More Than A Home For Dogs

I'm coming back to a theme that is always close to my heart here. How frickin' awesome and talented the people I call my friends are.

They're also, mainly, massive show-offs...which is lucky for the rest of us who thus have the opportunity to see the manifestations of such efforts.

One such opportunity is on the horizon and drawing ever closer as part of the Scratch Festival at that veritable and giant mine of cultural performance and exhibition, the Battersea Arts Centre (BAC).

The Scratch festival as a whole will be displaying an array of different artists in every corner of the canyon of a space they have there. To narrow this premise down, a Scratch "is a new theatrical idea developed by artists and shaped by audience feedback".

Featuring in one of these Scratches is our resident cynical font of knowledge and creator of beautiful visuals, Justin Beardsall. In collaboration with composer Caroline Devine and Dancing Brick, "A L I C E" will be a piece lamenting the decline of analogue technology, harking back to a more innocent and clunky era and celebrating these icons of our childhood.

8-bit computer games, VHS, cassette tapes, that creepy girl with the doll and chalkboard. Ah, joy! Halcyon days indeed and, frankly, I couldn't think of a more capable pair of hands to bring this back to life than VJ Meno's.

Right, I'm off to spend 45 minutes listening to preternatural screeching and vibrating lines of colour just so I can play Arcadians on my Acorn again...

May 5th and May 6th
7:45pm
BAC

Tickets £5 (plus there is a 3for2 offer)

Fork Handles

If there are any regular readers of this out there on the interweb, then maybe at least one of you can recall my bigging up of the Sir John Soanes Museum a while back.

I had good reason then to give what little kudos I have to offer to this oft forgotten London treasure and I have even more reason now...

As if the Museum itself is not amazing and atmospheric enough, there will now be extra-super-special candlelit tours of the house.

A house that features collections ranging from Neo-Classical sculpture to Egyptian Antiquities to glorious timepieces. All this within the walls of a beautiful and historical building in Lincoln's Inn Fields.

Taking place on the first Tuesday of every month from 6pm - 9pm and at the absolutely spiffingly good price of FREE.

Make sure to arrive in good time as this kind of thing tends to lend itself to the great British sport of queuing...

NomNomNomNomNom!

Food. God bless food. My top three things in life are often interchangeable and interwoven but a trip to flavour country is a regular chart-topper.

What's not to love? It comes in different shapes, sizes, flavours, textures, colours and even different parents.

If you're similarly driven by culinary desires or delicious mastication then I should inform you that we are, right now, in the midst of a celebration of food.

Hosted by UCL, Food Junctions has already been running this week and is set to climax this bank holiday weekend, in Camley Street Natural Park, with events covering workshops, lectures, food creativity and, of course, royally stuffing one's face.

Go on, get stuck in, Sausage Gut!

Je t'aime the Thames

There's been a noticable radio silence over the last week and I can only mitigate this by asking you to take a look out your window and remind yourself as to how fortunate our recent meteorological circumstances have been.

Daytime is the new nighttime and I, for one, have certainly been making hay.

With such conditions in mind, there is an exceptional opportunity to make the most of such clement weather this weekend. Not only is it, of course, a bank holiday, but one amongst our midst has squirreled out an opportunity to celebrate on the fair waters of our Thames river.

Launching this Sunday, Je Thames is going to be a new regular river boat party located on the Embankment. This weeks instalment, monikered "Our Frenz Electric", sees a stellar line-up from live bands such as Braindead Collective and Gobsausage to some deep and dirty DJ sets from Dan Donovan (Dreadzone) and Tom Parker (Deptford Noise Team).

Covering two decks, plus a barbeque to feed the masses on the (hopefully) sun-drenched open deck, there will also be a liberal sprinkling of performance art for you to enjoy in-between nourishing your electrosoul.

Located on the North side of the river, right near Temple station or a short walk from Embankment station, and at the absolute bargain price of £3 (before 6pm) and £5 after, it'd be an honour to sit out on the deck with you and relax while the waves and varying floating body parts wash gently up against the hull of this good ship Electric.

Electro Retro

So, there appears to be a new scent trail in the air, a smell, a sound that is attracting many of my peers and spreading like wildfire. Incorporating many things dear to mine own heart, including dapperness, swing music and modern electro.

Yes pop-pickers, it's electroswing. As far as I can tell, this all seems to have grown out of Mr Scruff's signature tune, Get A Move On and spawned a whole movement of such.

At the forefront of this, one of the spearheads if you like, are The Correspondents, spreading this vintage gospel to all four corners of London.

They will next be popping their heads above the pulpit at Jamm in Brixton as part of an evening being run by those old festival stagers, the Chai Wallahs and I am reliably informed by one of my most eminent and esteemed colleagues that "you'd be a fool to miss it, I is tellin' ya!".

Appearing alongside this formidable tour de force are South London's finest Rodney P and DJ Skitz. These veritable godfathers of British hiphop would be worth the admission fee on their own but added to the aforementioned and backed up by the likes of the explosive Molotov Jukebox and the slick and unstoppable King Porter Stomp this could be an evening to tempt even the most hardened Hackneyite out of the East and to head down South...

Hollywood Comes to Hackney

 Well, kind of. Allow me to elaborate...

That little Hackney treasure, The Arcola Theatre, is currently hosting 2 plays, as is usual with their continuing success and subsequent expansion.

Both of them seem worth a butchers but for differing reasons.

The first is 1936, focussing on the run-up to the controversial, but also now legendary Berlin Olympics. On all sides a tense affair, the story unfolds through the eyes of an American journalist and touches on the unmistakeable American unease at the occasion and Jesse Owens spectacular embarassment of the supposed Aryan dominance that Hitler was expecting to parade.

The second struck me simply because it is a play written by Laurence Fishburne. Yes, he of Morpheus, Matrix and other subsequently rubbish films since.

This is the UK premiere of Riff Raff and by all accounts is a coarse and blistering ride through the story of two Lower East Side gang members.

It might be rubbish but it might, equally, be brilliant which in itself intrigues me enough to want to go.

It's at least got to be an improvement on standing next to Keanu Reeves telling him he's The One...

Punch Upside The Head

The last few years has seen the inexorable rise of the immersive, interactive theatre experience. Audiences wanting to be transported to other worlds, to feel a part of their encountered surroundings and to really get their noses and hands in the dirt.

Leading the way has been the Punchdrunk Company who from their earliest shows in 2000 have steadily ramped up the vision, scope and imagination of their productions.

Personally, my first experience of the Punchdrunk world was The Firebird Ball that really saw Punchdrunk make a name of itself and since that point the magnitude of each subsequent show has unequivocally expanded to the point where they are now one of the most well known and oft spoken of theatrical collectives, with every new show being discussed in hushed and hallowed terms.

Now despite my tendancy to dismiss anything that suddenly comes to the verge of being popular culture, I am GENUINELY FUCKING EXCITED to hear about the next Punchdrunk project.

Aligning themselves with the English National Opera (ENO), they are currently hard at work squirreling words down, badgering routines and foxing plotlines for a collaboration that will give birth to a captivating, consuming and undoubtedly conspicuous production of The Duchess of Malfi.

Here's where I shoot you all a creepy wink, a sly nod and an unnecessary nudge by directing you to where you can be among the haughty few to find out when tickets for this will go on sale as soon as they do.

Now don't say I don't spoil you...

Have a Butchers...

                                          Photo by George Best

Ah, London's East End. Culturally and historically one of the most interesting, vibrant and diverse bits of Europe and many of us are fortunate enough to call this our home.

I am constantly reminded of this fact by the sheer amount of opportunities and new avenues to explore that pop all around us. Just when I thought I had my finger on the pulse, another previously unknown and untapped vein ruptures in my face.

Just such a spurt, is the East End Film Festival which has previously avoided my gaze and looks to be a veritable treasure trove of cinematic delights. A showcase for new stars pushing through and homegrown, independent releases, films will be shown, events will happen and music will be played all round some of East London's institutions including The Genesis in Mile End, The Rio in Dalston, Spitalfields Market and The Whitechapel Gallery.

Also taking in some of the shinier venues including Rich Mix and Vibe Gallery, this aims to be a forum and exposure for those who have created and an inspiration to those who aspire to and all within walking distance of many of our doorsteps.

How could one resist?

22nd - 30th April
EAST END INNIT

Music For Your Faces!

 

 I've been lagging a little with my sporadic digests of lyrical, rhythmical and, indeed, musical delectations but with the new season upon us and after a weekend of opening all the windows and blaring out the years first King Tubby, it seemed appropriate to pick up the aural baton once more and cover it in advisory post-it notes of what I have been feeding my ears recently.

The Books - The Lemon of Pink.
The Books have been around for a little while now yet their experimentations always manage to sound fresh and innovative. This is a beautiful song, from the album of the same name, that incorporates some old-style country vibes into a wonky, beguiling and heady mix. A perfect accompaniment for any sunny day.

The Hot 8 Brass Band - Sexual Healing.
Now this is by no means a new tune, having been hardily blasted out and celebrated at the Hot 8 Brass Band's much talked about Cargo gig. Hailing from that boiling hotpot of jazz, New Orleans, this band were propelled into consciousness after Hurricane Katrina and Spike Lee's subsequent documentary When the Levees Broke, featuring them. This is a cover of the Marvin Gaye classic that, in my humble opinion, puts the original in the shade. All blaring horns and soulful, hiphop basslines.

Little Dragon - Twice
Hailing from Sweden and fronted by a Swedish-Japanese singer. Sounds like my kind of band already. This is the first track from their recent eponymous album and although the album has it's peaks and troughs, this is one of the most beautifully elegant songs I have heard in a good long while. The music video ain't bad either...

Susanna and The Magical Orchestra - Enjoy The Silence.
Unwittingly, I seem to be following a thread here. Another band of Scandinavian origins and another interpreted cover song. Susanna and The Magical Orchestra seem to make songs that run for no-one. Time seems to slow and grow and every note played or sung is deliberated over and perfected. This very personal cover will bring you a whole new dimension to the Depeche Mode classic...

Lambchop - Up With People
This will, undoubtedly, be extremely familiar to some of you already. In fact, I know it is. However, this is one of THE summer soundtracks and if I can turn just a couple of those unaware of it's presence, over to the genius of Kurt Wagner, then it'll surely put an extra half inch spring into my step today. Oh, yes...

Piece of Cake

So, it turns out sunshine makes everything better and, being in an unfeasibly good mood for a Monday, the week brings yet more excitement which I am, in turn, excited to write about.

This very Wednesday evening sees the return of The Cakewalk Cafe, featuring everyone's favourite pub-based musical genius, Ewan Bleach and his incredible Smokey Taps band.

The evening will further unfold with the genial and horrendously talented Jim Ydstie on double bass or perhaps accordian, accompanied by a hullaballoo of jazzmen and surely many troupes of you willing dancers.

Where else will you find all this for the small charge of £5 or the even smaller charge of £3.50 if appropriately dressed? Nowhere, that's where...

Wed 14th April
7:30pm
Passing Clouds, Richmond Road, Dalston