JUICE May

It's here, kids: your monthly dose of bright colours, crisp paper and literary excellence! Here's what you should expect from our mint fresh May issue:

We fondly recall the '90s - its fashions, music, movies, books and also, the Smashing Pumpkins' career. We then play catch up with everyone from Lily Allen to PJ Harvey to Depeche Mode to Coldplay, and tell you what happened along the frontlines of the Heineken Music Club. Of Montreal was there, for one. There are also fashion tips about Cacharel Liberty and Uniqlo, while the inaugural issue of our style supplement, Fashion Beats, will come packed to the brim with the latest trends, labels and looks.

Pick up JUICE magazine at any of these spots. And as always, it's free.

Of Montreal photography (above) by Eden Cai.

Franz Ferdinand's Blood

If you thought Franz Ferdinand's latest album, Tonight, was just more dance-punk under a new heading, then you'll learn to love the band's dub version of the album. It's called Blood, been lovingly treated by producer Dan Carey (who apparently has some kind of Jamaican perspective after working with Lee "Scratch" Perry) and is Alex Kapranos' favourite way of listening to the album. The bass is heavy on this one and the angular riffing is still as liberal, so don't worry, you'll still get to move.

Blood hits stores in June.
www.franzferdinand.co.uk

'90s Stuff: Sleeper

Remember Sleeper? They came to us via Britpop, made three solid albums, one very cool video ("Inbetweener"), and could almost pass off as Blondie on that Trainspotting soundtrack. Frontwoman Louise Wener did a fine job balancing eloquence, candour and sass ("It was OK for Shaun Ryder to be laddish and drunk all the time, and when one of the Manic Street Preachers said he hoped Michael Stipe would die of AIDS, the reaction was: 'Naughty!' But when I wrote a song like "Delicious" ["We should both go to bed till we make each other sore"], I was painted as a whore"), and on a long enough timelime, could probably out-cool Justine Frischmann. Sadly, Sleeper split early in the game and their great pop sound remains an underrated gem.

Today, Louise has turned her hand to literary concerns - she's written four novels and contributed to The Guardian. God knows what happened to the other guys, though. But Louise's articulate recounting of Britpop can be best viewed on the documentary, Live Forever. More on Sleeper can also be found here.

If you love Sleeper and other stuff that happened in the '90s, then stay tuned for JUICE's upcoming May issue, where we look back on flannel, Leonardo DiCaprio, Joshua Tree and the rest of Generation X. It will be so romantic.

Henrik Vibskov

Besides good cookies and tales, Denmark has loads to offer on the plate in terms of threads and tunes. Take fashion designer, Henrik Vibskov, for example (yes, that's him taking a smoke). The lad's got mad wicked talent to put buttons and cloth together, owns a couple of cool boutiques in Copenhagen and Oslo, stocks around fine stores worldwide, and does the most whimsical season presentations on the runway. He is also a film maker, plays the drums professionally and won a breakdancing competition when he was 12. Seriously, what the f**k!

Check out the Henrik Vibskov SS09 collection, available at Ambush, 119 Devonshire Rd (L1)

Or tune to www.henrikvibskov.com

Matt And Kim

Remember how you have always wanted to form a band and actually have fun? Well, Brooklyn indiedancepunk duo, Matt and Kim did. And they did! Known to always keep that sunshine smile on no matter what they do, when they do it and where, the two decided to run down Times Square in NYC recently to get naked. And we love the ending. Here's the vid - http://vimeo.com/4266613

For more on Matt and Kim, check www.mattandkimmusic.com

In Your Facebook

We continue to conquer bits of the internet with our newest Facebook group. We'll be posting updates on JUICE content and events, as well as some other cool surprises. And since everyone and their grandparents has a Facebook account, there's no reason you shouldn't be joining up. Click here to do so.

A Peek

We could never do behind-the-scenes till now.

Mark Hunter (The Cobrasnake) and Steve Aoki doing good business at Zouk's Flea Market

Gildas and Masaya from Kitsune getting lost at Ann Siang Hill

Justice and Busy P at Newton Circus (pic courtesy of Tracy P)

And more to come.

Wander

This is pretty exciting.

We, the same folks behind the rag, have just done up a city guide for Singapore. We love our home and there's loads of spots to explore and do funky stuff, so we compiled it into a bookzine and featured these nice places and cool looking people. We could cut and paste the entire introduction to the publication in here but we won't because we want you to buy the book and read it. Everything's in there, and we know Sinden, Of Montreal and PSAPP found it really useful during their stints here.

Book retails for $10.90 and if you cop it now, you stand a chance to win a pair of fresh and exclusive New Balance kicks.

Available at all major bookstores, news stands, and friend's shops like Asylum, Style Nordic, Granny's Day Out, Surrender, Ambush, Leftfoot, Know It Nothing, Black Market, Queens Couture, Actually, and the Zouk Deli.

WANDER is also the Official City Guide Book for the Gilles Peterson Worldwide Festival 2009.

Band Of Outsiders

In proving that oldies can still be goodies, more fashion labels are now picking up on classic cuts and iconic silhouettes to fill up their latest collections. NYC's Band Of Outsiders does this especially well, its timeless detailing, slim proportions and effortless cool making for one very fine fit. Their collaboration with Sperry has also given us a series of sexy boat shoes. Check our report on the label's goods, as well as our chat with its founder/designer Scott Sternberg in our upcoming May issue (comes with extra fashion content!). Yeah, we can't wait as well.

You can get Band Of Outsiders (menswear and Sperry) at Surrender, 119 Devonshire Road, L2.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

I am sorry to hijack this debut content post but I think I should place this in and write something really nice about it because these kids are a great band. And this leads up to story on Brooklyn Bands we hope to churn out for the June issue. If you still think music's got hope then tune in to the pains of being pure at heart - http://www.thepainsofbeingpureatheart.com/

CD now available at HMV and all good music stores.

Oh, and they have a space in the May issue of JUICE, so please check that article out.

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