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Review: Lau vs Adem – Ghosts

En Liang Khong
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Review: Lau vs Adem – Ghosts

In his recent book, the comedian Stewart Lee movingly describes the process of coming to terms with a niche audience. The same refusal to bow to the mainstream is on display in this latest recording from the Scottish folk trio Lau. Composed of guitarist Kris Drever, fiddler Aidan O’Rourke and Martin Green on accordion, the trio have garnered critical success since 2004, including three prizes at the BBC Radio Two Folk Awards. But this latest collaboration with avant-garde producer and Domino Records artist Adem employs a defiant take it or leave it approach. 

Lau have never sat comfortably within the conventional canon. Their 2007 debut Lightweights and Gentlemen was a potent brew of extended chamber music and beautifully reconstructed traditionals. Aidan O’Rourke’s solo release in the following year, An Tobar, set out a strong duality of thinking that offered up sober classicism with moments that edged into jazz. 

Ghosts forms part of a series of collaborative projects, with the first EP featuring the songwriter Karine Polwart. Lau and Adem have painted a far more expansive soundscape than ever before. I was strongly reminded of King Creosote and Jon Hopkins’ recent alliance, both artists constantly pushing each other towards a stronger sense of adventure. This is a loosening rather than an abandonment of their musical personalities.

Opening with ‘Farewell to Whisky Chess’, looped violin spiccato moves into repeated cells of extended technique as Kris Drever shades the delicate gauze with stately arpeggiation. It plays to a field-recording aesthetic, slowly shifting between instruments without losing coherence. ‘Imporsa’ unfurls a traditional landscape before blurring into electronic bursts of ringing, degrading noise. It soon steps back down from the brutal lottery of sound towards taut percussion. Cutting through the record is ‘Happy Sevens’, a nod to Lau’s traditionalism that almost seems exotic in its orthodoxy.

Lau know that they are playing to a niche crowd. Certainly there’s been a revival in British folk music, fuelled in part by an aversion to the public school set of Noah and the Whale.  Yet Lau constantly go beyond tradition, fully committed to pushing the boundaries of their sound world.

Pop go the Monkeys

Patrick E Scott
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Pop go the Monkeys

There has been a distinct air of apprehension amongst Arctic Monkeys fans surrounding the release of the band’s new album Suck It and See. These fears are, however, completely unfounded. 

There has been a distinct air of apprehension amongst Arctic Monkeys fans surrounding the release of the band’s new album Suck It and See. These fears are, however, completely unfounded. Far from being a reproduction of the band’s last and least successful album, Humbug, Suck It and See yet again sees the band’s sound progress, this time towards more classically structured pop songs (complete with major keys and shalalas). There are two distinct sounds on the album. Songs like ‘Suck It and See’ and ‘Reckless Serenade’ build upon Alex Turner’s recent soundtrack EP Submarine and could easily be played acoustically whereas songs like ‘All My Own Stunts’ and ‘The Hellcat Spangled Shalala’ are unabashed, festival thrilling rock anthems.  
Turner’s lyrics are, as usual, superb and he seems to have cultivated a crooning technique silky enough to bypass a super-injunction. This is not to say, by any means, that all echoes of Humbug have been purged. Tracks like ‘Brick by Brick’ and ‘Library Pictures’ feature some typically psychedelic guitar riffs and their sound remains far heavier than that of their first two albums.  Suck It and See is however a far happier sounding album than their previous two efforts and goes some way to recapturing the spirit of their ‘voice-of-a-generation’ debut Whatever People Say I am That’s What I’m Not. As Turner entreats us on ‘All My Own Stunts’ it is time, once again, to ‘get on your dancing shoes’. 

 

Far from being a reproduction of the band’s last and least successful album, Humbug, Suck It and See yet again sees the band’s sound progress, this time towards more classically structured pop songs (complete with major keys and shalalas). 

There are two distinct sounds on the album. Songs like ‘Suck It and See’ and ‘Reckless Serenade’ build up Alex Turner’s recent soundtrack EP Submarine and could easily be played acoustically whereas songs like ‘All My Own Stunts’ and ‘The Hellcat Spangled Shalala’ are unabashed, festival thrilling rock anthems.  

Turner’s lyrics are, as usual, superb and he seems to have cultivated a crooning technique silky enough to bypass a super-injunction. This is not to say, by any means, that all echoes of Humbug have been purged. Tracks like ‘Brick by Brick’ and ‘Library Pictures’ feature some typically psychedelic guitar riffs and their sound remains far heavier than that of their first two albums.  

Suck It and See is however a far happier sounding album than their previous two efforts and goes some way to recapturing the spirit of their ‘voice-of-a-generation’ debut Whatever People Say I am That’s What I’m Not. As Turner entreats us on ‘All My Own Stunts’ it is time, once again, to ‘get on your dancing shoes’.                                                                         

 

A new braid for shoegaze?

Remi Graves
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A new braid for shoegaze?

This Canadian dream pop four-piece started out as contestants in their high school Battle of the Bands – and lost. They thankfully recovered from the disappointment and a few years on the band have changed their name, claiming that ‘The Neighbourhood Council was too high school’ and that ‘Braids’ coincides better with the ‘more collective writing process’ they adopted once they’d moved to Montreal. Their current name seems totally fitting for a band whose debut album, Native Speaker, is essentially forty minutes of intertwining synths and guitars. 

The Canadian dream pop four-piece started out as contestants in their high school Battle of the Bands – and lost. They thankfully recovered from the disappointment and a few years on the band have changed their name, claiming that ‘The Neighbourhood Council was too high school’ and that ‘Braids’ coincides better with the ‘more collective writing process’ they adopted once they’d moved to Montreal. Their current name seems totally fitting for a band whose debut album, Native Speaker, is essentially forty minutes of intertwining synths and guitars. At times it’s difficult to distinguish between songs and although this creates a vivid soundscape, it doesn’t always translate well on stage and there’s a sense that a few audience members are lost in the sea of sound Braids create. Nonetheless, Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s voice is a force to be reckoned with. One wonders how she reaches such intensity without having had any kind of training. We can only hope that her plan to ‘get vocal lessons’ will not undermine the organic tone that lends so much to Braids’ idiosyncrasy.
Although Native Speaker only came out this January, the songs have been around for three years and the band seem to be tiring of their material. ‘Aaahh i just want to write some new stuff!’ says Raph in a theatrical shout. They are currently in the midst of writing their new album, but the real work will begin once they finish the last leg of the tour. Having played major cities such as Berlin, Brussels and Paris amongst others, they’ve noticed a difference in attitude between European fans and American ones. After a moment of skirting around it, Katie (synth player) comes out with her thesis, ‘American audiences have a shorter attention span’, and is soon backed up by Raph’s opinion that ‘we play a more sophisticated set here in Europe, people are more attentive and there’s less chit chat’. Although their set at the Jericho was widely met with appreciative whoops in between songs and silences during them, some people simply couldn’t contain their excitement. A stray audience member took it upon herself to join Braids on stage and offer us her rendition of ‘Glass Deer’! An unexpected event to say the least, as Braids’ music doesn’t really invite crowd participation, it was refreshing to witness the calm attitude with which Raph greeted her stage visitor, as she kept strumming the guitar and intermittently let the woman sing into the mike – God wishes she hadn’t. True, it’s not quite Odd Future on the Jimmy Fallon show, but still pretty riveting stuff.
Oddly enough the infamous Tyler, The Creator crept up in conversation as Katie discussed his similarity to Dr Dre in his minimalist approach to hip hop. Although they had little else to say about Tyler’s music it transpired that after attending a Braids gig in LA with pals Toro y Moi, Tyler subtly commented on Raph’s appearance: ‘That girl’s really hot, I like her pants’. Braids’ eclecticism ranges from their fan base to their musical taste. Stating Mount Kimbie, Yuck and the more obscure Long, Long, Long as current favourites, its obvious they appreciate ‘music that’s a big wash where you have to pick out what’s been played instead of more straightforward things’.
The new album is somewhere deep in the pipeline and will be coming from a totally different direction. Katie stresses the importance of the computer on their new record as it will allow them to use sounds that they can’t necessarily play themselves. ‘Limitless’ is a word that recurs in their description of their upcoming songs, and although I suggested it as a potential title for the next album, I somehow doubt it’ll be spread across their next album cover. We’ll just have to wait and see.

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At times it’s difficult to distinguish between songs and although this creates a vivid soundscape, it doesn’t always translate well on stage and there’s a sense that a few audience members are lost in the sea of sound Braids create. Nonetheless, Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s voice is a force to be reckoned with. One wonders how she reaches such intensity without having had any kind of training. We can only hope that her plan to ‘get vocal lessons’ will not undermine the organic tone that lends so much to Braids’ idiosyncrasy.

Although Native Speaker only came out this January, the songs have been around for three years and the band seem to be tiring of their material. ‘Aaahh i just want to write some new stuff!’ says Raph in a theatrical shout. 

They are currently in the midst of writing the new album, but the real work will begin once they finish the last leg of the tour. Having played major cities such as Berlin, Brussels and Paris, they’ve noticed a difference in attitude between European fans and American ones. After a moment of skirting around it, Katie (synth player) comes out with her thesis, ‘American audiences have a shorter attention span’, and is soon backed up by Raph’s opinion that ‘we play a more sophisticated set here in Europe, people are more attentive and there’s less chit chat’. 

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Although their set at the Jericho is widely met with appreciative whoops in between songs and silences during them, some people simply can’t contain their excitement. A stray audience member takes it upon herself to join Braids on stage and offer us her rendition of ‘Glass Deer’! An unexpected event to say the least, as Braids’ music doesn’t really invite crowd participation, it is refreshing to witness the calm attitude with which Raph greets her stage visitor, as she keeps strumming the guitar and intermittently lets the woman sing into the mike – God wishes she hadn’t. True, it’s not quite Odd Future on the Jimmy Fallon show, but still pretty riveting stuff.

Oddly enough the infamous Tyler, The Creator crept up in conversation as Katie discussed his similarity to Dr Dre in his minimalist approach to hip hop. Although they had little else to say about Tyler’s music it transpired that after attending a Braids gig in LA with pals Toro y Moi, Tyler subtly commented on Raph’s appearance: ‘That girl’s really hot, I like her pants’. Braids’ eclecticism ranges from their fan base to their musical taste. Stating Mount Kimbie, Yuck and the more obscure Long, Long, Long as current favourites, its obvious they appreciate ‘music that’s a big wash where you have to pick out what’s been played instead of more straightforward things’.

The new album is somewhere deep in the pipeline and will be coming from a totally different direction. Katie stresses the importance of the computer on their new record as it allows them to use sounds that they can’t physically play. ‘Limitless’ crops up several times in Katie and Raph’s explanation of their current creative process, let’s hope their success is worthy of the same adjective.

Bod launches apps

Imogen Beecroft
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Bod launches apps

This summer, The Bodleian Libraries will launch the first in their series of apps for Apple and Android mobile devices.

The apps will ‘highlight items from the Bodleian’s world-famous collections as part of the Libraries’ aim to share their manuscripts, books, maps and periodicals with a worldwide audience’.

The first app will be centred on The Bodleian’s summer exhibition ‘Manifold Greatness: Oxford and the Making of the King James Bible’, which will run from 22 April – 4 September 2011.

The exhibition ‘tells the story of the most frequently printed book in English language, the King James Bible…[and] looks at the events and conditions that led to and shaped this translation enterprise.’

Bodleian spokesperson Sarah Henderson said, ‘Apps offer another format for sharing content and we think it is complementary to our existing publishing programme. This exhibition app will be paid-for with the intention that, similar to the books we publish, it will generate funds to support exhibitions and other outreach opportunities.

‘We hope it will appeal to anyone who is interested in the subject or in visiting the exhibition. This is very much a trial project but we hope it will be the first in a series of Bodleian apps.’

The Bodleian Libraries emailed all students this week asking them to take part in a survey about naming the app. The choices given are ‘Mobile Bodleian’, ‘Bod Mobile’, ‘Bodleian Gallery’ or ‘Bodleian Apps’. There is also a suggestion box for students to add their own ideas. Henderson said they ‘have been very pleased with the interest in the project’.

iPhone user and Masters student Alix Huk said, ‘it seems like a great way for The Bodleian to move into the 21st Century and open itself up to a whole new audience’, but also added, ‘I’d definitely download it if it was free but I’d think twice about paying for it’.

First year Human Scientist Fi Johnston commented, ‘it’s probably not for me, but I can imagine that a lot of people visiting Oxford would want to use it’.


Let the trashings begin

Alice Kinder And Amelia Kaufman
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Let the trashings begin

As the first batch of finalists finished their exams on Tuesday, University officials renewed efforts to regulate Oxford’s tradition of ‘trashing’.

As the first batch of finalists finished their exams on Tuesday,
University officials renewed efforts to regulate Oxford’s tradition
of ‘trashing’.
When the finalists emerged, they were cheered by many
students lined up with banners, balloons, confetti, and champagne.
One student told a reporter, “Our theme for the trashing
of my friend was Royal Cream Tea. We trashed him with
Cava, scotch eggs, whipped cream, jam and scones.”
Another undergraduate said, “people hide their things on
side streets and drag friends down there to trash them. Last
year my friend was pulled down a side street and tied to a tree
and had things like old milk and liver thrown at her.”
In an email sent out by the Proctors to all students, it was
said that, “safety and public order are our core concerns. We
therefore need your help in keeping people safe, and stamping
out the abuse of all foodstuffs. No flour, no eggs, no beans,
ketchup, let alone rotting food or worse. Rotting food, vomit,
broken glass and other items causing litter are simply not
what any of us wants to see. They are a disgrace and potentially
dangerous. The Proctors will not hesitate to take disciplinary
action against those who break them.” Proctors and security
at the scene were collecting bags full of confiscated trashing
products before students even came out.
However, many described Tuesday’s trashings as tame, believing
that they would get worse as the exam season went on.
Guidance on the Oxford University web site says that anyone
who breaks the trashings code could be fined a minimum of
£80 By the University, the City, or the Police. The Proctors or
their officers can also give students a fine on the spot.

When the finalists emerged, they were cheered by many students lined up with banners, balloons, confetti, and champagne.

One student told a reporter, “Our theme for the trashingof my friend was Royal Cream Tea. We trashed him with Cava, scotch eggs, whipped cream, jam and scones.”

Another undergraduate said, “people hide their things onside streets and drag friends down there to trash them. Last year my friend was pulled down a side street and tied to a tree and had things like old milk and liver thrown at her.”

In an email sent out by the Proctors to all students, it was said that, “safety and public order are our core concerns. We therefore need your help in keeping people safe, and stamping out the abuse of all foodstuffs.

‘No flour, no eggs, no beans, ketchup, let alone rotting food or worse. Rotting food, vomit, broken glass and other items causing litter are simply not what any of us wants to see. They are a disgrace and potentially dangerous. The Proctors will not hesitate to take disciplinary action against those who break them.”

Proctors and security at the scene were collecting bags full of confiscated trashing products before students even came out. However, many described Tuesday’s trashings as tame, believing that they would get worse as the exam season went on.

Guidance on the Oxford University web site says that anyonewho breaks the trashings code could be fined a minimum of £80 By the University, the City, or the Police. The Proctors or their officers can also give students a fine on the spot.


There’s more to life than karaoke

Jack Harris
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There’s more to life than karaoke

China, despite the censorship and the huge pressure of maketisation, has for the past twenty years been stumbling towards the status of a cultural power. Chinese films are well received at festivals, and some even enjoy commercial success, while Chinese art now sells for stratospheric prices. Even some of the country’s authors, such as Su Tong and Yu Hua, to name two, are widely available in the West, if only when sold as ‘voices of conscience’, rarely an adequate description (Western marketing of Chinese ‘dissident’ literature is a topic for another day, though).

One artistic sphere in which the Chinese have soundly failed to spread beyond their own borders is music. This isn’t without some reason – syrupy, melancholy ballads make up more or less the entirety of the music played on the radio, television and sung in karaoke, which counts for a pretty substantial slice of musical consumption as a whole, especially given how huge an institution karaoke is (I am sitting, as I write this, within five minutes of at least six different such establishments).

This isn’t an elitist rant about the (in)ability of the Chinese to write a decent song – in any case, there is a sizeable crop of Chinese bands plying relatively original sounds (well represented on edge.neocha.com, if you’re interested), in genres ranging from folk to electronica. Instead, what is interesting is the vast gulf between the identikit pop ballads produced by mainstream labels and the more niche bands. What China completely lacks is the ‘mainstream alternative’ bracket – popular bands that are not pop, which tend to spread abroad most effectively.

Much of this can be put down to a hostile music market. Only a tiny minority of music is ever paid for, generally bought on pirate discs, or downloaded for free off Baidu, the state-backed equivalent of Google. Under such conditions, bands struggle to make an income, and companies would be mad to invest any large sum in promoting any one of them. Even well known stars rely heavily on televised shows and promotions to make a living. The money is tied up not so much in appealing to a large number of individuals as in collectively appealing to a large audience, so sticking to the familiar is the only safe bet. Latent official paranoia plays its part in keeping creativity off the airwaves as well – it was only twenty years ago that rock was designated a ‘spiritual pollutant’.

Tough a business as music is in China, something else is at work. Music does just not seem to play the same social role among young people that it does in the West. Dress, lifestyle, and above all friendships are fairly closely intimately linked to musical tastes among Occidental youths. I’m not suggesting that, as a rule, people are friends because they like the same music, or that people force themselves to listen to a particular brand of music to fit in socially, although neither is particularly implausible. Even so, for many people, for a part of their lives, music takes centre stage in social interaction in a way that no other art form does – leaving the realm of pop and whatever your parents play is almost as a coming-of-age rite.

The same isn’t true in China – even at relatively ‘niche’ festivals or gigs, it’s impossible to pick out a coherent scene. Sure, Chinese who listen to original music tend to dress more originally, but the fans of any one genre are more or less interchangeable with any other. The vast majority, though, seem completely oblivious to the idea of a link between music and social identity. This is probably because most Western music of the past fifty years was introduced to China within the space of a barely two decades, arriving as a chaotic mix of curiosities rather than discrete genres with almost historical significance. The reactions and influences that make up the relationship between new and old music never made it here, only the finished product. The overload of genres deprives each individual one of some of its significance, so that none define or dominate a particular era.

Music’s lack of social significance is something of a double edged sword. People seem to tend towards a passive appreciation of whatever music is available, feeling little drive to define their own preferences. Original bands struggle to develop a strong, lasting following, and rarely claim to speak for a particular group or generation. At the same time, the fact that listening to a band never implies investing yourself in a genre allows for a refreshing open-mindedness. Unmuddied by questions of coolness, music is enjoyed with a measure unselfconscious exuberance rare in the West, and the idea of being embarrassed about preferring shamelessly shallow pop to something more subtle is rarely entertained.

Such exuberance extends beyond karaoke as well – it is far from uncommon to encounter passers-by just singing to themselves, on the street, on the bus, even in lifts. Not just murmuring a melody to themselves either, but full-throated singing, from more saccharine ballads, to age-old, somewhat atonal folk tunes. Age is no boundary here – I have seen teenagers, office workers, and the elderly all sing with the same mix of passion and dreamy detachment, as if they neither know nor care whether anyone might be listening.

Even politicians feel no embarrassment –  Bo Xilai, the mayor of Chongqing, a metropolis in south China, recently ordered all official staff, schools, and universities in the city to participate in daily renditions of revolutionary hymns, supposedly to improve the city’s character, though more likely to reaffirm his credentials as a die-hard nationalist in the run up to next year’s changes to the Politburo. There was even a video floating around on the Internet of Hu Jintao, while President of the largest country in the world, serenading a group of fellow officials after dinner with a rendition of a Russian folk song.

Yet that completely unselfconscious love of the pleasure of music, perversely, leaves little incentive to stray from the straightforward satisfaction of the mainstream. Again, this is not to say that alternative music is popular purely because it is alternative, but rather that a latent, self-conscious disdain for the mainstream is what pushes many to search for new sounds, and that link between music and social identity, though generally confined to one’s teenage years, leaves imprinted on us the feeling that music is something important, not just an idle pleasure.

Whether this attitude towards music is peculiar to China is an open question, as is whether a patchwork of scenes will ever emerge out of such an environment. For now though, I am tempted to believe that social centrality of music in the West is unique, not a natural consequence of growth in the amount of music available. Enjoying music in China is a pure pleasure, and though that fact may leave China’s more creative artists without much of a future, most people seem to be having too much fun to care.

The Agony and the Ecstasy XI

Aleks Klosok
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The Agony and the Ecstasy XI

They are perhaps the most eagerly anticipated set of matches in the English Domestic Football season for their unpredictability and the financial sums at stake and this season’s Npower Football League Playoff Finals didn’t disappoint. Stevenage continued their remarkable meteoric rise from the Non-League with a second consecutive promotion in the same number of years with promotion to Npower Football League One, Peterborough United won a third promotion in four years, returning back to the Npower Championship whilst Swansea City became the first Welsh team to reach the promised land of the Barclays Premier League.

 

Goalkeeper: Paul Jones (Peterborough United)

Despite enduring a nervy start, most notably fluffing a few goal kicks and clearances, Jones grew in confidence as the game went on. He was instrumental in keeping his team in the early stages of the game, producing a string of fine saves to deny the likes of Huddersfield Town midfielders Gary Roberts and Danny Ward. His fingertip save to turn Ward’s magnificent run and powerful strike onto the bar was the stand out moment.

 

Right Back: Kevin Nicholson (Torquay United)

Despite ending up on the losing team, Nicholson made a real impression at right back for The Gulls. Whilst he found himself defending for periods of the game, he produced a number of incisive long balls for Torquay striker Chris Zebrowski to latch on to. Indeed, his long balls over the top of the Stevenage defence provided one of the main threats for goalkeeper Chris Day. His delivery on the day from corners was good.

 

Centre Back: Mark Roberts (Stevenage)

The Stevenage captain was quite simply magnificent in central defence, protecting goalkeeper Chris Day and constantly sniffing out dangerous long balls from the Torquay United midfielders. He produced a series of committed, last-ditch tackles which maintained Stevenage’s slender lead over their rivals. His leadership skills were obvious to see on the field as he rallied his troops to dig in deep as Torquay United produced a second half display full of attacking spirit and skill.

 

Centre Back: Garry Monk (Swansea City)

He’s been at the Liberty Stadium through thick and thin and Captain Monk led by example in a tospy turvy Npower Championship Playoff Final. He dealt adequately with Reading striker Shane Long and alongside fellow central defender Alan Tate kept things tight at the back. Indeed, the pair conceded just 11 goals in their 23 home league fixtures which formed a crucial part in The Swans boasting the best home form in the Npower Championship.

 

Left Back: Angel Rangel (Swansea City)

Like the rest of his defensive line, namely fellow Centre Backs, Monk and Vice-Captain Alan Tate, plus Right Back, Ashley Williams, Rangel has been an ever-present for The Swans this season. He proved his capability at the back, keeping a close eye on Reading right winger Jimmy Kebe, whilst also demonstrating his attacking prowess. He got up in support of left winger Scott Sinclair providing a few long balls which caused the Reading defence problems.

 

Right Winger: Steven Dobbie (Swansea City)

Not quite Lionel Messi-esque but Dobbie was a constant threat down the right wing for Swansea City, tormenting the Reading defence. He demonstrated a quick turn of pace and an ability to take on the opposition defenders, in particular, cruelly exposing Reading Left-Back Ian Harte’s lack of pace. He created a number of chances for the lone Swansea City striker Fabio Borini whilst also chipping in with a goal of his own, Swansea City’s third.

 

Central Midfield: Grant McCann (Peterborough United)

Posh’s midfield maestro and Captain produced a midfield master class and was instrumental in seeing Darren Ferguson’s team return to the Npower Championship. He grafted in midfield and it was his whipped ball from a free kick which allowed Tommy Rowe to head home Posh’s first goal. And the Northern Irishman McCann topped off a great display by rasping in a beautiful free-kick into the top corner of the Huddersfield Town net past goalkeeper Ian Bennett.

 

Central Midfield: Danny Ward (Huddersfield Town)

McCann’s midfield compatriot Ward was impressive for The Terriers in both attack and defence. He was, alongside Anthony Kay, responsible for making a number of crucial last-ditch tackles in the first half. He was allowed a greater degree of freedom in the second half as his team attempted to relieve the pressure being put on them. He made a number of darting runs, in particular drawing a fantastic save from Posh goalkeeper Paul Jones.

 

Left Winger: Scott Sinclair (Swansea City)

The buy of the season. He may be Swansea City’s first £1,000,000 player but he is showing that he is worth every penny. His mazy runs down the left-wing, his sudden change of pace and quick thinking kept the Reading defence on their toes all day long. He became the first player since Charlton Athletic’s Clive Mendonca against Sunderland in 1998 to score a hat trick in the Championship Playoff final. One to watch next season.

 

Striker: Darius Charles (Stevenage)

What a remarkable turned around for Charles. Relegated last season from the Blue Square Bet Premier League with Ebsfleet United, the central defender turned makeshift striker put in a man-of-the-match performance in the Npower Football League Two Playoff Final. He was the perfect target man, successfully managing to hold up the ball for his midfielders to run on. A lack of composure in front of goal cost him from scoring the goal he thoroughly deserved.

 

Striker: Craig Mackail-Smith (Peterborough United)

One of the brightest talents in Npower Football League One this season, the striker was a constant threat for Peterborough United, keeping Huddersfield Town defenders Anthony Kay and Peter Clarke busy throughout the game, scoring Posh’s second goal. He was the top goalscorer in Npower Football League One this season and made his international debut for Scotland this year against Brazil. Expect plenty of suitors to be circling around Peterborough United’s hottest property this summer.

 

Manager: Brendan Rodgers (Swansea City)

 

A very tough decision as all three managers deserve enormous credit but Rodgers just pips Westley and Ferguson. Having endured a torrid spell at Reading he’s rebuilt his reputation at the Liberty City stadium. His attacking free-flowing football philosophy has gained Swansea City many admirers this season. He’s bought extremely wisely and followed in the footsteps of former manager John Toshack – the last man to guide the club to the promised land back in 1983.

 

 

And that’s that for the 2010-2011 English Domestic Football season. Here’s a full rundown of all the teams promoted and relegated from within the Npower Football Leagues:

 

Npower Championship

Champions: Queens Park Rangers

Automatic Runners-Up: Norwich City

Play-Off Winners: Swansea City

Relegated: Preston North End, Sheffield United and Scunthorpe United

 

 

Npower Football League One

Champions: Brighton & Hove Albion

Automatic Runners-Up: Southampton

Play-Off Winners: Peterborough United

Relegated: Dagenham and Redbridge, Bristol Rovers, Plymouth Argyle and Swindon Town

 

 

Npower Football League Two

Champions: Chesterfield

Automatic Runners-Up: Bury and Wycombe Wanderers

Play-Off Winners: Stevenage

Relegated: Lincoln City and Stockport County

Cherworld Trinity Week 5

Beth Mckernan
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Cherworld Trinity Week 5

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Exploring the Emerald Isle

Beth Cradick
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Exploring the Emerald Isle

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To Gil Scott-Heron

Remi Graves
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To Gil Scott-Heron

The sudden death of the godfather of rap Gil Scott-Heron means that this week’s post will be dedicated to paying tribute to his timeless music. Before I get on to dissecting some of his best tracks I think it’s important to highlight the magnitude of his impact on rap, hip hop and, dare I say it, modern music in general. By no means am I equipped to document his life and work with the knowledge or respect it deserves, but suffice to say that his politicised words and poignant poetry paved the way for hip hop as we know it and shone a desperately needed light on the state of race relations in 1970s America. This article says it better than I ever could.

Time to take a look at the tracks this legend left behind. First up is ‘The Bottle’, arguably one of Gil’s most famous records and the first single release from his collaborative album with Brian Jackson, Winter in America. Gil tells the tragic tale of a society afflicted by alcoholism, letting his striking voice lie above the track’s funk-jazz feel. The flute on this is pretty captivating stuff and I dare you not to get down to the tight bass line. If you’re having trouble feeling it, just pretend it’s 1974 (this is an arbitrary date but I’m guessing it was a pretty groovy year).

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A song I only recently discovered – yes shame on me – is ‘Not Needed’ from his 1980 album Real Eyes and the bass line is tight enough to restrict blood flow to your brain. A tip, remember to breathe after hearing the flawless intro, no one would blame you for forgetting to do so; slap base has been known to cause pretty insane reactions. The intermittent harmonica on this track will transport you to a different time and place entirely, and it hints at the melancholic lyrical content of the song. Gil’s ability to sing about life’s strifes – in this case being made redundant – whilst maintaing a solid groove is part of what made him so great.

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A slightly less obscure choice – let’s face it not many people listened to Real Eyes – is ‘Home is Where the Hatred Is’ a track sampled by Kanye West on ‘On My Way Home’. If like me you heard Kanye’s version before hearing the original, then jump on it: the shuffle drum beat is enough to make a grown man cry. The reverb amplifies the poignancy of Scott-Heron’s words, ‘home is where the needle marks’, and adds a haunting layer to the  song. The fact that Mr West used the chorus for his own track is testament to the timeless nature of Gil’s music.

Moving from timelessness to timeliness, listen to Gil Scott Heron’s ‘The Revolution Will not Be Televised’ which is one of his most famous offerings and has essentially seen him add a whole new expression to the English language. First appearing on his 1970 album Small Talk on 125th and Lenox this poem documents the hypocrisy of consumerist culture and the harsh truth of ghetto life. Accompanied by nothing more than a few bongos, this poem still has the ability to get the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end.

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Lastly, because looking backwards can be a little depressing sometimes, I’d like to leave you with ‘Running’ from his latest collaborative album We’re New Here which sees Jamie xx remix Gil’s songs from his first album (made up of original songs) in 16 years, I’m New Here. The original track is effective enough and sees Gil return to his poignant and heart stopping poetry, but Jamie’s Remix gives it a sharper edge which I challenge anyone to dislike. The gritty beat and infectious chorus ‘r-r-r-r-run away’ brings Gil’s music really and truly into the 21st century, not that he needs a sampled beat to make his music relevant. Let’s hope that Gil will be pumping out of people’s stereos for years to come.

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