Róisín Murphy at Noami Campbell's show in benefit of Haiti last night

One of my favourite artists of all the time, the lovely Róisín Murphy made her first public appereance after giving birth her daughter Clodagh. All happened yesterday at Naomi Campbell´s "Fashion for relief Haiti" fashion show at Somerset House in London, where she also graced the catwalk. Style and music icon.











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Vote by Proxy

The mysterious Russian lord of techno (no, don't run away yet) on Turbo Recordings opens up (a bit) to Flora

Text by Flora Wong

A core member of the Turbo Recordings crew, the elusive PROXY aka Evgeny Pozharnov has long been paving the blog-road from electro to techno, with a breed of dubstep influences to create 'party techno' much celebrated in the club scene. Hailing from Russia, his releases were raved about worldwide months before release, with DJs everywhere playing his much-copied (cough, Marseille, Dilemn, Polymorphic) heavily compressed, side-chaining techno. Creatively sampling Robocop in '40 Seconds' to animes in his last single 'Who Are You', he also enjoyed the huge success of 'Raven' the club hit of 2007 / 8, which was a pretty large feat considering it mostly consists of horrible, horrible noises. Turning his hand to remixing, he puts tracks by everyone from Peaches, Tiga, Boys Noize, Digitalism and Moby through his PROXY machine and absolutely destroys them. Daringly abrasive yet consistently catchy, his tracks are instantly recognisable featuring his distinctive production techniques and trademark breakdowns. With his latest release '8000', cutting up sitar samples into an apocalyptic nightmare, we hope to see his abum soon. So good.

There is no information on you because you have the hardest name to Google. Do you like this level of anonymity that I'm about to ruin?
PROXY: I prefer things this way. You have to be into Proxy to find anything. It is your reward.

What inspires you to make really noisy music?
PROXY: I could say that this is because I have led a hard life in Russia, but these words mean nothing. I survive. I excel. That is all.

What kind of toys did you play with when you were a child? Compressors?
PROXY: Hahah. I remember having Transformers. Also, reindeer.

I heard you smoke the Davidoff Classic, a fine cigarette. Do you find your international DJ lifestyle allows you to pay for such extravagances?
PROXY: This one of the few cheap things in my country. Cigarettes and human life. I just like the design of the pack.

Some of your music carries heavier 'dubstep' elements but they seem to be dying out, was this conscious? Were you into 'dubstep' at the time?
PROXY: Love dubstep! It is absolutely my kind of music! To me, dubstep comes from D'n'B. No family has no ugly member.

What are you listening to now?
PROXY: 'Sunday Shoutin' by Johnny Corporate.

If you weren't making music, what would you be doing?
PROXY: Making music. I don't see myself doing other work. I have not tried to be what I am not.

When for the love of God is your album out?
PROXY: Soon enough!

© by DazedDigital

Acid Washed (Paris, France) Q&A

The secretive production duo are mixing cosmic DFA sounds on French Record Makers

Text by Flora Wong





The latest signings to Record Makers, Acid Washed are crafting cosmic disco party tunes, as additionally produced by Xaver Naudascher (DFA / Supersoul) with remixes from Blackstrobe and Gavin Russom. Remaining mysterious, they claim themselves to be a primarily two-man process creating a combitnation of filter house and DFA disco via a collection of close friends and analogue equipment. This idea of collaboration is paramount to Acid Washed, holding a list of musicians with labels and artists such as Gavin Russom (aka Black Meteoric Star), Christian Kreuz (Get Physical), Arnaud Rebotini of Blackstrobe, Turzi (Record Makers), Barbara Panther, and Christophe Chassol (Sébastien Tellier, Phoenix) waiting in line.

WHAT'S…
...so special about you, then?
A: We know where we’re going, everything’s under control! The man and the machine.
R: What’s really special is the quality of our DJ set. We build it properly in order to literally kill the dancefloor. People are freaking out in ways we’d never seen before, even as average clubbers. Aside from that, it’s our faces. You’ll never see them, until you come to see us. Until then, Anthony Burrill is our face.

...your worst vice?
A: I’m a maniac.
R: Accumulating vices.

…the story behind your name?
A: We were thinking about a name for this project to do with vintage gear (machines, clothes...) and somebody came up with Acid Washed.
R: It was a friend of ours, Jennifer, who works as a stylist. She said, “I love acid washed jeans, especially vintage acid washed vintage jeans”. Then she said, “By the way, you should call your music unit like that, that’s chill!” And I guess, we just did.

...the world coming to?
A: To love us!
R: It’s a 1926 silent film featuring Stan Laurel. It’s a good one.

...your worst fashion secret?
A: Expensive deodorants.
R: Our name.

...your favourite website?
http://www.thenightday.com/archives/132
http://www.anthonyburrill.com/

...at the top of your shit list?
A: Bills...
R: Paying all the bills.

...are you listening to now?
A: The remix Gavin Russom made for us.
R: Our next remix of DatA.

...dream did you have last night?
A: I was spinning, spinning and spinning!
R: None, because we were out until the sunrise, and that was a dream.

How would you describe your work?
A: Timeless & epic.
R: If DFA made love to Daft Punk, we would be their secret, crazy and beautiful lovechild.

© by DazedDigital

Glasser Recommends

Cameron Mesirow from California-based trippy duo gives her recommendations.

Text by Martina Randles




Recommend

…three new bandsI have to recommend three LA-based bands because there's a lot of really good stuff happening here and the rest of the world needs to know.

John Webster Johns is an ever-changing project that my friend Jack has. He writes many very short pieces for a small army of musicians, including sometimes three saxophone players and a bassoon. It's dark and wonderful.

Hecuba is a performance art band project comprised of my friends Isabelle and John and I have enjoyed their live shows for a long time now, only to find that their new record (out on Manimal Vinyl) is just as good.

Fool's Gold is a really fun 12-piece band that have taken LA by tropical storm. It's made up of great musicians from various great LA bands, like Foreign Born, Big Search, Luke Top (who sings in Hebrew for Fool's Gold), In Waves, Yellow Star/Erica Garcia, and probably more. Lots of percussion, lots of guitars, lots of dancing and lots of fun.

…three old bands
Human Sexual Response was an art rock/new wave band that my mother was in from the late 70s to the early 80s. They put out two records, "Figure 14" and "In A Roman Mood" (both on Passport Records) the latter of which is my favorite but did not receive as much attention. There was a huge emphasis on sexuality as the name suggests, but basically this was a bunch of truly poetic and creative people who had a total blast together making art. They are putting out a DVD soon of some live footage and there are rumors of a reunion.

Since she is continually an inspiration for me to write and create, I have to mention Kate Bush. What a stroke of genius and luck that David Gilmore would be acquainted with someone like this and that EMI would go for it and that the world would accept her for the most part for the rebel and artist that she is.

Tehillim is an early 80s work by the composer Steve Reich, which I always come back to for ideas. It feels fresh and ancient at the same time.

…a record label
I'm very proud to be a part of my friend Dean's label True Panther Sounds. I have always known that he was going to do great things, and I feel honored to share my work with him.

…a website
crudcrud.blogspot.com
My new bandmate Charlie introduced me to this blog, which is written by a guy named Scott Soriano, who apparently just combs bargain record bins and posts his favorite obscure finds. Brilliant!

…a film
I have been obsessively watching a particular scene in the Jim Henson film The Labyrinth with David Bowie and Jennifer Connolly. It's a moment far into the film and the journey when time is interrupted by a drugged apricot and several floating crystal balls. The main character Sarah, played by Connolly, gets dosed and slips into a tense psychedelic fantasy masquerade ball where she's seduced momentarily by her nemesis, the goblin king. The costumes are incredible the song "As The World Falls Down" is perfect. I love everything Jim Henson ever did and this sticks out as a particularly poetic and mature scene in a movie meant for children.

…a book
Moby Dick. If you can, get through this book. I think it's worth it.

…something on YouTube
This is a Tibetan song that I keep getting in my head:



…a radio show
Cool Places on East Village Radio is a great world music show. Check it.

…something to do on a day off
I'm not going to tell you what I do on my day off because then it'll catch on like wildfire and it won't be relaxing for me anymore. Go for a walk.

…somewhere to eat
Farmer's market.

…a song everyone should hear'You Are Here' by John Lennon. Perfect.

Glasser's 'Apply' EP is out now on True Panther Sounds May 26th on 12" vinyl and digitally. The artwork, which is handmade and silkscreened assembly was designed by Tauba Auerbach.

Acrylics (New York, USA)

Dreamy duo perform psychedelic indie pop with a penchant for 80’s synths and Keith Richard scarves.

Text by Martina Randles





If you cut certain sections of the Acrylics music and looped them together, you would be forgiven for thinking you were listening to a relaxation type given to you by some well-meaning relative. The band certainly does nothing to discourage their slightly skewed interpretation of ‘cool’. Contemplative slow-burning candy garage and seductive vocals provide a reflective airy 80s filmic feel. Further complimented by graphics delivered with an irony that only New Yorkers seem to perfect.

So,
What's…
… your description of your sound?
Water in its many manifestations - rivers, oceans, rain, ice, steam, tears. Remembering future sounds, we look ahead to the sounds of the past.

… so special about you, then?
Studies suggest Acrylics may increase rates of reproduction in lab rats.

… your tip for 2009?
Pack light. Stay heavy.

… the story behind your name?
It suggests color and plasticity to us. Two important components of our process.

… your favourite piece of clothing?
A torn silk scarf that belonged to Keith Richards in the late sixties. I can't tell you how I got it.

… your worst fashion secret?
Some of the rips in my jeans did not occur naturally.

… your dream musical collaboration?
Would have loved to have worked with Joe Meek or Tom Dowd. Phil Spector too but that might be more of a nightmare than a dream. They're all dead or incarcerated so maybe Daniel Lanois?

… the name of your hero?
Jimi Hendrix

… so special about your hero?
What's not so special about him? He's always softer than a feather and more explosive than TNT all at the same time. Cynthia Plaster Caster preserved something else that's pretty special about him too.

… your karaoke song?
Highway Star by Deep Purple

… the best piece of advice you've heard?
Every night before I go to sleep I pick up the Tao Te Ching and flip to a random page. Lao Tzu always imparts bottomless wisdom.

… on your stereo?
This week, I've been listening to The Band's self-titled album and "A Love Trilogy" by Donna Summer.

… your favourite website?
Wikipedia has all of the answers

… the one thing you’d kill for?
At the moment, a Masala Dosa from the Dosa man in Washington Square park.

… your vision of the future?
The future's so bright I ‘gotta’ wear shades.