Harper’s Bazaar’s Greatest Hits by Glenda Bailey for Review 31

Harper’s Bazaar first hit the shelves in 1867 and has a unique place in history as America’s first fashion magazine. It is published in more than 25 countries and 15 languages and has achieved a level of fashion publishing domination that is perhaps rivalled only by Vogue. Harper’s Bazaar UK arrived in 1929 and in the years since then has consistently sought to deliver a sophisticated perspective on fashion, popular culture and life in general. A coffee table book with a couture pedigree, Harper’s Bazaar: Greatest Hits certainly ticks the boxes of fantasy, fashion and giving it lots of face. This hardbacked publication is full of gloriously lean limbed, fresh faced beings, glossily presenting a fictional universe where a woman can scale a heap of pastel-coloured cars in six inch heels without tumbling to an undignified death.

Of course the risk with this kind of high-shine glorious technicolour offering is that even a devoted disciple of America’s longest running fashion magazine might find 320 pages of front covers and photo shoots slightly numbing, no matter how iconic the images. This book, however, has been assembled by someone who clearly knows how to put together reading material for fashion fans and understands her audience well; step forward Glenda Bailey, Editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar. Bailey has held the top job at the magazine for more than ten years now, before which she was the former captain at Marie Claire, which was a ship she herself launched. With her guidance, this book goes much further than a collection of polished copies of the magazine’s best shoots and it is the elements that have been included in addition to the stylish photography that give it distinct collectability.

Greatest Hits is well-organised, divided into years for ease of reference, each one titled and tagged with the defining moments of those 12 months. 2004, for example, is entitled ‘Electing for Elegance’ with a foreword remembering the departure of Tom Ford from Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent and the popularity of airy chiffons, silk trenches and must-have handbags. The introduction to 2008 – ‘Chic You Can Believe In’ – covers themes of the election of American President Barack Obama, ethereal gowns, Harvard sweatshirts and investment dressing; and for 2011 – ‘Stepping Into The Future’ – the introduction is full of Upstairs Downstairs style, Louis Vuitton clad chambermaids and the role of China in the global fashion economy. This is, essentially, a chronological biography of fashion between the years of Bailey’s tenure (2001 to 2011), more akin to a fashion bible, or cultural reference book, than the magazine from which it descends.

In addition to the chronological function, the book contains all the high points of Bazaar, condensed down into a fragrant fashion jus. There is a snippet of an interview with Elizabeth Taylor conducted by Kim Kardashian for the March 2011 issue, where the aged starlet proves she did indeed have the luxury of never having to say she was sorry; a charming, fictional exchange from March 2003 between Coco Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld that is illustrated by Lagerfeld himself; and Sarah Jessica Parker’s ‘Why Don’t You’ for March 2009, where she suggests one of the secrets to happiness is maintaining ‘a bucket filled with candy’. There are of course plenty of photo shoots – Agyness Deyn channelling Michael Jackson through Yves Saint Laurent, Moschino and Stella McCartney in the ‘Thriller’ shoot from September 2009; the daring of ‘Industry Pull’, which features Marc Jacobs in a tutu, winching Naomi Campbell into the air in a ballet shoe and a thong and little else; and ‘Blown Away’ from March 2008 with model of the moment Freja Beha Erichsen posed in front of a wind machine in voluminous Lanvin and Versace.

Many of the photo shoots are inventive, daring, feature celebrities as well as models, and more than fulfil the desire for fabulous frocks and feline features: Kate Hudson in Burberry Prorsum in a diner, Emma Watson in Alexander McQueen in a Hogwarts style library, Kate Winslet carelessly hanging from the side of a building 1,000 feet over New York in Ralph Lauren. Alongside these there are photo stories that are a smart, funny and entertaining – Chloe Sevigny shot in a paparazzi style by Peter Lindbergh in September 2007 traversing ‘Best Intentions’ rehab centre in couture; Ellen Degeneres being sworn in as US president in November 2004; and the Simpsons in the August 2007 issue, rocking chic Karl Lagerfeld in Paris with the help of a yellow Linda Evangelista, Marc Jacobs and Jean Paul Gaultier. All of these add a dash of humour and beauty, as well as contextualizing the fashion of the year in which they appear.

Then there are written pieces, including an article by Carrie Fisher on that courageously-shouldered Balmain jacket that defined a moment in fashion; and a short by Patti Smith on the return of the tie. Ali MacGraw writes from February 2002 of her experience as Diana Vreeland’s assistant, of the fashion legend’s lunches with Truman Capote, calls to Jackie Kennedy and demands for ‘more ostrich feathers!’ An extract from the May 2006 issue written by Rita Wilson – Tom Hanks’ wife – details her Da Vinci Code summer, spent in Paris. While her husband was occupied with filming the blockbusting movie Wilson spent her time trying to morph into a chic local – eventually resigning herself to the fact that a velvet beret alone does not a Frenchwoman make. While Harper’s Bazaar: Greatest Hits draws celebrity, politics, gossip and pop culture into its orbit, at its heart is pure fashion. The book is a fascinating overview of a decade of style, a glass against the wall to eavesdrop on couture conversations you otherwise wouldn’t get to hear, and a chance to remember iconic fashion moments from the last ten years. As Bailey herself puts it in her foreword: ‘What an adventure’.

Reviewed for Review 31 www.review31.co.uk.

Real Estate - Days

I recently heard someone describe the new Real Estate album - ‘Days’ - as 'wallpaper,' the glo-fi equivalent of a cheap beige flock from B&Q.  It’s an argument that’s often advanced against albums like this, that take more than one listen to filter in through the chaos of hangovers, deadlines and overdrafts.

Admittedly there is an element of background to Real Estate's dreamy motifs, but even so you can’t deny their effect. And this album will affect you. Like Real Estate’s other missives of hazy, languorous indie pop, it might not make you want to get on a chair and throw your hands in the air but you'll feel its warmth.  Take the track ‘Easy,’ the aural equivalent of a cashmere jumper and a mug of tea; whatever the kind of day you've had, put this on and suddenly everything feels brighter. “Round the fields we run with love for everyone,” they sing, and there it is right there, the essence of ‘Days’: hazy sunny summer recall, faded denim on lithe young limbs and smiling youthful, hopeful faces.

The ‘kids in summer’ theme is one that continues throughout the album - through the upbeat ‘It's Real’ (“I carved our names into a tree”) and into ‘Green Aisles,’ a slow, noodling track, whose gentle reprimand for a careless lifestyle isn’t really that at all – hey, you’re still young so it’s ok.  Even in ‘Wonder Years’ which seems to reek of unrequited or lost love, there’s no real bitterness: “I’m not ok but I guess I’m doing fine.”  The sepia wash of the Chillwave genre that Real Estate partially inhabits gives everything a sense of stoned contentedness that smacks of those years before you’ve had your heart broken for the first time, or realized just how much tax you’re going to have to pay.

Journey song ‘Out of Tune’ and the melodic ‘Municipality’ add their threads to the dreamy scenes of ‘Days,’ with the guitar taking centre stage, weaving its warm and fuzzy magic around the listener, in the same way as a Washed Out or Toro Y Moi album does.  Of the other tracks, ‘Kinder Blumen’ is the kind of entirely instrumental interlude that’s a bit of a risk for bands playing to an ADHD generation, but Real Estate have this jamming down to a tee – they’ve done it before with tracks like ‘Atlantic City’ and ‘Suburban Beverage’ on their self titled 2009 album - a lyric here and there but mostly endless landscapes of chords hypnotizing the listener into a state of extreme contemplativeness.

Real Estate seem quietly determined to do things their way, with genuine, handcrafted tracks that gorge on guitar. Although lyrically, this album might seem to have more in common with summer flings, you can tell from the continuity between ‘Real Estate’ and ‘Days’, as well as from the band’s other projects - Matthew Mondanile in Ducktails, Alex Bleeker in Alex Bleeker and the Freaks – how much commitment this band have to this sound.  Ok so ‘Days’ might not change your life, but at least you know that this Real Estate album won’t break your heart.

(Review for www.soundblab.com http://soundblab.com/content/content/view/id/4218)

Jessie Ware Interview for Dazed & Confused

Jessie Ware started out touring with schoolmates Jack Penate and The Maccabees, before finding underground fame providing the Jocelyn Brown-esque vocals over the SBTRKT produced 2010 club hit 'Nervous.’  Now working with everyone from Damon Dash and Sampha, to Oneman and The Invisible, the young Londoner will be putting out her next EP in April on Island Records’ new imprint PMR.

What's the Jessie Ware Sound?

Its not defined yet - but its somewhere between Chaka Khan, club music and RnB.

How did going to the same school as Jack Penate, Florence and some Maccabees influence you as a musician?

Jack and Felix are my bestest friends - they are totally inspiring.  They made me see that it was possible to go out and do music when no one else we know was doing it.  Jack gave me the chance to tour and sing to huge crowds, whilst doing it with my best mate.

You've covered some ground when it comes to careers - journalism, TV - why is singing the one?

Singing is the only one I know instinctively.  I feel the most comfortable when singing.  It lay dormant for a while as I was scared to give it a proper go and I think that's where all the other attempts at careers came from. I kept applying for a law conversion as a back up for if singing didn't work out…luckily the music keeps working out.

Apart from SBTRKT who else have you been working with?

Sampha, Oneman, Dave from The Invisible, Sam Frank, Jaz Rogers.  My label A&R also manages Jai Paul so I am hoping we are going to do something together soon too.

What's SBTRKT hiding behind the masks?

A handsome face!

Are you still close with Man Like Me?

Very.  In fact we have a date as soon as I get back from NY.  They have helped me so much with performance, as you can't hold back if you are on stage with them - you will just look like a party pooper.

2011 will see debut albums from James Blake, Katy B and Jamie Woon. What do you think of London's new musical culture?

I love it all!  It's such an exciting time for electronic music in London.  And I love that all of them can sing, beautifully.

www.myspace.com/jessiewaremusic

Twin Shadow - Forget

Twin Shadow is George Lewis Jnr “the troubled son of a hairdresser and a teacher who lived many lives.”  He was initially discovered by Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor (who also co-produced ‘Forget’) so he’s already got a pretty unshakeable pedigree. The lovely, uncomplicated debut album 'Forget' was released on 4AD on 15th November and the album’s cool, throwback style is the perfect antidote to all the musical gluttony of the end of 2010.

Style-wise, ‘Forget’ takes plenty from the 1970s/80s, although it seems influential rather than stolen in Lewis Jnr’s hands.  Some tracks like 'When We're Dancing' are very Bowie, vocals wise and in the synths, and ‘Slow’ does sound like the Smiths. But title track ‘Forget’ – and the album has a whole - has the contemporary feel of a more consistent, slightly less manic Ariel Pink (who also happens to be Twin Shadow’s labelmate) and because of this twisted, wonky popness the record never feels dated.

Although I have missed the release of this album by several months, you can catch Twin Shadow playing at the Lexington on 25th January.

www.twinshadow.net

Hype Williams - What Happens When People Stop Being Polite, and Start Getting Reel

Where to start with Hype Williams? Perhaps that they're not the US video director of the same name, although if you Google the name that's all you'll get. Or that they may, or may not, be a London-Berlin twosome, the latest incarnation of an "18-year relay project" where the musical baton is passed without ceremony from one member of the collective to the next. Maybe that they work in 'sound collages' or that much of their half-speed sound is very possibly influenced by Houston producer DJ Screw who made famous a woozy, hallucinogenic hip hop sound, heavily influenced by a serious painkiller addiction. Other than this, there's really not that much else to say - the only solid part of Hype Williams that exists in tangible form is the music.

The latest album - What Happens When People Stop Being Polite, and Start Getting Reel - is short and sweet, made up of 10 tracks that come in at about 20 minutes long in total. The album is a patchwork of samples and sounds that sometimes really works and sometimes leaves you cold. 'Blue Dream' is one of the musical highlights, a synth structured piece of laid-back chillwave with a warm but slightly gravely bass. 'The Throning's stuttering beat sounds like it should go somewhere but never does, which doesn't really matter as the vocal refix from Sade's 'The Sweetest Taboo' overlays it perfectly. Tracks like 'Jesus to a Child' and 'Rescue Dawn 3' seem to steal their samples from arcade games with beeps and lasers matched with incompressible, drugged out vocals and vintage sounding synths in simple patterns.

There are a couple of messed-up spoken word samples - 'Jesus to a Child Reprise' and 'Untitled (Andrea Lopez)' - that are not so much tracks as experiments and in a way sum up the whole album. You can give this sort of output all kinds of labels - it's pop culture sludge cut with distant disco, random ramblings and ethnic elements - but it escapes being boxed because it's all of these and, as a whole, it's none. There are no complete, properly structured songs and if that's what you're expecting it gives you little. But the fact that you can't pin it down and it doesn't really make sense - even that some of it seems a bit pointless or not very good - doesn't really matter because Hype Williams' rebellious tinkering sometimes borders on brilliant. And above all it flies the flag for outsider spirit, which is something modern music needs like an omelette needs eggs.

What Happens When People Stop Being Polite, and Start Getting Reel is released this week on De Stijl

Falty DL - A Veritable Fountain of Electronica

If you’re a bit OCD about the neatness of your musical labels, you could find Drew Lustman (aka Falty DL) a little unnerving.  In a relatively short space of time the New Yorker has released tracks that straddle an impressive range of genres.  You might identify 'Mother Beam' on his 'Bravery' EP with a dusty, bolder kind of Burial, the title play from ‘Phreqaflex’ with vintage garage and the track ‘Endeavour’ as classic house through a kaleidoscope.  What you won’t be able to do to his musical output is pigeonhole it.  Not that he’d care if you did: “It doesn’t matter, as long as people aren't being mislead.  At the end of the day, it's all music.  It's all good.  It's all justifiable."

Appropriately for someone who has such a wide horizon he can do much more than just music.  There's the often reported fact that he was a sushi chef – he carved fish for just one year, but the kitchen skills remain: “my stir fry is dangerous" - and then there's film. "I love film. I really truly do. I get lost in films as much as I do in music.”  He is pretty enthusiastic about French New Wave producer Eric Rohmer, a contemporary of Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Goddard, “his films are amazing because I don’t actually think the acting is very good, or the direction at times, but they capture conversations and relationships that we can all relate to, but mostly fantasize about.”

Can he connect the love of these films to the drive to make music?  "Those are very stylized movies, and the idea of a visual style as represents a lifestyle is an important thing. This is an inspiration for me, as an album is an attempt to maybe do something along the same lines." His appreciation of visual style is there too in the carefully selected artwork for his releases, from the vintage black and white women of ‘Love Is A Liability’, to the graphic patterns and block colour of the ‘Bravery’ EP. “My first album was a bunch of images that I really liked because they portrayed a certain period and a certain idea of beauty.  Fashion images reveal an aspect of life that no one really leads – it’s a fiction.  Those beautiful women bleed, cry and all that jazz too.”

Lustman has also made a cautious foray into videos - the bloody YouTube offering for ‘Phreqaflex’ is taken from one of the Japanese film and TV Zatoichi series starring a blind and dangerous masseur and plenty of spurting jugulars. “It fits well I think,” he says, “I’m just beginning to make preview videos for my releases.  I hope to get better at it.  The Endeavour video is footage I shot myself on the train over the Manhattan Bridge.”

Despite being a bona fide New Yorker, Lustman’s releases have so far appeared on British labels (Ramp and Planet Mu), something he sees as the result of his "making British sounding music.”  Wouldn’t he like to be releasing on home turf?  “There aren't many US labels really on it at the moment, none that I know at least.  I do love DFA Records. I talk to them sometimes.”  Over the next few months the UK will be treated to more Falty magic with two 12”s due, one on Planet Mu and the other on UK imprint Swamp81, as well as a new Planet Mu album being readied for early next year.  He's also making a trip over to the pond to DJ at the launch of Dollop this Wednesday (27th October) at Heaven.

Although it might seem a little risky for someone with a relatively new profile to be spreading themselves so thin over so many different genres, there's something exciting about such a mercurial approach. Lustman isn't desperate to gain recognition as a certain type of producer, he doesn’t seem to care about 'scenes' and he certainly has no time for journalists' labels. Such disregard for the status quo could get him a reputation as a shady revolutionary.  It could also inspire other young producers to follow his lead and create their own brand new beatmaking rules.  So, Vive La Revolution...

www.myspace.com/faltydl

Dry The River

 History Book by Dry the River


If it’s something cosy you’re after on these chilly autumn days then plug your auditory nerves into Dry The River's sepia coloured tunes.   Warm and folky, with a Grizzly Bear ring to both the instrumentals and the harmonized vocals, this is a band with a talent for that fuzzy feeling. The fivesome hail from London and have an easy comfort to their songs that is nicely offset against the wordy lyrics and some pretty impressive vocal ranges.  You can download a free three-track EP from www.myspace.com/drytherivermusic which is full of nod along tracks to keep you from taking your SAD out on your fellow commuters as the mornings get darker.  ‘Coast’ is sweet and tuneful, swinging to a brushed country-esque beat and overlaid some lovely harmonies, whilst ‘Shaker Hymns’ is structured around its clever storytelling lyrics and ‘History Book’ is a delicate acoustic guitar and weaving vocal.

The band have had well deserved attention from BBC Introducing and appear to be taking the first steps of that upward climb to basecamp on the mountain of success. Part of their expedition is the exhaustion-inducing touring schedule recently posted on their myspace that declares you can catch these easy folksters at venues around the country including The Nest in Dalston on 15th Dec.

Jamie Woon - Night Air - Ramadanman Refix

 Night Air (Ramadanman Refix) by woon

It's taken me far too long to write about this track. The crisp military tattoo of the Ramadanman drums against the enormous bass and slightly atonal synth perfectly cradles Jamie Woon's clear, soul-filled vocals. But it’s the warmth of the chorus synths in the 'Night Air Refix' that soar at the same time as that voice that is so spine tinglingly uplifting - serotonin in beat form.

Woon is smashing it in terms of recent collaborations with Burial having already provided a beautifully haunting remix of his 'Wayfaring Stranger’ and now this darkly lovely piece of sound.  Ramadanman's beats are to Woon's vocals what marmite is to peanut butter on hot buttered toast – for me that’s pretty much a perfect 10.

www.myspace.com/jamiewoon

Sissy And The Blisters

"Us going on to the X Factor would be like entering a cat in to a dog show," says Sissy and The Blisters guitarist and ivory-tinkler Nick Benton about participating in ITV's weekly circus of freaks and fantasists. This is kind of a shame because if bands like Sissy did go on the X Factor I wouldn't have to spend my Saturday nights watching Seinfeld re-runs. But whilst the likes of Joe Mcelderry put the 'talent' in 'talent show' you'll have to look further than prime time Saturday night for a real music fix like this.

If you listen to the demos on Sissy and the Blisters' myspace you will hear a proper band bashing out raucous tracks with a fresh-feeling nod to some of music’s greats. ‘Gangs of Three’ is a fast-paced canter of scratchy vocals and Doors-esque shimmy, something which appears again in ‘Mystics’ before the track becomes a mash up of thrashing guitars and shouty vocals. The band’s debut single ‘Things May Change’ is out on 1 November on Hit Club Records and has the component parts of what seems intended to become the band's signature noise - Vox Continental keyboard sound and raw, punchy vocals.  The band cite their influences as "anything from 60's pop and garage, to modern lo fi music" and their songs all have a heavy focus on melodies and unfussy, clunky rhythms - "production-wise we try to keep it sounding as sparse and raw as possible," they say.

Live, they are chaotic, exciting, unexpected and brimming with relentless energy: "the set is usually fairly short and as we don't leave any gaps between songs the performance feels like one quick burst of mayhem." You can see evidence of the same in their visuals - the video for 'The Wolf' is a grainy black and white affair with a moving camera capturing the band performing clad in leather and chanelling bands 50 years their seniors.  “The reason we use black and white in the majority of our visuals is to reflect the simplicity and basic form of our music. It fits our idea of stripping things back to absolute basics."

The band are fiercely down to earth and won't tolerate allegations that they are 'in the music business.'  They claim to have no groupies ("we're not Guns n Roses") and are keen to hold on to their 'new band mystique' by avoiding giving straight answers to pedestrian questions.  It’s only when you get them onto the subject of their music that you get a real, honest response and anything bordering on enthusiasm.  Unlike Joe Mcedlderry and his airbrushed kind, SATB just seem to want to talk about what they love to do - and what they’re good at.  And that's the music.


'The Wolf' - Sissy And The Blisters from Bennycrime on Vimeo.

Gold Panda - Snow & Taxis - Out 4th October

Gold Panda makes minutely detailed electronica that is filled with imagination. Snow & Taxis is a perfect example - a carefully constructed piece of music layered with a sleigh bell-like glockenspiel and a brief appearance by a Titanic soundtrack type vocal synth that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. The track has a muted techno beat and is breathlessly danceable, despite never really reaching any kind of a crescendo. 

Comparisons with the likes of Four Tet are easily made because of Snow & Taxis' unfussy structure and the geeky attention to detail that gives the track a real thickness and quality feel.  A slightly confusing video that’s more David Attenborough meets Blair Witch Project, than twinkling car lights and glistening snow just makes it all the more intruiging.  Snow & Taxis is the first track to be released from Gold Panda’s album - Lucky Shiner – that is due on 11th October.  If you want to hear the whole thing go to http://www.luckyshiner.com/.




Snow & Taxis by Gold Panda

Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

It has been a bad year for established bands releasing new albums. Yeasayer's Odd Blood was considered the poor second cousin to All Hour Cymbals, Arcade Fire's eagerly anticipated The Suburbs was critically acclaimed but didn't really generate the same spark as their earlier releases and MGMT's Congratulations fell flat as a steamrollered bagel. Thank the lord then for Bradford Cox and Lockett Pundt who, with Halcyon Digest, have finally silenced the 'it's just not as good as the first album' mutterings that have become deafening this year.

Halcyon Digest is smoother than the records gone before, less rocky perhaps but richer in terms of warmth and sound. The whole thing has a vintage feel and sounds like it has been filtered through a Hipstamatic lens. Which seems appropriate as the band say the record is all about snapshots of memory, specifically "the way that we write and rewrite and edit our memories to be a digest version of what we want to remember, and how that's kind of sad."

From the fairytale sinisterness of 'Don't Cry' to the Rydell-High-through-a-hash-haze vibes of 'Basement Scene', it's an album that makes you think of sepia drenched summer days and sticky teenage nights. But each memory is tinged with the knowledge that they are not as glistening as you remember them - you weren't the most popular kid in school, you did have a monobrow and your first time wasn't special. But Halcyon Digest isn't bitter.

'Helicopter' is a typical example: a harp-like synth, lovely, fuzzy sounds contrasted by some really quite sad lyrics: "could you pray for us? We know he loves you the best." 'Earthquake' starts on a Massive Attack tip and makes me think of a heat haze over tarmac, melting ice cubes in a G&T and the feeling of sweat running down the back of your neck.

'Memory Boy' and 'Revival' are catchy, the latter defined by a happy little shaker that is roughed up by a gruff, tough bassline in the chorus. It is detailed and melodic and feels like a real work of art that is composed of many intricate parts. It's a contrast to the simplicity of 'Sailing' which is flooded with watery samples which make the song sound very Alice in Wonderland, giving it a fairytale quality of sweetness and darkness.  'Desire Lines' is the halcyon track of this digest in my view with a chorus set by a wonderful flowing, mellow guitar that is completely uplifting.   'He Would Have Laughed' is another 'moment' on the record: a drum-heavy opening, vertigo-y distortion and weary sounding vocals - "in sweetness comes suffering" - take the track through to a synth-charged high, which rather touchingly has been dedicated to Jay Reatard.

Deerhunter have never really been in the habit of following in other people's footsteps so it makes sense that they would buck the 'slightly inadequate follow up album' trend. While this record is made more accessible than Microcastle or Cryptograms by employing soaring choruses and a smiley feelgoodness, it's all balanced by a sense of reality - a crunchy chord, truthful lyric or distorted vocal - like there's only one rose tinted lens in Pundt/Cox's glasses. This truthfulness has always been there in Deerhunter's music and is one of the things that makes it so individual. The fact that they're obviously not going to sacrifice it on the altar of commerciality is another reason why Halcyon Digest is going to be, for many, a front-runner for album of the year.

Halcyon Digest is released 27th September www.myspace.com/deerhunter

Interpol

As albums go, the latest offering from Interpol is a well-produced, sophisticated, glossily packaged affair. Such expensive processing and sleek wrapping might in other circumstances indicate cynically made chart fodder, but not this record. ‘Interpol’ has the dramatic, rocky air of a pack of stadium anthems without the tritely predictable ballads and sticky, implausible sentiment. The anthemic riffs and spine tingling key changes are weighed down by good old fashioned cynicism and a world-weariness that gives the record a grown up authenticity. In a fight with Justin Bieber, this record would tank up on whisky, wipe its mouth on its tattooed arm, fight dirty and take home the girl.

"Success" sets out the album's stall straight away with a rocky guitar and the heady mix of sex, self-doubt and been-there-done-that wisdom that spills from Paul Banks' voice box every time he opens his mouth. (How is this man not prime minister? Imagine the wars that would be won.) Then there’s "Memory Serves," a freshly unmade bed of a track, heavy with the night before’s suggestive scent, that travels from the nonchalant one night stand of the start of the song to full on gritty, soul baring emo as the hangover kicks in.

“Always Malaise (The Man I Am)" is possibly the best song on the record and an epic track at every stage. It grows as you listen to it, prods you in a soft bit from the opening note and keeps you on the edge of your seat. The track uses layers of instruments, from piano through to what sounds like half an orchestra, each new layer a complete surprise. In the end it's like listening to a military attack and you may as well just lie on the floor wherever you are and surrender to it, until the track drops away like a cliff, leaving you with the same sense of vertigo. It's fantastically terrifying.

After the tentative start and lyrical cleverness - "tell me you're mine. Tell me you're mine to break...the ice"- penultimate track "All of the Ways" opens out into five minutes and sixteen seconds of painful, longing vocals about lost love and betrayal. It's a slow, emotionally damaged track that moves as you would if your heart had just been broken. "Try It On" has the kind of repetitive five note keyboarding you'd want to slap a younger sibling for and sounds like it might be the dud of the record. But in an unexpected move, the track is saved by some atmospheric whistling. In fact, there really aren’t any obvious howlers on ‘Interpol’ - "Barricade” has an immorally catchy refrain, "The Undoing" is a fantastic finale full of foreboding and foreignspeak, "Summer Well" is a showcase for an explosion of outrageously lovely drumming, whilst the freebie single "Lights" is full of pseudo religious fervour - Last Supper lyrics and prayer-like vocals. Even "Safe Without," a slightly ominous track with a chorus so emotional and raw you might have to look the other way, is in the end perfectly pitched.

I expect there’s already plenty of negative backlash to ‘Interpol’, from Carlos lovers and industry trendsetters alike, but they’ll all still secretly have got hold of a copy because it’s just too good not too. Ok so Interpol are not pioneering a genre or using guitars made from gold, but this is hearty fare, made from quality ingredients – the roast beef and yorkshires of the music world. And in an industry peppered with spam and riddled with saveloys, why turn down the chance to wrap your chops around something this satisfying and substantial.

'Interpol' is released 13th September on Soft Limit

XXXY

THIS MUCH by xxxy

The first time I stumbled across the music of Manchester-based XXXY (aka Rupert Taylor), it was like finding a £20 note down the back of the sofa. For those who have yet to turn on to what he does, its like "the mutated child of house, dubstep, garage and techno," which may not sound like anything that hasn't been done before - and really it isn't - but it's one of the finest splicing of genres I've come across in a long while.

Having sprung from the loins of a city that also birthed Autechre, New Order and Oasis, the obvious question for Taylor has to be whether any of this musical heritage has seeped into his psyche. "I'm not sure if Manchester's musical heritage has influenced me that much - I'm no fan of parkas and mid haircuts. But going to nights like electric chair definitely shaped my sound." In terms of the Mancunian music scene as it currently stands, he says "Manchester can be a bit slow at getting things, dubstep took a while to take off and even when it did the more interesting nights were sparsely populated so there was a load of wobbly key nights that sprung up over a short period of time. Thankfully these appear to be dying down and the more diverse nights, such as Hoyahoya & Meandyou, are changing things up for the better."

Taylor produces on "a MacBook pro, monitors, little mixer and a couple of midi controllers powered by tea and biscuits." It’s a set up that has enabled him to bring into the world the joyful two step of ‘Ordinary Things,’ the drum driven funk of ‘Replicate’ and the excellent ‘U Always Start It’, a triumph of warm pulsing synth and old school Todd Edwards chopped up vocals. If Taylor could lure anyone to Chorlton to collaborate with him in future, he says it would be Bjork or Modeselektor, "she has the finest voice I have ever heard and modeselektor are just brilliant producers." Perhaps this wish might one day be granted, given the attention he has been generating - superclub Fabric slapped ‘Sing With Us’ on Elevator Music Volume 1 earlier this year, he's done the August mix for FACT and recently become part of Reprise booking agency family. But despite this growing spotlight beaming on him from outside Manchester's boundaries, for the moment the lure of the capital is not strong enough to dislodge Taylor from his Chorlton base: "there are times when it makes sense like when I've been down [to London] three times in a month and there are others when I feel completely happy being in Manchester. It would be very hard for me to leave Chorlton."

Garage movements of yesteryear have undoubtedly produced some horrendous, highly publicised duds, giving the genre a thoroughly bad – and mostly undeserved – reputation. But, even given the slightly questionable name, the 'future garage' movement that claims XXXY as one of its own is a far subtler, more interesting beast. Taylor appears not to be a fan of labels, seeing himself as something of a lone ranger musically, and he's clearly a believer in musical boundaries not being what they were "there are still definable genres but the lines are blurring which is brilliant, you can go out and hear so many different styles of music, which can only lead to better things." So in terms of his own listening choices, that would logically make Taylor something of a genre chameleon. Or perhaps he’s harbouring a secret mainstream Muse addiction. "I used to be quite into muse but they went a bit OTT. I listen to loads of stuff I'm big into Spiritualized and Mogwai as well as house techno garage etc". He also name checks new blood like Pariah (www.completelytwisteduk.blogspot.com/2010/06/pariah-beats) Jamie Grind, Canblaster, Polish beatmaster Zeppy Zep and the output from labels like Well Rounded, We Play House, Eglo, R2 and Horizontal Ground.

In a time flooded by clumsy, grinding, bastardised dubstep and badly produced ear-bending noise, XXXY's tunes are a breath of fresh air without lacking anything in terms of basslines, substance or imagination. You almost get the sugary hit of a pop tune from some of his music without the unsatisfying formulaic structure and overdone production. The tracks he makes are neat and stylish and completely whole so that you're rarely left wishing he'd added anything in or taken a sound away. Best of all, his music is significant but doesn’t take itself too seriously – the bouncy beats of 'This Much' are completely infectious - and his skills are varied, he's got no problem genre hopping and he does it well.

2010 for XXXY holds "more releases, more gigs. There have been suggestions of an album but I don't feel capable of writing one yet," which is a brave admission in an industry where if you can't be creative on tap you may as well sign up at the job centre. But then Taylor still has a day job so for now his only musical motivation is the love of the beats. And a desire to be "happy until my times comes." And if you don't understand that then your heart is a bagel.

Young Empires for Dazed & Confused

“We make music that makes you feel wealthy, attractive, and powerful; traits the human race has coveted since the dawn of time,” says Jake Palahnuk, the “Rhythm” section of Canadian twentysomethings, Young Empires. Matthew Vlahovich (“Hooks”) and Robert Aaron Ellingson (“Swagger”) complete the lineup, a Cut Copy/Friendly Fires/ Tanlines type outfit, making genre defiant tracks that sprawl over chillwave, pop, tropical and disco punk. They even have the audacity to feature flutes, a feat not so brazenly attempted since they heyday of Jethro Tull only successfully achieved by Yeasayer.

The band are also brand-minded, taking control of their own images, moving and still. The track “Glory of The Night” is accompanied by one of their videos, a 3-minute tale of marionette murder and destruction. According to Jake, “the song is about a metaphysical bond that exists only in dreams - the puppets represent this type of abstraction from reality. The video was made to capture the duality of the song, to visualize the two distinct yet cohesive sides of dreams and waking life. “ Okay, then.

Currently unsigned but generating plenty of interest, the Toronto band hint at a single for autumn and a possible album for 2011, “brimming with swagger, sexuality and maybe even a little angst at times.“ They certainly have no shortage of drive and Jake insists they’re in it for the long haul: “Young Empires is the most serious project we've ever taken on- it's the culmination of each of our past experiences, current desires and ever-developing philosophies. We have entered into a wonderful challenge - to compose and produce the new music for our generation.”

PVT - Church With No Magic

Australia might not be the first country to spring to mind as a hotbed of musical talent - INXS, Olivia Newton John, Rolph Harris the er…Wiggles have seen to that - but in the last few years a real volume of quality sounds have been filtering up from down under. Riding the crest of the wave of Cut Copy, The Presets, Hilltop Hoods and Empire of the Sun is a second album by another very interesting prospect: PVT.

Formerly 'Pivot' up until legal wranglings with an American band of the same name forced the switch, PVT are a family-linked three piece who made history as the first Aussies to sign to Warp. Out this week, 'Church With No Magic' is the follow up to 2008’s understated slice of intelligent electronica - 'O Soundtrack My Heart' – and is likely to be the album that catapults the band into the wider consciousness. If you like the choral-esque vocals of Grizzly Bear, the electronic wizardry if Aphex Twin and the ferocious rhythms of Yeasayer then you should make room in your life for PVT.

The album kicks off with ‘Community,’ composed of gradually building bubbled soundwaves and monastic vocals, orthodoxically powerful but saved from stepping into Enigma’s sweaty sandal chanting territory by the next track ‘Light Up Bright Fires.' LIBF is a crazy mash up of hectic sounds and the kind of drumming Animal would be proud of. The track is a veritable trifle of sound with layers of electronic stabs laid over demanding, insistent drums, ethereal female backing, finished with the male rock vocal.

‘Church With No Magic’ would be at home on Yeasayer’s Odd Blood. The huge, grizzly bass and combination of electronic and organic sound gives the track a real punch that is enhanced when the sound is picked up and flung across the room by the soaring synths and random electronic noises and vocal noises. ‘Crimson Swan’ hangs on deep, almost religious chanting and is intriguingly peppered with background noises evocative of a haunted house. The track is driven by reversed beats before a slash of electric guitar introduces a climax of dizzyingly distorted electronic sound.

‘Window’s genius is the increasingly popular tactic of using a sampled vocal used as a beat. It’s a hectic cacophony of a track that drives from angry determination to absolute certainty: 'I won't slip I won't fall, I won't fall.’ A little reminiscent of Cheryl Cole's Parachute? She wishes.

‘The Quick Mile’ travels on the warm force of a bass sound cut through with more dizzying synth, UNKLE Psyence Fiction-era drums and a signature PVT ending that could compete with Muse at Wembley. ‘Waves & Radiation’ is possibly too ambient for its own good but ‘Circle of Friends’ really showcases how strong vocals can send a track to the next level. Finally, the album finishes with the gloriously electronic ‘Timeless' and ‘Only The Wind Can Hear You’ that pitches at the sound and serious vocal range of the glorious Grizzly Bear.

The band's first album was vocal free and I can only say how glad I am that the vocals arrived on this record. They might make it slightly more accessible - something which is no doubt anathema to purists and the smuggest of critics - but with the addition of the vocals, instead of another subtly brilliant piece of electronica destined to go unnoticed by anyone whose playlist is informed solely by daytime Radio 1 this album could make a difference. Indeed, 'Church With No Magic' might make it onto the radar of JLS fans who only need to be shown what real music sounds like to step off the commercial musical offal pathway and on to something real. And this album is an example of what real music sounds like: gutsy, courageous, imperfect and pleasingly anti autotune.

Zola Jesus

Zola Jesus is the kind of name that sets your imagination running. A Christian dubstep outfit? Latin American singer with a wonky vibe? Religious chillwave? All wrong of course. It's operatic pop combined with lo-fi rock with a side of tortured Goth. Of course.

The band is female vocalist Nika Roza Danilova, a trained opera singer who has worked with a number of musicians to bring Zola Jesus to life. From an ex boyfriend - "it got weird" - to the current three-piece, a motley collection of musicians from bands with names like Wormsblood and Jex Thoth, all have input to produce respectively 2009's 'New Amsterdam', 'The Spoils', 'Tsar Bomba', 'Stridulum' and now the album 'Stridulum II', released in the UK this month.

The album follows the EP ‘Stridulum’ released earlier this year and is inspired by the 1979 cult science fiction movie 'Stridulum' by Giulio Paradisi, a slightly confusing opus that centres around the battle between good and evil. According to Danilova these extremes have filtered into every song on the album, reflecting her own personal battles as well as a tendency to gravitate towards the contrast of dark and light.

The music itself is theatrical, the opposite of the poppy R&B Nika writes with band member Nick Turco under the moniker Nika + Rory. 'Stridulum II' features the six songs from the EP version along with three unreleased, newly recorded tracks - all full of longing and dramatic sentiments, heavily produced and distinctly operatic. The drama of the Goth rock ballads is echoed in accompanying videos which are all leather and lace, ghostly shadows and supernatural happenings, all tied up by those spine tingling vocals.

Stridulum II is out 23 August and you can see Zola Jesus supporting Fever Ray in the UK in September www.myspace.com/zolajesus

Jimmy Edgar - XXX

It's with a wagon heavily loaded with 80s synths and drum pads that Jimmy Edgar rolls into town trumpeting the arrival of new album ‘XXX’. From the already digitally released 'Hot Raw Sex,' the musical equivalent of a vocoded post one night stand brag, to the Missy Elliot-esque ‘Push’ and Chromeo loving ‘Turn You Inside Out’, the album keeps its easy simplicity all the way through by not straying too far from previously proven, perfectly compatible combinations of sounds. Funky is a word I really hate to use but this release is that with a capital F. Everyone from hipsters to true fans to the spectacle that is the drunken City boy could get down to this collection of provocatively written tracks should they so wish. There’s even something there for the musos too, particularly in the detail. Admittedly, there’s the odd moment where the influence of Harold Faltermeyer and echoes of synth patterns past threaten to overly date the music but overall the record achieves the right balance of vintage and brand new. Besides, even if you hate every single narcissistic, sexually charged note of it you’ll still find it impossible to stand still when it’s on. The album is released tomorrow on !K7.

Forest Swords - Not Dogging

Whilst ‘Forest Swords’ may be the kind of name that someone with a bit of a dirty mind could read as related to some form woodland-based nakedness, it is in fact much more enjoyable and less fleeting a pleasure. It is the moniker for a Wirral based solo songsmith making “British coastal jams” who has been known to release his music on the long lost art form that is the cassette. FS has a penchant for beats that echo the environment they were created in, writing music that ambiently recreates the dramatic coastline and occasional bleakness of the northwest peninsula that is his home turf. With a nod to Burial-esque sampled denseness, FS combines dub beats, basslines and guitars both rock and acoustic, with a hefty dose of reverb, to produce an output that definitely makes him one for the radar for 2010. So far released is 'Dagger Paths' - 12" EP on Olde English Spelling Bee with the panoramic single 'Rattling Cage / Hjurt' due on 26th July on No Pain In Pop.

www.myspace.com/forestswords

Pariah Beats

Arthur Cayzer may have chosen the moniker of an outsider but he's unlikely to end up a music exile. With comparisons to J Dilla and Flying Lotus, Radio 1 airplay, remixes for the likes of The XX and a Myspace as frequented as a vuvuzela horn shop at the World Cup, there's an exciting vibe about the twenty two year old student at the moment.

His output is a Frankenstein of haunting, hanging dubbeats, meets Detroit, meets smart two-step, meets a cloud of cut up samples. It's good, very good, and rather refreshingly it avoids the clichés and pitfalls of copycat production. Cayzer is signed to the recently reinvigorated R & S Records whose current roster also includes James Blake and Delphic. The label released the Pariah tracks 'Orpheus/Detroit Falls' in March of this year, the former a melodically haunting slice of smartly formed beats and the latter big listening dubstep with original detailing and a vintage vocal. Then there's the gentle, synthed up remix Cayzer produced of 'Basic Space' by The XX, one of the biggest success stories of the last two years. Not a bad start then.

Who's Pariah and where did he come from?

I'm Arthur, I'm 22 and originally from Scotland but I moved down to London about four years ago.

What is the Pariah Sound?

I'm not really sure to be honest. I guess pretty much all my tunes have an emphasis on melody and use a lot of sampled vocals. Recently, because I've been DJ'ing a lot more, my productions have been far more percussive and geared towards the dance floor but they do still have extended melodic sections.

What's been the story so far with the tracks? [I especially love 'Don't Go' - it's gorgeous, haunting like the best of Burial] How do you start a tune and where's the inspiration?

Thanks very much! That was actually the first tune that I ever made and I never got round to finishing it properly. I'm glad you like it.

I usually start a tune by sitting in front of my keyboard and finding a good chord progression. I always have to get the melody first and I've never actually finished a tune that I started with just a rhythm.

You've been compared to Flying Lotus, Joy Orbison and Bullion. Which producers do you rate right now?

I find that very flattering and I guess some of my tunes have similarities to those artists because they certainly influence me. At the moment, I can't get enough of the Hessle and Hemlock outputs. The new Joe 12" on Hessle is ridiculous.

What kind of set up do you have?

I make my tunes on a Macbook Pro with Logic 8 Express and use Genelec 8020a monitors. I also use an Alesis Micron. It’s pretty basic.

You've been mentioned in the same breath as J Dilla and Burial - were they an influence? Who are your musical heroes?

Both those artists influence me hugely! I'm indebted to them. My musical heroes are people and bands like Brian Eno, Godspeed! You Black Emperor (and anyone/anything affiliated with them), Burial, Boards of Canada, The Smiths, and Jacob Bannon.

What's been your highlight so far? (pretty early to ask but still..)

Having my debut single come out and having my tunes played on Radio 1.

Whose the best DJ around - is it you? What's your DJ style?

Haha... definitely definitely not me. In my opinion people like Ben UFO and Oneman are the best DJ's around. I like to have as wide a range of genres as possible. I play a blend of house, techno, UK garage and general UK bass music. I like to start at 120bpm and work my way up to 140bpm.

Pint of Stella or something sweet and fruity?

I get ripped on by all my mates because I don't drink beer. I've never really liked it. Give me a glass of wine anyday!

What have you got in the pipeline for this year?

I've got a 6 track 2x12" EP called "Safehouses" which is forthcoming on R&S. After that I've got another 12" on R&S which feature a Berlin meets Detroit influenced techno tune and then a 3 track EP for Black Acre.

What sound do you think is running music at the moment?

I think that, right now, there is so much interesting music coming out across all genres and especially so with electronic music. What's great is that there is no single sound running dance music at the moment. When you go out to a night now, you hear so much music that takes its influences from so many different places that it becomes unclassifiable which is a truly great thing.

www.myspace.com/pariahbeats

Washed Out - Life of Leisure - 14th June

Washed Out's Ernest Greene produces the kind of music that makes you think of pink sunsets and lithe, tanned, sun-warmed skin. The laid-back disco beats of the Life of Leisure EP are summer in a box, lazy Ibizan days and hot Riviera nights, ice cream dripping down the cone in the heat of the sun and ice cubes slowly melting into your rum.

The tracks reek of Cafe Del Mar, with 80s pads ('Get Up') or a hefty dash of harmonic vocal thrown in ('Hold Out') for a 2010 twist. They also make use of heavy, electro sounds reminiscent of Daft Punk's slower stuff and there's even an appearance by the Top Gun synth in 'Feel It All Around'. I first reviewed this EP last year when it came out as a digital download and frankly I've been listening to it ever since.

My very favourite track is 'You'll See It', a life-enhancing blend of delicate synths, gentle nudging beats - like waves lapping at the shore (*sigh*) - and a massive wedge of uplifting, warm chords. If you take a look at the cover of the Life of Leisure EP that about sums up what you're in for with this record - idyllic sunset vibes, just far enough from the shore to be daring with a great big, warm and fuzzy dose of violet tinged nostalgia. Done.