Plenty of things going on this week, as per usual, although I am trying not to just prattle on about the same old groups week after week - all too easily done when reporting on any local music scene.

If I was going to all of these gigs I'd have a marriage and a liver in tatters by the end of this week.  I'd also have to carve myself into four equal slices on Friday in order to go to everything I want to go to.  Funnily enough though in a week of such riches I am not going to be at all that much.  Tuesday is my last show on Fresh Air Radio, Wednesday is the Champion's League Final and Friday I have to go to something related to Mrs. Toad's work.  She doesn't demand much of me, the old lass, so I can't very well insist on this one and, frankly, it spares me having to choose between four different gigs, all of which I want to attend.  So maybe no bad thing after all.

Tuesday 20th May 2008: Feist at the Queen's Hall.
I am not sure if I would go to this one, myself, were it not for my last Fresh Air show rendering that question somewhat academic.  I did enjoy her album, and I do like her sound in general, although it can become a little bland after a while.  Maybe if the show was priced affordably I would have gone, but in any case, very much worth considering.
Feist - 1234[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/Feist-OneTwoThreeFour.mp3]

Wednesday 21st May 2008: Caribou at Cabaret Voltaire.
For those not watching the Champions' League final, Caribou have finally arrived in Edinburgh, months after their last gig was cancelled.  Math rock, it gets called occasionally, so
Caribou - Sandy[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/Caribou-Sandy.mp3]

Wednesday 21st May 2008: Glissando, Meursault & The Kays Lavelle at the Wee Red Bar.
I've never heard of Glissando, but Euan's Trampoline nights never fail to deliver, so pop along for a couple of local favourites and some epic miserablism from Leeds.
Glissando - Floods[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/Glissando-Floods.mp3]

Thursday 22nd May 2008: My Tiny Robots & Babybones at the Voodoo Rooms.
My Tiny Robots are a group I've had recommended to me on numerous occasions.  Good indie guitar stuff from the sounds of it, along with a suitably tortured vocal.  Babybones I don't know at all, but this looks like another good lineup from Limbo.  It's my only free night this week, so will Mrs. Toad let me go?  Hmm, touch and go, but I rather fancy this one.
My Tiny Robots - Haircut Song[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/MyTinyRobots-HaircutSong.mp3]

Friday 23rd May 2008:
There's so much going on this Friday that I could sprain my wanking hand just typing it all out, so here's a list instead.  Either go and see Black Diamond Express at The Ark, or pop along to Henry's for St. Jude's Infirmary, who have a new album approaching, and are supported by Come On Gang, or alternatively there's Times New Viking and Meursault at Studio 24, or finally there's also The Declining Winter at the Stills Gallery on Cockburn Street.  I know nothing about this last lot, but they sound rather good.  Any of these gigs would be worth your time, frankly, but guess what - I'll be at none of them.  I have to schmooze with Mrs. Toad and be a good wife at a dinner thingy of some description.  No swearing there, and no rock and fucking roll either.  Christ I've sold out.
Black Diamond Express - Jack[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/BlackDiamondExpress-Jack.mp3]
The Declining Winter - Summer Turns to Hurt[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/TheDecliningWinter-SummerTurnstoHurt.mp3]
Saint Jude's Infirmary - The Church of John Coltrane[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/SaintJudesInfirmary-TheChurchofJohnColtrane.mp3]

Sunday 25th May 2008: The Young Republic at Cabaret Voltaire.
When I first started writing about their often country-tinged, genre-hopping indie pop I remember exchanging emails with Julian Saporiti that when along the line of 'If we ever get to Edinburgh you'll have to come along to one of our shows' and was said with such heavy irony that we were both acknowledging just how unlikely that was to ever happen.  Well fair bloody play to 'em, because since signing to End of the Road Records and the really positive reception given to their debut album 12 Tales From Winter City, here they are.
The Young Republic - Mary Ellen (Live)[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/TheYoungRepublic-MaryEllen.mp3]

Programme:-     String Quartet in F major by Maurice Ravel,  String Quartet No.3 by Szymon Laks,  Nocturne and Tarantella Opus 28 by Karel Szymanowski,  String Quartet in G, Opus 18, No. 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven.

I don't want to turn into a music critic but I felt someone should write about what was a truly inspiring concert. The players, all Polish, are fairly young and very enthusiastic.  Every piece they played was with a joie de vivre, the ensemble was excellent and their sound was gorgeous.

The Ravel is now an old war-horse but they brought a freshness to it that I had rarely heard before.

Szymon Laks Quartet, based on Polish themes, came off very well. It is very melodic, and Laks, having been a violinist himself uses all the tricks of the trade that stringed instruments are capable of - the ponticello (playing next to the bridge, making a grating sound) in the first movement, the glissando (sliding) at the end of the second movement, the non-vibrato sounds played by those supporting the solo, the fierce pizzicati (plucking) and then the full, rich vibrato sound of the ensemble. All in all a very enjoyable, tuneful  piece to listen to.

I had qualms  about the Szymanowski, not being a particular fan of his music, but it had snatches of Gypsy music and perhaps (to my ears) a hint of a fandango. Two pieces, very easy on the ear and played well.

The Beethoven  was exquisitely played throughout.  Of course, it's not for me to say, but it went through my mind that this may be the real Beethoven as he would have wished to hear it.  The attack was good, the style lovely and the players obviously enjoyed playing it.  It is not often that I come away from a concert feeling elated, but the Szymanowski Quartet had that effect on me.  I never looked at my watch once!

My only lingering concern with the Collector's Edition is that it has been accused of totally altering Eiko Ishioka's Academy Award-winning costume designs. From very early on in Dracula's pre-production, Coppola "decided that the costumes would be the set.” (Dworkin 17) When Eiko Ishioka realized “that the costumes would be the key factor in determining the quality of the film itself, I accepted the job.” (Dworkin 21) So that is what this post is actually about. Not the concern for color fidelity in film archiving, but those beautiful costumes - inspired by everything from the Symbolist movement to the Australian frilled lizard - that were conceived of and created by Ishioka. (Dworkin 19, 70)

One of the most memorable garments from the film is Dracula's “red Oriental-Turkish robe", which was created to "emphasize the androgynous quality in his character", "a haunting aura of transsexuality." (Dworkin 41) In the thematic color of red, Eiko had Dracula's golden coat-of-arms embroidered on the breast.

This emblem is Dracula's "identity, similar to the Japanese family crest. I designed a motif of various animals intertwined into a single form." (Dworkin 42) These included a dragon, wolf, snakes, and birds, as well as fire. (Landau 37) The robe's voluminous train was constructed to "undulate like a sea of blood." (Dworkin 41) Not all of Dracula's planned costumes made it into the film. Check out this sketch of a brocaded vest with red detailing/piping and handkerchief:

The designs for women are the cornerstone of Bram Stoker's Dracula. And why is that? It's because the original, decentralized story found in Stoker's novel - told through every character's point of view except Dracula's - has been appropriated for Mina. Screenwriter Jim Hart felt that "The key to writing Dracula was to make it Mina's story." (Landau 80) Instead of a fragmented narrative, Mina gives it unity and continuity. While it may seem that Mina's story is framed by Dracula's historic prologue, the truth is in fact the opposite. Dracula lacks agency. He can merely react as Elisabeta kills herself, as Mina abandons him to marry Harker, as she makes the decision to become a vampire, as she exploits their psychic rapport to assist her friends, and finally as she delivers them both from the unholy covenant Dracula forged with "darkness".

Throughout the film, Mina's costumes convey just as much of the story as the actress beneath all that silk. For example, the dress Mina wears in Rule's Cafe (the absinthe scene) was colored red - Dracula's color - to convey that Mina would soon be tainted by vampirism. (Landau 127)

Ishioka "carefully considered Mina's role in the drama" before she chose green as Mina's thematic color. (Dworkin 61) The color needed to compass the character's intelligence, sexual naïveté, stoicism, sense, and strong will. Many of these attributes can be seen in the dress she wears on the streets of London and in the cinematograph. The pert hat represents her vivacity and fortitude, the manly lapels her status as a New Woman with a "man's brain [...] and a woman's heart", etc. (Stoker 266)

Winona Ryder wearing the town dress. Photo by Ralph Nelson II. (Landau 80)

Sketch of the town dress by Eiko Ishioka. Photo by Keith Sherins. (Dworkin 60)

Most of Mina's dresses - including her typing gown - also sport high collars to reflect her modesty and chastity:

Mina's typing dress. Photo by David Seidner. (Dworkin63)

The high collar can also be seen on Mina's three-quarter sleeve dress. This dress is rather domestic-looking because of the contrast between the apron and the skirt and wrap. It also lacks leaf embroidery (whose importance will be discussed later) and is almost always worn while in the presence or under the protection of Van Helsing.

Mina's three-quarter sleeve dress. Photos by Ralph Nelson II. (Landau 129, 125, 141)

As you can see, Ishioka took a predominantly historical, orthodox approach to Mina's costumes, only pushing boundaries with her creative embellishments. (Dworkin 94) However, “Costumes should be more than just items that explain the role of the actors who wear them”, she stresses. (Dworkin 27) A costume should challenge the actor, filmmakers, and audience. (Dworkin 27) An example of this type of costume is Mina's wedding dress, which is featured only briefly in the movie. Rather than a virginal white, it is instead a sombre gray-green:

This type of implicit message can also be seen in the final act of the film, in which Mina wears a historically outmoded style. "I designed her cape in the last scene with a strong Renaissance flavor, a Pre-Raphaelite look." (Dworkin 91) This costume foreshadows Mina's realization that she is truly the reincarnation of Elisabeta, Dracula's 15th century bride.

Mina's Renaissance cape. Photo by David Seidner. (Dworkin 91)

Elisabeta's gown, seen at the beginning of the film and later in flashbacks, contains the elements that draw the two (three?) central characters together: Emblazoned on the torso is Dracula's crest. Elisabeta and Mina's designs are relatively consistent: On the sleeves and skirt - and even her crown of laurel - is the foliage motif that is often also found on Mina's dresses. Both have the theme color of green. While Elisabeta wears a farthingale, Mina wears a bustle.

Elisabeta's gown. First photo by David Seidner, second by Ralph Nelson II. (Dworkin 79, Landau 14)

Ishioka's desire to design museum-quality costumes and her overall perfectionism meant that making multiple copies of her garments for filming was financially impractical. Richard Shissler, the associate costume designer, said that "We probably should have had duplicates of everything, but we just didn't have the budget [...] Eiko didn't want to compromise, so we had multiples only when we really needed them." (Landau 127) Mina's costumes were constructed with silk taffeta, imported from France and Italy, by Dale Wibben, a freelance dressmaker from San Francisco. (Dworkin 94) Sally Ann Parsons from Parsons-Meares, Ltd. in New York did the more theatrical costumes for Dracula, Lucy, and Renfield while Vincent Costume, Inc. made the men's clothing. (Dworkin 94) The elaborate embroidery on many of the costumes was done by Penn and Fletcher and Monogram West. (Dworkin 94)

In retrospect, upon seeing her handiwork, it's no wonder that Coppola chose Ishioka. However, at the time it was a gamble; she had never worked on the costumes for a film before, only television. Coppola's "strategy in hiring someone like her - an independent, a weirdo outsider with no roots in the business - it worked in the end. Because I could look at the screen and say, well, these costumes are truly irrational and artistic and absolutely unique." (Dworkin 93)

If I revisit Bram Stoker's Dracula again, it will be to talk about the one thing in in the film that is more beautiful than the costumes: Wojciech Kilar's glissando filled love theme, "Mina/Dracula". (You can hear it over at YouTube, in this video from 2:00 to the end.)

:: Bibliography ::

• Dworkin, Susan, ed. Coppola and Eiko on Bram Stoker's Dracula. By Francis Ford Coppola and Eiko Ishioka. San Francisco: Collins Publishers San Francisco, 1992. ISBN: 0002551675.
• Landau, Diana, ed. Bram Stoker's Dracula: The Film and the Legend. By Francis Ford Coppola. New York: Newmarket Press, 1992. ISBN: 1557041393.
• Stoker, Bram. Dracula. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 1989. ISBN: 0812523016.