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All Music Guide:
British electro-rock band the Chap were formed in North London by Claire Hope (keyboards, vocals), Johannes Von Weizsäcker (guitar, vocals, cello), Panos Ghikas (bass, violin, guitar, vocals), and Keith Duncan (drums). They released a 10" EP, Fun, on Lo Recordings in April 2002. Their debut album, The Horse, was released on April 28, 2003, followed on September 29, 2003 by the EP (Hats Off To) Dror Frangi. Their second full-length album, Ham, was released on June 27, 2005. A second EP, The Chop, came out on June 11, 2007. Their third album, Mega Breakfast, was released in Europe on May 19, 2008 and in the U.K. a week later. They signed to Ghostly International, which issued Mega Breakfast in the U.S. on July 1, 2008 as their first official American release. At the same time, Hope took a pregnancy leave from the group and was replaced temporarily by keyboard player and singer Berit, who had previously played in a band with Von Weizsäcker called Karamasov and worked with Omo. After touring in support of Mega Breakfast, the Chap recorded their fourth album, Well Done Europe, a sleeker, more electronically inclined set of songs that was released in mid-2010. The confidently named collection We Are the Best arrived late in 2011. Looking for a challenge, the band's next album, We Are Nobody, consisted of entirely irony-free songs.
Wikipedia:
The Chap is a British bi-monthly magazine and related books founded in 1999 and edited by Gustav Temple. It proposes a return to a dandified way of life, involving the wearing of tweed and fine clothes, proper headwear, pipe smoking, cultivating facial hair, quality handmade shoes and pressed trousers.
The magazine has featured interviews with noted Chaps and Chapettes such as Stephen Fry, Leslie Phillips, Sir Patrick Moore and Joanna Lumley. The magazine celebrated its tenth anniversary in December 2009 with the Grand Anarcho-Dandyist Ball in London (the event now takes place every year).
The "Chappists" propose a revolution based not on violence, but on dressing with panache, drinking fine beverages and behaving with courtesy, especially to those from whom courtesy is not forthcoming. They have organised protests against modern art installations and bland corporations such as Gap, Starbucks, Nike and on Saint George's Day, 2012 outside the intended Abercrombie and Fitch shop at No. 3 Savile Row, in addition to bland cities and areas of cities, for example Catford in south-east London. Contributors have included Miss Martindale and Michael "Atters" Attree.
In May 2009 the magazine nearly closed due to financial issues arising from publishing a larger A4 format magazine. To keep going The Chap asked its readers and subscribers to donate funds. Additionally, Viz Magazine financially supported the magazine. It returned to its B5 format to reduce printing costs.
While Chappism appreciates British culture and loves tradition, it is nonetheless rooted in the Situationist strand of anarchism with more than the occasional nod to Dada. It is also indebted to Monty Python, Peter Cook, Spike Milligan and Viv Stanshall as much as it is to the avant-garde.
As The Chap enters its second decade, the magazine continues to plough its Wodehousian view of England, while England itself appears gradually to be coming round to The Chap's philosophy, with the return of the moustache, the monocle, tailored clothing and nightclubs celebrating 1930s glamour and 1940s austerity fashions. It has also featured articles extolling the virtues of the steampunk genre.
The Chap hosts a popular annual Chap Olympiad, normally held in Bedford Square Gardens, which is now in its sixth year. Due in part to its growing popularity, the Chap Olympiad in 2012 was expanded to be a two-day event.
