Fuck you in the fez
post England v Tunisia
2016 is proving to be bittersweet
Afsoon - Image part of the ‘Icons of the Four Corners’ 2010.
Hushidar Mortezaie - Googoosh purse, 2016.
Khosrow Hassanzadeh - Googoosh from the 'Ready to Order’ series 2007-8.
Afsoon - Pop Icon matchboxes 2009-11
VINYL ICONS :- PERSIAN POP AND TURKISH PSYCHEDELIA
Exploring popular culture in pre Revolution Iran and Anatolia, the beautifully curated exhibition by Sara Makari-Aghdam includes work by three artists who lived through the 1979 revolution as well as two, younger, Iranian artists. The exhibition highlights the work still being produced in the region but is ultimately a nostalgic look back at the time when it was a more secular region, before the powers that be closed down the indigenous 'Ahang e Rooz’ (today’s song) record labels and placed a ban LPs and cassette tapes.
Sitting alongside the artwork for contextual purposes there is a display of records from the 1970s, with an array of vintage fashion and magazines.
The exhibition runs until 4th June
Vane,
First floor, Commercial Union House,
39 Pilgrim Street,
Newcastle,
NE1 6QE
THE BELLRAYS @ THE CLUNY 20/4/16
Back playing Newcastle for the first time since the Black Lightning tour five years ago, the band tore the roof off during a midweek explosion of rock and blues; playing some new material and firm fan favourites “Zero Pm” and “Blues for Godzilla.”
There were a number of covers in the setlist, owing to the bands latest release aptly named “Covers,” managing to breathe new life into “Whole Lotta Love,” “Highway to Hell,” and recent Rock and roll Hall of Fame inductees Cheap Trick’s “Dream Police.”
The UK tour continues throughout April, moving through to mainland Europe in May.
CHARLES BRADLEY @ SAGE GATESHEAD 17/4/16
Before Bradley became a Daptone label artist he was a James Brown impersonator, something he has brought to his own stage show, incorporating many of the theatrical moves of the Godfather of Soul; however the Screaming Eagle of Soul brought an added depth to his performance channeling the energy of hard knocks life has dealt him, which brought many members of the audience to tears. This show was the final performance of the European leg of the tour, with Bradley performing across the US over the summer, if you get the chance you have to go and see him.David Bowie is finally back on form after that wet puddle which was The Next Day. Blackstar is reminiscent of various Bowie periods, for myself it echoes his 90s Drum and Bass experiments and his excellent noughties LP Heathen
The wonderfully surreal video was directed by The Last Panthers Johan Renck, Blackstar of course being the theme music to the series, whether he will do a Dennis Waterman and appear in the series, time will only tell.
Postscript
I can’t help but think the John Lewis Man on the Moon Christmas schmaltz advert should have been more like the start of this video, with a young girl finding the jewel encrusted skull of a space traveller.
Tinie Tempah has teamed up with Kiehl’s as brand ambassador to head the MTV Staying Alive campaign. For every jar of Kiehl’s Ultra Facial cream, £2 will be donated to charity to help those living with HIV in the UK.
Limited Edition Ultra Facial cream is available in Kiehl’s stores nationwide and online. You can also text HIV1 to 70660 to make a direct £5 donation to the MTV Staying Alive Foundation.
Sony h.ear on headphones
Possibly the best headphones I have ever owned and certainly the most stylish, FLAC and WAV files sound amazing, giving the richness and depth you would expect from a high end seperates system. The headphones perform particularly well with bass heavy house tracks as well as picking out subtleties and nuances of songs, the better the track was laid down in the studio the better response from the headphones, which makes vaporwave a massive no no!
As far as improving these, I wish the headphone wire/jack was designed different as they would be great for djing with, also it would be worth adding the preset to the Sony music app as the sound is calibrated for a variety of headphones, but not these (yet?)
Sony h.ear on headphones are available now RRP £150/$200
Final copies of Illustrashion magazine issue 0 ~ Myth are available from the Tate Modern bookshop.
Topaz Gang @ Little Buildings Rehersal Rooms 16/10/15