It seems that rock ‘n’ roll and hot beverages do unlikely bedfellows make. A bizarre proliferation of reggae artists, indie musicians, film directors and electronic DJs are ditching the decks and taking to java, in a bid to perfect their own brand of the jumping bean. David Lynch, whose debut solo album Crazy Clown [...]
If you’re a singer, artist or band starting out and you’re looking for that helping hand to lift you onto that important next level then this music competition is for you. Unsigned Only looks the real deal and has been set up by the same team behind the International Songwriting Competition. It’s aimed at solo [...]
This energy ball of a song from the band Shrag spits and snarls and flares its nostrils as it heads towards you to bite you on the neck. ‘Tendons on the Night’ has all the style, swagger and attitude you need and expect for that much needed kick up the pants in these oh so [...]
We love a sense of mystery and intrigue here at Flux and Transformativa delivers (or refuses to deliver) that in spades. All we know about Transformitva is in that fact he is just one man, born in Brazil, now lives in London and that this is his first public release. None of the usual hype [...]
They say you should never meet your idols. Well how about singing with them instead? MasterCard are really pulling out all the stops with this one. They’re giving fans the chance to get on stage and sing alongside their favourite star with this exclusive Priceless Duets competition. This once in a lifetime opportunity has been [...]
We get to see so many boring videos and hear so many dull as dishwater tracks, I hate to say, here at Flux. So when we get to see a video by Studio Fünf based around the story of a guy dressed up as a Polar Bear trying to escape from a boring costume party [...]
On the surface, the area around Waterloo station might not seem like such a strange or dark place. However, upon looking hard enough, a bizarre current is noticeable, pulsating through the streets; the remnants of cardboard-city tucked away in the subways, free-runners prancing about the rooftops and, deep underground, a cavernous space dripping with history, [...]
Moombahton as a musical form is in an interesting place. It’s well known in certain circles but outside that to many it’s a complete unknown. So what exactly is Moombahton? Imagine you have a cauldron where you’re allowed to chuck in titbits of what you fancy to make that special musical brew. This could be [...]
Are you and your partner in-sync? You’ll have to be careful how you put this to your loved one but Durex have come up with a nifty little online Facebook game, In Sync, that shows up just how well you match up. Get on the your decks alongside your partner to speed up or [...]
BlackBerry launched BBM Music at the end of last year for their smartphone users, and here’s the premise. It’s almost like a pyramid scheme for music sharing where no one is at the top. You get to choose 50 of your favourite tracks to have on your BBM Music playlist. And the choice will include music from all [...]
*Sponsored Post* Imagine. A night of your dreams. A special event meant for you. A night that money can’t buy. You can’t buy tickets for this night. You can’t blag your way past the well dressed bouncers guarding the doors. This is a Blackberry event. Welcome to the world of Blackberry PLUS 5. We [...]
Last year we were approached to be main media support for the RAWards creative industry awards which helps cultivate bright new creative talent across the USA. We were honoured to be asked and so accepted the invitation. RAW go above and beyond in their pursuit of the finest future artists to give them that helping [...]
When we were asked to be a part of this music show on Channel 4 we hesitated for a moment or two. It’s one thing us interviewing bands and such but a totally different scenario when the tables are turned. (yes I know a taste of our own medicine and all that). Anyway seen as [...]
Manchester prides itself on its colourful musical history, which has helped to create a strong musical identity for the city. However, over the last few years, Manchester has been home to the development of some interesting acts that you might not automatically link with the city. Flux Magazine has selected three acts from a new [...]
I really like this mesmerising video for Fucked Up’s latest single ‘Turn the Season’. The video has an otherworldly feel to it. It was shot during the photoshoot for the album ‘David Comes to Life’ which has had a lot of praise heaped upon it since its release earlier this year. It features familiar faces [...]
Remember the days when pop music was cool and interesting. The days when the chart wasn’t clogged up with reality TV show wannabes, and the radio stations didn’t force feed us dreadful auto-tuned tripe that the record companies insist is called r’n’b. Well the brains behind acclaimed club night Bam Thwok certainly do. London based, [...]
Move over Dr. Zuess; there’s a new master of rhyming couplets in town. He’s currently touring as part of Miles Kane’s band and goes by the name of Eugene McGuinness and is back more dapper than ever with the track ‘Lion’ – what the man himself describes as “the biggest ‘fuck off’ my soul could [...]
Last month, Canada played host to the 10th anniversary of the world-renowned festival, POP Montreal. Don’t be fooled by the ‘pop’ half of the festival’s title; POP Montreal is a platform for rock, folk, electro, rap, as well as the prominent experimental music scene that Canada is becoming hailed for. Many of the young artists [...]
European Cultural Congress, Wroclaw, Poland As EU finance ministers exchanged pleasantries at the weekend over the fate of the Euro, national economies and the plight of Greece, the thought of their compatriots coming together only a week before to celebrate the continent’s cultural wealth may stir thoughts of Nero strumming his lyre while Rome burned. [...]
I was feeling kind of sick of all the retreads, re-styles and polite but somehow dull indieshmindyness that pervades the alternative airwaves nowadays. BBC 6 Music is settling down with its pipe and slippers giving us what we want but not necessarily what we need (or is it the other way around). So I was [...]
This dark but gentle song from King Creosote & Jon Hopkins is given a nostalgic but disturbing twist by director Elliot Dear in this magical video. What do we see before us? Odd jarring images from childhood maybe or one of those strange dreams that has you hooked in but that disturbs you so much [...]
This latest track from Boltonite Janine Rostron’s Planningtorock really struts its stuff. In the video she glides around with dark grace and some menace like a disco queen gone berzerk. Janine Rostron looks like the kind of character you wouldn’t want to cross. The staccato riff that drives this song becomes a pulsing dirty epic [...]
The power of social networking and the popularity of Professor Green was in action in Manchester last week. PUMA had asked Professor Green fans to vote for the city they’d most like to see him perform in. Manchester won over London, Brighton, Dublin or Edinburgh. It was a resounding win for the city’s facebook and twitter users and [...]
What this? New Order reforming? Before you fall off your chair this is not your full proper album cum world tour type reformation more like a special one off to help a friend. New Order are to play two benefit gigs in Europe in aid of their old friend, renowned film producer Michael Shamberg. [...]
Ian Curtis was in his early twenties when he chose to end his life way back in 1980. We never got to see him grow old and or maybe record a bad album nor get to hear about him moving his money to a tax haven as we have with other ageing pop stars. This [...]
If you are a resident of the United Kingdom you may not have heard of Ane Brun yet. In truth, many respected European artists find themselves dropping short of success just before the chalky white cliffs. However, it’s an unfortunate tradition that the Norwegian singer-songwriter is hoping to dispel with her latest single Do You [...]
Dalston based electronic punk noiseniks Teeth have just announced a series of live dates to coincide with the release of new single ‘Care Bear’ their second release for Moshi Moshi Records. The new single is taken from the forthcoming debut album ‘WHATEVER’ due September 2011. The London based trio rose to infamy at breakneck speed [...]
Around a year ago, Ruban Nielson was ready for a comfortable life of anonymity, ‘searching through the job listings’, and paying the bills. Following the explosive onstage breakup of his former band, The Mint Chicks, the world, and indeed Mr. Nielson himself, expected nothing more. Yourstru.ly Presents: UMO “How Can You Luv Me” from [...]
Robert Leeming on Cocteau Voices, a double bill of dance and opera inspired by Jean Cocteau which took place in London recently. It was commissioned by the Royal Opera House and based around the eternal themes of love, rejection & self deception. There is a very obscure Scott Walker track, long forgotten now, except by [...]
Since its first edition in 2007, THE1234 festival has established itself as one of the best places in London to catch up-and-coming bands alongside established cult talent. This year’s festival, taking place in Shoreditch Park on July 9, is as diverse and challenging as ever with headline performances from Black Lips, The Raveonettes and Lydia [...]
THE1234 Festival is as unlike the many mainstream music festivals as you can get which is a very good thing. I now feel a sense of nausea when the latest plug for the next bloated festival hits our inbox. Glastonbury is now so big it can be seen from space and even many aliens are [...]
Imagine you’re a magician and being allowed to bring through some hocus-pocus, a new type of music into the world. So you’re chucking ingredients into your cauldron, a leg of a frog, some wolf spit, the venom from a Black Rattlesnake. A puff of smoke and an eggy smell. The results? This song sounds like [...]
Evans the Death may be a rather morbid band name – it is actually the moniker of the undertaker in Dylan Thomas’s ‘Under Milk Wood’ – but these new young popslinger’s status as one of the most energetic new bands around takes us far from any state of rigamortis. The five piece release their debut [...]
Plastic Fairy Liquid bottles and Django Reinhardt’s finger tips are things unlikely to be associated with the birth of Heavy Metal, that brashly grinding, cherished Brummie drone which has afflicted, or violently garnished, depending on your viewpoint, our airwaves for years. Django famously burnt his hand after his caravan, (shared with Florine Bella, and stuffed [...]
That enigmatic, gothic soulstress PJ Harvey is doing some very special shows later this year. This is following on from the release of her critically acclaimed eighth studio album ‘Let England Shake’. PJ Harvey has announced two new UK live shows for September, coming to Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on 4th and Manchester O2 Apollo [...]
Anti-folk artist Jeffrey Lewis has reanimated in yet another intriguing form. Jeffrey, who writes and illustrates his own comics, has previously worked with folk singer Diane Cluck, Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches, and his brother Jack Lewis. This time he is collaborating with 72 year old folk artist Peter Stampfel who is most commonly [...]
Manimal Vinyl’s latest signing, Extra Classic announce the release of their debut album on 26th September – ‘Your Light Like White Lightning, Your Light Like A Laser Beam’. Going back to the good old 8-track, Extra Classic wanted to capture the sonic quality of old Jamaican recordings so it’s all analogue and vintage equipment from [...]
“The concept of Queen was to be regal and majestic. Glamour was part of us, and we wanted to be dandy,” vowed Freddie Mercury. The singer, an art school graduate, has a truly multi varied history, re-styling clothes, painting, dancing – and using his eye to manage the stage presence of his band. “It was [...]
Florence and the Machine doing Buddy Holly’s classic ‘Not Fade Away’. Now there’s a strange brew. It’s all part of a tribute album to the bespectacled icon himself. It’s also got contributions from such artists as Julian Casablancas, Patti Smith, Modest Mouse, Lou Reed and The Black Keys (plus Paul McCartney but let’s brush over [...]
Planningtorock is the stage persona and creative form of Bolton-born Janine Rostron, whose powerful and haunting electronica was born in Berlin where Janine has lived for the past ten years. Rostron has been playing an array of instruments since she was eight and has been writing music since she was sixteen. And now she [...]
Panda Bear is the solo project of Animal Collective front-man Noah Lennox. The 32 year old was born in The Wire-land of Baltimore, Maryland. His debut solo album was released in 1998 on Washington DC-based label Paw Tracks (formerly known as Soccer Star). Lennox achieved more fame as he joined his Animal Collective cohorts. He and [...]
London is currently enjoying a wave of Parisian culture; we lived in Breton tops, dined solely on macaroons, and re-watched Breathless, but the latest French import comes in a slightly more riske form. This week marks the launch of Paris’ infamous Le Crazy Horse night. Situated in the secretive Supper Club in Notting Hill, the [...]
Elegant, minimalist and deeply spectral – San Francisco drone duo Barn Owl return to tour Europe this Spring to substantial critical acclaim. With an already extensive whistle-stop tour list, the pair will be showcasing music from their most recent release Ancestral Star – their third LP – as well as material from their forthcoming mini [...]
Vogueing with The Prince of England As skinny as a coat hanger and as lithe as an eel, this is underground dancer Nikolas Snode – widely known among the cognoscenti by his sobriquet Prince of England – who kindly introduced me and Spitalfields Life contributing photographer Patricia Niven to his eclectic and glitzy circle of friends [...]
Papercranes, anchored by lead singer and songwriter, Rain Phoenix, and flanked by her revolving cast of collaborators, will release their second album in the UK on the 11th July via Manimal Vinyl (Bat For Lashes, Warpaint, Sister Crayon). Let’s Make Babies in the Woods, is a mesmerizing mix of gritty, psychedelia-tinged folk, propulsive rhythms, and [...]
Summer is upon us, and with it the debut long player from London duo Gum Takes Tooth (Thomas Fuglesang and Jussi Brightmore) is hitting the airwaves. The album may be entitled ‘Silent Cenotaph’, but this is somewhat deceptive – from the off, it is clear that silence won’t feature heavily, as the listener is [...]
Following the critically acclaimed success of their fourteenth studio album Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus, four members of the much celebrated Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds thought it was time to try something a new. So they locked themselves in a studio full of instruments for five days to see what came out the [...]
“Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard..” Printed in tribute to Poly Styrene. She will be missed. Poly Styrene was the iconic lead singer of the vibrant punk band, X-Ray Spex. The band was a breath of fresh air in the late seventies in an oversubscribed genre. Poly sang about the [...]
Gaggle is a very onomatopoeic group name. They have been called a choir, and they do sometimes chant. Their performances are characterised by their collective masse and unapologetic, basic need to evacuate something. Some might see their multitudinous inputs and outputs as some sort of postmodern ironic jolly, but just perhaps they prove that we [...]
Living on an island we all subconsciously know quite a lot about the pros and cons of Island life. But imagine yourself on a different kind of water surrounded land mass – maybe the water here would be a sea of denim and the soundscape would be a brouhaha of laughter and electronic sea-surges. On [...]
White Cube Hong Kong launches with Gilbert and George: The growing internationalisation of art and the arts industry takes another stride forward with the ... David Lynch Coffee or Mr Scruff Brew anyone?: It seems that rock ‘n’ roll and hot beverages do unlikely bedfellows make. A bizarre proliferati... 
Swift dark dead: What happens when you mix a bit of old school goth with some slick new wave? Here are some great pi... 
'New York - New Year's Eve - 1967' Short Fiction By Robert Leeming: A photograph captures a mere moment in time. What are the secrets behind a feigned smile or a flirt... 
Art Rocks: Contemporary Jewellery Exhibition, London: Art Rocks: Contemporary Jewellery Exhibition features some of the finest and most inventive jeweller... Vault - London Arts Festival of Theatre, Film and Music: On the surface, the area around Waterloo station might not seem like such a strange or dark place. H... Unsigned Only - International Music Competition: If you’re a singer, artist or band starting out and you’re looking for that helping hand to lift... Le Crazy Horse - London Burlesque Supper Club: London is currently enjoying a wave of Parisian culture; we lived in Breton tops, dined solely on ma... Get In-Sync with Durex & Win Tickets to VIP Launch: Are you and your partner in-sync? You’ll have to be careful how you put this to your loved one but... 
RAWards – Lawren Alice ‘Visual Artist of the Year’ Arts Awards: Last year we were approached to be main media support for the RAWards arts awards which helps cultiv... 
Our favourite new sneakers from fashion to sportsfield! Vault - London Arts Festival of Theatre, Film and Music: On the surface, the area around Waterloo station might not seem like such a strange or dark place. H... 
The English Drape Suit - Fashion Article: Quiet perfection and sealed lips has been the guiding mantra of Anderson and Sheppard, the Savile Ro... 'New York - New Year's Eve - 1967' Short Fiction By Robert Leeming: A photograph captures a mere moment in time. What are the secrets behind a feigned smile or a flirt... Get In-Sync with Durex & Win Tickets to VIP Launch: Are you and your partner in-sync? You’ll have to be careful how you put this to your loved one but... 
A Fetish for Failure – David Shrigley - London Art Show: David Shrigley’s crude, childlike renderings are humorous, memorable, and often unnerving. Famous ... White Cube Hong Kong launches with Gilbert and George: The growing internationalisation of art and the arts industry takes another stride forward with the ... 
Why doesn’t Tyra & Béyonce call me back? Fashion Shoot: Waiting for that telephone to ring. All glammed up with no place to go. Got myself all sexy and sass... Something for the Fans:
They say you should never meet your idols. Well how about singing with them instead? MasterCard ... Shrag 'Tendons in the Night' Underground Music Video: This energy ball of a song from the band Shrag spits and snarls and flares its nostrils as it heads ... Art Rocks: Contemporary Jewellery Exhibition, London: Art Rocks: Contemporary Jewellery Exhibition features some of the finest and most inventive jeweller...