Earlier this week the grand foyer of London’s V&A experienced its first ever grime gig and NME was there to watch it; alongside members of Blossoms, The Vaccines and Circa Waves.
With some nifty ancient sculptures as a backdrop, Skepta arrived unannounced at the launch of the museum’s ace new You Say You Want a Revolution: Records & Rebels 1966-1970 exhibition. His exclusive set - which included ‘Shutdown’ and ‘That’s Not Me’ – saw him also revealing the global Levi’s® Music Project, a new initiative that will see youth communities helped out with access to music education as well as provided with inspiration. Sounds decent, right? Skepta’s the first global ambassador for the project, with many more to be revealed. Speaking about the initiative, he commented: "I want to show the young generation that success is not something you search for externally, it is from within. Help people to understand that all your thoughts and ideas can become reality with a bit of hard work and dedication." Right on, Skepta. Skepta’s first mission is to help create a music centre for teens in Tottenham, where young people can learn all about the music industry; from recording and lighting design to production. Skepta will help mentor the students and then there’ll be a performance back at the V&A over the weekend of November 4-6. See you there. LEONIE COOPER 9TH SEPTEMBER 2016
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North London soul boy Michael Kiwanuka sings from the heart on his impressive second album.
In 2012, Michael Kiwanuka left Frank Ocean and Skrillexin his wake to win the BBC’s ‘Sound Of’ poll. But since then, the north Londoner has been somewhat less prominent than some of the poll’s other champs. WhileAdele, Ellie Goulding and Sam Smith have gone on to be bigger than the Brexit backlash, Kiwanuka has avoided becoming a household name. ‘Love & Hate’ could change all that. Four years since the pleasant Bill Withers-balladeering of his debut ‘Home Again’, Kiwanuka has brought in the production heft of Danger Mouse, as well as up-and-comer Inflo, to seriously up the ante. This is an album that’s not d**king around. Opener ‘Cold Little Heart’ is a stonking 10 minutes long – a good five minutes of heroic ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ soloing, the angelic trilling of a butter-soft choir and a sweeping string section before Kiwanuka’s astonishingly self-possessed vocal strides into the mix. “Bleeding, I’m bleeding… I can’t stand myself,” he croons, as he picks through the tatters of a relationship. It’s not just the soppy stuff that Kiwanuka confronts head on. On ‘Black Man In A White World’ he brings up questions surrounding racial identity – Kiwanuka is of Ugandan descent – over a funk-inflected Marvin Gaye throwdown. Spirituality is on the table too, with the dreamy ‘Father’s Child’ opening up about his relationship with religion over violins that bring to mind Minnie Riperton’s soul classic ‘Les Fleurs’. The iconic 1970 track is a cornerstone of the album, gracefully grounding a number of songs here, the warm shuffle of ‘Place I Belong’ included. “The confessional aspect is cathartic for me,” explains Kiwanuka about his need to splurge his feelings in the studio. “A lot of this album was grappling with the insecurities that I’d learned. The first album was grappling with faith. Here, I’m not so worried about that – I’ve accepted that it comes and goes, and now I’m left with myself.” We’ll take it. LEONIE COOPER, 13TH JULY 2016 Interpol frontman Paul Banks and Wu-Tang Clan legend RZA serve up an awkward mixture of rap and rock
The rap-rock fusion album is a hard one to get right. Examples of success in this weird little corner of music do exist - Dälek’s white-noise debut from 1998 and Death Grips’ 2011 album ‘Ex-Military’ come to mind - but generally we’re talking frat-boy angst in an Adidas tracksuit or, even worse, Kid Rock. Banks & Steelz – an unlikely collaboration between Interpol frontman Paul Banks and Wu-Tang Clan producer genius RZA – have produced something of a rap-rock Frankenstein’s monster. Debut album ‘Anything But Words’ is a lumpy, aesthetically awkward listen defined by disjointed songwriting and clashing styles. It’s hard enough pairing hip-hop with muscular rock (see Aerosmith’s ‘Walk This Way’, the original rap/rock collab), but trickier still is merging it with the wispy, touchy-feely sensibilities of American indie rock. The majority of the songs here follow the same formula, with RZA spitting gnarled verses until Banks enters with a completely incongruous chorus. Such empty grandiosity and doe-eyed introspection are very much the work of a chronic indie navel-gazer who, on 2002’s ‘NYC’, sang with utmost moody melodrama “I’m sick of spending these lonely nights, training myself not to care”. It’s tonally jarring, disruptive and ill-fitting. The two men may well be close friends outside the studio, but musically they’re like ships in the night. Their attempts to forge clattering guitar-rap from the basic components of indie rock make for weak rum, as on ’Giant’, subtly inspired by Outkast’s punkish ‘B.O.B’. The almost arrhythmic ‘Speedway Senorita’, meanwhile, is as bad a piece of instrumental rap as you’ll hear this decade. It doesn't help matters that Banks’ newfound soprano constantly brings to mind Ozzy Osbourne stinker ‘Changes’. There’s more cohesion when RZA tailors his production towards Banks’ eternal melancholy, as on the contemplative likes of the title-track and ‘Wild Season’, which works simply because everyone involved (including guest singer Florence Welch) are on the same page emotionally. Another good 'un, the mysterious ‘One By One’, sustains its smoky flow via smooth handovers. On ‘Point Of View’ – which features Method Man and Masta Killa – it’s an excellent novelty to hear RZA construct Shaolin-style productions using six strings, but as is the case throughout the album, it sounds a little like Paul Banks getting in the way of good hip-hop. The same is true of ‘Love + War’, which even Ghostface Killah’s flow can’t save. RZA recently told Rolling Stone that “Interpol's music ... it's like if RZA had been born in the rock world”, but there’s little evidence of that meeting of minds here. The New Yorkers are both masters of atmosphere, either in RZA’s reimagining of the city as a supernatural netherworld or Interpol’s vision of former mayor Rudy Giuliani's Big Apple, where the bohemian classes have been driven into its dank underbelly. Sadly though, the airy and well-lit ‘Anything But Words’ is bereft of any such mood, as if they’ve neglected to exploit that shared darkness of the soul. You feel simply using Banks’ doom-filled baritone over a host of RZA soundscapes would’ve been a better way to go. Instead, the disappointing result is a couple of arch musical stylists sounding a tiny bit naff. JOHN CALVERT, 2ND SEPTEMBER 20162 The final decision has been delivered at fabric’s hearing...
Fabric closed its doors indefinitely last month (August) while Islington Council reviews the famous London nightclub’s license after the drug-related deaths of two teenagers in the previous nine weeks. In the early hours of this morning (7th September) Islington’s Licensing Sub Committee came to a decision at fabric’s hearing, ruling that the club’s license should be revoked. DJ Magazine editor, Carl Loben, has issued the following statement, “This is a catastrophic decision, hugely short-sighted on the part of the authorities. Fabric is not just any old club — as DJ Sasha said, it is the jewel in the crown of UK nightlife. This is a huge blow for the dance music industry, and the wider entertainment sector at large. “Fabric had one of the best reputations when it comes to the safety of music fans — it was just unfortunate that these young clubbers died as a result of smuggling in strong drugs, through no fault of Fabric. Fabric's door searches have always been thorough, and as has been pointed out elsewhere — you can't even keep drugs out of prisons. “The council's licensing committee should've given Fabric a reprieve, with certain new conditions. Callously shutting down a cutting-edge UK venue, with no recourse, is frankly a scandal. There are going to be a lot of angry dance music fans all around the world right now.” If you couldn’t make it to Islington Town Hall to show your support, you can check the live blog, which ran through the evening. You can still get involved using #FabricReview on Twitter. Rob McCallum Wed, 09/07/2016 - 00:16 PETER RUBINSTEIN
SEPTEMBER 7, 2016 In a recent interview with Teen Vogue, duo The Chainsmokers opened up about the ever-present rumors of their debut album. Coming in step with their season of international success and chart-topping singles, fans far and wide have been clamoring for a complete collection of work. While the two mentioned that they feel the time may be approaching to begin sitting down for work on a full-length studio release, they told Teen Vogue that it would ultimately be up to the demand from their fan base as to its release. Now, The Chainsmokers have taken to their Twitter account to offer more words on the idea. They said, “it’s up to our fans if they want one. . . But if u all start making some noise for one.. Well.” Given their listeners’ overwhelming response to the more direct acknowledgement they’ve given as of late to the album’s potential existence, it appears that the duo may start to take the attention a bit more seriously. Check below to read The Chainsmokers’ tweets on the matter, and click here to see their full statement to Teen Vogue. |
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