November 2008

Survivors

This is the world of Survi-
vors, a new six-part drama
coming to BBC One later this
month. Originally created in
1975 by Terry Nation (who
also created the Daleks for
Doctor Who), the series ran
for 38 episodes over three
series. This modern retelling
of the story, based on Terry
Nation’s novel, is a bold,
cinematic, character driven
piece that promises to have a
whole new generation (that’ll
be us then!) gripped by the
fearful possibility of facing
life in a harsh, unforgiving
post-pandemic world.
Its writer and Executive Pro-
ducer Adrian Hodges talks
about the concept and how
very real and possible this
future could be…
I remember the original series
by Terry Nation very well, the
shock that everyone who saw
it felt, and the concept retains
that emotional power. It gives
you the chance to tackle every
possible kind of human drama.
Most of what we write about
happens within society, but in
Survivors there is no society.
It’s about people taken to
their limits and, of course, you
encounter the dark side of hu-
man nature, but the new series
is not as bleak as the original.
The characters find themselves
in horrendous situations, but I
couldn’t have taken it on unless
the overall message was one
of hope.
While I was writing it, there was
at least two major health scare
stories that made the front pag-
es of the papers. I think we’re
more receptive now to the idea
that this kind of virus could
strike, and certainly closer to
the possibility of it happening
than we were in the 1970s.
In his research for Survivors,
Adrian spoke to virolo-
gists who confirmed that a
scenario similar to that in the
series is all too plausible.
They are absolutely convinced
there will be a pandemic one
Al Sadiq (Phillip Rhys)
A rich, good-looking playboy, Al has lived a life of
privilege. In the aftermath of the virus he finds
himself responsible for eleven-year-old Najid.
Al has never seen himself as the paternal type
and he initially proves to be a disaster as a father
figure; he would rather find a softer life for himself
in the post-disaster world.
But strangely this frightening new environment
ultimately makes him a better man than he would
ever have been if he had continued his old life.
day, but not sure exactly how
bad it will be, and they’re also
convinced there will only be a
limited amount we can do about
it when it happens.
The world is busier than it’s
ever been, travel is easier, and
viruses and bugs replicate and
spread with incredible speed
– perhaps not as fast as the
virus in Survivors, but still at an
astonishing rate.
I’m convinced it would be
harder to survive now – we’re
more helpless than perhaps
we’ve ever been at any point
in history. There’s no doubt
that some of the people left
would be very practical, but a
lot of them would be hopeless.
That was true in the 1970s to a
degree, but more so now.
One of the endearing things
about the original is that there
really isn’t that much technol-
ogy in people’s homes at all.
When I was writing, I looked
around my own room at home
and imagined stripping out all
the technology, and what’s
left was basically a chair and
me. So this enormous web of
technology we’ve developed in
the intervening years needed to
be part of the storytelling in the
new Survivors.
We’re too far down the road of
being in love with it to give it up
lightly, so it’s not a case of go-
ing back to the Stone Age over-
night. I also tease a bit with the
possibilities of whether some
technology might still work and
why that might be so.
Adrian is keeping mum about
whether the “why that might
be so” might involve the kind
of conspiracy theories that
abound in a complex and
fearful 21st century.
I genuinely don’t want to say
too much, but I feel comfort-
able saying I’ve explored the
back-story of the virus in a
way that the original Survivors
didn’t. The possibilities of how it
came into being, how it spread
so quickly and what it actually
is are all things I deal with, but
you’ll have to watch to see how!
Dr Anya Raczynski
(Zoë Tapper)
Anya is a young doctor who
does her best to save as
many people as she can
when the virus that wipes
out most of humanity hits.
But there is no cure and no
vaccine and all her skill ulti-
mately proves fruitless.
While she struggles with the
enormity of it, she is forced
to stand by helplessly as her
friend Patricia is among those
brought to the hospital in the
grip of the illness...
99% of the population has been
wiped out by a mystery virus…
There are no rules, no law and order…
David Grant (Shaun Dingwall)
David is a self-employed builder, a loving family
man who is competent, brave and determined.
Although they have been worn down by the
illness of their beloved son Peter, Abby's and
David's marriage is a solid and loving one.
But nothing in David's life has prepared him for
the crisis which is about to sweep away every-
thing he ever knew and loved...
Abby Grant (Julie Graham)
Abby is a mother and home-maker to her son Peter (11) and hus-
band David (Shaun Dingwall).
Before the virus struck Peter had successfully defied a near-terminal
illness. Peter is now better and Abby has reluctantly agreed to let him
go on an adventure holiday.
Abby plans to resume her career and re-ignite her faltering relation-
ship with loving but exhausted husband David. But fate has other
plans in store for them...
Greg Preston (Paterson Joseph)
A former systems analyst for a big multi-national,
Greg felt trapped and dreamed of a new life. But
his wife, who had grown used to a wealthy and
comfortable lifestyle, was appalled by his utopian
vision of a new, hard scrabble future.
Nursing bitter personal wounds, Greg is now
a man who believes he can live without love,
friendship or family.
Tom Price (Max Beesley)
In prison when the story starts,
Tom Price is handsome, charming
and capable, but also very danger-
ous... A man who will stop at noth-
Samantha Willis
ing to achieve his own ends, Price
(Nikki Amuka-Bird) finds himself locked in his cell while
Samantha is a junior minister delegated to all around him are dying.
handle the press in the midst of the crisis. Deal- As the long night of the virus
ing as best she can with an anxious media and wears on, survival and freedom be-
her own stunned colleagues, Samantha at first come the only issues that matter...
has no idea how serious the crisis is becoming.
Forced to put aside her love and concern for her
own family, Samantha becomes the last contact
between the government and the people it can
no longer protect.
Her journey from innocence to a full knowledge
of the truth is laced with bravery and horror.
Jenny Collins (Freema Agyeman)
Jenny is a bright and lively young teacher in a primary school. Overwhelmed
by the chaos she sees all around her, she is determined to save the life of
her dying flatmate Patricia.
Nothing will stop her taking her friend to the hospital and saving her life. But
fate intervenes to confront Jenny with choices beyond anything she could
have imagined.
Survivors
iPlayer will be offering their enticingly monikered ‘stacking function’ – rather than
individual episodes only being available for seven days, series stacking means
we’ll be able to enjoy any episode, after it has first been broadcast, for the duration
of the entire series.
Survivors is also being shown on BBC HD through Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media.
Find out what kind of survivor you would be with Survivors Interactive at:
bbc.co.uk/survivors
Further preview material and cast interviews coming soon to:
thenationalstudent.co.uk/magazine/tv

It’s been a rather impressive
few years for you, hasn’t it?
“Right, but once you confine it to
the year of where do you go from
there?”
But it’s enabled you to take the
step up to play the lead in W.,
doesn’t it?
“That was what I hoped, to respect
the moment. I had a lot of opportu-
nities and a lot of money came my
way, so thank God for my friend
Brett Markinson who taught me
most of what I know about trading
stocks. That gave me an objectiv-
ity to it all. His whole thing is ‘the
minute you start to feel greed, sell,
and the minute you start to feel
fear look and see if it’s something
you want to acquire because it’s
probably a pretty good time to buy
in’. I think it helps to have the
ability to step back and go ‘am I
going to feel comfortable looking
back on this or am I going to feel
like I took the first buck because I
was so happy to be making a buck
as opposed to six cents?’.”
You ran the script for W. by
your oldest son, which sug-
gests you trust his judgement a
great deal.
“Very much so. It doesn’t end
with him, I would never put that
kind of pressure on him but I’ve
shown him a few scripts that I was
thinking about doing and I think
he has a good point of view. It’s an
off beat point of view, but I like his
insight into characters and story.”
Your father, James
Brolin, is a successful
actor, was that easy
to come to terms
with when
you started
out?
After years of toil in supporting roles, actor Josh Brolin broke through to a new level with
high profile performances in American Gangster and No Country For Old Men. Now he
plays lead in W., starring as American president George W. Bush for director Oliver Stone.
“I decided to get into
that business early on
after I took an acting
class in school which
I liked very much.
Then once I decided
to do it I did a bunch
of things that I’m
sure my kids would
never do. I made up a
résumé, I lied, there
were a lot of obstacles
for me. People didn’t
want there to be any
nepotism, so they
sometimes wouldn’t see me based
on that fact.”
Do you think W. offers a more
sympathetic portrait of George
Bush the man than people will
expect?
“For sure. Sympathetic is a tough
word to use because of what that
administration has done, it’s hard
to use the word ‘sympathetic’.
Am I more sympathetic towards
the man? I don’t know, I just feel
like I have more information now.
There were moments where, the
best thing for me just as a citizen,
was to be able to study the Repub-
lican point of view. To be able to
study the evangelical point of view,
and then ultimately to study the
Bush administration, and Bush
himself. And read as many books
as I could on it.”
How did you feel about him be-
fore embarking on this movie?
“I judged this guy as cosmetically
as a lot of other people, that he’s
just a stammering, stuttering
idiot. You can’t be the president
and just be an idiot, so I think that
was very irresponsible of me, and
lazy of me, to write him off as that.
I’ve learned that that’s not the
case at all.”
Large chunks of the American
population trust him precisely
because he’s not the smoothest
of talkers, don’t they?
“I don’t think that’s accurate now
but I think that was the case. I
think that’s how he got voted into
office, twice. I think people really
hooked into this fallibility, after
the elitism of Reagan and all these
other presidents. To bring some-
body down to ‘our level’ making us
feel that it was more possible if a
guy like that could become presi-
dent maybe ‘we’ could.”
For some people the sexual in-
discretions of Bill Clinton are
tougher to forgive than any-
thing Bush has done though,
aren’t they?
“Which is phenomenal. He made
a mistake and he lied and I think
there’s been proper consequence
for that, but to want to impeach
somebody because of that and
then to not impeach somebody
under impeachable acts, not going
forth with it is phenomenal. It’s
stunning to me, some of the reac-
tions of the American people. And
it’s also stunning to me that by
speaking up, which I think is very
important, there are these blogs
that say ‘why does this guy speak
up, why does Susan Sarandon say
anything, why does Sean Penn say
anything?’. Why would you try and
stifle that? It’s good isn’t it? We’re
the ones that vote so we’re the
ones who should speak up regard-
less of what job you have, whether
you’re an actor, a plumber or a
reporter.”
Oliver Stone was, briefly, in
the same class as George Bush
at Yale. It’s curious that these
men have followed such differ-
ent paths?
“Very different paths. When I was
thinking about doing this role
Oliver and I met at his house.
I met his Mom who’s a staunch
Republican, from France, very
funny. I was surprised by that.
Then I met his wife who is, I’m not
going to say staunch, but a true
Christian. I thought ‘wow, man,
he hasn’t surrounded himself with
a bunch of yes people who think
exactly like he does,’. He’s con-
stantly challenging himself with
the perspectives and perception
of things of other people who are
close to him. I was very turned on
by that, it was very different from
a lot of stories that you hear about
political bias.”
That flies in the face of Oliver’s
reputation, doesn’t it?
“Whatever reputation Oliver has.
Like Bush, Bush is very different
from the reputation of this stam-
mering, stuttering idiot. Once you
get into it you go ‘I see his inten-
tion,’ and some of the intention
was very pure, it’s just curtailed by
what it gets corrupted by a lot of
times which is greed and fear and
wanting to be re-elected. And oil.”
But just because you have a
conviction that something’s
right doesn’t mean it’s right
does it?
“No, and obviously to me the best
leader – and this is just my opinion
– is somebody who can reassess a
situation. They may have a convic-
tion and they may have foresight
that the rest of us don’t have, but
the ability to reassess and create
a different pathway is, to me, the
sign of a great leader.”
Is it satisfying to be able to ex-
plore issues like this through
the medium of film?
“It keeps it all sustainable for me
because it’s something new every
five or six months. This opens up
so much information, so much psy-
chologically and behaviourally that
it’s overwhelming at times.”
So do you think audiences will
be surprised by Oliver Stone’s
nuanced and balanced portrait
of George W. Bush?
“I think so, personally. We’re not
out to slam anybody, we’re out to
tell this very compelling story of
a guy who was really flailing for
many, many years, who decided to
get sober on his own and then to
deepen his whole relationship with
Jesus, and became the President
of the United States. Twice. That’s
an amazing story.”
W. is in cinemas now.
wthemovie.co.uk
more film features
and interviews at:
thenationalstudent
.co.uk/film
 Misunderstood, fiercely political,
unpredictable and unleashing an
incendiary new album.
Danielle Goldstein caught up with.....
T
he dub-punk opera, Gaddafi: A
Living Myth, was soundtracked
by Asian Dub Foundation. La
Haine and The Battle of Algiers both
got the honour of reworked sound-
tracks by the band. And let’s not forget
the campaign they ran to free Saptal
Ram after he was imprisoned for de-
fending himself in a racial attack.
ADF are a band known for their
political statements through music and
movements, but for their sixth studio
album, Punkara, they want you to
know that they were just having a bit of
fun. So it’s somewhat surprising when
I walk in on Chandrasonic, aka Steve
Chandra Savale, aka the backbone of
ADF, interviewing the left wing novelist
and political campaigner, Tariq Ali.
“Stop The War thought that [it would
be] a good thing to have musicians
interviewing great radicals and think-
ers,” says Steve almost absentmind-
edly as he fingers the droplets on his
glass, “and Tariq Ali seemed to be the
obvious choice.”
As well as Stop The War, Steve has
been moonlighting with renowned
Arabic news agency Al Jazeera on a
programme called ‘Music of Resist-
ance’, looking at groups around the
world whose music is effecting social
change.
“Were you planning to talk about
music at some point?” he asks rather
impatiently but with an awkward smile.
His face expresses exhaustion in the
serious, activist side of ADF. “Once
you get tagged, especially in Britain,
it’s hard to shake it off. We either get
praised for being this politicised drum
and bass, punky, Indian band or we
get slagged for it. We’re not allowed to
have any nuances.” And so we drop
the politics and focus on Punkara in
the making – shootings in McDonald’s,
personal frictions and Iggy Pop.
It’s been 15 years since ADF formed
at the Community Music House in
Farringdon, London and a lot has hap-
pened in those years. For one, they’ve
been through five singers and two
bass players.
“That’s not that much,” Steve grins.
“We’re not The Fall…not yet.”
They’ve played with the Beastie
Boys, Primal Scream and Radiohead
- to name but a few - and have been
praised by pop know-it-all, Madonna.
But it’s the three years since their last
album, Tank that has spawned this
change in direction. “We just decided
to change the way we do things in a
couple of areas. [Punkara] is less po-
lemical, there’s more humour in there,
a lot more fun than previous albums.”
There’s also more live instrumenta-
tion, less MCing, more singing, a few
instrumentals and a couple of personal
tracks.
“Because we have to challenge our-
selves, we can’t keep doing the same
thing musically and lyrically. That’s
built into the ADF DNA. Obviously
there are tracks that are about things,
like world leaders on drugs (‘Altered
Statesmen’), the rise of India in this
decade (‘Superpower’), guns in Brix-
ton (‘Target Practice’), which is where
I live,” he says. Can we assume this
is from personal experience? “Well, I
was going to pick up my girlfriend from
the Ritzy Cinema after two people had
been shot in McDonald’s.”
As well as an alternative version to
‘S.O.C.A’ with Gogol Bordello’s Eugen
Hutz, Punkara also boasts a Bhangra
cover of ‘No Fun’ by The Stooges with
vocals from Iggy. They met last year
at a festival in Croatia and Iggy obvi-
ously took a liking to them. “I sent in
the demo and he phoned my house.
He said,” and here he puts on a rough
Midwestern American accent, “‘Ah’ve
been listenin’ to the demos Chandra,
and ah jus’ got a speedin’ ticket.’ All
that was a good laugh, and yet we still
get people saying, ‘Oh they’re going
on about politics,’ when it’s quite obvi-
ous that it’s just us having a laugh.”
Clearly stigmatised by political brand-
ing, Chandrasonic moves quickly on to
the darker side of ADF and the years
they spent in a rut.
“We’ve been together for 15 years,
there’s going to be a period when
things aren’t quite right,” he says
sternly. “From the end of 2004 to the
middle of 2007 there was a lot of
internal friction in the group, a lot of
nastiness. There were some pretty
disastrous personal relationship break-
downs and also the discovery that
one of the vocalists was a criminal.
If you’ve been around as long as
we have you’re bound to go through
some shit like that. The question is
whether you can walk through the
fire and come out of it alive, and we
have done.”
He sounds triumphant, and rightly
so. He shies away from talking about
the wayward member, but in early
2007 MC Spex was asked to leave
the band and Aktar ‘Aktarvator’
Ahmed returned to sing, followed
by ex-King Prawn front man, Al
Rumjen.
“From summer last year we knew
we were starting in a good place
again. Then we did some amazing
shows in Japan that brought eve-
rybody’s confidence back up. And
we did an amazing first date of the
French tour, so everyone is really
fired up, and the audience responds
to that.”
Now ADF are embarking on a huge
European tour that’ll take them to
the end of December, but among
the dates sits only one British show
in Camden, London. How will their
audience respond to that?
“Britain can be really hard. It’s all
about whether you’re easily moulded
into a particular perspective that
the press or the music industry are
taking at the moment. Yeah, it’s a
bummer, but if promoters think ADF’s
star has fallen then they won’t pay as
much to get us up there and finan-
cially we can’t do it. Whereas, if we go
to France or Japan or Spain” - Chan-
dra sounds genuinely disappointed
that they can’t reach more of Britain as
he carries on. “I know there’re loads
of fans out there, but we have to be
asked to play and we have to make
sure that they’re at a rate we can
afford.
ADF doesn’t make that
much cash.”
Aktar is also a social worker, while
Babu Stormz, the bass player works
as a music teacher when ADF aren’t
touring.
“It’s not easy to sustain a group like
[ADF],” explains Steve. “We cross
boundaries quite a lot. That’s some-
thing that’s not, at the moment, consid-
ered such a great thing. You’re either
in hip hop or rap or you’re a band of
guitars. There’s not much in between,
and we’re kind of in between.”
Steve has devoted almost half his life
to ADF.
Now in his late thirties he thinks
back to the birth of the band. “The
thing about ADF,” he pauses, clears
his throat and continues. “I don’t
know if you know this about us, but
we have the education project and a
lot of young kids, well kids when they
started, came through the band. A cou-
ple of them joined us as vocalists, and
they’re the real article. They’re from
the East End, they didn’t do that well
at school and they got into gangs. But
we encourage them to take part in ADF
and you don’t know how that’s going
to go.” Herein lies the risks that ADF
have taken on these kids. They put a
lot of trust in them, but it’s not always
returned, and we’re brought back to
the unlawful elements. “One of them
turned out to be a disaster. He hadn’t
left his criminal side behind. So that
was a big problem that we created for
ourselves through a belief that music
should be more than just about your
ego and be about establishing things
at a grassroots level that helps people.
And then, having known one member
of the band for 17 or 18 years, we had
a really bad fall out, which is inevitable.
Not over music, over personal stuff.”
The experience, both good and bad,
ads up and the band know they can
only learn from it. “All these things are
good. With the band’s line up now,
I’ve never enjoyed it so much in my
career, even in the early days. This
French tour I enjoyed more than ever.
I really enjoyed everybody’s company,
the vibe we got onstage with each
other, the personalities - there’s a re-
ally nice balance in the group that we
never really had before.” Perhaps this
is down to their being older and wiser?
“Wiser, maybe. I don’t know where the
wisdom comes in though,” he says, re-
vealing a defiant smile. “It might be that
we just don’t mind being kids again.”
asiandubfoundation.com

Listen Out For:
FAT FREDDY’S DROP
With all this doom and gloom looming op-
pressively overhead we could all do with
something to bring a little sunshine to our
lives.
The unique blend of hi tek soul, jazz and
reggae of Fat Freddy’s Drop is just the tonic!
The seven-strong New Zealand collective are
set to return to these shores bringing their
incendiary and unpredictable live perform-
ances with them in the run-up to their hotly-
anticipated second long-player penned for
release early next year.
Fat Freddy’s have been winning an ever
increasing global fan base since the release
of their exceptional debut album Based On
A True Story in 2005 and were the first inde-
pendent act to debut at number one in New
Zealand in May of the same year.
Their debut overflowing with soulful cuts like
the insidiously infectious ‘Cay’s Crays’, the
chilled-out ‘Ray Ray’, the hypnotic ‘Wan-
dering Eye’ and the epic ‘Hope’, has sold
200.000 copies, and made them firm favour-
ites with audiences worldwide.
Gushing praise was heaped upon this groovy
classic, the Observer called their debut
“a slow-burn winner” while the Guardian
chipped calling it “transcendental”. Hell, we
We are giving one lucky soul the chance to go and check out Fat Freddy’s Drop for themselves.
The winner will bag a pair of tickets to the venue of their choice (venues listed above)
Simply head off to The National Student website for your chance to win:
thenationalstudent.co.uk/fatfreddys
about their organic evolution out of a rich
Wellington scene which has also produced
the comedy duo Flight Of The Conchords, as
well as Bongmaster, the group he, Dallas and
keyboard-player and chef extraordinaire Iain
Gordon, aka Dobie Blaze, played in before
the Freddy’s.
The name Fat Freddy’s Drop came from
Fat Freddy’s Cat, a fictional feline in The
Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers underground
comic strip drawn by American cartoonist
Gilbert Shelton in the seventies, though the
expression was also apparently slang for a
strong batch of LSD popular in Wellington in
the nineties.
In 1999, the Freddy’s began contributing
tracks to various compilations and their
reputation grew with the release of the Live
At The Matterhorn album in 2001. By the time
they issued ‘Midnight Marauders’ – credited
to Fitchie and Joe Dukie – in 2002, they’d
been joined by Dobie, guitarist Tehimana
Kerr, aka Jetlag Johnson, and saxophonist
Warren Maxwell, aka Fulla Flash – who has
since been replaced by Scott Tower, aka
Chopper Reedz. Trombonist Joe Lindsay, aka
Hopepa, arrived the following year.
In New Zealand, people were clamouring for
the Freddy’s music on the back of five years
of live appearances and, when they finally
released Based On A True Story, the demand
was such that it instantly topped the charts
and remained the best selling New Zealand
album for the following two years (it is now
8 x Platinum). The group went on to win four
New Zealand Music Awards in 2005 and a
further three in 2006.
In this age of cut-and-paste music where
acts pillage innumerable genres to create a
aural melting pot of unfamiliar sounds, Fat
Freddy’s Drop infuse the familiar grooves
and sounds of soul, jazz and reggae with
enough innovation to make them a truly
modern act which makes the prospect of
second album Big BW (dropping early 2009)
a welcome one.
Despite the quality of their recorded output
it is in the live arena where the band really
shine with their penchant for funky improvi-
sation meaning that no two Freddy’s gigs
are the same. With their return to the UK
this month we have the chance to catch this
unique live experience for ourselves
Go forth and check out Fat Freddy’s Drop
on record and on their tour and bring a bit of
sunshine back into your life.
fatfreddysdrop.com
Catch the band on tour
November 14
- Birmingham Academy
at The National Student liked it so much
that we stuck ‘name of track’ on our Fresher
Sounds Volume 2 compilation in 2005, and it November 15
was one of the highlights of the disc.
- Manchester Academy
The band was birthed from jams in local bars
and clubs, where main-man, producer and
beat-master Mu, born Chris Faiumu, aka DJ December 3
Fitchie’s legendary DJ sets soon expanded to - Norwich UEA
feature the sweet soul vocals of Dallas Tama-
ira, aka Joe Dukie, and the freestyle trumpet
of Tony Laign, aka Tony Chang. December 4-5
“Everyone had slightly more important - London Roundhouse
projects. People were digging those vibes
and it became our main focus,” explains Mu
WIN TICKETS
Reviews
Nell Bryden
Second Time Around
(Warp) October 20 2008
33333
Sometimes it takes fate for someone’s dream
to come true, and Nell Bryden’s story has more
serendipitous schmaltz than any Will Smith ve-
hicle (even the ones that also star his son).
Working as a waitress, Bryden dreamed
of hitting the big time with her singing career,
touring America with the little money she had.
Nothing came of it however, and amidst selling
all her worldly possessions to fund one last tour,
Bryden stumbled across an original painting by
Milton Avery which sold for just under $300,000.
And it’s this money that has allowed Second
Time Around to appear, but is it as interesting
as the story behind it?
It does certainly have its plaudits, but it’s the
same people offering this praising who find
something worthwhile in Norah Jones and Ka-
tie Melua.
Her sound has an altogether more memora-
ble blend of blues, jazz and soul, though don’t
worry, there’s no Joss Stone border crossed
here, with things kept classy, especially on sul-
Pascal Comelade
The No Dancing
(Because Music)
November 10 2008
33333
After 33 years making music, and
with over 40 albums and numerous film
scores to his name, Pascal Comelade is
not quite the revered name his experi-
ence perhaps merits.
Take him out of his home in Catalonia,
and don’t expect many to perk up when
you talk of his Reinhardt influenced
picking or his passion for the most play-
ful of sounds.
Give them a copy of The No Danc-
ing though, and they’d be hard pushed
not to form some strong opinion of the
man.
For this pleasingly cohesive compila-
tion of Comelade’s best work from the
last 14 years shows a man of undeni-
try opener ‘Tonight’.
This smoky jazz club mood is sustained
through much of what Bryden offers, though
things do veer towards sentimental country on
Only Life I Know and even Brechtian swing on
‘Where the Pavement Ends’.
It’s certainly a mix of styles that puts the
aforementioned Jones and Melua to shame.
The ballads may not work quite so well as
its more swinging moments, but be thank-
ful for such great art as Avery’s has allowed
even more enjoyable creativity to make itself
known.
by Thomas Meek
able imagination, even if it’s not a crea-
tivity for all. Like many a five-year-old
before him, Comelade has turned to
toys in order to embellish that playful-
ness that runs throughout his work.
A stripped down version of The Kink’s
‘Sunny Afternoon’ becomes its own with
its plastic piano simplicity. There’s a
killer clown eeriness to it though, es-
pecially when followed by such a deep,
dark beauty as PJ Harvey collabora-
tion, ‘Love Too Soon’. The sweet glock-
enspiel does take some edge off the
pained lyrics however, and comes in
handy on more than one other occasion
in this compilation.
It’s these covers and collaborations
that see the album’s strongest mo-
ments, with Robert Wyatt and Jean-
Herve Peron from Faust also showing
up to impassioned effect, leaving some
questions over Comelade’s own song-
writing ability.
His creative spark is undeniable
though, and someday he may belong to
more than Catalonia
by Thomas Meek
Diplo
Decent Work For Decent Pay
(Big Dada)
January 26 2009
33333
2004’s Florida put Diplo on the map
dropping his genre-mashing produc-
tions on the world like a lead weight.
He became hipness personified and the
go-to name for production and remixes.
But whilst being annoyingly hip, Diplo
has the tunes to back up the hype. His
uncomplicated beats and rhythms, un-
derpin his innovative and experimental
use of sound. These are party-bangers
with a twist.
He has proven his calibre with pro-
duction credits on stone-cold modern
classics such as M.I.A’s Paper Planes,
Kano’s Reload It and Bonde Do Role’s
debut. All have been lauded for their in-
novation.
Decent Work For Decent Pay: Collect-
ed Works Volume One collates prime
cuts from his career so far, taking in
his own tunes like the amazing electro-
dancehall of ‘NewsFlash’, Kano and
Bonde Do Role originals and the best-
of-the-best from his extensive remix
catalogue.
The reworking of Big Dada label
mates Spank Rock’s ‘Put That Pus-
sy on Me’ drops kinetic beats over
twanged rock n roll guitar to create an
irresistible funked-up dancefloor filler.
MC Spank Rock’s vocals are slipped
effortlessly into the mix.
And as if Diplo’s work in M.I.A’s ‘Pa-
per Planes’ was already brilliant enough,
in all it’s Clash and gun-sampling glory
the remix here adds new life that makes
it easily as good as the album cut.
‘Flower punk’ hipsters The Black Keys
are undone and redone on one of the
LP’s most surprising mixes, their tune
‘Veni Vidi Vici’ retains it’s dark, rock n
roll ambience but has been turned into
a dance tune that shouldn’t work but
does.
There is not a bad tune on the whole
disc, which is complimented by remix-
es of Bloc Party, CSS, Hot Chip and a
stunning remoulding of Peter, Bjorn and
John’s ‘Young Folks’ for good measure.
Decent Work is a must-buy dance col-
lection for 2009. Get it, spin it and get
your party started.
by Michael Banks
Imelda May
Love Tattoo
(Ambassador Records)
November 24 2008
33333
Winner of best newcomer at the Irish Mu-
sic Awards and with adoring words already
from Jeff Beck and Jools Holland, you’d be
forgiven for expecting big things from Imelda
May’s debut album.
And things do get off to an explosive start on
the appropriately named ‘Johnny Got a Boom
Boom’ – an upbeat jazz romp that knows the
merits of a toe-tapping bassline.
May’s vocals too become enlivened on an
energetic chorus that offers up a ‘boom boom’
to match Johnny’s. With Winehouse, Duffy
and Ava Leigh (amongst God knows how
many others) still trying to relive the glory of
Holiday, Simone and Esther Phillips though,
May has to have more up those leopard-print
sleeves than just a decent voice and a good
boom. She does come close to finding such
distinction in a rock ‘n’ roll sass that offers up
that sultry attitude of the burlesque.
Empty Boat
Waitless
(Poo Productions Ltd.)
33333
Apparently it’s World Toilet Day on No-
vember 19. I’m still unsure as to what this day
actually entails (I assume I may go to the toilet
on it though in some form of celebration), but
I thank Empty Boat for bringing such an event
to my attention. It’s not the only toilet issue
this collective of 15 musicians and vocalists
from all over the planet want to bring to high-
light though.
Behind such comic trivialities and festive
music, there’s a very serious message of in-
adequate sanitation in developing countries.
Produced in collaboration with Pump Aid, a
charity aiming to provide clean water in Afri-
can communities, each copy of Waitless sold
will help such admirable efforts become a
reality with sanitation being provided for one
person for life.
Musically, what’s heard is just as exciting
and welcome a project, combining elements
and influences from the broadest of musical
spectrums. Numerous voices are heard as
a variety of languages sing out for joy and
Tiny Spark
Alaska EP
(The Animal Farm)
33333
Well somebody’s been listening to Man-
sun. Certainly, these three songs from the
south-coast five piece would have fitted com-
fortably on the brilliant Attack of the Grey Lan-
tern, with sprawling yet well-structured guitars
that threaten to veer into prog dirges, yet stay
on the right side of listenable.
Review stuff!
reviews@thenationalstudent.co.uk
‘It’s Your Voodoo’ working certainly wouldn’t
sound amiss over beautiful women demon-
strating just what tassels are for, but there’s
still something about May that stops her last-
ing in the memory.
When it comes to the ballads, her voice
falters, disappointingly lacking a natural Irish Various Artists ors of twee, jangly indie-pop but Be True To
Your School shows their remit to be much
tone and not having the raw power of Wine-
house, who despite her personal problems, Be True To Your School wider and more freeform than the narrow
assumptions.
still leads the pack.
Love Tattoo is just too rock ‘n’ roll for the
(Fortuna Pop) The bliss-filled, chill-out electronica of
Discordia and the sample-heavy, hip-hop/
dinner party playlist, but too unsatisfying for
pop of Cannonball Jane truly complicate
any great devotion elsewhere
33333 the proceedings.
Each and every track has its own merits
by Thomas Meek
Thank the stars there are still independ- from Finlay’s enthralling alt-rock fuzz, to
ent labels out there who put out music the manic, scattershot wrong-pop of the
ever inventing Bearsuit, through the classic
because they love it and not because it can
be marketed to relieve the masses of their indie-stylings of Tendertrap and the pano-
mullah. Thank the stars for Fortuna Pop.
For 15 years they have been sporadically
ramic pop of The Chemistry Experiment.
As with any great indie label Be True To
releasing great indie records for the sheer Your School is a reflection of the found-
ers music taste as much as the listeners
love of it (well they certainly haven’t made
any money, so what else can it be for?). and proves that the music can be its own
This is a potted-history of the label span-
ning 25 wonderful tracks from almost all the
reward. Fortuna Pop are essential to the
British music scene and because of that
bands released on the label. On face value this is a must have label sampler.
Fortuna Pop is often thought-of as purvey- by Chris Marks
sorrow. African drums too are prominent,
though eastern-European brass, Mediterra-
nean jives and even jarringly modern dub-
step can be found on an eclectically enthu-
siastic record.
Eu Vivo Neste Mundo (I Live In This World)
is what Sufjan Stevens aspires to with when
he tries to escape his western influences,
and the use of chidren’s vocals on Up Up
and Away and Mamae Iemanja (I Call The
Stars) are a sweet success.
An admirable effort for a worthy cause,
even if it won’t quite appeal to the popular
taste.
by Thomas Meek
George Lenton’s vocals too remind of
Paul Draper, with treble tones and control-
led angst in each of this EP’s three songs.
Lenton even shows some ambition of Cou-
steau crooning in opener Alaska’s sadly
short-lived coda.
‘Go On’ almost becomes One Republic,
but sticks to credibility with smart lyrics and
a biting guitar in the chorus.
But it’s ‘Never Met That Girl’ that stands
out as Tiny Spark’s bona fide hit. Lenton
excels, and the synth strings make this al-
most as good as ‘Wide Open Space’.
Tiny Sparks to shining stars? We shall
see. It bodes well though.
by Thomas Meek