college tribune entertainment supplement3.4.12

Neil Jordan talks to Ciara Murphy

Irish Festival Guide City and sound UCD noughties orchestra Dressing for success

music@collegetribune.ie3.4.12MUSIC2

In the latest instal-ment of our series on the inextricabil-ity of a style of music and its city of origin, Martin Gilroy puts the spotlight on the home of Motown, De-troit.

“The runaway success of the label coincided with the rising civil rights movement and its position as a black-owned company promoting exclusively black musicians helped bolster the confi dence of this ever more assertive race”

Apparently, Detroit is home to some pretty impor-tant stuff; Ford Motor Cars, Robocop, the world’s biggest burger... oh, and the world-renowned record company whose promotion of black crossover artists helped alle-viate racial segregation while simultaneously dominating the airwaves of 1960s Amer-ica. Did I mention Robocop?

The Motown record com-pany began as nothing more than an entrepreneurial ven-ture by a disillusioned song-writer. Having experienced moderate success writing for local Detroit acts such as Jackie Wilson throughout the course of the 1950s, De-troit factory operative Berry Gordy Jr. became dismayed with his share of royalties, realising that the truly lucra-tive side of the music busi-ness lay in the hands of the record companies. In 1959, armed with an eight hundred dollar loan from his family and a head full of dreams, Gordy decided to establish the Motown label, sign-ing as his fi rst act Smokey Robinson’s Matadors. 1960 saw Robinson’s band (now redubbed The Miracles) release ‘Shop Around’, fol-lowed closely by the number one hit from the Marvelettes, ‘Please Mr. Postman’; the rest is history. Over the course of the next decade, Motown produced over a hundred top ten singles from exclusively black acts such as the Supremes, the Four Tops and Marvin Gaye, creating a signature variation of soul music whose unique sound earned worldwide success and a truckload of dollars.

But what does that have to do with Detroit? Well, eve-rything; even the name Mo-town refers to the local nick-name, ‘Motortown’, based on the presence of Ford, Gener-al Motors and Chrysler head-quarters in the industrial district. Detroit’s unique cul-ture was central in stimulat-ing the inimitable sound that earned Motown its fame. The aftermath of the Second World War saw a mass mi-gration of black southerners fl ock to the city, attracted by promises of manufacturing jobs and bringing northward the gospel sounds of the Deep South.

“The City’ signifi -cant and relatively black population helped stimulate a vibrant musical cul-ture while the pub-lic schools system boasted a particu-larly progressive musical curricu-lum”

The town was home to an already vibrant jazz scene and, like many cities across the nation, saw the rise of rhythm and blues in the ear-ly 1950s. The convergence of these infl uences was to herald the rise of soul mu-sic; however, Detroit’s gospel tradition had become dis-tinct from that in other cities across America and, com-bined with a focus on popu-

lationship was between city and sound.

Motown’s impressive musical legacy was accom-panied by a particularly po-tent cultural importance, at least partially indebted to its home in industrial Detroit. The runaway success of the label coincided with the ris-ing civil rights movement and its position as a black-owned company promoting exclusively black musicians helped bolster the confi dence of this ever more assertive race. However, the music was also to become active in the alleviation of racial ten-sion. The systematic employ-ment of inoffensive lyrics and catchy melodies, stimulated by the commercialised envi-ronment of the city, helped build the popularity of black artists among white listen-ers, an intentional commer-cial aim which inadvertently had a profound social im-pact. The universal popular-ity of Motown’s acts led to the attraction of both races to concerts which, under the infl uence of the music, even-tually became desegregated. This inadvertent bridging of the racial divide loaded the pedestrian message of Mo-town with distinctly politi-cal overtones, the ubiquitous focus on ‘love’ gaining a new meaning in light of the di-minishing racial divide.

Ironically, the racial com-position of Detroit, so intrin-sic to the success of Motown, also helped stimulate its

lar appeal stimulated by the city’s entrepreneurial atmos-phere, this helped form the basis of the distinct Motown sound. As soul developed across the nation, Motown maintained its idiosyncratic style, owing much to the fact that the label depended on the same small group of in-house songwriters work-ing with the same creative formula. The Motown sound thus became inextricable from its label and, most im-portantly, the city.

The industrial atmosphere of Detroit also played a sig-nifi cant role in the success of Motown. The label was self-consciously run like a factory assembly line, systematically combining the work of the song-writing team, The Funk Brothers (the session band who played on almost all of the label’s releases) and the various acts on the roster to create a sleek fi nal prod-uct. Combined with Gordy’s stringent quality control and ear for commercial potential, the Motown industry became the self-professed ‘Sound of Young America’. However, that the label was such an effi cient body was but a mi-nor factor in contributing to its success; such a record company depends on a pool of highly talented individu-als, fortunately plentiful in Detroit. The city’s signifi -cant and relatively prosper-ous black population helped stimulate a vibrant musi-cal culture, while the pub-lic school system boasted a particularly progressive mu-sical curriculum. These fac-tors, unique to the city, fed into the development of the Motown label, illustrating just how inextricable the re-

eventual departure from the city. The poorer ghettos were the site of signifi cant racial tension, occasionally break-ing into violent episodes such as the race riots of 1967; this particular occasion saw the company receive a number of threats for its attempts to attract white listeners. Such increasingly violent threats combined with Gordy’s wish-es to branch out into the fi lm industry prompted the even-tual relocation of Motown to Los Angeles. The label en-joyed a further burst of suc-cess with the release of Mar-vin Gaye’s 1971 album What’s Going On?, but the dizzy heights of the 1960s were never to be relived. This may be attributed to the decline of the civil rights movement, or maybe it was just the candle burning out; whatever the cause, Motown’s move from its home city signalled its de-cline as a cultural and musi-cal force.

Detroit still boasts a strong music scene, receiv-ing recognition as the home of techno and boasting such artistic exports as diverse as Eminem and Carl Craig. However, though many have tried, no-one has ever been able to recapture the Mo-town sound; it is a product of its generation, some would say the soundtrack to the ris-ing hope of black America in the 1960s, and it’s a damn good beat for marching to.

City and SoundPLAYLIST:Rebekah Rennick

Simian Ghost – YouthIn 1972, Sweden gave us Abba. Forty years later, they’ve produced a group with contagiously addic-tive tunes, minus the jew-eled attire of the Eurovision verterans. Smooth guitar riffs and even smoother vo-cals from this tightnit trio sweep you up into a high spirited chorus that make you believe that these three must be the grooviest guys around.

Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know (Dumb-child Remix)With radio stations lather-ing themselves in this song, fi nding a remix that actually does this genuinely beau-tiful song justice, but still brings something fresh to the table, wasn’t going to be easy. However, the enigma that is the youtube account dumbchildmusic has done just that. Remixes are dif-fi cult to sell to others, but this one is a keeper.

Dananananakroyd – Black WaxSelf proclaimed ‘Fight Pop’ Glaswegian band, Dana-nananakroyd caused some petty controversy between hipster-children-in-the-know and computer game fans by allowing this song to be part of FIFA 10’s tracklist. Aside from such pressing issues, mainly dealt with through Youtube comments, the thunderous drums and guitars that seem to spring from nowhere in this track grip you and throw you headfi rst into the sweaty, crowded gig setting that it creates.

The Men – Open Your HeartBrooklyn born group The Men have produced a track that relives the scratchy, chaotic guitar playing of early Libertines and the whining vocals of Smash-ing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan - an interesing combination that somehow works very well. ‘Open Your Heart’, a messy proclamation of love, that somewhat captures the awkward emotions of fi rst heartache, envelopes your eardrums and weaves you through the crashing strums of each guitar string, until the abrupt end leaves you wanting more.

Martin Gilroy

By Daniel Nolan By Rebekah Rennick

By Graham Luby

By Geneva PattisonBy Geneva Pattison

By � omas Cullen

music@collegetribune.ie

Miike Snow - Happy To You

M Ward-A Wasteland Companion

Bear in Heaven - I Love You, It’s Cool

The Mars Volta – Noctourniquet

High on Fire - De Vermiis Mysteriis

Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded

MUSIC

If you’re not already famil-iar with the Swedish in-die-pop collective Miike

Snow, this album should provide you with a pleasant introduction.

The trio’s new album Hap-py To You released on March 23rd through Downtown Re-cords, delivers a more artis-tic experimental sound than their self-titled debut album

Portland singer-song-writer M.Ward releases his highly anticipated

seventh studio album this week, which is precipitated by his ever-growing reputa-tion on the indie/folk music scene.

Ward is perhaps best known for his collaborations with singer turned actress Zooey Deschanel in the band

Bear in Heaven’s third album continues their strong record to date,

without wildly altering their sound. It helps itself to a slice of the zeitgeist with its grandly romantic, dreamily detached style, reminiscent of last year’s Zonoscope from Cut Copy, or the electronic cuts from the highly fashion-able Drive soundtrack.

of 2009 and will cradle the eardrums of any connoisseur of chilled electro sounds.

Collaborating with the likes of the avant -garde god-dess that is Lykke Li might secure the group with more well deserved air play.

Tracks like ‘The Wave’ with systematic thuds of a marching band-esque snare drum and ‘Devil’s Work’

She and Him, which helped catapult his music into the limelight; having been fea-tured heavily on the sound-track to indie schlop 500 Days of Summer.

Once again on this record, the songwriter’s delicate chord progressions coupled with his tranquil vocals can create both cheerful and chilling atmospheres in his

However, the band’s songwriting chops make it make it a worthwhile release. The Refl ection of You fairly typifi es this, with its bright, shimmering synths and lilt-ing melody.

On tracks such as ‘Noon Moon’ and ‘Sinful Nature’, the album also incorporates other less typical instru-mentation in a manner that

breaking into fl ashes of French horn introduce an orchestral feel to this pre-dominantly modern sound-ing album.

Even if you’re not a fan or fond of this type of mu-sic, a tune defi nitely worth a checking out (or download-ing) is the eerie, extra-terres-trial feeling ‘Black Tin Box’ featuring fellow Swede Lykke Li as mentioned above.

No tracks in particular to avoid in this musical as-semblage, however I would recommend you listen to it on a sunlit UCD lake day, lounging in the rays, for the optimum appreciation fac-tor….a chilled beer wouldn’t go astray too.

music, an aspect which is noticeable on his entire dis-cography.

But therein lays this al-bum’s main problem. It is essentially more of the same formula from an artist stuck in the quicksand of the safe zone.

But despite M.Ward’s re-luctance to try a new musi-cal direction, the record still contains some gems. Open-ing track ‘Clean Slate’ sets the soulful tone for the al-bum, whilst ‘The First Time I Ran Away’ is an incredibly eerie track.

Deschanel even pops up to take the lead vocals for the track ‘My Sweetheart’. Although lacking new direc-tion, this is still a satisfying folk album that’s worth a lis-ten.

sometimes recalls Destroy-er’s latest, the terrifi c Kaputt. ‘Sinful Nature’ is one of the record’s stronger tracks, and is refreshing in its relatively confrontational style, allow-ing it to stand out from the more restrained tracks.

While the tracks remain at worst decent throughout (arguably with the exception of the relative dud ‘Space Re-mains’), the lack of any great diversity between the major-ity means the album begin to drag slightly in its fi nal third.

It also tails off fairly limp-ly with the closing ‘Sweet-ness and Sickness’.

Overall, the album fails to reach Bear in Heaven’s pre-vious peaks, but does just enough to retain interest for their future endeavours.

Using dogmatic skill, Omar Rodriguez –Lopez the multi-in-

strumentalist, mastermind and producer behind The Mars Volta has created an album fi lled with innovative and complex sounds.

Noctourniquet is the sixth studio album from the Texan quintet and promises to sat-isfy keen prog-rock audio-

Regular as they may be nowadays, the con-sistent high quality of

High on Fire’s work always makes a new record an event to look forward to.

The recent resurrection of founder Matt Pike’s fa-bled previous outfi t, Sleep, has this time rendered news of the release of De Vermiis Mysteriis small potatoes- a

William Shakespeare once said “If mu-sic be the food of

love, play on”, and if that is the case, it’s anyone’s guess what type of metaphorical delicacy Nicki Minaj is serv-ing us with this installment. Roman Reloaded is every-thing you can imagine from a woman whose entire life is a pantomime; corny.

philes in full. The dominant opener, ‘The Whip Hand’ is a dark ominous piece, dense in guitar overdubbing that doesn’t fall shy of electron-ic hums, fl attering Cedric Blixer- Zavala’s high pitched howling vocals.

‘Empty Vessels Make The Loudest Sound’ sees a com-plimentary bond transpire between Lopez’s incessant

pity, then, as this is quite possibly their best album yet.

To classify High on Fire’s apocalyptic rattle as ‘stoner rock’ would be unfair; while simpler in arrangement than the likes of Mastodon or Ky-lesa, HOF have honed their sound over the course of six albums to push the bounda-ries of what a power trio are capable of.

Twenty two tracks make up this ‘composition’ and I would like to hear the justi-fi cation of those who enjoyed it. Supposedly this album is the ‘real Nicki Minaj’, and if that’s the case, she’s really put up a high perception of herself as an artist with such thought provoking lyrics as; “And so I pray you burn in hell and you never fi nd the

layering of effects with the fabled lyrical arrangement, especially the chorus.

The manic leading single ‘The Malkin Jewel’ throws a strange vaudevillian spanner into the works, with lyrics like “my ether turns fl esh to gravel” and an intro so un-melodic in the classical sense that average curious listen-ers wouldn’t give it thirty seconds of their time, but hey, guess what?

It works. Contrary to the band’s previous albums, the songs on Noctourniquet are shorter, which could be seen as a disheartening element in the eyes of deep seethed fans, or a blessing to us who pos-sess the attention span of a small insect.

Overall, a very gratifying listen.

Pike has surpassed him-self on this album, his riffs and fi lthy, chaotic soloing eclipsing his stellar work on 2010’s Snakes for the Divine.

Drummer Des Kensel does a phenomenal job here as well- his tribalistic bat-tery on ‘Serums of Liao’ and ‘Fertile Green’ compliments Pike’s Lovecraft-themed verse nicely, and is given full breathing space by Kurt Bal-lou’s production job.

If De Vermiis… is to be considered “stoner rock”, it surpasses anything Sleep ever did. Matt Pike has struck gold once again.

ocean” and who could forget “You a stupid hoe, You a you a stupid hoe, etc.’ Amazing.

There’s obviously a mar-ket for artists like Nicki Mi-naj, but this mindless jab-bering of a plastic woman is completely vacuous. When songs such as Minaj’s ‘Ro-man Holiday’ and ‘Whip It’ on the album lack substance to the extent they leave you constantly facepalming, it’s never a good sign. Whatever happened to well crafted lyrics provoking something more meaningful in the lis-tener?

Or maybe, I’m the ‘stupid hoe’ she seems to have such an issue with.

33.4.12

music@collegetribune.ie

43.4.12

Too much of a good thing, or matches made in heaven?

MUSIC

Supergroups are annoying and self-indulgent endeav-ours, forums for already huge egos to swell and ex-pand to otherworldly lev-els and let’s face it…. most of the music they create is a horrendous atrocity that should have never seen the light of day, right? WRONG. As narcissistic and conceited we feel they are, some of the best music around today is created by bands, deemed by the press, as ‘Supergroups’. So ok, you do have Velvet Revolver who just look like embarrassing dads trying to relive their youth in con-stricting leather pants and you have Journey (includes members of Santana) who’s lyrics can be heard being bel-lowed down Dublin’s vomit laden streets at 4am. People forget that well established bands like the Foo Fighters are actually a Supergroup, with Dave Grohl previously serving as drummer for Nir-

vana, Taylor Hawkins work-ing with Alanis Morissette and the recently reunifi ed member Pat Smear original-ly from the L.A based punk band The Germs. They make exceptional music and have been doing so for just over two decades. Their formula works, but they were never associated with the rather somewhat derogatory term, of Supergroup. We see new-fangled bands such as The Dead Weather fi nding success while tak-ing pride in the fact that they’re also a Supergroup. Although the members are all involved in some pretty eccentric, innovative and feted groups, we can still appreciate the sheer might put into each performance. Jack White (Raconteurs, The White Stripes) seemed to be the puppet master (in the nicest sense) behind this successful congregation of talent and they’re deter-mination and thought put into both albums released so far is certainly appar-

ent. Another strong willed and unwavering creator to envelop himself into the Su-pergroup category is Blur frontman Damon Albarn. Although the band does not have a tangible name, bass-ist Paul Simonon formerly of The Clash and past Verve guitarist Simon Tong, with Albarn fi rmly at the helm fashioned a powerful album in The Good, The Bad and the Queen. These guys get a high from beginning with a blank canvas. It’s like a bad habit they can’t quit. Despite the mild dig above about these musicians put-ting up a somewhat arrogant front, a wholly positive fac-tor to do with Supergroups is that these people have an innate need to craft and de-velop their skills, and these side projects give them an outlet for change. It is the seamless fusing of different abilities and styles that really impress and when you look back on how the term Su-pergroup came to be coined

you really can appreciate in full the scale of the explosive evolution in sound and mu-sic production. It’s diffi cult to fathom that Cream, who were dubbed the original Su-pergroup in the 1960’s, can be connected in any way to

artists like the hip-hop ambi-tion of Child Rebel Soldier, consisting of Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell Williams. These are all mu-sicians that have, egotisti-cally or not, looked past their creative constraints and,

for the most part, have pro-duced music to stand up with their previous output (just don’t mention Lulu). Super-groups? I’m a fan.

UCD Noughties Orchestra to perform ‘Hits of the Noughties’

Aonghus McGarry spoke to one of the organisers of the most interesting musical event to take place in UCD for years

An orchestra consisting of, and managed entirely by, UCD students is set to per-form the ‘Hits of the Nough-ties’ in aid of mental health charity Aware. James Hard-ing, bassoon player within the orchestra and one of the organisers of the event, spoke to The Siren about the event and what to expect on the night; “We have a full orchestra consisting of about 50 players, playing brass, woodwind strings and per-cussion. We know that clas-sical music wouldn’t appeal to a lot of students and we hope this event would show off what the orchestra can do, as it is full of extremely talented musicians.” Asked about the idea behind the event, James said himself “and Dave (Moloney) were at a music presentation as part of our studying of the theory of music. There we got talk-ing about the possibility of

running this event as Dave’s presentation was based on arranging music for an orchestra. I had experience in this fi eld as in secondary school I helped arrange a Coldplay song for the school orchestra.” A similar event was held last year by the Trinity Or-chestra to great success, in which the album Discovery by Daft Punk was played in its entirety, and became a viral hit. James is keen to emphasise his respect for their endeavour and it’s organisers, but also empha-sises the difference between the two events “They usually do albums from specifi c artists and often have a pit band. We are just going to use instruments from the orchestra and are doing hits from 2000 onwards.” Hav-ing seen the UCD Symphony Orchestra perform, they are undoubtedly an extremely talented set of musicians, and although this ensemble is of a different nature, If this event can live up to its near-equivalent in Trinity, it will be a massive success.The event, held in conjunc-tion with Arts Soc, is the fi rst

of its kind in UCD, James added that “This orchestra has been created purely for the purpose of this concert. There are many players in it from the UCD Sym-phony Orchestra but it is a different thing entirely”

and that the work that has gone into organising such a large scale event has been considerable, coupled with the diffi cult task of translating traditionally arranged popular music into an orchestral setting,

and that “every song has it’s challenges when being arranged for an orchestra, no matter how simple it may originally seem. It takes anywhere from 6 to 10 hours arrange a song for an orchestra properly as you have to keep it interesting to the audience, and also to the players, fi guring out small little things can be a diffi culty but it’s all very enjoyable”.All organisers involved are to be commended for their innovative way of raising money for an important cause, and for the meagre price to students one gets the benefi ts of a brilliantly arranged orchestra and that warm fuzzy feeling from giving a few euro to a noble cause. It is also heartening to see the musical talent that UCD possesses being showcased to a wider audience than may have been previously, and a contemporary set of songs arranged in a classi-cal manner can only have interesting results.James Harding adds that this is “Popular music being played by an orchestra and

sung by brilliant singers, with a concert like atmos-phere. It is a fi rst for UCD and something not to be missed.”

Tickets are on sale now in the Arts Block at a cost of 6 euro for students and 10 euro for everyone else. The event takes place in the Astra Hall in the Student Centre on the 11th of April at 7:45.

See your name here! Write for The Siren’s Music section! Contact Music editor Aon-ghus Mc Garry at music@col-legetribune.ie

GENEVA PATTISON

AONGHUS MCGARRY

AONGHUS MCGARRY

arts@collegetribune.ie

53.4.12

ARTS

be looking at its infl uence on the world. Catch 22 is a book which has imprinted itself into the English language. The fact that is has changed the way we speak and write. The catch 22 as a phrase is one which addresses a no win situation, in other words you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

Focusing on outside plaudits and coining of a term though don’t allow you to truly appreciate what it is that makes this novel so fantastic. The novel which is set during the second world war at a US airbase on a small island off the coast of Italy follows a 28 year old bombardier named John Yossarian who’s main goal in the war is to stay alive. Hardly an incomprehensible desire, yet it is quite a diffi cult one to realise when one is fi ghting in a war and is hardly helped when your squadron is commanded by someone like Colonel Cathcart who “had courage and never hesitated to volunteer his men for any target available”.

The plot of the novel then isn’t one with an overall narrative arc, rather a way of refl ecting the lives of

You’re a college student. You’re reading the Arts section. You should by all accounts be an intelligent, capable person. So, the question is…have you read this yet?

Every issue The College Tribune will bring you a featured literary work that you should read in order to solidify your position as an intelligent, to-be-taken- seriously academic.

(If you’ve stumbled upon this section on your way to Sport, this goes for you as well!)

So get your spectacles out and read on.

Catch 22 – Joseph HellerWhy should you read

Catch 22? While it is certainly a very highly thought of book, frequently appearing in the top ten lists of greatest books of the 20th century what does it really mean and why should you read it as opposed to hundreds of other “classics”? What is it that makes Catch 22 so important that it warrants reading over other titles? One way of justifying it would

the soldiers who fought it while also approaching the harrowing subject matter with a biting satirical wit and an appreciation for the absurd. This appreciation of the absurd while also of course being so critical of the bureaucratic systems which create such absurdity is what gives Catch 22 much of its

charm. The titular Catch 22 is memorably explained when Yossarian is asking to be grounded as he is so terrifi ed by the idea of fl ying anymore missions “There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specifi ed that a concern for one’s safety in the face of dangers that were real and

immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fl y more missions. Orr would be crazy to fl y more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he were sane he had to fl y them.

If he fl ew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.” Yossarian’s whistle in awe of the ridiculous yet logical nature of the clause is a way which the author and even the reader manage to be present in the protagonist as looking at it as a source of absurdist humour is the only way for Yossarian not to become insane.

These paradoxes then can be seen as quite central to the novel yet they are not the only source of humour with one notable source of humour being Milo Minderbender the mess hall offi cer for the island. Milo is a striking satire on the privatisation of

war as he with his “syndicate” makes huge profi ts in the black market and eventually bombing his own airfi eld as he is contracted to do it by the Germans. He escapes treason charges due to his reason being capitalism which is obviously a biting attack on the McCarthy era which was ongoing while Heller was writing the book.

This book is not just a humorous black satire though, as in contrast to the absurd and ridiculous circumstances that the characters fi nd themselves in there is the contrast with the very real threat of death. As the novel progresses the majority of Yossarian’s friends begin to vanish from the novel while the detestable and insane characters carry on and continue to succeed. The very striking contrasts between the episodes of humour and heartbreak are what make this book not just an intelligent and witty satire but one of the all time great books as it confronts the loss of humanity which is forced onto us in not just times of war but in an increasingly bureaucratic world.

Have You Read This Yet?EOGHAN O’ RIAIN

The Hunger Games is a good fi lm. It is not a great fi lm, it is not

a classic fi lm but it is a good fi lm. Using your powerful perceptive skills you can probably read the surprise behind this statement but surely that’s understand-able?

Everything indicated that The Hunger Games was go-ing to be the next Twilight; it was another adaptation of a teen novel where the “pretty-but-not-too-pretty” teenage heroine gets stuck in a love triangle and inexplicably every handsome chap she makes eye contact with on the bus falls irrevocably in love with her.

Nobody (except the die-hard fans) could have ex-pected that The Hunger Games would make such a good fi lm. A successful fi lm - yes, but a good fi lm? Who saw that coming? Turns out fans were right all along.

nothing new but District Twelve, where our heroine hails from, is beautifully por-trayed, contrasting new tech-nologies with the essence of the Deep South.

There is a great support-ing cast with Woody Har-rilson and Elizabeth Banks giving it socks in wigs but it is the two young leads who steal the show vying for your affection as you try and pick which one you hope survives.

Lawrence gives an amaz-ing performance, ensuring Katniss comes across as hard but not unfeeling, with no hesitations about killing, fo-cussing only on her need to survive and to protect her family.

Katniss is a hunter, a war-rior and she takes no prison-ers. When Peeta expresses his hope to remain true to himself and his beliefs throughout the games, Kat-niss replies “I can’t afford to think like that”.

The fi lm doesn’t shy away from the fact that children

Imagine Japanese cult-classic Battle Royale with added Hollywood-style ro-mance, glossy hair and a touch of leg waxing and you’ve got The Hunger Games.

The fi lm is set in a dysto-pian future America where the twelve “districts” of Panem pay tribute to the rul-ing “Capitol” by packing off a gang of teenagers every year to battle to the death on live television.

Katniss Everdeen (Jen-nifer Lawrence) volunteers to be her district’s female tribute in place of her little sister and fi nds herself head-ing off to the games (and cer-tain death) alongside Josh Hutcherson’s Peeta but leav-ing behind her handsome friend Gale.

This is a world where children are forced to kill each other for sport and Lenny Kravitz runs around in gold eyeliner giving out make-overs. The look of the Capitol, a futuristic city is

The Hunger GamesAIFRIC NI RUAIRC are dying. There will be

violence and Katniss under-stands this.

Despite his charm and in-nocence, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta seems an odd choice at fi rst for a romantic lead, he’s still quite baby-faced and known mainly for his roles in kid’s fi lms.

He is hardly a heart-throb, whereas Robert Pat-tinson in Twilight made everyone from your pre-teen sister to your Great-Auntie Maisie fall in love with him, Hutcherson is the type of boy Great-Auntie Maisie will be offering sweets to. Your pre-teen sister might still like him though.

Happily Liam Hemsworth (younger brother of Chris “Thor” Hemsworth) turns up as Gale, Katniss’ jeal-ous friend from home, with a face so beautiful poor old Maisie may have to hobble off for a lie-down.

The Hunger Games has brilliant performances and a great premise which sends

us off questioning the future of reality television and the multiple ways in which the media is manipulating us. Despite this it is restricted by its young fan-base and never quite lives up to its own hype,

it’s never violent, viscous, tragic or romantic enough. Apparently there are three more fi lms on the way and hopefully they’ll be able to make the transition from a good fi lm to a great one.

arts@collegetribune.ie

63.4.12

Sea Sessions Surf and Music Festival

A wide variety of music acts have been announced for Donegal’s biggest music festival which is held every year in Bundoran.

This year’s line-up boasts well known acts such as The Kaiser Chiefs, Happy Mon-days and the Coronas along with various other dance, hip-hop and indie artists.

The location boasts al-luring ocean scenery and is within the boundaries of a pleasant coastal town.

The surfi ng orientated event site is located be-side the seashore and of-fers many activities such as BMX, football and surf-ing competitions to keep festival-goers entertained throughout the weekend.

The festival camping is only a three minute walk away from the main event site, and is located near shops, pubs, restaurants and nightclubs which help people satisfy their needs

and wants throughout the weekend.

The event is held over three nights and with great acts and affordable ticket prices it is easily one of the best alternative music festi-vals in the country.

Dates: June 29th -July 1st

Price: Day Ticket €50, Weekend Ticket €88.50

With the cancelation of this year’s Oxegen festival many students will be looking for an alternative. The Siren have complied a selec-tion of some of the lesser known but very well run, good value festi-vals around the country this summer.

Galway Arts Fes-tival

Ireland’s biggest interna-tional arts festival returns this summer with many mu-sic, theatre, art and comedy events being provided over a two week period. The festi-val was fi rst started in 1978, and now has an outstanding reputation for showcasing the best of Irish and interna-tional arts. This year Blondie, James Vincent McMorrow, Lisa Hannigan and Bressie are scheduled to perform at various locations in the city, whilst popular comedians David O Doherty and Jarleth Regan will also be entertain-ing audiences during the festival. The annual Macnas parade is a high energy and atmospheric spectacle that is one of the main highlights of the festival. The event also attracts acts and audiences from abroad with 27% of the people at the festival last year coming from overseas. The social and cultural life during the

festival is astounding, and is one of many reasons that Galway should be amongst any festival-goers lists this summer, especially if arts is your type f thing.

Tickets: Prices vary for each event, Pay as you enter

Dates: 16th-29th of July

Cahersiveen Festival of Music and the Arts

Cahersiveen is a picturesque coastal town located on the Ring of Kerry.The festival has attracted some big acts this year including Mundy, who will be performing an open air concert in the middle of the town on the Friday night, Ryan Sheri-dan who will be perform-ing on the Saturday, and a Gareth Brooks tribute band “Friends in Low Places” who will close the festival on the Sunday.

Aswell as the main acts performing on the festi-val stage throughout the weekend there will be live music in all of the town’s pubs, which stay open into the early hours of the morn-ing, and students have two nightclubs to choose from. On Friday night a massive fi reworks display will take place along the banks of the town’s river.The weekend offers plenty to do for families and students alike. Entertainment during the day includes street en-tertainers and the infamous barman’s race which will be followed this year by a

7arts@collegetribune.ie3.4.12

samba marching band, to create an even better festival atmosphere. You can also enjoy a complimentary pint of Guinness while sampling some local Oysters available on the Saturday, and for the more active, hill-walks and other activities will be organized.The musicians amongst you are welcome to enter the busking competition held on the Saturday and art-ists of all genres and styles are invited to display their art along the walls of the O’Connell Church (named after Daniel O’Connel who was born in the town).This

has been a gateway to suc-cess for many artists in the past. Prices : Armbands cost 10 euro and grant access to almost everywhere

Dates: August Bank Holi-day weekend, 3rd 4th & 5th

Dunfanaghy Jazz & Blues Festival

And now for something different. Tired of electro, dance and hip-hop? why not head up to he fi fth annual Dunfanaghy Jazz & Blues Festival which will take place from Thursday 13th September - Sunday 16th September 2012. The line up of musicians set to play at this year’s event will be bigger and better. After a successful four years which saw jazz and blues musicians perform a series of free con-certs in the popular Donegal town, the organisers are expecting even more music fans to visit Dunfanaghy for the 5th festival in September 2011.The Dunfanaghy Jazz & Blues Festival will feature a series of free live gigs from 24 bands in 10 different music stages in pubs and bars throughout the village of Dunfanaghy and extend-ing to Creeslough for the third time. Donegal is known for it’s rugged beauty and Dunfa-

naghy is no exception. Located between the hills and the Atlantic Ocean Dunfanaghy boasts a Blue Flag beach, the spectacular Hornhead cliffs and much more. So if the craic agus ceoil is getting too much, there is always something different to do.

Price : Free entry

Dates : 13th September - 16th September 2012.

Belsonic 2012

Yea, this one is the biggest of our selections, but it does represent great value for moneyeturns to the unique surroundings of Belfast’s Custom House Square for a two week period this August! A hugely successful Northern Irish music event, Belsonic in association with ABSOLUT is set to bring an array of world class talent to this beautiful Victorian Square in the heart of the city’s revitalised and historic Cathedral Quarter.Among the fi rst phase of this year’s headline announce-ments are Tom Jones, Skrillex Two Door Cinema Club, Madness, James Mor-rison & David Guetta. Two Door Cinema Club will also be joined by special guests Noah & The Whale, while many more headline and support act announcements are expected in the coming weeks.For the money pent in one of Irelands most vibrant cities with cheap drinks and ac-comodationn being frequent

and affordable, Belsonic offers fantastic value for money in comparison to other festivals of it’s size and stature. Tickets are selling out fast with David guetta’s night sold out already

Price : ranges from 20-30 euro per night of your choice

Dates: 15th to 26th Au-gust 2012

Craic agus Ceol

arts@collegetribune.ie

83.4.12

ARTS“This country is so small. The only es-cape is through one’s imagination.”

Speaking about making the transition from fi lm to television, Jordan

admits that it was lack of money rather than original intent that lead him to make the move; “I had written the Borgias as a fi lm, and found it impossible to fi nance. So when a cable series was sug-gested, it seemed exciting to me.

I began expanding the script, and placed back all of the possible scenes I had cut, to get it down to feature length. Then the possibility of a large, 40 hour long fi lm emerged.” Jordan, one of many fi lm directors making his way to the small screen, Martin Scorsese, Michael Mann and Gus Van Sant to name but a few, admits that there are some advantages to working on television. “The cable series format is actu-ally better for some types of material – historical fi ctions, for example. Also, cable is the only place at present where challenging writing is even considered. The world of movies is shrinking by the minute. A lot of people are fl ocking to cable series, ac-tors, writers, directors, be-cause of this.”

Not only content to delve into the worlds of fi lm and television, Jordan is also an accomplished author (The Past, Shade) with his re-cent book, ‘Mistaken’ get-ting great reviews among the press. One of the main comments that re-occurs in relation to ‘Mistaken’ is the book’s accurate portrayal of Dublin as a place, and of Dubliners as people.

When asked if he strived to always stay true to Ire-land, and representations of Ireland, Jordan stated that he did not but that he “wanted to paint a portrait of the world of my youth. I don’t really remember this priest-ridden place every-body writes about.

The city I grew up in was one of the most elegant places in the world. Its grad-ual destruction began in the 70’s.”

Not only represented in his literary works, Ireland, and Irish issues are a com-mon theme and backdrop for his most famous cin-ematic works. In fi lms such as ‘The Butcher Boy’, ‘The Crying Games’ and ‘Mi-chael Collins’, Irish history and culture is an important backdrop. Rather than at-tempting to constantly frame Ireland and ‘Irish-ness’ in a certain way Jordan believes that “what’s more important is to write what’s true.

I don’t think artists should try to represent anything in particular.” One could argue that this is the reason why his work is so successful both at home and abroad. Jordan creates work in a way that is both true to the people he is representing but timeless in a way that generations and nationalities all across the globe can continue to enjoy.

When asked if he pre-ferred Irish actors, or did he try to include Irish actors as much as possible he stated, “Irish actors are perennially good.” One of the special and enjoyable aspects of Jordan’s work is his ability to make accessible, what could be seen as inaccessi-ble.

One of his most fa-mous fi lms, ‘ M i c h a e l C o l l i n s ’ , b r o u g h t the story of the Easter Rising

and the Irish Civil War into the sitting rooms of a new generation. I asked him was he conscious of this and if so was it diffi cult to tick the boxes of what makes a great, entertaining fi lm and also re-main true to a history that is precious to so many.

Jordan replied that “Mi-chael Collins was a very specifi c fi lm, as much about the presence of violence in Irish po-litical culture when I made it, as in Col-lins’ time. I wanted to tell a very specifi c story there, about a man who built an armed force, and found it almost im-possible to de-com-mission it.

To make an inter-esting fi lm about his-torical events, one has to choose one’s themes, and stick to

them. If I had made a ca-ble version of that story, as I’m doing with the Borgias, I could have included much more material, many more themes. But the fi lm I want-ed to make was about the subject of political violence, the reasons for it and the con- sequences of it.

W h a t

was interesting about the ex-perience was the public dia-logue it gave rise to.”

Jordan’s time in UCD was important in framing his literary background, when asked, if he thinks the edu-cation he received in UCD allowed him an avenue into the successful career he has today, he responded that “There was a great history department then, and a re-ally rigorous department of English. The creative end of things was not really consid-ered, which is the big change from then to now.”

When asked what advice he would give to students presently who would like to follow in his footsteps he stated that “The cultural world is changing so rapidly, it is really hard to say.

The In- ternet is changing eve-

r y thing, book publish-ing, fi lm production, mu-

sic and journalism. I would say, fi nd some

way to grapple with that,

a n d keep

culture alive.”Jordan’s most recent pro-

duction ‘Byzantium’ delves into the fantastical land of vampires and is a return to the supernatural.

This is not the fi rst time we’ve seen Jordan deal with vampires and the supernatu-ral, in ‘Interview With The Vampire’ we saw Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Antonio Ban-deras and Irish actor Stephen Rea take to the big screen for what was a huge success.

When asked if he liked getting away from making

realist fi lms and getting his teeth (pardon the pun) into something a little more su-pernatural? He responded that “I think my interest in the supernatural comes very specifi cally from my Irish background. Stories from be-yond the grave, so to speak. When I grew up, the culture was full of them.

The Gothic, non-realist tradition in Irish literature is so strong. It is only re-cently that the realistic novel has emerged in Ireland, as a force to be reckoned with.”

Irish artists are truly some-thing that we are proud of.Despite the diffi culties we are all facing now, Irish peo-

p l e always seem to re-main invested and

proud of their own culture and their own artists.One of the most im-p o r - tant ques-tions I asked Jor- dan if Ireland

still inspired him creatively. His response; “The

problem, and the beauty of Ireland, is that one is forced to live in one’s mind. The paraly- s i s that Joyce spoke about in Dubliners is still a force eve-rywhere. The

country is so small. The only

escape is through one’s imagination.”

Neil Jordan is an academy award winning (The Crying Game - Best Original Screenplay) fi lm and television director from Co. Sligo. Previous-ly a UCD Student (Irish history and English literature) and best known for fi lms such as The Butcher Boy, The Crying Game, Michael Collins and Interview with the Vampire, Jordan talks to Ciara Murphy of the College Tribune about his new television series, The Borgias, his most recent book; Mistaken, his new fi lm Byzantium and what it means to be Irish.

arts@collegetribune.ie

93.4.12

ARTS

is coming. “Game of Thrones”

features several characters fi ghting for the crown of the mythical “Westeros”. They all have claims which they believe entitle them to the position. Politics is a strong theme and throughout the season we saw many of the lead men and women lying, betraying and fi ghting in order to survive.

Outside of this, there is also a supernatural element for the audience to sink their teeth into. Beyond the wall in the North we are told something is stirring and that leaves us wondering and excitedly waiting for every detail we are presented with.

There was always going to be a solid fanbase for fantasy and action but there is so much more to this show. The show runners, David Benioff and D.B Weiss, spend more time emphasizing characters and their story arc than anything else.

The reward in this is that the characters are presented in a way that makes the very relatable to a contemporary audience, despite its medieval Europe-esque setting. Another invaluable

Television is getting better, there’s no doubt about it anymore, with HBO, AMC and Showtime allowing for a renaissance in great programming we are truly living in a golden age for television. Following this we have been struck by the fact that we aren’t doing enough to promote these great shows in our arts and culture section. Starting with this issue of the Siren we will be bringing you reasons to watch television instead of reading books. It’s never been so good to be a couch potato.

“Game of Thrones” was one of the most talked about shows on TV last year, with fans and critics alike captivated by what became a cultural phenomenon. Trailers have been released over the last number of weeks previewing the award winning series’ return to the small screen.

If you are among the unlucky few that still haven’t checked out the “Game of Thrones” experience, I urge you to right that wrong. April

asset at their disposal is the fact that they work closely with George R.R Martin, whose acclaimed book series “A Song of Ice and Fire” is what the series is based upon, and that helps immensely with dealing with the fans and bringing the adaption to life.

“Game of Thrones” is an

experience like no other you will fi nd on TV. Its remarkable look, cinematography and wonderful musical score are unmatched by any programme.

It has a very fi lm like feel and draws obvious comparison with “The Lord of the Rings”. Unlike the modern 20 plus episode

orders of most modern series, HBO adopts short episode orders for their shows and this suits “Game of Thrones” perfectly.

With only a small number of episodes the characters and stories will always remain fresh and interesting. There is such a wealth of detail packed into each episode that it is impossible to miss one. Another fantastic quality is its unpredictability.

Most shows, for longevity sake, cannot afford to lose main characters and usually keep their main plot points until pivotal moments – usually near the season fi nale. But the “Thrones” writing staff don’t need to worry about running out of material because each season is based on a novel and Martin has written a number of books with a wealth of characters, places and events.

One thing which has had fans and critics’ alike raving about is the opening credits. The credits are usually tedious and the bane of most audience members viewing. But not with “Thrones”, here they have developed opening credits that is actually more

interesting than most TV series.

The imagination and attention to detail devoted to the credits is like nothing you will have ever witnessed before. With an ear pleasing musical theme, you are taken on a journey as the camera pans over the intricate map of Westeros. It also highlights the setting of the particular episode. It is the perfect way to start and episode and never fails to leave you excited for what is about to come.

It is a crime to miss this crowd pleasing costume drama –with all the elements of war, honour, pride, lust, power and even humour (especially from Peter Dinklage’s Tyrion Lanaster who steals every scene he is in) that keep an audience enthralled. A series has never seemed so excruciatingly short as when season one ended on the brink of war.

Lords were beheaded, kings killed and dragons were born. Catch up while you can because on April 1st GOT returns to SkyAtlantic to reveal the repercussions and continue the journey.

Have You Seen This Yet? - Game Of ThronesDonal Lucey

Not one but two new Nicolas Cage fi lms have been released to

DVD this week, Seeking Jus-tice/Justice and Trespass. Most would see this as a bad thing, I however do not. The man who brought us Know-ing, The Wicker Man, Season of the Witch, and Bangkok Dangerous is back, and it’s fairly amazing.

The plot of Seeking Jus-tice follows a mild mannered English teacher Will Gerard (Nicolas Cage) whose life is drastically altered after his wife is brutally raped. One night as Will waits at the

is contrived and detached from the story it is trying to tell.

It made $0.4 Million in the US Box Offi ce, well below its massive budget. This fi lm was an epic failure both commercially and criti-cally. That said, it is a Nic Cage fi lm. Once you accept that, you can actually enjoy Seeking Justice(formerly known as The Hungry Rab-bit Jumps. Yes. You read that right!).

This is the latest in a long series of fi lms starring the Cage, that I refer to as the ‘fantastically bad fi lms’ of Nicolas Cage. Seeking Jus-tice is a fi lm with phoned in performances of pretty much everyone involved, except Cage. Like others in his long list of his terrible fi lms, Cage delivers his lines with pas-sion, and you remember that he is a good actor.

I must remind you, that this is a bad fi lm, and was formerly known as The Hun-gry Rabbit Jumps. With this

hospital, he is approached by a mysterious man named Simon, (Guy Pearce). Simon apparently represents an or-ganization of a “a few citizens seeking justice”.

Simon proposes an offer of retribution for Will and his wife, in which Simon will arrange to have a complete stranger exact vengeance on the attacker, in exchange for a favour in the future. Will accepts and sets down a trail of betrayal and murder, one which forces Will to unravels a grand conspiracy, in which every action has a reaction.

Now folks, straight up this is a bad fi lm. It got 25% on Rotten Tomatoes, and in every sense of the word it is terrible. The plot makes no sense, the dialogue is just silly, and it is shot like a four year old with a camera.

The performances of the cast is disjointed and poor. Pearce is the worst offender , in every scene he doesn’t care at all and this was clear for any viewer to see. The script

Seeking JusticeDARRAGH O’CONNOR in mind, the good work of

Cage is turned into a parody. The whole fi lm becomes a parody of the actor himself and of fi lms as an art.

There are bad fi lms, and fi lms that are so bad it makes them great. Plan 9 from Out-er Space is the ultimate ex-ample of this. In fact any Ed Wood fi lm would be worth a watch, one shot takes, no ed-iting, poor acting, bloopers, distorted audio, plot holes etc.

They set the standard for ‘fantastically bad fi lms.’ With that in mind, I would recom-mend this fi lm to anyone for this purpose. Grab this fi lm, sit back and enjoy the insan-ity of another ‘Ridiculous Cage’ fi lm.

18, 1 hr. 44 min.

Directed By:Roger Donaldson

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Guy Pearce, January Jones, Jennifer Carpenter

is essentially made up of dif-ferent focal points. Compet-ing prints will not work so allow for a softer pattern to blend with the more domi-nant and act as the neutral in the relationship. This varies the weight of the pattern and allows for blissful agreement between two otherwise lead-ing elements of a look.

It is obligatory to keep your hair and make-up rela-tively simple whilst mixing prints; your clothing will be statement enough so ex-pressive hair and make-up is likely to suggest a clown-like quality in the fi nished look. Accessories that match the tones in the outfi t may work to complete a specifi c look but excessive jewellery is unnecessary. The patterns of the clothing itself is the statement so keep the extras to a minimum. The mixing of prints invites, in turn the mixing of textures which adds great depth to an outfi t.

Treat some prints as neu-trals; prints like leopard, polka dots and stripes are more familiar to the eye so can therefore be treated as solids to offset louder prints like fl orals and paisleys. Just ensure that you are balanc-ing the prints and creating the right silhouette as you would with any other outfi t.

Mixing prints is huge for Spring/Summer and its prevalence will continue on into Autumn, so experiment with different patterns, de-signs and textures and be-come comfortable with this concept of excessive visual splendour and break free from the conventional laws of dressing and embrace print blocking and your in-ner maximalist now.

fashion@collegetribune.ie

103.4.12 FASHION

See your name here! Write for The Siren’s fash-ion section! Con-tact fashion edi-tor Cathal O’Gara at fashion@col-legetribune.ie

Mixing prints like a proEmma Nolan explains how to take the prints trend to the next level.

Print blocking this sea-son is the radical evo-lution of last year’s

colour blocking trend as maximalist styling is gaining a lot hype and mixing prints is hot on every fashionista’s agenda. As this trend is a tricky one to pull off, certain guidelines should be main-tained to ensure that you’re looking effortlessly chic and not like you’ve fallen into the bargain box at Penney’s.

Designers such as J.Crew, Rodarte, Rebecca Minhoff and Carven have showcased this look on the runways and we’ve seen its infl uence on many celebrities such as Diane Kruger, Whitney Port and Alexa Chung. If we’re not to take inspiration from these chic ladies, then who, I say? The possibilities for this trend are endless. It is a liberal development in fash-ion which may not appeal to the fashion conservatives, so look away now minimalists, print blocking is here to stay for Summer and Autumn 2012.

As a playful fashion move-ment, it evokes in all of us a carefree and more creative attitude towards our ward-robes. It allows for us to make new combinations in the way we put an outfi t to-

gether, pairing garments which, in the past would have never occurred to us to even think about in the same outfi t, to construct categorically stunning and eye-catching outfi ts by sim-ply mixing prints. So sod the understated approach, embrace your inner Pippi Longstocking and bring her forth to fashion.

However, with a trend like mixing prints, there are some basic guidelines which should be considered to make sure you achieve more fashion genius and less infant who was let dress themself…

Choose one colour story per outfi t; it is important that the colours in each pat-tern complement each other. Harmonious hues will bring the look together and repeat colours are vital to create a balance and direction in the ensemble, unless one or all of the prints are neutral colours of course. Mono-chromatic neutrals then, are a great way to ease yourself into this daring trend, when you’re not ready to think about clashing colours and patterns just yet.

Mix a louder print with a softer one; this will provide a focal point to a look which

Ladies We Love: Carrie BradshawAideen Conway provides an insight on how SATC icon Carrie Brad-shaw has become the epitome of style and glamour.

Carrie Bradshaw, the fi c-tional narrator of Sex and the City is without

a doubt an iconic fashion fi g-ure, she lives and breathes style always expressing her own personal taste, wearing things which only she could pull off.

She defi es all categoriza-tion. Bradshaw is a New York columnist and fashionista. She looks too the lives of her friends for inspiration for her column and does not shy away from diffi cult or per-sonal subjects. Her personal-ity and shines through to the people of New York through her column.

What makes her so admi-rable is her confi dence when it comes to fashion. She cer-tainly has quite an eclectic, individual style which re-fl ects her fun, light hearted personality so well.

Bradshaw isn’t afraid to be experimental with fash-ion. She may not always get it quite right but isn’t that what fashion is all about? It takes one who is willing to take risks to grab people’s at-tention which she certainly does.

For Carrie any day is a dress up day, she doesn’t wait around for an event to wear something new or unu-

sual. She shows that trends can be a part of your own style or used to expand your style but should not be fol-lowed religiously.

Carrie shows that no mat-ter what your age, there is room to have fun with fash-ion. She does not grow out of her playful style as she becomes older but is all the daring.

She inspires women to be open minded to the world of fashion, to embrace and enjoy it. No matter what comes her way, heartbreak, aging, struggles with writ-ing inspiration for her col-umn she never loses sight if herself and her identity. She shows that personal style is not something which should be sacrifi ced with the emer-gence of a new phase of life.

What makes her further admirable to women is she is not a huge earner and so is not constantly splashing out on high end clothing. She shows that one can certainly be fashionable on a budget and is seen taking trips to vintage and discount stores and even markets in when on holiday in Abu Dhabi in the second movie. She shows that true style comes from within and from high spend-ing.

Without a doubt her boundless shoe collection is coveted by thousands of women around the world. She describes herself as having somewhat of an ad-diction when it comes to shoes particularly Manolo Blahnik stilettos. Carrie regularly runs herself into fi nancial crisis due to her need for shoes!

She humorously de-scribes her shoe addiction as a ‘substance abuse prob-lem’. She cannot contain herself when it comes to shoes, when she sees them she has to have them. She does not apologise for her love of fashion and shows it is ok to splurge on oneself.

She highlights the inde-pendence women can enjoy. She believes it is ok to spend money on oneself, especial-ly on shoes, as it makes the single girls walk through life a little more fun!

Her attitude towards life is so refreshing and honest it is hard not to fall in love with her, to want to know her. She proves herself as a talented writer, a master of style, a wonderfully dedi-cated friend and an overall good person.

She certainly is a lady we love!

fashion@collegetribune.ie

113.4.12

FASHIONChic

EEK

Vogue Festival: This year’s line-up looks promising with eve-ryone from Stella Mc-Cartney to Diane von Furstenburg attending.

Timo Weiland: Musically inspired colourful prints. Not to mention he’s in the fashion incubator pro-gramme this year.

Carven: If you’re go-ing to splash out, do it on this brand’s luxu-rious ready-to-wear fantabulous designs.

Kate Spade tote: Apart from its ap-

pearance, it’s bound to get lost on your

trip to Ascot.

Household Charge: Can’t pay, won’t pay, rather pay €100 on Crème de la Mer cream thank you very much.

Viktor & Rolf: Just in case your feet get cold in those heels you can now get a skirt for them.

Dressing for success: Interview StyleLaura Donohue shows you how to dress to succeed in landing that job this summer.

With the end of an-other year of col-lege approaching,

and with most of us looking for work over the summer - or life if it’s the fi nal year! - It’s time to look at what to wear for an interview in the increasingly competitive job market. Before ever setting foot over the threshold of your potential employer’s offi ce, understand what kind of work you’re being interviewed for. Turning up dressed in the wrong way can be an utter disaster.

Clerical, professional, business and sedentary roles generally call for a more business smart or business casual type of attire, and are defi nitely not something you could show up to with a pair of jeans on.

Fashion retail stores look for someone with more im-agination in their style, and are unlikely to be impressed by someone wearing a pen-guin suit. Roles in specialty fi elds are likely to be happy with someone who looks neat and presentable, and are more interested in your ability, qualifi cations and your achievements.

For a clerical or seden-tary role- Just because you’re tossed into a world of suits doesn’t necessarily mean you have to blend in like the rest. Don’t be so quick to choose black pants, matching jacket and a shirt, the rest of the in-terviewees will pick the exact same.

Many people opt for a

knee length, plain, black pen-cil skirt and a white blouse, which can sound boring, but can be adjusted to give a nod to your sense of style with a great bag and shoes.

If you were an employer who had two candidates in mind with similar attrib-utes and achievements but one dressed in a plain black suit and the other dressed in something work appropriate but with a bit of their own style, you’d probably hire the latter.

This is because rather than choosing someone safe, boring and unimaginative, they’ve gone for something less conventional, but which works really well.

Try a fi tted or shift style dress that comes to the knee and doesn’t show cleavage, pairing with matching heels. As bad as the fi lm is, look at what Hilary Duff’s character in Beauty and the Briefcase wears to work and feed from that - she looked über chic at the workplace even if her at-tire is a bit dated for the ma-jority of the movie!

For a fashion retail role- When I went to a group inter-view for my fi rst job in a fash-ion retail chain there were four other people there. The fi rst girl wore the bog stand-ard penguin suit; the second wore black pants, pumps, a cardigan and a shirt from that shop; the third, a guy, wore a shirt, jeans and old school shoes; the fi nal girl wore black leather skinnies, a black top, grey blazer and

heels. I wore chinos, heels, a lace top and a blazer. The girl with the leather skinnies and I with my chinos got the job.

Leather skinnies girl and the rest had plenty of retail experience whereas I and the guy were the only two without relevant work expe-rience.

Fair enough, the guy spent most of the time talk-ing about tractors and no one really understood what he was saying, but it really goes down to who dressed the most appropriately in that situation, and not so much about experience.

Keep the type of clothes the store sells in mind before going to the interview, the best thing to do is to have a look at what the staff there are wearing and try to echo that.

Obviously, unless it’s Hollister or something, it’s probably better to put a pair of heels on too, but if you’re not that happy about heels, a pair of pretty ballet fl ats are perfectly accept-able. This is one interview where you aren’t as limited in terms of dressing as you would be with others.

Other forms of retail and leisure roles - Let’s be real here; most of the employees in retail other than fashion are subjected to a black uni-form, so for this case black pants and a blouse will be fi ne. I’d still recommend wearing a black dress to the knee with a blazer and heels as it gives off a sense of pro-

fessionalism. Of course, if you’re going for an in-terview for beauty advisory or hair-dressing, then hav-ing your hair and makeup well-done well is a given.

Roles in spe-cialty fi elds- You’re best to follow ad-vice of the clerical and sedentary if you’re applying for a job within your degree.

If you’re apply-ing for some kind of physical labour, you aren’t required to be very dressed

up for the interview, it’s something you should wear pants to - but not an event which warrants heels and a fabulous handbag to match.

Always remember to have something in your wardrobe which is interview friendly, as sometimes interviews can be sprung on you with only a day’s notice.

If you’re ever in doubt, err on the side of formality and wear black, it’s always better to be overdressed rather than underdressed.

fashion@collegetribune.ie

123.4.12

FASHIONMAC by request

Fashion Week’s Beauty Trends

Rejoice! Have you ever fallen in love with a product only to fi nd

it has been discontinued when you head into the halls of Brown Thomas to repur-chase?

While it may only be a makeup item, we based our face around a small set of products and for this routine to be pried away from us can be devastating (slight exag-geration, I grant you).

Well fear not, MAC is giv-ing us the chance to bring back discontinued favourites in a voting poll on their Face-book page.

While it’s not any prod-uct, and we are given a list to choose from, there is some-one out there who desperate-ly craves an item from them.

Whether it be lipstick, lip-glass or eyeshadow you want restored, the powers in your hands. Go forth and vote now!

Oh

F a s h i o n Week, how very inspi-rational you are, but also how very un-

realistic! While one half of us

squeals at the in-tricacy of some of

the stunning looks produced by de-

signers to enthuse the masses, the other half

rolls our eyes, know-ing that we wouldn’t be

caught dead in half of them. Bold, jewelled brows

were a massive hit at this sea-

Name: Michael O’Connor

Course: 2nd Year Arts

Can’t live without: Dr. Martens

CAMPUSSTYLE

JULIE KIRWAN

Julie Kirwan gives the lowdown on which trends to draw inspiration from and those ones to avoid like Andy Dick.

son’s Paris Fashion Week, with beautiful models saun-tering down the catwalks for Miu Miu and Chanel with se-quins attached.

Now, not for one second can I imagine walking down the centre of Grafton Street to be greeted by the sight of some ‘wan’ with sequins stuck to her ungroomed brows. What we have to re-member is that only half, if even, of the looks presented to us at any fashion week will be wearable. And so, we must remove ourselves from the eclectic sequin brow and instead turn our attentions to the other looks that graced the catwalk stage this season.

Orange based red lips are a thing of the future, being heavily featured in the shows of Marc by Marc Jacobs and Zac Posen. The key is to keep the rest of the face bare, with just a slick of mascara and a

natural base. Lipsticks such as MAC Ruby Woo or Lady Danger or Rimmel Diva Red should do the trick; just make sure to use a similar coloured lip liner to ensure it lasts all day. Metallics are still staying strong in the fashion stakes, with an alter-native smokey eye being seen on the catwalks for Burberry, Jason Wu and Diane von Furstenburg.

This ‘new’ smokey has a metallic sheen and in-corporates colours such as emeralds, purples, gold’s and bronzes along with the classic black or grey, which can be used to make an eye colour ‘pop’. Maybelline’s Colour Tattoos are a brilliant and cheap alternative to their Nars, MAC or Armani coun-terparts at just over €6, and are long lasting making them perfect for nights out. Try Immortal Charcoal across

the lid with Endless Purple blended into the inner corner and crease for added drama. Pink cheeks also cropped up a number of times, being used by Mulberry, Temperley and D&G as their highlighted feature. Makeup was kept natural and almost bare, with a fl ush of pink on the cheeks such as MAC’s Well Dressed blush.

While we could spend hours discussing the other trends that graced the cat-walks of both London and Paris Fashion Week’s, I’m afraid it’s pointless as not many were wearable for the everyday. Because let’s face it, I doubt any of us will be waltzing around campus with black smudged eyeshadow falling down our faces á la Al-exander Wang and Jean Paul Gautier now, will we?

Name: Paul Daly

Course: 2nd Year Commerce and Italian

Can’t live without: Airmax

Name:

Course:

Can’t live withoutDr. Martens

just a slick of mascara and a

Name:

Course:

Can’t live withoutDr. Martens