LIVE AT HIS 2000TH SHOW! + IT’S CHRISTMAS... + 2016 IN REVIEW + THE MIC ‘UNPLUGGED’ REVIEW + HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED!
+ The Fratellis review, Your Musical Christmas List, Hip Hop in 2016 and much more!
The Mic Issue 42
with special thanks to The Committee Gabriel Burrow (President) Luke Matthews (Editor in Chief) Betty Owoo (Publishing Director) Lok Yee Liu (Editor) Emilio Cruzalegui (Editor) Heini Lois Jones (Marketing and Social Media) Will Rhys Richards (Marketing and Social Media) Ashley Kippax (Communications) Archie Banks (Communications) Ceryn Morris (Social Secretary) Luke Barnard (Treasurer) Contributors Gabriel Burrow Emilio Cruzalegui Tushara Rose Lok Yee Liu Becky Delaurenzy Ceryn Morris Anne Schneider Betty Owoo Musicians/Interviewees Frank Turner Sponsors
And to all labels, venues, managers, promoters and PR companies who provided us with gig, interview and promotional opportunities. We look forward to seeing you all next year! Our next magazine (Issue no. 43) is due for release in the new year. Join The Mic for just ÂŁ4 for the year! For any review, gig, or interview requests, email us at: themic@themicmagazine.co.uk
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CONTENTS 20 Frank Turner has had a busy 2016. Playing 193 shows and being on the road for 300 days, he’s definitely been working hard. We sent The Mic’s Ceryn Morris along to meet him before his 2000th show - and she had an incredible time. Turn to page 10 for the full interview...
INSIDE THIS ISSUE IT’S CHRISTMAS...
OUR FESTIVE BANGERS Your Musical Christmas List
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FEATURES & INTERVIEWS
Review: The Fratellis @ Rock City 8 INTERVIEW: FRANK TURNER 10
2016 IN REVIEW
Star Albums The Mic ‘Unplugged’ Year In Hip Hop
15 20 23
Ceryn Morris’ Choice
Honestly, any Christmas song sung by Frank Sinatra. In an age where Michael Bublé is considered the king of Christmas, Sinatra is the rightful holder of that crown, as it is his voice that evokes those unrealistic, Christmas card-esque images of a white Christmas, being tucked in with a fire watching old, black and white movies or you know Home Alone and Love Actually.
Emilio Cruzalegui’s Choice:
Stop the Cavalry by Jona Lewie
For me, this is a really underrate d Christmas tune. I don’t really know why, but it’s always stuck with me more than any other festive songs. For sure, it’s instantly recognizable with that bugle open ing and Jona Lewie’s distinctive voca ls, even if they’re not that intelligible. I just find it really charming and pretty catchy, so you can guarantee it will be on my Xma s playlist. Also, that trumpet chorus is always a winner, no argument there.
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Tushara Rose’s Choice:
Jingle Bell Rock by Yellowman
This song really speaks for itself. Reggae legend Yellowman’s take on ‘Jingl e Bell Rock’ brings the feeling of summer to the Festive period, though by usin ga well-known tune, his riddim ‘n’ vibe s don’t detract from the track’s Christma ssy mood. It also leaves the listener with many questions – what exactly is the Yello wman Rock? Is this song actually just Yello wman’s ode to himself, disguised as a cele bration of the birth of Jesus? And, most impo rtantly, why wasn’t this version featu red in Mean Girls? A thoughtful piece of music for a reflective time of year.
Betty Owoo’s Choice:
Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses
ker. I think this song is an absolute crac stmassy Sure, it doesn’t have the most Chri g sinmessage - essentially it’s about bein ting icipa part not and day s gle on Christma ully in festive traditions. But it’s wonderf what tongue in cheek and cynical - just n the you need at this time of year whe And it commercial hype gets too much. funky and ming char it’s sounds good too as fresh new wave guitar that sounds just n it was today as it did back in 1981 whe released.
Gabriel Burrow’s Choice:
Merry Christmas Everyone by Slade
It may not be the most original song to put forward, but Merry Christmas Ever ybody ticks all the boxes for a festive anth em. Appropriate subject matter? Chec k. Sleigh bells? Check. Someone loud ly yelling ‘Itttt’sss Christttmaasss’? Chec k. My childhood memories of early Dece mber are mostly comprised of making painfully underwhelming snowflakes out of paper and hearing this song on the radio .
’s Choice: Becky Delaurenzy lking In The Air and
The Maccabees Wa medley for BBC cover and Home Alone . sick so is Live Lounge
Lok Yee Liu’s Choice:
I Wish It Was Christm as Today by Julian Casablancas
It’s all about the anticip ation and build up to Christmas, with the actual day often culminating in a disapp ointing food coma and family tensions. Juli an Casablancas’ solo I Wish It was Christ mas Today collects the childhood excitem ent of Christmas and mashes it with his frantic guitars. With festive bells and a scr eam-able chorus, it’s encompasses all the components of a good festive song. Som etimes, you just can’t wait for Christma s but Julian knows how to make it a bit mo re bearable.
s r e g n a b e v i t fes s for what are our top tune the holiday season?
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The Rolling Stones: Blue & Lonesome deluxe box set
What’s more festive than The Rolling Stone’s first studio album in over a decade. Mistletoe? Sleigh bells? Reindeer? Ok. So quite a few things are more festive than Blue & Lonesome, but it’s still a classy return to the band’s blues roots, brimming with fluent guitar riffing, crisp drums, and Mick Jagger singing about bluesy things. The Blue & Lonesome boxset features the album on CD, a 64 page book on the recording of the album, plus a set of collectable artcards.
MÖTLEY CRÜE: THE END
This is one bumper box-set for fans of this cracking rock band. The set will chronicle the span of their 35-year career with the inclusion of six LPs and CDs, a hardcover photo book, and a live audio CD and DVD of the band’s final performance in 2015. They also throw in four autographed lithograph photo prints of the band, four Mick Mars guitar picks and a commemorative ‘Final Tour’ VIP laminate pass. What a time to be alive. As you can imagine, such a comprehensive package will set you back a pretty penny, but for a big fan it’s a must have.
your musical christmas list 6
In the spirit of Christmas (or consumerism) we thought we’d assemble a list of new box sets, reissues and gizmos that vary from quite expensive to really very expensive. If you still buy CDs in 2016 good on you. Ho Ho Ho.
by Gabriel Burrow
Roli Lightpad Block
Do you want a snazzy new midi controller, but have always been shit with keyboards? ROLI have created a palm-sized musical surface that they claim is easy to pick up and play right out of the box. You just pair it with their NOISE app and start prodding. With artists like Grimes already getting on board with the product and some impressive demos online this is worth looking into.
Audioquest DragonFly Black
For the uninitiated the DragonFly Black is a DAC. This means that it’s a fancy amplifier for headphones that will convert digital signal to analogue. In practice this means that you can get the most out of high quality music files generally the high end-will be crisper and the low-end will be clearer. At £90 it’s an expensive stocking filler, but if you want a way to fine-tune your listening experience this isn’t a bad bet.
Kate Bush - Before The Dawn box set
Having already exhibited Christmas spirit by endorsing Theresa May, Kate Bush has released her second live album. Having listened through the recording I have to say it is superb. The performance was split into 3 “Acts”, which each have a disk of their own. My one criticism would be that the phasery synths used throughout are a touch overbearing, so have a listen yourself before you pick this up.
Cypress Hill ‘25th Anniversary Skull’ Reissue
Have you ever thought - “man, I just love Cypress Hill?”. Do you also enjoy skull-based memorabilia? I see. Well apparently 1,991 people do, as this limited run deluxe collection has already sold out. The black resin skull acts as a glorified CD holder for a remastered copy of their debut album and there’s a 100+ page hardcover book. Wow.
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It’s the first show of The Fratellis’ Costello Music tour. The band are celebrating their debut album, which which was released ten years ago in October. It’s only a few minutes till they’re set to start their sold out gig at Rock City. The venue gets busier with every minute that goes by. Everyone’s waiting excitedly for Jon, Mince and Barry Fratelli to take to the stage. Eyes are focused on the front of the venue, not wanting to miss anything happening. Suddenly a song starts. It’s a well-known classical song by Jacques Offenbach called “Can Can” (from Orpheus from the Underworld). People start moving and singing along, even without any lyrics to follow. The lights on stage are shifting and flashing in harmony with the song until it ends…The energy is palpable. Finally, The Fratellis enter the stage and they set in with the first song of the night - their first track and single of Costello Music named “Henrietta”. Singer Jon Fratelli is wearing a large hat, his trademark, and is playing on an eye-catching guitar. Then there is also Mince Fratelli, who’s responsible for the drums and backing vocals and Barry Fratelli on the bass guitar. Additionally, the band is supported by another guy on the keys. The fans have already started
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singing along enthusiastically with Jon, even though it’s only their first song of the night. And they aren’t just singing along to the chorus, but the verses, something I’ve never experienced before and even The Fratellis themselves seem surprised by their audience. A mosh pit is taking shape in the middle of the crowd and people get closer to each other. During the next song “Flathead” the security guards have to intervene, because fans are getting rowdy. And it wasn’t the last time they had to step in! The powerful “Flathead” fades into “Cuntry Boys & City Girls” which contains a bass solo from Barry Fratelli which fans applaud heavily afterwards. Then we hear the first notes of the more solemn “Whistle For The Choir” and the fans sing along once more. Because of the mosh pits I managed to get a spot in the second row and therefore didn’t just have a good view of The Fratellis onstage but also the security guards on my right, who are constantly observing the crowd, in case it gets too crazy again. With the first chords of “Chelsea Dagger”, the track I first heard by The Fratellis years ago, the crowd is going crazy again: they are bouncing, dancing and singing loudly. A shower of beer comes down from above like drizzling
Costello Music 10
rain. The atmosphere is just so special and people are bursting with energy. When The Fratellis play “For The Girl“ the security must intervene once more. “Doginabag” is a cool and easy-going song with a guitar solo at the end; “Creepin’ Up The Backstairs” brings the crowd to the boil again and lets them go wild … In fact, it’s basically a song that doesn’t leave you any other choice! Fans are clapping and singing along and I even notice one of the security guys moving with the beat. After “Vince The Lovable Stoner” follows “Everybody Knows You Cried Last night” and “Baby Fratelli”. After these songs, Jon tells the story of how The Fratellis became The Fratellis as we know them now (with his lovely Scottish accent). The rousing “Got Ma Nuts From A Hippie” was the first song they ever played together as a band, he tells his audience. “Ole Black ‘n’ Blue Eyes” is the last track of the album, it sounds simpler and slightly different to the album version. After reeling off their whole album Costello Music the band decides to play songs from their other albums as well and begin with the catchy “Impostors (Little By Little)” from their most recent album Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied (2016). The fans are less energetic than before,
maybe because they got tired or they didn’t recognise the songs. Songs like “Seven Nights, Seven Days” and “We Need Medicine” from We Need Medicine (2013) follow. “Until She Saves My Soul” (from the same album) is the last one of the set and The Fratellis leave the stage. The audience wants to hear more and instead of just shouting “Encore” they start singing “Chelsea Dagger” to get The Fratellis on stage again… and it works! For an encore, they play some other songs from Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied like “Thief”, in my opinion a great song with a cool sound. “Heady Tale” is a track from Here We Stand which is comparable to The Beatles. The very last song is a Rock ’n Roll cover from the 1960s, “Runaround Sue” (originally by Dion). Now there’s just space to say that the performance of The Fratellis was rousing and full of energy that passed over to the audience from the very first song. Their well-chosen support act can be strongly recommended to everyone as well. It’s Johnny Lloyd, once the frontman of indie-rock band Tribes, who’s now hitting the road as singer-songwriter on his own. He played an amazing gig and you should definitely give his EP Dreamland a listen!
0th Anniversary Tour @ Rock City
by Anne Schneider
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in conversation ahead of his 2000th show
by Ceryn Morris
It’s not every day you get to interview an artist who has significantly influenced you since the day you first bought one of their albums. When I discovered I had an interview with Frank Turner, my friend jokingly told me ‘you should never meet your idols’ yet, as I stood outside Rock City and saw the man himself casually walk down the street and greet me, I was struck with the truth. This a normal guy who simply does what he loves. He is a performer that has the ability to create an instant sense of community and brotherliness amongst a crowd of strangers. He encourages crowd surfing, mosh pits, creates walls of hugs (not death), and uses the stage as a platform to share knowledge of causes such as Safe Gigs for Women. Fans can trace Turner’s personal, musical and lyrical development over time from 2007’s angsty, acoustically explorative debut
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Sleep is for the Week to 2015’s dynamic, proclamatory Positive Songs for Negative People. His sets remain filled with the tracks adored by fans from the past decade of albums, and more often than not Turner’s voice is drowned out by the roaring crowds. He is an artist that channels his whole personality into his music, evoking a sincerity that is engaged in his live shows. Over the past year Turner has played a total of 193 shows as he led up to his 2000th ever show held at our very own Rock City, he’s also released a documentary film titled ‘Get Better’, and announced a 4 night festival event he’s curating at the London Roundhouse next summer. This milestone is certainly not the end of the road for Frank Turner as he continues to do what he considers to be ‘true, honest, hard work’.
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So this past year has been a pretty mental one for you, how exhausted are you? Yeah, we started well, I don’t mean to be OCD with figures, but we started this year around the 10th of January in Utrecht with show 1808, so 193 shows later is a lot and, in fact, we looked it up with travel days and we’re on about 300 days from home. I’ve been thinking the last couple of days that everything’s sort of got a lot more exhausting, and I don’t think it’s necessarily because of the schedule, it’s that we all know the end’s in sight. If we had another 6 months straight up it would be fine, it’s just that because everyone knows that 10pm this evening that’s fucking that. But it’s been a great year, it’s felt like an honest year of hard work, like, I mean, it’s a funny thing to say in a way, but like all the promo that goes around an album release, it can be a little less tasteful, like you end up doing all sorts of weird things, like Sunday Brunch and that sort of thing and that’s fine, and I’ll do it, but this year we’ve just toured and it’s just been great. Do you feel that you connect more with your audience when you’re not having to promote an album? It’s just that this is the honest work and yeah everyone can do a tour with a release, but can you do 2 years on the back of a release and the answer is yes, you can.
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So how are you feeling about tonight? Really good, I mean for a number of reasons, like, this is my favourite venue in the whole world and as if to confirm that, we played here last Friday and that was the fucking gig of the tour, already and tonight can only get better. The other thing for tonight is that I’m playing in the opening act as well, The Tailors, who are my favourite band from back in 2004/5. How did you persuade them to get back together? Well, I mean Adam’s a great friend of mine and we’re still in touch, and they haven’t done a gig in about 8-9 years, just cause he’s been doing other things with life, he works in Marketing now, and I just gave them a call asking if they were interested in getting the band back together, to which they said, well, need a guitarist cause Chad has moved to Canada, which I was like ‘ta dah’. So I’m now a Tailor, which is really exciting for me cause I still count them as one of my biggest influences between the two records they put out in 2004/5 taught me a lot about song-writing, so it’s exciting. So, of course, the film came out this week, how long had you been preparing for that? Well the filming started in September 2014, and the idea came about a little bit before. We filmed for just over a year, through to Alexandra Palace in 2015. It’s a funny thing because
With 6 albums under your belt, and countless requests from fans, how do you actually manage to put together a set list? One of the liberating things was the decision that I wasn’t taking any requests for tonight. That is my fucking set list. I mean the request thing is cool, because I have a lot of songs and I sort of forget about them and it’s nice to make people’s day with that, and also people request a song I may not have thought about in 2 years and I’m like fuck yeah, I could always play that. So it is a cool thing to do, I spend a lot of my day thinking about set lists and there’s such much that goes in to it. Actually someone came up to me after the Falmouth show on this tour and said ‘you structure your show in 6 acts’ and I just said ‘thank you for noticing’, because we do. I’m forever structuring my set lists, you have to start in a certain place, it’s not unlike chess, there’s set moves, we generally have a You seem to be continuously on the road set list that evolves over time and we tend to and away from home, do you suffer from open with the same 3 and close with the same homesickness? for a couple months. And like yeah we have bits Yes, I mean, there’s a, if I can say the followwhere there’s a crowd surf and whatever, but ing sentence without sounding vanishingly it’s like pushing down air bubbles in a seal of self-important, I think there’s a central conflict plastic; if you push something down, or change at heart with a lot of my writing of wanderlust a bit here, you’ll have to change that, and that and homesickness. I mean in recent years and that because it’s like I like to play at least things have changed, which they should do something off every record, I like to make sure in life, like I now have an apartment, or a flat that we don’t stay in one kind of era for too I should say, I’m not American. I live in a flat, I long. I started writing the set list for tonight 2 have a flatmate, I have a girlfriend and like she’s weeks ago and it is now officially done. been good at making me take time. Like the public perception vs reality is entirely different Do you ever get sick of playing certain because I don’t tweet when I’m not on tour. songs? People don’t tend to notice that, so everyone’s Not really, I mean, I could play Photosynthelike ‘oh my god, you’ve been so busy’ and I’m sis and Recovery with my eyes closed, in my like well I’ve had 2 holidays this year and I’m sleep, and I think you could probably put me in going on holiday again next week which is quite cold storage for a 100 years and I’ll still come luxurious. And, well, I’ve gotten a lot better, out being able to play Recovery. But I think like after the Tape Deck Heart tour, I vividly that people miss most when that becomes remember getting home from a 14 month repetitive, is that it’s a different context every stretch on that and not even saying goodbye day, and you’re in front of a different group of to each other at the airport, we just walked off, people, in a different room and plus I just sort and it was partly because we were seeing each of find that there’s something about the idea other like a week later. But it was just a bit kind of being bored of something that makes 2000 of like we’re in danger of not only physically people lose their shit, I mean, really? Get over destroying ourselves, like my back ran out, but yourself. And like there’s a more philosophiemotionally destroying ourselves as well. You cal approach, which I’ve been thinking about also become sort of one dimensional if the only a lot recently, is what I love about touring is thing you ever do is tour. So we generally take taking the opportunity for the restatement of at least a week off between tours now, we don’t purpose, like when you’re in the studio, you generally do about 2 months straight anymore, cut a song and it’s this speed and that key and and that’s pretty civilised, it’s good. whatever else you know and what I like about whilst I am the subject of the portrait, I am not the painter. I didn’t really do very much to do with the film other than sit down and do some face to face interviews with Ben, around once every 3 months, we’d do a sort of catch up. But the rest of it was just him filming what was happening anyway and then he did the editing. He did, sort of, offer me editorial control and I turned it down, cause it seemed that it would make for a compromised piece of art. And there are definitely some bits in the film which make me feel un-good. And much, like a lot of things in my life, I didn’t really think about it very much until it was happening, where I was sat there, the night before last, thinking ‘fuck’. But the film does have a happy ending and my life now is in a much more emotionally stable place these days. So there is a happy ending, but it’s a bit weird to watch.
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tours is that you get to make all those decisions again y’know and if we didn’t do it a certain way or had we, it doesn’t matter cause there’s tonight. There’s another chance to say it again. To change all the little inflexions and hints and everything and make up songs. A song isn’t just a set of lyrics and a set of chords, it’s so much more than that. In the broader sense just in terms of my attitude, my fostering of a sense of community or the vibe I’m trying to create and foster in a show, there’s always another go, and I’m not quite sure what I’d do without it. I’d like to ask you a little bit about Safe Gigs for Women who you’ve been supporting both on social media and on this tour, did you approach them or did they approach you? They got in touch with me and Tracy who runs it, who’s here tonight and is an absolute saint, she sort of set up a blog initially, and it’s sort of what I’ve been saying at shows, the first time I had my awareness raised was a conversation with Tracy, where I was like I’m sure that happens at other people’s shows, but doesn’t happen at mine, and she was just like ‘I hate to break it to you’ and y’know I get it, I’m the tall, straight, white guy – it’s not something that comes directly on to my radar but talking about it with her, and I’ve done my best to try and have open conversation with my friends and it is a problem and it sometimes does happen at my gigs, which makes me fucking furious cause
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I don’t want to play gigs to those kind of people. But there’s also something, kind of sad that if you’re a woman and half the people there don’t know about it. There has been some backlash on it on Facebook – never read the comments, I read the comments – but that’s just made me kind of want to double down on it. Like what is there to backlash on like saying ‘I’m a femi-nazi or that this is a money spinner’ like no, you should meet Tracy, this isn’t a money spinner, she’s worked to do this, she’s not getting paid, I’ve been helping her out where I can, but yeah it’s a wonderful group and I definitely want to do more. Just to finish, I have to ask the impossible question, has there been a stand out show amongst the past 2000 you have played? I couldn’t pick one, this sounds like a dodge to the question and it’s not intended as one, the thing I like is the on going process. The thing that I’m proud of, the thing that I enjoy, the thing I wish to celebrate. In a way it’s the fact that when I was a teenager, I told my friends that I wanted to be a touring musician and everybody laughed, and said that I was talking out of my arse.. and here we fucking are. And I don’t want to sound too aggressively defensive about that, and the thing, it’s not individual nights, it’s the fact that there’s more nights. And tonight’s going to be great, but it’s not the end of my career, like we have another 6 months of touring in the diary and it’s fucking great.
The Mic’s
star albums
2016
2016 has been somewhat of a vintage year for music. We here at The Mic have picked our favourite records released this year. What made our ears perk up? Read on to find out...
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Lemonande by Beyoncé Only Beyonce could release an album that generated the mass hysteria of Lemonade, on album sales alone she is the best album of 2016. Racking up seven Grammy nominations is no small feat for a sixth album, proving herself as a global pop-superpower. With her motivations clear on Formation and creating political waves at the Superbowl, Beyonce is no ordinary popstar. As a political activist and avid supporter of Hillary Clinton she knows her influence is wide reaching and her messages are powerful. Lemonade features a range of famous guests from The Weeknd to Jack White and James Blake, giving the album a diversity that no-one else could successfully replicate. The provocative 6 Inch reveals a dark gloomy R&B sound celebrating female independence, and Hold Up is already a club favourite. Alongside the music, the videos that accompany the album stretch her art across all forms enriching the experience. Lemonade is full of sing-along, sassy examples heralding Queen Bey as the empowering leader of a generation. She leads as a flagship of feminism and leaves us all with the biggest question of 2016, who is Becky with the good hair?
by Lok Yee Liu
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the empowering leader of a generation.
”
Nonagon Infinity by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard What if I told you this is an adrenaline-fuelled, foot-stomping, fist-pumping garage rock/ psych-rock album that can in theory be played on repeat endlessly (literally, that is)?. If that doesn’t convince you to check this album out, then I don’t what will. You probably think I’ve gone mad, making something up like that, but an ‘endless album is exactly what King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have created with their eighth full-length release. Arguably the best-named band I can think of, the seven-man Australian psychedelic outfit returned in April with this epic album which has definitely become one of my personal favourites of the year. King Gizzard have proved themselves to be one of the most versatile, ambitious and prolific bands around these days, having now released eight albums in the last four years, each with an extremely distinctive sound. From the lo-fi, heavily psychedelic jams of Oddments and Quarters, to the chilled-out and charming acoustic sounds of their previous release Paper Mâché Dream Balloon, they’ve proved they can take on a variety of styles with ease. Nonagon Infinity is just another example of the band’s ambition as, since each track flows into the next so seamlessly, including the ‘closing track’ into the ‘opening’ track, the album could in fact be played in a never-ending loop. This makes for an absolutely exhilarating experience, and definitely the most fun I’ve had this
“
the best named band I can think of...
”
year listening to an album for the first time. This is by no means an extremely deep and thought-provoking album but I just can’t help but be dragged into the hypnotic, hugely entertaining guitar rhythms each track brings. King Gizzard are extremely skilled with their instruments and know how to deliver electrifying performances each time which I can only imagine must be incredible when played live. There are gut-busting drum sections from the two drummers Michael Cavanagh and Eric Moore (particularly impressive on tracks like Road Train) who never let up the tempo, wild guitar licks on pretty much every track but especially on People-Vultures or Robot Stop and frontman Stu Mackenzie leads the vocals brilliantly and brings the mayhem together with repeated shouts and whoops (such as on Evil Death Roll). So if you’re looking for something outrageously fun to just rock out to, then I can’t recommend Nonagon Infinity enough. The manic performances and overall expertly stitched together tracks make for a truly outstanding album. This review probably doesn’t do it justice so for the full ‘mind blown’ effect of the transitions between each track and how this ‘infinite loop’ really works, you need to listen for yourself. Check it out whenever you can!
by Emilio Cruzalegui 17
Post Pop Depression by Iggy Pop 2016 has seen some truly incredible albums from some of my favourite artists. There were the final records from Bowie and Cohen, both of which were uniquely dark and captivating, Danny Brown came out with his most experimental album yet, and Weezer released an album that wasn’t shit (it was in fact great). Given all these fantastic titles, I would never have dreamt that my favourite release of the year would be a new Iggy Pop record. The last decade has seen Pop feature in a routinely bashed run of Swiftcover ads and collaborate with Sum 41 - quite a lot of bollocks really. All things considered, Post Pop Depression is an outstanding return to form. For one thing he was joined by an all star band, with Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme and Dean Fertita, as well as Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders. The result of this collaboration is an album that sounds electric; it’s raw in all the right ways and has some cracking grooves for Pop to croon over. The synthesis of Homme’s distinctive songwriting and production and Pop’s grizzled self-reflection is without a doubt what makes Post Pop Depression such a standout. The tracks have a wistful cynicism to them that expresses effectively what it means to be a rock legend of advancing years. “I have nothing but my name”, Pop reflects on American Valhalla. These sentiments might not match the profundity of Bowie’s Blackstar, but there’s something so straightforwardly listenable about these songs that I’ve revisited them time and time again.
by Gabriel Burrow
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Coloring Book by Chance the Rapper 2016 may have been an awful year, but no one can say it didn’t deliver in terms of music. This year we saw releases from industry heavyweights such as Yeezy, Queen Bey and Bowie, as well as a slew of albums from indie darlings such as Frank Ocean, Blood Orange and Solange. But the album that I keep coming back to, the album that made my 2016 that much brighter, was made by someone on the edges of the industry. Someone who wasn’t beholden to a label or to a record company. I’m talking about Lil Chano from 79th – aka Chance triumphant, Ultralight Beam inspired All We the Rapper, and the album in question is his Got, the stomping ultimate party jam that is All glorious Coloring Book. Night, and the wistful hope and fierce optimism of Finish Line/Drown. Thematically the album exChance burst into mainstream consciousness plores complex issues such as street violence this year with a killer guest verse on Kanye in Chicago (Summer Friends) and independence West’s Ultralight Beam. With the statement as an artist (No Problem). Throughout, Chance’s “This is my part / Nobody else speak” he let the cleverness with lyrics shines through – in the world know that he had arrived, that he was a poignant Same Drugs he paints a beautiful true force to be reckoned with in the rap game. metaphor of friends growing apart using the Already proving his credentials with the well-restory of Peter Pan as a reference (“Window ceived mixtapes 10 Day and Acid Rap, Coloring closed / Wendy got old / I was too late / A Book is his longest mixtape to date, jam packed shadow of what I once was”). My two absolute with some of the best material he has ever favourite tracks are the most gospel inspired written. The record features a varied cast – Jus– on Blessings Chance reminds us that “When tin Bieber, Kanye West, Kirk Franklin, Jeremih, the praises go up / The blessings come down”, Lil Wayne, Future and Lil Yachty to name drop whereas in the exuberant Angels he and Saba but a few – as well as an abundance of choirs pay homage to the people in their lives who and Chance’s band, The Social Experiment. All have made them who they are today (“I got the players come together to make Coloring angels all around me they keep me surroundBook the year’s most unlikely gospel record. ed”). Chance’s faith in God shines through on this record, but he is never preachy, never patI love Coloring Book because each track either ronising. He simply wants to share something speaks to my soul or makes me want to dance. beautiful he has made with as many people as Standouts from the record for me include the he possibly can.
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the year’s most unlikely gospel record.
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I can’t recommend this album enough. I genuinely believe that it’s one of the strongest rap albums released this year – the fact that it’s nominated for 3 Grammys is testament to that. Give it a listen – you might just fall in love.
by Betty Owoo 19
The Mic
unplugged by Lok Yee
The Setlist
(1) Will Rhys Richards Will Rhys Richards opened up the show, performing acoustic covers of our favourite indie songs. He opened with The 1975’s ‘Chocolate’ to the crowd who responded with immediate cheers. A highlight was his cover of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Don’t’, which he mashed with ‘No Diggity’ and 50 Cent’s ‘In Da Club’ to the crowd’s absolute delight. He continued to please with his sweet rendition of ‘Toothpaste Kisses’, melting hearts and inducing tears following the recent split of The Maccabees. Will proved a real crowd pleaser with the charisma of any respectable singer songwriter.
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Sex These Streets Vivienne Don’t Toothpaste Kisses Chocolate
(2) Julia Joyce
The Setlist
Julia Joyce came on soon after, covering jazz and funk influenced titles and her powerful and sultry voice mesmerised the audience. All she had was a guitar as accompaniment but that’s all that was needed as her strong vocals supported her performance and really wowed, especially tugging at heartstrings with ‘Love is Blind’.
Love is Blind Misty Nakamarra Stronger than Me
In November we hosted our first live event, showcasing four acts in UoN’s Studio Live. From acoustic indie to spacey experimental, the crowd had a brilliant taste of the variety of talent Nottingham has on offer. All four acts were not only students at UoN, but Mic members.
(3) Fata Morgana Fata Morgana followed with promises of ‘Twisted medieval psycho’ folk music - she did not disappoint. Her quirky introductions to each song (being in a lab, getting elbows pierced) set the experimental tone of her songs. The tongue-in-cheek introduction to her songs kept the atmosphere buzzing in anticipation of what would follow. She showed both charm and solid songwriting ability to create a set which stood out considerably.
(4) Sweet Malaise Sweet Malaise closed the show and changed the atmosphere once again with their 5 piece band bringing moody rock to the studio. With both some original songs and two special covers being showcased in their set, it was a good mix of old and new. Chvrches’ ‘Recover’ was an especially popular cover as the band got the crowd dancing and singing along. Sweet Malaise worked well as a tightknit band, especially in instrumental jams during songs. Their set displayed some varied instrumentation with the addition of some cajón percussion which along with some excellent vocal performances rounded off the evening perfectly.
The Setlist Unfunny Bone The Paleo Diet Bunz in the Ovenz Hoodlife Northern Suburbs
The Setlist Destination Recover Red Plague Tunnels
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hip hop in 2016 2016- It wasn’t all bad right?
Guys. We’ve almost made it. 2016 is nearly over. It’s safe to say this has been an emotionally draining year, for reasons that don’t need to be mentioned again since we’ll never hear the end of them in some cases. The music world has also been shaken up multiple times this year with icon after icon sadly passing away. We at the Mic have already paid tribute to the legendary David Bowie and the highly promising British band Viola Beach but this year also saw the loss of Prince, Leonard Cohen and many more who leave behind incredible legacies. However, it might be in
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the music of 2016 that we can find some comfort and some hope that all is still alright. There have been some excellent releases across all genres this year but I would like to draw particular attention to hip-hop and R’n’B, because it’s actually been an incredible year for these two genres. Many were eagerly awaiting releases from Kanye West and Frank Ocean but there are many more excellent works that may have gone under the radar this year but are definitely worth a listen. To start off, we can go back to March, when out
of nowhere, Kendrick Lamar released his short but nonetheless excellent compilation album ‘untitled unmastered’. The 8 tracks on here perfectly demonstrated how well Kendrick has refined his craft, and how well-respected he has become. Despite this being only a collection of outtakes and demos produced during the recording of his masterful 2015 release ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’, it is a fantastic continuation to this album. By exploring further the political and personal themes of TPAB and keeping the jazz, soul and funk influenced sound of that album, Kendrick Lamar created a thoroughly enjoyable addition to his discography.
first album in 18 years. Music in general has obviously changed immensely since then so it was always going to a large feat to successfully adapt. However, Tribe have done it almost flawlessly with ‘We Got It From Here…Thank You 4 Your service”. Guest appearances from Kanye, Kendrick and Jack White for example bring the Tribe Called Quest style into the 21st Century but it still genuinely feels like a Tribe album, which is fantastic. Relevant social commentary, first-class production, varied instrumentation and heartfelt tributes to the late Phife Dawg make this an essential listen. And then at the start of this month, we saw the return of Childish Gambino, who completely changed up As summer arrived, so did some more excelhis sound as well. His latest, ‘Awaken My Love!”, lent hip-hop. I for one, have had a mild obsesswaps rhymes for funky soul rhythms to great sion with Kaytranada’s debut album ‘99.9%’ effect. Donald Glover somehow seems to absince it came out in May and am still struggling solutely smash almost everything he attempts, to get away from it. With a star-studded feature and this album just continues that great run. list including Craig David and Anderson. Paak Trap-influenced beats are replaced by groovy and a fantastic variety of funky, instrumental guitar lines and drums (‘Redbone’, ‘Riot’) and beat-driven tracks (‘Track Uno’), well-executraps by Glover’s generally solid singing voice ed rap tracks (‘Drive Me Crazy’ featuring Vic and booming gospel-styled chorus vocals (‘Me Mensa) and some quality more house-orientand Your Mama’, ‘Boogieman’). It’s real proof of ed bangers (Lite Spots), it’s an instant hit. It his growth as a recording artist and ability to definitely got me through exam season and seamlessly change styles. I’ll probably still be grooving to it this time next year. I was also really taken by surprise So all in all, it has been an exceptional year by ‘Telefone’, the debut mixtape from Chicago for hip-hop as there’s plenty more honourarapper Noname, formerly known as Noname ble mentions I could ramble on about. Vince Gypsy. She has usually been excellent when Staples continued his rise in popularity with his featured by the likes of Chance the Rapper pretty hard-hitting ‘Prima Donna’ EP and Mick or Mick Jenkins but with this first full-length Jenkins’ ‘The Healing Component’ was one of effort, Noname has shown she can stand on the mellowest releases of the year, even if the her own very comfortably. The warm and jazzy subject matter of love was treated in a fairly production is wonderful, and Noname herself superficial manner. In the UK as well, 2016 has has great flow throughout and delivers some been the year for grime to really establish itself excellent bars which muse on fame (‘Yesteras a genre that can top the charts but also day’), her childhood (‘Diddy Bop’) and mortality gain critical acclaim. Everyone has jammed to (‘Casket Pretty’). Probably the least well known ‘Shutdown’ over the past year but both Skepta artist in this article, but by no means one that and Kano were nominated for the Mercury should be ignored. Prize this year and it was the former who went on to win it, beating both David Bowie and RaAutumn finally brought us some artists’ most diohead. I don’t think there could be a clearer daring work. First, Danny Brown broke pretty example of grime’s rise in status. In terms of much all the norms of hip-hop with his absohip-hop, 2016 has given us both the weird and lutely insane third album ‘Atrocity Exhibition’. the wonderful and with upcoming projects You can check the website for my detailed from Run the Jewels, Freddie Gibbs & Madlib review of that mindf*ckery but Danny Brown and maybe even Earl Sweatshirt on the horizon truly outdid himself by delivering one of the in 2017, it’s looking like we’ll have plenty more most unique and twisted hip-hop albums I’ve great material to dig into in the next few ever heard. November then saw the triummonths. Bring on the New Year! phant return of A Tribe Called Quest, with their
by Emilio Cruzalegui 23