Holiday snaps are a key component of any trip away, but albums often end up being filled with less than perfect photographs. New Hotel, Athens is combining a photography course and city-break with its Holiday Memories Photography Experience this summer, promising to send you home with professional level images and a little expertise.

The break includes a two-night stay in a superior room, a daily buffet breakfast and one half-day private lesson with NewSchool Athens Photography. The half-day course will include advice and tutelage from experts, with time in the afternoon to put your skills to practice at the Monastiraki flea market and Plaka neighbourhood.  

The hotel is set in the most central part of Athens – only 200 metres from Parliament – with good access to public transport around the city. Alternatively, you can put your new skills to work in the hotel, which features art from Italian photographers Cattelan Maurizio and Pierpaolo Ferrari, and in the rooms themselves; each room features offbeat designs including jagged mirrors, reclaimed furniture and wall-decorations inspired by souvenir shops. 

Participants will need to bring their own equipment, (a digital camera DSLR or compact that can be set to manual mode,) and will be given the opportunity to create and print their own holiday photo album before returning home.

The package is valid from June – September 2013 and costs €530 (approx. £448) for two people.

Address: New Hotel, 16 Filellinon Street, Athens

Phone: +30 210 320 3200.

For further information and reservations, click here.  

View of Mount Lycabettus from the hotel balcony

Suite – New Hotel, Athens

Superior Room – New Hotel, Athens

by Jo Gilbert

Post-punk indie-rock titans Franz Ferdinand will return from beyond the realms of Tartarus to release their fourth studio album Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action – by Domino – on August 26, 2013.

Photo credit: Andy Knowles

It’s been four years since we last heard from the zany Glaswegian quartet with the release of their criminally underrated third LP Tonight: Franz Ferdinand. It was one of 2009’s essential albums – more understated and innovative than their previous two LPs – but gushing with characteristic Franz-esque lurching tempo changes, addictive choruses and glossy hooks.

Expect the ten songs that will comprise Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action to show the band continuing their trend of coupling mischievous creative sensibility with explosive indie-pop pizazz. This was something that they nailed down on their third LP’s excellent lead single Ulysses, which set a contemporary story of wanton overindulgence and existential crisis against the backdrop of Homer’s Odyssey.

Franz Ferdinand is still composed of Alex Kapranos (lead vocals and guitar), Bob Hardy (bass guitar), Nick McCarthy (rhythm guitar, keyboards and backing vocals), and Paul Thomson (drums, percussion and backing vocals). Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action will be available on CD, deluxe limited edition double CD, LP, via digital download, and a deluxe DomMart only double LP packaged in a hand numbered die-cut gatefold sleeve.

Franz Ferdinand on Facebook

Franz Ferdinand on Twitter

Official Website

Domino Records

by Benji Taylor

London quartet Grass House are set to announce the release of their new EP along with a clutch of live dates in the next few months, prior to the arrival of their debut album.

Grass House’s line up is comprised of Liam Palmer, Steven Dove, Ross Hall and Nicholas Jones and their recent single Spinning As We Turn – a dark brooding take on alt-pop evoking recollections of Lou Reed, The National and Joy Division – shows considerable promise of what to expect for the band’s debut full length, set for release later this year on Marshall Teller Records. The slowburning track matches atmospheric vocals with swirling guitars and sparse percussion to create a mesmerising and beguiling soundscape. Lead singer Liam Palmer’s lyrics are at the forefront, showcasing some poetic and impassioned imagery, “Blue shirts of cotton, cold hands of steel/ Hearts in a locked chest, beating ‘til they squeal …” – all delivered with Palmer’s captivating husky growl of a voice.

Spinning As We Turn is the follow-up to last years’ The Boredom Rose.  If you can’t wait for the release of the new EP, then the band will headline the Best In Class night at Islington’s legendary watering hole the Old Queens Head tonight on Thursday May 9, 2013. 

by Benji Taylor

All images courtesy of Jim Anderson.

The Hackney Shop

Newly launched The Hackney Shop is a result of a collaboration between The Hackney Fashion Hub and Hackney Council - providing a space that local designers can customise and use to sell unique pieces not available anywhere else, many at discounted prices, it aims to connect local fashion-interested people with the exciting creativity going around them. The shop will also let the designers connect with the customers to comprehend what they want first hand.

Pieces from James Long, Holly Fulton, Atlanta Weller, Noel Stewart, Todd Lynn, Roksanda Illincic and many others will be filling the racks in the upcoming weeks - there will also be opportunities to meet designers as they themselves will be manning the boutique.

The Hackney Shop is situated in 99 Morning Lane, E9 and is open Tuesday to Sunday, from 10am - 5pm.

by Elisabeth Krohn

Images: The Hackney Shop

From the red carpet to more casual engagements, the house of Chanel has dressed several attendees for this year’s Cannes Film Festival. See below for our favourite looks from Lagerfeld …

Vanessa Paradis in SS11 lambskin leather aviators with double C logo; 

Virginie Ledoyen in a  braided tweed jacket from the Versailles Cruise collection

Ziyi Zhang in a Perles de Rosee necklace in 18-karat white gold, 

set with diamonds, moonstones and clustered pearls

Virginie Ledoyen in a navy tulle lace dress with jewelled buttons from AW11 Haute Couture; Emma Watson in an off-white silk crepon dress with sequin embroidery from SS13 Haute Couture

by Roberta Lister

Featuring the bold, bright and idiosyncratic designs of the Italian master jewellers from the period 1970-1990, the Bulgari Masterpieces showcase truly emphasised the symbiotic relationship between art and jewellery design. Nature-inspired pieces took centre stage, the refined Spiga collection depicting the ear of wheat grain, while the Naturalia collection from 1991 treated glimmering fish and floral motifs not as stand-alone objects, but grouped them to create a mosaic effect, patterns that only on closer inspection revealed their true components.

Vintage Bulgari from the Naturalia collection

Youthful pop art references were articulated in the Tematica collection stemming from the 1970s, while the Parentesi collection from the same era - a favourite due to its strong colour and material combinations - also featured a graphic pattern repeated. Made to be worn daily, these jewels represented a small revolution in their bold elegance - oozing with colourful personality they have a very modern appeal. 

Vintage Bulgari from the Tematica collection 

Vintage Bulgari from the Parentesi collection

Inspired by the vintage designs, contemporary collections that can be customized are also available - these beautiful illustrations presenting just some of the possibilities.

Modern illustration inspired by the Naturalia collection

Modern illustration inspired by the Parentesi collection

The exhibition is open from May 15 at Bulgari´s New Bond Street boutique in London. An expert on the work of Bulgari, Italian jewellery historian Amanda Triossi will be holding a lecture at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London on May 21.

by Elisabeth Krohn

Images: Bulgari

Wednesday evening saw the 66th Annual Cannes International Film Festival open in typically glamorous style, as attendees walked the red carpet for an evening honouring Baz Luhrmann’s much-anticipated The Great Gatsby, which headlined the evening’s schedule. 

We loved Carey Mulligan’s blush matte satin duchesse gown by Dior Haute Couture, and Fan Bing Bing’s typically extravagant Louis Vuitton satin bustier gown with tasselled miniaudiere from AW13. Freida Pinto looked suitably sultry in a custom coral silk chiffon halter gown with embellished belt, and turquoise beaded box clutch by Gucci. See below for our favourite looks….

From top left: Fan Bing Bing in Louis Vuitton; Zhang Yuqi in Ulyana Sergeenko with Cartier jewels: Ines de la Fressange in Chanel; Freida Punto in Gucci; Carey Mulligan with Baz Lurhman, in Dior Haute Couture. 

by Roberta Lister

Although less intuitively likeable than the current S/S13 collection, Miu Miu´s A/W13 show was more complex, quirky and perhaps more true to Miuccia Prada´s unique vision. Unexpected elements, stripy socks, silky men´s tie textures, polka-dotted neckties and zipped up long-line cardigans, together with dramatically cinched coats with oversized sailor collars, created sharp silhouettes that told many stories at once, exploring the past and future of Parisian fashion. At once romantic and rebellious, puffa-jacket elements and chunky zippers added a harder edge while the dusty pink and midnight blue fur coats, as well as the effortless slim black dresses, straps almost slipping off the shoulders, pleated fabric peeking out at the hem, where the pieces that really stole the show. 

Miu Miu A/W13

Miu Miu A/W13

Miu Miu A/W13

Miu Miu A/W13

Miu Miu A/W13

by Elisabeth Krohn

Images: Miu Miu

All kneel at the alter of Drum! Free Liars downloads and new tour

New York's finest witchhunters and rhythmistas, Liars are treating faithful acolytes to a couple of free downloads to celebrate the start of their new tour. After the relatively sane – Liars-do-conventional-rock-band lilt of last year's lauded WIXIW, the first track here, I Saw You From A Lifeboat is a welcome return to the terrifying sonic pastures they've cultivated through their charmingly schizophrenic career, yet manages to infuse this with a new square wavey, Add n to (x) pulse which is really welcome. 

The far subtler second track, Perfume Tear, feels like a buzzy night-time drive through a Lovecraftian back-story, guided through the dark by Bjorkish film-score undertones. Lead singer Angus Andrew notes that, “Both of these songs happened almost instantly, and, in sharp contrast to the music we produced for WIXIW, were not labored over or scrutinized”. It certainly shows as this is both wild and pleasingly assertive material. 

Fittingly, a scattergun cut-up montage of their previous few year's touring accompanies the mesmeric lead track, which can be seen above, that also contains links to the downloads.

Liars tour starts in N.Y on May 18 and ends in Tel Aviv a little under a month later, taking in most of Europe (sadly sans-London) along the way.

The full list of dates can be found on their website here.

by Benjamin Lovegrove

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