Annie Clark, also known as St Vincent, has commemorated a year since the death of David Bowie by unveiling a new guitar designed by herself and inspired by the late idol. It’s available in four colours – Stealth Black, Tobacco Burst, Heritage Red, and Polaris White, which has been affectionately, and officially, co-named the Thin White Duke after Bowie himself.
The nickname was perhaps given in response to a gift Clark received back in 2015, of a signed white guitar from Bowie himself.
According to a press release, “Featuring an African mahogany body, Ernie Ball Music Man tremolo, gunstock oil and hand-rubbed rosewood neck and fingerboard, St. Vincent inlays, Schaller locking tuners, 5-way pick up selector with custom configuration and 3-mini humbuckers, the guitar also comes complete with Ernie Ball Regular Slinky guitar strings and will retail for $1899.”
This is not Clarke’s first venture into guitar design; the artist has been collaborating with Ernie Ball Music Man. In February last year, she was praised for crafting an ax specifically designed to be comfortable for women to wear, as most guitars get pretty annoying to cop around the chest area.
The guitar itself was first seen in 2015, when Clarke performed with Taylor Swift in LA, but it will only be made available to consumers in March this year.
In an interview with Guitar World, she said, “It’s a classic, elegant-looking guitar. I’ve been playing it every single day, putting it through its paces and writing song after song on it.” In the same interview she also spoke about a new album she will be releasing this year. She pointed out that it’s been inspired by some of the many recent terrible global political happenings, claiming, “it’ll be the deepest, boldest work I’ve ever done. I feel the playing field is really open for creative people to do whatever you want, and that risk will be rewarded – especially now that we have such high stakes from a political and geopolitical standpoint.”
Her last album, St Vincent, was released in 2014.
Here’s a video delving into the guitar a little further:
https://youtu.be/8dLvo3c3ht4
Image: Consequence of Sound
St. Vincent, aka Annie Clark, will make her directorial debut in an upcoming four-part horror anthology called XX. The project, backed by Magnet Releasing and XYZ films, stars female lead characters and is written, produced and directed by women.
St. Vincent’s segment was co-written with horror producer Roxanne Benjamin who directed the disturbing ‘found-footage’ V/H/S series. Other directors include Karyn Kusama (Jennifer’s Body), Jovanka Vuckovic and Jennifer Lynch. The film is said to consist of “four deadly tales by four killer women,” but no further plot or cast details have been revealed.
Image: Pitchfork
Todd Brown from XYZ films said, “We believe strongly in fostering the best talents around the world at XYZ. We believe different perspectives are what keep storytelling fresh and exciting and hope that XX can help to encourage more female writers and directors to explore the genre world. And we know the ones we have for this first effort are going to absolutely kick ass.”
After sifting through some of St Vincent’s music videos, I think it’s safe to say we’re in for something dark, psychological and creepy as hell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Itt0rALeHE8&nohtml5=False
This film will be St. Vincent’s first big project since releasing her grammy winning, self-titled album St Vincent in 2014. Although we’d love to hear some fresh music, we’re intrigued to see what her creativity brings to the big screen.
Image: Electronic Beats
Josh Homme stopped by for St Vincent’s Beats 1 program where the two had a quick chat and St Vincent played the Queens of the Stone Age frontman a special mixtape of Iggy Pop tunes.
The Mixtape Delivery Service sees St Vincent taking all manner of requests from fans for her to create them a mixtape in relation to a specific topic. So far there has been curated playlists for an 11-year old girl who wanted pure 1980’s pop hits, and for a woman who was going to reveal she was gay to her family over the 4th July holiday.
After collaborating with Iggy in the Californian desert, the Queens front man requested a mixtape of purely Iggy Pop tracks. St Vincent was only too happy to oblige to this request and played the classic The Passenger, alongside some new tracks such as Gardenia and Break into your Heart which Homme featured on.
The pair, who also worked alongside Dean Fertita and Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders, crafted the iconic front man’s 17th solo album at the Rancho de la Luna studio in Joshua Tree. The all-star line-up meeting up in secret early last year, after Iggy had reached out to Homme to collaborate.
In a recent interview with The Guardian, Homme described Iggy as, “the last of the one-and–onlys.”
“I was looking to make high-quality, non-band solo work, where you really put both feet into it. I wanted to find the best and he’s [Homme] the best,” Iggy said of his collaborative partner.
Together they created a record that drew heavily from the blueprints of Iggy’s previous work, on albums such as The Idiot and Lust for Life, to make something new entirely.
Post Pop Depression is set for official release tomorrow (March 18th) and has seen Homme and Iggy embark on a run of promotional visits for the record, which also recently included an extended chat with the guys for the Nerdist podcast.
You can listen to the whole mixtape at Apple Music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMBQMQfrPso
Image: Andreas Neumann
St Vincent (Annie Clark) has debuted the design for her signature Ernie Ball Music Man guitar. This makes her the fourth musician set to release a signature guitar with the company this coming March, joining Albert Lee, Steven Morse and John Petrucci. Given full control over the design of the instrument, Clark says that it has been designed to accommodate breasts and sit comfortably at the waist, design features she has struggled with due to the lack thereof in the past. The guitar, which was announced last year, took about a week in total to create from the initial design concept and a finished prototype and will be available for purchase next month.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M5qpaQ1h9o
Speaking to Guitar World, she discussed the considerations she made during the design process and the reasoning behind the features of the guitar, including its weight. The instrument comes in at just over seven pounds (around 3.5kgs), making it pretty light – and with good reason. “For me a guitar that is not too heavy is really important because I’m not a very big person. I can’t even play a Sixties Strat or Seventies Les Paul. I would need to travel with a chiropractor on tour in order to play those guitars. It’s not that those aren’t great guitars, but they render themselves impractical and unfunctional for a person like me because of their weight… They’re prohibitive, so this is a very light guitar and the weight is redistributed so that it has a thin waist.”
She added that when she got the finished guitar in her hands, that it was a dream come true. “You superimpose your feelings onto every guitar… It’s just so magic and it never gets old to me, so the idea that I have the guitar especially designed for my needs, but that my needs are transferrable and other people will get to enjoy it and have the same kind of connection with it that I do…”
This week, the Abbott government has disappointed us once again. After more than five hours in a meeting, Tony Abbott and the Coalition have once again left Australia in the world’s ‘traditionalist’ shadow, denying the decision for a conscious vote for Marriage Equality. If you’re on any form of social media, you’d know people are not happy about this news. They can’t understand how places like the USA and Ireland can pass similar laws, but Australians can’t even get a foot in the chapel door.
It may seem hopeless now but, as an optimist, I still believe that one day we will have marriage equality for all Australians. And so, we’ve put together a little playlist from proud LGBTQI artists to keep our spirits up. We need to fight for those who are going unheard. Like these artists, we have a platform to express a certain view and have a voice above the rest of the community. Here are some of their stories.
Mykki Blanco – Wavvy
Mykki Blanco has been one of the most outspoken rappers within the LGBTQI community. The rapper bravely revealed that she was HIV positive, having also previously announced that she would quit music to become an investigative journalist, concentrating on LGBT issues. We refer to her as ‘she’ as per her wishes as she embarks on what she calls the beginning of a transgendered life. “You may not know it yet, but Mykki Blanco isn’t just female Mykki. Mykki Blanco is Mykki Blanco ‘female,’ Mykki Blanco ‘male,’ Mykki Blanco with blue eyes, Mykki Blanco with three eyes. I’m probably eventually going to do a video where it’s not Mykki, where it’s completely genderless, where it won’t be Mykki ‘boy’ or ‘girl,” she tells Dummy Magazine.
Her break out 2012 track Wavvy is said to be one of the most influential in emerging LGBTQI community within rap culture. When you look at the music video, you can see both sides of Blanco’s identity. The fact that she decided to make this clear so early in her career is inspiring.
St Vincent – Cruel
St Vincent has kept talk of her sexuality low key. It’s not that she’s hiding it; rather, she doesn’t want to be defined by it – and she doesn’t want to define it. In an interview with Rolling Stone she says, “I believe in gender fluidity and sexual fluidity. I don’t really identify as anything… I don’t have anything to hide, but I’d rather the emphasis be on music.”
Her music reflects on her personal experiences, so if you listen closely to can hear the little hidden messages. Cruel is one of the most obvious ones, with lines like “Bodies, can’t you see what everybody wants from you? f you could want that, too, then you’ll be happy.”
The music video also gives away a political undertone, where is she kidnapped and forced to be a wife and mother – a traditionalist notion that can often come head-to-head with some in the LGBTQI community.
Angel Haze – Battle Cry
Angel Haze is one of the newest LGBTQI rappers on the scene. In an interview with Fusion TV, Haze identified herself as a pansexual, otherwise known as people “who love across a spectrum.”
Her 2014 track Battle Cry featuring Sia (who is also apart of the LGBTQI community) tackles the darkness every LGBTQI person feels when they are told that the way they feel is wrong. The powerful video illustrates her pain and suffering – having been pushed around, her whole life, being told how to feel. Religion is one of the biggest obstacles for marriage equality, with the notion of a man and woman in marriage being the only one acceptable. According to them, all other forms of love are wrong.
Haze gives these people strength. Her emotional story tells those who listen that they can survive, even when it all seems hopeless. Even through the dark times, “You take it all and you still go/Take the sun and you still grow/ Lose the light and you still glow”.
Years and Years – Real
Years and Years Frontman Olly Alexander has been an advocate for gay artists using gender specific pronouns in their songs. As an openly gay musician, he has in two tracks on their last album, Real and Memo. “I’d like to hear a gay artist express their sexuality in a really open way. That’s something I’ve sort of tried to do a little bit on this album, but to be able to talk about sex is possibly new for gay artists, so I’d like to see that in the mainstream. I think you’re right – music does feel like it’s in a much more accepted, tolerant place; even with Miley Cyrus, when she doesn’t identify with either gender, and we’re getting used to these ideas of about non-binary gender, which is a good thing,” he told Digital Spy.
Real is about loving someone and attempting to peruse them, but you can’t have them. While it sounds like it’s a take on unrequited love on the surface, it could be taken another way. While some people are out and proud about showing who they are to the world, others aren’t quite there yet. They will deny who they are and reject others’ advances, even if they don’t want to.
Frank Ocean – Forrest Gump
When Frank Ocean came out in 2012, many musicians refused to work with him. T-Pain told Vlad TV, “”I know n***as that will not do a song with Frank Ocean just because he gay, but they need him on the f**king song and that’s so terrible to me, man… What I do ain’t going to affect nothing that you got going on.”
There are a few songs that hint Ocean’s sexuality, including Forrest Gump. Like Years and Years, he uses male pronouns instead of female ones. Lines like “my fingertips, and my lips, they burn” imply that it was about a relationship that feels wrong. So wrong, it hurts.
Laura Jane Grace and Miley Cyrus – True Trans Soul Rebel
Both Laura Jane Grace and Miley Cyrus have come out as transsexual and bisexual respectively. They performed True Trans Soul Rebel together to launch the Happy Hippie Foundation. The Foundation promotes awareness of LGBTQI issues, among many others. The lyrics of the song portray the thoughts many transgender people have while they are stuck in the wrong body, including that they “should be living a different life.”
Mary Lambert – She Keeps Me Warm
Mary Lambert is one of the few openly gay female musicians in the music industry. Being both a Christian and lesbian, the internal and external conflicts have, of course, been prevalent. Before it was featured as the chorus of Ryan Lewis and Macklemore’s Same Love with her as the female vocals, the lyrics were a part of the singer’s own track She Keeps Me Warm. The slow, folk-like song was a heartfelt ballad saying that this is simply who she is and she “can’t change, even if [she] wanted to.”
Azealia Banks – 212
Azealia Banks is one of the most controversial of those on this list. Despite being bisexual and using female pronouns in 212, she is often called homophobic due to her gay slurs on social media. This might just be another example of others lacking in understanding of what homophobia is. When you read her tweets, you may see what I mean. For instance, her tweet about men being proud of their sexuality could be taken as others missing the fact that women can be gay as well, however, this isn’t as publicised.
The Internet – Girl
The Internet’s frontwoman Syd The Kyd came out in the Odd Future’s music video for Cocaine. Her sexuality is made explicitly obvious in Girl. She sings about the passion LGBTQI people feel in their relationship, implying they are exactly the same as those in heterosexual relationships. They have the same fire and lust that eventually grows into love. So why shouldn’t they have the same rights as we do?
The Smiths – Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
Many people over the years have thought Morrissey was gay. In his own words he is asexual, meaning he feels no sexual feelings toward men or women. He explained this in a post on his fansite True To You: “Unfortunately, I am not homosexual. In technical fact, I am humasexual. I am attracted to humans. But, of course … not many”.
It’s one of the more forgotten and misunderstood forms of sexuality that is disregarded by many. That’s why this song is regarded as the perfect example of a song about the solitary life of an asexual person; away from the noise and all alone. They hope one day someone would understand, but it’s “just another false alarm”.
American singer-songwriter St Vincent has finished her Laneway Festival tour with some amazing news!
She has won the Grammy for ‘Best Alternative Music Album’ for her eponymous album, St Vincent. Her latest single is Bad Believer. The upbeat, “grizzly glam-rock” track totally shows us why she won. It’s incredible. Check it out below.
The best thing about it is she is the first solo female artist to win the award in more than 20 years! The last one was Sinead O’Connor in 1991 for I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got.
To thank her supporters and collaborators, she wrote a letter full of interesting stories and heartwarming gratitude.
Here is the letter in full:
“in 2007, i signed to beggars banquet records. i was living in dallas, texas in my childhood bedroom at the time, which i had fashioned into a makeshift studio in order to record some of what would end up being my debut album “marry me.”
the first days of touring my own songs and as “st. vincent” are very vivid. in early 2007, in anticipation of the release of my record, my (much beloved) agent put me on the road as solo support for jolie holland and midlake. he saw potential in me, but rightfully, thought i needed to get my live act together. get comfortable playing for people. get road-tested. like most of the rest of my career, it was a trial by earth, wind, and fire.
i was performing solo; just my voice, a guitar through an array of effects pedals, a “stomp board” — a homemade device i made out of a piece of plywood and a contact microphone that i ran through a bass EQ pedal, and a keyboard. i thought the keyboard looked unmysterious on it’s own, so i designed a lighted wooden enclosure to go around it. my brother-in-law helped me build it in his garage. it weighed a gazillion pounds and gave me splinters to carry, and i don’t think anyone was under any illusion that there was anything but a keyboard inside it. neither the first nor the last in a series of hilariously ill-fated ideas.
january 2007, i borrowed my father’s station wagon and drove 12 hours from dallas to frozen lincoln, nebraska to open for jolie holland (what a voice) at a half-full 150 capacity carpeted club. i believe the compensation was $250/gig but it could have been as much as $500 — more $ than i’d ever seen for a gig for sure and guaranteed, no less! in my memory, this midwestern jolie tour dovetailed right into opening the midlake tour. they were out in support of their excellent record, “the trials of van occupanther” and were the sweetest good texas boys you could ever hope to meet. the drummer of midlake, mackenzie smith, would later prove to be a great collaborator, playing on actor, strange mercy, and st. vincent.
on this tour, i’d enlisted my dear friend, jamil, to come and sell merch and help do the long drives. we’d just played a show in detroit and while we’d been inside, a blizzard had swept through and covered the stationwagon in snow and ice. it was treacherous. jamil, who always had some incredible hustle going, hired a homeless man named larry to dig the stationwagon out of the snow. (in college, he had a gold lexus, stripped it of the good parts, and resold it. when i asked if he was sad to see it go, he said, “girl, they think they bought a lexus but they bought a corolla.”) i’ll never forget driving out of bombed out-detroit, apocalyptic at 1 AM. interstate 94 tense and quiet, jamil trying to make sure we didn’t crash or stall on the icy road.
i have eaten years of veggie subway sandwiches on highways 10-90, stayed at a super 8 motel behind a kansas federal prison, peed in cups in dressing rooms when there was no bathroom, gotten eaten alive by bedbugs at a cincinnati days inn. i would not trade a single highway or city or moment or person i met for anything. i have loved it all.
i’m very grateful to have received this grammy. thank you to my producer john congleton, thank you family, thank you friends, thank you to all the incredible musicians involved, thank you managers and agents and publishers and labels and publicists and everyone who works hard at their jobs. and thank you guys. thanks for everything.”
Grab your deluxe copy of St Vincent on iTunes now!
The position David Bowie holds in modern culture is one not rivalled by many. He is integral to the evolution of music (see our article HERE on his constant self reinventions), and his influence can be seen just as strongly today as it was in the coke-fuelled era of the 70’s. The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago is currently celebrating this fact with their exhibition David Bowie Is, and has included various platforms for discussion about The Thin White Duke.
St Vincent has long cited Bowie as an influence on her work, and recently engaged in a conversation with Pitchfork‘s Jessica Hopper about him. See the video below for a snippet of the topics covered, in which the two ladies discuss the idea of authenticity in relation to David Bowie, her own work and what it means to be “authentic” now.
St Vincent says, “When did it become more authentic to just stand up on stage with no lights or costume or theatricality, and just stand up there with a beard and your feelings?”
The incredible St Vincent will be in Australia at the end of the month for St Jerome’s Laneway Festival!
Monday 26 January – AUCKLAND – SILO PARK
Saturday 31 January – BRISBANE – BRISBANE SHOWGROUNDS, BOWEN HILLS (16+)
Sunday 1 February – SYDNEY – SYDNEY COLLEGE OF THE ARTS (SCA), ROZELLE
Friday 6 February – ADELAIDE – HART’S MILL, PORT ADELAIDE (16+)
Saturday 7 February – MELBOURNE – FOOTSCRAY COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE (FCAC) AND THE RIVER’S EDGE
Sunday 8 February – FREMANTLE – ESPLANADE RESERVE AND WEST END
Here are some finnnnne new video clips for you to enjoy!
1. Ghostface Killah & Kandace Springs: Love Don’t Live Here No More
Member of the legendary Wu-Tang Clan (who released a decent album this month, read our review here) has not only been spending his time rapping with Paralympic gold medallists, but releasing sick new tunes, and a video clip too! If you’re in Sydney, catch this man in action tomorrow night at the Metro alongside Pharoahe Monch and The Tongue! The video, from recent solo album 36 Seasons, features Michael K Williams, who you may recognise from Boardwalk Empire and The Wire.
2. St Vincent, Birth In Reverse
It took me a while to get on the St Vincent bandwagon, but I’m so glad I have. Her new video, like her and her music, is quirky, smart, fun and immensely good. The track is frantic and punchy, a total punk sentimentality shot through a hipster frame. The clip starts off simple and a little strange, progressively growing more intense, more fluid, more smoke filled and generally excellent. Did I mention she’s probably the best female guitarist around these days?
3. Seekae, The Stars Below
This clip freaks me out. I’m not sure why. I think it’s the weird angles, the beady eyes, the sweaty faces, the empty scenery and the unnerving serenity of it all. It’s interesting, considering that this is one of the more ‘normal’ tracks on the Sydney trio’s recent, excellent album The Worry (read our review here). I’ve been a big Seekae fan for ages and this has been a massive year for them (read our interview here to learn more) – hopefully 2015 will be even bigger. It finally seems like they’re starting to get the recognition they’ve deserved for a long time.
4. POND, Sitting Up On Our Crane
Perth’s psych heroes are at it again. The track is a washed up slow burner, a heavenly lo-fi dream of gentle beats and twangy guitars, slowly building up to a glorious peak with a syncopated rhythm and oh-so-catchy chorus. The video is weird, as you might expect. I’m probably not even going to describe it. It’s animated and trippy. If you stare at it for too long you’ll probably have an acid flashback. I love it – both the song and the clip.
5. Electric Mantis, Flips and Flops (Ego’s ‘Where The Wild Things Are AV Edit)
This one’s a little different as it’s not really a video clip per se, more an updated video edit of another tune. Ego has taken Electric Mantis’ neo-disco electro track, and added all sorts of strangeness from classic children’s story ‘Where The Wild Things Are.’ Fun, trippy and completely wacky. The track itself manages to stay fairly low key – in between the huge beats and blaring brass synths, that is – with a catchy sampled melody and plinky plonky synth flickers topping it all off.
6. Maples, Stars
Upcoming artist Maples has just released the video for her hit single Stars. The track is ethereal and seemingly innocent, driving and emotional, while the video is made up of gorgeously lit close ups, stunning landscape shots and all kinds of wholesome, beautiful scenarios. A really fitting clip for the ethereal tune, it really just makes me want to head straight to the countryside and dance around a sun-drenched field with a horse by my side.
7. Rosie Lowe, How’d You Like It
Electronic artist Rosie Lowe (who shared some her favourite tracks with us recently!) has just released this incredible film clip for new single How’d You Like It. It’s simple but haunting, to a point where it’s almost frightening. Naked bodies joined by what seems like huge silky strings or spider webs, distorting themselves, stretching and pulling their way through an empty house. The perfect complement to a dark, delicate and wonderful new track.