In Memoriam: DJ Rashad
On the 26th of April, DJ Rashad was found dead in his apartment on the West Side of Chicago from a blood clot. He was only 35 years old. His contribution to the Chicago house scene over the last decade has been great, comparable only to the impact of Frankie Knuckles in the 1980s.
Knuckles, who died in March, was known as the ‘Godfather of House’. Rashad was his successor, Godfather of the Juke House/Footwork scene, which spread from the small projects of the Windy City to clubs worldwide.‘Double Cup’, his critically acclaimed 2013 LP, was the culmination of years of work.
Check out Cherwell’s introduction to Juke House to find out more about the fascinating and challenging genre Rashad helped to define. Expect sparsely syncopated drums, eerily pitch-shifted vocal samples and crackling distortion. Rashad’s fingerprints are all over every juddering beat.
I Don’t Give a Fuck
The fractious energy of ‘I Don’t Give a Fuck’ is typical of Juke House. Each beat is overtaken by the next almost before it has registered on your eardrums. Yet it also has the frail beauty which set Rashad’s best production work apart from his more aggressively percussive contemporaries. The arrhythmic beeps sound like they are emitting from a haunted electrocardiogram machine.
Broken Heart (feat. DJ Spinn)
Footwork is a genre defined by collaboration, and Rashad was at the centre of a network of innovative house producers and DJs. His friends and fellow DJs have been expressing their shock all over the internet. Spinn’s tweet on the subject was perhaps the most fitting: “Detroit I need y’all to come out tonight!!! @djtayeteklife we can’t do nothing but go hard tonight for our brother @DJRASHAD #teklifeforever”. The scene, already reeling from the death of Knuckles, will remember Rashad not through mourning but through dancing to the music he loved.
I’m Gone
In light of the DJ’s death, the sample lyrics (“I left three days ago/but no-one seems to know I’m gone- gone- gone”) reverberate through the track with a grimly percussive urgency. These vocals are remixed from a Gil Scott-Heron track, also excellent.
Let It Go
‘Let It Go’ is the most melodic Rashad gets, yet it still retains the bleakness of his most abrasive work. The drums clatter with unusual clarity as synthesised strings pulse below the surface. This release, from his 2013 Rollin EP, gives some indication of the direction Rashad might have travelled in had he survived the blood clot: the beat is tighter and lighter and shorn of the oppressiveness of his earlier production work.
Ghost
‘Ghost’ represented Rashad’s oeuvre in Cherwell’s introduction to juke house. It boasts fragmentary bursts of piano amidst stuttering samples. At times, it achieves a fragile beauty, as the female voice seems to escape the endless recursions of the 808. By the end of the track, though, the piano and the glimmering female sample are survived by the juddering male voice endlessly repeating “Ghost. Ghost. Ghost.” It’s as if putting a name to the spectres that hover around the bassline make them cease to exist.
OUSU holds husting of City Council candidates
Candidates husted for forty minutes, before the start of OUSU Council, on Wednesday night. The hustings took place in Magdalen College’s auditorium. A motion to arrange the hustings was approved unanimously at 7th Week OUSU Council of Hilary term.
Each party had one candidate to represent them in the husting, with the candidates present all contesting wards containing at least one Oxford college. Candidates representing the Conservatives, the Greens, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Monster Raving Loony Party were all present. Issues discussed included the Oxford Covered Market, immigration and whether the candidates would commit to tackling violence against women.
Elections for the City Council are taking place on Thursday 22nd May 2014 from 7am-10pm (4th Week of Trinity term), with half of the city’s 48 councillors up for re-election across 24 City Council wards.The majority of students live in the Carfax and Holywell wards, which encompass the entire city centre from the Magdalen Bridge until St Giles divides.
Dan Tomlinson, OUSU Vice-President for Charities and Community, who organised the hustings commented, “With half of Oxford City’s Councillors up for election, OUSU Council decided it would be a good idea to hold hustings to find out more about the local issues and the candidates running.”
“There were heated discussions on some local policy areas including the management of the Oxford Covered Market, decision making on the County Council’s homelessness cuts and the City Council’s current policies affecting student housing in Oxford.”
“Students have more power when they vote, and even registering to vote can make politicians more likely to take our concerns into account. We have until May 6th to register, students can visit the electoral commission website for more information”
Union take back decision to cover President’s legal fees
Following an open extraordinary Standing Committee Meeting held at 16.30 this afternoon, the Committee voted to withdraw a controversial motion passed on Monday, which agreed to cover £1,000 + VAT legal expenses for the Oxford Union President, Ben Sullivan.
The original decision to cover the President’s legal fees was passed by a Vacation Standing Committee meeting last month, following an article published by the Oxford Tab which contained allegations which Ben Sullivan considerered “demonstrably false”. This decision was then ratified at the committee meeting held this Monday, where the motion was passed in camera by a vote of nine against two.
Today’s decision to overturn the motion covering the President’s legal expenses followed the presentation of a Special Adjournment Motion — signed by 39 members — calling for the issue to be discussed openly in the Union chamber on Thursday evening.
The meeting, which was overseen by the Senior librarian, Senior Treasurer and the Union Bursar, was also attended by members of the student press as well as prominent Oxford Union members, among them last term’s President Polina Ivanova, former Returning Officer Joshua Atkinson and President-elect Mayank Banerjee.
At the meeting, Ben Sullivan admitted to members that he had “made a mistake” by allowing the motion to pass on Monday. Speaking to Cherwell he said, “the Standing Committee made the decision to withdraw the expenses claim this afternoon in response to opposition from a number of Union members. We stand by the fact that, in principle, covering these expenses is something the Union should be able to do, but the standing committee is always happy to listen to members’ concerns”.
Today’s decision to withdraw Monday’s motion was passed with only three votes against, in a heated meeting held in the President’s office. The original motion to cover the President’s legal expenses was passed by a margin of nine votes to two.
The Special Adjournment Motion was proposed under Rule 45h of the Union’s Rule book, which claims that “Any decision by any Committee … may be reversed by the House by means of a Special Adjournment Motion, signed by at least 30 Members, notice of which must be given to the President in writing at least 50 hours before the time of moving.”
However, some members expressed concerns at the meeting that the Standing Committee are not entitled under the Rules to withdraw the original motion before it has been openly discussed by the house.
According to the Rules, “Any decision by any Committee which is challenged by means of an Adjournment Motion under this Rule of which notice is given within 24 hours (excluding Sundays) of such publication shall be suspended from operation until such time as the Motion has been discussed by the House. No Member may withdraw a Special Adjournment Motion moved under this section after notice has been given.” (Emphasis ours)
Speaking after the meeting, an anonymous member of the Union claimed that “Ben Sullivan effectively abused his office and used his position of power to interpret Rule 45h in his favour. He packed out the Standing Committee meeting with people on his slate and former allies in order to break the rule and reject the motion that was backed by over 30 Oxford Union members.
“The Union at the moment is not a healthy working environment, with committee members being targeted for their moral principles”
This criticism was challenged at the meeting by the President and members of the Standing Committee, who claimed that once the original expenses claim was withdrawn, the Special Adjournment Motion did not need to be discussed by the House. However, they stressed that any member is free to open a public discussion by following the appropriate procedures.
La Dolce Vita
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Debate: Should Moyes have been sacked?
A History of Hollywood’s Most Iconic Dynamic Duos
John McDonagh and Brendan Gleeson’s latest joint effort, the bleak black comedy Calvary, has led some people to label their partnership a soon-to-be classic of cinema. Based on the strength of this recent release and their previous film, The Guard, their work together certainly could be one of the great collaborations of the silver screen. Inspired by this, Cherwell decided to look back at the partnerships that have been most interesting and influential in the course of film history:
John Ford and John Wayne (1939 – 1976):
Working together for over 24 years and 21 films, the two Johns produced some of the most genre-defining cowboy Westerns from the 1940’s through to the 1960’s. Whether in Rio Grande, Fort Apache or Stagecoach, the film that launched Wayne’s career as an all-American idol, their partnership was one of the longest lasting in Hollywood. Despite a rocky start, as Ford constantly undermined and bullied Wayne on the set of Stagecoach to illicit real emotions in his acting, their work only went from strength to strength from there. Well, Stagecoach clearly wasn’t that bad a start given Orson Welles said he watched it 40 times in preparation for making his cinematic debut, a little production called Citizen Kane.
Francis Ford Coppola and Marlon Brando (1972 – 1979):
It goes without saying that Brando’s turn as Vito Corleone in Coppola’s director-debut The Godfather is one of the most iconic, and instantly recognisable, portrayals in cinematic history. But this relationship was more interesting for its difficulties than its successes. Shortly after Brando famously declined the Oscar he won for his role in The Godfather, he also declined to star as a young Vito in another edition of the franchise despite receiving numerous handwritten letters by Coppola begging him to return. But that is nothing compared to the troubles Coppola had with him when making Apocalypse Now. Not only did Brando turn up enormously overweight, despite being cast to play the skeletally thin Kurtz, but he had refused to delay his arrival to allow the sets to be rebuilt after a typhoon, had not read the original book and was demanding drastic rewrites to the ending of the film. And he refused to be on set at the same time as his anarchic co-star Dennis Hopper. All this, whilst being on a one million dollar a week contract. Clearly a challenging relationship, but one that produced two of the most seminal performances of the last century.
Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese (First film together – Mean Streets, 1973):
Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, Goodfellas. Do we need to say anymore? The 1970’s were the decade for the collaborations of Scorsese and De Niro, the point at which both of them were catapulted to the forefront of Hollywood’s respect and praise. A shared interest in the pernicious side of male nature can be seen throughout their eight combined works, and demonstrates a kind of joint mindset that few actor-director partnerships can claim to rival. Although Leonardo Di Caprio seems like Scorsese’s muse of the moment, his work with De Niro will always be the most exemplary.
Harvey Weinstein and the Entirety of Hollywood (1979 – Present):
Harvey Weinstein, co-founder of production company Miramax and Hollywood’s executive producer to go to, is perhaps the most influential man in cinema today. Next to no one else has the money, the connections or the reputation as Harvey – hence what he says go. His talent for aggressively editing films down to their most easily marketable form is legendary, like his refusal to release Gangs of New York until Scorsese cut an entire hour from the running time. Equally, Weinstein has a taste for Oscar-winning fare, having produced The English Patient, Chicago, The King’s Speech and The Artist, all Best Picture winners. To put this influence into numbers, over the last twenty years, seven Oscar winners thanked God in their acceptance speech; thirty thanked Harvey Weinstein.
Phillip K. Dick and Science-Fiction Cinema (First film adaptation – Bladerunner, 1982):
Few authors have had as many of their works translated into films, even fewer into as many successful films, both critically and financially, as Phillip K. Dick. A gift to science fiction fans and directors alike, eleven of Dick’s works have been adapted for cinema. From the niche, like A Scanner Darkly or Screamers, to the legendary, Total Recall, Bladerunner or Minority Report, Dick’s works have consistently produced the most prescient and influential science fiction films of all time. And the popularity of his work shows no sign of abating, as Disney is set to release an adaptation of his The King of the Elves in 2016, the film rights for his novel Ubik were recently sold, and Ridley Scott is rumoured to be in talks to create a BBC miniseries based on one of Dick’s works. Sadly he never lived to see any of his works brought to the big screen, but Dick’s works will forever be some of the most fertile source materials for any science fiction director.
Christopher Nolan and Wally Pfister (2000 – Present):
The most current partnership on this list, the partnership of Nolan and Pfister has created the visual aesthetic that has defined Hollywood for the last decade. Working together for seven films, Pfister’s work with Nolan has been nominated for four, and won one, Academy Award. It was Pfister’s prodigious talent as Director of Photography that visualised Nolan’s conception of Gotham, with his slick, meticulous, precise, almost sterile, style brilliantly depicting a city that was hostile, inhospitable and in need of a hero. Pfister is also a great example of humble beginnings, as despite his current success and popularity, he spent much of his career in cinematography shooting straight-to-video erotic thrillers – talk about reversal of fortune. Although parodied by many, few can match the gorgeous and arresting visual style that Pfister’s eye and Nolan’s writing can reach.
Univ 2015 Ball Cancelled
The University College Ball, which was set to take place in 2015, has been cancelled because of renovations taking place in the college next year.
In an email sent out to students from the JCR, it was explained that after, “a meeting with the college today, it has been decided that due to exceptional circumstances surrounding the Goodhart Building renovation next year, we will be unable to host a college ball in 2015.”
It was decided that the ball will be postponed until Trinity term of 2016, but there are hopes other events will be put in its place. In the email, students were told that “a smaller event would provide creative opportunities for anyone interested in organising a college wide social event.”
JCR president, Abigail Reeves, told Cherwell, “College decided to reject our proposal to hold a college Ball on the basis that renovations on the main site would cause a number of logistical problems. As a result the Ball has been postponed to 2016.
“There is a feeling of disappointment amongst the student body, but we are attempting to reach a compromise with college to organise a smaller college event in the Trinity term of 2015.”
There is some dismay amongst the students. One third year Univ student said, “This is just the latest in a long line of censorious decisions made by an overbearing college administration with limited recourse to practical concerns or student’s opinions.
“The buildings in question weren’t used at all for last year’s ball but the college are both as risk averse and fundamentally deluded as John Locke’s man of glass.”
On the other hand, Delia Lockey, a classics student who had applied to be on the Ball committee, said, “I had applied to be Ball Secretary and, whilst I was very excited about the possibility of being on the committee, and hopeful that the problems surrounding the renovations could have been deemed surmountable, it was made clear from the beginning that the building work would pose a serious threat to the future of the ball.
“As a result, this news is sad but utterly fair and expected; I hope that I can get involved with another, smaller college event in Trinity of 2015, perhaps. In the meantime there are lots of ball committees which are not connected to colleges, such as the Guild Ball, and I would encourage anyone whose college has had to cancel a ball to join such a committee.”
The college was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.
1st Week in Fashion
‘Coming Soon To a Woman Near You’
The Most Newsworthy in Fashion and Trends
Designer Boycott – Several big name designers such as Peter Som and Brian Atwood have requested that others not stay at the Dorchester Collection hotels, branches of which are around the world. Their owner, the Sultan of Brunei, has just implemented new anti-gay laws in his country (April 22).
Proenza Schouler + MAC – arguably one of the biggest new fashion houses of the past century, Proenza Schouler, and one of the biggest brands in makeup, MAC, collaborate in a new range to be released exclusively in Selfridges this week. Both the packaging and the shades are mean to represent the aesthetic and concept of the brand’s ‘modern woman’.
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Bringing Up Baby – no other Royal visit to Australasia would kick up nearly as much fuss as that of the debut state tip of Prince George. Everything from his backpack to his outfits have been scrutinized, perhaps even more so than that of his iconic mother, Kate. Subjecting models to criticism is one thing – but does Prince George really need this for the rest of his life?
The Three Blondes –looking for proof that no two women need have the same style? Look no further than the super-stylish red carpet looks of Kate Upton, Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann at the premieres of their new film The Other Woman, which have been occurring around the world. Have a sneak peak below:
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High Class Robbery – Following the London robbery of a Chanel store a few days ago, Dior’s flagship Paris store has also been robbed, with almost €100,000 worth of designer goods stolen. The Céline boutique was quickly hit after, with €70,000 worth of goods taken after staff were threatened with guns. The police have yet to release a public statement.
