Stealth @ The Blue Note

Quite by chance, I recently came across this excellent post on The Quietus.com. It’s triggered a huge bout of reminiscing and taken me on a real trip down memory lane…

I had the great fortune to be in the right place at the right time back in the mid 1990′s. My good friend Danny Kudos had a key role in distributing the Ninja Tune label throughout the world at the time, which meant that we got to go to one of London’s legendary clubs on a regular basis and almost always on the guest list.

My own personal memories of the club are now somewhat faded….

I remember Mr Scruff in the upstairs bar playing Bad Manners and Chas & Dave; I remember unbelievable six deck mixing action from Coldcut, all pre digital, all live, all done to perfection; I remember having my drink continually knocked as the downstairs room was effectively a corridor leading from the staircase at one end of the space to the other, and people always seemed to be on the move; I remember one night when a bright light suddenly shone out from behind me. As I turned around I was looking straight into a film camera, with the flash light reflecting from the very low ceiling. Christ knows what I looked like, but I later found out that my aunt and uncle had seen the footage (and recognised me) on local Nottingham TV news, a feature about ecstasy use in clubs would you believe… I remember quiet Japanese people standing against the walls never dancing, never smiling just being there, and I remember being so wasted one night at chucking out time that I very selfishly knocked on a friends door in nearby Haberdasher Street at 3.30am asking if I could stay the night as I couldn’t possibly make it home (she probably still hasn’t forgiven me, sorry Anna). And I vaguely remember crashing on the cushions up in the top room, talking bollocks and smiling a lot…

But most of all I remember having some of the best times it was possible to have on a Thursday night. The Blue Note was an amazing place, far too small really for what went on there, but excellent non the less. We also went to LTJ Bukem’s Logical Progression night there before he moved it to Turnmills, and Talvin Singh’s Anokha on a Monday night was a pretty amazing experience, although I think we only did that once or twice..

And all right Stealth finished too soon etc. etc.. but isn’t that what helps makes things great in hindsight…

Many thanks to Danny and The Ninja Tune crew for the few memories that I still have of those heady days in a pre-trendy Hoxton…

DJ Food has collected what looks like all the Stealth fliers on his brilliant site here, and they are all well worth a look (as is his whole site to be honest)

Jean “Moebius” Giraud & Arzach

Many years ago, my good friend Wong bought me this book for my birthday… It was my first introduction to the amazing work of the French illustrator Jean Giraud, better known to the world as Moebius.

Moebius is possibly the most influential and almost certainly the most well known of all the many French comic and graphic novel artists from the last 50 years or so. Born in 1938, his career began in earnest with the serialisation of the Western anti-hero Blueberry throughout the 1960′s and 70′s, but it was with the publication of the four stories of his most famous work, Arzach (or variously Harzak, Arzak, and finally Harzack in the final installment) that his reputation for highly individual and creative work was sealed.

First published in a 1975 edition of Moebius’s own quarterly magazine Métal Hurlant (rebranded as Heavy Metal when it was later published in America), Arzach featured a lone warrior riding on the back of a huge pterodactyl through increasingly bizarre and hallucinogenic landscapes, full of monsters, tentacles and naked people.

It had a huge effect on the comics industry of the time with its wordless stories, brilliant use of colour and the sheer amount and quality of work on each page. Indeed I have read that it’s effect was comparable to that of Frank Millar’s Dark Knight reboot of Batman and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s Watchmen, some 11 years later in 1986.

So sit back and enjoy the work (in a deliberately random order) of one of the greatest comic artists of all time…

Nonsense Spam…

One of the most annoying aspects of the web is of course spam.. This blog attracts it’s fair share, but luckily most of it blocked by a widget called Akismet (whatever that is)

Spammers are persistent buggers, and some rubbish inevitably gets through. Their trick apparently is to create nonsense text, which fools the spam filter and so ends up in your inbox… My understanding is that spammers get paid for the number of emails delivered, irrespective of whether the message is read, or how obscure the advertising/ message aspect is.

Even though the message is gobbledygook, some of it can be quite poetic in it’s randomness… These typical examples have all arrived over the last few days…

“Excellent points? I would note that as somebody who actually doesn’t write on blogs so much (actually, this may be my first publish), I don’t suppose the term ‘lurker’ is very turning into to a non-posting reader. It’s no longer your fault in the least , but possibly the blogosphere may get a hold of a better, non-creepy title for the ninety% of us that revel in reading the content material.” (Cheap Cartier watches)

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Lego Architecture…

I got all excited this morning when I found out via Arch Daily that Lego have started a new series of kits under the banner Architecture…

There are currently only 5 buildings available, 3 of which are by Frank Lloyd Wright (Falling Water, The Robie House & The Guggenheim Museum) but more are promised, and it looks from website, that Lego are open to suggestions as to which other classic edifices might be produced…

This new series complements the existing Landmarks series of kits (which incidentally includes the lovely Seattle Space Needle) and brings to a total of 11, the number of bits of architecture you can build on your dining room table…. I’m not sure how significant it is that only 2 of these 11 buildings (the Burj Kalifa and the Brandenburg Gate) are not in the US, but lets not get too hung up on that for now..

Anyway, having had a quick look at the kits online, my excitement was dulled slightly when I realised two things… Firstly they are quite small, (look at the size of the Lego lugs on the Guggenheim Museum to see what I mean) and secondly like all purpose built Lego kits, they are fearsomely expensive, The Robie House comes in at a whopping £170…

So whilst you do get 2276 purpose designed and perfectly formed pieces for that, and it has to be said, it does look pretty good, I don’t think I’ll be getting one any time soon…

Olias of Sunhillow

Readers of this blog may have realised by now that I’m a bit of a Prog Rock fan at heart.. and this post will of course do nothing to dispel that idea.

Olias of Sunhillow was the first solo album by Jon Anderson, better known as the voice of Yes, a little man with a high voice and a gift for stringing disparate words together to create what he called sonic poetry, but which most other people dismiss as nonsense…

Olias of Sunhillow was that singularly 1970′s thing, a full blown concept album. Written and recorded over the winter of 1975 whilst taking a break from seemingly constant touring with Yes, it was released (to limited critical acclaim it must be said) along with other solo albums by each of the band members, in the summer of 1976.

I was probably about 15 or so when I first bought it and I was immediately taken with the epic science fantasy concept, (inspired by Roger Dean’s wonderful paintings for the cover of Yes’s 1971 album Fragile) the mesmerising, almost ambient electronic music and the rich and beautiful artwork.

Jon Anderson was credited with writing, singing and playing every instrument on the album, locking himself away in his home studio over a period of many months, with over 30 instruments, a multi-track recorder, some early electronic keyboards and sound advice from some music mates, including non other than his later 1980′s collaborator, Vangelis. This approach to doing everything himself was, if I remember, a direct result of Anderson being disgruntled that he was only ever thought of as the singer and occasional tambourine player with Yes. As such he looked to address this by using Olias to demonstrate to the world his multi instrumental abilities.

The concept for the album revolves around the complex and slightly confusing story of Sunhillow, an alien planet destined to destruction, whose inhabitants are forced to leave on a space ship called the Moorglade Mover. Three key beings, Olias, Ranyart and Qoquaq are each called upon to perform various tasks, so allowing the ships occupants to survive their journey and arrive safely at their new home (which may or may not be Earth…)

The original gate-fold sleeve is a wondrous thing to behold. Thick expensive card, with additional inserts, allowing the English artist David Roe (famous for his pictures of dragons) to create a series of detailed and intriguing images over four panels, with each panel illustrating an excerpt from the story… Marvellous.

All in all a real treat for a teenage music fan, and it’s a record I’ve never tired of, I must admit.

Listening to it again, (for what must easily be the 1000th time) it doesn’t sound as dated to my ears, as much of the music from the Seventies. Chris Squire’s solo album A Fish Out of Water from the same year, whilst also being pretty good, is very much rooted in the bombast and excesses of the times; big production, orchestras etc. Olias, I would argue, with its rich electronic textures, understated tribal rhythms and layered vocals, stands the test of time far better.

Give it a listen, see what you think…  Olias of Sunhillow.

There’s a worryingly obsessive site here I came across, if you fancy knowing more about Olias…

To end with a little known fact of the day… the little girl you can see holding a kitten and nestled in below her dad, to the right of the image above is Deborah Anderson. Now better known as a photographer, she was however the voice on one of my favorite tracks from the 90′s, Alex Reece’s sublime Drum & Bass classic, Feel the Sunshine…

Corrugated Cardboard Walls

I came across this amazing use of corrugated card in On Office Magazine today, and then got the images online at Dezeen…

Sander Architecten’s recently completed designs for Rabobank’s new offices in Utrecht, feature extensive use of varying thickness’ and styles of corrugated card. Primarily used as a decorative feature, the cardboard provides the finish for the walls of a series of cylindrical meeting rooms that occupy the communal heart of the scheme.

Not sure how durable they will prove to be (I can’t see any suggestion of protective coatings and screens) but as an idea and an image, I think it’s a really cool idea, almost like taking Shigeru Ban’s simple cardboard tube constructions onto the next level, or taking Frank Ghery’s armchair apart and reusing it as wallpaper…

Mountain Biking in Mark’s Favourite bit of Wales…

I spent last weekend with my good friend Mark in southern Snowdonia learning to how to ride a bike up and down mountain trails…

It’s amazing how much you can learn about something you think you know about.. I cycle as often as I can around London so when Mark invited me to go on a days mountain bike training course, I saw it as an excellent opportunity to ride some proper gnarly Welsh terrain, but was rather sceptical as to how much I could be taught about riding a bike…

Our day was split into two, learning in the morning and riding in the afternoon, and it was the best fun I’ve had since I last went snowboarding back in February. Our instructor Graham was knowledgeable & patient and we both found that even the basics of riding a bike (braking, turning and balance for example) can be improved with the benefit of an expert eye.

As a reward for being good students, our afternoon was spent in the brilliant Forestry Commission of Wales’s  Coed y Brenin Trail Park, where we rode choice elements of The Minotaur, The Beast and The Dragon’s Back. It’s pretty tough going up, but so worth it when you get to go down….

As an aside we stayed at the beautiful cottage in the photo above. It’s called Coed Cae and if you’re ever in this part of Wales (Dolgellau/ Barmouth) you really should see if you can stay here. Graham and Jacky are excellent hosts, the lovely dogs are super bouncy, the breakfast was to die for and the pub is a short walk across a rickety little toll bridge to the other side of the Mawddach Estuary, one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to in Wales.

Unlike Mark however, I know I could never live in a place like this, I’m a city dweller through and through. But to visit for a weekend is a real treat and an excellent and highly recommended way to recharge your batteries…

20,000 Hits Upon the Blog…

I know I said I wasn’t going to do this again, but I noticed the other day that I was fast approaching 20,000 visitors since I started this blog.. (i.e. 16 months ago)

No idea really if that’s good or bad for a small personal blog, but it feels like a hell of a lot to me and now I’ve actually reached that landmark figure, I think it deserves a little celebratory post all of its own…..

I typed 20,000 into Google, on the off chance, and these two rather wonderful images from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea caught my eye. So as I’m a tad on the busy side at the moment, they will have to do in lieu of me creating a more personalised effort…

The first is from the 1907 silent version of Jules Verne’s Classic adventure story, which was directed by the ground breaking and visionary French director Georges Melies and wowed cinema audiences of the time with its use of cutting edge camera effects and techniques.

The second is a painted backdrop from the later, 1954 Disney version, a film which I can clearly remember from my childhood. Starring James Mason as Captain Nemo, this film went on to set the definitive style of the Victorian adventure novel for many years to come, as well as almost single handedly planting the seed that would grow into the Steampunk movement some 30 or so years later…

Asahi Underground Posters…

I was in the loft the other day looking for something and came across some forgotten stolen goods…. three cardboard advertising posters taken from London Underground Tube trains…

Many years ago, there was an advertising campaign for Asahi Super Dry Lager.. I would guess it would have been sometime around the turn of the Century. As I remember there were a series of six of them, all featuring odd and strangely English “celebrities” (and I use the word advisedly) in eccentric and unlikely poses…

This Englishness and eccentricity was obviously the key to the campaign, and the bizarre and almost random use of words chosen to describe each of the stars on the poster, only accentuated the effect of the image… I always liked Henry Kelly’s “Pride & Integrity. Manly” or Dickie Davis’s “Remarkable and Finesse. So Good. Or how about Debbie McGee as “Breeding. Extra Stately” and Richard Whitely as “Commanding and A Worldly”.

I was so taken by the whole campaign that I set about trying to collect them all, furtively hanging around tube carriages until I thought no one was looking and pulling them out of the metal frames. Sadly I didn’t get them all, partly because I’m not wholly convinced that hundreds of other people weren’t taking them as well, as they did seem to disappear from the trains very quickly…

There is very little on the net about the campaign, but I think it was by WCRS Agency… and whether you remember them or not, the images of Debbie McGee with a riding crop and Henry Kelly in his bath robe will (worryingly) live with me forever…

(The three originals I have are Messrs Whitely, Davies and Kelly, and I will get them copied and put up here asap…)

Chris Foss

Ever since I read Asimov’s Foundation trilogy as a teenager, I have loved the work of Chris Foss…

It’s Space Opera on a huge scale: big ships adrift in limitless space, alien landscapes, lasers and engine trails, and all painted with a stunning degree of precision and technical ability…. just what a science fiction obsessed teenager needs.

Having not thought about or seen works by Chris Foss for many, many years, I recently came across his own site where it’s obvious he’s still producing some wonderful stuff, as evidenced by the recent publication of a book “Hardware” chronicling his work (looks like something for my Christmas list…..)

Foss was born in Guernsey in 1946 and made his name in the 1960′s and 70′s producing these amazing images of space ships and future technology. His ideas and imagination undoubtedly left a lasting impression on anyone that saw them, and indeed it has been suggested that his vision of what future space technology should look like, had the same iconic and defining qualities as H.R Geiger’s did in terms of what Aliens should look like…

For those of you who have got this far, here’s my bizarre fact of the day (and I swear I didn’t know this before this afternoon), Chris Foss was responsible for all the line drawings in the original Joy of Sex book published in 1972 – seems like a reasonable excuse for a gratuitous (if rather dated and scratchy) image of a bearded man squeezing a woman’s breasts….