1. POINTS FOR EFFORT

    by Victoria Hesketh on 2010-04-16 16:42:54

    This guy could usually be found playing bells and selling ‘Invisible Pizzas’ for 1 dollar on most street corners throughout the week, and managed to put a smile on the face of even the most hardened industry schmug who walked past. They should stop making all those ‘Keep Austin Weird’ t shirts and just give this guy a full time wage. Bless.

    • Surprise at the foot of the rainbow
    • Surprise at the foot of the rainbow

  2. FASHION FAUX PAS

    by Victoria Hesketh on 2010-04-16 16:39:33

    WTF?! Sock shoes?? Shoe socks?? Shocks?! I have no idea what these are but the owner was walking around watching bands in them all day.

    • FASHION FAUX PAS
    • FASHION FAUX PAS

  3. SXSW FASHION & MUSIC

    by Victoria Hesketh on 2010-04-16 16:16:54

    So I’ve been out in Austin, Texas at the music industry’s disneyland, otherwise knows as South by South West. The festival is sprawled across hundreds of venues across the city and attracts thousands of bands looking for their chance to make it, and even more record labels, managers, agents etc. all looking for the next big thing. Last year I played so many shows I couldn’t remember my name never mind what day it was, this year I luckily had little to do but enjoy the music and eat my own weight in barbeque food. Rather than setting out on the holy grail to find The Hot New Band, I decided to hunt out the most fashionable instead… luckily for us the music turned out to be pretty damn good too. So here you have it, my top 5 most fashionable bands from SXSW.

    1. DIAMOND RINGS
    At number one a most lovely guy I’d never heard of before called Diamond Rings. From Canada, he sounds like Brian Ferry backed by a laptop and a casio, and had a lot of balls doing a one man show outdoors at 11am to about 5 people (which after a few songs quickly multiplied to about 50). He’s also a visual artist, and designs and creates all his own merchandise he is wearing… I have no idea how he got that jacket to look about 30 years old but I would pay good money for him to do mine! His sound is still pretty raw and its early days but everything about him just felt like a star.
    Check out www.myspace.com/diamondringsmusic

    2. THE DRUMS and SMITH WESTERNS
    At joint second battling for the prize of cutest indie band puppies are The Drums and Smith Westerns. I didn’t get a decent pic of The Drums boys so had to pinch this one from their myspace, but they are basically all so unbelievably good looking its hard not to think they were put together by replying to an ad in the back of boyband weekly, however once you hear the music this all quickly fades away to insignificance, as the melodic waves of ‘Lets Go Surfing’ wash over you and all is good in the world once again. Already pretty established, with an NME cover under their skinny belts before their debut album is even released, their SXSW gigs saw them really coming into their own and you could see the bigger band they are destined to become start to take shape. www.myspace.com/thedrumsforever
    At the other end of the spectrum are Smith Westerns, who with an average age of about 17 years old who were out running around Austin playing show after show with no manager, record label, crew, or place to stay, which you have to give them props for. They kind of don’t really sound like anything around, just go have a listen… www.myspace.com/smithwesterns. Lets face it, anyone who can make hiking boots look effortlessly cool gets points in my book.

    3. MARINA & THE DIAMONDS
    Next up is my homie Miss Marina Diamandis. Always looking larger than life wearing some vintage find that will make you sick with envy, her packed gig at the Levi’s Fader Fort was no exception, where she rocked some rather incredible Mickey Mouse American flag dungarees with killer heels. Her album The Family Jewels just came out in the UK last month entering the chart at no.5, and is one of my favourite albums of the year so far. Look her up at www.myspace.com/marinaandthediamonds and watch out for her new single ‘Robot’, which is accompanied by a beautiful video shot by Rankin.

    4. SLEIGH BELLS
    Alexis Krauss from Sleigh Bells is at some points kind of scary but always undeniably cool. Sleigh Bells was definitely always the hippest gig of the day, with a queue of scenesters round the block at each venue they played. At times it sounds like the coolest thing you’ve ever heard, at other points it sounds like a girl screaming her head off over a distorted guitar aka a right racket, but Alexis definitely does an excellent Karen O impersonation and I loved the blue Madonnaesque lace gloves and neon orange nail varnish that was picked up by the UV lights!
    Listen at www.myspace.com/sleighbellsmusic

    5. WE ARE THE WORLD
    Another band with a lot of hype, We Are The World have an amazing video that looks like something the Knife might have done when they were starting out. For such a tiny gig at the crammed IAMSOUND showcase they had an incredible light show and amazing dancers all in the same spooky get up. Personally I found I could only take their heavy dose of electronica for so long, but anyone who can rock the gothic beekeeper look on stage has obviously got some good ideas.
    You can watch the video for ‘Clay Stones’ at www.myspace.com/watwla

    • DIAMOND RINGS
    • The Drums
    • SMITH WESTERNS
    • MARINA & THE DIAMONDS
    • SLEIGH BELLS
    • WE ARE THE WORLD
    • DIAMOND RINGS
    • The Drums
    • SMITH WESTERNS
    • MARINA & THE DIAMONDS
    • SLEIGH BELLS
    • WE ARE THE WORLD

  4. Holger Hiller

    by Victoria Hesketh on 2010-03-20 09:02:45

    In a recording session recently I came across a video that left me pretty speechless so I thought I’d share. It was made in 1988 by a german artist called Holger Hiller, and is a track made entirely from the sounds sampled from video recordings. As someone who is always fascinated with the link between sound and vision I was particularly intrigued by this, which must have been revolutionary for its time.

    Holger Hiller was associated with the New German Wave or NDW movement of experimental movement in the 80s, along with some of my other favourite artists such as Klaus Nomi. Nomi was a fascinating character, an operatic singer who moved from Berlin to New York in the 70s where his admirers included David Bowie, with whom he performed as a backing singer on Saturday Night Live. Enjoy!

  5. Pagan pleasures

    by Victoria Hesketh on 2010-02-03 12:47:07

    Have you ever had your fortune read? I did once, whilst severely under the influence of alcohol on the streets of New York. If I was sober I don’t think I would have ever dared, it would scare me too much. After all, if you had the choice would you even want to know what happens to you in the future? Within 5 minutes the psychic had told me my boyfriend’s initials, the number of children we were going to have and some scarily accurate things about my attitude to love. She then offered me $40 to hear more and receive a magic crystal. Make of that what you will.

    I don’t know if its because I never really got over watching the film ‘The Craft’ in the 90s (come on, who didn’t go through a wiccan stage in their teens?) or if its just another manifestation of my obsession with all things magical and other worldly but lately I’ve been getting really inspired by occultism and everything that goes with it. From reading up on Victorian seances to trawling the web for images of pagan rituals, i’ve become kind of possessed. After a year of space age futurism and shoulder pad overload I’m finding it a really interesting place to draw ideas from. Here some pictures I thought I’d share.

    Thanks to www.chrissieabbott.co.uk for some of the pics

    • Pagan 1
    • Pagan 2
    • Pagan 3
    • Pagan 4
    • Pagan 5
    • Pagan 6
    • Pagan 7
    • Pagan
    • Hand circle
    • The moon
    • Hands ward off evil eye
    • Black cat
    • Magic circle
    • Pagan pleasures