Art & culture

John Isaacs: The closest I ever came to you

Photography courtesy of Aeroplastics

The UK-born artist is somewhat of a modern-day moralist: His works, mainly installations, expose the discrepancy of the way the world is and the way we would like it to be. Playing with extremities and taboos John Isaacs uses his pieces as guilty messengers that show the decline of today’s Western society and deal with our role as individuals within society. Despite his gloomy vision of the world, his work carries a spark of hope trying to create a new consensus by challenging the spectators to rethink their perspectives. Heavy stuff.

From 18th November to 21st January 2012

AEROPLASTICS contemporary, Rue Blanchestraat 32 , 1060 Brussels

www.aeroplastics.net

Donald Judd

Photography courtesy of Galerie Greta Meert

From his earlier works to his later creations, the exhibition at Greta Meert gallery gives a comprehensive overview of one of the most renowned exponents of Minimal Art – a label that the American artist himself always fiercely rejected. With his radical and innovative approach to furniture design focusing on functionality combined with a pure and simple but elegant look, Donald Judd’s creations were at the time of making of ground-breaking character. Today his pieces have lost nothing of their appeal – built with sober but solid materials, technical precision and an elegant simplicity, Judd’s furniture is timeless and here to stay.

From 19th November to 10th March 2012

Galerie Greta Meert, Rue Du Canal 13 Vaartstraat, 1000 Brussels

www.galeriegretameert.com

Shoot for Good

Photography Sébastien Calvez

With a dual purpose to its existence (to give emerging artists some shine as well as raise funds to support the accessibility of art for low income communities), Shoot for Good‘s Contrasts exhibition displays limited-edition works by photographers from across the world. Sitting alongside the works of 13 amateur photographers are the donated prints of over 17 seasoned professionals who’ve handed their image rights over to the organisation. All profits from the event are reinvested into projects that promote social reintegration through the arts, providing you with the perfect opportunity to indulge in your photographic fetish whilst also doing a little bit of good by, hopefully, reaching out for your wallet.

From 17th to 20th November

Tour & Taxis, Avenue du Port 86c Havenlaan, 1000 Brussels

www.shootforgood.be

Shopping

Indoor DesignMarkt

With its vast selection including affordable interior pieces as well as items exclusively aimed at collectors, this enormous vintage market offers everything a vintage fan could wish for. What’s more, the Ghent DesignMarkt is more than just a sale, extending into the realms of fair-territory. Indeed, visitors will be able to get their picture taken together with their purchased wares by top photographer Andy De Decker, consult young interior designers for free or watch four Belgian architects build a vintage living room right before their eyes.

From 19th to 20th November

ICC Ghent, Citadel Parc 1, 9000 Ghent

www.designmarkt.be

Modo Sales

Organised by Modo Brussels, this gigantic two-day stocksale offers an excellent chance to get your hands on Belgian designer pieces at a reasonable price. More than thirty creators open up their wardrobes for the weekend, with everything from Carine Gilson’s exquisite lingerie to the elegant clothing of award-winning label Sandrina Fasoli vying for your attention. The yearly rendez-vous of the local fashion scene and the best way to add a little Belgian flavour to your clothes rack.

From 18th to 19th November

Center of Fashion & Design, Nouveau Marché-aux-grains 10 Nieuwe Graanmarkt, 1000 Brussels

www.modobrussels.be

Music

Indie: Foster The People

Having conquered the radio waves this summer with its catchy hit ‘Pumped Up Kicks’, the dance-infused indie pop three-piece from Los Angeles now comes to Brussels on the back of their acclaimed debut album ‘Torches’ (think MGMT’s ‘Oracular Spectacular’). The Californians are another perfect example for internet-initiated music stardom: The viral success of ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ got them an online ad campaign, a record label and, finally, appearances at big festivals as Coachella and SXSW where they cemented their reputation for energetic live performances.

19th November

Botanique, Rue Royale 236 Koningsstraat, 1210 Brussels

www.botanique.be

House/disco: Maceo Plex

After having travelled the world and played in some of the best clubs around the globe Maceo Plex, better known under his former artist name Maetrik, now comes to Brussels to present his new tracks (the album ‘Life Index’ was released this year on Crosstown) at the Libertine Supersport night hosted in K-nal. With his versatile mixture of dark and deep house and Nu Disco, Maceo Plex‘s smooth and sexy sound is guaranteed to keep you on your toes ’til the early hours of the morning.

19th November

K-nal, Avenue du Port 1 Havelaan, 1000 Brussels

www.libertinesupersport.be

Hip hop: IconAclass

IconAclass is the most recent solo project from MC and producer Will Brooks, best known for his alternative hip hop releases as MC Dälek. With his new album ‘For the ones’, he digs deep in his soul and offers a stripped down, boom bap old school hip hop album with the lyrics at the forefront and touching on topics from religion to race relations and criticism of capitalism. A must for backpacking hip hop heads with a penchant for dark productions.

20th November

Trix, Noordersingel 28-30, 2140 Antwerp

www.trixonline.be

Funk/Soul: Tropical #17

Every third Saturday of the month Madame Moustache invites you to its so-called Tropical parties dedicated to latin, afro and caribbean rhythms from the 60s to today. This weekend resident DJ Funky Bompa is joined by DJ Quilombo, active in the Brussels Up collective and something of a tropical bass supremo.

19th November

Madame Moustache, Quai au Bois à Brûler 5-7 Brandhoutkaai, 1000 Brussels

www.madamemoustache.be

So imagine our delight when we heard about 120-year-old shoemaker J.M. Weston inviting preppy-hipster label Kitsune to update, reinterpret and revisit some of its classics. Not only did it, in our mind, make complete artistic and commercial sense, the two brands are known for their attention to detail and their high standards in terms of design and craftsmanship.  What more could you want, really? We caught up with J.M Weston’s artistic director Michel Perry and Kitsune co-founder Masaya Kuroki a couple of days ago to talk authenticity, nostalgia and Kitsune interns…

J.M. Weston's Michel Perry and Maison Kitsune Masaya Kuroki

Photography Joke De Wilde

The Word: There is an enormous amount of collaborations, exclusive collections and what not in the fashion industry. Where does one start when working on collaboration?

Michel Perry: it is first and foremost about sincerity and transparency. The fact of collaborating, of doing co-branding is, in itself, nothing new.  But what is new is to find people who correspond entirely to the evolution that we wish to give to the brand, and who benefit just as much as we do in the collaboration. There needs to be a true exchange. And that’s my role as creative director, to put into place these principles that work. And I think we’re quite satisfied here…Things didn’t happen overnight, as we had already met a year ago, and I found Masaya to have sensibilities towards the brand that were right. Then, Masaya called back, several times..

Masaya Kuroki: I really insisted…SMS, email, telephone, love letters…

MP: So we gave it a thought, wondering what we could do with Masaya. We liked what he did, we just needed to find the twist. So we thought about the invitation, as I thought it was a nice way of opening the brand up to other things, whilst still respecting its soul.

It's all in the detail

The Word: When you say ‘opening up the brand to other things’ you mean opening it up to Kitsune’s client base?

MP: Yes, exactly. I had arrived at Weston in 2000, and had brought along a much younger clientele to the brand, with a more urban style. But I wanted to go beyond that, and touch a clientele that didn’t yet have the ‘Weston reflex’, a clientele for who Weston was a brand steeped in history, one they considered ‘classic’, but definitely not ‘fashion’. Few clients knew how to use and wear Weston as a contemporary brand, and pair it with their more modern-day style. Working with Kitsune also has a certain cachet, and acts as a validation of a certain style and quality. It confirms that Weston is well-and-truly ‘fashion’. It also greatly adds value to Kitsune’s brand, as the association with such a historial brand as J.M. Weston definitely helps. Interests and benefits are therefore shared. The association just works.

The Word: Practically, where does one begin?  Do you spend six months in J.M. Weston’s archives?

MP: Not really no. I think our intuition helps, as well as our cultures. That and also the fact that we knew each other. It’s a rather transparent process, very logical. Masaya did go to the archives in Limoges, to see the company’s history and past and meet the craftsmen. He discovered the company’s link to sports (golf and horse riding), which informed his creations with a vision of today. The mix happened very quickly. Masaya has his universe (preppy, East Coast Americana, new Bourgeois) and we had ours. They just both met. Once Masaya had enough inspiration and visual references to begin, he drew up the collection, then we met again and went back to Limoges to work with the craftsmen in the workshop. Nothing really was new in terms of the materials used. It is more the way in which they were used and combined that differed. The shapes already existed back in 1950s, which explains the deep authenticity of the collection. That was very important to me. And, commercially, this opens up Weston to a whole new clientele.

Masaya Kuroki: its true that the idea from the beginning wasn’t to create something new. We wanted to share something that was important to us, an interpretation, an update. There was a new kind of dress code I wanted to integrate to the brand, a new way of wearing Weston. There was a ‘made in France’ label that was very important to me, and that I wanted to exploit it. It is very rare nowadays. There also was the timeless element of Weston which appealed to me: these are shoes that last a lifetime. To give you an example, we have an intern at Kitsune offices at the moment, and he was wearing a pair of Westons. I asked him about them, saying I found it a little odd for his age, and he said there were his grandfathers.

Boots, 660 euros

The Word: Where does this Americana influence come from? The collection clearly seems to be shaped by the United States of the Kennedy era…

MP: That’s Masaya’s influences…

MK: I grew up in Paris, but was very much influenced by East Coast music from the 60s to the 80s. Music is extremely important to transport me back to a period. It is nostalgic, but brought back to today.

MP: Music is indeed a very important factor. When I arrived at Weston back in 2000, I analysed its code and, rather naturally, took it towards an English Dandy kind of style. My musical tastes clearly being New Wave, I naturally took my creations in that way.

Derby shoe (595 euros)

The Word: If the collection were a film, which one would it be?

MK: There’s a Great Gatsby element to the collection.

MP: Arianne, with Audrey Hepburn and Gary Cooper.

The Word: And if it were an album or an artist?

MP: Marianne Faithfull, with her rebellious, iconic and classic essence.

MK: A lot a band could represent the collection. It’s difficult to give just one artist. Bizarrely, I could see Two Door Cinema Club wearing the collection. The music fits perfectly with the collection: its melodious, casual and pop. I could see Sam wearing the white pair, Alex wearing the moccasins and Gab wearing the boots. Their album’s called Grand Tourismo, so it works.

The Word: We have a habit of asking rapid-fire questions to help readers get a sense of your inner world. Which website can’t you live without?

MK: The New York Times’ website. I only read their headlines though.

MP: Me too actually. I don’t watch TV. I also visit French websites, such as Le Figaro.

The Word: Creatives often resort to magazines for nurturing their creativity and inspiration. Which magazines do you read?

MK: Monocle and Gentlewoman. Fashion titles but with a certain sense of conservatism.

MP: I don’t buy any magazines, but do pick them up here and there. My inspiration’s really been built up over the years. I stock images continuously. It’s an every day job. I write everything down in notebooks. My wife’s really the one who subscribes to magazines.

The Word: do you listen to the radio in the studio? Which ones do you listen to?

MK: I actually have a huge respect for Belgian radios. I remember when Phoenix’s debut album came out, Belgian radios were the first to play it, even though French radios were still sleeping on it.

The Word: That’s odd, given that a large proportion of Belgians listen to French radio, and Radio Nova more specifically.

MK: That’s funny…then again, you do have the best DJs in the world…Two Many DJs. The Dewaele brothers have always been amazing.

The Word: People tend to watch less movies, and more TV series. Which ones do you watch?

MK: It’s the new DVD generation. Madmen is an obvious one.

The Word: It’s a very J.M Weston TV series actually…

MK: Definitely…

MP: It’s true that we aren’t very far off from the series’ entire style and aesthetic.

MK: I actually did a collection that was called Madmen, Kitsune’s AW2010. I even found a model that had the Draper look.

J.M. Weston’s East Hampton collection, seen by Kitsune

Available from J.M. Weston Brussels

Avenue Louise 52 Louizalaan

1050 Brussels

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/15868930[/vimeo]

© Ulrike Biets

Writer Michaël Iannetta

© La villa hermosa

Annoyed by clichéd punk imagery, they forged their own mythology by manipulating the language of pop culture. Launching new marketing strategies and parallel networks, they re- interpreted the crowd-pleasing codes of rock imagery through suggestive performances and epic concerts, whose sole purpose was to disarm the audience. Bands like Einstürzende Neubauten shared the same vision: non-entertainment motivated music, aimed at deconditioning the social restraints weighing on the body and mind. To them, music is not much more than organised sound. To produce it, anything goes: pneumatic drills, electric saws, broken glasses… Taking all machine-made noise in a context of industrial decline and throwing it back into feedbacks, statics, sonic accidents, not as a means – but as an end. Music to some ears, appalling racket to others. Tempo, rhythm, instrumentations, tonal mass, ascending curves, the primary interest for all those bands was to create metabolic music, transposing William Burroughs’s cut up techniques with tape and sound. What their boundaries were? Where sound became noise, where noise became music, where entertainment became pain, and where pain became entertainment. A fine line, and one that embodied all the contradictions of modern culture.

Throbbing Gristle live in San Fransisco, 1981

Throbbing Gristle perform Persuasion in London, 2004

Throbbing Gristle interview, 2009

Einstürzende Neubauten set fire to a stage in Oslo, 1983

Einstürzende Neubauten live in Paris, 2008

An early interview of the band

Don’t miss the band when they stop by Brussels in November for their “3 decades of Einstürzende Neubauten. 2 nights of celebration”. The first night will feature a side program with films, installations, and a concert of the band followed by individual performances and the second a regular show. Earplugs are highly recommended, especially if you plan to attend both…

Photography Sanne Delcroix

© Jack Moyersoen

© Jack Moyersoen

Before seeing its supremacy challenged successively by the radio, television and the Internet, printed press held the undisputed monopoly on providing news and entertainment. Following the Second World War, dozens of newsstands, also elegantly known as “booths”, flourished all over Brussels. Posted on the sidewalks of the city’s busiest streets, these small aluminium and glass boxes provided the passers-by with a large selection of newspapers and magazines. In 1980, their total number peaked at 52. Today, with the development of independent newsagents, the Press Shop franchise and the shifting pattern towards an increasingly digital con- sumption of information, Brussels’ 11 remaining newspaper kiosks owe their survival to a handful of faithful customers and the inherent nostalgia and sympathy that these iconic and minuscule fortresses inspire. However many Belgians still enjoy purchasing their news bites from these cube-shaped print providers, working in one doesn’t seem to be an option anymore. The booths are now having a hard time finding a local owner. The prospect of working 12 hours a day, six days a week to earn the same amount you’d get on the dole understandably sounds like a bad deal. As a result, newsstands are now mostly occupied by courageous Vietnamese natives who more often than not barely speak a word of French or Flemish.

Philomène Heymbeeck, Maurice's surviving sister, posing in front of the booth their mother kept from 1944 to 1985 © Jack Moyersoen

To make matters worse, the crisis seems to have also hit one of the capital’s most cherished symbols of the press’ past golden era: Maurice’s newspaper kiosk on Place de la Monnaie/ Muntplaats, silenced and barricaded like a mummy in purgatory. Pierre Heymbeeck, better known as Maurice, was a true figure in downtown Brussels. His death a few weeks ago at age 78 has left many of his newspapers and customers orphans of their favourite newsagent. A true hardworking Brusseleer with a vintage sense of what customer service should be, his regulars were systematically greeted by their surname and eventually, a joke. Such was his popularity that he had clients still buying their gazettes from him even though they hadn’t lived or worked in the neighbour- hood for years. “He loved his job dearly,” sighs his surviving 73-year-old sister, Philomène. Retired nine years ago from working at a print shop, this still vigorous single lady should know. She’s dedicated most of her life’s spare time to helping out her family’s kiosk business. “We are a dynasty of newsagents,” she asserts proudly. “My grandmother was already selling newspapers in the streets of Brussels over 100 years ago. She used to call it ‘den tournai doon’ as she was not allowed to stay at the same place because the permit given by the city of Brussels stipulated ‘mobile street vendor’. I also remember my mum carrying around a ‘Metropole Hotel’ bag made with old bed sheets, stuffed with the current issues of the French newspaper L’Intransigeant. She made a living by selling them to tourists. It was hard work and she often stayed out in the streets until midnight.”

© Melika Ngombe

© Melika Ngombe

During the occupation in 1941, the Germans built two newsstands made of glass and aluminium on Place de la Monnaie/Muntplaats. In these politically uncertain times, virtually everyone was hungry for news and the Germans were also looking for ways to spread their propaganda. From then on, the ‘booths’ started to spread all over Brussels. Philomène’s mother saw an opportunity to sell more kinds of newspapers and magazines in a somehow less hostile environment. In 1944, she settled in the one right on the corner of Rue de l’Evèque/Bisschopstraat and turned it into a family affair. Nelly, Philomène’s sister, remembers: “Everyday at five am, our dad would walk to Rue du Persil/Peterseliestraat with a handcart to pick up the daily papers from the distributor and wheel them back to the kiosk. He would then open it from six am to 10am, at which time our brother Maurice would take over until 10pm. This routine would go on everyday of the week including public holidays. On Sundays, the kiosk was closed but it didn’t stop Maurice from working. He would go out on the streets around the Bourse/Beurs area to sell Les Paris Turfistes (a sport results newspaper) and Les Sports (which would go on to become La Dernière Heure) on the Parvis Saint-Gilles/Sint-Gillis Voorplein. By the 50s, newspapers and magazines were starting to become a big thing. Newspapers had up to five editions per day, and it wasn’t uncommon to sell 1000 copies of Le Soir.”

© Melika Ngombe

© Melika Ngombe

If all their hard work and dedication never really paid the Heymbeeck family big dividends, their booths did win a contest rewarding the highest sales of the ‘Pourquoi-Pas’ newspaper on several occasions. “That’s how Maurice won his first television set,” remembers Philomène. An eloquent speaker, intelligent and with a knack for jokes, Maurice turned newspaper sales into an art but, most notably, a genuinely human experience. His social skills, coupled with the hands-on experience he gained, led him to take on his own kiosk in 1972, right next to his mother’s. He went on to guard his prized square meter spot for the rest of his life. Hot in the summer, cold in the winter, these exposed urban workplaces are not for the faint-hearted. Inside you can barely turn around, and your vision is limited to the tiny unobfuscated open window through which the clients pop their head in to communicate. Thankfully, Maurice had nothing but friends in the neighbourhood. He could always count on the nearby café to let him use their bathroom and offer him a coffee. At night, while he was away, the bouncers of the ‘La Gaité’ nightclub kept an eye on his kiosk to prevent vandalism. Maurice was born in an era when Brussels was still a village with values of courage and dedication, and that vibe beamed around him through the Monnaie/ Munt square. Small businesses throughout the capital shut down everyday, but with the demise of Maurice’s booth, it is the entire downtown Brussels which lost a part of its soul.

Here are some pictures of the last remaining kiosks, courtesy of our photography intern Melika.

© Melika Ngombe

© Melika Ngombe

© Melika Ngombe

© Melika Ngombe

© Melika Ngombe

© Melika Ngombe

© Melika Ngombe

Photography Sarah Michielsen

1. Saab 900i 16v

Year 1991, Purchased in August 1991, Price 610,000 Belgian francs (approx.€15,000)

A word from the owner “The only extra option is the rooftop which needs to be opened by hand. Other than that, the car is already very complete: heated driver and passenger seats, windshield wipers on the head lights, an air cabin filter, back window heating system, etc…”

With thanks to the Saabclub Belgium (saabclub.be)

2. Citroën DS 21 electronic injection

Year May 1971, Purchased in 2001,Price 35,000 French francs (approx.€5,300)

What won the owner over “The car’s design, the cultural context it enjoyed during its 20 years of service, the drive and the many movies it was featured in, such as ‘The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob’ (Gérard Oury, 1973) or ‘Going Places’ (Bertrand Blier, 1974).”

With thanks to the DS-SM club Belgium (dssmclub.be)

3. BMW M635 CSI E24

Year January 1985, Purchased in 2005, Price €25,000

A word from the owner “What is there to say about BMW? Until recently, the brand had a soul, a unique style – one that got lost during the Christopher Bangle (BMW’s former design chief) period, but which is slowly coming back. Up to 30 years ago, BMW drivers used to salute each other at red lights.”

Below are some shots of the owner’s impressive BMW collection.

© La villa hermosa

C’est arrivé près de chez vous (Man Bites Dog), by Rémy Belvaux, 1992

Misère au Borinage by Henri Storck and Joris Ivens, 1933

Pour vos beaux yeux (For Your Beautiful Eyes), by Henri Storck, 1929

From the 1930s on, the filmmaker’s predilection for social issues had a lasting impact on the history of Belgian cinema. The Dardenne brothers are obviously Henri Storck’s most illustrious heirs – they even paid him a public tribute in Cannes when awarded the Palme d’Or for their film Rosetta (1999). In just seven films, including two Palmes d’Or, the brothers from the Liège/Luik region have become the masters of social and realistic cinema, exploring themes such as illegal immigration, unemployment, and exploitation. Henri Storck is also present, this time as an actor, in Chantal Akerman‘s masterpiece, Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975). The film depicts the meticulous and alienating schedule of a young widowed mother who prostitutes herself to supplement her income. The more than three-hour long movie focuses on actions deemed insignificant, such as peeling potatoes, and is recorded in real time. These scenes function in fact like a time bomb: Jeanne, disturbed by a simple shift in her schedule, kills one of her customers with a pair of scissors.

Trailer Rosetta, by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 1999

Trailer L’Enfant (The Child), by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 2005

The potato peeling scene from Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, 1975

Monstrosity and banality appear again and again as two sides of the same reality which Belgian cinema strives to show. As for human perversity, Strass (Vincent Lannoo, 2002) is probably the most shocking example after C’est arrivé près de chez vous. The only Belgian movie made in compliance with Lars von Trier‘s Dogme95 manifesto portrays a despicable theater teacher, imbued with vulgarity and violence. In the burlesque vein, the characters of Camping Cosmos (Jan Bucquoy, 1996), from porn actress Lolo Ferrari to singer Arno, are just as politically incorrect. More recently, Ex-Drummer (Koen Mortier, 2007) tells the raw story of three losers united by their respective handicap to form a heavy metal band. If more poetic universes exist (remember the dancing flowers in the social housing of Toto le Héros, Jaco Van Dormael, 1991) attachment to marginal subjects remains a constant. Through this apparent harshness, signs of hope also arise, such as in Les Convoyeurs Attendent (Benoît Mariage, 1999) which ends with the dancing celebration of the new year 2000. In the end, the lesson of Belgian cinema might be : despite the “Helaasheid der dingen” (to borrow the title of young filmmaker Felix van Groeningen‘s latest masterpiece), chances of success still exist.

Strass by Vincent Lannoo, 2002

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC3srNktZ6k

Camping Cosmos by Jan Bucquoy, 1996

Ex Drummer by Koen Mortier, 2007

De Helaasheid der dingen (The Misfortunates) by Felix van Groeningen, 2009

Writer Marcus Barnes, photography Charlotte May Wales, additional research by Renasha Khan

In 1994 we fell in love with a new sound that we had never heard before, it was Jungle music and we couldn’t get enough. After hearing a few tunes on the TV we were hooked and we needed to hear more … it was almost instinctive when we turned the radio on and searched the FM band for some more Jungle. And we found it straight away. At the time the two biggest stations were Rush FM and Kool FM – we would have arguments at school about which was the best station. Without those stations we never would have known about all the different tunes, DJs, MCs and producers of that era – they opened our eyes up to a whole new world. In 2010 some of these stations are still on the airwaves, but what does the future hold with the likes of live streaming on the internet, podcasts and advances in technology that now allow almost anyone with a computer to be a DJ/broadcaster ?

Mini-documentary on Rush FM, Part 1

Part 2

In the mid to late 80s, the burgeoning house music scene was growing fast and its exponents needed an outlet to play their new music – main-stream stations weren’t providing it, and so, inspired by the famous Radio Caroline, they set about finding a way to set up their own stations and play what they wanted to hear. Preceded by stations like Transmission One, based in Ladbroke Grove, which played early Hip-Hop (the real, early UK stuff), these DJs and MCs took inspiration from a radio station on a boat and took to the rooftops of London’s tower blocks to get their music out there to the followers. Accused of being funded by drug money,blamed for interfering with the radio frequencies of the emergency services …and of course for playing what was referred to as ‘devil music’ by some, the early pioneers of pirate radio faced a huge struggle to establish themselves.

Insiders of the Pirate Radio Scene in london give their insights

Kool FM is considered to be THE premier pirate radio station. Broadcasting for over 18 years, they have not only established themselves as London’s leading pirate station, with a name that is now known all over the globe but they have also helped to establish some of the Jungle/Drum ‘n’ Bass scene’s best known DJs and MCs. DJ Chef has been playing on the station for the last few years, getting his big break in 2004, when he appeared in a guest slot. The East Londoner sees a direct link between the early ’soundboys’, the owners of reggae soundsystems, and the evolution of illegal broadcasters. With a distinct lack of underground Caribbean music being played on commercial stations, Chef explains that the soundboys needed a way to play the music they wanted to hear, and so the legendary Station FM was born. One of the very early pirates, Station played host to a variety of Caribbean music -Roots – that was a far cry from the pop-style reggae that was being played on the mainstream stations.

DJ Chef explained that, in this day and age, it’s possible for anyone to become a DJ and, thanks to the Internet, anyone can broad-cast their music to a global audience without much effort. But, in the early days of pirate in London you had to know somebody who was already involved in the scene to even be able to get behind a set of decks. The technology was very hard to come by and expensive – Chef was only able to have access to a pair of Technics 1210s because he had a friend who was the first in the area to pick some up. The whole thing was very much a closed market, a specialised area where being in the know was pretty much the only way to have access to the scene. To be able to get onto a pirate radio station took a hell of a lot of leg work, not just meeting people but working hard to establish your name, to let people know you could play a credible set, you had the skills and knowledge to be able to hold your own on one of the top stations. All this helped to create a strong, thriving movement – a close family of broadcasters, DJs, MCs, producers, promoters and a highly appreciative, dedicated audience. If you were a fan of Jungle, Hardcore, Acid House, Techno, Rave and everything else in between then the only way to get your fix of what was happening within these underground music genres was to tune into a pirate station. Kool FM and Rush FM were initial rivals however, proving just how close the community was, they broadcast from the same tower block, in rooms next to each other.

Chef tells us that Kool’s godfather, the legendary Eastman, says the station is all about community – built up over nearly two decades on the airwaves. It’s the ‘Underground Heartbeat’ of the scene and always will be. So much so, that he says if Kool FM was offered a legal licence, he would accept it, but still maintain a pirate separately. Citing Kiss FM as a prime example of a pirate that has gone legal and been watered down, Chef sees the difficulty of maintaining a legal station (financial costs, advertising, bowing down to major labels and so on) as detrimental to the station’s original ethos. Stations like Kool FM and Rinse FM have helped some of their scenes’ biggest stars on the road to success DJ Brockie, MC Dett, Ragga Twins, Navigator, Mampi Swift, Trace, Ryme Time, Dizzee Rascal, Wiley, Tinchy Stryder, Tinie Tempah and many others first found fame through pirate radio and are now at the top of their game. Creating the foundation of a music community that is so particular to illegal radio in the UK.

An old school jungle set from Kool FM with DJ Brockie and MC Det

Tinie Tempah, Pass Out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaBi_vdDqsE&feature=related

Chef himself not only DJs in clubs and on radio, but he also works with young people in Newham, East London to teach DJ skills and producing. He recently established a radio station at the Newham Academy, so a new generation of people are gathering the skills to be able to broadcast. This is all done with the aid of UStream, a relatively new internet concept which allows users to broadcast live audio and video from their PC, Mac or iPhone. And this is where it gets interesting; the website is almost like a multimedia version of Twitter – you sign up and you can deliver a live DJ set to your followers from your bedroom, or even from the club you’re playing at. Which Chef often does. Not only that, but you can connect to other social net working sites, like Facebook, Bebo, Myspace and Twitter, and update your status to tell all of your friends/acquaintances that you’re broadcasting. On top of this, every live stream can be archived and watched over and over by thepeople who subscribe to your channel. If anything signals a move away from pirate and into a whole new world of individual broadcast via the internet, then UStream appears to be the beginning of something new and exciting, if utilised in the right way. Still relatively new and untapped, UStream offers the kind of possibilities that were unheard of just five or 10 years ago. Imagine taking a mobile phone with you to a club, and being able to broadcast your entire set via that phone… and of course, away from the live club aspect, it offers the chance to be able to DJ from your bedroom and broadcast across the globe.

But Chef reminds us that the established stations will still hold a certain resonance and respect, and up-and-coming DJs will yearn to play for them. Even now he gets multiple requests from DJs for a chance to play on Kool FM because it offers the kind of prestige that money and new technology just can’t buy. The demand to play on pirate radio is still there, and will not dissipate until there is a legitimate replacement for it. On top of this, having so much at the tip of your fingers creates a kind of laziness, an apathy that didn’t exist when technology was harder to come by. With so much at their disposal, youngsters can dip into whatever they want, try it for a while and, if they don’t like it, move on to the next thing. Grime music being a prime example – the genre exploded in the early 2000s, everyone was an MC or a DJ and kids were producing music on their Playstations. It created a few stars, some of whom are still around today, but just as quickly as it appeared and all the free space on the FM dial was full of Grime stations, it dropped off. The youngsters becoming bored of it, or finding something else to do. Chef believes pirate radio will continue to exist, despite the speed at which technology is growing and allowing anyone to become a broadcaster. It has been passed down through generations, a London culture which has never really translated to other cities or countries around the world, thanks to London’s very special mix of migrants and indigenous people.A city that has created Jungle/Drum ’n’ Bass, Dubstep and is unrivalled in its diehard mentality towards its specific cultural movements.

Across the water, pirate radio may not have had the impact that it did in London, but it has still had its role to play. Chef mentioned a brilliant story about a DJ from Austria who came to London at the height of the Jungle explosion- found some pirate stations during his time here and was so inspired he went back home, bought some equipment and set up his own station in the mountains, broadcasting tapes he’d made. France once had a large pirate presence, with socialist-run stations running for several decades before they were legalised. Most Pirate radio stations in The Netherlands are based in the countryside and play a kind of Dutch folk music that has a niche audience; although rural, rather than urban, just as in London, these stations are born out of a need to play music that the mainstream just doesn’t cater for. Pirate radio station Radio Tonka provides political commentary and has a roster of dedicated and loyal DJs, playing a varied mix of Jazz, Punk, 80s New Wave, Flamenco, and Hip Hop. Founded15 years ago, Tonka initially broadcast every night between midnight and four am. They started out in various places including the Hague, but moved into a more legal realm five years ago. They are now broadcasting on the wavelength of another local (funded) radiostation, Denhaag FM, six days a week.

Back in London, the Flex FM Team were also on hand to fill us in on London’s pirate scene, they see pirates on the FM frequency as provoking a kind of nostalgia amongst its listeners – that familiar ’snap, crackle and pop’ instills a kind of warm feeling unlike the synthetic sounds of a live internet stream. Losing reception is all part of the fun.

Over the last few years the rave scene has seem something of a comeback, with illegal warehouse parties way out in Essex becoming an almost regular occurance, and of course, with this, plenty of old school radio listeners have got back into it, picking up where they left off and searching the FM band for a bit of old Hardcore or Jungle. Where else can you find it but pirate radio? The team behind Flex FM believe that the airwaves should not be owned, Government control oppresses the freedom of music – legal stations have very little room to really play what they want at any time of the day. Pirates allow artists who may be overlooked by the mainstream to get their music out to the people who matter. There’s an almost diehard mentality amongst the Flex FM Team, an acknowledgement that their scene needs to continue to stay alive – the thrill of the chase comes into it too. Working undercover to evade capture from the DTI, getting your aerial up, finding a good location or pulling up to a car that’s actually tuned into their station is all part of the excitement of pirate radio. No amount of technology can replace that.

So, will the Internet take over? Pirates are already on the wane, but as long as there is an active audience and a willing amount of participants, illegal FM stations will always be in existence. The internet has its plus points and no doubt offers a whole new world of possibilities, but the grassroots and the foundations will, hopefully, always be in the pirate movement.

Their formulaic melange of euphoric beats mixed with the mellow lyricism of Maxi Jazz is the basis of much of this record, with epitomised by tracks like ‘Tweak your Nipple’ and ‘Sun to Me’. New tracks but the same old trusted sound. What is strange is that I’m sure the group know how to create a modern sound. Instead what is on show is a reluctance to move on from the genre they defined by what seems like a fear to lose their mantle as dance legends. What is also telling is the remarkable lack of hype around the release of this record. It’s peculiar that, for their first album in four years, The Dance has been released solely on iTunes for digital sales and in Tesco store in their native UK; a move that one can only see as Faithless removing themselves from the sphere of brutal comparison against latter-day contenders. A sorry and at the same time damning indict of their faith in this particular album. That is not to say that this isn’t a good album. Upon listening to the album, one is reminded of the mastery this trio, along with successful collaborations with old time partners like Dido on tracks like ‘Feeling Good’ and ‘North Star’. Both these songs are great examples why Faithless remain stalwarts and anticipated headliners at summer festivals all over the world. However, The Dance lacks the emotion of its predecessors and as such you’re left waiting for that stomach-grasping drop that make their past hits still so emphatic and era-defining.

With The Dance, Faithless have succeeded in creating another enjoyable yet emulative album underlining their trademark rousing beats, drops and hypnotic lyricism, it’s just a shame that it lacks the innovation to be really relevant to the contemporary landscape of dance music. In short, I expect more from them.

Get the album here.

Photography Guy Van Laere

Additional research Hettie Judah

“For over one billion people in the developing world, glasses are a distant dream. Access to eyecare is almost non-existent in sub-Saharan Africa, and highly restricted in other parts of the developing world. It is beyond the reach of hundreds of millions of the world’s growing urban poor. A lack of proper eyesight has direct effects for those affected by it; a reduction in productivity at work, a closing-off of new opportunities, a reduction in quality of life, a possible deterioration in general health and possibly preventable blindness. The greatest barrier to effective treatment is a lack of trained optometrists – many developing nations have as few as one optometrist for every million people. A lack of dedicated facilities and equipment also limits access to eyecare. Compounding this issue, the cost of traditional eyewear is prohibitive for the many people surviving on less than a dollar per day. Global Vision 2020 aims to tackle the vast issue of vision correction globally through the dissemination of self-adjustable eyeglasses through the use of existing aid/development organization distribution networks throughout the developing world.”

© Gv2020.org

“It all depends on how you define important, of course. But to my mind the most important invention is telecommunications technology: the telegraph, the telephone, and now things like the Internet. Until about 150 years ago, it was impossible to communicate with someone in real time unless they were in the same room. Today, in the developed world at least, we think nothing of talking with people on the other side of the world. During the course of a normal working day, many people spend more time dealing with people remotely than they do face-to-face. The ubiquity of telecommunications technology has become deeply embedded in our culture. Of course, life has sped up as a result. But we watch TV and use telephones, fax machines and, increasingly, the Internet, almost unthinkingly. If the mark of an advanced technology is that it is indistinguishable from magic, then the mark of an important one is that it becomes invisible — that we fail to notice when we are using it. That makes the significance of telecommunications technology very easy to overlook, and underestimate.”

© Tom Standage, Science Correspondent of The Economist First published on edge.org

“In my view, questions of “importance” cannot be answered without first specifying “criteria of importance,” of “important with respect to what.” Thus, I would give the following answer to your question: ”One criterion for “most important” is that which has most profoundly altered patterns of human mating. Changes in mating can affect the subsequent evolutionary course of the entire species, with cascading consequences for virtually every aspect of human life. Although many inventions have altered human mating over the past 2,000 years, television must rank among the most important. Television has changed status and prestige criteria, created instant celebrities, hastened the downfall of leaders, increased the importance of physical appearance, and accelerated the intensity of intrasexual mate competition — all of which have acutely transformed the nature of sexuality and mating and perhaps forever altered the evolutionary course of our species.”

© David Buss, Professor of Psychology at The University of Texas at Austin. First published on edge.org

As nearly as we can tell from archaeological evidence, the wheel was invented somewhere in present-day Iraq or Iran around 3500 BC. That in itself is surprising, because it’s so late in human history. The other odd thing about the wheel is that it stayed within Europe and Asia as long as it did. Wheels were hardly seen in the American hemisphere until they were brought into regular use by European settlers in the 17th century. There’s evidence that 11th-century Mexicans had the concept, but no evidence of its general use. Of course, we’ve lived since birth with a hundred thousand different forms of the wheel. It’s hard for us to imagine what a difficult concept it represents. But look at it, if you can, from the standpoint of someone who’s never seen one. You understand movement in a straight line, and you understand the idea of turning things around. But can you make a connection between the two? Can you conceive of making a vehicle go forward by turning something around? We’ve all played the children’s game of patting our head and rubbing our stomach at the same time. It’s very hard to do, because it’s hard to conceptualize these two very different kinds of motion at the same time. Most of the important ancient inventions seem to have been made over and over — at different times and in different places. Not so the wheel. It seems to have originated in one place and diffused to other peoples and other cultures from there. It was very likely the product of an isolated act of human ingenuity.

© John H Lienhard, University of Houston, voice and author of the Engines of our Ingenuity

A Russian historian, Znachko-Iavorskii, tells a surprising story about concrete and cement. Too many historians of concrete have studied only written documents. That’s not where the story is. The concrete itself survives from Roman times right down through the ages. Znachko-Iavorskii has looked at old concrete all over the world and found that it’s remarkably variable. But chiefly he’s found so much very good cement and concrete that’s been passed over and forgotten. He finds highly water-resistant plasters from the 4th century BC. He finds that egg whites, Cheshire cheese, and sour camel cream were all used in the Middle Ages to make cements water-resistant. He finds a great deal of medieval, and even Roman, concrete that would easily pass today’s standards. He tells us something historians of technology have learned the hard way, and only during the last 50 years. The scribes of kings and emperors didn’t write down the means used by craftsmen out behind the castle. Documentation of ancient technology is very minimal. The word technology itself is a modern concept. It literally means the study or lore of technique. Engineering textbooks — that written lore — are really very new. Consequently, an art that is as base, and yet as fundamentally important, as mixing concrete was learned and forgotten a hundred times.

© John H Lienhard, University of Houston, voice and author of the Engines of our Ingenuity

Around 1000 BC that the Mayan civilisation began to chew and smoke the leaves of the tobacco plant, as well as mix the leaves together with herbs and plants and administer the mixture to the wounds of the sick. Columbus was probably the first European to see tobacco leaves although he did not smoke them himself. A fellow explorer, Rodrigo de Jerez, shortly after, landed in Cuba and observed some of the inhabitants smoking the tobacco leaves. On his return to Spain, laden with heaps of tobacco, Jerez startled his fellow countrymen by smoking in front of them. Never in their lives had they seen a man with smoke coming out of his mouth and nose. People thought that he was possessed by the devil and members of the Spanish Inquisition imprisoned him for several years. During his imprisonment, smoking actually became quite popular in Spain. Pipe smoking and snuff became popular in London during the 17th Century but it wasn’t until the mid 1800′s that the cigarette as we know it was manufactured. At the start of the WWII, American president Roosevelt made tobacco a protected crop. There were shortages of tobacco in America and England, as packets and packets of cigarettes were sent to the troops fighting in the war. During both World Wars smoking cigarettes became immensely popular. After the war the soldiers went back home and introduced cigarettes to their families, thereby strengthening the trend.

© helpwithsmoking.org

Writer Nick Amies, additional online research Timothy Palma.

Back in the late 1960s, British dancehalls were filled with young, working class white skins and their West Indian neighbours decked out in immaculate clothes and hot-stepping to the sounds of reggae, ska and rocksteady brought to their ears by a small subsidiary of Island Records called Trojan. Formed in 1967, Trojan Records came into its own a year later when businessman Lee Gopthal took the helm. Gopthal recruited a number of iconic Jamaican producers such as Lee Perry, Bunny Lee and Clancy Eccles, as well as fostering a host of new talent from Britain’s burgeoning reggae scene. A year later, Trojan started releasing its own material, tasting mainstream success with the Upsetters’ Top 5 smash Return of Django in 1969. Hit singles followed from Jimmy Cliff and the Harry J All Stars, and a British number one, Double Barrel by Dave Barker & Ansel Collins, in the spring of 1971.

The Upsetters – Return of Django

Dave Barker & Ansel Collins – Double barrel

Jimmy Cliff – The Good Good Old Days

Trojan’s rapid rise had much to do with the embracing of the direct, unpretentious approach of Reggae by the skinheads. Perversely, while the skins helped Trojan to scale the heights, the label’s mainstream success and increasingly sophisticated sound ultimately alienated its skinhead fanbase.

As well as racking up hit singles, the label continued to showcase virtual unknowns from Jamaica including Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, and a certain Kingston-based vocal trio called Bob Marley & the Wailers.

While its commercial power began to tail off in the mid-70s, Trojan continued to showcase emerging talents from the Caribbean. By the turn of the century, Trojan had found its new niche in the market as a purveyor of classic, vintage Jamaican sounds.

We page-perfected the label in our Skin Issue, giving it the exposure and merit it deserves. Here, we select some of our favourite tracks coming out of the label’s jukebox

Harry J All Stars – Down Side Up

John Holt – You Baby

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyXbOktwvjc

Ken Boothe – Everything I Own

Toots & the Maytals – Johnny Cool Man

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrntbL2Q41I

Inner Circle – We ‘A’ Rockers

Take a look at some of the “virtual unknowns” showcased by Trojan.  Perhaps you recognize a name or two?

Dennis Brown – How could I let you get away

Gregory Isaacs – Reasoning With The Almighty

images courtesy of Trojan Records

Copyright StefanoArchettiRexUSA

Skin and ska: The Specials

Nothing says ‘original skin’ more than The Specials. The brainchild of keyboardist Jerry Dammers, The Specials epitomised England’s ska revival movement of the late 70′s-early 80′s more than any other band, with tracks like ‘Too much too young’, ‘Gangsters’ and ‘Dog town’ echoing the decade’s many woes. Enjoying somewhat of a renewed interest in their career, the band recently made the cover of NME, whilst it also is scheduled to play in London at the end of the month. Here are some tit-bits of very special Specials love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxHcx7FO8nI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrAibOio2GM&feature=fvst http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTo7VHFvu6o&feature=fvst

Skin and style: Skinheads

No subculture is complete without its own style, and skinheads had theirs locked down. From the obvious (Ben Sherman shirt, bomber jacket and Doc Martens) to the studied (the coulour of everything from your shoe lace to your shoe stitch) and more subtle (the size of your crop), the attention to detail prevalent in their aesthetic might confuse more than one as to the movement’s working class origins. Captured in Nick Knight‘s monumental social documentary ‘Skinhead’ (buy it here), celebrated in many a Shane Meadows‘ pictures (specially so in ‘This is England‘) and the source of inspiration for Raf Simons‘ collection for Fred Perry (another skinhead style staple), skinheads’ legacy is nowhere more evident than in the world of fashion.

The cover to photographer Nick Knight's infamous book, Skinhead

Stills from Shane Meadows' 'This is England'

'This is England' lead character Shawn

Essential viewing and Wikipidia knowledge for those who want more:

Skinhead attitude – documentary by Swiss Daniel Schweizer (buy it here)

American hardcore – documentary on the US hardcore scene: Bad Brains, Blag Flag, Minor Threat and the likes (buy it here)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC3zxvDyY8c http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlcnS2jj05k

About 2Tone Records

About skinheads

About straight edge

About Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice

The Modernettes - Photography Melvin Kobe

We exchanged a couple of emails with Radio Modern PR girl and fellow fifties fiend Jill to get the lowdown on the who, what, where and when. Before we get into the nitty-gritty of it though, a little raunchy call to action. As part of its new Vuilen Avond concept, Radio Mordern wants all you budding burlesque beauties to send an email to schoonmadammen@radiomodern.be with your name, age, email and phone number. Add some glamourous pictures and tell them why you need to be in this contest. (Note: This is a girls only contest and miladies and you need to be over 18). Workshops will be held on 13th and 20th December as well as on 17th January in Vooruit, Ghent (with Miss Mama Ulita, pitcured below, teaching you the ropes). There will be a big finale with a jury and an audience in February (exact date to be confirmed soon). The first Vuilen Avond will be in CC Mechelen on February 6th, the next is on March 12th in Vooruit, Ghent.

Now back to the nitty-gritty…

On Radio Modern – “We’re a team of seven people. Ben Mouling is the main man, he initiated the concept. Hannes Dewit is his right hand, taking care of all things business while Ben concentrates on the artistic side and looks for bands and venues. Jan Fack does the website and helps out here and there. And then there’s the four of us girls known as the Modernettes. We wear green uniforms at every RM party and we do girls’ hair and make-up fifties style in our Beauty Boudoir. There’s Ellen Denaeyer (responsible for production of every RM party, we’d be dead without her), Dorith Govaerts (Ben’s girlfriend who does everything behind the scenes and is in charge of The Modernettes), Sofie Huybrechts (responsible for costumes and soon leader of the Schoon Madammen Burlesque Troupe) and myself doing press and everything communication related. Together with the rest of the Radio Modern crew, we’ve been dwelling from one ballroom to the next, organising fifties parties. From De Roma in Antwerp to Vooruit in Ghent, we’ve been all over the country with our fifties blend, even hosting a whole evening at Pukkelpop.”

Photography Melvin Kobe

Photography Melvin Kobe

Photography Melvin Kobe

On Vuilen Avond – “Early 2010, we’re rolling out a new concept called ‘De Vuilen Avond’, simply translated as ‘A Naughty Night’. Imagine a cabaret revue like the ones in the twenties and thirties, in a festive palace, with magicians, humour and – last but most certainly not least – some titillating ladies.”

On why burlesque should hit the nation – “It’s great that burlesque is whipping up quite some stir in London, Paris and Amsterdam, but why isn’t anything happening around here? We’re pretty sure we’ve got burlesque talent out here, so we need to go out there and find these girls”

You heard? Now all they need is for you to join the party and submit your application…

Mama Ulita

Photography Yassin Serghini

Here’s a short interview/interlude of the man himself, conducted by our man Alex over at on-point.be

[dailymotion]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x94lhs_mayer-hawthorne-interview_music[/dailymotion]

Mayer Hawthorne doing it Barbershop style, dug out by Alex (again and again)

And to round things of nicely, the video to this sumer’s hit, “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out”