Culture
Ties and tees: three innovative fashion initiatives from Ljubljana, Lille and Berlin
Between 20 - 22 January, the historic Berlin-Tempelhof airport compound served as the venue of Bread and Butter, the most prominent trade fair for urban and streetwear, for the second year in a row. We pick tie manufacturers, T-shirt street fashion and an eco-sports label as top of the crop
culture, fair, lifestyle, clothes, berlin, fashion, traditions
Grand Archives: ‘In five years time we’ll probably be bartenders again’
Mat, Jeff, Curtis and Thomas are four friends from Seattle, four musicians from a small city. They’re not easily recognisable - you won’t have seen their faces in magazines or billboards. They don’t seem like typical indie rock stars; ‘nor do we don’t want to,’ says frontman Mat Brooke. We catch the group on their European tour leg in the Spanish capital
culture, brunch, grand archives, music, spain, leonid kuchma
Annett Louisan: 'I don’t need to go the fake platinum blonde bombshell route anymore'
The breathy German chanson singer hasn’t only changed hair colour over the years - she seems to have done a bit of growing up as well. We catch the 31-year-old entertaining the Franco-German relations ambassador and performing live in Paris for the first time
British authors in Paris on writing and Romania
Vivienne Vermes is working on an autobiographical piece, whilst Denise Larking Coste is about to publish a novella in French; both Brits are members of a writers group from called 'Babel'. We discuss life in Paris, writing and Romania
Babelblogs on music: Charlie Winston wins 'European border breaker award'
... but what are these awards? A press release alerted me to the existence of an award show put on by the European commission for European music acts that 'cross borders'. Interesting idea, but the way it is structured is kind of silly
culture, english, talent, music, european commission, awards, babelblog
Music in January: Blur, Arsov and Loredana Groza
Electro tickles through folk Slovenian covers to Romanian local heroines, whilst the mighty Britpop band are featured in a new documentary in the UK, premiered last night: your music tips of the month
culture, britpop, romania, music, culture calendar, album, slovenia
Staff Benda Bilili, voice of the voiceless in Congo
‘We're all handicapped people, ain't we?’ runs their myspace byline. After more than a month of touring through Europe, this group of paraplegic street musicians from Kinshasa left crowds elated and bewildered almost a year after releasing their debut album Très Très Fort, courtesy of Belgian producer Vincent Kenis of Congotronics fame. A French documentary on the group has been underway for seven years
culture, bands, disable people, record, documentary, discrimination, war
DJ Boris Viande: the Breton who mixes gypsy funk
'Boris Viande,' the 26 year-old muses. 'That’s my pseudonym, how I am best known.' A trumpet player, like the writer Boris Vian, Romain has now been mixing for four years. The young Frenchman claims that before unearthing his passion for eastern music, he was part of the punk movement
Sofia's directors and playwrights boom despite barebone budgets
In Bulgaria there are no cultural policy programmes and the crisis has consumed the ministry coffers. Filmmakers like Kamen Kalev, playwrights and other creative minds demand government transparency and methods to support their enterprising spirit. Part one of a five part 'EU crisis on the ground' city series
culture, cinema, contemporary art, economical crisis, europe on the ground, balkans, youth
Music in December: Sally Shapiro, Empire of The Sun and Múm
Featuring: album of the month from Polish rock-turned-pop star Agnieszka Chylinska, favourite disc of the month from an Australian award-winning electronica duo and a tracklist from Paris to keep you warm this winter
Holocaust Polish boy speaks from the dead on Facebook
'Winter’s here. Every Jew must write their name on the Star of David that is sewn on their clothes...' In the same way that Anne Frank documented her experience day after day in her journal, a young victim of the Holocaust is being virtually revived through Facebook, where he has 2, 279 'friends'
culture, germany, jews, second world war , poland, facebook, internet
The Wankin' Noodles, four boys from Rennes who sing about girls
Romain, Regis, Jean-Sylvain and Guillame went from being graphic design, cinema, information technology and literature students, to being backed by big names as France's latest post-teenage kicks band. Quick catch up with the twelve-eyed foursome at the Transmusicales festival in their hometown
culture, bands, rennes, men and women, pop music, youth, music
Cornershop: 'musicians might as well hand their credit cards over to the man on the street'
Northern English indie band Cornershop give us a talking to about Swiss minarets, metal music and releasing their comeback album - it's been seven years! - cheaply via their website
culture, switzerland, bands, downloads, religion, best of cafebabel.com, music
Party burnout in Paris, so go to Berlin
'Sssssh, go in quickly,' whispers the bouncer of the electro bar 4Elements on the Place de la Republique. The lights are out in the flat above. It is 11pm, a Saturday evening in Paris. The one-time nightlife mecca of Europe is turning into a sleepy little town, a trend that threatens to continue
culture, underground, festivals, lifestyle, paris, youth, alcohol
Guide to the reggae underbelly of Milan
Maybe it all started on 27 June 1980, when Robert Nesta Marley arrived at Linate airport for the first of the only two concerts that took place in Italy in his career. 100, 000 people attended from the early afternoon on the grass of the San Siro stadium, which hosted a non-sporting event for the first time. Since then, the 'good vibes' of reggae have not stopped resonating through the clubs, streets and headphones of the devoted
Dominika Nowak: 'I want to stay unusual, even if I've had to become more commercial'
The designer untames convention with her 'Nunc' shoes, insisting that her furry fabric fantasies are made to be adapted to daily life. We discuss Paris-Krakow, fashion uglies and what it's like to go it alone as a one-woman brand at 27
culture, business, university, paris, expatriates, brunch, animals
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