“In [Joy Division’s] songs, ordinary life achieves an epic grandeur. There’s no bombast or emotional theatrics; instead there’s a modernist starkness as pared down as a Samuel Beckett play.” – Simon Reynolds, The New York Times Joy Division (originally titled Warsaw) formed in Salford, Greater Manchester, in 1976. After a slight re-shuffle on drums, it […]
HUSBANDS JOURNAL
JOURNAL
TOM VERLAINE : JAZZMASTER OF STYLE
“Marquee Moon is a 24-carat inspired work of pure genius, a record finely in tune and sublimely arranged with a whole new slant on dynamics.” – Nick Kent, NME 1974. New York. East Village. CBGB. A young band by the name of Television surface on a dead Sunday night. They hint at what is to […]
BOOTS
“As a band, like a thousand others, we all went to a shoe shop called Anello & Davide anourselves Beatle boots, which were basically Spanish dancing boots. They were a cool thing before the Beatles, but afterwards they were mandatory.” – Mick Fletwood 1837 : birth of the chelsea boot In 1837, Princess Alexandrina Victoria […]
THE TWEED
The river that runs between England and Scotland is the Tweed. By extension, the carded woollen fabrics made on its banks are named after it. Around 1850, the tailor Humann made the first sports suits out of tweed. It was then used to make robust jackets for Scottish farmers and fishermen. This wild wool, which […]
OASIS VS. BLUR
Mike Smith: “Britpop in general encouraged competitiveness – it was a clash between art school traditions and classic British R&B.” England. Mid-1990s. Music was reinvigorated with the rise of Britpop: a thrilling new style which soundtracked youth, subculture and class defiance. Among the big players were Pulp, Suede, Elastica and Supergrass. But the biggest battle […]
THE WESTERN SHIRT
The western shirt appeared at the beginning of the 19th century, during the conquest of the West. The outposts that welcomed the settlers were cosmopolitan; a cultural mix conducive to the creation of the first western shirts. The shirt is the result of a cultural mix: inspired by the traditional Mexican shirts worn by the […]
MANCHESTER 1976-1982
Manchester, late 1970s: cotton mills are closing one after the other, workers’ brick houses gradually give way to concrete housing estates. Manchester has just entered the post-industrial era, and becomes the catalyst for a new musical and aesthetic vision. 1976: Sex Pistols shockwave On June 4th, 1976, the Sex Pistols suddenly filled the cultural vacuum. […]
SHEFFIELD: SOUND AND STYLE TO FILL THE VACCUM
Sheffield is a city of seven hills – rural, bleak and bursting with wavelengths of sound. It cracked the codes of Northern post-punk but it purveyed more: blues, synth-pop, electronica, industrial, dance, techno, indie rock, baroque pop. The style in the city transitioned with the sound. An integral timeline, in order of formation: 1963: DAVE […]
THE BOY-SCOUT SHIRT
The Boy-scouts of America (BSA) are an association founded in 1910 by William D.Boyce. The once small movement quickly became bigger following the two world wars, under the impulsion of a exacerbated patriotic fervour. From the outset, and with the desire of order and thoroughness, a uniform is imposed on the young boyscouts. It is […]
C86: INDIE MUSIC’S ENDURING INFLUENCE
Ex-NME staffer Andrew Collins called it “the most indie thing that ever existed”. C86 was a cassette compilation released by British music magazine NME in 1986. It had two sides: A and B, each with 11 tracks. The bands featured came from Britain’s underground guitar pop scene: all kindred spirits but all largely unknown. C86 […]