Photographer Pauline Miko

(This feature was first published in the white album)

Writer Melisande McBurnie, Photographer Stine Sampers

Camden by Jean-Christian Bourcart – Images en Manœuvres Editions

Bourcart’s most recent publication – what could almost be described as a photo journal – sees him set foot into one of Americas most malignant areas. It portrays the subject in complete disarray, caught off guard. It’s as if the state had just come and repossessed the bed, the fridge, even the roof, just as he was about to click the shutter. Q-tips litter the floor, along with pen caps and exposed cables. From bitter cold streets to sticky tarmac and, every so often, a gesture, a kiss, an embrace. This is the stuff of “shit”… All the things you weren’t supposed to see. And to think he simply googled “most+dangerous+city+america”, result “Camden.”

Available from Amazon

Gone? by Robert Adams – Steidl

In his latest book Gone?, Robert Adams take us on a “Hansel and Gretel” journey into the landscape of a recollection based in Colorado. Shot in black and white, a series of photos taken in the 1980s document the slow evolution of a once wild region. Revisiting a place, where as a young boy Adams walked and the impact it now plays on reshaping his memory, Gone? is the disappearance of personal landmarks, of how one got from A to B and all the little pit stops in-between. There is something engaging upon seeing Adams’ vast lands devoid of colour that leaves us with an urge to fill it in, a true scrapbook of sorts. One can’t help but want to remember with him of how it used to be.

Available from Amazon

Black and White by Ellsworth Kelly – Hatje Cantz
Investigating the interplay of positive and negative, form versus colour and the space that surrounds us, Ellsworth Kelly brings us back to basics. With over six decades of study and observation into his everyday surroundings, having first gained worldwide acclaim for his paintings and drawings, Kelly now presents us with Black and White. Asking the viewers’ approach to be that of a child, who learns from disassembling and reassembling, the result is engaging and playful – looking somewhat simple at first sight though closer inspection reveals there’s an equation behind each move, a “working out” so to speak, a consideration of weight, balance and its tipping point. Indeed we are left with a querying feeling of “What came first?”

Available from Amazon

Red Roses Yellow Rain by Marrigje de Maar – Hatje Cantz
In Red Roses Yellow Rain, Marrigje captures the more humble abodes and their interiors over a period of several visits to the “Motherland”, a country rapidly hurtling into modernisation. Here she allows us to spy into a culture still steaming with history and traditions. A domestic journey into communist China and what lies behind the wall. It’s almost like walking onto the set of a Zhang Yimou film. The classic coral-red and jade-green with floral flasks and pink plastic bags taking on a form of true “minimal-decor” all captured with that similar somber light. So inviting are these images, one can almost smell the tea brewing.

Available from Amazon

Far Too Close by Martina Hoogland Ivanow – Steidlmack
Far Too Close entangles the boundaries between familiar and foreign. Drawing the viewer into something of a secret and what lurks in its shadows, Ivanow depicts the features of an almost faceless person, making it near impossible to make out where one subject ends and the other begins. Having traveled extensively over a seven year period to remote places such as Siberia, Sakhalin Island and Tierra del Fuego, on the southern tip of Argentina, the photographer sets out to explore and capture a personal history of “home”. The shape of sheets are here and the place on a pillow where a head had rested.

Available from Amazon

(First published in the white album)

In a bid to give the genre the support it deserves and shine a light on the up-and-coming talent emerging from the press corp the world over, Nikon bestows its prestigious Nikon Press Awards on what it believes is the most beautiful and/or original press picture taken by a Belgian photographer. It does so through two categories – The Nikon Press Award for 30 + photographers and the Young Promising Award for under 30s. This year, Olivier Papegnies wins The Nikon press award for his work in Haiti (a selection of which you can see below), whilst the Young Promising Award goes to Katrijn van Giel for her photograph of a Pakistani boy taking in his new reality following the devastating floods that occurred in the Swat valley.

Photographer Olivier Papegnies

Photographer: Olivier Papegnies

Photographer Olivier Papegnies

Photographer Katrijn Van Giel

Long time Word contributor, Flore is one half of the Facetofacedesign team and the mastermind behind the witty displays of each edition’s Showstoppers. Glimpses of her trip to Moscow, back in November 2000, can be seen scattered throughout the current issue; below is the complete series.

Photography Flore Van Ryn

Alexandre Liachenko, aka Petloura

Local newspapers

Gorky Park

Gorky Park

A flea market, located along abandonned railway tracks

A solitary boot somewhere in the forest, on the way to Sergei Passat

The Sergei Passat Orthodox monastery

The view from inside a taxi

Kremlin

Caviar dinner

A nightclub

The subway

The subway

Photography Gosha Rubchinskiy

Photography Sarah Eechaut

Words and photography Vincent Duraud

Liv Vaisberg

Nicolas Buissart

Liv Vaisberg and Nicolas Buissart (who took part in our Follow the Guide exhibition with his much-loved Mayonnaise bracelet), a Belgo-French pair, are the founders of Charleroi Adventure, a quirky concept tour paying tribute to the city’s most desolate and overlooked landmarks. The first stop will drop you right on the tracks of a ‘ghost subway line’, which was built before the authorities realized it was hardly used. Lunch is enjoyed aboard an empty plane, before heading to a slagheap from which one can admire a never-ending landscape of (partly abandoned) factories and warehouses, some of which have now been rehabilitated and are run by art collectives. The guides will point out the fake neon palm trees that clash with the diffuse greyness; they will drive through ‘the most depressing streets in Belgium’… And they will do it all with nothing but love.

The ghost metro line

The ghost metro line

One of the many slagheaps of the region

The view from the top of a slagheap

Charleroi Adventure is now about a year and a half old and has grown to attract an unexpectedly eclectic crowd. “I first met Nicolas at a gallery opening in Antwerp,” co-founder Liv recalls. “When he told me that he was from Charleroi, I said ‘great, take me there!’” Her enthusiasm wasn’t what Nicolas had been used to in the past, so he took her on a personal tour two weeks later. Liv fell in love with the post-industrial landscape of the city and saw in it a promising potential for the future. Liv further explains: “We decided to organize these ‘safaris’ around the city, but initially envisioned them as an art performance”. In order to attract attention, they chose to adopt a provocative stance; unapologetically admitting it was “for the media stunt”. At first, the Charleroi Adventure website was only available in Dutch, English and German – despite the fact that French is the official language of the region – and, to this day, it opens with the statement that Charleroi is the ugliest city in Europe, as proclaimed by a recent Dutch poll. The pair was aware this would shock the residents of the city and more generally the entire country… And it worked: they benefitted from a wide media coverage – appearing on BBC, The Guardian or France Culture to name but a few – before the safaris had even started.

Nicolas and Liv present these safaris as a ‘voluntary art project’. At first there wasn’t even any organisation to speak of, just a small van and big ideas. Then they started doing tours specifically targeting amateur photographers, and this gave the project even more scope. “We’ve seen posh Dutch couples climbing up the charcoal hill in their Tod’s shoes or professional photographers coming along”, adds Liv. She had always wanted to organise tours around industrial areas such as the Ruhr region in Germany and Nicolas was keen on placing his hometown firmly on the map. Yet similarly to the colonialist connotation which safaris carried in Africa, these urban tours have been met with a great deal of negative reactions. “Yet to me,” says Liv, “Charleroi possesses an industrial heritage worthy of UNESCO. At first, people did not realise that we actually like this city and are not trying to ridicule it. When there’s an interesting festival taking place, we take our visitors there. Many cities like Berlin or Leipzig have used art in their industrial areas and, in doing so, have emerged stronger yet.” In that respect, they believe they have managed to help the city, as demonstrated by the recent creation of art residency Hotel Charleroi, or the fact that three music videos were shot there since. They even created T-shirts specially for the occasion, which say “Ik hou van Charleroi’, i.e. ‘I love Charleroi’.

Photography Melika Ngombe

1. Sir lounge-a-lot

Very rarely does a lounge chair manage to balance both the lounging and the sitting in equal measure. Either you end up on the floor, the chair’s lounging attributes obviously more at work than its seating ones. Or you end up assuming the posture of an uptight librarian, the seating attribute evidently pushed to the extreme. In steps Marina Bautier. Her impeccable Cruise chair offers just the balance we long for in lounge chairs: the right amount of stoop coupled with the right amount of support. With a width of 72cm, its seating space is plentiful, although the chair remains discreet thanks to its light oak frame, and its one-click foldaway system.

Cruiser chair in leather (€1,316), in canvas (€1,084) Available from Espoo, Antwerp

2. Rock’n rolla

At first sight, a rocking stool could strike you as one of those ideas that sounded good on paper but somehow just didn’t translate well in actual form. Call us traditionalists, but whatever is going to be rocking our world needs to have a sizeable backrest and a pair of perfectly (height) proportioned armrests. So it came as a little bit of a surprise to find that Feld’s Monarchy stool, designed by Yiannis Ghikas, managed to sustain our slouching figures just about right. A sturdy knee-height stool with a rhythmic rock to it, the Monarchy does induce you into meditation although its unsupportive nature – it is a stool after all – means you’ll always be kept on your feet.

Monarchy stool in lacquer (€295) Monarchy stool in oil varnish (€375) feld.be

3. Power to the people

A slap in the face of the throw-away generation, Sugru is what butterfingers the world over have been longing for. An innovative, versatile and flexible material, Sugru is a plasticine-like texture which will basically extend the lease of life of pretty much anything you own – and improve it along the way. Invented by RCA graduate and product designer Jane Ni Dhulchaointigh in conjunction with two material scientists, the chameleon-like solution comes in a range of four colours (blue, orange, black and green), is beautifully packaged and is pretty much one of the most ingenious little inventions we’ve come across in a while.

Sugru’s smart hacks 5gr pack (€7) Sugru’s smart hacks super pack (€13) sugru.com

4. For business or leisure

One often underestimates just how much your travel gear says about you. Conscious of its internationalite clientele’s needs, Delvaux has re-edited its classic range of stylish yet discreet travel goods. Featuring essentials such as the trolley case, the duffle bag, the business case, or the laptop pouch (pictured), each bag of the 10-item Airess collection also comes with a kit of moisturizing goodies by Shu Uemura. Treat yourself to an upgrade in the leather world and you might just get one in the leisure world.

Airess laptop pouch 13’ (€150) delvaux.be

5. Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the loveliest of them all ?

Three elements make a mirror: its shape, its treatment of material and its fixing system, the latter often receiving less attention than its two former acolytes. This realisation forms the basis of Benoit Deneufbourg’s Crossed Out mirror, an inside out reflection on mirrors as we know them. This is how it works. Two slanted pieces of wood slit to perfection, allow for a round-edged mirror sheet to be slotted in and attached straight onto your wall. Bringing the forgotten to the fore, this is simple genius that just needed to be thought of.

Crossed Out mirror (€220) benoitdnb.com

6. So solid

Every talent has its tools of the trade. Photographers use Photoshop, graphic designers dabble in Indesign whilst product designers muck about in Solidworks. The package of choice for studios from Brussels to Barcelona, the 3D CAD software contains a complete suite of built-in simulation, routing and presentation tools which allow you to draw and design your prototype, test it through simulation, calculate its productivity efficiency as well as create model animations and photorealistic renderings. A pre-requisite to any meaningful design career, this is the software that’ll turn your napkin doodle into a multimillion-euro business.

Solidworks Premium Available online from solidworks.com

Photography Merel ‘t Hart

“There never has been and there never will be another record company like Rough Trade,” writes Neil Taylor in the synopsis of “Document and Eyewitness” – the latest book to recount the iconic British institution’s twists and turns, as narrated in the first person by its various protagonists. It sure isn’t the first and it certainly won’t be the last. Of all independent labels, its story – singular, fascinating, at times confusing – is one of the most documented throughout musical history. “It’s definitely one with a lot of human drama,” concedes founder Geoff Travis. “Lots of highs and lows…” Originated in 1978, the record shop cum label cum distributor set itself apart with an uncompromising devotion to putting good music out, crafty DIY skills, and a string of maverick tactics. No hierarchy within the company, equal pay for everyone, a 50/50 split of profits with signed artists. What could be deemed as kamikaze decisions actually paid off.

At the end of the day, it was about music, and Rough Trade Records sure delivered. From the early post-punk days with bands like Cabaret Voltaire, Young Marble Giants, The Fall, Pere Ubu, to the indie explosion led by The Smiths. With a tradition for underpinning raw talent, steered by Geoff and associate Jeannette Lee’s killer instincts, the label has managed to score a very eclectic mix of influential artists throughout the years. Credit issues and bad management led to the venture’s demise in 1991, but it rose from its ashes at the turn of the millennium with rock and roll saviours The Strokes, The Libertines or Belle And Sebastian amongst its stronger-than- ever roster. “Rough Trade released records that no other label would release. Looking back, even if they weren’t all successful, it’s just amazing to see the vision that Geoff and Jeanette had”, notes Ben Ayres, who handles press for the company. The secret to this success is that there is no formula. “We feel passionate about anyone that excites us really,” explains Geoff. Who is he feeling right now? “Well, signed artists are like children, so you can’t really say who your favourites are,” he jokes. He is, however, very excited about the Rough Trade Record family’s most recent additions, Dylan Le Blanc and Warpaint, whose new material was blasting out in his office as we came in.

The family hint is a crucial one. “It’s an exciting place to work, we’re really tight-knit and everyone is fanatical about music. It’s a home for our bands, not just a label,” enthuses Kelly Kiley, who’s been there for almost 15 years and deals with anything from artist liaison to product management, assisting Jeanette, promo, budget, “everything really”. The unorganised structure, casual vibe and chaotic premises have been defining characteristics of the imprint since day one and still prevail – whether in the Golbourne Road HQ or at Rough Trade East, the 1500 square meter store that opened three years ago. Emulating the original shop’s no-fuss atmosphere, it translates as more of a hangout where one can expect real advice and a genuine social experience. The label and the store now operate as two completely separate entities. The fact that they share the same name might be puzzling, but “that says a lot about Geoff and Jeannette,” explains Ben. “When Geoff decided he wanted to put out records more than stay in the shop, he just let them carry on with the name Rough Trade. In a way it was quite an un-commercially minded thing to do, not very business-like… Unusual… Again!”

Photography Yves Decamps

The series’ last image will also be making a brief cameo in our September edition, out this Friday. Distribution points and subscription info available from here.

Hotel Pantone

© Serge Anton - Pantone Hotel

© Serge Anton - Pantone Hotel

Topping our list is the recently opened and buzz-worthy Hotel Pantone. Designed by Michel Penneman and architect Olivier Hannaert, the spanking new boutique hotel establishes itself as a temple for the colour-conscious, and whose aim is to allow guests to experience the city through a lens of colour. Each floor showcases a distinctive hue, mixing colour therapy and design. The 59 rooms and suites use one of seven Pantone colour palettes, ranging from tranquil and aquatic to daring and fiery: earthy/rich (chocolate), daring/fiery (fuchsia), vibrant/intense (orange), cheerful/warm (lemon), captivating/esteemed/silky (pink), fresh/eager (green) and tranquil/exotic/exhilarating (aqua).

Place Loix 1 Loixplein
1060 Brussels
+32 (2) 541 48 98
www.pantonehotel.com

Odette en Ville

© Odette en Ville

© Odette en Ville

Monochromatic amateurs will probably feel more comforted by the black and white palette of the Châtelain/Kastelijn’s Odette en Ville. This boutique hotel, set in an Art Nouveau townhouse, offers eight rooms dominated by black, featuring a flat screen TV, gas flame fireplace, and punctuated by lilac coloured bed, candles, and a white marble bathroom, featuring a notably huge bathtub. The library offers a selection of art books and a black and white TV with Fellini movies on rotation. Extremely popular is also the hotel’s restaurant, renowned for its fine French and Belgian cuisine. The ideal place for a business lunch or for bringing a date whose favourite Stones song is Paint It Black.

Rue du Châtelain 25 Kastelijnsstraat
1050 Brussels
+32 (0)2 640 26 26
www.chez-odette.com

Tenbosch House

© Tenbosch House

© Tenbosch House

Those looking for something with flair and willing to skip the boutique hotel trail now have an option thanks to the Tenbosch House. This intimate guesthouse breathes serenity in these two revamped late 19th century town houses. The seven spacious suites – all complete with balconies or terraces – have original mid-20th Century Scandinavian furniture complementing the uncluttered gallery-like interiors. With an ever-changing art collection, the Tenbosch House operates as a gateway to the Brussels’ art scene. The interior of each suite has been curated by the Swedish Catharina Eklof, offering guests a perfect fix of Scandinavian style and contemporary art.

Rue Washington 131-133 Washingtonstraat
1050 Brussels
www.tenboschhouse.com

The Amigo Hotel

© Amigo Hotel

© Amigo Hotel

When it comes to top-notch service and absolute luxury, it doesn’t get any better than the Amigo. A thirty seconds walk from the Grand Place/Grote Markt, the hotel is as central as could be. Being greeted by the uniformed doormen is bound to make you feel like a million dollars, and the highly knowledgeable concierge staff is famed for its helpfulness. The 173 rooms all have a unique customized twist, with nods to Belgian trademarks ranging from surrealist painter Magritte to comic book hero Tintin. The Bocconi restaurant lives up to the standard of luxury the hotel offers, and which has now become the ultimate destination of well-known politicians as well as A-list celebrities.

Rue de l’Amigo 1 – 3 Amigostraat
1000 Brussels
+ 32 (0) 2 547 47 47
www.hotelamigo.com

The Dominican Hotel

© The Dominican Hotel

© The Dominican Hotel

Housed in what used to be a Dominican Abbey in the 15th century, the hotel enjoys a prime location right behind opera house La Monnaie/Het Munt, right in the city’s vibrant centre. The original stone floors and sweeping archways provide the authentic finishing touches to the stylish interior. Lingering lunches in the peaceful courtyard are a must and the swanky lounge bar, boasting a great cocktail selection and an elegant à la carte menu, makes it the perfect place for those looking to impress a date.

Rue Léopold 9 Leopoldstraat
1000 Brussels
+32 (0)2 203 08 08
www.dominican.be

Moeder Lambic

© Moeder Lambic

You finally made it to Brussels, world capital of beers. It would be criminal to pass on a pintje. For a taste of the real deal, Chez Moeder Lambic is where you want to head to. You have two addresses to pick from: the most recent and bigger one on the Place Fontainas Plein (pictured above), or the original – and our personal favourite – tavern in the heart of Saint-Gilles/Sint-Gillis, opened more than 25 years ago and flaunting the kind of motto (Beer is the answer) we can only raise our glasses to. Favouring quality over quantity, the place only serves artisan beers. And don’t even dare ask for a Jupiler or a Kriek, or the very knowledgeable (perhaps even snobbish at times) staff will laugh at you. But then again, you wouldn’t go to the city’s finest steakhouse to order a Big Mac, would you?

Rue de Savoie 68 Savoiestraat
1060 Brussels
+ 32 (0) 2 544 16 99

Place Fontainas 8 Fontainasplein
1000 Brussels
+ 32 (0) 2 503 60 68

www.moederlambic.eu

Fontainas

© Fontainas

The Fontainas exudes a certain je ne sais quoi that makes us want to listen to dreampop on a sunny terrace while sipping a violet flavoured cocktail. Don’t ask us why, it just does. It’s the kind of oasis of peace you’ve been looking for after a draining run through the city’s downtown, sucking on those last ounces of strength left in you as you wander through the cobblestoned pedestrian roads behind the busy Anspach Boulevard. Very popular with the local gay and lesbian community, this cute little café ticks all our boxes: great location, decent music, friendly atmosphere, lovely terrace, yummy juices and tasty nibbles. Sundays also sometimes play host to Lady Jane’s Catclub.

Rue Marché au Charbon 91 Kolenmarkt
1000 Brussels
+ 32 (0) 2 503 31 12

Booze ‘n’ Blues

© Ulrike Biets

Whether it’s the hectic mix and match interior, the vintage jukebox, owner Eddy’s impeccable taste in music and legendary aloofness, his submarines (a shot of schnapps in a glass of beer) or the “colourful” bathroom, we just can’t get enough of this place. We already raved about it in last year’s Heritage Issue (making it the issue’s institution) and still don’t tire of sending every single person we meet to our favourite boozer, even though Eddy probably hates us by now…

Rue des Riches Claires 20 Rijke-Klarenstraat
1000 Brussels

Madame Moustache

© Madame Moustache

Born a few months ago, Madame Moustache Et Son Freakshow has rapidly become the name on everyone’s lips. You’ll find this eccentric modern day cabaret on the lively Place Sainte-Catherine/Sint-Katelijneplaats right where the now defunct Los Romanticos held its frenzied salsa nights. Hosting wild gigs as well as DJ sets, its knack for garage, rockabilly, 60’s rock and coldwave have filled a void that was oh too deep in the capital. Those less keen about going nuts in front of a teddy band can always enjoy the chilled out vibe of the lounge area. If you’re in the area on a Wednesday night, do pop in to catch their weekly “Back To The Grave” garage fests. Expect polka dot dresses, tattoos, pointy shoes and raven bowl cuts.

Quai au Bois à Brûler 5-7 Brandhoutkaai
1000 Brussels
www.madamemoustache.be

Café Bonnefooi

With a different DJ set or gig scheduled for each day of the week, the Bonnefooi knows no boring nights. The clientele is as eclectic as the musical programming so you never really know what you’ll be getting yourself into. Open from 5pm to 5am, the Bonnefooi has become our favourite place to crash after a gig at the Ancienne Belgique or once the downtown bars have called the last drink.

Rue des Pierres 8 Steenstraat
1000 Brussels
www.bonnefooi.be

Le Tigre

One of the latest additions of the trendy Place Flageyplein, this small café has the kind of understated charm that made it an instant favourite amongst the team. Relatively quiet during the day, it’s the perfect spot for a chilled out drink with the family or an informal business meeting. At night, the street terrace packs up with locals that are eager to escape from the Flagey madness.

Rue de la Brasserie 117-119 Brouwerijstraat
1050 Brussels

(Scroll to the end of this post for your chance to win two pairs of return Eurostar tickets to London).

© Ulrike Biets (www.ulrikebiets.com)

Lovebox Festival, 16-18th July, Victoria Park

For the first time in the seven years of the festival’s history, the Lovebox will be held over three days. Alongside wild DJ sets, catch the smaller performances from up and coming acts as well as the big names like British Grime superstar Dizzee Rascal; the aging glam rock dandies of Roxy Music; the fiercer than ever Grace Jones; geeks turned dance-floor killers Hot Chip; synthpop neo-hippies Empire of the Sun; and obviously, Lovebox founders Groove Armada. The festival’s festive yet unthreatening vibe makes it the perfect place to catch your oldies but goodies, invite your mum for her birthday, hear her rave about how hot Brian Ferry was in the day, then ditch her to dance the night away.

The Lovebox 2009 round-up

1234 Festival, 24th July, Shoreditch Park

Keeping track of the plethora of decent acts emerging from the UK is not an easy mission. Fortunately, the edgy 1234 Festival‘s line-up offers a perfect glimpse of all the good names to follow. Other acts you can’t miss include lo-fi 60′s inspired girl bands Dum Dum Girls and Vivian Girls; two-piece fast-paced rockers Comanechi, whose singer/drummer Akiko Matsuura gives Meg White a run for her money; the post-punk darkwave of S.C.U.M; or British superband The Silver Machine, featuring The Sex Pistols‘ Glen Matlock, The Who‘s Zak Starkey, and Primal Scream‘s Bobby Gillespie, Andrew Innes and Barrie Cadogan. Attention Ian Curtis mourners: this year will see New Order‘s Peter Hook perform Joy Division‘s debut Unknown Pleasures and it will be “the only time and the only place I will be playing it in England”, says Hook. With about a dozen or so after parties scheduled all over Shoreditch, this will be the hipster event of the year. Don’t forget your Clubmasters.

Watch Har Mar Superstar’s sleazy, sweaty, greasy yet hilarious performance at the festival

Field Day Festival, 31st July, Victoria Park

For its fourth year, the six stages of the eclectic Field Day Festival will be gathering more than 80 live acts and DJs in Hackney’s Victoria Park. Headliners include the Grammy-winning Versailles quartet Phoenix; cult post-punk band The Fall, whose charmingly mad frontman Mark E. Smith‘s onstage rants are not to be missed; the pioneering electronic psychedelia of Silver Apples; catchy electro-house duo Simian Mobile Disco; ex-Test Icicles Dev Hynes‘ solo project Lightspeed Champion; the 9-piece brass band Hypnotic Brass Ensemble; and art-rockers These New Puritans. The closest London gets to its very own T in The Park.

The Horrors ripping it at last year’s Field Day

LED Festival, 27-28 August, Victoria Park

The giants of live dance music, Cream, Goldenvoice and Loudsound, join forces to give you the first ever London Electronic Dance Festival with music from the biggest names across the genres of Dance, Electro, House and everything in between. Held over August Bank holiday in London’s Victoria Park the festival is heralded to be the next big thing on the London festival circuit. With a solid line-up to back it up, the LED managed to score one of the very rare live performances by electronica legend Aphex Twin, David Guetta‘s chart-topping Eurotrash, Leftfield, Goldfrapp‘s sexy synthpop, the Dewaele brothers’ Soulwax, and British dance-punk sensation Friendly Fires. An absolute clubber’s delight, the LED will be the destination of choice for those who can’t make it to Ibiza this year.

Aphex Twin’s mental laser show at this year’s Rockness Festival

Offset Festival, 4-5th September, Hainault Forest Country Park

The festival season ends with the low-key Offset Festival, who has been offering the best alternative line-up since its conception in 2008. Showcasing more than 180 underexposed and emerging bands in two days only, the choice will be difficult, but here are some of the sets we’ll be sure to catch: the long-haired Japanese progressive-punk combo of Bo Ningen, rightfully heralded as London’s best live act of the year; the synth driven mathcore virtuosos of Rolo Tomassi, whose tour bus we invaded for our Breakthrough Issue’s showstoppers; Kap Bambino, that one could describe as France’s answer to Crystal Castles (even though they were around first); indie rockers of Mystery Jets; the incendiary garage of The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster and Guy McKnight’s onstage antics – which include ripping his shirt before diving in the audience or dropping to the floor for a series of push-ups mid-track; and New York based Liquid Liquid‘s post-disco for their second ever UK performance in three decades. Not for the faint-hearted, the Offset promises to be once more the ultimate freak-fest where no matter how trashed you get, no-one will raise an eyebrow.

Bo Ningen’s apocalyptical finale at last year’s Offset

Giveaways.

We have two pairs of return tickets to London to giveaway, courtesy of Eurostar. All you need to do is email your answer to the following question to wewrite@thewordmagazine.be to enter the draw:

What is the name of the Eurostar station in London?

Competition closes Thursday 8th July at midnight. Winners will be notified Friday 9th July by email.

Photography Ulrike Biets

Thanks to Rolo Tomassi for letting us hop on their tour bus.

01.

Production, pocket-sized

The ever-growing portability of music production and performance is clear. Many musicians-especially DJ’s-can throw the majority of what they’ll need for an upcoming show in a bag, jump on an Easyjet flight from Berlin to wherever, and entertain eager listeners by the hundreds. The Play Station Portable—or PSP—helped to revolutionise portable entertainment, combining into one tiny object the services previously offered by both gameboys and home entertainment systems. And now, PSP and Rockstar games (and hip-hop producer Timbaland) have united to create the new program Beaterator. It is not just a video game, but a musical tool, a means to produce tracks electronically, professionally and portably. It’s a pocket studio.

Sony (€ 69,99) sonycenter.be

Beaterator (€ 12) rockstargames.com/beaterator

02.

Hard-as

Berlin-based Uslu Airlines’ nail varnish appeals to us on so many levels – every shade is named for an airport code – LAS (Las Vegas, USA) is a chunky blue glitter, WWI (WoodieWoodie, Australia) is cerise, while KNO (Knokke, Belgium) is appropriately old gold – the colours are ace, and they produce special varnish for DJs. So far they’ve collaborated with Headman (ZRH, pale blue), Ed Banger (PSG, lime green), Rollerboys (JMK, lilac) and Fetisch (THF, metallic steel – named in loving memory of Berlin’s Tempelhof). It seems almost a waste to lavish such care on fingers in an era when they’re more likely to be tapping the keys of their computers during a set than touching actual vinyl, but we must admit that we’re dead jealous.

USLU Airlines nailvarnish, (€ 21) available at Princess Blue (Antwerp) and Colette (Paris).

usluairlines.com

03.

You were saying ?

It seems ironic that a career in music can do such damage to the very organ that allows you to hear, but take it from us – the downside to heavy gigging in your 20s is damaged hearing in your 30s. Made-to-measure earplugs can cut out ambient noise when you listen to your iPod, or let you sleep on the tourbus. They block hazardous noise, but allow you enough hearing to have a conversation, and are (apparently) comfortable enough to wear all the time. Molded from rapid-setting silicone, the earplugs are produced and tested in just one 20 minute session, ensuring that your ears don’t go the way of Pete Townsend’s. Hello? Hello!

Sonomax bespoke headphones (€ 95+VAT) including fitting and testing.

astbelgium.be

04.

Freak Out Requiem (I-IV)

There’s pretty much nothing that we can say about Krautrock that wouldn’t get some nit-picking obsessive chasing after us with an arm-length list of corrections (the suggestion that Krautrock attracts nit-picking obsessives is probably enough to get the antagonistic ball rolling). So we’ll keep it brief. This is a book about late 1960s-70s West German experimental music, coming out of the commune movement, influenced by radical electronic composer Stockhausen, free jazz and general futuristic craziness. Not a genre so much as a diverse movement (the British press came up with the Krautrock tag), championed in the UK by DJ John Peel. Proponents may or may not include Faust, Can, Amon Düül I, Popol Vuh and Neu!. This looks at Kraturock’s roots and influence, with great visuals and contributions from muso bods including that unbelievably cool chick from Add (N to (X)), which, frankly, does it for us.

Krautrock, Cosmic Rock and Its Legacy (2009) by Ed Nikolaos Kotsopoulos – Black Dog Publishing

05.

Teen dream hygiene

The sanitary fixtures of the summer festival circuit are enough to reduce the toughest of bands to squeaking hysteria – and frankly, who among us hasn’t been psychologically scarred by the sight of mountains of ick rising above the level of the toilet seats, and the total absence of loo paper and washing facilities? No tour bus should be without ample supplies of bog roll, and a stack of Imodium to make sure that you don’t cut through your supplies too fast. Lack of washing facilities can (kind of, just) be made up for with wetwipes and antibacterial wash – tourbus etiquette also demands we mention that your FEET also need to be washed. And your socks changed. No, really. They do.

Wetwipes, handgel, lavatory paper and Imodium available in all good pharmacies.

06.

We don’t recommend doing this

As every classy barkeeper knows, the correct vessel in which to serve a Vodka Red Bull is a disposable plastic glass. No straw, no ice, no umbrella. Classy barkeepers, to be honest, are pretty snotty about Vodka Red Bull – usually it’s easier to purchase to the two fluids separately then mix them yourself – but we’ve discovered that it does have a name (‘Birch’, apparently, although ‘Heart Attack’ was cited as an alternative), which makes it a proper cocktail, no? Definitely not big, or cool, or clever. But for the purposes of documentary accuracy, we felt compelled to include it in our tourbus lineup.

Absolut Vodka and Red Bull, both available in nightshops across Europe. Prices may vary.

Photography Charlotte May Wales

Dover Street Market still feels fresh as new despite being around for half a decade, making it one of the best, if not ultimate, shopping addresses in our book.

Let’s face it: shopping can be an absolute drag, even for the most athletic among us (and particularly if you’re wearing 6-inch heels). Sure, department stores are convenient – and easier on the Jimmy Choos – but while they’ve simplified the game, they’ve also killed the fun. The brand and designer’s visual identities are wiped out in favour of a uniform, sleek, if not sterile, atmosphere, and before you know it, you’re suffocating on the stench of consumerism pushed to the max. The billboards carrying artist Barbara Kruger’s slogans: “I shop therefore I am” – “you want it, you buy it, you forget it”: that Selfridges displayed in its windows for the launch of its 2007 Boxing Day sale summed it up with a chilling dose of irony.

Comes the curious case of the Dover Street Market. The six-storey shop located in London’s Mayfair district, created by Comme Des Garçons’ Rei Kawakubo and her husband Adrian Joffe, does not look like any other place in the world. It operates as Comme’s London flagship store, stocking all ten lines as well as its perfume range, yet offers a cutting-edge selection of other high fashion brands as well as more challenging independent designers. Often compared to Colette, it almost makes the Rue Saint-Honoré’s temple of cool look mainstream. Dover Street is not a department store, and dismisses the trendy label of concept store. And even though the price tags are not for the faint-hearted and there’s a fair chance haggling won’t go down too well, the ‘market’ appellation seems to be the most fitting one. Kawakubo envisioned this project as a tribute to Kensington’s iconic market and has always professed her love and fascination for bazaars all over the world. The goal was to channel their energy and disorder in order to create what she describes as “beautiful chaos”.

The overall raw and unfinished look of the premises: bare ceilings, concrete walls, coarse wood and plastic film covering the elevator’s buttons: put it light years away from the clean and polished interiors of the neighbourhood’s designer boutiques. There are eccentric touches, like the cashpoint machine hidden in a giant hut in the middle of the room, antique dealer Emma Hawkins’ exquisite collection of Victorian stuffed birds and rare animal skulls at the entrance, and tongue in cheek plays on random every-day objects, such as the vending machine that sells Dover Street Market label t-shirts for £25 a pop, or the big portacabins that serve as fitting rooms (trust us, trying on garments in one of those is truly disarming). It’s all topped off with an atmosphere of creative tension spilling from the eclectic stall designs, and the singular sense of style and laid back attitude of the staff, that make them look more like Factory hangers by than busy bee salespeople.

The anti-glam aesthetics are no shocker to those familiar with Comme Des Garçons shops and philosophy, but the novelty here is in the direct collaboration with the other brands involved. Artistic freedom and creative control are offered to designers like Alber Elbaz for Lanvin, Phoebe Philo for Celine or Nicholas Kirkwood, allowing them to direct their own space. In return, Dover Street Market is granted limited edition ranges and exclusives like the Peter Jensen collection and Charles Anastase’s ethereal drawings.

Constantly renewing the space, Dover Street Market undergoes a biannual makeover named Tachiagari, meaning ‘start’ or ‘beginning’ in Japanese. The store is closed for a few days during which all the installations are revamped and new designers introduced. This spirit of perpetual evolution creates excitement among its loyal customer base and it’s now traditional to find an army of fashion cognoscenti queuing outside before each re-opening.

If we were to play one of our favourite games and imagine we were obscenely rich for the day, a pair of Cutler and Gross vintage shades, Bibi’s rings made of prehistoric mammoth ivory, a lifetime guaranteed leather bag courtesy of Bedouin, and a whole lot of Rodarte, Pierre Hardy, Hussein Chalayan, Comme des Garçons, Givenchy, Giles, Ann Demeulemeester, Behnaz Kanani, Giambattista Valli, Bess jeans and Proenza Schouler could all easily find their way into our shopping basket. For now we will just indulge in a veggie pie by Rose Bakery’s organic open kitchen on the top floor, the latest issue of Monocle magazine and a Comme Des Garçons Play striped knit.

Thankfully the visual treat is free. One of the most intriguing areas is the world archive; pieces collected by Michael Costiff from around the globe, from African masks and tribal jewellery, to communist memorabilia. Magazine geeks will thrill to the Idea Books corner, a simple table and chair surrounded by Angela Hill’s jaw dropping collection of vintage magazines, vanished cult fanzines and old art books. The basement stocks enough gems to make any street wear junkie or sneaker fetishist’s head spin in a fraction of a second.

We were lucky enough to be allowed a guided tour before opening hours in order to take shots, and caught a designer presenting his new collection of handmade denim, limited to one hundred pieces, to the team of sales assistants. Sessions of this kind were frequent, we were told, and essential for the creator to pass along the knowledge and love invested in the product. This passion and attention to detail on the part of everyone involved seems to be a kind of key to Dover Street Market.

Adding to the mix is the aura of mystery around the place, sacredly guarded by everyone involved. There is no advertising, buyers refuse to comment on their modus operandi, Kawakubo is notoriously media shy and when she or her husband grants an interview, they remain carefully elusive, reluctant to define the Dover Street Market philosophy. The stubborn secrecy and vagueness could be perceived as presumptuous and almost become annoying, if not for its irreproachable result. The idea is that each individual that comes to the store is meant to make up his or her own answers and interpretation of what it’s meant to be. Dover Street Market is different to everyone. Kind of like a David Lynch film, only with nicer clothes.

Before we do though, here’s the final installement in Maren’s Christmas Kitsch series. She’s diligently been feeding us with some seasonal wit on a weekly basis, although schedules being what they are, we weren’t able to upload them as regularly as we wanted. So here goes, the whole batch all at once. Some were taken in Brussels, others in Barcelona (just hope we aren’t about to piss some locals off there too).

Merry Xmas Wordsters, and thank you Maren for the series…

PS: No lengthy parting speeches to give, except to say a big thank you for all your invaluable help in the office Veerle. From nailing photographs to the wall to photographing our office mascott from every possible angle, it was lovely having you around for these last two months. You’re still not getting her though ;-)

And here, for those of you who missed them the first time, are all of Veerle’s series done exclusively for these e-pages:

• The first one
• The second one
• The birthday one
• The third one

“So we hit Tokyo Station to try out our very first Shinkansen (Japan’s answer to France’s TGV), we buy tickets at the counter with a nerdy grin on our faces. Next in line’s an overweight old-school yakuza with a gold chain, potbelly and dark shades. We make our way through to the platform with our heavy suitcases (Arnaud’s already regretting the shit-load of books he bought yesterday) followed by our new bodyguard.”

“An interesting fact about trains in Japan is that they’re never late. Well, 99% are on time, the remaining are late by about two minutes…two minutes. I love it! And when they’re on strike they actually come to work, but wear a black armband to show their contempt. SNCB/SNCF people take out your notepads. Now.”

“So we step in, hostesses clad in pink bow and smile as we make our way to our seats.We sit down, and I realise they’ve fully mastered the concept of ‘leg space’. Recline your seat all the way, they all do, because you know what? it all comes down to the leg space. A steward enters the carriage, bows to excuse himself and doesn’t even check our tickets. He then leaves, not without bowing one last time and retrieving in a discreet yet well executed moonwalk.”

“Slick, stylish and sexy, that’s how you travel in Japan. I feel like royalty. You don’t even feel the train leave the station; it’s smooth and incredibly quiet. It takes an hour and a half at 400 mph for this wingless Concorde to leave the Tokyo cityscape. The small towns and rice fields rush in front of our eyes in a psychedelic blur, I start to doze off hypnotized by the uneven snore of our bodyguard across the aisle… a safe meter away.”

“Arnaud’s mad for books, essentially photography books: well, believe it or not there’s a whole neighbourhood dedicated to his passion in Tokyo: Jimbocho. Although the name’s sounds exotic, this is a place for people who take their hobby seriously. Streets of tightly packed bookstores that spill their content onto the pavement.

All the shops are on the same side of the street, constantly bathed in shadow. You see, the sun’s harmful rays could alter the beauty of their books (told you they took it seriously). You’ll find shelves packed with books along walls into alleys and ‘cul-de-sacs’, it’s like a living entity of paper veins and arteries pumping ink and spreading for miles on end.

I suspect the owners have interconnecting galleries or tunnels from the Second World War as each shop gives exactly the same price for the same book… No competition here then? Meanwhile, Arnaud’s running up and down the street like a 4-year old on a sugar high, trying to decipher the symbols on his little piece of paper with the ultimate bookstore’s address on it. I tag along, smoking cigarettes, desperately looking for the rare and endangered street ashtray.

Didn’t I tell you? You’re not allowed to smoke on the streets of Japan, except in designated areas and you’ll need at least a pigeon’s magnetic-field-recognition-system to find them. No bins either, how in Buddha’s name do they keep their streets so clean? These guys are the Swiss of Asia…”

“Let’s get one thing straight. Iran is not a terrorist nation. It must be one of the easiest countries to travel in. Okay, certainly since the last elections, getting visas can take months, and even then you don’t really know if they will come through. But once you get in, it’s an amazing destination.

There are only three things that need some time to get used to. Number one: the omnipresence of Khomeini’s pictures and the Iran-Iraq War martyrs’ images. They are literally everywhere, even in the smallest mountain village or the four square meter grocery shop. Number two: the scarf. Woman travelers are required by law to cover their hair and to wear loose-fitting clothes to disguise their figures. The first days in Iran you tend to get upset with this dress code, but you get used to it and finally, you love it and even forget to take off the scarf when showering. Number three: traffic is crazy. Even to Italian or Asian standards, the chaos is shocking. Iran holds the world record for the highest per-capita number of road deaths, with a horrifying 28.000 people killed and another 270.000 injured each year.

But as with the scarf, eventually you get used to it. Taxis are extremely cheap compared to a ticket for a roller coaster, and they are just as much a great experience. Most of them have a sound system more expensive than the car itself and the taxi driver likes to impress you with his forbidden pop music collection. They will play I’ll take you to the candy shop I’ll let you lick the lollipop Go ahead girl, don’t you stop, whoaa, just for you, not understanding a word of English.

How nice is that? In general, people are exceptionally friendly, hospitable and curious. You will get numerous invitations for tea and you will need to pose with dozens of your newly made local friends. In Persepolis, Iran’s most famous ancient site, the presence of foreigners easily prevails on the magnitude of the stones. It’s very hard for Iranians to go abroad, and if they speak some English, they want to know all about life in Europe. This way of mental traveling might sound charming, but in reality, it’s their only way out. They are convicted to visit their own country. Just imagine going twice a year to Bruges or the Citadel of Namur. Still, most Iranians don’t seem to care and keep on heading to the dirty beaches on the Caspian coast every weekend. It is very interesting to witness women in chador bathing like whales washed ashore.

It should be no surprise people desperately want change. First, they tried to achieve this in the elections earlier this year. And since that didn’t work out, people left their houses and started to demonstrate. And since these street protests were put down with ferocity, activists are slowly giving up and the streets are returning to silence. Shouting has become whispering. The only remains are the green Musavi ribbons in people’s pockets. This is where fear comes in; every fellow student or colleague can be connected to the regime, thus openly criticizing the system can cost you your job or your freedom. Or worse.

The contrast between the regime’s image and the people’s warmth is what makes Iran this fascinating. Like its landscapes: on one side overwhelmingly beautiful mountains, on the other an enormous military domain. During our trip, the army launched another provocative missile. The government revealed a new uranium enrichment plant. Developments that were making UN sanctions almost inevitable, until Iran suddenly agreed to an IAEA (the UN nuclear watchdog) inspection. What’s next? To be continued…