bbc – and so she thinks

Debbie Rix – The Silk Weaver’s Wife

admin — Wed, 13 Sep 2017 05:18:24 +0000

Debbie Rix likes to write about unforgotten women in history. She’s a storyteller who uses her talent and craft to tell the stories of those that other people have glossed over or missed out. In her latest novel The Silk Weaver’s Wife she links the modern rebirth of the Italian silk industry to its 18th-century glories, via the lives and loves of two women, Anastasia and Millie. Two women who live three hundred years apart.

In eighteenth century Venice we meet Anastasia, desperate to escape her controlling father and utterly enraptured with her childhood sweetheart. An elopement doesn’t go to plan, and she finds herself trapped as the wife of a silk weaver to whom her father betrothed her at an early age. Female friendships are her savior, as well as the painting she finds on the wall. It’s this same painting that Millie discovers in 2017. Seeking solace after the end of an affair, she embarks on a feature writing trip to Italy. Here she falls in love with villa owner Lorenzo, and discovers the story of the silk weavers. That story, and the one of a woman in a portrait.

The two stories are interspersed throughout, each enhancing the other, subtly. At times we’re introduced to a third strand, following the fate of Anastasia’s mother and her younger sister Marietta, left behind and trying to find a way to rescue their loved one. Easy to read, the two stories weave together beautifully, becoming more immersed in one another as the novel progresses.

Like her previous books, The Girl with Emerald Eyes (2015) and Daughters of the Silk Road (2016) it mixes fiction with fact, introducing the reader to the silk industry and its history. It’s clear that Debbie is not only passionate about your subject, but a newsgatherer and journalist at heart. The novel is densely packed with historic detail that reveals the social and political character of the time, but Rix ensures that it is her characters who drive the plot. As a journalist inquisitive about the house she is staying in Millie acts as an excellent device for this, but the love story that unfolds ensures that she is far more than just a plot aid. Rix captures the essence of both periods through her rich images and descriptions of both the landscapes and places and the customs and personal lives of her characters.

You can hear more about Debbie’s process here, in this interview at Margate Bookie.

Years & Years – King

admin — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 16:54:51 +0000

Apparently they are the ones to watch in 2015. So here you can watch King, the new single from Years & Years. You may dance. Even though it’s only Monday.
Out on March 1st.

The Standards – A Slight Distraction

admin — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 14:29:01 +0000

Released September 4th on Schnapps House Records

Pop needs more bands like this. Not skinny jeaned clad hipsters. Not young upstarts suddenly starry eyed. Not meaningful and morbid ‘thinking’ bands. Straight up exciting songs from a bunch of mates who know how to use their instruments to great effect and for great sounds.
Debut album A Slight Distraction has been bubbling up inside The Standards for a while now. The sharp observations and soothing contemplations that strike through these ten songs have evolved over countless gigs and years. This means that copious influences, from life and music, abound and make the pervading genre other that of a mature and pithy gaze at life.
There’s the summer fair sound of Resignation Waltz, the wind in the hair chorus of Speed Up, the Jarvis lilt to the vocals on Mice, the Franz Ferdinand beat opening Slow Down (which you can get for free here) and the lamenting yearning of Drowning, When You Found Me which breaks into a very noughties dance beat complete with oohs, and the almost 80s Romantics chord finishing off She Came To The City.
Neil Winspear‘s voice is that of an outsider brought to the party, and the whole album is wrapped in that delicious pop gloom, a slightly off kilter reality that makes the sound tangible. Everyone from The Independent to FHM, BBC 6 to Feeling Gloomy have lent their support to The Standards, and if you like what you hear, remember to come down to It’s All Happening Fridays on October 26th at The King’s Head, Acton.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHn1zSfNPDU]

A Sunday afternoon in Reading – Festival 2012!

admin — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 17:50:38 +0000

A little bit corporate, somewhat dirty, with its big wire fencing, dusty paths, and discarded chip trays, Reading Festival isn’t one I usually cite as one of my favourites, sometimes lacking the spirit and joie de vivre that percolates smaller festivals. However, with a big reputation, big bucks, and a big profile, it does attract some of the world’s biggest names and often has a line up glittering with long time stars and those rising up. This year was no exception, and with a Sunday day ticket and one heck of a hangover, we set out to Berkshire.

Django Django inspired some of the best dance moves of the day, with the jerking chicken dance coming out for Default, and some brilliantly synchronised Egyptian style moves for Cairo. At 2pm on a lazy Sunday afternoon, their slot probably wasn’t the best one for such infectious party music, but the NME tent still want off with a bang. In what can only be described as a Bolanesque sequined ensemble Johnny Lloyd, lead singer of Tribes, led the band in a vital and intense performance showcasing their new album Baby. Their rougueish spirit was evident, and Sappho and We Were Children in particular wrapped the crowd into their tearaway fold.
Next it was a dash to the BBC Introducing session, to watch the lovely Rachel Sermanni entrance the crowd. Rich and warm vocals, tantalising strumming, all enhanced by the ‘girls’ and their supporting strings, Miss Sermanni managed to captivate even the most unassuming members of the crowd just looking for a place to sleep off the night before, with one member of the audience articulating what everyone was thinking when he shouted out ‘I want to give you a cuddle!’ Selected by the BBC’s Ally McCrae, and about to embark on a European tour, Rachel’s debut album Under The Mountains is out on September 17th, and this performance will have driven a fair few new fans to purchase.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0AWv7ATa34]
Those familiar with It’s All Happening will know that wherever The Joy Formidable are, we’re not far behind, and today was no exception. The fandom of a certain Mr Grohl has certainly done them no harm, and it was great to see thousands of people singing out long time live favourites such as Austere and The Greatest Light… From the first quivering notes of Whirring, to the final elongated feedback drenched chords of the set, Ritzy, Matt and Rhydian did what they always did – made one heck of noise, but also experimented more with volumes and tempos than previously, soothing and softening before another fuck off massive crescendo, creating glacial soundscapes that explode on a moment, perhaps a sign of what is to come from the forthcoming second album.

2:54 are dark, brooding and visceral to listen to and to see live, and Collette Thurlow’s warm and charming pleasure at seeing the crowd moved by her music made the Thurlow sisters performance all the more disarming. Kicking off with new single Sugar, they slinked and stomped through the set, all thundery skies and gritty basslines, their sweet and sinister songs proving a highlight of the afternoon.
‘Guess who’s next’ Dan asked, ‘I’ll give you a clue. It’s coming up in several months. ‘
Christmas?
My birthday?
Er, a holiday?
It was ‘winter’ and the band Zulu Winter. Dreadful game to play, brilliant band to watch. Swimming has been one of It’s All Happening’s tracks of the summer, introduced to us by the lovely Amazing radio, and its hypnotic halcyonic vibe is not alone in Zulu Winter’s live set. Bolshy and defiant drums underpinned smooth electronic feeling melodies, in what was something of a surprise stand out, full of refulgent splendour.
The respective members of Deaf Club don’t look like they should be a band, nor capable of emitting such menacing and mesmerising indie noir, but their lack of contrived image only serves to highlight the truth – that Jen Long has definitely picked up on of the UKs most talented new bands. Also on the BBC Introducing stage we caught the end of Dinghus Khan, an 8 piece band whose stage set up is almost confrontational, lining up in a row to face the crowd and deliver their raucous and rambunctious pop.
Ricky Wilson is always an entertainer, and The Kaiser Chiefs performance got any of the festival site who weren’t yet in the party spirit ready for a riot. A scratchy throat meant that some of the vocal delivery wasn’t as strong as it could be, but since the slight musical decline post their debut album, The Kaiser Chiefs are all about having fun and putting on a performance, and thus didn’t disappoint. Another band who whack up the fun factor are King Charles (and not just due to the questionable hair styles inspired by the band’s namesake) but a result of their shambolic sea shanty style tunes that had the whole of the Festival Republic stage tent bouncing and bounding.

Having gone through an image change with the release of last year’s album Skying, The Horrors played an epic charge of songs that brutally assaulted the senses whilst fully immersing and swooping you up within them. Somewhat alone in the current climate, they make intelligent and intense rock that absorbs layers from the musical canon, fused together to make their own original output. Watching The Horrors live feels like a natural negotiation, tugging and pulling at the gut and the heart, a tangle of bittersweet vocals, driving bass lines and bristling energy.

The Great Escape 2012 – Festival Special!

admin — Mon, 07 May 2012 19:40:40 +0000

It’s that time of year again, when It’s All Happening, along with thousands of music fans, hundreds of bands and a good percentage of the music industry head down to sunny Brighton, for The Great Escape. I could wax lyrical about it, but I will just let our special edition zine do the talking…
In it you’ll find our opinion on the following 57 bands, as well as where and when they are playing, to help you plan your weekend around maximum musical pleasure …Cut Ribbons, Deaf Club, Among Brothers, Alabama Shakes, Dry The River, Common Tongues, Mujeres, Me And The Bees, Ninette & The Goldfish, Seward, Amics del Bos, Oso Leone, The Suicide of Western C ulture, Furguson, The Robbie Boyd Band, Wet Nuns, Sonic Boom Six, Swim Deep, Yukon Blonde, Bos Angeles, Toy, Alt J, Maximo Park, Mystery Jets, Chew Lips, Dakota Beats, The Front Bottoms, Shabazz Palaces, Pikachunes, Tripple Nipples, BOY, Emily & The Woods, Rae Morris, Slow Down Molasses, Tall Ships, Fanzine, The Switch, Worship, Concrete Knives, Mammal Club, Saint Saviour, Spring Offensive, Gunning For Tamar, Clock Opera, Hymns, Dems, Munich, Escaoists, Team Me, The Joy Formidable, Warpaint, Katzenjammer, Rachel Sermanni, The Manic Shine, Hatcham Social, The Temper Trap & Jack Savoretti.
As well as the IAH team (Dan, John, Greta, Caroline, Michael, Katie and Francesca) the lovely Jen Long (BBC Radio 1), Chris Foster (Pop Noodle), Jordan Thomas (Recharged Radio), Ellie Coden – (Fierce Panda), and Steven Boniface (Labelled Independent) have all written guest articles – thanks guys!

Open publication – Free publishing – More bands

Help Save The Children at a pub in Camden Jan 5th

admin — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 13:35:39 +0000

Goodwill to all men isn’t just for the Christmas season you know – care and concern should extend well into the New Year. Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate, the classic and acoustic rock covers band from Camden, have invited an eclectic mix of friends, all with only two things in common – the desire to play good music and raise money for the more than deserving Save The Children. As well as some classic rock covers from Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate the crowd will be trated to the loud and chaotic Donkeybox, Jay Stapley, guitarist and deserving owner of seven platinum awards, one of the BBC’s New Generation artists Kathryn Thomas, harmonious on the flute, and singer songwriter David Lunas.
All funds raised by will go towards Save the Children’s new campaign No Child Born to Die, which aims to dramatically cut the number of children under the age of five dying from simple complications such as pneumonia and diarrhoea. The children’s charity says if children were routinely vaccinated, the death toll, which currently sits at 8 million children a year, could be cut by up to a quarter.
Malcolm, guitarist and singer of Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate says ‘simple and inexpensive treatments can save children from dying. Even a small amount of money can make a huge difference. I’ve been delighted by the enthusiasm of so many great musicians to support this fundraising event.’
So head on down and lend your support.
http://www.facebook.com/events/294090683951230/
The Fiddler’s Elbow
Camden
1 Malden Road
NW5 3HS
Thursday 5th January2012
7.30pm

Spector fall off the back of a van

admin — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:31:17 +0000

Back in August It’s All Happening discovered Spector. In fact, they’re one of the few things John remembers from Field Day. The band have also just been mentioned in the BBC’s Sound of 2012 list – but don’t hold that against them. Joining some of our favourite bands, including Two Wounded Birds , Tribes, The Joy Formidable and Grouplove, Spector have hooked up with Bands In Transit to perform What You Wanted.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPTOy6F-DT4]