Angalossy.com

Small Article About a Big Tree

2008-05-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

In the war for progress, man does not hold back any effort or any consequences. The focus is to advance. In an unfair battle, he destroys insanely natural resources, essential to nature. Nature’s response may even delay, but it will not fail. Sometimes it is immediate, intriguing or even daring.
In a silent and unpredictable act, nature has responded to the sharp axes and violent chainsaws, the biggest symbols of destruction and disrespect. It has insisted and demanded its space to show the beauty of its blossoms and the generous shadow of its branches, in a magnificent demonstration of energy and will to live.
Taken down and made into an electricity post, the Yellow Cortez (Ipê Amarelo, in Brazil) did not surrender. With an outstanding reaction, it has recovered its pomp and reign as national symbol. It has rebelled against its wrongful conviction, grew its roots and came back to reign absolute, sharing joy and beauty with its strong identity.
Reconsidering his act, man has decided to transfer the electric wiring to a concrete post positioned just beside it. Now the Cortez reigns free of wires.
This Cortez can be honored with a capital “C” and is a public attraction in Porto Velho, capital of Rondônia, a state Brazil.
This is an example of the sweet privilege of the people in that neighborhood, as the picture taken by the amateur photographer, Leandro Barcellos, who was born in the South of Brazil, but lives in that area.

*translated from Portuguese, from a Brazilian magazine

Minuit; God of Breakbeat

2008-04-28T03:55:00.000-07:00

LONDON. The musical genre of Breakbeat was formed around the practise of using the ‘break’ in tracks usually reserved for the moment when the instrumental kicks in, over and over again to create a rhythm of its own. Through Hip-Hop and Funk to Techno, Rave, Drum n Bass and Hardcore was born what we now know as Breakbeat.

Around about the late 1990’s dance music was in a state of flux. We had all whistled our whistles, big fished, little fished and made patterns with our glow sticks so many times that the novelty was beginning to wear off.

Techno and Drum n Bass were effectively separated out of the chaos of Hardcore and developed by artists such as LTJ Bukem, Andy C and Dave Angel into genuine genres with there own culture, style and fashion. Out of these developments came Breakbeat which has matured slowly and quietly into various styles. One of these styles champions sing-along vocals, spacious warm melodies and chunky, throbbing bass-lines that make you shout things like “Holy mackerel, I can feel that in my Coccyx”.

Music is adventure and it is emotion. Combine the two and you get all the elements of a good journey. So you choose your ticket and take your ride; and the ride for me, tonight, is with Minuit. Minuit are from New Zealand and are formed of a vocalist (Ruth Carr) and two instrumentalists (Paul Dodge and Ryan Beehre) who play keyboards and laptops and jiggle around with machines which produce seriously funky, bass-heavy tracks.

The men, who manoeuvre mysteriously around the back of the stage mixing beats and samples and melodies, succeed emphatically in dropping phenomenal bass-lines and rich, lush melodies which lift you up high above the dance floor and fill your heart and mind with fantastic thoughts and monumental well-being.

Then, as if from nowhere… BOOM… the beat drops and we whirl together in the air, whooping and throwing our sweaty heads back and forward to the stomping, funky beats. At the end of each track we are floated gently back to earth to raise our arms and shout thanks to the three New Zealanders’ on stage who gradually re-group ready for another assault on our dancing shoes.

This music is some of the finest Breakbeat I have come across. Minuit are following closely in the footsteps of other pioneering musical outfits from New Zealand such as reggae and dub legends Fat Freddy’s Drop, in making it incredibly clear that this is a musical culture, a forward thinking scene and a global leader in defining new music for our generation.

The band is keen to point out that they are ‘Breakbeat with personality’ and that ‘Listening to us should make your body feel like steel’, which I would say is fair. Later that night I did feel like a large piece of steel; but not any old steel, oh no, they left me feeling like a sculpture to the Gods rendered in Cloud Steel and designed to sit atop Nelsons Column like a beacon of modernity and the unadulterated Joy of Life!

Minuit’s album intriguingly titled ‘I Went to This Party and There Were 88 Guards with Guns’, is out on April 29th.
Catch them soon, buy the record, or ideally do both.
Seriously.

Vice tv - brazilian devil drug

2008-04-25T15:37:00.000-07:00

Winter raving and Gabber madness!

2008-04-23T03:52:00.001-07:00

EDINBURGH. Ah, the sweet smell of fast food across a dewy meadow… what? What’s happening here? When I looked an hour ago we were in a utopian paradise… and now… now the burger vans have moved in, serving out ugly packages to the hordes of the un-dead.
It’s eight in the morning and I’m stumbling blindly towards a gaggle of brightly coloured people huddled round a humming fast food van. I chew morosely on a limp grey burger.
They call this festival ‘Knochangoric’, some kind of throwback to Paganism… it’s always the same with the Celts, everything relates back to a vague idea of spirituality, weird spooks or fairies. No sign of fairies here… nothing but burnt out ravers and crusties with dogs and crying children; laughing so loudly that they simply cannot mean it.
It’s so cold that my lips are burning. Must be below freezing. We’re huddled like prisoners of war around a fire that offers the only solace to the freezing ravers. A small child approaches the huddle and pulls at the Thai-dye skirt of what must be her mother. The woman resolutely ignores the child and seemingly in direct conflict starts to sing that eponymous song of the doomed raver… “I’ve done much too much, much too young, now I’m married with a kid when I should be having fun”, and starts to groove in the Madness style while her fellow crusties join in as if with enough racket and forced jollity this child, this young bringer of reality, this traitor, this evil reminder that life is happening, will just disappear completely.
She doesn’t.
I walk aimlessly, passing huddled groups of people trying to ignore the cold… and I hear a rhythm, a beat… it’s coming from a marquee… and it’s live… it’s… what is it?
Inside, a group of five people, four are playing drums and one beautiful Malaysian woman is grooving to the beat… amongst this chaotic mash of turbo beats and electronic hammer drills, a scene of real beauty.
I don’t know how long I watched this scene unfold, an hour? But when I went to go, my legs completely numb, I stumbled out of the tent like a drunk.
It was a clear morning… people buzzed around now as if the slate was suddenly wiped clean. In the approximate hour I had been inside the marquee the white faced stragglers were replaced by vital, busy young families, hung-over students and old druid types marching around with ominous looking staffs and multi coloured top hats.
What had I learned from this never ending night? Was there a message behind the predictable chaos? Did it mean something that with every new musical movement the BPM was getting higher and higher… urging us on to push harder, dance faster, get crazier?
To me it seemed futile, like watching a herd of geese chasing a man with a bucket of food only to realise it’s full of cement and the man simply got lost and ended up in the wrong field.
At one gig I remember watching a student don a boxer’s head guard and charge over and over again into the wall of the club as the beat urged him on. I saw him later at an after party and reminded him of his actions. He managed to look me in the eye and mutter, “I was trying to match it up to the beat… I couldn’t feel the music”.
Next year I think I’ll join a swing band and tour the Isle of Mann.
New music needs to stop moving so fast.

The new cool - darn your socks

2008-04-18T01:51:00.000-07:00

If you really care about the environment you'll darn your socks - check out one of the most popular You Tube posts at the moment.

Future fashion feature - howies

2008-04-17T06:37:00.001-07:00

In what seems a lifetime of attending LFW I lost my love for fashion writing: all that pretence, gluttony and need to be a size 0 left me feeling uninspired and very bored of the whole scene. That was until I found fashion brands such as Howies - an ethical brand with a clean upbeat look - can't wait till the mag's launch and you get to see the great feature one of the journos has produced explaining the Howie stance in the fashion industry. Funny how my deadened love has been rekindled by their simple acts of humility.

E4's new web site brings fun and laughter... and even good promos

2008-04-02T15:07:00.000-07:00

Lest we forget the impacts and implications of 9/11 - the elephant in the room

2008-04-01T02:50:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to film maker Dean Puckett who has recently secured a spot at London's Independent Film festival for his 9/11 awareness documentary/feature "The Elephant in the Room" check out the festival program and schedule here. It will be screened at 2pm in Screen 2 at the BFI on the south bank on Monday, April14th.

As a film maker Dean clearly shows a savvy mix of cinematic verve and a penchant for creating awareness - we hope Dean and the rest of his team will be contributing to Angalossy at some point.

ComCelebrate what on Friday 14th March?

2008-03-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

Monday 10th March was Commonwealth Day; though I’m sure those of you who live in the Commonwealth don’t need reminding of that fact! To celebrate that day and Commonwealth Week (10th-14th March) talent was drawn from across the globe to descend upon the Secretariat HQ in Pall Mall, London. I was there too of course.

Along with the free alcohol and canapés on offer, there was a packed timetable of dancers, singers, and bands to indulge the eyes and ears. That’s not to mention the speeches from Baroness Amos, and the Secretary-General (Don McKinnon). Most notable amongst the acts were the mesmerising Tungaru Dance Troupe of Kiribati and British indie sextet Lux Lisbon (pictured) who did a spectacularly good job at rocking the night away.

As enjoyable as the night was, I find myself questioning the relevance of the Commonwealth in today’s society. If I was to ask someone under 20 to explain the purpose of the Commonwealth, or just why it was there, chances are they would struggle to come up with an answer. Personally speaking I am quite the fan of tradition and the old institutions which make Britain stand out from the crowd but this doesn’t justify its existence. The question they need to be posing themselves perhaps is not whether they should be there, but what they can do to remind the population what it means to be a Commonwealth member, and how they can boost the profile of their good work.

American dream

2008-03-13T11:02:00.000-07:00

So funny that in creating this magazine I've not really been interested in writing at all. Some of you who know my writing skills might think that's a god send! Anyhow, I just found this feature and for me it signifies a turning point in my career - when I started to understand the idea of good capitalism. he also highlighted what we at Angalossy call the T-Generation - or in his words a surge of intelligent young people.

Please try to enjoy my two year old feature, written for Clash Magazine on Dov Charney - he was a card to say the least:

Canadian Charney in his 36th year of maturity apparently wants to take on the US government as well as the fashion market and is vocal about this to say the least. Charney born in Montréal, talks of a period of strong nationalist upheaval 12 years ago, involving two cultures speaking English and French. What proceeded to happen during this epoch was the abolition of English speaking in this territory. As an English speaking Jew Dov Charney was part of a whole that felt strongly about the changes and headed south to join a large Jewish community in New York. Studying at boarding school, Charney the fashion entrepreneur was born ‘I was taking garbage bags full of American Haines tees back to Canada and selling them there ’ thus diverting the imposed tax laws on Canada and business boomed. This was the precursor to his success, simply an opportunist with an opportunity. American Apparel as we know it started in 1988, and is now based in downtown LA. home to ‘happy workers’ salacious photo shots and beautifully minimal clothing.

There are two strands of discussion with American Apparel, firstly the current cultural obsession with being ‘politically correct’ the term being corporate responsibility - who would have thought this corporate buzz word would surface in the humble undergroundness of Clash magazine? Social responsibility is part of what AA is about, like it or not.

There is a whole new movement towards socially responsible fashion - being titled as an organic and socially responsible fashion label has become the way forward. However few labels take this seriously, a few to mention are Edun (label of Bono’s wife Ali Hewson, launched this year) Howies, Loomstate and more established brands such as Maharishi and Stella McCartney all promote social responsibility. Progressively reflecting this trend, a new magazine ‘Project’ apparently launched last June, focuses on those whose lifestyle is socially responsible.

Dov categorically denies he is pushing the corporate responsibility of AA and puts an agreeable solution forward. Dov Charney is unashamedly a ‘good capitalist’ meaning he is both politically and socially conscious and non-sweat shop. Essentially he wants to make a dollar or two but create a PC environment in which to do this. The conversation leads onto on to his personal political stance - Charney rants, ‘Nationalist or socialist, or whatever’ the initial thought is that he sits on the fence politically, however, political fence sitting is not Charney, rather he claims parts of both political left and right ‘Left, and the right - puritan forces - I wanna cut new ground, the right makes girls feel slutty when they are feeling sexual and the left makes the girls wanna show themselves off, they are objectifying themselves, nowadays kids are much more open minded and intelligent young people’ Charney is obsessed with youth culture, and incorporates this into his governance.

Charney talks of a ‘Population surge of young intelligent adults, the most profound since the peace movement, magazines are reflecting this right now, young adults are a lot more pro sex, woman can now be sexually aggressive’ whenever Charney talks about intelligence and the emergence of this new type of youth he adjacently adds sex and women. Charney has been criticised by orthodox media for his risqué adverts of orgasmic women that can jaw drop the straightest of females. Clash are told that male ‘fresh but sexy’ campaigns are soon to bring a gender balance, taking form of a range of colourful briefs designed to create a shock when a woman unbuttons a mans pants, ‘Women don’t expect to see men in colourful underwear, I feel these briefs will spread love’ the metro-male at his most effective. Charney defends his campaigns as being ‘raw and real’ not sex obsessed with women. Maybe Dov was on his best behaviour during the Clash/AA interlude, being titled as a ‘sexist megalomaniac’ as Suicide Girls website suggests is maybe a tad bit strong.

The second stream of discussion is of-course the apparel itself. Part of the allure of AA is it started as a brand used for band merchandise and now is a label in its own right, Charney boasting ‘American Apparel has supplied to most rock bands in the US at some point’. Charney strap lines his label as ‘Simplistically well made clothing for young people with fresh minds’. AA produces clothes that reflect an individual’s personality, the range does not try too hard too be fashionable. Overly egotistical and over-stylised fashion figureheads often communicate bad fashion choices in their haste to forge new trends, even the least gullible of us can feel this imposing. Charney believes a large portion of fashion is now about simplification. This is not to insinuate AA garment cannot be dressed up, the choice is there to be made. For women the racer back ribbed dress is a good example, worn as it is, perfect for hot summer days (great for those blessed with long legs) or worn over skinny jeans and accessorized with a fine knit shawl for the ultimate in urban chic. AA is the anti-thesis of those glitz time-bound items that allow acceptance in the fickle world of fashion.

Discussing the label amongst other fashion designers throws up a cross-section of opinions, some have named AA super mundane – a bitterness pill for those who propel an excess of detail in their designs and then have to shift old stock at sample sales? Maybe Charney is simply a marketeer of dynamic proportions that has turned the label around on its socially correct head. Compared to the likes of both Gap and Fruits of the Loom the label cannot be titled as avant guard in its design approach but AA attire is fresh, wearable and connotes a simplistic sexuality, which essentially is intelligent style.

www.americanapparel.net
www.americanapparel.org
www.americanapparelstore.com

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Threatening Scientology in the spirit of Stanley Donwood & Thom Yorke collaborations.

2008-01-28T08:18:00.000-08:00

Whether a kid with a bit of time on his hands did this or some actual, underground coup d'état, is hard to say. But it's undeniably well scripted and some might say, creepy. (Though some may also find it strictly hilarious.)

Words: Kristin Palla

The future is here again and so is the past - bang face

2007-11-13T15:36:00.000-08:00

Any futurologist knows that: in order to predict the future we must first examine the past. But futures studies can be confusing (our current futures report examines the future of music festivals and events) sometimes the past sneaks in our present - our culture constantly reinvents and seems to be doing so at a quicker pace than ever before. Bang Face hubbub illustrates this with what seems to be the rebirth of acid and hardcore in the middle of sunny Islington, London. Don't forget your glow sticks.

WORDS: MARNI BANKS

When Artists have Agencies (and vice versa)

2007-11-13T08:27:00.000-08:00

CHICAGO. A collective of brilliant individuals whose interests include yachting, lawn tennis and doing things with skeletons.

Country Club

More posts on Country Club coming in the near future.

Words: Kristin Palla

OCD Photographer Copes via OCD Blog.

2007-11-11T15:00:00.000-08:00

Mike Terpeza's photoblog

Updates posted 363 days a year. (Two days a year he may not. Like Christmas Day and the night he inevitably finds himself stranded far, far away from all computers, in the middle of the woods after stubbornly trying to get an interesting shot of a bunny during a snowstorm. Hopefully he won't get frostbite. But if he does, he guarantees pictures of said frostbite will be posted.)

Words: Kristin Palla

Future features - james martin's comments on globalisation

2007-10-19T09:03:00.000-07:00

Samia, one of our writers, has just finished a cracking feature which gains comment from our favourite futurologist James Martin - it explores the impact of globalisation. Below is James Martin's recent film which explains on a different level how he has influenced our plight to help young adults better understand, and act upon, issues our globe will face.

Words: Marni Banks

Festival research - behind the scenes

2007-10-15T11:21:00.000-07:00

For the last few weeks now I’ve been trying to contact those slightly elusive people who organise music festivals. This wasn’t just for fun; I’ve been researching the lengths festival organisers go to in order to reduce their carbon footprints for an article Michelle will be writing in the near future. While some of the promoters were more than happy to help and a pleasure to talk to, some neglected to reply at all. The latter are definitely off my Christmas card list!Being a man into his music though, it was quite fun to get a taste of what goes on behind the scenes and there were some interesting stories to be heard - the organiser of the People’s Party alleged their licence was refused this year simply because it was a gay festival.Shocking stories aside, I’ve been bitten by the environmental bug so I’m planning on looking at some ‘green’ issues in future posts.

For now take a sneaky look at the Chems:

An issue that we face: the high price of education

2007-10-03T04:19:00.000-07:00

Students are unprepared for the level of debt they will be saddled with at University. According to statistics from The Sun Online, more than half of the population of students believe that financial problems are their largest worry. Being a student myself, I have definitely felt the strains of money worries, always having empty pockets and knowing that my debt is constantly rising.

Does education have a price?

New political writer: Keith Emmerson

2007-10-02T11:02:00.001-07:00

I have just spent three long years studying law; and while the subject has become a bit of a nemesis for me it has also taught me some important skills and was a catalyst for getting further involved with politics.

Music and film come next on my list of interests; I have great taste in both. I have almost every Bond film, and love spy thrillers like The Ipcress File; whether that proves my good taste or not I don’t know! I'm in an occasional band and I make bad films together with a couple of like minded friends – examples of which can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/2tn68t but they aren’t suitable for the squeamish.

I adore classic cars and own an example myself; a Saab 99 in fact. All too often I can be found outside lavishing attention on her when I should be doing something else.
I still find time after all of these hazardous activities to take a very active interest in current affairs, technology, the meaning of life, and the most demanding hobby of all, daytime television.

A New View

2007-10-02T07:47:00.000-07:00

Hi, I'm an illustrator for the magazine. I'm a third year student at The Arts Institute at Bournemouth. I have an enquiring mind with an enthusiasm for hand-drawn techniques so hope to offer Angalossy some more contemporary creativity. Here's a little taster of my work...

No bestival for me but more greener festivals for all

2007-09-09T13:44:00.000-07:00

I'm sad to say I've spent another summer festival-less. Today, when I should have been running around the UK's top-notch festival Bestival with my pals, I'm stuck in the office with my fluffy dog Bob as my only companion - boooooooo! And to make matter worse I've been working with Keith (the latest addition to the Angalossy family) on a special report which will detail the future of music festivals. We'll be investigating what music festivals are doing to create a better future - socially and environmentally. I'm already acquainted with Tangerine Fields who provide festival-goers ready pitched and fully kitted tents at specially designated fields - they then kindly donate the kits to CRISIS. And now A Greener Festival has announced the winners of the Greener Festival Award.

This new award aims to "promote greener practices and sustainability" for the increasingly popular circuit and live music industry. Festivals who completed an application, signed up to Greener Festival's A-Z of twenty six green pledges. Those that were successful in meeting the organisations demands can now hold their hands high:

Big Green Gathering

Big Session Festival

Edinburgh International Film Festival

The Glade The Glastonbury Festival

Latitude Festival

Summer Sundae Weekender

The Sunrise Celebration

It wasn't just the UK that partook in the awards: the Bonnaroo Festival in the US, and the Peats Ridge Festival in Australia were the international winners. Hopefully in 2008, I'll be back to my festival hopping antics.

Words: Michelle Morton-Banks

Towers of Green

2007-08-08T13:29:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO. The city famous (infamous?) for dyeing the river green in honor of St. Patty's Day is making more than a few big splashes in an effort to become the "greenest city in America." Environmentally speaking, that is. The agenda, kicked off by Mayor Richard Daley in 2001, has been profiled everywhere from the local Tribune to TIME. And ever since, the trickle-down effects have been architectually everywhere: numerous "grass roofs" and rooftop gardens (most famously, above the Apple store on Michigan Avenue), LEED certifed grocery stores (Whole Foods), solar paneling added to various exsisting buildings downtown, and most recently, Chicago's first LEED certified green residential tower. Known as "340 on the Park" in the River East neighborhood, the development's website boasts of high-tech, energy-efficient heating and cooling, eco-friendly building materials, and a rainwater collection/irrigation system to self-sustain landscaping.

It's all quite laudable. Yet, even though Chicago has a solid grasp on the awe-inspiring and downright sexy aspects of going green, some of the basics--such as recycling--are still floundering in the Windy City. A little over a year ago, TIME noted that 87% of Chicago's total refuse is still not being recycled. Only this spring have recycling bins started to appear on the northernmost outskirts of the city.

Words: Kristin Palla

UK TV programme shuns sustainable lifestyle

2007-07-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

LONDON. Tonight Channel 4's Dispatches unearths (excuse the pun) notion that a sustainable lifestyle is nothing but a cunning ploy adopted by consumer hungery brands. So who and what do we to believe? In fact, last week our intern blurted out that a cow passing wind puts more harmful gas into the air than an aeroplane - interesting! It seems our magazine has a lot of fog to clear!

Words: Marni Banks

One to watch: eco-blogger supremo

2007-07-10T06:41:00.000-07:00

The president of The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Björn Stigson, is pathing his way to eco-supremacy in his new blog. Stigson has already reflected on the changing US climate, or ideas, on climate change, wondering if the US is in a position to lead, "Or if it is just adding its own noise to the already existing cacophony." Only time will tell, but until then, Björn Stigson takes a "cold, hard look" at the resources needed as a society to manage the climate change challenge in his new blog. Lets hope he will clear the flog that surrounds what, exactly, we need to do to help our planet to escape another dark age.

Read more on Björn Stigson's Blog: http://president.wbcsd.org/

Words: Michelle Angalossy

Emerging Designers. Customer's Own Property

2007-06-09T11:40:00.000-07:00

London
Sabine Brauninger formed Customers Own Property after graduating from the Central St Martins MA course in 2001. She brings us a womenswear collection that is inspired by tailored garments, traditional menswear pieces and workwear.

For her lookbook this season she has hand sketched delicate and unusual fictional characters and clothed them in shots of the collection taken on the dummy. The resulting collages are then pasted into scratchy illustrated backgrounds of chaotic and less-than-perfect domestic settings.

Brauninger’s approach is a juxtaposition of the accepted industry process. An immaculate fashion set can take hours to prepare. No doubt it has taken the same amount of time to create this imagery but her efforts have created a striking anti-thesis to the normal slick and glossy format.

Words Lia Grandi

Lia Grandi - Angalossy Fashion Writer

2007-05-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

LONDON. Lia Grandi. I'm one of Angalossy's Fashion Writers. I hope that Angalossy will be recognized for its unbiased views on fashion and style. Not just reporting on current and emerging trends, but also understanding and uncovering their relevance in our modern society and what they will offer our future.

Words Lia Grandi