Play that funky music, white boy

Whitest Boy Alive

Rules

(Bubbles)

Erlend Øye’s Whitest Boy Alive may sound like the worst band name to surface in recent years, but the self-deprecatory moniker seems somehow apt when listening to this album. A laidback funk album made by a skinny bespectacled Norwegian and his band just seems plain wrong, especially when nasty comparisons to Jamiroquai or the Lighthouse Family could be made. But there’s something so right about “Rules” that any hideous references to dodgy goatees and oversized furry hats go right out the window. Yes, it’s white funk with a faintly ‘90s feel, but WBA play a hip, stripped-down style that transcends MOR easy listening and makes with the great tunes. Øye’s distinctive, breezy vocal works just as well here as it did on the acoustic folk of Kings Of Convenience and his work with Royksopp, while the rest of the band back him up with only the barest of disco-influenced instrumentation. A downtempo classic, because even hipsters need to chill from time to time.

 Best Songs: “Keep A Secret”, “1517”, “Intentions”

How about these? – Nightmares On Wax, Prinzhorn Dance School, Josef K

 

Who Made Who

The Plot

(Gomma)

It’s a shame that one of the best groups to come out of the early-noughties discopunk movement never received the same kind of acclaim as their peers. Who Made Who’s eponymous 2005 debut swam down a similar stream as that of The Rapture, !!! and LCD Soundsystem, but rather than simply fusing clunky late-‘70s post punk with modern house, the Danish group also incorporated elements of Bowie, ELO and classic disco hits to give a rounder, more mature, polished sound to that of their contemporaries. If anything “The Plot” takes this as a template and runs with it. While their influences are rooted firmly in the past it sounds anything but retro. Hopefully this time round they’ll get the praise they deserve because this is a modern disco corker.

How about these? – LCD Soundsystem, Out Hud, Of Montreal

by Charlie Frame

Get Your Hair-Cuuuut!

BECAUSE EVEN STARVIN’ BLOGGERS NEED TO GET THEIR EARS LOWERED FROM TIME TO TIME…

Farley’s Hair Salon is proof that around even the darkest cloud, there’s still a bright-and-funky silver lining. The Hitchin-based eco-salon was set up by husband and wife team Felix and Charlie Camfield-Walker, following Felix’s lucky escape at the hands of a near-fatal brain haemorrhage on the night before their planned wedding day. Clearly such tragic circumstances would shake the average hipster couple to the very core, but after only six months and a full recovery on Felix’s part they were at last joined in blissful matrimony with an ever-so-groovy place of haircuts in tow.

Don’t worry, Felix’s scrape with the big D hasn’t affected his deft scissormanship, nor his ability to keep the customer entertained with the best music being played over the stereo and the sharpest wit to hit the barber’s chair. It’s just about the only place in North Herts you can don a hairdressing gown and say “just make me look cool” without a perplexed look upon the snipper-in-question’s face followed by an attempt to hack off your ears in the name of fashion. Felix is a guy who knows his craft inside and out, refusing to dish out crewcut after crewcut and always tailoring his style to meet yours.

But perhaps the neatest twist is that Farleys refuse point blank the use of any products that might damage the planet’s increasingly fragile eco-system – Charlie herself has gone to incredible lengths to seek out the best and least harmful shampoos, conditioners and styling products to be used in the salon – and there’s us thinking a green hair salon was somewhere that particularly snotty punk rockers go to get their barnets dyed.

While you’re waiting for your cut you’ll no doubt be well distracted by Farley’s awesome sideline of fashion accessories – from the latest shades, belts, handbags, rock’n’roll tattoo-inspired bits and bobs – as well as an awesome array of customised lo-riders, cruisers and chopper bikes for sale. Sharing premises with Hitchin’s Nearly Orange art gallery, there’s so much to look out for, you’ll be dizzy with inspiration.

Farley’s Hair Salon is located at 71 Ickleford Road, Hitchin, Hertfordshire. Call Felix on 07920424426.

Charlie Frame

Don’t forget your CHIP & PIN!

Lunch time, Monday 11 May 2009, for all its routine niceties; Red Leicester and tomato sandwich, salt ‘n’ vinegar crisps and a water, came with a hint of realisation.

Not something you can sprinkle on sliced, fried potato, bag-up and win a prize for, mind. But certainly a familiar flavour of months passed. I’d wandered into town to pay some bills and check up on album releases. I still enjoy the artwork but don’t get to see much of it these days, the Internet is closer to my bed than the shop. Don’t worry, for every album I own I assure you I’ve recorded one myself and have let the world have it for free, or at least, I will do!

With 15 minutes to spare, I surely had time to get me some grub! Ah, but the universe had conspired against me, for it was Monday after all.

‘Are you paying by cash or card?’

‘Cash?’ I was sure.

‘I’m sorry, you’ll have to go to the self service check-out’

Firstly, I need to apologise for the fact that as I wrote the speech for the cashier just then (see above) I’d got it into my head that she spoke as if the tip of her tongue lived between her bottom teeth and lip and therefore imagined her to have that very voice as I typed – funny how time can distort one’s memory! Most of the derogatory stereotypes of girls from Stevenage are a bit of a myth though, an exaggeration of characters I’m sure crop up in every town – but she wasn’t one of them.

Let it be known that every single transaction I’ve made in Tesco, Stevenage going as far back as I can remember up until now, save for tobacco purchases, have indeed been made at the self-service checkout but today I had hard cash nuggets I was willing to spend on a one-to-one basis. And I would have my way! Apparently there was an issue with the tills, affected by some sort of gremlin that had rendered them no longer available to accept or process cash! I would later learn that this was due to a far more serious nation-wide hic-up and every store in the UK was affected! And that my friends is the one same weakness I’ve always felt Captain Picard’s mortal enemies, a race called the Borg, would fall prey to eventually, the peril of being of one collective hive-mind, or, centralised computer database system; one goes down, we all go down! Not so tough now eh? Tills on strike are they? Rage of the Machines! So off I wandered over to the self-service, only to meet a queue that chased itself back through and around the clothing isle! What?! Are credit and debit cards not a ubiquitous commodity of the modern age? (I thought of that bit later; I was too morose at the time to be so witty!)

Apparently not! I weighed the options up in my head whilst looking back towards my old friend, the cashier, who now had bananas piled up in front of her, next to many loaves of bread!

Card I’d decided, I’ll pay by card. I’ll admit defeat at the hands of clever-clogs, who really was quite well spoken for this side of the M25, do what I usually do, and pay by card. Although for the record, I’m still angry at some invisible adversary for not being able to break the mould just this once!

‘Are you paying cash or card?’

I giggled slightly as i said ‘Card! as if to say ‘isn’t this all fun!’

She laughed, along with me I’m sure, but I could have sworn my reliably sporadic and unpracticed clairvoyance told me it was mockery! Thankfully it was all over a few minutes later, five minutes after my lunch had ended and I was due back at work! Damn!

The realisation came as I was walking back to the office and it dawned on me that, for all the fun I’ve been having lately, making the most of the incipient Spring, gallivanting off here and there, I’d had a slight hiatus from the world of astrology and was near enough out of sync with the movements of the planets above. Could this be? I wondered.

It had certainly been over 3 months since I’d written ‘Beeep, beeep….’ an article concerning the last Mercury Retrograde phase, when transportation, communication and their applicable technologies seem to go all askew. Yes, I think we’re about due for the next one, taking place in Gemini, if I’m not mistaken!

So off I clopped with glee, certain I’d have rhyme and reason for this corporate chaos! And there it was, 5:01am GMT on 7 May, Mercury began to reverse in the zodiac sign of Gemini, and everything started to make sense again! Now, as I’ve explained in previous articles, this reverse cycle is merely an illusion created by the relationship between the Sun, the Earth and any given planet – it’s orbit determining when and for how long these apparent reverse cycles occur. I wont go into too much detail here as I have already done so in the aforementioned articles on the Rogue mag and Rogue astrology blogs, so feel free to have a read! The Image below shows this phenomenon in action using layered intervals of photography taken from the same vantage point, somewhere here on planet Earth, just so you can be sure I’m not completely barmy! It can be a tricky idea to get your head around at first, but in time and with the appropriately pondered mental 3D model, you can imagine just how it all works. For instance, here it is in all it’s 2D glory!

Good Day, England! Don’t forget your CHIP & PIN!

An earthly perspective of retrograde motion

Giving Blood pt. 2

I gave blood again yesterday and after a few hours took the plaster off. Walking into Sainbury’s, I handed over the money for my hummus and the woman behind the counter recoiled in utter horror at the track mark on my arm. Instantly she believed I was a heroin user! Why are we not at that stage yet where we associate people walking round with needle holes in their arms with doing some good for others by giving blood instead of automatically assuming the worse?

I’m willing to guess there are probably more heroin users than blood donors in this country…. I hope I’m wrong.

Pretty sure you don’t get that many smack heads in Saino’s though.

– Da Hui

Who wouldn’t want to be saved? – Rogue Party – HEROES AND VILLAINS!

Hey we’ve got another Rogue Party – and this time it’s at the legendary Club 85…!
Get yer cheap tickets online: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/49860
Or see below for more details.

---

GENERAL BOVINE & THE JUSTICE FORCE 5 – http://www.myspace.com/thejusticeforce5

FREUDSTEIN – http://www.myspace.com/freudsteinofficial

PLUS: We can exclusively reveal that the Mystery Guest will be the one and only Phil Power playing his first ever gig. Phil’s been secretly beavering away making lush 8-bit electronica for years now. We’ve unturfed him from his box and got him to play a gig! Fuckin’ ell!!!

plus the ROGUE DJs playing anything they like from Hip Hop and Dubstep to Indie Rock and Metal in two rooms!

| DOG LATIN | RENTBOI | LOUD LLOYD | DA HUI | MAFF |

Compered by THE MAGNIFICENT TY!

Old-Skool video games courtesy of Felix The Hairdresser

Live visuals from Tim Cookie

-|-

ENTRY: £6 for Civilians | £5 for Costumed Adventurers | £4.50 Advanced Tickets

Discounted tickets also available from:

Farley’s Hair Salon | The DrinkStop | Helen Rochfort Store | Jolly Brown |

DOORS OPEN: 7:30pm. Bands start early on so turn up early to avoid disappointment.
Please bring ID.

---

DO YOU RECKON YOU COULD CONTRIBUTE TO FUTURE EVENTS? We’re always on the look out for unique talent to make our nights bigger and better. Our aim is to provide more than just music and dancing. So if you’re in a band, a DJ, an artist or performer, or just think you could help in some capacity we’d love to hear from you – email Charlie at doglatin@gmail.com and let us know what you do.

 

In the meantime, please add yourself to the Facebook Group for more information on future parties and to see photos: http://groups.to/rogue/

ROGUE 270309 – We Are Damo Suzuki!

 

ROGUE FLYER BY www.myspace.com/fleshdunce

 

ROGUE FLYER 2 by DOG LATIN

The ROGUEs return this 27th March…
Get yer cheap tickets online: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/45408
Or see below for more details.

———————

DRUM EYES feat DAMO SUZUKI from Can & DJ SCOTCH EGG - http://www.myspace.com/drumeyes
AGT RAVE CRU - http://www.myspace.com/agtravecru
AGHAST - http://www.myspace.com/aghastuk

plus mashup and eclectic DJs playing everything from indie rock to drum’n'bass:

| DOG LATIN | TIM COOKIE | LOUD LLOYD | DA HUI | FEE-LINE | MAFF | RENTBOI | 

Live drawing and visual goodies courtesy of GOAWAY-COMEBACK til 2am

-|-

If you thought our last party with Gideon Conn and New Town Centres couldn’t be topped, well check this out! 

We have a very special headliner in store for you. Some of you may already be familiar with DJ SCOTCH EGG, the Japanese mentalist who uses Gameboys as turntables. Well we’re bringing him back to Hitchin with a full band in tow, featuring members of Japanoise legends the BOREDOMS and London-based TRENCHER. DRUM EYES are a huge avant-rock supergroup featuring two drummers and a big big sound. You have no idea how excited we are about this – we’re SWEATING!!!!

As if this wasn’t enough Drum Eyes will be joined onstage by none other than Krautrock legend DAMO SUZUKI, singer with the seminal ’70s act, Can. This is an exclusive chance to catch the man who went on to influence luminaries such as Radiohead, Primal Scream and The Fall in a big way. Those not familiar with his work should go out and get Can’s classic ‘Tago Mago’ album post-haste – it’s like ‘Kid A’, but 25 years earlier.

Okay, enough about Drum Eyes… I mean we’re excited and that, but we were excited anyway because we also have two other supreme acts 

performing on the night which you won’t want to miss.

AGT RAVE CRU is a collaboration between two giants of electronica – DIGITONAL’s Andy Dobson and POSTHUMAN’s Josh Doherty – who are shedding their usually mild-mannered skins to bring the rave and make you party like it’s 1989. 

The Chas & Dave of old-skool rave will be mashing up classics from the likes of Altern-8, the Prodigy, KLF and N-Joi for a full on dance experience. Bring your whistles and vapor rub!

And kicking off the night, the excellent, brain lascerating AGHAST – a metal band with a difference. If you thought metal was all about pummelling drum beats, hospitalising guitar squalls, vocals that verge on the masochistic and incredibly dodgy dress sense, then you’d be absolutely correct. But when was the last time you saw an extreme metal band play pass-the-parcel with the crowd? AGHAST are assured to please metal and non-metal fans alike with their unique take on the genre.

Rounding off the night will be a hand-picked selection of DJs playing everything from rock to reggae, indie to industrial, pop to punk, hardcore to hiphop – something for everyone til 2am!!

For those of a more sensitive nature, we’ve gone a step further and booked a second room for the night. ROOM TWO will feature the usual live drawing which has become crazy popular since we started at Remix last year, as well as other activities to be confirmed. Chill-out and eclectic DJs will be creating the atmosphere throughout the night and we will also be featuring SEATING!!!!

——————————

ENTRY: £7 on the door | £5 in advance
CHEAP TICKETS (£5) available online at http://www.wegottickets.com/event/45408 or from the following local outlets:
Farley’s Hair Salon | The DrinkStop | Helen Rochfort Store | Jolly Brown | Boogaloo Beats 

DOORS OPEN: 8pm. Bands start early on so turn up early to avoid disappointment
16+, please bring ID.

More info at http://www.roguemag.wordpress.com

———————————

DO YOU RECKON YOU COULD CONTRIBUTE TO FUTURE EVENTS? We’re always on the look out for unique talent to make our nights bigger and better. Our aim is to provide more than just music and dancing. So if you’re in a band, a DJ, an artist or performer, or just think you could help in some capacity we’d love to hear from you – email Charlie at doglatin@gmail.com and let us know what you do.

In the meantime, please add yourself to the Facebook Group for more information on future parties and to see photos: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=3417090261&ref=ts

Rogue astrology vol.4 – Fish McNuggets

Rogue’s astrologer, Dan returns to see us through the final slice of the astrological year!

Thursday 19th Feb 2009 – Welcoming Pisces!

In terms of the zodiac, today is the beginning of a new month. Indeed the astro-geeks calendar would read ‘Thursday the 1st of Pisces’.  Happy Birthday to any fishes celebrating their birthday today (and hereafter) and commiserations too, for being born on the cusp of Aquarius; it’s hard enough for Pisces as it is (I imagine) to reconcile the paradoxical forces within, without throwing a third fork in the road to further stifle and confuse this souls’ journey!

 

I say this because birthdays on the cusp can evoke a kind of astrological identity crisis within people born straddling any two signs – owed to the irregularity of our natural cosmic calendar – which seems to shift its borders annually within a margin of about one or two days.  Some people – like my good friend Max, born on the Libra/Scorpio cusp – will be positively assured as to which sign they best fit and, even though in 2008 Max’s birthday fell within the boundaries of the scorpion, he insists on Libra as his rightful birth-sign.  Having known the guy for some years now I would happily corroborate his more soft and lovely ‘airy-fairy’ Libran traits over the more scalding, dark waters of our deep and mysterious Scorpio cousins. On the other hand some people will claim to simultaneously posses the characteristics of both signs adjoined by the respective cusp. Which is similar to the cosmic-plight of our Cod-father, Pisces:

 

‘A-ha this-a-way, a-ha that-a-way’ 
Pisces holds true two polarities of a universal dilemma; between the need to exist in the realm of the living, and a yearning to escape the limiting confines of the very same mundane existence! We can see this symbolised by the Pisces Glyph i which is similar to the two fishes swimming away from each other whilst their tails are forever bound by what looks like a thread; perhaps the very fabric of our concrete universe. This theme of ‘escapism’ is precisely why Pisces rules over things like music, film, drugs and alcohol, as well as religion, spirituality and institutions; hospitals and the like – all things which transcend an otherwise merely physical and fleshy – solely-subjective – human occupation because Pisces is also about deep empathy for humanity. Pisces is the place where we [attempt to] merge with the infinite and forget ourselves as lonely individuals.

Neptune, who rules Pisces in modern times, was the god of the sea: our fishy friends’ realm of residence. The interesting thing about water is: it goes anywhere and everywhere it can without question, permeating every nook and cranny it can reach, and almost entirely without volition, save for that of gravity and the ushering of riverbanks and dams. This is symbolic of Pisces’ urge towards the path of least resistance and the notion of ‘laziness’ so commonly associated with this watery sign but also intimates the huge scope of sympathy Pisces has towards his fellow man – all embracing compassion and understanding – having ‘been everywhere’ all at once like the one vast body of water that unites the globe, which we know as the ocean. This also endows Pisces with great intuition and the ability to synthesise mere facts and cold stats and turn them into something more fluid and meaningful (although the more earthy-types might consider this a bit of a wishy-washy approach!) and therefore Pisces is naturally associated with the poet and the creative muse, since intuitive and creative juices must flow like a river.

So Very Pisces
All of this doesn’t just go for people born with their Sun in Pisces either; everyone has Pisces (and its ruling planet, Neptune) somewhere in their birth chart and it’s here where we see these forces play out in a very personal way. It’s just that for Pisces sun-sign-people at least, these inclinations can sit at the very core of their being to varying degrees, which in turn makes for the best musicians, drug-addicts, carers and hospital porters of the entire zodiac! I would hazard that the more musical of you, even if you’re not strictly ‘Piscean’ will probably have some kind of emphasis of this sign and/or Neptune in your birth chart. Rogue-pundits might all rally to get Charlie Frame to disclose his full birth details to me as I feel there would be some interesting supporting influences in these areas being the loveable neo-music-Nazi that he is! Any of you heroin-addicts out there too, probably have some ‘hard-angles’ in your chart between these components, thus distorting your perception of reality – one of Pisces/Neptune’s potential dangers – moderation, please! However, let me know and I can have a look for you!

I quoted ‘laziness’ earlier because a very close Pisces friend of mine, Colin, recently highlighted this tendency within himself. Now, I know Colin as a very typical Pisces with a lot of Pisces in his  birth chart as well as a healthy dose of Aquarius too – which lends to our mutual ability to finish each others sentences and comprehend each other before words are even formed in our minds. My own astrological contribution to this relationship is having a Sun in Aquarius, Mercury and Mars in Pisces and Neptune in its own (12th) house (which altogether explains my affinity for all my Pisces brothers – Love ya!).Astrologically speaking myself and Colin fill in the missing Aquarius/Pisces components in each of our respective charts which results in a more complete whole made up of a shared, strong Pisces/Aquarius energy. In reality this makes us rather adept at waxing philosophical, spiritual, abstract, anti-establishmental and transcendental – not to mention all musical – and wax we will, well into the small hours. Let me not forget the much enjoyed/endured ‘substance-abuse’ over the years so characterised by our respective Pisces slants. (it was our shared love of melodic-hardcore-punk and hashish-bongs that kicked off our friendship some 10 years ago!)

I’m not lazy, you’re all just crazy!
I’ve come to like an idea that the 12 signs of the zodiac are actually a framework for the progressive evolution of a single soul. Starting with the young souls at Aries and moving step by step through each sign up to Pisces; the wise old soul. If this were true, do you not think, having witnessed so much drama and activity (eleven lifetimes worth), that this idea of laziness is born of an old soul just wanting a rest? Who also has a head too full of ideas from so many lifetimes, having walked every walk and being so indiscriminately sympathetic towards every single man and overwhelming possibility available, which in the end results in pure indecision, confusion and therefore inertia? followed by boredom and then perhaps a tendency towards escapism? Be it booze, bongos or Buddha? This is just an idea, a worst case scenario perhaps.

 
Now this could suggest a belief in reincarnation on my part but my own natal Mercury in Pisces seldom allows me to arrive at any definite conclusions about anything, for I understand how limiting and narrowing-an-effect absolutes can have on the human psyche (look at the Christians; check out the ‘Holy Wars’ – death, segregation – see?) the Jury is always out with me. This doesn’t mean that I wont play with ideas though. like an artist might continually rework a masterpiece that may never be complete or ever see the public light of day.

Recommended Piscean greats:

Mitch Hedberg – Comedian
Kurt Cobain – Grunge champion
Brant Bjork – Desert Rocker
Albert Einstein – Scientist
Billy Corgan – Pumpkin
Dave Gorman – TV person
Mark Thomas – Political activist, Comedian

Horoscopes
It was my intention to see the astrological year out with some short fortune-cookie-style ‘scopes. A box of 12 astro-McNuggets if you will. It seems I got carried away (see above!). By the time we reach mid-March the Sun will be in Aries, so a new astrological year will be upon us. Yes indeed, life starts afresh once again with the onset of spring! I’m very excited about this and I’ve begun to notice a smatter of daylight lingering when I leave the office at 5:30 everyday; natures climb towards our (brief) sunny season. Joy!

. .. So, once again I have consulted the planets of our solar system to bring you these bite-size treats:

Pisces i 
Treat yo’self and look yo’best! Clothes for your body and Grease for your hair. You’re the one that they want, ooh, ooh, ooh, honey! Happy frikkin’ Birthday! Also see above, that was all for you!

Aries ^

April’s on the horizon-ish. Here’s a head start since the rainy season is imminent, so stash some cash under the mattress; Mars speaks of friends having crazy-mad plans betwixt now and then!

Taurus _ 
Some sort of Sibling rivalry is on the cards. This means war! Pack your cupboards with budget lines of finger-nibbles; I smell a food fight! Wouldn’t want to waste the expensive stuff now, would we?

Gemini ` 
Let THEM entertain YOU! But by all means throw a party to celebrate the coming spring. Just be careful not to talk the hind-legs off of your veritable entourage of kindly donkeys!

Cancer a 
Gambling sure does pay. Right now for you that goes doubly so. You’ll do so well in fact they’ll think your on The Real Hustle. There’s a job in it too so Play your cards right! (cough!)

Leo b 
I spoke to a Leo recently who mentioned their ongoing quest for paid work. The sun in Leo’s 6th house certainly does highlight this fact! And who said astrology was  a load of nonsense, eh? There is your focus for the coming month!

Virgo c 
Fluffy love and funny friends, are what abounds as this month ends. So even if you feel sad, smile dear Virgo, you’ve such panache and style!  Something else concern’s shared resources, with nothing at all to do with horses!

Libra d 
I’ll let you into a secret. There’s a twenty-note down the back of the sofa but it’s not yours. Quick, go now! Mind that wrestle with the moral-aligator on your way downstairs though; you’re own conscience is all that stands in the way. I’ll stay well out of this one!

Scorpio e 
The sun graciously illuminates an ongoing focus on local activities. Play fair and this might just be a very rewarding time. Hot-headedness may just be your undoing but sell it as ‘enthusiasm’ however, and you’re laughing!

Sagittarius f 
Whoa! you’re on fire, and don’t we all know it! Jupiter, you’re ruler, is in Aquarius all year but that’s an air-sign, not water, remember? You’ll burn but you’ll love it… and possibly go down in history as The Incredible Flaming Man!

Capricorn g 
You’re not seriously considering cosmetic surgery are you? If you must, may I advise DIY? Either way you’re bound to stand out amongst the crowd this month. It’s just you can’t trust all these trainees Uranus has coming out of the woodwork after the fallout of the recent recessions’ spate of unemployment!

Aquarius h 
Those little chav bleeders are out to smite you! I’d say hold on to something but they’re intent on kicking the walls in. Only the God of your chosen religion can protect you now!

Rogue’s Gallery – January ‘09

We had loads and loads and loads of fun at Rogue the other week! The events we put on just keep getting better and the turn out was absolutely WILD! Thanks to all who got involved and put on an excellent show.

The next event will be on Friday 27th March at Remix as usual. We’ve got a very exciting line up in store that’s yet to be announced, but until then have a gawp at these wonderful photos courtesy of Barry Hobbs at Ph-Art who not only took some wicked snaps of New Town Centres, Gideon Conn and Roxy Rawson on stage, but also provided us with another Rogue’s Gallery lineup.

You can actually see an interactive version of the gallery here – we wanted to embed it into the RogueMag blog, but we errr… didn’t know how to.

Roxy Rawson

The New Town Centres

Gideon Conn

DJ Fee-Line and Da Hui

Are you here?

For more photos of the night and previous events, see the Rogue Facebook Group.

See you on the 27th!

ROGUE’s NEXT EVENT – Saturday 31st January 2009

ROGUE returns to Hitchin’s REMIX nightclub to say farewell to the toughest month of the year.

Our lovely shiney flyer

ROGUE – SATURDAY 31st JANUARY 2009

REMIX Nightclub | 20-22 Hermitage Road | Hitchin | Herts

A night of music, art and dance, featuring:
NEW TOWN CENTRES | GIDEON CONN | ROXY RAWSON
DJs: BEN JONES | DOG LATIN | MAFF | FEE-LINE | DA HUI
Also: LIVE DRAWING | FREE SWEETS | OTHER HOONJA DOONJAS

DON’T DELAY, GET YOUR DISCOUNTED TICKETS TODAY (they’re £4 in advance): wegottickets.com or from the following participating retailers:

| Farley’s Hair Salon | The Drinkstop | Helen Rochfort Store | Boogaloo Beats | Machinehead | Harvest Moon |

BANDS KICK OFF AT 8, SO ARRIVE EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT. IF YOU DO GET STUCK, DON’T WORRY – WE’LL BE HAVIN’ IT TILL 2AM. 16+ (bring ID)

FACEBOOK: EVENT | GROUP

_____________________________________

We’ve got a fantastic line-up on offer for this one. We’re not just saying it because it’s our own night but each one of these acts is a joy to behold live (we’ve done this with our very eyes) and we’re chuffed that we’ve finally got them together on one stage.

Roxy Rawson

Starting the night at around 8-ish will be the quirky, unique sound of ROXY RAWSON, an ex-Hitchinite who has played and sung the world around with her anti-folk acoustic style. This is no middle-of-the-road balladeering though, as Roxy with her backing band exhibit a truly experimental style reminiscent of artists such as Joanna Newsom or Regina Spector.

Gideon Conn at Rhythms Of The World festival. Many thanks to Jon at http://www.tdmphotography.co.uk for the photo.

We’re very proud to bring back GIDEON CONN and his band to Hitchin once more. One of the few true eccentrics working in the UK music scene today, expect to hear insomniac raps, paeans to fishmongers and acappellas about electric pylons. Providing one of the most exhilarating performances at ROTW last year as causing quite a stir at the Isle Of Wight Bestival, this is a unique and intense performer. A modern day Jonathan Richman with a funky hip-hop bent.

Headlining the night will be very special guests NEW TOWN CENTRES. Locals will be familiar with their upbeat post-punk style, but those who aren’t are in for a real treat. A powerhouse of talent, New Town Centres combine the lyrical witticisms of Pulp with the jerky funk of the Talking Heads and a quaint ’60s cool exhibited by their identical shop-dummy apparel. Not to be missed by anyone, ever.

______________________________________

Of course, ROGUE events aren’t just about the bands. Taking us from 11pm to 2am will be a whole host of DJ talent, spinning round, mashing up and slamming down everything from 80s synth pop to heavy metal jams, hip hop mixmastery to drum’n'bass mayhem. There’ll hopefully be something for everyone here, so why not buy your granny a ticket while you’re at it?

We are also pleased to announce the return of the GoAwayComeBack crew who will be helping out with their wicked visual duties and live drawing. And watch out for Barry Hobbs, the man from PhArt, who will be compiling another Rogue’s Gallery piece for the Facebook group.

MYSPACE PAGE: www.myspace.com/rogueparty

FACEBOOK: EVENT | GROUP

Rogue astrology vol.3 2009 – From out of the rubble

2008? Rubbish?

Lets face it, just because a season is supposedly ‘Jolly’ by default it doesn’t guarantee it will be. Of course, you know this. So we all did hopefully try and make the best of wrapping up this frightful year’s end; given all the trauma of the last quarter. Its fast becoming a cliche to even mention words like ‘credit’ and ‘crunch’ in the same sentence (I now suck my teeth with shame for apparently jumping on the bandwagon!). Before now the only folk that could tell you anything of recession were hairdressers and stylists – not to mention our bald friends – and now everyone thinks they’re an expert! We may as well have postponed Halloween instead and bust-out the ghouls and goblins as consolation for the starkly contrasted height of misery and anguish promised by the recently pending season. But then life is what you make of it, isn’t it? And we have this much talked about ‘free will’ to choose whether or not we will in fact respond to such disconcerting events with alarm and distress or watch them pass you by unaffected, rather like being awake in an operation under local anesthetic: ’sure, I don’t like what I see but I’m high as a kite and numb enough to not let it bother me’.

But now for the future!

Many people ask me if I just make-up these predictions, and many people, the same people, believe that all astrologers fabricate their own prognoses. I cannot speak for everybody in the field but, although I do take a more tongue-in-cheek approach to my forecasts, I assure you that many late nights, full of painstaking calculation, are endured by myself in order to bring you these horoscopes and I credit every reader for their intelligence enough to penetrate the cryptic metaphors and euphemisms and read between the lines to decipher a very personal message.

Each sun-sign’s particular slice of pending possibilities for the year ahead are detailed below. But before I set upon you with insights into your futures: it looks like the new year is shaping up to be a rather nice one indeed! Oh Joy! Venus has been spreading harmony throughout the earth-human collective of late and still for a few more days yet, as she moves through the cool air of Aquarius, which has been great for getting together en-mass and petering the heat off of Pluto’s recent crash into Capricorn; the bringer of these recent controversial economic times. As we launch into 2009 Jupiter will take Venus’s place on 5th January, injecting bounce and optimism into all who inhabit this lonely rock! Just what we need, I think.. .

CAPRICORN – Transformers, Robots in Disguise
Jovial Jupiter has been with you all through 2008 making you the luckiest of the all the zodiac. So after looking back on a successful year the last thing you probably want to hear is that Jupiter is now leaving your sign shortly after Pluto, the planet of death and taboo, enters the earthy realm of the mountain goat (You, Capricorn)! This theme of death is not to be taken literally but big personal changes are afoot in the coming year. On first glance Pluto’s manifest effects are anything but rosy although, in time, the true value of these much needed changes will become all the more evident, another plus is that the lord of the underworld is moving through the zodiac faster than usual, like a dwarf on speed! So the wait shouldn’t be all that long – a decade or so.

SAGITTARIUS – Cheap flight to anywhere but here!
Never to make light of the current climate but I must remain impartial and I cannot help what I see. So lets hope you’re low on the pecking order; a subordinate, cleaner or dinner lady perhaps? …CEO you say? Oh dear! Pluto screws your cash flow but maybe, in the long term, its for the better! Just keep telling yourself that anyway. Really though its time for you to dream of pastures new, sharp-shooter you, and reinvigorate your core values. Thankfully there will be plenty of willing friends to lean on this year but it may require some kind of uprooting before the dust settles and you know exactly where you are. If the worst happens and, for instance, your company ‘goes under’ may I suggest a little sojourn? I’m sure no one will notice if you scrape a little cream off the top, as it were, to facilitate such an adventure. After all it will only be swallowed up by some fat cat or whoever’s handling the administration – capiche?

SCORPIO – Comfy chair
You’ve likely seen the pace of life go through the roof of late, what with you modern ruler, Pluto, literally racing through the zodiac – owed to its rather eccentric and inconsistent orbit of our solar system. So long as you haven’t overdone it already, your old-time ruler, Mars, should have kept the enthusiasm flowing throughout this period too. This year heralds the opportunity to bring the fruits of your recent efforts back down to earth in some sort of tangible and even lucrative form. It’s all about the real hard graft from now, but there’s no need to wander too far as inklings to opportunity can be found in the deep, dark recesses of your very psyche – and is also quite likely to knock on your own front door! So keep your head down but by all means, take time to kick back and relax, thus tuning yourself to the inner realm of consciousness. Therein lies the ‘gravy’ for many-a-festive-bird to come!

LIBRA – Black & Decker
If by the time you reach springtime your house hasn’t literally fallen to bits through neglect, you may find you’ve landed yourself a pretty sweet job (? I know, its true) But if your career is coasting along nicely it might be wise to make a few modifications around the house anyway, and I’m not just saying this because I live with a Libran either, that would be cruel! Pluto, although dwarfed, is still sizable enough to swing like a wrecking ball through your abode, in a manner of speaking. Possibly manifesting when you lose the plot in a moments foray only to have the place come crashing down around you like a bad game of mouse-trap or dominoes. Nevertheless amongst your plight you will likely discover a new talent never before so apparent from which you can catapult yourself right to the bank and place a deposit on a mortgage for your new gaff, ready for your pending children. I did mention making babies, yes? In many ways be careful, please.

VIRGO – Binoculars and a microscope
2009 promises rewards for a job well done and the feeling of well-being that comes with it. You’re a sucker for the details anyway but you’re likely to pay extra close attention to your work this coming year, whilst becoming a lot more enthusiastic regarding your endeavours. Saturn spent the last year or so getting you in shape, teaching you everything the hard way perhaps, but now the gruelling grind of daily affairs receives much deserved temperament. Those of you who are single can look forward to the odd sordid affair or two but if the other party – or indeed parties – isn’t game, well I’m sure you’ll find a tree to hoist yourself up for a good old perv at your neighbours particulars. Otherwise, those of you firmly established with a significant other should watch for a tendency to spunk your just deserts all over a horse! By that I mean no gambling, you dirty little bugger!

LEO – Bananas
We all love people don’t we? Everyday people on the street are easy to deal with, so too our friends. Superiors and those in authority on the other hand are likely to be your bone of contention this year. Trust no one in that league or of that calibre. There’s likely to be upheavals on the work front but it’s not massive vocational or career breaking stuff, just that which is a means for you to get by each day, so its still kind of significant. In times like these, underhanded motives and less than admirable traits shine forth amongst those we consider the organ grinders, and you? Well you’re just the monkey! But you get to take the moral high ground in any case as a humble worker. All that said, any other ‘monkeys’ you meet along the way will be an inexhaustible source of luck and even saucier pleasures, stick together and don’t take no shit! eek?

CANCER – An inconspicuous case
Everyone changes but you, or so it would seem! Pluto will keep you guessing as to who you can actually trust this year. A process of separating the wheat from the chaff has begun and you will likely be interested in that which motivates others, with a view to potentially ’setting up shop’ with someone close. I’d say a nice cold business partnership is safest, as this kind of a sky could also suggest marriage is on the cards. Though this is much more likely to singe one of those delicate heartstrings of yours, owed to the air of uncertainty that abounds. So best to keep it professional, at least for the time being anyway. Once you figure he/she is actually a complete bastard/bitch you can just take the money and run, eyes free from tears – essential for a sharp exit!

GEMINI – Rose tinted spectacles
You’d be best to take a cue from the recent economic upheaval, perhaps plan a trip to a faraway land until all this blows over, provided you have the cash left over to do so; finances are set to be more than a fickle affair if you just stay put. The good news is you’re probably itching to expand those horizons of yours in some way and will take a broad philosophical approach to all that ails and abates you. So if escape just isn’t an option, curl up with a good book, self help or something of that ilk would be a wise choice. Becoming a zen master and orchestrating your own destiny wont keep the bailiffs from knocking at your door, but newly acquired skills such as the Vulcan neck-pinch or Jedi mind-trick should buy you enough time to book a last minute flight or flat-out convince them ‘these aren’t the droids you are looking for’.

TAURUS – Group therapy
As you awake from the nightmare of 2008 and wipe the crap from your eyes, you’ll notice your outlook on life has begun a gentle metamorphosis which promises to continue into the new year and beyond. You’ll want to know ‘what the hell is really going on?’ in a very broad sense, and will likely search every downright dirty hole and back-alley in your quest to penetrate the darker side of life’s mysteries. You could end up befriending a few sinister types along the way in order to quench this insatiable new thirst of yours, and Jupiter does tell me that your reputation is on-the-up this year, to the point where you’re about to gain recognition for all your heartfelt endeavours. It’s all about how people will remember you when you’re dead, so watch out for who’s watching you and you might not end up shamed and nude on the nine o-clock news!

ARIES – Inflatables
With Pluto molesting your career prospects in 2009, change is in the air. Depending on how well (or not) you take this, you may succumb to a cut-throat attitude when pursuing your chosen objectives. The scary thing is, as the year kicks-off, Jupiter endows you with all the support you need from your peers and colleagues. So be careful just who you alienate as you climb that mountain. Cut your losses by all means but don’t confuse the good, the bad and the ugly. You have more than enough power to break on through, that’s a given, especially when something slightly more esoteric or out of the ordinary might tickle your fancy. Just beware that a ship must sink before your new vessel can set sail. As captain you are doomed to go down with it but all you women and children, of course, are saved. Success is only a lifeboat away!

PISCES – Breadcrumbs
This is your year of selfless benevolence, time to reach out and touch others with a kind hand – and with absolutely no hope of reward or recognition! Giving should be reward in itself, right? but then, is that really selfless? Chase not these petty, momentary satisfactions and soar for a birds eye view of the landscape! It’s this theme that will be driving you throughout the year so be sure to put things straight and for the best. Pluto is set to teach you a lesson or two about the dynamics of friendship, or even, you will spot where these dynamics are lacking and relinquish some of your entourage to the pit, never to return. Whilst you shouldn’t be focusing on any particular gain or outcome for yourself this year at least: I can tell you, when the chips are down in 2010 and Jupiter moves into your own sign it will all have been worth it. But you would have done it anyway, of course!

AQUARIUS – Brown Paper Bag
You’re no stranger to the crock of shit 2008 heralded, but you cannot deny there have been some good times too – all part of the roller coaster ride of life! We notice how roller coasters get bigger and more extreme as time goes by, but as they say: ‘it gets worse before it gets better’ and this ride is almost over. With the recent holiday season shoving you round one final hokey bend or corkscrew, you might feel like Santa skipped your house on Christmas eve. Don’t worry because he’s under orders from the King of the Gods himself, Zeus, who promises to drop round your belated gifts in the new year when Jupiter, the most benevolent planet of them all, will bestow you with a Goodyear (?) – or perhaps the stars just mean one new tyre for your motor, useless!