Tag Archives: camden

COLDPLAY No.1 Album Painting for Sale in London for Kids Company

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COLDPLAY AND PARIS FOR KIDS COMPANY29th November – 2nd December 2012

 

COLDPLAY AND PARIS ARE TO HOST AN EXCLUSIVE EXHIBITION OF ORIGINAL COLDPLAY ARTWORK AT PROUD GALLERIES, CAMDEN FROM 29 NOVEMBER – 2 DECEMBER. 100% OF PROCEEDS FROM ARTWORK SALES WILL GO TO KIDS COMPANY, A CHILDREN’S CHARITY WHICH PROVIDES EMOTIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT TO VULNERABLE CHILDREN.

COLDPLAY posted this about it yesterday:  www.coldplay.com/newsdetail.php?id=1106

 

Coldplay have arranged an exclusive exhibition in conjunction with Kids Company, a charity that the group have supported for the last four years. The show, to open at Proud Galleries, Camden on 29 November, will feature three original paintings on canvas by Coldplay and their ‘Mylo Xyloto’ artwork collaborator Paris, as well as the original 7m X 2.5m graffiti wall that became the album artwork. A second wall painted by young children from Kids Company and Paris will be displayed alongside Coldplay’s larger wall.
Also available to purchase: three high-quality prints of the ‘Mylo Xyloto’ album artwork (each a limited edition of 8 and signed by the band); three high-quality album artwork prints (each a limited edition of 650 and signed by Paris); and unseen photographs from Coldplay’s ‘Mylo Xyloto’ world tour taken by Miller (aka Roadie #42), the band’s official tour photographer.

All work is for sale, with 100% of proceeds going to Kids Company, a children’s charity which reaches out to over 17,000 vulnerable young people in the most deprived areas of London. Coldplay’s last public benefit for the charity was in December 2011 when the group were joined by guest artists including Tinie Tempah and Emeli Sande in a benefit show at the 02 in London.


Chris Martin said; “Kids Company is a phenomenal organization that is very close to our hearts. While we were making the last album we did quite a lot of painting with our friend Paris. We built a special wall in our studio and sprayed it, wrote on it and threw things at it until it eventually became the artwork for ‘Mylo Xyloto’. This exhibition will be the first time that the wall has appeared in public”.

Will Champion added; “The big wall and the three paintings are all one-off Coldplay/Paris originals. The money raised will make a big difference to some of London’s most vulnerable children”.

Camila Batmanghelidjh, founder and Kids Company CEO, said; “The support Coldplay have given us over the years has been amazing. Art plays a major role in Kids Company’s work with vulnerable children: kids who have experienced trauma often find it easier to express themselves using art materials rather than words. Our recent award-winning exhibition in partnership with the Royal Academy demonstrated this very powerfully and poignantly”.

Real Estate to release ‘Exactly Nothing’ as a single | Music News

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Rockers Real Estate will release Exactly Nothing as their next single on 2nd July 2012 via Domino Records. The New Jersey band will be back to the UK to play their biggest show to date at London’s Electric Ballroom on Wednesday June 27th and will be joined by New York’s Frankie Rose and London’s The Proper Ornaments.

The show comes in support of last year’s critically lauded Days album and following sold-out shows at London’s Scala and Koko alongside Kurt Vile.

 

We don’t have a video for ‘Exactly Nothing’ yet but you can watch the band’s full set from Coachella in full here:

 

Cann – Into The Night | Music Review

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Former Ou Est le Swimming Pool bassist Caan‘s single ‘Into The Night’ is a delicious slice of downbeat electro. A gem of a single and if Frost operated such a thing then we’d have it as Single of The Week. If you like this song then head to his website where there is a free track waiting for you. Catch him on tour soon, including a show at Dingwalls in Camden on 31st May.

 

Pixie Geldof’s band to release debut single | Music News

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Rising indie starts Violet, featuring Pixie Geldof, are to release their debut single, a double A-side of Y.O.U./I Come Undone via Luv Luv Luv Records on 7th May. The band recently played the Guardian ‘New Band of The Day’ night at Camden’s Barfly and will be playing at The Great Escape in May as well as supporting Spector on part of their forthcoming UK tour.

Y.O.U./I Come Undone is out on 7th May via Luv Luv Luv Records

Violet UK tour dates:

04/05 – Sound Control – Manchester (w/ Spector)
10/05 – The Haunt – Brighton 8:00pm (The Great Escape)
13/05 – Cambridge Union Society – Cambridge (w/ Spector)
15/05 – Fleece – Bristol (w/ Spector)
16/05 – Clwb Ifor Bach – Cardiff (w/ Spector)
17/05 – Electric Ballroom – London (w/ Spector)
23/05 – Bodega – Nottingham (w/ Spector)

Spiritualized announce UK Tour | Music News

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Space-rockers Spiritualized have announced a 6 date UK tour for November, including a London show at the Roundhouse in Camden. The band, whose recent record “Sweet Heart Sweet Light” entered straight into the UK Top 20, have confirmed six shows in support of the album this November. They are shortly due to head to the USA where they will tour for most of the month of May before returning to the UK to play various festivals this summer including Wilderness and Bestival.

The tour is as follows:
Thursday 1st November – Gateshead, The Sage
Friday 2nd November – Cambridge, Junction
Saturday 3rd November – Leeds, Metropolitan University
Sunday 4th November – Coventry, Warwick Arts Centre
Monday 5th November – London, Roundhouse
Tue 6 November – Brighton, Corn Exchange

New Eugene McGuinness album released 3rd July | Music News

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London-based singer-songwriter Eugene McGuinness is to release his 2nd full length album on 2nd July . “The Invitation to the Voyage” is the follow up to 2008’s self-titled album and will be marked with an album launch show at the Lexington in Islington.

The album, which Eugene is calling this release the “most powerfully conceived and fully realised artistic statement to date”, was recorded with the dual assistance of  producers Clive Langer (Madness, Elvis Costello, Morrissey) and Dan Carey (MIA, Hot Chip, Santigold).

As well as a full tour throughout April as special guest to Miles Kane, Eugene McGuinness will also be performing at many festivals over the next few months including the Camden Crawl, The Great Escape, Liverpool Sound City, and Blissfields. Full live dates are as follows:

 

20th April: Nottingham: Rock City *

21st April: Glasgow Barrowlands *

22nd April: Dundee Fat Sams *

23rd April: Inverness Iron Works *

25th April: Leeds Academy *

26th April: Manchester Academy 1 *

27th April: Bristol Academy *

28th April: London Forum *

5th May: London Camden Crawl, two shows, venues TBA

10th May: Brighton Pleasure Dome – The Great Escape, with Maximo Park

17th May: London Electric Ballroom, with Spector

18th May: Liverpool Sound City, Kazimier, with White Denim

30th June: Hampshire Blissfields Festival

3rd July: London: Lexington Headline – album launch show

(* = dates with Miles Kane)

The Invitation To The Voyage, released on 2nd July 2012 by Domino Records

Maika Makovski – Thank You for the Boots | Music Review

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Before listening to this record I had never heard of Maika Makovski but by the end of it I was in love with her lush voice and swirling tunes.  Prior to entering my life she’s been a very busy girl, this being her 5th studio album and 3rd in 3 years. On top of that she managed to tour hard and star in her first film, Desaparecer, directed by Calixto Bieto. The writing of the album began with Maika, in her own words, “sat at the piano and wanting to just have some fun” in order to get away from the “dense and serious music” of previous efforts. If that was her aim then she should reward herself with a biscuit as her aim’s been achieved.

The album begins with “Language” that builds slowly with instruments being added as the song goes along. Beginning with bass, then drums, then vocals then Maika on piano. It’s 232 seconds of brooding pop loveliness. On “Get Along” Makovski sings “You know you’re stuck with me, I know I’m stuck with you” much to my liking. I’d happily listen to these songs all day. It’s a thundering foot-stomper built that, along with “Your Reflection”, show her penchant for big fun choruses with a punch. It sounds a bit like a radio-friendly version of Cat Power.

“When the Dust Clears” is where she falls over on her attempt to keep things “fun” as she dips into the past but it’s lovely so we’ll forgive her (yes, i forgave her on your behalf). With “No News” and “Cool Cat” she’s back to form. It’s got a swinging country feel. You could imagine her singing these on stage stomping around in some musical. I mean that in a good way. I’d go and watch it even though I hate musical theatre.

“Vulnerable” and “A Dream” end the record by slipping back into the old dark ways and it’s beautiful. If it’s reminiscent of the sound of her older records then I, for one, am looking forward to them reaching my eardrums. It pleases them.

In short, this is a great record; it’s clever, it’s exciting, it’s fun. You want her to win (at what I don’t know!). It’s a different and interesting sound and that’s reason enough to like it but listen to it a dozen times and that novelty doesn’t wear off. If this was a gamble for her then it certainly paid off.

 

“Thank You for the Boots” is out now on Outstanding Records/Warner Music

Maika Makovski plays Breakout @ Proud Camden on May 9th

Violence and Claymation at Camden Arts Centre

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Clay animation, or claymation as it is commonly referred to, for me instinctively conjures images of Wallace and Gromit. Cuddly, quirky characters whose comedic traits are enhanced by the clunky childlike style inherent to the medium they work in. It is probably rather ignorant going straight for such a mainstream example, but I doubt I’m the only one.

I was nevertheless equally ignorant as I was lured towards the Camden Arts Centre by the mesmerising images from Nathalie Djubery’s exhibition A World Of Glass. For starters I assumed it would be in Camden. It is not and I still don’t know why it has given its self such a misleading title. It is actually a little unassuming building plonked by Finchley road tube station. Secondly, there was much more to the exhibition than the misshapen glass like objects that I found so pretty.

After poking around the gift shop on the way in-it’s so nice when museums do that, so you don’t feel less cultured for wanting to look around the gift shop first; not that I’d need to, I’d already overcome the intelligence hurdle of finding a museum pretending to be somewhere it wasn’t- I ventured toward the first exhibition room.

A soundscape of tinkling glass and percussion filled the room and encouraged a pensive, quiet atmosphere. This was not an exhibition where you chatted about what you though of the work whilst you were there and tried to sound pretentious, you experienced it. You also experienced it standing up, so after a few moments I began to wander.

The promotion pictures really did do the exhibit justice. In a darkened room, tables of illuminated glass like objects looked surreal and made me feel less silly for wanting to see them simply for their strangely beautiful aesthetic. It quickly transpired that they were part of the set taken from the claymation films that were playing at either end of the studio; designed to make the whole exhibition feel modestly immersive.

At first glance Natalie Djurbery’s short clay animated films seem to portray the inherent playfulness I imagined (the first image I saw was of a bull tottering around a shop full of glass), but you don’t have to watch for long before realising that the artist is merely playing upon our natural assumptions about the medium to convey her real message.

As the museum suggests, Djurbery’s films resemble folk or fairytales, but without any moral judgement. They do, however, use this genre to explore dark and crude themes of suffering, depression and violence using humans and animals. The content of each of the stories was shocking and, at times, bizarre enough; but their combination with the tranquil dim environment transformed any gut reaction into something more pensive. The effect was strangely jarring and definitely uncomfortable, as though I was somehow complicit in the twisted taboos shown on the screen.

The work I feel was important to see. It broke and built barriers between person, screen, self, other, human and animal. It showed the possibilities of claymation as a serious artform; its crudeness effectively conveyed the animalistic forces that drove the characters and its childlike nature added a level of philosophical thought to Djurberg’s portrayal of the human condition.

To summarise, I did not completely enjoy it, I’m glad I didn’t and I don’t think I was supposed to.