Volume XIX - Otwo Issue XII

OTWO April 16th 2013 Issue XII

Ellie Goulding talks drunken students and being one of few women in electro

Plus!

Kieron J. Walsh

talks about how digital is better than film

King Charles

on being the butt of a Mighty Boosh joke

Festivals

Otwo gives the ultimate guide to summer festivals

Mystic Mittens’ Feline Fortunes

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Contents

Page 2 - Regulars Mystic Mittens climbs into our skulls and predicts what we’ll do, Eva Griffin regales us with her struggle to bust some dance moves in Soapbox, and What’s Hot, What’s Not charts what is popular and otherwise to save you from embarrassment.

Page 4 First Year Experience Lucy Montague Moffatt is back once again with her final experience as a first year. Who knows what’s next? Second year, presumably.

Page 5 - Travel Looking for somewhere off the beaten track for your next sun holiday? Why not Bulgaria? Lucy Montague Moffatt tells you why.

Page 6 - Games Avant Garde and Slender: The Arrival are put through their paces, Steven Balbirnie inspects the loveliness that is the Humble Bundle, and Rory Michael O’Sullivan investigates why the Square Enix president resigned.

Page 9 - Film & TV Evil Dead, Jump, and Cop to the Future and Back part 4 are all criticised with vigour, Patrick Kelleher runs down the lamest blockbuster failures in Top Ten, Casey Lehman assesses the general movie quality of this academic year as well as interviewing the director of new Northern Irish release Jump, and Laura Bell wonders why TV has a tendency to glorify the past.

Page 14 - Centre Ellie Goulding graces us with her musical excellence as Aoife Valentine sits down with her to before her Dublin show.

Page 16 - Music Young Wonder, King Charles and The Strypes chat with Otwo about being very good at music, Emily Longworth compiles the Best of Bebo in Mixtape, this fortnight’s albums are scrutinised, and Lucy Montague Moffatt gives us the lowdown on this summer’s music festivals and how to survive them.

Page 23 - Fashion Isobel Fergus takes a look at the overlapping worlds of sex and fashion, and Otwo gives you a rundown of some of the hottest student designers out there.

Page 27 Fatal Fourway Having criticised every topic known to man, the four professional cynics point their pitchforks at one another and argue over who has made the worst suggestion this year.

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University Observer Volume XIX Issue XII Telephone: (01) 716 3835/3837 Email: info@universityobserver.ie www.universityobserver.ie

Aries Libra March 21 – April 19 September 23 - October 22 Try not to despair. Mittens has thor- As you edge closer to summer your oughly enjoyed this academic year to- mind wanders what you’re going to gether. We’ve had some pretty crazy do to fill the lonely months. Paris times, like that night under the bridge maybe? Or Rome? Though, with your and the day I chased a ball of yarn. But lack of income, it’s more likely going our friendship, like that ball of yarn, to be a fort in the sitting room where has dwindled to a few threads and it’s you can eat cheese from the block. time to bid adieu.

Scorpio Taurus October 23 - November 21 April 20 – May 20 Don’t make a fool of yourself again As your year in UCD draws to a close, at this year’s UCD Ball. I know you and the moon of the seventh sun sets think you can do a mean rendition over the whiskers of Jupiter, you will of ‘The Winner Takes it All’, but the come to realise that the world is mean- student populace aren’t going to be ingless and you’re reading a horoscope convinced when you hijack the stage. written by a cat.

Sagittarius Gemini November 22 - December 21 May 21 – June 20 Try your best not to drink too much It’s time to hold your head up high and coffee this exam season, as you’re be proud of what you’ve achieved. Your going to become a jittery mess performance as the tree in DramSoc’s last who spouts your rote-learned esproduction was sublime, and anyone who say answers at horrified strangers. says otherwise is just jealous.

Nobody wants to be that guy.

Cancer Capricorn June 21 – July 22 December 22 - January 19 You will come to feel a gaping hole As the sun begins to reappear from where the fluffiness of Mittens’ paws time to time like a celebrity cameo, once were. You will wander aim- it’s time to get working on that hot lessly around pet shops and con- summer bod. It’ll be like that montage sume tinned tuna daily. The next few in Rocky, except instead of climbing weeks will be tough as you struggle stairs it will be you eating chocolate to find a clandestine cat that can fill while listening to ‘Eye of the Tiger’. your sense of emptiness. Just remember: time heals all wounds and Aquarius it’s a bit weird to be in love with a cat January 20 - February 18 Now is the time to find one of the inso you really should get over it. creasingly sparse tables in the UCD Leo library and mark your territory. I’m July 23 – August 22 not saying urinate on the table, I’m Try not to get too stressed over the just saying that people definitely coming weeks. Regardless of whether wouldn’t sit there if you did. you get a first or a 2:1, you’re an Arts student and inherently unemployable Pisces anyway.

February 19 - March 20 Virgo Apologies Pisces, but this particular August 23 – September 22 cat has become jaded with this whole You may find yourself questioning mysticism business. It’s time for me to certain decisions this week. But re- pursue my real dream job, lying about member that nothing is set in stone, on a couch while people rub my belly. and a small dose of antibiotics will Make your own future, Pisces!. remove that rash faster than you can say gonorrhoea. .

Editor Emer Sugrue Deputy Editor Aoife Valentine Art, Design & Technology Director Conor Kevin O’Nolan Chief Designer Gary Kealy Assistant Designer Aoife Valentine Otwo Editors Conor Luke Barry Anna Burzlaff

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Music Editor Emily Mullen

Chief Writers Special Thanks Lucy Montague Moffatt Guy, Colm, Orla and Rory at MCD PromoFilm Editor Staff Writers tions, Laura, Chantal, Casey Lehman Emily Longworth Caroline and Amy at Michael O’Sullivan Universal, Ciaran at Television Editor Warner Music, garlic Laura Bell Contributors cheese chips, the Sweet Isobel Fergus Factory, fake chamChief Stylist Aaron Flood pagne, Diet Coke, Sophie Lioe Eva Griffin Rolo Yoghurt, Taking Heathers Back Sunday, and Ellie Games Editor Edward Kearns Goulding.

Steven Balbirnie Patrick Kelleher Conor Kevin O’Nolan Not Thanks Chief Photographer Rory Michael Malteasers ‘Teasers’ Caoimhe O’Sullivan bars for being a major McDonnell Laura Woulfe disappointment.

AARRRGGGHHHH! WHAT’S HOT AND WHAT’S NOT

WhAt’S hOt The Earth’s Core

In being a hot ball of liquid rock and metal, the Earth’s core pays homage to the rare ‘aul times 4.6 billion years ago, when the planet was still a sweltering orb of molten elements. At 5,000 Kelvin, the earth’s core is so much more than just a tribute to its former glory days, in being the literal centre of the world, showing Jerusalem how it’s really done.

80% of the earth’s core is iron, which has seen a comeback this season in oversized geometric metal accessories. It is literally too hot to handle.

KPD 0005+5106 The hottest White Dwarf star recorded since HR 8210, KPD0005+5106 is the sizzling celestial body of glowing gas that’s on everybody’s lips.

Although White Dwarves are traditionally considered to be dead stars, or stellar remnants, KPD0005+5106 has burned in the face of adversity, proving itself to be more than yesterday’s news. At 120,000 Kelvin, it’s hotter than it’s ever been, but physical temperature has nothing on KPD0005+5106’s fiery attitude!

AGAs As the hottest upper-middle class kitchen accessory on the market, all of our parents have been obsessed with getting an AGA storage stove cooker since all of their parents got one half a century ago, making it rural Ireland’s favourite inefficient energy source. Invented by a Nobel Prize winning physicist, critics claim that AGAs use more gas in a week than regular cookers use in a month, but if it’s good enough for Will Young, Billy Joel, and your Ma’, it’s good enough for us.

WhAt’S nOt Air Conditioning in Theatre B

The science hub is where winter lives forever. Due to the continuous relocation of any classes whose faculty buildings are undergoing permanent construction work (which is all of them) many Belfieldians have had to frequent the glacial building-in-progress maze that is the Science Block. With an air con system whose sole function is to emit an arctic gale, Theatre B is officially the coldest thing on campus, beating the liquid nitrogen tanks opposite Ag and the atmosphere in Quinn to the title.

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Absolute Zero

At a chilling minus −273.15°C, nobody is talking about absolute zero this fortnight. Being the temperature at which the fundamental particles of nature have minimal vibration motion, absolute zero is renowned for lacking in vibez. Since it is physically impossible for any substance to have zero heat energy in nature, absolute zero is constantly outshined by its more popular and easily attainable cousin, Absolut Vodka.

Pop Cultural Thermometers Promoting adult illiteracy through their brevity, poorlyconstructed grammar and undying partiality to the term LOL, ‘What’s Hot, What’s Not?’ charts are old news. Despite how readership surveys continuously undermine their worth or importance (Is anyone even reading this paragraph?), every arts and culture magazine insists on featuring one in their opening pages. Additionally, sheets of newspaper have little to no ability to retain heat. Totally not hot right now. Lol!

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soapbox As students take to living in the library, Eva Griffin rejoices at the chance to put her awkward dance moves away

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humping bass, dark-lit room, a mass of anonymous and sweaty faces; this is the scene of my grand debut.

Yes, tonight I will prove that I was born to be a dancer, despite a failed attempt at becoming a ballerina when I was younger. I’m probably, no, definitely just more suited to something cool and sexy like hip-hop.

It’s in my blood, I’m sure; these hips don’t lie.

Strutting purposefully ahead, I leave my friends behind and set my sights on the glittering, empty dance floor. Clearly, this spot was reserved for my imminent performance.

Basking in the pungent smell of body odour, alcohol and cigarettes; I prepare myself. When the bass drops, I break into my routine of badly co-ordinated hip shaking and awkwardly sticking my arms out in various directions.

I slowly come to the terrifying realisation that, no, I am not rocking this dancefloor. The illusion of my dancing prowess dissipates as I regretfully accept that I don’t actually possess a slammin’ ghetto booty. To add to my mortification, a large gap has gradually formed around me. This, of course, signals the sad fact that not one drunken peer can force themselves to be near me. Yes, the sight of me trying to dance is just that embarrassing. Tail between my legs and head bowed, I shuffle away and vow to never again reveal my ‘skills’ to the world.

Many are familiar with this awkward white girl dance, which is disturbingly akin to the granddad at a wedding routine. This is a terrible affliction that ruins the lives of countless females, and I’m not being dramatic. One in three young women suffer from this disease, which sadly riddles the entire body and causes longlasting humiliation, along with potential mental scarring for those subjected to bear witness.

Chances are if you don’t know anyone affected by this then you probably have it. In most cases, the poor creature is unaware of her symptoms and continues to obliviously look like a moron.

Unfortunately, this inability to dance rears its monstrous head in various forms. Far worse than the innocent lack of co-ordination is the signature move of the girl who thinks she’s really fit. You may protest that your incessant ‘slut-dropping’ is due to that one Smirnoff Ice too many, but I know the truth. Whether in a drunken haze or proudly claiming sobriety, you just can’t dance. Hearing your knees crack as you continuously try to look hot by squatting isn’t attractive. Ladies (and guys in some odd cases), please put an end to this before the epidemic spreads even further. Turning around on my way to the bar and being blocked by a group of girls ‘slut-dropping’ as if it’s a satanic ritual is something that I’d like to avoid. One day I hope to leave a club having not witnessed this so-called dance move; but I fear that the wait will be excruciatingly long. In the meantime, you’ll find me swaying nonchalantly on the edge of the dance floor, quietly fighting the allconsuming urge to awkwardly bust a move.

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OTWO

The First Year Experience: stationary power In her final column of the year, Lucy Montague Moffat on how there is more to surviving first year than buying the right stationary

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pparently, even if you buy loads of expensive stationary, you can still fall behind in college work. Eason’s purchases should come with a warning: “Buying a €15 diary will not automatically make you organised.”

There’s just such a nice feeling of achievement when you finish writing a to-do list that actually making the large amount of effort to tick any tasks off seems unnecessary. Creating the list itself, with different coloured inks to indicate the importance of each activity, has filled your productivity bar for the day. And there is that real sense that you are getting on top of all your subjects when you print out all the lecturer’s notes and file them away in a nice folder. In the unlikely event that you ever do go to read them, you will be able to find the reference you need with ease, not a dog-eared page in sight because, as we all know, dog-ears make you fail.

The other day I found myself surrounded by Paperchase bags, a vegetable pie that I had made from scratch, pastry and all, because I decided that was an excellent use of my time, and looming deadlines that I had neatly written into my expensive organiser months before when I was full of good intentions. When I think back to the kind of thoughts that were filling my head at the start of term I want to slap myself across the face with a particularly wet fish.

I was all “I actually really like the UCD campus” and “I have discovered that the secret to success is to go to lectures” and “Maybe I’ll start handing in essays early.” Oh what an idiot I was. Of course, none of these wishes were ever going to come true and in just a few snowy weeks I was back to plodding around Newman, mumbling angrily to myself about concrete and pointless lessons and how had I reached the age of 23 and still be scared of a photocopy machine.

I was telling a friend of mine ,who I had started in UCD with when we were both 18 but who had actually stayed there and now has a proper grown-up job, like a proper functioning human, about how I was really falling behind. Actually the conversation went a bit like her asking me generally how everything was going and me dramatically throwing myself against a wall and singing “I’m just going to drop out, again,” Les Mis style, but not really because I hated every gloomy second of Les Miserables. Maybe Mamma Mia, with paler skin.

My nice friend informed me that there are people you can talk to on campus that will help you if you are struggling with your work. In fact, it is these peoples’ jobs to watch you slam yourself off walls as you croon the miseries of your hectic life, full of undone essays and fantastic vegetable pies, if I might say so myself.

This was all news to me. I figured that anyone who wasn’t a student in UCD would be awfully put out if I disturbed their day of reading big old books and pointing to things on a projector screen. But I found the email for the student advisor and made an appointment. When that was done I felt as though I had achieved a lot, and so put my feet up to watch some Modern Family because I deserved it.

My biggest achievement of the year however is that I didn’t cry in the student advisors office. You

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see, I am a crier. Once I am adequately hydrated I will squeeze salt beads from my eyes for the most undeserving things. My least proud teary moment was my friend catching me weeping at What a Girl Wants, the classic film starring Amanda Bynes and Colin Firth. And I wasn’t even crying ironically, which would have been slightly more acceptable.

From the minute I sat in the surprisingly comfy chair in front of the nice lady I was already blinking back tears. And to make it worse there was a big packet of tissues sitting in the table between us, taunting me with the thought that crying was so acceptable in this room that equipment had already been prepared.

At one point, as I was explaining how I had written two plays that were both opening in the same week making me super busy, the student advisor reached out her hand and grabbed one of the tissues. For a split second I thought my tale

of under-achievement was too much for her to handle, that this was the monologue I had been born to tell. This was my Lady Macbeth! But she just blew her nose loudly and then continued to listen to my mumbles.

Although it was, clearly, a rollercoaster of emotions, going to the student advisor was the best thing for me to do because after the meeting I wrote an essay. And then I handed it in, two days early. I even wrote a bibliography which I had failed to remember to do for all my essays last term. How did I pass anything?

So hopefully this all means that I will sail, albeit bumpily, into second year, continuing my quest to become a real functioning human who does things and goes places and knows things in her head without the help of Google. And that means I now have reason to buy a super pretty diary for September. I’ll start saving now.

trAvEL OTWO

Travel: Bulgaria Lucy Montague Moffatt experiences the delights of cheap food and middle-aged taxi drivers, as she travels to the ex-communist country of Bulgaria

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hen booking a package holiday, the most important factor, before you worry about cost or location or the price of alcohol, is your age. Package holiday sites are filled with ageist categories, asking their holiday goers to choose between ‘young and lively’ or ‘family friendly’ or ‘old and boring’, and with good reason. The moment you realise that the last place you want to stay in the whole world is a hot apartment on top of a blaring nightclub on a busy strip is the moment you realise you are finally an adult.

However, when you are in your early twenties, you tend to want the best of both worlds, requesting everything from the nice restaurants and the cheap drink to the quiet accommodation with the option of a crazy nightclub nearby, like a spoilt child. This is what I was looking for when booking a getaway last summer, and we found everything we were demanding in the far off land of Bulgaria.

Getting to Bulgaria is easy, with just a quick three hour flight between Dublin and Burgas Airport. There was some drama on the plane however when we went through some turbulence and, to our dismay, the captain instructed the in-flight drinks cart stop serving, just as it was reaching our seats. We watched as the wine slowly rolled away from us, while everyone in the seats in front of us enjoyed their drinks, possibly too

much since when the plane rattled aggressively in the night air one woman screamed “Ah jaysus!

I knew I should have flown Aer Lingus!”

Despite this we arrived safely and soon were hopping out of a coach outside our hotel in the city of Nesebar. Nesebar is a quaint town that is associated with so much ancient history that it can be described as a city-museum.

Strolling through the old town brings your imagination back to the time when this was part of the Roman Empire, with ruins and ancient buildings rising around you

to the sparse landscape of Nesebar, and contains strips of nightclubs and restaurants, with holiday apartments looming overhead.

It is the here that you can really see how far this once communist country has come, and how much focus is being placed in the tourism sector of the country. Sunny Beach was close enough from our hotel that a cheap taxi could get us there and back for a night out but far enough away that we didn’t have to deal with anyone throwing leaflets about free cocktails into our hands every time we walked outside. It was the perfect mix of

“The moment you realise that the last place you want to stay in the whole world is a hot apartment on top of a blaring nightclub on a busy strip is the moment you realise you are finally an adult.” at every turn. Most of these streets are now filled with tourist shops and cafés occupying the lower half of the buildings. Here you can buy a variety of items to commemorate your holiday such as a beautifully crafted cooking pot, a watch pretending to be made by Chanel, or a classy key-ring. I bought my friend a present of a key ring that was also a bottle opener and had a little spinning dolphin on it, to represent the rich culture I was experiencing.

Just an hour walk down the beach from Nesebar is the aptly named Sunny Beach, which is so different from quiet Nesebar that it feels like you have walked to a different country. Sunny Beach is a very built up city in comparison

lively and old.

The best thing about a trip to Bulgaria is how insanely cheap everything is. They deal in Bulgarian lev, and when you work out the price for anything it is really hard to get your head around. A two course meal for two people with wine would cost the equivalent of about €10. Every time we got a bill for a fantastic meal we would have to check it a few times to make sure we weren’t reading it wrong.

In one pub we enjoyed huge tankards of beer for an astronomical €1 each. Not having to worry about money made the holiday so much more relaxing, and made wining and dining so much more fun.

Another great thing was that we never felt unsafe, ever. Literally

no one fancied us in Bulgaria. The only time we received any compliments from anyone about our appearance was a female taxi driver who, half way back to our hotel, beamed at us through the car mirror and exclaimed in broken English: “You are both beautiful, you came out of the crowd to my taxi like two angels!” This might have had something to do with the fact that we both got incredibly sunburnt on our first day on the beach, making us glow, sweatily, like a pair of overheated lobsters.

The greatest day in our week long stay was our trip to the water park. There were a few to choose from, so we picked the one with the closest bus transfer because we were on holidays after all. We had hours and hours of inflatablering fun, even though we were both suffering from acute sunstroke and possible third degree burns. It really is a testament to an establishment if you can have a great time there despite your skin peeling off your body in large, wet sheets.

Bulgaria is still holding on to some of its reputation from when it was a communist country that didn’t allow holiday-makers leave the fences surrounding their hotel complex. It has a long way to go to be the next must-visit destination, but with ridiculous prices, safe streets and a beautiful history, it definitely has the makings for a really great holiday. Just perhaps not if you are in search of a soul mate, unless middle-aged female taxi drivers float your boat.

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OTWO GAMES

REVIEWS SLENDER: THE ARRIVAL AVANT GARDE

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h e n M a r k J. Hadley released his seminal Slender: The Eight Pages last year the overwhelming reaction was a mixture of terror and praise. As a result the announcement that not only would Hadley be teaming up with Blue Isle Studios to release a full Slender Man game, but the writing team behind the cult YouTube horror series Marble Hornets were coming on-board to work on the game’s story led to understandably high expectations.

It is a pity then that Slender: The Arrival falls short of its hype. Before addressing the game’s disappointing shortcomings it is worth mentioning the areas in which it excels.

The Arrival sees a distinct graphical upgrade from the original, with its autumnal forests, abandoned houses and gloomy mines exhibiting an impressive level of detail for the Unity engine. The audio design is the game’s strongest asset, contributing to the unnerving and tense atmosphere which is best exemplified by the prologue chapter. Above all The Arrival succeeds at being scary with its third chapter ‘Into the Abyss’ being particularly deserving of praise.

Set in a condemned mining facility, this chapter introduces a new enemy, the Proxy, who has her own distinct appearance, movement style and attack pattern which will induce panic in even the most hardened Slender veterans.

However, this is not enough to overcome the myriad of flaws which blight what had the potential to be an incredible release. It becomes abundantly clear after only a short

amount of playtime that Slender: The Arrival needed a longer development cycle. There are serious motion blur issues with the camera and the collision detection system lacks precision; these are faults which should have been identified and ironed out during the play testing phase. While these may be dismissed as minor quibbles, what cannot be overlooked is the alarming number of glitches and bugs left in this game, which in some cases can render sections unplayable. Simple actions can cause the game to crash or the player to inexplicably plummet to their death through seemingly solid scenery.

Such major bugs are simply unacceptable in the final build of a fullrelease game.

Even more disappointing is how underdeveloped the plot is, unravelled through cryptic notes which offer little insight into the motives of the characters, and how exasperatingly formulaic the approach to the levels has been, with each stage essentially boiling down to ‘collect or activate x number of objects before something horrible catches you’.

This formula worked excellently for The Eight Pages but cannot sustain itself across a full title. The game is also far too short; it can easily be completed in under an hour. All of this combines to give the impression that Slender: The Arrival was a hastily constructed effort. With its inconclusive ending hinting at further sequels, one can only hope that future entries to the series will be more polished offerings.

by Steven Balbirnie

Slender: The Arrival - Title Blue Isle Studios - Publishers Parsec Productions - Developers PC, Mac - Platforms

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vant-Garde is a simulation game where you play as an artist in nineteenth century Paris; still in development, this is the Alpha version released in early March.

Extremely innovative in its adaptation of the 19th century Parisian art world, Avant-Garde exhibits great potential. Welcomed into the game by the forefather of French modernism Edouard Manet against the backdrop of Gustave Caillebotte’s ‘Paris Street; Rainy Day’ of 1877, the game is clearly situated on the brink of a turbulent artistic era. Throughout the game, you meet numerous famous artists such as Gustave Courbet and Claude Monet, each of whom can teach you alternative skills to use to develop your own masterpieces.

In the studio, you are presented with numerous alternate genres to choose from to base your art works, such as landscape, portrait, allegorical or historical, some of which are in higher demand than others which relates to the reality of the nineteenth century art market. The game therefore, promotes itself as being educational by incorporating historical culture into the contemporary and interactive medium of a simulative role-playing computer game.

The game is extremely addictive at first as you strive to paint a masterpiece worthy of being accepted into the great Salon, and once your work has been accepted your next goal is to be awarded a gold star at the annual exhibition. These goals are clearly laid out as you begin the game and for this reason, at first, your objectives

are logical and achievable.

Yet, after an hour or so of game play, your objectives are revealed as being almost too achievable, as even the most basic productions are awarded gold stars at the Salon while also reaping in thousands of Francs per painting. As wonderful as this may sound, the game gradually becomes tiresome as you spend most of your time drinking absinthe at the local café, which strangely enough has absolutely no repercussions.

The game needs to be more challenging to be truly successful.

Despite playing the game numerous times making different choices, it seems inevitable that you will end up in the same ending position. You are presented with the opportunity to either befriend or become enemies with each and every artist but there are no negative consequences to antagonising your competitors, which, quite frankly, is pretty boring. There also appears to be a few glitches associated with learning the “non-linear” painting style as well as developing your own manifesto. The game could also benefit from visually showing the development of your art works.

Conclusively, the concept of the game is extremely innovative yet it currently falls short of being anything revolutionary. Hopefully the game’s final build will prove the developers capable of realising AvantGarde’s full potential.

Title - Avant-Garde Publishers - Newgrounds Developers - Morvan and Mnemusyne Platforms - Browser

by Laura Woulfe

Final Reality

GAMES OTWO

With Yoichi Wada stepping down as the president of Square Enix after 13 years at the helm of the company, Rory Michael O’Sullivan examines his legacy and downfall

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oichi Wada has been with Square Enix legacy game company Taito who were best known critic Yahtzee to decree that it “killed its franchise since the year 2000 and has presided for their arcade entries such as Space Invaders and so thoroughly that the only acceptable sequel over the largest restructuring of Bubble Bobble. The British publishing giant Eidos will be a box containing nothing but an apology the company taking it from a large Interactive famed for iconic titles such as Hitman letter and some chocolates”. Hitman Absolution independent development house and Tomb Raider was next in his sights and was was described by IBITimes as “An unremarkable, to a full-fledged publisher. He has overseen the acquired in 2009. derivative clone of a game that’s barely a shadow development of some of the largest games of While Wada’s business sense lead the company of what Hitman used to be”. Even the latest entry this generation including series entries to Final forward in leaps and bounds his love of the to the Tomb Raider series is being written up as a Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Hitman and Tomb Raider product left him blinded by emotion when it failure despite having the biggest opening week as well as overseeing the launch of new IPs such came to leading development projects. A former in the history of the franchise as well as holding as the recent Sleeping Dogs. Now, 13 years after employee said of him: “I don’t know a company the biggest opening of 2013. Bloated development joining the company, Wada is now stepping down president who loves playing his own company’s cycles have too high a risk with associated failure as president to a more junior role, taking a 60% games more than Wada”. He became involved in and put unreasonable sales demands on successes. pay cut in the process. A forecast “extraordinary games production more as a fan than a boss and Given the poor financial forecast it was time to put loss” in Square Enix’s next financial statement is according to the employee “If anything, Wada’s an end to this mismanagement. the reason offered up for what they’re dubbing a mistake, his weakness was that because he loved Wada is stepping down as president and will not “management restructuring”. and cherished his developers so much that he put be reappointed to the Board of Directors. His salary As a young man Yoichi is being slashed by more than Wada attended the University half to bring it in line with his “If anything, Wada’s mistake, his weakness was that of Tokyo where he received a new position and the company’s bachelors degree in finance. because he loved and cherished his developers so much new financial situation. He will After serving an apprenticeship be replaced by Yousuke Matsuda that he put too much trust in them” at Nomura Securities to build who is also receiving a pay cut of a track record of employment 40% as well as the heavy burden he shifted attention to his career goal, to become too much trust in them”. Under Wada’s leadership of managing the resurgence of one of the few a company president by the age of 40. Deciding development cycles became longer and more remaining iconic gaming giants. he wanted to work under the theme of “creating bloated. The company’s flagship series Final Yoichi Wada brought good and bad to Square society” he chose the video game sector as his field Fantasy began weighing heavily on the company. and Square Enix but ultimately his legacy as and the company Square as his target. Wada joined While Final Fantasy XII and XIII were critical and president is one of failure. He adopted a “when Square in 2000 and brought with him plans of commercial successes the disastrous Final Fantasy it’s done” attitude, the attitude which gave Duke consolidation and development of the company. A XIV underlined the risk incurred with these long Nukem Forever the power to destroy a company, merger between Final Fantasy’s Square and Dragon development cycles should the game fail and and it undid him before it could undo Square Quest’s Enix was planned in 2000 but the financial Final Fantasy Versus XIII has entered its seventh Enix. It is always sad to see people in the industry failure of the movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits year of active development making it the longest undone by their passion but when faced with Within made Enix reluctant to join. The merger development cycle of any entry to the series. the shark-like efficiency of Activision churning was delayed until 2003 when Square Enix was born Beyond that the newly acquired licences have out record breaking best sellers year after year and Yoichi Wada emerged at the helm as president. been seen to be under performing. The failure that businessmen need to lead the creators, rather Under his presidency Square Enix acquired the was Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days prompted games than the other way around.

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OTWO GAMES

Bundles of Joy Steven Balbirnie takes a look at Humble Bundle Inc. and how gamers can be mobilised for the support of charities

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n a world in which the mainstream media quite often depicts the gaming community as being composed of selfcentred misanthropes, it is always heartening to witness the care and generosity of individuals and groups whose work undermines these narrow-minded prejudices. One of the groups at the forefront of this is Humble Bundle Inc., a group whose efforts over the past three years have raised over $33million for charities and independent developers.

The concept behind the company’s Humble Indie Bundles is a straightforward yet effective one; they assemble a batch of titles from some of the industry’s best independent developers, which is then sold online for a two week period using the ‘pay what you want’ model; which not only allows you to choose how much you pay for the bundle, but also how this money is divided between the charities and the developers, and how much goes to covering the bandwidth requirements of Humble Bundle Inc. themselves. Charities over the years which have benefited from this initiative include Child’s Play, which was founded by the authors of Penny Arcade to organise donations of toys and games to children’s hospitals worldwide, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which works to protect digital civil liberties throughout the world such as free speech and privacy, as well as other charities such as Charity: Water and the American Red Cross.

This is a remarkable achievement given the literally humble origins of the first Humble Bundle, a oneoff experiment by independent developer Wolfire Games to both raise money for charity and raise the profile of indie games. The first bundle consisted initially of five games, Wolfire’s Lugaru HD, Gish by Cryptic Sea, World of Goo by 2D Boy, Penumbra: Overture by Frictional Games and Aquaria by Bit Blot, with Amanita Design’s Samorost 2 later being added to the bundle as the developers wanted to help the cause. The astonishing success of the bundle defied all expectations, raising over $1million and resulting in Humble Bundle Inc. being spun out from Wolfire Games so that there could be a company able to devote itself full time to organising and selling future charity bundles.

So why was the first Humble Indie Bundle so successful, and why do subsequent Humble Bundles continue to receive such positive reactions?

There are several reasons for the success of the bundles other than its charitable purpose and the previously mentioned ‘pay what you want’ model. First of all are the benefits

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which the bundle system offers to the consumer. Perhaps most appealing is the opportunity to purchase awardwinning titles s u c h a s B ra i d , Super Meat Boy, Closure, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Limbo and Bastion for a discounted price, though other benefits to the consumer include the fact that all bundle items have to be made available not only to PC users but to Mac and Linux gamers as well. All bundle items are also offered free from DRM (Digital Rights Management) which means that buyers don’t need to worry about limited install activations or persistent online authentication. The system also offers incentives for higher levels of generosity such as set prices to gain Steam or Desura codes for the games; MP3 downloads of the games’ soundtracks or games which are added to a buyer’s bundle if their donation beats the average price which others are paying for the bundle.

The success of the bundles can also be attributed to the benefits which they offer to developers.

There is no shortage of independent developers willing and eager to co-operate with Humble Bundle Inc. as inclusion in a bundle can provide a massive boost of publicity for talented but low profile developers. In an interview with Destructoid, Humble Bundle co-founder Jeffrey Rosen revealed that “a number of developers have actually made more money from their time in the Humble Bundle than they have from any other source, which is pretty serious.”

Beyond the main seven Humble Indie Bundles the company have branched into a variety of specialist bundles such as Android bundles, music bundles and even E-book bundles. Other unique bundles have

included the Mojam bundles which have bundled together the games created at three day games jams organised by Minecraft creators Mojang, The Amnesia Fortnight bundle which included prototypes for games by Double Fine Productions, the developers behind Psychonauts, that were created and voted on by the public over a two week period, as well as the Humble THQ Bundle which was an effort to save the beleaguered publisher from bankruptcy.

The company recently released their first bundle exclusively for mobile platforms, the Humble Mobile Bundle which ran from the 26th of March to the 9th of April and included Plants vs Zombies,

Anomaly Korea, Bladeslinger, The Room, Contre Jour and Metal Slug 3; with Funky Smugglers, Raiden Legacy and Another World being added as rewards for beating the average donation. This bundle has raised over half a million dollars with some individual donors choosing to pay up to $250 for this set of games.

With such diversity in the products that it offers and a business model that benefits charities, developers and consumers, Humble Bundle Inc. looks set to exert a positive influence within the games industry for years to come while also proving that gamers are a demographic which can be mobilised as a force for the common good.

FILM OTWO

Kieron J. Walsh Director of upcoming Irish release Jump speaks with Casey Lehman about whether TV is better than cinema, how digital is better than film, and the difficulties of breaking into America

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eople grow apart. New doors open and others close. Fate plays a large role in our lives, even against our own will. This all comes together on New Year’s Eve in Kieron J. Walsh’s existential odyssey, Jump, which hits Irish cinemas on April 26th. “We’re all kind of the same when we’re about 13,” says Walsh. “Then we get into the late teens and early 20s and begin to realise what we want out of life and we grow apart, and that’s what’s happened between these three girls.”

The girls are the suicidal Greta (Nicola Burley), reckless Dara (Valerie Kane), and Marie (Charlene McKenna), who is caught helplessly between her loyalties to both as Greta wants to (one way or another) get out of Derry forever and Dara is just looking for a good time. Enter Pearse (Martin McCann), whose drug-dealing brother has been murdered by the henchmen of Greta’s mob boss father, Frank Feeney (Lalor Roddy). Walsh says of Greta: “When she sees Pearse and how he lives his life and how he’s driven, it makes her think differently about her own life.”

That might be the key to the whole film, as Greta is literally on the brink of suicide when fate intervenes in the form of Pearse, freshly bloodied from an encounter with Feeney’s goons. Pearse forces Greta to rethink her decision to jump off the Derry Peace Bridge, admonishing her (rather morbidly) to think about the poor soul who will find her in pieces at the bottom. It is also Pearse’s fierce determination to find those responsible for his brother’s disappearance, a mission undertaken for the sake of family ties, that inspires Greta to strike back at her own dysfunctional family.

As Walsh puts it: “Her mother ended up probably killing herself, Greta suspects. She certainly didn’t want to live any more and Greta believes it’s her father that forced her into that situation.

Her father is good to her in material ways, but doesn’t have much obvious love for her. He would

disagree, he would believe that he does everything a good father does for her but clearly it’s not enough for Greta.” The pair decide to steal a large sum of cash from Feeney and run away to Australia together, a plan Greta had originally made with the oft-disappointed Marie.

Jump is Walsh’s second feature film after 2000’s When Brendan Met Trudy, with a considerable body of television work in between. While Walsh prefers not to distinguish between the two with regard to his own output, he finds TV to be a much more fruitful source of entertainment. “I went to see Zero Dark Thirty in the cinema recently and I remember sitting there and I couldn’t help thinking ‘You know what? I’d just love to be home watching Homeland’ because it’s far better.”

He goes on to conclusively state: “It’s challenging times for the feature film business.”

This has been an increasingly common occurrence, he says, and he doesn’t see it changing any time soon: “Would I like to go and watch the latest Tom Cruise film or would I like to watch the next episode of Breaking Bad? Give me Breaking Bad any day.”

The subject of Breaking Bad also brought up the current division in the entertainment industry over the merits of digital video versus celluloid film stock, as Breaking Bad is shot on 35mm film. Walsh is firmly in the former camp, saying: “I want the films I make to look exactly how I want them to look, so if there’s any chance of something getting scratched or a colour changing, I’m not very happy... What I see when I’m on the set, on my monitor, is pretty much what is going to end up on the big screen, particularly if it’s projected digitally. Normally it’s exactly what you shot and I think the control of that is very very good.”

This is in stark contrast to the ‘fetish’ others have for celluloid. Walsh mentions directors like Quentin Tarantino, who find a certain charm in those imperfections that give Walsh himself fits. “I

think eventually they’re going to have to change, there’s no two ways about it.” Walsh says of such fetishists: “They’re not going to be projecting films on film in the foreseeable future... They’ve stopped making film stock so I don’t know what these guys are going to do.”

Fully embracing the digital age, Walsh’s future, unlike that of physical film, is looking bright. He’s recently signed with Gersh, a Hollywood-based talent agency whose clients also include Kristen Stewart and Jamie Foxx, and he hopes this new partnership will expand his horizons beyond this corner of Europe, though he is adamant that he still loves working here, as evidenced by his forthcoming pilot for SkyTV. “I love making films in Ireland, I love making films in Britain, but I’d love to make a film in America,” he said of the move.

“It’s really about opening up opportunities.”

Without the reputation of a Martin McDonagh or a breakout success like John Kearney’s Once behind him though, Walsh expects to have to battle his way up the ranks of American cinema.

“America is a huge country and Irish films are tiny in that place,” he says. “Unless you are extremely fortunate and happen to make something like Once which captured the hearts of the world really, but particularly America... you really do have to struggle.”

Jump is sure to at least set him on the right path, with its innovative storytelling and talented young cast supported by a deft directorial hand and cinematography that is at once stunning to look at and unobtrusive. The film, though, is still dependent on word of mouth, “because there’s never enough money to publicize Irish films. They can’t really compete with American products, or British products really in terms of publicity,” so Walsh simply asks for a “leap of faith” and that moviegoers “take time to go and watch Irish film rather than immediately go and see a blockbuster.” You won’t be disappointed.

Walsh’s upcoming film Jump 9

OTWO FILM

REVIEWS

Evil Dead

Title: Evil Dead Director: Fede Alvarez Starring: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Jessica Lucas Release Date: April 19th

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ou are all going to die tonight” intones the possessed voice of Jane Levy’s character Mia. But then, you already knew that right? By going to see Fede Alvarez’s remake of Sam Raimi’s horror classic, you know exactly what you’re in for. There will be a cabin in the woods. There will be five friends.

And most of them will end up being a crimson mess on the floor.

So what does a director do when you’re working with such deeply familiar source material? You amp it up. You raise the tempo, cram in the shocks, and aim for highimpact. And Alvarez does a very good job of it. The 1981 version of The Evil Dead took about half an hour to get going; the 2013 model is much quicker to eliminate all hope.

There is a menacing atmosphere all the way, and it comes from an unexpected source, and one that makes an important departure from the original film.

The five friends in this version are not staying in a decrepit old cabin just for fun (when has that ever been believable?); they are

there to try to help Mia break her heroin addiction, cold turkey. This is an excellent plot device, because it means all the characters are already on edge before the evil incantations from the Book of the Dead are even spoken. They suspect each other, they know their tempers will be tested, and they certainly don’t trust Mia. Then the woods attack (literally, and in quite disturbing fashion), and things get a whole lot more sinister very quickly.

This film doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not. It knows it could never replicate the low-budget indie

kitsch of the original, so it goes for all-out horror. There is a lot of gore (even more than in Raimi’s version, which is saying something), but it’s used to proper effect. It’s not gratuitous or slapstick in any way. One of the most frightening scenes involves a demonically-influenced Olivia (Jessica Lucas) brutally harming herself just to intimidate Lou Taylor Pucci’s Eric. This is not gore to be taken lightly.

Of course the problem with gunning the engine all the way is that sooner or later you’ll run out of gas; in this case the final act just fails to

live up to the shock-filled beginning and middle. And unfortunately, the male lead Shiloh Fernandez is nowhere near as charismatic as the original’s star, Bruce Campbell.

But then, who is? This is still a very good horror film, capable of making an audience jump. These demons have some serious teeth.

In a Nutshell: Even without Bruce, this is a solid gut-punch of a horror flick, filled with adrenaline and some genuine shocks.

by Edward Kearns Title: Jump Director: Kieron J. Walsh Starring: Nichola Burley, Martin McCann, Richard Dormer Release Date: April 26th

Jump

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ith a slew of television work between it and his feature film debut, the Roddy Doyle-scripted When Brendan Met Trudy (2000), Kieron Walsh’s Jump shows that he has grown significantly as a filmmaker over the intervening years. Where that first feature, made during the height of the Celtic Tiger, suffered due to its reliance on the tropes of many similar “fish out of water” Hollywood products, Jump is highly conscious of its cinematic precedents, cleverly manipulating its own continuity to assemble a bloody mosaic of

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its characters’ lives.

Set in contemporary Northern Ireland, Jump makes no explicit mention of The Troubles or any other part of Irish history and this may be the film’s only real failure.

Remnants of the conflict are visible at two points (a “Free Derry” sign and a crude chalk mural) but the film quickly bypasses these ugly bits, treating them more as scenery or background, in an effort to position itself in a “post-conflict” era.

Much more relevant to the lives of the characters at hand is the presence of gangs involved in drug and gun trafficking.

Greta (Nichola Burley, leaving

behind her unfortunate credit in the horrendously generic StreetDance 3D), the first character we meet, is the daughter of Frank Feeney, a kingpin of the Derry underworld who has been robbed

by Pearse Kelly (Martin McCann) the brother of a small-timer who was killed by Frank’s men. After Pearse saves Greta from committing suicide (by jumping off the Peace Bridge, no less!), the two decide to run away to Australia together. Pearse, however, has second thoughts after Greta reveals who her father is. Such coincidences abound in the film, and it is only thanks to Walsh’s deft filmmaking

that the device never induces the cries of disbelief one might expect as the twists of fate pile up more and more as the film goes on.

Jump also follows two of Feeney’s thugs who are hunting down Pearse and two of Greta’s friends as they kill time waiting for her to show up and celebrate New Year’s Eve with them. The intermingling of these three storylines is the film’s major success, and credit must go to Walsh’s screenplay (written in collaboration with Steve Brookes, making his first foray into features) and direction. That is not to take anything away from the actors, however, as the mostly young cast turns in performances that indicate both freshness and future promise. McCann deserves special mention for his turn as Pearse, allowing the character’s inexperience with Derry’s seedier parts to show on his freshly-battered face.

In a Nutshell: A standout film, thanks to the cleverness of its construction and a promising cast.

by Casey Lehman

Cop to the Future and Back IV: Don Draper’s Paper Caper

FILM OTWO

top10

Worst Summer Blockbuster Disappointments 10. Spider Man 3 (2007): After two decent Spider-Man films, somebody somewhere decided to release this trash. They opted to leave out the storyline, so it consists of Spider-Man sitting around looking thoughtful on window ledges. A must for sight-seers.

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rom time to time you realise how much Hollywood actually hates you. There are certain films that are so awful, so morally reprehensible, that the only reason they could possibly exist is because film executives actually feed off the audiences’ misery. The inexplicably popular Cop to the Future and Back series is the ultimate example of this.

A mindless, sexist and borderline racist cultural phenomenon, when it inexplicably won all of the Oscars at this year’s ceremony (including best documentary), it was as if culture itself had given up and set itself on fire.

It is with great difficulty that I must eat my critic’s hat and admit that the latest instalment of this woeful series is, not to exaggerate, the greatest achievement of mankind since the construction of Rome. In all my years as a professional film judging man, never have I film-judged something that so overwhelmingly made me want to hug everyone in the cinema, which I promptly did after the screening. A life-affirming roller coaster of emotions, this is the most emotionally involving film about time travel since the classic love triangle of When Harry met Sally met Genghis Khan.

The film doesn’t have a story per se, but it does have a plot. We follow our intrepid hero from the previous films, Detective Harvey Price, on an all new adventure. The film opens right in the heat of the action, with Price in a car chase with Napoleon, ending in a satisfying explosion and twenty minute dance number. As Price time travels to his next case, something goes wrong with his time machine, forcing him to crash land in the Old West until he can repair the faulty machine.

This is the highest budget entry into the series and you can see where the money has gone. For instance, a stickler for authenticity, director David Reilly was adamant about filming the Louvre shootout scene in the actual Louvre, destroying hundreds of priceless paintings in the process. But when Price bursts his face through the genuine Mona Lisa and quips ‘bonjour, mo-fos ’, you know that’s billions of dollars well spent.

The cast is also phenomenal, featuring A-list cameos from the likes of Haley Joel Osment to Joe Biden. Even Gene Wilder comes out of retirement to play Price’s comic relief grandfather, hilariously misunderstanding the simple-to-use time machine and ripping a hole in the space-time continuum.

Also, thanks to cryogenic technologies, The Beatles perform together for the first time since key members’ various deaths.

The only possible complaint is that the 13 hour running time is just a little too short. Also, the whole thing would have worked slightly better if it had been in 3D. Other than that, we finally did it, humanity. We have created perfection.

In a Nutshell: The only reason not to see it is that the rest of your life will seem depressingly dull by comparison.

by Conor Luke Barry

9. The Haunting (1999): Set around a group of young people going to a haunted mansion for a terrifying experiment, this is certainly a summer blockbuster to avoid. It’s 113 minutes of people sitting around looking scared, mirrors, and special effects that would give 90s kids’ TV shows a run for their money.

8. Van Helsing (2004): What begins as a tale of Van Helsing’s ass kicking ways quickly descends into a farce that few could have predicted. It may have satisfied the Goths and pre-emo’s of the decade, but it did nothing for everybody else, including the careers of Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale.

Title: Cop to the Future and Back IV: Don Draper’s Paper Caper Directors: David Reilly Starring: Jon Hozier-Byrne, Dermot O’Rourke, Sally Field 7. Evening (2007): With a cast that would leave Release Date: Smarch 2013 Hollywood’s jaw firmly on the ground, it was perhaps a surprise that this drama became one of 2007’s greatest disappointments. Despite its strong performances, its sentimental tone clashes with the harsh drama of rejected romance.

6. Pearl Harbor (2001): Michael Bay’s adaptation of the tragedy of Pearl Harbor fails on every level. Essentially trying to be Titanic but in war-movie style, it is a monumental failure for its wooden dialogue and sentimentality.

5. Green Lantern: What should have been every teenage nerd’s dream rapidly turned into catastrophe. It was made famous when swarms of teenagers emerged from theatres looking somewhere between angry and hurt.

4. The Last Airbender (2010): With a budget of $130 million, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to have some small semblance of hope that this could amount to something. Sadly, it is not the story that made this film so dreadful, rather it is the painful dialogue that clearly had no time or effort invested in it.

3. Catwoman (2004): It’s not that the tale of a painfully shy graphic designer turned crazy woman/cat/thing is all that bad; rather, it’s the fact that clearly nobody except Halle Berry made any effort to make this film watchable.

2. Godzilla (1998): Known as ‘money making racket’ in some regions, this disaster movie revolves around a giant lizard. I rest my case.

1. Sex and the City 2 (2010): Sex and the City was hard to sit through during its television series stint so naturally, not one, but two movies were never going to be a fun addition. In this film, Sarah Jessica Parker and company work hard at undoing all that has been done by feminism, by coming across as silly, self-obsessed narcissists with serious daddy issues.

by Patrick Kelleher

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OTWO FILM

Ups and Downs:

The Academic Year in Film

Casey Lehman presents his take on the good and bad of films released this school year, and what they say about movies in general

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his academic year has been an interesting one for movies. The last quarter of 2012 saw the nick-of-time release of some of the biggest Oscar contenders, including Les Miserables, Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty, and Argo, as well as a slew of lesser pictures. 2013 has gotten off to a sputtering start, film-wise, with Texas Chainsaw 3D, the atrocious Movie 43, and Stephenie Meyer’s latest turd, The Host. Here, Otwo looks back on the good and bad from month to month.

September kicked the school year off with a salvo of audience exploitation, seeing the latest in a long line of 3D cartoon re-releases with Finding Nemo paddling crookedly back into our hearts. The best actor of all time, Nicolas Cage, jumped into the Taken trend with Stolen, teaming up once again with Con Air director Simon West.

The iconic Sylvester Stallone dystopia, Judge Dredd, was remade as simply Dredd, and in 3D, because why not? Perhaps worst of all, Rian Johnson’s Looper took an excellent premise and intriguing story and tacked on such a sentimental ending that the film ruined not only itself, but time travel flicks for years to come. That is not to say September was a complete failure, with The Master and Amour reminding us that art still happens once in a great while on the silver screen.

October was again a mix of good and bad. The usual Halloween-time horror of the scary-bad Paranormal Activity 4, the umpteenth Silent Hill, the disappointing Taken 2 and the indescribably terrible Here Comes the Boom accounted for the bad, while Argo and Skyfall both achieved that rare combination of near-universal critical acclaim and massive profits. November might have been the biggest month of 2012, with Oscar fodder Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, and Life of Pi as well as box office juggernaut Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 all being released in an intense three-week period.

November’s success was tempered by the troubling racism and overall awfulness of the Red Dawn remake and the didactic last half-hour of Flight (for which, in any other year, Denzel Washington would have won the Oscar easily).

2012 ended with a whimper, as the over-hyped

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The Hobbit (which also debuted still-unproven H i g h F ra m e - R a t e c i n e m a t o g r a p h y, shooting at twice the normal speed), This is 40, and Les Miserables all failed to be half as good as their marketing would have you believe. The t o r t u re - p o r n j u s t this side of Hostel that was Zero Dark Thirty also received plenty of acclaim that was as troubling as it was unwarranted.

The lone bright spot wa s t h e e q u a l l ycontroversial Django Unchained.

This year, 2013, as mentioned above, got off to a slow start. 3D refuses to die (Texas Chainsaw), as does Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Last Stand). Interestingly though, Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai’s latest release, The Grandmaster, initially released in China on January 8th, has been getting some international attention and, while it’s unclear right now whether a martial arts revival is on its way, the spirit of those films, it seems, is not dead after all. January also brought the release of Gangster Squad which, like The Grandmaster, was a stylized revival of an old genre, this time 1930s Hollywood gangster films. While Gangster Squad had its problems, such as flat characters, forced diversity, and Sean Penn’s accent, it was

nevertheless an entertaining flick that knew exactly what it was doing and did that well.

Two more careers escaped the icy grip of death in February, with Sylvester Stallone (Bullet to the Head) and Bruce Willis (A Good Day to Die Hard) both releasing new pictures. Though “new”, in this case, refers only to chronology, for both were (shockingly) desperate rehashes of past glory. The film world lost one of its greatest scholars that month too, as Donald Richie passed away at the age of 88, having done much to bridge the divide between the cultures of Japan and the West.

Speaking of tragedies, Top Gun was re-released in 3D and Uncle Vernon died.

Though 2013 has had a rocky start as far as new films are concerned, it might be picking up steam, as March saw the release of I’m So Excited and Spring Breakers, new, challenging features from Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovar and American indie weirdo Harmony Korine, respectively.

Likewise, Rob Zombie’s Lords of Salem hit theatres here in April and we can look forward to Iron Man 3, Star Trek: Into Darkness, and The Great Gatsby (kind of ) in May. Of course, you’re on your own if you go see Pain & Gain this month or May’s trilogy of stupid, Tyler Perry Presents Peeples, Fast and Furious 6 (SIX?!), and The Hangover Part III. I hope everyone has enjoyed going to the movies this school year as much as I have. Even though there’s been plenty of good and even more bad, movies are still, as ever, vitally important to our society and culture. Directly or indirectly, they show us who we are, who we think we are, and who we could be. Entertainment is great and, of course, has its utility for society. But it’s also important to remember that, from the most esoteric art picture to the most innocuous explosion-festival, each and every movie is a window into the culture, hearts, and minds of both those who made it and those who watch it.

Tomorrow Never Knows

televison OTWO

In a world where Mad Men is as ubiquitous as Netflix subscriptions, Laura Bell questions the curious allure of throwback TV

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n the first season of AMC’s prolific, 15time Emmy award winning Mad Men, protagonist Don Draper turns to his young mistress and throws out a thought. “I can’t decide if you have everything or nothing,” he says to her. And what a compelling thought it is: a self referential reflection, encapsulating perfectly the allure of the period drama. The 20th Century is a particular hot spring of cultural intrigue, perhaps because it walks, talks, acts and looks almost exactly like the modern animal. But in reality, it’s another beast entirely; a force that compels us to consider Don Draper’s dilemma. Do we have everything, or do we have nothing?

The western world is undoubtedly transfixed by the glamorous depictions of its illustrious past; our latter-day revelry inhabits a grey area that makes redundant the thrill of vice and the sweetness of virtue. Fictionalised visions of the lives of our grandparents, or their younger, more American siblings, are now a staple of our media diet. The casual excesses exhibited in shows like Mad Men, Pan Am, and The Playboy Club contrast with our modern cultural ideals of health and vitality and beauty. Just Do It refers to running at six in the morning, not drinking straight vodka at two in the afternoon, and protein shakes move ever forward as the new chain smoking. That’s not to say that now, in ‘the future’, there is no excess, but rather to say that it is more carefully measured and planned. Three nights out a week, social smoking, a midnight Chinese; hardly akin to donning your three piece suit and drinking a liquid lunch every day for 20 years.

With the view of keeping this particular retro charm intact, tumour free cigarette packets and all, 50 years seems to be the magic number for television to rewind. The ‘60s were exciting.

Struggling against the restrictive bonds of the ‘50s

(in which television executives fervently avoid Grease and Cry Baby malt-shop campness) but not quite echoing the easy familiarity of the 70’s, years that saw the birth of modern computing, effective feminism, and progressive rock. Half a century hardly has an impact, however, on the human condition. Mad Men is undoubtedly a study of personal identity, in a world that is, while equally as dynamic and changing as our own, massively different to it. No one helpfully suggests to Don Draper that he should really give up carbs and take up yoga, and nor will they.

The social consciousness of Draper’s world is fragmented into microcosms of immense privilege and injustice, the ‘global village’ not even a predictable outcome of an infant technology nobody knew about. The retreat to this time before political correctness and communal self improvement seems soothing through the glow of a television set or a laptop monitor; but perhaps that’s just where we like it. In Mad Men, privacy is achieved only through self destruction; Don receives more by sending his secretary home at noon and drinking himself into oblivion on his office sofa than Betty Draper does at the office of her therapist.

The instability of social archetypes and institutions is another focal point of the series.

Don, the ad man, creates the perfect housewife for magazine spreads and television spots; but when he actually marries the living embodiment of this adolescent dream, he decides he doesn’t want her, after all, and so begins a string of affairs that looks a lot like trading up appliances. That the women of the show aren’t unanimously attempting to crush the patriarchy and their indoctrinated ideals can be a point of controversy for viewers who are willing to understand only a limited aspect of the story’s social context, the

freshly romanticised surface of Madison Avenue in its heyday. The show’s treatment of the Civil Rights Movement and people of colour is also contentious. While the lack of African Americans in the main narrative of the show can be argued as being perfectly accurate, the modern eye sees discrimination, and the plot certainly glosses over a number of the events that are (perhaps retrospectively) seen to define the time. Change. org suggests that “for [the people of Mad Men], race and racism are largely invisible, until and unless the struggle for equality impinges upon their privilege.” As the show continues into 1968, however, this stance is becoming rapidly unsustainable and unreasonable.

Television like Mad Men is unique to other visual mediums. The plot moves slowly and thickly, like treacle. What has happened over the last five seasons? Not a whole lot, frankly; but it certainly couldn’t be condensed into two and a half hours of action followed by four weeks of press conferences and magazine covers. In studies on identity, television inarguably still holds its own well over the film industry. Shows like Mad Men can recreate an era so completely over a five episode arc that even those who lived it can’t find fault, while the relative anonymity of television actors to film stars serves only to further the mystique of this media. The real world never invades the fictitious; the spell of the past is never broken.

The allure of antiquity is a true phenomenon.

Television allows us to deeply indulge these fantasies, which are at once exciting and foreign, but safe and well tread. Mad Men represents the last of its kind, the dying embers of the millennial ‘60s fever that waxed and waned in short bursts on our screens. Mad Men and the ‘60s will end in two seasons. The illusion will endure.

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OTWO

Ellie Goulding As she rushes to shower before her Dublin show, pop princess cum electro goddess Ellie Goulding sits down with Aoife Valentine to talk living in the Phoenix Park, outrageous egg demands and how Irish students are just the right level of crazy drunk

“I feel like a lot of electronic producers and DJs have a lot of respect for me because I seem to have found myself in that world and I’m one of the very few girls who have.”

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“

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would live here, you know. I would,” says Ellie Goulding, Brit Award-winning English singer-songwriter. She’s just returned from a run around the Phoenix Park, and has roughly an hour before she’s due on stage at the Olympia. “It was divine,” she declares. “I literally just ran nine miles.

I haven’t had a shower, which is why I look so gross.”

Gross is not a word Otwo would have chosen; rather Goulding looks relaxed, in an oversized top and leggings, with a beanie covering her mop of blonde hair, her rather famous undercut currently in the process of being grown out. She began running when she was in university studying English, Politics and Drama, and she says it began more and more to take over her degree. It is still something she is passionate about; it’s the only thing she says her inner diva comes out to complain about, asking her manager to ensure that any hotel she stays in has a gym and that there’s some time put aside in her schedule so she can run even when on the road.

This stipulation has become even more important recently as Goulding gears up to run a half marathon in Washington later this month, as part of her partnership with Nike.

She’s quite despairing when asked how she even thinks about fitting in training sessions while on tour, before she says with more than a hint of disappointment in her voice: “It’s fine, it’ll be fine, I just probably won’t be able to run as well as I wanted to, because I haven’t got time.”

It’s quite clear that she’s not covering up her other more outrageous diva-ish demands for our sake. With no sign of a 100-person entourage or bowls of blue M&Ms, her main complaint is that her friend, who is waiting patiently as the interview proceeds, hasn’t boiled the kettle while she was out of the room. She muffles his protests that he had in fact boiled it, as she puts it on for herself. It seems after her run, all that matters to her is getting a cup of tea. That and large eggs. She sized up the two salads that had been delivered by room service, before declaring that the one with the bigger egg was hers, a point she reinforced when a member of her management team passed through, lest anyone dare pick up the wrong one. These requests seemed less like diva-ish tantrums, and more just the basic requirements of a tired person trying to recoup after a long run, before heading on stage to jump and dance around for a couple of hours.

With the salad and tea débâcles settled, she returns to chat about the tour, which had begun the previous night in Belfast, with a performance jammed in the previous night again at Trinity Ball. She seems a little wary of talking about that night, saying only: “It was really good. It was, eh, energetic. I think I played a good spot, at 1am.”

This was two hours later than Jessie J played two years previously, before complaining about the level of

OTWO drunkenness in the crowd, and lecturing students about the dangers of binge drinking. Goulding takes quite a different approach to the whole subject, saying: “No! No, it was perfect. If people are too sober, it’s also not great so it was a perfect level of craziness.

When talking about the tour, she can’t seem to quite put her finger on what’s different for Halycon Days when compared with the Lights tour from a couple of years ago, besides

“I literally just ran nine miles.

I haven’t had a shower, which is why I look so gross.” that there’s just “more” of everything: “It’s a whole different set, all different songs; some are new songs, a few are old songs, and I suppose there’s a bit more energy there. There’s more going into the lighting and sound, we’ve worked on that a lot more. It’s just very different this time.”

Perhaps the struggle to identify differences lies somewhere in the fact that it’s the songs that are very different. Halycon, released last October, is Goulding’s second studio album and is also a lot “more” everything: It’s a lot darker, a lot more personal and emotional, a lot more electronic, and it showcases just how interesting her voice is. This, she says, was her intention when she began writing the album: “Yeah, I mean I think the next album will be the same again. It might have an extra level of intimacy. That was a natural progression really. I always knew from Lights and from writing songs for when I re-released Lights as Bright Lights, that it was getting more and more personal.”

Referring to her song ‘I Know You Care’, she says: “It’s about my dad. I don’t mind telling you that.

It’s very personal to me.” Referencing her own denials about her father, who left her and her siblings when she was young and who she has had little contact with since, she has admitted that she isn’t even sure if he has heard the song or if he ever will, but felt she had to write those feeling down anyway.

While she never meant the album to be a break-up record, it turned into something closely resembling just that, as it was written in the aftermath of her break-up with Radio 1 DJ Greg James. This is obvious as you give the album a listen through, but talking about the track ‘Without Your Love’, she says: “The chorus just goes ‘Without your love, I’m getting somewhere.’ It’s harsh but true.

Harsh, but fair.”

Baring all of this in mind, this must be a tougher tour to face, with the prospect of getting up on stage

and singing these songs every night.

“No,” she says. “I perform them in a way that’s almost like, robotic. I still have the emotion but there’s just a little bit closed off so I don’t have to keep accessing the same thing that I did when I wrote it.”

When it came to the song-writing for this album, she took off alone, with just her guitar for company, and landed in Dingle, County Cork; an odd choice of location for a British songstress with plenty of similar countryside on offer, surely? “I made friends when I did the Other Voices festival a few Christmases back, and I made very good friends with the Kings so I stayed in touch with them.

I just thought, you know, I’m going to do it and I went there for a couple of weeks, just by myself. I’m going to do it again, I need to do it again, but I’ll just get my guitar and read books and hang out, by myself... I definitely prefer being in the countryside yeah, because it’s where I grew up so I have a close connection and bond with the countryside,” she says.

More so than other pop stars, she is very involved in almost every aspect of writing and producing an album, acting as co-producer for Halcyon. This control is something she says she could never give up: “It’s just something that I have to do really. I write songs with my guitar, and other people on the piano. I like writing with other people because it’s just a fun thing to do and when other people have such different perspectives on things, it makes it really interesting but I’m just very interested in production, very interested in making sounds and finding sounds. It’s part of it, it’s part of the fun.”

Her interest in production and sounds is becoming more obvious as she’s gaining a reputation for electro and dance music, more than just her pop roots. This really began when she broke America and re-released her début album Lights as Bright Lights, which had a slightly more

“No, it was perfect. If people are too sober, it’s also not great so it was a perfect level of craziness.” electronic feel than the original. Still mostly renowned for her pop on this side of the pond, the dichotomy is something she enjoys: “People are just a lot more friendly in America and they didn’t really sort of look into or take into consideration anything other than that they liked my music and they liked my remixes. I suppose it’s nice to be able to have those different sides, I like being looked at in different ways.”

Comparing the two worlds, it’s difficult not to note that the electro

and dance scenes are flooded with successful male artists, but women are few and far between. This is something that Goulding seems to find a little sad, but it has had its benefits for her, as she explains: “I think to me, I feel like a lot of electronic producers and DJs have a lot of respect for me because I seem to have found myself in that world and I’m one of the very few girls who have. There are a lot of really, really talented female vocalists that end up on electronic dance tracks that people have never heard of, but still, I want to work with a lot of electronic acts and they send me stuff and when I actually get a chance, I’ll record some stuff, but I think that I found myself in that sort of group and it’s awesome.”

Not content with just finding time to record new tracks with new people, she is constantly just looking for new music and new artists to add to her collection, and it’s something that she feels is really important, as a musician herself. “Whenever I get a chance I go on blogs and my friends also are really, really good at that stuff so between me and my friends, we always find the coolest stuff, the new stuff.”

Both that and running are things she feels she has to keep up with, no matter where in the world she is, or how busy her schedule becomes.

The only other really key thing to her, it seems, are Instagram, and to a lesser extent, Twitter. With an almost never-ending stream of photos of everything she’s up to, whether it’s playing shows, recording or just hanging out, it’s something she believes she almost owes fans. “People seem to like it,” she says. “I’ve got a lot of Instagram followers and it just sort of seems to keep them happy. I’m never around so, especially where I come from in the UK, I feel like I’ve abandoned my fans slightly when they’re in the UK, so I like to give them photos and let them know that I’m okay, that I’m fine and having fun. I don’t use them for any reason other than that really, I just like to have fun.”

This will certainly ring true for the next number of months, with the first leg of her European tour only just begun, and no tour dates scheduled in the UK until at least the end of the summer, after she’s toured the US and Canada first.

It’s a hectic schedule, with a new show almost every night in not only a new city, but most in most instances, a new country. When the subject of a third album is carefully broached, she almost laughs at the idea of fitting in song-writing amid everything else, exclaiming: “No! When?!”, before conceding that she writes “stuff down all the time but just [needs] a long period of time in the studio.”

And that, she says as she picks up the cup of tea that had been hesitantly placed on the table beside her a few minutes earlier, is where she hopes to be by the end of the year.

Ellie Goulding’s second album, Halcyon, is out now.

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Irish electro duo Young Wonder chat with Aaron Flood about their influences, preforming live, and, of course, fashionable headwear

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or those with a penchant for Indian headdresses, Young Wonder have a lot to offer. For those with a penchant for exciting new Irish electronic music, they have even more. The electronic-pop duo originate from the Rebel County of Cork. Consisting of Ian Ring and Rachel Koeman, Young Wonder create music with an invigorating mix of big beats and electronic riffs that is often sung by Koeman in a pretty amazing and feathery headdress.

The best way of describing the duo?

Think The Ting Tings who have been subject to a Clockwork Orangeesque Ludivico treatment, consisting of nothing but only the purest Indie/ Electronic music.

The ‘electronic’ term is being thrown around a lot here, but how would Young Wonder describe themselves? “We are electronic music, but I think we’re a lot more than that. Our music draws on a lot of influences and sounds from other cultures, along with that kind of Scandinavian ethereal vocal sound.

To top it all off we definitely have influences from more popular music.”

When asked about their influences, Young Wonder are quick to reply that: “We’ve many influences, probably too many to name. To name a few, Disclosure, Purity Ring and Bibio.”

To date, the Cork band have released a number of E.P.s, but have yet to embark on a full-length studio album. However, there is one definitely in the works. “In the future there are plans to release a full length album. We just felt right now was the right time to release another EP before progressing to that level.” Despite their slow, patient approach to gaining momentum, there is certainly a head of steam building for the pair. They’ve been met with much critical acclaim and are slowly gaining mainstream success, with accolades such as receiving airplay on both Irish and English radio waves, and their remix for The Kanyu Tree being named Today FM’s Track of the Day. Koeman cites being played on Phil Taggart’s show on BBC Radio 1 one of her favourite moments of Young Wonder’s young career. “It was a massive moment for us. To be recognised by such a well-respected radio station was amazing.”

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Young Wonder are not only receiving huge accolades for their music, but also for their live performances, which have been described as having a “blistering, incredible energy.” Koeman acknowledges this, and states that performing live is one of the more enjoyable parts about being in Young Wonder. “I absolutely love performing live. The whole aspect of showcasing our music with the addition of the visuals/ headdresses is so much fun! It’s my favourite part of the Young Wonder process.” While we’re now aware of her fondness for elaborately dressing up, she’s not so quick to tell us what her favourite song to perform live is, but this isn’t for want to be mysterious. “Maybe ‘To You’ or ‘Orange’. I dunno, I like them all!” Not only does her inability to disclose a favourite song tell us the quality of Young Wonder’s repertoire, it also ensures an ever-changing and varied live set.

On the notion of variety, there’s a lot of big, thumping electronic beats, but with a voice as beautifully melancholic as Koeman’s, and the wide ranging ability of Young Wonder as a whole, surely something

along the lines of a ballad is inevitable? “I think ‘To You’ is as close to a ballad as we have gotten so far, but I’m not sure, anything is possible,” Koeman states proudly, keeping in touch with Young Wonder’s already experimental nature.

Having touched upon the “incredible energy” between Ring and Koeman, the question of their relationship with each other had to be expanded upon. Why did they come together to create Young Wonder? Were they childhood friends or just two budding musicians that decided to collaborate, or something else? Koeman is quick to dispel these ideas, explaining that, “Brendan from Feel Good Lost had previously worked with Ian and decided to get me and Ian together to see what we could do in the studio.

From there we just started writing and producing songs super-fast!”

This was a genius combination, resulting in electronic gold.

At a time when electronic music is thriving in Ireland with acts such as Le Galaxie and Mmoths breaking through, what sets Young Wonder apart from these acts? “We are massive fans of both Le Gal-

axie and Mmoths. There are also so many other great electronic artists in Ireland at the moment such as Sertone, Monto and Reid. I think the fact that our music integrates so many unique sounds, complete with an energetic live set and a certain ‘brand’ sets us apart.”

Judging from their acclaimed songs and scintillating live-set, Young Wonder obviously have a big future ahead of them. They are currently touring, with a key date at the Pavilion in Cork, being supported

by Daithi and Elaine Mai. Only last week was their song ‘Flesh’ played at the start of hit E4 show Made in Chelsea. With a big year ahead, what are Young Wonder hoping comes their way? “I’m not sure we’ve thought that far ahead, I guess to enjoy our new release, enjoy making some new music videos, enjoy touring Ireland and ultimately seeing how far we can push the Young Wonder boat!” The Young Wonder boat has certainly set sail, and there’s no telling how far it will go.

Young Wonder play The Dublin Camden Crawl in May and their selftitled debut EP is out now.

King Charles I nterviewing folk-royalty is always a daunting task, one that was eased slightly by the fact that King Charles dropped his moniker and introduced himself as simply ‘Charles’. This cavalier-moustached dandyman is half way through his Thirty Shows in Thirty Days tour, and he sounds a little worse for wear. “I’m just resting my voice. I’m not allowed to talk very loudly at the moment, last night in Portsmouth was mental but alas, I woke up this morning and I can’t really say very much,” he croaks. “Please don’t make me shout or laugh!” he pleads, before reverting back to laughter.

“I am King Charles, but I don’t introduce myself at dinner parties as The King, I introduce myself as Charles.” Is there any correlation between himself and the real blue-blooded King or indeed the dog? “I’m not that cool yet, but I hope I don’t get that famous and get my head chopped off!

King Charles the II had a pretty good look though, and he brought an amazing touch of culture to the throne. But I don’t know if I want to bring the same touch of culture as he did, he wasn’t very upstanding man he was truly bonkers,” he continues. “It’s a persona I have but it’s not different to my personality. I don’t need to dress up and change, although I do enjoy dressing up though,” he giggles.

King Charles, as a classmate of Noah and the Whale’s Charlie Fink and Winston Marshall of Mumford and Sons, has obviously been drinking from the same musical fountain.

“What I like about folk music is that it’s not a style of sound, its music for and to the people, and that can’t come with just any sound.” Yet in contrast to his schoolmates, King Charles wasn’t too keen on the traditional folk-musicians apparel: “I wanna be a folk artist in substance but I don’t want to look like a folk artist, so I created a hybrid genre called glam-folk a few years back, folk with a glam edge, but then the downside of it was that The Mighty Boosh made a joke about it so I stopped referring to myself as a Glam-Folk pioneer then, quite sad really! Glam is in my blood, a Kiss tribute act was my first real gig.” Really?

“Yeah, that was pretty much the highest production show that I have done, pyro-techniques the works, it was so sick!”

Thankfully King Charles left this glittery sartorial influence in the past, choosing a painting of Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Grey as his “staple of sartorial reference for yonks,” even commissioning a replica of the suit featured from a Dorian Grey painting specially. But it was not just the physical representation of Dorian Grey that drew King Charles to the painting. “Oscar Wilde’s my hero.

Dorian Grey was the first thing I read of his, and it set me alight and I was a madman about it.

About the way it was written, what he was writ-

ing about the themes, I just fell in love with it and the portrait just came as a part of that.” Wilde’s influence spread into King Charles’ songwriting as well: “I love how the novel doesn’t dwell on the emotional side of things, it’s always pointing towards something else. That’s what I adore about Oscar Wilde is that he is always pointing towards the identity of love, and the way he does that is just so magnificent.”

But the last few years haven’t been all couture suits and jokes for King Charles. In 2009 a skiing accident left the musician with extensive brain trauma and a spell in intensive care. Work on his début LoveBlood, which was partially written before the accident, was put on hold, but King

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Fresh from swirling some honey and lemon, King Charles battles with a sore throat and chats royal beheading, being the butt of a Mighty Boosh joke and mental recovery with Emily Mullen Charles worked on it as part of his recovery process. “It was a pretty nasty 18 months, and I had to do whatever I could to avoid dealing with the trauma, so writing was a good way to do that.” Yet it was an uphill struggle. “I found playing music very difficult, I lost all my rhythm completely, so that was disastrous. Before I just wrote about girls who broke my heart, or girls who didn’t love me, but after my accident I started writing about life, rather than complaining about stuff …

I think the accident changed my perspective and just changed stuff in general anyway.”

However, King Charles remains optimistic about this change in perspective, and revaluation of his thoughts following his injury: “After the accident I knew the opinions that I had, I knew all the things that I believed but then I couldn’t remember why, so I just had to go back and start again, start my whole life again. I didn’t know why I thought anything anymore, I just had to stop myself when I was talking about something and be like ‘why am I actually saying this?’ So it was quite interesting, and quite refreshing to question all of your thoughts.”

By casting aside some of these cumbersome beliefs, King Charles freed himself.

“I really struggled with a lot of it but then it came back, the things I really believed in came back and came back even stronger than before.

The things I didn’t believe in were cast aside, more assuredly. I didn’t want anything to slow me down, because I felt like I was at snail-pace for so long that I didn’t want anything to get in my way while I was attempting to sprint at my fastest pace.”

Happy with the response that his début received, and working on the recording process of his sophomore album in between his touring schedule, King Charles’ wish for the future of his music is a remarkably simple one: “I would like more people to know all the words to my songs, know the words the whole way through especially the long ones and then sing them back to me,” he said laughing, though he really wasn’t supposed to be.

King Charles plays Whelan’s on April 27th. Tickets priced at €13, and his debut LoveBlood is out everywhere now.

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The Strypes

With upcoming gigs at Glastonbury and in Tokyo, Conor Luke Barry talks to The Strypes about how they’re far from being a manufactured band and how all they want to do is make good music

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hough you may not be familiar with rhythm and blues group The Strypes, chances are you will be soon enough. The four friends started gigging together three years ago in their hometown of Cavan, gaining popularity around Ireland with their distinctive sound, a throwback to the greats of the English rhythm and blues and American rock and roll.

In December the group signed a deal with Mercury records, NME listed them as No 1 of their Top Five Bands to Watch, and they gained influential fans such as Noel Gallagher and Dave Grohl. They’ve gone from small gigs around Ireland to a future run of gigs that includes Electric Picnic, Glastonbury and a brief stint in Tokyo. And they’ve achieved all of this as teenagers, each member between the age of 15 and 17.

With their newfound success you’d expect that the guys might be slightly overwhelmed, but thankfully their cool personas are not just an onstage contrivance as they casually mull over their situation. “It doesn’t really feel like anything’s really changed,” says drummer Evan Walsh. “It’s happened so gradually.

It hasn’t changed in that we’re now suddenly living the high life or anything like that. It’s the same, except we’re getting better gigs and better opportunities. But those kind

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of big opportunities come in short bursts. A lot of gigs we play are just the same, just club gigs.”

All this new attention, however, has brought the familiar accusations of that the band are manufactured by their record company. The phrase ‘teen sensation’ brings to mind the likes of One Direction, JLS, or other such consciously constructed bands trying to cash in on young people with rich parents. Walsh seems more than aware of these preconceived notions of younger bands: “Because of the X Factor thing, the way that that’s so commonplace, a kind of fast track to fame, there’s so much cynicism that surrounds anything that’s young people. A lot of the time, you know, we see ourselves as being the complete opposite of X Factor, manufactured boy bands and all that rubbish. Just deliberately kicking up against it and not following that trend and not doing that. But you get this kind of cynicism of ‘Oh, they must have been put together, there must be somebody pulling the strings here.’ It couldn’t be less like that.”

Walsh seems to thing part of the problem may be that there just aren’t as many young bands any more. “Bands our age would have been much more common, say, in the ‘60s or ‘70s, even ‘80s maybe.

Because rock and roll when it came about in the 50s was invented as the

teenagers’ music. You know, teenage rebellion in all those cheesy films.

70s punk bands, like The Undertones or any of those bands, they were all 17, 18, 19 when they started off. It was just generally young people were in bands.” Guitarist Josh McClorey agrees, following up with, “George from the Beatles finished the Beatles when he was 27 and Noel Gallagher started Oasis when he was 27, you know what I mean? People in general just do things a lot later in life, getting married and moving out and all that.”

“It’s perception being changed, I suppose,” posits Walsh. “In 1979, during the punk boom, it would have been completely normal for a band to be our age.” Bassist Pete O’Hanlon wryly chimes in to say “It would have been ‘You’re 18 and you haven’t been in a band?’”

While the band does have a lot of original tracks in the same throwback style as their rhythm and blues influences, a lot of their output consists of covers of these bands.

“We kind of make it a deliberate decision to throw in some of the blues covers we do live,” says Walsh, referring to the bands upcoming first album. “We do the covers out of choice to try and carry on that blues tradition. Rhythm and blues bands kind of have to do covers. It’s sort of the unwritten rule of blues that you take other peoples’ songs

and you do your own spin on them, you reinterpret them.” O’Hanlon backs him up saying “It’s not lacking creative ability.” Walsh continues: “Exactly. All the bands we aspire to be like, like Dr. Feelgood and The Yardbirds or whatever, did loads of covers. It’s kind of showing your influences.”

The band is aware that they’re celebrated for being so unique, so when it comes to more constructed bands they don’t pull any punches with their opinions. “We can’t stand that whole manufactured, X Factor horseshit, really,” states Walsh. “Just doesn’t interest us at all. Prefer if it didn’t exist.”

“But, at the same time,” McClorey suggests; “We just don’t think about it. It’s just a thing over there.”

While they may be disparaging of this generation of manufactured music, they’re still adamant there’s great stuff out there to be found, as McClorey argues: “There’s a load of bands, like Jack White, The Black Keys, Jake Bugg, Jim Jones Revue, a load of really good bands. They’re just more difficult to find because they don’t get as much publicity and stuff.” Walsh agrees, saying “Good natural guitar music has just gone a lot more underground.” O’Hanlon succinctly sums up the bands view on the current music scene, adding “There’s always been good music, it’s just trying to find it.”

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mixtape Songs for your Bebo flashbox

As the summer edges ever closer, Emily Longworth rounds up the year with a mixtape that would make your 15 year old self proud ‘I’m not OK (I Promise)’ My Chemical Romance I need to express my intentions to be the exact kind of misfit that pop media approves of, and MCR have shown me how to do this. Conveniently, the counter-culture is localised entirely outside the central bank, and I know we share the same values because we share the same eyeliner:eyelid ratio, and we’re both secretly Gerard Way’s girlfriend (OMFG I LOVE HIM!!)

about how Chamillionaire is the shit.

‘Hey there Delilah’ Plain White Ts I’m not a complete loser, I just like this song because it reminds me of that boy from my Gaeltacht/ Nerd Camp/ Junior Cert Results night who never actually spoke to me but probably fell unrequitedly in love with me from afar. This song is exactly why I have that paragraph in my bio about sensitive boys <3.

‘Supermassive Black Hole (Twilight Edit)’ Simon and Garfunkel I completely liked Muse before the film came out anyway, but it’s in my Top 10 favourite songs from the soundtrack so I had to make it my flashbox. And I also have that blog dedicated to fan art of Matt Belamy so you can’t say I don’t have good taste in music.

‘Perfect Exeeder’ Mason v Princess Superstar A flashbox classic, especially since you and the girls did that dance routine for it in the 3rd year talent show, which was done in the hopes that your hot P.E. teacher would notice/fall in love with/marry you. You still have an eye condition from the oversized neon fake eyelashes you wore for it.

‘Here it Goes Again’ OK GO This video is the greatest thing you’ve ever seen, or at least, it’s the greatest treadmillorientated one-shot music video you’ve ever seen. Plus, OK Go are totally quirky ‘n’ fun, just like you! This gives you the courage you needed to wear those two different colours of converse together.

‘Misery Business’ Paramore Paramore also gives you the courage to wear different converse together, and you’ve now written ‘RIOT!’ on them with tip-ex. Hayley Williams is such an inspiration, I wish I could look that good with red hair and be friends with loads of cute boys.

And her music is what got me into guitar, gigs and underage drinking.”

‘Ridin’ ft. Krayzie Bone’ Chamillionaire Nowadays when people warn of their rollin’ and everybody else’s hatin’, it reminds you of a time before irony and memes when you liked this song for what it really was; a gangsta’ ballad

‘Sugar We’re Going Down’ Glasvegas Aside from being totally cool because they hate the mainstream, Fall Out Boy have the best music, and their huge international fanbase and massive record deal with Island are proof of that. This is song is especially good because I’m almost certain Pete Wentz is talking about me in it.

‘Don’t Cha ft. Busta Rhymes’ Pussycat Dolls The melancholic anthem of choice. As your pillow becomes ever more sodden, remember that all is not lost. Michael Stipe feels your sadness. Let this song wash over you as you bleat beneath the duvet. You’ll be fine.

Heathers Hello all, Hope everyone had a lovely Easter break!

We definitely ate our weight in Easter eggs and we hope you did too!

We’re typing from sunny sunny New York where we’ve been very busy doing all things Heathers. We played a fantastic show last night which was sold out and before that, the rest of the week was spent performing various showcases in Manhattan for film and TV and advertising agency people. It was a blast!

At our show last night we met people who had flown to NYC from Washington DC, Kentucky and even as far away as Florida. It’s always amazing the lengths some fans of our go to just to see us perform. It is overwhelming actually.

We’re heading to Toronto tomorrow for the release of our album through Sony Music in Canada which we’re very excited about. They have got some cool promotion lined up for us, such as radio and TV interviews, newspaper and blog interviews etc. too. We haven’t been to Canada for a while so we’re really looking forward to getting back there. When we get back to Ireland at the end of April we’ll be busy writing more songs, playing Camden Crawl Dublin on May 4th, and then on May 5th we’re playing the end of cycle party in the Radisson Hotel Dublin for the Cycle against Suicide Campaign.

This is a brilliant campaign which we found out about recently. We were approached by the organizer Jim Breen (featured on The Secret Millionaire programme on RTE) because he heard ‘Forget Me Knots’ and thought it was the ideal theme song for their campaign to highlight the stigma around mental health. We will be on Colm Hayes’ 2fm radio show on April 19th talking about our involvement in the campaign. And…. we have also decided to join them for part of the cycle, so we’ll be taking off from RTE Donnybrook on April 22nd with thousands of others!

Ok folks, that’s it for our year as columnists in the University Observer. You can keep up with all of our other adventures over the summer on our website, www.heathersmusic.net/. Thanks for sticking with us!

Ellie and Louise X

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Independent Music Festivals

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Desperately trying to be one of those cool people that goes to festivals no one has heard of ? Fear not, Lucy Montague Moffatt is on hand with the best independent festivals Ireland has to offer

h, the independent music festival.

The place to go to show people you are entering adulthood and don’t need three litres of vodka followed by a mud fight to enjoy live music.

In fact, a cold strawberry Rekorderlig and a little sit down beside a tree is all you are looking for. Well, you need not travel very far to experience music so cool the line-up reads like a page from a thesaurus. There’s loads to pick from on our fair isle, so here’s a few to help you decide which field you’ll be spending a blurred weekend in this summer.

Spirit of Folk One of the newest festivals, having started in 2011, Spirit of Folk does exactly what it says on the tin. Whatever images you conjure in your brain when you hear the words ‘spirit’ and ‘folk’ are exactly what this festival delivers.

It is set in the idyllic Dunderry Park in County Meath which is run by a non-profit trust that helps people who are dealing with stress. And this fits as Spirit of Folk is possibly the least stressful festival out there.

In the main field a tent holds the main stage which sees folk musicians playing from mid-day right through to the early hours, complete with an appreciative audience of all ages, swaying on their own with closed eyes, or nodding rhythmically from one of the wooden benches provided. With line-ups that have included The Hot Sprockets, John Spillane, The Young Folk and Pete Cummins, there’ll always be something for everyone.

Although this festival is set around the idea of the spirit of folk music, and how that affects people, that is not all this gem offers. There’s falconry, archery, astronomy and whatever ‘spoon carving’ is.

A section of the field is cordoned off for a living history section, where Celts go through a normal day in their lives, as you watch from the other side of a rope and ask helpful questions like “is this how you live your life all the time?” and “Is your beard real?” There’s also storytelling, which can be surprisingly lovely when slightly tipsy, and dance yoga, which is much less fun when intoxicated.

Castlepalooza Having been shortlisted for ‘Best Small Festival’ in the European Festival Awards, Castlepalooza is really holding its own as the festival to be at.

With the option to stay in a traditional tent or splash out on one of the many B&Bs or hotels surrounding the festival, it attracts visitors from every age group and walk of life. Sometimes, no matter how good the music is, the tent really dampens your fun, literally, so it’s nice to have options.

Located in Charleville Castle in Co. Offaly it is not just a nice festival to listen to, it’s also nice to look at, stepping away from the usual ‘one big field’. This is a great festival for including as many Irish acts as possible, so if people like Jape and bands like Cloud Castle Lake and Roisin O float your boat, then sail to Tullamore this August 2nd-4th, or just drive. Whichever is handiest for you.

Castlepalooza

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Knockanstockan They don’t make them like Knockanstockan anymore! Well, technically they do, because it exists, but it’s vibe is very ‘past time glories’ meets ‘new age wonder’ meets ‘yeah cool man come sit with us, you look like you have a good heart.’

Where Spirit of Folk brings you Celts, Knockanstockan lets you observe real life hippies in their natural habitat. Watch them as they glide around the field, and their children, with heads full of flowers, dance behind them, their sandals sinking into the fresh Wicklow grass.

Describing itself as ‘the musician’s festival for musicians’ this is the place to go to see the best the underground music scene of Ireland has to offer, boasting a brimming line-up that would make any music lover throw on a flowing dress, clip-in a hair braid and dance like no-one is watching.

And if that wasn’t enough there’s fire performers, performance artists, a market if you fancy a bit of light shopping and last year offered a free BBQ. Free food? What more could you ask for?

Nothing.

Spirit of Folk

Indiependence The clue is in the title. Yes, you guessed it, an independent festival of Indie music. How clever you are. If you are living in Dublin, this one involves a bit of travel as it takes place in Deer Park, County Cork, but sometimes the travelling is the best bit, right? Have a few cans on the bus to the train station, a few more on the train down, have a can or two on the walk to the camp site, down half a naggin as you slump into the muck in frustration once you realise you have no idea how to put up a tent sober, let alone hammered. Fun! The Indiependence Facebook page explains that basically they just want to you ‘have the weekend of your lives.’ And with such bands such as Bastille, We Cut Corners and the saint and sinner himself, Paddy Casey, already announced, an awesome weekend is almost guaranteed.

Westport Festival of Music and Food Looking for something a little out of the norm?

Sick of the Electric Picnics and Slanes, and want to be a bit mad and random? Well the answer to all your prayers lies in Westport. Yes it does, really! Possibly attracting an older, but no less crazy, audience, Mayo opens its doors to music and food from all over the world. Some famous faces you can expect to see, and famous voices you can expect to hear, are: Elvis Costello, Imelda May and Damien Dempsey. With tickets only €75 for adults and €40 for teenagers, and with anyone under 12 going free, why not make a family day out of it? Have a little dance with your Dad to Mr. Costello’s beautiful ‘She’ or stuff your face with free tasters with your Mum at all the food stalls. Save money by trying to pass for under 12. Sure, people are always telling you that you look young.

Knockanstockan

Westport Festival of Music and Food

Indiependence

MUSIC OTWO

Otwo’s Guide to:

Surviving Festivals

A

s festival season approaches (the bit of the year that’s supposed to be sunny but is usually just a bit muggy), there’ll be tips being flung at you from every direction. Magazines shout at you to buy the latest pair of bum-cheek high socks and Diageo will tell you, in a cool hip way, not to forget toilet roll, but it’s fine if you forget some of your alcohol. But other than many tissues with various moisture and antibacterial features, what are the essential things to remember when attending a field-fest?

Here are some tips from knowledge acquired first hand, by the world’s stupidest festival goer, because if there is something you shouldn’t do at a festival, I have done it. Learn from me, learn from my stupidity.

Dont Leave Your Friends Don’t ditch your friends, especially if it is for a group of cool looking musicians that appear to be the answer to all your teenage prayers. If you do abandon them to be a groupie make sure to plan out a meeting point. Failure to do this inevitably ends up with you sitting in your tent that night alone, wondering what fun rave all your friends are at and contemplating urinating in a bottle because you are too lonely to go to the port-a-loos alone. The group of indie musicians may seem like the coolest people in the field, with their wife-beaters and forever dirty fingernails, but there’s only so long you can sit in a hot-boxed tent listening to them talk about a magical chord they invented before you start to regret your decision. Your friends may be boring but at least they don’t try to put their hand up your top at the same time as trying to hold a guitar, joint and can.

Have Normal Hair There will be all these tips in magazines for elaborate ways to tie up your hair for festivals so it stays looking clean and fresh even if you spend the four nights doing headstands in the mud. You must ignore all of these instructions. The kind of people who write hair tutorials for women’s magazines don’t go to festivals, and if they do they stay in those luxury tents with showers and a gas powered GHD and a butler to pass them Aloe Vera infused toilet paper as they sit on their cushioned port-a-loo. Yes, covering your hair in many plaits may seem sensible, even adorable from certain angles, but one night seems to infuriate hair, making it go mental. So by day two your only two options are to leave your crazy plaits in, sticking out of your head like TV antenna, or take them out to reveal an afro in the style of Beyonce in Austin Powers. Just tie up your hair and bring a bottle of dry shampoo for each day and tell everyone grey hair is the new black hair.

Chose Who You Kiss Wisely The problem with spending a weekend in a field is that there aren’t very many places to hide. If you kiss a hideous person during a hazy moment in a dark nightclub, there are a host of hiding spots, corners to squat in, picnic benches to lie under, but in a field there are very little options. This is why you must be careful when picking a person to lock lips with. It might all seem very romantic when someone chooses you from every other out-of-it person in the crowd to kiss during a Snow Patrol ballad, but it’s much less romantic when you want to have a little dance to Mika and kisser-person has decided their body is now stuck to yours. It’s very difficult to jump around when there’s a boy’s arms on your waist and pelvis pressed into your behind, especially if this boy is a stranger.

Also avoid getting involved in the mouths of people in neighbouring tents. It is heaps of fun at night when no-one can see each other’s faces in the dark and anything seems possible; maybe they are the one! People tend to not be as attractive in the morning, particularly when they are taking a morning leak out of the door of their tent, the stream coming dangerously close to your new wellie-socks, as you cower in your tent, hoping they don’t see you now, or ever again.

Pay For A Trustworthy Tent Yes, it may seem like you are saving money by taking the tent you got for your 10th birthday with you to the festival. It was a great tent back then, it fit loads of guests at your 10th birthday party, and you have photo evidence of five of you having a laugh in it. Why should you buy a new one when obviously this is the perfect opportunity to be economical and green? It may seem like a good idea to not put up this tent, which has been unmoved from under the stairs for 13 years, for a test run in your garden before you leave. What a waste of time! Of course it’ll be fine, it’s a great tent.

Buy an expensive, good quality tent. There is nothing worse than waking up in the night because the unsecured walls of your tiny tent home have hit you in the face, yet again, and you are, for some reason, soaking wet even though it isn’t raining outside. Literally nothing worse.

Don’t Have All The Fun On The First Night You have arrived, you have somehow put up your tent, the sun is kind of shining: It’s time to celebrate. Just remember, you are going to be there for the next three days. Now, I am not usually one to discourage drinking, in fact if someone says no to alcohol I am likely to tip their head back and stuff a shot into their mouth. But going easy on the first night is just common sense, because what you have to remember is that you are going to wake up in a field; a muddy, dirty, cold field, full of other hungover people. Hangovers are awful in your warm bed, so dealing with one in a sleeping bag on the ground is almost impossible. Be sensible, just for the first night, then go mad after that.

Toilet Roll Obviously.

by Lucy Montague Moffatt

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OTWO MUSIC

album REVIEWS

Tyler the Creator Wolf Grade: D+

British Sea Power Machineries of Joy Grade: B+

Alkaline Trio My Shame is True Grade: C+

Bonobo The North Borders Grade: B-

Tyler the Creator’s third solo album, Wolf, continues in a similar vein to his last release, Goblin.

It is long and at times it seems meandering and self-indulgent.

The record has some moments of brilliance and some moments that fall totally flat. After the initial listen you probably won’t want to listen to it through again, more than likely picking the songs you like to listen to repeatedly and just ignoring the filler.

Tyler has clearly gotten more confident in terms of composition throughout the years, but he doesn’t seem to be able to criticise his own work very well. He could probably do with a co-producer to at least help him cut out the noodley bits. At over 70 minutes, Wolf is a bit too long, badly sequenced and just generally bloated.

Lyrically, Wolf is a little bit jarring, with his complaints about his fame and notoriety just screaming first world problems as opposed to something that elicits any sort of sympathy. There are some poignant moments hidden in the 18 tracks, for example on ‘Answer’, where he talks about his father who abandoned his family when he was young, and then goes on to talk about other confusions in his life.

Wolf isn’t a bad album, but it just is not great either, and much like a lot of Odd Future releases, there’s quality control issues. However, when it’s good, it’s great; there just aren’t enough good moments to justify such a sprawling and unfocused record.

After over a decade in the music business, British Sea Power have returned with their storming sixth release, Machineries of Joy. A treat for both dedicated fans and tentative newbies alike, it’s an album that reaches incredible heights at times, but which also includes some sorrow-filled numbers.

The opening track, from which the album takes its name, definitely stands out in such an impressive record. A build-up of subtle screeching noises leads us to a lively beat and Scott Wilkinson’s raw vocals. Wilkinson’s soothing yet raspy voice instantly draws you in, while he sings ambiguous lyrics; the meaning of which will evade you at times.

This intriguing band manage a seamless transgression from urgent, jarring rock to melancholic lullabies backed by luscious harmonies.

‘Loving Animals’ seems like an attempt to merge these two aspects of their craft, but it somehow doesn’t cut it. The track leaves you with the sense that something sounds off, but you’re not quite sure what. Unfortunately, this is the one song worth skipping on an otherwise notable album.

Soaring strings weave through the short but sweet tracklist, creating a warmth akin to the epic sound of Elbow. Other apt comparisons liken British Sea Power to Arcade Fire; another compliment to their captivating sound. This affinity is most obvious in the album’s softer moments. While many musicians dislike such associations, the more soothing tracks are what make Machineries of Joy so delightful.

The record’s eerie closing number, ‘When a Warm Wind Blows Through the Grass’, truly defines why this band are worth listening to.

Alkaline Trio are back with album number nine. “What?” you ask.

“Are they still going?” Yes. Yes they are. 15 years is a long time, and the past decade and a half has seen the band face a few difficulties, some of which have inspired tracks on this album. Most fans would say what Alkaline trio went through was a sort of self-imposed regression, they got stale, and in turn they experimented. Most would assume that experimentation is a positive thing, yet for Alkaline Trio the progression simply didn’t work, and now they’re back to their traditional sound.

The album opens with ‘She Lied to the F.B.I.’, a Ramones inspired bounce of a track that sets a good tone. Going back to their punk roots has done the band good.

‘I Wanna be a Warhol’ and ‘Kiss You to Death’ showcase punk at its most energetic and singer, Matt Skiba’s, penchant for dark romance.

It’s not all positive, however.

The second half of the album sees the band lose momentum and delve back into the experimentation of previous albums, though this seems to be a more toned down version. My Shame is True’s stellar track, ‘I, Pessimist ’, is swiftly followed by the Coldplayesque ‘Only Love’, a move which makes no sense, as it deflates all of the albums momentum, and the band spend the rest of the tracks playing catch up. It’s almost as though they want the best of both worlds but can’t quite fit them together

In a Nutshell: Whether you understand the lyrical content or not, obliviously swaying to this beautiful music is essential.

by Micheal O’Sullivan

The North Borders is the fifth album from dance producer Simon Green, aka Bonobo, who first succeeded in gaining fame with his chilled 1999 single ‘Terrapin’. His new album marks a logical extension of his work, building upon and refining the style of his 2010 record Black Sands.

While the album’s first single, ‘Cirrus’, displays his more traditional electronic style with some percussive support, the tracks ‘Emkay’ and ‘Know You’ are throwbacks to the influences of the 90’s break beat scene.

The North Borders represents an expansion of Bonobo’s already eclectic repertoire of combining elements from such divergent genres as trip hop, electronica and jazz.

‘Towers’ brings in elements of chip tune, while tracks like ‘Antenna’, stray into the realm of instrumental hip hop, bearing some resemblance to the work of artists such as Pete Rock, Fat Jon and Nujabes.

Tracks such as the opener ‘First Fires’, also illustrate how Bonobo’s studio recordings have come to mirror his live performances by incorporating vocalists, string sections and percussionists to compliment his electronic compositions.

The selection of vocalists on display on this record play to Bonobo’s strengths by adding to the chilled atmosphere crafted through his ambient rhythms and beats. Erykah Badu delivers a soulful performance on ‘Heaven For The Sinner’, while ‘Towers’ and ‘Transit’ feature the soft and sweet voice of Szjerdene, and the closing track, ‘Pieces’,sees a cherub like vocal turn from Cornelia.

While by no means a ground breaking record, The North Borders sees a positive evolution of Bonobo’s quintessential chilled out style.

In a Nutshell: Overlong and inconsistent, making even the brief highlights not worth the effort.

By Conor Kevin O’Nolan

by Eva Griffin

22

In a Nutshell: Some joy for old fans, but not enough.

In a Nutshell: Easy listening for the morning after the night before.

by Steven Balbirnie

FASHION OTWO

Sex, Fashion and the Marketplace As the fashion industry becomes increasingly defined by its sexualisation, Isobel Fergus asks if it’s all become too much sex and too little clothing

O

nce a platform for empowering women, the fashion industry is increasingly moving towards sexual stereotypes to sell and promote garments.

Sex has always run somewhat parallel to fashion, however, in modern times it is becoming the norm that the fashion industry and ‘sex’ are terms irreversibly linked.

The fashion industry began using sex to celebrate the liberation of women and represent them in a powerful light. Sexually expressive images were seen as artistic and daring, illustrating women’s freedom and ownership of their own bodies. Women had new independence in what they could wear.

Coco Chanel introduced unisex style dressing, showing how women could finally dress in a masculine manner while still remaining feminine. Chanel began the nautical trend for women that consisted of striped shirts, pants and espadrille shoes, all originally associated with male sailors. Her design of the ‘little black dress’ was dubbed a ‘little boy look’, but saw women at the time seeing ‘sexiness’ in a new light that was not necessarily highlighted by exposed body parts. Women could sexual images to bolster her brand, No one wants to see women There is a worrying trend of now accentuate their femininity preferring to stick to classic fash- shamed over what they wear. Fash- young girls becoming the tarusing masculine elements, allow- ion campaigns. Fashion should be ion is a means of taking hold of get of an adult version of sexualing them to wear clothes originally about women dressing for reasons your sexuality and presenting it in ity. Victoria’s Secret is one of the deemed as men’s attire. other than to attract a man. Miuc- a manner of your choosing. Women many fashion companies that aim However, this original use of ‘sex’ cia Prada’s brands have shown (in most parts of the world) have a large part of their sales at the in the fashion industry has become that their styles and campaigns the right to dress as scantily clad ‘tween’ markets. While often selllost, with much of the industry are about comfortable luxury and as they please. However, it must ing their underwear and lingerie completely saturated by sex. The women dressing for women. be evaluated whether this is some- with images of scantily clad wommuch over-used saying ‘sex sells’, Fashion is about having fun, art- thing we are actually pursuing for en in sexual poses, their PINK has allowed the fashion indus- istry and edginess. It is an impor- our own beliefs, or whether mini- line is aimed at a much younger try to increasingly push products tant form of self-expression. Of skirts and boosted cleavage has be- demographic. PINK is supposed with powerful sexual overtones. course it is ok to be ‘sexy’, however, come something that we’ve been so to be more youthful and fun than Brands like Guess, Dolce & Gab- ‘sexiness’ should not be used to de- saturated by in the media that we their underwear aimed at older bana and American Apparel have fine femininity. subconsciously believe it’s the way women. However, there seems to long promoted their brands usbe no separation in how PINK ing overtly sexual and attention Fashion is about having fun, artistry and edginess. It is and the rest of their brand are grabbing images. Designer Tom PINK is as sexualan important form of self-expression. Of course it is ok advertised.

Ford never seems to adverised as other lines, with their tise without the use of sex; his to be ‘sexy’, however, ‘sexiness’ should not be used to underwear often having sexumen’s cologne was pictured in ally suggestive slogans such define femininity. between the pert breasts of an as ‘wild at heart’, ‘yes, please’ open mouthed model in one ad, and It is important not to try and we have to dress. There is a fine line and ‘I dare you’ printed on the another advert pictured it between completely separate sex and the between sexualising and objectify- rear or front. the upper thighs, covering the fashion industry. Fashion and nu- ing and these lines can be masked in The fashion industry is an indusmodel’s genitalia, while the model’s dity has always been linked and the fashion industry. try like any other and its number hand was seen reaching down to ca- this is not a problem. Fashion is an The question of which represen- one priority is to sell products and ress the bottle. His adverts featur- art form and art and nudity have tations are right and wrong is un- make a profit. Of course fashion ing the naked Sophie Dahl for the been connected for centuries. It clear as the girls these images are campaigns are there to draw the perfume Opium by Yves St Laurent is obvious that sex and the fash- directed at become younger. When consumer’s eye to the product and were equally as racy. ion industry are going to co-exist ten-year-old fashion model Thyl- encourage them to buy. However, This is not to say that all design- one way or another. The problem ane Lena-Rose Blondeau appeared surely an industry as creative as ers in the fashion industry follow arrives when nude images move in French Vogue it ignited plenty fashion can think of more innovathis trend, a designer like Miuc- away from being daring and avant- of controversy. Sporting high heels tive ways to advertise their prodcia Prada purposely desexualises garde, and become a highly sexual- and a lurex dress, Blondeau was fea- ucts without always relying on sexmuch of her designs. As a cham- ised way to push products. This is tured in provocative poses, alluding ually provocative images of women pion of women’s rights in the sev- when the lines become blurred and sexual confidence which portrayed and men. enties, Prada also avoids highly the fashion industry is cheapened. her far older than her years.

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OTWO FASHION

Student Designers While the rest of us have countless essays, dissertations and trips to the RDS to look forward to in the coming weeks, these students have a slightly less conventional exam season ahead of them; one that involves a catwalk, models and more than a little bit of creativity. Meet Leanne Keogh, Jennifer Belton and Aisling Duffy; three Irish student designers whose degrees have involved a lot more than just pen and paper.

Leanne Keogh

Having interned for Richard Nicholl last summer in London, Leanne Keogh has come home with the drive and incentive to put everything into her final degree show at NCAD this May. Although this may mean working incredibly long, unsociable hours, Keogh says that it’s all worth it for “the buzz of watching all your hard work come to flourish in the fashion show.” “Those few moments produce such a high that it surpasses all of the lows,” she continues enthusiastically. As for her next move, Keogh hopes to return to London, but this time as a graduate and with all the experience of putting on her very own show to bring to the table.

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FASHION OTWO

You don’t to look far to find great talent. Sophie Lioe picks out three of the most exciting student designers around the country

Stylists: Sophie Lioe and Christin McWeeney Model: Aoife Walsh Photographer: Caoimhe Mc Donnell MUA: Ciara Hyland

Jennifer Belton

Aisling Duffy

If you think doing late nights in the library take it out of you, imagine doing 12 hours a day in college and then having to do more at home; and that’s not sitting in bed with your laptop but actually physically creating things. This is the norm for final year NCAD student, Jennifer Belton, who is also in the last stressful stages of preparing for her degree show. It may tough work but for Belton it’s worth it: “It’s very rewarding to go through all the stages, all the hard work and tears to finally arrive at a collection.” Architecture and product design are what influence Belton’s work, stemming from a firm belief that “as young fashion designers we have to look outside our creative field for fresh ideas and sources of inspiration.”

Currently in the middle of completing her Masters in Textiles at Edinburgh College of Art, Aisling Duffy is already on her way to being commercially successful, having sold a number of pieces through the Irish Design Centre. She cites “the innovative way that students are exploring textile mediums in their work” as the most exciting aspect of her field of study but that the hard part comes with not having the practical skills such as pattern cutting that her fashion design counterparts have. Duffy says those who work with “mixed media approaches to explore texture, colour and image” as her biggest inspiration and she hopes that in the near future all those long hours and creative inspiration will lead to setting up as a designer in her own name and producing collections twice a year.

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OTWO

What’s On: UCD Cinema

Week 11: 15/04/2013 - 19/04/2013 Django Unchained Labyrinth (FilmSoc)

Monday

20:10

Tuesday

Wednesday

Friday

20:10 18:00

Star Wars VI (SciFI Soc)

18:00

This is 40

20:30

Black Dynamite (FilmSoc)

Thursday

18:00

Princess Mononoke (Filmsoc)

12:30

Good Vibrations (Cultural)

18:00

Les Mis

20:10

Tickets to all films (except those marked as society screenings or cultural) are €5 for students and €6 for non students.

Tickets to Good Vibrations are €4.50 for students or €5.50 for non-students.

Society screenings are free for members.

Tickets for screenings are available at the student centre desk 30 minutes before the screening, 50¢ discount for Filmsoc members.

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OTWO

FATAL FOURWAY Worst Choice of the Year

Best Will Smith Film Conor Wild Wild West

Best Joseph Gordon Levitt Film Emer 10 Things I Hate About You

Best Returning TV Series Aoife Grey’s Anatomy

Greatest Movie Villain Anna Unborn Spawn Of Satan

emer Sugrue

aoife Valentine

anna Burzlaff

Conor Luke Barry

While Mr. Barry has often picked quite good films and shows to argue for, no doubt distracting us all by suggesting there was chocolate or a rogue badger behind us and secretly putting his choice down while we were still searching, but in this Fourway he finally made a fatal blunder. You see, Wild Wild West is in fact not a good film, not a good film at all. He may bewitch you all with his jokes and his inexplicable accent, but in this case, he is the clear loser.

Wild Wild West is an astonishingly poor film. Never have so many talented actors to combined to make such a confusing display. Will Smith plays Jim West, making the title a clever play on words, do you see? Because he’s in the West, and his name is West. Which is the Wild Wild one? No one knows. West is secret agent/cowboy/Will Smith in a hat, trying to defeat an evil crazy scientist with the help of a good crazy scientist.

The film revolves around the wonder technology that is steam power. Steam power can be used for everything, trains, tanks, giant mechanical spiders, tea; really it is humanity’s greatest miracle. I don’t know why electricity was even invented. Some other things happen in the film too, but it’s not worth engaging the brain power it would take to dig around for a plot.

The only remotely palatable thing in this insane mess is the obligatory Will Smith rap pop song, conveniently also titled ‘Wild Wild West’. The repeated strains of “Wikki Wikki Wild Wild West” are nightmarishly catchy, but even this is based on on a sample taken from a Stevie Wonder song.

You are a travesty Conor Luke Barry. Good day to you sir.

I think we can all agree that Emer rarely made sensible choices. While rarely venturing into the obscure territories than Anna has been know to inhabit, her choices were still rarely good ones. When asked for her favourite villain, she chose Hans Gruber. When asked for the best political drama, she chose Yes, Minister. Her least deserving Oscar winner of all time? Braveheart, and only for its historical inaccuracies rather than its cinematic merits.

It’s clear that her decisions are questionable at the best of times, but her choice for best Joseph Gordon Levitt film pretty much takes the biscuit. While the rest of us looked to JGL’s actually extremely successful and amazing films, in Looper, Inception, and of course, the greatest JGL film of all time, 500 Days of Summer, Emer chose 10 Things I Hate About You. Yeah, 10 Things I Hate About You. I know.

Why would anyone choose a ‘90s interpretation of Shakespeare when they can have JGL and Zooey Deschanel, in love and roaming around IKEA, or the slightly mind-blowing Inception. Why? There is no logical reason to choose it. Not even one.

Gordon-Levitt looks about 13 in it, and no one wants to remember him the geeky weedy little man from that.

In 10 Things I Hate About You, Julia Stiles plays the leading lady. Julia Stiles, that girl from Save The Last Dance, who now does TV movies and is always playing the mom. Compare that to Zooey Deschanel and you have little option but to see the vast difference in quality between these movies. I mean, Zooey is the star of New Girl and invented the game True American. There’s little more you could want in a woman.

While Emer has made consistently questionable choices, it is this one that is just one step too far. Vote #No2Emer.

There are always standout icons of a generation. The hippie clan was remembered through names such as Jimi Hendrix and events such as Woodstock. The ‘90s will be Pulp Fiction and Nirvana. So if every generation has iconic symbols, quintessential names and titles that will forever resonate with that decade or age group, what will our generation’s be? I may not be able to definitively tell you what it will be remembered for, but I can definitively tell you what it won’t.

Grey’s Anatomy is like that show 7th Heaven (you know the one with the devoutly religious family led by a pastor who taught us that being moral is good and smoking weed is just plain silly?). Grey’s Anatomy, like 7th Heaven, is one of those shows that everyone’s watching at the time, but in a couple of years becomes an aspect of culture that you know happened but would rather forget.

What makes Grey’s Anatomy such a woeful choice isn’t that it committed some artistic sin or was offensive in any way. It’s just that it’s so mind-numbingly ineffectual you would gain the same level of benefit watching paint dry. When a TV series uses a man’s hair as a repeating theme, you know script writing has reached a new low.

Also, when a TV series has a badass, no nonsense-taking middleaged African-American woman and day-and-night-studious, ambitious Asian amongst its cast, you know racial stereotyping has reared its ugly head again. All in all, Grey’s Anatomy is as indistinct as a member of One Direction; it’s one part of a media machine that’s all the same and while it may have great hair, that does not make the stuff of great culture.

If our fair gang of four debaters were part of an A-Team style crime-fighting team, Anna would most definitely be the wild card, turning up at the last minute with a flamethrower in hand, not even sure of where she’d gotten it. Anna has proven herself to be an eclectic lady, but while the rest of us have tended to follow some sort of consistent logic with our choices over this year, there was no telling what you could expect from Anna.

So when we were choosing for category of greatest movie villain, there were all sorts of classic bad guys to go with: Cruella de Vil, Darth Vader, an endless amount of options. Of course, Anna went with the unborn Spawn of Satan from Rosemary’s Baby, to which everyone just nodded and shrugged their shoulders, now used to the idea that Anna’s mind just works in a different way to most. Not that it’s a poor choice; it’s just a choice that nobody else in the history of the world would even think to consider.

For one, it’s a character that’s barely even in the film. It’s like a film about an impending asteroid destroying earth, without ever seeing any destruction.

Still, I can accept that her brain just functions differently. What I can’t accept, something even more offensive, is the final statement of her argument. She ties up her piece by suggesting that maybe the film is truly about the perils of embarking on a relationship with Farrow’s then boyfriend Woody Allen, saying: “The spawn of Woody Allen is maybe the only thing that could seem slightly more terrifying.” Now that’s a low blow.

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