Erasure were incredible at Mute's Short Circuit festival in April, so I jumped at the chance to interview them for The Stool Pigeon. S'pose the subtext of the piece is the fact that, despite in excess of 25 million records sold, it feels like there has been a media blackout on the band for years. Interview here.
"...To understand London now one has to grasp the fact that in this city, as nowhere else in the world, World War II is still going on. The spivs are running delis and restaurants, and an occupying army of international bankers and platinum-card tourists has taken the place of the American servicemen. The people are stoical and underpaid, with a lower standard of living and tackier services than in any comparable western capital. The weary camaraderie of the Blitz holds everything together. Bombs should fall tonight but probably won't, but one senses that people would welcome them."
Léonie Hampton is an incredible photographer who finds the uncanny in the everyday: a kind of (preter)naturalist, who lets her subjects get on with things while she weaves around, waiting for the moment when their unconscious self - or something purporting to be such a thing - comes out to play.
I interviewed her about her latest project, In The Shadow Of Things, which charts the clearing of the house of her mother Bron, who had "boxed out the world" due to her crippling OCD. You can read it on the arts charity website IdeasTap.
Not only did Destroyer slip such an effortless, sumptuous, bleeeding gorgeous album into the mix as Kaputt, but he went and made the title track the most gawddamn beautiful of all the songs on there, and ensured that the video was a dream-logic escape into the deep space of one's own mind's eye... see above to note that this statement is only a little hyperbolic.
I spoke to Mr Destroyer aka Dan Bejar and you can read it here.
N.B. Another pleasing saxophone-filled album, which isn't in the least bit cheesey. Proves my long-held theory that the sax is the most overlooked of all godlike instruments. If I had my way, 60% of guitarists would replace their axes with saxes.
Most enjoyable gig in ages; while it wasn't all perfect it had all the daring and daft sorts that you'd expect to encounter at a Mute event. You can read the review here.
Tim Burrows is an author and journalist who writes about popular culture, music, art and place - often at the same time - for a number of publications including the Guardian, Vice, Daily Telegraph, New Statesman, The Quietus, The Stool Pigeon, Dazed and Tank.
timburrows84@gmail.com
