The Beatles – and so she thinks

Pop up painting with The Beatles

admin — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 19:40:36 +0000

I’m painting my room in the colourful way
And when my mind is wandering
There I will go
Ooh ooh ooh ah ah
Hey, hey, hey, hey

Yellow submarines splashing onto the page. Skies of canvas filled with painted diamonds. Strawberry fields scribbled down. One of London’s favourite gastro-bars, The Jam Tree Clapham, has been offering Londoners the chance to express their creative sides in a social environment with a glass of wine during immersive painting pop-ups. Previous events have been a great success, with guests imitating famous paintings from artists such as Salvador Dali and Van Gogh, and this final event on Tuesday 14th April will give guests a chance to paint one of their favourite and iconic Beatles album covers. All materials are provided, and attendees will get to take their canvas home to take pride of place in the lounge, show off to friends, or be left behind the wardobe. No previous painting experience is needed, as there will be experts guiding you through the process in this buzzing and quirky environment. Of course it does not matter on the final piece, as it’s all about the process, making friends and unleashing your creativity. And what better way than with the Fab Four.

Beatles Paint Night!
The Jam Tree, Clapham,
Tues 14 April
8:00 pm – 10:30 pm
£25

The Beatles visit Australia

admin — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 07:30:47 +0000

Travelling and writing about local arts and culture, I didn’t expect to be writing about The Beatles. Liverpool lads. Bit of course, The Beatles are everyone’s culture. They swept the globe, made the world twist and shout, won the love of millions of girls and the longing of millions of boys, as the Beatles in Australia exhibition at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum, heading soon to Melbourne’s Art Centre, pays testament to.
Frenzied youth, chart domination – She Loves You was in the Australian Top 40 for 42 weeks – media madness, branding paraphernalia and endless promotion from anyone who could associate themselves: this was confirmation of the musical revolution in Australia. And the effect was not solely musical.
‘It was liberating,’ Glenn Barker, writer and commentator recalls on one of the many interviews, ‘we were isolated, and lived out of the mainstream of the world, we sensed there was something incredibly exciting happening in the top half of the world, the youth had taken over. Until the Beatles arrived…like a skewer to lance the the boil of stifling conservatism. They changed us completely.’
This is the main focus of the exhibition: not just their incredible music, electric presence and phenomenal feel that surrounded them, but their impact upon a generation. Survival suddenly looked so dull. Suburbia wasn’t interesting. There was a world out there and The Beatles revealed it. Their charm and talent was often deemed responsible for fuelling teenage rebellion toppling some of the conservatism that existed. For some this responsibility was a credit, for others a blame.
The Beatles only played one Australian tour, of twenty concerts, the Adelaide date only added later after an 80,000 strong petition by local residents
. Upon arrival the largest crowds ever seen in the city gathered to welcome their idols, an event which has become part of the musical history of Australia. It wasn’t only Adelaide. Throughout 1963 Australia was in the midst of an even more heightened sense of Beatlemania. Everywhere saw celebrations for Beatle Week, or B-Day. The Sunday mirror changed its name to The Sunday Beatle and offered a competition to win an invitation to Paul’s 22nd party.
The exhibition is full of memorabilia of all kinds. (One wonders what museums will do in the future when we don’t collect the physical or make scrapbooks or join fan clubs but show ‘adoration’ via a like or a click. How do we document our enthusiasm and record our lives in a lasting way that can be experienced by others?) Records and posters adorn the walls, and as well as the usual requests for signed records, kissed photos and thrown panties, one girl mailed George a piece of chewing gum with the instructions ‘chew this darling, and send it back to me.’ Women’s magazines featured cakes and goodies for Beatles parties, Paul cupcakes a highlight.
Whilst the music is rightly and loudly lauded, the focus is more about the experience of Australians. How the band and their songs threw so many segments of society into a delightful disarray of emotion and hedonism, joy, passion and mayhem. How they changed Australia, and the world in a way that many other artists, institutions and politicians envy.
As George said ‘Everyone was saying ‘There are more people here than came to see the Queen.’ Well she didn’t have any hit records.’

Peter Darling – Limehouse

admin — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:44:38 +0000

Peter Darling is a singer songwriter from Kent. So Peter Darling is some bloke strumming his acoustic guitar and singing yearning odes to countryside times gone by, probably with too much facial hair like the rest of them? Ha.

They say that every song has already been written, but that doesn’t stop so many artists just replaying them. On Limehouse the musical canon has been well and truly absorbed, the best of it all being seemingly seamlessly merged into striking song writing, to plug back in again to the ever evolving musical cloud.
Having a seemingly symbiotic relationship with his craft, from the opener Sunland (Intro) that quivers and quakes its way across the strings to final song Never Outstay Your Welcome, a fun and frantic acceptance of the frustrations of teenage life, this is the sound of someone coming of age, and realising that amongst the dichotomies of black and white exist shades of grey and that can be damn good fun. Honest Again is engrossing and energetic whilst Venus sounds like George Michael’s best ballad – in a wonderful way. Changer chugs along with real grit, the strong vocals adding a layer of almost menace to the melody. A rampant and random amalgamation of hooks, fuzzy electronics and striking styles abound, and startle with the conviction and ability with which each is grabbed.
The entire EP (bar a cover of Air’s Venus) was written and produced by Peter himself, and is available to download for free from his bandcamp page. Talented and generous.

Olympic Tunes

admin — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 21:11:54 +0000

There’s a bandwagon in town and the record companies are jumping on board. Heartened by the upsurge in sales for bands featuring on the bill of the London 2012 Opening Ceremony, and keen to provide for anyone grinning from ear to ear during Danny Boyle’s epic opening ceremony extravaganza on Friday (i.e the whole of Britain, or at least all those with a sense of humour and warm fuzzy heart), Universal Music ’s Isles Of Wonder is the purchase for you. Not stuffy, just sublime, not ordered and boring, but open hearted and punk spirited, a dazzling and dizzying production celebrating the vibrant and alive popular culture of Britain, both the Olympic opening ceremony and its soundtrack are a grand vivid account of Britain, delivered with a huge dollop or humour and a host of self-deprecation. You could of course just listen to the Spotify playlist here.

Et Tu Bruce – Suburban Sunshine

admin — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 17:59:47 +0000

Released 16th July 2012 on Worldwide Records.

As soon as you read the words ‘from Hanwell’ you know that a band are never going to be the most radical, and certainly won’t be vying the best for rock’n’roll excess infamy.
Having lived there, I can confirm that life experiences in the West London suburb are somewhat staid. Rather than let this crush their inner musical yearnings, Et Tu Bruce have embraced sweet simplicity, releasing their new (slightly tongue in cheek titled?) album Suburban Sunshine.
These guys have been lapping up praise in the US, and on our side of the pond found fans in Amazing Radio, BBC 6 Music, Absolute and XFM, and it’s easy to see why. Radio friendly melodies looped together with hooks straight out of the ‘how to write a pop song’ manual make Et Tu Bruce a pleasant listen. And I mean pleasant in its true definition, not the defamation it has come to insinuate by the cynics among us; i.e. good, not shit.
Lyrics such as ‘never say never again’ (Never Say Trevor Again) and ‘if I could I’d be your man’ (Never Seen You Cry) verge on the cliche, and the sunny chord sequences reveal the influence of a record collection consisting of The Beatles, The Kinks and The Byrds, they’re not the most original of bands, but we don’t always need that. Sometimes a good solid pop album is enough. And Suburban Sunshine is just that. You can buy it now from all the usual outlets.

Liverpool Sound City – first acts announced!

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:11:37 +0000

For one reason or another Liverpool has picked up a bit of a reputation for good music. Liverpool Sound City, the 3 day music, media and technology conference, and live arts and music festival Continues that tradition when it returns to the city in May with another thrillingly compelling line up. Forward thinking and future focused, the show aims to bring the best new music, film, art and more from all over the world to Liverpool, although wings are expanding with the inaugural New York Sound City show taking place in March and further international shows to be announced.
As well as a whole bunch of good music, Seund City will be hosting the UK Music Student Awards to be hosted by BBC Radio 1’s Edith Bowman and a running in live demos, master classes, discussions and more as part of the convention exploring the intersection between art, music, business and technology.
Band wise, Professor Green, White Denim, Death In Vegas, Cloud Nothings, Yukon Blonde, Charli XCX, and Fixers have all been announced, perfectly demonstrating the breadth of talent that Liverpool Sound City aims to showcase.
Early bird tickets are available here – but be quick as the recession busting price expires at midday on February 6th. Although it’s well worth it whatever price you pay.