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| INSIDE ISSUE NUMBER 99
| THIS WEEK'S HEADLINES
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Dear Flashers,
The slow stretch of summer is finally upon us... so you think it's time to leave town and maybe enjoy some cocktails by a beach somewhere as there's no culture to be had. Nay we say... Now pay attention here, we're taking our annual summer break and leaving you with a longer Flash (45 events!) but with shorter previews/reviews.
August sees the release of My Architect by Louis Kahn's son, a new print of Tarkovsky's Mirror, some great talks and screenings at the NFT (Peter Biskind and Wong Kar-Wai among others) as well as the free screenings on the Fourth Wall. There are boat parties and carnivals for those not heading to Edinburgh or its fringe.
While for the more thoughtful of you there're screenings of philosophers on film ( Zizek, Chomsky, Lacan, Derrida et al) and if that's not enough Michael Hardt is a keynote speaker at a philosophy conference. For visual intellectuals the Saul Bass exhibition is followed by a symposium and for the rest, there're building tours! If what we have is not enough to fill your month and maybe a little too "conventional", then we say catch some skating at Meanwhile... Back At The Park (15/08) or some music and wrestling at Cargo (12/08). Yes, we said "wrestling".
The header for this issue is a poster specially commissioned for Manifesta 5 and designed by Kim Hiorthoy, who is also the week's artworker. We are very pleased to showcase some of his work as Hirothoy is an admired graphic artist and filmmaker turned electronic musician.
Sadly, for the moment, we've come to the end of our poem of the week series, and to close it we're bringing you a special double-bill.
For the next -- 100th -- issue, we will be putting on a small redesign to our site, and welcome any comments from you, our audience. By the time that issue hits your screens, the mini-soap opera at Soho Square should have settled and you'll be gagging for regular KF service. Also on the transfer market is a position at the Hayward, which follows hot on the heels of the vacancy at the ICA.
Have a lovely August!
PS normal Flashing will resume on 08/09 with our centenary issue! And maybe then we'll also find out who the new Bond is. | | | |
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| FILM | |
ZIZEK: THE REALITY OF THE VIRTUAL | Thursday 5 August (Thu 05/08 and Fri 06/08 at 3pm; Sun 08/08 at 2pm) | @ ICA, The Mall, SW1 (020.7930.3647) Tube: Charing Cross/Piccadilly Circus | Price: general £6.50 | concessions £5.50 | | Slavoj Zizek is a one-man-intellectual-educational circus. "Educational" 'cause his Everything you always wanted to know about Lacan (but were afraid to ask Hitchcock) serves not only as a guide to the French psychoanalyst's thoughts but also provides a different look at Hitchcock's films. The Slovenian uber-theorist, has been putting ideology and the political -- rather than people -- through the Lacanian grinder. Here, the large bearded-one is once again taking us through Lacan via popular culture, and outlining its ramifications on belief. Don't expect any imagery or anything like an Atlas Group performance, just a man at a green desk and an engagement with some " real" things. (Wed 04/08 to Fri 06/08 at 3pm and Sun 08/08 at 2pm.) NB: There will also be screenings of Noam Chomsky ( 09/08 to 15/08), Jacques Lacan's Psychoanalysis I (16/08 to 22/08) and Derrida (23/08 to 29/08) at the ICA, and for you serious philoso-flashers Michael Hardt will be speaking at the University of Greenwich (26/08 to 28/08).
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| ART | |
ART OF THE GARDEN: DIARMUID GAVIN... | Friday 6 August (Late At Tate on Fri 06/08 from 7 - 10pm; exhibition runs till 30/08 ) | | Price: Free with exhibition ticket | | | | | BACK TO TOP |
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| BOAT PARTY / CLUB / DJ | |
VARIOUS BOAT PARTIES | Saturday 7 August (Sat 07/08 at 7pm, Sun 08/08 at 11:45am, Thu 19/08 at 9pm and ) | @ various boats see below for details | Price: see various websites | | Sat 07/08
Layo & Bushwacka: Dusk 'Til Dawn
Silver Sturgeon -- Savoy Pier, WC2 (7 - 11pm)
Party starts on the boat and continues after at The End ( 11 - 6:30am). So make sure you rest up and are ready for this marathon! (Boat leaves the pier at 7pm sharp.)
Sun 08/08Zeitgeist
Golden Jubilee -- Temple Dock, WC2 (11:45am - 4pm)
This party brought to you by Domino and Ninja Tune is a day cruise and a benefit for the NSPCC . Musical treats provided by Max Tundra, DJ Food and others. (Afterparty at the Temple Yacht Club.)
Sun 15/08
The Triangle Ship
Boat tbd -- Swan Pier, Swan Lane, EC4 (2 - 8pm)
Sancho Panza... we don't need really need to say anything here because you all know their boat parties are lengendary and always sell out. (Line-up: Matt Brown and D'Julz.)
Thu 19/08
Acid On The Sea
Dutch Master -- Tower Pier, London Bridge, EC4 (8:45pm - 2am)
Warp (with support from Rephlex and WHIO) quite frankly tempts fate by inviting hundreds of stoutly constituted ravers aboard the Dutch Master for a nautical mash-up. As if the pitch and yaw of the Thames weren't enough, Luke Vibert captains a line-up defined by gurgly acid and woozy bass. Test your sea-legs with Plaid's naive rave, the timber-shivering Ceephax Acid Crew and barnacle-encrusted DJs from Rephlex. As is usual with these affairs, caution will be thrown to the wind immediately after leaving "port" as any deviation from the clubbing norm is taken as a cue to invoke acid house mentalism. A limited 300 tickets are availabe so buy your tickets asap by clicking here. NB: all boats leave sharp at the above times so do not be late! | | | BACK TO TOP |
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| FILM | |
NOAM CHOMSKY IN OUR TIMES | Monday 9 August (Mon 09/08 to Fri 13/08 at 3pm and Sun 15/08 at 2pm) | @ ICA, The Mall, SW1 (020.7930.3647) Tube: Charing Cross/Piccadilly Circus | Price: general £6.50 | concessions £5.50 | | Noam Chomsky is the living Elvis of academia. He's probably the only linguistic theorist you can name and, as the founder of the Chomskyian Revolution, he's brought genetics, philosophy and politics to bear on the very notion of naming anything at all. In the beginning was the word and from that all else flows. So when, as has been his habit since the '60s,
Chomsky considers US foreign policy, it's with a depth of reference and philosophical rigour Michael Moore couldn't summon in a month of donuts. Like Moore, though, he thinks the US government is guilty of war crimes. Power and Terror offers the full dissident argument but without the baseball cap. (Mon 09/08 to Fri 13/08 at 3pm and Sun 15/08 at 2pm.) NB: There will also be screenings of Slavoj Zizek ( 04/08 to 08/08), Jacques Lacan's Psychoanalysis I (16/08 to 22/08) and Derrida (23/08 to 29/08) at the ICA, and for you serious philoso-flashers Michael Hardt will be speaking at the University of Greenwich (26/08 to 28/08). | | | BACK TO TOP |
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| | MULTIMEDIA | |
MYRIORAMA | Thursday 12 August (Thu 12/08 and Fri 13/08 at 8:30pm) | @ Project Market, Silwex House, Quaker St, London E1 6SN | Price: £5 | | Inspired by Italo Calvino's short story A King Listens from his book Under a Jaguar Sun, Myriorama -- a sensory-extravaganza -- unfolds the world of one whose environment is all ears and all eyes; one for whom every whisper and rumour is heard distinctly, for whom every movement is watched and logged. Myriorama is the result of a head-on collision between two creative forces -- London's hybrid arts collective, ambientTV.net, and Canada's great innovators of dance, kondition pluriel. Live dance and digital-media are thoroughly immersed in a provocative soundscape for this inspirational and highly observant performance that throws a canny spin on the who's-watching-who phenomena. Paranoid? Piss-off Big Brother and join the revolutionary stirrings of the brave new world. NB: Myriorama runs for two nights on Thu 12/08 and Fri 13/08. | | | BACK TO TOP |
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MY ARCHITECT | Friday 13 August | @ various cinemas across London | Price: check press for times and tickets prices | | Were this film just a deeply personal documentary by, and about, a secret illegitimate son who goes in search of the traces of his long-dead father, it would be very watchable. Now add the not insignificant fact that this father was Louis I. Kahn, one of the greatest architects of the 20th century, and it becomes a fascinating tale of a man who reached perfection in architecture, but was something less than perfect in his personal life. Kahn's beautifully filmed works, from the Salk Institute (California) to his Parliament Building (Bangladesh), form the background to a film that's very much more than the sum of its parts. | | | BACK TO TOP |
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| FILM | |
MIRROR | Friday 13 August (screens till 02/09) | @ ICA, The Mall, SW1 (020.7930.3647) Tube: Charing Cross/Piccadilly Circus | Price: general £6.50 | concessions £5.50 | | This mesmerising and most autobiographical of Andrei Tarkovsky's films was funded by his more popular, but less personally favoured, Solaris. Moving between three time periods and dreamlike vignettes, Mirror tells the story of a man reconciling himself to a fatherless childhood while struggling to be a father in his own right. The surreal, psychic landscape of images marries yearning with memory... watch for the tiny heartbeat throbbing under a little patch of hairless scalp. Masterfully scored with sound effects, and classical music, it's voice-over comes from his real father reading his own perfectly relevant poetry, an inter- documentary parallel between the isolation of the main character with Russia's own isolation. The political relevance, however, is second to the deep personal exploration. NB: this new print screens at the ICA till 02/09. | | | BACK TO TOP |
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DON'T LOOK NOW | Saturday 14 August (9pm) | | Price: general £5 | concessions £3 | | See this masterpiece in the dreamy surroundings of Kensington Gardens. This is the haunting story of a grief-stricken couple, the heart-wrenchingly, divine Julie Christie and gruff, hairy Donald Sutherland, who go to a wintry Venice to recover from the death of their young daughter. Sinister events abound; a woman's body is pulled out of the canal and they encounter a blind clairvoyant. Nicolas Roeg exquisitely exploits Venice's idiosyncracies; the scythe-like gondola blades, black water and the echoing, shadowy maze of alleys. An atmosphere of tension pervades the screen as the husband sights a small figure in a blood-red coat and gives chase. NB: tickets need to booked via Ticket Web (08700.600.100), the Serpentine (020.7402.6075) or from the gallery front desk.
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| CLUB / FESTIVAL | |
WANG | Saturday 14 August (Sat 14/08 and Sat 04/09) | @ secret location outside London | Price: FREE | | WANG has taken to the hills for the summer, indomitably staging free raves in the countryside until they take residency at their new London raving space. The last two tunes of their final night "indoors" were Underground Resistance's " The Final Frontier" and Bronski Beat's " Small Town Boy", which should tell you all you need to know about a club which combines unassailable techno credentials with dopey big hugs. As ever, residents Lula and Electro Elvis play host to the usual complement of top-drawer quests, which last month included Radioactive Man, Mark Broom and an (unannounced) Squarepusher. A lovely big electro mash-up, in a field under the stars. Not to mention the wonderfully retro experience of bombing round the M25 in a rave convoy. NB: for the exact location of the party call the WANG party line (07904.343.408) on the evening of Sat 14/08. On 04/09 Wang returns from its London hiatus at their new London venue, The Dungeons (Rig Approach, Lea Bridge Road, E10). | | | BACK TO TOP |
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| ART | |
SHIMABUKU | Ends Sunday 15 August (Thu to Sat 11am - 6pm, Sun 12pm - 6pm) | | Price: FREE | | Within Japanese culture, there is a notion of the travelling monk or masterless samurai ( ronin), and one gets the impression that Michihiro Shimabuku also fits this fine tradition. From Japan to Brazil to New York's Dia and now London's East End, the artist is travelling the world and responding to both himself-in-the-world and his situation. Here, there's his famous rubber band piece in which we discover our girth, a box speaking its own mind ("...I am happy that I am a box") and a video of a dog swimming competition. Mere observation or another way of making contact with strangers? NB: runs till 15/08. | | | BACK TO TOP |
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| CONCERT | |
JOANNA NEWSOM | Monday 16 August | | Price: £6 (advance) | | One of the young prodigies of contemporary indie-alternative music arises from Nevada City, home town to the great Minimal pianist Terry Riley. A 22-year-old harpist-singer, Joanna Newsom has recently toured with Devendra Banhart, the rising star of neo-folk songwriting. Her career was launched by live collaborations with the likes of Will Oldham (aka Bonnie Prince Billy) and Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power). Her latest release on the Drag City label, The Milk Eyed Mender shows an ability to combine taut harp movements with vibrato, childlike vocals, sometimes recalling her peers from Brooklyn, the duo CocoRosie. This will be her first UK appearance before heading to the Green Man Festival. NB: support from Micah P. Hinson. | | | BACK TO TOP |
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| JAZZ | |
BEVAN, ROBINSON QUARTET FEAT. BAILEY | Tuesday 17 August (7:30pm) | | Price: £7 | | A chance to hear the legendary British guitarist Derek Bailey as he makes a one-off stop in London where he'll be teaming up with four UK contemporary jazz musicians: Orphy Robinson (on vibraphone, marimba and percussion), Tony Bevan (tenor and bass saxophone), John Edwards (double bass) and regular Spring Heel Jack's half Ashley Wales (electronics). With the amount of cross-references each artist has accumulated ( Sunny Murray's Trio, Derek Bailey's Limescale, Evan Parker, Peter Brotzmann, Paul Lovens and others), this is British jazz improv at its best. NB: be sure also to catch the monthly improv Back in your town event organised by Ashley Wales at the Red Rose Club on 19/08 with Ian Watson, Lol Coxhill, John Coxon, John Edwards, Paul Rutherford, Pete Marsh and Rian Vosloo. Info can be found here. | | | BACK TO TOP |
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| DANCE / THEATRE | |
BALLROOM | Tuesday 17 August (Tue 17/08 till Sun 22/08 at 7:45pm) | @ Riverside Studios, Crisp Rd., W6 (020.8237.1111) Tube: Hammersmith Broadway | Price: general £15 | concessions £9 | | The BBC's Strictly Come Dancing rescued ballroom dancing from the province of Angela Rippon and made it momentarily hip for D-list celebrities without hip replacements. Sequins and feathers camouflage the social negotiations taking place during waltz, foxtrot and cha-cha-cha; John Retallack's Ballroom choreographs relationships between four senior citizens at a tea-dance with uneasy dialogue, while ghosts of their younger selves articulate the desired fluid movements their ages prevent. Retallack's work emerged from the testimonies recounted by dancers at the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea, and recognises the distinct experience of old age, uncovering how successful partnership in dance is underpinned by physical communication with as much nuance as conversation. NB: Ballroom runs from 17/08 till 22/08. Ian Breakwell's video installation, The Other Side, of dancers at the pavilion is being screened continuously at Tate Britain until November. | | | BACK TO TOP |
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| CONCERT | |
DEERHOOF | Wednesday 18 August (7:30pm) | @ ICA, The Mall, SW1 (020.7930.3647) Tube: Charing Cross/Piccadilly Circus | Price: general £8 | concessions £7 | | A welcome return for Deerhoof as All Tomorrow's Parties hosts a one-off at the ICA. Karen O and Matt Groening are fans, no doubt enticed by an ooh-how-punk! racket and the cartoon hero of their recent concept album -- a cute/terrifying dream-monster named the Milk Man. True of heart and loose of brain, Deerhoof's dazzling pop repertoire is the antithesis of droning art-rock tedium. Sonic Youth they're not. Deerhoof they are! | | | BACK TO TOP |
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| FILM / TALK | |
NFT TALKS AND SCREENINGS | Friday 20 August (Fri 20/08 at 6:20pm, Sun 22/08 at 6:30pm and Sun 31/08 at 6:30pm) | | Price: various see website for details | | Fri 20/08 at 6:20pm
Peter Biskind: Down and Dirty and Reservoir Dogs
With a new book out, Peter Biskind, author of Easy Riders, Raging Bulls..., is in town to discuss his " sequel", Down and Dirty. This continues his expose of the American avant-garde film by documenting the rise of the American indie scene in the '80s, with Tarantino, the Sundance Festival and the Weinstein brothers taking a starring role. Biskin has selected Reservoir Dogs to complement his talk. Expect him to dish some dirt!
Sun 22/08 at 6:30pm
Colin Firth and Marc Evans: Trauma
Ben ( Colin Firth) awakens to find that his wife has been killed and his world shattered. This is one of those stylish, fragmented, broken mirror, psychological thrillers, in which the main character, and, by extension, we the audience, try to make sense of a reality that no longer seems sensible. Ominous sound effects, elliptical editing, and shadowy lighting add to the unease. You just know it's all going to end horribly ...
Tue 31/08 at 6:30pm
Wong Kar-Wai: 2046
So, Flash fave Wong Kar- Wai has been in the press recently for his less-than-spectacular results with 2046, his follow-up to In the Mood for Love. In town, no doubt, to prove his critics wrong, the meandering but thoughtful and inventive director is always cool with his trademark black and cigarettes. No doubt this strange sci-fi flick will add nuance to a genre already made richer by Tarkovsky's Solaris and Kubrick's 2001, but we expect that Wong's themes of love and melancholy will prevail.
NB: to add to the party, there is also a Federico Fellini festival that runs till 30/09. | | | BACK TO TOP |
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| DJ | |
MIRA CALIX, ANDREA PARKER, PLAID... | Friday 20 August (6:30 - 11pm) | | Price: FREE | | Rooftops are essential summer-in-the-city survival habitats, and if you have one suddenly all ya mates will be round at every available moment with those two quid bbqs, bargain wine and maybe even some music. Whether guitar, iPod or radio, genre arguments will ensue. So to settle them, on 20/08 text ya mates that that this night the party moves to the Hayward rooftop and music will be supplied by Warp's Mira Calix. It's a "launch party" for her 3 Commissions album, which includes inspirations from Geneva's Museum d'Histoire Naturelle commissioned Nunu, where she got to graft onto their recordings of insect noises her music. Accompanying Mira on the decks, laptop etc. will be Andrea Parker ( Touchin' Bass), Plaid DJs and Mark Broom ( Pure Plastic/ King Of The Snakes). Oh, and -- like your roof -- tell ya mates it's free! Giveaway: we have 10 copies of Nunu to give away. They'll go to 10 randomly picked Flashers who can name Kim Hoirthoy's latest release. | | | BACK TO TOP |
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KOYAANISQATSI, METROPOLIS... | Ends Saturday 21 August (Sat 07/08, 14/08 and 21/08 at 10pm) | @ National Theatre, South Bank, SE1 (020 7452 3400) Tube: Embankment/Waterloo | Price: FREE | | Sat 07/08
Koyaanisqatsi
Swim the streams of your own blood through fast-motion footage of night-time gridlock, catch clouds rumble like smoke across mountains, buildings explode and fold to the ground, nuclear explosions, the robotic working of factory hands, faces framed by speeding trains. In the opening minutes of Godfrey Reggio's masterpiece, Koyaanisqatsi, we experience what feels like the end of the world and its strange aftermath. It's both gorgeous and devastating. The Philip Glass score imbues a compelling narrative tale out of this montage.
Sat 14/08
Metropolis
The idea of society being dehumanised was also hurled at us by Fritz Lang's 1927 mother-of-all-sci-fi films, Metropolis, and expressed prophetic futuristic vision. The was the first in a series by Lang in Germany, the last of which won him the honour of being offered a job in the Nazi party, which he of course rejected. Instead, he fled to Hollywood.
Sat 21/08
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
with a live soundtrack by Geoff Smith
Another Expressionist, Robert Wiene, paved the way for Lang and influenced, many years later, the work of Tim Burton among countless others. The screening of this 1919 German horror film will be accompanied by a live soundtrack courtesy of Geoff Smith. A dark vision of an authoritarian government played out in the form of an evil doctor taking control of an otherwise innocent somnambulist... a culture gone to sleep, the ultimate lack of control. NB: these screenings are part of Watch This Space 2004. | | | BACK TO TOP |
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| CONCERT | |
STEREOLAB | Tuesday 24 August (7:30pm) | | Price: £12 (advance) | | After having recently headlined a London concert with the German post- Krautrock, electronic band To Rococo Rot, the Anglo-French band is back on stage again in the capital, warming up for its incoming appearance at the Reading Festival. Their most recent album Margerine Eclipse reveals the new formation deprived of the gorgeous vocals of the late Mary Hanson, founder of the band. Despite such a tragic sudden death, Stereolab still manages to keep its panache on stage, with Laetitia Sadier (aka Monade for her solo project) taking over the entire vocal task. | | | BACK TO TOP |
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| SYMPOSIUM | |
MICHAEL HARDT | Thursday 26 August (Thu 26/08 and Fri 27/08 from 9:30am to 7:30pm; Sat 28/08 from 9:30am - 1pm) | | Price: check venue for details | | | | | BACK TO TOP |
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THE SHINS | Thursday 26 August (7:30pm) | | Price: £13 | | Sneaking up out of the indie pop underground over the last few months in the gently shimmering wake of their second release, Chutes Too Narrow, New Mexicans The Shins have become something of an anti-sensation sensation, their bright but bittersweet melodic pop subtly making little tugs at the heart behind tightly performed, uplifting Beach Boys-esque tunes. Led from the heart by the quirkily intelligent poetry of James Mercer's lyrics, The Shins (signed to Sub Pop, home to indie immortals Nirvana, as well as Holly Golightly/ Billy Childish project Thee Headcoats) play an intimate Garage show after recently supporting Belle and Sebastian at Somerset House. | | | BACK TO TOP |
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| ART / OPERA | |
LIEBESLIED/MY SUICIDES | Thursday 26 August (7pm) | @ ICA, The Mall, SW1 (020.7930.3647) Tube: Charing Cross/Piccadilly Circus | Price: Free with Day Membership (£1.50 week days and £2.50 weekend) | | Opera is a strange art, visual, music and story-telling all bound together. Generally it's the music we really cherish. Now artist-photographer Rut Blees Luxemburg is collaborating with philosopher Alex Garcia Duttman, composer Paul Clark and choreographer Tom Sapsford in this new experimental opera that explores relations between an artist, a writer and a lover... Intimacy and identity put to question through opera via the tragedies of suicide? Why not, Peter Greenaway does so in film all the time. Here, expect projections of Luxemburg's images to become another performer in their own right. NB: this is a preview of a work-in-progress. The finished opera will premiere at the ICA in October. | | | BACK TO TOP |
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| PERFORMANCE | |
SHHH... LIVE | Friday 27 August (6:30 - 10pm) | | Price: Free (excluding workshops) | | Kick off your August bank holiday by listening to cool summer sounds at a free late Friday at the V&A. Shhh... Live is inspired by the V&A's first-ever audio exhibition, Shhh... Sounds In Spaces -- an extraordinary sonic journey through the institution's amazing collection, tracing the Raphael Gallery to the Glass Room, accompanied by the sounds of contemporary international artists and musicians, including David Byrne, Cornelius, Turner Prize nominee Jeremy Deller and winner Gillian Wearing. The show features musical performances from exhibitors Simon Fisher Turner and Bjork-collaborator Leila, the haunting Parisienne musician Colleen, Nicolette ( Massive Attack) and Zan Lyons. Try your hand at DJing in LektroLAB's workshop or participate in the music collective Laptop Jams' jamming session. Easy listening. NB: the Shhh... exhibition runs till 30/08. | | | BACK TO TOP |
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THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES | Friday 27 August (see NB for info on a special screening) | @ various cinemas across London | Price: check press for times and tickets prices | | Everybody knows Che's image... Yet the revolutionary life he has become famous for had a milder beginning. The Motorcycle Diaries, a film by Walter Salles, follows the incendiary path drawn by a young Ernesto "Che" Guevara and Alberto Granado across South America as they strive to complete their medical residency at a Peruvian leper colony. This is not your usual "coming of age" film, although it has been praised for its lack of gratuitous sex and violence. Based on the personal journals of Ernesto Guevara and Alberto Granado, this film tells recounts their discovery of the harsh realities of the world they lived in, and identifies the anxious beginnings of their separate paths through it that would change history forever. NB: on 19/08 (6:30pm) catch Walter Sayles at the NFT as he discusses the film and his career after an advance screening. | | | BACK TO TOP |
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| FESTIVAL / FILM | |
FRIGHTFEST 2004 | Friday 27 August (Fri 27/08 till Mon 30/08) | | Price: varied | | What better way to spend the August Bank Holiday weekend than with 50 hours of horror films. That's right, Frightfest is back again this year with an absolutely star-studded line-up. The festival opens this year with a brand new Korean thriller entitled Oldboy, voted best flick of the year by "Mr. Violence" himself, Quentin Tarantino. And this is just the kick-off. The king of horrible horror movies, Tobe Hooper, who you may remember bringing us such classics as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, has returned to shock and disturb us once again with The Toolbox Murders. A reinvention of the '78 classic, The Toolbox Murders is set in Hollywood and shot entirely at the opulent Ambassador Hotel, a building whose provenance rivals that of the Overlook. The Dark Horse comic adaptation Hellboy finally graces the screen with an all-star cast and a Q&A with director Guillermo Del Toro. Not to put too fine a point on it, this is a festival that should not be missed. Whether you pick and choose the fright that takes your fancy, or splurge on the £99 pass to the whole " ordeal" and watch them all, this is the most fun film fest in London this summer. Get your tickets early or you'll wind up queuing round the block. NB: Frightfest 2004 runs from Fri 27/08 till Mon 30/08. | | | BACK TO TOP |
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| CLUB / DJ | |
CARNIVARL: BUGZ IN THE ATTIC, FOURTET... | Sunday 29 August (6pm - 1am) | @ 209 Westbourne Park Road, Notting Hill Tube: Westbourne Park | Price: £20 | | Dedbeat festival organisers and connoisseurs of leftfield electronica, dub and hip hop pitch up in the heart of Carnival Land for an indoor interlude between the colourful costumes and cans of Red Stripe, taking over the streets of Notting Hill either side of bank holiday Sunday night. With three floors of exceptional acts, brought to you by some of London's finest promoters, crews and collectives, covering dub and reggae, jazz, funk and electronica, prepare to feel the pain after mashing your way through this boutique of retro rarities and tunes of the moment. Floor I Don Letts & Dan Donovan (Dub Cartel Sound System), Mannasseh, Brother Culture & Foundation Sound System. Floor IIBugz In The Attic featuring Orin Walters (aka Afronaught), Seiji, Daz-I -Kue, and more.
Floor IIIEat Your Own Ears presents Four Tet (DJ set), Soul Jazz Soundsystem ( 100% Dynamite), EYOE DJs. NB: Only 400 tickets available, so get booking quick. For those Sancho Panza Carnival heads out there, on 29/08 Matt and Jim take over the Hammersmith Palais (with support from the likes of James Lavelle, Lee Burridge, DJ Flix, Dan Solo, live percussion, carnival MCs and then some). | | | BACK TO TOP |
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| ART / TALK | |
GABRIEL OROZCO | Ends Monday 30 August (Sat 07/08, 14/08, 21/08 and 28/08 at 3pm) | | Price: FREE | | Gabriel Orozco's is an intensive system of structure and experimentation. While the show highlights the artist's obsessive nature, with painstaking geometric patterns added to remnants of the everyday, for us he brings out what we miss and confronts a certain reality, while also providing a spontaneity to his work. Whether Orozco thinks he's Pythagoras or not, the show is worthwhile, just as an opportunity to gain some insight into the workings of Orozco's -- clearly -- complicated mind. It would be easy to be blindly cynical about the toothpaste spit pictures. But remember, as Orozco himself said, the poetic comes from the spectator. NB: there will be Saturday talks with curators Martin Clark (07/08), Jessica Morgan (14/08) and Bruce Haines (21/08), and writer Sally O'Reilly (28/08). | | | BACK TO TOP |
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| CONCERT | |
MARK LANEGAN BAND | Wednesday 1 September (7:30pm) | | Price: £14 | | Take a wee little scan over your records -- Nirvana, tick, Pearl Jam, tick, Soundgarden, tick, Screaming Trees... er... Ahahhh, it's you, you who helped drive apart one of the most promising Seattle grunge acts, you who chitty chatted reminiscently about the days before Britpop, Babybird and Babylon Zoo, adding a bit of muso kudos by fancifully mentioning their name, and it was you who created this man Mark Lanegan by simply never buying a Screaming Trees album. Suddenly all has changed, now that on his latest album ( Bubblegum) guests include Josh Homme, PJ Harvey, Izzy Stradlin and lots of other people whose albums you probably own! He's prolific, haunting and confessional with folksy/bluesy acoustic guitars and a stoic voice, possibly slightly embittered by years of critical acclaim met with mediocre sales. Lanegan's brilliance is greater now than ever -- go appreciate him ya fickle lot! | | | BACK TO TOP |
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| PERFORMANCE | |
GHOST TRAIN | Ends Thursday 2 September (Mon to Sun 6:30 - 10pm; Sat and Sun 1:30 - 4pm) | | Price: £5 | |
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