no:carrier | Music Profile

Artist: no:carrier
Location: San Francisco, California, USA/Ingolstadt, Germany
Styles: Electro Noir, Electropop, Synthpop, Darkwave
Similar to: The Crüxshadows, Wolfsheim, Portishead, Depeche Mode
CD: Confession EP

no:contact music profile

Members/Instruments:
Cynthia Wechselberger – vocals
Chris Wirsig – keyboards, vocals

Production: Chris Wirsig

Tracklisting:
1        Confession – Single Mix
2        Hero To A Fool
3        Confession – 1st In 14 Mix
4        And Sometimes – RMX 2011B
5        Confession – Inspired By F.P. Mix
6        A Bright Room

Websites:
Official
Bandcamp
Facebook
Twitter

Bio:
Electro Noir Pop – a description that fits no:carrier best. “We can’t be compared easily. We have our very own sound that includes elements from several styles – from Dark Wave to Synthpop, from Acoustic to Electro,” says Chris Wirsig, main songwriter and producer of no:carrier. “We found our own way, we are not going on the trodden paths. We stay true to our ideals and write exactly the songs we want to write.”

no:carrier, originally founded in 1995 in Germany, but active in its current line-up since 2001, is now a long-distance musical affair, with Chris Wirsig living in San Francisco while singer Cynthia Wechselberger still resides in their home country Germany. But as with all long-distance relationships this can add some spice to the mixture.

After two critically acclaimed albums, “My Own Dream” in 2002 and “Between The Chairs” in 2011, the duo is back in 2013 with even more variety. Still firmly rooted in Dark Wave and Synth Pop, no:carrier’s sound and topics are broader than ever, incorporating Arabic instruments, drums and percussion from different cultures, with topics ranging from melancholic introspection to defiant declarations to tragic real-life biographies.

First harbinger of the new songs was the 5 track single “Last Scene”, released in June 2013. The song reflects a dubious past, a “last scene of a play we shouldn’t have staged”, and was praised in magazines like Side-Line, Nachtaktiv, Amobss-Mag and ReGen. The follow up single, “The Nine Days’ Queen”, released in December 2013, deals with the tragic life of Lady Jane Grey who ruled England for nine days and later was beheaded. A third precursor to the new album “Wisdom & Failure”, the “Confession EP” is released late February 2014 with the album following late April/early May.

 

M&S To Launch Childrenswear Pop-up ‘Kids Shwop Boutique’ For Oxfam

clothesMarks & Spencer to open first-ever charity Kids Shwop Boutique at Marble Arch store

Shwop Boutique to sell the best childrenswear items donated to Shwopping campaign
A host of celebrities including Joanna Lumley, Abbey Clancy, Rochelle Humes, Peaches Geldof, Alex Gerrad and Zoe Ball have donated items that will be sold
All money raised go to charity partner Oxfam as part of their Mother Appeal initiative
Over 1,000 shwopped childrenswear clothing will be on sale over three days

Marks & Spencer (M&S) is set to open its first-ever childrenswear pop-up store when a three-day Kids Shwop Boutique opens to the public this March in aid of Oxfam’s Mother Appeal.

Open from Thursday 6th – Saturday 8th March at the retailer’s Marble Arch store, the one-off secondhand store will sell the best childrenswear items donated to M&S and Oxfam’s sustainable fashion initiative, Shwopping by the UK public and a host of celebrity donations.

All proceeds raised from the Kids Shwop Boutique will go towards Oxfam’s Mother Appeal campaign – which is being supported by M&S – that aims to raise £10 million for projects that help mothers around the world lift themselves and their families out of poverty for good.

Shwoppers will be able to pick up once loved childrenswear items from Britain’s top style icons and celebrity mums including Abbey Clancy, Peaches Geldof, Alex Gerrard, Zoe Ball, Rochelle Humes, Sarah Story, Mel Giedroyc and Shwopping ambassador Joanna Lumley. And, thanks to the UK government, every pound raised for the appeal will be doubled. *

Each celebrity-donated item will include personal words of wisdom stitched into the fabric of the item allowing advice to be passed onto the new owner.

Entry to the Kids Shwop Boutique is free, but visitors will have to shwop – hand over an unwanted item of kids clothing, using old or unused clothes as their ticket to the exclusive sale.

M&S has asked the public to donate childrenswear items to support the Oxfam campaign through its joint Love, Mum initiative. All other items of clothing donated will also go towards the appeal.

The public can show their support by Shwopping items in any M&S store add their words of wisdom on social media mentioning @shwopping and the hashtag #LoveMum.

M&S and Oxfam’s Shwopping collaboration urges shoppers to donate – or ‘shwop’ – an unwanted item of clothing that will go on to be re-sold, re-used or recycled by Oxfam, cutting waste while raising much-needed funds for the charity.

Since its launch in April 2012, Oxfam has received 6.9 million items of clothing thanks to Shwopping, worth £4.5 million for the charity. All money raised by Shwopping is used to support Oxfam’s projects around the world working to alleviate poverty.

Shwop Boutique

Where: Marks & Spencer, Marble Arch, 458 Oxford Street. London. W1C 1AP
When: The Kids Shwop Boutique is open from 10am – 9pm on Thursday 6th March and 8am – 9pm on Friday 7th and Saturday 8h March 2014
Entry: Free with a shwopped item of clothing

For more information on Marks & Spencer and Oxfam’s Kids Shwop Boutique visit www.marksandspencer.com.

 

Ben Fogle Launches Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon Ballot

The ballot for the world’s most beautiful city run, the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon, was opened today by Royal Parks Foundation trustee, Ben Fogle, in St. James’s Park. This year, the event takes on greater significance as government funding to maintain the parks has been cut by 25 per cent. Money raised from the event offers valuable resources to help the Royal Parks Foundations work and bridge the funding gap.

benfogle1

20,000 runners will take to the streets of London on 12 October for the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon, which encompasses four of the Royal Parks: Hyde Park, St James’s Park, Kensington Gardens and Green Park. Since its inception in 2008, the annual event has raised over £18 million for more than 450 charities while also raising sustainable funds for the Royal Parks Foundation to support London’s eight Royal Parks of over 5,000 acres. According to Virgin Money Giving, the event raises more money per runner than any other UK half marathon.

benfogle

“The government now gives less than half the £35m it takes to care for the Parks each year, leaving many gaps to fill,” commented Royal Parks Foundation chief executive, Sara Lom. “The Parks do a good job at generating income through the cafés, boating and other concessions, as well as through major events such as Frieze Art Fair and the Hyde Park Summer concert series, but the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon is vital to our efforts to help protect rare wildlife, restore historic monuments and engage young people with the natural world.”

 

Over the years, The Royal Parks Foundation has funded a number of projects to help improve and conserve the Royal Parks such as creating the Isis Education Centre, a state-of-the-art environmental education centre in Hyde Park, plus restoring the 19th century Italian Gardens in Kensington Gardens as part of a project to restore water features across the Parks.

 

“There are a number of projects we are aiming to support as a charity over the next 12 to 18 months off the back of the support we get from the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon,” said Royal Parks Foundation trustee, Ben Fogle. “For example, after years of enthusiastic use many of the Royal Parks’ children’s playgrounds are in need of some TLC. We want to help create exciting, imaginative spaces for active play in our Royal Parks, so we will be working with the Royal Parks Management teams to design new play spaces at Gloucester Gate in Regent’s Park and South Carriage Drive in Hyde Park.”

 

The Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon ballot opens on Tuesday 25 February until Wednesday 4 March. Runners can enter the ballot by visiting www.royalparkshalf.com

 

The Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon takes place on Sunday 12 October 2014, starting and finishing in Hyde Park.

 

 

Frost Loves…Vinyl Coasters

vinylcoasters

Want to reminisce over records and chill with that old school vinyl? With our coaster collection and a cuppa you can! Cool and quirky these coasters are a must for that musically cultured coffee table decor!

Rocking the retro look these stylish coasters will have you buzzing to blast out those timeless tunes, making your home individual with their diverse design and labels.

So ‘turn back time’ with these classics but favour the freshness of vinyl design if you’re a fan!

Just jazz up your home with these chic coasters for that sonic sound of your youth, these records will have your room rocking and raving trend.

Vintage up with Vinyl – Video may have killed the radio star, but we will carry on the comeback of this classic! Sales may have risen for retro, and 1 in 5 vinyl buyers buy a record at least once a week, so purchase this flawless and fashionable find from www.prezzybox.com for only £9.95!

Features:

·      Protects from marks and stains

·      6x Coasters to each pack

·      Dimensions (10x11x11cm)

·      Each have individual labels

 

Nicki Waterman’s Sport Relief 7 Day Diet Plan

Sport Relief is back again in March 2014 and promises to be even bigger and better. For the first time ever the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games will take place from Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd March 2014.

The public can join in with the fun and games by running, swimming or cycling their way to raising cash at over a thousand venues around the country, including the landmark events at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Celebrity fitness expert Nicki Waterman has created a diet plan to help those training for the Games.

For those wanting to prepare for the Games, whilst sporting the new look in the kitchen, the specially designed Emma Bridgewater apron as worn by The Great British Sport Relief Bake Off ‘Star Bakers’ is available to buy from HomeSense and TK Maxx stores, for £12.99 with at least £6.50 going to Sport Relief.

Celebrity fitness expert Nicki Waterman says, “All the money raised from Sport Relief will be spent helping some of the most vulnerable people in the UK and across the world’s poorest countries – who wouldn’t want to be part of such a brilliant charity.”

nikkiwaterman
Emma Bridgewater has created two limited edition aprons for Sport Relief available from HomeSense and TK Maxx stores

Main meals need to be based on slow release energy foods. These help to provide the energy needed to re-fuel exercised muscles.

In practice this means having things like porridge for breakfast, or other oat cereals like, sugar-free muesli or a couple of slices of granary bread with two boiled or poached eggs and a glass of fruit juice.

For lunchtime, it is a good idea to use tortilla wraps and pitta bread as the basis of your meal, adding to them some lean fillings like roasted chicken, reduced fat hummus or some avocado or cottage cheese; all with lots of salad.

At dinner-time, pasta and noodles or new potatoes make a great base to your meals. To these you can add some baked or grilled fish, lean meat like grilled steak or vegetarian options, or stir-fries with a meat substitute.

The next part of the plan is to ensure that you have the right snacks before, during and after you exercise.

About an hour to 30 minutes before you train, try to have a banana and a glass of juice or a handful of dried fruit and some water or a cereal bar.

When you are actually exercising, have another small snack once you are 30 minutes in. This can be an isotonic sports drink, which will give you a little energy boost to keep going beyond an hour.

Once you have finished, try to have another snack like a banana sandwich or a cereal bar within 30 minutes of finishing. This will start the process of beginning to refuel your muscles.

This may sound like a lot of food and if you try this pattern and find that you are actually putting on weight, then cut back on serving sizes at main meal times.

If you find on the other hand that you are shedding too much weight, have slightly larger servings at meal times.

Remember, it is quite common for female runners, cyclists or swimmers to end up with iron-deficiency anaemia. Try to include foods like bran flakes, baked beans, wholemeal bread, prunes, cashew nuts and lean red meat.

If you know that you do not eat these foods regularly, it may be worth considering a multivitamin and mineral supplement with around 10mg of iron a day to help keep levels topped up.

 

Shortlist for Guardian Film Awards announced

guardianfilmawardsThe shortlist for the Guardian Film Awards, which was based entirely on readers’ votes, has been announced.

Steve McQueen’s slavery drama ‘12 Years a Slave’ dominates across the lists, with nominations for best film, best director, best scene, best line of dialogue and biggest game-changer. It also scores two nominations in the best supporting actor category – for Michael Fassbender and Lupita Nyong’o.

Joshua Oppenheimer’s film, The Act of Killing, is also in contention for best film and biggest game-changer – a category which seeks to celebrate innovation in cinema, whether it be technical, creative or financial. It’s up against Gravity, Spike Jonze’s Her, 12 Years a Slave, The Act of Killing, and Ben Wheatley’s A Field in England.

Cate Blanchett and Adèle Exarchopoulos join Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leonardo DiCaprio and Bruce Dern in the race for best actor, while documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer is up for best director alongside Steve McQueen, Spike Jonze, Alexander Payne and Paolo Sorrentino.

Guardian film editor and awards judge Catherine Shoard said: 

“It’s really heartening to see what the readers have done with our longlist. By voting for the likes of Adele Exarchpoloulus in the best actor category, and Paolo Sorrentino and Joshua Oppenheimer for best director, they’re shown that regular movie-goers are capable of an imagination – and an inclusiveness – that seems to be beyond the members of most awards bodies.”


Shortlists


Best film

– 12 Years a Slave
– Gravity
– The Great Beauty
– The Act of Killing
– Blue is the Warmest Colour

Best actor

– Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
– Bruce Dern, Nebraska
– Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
– Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
– Adèle Exarchopoulos, Blue is the Warmest Colour

Best supporting actor

– Matt Damon, Behind the Candelabra
– Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
– Jared Leto, The Dallas Buyers Club
– Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
– June Squibb, Nebraska

Best director

– Spike Jonze, Her
– Joshua Oppenheimer, The Act of Killing
– Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
– Paolo Sorrentino, The Great Beauty
– Alexander Payne, Nebraska

Best scene

– Alan Partridge lip-synching to Roachford in the car in Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa
– The opening scene of Gravity
– The first party in The Great Beauty
– Patsy returning with the soap in 12 Years a Slave
– The struggle back to the car while overdosing in The Wolf of Wall Street

Best line of dialogue

– She was the Picasso of passive-aggressive karate. Irving (Christian Bale) in American Hustle
– Something to eat and some rest; your children will soon enough be forgotten. Mistress Ford (Liza J Bennett) in 12 Years a Slave
– Anxiety, nightmares and a nervous breakdown, there’s only so many traumas a person can withstand until they take to the streets and start screaming. Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) in Blue Jasmine
–  I think if Jesus was here now he’d tip you out of that fucking wheelchair and you wouldn’t get up and walk. Martin (Steve Coogan) in Philomena
– What a story; everything but a fire in the orphanage. Liberace (Michael Douglas) in Behind the Candelabra

Best film festival

– Cannes
– Sundance
– London
– Sheffield Doc/Fest
– Toronto

Best marketing campaign

– Philomena
– Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa
– Anchorman: The Legend Continues
– Blue is the Warmest Colour
– World War Z

Biggest game-changer

– The Act of Killing
– Gravity
– Her
– 12 Years a Slave
– A Field in England

Best cinema

Free readers’ vote.

So-bad-it’s-good film

Free readers’ vote.

Lifetime achievement

Judges’ vote.

Gemma Chan Calls For The End Of Page 3

Actress Gemma Chan labels Page 3 ‘a disgrace’ and throws her weight behind the No More Page 3 campaign.

 

Gemma Chan is currently starring in the film Jack Reacher: Shadow Recruit,  later this year she stars in London Fields with Johnny Depp and new BBC TV show, The Game, with Brian Cox. She is the partner of comedian Jack Whitehall and has appeared in TV shows including Fresh Meat, Dr Who, Sherlock and Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

 

Gemma Chan

In a front page interview with The London Magazine, March issue, out now. Gemma said

 

“A picture of a naked woman isn’t in itself a sexist thing, but it’s the context of having those pictures in the most ubiquitous newspaper and the culture that creates. This campaign is saying that it is sexist and it’s not harmless: it influences boys and girls growing up as to how they view a woman’s place in society. You have a newspaper where all the men are decision makers, the managers, the sports people etc, and as a woman there is page 3 telling you that the most important thing is that you’re viewed as sexually desirable, and in quite a limited way.” The campaigners also point out that page 3 is usually the largest image of a woman in any newspaper on any given day, “which is a disgrace,” says Chan.“Imagine if it was a picture of a teenage guy with his balls out every day; the arguments against it would seem completely self-evident.” 

 

 

The No More Page 3 campaign was started by Lucy Holmes when she bought a copy of the Sun during the 2012 Olympics and found that she couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that the largest female image was the Page 3 image even though Jessica Ennis had just gold. Lucy said

 

‘We are thrilled to have Gemma on board. She’s a really energetic supporter who often tweets us and wears her No More Page 3 T-shirt! The pressure really is building now on David Dinsmore, editor of The Sun, he can’t choose to stay stuck in the sexist 1970s for much longer!’

 

No More Page 3 is supported by

  • Girlguiding UK (over 500,000 young members)
  • Mumsnet (Mumsnet is the UK’s largest website for parents, with 4.3 million monthly unique visitors)
  • The British Youth Council (over 220 youth organisations)
  • UK Youth (working with approx. 1 million young people, and 11,000 youth clubs)
  • Members of the Girls’ Brigade England and Wales (just under 20,000 members)
  • The NUT, ATL, NAHT and NASUWT (combining over 780,000 teachers, lecturers and Head Teachers)
  • Unison (our largest union, 1.3 million members)
  • The National Assembly of Wales
  • The Scottish Parliament
  • The Royal College of Midwives
  • The Royal College of Nursing
  • 28 universites and 6 Oxford University Colleges have voted to stop selling The Sun until it drops the page 3 topless images
  • Rape Crisis
  • Woman’s Aid
  • End Violence Against Women’s Coalition