For a certain in the know person, a fragrance from Escentric Molecules is the only accessory worth wearing. Created by one of the most talented perfumers in the industry, Geza Schoen, the brand has a cult following with worldwide waiting lists and adulation from every fashionista worth her top note. Oh, and lest you forget, there’s the much discussed pheromone effect.

You’ve probably read how Molecule 01 is a single scent ingredient (Iso E Super) with incredible powers of attraction and that The Beautiful Mind Series Vol. 1 reconfirms a smart woman as a sexy woman. But the genius of the EM series is rather than smelling of a perfume, you instead become enveloped in a feeling, which opens you into other worlds of possibilities and aromas.

The scents you can spray on your wrist when next in Harvey Nicks (if they’re in stock!), but for where the brand’s inspiration comes from, read my conversation with two of the founders of EM, Geza Schoen and Paul White of Me Company.

KD: Tell me about EM and where the idea came from.

GS: EM is the idea that not anybody wants to wear a ‘perfume.’ EM offers ‘auras’ with the Molecule series and incredibly sexy scents with the Escentric series. I’d been carrying that idea with me since 1990. It just needed the right time with the right people and that is precisely what came together when I met Jeff Lounds and Paul White in 2004.

PW: It all started with a conversation between Geza, Jeff and myself. A brief tour around the concept of EM followed by the working versions of Molecule 01 and Escentric 01. For Me Company it rapidly developed as investigations into concepts that could be loosely described as binary efflorescence, the science of scent and the sensuality of encoded messaging.

Ultimately we had 0’s & 1’s and geometrical binary on our mind, everything decodable if looked at intelligently enough. An arcane, submerged string of messages about the product. The EM01 is denser than the EM02, but even the dots on the EM02 are decipherable. All of this is a distinct and clear response to the nature of fragrance and its role in attraction.

KD: How do you ‘make’ fragrances?

GS: Well, fragrances are being created. You start with an idea; an accord of raw materials you think is exciting enough to try out. If it is a good one you carry on refining the scent until you are happy.

KD: What do you think people want from a fragrance today?

GS: Overall I’d say it needs to combine a few things. Everyone somehow still likes freshness in a perfume, it also shouldn’t get on your own nerves or others, i.e. be too strong or sweet or cloying. People also want to feel sexier or desirable with a perfume so it needs some intriguing notes others can’t get their nose off. So, that’s not too easy then to combine all these things and still smell different but good.

KD: Describe the bottle design . . .

PW: We have a saying, ‘Being creative is like running in someone else’s trainers. You don’t know where you’re going all the time. You don’t think about thinking, the synapses fire and you feel possessed. It’s like speaking in tongues.’ As in the case of EM, where someone really wants to work with you simply because they like and trust your potential to produce something original, this is going to produce the most interesting and original work.

Possibly this dark, encoded packaging has a quiet dignity that speaks to people. Equally the restraint of the branding and the subtle encoding help with the idea of a personal possession of the brand – we have heard people say many times that it is their fragrance and not ours.

KD: There are so many perfume bottles on the ground floors of the world’s department stores. What makes a fragrance cut through the hype and have impact?

GS: Phew, I hope that it is ultimately still the juice itself, which holds up the spirit and the success of a particular brand. In some cases advertising and TV campaigns will help for sure but if the fragrance isn’t right, it wont last.

KD: Where do you see the perfume industry going? New types of products, packaging, ingredients?

GS: For ingredients, as such, it will be a horrible future. Already so many fabulous ingredients have been eliminated or restricted that the new introduction of interesting chemicals won’t make up qualitatively for the losses. Imagine you’re a painter and some powerful organisation comes in and tells you to forget about dark green shades, no silvers and just maximum 10% of light violet tones please in the future.

Regarding the packaging I couldn’t care less really as the problem is within the cost structure of most products. As long as the industry won’t spend more money on better ingredients we won’t see amazing alternatives coming up. That’s why the niche market is more exciting to watch for future creations.

Every Wednesday afternoon in Adelaide my mother with several other women go to Crystal’s house to work on their beading projects. Crystal, a designer of ornate jewelry, hosts these afternoons not as social occasions, but as a way for women to make a commitment to their creativity within a busy lifestyle. “It’s a way for women to stop putting themselves last on their to do list,” she says. “Women are great at nurturing those around them, but not so great at nurturing the need to express themselves.”

Now you might think that’s all well and good for a bunch of mostly retired women amidst tea and biscuits to get together and sew beads on handbags and thread Swarovski crystals onto lace necklaces in the middle of the afternoon, but what of the younger generation?

To friends my age, it’s equally appealing. Whether it’s the friend who bought some fabric to make a skirt last year and it’s now this year and there’s still no skirt; or another friend inspired by a short introduction course to glass blowing whose inspiration is still stuck in the classroom; or myself who buys endless cookbooks but can’t seem to find the time, energy or space to make any of the recipes manifest in the real world so live vicariously through the pictures of the finished product.

Time dedicated to creative pursuits is an out and out luxury.

Crystal says beading is not so much about a creative outlet where at the end of the process you get a beautiful object. Rather it’s the process – not what you actually make – where the fulfillment lies. “And the human contact that comes from the ancient way of sitting in a circle also helps women get in touch with their life force,” she explains. So rather than seeing our creative pursuits as time taking, we need to see them as life giving. And life saving.

Flowers are there at all the most important moments in life – weddings, births, deaths – and CALMING PARK, a company whose candles are made in Grasse, France, believes there’s only one comparable modern day object, the scented candle.

To founder Olivier Rohrbach, scented candles embody the same symbolism and provide the equivalent desire we have from flowers – for them to act as our calm and still companions as we make our way through life.

From 5-20 February 2010, CALMING PARK will present the exhibition ‘Art&Candle’ at Holm in Zurich. The exhibition shows the work of seven internationally renowned artists. (I’m one of them, though feel completely undeserving to be showing with such amazing talent.) The seven of us reveal through our work what happens when scented candles meet luxury, fashion, music, spirituality and the visual arts.

So let’s meet the seven showing artists:

Photographer Agi Simoes’ work has been seen in Vogue Living, Elle Decoration, AD and many more titles. For Art&Candle he created five ambassadors and these male models represent the sensual, natural, exotic, fresh and erotic side of the candles. The ‘5 scents/5men’ photo shoot took place in the gardens and parks of Zurich, with the models wearing their own favourite jeans to give the images that personal, natural feeling.

Bruno Pieters, nominated ‘Fashion Designer of the Year’ by the prestigious Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent Foundation, is best known for his work as the designer of Hugo by Hugo Boss. For this project he designed the candle ‘Dark Pepper’, a chic and minimalist candle wrapped in black glass whose scent is inspired by his favourite eau de toilette.

For Sabina Sciubba, lead singer of the Brazilian Girls, whose ‘New York’ record was nominated for a Grammy, the candle became the collision point between music and video. In the video for the song ‘So Close Yet So Far’ the faint glow from a CALMING PARK candle accompanies her sultry guitar performance.

The quintessential embodiment of Paris chic, theatre and movie actress Arielle Dombasle, is also an accomplished singer and was inspired by her latest album ‘Glamour à Mort’ (sentence fashion to death) to create a candle with this spirit. The result is Tubereuse-Musc made by the Grasse experts with direction from Arielle.

Bruno Pienado, a key figure of the French contemporary art scene who mixes, samples and recycles popular contemporary iconography like flyers, comics and video games, gave the CALMING PARK tree logo a new pop and playful life. He said, “I take back the image, going back to its roots, to understand how it works. The most important thing to me is to give a new life to these images.”

OeO, the Copenhagen based design consultancy are best known for their role as Creative Directors of Mater, the award-winning Danish ethical home accessories brand, and as part of the creative team behind Georg Jensen. They created a reflective scent that conveyed their perception and memory of Tokyo, so with one whiff they could be back there “whenever and wherever.”

And as for myself, I created a digital media presentation inspired by the nature of light and shadows in people’s personalities. It’s only when we can see and accept the shadows and light in all people, circumstances and situations do we have any hope of becoming whole.

I just thought, we’re so fractured, especially in how we direct our attention today, that a sunken hearth in the home, where CALMING PARK scented incense resins and powders would burn over charcoal tablets, could be a possible future interpretation of the scented candle. By taking pride of place in the home, the hearth would be the gathering place for family and friends and a focal point to reconnect and rebalance.

So if you’re in Zurich, do head to Holm to check out the Art&Candle exhibition. A selection of candles will also be available for purchase at the boutique. I may be biased, but it’s fascinating to see how scented candles have become the de rigeur item for the modern home and to witness these amazing artistic interpretations of light and scent, calmness and stillness.

With many Christmas parties to attend this week, as well as hosting my own at my home last Saturday night, I thought I’d share some of the lessons learnt. As they say, experience is the best teacher.

1. All anybody wants is to be invited somewhere. So don’t stress too much about your party. You’ve already done the most important part - giving people a place to go. Mission accomplished. After guests receive an invitation, everything else is icing on the cake.

2. Always ask the host if it’s okay to bring friends and accurately judge the sincerity of their “the more the merrier” reply.

3. Don’t RSVP and then not show up. 

4. Conversely, don’t go all incommunicado pre-party and then turn up on the night.

5. When party shopping, do not attempt to carry all the supplies home on public transport yourself in one sitting. Not only will you look like a packhorse, your arms will feel like breaking and you’ll feel incredibly frustrated by the whole process and think bitter thoughts. Only shop at places that home deliver.  

6. Know that whatever time you start preparing the day of the party, you should have started at that same hour the day before.

7. When friends offer to arrive early to help, let them. This is no time to be Queen of Effortless Perfection. Throwing a party takes effort and is no place for a perfectionist.

8. And so, for one night only, you must live by the motto: ‘close enough is good enough’. 

9. It’s almost impossible to do, but as the host, you must be dressed before the guests arrive. I know hoovering seems more important, but no. Eyeliner with decent lashings of mascara is. Put down the vacuum cleaner and pick up the eyelash curler.

10. You as the host set the tone for the evening. Guests are tuning into you. What frequency are you on?

11. Know what you’re going to wear at least five minutes before the party starts. Crying that nothing fits, bemoaning you have nothing to wear and wailing about all the wretched wrongs in your life is the quickest way for guests to ask you to turn down the psychotic and turn up the music. 

12. Friends of friends who are tagging along, on entry, please introduce yourself to the host. Don’t just start helping yourself to the buffet table.

13. Having said that, don’t begrudge interlopers. We have each been one ourselves and on the receiving end of someone else’s generosity plenty more than once.

14. Remember who brought what. There’s nothing like admiring the beautiful biscotti Christmas tree with a resplendent icing sugar figurine of Santa on top, and not knowing which kind soul brought it.

15. Finger food means no forks.

16. Or spoons for that matter.

17. ‘Bring a bottle’ does not mean one bottle between four people.

18. Have a room or balcony at the party where people can escape. Others. The Noise. Heat. Anything.

19. As the host you can’t always have in-depth conversations with everyone in the room, so the people you do manage to talk to - talk with them - instead of thinking how you never get the chance to chat with anyone.

20. If people are hungry, they will eat. Don’t force-feed them. 

21. But then everybody likes to be served. Just practice a touch of restraint with the ‘hostess with the mostess’ routine. 

22. Ask a few, dear friends to clear dishes here and there throughout the evening. All the more to see what’s edible, instead of inedible.

23. Remember to light all the candles. There’s always one you’ll forget.

24. Have a dedicated room for coats, unless you want the party to have a student feel.

25. Understand that some guests don’t want to be connected to others. They like standing on their own, drink in hand, taking in the scenery and people watching. Saying, “Oh you must meet so and so” is their idea of hell. They were very happy in their isolation and you just made them miserable with company. Not know thyself but know thy guests.

26. If someone spills something on the carpet, don’t do the half-assed “I’ll deal with it in the morning” spiel. Deal with it now.

27. Get a good ‘time/energy spend to guest ratio’ with the food. Three hours to make a few plates of homemade mince pies that are gobbled up in under a minute is neither cost, nor energy efficient.

28. Sandwiches on the other hand, always a winner.

29. Guests that bring their own cocktail supplies right down to the ice, limes and cups are always more than welcome.

30. Ditto those that bring champagne and delectable macarons.

31. If you’ve made a special music mix for the party, don’t let anyone near your iPod. It’s the one thing you’re allowed to get all schoolmarm about.

32. Whatever your opinion of the Black Eyed Peas, their song I Gotta Feelin’ certainly gets the party started.

33. At a house party, dance in the living room like it’s the hottest nightclub in town, with your shoes off and feet in the air.

34. There’ll always be someone at the party who can sniff out a bottle of wine still containing liquid when all others claim defeat.

35. Keep your own secret stash for this very purpose. 

36. Or make that person with the sniffer dog nose your best friend.

37. A quick wave and mouthed ‘thank you and goodbye’ when leaving is enough if the host is busy. Just leaving - rude.

38. Before crashing into bed still fully dressed you will get a genius idea, and believe in the clear light of day it’ll be even more genius. Know whichever light bulb went off in that moment won’t be switching on again anytime soon.

39. The morning after, eat the leftover cake. And whatever else is not too dry, soggy, stale or beer soaked. And don’t feel guilty about it. It’s one of the only pleasures of the cruel tidying up ritual. 

40. Dregs of wine and half-finished cocktails are a no though.

41. As you’re clanking the empty cans and bottles into bin liners, don’t play the same music you did the night before. No matter how good it was, you gotta wash that party outta your hair. It’s a new day.

42. Give up the recriminations. Yes, you should have spoken more to Natalia, and put Danny in touch with Marcus, and told Julie about drinks on Friday, and remembered Felicity’s new boyfriend’s name, and asked Jeremy how he’s coping with his job loss and complimented Charlotte on the cherry shortbread she kindly made. But you didn’t. Deal with it.

43. And you shouldn’t have glugged the port like it was wine or sculled the Amaretto like it was juice. Or scoffed the crisps like a pig at a trough. Or had a few too many helpings of said shortbread. But you did. Again, deal with it.

44. Guests that stick Christmas cards to gifts are the best ever. In the morning after the night before haze, the immediate linking of bearer to gift is most appreciated.

45. It’s no good having a lost and found box containing one glove, two scarves, a rather lovely canvas bag, a baby’s bib and a Santa hat - but not your own earring.

46. To post a thank you note or not? Yes, always. But in the following days until the post is delivered, the host may think you rude for your lack of communication. So send a text or email, as most people do, and then go in for the kill with the card. 

47. Receiving a note saying yours was “a wonderful party, the best of the year!” Priceless. 

Wishing you all a happy and joyful festive season! Kristina x

The invitation asked if I’d like to see a documentary on seeds. “Er, no, not especially,” I thought. But like all things you go into in life with your mind made up, the ‘thing’ in question always has a habit of changing your mind.

The restaurant that on entry looks like the dodgiest dive ever is the one on exiting you proclaim to friends as the best in the world e-v-e-r. The sorry excuse of a town you’re only staying in to connect to the train that will take you to the town you really want to be in, becomes the highlight of your trip. So an evening I thought would be as dull as dishwater turned out to be immensely fascinating.

In 2006 director Sally Ingleton heard a radio interview about Dr Ken Street, an Australian scientist on a mission to seek out ancient seeds. So far, I’m bored. But that’s partly because I (and many others) assume that the effects of global warming will first occur in extreme weather, rather than in food shortages and associated cost increases. As the planet heats up, one of the first casualties will be the crops that supply our food.  

In the radio interview, Dr Street explained how many basic crops, like wheat, are under threat from climate change. He believed a solution could be found by going back to mother nature and finding the old ancient farmer varieties – the wild relatives of our food.

The genes in these seeds are becoming extinct as modern agriculture takes over much of the world, and as the scientist states, “People go to war over oil, people go to war over gold and yet oil and gold are actually of lesser importance than food.”

Ingleton was hooked and after securing funding, the production team traversed drought ravaged farms in Australia, the Middle East and the mountains of Tajikistan where Dr Street and his gaggle of ‘gene detectives’ hunted plant genes that will help our food withstand the impact of 21st century global warming.

Today, areas of our planet that were once ‘food bowls’ are now dust bowls and the film shows farmers in Tajikistan suffering from drought, lack of rain and an influx of new pests and diseases that destroy their harvests. Dr Street was convinced that in the remote mountains there were people who still grow the tough, traditional species of our food plants and it’s in these mountains where the main action of the film takes place. Far from wishing I were propping up a bar with a White Lady, I was captivated.

As the climate changes, we need the genes of these same ancient varieties to help develop new varieties that still have the high yield benefits of modern crops, but in addition have the capacity to withstand hotter, drier conditions. Just a fraction of a degree change in average temperatures can be enough to stop many crops from flowering and producing seed and fruit.

The documentary also discusses Svalbard Seed Vault (known as the ‘doomsday vault’). Located in the Arctic, it’s a back up to the world’s supply of seeds. The storage facility is cut into remote, icy cliffs where the permafrost keeps the vital heritage seeds safe in its deep freeze. The vault has been built to withstand almost any disaster we can conceive, and could be the key to the survival of humanity.

As the film passed the halfway point, if a fire spread through the building, I wouldn’t be racing out the fire exit, as this real life Indiana Jones was getting closer in his search for ‘green gold’ – the wild chick pea. Chickpeas are the ultimate food for dry zones, rich in protein and nutrients. The meat that you can grow when you can’t afford meat.

While this ‘seed hunter’ wants to collect traditional farmed varieties, he really wants the mother ship – the wild species that gave rise to the modern farm plant. He wants its toughness, its potential resilience to disease, pests and the climate. With the DNA he can breed new, hardy hybrids that will grow in other places where climate change and poor soils put pressure on agriculture.

But in an almost comical way, everywhere he looks, the villages are growing modern wheat. And as the chase for the elusive chickpea gathers pace, there are all sorts of hiccups and mishaps, then the local farmers say they’ve pretty much given up on the crop and no-one can tell him if any wild chickpea still exists!

Not wanting to give away the ending, ongoing drought in many parts of the world has exposed the vulnerability of our food production. Though spending precious leisure time watching a wild goose chase for a rare legume may seem like a total waste of time, I assure you, it will be anything but.

More information on the documentary can be found here:

A scone has the power to heal my soul. Even more so when it’s part of a decadent afternoon tea at a fine hotel, but also on its own, with its favoured companions, strawberry jam and clotted cream.

To me a scone means leisure. It means choice in what I’m doing. Freedom. And definitely no guilt.

It means being idle and enjoying life. It means it’s 4pm and there’s nothing better to do BUT devour a scone.

So up early yesterday morning to learn how to make these delicious creatures myself. I’m all for accessible luxury you see!

In Tokyo, chef Mark Peterson runs scone-baking classes at his bakery, Notting Hill Cakes.

Part of me thought of all the better things I could be doing with my time on a Sunday morning – er, sleeping mainly – but the promise of being in close vicinity to an oven (I live in a cooped up shoebox in Shibuya) was too enticing. My hostess archetype wanted to come out and play.

And the result? Hands down the best scone I’ve ever had. [Second if you’re interested was the oatmeal and raisin scone at the now closed Flâneur Food Hall in London; third the green tea version at The Peninsula in Bangkok.]

I won’t give away the secret of the recipe suffice to say the measurements were incredibly exact – 3g baking soda, 6g baking powder – and what I think was the secret ingredient, yoghurt. Or maybe it was the chilled butter???

The class also learnt how to crack an egg with no shell remnants (break the egg against another egg), and how to achieve the natural break in a scone (fold the dough in half onto itself before using the fluted round cutter).

As we tucked in to enjoy our morning’s work, Mark advised us to break the scone open with our hands and to only dab the cream on the part of the scone we were placing in our mouths.

I’ve always been unable to control myself from slathering the whole scone at once with cream, but as they were hot from the oven, a dainty bite proportioned with the right amount of jam and cream, meant the perfect melting moment in the mouth.  

Ah, heaven. 

So I’ve been out of the loop. I opted out of life and spent a month traveling the Trans-Siberian railway from St Petersburg-Beijing. No phone, no email, no Facebook. Just more life.

Now back and ensconced in my Tokyo routine and feeling dehumanised by urban life; family, friends and clients have kindly been asking for details of my trip . . . and I’ve discovered that it’s impossible to put a month’s worth of experiences into the perfect sound bite.

From seeing Saint Petersburg’s Mikhailovsky Theatre open its 177th season with a premiere of Swan Lake, to experiencing the chill of the Siberian wind, to sleeping in gers with traditional nomadic Mongolian families, to riding on an ox and cart through the Eurasian Steppes, to climbing the Great Wall of China. Oh and did I mention the four nights on the train from Moscow-Irkutsk? Or the banya experience at Lake Baikal?

Just exactly how is one supposed to put this multitude of experiences into an all-purpose, catchy one-liner?

It can’t be done. Travel changes you on the inside. It’s just that when we’re back on home soil all we do is narrate in monologue fashion what we saw on the outside.

We reel off all the exotic places we saw, list the creature comforts of the divine hotels we stayed in or the leaky tent we roughed it in, describe the strange and curious meals we ate and detail all the good, bad and never-drinking-that-ever-again local alcohol we (too frequently!) consumed. We describe the crazy people we met, the beyond bad pop music we listened - and of course - danced to and bang on and on about how alternatively gorgeous or rubbish the weather was.

We usually don’t recount our feelings of travel - what was stirring inside us when a stirring view caught our breath and moved our heart.

So some advice for the next person that asks me about my trip.

Ask instead the emotions I recollect. Inquire exactly how this journey moved me. Demand to know why this travel experience was a game changer in my life. And then we’ll be having a discussion where I share with you how I finally learnt (and experienced as a Truth) that life is a journey, not a destination.

Expanded from two to three days for its 10th anniversary, the biggest international acts in the world just played the Summer Sonic music festival in Japan last weekend. Held simultaneously at sites in Tokyo and Osaka, the festival is seen as one of the highlights of the Japanese summer, and here’s why.

DAY ONE

Sliimy is the first artist signed under celebrity blogger Perez Hilton’s new record label, Perezcious Music. Dressed in skinnier than skinny black jeans, sandals that some of the women in the audience were eyeing up for their own summer wardrobes, and a black knit top with multi-coloured ribbons reminiscent of sparkly lights, the 20-year-old from Saint-Etienne began with his cover of the Britney Spears hit ‘Womaniser’.

Sliimy (real name Yanis Sahraoui) sashayed around the stage swinging his barely there hips, jumped up and down so much he literally knocked his own oversized glasses off, and just generally charmed the crowd with his adorable French accent and showmanship. ‘Wake Up’ had the crowd singing along with his quirky electro pop, and he ended the show by taking a Polaroid of the audience, something he does at all his shows.

Next, wearing his hair in two plaits, Aaron Behrens of Ghostland Observatory screamed into the microphone as Thomas Turner (wearing a cape) played the synthesizer. ‘Sad, Sad City’ had the crowd’s hands pumping in the air and their feet shuffling below.

Katy Perry cancelled at the last minute - an action that won’t endear her to the Japanese crowds anytime soon - so it was onto Phoenix. The French band was so boringly dressed - jeans, t-shirts, shirts - they looked like the perfect band to take home to meet your mother! But it was songs from their album ‘Wolfgang Amadeus’ that showed their sexy unruliness. ‘Lisztomania’, ‘Lasso’ and ‘1901’ incited the crowd in raptures. Lead singer Thomas Mars even lay on the stage floor to rest and catch his breath towards the end of the set.

Still ringing in the audience’s ears this week is “Rome, Rome, many tears have fallen here / I’ll be driving, you look the other way / Always and forevermore / I call to say I’m on the way / 2000 years remain in a trash can / Let burn the cigarette somewhere / Ashes till it fall, fall, falls.” The dovetailing of the drum symbols with the guitar hook and the overlay of Mars’ voice was ecstatically melodic.

The Enemy (marketed in the US as The Enemy UK) then brought the rock to what was a very dance and pop-orientated day. Norwegian electro rockers Datarock followed, coming on stage in red tracksuits looking like a marauding group of Santa’s minus the beard.

They finished their fast and furious set with the Dirty Dancing theme tune, ‘I Had The Time of My Life’. Disbelieving it when the first few notes started, friends turned and mouthed to each other, “What! Am I hearing this correctly?” But soon enough, the cooler than cool crowd were singing along like it was their favourite karaoke track of all time. Lead singer Fredrik Saroea rushed into the crowd to be mobbed by the adoring crowd.

After that were Soulwax, Aphex Twin and 2ManyDJ’s. When they went from Zombie Nation’s ‘Kernkraft 400’ to MGMT’s ‘Kids’ many felt the pinnacle of the night had come. If your feet weren’t already 20cm parallel to the floor, they most definitely were now. Then ‘Sweet Dreams’ by The Eurythmics and ‘Yeah Yeah’ by Bodyrox. Those that still had the energy to see the night turn to dawn continued partying to Tricky and the other artists at Midnight Sonic.

Located in Chiba, the festival is commuting distance to Tokyo (though a US$170 taxi fare may not be everybody’s definition of an affordable commute!). Some festival revelers hire ridiculously expensive hotel rooms nearby, others leave early to catch the last train back to town (the cheapest option), while others just fall asleep in a bush outside the stadium.

DAY TWO

However they ended their Friday night, the audience was back Saturday for the lovely Little Boots wearing a blue sequined dress and never too far from her Tenori-on. She hit the high notes with ‘New In Town’ and ‘Remedy’.

By 2pm, dancing was truly everybody’s remedy, which is why the accessory de rigueur of Summer Sonic is the towel tied around the neck to cope with the sweat and humidity. So going to Summer Sonic the packing list reads: wallet, keys, ticket, towel - check.

With three of the stages (Mountain, Sonic and Dance) inside the Makuhari Messe Convention Centre, it sometimes feels like you’re at a sales trade show as the crowds stumble from concrete room to concrete room. And the Marine, Beach and Island stages feel like such a long schlep away. Okay, in reality, the stages aren’t that far away, but the effort involved to get there crossing a six-lane highway after a few beers coupled with the awful humidity-slash-rain-slash-blazing sun means festival goers usually stick with the three main stages in the convention centre.

But once you’ve summoned the energy to make the trek out to the Beach stage, it’s a wonder why festival organisers don’t put more of the big names on this stage. It’s the perfect festival moment: lying on tatami mats in shaded areas and every so often propping yourself up to have a sip of your Moscow Mule.

Then with sand in your toes, it’s all too quickly time to get your drunken heat-stroked self back to the darkness of the concrete jungle and swap the seafood stalls, cocktail bars and fresh air for ramen, yakisoba and beer. Though there are sponsored Alfa Romeo cars and a bus running lines of people back and forth between the stages, the long queues to use them defeats the purpose. Dawdling back with a cool beverage in hand is the solution.

Next on the Mountain stage was Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Boy! For 48 years old, did she look fantastic! Rather than chat rock & roll the women in the audience wanted to discuss skin care routines and how to get biceps like that. Many left after 30 minutes to catch the Ting Tings set feeling cheated she still hadn’t sung ‘I Love Rock & Roll’. There was nothing more those departing wanted than to belt out “put another dime in the juke box baby.” But that’s the thing about Summer Sonic - it’s impossible to see every song of every band’s set. It’s about prioritising, strategising and being happy with the schedule you’ve chosen.

The Manchester-based Ting Tings were calling those who wanted to dance. Their appeal resonates in not just the catchiness of their songs, but also in Katie White’s accessible beauty, style and attitude. The fast-paced, upbeat hits came thick and fast: ‘Great DJ’ - “And the strings /
Eee, eee, eee, eee, eee, eee, eee, eee / And the drums, the drums, the drums, the drums” - ‘Shut Up And Let Me Go’ and ‘Be The One’ (unfortunately not the Japanese Popstars remix). They closed with ‘That’s Not My Name’. Both the boys and girls in the crowd were chanting the infectious title with the intensity of a positive thinking mantra.

But Summer Sonic is not just about seeing the big names like Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Nine Inch Nails, Teenage Fanclub, Sonic Youth and The Flaming Lips, but those that will soon become names like English trio Golden Silvers (who won Glastonbury’s New Talent competition in 2008). Vocalist and keyboardist Gwilym Gold’s pinky-mauve coloured jeans gave their set an extra hybrid funk-pop-electro-disco feel and ‘Arrows Of Eros’ was just the summery indie hit to get down to.

The Silent Disco doesn’t have a traditional speaker system, but rather uses wireless headphones and an FM transmitter to deliver the music. So before putting the headphones on it’s a rather surreal sight seeing people jump and down in a field when there’s no music to be heard.

With the headphones on, the audience can choose between the two DJ’s playing with the flick of a switch on the earpiece. There’s no rivalry between the DJ’s, and as DJ Nico Okkerse kept saying, “If you don’t’ like what I’m playing just switch over to my colleague. I won’t be offended.”

Back at the Mountain stage Elvis Costello came on with The Imposters in a dapper suit, shirt, tie combo but the noticeable double chin and dark sunglasses made him look more like a mobster, than a rock legend. From crooning ‘Veronica’ to provoking the crowd to ‘Pump It Up’ and then serenading the audience with ‘She’ it was a sublime performance.

Then it was CSS, and a toss up between The Specials and Klaxons before Lady GaGa took to the stage. While her lyrics can sometimes be absurd (‘disco stick’ and ‘bluffin’ with my muffin’ come to mind), she is always entertaining. All she had to keep saying to the crowd was, “Now scream” and they were off. It was pure contagious energy.

She played a cabaret style version of ‘Poker Face’ on the piano - while standing on the piano stool - before launching into the disco pop version we all know. Her performance was unapologetically for those craving pure, harmless fun.

The Japanese twin brothers Ryukyudisko followed a few acts later to help those dance what was left of the night away.

DAY THREE

By now the final day of the festival came around and people’s energy was diminishing. Everyone by the third day feels like they have cabin fever. But that didn’t stop the savvy VV Brown. She came on stage with her model figure squeezed into a black mini dress with a military hat (her trademark fringe rolled into a flattop missing), singing into a megaphone, beating a drum stick dictating that she had good reason to be named an artist to watch for 2009. ‘Leave!’ and ‘Shark In The Water’ had everyone trusting this young gun was a star of the future.

Solange (Beyonce’s younger sister) followed and it’s hard to peg her sound. It was though easy to define her hairstyle - an army regulation buzz cut. Looking lithe in black jumpsuit shorts and heels, she gushed how much she loves Japanese food and how it’s made her gain four pounds. Against the backdrop of her back up singers’ unflattering dresses that resembled tents, it really didn’t matter!

Her style ranged from 60’s and 70’s influences to pop, rock, hip-hop and soul. All the songs displayed her impressive vocal ability but it was ‘Sandcastle Disco’ that best captured her style and talent.

On the Sonic stage the Temper Trap’s ‘Sweet Disposition’ sweetened those with bruised and broken hearts, and the crowd just adored The Vaselines’ Frances McKee’s Glaswegian accent. Sitting and sleeping on the floor is seen as socially acceptable at Summer Sonic, and by this stage of the festival there were rows and rows of bodies lying about.

Rapper Kid Sister’s raw energy was wasted on a tired crowd. Rather than 4pm on the last day, she really should have been performing on Friday evening when people had the attention and energy to appreciate this rising superstar.

The repetitive lyrics of ‘Beeper’ didn’t even annoy and ‘Right Hand Hi’ had those with any stamina left waving both hands up. With perfectly timed, silky vocal delivery she raced around the stage in her pink jumpsuit shorts, saying how she (born Melisa Young) couldn’t believe her journey from south side Chicago to Tokyo.

Time for the closing show and no one struts the stage like Beyonce. She kick started the party in the Marine stage (an open air baseball stadium with 30,000 capacity) by opening up with ‘Crazy In Love’. Dressed in a gold leotard with a sophisticated bunny tail and wearing diamond earrings as large as her ears, she looked like the ultimate cover girl as she shimmied across the stage, doing her sexy hair flick.

Multiple costume changes were expected. Looking ethereal in a floaty chiffon cape over a white leotard she belted out ‘Smash Into You’. After that Beyonce came up in a black and white film on the screen that looked like a perfume ad where she said the words “humour, intimacy, selflessness, togetherness, sex, commitment” before launching into ‘If I Were A Boy’. Wearing sunglasses and a black leather Mad Max inspired bodice and mini skirt, she then switched into a cover of Alanis Morisette’s ‘You Oughta Know’ and then back to the last few lines of ‘If I Were A Boy’. Genius.

As summer music festival withdrawal symptoms kick in, it means powering up the iPod and searching YouTube to dance around the lounge room to your favourite acts. Reminiscing about the energy of the live event, maybe help is at hand by remembering Soulwax’s documentary title: Part Of The Weekend Never Dies.

I and others in the design industry - Tim Power, Ross Lovegrove, Ilse Crawford, Arik Levy, Patricia Urquiola, Satyendra Pakhale and Tom Dixon to name but a few - were recently interviewed for our thoughts on sustainable design. Specifically, what would the sustainable city of the future look like? What is the emerging city skyline of tomorrow?

Each of us was asked the same 10 questions by people involved in the design industry (and also a Zen Buddhist teacher!), and they’re great interviews to watch to compare how an architect interprets the questions, as compared to a product designer, or say a strategist.    

But more importantly, these interviews are amazing, engaging dialogues about the very nature of life.

The link to the 22 interviews can be found here: http://www.designboost.se/index.php/home/boostevent/miniboost.html

And the 10 questions asked are below:

1. “To become a sustainable city, the challenge is to change attitudes and to create desire. Can a bus ever be as hip as an iPhone?”

Hanna Ljungström - designer 

2. “How can we keep sustainability as a hot sexy topic for the many?”

Maria Vinka - designer/IKEA

3. “What does it take to create cities with a soul where the citizens feel belonging and involvement enough to care for it in a sustainable way?”

Ewa Kumlin - managing director/Svensk Form

4. “How can cities emotionally amplify life?”

Kristina Dryza - concept creator

5. “Are sustainable cities those with a rich cultural life?”

Jens Pamp - brand strategist

6. “How do memes emerge and spread in a city? Is there a common format?”

Ted Persson - creative director

7. “Can a city be sustained by the personal stories of the people who inhabit it?”

Jennifer Leonard - designer writer/IDEO

8. “How can we return to the idea of humanising our cities without segregating ‘work’ from ‘play’ and ‘entertainment’ from ‘life’?”

Satyendra Pakhale - designer

9. “When building, are we building for the development of greed, or for generosity?”

Sante Poromaa - Zen Buddhist teacher

10. “The city is an exciting stage for green energy actors - can you imagine the city skyline of tomorrow?”

Iréne Stewart Claesson - design strategist

It almost doesn’t feel like a music festival. Your feet aren’t stamped to death, no-one’s pushing your back, your safety never really feels threatened, the crush of the crowd is more like a cuddle, and it has to be one of the only music festivals in the world where the food is of restaurant quality.

The annual Fuji Rock Festival came to a close yesterday, with 120,000 music lovers from Japan and the world over making the pilgrimage to the Naeba ski resort for three days of fun and frivolities. 

But it’s not just the gentile politeness of the crowd that makes this music festival so special. Or the location - the surrounding mountains of the central Niigata prefecture bring an amazing sense of freedom and peace to the area. It’s that the loos are always clean and fully stocked with loo paper, and there’s copious amounts of disinfectant hand wash provided. And did I mention - festival food that actually tastes delicious.

The first day of the festival had most of the acts that made the ticket price worthwhile: Lily Allen . . . Peaches . . . Simian Mobile Disco . . . M83 . . . Oasis . . . White Lies.

American indie rock band Longwave started the day off. When they played ‘Everywhere You Turn’ from their second album The Strangest Thing the crowd began dancing and singing to the NYC outfit’s tunes with carefree abandon and the good-time mood was established for the day.  

The night before the rain had set in and during the day it alternated between various levels: spitting, coming in from a sideways direction, drizzle, and just general ‘bucketing it down’. Wellies were the order of the day as festival-goers tried to hold their balance as they trudged through the water and mud trying not to spill their beer.

Next were White Lies on the Green Stage (the main stage of the festival). Lead singer Harry McVeigh only had to utter the words “I love the feeling when we lift off, Watching the world so small below” and the crowd was in raptures. Fear didn’t have a hold of anyone as the crowd visibly did lift off. The rain only added to the memorableness of the moment with no one wanting his or her feet to hit the ground. It wasn’t even 1pm yet.

Cut to 2pm in the Red Marquee and M83 were playing like it was midnight and they were the main act. For many this was the highlight show of the festival as the French band tore up the stage. More punchier, rockier and tighter live than their albums suggest, M83 really did own the sky.

Then if it couldn’t get any better, Peaches came on stage stripping down to a variety of outfits - angular jackets, a lycra leotard, a jagged belt across her midriff that spelt out her name in a way that looked like the KISS logo - and ‘Talk To Me’ and ‘Fuck The Pain Away’ kept the crowds feet moving, hands in the sky and smiles on their faces. It wasn’t so much listening to music, but participating in live performance art.

Lily Allen, getting skinnier by the minute, came on stage in a designer dress, pale blue shoes that looked like they had heels at least 10 inches high, a sparkling blue mask painted around her eyes, vivid purple lipstick and a shaggy bobbed hairstyle.

Dressed like a lady, acting like a sex bomb and looking like a woman in control, she had the crowd eating out of her hand as all the hits like ‘Smile’, ‘Littlest Things’ and ‘The Fear’ came out. Smoking and sitting on the corner of the stage (and asking the cameras not to film a close up of her as she stood back up), she also covered the Britney Spears hit ‘Womaniser’ and on closing she mockingly asked the audience if they liked country music as she began singing ‘Not Fair’ to rapturous applause.

The largest outdoor music event in Japan isn’t just known for the quality of artists that play the bill, but also for its commitment to the environment. Volunteers directed festival revelers how to sort their rubbish for recycling, and plastic bags were handed out to collect your own litter - though for many they became another line of defense against the incessant rain. The festival created the atmosphere where it just felt plain wrong to throw your beer cup on the ground while queuing for a refill. Many festival-goers even carried small portable ashtrays with them to prevent litter.

Not only is Fuji Rock Festival peaceful with its mountainous background, hilly trails and sparkling streams, there’s also an onsen nearby to relax in if the backwards and forwards march from the beer tent to the stage gets to be too much. Though walking through the festival with the stages spread out through acres of forests can be just as relaxing so long as you’re not rushing to catch a band.

But back to the music. Patti Smith, who looked more than a little ravaged by time, came on as the night came in and the mountains behind formed a silhouette that created a perfectly natural amphitheatre. Paul Weller sang ‘Shout To The Top’, ‘The Changing Man’ and other hits as festival goers killed time before Simian Mobile Disco were on at the Red Marquee.

There was no gradual warm up, nor a gentle build up to a crashing crescendo as the English duo began their performance. It was just hard from the first beat as they played their all too danceable beats with the right hooks to an appreciative crowd, all in the name of a good time. ‘Hustler’ brought the crowd - now all confirmed fans - to its knees, with many revelers torn between staying and seeing the set out, or leaving to watch headliners Oasis.

Looking rather bored and non-fussed with it all, Liam Gallagher in a baggy khaki anorak sang the Oasis anthems to a crowd that just wanted to sing and feel the festival spirit of many voices becoming one. ‘Wonderwall’, ‘Champagne Super Nova’ and ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ took those old enough back to the 90’s in a heightened state of nostalgia.

No sooner was Oasis off the stage did the crowd then disperse to other stages, with many choosing to see the night out watching Gang Gang Dance in the Red Marquee.

Saturday saw a slow start as finally the clouds broke and blue sky could be seen. For the 15,000 people camping in the mountainside this was a welcome relief. Being battered by solid rain for two nights straight, the city of multi-coloured tents was looking more than a little rain damaged.

Back in the central area, sitting in the newly found sun, drinking the day away and eating food like margarita wood oven fired pizzas, salt and pepper squid and scallops with shallots, people slowly made their way to various stages; whether it was to chill out to Räfven at the Café de Paris tent, or to listen to Ben Harper and Relentless7, Bright Eyes or Dinosaur Jr.

The night culminated in Franz Ferdinand headlining the main stage. Many in the audience won’t be able to get the ringing of a furious version of ‘This Fire’ out of their ears for a long time to come. Most festival-goers then spent the remainder of the evening in the Red Marquee. Playing until 5am were Fake Blood, 80kidz, The Bloody Beetroots, The Shoes and Crookers. It was soon daylight and time for a few hours sleep before starting again . . .

But for many the third day was just too much. Music was an after thought as tents were packed, raging hangovers were in full force and three days without a shower, a comfortable bed and minimal sleep were getting too much for some to bear.

Heading back to Tokyo on the train, some of the attendees didn’t want to wash the mud off them, as it was a reminder of a time in their lives when reality couldn’t touch them. It was just the music, their friends, lanterns hanging in the trees and no obligations - just freedom, fun and partying.

Fuji Rock Festival 2010 can’t come quick enough.