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The Cinematic Orchestra were playing on the laptop. With the rain petering down outside, erectile the tarmac awash with its newfound uninhabitable river, viagra I opened the enormous wooden door and peered outside. I didn’t want to go and rush away with the stream of no return. I wanted to stay here, treat with him. His jeans were baggy and beautiful, his carpet pulled at the soles of my tights. I left. To Build A Home faded.
Man With A Movie Camera Illustration by Matilde Sazio
Walking back along the slippery treadmill of road I made no effort to shelter from the swiping blankets of droplets. My brow furrowed and my eyes looked up as I stood at the top of the hill and looked at the sea from left to right, my heart taking my breath away. Unquestionably gluttonous for punishment I fell into my room and To Build A Home was alive again. I was confused. I was in love.
Dawn by The Cinematic Orchestra is on and i’m walking to the beach, with a cider and baguette in my backpack. It’s a beautiful sunny day and the strings mix with the birds as I feel my eyes glint in the harmony of the simplicity of now. Of this love sitting against the wall.
The Royal Albert Hall Illustration by Karina Yarv
I’m at The Royal Albert Hall, Breathe by The Cinematic Orchestra is playing live. The London Metropolitan Orchestra are stationed and moving with fierce precision. The circle envelops me, I look and he smiles. I peer the miles down from our sectioned box and I see Heidi Vogel is about to unleash and pour her voice over the hall again. She does it slowly and blends with the instruments before together they gallop and circulate the grand hall, swirling us up in a haze of stunning sound.
Heidi Vogel, Illustration by Matilde Sazio
The Cinematic Orchestra in their live form are impressive and encapsulating. Like tablets of emotion, they use their prowess to orchestrate and leave impressions upon the many. They were formed in 1999 by Jason Swinscoe. A Ninja Tune employee, he arrived in South London from Scotland, via Yorkshire and Cardiff. With a love of jazz bass players, rhythm sections and film soundtracks he worked on The Cinematic Orchestra in his own time. After getting together a group of jazz players, he delivered the debut album, ‘Motion’, on the Ninja Tune. It was considered the perfect soundtrack to the dangerous bar, the femme fatale, the hero and the dead, with throbbing riffs, repeated loops and instrumental phrases. It’s music on tenterhooks, awaiting the next explosion of this, that and everything.
The Cinematic Orchestra tracks certainly sound as though they have been lifted from a gorgeous, very visual film, yet of course these films do not exist. That is, they didn’t until their first film soundtrack came along in the shape of ‘Man With A Movie Camera’. In 1999. Swinscoe was asked by the organisers of the Porto European City of Culture 2000 if the band wanted to score a silent movie to open the celebrations. The film was Dziga Vertov’s ‘Man With A Movie Camera’, a 1929 early documentary cinema film from the Soviet Union, focusing on the daily life of an average worker. The work made the band think about unwrapping musical narratives slowly, combing sounds and textures. Influencing ‘Every Day’, the ‘Man With A Movie Camera’ album was released in 2003, on Ninja Tune. ‘Every Day’ was The Cinematic Orchestra’s second album, released again on Ninja Tune. With ten minute tunes, like ‘All Things to All Men’, they experimented with softly, softly orchestra mixed with moody deep notes. Swinscoe worked with bass player, Phil France on this album and enlisted the talents of Roots Manuva and modern Jazz legend, Luke Flowers.
‘Ma Fleur’ on Ninja Tune, is the band’s latest album, released in 2007, and features To Build A Home, as well as Breathe and Child Song. It feels very refined and yet sporadic in its waterfall outbursts of music. Adding to their film credentials, The Cinematic Orchestra also recorded the soundtrack to the Disneynature film The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos in 2008. They also released; Live At The Royal Albert Hall in 2008, on Ninja Tune, after their last performance at the prestigious Hall.
Listening to their music in such a venue can only be described as very special. It is one of those ‘nothing and yet everything matters right now’ moments. You are right there with every note, engulfed in a hall, reverberating in the clarity the sounds produce. It is difficult not to be moved by the rising and falling emotions, the burst of the strings, the flowing piano. The serene and yet momentous feeling. So what an earth can it be like to actually be on that stage, and play at The Royal Albert Hall, so steeped in grandeur, beauty and respect? I asked Heidi Vogel some questions about this after her incredible performance.
What was it like performing at The Royal Albert Hall last night?
It was a night I will never forget. Performing at the Albert Hall, on that beautiful stage, and in such a beautiful space, looking out to a sea of people filling the entire hall to its fullest capacity, is an experience unlike anything else.
What was the best moment for you?
Standing at the side of the stage waiting to come onto the stage for my first vocal of the evening, which was on ‘Burn Out’. I was so excited to come onto the stage and join in with the Orchestra, to be part of the music that was being made. I was standing there, all ready and the Orchestra had come in for the beginning of Ivo’s piano solo. It was such a moving moment in the music, and I felt my hairs standing up hearing it being played like that with The London Metropolitan Orchestra. It was really something so special.
How does the RAH compare to other venues around the world? Where in the world have you loved performing?
Well RAH can’t be compared to anywhere in the world, it is so completely special and unique. I have played on many wonderful stages that I loved, and RAH is unique among them all. We have played in Sete in France in the open air Roman Amphitheatre on the sea, and lovely outdoor stages such as in Toronto Harbourfront, or Milan Jazz Festival, The Big Chill, Fuji Rock, and many beautiful theatres, festivals and countries that we loved.
This night was Ninja Tune’s 20th birthday, Ninja Tune XX. They celebrated with the band that produces real and imaginary film soundtracks, formed in the minds of people whose lives they have run beside. Without an actual film, the music lends itself to whatever narrative you bestow upon it. To me obviously, this has allowed me to wallow in my own sadness and skip in ecstasy (ha!) But to see The Cinematic Orchestra live was to feel the elation of an evening comprising of a huge range of talented musicians, performing beautifully. It was a night to rejoice in the achievement of humans producing descriptive and emotive sound that mirrors and acknowledges life in all its forms and idiosyncrasies.
The Cinematic Orchestra were playing on the laptop. With the rain petering down outside, physician the tarmac awash with its newfound uninhabitable river, I opened the enormous wooden door and peered outside. I didn’t want to go and rush away with the stream of no return. I wanted to stay here, with him. His jeans were baggy and beautiful, his carpet pulled at the soles of my tights. I left. To Build A Home faded.
Man With A Movie Camera Illustration by Matilde Sazio
Walking back along the slippery treadmill of road I made no effort to shelter from the swiping blankets of droplets. My brow furrowed and my eyes looked up as I stood at the top of the hill and looked at the sea from left to right, my heart taking my breath away. Unquestionably gluttonous for punishment I fell into my room and To Build A Home was alive again. I was confused. I was in love.
Dawn by The Cinematic Orchestra is on and i’m walking to the beach, with a cider and baguette in my backpack. It’s a beautiful sunny day and the strings mix with the birds as I feel my eyes glint in the harmony of the simplicity of now. Of this love sitting against the wall.
The Royal Albert Hall Illustration by Karina Yarv
I’m at The Royal Albert Hall, Breathe by The Cinematic Orchestra is playing live. The London Metropolitan Orchestra are stationed and moving with fierce precision. The circle envelops me, I look and he smiles. I peer the miles down from our sectioned box and I see Heidi Vogel is about to unleash and pour her voice over the hall again. She does it slowly and blends with the instruments before together they gallop and circulate the grand hall, swirling us up in a haze of stunning sound.
Heidi Vogel, Illustration by Matilde Sazio
The Cinematic Orchestra in their live form are impressive and encapsulating. Like tablets of emotion, they use their prowess to orchestrate and leave impressions upon the many. They were formed in 1999 by Jason Swinscoe. A Ninja Tune employee, he arrived in South London from Scotland, via Yorkshire and Cardiff. With a love of jazz bass players, rhythm sections and film soundtracks he worked on The Cinematic Orchestra in his own time. After getting together a group of jazz players, he delivered the debut album, ‘Motion’, on the Ninja Tune. It was considered the perfect soundtrack to the dangerous bar, the femme fatale, the hero and the dead, with throbbing riffs, repeated loops and instrumental phrases. It’s music on tenterhooks, awaiting the next explosion of this, that and everything.
The Cinematic Orchestra tracks certainly sound as though they have been lifted from a gorgeous, very visual film, yet of course these films do not exist. That is, they didn’t until their first film soundtrack came along in the shape of ‘Man With A Movie Camera’. In 1999. Swinscoe was asked by the organisers of the Porto European City of Culture 2000 if the band wanted to score a silent movie to open the celebrations. The film was Dziga Vertov’s ‘Man With A Movie Camera’, a 1929 early documentary cinema film from the Soviet Union, focusing on the daily life of an average worker. The work made the band think about unwrapping musical narratives slowly, combing sounds and textures. Influencing ‘Every Day’, the ‘Man With A Movie Camera’ album was released in 2003, on Ninja Tune. ‘Every Day’ was The Cinematic Orchestra’s second album, released again on Ninja Tune. With ten minute tunes, like ‘All Things to All Men’, they experimented with softly, softly orchestra mixed with moody deep notes. Swinscoe worked with bass player, Phil France on this album and enlisted the talents of Roots Manuva and modern Jazz legend, Luke Flowers.
‘Ma Fleur’ on Ninja Tune, is the band’s latest album, released in 2007, and features To Build A Home, as well as Breathe and Child Song. It feels very refined and yet sporadic in its waterfall outbursts of music. Adding to their film credentials, The Cinematic Orchestra also recorded the soundtrack to the Disneynature film The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos in 2008. They also released; Live At The Royal Albert Hall in 2008, on Ninja Tune, after their last performance at the prestigious Hall.
Listening to their music in such a venue can only be described as very special. It is one of those ‘nothing and yet everything matters right now’ moments. You are right there with every note, engulfed in a hall, reverberating in the clarity the sounds produce. It is difficult not to be moved by the rising and falling emotions, the burst of the strings, the flowing piano. The serene and yet momentous feeling. So what an earth can it be like to actually be on that stage, and play at The Royal Albert Hall, so steeped in grandeur, beauty and respect? I asked Heidi Vogel some questions about this after her incredible performance.
What was it like performing at The Royal Albert Hall last night?
It was a night I will never forget. Performing at the Albert Hall, on that beautiful stage, and in such a beautiful space, looking out to a sea of people filling the entire hall to its fullest capacity, is an experience unlike anything else.
What was the best moment for you?
Standing at the side of the stage waiting to come onto the stage for my first vocal of the evening, which was on ‘Burn Out’. I was so excited to come onto the stage and join in with the Orchestra, to be part of the music that was being made. I was standing there, all ready and the Orchestra had come in for the beginning of Ivo’s piano solo. It was such a moving moment in the music, and I felt my hairs standing up hearing it being played like that with The London Metropolitan Orchestra. It was really something so special.
How does the RAH compare to other venues around the world? Where in the world have you loved performing?
Well RAH can’t be compared to anywhere in the world, it is so completely special and unique. I have played on many wonderful stages that I loved, and RAH is unique among them all. We have played in Sete in France in the open air Roman Amphitheatre on the sea, and lovely outdoor stages such as in Toronto Harbourfront, or Milan Jazz Festival, The Big Chill, Fuji Rock, and many beautiful theatres, festivals and countries that we loved.
This night was Ninja Tune’s 20th birthday, Ninja Tune XX. They celebrated with the band that produces real and imaginary film soundtracks, formed in the minds of people whose lives they have run beside. Without an actual film, the music lends itself to whatever narrative you bestow upon it. To me obviously, this has allowed me to wallow in my own sadness and skip in ecstasy (ha!) But to see The Cinematic Orchestra live was to feel the elation of an evening comprising of a huge range of talented musicians, performing beautifully. It was a night to rejoice in the achievement of humans producing descriptive and emotive sound that mirrors and acknowledges life in all its forms and idiosyncrasies.
The Cinematic Orchestra were playing on the laptop. With the rain petering down outside, approved the tarmac awash with its newfound uninhabitable river, I opened the enormous wooden door and peered outside. I didn’t want to go and rush away with the stream of no return. I wanted to stay here, with him. His jeans were baggy and beautiful, his carpet pulled at the soles of my tights. I left. To Build A Home faded.
Man With A Movie Camera Illustration by Matilde Sazio
Walking back along the slippery treadmill of road I made no effort to shelter from the swiping blankets of droplets. My brow furrowed and my eyes looked up as I stood at the top of the hill and looked at the sea from left to right, my heart taking my breath away. Unquestionably gluttonous for punishment I fell into my room and To Build A Home was alive again. I was confused. I was in love.
Dawn by The Cinematic Orchestra is on and i’m walking to the beach, with a cider and baguette in my backpack. It’s a beautiful sunny day and the strings mix with the birds as I feel my eyes glint in the harmony of the simplicity of now. Of this love sitting against the wall.
The Royal Albert Hall Illustration by Karina Yarv
I’m at The Royal Albert Hall, Breathe by The Cinematic Orchestra is playing live. The London Metropolitan Orchestra are stationed and moving with fierce precision. The circle envelops me, I look and he smiles. I peer the miles down from our sectioned box and I see Heidi Vogel is about to unleash and pour her voice over the hall again. She does it slowly and blends with the instruments before together they gallop and circulate the grand hall, swirling us up in a haze of stunning sound.
Heidi Vogel, Illustration by Matilde Sazio
The Cinematic Orchestra in their live form are impressive and encapsulating. Like tablets of emotion, they use their prowess to orchestrate and leave impressions upon the many. They were formed in 1999 by Jason Swinscoe. A Ninja Tune employee, he arrived in South London from Scotland, via Yorkshire and Cardiff. With a love of jazz bass players, rhythm sections and film soundtracks he worked on The Cinematic Orchestra in his own time. After getting together a group of jazz players, he delivered the debut album, ‘Motion’, on the Ninja Tune. It was considered the perfect soundtrack to the dangerous bar, the femme fatale, the hero and the dead, with throbbing riffs, repeated loops and instrumental phrases. It’s music on tenterhooks, awaiting the next explosion of this, that and everything.
The Cinematic Orchestra tracks certainly sound as though they have been lifted from a gorgeous, very visual film, yet of course these films do not exist. That is, they didn’t until their first film soundtrack came along in the shape of ‘Man With A Movie Camera’. In 1999. Swinscoe was asked by the organisers of the Porto European City of Culture 2000 if the band wanted to score a silent movie to open the celebrations. The film was Dziga Vertov’s ‘Man With A Movie Camera’, a 1929 early documentary cinema film from the Soviet Union, focusing on the daily life of an average worker. The work made the band think about unwrapping musical narratives slowly, combing sounds and textures. Influencing ‘Every Day’, the ‘Man With A Movie Camera’ album was released in 2003, on Ninja Tune. ‘Every Day’ was The Cinematic Orchestra’s second album, released again on Ninja Tune. With ten minute tunes, like ‘All Things to All Men’, they experimented with softly, softly orchestra mixed with moody deep notes. Swinscoe worked with bass player, Phil France on this album and enlisted the talents of Roots Manuva and modern Jazz legend, Luke Flowers.
‘Ma Fleur’ on Ninja Tune, is the band’s latest album, released in 2007, and features To Build A Home, as well as Breathe and Child Song. It feels very refined and yet sporadic in its waterfall outbursts of music. Adding to their film credentials, The Cinematic Orchestra also recorded the soundtrack to the Disneynature film The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos in 2008. They also released; Live At The Royal Albert Hall in 2008, on Ninja Tune, after their last performance at the prestigious Hall.
Listening to their music in such a venue can only be described as very special. It is one of those ‘nothing and yet everything matters right now’ moments. You are right there with every note, engulfed in a hall, reverberating in the clarity the sounds produce. It is difficult not to be moved by the rising and falling emotions, the burst of the strings, the flowing piano. The serene and yet momentous feeling. So what an earth can it be like to actually be on that stage, and play at The Royal Albert Hall, so steeped in grandeur, beauty and respect? I asked Heidi Vogel some questions about this after her incredible performance.
What was it like performing at The Royal Albert Hall last night?
It was a night I will never forget. Performing at the Albert Hall, on that beautiful stage, and in such a beautiful space, looking out to a sea of people filling the entire hall to its fullest capacity, is an experience unlike anything else.
What was the best moment for you?
Standing at the side of the stage waiting to come onto the stage for my first vocal of the evening, which was on ‘Burn Out’. I was so excited to come onto the stage and join in with the Orchestra, to be part of the music that was being made. I was standing there, all ready and the Orchestra had come in for the beginning of Ivo’s piano solo. It was such a moving moment in the music, and I felt my hairs standing up hearing it being played like that with The London Metropolitan Orchestra. It was really something so special.
How does the RAH compare to other venues around the world? Where in the world have you loved performing?
Well RAH can’t be compared to anywhere in the world, it is so completely special and unique. I have played on many wonderful stages that I loved, and RAH is unique among them all. We have played in Sete in France in the open air Roman Amphitheatre on the sea, and lovely outdoor stages such as in Toronto Harbourfront, or Milan Jazz Festival, The Big Chill, Fuji Rock, and many beautiful theatres, festivals and countries that we loved.
This night was Ninja Tune’s 20th birthday, Ninja Tune XX. They celebrated with the band that produces real and imaginary film soundtracks, formed in the minds of people whose lives they have run beside. Without an actual film, the music lends itself to whatever narrative you bestow upon it. To me obviously, this has allowed me to wallow in my own sadness and skip in ecstasy (ha!) But to see The Cinematic Orchestra live was to feel the elation of an evening comprising of a huge range of talented musicians, performing beautifully. It was a night to rejoice in the achievement of humans producing descriptive and emotive sound that mirrors and acknowledges life in all its forms and idiosyncrasies.
The Cinematic Orchestra were playing on the laptop. With the rain petering down outside, help the tarmac awash with its newfound uninhabitable river, cialis 40mg I opened the enormous wooden door and peered outside. I didn’t want to go and rush away with the stream of no return. I wanted to stay here, pilule with him. His jeans were baggy and beautiful, his carpet pulled at the soles of my tights. I left. To Build A Home faded.
Man With A Movie Camera Illustration by Matilde Sazio
Walking back along the slippery treadmill of road I made no effort to shelter from the swiping blankets of droplets. My brow furrowed and my eyes looked up as I stood at the top of the hill and looked at the sea from left to right, my heart taking my breath away. Unquestionably gluttonous for punishment I fell into my room and To Build A Home was alive again. I was confused. I was in love.
Dawn by The Cinematic Orchestra is on and i’m walking to the beach, with a cider and baguette in my backpack. It’s a beautiful sunny day and the strings mix with the birds as I feel my eyes glint in the harmony of the simplicity of now. Of this love sitting against the wall.
The Royal Albert Hall Illustration by Karina Yarv
I’m at The Royal Albert Hall, Breathe by The Cinematic Orchestra is playing live. The London Metropolitan Orchestra are stationed and moving with fierce precision. The circle envelops me, I look and he smiles. I peer the miles down from our sectioned box and I see Heidi Vogel is about to unleash and pour her voice over the hall again. She does it slowly and blends with the instruments before together they gallop and circulate the grand hall, swirling us up in a haze of stunning sound.
Heidi Vogel, Illustration by Matilde Sazio
The Cinematic Orchestra in their live form are impressive and encapsulating. Like tablets of emotion, they use their prowess to orchestrate and leave impressions upon the many. They were formed in 1999 by Jason Swinscoe. A Ninja Tune employee, he arrived in South London from Scotland, via Yorkshire and Cardiff. With a love of jazz bass players, rhythm sections and film soundtracks he worked on The Cinematic Orchestra in his own time. After getting together a group of jazz players, he delivered the debut album, ‘Motion’, on the Ninja Tune. It was considered the perfect soundtrack to the dangerous bar, the femme fatale, the hero and the dead, with throbbing riffs, repeated loops and instrumental phrases. It’s music on tenterhooks, awaiting the next explosion of this, that and everything.
The Cinematic Orchestra tracks certainly sound as though they have been lifted from a gorgeous, very visual film, yet of course these films do not exist. That is, they didn’t until their first film soundtrack came along in the shape of ‘Man With A Movie Camera’. In 1999. Swinscoe was asked by the organisers of the Porto European City of Culture 2000 if the band wanted to score a silent movie to open the celebrations. The film was Dziga Vertov’s ‘Man With A Movie Camera’, a 1929 early documentary cinema film from the Soviet Union, focusing on the daily life of an average worker. The work made the band think about unwrapping musical narratives slowly, combing sounds and textures. Influencing ‘Every Day’, the ‘Man With A Movie Camera’ album was released in 2003, on Ninja Tune. ‘Every Day’ was The Cinematic Orchestra’s second album, released again on Ninja Tune. With ten minute tunes, like ‘All Things to All Men’, they experimented with softly, softly orchestra mixed with moody deep notes. Swinscoe worked with bass player, Phil France on this album and enlisted the talents of Roots Manuva and modern Jazz legend, Luke Flowers.
‘Ma Fleur’ on Ninja Tune, is the band’s latest album, released in 2007, and features To Build A Home, as well as Breathe and Child Song. It feels very refined and yet sporadic in its waterfall outbursts of music. Adding to their film credentials, The Cinematic Orchestra also recorded the soundtrack to the Disneynature film The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos in 2008. They also released; Live At The Royal Albert Hall in 2008, on Ninja Tune, after their last performance at the prestigious Hall.
Listening to their music in such a venue can only be described as very special. It is one of those ‘nothing and yet everything matters right now’ moments. You are right there with every note, engulfed in a hall, reverberating in the clarity the sounds produce. It is difficult not to be moved by the rising and falling emotions, the burst of the strings, the flowing piano. The serene and yet momentous feeling. So what an earth can it be like to actually be on that stage, and play at The Royal Albert Hall, so steeped in grandeur, beauty and respect? I asked Heidi Vogel some questions about this after her incredible performance.
What was it like performing at The Royal Albert Hall last night?
It was a night I will never forget. Performing at the Albert Hall, on that beautiful stage, and in such a beautiful space, looking out to a sea of people filling the entire hall to its fullest capacity, is an experience unlike anything else.
What was the best moment for you?
Standing at the side of the stage waiting to come onto the stage for my first vocal of the evening, which was on ‘Burn Out’. I was so excited to come onto the stage and join in with the Orchestra, to be part of the music that was being made. I was standing there, all ready and the Orchestra had come in for the beginning of Ivo’s piano solo. It was such a moving moment in the music, and I felt my hairs standing up hearing it being played like that with The London Metropolitan Orchestra. It was really something so special.
How does the RAH compare to other venues around the world? Where in the world have you loved performing?
Well RAH can’t be compared to anywhere in the world, it is so completely special and unique. I have played on many wonderful stages that I loved, and RAH is unique among them all. We have played in Sete in France in the open air Roman Amphitheatre on the sea, and lovely outdoor stages such as in Toronto Harbourfront, or Milan Jazz Festival, The Big Chill, Fuji Rock, and many beautiful theatres, festivals and countries that we loved.
This night was Ninja Tune’s 20th birthday, Ninja Tune XX. They celebrated with the band that produces real and imaginary film soundtracks, formed in the minds of people whose lives they have run beside. Without an actual film, the music lends itself to whatever narrative you bestow upon it. To me obviously, this has allowed me to wallow in my own sadness and skip in ecstasy (ha!) But to see The Cinematic Orchestra live was to feel the elation of an evening comprising of a huge range of talented musicians, performing beautifully. It was a night to rejoice in the achievement of humans producing descriptive and emotive sound that mirrors and acknowledges life in all its forms and idiosyncrasies.
All illustrations by Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl
The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger is very much the sonic embodiment of its band members. Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl are intrigued by everything around them and distill this into the music that they make, diagnosis like two wide-eyed innocents, holding each others hands and trying to make sense of the wonders and absurdities of life with the aide of a couple of mics and a multitude of instruments. Their recently released new album Acoustic Sessions (which can be brought here) acts as the perfect showcase for their union as both musical and romantic collaborators. Sean and Charlotte duet together on every track; her voice is as delicate as a thimble and rings clear as a bell, a perfect addition to Sean’s deeper timbre (which interestingly, has the slightest trace of a Liverpudlian burr to it when he sings). The songs are whimsical without being twee, and while they pay homage to 60′s folk-pop, there is no element of pastiche.
My hour spent with Sean and Charlotte on their whistle-stop touchdown in London was an illuminating peek into the high-octane lifestyle of two very in-demand individuals. While most of our music interviews take place in make-shift back stage areas, this interview is conducted 22 floors up at the William Morris Agency housed in London’s Centre Point Building. The plush meeting room offers sweeping views across Central London. Managers and PR’s field incoming emails and update schedules on ever buzzing Blackberries, but thankfully Sean and Charlotte seem unaffected by the surrounding melee. The first surprise of the morning comes when they reveal that the print version of Amelia’s Magazine was one of their favourite publications. “We’ve read almost every single issue!” exclaims Sean as Charlotte explains that their sound engineer on Acoustic Sessions introduced them to us and subsequently, the Amelia’s Magazine issues were the go-to reading material as the album was recorded.
As abstract as one of their self-designed illustrations, the interview takes the form of a free flowing stream of consciousness with Sean and Charlotte finishing off one another’s sentences and thoughts. (Their website wasn’t wrong when it wrote that The GOASTT work from one heart despite having two separate minds). While it wasn’t the typical Q+A that I was anticipating, it was way more fun – and fascinating – to touch on topics such as geodesic domes, Bauhaus, Buckminster Fuller, synesthesia, the phallic stature of city buildings, and what this represents in society – over to Sean on this one: “Joseph Campbell says if you look at the history of architecture you can see what the value system of society was like. The idea is that whatever the biggest object in your city is, is what you care about the most. In the beginning of civilization it was your hut i.e your home; in the middle ages we had churches as our spiritual centers and now the biggest buildings are banks, so it shows that we worship money now.” As seemingly random as the threads of conversation were at the time, looking back over my notes I could see that it’s all part of Sean and Charlottes conviction that everything is connected; art, music, culture; so why not question and draw inspiration from what’s around us?
While Sean has had both a solo career and been involved in other bands, The GOASTT seems like his most personal endeavor to date. “It’s the work that I’m most excited about having done since I’ve met Charlotte” he says. Sean’s musical lineage is well documented, but Charlotte is somewhat of an unknown force. I asked her about her background. “I had written a lot of folk music”, she explained, “but it wasn’t for commercial purposes. I was travelling a lot when I was younger doing modelling and at that point my only companion was a guitar.” With no firm musical direction, she abandoned her music, but when she met Sean she found her inspiration, and received a crash course in Sean’s prolific record collection. “Folk and classical music was my only background, and Sean was a rolodex of so many different musical genres; he played me so much music that I had never heard of and it just blew my mind.” Sean reminisces about the first time he heard Charlotte’s music; “She kept it a secret that she played at all and I found it very mysterious. She had written all these songs and didn’t tell me till we had been dating for a year, and then she played them to me and I was like: ‘wow’…….. ” Joining forces, they embarked on an outpouring of work. “We wrote, like, 50 songs quickly. There was a lot of chemistry, not just in our relationship but creatively.” Charlotte is quick to praise Sean’s musical versatility: “I think Sean is so schizophrenic musically because he’s so talented. I’ve heard him playing so many styles, from folk, to funk, to..” “To flunk”, chimes in Sean helpfully, “that’s funk and folk combined”. (Is it? I need to do some research on this).
We talk about the nature of the album, and the fact that it’s entirely acoustic (the clue’s in the title). “It’s funny”, says Sean, “because someone asked us if this record was a concept album, and it’s not per se, except that there is one concept which is that we wanted to do everything on the record by just the two of us – no one else plays on it – and all the instruments are non electrical.” I remark that all of their performances feature a lot of instruments being used; guitars, cymbals, melodicas and xylophones are laid around Sean’s and Charlotte’s feet, ready to be picked up and played. “The record that you hear is very much live” confirms Sean, “and in order to recreate that live we had to figure out how to multi-task with our instruments which makes the show a lot more exciting for us – although I don’t know if it does for the audience!” (FYI, their set at The Roundhouse Studio on the following night was seamless and very well received).
Their days are currently filled up with gigs around the globe, most of the time performing strictly as The GOASTT, or occasionally pulling in musical friends of theirs. If that doesn’t keep them busy enough, the band is housed by their own record label, Chimera Music which they run from their home in New York. Also signed to Chimera is his mother Yoko’s group; The Plastic Ono Band, of which Sean is musical director. (Sean and Charlotte had come to London by way of Iceland, where he was overseeing the Plastic Ono Band gig, held in honour of what would have been John Lennon’s 70th birthday). All in all, it’s been an incredibly busy and productive year for Sean and Charlotte, and while their schedule seems to verge on the absurd, they are keeping a cool head. “It’s a good time, an inspiring time for us”, Sean assures me, and on the basis of Acoustic Sessions, I can believe this.
Maybe theres something in the air, more about maybe its my age or maybe its the season but it seems everybody around me has suddenly spawned. Friends have started to have babies, viagra approved and family members are producing them faster than I can count them.
I am also a little south of skint, so my meagre craft skills have come in pretty handy. I recently made a baby mobile out of stuff lying around my flat. It was easy, free and convenient , so I thought I’d show you how to make one.
You’ll need:
Wire coat hanger
Fabric (I used an old running t shirt, denim cut offs, and some other fabric I had lying around)
Ribbon, if you have any
Scissors
Glue
Buttons (Optional)
Firstly, bend a wire coat hanger into a circle. Easier said than done. I found that laying it on the table and beating it into submission with a hard object worked best. Wrap some thin strips of fabric around the wire coat hanger, using a dab of glue every few wraps to secure it.
To make the part that will attach to the ceiling, plait 3 strips of fabric 3 times. Then attach the three plaited strips evenly around the fabric covered wire frame, using glue or a staple or a few stitches.
Cut your strips of ribbon and fabric to the same width and length, then fold the top of each strip of fabric around the fabric covered wire frame, using a dab of glue to secure each strip.
To make sure none of the lengths of ribbon fall from the frame, you could also add a few stitches to each strip too.
This is easy enough to encourage little hands to help you do it, as I did with my creation above. I fashioned the wire and plaited the three strips that attach to the ceiling, and my little assistent attached the individual strips to the frame. You could neaten it by hemming the fabric, or using only ribbon, or keep it rough and ready. Parents will appreciate the time you put into it and babies will love the colours and the way it moves. And, more importantly, it doesn’t add to the inevitable pile of growing tacky plastic crap, either. Winner.
This column attempts to provide lovely ways to recycle junk into useful and beautiful things. If you have a genius recycling idea or if you are stuck with something you don’t want to chuck away, leave a comment and let me know! I may feature your idea or I will try and come up with a solution to your recycling conundrum.
Illustration by Daria Hlazatova
Fashion illustration. You may have noticed we get pretty excited about the genre, nurse particularly with Amelia’s new book on the way. Drawing Fashion at the Design Museum has been hotly anticipated and it doesn’t let down. Put together by Joelle Chariau of Galerie Bartsch & Chariau over 30 years, viagra the show covers fashion illustration from the early 20th century forward. The present installment at the Design Museum is the first time the collection has been shown together.
The quick overview: the show captures the power of illustration to reflect not only the fashion but also the tone of the times, for sale in a way unique to other media forms such as photography. It proves that although photography has become the predominant media from the 1930s, illustration still holds a valid and special place in fashion.
George Lepape
The longer version: split into five eras, the exhibit focuses the viewer to the changing role of fashion illustration and its connection to the culture it is a part of. The first, From Gold to Silver 1910-29, captures the optimism and new worldviews of the early 20th century with bold use of colours, a new vibrancy and a focus on lifestyle in the illustrations. The single figures of Erté, the Vogue and La Gazette du Bon Ton George Lepape covers bring out the new silhoette of the 1920s. Stylised illustrations celebrate the lifestyles that few could afford, but which encapsulate post war enthusiasm. The highlight here: George Lepape’s Chapeaux D’Hiver for Le Bon Ton in pen, ink and watercolour, showing both the original and use in editorial.
Moving forward to 1930-46, the tone of Time & Decay reflects the changing times: the depression, the movement of focus from Paris to America during the war years, the popularity of the cinema and a focus on leisure and sportswear in fashion. This more casual tone is brought through the illustration, with looser strokes, more muted colours and more introspective compositions. This section highlights the talent of Bernard Blossac and René Bouché.
René Gruau
Enthusiasm returns in New Rhythms, New Rules 1947-59, introducing Dior‘s ‘New Look‘ in 1947. The illustrations of Réne Gruau perfectly capture the ‘exagerated elegance’ of Dior’s bold new style. His bold use of colour and line, with a predominance of red, white, back and orchre shine through this section of the exhibit. The timelessness of the illustrations is highlighted by a Vogue Paris cover illustration, first published in the 1950s, republished for the Juin/Juillet 1985 edition, that would look equally contemporary today. Another highlight is a single pink glove, showing a movement from full figure to individual detail and objects of the body.
Antonio Lopez
The true star of the show is Antonio (Lopez), the sole focus of Liberty & Licence, taking the viewer through 1960-89. Anotonio’s bold graphics in pencil and watercolour celebrate the dynamic feminism of the 1970s and especially the 1980s. This is power illustration to the max, matching the era’s power dressing with big shoulders, tight waists and attitudes to match. Hitting the mood of each decade, Antonio’s style adapts through the 1960s-80s, with a focus on form and art.
François Berthoud
The exhibit concludes with The Tradition Continues 1990-2010 and Fashion Drawing for the Future. The illustrations chosen in this section react against ‘the cult of the individual’ and big budget commerciality of fashion and advertising. Matts Gustafson and François Berthoud show new paths forward in terms of form and technique. Berthoud’s Allure de Chanel for Rebel, France (enamel on paper) reduces the figure to positive and negative forms.
Mats Gustafson
Overall, illustrations are more moody and suggestive and are often simplified to form, colour and movement. An Aurore de la Morinere for Christian Lacroix published in Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazine loses the form of figure and clothes to a shimmer of colours, becoming etherial and fantasy rather than any depiction of the body. A dark illustration for Alexander McQueen with the figure walking away from the viewer and displayed alone poignently reminds of the loss of this fashion great.
There is currently a resurgence of interest in fashion illustration and Drawing Fashion celebrates this. With any retrospective, it’s difficult to cover everything and there are a few illustrators missing – notably David Downton who we interviewed recently. The exhibition, however, demonstrates illustration’s power to take the viewer beyond the simple display of clothes and connecting what we wear with the mood, ideologies and changing tides of the 20th century.
Get all the information you need, including the line up of talks associated with the exhibition, in our listings section.
SpeedArting by Gemma Milly.
So I’ve spent an hour getting ready. I’ve gone for a little black dress, viagra 40mg bird necklace and black shu-boos, for sale and am heading out to Stone Horse Paper Cow on Bishopsgate. As I draw nearer the anticipation rises and I can feel my heart beating faster. Why does this always happen when you’re about to meet some potential totty?
But this is no ordinary date, oh no, I’m about to arrive at an altogether more intriguing rendez-vous. Tonight, with my best-friend at my side, I am going SpeedArting. There is every possibility that I will still meet a dark and handsome stranger, the only difference is that he’ll be hanging on my wall rather than off my every word (as I’m sure they always do). And none of the ‘I’m not ready to have a relationship’ after a few dates to put up with. Hurrah!
‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ by Victoria Topping.
Brainchild of Jody Kingzett, Photographer who has snapped the likes of Dame Helen Mirren and Naomi Campbell, and who I met two years ago on a photoshoot in the freezing cold in Southwark, the concept is so simple that I’m surprised no-one has thought of it before. In a nutshell, it’s all about matchmaking you, the public ,with affordable art, in quirky locations – think Sketch Parlour not Slug and Lettuce (thank the lord!). So hats off to Jody for spotting a niche and hop, skip and jumping right into it.
Illustration by Darren Cranmer.
Amongst the artists that will be exhibiting and selling their wares this Wednesday are Neha Mojaria, who produces street-art style canvasses with a fashion twist, Illustrator Victoria Topping who creates surreal music-based illustrations, and Darren Cranmer who’s illustration style is sublimely delicate and atmospheric. Not to mention the man himself – Jody Kingzett.
Painting by artist Meha Mojaria.
The next SpeedArting event is this Wednesday November 24th at Stone Horse Paper Cow, and promises to be a festive one. What better antidote to a tiring day in the office than to grab your friends and head out for a spot of high-brow Christmas shopping, with a free drink thrown in? So if you fancy being part of the newest big thing to hit the London art scene, make sure www.speedarting.com is firmly at the top of your bookmarks, and follow SpeedArting on Facebook or twitter. Who knows, you might bag yourself a nice little bit of eye candy.
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