“Filth…” Playlist: Nightshift International
Ahead of their pop-up show at Mary & Archie in Chorlton on Thursday, new clubnight/art collective Nightshift have made a playlist for us that reflect what audiences can expect: carnal lust, dreamboat city, bottles of pretend Metz, and levitation…
An artist-led outfit staging pop-up shows for both an art and non-art crowd, Nightshift is artists Sarah Boulter and Elliott Flanagan. The friends met whilst studying Visual Arts BA at The University of Salford. “Working outside the gallery system”, and striving to showcase the best artwork from their contemporaries, expect a heady mix of art, spoken word performances, music, and – of course — dancing. With the latter in mind, here’s the tunes best representing Nightshift…
Unknown Mortal Orchestra: Can’t Keep Checking My Phone
Elliott Flanagan: “Unwittingly to them, they auditioned for us last Summer at one of their gigs. We were impressed and are willing to offer them a suite to play an upcoming Nightshift. Reading light. Corby Trouser Press. The lot. Their drummer is the coolest man I’ve ever seen. Like a cross between Shaft and Magnum P.I.”
Grace Jones: Art Groupie
Sarah Boulter: “I want to sing this to handsome artists while they powder me. I lull them into a false sense of security and then crush them. I am Grace Jones on that rooftop.”
Roy Orbison: Blue Bayou
SB: “The essence of my dream love-montage of sultry, Americana romance. A dull throb of Lynchian, super-sexual nostalgia from that strange and waxy man. I’m there in the Louisiana swamp, but it’s a bit in Hawaii, a bit in Twin Peaks and a bit in Salford. The silver moon and the evening tide (on the canal). Dreamboat city.”
The Kinks: Sweet Lady Genevieve
EF: “I like Ray Davies because his lyrics distil a version of Englishness. In this song, though, he sings about ‘drinking too much whiskey’ and pleading for forgiveness, which is just like a normal Tuesday for Nightshift. There’s a good chance I’ll pick this when I do Desert Island Discs.”
Wild Beasts: We Still Got The Taste Dancin’ On Our Tongues
EF: “This nation’s saving grace. They’re always poetic and full of carnal lust. So Nightshift. The first time I saw them was when they played Manchester Cathedral a few years ago. I remember the lead singer Hayden Thorpe was getting lashed on red wine. Drunk at the pulpit? It’s what Jesus would have wanted.”
Pulp: Do You Remember The First Time?
SB: “I’m 15. I’m in 5th Ave. Dimple Patel is kissing a pretty boy with curtains who is sweating through his parka, and Luisa Benson is dancing on the podium tangled in her massive combats, pockets stuffed with bottles of pretend Metz (£1). I’m sat on a bar stool thinking of last week when I kissed Adrian Bradley (Luisa’s boyfriend) upstairs. She didn’t mind. We are mostly wearing Kookai. We walk back home through Hulme with no shoes on. This is life. This is Nightshift.”
Alex Cameron: Real Bad Lookin’
EF: “The full package. An entertainment icon. Also, a personal friend of Nightshift.”
SB: “Fell in actual love with Al Cam and Roy Molloy one balmy summer night in Liverpool on a Nightshift senior board members outing. Since then (and especially since that time in Soup Kitchen when Molloy told me and Cecily that we were ‘hot babes’) I have followed their wise advice:
- Always keep hydrated
- Stay mature on tour
- Just put it all on my card
I am devoted.”
Iggy Pop: I’m Bored
EF: “Have you seen the video? He’s wearing a metallic suit, and stares out the camera whilst strutting and freak dancing. Nihilistic, decadent and full of attitude: Iggy is an honorary Nightshift member. On a good day (gentle breeze, good to firm ground), I can levitate to this song.”
Rick James: Bustin’ Out
EF: “The opening line is: ‘Well, alright you squares it’s time we smoked / Get on up this funk and let’s have a toke’. You don’t get that kind of thing with Mumford & Sons, do you?”
The Adventures Of Stevie V: Dirty Cash (Money Talks)
SB: “This is nights at The Dolphin on Mare St circa 2009. Doesn’t need expanding on, obvs.”
EF: “Filth.”
As told to Laura Robertson
See Nightshift at Mary & Archie in Chorlton, Manchester, on Thursday 23 February 2017, 7pm till late — £1 entry
Art by Sarah Boulter, Elliott Flanagan, Cecily Shrimpton and spoken word from Steph Lonsdale
Follow @nightshiftinternational on Facebook & Instagram
