borne issue 002 free

BORNEISSUE 002 FREE

Contents issue two3 Contributors Who got roped in this month

4 Borne to... Shine

5 Masthead Still us

6 Check this out The things people will part their hard earned cash for

10 In Memory of the Chateau The creative hot-house lives on in lycra

14 Cool stuff Things we like and want you to know about

16 Martin Klimas A German photographer with gravity on his side

19 Sruli Recht Officially the reason for those ten little piggies

20 The Denim King He makes jeans that fit like a glove... well, like jeans and less like gloves

22 When the Lights Go Out Jump on a plane to Nevada or pop one too many pills

26 How to... Survive a Night Out in Glasgow

28 Bad Food Gone Worse Doesn’t look so bad to us. You should see our kitchen

30 Paul Ryding He draws people but not hands

34 Our Man Sam In... Zimbabwe, Words: Sam Mayer

36 Tommy Carruthers Jeet Kune Do Jedi

42 Bright Lights, Small Bikes Photography: Mark Irvine

46 The Sprezzatura Maze Drawings. Lots of drawings

56 Quit your job and... Skateboard, Words: Luther Blissett

58 Dressed to Kill, Photography: Paul de Luna

64 Borne to Shine, Photography: Armando Ferrari

74 Susie Bubble Introducing our shiny new fashion contributor

Armando Ferrari,

Photographer, Borne to

Shine. He drinks lattes.

With two sugars. It’s a

pretty girly coffee but

don’t hold that against

him, he takes amazing

photos.

Susie Bubble, Fashion

writer, Susie Bubble. We

found Susie floating about

on the net and thought,

we like this lady, let’s allow

her to spread her wisdom

through Borne. We’re

Borne Bubbly.

Luther Blissett, Writer/

Skater, Quit your job

and... This just the

beginning for our new

friend. First he masters

the skateboard, then the

Apache helicopter and

then the government.

Before long he’ll be ruling

the country with an iron

fist.

75 Anni’s Gonna Beat Your Face Just in time fo’ Crimbo

76 Blinded by the Light, Photography: Paul de Luna

82 GRAS Architects New kids on the block

84 Tunes Enough said. Read, listen, enjoy

85 San Sebastian, Words: Ian MacBeth

86 Sons and Daughters, Words: Ian MacBeth

88 Retro Games Don’t believe the hype!!!

90 Boo, you whore ... Harsh...

Contributors

BORNE | 4

Oh, and we’ve spread as far as London and a few

places in between - so if you’re reading this in

Covent Garden right now, howdy.

This issue we’re Borne to shine. It’s for those people

whose desitiny it is to stand out from the rest, it’s for

those who’ve made it their objective to be a little bit

different, it’s for the fact that things always get pretty

glittery at this time of the year and it’s because we

all need a little light in our lives as the days get

shorter and shorter.

Borne to shine.

Hi.

Here we are again.

You guys seemed to quite like the

first one so we thought we’d do

another.

Borne Magazine

Founders

Iain Nevill and Lindsay Lees

Editor in Chief and Creative Director

Iain [email protected]

Fashion Editor

Lindsay [email protected]

Assistant to Iain Nevill and Lindsay Lees

Carrie Cat

Beauty Director

Ana [email protected]

Music Editor

Ian [email protected]

Contributors

Armando Ferrari, Paul McGeachy, Paul de Luna, Eilidh Weir, James Leal-Valias, Ana Cruzalegui, Gary Lees, Sam Mayer, Gavin Cumine, Sam Stevens

Cover Image

Photography Armando Ferrari, Fashion Editor & stylist Lindsay Lees, Hair & make up Ana Cruzalegui, Model Emma D @ Superior Model Managemant

Borne Magazine is basically owned and run by Iain and Lindsay. If you want to advertise with us, submit something or have anything on your mind worth sharing just contact one of us at the email addresses above or call us on 00 44 141 552 1092

All unsolicited material submitted for publication in Borne must be accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope if it is to be returned. Borne does not accept any liability for material lost for any unsolicited material whatsoever. The entire content is copyright of Borne Magazine and cannot be reproduced in part or in whole without written authorisation by us. So don’t even try it.

BORNE | 5

BORNE | 6

Check this out.

You’ve probably already heard that the AK47

is the most successful piece of product design

in history, bar, maybe, the wheel. That either

makes you weep into your floral hankie for the

sorry state of humanity or question what the hell

product designers have been doing with their

time for the past 60 years. Either way, to cel-

ebrate this dubious honour Martin Postler has

designed this totally sweet paper cut-and-paste

version of the rifle available from German pub-

lishers Die Gestalten Verlag. Start you own revo-

lution at www.die-gestalten.de.

There’s something a little reassuring about these

scales from angryretail.com. You’ve just eaten

a Chinese that could have kept a small village

in kung po heaven for a week, you polished off

that family sized chocolate trifle even when the

shakes set in and you still managed to force down

the Mr Kippling that had been lurking at the back

of the cupboard (exceedingly good, as always).

Now you somehow manage to remove yourself

from the sunken settee and stagger to the scales,

oh, look! You weigh less than an average ostrich.

Well, in that case crack open the Minstrels, baby,

I’m light as a

frikken feather.

This is the future. Ok, I’m pretty pissed

off that there aren’t any flying cars, too,

but it’s official. A bunch of scientists

from Leicester University, Travelex and

the National Space Center made it so

when they developed the QUID. This,

friends, is space money. Your crumpled

fiver means diddly squat a 500 miles in

the air but these bad boys will keep you

in space burgers and moon juice for as

long as you like. Each QUID (Quasi Uni-

versal Intergalatic Denomination) is worth

about £6.25 and you can just picture the

meeting now, can’t you? “What the fuck

can we call them so it shortens to Quid?

Think, you fools, think!!!”

Welcome tothe future.

Dry Clean.

Change the world, smell good.

Can’t beat this.

Dry shampoo isn’t new and nei-

ther’s the concept of not having

a shower but this sweet little tube

of Hair Powder by Lulu Organics

makes it something we want in our

lives. Hand printed packaging and

natural organic ingredients make

not washing the thing to do.

www.luluorganicsnyc.com

While the majority of the population

will just see a rather tragic piano

tee the rest will be creamin’ their

pants right now as this is the same

T-shirt worn by Jacko in the begin-

ning of the Beat It video when he’s

on the bed in his little box room.

You know you want it. www.cafe-

press.com/buy/80s

If street art, graffiti and all things slapped on walls floats your boat then you’ll love www.woostercollective.com - a blog featuring the best of the best from around the world. However, we couldn’t find our “get it up ye, ya munt” tag anywhere.

Ummm...You know, we still can’t make up our minds on these ones. I mean,

are they cool 80s Reeboks that turn into mad Tron-like things when

the lights go out or are they just totally stupid glow-in-the-dark shoes?

Will you be the dude with the cool trainers or the loser with the fucking

Power Ranger feet? Sorry, guys, we just don’t know. Only way to find

out is to camp outside Footlocker until they’re released over here or

go to www.atmos-tokyo.com and get them from Japan. Either way,

drop us a line and let us know how it turned out, will you?

This is the new Royal Assets range from

MAC’s Holiday collection featuring lip and

eye shadow compacts. Each one looks like

it was inspired by one of those gold vintage

carriage clocks and we figure if the Queen

carries a clutter of make up in her hand bag

like the rest of us then surely it looks like this.

I love ghold!

www.maccosmetics.co.uk

Halfway through making this issue

our laptop went belly up. Thankfully

we had these - our trusty PC Dice!!

One roll and we knew exactly what the

problem was and fixed it. Ok, that’s a

lie, we took it round to PC World and

they whipped out their trusty PC Dice,

and in one roll found the problem and

fixed it. www.pcdice.com

Russel Newell and his family have created their own line of handmade scents. Rebel Ambush is supposed to invoke images of a

guerrilla army sitting around a campfire in the thick jungle, while Utopian is developed with the post war optimism of 1950’s Britain (fair

enough). www.socialcreatures.com goes into a lot more detail and uses far fancier words but the point remains that they’ve created

a bunch of original smelling, cool looking ‘fumes that aren’t endorsed by a C-list celeb. Surely never a bad thing. Get a bottle online

or, for roughly the same price, personally fund one of those small rebel armies.

Check out the various remixes of that monkey ad on youtube.com. The 50 Cent and Total Eclipse of the Heart are the best.

Now, I knew they were pretty tough over in Can-

ada, you know with the whole minus 30 winters,

lumberjacks, grizzlies the size of buses, etc., but

little did I know just how motherfuckin’ hard Ca-

nadians actually are. While the rest of the world

tell their children not to sniff Tipex, felt tips or, you

know, glue, Canadians actually make their mark-

ers scented to encourage the little bastards to

take a good lungfull! No wonder Americans don’t

like those Canadians, they’re scared to death

of them!! Get a

pack for £9 in the

UK from Hitherto

www.hithertoshop.

co.uk or start

pumping some

iron and head over

to moose land.

Ok, so we only see about 2 hours of daylight now and even then

you’d be hard pressed to actually need sunglasses but these are

still worthy of a mention, surely. The work of New York design-

ers Slow and Steady Wins the Race, these sixties-esque plastic

delights make it perfectly acceptable to wear shades indoors. We

admit that this is one of those annoying articles that shows you

something you just have to have and then tells you that there’s no

way in hell of buying it, although you can always get in contact with

the team behind the frames at www.slowandsteadywinstherace.com

and see if they’ll send you one in exchange for some cash. Worth

a shot.

Now I usually hate it when trainers and proper shoes try to get all cosy together. I think it usually looks, well, pretty crap. A shoe is a shoe and a

trainer a trainer. Let’s just keep things that way, thought I. Well, Puma have only gone and wrecked another of my hard and fast rules by which I live my life. I saw these bad boys and liked ‘em. They work. They’re brogues

but they’re also trainers and I like ‘em. A lot. What next? Is someone gonna come along and tell me that peanut butter and jam go great together or that

I should start putting salt and vinegar on my chips or something?

Puma’s new collection available onlinethrough Oki-ni. www.oki-ni.com

Lucy Fergus is obsessive about a lot of things

and rubber silicone’s just one of them. She’s

found a way to recycle waste pieces of silicone

and transform them into these beautiful lights

which can be arranged, shaped and draped to

fit their surroundings. She describes them as

“a collection of aesthetically exciting, eco-con-

scious interior products, utilising the concept of

waste and re-use to inform the design process.”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

A textile graduate of Glasgow School of Art and

recent MA graduate of Central St Martin’s, her

work has just gone to Tokyo with Designers-

block for Tokyo Designer’s Week and she’s also

won the Bellhouse Foundation Award, which

basically means she has a paid studio space

at Cockpit Arts Studios for the next 3 years. So

here’s hoping there’s a lot more to come.

www.re-silicone.co.uk

www.designersblock.org.uk

www.c-channel.co.jp/en/exhibition

Re-Silicone.

Photo Isabel Asha Penzlien

BORNE | 9

We were lucky to have the Chateau; a space that

artists made their own. A space outside the establish-

ment where they put up with leaky roofs, pigeon poo,

smashed windows, dodgy electricity and were left alone

to create something bloody brilliant. The Chateau was

spiritual home to a whole host of artists, including Franz

Ferdinand, before its ultimate demise a few months ago

when the floor caved in and then it went alight... We

found these shots that we’d taken just weeks before of a

friend of ours whose studio was based there.

We’ll miss you, Chateau.

In Memory of

THE CHATEAU.

BORNE | 10 BORNE | 11

BORNE | 12

Sometimes a photo comes along that just stops you in your tracks. These stopped us dead. They’re a collection of shots by German photographer, Martin Klimas, from a series he describes as “temporary sculpture”. Captured using porcelain figures, a hi-speed camera and gravity, each shot is the result of countless attempts to get just the right chance composition.

The kung fu fighters are just a stroke of genius (that dude down there even looks like Chow Yun Fat) and the crazy Chun Li figure looks like something out the frikken Matrix, it’s so damn cool. If you want to know or see more of Mar-tin, he’s represented by the Galerie Michael Cosar www.galerie-cosar.de in Germany and the Michael Foley gallery in New York www.foleygallery.com and has more at www.martin-klimas.com. Someone get me my camera and pass me that vase.

“Whoops”

BORNE | 16

Rockwell’s weird.

We like.These crazy designs are the

work of prolific Dutch street

artist and graphic designer

Parra. This artist, that artist...

do you really care?

Probably not. They look

pretty weird and they look

pretty cool. That’s why

they’re in the mag and

that’s why you’d go buy

them. I mean, what is that

crazy bird thing anyway?

Apart from damn cool, who

gives a fuck?

All available from

rockwellclothing.com for

about €35.Sr

uli R

echt

One thing you should know about Sruli Recht is that he completed Street Fighter 2 in less than seven seconds. Another thing you should know is that he makes bloody amazing shoes.

Sruli’s on a one man quest to infect us with the world in his head. He began drawing to create a window to this world, sculpting to bring it to life and sewing to make himself a part of it. It’s a world that exists somewhere between the 1800’s and 2180; a world of bad cyberpunk novels, renaissance and robots. Sruli would have us all wearing the most exquisite tailoring where lines come together, jar and meet in ways that shouldn’t work but do. There’s a heavily militaristic feel to most of his work but not in a superfluous way, think less tassels and epilates and more sleek futuristic Gestapo. In his own words, his work is a process of deconstruction and recreation, taking things apart to put them back together the Sruli way.

This collection of footwear was released this year and each shoe is handcrafted in the workshop of Brendan Dwyer - expert Aussie shoe maker and all

round master cobbler - and each are numbered, making them more like sculptures than anything else. Sruli made sure he didn’t have to relinquish any control though. He’s sure they would have looked a lot more ‘Brendan’ and a lot less ‘Sruli’ if he had. Instead he took regular trips down under to supervise, cut, direct and instruct. Basically, do everything but the gluing and sewing. Like I said, for Sruli it’s all about the process of creation. React-ing to unexpected changes, forms or accidents as they happen is all part of it.

Born in Jerusalem, he’s spent time in South Africa, Australia and London, where he worked for Mc-Queen, but Reykjavik in Iceland is where he feels at home now. The people, weather, air and landscape make it so. But travelling is in his nature and is where he refuels his inspiration and is exposed to new influences as well as old. He’s currently loving

the cubic work of Martine Bedin Cittá and sci-fi lines of Frederic Molenac but

at the same time Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Paul Simon are also rating pretty high. Oh,

and the Pogues, too, he kept banging on about the Pogues.

The shoes above are in a range of leathers, suede, bovine, kangaroo and minkle dork (whale foreskin). Yep, whale foreskin. Why? Well, that’s what I wanted to know and he answered, “It hadn’t been done. And that is what I like to do. The undone.”

Sruli is now a core member of the keystone design union and you can find these creations at Liborius, Sruli’s base store, which he stocks regularly with all his limited edition and one-off pieces. Any other enquiries should just be made to [email protected].

www.srulirecht.comwww.liborius.iswww.thekdu.com

Sruli Recht has only gone and created the reason we have feet. All that stuff scientists tell you about needing them to stand upright? Nonsense. They’re there so we can clad them in these amazing

leather objects and strut around looking like the cross between a pirate and highwayman.


Where did the name come from? It’s always pretty hard to pick a good name, how’d you get yours?

Haha, my name came from one of my nick names – Rabii (pro-nounced Rabeye!) I also thought it was catchier than a bit of

Zep slide.Gimmi some background info on you and your jeans. Basically

tell me your story. Oh, and how did the whole Che Camillecollaboration come about?

I started off designing garments when I was twelve, my self taught wizard of a mum would then make me them – to my amazement! She would eventually get sick of my demands

and, by the time I was 18 told me to piss off and make my own. So I went to college for an HND in clothing tec, then started as

a junior tailor – instead of bolting to London or Manchester to gain ‘fashion experience’. After a while I got sick of the factory

and decided to get into my own line, soon after Che Camille found me in severe limbo – her idea sounded good, very good.

Camille would help me, and I would help her.

Who did you make your first pair for?The first person I made jeans for would be me; I had to get ‘em right before I made an arse of myself, haha!So, what are the prices like? Are they mad expensive or not too bad compared to other designer stuff? Be honest, they’re mad expensive, right?For what my jeans are, they’re pretty cheap. One off jeans that you have a say in are cheap at £180-£250! You pick the thread, pockets, fit and badge, I take your measurements and away we go.True. Ever been tempted to just go work for Diesel, Replay, Levis or someone?I was tempted to work for Levis before I left college but the thought of starting my own label seemed to me to be a whole lot better.Dude, I’ve never heard of Rabii. Why not? Why not promote yourself through a high street chain or someone?I have done a small bit of marketing on my own but I do feel if something’s good people will find a way of discovering it on their own accord. I like being exclusive to Che Camille and not having to sell my soul to the high street fat cats for 30 percent of what’s mine.So is it mostly blokes you tailor for or do you get a lot of women too? Surely it’s more challenging to make the perfect fit for a woman..?Men or women. Of course, making guys’ garments is easy cos they’re shaped like planks of wood but it is more rewardingseeing a pair of jeans fitting a lady well first time.What are the typical requests? What are most people looking for in their ultimate jean?In jeans people generally look for something individual as it’s quite exciting for them to be able to choose unique features but my fitted skate fit is also real popular.Where do you source the denim from?What my denim source is? I could tell you but I’d have to slit your throat.Heh, fair enough, mon ami. Do you sell abroad? Are you big in China?I generally sell my gear anywhere, I do a lot of internet orders. I had a guy contact me last week sayin’ cos of my jeans he’s now the coolest dude in Toronto. Shit like that makes my day.Make anything else out of denim? Jackets? Hot pants? Teddy Bears? I can do anythin’ in denim if need be. If you’re willing to pay enough. But not just denim. Anythin’ from any material. As you can see from the pics.Which style is your favourite – the skinny jean, the baggy skater jean, Levi 501s, the high waister??Probably the fitted skate fit. I came up with it for myself.What’s the ultimate denim no-no? Turnups?ULTIMATE DENIM NO-NO, DENIM JEANS AND JACKET FULL SUIT. FUCKIN’ WRONG!

All hail the denim king.Robert Watson may just be what a lot of people have been

searching for for most their lives - he makes bespoke, made

to measure jeans. Oh yes, he can make you the perfectly

fitting pair of denims. We wanted to know more.

BORNE | 20

The man himself.

Photography Chris Anderson

Everyone in the above pic is wearing something from Rabii, be it denims or jackets. In fact even that green chord

skirt is one of his.

Get designing at www.checamille.comor head along to Che Camille,98 Saltmarket, Glasgow

BORNE | 21

When the lights go out

This is the Neon Graveyard. It’s where all the flashy, brashy and good time signs go when they no longer attract us to part with our cash in the heart of Sin City. Somewhere in the Nevada desert is a collection of sights that would make you think you’d been in the sun too long or popped one too many little white pills. James Leal-Valias was kind enough to show us the light.

Photography James Leal-Valias

BORNE | 23

We saw Paul Ryder’s work a few months ago and kept meaning to get

in contact with the guy. As it happened, he called us so thankfully our

laziness went unpunished. We thought we’d do some work though and

ask him a few random questions to shed some light on the man behind

the HB.

Ok, Paul, where you from?I’m from Barrhead just outside Glasgow. It was home to Christopher Brookmyre, Armitage Shanks toilets and Adem recently played gig in the local library for some reason.

What gets you going, illustration wise?I’d like to say ‘the joy of mark making’ or something enigmatic like that. Truth is, I have a mind that won’t stop thinking and the only way I can get it to shut up is drawing.

What are your plans for the future? Are you Glasgow based for the foreseeable future?I hate to say this but I wouldn’t mind jumping ship to the Big Smoke sometime soon. I visit London about 4-5 times a year for business and pleasure and get fantastic commissions almost every time. Not to say Glasgow is devoid of any opportunity but every established illustrator I read about did the “London Thing” for a year or two. I just hate the idea of swapping my beautiful tenement flat for a cupboard apartment for twice amount of rent.

How long have you been working as an illustrator?I’ve been working for 4 years. But if you count the day job then it has been about 2 years. I didn’t get any real paid work ‘til very recently. Of course I do this for the joy of it but my landlord doesn’t see it the same way.

What was your worst job?Working in Gap as the meet & greet pleb when I was a student. I had to stand at the front door for 9 hours a day hung-over with one of those stupid Madonna microphones strapped to my head mumbling, “Welcome to Gap”. It was like a modern day version of being in medieval stockades.

What would be the perfect job? The Holy Grail of illustration?As an annoying and self-righteous Guardian reader I would have to say theG2 section like Charlie Brooker’s column, which David Foldvari illustrates?I did get to paint a mural of Daniel Johnston on Route Master bus thathe himself saw and shouted “ALRIGHT!” in response. That was incredible.

Can you skateboard? I can’t but just wondering if you could…Oh God no. I tried to learn when I was 21 but I am 6 foot 4 so gravity is myenemy. I looked like a statue of Lenny from ‘Of Mice And Men’ being slowlydragged along the ground on castors.

What’s the process to creating your illustrations? (Do you use computers?Pencils? Paper?)After graduation I took up screen-printing and adopted the same constructionmethods into my design process for illustration. I am not one for sketching ideas.I like my illustrations to grow organically from the subject matter which begins withseveral detailed pencil drawings, scanning them into Photoshop and arranging thelayouts from there. It is really time consuming and am sure there is an easier waybut I am pretty stuck in my ways when it comes to my working methods. I still usethe prehistoric Photoshop 5 as the new versions just frustrate me.

Sharpen your pencils, please.


BORNE | 32

Where did you study? What did you study? Did you enjoy it?I studied at The Glasgow School Of Art doing Visual Communication specialising in illustration. I am doing a talk there next month, though, so better watch what I say! Chicken!

Sega, Nintendo or Play Station?Sega. They made some of the greatest arcade machines in the late 80’s. Nintendo are innovative but the Wii is just annoying and gave me terrible tennis elbow. Although, I did loose 3 months of my life to Grand Theft Auto on the PS2.

Where abouts do you work? Tell me a little about your studio.Right now I work from my flat. I was based in the Glasgow Print Studio for a few years but trying to do commissions using screen-prints with a 24 hour deadline is just impossible. It will do for just now as I have very quiet flatmates.

Any exhibitions lined up?I had a show at The Arches over the summer that really took it out of me. I am starting a new series ofportraits for a new exhibition that I will propose to some gallery spaces. If anyone reading this isinterested then drop me an email?

Whose work do you wish you had done? Anyone you really admire?I really admire Chuck Close. I don’t know if it is too obvious in my work but have had somepeople say it reminds them of his ‘Big Self Portrait’ which is a ridiculously good compliment.I read his biography recently and really admire his level of ambition and attention to thecraft of drawing and painting. I think that is one thing lacking in the present illustrationscene.

Is there anything you can’t draw…? I always struggle with horses… Well,any animal with four legs, really…Hands! You wouldn’t think so as all I ever draw is people. If I have to do it I will spendhours (and I mean hours) drawing them, rubbing them out and starting again as theyalways come out looking like pig trotters or like they have been smashed withhammers. My folio is just full of crap hands strategically hidden behind text.

You’ve got a lot of figures in your work, are they real people orimaginative? They are all real. I began using found images and working from them as it mademy work more random and subjective. I then started asking my friends to posefor me which they all hated doing but am eternally grateful for. It feels a bit morehonest and more personal to include those around you and obviously gives youmore control. My friend posed for a portrait and became a minor celebrity as itwas published. He became known as ‘that guy with the mad hair’.

Are PaulTruths all real facts…? They are true in the sense I thought they where true. I read a lot of articles andsoak up useless knowledge that gets muddled up in my head. My friends allshout ‘PAUL TRUTH’ when I make some wild statement that cannot bebacked up by any proof but I swear it is true. Pope John Paul II alwaysdried his socks on his radiator: FACT!

What scale do you like to work at? We can’t reallytell from online. Are the figures bigger than lifesize??I would ideally like to work on a massive scaleeach time but it just isn’t realistic consideringthe turnover of jobs. Although I have justtaken a batch of new photographs forsome new portraits so think I will riseto your challenge and make themlarger than life.

Sweet.

OUR MAN IN ZIMBABWE.

BORNE | 34

Having said I wouldn’t get up to my usual check-in antics and try to scam an upgrade or anything it turns

out I didn’t need to. I get to the desk and simply ask if I could possibly sit at one of the exits for a little extra

leg room (okay! I also said I had a sore knee, but that was it, honest) and what did Sam, the luckiest traveller

of them all, get? That’s right, a free upgrade to BA’s World Traveller Plus class, close to Business, but not

quite. Nice. It really did make a huge difference on an 11-hour flight. Two congealed meals and a Raging

Bull later I flicked to the MAP channel on my little TV and it hit me. Seeing my little plane right above the ‘H’ of

SAHARA DESERT made me realise, properly, that I was travelling to a sub-Saharan African, disease-ridden,

politically dictated Zimbabwe. Sweet.

Harare airport was baron, cold and a little spooky, like the despotic smile of Zimbabwe’s leader, Robert Mu-

gabe. Like every other public building in Zimbabwe, all wall space in the airport was filled with picture upon

picture of this man, each in the same flaking faux-gold framing. Tired from the eleven hour flight, I wandered

past an unmanned desk (where I should have paid for my tourist visa - a serious and expensive mistake I

had to rectify two weeks later), picked up my luggage and headed for my connecting flight to Bulawayo.

Aside from the “FIREARMS STORAGE” sign, the domestic terminal bore a striking resemblance to an East

Lothian barn I had worked in one summer as a kid. It was 6.30am, two hours before my flight, so I sat outside

in the dry heat. Looking out over the runways, it was hard to tell where the concrete ended and the dry, unat-

tended grass began. I decided to prepare myself for the coming weeks by reading Paul Theroux’s Dark Star

Safari. 100 pages later I couldn’t stand it any more. I felt ‘that feeling’, like someone is watching you. I looked

around but I was still the only civilian around, but then I glanced up and saw it: yet another, larger, picture

of Mugabe, this time sun-bleached but just as imposing. Honestly, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he was

sitting next to me on the plane.

Anyway, I was met in Bulawayo by Lucien (“Loosh”), a friend of a friend and a three-year vet at the NGO I

was going to work for. He drove us to what would be my home for the next month. Driving through the rural

slums of Bulawayo, the most poverty-stricken place I had seen by that point, I couldn’t quite believe what I

saw when we arrived. Think plush, 1950s, Miami condo; long, flat roof, surrounded by palm trees and floor-

to-ceiling beige. Whilst to me it was only lacking a coked-out Sharon Stone screaming on the lawn, to most

of Zimbabwe this place represents an unattainable paradise. It’s the second home of a local businessman

turned football fanatic who puts up volunteers like me while he’s living in that retirement paradise, Florida. I

definitely couldn’t complain about the treadmill, cable TV and pool - three luxuries I was not expecting to find

in Zimbabwe.

The world’s a big place and yet somehow Sam always ends up somewhere, well, some-where we wouldn’t. This time he had a bloody good reason, though, as he was helping out an AIDS charity. We commend you, fine sir, it’s because of people like you that the world is a better place while the rest of us sit and eat pies... hmm, wouldn’t mind a pie right about now...

SAM

I was travelling to a disease-ridden, politically dictated Zimbabwe. Sweet.

The next day we get to working. In order to get more funding, we hand out questionnaires to the kids pre

and post teaching, hoping the results will show the positive effects of our work. As Loosh is the only one

out here right now, he’s lumbered with all the data-entry into Excel - hardly a fun task. Meanwhile, my fondly

remembered year of quantitative research at Strathclyde kicks in, and I already have ideas on how the

questionnaire can be bettered and on fund-raising etc., but I’ll keep those to myself until I get the experience

of teaching, in about 10 days or so. Reading the answers given by some of the kids, though, has really had

a big effect on me. They conjure up thoughts far too disturbing to be associated with 12 year old children. In

response to the statement: ‘I have no control over whether or not I will get HIV/AIDS, True or False’ one girl

said, “True, because I go to the beer hall and I just don’t care”. She is 12, and that’s not an uncommon kind

of answer.

On a lighter note, here are some of the people I’ve met so far (spelling permitting): I’ll begin with Opa. She

appears to be the head maid in the house I’m staying in. Based on what she told me about her working

conditions at the owner’s house in Florida, where she worked for the last three months, she seems to be the

head slave. When over there they made her sleep on the floor inside a closet, work 18 hour days with no

food or breaks. I’ve often wondered why I’d ever need to purchase that “Fuck you, you fucking fuck” t-shirt

I saw in Camden Market once. Now seems the right time. Opa’s eldest daughter, Sethli, and niece, Shopa,

also help in the house. I think they were all a bit flummoxed when I tried to clean up my dishes the other day

but we all are getting along well. Then there’s Yupa (quite how you go from Herbert Dick - his real name - to

Yupa, I’ve no idea) and Kupa, two local professional footy players who work with us. They were cool, laid-

back and, particularly Kupa, seemed to have all their fingers in all of Bulawayo’s pies, so to speak. I would

say that Kupa is definitely the ‘Del Boy’ of this city, wheeling and dealing, ducking and diving, but also get-

ting 16 caps for the national team.

A few days into my trip, Kupa took Loosh and I to a Highlanders match (the local football team that Kupa had

just signed for). We went into town to pick up Kupa on Saturday morning and, while we waited out on the

main road, the pre-game tension and excitement was like that of an Old Firm game. We forced ourselves

through the commotion of supporters and, eventually, arrived at the stadium. Looking for a parking spot

among the sea of supporters was only made tougher by the fact that we’d left our windows down. Dozens of

kids swarmed around the car as we continued our search for parking at a snail’s pace. Their small, needy

limbs were stretching in through the windows; some offering hats, food, drink to buy, others just through

mere speculation. We met Kupa’s friend Yellow outside the stadium and, as we shook hands, I was surprised

to see that Yellow just didn’t let go of mine as we walked into the grounds. I saw that Kupa had done the

same with Loosh and that it was clearly a friendly gesture - a sign to others that these two khiwas were with

them and were not to be mugged, hassled or touched in any way. Okay, I’ll take that.

Once inside we scrambled our way up the gigantic stone steps, through the throngs of black and white

scarves and shirts, and squeezed into a space never big enough for four towards the back of the south

side of the stadium. I don’t know if it’s because I just haven’t attended enough live footy matches in my life

that I’d never believed it when commentators say, “yes, Terry, the atmosphere here really is electric”. Well,

Terry and Co., I believe you now. Over 40,000 fanatics, screaming in Ndebele, surrounded me. Screaming

at each other? At the players yet to emerge from the tunnel? At the two khiwas up the back? It didn’t matter.

All that mattered was their screams, shouts and whistles vibrating through my body, making me feel like one

of them, a Highlanders supporter, if only for 90 minutes. The next hour and a half filled me with suspense,

highs, lows, but mainly with the weed smoke that dominated the stagnant air, even at the top of the stadium.

The game ended 2-0 to the good guys and the place was on fire. I hadn’t noticed, but Yellow, sitting right

next to me the whole time, had managed to consume enough weed and scud (a local brew) to incapacitate

him. We helped him down to the car, dodging the flurry of kids scurrying up and down the steps picking

up empty cups, bags, everything that they may be able to sell or at least trade for something, anything. We

eventually got back to the car and, after politely declining Yellow’s drunken yet serious offer to head to the

local brothel, we headed home.

I could get used to it here.

Yellow had managed to consume enough weed to incapacitate him.

BORNE | 35

BORNE | 42

bright lights small bikes

Photography Mark IrvineRiders Drew, John & Scott

Sorry, Glasgow City Council, we told them not to but they just wouldn’t listen.

draw it like you love it.

The Sprezzatura Maze is an exhibition taking place in

December at the SWG3 studios. Well over 20 artists are

coming together from around the globe (Italy, UK, France,

Canada, USA, etc, etc) to show their work. It’s a little different

though. And that’s why we think you’ll want to go along.

BORNE | 46

Firstly I want you to wipe the thoughts of a white gallery and glasses of red wine from your

mind. Yes, this an art exhibit but this one, The Sprezzatura Maze (initial kudos has to be given

for the name), is definitely something a little different. Sprezzatura is some old renaissance

term that kind of means making the artful look effortless, (in other words doing something

amazing but making it look like you knocked it up in 5 minutes). And it’s pretty spot on for the

majority of the artists featured - both the media they use and the style of their work is often

simplified to the point of child-like but the images they create are stunning.

Over 20 artists from both the UK and around the world have been brought together to show-

case their unique style of illustration. Names such as Arjulo, Mehdi Hercberg, Zane Kozak,

Dylan Martorell and the Sumi Ink Club may not exactly be household but there’s definitely

something about their way of working that will feel strangely familiar to anyone who’s owned a

set of felts when they were young.

The Maze is being organised by Good Wives and Warriors who are Becky Bolton and Louise

Chappell; two GSA graduates who’ve been working together since meeting in the 2nd year of

their drawing and painting degree. While they like to express their creativity through a number

of outlets which include wall paintings/installations, graphic design and illustration, essen-

tially, drawing remains the root of everything they do. This exhibit is the first time the pair have

collaborated with fellow artist Christina Corfield and the three have found the response from

the international and local artists they contacted overwhelmingly positive. Maybe it reflects the

strong reputation the city has for art an all things creative or maybe it just reflects the style of

most of those involved – friendly.

Arnaud LoumeauThere’s something about Arnaud’s

(AKA Arjuno) work that really really

reminds us of the drawings we used to

do at the back of our jotters or school

folders. Aliens, robots and weird

animals all feature heavily and the

compulsive detail also makes us think

of a kid making sure they got it just

right. On his website he has hundreds

of these bright and weird pictures

ranging from organic creatures to

almost aztec patterns. We can’t wait to

see them in the flesh.

BORNE | 47

The artists in this show are fun. It’s as simple as that. Most of the work, say GWAW, is “very

intricate and demonstrates a form of dedication to the activity of drawing but is often made

using felt-tip pens or on quite low-fi formats.” The fact that almost all of us have owned and

used felt-tips at some point makes these drawings so much more, well, accessible, I guess.

The bleed of the ink onto the other side of the paper and into adjacent colours and the fact

that the colour got stronger on bits where you overlapped are all things we’ve faced while

struggling to colour in that picture of a house or dinosaur or random monster. It takes you

back to a time when you used to arrange all your coloured pencils into the perfect spectrum

and were always a little annoyed that the black or the green seemed so much shorter than

the others... We’re not being insulting when we say it’s the kind of art we did when we were

kids. That’s a compliment because now we all work in call centres and behind tills and aren’t

half as creative as we once were. It’s an exhibit of work that wouldn’t normally be given the

chance to exhibit. Work that makes you smile, and, c’mon, it’s not often you can say that

about an exhibition these days.

Good Wives and Warriors aren’t out to drastically change perceptions of art or anything,

they just want to show the work of artists they love. It excites them and they want it to excite

others. Well, we love it, that’s for sure. The exhibit will be held at the SGW3 warehouse

space where the collaboration are permanently based and plan on creating a maze-like

space so that you’re permanently surrounded by colour, pattern and drawing. Although sell-

ing sure isn’t the main aim of this exhibit, there will also be both art and merchandise on sale

and seeing Shoboshobo’s sweet sweatshirts I know we’re planning on heading over with a

wad o’ cash. If you want to know more or buy a load of sweet stuff get in touch with Louise

Chappell at [email protected] or get yourself to the exhibit which runs from the 7th to

the 21st of December. We’ll see you there.

Shoboshobo

Shoboshobo is headed by Mehdi Hercbeg, an illustrator,

musician, artist and teacher of multimedia graphic design at the

Ecole Estienne in Paris. Originally Shoboshobo was a project

that involved a group of Japanese visual artists and musicians

and “toured through Japan as an art bus with interactive and

collaborative happenings taking place in different places”. Fair

enough. Mehdi’s been featured in a ton of creative mags and

showed his work across most of Europe. This dude is a

heavyweight of this crazy style and just one look at Shobo’s

website shows the almost obsesive compulsive nature of his

doodles (there are literally thousands on there). These cool

sweatshirts will be available at The Maze but we don’t think

anyone should buy one for fear of death - that way we can

get the lot.


Dylan Martorell

Music plays a big part in this Aussie’s life and influences

his work greatly as does the natural world, the elements,

geographical oddities, human rituals and mythology!! We

just can’t stop wondering how long that took?

Zane Kozak

Maybe it’s just the comic geek in

me but I really love this stuff. It’s

just psychedelic enough, just trip-

py enough, to have that seventies

Robert Crumb feel about it but the

mad intricacy takes it to a whole

other level. I dig it. I dig it a lot.

Borne to shine.Photography Armando FerrariFashion Editor Lindsay Lees

Pink top £135, black trousers £165 both Pinko @ Cruise JeansFur jacket £495 Matthew Williamson @ CruiseBlue zip shoes £200 Kurt Geiger @ House of FraserGold necklace £16 MonsoonGold bracelets £10 (above), £12 (below) both Aldo

Black dress £1,195 Matthew Williamson @ CruiseRing £75 Rings Eclectic @ CruiseEarrings £7 AccessorizeTights model’s own YSL necktie & diamante bracelets stylist’s own

Jumpsuit £670 Diesel Catwalk Collection @ Cruise JeansBlack & gold shoes £190 Strutt @ Cruise JeansHoop earrings £5, Gold clutch £25 both AldoBracelet £10 Accessorize

Green dress £220 Malene Birger @ CruiseGold shoes £310 Gucci @ Cruise

Green dress as beforeHeadpiece made to order by Mhari McMullan

Green satin jacket £180 Arrogant Cat @ Cruise JeansPurple dress £195 Coast @ House of FraserPink tights £5, ring £15 both AccessorizePurple shoes £290 Prada @ House of FraserNecklace £59.95 Whistles @ House of Fraser

Photographer Armando FerrariFashion Editor & Stylist Lindsay LeesMake up Ana Cruzalegui using NARS and Philosophy www.anacruzalegui.comHair Gary Lees for Lees & Thompson using Tecni.art by L’Oreal ProfessionnelBackdrop and headpiece created by Mhari McMullan www.madebymother.blogspot.comModel Emma D @ Superior Model ManagementMake up Assistant Lynsey Reilly

Susie Bubble.So Borne Magazine has deemed my credentials as a London-based fashion blogger who goes by the pseudo-nym of Susie Bubble (http://stylebubble.typepad.com... shameless link plug), interesting/insightful/informative enough to give me this page space. Or they were desperate for a space filler that would hopefully just blind people with pretty images of cool things. Either way, I’m happy to oblige by spouting off about things that Irandomly love, mainly of the fashion ilk and sharing my passion for the undertalked-about, the slightly odd and the renegade. Let Borne and Bubble come together in a messy, amalgamated heap then...

Staying on the subject of wearable art, DJ/stylist/designer all-in-one Nova Dando has really got me thinking about the possibilities of light in garments. If Hussein Chalayn’s LED sci-fi creations seem all too lofty and static-looking (as well as coming with a migraine inducing price tag), then Dando’s dresses made of neon tube loops are surely meant for fun and frolicks. I’m dying to get hold of one to wear over my scruffiest grey jersey t-shirt and American Apparel tulip pocket skirt matching the colour of the light tubes. The term ‘nu-rave’ may well and truly be buried but this doesn’t mean all outfit associations with the term need to be exiled too. www.novadando.com (Photography Craig Cowling www.naughtyjames.com).

All the fash mags keep impressing upon you that chunky knits are so ‘in’ and ‘very thisseason’ but I’m not quite sure they were thinking of the extremes of chunky knitting that Sandra Backlund goes to. It’s not about hiding in a big fat wooly sleeping bag sweater but sculpting shapes and intricate detailing with wool. The meticulous knitting actually makes my brain hurt, trying to think how Backlund managed to make the garments all by herself. Backlund hails from Stockholm and works in a quite isolated way, leaving her collections free from the pressures of fashion trends. I’m very much into the idea of making things ordinary seem extraordinary so Backlunds’ clothes peg dress and peg-inspired wool structures tick that box perfectly. www.sandrabacklund.com (Photography Ola Bergengren www.olabergengren.com).

Ending on a red note (by the by, I didn’t really mean for this to be as Christmas themed as it was with the knits, the lights and the Crimbo colours…), I really can’t get the idea of a red pvc trenchcoat out of my head and it was Maaike Mekking’s version that first slayed me. It doesn’t help that the collection from which the trench hails from is called ‘She’s Lost Control’, named after my favourite Joy Division song. So I’ll be willing the trench to hopefully go on sale as it can’t be healthy going into 2008, still obsessing about it. www.maaikemek-king.com

For further adornment, I’m looking at the reassessments of materials that make 21st Century jewellery all the more interesting. Wooden jewellery isn’t nec-essarily going to be the African-inspired new-age hippie sort you would conjure up, because Bethan Laura Wood has used 3mm birchwood ply to make sharp, graphic chains of various-sized hexagonal links. The hexagon shapes are also coloured partially with blocks of bright colours. I like the fact that you can go minimal or max with the jewellery formed with these wooden links, making heavy necklaces or simple bracelets. www.woodlondon.co.uk. Available @ www.no-one.co.uk.

Another material that has been reas-sessed is Perspex. Used shoddily, you get ASOS-style rough edged butterfly pendants. Used precisely and you get House of Flora’s clear moulded head-bands in apt Crimbo colours of red and green. I’m pretty sure if Santas’ elves got a high fashion makeover, they would be wearing these headbands paired with Christopher Kane’s velvet jewel-toned, skater-skirted dresses. www.houseofflora.net.

The holiday season has snuck upon us quicker than we can say “I know you’re Christmas shopping, but friends don’t let friends wear glitter before noon!” This is a fantastic time of

year to spoil yourself and the ones you love with luscious products that will keep yousmelling sweet, sugar kissed, and shining like a late night disco ball all throughout

New Year.

A warning sign “DO NOT EAT” should be applied to these tasty smelling Philosophy products for the hol-idays. Warm up to the Gingerbread Man exfoliating hot salt tub and shower scrub. With sea salt, plank-ton and salt extracts that help moisturize, tone and smooth the skin this is just what the doctor ordered.Follow with the foaming bubble bath and shower gel for added spice. Gingerbread Man Scrub, £20.00 Gingerbread Man Shower Gel, £17.00, John Lewis or www.philosophy.com

For a delicious mix of fresh cranberry and sweet flo-ral, try Philosophy’s ultra rich 3-in-1 shampoo, body wash, and bubble bath in Cranberry. Don’t forget to follow with the moisturizing body lotion. This deca-dent fragrance will last with you all day and put you in the holiday mood. Memory Cranberry Set £18.50, John Lewis or www.philosophy.com

Anni’s gonna beat your face.

Try Dermalogica Pre-Cleanse oil (£23.50) for a simple way to break down even the toughest of make-up, environmental pollutants and residual skin products that build-up during the day. A plant-based cleansing oil, fortified with Olive and Kukui oils.

Follow with the soap-free, foaming Special Cleansing Gel (£19.40). Purifying lavender extract and naturally-foaming Quillaja Saponaria removes impurities and excess oils while Balm Mint cools and calms the skin. Available at Brown Cow 130-132 West Regent StGlasgow 0141 221 2500 or try www.dermalogica.com

L’Oreal’s latest day cream Derma Genesis has become a favourite. The texture is smooth, hydrating, instantly absorbed, and gives skin a light-reflecting dewy glow while Pro-Xylane and Hyaluronic Acid helps therenewal of surface skin cells. Derma Genesis Day Cream 50ml £18.99 at Boots

For a simple once a week regime to smooth skin and cleaner pores try Korres Olive Stones Natural Face Scrub (£14). Great for getting rid of black spots and dead skin cells... post shaven boys take note!

The ultimate dull and tired complexion fixer upper... try Korres Wild Rose Mask (£16) once a week for instant brightening and illuminating effects. With Wild Rose, vi-tamin C and a complex of herbal extracts. Use once a week for clear and radiant skin! Korres, 220 Buchanan Street Glasgow, www.korres.com

To cater to those lovely faces of ours this winter, give yourself some TLC and a radiant glow with these fab finds...

Add some metallic sparkle to those peeps with L’Oreal’s Colour Appeal Chrome Shine in Brown Lame and Starry Night. Available at Boots orSuperdrug.

I so love this folding lipstick holder from Penhaligons in metallic silver leather, a perfect eveningaccessory. Lipstick Holder £45 Penhaligons Princes Square or try www.penhaligons.com

I get around…

From killer music videos to adverts with pant wearing youths at a gig, I’m glad things are ready to kick into the low gear shake what yo mama gave you months. I’ve been diligently preparing my homemade lip balm pots to give to friends this Christmas... yes, I’m crap with surprises! And in the coming days will jet off on location, to Toronto and Los Angeles to collaborate with some amazing new talents so watch this space! Oh, and... Caring is sharing guys, Happy Holidays. XX

Pucker up, Buttercup... get your shine on!

Long Lasting Lip Shine from L’Oreal in Always Pink and Cinnamon Addict... great alone or lay-ered over lipstick. Available at Boots or Super-drug.

Tinte Cosmetics Flavoured Lip Shine in Pink Lemonade... tastes as good as it smells with asubtle pink iridescent shade. Tinte Flavoured Lip Shine £12.00

Pair up with Tinte Cosmetics Shimmering Face Pearls in Rose Petals and Sun Kissed. Gorgeous on the eyes and cheeks for instant attention! Tinte Shimmering Face Pearls£10.00 Available in the UK throughwww.powdersandpotions.com

Add a sparkle and sweetness to that pout with Philosophy’s Lip Shine in Raspberry Sorbet and Sugar Cookie. Philosophy Lip Shine £10.00, John Lewis or www.philosophy.com

For sheer natural rose tint, try Korres Full Colour Gloss (£11) in 33 Nude, with added Cherry Oil for extra lip hydration. Korres, 220 Buchanan Street Glasgow, www.korres.com

blinded by the lightPhotography Paul de Luna

Photographer Paul de LunaHair & Make Up Ana Cruzalegui using MAC Pro & L’Oreal Professionnel Tecni.art

Model Kristy @ PHAssociate Producer Brandon Booth

Tunes.

YeasayerAll Hour Cymbals

(We Are Free)

Gone are the days of skinny jean and tie bands flooding out of New York. That retro scene has died. What is evolv-

ing is something far more forward thinking as bands like Vampire Weekend and Santo Gold are sonically employing

the sound of the African jungle. At the apex of this scene are Yeasayer, a hip four piece from Brooklyn, NYC, who

lather their sound within the sun beaten blanket of Afrobeat. While this may raise some eyebrows, debut album ‘All Hour

Cymbals’ dispels any negative preconceptions as quickly as a lion devours a zebra’s testicles. What we get are indul-gently ethereal vocals, ancestral drums and enraged hand

clapping as seen on opener ‘Sunrise’. The brilliant ‘2080’ radiates with celestial charisma that if played at the top of

Kilimanjaro would surely call followers of a new religion to its peaks. Yeasayer could effectively soundtrack the birth of a new world or even Attenborough’s Planet Earth and every-

thing would just make sense. What they leave us with is the sound of the world descending into a violent stampede and Yeasayer’s ambitious desire to escape any defining scene

must be applauded. Gavin Cumine

Britney SpearsBlackout(Jive Records)

From being a lollipop sucking, sex denying clean teen Britney Spears has evolved into a vagina flashing drunken time bomb. There have been the rehab visits, weird asexual MTV Awards performances, shaved heads and lost custody battles over her children. Her demise seems the epitome of the American dream gone wrong. However, when this madness is taken in a musical context it seems the perfect concoction for a fascinating musical project. Indeed, ‘Blackout’ is the sound of a mad woman’s scribblings and it seems the songwrit-ers and producers alike have had a bloody ball with this fruitcake. It’s a surge of warped sound waves, electronically perverted vocals, drum loops and glam rock theatrics. Song after song is executed with bizarre intent that showcases the rupturing Spears mindset. Lead single ‘Gimme More’, is ultramodern, seething with a rage aimed at Spears’ critics that is progressively asphyxiated by tides of electronic detonations. Such rage is apparent in the media hating ‘Piece of Me’, which sees Spears’ voice disembodied amid thrashing synths. Indeed, just as tedium develops, bizarre vocal gymnastics and sonic oddities surprise the listener. At times Spears sounds like a mad man wailing from a padded cell (‘Radar’ and ‘Freakshow’) as her vocals are bent inside out. Maybe I’m a freak, but I don’t really give a damn/I’m crazy as a motherfucker! Spears declares at one point. Yes you are love, but it sounds pretty good. Gavin Cumine

What you should or shouldn’t be listening to as you read Borne. Words Ian MacBeth Photo Sam Stevens

Junior BoysLast Exit(Domino)

Following the success of Junior Boys’ rather fine second LP ‘So This is Goodbye’ last year, Domino treats ‘Last Exit’, the moody Canadian duo’s 2004 debut, to a reissue just in time for Christmas. Fans of the lush, futuristic melancholy electronica (melancholica?) of So This is Goodbye will likely find plenty more to enjoy amongst Last Exit’s dubby spaced out house and clipped, but highly melodic electropop: ‘High

Come Down’ is cut from the same cloth as Hot Chip’s early lo-fi updates of the classic Prince formula, while ‘Birthday’ is a terrific yearning electronic ballad pitched somewhere between New Order and Erland Oye that easily justifies its reappearance in remixed form towards the end of the album.The trouble is that, impressive though Last Exit is, at an epic 72 minutes, it all starts to feel a little one-paced, a little bloodless, a little too tasteful for its own good almost, and thus ultimately unsatisfying. Ian MacBeth

To Rococo RotABC123

(Domino)

If the prospect of an album composed to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Helvetica typeface sounds rather too dry an endeavour for you taste, well, that probably wouldn’t surprise me greatly, but ABC123, the new mini-album by influential German electronicists To

Rococo Rot, is just such a musical tribute to that most ubiquitous of fonts. Though ABC123 sees the trio eschew their usual earthy analogue style for a more digital approach, they lose none of their personality in the translation; performed live on unsynched computers, at its best

ABC123 has a spontaneity and a playfulness that is sadly absent from so much digital or pre-programmed music. Inevitably thisapproach doesn’t always work but there are enough ideas here to justify the modest running time (a mere 20 minutes).

I do wonder what this strange, at times uneven, record has in common with the perfectly ordered passivity of Helvetica though. Ian MacBeth

Lightspeed ChampionFalling off the Lavender Bridge(Domino)

Remember Test Icicles? Now they really were shit. And not just run-of-the-mill, bog-standard, Sturgeon’s Law kind of shit, but especially, exceptionally awful. So it’s something of a shock to discover that ‘Galaxy of the Lost’, the opening track from Falling off the Lavender Bridge, the debut solo album by former Test Icicle Dev Hynes AKA Lightspeed Champion, is actually rather lovely: a winsome, willowy indie folk gem, that mercifully

could hardly be more different from the clamorous, ham-fist-ed rave-metal of Hynes’ former band. Hynes fails to sustain the quality beyond ‘Galaxy of the Lost’ however and willowy and winsome soon give way to simpering and insipid. Though they were dreadful, at least Test Icicles provoked a response, even if it was just the irresistible urge to run shrieking from the room, but Falling off the Lavender Bridge actually is just run-of-the-mill, bog-standard Sturgeon’s Law kind of shit. And maybe that’s worse in a way. Ian MacBeth

San Sebastian.

‘The way Niall and I first got to know each other,’ says San Sebastian’s Vinnie Black ‘was in First Year Home Eekies when we all had to make a toilet bag with a design on it and Niall did the wee Nirvana face. After that we started listening to tunes together and trying to learn them on the guitar. Then Craig came along and played bass.’‘We weren’t like: “Let’s form a band!” or anything though,’ Niall Gahagan explains ‘it just kind of came together.’What came together was a three-piece called Epsilon, formed when the boys were but a mere fourteen. Epsilon, however, wasn’t fated to survive its members’ maturing musical tastes, and in particular a prog epiphany that seemed to render redundant the ‘very, very standard’ diet grunge they had been playing previously.‘Pink Floyd was a real turning point’ says Vinnie soberly.‘After we discovered Pink Floyd,’ says Craig McGinnis ‘we just stopped writing tunes.’The crisis of confidence wasn’t terminal though, and a few years later the three friends, with the addition of new bassist Mark Stansfield, regrouped. Whereas Epsilon had been fettered by conventional verse-chorus-verse song structures, inspired by Pink Floyd and their spiritual successors Radiohead, San Sebastian sought a more experimental, intuitive approach; Craig cites electronic music, ‘the dynamics of dance music and the way it’s put together… the flow of it, the way it swells and builds and breaks down’, as another influence. It’s a sound that made this writer nostalgic for the shoegaze bands I listened to as a teenager: Slowdive, Ride, Verve (no ‘The’, d’uh), even the mighty My Bloody Valentine.

‘At our first gig we only had four songs and then this 12 minute jazz-fusion freak-out thing in the middle just so we could fill out half an hour’ says Niall ‘It was only when someone said we sounded like them that I started listening to My Bloody Valentine though, but now I’d definitely say they were one of my favourite bands. Maybe we’ve started sounding more like them since I started listening to them though, I don’t know.’San Sebastian are due to release their debut single ‘Opaque Veil’/’This is Modern’ on Prestel records in the New Year, but in the meantime they also have an up-coming audiovisual extravaganza at The Arches to plan for.‘One of the criticisms we got when we were first starting out is that, because Niall and Craig both sing lead and play guitar, we don’t really have a front man,’ explains Vinnie ‘so that’s why we tried to incorporate visuals into gigs. It distracts from the fact that it’s just four guys on stage, it’s something more to look at so maybe people won’t be looking so much for a frontman.’Niall goes on: ‘For the gig at The Arches we’ve pretty much built a wall of TVs that we’re going to have hooked up to a laptop, and play videos off that in time with the music. Hopefully, it’ll be pretty amazing.’

‘Opaque Veil’/’This is Modern’ will be released through Prestel records in early 2008. www.myspace.com/sansebastianband

From left Mark Stansfield, Niall Gahagan, Craig McGinnis and Vincent Black Lightning.

The PyramidsThe Pyramids(Domino)

During the marathon jam sessions that would eventually result in their band’s excellent Derdang Derdang LP, Archie Bronson Outfit members Mark Cleveland and Sam Windett found themselves mining a vein of deeper, dirtier, more ragged rock and roll than would eventually appear on that album. There were glimpses of the real beast beneath Derdang Derdang’s feral holler throughout that terrific record, but now Sam and Mark have decided to give full expression to their freer instincts in the form of a full-length debut under the name The Pyramids. Written and recorded at speed in a barn specially converted for the purpose, The Pyramids is a frenetic, aggressively raw mutation of the Derdang Derdang formula that manages to find a voice of its own out of the primitive racket of the music. Opener ‘White Disc of Sun’ is a brilliantly overdriven surge of primal proto-punk and current single ‘Hunch Your Body, Love Somebody’ is an exhilarating nervous breakdown of a song that bears comparison with labelmates Clinic, though has a deranged darkness that Clinic haven’t exhibited since their early singles. It’s no Derdang Derdang, but nor should The Pyramids be viewed as a mere by-product of ABO, and the promised live shows next year ought to be a blast and a half. Ian MacBeth

One of the San Sebastian boys drinks in our local and that’s how we got to talking about the band. We wanted to take their pic and ask them some questions. Unfortunately 30

mins before this pic was taken a bunch of bottleweilding junkies thought they’d be away with one of the

band’s mobiles. So, if you work for a phone company and want to show your support for new music, please send a

shiny new handset to the boys. They’ll be your friends forever.

that purpose really, but we did consciously decide to write a pop record. We just got bored of the last record, playing it live a lot, and we just thought, you know what? We want to write something really pop-py, because we love pop music and it just seemed like the right thing to do. I don’t mean pop music in the sense of, y’know…Girls Aloud, I mean pop music in the sense of The Smiths, The Breeders, The Pixies, that’s pop music to me. Everyone likes pop music though; we’re not ashamed to like it.”

Well, you recently covered 'Killer' by Adamski didn’t you?

“We started playing (The Temptations’) ‘Papa was a Rolling Stone’ and were really getting into it when we thought, “Actually, this is just ‘Killer’ by Adamski.” So we listened to ‘Killer’ on an iPod and there was a line in it “All the sons and daughters know how it feels”, and we thought this is a sign, let’s cover this, so we did. I think it’s a great song, it’s a political song, it’s about racism and depression more generally. I just think it’s a great pop song. I like pop songs that have got something to say and I think that song has something to say.”

You covered Parliament’s ‘Comin’ in out of the Rain’ on another b-side, and that’s another powerful, uplift-ing pop song with a strong political message.

“I love that though, I love when lyrics actually mean something; that’s the reason I buy records. I mean, I’ll buy records for music but if the lyrics are bad I won’t. It really is that important to me and it always has been. The band I fell in love with when I was fourteen was The Smiths, so when I buy records, the most important thing for me is what a person has to say. I think you can get feeling from instrumental mu-sic too, but I personally prefer lyrics that have some sort of poetic quality, or political message.”

While I was listening to This Gift, especially during songs like ‘Flags’ and ‘Iodine’ near the end, I was re-minded of PJ Harvey’s Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, in that that album saw PJ Harvey retain the intensity that had characterised her early work, yet also manage to channel it into a more polished, less raw sound and win a bigger audience in doing so. Was it ever a struggle to hold onto the distinctive Sons And Daughters dynamic while still trying to develop this new poppier sound?

“I think Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea is maybe my favourite PJ Harvey record. I think it’s her definitive album; I really love it. But that’s what we’re aiming for, never to get away from being ourselves, but to write something that’s not as scratchy and raw as our earlier stuff. I think we know how we sound as a band and I think anyone could produce our record, or we could write a song in any style, and it would still sound like us. I mean I really hope that’s the case. There’s still Scottish accents on there, there’s still dark, depressing lyrics on there, so I don’t think we’ve gotten away from what we’re about and I don’t

think we ever will.”

How was working with Bernard Butler?

“It was hard, it was really hard to begin with. It was really difficult because we got someone who is an artist-producer and we were a bit taken aback at first. He came to our rehearsal room in Glasgow to hear the songs and… he didn’t rip them apart but he certainly told us what he thought of certain parts, and we’ve never had that before. It was almost like having a fifth person in the band to turn round and say “Don’t do that”, “Move the chorus to there”, and it was really quite scary for us to have that. He really sort of blew us out of our comfort zone. So we were really worried on the first day when he came up, but then we all started settling in and we realized that we needed to do something different, that we wanted to do something different, so we pushed aside our pride and let Bernard take a bit of control. It was strange at first, but he brought the best out in us in the end.”

I think This Gift will be a big success for you; how do you feel about the prospect of a bigger level of fame? The songs 'Gilt Complex' and 'Darling' sug-gest a cynicism about celebrity: do you worry about being sucked into that world?

“I think a lot of bands have that (attitude towards celebrity). I would shudder to think that I would ever grace the cover of Heat or anything like that. I really am quite repulsed by that entire world. The fashion world doesn’t scare me that much, but I am a little wary of it. I don’t think it would change us. I think a band like Arctic Monkeys are a good example of a band that criticizes a lot of the superficiality of celeb-rity and yet they’re a really famous, big band. I think it’ll be fine if it happens, fingers crossed that it does.”

Some of the albums songs, 'Flags' for instance, or 'House in my Head', address themes of escape or release, but also the danger that our means of escape can sometimes become traps themselves.

“I think there’s definitely a linear progression from the last record, which was really about being trapped in your head and this one’s really about escaping, escaping modern society, escaping depression, having your own freedom. But there are still a lot of dark ideas. It’s about escaping from your own mind, but not necessarily to better things. The song

‘Iodine’ is basically about predicting the end of the world and running away on a boat to possibly die by your own hand. Things like touring so much, being trapped in a van, make me think about these things. There’s that element of almost going insane when you’re in a real claustrophobic period of your life, when you’re stuck somewhere. It’s not how I feel all the time, but those ideas would come to me and I would dwell on them when I got home and decide to write a song about it.”

Your homecoming gig in is in the Grand Ole Opry (the excellent, authentic country & western social club on Glasgow’s south side), which is a quite an underused venue: is it one Sons and Daughters have a particular affection for?

“I’ve only seen one show in there which was Smog a few years ago, but I just think it’s a really nice venue and we wanted to do something different in Glasgow. We could have played somewhere really

obvious like the ABC, but we wanted to something a bit more intimate so that’s why we chose the Grand Ole Opry. And the bar’s cheap.”

You were recently in New York; how was that?

“It was pretty hectic. It was mainly a press trip so we had lots of things to do, but we played a show in Bowery Ballroom and that was really great. I love New York; it’s my favourite city next to Glasgow. I love that venue as well, I love that whole area, the Lower East Side, there’s some great places to find great food, great clothes, great records, I just love being there in general. And Blondie lived there, which is quite exciting.”

Sons & Daughters play the Grand Ole Opry on 6 December; This Gift is released through Domino Records on 28 January.

SONS AND DAUGHTERS

Contemplation of 2007’s Top Ten Best LPs lists has hardly started and already Glasgow’s Sons & Daughters are throwing their hat into the ring for next year’s honours as they tour the UK giving audiences across the country a taste of their forthcoming third album, This Gift, the first great record of 2008.

While Sons & Daughters’ last album, 2005’s The Re-pulsion Box, saw the band adding flesh to the bare, raw grooves of their debut, This Gift is the sound of that flesh tautening into lean, strong muscle; the wiry and wild-eyed street brawlers of Love the Cup have grown into agile and powerful prizefighters. It’s an album that is unashamedly accessible and ambitious, yet sacrifices none of the distinctive drama and menace, that unique ‘Scottish gothic’ sound, that made the band such a thrilling prospect when they first appeared on the Glasgow scene a few years ago. This is partly down to producer and former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, who’s collaborative production methods during recording

sessions brought out the pop already inherent in the band’s new songs, and helped the group achieve a sound to match the scope and ambition of their new vision. Less Gun Club, more Fleetwood Mac and terrific for it, This Gift could easily crossover into the mainstream (anti-celebrity battle cry ‘Gilt Complex’ is already on rotation on Radio 2, and it’s easy to im-agine ‘Darling’, an itchy-footed re-write of Iggy Pop’s ‘Some Weird Sin’, following it), so before the start of what’s sure to be a long, strange and hopefully hugely successful year for her band, I spoke to lead singer Adele Bethel about pop, fame, escape and learning to let go of control.

How has the tour been going?

“Yeah, really well. We’re in Cambridge tonight, so hopefully there’ll be lots of bookish types. I’ve been surprised by the audiences, it’s been quite a mixed audience, a little different from before; there’s kids there but there’s also some older people as well, I

think because we’ve been getting quite a lot of plays of the new single on 6 Music and Radio 2.”

How’s the rest of the new material going down?

“Well, we’re quite a humble band so we’re always shocked when anyone likes us, but people have been really loving it and it’s bizarre to see someone singing along to something they don’t know. It’s been really good, really encouraging, so I just can’t wait ‘til the album comes out.”

This Gift seems a far more accessible, more ambi-tious album than either Love the Cup or The Repul-sion Box; were you consciously seeking a more commercial sound this time around?

“Well to be honest, the last two records have not been commercial records at all so I think this al-bum’s commercial for us, but I’m not sure that it’s got a massive commercial appeal. We didn’t write it for

Words Ian MacBeth Photos Eve

Boo, you whore.Oh, man... And we thought it couldn’t get any worse...

how naive we were. We’re gonna get sued, we’re gonna

get sued, we’re gonna get sued...

We all know the Glasgow Massive live and die for fashion. Whether it’s the dol-lyburds, painted orange with Internationale bangles up to their elbows or the Wags’n’slags blandly fake smiling in Armani as some hungover townie wannabe retail slut lugs over their latest black ensemble. Scotland has style, baby! (well, like, umm, most of the time?) That’s why this year’s Scottish Style Awards and particularly the surrounding events of the week were such a resounding suc-cess. Instead of the polite applause of London Fashion Weak, only in Glasgow would one feel drinks would actually be sloshed on the stage in delight, such was the reception given at the New Glasgow Fashion show. Even though it was sponsored by Silverburn Shopping Centre (a fashion mecca?!? Smacks of goddamn high street commercialism. Where was the Moet sponsorship?), the designers for the most part were awesome, especially Deryck Walker’s sharp tailoring and Aimee McWilliams, in particular, a stunning gold metallic dress - I would have head-butted Kelly Cooper Barr to get my hands on it. Yes it’s quite frankly all about party dresses right now as the xmas shindig sea-son steps up to warp speed. Although it seems like Halloween was just the other day. I ventured out in a suitably fabulous Supergirl costume on the aforemen-tioned holiday. I hit Lulu’s in Edinburgh with my sparkly lip gloss to see if I could find a Clark Kent type to mount. Why is it that 99.78% of the Boys In Edinburgh (yes that’s BIE!!! Which is what I said to most of them) A. Speak with a terrible English/Scottish boarding school bumboy drawl? B. Wear a Ballantynes navy jumper or a top with a rugby reference on it? C. Think a pearl necklace is what mummy wears at Christmas. Jesus Christ, I am strictly dickly but it’s enough to send a blonde stunner like myself straight to the nearest attractive lesbian (there was a Batgirl...) whilst glugging frantically at my Flirtini. I found myself back in Glasvegas later that week where I ventured out onto Sauchiehall Street on a Sat-urday night. It’s not unlike the Gaza Strip, but with more ambulances as drunken students in cheap stilettos stumble pavement bound. Thankfully I found refuge in BOX – a live music venue and great slightly grungey/electro bar. You can see bands thrashing in the window as you walk past! It rocks. Most early Saturday evenings find me in front of the television at the moment. I am getting a LOT of inspiration for festivity wear from Strictly Come Dancing (Listen people, Saturday night TV is Uber bloody the rage at the moment. It’s the new high waisted wide trouser!) I’m not ashamed that I Heart watching schlebs sashay around interspersed with Brucie’s Alzheimersy nattering. I adore the costumes too. Even if Kelly Brook does look like she has coated herself in Pritt Stick and run through Accersorize. And is it just me or is Letitia Dean actually Miss Piggy’s twin?

I can’t mention the ballroom blitz without raising the ugly pantomime head of X factor. I mean I much prefer Dermot O’s presenting (God. How actually terribly shit was Kate Thornton and she wasn’t even fat or thin – just that terrible place in the middle!) I’m boooored of the singing though. I’d MUCH rather see the psychosis and mental illness of the auditionees! Or watch how much more Sha-ron and Danni’s faces stretch every week. (Danni – spelling her name with an ‘i’ bless her. Makes her so much more feminine, sexy and cool, ehh... No!)

My favourite episode was where the finalists went home to share the ‘good news’ with their families while Westlife or Celine Dion songs played over the reunions. “Well, my nana’s dying wish was to hear me sing on the telly and I have got half an ear and no feet and I start the day with Prozac – But I feel whole again when I sing, Simon!!” The homes of the finalists I am convinced were in fact all shot in the same house as surely they can’t all have the same Ikea furniture, laminate flooring and mums in Next’s finest. Picking up the award for Best Dressed X factor staff member ’07 is Sinitta who styles those under Simon’s so macho wing. In one episode the ex-popstrel rocket was wearing a top which was basically a

plastic flamenco style fan. She looked highly flammable. Pass the lighter.

Talking of having no feet... What the hell is going on with that muppet Heather Mills McCartney? Anyone would think she had lost a leg the way she has harped on about her life lately. “Dormant volcano” of feelings indeed. She should go and bring out a range of vegetarian sausages or learn to do charity work quietly. At the very least she should get a stylist. Why does she always wear scuffed black platforms and such ill fitting garments? No wonder Stella never liked her. She is so OTT serious. I hate those lacking in the superficial things that really matter. Another star in need of dire fashion first aid is the train wreck Ms Britney Spears. I mean honestly, where does one even begin? She dresses like a two bit ho that has shopped in Selfridges. That MTV performance was a joke, the only person she has being saying ‘Gimme More’ to with any conviction lately is clearly the Domino’s delivery boy. She looked obese with her sausage supper stomach hanging out over that bejewelled bikini she had sourced from QVC’s Dimoneque Day. And when the camera zoomed in on her jaded face I screamed with horror at her ratty hair extensions. Perhaps she was preparing early for Halloween. That’s what happens to your hair when you shave it off in front of the world’s press at a salon called ‘Esthers’. Where has the highly potent sexual pop image gone? Costco’s by in large.

I dislike seeing those like Amy Winehouse too, who I see as genuinely talented, literally going Back to Slack. She never really gives that many interviews so one never gets the opportunity to ask... Do you ever get a chance to wash those denim hotpants?? Have you contacted the World Wildlife Fund to commence a rescue operation on the woodland creatures nesting in your hair? Are you aware that injecting drugs into your toes A. Completely RUINS silk ballet pumps? B. Although it keeps you nice and slim (cool!) it’s not so good for your heart...?

Readers let not these shameful celebrities allow you to carelessly dress and accept slovenly ways in the run up to the Christmas Holidays and beyond. And remember ladies that as you stuff rice cakes down your throat in an effort to shoehorn yourself into that Little Black Dress - a diet is like a puppy. It’s for life, not just for Christmas.

Stuff, I, like, totally LOVE!!

• Boutique Hotels, mmmm! I spent a few illicit nights recently in Tiger Lily in George Street and Marks Hotel in Bath Street, beautiful flash décor and fabulous food in both. Live a little and take someone apart from your girl/boy-friend away for a sumptuous night of passion.• Every Fashionista should find a copy of ‘Vogue Covers: On Fashion’s Front Page’ (£40.00) in their thigh High Kurt Geiger/Pantherella over the knee sock with contrasting border. The stunning book has 250 images selected from Vogue’s archives of pure fashion fantasy.• Winter Trends! Larger than large PVC handbags – I’ll finally be able to carry everything with me – (check out Prada) and shimmery metallic/leather garments for winter ‘07. I am still looking for someone to whip me into shape in one of them. Ahem! Check out Dolce & Gabbana (bypass the fact that Leona Lewis looks like a bit of a heifer in D&G in the Bleeding Heart video)… and M&S (they have a great versatile black leather shift dress).• Zeitgeist the movie, it’s had over a million hits on Google Video. It is a grabby, cranky, can’t stop watching it documentary that purports to tell the truth about 9/11, Christianity and International Banking. Alternatively just go to the GFT and catch ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ before Christmas.

Ciao Whore fans xx

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