Each and every year I look through the Mercury Prize list and tally it up with the list I have in my head. Sometimes the list is good and includes virtually everything that I too considered to be the best of that period. Other times, and particularly in recent years, the list seems to consist of two groups: the year’s big financial hitters and some seemingly willful curve balls. Continue reading »
The Wireless event (still loathe to call it a festival…!) has attracted some big names over the past few years, even coaxing some back together and out of hiding. Two of their biggest draws have been the reformed Britpop behemoths Blur in 2009 and just this last weekend, Pulp continued their comeback with a blistering show.
Can they continue to pull in these big comebacks every few years? Will the nostalgia for the era of Britpop and beyond continue for much longer? Certainly Wireless has consistently succeeded in pulling the most varied line-up together this side of Glastonbury, stranding their days into broadly pop, dance and rock groupings. The mix of acts and the superb location make the event an attractive proposition to the more casual gig-goer, and the undercard often plays host to acts that’ll entice the more picky. It is the event’s penchant for huge comebacks or exclusives that keeps pulling me back though.
So who is still out there, spitting venomous snippets at each other via the media? What are the chances that money (and of course, the joy of performing together again…) can heal the wounds – and would they be able to draw the kind of crowds that Blur and Pulp have enjoyed?
London has been my home now for nearly ten years. Roughly about the same length of time that British Sea Power have been signed to Rough Trade. It startles me a bit to think that I’ve been going to gigs in this part of the world now for so long that entire band’s careers are encapsulated in that span. British Sea Power have always been a band unafraid to be different, confident in themselves and their craft. Now as they approach their second ten years as a band, they seem more comfortable than ever in what they’re doing.
I’ve been away for a while. Now I’m back to bring the blogging back to this here blog. I’m going to try and take a different approach to this in 2011, make it a bit more flexible, give it some variation beyond reviews of gigs and albums. Have some fun. Sure, there’ll be shows and records. I’m not buying a t-shirt though, I’m a bit past music t-shirts. We’ll see how it goes. One things for sure, I’m excited about what the year has to bring to my ears, and here’s my Top 5 things that are tickling my fancy.
Gig Of The Week – Parallel Voices 2010 @ Siobahn Davies Studios
Pulling together an incredible cast of cross-media artists, Parallel Voices 2010 is the third event of it’s kind at the Siobahn Davies Studios in Elephant & Castle. Curated this year by Carsten Nicolai the event aims to bring together performers that bridge the gap between the audio and visual mediums and the two headline figures for me are Blixa Bargeld (Einstürzende Neubauten, The Bad Seeds) and electronic maestro Christian Fennesz. Given the supreme quality of their musical work, you’d expect their discussions to be equally vital. Both discuss the fertile land where art forms meet – music and poetry, dance, video. Each talk is accompanied by a short performance piece featuring some of the panel – an intriguing event.
If you hanker after something a little more traditional then there are gigs aplenty throughout town this week. On Monday try Mono at Scala, or the latest ATP event – The Retribution Gospel Choir at Cargo. Tom McRae is back, still searching for the awesome form of his first two records, and plays Scala on Wednesday. The influential Chapterhouse, along with Engineers, also play Scala on Thursday. MGMT hit the promo trail at Heaven, part of an ever-expanding live music line-up at the club. Fabric on Friday sees an incredible lineup, highlights of which are Skream, Benga and Caspa. As a final recommendation why not try and catch the inimitable Patti Smith, who performs at the branch of Foyles in the RFH, and then a fully fledged gig at the Union Chapel on Sunday – still, I imagine, something worth seeing.
Einstürzende Neubauten – Die Wellen
Photo: Kentaro_m_photography @ The Triple Door, Seattle WA, 02/06.
Read on for all this week’s recommendations.
