Kent anti folk band Tom Williams & The Boat have announced the final details of their June tour. The run of 5 shows was an innovative project with detourjam.com that allowed fans to choose where the tour went simply by buying a ticket. The first 5 cities to sell 50 tickets got a show.
The band will play Leeds, London, Birmingham, Tunbridge Wells and Manchester from 4th to 8th June.
Following the release of his latest album ‘Too Tough To Live’ in January, American rock and roll singer Dan Sartain is to release a new single and has announced a full European tour in May, including 3 UK shows. It will be released on 21st May 2012 on One Little Indian Records. Sartain, from Birmingham, Alabama, is renowned for the energy of his live shows.
Dates are as follows:
5th May – London, Lexington
6th May – Leeds, Brundell Social Club
8th May – Manchester, Night & Day
‘I’m Aware’ is released on 21st May 2012 by One Little Indian Records.
Martin Cohen, mainman of Milk Maid used to play bass in Manchester alt-rockers Nine Black Alps. He left the band to concentrate on Milk Maid, releasing his debut album “Yucca” in 2011, to much acclaim. Just a year later he returns with Milk Maid’s second album, “Mostly No”, released via FatCat on 9th July and finds front man Martin Cohen cementing his reputation as a talented songwriter straddling the line between noise and pop whilst also expanding the band’s sonic terrain and adding swirls of psychedelia to debut ‘Yucca’s’ crafted fuzz.
“Mostly No” is released by Fat Cat Records on 9th July. Milk Maid tours the UK in June and July.
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
We Face Forward: Art from West Africa Today
Manchester celebrates London 2012 Festival
2 June to 16 September 2012
· City-wide exhibition of leading contemporary artists from West Africa
· Major new installations commissioned for galleries and parks
· Concerts with many world-renowned musicians, including AfroCubism
· Further exhibitions of fashion, photography, football and storytelling
· African art bus to tour creative activities around Greater Manchester
We Face Forward is a season of contemporary art and music from West Africa, celebrated across Manchester’s galleries, museums, music venues and public spaces, from 2 June to 16 September as part of London 2012 Festival.
The exhibitions, concerts, events and community activities recognise both the historic and contemporary links between Manchester and the various countries that make up West Africa. They will explore ideas of economic and cultural exchange, environment and sustainability, and the place of tradition in contemporary culture.
The core of the season is a city-wide exhibition of contemporary art from the region, the first major collaboration between Manchester Art Gallery, Whitworth Art Gallery and Gallery of Costume, Platt Hall. It will feature painting, photography, textiles, sculpture, video and sound work from a wide range of internationally acclaimed artists, including Georges Adéagbo, Meschac Gaba, Romuald Hazoumè and George Osodi. The exhibition will also be the first major display in the UK of work by emerging artists such as Lucy Azubuike, Emeka Ogboh, Charles Okereke, Nyani Quarmyne and Victoria Udondian.
New, large-scale installations have been commissioned from Barthélémy Toguo at Manchester Art Gallery, and from Pascale Marthine Tayou at Whitworth Art Gallery.
The Gallery of Costume will show work by three esteemed Malian photographers, Malick Sidibé, Abderramane Sakaly and Soungalo Malé, whose archives are being preserved by the National Museum of Mali. Their extraordinary studio and social portraits will be shown alongside West African dress from the gallery collection, photographs by Hamidou Maiga and contemporary fashion pieces from British-Nigerian designer Duro Oluwu.
A music programme, curated by Band on the Wall and The Manchester Museum, will feature world-renowned acts including: AfroCubism (the new international supergroup formed by Eliades Ochoa of Buena Vista Social Club and Toumani Diabaté); a multi-media concert by Niger supergroup The Endless Journey (Mamane Barka and Etran Finatawa); Angelique Kidjo; Jaliba Kuyateh; Kanda Bongo Man and many more to be confirmed. Taking place in music venues and galleries across the city, the season will open with AfroCubism at Bridgewater Hall on Sunday 3 June.
Exhibitions and events will also take place at The Manchester Museum and the National Football Museum. The city is hosting nine football matches during the 2012 Olympics and the National Football Museum will present African artists for whom football gives a means to explore protest, politics and social engagement.
The Manchester Museum is working with the African Caribbean Carers Group to present a re-interpretation of the Anansi spider stories using the Museum’s natural history and anthropology collections. The programme will be launched with Big Saturday: Manchester Anansi Spider on Saturday 2 June where the story will be performed by the Men’s Room community group, working in partnership with the Royal Exchange Theatre Company.
A summer-long creative programme will engage with a range of people right across Greater Manchester. Modelled on the highly decorated taxi-buses that ferry people across Dakar, Accra and Bamako, an art bus will take creative activities out beyond the participating galleries and parks to other locations across the city.
To draw the different locations together, artist Meschac Gaba has been commissioned to design an artwork which incorporates the flags of all the West African nations. This colourful motif will be on display at participating galleries and venues.
The title for the season is taken from a speech by Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, made in 1960. Stating his resistance to Cold War super powers, Nkrumah’s full quote is “We face neither East nor West: we face forward.” The festival takes its direction from Nkrumah’s statement of independence, deriving inspiration from his sense of West African cultural dynamism.
Dr Maria Balshaw, Director of Whitworth Art Gallery and Manchester City Galleries, said: “Manchester’s connections to West Africa are part of its industrial and trading history. This exhibition brings the dynamism of West African art today to Manchester, as the world comes to the UK for the Olympics.”
Ruth Mackenzie, Director, London 2012 Festival, said: “I am particularly delighted that this exceptional exhibition of art from West Africa will be part of the London 2012 Festival programme bringing once in a lifetime opportunities to experience culture to people across the north west.”
At London Fashion Week I noticed a number of, how to put it, “different” trends on men. One was skirts – not kilts, actual skirts- and another was the onepiece. This reminded me of when I first saw it; on the men of Manchester.
Intro, the long established menswear boutique based on Deansgate in Manchester, has reported that its best seller this winter is Norwegian all- in-one brand, OnePiece.
Manchester men have been following the cult zip -up tracksuit trend, worn so well by soap star, Ryan Thomas; Joey Essex, Micah Richards and Danny Simpson to name just a few male celebrities who have shopped at Intro and embraced this stand out and arguably brave look this winter.
Photo: Ryan Thomas – Corrie’s Jason Grimshaw wearing his Intro bought OnePiece.
Intro has also provided most of the cast of Coronation Street (including female soap stars, Helen Flanagan, Alison King and Shobna Gulati) with their cosy OnePiece and, last week http://www.intro-clothing.com/ reported a last minute rush online for customers getting their orders in before the cold snap kicks in again.
Adam Grant, Intro owner said: “Our customer have literally gone mad for OnePiece, with some customers ordering up to four different colours. It was the best seller at Christmas, and OnePiece has taken loungewear to another level, continuing to fly of the shelves.”
Master Stock for braised pork belly cucumber pickle seared scallops
5 ltr White chicken stock
500 ml Kecap manis dark soy
400 ml Japanese light soy
200 ml Shaoxing rice wine
80 gm Rock sugar
3 Star anise
3 Cassia bark
1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
2 Green Cardamon pods
4 Oranges peel no pith
4 Birds eye chilli whole
2 knobs Ginger peeled
3 knobs Galangal
2 tsp Fennel seeds
Mix all ingredients together and bring to boil/simmer to infuse flavours.
Adjust seasoning. Use 5-6 times for poaching pork bellies.
Wash belly well and pat dry.
Line a tray with baking paper and cover with rock salt
Lay on a bed of rock salt and cover well with more rock salt.
Leave overnight.
Wash belly well to remove salt.
Bring master stock to the boil.
Line a deep tray with baking paper, place the belly in the tray
cover with baking paper and the stock, seal with foil.
Braise for 2- 3 hrs @ 230- 260 F till just tender.
Sweet and Sour Cucumber
Cucumber pickle
20 Continental cucumbers
1 ltr Peanut oil
2 ltr Rice wine vinegar
2 ltr Water
2 kg Sugar
60 cloves Garlic finely sliced across
10 Lombok chilli julienne
30 Birds eye sliced across
15 tbsp Grated ginger
5 tsp Nigela seeds
Peel ,slice cucumbers, no seeds, blanch and refresh. drain well.
Bring to the boil the water sugar oil and vinegar, allow to fully cool.
Combine all ingredients.
Place on a paper lined tray and cover with more paper and press.
Dipping Sauce
1 liter of distilled white vinegar
1 liter of water
1 kilo of sugar
2 lemon grass crushed
2 kaffir lime leaves
2 tomatoes
2 star anise
2 chillies
Coriander stalks
Place 2 lightly seasoned hand dived scallops from Scotland on char grill and cook to just medium, place pork belly with sweet chilli dipping sauce under grill until lightly caramelized then place I piece of belly with cucumber pickle and then add scallop drizzle with sweet chilli reduction. Slowly reduce for 3 – 4 hours till syrup consistency
Place fresh mint leaves and coriander leafs through the pickle cucumber salad garnish with fried crispy shallots.
The recipe has come from David Spanner, Executive Chef at Livebait Manchester.
Livebait seafood and fresh fish restaurant is housed in a stunning Grade 2 listed building which is tucked away on the edge of Albert Square right in the heart of Manchester’s city centre. The restaurant dedicates its menu mainly to fish and seafood dishes and executive chef, David Spanner is intent on showcasing the true beauty and simplicity of fresh fish. The restaurant boasts an excellent wine and champagne list fit to accompany any seafood feast.
Recipe For: Salt Cod Ravioli with sauce vierge and fresh asparagus
Ingredients
500 gr Salt Cod
1 Onion
10 Parsley stalks
10 White Pepercorns
1 Garlic clove
200ml Virgin Olive Oil
200ml Cream
200gm Desiree Potatoes
1 Lemon ,Juice of
10 ml White Wine Vinegar
200gm Croutons
Soak cod for two days changing water every 4 hours drain and poach cod with peppercorns/onion/parsley/garlic
wrapped in muslin discard all bones/skin cook potatoes separately put through mouli warm cream in blender bring mash and oil
together adjust seasoning/lemon juice add cream near end.
DOUGH RECIPE
700 GRAMS OF 00 FARINA FLOUR
l/2 TEASPOON OF SEA SALT
4 WHOLE FREE RANGE EGGS
9 EGG YOLKS
1-2 TABLESPOONS OF EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
METHOD
PUT THE FLOUR AND THE SALT INTO FOOD PROCESSOR PROCESS AND ADD THE EGG AND THE YOLKS .
ADD THE OLIVE OIL AND TAKE OUT OF THE PROCESSOR PLACE ONTO FLOURED BENCH AND KNEED UNTIL THE MIXTURE IS SMOOTH TAKES ABOUT 10 MINUTES
WRAP IN CLING FILM AND REST FOR 1 TO 2 HOURS TAKE OUT AND ROLL THROUGH PASTA MACHINE.
50 mls Xtra Virgin Olive Oil evo
1 eschallot brunoise
2 tsp lemon juice
6 corriander seeds
1 tomato fine concasse
6 basil leaves
6 corriander leaves
1 white anchovy fillet
1 tsp sherry vinegar ( de soto)
8 baby capers
3 tbsp parsley chiffonade
Roast and Grind coriander crush slightly saute shallot, combine all ingredients well.
Season with sea salt and cracked black pepper.
To assemble
Blanche ravioli in boiling salted water until just cooked do not overcook it place sauce vierge on plate with some warmed asparagus then place ravioli on top garnish with some deep fried leeks for some texture difference.
The recipe has come from David Spanner, Executive Chef at Livebait Manchester.
Livebait seafood and fresh fish restaurant is housed in a stunning Grade 2 listed building which is tucked away on the edge of Albert Square right in the heart of Manchester’s city centre. The restaurant dedicates its menu mainly to fish and seafood dishes and executive chef, David Spanner is intent on showcasing the true beauty and simplicity of fresh fish. The restaurant boasts an excellent wine and champagne list fit to accompany any seafood feast.