Manifesto #16 Aug 10

16 August ‘10 /FREE t

PLUS Give Me The Horn Gig Listings CD and Live Reviews Top fives

Contents

August ‘10 Issue 16

05

11

DESIGN Callum Brand ‘Big Gulp Graphic Design’ biggulpdesign@gmail.com

WORDS Philip Jarvis, Kelly Horn, Emma Reynolds, Nicky Banggs, David Morton, Emma Reynolds

15 569101214161718-

16

Give Me The Horn This month...

Quiz Jaguar Skills CD Reviews Live Reviews Gig Listings Top Fives Room 3 Recording

PHOTOGRAPHY Nicholas Gray, Ian West, Jazzy Lemon, Amy Brammalll Manifesto Magazine 29 Stockton Rd Sunderland SR2 7AQ Tel: 0870 922 0336 E-mail: manifestomagazine@ymail.com www.myspace.com/magmanifesto Facebook - ‘Manifesto Sunderland‘

MaNiFestO

03

04

MaNiFestO

Grammar Gripes in Spelling Hell

By Kelly Horn

Let me disclose to you fine readers the curse of the career choice that is English teaching. It is not the fear of my always-brandished red pen leaking a stream of sticky ink across my OCDly arranged desk. Or the high risk of drowning in a sea of unmarked coursework, wading through reams with careful terror in case of the inevitable paper cut occurrence. What really gets my goat (then takes the naïve beast to pasture and slaughters it) is the total misuse of grammar and utter disregard for simple spelling.

I will provide you with an apt example: the three TH’s of ‘there’, ‘their’ and ‘they’re’ prove to be cancerous with confusion. No, mate, I’m not going over their, I’m going over there and you’re wrong to text me with such impeccably incorrect information as they’re taxi is not running late. Theirs is. Strewth. Don’t you even realise that you are actually saying ‘They are taxi running late’? And does that make sense? Of course not! Do you see that little cheeky and curvaceous squiggle flirting in between the ‘y’ and the ‘r’?

Meet the apostrophe who endeavours to schlump two words together by replacing the letter redundant. It’s not rocket science, it’s the language you speak and scrawl every sodding day. The least you can do is use it correctly.

Scrolling down Facebook status updates whilst idly meandering through town serves to smear my face with a scowl while imbeciles type lyk dis and go too the pub and whatnot. Although I do believe that there is no rhyme or reason to such deviant spelling, I do lend slight understanding to bouts of typos characteristic of new-fangled touch-screens and miniscule Blackberry buttons. And furthermore, the English Language can be a bit of a faff on what with abundant irregularities and rules to help yet hinder simultaneously (‘i before e except after c’: but what about ‘receive’?! Arghhhh!)

And now, I’ll let you in on a little confession; one that may render my rant slightly hypocritical but what the hell. I have avoided writing the word ‘necessary’ during my literary years because I could never ever spell it. My efforts to avoid this measly yet indispensable word in ink were stupendous.

“Nescessary. Nessecary. Gah, integral! That’ll do.”

And one day, about four months ago, a learned student of mine gave me a gem of integral knowledge: ‘one collar and two sleeves.’ Now my notebooks are littered with necessary necessaries that are entirely necessary to utilise!

And so utilise your language with a smidge of respect, readers; it’s what separates us from the apes and orangatans, I mean orangatangs, ah, er, orangutangs. Bugger it, chimps will do.

MaNiFestO

05

This month I will be...

LISTENING TO...

I have been bashing two albums lately, ‘Becoming a Jackal’ by Villagers and ‘The Wild Hunt’ by The Tallest Man on Earth. Both Conor J. O’Brien and Kristian Matsson respectively have created two brilliantly inspiring, acoustic-centric albums. It’s amazing what one man, a guitar and his voice can do. In lieu of those albums it’s the usual: Springsteen, Dylan, Fleet Foxes, Fionn Regan but also loads of 50’s stuff on Spotify such as Margaret Whitting, Ella Fitgerald and Billie Holiday.

Martin Longstaff

The Lake Poets

WATCHING...

I watched a film recently called ‘2 Days in Paris’ by Julie Delpy that details the relationship decline of a New York couple. French photographer Marion and her American interior designer boyfriend Jack attempt to reignite their knackered relationship with a doomed trip to Europe. They end up defeated back at Marion’s home in Paris where her overbearing non-English speaking parents’, flirtatious exboyfriends’ and Jack’s conviction that French johnnies are too small all made me laugh. Also ‘The Wire’. Again.

READING...

I am currently reading my Dad’s dog eared copy of ‘Jupiter’s Travels’ by Ted Simon.

It’s an account of travelling 64,000 miles through 45 countries on a Triumph Tiger 500cc motorcycle. I love motorbikes, especially old British bikes, and anything to do with them grabs my attention (1952 Vincent Black Lightning, and all that) I’m up to the bit in the book where Simon is riding across the Argentine Pampas, awe inspiring. I’d kill to go on an adventure like that.

GOING TO...

My plan is to continue onwards and upwards in terms of my music. I have met so many lovely people just by singing and playing my guitar in The Lake Poets, all manner of interesting and creative people have become my new mates. I am looking forward to putting on more Old Friends/Bookends nights but most of all I look forward to my slot at Split Festival in September.of gigs in the pipeline, check out our facebook page for more on that.

LISTENING TO...

The brand spanking new and long-awaited Arcade Fire album ‘The Suburbs’ which is currently my brumming soundtrack which I enjoy blasting on my charvaic subwoofers. Win and Regine are the Ike and Tina of the orchestral world. Without the domestic violence. I hope.

WATCHING...

Come Dine With Me. I am addicted to Dave Lamb’s sarcastic drawl. And surname irony.

Kelly Horn The Coquette Collective

06

MaNiFestO

READING...

‘The Other Hand’ by Chris Cleave which came recommended by a visiting student teacher at my place of work. Riveting, truly. But I am not at liberty to tell you what it is about. The blurb forbids me to do so. So, go get. 3 for 2 at Waterstones; billy bargain!

GOING TO... cease my summer hedonism and get my teach on. Sigh. Someone has to make nouns and verbs more interesting, I’m afraid. Also, in my spare time, I’m cementing the foundations of ‘Tawdry Fad’, my stitchy empire which intends to clad the human form in embroidered garments and portray stitching as a fine exploit for those under the age of ‘git auld’. Have a gander on Facey-B. Peace.

MaNiFestO

07

08

MaNiFestO

MaNiFestO Quiz.

Answer this collection of brain destroying nuggets correctly for the chance to win a year’s subscription of Manifesto delivered to your door.

Send your answers, along with your name and address, to manifestomagazine@ymail.com before close of play on august 31st..

1. In what year did The Futureheads release their News and Tributes album?

2.Complete the line-up of this classic band: Morrissey, Marr, Joyce, ________.

3.Who had a top 10 hit in 1982 with the song You Should Hear How She Talks About You? 4.On which record label did The Stone Roses release their Second Coming album?

5.What is Iggy Pop’s real name?

MaNiFestO

09

With the likes of Mark Ronson, Lupe Fiasco, Trevor Nelson and Chris Moyles unable to get enough of the original ninja - Mr Jaguar Skills - the rise (and rise) of this ground-breaking artist has been well documented. Honing his craft and love of music for the last 15 years Jag has remained true to his school and kept a mysterious edge to his character; with details of his real name, age and home town etc left largely unconfirmed…

The first documented reports of the whereabouts of Jaguar Skills come from the rarely released scriptures of a secret mountain based Ninja camp in Japan. It is here that Jaguar Skills completed many years of intense training in the art of Ninja DJing.

Supposedly training on the turntables for up to 25 hours a day (that’s right - Ninja DJ’s can mould the space-time continuum to suit their needs) Jaguar Skills built up an extraordinary capacity for aural memory which meant that he was building a monumental back catalogue of music that he could draw on whilst behind the wheels of steel.

This ability to out-train his peers and mentally retain every record he heard meant he eventually developed his skills to such levels that he himself attained the rank and status of his mystical teachers. It was at this point that Jaguar Skills 10

MaNiFestO

decided to further his understanding for his craft through bidding farewell to Japan and taking his skills on road.

It has been muted that this will one day serve Jaguar Skills when he returns to Japan to pass on his mystical arts to future Ninja DJs. Luckily for us, he chose the UK as his place of residence due to the rare musical pastiche on offer, and it is here that we currently find him demonstrating his mash up skills.

Using his Japanese contacts, Jaguar Skills first gained recognition by producing a mix tape CD for fashion label Maharishi.

The 60 minute CD was created, looped, produced and cut entirely on 2 mini walkmen. It was the first of its kind and received top reviews in key publications.

The next few years saw Jag build his DJ profile, playing at various places across London including ‘Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes’ in an arty east London bar; an uber-cool soiree that played everything from Hip-Hop, to Rock, Ragga to Disco.

Here he pushed his signature sound of lightning speed mixing to fans on a regular basis.

Things moved up a notch in 2004 when Jaguar Skills caught the eyes (and ears) of fashionista and renowned music lover Jade Jagger. He was invited to move to Ibiza and become resident at her world famous Jezebel parties. As ever, Ibiza

turned into the world as Jag started to play globally with the Jezebel parties including Russia, Hong Kong and across Europe. The following year he produced the tune “We Love You” for US mega rapper Lupe Fiasco which featured UK Emcee Sway and was subsequently released on the net.

2006 was one of Jaguar Skills finest moments yet - he created the mix tape “1979-2006: A Hip-Hop Odyssey - 800 Tracks In 45 Minutes”. A never been done before project, he mixed every Hip-Hop hit from 1979 to 2006, and played them in order of their release, from the first ever Hip-Hop record to the latest one to date. A simple task for Ninja with a now infamous mental catalogue of every track ever produced. It naturally caused an internet storm and through its original idea and skillful mixing it really put Jag on the map.

After one month on the net this monstrous mix had been downloaded over a MILLION times. It was also played twice in a row on Mistajam’s BBC 1xtra show and Radio 1 star Colin Murray split the mix up, and played a part of it every week on his show for a staggering 10 weeks.

The summers of 2006 and 2007 saw a continuation of the Jezebel residency and more productions in the form of “We On”, again for Grammy-winning friend Lupe Fiasco and it was first signing to his label Gemstones. A video was subsequently made and created a healthy buzz on the Hip-Hop scene.

Fast forward to 2010 and Jaguar Skills profile has gone from strength to strength. Last year saw Jag complete his sell out ‘Vodka Ninja Tour’ at a series of Revolution bars across the UK. This followed a jam packed year of shows at the likes of Bestival, V Festival, Snowbomb-

ing, T in the Park and clubs such as Pacha London and Fabric!

On top of the weekly 10 Minute Mash Up Mix for the Trevor Nelson Show the original ninja also has a quarterly ‘In New DJs we Trust’ slot on BBC Radio 1!

Jag’s ’30 years of Hip Hop’ mix proved its already timeless quality as it formed an integral part of Radio 1’s Hip-Hop celebrations. The love from the Radio 1 camp continued as Jag completed his ‘Gaming Mix’ which saw him mix retro game tunes with works of some of the biggest recording artists in the world to create a unique musical experience.

Jag also launched his merchandise store via his website where fans of the original ninja can pick up the latest T-Shirts emblazoned with the Ninja DJ catchphrase ‘HoooooooooooOOOOOOO’ With guest spots in Ibiza and plenty of festival requests it seems this summer is going to be another hectic chapter in the chronicles of Jaguar Skills!

Jaguar Skills plays Independent, Holmeside, Sunderland on August 14th, 10.30pm. Tickets are £5 members (get your membership cards on the door any Saturday) / £8 advance.

Tickets available from seetickets.com and Hot Rats Records.

MaNiFestO

11

CD Reviews

Reviews by Emma Reynolds

Leatherface - The Stormy Petra l (album)

Before The Futureheads, Before Kenickie and after The Toy Dolls, there was Leatherface.

The cult Sunderland band were formed in the late 1980s and have been a worldwide influence on punk music, cited by the likes of Hot Water Music and Dillinger. With a voice as rough and raspy as it is earnest, Frankie Stubbs yells his heart on sleeve lyrics against melodic guitars. The repetitious, one line chorus of opening track God is Dead is simple: I wouldn’t lie to you, but Frankie’s gruff, emotive vocals make it strongly effective. There is something truly special about Leatherface, and it’s just as evident here as on their critically acclaimed 1991 release Mush

Kalm - Demo

Under the Influence’s EP began with nothing really out of the expected, then the vocals came in. They instantly grabbed my attention with their fast-talking tale of a messy night out on EP opener ’Late Night Circus Show’. Three fast and dirty rock songs.

Blind Visonaries – The End

Sunderland five-piece band Blind Visionaries’ genre has apparently been described as “alternative apocalyptic space rock”. I reckon that, like Marmite, that will have either totally perked your interest or put you right off. There is something slightly bizarre about their sound, for one lead singer James Berry’s wacky bellowing: “look to the skies overhead/we’re all better off dead” he yells in the songs explosive chorus. This all takes place between sections of gospel-like chanting build-ups , accompanied guitar work and a zany keyboard part.

Skronk - Demo

“What were you trying to prove? That deep down, everyone is as ugly as you? Hisses Batman, before being starkly interrupted by Christian Bale in a sound clip taken from his notorious onset rant at some poor film crew member, “Ohh, good for youuuu”. This is what kicks off comedy/death metal band (yes, really) Skronk’s demo, before launching into a full-on metal onslaught, the vocalist grunting like the pig version of Christian Bale during his aforementioned freak out. Skronk is... The Mutilate Warrior on drums/vocals and Hank Ghoul on bass and drums.

12

MaNiFestO

MaNiFestO

13

live Reviews

Spark FM Showcase @ The Smuggler’s

Unless you‘ve been living in a (soundproof) cave, you’ll have been aware that each July our city’s glorious seafront plays host to the Sunderland Airshow. As the masses descended to see the spectacular, local radio station Spark FM were on top of the action, broadcasting live from the Smuggler’s, where they also put on a gig on the Saturday evening.

Joe Vs the Volcano eased us into the night with a set of stripped down malefemale acoustic solos and duets, including the heartfelt You are Everything and The Golden Age. Their vocals complemented each other very well. Their closing number saw them give their take on Hot Chip’s Boy From School, transforming it from pulsing electro-pop to solemn crooner that wouldn’t be out of place on Radio 1’s Live Lounge. An impressive set to start the evening.

Next up were Sunderland five-piece We Beat the System who recently performed at the O2 Arena for the finals of Live and

Unsigned where they won the award for Best Alternative band. The highlight of their set was French Regime, with its soaring guitars and massive chorus. The youngsters also covered Radiohead’s Creep and New Order’s Blue Monday, doing the both of them justice.

Spoken Words only picked up their instruments late last year but they’re definitely coming into their own now, with tighter performances than the last time I saw them. The played an upbeat set of of guitar driven post-punk songs including Sillhoette and Second Time Around, as well as covers of In Between Days by The Cure and Psycho Killer by Talking Heads.

Closing the night were Rainfalldown, an acoustic trio playing folky acoustic-rock with a range of instruments including the harmonica, harmonium, mandolin and glockenspiel. They performed songs including the upbeat Maybe and the lovely At Last my Atlas. Martin Trollope’s sincere lyrics really seemed to strike a chord with the audience. I don’t use the word beautiful much but I think Rainfalldown’s music may just be that. A great set by Rainfalldown and a great night had by all.

Joe Vs the Volcano

14

MaNiFestO

Reviews by Emma Reynolds

Chapel Club @ 7even

First on tonight was We Beat The System, a young alternative band from Sunderland with a massive stadium ready sound. The punchy drums and anthemic choruses of songs including French Regime and Mirrors made for an impressive set, also performing a tight cover of Blue Monday by New Order. It’s hard to believe the band only formed a year ago and at the age of sixteen are already crafting such polished tracks. There is without a doubt a bright future for We Beat The System.

Molk Vant didn’t really ‘form’, they say, “I wrote an album and recorded it all myself, apart from the drummer Tom,” Says Mattie Vant, “And then these guys came and played with me for the live shows.

It’s been going about three, four months now properly.” The set tonight included Don’t Say, Sign Language, upcoming single White Lies and stripped down sin-

galong Esoteric Eskimos, getting a great reception from the crowd. There is a real sense of earnestness to the lyrics and delivery, inspired by “life and love and death, regrets and drugs, film and literature, and just everything that comes with life.“ Molk Vant release White Lies this September and are headed to Sweden to play the Storsjöyran Festival.

London’s Chapel Club have been getting a load of buzz lately, having released a couple of well received singles and recently signing to A&M Records. An atmospheric set, playing songs including the plaintive Bodies, the dreamy Five Trees, and highlight O Maybe I, in which singer Lewis Bowman has the wit of and a warble reminiscent of Morrissey. Chapel Club do not disappoint. The band are currently working on their debut album and will be hitting the festivals in the UK and overseas this summer, including Leeds/Reading and Underage Festival, before heading out on the Emerge NME Radar Tour with The Joy Formiddable.

Chapel Club

MaNiFestO

15

5 5 5

Wednesday 4th August

Friday 13th August

Friday 20th August

Buskers Night @ Pure, 15 Olive St, 8pm, free The Jazz Pistols @ Plugged Inn, 29 Holmeside

FM @ Eauzone, Norfolk St, 9.15pm The Gangsters of Ska @ Independent, 36 Holmeside, 8pm, £7

The Invasion @ Eauzone, Norfolk St, 9.15pm Rainfalldown’s Big Night Inn @ Plugged Inn, 29 Holmeside,

Thursday 5th August Communication @ 7even, Derwent St, 8pm, £1 Bang Bang Eche @ Plugged Inn, 29 Holmeside, 7pm, £4 Men In Sheds, Robbie in the Lobby, Joe Vs The Volcano + Joe Gleghorn @ The Ivy house, worcester Terr, Free

Friday 6th August 280’s @ Eauzone, Norfolk St, 9.15pm

Sunday 8th August Northen Exposure @ Pure, Park Lane, 7pm, free

Wednesday 11th August Buskers Night @ Pure, 15 Olive St, 8pm, free Tyrannosaurus Alan + Difference Engine + Newbridge Downfall @ Plugged Inn, 29 Holmeside £3

Thursday 12th August Flashguns @ 7even, Derwent St, 8pm, £1 Risen Prophecy @ Independent, 36 Holmeside

16

MaNiFestO

Saturday 14th August Jaguar Skills @ Independent, 36 Holmeside, 10.30pm, £8

Sunday 15th August Northen Exposure @ Pure, Park Lane, 7pm, free

Monday 16th August

Saturday 21st August Pop Sex Ltd: Frankie & The Heartstrings, Sky Larkin, The Hapsburgs @ Independent, 36 Holmeside, £4, 8pm

Wednesday 25th August Buskers Night @ Pure, 15 Olive St, 8pm, free

The Argent Dawn @ Independent, 36 Holmeside, 7pm

Thursday 26th August

Wednesday 18th August

Friday 27th August

Buskers Night @ Pure, 15 Olive St, 8pm, free The Jazz Pistols @ Plugged Inn, 29 Holmeside

Tony Liddle Band @ Eauzone, Norfolk St, 9.15pm

Thursday 19th August Communication @ 7even, Derwent St, 8pm, £1 Findlay @ Plugged Inn, 29 Holmeside, 7pm, £3 spoken words, matt stalker and fables, + temujin @ The Ivy House, Worcester Terr. Free

Communication @ 7even, Derwent St, 8pm, £1

Sunday 29th August Seaburn Summer Festival - Joy Circuit @ Seaburn Seafront, 2pm, free

Please send your gig listings to manifestomagazine@ ymail.com

5

5

5

5 5 5 5 5 5 5

5 5 5 55 5 5 5

5

5

5 5 5 5

5 5 5

5

5

5

5

5 5 5 5 5 5

5

5 5

ToP Fives 5 5

5

5 5 5 5 5 5 55 5 5 5 5 5

5 5

5

5 5 5

5

5 5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5 5 5 5 5 5

5 5 5 5

5 5 5 5 5 5

5

5

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Dan’s Top 5 Days

Mick’s Top 5 Scousers

Hodge’s Top 5 Hangover Cures

1. Friday 2. Saturday 3. Jay Day 4. Darren Day 5. Pancake Tuesday

1. Jimmy Corkhill 2. Scully 3. Yozzer Hughes 4. Sammy Lee 5. Cilla Black

1. Beer 2. More Beer 3. Sex 4. Good TV 5. Sunday Dinner

Gary’s Top 5 Families

Gareth’s Top 5 SAFC Strips

Tom’s Top 5 Foody Bands

1. Partridge Family 2. Swiss Family Robinson 3. Family Guy 4. Family Planning 5. The Handsome Family

1. 1973 Cup Final 2. Early 80s Le Coq Sportif 3. 1988 Third Division Vaux 4. 1992 Rave-Style Away Strip 5. 1979 Gary Rowell

1. Sushi and the Banshees 2. The Tofu Fighters 3. School of Linguine 4. The Cheeses and Mary Chain 5. Cheeseboards of Canada

MaNiFestO

17

5

Room 3 Recording This month is the third birthday of the room3 recording studio, which is situated in The Bunker building and is ran by former Golden Virgins drummer Neil Bassett.

Neil is dedicated to keeping the price of recording down as low as possible and prices are only £90 per day or only £240 for 3 days. This price includes Neil engineering/producing, the studio for 8 hours per day and (if the band wants to) free use of Neil’s extensive collection of amps, drums, percussion and keyboards. Over the past 3 years, some illustrious names have recorded at the studio: The Futureheads (They demo’d the whole “This is not the world” album there prior to heading off to Spain to record with super producer Youth) Former cell mates (Neil recorded the album “Who’s Dead and Whats to Pay” which recieved a 7/10 review in NME and Rock Sound Magazine featured a song from it on its free cover mounted CD. As heard on BBC Radio 1) Chased by wolves (all recorded output so far) Hyde & Beast (Neil recorded, produced and contributed musically to the upcoming album from Dave Hyde (futureheads drummer. The album is to be released soon on NUL Records.

Watch this space....)

Lets Buy Happiness (Recorded the first couple of sessions by LBH, who have gone on to become ones to watch in 2010 ! Tracks played on BBC radio 6) Brilliant Mind (Neil recently the latest single by Brilliant Mind : “Our osprey”) Union Choir (Mr Bassett has worked on all the recorded Union Choir output to date. Songs have been played on BBC Radio 6) Dictaphone Songs (Andrew from Minotaurs recorded his solo album which should be getting released soon.)

Mattie Vant (Neil recorded the frontman of the Small Screen Light Show’s debut album. As above, it’s getting released soon) Soundtracks for a B Movie (I recently asked by Micky Ross to record the drum tracks for his solo project) The Anglo form (as heard on BBC Radio 6)

18

MaNiFestO

Head of Light Entertainment (debut album out now. As heard on BBC radio 6) Lucas Renney (recorded demos with Neil prior to recording his debut solo album with Simon Raymonde of Bella Union records) The Cornshed sisters , Leatherface, Ashes of Iron, A Thousand Lies, The Ramsays, Monty casino, Widows, The Great escape, and so on and so on............

Neil has spent over 10 years in the music industry and was a founding member of The Golden Virgins who released their debut album on XL Records (home of The White Stripes and The Prodigy) in 2003. Neil has also toured Europe and the UK extensively, drumming with such acts as The Golden Virgins, Former Cell mates, School of Language, Lucas Renney and playing at such festivals as Glastonbury, T-in the park, Reading, Leeds, Secret garden Party, electric Picnic, Metropolis. In this time he has built up quite a bit of knowledge about the music business and is happy to share his knowledge or advice if bands are interested.

Equipment used in Room 3 include: recording onto a CARILLION QUAD-CORE PC using 2 X RME Fireface 800s “the worlds most powerful firewire audio interface”. 24 Channel Soundcraft Ghost mixing console. Microphones by Neumann and Preamps by Great River and Hamptone.

Instruments include :Upright piano, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Amplifier, Marshall JCM900 50 Watt Hi-Gain Dual, Reverb Guitar Amp Head, Fender Champion 600 amp, Peavey VTM 120 Valve amplifier, 1973 Logan string melody synth, Marshall JCM 800 Bass amplifier, Glockenspiel, 1970’s Crumar Toccata Organ, Roland Fantom XR Synthesizer Module, Vintage Hammond Drawbar Organ, VINTAGE Remo Drumkit, a choice of 5 snare drums.

For further info on recording at Room3: www.myspace.com/room3recording room3recording@hotmail.co.uk 07970 777456

MaNiFestO

19