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yearsblog · 8 years ago

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t’s 11am in a slightly dilapidated rehearsal room on a King’s Cross side street, and I can just about overhear a discussion in which Dominic Boyce, the affable drummer of psychedelic indie-pop troupe Peace, is considering returning a recently purchased pair of vegan sandals. “In hindsight, maybe I should keep them and commit to it,” he says at one point. “Maybe they’d be good for Glastonbury. Give the people what they want.”

Today, Boyce is joined by a speedily assembled who’s who – quite literally in some cases – of indie, rehearsing for Wednesday night’s NME awards, where they will perform the Rolling Stones’ Gimme Shelter, and Buffalo Springfield’s For What It’s Worth. Rallied by the NME, the group will be joined on the night by Charli XCX, who right now is somewhere over the Atlantic, but today consists of Boyce and Sam and Harry Koisser from Peace, Olly Alexander from Years & Years, Pixie Geldof, Isaac Holman from Slaves, Izzy Baxter from Black Honey, Austin Williams and Cavan McCarthy from Swim Deep, and Joe Falconer from Circa Waves.

While you may not be overly familiar with each act’s entire back catalogue, everyone in the room today is very committed to raising money for refugees, and that’s a positive and wonderful thing. The plan is that anyone watching the performance online – or reading an article about its rehearsal – can text REFU to 70700 to donate £5 to the British charity Help Refugees. It’s the sort of thing that routinely prompts a kneejerk sneer, but it’s a simple and effective move and knees can’t sneer anyway because of biology. The morning moves slowly with dramatic highlights including a broken keyboard stand, a leaking battery, Harry Koisser being unable to see the colour red, and an absence of maracas. At one point, Baxter is handed a red, gold and green guitar strap. “I’m too white to wear that,” she observes, although it’s fair to say this is one room in London where it’s impossible to be too white for anything.

After a run-through of the songs and lunch in the pizza place across the road, we’re joined by the NME editor, Mike Williams, who has turned up to check on progress. I ask him whether this whole supergroup business might be better with a few more famous people.

“That’s a bit of a mean question,” he says. “We haven’t even approached the Dave Grohls and Lady Gagas of this world – we wanted it to be in the spirit of what Bands 4 Refugees were already doing. It wouldn’t have been right for NME to storm in and swap them out for big American artists.”

Asked to clarify the message that he’s hoping to send out by drawing awareness to the refugee crisis during the NME awards, Williams adds: “Politicians and people with influential voices are being irresponsible with their words and changing the views of otherwise decent people. There’s a negative and demonised view of vulnerable people not that different from us who have been badly affected by wars and terror attacks. We want to show a bit of the reality.”

It’s cheering – but also a bit of a rum old do – that in the current climate, the first major creative statement from the global music community has come in the form of the new Katy Perry single, Chained to the Rhythm, a song about echo chambers and numbness that she has described as “purposeful pop”. But isn’t it also frustrating that the best song choices for Wednesday night’s show are both more than 50 years old?

“A song like Gimme Shelter is incredibly powerful and the message will resonate with everyone in the room on the night and watching on Facebook Live,” Williams says. “That said, bands have told me in the past they don’t want to speak out because the internet is so unforgiving, but it feels like people have got to get over that now.”

Alexander chooses his words either far more carefully or far less carefully, depending on how you look at it. ��The message I’d give Theresa May is that she should resign and take her entire cabinet with her,” he says. “Someone else should have a chance now. There’s lots of talk of Clive Lewis of late, isn’t there? Is he good? I don’t know. Maybe he’s just young and a bit hot.”

Alexander initially felt wary about becoming involved in Bands 4 Refugees. “A little bit of me always worries about the perceived vanity of ‘I’m supporting a cause’, but worrying what people think actually is a vanity problem,” he says. Currently midway through writing Years & Years’ second album, he acknowledges the pressure to write about world events. “It feels like that choice is more important now than it was a couple of years ago,” he says. “You could write a song about love, and people would go: ‘We’re living in a dumpster fire apocalypse and this is what you’ve chosen to write about?’”

A recent writing session helped put things in perspective. “I felt like I didn’t want to write about politics simply because I felt like I should, but then last week I wrote a song with the Pet Shop Boys. It’s inspired by a fairground in Margate called Dreamland, but while I was writing it, Neil Tennant said to me: ‘This makes sense right now with Trump closing the borders,’ and the song became something that touched on what’s going on in the world. I’d write lyrics and he’d say: ‘No, it needs to be more direct.’ He’d take a simple line and interject a subversive political statement. That’s the challenge as a pop writer, to do both at once.”

Baxter is more plain: “It’s important not to be like fucking Bono going: ‘You should do this.’ As an artist, you don’t have to answer all the questions, but you can still pose them.”

Most of today’s lineup has been assembled by Koisser, and while he’s keen not to take credit for dragging the other artists here (“All I’ll say is that I’ve probably been the most annoying person”), he hopes he can help start a bigger conversation among artists. “I’d like someone who’s a lot more important than us to see it and be inspired to do something gigantic on a level we can’t,” he says. Of course, if – meanness alert! – today’s supergroup did indeed want some more famous people, it might have made sense to ask for guidance from someone with experience in that field. Someone with a penchant for calling up superstars and getting them in a room in order to knock out a charity banger.

I mean, I wonder out loud, does anyone here today have any such contacts? It’s hard to know where to start, really. Isn’t it, Pixie Geldof?

“One or two names come to mind,” she smiles, a little wearily. “Yes, something like that may have happened before. And, yes, I see where you’re going with that. I don’t know what his plans are, but, yeah, I mean ... Band Aid is a Christmas song. Although I do like listening to the Tammy Wynette Christmas album throughout the year.” She’s clearly warming to the idea. “OK!” she eventually says. “I’ll have a word. Maybe. Oh, I don’t know.”

Back in the rehearsal room, Holman is handing out lollipops and, with each new vocalist added to the song, Gimme Shelter is sounding more and more unstable, like a pop Buckaroo. But by 5pm, it’s sounding pretty good. At one point, the band stops to debate whether the audience will clap along during the breakdown in For What It’s Worth. “Ignore the tables,” is one suggestion. “They’ll be too busy with their free dinners.” Someone else offers: “It all depends on how drunk they are.”

The group are limited to performing a faithful rendition of at least one of their chosen songs, a decision explained when I put it to Koisser that a tropical house version of Gimme Shelter might have made more impact in 2017. He says they needed the Rolling Stones’ approval to perform the song, “and there’s a thing that says you’re not allowed to change the genre or style. It has to be the same arrangement, structure, genre – and you can’t change the lyrics. Even if we wanted to do a tropical house version – and trust me, that went through my mind – we wouldn’t be able to.”

In the past, Mick Jagger has described Gimme Shelter as “a kind of end-of-the-world song, really. It’s apocalypse.” I pull Boyce to one side and ask: is the world about to end? He thinks for a while.

“I hope not,” he says eventually. “But it feels like the start of the end of something.”

The end of what?

“Humanity?”

He’s starting to look a bit troubled. “I mean I’m hoping it’s not,” he clarifies. “But something’s about to snap. It would be good to give it all another go, wouldn’t it? Start afresh.”

He’s sounding quite chipper about the prospect of life as we know it coming to an end. In fairness, the prospect of global apocalypse isn’t exactly unappealing these days. It would be great if that could wait until after the NME awards, though.

#olly alexander #interview #article #bands4refugees #nme awards #thanks anon!#140217

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samanthasroberts · 8 years ago

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A Definitive Ranking of the Best Hair in the Star Wars Universe

With each new Star Wars movie, fans wait to see how their favorite characters, new and old, will be styled. And, with some of the most iconic and influential hairstyles in pop-culture history, the franchise has a high bar to clear when it comes to its characters tresses. Because as Yoda says, “Hairdo. Or do not hairdo. There is no try.”

But how do the buns, braids, blowouts, helmet hair, and headdresses in a galaxy far, far away rank when pitted against each other? We have your definitive, character-by-character guide to the best and worst looks from Naboo to Starkiller Base. Coif it up!

Note: We concerned ourselves with hair, and hair only. That means no heads that are shaped like hair (looking at you, Bib Fortuna).

Best Hair

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1. Leia Leia is a basic choice to top our list, but no hair in the history of film is as iconic as the stylethat spawned millions of parodies, Halloween costumes, ill-advised earmufffs, and people who think its hilarious to hold up cinnamon buns next to their faces. George Lucas has said that the revolutionaries of Pancho Villa were the inspiration for the buns, but others have pointed out that the look more closely resembles the Fallera hairdo from Spain or the Hopi “squash blossom” buns.

Regardless,Leia doesn’tget nearly enough credit for her other styles: Her Hoth crown braid, Bespin look with the braided loops, and her coiled twisted braid situation from the final scene of the original trilogy (dubbed “the hot plate special” by the crew). Props for being the only woman in history to make hair jewelry look cool when hanging out with a giant slug gangster and kudos to her chic, but no-fuss updo in The Force Awakens. Because when youre busy running the rebel uprising and chasing after your good-for-nothing, rogue-ass son, theres no damn time to mess with your hair. We salute you and your fabulous tresses, General Organa.

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2. Padme Yasss, Queen of Naboo! One of the only good things about the prequels is Padmes sense of fashion, ranging from her iconic wedding dress to her ombre, goddess-style flowing gown. But the real showstopper is her hairfrom gravity-defying updos and bejeweled headbands straight out of a Coachella fever-dream to headdresses that would even put Sarah Jessica Parker at the Met to shame.

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3. Kylo Ren Ah, the mane that inspired a whirlwind of tweets and such think pieces as Why Is Kylo Rens Hair So Shiny and Voluminous? An Investigation. With hisfollicularlyblessed lineage, it only makes sense that he never suffers from helmet hair, even after a long day of stomping around with stormtroopers, attacking villages, and interrogating rebels. The hair game is strong with this family.

His hair is, of course, a throwback to the longer hairdo sported by his role model and grandfather, Anakin, while Anakin was being lured to the Dark Side (well get to that soon). Like Samson, do the men in their family derive dark energy from their locks? And, if thats the case, why is Anakin-as-Vader bald? Maybe thats the real answer to why Ren’s hair is so big: Its full of secrets. Hair secrets.

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4. Rey Nicknamed “Three Knobs” on set, this updo looks cute from the front with early-aughts-inspired sidepieces and wispies. From the side or back, though, things get questionable. Why three buns? Whats so wrong with one? Rey doesn’t seem super concerned with fashion, so were left to believe that its a utility thing. Still, we’re game for this look because, well, they’rein space. Things are allowed to get a little weird.

Also, a million points for her goddamn eyebrows. Dont tell us that she hasnt gotten her hands on some wax while scavenging on Jakku because we will call you a liar.

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5. Dorme Only in Star Wars could a style this outrageous look fit into the background. Padme’s handmaiden rocks a kawaii-as-hell hair bow that puts even Girls’ Shoshanna to shame. “Hair bows” (as in bows styled with actual human hair, not cute cloth bows with a clip) are a very real, and wonderfully strange, thing. But we’re pretty sure its impossible to make one IRL with this much volume using only natural hair. Please, though, someone make a tutorial to prove us wrong.

Alamy

6. Poe Dameron Poe has some luscious, swept back locks that pair well with his clean-shaven face. Like Kylo Ren, he somehow manages to avoid helmet head. This is very excellent hair. It’s amazing he doesn’t have a line of people from across the galaxy lined up to run their fingers through it.

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7. Lando Calrissian Lando might bethe first majorblack character in the Star Wars universe, but we have to assess some minor demerits forrockinga perm. But well cut him some slack because if “hair” includes facial hair, he takes the cake with his groovy-ass ’70s mustache. This look transcended Billy Dee Williams role in Star Wars. Not only was it an essential component of his signature confidence and swagger, but we maintain that it’s the reason that Williams became the spokesperson for Colt 45 beer. Were you hiring him or the ‘stache, Colt? Be honest.

Jonathan Olley

8. Jyn Erso We call this look The Bridesmaid. Its nothing as revolutionary as Jyn herself in Rogue One, but its certainly very pretty and easy for fans to replicate with side bangs, face-framing pieces, and a little bun at the nape of her neck.

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9. Mon Mothma Caroline Blakiston once said she opted to use her own mid-length red pixie cut for her role as Mon Mothma, and were glad she did. This look, while later co-opted by Justin Bieber, became an essential ’80s style.

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10. Bodhi Rook This undercut/ponytail combination is very Burning Man. Its a little dirty, but also kind of sexy in a yoga-teacher way. Conclusion: He can rook our bodhis anytime.

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11. Finn Finn’s fashion is best defined by the on-trend Resistance fighter jacket gifted to him by Poe. His hair, thougha classic cut we call the Your Always Grumpy Unclehas never been on trend. Never ever. But Boyega fans can take heart: His hair as seen in the Pacific Rim 2 set photos is extra :fire emoji:.

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12. Han Solo Though Han is a total babe, his hair is a little fluffy and we cant stand a middle part. What else do you expect from a stuck up, half-witted, scruffy-looking Nerfherder? Still, he’s got a good head of hair and we can’t knock those retro sideburns. We also like his conservative, tapered cut in Force Awakensa solid look for an older Han.

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13. Luke Skywalker Baby Skywalker starts out with a retro ’70s feathered mop. A little dated now, but very “of his time.” When we meet back up with him in Force Awakens, he has transitioned to a scruffy hair/beard combo. Very old-school Jedi. Though, dear hipsters, the next time you think that this is a cute look, think of the fact that the make-up and hair folks working on the film thought this would be the best way to show that someone was literally cloistered away on a fucking island for decades.

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14. Sabe Her style makes for a crazy-couture, runway-ready look. Its not easy imitating the queen, especially when that means you have to wear giant hair croissants on the side of your head. (What is up with these people and hair that resembles pastries?) Kudos to her for rocking it.

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15. Chewbacca One of the few characters who is literally covered in hair from head to toe, his routine includes a complex combination of hair oil, holding spray, careful shampooing, a special hairbrush to comb out the snarls on his butt, and wand-created curls. Seriously.

Chewie is at his best when his locks are wind-swept and looks significantly creepy when his hair is brushed smooth. Whats with the volume? Is his forehead just super long or is he wearing a Bump It? We advocate for him getting a Border Terrier-style trim. Google it and you will agree.

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16. Anakin Skywalker This one is tricky. Anakin has, at points, both very good hair AND the definitive worst hair in the galaxy. Lets start with 20-something Anakin’s wind-blown surfer hair, a look thats later copped by his psycho grandson, Kylo Ren. Carefree! Classic! Two thumbs up! On the other hand, young Anakin has a freakin’ rat-tail. You say Padawan braid, we say rat-tail, and it doesnt matter because, when it comes down to it, we can all agree that its gross. We cant decide if he looks like he just walked out of a Hot Topic with bad rubber bracelets and a t-shirt from a band hes never actually heard or if hes a recent escapee from a hippie commune. Just: nope, nope, nope.

The “Really? You Could Do Better” List

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Obi-Wan Kenobi Specifically, young Kenobi played by Ewan McGregor. Rock me, Sexy Jesus?

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Qui-Gon Jinn The half-up, half-down look needs to crawl back to the ’90s and die there. In recent years, some millennial celebrities (ahem, Ariana Grande) have tried to make this a thing again. We maintain that encouraging anyone to wear this look is straight-up irresponsible.

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Ewoks They need a trip to the groomer. Maybe a nice puppy cut blowout like a Shih Tzu? We say yes.

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Yoda Real talk: Yoda needs to own his hair loss and go bald. If you want to feel truly creeped out, look up Yaddle, another member of Yodas species, and imagine how your favorite pint-sized, green Jedi might have looked in his younger days.

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Queen Jamillia Girl, you look like a sunflower.

Lucasfilm

Salacious Crumb Zero points to theweird dude who you might recognize from hanging out withJabba the Hutt. He could use a shoulder waxing and some kind of hat to cover those little tufts on his head.

The Wild Card

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Captain Phasma We have no idea what she looks like under the helmet. Will actress Gwendoline Christie keep her carefree, battle-ready, Brienne-of-Tarth messy chop? Or will she revert back to the real-life long blonde locks that she sported pre-Game of Thrones? Or maybe shes got something wacky going on under there that we havent even thought up yet. The options are literally endless.

Source: http://allofbeer.com/2017/05/27/a-definitive-ranking-of-the-best-hair-in-the-star-wars-universe/

from All of Beer https://allofbeer.wordpress.com/2017/05/27/a-definitive-ranking-of-the-best-hair-in-the-star-wars-universe/

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allofbeercom · 8 years ago

Text

A Definitive Ranking of the Best Hair in the Star Wars Universe

Note: We concerned ourselves with hair, and hair only. That means no heads that are shaped like hair (looking at you, Bib Fortuna).

Best Hair

Alamy

lucasfilm

Alamy

Also, a million points for her goddamn eyebrows. Dont tell us that she hasnt gotten her hands on some wax while scavenging on Jakku because we will call you a liar.

lucasfilm

Alamy

Jonathan Olley

lucasfilm

Alamy

10. Bodhi Rook This undercut/ponytail combination is very Burning Man. Its a little dirty, but also kind of sexy in a yoga-teacher way. Conclusion: He can rook our bodhis anytime.

Alamy

lucasfilm

Alamy

The “Really? You Could Do Better” List

Alamy

Obi-Wan Kenobi Specifically, young Kenobi played by Ewan McGregor. Rock me, Sexy Jesus?

Alamy

Ewoks They need a trip to the groomer. Maybe a nice puppy cut blowout like a Shih Tzu? We say yes.

Alamy

lucasfilm

Queen Jamillia Girl, you look like a sunflower.

Lucasfilm

Salacious Crumb Zero points to theweird dude who you might recognize from hanging out withJabba the Hutt. He could use a shoulder waxing and some kind of hat to cover those little tufts on his head.

The Wild Card

Alamy

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/2017/05/27/a-definitive-ranking-of-the-best-hair-in-the-star-wars-universe/

0 notes

houstonlocalus-blog · 8 years ago

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Everyone Is Getting It: An Interview with Pixies

Pixies. Photo: Travis Shinn

In a time when bands seem to pass their prime almost as quickly as the band formed, it’s mind-boggling to really grasp the idea that there are certain groups that can tour for as long as they want and a consistent fan base will always be there to greet them with open arms. Thirty-one years ago, four kids from Boston started a band, probably unaware that they would go on to be one of the most influential bands around, obsessing the minds of bands like Nirvana up to on-tour band the Orwells. Prior to their show at White Oak Music Hall on Sunday, FPH spoke to Pixies guitarist Joey Santiago about the band’s latest release, their reunion, and crossword puzzles.

Free Press Houston: The band is set for a global tour, and it’s quite massive. Are those still as fun for you personally, or has it started to evolve into a bit more of a task?

Joey Santiago: It’s a little bit of both. It depends what’s going on. I mean, it depends on my mood, you know? Sometimes it’s a vacation, sometimes it’s work.

FPH: It’s been a little over a month on this tour and you’ve already played Japan, Australia, and even a stop in Africa. Where is it that the Pixies get the most love from fans? As in, are you guys Cheap Trick to anywhere?

Santiago: Well, basically Europe is a lot more acceptable to us. And obviously places that we haven’t been to. For example, South Africa was wonderful. We have never been there before that latest show. We got to play in front of 18,000 people. And, you know, obviously England — we call it our second home, especially London. They embrace us well there, the English. But everywhere is starting to catch on! Everyone is getting it. We’re part of this history, you know?

FPH: I’ve read that you have brought along a new stage setup with the help of production manager Simon Foster and lighting designer Myles Mangino. Why did the band feel it was necessary to change something like that up and what are the biggest differences between the old and new layout?

Santiago: God, I guess we just delegate that shit to people, you know? We trust them. As long as it’s moody and all of that stuff it’s fine, you know? We’ll only make a comment when there is something obviously wrong and we haven’t done it yet. As far as changing it, it has to change. Things need to revolve all the time, we feel that. It makes the lighting director’s job more enjoyable.

FPH: I also understand that the band isn’t using a setlist right now. When doing that, or perhaps not doing it, rather, does it honestly change the vibe of the show?

Santiago: Nah, but at the same time, you have a bunch of people in the same room. There’s one common thing shared: the vibe the crowd provides. It will go according to the size of the room — if it’s big, we’ll start off with something more eerie, that way the soundman can pile in the room. Some rooms really don’t work out, because the sound doesn’t absorb fast enough. It just depends on mind-reading what people want. And it also keeps us on our toes and entertains us. It’s a win-win situation. We, the audience and band, both get entertained by the change every night.

FPH: How important is this particular record to you? What was your personal goal for the release?

Santiago: It was to be raw and embrace it, not running away from what I really am. There’s a fine line between growing and having that sound. The sound is really simple. To me, it’s innate. I just have to tap into that rather than just do something that I’m not ready for.

FPH: Did you feel as if the latest album, Head Carrier, had to prove something with the departure of a founding member and the arrival of a new one?

Santiago: The only goal in the studio is to entertain ourselves and make good music. Everything else is really secondary.

FPH: Let’s talk about Paz. How did you guys meet her? Was it a matter of seeing her at an A Perfect Circle gig and deciding she’d make a great fit?

Santiago: No, it was just a recommendation from an agency I used to be signed to. I called them up and they were like, “Oh, there’s this new sheriff in town, and her name is Paz.” I was like, “Oh, who is this person? Let’s give her a shot.” So we gave her a shot. I have not actually seen A Perfect Circle live. When the Martini’s were together I don’t think A Perfect Circle was even around. So I’ve never really seen her live, but her reputation preceded her.

FPH: Being that there was quite a hiatus for the band, you came back strong, while most reunions are usually flops. Did it go as smooth as you thought? Were the fans just as excited to see the Pixies this time around?

Santiago: We went in a room, the three of us, Kim, David, and I, and we had an agreement that, if we sounded like shit, we would just shake hands and go on our merry way. But, you know, we were shocked that we have the same feedback. We were still the Pixies, we still had the sound. I mean, we have the same guitars and amps. It was pretty funny, actually. We really can’t help sounding like this, can we?

FPH: I recently interviewed a band and your band was brought up; they even have a video inspired by Black Francis. Being that you guys are a big inspiration to so many, who are some bands, perhaps even recently formed, that keeps the Pixies motivated about the future of the music you enjoy?

Santiago: Well, there’s so much music out there — I was never the guy to listen to current music. I pride myself to having this filter of old music, listening to old stuff and making it modern. The new music out there, I just don’t — it’s not a purpose. Also, we’re lucky enough that the Pixies has its own language, and we like it. We like the new stuff we’ve made it. It’s fun, it’s a puzzle we’re playing around with. We’re lucky with all of that. But as far as listening to music for enjoyment, it depends on my mood. Sometimes it’s silly, sometimes it’s serious. I go from jazz to Billy Preston, you know?

FPH: What is it that gives you entertainment on the road then? Is there a podcast we should know about? A book? Even a show on Netflix?

Santiago: Oh, crossword puzzles! That’s about it. I love puzzles. I try to keep up – geez, I don’t know! I wake up and I don’t know what I’ll be like. I think that’s enough of a challenge.

Pixies perform at White Oak Music Hall (2915 N. Main) with Public Access TV on April 30 at 6 pm.

Everyone Is Getting It: An Interview with Pixies this is a repost

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