Amelia’s Magazine | A Review of the Crafternoon Tea Club Christmash Spesh with Etsy 2011

Crafternoon Tea Club Rebecca Strickson
Illustration by Rebecca Strickson

On the evening of 8th December, close to 50 people of all ages came together for something resembling a drop-in DIY craft party – the Crafternoon Tea Club Christmas Spesh with Etsy!

Crafternoon tea club photo Caitlin Sinclair
Crafternoon tea club photo Caitlin Sinclair
Crafternoon tea club photo Caitlin Sinclair
Crafternoon tea club photo Caitlin Sinclair
Taking place at Etsy’s Bevenden Street headquarters (aka The Trampery, or the Christmas Grotto), it was a chance to mingle, drink, dance and be merry, and learn a thing or two about sustainable gift-giving over the holiday period. Everyone attending was asked to bring along gifts they no longer wanted or needed, including homemade items, which could be repackaged and distributed to those who could make use of or enjoy them. A selection of ready-made gifts were to hand for those less organised, and incredibly, everything was free – I’m not sure it would have been possible to make this a more friendly, accessible event.

Crafternoon tea club photo Caitlin Sinclair
Crafternoon tea club photo Caitlin Sinclair
Crafternoon tea club photo Caitlin Sinclair
At the start of the night, Crafternoon Tea Club co-founder Beccy McCray explained a bit about the concept. Using the wonderful materials laid out on a table at the centre of the room, we were to wrap our gifts up using all the creativity we could muster. Once decorated, our presents would require a tag with a ‘gift story’ to explain where they came from. Then, they were to go under the Christmas tree, ready for re-distribution at the evening’s end.

Crafternoon tea club photo Caitlin Sinclair
Crafternoon tea club photo Caitlin Sinclair
The centre table was a place of crafty glee, and it was hard not to rifle through the glorious French magazines, colourful yarns and sparkly ribbons available. I spied retro jewellery, secondhand books and delicious preserves in the gifting mix, and was so impressed at the artistic techniques on display, including weaving, collage and some intricate hole-punching.

Crafternoon tea club photo Caitlin Sinclair
Crafternoon tea club photo Caitlin Sinclair
Strangers discussed their approaches to gift-wrapping, the Gaggle DJs played some festive tunes, and the wine and mince pies only added to the happy atmosphere. In a year of so much social and environmental upheaval, this gathering seemed to refute any notion of antisocialism taking its grip, or a consumerist society which ignores its environmental impact. Instead, we discussed just how much landfill space we occupy, why it is that we insist on buying all-new presents each year, and how we might use existing materials to recreate beautiful gifts with a conscience.

Crafternoon tea club photo Caitlin Sinclair
Crafternoon Tea Club was informally started by Beccy McCray and Hannah Elbourne as a bit of post-break-up art therapy in 2001, and began more officially in 2007. Since then it’s grown rapidly, first in parks and pubs, and now spreading to larger spaces. The Club is run by a collective of close to a dozen craft-lovers who work across different industries. They’ve previously held similar events at venues such as the Barbican and the National Theatre, and this was their fourth this year.

Crafternoon tea club photo Caitlin Sinclair
Beccy told me, ‘We wanted to get away from having workshops and just have a party: a positive, inclusive event.’ They’ve certainly achieved this and more – a spring event is close on the horizon, and there are murmurs of overseas happenings in Brazil and Japan. Watch this crafty space!

Crafternoon tea club photo Caitlin Sinclair
Crafternoon tea club. All photography by Caitlin Sinclair.

Categories ,barbican, ,Beccy McCray, ,Bevenden Street, ,Christmas, ,Christmas Grotto, ,craft, ,Crafternoon Tea Club, ,etsy, ,gaggle, ,Hannah Elbourne, ,National Theatre, ,Tea Party, ,The Trampery

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Amelia’s Magazine | Sister Like You by Bellykids at Lik + Neon

Sister Like You by Ellie Andrews

Sister Like You front cover by Ellie Andrews.

Sister Like You is the new book from cult indie publishers Belly Kids, featuring illustrations and stories about some of the fiercest women rulers in Ancient History, from Cleopatra to Elizabeth I. Most of the illustrations have been created by awesome female illustrators and are accompanied with text by Jade Coles. The book comes in an A5 format of over 50 Pages, Perfect Bound. To celebrate the launch last week at LIK + NEON just off Brick Lane, Belly Kids have printed up a selection of illustrations from the book as beautiful A3 and A2 prints, which you can now view on the walls and in the window of the shop, until 8th June 2014.

Sister Like You, Queen Elizabeth 2 by Ana Galvan

Queen Elizabeth II by Ana Galvan.

Jade Coles writes – “For the past 5 years I have been a performer in riot grrl all female punk choir GAGGLE. We have been lucky enough to tour all around the UK and Europe. I joined whilst studying fine art at Wimbledon School of Art, where my ideals of Feminism were being formed. Gaggle were asked to re write 5 sections of a mostly forgotten opera called ‘The Brilliant and the Dark‘ in which 1000 female volunteers performed the history of women in the Royal Albert Hall and it got me thinking on how such important facts could drift from history, losing significance. I started to research at the Womens Library at the London Met… and I couldn’t believe how much female history was crammed into the one tiny space!

Sister Like You, Queen Njinga Mbande by Charlotte Trounce

Queen Njinga Mbande by Charlotte Trounce.

Mike Coley of Belly Kids says “Belly Kids make a habit of revitalising Ancient stories, having released a book about the Egyptian God Osiris last year. Together we looked at the story of 9 female rulers, some you’ll have heard of and some you won’t know of at all. We reveal all the scandal and the gossip, taking the stories from the dull pages of history textbooks and, hopefully, bringing them to life in a humorous and fun way!

Enjoy our selection of work by some of the featured artists:

Ellie Andrews (at top) is a freelance artist and illustrator, who has also exhibited her vibrant work with Beach London.

Ana Galvan (above) is a freelance illustrator living and working in Madrid. She has a great range of editorial credits to her name including Wired magazine, Gestalten, Archive, Nobrow, to name a few.

Charlotte Trounce (also above) is a freelance illustrator living in London. She has worked for notable clients including The New York Times, M&C Saatchi, Anorak Magazine, Wrap Magazine to name a few.

Sister Like You, Catherine the Great by Alice Tye

Catherine the Great by Alice Tye.

Alice Tye is a recent graduate of the brilliant BA Illustration degree course at Camberwell College of Art and her work is influenced by modernist architecture and films. Alice is a member of Olio Studio.

Sister Like You, Queen Zenobia by Kaye Blegvad

Queen Zenobia by Kaye Blegvad.

Kaye Blegvad is an illustrator, designer, and general maker-of-things. She was born & raised in London, studied illustration at the University of Brighton, and since then has lived between London and Brooklyn.

Sister Like You, Queen Christina Portrait by Brigid Deacon

Queen Christina by Brigid Deacon.

Brigid Deacon is a comic artist and illustrator currently living in South-East London, interested in collaborations, commissions, print & play.

Other artists featured in the book include Donya Todd, Greg Kletsel, Molly Askey-Goldbury and Bradford Haubrich.

View the Sister Like You prints at Lik + Neon until 8th June at LIK + NEON 106 Sclater Street, London E1 6HR.

Categories ,Alice Tye, ,Ana Galvan, ,Beach London, ,Belly Kids, ,Bradford Haubrich, ,Brick Lane, ,Brigid Deacon, ,Camberwell College of Art, ,Charlotte Trounce, ,Cleopatra, ,Donya Todd, ,Elizabeth I, ,Ellie Andrews, ,Female Warriors, ,feminism, ,gaggle, ,Greg Kletsel, ,illustration, ,Jade Coles, ,Kaye Blegvad, ,LIK + NEON, ,Madrid, ,Mike Coley, ,Molly Askey-Goldbury, ,Olio Studio, ,Osiris, ,Queen Christina, ,Queen Njinga Mbande, ,Queen Zenobia, ,Sister Like You, ,The Brilliant and the Dark, ,University of Brighton, ,Wimbledon School of Art

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Amelia’s Magazine | Music Listings: 2nd – 8th November

tatty devine

Diamond Tears

From the 13th November the Tatty Devine Brick Lane gallery space will host an exhibition of work by artist Verena Paloma Jabs. ‘Diamond Tears‘ will showcase Jabs‘ mixed media collages and animations inspired by dark, remedy fantastical imagery from fairy tales and the illusory, murky depths of dreamtime. Her English and Russian heritage and resisdence in Germany have informed her work – expect to see laser cut acrylic frames and a limited edition heart shaped necklace, all featuring black silohuettes of woodland scenes and animals against beautiful landscapes.

November 13th Tatty Devine, Brick Lane

makeitprintitpackitshipit

Make It Print It Pack It Ship It

Another pop-up gallery presented by MA and MFA Fine Art students from Slade School Of Fine Art will take place in Tottenham Court Road from this Monday for one week. The exhibition will be made up of sculpture, installation and painting from the eighteen artists. Exploring surrounding cultural, social and physical environment through the vehicle of the pop-up store, it will adopt the methods of production and dissemination of commercialism. 605 x 505, a box set of limited edition prints to accompany the exhibition, will also be available throughout the week.

November 2nd – 6th, 145 Tottenham Court Road, London

national portrait gallery

Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2009

Taking place at the National Portrait Gallery, this year’s competition is back again to offer up the cream of today’s contemporary photography practitioners. A mix of fresh new talent will be presented alongside more experienced veterans of photography. A remarkable 2,400 entrants have applied this year, resulting in over 6,300 images to be whittled down to sixty pieces for the final exhibition, including the four overall winners and the winner of the Godfrey Argent Award for an outstanding portrait by an entrant between the ages of 18 and 25 years old.

November 5th 2009 – February 14th 2010, National Portrait Gallery

panik

Panik – Changing Faces

Panik, the alias of Jack Murray is said to be one of the most prolific young graffitti writers of today. More accustomed to using the streets of London as his canvas, he is now bringing his work to the confines of four walls for the first time, in the form of this exhibition at The Underground. Panik comments that, “Creating work in the studio helps me move in the right direction, relax, delve into my thoughts and break down my style, which gives me confidence to experiment more on the streets. At the same time painting on the streets releases a lot of my inner tensions and gets my adrenalin pumping fuelling a lot of what’s behind my paintings”. Get yourself down to Argyle Walk this Thursday for the Private View.

November 6th – 28th, 26 Argyle Square London

one taste festival 2009

One Taste Festival 2009

The fourth festival in their run so far, One Taste are back again with what has been described as ‘a 3 floor art explosion’ at the venue of The Bedford. There will be a generous serving of all things creative including music, poetry, film, art, philosophy, workshops, parades, theatre, DJs, dancing, food and much more. The event will start in the day and last though to the night. Some of the acts that will be there include Antic Bantic who will be providing games, music and art, a Lucid Dreaming workshop: Learn the art of Lucid Dreaming by Charley Morely, face painting by Bella Faces and Live Story Writing – collective story writing with OneTaste favourite poets.

November 8th, The Bedford 77 Bedford Hill, London

lets get ready to jumble

Let’s Get Ready To Jumble!

This Saturday The Monarch on Chalk Fram Road will welcome the friendliest of monthly afternoon jumble sales. Providing ‘treasures and pleasures galore’. Mens and women’s vintage, records, books, bric-a-brac, tombola and craft are promised and there are firework displays on at Primrose Hill and Alexandra Palace that night so we are asked to find something sparkly to go with your sparkler!

7th November, The Monarch, 40-42 Chalk Farm Road, London

tatty devine

Diamond Tears

From the 13th November the Tatty Devine Brick Lane gallery space will host an exhibition of work by artist Verena Paloma Jabs. ‘Diamond Tears‘ will showcase Jabs‘ mixed media collages and animations inspired by dark, sick fantastical imagery from fairy tales and the illusory, look murky depths of dreamtime. Her English and Russian heritage and resisdence in Germany have informed her work – expect to see laser cut acrylic frames and a limited edition heart shaped necklace, all featuring black silohuettes of woodland scenes and animals against beautiful landscapes.

November 13th Tatty Devine, Brick Lane

makeitprintitpackitshipit

Make It Print It Pack It Ship It

Another pop-up gallery presented by MA and MFA Fine Art students from Slade School Of Fine Art will take place in Tottenham Court Road from this Monday for one week. The exhibition will be made up of sculpture, installation and painting from the eighteen artists. Exploring surrounding cultural, social and physical environment through the vehicle of the pop-up store, it will adopt the methods of production and dissemination of commercialism. 605 x 505, a box set of limited edition prints to accompany the exhibition, will also be available throughout the week.

November 2nd – 6th, 145 Tottenham Court Road, London

national portrait gallery

Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2009

Taking place at the National Portrait Gallery, this year’s competition is back again to offer up the cream of today’s contemporary photography practitioners. A mix of fresh new talent will be presented alongside more experienced veterans of photography. A remarkable 2,400 entrants have applied this year, resulting in over 6,300 images to be whittled down to sixty pieces for the final exhibition, including the four overall winners and the winner of the Godfrey Argent Award for an outstanding portrait by an entrant between the ages of 18 and 25 years old.

November 5th 2009 – February 14th 2010, National Portrait Gallery

panik

Panik – Changing Faces

Panik, the alias of Jack Murray is said to be one of the most prolific young graffitti writers of today. More accustomed to using the streets of London as his canvas, he is now bringing his work to the confines of four walls for the first time, in the form of this exhibition at The Underground. Panik comments that, “Creating work in the studio helps me move in the right direction, relax, delve into my thoughts and break down my style, which gives me confidence to experiment more on the streets. At the same time painting on the streets releases a lot of my inner tensions and gets my adrenalin pumping fuelling a lot of what’s behind my paintings”. Get yourself down to Argyle Walk this Thursday for the Private View.

November 6th – 28th, 26 Argyle Square London

one taste festival 2009

One Taste Festival 2009

The fourth festival in their run so far, One Taste are back again with what has been described as ‘a 3 floor art explosion’ at the venue of The Bedford. There will be a generous serving of all things creative including music, poetry, film, art, philosophy, workshops, parades, theatre, DJs, dancing, food and much more. The event will start in the day and last though to the night. Some of the acts that will be there include Antic Bantic who will be providing games, music and art, a Lucid Dreaming workshop: Learn the art of Lucid Dreaming by Charley Morely, face painting by Bella Faces and Live Story Writing – collective story writing with OneTaste favourite poets.

November 8th, The Bedford 77 Bedford Hill, London

lets get ready to jumble

Let’s Get Ready To Jumble!

This Saturday The Monarch on Chalk Fram Road will welcome the friendliest of monthly afternoon jumble sales. Providing ‘treasures and pleasures galore’. Mens and women’s vintage, records, books, bric-a-brac, tombola and craft are promised and there are firework displays on at Primrose Hill and Alexandra Palace that night so we are asked to find something sparkly to go with your sparkler!

7th November, The Monarch, 40-42 Chalk Farm Road, London

laura-marling

Monday 2nd November, sickness Daniel Johnston and Laura Marling, web Union Chapel

Troubled singer-songwriter troubadour Johnston returns to the circuit playing his brand of brutally honest lo-fi songs ahead of next year’s new album release. Joining him in this tour is equally avoiding of eye contact and (almost) equally as beguiling, viagra Marling who will probably also have new material to share.

camera-obscura

Tuesday 3rd November, Camera Obscura, Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Glaswegian group, Camera Obscura, play their saccharine, melancholic indie pop evocative of Belle & Sebastian including latest album, ‘My Maudlin Career.’

everything everything

Wednesday 4th November, Everything Everything, ICA

These four Mancunian chaps have provided one of Amelia’s Magazine’s favourite songs of 2009 in Photoshop Handsome, we’re hoping the rest of their set can deliver as perfectly crafted indie pop and doesn’t veer to far down The Futureheads vein.

Gaggle2

Thursday 5th November, Dead Kids, Gaggle and Invasion, Corsica Studios

This club night by South East London collective, Off Modern, consistently puts out great music and for their fifth birthday celebration they are putting on a right royal shebang of a party. The celebratory music is provided by party starters Dead Kids, all-girl choir sensation Gaggle (pictured) and cosmic psych-metallers Invasion.

lulu-small

Friday 6th November, Peggy Sue, Sons of Noel and Adrian, Mechanical Bride and Lulu & The Lampshades, ICA

For the sake of adhering to the mantra including the words, ‘variety’ ‘spice’ and ‘life’, we wouldn’t usually promote revisiting venues in the same week, but Peggy Sue, formerly possessed of Pirates, gives us an excuse to do just that. There are a host a great support acts including our former Music Editor, Lulu & The Lampshades.

james-yorkston

Saturday 7th November, James Yorkston And The Big Eyes Family Players, Alasdair Roberts, Marry Gilhooley and Mary Hampton & David Jaycock, The Tabernacle

For an anti-X Factor, anti-Saturday night out sample this almighty cast of folk polymath players play The Tabernacle with Yorkston heading the bill. Enigmatic Roberts and ethereal Hampton are particular gems in this stellar line-up.

espers

Sunday 8th November, Espers, Rough Trade East

This Philadelphian neo-folk sextet are known for their evocative blend of traditional and 60s folk and, yes you guessed it, have a new album to plug, ‘III’ follows a self-consciously song-based path. And what’s more this is free.

Categories ,alasdair roberts, ,Camera Obscura, ,Daniel Johnston, ,Dead Kids, ,espers, ,everything everything, ,gaggle, ,gig, ,invasion, ,James Yorkston, ,Laura Marling, ,listings, ,london, ,Lulu and the Lampshades, ,mary hampton, ,mechanical bride, ,Peggy Sue, ,sons of noel and adrian, ,the futureheads

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Amelia’s Magazine | The Eccentronic Research Council at Village Underground: Live Review

Eccentronic Research Council and Maxine Peake by Laura Hickman

The Eccentronic Research Council by Laura Hickman

For the first in a series of events celebrating a century since Italian Futurist Luigi Russolo published L’Arte dei Rumori (The Art of Noises), his manifesto on “machine music”, cross-platform artistic collective Noise of Art had gathered together an eclectic mix of collaborators. Perhaps fittingly, the venue chosen was Village Underground, a former Victorian warehouse adjacent to a disused railway viaduct on the fringes of London’s East End – a symbol of the industrialisation that had originally inspired Russolo.

As well as a series of DJ sets covering electronic music old and new, there was a brief appearance from the ever impressive alternative all-female choir Gaggle. Kicking off a short set with a thunderous Gaslight, they then unveiled their very own app, the Gaggle Phone (which certainly puts the tone into ringtone!). As has become custom whenever I’ve seen them perform, Gaggle finished with their album closer, the mournful Leave The City, with the various members departing the stage in groups as the music played out.

Eccentronic Research Council by Nadine Khatib

The Eccentronic Research Council by Nadine Khatib

The most anticipated part of the night, though, was the appearance of headliners The Eccentronic Research Council, playing their first show in the capital. Formed by two veterans of the Sheffield music scene, Dean Honer and Adrian Flanagan (who have, in the past, collaborated with such luminaries as Jarvis Cocker and Philip Oakey), they enlisted the considerable talents of actor Maxine Peake (most recently seen in the BBC period piece The Village) and released a concept album, 1612 Underture, based on the infamous Pendle witch trials of the 17th century.

The story of the Pendle witches looms large in the popular psyche of Lancashire (much like Pendle Hill itself, a distinctive feature on the skyline overlooking Burnley) – from the coaches on a bus route from Manchester named after each of the accused to Live At The Witch Trials, the debut album by The Fall, who just happened to be playing across town tonight (a band that, in a curious twist, Adrian Flanagan was once briefly a member of). With 1612 Underture, The Eccentronic Research Council recount the tale through a partly fictionalised, often witty modern day road trip (brought to life in an accompanying short film), which also touches on contemporary social parallels.

A full house cheered as the band appeared – Honer and Flanagan, the self styled “practical electronics enthusiasts”, took their place at the back, behind a table loaded with vintage analogue synths (and kept company by two imitation skulls), whilst on other either side and dressed all in white, like extras from the finale of the Wicker Man, Philly Smith and Lucy Cunsolo provided extra keyboards, percussion and vocals. Most definitely centre stage, however, was Maxine Peake, attired all in black.

Eccentronic Research Council with Maxine Peake at Village Underground by Sam Parr

The Eccentronic Research Council by Sam Parr

The set opened with the steady motorik of Autobahn 666, a Kraftwerk referencing ride along the A666, the so called Devil’s Highway that connects Manchester, Bolton and Blackburn, that Peake narrated with her rich Boltonian tones. This set the mood for much of the rest of the night, with otherworldly synths alternating between bouncy, burbly and just plain sinister acting as a soundtrack for Peake, a dominant presence, to recite from her little black book. Philly Smith and Lucy Cunsolo took over for Wicked Sister Chant, whilst another Sheffield colleague, Lucy Hope, took the stage for The Hangman’s Song (naturally enough, with a noose adorning her neck). Flanagan left his gadgets momentarily to duet with Peake on Another Witch Is Dead, probably the sort of song Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra would come up with if asked to score a film for Hammer studios (though I doubt Ms Sinatra could cackle quite so maniacally as Maxine Peake does at the song’s end).

Eccentronic Research Council by EdieOP

The Eccentronic Research Council by EdieOP

Not all was doom and gloom, and there was a fair bit of banter from the stage. Adrian Flanagan asked the audience if anyone was from Lancashire (being Salford born himself), but when he was overwhelmed by replies, he just gave up and joked “just shout random places at me!”

The core trio of Flanagan, Honer and Peake returned for an encore, the rather unseasonal but reassuringly acerbic Black ChristMass, which descended into an electro wig-out before they departed the stage for the last time.

With a London show now grudgingly under their belt, The Eccentronic Research Council headed back North once more and, with new material a current work in progress, we shall wait to see where their analogue odyssey takes them next.

Categories ,Adrian Flanagan, ,Dean Honer, ,EdieOP, ,Futurism, ,gaggle, ,Hammer studios, ,Jarvis Cocker, ,Kraftwerk, ,Lancashire, ,Laura Hickman, ,lee hazlewood, ,Lucy Cunsolo, ,Lucy Hope, ,Luigi Russolo, ,Maxine Peake, ,Nadine Khatib, ,Nancy Sinatra, ,Noise of Art, ,Pendle, ,Philip Oakey, ,Philly Smith, ,Sam Parr, ,sheffield, ,The Eccentronic Research Council, ,The Fall, ,Village Underground, ,Wicker Man

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Amelia’s Magazine | Music Listings: 7th – 13th September

Graham Carter’s joyful prints reference many of the most loved images in modern culture: the characters from Star Wars or the eerie but manageable magic of Spirited Away. The artistic sensibilities stop these nostalgic influences from turning into twee: the gorgeously rendered digital art glows with vibrant colours and many of the works are made 3-dimensional with painstakingly applied wood veneers, find sale or cut-out perspex shapes that lend shadows to a noir city scene.

This is the kind of art you’d love to have in your own house (I made enquiries! Prices average at around £150). The small details show wit and add a lovely personal feeling to the prints: a towerblock soars above a city landscape but is made friendly by a pair of eyes and a winning smile. When you spot a tiny figure peeping out of the digital grass you fall in love with the world in the picture. Each picture tells a story that you can imagine going on far beyond the edges of the frame, like that of the little girl and her huge Samurai friend, pictured below.

seeking%20samuraiblog.jpg

Amelia’s Magazine interviewed the artist to find out more.

AM: Tell me a bit more about the title of the exhibition, “East Meets West”.

GC: It was an intentionally open title really, to try and represent my current fascination with Eastern culture whilst also allowing me to continue experimenting with elements of early American design, which have been creeping into my work of late. I should point out that my work is never extensively researched (as you can probably tell) as I prefer to make things up – or put my own spin on things. The world as I would like it to be and not really how it is…
Towards the end of its development I wanted the show to almost be a kind of travel diary/scrapbook; a couple of recurring characters making their way from one city to the next (New York to Tokyo, via New Yokyo, a hybrid of the two). And in some pictures in the distance you can spot elements of previous images (something I always tend to do).

Ever%20Redblog.jpg

AM: You are obviously inspired by screen culture (especially Sci Fi!) Could you tell me about why these influences appeal to you? The original influences are quite tech-y and macho but your works are really whimsical and beautiful, they remind me more of Hayao Miyazaki than Michael Bay.

GC: I’ve always loved sci-fi films so I guess it was only a matter of time before elements crept into my work. It’s largely the machines that fascinate me rather than the action. My favourite parts of the film are usually when the protagonists are just sitting around/hiding/waiting inside their pods/spaceships without the stress of battle!
I have been watching a lot of Miyazaki of late. He and Wes Anderson are my favourite film makers as they have created their own little worlds that seem to make perfect sense despite all the unusual happenings on screen.
I’m also a sucker for a robot.

New%20Yokyo%20Air%20Bugblog.jpg

AM: Some of your works are printed on wood or made of inlaid wood. What is it about wood as a material that appeals to you? Is it very hard work getting the solid wood pieces manufactured? How are they made?

GC: A phase I am going through largely, but one I am constantly fascinated with. From getting one thing laser cut, it has opened me up into a whole new way of seeing my work and the possibilities are pretty huge.
The texture of wood appeals to me and also the ‘natural’ connotations. I love the idea that someone may have constructed a working robot from found wood for example. Wood also has that old-fashioned appeal. I’m more enamoured with the look of bygone toys and their clock-work components than anything sleek and soulless.
I worked with a company called Heritage Inlay on the laser cut images and the inlaid pieces. Usually I design them and they construct them. But in some cases I like to order the separate components and put them together myself as in the case of the 3 images composed of laser-cut perspex, silkscreen backing and screen-printed glass [see image below].

cenral%20parkblog.jpg

AM: I loved the perspex “landscape” pieces. Is it very different creating something 3D to making a print?

GC: I treat the process the same way as a 2D piece really. They all start out life as a digital layered file on my computer so I can see roughly how they will work. I’m never entirely sure how the 3D piece will work until I have a finished one, due to unforeseen elements such as shadows running over parts of the background print etc. That’s why I find it an exciting way to work.

Graham Carter@The Coningsby Gallery
www.coningsbygallery.com
August 31 – September 12
30 Tottenham Street , London, W1T 4RJ

If you’d like to see an online array of Carter’s works, investigate e-gallery Boxbird.

When scouring the latest releases for something worthy of talking about, unhealthy an album opener of the primary school rhyme to remember Henry VIII’s wives, is going to catch your attention. Recently signed to Andy Turner‘s ATIC Records, The Witch and the Robot are a treasure trove of oddities waiting to assault and bemuse your senses with their first release ‘On Safari.’

TheWitchAndTheRobotPressShot.jpg

Aforementioned opener, ‘Giant’s Graves’, introduces a theme that runs throughout the album of pagan chanting, psychotic percussion and bizarre lyrics. With a name check to philosopher, St. Thomas Aquinas, in the following track, lead singer Andrew Tomlinson screams: “God is mackerel” against an array of fowl (as in bird) noises.

Standout track, and title for that matter, ‘No Flies On Me (Jam Head)’ is an example of the alluring world that the band create, rich in competing layers of sonic beauty. If you were wondering, it’s about wealthy golfers who employ a man to take the bait of flies by covering his bonce in the sticky stuff.

on%20safari3.jpg

Live performances are known to emulate some kind of terrifying children’s party with helium balloons, cream pies, fighting and bunting all playing a part. In addition to putting out the most unique blend of folk, psychedelia and prose heard this year, the band run a night where each punter is entered into a compulsory meat raffle. They explain: “We sometimes play surrounded by raw meat on stage. It’s referencing our own mortality, the fragility of life, it’s visceral, sexual even, but also it is nicely weird.”

on-safari.jpg

At this stage, you’re probably wondering where a band of such peculiar entities are from… That picturesque, romantic stretch of idyll, the Lake District of course… That same region of the UK that has inspired the poems of Keats, Collingwood and Wordsworth to name but a few. This could perhaps explain the spoken word entry on ‘Sex Music(Beef on Music)’, which does narrate a meeting of the sexes but in a less romantic context than our nineteenth century forefathers. Their eccentric yet catchy sounds have caught the attentions of fellow Cumbrians and Amelia’s Magazine faves, British Sea Power and they were asked to open their festival in north Yorkshire.

onsafari.jpg

If you can’t make your mind up whether they are performance art with access to a recording studio or actually have the intention of being a band at all, De-Nihilism should answer this for you; a sprawling rock track that transports you to the Arizona Desert, but there you’d most probably be wearing a silly outfit and singing a shanty.

This album is humorously fun yet dark and mysterious all delivered with a conviction and musicianship that compels another listen… “Divorced, beheaded, died/Divorced, beheaded, survived.” Just in case you’d forgotten.

Less of a protest than a gentle nudge, physician the aim of the 10:10 campaign is to sign members of the public up to a pledge to reduce their carbon emissions by 10% by the end of 2010. A star-spangled event at Tate Modern encouraged thousands to sign up to make this change. It was a very different approach from the grassroots events at the Climate Camp last weekend and had an entirely different goal: to get ordinary people to make small changes to save the world.

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But hasn’t this message been preached for years with little result? I always refuse carrier bags at the supermarket but this does not appear to have yet halted global warming. Support in reducing my consumption of resources in all parts of my life is very welcome and, patient having signed up, cheap I’m going to take up some of the tips on offer such as going vegan three days a week. I’m a lazy environmentalist: I care and I know what needs to be done, but I find it hard not to fly, as many people do with relatives who live abroad. I get confused as to whether this cancels out all of my efforts on the recycling and public transport front. There are many of us out there, and still more who find it hard to get motivated when the problem seems so big.

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Campaigns like 10:10 often draw mixed responses from the green movement. Many of those who have informed themselves about climate change and have made meaningful changes to their lifestyle will be puzzled by the half-measure of asking people to take one less flight a year. It’s frustrating to see 10% held up as a magic figure when in reality we need to be drastically reducing our use of resources to avoid being the most reviled generation in the history of mankind. We don’t need to switch off a light every now and then; we need to stop using freezers and eating meat. These aren’t sacrifices that the majority of people are willing to have prized from their cold, dead hands, so instead they do nothing. That’s why it is necessary to have well-promoted and unintimidating ventures like 10:10, because otherwise instead of 10% it will be 0%.

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However, with all the best intentions, it’s not realistic to rely on individual decision-making and a small change in some lives won’t make enough of a difference. International politics and the Western economic model, which views increased consumption and growth as the only positive outcome, make it very hard for governments to lead the way. And if they did try to radically change the way the average Briton lives it would be hard for us to stomach. But we can’t have our cake and eat it. There are very difficult decisions to be made and at the moment they are being taken by a vanishingly small minority. It can’t be one lightbulb: it must be everyone’s lightbulb, every night, forever.

Both Climate Camp and 10:10 show that green campaigning can be given a high profile in the media through well-designed websites and using new modes of communication such as Facebook and Twitter. The mainstreaming of climate change awareness can only be a good thing, and it’s important to normalise making big changes in lifestyle. Living a “green” life needs to be seen as less expensive and we need to cultivate a better array of things to do in Britain that don’t require a car or a credit card. What is required is a paradigm shift in the way the majority of the population lives and going green needs to be seen as “just something you do”. Soon enough, owning more than one car will become embarrassing rather than a status symbol, but by the time the sea is lapping at everyone’s front door, it will be a little late to argue about who was the best environmentalist in 2009.

It can be done. It just needs to be done at a slightly quicker rate. Going green needs to be cheap and cheerful and to be made easier psychologically. Efforts like 10:10 help with this, but at the end of 2010, the bar needs to be set a little higher. We need to knock off another 10% in 2011, and then another. Asking for more all in one go won’t work but perhaps turning up the heat a little at a time will.
It’s all about looking forwards, website loads of opportunities to learn about the current climate chaos and our government-led impending doom and chances to get involved in taking action and planning what on earth we can do.

Green Jobs and the Green Energy Revolution: is the government doing enough?
Date: Monday 07 Sep 2009 ?

An opportunity for people to get together to discuss the UK’s future direction in the ‘green sector.’ There are talks from Green party and Labour candidates as well as Union directors and workers from the Vestas factory who lost their jobs when the government closed down a wind turbine factory.
This meeting also comes as part of the build up to the next “Save Vestas” National Day of Action on Thursday 17th September.
morningsounds%20copy.jpg Illustration by Katy Gromball
Time: 19:00
Venue: Conway Hall, site Red Lion Square, Holborn
E-mail: info@campaigncc.org?
Website: www.campaigncc.org

No New Coal Stopping Kingsnorth
Date: Wednesday 09 Sep 2009

A post Climate Camp meeting to keep the ball rolling on the planned actions and campaigns throughout the Autumn. Greenpeace will be outlining their forthcoming campaign ‘The Big If’ which asks supporters to make pledges as to what they will do if Ed Miliband gives the go-ahead for a new dirty coal power station at the Kingsnorth site in Kent. Climate activist Jonathan Stevenson will be looking back at last week’s Climate Camp and other actions that have raised awareness of the government’s lack of initiatives in reducing the UK’s carbon footprint.
There will also be film screening and a chance to discuss future strategies in combating the expansion of other coal power stations as well as Kingsnorth.
?Time: 7pm till 8.30pm
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Venue: Housmans Bookshop, 5 Caledonian Road, London N1 9DX
Contacts: Nik Gorecki, 020 7837 4473
E-mail: nik@housmans.com?
Website: www.housmans.com

Making rustic furniture
Date: Friday 11 Sep 2009 to Sunday 13 Sep 2009

A workshop held over next weekend in Sussex where people can learn how to make their own furniture and craft their own objects from wood. It is run by people from the Low-Impact Living Initiative (LILI) which is a non-profit organisation whose mission is to help people reduce their impact on the environment, improve their quality of life, gain new skills, live in a healthier and more satisfying way, have fun and save money.
The course will also teach people to understand the different characteristics and uses of wood and hopefully come back with an elegant and unique piece of furniture for the house.

Venue: Wholewoods, Sussex
Contacts: 01296 714184
E-mail: taryn@lowimpact.org?
Website: www.lowimpact.org
?
Spitalfields Show & Green Fair
Date: Sunday 13 Sep 2009

This weekend sees the start of the Green Fair which includes home-made produce and handicrafts plus a whole range of stalls run by groups and organisations with Fairtrade goods, healthy food, healing therapies and projects raising environmental awareness. Make sure to check out the Mobile Allotment designed by artist Lisa Cheung. The fair is run by Alternative Arts, which is an innovatory arts organisation based in Spitalfields, East London. They invest in new artists and new ideas and aim to make the arts highly accessible to the public.
suzyGillustration.jpg Illustration by Suzy Phillips
Venue: Allen Gardens & Spitalfields City Farm, Buxton St. E1
Time: 12 noon – 5pm
Contacts: 020 7375 0441
E-mail: info@alternativearts.co.uk?
Website: www.alternativearts.co.uk

Disarm DSEi 2009
Date: 8 September

The worlds largest Arms fair is due to take place in the next couple of days, at DSEi 2007, there were 1352 exhibitors from 40 different countries with a total of 26,5000 visitors. The trade fuels conflict, undermines development and creates poverty around the world.
DISARM DSEi are calling for people to join together to unstick these institutions, expose the devastation they cause, and hold them to account for their actions.
Disarm DSEi call on people to come with love and rage; music and militancy; desire and determination and hope to show the government that we should no longer tolerate the death and destruction the arms trade causes.
Disarm DSEi will be meeting at 12 noon on Tuesday 8th September outside the Royal Bank of Scotland on Whitechapel High Street, near Aldgate East Tube, before going on to visit several companies in the City of London that invest in the arms trade and care little about the consequences for the victims of war.
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A flash mob at the Fourth plinth today got things going with people people handing out leaflets and raising awareness by lying ‘dead’ on the ground along side a banned unfurled on the plinth, part of Antony Gormley’s One and Other project.

Meet 12 Noon Near Aldgate East Tube
Website: www.caat.org.uk

Bristol Anarchist Bookfair
Date: 12 September

Much more than a bookfair, the event hosts a range of debates, discussion meetings, film showings and gives a chance for people to meet and learn from each other. There is even a cheap vegan cafe to get stuck into. 35 stalls will be set up with an extensive range of radical and alternative books, pamphlets, zines, music, badges, dvd’s, t-shirts, merchandise and free information on a range of different topics.

The Island, Bridewell Street, BS1 2PZ
10.30-6.00 Free entry
Website: www.bristolanarchistbookfair.org
From next Monday Amelia’s Magazine will be running between various fashion related events before the opening of London Fashion Week 2009 on Friday 18th September at Somerset House. Below are some of the events occurring as the capital turns its attention towards the Strand.

Tuesday 8th September

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Earlier this month Amelia’s Magazine visited the When You’re a Boy exhibition at the Photographer’s Gallery and recommends you take the chance to visit before the 4th October. The show refreshingly celebrates men in fashion and focuses on menswear stylist Simon Foxton, order who will be talking at The Photographers Gallery on Tuesday 8th September at 7pm. See the previous article here.

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Prick your Finger appear at Howies shop in Carnaby Street tomorrow night to discuss the increase in hand knitting through the story ‘Cast Off Knitting Club For Boys and Girls’ and the rise of knitting in public back. Prick your Finger will move onto discuss how they established their shop and the promotion of craft as a constructive past-time alongside promoting an awareness of the textile industry.

Doors open at 7.15 and it is a free event.

Thursday 10th September

Pop up shops are spreading like a rash across the London landscape in the run up to Fashion Week. Most are money-spinners disguised as concepts taking their cue from Dover St Market and the idea that investing in a limited edition is a more acceptable version of consumerism. It is not, order please think before you buy how many times you will wear garment and how you will dispose of it, hospital once you are bored and fashion has ‘moved’ on.

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Garance Dore Photography

Carnaby Street appears to be the hotspot destination for the pop up shop, starting with Beyond the Valley’s pop up store, continuing with Gap’s 40th Denim anniversary shop opening this Thursday to the music of VV Brown and a collaboration with fashion blogger extraordinaire Garance Dore, to the forth coming ‘Wish you were here’ London and New York Boutique swap
in October.

Sunday 13th September

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Dazed and Confused Magazine pre-empts the opening of SHOWstudio’s Fashion Revolution with their Fashion In Film showcase as part of the onedotzero season at the BFI. Hand picked by the editorial team this showing promises to be an interesting example of documenting fashion in film.

Thursday 17th September

However, the one pop up store to watch out for is On|Off’s boutique which opens on the 16th September and runs until the 22nd. Apart from featuring the wide range of designers who have shown at On|Off during the past twelve season, the boutique will provide visitors to the shop the opportunity to watch live catwalk feed and backstage interviews with designers.

8 Newburgh Street, W1

Friday 18th September

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To coincide with London Fashion Week’s move to Somerset House, SHOWstudio (the online fashion site established by Nick Knight) have organised the Fashion Revolution exhibition which will open to the public on the 17th September. The exhibition will showcase the methods used by the website in collaboration with stylists, photographers, fashion designers and cultural figures to develop the methods through which fashion is communicated. Mainly concentrating on capturing fashion on film, these explorations of interaction between clothing, body and audience will be documented in the show under the titles: ‘Process’, ‘Performance’ and ‘Participation’.

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If Fashion on Film is a particular interest do not forget Rich Mix’s Fashion on Film Season starting on Sunday 20th September. To find out more about the Rich Mix Season you can visit previous posts here and here.

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This week’s arts happenings, cheapest as recommended by Amelia’s Magazine.

Tonight until Thursday

Creative Review Graduate Show

This “graduate show” has a difference as, salve rather than graduating from a school, salve these are new artists who have already been featured in the pages of the learned Creative Review. There are six contributors:

Tom Lovell
Mark Boardman
James Callahan and Joe Kiers
Tomomi Sayuda
Eilin Bergum
Matt Robinson and Tom Wrigglesworth

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The exhibition is on at Mother London until Thursday September 10.

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Wednesday
$9.99 @ the onedotzero festival

Onedotzerois known for bringing an eclectic but well-edited mix of cinema from film-makers of many nationalities, dealing in shorts, animation, documentary and music video. New filmmakers and established artists show alongside one another, but all work is brand new and there is an almost overwhelming amount and variety to see. Amelia’s is intrigued to see the animated film “$9.99”, based on the short stories of Etgar Keret. Based on what one has read in his books “Kneller’s Happy Campers” and others, it promises to be full of sex (as you can see from the screenshot, above), slightly bleak but also very funny and clever, and sometimes even poignant when it comes to family and the failings of one’s parents.

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Friday 11 September, 7.30pm, free

Salon Closing Night ft. Ross Sutherland & The Sunday Defensive

The closing night party for the pop-up arts project Salon London features writer Ross Sutherland, whose collection of poems “Things To Do Before You Leave Town” got him onto the Times’ list of Top Ten Literary Stars of 2008. His star is still rising, so hear him read at Salon, and while you’re listening to his wordplay, think up some clever heckles to throw at The Sunday Defensive, a comedy duo just back from the Edinburgh Fringe and therefore no doubt ready with a witty comeback.

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All week 9-30 September
Mother Courage and Her Children

Fiona Shaw takes the title role in this influential play by Bertholt Brecht. It’s the story of a woman wheeling and dealing her way to profit while her children fall sacrifice to the war machine. Recent world history has shone a light on the toll in young lives that war takes while the older generation look on and, in some cases, profit. The show also features new music from The Duke Special. The magnificent Shaw starts her run as Mother Courage from Wednesday September 9.

Monday 7th September
Gemma Ray and The Rayographs
The Lexington, nurse London

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Pop noirette Ray plays stomping Americana with an Essex drawl, opening London trio, Rayographs are equally as alluring.

Tuesday 8th September
Lemonade
The Social, London

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Brooklyn via San Francisco trio, Lemonade, have a passion for cowbells and Balearic house are making party waves across the pond and play their only UK gig (apart from Bestival) right here.

Wednesday 9th September
Herman Dune, Eugene McGuinness, Gaggle, Neil’s Children and An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump
229, London

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Opening night of the Fistful Of Fandango fest kicks off a treat with Israeli lo-fi french poppers, Herman Dune, heading the bill of an excellent line-up of robust acts.

Thursday 10th September
Peter Broderick
Bush Hall, London

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Classically trained Broderick, has delighted festival crowds this summer with his multi-layered, lush tracks. There will also be a screening of short film ‘The White Door’, the directorial debut by Jason ‘My Name Is Earl’ Lee.

Friday 11th September
The Waterson Family and The Eliza Carthy Band
Southbank Centre, London

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One look at 1960s footage of this clan and you’ll realise why folk is most definitely cool again. What started with The Watersons has been effortlessly handed down to the youngest Carthy.

Saturday 12th September
Tune-Yards, Jeremy Jay and more
Old Blue Last, London

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DIY, experimental folk solo act, Tune-Yards, is the new signing to 4AD and is joined on the night byhttp://www.myspace.com/jeremyjay Jay and other acts of an avant-folk bias.

Sunday 13th September
Dirty Projectors and Tune-Yards
Scala, London

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Challenging and beguiling art-poppers, Dirty Projectors, play their mix of post punk, avant pop, nu-jazz and Afro pop in this one-off London show. If you didn’t catch her at the Old Blue, Tune-Yards opens.

Categories ,adam green, ,amy winehouse, ,animal collective, ,balearic, ,dirty projectors, ,duffy, ,eliza carthy, ,eugene mcguinness, ,folk, ,gaggle, ,gemma ray, ,herman dune, ,jeremy jay, ,lemonade, ,mgmt, ,neil’s children, ,peter broderick, ,pop, ,punk, ,reggae, ,rock, ,sufjan stevens, ,the rayographs, ,the watersons, ,tune-yards, ,waterson:carthy

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Amelia’s Magazine | Wood Festival 2011 Review: Goodnight Lenin, Thea Gilmore, Telling the Bees

Tents by Lorna Scobie
Tents by Lorna Scobie.

Wood Festival is billed as one of the greenest festivals in the UK, treat a fully sustainable event that takes place in the lovely sun dappled meadows of Braziers Park in Oxfordshire. It is the brainchild of the Bennett brothers, dosage who started having babies and decided that they needed a more family friendly festival than their longer running Truck Festival, now entering its 14th year.

Wood Festival 2011
Wood Festival 2011
Wood Festival 2011
Wood Festival 2011
Wood Festival 2011
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

We arrived as dusk was falling after a hellish drive out of London, parked in a bordering field and walked past an immaculate recycling point with signs made out of old records to enter the festival a few yards down the track. As we waited for our press passes a man with his bike picked up a free beer token with his ticket, a thanks for cycling to Wood. It’s the special touches such as this that make Wood Festival quite unique.

Goodnight Lenin by Rukmunal Hakim
Goodnight Lenin by Rukmunal Hakim.

Once our tent was up it was time to check out Goodnight Lenin in the Tree Tent, where a protracted soundcheck was made light of with a humorous discussion about the various merits of certain crisp flavours.

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Goodnight Lenin.

If you’re a fan of Mumford & Sons and ilk then the sweet harmonies of this Birmingham based band should be right up your street. A real find, catch Goodnight Lenin again soon at the Moseley Folk Festival.

Goodnight Lenin by Lou Cloud
Goodnight Lenin by Lou Cloud.

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Then it was a short trot over to the main Wood Stage (when I say main, I mean it wasn’t inside a tent) for Thea Gilmore, who from afar sounded a bit 80s but up close was a bit middle of the road folk for my tastes. But she’s got a great voice and she had a good line in banter, bemoaning her lack of festival cider due to pregnancy.

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Thea Gilmore.

Back at the Tree Tent the last set of the night came from Telling the Bees, at which point I must confess that I have a bit of a soft spot for protest folk. Telling the Bees are best described as Levellers meets Circulus – a mix of tuneful folk, protest lyrics, unusual instruments and a certain sartorial extravagance. Bagpipes and pearls should be obligatory at all festivals.

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Telling the Bees.

Before bed there was just time to hang out for a bit at the central camp fire, a lovely way to end the evening.

Wood Festival 2011 camp fire

If you want to know more about Wood Festival why not read my preview interview with Robin Bennett? More to come in my next instalment soon.

Categories ,Birmingham, ,Brazier’s Park, ,circulus, ,festival, ,folk, ,Goodnight Lenin, ,Lorna Scobie, ,Lou Cloud, ,Moseley Folk Festival, ,Mumford& Sons, ,Protest Folk, ,recycling, ,review, ,Robin Bennett, ,Rukmunal Hakim, ,sustainable, ,Telling the Bees, ,The Levellers, ,Thea Gilmore, ,Tree Tent, ,Truck Festival, ,Wood Festival, ,Wood Stage

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Amelia’s Magazine | Review: Truck Festival 2011


Truck Monster Illustration by Barb Royal

Dancing like a loon to jungle music at 3am. Sitting next to a cornfield in the evening sunshine with a succulent burger in one hand and a cider in the other. No, for sale wait, getting some love from the Truck Monster…. no; feeling the love as the most perfect album in the entire history of recorded music was recreated live on stage…. I’m trying to sift through my favourite moments at Truck festival 2011, and I could sit here ad infinitum without coming any closer.

The weekend of July 22-24th is one of Summer’s prime time slots in the festival calender – if this was the telly, it would be the 7.30pm Eastenders or Corrie dilemma, so Truck has always run the risk of being overlooked by the bigger beasts of the festival scene, yet it has diligently carved itself a niche amongst good people who love great music. If I were to try to give Truck a unique selling point, I would say that it’s like attending the worlds hippest village fete (but with no pretentious ‘tude). Example? Next to the stage that Transgressive, Heavenly Records and Bella Union were curating the line-up, the local Rotary Club were serving up cups of tea and scones. At this rate, I wouldn’t have been surprised had I been served tea by a ray-bans wearing vicar.

This year, I brought a good friend who had previously only been to one festival (Glasto), so I was excited to see what she made of something a lot more intimate. Joining us for an all-too brief time was Amelia and her lovely boyfriend Tim, who I last saw at Wood Festival. Sharing the same ethos as Wood (which isn’t hard; they are run by the same family), Truck is a resolutely inclusive, family-friendly festival. Babies and tiny tots are held in high regard here, and are given plenty of fun activities and places to play, which must be a godsend for parents.

Illustration by Benbo


Amelia captures her crew in the early evening sunshine.


Photographs by Amelia Gregory

I noticed that Truck had expanded a fair bit, there were additions of a theatre space, a comedy and cabaret tent, (which I regretfully say that I didn’t give enough attention to – next year I promise!), as well as Wood Field, which was a little slice of Wood festival, curated by the Oxford Folk Festival and providing lots of environmentally friendly activities and workshops (and music of course)

Most of my time was spent by the Clash Stage. This was the place where Transgressive, Heavenly and Bella Union took turns in curating the days set list. I considered myself in safe hands with these three labels; the triumvirate of the independent music scene. I have nothing but respect and admiration for the people behind this. Not least because they nail it again and again and again. Transgressive had kicked proceedings off on Friday with acts like Gaggle, Peggy Sue, Johnny Flynn and Graham Coxon. Gaggle are a force to be reckoned with; I first saw the 20+ piece all-female performance art choir about a year ago at The Lexington and was completely transfixed. They exemplify everything great about being a woman; strong, loud, dynamic and passionate (with killer headgear), I found this photograph of Gaggle posing in the field above Truck to give you a sense of their presence.


photo by Andrew Kendall

Saturday was Heavenly Records turn to take care of us. When I was first really getting into proper music – after my Five Star faze – Heavenly were one of the first cases where I was intrigued by the label as much as the artists. Right from the get go, Heavenly had its finger on the pulse of the dreamy halcyon days of early 90′s indie-pop, underground and all matter of slightly letfield music. And they provided one of the biggest and unexpected highlights for me on Saturday night – Edwyn Collins. First of all, I had no idea how many songs of his I knew without actually realising who had sung them; of course his biggest hit was “A Girl Like You“, and his days with Orange Juice produced the glorious “Rip It Up And Start Again“, but apparently I’ve been singing along to many more of his hits over the last few years. Live, his set was faultless; it was energetic and fun and the audience were loving every minute. It was about halfway in that I suddenly remembered reading that Edwyn had suffered two strokes a few years ago and could not marry up the idea of suffering something so debilitating with the man on stage who was giving us such a wonderful show. After the weekend I learnt that after a stroke, a persons ability to sing can sometimes remain unabated. I left the set in absolute awe of this mans ability and talent.


photo by Andrew Kendall

Tearing ourself away from the Clash Stage for a hot second, we headed over to the Main Stage to catch Gruff Rhys who delivered a brilliant performance. I had never managed to see the Super Furry Animals live, so I was really happy to watch Gruff entertain us. Sensations in the Dark is one of those perfect songs where every second packs a punch – and it’s great to dance to. (Which we did of course).


Gruff Rhys Illustration by Barb Royal


Late Saturday night and the bars kicked into full swing, such as Kidstock (pictured above), home to several sambuca shots which fortified Anshu and myself for our next pit-stop – the Boxford dance tent. My lovely and kind friend Toby Kidd was DJing old skool jungle in a two hour set that led me to discovering that I can actually dance to jungle. (I’m well aware that photos exist that will disprove this belief, I’m just not going to show them to you).


Photo by Ian Taylor
Sunday was a blazing hot day and I spent the first part of the early afternoon watching bands from a horizontal position, whilst letting the good people at the Rotary Club feed me a late breakfast. (Not literally at the same time, that would be too sybaritic – even for me). Bella Union’s set was possibly my favourite over all, I loved Cashier No.9, who opened proceedings and have been playing a lot on 6Music recently. I hadn’t heard of Lantern’s On The Lake, but I really enjoyed their set – it was a mix of loud, jangly guitar and etherial shoe-gaze. In fact Lanterns took shoe-gaze to its most literal level – I didn’t get to see the lead singers eyes – she and her guitar were pointed resolutely at the floor, lost in the wall of sound that she was creating.

Alessi’s Ark is a favourite of Amelia’s Magazine and its contributors so I was eager to see her set as well. She has a sweet delicate sound that reminds me a little of Liz Fraser from Cocteau Twins, which is ironic seeing that the guitarists in the band founded Bella Union, the label that Alessi is signed to.


Alessi’s Ark Illustration by Barb Royal

While my friend went to chill out in the afternoon sunshine with a reflexology session, I made my way over to the Wood stage, where Rachael Dadd was performing songs from her new album Bite The Mountain. I’m feeling like a little bit of a Rachael groupie of late, having gone to both nights of her album launches, as well as watching the beautiful evening that she helped put on a few months ago to raise money for the Japanese tsunami appeal. So although I know most of her songs off by heart now, they still feel fresh with every listen.


Rachael Dadd Illustration by Tom Watson

The most epic part of the weekend took place on Sunday night. Over at the Main Stage, The Dreaming Spires were holding court. The band consists of Robin and Joe Bennett, the brothers behind Truck. Knowing these guys, I knew what they had up their sleeve after their blinding set, which made me very excited. So at 11pm, everyone rushed back to the Clash Tent, where alongside The Magic Numbers, Trevor Moss and Hannah Lou, and Sarah Cracknell of St Etienne, the band performed the entire album of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. From start to finish, every second was magical. The audience sang along for most of the songs, or danced furiously. Watching the album being performed live, it made me realise how sonically perfect Rumours is; the composition of each song is faultless. The songs were sometimes sung en masse, or the various bands would take it in turn to sing. Of course, it wouldn’t be Truck if the Truck Monster didn’t come on stage and dance behind the band, which added a suitably surreal touch to proceedings. It was one of those moments that can never be captured again, and I’m so glad that I got to experience such musical craftsmanship.
All of a sudden, the festival was over for me, as I had to rush home. My spies tell me that me that those who stayed danced late into the night (or early into the morning), drawing to a close a beloved festival that gets everything right.

Photograph by Ian Taylor


Some girls get all the luck. Photograph by Carolina Faruolo

Categories ,Alessi’s Ark, ,Bella Union, ,Cashier No.9, ,Clash, ,Cocteau Twins, ,Edwyn Collins, ,festivals, ,fleetwood mac, ,gaggle, ,Graham Coxon, ,Gruff Rhys, ,Heavenly Recordings, ,Johnny Flynn, ,Lanterns On The Lake, ,live, ,Orange Juice, ,Oxford, ,Oxford Folk Festival, ,Peggy Sue, ,Rachael Dadd, ,Rumours, ,Sarah Cracknell, ,St. Etienne, ,summer, ,Super Furry Animals, ,The Dreaming Spires, ,The Magic Numbers, ,Transgressive Records, ,Trevor Moss and Hannah-Lou, ,Truck Festival, ,Truck Monster, ,Wood Festival

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