and cafe playing this stuff. Mirabell’s music is hard to catch – sometimes beat driven, sometimes completely abstract with no conventional way of developing. I’m always happy when there is a new track popping up on SoundCloud. She’s always surprising. 

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Deichkind – ‘Remmidemmi’, live at Melt 2006

And now, something completely different. Deichkind started as a German hip-hop band. German hip-hop, I know… It’s a contradiction. But this band is from Hamburg, and the people there know how to party in a very profound way, and they are making the best, most funny and silly rhymes. The music is very simple and rough. 

Deichkind became some sort of hybrid techno monster. I was at a wedding party two years ago and everybody from the 80-year-old grandma to three-year-old kids were dancing to this tune. So nice. 

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Words: Robert Lippok
Colour photo: Jens Oellermann

To Rococo Rot’s ‘Instrument’ is out now and streaming in full here. Find the band online here. 

Related: more Playlist features

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Rising, disco-delving duo Coma Coast offer up a ‘shoulder-shaking’ selection of disco, funk, electro, synth-pop and jackin’ house for the latest exclusive Clash DJ mix.

Consisting of London-based DJ/singer Mariano Robles and Venezuelan DJ/producer Rey Morales (after they met in Caracas in 2012), the duo’s sound is an unashamedly nostalgic meander through hazy synth-pop and ’80s-saluting disco and funk flavours that pushes all the right buttons. Their ‘1989/The Ritual’ EP, released earlier this year, even dips gently into new wave to achieve its funky, rose-tinted synth-pop shine, and their follow-up – the second release in a series of three EPs – ‘Fail Better/Last Song’, takes a similarly sunny, funky approach that just can’t be ignored.

The duo’s Clash mix works its way through punchy Miami disco bliss, grooving house, glittery, glistening electro-pop and plenty in-between. Don’t feel bad if you don’t recognise many names from the tracklist – these are two crate-diggers who know their musical subject matter intimately and aren’t afraid to flaunt their knowledge – for your benefit, of course – through a series of rare and underground tracks that never stray too far from a deliciously funky trail. Here are a few succinct words from CC themselves:

“Our exclusive DJ mix kicks off with the Boogie Vice remix of our song ‘The Ritual’ and channels some of our influences and some deep house, shoulder-shaking favourites. Enjoy!”

Check it out now.

Tracklisting:
1. Coma Coast - The Mating Ritual (Boogie Vice Remix)
2. Frau Mai ft. Lovinsky – Stars (Anton Romezz Remix)
3. Glen Dale - California (Original Mix)
4. Lanvary - Rocky Rubble (Original Mix)
5. Aguizi, Fahim - No More (Original Mix)
6. RÜFÜS - Sundream (Claptone Remix)
7. Corbu - We Are Sound (Doorly Remix)
8. Studio Deep - Terminal (Original Mix)
9. Rosario Galati - Deep in My Chest (Vanilla Ace & Dharkfunkh Remix)
10. Pete Cave - Breathe (Original Mix)
11. Kruse & Nuernberg - They Don’t Know
12. Monolow feat. SeeAge - Children of the Night (Original Mix)
13. Andre Plati and Sugar Hill - Keep Me High (Original Mix)
14. Dan Caster and Bjorn Storig - That’s Right (Original Mix)
15. Abztrakte Maschine - Just Say it (Original Mix)
16. Wawa and Tune Brothers - Sing (The Veterans Remix)
17. Funkerman - Speed Up (Pete Bellis Remix)
18. Akabu Ft. Alex Mills - Everybody Wants Something (Giom Remix)
19. Florian Kruse and Kevin Knapp - The Block (Original Mix)
20. Appetizer and DK Foyer - It Gives Me (Original Mix)
21. Florian Kruse and Kevin Knapp - The Block (Original Mix)
22. Gioele Mazza - Don’t Stop, Can't Stop (Original Mix)

Words: Tristan Parker

- - -

‘Fail Better/Last Song’ is out now on Parissi La Musique Records.

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Comic movies get a kick up the butt by one of Marvel’s best yet…

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That was the week in which...

Film and stats nerds alike rejoiced at the publication of the BFI Statistical Yearbook.

The majority of stats suggested that the British film industry is generally strong, with the total number of admissions in 2013 (165.5 million) broadly similar to any other recent year and over £1 billion taken at the box office contributing to the world’s third-biggest market for filmed entertainment. It’s not all good news, however: of a total of almost 700 releases, 433 took less than £100,000 at the box office. There are more films in cinemas, but less chance of them actually getting seen by a sizeable audience.

The big hitters from the report include the news that Despicable Me 2 was the success of the year, Les Misérables the #1 UK film and Philomena the leading domestic indie film.

It’s the more spurious facts that remain pointlessly intriguing. Did you know that the once bankable war film is now the flattest commercial proposition? That just eight 18 certification films grossed more than £1 million? Or that foreign-language films (40% of all titles released) took just over 2% of the box office total? Or that a repeat of The Inbetweeners Movie was the fourth most-viewed UK indie shown on terrestrial TV?

Although any of us could’ve guessed that ITV2 showed Shaun Of The Dead 10 times over the course of the year.

If such trivia intrigues you, head HERE to discover more information than you could ever possibly find a use for. In the meantime, I’m going to marvel at the discovery that the low-profile Saving Santa was the best performing British indie in Venezuela.

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The Big Film: Guardians Of The Galaxy

Disney does family films well. But when it was announced that the entertainment juggernaut had acquired the rights to superheroes stable Marvel Entertainment, some were concerned about what it might mean for a name that’s become synonymous with a darker, edgier side of mainstream cinema.

But they need not have worried. In Guardians Of The Galaxy, Disney has created a fresh, funny and entertaining comic book adaptation that’s lighter in every way – from the tone of the screenplay and high-colour saturation through to the violence on screen. And, crucially, it works.

The story, adapted from the Marvel Cosmic comic book series, focuses on a bunch of misfit aliens who are thrown together to wrestle control of the destiny of the universe from the clutches of the nefarious Ronan.

That’s it, in a nutshell – and while the plot might be standard fare, the two things that really make this film as compelling as it is are the dialogue and performances. Director James Gunn’s bold punt with the script, incorporating self-referential jokes, flippancy and facetiousness, is what separates this movie from other Marvel offerings. 

That’s not to say that the others aren’t good – many are great. It’s just really surprising to see the brand re-invigorated with such an unlikely treatment.

Guardians Of The Galaxy is up there among the most enjoyable family films, with the charming Chris Pratt as the film’s hero Peter Quill on fine comedic form and former wrestler Dave Bautista putting in a highly agreeable turn as the metaphor-averse, muscle-bound family man Drax.

The trailer for the first film in this new franchise sadly doesn’t do it justice. With Rocket (the animated raccoon, voiced by Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel’s motion-capture tree character) looking really annoying, their importance in making the film as fun as it turns out is seriously underplayed. Advice? Ignore that and take note instead of the positive reviews. Words: Kim Taylor-Foster

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Also Out: Mood Indigo

Michel Gondry’s mischievously surreal visuals again tick with their own oddball logic with this multi-faceted concoction of love and loss. Anchored by the sweet connection established by Romain Duris (Colin) and Audrey Tatou (Chloe) as a couple in the throes of blossoming new romance, it jumps into the darkness with the revelation that Chloe is suffering from a serious illness – the otherwise outlandish water-lily-on-the-lung acting as a cushioning allegory for cancer.

Despite the bleakness of the scenario, Gondry throws every inch of creative flair at the project from start to finish, with its often retro-tech aesthetic making for one of the most visually spectacular films of the year. Not that it all works: a split-screen of summer sun and autumnal rain being an example of a quirk devolving into self-conscious craziness.

It’s so audaciously rich with trickery that the development of the characters falls into secondary consideration: their plight in the real world is clearly life changing, but in such fantastical environs it’s a precarious disequilibrium between story and style. One moment of slapstick black humour, however, provides one of the darkest belly laughs of the year.

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Back in cinemas for one day only: The Deer Hunter

The blisteringly hot interior of a Pennsylvanian steelworks sets the smoke-belching, fire-breathing tone of this dark satanic mill of a movie. Sweeping the Academy Awards in 1979, this astonishing film is perhaps at its most shocking in a Kubrick-ian jump-cut leap that shifts from the locker room camaraderie of blue-collar life into a visceral nightmare, where a band of brothers is subjected to torture by cackling captors in an unforgettable Russian roulette sequence.

Less a movie than an experience, the backstory of the Vietnam War is displaced with a festering feeling of being a stranger in a foreign land of backstreet murders and a barely understood colonial past. Thirty-five years on, this reissue restates The Deer Hunter’s position as a high watermark of the New Hollywood, a movement that ironically crashed and burned a year later with director Michael Cimino’s very next film, Heaven’s Gate.

Platoon and Born On The Fourth Of July owe its high stakes drama substantial debt, while more obtuse connections can be made in Ridley Scott’s lift of the Saigon street scenes in Blade Runner or Nicolas Winding Refn’s liberal borrowing of its surreal beauty and brutalism in Only God Forgives. Relentless. Words: Kingsley Marshall

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Shorts

Place two semi-clothed attractive leads in a mostly SFW video clip based on a hugely successful book: yep, Fifty Shades Of Grey became the most-watched trailer of the year so far.

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes spent a second weekend at the top of the UK box office. It can thank every participant from chimpan-a to chimpan-z, and well as the ludicrous posters for runner-up Hercules. Contrary to last week’s reports, Pudsey The Fecking Dog hasn’t yet been put down but is a place behind feline animation The House Of Magic – a situation that finally proves that cats are indeed better than dogs.

The teaser trailer for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 has been released and looks promising enough for me to struggle to think of anything sarcastic to say for once.  Even the Battle Royale comparisons are now old hat. Lorde will provide the film’s first single and curate the soundtrack.

She commented: “The cast and story are an inspiration for all musicians participating and, as someone with cinematic leanings, being privy to a different creative process has been a unique experience. I think the soundtrack is definitely going to surprise people.”

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Words: Ben Hopkins, except where indicated

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