Last Night In Paris

Too Many Ts

As champions of all things independent, Cellar Door always appreciate those who try to plough their own furrow in the music industry – which is why we salute new hip hop duo Too Many Ts.

Not only are they releasing their new EP through their own imprint, Drop Cat Records, but they’re creating a sound that is highly unusual – by matching their rapped lyrics to off-kilter funk, blues and soul loops, their songs are perhaps closest in sound to the likes of The Correspodents (who they’ve gigged with).

The so-called ‘electro-swing’ movement can only continue to gather pace if the ranks are to be swelled by talented artists like this. Their other selling point is their lyrics, which are used to create quasi-stories and conversations full of humour.

The EP is out now, and includes the superb ‘It Ain’t Right’

Written by Harry Dean of Labelled Independent

With a number of different companies all hawking their product as the latest and greatest, it can be a bit confusing to know where to start.
The most recent issue of Make Magazine offers detailed reviews on a number of popular models of 3D printers, breaking down each of their strengths and weaknesses.

What’s the point of a 3D printer you ask? Well, you may not realize it yet, but printing real-world objects is going to be the next big thing in computing.
So which printer should you buy?

If you want a printer that’s the best entry level device, get a Printrbot LC.

Printrbot is a newer company, but it’s already carved out a niche selling what are commonly known to be among the best printers for 3D printing newbies. The Printrbot LC is expandable in every direction, meaning that if you’re adventurous enough, you can build it out to print objects as big as you want.

Price: $549

If user community is your priority, get a Replicator 2.

Makerbot has been a driving force in the hobbyist 3D printing world. Its repository of 3D files, Thingiverse, has a hugely active user base where people offer files and ideas to help everyone get the most out of their printers.

Price: $2,199

If ease of use is your priority, get the Afinia H-Series.

This printer ships fully assembled and ready to rock. This is a far cry from most other printers, which often require a bunch of assembly.

Price: $1,499

If speed is your priority, get the Ultimaker.

3D builds can occasionally take a few hours (and sometimes even longer). The Ultimaker, however, makes short, speedy work of most builds while still turning out a quality print.

Price: $1575.24

If reliability is your priority, get a Cube.

Make mercilessly tested the Cube for an entire weekend, and at the end of testing, it was still performing as well as when it had originally started. This is not the case for many other printers, which often required recalibration to keep the quality up.

Price: $1,299

If price is your priority, get a Printrbot Jr.

There’s no way you’re beating the price tag on the Printrbot Jr. It’s tiny, it’s portable. and it even runs on battery power for printing objects anywhere you want.

Price: $399

If you want the highest possible print quality, get a Type A Series 1.

The Series 1 can print objects up to 9 cubic inches, which is larger than most competing printers. And the quality of the finished print rated a perfect 5 out of 5.

Price: $1,400

If you want the quietest possible printer, get a Felix 1.0.

Some printers are loud, but the Felix merely whispers as it extrudes plastic into your finished object.

Price: $1,186.05

If you want to ride the cutting edge, get the Form-1.

Where most printers melt plastic to create their objects, the Form-1 fires a laser at liquid resin to harden it into different shapes using a process called stereolithography. It produces prints at a much higher resolution than most other printers.

Price: $3,299

PEYOTE

- Alliance Boots have reported a 0.6% decrease in revenue to £22.4bn for the year ended 31 March 2013. Trading profit increased by 7.4% to £1.3bn for the same period. Health & Beauty and Pharmaceutical Wholesale divisions reported increases in trading profits of 6.8% and 5.1% respectively.

- Asda have reported a 1.3% increase in like-for-like sales (excluding VAT and fuel) for the 14 weeks to 12 April 2013. Online sales increased by 16% for the same period.
- Dixons have reported a 7% increase in like-for-like group sales for the quarter ended 30 April 2013. UK & Ireland like-for-like sales increased by 13% for the same period.
- French Connection have reported flat like-for-like sales in the 15 weeks to 11 May 2013. (Source: Retail Bulletin)

- John Lewis have reported a 0.2% decrease in sales (including VAT) for the week to 11 May 2013. Fashion and Electricals & Home Technology sales increased by 4.8% and 4.7% respectively, while Home sales decreased by 9.4%. Sales at johnlewis.com increased by 8.2%.
- Lookers have reported a 13% increase in new car retail sales for the period from 01 January 2013 to 14 May 2013. Used car volumes increased by 17%, while fleet volumes decreased by 7% for the same period.
- Midcounties Co-operative have reported a 20% increase in gross sales to £943m for the year ending 29 January 2013. Total sales for their food division increased by 8% to £597m, while like-for-like sales increased by 1% for the same period. (Source: Retail Week)
- Vertu Motors have reported that for the five months to 31 January 2013, like-for-like private new retail volumes increased 13.6%, while like-for-like used vehicle volumes increased by 0.4%. For the same period there was a 6.8% decrease in fleet and commercial vehicle like-for-like sales.
- Waitrose have reported a 10.4% increase in sales (including petrol) for the week to 11 May 2013.
- Travis Perkins’ arm Wickes DIY, have reported a 6.1% decrease in like-for-like sales for the four months to 30 April 2013. Retail sales decreased by 5% for the same period. (Source: Retail Bulletin)

Very strong results in the non-fashion sector with the index nearly reaching double digit growth. All but two retailers posted positive like-for-like sales growth with household goods and department stores performing strongest.

Slightly subdued results this week for the fashion sector with both mainstream and specialist fashion retailers generally posting strong figures. Womenswear retailers appeared to struggle whilst those who cater for both genders did well.

The result in the homewares index should be considered strong taking into account the tough comparative figure from 2012. Kitchenwares struggled whilst department stores once again thrived.

Non-store posted mixed results across the three sectors. Fashion outperformed the index demonstrating 38.7% growth whilst homewares underperformed with only 10.7%; the results in non-fashion almost matched the index with 28.4%.

Clothing, Footwear & Accessories

- Barbour have been awarded a £549,000 award from the government’s Regional Growth Fund, enabling the company to create 130 new jobs. (Source: Fashion United)

- LK Bennett have announced plans to expand into China, US, Europe and the Middle East. (Source: Retail Gazette)
- M&S have unveiled their new Autumn/Winter collections, which will be available in-store and online from late July 2013 and will be focused on quality and style. The new collections mark the launch of a three year partnership between M&S and the British Fashion Council, which places a greater emphasis on British design and talent. (Source: Retail Bulletin)

- Andrew Varley will step down from his role as Property Director of Next in June 2014. Group Operations Director, Michael Law and Group Sales & Marketing Director, Jane Shields will join the board as Executive Directors on 01 July 2013. (Source: Drapers Online)
- Fashion shoe brand, Shelly’s are planned to be relaunched by footwear retailer Aldo as a 50-piece collection in autumn 2013. (Source: Verdict)

Electrical & Entertainment

- Sainsbury’s have launched a new video on demand service on 15 May 2013, allowing customers to buy or rent films and watch them immediately on their devices. (Source: The Grocer)
- Tesco have cut the price of their unlimited broadband service to £2 a month, with a fair use policy, in combination with a £14.90 a month line rental for a minimum of a year. (Source: Verdict)

The latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index have revealed that online retail sales increased by 16%, year-on-year, in April 2013. The travel sector in particular saw a solid performance, increasing 16% year-on-year. Beer, wine and spirits was another well performing sector, which saw a 19% increase in online sales compared to April last year, and a monthly growth of 18%. This follows a poor performance in Q1 2013 with growth of just 3%. Electricals were down 3% year-on-year, with the average basket value at £167. This disappointing performance comes off the back of a very strong April 2012.

Food & Drink

- Asda have announced plans to widen their ‘click-and-collect’ service to include collection points at university campuses, transport depots and rail stations. (Source: Retail Week)
- M&S have launched a new food advertising campaign with the strapline ‘Make Today Delicious’. The campaign will cover all of their online, print and TV marketing. (Source: The Grocer)
- Ocado have announced a 25 year deal with Morrisons to license technology, logistics and distribution services, allowing Morrisons to set up their own online delivery service. As part of the deal, Ocado will sell half of their customer fulfilment centre in Dordon, Warwickshire to Morrisons for up to £170m. Morrisons will put in another £46m for expansion investment. The deal is expected to enable the launch of online deliveries by January 2014. (Source: Verdict)

- It is reported that Waitrose have plans to add extra capacity to their website and to open more ‘dark stores’ across the UK. (Source: The Telegraph)

Household

- Boots have plans to launch their Irish website in June 2013. The retailer also plans to roll out their products in the US, through their tie-up with Walgreens. Boots are also trialling 500 products in 23 stores operated by Dairy Farm-owned Mannings in Hong Kong and seek further partners in China. (Source: Retail Week)
- B&Q have launched a new DIY service, ‘B&Q Homefit’ on 13 May 2013. (Source: Verdict)
- Ikea have announced plans to work with Ikano on a new loyalty programme aimed at small businesses in London. (Source: Retail Bulletin)
- Selfridges have announced plans to launch their ‘Bright Young Things‘ campaign, which will feature fifteen design talents. The campaign will launch at their London store at the end of August 2013. (Source: Fashion United)

- John Lewis have announced plans to open a new flexible format department store in Oxford, creating 500 jobs. The store, which is planned to open in 2017, will extend over three floors and will include an entrance located in the basement of the Westgate Centre’s new car park. (Source: The Oxford Times)
- It is reported that Lloydspharmacy have announced plans to roll out their new store design to 70 UK shops. (Source: Retail Week)

Courtesy of ‘The Thinker‘

Mount Kimbie

Cellar Door mandem MadTech Records will be celebrating deep house duo No Artificial Colours’ new EP ‘Crying Wolf’ at London’s leading underground dance music record store, BM Soho.

Special treats include complimentary drinks and promotional giveaway of goodies, as well as the wonderful longtime Cellar Door girldem Alex Mills on the mic!

We get going at 6pm and wrap up at 8pm – as always, we recommend you come down early.

Eliza and the Bear