Delphic: 'Acolyte'

Manchester has always boasted a vibrant musical scene, from ‘Madchester’ during the late 1980s and early 1990s and continuing through to Brit Pop. Bands which have blossomed from this setting have been The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Oasis, and New Order to name just a few. Now it would appear that Delphic, with their debut offering ‘Acolyte’, could well be placed to join the others in the pantheon of greatness. It is the last band in particular in the aforementioned list which holds the most relevance here. Delphic not only hail from Manchester, but are also being described as the new ‘New Order’.

As with New Order, Delphic marry dance floor electronics with indie rock. Countless bands have ventured into this messy fusion with disastrous effects. Fortunately, however, a few bands got it right and New Order were masters of this art. Thankfully, Delphic appear to be following in their footsteps. Better still, they have adopted New Orders sound and transferred it firmly into the twenty-first century.

The reason for their success is twofold. The first is simplicity. Indie bands who have tried to add an element of sophistication into their repertoire by adding synths and dance elements often try to be too sagacious and have failed miserably. It is no coincidence that the most successful products have been by dance acts, such as The Chemical Brothers, Orbital, and Underworld. By adding elements of the Indie genre into their acts they have ultimately succeeded purely because they have kept things simple and Delphic follow in the same mold as the latter.

Secondly, success is down to German producer, Ewan Pearson. This talented individual possesses great control of dance floor dynamics and understands how to build euphoric dance beats, releasing their full potential by the chorus. Acolyte starts on a high and the pace never really diminishes for the entire duration. The rush and melancholy contained within all good anthems are present here along with anodyne lyrics, tight harmonies, infectious tunes, glittering synths, scattering percussion and indie guitar rhythms. Most impressive of all is that vocals tend to take a back seat and beats and rhythms take centre stage.

It’s hard to keep an electronic album engaging for an entire LP however Delphic have managed to produce something that doesn’t drift into ‘background music’ territory. Highlights are ‘Doubt’ which is as pop as they really get; as well as the awesome ‘Red Light’ and title track ‘Acolyte’. It’s not the most adventurous album one will hear but they are not claiming to be so and despite the endless comparisons, they deserve to be classed as a good band in their own right.

Gay China

Being gay in China: Your stories

A week ago China's first gay pageant was cancelled, on orders from the police.
The event had been hailed as a new chapter of openness towards the gay community in China, where homosexuality was illegal until 1997 and defined as mental disorder until 2001. Here three gay men in China describe the pressures they have to live with and the compromises they have to make.

Michael Tsai, 23, restaurant manager, Beijing
I was going to be the host for the gay pageant Mr Gay China, but unfortunately the government has once again oppressed its people silently. It would have been a wonderful step but there is much more fear than understanding. Although I wouldn't call it discrimination, there's definitely a pressure to conformity in Chinese society. The goal is to to marry and produce male offspring. Since the Chinese are allowed to have only one child there is even more pressure to conform. Thankfully I come from a family of two boys and the need to carry on the family name has already been fulfilled. I am out to all my family, my friends and colleagues.

Although I do feel that the country as a whole has become a lot more tolerant, it isn't necessarily more understanding. My family feels that if something is not spoken about then it either doesn't exist or it will be forgotten. Even though they know I'm gay they still say things like "When you find your wife..." I'm sure my parents are not thrilled by my sexual orientation but they seem to be dealing with it through denial and that's perfectly fine with me. China has become a get-rich-fast society, a society where you build up power and forget about everyone else. There are more things to worry about than who's attracted to who. Most of the older Chinese feel that being gay is just a phase and that eventually it will work itself out. I don't feel that there are any problems in China that I've come across. If we aren't too loud and proud about it then the subject doesn't even cross anyone's mind. Although I do feel that the country as a whole has become a lot more tolerant, it isn't necessarily more understanding.

Anonymous man, Guangzhou
I'm 35, I work as an environment researcher and I am married with two children. I am also gay. Organisers hoped the pageant would mark a step towards greater awareness
I come from the countryside, where most people don't even know what gay means.
Several years ago, I came out to my three closest friends. I haven't, and will never, come out to my parents, wife and children.
There's a strong tradition in China you can't go against - to get married. I think most of the gay people in China are married. There's a lot of pressure from the family to do that. The Chinese family is very traditional and it's not based on so-called love. My wife and I have a good relationship, we love each other like a brother and sister. I am happy in my family, we are the true family.

I don't need freedom. I need to keep this secret, so that I can live normally
We need to keep to that, but I also have the freedom to make friends outside. Me and my gay friends have our own meetings, we go to a badminton club and have dinner together. That's all I need. Happiness is not about desiring things you cannot have, but enjoying the things you have. I have two children, one three-year old boy and an eight-year old girl. I would never come out to them - I don't want them to know that I am gay. I hope that my children can have a normal life and I think to be gay is not normal because it's different from everybody else. I've accepted what I am because I cannot change. I support our government's decision to cancel the gay pageant. Freedom is perhaps the most important thing in the Western world, but for us Chinese people, the most important thing is harmony. I don't need freedom. I need to keep this secret, so that I can live normally. There has been a change of attitude lately towards homosexuality, there's more acceptance and understanding. There's still lots of prejudice but I think it will take time for that to be eliminated.

Miles, 30, Shenyang
I was born in a small village in Liaoning Province in north-east China. Currently I work for a China-based multinational in Dubai, but I go back to China every four months. Last year, China's first gay pride festival was praised in the state media
I have been in a relationship with a guy since I started working in Shenyang in 2001. We now live apart because of my current job. I've never come out to my colleagues, family and friends. In my opinion, keeping a low profile is the real way of life, especially when your sexual preference is not the mainstream one. Both my father and sister met my boyfriend, which is kind of dangerous. I am afraid one day they might discover that I am gay. I won't come out to them, as I don't want to hurt them.
In my opinion, the younger generations are more open to homosexuality than the older ones. There is one problem all gay people face in China - that's marriage. I wish to stay abroad, so that I can escape the fate of having to start a family
This tradition is deeply rooted in most Chinese people's minds. The pressure is particularly strong on those born in a one-child family as they have to fulfil their God-given mission to maintain the family continuity. I am trying to stay far away from marriage. While I am in Dubai, I don't sense the pressure from my family for the time being. But that day will come if I return to China. I wish to stay abroad, so that I can escape the fate of having to start a family. With the young generations growing into adults, I believe Chinese society will become more tolerant towards homosexuality. I have young friends who don't care at all. Even though homosexuality is legal, large-scale events are still not possible. But in our everyday life gay people are, in most cases, accepted by their close peers and colleagues because most gay people are friendly and have good personalities. We have many gay websites, we have gay night clubs in the big cities and we have a professor of a top Chinese university, named Li Yinhe, who is an advocate of gay rights. China is changing to accept new ideas and develop in many different areas and so I believe that one day gay marriage will become legal.

Thailand

From January 9th to the 17th George and I went to Thailand. After an evening flight on Saturday we arrived in Thailand just shy of midnight and got a taxi to Shukumvit to the hotel Miami. Luckily, as we hadn’t booked anything, they had free rooms. We dropped our stuff and headed out onto the boisterous streets. We spent the next two days in Bangkok visiting the Grand Palace and various temples as well as stopping off at the department store to shop and watch a movie, Brothers. Then on Tuesday we took a flight to Phuket and stayed on Kamala Beach. It was fantastically relaxed and great to spend a few days relaxing by the beach, sunning, swimming, eating and drinking. Then we headed back to Bangkok on the Saturday and spent the rest of the day shopping before heading back to Taipei on Sunday. It was great holiday.

Eye infection officially over

Finally, my eye infection is clear. After four long months i can wear my contacts the whole day without having to revert to glasses for any period of time. I hope it never comes back!!

Cadbury Takeover and the Quakers

Cadbury, which has been sold to US firm Kraft, is one of several great British firms founded by Quakers. But how did they gain such a stranglehold on the chocolate industry and why were they so successful in business?

For a religious sect more interested in championing social reform than industry, the Quakers have established an impressive roll call of household business names.
Barclays and Lloyds banks, Clarks shoes, Bryant & May matches and the biscuit firms Huntley & Palmers and Carrs are just a few of the companies founded by members of the pacifist group. But when it comes to confectionery, there has been a virtual monopoly for more than a century, led by Cadbury of Birmingham, Fry's of Bristol and Rowntree's and Terrys of York.

Society of Friends founded in England in 1650s by George Fox.
Pacifist religious sect values all people equally and believes there's something of God in us all. Name derives either from founder telling magistrate to tremble - quake - at God's name, or from shaking associated with religious experience
About 17,000 Quakers in Britain today, and 210,000 worldwide. This achievement is all the more remarkable given the tiny numbers of Quakers. In 1851 they only accounted for about one in 1,400 of the population of 21 million in England, Scotland and Wales - less than 0.1%. The move into chocolate began with cocoa drinks in the 19th Century as a reaction against the perceived misery and deprivation caused by alcohol, says Quaker historian Helen Rowlands. "Quakers and other non-conformists at the time were concerned about levels of alcohol misuse in the population at large, they were part of the temperance movement. "Cocoa was a way of providing cheap and available drink. It was healthy because you had to boil the water to make it when they didn't have good water supplies." There was a friendly rivalry between the manufacturers, many of whom started out as general grocers, but also a fraternity.

Quaker gatherings for worship take place in meeting houses, not churches
"There were certainly strong networks between them. They knew one another from their church-based life, and because of the way they had been excluded and persecuted on the edge of society, there was a strong sense they should help each other out," says Ms Rowlands. "So they developed strong business networks as well as personal ones."
As they moved into producing chocolate bars, several of the Victorian Quaker firms bought new cutting-edge machinery and established a competitive edge over other producers. The other advantage was their reputation for honesty and reliability running parallel with their quest for justice, equality and social reform.

"They were amongst the first to set a firm price for goods. There was a lot of bartering before, but the Quakers said 'no, we'll state the price for goods and a fair price'," says Ms Rowlands. "People appreciated that, they knew where they stood with Quaker businessmen - they were in it to make a livelihood but not at the expense of customers or employees."

The workers' pool in Bournville
This ethical approach gave Quaker retailers a competitive advantage over their resentful rivals because their customers knew they were not being ripped off and did not have to haggle to get a fair price. Cadbury, which built the village of Bournville for its workers complete with schools, leisure facilities and parks, was amongst the first firms to make pension provisions and provide a canteen.
It also knew a healthy workforce was a productive workforce, and employed doctors and dentists at a time when there was still child labour in Britain. Ms Rowlands says evidence shows the new ethical stance led to a successful business, but it was unclear how other firms viewed it at the time. "[The Quakers] were not the only people doing that kind of thing but they were in the vanguard of it. The connection between faith-based motivation and business was very clear and perhaps less overt amongst others." The Quakers were formed as a protest against the established Church and, crucially, members were excluded from universities and debarred from many public and civic offices along with other non-conformists. So professions such as medicine or the law were not open to them, which explains why so many gravitated towards business and commerce. "During the 18th and early 19th Centuries, non-conformists were barred from universities. You had to be a practicing Anglican to take a degree," Ms Rowlands says.

"Lots of the middle classes who might have taken the intellectual route went into trade and industry, and their talents were well used there."
There was an inventive streak and an interest in science among Quakers, typified by the Darbys of Coalbrookdale, who founded the British iron industry, and the Hanburys who brought tinplate to Wales. Their pacifist stance also created new markets. Unlike their competitors, the Darbys refused to make cannon during the Napoleonic wars and instead concentrated on domestic ironware, which proved a more lucrative industry than weapons. In the 1820s, the Peases ran the first train from Stockton to Darlington on what became known as the Quaker Line, and the Quakers influenced pharmacy (Allen and Hanbury), chemicals (Albright & Wilson and Sturge) and engineering (Ransomes of Ipswich).

But they were also people of their own era, forcing women to leave work once they married and employing slaves on West Indian sugar plantations despite later starting Britain's campaign against the slave trade. Jobs for the girls... but only until marriage. Academic Sarah Moss, who wrote Chocolate: A Global History (Edible), says conditions on Quakers' slave plantations may have been better than others, "but it was still slavery without any doubt". Quaker confectioners were seen as trustworthy, she says, with good and safe factory conditions - bucking the trend at the time.
"Contamination of sweets was a big issue in the 19th Century. Red lead was a common colouring for sweets, which was poisonous, and brick dust was added to chocolate to make it go further," she explains. She also thinks aspects of the Quakers' religious ethos and self-reliance make them natural capitalists.

A caricature of wealthy Quaker banker Samuel Gurney published in 1823. "Non-conformists put the burden of responsibility for salvation on the individual. Quakerism doesn't have any kind of priesthood. That approach to life is the prototype of successful capitalism - you just get on, it's just you and the system and no welfare state." By the 1870s, Oxford and Cambridge universities began accepting Quakers, opening up new professions and opportunities. Paul Whitehouse, treasurer of Quakers and Business, says this helps explain why there are fewer Quaker firms today.
"People went into a large selection of different walks of life. There was no longer this concentration of people in business. [Once] the best and brightest went into business, now they were spread across so they didn't stand out." After World War II, Quaker-owned family businesses began to disappear - Cadbury merged with Schweppes in 1969 and Rowntree's was bought by Swiss multinational Nestle in 1988.

Quaker Oats in name alone, and now owned by PepsiCo. Ms Rowlands says there was a sense among Quaker bosses that holding on to their companies as wholly family enterprises would made them competitively vulnerable. Quakers and Business tries to apply the same ethical values of yesteryear to today's society, and the Quaker brand remains a powerful, trusted and at times exploited one. The US company Quaker Oats, founded in the late 19th Century, still uses the image of a traditionally dressed Quaker on its cereal boxes - despite never having any connection to the group.

My Movies of 2009

1. ‘In The Loop’ (Armando Iannucci)
This incredible witty movie is a great extension from the TV series ‘The Thick of It’. The genius script and the brilliant acting crosses the line between satire and real-life so well that it is almost scary to watch at times. Without doubt, one of the best political comedies of all time.

2. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke)
This dark and melancholy film is set in a small village in Protestant Germany on the eve of World War I. The focus of the movie is a set of mysterious accidents and who is behind them. When the truth is revealed it raises many disturbing questions about society in general, a fantastic movie!

3. Anvil! The Story of Anvil (Sacha Gervasi)
This movie is as emotional as it is humorous. The heavy metal band who should have had it all but never made it big for some reason. In spite of all this they are still going strong, playing to anyone who will listen to them. A true underdog story.

4. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
A great revisionist view on the Second World War and it’s close. Expect the usual long dialogues and epic length but, also, as usual, it is done expertly well. The acting, soundtrack and pace of story are all first class, in a word; brilliant!

5. The Hangover (Todd Phillips)
The best comedy of the year comes from a group of guys on a stag party in Las Vegas. On paper it seemed like a recipe for disaster. However, the script is fantastic and the story is engaging throughout. It had me fully involved from beginning to end.

6. Moon (Duncan Jones)
I’m not usually a big fan of Sci-Fi movies but this one was certainly a cut above the rest. The acting is clearly a highlight as we are dealing with a one man show from beginning to end. The story raised many poignant questions about our near future.

7. About Elly (Asghar Farhadi)
If this is what Iranian movies is all about then count me in for a whole lot more. A middle class family ventures to their holiday retreat in Northern Iran only to have a tragedy strike them. The story is not complicated but it engages you from the very start.

8. Cannot Live Without You / Bu neng mei you ni (Leon Dai)
A touching Taiwanese movie about a father’s quest to keep his young daughter at all cost. It is well written and gives a great view of the less fortunate side of Taiwanese society. A great all-round movie.

9. The Boat That Rocked (Richard Curtis)
A great movie about the start of commercial radio back in the 1960’s. It is part fictional but largely based around true characters and events. It was great to get an insight into this exciting time in music. The damn preventing music of all genres flooding into the country (the government controlled airwaves) were giving way for the first time and this is a story about the very start of that. Great viewing for anyone interested in music for the soundtrack alone and, as usual, Curtis doesn’t let us down with the script either.

10. District 9 (Neill Blomkamp)
As far as alien movies are concerned I am not a fan by any stretch of the imagination. However, this was great and different to the usual storyline of aliens coming to earth, aliens destroy earth, and Americans save the day! Really well acted and great references to general life in society.

New Years Weekend

Last weekend was a long one as New Years fell on a Friday. Therefore it was a very unusual three days off. On Thursday we just relaxed at home and Steve cam over. We drank a few bottles of wine and vodka and waited until 12 for the fireworks show. They were actually better than last year. Then after a while we headed out to meet up with Hamish, i don't remember much about what happened as I was way to drunk but still good fun anyway.

Friday was mainly reserved for recovering. We didn't get up until 2 and then went for lunch/dinner. Then we waited to watch Sherlock Holmes. It was okay but I still think Guy Ritchie opted to deliberately dumb down the character a bit too much. Still, it was a little better than i believed it to be. I would give it 2.5/5 stars.

On Saturday we headed to Ximen in the evening to have a few drinks at DaLiDa, although the weather was bad it was still fine to sit out and relax. On Sunday we continued the theme of taking it easy. It is surprising how long a weekend can be when you have just one extra day. I wish all weekends were three days long!

Back to work this week but it's not so bad. We booked our tickets to Thailand on Saturday!! So the countdown begins, just 4 days until our holiday!!

Statistics: Music 2000-2009

Source: BBC News

The millennium bug didn't strike as predicted on 1 January, 2000, but the record industry probably wishes it had. Napster, the first file-sharing service to achieve mainstream success, launched in June 1999 and, by the time it was shut down in 2001, the genie was out of the bottle. MP3s could now be distributed widely and freely online and, armed with their iPods, a generation grew up thinking they could, and should, get music for free. Consequently, sales of recorded music fell steadily throughout the decade - not helped by the record labels' hesitance over the internet. Instead of embracing downloads, they spent years suing the likes of Kazaa, allofmp3.com and Pirate Bay; and slapping restrictive "digital locks" on music sold online. As the industry prevaricated, sales collapsed - with a knock-on effect on the likes of Smash Hits, Melody Maker, Top Of The Pops, Virgin Megastores, Tower Records and Woolworths - all of whom waved goodbye in the 2000s.

Artistically, however, the noughties were a time of innovation. In 2000, Radiohead threw out the rulebook with the wilfully obtuse, musically accomplished Kid A and became the first UK-signed act to score a US number one for nearly three years. Jay-Z made history as the first rapper to headline Glastonbury in 2008. Eminem reinvigorated rap music (stalker fantasy Stan attracted praise from Irish poet Seamus Heaney) while inadvertently launching Dido's career. And Prince was in the papers - literally and figuratively - when he gave away an entire album of new recordings with the Mail on Sunday in 2007. Others to investigate new avenues of music distribution included Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead, who allowed fans to set their own price for the critically acclaimed In Rainbows album.

Shows like American Idol and X Factor were the monolith against which "proper" musicians railed against throughout the noughties - but they also produced the sassy, intelligent hits of Girls Aloud, Will Young's sincere balladry, and Kelly Clarkson's immense pop/rock crossover Since U Been Gone. Interestingly, while top 10 singles of the decade are dominated by reality show winners in the UK, there is not one single American Idol graduate on the US list, which is populated by Mariah Carey, Usher and the Black Eyed Peas.

R&B was undoubtedly the genre that defined the decade, with super-producers Timbaland and The Neptunes experiencing long-running hot streaks. It also produced two bona-fide superstars - Beyonce and Justin Timberlake - with a third, Rihanna, waiting in the wings.

On the live circuit, Madonna and U2 continued to set the standards by which other shows would be judged. Meanwhile, The Police, The Specials, The Pixies, Take That and... er, Kajagoogoo all reformed in the name of music. Towering above them all were Led Zeppelin, who got back together for a ear-splitting, one-off charity gig in honour of Atlantic Records' founder Ahmet Ertegun. Meanwhile, Coldplay, Muse and Radiohead all graduated to stadium level, but Oasis faltered, splitting in August 2009 after an alleged backstage altercation in France.

Others who stumbled on the rocky road of pop included Pete Doherty, Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse, whose tabloid misadventures overshadowed their songs. And the world of music mourned in June 2009 when, just two weeks before his 50-date comeback at London's O2 arena, the king of pop, Michael Jackson, died unexpectedly.


BEST-SELLING SINGLES OF THE DECADE
UK US
1. Will Young
Anything Is Possible / Evergreen Mariah Carey / We Belong Together
2. Gareth Gates
Unchained Melody Usher ft Lil Jon & Ludacris / Yeah!
3.Tony Christie ft Peter Kay
Is This The Way To Amarillo? Flo Rida ft T-Pain / Low
4. Shaggy ft RikRok
It Wasn't Me Nickelback / How You Remind Me
5. Alexandra Burke
Hallelujah Black Eyed Peas / I Gotta Feeling
6. Band Aid 20
Do They Know It's Christmas? Alicia Keys / No-One
7. Kylie Minogue
Can't Get You Out Of My Head Black Eyed Peas / Boom Boom Pow
8. Shayne Ward
That's My Goal Mario / Let Me Love You
9. Hear'Say
Pure and Simple Kanye West ft Jamie Foxx / Gold Digger
10. Bob The Builder
Can We Fix It? Timbaland ft OneRepublic / Apologize

Source: Official UK Charts Company (UK), Billboard (US)



BEST-SELLING ALBUMS OF THE DECADE

1. James Blunt
Back To Bedlam
'N Sync (US)
No Strings Attached
2. Dido
No Angel
Usher (US)
Confessions
3. Amy Winehouse
Back To Black
Eminem (US)
The Eminem Show
4. Leona Lewis
Spirit
Norah Jones (US)
Come Away With Me
5. David Gray
White Ladder
Creed (US)
Human Clay
6. The Beatles
1
Britney Spears (US)
Ooops!... I Did It Again
7. Dido
Life For Rent
Eminem (US)
The Marshall Mathers LP
8. Coldplay
A Rush of Blood to the Head
The Beatles (US)
1
9. Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters
Santana (US)
Supernatural
10. Take That
Beautiful World
Nelly (US)
Country Grammar

Source: Official UK Charts Company (UK), Billboard (US)

UK BEST-SELLERS BY YEAR
YEAR SINGLE and ALBUM
2009 Lady GaGa
Poker Face
Susan Boyle
I Dreamed A Dream
2008 Alexandra Burke
Hallelujah
Duffy
Rockferry
2007 Leona Lewis
Bleeding Love
Amy Winehouse
Back To Black
2006 Gnarls Barkley
Crazy
Snow Patrol
Eyes Open
2005 Tony Christie ft Peter Kay
Is This The Way To Amarillo?
James Blunt
Back To Bedlam
2004 Band Aid 20
Do They Know It's Christmas?
Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters
2003 Black Eyed Peas
Where Is The Love?
Dido
Life For Rent
2002 Will Young
Anything Is Possible / Evergreen
Robbie Williams
Escapology
2001 Shaggy ft RikRok
It Wasn't Me
Dido
No Angel
2000 Bob The Builder
Can We Fix It?
The Beatles
1

Source: Official UK Charts Company

BEST ALBUM AWARDS
YEAR BRITS / GRAMMYS / MERCURY
2009 Duffy Rockferry / Robert Plant & Alison Krauss / Raising Sand / Speech Debelle Speech Therapy
2008 Arctic Monkeys Favourite Worst Nightmare / Herbie Hancock River: The Joni Letters / Elbow The Seldom Seen Kid
2007 Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not / Dixie Chicks
Taking The Long Way / Klaxons Myths Of The Near Future
2006 Coldplay X&Y / U2 How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb / Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
2005 Keane Hopes And Fears / Ray Charles Genius Loves Company / Antony And The Johnsons I Am A Bird Now
2004 The Darkness Permission To Land / Outkast Speakerboxxx / The Love Below / Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand
2003 Coldplay A Rush Of Blood To The Head / Norah Jones Come Away With Me / Dizzee Rascal Boy In Da Corner
2002 Dido No Angel / Various Artists O Brother, Where Art Thou? / Ms Dynamite A Little Deeper
2001 Coldplay Parachutes / Steely Dan Two Against Nature / PJ Harvey Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
2000 Travis The Man Who / Santana Supernatural / Badly Drawn Boy The Hour of Bewilderbeast