everyone's favourite stylist nicola formichetti has been given the herculean task of reviving thierry mugler (the brand, not the man; we're not sure if formichetti has completed a first aid course, nor are we insinuating that thierry needs reviving. in any case, formichetti makes us think of little ants. cute.).
see the collection here, and a gaga-mugler-formichetti-zenest-vivanco video here.
with the guardian declaring them ‘stand outs in a new golden age of indie’, naturally, we had to have a nose. this london based band, who derived their name from a robert frost poem, make dreamy ethereal tunes. their sound could be loosely described as … catherine longingly searching for heathcliff through moor land mists, or, inchoate lovers trembling for togetherness on the whitest, brightest morning of the year. either way, we liked them. a lot. so, on an entirely unrelated note, we wondered, how does the geography of place inform their sound….
pm: where did you grow up and how has it influenced your sound? st: we grew up in various places. austin, sussex, brisbane, grimsby, nz. we all came together in london though and i think that maybe influences our sound a bit more than where we came from. england can be quite dark at times and i think this has seeped into the sounds and songs.
pm: if your music could be compared to a geographical location…? st: the english countryside. windy small roads, canopies of trees, dark hollows, old churches, wicker man like villages, the low slung sun, orange autumn trees...
pm: where has been your favourite/worst place to tour and why? st: at the moment we're touring all over britain which we really like. lots of london shows, wales, manchester, etc. this is great because we see a lot of our friends but it's great to venture out too because you meet new people. we recently played berlin in a castle at the let's kiss and make up festival. we met some really lovely people. we haven't really had a "worst" place yet, although i'm sure they're out there.
pm: where are you currently based and why does that place appeal to you? st: currently in greenwich and stoke newington. greenwich has a big beautiful park with lots of green and is close to the river. stoke newington is close to shows, more of a music scene and also has amazing places to eat.
pm: any haunts in your area you would recommend? st: royal teas in greenwich is a fantastic little breakfast nook as is the blue legume in stokey. the markets in both areas are great too. the drop in stoke newington hosts one of our favourite nights called "cosmic slop" featuring the best djs in the world! go to it and dance and thank us later.
pm: and finally, where do you travel to in your dreams? st: deep, deep into the deepest parts of the pacific ocean. we're definitely at home there. lots of weird and wonderful creatures. we occasionally bump into david attenbourough having tea with various sea horses, he's a great chap to have a drink with, never stops talking. we all get up to various activities throughout the night, swimming with the turtles, dodging jellyfish, making music with dolphins. but in the end we slowly return to the surface and go back to the studio and begin again.
i don’t smoke but I think you look 33% cooler if you do. and when I think of books, I think of the curious image they command, capable of making one look like a stale nerd, all the way through to an intellectual stud, depending on whether your wearing sunglasses or not. orwell’s short articles, some of which are personal, others taken from his days as a journalist, are beautifully exact in this petit hundred page book. each chapter steps through the facets of life which all of us experience, yet so badly need to understand. ranging from friendship to education, politics to parisian medical practice, all are deftly placed in the fascinating world of orwell’s early experiences. however, as you take in the modest wit of george, you can’t help but feel the eerie echoes to your own life. this isn’t a new book in today’s terms, but the grovelling likes of me, stewing in my underpants and blowing my nose on embarrassing receipts, finds this manual to life emblematic of orwell’s genius; it’s timeless! poetically captured by his opening chapter ‘Books vs. Cigarettes’, we’re reminded that even though shillings are his currency, we still need money for cigarettes and money for cigarettes is very important, regardless of what that is and what you sacrifice it for. trade off’s in life are like a bad smells, always around, not preferable, but sometimes natural. once again, orwell reminds us with breathtaking perception that to understand what we’re doing here, we have to look at the things which are interesting and fun; vice, or no vice.
last saturday saw the secret wars euroleague grand final at shoreditch warehouse the village underground. billed as the fight club of the art world, secret wars involves two teams going head-to-head to create the best marker pen street art within the 90 minute time limit.
the grand final saw a battle between the amsterdam and birmingham teams. amsterdam donned kitchen attire and cooked up a treat: they created a ‘burningham’ piece, creating an image of a pig roasting factory and skilfully disrespecting the brummies in the process. birmingham, clad in balaclavas, created a piece with a more urban feel than their dutch counterparts, concentrating more on bigging up the uk than dissing the netherlands.
once the time limit was up compére, reeps one, filled the judging time with some high quality beatboxing, with the final vote going to the audience. amsterdam deservedly won with their more coherent piece and will now jet off to compete in new york.
anyone lucky enough to live in london will know that often the overwhelming choice of theatre destinations on any one night, can give even the most seasoned theatre goer a headache. from the tried and tested companies and shows of the West End, to the newer, more off the wall productions in the east (which, in this writers experience, often feature a great deal of people running around in the nip. why?)
but for the confused, or even those just looking for something a bit different, let me point you in the direction of some alternative theatrical delights...
this month sees the arrival on our shores of the moscow-based sovremennik theatre, a leading russian company which has won more awards then i’ve drank vodka. founded in 1956, the company is appearing in london with a very limited run of three of their widely acclaimed masterpieces; Three Sisters, Into The Wind and The Cherry Orchard. all performances will be in russian with english surtitles. this is a theatre treat not to be missed, combining good classic drama with a linguistic twist. and you might even bump into roman abramovich!make sure you don’t miss out.
anonymous poxymash reader that does not exist: but i have low blood sugar levels, who are you asking me to dip into a coma for?
poxymash writer that occasionally exists: jeez, now we feel kinda awkward and don’t know what to say. tune yards is the moniker of california based musician merrill garbus. signed to the independent record label 4AD, she released her first full length studio album ‘bird brains’ in 2009.we think her dulcet experimental tones will at least pleasure your aural canal. but keep a mars bar handy, just in case.
A.P.R.T.D.N.E : but what’s the tune, numbnuts?
P.W.T.O.E: oh. why that is an excellent question and not the query of someone who has slipped unconscious. phew. the record of choice is ‘real live flesh’.
A.P.R.T.D.N.E : interesting. what’s it feel like? i need to feel my feelings.
P.W.T.O.E: well, it feels like, having an ice cold hand placed down your top, until slowly, slowly, you experience the joy of mutual 'hotness'… but remember, feelings aren’t facts, so don’t take our word for it. check it out.
