Sanguinearts Network Journal

I went to a Manga/Anime fair at ExCel at the weekend (www.mcmexpo.net) with my eldest son who is into Naruto, Bleach, Shaman King etc. We queued for 2 hours, but we did finally get to look at the fair: lots of bust stands selling DVDs, games, posters, books, clothing, toys, memorabilia: all the things you'd expect. However, the most intersting thing was that half the audience (aged largely under 25) were what's known as Cosplayers. Sounding very old here. They dress up as the characters from their favourite games and films. Mostly these were from japanese animation, but ther were Dr Whos, Daleks, Power Rangers, some steampunkers too. There were probably as many girls as boys: computer games have historically been a nerdy boys domain - not here, there is romance and realistic female heroines.  And it was quite racially diverse. Think you might be gay/lesbian/bi/trans? fine, dress up as who you want, girl or boy. The characters are all very androgenous anyway. It made me think of the Bowie boys (and girls) of the early 70s, and the punks; but there was no snarling political apathy or disaffection, just teenage hormones overflowing and complete conformity and compliance to their media-worship. These kids don't know what rebellion is. Needlesss to say, my boy wants to be a Cosplayer too next time... I have to thank him for getting me into Alan Moore (V for Vendetta, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Watchmen etc) just by being in the same environment.  

But please, no more 'Free Hugs'.

Glenn Brown paintings reproducing old masters at Gagosian Gallery, Britannia Street until 26 Nov. Meanwhile Cy Twombly responds to Kerouac's On The Road at Davies Street, until 28 Nov. www.gagosian.com

Atlas Gallery have a show of artist's polaroids, lamenting this medium's demise. Artists include Ansel Adams, Araki, David Bailey, Peter Blake, Erwitt, Walker Evans, Mapplethorpe, Helmut Newton, Mark Quinn, Rankin, Warhol and others; until 28 Nov.  www.atlasgallery.com

Thursday 3rd December
SIMON BOOKISH + SAXOPHONES, FARFISA, BASS AND DRUMS : Live at the ICA
This will be a full-length Simon Bookish set, as part of the monthly "Heavy Pencil" night, which features visuals created in real-time by guest illustrators. It may well be the last chance for a while to witness the Bookish band in it's present incarnation. If you want an audio preview, check the Bookish website where you can listen to all three Simon Bookish albums, the singles, remixes, etc, including the recent album EVERYTHING/EVERYTHING

Shlomo & The Vocal Orchestra: BoxedThursday 7 - Friday 8 January 2010

This brand new theatrical show from Shlomo and acclaimed beatbox choir The Vocal Orchestra brings together extraordinary vocal gymnastics and slick choreography, with live vocal music, ranging from jazz to Latin to drum and bass.

Book tickets / More info »

Litro Live 29 October features the usual mix of spoken word and music, but this time its 18:00 - 00:00 in the Serpentine Bar and Kitchen, Hyde Park. Talk is of ghosts and vampires, but the thing which interest me is 24 year old artist and macabre taxidermist Adele Morse. www.litro.co.uk 

New Year's Eve Party with Bellowhead Thursday 31 December, Southbank Centre
Join Bellowhead and guests for a night on the high seas to celebrate New Year's Eve. Expect special sets from the band, DJs, games, access to an exclusive riverside terrace to watch the fireworks and much more at this unique nautical-themed party.

Book tickets / More info »

A collection of Morrissey B-sides and outtakes from recent albums comes out on 26 October, entitled Swords.

This coming Saturday 17 Oct, a number of London galleries open late to co-incide with the opening of that big sycophantic, back slapping shopping mall called Frieze. So show a little class and go to Whitechapel, Chisenhale, Maureen Paley et al instead. Whitechapel have 'Sophie Calle: Talking to Strangers', with premiered new works and older ones from her catalogue. Also on is the British Council Collection: My Yard
http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/sophie-calle-talking-to-strangers

Ed Ruscha opens at the Hayward Gallery tomorrow
http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/festivals-series/ed-ruscha-fifty-years-of-painting

Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus opens this week, staring the late Heath Ledger, Jude Law, Johnny Depp and others.

Chris Jones has published his seventh online book at www.lighthinking.com: Johnny Rth'ko (Syngnathiformes?) 2004-09. "Continuing my search through the overlaps of writing & photography, as a way to compose interesting story-form, I've combined 48 pieces of writing about Johnny, 14 Rothko-eque pages, and 1 black & white photo, into a book you can download for free from my website"

New music suggested by Dave:

Philip Pullman: Tall Tales from the Afterlife
Thursday 12 November, Southbank Centre
Philip Pullman and David Eagleman discuss fantastic fiction, science and the afterlife as part of an evening of performance with contributions from Nick Cave, Miranda Richardson, Clarke Peters and other mystery performers.

Barbican:
Magma/ JP Massiera/ Chrome Hoof
Tue 6 Oct, 7.30pm
Curated by musical sage and crate-digger extraordinaire Andy Votel, this show brings together intense cosmic rock and freewheeling psychedelic grooves. Featuring French prog-rock Magma - a truly visionary ensemble led by drummer and mystic Christian Vander, psychedelic disco from legendary JP Massiera alongside London-based ritualistic collective Chrome Hoof. 

Martha Wainwright sings Piaf
Wed 11 Nov, 8pm
Martha Wainwright and Hal Willner recently paired together to create a live recording of rare Piaf songs. This is the London debut of that show, featuring New York musicians including pianist Thomas Bartlett, electric guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Doug Wieselman, and bassist Brad Albetta. 
 
The Graham Coxon Power Acoustic Ensemble
Sat 28 Nov, 8pm
Graham Coxon returns from the triumphant Blur reunion tour to produce this special concert at the Barbican based around his recent critically acclaimed 7th solo album Spinning Top. 

Shoot Spitalfields
Sunday 11 October 2009
Toynbee Studios, 28 Commercial Street, London, E1 6AB. Held in conjunction with photomonth, Shoot Experience heads back to its East London roots for Shoot Spitalfields, the last official photo treasure hunt of the year. 
Get together a team of 2-4 people and head off to solve clues, constructing photos as your answers. Each team’s
photos will be exhibited at photomonth’s photoopen with prizes to be won for the most creative photos  Come and capture the heart of Spitalfields in all its Sunday glory.
Time: 11.15am-6.30pm, cost: £15 per person
http://www.shootexperience.com/tickets

Auto-Italia South East Gallery 
"New Display Strategies
Thursday, October 15 at 11:00am
I don’t know how close I am to a mountain
Saturday, October 17 at 7:00pm
Better Place Portraiture - Fantasmagora
on Saturday, October 17 at 10:00pm
GUIDED TOURS
Saturday, October 17 at 9:00am

Free Tortoise download and Cluster to support
Tortoise + Cluster
Sunday 22 November, Southbank Centre

For this one-off show, seminal electronic pioneers Cluster have been confirmed to support post-rockers Tortoise. Since their beginnings in Berlin in 1970, Cluster have been a key influence for musicians such as David Bowie and Brian Eno.

To celebrate this exciting double-bill, we have a free download from Tortoise's acclaimed new album Beacons of Ancestorship to give away.

Buy tickets / Free Download / More info »

Screenings: Artist and Feature Films

Wednesday 07 October & Wednesday 21 October, 6.30-9.00pm, Camden Arts CEntre

On selected Wednesday evenings in October and November, we will be screening a special programme of films chosen by artist/curator Paulina Olowska to accompany the exhibition.

7 October, 6.30-9.00pm
Artist Film:
Catherine Sullivan, 'Morbid Naturalism (from the Chittendens)', 2005 

Feature Film:
'Faces' (dir. John Cassavetes, 1968)

21 October, 6.30-9.00pm
Artist Film:
Nina Könnemann, 'Pleasure Beach', 2001

Feature film:
'Three Women' (dir. Robert Altman, 1977)

Wednesday 04 November, 6.30-9.00pm
Artist Film:
Trailer for Ken Okiishi’s ‘Goodbye to Manhattan’, 2009

Feature Film:
‘L’important c’est d’aimer’ (dir. Andrzej Zulawski, 1975)

Paul Anthony Long – “Joe Fury and the Hard Death” (Out 1st Sept)

Over the years Paul has been working privately on a number of film opportunities as director, writer and cameraman, as well as being commissioned for band videos and a variety of other local projects.

“Joe Fury and the Hard Death” however is Paul’s debut novel and I am pleased to announce is being released by www.frontlistbooks.co.uk - the advance copies are already receiving great reviews and as with all worthy releases has been advertised for sale prior to the release date at reputable stockist such as Amazon and Waterstone’s.

So what can you expect from this read, well Joe Fury is a private eye taking on a troublesome case involving the fantastically named “Sisters of the Immaculate Immolation” (how can you possibly go wrong with a story involving Nuns with guns!)… But that’s not all, thriving on a whole host of alternative realities and well thought out characters, such Preston the double crossing cross dresser, this is bound to capture your imagination and have you in comedy stitches.

If you wish to find out what goes on in Paul’s mind in order to concoct such a story he will be attending book signings/readings at the following venues:

Red Lion Books Colchester – 11th Sept, 7pm til 10pm

Waterstone’s Portsmouth – 3rd Oct, 12pm til 3pm

Alternatively, follow the below links and purchase yourself a copy:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=joe+fury+and+the+hard+death

http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/simpleSearch.do?simpleSearchString=paul+anthony+long&searchType=0

Cheers

Teeth

Late at Tate Britain on Friday 4 September features performances, music including vampiric metal band Whitby Bay, mixtapes by Michael Raedecker, and an outdoor screening of David Lynch's Elephant Man.
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/eventseducation/lateattatebritain/lateattatebritain2009september.htm

Leo Chadburn aka Simon Bookish is playing two live shows next week: the first is on Tuesday 1 September at Café Oto in Dalston, with a string quartet. The second is on Friday 4 September is as part of an ensemble playing at the Royal Festival during the Pestival festival which we mentioned before. http://pestival.org

On Monday night the Roxy Bar and Screen are holding a John Hughes tribute and screening The Breakfast Club.
www.roxybarandscreen.com

22 November Chicago jazz-post rockers Tortoise play on the Southbank. And on 9 October Norwegian Death metal come electronica onceptualists Ulver are playing. AND, on Tuesday 1 September (ie next week), Magazine are playing!
www.southbankcentre.co.uk

AC/DC – Wembley Stadium 26th June

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get round to writing a review - but then again, I can’t believe it’s taken AC/DC the last 9 years to release a new studio album, plus the 9 years (except the Hammersmith gig) to play the UK again.

By the time the Black Ice album was due to be released, I have to say I was a bit apprehensive, worried that it wasn’t going to live up to expectations and that I’d listen to it a couple of times before reverting back to the old days… What they have however released in my opinion is an amazing instant classic of an album (I’m not biased honest – the songs, the production, awesome), so how excited was I when an old work friend managed to get hold of those much sort after tickets.

Upon arrival, we couldn’t believe how impressive the stadium is and the atmosphere outside was buzzing with Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath and such like filling the air through the outside speakers.

Support slot came from the Subways, who were actually pretty damn good although despite trying hard were never going to get the whole of Wembley to clap along… unlike DC.

So here we go, and to up on the main screens was a cartoon animation of an Angus devil driving a train whilst being distracted by two seductive ladies. The train gradually sounding faster and faster, before getting out of control and a real locomotive crashing through the back of the stage as the band burst on to “Rock n Roll Train” – one of 5 songs tonight taken from the new album.

The amount of new songs meant not too many surprises in terms of set list, although I was chuffed to see “Shot Down in Flames” wasn’t dropped for the tour. “Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to be” sounded awesome, as did the closely followed “Back in Black”.

It was when the sun went down that the show really came into it’s own though at which point the opening notes to “Thunderstruck” were met with one of the largest cheers so far of the evening. A couple of numbers later and we were into “the Jack” a song about a dirty woman… where we also got the token Angus Young striptease. There’s something a bit wrong about egging on a 54 year old man in a school uniform to strip off to his boxers, but somehow when you have over 60,000 other (mostly hairy old men) doing it everything seems perfectly normal…

There was more of course, Brian Johnston running half the length of a football field to swing from “Hells Bells” and announcing they’d brought their girlfriend with them as a huge inflatable “Whole Lotta Rosie” straddled the stage.

“You Shook me All Night Long” probably got the loudest sing along and for “Let there be Rock” Angus’ huge solo was unbelievable, making full use of the stage, the crowd hanging off every note cheering for more… and that was it…. Well, with the exception of the predictable (yet necessary!) encore.

Flames came up out the stage, shortly followed by Angus and we were on a “Highway to Hell” followed by “For those About to Rock” complete with the 21 (or rather 12) gun salute.

Then it was time for that mass exodus… had we possibly seen the rigid strong rhythm section of Maclom, Cliff and Phil, along with Geordie through n through Brian and demonic Angus, play one of their last gigs before retirement? I hope not, for amongst other reasons, this is the band that got me into music… long live rock n roll, long live DC. \oo/

Duncan Ward  will be performing a new work at the opening of artist Christina Mitrentse's solo show 'Building my Library', at the NO:ID gallery. The PV is from 7-9pm on Thursday 13 August, with the performance and other events happening afterwards in the club next door. The exhibition continues just until 16 August.
www.noidgallery.net
www.christinamitrentse.com

Men's Suits is an ArtAngel exhibition at the Fire Station in Chiltern Street (London W1) until 20 September. It features hundreds of suits 'painstakingly recreated on a diminutive scale in a dizzying array of colours and styles'.

http://www.artangel.org.uk/projects/2009/mens_suits

Beuys is Here: Sculpture Object Action Revolution is an exhibition of works by Beuys from the D'Offay Artists Rooms collection. On display at the De La Warr Pavillion, Bexhill on Sea until 27 September.
www.dlwp.com

The Foto8 Award and Summer Show  of photography is on now until 31 August at HOST gallery, Honduras Street EC1.
www.foto8.com/summershow

The Biennial Outside In exhibition for marginalised artists opens on the evening of FRiday 7 August, and runs until Sunday 8 November at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester.
http://www.pallant.org.uk/phg/html/programme/exhibitions/forthcoming/forthcomingexhibitions.html

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More info: http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/productions/playing-the-building--3268 

Thanks to Mr Teeth for letting us know about this one.

Roxy Bar and Screen have the critically acclaimed teenage vampire movie 'Let The Right One In' on 10 and 11 August 20:00. www.roxybarandscreen.com

Apologies if you've been experiencing any problems viewing our main site. If so, that's because we've been having some problems with our server providers. It should be resolved soon and the site back bigger and better.

20 October Soap+Skin, aka Anja Plaschg the amazing young song and experimentalist, appears on the Southbank. Her album Lovetune for Vacuum is out now.
www.soapandskin.com
http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/music/productions/soap-skin-48833
Also on the Southbank at the start of September is a season called Live from the Hive, which is all inspired by insects.

Quiet Revolution is a Hayward Touring show, currently at the Milton Keynes Gallery until 30 August. http://www.mk-g.org/index.php?id=401
Matthew Calderwood, Some Things Just Work, 1997

The current exhibition at the South London Gallery is called Beyond these Walls with seven artists looking at the gallery's building, history and location. Until 20 September
http://www.southlondongallery.org/docs/exh/exhibition.jsp?id=161&view=future

There's a performance event at Auto Italia South East Gallery on Saturday 8 August called PROH-SOH'PA-PEER Part 1, by Richard John Jones. They also have a current exhibition called Untitled (some kind of benchmark).
www.autoitaliasoutheast.org

Lars Von Trier's new thriller Antichrist is out now starring Willem Dafoe and Charotte Gainsbourg.

12 - 27 September the Barbican are having a season focusing on the work of Werner Herzog.
http://www.barbican.org.uk/film/series.asp?id=751&show=listing&utm_campaign=CINW220709B&utm_source=Weekly_Cinema_Email&utm_medium=Internal_Email&utm_content=CINW220709B_Main_Text_Herzog1

I recently bought some records (not something I do all the time, particularly since downloading became the norm). Morrissey - Years of Refusal: possibly his best solo record to date, new levels to his voice, great production, good songs, a good bite to the backing band. Morrissey - Live at Earls Court: another god slice of his solo stuff and some Smiths tracks. I bet the DVD is great, and it was only £2.99 in the sale! Manic Street Preachers - Journal For Plague Lovers: again, best work in years, Richie's lyrics return us to Holy Bible territory, the quick recordings retain an immediacy lacking from recent efforts. It got me to look back at the 'forgotten' works with new interest. 

The Kasabian single 'Fire' is a great new track and it has got me wondering whether any of their earlier stuff is any good. Dave played me a remix track when I was down in Pompey at the weekend; but we both confessed to being completely oblivious to them, having written them off as another posturing  post-Oasis act. I caught a little bit of Radio 1 in the car this morning and Chris Moyles was kind of saying the same, so perhaps this album is particularly different.

For any of you with any interest in the Sanguinearts project White Cliff Sands, we exchanged some of the now-almost-complete demos. There is still another tape of recordings to work on, but there have also been some developments towards the art direction, with images and titles being proposed. Sorry it's only taken2 years...

Coming up: Joy Division (Grant Gee 2007) Roxy Bar and Screen Sun 5 July 17:00 After the success of Control, this documentary was slightly overlooked, providing a fine factual insight into the band and their life and times growing up in Manchester. www.roxybarandscreen.com

Sun 19 Jul Barbican Very Cellular Songs: The Music of the Incredible String Band Featuring Mike Heron, Clive Palmer, Robyn Hitchcock, Danny Thompson, Richatrd Thompson, Dr Strangely Strange and more https://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=9000

Sat 25 Jul Barbican Antibalas + Gangbe Brass Band eclectic beats, energetic sounds, political musings FreeStage: Grupo Lokito + Che Sudaka ClubStage: Zun Zun Egui and AJ Holmes DJ set

Jeff Koons: Popeye Series Serpentine Gallery until 13 Sept http://www.serpentinegallery.org/2008/06/jeff_koons_popeye_series2_july.html

Radical Nature: Art and Architecture for a Changing Planet 1969 - 2009 until 18 October Barbican http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=8908

Walking in My Mind: Adventure into the artist's imagination Hayward Gallery until 6 September Ten international artists transform the Hayward Gallery's indoor galleries and outdoor sculpture terraces into a series of gigantic sculptural environments, each of which represents an individual mindscape. Featuring: Charles Avery, Thomas Hirschhorn, Pipilotti Rist, and Keith Tyson. Artist's talk: Thomas Hirschhorn Friday 17 July 19:00 Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall Martin Parr Tuesday 14 July Martin Parr presents Parrworld, an exploration of the themes and subjects which drive his inimitable work. Behind the sometimes lurid and eccentric images lie sharp insights into politics and social class. http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/festivals-series/walking-in-my-mind

The Wild as Will and Mediation: Daniel Lehan, Suzanne Moxhay, Nicholas Symes Wiebke Morgan Gallery until 26 July work by three artists who share an interest in the re-processing of existing cultural production to create reflections of imaginative worlds built from material culture, rather than from 'natural' or 'direct' experience. www.wiebkemorgan.com

TOM HUNTER : A JOURNEY BACK  until Sep 18, 2009 Four significant bodies of work including two previously unseen works by one of Britain's most important photographers THE ARTS GALLERY  65 Davies St, W1K 5DA www.arts.ac.uk/gallery.htm

POOR. OLD. TIRED. HORSE. until Aug 25, 2009 An expansive look at text-based art practice including Carl Andre, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Philip Guston, David Hockney, Robert Smithson ICA The Mall, SW1Y 5AH www.ica.org.uk

GROUP SHOW : CURATED BY RICHARD WENTWORTH until Aug 15, 2009 LISSON GALLERY 52-54 Bell St, NW1 5DA www.lissongallery.com

TRACEY EMIN: THOSE WHO SUFFER LOVE May 29 - Jul 4, 2009  WHITE CUBE 25-26 Mason's Yard, SW1Y 6BU www.whitecube.com