|
|
 |
| |
| Fare dodger returns |
PREVIEW - TDK CROSS CENTRAL FESTIVAL
The Goods Yard, King’s Cross
HMMM… Grace Jones. She will always be May Day to me, the bully
bad girl who flies off the Eiffel Tower in the James Bond film A
View To A Kill. Remember that? Roger Moore, huffing and puffing
up the stairs, wheezing, he stood no chance of catching her.
Others will remember Jones (pictured) for fights on chat shows,
lethal weapon haircuts and stories of temper tantrums at the most
inopportune moments.
But in between the headline-snatching spats, Jones coughed up a
few disco-dance albums in the 1980s which caught the ear and got
her on Top of the Pops. In fact, there was a time when she seemed
to pop up everywhere, modelling, singing, acting, the whole caboodle.
The last time May Day was seen in these parts, however, was during
a dispute in April over whether or not she argued with a ticket
inspector on the Eurostar and needed to be chucked off the Paris-London
train at Ashford. Anywhere but Ashford!
So it’s a little ironic that she has chosen a festival in a
cobbled train depot to mark her return to the London dance scene.
She will be headlining on the main stage at the TDK Cross-Central
Festival, brought together in the Goods Yard in King’s Cross
this Bank Holiday weekend.
It’s the second run for the two-day event, which proved a hit
this time last year.
If Jones’s scowling is too much for you, then there’s
plenty of other reasons to be excited. Everyone’s new favourite
band The Magic Numbers and tip-top experimentalists The Bees are
the real highlights on the bill and Goldfrapp, Mylo and Tiefschwarz
aren’t just there to make up the numbers either.
• TDK Cross Central is at the King’s Cross Freight Depot
(King’s Cross Tube) on August 27 and 28. Information at www.crosscentral.co.uk.
£30.
Win tickets to this year’s Isle
of Wight party
SO YOU thought the festival season was over?
Think again, because Grooves has bagged three pairs of tickets for
a wild weekend at the Bestival, the Isle of Wight’s weekend
shindig in the second week of September.
Only in its second year, the Bestival – organised by Radio
One DJ Rob da Bank – has already carved itself a reputation
for top bands performing in some truly beautiful surroundings. Röyksopp,
Super Furry Animals, 2 Many DJs, The Magic Numbers, British Sea
Power and reggae legend Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry (pictured)
are among the 100s of live acts performing over three days. It also
has a 24-hour village, Bollywood cocktail bar, world record fancy
dress attempt on Saturday night (on cowboys and Indians theme) and
a new acoustic arena.
• To stand a chance of winning tickets for the Robin Hill Country
Park festival on September 9 to 11, answer the following question
Which reggae legend is playing at the Bestival?
a) Bob Marley
b) Peter Tosh
c) Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry
Send the answer and your phone number to:
Bestival Competition, Grooves, 40 Camden Road, NW1 9DR
Demo of the Week – The Delights
THEY are not quite Razorlight or the Kaiser Chiefs – but
The Delights have a similar nu-guitar sound that makes them one
for the shortlist. A smart two boy-two girl gang, their demo Society
has a bubbly guitar groove and echoing vocal worth checking out.
Those interested, should mark September 15 in their diaries when
the band play the Purple Turtle in Camden Town – a key test
in their stardom quest.
n If you think the next Demo of the Week winners should be your
band, then send in your promo to Demo of the Week, Grooves, 40 Camden
Road, Camden, London, NW1 9DR.
Click here for listings
Battling back
PREVIEW - AUTUMN RELEASES
Hyperion
IT has been a difficult year for independent label Hyperion as
for much of it they have been embroiled in costly legal battles
against scholar Dr Lionel Sawkins, who claimed ownership of work
carried out for the label.
A lost Appeal Court judgement landed a bill of £1 million
on the laps of the label, which specialises in early music and ensemble
recordings.
Yet despite its troubles, Hyperion is celebrating its 25th anniversary
and to mark the occasion the label is to unveil 25 releases over
September and October. Perhaps most interestingly, the label is
to release a 40-volume set of their Complete Schubert Song Edition
– a work of astonishing magnitude spearheaded by pianist Graham
Johnson.
Performances include Matthias Goerne’s seminal presentation
of Winterreise at the Wigmore Hall a couple of years ago and singers
include Dame Felicity Lott, Sir Thomas Allen, Dame Janet Baker and
Ian Bostridge.
Other releases include Gerald Finley’s first solo recital disc
of songs by Charles Ives with pianist Julius Drake, violin concertos
by Kurt Weill and Peteris Vasks, and Moon, Sun and All Things, the
second installment of Latin American Baroque music from Ex Catherdra.
The company was founded by Ted Perry in 1980 and its first major
release was Hildegard of Bingen’s A Feather on the Breath of
God in 1982.
He died in 1999 and was succeeded by son Simon.
But his time has been marked by the costly legal battle and the
future of the company remains uncertain.
Launching the anniversary season Simon said: “Ted made a lot
of money over the years and invested every penny on new recordings
to build up the catalogue, but too many of them were uneconomical.
That’s pretty much what I’m doing now at Hyperion.”
But he added: “Hyperion is what I care about more than anything
in the world apart from my family. I am desperate to protect my
father’s legacy.”
A folk legend
ONE of the few British singers and songwriters to follow the
French “chanson” tradition was Jake Thackray and he is
to be celebrated in a concert at St James, Piccadilly on Friday.
Guitarists and singers David Shaw-Parker and Hugh Kermode are to
present his songs in a one-off concert.
Thackray was inspired by chansonnier Jaques Brel and Georges Brassens
following a four-year sojourn in France.
And from the early 1960s until the mid-1990s Jake was a prolific
performer, recording artist and song writer, influenced by folk,
classical and jazz.
His songs were full of humour and pathos and he preferred picking
up a guitar and singing in pubs and community halls than for the
Royal Variety Performance.
Such was his fan base he was featured on the Frost Report, the Braden
Beat and That’s Life and he is said to have been an influence
for comics including Jasper Carrott.
He died on Christmas Eve 2002.
The show promises to be a rare insight on this unusual performer.
The capital’s leading lights
PREVIEW - FINE ARTS SINFONIA
St Martin’s
PERFORMERS from some of London’s leading orchestras are
coming together on Friday to perform as the Fine Arts Sinfonia,
in a concert which features the premieres of two works by young
composers.
The Sinfonia was established by musical director Michael Nebe and
in that time has performed across the world and it one of the most
respected ‘freelance’ ensembles around.
In this concert entitled Composers Past and Preset, at St Martin-in-the-Fields
on Friday, works such as Mozart’s Divertimenti for Strings,
his Eine Klein Nachtmusik and Britten’s Simple Symphony, are
to be performed alongside pieces by the first and second prizewinners
from the Sinfonia’s composing competition.
Click here for listings
|
|
|
