Etherial Brilliance

I don't know about you but I have definitely been smelling some Spring in the air in the last week or two. Certainly there is light at the end of the bitter winter tunnel we've had so far this year and the first buds of colour and light are in the ether.

On such a note, it seems appropriate to highlight the annual return of the Southbank Centre's Ether Festival which this year features an absolutely stellar line-up plus takes the opportunity to hand out some major musical kudos to Edgard Varese, oft referred to as 'The Father of Electronic Music'.

The Ether festival is no mere list of normal gigs and always injects a level of individualism that is seemingly beyond most other London festivals.

Amongst the cast of musicians such as Gil-Scott Heron, Stereo MCs, Chrome Hoof and Lou Reed there are also re-workings of Varese's small body of surviving music with a whole raft of different interpretations, as well as theremin workshops, short films and a rare opportunity to see and hear a live performance from acclaimed video artist/film director/deliciously warped mind, Chris Cunningham.

Frankly, I want to go to ALL of these but if anyone of you out there has a preference and would enjoy my esteemed company then hit us up and let's get out into the ether...

The Empire Strikes Back

The Hackney Empire is a true London institution, from when my grandmother frequented it when she was young (apparently some branch of my family used to own it!), to the regular visits I and probably many of you have made through it's doors.

Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel and WC Fields have all famously appeared on it's stage and since its already long overdue renovation and re-opening in 2004 it has been a source of genuine community spirit and local pride.

The recent decision, therefore, to have a temporary blackout on shows at the Empire is extremely sad and, at the moment, not a little baffling.

However, this Thursday 11th March, sees a free and open forum being held at the venue as an opportunity to hear why this decision was taken, what the future holds for the Empire and to ask questions of a panel made up of senior staff and trustees and officers from the Arts Council and Hackney Council.

If you have been touched in any way in your life by the Hackney Empire or simply just care about the maintenance and continuation of a rich tradition of beautiful, vintage venues, then get your behind down to this.

I will see you there.

Thursday 11th March
18:30 - 20:00
Hackney Empire, Mare Street, Hackney
FREE

Wild, Wild Food

Having last year spent some time in a beautiful Ardeche forest right in amongst the beauty and bounty of Mother Nature, a life spent living off the fruits of one's labour and lands is something that appeals greatly to me.

Well, now it seems as though lessons on such things can be learned among the oases of green spaces that this huge city contains. Our East End neighbours in Tower Hamlets are running a series of events in the Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, with one particularly catching my eye.

On a Saturday afternoon there will be a Wild Food Walk around the cemetery where one can learn about what is there to just pick and eat and to reach down and do so.

Saturday 20th March
13:30 - 15:30
Tower Hamlets Cemetery
FREE (or optional donation)

The Search For The Musical Higgs Boson Continues...

In my unending lifetime pursuit of more and new and interesting and just downright good music, here are a few of the welcome hitchikers I have picked up over the last few miles...

Buzzin' About - The Apples
Upbeat, unpretentious, good time funk with a dash of hip hop flavour added for spice. The kind of music where your foot becomes detached from the rest of your body and starts tapping around of it's own accord.

The Cuckoo and The Stolen Heart - The Brute Chorus & Tigs
This is a track from The Brute Chorus' eponymous album and is a proper stomping, gypsy-style soundtrack to a riproaring argument. And everyone loves a good argument, right? That might just be me...

One Year Two Year - Catalpa Catalpa
Beautiful and hypnotic melody interspersed with random noise and sounds that at the same time feel organic. There is a certain depth to Catalpa Catalpa that is lacking in much of the so-called 'chillout' or 'downtempo' genres. I'll never understand why people would want to chillout to boring music...

Set Me Free From This Wicked Game - DJ C
This is another single track but it is a total bundle of mashup joy and highlights the intricate knowledge, skill and tongue-in-cheek of DJ C. If this floats your boat then check out some of his full length DJ mixes. Personally Boots and Boots 2 are my favourites but you can rifle your way through them, all for absolutely no pennies whatsoever. Bargain.

How To Make Ambient Sadcake - The Sandwitches
Stripped back and childlike garage rock and following the line of simple beauty in music that's been drawn by the likes of Billy Childish and Pavement and subsequently traced by Kimya Dawson, Adam Green, Jeffrey Lewis and co. This is an album that instantly strikes me as being made by people who have that lifelong desire to create song and would do so even if there were no-one around to listen to it. A new little favourite of mine...

London Gin, Bombay Sapphire and some Cake for afters...

Woah. Now that was what I call a weekend.

The Gin Palace went off like some kind of sophisticated, slick rocket on Saturday night with outstanding music and performances from the likes of The Smokey Taps, The Jumblebox Consortium, Miss Leed'em and Count Fettucini, not to mention the sartorial standards maintained by the crowd and the captivating cocktails from the bar.

On Sunday I was then most fortunate to be able to witness the incredible Manganiyar Seduction at the Barbican in an absolutely mindblowing display of musical talent, intricacy and, well, Celebrity Squares.

From poignant beginning to the raising, explosive crescendo this was an experience that makes you forget where you are and anything else that might be happening around you. In it's conception, immediacy and effect, magnificent.

As we now plough headlong into the week, an immediate chance to relive some of this weekend presents itself at Passing Clouds in Dalston as The Smokey Taps return for their Cakewalk Cafe night. One of the tightest swing bands you will hear this side of 1940 aligned with surely one of the best live voices I have ever had the privilege to witness, The Taps will be raising the bar for Wednesday nights.

£5 on the door, £3.50 with appropriate 20s/30s dress.

The Dawn Chorus Awakes

I am fortunate to know some amazing and talented people. Not just the types who keep it to themselves either but the kind of people who are generous with their time and energies.

One such acquaintance is Mr Theo Bard who, in a monthly residency at Passing Clouds, is displaying not just his own musical gifts but promoting the talents of others as well.

The second instalment of The Dawn Chorus in the cosy environs of the upstairs of Passing Clouds was perfectly situated in time and venue and was delightful nutrition for the soul.

Alongside Theo's own ensemble this month were a beautifully understated solo performance from Fiona Bevan and some rawkus harmonies from Cocos Lovers.

Fiona Bevan's solo guitar spot was bewitching and, although possessing a sublime voice, she felt no need for extraneous embellishment so as to chime elegantly with the atmosphere and her stripped back guitar playing. Although mentioning that she was testing new material, her songs felt instantly familiar, endorsing the intimate surroundings.

Cocos Lovers music is a real return to the roots of folk music and, despite the sheer size of numbers and varying instruments playing, is infused with tight harmonies and some stomping rhythms. Passionate, joyous and zealously warmhearted.

Having personally only been witness to Theo's solo performances it was a treat to be able to see him embedded in a full ensemble. Sadly missing the incredible Ewan Bleach on saxophone, their last minute replacement manned up, well, manfully. Often folk music can come across as a little austere and ascetic, however, their songs were heartfelt, fervid and full of energy.

Notes and sounds that put a smile on my face, superb company and a short walk home.

Frankly, a perfect weekday evening

Cycle EAST

I have already waxed lyrical about the EAST festival taking place this week so instead I'm going to hone in on one particular part of this event that is taking place on Sunday.

Given that pretty much every person I know cycles in London in some form, what better way to spend a Sunday than breezing around East London and stopping in to see some excellent music. None, I tells ya. None.

Cycle EAST is a triptych of FREE gigs featuring the amazing saxophonist Soweto Kinch, the London Gypsy Orchestra and recent Mercury nominees Sweet Billy Pilgrim. These have all been planned in distance and timespans to allow attendees to cycle between all three.

Soweto Kinch at Rich Mix
London Gypsy Orchestra at Bethnal Green Working Men's Club
Sweet Billy Pilgrim at Toynbee Studios

All 3 bands will be playing 3 gigs at each venue at 2pm, 4pm and 6pm.

FREE

Documentary Theatre

Modern theatre is seemingly constantly evolving, engaging audiences and capturing imaginations in new ways. We've had a raft of interactive productions and sandbox plays and now a new genre seems to be on the horizon.

Documentary musical theatre.

In a new production by Victoria Brittain at the Southbank Centre, that pillar of British theatre, Juliet Stevenson leads a cast telling real stories and exploring real issues around the so-called 'War On Terror'.

'Waiting' features stories of women from places as diverse as Senegal, Palestine and the Midlands, unfolding through song, an original score and the sopranos Anna Dennis and Carole Wilson.

Hoping to provoke thought and argument through this unusual medium, helpfully the performance is followed by a formal debate with a panel including Baroness Heleana Kennedy QC, Riz Ahmed, Vanessa Redgrave and Moazzam Begg.

Friday 12th March and Saturday 13th March
Tickets £15 (concessions 50% off)

Myth at Frith

Returning to the bosom of the art world, a familiar favourite for some of you will be the Frith Street Gallery. A veritable stalwart in presenting and exhibiting exciting and interesting art pieces, their forthcoming show is no exception.

Jaki Irvine will be presenting her show Seven Folds In Time exploring themes of human emotional extremes and yet also the workaday unconscious collisions and opportunities missed.

Working mainly in film and video as a medium to create a point where this can all be represented in the overlap between image and sound, between passion and mundanity, she will be focussing on instrumentalism within music, where notes begin and end, and practice relative to performance.

Opening 12th March and running until the 30th April

FREE

Love and Laughter for Haiti

I thought I'd start off a new little bit on here. Y'know, just to keep it in the mix. So, welcome to the new Review section. Isn't it all shiny and brand spanking? Ooh, I can almost see my face in it...

The first event that I am dipping my e-pen in the e-ink for is the Love Haiti fundraiser that took place on Sunday 21st February at the beautifully dilapidated Wilton's Music Hall.

The evening featured a varied line-up with the one name that popped out at me personally being Rich Fulcher as Eleanor the Tour Whore. Anyone who has seen him in the Mighty Boosh would know why. Mental in all the right places.

As it turned out, unusually, my favourite act of the night was the first one. Pete Firman had the self-depricating, magician act down pat and his non-stop self-aware banter was also on the money. Describing his look as geography teacher/sex pest, he pulled off some oldie-but-goodie type tricks sych as the nail in the face and cutting and re-attaching ropes.

With a sly, mickey-taking nod to Derren Brown his was a brilliant and succinct act.

He was closely followed by, well, the next act, The Penny Dreadfuls who with a nod to the music hall era performed a series of extremely well acted sketches. Contorting their faces and voices the ream of characters that they created were funny and pitched just right. The details that had been thought through such as the actions of the Creep character and the hitting of forks for sword-fighting sound effects were brilliantly imagined.

After a short break and another opportunity to wonder at the shabby glamour of Wilton's, the second part lulled a little with Rufus Hound's slightly laddish Men Vs Women comedy and the frankly incomprehensible yet inexplicably transfixing Wingnuts. A sketch group seemingly playing on Madchester culture but I had a constant feeling of having missed something...

The enormous Tom Davies, as I'm sure he's been referred to on many an occasion, gave a genial little warm-up about living with his parents before the headline act, Eleanor The Tour Whore strode on.

The words poured forth as a surreal stream of consciousness based loosely on the rambling diary of this self-confessed 60's/70's groupie. Eleanor doesn't tell jokes, she tells pathos.

Coming across as a delusional and dark raconteaur, it constantly felt as though it would go off the rails and stray too far but somehow Rich Fulcher managed to keep it slinging along and still hilarious.

The cherry on the cake of the evening was The Real Brian Blessed, the secret, mystery guest. Huffing and puffing through the trap door in the stage, the act was physically and vocally spot-on in it's impersonation of that uniquely British legend. Reading from the spoof Blessed diaries and flecked with realistic Blessed spittle, it was a great end to the show.

The entire show was compered by the oft hilarious, excellently astute and, indeed, hirsute, Jarred Christmas bouncing off the crowd with bonhamie.

Mad props to Bop Pipe as Director and Aisling Bea and inimitable Rachel Stubbings as Producers.

However, don't think this ends here! Lest I remind thee all of the FUCKING IMPORTANT CAUSE that this is for. Figures have been placed on the amount of investment and aid money it will require to put Haiti and it's long-suffering people back on their feet and currently the global effort is falling short.

Every little counts. Especially given that it's payday today for many of us...

Make your contribution, however small or large HERE AND NOW.