The Denim Issue – The xx – Flying Lotus

Issue 79 / November 2012
Featured in this issue…

The Denim Issue In The Jeans

The xx Love, Actually

If ever a band, perceived by those within the music industry to be globally ubiquitous, needs reminding that new listeners are still discovering them, they need only spend two minutes scanning YouTube. At the time of writing, a look at an extended version of The xx’s ‘Intro’ – you know, the song of a thousand syncs, or thereabouts – reveals comments like “I finally found it” (well done, you) and “This song made my cereal taste better” (delicious!). Beside the usual array of those noting what brought them to the page, a rather more aggressive, albeit humorously so, post: “Anyone who disliked this deserves a dick slap right in the face.” Better duck, all three hundred and eighty of you.

Flying Lotus Making a noise

Fortune appears to have favoured Flying Lotus, AKA Steven Ellison, over the last few years. As an artist and producer in a rich groove, last album, ‘Cosmogramma’, set a popular benchmark, gathering reverential acclaim and gate-crashing  the US Top Twenty in the process. As a proud label boss, his Brainfeeder imprint continues to command a critical, almost cultish, respect; an esteemed byword for a world of celestial interludes, static samples, gloomy atmospherics and hijacked frequencies.

John Cale Cunning Stunts

With his back to large bay windows, the West London sun beaming in behind him, John Cale is sat opposite Clash, suitably silhouetted. From the shadows comes a gruff noise that’s somewhere between Noo Yawk aggression and Welsh bluntness; a gravelly bark that’s weary from jet-lag, wary of journalists, and weathered by a heavy dose of been-there-done-that.

Band Of Horses Sentimental Gentlemen

A couple of things have changed since the last time Clash met up with Band Of Horses. It was March 2012, we were in Austin, Texas, and in the evening of the day we met, the quintet headlined an outdoor show whereby their  emotional outpourings and stunning video backdrop of mountainous landscapes defined the heartland of America and captivated souls.

Lisa Marie Presley Amazing Grace

Five days before our interview with Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis and Priscilla, Clash attended a lunchtime showcase in the dark, velvety surroundings of Soho’s legendary jazz club, Ronnie Scott’s, where a reserved, sober audience were treated to a handful of songs from her new album, ‘Storm And Grace’.

The Infamous Crondall Rock'n'Roll Club Promised Land

There’s a little village near to where I grew up called Crondall. It’s the kind of village that’s so small every road leading into it is like a death trap. You know the type, where the roads are so skinny and overgrown with forest you feel like an intruder forcing your way through.

Album Spotlight

John Coltrane – Blue Train

“IT’S AN INVIGORATING EXPERIENCE IN 2012, JUST AS IT MUST HAVE BEEN IN 1957.”

Personality Clash

Richard Hawley Vs Antoine de Caunes

The pair sit down together for Clash, and chat about songwriting, the Olympics and henderson’s Relish.

Regulars
  • Private Passions Tim Burgess
  • In The Works Local Natives
  • Rock And Rules The Sex Pistols' Steve Jones
  • Stalker Cat Power
  • Royal Academy Reviews Denim
  • Swan Song Guy Garvey
Album Reviews
  • Flying Lotus
  • DJ Vadim
  • Of Montreal
  • John Cale
  • Jake Bugg
  • Rinse 20
  • Boys Noize
  • Two Fingers
  • The Staves
  • Dark Dark Dark
  • Bat For Lashes
  • DJ Shadow

 

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