LeftLion Magazine - February 2012 - Issue 45

#45 Feb / Mar 2012

Make the most out of your pedal powered transport this Spring!

Get on your bike - check out www.thebigwheel.org.uk for maps, information about free cycle training and route planning!

The Tribes Canvases and Clothing by Cameron McBain available from Mimm, 13 Broad Street, Hockley NG1 3AJ. Or search ‘The Tribes’ Clothing’ on Facebook

contents

editorial

LeftLion Magazine Issue 45 February - March 2012

Ducks and Youths, Yes, you’ve already noticed; this issue is about 16 pages lighter than usual, and for that we can only apologise. Just like you, we’ve had to be on that mingy one in January.

06 Contain Notts 04 May The news diary that’s had its skate taken by the Poo-Poo

05

LeftEyeOn Our ace photographers open up the shutters on your lot

in New Basford 06 ARobCanadian Cutforth gets his clips on

and tries not to get killed by the school run

Out The Box 09 Fresh Ecoworks’ campaign to get

Nottingham growing: we dig it

Sneinton 11 Sowing The art of guerilla gardening, and

how it can transform a place

13

21

Lion 13 Ronika 20 Write Raved about by those in the know -

Libraries are under threat - here’s

is this going to be her year?

14

Candice Jacobs The Moot and One Thoresby Street prime mover talks art

Editor-in-chief Jared Wilson (jared@leftlion.co.uk) Editor Al Needham (nishlord@leftlion.co.uk) Poppa Large, Big Shot On The East Coast Alan Gilby (alan@leftlion.co.uk) Marketing and Sales Manager Ben Hacking (ben@leftlion.co.uk) Designer Becca Hibberd (becca@leftlion.co.uk) Art Editor Tom Norton (tom@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)

facebook.com/leftlion

May Contain Hops Meet the chaps behind Nottingham’s newest brewery

Poker Event Listings 15 Red-Hot 23 Nottingham Will Fry won over half a million Euro Sod Winter - here’s what you need to

in one tournament, so God knows why he’s talking to us

Cut Pros 16 Final Four of the city’s top music video

makers talk shop

Art Works 19

Featuring Kristy Guest and Allan

Binns

experience, look at, dance to and buy over the next two months

25 Reviews 1st Blood, Anxieteam, The Cusp,

The Golden Troubadours, Kagoule, Ronika, Rubix, Souvaris and Spotlight Kid fill our tabs with sweet, sweet NottsMusic

Arthole 30 The Plus LeftLion Abroad, Notts Trumps

credits

what you can do to keep ‘em alive

22

But ne’r mind; as always, we’ve been toiling away at the very coalface of Nottingham Culture this issue, hacking at big clumps of interviews, gathering up nuggets of reviews and previews, and coughing up massive globs of chelpy attitude. If there’s a theme this issue – which there really shouldn’t be, because we didn’t plan it that way – it has to be ‘mekkin summat out of nowt’ as me dear Nana would say. If it’s not people returning to the land on that Good Life one like Ecoworks and Sowing Sneinton, it’s the local art scene taking over derelict buildings and turning them into veritable breeding grounds of rampant creativity.

Which we like.

and Rocky Horrorscopes

Talking of recycling and whatnot, you may not be aware of this, but we always run the full versions of our magazine interviews on our website (and let me tell you, some of the people we talk to can rattle on for days), along with the full contents of every single issue we’ve ever done – not to mention a ton of reviews, interviews, video and audio and galleries, updated on a daily basis. Bottom line: thinking LeftLion is just a magazine is like thinking Mansfield Road stops at the graveyard next to Forest Road.

Not much else to report in LeftLionLand at the moment – we’re still visibly upset that the weather’s still rank and it’s too cold to go out and play dobby scarecrow in the evening without our tabs freezing – so I’ll shut me pan, hope this issue finds you in decent nick, and thank you so much for picking us up once again.

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

Tom Norton Art Editor

Poetry Editor Aly Stoneman (poetry@leftlion.co.uk) Screen Editor Alison Emm (ali@leftlion.co.uk) Sport Editor Scott Oliver (scott@leftlion.co.uk) Stage Editor Adrian Bhagat (adrian@leftlion.co.uk) Administrator Duncan Heath (duncan@leftlion.co.uk) Cover Cameron McBain Photographers Steve Cole Debbie Davies Lamar Francois Tom Maddick Carla Mundy David Parry Steven Wright

twitter.com/leftlion

Illustrators Si Mitchell Rob White Contributors Mike Atkinson Rob Cutforth Ian Douglas Christy Fearn Rebecca Gove-Humphries Katie Half-Price Shariff Ibrahim Pete Lamb Robin Lewis Eric Manchester Roger Mean Nick Parkhouse Mary Ann Pickford Tim Sorrell Andrew Trendall Anthony Whitton

youtube.com/leftliontv

LeftLion.co.uk received twelve million page views during the last year. This magazine has an estimated readership of 40,000 people and is distributed to over 350 venues across the city of Nottingham. If your venue isn’t one of them - or you’d like to advertise - please contact Ben on 07984 275453, email ben@leftlion.co.uk or visit leftlion.co.uk/advertise.

Currently buried neck-deep under assignments while studying for an MA in Newspaper Journalism - a thriving industry at the moment – Tom is a Notts-born writer who has been down with the Lion for over a year. Having become Art Ed and discovering such a multiplicity of talent, galleries and exhibitions to gorge on (and after picking the brain of Candice Jacobs in this ish), he could do with a couple of new reviewers - so if you want to get involved and know what you’re on ‘wi, you’d better noise the man up and tell him why you’re the person for the job tom@leftlion.co.uk

Noah Wilding-Emm Official LeftLion Baby

The result of a side-project between Screen Editor Alison Emm and LeftLion reviewer Harry Wilding, Noah – who at one point was going to be called ‘Barreh Fish-Man’ before the parents sadly chickened out – is the first human being to owe its existence to LeftLion, as we will remind him on a daily basis until all of us are dead. Currently 18 days old as we go to press, Noah isn’t fully responding to our attempts to Notts him up, pushing away the bottle of liquidised peas and screaming at the teddy bear we made with Su Pollard’s face stitched onto it. But he’ll learn. leftlion.co.uk/issue45

3

MAY CONTAIN NOTTS December 2011 - January 2012

with Nottingham’s ‘Mr. Sex’ Al Needham

1 December

9 January

The Post has a redesign, putting that Robin Hood logo out on its ringpiece, dropping the ‘City Of Legends’ thing and looking even more like something free and rubbish that gets pushed through a letterbox every Thursday in Kimbleh.

Some bloke from Sherwood gets done in Crown Court for going all mental when the Molotov cocktails he’d made especially for the riots got smashed up in the carrier bag, and he ended up attacking a car with an estate agent sign after local scamps shamed him up. Sucky bleeder – didn’t he know he could have got one o’ them cardboard wine carriers from the Co-Op round the corner? They’re perfect for that sort of thing.

10 January

Part one of Coppers on Channel 4. Bleddy hell.

2 December

12 January

East Midlands Ambulance Service announces that it has suspended one of its paramedics for taking massive lungfuls of laughing gas at the wheel of his ambulance over a period of five months. Imagine the scenario; you’re lying under a bus, waiting for the ambulance to arrive, only for someone to pile out, screaming; “EEE HEE HEE! This ‘un’s gonna snuff it if we don’t – HA HA HA! LOOK! HE’S WAZZED ‘IMSEN!”

The lighter-and-Rizla stall opposite Wilko is selling gas masks with bongs embedded into the mouthpiece, which is pretty much the suckiest bit of drug paraphernalia I’ve ever heard of in my life. And I’m from that generation that thought that going to a club and listening to Altern 8 with a dust mask full of Vicks VapoRub constituted an acceptable night out, so I know what I’m going on about.

14 January

9 December

May Contain Notts, whilst walking down Heathcote Street and sadly reflecting on the fact that people look at it funny when it calls it by its proper name of “Effcut Street” – sees Notts County manager Martin Allen coming the other way with his partner, doing a chicken impersonation. With the flapping elbows and the jerking head and everything. For a moment, I thought he was having a go at me, but apparently not – he just did it because...

I don’t know.

12 December

It is announced that Nottingham has been named as one of the twenty cities earmarked for a local TV service. May Contain Notts has already put in its bid for the Trisha/Jeremy Kyle slot. It’ll be called What, You’re Having Sex? YOU? Jesus Christ Some People’ll Shag Owt, will be hosted by me (dressed like Vincent Price in Witchfinder General), will have less of an aftercare service, no cutting away when the fights start, a guarantee that there’ll be no reuniting people with their family because that’s boring, and a lie detector with flashing bits and levers that spews out tar and feathers onto folk.

13 December

Oh, and after the second inconclusive DNA test, I smack a large red button, a chase sequence starts up, picking out every man in the audience in spotlights with some plinky-plonky music, and whoever it stops upon is legally bound to take full responsibility for the child.

14 December

And at the start of the week, I sit on the floor looking up at folk like Jeremy does, but I get progressively taller and taller throughout the week, so that by Friday I’m sat in one of those tennis umpires chairs.

15 December

A mentalist from Bingham gets done for getting on a bus to town wearing a stab-proof vest and carrying a sword with a swastika inscribed on the hilt, two batons and a cosh, and proclaiming that he was “going to war” on his ex and her new bloke. Can you imagine the faff it must have took for him to find enough change for the ride? I’d have been tutting very loudly while he put his Nazi sword down and fiddled under his vest, thinking; “…and I bet he sits next to me now.”

25 December Santa comes.

30 December

The police announce the top three pubs and clubs they got called out to in 2011 – Walkabout, Yates and Flares/Reflex/Revival/ Whatever stupid name they’re calling themselves nowadays. An excellent move, and let’s see more of it. It’d be great to have a proper league going, with the usual suspects in a Premier League of violence, trying to get into Horrible Mong-Barn Europe or summat. You could have a transfer window for the biggest headcases, an’all.

31 December

Loads of people get the arse with the Council for forgetting to tell them that there wasn’t going to be a fireworks display at the Castle for New Years Eve, so they were all standing there like spare cocks at a wedding. If they wanted to see loads of fireworks going off, they should have gone to Bestwood. Actually, they could still go there now – some bell-end’s bound to be letting some off, even in February.

During the day.

2 January

Forest finally score a goal after not being able to in 635 minutes of competitive foootball.

Put that into perspective; that’s the equivalent of over seven Sol Campbell careers at Notts County.

That Margaret Thatcher film opens. May Contain Notts hopes it’s still on, as it really wants to go and sit on the front row, watch the first five minutes where she’s wearing a big nappy and getting liquored up and unable to remember where her own arsehole is, and then stand up, clap its hands together, say; “That was brilliant! Let’s have a pint!” and then walk out when it gets to the flashback bits where she shags over the country.

7 January

Some Forest mouth-breathers chant “England, England, England, you’re not anymore, you’re not anymore, you used to be English, you’re not anymore” at Leicester supporters during the FA Cup game. Seeing as Leicester still has some factories, they have a point – but then again, Forest used to be Forest, and it’s not anymore.

After the arrest of Antony Worral Thompson, Tesco announce that it will be introducing new measures to deter self-checkout theft such as employing local morons to pay for frozen pizzas entirely with two pence pieces, spending up to five minutes trying to locate the barcode on a jacket potato, and generally holding up the queue by behaving like a lobotomised gibbon on smack trying to operate a Space Shuttle – a scheme that has been successfully trialled in their Victoria Centre branch for the past three bastard years.

4

leftlion.co.uk/issue45

16 January

Part two of Coppers on Channel 4. Christ on a crisp packet.

18 January

A fourteen year-old lad from Gedling gets sent home from school because of his new haircut.

I’ve seen it, and it’s rammell – a mere gelledup confection of the sort that estate agents in NG1 would sport. In my day, you had to pull some serious business to get sent home from school, like have a fanny shaved into your scalp, or be caught demonstrating how you could get a pound’s worth of silver coins under your foreskin. In old money, as well.

18 January

And no, that wasn’t me. I’d be lucky to get a chip-and-pin under mine.

20 January

It is announced that Nottinghamshire Police have had the joint biggest drop in crime across the country last year, which has always confused me. Why are they taking the credit for less crime? Surely, it is Nottinghamshire’s chatty bell-ends and meatheads who should be applauded here, for being 11% less arsed about nicking stuff and hitting folk in 2011. Hurrah for the scab-bags! leftlion.co.uk/mcn

The Republican primaries!

The Coppers documentary on Channel 4!

North Koreans go mental over the death of Kim Jong-Il!

“We saw ten minutes of it last week and couldn’t be doing with it. Generally, we think the police do a fair job. They’ve got a lot to put up with.”

“Fantastic. We sold a lot of trees. Marvellous. Def Leppard and Motley Crue at the Arena - fantastic. Rolf Harris – bit disappointing. He only sang five damn songs! He’s got a whole selection of songs, if you buy his greatest hits, but he only did five. He did all the painting, of course, which was amazing.

Ayers Rock. Very well done. Paint all over the stage“

And it was even funnier when you were with someone called Tim.

Michael Gove suggests the public should get the Queen a new yacht!

“Yes. We should. It’s only £60 million, that’s a pound each. When she goes somewhere on that yacht, you know she’s the head of state. British Airways - not the same thing. I read the other day that when she went round the Scottish islands, she had to hire a boat. And remember, its good training for the Royal Navy. And of course, when she went somewhere like Dubai on the old one, it generated more in trade than it was ever worth.”

How was your Christmas?

15 January

6 January

8 January

Moog shuts down, and another part of Nottingham’s soul disappears forever. May Contain Notts cannot believe that it will never again stagger out to the fag courtyard, fiddle with the weird spinning letters on the wall, and turn round and shout “WAHEYYY! IT’S BUMTIME!” at a load of randoms.

Forest go 635 minutes without scoring!

“It’s disappointing, but when luck isn’t on your side, it’s unfortunate. Are we going to see Forest and County in the same division next season? We hope not. We’re sure that they’ll rally round and stay up”

“It’s early days, isn’t it? We think Obama should have a second turn round, because what can he do with one turn. In fact, they should automatically make him have a second term, like it or not. Who are these other people? Gingrich and Romney? Who are they? One of them’s supposed to be a committed Christian, but he’s had all these affairs. You know all our politicians are piddling in the same pot, but you don’t have a clue where theirs are”

“We didn’t know who he was, to be honest. Those people – it was either have a good cry or get shot. They thought he was literally God, didn’t they? And he played golf once and got 13 holes-in-one. Marvellous. And of course, he had his finger on the button. The new one, his son – it’s like a dynasty, isn’t it? Like JR. No, that was Dallas. North Korea seems to be a bit more like Crossroads”

LeftEyeOn

Notts as seen through the lenses of the local photo talent over the last two months...

Winter Wonderland

Love, Mansfield Style

There

Eyeing Up The Birds

Whether you approved of another massive fairground ride in the Square or not last Christmas, you can’t deny it looks gorgeous here.

Lamar Francois / lamarfrancois.smugmug.com

Like Toneh Adleh aht ter Spandaah Balleh, someone in North Notts makes their love on wasteland.

Tom Maddick / tommaddick.co.uk

Snooping local photographer rumbled by vigilant child and all-seeing elder on fag break.

Stephen Wright / stephenwrightstreetphotography.weebly.com

More weekend predatory behaviour in Notts.

Final score: Cat 0, Pigeons 1 (nub-end).

Steve Cole / Flickr: Captain Nikon

leftlion.co.uk/issue45

5

Think once, think twice, think Rob Cutforth in tight fluorescent lycra…

If you’ve never done any cycle commuting in this country, let me tell you - it’s an absolute delight. Cycle commuting is such an enjoyable and rewarding experience; by the time I’ve arrived at work, I am so invigorated and ready to take on the challenges of the day, I can hardly keep myself from jumping up and shouting; “Come on world! Show me what you got!”

The main reason for my upbeat attitude toward cycle commuting is the courteousness and understanding afforded me by the drivers in this country. They have a total and complete grasp of the fact that my only protection out there is a brain bucket made of plastic and hard foam, whilst they themselves are encased in a half-ton of steel. The gap they create for me as they go past is so large and comfortable to the point of being embarrassing. I feel like a great woolly mammoth with all the space I take up, but the drivers don’t see it that way at all; they are only too happy to share the road with me.

For you see, unlike the drivers in Canada, over here they understand that if I wasn’t on my bike, I would be in my car further clogging up the roads. It’s all British drivers can do to stop themselves from rolling the window down and thanking me personally for my selflessness. I can see it in their eyes.

The mannerly and orderly way of British driving is eclipsed only by the mannerly and orderly way of British parking. A British driver would never dream of pulling over to snag a parking spot in front of their local Post Office without looking. No, they understand that killing someone is slightly worse than having to wait the extra twenty seconds it takes to let the cyclist go past first. The considerate practice of leaving the cycle lanes free and clear truly is an example for other drivers of the world to follow.

And the indicating! The timely and, frankly, persistent indicating makes every night ride a spectacle to behold. It’s like cycling through some sort of flashing amber wonderland or sparkly advert for Ferrero Rocher. Drivers, with all this indicating, you’re really spoiling us.)

When I first started cycle commuting, I didn’t get the whole cyclist-versus-driver thing. I felt like I would be the one to bridge the divide between drivers and cyclists. Tutting other cyclists who ran red lights, stopping for cars at unmarked intersections (No, after you mate, please) and wearing baggy shorts to shield the drivers from my gyrating Johnson.

It didn’t last. Getting consistently honked, shouted at and smashed into by the motoring public has changed my mind somewhat. As a result, I’ve sacked off the baggy shorts and now make a habit of pouring myself into a pair of lycra shorts three sizes too small just out of

spite. Get an eyeful of those badboys, you lazy, inconsiderate, car-driving bastards.

Let’s just get one thing straight before I continue. There is no, I repeat, no such thing as ‘Road Tax’. Road maintenance is taken care of through the collection of council tax and other taxes. That little disc on your windshield has nothing to do with maintaining roads and it hasn’t done since 1937. That disc acts as proof that you’ve paid Vehicle Excise Duty and that fee exists mainly to combat CO2 emissions. Vehicle Excise Duty does not apply to us because - unless you’ve had a bacon and egg sandwich for breakfast - bicycles are zero-emission. That’s why zero-emission cars are also exempt. Surely, a person who’s paid real money for a car called “Leaf” deserves a bollocking more than I do. Go shout at them, why don’t you? It always seems to be some fat idiot in an R reg Mondeo who shouts; “Pay road tax or get off the road!” at me. Considering my bicycle is worth more than your car, mate, I would suggest I currently pay more “road” tax than you do, so zip it.

The number and array of dozy, selfish drivers out there is staggering. Minicabs, British Gas trucks, white vans and buses make my daily commute a gauntlet of death, but there is one group of drivers who put them all to shame.

The most aggressive, most unaware, shoutiest and all-round most awful people, without question are mums on the school run.

I have been knocked off my bike three times.

And all three times it has been a hurried mum on the school run who has turned into the cycle lane without looking or indicating. I put this down to two things: 1. Mums are always running late for things.

2. Mums’ priorities are hopelessly out of whack.

Dearest mums, I know you think the planet will stop rotating if you don’t get your angel to his classes/sports match/scout troop on time, but let me be the first to tell you it really doesn’t matter at all. Your child’s very existence has no bearing anywhere at anytime on anything or anyone. On the list of Most Important Things In The World, your child getting to school on time

ranks somewhere below “a hobo’s nail fungus” and “a gnat’s fart”. No amount of heavy-footed cyclist-killing will make him love you. I can say with absolute conviction that the spoiled little Nazi is entirely unimpressed by your efforts to get him to things on time. Chances are he’ll wind up shlepping fries at McDonald’s or strung out on crack in a ditch somewhere despite your best efforts, so take it down a notch, will ya?

I know cyclists are not entirely blameless in this war. There are hundreds of helmetless cyclists out there with Morrissey haircuts and oversized designer eyewear who pass drivers on the wrong side, blaze through intersections without looking, scrape car doors with their pedals and who do more than their own fair share of shouting and V flicking. These people are called fixie riders. By all means run these people down - just don’t take your fury out on the rest of us. I thank you. leftlion.co.uk/cinb

A collection of drawings by CINB artist Rob White, spread across 80 extremely glossy pages.

Buy it now from thearthole.co.uk 6

leftlion.co.uk/issue45

ehT The anifleD Delfina noitadnuoF Foundation

DAAR, Oush Grab Watchtower, 2008. Photo Francesco Mattuzzi for DAAR Logo by Chris Evans

by William Shakespeare

Design:

In association with Hull Truck THeaTre

Photo: Daniel Boyd as Romeo and Catrin Stewart as Juliet.

Image credit: Dylan Spencer-Davidson

NoTTiNgHaM PlayHouSe, HeadloNg THeaTre and THe Nuffield, SouTHaMPToN present

Two households. Five days. A whirlwind romance.

Tuesday 13 – Saturday 24 March #starxlovers

Box Office 0115

941 9419

Book online www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk

£5 tickets for students / under 26s 13 – 15 March. Call 0115 941 9419 and quote ‘R & J £5 offer*’ *Terms and conditions apply. Please bring proof of ID when collecting tickets.

Fresh out the box

Ecoworks: if they were any greener, Robin Hood would be wearing them. Part community project, part landscape design consultants, part catering service, part suppliers to Notts cafés and restaurants, 100% local produce champions, they’re on a mission to turn the entire city onto home-grown produce, as Business Development Manager John MacDonald points out….

In a nutshell, what is Ecoworks?

Nottingham’s first permaculture organisation, that seeks to work with nature, rather than be master of it. We started as a group of permaculture enthusiasts with a piece of land on the Hungerhill allotments who wanted to grow in ways which cared for both people and the environment - quite revolutionary for Nottingham at the time. We’d already started to develop our community garden and our equally pioneering FRESH project (a centre of excellence in ‘no dig’ production horticulture on the Hungerhill allotment site). We’re still based in St Ann’s, but now we work across Nottingham to develop many separate sites, both in the city and on the urban fringe.

Who’s involved here? Tell us about the average Ecoworks volunteer…

There is no such thing as an ‘average’ volunteer. Everyone has different motives and goals for getting involved. For some it’s a way back into employment. For others it’s a way of caring for the environment. For still others, it’s about feeling better about life in general. We work with almost every age group and social element; we’re a social inclusion project.

You’re very keen to promote locally-sourced produce. Is it really that beneficial?

Food travels further than ever before. Fresh produce can travel thousands of miles - from growing to packaging to consuming.

Because of that, local economies lose money and the distance travelled by over-packaged and processed food contributes significantly to climate change. Through their struggle to compete in the global market, we are also losing many of our small family businesses, local farms, market stall holders and shops - which means a loss of local distinctiveness, traditional varieties and a connection to the food we eat. Buying locally supports local producers and retailers, keeps money in the local community and provides social benefits. If we really want to be here on Earth in a hundred year’s time, if we want to have food to eat when oil prices go through the roof as a result of diminishing supply, if we want to tackle climate change then yes, it really is worth producing food locally and trying to buy resources locally. And if for any reason we can’t source things we need locally, then we’ll try to source as ethically and environmentally responsibly as possible.

How far is too far for locally-sourced produce?

At Ecoworks, ‘local’ is defined in areas of urban, peri-urban and rural hinterland. The latter ranges up to a hundred miles but the furthest we’ve ever sourced is seventy miles, and that was one particularly cold spring when purple sprouting broccoli wasn’t available locally - but we just had to have it in the bags as it’s not in season for long and it’s delicious. We’re actually very good at building networks with urban growers; 60% of produce comes from this area alone during the summer and autumn months. We do need more rural growers across Nottinghamshire, however, to meet growing demand - so if anyone has farmer friends, ask them to get in touch.

What do you think of projects like Orchard in Sneinton?

Orchard is fantastic. We’ve been developing urban food spaces and fruit forest gardens for a while now, so we were really pleased when Neville Gabie from the Orchard Project approached us to get advice on planting fruit in public spaces.

We’ll be helping other groups maintain the apple trees in Sneinton Market, and look forward to developing many more urban food projects. We want to see Nottingham covered in beautiful food-producing plants, and we’re working on many sites to begin to make that happen.

What does the Notts climate specialise in? What fruit and veg grows best round here?

With the help of polytunnels and greenhouses, there isn’t a lot that we can’t grow here these days. We grow a lot of the more familiar vegetables, and also support a local growers’ network in producing greater quantities to support our veg box scheme.

Ecoworks grows a lot of salad veg at the moment, because that’s what restaurants and cafés buy from us and we need to sell the best produce to fund what we do. People don’t realise the many varieties of fruit and veg that we can grow - like hardy kiwis which taste far superior to the imported varieties and amazingly succulent apricots. I can’t wait for late summer again.

Is there still an old-man or Good Life image to growing your own, or is that changing?

Things have changed so much. There’s a real cool status now to growing your own, and the stereotypical image of a retired man spending hours in his shed and competing with his neighbours to grow the biggest onion rather than the tastiest has pretty much ended, I think. We see many young people and families attending our courses now - there’s definitely a plant growing revolution happening.

You make growing your own tommies and snips sound like a political act.

Well, permaculture has been described as ‘revolution through gardening’. People are realising that protest isn’t the only way to bring about change, and we offer people positive solutions.

People are really open to new creative and sustainable ways of living generally, and growing food or buying locally is just one part of that. We work with people from all walks of life who enjoy getting out and doing positive things.

You fund a lot of your activities through your Vegboxes. How can people get hold of them?

To sign up for a bag is simple - just go onto our website. Our collection points are spread out across the city and most are real ale pubs so they’re very, very convenient. And if you work somewhere with lots of staff, contact us and we’ll look to drop off at your place of work.

What’s your food-related guilty pleasure?

I just discovered it. Our kitchen guys just made a rose petal and cardamom cake with white chocolate. Om nom nom.

interview: Al Needham

What have you got planned for the future?

We want to increase the amount of people buying our Vegboxes, and carry on building our local food network. We have a new electric custom built mobile food stall - which looks uncannily like a milk float - which we’re using to sell local produce and market our Vegbox. We want to grow our incredibly tasty kitchen business, which specialises in mind-numbingly good cakes, and we want to make it easier for people to learn about and put into practice permaculture design.

So you’re not just stuck on the allotments, then…

Our in-house permaculture design department is growing fast; we’re taking on larger and more complicated sites. Some of them are on polluted ground, while others require liaison with existing buildings to redefine how we can grow food and increase biodiversity in the built environment. We want to make Nottingham like an edible open air version of the Eden project in Cornwall; we’ve a long way to go to get there but that’s our vision.

With the Wollaton allotments reportedly under threat of development, how secure is the future of allotment sites?

It’s sad; and there should be full community consultation.

Allotments are a cornerstone of our cultural history and contribute hugely towards people’s health and well-being, community cohesion and wildlife - and of course they have a positive role to play in tackling climate change. However, with the growing interest in edible plants within urban green spaces outside the confines of allotments, we are able to show people that permaculture and food growing can be done anywhere, not just the traditional plots. You can grow fruit bushes or nut trees in domestic gardens, on grass verges – even on traffic islands.

Salad can grow on walls. The city has a library of roofs we could harness. Permaculture design gives us a more sustainable source of food in the face of any threat to food security - whether that’s building over allotments or closing the Strait of Hormuz so there’s no oil for the West.

How can people get involved?

Through the website, or by calling us on 0115 9622200. We have so many opportunities and different things happening that it’s impossible to give you a short answer.

What advice would you give to people who are looking to grow their own? What kind of budget would you need?

The secret lies in design. Folk are put off by the idea of hard work when it’s usually required because of a failure in design.

Often people think of growing on a bit of ground, and therefore set about breaking their backs digging the grass and weeds up, when covering it in free cardboard and incredibly cheap municipal compost would have probably made a much better growing environment for a fraction of the effort. The tools needed are really very few and can usually be found for next to nothing. Seeds can be shared rather than bought. Land is available, despite the waiting lists for allotments. ecoworks.org.uk

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If There’s A Bustle In Your Hedgerow, Don’t Get Alarmed Now...

interview: Aly Stoneman photos: Debbie Davies

It’s probably Donya Coward and Suzannah Bedford – collectively known as Sowing Sneinton – who have taken up the cause of guerilla gardening in order to improve the neglected flowerbeds and public spaces of their broken fridge-encrusted neighbourhood…

How did Sowing Sneinton get started?

Donya: It started the day I wrote about eight letters that said: “I’m a resident of Sneinton - would anyone be interested in getting together for a drink and discussing making some positive floral changes to the area?” I included an internet link to a guerilla gardening book as an introduction to the idea of positive action through gardening, suggested dates when we could meet and posted the letters through some doors.

Which doors, and why?

I chose houses that looked loved and had plants outside that were colourful and still alive - and Suzannah’s was one of them. I thought the people living there might want to be involved because they were already trying to make a change on their immediate doorstep.

Suzannah: Getting an anonymous handwritten letter really appealed to my sense of mystery and drama.

What’s the difference between community gardening and guerilla gardening?

A community garden is a space for gardening that is accessible and where efforts are made to involve all sections of the community. They generally start with a community getting together and wanting to change a negative derelict space. With guerilla gardening you don’t have questions of ownership or issues around involving the community or working with the authorities - there is a kind of excitement and frisson to planting bulbs by moonlight in a place you shouldn’t be.

You started with lawless intentions, but you have been planting with Nottingham City Council’s blessing – how did that come about?

Donya: At the start we had to decide whether to go guerilla and plant without permission or go legit. Suzannah already had a good relationship with the council from her other voluntary work, so they took us seriously. We did a walk around with Councillor David Mellen and somebody from the council maintenance team and showed them the spaces we were interested in. After our meeting the council maintenance team said they would do all our dirty work – such as digging and removing rubbish from the sites we had identified – so we got council manpower, council money and a colour-coded map identifying what was city council land and what was privately owned. We were bowled over by how much they were willing to help.

And you received some funding as well…

Suzannah: We were given £600 worth of funding for buying plants, but we couldn’t have planted everything on that. Gardeners, shops and allotment holders often donate plants to us when they are having a clear out. We also partnered Ecoworks who had funding for one year to work with groups planting fruit in urban environments, so the fruit trees and bushes came from them.

We received some money from the Unlimited Fund, part of the Millennium Commission, which is intended to support social entrepreneurs. Part of this will be used to get some signage made and installed to help make people aware that this is a community project and also to provide a bit of information.

Were you already experienced gardeners?

We started with enthusiasm and some gardening experience but we are not qualified experts. Our main skills are that we know how the authorities work, we like working with people, we are enthusiastic and we use all those things to make Sneinton better via flowers.

Donya: I would say I’m a gardening enthusiast; I’ve volunteered at Ecoworks and I’m learning as I go along. When people donate plants to us that I’m not familiar with I look it up on Google, go to the library or go to Stonebridge City Farm and say “Excuse me, I’ve got this plant - what do I do with it?” The key thing is to be interested. We also attended an Introduction to Permaculture course through the WEA at Ecoworks in 2011.

What’s Permaculture?

Permaculture is the way nature works to support itself but it can also be applied to community and society, so it is a set of principles.

Suzannah: Its about harnessing natural systems to get the most yield with as little intervention as possible - letting nature do its work and learning to plant in harmony with the environment and seasons, that kind of thing.

Are you recruiting for volunteers?

Being a small group we are always looking for volunteers and groups to get involved. Some volunteers might not be interested in the actual planting but they can support us by driving to pick up

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compost or designing fliers, for example. We’d also like to partner up with other organisations in Sneinton and get them maintaining some of the existing spaces so that we have time to get involved with new projects.

Donya: When we are planning an activity we put a call out on Facebook or we text people and ask if anyone can help. The best way to get involved is to join our Facebook group Sowing Sneinton or email sneintongardening@yahoo.co.uk.

How many garden sites have you got, where are they and how did you decide what to plant?

Suzannah: We’ve got four sites around Sneinton Dale. We never imagined when we started we’d be creating woodlands and fruit gardens between Akbars and the crummy garage, but you get so used to areas being left to twigs, rubbish, patchy grass and the municipal overgrowth - ratcatchers as we call them - and it just isn’t good enough. We like woodlands, orchards and wild flowers and so we thought, let’s put those things into Sneinton; it might be an urban area - but why not?

Have you formed links with groups doing the same kind of thing outside of Nottingham?

We visited Incredible Edible in Yorkshire and community gardens in London because we wanted to look at projects who were doing similar things and see how they innovated to get their message out to engage people and how they were structured as an organisation. The key thing is that all our gardens are open and publicly accessible all the time because our project is about reanimating neglected spaces, while the gardens that we visited except Incredible Edible - are gated.

Donya: Most community gardens are to do with growing foods, but ours is unique because it’s about being pleasant. The majority of the things we plant can be eaten or used in the herbalist sense, but it’s not about growing cabbages to be self-sufficient.

How has the community in Sneinton responded?

Suzannah: We sometimes get comments from half-cut lads like “Looking for treasure?” or “You could come and do my back yard” and also about being lady gardeners and how we need to find ourselves husbands. Or some bright spark will spend twenty minutes telling you “there’s no point, don’t bother” and you can’t help thinking they could spend that time helping out instead. But nice things happen - a guy in a van pulled up one day when it was really hot and gave us iced bottles of water, that kind of gesture makes you want to wipe a mud-stained tear from your eye.

Donya: People say “Oh I thought that would all be torn out when I first saw you, its really good that you’re doing it”. We aren’t trying to teach anyone anything - all we are trying to do is show people that it’s possible to change their environment if that’s what they want.

You put a lot of time and work into this project – how do you reply when people say “what’s the point”?

The point is making Sneinton better. If it looks agreeable then you feel happier, if it looks rubbish it makes your day less enjoyable on your way to and from work. We deserve better and Sneinton deserves better – it’s a very colourful place with a rich history.

Suzannah: It is also about encouraging people to take ownership and responsibility – not just by not dropping litter or vandalising – but also by realising that they can make a difference to their street by something as simple as planting flowers outside their house.

Plans for the future?

We are in discussion with Sneinton Library about housing a shed in their garden that would be a work and information space for Sowing Sneinton. The library is a fantastic resource, a real community hub. Everyone goes there to find out what’s going on, so having that kind of presence would mean that people could engage with us more easily. The focus will always be the gardens and planting but we would also set up a programme of monthly activities – discussions, planting sessions, gardening know-how workshops and talks.

The secret of your success?

There are lots of groups and lots of committees sitting around saying “What if?”. Both of us were really clear that this is about taking action rather than over-thinking it and ending up doing nothing at all.

Donya: And also, knowing that, if you have a dream you want to realise, you can achieve it with complete strangers so long as you have similar aims. sneintongardening@yahoo.co.uk

On the Edge: New Season of Dance at Lakeside Lakeside Arts Centre University Park Nottingham NG7 2RD Box Office: 0115 846 7777 www.lakesidearts.org.uk Lakeside, The University of Nottingham’s public arts centre & museum

Probe presents May Tuesday 28 February 8pm £15 (£12 concession) £6 restricted view Suitable for 16+ years May is a young woman on the edge, an emotional time bomb with a wild imagination. Douglas wants to help her, but has problems of his own. Darkly humorous, this is a modern day romance of sorts, told through dance, text and song.

“Taut, funny and acidly unsentimental” (Observer)

Sadler’s Wells presents Russell Maliphant’s Rodin Project Tuesday 6 March 8pm £18 (£15 concession) £12 restricted view After the triumph of his Olivier Award nominated AfterLight, acclaimed choreographer Russell Maliphant creates a new dance piece inspired by the works of the great French sculptor Auguste Rodin.

Candoco Dance Company Turning 20 – anniversary bill Tuesday 20 March 8pm £15 (£12 concession) £9 restricted view Candoco travels to the past, present and future to celebrate 20 years of bold and unexpected dance works with its company of disabled and non disabled dancers.

Audience favourite Set and Reset/ Reset (1983) is reconstructed, Rachid Ouramdane confronts us with the present in his new work, and Matthias Sperling rounds off the programme with a light-hearted solo to represent the future.

Tek on meh

interview: Mike Atkinson illustration: Cameron McBain

After spending two years embedded in countless New Artist lists, could 2012 be the year that Ronika firmly stamps her mark upon our hearts and the charts?

What was the first pop song that you fell in love with, and how did it make you feel?

Take On Me by A-Ha. It made me feel five octaves higher, and then I turned into a very handsome pencil-drawn animated version of myself.

We also know you like to do a bit of DJing.

What are the records that never leave your box?

I’m very fond of playing Stacey Q’s Two of Hearts at the moment, and also Jellybean Benitez’s Who Found Who.

What was your first public performance?

Tap dancing while dressed as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle when I was about eight.

I think I peaked early.

Do you ever play your own records when you’re DJing or does that feel a bit weird?

Yeah, I often slip one of my tunes in, then mime along and forget the words. It feels weird. I might blush.

2011 seemed to go rather well for you. What were the highlights?

I gave birth to two EPs, and hand-made some videos for my tracks which involved robot conventions and interrogating synthesisers. I played my first headline show in Stealth, and then later in the year I went to New York to play CMJ, and to Madrid for two weeks as a participant of the Red Bull Music Academy.

What did you get up to in New York? Did it live up to expectations?

My expectations of being in New York were being in a high speed car chase in a yellow cab, which didn’t happen. But I did play two shows at a venue called Webster Hall, which used to be owned by Al Capone and has had everyone from Frank Sinatra to Blondie playing there, which was dead cool. I also laughed my head off on the subway going to Coney Island while reading my copy of LeftLion which I’d taken with me.

Tell us about meeting Bootsy Collins and Nile Rodgers. How did that come about?

That was at the Red Bull Music Academy. Every day we had lectures from our musical heroes and we were unbelievably spoilt: Nile Rodgers, Bootsy Collins, Trevor Horn, RZA, Tony Visconti, Mannie Fresh and Peaches, to name a few. I learnt so much and they were all really lovely people who blew my mind.

Nottingham’s music scene is in a remarkably healthy state these days. How has that happened?

If we plot on a graph the amount of people making ace music on the X-axis, and then all the ace promoters, podcasts, DJs and press on the Y-axis, we can see Nottingham music accelerating at an alarming rate. Lots of talent and a supportive loving musical community I think is the key.

Who’s making the most exciting music in Nottingham right now?

Wow, there’s so many, so let’s break it down into boys versus girls. On the boys’ team, we have Swimming, Petebox, Joe Buhdha, Kirk Spencer, Neon Jung, 8mm Orchestra, Ben Fawce, Dog Is Dead, Rob Green, Juga-naut, Jake Bugg and We Show Up On Radar. On the girls’ team there’s Nina Smith, Harleighblu, Natalie Duncan, Marita, Fists and Royal Gala.

Okay, so the last two aren’t all girls, but I still want them on our team…

We know you love the eighties, but what nineties music is closest to your heart?

Oh wow, so much, ‘cos I grew up in the nineties. The Prodigy, Deee-Lite, Saint Etienne, Baby D, Black Box, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Photek, Paradox, Goldie, Wu-Tang, The Pharcyde, Beastie Boys, Carl Craig, Chemical Brothers, Ninja Tune, Mo-Wax, Acid Jazz, Talking Loud, lots of house, techno and jungle.

Some numpty at the NME said they wanted you to be more like Katy Perry, but I suspect you might have more fitting role models. Who might they be?

Katy Perry is obviously my main musical influence, but other than her I’d probably pick Prince, Sly Stone, Bowie, David Byrne, Nile Rodgers, Kool Keith and Madonna.

You’re renowned for being a bit of a herbal tea girl. When was the last time you had an alcoholic drink?

The last time I had an alcoholic drink was when I was thirteen. I don’t drink because I follow a religion called the Baha’i Faith which teaches the unity and oneness of mankind. But yeah, booze and drugs are out as the Baha’i writings encourage staying in a conscious state of mind.

But we all have our vices. What’s yours?

Stalking pilots.

What’s the plan for 2012? And will there be more gigging than there was in 2011? We’d like some more gigging, please.

2012 is looking pretty rammed already.

Automatic is coming out in March, with the album to follow later in the year. I’ve also got some big collaborations coming out very soon, which I’m mega-excited about. Yeah, there will definitely be more gigging in 2012. In March I’m playing the Bodega, plus some other shows around the country, then some festivals in the summer to be announced.

Let’s talk fashion. What are Ronika’s superhot styling tips for Spring 2012?

My style tips for spring are vintage sportswear and lots of hairspray. Full body armour should be avoided in spring and summer - it’s too warm.

Style is nothing without substance, of course, so let’s end this interview with some words of profundity and wisdom. What’s the best piece of advice that you can give to your fellow travellers on life’s great highway?

If I may quote the great twentieth century thinker J. Springer; “Take care of yourselves (deliberate pause) aaaand each other.”

The Only Only / In The City EP is out now, Ronika will be playing the Bodega on Friday 23 March. ronikamusic.com

In his recently published autobiography, Nile Rodgers explains that all his songs have “Deep Hidden Meanings”. Give us an example of a “Deep Hidden Meaning” in one of your songs.

Well, deep hidden meanings should remain a mystery. But go on, then; Only Only is about how to programme your relationship to last the test of time. Forget Yourself is about trying to overcome yourself in whatever negative way it may emerge.

When you’re working on a new song, what element emerges first: the words, the melody or the groove?

It’s normally either the melody or the groove; the lyrics are the last thing that fall into place for me. After the music is done, then I’m ready to go shopping for words. Or, more often, shoplifting for words.

What songs are on the next EP? Will there be remixes?

There’s Automatic, which is a summer jam with a Tom Tom Club vibe, and Turn It Out, which is dark Italo disco but with lyrics like Craig David.

There will be remixes, but I’m not yet sure who from. I might remix it myself, like on my first EP. I like remixing. I recently remixed my living room and moved all the furniture around.

You used to be a sound engineer in Junktion 7. What are your memories of working there?

Constantly trying to wade through a sea of goths and metallers to try and get to the stage, or doing the sound for some of the awesome bands that played there, like Swound or The Smears, or just hanging out with the lovely people that worked there. A lot of the music at Junktion 7 wasn’t really my cup of tea: during one sound check I told one of the metal bands I liked jazz, and in the middle of their set they just stopped and played a jazz guitar solo just for me. The audience were very confused - as was I - but it was lovely. I do like a lot of guitar music, though; I have a varied musical diet.

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interview: Tom Norton photo: Carla Mundy

IF YOU LIVED ON THORESBY STREET, HERE IS A PERSON YOU WOULD MEET Candice Jacobs has been one of the prime movers of the local art scene over the past decade - as a co-director of the massively influential Moot collective, helping to found the One Thoresby Street gallery and studios, and as an artist in her own right...

Where are you from originally, and what brought you to Notts?

I'm from Stratford-upon-Avon, and I came here to do Fine Art at Trent. I was very nearly going to go to Cardiff, but came to Notts to visit and it just felt right here.

Why did you stay here after graduation and help form Moot?

There were about twenty of us graduating at the same time who were all close friends, and we came to a realisation that we wouldn't be able to afford to live in London. There, we’d be paying £500 per month to rent a room plus £250 for a studio, whereas here it was about £200 rent and £50 for a studio. The best advice I was ever given was that time is worth more than money and if we lived in London we’d be working all the hours God sends just to pay the rent.

Practically every artist we've interviewed loves Nottingham for its empty shops and warehouses. Do artists depend on other people being put out of work?

It’s wrong to assume that it’s because people have been put out of work; there are always areas of a city which are unappealing to most yet provide opportunity to artists. There’s a longstanding history of artists in all cities and countries taking over redundant and empty spaces. The head director of BioCity, Glen Crocker, gave us this building for free. He didn't necessarily have a complete understanding about what we were going to do here but he took a risk. I think more business and investment people need to take risks in supporting young artists, because we've proved that we help to regenerate places and then encourage investment. Sneinton Market has just been regenerated by artists, and its market square is brand new, which encourages a flow of people to travel from Sneinton into town and people from town to go into the market. The downside is when people do start to invest, the artists get pushed out.

How hard was it for Moot to get established in town?

No-one really came to anything we did at first. We just did it because we were interested in it and we were learning from it. The funny thing was, we had such an international platform of artists, curators, collectors and audiences who were engaging with us - but no-one knew about us in Nottingham, even though we were putting the place on an international level until the council decided to organise the Nottingham Creative Business Awards and we won the visual arts award twice. There seems to be the separation between what artists are doing for a city and what a city understands the artists are doing for the city, maybe because we’re not making vast amounts of money.

And just when people cottoned on to Moot, it wound up.

Moot was a curatorial project, and it was always going to have an end point. We operated at a time when Nottingham Contemporary was going from conception to opening - so I guess we helped develop an understanding of contemporary art before the big guns came. Now, the whole area is thriving and it's a really good place to be because it's quite small, yet busy. You really get to know the scene and meet really interesting people all the time.

What’s the goal with One Thoresby Street?

It's about creating a creative space. The studio environment has changed since we started in 2005. We started with a very open plan studio at an old warehouse in Sneinton, where Backlit Studios is now, which was meant to mimic the environment we had at university and encourage conversation and dialogue. Nowadays we have these individual spaces at One Thoresby Street, I guess because we've got more of a professional practice with more projects on and have to do less socialising and more concentrating. We don't really do very many workshops or teaching, but we help each other develop new work. There are lots of people here with experience who can help write an Arts Council application or apply for MAs or residencies.

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What’s the selection process for new artists who want to work at One Thoresby Street?

It's really important that the people we work with are willing to work as a group. One Thoresby Street is collectively run, so everyone has an equal voice. New artists are normally recommended by people that are already here. They then present their portfolio online, which gets democratically voted on by each member in the studio. It’s all about artistic integrity, trust, who they are and what they want to contribute towards this kind of community; their age or what stage in their career they're at doesn't matter.

You’ve just finished an action, event or other thing that occurs or happens again at One Thoresby Street, the Trade Gallery and Bonington…

It was quite a major project for me - probably the biggest thing that I've done on my own since Moot Gallery came to an end two years ago. I really pushed myself and it’s leading on to a number of other things. But it feels really nice to have a bit of a breather now, and make a bit of a plan for what to do next. I've already got a few projects in the pipeline.

What’s exciting you about the Notts art scene at the moment?

The calibre of artists that are coming in and out of the city is going up all the time. The shows at Contemporary are great; the audience they bring in are really good for us too. Backlit have just moved in to a new space – they’re building some great studios there. Primary is a new studio that's just opening on Ilkeston Road with great potential and lots of plans for both an exhibition programme and some amazing studio spaces. New Art Exchange have an interesting project trying to involve the community in investing in art. The Castle's just had the Anish Kapoor show, which is a major exhibition to have.

When we interviewed Alex Farquarson before the launch of Nottingham Contemporary, he said that having a huge arts centre would guide more people towards the independent venues, instead of overshadowing them. Two years later, was he right?

In a way, yes - although I believe that creative people in the city shouldn’t presume that NC owes them anything. It’s up to you as an artist to make the most out of it, by learning about artists’ practice and theory, networking and expanding your knowledge. What NC does is provide a platform for the things that go on outside of the building by promoting what they do - linking to websites from the NC website, putting flyers out, and supporting craftspeople in their shop. It’s in their interest for there to be a flourishing art scene outside of itself, so that they can encourage people from outside of the city to visit and stay here for a significant period of time.

What challenges do you think the Nottingham art scene will be dealing with over the next decade?

Obviously, Arts Council funding will be much more difficult to secure. They've been superb in supporting the arts in the East Midlands up until this point, but I think artists are going to have to think creatively about how to continue and sustain their practice in other ways. That may mean thinking commercially, but in an interesting way, or having to go back to fitting art around other things. I think because of the strength of what's happening in the city, the institutions and organisations that exist here are being presented with better opportunities than they’ve ever had before. I think it’s time to be really ambitious - maybe Contemporary should try and get the Turner Prize. And they should definitely try to get the New Contemporaries touring exhibition here. I think there's a number of great things that Nottingham can go for; It just needs to grab the bull by the horns.

And if you could rip anything in Nottingham out of the ground and have it as an installation in your studio, what would it be?

The secret tunnel/bridge near the Playhouse. meaningfulmeaninglessness.info

interview: Scott Oliver photo: Dom Henry

Will Fry went from making a few quid a night playing online poker with gullible Yanks to mixing it with the big shots and pulling down €595,000 in one weekend at a European PokerStars Tour event in Budapest. So what’s his secret, how does one become a professional card sharp, and can he lend us a tenner until next payday?

We can tell from the Estuary twang and Spurs shirt that you’re not from Notts…

I came here to study Contemporary Art, back in 1998. I’m actually from Essex but it’s not my favourite place in the world so I tell people I’m from South-East London. I did live performance work and made short films. I was always into acting, but I wasn’t the most studious person in the world, so I ended up not getting the best degree and not doing the right course to progress the acting... …and you got into poker.

My family was always playing cards when I was growing up. When I went to uni I was introduced to a character called Benz who used to run games at his house. He had a proper table, which was brilliant. I went home after uni for a bit, looking for acting work. I got a job in London and each night when I got in, I’d get on the online poker. Some nights I used to only come down for dinner and my Mum would come in the room at one or two in the morning, saying; “Go to bed. You’ve got work in the morning.” I’d be like “yeah, yeah” but I was making thirty, forty quid a night.

How did you make the jump to becoming a professional?

I’d moved back to Notts and gave myself three months to do it. I knew my parents wouldn’t be happy about it, so I thought if I could create a chart and show them that I’d started with fifty dollars and turned it into thousands, then I’d carry on doing it. I’d get up at five pm, have breakfast, potter around, start playing about seven, and play through til about four, five in the morning, which was a great time to play ‘cos you’ve got all the Americans online. They’re not allowed to play anymore due to tax laws, so times have changed.

And you went from that to tournaments?

Yeah. Loads of small-scale tournaments. I’d start off with fifty dollars, but it got to a point when I started putting down two-hundred, then four-hundred, then a thousand dollars on each table.

That was my peak. That was the most, pretty much, I’ve ever put down. I was working to pay the mortgage on my first house.

And then you entered the ETP. Poker sites offer you loyalty points - incentives for playing on their sites. The more you play, the more points you get. I’d accumulated so many points – £5,000 worth. And one night I was a bit worse for wear when I’d come in from a nightclub, and I had this crazy voice in my head, almost, that said; “I’ve never been to Budapest. I’m always hearing it’s beautiful”, so I paid in. I wasn’t expecting to get anywhere.

Any special preparation?

No, I just had a laugh with it. Each day I’d go down to the casino, play poker, and come out with more chips each day. It was all a bit crazy. And no nerves, not in the early stages; I’d been a poker pro for two or three years, so I was doing my job. Even when I got down to the final table – the final eight players - I just thought; “This is my job, this is.”

So, winning that amount of money – is it a “this has changed my life forever” moment?

No. I never take money as being completely, totally life-changing. Even a large, large, large amount of money, like £5 million… I mean, you don’t want that to change things that much, you know. If you’re happy with where you’re living, your friends, your family, you don’t want them affected. I was just over the moon at the fact that it was my first ever big tournament, playing against these professionals, and I’d won it.

computer, a big sound system. I paid off my mortgage, and invested some money in shares. I come from a family of accountants, so I was never going to be one to just spunk it away.

But you also lobbed a chunk of it over to an orphanage in Nepal.

Yeah, I went out for about a month and just did some teaching out there. The plan was to give some money to charity after my win, but with a big charity you don’t know where it’s going. So I donated some money to the school I was teaching at, and then went to help out in an orphanage.

They had thirty-one kids and an old rusty bike between them, so, I got them four new bikes, a new bike for the guys who worked there, some medication, food, a new DVD player, and I left them enough money to put up another building so they could get admit some of the kids on their waiting list.

So how did the win change your status as a poker player?

You can’t just win one of those tournaments and become a celeb, for starters. You used to be able to, back in the day, but it’s less glamorous now. Back in the day, if you won an EPT you’d get a sponsorship deal, like that. You were an instant face. Nowadays you really need two or three strong results to be considered for sponsorship, which gets you into tournaments for free and that. It has changed things in Notts, though; when I went back to Dusk Till Dawn, my favourite casino, people that didn’t even like me there would go; “Hey Will, how ya doing?” And the managers there, Rob Yong and Simon Trumper, were great - they were like; “We’re really proud of you. You’ve done Nottingham proud”.

So what now? Still playing as much as you used to?

Not really. Before Budapest I was playing twenty-six hours a day and nine days a week, but I got a bit bored of the game and was just playing it to make money. So, I just started to try and do some other things with my life. I became very good at bumming around. I’m a very skilled bummer now.

So, I took six months off, watched some football, and then rekindled my passion for it. But online’s very difficult now; the standard’s got a lot better and it’s more difficult to make money. So I stopped playing online and I just play at Dusk Till Dawn now.

So, how much is luck and how much is skill?

The two go together; part of the skill is making the most of your luck when you get it. And when you’re down on your luck, make sure you minimise the damage. Also, it’s about how you react to bad luck: when you’re down on your luck, can you still concentrate and make the correct decisions?

That’s the thing with poker; if you’re a keen tennis player, you’re never going to be able to take Federer on. But I’ve played against some of the best poker players in the world. You can make a bad decision and it can turn out good as well – it’s one of those games where there are a lot of variables. It’s not like chess where, if he’s better than you, he’s going to beat you every time.

Do you have a good poker face?

It’s not massively about a poker face as much as people think. There are ‘tells’ that people use, but that’s, one tenth of the skill in the game. There lots of other skills, like maths, memory, patience, analysing past situations, picking up patterns and physical ‘tells’, keeping your emotions in control. When all’s said and done, you’re playing against yourself.

So the moral of the story is: “always act on your impulses when you come back from a club battered”?

Hell yeah.

We need to ask how much of a spend-up you had afterwards.

I rang some mates back at home and said; “Fill the fridge with champagne. We’re having a party”. People were going nuts. That was an awesome party. After that, I bought a big TV, a new leftlion.co.uk/issue45

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Final Cut Pros

When the cream of Nottingham’s music scene need their work immortalised on video, they talk to Tom Walsh, Micha

Tom Walsh

MICHAEL HOL

Founder of Polymath Pictures (with Amy Nicholson), Tom has directed We Show Up On Radar’s (Anchors In Your Heart and I’ll be Your Ghost), Ulysses Storm (Franska The Bear) as well as working with Petebox and making The Wraith, a short narrated

by Bernard Hill.

After landing a collaborated w Notts credits in Spencer (Raah, Swound and Do

tomwalshmedia.co.uk

How did you all get into making music videos?

Faolan: Me and Andre were on the same course at Confetti and for some reason - we didn’t really mix well with the other people on the course, so we accidentally became mates.

hits. Honestly, it’s really rubbish, but it got into my head that that was where I wanted to be and what I wanted to go for. Instead of uni, I got two Mastercards, and maxed them both out with kit and decided to do my own thing.

So what do you do to keep within budget? Do you call in favours?

Michael: I find it really awkward when people do things for me for free. And if they do, they get paid straight away on the next job.

Andre: We did a Notts Unsigned project for Trent FM; they got Confetti students to film their sessions and we met some guys from the Community Recording Studios.

You all seem pretty much self-taught. Do you think you can actually sit someone down and teach them how to make a good video?

Andre: You can teach someone so much, but it’s about them wanting to do it

Faolan: It comes down to the artist; if they’ve got a budget then great, I can help them spend it. But if there isn’t one, then you’ve got to be the one to sort out the favours. It’s your reputation on the line - if they bring their own people and mess up the venue then that’s got to be on their heads and not yours. I love it when you say; “Can you fill the club?” “Yeah, I can fill the club!” You get there and there’s like, five people.

So Mi en ca art wi Pe an

Andre: If the artist has come up with a big, fancy idea with loads of extras and cars and they’re asking you to do it for free, then it’s down to them to get it. At the end of the day, I don’t own fancy cars, I don’t own a club and I don’t know fifty people who’ll come and hang out for the day.

Fa yo co the wh

How much input do the artists have? Do you encourage their input?

Andre: Depends. You get a lot of creative people who’ve done the track and know what they want from the video. But then you also get a lot of people saying; “What do you think you can do with this?” and then leave it up to us to sort everything out.

Wh ba Fa ha to Na ca

Faolan: We’d been discussing doing music videos, so we suggested if they ever wanted to give us a try at doing a video for them to give us a shout. And they did.

Andre: We were just trying to have fun with it, and find out what we could do. When we got the video out, the whole CRS roster was like; “We saw what you did, we loved it - can we have a video?” Next thing we knew, we were in demand.

Faolan: I mean, for artists in Nottingham, the opportunities to get a video shot were relatively limited, so all of a sudden loads of people really wanted us. A lot of our early stuff was with CRS we’ve collaborated on quite a few projects with them.

Tom: I started off in a small production company as a staff editor.

I was also in a band and we needed a music video for promotion.

A mate of mine who’d started a production company shot it, and I cut the video myself, and it went from there. I went freelance about three years ago, and I get paid for them - but it’s not my bread and butter work; it’s more about having fun and trying out new ideas.

Michael: I did a media A-Level at Bilborough College, which involved making a music video. I banged it up on YouTube to show a couple of mates. Within about two weeks, I had half a million

Michael: I felt that I picked up enough on my really good A-Level, but I’ve been back on camera courses, just to top my knowledge up. There’s no specific path; it’s about what you prefer and what’s comfortable for you.

Tom: I’ve been toying with the idea of going on an MA course, but it’s ten grand a year for two years. Should you spend that on a course or on a shedload of kit? It’s a tricky one.

Do you pick up any tricks or techniques from watching other music video, TV and film?

Faolan: The key thing is, for anyone who wants to get involved in film, that when you make your first film it will be crap. You need to be big enough to recognise that it’s crap and know that you can do better.

Tom: And learn from it as well. Shane Meadows made ten shorts before he made a feature film. You’ve just got to keep doing it; and your first one - actually, your first five - are going to be less than average, but that’s how you learn.

Tom: But you can also go up to a band and say; “I like that track, I want to make a video, but I want to do it my way – what do you reckon?” There are enough bands in and around Nottingham that you can do that and start up that way.

Michael: Than again, I’ve just shot Jake Bugg’s promo for Mercury and there’s no artist communication. You simply get something in

yo lik ge

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Top image: Karizma: Badboy, dir. JungleWire. Left to right: Liam O’Kane: Happy Days Sad Songs and Kirk Spencer: Hota Hai, dir. Michael Holyk. Nina Smith: I Wo

interview: Alison Emm photos: David Parry

Michael Holyk and Junglewire. But only when we’ve finished talking to them for this special round table interview...

AEL HOLYK

JUNGLEWIRE

nding a BBC trainee spot at the age of 17, Michael has ated with Polydor, Mercury Sony, Disney, and Universal. edits include Liam Bailey (When Will They Learn), Kirk (Raah, Hota Hai), Jake Bugg (Someone Told Me) and and Dog Is Dead for BBC Introducing.

Individually known as Faolan Jones and Andre Nichols, Junglewire have worked with the likes of Sony, Universal, Disney, Ministry of Sound, BBC and ITV, as well as shooting videos for Karizma, Nina Smith, Hhymn, We Are Avengers, Skiman and Scorzayzee.

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michaelholyk.com

your inbox and you pitch for it. I do a ten-page document. If they like it, good. If they don’t, they’ll just say no. The higher up you get, the more detached you are from the artist.

So you pitched for that, then?

Michael: Yeah. There’s a Notts connection and I was fortunate enough to know his management. That’s another thing: you can do the best pitch in the world but if you’re friendly with the artist’s management or you’ve got a good name then they’ll work with you. It’s really bad and it shouldn’t be like that, but it is.

Persistence is the key; you keep banging them out and going for it and sooner or later they’ll go with one of your ideas.

Faolan: What’s nice about working with unsigned artists is that you have that kind of personal thing where you and the artist are collaborating - you’re not just being paid to give them exactly what they want. Labels can be a lot less willing to take a risk with stuff, whereas unsigned artists probably will.

What do you prefer: making a video with narrative, or band-in-studio?

Faolan: In an ideal world, one with a story - but it’s really, really hard to do. You have to have the right song, and you don’t want to make a rubbish video because you’re constrained by time.

Narrative is great, but I get a big buzz out of something that captures the energy of the tune.

Tom: Maybe it’s because I grew up with cinema, but whenever I listen to music there’s always a story. I’d rather make a little short film that the song is a soundtrack to. Performance videos, unless they’re done really well, can be a bit tedious.

Michael: You’ve got to pick your moments. I did a music video for

junglewirefilm.com

Liam Bailey which went down really well, and it was totally adhoc. I was just me and my camera, and I rocked up to his place and it just happened. We’d chucked about a few ideas before but this was quite organic.

Tom: Narrative has gone out of the window a little bit nowadays.

If it’s for YouTube it usually gets played from start to end. But for MTV, or whatever, it comes in halfway through and gets turned off after a couple of minutes. They don’t play the full-length versions of videos, they just dip in and out nowadays.

How long would you say it takes to make an average music video?

Michael: To film, it’s most cost effective to shoot it in a day. I like to do it over a day or two at a push, mainly because I get bored easily. I’ll probably go from a shoot to the edit and have no sleep whatsoever, just blitz it out like a machine. You need to still have the buzz for it; if you string it out you can lose something.

Andre: Unless you have deadlines, you can spend as long as you want and change any slight thing that you don’t like. The Won’t Be Quiet video – do we dare tell them how long that took?

Faolan: I don’t want to talk about it!

You’re part of the generation that grew up with technology and the internet. What do you feel about YouTube and Vimeo?

Michael: I think it’s great, but really bad at the same time. I’ve done a video for a Nottingham band – and I’m not being big headed here – but it looks sick. The fact it’s sat on YouTube with only a couple of thousand views is really hard. I’ve shown it to commissioners and they’ve said; “If that was for Coldplay or whoever this would be a really good video.” Things can get lost on

the internet. Rewind to before I was born, though; to make a music video you had to have film and a camera and training and money to get it all processed and edited - and then you had to get it onto telly. Now, you can just pop into Jessops or wherever, buy a digital camera and a USB microphone, and you can be a music video director and put it up online. It’s great but…

Tom: It’s so diluted.

Faolan: Labels now will judge how well an artist is doing based on YouTube.

What’s Nottingham like, locationwise?

Michael:I think when you’re shooting here, you have to think outside the box a bit. The Avengers video that Junglewire did - it looks like it was shot in Mexico…

Andre: Trouble. We did the Trouble video in a twenties style, and I was wondering where on earth we were going to shoot it, but there was some lovely little places around The Lace Market which looked amazing…

Tom: The more I shoot here, the more Nottingham grows on me.

The amount of people watching the video who know the location is minimal.

Are there any divas on the Nottingham scene?

Andre: They’re all divas.

Watch music videos by Tom Walsh, Michael Holyk, Junglewire and more at leftlion.co.uk/music/video

th: I Won’t Forget You and We Are Avengers: Trouble, dir. Junglewire. We Show Up On Radar: I’ll Be A Ghost and Ulysses Storm: Franska The Bear, dir. Tom Walsh.

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Minding Pennies Kristy Guest

If you’ve been out and about in town in the last year and have seen somebody crouching down taking photos of the floor, well... that was probably me. Since January 2011 I’ve been taking photos of all the coins I find on the streets because before you think I’m completely crazy - I’m part way through a tenyear project.

Minding Pennies was born from a desire of mine to give to charity, but as a freelance artist my finances prevented me from doing so. A couple of years ago I decided to start picking up all the pennies I found with the intention of donating them. I was surprised with how quickly it added up, and decided that I also wanted to do something creative with the coins.

I come from a performance background (I trained as an actor and am part of The Gramophones Theatre Company) so I thought about creating some sort of performance with the coins, and realised I was making things too complicated and that taking photographs of coins found in situ would be beautifully simple.

Every time I find a coin, I take a photo and make a note of where and when it was found. This information is then uploaded to the blog I set up for the project and the coin is put in the ‘Bank’.

Since the project began I have found money in Canada, the USA and various parts of the UK. It’s been fascinating documenting where all of these were found and seeing patterns slowly emerge. I want to document people’s disregard for small denominations of currency and to see how things change over the next decade. With the introduction of new ways to make purchases will we even be using coins and notes in ten years?

Or will chip and pin have taken over completely?

Without a doubt, the task I’ve set myself is a challenging one.

I have to leave early to get to places just in case I happen to find money on the way. I have, however, put some rules in place to make sure I don’t get into trouble or put myself in any danger. For example, people often don’t take too kindly to

Twenty Fifteen

having someone stop at a turnstile in the New York or London Underground to take a photo of a penny in the middle of rush hour. And people also don’t quite understand why someone may suddenly crouch down in the middle of a busy road. Saying that, the rules didn’t stop me from getting on the floor with a stick to fish a coin from the edge of the Grand Canyon.

For me, Minding Pennies really came to life when other people started getting involved. I currently have over twenty ‘penny minders’, as I like to call them, and every now and again I’ll receive a rather excited message informing me that somebody has found a penny. I love the excitement that can be raised by finding pennies and feel that if more people had that response

then we’d develop an appreciation for small things which, in turn, could help to change the wasteful attitude that society seems to have.

When people are walking with me they are surprised at how I can spot money on the floor and insist that I’ve developed some sort of sixth sense. I think they’re right, but I do believe that you find what you look for in life and think my project is a perfect example of this. So, if you find a penny, pick it up...and in a year’s time, like me, you could have over nine hundred of them. mindingpennies.com

Art Works

Allan Binns

“This is my ultimate fantasy: watching QVC with a credit card while making love and eating at the same time.” – Yasmine Bleeth And this is Twenty Fifteen, the final image in a collection of postcard-sized fantasy collages I’ve been working on for eighteen months. For me, this is the single piece that articulates, most concisely, what I’ve been attempting to communicate since this project began.

The process of constructing these images is a simple one; no more than a game in which I, the artist, play the role of matchmaker. It all begins with a single striking image plucked from the blanket of many clippings that cover my studio floor. Once I have this focal image, the game begins, the story arcs and the search is on to find the cutting’s soulmate. From here, more and more images are added until my quest for an aesthetic harmony has been satisfied.

The nature of this process often means that I spend hours, days, weeks in an environment adorned by escapist imagery, attempting to create these miniature worlds. The character I play in creating these works often parallels the sinister nature of the work itself, where the many singular images fuse to create a monstrous whole.

The entire project marks a change in direction from my past practice as a filmmaker, where I concerned myself with only the best depictions of truth and reality - a truly ‘Dogma’ way of being. Today, collage is my refrain from the draining and emotional process that once made up my filmmaking practice. This transition was not an easy one, initially leaving me questioning the work as naive or childish. However, it was Claus Oldenburg’s postcard collage Lipsticks in Piccadilly that affords me the justification I need to produce such technically uncomplicated works. It’s an image that has really stuck with me ever since we bumped heads in the Tate Liverpool many years ago. Whilst witty in its use of the phallic-shaped cosmetic to represent the apparent sexual throb/thrust of the Swinging Sixties Oldenburg was reacting to, it was the piece’s innate simplicity and cocksure arrogance while surrounded by corridors of over-laboured works that has inspired me most.

Most fantasies are an amalgamation of several tangible, yet desirable things, much like those listed by Ms Bleeth. In Twenty Fifteen I wanted to explore the idea of fantasy being constructed of many pleasurable elements and throw into question the experience of all of them at once. I just play the game and as it turns out, when your studio floor is covered with snippets from fantastical comic books, holiday brochures and 1960s ‘gentleman’s special interest’ magazines, the game and probably my own unconscious and perverted agenda will only let me produce this; a joke you’ll feel bad for laughing at…

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Write Lion

This issue we finally get through the pile of books that Santa brought us, and have a chat with someone who’s standing up for libraries. Want to be featured on this page?

Contact books@leftlion.co.uk or poetry@leftlion.co.uk

Brian Clough: Nobody Ever Says Thank You Jonathan Wilson Orion Books, £20

To set out to write a truly critical biography of Nottingham’s lay saint is no easy task given the sheer volume of Clough-related books that have appeared latterly. However, Wilson manages to synthesise the best of the existing corpus with much original research (including over 200 interviews) to produce a compelling and insightful portrait of man and myth – the latter as much a creation of the former, he argues, as of dewy-eyed supporters.

Refusing to indulge Clough’s occasionally cruel and capricious behaviour, yet also even-handed about his monumental managerial achievements and famously barmy methods, Wilson steers clear of simplistic explanations or ‘verdicts’. Instead, there’s an intriguing, detailed map of the various forces and events that shaped his life and that persona, from motherly influence and career-ending injury to relationships with nemesis Don Revie and former sidekick Peter Taylor, via booze, bung scandals, and bravado. Essential – if at times painful – reading.

Scott Oliver orionbooks.co.uk

Maps

Ross Bradshaw (Ed.) Five Leaves, £7.99 The first in a series of annual journals from Five Leaves, Maps collects essays, articles, poetry and the occasional photo-essay and binds them loosely together around the theme of cartography. Graham Greene’s brief and apparently unpleasant stay in an annoyingly hard to locate house in Nottingham, the obituaries of extinct cricket grounds, poetry inspired by the ludicrously beautiful Moscow underground system, clay hangings inspired by the heat-baked Moroccan landscape and the unexpected delights of Hull (home to the best street name in the world) are among the many subjects nestled snugly inside this slim book. The accumulated dirt and rubble of history that lays, many-levels deep, under the surface of every map is excavated and sifted for nuggets of interest with enthusiasm and insight. Iain Sinclair, David Belbin and John Lucas are among the contributors. Robin Lewis fiveleaves.co.uk

This Isn’t The Sort Of Thing That Happens To Someone Like You Jon McGregor Bloomsbury, £14.99

McGregor is officially the UK’s secondbest short story writer, having been awarded silver two years on the trot from the prestigious BBC competition. Ha! But as his debut collection shows, this isn’t something that should happen to a writer of his calibre. The book consists of thirty stories, some of which were previously published as far back as 2002, yet this isn’t a ‘scrapbook’ or best of. The stories are all geographically linked around the hinterlands of Lincolnshire, offering glimpses into relationships and lives that are disturbing, frightening and occasionally funny. Things that we wouldn’t expect to happen to ourselves include marrying a psycho, accidentally killing someone, developing a phobia of eggs, being bullied, put under surveillance, reduced to footnotes, or, – as in the story the book takes the title from - realising you may have swam too far out from shore; “you’re a good swimmer, you’re young, you’re healthy.” McGregor may not know his own fate but his beautiful words make ours easier to bear. James Walker bloomsbury.com

Born in Mid-Air

Nature Mage

Silent Torment

Love it or loathe it, self-publishing is on the increase, giving writers the freedom to express their own ideas without editorial constraint (or help?). Scott Taylor uses this freedom to write his debut novel about twenty-something Dom returning to his hometown of Notts after the loss of his mum.

Set in the nineties and admittedly semiautobiographical, Born in Mid-Air is dotted with nods to the bars, clubs and music and provides a nice element of nostalgia that will put a smile on the faces of those who grew up back then. Rather than simply taking a trip down memory lane, Taylor plumbs his own experiences for an exploration of the fallout from losing a parent - paying particular attention to grief, anger and a sense of belonging. Taylor shows us the darker consequences of grief that might not make easy reading but there are some good flourishes to keep you turning the pages. Pete Lamb Available as a Kindle download. lulu.com

Gaspi is an orphan living with his guardian in the remote village of Aemon’s Reach. He seems an unremarkable boy until one fateful night the local bullies push him too far. In a fit of rage his dormant powers awake and summon a terrifying swarm of birds. But Gaspi is no mere wizard; he is a nature mage, that very rare breed who can command the elements.

En route to magical college he narrowly escapes from murderous demons, stumbling across a nefarious plot. Someone is out to suck the life from every mage in the land. Will Gaspi control his dangerous talents while defeating this unspeakable evil?

Nature Mage is the first in a trilogy of adventures for young Gaspi. The author knows his genre and is clearly at home with heroic fantasy. The book is already Love Reading’s debut of the month and a New Generation prizewinner. Think The Wizard of Earthsea meets Harry Potter. The book is rich with detail and there is enough horror to keep young teenagers spellbound.

Ian Douglas newgenerationpublishing.info

Lizzie Cameron is a young woman with a forgotten past. She helps her childhood friend to hide an unplanned daughter by taking the baby on a treacherous journey from Scotland to London, but after an accident Lizzie wakes up in Narrowmarsh, Nottingham and has lost her identity. Set in Victorian times, Silent Torment has a plot with more unlikely twists and turns than the streets of Narrowmarsh, and could have been comparable to any number of Dickensian novels. However, it is spoilt by typing errors (more than in your average copy of LeftLion) and anachronistic language. Characters frequently say “Okay” and one character is described as “psyching himself up” and “keeping a lid on what has happened.” Young has justified this by claiming “the essence of a story can be lost if the reader struggles to understand dialogue written strictly in the period.”

More showing and less telling would have also greatly improved this novel. Christy Fearn amazon.co.uk

Scott Taylor Lulu, £5

Duncan Pile New Generation Publishing, £7.99

Tarn Young Grosvenor House Publishing, £9.99

Katie Half-Price The Haunted Niki Valentine Sphere, £6.99

Susie and Martin have been going aht wi’ each other for yonks, so they goo away on holiday ta spice things up. Problem is, instead of gerrin on an all-inclusive in the sun - like normal folk would - they head to Scotland (home of the Krankies). They go for a walk, cuz there’s nowt else to do there and end up takin’ refuge in a Bothy when it starts ta rat it dahn.

Fan-Dabi-Dozi it ain’t. With no Sky TV or intynet connection for entertainment, Susie has ter confront an arsh truth: she’s married to a nob. But she int so perfect hersen cuz she ends up gerrin off with a ghost! Now, I’ve had some cock in me time, but even I draw the line at Derek Acorah’s cast off, Lol! Still, it just goes ta show wot goes off when yer cross the border and enter a countreh that thinks dressing midgets up in schoolboy’s clothing is entertaining. littlebrown.co.uk

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leftlion.co.uk/issue45

The Fat Years

Chan Koonchung Doubleday, £12.99 I thought someone wor tekkin the piss when this dropped through us letterbox but it’s got nowt to do with me latest fitness video.

It’s abaht China’s boomin’ economeh and how folk don’t gee a toss abaht corruption as long as they’ve gorra bit of beer moneh.

The book’s been banned in China - which int really a surprise given that they bang up noble peace prize winners - but don’t believe the hype, cuz it’s really an essay poorly disguised as a novel. The first three quarters is padding, leading up to an interrogation scene when the awfur uses a hostage ter express his deluded conspiraceh theories. Basicalleh, China is sufferin’ from collective amnesia.

Now, we’ve all forgorren our car keys or who we slept with a few weeks ago, but they’ve forgorren a whole month, the dozy twats! And get this; the gov’t have been puttin’ MDMA in their water! I’d forget a whole year if Cameron did that for us! Lol! transworldbooks.co.uk

The Sea is My Brother: The Lost Novel Jack Kerouac Penguin Classics, £25

Now folk criticise meh namesake for not writin’ her own books but worra abaht Kerouac? They’ve unearthed more on his novels since he died then when he lived!

There’s been poetreh collections, plays, novellas and now, surprise, surprise, they’ve magicalleh found his debut novel. This latest ‘discovereh’ wor written in 1942-43 and like all on his work, it’s based on his own experiences; this time as a seaman on the SS Dorchester. It wor Truman Capote who famousleh said: “That’s not writing, that’s friggin shite” – and he had a point. The story lacks plot and there’s loads o’ errors, but who gives a toss. Kerouac wor a party animal who loved his mam and like all on us, he just wanted ta gerra away from it all. The book includes loads of hidden bonuses, like letters and other writings. So it’ll keep yer goin’ till the next discovereh… penguin.co.uk

Saturday 4 February sees the first ever National Libraries Day - and it’s all down to Alan Gibbons, a children’s author who has been instrumental in raising awareness of the only two endangered species not to be featured in an Attenborough documentary: the librarian and the reader…

interview: James Walker illustration: Si Mitchell

Why are libraries important?

Libraries are one of the UK’s most popular institutions. You can borrow books and CDs for free. You can do your homework there and get help. You can get advice browsing and selecting the right book. You can get help with research and information.

Libraries have computers and give training in how to use them. They are important community hubs with meeting places and all kinds of activities for all sections of the community.

How have they been useful to you?

When I was young I used to borrow three books a week from my local library to feed a voracious reading habit. They helped to get the son of a factory worker and shop assistant to university.

There I used the library again for research and to broaden my knowledge.

What legal rights do libraries have to stay open?

Libraries have a degree of legal protection under the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act. Among its provisions is the requirement on local councils to provide a “comprehensive and efficient” service. Unfortunately the Act does not make clear in details what this means. The Charteris Report, written when the then Labour government halted Wirral’s library closure programme, gave some pointers, for example stressing provision for the young and the elderly. Two recent legal cases have left the situation relatively open for debate. Campaigners in Somerset and Gloucestershire won a victory when the judge stopped the closure programmes there because the councils had “lacked adequate consideration of equalities issues.” The judge described the councils’ behaviour as ‘bad government.’ Other campaigners in Brent lost their case, but may be taking it further and there may be other cases in Surrey and Bolton.

How important is postal code in determining cuts?

The key issue here is the local council leadership.

Councils have a duty to provide a comprehensive and efficient service. Some of them have done a good job in protecting library services. Indeed some councils have opened new libraries or refurbished existing ones. In other areas up to half the branch libraries are up to threat.

It doesn’t sound good…

Across the country there is a process of ‘hollowing out’ the library service.

This consists of making library staff redundant, reducing opening hours, cutting the book fund, even closing libraries. Some of the worst areas have been Oxfordshire, the Isle of Wight, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Brent, Lewisham, Doncaster and Bolton, though campaigns and court cases have forced rethinks in some of these localities. In Nottingham three libraries are to close and two to open. Thirteen face reduced opening hours. In Nottinghamshire opening hours are being halved from 601 hours a week to 311.

What can libraries do to become a more integral part of the community?

The most important things libraries can do is to take steps to attract the public. This means good quality services, a better book stock, good ICT provision, comfortable, welcoming buildings and helpful, well-trained staff. Much of this depends on resources and strategic planning. The kind of illconsidered, crude savings-driven cuts that are happening around the country puts this kind of vision in danger. While libraries and library staff can do their best to improve the service to their customers within funding constraints, they need the support of the councillors.

When did you get the idea for National Libraries Day and what do you hope to achieve by it?

In addition to the many campaigns across the country fighting closures and reduced services, I thought it was important to put a positive case for the public library service.

In February 2010 we organised 110 Read-Ins across the UK attended by around 10,000 people. It seemed a good idea to organise a National Libraries Day encompassing all the pro-library organisations around that date every year. Essentially, we want to raise the profile of the work libraries do.

What can the government do to support them?

The government, through the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, has effectively abdicated responsibility for libraries, frontloading cuts but failing to provide any strategic leadership. Even when it knew that councils in some areas were failing to meet their statutory duties it did nothing to rein them in. Campaigners will be giving evidence to the forthcoming Select Committee calling on the DCMS to provide proper leadership and set minimum library standards for councils and look to make savings in areas which will impact least on the public.

How will libraries be celebrating the day?

In the week running up to Saturday 4 February many school libraries will be holding events. Many public libraries are holding events, opening longer and recruiting new members. National bodies such as CILIP and the Society of Chief Librarians are co-ordinating activities. We see National Libraries as a positive day of celebration to promote the whole culture of reading for pleasure, information and engagement. It is time to make reading a universal culture.

Does digital technology simply make the demise of libraries inevitable?

E-books are another form of reading, not the negation of reading. Libraries already provide computers and computer education. Facilities are being developed to download e-books in libraries. Libraries are doing their best to meet the digital challenge, but for them to do it adequately there has to be national leadership. This isn’t coming from the DCMS. The libraries of tomorrow will evolve, but they can’t do that if the libraries today are closed or downgraded.

The usual argument with regards to cuts is that the arts aren’t as important as, say, health. How do you respond to such criticisms?

This is essentially a divide and rule strategy asking how people can worry about libraries when life and death services are under pressure. In any decent society we would democratically decide our priorities. If one of those priorities isn’t the ability to read for information, pleasure and education we have become a meaner and poorer place.

What can people do to support libraries?

People can join the various campaigns to save their local library. They can join user groups. Maybe most important of all they can make sure they use their library on a regular basis. It is not an empty statement to say “use it or lose it”. nationallibrariesday.org.uk

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LEFTLION LISTINGS February 2012 – March 2012

featured listings...

MAY CONTAIN HOPS

TICKETS ON-LION Buying tickets for events in Notts? From the latest DJs at Stealth to the latest bands at venues like Spanky Van Dykes and The Rescue Rooms, you can get them all through our website, at no extra cost. Even better, thanks to our partnership with gigantic.com, every time you buy one through us some of the funds will go towards LeftLion and a bit more goes to those nice folks at Oxfam. leftlion.co.uk/tickets

YOU WANT MORE? GET ONLINE WI’ YERSEN Now fully operational and bigger than ever, the listings section of the LeftLion website is Nottingham’s most comprehensive trawl through the nosebag of local entertainment. Not only can you pick your way through all the music, theatre, clubbing, art, performance, comedy, film and sport listings the city has to offer, but you can also check out reviews, export reminders to your online calendar, and flag ‘em up to your mates on whatever social media you’re using at the moment. If it’s not in this mag, it’s definitely on the website. leftlion.co.uk/listings

THE LEFTLION DIRECTORY - IT’S MINT, YOUTH If that wasn’t enough, we also have a full run-down of all the major pubs, bars, clubs, restaurants and independent businesses in town. In a hurry and need to find somewhere that can paint Jimmy Sirrel’s face on your nails? Or a shop that stocks second-hand Shippos ashtrays for Dad’s Birthday? Or even a North Korean restaurant for that intimate Valentine meal? Well, you’ve shot it with the last one for the moment, but we can definitely help you with those niggly lastminute retail problems. You can even get linked up to a real-time map and drop a review on the place for the benefit of your fellow Nottinghamians, if you’re feeling the urge to share. leftlion.co.uk/directory

WANT TO RAM YOUR EVENT OUT? JUST ADD YOUR LISTING We may be the all-seeing eye of Nottingham entertainment, but if your event isn’t being featured by us at the moment, the best thing to do is add it yoursen. It’s easy mate - just get on our website, whack your event details into the system, and let us do the rest. Like most things we do, it’s going to cost you absolutely nuppence, because we’re nice like that. leftlion.co.uk/add

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The Trent Navigation introduces Nottingham’s newest brewery With the nights finally drawing out, Nottingham’s hostelries and taverns are finally thinking about what to do round the back.

While some are contemplating a new bucket for the nub-ends or even a massively oversized umbrella with some lager branding on it, the Trent Navigation – the pub of choice for the discerning Notts County aficionado – has gone one step further; they’re building their own brewery right on the premises.

Situated in the old stable block behind the pub, new owners Great Northern Inns are installing all manner of coppery gubbins as we speak, and will be knocking out a selection of beers by March. And it’s not just the Nav who’ll be reaping the benefits; other GNI pubs like The Approach, The Southbank, The Cross Keys, The Globe and The Monkey Tree will be stocking up on the new brews as well.

In keeping with the Trent Navigation’s unique style (it was built to cater for the workers and horses who grafted on the Nottingham to Grantham canal), the brewery will be erected as a nod to Britain’s glorious industrial heritage. So while they won’t be stuffing kids up the chimney, they will be creating something you’d actually want to have a nose round when it’s done.

Dominic Flynn, Head Brewer of Navigation Brewery, talks about his brand new toy…

We’ve heard of locally-sourced produce, but this is something else. How much input have you had in the building of this?

I’ve had a big input into what’s going where, ever since one of the owners called after some advice, and I kinda fell in love with what they were doing, their process, and the investment they’re putting in there. The kit is state of the art.

You’ve learned your craft all over the country. How does Notts beer measure up?

We’re very privileged here for beer. When I was interviewed for the job, I said listen - we’ve got to use the best ingredients, because the beer in Nottingham’s already good. If there were rubbish breweries we’d only have to make a Mercedes of beer, but we’ll need to make a Rolls Royce to compete with the likes of Blue Monkey and Castle Rock.

Is this going to be a microbrewery, or an actual brewery?

I don’t get too precious over titles. I don’t know where micro becomes macro. I mean, we’re obviously not going to be competing with Carlsberg or Coors or Pedigree, but then again we’re certainly not doing it in the back of our double garage - the kit we’re putting in is industrial.

Breweries seem to be knocking out different ales almost on a monthly basis. How much planning actually goes into creating a new beer? Obviously, you can’t reinvent the wheel too much...

I agree. I think it’s too easy to chase the almost cheap sale of just knocking out a new beer every two weeks. How many pale ales can one brewery make, and genuinely make them all taste different? So we’re going to do five beers from the off, and for a long time, that’ll be it.

What’s your particular poison?

I genuinely like craft beer. I’ve always preferred the sweet porters - certainly in the winter, maybe a stout - and then in the summer something a bit more crisp and refreshing like a pale ale.

You don’t have a secret Lambrini and Budweiser fetish, then.

Well, if I’m at a mate’s barbeque and its red hot outside, I’ll drink a can of lager. I’ve just finished work now and I’ve been around real ale for the last three days – I’ve had it coming out of me ears – so I’ve just nipped into the supermarket and bought a bottle of red that I’ll enjoy with the missus tonight.

Have you ever found yourself at work, feeling like arse after a really heavy night, thinking; “What am I doing here?”

Yeah. It’s horrible. Sometimes at the weekend I tell my mates I’m going in to sample, and their faces light up; but if I’ve had a proper night out, it’s not nice. You have a breakfast of bread, to make your palette as neutral as possible, and you’re actually tasting for off-flavours – looking for what’s wrong in the beer rather than what’s right.

Breweries look a bit scary to us. What’s the most dangerous thing about them?

I always thought it would be the seam, where you can easily burn yourself, or the chemicals, but I had a chat with someone in environmental health, who said slips, trips and falls. It’s a wet environment, and the temperatures are extreme at both levels.

One minute you’re dealing with ice brews are freezing, the next cleaning out the vessels in a forty degree heat.

So what’s the benefits of having a brewery built behind a pub?

Is the lack of travel a big factor?

Actually, the real benefit is the pubs having compete control of the produce. You get rapid response from the landlords and regulars, and you become part of their community. And the assured sales is a bonus.

So what else do you intend to do here?

From day one, I was mad keen on it because this is the first time I was going to be brewing in my hometown. The two guys who own the pubs, they’re from Nottingham. So is the guy that I’m training up to be a skilled brewer. And the guy who’s driving the van. So we’re going to be looking at putting on an on-site shop that’ll sell merchandise and bottle beers, as well as brewery tours and the like. I loved working in places where the brewery was part of the community; I definitely want that here.

Be honest – is organising a piss-up in a brewery as easy as people assume?

No! It’s more difficult than you’d think. You really have to rein people in. You can end up finding students with sick all over themselves in the toilets.

You were the man who brewed our Three LeftLions beer, back in 2006 for the World Cup, weren’t you?

That’s right. And long before that, when LeftLion was not much more than an idea in Jared and Alan’s head, I was one of the people outside The Bomb giving out leaflets and stickers.

The Trent Navigation, 17 Meadow Lane, NG2 3HS trentnavigationinn.co.uk

music event listings...

Wednesday 01/02

Thursday 09/02

La Dispute The Rescue Rooms

Steve Hughes The Glee Club

Thee Ludds The Chameleon Cafe Bar

Shinedown Rock City

Steve McGill The Trent Navigation Inn

Young Guns The Rescue Rooms

Thursday 02/02

Jim Mullen Reunion Quartet Bonington Theatre

Tribute to Michael Garrick Bonington Theatre Up River The Maze Adam Jay and Casual Soul Saltwater Joshua Keogh The Golden Fleece

Friday 03/02 dollop Stealth Perdition vs Violated The Maze Trioxin Cherry The Old Angel Reggae Take Over Spanky Van Dykes Detonate Hospitality Gatecrasher

Saturday 04/02 Limehouse Lizzy Rock City Owen The Glee Club Cast Of Cheers Stealth Back To Basic The Maze We Are Avengers Cafe Bar Contemporary Our Time Down Here The Old Angel

Monday 06/02 Brand New Rock City Notts In A Nutshell The Maze

Tuesday 07/02 Alesana and We Came As Romans The Rescue Rooms Still Corners The Bodega Tribute To Nordberg, Blind Thieves and Poco Poco The Maze The Saboteurs The Malt Cross

Wednesday 08/02 The Wiyos The Glee Club Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs The Bodega Suckerpunch The Maze

Steve Mccabe The Golden Fleece Lust For Life Spanky Van Dykes Adam Jay and Casual Soul.

Saltwater Vanderverse Priority The Hand and Heart Baron Lewis Duo The Southbank Bar Andy Whittle Nottingham Playhouse

for more: leftlion.co.uk/listings

A BREAK FROM THE OLD ROUTINE The Playhouse’s 2012 dance season

Nottingham Playhouse’s dance seasons are renowned for pulling in some of the world’s most talented and innovative dance companies. The 2012 season kicks off this February with France’s Blanca Li Dance Company. Their new show - Elektro Kif - is a brand new style of street dance that grew from the streets and clubs of Paris which fuses breaking, disco, vogue, popping and locking. Funny, fast, colourful, anarchic, mixed up with theatre and an amazing original soundtrack, it’s safe to say you’ve never seen anything quite like this on the Playhouse stage.

The season continues in March with the Ballet Boyz. Billed as ‘The Boyband of Ballet’, they’re one of the most cheekily original and innovative forces in modern dance. Led by former Royal Ballet leading dancers Michael Nunn and William Trevitt, their performances blend spectacular routines with stunning music and visuals.

The season climaxes in May with the eagerly-awaited return of the Richard Alston Dance Company. Working with a diverse collection of composers, Alston has a unique and flawless synthesis of music and movement – and this will be your chance to see classic pieces such as Unfinished Business and Rough Cut alongside new piece Other Than I. The final show, from Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, is a ridiculously rare opportunity to see this 21-strong company bring the heat and passion of Cuba to the stage with a mix of contemporary dance fused with AfroCaribbean and Spanish styles.

For full information on this hugely eclectic season – as well as the Playhouse’s forthcoming theatre programme, including Romeo & Juliet, Mary Shelley and Roots – get yourself over to the website.

Blanca Li Dance Company with Elektro Kif runs from Monday 13 until Tuesday 14 February. Ballet Boyz in ‘The Talent’ takes place on Monday 28 March. Richard Alston Dance Company is on from Tuesday 15 until Wednesday 16 May. Danza Contemporanea de Cuba runs from Friday 18 until Saturday 19 May. nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk

Q-Bert and Reeps One Dogma

Sunday 12/02

Thursday 16/02

Tuesday 21/02

Friday 10/02

Scholars and Fresh Eyes The Maze

Mood Indigo The Southbank Bar

Ron Pope The Bodega

Dick Venom and The Terrortones Tantra

I’m Not From London Presents The Golden Fleece

Rave Trent - SPY Dogma

Ghostpoet The Rescue Rooms

Valentine’s Day Alternative Party The Maze

Katherine Jenkins Royal Centre

Friday 17/02

Light Night - Wholesome Fish The Malt Cross

Monday 13/02

The Filaments and Breadchasers The Maze

Artifice and Who Brought The Artillery The Maze

Olly Murs Nottingham Arena

Souvaris Nottingham Contemporary

Bonecrusher Fest Rock City

Cult Fridays Spanky Van Dykes

Ivyrise and Franko The Bodega

The Joe Strange Band The Southbank Bar

Notts In A Nutshell The Maze

Saturday 18/02

Tuesday 14/02

Dale EarnHardt Jr Stealth

NME Awards Tour 2012 Rock City

Mind Set A Threat Rock City

Cole Stacey and Jess Morgan The Malt Cross

On the Verge Winterfest Polish Club

Wednesday 15/02

Up The Apples and Snares The Maze

Robin Bibi The Trent Navigation Inn The Ruby Kid The Old Angel Cult Fridays Spanky Van Dykes Paul Wain.

Saltwater Richard Digance Nottingham Playhouse Farmyard Presents - Sura Susso Jamcafé BassLaced Stealth

Saturday 11/02 The Big Pink The Rescue Rooms Sonic Boom Six Rock City

Hyro Da Hero The Rescue Rooms The Twilight Sad Stealth

Rams Pocket Radio The Bodega

Kevin Montgomery and The Endangered Livers The Maze

Former Monarchs Jamcafé

The Wanted Nottingham Arena

Psycle The Maze

Thursday 16/02

Me & Mr Jones Cafe Bar Contemporary Toxigoth The Old Angel Kobo Town The New Art Exchange Swinging With The Cotton Club Nottingham Playhouse Orlando Consort Lakeside Arts Centre

Big Country Rock City

Ellen and The Escapades The Malt Cross Manière des Bohémiens The Hand and Heart

Wednesday 22/02 Field Music The Bodega Elessar and Deliver Us To Evil The Maze

Thursday 23/02 The Kabeedies The Rescue Rooms John Etheridge’s Trio North Bonington Theatre Acoustickle The Maze

Yunioshi, Bloodgroup and We Show Up On Radar Nottingham Contemporary

Red Bear The Golden Fleece

Miloš Karadaglic Lakeside Arts Centre

Aistaguca The Hand and Heart

James Morrison Royal Centre

Friday 24/02

Highness Soundsystem The Bodega Kold Chillin The Old Angel

Django Django The Bodega Flipron Deux

Sunday 19/02

Muzika!

The Maze

Matt Andasun Band The Golden Fleece

A Night Of Comedy And Fun The Old Angel

Pete The Feet The Hand and Heart

Cult Fridays Spanky Van Dykes

Alex Blood The Golden Fleece

Monday 20/02

Assault Spanky Van Dykes

Lust For Life Spanky Van Dykes

Marc Reeves The Maze

All New Café Boheme Deux In Hindsight The Maze

Balkan Express The Hand and Heart

Junkie Kut, Knifecutter, Needle Fact†ory and Vinolent The Navigation Inn leftlion.co.uk/issue45 leftlion.co.uk/issue45 leftlion.co.uk/issue45 23

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music event listings...

Friday 24/02

Sunday 26/02

Ola Onabule Nottingham Playhouse

Farmyard Presents Jamcafé

Detonate 13th Birthday Stealth

I’m Not From London The Golden Fleece

Roy Stone The Southbank Bar

Teenage Casket Company The Maze

Saturday 25/02

Monday 27/02

Tinchy Stryder The Rescue Rooms

To Kill A King The Bodega

The Minutes Rock City

Funhouse Comedy Club Bunkers Hill Hawaiian Hula Tiki Party The Maze

Mas Y Mas Cafe Bar Contemporary

Bwana Stealth

Michael McGoldrick, John McCusker and John Doyle.

The Glee Club

The Demon Barber Roadshow Nottingham Playhouse Happy & Glorious Royal Centre

Waldstien Ensemble Lakeside Arts Centre

Sunday 26/02

Seth Lakeman The Rescue Rooms

Theory Of a Deadman Rock City

Keep It Cash The Glee Club

Kool Kids Klub and Stefan Molinaro The Bodega

Trioxin Cherry and Army Of Walking Corpses The Maze

Highway and Beyond The Skies The Maze

John Mackay The Chameleon Cafe Bar

Rebecca Ferguson Royal Centre

Tuesday 28/02

Ryan Lauder Band The Malt Cross

SBTRKT Rock City

The Three B’s Royal Centre

Wednesday 29/02

Shankland, Joe Slater and Alex Hel The Maze

Karen Matheson Band Lakeside Arts Centre

Thursday 01/03

Decapitated The Rescue Rooms

Damon Brown’s Bonington Theatre

Tyrannosaurus Alan, Anti-Vigilante and Broken Nose The Maze

The Cast Of Cheers & Theme Park The Bodega

Harri Aston The Golden Fleece

Dante String Quartet & New London Chamber Ensemble Lakeside Arts Centre

for more: leftlion.co.uk/listings

Edward Burra

Coming to Lakeside: one of the greats of modern painting

The Djanogly Art Gallery, still basking in the glow of its outstanding L.S.Lowry exhibition (still on until 5 Feb, if you’ve not seen it yet), will barely pause for breath before showcasing another hugely celebrated British artist.

Edward Burra, The Straw Man, Pallant

Despite suffering from acute arthritis, Edward Burra (1905-1976) created a House Gallery © Estate of Edward huge body of work, characterized by their unusually powerful handling of Burra c/o Lefevre Fine Art Ltd the watercolour medium and his singular taste for the macabre. A member of the English Surrealist Group in the 1930s, Burra was by most accounts a solitary, individual artist who described the creative process as ‘a sort of drug’ and, piece by piece, created a world that was unmistakably his own.

Although he spent much of his life in the picturesque Sussex town of Rye, he was far from insular – his constant trips to countries such as France, Spain, Mexico and the USA inspired his most memorable images; his ‘low life’ portraits of sailors and prostitutes in the southern ports of France, his affectionate depictions of 1930s Harlem and Boston nightlife that led him to be described as the ‘best painter of the American Scene’, and a series of brutally disturbing images provoked by the violence of the Spanish Civil War. As he grew older, however, he kept his travels to the British Isles, choosing to focus on extraordinarily monumental watercolours of landscapes.

This is the first major exhibition of Burra’s work for over a quarter of a century, providing an opportunity to reassess - or discover - one of the most individual and celebrated British artists of the 20th century.

Edward Burra, 3rd March - 27th May, Djanogly Art Gallery, Lakeside Arts Centre, University Park, NG7 2RD. Free Admission. lakesidearts.org.uk

Friday 02/03

Rammstein Nottingham Arena

dollop Stealth

Hhymn UK Tour The Boat Club

Shrag and Tunabunny The Chameleon Cafe Bar

Wrecklass Necklass The Old Angel

Cult Fridays Spanky Van Dykes

OPSOC The Forum

Farmyard Presents Jamcafé

Saturday 03/03

Boxes, Joshua Keogh and Walter Bottle The Bodega

Huge Demand

Two strikingly different architecture exhibitions are opening at Nottingham Contemporary right about now, and both are more than worthy of a serious look.

Decolonizing Architecture/Art Residency are an art and architecture collective based in Palestine who document and showcase the role played by architecture in occupied territories. Their work often imagines new and Oush Grab. Photomontage by DAAR surprising roles for Israeli infrastructure, such as the Oush Grab – a military fortress whose name means ‘Crow’s Nest’ in Arabic – being evacuated and used as a haven for starlings, storks and birds of prey. The centrepiece of this fascinating exhibition is a life-sized section through the abandoned Palestinian parliament in Jerusalem that has never been used. Work started on it in 1996 when the peace process was ongoing, and halted seven years later when the talks broke down. Some of the building rests on Palestinian territory, some on Israeli – but it’s the small strip, no wider than the border line and in legal limbo, that will be exhibited.

Acclaimed German artist Thomas Demand is best known for his large scale photographs that question the medium’s ability to accurately record reality, although he has a keen interest in architecture. His latest exhibition is based on photos of twelve models he discovered in the archive of celebrated architect John Lautner, who was renowned for impossibly glamorous home designs. While Demand usually creates his own models – including dioramas of the tunnel where Lady Di died and a counting station in Florida where the 2000 US election was nicked for George W Bush by his little brother – this is the first time that he’s tackled other peoples’ work.

As always, both exhibitions are free, because that’s how they roll at Tempreh.

Thomas Demand: Model Studies and Decolonizing Architecture/Art Residency: Common Assembly, 28 January – 15 April. Nottingham Contemporary, Weekday Cross, NG1 2GB nottinghamcontemporary.org

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Saturday 03/03

Tuesday 06/03

Rae Morris The Rescue Rooms

Max Raptor and Hildamay Rock City

PictureBook Stealth

Johnny Dickinson and Elliott Morris Deux

The Sights The Old Angel

BOTB’s Heat 3 The Maze

MuHa The Malt Cross

Chaos Battle Of The Bands – Heat 3 The Maze

Florence and The Machine Nottingham Arena

Hoochie Coochie Club Spanky Van Dykes

Mood Indigo and Richard Howell The Southbank Bar

A Journey Through Olympic Cities Royal Centre

Sunday 04/03

Neal Casal The Rescue Rooms

Justin Furstenfeld The Glee Club

BOTB’s Heat 1 The Maze

Wild Wood The Southbank Bar

Chaos Battle Of The Bands - Heat 1 The Maze

University Sinfonia - Viva Voice Lakeside Arts Centre

Monday 05/03

BOTB’s Heat 2 The Maze

Monument Valley The Rescue Rooms

Chaos Battle Of The Bands – Heat 2 The Maze

Tuesday 06/03

The Stranglers Rock City

Austin Lucas The Rescue Rooms

Wednesday 07/03

Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings Rock City

Lloyd Cole The Glee Club

BOTB’s Heat 4 The Maze

Chaos Battle Of The Bands – Heat 4 The Maze Mor Karbasi Lakeside Arts Centre

Thursday 08/03

Thomas Truax The Rescue Rooms

The Maccabees Rock City

Marlene VerPlanck Bonington Theatre

Mood Indigo The Approach

The Johnny Johnstone Quintet The Hand and Heart

Walsh & Pound Nottingham Playhouse

Mahan Esfahani Lakeside Arts Centre

Friday 09/03

The Acacia Strain Rock City

Kim Richey The Glee Club

We Come In Pieces The Chameleon Cafe Bar

Monkeynuts The Maze

Rather listen to the tunes on this page than read about ‘em? Better wrap your tabs round Sound Of The Lion, our dedicated music podcast, available at leftlion.co.uk/sotl.

If you want your own tunes reviewed and you’re from Notts, hit up leftlion.co.uk/sendusmusic 1st Blood

Anxieteam

The Cusp

This veteran hip-hop outfit don’t do things by halves. Making stages swell under the weight of the dozenodd collective of MCs, singers and musicians, they’re more than equal to that presence when it comes to laying down tracks, with this album fit to bust at nineteen tracks deep. If you’re thinking; “Right, it’s a rap album, so half of those will be throwaway ‘skits’, filler and the odd soft tune to appeal to the R&B crowd”- don’t. From the first single, Diggit/Damnfiner, group patriarch Pete and the rest of the family – including Emkah, Louis Cypher and Opticus Rhyme – pepper Kumarachi and 1st Blood’s head-nodding beats and Rattomatic’s scratches with ferocious, fun rhymes and catchy hooks throughout. Particularly enjoyable are Riviera-jazzinfused The Phone Keeps Ringing, anthemic The Train and Cappo in typically thoughtful mode on Superkings. They also boast a soulful sibling in the form of Liam ‘Bahinyon’ Bailey, and the tracks to which he lends his gruff crooning are some of the standouts here. Hunter Gatherer oozes the attitude of Plan B’s Strickland Banks, but with more style and a better accent.

As with any family though, it’s hard to pick favourites, and the diverse range of voices, beats and instruments working so well together on this expansive LP show that 1st Blood are definitely thicker than water. Shariff Ibrahim Available online 1stblood.co.uk

A collaboration between two acclaimed artists, Jim Avignon and our own Jon Burgerman, this is Anxieteam’s second release following on from 2010’s Let’s Eat Soya/Lonely In The Digital World 7”.

As well as four new songs by the pair, the EP is bundled with 22 postcards each individually designed by the artists. Limited to 300 copies, all of the illustrations on the cards play on the theme of the title, and - despite the cute characters - instill a beautiful sense of melancholia. So much attention to detail has been put in to the whole physical package, it feels as if the songs, which come as downloadable MP3s, have taken a bit of a back seat; rather than being the main event, they act as accompaniment to the remarkable artwork. Having said that, there is something almost relaxing about hearing John Burgerman’s soft East Midland vowels, though he isn’t even attempting to sing, against a backdrop of hyperactive blips and bleeps. For instance, Pretzel Face sounds like Gorillaz, if Gorillaz was basically Damon Albarn singing over the soundtrack to Sonic 2.

As a piece of art, a wonderful idea - but if you take the tracks just by themselves, it’s a collectible curio-piece at best. Eric Manchester Available online anxieteam.com

As they confidently state on their website, “The Cusp is back to introduce, reintroduce and replenish your incorporeal essence with new music.” With this release, it is apparent that Matt Fleetwood has found a formidable drum/bass combo to accompany his psychedelic, nigh-on progressive musical sensibilities. The new band members only add to the impact of his songs and give a feeling of completeness to what once was a solo musical effort. Glory Glory is about as uplifting as indie gets, with hopeful verses and soaring choruses punctuated by proficient vocals that switch effortlessly from mid-range musings to falsetto cooings within the space of a matter of words. Culminating in an especially expressive guitar solo seemingly shaded by the likes of Graham Coxon, it’s as fine a note as any to play off such a triumphant song. The Cusp demonstrates a mature instrumental approach to songwriting that gives swift, knowing nods to the effect-laden guitar work and playful time signature changes of the late, great Oceansize. It’s a rhythmic yet altogether shoegaze exercise, dispensing with the heavy vocal orientation of Glory Glory in favour of bringing about a melancholic, wistful atmosphere. In many ways it is the polar opposite of its A-side, but showcases the versatility that will very likely come in the shape of their next release. Anthony Whitton Available online thecusp.bandcamp.com

The Blood Drop Agenda Album (1st Blood Empire Ltd)

The Golden Troubadours Silent Revolution EP (Self-released)

Having built up quite a live reputation, this debut EP has been much anticipated. As Sunshine Eyes kicks in, it’s not hard to see why: we may be in the depths of winter, but the lilting acoustic guitars and the band’s soaring harmonies soon transport the listener to a sunny day, perhaps in Haight-Ashbury or the Laurel Canyon of the 1960s, with David Crosby gently tapping his foot in time to the music. The intro to You Made It So is oddly reminiscent of More Than Words, but the Santana-esque guitar and Matthew Taylor’s moody vocals quickly banish the spectre of Extreme for something altogether more soulful and interesting. Road of Bones and Please both feature a much darker vocal style, reminiscent of Ray LaMontagne’s brand of bearded anguish.

Road of Bones conjures up ominous, threatening images of a place with “haunted ground” and “minds in disrepair” where “hollow faces swing sledgehammer frowns”. Please mixes those dark, poetic lyrics with a more plaintive, almost haunting refrain. It’s a beautiful track. Silent Revolution is another gentle, relaxed meander through the sunshine, with poetic lyrics gently swaying alongside the delicate guitars. The band are clearly accomplished musicians, but guitarists Lee Noon and Jade Bowman in particular are excellent throughout. An EP that conjures up images of a sun-kissed shore, doubly welcome at this time of year. A joy. Tim Sorrell Available online thegoldentroubadours.bandcamp.com

Spotlight Kid Disaster Tourist Album (Tritone)

The second album, and something of a re-boot for the band formed by former Six by Seven man Chris Davis as a vehicle for his own songs, they now have a steady line-up.

Opener Plan Comes Apart sets the blueprint for what’s to come; ethereal vocals swirl amongst a dense wave of guitars that add texture and colour, the rhythm section is the engine room that drives everything along with an urgency not often found in shoegaze bands. Not afraid to wear their influences on their sleeves, there are moments clearly indebted to the ‘first-wave’ of shoegaze; the wailing, shimmering outro to Creeps clearly doffs its cap to Lovelessera My Bloody Valentine, Freefall sounds like it’s auditioning for a Slowdive album, and Cold Steel Rain sounds like an eighties drive-time staple syphoned through Kevin Shields’ guitar effects. All Is Real and April are re-recordings that take full advantage of the power the band wield as a live unit most of Disaster Tourist was recorded live in-the-studio in two days with the vocals added at a later date. The pace drops off towards the end, although Pulled Apart By Horses is a suitably noisy ending, a six minute mini-epic that combines all the elements that make this album such a thrilling listen.

Paul Klotschkow Available online and in all good record stores spotlightkidsound.co.uk

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I Think I Miss You EP (Hello Thor)

Glory Glory/The Cusp Single (Self-released)

Ronika

Kagoule

In The City/Only Only Album (Record Shop)

Son EP EP (Self Released) Made up essentially of some of the earliest home recordings by this fledgling outfit, what this collection lacks in sound quality is more than made up for by the overwhelming quality of the songs on offer. Upon first listen, what immediately strikes you is the ambition of the songwriting. The band currently may not be the most virtuoso of musicians, but they stick within their limitations and play to their strengths, giving them a unique sound that flickers between the late-night blissed-out feeling of The XX and the heavy dreaminess of Smashing Pumpkins; a mixture of blistering raw power with moments of subtle beauty that act as the perfect vehicle for Cai Burns’ haunted lyrics. You have to be weary about over-hyping a band - it can often do more harm than good - so I’ll hold myself back. But with this EP and a new one due sometime this year, 2012 looks set to be an exciting year for Kagoule, and it’ll be interesting to see where it takes them. For now, out of accident rather than design, what they have made here is an essential listen. Paul Klotschkow Available online soundcloud.com/kagoule

Rubix

Style Wars Vol. 1 - 4 EP (White Horse Records) In conjunction with Chelmsford’s Alpharatz, who supply half the tracks, the four Style Wars EPs take house music as their starting point, blending a range of retro and contemporary influences. On Volume 1, Night Life sprinkles perky chiptune melodies over French filter disco, seasoned with hints of eighties boogie. Things get sweeter still with Runaway, in which Charlie Starr’s vocals and James Hancock’s beats evoke two-step garage’s golden years, until a thundering dubstep throb drags things forward to the here and now. It gets dirtier and nastier on Volume 2, as Charlie gives Peaches a run for her money on the electroclash-evoking Do Me Like A. Next comes Groove Line, whose comparatively restrained sitar/piano intro is swiftly obliterated by a filthy, rasping ‘donk’. We’d be nudging into Euro hard trance territory, if it wasn’t for the surprise flamenco breakdown. Early nineties warehouse rave dominates Volume 3’s Overload, which couples euphoric vocals with skittering breakbeats and piano house riffs. The breakbeats become heavier and the keyboards get more twisted on Dirty Kiss, whose growling bass verges on the demonic. Volume 4 lightens the mood, as Chicago and House Musik pay homage to the original jack tracks. Vocal cut-ups abound, pitted against deep whoomphing bass and a certain measure of Larry Heardesque dreaminess. An album follows soon, and it’s sure to surprise us again. Mike Atkinson Available online whitehorserecords.com

With this perfectly-formed bubble of pop, bursting with ideas, Ronika effortlessly blends together syncopated beats, slick synths, funkadelic guitar and the spirit of motown. Wrapping her warm, sultry and angelic vocal around an undeniably infectious rhythm, Ronika brings a splash of colour to dancefloor proceedings as she sings: “Hot life in the city light, I’m so cool, I’m so pretty.” Never has Nottingham sounded more chic, funky or glamorous: it’s like seeing Prince stumbling into Trent Kebabs to order a samosa after losing his shoes in Stealth. Only Only keeps the good times rolling: with pulsing beats and chops in a similar vein to Chromeo, she quickly grabs your attention by the jugular and the hips, setting your mind racing and body moving. Once again, the girl flawlessly pulls off disco-pop for the 21st Century, sounding fresh and inventive and never clichéd, contrived or ‘retro’.

If she continues to build on the promise she’s shown so far, Nottingham’s own pop princess could soon be ruling the airwaves of the nation and beyond; the walls of our fair town are not strong enough to contain her vaulting ambitions. She’s got the talent, the sound and the spirit to become an icon without wearing a meat dress. I have seen the future, and it is Ronika.

Andrew Trendall Available online myspace.com/ronikamusic

Souvaris

Souvaris Souvaris LP (Gringo Records) In laudable contrast to the usual messy, acrimonious demise, Souvaris have opted for an altogether more dignified end, after twelve years together. Following their final show at Nottingham Contemporary on February 17, they will part as friends, leaving this the concluding chapter in their story.

Souvaris Souvaris is a painstakingly stitched together patchwork of sound, in which the five players explore the full range of their collective craft. It straddles the boundaries of postrock, math-rock and krautrock – although to these aging ears, there are distinct traces of Canterbury prog-rock in there too.

There’s a constant shape-shifting of ideas, which transcends conventional logic. El Puto Amo kicks off in a confidently striding fashion, quickly building in intensity before dipping into more reflective waters. Almost immediately, the tension starts to rebuild, as fuzzed-out washes of sound create a raging squall that eventually resolves into a stately, processional passage. Suddenly the clouds lift, as a simple keyboard line ushers in a friskier, funkier section that briefly nudges towards jazz-rock, before switching to jerky, staccato new wave. It’s a dazzling, tightly executed compression of moods. Following the comfortingly downbeat Mooky, which lulls you into peaceful contemplation, the staggering closer Irreversible leaves you breathless with excitement, as Souvaris negotiate impossible time signatures with consummate ease, concluding their business in fittingly triumphant style. Mike Atkinson Available online and in all good record stores souvaris.bandcamp.com leftlion.co.uk/issue45

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music and theatre event listings...

Friday 09/03

Don’t Forget The Midlands The Old Angel

Cult Fridays Spanky Van Dykes

Farmyard Presents Jamcafé

Saturday 10/03

Emilie Autumn Rock City

Pale Seas Stealth

Smoove & Turrell The Maze

Charles Washington Quintet Nottingham Contemporary

Gang Of Angels Nottingham Playhouse

The Dubliners Royal Centre

Sir John Tomlinson and David Owen Norris Lakeside Arts Centre

Sunday 11/03

The Answer and The Union Rock City

I’m Not From London Presents The Golden Fleece

Monday 12/03

Black Stone Cherry Rock City

Baby Godzilla The Rescue Rooms

The Orange Fandangos and The Unusual Suspects The Maze

Toxigoth The Old Angel

Tuesday 13/03

Boots Electric The Rescue Rooms

Tuesday 13/03 The Great Days Of Wrath Rock City

Atlum Schema The Malt Cross

Manière des Bohémiens The Hand and Heart

Wednesday 14/03

Chaos Battle Of The Bands - Semi 1 The Maze

Peatbog Faeries Lakeside Arts Centre

Only In It For The Munnery Glee’s latest line-up: Rich with talent

A mixture of old faves and new talent will be smashing it at the Glee Club this spring, starting with the man who kicked off the place back in September 2010 legendary deadpan comedy genius Rich Hall. Since appearing in the guise of his redneck alter-ego Otis Lee Crenshaw back in the day, Rich has won critical acclaim across the globe, picking up an Edinburgh Comedy Award along the way – and he’ll be bringing his latest full-length tour show to town on Thursday 8 March.

A mere three days later on Sunday the 11th, Simon Munnery will be swinging by with his latest show Hats Off To The 101ers, And Other Material. Championed by no less than Stewart Lee, Simon’s show will be bringing a melange of foaming bubble hats, superlative jokery, bad guitar riffs, delightful monologues, hand-made engineering feats and an overly ambitious one-man punk musical named after Joe Strummer’s first band.

Bung in the likes of inimitable straight-talking Aussie comic Steve Hughes (Thursday 9 Feb), hotly-tipped young stand-up Josh Widdicombe (fresh off tour with Stephen Merchant, coming to Notts on Thursday 15 March), and combine with the ever-popular live stand-up shows every Friday and Saturday, featuring Des Bishop, Imran Yusuf, Jarred Christmas and Phil Nichol, and it’s an absolutely rammo couple of months by the canal. Check the website for full listings details. glee.co.uk/nottingham

Thursday 15/03

Josh Widdicombe The Glee Club

Centre-Line Bonington Theatre

Girlfixer The Old Angel

Chaos Battle Of The Bands - Semi 2 The Maze

Friday 16/03

Spiritualized The Rescue Rooms

The Bermondsey Joyriders The Old Angel

Cult Fridays Spanky Van Dykes

Saturday 17/03

Seven Little Sisters The Rescue Rooms

Mas Y Mas and DJ Mazzini Nottingham Contemporary

Saturday 17/03

Nottingham Philharmonic Orchestra Royal Centre

Kuss Quartet Lakeside Arts Centre

Highness Soundsystem The Bodega

Sunday 18/03

Chimaira The Rescue Rooms

You Me At Six Rock City

Pesky Alligators The Southbank Bar

3 Eyed Fox The Golden Fleece

Monday 19/03

Sound of Guns The Bodega

SHINY!

Town turns itself into massive disco ball for Light Night this Feb 50% arty-muso binge, 50% family event, 100% glorious city-wide winter splurge, Light Night celebrates its fifth anniversary on Friday 10 February with another colossal evening’s entertainment. More than 23 venues across town will be taking part in this year’s festival, and - unless you’re severely allergic to bright lights and fun - there’ll be something for everyone.

So where to start? Well, the Castle might be a good place, as the events there will be a mixture of illuminated installations (including a giant dragonfly, a massive heart that projects text messages, a flowery soundscape and a thousand home-made lanterns) and non-stop music (including samba bands, Captain Dangerous and Manière des Bohémiens).

As you’d expect on a night like this, the art community will be fully represented. Andy McKeown will be treating the front of the Council House as his personal projection screen, throwing up images of our Motherland’s past, present and future (before he moves off round town to draw things with light, which needs to be seen to be believed).

Meanwhile, the TRACE installation – which fuses local parkour crews with long-exposure photography, resulting in jaw-dropping pictures of familiar buildings – will be on display in the underpass of the Broadmarsh Centre, while eco-artist Sarah Turner’s Bottle Family – a beautifully-lit sculpture made from plastic bottles – will be given an airing on Maid Marian Way.

As you’d expect, Light Night is a proper family event, and if you’ve got any kids knocking about, this is something you need to take them to. You won’t able to find more delightful episodes of randomness, including (but in no way limited to) lantern-lit rickshaw rides round Trinity Square, Indian drumming insanity here and there, a procession of Brian Cloughs by the Arts Centre, and a rare chance to see the beautiful gardens of Bromley House all lit up.

And it’s not just an outdoor event; there’ll be a suite of events occurring in the city’s theatres, art spaces and cinemas, a special DJ and light show at Saltwater, Walkabout will be going insane with UV cannons and bubbles, art projections in conjunction with Nottingham Trent University, and gigs all over the place. That’s just the tip of a very glittery iceberg, and almost all of it is completely free. You really need to get online, download the brochure, and see what takes your fancy, and you can check the full listings on the page over there.

Light Night, across the city, Friday 10 February mynottingham.gov.uk/lightnight

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for more: leftlion.co.uk/listings

Monday 19/03 Tommy Fleming Royal Centre

Tuesday 20/03

Notts In A Nutshell The Maze

Jake Morley and Chris Tye The Glee Club

Joan Baez Royal Centre

Wednesday 21/03

The Milk The Bodega

Pop Will Eat Itself The Rescue Rooms

Thursday 22/03

Room 94 The Rescue Rooms

Sean Collins and Mike Gunn The Glee Club

Chris Allard Band Bonington Theatre

The Amber Herd The Maze

Friday 23/03

O’Hooley and Tidow The Glee Club

Tuesday 27/03

InMe Rock City

Heathens The Malt Cross

The Hotel Ambush The Maze

Wednesday 28/03

Cadence Noir Presents Get Folked The Maze

Ambrose Akinmusire Lakeside Arts Centre

Gemma Hayes The Bodega

Thursday 29/03

Richard Howell The Approach

The Blue Shift The Hand and Heart

The Chilingirian Quartet Lakeside Arts Centre

Friday 30/03

Chaos Battle Of The Bands - Final The Maze

Farmyard Presents Jamcafé

Saturday 31/03

Cult Fridays Spanky Van Dykes

Farmyard Presents Jamcafé

Saturday 24/03

Dreadzone The Rescue Rooms

Graveyard Rock City

Manière des Bohémiens Nottingham Contemporary

Batronic The Maze

University Philharmonia and Choir Lakeside Arts Centre

Altitude Music Festival The Belgrave Rooms

Grouper - Violet Replacement Nottingham Contemporary

The Money The Southbank Bar

Say Sum Thin III Nottingham Playhouse

THEATRE Friday 03/02

The Woolly Tellers Lee Rosy’s Tea Shop

Monday 06/02

The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice Lace Market Theatre Runs until: 11/02

night 2012

Friday 10th February Live Music

Other

The Approach | Urban Intro | from 9pm | FREE

Alley Café | Rigbee Deep Sound System | from 8.30pm | FREE

Blue Bell Inn | Acoustic Night | from 8pm | FREE

Cucamara | DJ Thomas | 8pm-1am | FREE

The Bodega Social Club | Music & Visual Arts Mini Festival | 7-11pm | FREE before 10pm

Dogma | DJ Barksta | 6-10pm | FREE

The Castle | Acoustic Night | from 8pm | FREE

Dogma | DJ Tom Freeman | from 10pm | FREE

Cape | Cape Live | from 8pm | FREE The Cross Keys | Acoustic Night | from 8pm | FREE

Homemade | Fifties Diner Night | 5.30-10.30pm | Contact venue for menu

Edin’s | DIY Poets Present Wine and Rhyme | from 8pm | FREE

Lincolnshire Poacher | MissImp on Fire: Late Night Laughter | 9.30-11pm | FREE

Escucha | We Are Avengers | from 8pm | FREE

Pitcher & Piano | DJ Milton | from 9pm | FREE

Exchange Arcade | Ukeforia | 7pm & 9pm | FREE

Revolution Hockley | DJ Tim Swaine | 5-8pm | FREE

Exchange Arcade | Songs From Around the World | 8pm | FREE

Revolution Hockley | DJ Pete Reynolds | from 9pm | FREE

Fat Cat Café Bar | Daylight Robbery | from 8pm | FREE

Walkabout | DJ Damiano | from 8.30pm | FREE before 11pm (with programme)

Horn in Hand | Boogaloo with Soundstereo.com | from 9pm | FREE

Saltwater | Saltwater DJ’s | from 8pm | FREE

Yates’s | DJ Steve Hubbard | from 9pm | FREE

The Living Room | Blazye Duo | 7.30-9.30pm | FREE Malt Cross | Wholesome Fish | from 8pm | FREE Minus One | Masterman Live | from 8pm | FREE Nottingham Castle | Nottingham Music School | 5.30-9pm | FREE Nottingham Castle | Captain Dangerous | from 7.30pm | FREE Nottingham Castle | Manière des Bohémiens | from 9pm | FREE Nottingham Central Library | Will Jeffery and Band | from 8.15pm | FREE Sneinton Market | Live Music from Various Artists | from 5pm | FREE Tantra | Dick Venom and the Terrortones | from 9pm | £3.50 entry Tilt | Moules & Wiggins | from 10pm | FREE

Join us for these events and so much more on Light Night.

For the full programme, plus special food and drink offers, visit www.mynottingham.gov.uk/lightnight

theatre, art and comedy listings...

Thursday 09/02

DIY Poets Present..

Maze

Monday 13/02

Elektro Kif Nottingham Playhouse Runs until: 14/02

Monday 20/02

DNA Lakeside Arts Centre Runs until: 21/02

Wednesday 22/02

The Road To Mecca Lace Market Theatre Runs until: 25/02

Wednesday 29/02

Forever Young Nottingham Playhouse Runs until: 10/03

Saturday 03/03

Dance4 - Nicola Conibere Practice Nottingham Contemporary

Sunday 04/03

Kangna Nottingham Playhouse

Thursday 08/03

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists Lakeside Arts Centre Runs until: 09/03

Monday 12/03

The Rivals Lace Market Theatre Runs until: 17/03

Tuesday 13/03

Tuesday 14/02

Romeo and Juliet Nottingham Playhouse Runs until: 24/03 The Taming Of The Shrew Royal Centre Runs until: 17/03

Thursday 15/03

The Games Lakeside Arts Centre

Rashid Rana - Everything Is Happening At Once New Art Exchange Runs until: 31/03

Saturday 18/02

Signs for Sounds Harley Gallery Runs until: 09/04

Monday 20/02

Lacuna The Bonington Gallery Runs until: 02/03

Friday 16/03

The Grandfathers Lakeside Arts Centre Runs until: 17/03

Monday 27/02

Saturday 17/03

Dance4 - Katie Ward Rock Steady Nottingham Contemporary

Monday 26/03

BalletBoyz Nottingham Playhouse

Wednesday 28/03

Peppa Pig’s Treasure Hunt Nottingham Playhouse Runs until: 29/03

EXHIBITIONS Wednesday 01/02

Phillip Henderson Broadway

Monday 12/03

Songs of Innocence and of Experience The Bonington Gallery Runs until: 05/04

Alexander Stevenson - Eigg Lectures 2 Broadway

COMEDY

Mondays Malt Cross Pub Quiz Malt Cross

Thomas Demand - Model Stories Nottingham Contemporary Runs until: 15/04

Flashback & Anish Kapoor Nottingham Castle Runs until: 18/03

Yuan-Hsiung Wang and Xue Qian Lakeside Arts Centre Runs until: 20/02

International Postcard Show 2012 Surface Gallery Runs until: 11/02

Wednesdays

The LeftLion Pub Quiz Golden Fleece £2 per team (50p for every member over the six), 9pm - 11pm The Lion Quiz Lion Inn

for more: leftlion.co.uk/listings Thursdays

Monday 20/02

The Big Cheap Quiz Southbank Bar Big Value Comedy Showcase Auditions Just The Tonic

Fri and Sat Live Stand Up Comedy Glee Club Jongleurs Comedy Show Jongleurs Weekend Comedy Just The Tonic

Omid Djalili - Tour Of Duty Nottingham Playhouse Runs until: 21/02

Thursday 23/02

Stewart Lee Nottingham Playhouse

Terry Alderton Lakeside Arts Centre

Friday 24/02

MissImp in Action Glee Club

Friday 09/03

Saturdays Bunkers Hill Comedy Club Bunkers Hill Inn

Sarah Millican Royal Centre

Sunday 11/03

Sundays On The Floor Comedy Approach

Wednesday 01/02

Should I Stay Or Should I Go Maze Setlist - Comedy Without A Net Just The Tonic

Friday 03/02

Breabach Lakeside Arts Centre £12 / £15, 8pm

Sunday 05/02

Upfront Comedy Just The Tonic

Sunday 12/02

Henning Wehn - No Surrender Just The Tonic

Lee Nelson Nottingham Playhouse

Sunday 18/03

The Boy With Tape On His Face Just The Tonic

Tuesday 20/03

Doug Stanhope on Tour Just The Tonic

Thursday 22/03

Kevin Tomlinson - On The Edge Lakeside Arts Centre

Thursday 29/03

Chat Masala With Hardeep Singh Kohli Lakeside Arts Centre

Friday 30/03

MissImp in Action Glee Club

THE NUSIC BOX Your new Notts music tipsheet, courtesy of Nusic’s Mary Ann Pickford

Kagoule

Pushing through the ranks of Calverton, this is a three-piece band who fuse grinding riffs, crashing drums and gritty vocals with a unique tone harking back to the grunge age. No wonder - some of their influences include Nirvana and Sonic Youth. They recently supported Dog Is Dead at Rock City but we felt they deserved even more exposure than that - so we hustled them into Confetti’s Electric Mayhem studio for our latest Future Session (check it out at nusic.org.uk right now). Currently busy with more new material, their Son EP has landed a rave review in this very issue of LeftLion – and that’s just a collection of their early home recordings, so we can’t wait to see what else they bring to the table. Definitely one to watch. soundcloud.com/kagoule

Great British Weather

GBW first caught our eye when they sent in a catchy demo called Anchor, which we featured on our New Music Podcast.

Since then, they’ve been putting in serious graft on the local circuit and beyond, supporting Devlin, The Struts and Mr ‘One And Only’ himself, Chesney Hawkes. Strange combo, eh?

Yeah, they said so themselves. It’s certainly paying off, though; their fanbase is growing steadily, especially since their Future Session with us a couple of months ago where they played an absolute tune called Space Age, which my boss totally loves.

This year they’ve already got things in motion, including a music video for new song Empty Space and more gigs to come.

The songs currently on their Facebook page hint at Foals and The Maccabees; we reckon Great British Weather have what it takes to be right up there with them. facebook.com/greatbritishweatherofficial

Flipside Theory

The dubbier alias of a Confetti student and trance producer – Toton’s very own Alex Wright - Flipside Theory is a side-project exploration into more heavyweight bass sounds, in contrast to the euphoric productions he’s been known for round here since 2007. The seventeen-year-old (yes, he started at thirteen) has already been featured on compilation CDs from Discover and Perceptive Recordings – but our introduction to FT was when he dropped his demo Motherboard Literature at our HQ. Chilled, garage-style beats fused with edgy dubstep wobs with clean and bright trance stylings on the flipside; this is a producer with a maturity far beyond his years - clean and bright, with a definite Ibiza club vibe. It’s good to see that Nottingham’s producers are stepping up to rep the city as hard as the bands are. youtube.com/10alexw01

Hit up leftlion.co.uk/nusic for Nusic’s suite of Notts-music-exclusive podcasts, and head over to nusic.org.uk for the complete NottsTunes experience 28

leftlion.co.uk/issue45

Aquarius (January 20 - February 19)

You started the year thinking about your career and the next twelve months will be important and help to decide your future for the next decade or more. When chances come to climb the ladder you must take them. Aim high and watch out for snakes.

Pisces (February 20 - March 20) Everyone dreams, but not necessarily equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake to find that it was vanity. It’s only the dreamers of the day who are dangerous, for they can act their dream with open eyes to make it possible.

Aries (March 21 - April 20)

Everyone is happy that you have finally kicked the drugs and are looking healthier, fitter and happier than ever before. However, none of them will have the heart to tell you that you are putting out the worst creative product of your career.

Taurus (April 21 - May 21)

You will meet a tall dark stranger this evening – adorned from head to toe in black. He carries a scythe and is a tad on the bony side. If he invites you to walk down a long dark road with him, make sure you stay near the light.

LEFTLION ABROAD Havana, Cuba

Gemini (May 22 - June 22)

You know that your new year diet is going well when you select low fat cheese on your breakfast kebab. Just make sure that you don’t go all anorexic on us. Skinny just isn’t your look dear!

Cancer (June 23 - July 23) There is no shame in admitting that you need help and usually others are only too happy to offer their services. Helping others makes them feel better anyhow, so consider yourself as doing them a favour by taking up their offer.

Leo (July 24 - August 23) Your paranoia can get often the better of you. That guy who keeps knocking on your door every morning is just the postman trying to deliver a parcel. And those voices in your head are only trying to reassure you that you’re not actually mental.

Virgo (August 24 - September 23) This week you are on the verge of a major breakthrough when you discover a drug that allows people in committed and meaningful relationships to have open and honest conversations with each other. The ensuing divorce will bankrupt you.

Libra (September 24 - October 23)

You’re finally ready to forgive yourself for the most embarrassing moment of your lifetime and move on with your life. However the fact that it’s still getting 50,000 hits a day on Youtube is still something of a wounder.

Scorpio (October 24 - November 22) Everyone has a part to play in God’s great plan – so expect movement to happen in mysterious ways. Your role is to cause a distraction, so that God can get away with all the money while noone is looking.

Sagittarius (November 23 - December 22) Uncontrollable spasms will cause you to accidentally deface the walls of your bedroom this week.

This will prove conclusively that orgasms just aren’t worth the trouble they cause.

Capricorn (December 23 - January 19)

It’s important to make sure that communication flows in all aspects of your life. The importance of this will come to the fore this week when you still can’t work out the message being conveyed by the fireman waving franticly at you.

Wherever you go in Havana, you’ll find classic American cars plying the streets because it’s been difficult for many Cubans to purchase new cars since Castro took over in the late 50s. So countless families have managed to maintain the cars they possessed prior to the revolution. In the background of this photo you can also see La Floridita bar, a favoured drinking haunt of American writer Ernest Hemingway and much lauded for it’s daiquiris.

Photo taken by LeftLion Stage Editor Adrian Bhagat on his Christmas across the globe (he’d do anything to escape the panto season) and featuring his missus Kate repping the last issue.

Want to see more photos like this? Then check out leftlion.co.uk/abroad. Want us to publish your holiday snap too? Well, take this copy of the mag with you, get clicking away and then email us the product of your labour to abroad@leftlion.co.uk

leftlion.co.uk/horrorscopes

SU SAYS: IS LEFTLION #46 - DUE OUT ON 30 MARCH 2012 GONNA BE A LOAD OF CACKY ODE RAMMELL?

MY ARSE! 30

leftlion.co.uk/issue45

San Diego

Sandiacre

Population: 1,301,000

Population: 9,000

h saint Named after: A Spanis

Named er: a bit of land withaft all sand on it

San Diego Local football team: m Stadium, om alc Qu L, (NF ers Charg ty) aci cap 70,561 Local naval base Major disadvantage: terrorist attacks for makes it high-risk

Local football team: Sandiacre Town (Midlands Regional All iance, St Giles Park, bring a deckchair) Major disadvantage:

It’s near Derby

spanky van dyke's 17 Goldsmith St Nottingham NG1 5JT web : spankyvandykes.com twitter.com/spankyvandykes facebook : spanky van dykes double-cooked chips west-country beefburgers homemade fried chicken tasty pies Sunday Roasts american craft beers comfy sofas vintage fairs Live music