LeftLion Magazine - February 2008 - Issue 21 by LeftLion

www.alisonhedley.co.uk

contents

May Contain Notts An irreverent look at the last two months in Notts with our very own ‘Mr Sex’

LeftEyeOn A Notts-tastic photo feast from the LeftLion camera crew

The Regeneration Game A look at the changing architectural face of Hoodtown

08 09 11

A Canadian In New Basford Rob Cutforth sounds off about the things he hates in Winter This Is Hardcore We hang out with Britpunk upstarts Gallows Size Matters! Drum and bass legend Roni Size talks exclusively to us

editorial

LeftLion Magazine Issue 21 February-March 2008

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For Your Headphones Only Nottingham’s sonic warrior Dallas Simpson under the spotlight It’s A Kind Of Magic Crime novelist Rod Duncan answers our questions CCAN You Shall Find An interview with Stephanie Webs, Architect of Nottingham’s new contemporary art centre Nottingham Vision A look at the work of prominent architectural photographer Martine Hamilton Knight Artist Profiles Mik Godley, Lady Sophia Bentley Tonge, Sherry Pollitt and Al Greer

Sorry, I Don’t Speak Geek Our resident technogeeks and the best brainteasers in town

LeftLion Presents... Fists, Alice Rock, Dead Souls and Alright the Captain!

Talking About Dub Local dubstepper Geiom talks to LeftLion

Nottingham Events Listings Your complete guide to what’s what in Notts in February and March

Write Lion The best creative writing from the LeftLion forum

Rocky Horrorscopes Our resident clairvoyant meets The Arthole and Notts Trumps

Deputy Editors Al Needham (nishlord@leftlion.co.uk) Nathan Miller (njm@leftlion.co.uk) Technical Director Alan Gilby (alan@leftlion.co.uk) Marketing and Sales Manager Ben Hacking (ben@leftlion.co.uk) Art Director David Blenkey (reason@leftlion.co.uk) Art Editor Amanda Young (amanda@leftlion.co.uk) Theatre Editor Adrian Bhagat (adrian@leftlion.co.uk) Community Editor Charlotte Kingsbury (charlotte@leftlion.co.uk) Literature Editor James Walker (books@leftlion.co.uk) Music Editors Natasha Chowdhury (natasha@leftlion.co.uk) Robojude (jude@leftlion.co.uk)

Thanks for picking up another copy of our small, but perfectly formed magazine. For anyone who might have discovered a copy for the first time, we reserve a special ‘hello’. If you don’t know anything about us then we’ve been rocking Nottingham for four and a half years now. As well as the publication you hold in your hands, we run monthly gigs, a weekly pub quiz, a very popular website and chat forum and do occasional other things to pass the time outside of our high-flying executive jobs. We even sold a hundred limited edition tea towels just before Christmas. Woo! In this issue we look at some of the architectural developments that have been going on in Notts over the past few years (and will continue for several more). We talk to the architect of the new Centre for Contemporary Art in town and feature a gallery from architectural photographer extraordinaire Martine Hamilton Knight. As the face of our fair city continues to change we at LeftLion are more than happy to embrace the future, but we also wish it would hurry up a little. Ever get the feeling that you’ve lived on a building site for several years now? Also featured in this issue are interviews with a couple of more than able musicians soon to be visiting Notts. Roni Size is a man who shouldn’t really need an introduction… apart from perhaps playing those spine-tingling opening bars of Brown Paper Bag. He’s bringing his live band back to Notts for a gig at the Rescue Rooms in February. We’ll be there reprazenting! Also in the house are the UK’s newest punk rock phenomenon Gallows. Despite the roof coming down (quite literally) during their last gig in Hoodtown, the band do have cause to thank our fair city for their recent success. The first record label that put out their Orchestra of Wolves album was In At The Deep End, who are based around here. Hopefully they got some cash out of that big deal with Warners too! Apart from these you will find the usual array of features and fun. Rob Cutforth is feeling a little miserable about the winter, Nottingham’s ‘Mr Sex’ is hanging around Oceana trying to catch a glimpse of Prince William and Roger Mean is with him sharpening his scalping equipment… just in case. Laters duck!

credits Editor Jared Wilson (jared@leftlion.co.uk)

Ayup,

jared@leftlion.co.uk

Listings Editors Tim Bates (timmy@leftlion.co.uk) Florence Gohard (florence@leftlion.co.uk) Photography Editor Dominic Henry (dom@leftlion.co.uk) Photographers Al Greer Bob Meyrick Jamie Allan Jonathan Blackmore Jon Rouston Sherry Pollitt Illustrators Alison Hedley Ging Inferior Rob White Cover Illustration Alex Godwin Resident Clairvoyant Roger Mean Sound Bloke Mike Cheque

‘If you have embraced a creed which appears to be free from the ordinary dirtiness of politics - a creed from which you yourself cannot expect to draw any material advantage - surely that proves that you are in the right?’ George Orwell (1903-1950) Correspondence Address LeftLion, care of Stone Soup, The Oldknows Factory, St Anns Hill Road, Nottingham. NG3 4GP If you would like to reach our readers by advertising your company in these pages please contact Ben on 07984 275453 or email ben@leftlion.co.uk LeftLion has an estimated readership of 40,000 in the City of Nottingham. In January 2007 LeftLion. co.uk received over 500,000 page views. This magazine is printed on paper sourced from sustainable forests. Our printers are ISO 14001 certified by the British Accreditation Bureau for their environmental management system.

Alex Godwin Cover Artist Alex Godwin (imbilly) designed the front cover of this month’s LeftLion. She is a freelance designer living and working in Nottingham. Alex’s favourite pastime is colouring in and she thinks if she can make a living out of doing that then she will probably be quite happy. Alex welcomes any interest in her work, check it out at www.myspace.com/alexgodwin or e-mail her at godalexwin@hotmail.co.uk

Alan Gilby Technical Director Alan is Technical Director and one of the founders of LeftLion. He built the LeftLion website and builds others to make a living. If he’s not staring intently at his laptop he’s probably having a pint of ale in the Golden Fleece or fighting brambles in his allotment. alan@leftlion.co.uk

Legal Guru Amanda Ball www.leftlion.co.uk/issue21

MAY CONTAIN NOTTS with Nottingham’s ‘Mr. Sex’ Al Needham

Wonderful Public Transport I love train journeys and public transport. They remind me that I’m a normal person living around ‘normal’ people. Public Transport is transport for the masses. Still wish they’d sort out space for bikes being transported though. Sara It’s fucking expensive. More expensive than taking your car. What is the point? And then the companies say ‘Well, we have to make a profit.’ No you don’t, because you shouldn’t be running the fucking stuff anyway. Badgaaar I guess what Sara’s getting at is you get all sorts of people travelling on public transport? A different sort of freedom maybe? Sure has given me a smile this morning, but yeah get it re-nationalised. d-lusion People on buses and trains stink. Z It’s all about buses and bikes in this day and age, especially bikes. It costs nowt, it damages the environment nowt, traffic is no issue and it dusts the smoky cobwebs from the lungs and keeps ya ticker happy. nuclear beats I haven’t been on any form of public transport in the last four years and fully intend never to use it again. Always late and you have to put up with the scum of the earth breating and talking near you. Euuurggghhhhhhh. Very Metal I like it when you start conversations with strangers sitting next to you. I always find it so strange how everyone just switches off, it’s way more fun making conversation and it makes the journey go so much faster. On my last train journey I got about six people all having a conversation whilst sober. Happy times! Alix I’m lucky at the moment because I walk to work, but I agree the whole system needs sorting. The bus fare from Rudd into town has nearly doubled, meaning it’s far cheaper to actually drive into town and park up. MrGeesBigCircus Today in the toilet on my train to work, there were five whole stuffed olives floating, all in a row. The joys of public transport; I won’t be eating olives for a while. A few months ago I came across a pair of false teeth on the floor in the toilet at Nottingham train station. madam ant’s pants

NOTTINGHAM STREET NAMES In Radford the streets are named after guns - Rifle Street, Gatling Street, etc. I always wonder if they regret it now. megamanX The gun ones were all to do with war, there’s also Redoubt Street, Bastion Street and Citadel Street. And there’s some named after parts of London, crap ones too, like Croydon Road, Norwood Road, Brixton Road, Dulwich Road and Clapham Street. Round the Garvey are a couple of the Raleigh streets left: Cycle Road, Dunlop Avenue and Triumph Road. Yer Mam’s Fat Ass In the late eighties a set of new roads on a new housing estate got named after Forest players. Think it was Pearce, Carr, Parker and Walker. Maybe Hodge too. Jared Mapperley Park is a bit exotic; Ebers Road and Grove are named after the historian who unearthed the ancient Egyptian use of papyrus, Zulla Road after the Arabic term for sanctuary and Magdala Road after an Ethiopian battleground. Parts of West Bridgford all sound like a Victorian family: Mabel Grove, Ella Road, Henry Road, Millicent Road, George Road, Victoria Road… Lord of the Nish In New Basford we have the Egyptian quarter - Rosetta Road, Egypt Road, Cairo Road, Suez Street. peej

December 2007-January 2008 1 December

My my, to Havant and Waterlooville Notts County did surrender. Oh yeah. They met their destiny in the usual familiar way. The Football Post up on the shelf. Is always repeating itself. Etc.

3 December The time of everyone involved in the local legal system is wasted by two slack-jawed yokel cousins from Eastwood who decide to liven up a dull evening in one of the more horrible bars around the Square by having a play-fight with pool balls in socks. Next time you’re in the pub and you’re having a moan about Babylon, recall this story and remember; this is what the police have to deal with every fucking day. If your Mam’s been burgled again, and it’s taken the coppers ages to come round, don’t blame New Labour or the council or the New World Order; it’s because they’ve had to wipe the arses of a couple of window-lickers from the more mediaeval parts of Nottinghamshire who decided to have a game of Human Conkers in order to work out which one of them was the Daddy-Uncle-Brother. 4 December Members of the Sherwood Foresters march through town after returning from Afghanistan. They are watched by 10,000 people – half as many than the turnout for BBC Radio Nottingham presenter Dennis McCarthy’s funeral. That’s not right, is it? 6 December Two life-sized cutouts of Brian Blessed get nicked in town. As you are reading this, somewhere in a bedroom in Nottingham, a woman is smoking a fag in a post-coital haze, pausing every now and then to put her arms around two Brian Blessed cut-outs, going ‘Ha Ha Haaaaaa!” and shaking them until their strap-ons wobble like sunflowers in the breeze.

7 December A pinheaded bell-end from the Meadows gets four years in the naughty house after going to his girlfriend’s house out of his mash on space drugs and magic monkey juice, banging on the door, threatening to kill everyone inside if they called ‘the feds’, forcing his way into the house and then falling down the stairs after trying to nick a handbag. It was only when he left that he realised he’d got the wrong house entirely.

11 December The Kitchen Nightmares episode set in the Curry Lounge on Parliament Street is aired on Channel 4, featuring loads of shots of Gordon Ramsay poncing about in the Square (presumably to show how absolutely rock he is strutting about right in the middle of Assassination City) and shouting. At the end of the show, the restaurant is packed out, which might be something to do with the fact that a camera crew was there.

18 December East Midlands Trains announce the launch of a £1.50 single from Nottingham to London. The Evening Post’s website is bombarded by moaning comments about the lack of free tea and coffee.

24 December Santa comes.

3 January Some ponce-box dwellers in the Lace Market start moaning about a local bar applying for a late licence, which is about fuckwitted as living on Pluto and complaining that there’s not a Greggs nearby. How dare you try to force us to forego our right to get kaylide, shout at the opposite sex in the street and generally try to forget that we’ve got shit jobs to go to in the morning. Just because you were sucky enough to buy a shoebox in our city centre because you were conned by all those shitty property programmes on Channel 4.

January 5 Sneinton now wants to be known as Sneinton Village. So what? I want to be known as King Sex I of Nottingham, Supreme Overlord of the East Midlands and Pleasurer of Women Everywhere, and that’s not going to happen either, is it?

7 January The shortlist for the Clough statue is announced. One of them looks like he’s wearing the kind of boots sported by Monkey whenever he was beating the shit out of demons with a big stick, or telling Pigsy to sort hissen out when he’d fallen in love with another Slug Monster pretending to be a saucy lady. Another one

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looks like Brian had celebrated his retirement by ripping a Forest logo off the side of the Trent End and was pegging it for a bus.

8 January According to a local survey, Bulwell has taken the accolade of having the highest percentage of people in Notts who buy sportswear and the highest percentage of people who do no sporting-related activity whatsoever. Doesn’t shock me at all. I used to live near there, and the only sporting facility the locals ever used was a short-cut wobble across the golf course to get to Tesco and the nearest bingo hall. Fact: there is so much sportswear in Bulwell, the council actually considered adding an extra rail to the section of tramline that runs through there, so it would look like the place had an Adidas stripe across it when viewed from Google Earth.

10 January Teas across the East Midlands are ruined when a Mansfield lad who couldn’t get the NHS to get rid of his massive, twospacehoppers-in-a-cupboard knockers caused by a hormonal imbalance lobs ‘em out on the local news. I’m worried that it might be some kind of virus and by the summer Nottingham will be plagued by gangs of brick shithouses from Mansfield in bra tops and rabbit ears, pushing men into corners at Jumpin’ Jaks and bellowing ‘Oi! Youth! Get yoh maath raand me raht big tittehs, or ah’ll foo-kin’ pan yoh!’

13 January Jermaine Pennant gets shamed, guy, when his Dad pops up on the front of the News Of The World in ‘No-Go crime zone Radford’ (even though there’s a bus service and everything). He’s been selling crack to prostitutes, injecting heroin, and – probably most shameful of all for any son – lolling about on the floor in front of the fireplace in his pants.

17 January The former bassist of Hepburn turns up in the local paper, after it’s revealed that she’s now working as a Detective Constable in a Notts village. ITV immediately commission a TV series featuring her, the little one in B*Witched, Lolly and all of Vanilla bringing order to Assassination City with pure girl power. Possibly with her out of Bucks Fizz as the firm-but-fair gaffer who plays it by the book but wants results.

18 January Prince William perambulates into town for the Francesca, ending up in Twat Church (better known as the Pitcher & Piano) and Oceana before nipping across the road to Food Factreh for battered swan, peas and chips.

LeftEyeOn LeftEyeOn

Some choice cuts from our galleries at www.leftlion.co.uk the online LeftLion photographers at www.leftlion.co.uk

Clockwise from top left Blue Square - A rare bit of blue sky peeking out over a chilly Old Market Square - Jonathan Blackmore Guy Barker - The famous UK jazz trumpeter with his fourteen piece big band performed The Amadeus Project at Arnoldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bonington Theatre, an acclaimed take on Mozarts work - Bob Meyrick Clipstone Pit - Now in the final stages of demolition the Mansfield colliery and local landmark, which closed in 2003, will soon be no more - Jon Rouston Stags on the Shore - Mansfield Town fans travelled to Brighton in January for the FA Cup third round, which they won 2-1, a highlight of a season which has otherwise been a washout. The run wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t to last though, they were knocked out by Middlesborough later in January - Jonathan Blackmore Manu Chao - The world music player was on top form for his tour date at Rock City last year - Al Greer

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The Regeneration Game Another week, another sheaf of artists’ impressions. Another month, another bit of land encrusted with shopping trolleys becomes the site of another complex of hotels, offices and bars. Sounds like a good idea in principle, but where’s the money coming from? And will it be worth the hassle of having spent twenty years living on a city-wide building site when it’s all done - if it ever is? words: Gabrielle Morgan illustrations: Ging Inferior So, Regeneration: is it the cure to all of Nottingham’s ills, or is there a whiff of the Emperor’s New City about it? In today’s parlance, regeneration is associated with (and seemingly necessary for) tackling deprivation, raising aspiration, preventing crime, encouraging economic activity; improving health and safety and providing opportunities for employment and training. All noble causes, you’ll agree. But it isn’t that simple. For starters, there’s a whole swathe of agencies and bodies fighting over every bit of available space like at the end of a game of Monopoly. These include; One Nottingham, Nottingham Regeneration Limited (NRL), the East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA), the Neighbourhood Development Company, Greater Nottingham Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT), Experience Nottingham and the Regeneration, Infrastructure and Sustainability Standing Panel. But does their idea of what Nottingham needs correspond with yours? So far, the game seems to be working. The old Ice Stadium was transformed into a major sports venue and somewhere to put the X-Factor Roadshow. A rather tatty Old Market Square has regained its status as the focal point of the city, a tram network is in place and the Broadway cinema became a full-on media centre, to name but a few welcome improvements. If it stopped there, we’d be more than happy. But this is just the start; apparently, an estimated 3 billion quid’s worth of investment is coming our way, with the Southside (the bit between the train station and the Meadows), Eastside (Sneinton) and Waterside (from Broadmarsh to the train station) areas being transformed into cool, modern spaces with more offices, retail outlets, public parks, housing and, for all we know, zero-G kickboxing centres. There’s no denying that Nottingham is attempting a transition from industry to science and technology, with BioCity and

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GameCity starting to make their presence felt, and agencies have also identified similar potential in creative and cultural industries. This kind of activity isn’t just a local thing, of course; regeneration has been a watchword of New Labour and ties in with their many ‘community’ initiatives. Naturally, as with all political initiatives, there has been a lot of criticism from all sides; some say regeneration fails to make best use of the resources available, puts equality over enterprise and that there is a misguided emphasis on formal representation rather than on direct practical involvement. For such proponents, regeneration projects should be led by skilled – and sometimes ruthless – leaders who get results, not by conflicted committees with competing interests. On the other hand, the public who see ‘Consultation’ as being a merely cosmetic exercise designed to elicit justification for the desired plan, and are fed up with projects that don’t really affect them or involve them. Remember Labour’s ‘Big Conversation’? Me neither. One Nottingham tried this approach and were accused of ‘mandate-manipulation’ in 2005 when they published an online questionnaire designed to ‘ascertain the priorities of Nottingham people’ by asking them to agree or disagree with statements along the lines of ‘I would like to see a 10% reduction in crime’ and ‘Improved health services are a priority to me’. All answers defaulted to ‘strongly agree’ and there was no facility to rank your priorities or add comment (e.g. ‘I DISAGREE with a 10% reduction in crime, because I want to see a 50% reduction’). It’s right to scrutinise of course; One Nottingham have responsibility from central Government to create a strategic plan for Nottingham, in partnership with all the major players such as the Police, education institutions, health services and so on and to spend the government’s money (i.e. our taxes) to make it happen.

However, not all the money comes from this pot, which is where the problems start. There is serious money to be made from partnerships of various guises - not least due to the amazing boom in property and land prices. Therefore many schemes are sponsored, shared with or entirely backed by companies seeking to turn a profit whilst improving the lie of the land. However, the lie of the land is shifting; with the credit crunch upon us and rumblings of discontent about the actual effects of redevelopment on deprived communities and the general malaise brought about by living on a glorified building site, the locals are getting restless. It goes without saying that any money spent on Nottingham needs to go to the right places. You don’t need to commission a raft of consultants to realise where the money should go – towards redeveloping the suburbs and inner city areas. Priorities should be better lighting, more security, community centres, affordable and safe housing, a vastly improved educational infrastructure, sports facilities and outdoor parks - not more bars and ponce-boxes. This actually makes business sense too; there’s little point trying to attract new businesses to populate these buildings if their staff refuse to uproot and re-locate here, or the locals don’t have the qualifications to get jobs there. Even though the reputation of Nottingham is blown out of all proportion by the media, we all know the problems this town has. Furthermore, we all know that £3,000,000,000 spent in the right way would go a long way towards sorting them out. An office, hotel and leisure complex on a bit of wasteground near Sneinton would be good, but being able to walk home in Forest Fields without worrying about the lack of lighting would be better.

Nottingham - It’ll be nice when it’s finished, honest... But when the dust clears and the scaffolding comes down, will we like what we see? We commissioned a city-wide survey of one person - Nottingham’s ‘Mr Sex’. He told us what buildings need to be preserved, what buildings ought to be pulled down like a dirty pair of knickers, and what really impressive and outstanding erections Nottingham ought to be sporting in the near future…

BUILD THESE IN NOTTINGHAM NOW 1. Rebuild Nottingham Castle, and make it look like Castle Grayskull

Yes, it might be a country mansion-like building, but let’s be honest; Nottingham ‘Castle’ is one of the most disappointing aspects of the city for tourists, after the ‘not being five women to every bloke’ thing. Let’s do it proper, rip it down, and replace it with a huge placcy playset thing that allows kiddies to fire polystyrene boulders at Yates.

2. Install a UFC octagon in the Market Square at weekends

Okay, so we’ve had ice skating, but now is the time to showcase Nottingham’s favourite weekend spectator sport; watching meatheads put the fist to the face. Imagine; no more flying glass or upturned tables in pubs, comfy ringside seats (VIP area on the Council House balcony) and the chance to see the flower of our youth settle their differences in an entertaining manner. Gee ‘im a pannin’, Terreh!

4. Build an extra dome on the Council House

We may be attracting a few stag dos and hen parties these days, but - for some reason that I’ve never worked out – we’re being outperformed by less important places like Prague, Amsterdam and Barcelona. What can we do to get more pissed-up giggling imbeciles into our lovely city? Give the Council House a big renking pair of jubblies, that’s how.

5. Garden gnomes of rubbish Forest managers clustered round the new Clough statue

It’s all very well paying tribute to someone who won a bit of silver last century, but what about the people who helped make Forest one of the titans of Third Division football? Ooh look – is that David Platt, pushing a wheelbarrow of rubbish Italians? And is that Gary Megson on a toadstool? Ha ha, look at Dave Beasant and Big Ron fishing in that puddle of vomit! And so on.

SMASH IT

Buildings in Notts that should be mashed down right now

3. Erect the Colossus of Su Pollard over the Trent

It has to be said that, for the visitor to our fair city, the initial sights that greet them on the train are most unedifying (Nottingham Not Really A Castle, Inland Revenue POW Camp, that graffiti piece that reads ‘Suck your Mum’). What we really need is something massive – I’m thinking summat bold, modern and visible from Loughborough, if not Leicester – that says “OOH! You are approaching NOTTINGHAM! MISS CATHCART!”

SAVE IT

Buildings in Notts that should be left well alone

Broadmarsh bus station

The dangling of monochromatic clag from the whiffy concrete arsehole of 1970’s town planning.

Every Watson Fothergill building

Inland Revenue offices

Virtually every Victorian building in town worth a toss was down to him, including the amazing Black Boy hotel on Long Row, which was torn down and replaced by the manky Littlewoods building.

Thanks to this monstrosity, the first building Southerners see when they arrive on the train resembles a Nazi POW camp.

Jubilee Campus, Nottingham University

Pearl Assurance Building

So what if they had to take all the books out to prevent it sinking into the water? Its looks mint.

The building on the corner of King Street

New home of the Clough statue and now thankfully bereft of that horrible Hard Rock Café logo.

Clock Tower, Victoria Centre

The last remnants of a lovely train station, bolted on to a minging shopping centre.

Green’s Windmill

Horribly reminiscent of the massive tombstone in the AIDS prevention adverts of the early eighties.

Maid Marion Way car park

A multi-tiered grey cake of wrongness.

Capital One building

Not so much for the architecture, but for its name – Loxley House – which is yet another attempt to link Robin Hood to a soul-raping credit monolith.

Nuff said.

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Rob Cutforth gets a right cob-on about Notts in winter, the mithering get. 2. Fat white-trash pricks in Ryanair lines at East Midlands airport. I’ve travelled on Ryanair a number of times and have noticed a remarkable thing. Because Ryanair is cheap and doesn’t assign seats, a person’s very place in society becomes wildly apparent depending on where he or she stands in the queue. I’ve created a formula to demonstrate; I call it the ‘Ryanair Chav Deducing Formula’, and it looks like this:

Winter in Nottingham is depressing. Especially February. My winter double chin is still firmly in place from Christmas, I’ve already given up on my New Year’s resolutions and the weather is a mix of grey, dull and morose. There’s not even a bank holiday this month; February sucks. February is easily my grouchiest time of year, so I’ve chosen this column to vent my top ten Nottingham pet peeves from the past year. Don’t get me wrong, I love the place, but sometimes I feel like walking around the town centre with a baseball bat and clubbing you people, baby seal-style, to death.

C = (T x 1/qp) x 1000 where: C = Chavviness T = Time in hours until flight arrives qp = queue placement

10. Croc shoes and ‘I love Jesus’ belts. I know this is not a Nottingham-only problem; it’s not even an England-only problem, but something has to be said. A world where the old people are wearing fluorescent pink shoes and the kids are using their clothing to proclaim their undying adoration of the Big Haysoos is not a world in which I want to live. Kids should be covered in Anarchy symbols and piercings, and the old folks should be wearing sensible footwear and accompanying flat cap; it’s the natural order of things.

If your flight is three hours away, and you are the only one in the queue, you have a Chavviness rating (CR) of 3000 ((3 x 1/1) x1000), which by all intents and purposes is the most Chavvy a person can be. Chavs of this magnitude usually travel in a family of 20, all of whom need to sit close to each other so the Mother Chav doesn’t have to reach far to deliver her pre-prepared Marmite sandwiches. Getting in line this early also guarantees that the kids will be well within smacking range on the plane. If you get in line 10 minutes before the flight is scheduled to land and you are in 20th place in the queue, you have a very respectable CR of 5 ((0.1 X 1/20) X 1000). If the flight has landed, and you are just entering the queue, you have a CR of 0. You are either in the priority queue or you have figured out that on a twohour flight, it doesn’t matter where you sit.

9. People who put ‘dude’ and ‘awesome’ in their texts to me because I’m Canadian. Yeah, I know I say them both (a lot), but there’s no need to tease a brother. 8. Chavs ruining hoodies for me. Canadians love hoodies. They have a much different connotation in Canada than they do here, being a garment associated with warmth and comfort. In the Fargo-esque Canadian province of Saskatchewan they’re actually called ‘bunny hugs’. I wonder if they would be as popular in Bulwell if they knew they were happyslapping someone while wearing a bunny hug? Somehow I doubt it. 7. Viccy Centre Tescos. Can we stop building apartments and get a decent grocery store in the city centre, please? I don’t know about you, but having to do the “stranger dry-hump shuffle” while squeezing past the 800 people in that store every time I need a box of Cheerios is not my idea of a good time. 6. Skating outdoors and snowboarding indoors. I know winter in Nottingham can be gloomy, but a desire to skate in the rain is a symptom of serious mental illness. I’ve heard of taking lemons and making lemonade, but creating an outdoor rink in a climate that rarely goes below freezing is like taking lemons and genetically modifying them into strawberries. Canadians have been sliding sideways on icy roads, defrosting their eyelashes and wearing

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The average CR in the East Midlands Airport is somewhere in the low thousands. Higher on an Ibiza flight.

long johns for the past three months; outdoor skating and snowboarding are all we’ve got. Unless “dude, that was a gnarly hit” is a part of your vocabulary or every second word that comes out of your mouth contains an umlaut, you have no right to have snowboarding or outdoor skating in your country. 5. Girls with the sideways ponytails that give me the finger when I’m on the bus. What did I ever do to you? Stop it. 4. Emos in front of the Council House. I don’t have a problem with Emos per se, but I hate to see the youth of today not putting in the proper

effort. If you are going to adopt the black jeans, black hair and ‘fuck you, Society’ attitude, at least have the common courtesy to adopt the black trenchcoat and manic depression that go along with it. The only thing worse than being Goth is being Goth Lite. 3. Dads at Meadow Lane. I know you think football is an important thing in your son’s life, but is calling the linesman a “fucking wanker” something a ten-year-old boy should be allowed to do? You are preparing the young lad for a life of dole checks and selling fruit in the street. Well done, mate.

1. The Nottingham accent. I hate it. Not because it sounds like a noseplug-wearing stroke victim, oh no, that I can deal with. I hate it for how bloody easy it is to fall into. I’ve just have come back from the sandwich shop downstairs where I said to the cashier (and I quote) “Hiyaah! Bacon cob braahn sauce mate.” Not a single preposition or conjunction. I have also lost all comprehension of tense and conjugation since I’ve moved here. In fact, I feel like calling myself a “right ponce” and slapping myself stupid just for knowing what ‘conjugation’ means. I even called my own mother “mate” on the phone the other day. The woman who went through 20-some hours of labour to bring my sorry ass into this world is apparently just my mate now. It’s not right, I tell you…

English punk rock phenomenon Gallows have smashed their way into the UK music scene over the past twelve months. Their debut album Orchestra of Wolves was originally released on Nottingham’s In At The Deep End records before being picked up by Warners. This soon catapulted them to cover star status with magazines such as the NME and Kerrang! and a collaboration single with grime star Lethal Bizzle, which helped to further their cross-genre appeal. We had a chat with founder member and guitarist Laurent Barnard about touring, tattoos and breaking the US market. words: Jared Wilson Tell us about Orchestra of Wolves. I’ve had a listen through and it’s pretty fierce. What were you trying to do with it? It’s full of angst and it’s pretty feisty. When we recorded it we only had a thousand pounds to do it all. So it’s got a real raw urgency. That’s what I think is really great about the record. It’s really raw and full of passion. It’s gone down well with the critics. You must be pleased about that… Yeah. That’s the best thing. The fact that so many people from so many walks of life have picked up on the record. It was popular among the punk and hardcore scene first, but then magazines like NME and Kerrang! picked up on it too. You’ve just signed a million pound deal with Warners. Is that a lot of money for the industry? It is a lot of money, but it gets spent on so much. It includes all our touring crew, the tour support, making and marketing videos and the idea is that the record company want to make that money back out of you. So you can fall into a bit of a trap with it, especially in an environment like today when record sales are at an all-time low. But I see it as a gesture of faith and they’re really into what we’re doing. So you’re not millionaires yet then? Ah, dude I wish! I still live at home with my parents. We’re on tour so much that it’s not really worth us renting or having somewhere just yet. Frank (vocals) moved back in with his parents too. We’re probably not as punk as you might think sometimes… Do you think with the backing of Warners you can break in the US? Well, we’re actually signed to Epitaph in America. That’s the biggest punk rock label there is out there and we’re starting on our headline tour tomorrow, so the early signs are good. But you’ve just got to see how it goes I guess. We’ve played on tours out there and we supported people like Bad Religion, but this will be the first time we get to play to our own fans out there.

You spent most of 2007 on tour. Any special memories? My favourite was the Reading festival. The tent was totally rammed and the crowd were singing along louder than our instruments. It was just incredible! Is that the gig where Frank got tattooed onstage? Yeah. We were chatting about it before the show and he decided that if it was a good show then he wanted to remember it forever. He had all the gear set up on the side and he just went and did it. It was a laugh, but also a nice thing for him to be able to remember that moment for the rest of his life. The tattoo was of a lock with seven marks on it - as we played the Lock Up stage and the seven dots represented 2007. Have you got any tattoos? I may have a few… Before the band took off, Frank was a professional tattooist. Has he ever tattooed you? Yes, he has done my upper arm. He did an eagle smashing a guitar, with ‘rock and roll’ written underneath. What about the rest of the band? What are they like? Stu (bass guitar) is pretty accomplished in the art of drinking alcohol and usually finishes off our rider before anyone else gets a chance. Stef is Frank’s brother and he only joined the band in summer 2006. He filled in for a guitarist who left and slotted in so well that we decided to keep him. Lee plays drums and is the dependable and organised one. He always makes sure we know what’s going on and keeps us up to date with all the stuff we should be checking ourselves. Frank is one of the most passionate people I know and anything he does he puts 200% effort in, which is a really important part of being in Gallows. Your track In the Belly of a Shark is on Guitar Hero 3. Are you a fan of the game? How do you feel about commercial use of your music… I’ve been playing it loads recently as we all got given a copy.

We had it on the tourbus in America over the summer and played it quite a bit. At the end of the day being on that game is something that we all totally dig. But our friends in The Automatic were asked if they could have their track used on a spot removal advert and they turned it down. We do get asked if anyone wants to use a track commercially, but no-one is going to say no to that game. We’ve done that and Tony Hawk’s Skateboarding as they’re both games we like and play ourselves. But to be honest we don’t get offered loads of that stuff as our music is not really your standard advert fodder. How did the track and friendship with Lethal Bizzle come about? We met Bizzle in Texas at the South by Southwest festival and everyone out there was big on their grime. We both checked out each other’s shows and liked what we saw. So we did a track together that was originally going to be given away free on the cover of a magazine. But then the record label heard it and wanted to keep it for a single. Rock City is pretty legendary around these parts. Are you looking forward to your gig there? We played the basement in Rock City before and the whole ceiling came down, so I think we’ve been moved to the bigger room to prevent anything like that ever happening again. Frank has been pretty vocal that the shelf life of the band is probably only a few years or so. Do you agree with this? If so, what will you do after? I think you can’t really judge the shelf life of a band as there’s no kind of job security or guarantees about how things will work out. As with anything artistic or creative, things change all the time and we could split up tomorrow or we could last another ten years. Gallows play at Rock City on Tuesday 19 February. www.gallows.co.uk www.leftlion.co.uk/issue21

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words: Jared Wilson

Roni Size is a bit of a legend to anyone who loves drum and bass. His name is synonymous with the ‘Bristol Sound’ – a scene that helped to form the roots of UK jungle and drum and bass. Mr Size, however, took it all to a new level setting up the live band Reprazent and releasing New Forms, an album that went on to claim 1997’s Mercury Music prize (beating off competition from Radiohead, the Prodigy, Chemical Brothers and, erm, The Spice Girls). Now he’s back reworking that classic album and playing at a venue near you. We caught up with him for a chat... You started out in music by attending Wild Bunch parties. What was the Bristol scene like back in those days? Absolutely wicked. I’m a lucky guy to have been there. Nowadays I drive through St Paul’s and I can look back in time at all the people and the parties. Those days were phenomenal. It was so wicked to be there. I carry that history with me, man! There were a lot of people who used to travel down from the outskirts, like Goldie, who were involved too. But Bristol was kicking, man! It’s been a decade since Reprazent won the Mercury Music Prize. Is it still hard to take in that it all happened? I suppose so. I won a MOBO, the Mercury and also a Q Magazine award. They were really exciting times for me, as prior to that we’d been working really hard trying to build something. To get all those accolades was great for me and hopefully for drum and bass. It was never necessarily a goal to win anything, but that’s my mark in history. I’ll always have something to leave behind when I’m not here. So how did the Reprazent crew first meet? Well, it was mainly coincidence, but we bonded through a love of music. I met Krust when I went for a job interview, I met Die when he was skateboarding, I met Suv because he used to come to my studio, I met Dynamite through DJing and I met Onalee because she used to sing jingles to me for my radio show. Most of us met through coincidence and the love of music. We first got together as the Full Cycle band (also the name of their label) and did a load of stuff for V Recordings. New Forms was made during that time, through the process of us working each other out and learning to play together. So you’re re-releasing New Forms? Yeah. Universal decided to re-release the album as a deluxe copy with new tracks and videos. So I suggested that we put a whole new coat of armour on the album by re-editing it. I’ve been in the studio and taken all the best elements from the first record and basically remade it. It’s the way I wish I’d made it in 1997 and I’ve thrown in a few new tracks as well. Are Suv, Die and Krust still involved? I ask since the Reprazent touring group is just you, Onalee and Dynamite MC. No, not really. The whole live show is geared around Dynamite, Onalee, myself and the band. The other DJs like Die, Suv and Krust are now engaged in their own projects and they’re happy doing that stuff.

What was it like working with Method Man and Zack de la Rocha on your In The Mode album? Working with any established artist is a next level thing. You learn as a producer that there are stages in a producer’s life and working with those guys you realise that you’re in first class. I’ve learned so much from working with them, as well as Cypress Hill and other A-list artists. Can we expect any more from the Breakbeat Era group in the future? No. That was a one-off project and it will never happen again. Actually, never say never. I suppose if they wanted to sit down and talk about what could be done then I’d be happy to negotiate, but to be honest with you we left it behind. That was then and this is now. Which other artists are you feeling at the moment? I’ll be honest with you, I’ve just taken a whole year out of music entirely. For the three years before that I’d been DJing and it got to a point where I felt the music I was playing didn’t represent who I was. It really came home to me at one point when I went to Ibiza and played a five hour set. Afterwards I was sitting there questioning what I was doing and Carl Cox, who I was staying with, said to me that he thought I probably needed to take some time out, switch off from music and go away and get some enthusiasm back. So I haven’t really listened to anything over the last year. What’s your opinion on the ever increasing beats per minute of drum and bass? Drum and bass is the energy of the youth. When you go to a club like Fabric and the bass drops it just sounds fat. The kids love it! It’s always been like that. As a producer I always think that different things happen at different tempos. So when you’re searching for the new groove, maybe it’s 160 or 170 or 180 BPM. But the music has been around for long enough now and it still keeps getting faster and faster. That’s the way this shit rolls, baby… So, do you prefer doing DJ sets or the live sets with Reprazent? It depends. Sometimes I’ll be doing DJ sets for ages then I’ll have had enough. But sometimes I just like to sit in the studio and clean my palette. So now I can’t wait to get out there and start playing live again as I have a massive amount of new stuff to play. There’s a saying in Jamaica that ‘too much of nuttin is good for nuttin’ and I agree with that.

What music do you put on the stereo at home? It depends what mood I’m in. Sometimes I’ll listen to an Ibiza tape and sometimes I’ll listen to a Saxon tape. I still listen to cassette tapes at home you see. I’ve got an iPod, but to be honest I don’t use it much. Have you been to Nottingham much before? Yeah man! I got family in Nottingham. Half of my family live there. My boy Junior Agogo plays for your football team now. He used to play for Bristol Rovers, but now he’s at Forest. I haven’t seen him for while now, but I know he’ll be doing wicked! Have you ever received anything in a brown paper bag? Yeah man! Plenty tings! On the legal side, a pair of socks and a council tax bill. What’s the greatest bassline ever? For me it would probably be an old reggae rhythm like Under Mi Sleng Teng by Wayne Smith. But different basslines work for different eras. More recently it’s something like The White Stripes bassline for Seven Nation Army. Describe the Amen break in five words... Absolutely lashing! In fact if you want five then ‘the most amazing break ever’. How much does Size matter? A little bit. I feel like I fill my role and bring something to the table… So what can people expect from your gig at the Rescue Rooms? A bit of nostalgia. For those people who were there first time around, we hope they can come and reminisce on what we had. For those who weren’t, then it’s your chance to check out a truly classic show.

Roni Size Reprazent play at the Rescue Rooms on Wednesday 13 February. www.fullcycle.co.uk

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue21

words: Amanda Young photo: David Blenkey Listening to a binaural recording is hearing distance, environment and the intricacies of movements in a space. Dallas Simpson has for the last decade recorded and performed binaural soundworks. It does appear quite strange for this grown man of nearly sixty carrying a DAT recorder wearing in-ear microphones and going round tapping and scraping on things. Yet his eccentricity has an intent and purpose way beyond this initial view. He is self released and supported by labels such as Autumn Records as well as and/ OAR. His collaborations are vast including contemporary cyberpunk author Kenji Siratori, Uri Geller, Richard O’Brien (of The Rocky Horror Show and The Crystal Maze), Nottingham’s indie band Swimming, Roger Eno (brother to Brian Eno) and Geoff Downs (maker of Video Killed the Radio Star). As a creative figure in contemporary culture he has suffered the trials and tribulations of us all, in particular battling with the Beeb over broadcasting to listeners who must use headphones. How long have you been in Nottingham? I came here from Billericay, Essex in 1972 and worked in the general hospital laboratories for twenty years doing analytical biochemistry. I am actually a trained scientist. Does that scientific experience come into your work? Part of the scientific methodology is to write up the fine details of your experiment with enough information for anybody anywhere in the world to reproduce it. So in my art I have to analyse and rationalise everything simply because that is the way I have been trained. What is your process? I approach the sound work from social, moral, ethical, spiritual principals that form the core of what I am doing. My works are records of personal engagements and are invitations to the listener to engage. It’s trying to reconnect people physically with the environment around them rather than a journey between two points being a walk through a location that is an impediment between you and a destination. The recordings have a strong reality to them. The foundation of almost all of my personal work relates to the human presence in real environments. It involves going to a location and exciting the objects and things that I find

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to create sounds. I do that very primitively with what I call tapping and scraping. The philosophy behind this is very simple if you shut your eyes you can only perceive something when it makes sound, anything that is silent is invisible, literally non-existent. So the only way you can bring an object into acoustic visibility is to make a sound with it. How does binaural listening work then? We achieve the amazing feat of being able to hear full 3D sound though a combination of two asymmetric ears and the distance between them of our head. When sound comes from any specific angle in space, the wave form interacts with the ear and will phase shift that sound uniquely according to the direction it is coming from. The separation of our two ears on either side of our head means that there is a variable time delay depending upon which angle the sound is coming from between the two ears. The recording of this is only audible through headphones. The recording of you recent work Planters is an interaction with a bunch of pottery at local garden centre. It struck me as extraordinarily musical, is that an approach that you take to your work? It was accidental. If I find something that has musical potential then I will follow that. I

wanted to evoke this idea of random raindrops hitting the planters, making this random sound of notes that would develop into rhythmic and melodic patterns. This is a technique that I often use in a lot of my improvisation work. The organisation of musical form is very high, we develop scales and intervals and rhythms, which are a product of our higher consciousness. I am hovering between ‘this is the sound of something’, and ‘this is the organisation of these sounds’ into a higher musical form. Could binaural recording be a potential area musicians could go down? Absolutely. I have been recording with members of Swimming, some of whom used to be in Amusement Parks on Fire. I was doing an environmental remix of their tracks in binaural surround sound. We took a complete multispeaker rig into the woods, by a lake, at night and rigged up speakers in the trees and on the ground. We played a multi-channel mix back over the multispeaker array and I moved about under the direction of the band members and through free improvisation and re-choreographed the track in 3D space. The Stonevandal Suite recording is your founding work can you tell me more? This work was recorded in the mid nineties. I was going to different locations kicking, throwing stones and concrete slabs, in that the sound of that process would stimulate that environment. The listener would gain more information about that location from the way sounds were reflected, echoed and absorbed. The process of stimulation made the architecture visible. Architecture must be a key facet to your work. How do you consider recording the reverberation in a particular space? A work called Bottledisposal performed out the back of the Broadmarsh centre includes architecture within its composition. I picked

up a discarded plastic bottle, used it to stimulate the environment and at the end of the piece disposed of it in a municipal skip. I was bringing into that work an ethical consciousness. Acoustic archaeology is also considered as the space doesn’t exist any more. The steps and blue-bricked viaduct have been completely demolished and they are presently rebuilding the whole area. This is where the Centre for Contemporary Art is being built… I’ve also recorded the second piece there of the temporary building situation, which has a temporary acoustic. When they’ve redeveloped that area, I shall do the third Bottledisposal piece. Tell me about your thoughts on radio? I am not having stuff broadcast on national radio, because they are a waste of space. I’ve told the BBC so, but it is so stuck in an old school, stoic frame of mind that it would take a major revolution to shake them up unfortunately. It is only visionary stations like London’s Resonance FM. That is probably the best radio station in the world for creative sound art. Why won’t the BBC broadcast your work? Because it is binaural and radio stations say ‘no to headphones, as 90% of our listeners listen on the tranny on the kitchen windowsill.’ But, I feel that there is an opportunity now, particularly with so many people with Ipods and Mp3 players with headphones who would love 3D surround mixes and 3D surround drama. Wouldn’t you?

Dallas Simpson releases Sonic Bathing 1 on Farfield Records in February. www.mandorla.com.mx (free downloads) www.shopsonic.com (for Sonic Bathing) www.dallasmasters.co.uk

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Rod Duncan is the author of Backlash, Breakbeat and Burnout. These are three novels set in the same city against the backdrop of the same fictional riot, but following the lives of different people. Most recently he has written The Mentalist, a short story for Nottingham-based publishers Five Leaves on their new crime fiction imprint Crime Express. The story centres on Harry Gysel, a charismatic psychic who appears to predict the death of a woman in the audience at one of his shows. It is the literary equivalent of a Derren Brown show, exposing the conflict between rationality and faith. We caught up with Rod to discuss mysticism, dyslexia and why Sherlock Holmes would not make a good dinner guest… words: James Walker Tell us about your childhood… I was born in the village of Borth on the coast of Wales. For most of the year, that extraordinary beach felt like my private playground. Amazing things would be washed up on the sand. I remember a huge jellyfish beached there one day and once after a storm, thousands of pink starfish. Treasure everywhere. When I was six we moved to Aberystwyth. This heralded a more conflicted time for me.

The mind is a subtle, mysterious and wonderful thing. We can sometimes pick up on hints of body language so subtle that we are not conscious of them. Thus there is a form of mind reading that definitely works. Derren Brown or David Blaine? Both are great showmen. But Derren Brown is definitely my favourite. Harry is not based on any individual. He started as the embodiment of a conflict between belief and cynicism and of my love for the mentalist tricks my father used to tell me about when I was a child. Ideological conflicts are an important aspect of my writing. But a story has to work in the simple sense of being a good yarn. I hope I manage to marry the two.

Why? I am dyslexic and by the age of seven I was having problems in school that were causing me much grief. I remember spending escapist hours telling myself stories in which I was the central character. Unlike many people who went on to be novelists, I did not write my stories down. Dyslexia blocked that outlet. But I told them nonetheless. To an audience of one.

How did you get involved with the Crime Express series? I wanted to have a go at writing one as soon as I heard about the series. It’s a fascinating length of story to work with. I’d already had the idea for the Mentalist, and it seemed as if this might be a good format for it.

Were your school supportive? Back in the 1960s the term ‘dyslexia’ was not widely known. The first educational psychologist I was sent to believed that the condition did not exist and could offer no advice on what was wrong with me. Thankfully others disagreed. By the age of eight I had been formally diagnosed. A child would be diagnosed much quicker these days.

I enjoyed your reading at the Lowdham Crime Festival. Do you prefer individual book readings or collaborations? I love collaborative work. There is something extra you get when working with other creative minds. I don’t think it is more than the sum of the parts, exactly. But it is definitely different from the sum of the parts. But individual performances do have their own special quality, which I would not wish to be without. The chance is there to craft something so personal and individual. So... in answer to your question, I am not answering. I can’t choose.

Dyslexia is a major topic in Breakbeat. Was this for cathartic or aesthetic purposes? I wanted a chance to explore my own dyslexia. I am not the main character Daz Croxley, but there are elements of me in him. I also think that it showed a new landscape to many of my readers and may therefore have been of interest. Backlash is set during a riot. Why did you choose this particular setting for your first novel? I started writing one day with no clear idea about what I would do and this is the story that emerged. It was one of those times when I can be sure that my subconscious mind was in the lead. I started typing and a couple of hours later the first chapter was there on the page. Where did the riot image come from? A couple of places, I think. From seeing a crowd of people gathered around a burning car in Leicester one night and hearing it explode. That

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was the obvious origin of the scene. But possibly another event, when I was ten, I was in a car that became surrounded by a rowdy demonstration. Hands banged down on the windows. The car rocked. Then a way cleared ahead and we drove. You appear to be attracted to enigmatic characters such as Daz Croxley in Breakbeat and Harry Gysel in the Mentalist. Why is this? Harry and Daz both needed to be written in that somewhat enigmatic way because the psychology of each is the driving force behind their respective stories. It is the gradual

discovery by the reader of what makes each of them tick that ultimately provides much of the emotional interest. Also, with Harry, I wanted the readers to be able to see what he does on stage from the outside so they could make up their minds about how he does what he does. Is he a genuine psychic? Is there such a thing? Only later do I allow the readers to see his performance from the inside looking out. The Mentalist, among other things, deals with issues of truth. What is your conception of truth? My father, a physicist, taught me from

my early childhood about scientific method. As an amateur conjuror he also taught me a healthy degree of scepticism. The quest for objective truth is in my blood. But the things that have most influenced my life have been intensely subjective – creativity and love for example. These two modes of exploration are often pitted against each other. Arts against sciences and believer against sceptic. I think each has something to tell us about reality.

Finally, you can invite two detectives and two villains from literature for dinner. Who would you invite and why? Fictional detectives and villains make good reading because they generate conflict, which is the ultimate source of all drama. Real conflict gives me indigestion, so I’d prefer not to have them to dinner at all. Who’d want to dine with Sherlock Holmes? You’d be on edge all the time, worrying about what you were giving away. It would be much better to dine with Watson.

Is there a difference between being a psychic and reading minds? That depends on your definition.

www.rodduncan.co.uk www.jameskwalker.co.uk

CCAN You Shall Find... words: Amanda Young photos: David Sillitoe

Caruso St John architects won the international competition for designing the new Centre for Contemporary Art Nottingham (CCAN). Located at the cliff entrance to the historic lace market, this intends to become a creative hub and visionary landmark across the UK and beyond. Comprising exhibition rooms, a performance space, education rooms, a resource centre, restaurant and café bar it will be an attraction to art goers, students and the general public. Architects Adam Caruso and Peter St John established their practice in 1990. As a London-based organisation, they gained international recognition for their purposeful designs. Best known for the New Art Gallery and Public Square in Walsall and the Gagosian Gallery London, they were chosen to design CCAN over five other architects including Zaha Hadid. The building upholds elements of Nottingham’s history whilst bringing a cutting edge to the horizon of the Lace Market. Construction is well underway. We got a sneak preview of the build and spoke to Stephanie Webs, the project architect. For someone not into art, how will this building attract them to visit? What is very important is that this is going to be a public space in Nottingham. It will be inviting and very interesting to look at. It has different types of spaces that are all different sizes and characters. Even if you are not familiar with contemporary art it would be interesting to explore all these rooms and this would lead you into the art. There is also a café at basement level and the idea is that it will be used by visitors to CCAN as well as by students, artists and local residents who just want to go out for a drink with their friends. The cafe opens out to Lower Yard, to attract people to sit and enjoy a meal or drink. On Upper Yard a big overhanging canopy will be the first room of CCAN. It reminds us of old cinemas where you had an overhanging roof to mark the entrance. It is a really good meeting point for people in town. What makes this building unique? The appearance of the building is quite special; the façade is made from black and green precast concrete. The tall vertical green panels are scalloped and therefore very volumetric. Part of these have a 19th century lace pattern cast into them. The original lace used in this process was produced in Nottingham during the lace industry boom; we found it at the Museum of Costume and Textiles in Nottingham. Besides, CCAN will have excellent gallery spaces and a huge performance space at the same time, a combination that is to date unique in the UK. What technology have you used? A hundred years ago, if you wanted to build a patterned façade

you would’ve used ceramic tiles. You could develop an intricate pattern using thousands of individually modelled tiles and apply those to the façade of the building. These days that would be so expensive that it would be impossible. The material we used is concrete and we manufactured it by scanning the original lace. We converted this into a 3D file and made an MDF mould by feeding the 3D information into a CNC milling machine. A rubber mould was produced from that and used as a liner in the big moulds to produce the precast concrete. By the end you have two long rubber moulds and two long timber moulds to build the panels throughout the building. It is very economical in comparison to using tiles and at the same time these new technologies allow you to develop an intricate façade, as CCAN’s is. What’s it going to look like? The façade consists of three elements; there is a black plinth made from polished precast concrete that wraps around the entire building. Sitting on the plinth are tall green vertical scalloped panels, some with a smooth surface whilst others have a lace pattern cast into them. Thirdly, some parts of the building are made from golden anodised aluminium; for example the cappings, which are going to conceal the joints between the green panels, giving the building these thin golden stripes, a bit like a pinstriped suit. But also the curved cladding panels for the large monitors on top of the building, the window frames and the external doors. To what extent have you developed the design with the local community? When we won the competition there was no clear brief. During the

first year the brief was developed with the client group including two curators as well as through a lot of public consultation. There were workshops with local artists to establish what would be interesting spaces to show their work in. One idea from the beginning was that CCAN should be like a found space, particularly like in New York in the 60’s and Berlin in the 90’s where artists would occupy existing warehouses. These spaces are often quite rough but precisely because they are not precious they are used in a very flexible and creative way. The other reference we used for CCAN were the buildings of the lace market with their rigid brick facades which were made to last requiring only a minimum of maintenance. During the workshops these ideas proved to be very much supported by the local artists. In the age of global warming, to what extent is the building sustainable? There were huge heating pipes running across the site that have been re-routed. They now run underneath the building and partly heat the building from its energy source. One big plus point is that the building has a huge thermal mass because it is made from concrete and is, for the most part, buried in the ground so the temperature once achieved is going to be fairly stable. We’ve spoken about cooling which is needed in the performance space but again it has thick concrete walls so only at peak times will you need some cooling. Most of the time you won’t. In the galleries upstairs there are a huge number of roof lights, which means most of the time you’ll be able to use the galleries without using any artificial light. We have designed a green, biodiversity roof, on which birds and insects can breed. Is the railway tunnel being used? No How have you considered the interior? There are a wide range of different types of spaces in the building. Each of them has its own distinct character. An oak timber floor used throughout the building connects them. The galleries have white plasterboard walls and its ceilings consist of a field of roof lights (over 130 in total). The performance space has fair faced concrete walls. The same applies for the café, other parts like the reception, shop and the bar area will have stained timber panelling on the walls. How much will the building cost? £14 million. Does all art aspire to architecture? I don’t know. When will the building be completed? We are expecting it to be finished by the end of September 2008. The opening date is February 2009.

www.carusostjohn.com www.ccan.org.uk www.leftlion.co.uk/issue21

Nottingham Vision

5x4” filmstock, so that meant fifteen years of 5x4” transparencies! It’s technically one of the most taxing and strenuous forms of photography there is, and is an incredibly difficult discipline. The hardest thing is lighting interiors to suit the film and matching the light temperature of the stock and lighting array to suit. Have you given all that up with the advent of digital cameras? Digital has made things far more straightforward because a digital chip has far more latitude in exposure than film does. In some ways it is far nicer, as you can concentrate more on the composition and work in a colour temperature averaged for the whole scene. I used to meter all the interior lights and compensate for colour using lighting gels on all my lights to match the space and then filter the camera to match the ambient temperature of the room. Do you still use film? No! When I switched I thought it would be 20% digital and 80% film and was completely wrong. I haven’t used my large format Linhof for over a year now which in some ways is incredibly sad, as 5x4” transparency was such a tough discipline, very few people in the country could successfully control it, lighting wise. Digital is a lot easier, and cheaper because you’re not forking out £25 a shot, but then you do have to spend many hours every week glued to a computer screen making touch ups and adjustments. What do you like about Nottingham? It’s my home city! It’s got a great location and is easily accessible. There has been a lot of investment in the last five years which has been very positive. People are appreciating the value of architecture in the city more. I like working in Nottingham, I know how to get the best out of everything as I’m so familiar with it all and the people who work here. What do you think of the new Market Square? I’m aware that some people don’t like it but I do. The Old Market Square was very tired and the council needed to address the problem of the broken flagstones, lack of flat space for events, accessibility and all the rest of it, so it was time for a modern rethink. What about some of the new proposals, such as the Broadmarsh redevelopment? I think that for a lot of buildings underneath the external envelope they’re very similar in construction. It’s how much you can afford to spend on the detailing that stands them apart from the rest. Our city doesn’t have the same rental yields that cities like Manchester, London or Glasgow have. There, I’m guessing you might have £25 per square foot but here it might only be £15 per square foot, so you won’t have all the bells and whistles that the higher yield cities have. If Westfield were constructing their centre in Manchester they would have more to spend than here. How it will actually look will probably depend on whether we have an economic downturn over the next couple of years. If we do, they’ll still build their centre but won’t be able to build in the way their proposals are showing at the moment, but if the economy stays strong then it could end up looking really great. You can’t really say until then.

One of the country’s leading architectural photographers, Martine Hamilton Knight, is Nottingham born and bred. We find out how the girl from Gedling and West Bridgford got to where she is today and what she thinks about the city’s redevelopment. words: Dom Henry What first got you into photography? I was bought my first decent camera for my fifteenth birthday and it all started from there. Its all attributable to that one single fact. Before that I just had a simple instamatic and it broke. Instead of the replacement I was expecting for my birthday I was presented with a decent camera, which took me places. I’ve never looked back. What inspired you to take it further? I went to Clarendon College (now part of New College Nottingham) at 16 on their arts A-level course and the staff were just absolutely amazing. The amount of trust they placed in you if they felt you were ‘into’ something was fantastic, and by the end of the first term I had my own key to the darkroom. It wasn’t so much about photography itself but about the technical side like processing and dark rooms, it’s incredibly rewarding to see a projected negative transform into a print. I had the bit between my teeth by then! Where did you go after college? At the time there were only six degree courses in photography in Britain, in the mid eighties. Six! Can you believe that? There are about sixty now. Plus there were only twenty places per course, so the competition was incredibly fierce. I was lucky enough to get a place at West Surrey College of Art & Design, which has a reputation for fashion and editorial, with Martin Parr (a renowned documentary photographer) as one of my main tutors. So there I was for three years. What was your first published work? At the time I was really into fashion photography, Jimmy Choo was just starting out and I did his first collection folio. His first

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piece of published work was my first piece of published work! It was a great combination of being in the right place at the right time. I’ve still got three pairs of shoes he made for me. So what took you into architectural photography? Fashion was the first thing but I’m a builder’s daughter, so I grew up knowing architecture but I was always talking the talk and not walking the walk. ‘Ah, I love architecture I’m going to photograph architecture…’ but there I was photographing shoes. Eventually my boyfriend told me to either put up or shut up telling me ‘you’re always talking about photographing buildings and never doing it’, so I went to photograph my first building. Did you go straight into business from university? I ended up back in Nottingham and started my business up almost straight away. It was in the last recession, I started up in 1990. I had wanted a job assisting but there was just nobody employing, the building recession was just evil, so many people had gone under; there was no one to give me a job. I was really committed to going into architecture so the only option was to do it myself. What part of town do you herald from? Gedling and West Bridgford, and when I got back from college I set up my business in Bridgford. Did you find it a difficult business to get started in? To start with it was a struggle because of the massive recession, I was working three jobs and had a mortgage to pay. I was running the business during the day, teaching photography in the evenings at South Notts College, plus working as a waitress at the weekends! I was working twelve hours a day seven days a week for a couple of years.

What was your big break? When I started working for the architectural journals within the first year, which was basically my ambition. As soon as you get your images published you’re working on a much higher calibre of buildings, because you’re photographing projects that are making national press. People start saying ‘that’s such and such a building…. and a Martine Hamilton Knight photograph’, so you start to get associated with the buildings you’re working with. In Nottingham, the most important building in the 1990s was, without doubt, the Inland Revenue Centre. It was making national and international headlines, because it was Michael Hopkins & Partners, therefore you almost become exclusive by association. So getting in the journals is key to success in architecture? It was very, very important. Oddly, the power of the journals has receded massively in the last five years as the internet has got bigger. Until the last few years architects didn’t have websites, so journals were the main platform for their work getting seen and introducing their work to people. So the internet has massively changed the architecture industry? Yes, along with TV. Architecture has become very trendy in the last five years, programmes like Grand Designs and the annual Stirling Prize are now prime time viewing. Architecture just wasn’t trendy for the first ten years I was in business, it was something which mattered to the business community but not to the man on the street, so everything’s changed today. What sort of cameras do you use for your work? To start with I used large format, everything was shot on

Do you have a favourite old feature of Nottingham? The best twentieth century buildings in Nottingham are the Boots D10 building by Owen Williams and the Council House, by Cecil Howitt. Both were built within five years of each other but the two couldn’t be more different. Other than that, if you want my oldest favourite, then Wollaton Hall by Smythson in 1588 is just extraordinary. Top building in the last five years? Experian’s Ruddington Data Centre by Sheppard Robson. It really is very intelligent in its design, I like it and it has already won several design awards. Any tips for Nottingham’s budding photographers? Measure twice, cut once! Do the best you can, which for me means to plan, plan, plan. In order to make a picture special, to make it memorable, requires planning. You need to set your standards as high as you can, you’re only as good as your last shot! I think people have either got the ability or they haven’t, one can teach someone to technically use a camera but you can’t teach the ability to compose or to see a shot. Those who have got ‘it’ need to plan and need to care about what they do.

Notes for photos Nottingham redevelopment favorites: Sky Mirror by Anish Kapoor, Playhouse Square by Marsh & Grochowski (2001) The Pod by Benson Forsyth (2007) Fairham House (Ruddington Data Centre) by Sheppard Robson (2004)

Nottingham classic favorites: Wollaton Hall by Robert Smythson (1588)

Martine’s website: www.builtvision.co.uk Copyright All images are licensed for single editorial use by LeftLion. Copyright: Martine Hamilton Knight / MHK photography

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if you would like to feature on these pages. email details about your work (with examples if possible) to: amanda@leftlion.co.uk

illustration & page design: Guy Arzi

Cocoakoala: Illustrator/ Toy Designer Describe what you do in one word. Originate. Best creative tool? Imagination. Or maybe long, sharp needles. Hardest thing about doing art? Finding enough time to do it when you work full-time. What would you vacuum pack? Hmm…nothing! What artists would you exhibit with? Mary Blair and Charley Harper. But they passed away already, so Meomi Design, Axelhoney, Fawn Gehweiler or Lori Joy Smith. Where in Nottingham would you convert into an art space? Loggerheads. Best way to start the day? Coffee and chocolate chip brioche. If I had a kitty, then I’d stroke it. Best way to end the day? Drinking a massive cup of lemon green tea, sitting around drawing, and cuddles. Worst job? Outdoor shows! When it’s raining so heavily and all our products are in the gazebo and it’s flooding in quick. Eek!

Al Greer: Photographer Describe what you do in one word. Photographydigitalmanipulationandneologisms. Best creative tool? Plenty of sleep, and a big cup of loose leaf green/white/oolong tea. Hardest thing about doing art? Making up the conceptual stuff to go with the pretty pictures. Just kidding. What would you vacuum-pack? Packaging is bad! What artist would you exhibit with? I’ve always fancied putting together a photography exhibition of Nottingham’s music photographers, folks like Dom Henry, Toby Price, Dave Bophoto, Jon Rouston etc. What in Nottingham would you convert into an art space? Those giant billboards that manipulate our dreams, make money out of our insecurities and sell us shit we don’t need. It’s a shame urban visual space is reserved solely for corporations. The graffiti artists have it right. Best way to start the day? Cup of aforementioned tea, download the latest BBC global news podcast, read metafilter.com, post to flickr.com, start working on some photos. Rack my brain for a post to the haiku blog I co-author at journeysbyhaiku.blogspot.com. Best way to end the day? Download the latest gems from my favourite music blogs, then check out the Mighty Funk Collective DJ set to shake loose. Worst job? Dark times make me tight-lipped.

Are you an insider or outsider? An outsider.

Are you an insider or outsider? I like standing between two parallel mirrors so you can nearly see to infinity.

What do you think about CCAN? It’s a good idea and sounds very encouraging for artists that are based in Nottingham. It could serve as a great place for art students to get inspirations for their work and general public from all over the country to view art from different disciplines. I’m not sure whether people would forget about it after a couple of months.

What do you think about CCAN? I liked the park that was there beforehand.

Favourite sense? Sight.

Favourite sense? Joyce was spot on with his ineluctable modality of the visible.

Tell me your artistic concept in one line. Creative animals/nature that will make you pee a little because they’re so cute!

Tell us your artistic concept in one line. Taking pretty pictures.

Best thing about the art community? Most of the contacts I’ve made are from Flickr and Etsy, where many worldwide artists roam free. All of my artist friends both on and offline are really quite encouraging and inspiring.

Best thing about the art community? If I say ‘free drink at exhibition opening events‘, does it sound trashy?

Where can I buy your work? At Red Door Gallery, Edinburgh, Madamefancypants Shop, Wellington, NZ, Mieke’s shop in Belgium, also online at Etsy.

Lady Sophia Bentley Tonge: Fashion Designer Describe what you do in one word. Sparkle. Best creative tool? My sewing machine Hardest thing about doing art? The hardest thing about doing fashion is constantly working to a deadline! What would you vacuum-pack? I vacuum-pack everything, I’m a collector, so it’s the only way I can fit all my things in my bedroom and find them again. What artist would you exhibit with? John Galliano. He is the genius I aspire to be as a designer. Where in Nottingham would you convert into an art space? The streets. Art and fashion can be displayed anywhere. It is the content that is important; the space is irrelevant. Best way to start the day? With strong coffee. Best way to end the day? With a hot sauna and a swim. Worst job? Once I worked in a fruit-packing factory, packing avocados. I lasted a day and a half before quitting and have never been able to eat avocados again. Are you an insider or outsider? I’m an outsider caught up in my own little world. What do you think about CCAN? I think it sounds like a really good development for this city. It could open a lot of doors for the art community when it is finished.

www.algreerimaging.co.uk

photograph by Graham Lester George

www.detailsstore.etsy.com

What do you think about Arts Council England? More jazz, less opera please!

Mik Godley: Painter Describe what you do in one word. Paint. Best creative tool? The mind, although I spend quite a bit on paintbrushes. Hardest thing about doing art? Perseverance. My dad always told me that he sold his saxophone and gave up his jazz career when I came along. I’ve refused to do the same. I’m sorry, kids... What would you vacuum-pack? That weird, almost Zen moment when it’s finally really working and you’re not sure why, but you know that it is. It’s the best (if rarest) moment in the world. What artist would you exhibit with? For years I’ve fancied creating a show or installation with a sound artist or music producer, someone along the lines of Brian Eno or Sasha; a kind of JS Bach of today. Or maybe Kylie. Where in Nottingham would you convert into an art space? A giant factory in Colwick Industrial Park, big enough for all of us (Moot, Goldfactory, Hinterland, Tether etc) to have all sorts of fun! Best way to start the day? Sunshine, a good breakfast, strong coffee, and knowing that the rest of the day will be spent painting. Best way to end the day? Drinking a couple of beers and smoking fags in my local with friends. Worst job? I earn a pathetic living as an art-school lecturer, which is both the best job and the worst. I’m passionate about teaching students, but successive governments have pretty much destroyed art-schools, creating sausage factories irrelevant to art. There’s no place for artists in art-schools anymore, which is terribly frustrating and sad. The pay’s crap too. Are you an insider or outsider? Somewhere in the spectrum in between: there are a lot of insides that I’ll never see.

What do you think about Arts Council England? I think they do as well as they can with the money they receive from the government. They need more money, and then perhaps they could do more.

What do you think about CCAN? A nice space, but a quarter of the size it ought to have been. Fingers crossed, it will be positive for our art community, perhaps a catalyst for initiatives that help Nottingham artists reach out internationally.

Favourite sense? My sight, my eyes; I would be lost without them. Everything’s visual in my world.

What do you think about Arts Council England? They’re learning, but it must be tough being piggy-in-the-middle.

Best thing about the art community? Being able to work with creative people in other fields, collaborating and sharing inspiration.

Favourite sense? That depends on circumstances.

www.myspace.com/Lady_Sophia_BentleyTonge

Tell us your artistic concept in one line. Virtual Silesia = internet/migration/heritages/pixels/paint/Nazis/Global Corporate Capital Best thing about the art community? Nottingham artists are incredibly welcoming and buzzing with energy, mostly.

www.nottinghamstudios.org.uk/egerton/artists/godley/contact 18

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What is this ‘m astering’ of audi o all about then tracks before I pl ? Do I need to m ay them out? aster my own Mastering is the last creative proc es s applied to audio and radio. Master , before it reaches ing is the absolut the shops e last chance an or tweak the tra yone will have to ck before release either correct . During the maste are made. The ma ring process the in aim is to make final touches the tracks sound music systems. good on a broad variety of But mastering au dio is not just ab out the signal pr used during this ocesses and eff process. A big pa ects that are rt of the masterin can be simply to g process is refere compare the audio ncing. This to oth other engineers. er masters, or to A competent en utilise references gineer will work from of genres. This on audio from a is why masterin broad range g is difficult to experience and do pr operly without th knowledge. e relevant It is not absolutely necessar y to ma ster ever y track going to make pr that is played ou ofits from the tra t. If you are not ck in question th professionally? Ho en why pay to ha wever the mix do ve it mastered es need to be po on a separate sy lished when pla stem to the one ying the track it was produced on occur as a result . If not undesirab , when the track le effects can is tra nsferred. Master very best out of ing will help to the track but th gain the e costs must be mastering your weighted up as own material I su well. If you are ggest that you co tracks (A to B co nstantly referenc mparison) that so e a range of und good and ha mastered This wi ve similarities to ll ensure you are the track to be not going off tra ck completely.

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If you have ques tions about technology, audi o, video, photography, co mputers or inde ed anything else le t the geeks know by emailing geek @leftlion.co.uk. All questions will be answered an d a selection of th em will be printe d in this magazine…

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Thanks to C.Brad ley, G.Harbuz an d D.Lloyd-Brown fo r this months an swers.

If you’ve got a brain and would like the opportunity to kill it with alcohol, the LeftLion Pub Quiz at the Golden Fleece on Mansfield Road is where you should be every Wednesday, round about 9pm. But come earlier, because it gets rammed out dead quick. We give a gallon of beer to the winning team, the quizmaster’s Nana gets on her Bontempi organ for a few tunes and the Fish Man comes round when he feels like it. Here’s a sample of what we’ve been asking recently..

ADRIAN MOLE 6. What Midlands town did Adrian Mole come from? 7. In the TV version, two women played Adrian Mole’s Mam – a comedy actress and a singer from the 60s. Name one of them… 8. In Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years, what part of London did he work? 9. Which sadly-deceased lead singer sang the theme tune to the TV series? 10. Pandora had a horse called Ian Smith. Which African country was Ian Smith the Prime Minister of?

FILM QUOTES 11. “Today I saw a slave become more powerful than the Emperor of Rome”

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12. “Well look happy, you stupid bastards. We won, didn’t we?” 13. “Manchester United 1, Spurs 2” 14. “First learn stand, then learn fly. Nature rule, Daniel-san, not mine” 15. “And this is the pride of Angel Beach. Anthony Tuperello, affectionately known as ‘Meat’.

2007

MANSFIELD 26. What’s the name of Mansfield’s local newspaper? 27. The pop star Bernard Jewry grew up in Mansfield. Who is he better known as? 28. Name the Blue Peter presenter who was born in Mansfield 29. Mansfield has two postcodes, both starting with ‘NG’ and ending with a two-digit number. Name one of them 30. What’s the name of Mansfield Town’s ground?

16. What month did Gordon Brown become PM? 17. Who of the following were the first to die in 2007 – Bernard Manning, Anna Nicole Smith, or Pavarotti? 18. Which country won the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest? 19. Who was the BBC journalist who was kidnapped in Palestine for 114 days in 2007? 20. Who was the first and last on stage at the concert for Diana?

2008 21. 2008 is the International Year of which vegetable? 22. What happens on Thursday 4 November 2008? 23. What month does the 2008 Olympic Games take place? 24. What day of the week will Christmas Day 2008 take place? 25. What will start on 7 June and end on 29 June?

ANSWER

1. Which TV Soap is sponsored by Harveys the furniture store? 2. Which jewellery shop has the slogan ‘Helps you say it better’? 3. Which football manager regularly did adverts for East Midlands Electricity? 4. Which band are currently endorsing Pepsi Max in adverts? 5. Who is known in France as Captain Iglo and in Italy as Capitan Findus?

: 1. Coronation Street 2. H Samuel 3. Brian Clough 4. The BlackEyed Peas 5. Captain Birdseye 6. Leicester 7. Julie Walters and Lulu 8. Soho 9. Ian Dury 10. Rhodesia 11. Gladiator 12. The Italian Job 13. Kes 14. The Karate Kid 15. Porkys 16. June 17. Anna Nicole Smith 18. Serbia 19. Alan Johnson 20. Elton John 21. The potato 22. The US Presidential election 23. August 24. Thursday 25. Euro 2008 26. The Chad 27. Alvin Stardust 28. Richard Bacon 29. NG18, NG19 30. Field Mill

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Who is in the band? Alice Rock (guitar and vocals) and Tabby (drums).

How did the band come about? I moved to Nottingham from Liverpool and placed an ad in a local music store. Jim replied and we hooked up. From there we got in a room and thrashed out a couple of songs and over time developed a subconscious understanding of how each other operates musically.

How did the band come about? Alice: I stumbled across Tabby at a gig in Nottingham nearly two years ago now. I was a solo artist and he just happened to be a drummer. My solo show soon evolved as we gelled perfectly to form the two-piece band we are today.

Describe your Music? New millennium grunge. No-frills guitar-based alternative rock. Angsty love songs.

Describe your music? Alice: Erm… this is a tough one. I’d say quirky, slightly eccentric punky pop with a gothic and also dramatic side. Any memorable moments on tour? Alice: Spending the night in our Ford KA with a drum kit, two guitars, an amp, two overnight bags and some essential breakfast time Quaker oat bars (ouch!). Opinion on the local scene? Alice: There are some excellent bands, venues and promoters in Nottingham that make it a great music scene to be part of. However, Nottingham does unfortunately have its fair share of unethical moronic money grabbers that I’m sure countless bands get frustrated by. Grr… What’s the most rock and roll thing you’ve ever done? Alice: Recording a music video on the beach whilst the tide was coming in rapidly. It was certainly good entertainment for the local dog walkers. What was the last thing that made you laugh? Alice: Making Tabby wear a wedding dress and fake moustache for our latest music video! What last made you cry? Tabby: When Alice embarrassed the hell out of me by making me wear her Mum’s wedding dress in public. Oh well, ‘tis all in the name of music!! Anything exciting future plans? Alice: We have a lot of exciting gigs in the pipeline and are soon to release the video for our song Mail Order Bride; believe me it is so, so funny. Anything else you want to say? Thanks to all the people who have bought our albums and come to see us over the last eighteen months, it means the world to us!

Any memorable moments on tour? For me, organising and playing at the Seattle Be The Day shows was great. Playing with like-minded bands and seeing an audience in grunge t-shirts appreciating the whole night is amazing. Opinion on the local scene? Nottingham has a broad and diverse range of artists and musical talent and definitely has the potential to become a recognised city of music. My only advice would be for both bands and audiences to come together and support each other more. What’s the most rock and roll thing you’ve ever done? Haha, probably when I did an acoustic recording with Mr Dempsey and we decided to go party afterwards. So, rounds of lager, rum, whisky and Jagermeister’s later we ended up at Rock City, downed a bunch of Jager-Sambuca bombs and lost each other. I woke up on my doorstep covered in puke, Dempsey injured his back and has no recollection of doing so and Rob (our engineer) woke in his bed thinking ‘What the hell happened last night?’ None of us remember even being in Rock City! What was the last thing that made you laugh? My girlfriend Roxanne always makes me laugh...out of the blue she’ll do these funny little bum wiggling dances that have me in stitches! What last made you cry? This damn toothache I’ve had for two weeks! Any exciting future plans? We’re going to shoot some music videos, do some live webcasts and return to the studio for more recording. Also, we hope to be touring the UK with the Seattle Be The Day event. Anything else you want to say? Life is too short, so enjoy it whilst you can. Do things that make you happy. Don’t let yourself get old and regret that you should have made different decisions. www.myspace.com/deadsouls

Fists (James Finlay)

Alright The Captain! (Martin Toner)

Who is in the band? Siblings Joe and Theresa Wrigley on bass and drums, lovers Angi Fletcher and myself, James Finlay, on vocals, synths and guitars and Pete Conway on guitars and singing as well as triangle and xylophone and washboard and anything else that he wants to have a go at.

Who is in the band? We are Martin Toner (guitar, theremin and vocals), Ash West-Mullen (guitar, theremin and vocals), Todd Wood (bass), Stan Broadhead (keyboards and samples) and Sidecar Swampy (drums).

Describe your music? We’re a mixture of the terribly amateur and the wildly experimental. We tip our musical hats to the mid-fifties skiffle movement as well as lo-fi tape artists like Daniel Johnston and proto-punk acts like the Monks. It’s always evolving though. Lately it started coming out all rockabilly so we added some analogue synthesizers to keep it a bit wrong. Opinion on the local scene? In Nottingham some people on the music scene tell each other that their music is really great but then they go and tell everyone else that they think it’s shit. That’s what’s bad about it. What’s the most rock and roll thing you’ve ever done? I once took a load of cocaine, went home and spent the rest of the night wildly masturbating until the sun came up and reminded me of how utterly pathetic and ridiculous I was. I can guarantee that every supposed rock star ever has had that experience. What is rock and roll anyway? What was the last thing that made you laugh? The answer we were going to give to this question but decided not to. What last made you cry? Angi’s brother-in-law died two days after New Year’s Eve from a burst ulcer. He was 32. His two kids picked a poem to be recited at the funeral, which was the perfect choice to utterly destroy everybody. That mix of raw emotion, reflection and valuing the life you’ve got coupled with terrible final music choices like that Nilsson tune Without You, for example, does it to me every time. Any exciting future plans? We’re hoping to write and record lots with plans to enter the studio at some point in the spring. We’ve also roped Dan Toporowski into doing a video for us which we’re very, very excited about and we’re also hoping to play a couple of festivals on the continent as well. Anything else you want to say? Come and see us at The Orange Tree. You might not like us but we’re very good and that’s from the horse’s mouth.

Where does the band name come from? It’s a stupid in-joke from back in Northern Ireland, it just means “You alright? How’s it going?”. If we had all originally been from the East Midlands we’d probably have been called ‘Ayup me duck!’ Describe your music? We all listen to different stuff and in the practice room we try to write what comes naturally and avoid conventions, but you still end up sounding slightly like the bands that influence you. You could point out parts in our songs that sound like Mr Bungle, Biffy Clyro, Tool and some post-rock stuff like Slint but at the end of the day, its progressive rock with electronic, pop and ambient influences. Any memorable moments on tour? We went to Northern Ireland to play a couple of gigs. I’d booked the tickets but Stan’s flight was later than ours. The rest of us were chilling out waiting for him to arrive when we got a text saying he wasn’t going to be able to make it as his name was Graham. Turns out that Stan (the name on his plane ticket) is his nickname but it just never came up in conversation! He wasn’t allowed on the flight and we had to play all our gigs there without him. We won’t make that mistake again in a hurry! Opinion on the local scene? At the moment the local scene is really thriving. There are so many wicked bands that are worth checking out right now, a few of our personal faves are Yes My Ninjas!, Double Handsome Dragons, The Wickets, Union Station Massacre, Fists and You Slut! What last made you cry? We’re not an emo band. What last made us laugh? Some emo band. Anything else in the pipeline? We’re planning a couple more mini tours, one in March and one in the summer. Also, we’ll be recording a new EP in the next couple of weeks and we’re playing a showcase in The Shed in Leicester to audition for the Glastonbudget festival. www.myspace.com/alrightthecaptain

www.myspace.com/fistsmusic www.leftlion.co.uk/issue21

featured listing

SELL OUTS Ben Elton? Once one of the best political satirists of his generation. Now a writer of dodgy Broadway musicals... Jared They all sell out in the end when the objectivist dollar runs dry. FACT. Christopher McCandless Led Zeppelin, The Who, Sex Pistols, all the bands who reform and destroy their musical legacy forever, especially the ones who record terrible new tunes and especially the ones who don’t need the money by any rational standard. cheque Nintendo Wiis sold out.

Daley Thompson

David Bowie never really sold out did he?!

Raab

David Bowie’s sold out a few times methinks. He let Craig David sample Let’s Dance which I think is a hangable offence... God bless Tom Waits for never selling out. Metal Monkey I think it’s harsh to class people as sell outs just for letting their songs get sampled for shit tunes. it’s alan Tom Waits may never have sold out in by letting money affect the style of his music, but he is selling himself as an image; much has been made of his ‘wife and kids, white picket fence’ existence in rural America, totally in contrast to his troubled troubadour character. tq zetia Having ‘sold out’ myself by having my music used in advertising I would hope that we as a band are not viewed negatively. The fact that we had never ‘sold in’ at the point in which we had a tune picked up for a campaign makes me feel a little better as the ad itself actually raised our profile, helped us get noticed, let people know that we were serious and allowed us some money to fix our broken instruments and buy some new kit. ROB

PROPOSED NOTTINGHAM SKYSCRAPER Plans are being drawn up in Eastside Regen Zone for a 50 storey skyscraper, designed by Ian Simpson. What do you think? radfordred Not sure what to make of sky scrapers, they’re pretty impressive in Frankfurt and they save space I guess. Could never imagine living or working in one unless it was Hundertwasser type design, gardens and stuff all over the place and eco-friendly. Madam ants pants Some serious dollars flying about, looks like the city will be half covered in a Broadmarsh-stylee cloak, all looks pretty cool and much needed, but should we really block more light from the streets of this fair city? 44ton Seems unlikely to me, there’s always been huge opposition on high rise builds on Notts, I don’t think anything has changed on that front. I’m undecided at present; would be quite a statement, but I’m not sure what that statement is. Probably: ‘We have one massive building which looks a bit like a cock and is probably going to end up being half empty. But hey, we’re better than Leicester and Derby so who cares how much it cost?’ Alan Despite it being a complete waste of everyone’s time and money, I can’t but help have a tinge of anticipation. I mean, fuck the view, I wanna feel like I live in the future. I can’t wait for the hover car flightpaths to be installed. Mr BRJ It’s called progress. Do you really want Nottingham to be left behind by the likes of Leeds and Manchester? Towers like that are already being built in those cities. firecracker And I’ve heard they’ve built monorails in Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook, and by gum, it put them on the map! Lord of the Nish Lots of bad things are called progress. Progress is what got rid of nice old buildings, fields, independent shops, clean air... Adrian

words: Glen Parver photo: Jamie Allan Dubstep is likely to be one of the biggest musical successes of 2008. All the cool kids are talking about this newly emerging genre, distinguished by its dark mood, sparse rhythms, and emphasis on bass. With the recent release of his album Island Noise, we thought it was about time to sit down for a cup of tea and a chat with Nottingham’s highly rated dubstep producer So where does the name Geiom actually come from? It’s just a made up word to be honest. How did you get into making music? I started wanting to make electronic music from going to raves back in the day and then I started to buy equipment to make my own stuff. What were the ideas behind Island Noise? We all live on an island. It’s hard to remember that fact sometimes, being so far from the sea in Nottingham, and that has a real influence on our mentality. We get to hear a unique and incredibly diverse selection of sounds in urban Britain and it all has an effect on me. It’s an album that’s instep with the stuff I’ve been working on over the last few years. One of the things that I wanted to do was to include a few tracks that wouldn’t be so suited to the 12” DJ market. Instead they are a bit less hectic and more intricate. You’ve got another pseudonym, Hem. What do you use that for? Hem is part of my real name which is quite long and it’s the bit of it that I don’t really use. The music I make under the name Hem uses sounds that are unwanted from other people’s music. I made the album See Inlay for Details from a cassette that I found on the street. The tape was mangled so the sounds were mashed up and I went on to make music out of that. So it seemed appropriate to place a bit of my name that I’d discarded alongside the discarded music. Are you originally a Nottingham boy? No, but I’ve been here for quite a while. I grew up in north London, my family moved out into the countryside, then I moved to Nottingham. Your MySpace site describes your style as Dub/Electro/Tropical. Where does the ‘Tropical’ feature? It’s a reference to the reggae vibes and the whole concept behind the Island Noise album. Some of the influence comes from Jamaica, but also Mauritius, where my family is from. What excites you about dubstep over other dance genres? It’s a genre that’s able to incorporate a lot of different influences and make them gel together. It’s a scene where most of the producers are very friendly and quirky characters. The community aspect is really important. It’s something that grime (and electronica) has sadly suffered from. When your mentality is all about ‘I am the best everyone else is crap’ you get stuck. Most people involved in dubstep love the music as a whole. Where is the best place that you’ve played to date? Erm, maybe Finland. We played in Helsinki quite recently and they seem to have a really good scene over there. It’s the kind of place where not many bands tour, so when somebody turns up a lot of people come to check them out. I’m don’t know if they were

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue21

all strictly dubstep fans but they really loved it. Do you think that folks abroad might be more open to newer sounds, like dubstep, than people over here in the UK? Yeah, I think that we often create or define the genres over here and then the music gets shipped out to other countries that are a bit less bothered about the labels than the people over here are. Who are your biggest influences musically? Well there are the classic people, heavyweights like Stevie Wonder and Lata Mangeshkar. But then thinking about contemporary music that I like, it’s people doing similar stuff to me like Mala, Shackleton or Benga. If you could collaborate with anyone who would it be? I guess someone like Ennio Morricone! But back in the real world, the next song on my label Berkane Sol is a collaboration with one of my wonderful vocalists, Marita, who also featured on the fourth single Unnecessary Stress. Its called Reminissin’ and its getting a lot of love from people that have heard it. It is currently being remixed by Kode 9 and Skream who are two of the dubstep producers I respect the most. I like to collaborate directly with the people around me rather than distant file sharers, which means we can have a proper working relationship. Are music production and DJing a full time job for you now or do you have another means to provide your bread and butter? No, I teach other people how to produce music and mainly work with young people who want to make grime and bassline house. I end up learning a lot from them as I love grime - it’s about the same tempo and shares a lot of characteristics with dubstep, so everyone benefits. If one of your mates had to describe you in one word, what would it be? I think that if you could be described in one word then you would be a bit one-dimensional! What is the best song on your iPod at the moment? I don’t really like iPods much. One thing that annoys me is that artists spend a lot of time deciding on the order of their album tracks and then have them randomised by mp3 machines. The sound quality is often poor as well. We’ve been in the car quite a lot recently and been listening to a lot of reggae covers. I am really into a top version of the UK garage pop hit Sweet Like Chocolate. What are your plans for 2008? I’m playing in Germany in a couple of weeks and will hopefully get to visit many more exotic places over the coming months. Geoim plays Futureproof at Blueprint on Friday 1 February. www.myspace.com/geiom

listings... Friday 01/02 Jo Durso Venue: Times:

Running Horse 8.30pm - late

Spectrum Nottingham Venue: Stealth Price: £10 adv (NUS) Times: 10pm - 6am Plump DJs, Pete Jordan, Hexadecimal, B-Boy J, Slyde (Live), Steve L, Rowland Cooper, Sam Homer, San JXK, Dan Marsh, DJ Format and Dave Boultbee. Futureproof Venue: BluePrint Price: £6 Times: 9pm - 3am Room 1: Breakage, Geiom, Bass Clef, Brackles and Martin Kemp. Room 2: Ally Reilly, Mark Jacobs, Aled and Bizmarc. Room 3: Line, Red Rack’em, EFA and Tin. The Pop Confessional Venue: Bodega Social Price: £3 / £5 Times: 11pm - 3am Kambasemba Venue: Muse Price: £3 The Priests Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £4 Times: 9pm - 2am Plus Pickups n. Pitchforks, The Shadow Cops and Death To Traitors.

Saturday 02/02 LeftLion Presents Venue: The Orange Tree Times: 8pm - 12am Alice Rock, Dead Souls and Stiff Kittens DJs. Mood Indigo Venue: Alea Times: 8.30pm Basement Boogaloo Venue: The Maze Price: £5 Times: 11pm - 3.30am DJ Cosmo, Ed Cotton and Nick Shaw. Firefly Venue: Marcus Garvey Price: £10 / £13 Glimmer Twins, Technasia DJ set, Jeet, Ripp Off, Max Cooper, Ross Eden and more tbc. Damn You! Venue: The Maze Price: £5 / £6 Times: 8pm - 11pm Enon, Ill Ease and La La Lepus. Johnny Flynn Venue: Bunkers Hill Inn Price: £6.25 Folkwit Gig Venue: Deux Times: 8.30pm The Log Jam Venue: Loggerheads Times: 8pm - 1.30am

Sunday 03/02 Live Modern Jazz Venue: Chameleon Café / Bar Times: 12.30pm - 2.30pm Shangri-la Lounge Venue: Rescue Rooms Price: £6 adv Modfathers Venue: The Test Match Hotel Times: 8pm -11.30pm

Wednesday 06/02 Damn You! Venue: The Maze Price: £4 / £5 Times: 8.30pm F*uck Buttons, Alexander Tucker and The Horse Loom.

Wednesday 06/02 Vaarlets Venue: Price: Times: Toy Heroes

Junktion 7 £4 7.30pm - 11.30pm and The Johnny Dodds.

Thursday 07/02 Dogma Presents Herve (tbc) Venue: Dogma Times: 10pm - 3am Eamon Hamilton Venue: Bodega Social Price: £6 adv Times: 7pm - 10.30pm A Night With The Inlaws Venue: Bar None Times: 8.30pm - 11am Richard Snow, The Inlaws and Andy Wright.

Friday 08/02 David Goo’s Acoustic Rock Comedy Variety Show Venue: Bunkers Hill Inn Price: £4 Times: 8pm Plus supporting cast: The Mighty Todger and The Mindless Raskal. UK Beatbox Championships Venue: Rescue Rooms Price: £6 Times: 9pm The Other Venue: Price: Times:

Left Muse £3 8pm

Spoke-Inn Movement Venue: The Maze Times: 7.30pm The JD Set Presents Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £5 / £6 Times: 8pm - 2am Scanners, Electric Mouth and In Isolation.

Saturday 09/02 Noodle with Luke’s Anger Venue: Moog Times: 8pm - 2am Ally Reilly, Weiss and Matt Hinton. Detonation Venue: Marcus Garvey Price: £15 adv Times: 10pm - 6am Goldie, Mampi Swift, Noisia, Fierce b2b Break, Chase and Status, Transit Mafia, Nursa and Pablo. MCs Fearless, Fun, 2Shy and Ruthless. Psycle Venue: Blueprint Price: £6 Times: 10pm - late Kendo, Shaggy, Bidbod, Instinct, Magic Daddy, Silent Sound, Plucking Skanker, Pinch Penny, Petran and DJ Astral Burger. Drowned in Sound Clubnight Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £4 / £5 / £6 Times: 8pm - late Her Name is Calla, Exit Calm, Vessels, Mourning Becomes Electra, Mint Ive, Das Disko and DiS DJs. American Music Club Venue: Rescue Rooms Price: £15 Times: 7pm Anti-Fascist Alldayer Venue: The Maze Price: £8 Times: 4pm The Go-Go Venue: Loggerheads Times: 8pm - 1.30am

Sunday 10/02 Valentine Dinner Dance Venue: The Test Match Hotel Price: £17 Times: 7.30pm - 11.30pm Palladium Venue: Price: Times:

and Alphabeat Bodega Social £7 adv 7pm - 10pm

Furious Styles Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £6 Times: 7.30pm - 11.30pm Plus Blood Stands Still, Your Demise and Almost Home.

Tuesday 12/02 NME Tour Venue: Price: Times:

2008 Rock City £17.75 7pm

Laura Veirs Venue: The Maze Price: £10 adv Times: 7.30pm The Dandilions Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £4 Times: 7.30pm / 11.30pm Plus the Broadways, LSD and Stop The Wedding.

Wednesday 13/02 Ben Martin and Edgar Macias Venue: The Lion Inn Times: 8.30pm Roni Size Reprazent (Live!) Venue: Rescue Rooms Price: £12 adv Times: 8pm Justice Venue: Price: Times:

Rock City £15.05 7.30pm

Deadstring Brothers Venue: The Maze Price: £9 Times: 7.30pm

Thursday 14/02 Smashing Pumpkins Venue: Nottingham Arena Price: £30 Dogma Presents Lisa Lashes Venue: Dogma Times: 10pm - 3am Richard Howells Band Venue: Approach Times: 8pm Two:Minutes Hate Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £4 Times: 7.30pm - 11.30pm Plus The Engines of Armageddon, El Cielo and Vocis.

Friday 15/02 Misst and Subdub Present... Style: Dubstep Venue: Marcus Garvey Price: £8 Times: 10pm - 3am Rusko, Hatcha, Oris Jay aka Darqwan, DJ Exodus and Spamchop. Doodle Venue: Price: Times:

Bodega Social Free / £3 11pm - 3am

Damn You! Venue: The Maze Price: £4 / £5 Times: 8.30pm Paradise Island, Pifco, Tom and Katy. Studio 54 Venue: Times:

Loggerheads 8pm - 1.30am

music / weeklies / comedy /exhibitions / theatre

Friday 15/02

Thursday 21/02

NotSoPretty Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £4 Times: 8pm - 2am Plus Plastic Toys, DIP and The James Warner Prophecies.

Saturday 16/02

Sevenday Weekend Venue: Golden Fleece Times: 8.30pm Dogma Presents Meat Katie Venue: Dogma Times: 10pm - 3am Joe Bonamassa Venue: Rock City Price: £17.25 Times: 6.30pm

Mood Indigo Venue: Alea Times: 8.30pm The Hellset Orchestra Venue: Rescue Rooms Price: £4 adv / £5 door Times: 7pm - 10pm With The Pilgrim Fathers and The Dirty Backbeats. Demarkus Lewis Venue: Saltwater Times: 9pm - late Lobotomy vs PureFilth vs RubberDub Venue: BluePrint Price: £6 Times: 10pm - 3am Neo Tokyo Def Squad, Filthy Dom, Yoghurt, Dave Mossop, Yoshi, Answer, I.R.Goon and Murdah. Highness Sound-System Style: Roots, Reggae, Dub Venue: Bodega Social Price: £5 Times: 11pm - 4am Nick Harper Venue: The Maze Price: £10 Times: 6.30pm

Audiophile Presents: UKD.15 Venue: Moog Price: Charity donation Times: 8pm - late Placid, Tom Churchill, Dub Kult, Marc Dauncey, Aretha and Simon Green, Ravi and Supine. Demo Style: Venue: Price: Times:

Electro, Art, Reggae BluePrint £5 9pm - 3am

Friday 22/02 Muzika! Venue: The Maze Price: £4 Times: 10pm - 2am Gypsy Fire, Toblerone Kenobi, Bren shiva Dan and Gypsy Smith. Dollop Venue: Price: Times:

Bodega Social £3 (NUS) 11pm - 3am

Richard Howells Band Venue: Morton and Clayton Times: 8pm

Road Block Venue: Loggerheads Times: 8pm - 1.30am Skandal Clubnight Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £5 adv Times: 9pm - 2am Splitters and Jimmy The Squirrel.

Sunday 17/02 Satnam’s Tash Live Venue: Loft Wax Da Jam Venue: Rescue Rooms Price: £15 Times: 7.30pm Nightmares on Wax Sound System.

Renaissance Venue: Stealth Price: £10 Times: 10pm Dave Seaman, Tom Middleton, Sonny Wharton and Neil Quigley. Electric Spanking Venue: Loggerheads Times: 8pm - 1.30am Rude Not To Clubnight Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £6 Times: 10pm - 2am DJs Ossie, Scully, Matty Mat and Fat Digester.

Saturday 23/02 Rise of Raphia Venue: Rock City Price: £4.05 Times: 10pm

Tuesday 19/02 Yeti and The Foxes Venue: Approach Price: £5 Times: 7.30pm Gallows Venue: Rock City Price: £15 Times: 7pm Plus Set Your Goals and Fucked Up.

One Night Venue: Price: Times: Sublogik Venue: Price: Times:

Only Rescue Rooms £8 7pm Maze £3 / £4 9pm

Tuesday 19/02 The Faction Presents: Yeti Venue: Approach Price: £5 / £6 Times: 7.30pm Support from The Foxes and guests.

Yeti describe their sound as harmony driven psychedelic pop born from a sturdy disregard for the over produced disco-rock that has dominated London’s band scene in recent years. After a retreat from the limelight, the band (featuring ex-libertine John Hassall) have regrouped as a four piece to embark on a nationwide tour which precedes the launch of their debut album ‘The legend of Yeti Gonzales’. The Approach is an impressive space for live music and offers an intimacy which should suit the band’s mellow sound down to the ground. Judging from the feedback from their recent comeback gig this could be a chance to catch the boys before they play some bigger capacity venues.

www.theapproachnottingham.com

listings... Saturday 23/02

Thursday 28/02

Firefly Venue: Marcus Garvey Price: £10 / £15 Times: 10pm - 6am Special guest to be announced Plus Jon Carter and Chris Finke. D.I.Y Presents Loose Joints Venue: Loft Times: 8pm Fancy Pants Fancy Dress Venue: Loggerheads Times: 8pm - 1.30am Club SOS Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £4 adv Times: 8pm - 2am Censored, Lowline,The Souvenirs and The Mystery Clock.

Sunday 24/02 Reel Big Fish Venue: Rock City Price: £16 Times: 7.30pm Tegan and Venue: Price: Times:

Sara NTU Union £8 8pm

Monday 25/02 Nova Saints Venue: Bodega Social Price: £4 adv Times: 8pm - 11pm Pains of Being Pure at Heart Venue: Rescue Rooms Price: £5 Times: 7.30pm

Menomena Venue: Rescue Rooms Price: £8 Times: 7.30pm John Tams Venue: Price: Times:

and Barry Coope Maze £10 7.30pm

Dollop Venue: Price: Times:

Bodega Social Free / £3 11pm - 3am

Detonate (9th Birthday) Venue: Stealth Price: £10 Times: 10pm - 5am Shy FX, Friction, Little Brother (Live), Kode9, Plastic Little, Transit Mafia, Rust and Detail.

Friday 29/02 Tarantism Venue: Maze Price: £5 Times: 9pm Plus Koda Kola, Jimmy The Squirrel and Surplus Sounds DJs. Leap of Faith Venue: Loggerheads Times: 8pm - 1.30am Poppycock Venue: Moog Price: Free Times: 8pm - 2am

Saturday 01/03

Erik Mongrain Venue: The Maze Price: £8 Times: 7.30pm Plus David Goo, Elliot Morris and Noel Maher.

Thursday 28/02 Overvibe and Zadkiel Venue: Golden Fleece Times: 8pm MGMT Venue: Price: Times:

Bodega Social £6 adv 8pm - 11pm

Thursday 28/02 Sum 41 Venue: Price: Times:

Rock City £20 6.30pm

Stiff Little Fingers Venue: Rock City Price: £17.25 Times: 7.30pm Plus The Band From County Hell.

Wednesday 05/03 Metronomy Venue: Bodega Social Price: £7 adv (NUS) Times: 8pm - 11pm Gary Numan Venue: Rock City Price: £20 Times: 7.30pm Example Venue: Price: Times:

Stealth £8 7.30pm

Nel Andrews Venue: Maze Price: £10 adv Times: 7.30pm Plus John Redfearn.

Thursday 06/03 Red Bricks Venue: Malt Cross Times: 8pm - 11pm The Beat Venue: Price: Times:

Rescue Rooms £15 7pm

Friday 07/03 The Himalayas Venue: The Running Horse Price: Free PModel Morning and Glory Radio.

Monday Mayhem Venue: Maze Price: £1 Times: 9pm

Wednesday 27/02

Tuesday 04/03

The Log Jam Venue: Loggerheads Times: 8pm - 1.30am Bringing the finest singer / songwriters, comics and poets in Notts together for a creative musical feast. Since its conception one year ago the night has become popular for its acoustic jams in the caves set into the cliffs behind the venue. Big line-ups, quality music, a unique setting and all for free! LeftLion Presents Venue: The Orange Tree Times: 8pm - 12am Fists, Alright The Captain and Stiff Kittens DJs. Basement Boogaloo Venue: Maze Times: 9pm

Tuesday 04/03 Kokola Venue: Times:

Golden Fleece 8pm

Friday 29/02 Word of Mouth Venue: Muse Price: £3 Times: 7.30pm

The Go! Team Venue: NTU Union Price: £15 Times: 7pm

Friday 07/03 Damn You! and Liars Club Venue: Maze Price: £6 / £7 Times: 8.30pm Simon White (Neon Heights) Venue: Loft Times: 8pm

Saturday 08/03 The Pitty Patt Club Venue: Bodega Social Price: £6 adv (NUS) Times: 8pm - 2am Hayseed Dixie Venue: Rock City Price: £15 Times: 6.30pm Dead Men Walking Venue: Rescue Rooms Price: £15 Times: 7pm Kirk Brandon, Mike Peters, Slim Jim Phantom and Captain Sensible. The Little Men Venue: Loft Times: 8pm The Go-Go Venue: Loggerheads Times: 8pm - 1.30am

Headlining the Muse stage are Ill Citizen, a Notts-born hiphop act who have been making waves locally for over two years. During that time band members CDot, Tom G and Allergy have built a firm reputation for smooth production, conscious lyrics and the ability to put on a show with energy, as proven by their appearence at Drop In The Ocean in 2006. Joining them on the line up will be Buttermouth (a funky soul four piece featuring OutDaVille’s Nick Stez), Jay Thomas (acoustic set), Lady Paradox and Pat D, First Blood’s Louis Cypher and his crew The Punning Clan, alongside the impressive production duo Zetia and a DJ set from OhMyGosh! records. Expect visuals and a RITH clothing stall on the night.

www.myspace.com/illcitizen

Wednesday 12/03 Detonate Live Venue: Rescue Rooms Price: £8 adv Times: 8.30pm Magnetic Man: Skream and Benga. Ektomorf Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £8 / £10 Times: 7.30pm - 11.30pm Plus Stuck Mojo.

music / weeklies / comedy /exhibitions / theatre

Thursday 13/03

Saturday 22/03

Fabonacci Venue: Golden Fleece Times: 8.30pm

D.I.Y Presents Loose Joints Venue: Loft Times: 8pm

Inspiral Carpets Venue: Rescue Rooms Price: £20 Times: 7.30pm

Illuminatus Venue: Junktion 7 Times: 8pm - 2am Evil Scarecrow, Pleasures and Disarm.

The Fall Venue: Price: Times:

NTU Union £18 8pm

Friday 14/03 Demo Style: Venue: Price: Times:

Breaks, Art, Alt BluePrint £5 9pm - 3am

Cult - DJ Furney Style: DnB Venue: Muse Price: £4 / £6 Times: 10pm - 3am Plus Rotary Connexion, Mouse and Houghmeister (Cult). Easy Target and Go Team Go! Venue: Old Angel Price: £3 Times: 7.30pm Firefly Venue: Price: Times: Derrick May

Marcus Garvey £10 / £15 10pm - 6am and more tbc.

Texas Thunder Venue: The Running Horse Price: Free Studio 54 Venue: Price: Times:

Loggerheads Free 8pm - 1.30am

Saturday 15/03 Highness Sound System Style: Reggae, Dub, Roots Venue: Bodega Social Price: £5 (NUS) Times: 11pm - 4am Panic At The Disco Venue: Rock City Price: £17 Times: 6.30pm St Patrick’s Day Party Venue: Maze With Kelly Heroes. Road Block Venue: Loggerheads Times: 8pm - 1.30am

Thursday 20/03 Performance Venue: Approach Times: 8pm Kathryn Williams / Neill Maccoll Venue: Rescue Rooms Price: £14 Times: 7.30pm

Friday 21/03 Doodle Venue: Price: Times:

Bodega Social Free / £3 11pm - 3am

Musika Venue: Price: Times:

Maze £4 9pm

Easter Weekend Special Venue: Loggerheads Times: 8pm - 1.30am Runs Until: 23/03

Saturday 22/03 Mood Indigo At Alea Venue: Alea Times: 8.30pm

Sunday 23/03 Buster Venue: Times:

Southbank Bar 8pm

A concert for Liam Venue: Rock City £10 Price: Times: 5pm Fathers, The Phonics, S-Punk, False Maria, Skeleton Crew, Mick Rutherford Band and more tbc. The Duke Spirit Venue: Rescue Rooms Price: £8 Times: 7.30pm Devil Sold His Soul Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £6 adv Times: 7.30pm - 11.30pm Plus The Mirimar Disaster and A Second Blessing.

Tuesday 25/03 Mood Indigo Venue: Larwood and Voce Times: 8pm The Sword / Saviours Venue: Rock City

Thursday 27/03 The Establishment Venue: Approach Times: 8pm Hides in Caves Venue: The Running Horse Price: Free Times: 8pm Richard Bacchus and The Luckiest Girls Venue: Junktion 7 Price: £5 Plus The Dangerfields, The Rutherfords and In Isolation.

Friday 28/03 Dollop Venue: Price: Times: D’lex, Lilica

Bodega Social Free / £3 11pm - 3am Libertine and guests.

Detonate Style: DnB Venue: Stealth Price: £10 Times: 10pm - 4am Nicky Blackmarket, Logistics and Transit Mafia. Roy De Wired Venue: Approach Times: 8pm The Messengers Venue: Morton and Clayton Times: 8pm Vaccine Live DnB Venue: Muse Price: £3 Times: 8pm Dub and Earth Venue: Maze Price: £5 Times: 9pm Plus Royal Gala, Circadia and Weeble. Stone Soup Project DJs Venue: Loft Times: 8pm

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listings... Saturday 29/03 Ronnie Londons Groove Lounge Venue: Grosvenor Price: £3 Times: 8pm - 1am Mint Ive Venue: Price: Times:

Bodega Social £5 adv 7pm - 10pm

The Theme Team Venue: Loggerheads Times: 8pm - 1.30am Joe Strange Band Venue: Approach Times: 8pm Station Venue: Times:

Southbank Bar 8pm

Vast Venue: Price: Times:

Rock City £8 7pm

The Subways Venue: Rescue Rooms Price: £10 Times: 7pm

Weeklies Mondays Rock Jam Session Style: Rock Venue: Running Horse Price: Free Times: 8.30pm - 12am

Tuesdays Games Night Venue: Loggerheads Times: 8pm Local Band Night Venue: Approach Times: 7pm

Tuesdays Liquid Silk Venue: Muse Times: 7.30pm A haven of chilled acoustic sounds provided. Crash Venue: The Rig Price: £3 (NUS) Times: 9.30pm - 2am Notts’ longest running indie night. The Horseshoe Lounge Style: Country Venue: Deux Times: 8pm Americana, bluegrass and country. Accoustic Tuesdays Style: Acoustic Venue: Malt Cross Times: 8pm Chilled Out Tuesdays Style: Acoustic, Folk, Blues Venue: Hubb Times: 7pm Acoustic, folk and bluesy hues from bands and singer-songwriters.

Wednesdays Urban Intro Venue: Approach Times: 7pm Followed by salsa dancing. Showcase Venue: Loggerheads Times: 8pm A range of events including acoustic sets, poetry, visual art, film, dance, performing art and comedy. The Big Wednesday Style: Alternative, Rock, Pop Venue: The Cookie Club Price: £2.50 (NUS) Times: 10.30pm - 2am

Wednesdays

music / weeklies / comedy /exhibitions / theatre

Thursdays

LeftLion Pub Quiz Venue: Golden Fleece Times: 8.30pm

Live Thursdays Venue: Golden Fleece Times: 8pm

Wigflex Style: Venue: Times:

Jazzy Thursdays Venue: Hubb Times: 7pm

Hiphop, DnB, Dubstep Dogma 9pm - late

Electric Banana Venue: Social Price: £2 Times: 10.30pm - 3am

Thursdays Open Mic Night Venue: Loggerheads 8pm Times: Word of Mouth Style: Hiphop Venue: Muse Price: Various Bringing you the finest quality acts for your acoustical enchantment. Folk Thursday Venue: Loft Times: 8pm Homegrown Venue: Deux Times: 7pm Noodle Venue: Times:

Fridays Friday Fever Venue: Loggerheads Times: 8pm - 1.30am Fridays Venue: Approach Times: 5pm - 2am Acoustic sets from local artists, followed by Roy De Wired. Love Shack Nineties Style: Venue: Rock City Price: £4 / £5 Times: 9.30pm - 2am Pop.Your_Funk Venue: Bluu Times: 9pm - late Hubbub Venue: Times:

Hubb 7pm

Saturdays The Spot 8pm

Mass Appeal Venue: Muse Times: 10pm - 2am

Dogma Presents Style: Hiphop, Breaks Venue: Dogma Price: Varies (NUS) Times: 9pm - 2am

Saturday Night Live Venue: Deux Times: 7pm

Club NME Style: Venue: Price: Times:

Road Block Style: Boogie, Hiphop, Jazz Venue: Loggerheads Price: Free with DJ Daddio and special guests.

Indie, Rock, Alternative Stealth £2 - £4 (NUS) 10pm - 2am

Saturdays Rise and Shine / Funk You Style: Alternative, Acoustic Venue: The Cookie Club Price: £5 Times: 10.30pm - 3am Distortion Style: Venue: Price: Times:

Rock, Alternative Rock City £5 9pm - 2.30am

Variegated Saturdays Venue: Hubb Price: Free Times: 7pm

Sundays Sunday Jam Sessions Loggerheads Venue: Times: 8pm Jazz Venue: Times:

Bell Inn 12.30pm - 3am

Moog is Sunday Venue: Moog Price: Free Times: 12pm - 12am We Love Style: Acoustic Venue: Deux Times: 8pm Eclectic open mic night. Melody Market Style: Acoustic, Folk, Alt Venue: Loft Times: 8pm Reggae Roast Style: Reggae Venue: Golden Fleece Jazz at the Style: Venue: Price:

Bell Jazz Bell Inn Free

listings... Comedy Saturday 02/02

Thursday 13/03

Friday 01/02

Funhouse Comedy Venue: Maze Markus Birdman, Howard Reed, Men With Bananas and Compere Spiky Mike.

Lakeside Arts Centre £5 - £15 8pm

Thursday 07/02 Funhouse Comedy Venue: Phoenix Cue Sports Price: £5 / £6 8pm Times: Brian Damage and Krysstal, Dave Twentyman, Special Guest and Compere Spiky Mike. Funhouse Comedy Venue: Maze Dave Twentyman, Brian Damage and Krysstal, Kerry Howard and Compere Daniel Gray.

Tuesday 12/02 Mark Watson Venue: Lakeside Arts Centre Price: £5 - £15 Times: 8pm

Thursday 14/02 Funhouse Comedy Venue: Maze Kyle Kinane, Ken Barnard, Renee Gauthier, Mike Bridenstine and Compere Steve O’Harvey.

Funhouse Comedy Venue: Maze Rob and Skatz, Dane Baptiste, Mike Manera, Richard Brophy and Compere Spiky Mike.

Monday 31/03 Gladdies Night Venue: The Gladstone Times: 8pm Price: £5 Aaron Counter, Holly Walsh, Nat Luurtsema amd Duncan Oakley.

Exhibitions Friday 01/02 I like The End Again Venue: Surface Gallery Price: Free Work by Mark Selby and Nicola Pomery, winners of the 2007 Turbulence Open Show. Features sculpture, drawing, video and photography. Runs until: 21/02

Thursday 21/02 Should I Stay or Should I Go? Venue: Maze 12 acts compete. Each does two minutes, audience judges vote to keep them on or send them off! Compere James Sherwood.

Monday 25/02 Gladdies Night Venue: The Gladstone Times: 8pm Price: £5 Jack Whitehall, Lee Nelson and Duncan Oakley.

Thursday 28/02 David Whitney Venue: Bunkers Hill Inn Price: £4 / £5 / £6 (NUS) Times: 8pm Plus Jack Whitehall, Jason Patterson, Wayne Stewart and Compere Spiky Mike.

Thursday 06/03 Funhouse Comedy Venue: Phoenix Cue Sports Price: £5 / £6 Times: 8pm Pam Ford, Matt Seber, Elliot Potter and Compere Spiky Mike. Funhouse Comedy Venue: Maze Matt Seber, Pam Ford, James Everitt, 80s Luke and Compere Daniel Gray.

Saturday 08/03

Russell Kane Venue: Lakeside Arts Centre Price: £5 - £15 Times: 8pm

Tuesday 05/02

Funhouse Comedy Venue: Maze Ray Kane, Mel Moon, Susan Vale, Danny McCloughlin and Compere Spiky Mike.

Thursday 27/03

Adrian McCrone Exhibition Venue: Lace Market Theatre Trees mostly. Funny lookin’ buggers with a bit of a gloopy look. Oh and shiny. Different backgrounds though so you can tell ‘em apart. Runs Until: 09/02

Monday 04/02 Shades of Black Venue: The Art Organisation Price: Free Contemporary african art, based on geometry and symbology. The first show featuring works by Galeb Chabvamperu, a promising young Zimbabwean artist, who will be presenting freehand geometric compositons in a style that he calls Ul O Lasal.

Wednesday 13/02 Artists’ Talk (I Like The End Again) Venue: Surface Gallery Prices: Free Times: 2pm

Monday 18/02

Robin Hood Up Close Venue: Nottingham Castle Runs Until: 01/06 Nottingham’s Islamic Collection Venue: Nottingham Castle An exhibition presenting a group of historical Islamic objects drawn from the city’s world cultures, costume and decorative art collections. Runs Until: 01/05 Dod Proctor: Singular Vision Venue: Lakeside Arts Centre Price: Free Times: All day Runs Until: 17/02 Birds, Beasts and Flowers Venue: Lakeside Arts Centre Price: Free Times: 11am - 4pm Runs Until: 25/03

Dot dot dot... Venue: The Art Organisation Price: Free One fine artist and two illustrators collaborating to present an exhibition of work. Runs Until: 01/03

Monday 25/02 It Couldn’t Be Made Up Venue: Surface Gallery Price: Free Surface Gallery’s annual showcase of work by Nottingham Trent University’s Fine Art department. One of the gallery’s busiest and most interesting events; last year saw 5 show in 4 weeks. This year the students have been asked to propose exhibitions with the title . Runs Until: 21/03

Monday 17/03

Once Upon A Time In The West There Was Lace Venue: The Yard Gallery Price: Free 11am - 4pm Times: Artist Godfried Donkor investigates connections between Nottingham’s lace trade and international slavery. Runs Until: 10/02 The First Western Atlas Of China Venue: Lakeside Arts Centre Price: Free Times: Open All Day A selection of 15 maps recently acquired for the Manuscript Department’s Special Collection from the first Western Atlas of China and Japan. Runs Until: 24/02

Theatre Friday 01/02 War and Peace Venue: Playhouse Price: £7.50 - £24.50 Times: 1.30pm and 7.30pm Runs Until: 17/02

Thursday 20/03 Phil Nicol Venue: Price: Times:

music / weeklies / comedy / exhibitions / theatre

Glacier Venue: Lakeside Arts Centre Price: £5 - £12 Times: 8pm Icicles turn into tears and icebergs come crushing down on ice princesses, Glacier explores personal reactions to the contemporary themes of global warming and environmental change. Opera North Venue: Royal Centre Price: £13.50 - £43 Times: 7.15pm Runs Until: 09/02

Monday 11/02 Hobson’s Choice Venue: Royal Centre Price: £8 - £23 Times: 8.30pm / matinees Runs Until: 16/02

Tuesday 19/02 Nutcracker Venue: Royal Centre Price: £13.50 - £29.50 Times: 7.30pm / matinees Runs Until: 23/02

Thursday 21/02 The Kaos Dream Venue: Lakeside Arts Centre Price: £9 - £12 Times: 8pm Take a trip into this surreal world of delirious dreams and discover a potion-pedalling, high-flying Puck; a pole-dancing Hermia; a transvestite Titania and an allrevealing Bottom! Runs Until: 23/02

Friday 22/02 Nomadica Venue: Nottingham Arts Theatre Price: Free Times: 7pm Launch event for Creative Room’s Words on your Street book, a celebration of three years of creative writing by Nottingham based young people.

Friday 29/02 Fiddler On The Roof Venue: Royal Centre Price: £12 / £25.50 Times: 7.30pm / matinees Runs Until: 08/03

Tuesday 04/03 Summer Holiday Venue: Playhouse Price: £11.50 - £16.50 Times: 7.15pm Runs Until: 08/03 Act One Venue: Lakeside Arts Centre Price: £9 - £12 Times: 8pm Test Run and Look At Me Now, Mummy are contrasting pieces that feature the company’s trademark humour, passion, music, dance and raw physicality.

Tuesday 11/03 Hamlet Venue: Royal Centre Price: £11 / £30 Times: 7.30pm / matinees Runs Until: 15/11

Tuesday 18/03 Aspects of Love Venue: Royal Centre Price: £15 - £30.50 Times: 7.30pm / matinees Runs Until: 22/03

Tuesday 25/03 Naughts and Crosses Venue: Playhouse Price: £5 - £24 Times: 7pm / matinees Sephy, a Prime Minister’s daughter from the powerful Crosses, falls for rebel Callum, son of a dangerous Nought agitator. Their desire to be together threatens family loyalties and sparks a growing political crisis. Runs Until: 29/03

Friday 28/03 Words on your Street Venue: Nottingham Council House Price: Free Times: 7pm Nottingham City Council’s Creative Room project presents nomadica: a multi-disciplinary dance performance by young people living in Nottingham including young refugees and asylum seekers exploring themes of migration, displacement and belonging.

Monday 31/03 Sleuth Venue: Royal Centre Price: £12 - £24 Times: 7.30pm / matinees Runs Until: 05/04

Tuesday 26/02

Carbon and Chemicals Venue: The Art Organisation Price: Free A low-fi analogue exhibition of hand-painted skateboards, screen-prints and more. Runs Until: 30/03

Monday 31/03 Steve Lowe Venue: The Art Organisation Price: Free Representing artists from The Aquarium, London. Runs Until: 19/04

Angel House Venue: Playhouse Price: £8 - £24.50 Times: 7.45pm Runs Until: 01/03 Looking For JJ Venue: Lakeside Arts Centre Price: £5 - £12 Times: 8pm Three children walked away from the cottages on the edge of town. Later that day only two of them came back. Where was Jennifer Jones? That’s what everyone was asking. There were only a handful of people who knew... Runs Until: 01/03

To get listed on these pages, add your event to leftlion.co.uk. By doing so we’ll include you in the magazine, it’s completely free and simple to do. Use this form:

leftlion.co.uk/add Please note. We try to ensure that all events are correct at time of print, but always check with the venue or promoter before you set off to avoid disappointment.

Write Lion...

Oh it’s all doom and gloom on the love front for our forum writers. But St0gey is remaining sane, offering homage to Hemingway whilst Jack Twatt is conserving all his energy for those vacuous television adverts. On a more serious note, Loay Hady’s father passed away minutes before NYE and he has written a poem about the event. You can read this and other pieces in full on the forum www.leftlion.co.uk/forum

Foreign Girl

Suddenly

They shot the six

NYE 2007/8

Writing by the light Of a 4pm dusk.

Suddenly.

Six ministers at six-thirty one Positions spent, privilege gone Five forced to think of what went wrong One typhoid-blister slump swan song

I landed in Athens with time to spare, Found a route to the city centre And made my way there.

Nailed shutters shut, dead courtyard eyes Dead brown the leaves. The concrete sky Red dappled bricks that mortify Supported six, about to die

I was looking forward to a reunion with a friend, so dear To spend the last night together Of what had been an awesome year.

Water pools and hard-rain rites A last-speech bark with orange spite Five tumbled, three slumped dead, upright Five soldiers left, one checked his sight.

We strolled through the city centre, Sharing memories. I felt hopeful and assured, Completely at peace.

st0gey

And I suppose it’s fitting, There was nothing out of the norm, Because as the old saying goes, There’s always calm before the storm.

My eyeline punctuated By heavy terminations Of mismatched flowerpots Abandoned on the ‘sill. Gorged With fat leaves From tiny seedlings Left by parents Years since gone. Fingertips: Crumbling Decaying Pale plaster Patched with Outdated supermarket posters, Discoloured calendars Showing happy animals Of past generations. All held with yellowed fragile tape. The light is fading. Darkened even more by Windows Within Windows Of petrified Mosquito netting. Left over And waiting From one autumn To the next. Crimson curtains (Velvet, Faded, Threadbare) Peony lace (Stained, Bitten, Stale) This: A small corner Of my home, Of my worldMine.

It always seems to happen Suddenly. When you realise it is no longer her eyes it is no longer her mouth no longer the way she wrinkles her nose and laughs. Nor is it any more the sound of her cries late at night when she thinks you asleep. Feeling them wrenching her viscera, tormenting your soul. The look of surprise on her tear and blood stained face when you turn her over and wrap your whole self around her. You thought you loved her. But that sensation now bears to the slick lavender oil sitting on top the hot hot water and afterwards on her pale pale skin That thin smear of graceful grease that lingers so delicately before the devastation underneath burns it away and leaves just a scent And an altogether more painful Ascent. Mexes

Lian

Feet, wine and a woman Walking back every night, Past shop doorways Filled with rice, doused in wine We’d walk hand in hand, Pass thin-lipped men With straw lined faces Smoking cigarettes As white as their fingers, Their eyes glimpses Of a thousand lingering Horrors, spent in Dull, Sunday bars These nights, these slow hours Too grave and driven by the bottle Have you bedridden Tanned and beautiful Crisp and soiled, Talking to the tormentors That rile you in your sleep

And all I can do All I can think of, While sitting here Finishing off this last cigarette, Pulling the port dregs from my teeth Talking to you and the wall And the stray light of a bound night, Is how I ended up with her And what She is Doing To Me. A. Catterall

Dead Can Dance Lets melt in thirds so arms slide from shoulders With no atmosphere, we get no older And I do enjoy this party and parade Of falling apart and wholesome decay Where young hearts break and pull themselves free And where minds wake; their bodies shake in convulsive misery The festival of the dead; all singing, all dance The dirges and requiems of a dead romance Jaaack

Survey taken from two foot away based on visibility of flakes If you have the dandruff, you can watch TV for help As you will see an advert to halt a flaking scalp It makes outlandish claims about its potency and power, To rinse away your scabs with shampoo and a shower. It shows females, flowing follicles, glistening in the breeze. It shows fella’s, fingers fumbling through her locks with ease. It shows a youthful utopia where everyone’s flake free, Beautiful and bouncing with gloss paint on their teeth I must admit I watched it with disdain in my heart Another fucking advert filled with airbrushed, ragged tarts Selling folk an ideal using dusty stereotypes, It’s just a tube of liquid dripping with the hype. They sit around the boardroom twiddling ponytails. Edgy, urban buzzwords will maximise your sales. They put their brains to task to enforce your brand. A child like idea will cost a mere five hundred grand. Who has the power to stop these gits? Is it you? is it me? Who can see they take the piss? It should be I, it should be thee. Who can tell these swines to put their ideas back in folders? It isn’t us, it isn’t we, it’s fucking Head and Shoulders.

Made my way back to hers, And met her family, Planned the coming days, And worked out an itinerary. We ate, and then waited, Til the dawn of the new year When my friend yelled “come out to the balcony We’ll watch the fireworks from here.” I marvelled at the explosions, As they lit up the sky, then, my friend took my hand As the count down reached five She looked at me shyly, grinned from ear to ear, Said “I’m so glad you decided To spend new year here.” So I headed into a bedroom, As I was gonna call my mum, Wish her all the best, Hoping she was having fun, But as soon as she answered, I knew something wasn’t right. I glanced at the clock: It was ten minutes past midnight. “What’s wrong mum?” I said After a tentative hello, And I knew what she was gonna tell me Was something I didn’t wanna know. “I’m so sorry, so sorry…” over and over, she said “I don’t know how to say it … but your father is dead.” I hung up and stood alone My heart started to race. My friend stepped into the room And saw the look on my face “What’s wrong?” I couldn’t speak So I just tried to smile, But it was so empty and fake, She saw through it from a mile. She looked worried in an instant So I, chose to lie Said “Nothing. At all. Trust me. I’m fine.” Thought of dad’s family Remembered them all one by one, Then the one worst thought stuck me: “Who’s gonna tell dad’s mum?” I winced at the idea, Cos there’s no greater pain to bear Than for a son to get buried And for the mother to be there. Loay Hady

Jack Twatt www.leftlion.co.uk/issue21

Aries (March 21 - April 20)

Libra (September 24 - October 23)

Use adhesive tape to remove sticky labels. It is full of moisture and odour-free and works even on glossy paper. Simply rub or lightly scratch in the tape to lift as much of the price tag as possible. Repeat till the whole tag and sticky residue comes off. No-one will ever know it came from the pound shop.

Look after yourself during the last of the cold winter nights, as you need to keep your strength up. Life in 2008 will continue to feel like a juggling act when you’re forced to balance work, family, relationships, friends, a beanbag, two fiery sticks, a ball and a chainsaw.

Taurus (April 21 - May 21)

Scorpio (October 24 - November 22)

No matter how much you try and hide it, you’ve always had a problem adapting to new technology. But any resistance you may have put up will come to a sudden end this week when 50,000 volts charge through your body in a soon to be Darwin Award-winning moment.

In a previous life you were a Roman soldier. Like one of the guys in 300, but much more skinny, ugly and weak. In those days life wasn’t so complicated with loans and mortgages and all the other bullshit financial pressures. Plus the clothes were much cooler and you got to fight big animals with spears.

Gemini (May 22 - June 22)

Sagittarius (November 23 - December 22)

Your fears of dying old and lonely will never be realised if you can learn to compromise with the birdwoman in the Market Square. If you accept her mysterious offer, you are guaranteed over a hundred of the city’s most vicious pigeons to keep you company during those last terrifying minutes.

Making love is something that should be done using the essence inside you, in more than just the most literal sense. While you were flattered that a previous partner frequently referred to you as the ‘sex machine’, the label is actually based on your cold, almost mechanical execution of the physical act.

Cancer (June 23 - July 23)

Capricorn (December 23 - January 19)

You need to spend some time alone until a sudden phase passes. Lately it seems like every time you open your mouth in company something terrible happens. Don’t be unduly alarmed by this, but keep yourself to yourself until it is finished. What you’re suffering from is known as food poisoning.

Hey chico. You need to learn to sit back and let things wash over you sometimes. Too much information creates problems in your life and you already have your fingers in enough pies. Free the left hand and you can you can spare a thumb for the steak and kidney. Peter pointer likes his pastry.

Leo (July 24 - August 23)

Aquarius (January 20 - February 19)

Each of us is here to discover our true self. Essentially we are spiritual beings who have taken manifestation in physical form. We are not human beings that have occasional spiritual experiences, we are spiritual beings that have occasional human experiences. Your body is simply meat, but your mind is forever.

Another calendar year is underway and offers you a chance to forget the events of the previous twelve months. You’re on the track to find some self-fulfilment now, so don’t let it slip out of your grasp. You know what you have to do. Get your head down and focus on your future.

Virgo (August 24 - September 23) As you get older your sense of your own lifetime changes and you realise everything you know is finite. Finding out that an old friend you haven’t seen in years has passed away is never going to be easy. Still, you are entitled to think of this week’s visit from a singing Elvis-o-gram as being a tad inappropriate.

Pisces (February 20 - March 20) You always felt you were different from other people. You looked in wonder at their range of emotions, but you never really felt them for yourself. This feeling of isolation will be vindicated this month as strange growths appear on your back. You are part reptile and these are your new Pterodactyl wings.

WESTWOOD

EASTWOOD

Population: 18,612 merly coal, Main export: For now D H Lawrence

by KRS-One: No. of times dissedthe big Morrisons) Never (he’s always in

uld say: If changed places wo , Mester Fifteh’ ‘Ode it dahn wi’ yersen

No. of times shot at:

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue21

Never

Population: One serious ly deluded

arsehole

Main export: Piss-poor compilation CD s with 50 Cent

No. of times diss by KRS-One: Once (for not beinged true to the street)

If changed places would Chatterley, your girl is say: ‘Yo, Lord getting down’

No. of times shot at:

Not enough

Nottingham City Council

proud to present

light Nottingham

night

Friday 8 February 2008 from 6pm ‘til late Nottingham City Centre After dark events and illuminations for families and people of all ages.

Safer, cleaner, ambitious

Nottingham A city we’re all proud of

Visit www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/lightnight or call 0844 4775678 for event listings and offers.

Want to be a record breaker?

Nottingham City Council

Join in Nottingham Castle’s bid to host the world’s largest gathering of people dressed as Robin Hood

Saturday 8 March 2008 from 10am FREE admission for participants, entertainment & prizes to be won

Visit www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/robinhood or call 0115 915 3700 for entry requirements & full details.

proud to present