3
The MGMT Issue
Congratulations!
That our salutation is the name of the sophomore album from the MGMT-boys might be
When we handpicked nine
well-known by now, but that is
talented photographers and
not the only thing we can offer
illustrators to interpret one
you with our fanzine #3. You
song each from the fantastic
are in fact in for even more
new album, we could not have
treats, dear reader, as we very
asked for nine more varied,
proudly can present you with
amazing and truly original
loads of visual goodness to
pieces of music
be enjoyed with the sounds of
interpretations. The result is
Congratulations.
the exhibition Interpretations of Congratulations, and you can enjoy the pictures in full in this digital issue of A Doll’s House.
Apart from the visual work, we can also offer some wisdom (in)directly from the mouths of Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden, an interview with Low Brow pioneer and artist behind the
To say it (nearly) with the
Congratulations album art,
poster boy for the psychedelic
Anthony Ausgang, and a guide
60’s, Timothy Leary:
to the eclectic fashionistas of
Turn on, tune in, ENJOY!
the music industry. Best wishes,
Hilde & Astri
3
Contributing artists Anja Stang pudder.org Esra Røise esraroise.com Saga Sigurdardottir A Doll’s House is
theneverendingstory.blogspot.com
Hilde Holta-Lysell - Editor
Hilde Holta-Lysell
Astri Barbala - Feature Editor
adollshouse.no/hilde
Esra Røise - Editorial design
Tove Sivertsen
Jan Schjetne - Graphic design
tovesivertsen.com Silje Feiring
EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTOR
Danielle DeWitt
Henriette K. Johansen
cargocollective.com/EHFO Louise Damgaard
SPECIAL THANKS TO
louisedamgaard.com
Canon
Julie Pike juliepike.no
Freudian Kicks Sony Music Entertainment
adollshouse.no
CONT COSMIC DANCERS, 08
by Astri Davies-Barbala
Out of the mouths of MGMT, 13
by Henriette K. Johansen
It’s Working, 20
by Danielle DeWitt
Song For Dan Treacy, 24
by Louise Damgaard
Someone's Missing, 28
by Silje Feiring
Flash Delirium, 32
by Hilde Holta-Lysell
ENTS 36, I Found A Whistle by Esra Røise
40, Siberian Breaks
by Tove Sivertsen
44, Brian Eno
by Anja Stang
50, Lady Dada's Nightmare
by Saga Sigurdardottir
54, Congratulations
by Julie Pike
58, ART ACCORDING TO AUSGANG
by Astri Davies-Barbala
s o C mi
dan
ic
cers
New wave hippies, psychedelic indie, glamour gypsies – many names have surrounded these hot young things that make the music business a more stylish place to be in 2010.
Mixing 60’s hippie chic with some 70’s glittery flamboyancy and a dash of 80‘s post-punk weirdness, we present to you five artists who are hailed for their eclectic fashion sense as well as for their music. by Astri Davies-Barbala
Cosmic
dan
cers
MGMT Move over Lady Gaga, these young men don’t need no telephones on their heads to show you weird but wonderful dressing. It sure is a huge achievement itself to have
Par example: Gucci’s creative
made multi-coloured tie-dye
director, Frida Giannini,
dresses and headbands hip
dedicated an entire menswear
for the male population, but
collection to the band in 2008;
Ben and Andrew’s passionate
they’ve lent their faces to
affair with the fashion world
a Converse campaign; and
don’t stop here. In fact, the
the trendy twosome are now
Brooklyn-boys have had the
grazing the cover of the May
fashion world drooling over
issue of style bible BlackBook.
them since the first images of
Not bad for a band that started
them emerged 3 years ago.
out as an art-college joke.
Bat for Lashes Singer-songwriter Natasha Khan’s hauntingly beautiful
Patrick Wolf
indie-folk-electronica is for
“Do I follow the star or the gypsy
many fashion insiders totally
king?“ the 27-year-old multi-
overshadowed by her amazing,
instrumentalist sings on “The
experimental sense of style. This
Gypsy King” from his 2005 album
30-year-old can look just as
Wind in the Wires.
mesmerizing in ripped denim as in sequinned 20‘s flapper dresses
Judging by the London-native’s
or full-on peacock costumes.
somewhat schizophrenic dressing, one can conclude that he seems to
Khan is one of very few who can
have chosen to follow both gypsy
sport hairy armpits and blue
and (several) star(s).
stick-on stars on her forehead as fashion statements, something
His mishmash style mix of preppy,
the late Alexander McQueen must
disco, street wear and boho chic
have thought impressive too, as
works, however, and was without
he chose to collaborate with her
doubt one of the reasons why he
on a few pieces for his McQ label.
was hand-picked by Christopher Bailey to appear alongside
Undoubtedly a style icon for
Agyness Dean for a Burberry
the future.
campaign in 2007.
Goldfrapp Alison Goldfrapp is 44 this year
Empire of the Sun At first glance, you can be forgiven for thinking this band to be two fanatic Star Wars-geeks on very strong psychedelic drugs. But there is more to Aussie lads Luke Steele and Nick Little than their love of dressing like futuristic space magicians. They actually make really cool electro-pop music, as presented on 2008’s Walking on a Dream, an album which has proved hugely popular amongst fashion week DJs. We predict that it won’t be long until designers are sending models dressed as cosmic crusaders out on the catwalk, too.
- who would have thought? - and probably cannot be classified as a “hot young thing” anymore. However, this style-chameleon deserves a lot of praise for the fact that she’s constantly revamping and transforming her image, which has inspired fashionistas and musicians alike. Never one to rely on fashion fads, Ms Goldfrapp has managed to stay “alternative” while still enjoying commercial success, with styles ranging from treehugging hippie (with 2008’s Seventh Tree) to sexy retro-diva (with 2003’s Black Cherry) and futuristic cool electro-babe (with 2000’s debut album Felt Mountain and this year’s Head First). In other words, a true queen of eclectic style.
Out of the mouths of Why talk to them in person when they’ve already said it all?
and partner-inrhyme Ben Goldwasser.
Through the magnificent Internet
Here’s an A(ndrew) B(en)
and works of other people we
C(ongratulations) of what
serve you a copy-paste-meeting with Andrew VanWyngarden
the MGMT have to say. by Henriette K. Johansen
Out of the mouths of
Art
A I think, overall, it’s less pseudo-mystical-weird-vaguely-
B We wanna pay attention to
sorcerer lyrics and more to do
visual details and stuff, but i
with real things, whether that´s
don’t think we’re really that arty.
relationships or friends what
A We like art, but we don’t really
we´ve met or drugs or whatever”
know too much about it.
A I don’t think this album will be
B Our biggest moment was when
as popular as the first album, I
we realized we could play with
don´t see how it could, so all the
stuffed animals for two hours. We
music that is coming from us is
were so happy.
honest and from the soul. Also
www.press2play.tv/rekommenderat/26/
we´re older, and it´s harder to
Mgmt-vi-fIck-alla-att-lamna-konserten-2
write songs about electric eels now, for better for worse! ADOLLSHOUSE.NO/MGMT-IN-NME.JPG
‘Congratulations’ - Our first album wasn’t sincere. This one is.
Dreams & Wishes
strikegently.com/?p=42663
- We want to play a show exclusively for dogs at some
A We´re excited because a lot of
point. We aren’t a joke band,
people will see it as a pat on the
but we think it would be really
back to ourselves and really it´s
amazing if there was a stadium
a bit more sinister and sarcastic
full of dogs...
than that. But the music I don´t
caughtinthecrossfIre.com/music/
think is as sinister or ironic.
interviews/5490
IndIe - We don’t wanna be an indie-
DRUGS A We realized when we smoke pot we’re more relaxed, we got into the music a little more and just kind of laidback. So we started smoking pot before we play. - So do you have pot on your raider? A We do, but it doesn’t always come through. - What do you do then? B We ask around. youtube.com/watch?v=vB5IRg_1WEQ
band, because you realize then you would maybe not be able to get a castle and do weird rituals on an indie-label, you know. - Cause that’s like one of our ultimate goals. To have a big castle or a ranch or something. Like Led Zeppelin. - We want people to be a little bit confused when they listen to our music, we don’t want it to be easy to get, but we want it to be accessible to everybody, we don’t wanna exclude anybody and say you’re not cool enough to listen to MGMT. grandcrew.com/editorial/mgmt-interview-
FASHION
brain-magazine-video-new-york
B We like dressing up in weird clothes. I’m not really sure what we have could be called a fashion sense. ugo.com/ugo/html/article/?id=19038
B We love being associated with fashion people and models. Was that believable? caughtinthecrossfIre.com/music/ interviews/5490
INSPIRATION - We idolize a lot of musicians from the 70’s, from that time when there were people on major labels who were doing crazy, weird things. Like David Bowie, who was just totally out of his mind, doing all this crazy stuff,
Music (general) B It makes life less boring. A It gives you happiness. B Music is a kind of silly business. Making sounds and people go being really creative with a lot
like “wooow”. A lot of times
of people listening to his music.
when i was feeling down and out,
youtube.com/watch?v=nmlidya91rs
music really picked me up of the ground. And that’s important.
A We’ve always been attracted to
A Music can move you. Both
what we call “creepball music“,
emotionally and physically. (…)
which is just really strange music.
I think I was obsessed with Neil
Some people would call it bad,
Young for a year. His still my
but we call it good.
favourite artist, but I think I was obsessed with him for a year.
A I guess we like it if it’s pretty,
Last.fm at Lollapalooza 4. February 2008
but really strange. We like Chrome, Spiritualized and Spacemen. B We are also inspired by the fans who bring us lots of free drugs at the shows.
Music (THEIR OWN) B We’re in the idea of affecting people with our music. youtube.com/watch?v=nmlidya91rs
caughtinthecrossfIre.com/music/ interviews/5490
A We want to make music that a 20-year-old kid could interpret
Lyrics A I wanna, like, make up, like,
as a call for revolution, but not blatant revolution. accessinterviews.com/interviews/view/927
weird stories and talk about aliens and smoking crack in the
B Our goal was to sell out as
subway.
quickly as possible. We thought it
grandcrew.com/editorial/mgmt-interview-
would never really happen and
brain-magazine-video-new-york
then it kinda did! caughtinthecrossfIre.com/music/ interviews/5490
- Then another show...We B I think there’s elements of the
got into the series of wearing
past, present and future. We get
jumpsuits and drinking a lot of
down with a lot of shitty sounds.
red wine. We were exploring these
popwreckoning.com/2008/10/30/interview-
tunnels underneath the dorms
with-mgmt/
that were really far and I don’t think kids were supposed to be in
A If I worked in a record
there. We found this little room
store, I’d put it in the ‘Rock/
that was like a bomb shelter and
Pop’ section.
it had supplies from the 60’s, like crackers and this giant barrel. We tried to eat the crackers, but
‘Oracular Spectacular‘ B We literally just wrote
they were disgusting. caughtinthecrossfIre.com/music/ interviews/5490
whatever came to us. caughtinthecrossfIre.com/music/ interviews/5490
THEMSELVES B: I don’t think that we’re… We’re not hipsters.
SHOWS - We used to perform at naked
A: Yeah, we’re not. popwreckoning.com/2008/10/30/interviewwith-mgmt/
parties. We both dressed up like hippies once and, at that show,
- Are you hot?
we were both on mushrooms, and
B Yes.
we had this huge battle with these
youtube.com/watch?v=Qt5t-__nopc
spray-painted tree branches. We had a little tent on stage once, and sat inside it smoking pot with six people watching us. citylife.co.uk/music/news/948_mgmt___hip_ hippies_of_dancefloor
Out of the mouths of
To celebrate the launch of the new MGMT album ‘Congratulations’ we asked 9 artists to interprete one song each from the new album. On the following pages are the results. Enjoy!
i
by DANIELLE DEWITT Artist and illustrator Future plans
Move to Norway, get married, and open a restaurant! I think MGMT
... is DELICIOUS!
ii
by Louise Damgaard Photographer, image maker, magazine collector Future plans
Live, breath, love, explore - LIFE! I think MGMT
... makes me wanna dance
iii
by SILJE FEIRING Graphic designer Future plans
Live longer, create more... I think MGMT
... are psychedelic, strange, but interesting.
iv
by Hilde Holta-Lysell
I think MGMT
Mother, photographer,
... are HOT and should play
feminist fatale, editor of
at the Slottsfjell festival this
A Doll’s House
summer! I also hope they appreciate our celebration of
Future plans
their new album and that
Take over the world with the
I one day will be able to
world’s best fanzine
photograph them.
credits: Stylist: Anja Stang Hair/makeup: Agnes Marie Guldbrandsen Model: Hege Golf Cinematographer: Morten Magnus Dress: Nina Jarebrink Collar: Miu Miu
v
by Esra Røise Illustrator, cake fanatic and shoe collector Future plans
More fun times I think MGMT
... should continue wearing short-shorts like they did when they played Hove two years ago
vi
by Tove Sivertsen Photographer, dreamer Future plans
Too many plans, too little time I think MGMT
... should play in the woods on Tromøya again
vii
by Anja Stang Fashion journalist & stylist, summer lover, mother-to-be Future plans
To pop out the world’s most beautiful, bright and brilliant baby in June I think MGMT
... rock & definitely deserve this tribute!
viii
by Saga Sigurdardottir photographer, student, fashion-lover, blogger Future plans
Be happy! I think MGMT
... are hotboys!
Fashion:
Nasir Mazhar
ix
by Julie Pike Photographer Future plans
Learn how to do gardening, well basic stuff that is. I think MGMT
... should ask me to take their next photo ;)
credits: Styling + make up: Kjersti andreassen (kjerstiandreassen.com) Model: Vik
d r o c c a Art
AUSG
o t g din
GANG A pioneer of the Low Brow art movement and the man behind the Congratulations cover art, Anthony Ausgang talks cats, art and drawing on pizza boxes for MGMT. Words and interview by Astri Davies-Barbala
o t g n i d r rt acco
A
AUSGANG Born to a Dutch mother and a Welsh father in Trinidad
in one of said subcultures, and
and Tobago in 1959, Anthony
the surfing cat(s) on the cover of
Ausgang was early exposed to the
Congratulations is no exception.
subjects he later would cover in
Ausgang met MGMT through the
his paintings. As a result of his
album’s producer, Pete ”Sonic
father’s custom car enthusiasm
Boom” Kember, who has used
and his mother’s interest in
several Ausgang paintings on
operas and art museums, young
E.A.R. releases in the past.
Anthony would soon incorporate
He’s heading to Italy in
both ”high” and ”low” culture
September, where two new
into his artworks.
paintings will be on display at
The Low Brow movement arose
two different shows, respectively
in Los Angeles in the late 1970’s,
the Urban Superstar Festival
with its origins in various
at the MADRE Contemporary
subcultures such as punk rock,
Art Museum in Naples and
the underground comix world
the Antonio Colombo Gallery
and hot rod and surf culture.
in Milan. Between working
As one of the original Low Brow
on getting paintings done and
artists, Ausgang’s surrealistic
building custom electric guitars,
and colourful narratives often
Ausgang took a moment to reflect
feature cartoon cats partaking
on cats, art and MGMT.
What is this weird thing you
Andrew likes cats so right
have for cats? Judging from
there I was doing something he
your work, it seems like you’re
understood! But more important
pretty besotted by these feline
was the fact that I got along with
creatures.
the band and didn’t put on any
Other than calling their pet’s
pressure to get something out
name and a few commands, most
of them; at their level of fame
humans have lifelong non-verbal
I think it’s not easy for them to
relationships with their pets;
find people who can just chill
even so, people tend to consider
out and act naturally around
their pets only slightly less than
them. I went up a few times to the
human. In my paintings I prefer
mansion in Malibu where they
to use animals for this reason;
were recording and did drawings
also, I’m tired of the use of the
on some pieces of paper and pizza
human figure in art. I chose
boxes that were just scattered
cats because their history has
around. I forgot about them
paralleled that of human race
completely until Josh Cheuse,
for thousands of years; they have
the art director at Sony, sent
suffered alongside of us and
me scans of them and said that
also because of us. So cats make
he wanted some similar things.
pretty good replacements for
I guess the fact that I had hung
humans in figurative art.
out with MGMT in Malibu sort
Why do you think MGMT chose
of involved me in a very tiny way
you to do the cover art for their
in the whole process that led to
new album?
Congratulations.
Do you have any favourite tracks? I like them all, but my fave is ”Song For Dan Treacy” because
from 1969 to 1975 and sometimes
it made me find out more about
the low fidelity of the analogue
him. Not many songs send me to
recordings is quite beautiful,
Wikipedia to study up a subject.
almost as good as perfect digital
What other music
sound.
do you listen to?
You have been connected to
I listen to all sorts of music but
both so-called ”high art” as
when I work in my studio it’s
well as always being true to the
mostly heavy dub and ambient.
Low Brow movement. In which
Those kinds of music make
environment do you feel most
time disappear which is very
comfortable?
helpful because I start to go mad
Neither, I prefer the company
after five or six hours painting.
of musicians to visual artists.
Sometimes I psychotically listen to
For me there is still a mystery
the same CD over and over again
in how a group of people can
until the music vanishes and
create an organized sound that
weird sounds begin to come out
is able to transfix a crowd. I
of the speakers. I collect bootleg
don’t feel that sort of wonder at
recordings of the Rolling Stones
visual art anymore; I’ve seen and learned too much. There is a lot of meaningless visual art out there that somehow gets touted as
being important contributions to contemporary culture; in reality it’s just weak masturbation. Is Low Brow art going to become more included in the world of fine art, you think? Low Brow art goes completely
The origins of Low Brow
against the ”Conceptual Art”
Art are in the 1960s and 70s
favoured by the fine art world,
youth culture movements like
and for that reason is excluded
Kustom Kulture, surfing and
from most museums. Still, there
skateboarding. The young “New
are a few artists like Robert
Brow” artists of today have
Williams and Robert Crumb
entirely different influences;
that have managed to get
video and computer games and
official recognition from the art
graffiti are their starting point.
power brokers. As with most art
I have always tried to keep up
movements, there will be a few
with contemporary culture; that
artists who get museum shows
is why the audience has mostly
but most Low Brow artists will
approved the cover art I did for
continue to sell to collectors who
“Congratulations”.
like the work for what it is and
Where can we find you in 10
don’t buy it as an investment.
years time? Sleeping with my girlfriend on the beach of my own private island with about five thousand cats…
A DOLLS HOUSE