Contents Front 06 Opinion: Northwest Editor Lauren intro-
duces the debut issue; Editor-in-chief Ros says hi; ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead bow to their idol in Hero Worship; Mystic Mark talks some BALLS.; Shot of the Month (it’s a photo!); Stop the Presses brings the last-minute news; Skinny on Tour (you could win a book!); Online Only (a guide to extra content on our site)
08
Heads Up: Your daily guide to the best events in Liverpool and Manchester throughout April.
Lifestyle 29
Competitions: ‘Ave a bash at winning tickets to Liverpool Sound City and Croatia’s Stop Making Sense Festival, and some nibbles.
30
Fashion: Let’s hope Manchester Fashion Week can get those Autumn/Winter collections on to the high street quick smart – it’s ruddy freezing.
32
Showcase: Liverpool-based artist Kevin Hunt explains how he reconfigures redundant objects into something new.
34 10
New in town, The Skinny asked What’s your Northwest? – and you answered, with anecdotes about identity, belonging, and rimming. Of course.
Food & Drink: What’s that you hear? The winds of change? There’ll be wind all right – the Northwest becomes a meatfree zone for the inaugural Northern Vegan Festival 2013. Plus: Phagomania celebrates the new papacy with an ostentatious ground meat sandwich.
12
The Flaming Lips: Wayne Coyne has lost his confetti gun. Turns out he didn't need it anyway.
38
Travel: In anticipation of Venezuela's upcoming elections, a traveller's look at the country in all its contradictory glory.
Director Derek Cianfrance introduces The Place Beyond the Pines, an epic tale of fate and fatherhood starring every man's bromance dream, Ryan Gosling.
39
Deviance: One scholar examines the dichotomy between feminist ideology and female pleasure and desire, and word of Manchester’s bear/cub scene piques our Deviance Ed’s interest.
Features
14
15
17
18
Do you ever get sick of the smell of nacho cheese and the noise of teenagers at your local World of Cine? Sam Meech, creator of A Small Cinema, has a solution. Things aren’t right with the world: but what happens after you’ve tried to do something about it? Cornerhouse’s summer group show, Anguish & Enthusiasm: What Do You Do With Your Revolution Once You’ve Got It asks the same question. “I’m pushing on and it’s invigorating”: Edwyn Collins espouses positive pop, and triumphing in the face of adversity.
20 Rory Mullarkey discusses his grisly new play Cannibals with director Michael Longhurst. If you fancy a pre-theatre meal we recommend fava beans and a nice Chianti.
21
22
25
Iraqi-born filmmaker and writer Hassan Blasim talks about his new collection of short stories, The Iraqi Christ, and the future of Arabic literature. In the wake of SXSW, expo-style festivals are all the rage – but what do events like Liverpool’s Sound City really do for bands? Jackmaster and Spencer humbly celebrate Numbers’ tenth anniversary, and go in search of the Pleasure Principle in a holiday park in Cornwall, which is definitely where it resides.
26 From Beacons to Dimensions, which
sounds trippy enough in itself, we pick the best of this summer’s festivals, because what everybody really wants and needs is another festival rundown (no seriously, this one is good).
28
Kurt Vile introduces Wakin on a Pretty Daze and insists that various rock biographies are more interesting than his own life, about which we disagree.
The Skinny
Review 41
47
50
51
Music: The Flaming Lips reign supreme in a month that also sees a bizarre cut from The Knife, and we survey wha gwan for Record Store Day as well as scope out the month’s gigging calendar. Clubs: We commemorate the passing of indie disco Underachievers Please Try Harder, discover house and disco in a social club with a meat raffle (!), and go Beneath the Label with All Caps. Film: Ever wanted to see James Franco dressed as a gangsta and singing a Britney ballad to ex-Disney kids? Then check out Spring Breakers, y'all. DVD: Think George A. Romero only makes movies about reanimated corpses? We review his hard-to-find 1981 oddity Knightriders, a tale of a motorbiking Arthurian jouster.
52
Art: Reviews of The Modern Lesbian at Manchester’s Contact, and Liverpool’s sprawling Threshold Festival.
53
Books: We find out what you can do as part of April’s altruistic book celebration World Book Night, and preview Liverpool’s new literary festival In Other Words.
54
Theatre: We assess Manchester International Festival's dramatic offerings. Warning: page contains Branagh porn.
55
Comedy: Laughing with rather than laughing at: Juliette Burton analyses the rise of ‘lovely comedy’.
56
Listings: A list! Of things! List-things! No, wait: listings! Essentially, what's happening in Liverpool and Manchester in April.
62
Out Back: Rozi Plain joins a cast of cracking acts for Salford’s Sounds from the Other City festival.
LIVERPOOL LISTINGS APRIL
HOOKWORMS & BALTIC FLEET
04
Blade Factory / Camp and Furnace w/ L’Pool Psych Fest
MARY EPWORTH & FUZZY LIGHTS
07
Leaf in association with mellowtone
FANG ISLAND
11
The Kazimier in association with evol
12
BETH ORTON & THE LEISURE SOCIETY
17
VERONICA FALLS
20
EDWYN COLLINS
22
DAUGHTER - SOLD OUT
24
K-X-P
The Kazimier in association with evol The Kazimier
The Philharmonic Hall
The Anglican Cathedral
Blade Factory / Camp and Furnace w/ L’Pool Psych Fest
MAY
07
WHY?
11
THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION
16
THE HANDSOME FAMILY
17
SUUNS
20
HOW TO DRESS WELL
23
JOSH ROUSE
The Kazimier in association with evol The Kazimier in association with evol The Kazimier The Kazimier Leaf in association with Bam!Bam!Bam! Leaf
JUNE
07
ED HARCOURT
25
LAMBCHOP
The Scandinavian Church The Kazimier
SEPTEMBER 27 - L’POOL INTERNATIONAL - 28 FESTIVAL OF PSYCHEDELIA Camp and Furnace
Tickets on sale from ONLINE: Ticketweb / Bido Lito! / Ticketline IN PERSON: Probe Records (School Ln) & The Brink (Parr St) FOLLOW ON TWITTER: @HARVEST_SUN @LPOOLPSYCHFEST Contents
5