July 2011
8 posts
Latitude Festival, Sunday
The weather’s perked up and Scrabble Sunday’s on. Until the rain starts and it’s off. But then it stops and we’re on. But then it starts again and we’re off for good!
All packed up, we take in Os Mutantes who are at times extremely annoying prog, but occasionally really impressively psychedelic with hints of soft pop in there too. At the Sunrise, Oh Land does a short...
Latitude Festival, Friday
It’s hard not to obsess over the weather with British festivals. And, despite the forecasts, we arrived in Suffolk full of hope that the sun that graced us for the whole of Friday would stay with us throughout the weekend. We pitched our tent in an earwig-infested, woody part of the Performer’s campsite and made our way onto the site, excited.
The first band of the weekend is Braids,...
Latitude Festival, Saturday
And then…the rain. Which means we head for cover straight away. Which turns out to be Adam Ant, whose performance seems plucked straight from his 80s heyday and is as fun as you’d imagine (lots, actually). Over in the Sunrise we’re bought slightly more up to date; this time to 1992 as Tripwires do their very best Ride impression in sound, and in look. They’re good though,...
4 tags
Colin Hoult's Inferno
Leicester Square Theatre, 13/07/11
This Edinburgh warm-up continues where Hoult’s last show left off, straddling the line between character comedy and absurd, dark theatre. Loosely set in an asylum, Hoult plays the part of Thwor, the God of Thwunder (trapped in the body of a man from Garforth), an acid-jazz lover, an old, dotty lady and a dancing dog among others. There are plenty of...
3 tags
Silent Running
10/07/11
I think I set my expectations too high for this one. An influential cult sci-fi classic it may be, but I have to say I found it laughable. From the jocks vs nerds in space opening to the ridiculous hippy-dippy flowery sequences with Joan Baez foghorning away in the background, this is a serious period-piece. At times it threatens to be better than it is and its impact on sci-fi,...
5 tags
Talking Songs
I like songs. I like talking. I like songs with talking on them. So, I thought I’d make a playlist of songs that have talking on them. My only rule was ‘no singing’. Of course, the definition of ‘singing’ can be a little tricky. And maybe Jonathan Richman does sing-speak occasionally on I’m Straight, Jarvis, admittedly, does put a bit of melody into the odd...
5 tags
The Lost Treasures of the Black Heart
The Black Heart, London, 05/07/11
Tonight, Josie Long’s comedy club should probably be renamed a variety club. Most of the acts aren’t funny in the traditional sense. We get a eulogy to a forgotten pop star, a story, a couple of songs and a re-enactment of the characters from the Sweet Valley High novels. It’s always entertaining but doesn’t reach the highs of previous...
6 tags
Still Corners
The Drop, Stoke Newington, 30/06/11
Still Corners can be found at the point at which Beach House, Slowdive and, increasingly, Broadcast meet. The band breeze through dreamy pop numbers, noise pieces (one sadly curtailed as it was just the band mucking about while they changed a mic), occasional deviations into Kraut and apart from bad lighting (possibly intentional) and the irritating fan boys...
