mishmash

Cover illustration for 'Opus International', 1968

I had been warned of the scale of Cold War Modern – the new design exhibition at the V&A – so I wasn’t shocked when I realised that the visit lasted at least two hours. Although I can’t really say I remember the cold war (but I do remember when the wall fell), growing up in Italy gave me a pretty good idea of political propaganda and strong pro- and anti-Americanism. I’ve been wanting to visit the exhibition also because of the shady 7th Syndikate, that contacted me through this blog at the beginning of September. As it turned out they’d contacted a bunch of other London-based bloggers with instructions and tasks to carry out in order to become an active ‘agent’ (I was Caroline something), and the big finale was a secret gathering for the show’s opening on September 24. Talking about viral marketing! I was sorry to miss it, but had a previous engagement with two friends and a pizza. Back to the exhibition: the posters were among the best pieces on show, especially the French ones from the 60s, but also a fine example of Trabant, a few interesting chairs and stereos, propaganda films from USA and URSS, and a short clip of Dr Strangelove by Kubrick that brilliantly summed up those years. It seems that the subject of war is quite popular with London galleries as Barbican has just opened three parallel exhibitions This is war! Robert Capa at work, Gerda Taro, and On the subject of war. Will definitely see them.

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I’d mentioned the End Of The Road festival (12-14 Sept) in a previous post saying that I was not going, but the lineup was too good to miss so I grew a spine and bought a ticket. It was worth every penny and ounce of mud, because almost all bands did amazing sets and the atmosphere was very relaxed and friendly.

Day one (12 Sept): Acorn (Canadian band that I saw opening for Akron/Family at the Luminaire, nothing too exciting but entertaining), followed by  A Hawk And A Hacksaw (they make great music fullstop), Micah P Hinson, and the almighty Dirty Three. There are no words to describe their music. Inspired by the Australians I went to the Big Top Stage to see Akron/Family leaving my friends at the Conor Oberst (aka Bright Eyes) gig.

Day two (13 Sept): Absentee (perhaps a bit too pop for me, but very dance-able), Bowerbirds, Bon Iver (amazing gig, probably one of the best of the weekend), Baby Dee (first time I’ve seen her live and enjoyed the set a lot, especially the craziness of Teeth Are The Only Bones That Show and The Earlie King), Kurt Wagner (great voice, great stage presence), Mark Kozelek with Sun Kil Moon (I love his/their albums but I find Kozelek very boring and cold when he plays live).

Day three (14 Sept): Sons of Noel and Adrian (a pleasant surprise), The Wave Pictures, Kimya Dawson (wonderful and endearing), Jason Molina (again, I love songs:ohia but live he’s a bit boring), Woodpigeon, Jeffrey Lewis (always funny), Moutain Goats (not a good gig, something was missing).

End Of The Road – A Hawk & A Hacksaw

End Of The Road – Dirty Three

End Of The Road – Baby Dee on fire

End Of The Road – A very focussed Alex Nielson drums for Baby Dee

End Of The Road – Kurt Wagner’s intimate set

late summer

[late July on Brighton beach]

Is it still Summer? I can’t really tell. And apparently Saturday will rain, just in time for Field Day. I’m really looking forward to it, I missed Alasdair Robert’s last gig in London but I won’t be missing this (although he sang one song at the end of the Richard Youngs&Alex Neilson gig a few weeks ago). I guess this is going to be the last summer festival for me as I don’t have the guts to go to End of the Road, a real shame because the lineup is pretty amazing. Luckily Micah P Hinson (his latest album is on repeat on my smog-pod) is playing at the Forum in November, but before that the Breeders (I can’t wait) and Akron/Family (ditto).

[strumming] at the pulpit

St Pancras New Church looks like a Greek temple oddly placed in central London. The place is a feast of neoclassicism, a pagan building with a religious use. Inside the furnishing is simple, all based on variations on the palmetta theme. Last week folk music was played in this bizarre space. Kicking off the evening Adrian Crowley, good voice if a bit too similar to Bill Callahan (as most people there must have thought). David Thomas Broughton was phenomenal as usual, walking around, making odd noises, mesmerising everyone with his deep voice and, as predicted by my friend, climbing on the pulpit for a good old ukulele (green!) strumming (grainy pictures). Meg Baird (from Espers) was next, her delicate voice created a beautiful contrast with DTB quirky tunes. And finally, Vetiver exceeded my expectations, because although I like them and own 2 of their albums, I must say that I rarely listen to their music. So, yeah, it was great to find out that they’re really good live! An excellent evening, well done to the promoters Miles of Smiles.

Back for more [parties] 2/2

[Explosions in the sky - ATP 2008 by una fotografa da marciapiede]

Where to start? We arrived on Friday 16 May in Minehead and nearly missed Mono, Japanese experimental/postrock foursome (really liked their set) due to endless queue for transportation from Taunton. We stayed in the cavernous central stage eagerly awaiting Dinosaur jr., I was very excited as I’d never seen them live but listened their albums so many times in the 90s. They played new songs from the album Beyond (2007) and old ones, I was jumping like a crazy rabbit when I heard the first seconds of Feel the pain. It was almost embarrassing. After the dinosaurs we moved to the pavilion for Explosions in the Sky, who were scheduled to play only once, although they were curating the weekend. Strangely enough their set didn’t impress me, too many slow songs after a good start. I’ve seen them only once before and was expecting something heavier, more heartfelt. I went to see Phosphorescent before going to bed, good concert, sadly the third (and smallest) venue at Butlins has horrible acoustics and noisy slotmachines.

Saturday was quite busy, I was trying to see as much as I could and was happy to switch Okkervil River for Gostface Killah (that was a lot of fun), but I quickly returned to the pavilion for The National, definitely one of the festival’s highlights. Brainy, Fake Empire, Squalor Victoria, great band. On the other hand, I found Iron&Wine very boring, as much as I love Beam’s albums I don’t seem to get him on a stage (the large band didn’t help).

Sunday was slightly more relaxed, we even managed to eat a full lunch and spend some time in the sunshine, but rushed back for some great post-rock courtesy of Polvo. After listening to the first part of Silver Jews, we moved to the central stage for Animal Collective, my favourite set of all the weekend. The stage had been equipped with huge speakers with built-in lighting system, synchronising sound and colours. The effect was hypnotic. The sheer noise was one of the best things I’ve ever listened to. Fireworks was so good live. Broken Social Scene gave all they had, even calling Dinosaur Jr and others onstage. Battles were the perfect closure for the weekend, pumping loud sounds, playing the beautiful Tonto. After, a good night sleep and on Monday creeping post-festival blues during the journey to London. And so it ends.

Back for more [parties] 1/2

Back for more music, of course. From London to Mineahead, on the West coast, for A(ll)T(omorrow’s)P(arties) curated by Explosions In The Sky. I must have seen 17 gigs during those 3 days, and now I’m experiencing a weird (musical) cold turkey. Old bands, reunions, new bands, many of them excellent, some disappointing, but overall a very good weekend. More to follow.

In a rush

I’d like to write about the films I saw, the gigs, the books, and in general about these beautiful sunny days in London, but there are not enough hours in a day. Just one film, Joy Division: the documentary directed by Grant Gee; one gig, Mogwai at Queen Elizabeth Hall (my poor ears! it was great but so very LOUD. New songs sound interesting); one book, Let’s See: writings on Art from The New Yorker by journalist, critic and poet Peter Schjeldahl (no, I don’t know how to pronounce his last name). That’s all. For now. In four days I’ll be in Minehead for ATP curated by Explosions In The Sky. Can’t wait.

Trailer of Joy Division: the documentary