I’m going back to London tomorrow, for a holiday (that’s Eltham Lido in the picture, big up the SE9 crew) for a week.
So, any tips for gigs or cultural activity are much appreciated!
Also, if anyone needs the keys to ‘Spill Towers whilst I’m away, just holler and they shall be yours!
**edit** Also, also, also; this song has just blasted into my psyche-
Xiu Xiu: This Too Shall Pass Away (For Freddy)
It’s more of the Xiu Xiu madness (a continuation of the 16bit Boy Soprano video I posted a while back, I tried to embed the video, couldn’t but it’s worth watching here) but now with joy division synths and a chorus Interpol would kill for, not to mention the blink and you’ll miss it Morrissey reference at 1.40. (or is the whole song directed at Steven Patrick?)
Xiu Xiu have never written tunes this big, and I’m loving it quite frankly – it’s still the same messed up craziness but a bit more focussed than before, a bit more depth and a bit more romance. Heck yes!
More London stuff after the jump:
Two songs, both called “London Town” – you can have brutal grime from the streets of East London with Kano – or you can have the very early londoncentric single from Laura Marling that she soon ditched in order to differntiate herself from the Lily Allens and Kate Nashes of this world. Which one do you prefer?
Well, I’m going to this gig on Friday, which I’m rather excited about:
Triffids at the Barbican
Might well be sold out by now, but if not (and if you like(d) The Triffids), it might be worth checking out.
Hey Blimpy, there’s also this fine song called London Town:
Mnemonic’s the one to ask about gigs.
@ejaydee – Bit of a banger, yeah?
@BB – not quite me bag, but thanks for the tip.
@mnemonic – wherefore art thou?
Meth’s playing tomorrow. Obviously that has the potential to go horribly wrong but there’s a chance it’ll be old-school Wu goodness. Four Tet might be worth a look too.
I’d be half-tempted to see Gary Numan if i could wangle a free ticket and wasn’t going to Rufus Wainright’s opera on the same day.
John Renbourn’s playing in Putney on Sunday too. That should be good.
@SV80 – gosh, you’re a busy bee, love it!
I used to work in Eltham, at Eltham College in about 1952.
@GF – bloomin flip, is there anywhere in the world you haven’t been? I moved to Eltham in about 1990, and stayed for 5/6 years before moving away to Art School.
I have a surprisingly quiet week on the gig front but have 3 birthday parties and a wedding to make up for it.
Have a look at the Cafe Oto website. They are in Dalston just off the Kingsland Road and it’s the best small venue in London.
http://www.cafeoto.co.uk/programme.shtm
Do you want to fit in a mini-social or are you maintaining your air of mystery?
P.S. Given your taste, the one I’d recommend is Serafina Steer.
Another one worth going to for the venue alone is Shunt.
http://www.shunt.co.uk/shuntvaults.htm
The entrance is through a very small door underneath London Bridge station (almost opposite you as you come out of the tube station and leads into caverns and catacombs underneath the station. It’s absolutely vast (take a torch!). They seem to be mostly installations and films this week but I’ve seen some very strange performances there including one play where, if you went with someone, you were split up as soon as you went in and then given a role to play. I was typecast as a fading porn star called Tiffany Royle and the performance took place in constantly shifting spaces throughout the venue.
Blimp: I worked at Eltham College, a private school, I recently googled ‘em and my word, haven’t they gone up in the world, very la-di-da now. I left there right after I blew up their chemistry lab, literally.
Nice tunes Blimpy…interesting to see Xiu Xiu developing too. Not completely sold on Ms Marling yet, think I need to hear more, but this is nice.
Enjoy Londinium!
Umpteen apologies for hijacking the thread – hope you have a fantastic time in the Old Wen, Blimpy – but I have to share this with someone, and you guys are by miles the obvious people – and not only because it’s unlikely to get back to the other half. Just got back from a two-day cycle ride, helping Mrs Abahachi train for her London-Paris trip next month: 65 miles down to Swanage via various appalling hills yesterday, and thirty miles over to Dorchester to get the train today, and it was great, above all – and this is the bit I have to confess – because it was her decision to travel as far as Swanage, and to take that route, and to skip lunch because she didn’t like the look of the pub. It’s not that I want to say anything to her – I would probably have made similar decisions – but because it was her choice, she just knuckled down and cycled the distance, rather than making me feel guilty for forcing her to do it. Same result, but I think both of us were actually happier as a result. Yes, my legs still hurt.
I may be out on a limb here, but I think one or two of the other marrieds may vaguely sympathise…
Cafe Oto … returns on the door for Sun Ra Arkestra, 3 nights from next Monday. I’m there for Chris Cutler tomorrow
… and would happily return for Mats Gustafsson, John Russell and Phil Minton on Saturday.
Art – drop down from Eltham to see Paul Nash at Dulwich. Or, in town, Arshile Gorky at Tate Modern.
3 birthday parties and a wedding
Anything Hugh Candoo
Why not hang out at the Eltham Lido? Have heard good things.
Thanks for the tips guys! I’m going to visit Darwin’s house today (it’s just down the road) – keep em coming!
I like trips like that, where you have a destination in mind and then wait and see what, ahem, evolves
@bishbosh – I’m going to the Triffids gig too. Do you look anything like your avatar? If so I’ll say hello.
@Mark68: I look exactly like the picture of me in the blog post from 1 April entitled “Whoooo?” (or thereabouts) – do say hello if you spot me. Though there may be a fair few balding speccy blokes in their late 30s/early 40s wandering around…
PS My name’s Chris – so you don’t spend the evening nervously approaching random men saying “bishbosh?”!
Why don’t you have a secret code. If you don’t hear the proper response, you know you are talking to the wrong person.
MAN 1: ”The last time I saw a band this hot was in Bora Bora.”
MAN 2: ”I don’t believe the coffee ripens until summer.”
Arf! Good plan, tinny. Go on, Mark – dare ya…
Ah, yes – I’ve clocked the photo. I’ll give it a go, but I’ll probably forget the line. Look out for someone mumbling something about hot coffee…
I don’t think Darwin was particularly evolved; no sign of an Xbox anywhere in his house…
hey Blimpy – I’ve been mucking about on my site today and was trying to see if I could get the player on another site, so I popped it on spillharmonic site (thanks for comments mn and tfd)….
and now wordpress thinks I’m you – blimpy! never have I felt so enigmatic… but I like being completely open, so I’d better leave you to your London trip…
saneshane
Ah you’ve brought me right back now with all the synth and the blocky graphics. Sorry nothing to do with London, but Xiu Xiu and the video made me all sentimental for simpler times when computers were something physical that sat on your desk and not in a cloud somewhere.
For future reference when in London looking for something slightly different to do, try these guys – http://www.gorillacircus.com – myself and #2 son went on a bit of a roadtrip (well, a railtrip really involving the sleeper from Aberdeen) to London last Summer and while looking for things to do came across these guys and their valiant attempts to turn everyone into acrobats. #2 son managed to do the the whole thing and complete the transfer to the person on the other trapeze. I fell off and scratched my face. The whole thing was great fun and definitely something I wouldn’t normally do but I felt like pushing the envelope a little.
z