Mt. Wolf

I've been listening to this song basically all day, so had to add it. This is Mt. Wolf, who we saw at the Coveryard (see below). 

Beaut.

Brixpig x

The Coveryard

When: Saturday 21^st July 2012

Where: St Peter’s Church, Notting Hill

Why: My mate was singing and ukulele-ing – how could I refuse?

A gorgeous evening of music and new discoveries. St Peter’s in Notting Hill is a fabulously preserved church, brilliantly adapted inside for musical purposes, and a captivatingly orange hue on the outside. Bit Mediterranean. It also looked beautiful inside, lit by hundreds of tea lights – good work whoever lit all of those, and sorry for accidentally plunging my finger into one of them almost as soon as I entered.

We settled on comfy rugs and cushions in front of the altar, unscrewed our booze (BYO in a church, win win) and prepared our ears for an onslaught of beauteous tunes. The evening was collection of musicians brought together to showcase their own tunes and various innovative covers, accompanied by a talented orchestra and choir (+ ukes). All the performances were of such a high standard and the song choices were inspired – covers included a re-worked version of Greensleeves, Teardrop by Massive Attack, The Smiths’s There is a light that never goes out, and some Usher was chucked in there too. Eclectic is the word.

Obviously my friend Nikki was the true star of the show, but I also discovered some seriously great new musicians. Personal fave was the incredibly inventive Abi Wade, who takes multi-tasking to a whole new level – she plays the cello, sings, does percussion all at once, basically every limb and probably every particle of concentration is used up, and the result is lush. I also loved Mt. Wolf, who covered Teardrop which was my song of the evening, and their lead singer’s voice had a kind of Scandinavian sound to it (even though she’s English I think) – their music is divine and I seriously advise you to have a listen. We also heard from Faith Taylor who was more folky and sounded a bit like a grungy Kate Rusby – very talented and impressive.

This was the first Coveryard event, and hopefully the first of many, as it was so well received by the crowd and genuinely so enjoyable and chilled out. Massive congrats to all involved. Hooray.

See below for a cracking cover of Eleanor Rigby (sung by Georgina Hunt) which was demanded as the encore for the night. This is my video, so it's not great, but bear with.

Brixpig x

A Doll's House

When: Wednesday 18^th July 2012

Where: Young Vic

Why: Bargain £10 ticket procured by my pal @cakespeareuk

The Young Vic is so cool. It’s such a young person’s, vibrant, funky theatre. Love the balcony bar and the bench seats. Big fan. And the play wasn’t bad either. I’d seen A Doll’s House once at uni: a production starring my (petite, dainty) friend as the maid, where she had inexplicably been forced to wear a fat suit. I’m afraid the hilarity of this somewhat distracted from the content of the play, but I do remember finding the subject matter intriguing – wife plays up to the typical wifely, dependant, daffy creature for the sake of her husband, but eventually goes mental with the strain of it all and chucks him in. Very good story stuff.

I knew I knew Hattie Morahan’s face but didn’t try and find out where from until after the play – turns out it was from Outnumbered. She plays the main role of Nora and she is so charismatic and convincing in managing to be simultaneously emotionally repressed, manipulative and still kind of charming. She has a brilliantly expressive face and a great way of transferring the meaning of her words straight into the heads of the audience. She also completely led the show, and was only upstaged for a few minutes when the baby was brought onto the stage – cue loud and sustained coos from the audience as it gurgled and chuckled. Not sure how they managed to find such a well-trained child – our theory was that they had a row of babies backstage from which they selected the most cheerful when it was time to go on. That’s what I would do. The little boy actors were also pretty good, which was a blessing as kids on stage in supporting roles generally annoy me (see for evidence the blank-eyed boy in the Duchess of Malfi. Only exception obviously is Matilda, where all the kidlets are stupdendous.)

The other stars of the show, as pretty much every reviewer has pointed out, were the stage and the music. A genius revolving stage kept the production fluid and dynamic, and projected little scenes of family life giving a really effective domestic and homely impression. This was combined with rousing, emotional music which was just excellent. I’d also been reading the play before I went, and noticed that the version we were seeing was slightly different – a new translation by Simon Stephens which was more modern, colloquial and direct, and which was exactly right for the mood of this production.

The final scene where Nora breaks free from her husband and obligations, and denounces pretty much everything in her world, from morals to religion to duty, was incredibly powerful and not overworked as it might have been. I thought Morahan was as convincing as it’s possible to be with what is basically a really quick transformation of outlook on life – I overheard a few audience members arguing that it just isn’t realistic to change so completely so suddenly. But I think that sometimes things that have been building up in a head for years and years, even subconsciously, can suddenly snap – and when they do things can never be the same again. So in that sense Nora’s rebellion is supremely realistic. I also LOVE the lines which pretty much sum up the entire plot:

Helmer: I would gladly work night and day for you, Nora – bear sorrow and want for your sake. But no man would sacrifice his honour for the one he loves.

Nora: It is a thing hundreds of thousands of women have done.

Ibsen was so insightful and ahead of his time and just generally a total lad.

Brilliant brilliant play. Loved it. Even without a comedy fat suit.

Brixpig x

Let's catch up over a coffee, yeah?

OK I’ve got too much shit to catch you up on so I’m going to BULLET POINT the last few months.

-     Brixpig fitness challenge is CANCELLED because I’m a (financially unstable) shlad and got rid of my gym membership. Quite frankly, I’m not so good at humiliating myself in a sporting environment and it’s unclear to me why I ever thought any kind of challenge would be a good idea.

-    The Queen had a Jubilee. I loved it all and watched far too many documentaries about the royal family and their palaces and horses and family habits (rolling down hills apparently). The Florence in Herne Hill did a special ale (QE Brew, delicious); we went to see the boats and the parade and enjoyed some special crowd action, trying to peer through other people’s periscopes, that kind of thing; Joy in Brixton provided free food for those wise enough to follow them on Twitter, cue mum and I loading up on massive slices of cake and free sarnies; I got to wear my union flag headband that I got ages ago in Brighton Primark. Style. Congrats Queenie.

-     Eurovision occurred. This year, because there was no way we were travelling to Azerbaijan (I’m sure it’s lovely, but just no), we went all out in the mother land, supporting the wonder that is Engelbert Humperdinck. My mother met him once. She remembers him as being very tall and handsome, and, I quote, “he smelled incredible”. So there you go. Reason enough to represent a nation.

-     I saw Matilda again with my mum. BEST MUSICAL EVER.

-     I saw the Duchess of Malfi again. Eve Best is the BEST.

-     My darling schoolfriend got married in Beamish museum and was the most beautiful bride imaginable – she looked like she had been found under a rose bush (that’s a good thing). Her new husband brushed up rather well too, and a delicious day was had by all – literally delicious in many ways, as it was a partly Italian wedding which involved cheese and sausage, prosecco and fab red wine, and also a pie and pea supper provided by Beamish. WONDERS.

-     I went on holiday to Grand Brassac in the south of France with nine lovely friends, where we frolicked and bantered and splashed and sunned and giggled and canoed and cheesed and danced. And I broke my little toe in a canoe but because I was part of team Redgrave/Pincent, I soldiered on and had the best holiday ever.

-     I volunteered at the Olympic Torch Relay finale at Hyde Park, putting wristbands on guestlisters: I endured countless youths insisting that they were “on Dizzee’s list”, told Pixie Lott we had no VIP passes for her, bumped into Dizzee and Mark Ronson backstage, lost my favourite pink cardigan and after 10 hours of stooping in a box office downed two free beers and nearly wet myself on the tube home.

Upcoming:

Mack and Mabel at the Southwark Playhouse

Brixton Splash! (hopefully with a riot-free evening this year…)

Birthday at the Royal Court, starring Stephen Mangan

I’ve also recently booked some exciting stuff for later on this year:

September – Darren Hayes, Hedda Gabler at the Old Vic (starring Sheridan Smith!)

October – Marina and the Diamonds (again)

November – Gotye, Robyn

And what I WILL be booking asap – VIVA FOREVER! The Spice Girls musical. Opens in December. This is what my life has been leading up to, no joke.

I’ve also become slightly too into this Gary Barlow video. Gary BARlow.

Brixpig x

Beach House

I have discovered a new favourite band - Beach House. The song below, 'Take Care', was on at the end of an episode of New Girl and I eventually managed to find out what it was. Wikipedia describes Beach House as 'dream pop', and that's exactly how it sounds. Like it was recorded on a cloud. 

Plus this video is brilliant.

Brixpig x

Booze

SO. A lot has happened since we last spoke. Although some of it has been of national importance – e.g. Eurovision, Jubilee etc – the most exciting events for me have been both Brixton and booze related. Firstly, Seven (little bar in Brixton's Market Row) has brought out its summer cocktail menu and it is FINE. And secondly, I have FINALLY been to the Crown and Anchor, and its real ale selection is also FINE. And I use fine in the sense of fitness and wonder here, rather than adequateness. Much more than adequate.

Seven's pina coladaaaaah

Seven (@sevenatbrixton) had a brilliant evening of free samples from the new menu a few weeks ago, and a chum and I went along to take full appreciative advantage. We were given a Mimosa as we went in (mango-y, refreshing), and various foodstuffs involving manchego, chorizo, pepper, and bread – very tasty. Eventually we were also delivered of a sample of the Tabasco margarita, which I wish I could say I liked, but I can’t lie to you, savoury cocktails and I just don’t go together. We also bought a couple – the strawberry and balsamic daiquiri was sublime, and the Guns of Brixton was uber cool – served in a bottle full of orange flavoured smoke. I’ve been back since for a pina colada, and my flatmate tried the cucumber and elderflower martini, which I cannot recommend highly enough. Light and floaty and just beautiful. At £5 each, they are some of the best value and most lovingly produced cocktails in London, and it’s always a great atmosphere in there. Yum.

Praise be, I also got to the Crown and Anchor (@crownanchorsw9) a few weeks ago and got my ale on. I can’t even remember which was which as it was so long ago – I am a failure – but between my friend and I we tried a Revelation (Dark Star brewery), Kipling, an American pale ale, and a Hophead which was my personal fave – I like em light and hoppy. I also tried a Devon Red cider, as recommended by @liz_marvin who writes the v cool Brixtonia blog, and it was lush – thanks dude! I think the pub itself could have been a bit more atmospheric – the layout was a bit samey with loads of tables crammed in, and not a vast amount of interesting décor (you know me, I like a pub stuffed with covetable lamps and nice tables) – but the staff were very friendly, and the variety of the ale alone was enough to keep me coming back until I’ve worked my way through them all.

6.45pm. Superb.

I also got my cocktail on at Soho’s Floridita last week, at a cocktail making thing which my lovely friends Martin and boy Harry invited me to. Heading there straight after work and getting stuck straight into shaking up a daiquiri meant that by 6.30pm my evening was going VERY well. We also got marched through a torrent of cocktail-related history, including the fact that apparently Ernest Hemingway used to line up 26 of these bevs that were equivalent to 4 daiquiris each, and polish them off of an evening. Just a standard night down the pub for old Hemmers. We also messed about with a load of different rums (industrial rum bad, agricole rum good, apparently) – new favourite includes El Dorado, and new horrifying tipple, bad enough to rival grappa, is cachaca – basically produced-in-the-spare-room-in-two-weeks poor people rum. All this was followed by caipirinhas, dark and stormys (invented by a sad sailor), mojitos, mai tais, a convo about why they can’t use raw eggs in cocktails in Italy, then a cocktail that had a raw egg in it (can’t remember the name, this was towards the end of the session…), and a Mary Pickford. Productive. I was also told that I poured spirits like a man (a good thing apparently) and learned that you should get a cocktail within 8 minutes of ordering it (something to do with stirring or separating… I don’t know. Just keep an eye on the clock yeah).

And the jewel in the booze crown is the tiny leftovers cocktails my flatmate and I ‘created’ last week. Pimm’s dregs, flat soda water and gin – surprisingly delicious. We also saw the birth of the Gin and Sonic – a thrifty combo of tonic and soda water, ideal for using up those party remnants. All served up in some bargainous little punch glasses I scored at the Brixton flea market last Saturday. 

I think I need a coffee.

Brixpig x     

Keane

When: Friday 8^th June

Where: Brixton Academy

Why: I never got to see them when I was younger and actually listened to them on a regular basis

I got into Keane when I was about 16, and I remember listening to them on repeat on my Discman (YESSS) at a summer school, lying upside down on a bed with my pal. Since their first album I haven’t listened to them much but have kept a friendly ear out, and I’ve always liked the rousing spirit of some of their stuff. I also have a fascination with the lead singer (little Tom) because in one of their videos he sits on a stool in a river and for some reason this reminded me of Kermit the Frog.

Anyway, the crowd were so fantastic and it was such a friendly gig. There was a really positive feeling and everyone seemed to be very, very excited – if I’m entirely honest, much more excited than I had expected... They clearly have a massive and enthusiastic fan base – either that, or they’re actually much bigger than I realised. Which is entirely possible. There were the anticipated middle-aged couples filling up the crowd, who provided some seriously excellent dance moves – not much pleases me more than full-on wedding-disco dancing from the older generation. Respec. The band were enthusiastic, really slick and just friendly – actually talking to the crowd and telling stories, which I always like. Little Tom’s voice is incredible, and very powerful live. He was also wearing a pair of worryingly tight trousers, which were a genuine cause for concern throughout the evening. Maybe he just doesn’t want to have children? Who can say.

Despite their slightly cheesy reputation (not something that ever puts me off, have to say), they just are consummate music makers and very polished and engaging performers – defs worth seeing live. They clearly massively enjoyed themselves and so their audience did too. Yay Keane.

Brixpig x

Miike Snow

When: Thursday 31^st May

Where: Brixton Academy

Why: I’ll go to anything, me

I don’t even know how I got into Miike Snow. I listened to (parts of) their first album a lot, and love Animal and Silvia. I persuaded my flatmate to come see them live with me, and she added their latest single Paddling Out to our Spotify party playlist, so I knew she was cool with it. I’ve seen their name associated with lots of other musicians I like, as they do a good remix do Miike Snow – such as Depeche Mode, Passion Pit, I Blame Coco, Vampire Weekend… So they obviously have good taste, which makes me feel like I do too. Because I do.

Having had no idea what to expect, they were really impressive live – the academy was more atmospheric and expectant than I’ve ever experienced it before (the lighting added to this a lot) and their understated and coolly passionate performance was spot on. They’re a class act.

Found a fan video off of YouTube from when we saw them. It’s a bit wobbly but I picked it because there’s a genius bit in the middle where the crowd tries to sing falsetto.

Brixpig x

On a clear day...

OMG I am back! That’s all I’m going to say on the matter; I won’t dwell on my weeks of abandonment if you won’t.

You’re going to enjoy this one.

  

When: Friday 25^th May

Where: BFI (No popcorn allowed. They’re serious. Nice seats though.)

Why: Ongoing Barbra appreciation

On a clear day you can see forever

1970, directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring the screen goddess that is Barbra Streisand.

This film is fucking mental. It is genius. I have never been so entertained in a cinema – never, and that includes the final scene of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows which features Ron Weasley’s pot belly and Harry’s creepy creepy dad hands.

The basic premise is that Barbra’s an earnest and fundamentally quite annoying student trying to quit smoking for the benefit of her social-climbing fiancé. The obvious solution to this is to stalk the campus’s hypnosis lecturer (which self-respecting uni doesn’t have one of those?), and she sneaks into a lecture which leads to a hilarious accidental hypnosis (a lengthy scene which very much introduces her as the obvious lead character and star of the movie, at which point my friend’s boyfriend leans over and asks ‘Who is that?’ He was referring to Barbra. A beautiful moment). She’s already a bit special – she can make flowers grow really fast and find stuff that you’ve lost with her mind. This persuades the hypnosis lecturer to take her on, and when he has her under, he discovers that she has memories of a former life, as Lady Melinda Winifred Waine Tentrees, a saucy, ballsy and insanely styled 19th century English lady who’s secretly the child of a servant. She’s ENGLISH. Barbra’s accent defies expectations. I couldn’t get enough.

Basically, the hypnotist becomes completely obsessed with the Melinda personality, ends up totally using Barbra (her character’s name is Daisy but as with any Streisand film, it’s not really about the character. In a good way) to get to her and, when all is revealed to Daisy, he ends up delivering the fantastically insulting line ‘Melinda's soul inside of you? God! What a housing shortage!’ But although he’s a bit of a bastard, he has got a sort of sexy French accent so you can almost forgive him.

Other highlights of the film include an incredibly disturbing seduction scene in the Brighton Pavillion (obviously), mostly involving Barbra’s cleavage and a wine glass; the best selection of hats and outrageous headgear ever seen on screen; and a young Jack Nicholson occasionally popping up on the roof in a delicious chunky mustard jumper.

Many thanks to my pals Martin and boy Harry for introducing me to this classic.

Watch and enjoy. 

Brixpig x