LeftLion Magazine - October 2009 - Issue 31 by LeftLion

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Illustrator: David Blenkey

contents

editorial

LeftLion Magazine Issue 31 October - November 2009

Youths and ducks, It’s October, the barometer is pointing to what all rightminded people refer to as ‘Goose Fair weather’, and the biggest misunderstanding people have about LeftLion – apart from the fact that certain people still think we’re called ‘Left Lion’ – is about to raise its ugly head, because the students are back in town. So let me clear up a myth that’s been hanging around for ages; no, we are not, have never been, and will never be ‘a student paper’. Why fling all that properness that emanates from our pulsing brains of Nottsness towards one narrow section of the population?

08 Contain Notts 04 May The news diary that answers the question ‘How many roads must a man walk down before they can call him a man?’ by saying ‘One, if it’s Mansfield Road at 2am on a Saturday morning’

05 LeftEyeOn Feast your eyes upon a buffet of Nottinghamia On Hand 07 Horne Local Lad Mat Horne takes a break

from being on pretty much every TV programme in the UK for a natter with us

In New Basford 08 AOurCanadian Rob gets stuck into the

13 12 Spoddingham! Get ready for GameCity Squared

Nottingham 13 Independent Your eight-page guide to musos,

Centre 22 Piccie Nottingham Contemporary is nearly

here, so we nipped in and had a word with Director Alex Farquarson David Hockney Your free pull-out poster of his most popular painting

Profiles 27 Artist Benjamin Cohen, Edward Sellman,

Nottingham Beer Festival and finally gets a mouthful of faggot Get Bent! Notts’ most prolific beat-making boffins are back

writers, artists and actors who are doing it theirsen – and how you could join them

Luke Stones and Bobby Goulding

30 29 Listings Everything you need to know about

where you need to go this bi-month

Circus Extravaganza 30 Canning LeftLion’s free music and arts festival -

coming very soon

Lion 43 Write The cream of the LeftLion writing

forum, plus local book reviews a-plenty

44 Reviews Alright The Captain!, Bent, Dead Spex,

The Greatest Wolf, Rebel Soul Collective, The Kull, Lovvers, and more

Abroad 46 LeftLion Plus The Arthole, Rocky Horrorscopes

and Notts Trumps

Hustle 28 Hockley Everyone’s favourite charity music

Theatre Editor Adrian Bhagat (adrian@leftlion.co.uk)

Editor Al Needham (nishlord@leftlion.co.uk)

Cover Image Rob White (artwork@byrobwhite.co.uk)

Sub-Editors Charlotte Kingsbury (charlotte@leftlion.co.uk) Nathan Miller (njm@leftlion.co.uk)

Contributors Siân Caulfield Rob Cutforth Alison Emm James Finlay Kristi Genovese Misty Hood Sarah Morrison Hayley Sleigh Aly Stoneman Andrew Trendell Anthony Whitton

Marketing and Sales Manager Ben Hacking (ben@leftlion.co.uk) Art Editor Frances Ashton (frances@leftlion.co.uk) Literature Editor James Walker (books@leftlion.co.uk) Music Editor Paul Klotschkow (paulk@leftlion.co.uk) Photography Editor Dominic Henry (dom@leftlion.co.uk)

Oh, and one other thing; we’re up for the Writing and Publishing gong at this year’s Nottingham Creative Business Awards, meaning that we’ll be drinking mushy peas and mint sauce out of champagne flutes in the Council House in a week’s time. It’s nice to be recognised by the powers-that-be, but it’s even nicer to be read on a bi-monthly basis by you lot, whether you’re studying at Trent or scuffling for rent.

Graham Knight 1949 - 2009

Editor in Chief Jared Wilson (jared@leftlion.co.uk)

Art Director David Blenkey (reason@leftlion.co.uk)

Of course, the big news in town this month is the opening of Nottingham Contemporary, and it goes without saying that we’ve already been in and had a nose-around (it’s dead nice). Chuck in the likes of Mat Horne, Bent, and all the other stuff that you’d get a monk-on about if we forgot to put in, and we’re all good until we meet again – which had better be Saturday 3 October in Canning Circus, when we take the entire place over for an all-day FREE music and arts throwdown. Peg it over to page thirty for the full SP – and check leftlion.co.uk/circus for the latest updates.

Word to your Nana, Al Needham Nishlord@leftlion.co.uk

festival is back

credits

Technical Director Alan Gilby (alan@leftlion.co.uk)

This issue, as always, is aimed squarely at the bingethinkers and fun-crime offenders of the Shire, regardless of status. And what a lucky bag of excellence it is, an’all. A hefty hunk of LL #31 is a comprehensive nose through the local Indie scene. No, we’re not interviewing loads of chip pan-headed gonks in rammell bands; we’re ripping that label right out of the hands of the mewling whelps and putting it back where it belongs – with the creative sorts who are standing on their own two feet and pursuing their dreams without suckling at the chapped teats of The Man, and creating the myriad of properness that makes our city so much better than that rubbish one over there.

Illustrators Chris Askham Cruiser Stand Assembly Rob White White Rabbit Studio Photographers David Baird Matt Dalton Rebecca Gove-Humphries Phil Lowe

Bob Meyrick Lee Potter Miss Rain Steve Rowe Rachel Williamson Pete Zabulis Podcasts Paul Abbott Rosa Brough Will Forrest Alan Gilby Jon Hall Dan Hardy Christopher Hough Nish and The K Stuart Rogers Jared Wilson LeftLion.co.uk received over eight million page views over the last year. This magazine has an estimated readership of 40,000 people and is distributed to over 300 venues across the city of Nottingham. If your venue isn’t one of them, please contact Ben on 07984 275453 or email ben@leftlion.co.uk. This magazine is printed on paper sourced from sustainable forests. Our printers are ISO 14001 certified by the British Accreditation Bureau for their environmental management system.

Want to advertise in our pages? Email sales@leftlion.co.uk or phone Ben on 07984 275453 or visit leftlion.co.uk/advertise

General Store was more than just a coffee shop. It was an Aladdin’s Cave of Sherwood, a heartwarming place full of character - and all because of one man’s passion for tea, coffee and all things chocolate. It’s hard to capture Graham Knight in a few words, in fact it’s impossible. To tell the whole story - about his early work for Cadburys at Bournville, his move to Nottingham as a founding presenter of Radio Trent, his work for BBC Radio 2 and Radio Derby and setting up a shop in Sherwood - could take up the whole magazine. It was an honour to know Graham, and I speak for many others when I say we will forever be inspired by him. His loving, caring, passionate, knowledgeable and inquisitive nature was like no other. Remember the warm feeling you got when you saw Graham? The lovely hug he would give you, the happy ‘Helllooo! And how are you?’ accompanied by a cheesy grin and remnants of a Brummie accent? That was Graham - he always put you first. We were a family at General Store, and he made a family in Sherwood and Nottingham, through supplying goods, supporting community projects like LeftLion or simply by talking for hours on end about coffee to anyone who would listen. Graham, we all fell in love with your store, because it had your enthusiasm and passion built right into its core. words: Siân Caulfield www.leftlion.co.uk/issue31

MAY CONTAIN NOTTS

Another local record shop closes down

October - November 2009

with Nottingham’s ‘Mr. Sex’, Al Needham

After more than 10 years of selling vinyl and CD’s we’ve finally decided to call it a day and close the shop. We’ll be open as usual until the end of September. Funky Monkey I’ve been shopping here for more than a decade now and wouldn’t be nearly as open minded in my record buying and playing without the guidance of those who have or do work there. A record shop is more than just a place to buy records, especially for DJs and promoters. It acts as a daytime focal point for those involved in the business of putting on parties. Stories are exchanged, laughs are had, information is shared, partnerships are made, plans are laid. I’ve yet to find an online record store that facilitates this kind of exchange whilst buying the latest 12s. myhouse-yourhouse Man, that’s terrible news. A great shop that always kept the faith, as the saying goes. I’ll miss it greatly. Invisible Conga Man Funky Monkey was one of my favourite record shops in the country for a whole host of reasons but first and foremost it was generally a bloody nice place to be in. As I walk by what will no doubt become another Hockley empty shell of a building in years to come I’ll take a moment every time and peer into the window and still hear the voices of all the eclectic characters I met, all the fantastic music I purchased and the enduring memories of the garage-grime-bassline 8 pack tape rave crew. Beane When I’m old and grey, listening and digginig through stacks of records lots of memories will start flooding back about a little record shop I used to work in. The time my hero John Peel walked in! All the famous DJs from around the globe we’ve served. All the regulars, locals and lovely people we’ve met along the way. When I’m I may write a bit about it all... I have a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat. See you all at the closing party. Rick

1 August According to a survey, Nottingham is one of the top cities in the country with the least amount of shop closures since the recession, while Derby is at the very bottom of the list. By the end of the year, sheep-shag towners will be returning to the bartering system and by mid-2010 all cashpoints will be fitted to supply Groats, chickens and ‘shiny pretties’.

I’ve been calling into the shop for around ten years for flyers updating me on what upcoming events there are going on around the midlands and so, although not a vinyl Funky Monkey junkie, I will miss your hub of activity and support for independence. Mahatma

3 August A local mouth-breather celebrates his 21st birthday in town by stamping on a bloke on Friar Lane, unfortunately forgetting that a) he was in the middle of town, b) there are CCTV cameras all over the place, and c) he was wearing a t-shirt with his name a date of birth printed on the back.

CD and record sales are sinking .. but the main reason why these shops are closing down is the rents and rates in inner cities leave it pretty impossible to make any profit given the small margins on the product. pow

11 August Frances Finn, Radio Nottingham presenter and the person who lets May Contain Notts broadcast to her audience that if they don’t have a proper Nottingham accent, they are vermin, has an extremely nasty accident on her motorbike on Mansfield Road. Get well soon, duckeh, from all of us at the Lion.

It was the first shop in Nottingham that I visited (back in ‘04), whilst looking for somewhere to live and in addition to picking up a wicked deep house track, I was advised that Stealth was a great venue, and Sherwood was a good place to live. Both titbits were as reliable as the music recommendations I’ve got there over the years. Denzileo Can I add our love and respect to the glowing list of tributes above? Always stalwart supporters of Boogaloo, disco connoisseurs and purveyors of dancefloor gems ,whilst I lived in Notts and on my visits back up for our parties. FaceTheMusic Thanks for the kind comments folks. Thanks to all those that have supported us over the years there’s so many I’m not even going to try and list them! We’ve tried pretty much everything to keep the place going including selling t-shirts, posters, lighters etc. Unfortunately nothing has replaced the income lost through declining music sales. The lease runs out at the end of September and the owner has no intention of renewing it. Record shops have always been a place for likeminded people to meet and share ideas. They’ve also acted as information points for customers and the general public - we’ve always recommended club nights, bars and other shops to anyone who’s asked. I’ve lost count of the amount of tourists that I’ve directed to Selectadisc, Stealth etc. Funky Monkey

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17 August May Contain Notts’ eight year-old nephew tells him that he knows what happens at Hooters. “Women with boxer shorts on their heads do cartwheels to clown music, and they rub mud into their lips because they’re too trampy to afford proper make-up.” Bless. 19 August A proud day for all Nottinghamians, as Viccy Centre contracts the first symptoms of Broadmarsh Disease and opens a Poundworld on the site of the old Woolworths. Not just any Poundworld, though; it’s the biggest Poundworld in the whole UK. A veritable Jupiter in the Pound Solar System. In your face, London. 24 August Another new Robin Hood film called Sherwood Horror is announced, about a bloke who comes out of prison to discover that his home town in the Deep South has been overrun by vampires. No, really. 25 August Notts County activate the Championship Manager cheat mode again by signing Sol Campbell on a five-year, £40,000 a week contract, which is more than the combined weekly wage of most fourth division squads and the first step towards making County the team of the decade. OK, so maybe the decade in question is the 90s, but it’ll do for now. And why stop there? Why not have a go at tapping up Pele, or digging up George Best and leaning him up against a goalpost? 29 August The Forest – Derby game ends with Nathan Tyson ripping a corner flag and waving it at the Derby end, who react like extras in Planet Of The Apes when Charlton Heston shoves a bit of fire on a stick in their faces. Robbie Savage, the crying woman of second division football, says something in complaint, but the resultant whine can only be picked up by dogs.

2 September The beach in the Square is such a roaring success that plans are made to bring it back on an annual basis, but with a different theme each year. Here are my suggestions; 2010 - Sharks, 2011 The opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, 2013 - Pyramids and a Sphinx with Su Pollard’s face, 2014 - Massive sand worms, like in Dune, 2015 - Sharks, again. 7 September Three schools in Notts – Greenwood Dale, Elliott Durham and Jesse Boot – merge and become Nottingham Academy, the biggest school in the UK. Christ on a crisp packet, what’s gonna happen when they all go off for a fight with the school next door? Probably the same thing that always happened once a year when our school went off to fight Bigwood; loads of mongy youths marching up the road, wearing their ties round their heads like Rambo and chelping off at folk, only to find that when we get there all their kids are at home, watching Dr Snuggles and eating Toast Toppers. 8 September The Sheriff of Nottingham gets slagged off for going on a £10,000 fact-finding trip across the Atlantic to discover how Nottingham can bring more Americans over here. For one tenth of that, he could have come to me and I would put him right; “Crash a number 89 into the White House, and then release loads of videos of yourself flicking V-signs at them from the caves under the Broadmarsh.” 14 September The local NHS launches a text service for the yout’dem so they can apply for a free chlamydia screening kit. All they have to do is text; ( ) ===D ~ : ( 16 September According to police figures, crime has fallen by a quarter over the past two years in Notts, but drug offences have risen by 20%. Obviously, the weed is Nottingham has got so strong that even the hardcore criminals in town are thinking; “No, actually, sod breaking into some old woman’s house or shooting someone in the face – let’s just get a massive bag of Haribos and put Bomberman on instead” 21 September A bloke from Clifton is on trial for taking his knock-off to new plateaus of Tantric ecstacy by lobbing her jubblies out and attempting to give her a seeing-to in the woman next door’s paddling pool. When said neighbour took a photo that she was going to show to said Casanova’s Mam, who he still lived with (presumbly adding that “Your Martin’s a right dutteh bogger”), he went batchy and tried to kick the door down. The judge – who probably has memories of bringing someone back when his Mam was at the bingo and trying to get her knicks off before she noticed the ornaments of clowns on the mantelpiece – lets him off with community service.

LeftEyeOn

leftlion.co.uk/lefteyeon

What’s been going on round Notts, courtesy of the city’s finest photographers...

Captions (left to right from top) Robin Hood Racers The Robin Hood marathon on 13 September brought folk from all over the shop to run in one of the UK’s biggest full (and half) marathons. The event kicked off and finished on the embankment near Trent Bridge. Traffic chaos all round. Lee Potter (Flickr: artstarphotographic) Guy Barker The UK jazz trumpet legend joined forces with Derbyshire quintet ZOO for a night of jazz fusion at the Bonington Theatre in Arnold on August 13. Nottingham is regularly blessed with world-class lineups, thanks to the Jazz Steps programme. Bob Meyrick (jazzsteps.co.uk) A Saucy Sketch Mysti Vine poses at Dr Sketchy, a mixture of burlesque cabaret and life drawing held monthly at Escucha on Fletcher Gate. Check drsketchynottingham.co.uk for further details. Miss Rain (missrain.co.uk) Ging Gang Gooly ‘Be prepared’ - the motto of street performance artists Swank who were awarding badges for ‘camp fire singing’ and ‘doing my best’ at their camp in Nottingham Castle on August 8 & 9. Pete Zabulis (Flickr: petezab) King of the Ring That’s gotta hurt! Ultimate Fighting is now held monthly at Rock City, and there’s nothing the door staff can do to break it up. Matt Dalton (Flickr: DizMatt)

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To celebrate one year of successfully trading in Nottingham we would like to offer all of our customers 20% off on production of this advert.*

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Mathew Horne’s face has been on telly more than most over the past few years. After popping up on Teachers and The Catherine Tate Show, he made it big with Gavin and Stacey and as half of the eponymous sketch show Horne and Corden - not to mention starring in Britcom horrorromp Lesbian Vampire Killers. But he's also Proper Notts, and fiercely proud of his roots... Words: Jared Wilson Illustration: Chris Askham

So, Catherine Tate gave you your first big break. What’s she like in real life? She’s very, very funny. Very dry and down to earth and a meticulous worker who I just clicked with right away. One of those things that comes along when you do what I do, that you meet someone that you can work with in those ways. I am very, very fond of her and very grateful for what she gave me. We remember watching you in Teachers. What memories do you have of those days? I remember it being a very long job - the part had been written for me so I sort of felt like I knew what I was doing with it. I really enjoyed that part; it was well within my comfort zone. The series wasn’t a success, but you have to not judge it on those terms - you go on your experience of it. If you were going to be a teacher in real life, what would you teach? Geography. Thought you’d say something like drama… Why would you think that? Because you’re an actor. I have no wisdom to impart dramatically. Geographically, I’ve got lots of wisdom to impart. Or maybe English Language; I’ve always been interested in linguistics, but I was pretty good at geography and I could always talk about that enthusiastically. You had a brief part as the Court Jester in BBC’s Robin Hood. Was that fun? It was a strange role that was unlike anything I’d done before. I knew I’d get to dress up and have a bit of freedom, and the guy who played Robin Hood (Jonas Armstrong) is a really good mate of mine and I thought it’d be nice to go see him - because for seven months of every year for four years he was away. I also enjoyed working with Keith Allen, who’s a wonderful guy and a really talented actor. Did you get the part because of your Notts roots? Not at all, no. No, it wasn’t a concern for anybody, I don’t think. The decision not to do an East Midlands accent was made very early on. Jonas is from near Blackpool and they told him to keep his accent, so it was never a big thing.

Are you and James Corden as good mates in real-life as you are on camera? Yeah, that’s one of the reasons why we work together so well we clicked straight away. We’re of a similar age and from similar backgrounds and there’s lots of common ground. There’s a very deep friendship that will never cease. You lost out to James in the British Comedy awards for Best Male Comedy Newcomer in 2007 - did you have a scrap with him afterwards? No, I knew he’d win it so that was fine. I didn’t have a scrap with him but he has apologised to me as he never thanked me in his speech, but I won’t hold it against him. Tell us about Lesbian Vampire Killers... I auditioned for it just before the first series of Gavin and Stacey was filmed, and then the funding dropped out. Then two years later they found some money, and cast me and James in the part. It was just a script that I thought was really fun and for a certain type of demographic which I like to entertain. It turned out to be one of the most fun jobs I’ve ever done. Were you happy with the final cut of it? For the budget that we had, I was really pleased; with my performance and with the whole thing. We always knew it was for a very specific audience and I think the people it was made for really like it. Do you worry about being over-exposed as an actor? You’re on TV a lot at the moment… I think there was time earlier this year that we were definitely in danger of that, but these things are slightly out of our hands as the people that publicise the film are completely different to the people that publicise the BBC3 sketch show and the BBC1 comedy sitcom. So, it’s nothing that we can control really and doing stuff like presenting the Brit Awards is difficult to turn down. I think it’s all calmed down a bit now and everyone’s sort of moved on. You did the Brits with Kylie. What was she like? I met Kylie a few years ago when I did a TV show with her and we got on well. The Brits were really great as we got signed up first and then they asked her as well. Obviously I don’t get to see her very much, so it’s really fun to get to hang out and work with her again.

Did you use to have posters of her on your wall as a kid? No, but I was definitely attracted to her, which hasn’t changed. But who isn’t? I’ve never been sycophantic or star-struck or anything like that, but if I’d known when I was a nine year-old watching Charlene in her overalls mending a car that this is what would be happening in twenty years time, then I wouldn’t have believed it. You collapsed with exhaustion on stage earlier in the year while starring in Entertaining Mr Sloane. Is everything OK now? Yeah. I was just working really hard in the day doing publicity stuff, voice-overs, and DJing and doing the play at night. I had taken on too much and worn myself down to a point where my body just shut down on me. Unfortunately, it happened in front of three hundred people, which was slightly embarrassing. By about three weeks later I felt a lot better, but it was one of the most unpleasant things that’s ever happened to me, and something I’d rather move on from. What does Nottingham mean to you? It’s my rose of the Midlands. I’m very proud of where I’m from, and I think it’s a wonderful place. I love the people, the architecture, the shops, the bars, the students – all these things make it into a really exciting city. I’m just really proud of my roots, really. A lot of people have seen me on the telly and think I’m from Billericay in Essex, because that’s where Gavin is from. I’ve never actually been there, so I’m very quick to point out that I’m a Midlander. So tell us about your favourite places in town... I really like going to The Social, I love the Broadway, especially now it’s been refurbished – it looks fantastic. And the Rescue Rooms is always fun. Anything else you'd like to say to LeftLion readers? I love you all and I’m not from Essex. Listen to more from Mathew on the October Poddingham podcast at leftlion.co.uk/podcasts myspace.com/mathewhorne

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This time of year, Rob Cutforth loves nothing more than rubbing up against tubby, sweaty beardos and cramming greasy, meaty balls into his Canadian maw. Calm down, Nana – he’s only at the Beer Festival… I love autumn. The leaves changing colour and gently falling from the trees, the early morning frosts, the happy students returning to classes, and the half-drunken political discussions at family gatherings over turkey and warm slices of pumpkin pie… But it’s not like that at all, is it? That is the autumn that only exists in fairytales (and Canada). In Nottingham, the only reason the leaves change colour is because they’ve been battered mercilessly to the ground by 8,000mph gales, the early morning ‘frost’ is just frozen floodwater on the ground from it chucking it down the day prior, and the students are only happy if they’re six pints and a spliff into their evening. In fact, if it weren’t for the Nottingham Beer Festival, autumn could eff right off altogether and make way for Christmas. For me, a Nottingham autumn (henceforth known as ‘Nottingtumn’) is about drowning my sorrows. A time to gorge on pies, deep-fried sausages and anything else that gives me any kind of pleasure, in order to take my mind off the fact that the sun is about to go AWOL for nine months. To that end, it’s also a time for blowing the mothball dust off my winter cardie collection, ready to disguise my developing pre-Christmas paunch. If growing up in Canada has taught me anything, it’s that bears have it all figured out; eat until you pass out, and don’t wake up until summertime. But most importantly, a Nottingtumn is a time for beer. Lots of beer. For many, an autumn bitter is a dirty, jet-black atrocity that resembles the contents of a Speedy Pepper grease trap, smells like a geriatric’s gym shorts, and tastes like a lukewarm espresso that’s been left burning on the stove for a fortnight. It’s something only an Englishman could love, and although I have my shiny new British citizenship, I tend to stick to the ones that taste at least a little bit like beer. My first Nottingham Beer Festival was three years ago, held in the (now defunct) Victoria Baths. Two nights of hosting hundreds of fat, bearded men drinking half-pints of Bishop’s Crooked Bum-crack, and the main drinking room would pong like a swimming pool filled with kiddie wizz... oh wait. It is now held up at the Castle and I can say with confidence that having it in the open air is definitely the way to go. When I first walked into the festival, I was handed a menu with the names and descriptions of all the beers: ‘A smooth, easy quaffer with summer berry undertones’, or ‘A long and well-rounded bitter with a malty aftertaste’. It might as well have been written in Mandarin. I decided to go for one with a funny name.

Menu in hand, beer chosen, I walked confidently down the rows of kegs, found my beer and had my first interaction with a beer festival volunteer. Ordering beer at a beer festival is not easy, as the sellers are a bit, how you say, youthfully challenged. Not to mention juiced off their faces. This is how ordering a beer at a beer festival goes: ‘Old Slapper please, mate. That one. No, THAT one. No – left, mate. No, your left. Left again… no, up…down… right…right…back one…no… over…YES!’. It’s like tapping the Contra cheat code into an original NES. Pint in hand, I decided a burger might be in order (I’m North American, innit), and as luck would have it, there was a greasy caff in the next room. Dodging the guts, beards and belt buckles of the beer geek brigade, I made my way to the grill - where I was met with the following, displayed proudly in red ink: ‘Three Faggots £1.50’. My jaw fell clean out of my head. I didn’t know what to find more offensive, the fact that they’re selling ‘faggots’ in the first place, that they’re using such a derogatory term, or simply that they’re so freaking cheap. Thankfully (and much to my friend Nigel’s amusement), I found out from the faggot seller that they are in fact fried balls of meat. Pretty bloody awful fried balls of meat, I might add. Beer festival tip: British faggots taste 100% better after six pints. Next stop at the festival was my first in a line of crap British gambling games - the Tombola. The most interesting thing about this Tombola wasn’t the fact that the odds of winning are somewhere between slim and none, nor that none of the prizes are worth winning anyway (sleeveless Harley Davidson tank top, anyone?), but that it was manned by a bearded fella with the largest and most perfectly spherical gut I had ever seen. He made Randy from Trailer Park Boys look positively pathetic. A good Christmas paunch is capable of propping up a small rum and coke; you could rest a keg on this bad boy and still have room for a faggot or two. I was in awe. I briefly pondered the idea of recruiting him for my new fetish mag, Hot Hot British Potbellies, because if there is any truth to the Rule 34 theory (if it exists, there is porn for it), I would make a fortune. However, a quick Google search revealed that someone had already come up with the idea. If you plan on looking yourself, I highly recommend turning your safe search on. Yowsa. I spent the rest of the evening scouring the menu, quaffing multicoloured pints and even trying to talk to the beer geeks intelligently about beer. It’s a dangerous place though - as I discovered the next morning as I woke up with faggot-induced gut rot, a screaming real

live/dnb/dubstep/pop/re-mix/mashup/mayhem

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Live @ Detonate 30.10.09 8

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ale headache and - most frightening of all - a CAMRA membership. So, I am now entitled to cheap drinks at Wetherspoons (um, yikes) and a subscription to the CAMRA newspaper, What’s Brewing. According to the latest edition, Real Ale is UNDER ATTACK from some nameless Beer Gestapo out there intent on destroying Real Ale and taking away my RIGHTS! Gosh! I’m

not really sure how my ‘rights’ being violated has anything to do with Real Ale, but I’d better drink a keg’s worth or two this year. Just in case. This year’s Nottingham Beer Festival takes place from Thursday 8 to Sunday 11 October at Nottingham Castle - £5 per person, or £2.50 for CAMRA members like Rob. nottinghamcamra.org

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LIFE LESS ORDINARY New art from South Africa Featuring Nandipha Mntambo’s Europa 5 September - 15 November 2009

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16/9/09 11:34:44

GET BENT! words: Paul Klotschkow

Ever since the release of Programmed To Love in 2000, Bent have been one of the UK’s finest purveyors of electronica, a ridiculously eclectic remixing duo and one of the godfathers of the chill-out scene - and they’re ours, all ours. Four albums of aural euphoria and a couple of years off later, they’re back - with a decade-encapsulating Best of Bent compilation and a brand new live show. So is this the beginning of a new era? With Nail Tolliday now based in London, Simon Mills talks to us about the first ten years of Bent… So what have you been up to since Intercept! in 2006? I have been working with various singers with our publisher Warner Chappell Music, as well as with a producer from New York called Lenny Annex. I’ve been DJing a hell of a lot, and getting my head into new things. Also, we’ve been just rehearsing and getting the live shows together. It’s been good to have a break.

Juggernauts and MGMT. I’m looking forward to hearing a big movement of music again. The industry is so different now; it makes me wonder how it will all pan out. What advantages and disadvantages do DJ/producers have over traditional bands? That’s a tricky one. I think the advantage of producing is it’s easier to get a unique sound, rather than using the same old instruments. DJs in general don’t have to worry about rehearsing, or sound checks. Live bands do have the advantage of looking more interesting on stage, though. We’ve always tried to fit in the middle.

How did your recent London gigs go? Was it weird getting back on the Bent-horse? The shows were great, thanks - it wasn’t too weird, more of a rusty feeling! It’s nice when you’ve been on the road and it all becomes easy, but stop for a couple of years and it takes time to get back up to momentum. Our recent shows have had a cracking audience though. That’s the nice thing about Bent; the fans are really supportive. Our shows are a great slice of our Best of album, and it’s great to be doing it again. I honestly feel that the shows have a lovely vibe to them at the moment.

You’re famed for your remixes. What do you think were your best and worst? I really like our Billie Holiday mix of Speak Low, and the Dolly Parton mix of Early Morning Breeze. I think the worst was Spandau Ballet’s Gold. It wasn’t that good. Glad it never escaped the studio! Any local bands you’d like to have a crack at? The Pesky Alligators or The Omega Jazz Band. I wanted to remix Xylophone Man, but unfortunately he rolled a seven.

How did you feel when you got Best Of Bent in your hands? Did it feel like a really significant milestone? I felt very emotional. It was emotional to put all our hellos in there too, so many good friends and people who’ve been behind us. We’ve been so lucky, had some amazing times and we’ve done more than we thought we’d do. We’ve met some of our heroes worked with them, even. We’ve learned a hell of a lot, too. I want more. How did you choose the tracklist? Well, some are obviously favourites, whilst other tracks were ones that never made it in the past. Then there are singles that we just wouldn’t leave out. If it was up to me, I’d have put Cyclons in Love, Stay the Same and Mummy on there too.

There are always new DJs and producers breaking through in Notts. As someone who’s actually done it, what advice would you give ‘em? Funny how we’re seen like that! I would say be honest with yourself and your music, don’t be afraid to try different things, work your guts out and love what you do. I say that to myself every day, pretty much.

”I am getting more and more bored with mainstream music. They’ve dumbed it down so much that it’s almost like it’s aimed at daycare centres.”

But there’s seven new songs on there. Why didn’t you release them separately? We wanted to give fans something extra for getting material they already owned - plus if we released new stuff, we like it to be from a relevant time. Some of the tracks are old, so they complement the album and are more suited to being on the Best Of. A Best Of usually means a line drawn under a career, or the end of an era. Can we expect a new departure, or are you beginning to think about winding down? I think it is an underline - we’re just seeing how it goes at the moment. Unfortunately, the music business is currently X-Factor or doom; it’s quite hard to exist out there at the moment. We are planning to do more, but we’ll just do everything when it’s the right time.

Why is Nail in London? Isn’t that a huge ball-ache? Nail needed a break from Nottingham. To be honest, so do I. It seems that every time I set foot into the city, it’s full of complete nutters. I’m sad about it because I’m passionate about Nottingham. But we all know it’s going a bit pear-shaped. Why did you decide to stay? Well, I wanted to keep the studio going - I moved into the same place as Crazy P and it has been lovely being there. Also, I’ve not

been that financially able to just pick up and move. I have itchy feet now though. I am really wanting a change of scenery. Yes, it does make things slightly trickier in writing new material for Bent, but we’ll play it by ear. No pun intended. You’ve been at it for ten years, now. Has the industry changed? Obviously, downloading has changed the market - people’s attitude to music is very different now. We’re becoming more interested in multimedia and interactive media. I think that there is an over-saturation of music at the moment, so it’s harder to find the good stuff. On the other hand, the internet is a great tool for finding and trying out new music. There’s some great stuff out at the moment - Pitto, Harmonic 313, Bleep District - but I’m getting more and more bored with mainstream music. They’ve dumbed it down so much that it’s almost like it’s aimed at daycare centres. There will always be interesting things going on in the background though, and that’s where I hope we fit in. Nowadays, everything seems to be pigeonholed to death. Do you think rock and dance bands will ever co-exist as well as they used to? I think they flirt with each other now and again. There are certain acts that have managed to be both, like Midnight

So what’s your proudest achievement with Bent? My proudest achievement is just getting the music out there in the first place. That was my life goal as a teenager. There are so many things we have done and wonderful people we’ve met on the way that it’s hard to pin it down. Having a Best Of makes me proud, though.

Is there anything you’d change? I would probably try and listen to the record companies a bit more, I’m sure they wanted a hit record, but then again, we were never about that. If I was going to change anything I would probably say to myself ‘save some money for tax’. That would have been a good idea! If you’re out in town, what is a typical night out for you? A typical night would be to see places like Moog, The Dragon, The Sir John Borlase Warren, and Yates’. Actually, no - Squares is better. It’s like Jeremy Kyle with a bar. Admittance: No trainers, no baseball caps, and strictly no GCSEs. Seriously though, a typical night for me is meeting with good friends in nice pubs. Any final words? Thank you for getting the album, in advance. Best of Bent is out now and reviewed on page 44. Bent will be headlining at Broadway for this year’s Hockley Hustle on Sunday 25 October. Hear Simon on Cult Radio - LeftLion’s dance podcast at leftlion.co.uk/podcasts bent-world.com

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue31

NOTTINGHAM CASTLE ANNUAL OPEN 2010

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NEW ART EXCHANGE NOTTINGHAM CASTLE MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY 23 JANUARY - 7 MARCH 2010 CELEBRATING ART & CRAFT IN THE EAST MIDLANDS

CALLING FOR SUBMISSIONS FROM ARTISTS AND CRAFT MAKERS BASED IN THE EAST MIDLANDS

Exhibition selected by 3 leading independent UK Artists and Arts Professionals Gordon Cheung (Artist), Sheila McGregor (Chief Executive, Axis) & Shelly Goldsmith (Textile Artist). PRIZES • £1,500 cash prize (work in any medium) • £1,000 worth of runners up prizes (work in any medium) • Solo exhibition at Nottingham Castle • Solo exhibition at New Art Exchange • More prizes to be confirmed

TO APPLY please send an A5 SAE to: Annual Open Exhibition Nottingham Castle Nottingham NG1 6EL or email tristram.aver@nottinghamcity.gov.uk DEADLINE FRIDAY 28 November 2009. Application forms available from MONDAY 28 September 2009.

SPODDINGHAM!

Words: Al Needham

Attention, geeks of the Shire: your annual dose of fresh air and being with other people (otherwise known as GameCity) is back – and this year’s joypad-jiggling jamboree is going to be the biggest and best yet. Here’s why the city’s very own console convention has already been described as ‘the Sundance Festival of videogaming’…

It’s like other games conventions, apart from the fact it’s actually really brilliant.

It’s one of the few gaming conventions created for the people who play games.

As anyone who’s been to one will tell you, your average videogame bash is a bit corporate and rubbish. Not only do you have to put up with the suits licking each other’s bits in an orgy of self-congratulation and some bloke from America going on about a game that’s not due for release until your children die, the queues to have a bang on the new games are longer than the ones at Alton Towers. GameCity isn’t like that at all. Oh no.

Even though it’s been going for a short amount of time, games developers love GameCity – so much so that they leave their usual protective screen of PR reps behind and talk face-to-face with the people who actually buy the games. For example, not only did Lego Star Wars producer Jon Smith exclusively unveil the Wii version of the game to an audience of kids, but he also took them through the design process (and in return, got pulled up on his Star Wars knowledge by them).

It’s the only convention in the world that treats videogaming as a cultural entity.

to freestyle his way past a queue for the bogs that includes a kung-fu onion, a driving instructor moose, and a chicken that has its own cookery show on telly. Were it not for him, you probably wouldn’t be able to play Guitar Hero at 2am and would have to watch rubbish on ITV. Somebody praise him! It’s having a special Elite day. Oh yes, Elite - the space trading game of yore that can reduce the average fortysomething male to tears at the very mention of it – is being celebrated big style at GameCity, with a reunion of a host of people involved with its creation.

It’s the only event in Europe that IndieCade bother with. It lets you play on a telly in the Square the size of God’s face.

Despite the fact that the videogaming industry more than pulls its weight both financially and culturally when it’s put against films, music and art, it’s still seen by a depressingly huge chunk of the world as a disposable entity designed to keep the kids quiet for a bit. GameCity doesn’t see it that way at all - so instead of bringing in MDs to prattle on about sale figures and all that boring rammell, they invite the people who actually devise and create the games. After all, if you were running a film festival, who wouldn’t invite a bloke who owns a projection company to give a talk, would you?

IndieCade – the International Festival of Independent Games – is pretty much the Fringe of annual gaming events in the US, giving a shine to developers outside the corporate world who are trying to drag the industry away from the cycle of sequels and rehashed games with better graphics. And they’re back for another year at GameCity – and this time, they’re bringing the entire IndieCade experience into the Market Square.

It brings some of the biggest videogaming auteurs to the city

When people give talks at the average games do, they’re usually on a raised platform with loads of screens and it’s all a bit Big Brother-ish. GameCity, on the other hand, holds intimate talks by developers, artists, and creatives in the wonderful confines of the Mogul-e-Azam, across the road from the Royal Centre.

Seriously. Previous GameCity guests include Keita Takahashi (the man behind the unbelievably mental Katamari Damacy series, where you have to roll a sticky ball that can pick up trees, cows and mountains) Alex Evans (the developer of Little Big Planet), and Alexei Pajitnov - the man who invented Tetris, for God’s sake. Just think; if you had been there, you could have shook him by your crabbed-up-by-playing-Tetris-on-a-Game-Boy-as-a-youth hand. One of the all-time highlights in recent years involved Martin Hollis and David Doak giving a directors commentary on one of their old games; a little something called Goldeneye 64.

Say no more. Actually we will, because this year GameCity will be hosting Brickstock, an all-day music festival based around the forthcoming Rock Band: Lego, giving the punters of Nottingham the first chance in the UK to play the game and stroke their (L)ego on the main stage. It happens all over town.

It’s the only gaming convention that has an official curry supplier.

It’s bringing the Godfather of rhythm games to Nottingham. Everyone who has ever immersed themselves in the glorious post-pub experience of thrashing about on a plastic guitar or slipping on a dance mat needs to assemble in the Square and bow towards Masaya Matsuura when he descends upon us from Gaming Heaven to deliver the BAFTA Vision Statement. Not only did he create Vib Ribbon, he gave the world Parappa The Rapper, the game about a two-dimensional hip-hop dog who has

Previous GameCity locations have included places such as the Malt Cross, Gatecrasher, and caffs and restaurants all over town. This year, Broadway has already been confirmed - more to follow. It’s absolutely free. That’s right, you won’t have to lay your 10p down in the corner of the Square and wait for your go; the whole thing costs you nuppence. Little wonder that the trade press are raving about GameCity; no less an authority than The Times call it ‘the most inventively-programmed new arts festival of the year’ and Edge says it ‘shows us how a games shindig should be run’. GameCity Squared runs from 27 to 31 October gamecity.org www.leftlion.co.uk/issue31

Welcome, dear reader, to the hidden (and not-so-hidden) delights of Independent Nottingham... ...by which we mean the non-chainy, non-corporate, non-sterile sector of the entertainment realm of the Shire, starring a cast of hundreds of local brothers and sisters who are doing it for themselves across all artistic disciplines. There are far too many of them to mention; the following is a mere selection. We kick off with the fact that there’s far more to theatre in Notts than the Playhouse, Theatre Royal, and AmDram productions involving middle-aged men running around with their trousers round their ankles... words: Adrian Bhagat photos: Rachael WIlliamson

The Sandfield Theatre

The Lace Market Theatre

The Nottingham Arts Theatre

Where is it? In Lenton, opposite the Savoy Cinema on Derby Road.

Where is it? The Lace Market, obviously.

Where is it? In Hockley, close to the Broadway Cinema.

How long has it been around? Quite a while, now. It’s run by the City Council’s Education Department, providing opportunities for local schools and colleges to stage productions in a professional environment.

How long has it been around? The company has occupied the current building since 1970, but the roots of the organisation go back to the twenties.

How long has it been around? Since 1948,when it was set up and funded by the Co-Operative Society. Eight years ago, they decided that they no longer wished to be involved – luckily, a new company was created to continue the theatre’s activities in the same building.

What does it specialise in? As well as school productions, the theatre attracts professional productions including 2B Theatre’s very accessible and entertaining production of King Lear which showcased local acting and directing talent. What’s it like inside? A large stage and versatile performance space. What’s coming up soon? The New English Contemporary Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker (19 November – 5 December) Does it do anything other than theatre? Dance events, including several performances as part of the nottdance09 festival. Also hosts the annual Bands In The Sands competition, where school bands compete for recognition and studio time – next one runs from 9 to 17 November. What’s their policy on new actors? Plays are mostly performed by students at local schools and colleges.

What does it specialise in? Serious, well-acted drama by a company of excellent amateurs. What’s it like inside? An intimate stage with a 118-seat auditorium. Housed in an adapted Eighteenth Century chapel, the Lacey also has a large bar that serves as a studio space for smaller productions. What’s coming up soon? Holocaust drama Kindertransport (21 - 24 October), and Festen - the award-winning play about a dinner party that goes seriously, horribly wrong (9 –14 November). Does it do anything other than theatre? No. What’s their policy on new actors? Although auditions are open to non-members, you must join to take part in a play. The Lace Market Theatre, Halifax Place, NG1 1QN. lacemarkettheatre.co.uk

The Sandfield Centre, Lenton, NG7 1QH sandfieldtheatre.co.uk

The New Theatre Where is it? Situated in the Nottingham University campus. How long has it been around? Nobody knows, but the theatre was created by nicking space in the Archaeology and Classics building. What does it specialise in? Being the only entirely student-run theatre in the country (despite the fact that the University doesn’t have a drama department). What’s it like inside? A compact and modern-looking studio theatre.

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue31

What’s coming up soon? Wait and see; now the students are back from their hols they will be putting in proposals for future productions. Does it do anything other than theatre? Nope. What’s their policy on new actors? If you want to get involved, you’re going to need to get yourself enrolled at the University. Time to retake those A-Levels… The New Theatre, Cherry Tree Hill, University Park, NG7 2RD. newtheatre.org.uk

What does it specialise in? Mainly farces, musicals and World War II singalongs - but occasionally there are plays for a younger audience such as their successful production of rock musical Return to the Forbidden Planet. What’s it like inside? A big, cold square room reminiscent of a run-down school hall. With a large stage and 320 seats, it’s by far the biggest indie theatre in Notts. Plans to renovate the building are afoot, including the creation of a small studio space. Hopefully, they’ll also be doing something about the belowpar acoustics, and leaving the coffee bar untouched, as it sells bottles of Black Sheep Ale. What’s coming up soon? The Who’s Tommy (6 – 10 October), and another performance of The Nutcracker, this time performed by The Ballet Theatre UK (3 November) Tuesday 3rd November: The Nutcracker (Ballet Theatre UK) Saturday 28th November: Arabian Dance Does it do anything other than theatre? Does it ever – apart from performances a-plenty by many local dance schools, loads of touring professional shows pass through here, including ballet and dance companies, bands and even Derek Acorah-style clairvoyants. What’s their policy on new actors? New members are always welcome and auditions are open meaning there’s no need to become a member if you want to act. There’s a very active youth theatre for eleven to eighteen year-olds too. The Nottingham Arts Theatre 12 George Street, NG1 3BE. nottingham-theatre.co.uk

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Write Here. Write Now.

So you want to make a living as a writer, but you weren’t knocked about enough by your Mam as a kid, you haven’t been shagging Peter Andre, and you’re not Jade Goody? Oh dear. The established literary world might be in a right state, but there is a way to get your book out without selling your soul or moving to Islington. As James Walker discovers, independent self-publishers might just be the way forward – and Nottingham is full of ‘em... words: James Walker Illustration: James Johnson In 2001, I excitedly printed out a manuscript for my book, tied it up in string and brown paper, and posted it off to a publisher. It was accepted for publication, and I immediately rang all my friends to tell them the good news. Three years later, the publisher pulled out on the grounds that they were having problems getting their books stocked and that until they were more established, it might be a risk to publish a first time author. Unperturbed, I entered my book for a debut novelists’ competition, won, and was convinced that my dream would finally become a reality - particularly as the publisher in question had already published my work in various anthologies and collections. Three years later they pulled out too, offering up a combination of valid yet depressing reasons; the prominent one being that as a small organisation they couldn’t commit the necessary editorial time now that bigger projects had emerged projects which attracted more funding... I bear no malice to either of the small presses in question, because publishing is a cut-throat business, which, much like the Premier League, favours the rich and established. One bad decision can bring an end to an organisation (more so now than ever) and therefore caution has tended to override risk. And then I set off to the Nottingham Writers’ Studio to listen to one of their regular members’ talks. It was truly inspiring, and made me realise for the first time that writing was not just about swigging endless coffees through the night and promising your girlfriend; ‘I’ll be up in bed in five minutes’ - it was also about meeting people in similar situations who could offer advice and support. The talk was by two local publishers/authors; James Johnson of Erth Chronicles and Ian Collinson of Weathervane Press, who had decided to go it alone and self-publish - perhaps because in the current climate it’s the only viable means of getting your work out there (unless of course you are prepared to have breast implants and appear on Big Brother, which will guarantee you a minimum of three autobiographies by the time you are twenty one and your book stocked in Asda). ‘I set up Weathervane Press in March having written a novel last year and decided because I’ve got a print industry background I’d have a go at self-publishing, and I’d like to share a little of what I’ve learnt since then’, explains Ian. ‘Anybody can self-publish off the office copier, particularly if it is a small run like poetry - you can simply staple work together and sell to friends. The next step up, particularly if you are writing longer pieces, is print-on-demand. That’s using a company like Lightning Source where you can get the book set up for a fairly reasonable price and they’ll help you set up an ISBN number and how to market it. The limitations are that you don’t ever really have control over that product as it always remains a Lightning Source product, and if you stop paying subscription fees, I think they delete it.’ The danger of this approach is that there is no real qualitative assessment, so it enables critics to easily dismiss your work. The solution for Ian was to set up a small regional press, self-publish his own novel and then use this as a platform to publish local writers, thereby giving them the chance to be objectively assessed and selected for publication. ‘As noble as this is, it‘s a big risk - which is why I’m trying to do short-run books which are cheap to produce, compact – the size of a traditional Penguin book - and easy to distribute. It’s digitally printed, which means a very low overhead in comparison to litho presses and conventional equipment which just wouldn’t be cost effective.’ To sell his books, Ian joined the Amazon Advantage Scheme -

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although it should be noted that the returns on this once they have taken their cut can be so low that some presses avoid it altogether. Another necessity was setting up a Waterstone’s account, although experiences with them vary. On one hand, they support local authors and mark out specific designated areas of local interest. On the other, they won’t use any promotional material because the ‘big boys’ pay them to put up their stuff (that’s why most of the books you see in the shop window aren’t the crème de la crème of literature - publishers have bought and paid for the privilege). Money is a similar obstacle with WHSmith. ‘Yes, they are interested in local projects, but this changes when it goes to head office, as they will only ever stock anything that has sold so many thousands before they put it out on the shelves.’ And if you can’t get it onto the shelf in the first place, how are you ever going to shift those units? For this reason, selling online via your own website has become the lifeblood of the self-publishing industry. Ian invested £19.99 in an eCommerce package called Mr Site which includes basic tools such as web address, shopping cart, blog and mailing list facilities. One particularly useful feature is the ‘jukebox’, which has enabled him to play audio readings of his book. In addition to this, he’s tried to build local links to complement what he’s doing. For example, when you order the paperback version from his online book shop you also receive a free designer greeting card by local painter Nick Hedderly. ‘He’s happy for me to give away his cards in the hope that people will then want to get in contact with him, and ideally buy a painting.’ It is good old fashioned synergy and the kind of innovation that typifies small-scale publishing.

“As times get harder and money tighter, collaboration rather than competition seems to offer the key to success” Variety appears to be a vital means to success - or at least capturing the imagination of visitors to his site - so Ian has also invested in Adobe Digital Editions eBooks. ‘I’m not proposing that they will ever take over from the real thing, but it gives you a different route to market. You don’t need a Sony Tablet Reader to read the books, either. They can be read off something like the iPhone, which I think will become the main source for reading because they are so streamline.’ He may be onto something here, particularly if the keitai shousetsu (mobile phone novel) craze kicks off in England as it has done in Japan. With so many applications already, literature - indeed any artform - is always only a finger tap away. The only real problem, aesthetics and tradition aside, is DRM (Digital Rights Management). If you don’t protect files sold online, then someone can download them and give them away free. ‘You can subscribe to the Adobe version but it costs about $3000, which I’m not in a position to do.’ Until he is fully established, he has no option but to risk selling it from the website without DRM. There are many other options Ian has pursued - such as Mobipocket, owned by Amazon, which enables you to download the book via a ‘free’ reader. Best of all, it enables you to enlarge text bigger than alternative readers which is great for encouraging the elderly or poor-sighted to embrace new technology.

The one area of publishing which Ian is less keen to embrace is social networking media, which he confesses is partly due to age but it could be his downfall as it offers a captive and expandable audience. Indeed, Jenny Swann of Candlestick Press pointed out that she has a Twitter account ‘because Google picks up your tweets very quickly, which helps to push up your ratings.’ There are more pragmatic reasons for using this source, too: Salt Publishing recently looked like they were going under, until they tweeted to subscribers to buy one book each to help keep them in business. The response was incredible, and suggests that the internet may revive the old subscription-based model of publishing. It has also created new forms of literature, such as Twitterature. Penguin are due to publish a collection soon. So from a very basic marketing angle it is imperative that small presses embrace new media, which brings us nicely along to James Johnson. James is perhaps more fortunate than most; he comes from a graphic design background and so can market, design and illustrate his work. But despite being more than able to self-manage his publication - a science fiction and fantasy story for young adults - it was the collaborative aspect that really appealed and which holds the key to his phenomenal success. About a year prior to publication he began approaching artists listed in digital illustration magazines such as Imagine FX with information about a story he was writing. The aim was to get them to interpret and illustrate these extracts. Perhaps because of his background, he wrote his novel with the visuals in mind. ‘I wanted to write for people who couldn’t necessarily read that well. Although that’s potentially a controversial thing to say, I’m a lecturer and find students often don’t correctly read a brief - so I’m constantly trying to find different ways of showing that information.’ One such ‘different way’ was to set up a website called Erth Chronicles which enables viewers to browse through the story from various perspectives. Artists then illustrate various scenes or characters which, in addition to being sold, gives the author unique feedback on the interpretations of his work. This has now snowballed and given James so much exposure that he became part of Mam Tor, the publishing collective set up by comic book artist Liam Sharp. This led to James attending conventions ‘with people I grew up with and admired like Bryan Talbot and has already led to being signed up with another publisher.’ A further way of sharing information is through new media. ‘Fan pages are really useful on Facebook because you get lots of people commenting. But you have to be active on forums to generate interest and build up links. Facebook is international, so you need to post a review every three hours because people check at different times of the day. If someone has eight hundred friends and another only ten, they are more likely to read your work. This is where it matters with self-publishing.’ As times get harder and money tighter, collaboration rather than competition seems to offer the key to success. Similarly, embracing new technologies which are cheap and easy to use suggests that there may still be hope for independent publishers to fight back against the big boys who can dominate the market through sheer volume. But most importantly, never give up hope. James Johnson will be performing at the Hand and Heart on 3 October as part of the Canning Circus Festival. Aztec Love Song by Marty Ross will be published later this month by Weathervane. www.erthchronicles.com weathervanepress.co.uk

Scribal Gathering It can be crap and lonely being a poet, scriptwriter or author - but the Nottingham Writers’ Studio can make it better, as Studio Coordinator Aly Stoneman points out… Writer: the term conjures images of malnourished bods in dusty garrets labouring over manuscripts with ink-stained fingers, waste bin overflowing with crumpled paper, pen chewed down to the nib. Of course, the 21st Century Nottingham writer is more likely to be blogging in the Broadway, with Mac Airs and skinny lattes replacing battered typewriters and chipped mugs of instant coffee, but one thing hasn’t changed - writing generally remains a solitary business. Nottingham has developed a strong and diverse writing scene for a relatively small place, covering all genres from journalism to script, poetry to prose. It was novelist John McGregor (If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things) who first identified the need for some kind of hub and specialised workspace for writers; partly to create a friendly writing community and find a space to write but also to network and share professional advice and information which, outside of London (and probably even in London), is very hard to do. Writing - like all artforms - takes hard work and dedication, and even if you do manage to squeeze out a decent manuscript or collection of poems, getting published is an even tougher battle. So back in 2006, Nottingham Writers’ Studio was formed and run by a small group of volunteers from rooms above an Indian restaurant in Heathcote Street. By 2008, membership had expanded to the extent that the studio needed to move to

a larger location and is now based in the Lace Market overlooking St Mary’s Church, courtesy of an Arts Council grant. So what does Nottingham Writers’ Studio offer the city’s scribblers? Being a resource started by writers for writers makes it unique, and besides providing a meeting space with wi-fi access, magazines, books and - most importantly! - comfortable chairs and coffee, the Studio offers writers a quiet place to write. Talks from writing industry professionals and monthly socials are popular with members, and NWS also runs a regular spoken word event called Word of Mouth. Swish laptops and coffees are optional accessories, but enthusiasm for writing is a must! Nottingham Writers’ Studio, Sutton Place Business Centre, 49 Stoney Street, NG1 1LX. The next Word Of Mouth is Wednesday 11 November at The Royal Centre from 7pm (tickets on the door £5)

nottinghamwriters.wordpress.com nottinghamwritersstudio.co.uk

Got a steady job, but you want to be a paperback writer? Got a loft full of manuscripts and don’t know what to do with them? Need advice on getting an agent? Tired of rotting away in you garret and crave the company of like-minded writers to spark off? Here’s a quick guide to the local independents who could help, straight from the horses’ mouths… Candlestick Press ‘Candlestick Press has been going for about eighteen months, publishing poetry pamphlets. Nottingham’s literary networks – not least fellow publishers Shoestring Press and Five Leaves Press – have made it possible for lots of poetry to pour into and out of the city. Our projects for next year are still under discussion, but if any of you are budding graphic artists/animators, please watch this space for future updates’ Jenny Swann candlestickpress.co.uk

Weathervane Press ‘Our primary objective is to support local writers, with the intention to publish about four novels a year. We accept submissions by email, and initially require a brief synopsis and one sample chapter - as well as the category and target audience your book is aimed at. We are currently seeking submissions from female writers.’ Ian Collinson weathervanepress.co.uk

Five Leaves ‘Five Leaves is the East Midlands’ biggest small press. We’ve been going since 1996, have well over 100 books on our backlist and publish fifteen to twenty books a year. We’re currently pretty excited by Rod Madocks’ No Way to Say Goodbye being shortlisted for the ITV Thriller and Crime Awards. We publish social history, crime fiction, young adult fiction, Jewish cultural material. A bit of this, a bit of that.’ Ross Bradshaw fiveleaves.co.uk

Staple ‘Staple Magazine was founded in 1982, and arrived in the Sneinton area of Nottingham at the end of 2007. Recent issues have looked at writing in the East Midlands region, the inner workings of the publishing industry and the relationship between writing and the visual arts. We are looking for submissions of writing with an interest in film for issue 73, deadline March 2010, and future themed issues will be announced via the website next year.’ Wayne Burrows

Shoestring Press ‘We specialize in sequences as well as collections by (usually) established but unfashionable poets, or poets who we are introducing to British readers for the first time, even though they may be well known elsewhere. No unsolicited submissions - please approach with enquiries to 19 Devonshire Avenue, Beeston, Nottingham NG9 1BS.’ John Lucas shoestring-press.com

Writing East Midlands

The Literature Network ‘The Literature Network connects the written and spoken word arts community in the East Midlands. We provide information resources, organise networking and consultation events, support the work and projects of leading literature practitioners and champion the valuable role of literature as a participatory art form.’ Damien Walter literaturenetwork.org

Pewter Rose ‘Our first two publications have specialised in single-author collections of short stories. We feel the short story is an under-rated art form and yet paradoxically, it fits neatly into our busy lifestyles. Our aim is to publish the writing that we would like to read. We are interested in fiction, both short stories and novels, that doesn’t necessarily fit into a particular genre.’ Anne McDonnell pewter-rose-press.com

‘We are working to create opportunities for practising writers as well as discovering new writers of quality. We’re currently planning a number of projects in the region including a Writing Industries Conference in March 2010, a huge writers-in-residence programme covering the whole of the region, the Lyric Lounge and other events such as a performance poetry showcase as part of the Nottingham Comedy Festival this November.’ Catherine Rogers writingeastmidlands.co.uk

Write Lion

‘The Write Lion forum is whatever our posters make of it. We’re an online hub for local authors and poets, published or not, bouncing ideas off each other and exchanging constructive criticism. Our new podcasts cover as many bases as possible, and is the perfect showcase for new writers. Get on the forum and get involved’ James Walker leftlion.co.uk/writelion

staplemagazine.bigcartel.com www.leftlion.co.uk/issue31

THE GIG ISSUE Gaz Peacham

Manager/Promoter at The Maze, which has been one of the best independent venues in town for over a decade and a jewel in the crown of Mansfield Road. Gaz is also a member of Revolution Sounds, a collective of promoters who specialise in ska-punk. themazerocks.com

Matt Newnham

Owner of Gringo Records (who have worked with Lords, Wolves! (of Greece) and dozens of local bands), which was described by Drowned In Sound as ‘a small but very special label’. Matt was also a prime mover in Damn You! – a group of promoters who have already racked up over 200 gigs in town. gringorecords.com

Will Robinson

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What made you want to start doing what you do? Will: I moved to Nottingham, started going to The Liars Club, and really liked what was happening there. I wanted to put on a night and someone thought that I actually wouldn’t do it; so I did it to prove them wrong. I really liked it, so carried on from there. Matt: I started writing a fanzine about ten years ago called Damn You, and from that I started a record label. When I moved to Nottingham in 2000, we put on regular gigs with Anton Lockwood. He gave us a lot of help, and and I think gradually we started to take over his mantle after he got involved with Daybrook House. Gaz: I started doing a fanzine as well called Saggy Pants and put on gigs around town. And then one day the owner of The Maze, Ben Pattell, asked me to manage the place. Because he is insane. Hannah: I ran the Rock Society at Leicester in my second year, started to put on gigs, got a taste for it, and I moved to Nottingham with the intention of doing it professionally. Blagged my way into a job at Junktion 7, and here I am.

Promoter with I’m Not From London, a collective of DIY promoters who have booked pretty much every major local band in the city in a huge range of venues. Will was also involved in the INFL movie, which featured seventy bands playing live in The Arts Organisation. imnotfromlondon.co.uk

What lengths do bands go to in order to get your attention?

Hannah Larham

Will: Having bands that come to your gigs makes a big difference. If you actually see them about, instead of them just sending you an email, you’re more likely to give them a gig.

The former head promoter at Seven - the Canning Circus venue with a strong leaning towards local acts - Hannah has just become an independent promoter and runs Therapy!, Blamethrower and Disgracelands. sevenlive.co.uk

With more bands than ever, a string of dedicated music venues and labels a-plenty, the Notts music scene has never had it this good. Ever. But what do the cities promoters and label-owners think? Let’s have a heated debate!

Gaz: Well, you get CDs through the post all of the time. But some girl sent me a little gift box all wrapped up with little presents in it as well as the CD, which got my attention more than a blank CD. So if any bands want to gig at The Maze, chocolate helps. Hannah: You find yourself picking which ones to listen to from their biog. If the band are being really cocky about how brilliant they are, I tend to put it one side. But if there’s a biog that says ‘we’re a bit cack, but we want to play a gig’, I’d choose them.

Hannah: Bands that hang around and watch the other bands as well are good. You get a lot of bands that just pack up and leave, and I really don’t like that.

Nottingham has got a good sense of band community. Whenever they play, they see the same people coming back. But it’s not as good as it could be. I think that there is room for more of that to happen. Hannah: Rivalry is a bad idea. Trying to nick gigs off each other and doing stuff on the same day just dilutes everything. Finding a way to co-exist is the only way to do it. With the effects of the current recession, are you seeing a change in gigging habits? Will: More people don’t want to pay any money to get in to anywhere. Matt: More smuggling of booze. Gaz: Before this year if I had two gigs on that had a similar sort of style, I would see the same faces at those gigs, maybe even four times a week. Now, people are being pickier; they only go out once or twice a month. Matt: I don’t put nights on in the week. I’ve totally knocked that on the head now. Will: I’m the same. I wouldn’t like to be a venue booking up gigs in the week now. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are pretty much dead. I’ve told bands that if we get the money I will give them some and tell them what my expenses are. I don’t mind not making money, but I don’t want to lose any. Hannah: I think the recession has made us more ruthless with negotiating fees and stuff like that. We’re less happy to take a risk. Gaz: I haggle a lot more, now. Especially with agents I have a relationship with, even if it’s for a gig that I’m pretty sure we will make money from, in the hope that we can make a little more money just to cover other gigs. Matt: It’s amazing what you can get it down to. Hannah: Problem is, with downloads and people not selling enough CDs, agents are trying to get a lot more money out of touring. But aren’t we approaching the end of the CD?

Is the sense of band community important in Notts?

Gaz: I think that there will always be a case for some sort of physical release.

Gaz: For sure. A lot of bands who come here say that

Hannah: Downloading something and having it on your

computer is OK, but I had the dreadful situation where my external hard drive broke and I lost so much. Fans will always buy CDs - you want the inlay and you want something to put on your shelf. Matt: I’m selling more vinyl, but not more than ten years ago. The last record that I put out on vinyl and CD, I sold more CDs in shops but more vinyl at gigs. What are the effects of the internet on what you do? Hannah: A lot of the promotions I do are on the internet. Facebook in particular; it gets information out to loads of people that a poster might not. We work with one promoter who doesn’t use the internet, and it’s difficult to do things. Matt: Having a site that sells CDs like Gringo does makes things way better than in the pre-internet day, when you had a little paper catalogue in your records hoping that people would read it. But I still sell more at gigs. Online, there are all these little chains that you have to go through. I think my distributor is trying to get stuff on Spotify, but they are negotiating to get paid and it’ll probably be a minuscule amount. I have a distributor who uses a company to encode all of their music and pass it on to iTunes. So I get paid after everyone else takes their cut - and then I get about a penny! You have to embrace it though, it’s not going away. The BBC doesn’t support you much now that Peel has gone. And I don’t think anyone pays any attention to the NME anymore. Hannah: I know people who are always getting emails saying ‘Come to our city, come to our country’, but they can’t because they’re not selling the CD. If everyone who downloaded the album bought the CD they could do that sort of stuff. It’s the bands with the day jobs who it affects. It costs a lot of money to tour, more than people think it does. Gaz: We don’t sell lots of tickets physically at The Maze, but we do a lot of ticket sales online. People prefer to sit at home than go to the other side of town and get them from us or a shop. Are you producing fewer flyers and posters? And isn’t that a shame if you are?

help and put on gigs in their own city, that always makes me take notice, because I know loads of bands who would love to get out of Nottingham. Hannah: You’ve got to expect that you will play lots of shit gigs when you play out of town. I’ve been on tour with bands that are sleeping in a van in winter playing to four people. I went to one gig before when the band played to one person. But they became really good friends with the promoter and got better gigs out of it. You can’t go out and expect it to be packed. Gaz: There are bands who I put up, take them out, feed them, and we get pissed and have a good time. And I pay them. But that’s because the first time they came over, they did it for bugger-all money and slept in their van - but after the gig, they chatted to me and bought me a drink to say thank you, and we became friends because of it. Now I book them every time they want to tour. If you go out of town you’ve got nothing to lose by being friendly. How much does your personal taste affect your professional actions? Hannah: You can’t just put on people that you like; you need to be diverse and look at everybody. I often book shows that I personally wouldn’t go to, but they have a lot of fans in Nottingham. Gaz: You need to diversify. If you have a venue that puts on the same sort of bands all of the time, you’re automatically limiting the audience that comes to the venue, and limiting the city. There are a lot of people in Nottingham and they have different tastes. I would prefer to cater to as many people as possible - both in the business sense and because people deserve to have bands they like come to the city. Will: If I ran a label, I wouldn’t want anyone that I wasn’t really into. With being a promoter, however, you have got to get your night busy. So why does Notts have so many bands in such a small space?

Will: I never did that many flyers anyway. People take them, look at them, and chuck them away. Unless they’re really well done, and nice and small.

Will: There are so many different types of music, and then you have all of the bands who meet and end up forming new bands. Bands within bands. Then there is a massive hip-hop scene. And we have good art colleges as well.

Hannah: Seven has a flyer pass – you’re not allowed to flyer in the city outside venues unless you have one. They’re really expensive - £400 a year per person. If you send people out on their own at night it can be dangerous, so we need two. I had to beg my boss to get them, so we could let people know that we were re-opening.

Gaz: People have a passion for music here, but there is a real diversity too because there are a lot of bands that do well and can just about make a living from it, but there is no-one that’s really blown up. I think that there are a lot of people who are willing to experiment with music in a way that you don’t get in other cities as much.

Matt: Listings flyers are much better - I always pick them up.

Matt: I’ve heard the thing about Nottingham not having a big rock band before and I don’t think that it really matters. We have a much better live music scene than Manchester. More people come out to gigs here, Manchester’s pretty crap for that. There aren’t many cities better than Nottingham for music, with the number of gigs going on.

Gaz: Posters are still important; you don’t get the same effect online. A good poster can make a gig; there have been bands I’ve put on that no-one has ever heard of, and I’ve asked people at the door why they’ve come, and they have said they just liked the poster. Matt: But there’s a definite lack of space in Notts - and probably a lack of etiquette with sticking them up. Gaz: When I first started doing it, there were walls that you were allowed to stick your posters on. But now, you have to pay for that space. The council should make more space for event flyering; it’s not like every road you walk down is full of shops. How do you choose which bands to work with? Matt: I have to like them, they have to like me, and I have to have the money available to sign them. I very rarely pick someone new up these days because I can’t afford to and there is only so much time I have to do anything. Gaz: You will have to put some money in if you really want to make it as a band. A lot of bands from outside Notts who contact me for gigs, I tell them I’ll cover their petrol. I can’t pay them at first if they’re not going to bring anyone and I’m not sure if they’re that good. But if they’re good, I’d pay them if I make any money. And if they’re really good, I’ll try to put them on a better bill next time. When you’re starting out, you have to take the risk of playing for nothing or very little. Hannah: No one has got any money at the moment to give to bands. Gaz: We’re not it for the money, really - we do it because we love music. Bands have got to accept that they will have to do things for favours and on the cheap to get their name out. Matt: And if you are a band putting your own gig on, don’t pay yourself loads of money! Gaz: If you have bands from out of town who say that they will

We’ve got a new intake of students – what advice would you give them? Will: Don’t be so boring. Check things out that are out of the student circle. Gaz: Don’t just do what you’re told to at the freshers’ fair. A lot of the best places in Nottingham are the ones that don’t advertise as much. Places like The Arts Organisation, Loggerheads and The Chameleon have a really good atmosphere. Hannah: When I was at Uni, I went to the SU only once. I stayed there for half an hour, then wandered down the street and went in to some random club and met my best friend for the whole of university. So go to random pubs and meet random people. Matt: Don’t be shy. Chat to promoters, because they can tell you what’s happening. Some things you can’t even advertise because you get grief if you do. Hannah: You need to assume that not everyone is at the Rock City student night, not everyone is at the pound-a-pint night. People want different things. Don’t think that everyone is in the one place. Will: And if they’re not happy with what they find, they can put their own nights on. Matt: Absolutely. There’s enough people moaning about stuff when you can actually go out and do it yourself. For the full discussion, check www.leftlion.co.uk/issue31

A Handful Of Tips So, you’ve got your mates together, you’ve hacked out a few tunes in a garage in Sneinton, and you’re absolutely gagging to climb to the top of the ladder of musical recognition in this here town, so you can hang around the back courtyard of The Maze, drinking free beer and getting all sniffy about Guitar Hero with your peers. But how do you get from here to there? If you’d like to know, cock a tab towards the words of James Finlay. His band, Fists, have already done all the things you want to – record deal, rammed-out gigs, slot at Glastonbury - but he was kind enough to offer the following advice for any fledgling bands who are looking to take the next step…

1. Don’t be afraid to get yourself out there. Fists spent years languishing in a little music room in our house, worrying that we weren’t good enough to play to anyone. When we finally did, we discovered that people thought we were OK after all (despite being all over the place and having virtually no equipment). The point is; don’t be afraid to try. Baptise yourself in the fire. It’s the only way.

2. Get involved with the local scene. You know that six degrees of separation thing? Where everyone in the world is only six links away from each other? Well, there’s only about two degrees of separation in Nottingham’s music scene. If you put yourself out there, talk to people and start doing stuff, then you start to become a blip on a map that connects you with other local people who are passionate about similar things. It’s these kinds of associations and the power of word of mouth that will help swell your live audiences.

3. Do It Yourself. A lot of people bitch about how cliquey the Nottingham music scene is, and how hard it is to get gigs, and how everyone who won’t put on their band is a dick. The answer is simple: do it yourself. Rent a room in a pub, rent a PA, make posters, invite friends and have fun. That way, you get to play cover versions of obscure Suicidal Tendencies records all night long and there’s nothing anybody can do about it. Except for maybe leave.

4. It’s worth thinking about money. Frank Black said that ‘music is Bohemia’, which is true. Music is a beautiful, precious luxury - and making it is expensive and time-consuming. Everything from petrol to plectrums costs money, so try to be sensible with your funds and have an arrangement in place for sharing responsibilities equally. Otherwise you might start to hate each other.

5. Don’t spend too much time spodding online. Social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook are obviously really useful, but be wary of spending too much time whoring yourself all over the internet and not enough time writing music and improving your skills. 16,000 MySpace ‘friends’ means nothing if none of them ever bother to listen to you. See Fists at The Chameleon Monday 5 October £5/£4 (cons). myspace.com/fistsmusic

interview: Paul Klotschkow and Sarah Morrison photos: Steve Rowe and Jared Wilson www.leftlion.co.uk/issue31

Drawn Together

words: Frances Ashton photo: Rebecca Gove-Humphries

Nottingham is rightly lauded for the current strength of its independent arts scene. A lot has changed over the last decade with more mid-career artists settling here and collaborating with major institutions, all showing a strong desire to get their work seen across the city. In short, local artists have become more self-aware, more skilled at networking and promoting themselves - and their modus operandi has become more business-like... Since the sixties Nottingham has been very much the capital of the region in terms of contemporary art. The Midland Group and the recently disbanded Oldknows studio group have left a legacy for the artists of today to step into. Stand Assembly studio group and Moot gallery were set up by a group of graduates from Nottingham Trent and have been twin driving forces in the city ever since, recently moving to shiny new premises at 1 Thoresby Street. The directors of Moot, as well as being artists themselves, curate a programme of exhibitions which attract young artists of national and international standing to Nottingham, helping the city to raise it’s artistic lure. Similarly, the more recently formed Tether studio group, who host the exhibition space The Wasp Room, has this year hung the work of both local and international artists on its walls. The more established independent art groups have also helped to support and encourage the formation of new groups. Taking over Moot and Stand Assembly’s old space in Sneinton is Backlit Studios, a consortium of 2008 graduates dedicated to experimental work. The relatively recent addition of Cruiser, formed by members of the Oldknows studio group and including artists from Holland, Germany, Canada and the USA and White Rabbit Studio, an upcoming group of predominately ex-Nottingham Trent art students, add even more weight to the local arts scene. Venture into Canning Circus and you will discover Shop, an exhibition, workspace and retail outlet for a dozen or so creatives working in various mediums including video production, graphic design, graffiti, clothes design, joinery and more. Nottingham is a city rich in festivals and other artistic events. Radiator is a festival of new media art and commissioned artworks, which is hosted by the Broadway Cinema and Media Centre, an independent creative unit with its own digital art programme. Off-site and site-specific artwork has regularly been found along the banks of the River Trent for the past four years thanks to Hinterland, led by independent curator Jennie Syson. Today, Nottingham artists network and promote themselves through free art listings guide Artnot and find themselves critically evaluated in the virtual pages of Nottingham Visual Arts, a new web-based magazine. Our independent art scene is due for another boom set to coincide with the opening of Nottingham Contemporary, and then again with the British Art Show launching here in 2010. When Nottingham hosted the BAS back in 2006 many Nottingham artists and art groups were boosted through their involvement in Sideshow, a concurrent festival focusing on emerging independent local artists. This success is sure to be revisited through the forthcoming British Art Show Fringe. Nottingham is an important city for the contemporary art scene. With two major universities, one of them specialising in fine art, graduates are increasingly choosing to stay here. As these graduate artists become more established and more mature they bring with them networks of other artists from across the UK and abroad who in turn contribute to the ever more lively and inspiring scene we find in the city today.

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Portrait of the city as an artistic powerhouse The local cultural landscape is set to be dominated by artists of all shades over the next decade, with established collectives being joined by new ones year after year. Here’s just the merest of tastes of what’s happening here, in no particular order…. Moot Already named by The Times as one of the UK’s hottest new galleries, Moot is run by four Trent arts graduates who are leading the charge in the NG - but their reach goes far beyond the city, working with artists all over the country and abroad. 1 Thoresby Street, NG1 1AJ / mootgallery.org Shop A veritable melange of exhibition space, creative office space and – yes – a retail outlet of sorts, Shop contains some of the finest art creatives in town, who have already landed gigs for Nike, Wallpaper*, and the Guardian. 2 Ilkeston Road, NG7 3JD / viewtheshop.co.uk Surface Gallery Celebrating their 10th birthday this very month, Surface Gallery is a volunteer-run set-up geared towards pushing new and experimental talent. They’re always interested in hearing from people willing to help run the Gallery – check the site to get on the waiting list. 16 Southwell Road, NG1 1DL / surfacegallery.org The Art Organisation Just across the road from the train station, TAO are an extremely ethical nationwide concern, bent on bringing the arts to the community by occupying derelict buildings and turning them into art spaces. The Notts branch has three buildings that hold workshops, galleries, and gigs. 21 Station St, NG2 3AJ / taonottingham.co.uk Backlit A complex of studios and spaces, Backlit – formed by another group of Trent students just a year ago – is experimental as you like. A self-styled ‘laboratory for the unformed idea’, they specialise in the cross-pollination of artistic practices. The Factory, Dakeyne Street, NG3 2AR / backlit.gnetx.co.uk Tether Based in the Wasp Room – so-called due to its infestation of dead ‘uns when they moved into it – Tether are another wave of graduates on the fringes of St Anns in an intimate yet accessible gallery. The Wasp Room, 17a Huntingdon St, NG1 3JH / tether.org.uk White Rabbit Studios A multi-faceted collective of five artists based in a lovely house in Carrington, White Rabbit are ready to spread their wings and link up with other artists to share ideas and exchange feedback. Sherbrooke Road, Carrington, NG5 2BE / whiterabbitstudio.wordpress.com

Easely Does It We’ve interviewed hundreds of Nottingham artists since we started LeftLion magazine five years ago. Here are some of their thoughts on ways to make the best out of your work and practice in this town... There is such a strong network of artist-led studios and groups in Nottingham compared to other parts of the country. Use it! Sam Clift Paint to sell or paint for yourself. Liam Sheppard Keep your motivation and passion. Emma Lewis Most of the contacts I’ve made are from Flickr and Etsy, where many worldwide artists roam free. All of my artist friends both on and offline are really quite encouraging and inspiring. Cocoakoala Stay hardcore to what you believe in, but always be ready to learn and expand. Rikki Marr I lived in Barcelona before coming to Nottingham, and although it’s regarded as a cultural Mecca, there were very few studio spaces and opportunities for artists. Nottingham is the opposite. Geoff Diego Litherland Be prepared for some serious ballache! Simon Bailey

Become an obsessive compulsive. You can sort the nervous twitch out later. Rich Johnson Speak to other artists and listen to their comments, good and bad. Adam Wise Do what you want to do, not what they want you to do. John Berkavitch Hold onto what inspires you. The art world is pretty brutal, so expect to take a hell of a lot of knock backs before you get to the goodies. Ruth Jamieson Don’t get a nine to five office job… ever! Candice Jacobs Listen to yourself and trust what you hear. Chris Lewis Jones Get a website. Without one nobody will know you exist. Get yourself a decent email address using your URL and keep it for life. Present yourself as professionally as possible when contacting people and writing proposals. Ellie Harrison

Believe in yourself and others will too. David Bowen

Keep working at it and always keep an open mind to what you come across. Network! Raj Pathak

Listen to your soul, keep making art for yourself and experience as much art as possible. Amanda Young

Most things have been done before. Find the currents within your work and follow them. Matthew Chesney

Do what the hell you like, there will always be someone who’ll appreciate it. Also you might have to do a few crap jobs to pay your way. Remember, you’re not the only one and you can meet some great people who can often be a source of inspiration. Angi Fletcher

Draw everything, never throw anything away, and always write down your ideas even if it has to be on any part of your body! Alex Fowkes

Keep at it. Believe in what you’re doing and others will believe in you. Don’t get a real job! Raphael Daden Be yourself. Which means recognise that you are everyone including the unique being that you think you are. Express that however you like. Use power to heal not harm. Popx Have a trust fund. Shaun Belcher Stay focused and believe in what you do, the universe will provide! May Cortazzi Don’t compromise for other people. Even Picasso never felt that he was the finished article. He kept working until he died. Neil Heath Make contacts, be passionate and committed. Don’t fool yourself it will be easy. Jo Irvine People think that Nottingham is just another city, but it’s much more important than that. If you scratch the surface and make it past the identikit shops, there’s lots of really cool independent stuff going on. That’s what makes it interesting to work from here. Jon Rouston Nothing ventured nothing gained. It’s easy to make things happen; all it needs is time, effort and money. Michael Forbes All progress is good, even when minimal. Be ready to accept help and don’t be too hard on yourself. Dorian Conway

Pimp yourself out as much as you can and don’t turn down opportunities. Kat Wojcik Work bloody hard! Simon Mitchell Pally up with a really rich benefactor who loves your work. Benjamin Hargrave

standassembly.org

Develop good friendships and value critical sessions. Have serious fun! Chie Hosaka Get a studio as soon as possible and organise shows of your own work. Be single-minded in your ambition. Ben Judd The networks of people you build up are more important than you think. Terry Shave Nottingham artists are incredibly welcoming and buzzing with energy, mostly. Mik Godley Nottingham is small enough to get to know people and make stuff happen. Get out there! Kat Wojcik I moved to Nottingham after graduating from Lincoln University, as I knew that Nottingham’s art community was very approachable and didn’t have a snobbish manner. I reckon Nottingham gives artists a good name. Alan Armstrong The thing I like about living and working here is that there always seems to be opportunities for artists here. It’s a vibrant community. Georgina Bell Confidence is essential for success. Natasha Stott

Just enjoy creating stuff. Sinking Ships

Read more from Nottingham artists at leftlion.co.uk/art www.leftlion.co.uk/issue31

PICCIE

Nottingham Contemporary is all things to all people; a long-overdue and crucial addition to the city’s cultural landscape, a massive threat to the local independent arts scene, the coolest date venue in town, the building that’ll catapult Notts into the UK artistic Big League, a colossal waste of money... and it’s not even open yet. That’ll all change in November, so our Art Editor breached the shipping container towers and pinned down Director Alex Farquharson... Words: Frances Ashton Photo: David Baird

Traditional factory towns like Nottingham are notoriously suspicious of art in general, and a lot of people have already cast aspersions on Nottingham Contemporary... Your point about post-industrial cities is valid, but it’s not Saturday Night and Sunday Morning anymore; where there were factories, there are now business parks and the big employers are service industries. There are people who will take quite quickly to something like Nottingham Contemporary and those who may be harder to persuade. But we’re going all-out to be as inclusive as possible; to make it really clear that Nottingham Contemporary is for everyone. Everyone’s invited, everyone’s welcome - and it’s free, so people have got nothing to lose. It’s right in the centre of town, so it puts art, contemporary art in particular, right at the heart of the city. How are you going to win over people who think it’s a waste of public money? It’s been estimated that Nottingham Contemporary will generate £1 million for the city just from day visits in our first exhibition season. So it’s an investment rather than a cost. Obviously we all know that these are difficult times financially - but on a much larger scale, as politicians have proven, you need to invest just to get out of these situations. So I’m convinced that we’ll represent very good value for money, even for people who aren’t very culturally engaged right now. So who’s actually paying for all this? The major funders are the Arts Council and Nottingham City Council, with EMDA and ERDF as our capital funders, two European sources and a private donor. In terms of our revenue, it’s Arts Council, City Council and the rest we need to raise. We’ve got the universities supporting us in our public programme, but over half our income is from the Arts Council. So the main sources of funding are national. And how will Nottingham Contemporary sustain itself? We don’t know, in the same way that every cultural organisation that is publicly funded doesn’t know. There could be a change

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue31

“Nationally, there’s a big buzz around Nottingham. It’s like a wave rising, and Nottingham Contemporary opening is like the final big piece in the jigsaw.” of government in April, but I hope that whoever is in power doesn’t see the arts as a kind of easy populist target to cut funds from. It’d be a drop in the ocean, and a very poor investment, given that the last few years have seen some great investments in buildings. Maybe that’s coming to an end, so it’s time to ensure that they are sufficiently funded going forward - because a relatively small cut in the arts is disastrous. They tend to be very ergonomic organisations with small teams, so if you cut 20%, there’s a risk that you actually cut 50% of the funding going towards what it’s for - the activity, the art, the education and the audience-building. It makes very little financial sense to cut arts

funding; it’s a very small part of our national expenditure and contributes to all the other primary sectors, such as education and economic regeneration of cities. Do we really need a gallery this big here? Is it a case of ‘Newcastle and Liverpool’s got one, so we need one too?’ This begs the question ‘Why not Nottingham?’ There are lots of reasons why Nottingham should have a major contemporary art centre. Audience data shows that Nottingham apparently per head has the largest cultural audience in the UK, and there’s a

CENTRE large appetite for culture here. There are also a lot more students per head than any other city, particularly from Nottingham Trent and its Fine Art course. I think there is a demand, and I think that Nottingham is important enough to merit it. Throughout the sixties, seventies and eighties it had the very best contemporary art centre outside of London – the Midland Group, which left quite a legacy. Nottingham has had it before - so why can’t it have it again? Most new galleries have taken over old buildings and restored them - so why was Nottingham Contemporary built from the ground up? It’s not necessarily cheaper to restore or renovate or add to old buildings; sometimes it can be the reverse. And while I think some of those projects are exciting, it’s certainly not the only way to go. This is an opportunity for a new piece of architecture that is visionary and forward-looking; a legacy for the future. It would be a bit odd if we looked back to the 19th Century and found that the major architectural achievements were renovations of 17th Century buildings. It’s important, for culture in general, that each epoch leaves its trace, its monuments and its achievements. I think it’s great that Nottingham City Council are a developer of new buildings for Nottingham. So is the green lace exterior on the building built to last? It’s concrete, it’s hardy! I’m not a builder - I don’t know what it will be like in 200 years time. Maybe it will have its lasting moments, like carved stonework in medieval buildings. Or maybe buildings shouldn’t last that long anyway. Maybe we could have moved to another planet in 200 years time.

How can we as a city enable local artists to prosper on a national and international scale without losing them to larger cities? We can’t provide all the answers for that; it’s up to the individual artist and the work they make. But I do think that Nottingham Contemporary will contribute to an environment that encourages artists to stay here. It’s very important that Nottingham isn’t just a big fish in a small pond, because the danger is that there is nothing beyond the pond - that it is inward looking and insular. We need a scene that looks to the outside world, so I think its important that artists are moving in and out of the city. We’ve lost some really interesting artists of late, but I’m sure that there are some new and just as interesting ones coming through the ranks. I’m sure it will always be replenished. And I’ve noticed that people who move away often come back and don’t seem to cut their connections with Nottingham altogether. Nottingham Trent run some of the best art courses in the country. Will you be working with them? Our relationship is already close. We have collaborated already with aspects of our programme last year on talks and so on. Both universities are partners in our public programme and some of the main aspects of this programme – talks, events, screenings, art related education activity – is specifically addressing the student body. If any single area is going to benefit, it will inevitably be Fine Art courses, but in a city this size we can also afford to build networks across different artforms and across different areas of knowledge. I also want Nottingham Contemporary to become a really good social space, especially for students.

“Why not Nottingham? There’s a large appetite for culture here and Nottingham is important enough to merit it. Nottingham’s had it before - so why can’t it have it again?” What kind of art can we expect to see at Nottingham Contemporary? First off, there are going to be all kinds of educational activities for all kinds of different groups - young people, students and so on - in what we are calling The Space, because anything can happen there. It’s our biggest room, it has a light and sound system, for the benefit of other arts organisations, artists and performers to do their own activities. Essentially we’ll be acting as a host there and giving platforms for others in the city. For our first season, which is contemporary art-focused, we’ll be showing paintings, drawing and collage. In the second season there’ll be an exhibition called Star City, with installations, performances and sculpture as well as painting, photography and so on. Our programmes will cover the full range of media that artists use today. Where do you think Nottingham currently stands in the global and British art worlds? Nationally, there’s a big buzz around Nottingham, and I think that that has as much to do with the artist-led scene as it has to do with new centres like ours. Also, there is great international anticipation around Nottingham Contemporary - I know because I hear it and I get invited to talk about it in far-flung places. It’s like a wave rising, and Nottingham Contemporary opening is like the final big piece in the jigsaw. The British Art Show opening in Nottingham a year into our opening will really consolidate it. So the time to really ask this question will be in two years. Nottingham has never had so many visible art collectives and artists as it does today, but isn’t there a risk they’ll be completely overshadowed now? Will you be reaching out to them? Many of them are already involved - quite literally, as we employ a lot of them to work with artists to make installations and so on. But one of the many things we can do is act as a kind of signpost; Nottingham Contemporary will be the first port of call for much of the audience for visual art - as we’re so big and so central, especially for people who have travelled to Nottingham - so one of the things we want to do is to direct our audience to what other people are doing and that includes the artist-run initiatives, some of which are just down the road in Sneinton. I think it’s going to be a very symbiotic and mutually beneficial relationship.

Where will Nottingham Contemporary be in five years time? I hope that within even two years time we’ll be really popular locally and respected internationally. In five years time I would like people in Nottingham to think that we are an invaluable part of the cultural and social life of the city. I’d like people to be really proud of Nottingham Contemporary and feel that it’s theirs, their cultural home. If you personally could put on an exhibition from anyone alive or dead at Nottingham Contemporary, who would it be? In terms of historic artists, there are two that I love; Odilon Redon, whose work is really magical, and James Ensor. They are both painters, print makers, around the time of impressionism and have very rich imaginary worlds. For more recent artists, I think super-important figures are Robert Smithson - a utopian artist - and then Mike Kelley. They would be dream shows and on another level - and very hard to finance. Maybe that gives you a sense of some of my motivations. What’s your favourite gallery outside of Nottingham? One of the most beautiful I’ve been to is the Menil Museum in Houston - it’s based on a private collection of astonishing quality and breadth, equalling the best national museums. It’s presented incredibly beautifully, the building is amazing, the quality of work is incredible and there’s a real personality to the collection. For a more cutting-edge museum of contemporary art, I think the Vanabbe Museum in Eindhoven is super-interesting - very provocative and very lively in the way it represents its collection. The more idiosyncratic museums, would be the John Soane Museum in London - which is kind of nuts, a real cabinet of curiosities - and the Gustave Moreau Museum in Paris, which is equally bonkers but quite different. How much for a pint of beer and a coffee in the cafe? And will there be free refills? Not of beer! I don’t know yet, to be honest. But in terms of prices, we’ll make sure it’s competitive, especially on beer. We want the café to be good and inclusive. Nottingham Contemporary opens on Saturday 14 November. nottinghamcontemporary.org

Hockney In Hockley The first major show at Nottingham Contemporary is a massive retrospective dedicated to one of Britain’s most influential artists of the modern age. Alison Emm spells out why David Hockney is so important, and just how massive this collection is… As far as innovative and influential British artists go, David Hockney is way ahead of the pack. Hailing from Bradford in North Yorkshire, this 72 year-old master has spent a lifetime both creating art and causing uproar. Hockney’s most well known piece is the seminal swimming pool painting A Bigger Splash - yet there is far more to his lengthy career, which has taken in stage and costume design, printing and photography. He was an important figure of the British Pop Art scene and a voyeur of America in the sixties, the creator of photographic collages (which he dubbed ‘joiners’) in the eighties, and a forerunner in the use of faxes and photocopiers in modern art in the late eighties and nineties. Even today, he enjoys pushing new technologies to the limit. Self-proclaimed as ‘downright stubborn’, Hockney has never been one to shy away from controversy. He threatened to pull his retrospective at the Tate Gallery in 1988 in protest against proposed anti-homosexual legislation in Britain. To much opposition and consternation in the art world, he helped devise the Hockney-Falco theory that claimed the Old Masters used basic photographic techniques to achieve their photo-realistic paintings. Protesting against the smoking ban in 2007, he is quoted as saying that ‘Death awaits you whether you smoke or not. Pubs are not health clubs. People go to drown their sorrows.’ And only recently, he ripped into OFSTED for the technophobia of many art teachers in schools, while experimenting with the creation of art through his iPhone. The 1960-68 retrospective at Nottingham Contemporary will be an important milestone in Nottingham’s art scene, and a grand way to open Nottingham’s landmark gallery. For starters, the collection - consisting of more than sixty examples of his early work, cataloguing Hockney’s first steps across the Brit-Art landscape to his rise to virtual superstar status - hasn’t been together under the same roof for nigh-on forty years and has been painstakingly assembled from the contents of galleries from all corners of the globe. The exhibition will be taking Hockney’s iconic oeuvre and comparing it directly with a selection of modern work, highlighting the myriad progressive developments that modern art has racked up in a frighteningly short timespan, whilst reminding the general public who helped drag it into the 21st Century in the first place. Not only that, but the exhibition will be the perfect test-drive for our newest attraction; it will take up two of Nottingham Contemporary’s rooms, filling up 750 square metres and lit up by 133 skylights. Simply put, it’s hard to imagine a more forceful first exhibition for a modern gallery taking its place amongst the foremost art spaces in the UK. David Hockney, 1960-1968: A Marriage of Styles, Nottingham Contemporary, 14 November 2009 - 24 January 2010. hockneypictures.com www.leftlion.co.uk/issue31

Open 14 November 2009 with David Hockney 1960–1968: A Marriage of Styles Frances Stark Nottingham Contemporary Weekday Cross Nottingham NG1 2GB Lace Market tram stop Free, open Tuesday–Sunday www.nottinghamcontemporary.org Hockney and Stark exhibitions open until 24 January 2010. Opening exhibitions sponsored by

David Hockney, A Bigger Splash, 1967. Acrylic on canvas, 96 × 96" © David Hockney. Photo Credit: Richard Schmidt.

Artist Profiles

If you are a Nottingham-based artist and would like to be profiled in this section, please email frances@leftlion.co.uk

The artists featured in this page have been nominated by the Surface Gallery, a volunteer-run contemporary gallery based at Southwell Road in Sneinton. It’s a space which shows experimental and innovative work and supports early-career artists, curators and anyone else interested in the arts. surfacegallery.org.uk

Benjamin Cohen

Luke Stones

What kind of art do you make? Essentially my art is based around the human figure. However, to attempt to explain exactly what the work ‘means’ or what type of work I ‘make’ is inevitably impossible. I hope the paintings speak for themselves, take on their own life and become their own justification. Painting is its own language, and I find it hard to speak on its behalf.

What kind of art do you make? All kinds, but predominantely I’m a painter/photographer. What’s your favourite kind of art? I appreciate all art, but probably if i had to pin it down then I’d have to say Pop Art - not so much Andy Warhol but Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. Future plans? The near future will be spent doing my masters degree in London - and then after that, who knows?

What inspires/drives you? I’m inspired by living, by the nausea that comes with the recognition of my own existence. I think that I’m inherently inspired by my past, my heritage and my experiences. I’m certain that family members killed in the Holocaust have not inspired, but rather subconsciously driven my practice. Recent project/goal... I was recently interviewed by Tracy Emin, Kate Bush (Barbican Art Gallery), Matt Collins (author of This is Modern Art) and Frank Cohen (supporter of the YBAs and British art collector) for the Saatchi’s Best Of British competition.

What’s it like to be an artist in Nottingham? It’s exciting times to be an artist in Nottingham at the minute. The city seems to be buzzing with creativity, what with the new Contemporary buiding opening and all. The art world glare seems to be upon us, which is only a good thing.

Spatial Flatness #1, Mixed Media on Canvas.

What’s your favourite colour? I don’t have a favourite colour - I believe that if I have one favourite colour then subconciously that colour will wind up in my work somehow, which isn’t always a good thing when creating work. ‘Girish’ 2009, 200cm x 140cm, Oil on canvas.

Future plans? I have two shows in London which are just coming to an end, an exhibition in North London in September and a show in Vienna in November. After this my agent and I are planning a solo exhibition in London early next year.

Edward Sellman What is your art like? I specialise in figurative based work and portraiture. I’m also really interested in our relationship with text, symbols and institutional spaces and I’ve developed a new series of paintings that synthesize photographic collages with figurative oil painting. What is your favourite kind of art? I’m definitely a realist painter, and therefore I like to look at work with this feature in common. I’m also interested mio nipote -2009 in photography - I’ve learned a lot about oil on canvas - 36 x 24” (91 x 61 cm) composition and the application of light in painting from taking my own images. I also enjoy sculpture parks, especially if you can combine looking at art with a walk. What’s the best thing about being an artist? Making art is difficult, and I think the greatest fulfilment comes not from what gives you immediate gratification but achieving something that has endured a laboured process.

Bobby Goulding What kind of art do you make? I like to think that most of what I make is truthful, considerate and beautiful, but it’s not always the case. I always seem to return to the same things in my work, textures; metaphor, patchwork construction, a healthy pinch of existentialism, and always a concern with the human condition. I wouldn’t like to tie myself to any particular medium, and try to push my use of materials as far as I can. What inspires/drives you? Watching people in relation to their environment, their behaviour in comparison to other animals, finding metaphors, watching an act of humanity unfold in the most desperate of situations. What’s the best thing about being an artist? That seems unanswerable. I will answer that from another perspective – ‘What’s the best thing about being a human being? Being able to make art’. Being an artist doesn’t matter much to me - being able to preserve my creativity is far more important.

What’s your favourite thing about Nottingham? Not the Robin Hood statue. The gallery scene is getting better, the Square was a waste of money. I don’t know why I am so cynical most of the time because I love the place, and I have been here all my life.

Recent project/goal... I have recently completed a series of portraits of Alan Sillitoe, one of which I’m donated to the University of Nottingham to be displayed at the Jubilee Campus, where he once worked when it was the Raleigh factory. I think it’s a nice touch to recognise his legacy in the city in such a way.

self-portrait - 2009 oil on canvas - 36 x 36” (91 x 91 cm)

What’s it like to be an artist in Nottingham? There’s a good network; I’ve made some good friends amongst other Nottingham artists over the past few months. I’m looking forward to the Nottingham Contemporary opening as it will be great to have important exhibitions in the city. I also really value the work of the Surface Gallery in supporting emerging artists and was delighted to be selected for their recent open exhibition. megaumbrella.co.uk

Untitled 2009. 59.4cm x 84.1cm. Burnt silver transfer foil on photocopy

Who is your favourite artist? Anselm Keifer and Christian Boltanski are neck and neck on this one. Their work is earthy, metaphoric, humane and beautiful. I think there is a serious lack of artists who are willing to tackle real issues these days, Art has the capability to reach out to so many people in the most diverse language possible, it should not be used selfindulgently. bobbygoulding.com Untitled 2009. 12ft x 9.5ft (approx). Lino, powdered interior filler and mirror.

MORE ART REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS AT LEFTLION.CO.UK/ART www.leftlion.co.uk/issue31

Book your party today at www.dogmabars.com or call 011

LEFTLION featured listing LISTINGS Hock Around The Clock OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2009

TICKETS ON-LION Buying tickets for events in Notts? You can get them all through our website, at no extra cost. Even better, thanks to our partnership with gigantic.co.uk, every time you buy one some of the funds will go towards LeftLion and a bit more goes to those nice folks at Oxfam.

leftlion.co.uk/tickets

PG 29-38 ∙ GIGS Music fans are spoilt for choice over October and November, as the students arrive back so do all the big name gigs in the city. As well as all the regular nights like Boogaloo, Spectrum, MyHouseYourHouse, Detonate, Lovezoo and Cult, big names in electronic music like DJ Yoda, Dan La Sac, Calvin Harris, Chase and Status (Live), Andy C and MC GQ and DJ Marky are out in force. If you like rocking out eighties style then checkout the likes of Motorhead, Slayer, Magnum, Saxon, Gun or W.A.S.P. Nineties fans might be more interested in Therapy?, Idlewild, Gold Blade, Biffy Clyro, Alabama 3, Gomez and Papa Roach. Teenagers of the noughties can head off to see Kasabian , Bloc Party , Bat For Lashes, The Maccabees, Jamie T, Brendan Benson, The Twang, Frank Turner, I Like Trains, Just Jack, La Roux, Dananananaykroyd, The Editors, Jack Penate and Funeral for a Friend. Our older readers are also well catered for with the likes of The Animals, The Drifters, The Nolans, Joan Baez, Wishbone Ash, The Proclaimers, Walter Trout, David Essex, Jools Holland and The Specials all playing the city over the next two months

PG 38 ∙ COMEDY The laughs are back with a bang over October and November, with the return of Nottingham’s most established comedy night, the cities first dedicated comedy festival and some serious big names along for the ride. People you may have seen on the telly performing at the Theatre Royal, The Playhouse and the Ice Arena over the next two months include Eddie Izzard, Frankie Boyle, Rob Brydon, Alistair McGowan, Tim Minchin, Simon Amstell, Rhod Gilbert, Jimmy Carr, Daniel Kitson, The Chuckle Brothers, Felix Dexter (The Real McCoy) and Janice Connolly (Phoenix Nights). The new Just The Tonic season at the Approach will showcase likes of Bob Mills, Jon Richardson, Matt Forde, Rob Deering, Will Hodgson, Simon Donald, Charlie Baker, Henningg Wehn, Pippa Evans and Seymour Mace, alongside host and founder Darrell Martin. The inaugral Nottingham Comedy Festival takes place between Friday 30 October and Saturday 7 November and sees the laughter spreading to various venues across the city centre such as Bunkers Hill, The Arts Organisation, Canalhouse, Seven and the Malt Cross. For the full line-up for dozens of comedy workshops and events see nottscomedyfestival.co.uk.

For even more listings, check our regularly updated online section at leftlion.co.uk/listings. And if your event is still not in there, spread the word by aiming your browser at leftlion.co.uk/add. 28

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue31

Now in its forth year, the Hockley Hustle returns on Sunday 25 October to mash down one of the nicer bits of town with a one-day charidee binge for Oxfam and local NSPCC projects, involving local venues, shops, bands, DJs... everyone. And for a mere ten of your English Pounds on the door - and an even more bargainacious £7.50 in advance - you get a wristband that allows entry in to all of the venues involved. Here’s where you need to go, and what to expect… words: Paul Klotschkow

If you wear your fringe at an angle and consider hardcore to be a type of music rather than a building material, then the Default This session hosted upstairs at The Bodega Social Club is for you. On the other hand, if you’re in the mood for something more relaxing and cerebral, then just stay downstairs; Farmyard Records will be putting together a fine collection of singersongwriters and acoustic acts. The Pit and Pendulum may be decked out like the crew from Changing Rooms imagining what Edgar Allen Poe’s study might have looked like. However, with I’m Not From London in charge, the music policy won’t be as dark. Expect some of Nottingham’s finest rock bands to blast away the cobwebs, amongst them Pilgrim Fathers and Alright The Captain! Dogma is one of Nottingham’s grooviest venues and Farmyard Records - again - will be ensuring you dance as if some illicit substance has been slipped in your drink, with an array of the city’s most dancealicious bands bringing the groove direct to your feet. Expect funk, soul, and a reet good time. Sunday afternoons and jazz go together like Bert & Ernie, Lennon and McCartney, and Benson and Hedges - which is why Escucha will be the place to be at this year’s HH. Go to be gently caressed out of your hangover, as a warm-up to the madness later on, or just head down to hear some fine music in equally swish surroundings. Definitely more Bitches Brew than Special Brew. The toilets at The Old Angel may be haunted, but don’t let that put you off going to what is one of the cities greatest, most unique, and outright sickest live music venues. It may be a small room above a pub, but the walls in this place drip so glisteningly with love and passion for music that any gig in this place is always a good time. It’s all about the ska and punk, here. Get your skank on! Detonate are one of this finest drum and bass promoters in the land, and Nottingham is fortunate enough to be their home city – meaning they’ll be operating at the Market Bar, where they’ll be delivering a stream of some of Notts’ finest DJs doing their best to make your night go with a bang. Wigflex love electronic music, and at Bar Eleven they will be making damn sure that the Hockley Hustle crowd love it too. Throwing together elements of techno, electronica and dubstep with anything else that isn’t scared to throw out the odd wonky beat, this will be a truly unique experience. The main bar area at The Broadway Cinema will be taken over by your boys and girls from LeftLion for the second year running, tossing the cinema flyers to the floor to making room for the usual top-notch, eclectic mix you’ve come to expect from us.

If things are getting too much for you, then Lee Rosy’s is the place. Folkwit Records are putting on a whole host of folk and acoustic acts for your aural delight. Expect clever wordplay, subtle story-telling, and some serious tea-drinking. If hip-hop is where your head’s at, then you need to head straight for Muse without hesitation. There you’ll find Dealmaker laying on a fine spread of Notts-Hop, which is - without doubt - amongst the finest you will get anywhere in this country. If you pass up on having all of this talent together in one room all on the same day then you may as well find the nearest tram and throw yourself in front of it. Drowned In Sound are in control at the bottom of Hockley, at Bunkers Hill. Expect to find lurking upstairs all kinds of alternative, indie and heavy rock bands strutting their stuff and throwing all manor of shapes throughout the day and night. The Jam Cafe will be where you can find the creative folk of Craft Off and the gently experimental sounds of Hello Thor!, who will be combining their powers to create a day of wonderful quirky live music whilst letting you get your hands mucky with an array of crafty and creative tasks for you to make and design. The BBC are bringing their flagship new music umbrella Introducing…to the intimate surroundings of Shaws, with an ample line-up of some of the sweetest, freshest music doing the rounds at the moment. Local recording studio Crash Factory Studios will be putting on a whole bunch of their favourite local acts, many of whom have recorded at the studios, to present an-extra special line-up. They also seem intent on making it the loudest venue of the whole festival, with an ear-shattering collection of some of the heaviest bands in Nottingham at the moment. Cape will be full to the brim with an abundance of sunny AfroCaribbean vibes, sounds, and delights as music from the sunnier - and let’s face it, more rhythmically able - parts of the world descend upon Nottingham. All of this live music is just the tip of the iceberg; if you fancy a break from the biggest gathering of local talent the city has seen, then you can find further thrills at many of the shops in Hockley. For example, Cow will be holding a fashion show hosted by Bangers and Fash, there’ll be live t-shirt printing at Brownes and live illustration from Subism and performance-y thrills from Hatch at Nash. Head along to the website for full information, but the main thing you need to know is: Do Not Miss This. Hockley Hustle, assorted venues, 25 October hockleyhustle.co.uk

nottingham event listings... Thursday 01/10

Friday 02/10

Shiggajon Chameleon Cafe/Bar £ 5, 8 - 11.55pm Plus, Dreamers Cloth and Mouths of the Irrawaddy

Global Weekender 2009 Part 1 The New Art Exchange Free, 7pm - 11pm Ling Peng and Ying Xiao, Papa La Bas, San2 and Yesaya.

Charity Event for Bowl Cancer The Maze £tbc, 8pm With Satans Mineons, The 7:21’s and DJ Scampi Pete.

Global Weekender 2009 Bonus The Golden Fleece Free, 7pm - 11pm Hemulen Sound System and DJ I2I.

Telekinesis The Malt Cross £5, 7:30pm Plus The RoseBuds, Red Shoe Diaries and the corner store DJs. Animal Kingdom The Bodega £6, 7pm All Forgotten Seven Plus This Is How We Dance, A World Defined and Armed For A Crisis. Napt Dogma Free, 8pm - late

Friday 02/10 New Swing All Stars Shaws Restaurant and Cafe Bar Free, 8.30pm - 11pm Pesky Alligators The Robin Hood Free, 9pm I’m Not From London and Electric Mayhem Muse Free, 8pm – late With Euler, Long Dead Signal and We Used To Be Friends. Powered by Dealmaker Systems.

Friday 02/10 The Bad Shepherds Nottingham Playhouse £15, 8pm Stanton Warriors (3 hour set) Stealth £10, 10pm Plus Pete Jordan and Hexadecimal. Becky Syson and Tina Taylor Jamcafe Free, 8pm - 12am Congeroo The Lion Inn Free, 9pm

Alternative Freshers Party Seven 7.30pm Ghost Cassette, Abaddon, Arse Full of Chips and more. Cult DnB Sessions Brownes Free before 10.30pm £5 After, 9pm - 3am With Fabio, Rocdollar, Zero, Mouse, Vtekk and Houghmeister

Saturday 03/10 Back to Basics The Maze £5, 9pm – 3am Jah Bundy, I-Dread, Dub Ki, Baron D, Doktah and Raffiki. Basslaced The Bodega £6, 10.15pm With Youngsta, Heny G, Metaphi, Senate, Root One and Toast MC. Soul Ska Shakedown The Golden Fleece Free, 9 pm - 12am With DJ Double Decca. Fanfarlo and First Aid Kit The Bodega £7, 7pm Smokin Gun The Lion Inn Free, 9pm Lovezoo First Birthday Gatecrasher Loves Nottingham £8 / £10, 10pm - 4am Elizabeth Jay, Tom Conrad, Nathan Hadley, Dean Seymour, Joe Dizon, Phil Hopkins, Cass Roc , Matt T and Arron Reflex. Tom Mcrae The Rescue Rooms £15, 7pm

for more: leftlion.co.uk/listings

ON A SCHOOL NIGHT TOO Beware: Dogma are going all-out to lower your work productivity this autumn Sticking a bar/club/restaurant down a narrow, Victorian side street could be quite a gamble, especially in a city as saturated with bars as Nottingham is. Seeing has Dogma has been doing just that for eight years now, it must be an outstanding place. And it is. Previously a derelict warehouse and redundant storage building, it was revamped back in 2001 to give it an open, up-to-date, industrial feel. The top floor houses a lounge and restaurant that serves freshly prepared food with 2-4-1 burgers on Thursdays and steak nights on Wednesdays, while the middle floor is the wildly popular bar and lounge area. What really sets Dogma apart, however, are the nights held in the basement - especially Dogma Presents on Thursdays, where local favourites Transit Mafia (Detonate) and Pete Jordan (Spectrum) can be regularly found behind the decks. Considered one of the best weeknights in the city, and renowned for its commitment to drum and bass, breaks and electonic, the weekly session strives to be at the forefront of new music, giving something a little bit different every time. Upcoming line-ups include legends in their respective genres such as Krafty Kuts, A Skillz, Calibre, Marcus Interlex, Evil Nine and Pinch. But that’s not the only midweek session hosted by Dogma; Tuesdays see the return of half-price food and drink all day and night in addition to Nottingham’s finest breakers and DJs to keep it lively, while Wednesdays will be given over to Doggy Styles - two DJs on four decks playing a heady mix of popular and cutting-edge music with visuals and drinks offers galore.As one of the best places in Nottingham to get a cocktail shaken or stirred, they also stock a more than healthy range of spirits, beers and wine for the less extravagant clientele. Make sure you get hold of a Dogma Card which allows holders some hefty discounts -and keep an eye on this place. Otherwise, you may end up scrunching up a flyer at the end of the month in annoyance at what you’ve missed out on. Dogma, 9 Byard Lane, The Lace Market, NG1 2GJ / dogmabars.com

Saturday 03/10

Sunday 04/10

Friday 09/10

Circus Extravaganza Canning Circus Free, 7pm – late See feature on page 30 or visit leftlion.co.uk/circus

John Crocker Quartet The Lion Inn Free, 9pm

{Eklectic Funktion} The Maze £3, 10 - 2am The Inkrument, Simon The Vinyl Junkie, Rob HZ, Synic, Still Motion, Arkeye and Thinkyman

Wolf Gang Stealth £5, 10.15pm Firefly Marcus Garvey Ballroom £15, 10pm - 6am With Format: B, Fergie, Cirkus, Henry Von, Beat Repeaters and Lanaghan. Global Weekender 2009 Part 2 Sandfield Theatre Free, 5pm - 11pm Cecilia Kovacs, Gren Bartley, Les Elus - Rhumba, Lisa De’Ville, MuHa, Natalie Duncan, Nottingham Youth Orchestra String Quartet? Classical music.

Sunday 04/10

Cold Light of Day The Johnson Arms Free, 9pm Plus Strange Attractors.

Global Weekender 2009 Part 3 The Golden Fleece Free, 7pm - 11pm Mohammed, R.O.M.D and The Other Left.

The Animals The Running Horse 3pm, 7pm

Wednesday 07/10 Rango Lakeside Arts Centre £5 - £15, 8pm Ensiferum The Rescue Rooms £15, 7.30pm Plus Metsatoll and Tracedawn The XX The Bodega £7.50, 7pm Cold Light of Day The Johnson Arms Free, 9pm Papa Roach Rock City £17.50, 6.30pm Plus Madina Lake and Heaven’s Basement

Thursday 08/10

Collard Manson

Marilyn Crispell Lakeside Arts Centre £12 - £15, 7:30pm

Backstreet Boutique

Andy Panayi Quartet Bonington Theatre £5 - £10, 8pm

Collard Manson is carrying on the fine tradition of keeping it independent in Nottingham. Stepping into the large and very pretty - shoes of past Hockley boutiques such as Birdcage and Plank, they are comfortably celebrating their first year anniversary of their shop on Carlton Street.

Trespassers William and Glissando The Malt Cross £5, 8pm

Bored with the usual High Street fashions, owners Tim Collard and Zara Manson set up shop with the intention of bringing something a little more unique to the female population. With fond memories of Hockley from their student days, it was the ideal location to set up shop. Opening in October 2008, it has helped breathe life back into Hockley alongside other new additions to the neighbourhood, Jam Café and Cow. A striking building with large, inviting windows and an interior that is so ornate and pretty it’s hard to resist having a peek inside, Collard Manson stock brands from around the world, all with a very unique style - the perfect place for that stunning dress you’ve been looking for or that final, crowning, accessory . With clothes by Rundholz and Day Birger Mikklesen, beautiful designer jewellery from Mawi, Michal Negrin, Rings Eclectic and Lola Rose, and their own Collard Manson bags - which have recently been featured on Britain’s Next Top Model – chic is definitely the word. To celebrate a year of success, Collard Manson are offering all customers a 20% discount. All you need to do to receive this reduction is to present the advert on page six with your purchase. Collard Manson, 22 Carlton Street, Hockley, NG1 1NN collardmanson.com

The Panda Su Jamcafe Free, 8pm - 12am Kate Walsh The Maze £10 adv, 7.30pm

Friday 09/10 Ayup Duck! Seven £2, 7pm Drag The Lake, Daor, Lordaeron, Galleons and Taken By The Tide.

Rigbee Deep Alley Cafe Free, 8:30pm - 1am Plus Minister Hill, Nowhere Common and Jah Bunndy. Rescued By Wolves Jamcafe Free, 8pm - 12am Audiophile Moog £2 after 11, 8pm - late With Placid, Peej, Alex Trasca, Supine, Chris and Ed.

Saturday 10/10 Natalie Duncan Shaws Restaurant and Cafe Bar Free, 8.30pm - 11pm Size? Muse £2, 10pm - late Lethargy and Solitare, Dwyzak The Elevator and Beatmaster Bill Supreme. The Pitty Pat Club The Bodega £6, 8pm Day of the Dead Spooktacular. Elvis Fontenot and the Suggabees The Lion Inn Free, 9pm Saturdays @ Gatecrasher Loves Nottingham £8 / £10, 10pm - 4am Corey , Antonio Vendone , Paul Lyman, Cass Roc , Phil Hopkins, Matt T, Nathan Hadley and Arron Reflex. Ghoul Garden. The Maze £3.50, 9.30pm Masters of Reality The Rescue Rooms £12.50, 7pm Them:Youth Stealth £5, 10.15pm

Damon Downs The Robin Hood Free, 9pm

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue31

JOIN THE CIRCUS

Saturday 3 October Free arts and music festival Across Canning Circus words: Paul Klotschkow illustration: Chris Summerlin

Not only are LeftLion kind enough to give you Nottingham’s best magazine, website and podcasts all for nowt, but we’re putting on a FREE all-day festival bursting to buggery with some of the cities best bands, DJs, musicians, writers, graf artists and dead celebs. Not to mention a craft market, barbecues, several film crews and a live flashdance performance of Michael Jackson’s Thriller...

LeftLion Radio @ The Ropewalk Hhymn are a collaboration between two great songwriters who weave luscious melodies and gorgeous lyrics which, once experienced, will make you wonder how you’ve ever lived without hearing them. Ronika (right) makes awesome electronic pop music; expect big, meaty, and bouncy ryhthms. peppered with a soulful and sassy swagger a-plenty. If you’ve not heard The Hum, you’re not the only one - the Circus Extravaganza will be the debut gig for this new band full of familiar faces. Shot through with seventies west coast rock, smooth grooves and honest songwriting, they’re perfect for a chilled-out Saturday afternoon set. Garrison calm things down with gorgeous alt-country Americana, while Notts hip-hop is fully represented by The Elementz, who will be offering up a heady musical combination of tunes that will make the floor vibrate, your head pound, and your body shake with a midnight set. Add DJ sets from the likes of Mark Del of We Love Nottingham Music fame, LeftLion favourites The Stiff Kittens and Eclectic’s Beatmasta Bill, and it makes for one exceptionally tasty line-up.

StuPod @ Seven Too late to get on the bill at the Extravaganza? Fret not – just get yourself down to Seven nice and early and put yourself down for some Open Mic action, just before a wide spectrum of sound blesses your tabs. Rapunzel MAP (right) is that sweet, hypnotic voice you hear drifting down by the Market Square when you are heading home after a night out at 3am. Her indoor sets are a rare pleasure, so din’t miss out. Beatboxer LeeTabix - AKA Mouth of Madness – boasts a stunning vocal range. Lisa DeVille is a veteran of the local scene after stints in bands like Black Vinyl Heart, but she’s going solo this time.

Cult Radio @ Moog Hexadecimal, resident DJs at Spectrum, will be bringing their delarious electro house to the extravaganza, followed by State of Rhymes (right) - a collaborative effort fronted by rapper XS:IF and combining live instruments and strutting rhymes to a wholesome organic vibe. While Predator Prey’s music is so lethal that it should come with a health warning. Add to this DJ sets from the Cult residents and Moog is set to go off into the early hours.

Alt:Lion @ Running Horse and The Red Lion The Running Horse got so into the spirit of the Circus Extravaganza that they booked enough bands to cover two venues - so they took over the Red Lion too. The Swiines (above) have a massive following across town – when you see their swagger, balls, and boundless energy, you’ll realise why. The Limits stitch together a patchwork quilt of unique melodic rock, full of heart, passion, and sweeping choruses, while Euler bring a sound dominated by twangy guitars and heart-on-thesleeve passion. Green For Go boil over with a vibrant mix of anger and frustration that comes from being politically aware, having a conscience, and wanting to do something with it. Union X, on the other hand, have RAWK flowing through their veins and a drummer with a mullet. The Hell I Am dare to be fun, dare to rock, and have the cheek of being rather good at both of them. The Beast and the Priest might sound like the title of some under the counter, dodgy VHS film, but they are actually an electrifying three-piece who play with such bluster they can literally knock your hat right off your head, while Dax are a band of whippersnappers with, youthful exuberence and untainted ambition. On a more acoustic note, Becky Syson is a wonderful singer songwriter who managers to conjure up luscious melodies from the ether. Andy Whittle knows his way around an acoustic guitar, as he fingerpicks strolling lines against a backdrop of classic folk storytelling. Steve Pinnock has been a mainstay on the local music scene for years, and his twitchy, world musicinfluenced guitar playing is jaw-droppingly good. Matt Marriott is a guitar virtuoso whose fingers move across the frets faster than a load of mams from Mansfield after the last steak bake from Greggs. Nina Smith is brimming with confidence once you listen to her sing and play guitar you are cast under her bewitching spell, as she spins out her elegant acoustic pop.

Dead Celebrities @ Shop Expect all manner of arty goodness going on at Shop - including a live flash dance performance of Thriller, zombie face-painting, dead celebrity fancy dress and loads and loads of artistic eye candy – some of which will be for sale on the day. Don’t be surprised to find a film crew hovering about, too...

Jazz @ Sir John Borlase Warren Live jazz is the theme of the day in the beautiful beer gardens of the Sir John. The line-up was still being confirmed at the time of going to press, but expect plenty of freeform and finger waggling.

Write Lion @ Hand And Heart Our designated spoken word stage will include performances from a wide range of local literary figures. The Killing Jar author Nicola Monaghan (right) will be along to read extracts from her latest work and talk about being a writer in Nottingham, while James Johnson - the man behind critically acclaimed sci-fi series Erth Chronicles – will talk about his latest work and his sci-fi inspirations. Mike Wilson has written over 100 books of poetry, so will have plenty of material to draw upon. Aly Stoneman comes fresh from a performance at Leicester’s Summer Sundae with her mythical and romantic verse, while Marion Bell brings along her Poetry Devotion show. Rebecca Dakin is the author of The Girlfriend Experience and describes herself as more of a Bridget Jones than a Belle De Jour. Nottingham’s ‘Mr Sex’ will be making his spoken word debut, reciting the very cream of his sex toy reviews, letters sent to porn magazines (not by him) and extracts from his award-winning Todger Talk blog. There will also be sets from members of the Write Lion community and when there are no words left to say, there’ll be live music in abundance.

Podsesh @ The Falcon There will be loads of live music in The Falcon - at the time of going to press they told us that legendary pianist Pete The Feet, famous throughout Notts for tickling the ivories with his toes, may make an appearance.

More details and full up-to-date timetable at

LEFTLION.CO.UK/CIRCUS

The Sir John Borlase Warren Award winning beer garden. Voted one of the top Summer pubs in Britain (Observer and Guardian Summer pub guide, June 2009)

1, Ilkeston Road, Canning Circus, Nottingham,NG7 3GD 0115 9474247 32 30

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue311 www.leftlion.co.uk/issue31

Presents a

Symposium

The evolving relationships between artists, the changing climate & new responsibilities Broadway Cinema, Broad Street, Nottingham NG1 3AL 26th November 2009 o Speakers include S Mark Gubb, John Newling, Rebecca Beinart, Annexinema, Neil Cummings, Richard Grayson, Wallace Heim, Latitudes, Jonathan Griffin & Joy Sleeman Followed by Film installation & drinks reception With Tristan Hessing & Mark Harasimowicz One Thoresby Street, NG1 1AJ 3 Tickets ÂŁ12/ÂŁ7 conc. Including lunch For more information Call Hinterland +44 (0)7914 504660 For bookings Call Broadway Box Office +44 (0)115 952 6611 www.hinterlandprojects.com

proud Nottingham City Council

to present

Nottingham City Council is proud to present an exciting programme of events and activities for you to enjoy this Autumn… Nottdance09 Various Venues 15 - 25 OCTOBER

Nottingham’s annual festival of experimental dance and performances. www.dance4.co.uk/nottdance09

Goose Fair

Forest Recreation Ground 30 SEPTEMBER - 3 OCTOBER Wednesday 5.30pm - 11pm Thursday 12noon - 11pm Friday 11am - 11.30pm Saturday 11am - 11pm The UK’s most famous funfair is a fantastic event for all ages, including the latest rides, trade stalls and food stands.

FREE ADMISSION

Robin Hood Beer Festival

Nottingham Castle 8 - 11 OCTOBER Thursday - Saturday: 11am 11pm, Sunday: 12pm - 3pm £10 ADMISSION The widest range of real ales ever seen in the UK - plus live entertainment, panoramic views and local food stalls. Advance tickets not essential but does guarantee entry. Available from Nottingham Tourism Centre 08444 77 5678 or www.visitnotts.com

Bonfire Night

Forest Recreation Ground FREE ADMISSION 5 NOVEMBER 5.30pm - 10.30pm Funfair 7.15pm Children’s Fireworks Display 7.45pm Bonfire Lit 9pm Main Display Blue Badge parking only on site.

Robin Hood Pageant Nottingham Castle

24 - 25 OCTOBER 10.30am-5pm Tickets £7/£5, Family £18 Live jousting tournaments, a replica medieval village encampment, craft stalls, activities, falconry displays, entertainers and more.

Black History Season Various locations across the city

OCTOBER - NOVEMBER

Offering an extensive programme of celebratory events, exhibitions and workshops embracing Black history and culture. www.mynottingham.gov.uk/ blackhistory

Christmas in the City Centre FROM 18 NOVEMBER

Gamecity Squared Various Venues

27 - 31 OCTOBER FREE Nottingham’s unique, recordbreaking videogame festival returns for a fourth year! www.gamecity.org

See the city come alive with the spirit of Christmas! Festive lights will be switched on throughout the streets of Nottingham and Old Market Square will feature a grand Christmas tree for all to enjoy. Look out for a programme of special events to entertain the crowds over the festive season.

For more information on events in Nottingham call Nottingham Tourism Centre on 08444 77 5678 or visit www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/whatson

Outdoor Ice Rink

Old Market Square 18 NOVEMBER - 10 JANUARY The National Ice Arena’s fabulous festive rink returns to turn the Market Square into a winter wonderland. For information and ticket prices visit www.national-icecentre.com

German Christmas Market Old Market Square

18 NOVEMBER - 20 DECEMBER Come along and shop for confectionary, gingerbread, smoked sausages, mulled wine and for traditional gifts and crafts.

Christmas Craft and Gift Market Smithy Row

18 NOVEMBER - 23 DECEMBER Great for unique and handmade gifts, this annual market boasts a range of goodies to suit all pockets.

New Years Eve Firework Display Nottingham Castle

31 DECEMBER 12 MIDNIGHT

Launched from the Castle grounds at midnight as Little John strikes 12. Castle Road and surrounding streets will offer the best views (the castle grounds will be closed).

nottingham event listings... Sunday 11/10

Friday 16/10

Jake McMahon The Lion Inn Free, 9pm

Detonate Stealth £10, 10pm High Contrast, Skream, Logistics, D Bridge, DJ Die, Instra:Mental, Alley Cat, TC1, Transit Mafia, Niddle, Casual P, Senate, MC’s Wrec, Dread, Ruthless and Freestyle

Scarlet’s Wake Speak Easy £1 / £2, 8pm

Monday 12/10

I’m Not From London Speak Easy Free, 8pm - 12am With Apes Fight Back, Apes Fight Back, Toucan Party and Sinatra.

OctoberFest The Johnson Arms Free, 8pm With Strange Attractors.

Tuesday 13/10 Revolution Sounds Seven £5 adv, tbc With Random Hand, Mouthwash, Nanas Revenge and Gentleman’s Buffet. Dizzee Rascal Rock City £17.50, 7.30pm

Unpopular Records Presents The Maze £7, 8pm Brown, George Cochrane, Doktor Watson, Andrew Phelan and Harry Twang. The Rides The Robin Hood Free, 9pm Bass::Break Moog £3 / £4, 8pm - 5am With Cut and Run, Rogue Fingers, Rambunctious, Positronic and Barksta.

Wednesday 14/10 Brendan Benson The Rescue Rooms £10.50, 7.30pm Seckou Keita Quintet The Congregational Center £12.50, 7.30pm - late

Thursday 15/10

Emily Barker The Bodega £6, 7pm

Saturday 17/10 Marcus Bonfanti Deux 8pm

Jasmina Maschina The Malt Cross Free, 8pm

The Twang The Rescue Rooms £12.50, 7pm

The Answering Machine The Bodega £6, 7pm

Devon Sproule The Maze £12, 7pm

Bigelf The Rescue Rooms £8, 7.30pm

Mood Indigo Shaws Restaurant and Cafe Bar Free, 8.30pm - 11pm

Jaime Clarke’s Perfect The Golden Fleece Free, 8pm

The Joe Strange Band The Approach Free, 8pm

The Unthanks Nottingham Arts Theatre £16, 7.30pm

for more: leftlion.co.uk/listings

DETONATE

Ram Records feat Chase and Status live / Countdown 2009 – NYE Originally hailing from north London, the drum and bass duo Chase and Status have taken the scene by storm in the past two years. They’ve had three number ones in the UK dance chart, done remixes for the likes of Jay-Z and The Prodigy, and have had their fair share of awards. However, it was their debut album More Than Alot (released on Ram Records) that really caught the attention of the masses and resulted in Snoop Dogg himself releasing his own version of Eastern Jam and the patronage of Radio 1’s Annie Mac and Zane Lowe. Going into 2010, it’s fair to say these boys are on a roll, having breezed through genre boundaries on their journey so far. So what’s next? A twenty nine-date live tour taking in both the UK and Europe with the mighty Detonate hosting the Nottingham event, a Ram Records showcase. The duo are set to rock The Rescue Rooms with the emphasis - of course - on the drums. The amazing Andy Gangadeen of The Bays will be behind the kit, whilst urban talents Kano, Plan B and Yolanda will be on vocal duties (who all feature on More Than Alot). Support on the night will come from Ram’s label boss Andy C, alongside MC GQ, dubstep supremo Rusko, Lomax, Transit Mafia and the talented local DJ/producer, Soul Intent. Miss this one at your peril. Detonate aren’t resting on their laurels though; following last years sell-out New Years Eve event, they’re planning a three-pronged assault Rock City, Stealth and The Rescue Rooms. Hospitality are on board for Rock City’s main hall, with other Nottingham club brands on board hosting arenas. Details are still being laid out, but it’s guaranteed to every bit as big, if not bigger, than last year. And in any case, it’s a Detonate night. Book extremely early. Chase and Status, Friday 30 October, 10pm - 5am, Stealth and Rescue Rooms, tickets £15. . Countdown 2009 – NYE, Thursday December 31, Rock City / Stealth / Rescue Rooms, tickets £20 detonate1.co.uk

Sunday 18/10

Tuesday 20/10

Friday 23/10

Bellowhead NTU Union £17.50, 7pm

3 Way Dance The Maze £5 / £10 for all 3 shows, 8pm

Skint and Demoralised The Bodega £7.50, 7pm

The Kabeedies The Bodega £6, 7pm

Wigflex Stealth £10, 10pm With James Holden, Fairmont, Spamchop and Lone.

Frank Brooker and Friends The Lion Inn Free, 9pm

Karine Polwart The Rescue Rooms £15, 7.30pm

The Hot Rats The Rescue Rooms £10, 7.30pm

Wednesday 21/10

Frank Turner Rock City £10, 7.30pm Plus Fake Problems and Beans On Toast.

Tuesday 20/10

Friday 16/10

The All American Rejects Rock City £15, 6.30pm

Nottingham Live Seven £3, 8pm With Dax, XPD and Scotch Egg.

New Swing All Stars Shaws Restaurant and Cafe Bar Free, 8.30pm - 11pm

Stumble inda Jungle The Maze £4, 10.30pm

MLC Presents Shaws Restaurant and Cafe Bar Free, 8.30pm - 11pm

Mutiny Seven £1.50 / £2.50 / £4, 10pm - late

Soft Toy Emergency Stealth £5, 10.15pm

Alesha Dixon Royal Centre £18.50, 7pm

Kora Blimey!

The Wave Pictures The Bodega £8, 7pm Plus Stanley Brinks and Freschard. Walter Trout The Rescue Rooms £17, 7.30pm Richi Muir The Approach Free, 8pm Kano NTU SU £10, 8pm

Vickerstaff Dogs The Lion Inn Free, 9pm

Editors Rock City £18.50, 6.30pm

DJ Yoda The Rescue Rooms £10, 7pm

Saturday 24/10

‘Clive Aid’ Rock Festival Seven £3 before 9pm / £4, 7pm With Scarlet’s Wake, Toxic Federation and Snakeskin.

The Seckou Keita Quintet, 14 October, The Congregational Hall, Castle Gate, NG1 7AS. Tickets £12.50. Limited concessions available. seckoukeita.com

Bulletproof Jamcafe Free, 8pm - 12am

Dananananaykroyd The Bodega £8, 7pm

Bored with your everyday guitar bands that have dominated popular music over the last six decades? Fancy seeing the inside of a new venue that you may never have even known was there? Fret not, Nottinghamians: Seckou Keita, the Senegalese musician known as the ‘Hendrix of the Kora’ - and his international quintet are passing through Notts this October.

Seckou Keita has been a ridiculously prolific musician since 1996, playing solo and with a number of bands and artists, and this is the very last chance you will get to see this particular incarnation of the SKQ playing in this country. So if you miss this, you’d better get over to Dakar sharpish.

Roy De Wired and Roy Stone The Approach Free, 8pm

Thursday 22/10

Slaid Cleaves The Maze £11, 7.30pm

Playing tracks from their much-revered recent album The Silimbo Passage, you’ll be able to get up close and intimate at The Congregational Hall – the former home of the Nottingham Music Society, located between Maid Marian Way and Lister Gate, which is now casting its net a little wider.

Audiology Muse £4 / £5, 9pm - late With Survival, Hoax, Jungleman, Distilled Beats, Fonik and Yons MC.

Colin Macintyre (AKA Mull Historical Society) The Rescue Rooms £8.50, 7.30pm

Senegalese virtuoso mashes down Castle Gate: do not miss.

Using traditional West African instruments, the Seckou Keita Quintet are an immensely talented, unique and diverse group with a contemporary, captivating sound and a worldwide reputation. Their lead instrument - the Kora - is a West African harp-lute instrument, and Keita plays a twenty two-stringed version; he’s that good..

Goldblade Seven £7 adv, 8pm Plus TV Smith and The Hip Priests.

Dax The Running Horse £3, 8pm Plus Adarna, Thousands of Reflections and The Duty. Curtis Whitefinger Ordeal The Golden Fleece Free, 8pm

Friday 23/10 John Marriott and Cookie Deux £tbc, 8pm Sould Shaws Restaurant and Cafe Bar Free, 8.30pm - 11pm

Martin Stephenson Deux £tbc, 8pm The Shakes The Malt Cross £3, 8pm Blamethrower Seven £3, 10pm Jazzifunk Muse £4.50 / motd, 9pm - 3am With Jonathan and Bruce Q. The Twilight Sad The Bodega £6.50, 7pm Pop Divas Royal Centre £12, 7.15pm Jazz from the Barry Lee Trio Jamcafe Free, 8pm - 12am Scoobies The Lion Inn Free, 9pm www.leftlion.co.uk/issue31

event listings... Saturday 24/10

Friday 30/10

Firefest 6 Rock City £47.50, 12pm With Airrace, The Poodles, Drive She Said, Romeo’s Daughter, White Sister, Crown of Thorns and F.M.

Bob Cheevers Deux 8pm

Fenech - Soler Stealth £5, 10.15pm

Sunday 25/10

Detonate Ram Records Stealth £10, 10pm Chase and Status (live), Andy C and MC GQ, Rusko, Lomax, Transit Mafia, Soul Intent, Vinyl [Abort], Casual P, Bashy Flash, Distilled Beats, Kontortion, MC’s Ruthless and Freestyle.

John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett The Rescue Rooms £13.50, 7.30pm

The Shakes Shaws Restaurant and Cafe Bar Free, 8.30pm – 11pm

Calvin Harris Rock City £14, 7.30pm

Gamecity Live Muse Free, 8pm - Late Runs until: 31/10

Pete Wilde Quintet The Lion Inn Free, 9pm

El Gecko The Lion Inn Free, 9pm

The Hockley Hustle Various Locations £7.50 / £10, 12pm - 4am See page 28 for detailed information.

Sights and Sounds Rock City £8, 7pm Plus Meneater and Rinoa.

Tuesday 27/10

Rubber Room The Maze £tbc, 10pm

Soul Buggin’ Moog Runs until: 28/10 About A Plane Crash Seven £5, 7.30pm Plus As Enemies Arise. Funeral for a Friend Rock City £15, 7.30pm 3 Way Dance (Part 3) The Maze £5 / £10 for all 3 shows, 8pm With JB Conspiracy, Dirty Revolution and Los Kung Fu Monkeys.

Wednesday 28/10 Maggot Ejaculation Seven £4 / £5, tbc Cacodaemonic and Merciless Terror. Richie Muir The Approach Free, 8pm David Ford The Rescue Rooms £10, 7.30pm Sister Iodine The Chameleon Cafe Bar £7 / £5 adv, 20h30 start Plus Eli Keszler and Usurper. Bloc Party Rock City £22.50, 7.30pm The Swiines The Maze £4, 8pm Plus Euler and Greatest Wolf.

Thursday 29/10 On Fire The Maze £tbc, 8pm Trip To Dover The Golden Fleece Free, 8pm Buttonpusher presents… Hooray for humans The Chameleon Cafe Bar £4, 8pm Hooray for humans, Hands up who wants to die, Super adventure clue and Wander phantom. Electric Eel Shock Rock City £7, 7pm

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue31

Soul Buggin’ presents FYE! Moog Free!, 8pm Beane, Wrighty and Mark.

Saturday 31/10 My House Your House Moog Free, 8pm Haloween Gatecrasher Loves Nottingham £8 / £10, 10pm - 4am Jodie Harsh, Nathan Hadley, Tom Conrad, Cass Roc , Matt T, Cass Roc, Matt T and Arron Reflex. Wholesome Fish Deux 8pm Ronnie Londons Groove Lounge Grosvenor £3 b4 11pm, 8-1am Y&T Rock City £16, 6.30pm With Ron Keel Natalie Duncan Shaws Restaurant and Cafe Bar Free, 8.30pm – 11pm Sticky Morales and Kris Ward The Approach Free, 8pm Ladysmith Black Mambazo Royal Centre £21 - £25, 7.30pm Halloween The Lion Inn Free, 9pm With Balkan Express. Moriarty The Rescue Rooms £7, 7pm Demo Presents... Shocksteady The Maze £tbc, 9pm Maps The Bodega £7.50, 7pm Farmyard Records Halloween Party The Golden Fleece Free, 8pm Sylvia Powell Ripple Free, 8pm - 10.30pm

for more: leftlion.co.uk/listings

GATECRASHER The initial excitement of the September 2007 arrival of Gatecrasher in Nottingham was, unfortunately, dampened in February 2009 by a fire in a neighbouring restaurant. After seven months of extensive refurbishment it is due to reopen in a - ahem - blaze of glory on 26 September.

With the new interior (by award-winning designer Matt Rawlinson), comes a modern twist has been added to the three floors of the listed building; the main auditorium has now been rebuilt to accommodate live music and a cutting-edge audio-visual system. If that isn’t fancy enough for your tastes, they’ve also imported a revolutionary, full-roof LED lighting system from Berlin’s Watergate Club, the flash gits. As hosts to Nottingham’s own LoveZoo and to the usual gang of superstar DJs (Roger Sanchez and Pete Tong have already been booked), Gatecrasher will still be keeping to its house roots that made it one of the original superclubs in the nineties. The biggest shift in status is the new Supersonic Vague nights on Fridays, promising to bring enough indie and alternative action to Nottingham, with DJ sets and exclusive one-off live performances in the main auditorium - Dirty Pretty Things, The Foals and Razorlight have already been confirmed. And if that wasn’t enough, they’ll be taking clubbing to the next level with flamboyant entertainment in the style of Cirque de Soleil and burlesque on Saturdays - not to mention trapeze acts, ariel performers, contortionists and theatrical entertainers. What more could you want from a night out? And knowing them, they’ve probably still got a few more surprises up their sleeve… gatecrasher.com

Saturday 31/10

Friday 06/11

Tuesday 10/11

Stealth v Rescued Halloween Special Stealth £5, 10.15pm With AC Slater, Skull Juice, My City is for Pimps with Tomb Crew.

Natalie Duncan Jamcafe Free, 8pm - 12am

Are You Local? Seven £3, 7.30pm With Fallen Angels, Fat Man Falling more tbc.

I’m Not From London - Ghost Bus Tour Various Locations £5, 7.30pm and 8.15pm The maze, The Golden Fleece, Wax Bar and Loggerheads. Bus departs from The Maze.

Wednesday 04/11 Frankmusic The Rescue Rooms £10, 7pm Magnum Rock City £18, 7.30pm Kurran and the Wolfnotes The Bodega £6, 7pm Plus Exlovers.

Thursday 05/11 Sam Crockatt Quartet Bonington Theatre £5 - £10, 8pm Francis Dunnery Rock City £15, 7.30pm Youves The Bodega £4, 8pm Plus Calories.

Loaded Dice The Lion Inn Free, 9pm A Place To Bury Strangers The Bodega £6, 7pm CULT DnB Sessions Brownes Free / £3 after, 9pm - 3am Artificial Intelligence, Synic and DJ Take.

Saturday 07/11 Saturday Night Knees Up! The Shakes The Malt Cross £3, 8pm Spin Clinic Moog Free, 8pm Paul and Barry Shaws Restaurant and Cafe Bar Free, 8.30pm - 11pm Wildside and Maximum Overdrive Seven £tbc, 8pm Subism Live Muse £4 / £6, 8.30pm - late Dizzy Club The Lion Inn Free, 9pm

Brigada Mercy The Golden Fleece Free, 8pm

Isla Wight Presents... The Maze £tbc, 8pm

Friday 06/11

Fleece 4th Birthday - DJ Derek The Golden Fleece Free, 8pm

Don’t Come Moog Free, 8pm

Sunday 08/11

David Blayze Shaws Restaurant and Cafe Bar Free, 8.30pm - 11pm

Biffy Clyro Rock City £16, 7.30pm

Disgracedlands Seven £3 / £4, 10pm - late

ATC/ KR and WLT Tour The Chameleon Cafe Bar £3, 8pm

Laika Dog Seven £tbc, tbc

Monday 09/11

Kambasemba Muse £6, 8.30pm - late Runs until: 07/11 With DJ Alonso and DJ Trivela.

Saxon and Anvil Rock City £17.50, 7pm We Were Promised Jet Packs The Bodega £6, 8pm

Nottingham Operatic Society presents Copacabana Royal Centre £8.50 - £16.50, 7.30pm + Matinees Runs until: 14/11 Elliot Minor The Rescue Rooms £10, 6.30pm Just Jack Rock City £12.50, 7.30pm

Thursday 12/11 Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears The Rescue Rooms £8, 7.30pm Tax The Fat The Golden Fleece Free, 8pm

Friday 13/11 Audiophile Moog Free, 8pm Rigbee Deep Alley Cafe Free, 8:30pm - 1am Plus Minister Hill, Nowhere Common and Jah Bunndy. Captain Dangerous Jamcafe Free, 8pm - 12am Idle Hands The Lion Inn Free, 9pm

Saturday 14/11 O. Children Stealth £5, 10.15pm Mas Y Mas The Malt Cross £3, 8pm The Pitty Pat Club The Bodega £6, 8pm

Sunday 15/11 Good Shoes and La Shark The Bodega £8, 7pm

event listings... Monday 16/11

Thursday 19/11

The Arusha Accord Seven Plus A Textbook Tragedy, Ghosts On Pegasus Bridge and Galleons.

Thomas Leeb The Running Horse £10, 7pm Steve Pinnock and Matt Marriott.

The Antlers The Bodega £6, 8pm

The Finest Hour The Golden Fleece Free, 8pm

Tuesday 17/11

Friday 20/11

Emily L’Oizeau The Rescue Rooms £12.50, 7.30pm

Wavves The Bodega £8, 7pm

La Roux Rock City £13, 7.30pm

Percussion Presents The Maze £tbc, 9pm

Gay for Johny Depp Seven £6 / £8, 7pm Plus BlakFish, Outcry Collective and Ocean Bottom Nightmare.

Saturday 21/11

Wednesday 18/11 Slayer Rock City £25, 7pm Kasabian Trent FM Arena Nottingham £25, 7pm

Saturday Night Knees Up! Wholesome Fish The Malt Cross £3, 8pm Mick Ridgeways Mojo Hand The Lion Inn Free, 9pm The Specials Rock City £32.50, 7pm

for more: leftlion.co.uk/listings

Playhouse of Pain Not one but two hip-hop productions hit the stage, at a theatre near you Some people say that hip-hop and theatre don’t mix. We say “Yo, kill that noise, you wick-wick-wack sucka MC,” before throwing our Adidas silk scarf over our shoulders and flouncing off. For example, Nottingham Playhouse has crammed, for your delectation, two hip-hop related plays into one week. And they both look mint. Insane in the Brain – an update of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest -promises to be an exciting, energetic and enthralling incorporation of street dance and a hip-hop soundtrack from Missy Elliot, Cyprus Hill, Dizzee Rascal, David Holmes and Gotan Project. Brought to you by the innovative Swedish dance collective Bounce, it’s a daring and imaginative take on a classic - as Nurse Ratched (a ballet fan) faces off the inmates of a mental institution who have formed a breakdancing crew. The two shows here will be the first performance since their West End run. Meanwhile, Jonzi D Productions (the renowned hip-hop theatre and dance innovators who brought you Breakin’ Convention) follow up with a one-night-only performance of Markus the Sadist. Written and directed by Jonzi D with music from MOBO award winner Soweto Kinch, it’s a wry look at the celebrity culture within hip-hop and the manipulative players masterminding the urban myths that spring up. Markus (played by Bashy, winner of the Most Inspiring Act at the Urban Music Awards in 2008) is a precocious UK emcee whose skills gain him the attention of record companies and unscrupulous management, and leads to him pretty much selling his soul for a chance of superstardom. Trouble brews and the tale intensifies when Markus decides to switch styles at the height of his popularity... Bounce, Nottingham Playhouse, 6-7 October, 7:30pm. Tickets: £18 / £16. Markus The Sadist, Nottingham Playhouse, October 8th, 8pm. Tickets: £16/£14. nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk

Tuesday 24/11

Wednesday 25/11

Friday 27/11

Acoustic Tuesdays present Samson & delilah The Malt Cross Free, 8.30pm

White Lies Rock City £15, 7.30pm Plus Asobi Seksu and Violens.

Soulbuggin Presents....Benji B Moog £4, 9p.m. - 3a.m.

Thursday 26/11

Exit Calm The Bodega £6, 8pm

Smokescreen The Maze £5, 10pm With Frandanski, Rob and guests.

Roses Kings Castle The Maze £5, 8pm

Teenagers in Tokyo Stealth £5, 10.15pm

Engineers The Bodega £10, 8pm With White Belt Yellow Tag.

Thursday 19/11

Monday 23/11

Wednesday 25/11

Filthy Dukes The Bodega £8, 7.30pm

Gomez Rock City £16, 7.30pm

Michael Chapman The Maze £10, 7.45pm

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue31

BiroBox Workshops The Malt Cross £3, 8pm Pama International The Rescue Rooms £10, 7.30pm

The Shakes Shaws Restaurant and Cafe Bar Free, 8.30pm - 11pm Detonate Stealth £10, 10pm DJ Marky, Benga, Spy, Transit Mafia, MC Ruthless, Freestyle and more tbc.

This is your videogame festival Paper Universe: 25 Years of Elite • Brickstock: LEGO Rock Band • Crysis: Live! • Masaya Matsuura: BAFTA Vision Statement • Flower in the Exchange Arcade • IndieVillage Projector Games • Hide and Seek Sandpit Tour! • BrickFactor • Curry Sessions • World of Wordcraft • One Life Left ClubNight • Bizarre Creations: Blur • Runescape: Director Commentary • Live Arcade Party! • Monumental Games MMO Masterclass • Cake • Chiptune Workshops • Get into Games Career sessions • Spite your Face Animation Workshops • Feargal Sharkey vs Parappa the Rapper • Indiecade Europe at the IndieVillage • Beat Gary Penn! • Fresh Air • Quarrel: Live! • Mode 7: Beat the Developer • Busking • Portfolio Clinics • ThatGameCompany Relaxation Station • Birthday Tea-Parties • Rebecca Mayes UK Debut gig • We were 64! • TTGames on LEGO • Origami Masterclass • Games

27-31 October 2009

Become a GameCitizen at WWW.GAMECITY.ORG

event listings... COMEDY Friday 02/10 Rob Brydon Royal Centre £18.50, 7.30pm

Sunday 04/10 Just The Tonic Approach £7.50, 8pm Simon Donald, Charlie Baker

Wednesday 07/10 Comix Seven £3/£4, 8.30pm - 10.30pm Andrew O’Neill and Sam Gore.

Friday 23/10 Eddie Izzard Trent FM Arena Nottingham £30, 8pm Runs until: 24/10

Sunday 25/10 Just The Tonic Approach £7.50, 8pm Rob Deering, Will Hodgson, Darrell Martin Alistair McGowan Nottingham Playhouse £15, 7.30pm

Wednesday 28/10

Saturday 10/10

Tim Minchin ’Ready For This?’ Nottingham Playhouse £17.50, 8pm

Grumpy Old Women Live 2: Chin Up Britain Nottingham Playhouse £20, 8pm

Friday 30/10

Sunday 11/10 Just The Tonic Approach £various, 8pm Jon Richardson, Matt Forde, Darrell Martin

Wednesday 14/10 Frankie Boyle Royal Centre £20, 8pm

Thursday 15/10 A Evening With Joan Baez Royal Centre £32.50 / £37.50, 7.30pm

Sunday 18/10 Just The Tonic Approach £7.50, 8pm Henningg Wehn, Pippa Evans

Simon Amstell ’Do Nothing’ Nottingham Playhouse £20, 8pm Runs until: 31/10

Sunday 01/11 Just The Tonic Approach £7.50, 8pm Pete Firman, Paul McCaffery, Charlie Baker The cat that looked like Nicholas Lyndhurst Nottingham Playhouse £15, 7.30pm

Monday 02/11 Nottingham Comedy Festival Malt Cross

for more: leftlion.co.uk/listings

Around the world in a weekend

Four continents of music get wedged into four venues over three days – but why no wobble-board or digeridoo action? Summer has dwindled and with the falling leaves, conkers falling on your head and the students back, Autumn is definitely here. But sod mourning the loss of sunshine and manufactured beaches; there’s a plethora of promoters desperate to keep peoples’ spirits up in Nottingham between now and Bonfire Night. Chilled Produce, a Nottingham based voluntary organisation set up with the purpose of supporting local music from around the world, are leading the pack with their Global Weekender 2009 – and it looks very tasty indeed. A flat-out celebration of the region’s vibrant and diverse music scene totally unique to these here parts, Global Weekender 2009 will showcasing traditional and contemporary music from Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East (in addition to the Nottingham artists, of course). If you can’t find something at this event that floats your boat then you’d better get over to Mars, or summat. Taking place over three days, GW2009 will be hopping all over town with a programme of events that, were we to reproduce it full, would destroy a section of the rainforest the size of Bestwood.; The New Art Exchange kick everything off on Fri 2 October with traditional Chinese music, hip-hop and an appearance from Papa La Bas (with an afterparty at Moog). Then its over to the Sandfield Theatre on Sat 3 for a melange of traditional Eastern European tunes, US folk, blues and jazz, classical music and the amazing Natalie Duncan, and it all comes together nicely at the Golden Fleece on Sun 4 for a mash-up of Iranian bagpipes and congas, hip-hop and grime, and the multi-faceted Zacc Rogers and his soul/jazz/blues/funk/countrygrass thing. What you lose in bus fare and sole rubber, you make up for in the pocket. All this pan-global tunage is absolutely free at all venues, so there’s no excuse not to let your tabs do that Phineas Fogg thing. Global Weekender 2009, assorted venues, 2-4 October. Free entry

Tuesday 03/11 Funhouse Comedy Grove £4 / £5, 8pm Andy White, Matt Seber, Keith

Dixon, Gordon Brownstone and Compere Spiky Mike.

CRASH FACTORY Situated in the Hockley area of the city, next to the Old Angel pub, Crash Factory is a cosy recording studio set up in an old lace factory by studio engineer Mark Elmore back in 2006.

The heart of the studio is a gorgeous vintage desk (an AMEK for all you techys – which toured the world for twenty years with Iron Maiden) with the engineers relying on great monitoring and a mix of gear to create their desired sound. Maybe more importantly there is genuine passion behind the reigns in this here studio. Owner Mark commented ‘Recording isn’t the kind of thing you get into to make a whole bunch of money - we love making records and helping bands get where they want to be in what is quite an unsettling time for musicians bank balances’. With the offer of four days for the price of three you are getting all the more boom for your buck, making sonic perfection that little bit easier. Crash Factory, Unit 7, 35 Warser Gate, Lace Market, Nottingham, NG1 1NU. thecrashfactory.com

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue31

Monday 16/11

Comix Seven £3 /£4), 8.30pm - 10.30pm Ray Peacock + Paul McCaffrey

Daniel Kitson ’We Are Gathered Here’ Nottingham Playhouse £10, 8pm

Thursday 05/11

Sunday 22/11

Nottingham Comedy Festival Malt Cross

Just The Tonic Approach £10, 8pm Mystery TV Star, Joey Page, Darrell Martin

Victoria Cross Memorial Beer Fest Canalhouse bar Free, 12pm - 1am Runs until: 08/11

After building soundproof walls and floating floors with their bare hands, the last three years has seen them guide a steady flow of bands through their doors to record that all important first demo whilst working with indie labels on their upcoming albums. When it comes to the sound, we are talking big, with the studio preferring to record organically (in real rooms) rather than twiddling reverb boxes, making sure drums are tuned and played properly instead of replacing them with samples – taking pride in listening to the needs of a band instead of imposing their own opinions on how they should sound. Anyone looking for a rawer, edgier sound to their record is going to be at home here. Theres a well treated control room with changeable acoustics (that fancy space with all the knobs on you see in the flash studios), a great sounding live room, and an actual vocal booth (not just a cupboard with foam on the walls) – and with proper isolation in place theres plenty of options for musicians to play in a room together.

Wednesday 04/11

Sunday 08/11 Comedy Winterfest Nottingham Playhouse £15, 7.30pm

Tuesday 10/11 Funhouse Comedy Presents... Maze £4 / £5, 8pm

Saturday 14/11 Ghoul Garden Maze £3.50, 9pm

Sunday 15/11 Just The Tonic Approach £7.50, 8pm Seymour Mace

Monday 16/11 Jimmy Carr Royal Centre £22.50, 8pm

Monday 23/11 Alison Moyet Royal Centre £25 / £30, 7pm

Friday 27/11 The Chuckle Brothers Royal Centre £25 / £30, 7pm

Sunday 29/11 Just The Tonic Approach £7.50, 7pm Bob Mills, Isy Suttie, Charlie Baker.

Midweek @ Nottingham’s favourite late night venue

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nottingham event listings... THEATRE Thursday 01/10 Rambert Dance Company Royal Centre £8 - £22.50, 7.30pm Runs until: 3/10

Friday 02/10 Krapp’s Last Tape Lakeside Arts Centre £5 - £12 (NUS), 8:00pm Runs until: 3/10

Saturday 03/10 Mischief Nottingham Playhouse £12.50, 5.30pm

Monday 05/10 Abigail’s Party Lace Market Theatre £7 - £9, 7.30pm Runs until: 10/10

Tuesday 06/10 Bounce: Insane in the Brain Nottingham Playhouse £10 - £18, 8pm Runs until: 7/10

Thursday 08/10 Markus the Sadist Nottingham Playhouse £8 - £16, 8pm

Tuesday 13/10 Kes Royal Centre £12 - £22, 7.30pm Runs until: 17/10

Tuesday 20/10 Dial M For Murder Royal Centre £10 - £24, 8pm + Matinees Runs until: 24/10

for more: leftlion.co.uk/listings

Hook a Duck, Hit The Bull

Wednesday 21/10 A Tempest Nottingham Playhouse £4/£5, 10am & 1.45pm Runs until: 24/10 Kindertransport Lace Market Theatre £7 - £9, 7.30pm Runs until: 24/10

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander – so regardless of your chromosomes, get yourself down the Forest Rec to experience the jewel in the glittering crown of Nottingham’s events calendar.

Monday 26/10 Momentum Festival: Black Folk Nottingham Playhouse £4, 7pm Runs until: 27/10

Tuesday 27/10 Never Forget Royal Centre £12 - £29, 7.30pm + Matinees Runs until: 31/10

It’ll be the 715th time that Gooseh, the largest European travelling fair, has visited our fair city and we’re still not getting bored. There’ll be the usual dodgems, teacups, waltzers, big wheel, helter skelters, hook a duck, and sticky wall, alongside the more hair-raising white knuckle rides. New additions for 2009 are the Rock Rage Inversion ride and the Star Flyer. The latter is a massive flying chair ride and at 38 metres high will be one of the tallest rides on the site and will no doubt, if you’re not too wussy to open your eyes, will give some amazing views. And of course there will be peas, trodden on by the fair virgins of our city and smothered in mint sauce, and candyfloss a plenty. I have it on good authority that the pick of the peas are located on the food alley by the toilets, grab them on your way back though, not to. Goose Fair runs from 30 September - 3 October. / Nottinghamcity.gov.uk/goosefair

Wednesday 04/11

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a tourist in your own city and especially not if it’s Robin Hood related shenanigans. The annually held Robin Hood Pageant lets you step back in time and experience the life and times of Nottingham’s most famous bad boy, Robin Hood.

The Caucasian Chalk Circle Nottingham Playhouse Runs until: 21/11

Mooch down to Nottingham Castle from 24-25 October and you’ll find that the grounds have been transformed into a Twelfth Century medieval village encampment. It will come complete with characters, amongst whom will be Robin and his band of Merry Men, King Richard I and some wandering minstrels.

Monday 09/11 Festen Lace Market Theatre £7 - £9, 7.30pm Runs until: 14/11

A proper family day out or a date with a difference; there will be live jousting, a medieval alehouse, falconary, combat displays and you can even have a bash at the archery, coin bashing or turning lead into gold in the Alchemists lab. So get your tights on, grab a green hat and get yoursen’ down.

Monday 23/11 Adolf Hitler: My Part In His Downfall Royal Centre £10 - £19.50, 7.30pm + Matinees Runs until: 28/11

Friday 27/11 Beauty and the Beast Nottingham Playhouse £17 - £25, 7.30pm + Matinees Runs until: 23/1

Momentum 2009: Black Folk Nottingham Playhouse Workshop £6/£4, Workshop 6.30pm Performance 7pm Runs until: 27/10

Tickets can be purchased in advance or on the gate. Adults £7, Children/Concessions £5, Family ticket £18. nottinghamcitycouncil.gov.uk/robinhoodpageant

Exhibitions Thursday 01/10 Philippa Lawrence; Bound Nottingham Castle Runs until: 11/10 Picturing Britain: Paul Sandby Nottingham Castle Runs until: 18/10 Carnival Photography New Art Exchange Runs until: 17/10

Victoria’s Secret Viccy Market: in’t it mint? If you’re not down with Victoria Market – the Aladdin’s Cave of this, that and the other – then you’re not our friends and we refuse to come out to play with you. It’s now 37 years since it took the place of the old Central Market, and although it’s not as it once was – it used to occupy part of the ground floor as well – it’s a 70-stall cornucopia of essentials and, well, randomness, which is why we love it so. Put it this way; do Tesco sell weaves? Can you buy enormous Tupac flags from TK Maxx? Can you get grub screws for your Nana’s radio that was made in East Germany in 1957 from John Lewis? Is there a mushy pea bar in Waitrose? Exactly.

Thursday 01/10

Thursday 08/10

S Mark Gubb: Pura Vida Hinterland Hinterland Temp Site Free Runs until: 01/11

Wither Shall I Wander Attenborough Nature Reserve Free, 12pm - 4pm

Life Less Ordinary Lakeside Arts Centre Free, 11am - 5pm Runs until: 15/11 Boots 1849-2009 Dispensing Feelgood Formulas Lakeside Arts Centre Free, 11am - 4pm Runs until: 22/11 Joan Ainley Lakeside Arts Centre Free, 10am - 5pm Runs until: 01/11 John Newling: The Clearing (Part 1) - Hinterland Hinterland Temp Site Free Runs until: 18/10 Araby Moot Free, 12pm - 6pm Runs until: 11/10

When you do your shopping in Viccy Market – and it’s perfectly feasible to get everything you want there, as long as you’re not after anything shrink-wrapped, pre-packed or ludicrously poncy – you’re entering a veritable microcosm of society, where the traditional butchers rubs up against the mobile phone stall and the crystal and meditation CD stall is a feather’s throw away from Splatt Digital Imaging, and virtually every other stall has a wonderfully toe-curling pun, like Sew Perfect, Carole’s Tight Corner, Knitty Gritty and Madhouse Nut Centre. Anyone who says that supermarkets are a million times more convenient than specialist stalls has obviously never been here, and they certainly haven’t been stuck in the queue for those new self-service tills at Tesco. And they sell far more than the basic fruit, veg, meat and fish; there’s a blinding Polish deli, a Caribbean fish stall, and some of the best caffs in town. If you needed any more encouragement to visit the Greenest market in the Midlands (they won an award for that earlier this year), Viccy Market is dipping a toe into the burgeoning local arts scene by hosting a photographic exhibition and acting as one of the venues for the recent Nottingham Trent Photoradar show. An absolute boon for students (trust us, this should be the first port of call to pick up the stuff your landlord forgot to sort out) and a life-saver for the rest of us, Viccy Market is one of the jewels in the crown of local shopping. Next time you’re in the vicinity, make sure you raise a bowl of peas in its general direction.

Hetain Patel New Art Exchange Free Runs until: 01/11 Pork Knocker Dreams Recent work by Donald Locke New Art Exchange Free Runs until: 20/12

Saturday 03/10 Meet The Makers The Art Organisation Free, 12pm - 5pm Dr Sketchy’s Anti Art School Nottingham Escucha £8, 12.30pm – 4.00pm

Wednesday 14/10 The Reading Room Hinterland Temp Site Free, 7pm - 9pm

Friday 23/10 Edward Sellman Transitions: Figures in Space Nottingham Society of Artists Free, Fri 1pm - 5pm, Sat 9pm 6pm, Sun 12pm - 4.30pm, Mon -Thur 10am - 5.30pm Runs until: 29/10

Sunday 25/10 Own Vintage! Fashion Fair Nottingham Playhouse £3, 11am – 4pm

Tuesday 27/10 GameCity Squared Various Locations Free, Various Runs until: 31/10

Friday 13/11 Bar Vug Gum Moot Free, 12pm - 6pm Runs until: 13/12

Thursday 26/11 The evolving relationships between artists... Broadway £7/£12.50, 10am - 5pm A Hinterland Symposium on the changing climate and new responsibilities. Booking essential. Mark Harasimowicz and Tristan Hessing Broadway Free, 6pm - 8pm

Victoria Market, Victoria Centre NG1 3QH www.leftlion.co.uk/issue31

Set into the caves of Nottingham on Derby Road, right in the city centre is the Hand & Heart. This beautiful pub and restaurant forking into two vaulted caverns serves superb food, locally sourced wherever possible, a wide choice of wines, champagnes and beers from over ten local breweries. Upstairs is the Hand & Heart Gallery, which provides a social and discursive environment for the exhibition of contemporary contempora art, hosting live music, lectures and workshops.

Use the gallery on Monday nights to put on your own club night Drawing club from 6:30pm on Tuesday nights in the gallery Live Jazz from 8:00pm on Tuesday and Thursday nights downstairs in the caves Sunday Lunch pianist

handandheart@ntlworld.com

Write Lion

We hope that contributors to the forum will join us in the Hand and Heart on Saturday 3 October as part of the Canning Circus Festival, or at Broadway on the 25th October for the Hockley Hustle for spoken word sessions. For further information, please download our second WriteLion podcast from the website. On a sadder note, we would like to dedicate this page to the recently departed Stanley Middleton, the 1974 Booker-winning author of Holiday who wrote about the ordinary folk of ‘Beechnall’, Nottingham. God bless yer, duck.

Some

06/09/09

You made me love you

How many days to Hanover? Listing Glistening To the Dark

Touch. Soft skin. Racing heartbeats in staccatoed rhythm. Electricity carried in haemoglobin, through the aorta, pushing past valves, emptying into ventricles.

You told me that you loved me After our first date You told your friends about your ‘wife’ You simply couldn’t wait.

by Lian

This many roads to take you there Tooting Root and Trunk To bark

Tip-toes upon a cold, tiled floor, to gently awaken the soul and heighten the senses with rich aromas.

Lastly take this, bowl my land But Bring it Back from Hanover

Tiny Poem Here By LL Subs

Let’s do a haiku We need to fill this space up This will have to do Still not long enough Need to find a bit more text (five syllables here)

The Last Mad Surge of Youth Mark Hodkinson Pomona, £7.99

You enchanted me with your bright eyes Focused on me so true You wrapped yourself around me tight You made me love you too.

Pull me close by open windows, with singing birds to calm us down. The sound of hot running water flowing through the cold, steel pipes.

Don’t jump too far and knock too late Tipsy Jonan Almond Cake

Light my good and take my some Skin and Touch Bone and Frail

You pulled on all my heart strings Wrote a poem with my name You pulled apart the clouds for me To let sun through, not rain. You caught my doubts in your left hand Held my tears tight You heaved my shoulders back up straight You made my burden light.

Whispering zephyr’s that crease delicate skin, still wrapped in linen.

Take a swipe and mind the flame To burn And roast The arm And lake

Remember roost the feather bower But shoot The cannon Against The grain

by Girlie

by Kaylen

Sink in and under into this porcelain coffin, washing away tears that freeze my heart and harden my soul. For waiting in silence, means waiting for days, until whispering words lead me to your arms.

Burning Flower

(For Vixen) by Steven Michael Pape

Gold Street by Heartshaper

she forfeits time spent with ease, the habitual abuse of moments running away as if in haste make her twirl like wind chimes with the ever-changing atmosphere thinking words out like spewing taps that fatten the bellies of the well wishers. the inquisition never stopped, questions came like darts from an unsteady hand targeted she withdrew swept away in the wind that blew like Gods whispers carried along by the wishful hands of time pushing her to the pinnacle like rock climbers, hoping. her stop beckons, the station abandoned, only the sounds of nothing creeping into the ears trickling out again in the shape of circles Wayne Burrows published his first collection, M a r g i n a l i a, with Peterloo Poets in 2001, and his work has featured in the British Council anthologies New Writing 12 (Picador, 2004) and N W 1 5 (Granta, 2007), as well as the Forward anthology for 2002 and many m agaz ines. The Prot ein Songs, a s equen ce about ge netics commissioned for use in Retina Dance Company's Eleven Stories For The Body, Distance To Our Soul toured the UK and Europe over 2005 - 6 and he is currently completing a book of ‘documentary fiction’ called Shrapnel and a novel set in the musical underground of the 1960s and 70s, provisionally titled Albany 6. He writes regularly on visual and performing arts for Metro newspapers, reads for The Literary Consultancy, and took over the editorship of long-established literary magazine, Staple, in 2007.

Road Map

Joss-Ink (taken from the collection ‘Leading a Horse to Water’) Somebody please tell me Just how I should feel When they burn And they rape and they Kill and they steal In the name of freedom And total control Which means they do as they will While you do as you’re told It’s no different from last time Or the time before that As they rebuild the empire And redraw the map First they take what they want Then they take what we need And they call it progress But I call it greed As millions die And millions more Suffer oppression Under the law

Stark burning ray of light Mysteriously fascinating Your inspiration and illumination Burning bright candle Flickering, lighting up this darkroom This wildness in spirit Aura bright and clear Flaming red burning flower This bursting rising sun Arriving on a new morn Showing me the way Cowardice is unseen Spirit, hope and beauty Guides me on and on Green gaze intently into my soul Glittering jewels of the individual Beautiful, replenished Penetrating within Warm heart, warm heart Mischievous glares from the windows We remain as one We don’t follow, we follow ourselves Our shadows are the one thing That walks behind us We walk with our souls intact.

EMBLEMS

Emblems

Wayne Burrows Shoestring Press, £5

If you think 17th century morality www.wayneburrows.wordpress.com poetry says nothing to you about There is one thing which your life, Wayne Burrows’ new separates successful artists, “Marginalia is a book about being in love in our increasingly weird collection of poetry might change writers and musicians from those world, transformed by the scientific view and the bombardments of the media. It’s exploring a new feeling of being human,your registering the mind. Francis Quarles was that don’t make it, and it’s not survival of love in spite of everything.” concerned with religion back in talent. It is perseverance; the Herbert Lomas, Ambit 1635. Burrows focuses on obsessive belief that you will “Wayne Burrows’ darkly complex poems typically take the form of consumerism as the new moral make it, because it is your richly realised meditations on physical transformation…the power of dilemma the genuinely surreal comes together here with a different kind of for the 21st century. destiny. This is the gloriously haunting (Dutch) painterly perspective” ‘How to avoid getting sucked in’ pretentious story of youth, Times Literary Supplement is the main issue for both of them. wonderfully captured here “I very much like the richness and originality and Using energy of quotes, this ideas and phrases through the varying fortunes of members of Group Hex; writing. This is the real stuff of poetry” from Quarles’ writing - like a DJ musicians intent on nothing less than total revolution. Of Myra Schneider sampling drumbeats, strings and loops - Burrows lyrically course, it is the side-effects of this unrealistic quest that really remixes 17th century verse into sixteen Wayne poems Burrows matter - friendship and belonging. exploring modern-day morality and money as the new religion. £ 5.00 ISBN 978-1-904886-94-5 Music enables Hodkinson to ask deeper philosophical Combining snatches of overheard conversation with vivid questions about the creative process - in particular, what is metaphors, his writing creates the sensation of a beautiful and it that makes us want to share our Shoestring inner turmoil?Press Is it a poor Shoestring Press unsettling dream, its meaning subtly filtering through each line childhood, or simply deluded vanity? Perhaps fame simply and page. Although the way we express it may alter over the enables an extreme means of being and thereby a greater sense centuries, our preoccupation with defining ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ of being alive. There is no perfect answer, but Hodkinson offers ways of living remains. numerous plausible reasons over 332 delightful pages. Aly Stoneman James Walker shoestringpress.co.uk pomonauk.com

The Prayer Room Shanthi Sekaran MacAdam/Cage £8.99

Each morning last summer, Shanthi Sekaran left her Canning Circus flat to sit in the back garden of the Sir John Borlase pub. Between sips of tea and the occasional Hoegaarden, she would write. The result is a gorgeous debut novel about a Nottingham lad who goes to Madras to write his dissertation and returns with an Indian bride. Sekaran has the novelist’s affinity with large sweeping narratives. The Prayer Room is told from multiple points of view that cross both culture and generation. However, it is her skill as a miniaturist that delights most. From the streets of Sneinton to the suburbs of Sacramento and the beaches of Kerala, Sekaran casts an exacting eye on the minutia of daily life. Lushly written, brimming with description and keen, often humorous observations. this novel is recommended for readers that prefer their language sumptuous and images lovely. Misty Hood macadamcage.com

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Time, once again, to review all the latest and greatest Notts music we’ve been sent, If you have anything you want us to give the once-over, please visit: leftlion.co.uk/sendusmusic Alright The Captain! 123 EP (Unsigned)

Bent Best of Bent LP (Godlike & Electric)

Dead Spex Rats Together EP (Unsigned)

This release is everything we’ve come to expect from the maniacal Notts/Irish purveyors of surfmath-post-rock grooves. Ranging from distorted funk to recumbent arpeggiation, this EP is the best of a great band in the making.

Not many Notts bands stick around long enough to justify a ‘Best of’ album - usually by the time their debut CD has been released, the lead guitarist and the singer can’t stand to be in the same room, and the drummer has migrated to one of the other three bands he plays for instead.

Dead Spex - a band that succeed in blending the infectious college rock sensibilities of Pavement with the enigmatic drawl of The Fall - are an indie-punk band to watch. Opener Wires is a furious two-minute scream-along kick in the tits, and the rest of this EP follows suit - one track crashes into another until you can barely tell the difference amidst the burning lo-fi wreckage.

Opening track Honey Badger is ATC! at their most playful: immediately heavy and nervously crazy, the lead guitar adds frenetic phrasing while the rest of the band thrash around. Neo Tokyo soon follows, beginning with a pleasant and highly catchy string-tapping theme. The bass and drums make a very tight backbone, until the song takes a more sinister turn and goes axe-murderer with scattershot riffing. ATC! leave the best and proggiest song for last, with Soundtrack Your Death beginning with Primus-like instrumental playfulness that crackles with good fun. Distorted bass brings the song to critical mass until the playfulness collapses upon itself and into heavier, discordant territory and breaks down into angry walls of sound before eventually slowing to a stop. This is a big step in the evolution of one of the best bands in Nottingham right now. Anthony Whitton Available from alrightthecaptain.bigcartel.com, and at numerous gigs throughout October and November. myspace.com/alrightthecaptain Elementz Club Music LP (Self-released) Don’t you just love albums that do exactly what they say on the tin? Well, LeftLion faves The Elementz are back with their latest album Club Music, and it’s full of the kind of bangers that would get even the most rigid of you shaking your arse on a local floor. If 2007’s Crushmode album was The Elementz’s first move away from mainstream hip-hop, then this is a full-on charge into the world of electronic boogie, featuring reformed material from heavyweights such as DJ Vadim, Santigold and Roots Manuva to name but a few. Elementz production duo Zoutr and Liati certainly seem comfortable in such esteemed company. Pouting remixes turn up the heat with stinging basslines on tracks like Wings Of The Morning, then smooth it all back out again with melancholy waveforms on DJ Vadim and Wretch 32’s Soldier. And perhaps the best thing of all is that it’s absolutely free – yes, the guys have confessed to us that they want you all to get it in your tabs so badly that you can have the whole album for absolutely nuppence. Woo! Glen Parver Free download, available on the Elementz MySpace page. Catch them live at the Ropewalk as part of the LeftLion Circus Extravaganza on Saturday 3 October – again, for free. myspace.com/elementzuniverse Lovvers OCD Go Go Girls Album (Wichita Recordings) This follow-up to last year’s Think EP is a continuation of the marriage of punk, lo-fi and garage sensibilities – and the result is a record that, from start to finish, is as exciting as it is exhilarating. Taking its cues from the current American Lo-Fi/Noise Pop scene spearheaded by bands like Time’s New Viking, No Age, and The Vivian Girls – most of whom the band have played with over the last year. It’s mostly recorded in Portland, Oregon and it shows. Bathed in a warm, buzz-saw fuzz, it’s like the album was recorded through microphones and amps that have been ripped to shreds by razor blades. But then each song is so supercharged with infectious melody that you can’t help but succumb to its charms, turn it up loud, and give in to one of Britain’s best new bands. There is no single highlight, as the tracks are all as pant-wettingly good as each other, but tracks like Human Hair and Four Count demand to be put on any playlist. Paul Klotschkow Available now on CD, vinyl and download from the usual outlets. lovvers.co.uk

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Luckily, Bent don’t have a guitarist, a drummer or even a fulltime singer. In fact, their music isn’t reliant on much except for the good health of producers Simon and Nail. Together they with a legion of great (and usually female) vocalists have produced four full studio albums and a legion of DJ mix albums, ever since Programmed To Love in 1999.

The highlight of Rats Together is the undeniably addictive vitriol of Eating Teeth. It’s as if The Cribs were raised on a diet of Fugazi and Nirvana’s Bleach. Short, sharp and sickly sweet – imagine, if you will, Steve Albini’s ringtone.

This compilation is a great introduction to Bent. Classics like Private Rd and Invisible Pedestrian (used to advertise Carlsberg and Absolut) are here - and so are seven previously unreleased tracks. Of those, the stand-out is probably K.I.S.S.E.S., which sounds like an older Vanessa Paradis singing sweetly over a blissed-out string orchestra.

Each track is a two-minute blink-and-you’ll-miss-it blast of angular pop noise. A fiery onslaught of indie-punk it may be; even though it probably won’t set the world alight, it is an impressive debut and definitely worth the short amount of time it takes to enjoy. Barely clocking over six minutes, Dead Spex manage to build a short barbed wire wall of visceral pop on a foundation of noisy art-punk. Long live the ‘Spex. Andrew Trendell

Buy this, play it during the last bits of sun we’ll get this year. Then move onto discovering their back catalogue. There’s a reason the likes of better known bands such as Faithless rave about these guys. Glen Parver Available from all good record shops. See Bent on the LeftLion Hockley Hustle stage at Broadway on Sunday 25 October. bent-world.com The Greatest Wolf The Greatest Wolf EP (Unsigned) O’Lovely Lie - one of Nottingham’s finest bands of recent times - are sadly no more. But rising from the embers is The Greatest Wolf. And what a mighty beast it is! It’s the new guise of singer/guitarist Gemma Upton, who has put together this wonderful EP. All of the instruments on TGW (bar drums) have been played by Gemma; each song is draped in a dark velvet cloak of a multitude of instruments and layers of sweeping vocals - with glockenspiels, organs and guitars creeping and crawling over one another to form a web of dark, spidery music. A lot of Upton’s influences are worn on her sleeve - Now Is The Summer To Be Saved and North Seas sound like Stories From The City, Stories From the Sea-era PJ Harvey; all shimmering guitars, heavy eyeliner and cascading vocals. Indian Summer, on the other hand, stalks around like Siouxsie Sioux at her most intimidating and bewitching. TGW displays an otherwordly, kohl-eyed talent. Simply elegant. Paul Klotschkow Available through request on MySpace, and gigs – including Hockley Hustle on 25 October, and The Maze on 28 October.

Available for free download from the band’s website. Catch them at Hockley Hustle on 25 October. deadspex.com The Kull Amongst The Trees LP (Label TBC) Dark, slightly sinister and yet oddly uplifting, the much-acclaimed purveyors of Nottingham darkwave have produced an intriguing second full-length release that lives up to their engaging live shows, with the depth to envelop you for its 42-minute duration. From the decadent melancholy of If The Walls Keep Talking to the echoey mists of You Don’t Have To Tell Me, the discordant sonic mess of Symptoms and the sheer power of the record’s title track, this album shows off The Kull’s multi-faceted musical and emotional range in a collection of songs which fill your ears with their intricate soundscapes. The sounds created on this record will enthral and intrigue; snatches of whispers, lo-fi vocals hidden deep within the music and electronic elements that are barely audible combine to form their uniquely complex noise. Andrew Shipley’s vocals float over every track like a spectre, whilst guitars and synths create an interwoven melodic mesh that moves from distortion to cleanliness to unearthly and menacing, all on top of constant, powerfully driving bass. You will get something new from this record with each listen, and it will grow on you slowly but tenaciously after its initial impact. An excellently constructed, executed and produced album that is sure to bring The Kull the recognition they deserve. Sarah Morrison

myspace.com/greatestwolf

Available soon – check website for details. thekull.co.uk

Rebel Soul Collective It’s Only Living EP (Unsigned)

Thousands Of Reflections Call Me Ishmael/Sawhooks And Chains Single (Unsigned)

This is the debut EP from a soulful bunch unashamed of their dance roots. Relay is the standout; a smooth cohesion of cosmic electronic beats and classic rock riffs. The fantastically danceable Trash City would make a welcome addition to any indie disco night. The extremely compositional Keep It Fierce undoubtedly serves as the technical highpoint, where everyone gets time to shine before working together towards a dizzying, euphoric climax.

Local lads Thousands of Reflections have teamed up with legendary Notts sound guy Guy Elderfield to produce a double A-side that is just perfect for the current summer-toautumn transition we’re in the throes of. Call Me Ishmael - the first song from their mini-album due next year - is a sign of a more matured, blissed-out sound, with a gradual and enticing piano intro twinned with an experimental spacey alt-rock sound.

RSC experiment boldly with a variety of genres, techniques and structural styles with great success - however, it’d be intriguing to hear them try out something more pared-down next time around, so the full effect of Ant Hagan’s raw, rasping vocals and the furious guitar solos could be enjoyed even more. Having listened dozens of times to this supremely experimental record, I accept that these guys are rebels – I’m just hungry for a little more soul. Hayley Sleigh Available from the website, at gigs, and iTunes. rebelsoulcollective.com

Sawhooks and Chains is guitar rock at its finest, grabbing you on the first note then breaking down to a slow pace and a sombre tone. Yet in terms of structure and vocals it isn’t miles apart from the first track. Not the happiest brace of songs, then, but the sound of a band getting back to creating simple yet enjoyably good music. The proposed mini-album will definitely be worth listening to. Kristi Genovese Available through iTunes. They play The Running Horse on 22 October thousandsofreflections.com

Congregational Hall 6 Castle Gate Nottingham NG1 7AS

Event supported by Nottingham City Council

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11/9/09 19:17:17

Capricorn (December 23 - January 19) Ever noticed the amount of times right-wing tabloid columnists say things like ‘The world’s gone mad’? Well obviously they have short memories, as it was only fifteen years or so ago that Seal wrote that we’re never going to survive unless we get a little crazy.

Aquarius (January 20 - February 19) The lion shall lay down with the lamb this weekend before looking around, realising the Second Coming isn’t actually going to happen just yet and then ripping out the poor, unsuspecting animal’s throat before devouring its intestines.

Pisces (February 20 - March 20) There is a parcel waiting for you in a safety deposit box at the NatWest bank in the Market Square. It contains the thing you have always wanted most. I’ve set the pin to link psychically to your thoughts, so if you randomly read four numbers out to the guy protecting it, you will get in. Try it.

Aries (March 21 - April 20) We’re no strangers to love. You know the rules and so do I. A full commitment’s what I’m thinking of. You wouldn’t get this from any other guy. I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling. Gotta make you understand. Never gonna give you up, Never gonna let you down, Never gonna run around and desert you.

Taurus (April 21 - May 21) Your thoughtfulness about a friend’s birthday celebration will earn you brownie points this week. Having a girl pop out of the birthday cake was a fine idea, but you really should have given more consideration as to when to slice it up.

Gemini (May 22 - June 22)

LEFTLION ABROAD Club Tropicana, Chapel St Leonards Back in the day, Chapel - the Lady Bay to Skegness’ West Bridgford, if you will - was none more Hoodcentric, with the Robin Hood Camp, the Maid Marian Club, the Little John Arcade and a chip shop called the Friar Tuck-Inn. Alas, as the picture demonstrates, the place has fallen under the more pervasive cultural influence of, er, Wham!, and the only traces of Medieval Nottingham that remain are the turrets, the pattern on the carpet, a couple of stained-glass renditions of Our Robbo, and the plastic thatched cottage look over the bar. For shame.

Under no circumstances should you read your Horrorscope this month. Avoid it and you will live happily ever after. But reading it will set in course a chain of events that will ultimately end in the horrific death of all of those close to you.

Cancer (June 23 - July 23) You will discover the deep power of chain letters this week when you suddenly get so busy that you unintentionally break one and suffer no terrible consequences whatsoever.

Leo (July 24 - August 23) People have remarked in the past about how community-spirited you are. Your work with disadvantaged and at-risk youth is set to continue this Saturday when you stumble home from the pub late and are forced to hand over your wallet to a gang of hoodies.

Virgo (August 24 - September 23) A tip for all the ladies out there who occasionally lack the oomph to open screw-top jars: If you are at home, a rubber glove or bottle gripper will give you the power you need to get into the stickier ones. Failing that fit a rubber band over the rim.

Libra (September 24 - October 23) Haven’t got an egg timer at home? You can still boil an egg to perfection by popping it into boiling water and driving away from your home at exactly 60mph. Turn back after a mile and a half, and you’ll be home just in time to take it out of the pan.

Scorpio (October 24 - November 22) Why waste money on an iPod when you have all you need already built into your head? Simply think of your favourite tune and hum it. If you want to put it on random, then get a friend to suggest a song they like and then hum that instead.

Sagittarius (November 23 - December 22)

Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.

Nottingham Contemporary

Nottingham Reactionary

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Current highlights: tings £Millions of Hockney pain 2 of modern art Art content: 3,000 m rehouse culture

Influences: Berlin wa

ond-hand fridge: Chances of seeing a sec 0,000) ina Fair (Christ’s Vag , £40

Current highlights: Reams of mithering abo ut trams Art content: A poem about cats Influences: What the Mail says Chances of seeing a second-hand fridge: Ver y high (light works , mint condition, collect from Bulwell afte r 5pm)