LeftLion Magazine - December 2008 - Issue 26 by LeftLion

illustration: Alex Godwin www.alexgodwin.co.uk

contents

editorial

LeftLion Magazine Issue 26 December 2008 - January 2009

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2009 to all our readers! Instead of talking about the stuff that’s in this magazine as usual, I’m going to talk about stuff that’s not instead. Confused? Well, there’s no need to be. If you like this magazine you will love what we do online at www.leftlion.co.uk for some, if not all, of the following reasons:

Podcasts

04 05 06

May Contain Notts The latest news round-up from Nottingham’s Mr Sex. LeftEyeOn Choice cuts from our Nottingham galleries. County vs. Forest We take an in-depth look at Nottingham’s local football rivalry.

A Canadian In New Basford Rob visits The Tales of Robin Hood.

Samantha Morton We get some words from Nottingham’s best known actress.

Lovvers We have a few words with the latest punks on the indie scene.

6 13 14 16 18 20

The Drop That Keeps Dripping We paid a visit to a children’s shelter in Cambodia that was paid for by Nottingham beer money. P Brothers Nottingham’s Heavy Bronx hiphop duo in the house. Free Christmas Board Game Don’t say we don’t treat you - here’s a fun way to spend a couple of hours with mates. Artist Profiles This issue’s selection of movers and shakers from the local arts scene.

21 26 28

LeftLion Listings From clubbing to theatre to art and back again.

Reviews Stuff people have sent us recently – including new albums from The Hellset Orchestra and Ocean Bottom Nightmare. The End Page Rocky Horrorcopes, The Arthole, Notts Trumps and Notts Abroad.

Art Editor Frances Ashton (frances@leftlion.co.uk) Theatre Editor Adrian Bhagat (adrian@leftlion.co.uk) Literature Editor James Walker (books@leftlion.co.uk) Music Editors Natasha Chowdhury (natasha@leftlion.co.uk) Paul Klotschkow (paulk@leftlion.co.uk) Photography Editor Dominic Henry (dom@leftlion.co.uk) Contributors Dave Evans Jaycee

- Cult Radio (Mouse and Chris with the best local dance music) - Poddingham (Paul telling you about what’s on in Notts) - StuPod (student ramblings straight outta HoodTown)

The Fortnightly Lion We now send a fortnightly email to thousands of people across Notts and beyond. It’s a bit like this magazine, but shorter, more frequent and sent straight to your email inbox. Go to www.leftlion.co.uk/newsletter to sign yourself up!

Forum Idle away your days discussing the relative merits of the slanty N logo and how bad that Russell Crowe film ‘Naddinghayum’ is going to be, with over 2,500 other Nottingham folk.

Videos

Nottingham Events This magazine has the most comprehensive printed listings of Nottingham Events. But the ones on our website are updated every day and have all those and more. So if you want to know what to do on Saturday night look no further!

Directory Want recommendations of a good bar or restaurant to try out in Notts? Fear not, the LeftLion Directory is like a more informative version of the Yellow Pages, pre-packed with maps, features, user reviews and (coming soon) special offers and discounts!

Photographers Jon Rouston

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

Marketing and Sales Manager Ben Hacking (ben@leftlion.co.uk)

- Sound of the Lion (All-Notts tunes with Tom from Not In Nottingham)

A series of short films and music videos produced locally - a bit like YouTube, but much better quality and 100% Notts!

The Last Night Of The Year Suggestions of how you might want to spend the last hours of 2008 in Nottingham.

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

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

- LeftLion Radio (featuring chelp from Nish and the K)

- ALT-Lion (alternative rock with Jon and Dan) Write Lion A selection of creative writing from the LeftLion Forum

credits Deputy Editors Al Needham (nishlord@leftlion.co.uk) Nathan Miller (njm@leftlion.co.uk) Charlotte Kingsbury (charlotte@leftlion.co.uk)

LeftLion now have a suite of podcasts that you can listen to at your leisure, whether you’re in the kitchen preparing a Sunday roast or at work with your headphones on staring at your computer. Shows include:

Sound Bloke Mike Cheque

Adrian Bhagat Theatre Editor Adrian has been writing for LeftLion for nearly five years. When not in the theatre he can be found at gigs, real-ale pubs and the Broadway Cinema, where he’ll only watch films with subtitles. He’s working as a computer programmer whilst developing plans to open a vegan tapas bar in Skegness. Jesse Keene Nikki Barr Roger Mean Shariff Ibrahim Tom Quickfall Cover Illustrator Chris Summerlin Illustrators Alex Godwin Rikki Marr Rob White

Interviews

“Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink and swore his last oath. Today, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever.” Mark Twain

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

More interviews than we can cram into here. Recent ones include Dylan Moran, Sam Rockwell, The Money and Pendulum. Then there’s our back catalogue including the likes of The Prodigy, Paul Smith, Shane Meadows, the Xylophone Man and more.

Reviews People always ask us why we don’t review events in this mag. It’s because we save them all for the website - where they go up within hours of the event. Read about the latest gigs, theatre, exhibitions and films in Nottingham. Updated daily!

Photos See galleries from the latest events in Hoodtown and beyond.

Advertise LeftLion has an estimated readership of 40,000 in the city of Nottingham. LeftLion.co.uk received over 4 million page views in the last 12 months. 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.

If you’re running a business in Notts and want to let LeftLion readers know about it, either in print or online, then email ben@leftlion.co.uk Oh yeah… and check out our New Year’s Eve gig at Brownes and the Market Bar (see the back page) and come and see in 2009 with us! jared@leftlion.co.uk www.leftlion.co.uk/issue26

EARLY XMAS DECORATIONS God Almighty, a house down my street in Beeston already has Xmas decs, tree and lights up in early November! Are these guys insane or what? Sara Not really, the whole of Nottingham city centre is alight... SamYouWell I like the Cornerhouse lights. They take the edge off that infernal building. Stillman In these energy crisis times, surely the idea is to save electricity, not go hell for leather on burning it all away. Woe betide when the energy runs out! Onward Christian soldiers! Sara I really like the idea of having lights up and decorations, i just wish Christmas hadn’t put its stench all over it. I’m pretty certain the idea is to help brighten up winter, to put decorations up where the flowers have failed for the season, to help fight against those cold night blues. Sir Dancealot May as well leave them up all fucking year. Anyway, where can I get my easter eggs? Alexander Supertramp Viccy Centre have installed their new display, I remember commenting on the animatronic elves faces being all dirty last year on here and lo and behold they have been replaced... with a load of buck-toothed, puffy-cheeked, budget Disney dwarf rip-offs. Whoever gets paid to make these things must be laughing all the way to the bank, proper offensively shite. Jack Twatt

JO AND TWIGGY SPLIT Hurrrrah - no more inept rantings of the unfunny manbeast and Twiglet the Moronic. This has made my year, never mind day. 44ton haha! hahahahahahahahaha.... hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha haha ha. Alan The funny thing, Alan, is that you’re still in their top friends on MySpace. And have you seen how many friends they have? 666... Jared Alan, you’ve made Nottingham cry. And the fact that this story is over two months old and nobody had noticed is testament to the huge and enduring sway Radio Trent has over the cultural realm of Nottingham. Lord of the Nish Her mum’s finally had enough of her and kicked her out, then? serpico I never ever listened to them. Were they that bad? Surely not worse than Chris’s Moyles and Evans. daley thompson Worse than Evans, nowhere near as bad as Moyles. But then, what is? New Jersey Manufacturer’s Insurance Co. The fact that they’d turn up to the opening of an envelope was what really made people actually hate them - people who probably couldn’t even name another Trent FM presenter. They even appeared in your cage when you went on the Nottingham Eye: a disgrace! They should have issued a warning before you paid. Jared HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH HAHAHAHAHAHA Twats. robcutforth

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

October-November 2008

Sept 28 Mr Sex’s dad is one of the people who escaped fiery death when the Balford Conservative Club skittle team’s coach bursts into flames on the way back from a day out in Whitby. He was more pissed off about leaving two cans of bitter on the back seat, and tried to lead a heroic yomp across the moors to find a pub, despite being told not to by the police. Sept 30 Jo and Twiggy, the D-list celebrities of local radio broadcasting, split up. Let’s have a minute of silence from Radio Trent. Actually, make it a century. Or two. Oct 1 Goose Fair. Is it me, or is it getting smaller every year? By the year 2038, someone will go for a walk across the Forest and accidentally tread on it. Oct 2 The Council reveal that they’ve over-spunked the building of the Market Square and Nottingham Contemporary by a million quid each. Come on, it’s easily done. You know what it’s like - some sales rep comes round to sell you an arts centre, then he says he’ll even chuck in a free extension and he’ll split his commission, but you’ll have to sign this form right now before his boss finds out. And you end up with a big pile of bricks and Capital One are on your arse. Oct 3 Waitrose announce that they are moving into that munting new building in Trinity Square - y’know, the one that makes you feel like you’re in East Germany in the seventies when you go past the back of it. Oct 5 Hang on a minute - Conservative Club? You class traitor, Dad! I knew there was summat suspect about you when you belted me for chucking a leaflet back in the Tory candidate’s face during the 1983 General Election and wouldn’t let me go to Youth Club for a month. And no, I don’t care that you only go there because the ale’s cheap. I have no father. Oct 7 Jimmy Sirrel gets a right good send-off at St Mary’s, with David Pleat, Laurie McNenemy, Dave McKay, and Alex Ferguson in attendance. The latter even refrains from doing his usual pointing-atwatch-and-screaming-like-slapper-outside-Jumpin’-Jaks-for-taxi routine at the vicar. 9 Oct The Dalai Lama gives away over sixty grand to charity after making an unexpected profit on his week in Nottingham. Apparently, a coach party from Clifton saw all the Buddhas on display, and thought ‘Ooh, that looks like ah Dad I’ll gerrim one for Christmas’. Oct 10 More grief for the Council, as they confirm that they’ve lost over £42m in Icelandic banks. Which is almost as much as Bulwell spends in Iceland whenever there’s buy-one-get-one-free on oven chips. Oct 16 An eight year-old lad from Aspley gets done for making a knife in class out of a blade from a pencil sharpener stuck in a biro case. Kids today, eh? When I was his age, we were making Death Stars from the tops of cat food tins and chucking ‘em at the doors of the boiler room, or putting handfuls of fibre-glass down each other’s back. We made our own fun in them days. Oct 18 Nottingham’s chatty kids get another slap-down when it’s revealed they have the mankiest teggehs in the country, with their dental health being 35 years behind the rest of the country. This means our kids have seventies teeth. Flared teeth. With Bay City Rollers tartan on them. Oct 19 A church on Talbot Street announce that they have planning permission to erect a bleddy massive 65-metre cross that will tower over the city, meaning that the pavement outside Rock City will be sticky with liquefied Goth next decade. Oct 22 Nottingham gets £650,000 of government money to deal with anti-social kids. Hopefully, they’ll spend it all on a giant Dad’s fist mounted on a lorry that gets driven around estates and shakes violently at youths, whilst a 200db sound system broadcasts the words “Ah know where yer live, yer little boggers!” over and over again.

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Oct 24 A man in Mapperley claims to see a UFO. No-one believes him. Meanwhile, in a pub 34,000,000 light years away, a three-headed purple-skinned alien in a pub gets laughed at by his mates when he claims to have seen Mapperley. “No, I did! It was all flashing! There was a golf club and everything!” Oct 27 Police send letters to violent Forest and Derby fans, asking them not to be naughty at the forthcoming game. Then they do a mailshot to dogs that reads “Er, could you stop sniffing each other’s arseholes, please?” Oct 31 Nottingham breaks the world record for most zombies in one place at the same time, in the Market Square. It will break the record again next month, when Primark has its January Sale. Nov 1 Some youth on his way to a fancy dress party as Rambo gets put on lockdown by Babylon for having a plastic knife on him. The coppers’ll regret that in five years time when he comes back for revenge with a plastic rocket launcher, bought from Poundland. Nov 2 The Derby derby. Ha ha ha! Phew. Nov 4 The Slanty ‘N’, that much-maligned consonant, is finally toppled by the City Council. In its place will probably be more banging on about Robin Hood, but I’ve sent in a drawing of Su Pollard with a call centre headphone jammed into one ear and an NG3 tattoo on her neck to the council. I’m quietly confident. Nov 6 The Brian Clough statue is unveiled, and the very mintness of it is only slightly tempered by Gary Newbon telling thousands of people how great it was to be back in Birmingham, the sucky get. As someone next to me said; “Eeh, it’s dead funneh aah he absolutely fookin’ ‘ated half the bastards up there on that stage.” Nov 12 Vienna, that posh new restaurant across the way from the Square, shuts down after only three months, which is a damn shame because it was skill! My mate had a pigeon leg lollipop when we went in. We felt a bit guilty when we went past the picket line of pigeons in wheelchairs giving us cut-eye looks, mind. Nov 18 The BNP membership list is published online, giving all the opportunity to put names and addresses to the mouth-breathers who write brain-meltingly cretinous rammell on the Post’s lamentable website. Unsurprisingly, Mansfield tops the list (where it would have been easier to publish who isn’t in the BNP), while Long Eaton, Beeston, and all the other bits of banjo-country bring up the rear. Congratulations, Bestwood, Aspley, The Park, Radford, Lady Bay and Strelley - you are vermin-free. Nov 21 Nottingham knocks back plans to have an elected mayor when only 89 people bother to respond to a public consultation. Balls! I was going to run for it. I would have gone on the batter in town with me chain on, made it illegal to stand outside a McDonalds thinking you’re rock without wearing tiger face-paint and holding a balloon, and would have put a UFC fighting cage in the Square every Saturday night. You missed your chance, Nottingham, and it’s your own fault.

LeftEyeOn

What’s been going on round Notts of late, through the lenses of our photographers...

Caption notes - left to right from the top From top left to bottom right... Deep Sound Channel playing in Dogma at the Hockley Hustle... Sun 5 Oct... raised 15k this year... Deep Sound Channel playing Dogma for the Hockley Hustle, a (Al Greer) charity festival across Nottingham venues that raised fifteen thousand pounds for charity on Sunday 5 October. (Al Greer) The Transatlantic Collective at the Bonington Theatre Arnold with guest trumpet Jay Phelps from Empirical... Part of nationally acclaimed Nottingham Jazz Steps programme... The Transatlantic Collective at the Bonington Theatre Arnold (Dom Henry) with guest trumpet Jay Phelps from Empirical. Part of the nationally acclaimed undead Nottingham Steps (Dom Henry) Nottingham’s at theJazz Game Cityprogramme. world record attempt... Friday 31st October... 1227 dressed up for Thriller... (Stephen Wright) Nottingham’s undead at Game City, where a new world record Spaceships are of cool at Brownes... LeftLion do Friday Octset on for the amount zombies gathered in the same place17was (Carla 31st Mundy) Friday October. 1227 turned up and then they all danced to Michael Jackson’s Thriller. (Stephen Wright) The LeftLion Radio team are on the case... (Al Greer) A member of Spaceships Are Cool performing at October’s LeftLion night at Brownes. Also playing on the night were XS:IF The Hiphop Disciple and the Stiff Kittens. (Carla Mundy)

The LeftLion Podcasting team gathered together at StoneSoup studios. Listen to their new range of broadcasts at www.leftlion.co.uk/audio

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Why I Became A Magpie! words: Dave Evans WHEN I WALK my dog on the local park every day I try not to become too disheartened by the number of kids wearing Chelsea, Arsenal, Man Utd and Liverpool shirts. After all, in 1974, when I was six years old it’s exactly what I was doing.

Road stand of decrepit Meadow Lane. Everything seemed to be made of wood and the air was thick with an aroma that combined Players Navy Cut, pies and piss with bad breath, Bovril and burps.

I had the full white strip with the numbered garters, and handstitched on the back of the shirt by my Mam was the coolest shirt number to have - seven. You see, I was a Leeds United fan back then.

This funny little team that played in black and white stripes had just come back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Manchester United. Yes, the actual, real Manchester United! I have no idea who played for United that day; I can’t even be bothered to look on the internet as I sit and type this because thinking back almost 35 years I can feel the grin start to appear on my face.

They were the league champions, had the best players and - most importantly for me - they had Peter Lorimer playing for them. He played number seven. Peter Lorimer had black tousled seventies hair and possessed the thing that sparkled like a stolen jewel to a six-year-old lad from Aspley: the hardest shot in football. Of course in those days, both Forest and Notts were slugging it out against each other in Division Two; what we now, rather alarmingly, call the Championship. This meant that the first match my Forest-supporting Dad ever took me to was over the border in what seemed like another country - Derby. So, clutching a white, yellow and blue woollen bar scarf, I stood right at the front, behind the goal at the old Baseball Ground waiting for a glimpse of my hero. When Leeds won a corner close to me, this thirteen-stone Jock ambled over towards where I was standing and stood there with his hands on his hips. ‘Peter, Peter!’ I shouted waiting for him to wave over to me, give me a cheeky wink or, goddammit, even wander over and ruffle my hair. But there was nothing. In the car on the way home with a down-turned smile like the saddest of clowns I told my dad I didn’t support Leeds anymore. His relief was clear to see. His broad smile practically said ‘Thank fuck for that, I haven’t got to drive this bleddy Vauxhall Viva to Derby again next season.’ A few weeks later, I was sat at my gran’s house in the Meadows reading the Beano when my dad said, ‘Come on son, we’re off to the match.’ Would this be it? Would this funny team in red and white be the ones for me? Or would I spend two hours staring at the sky wondering why Plug from the Bash Street Kids had ears that stuck out like that, as Forest huffed and puffed their way to a 0-0 draw with Cardiff? The following week however, this was it. March 19, 1974 was the day I fell in love with football. I was crammed into the County

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At half-time, my Dad was chain-smoking and telling the bloke next to him that Notts would never come back from this. But they did and as we made our way back to my gran’s house again, crushed by the crowds walking down Arkwright Street, I pulled at his arm; ‘That was skill dad! Can we come again?’ Kicking a ball around the playground at Robert Shaw Primary School on Western Boulevard on the Monday lunchtime I distinctly recall cutting one in between the jumpers from a fine angle. As I wheeled away in celebration I shouted out the name of my new hero. ‘What a great goal from Steve Carter’ I told anyone and everyone who could hear. Steve Carter, as I’m sure you won’t be surprised to hear, wore the number seven shirt for my new mob of heroes. On his Topps playing card (five in a pack, plus a stick of chewing gum that tasted like soil) he handsomely smirked out at you wearing a shark’s tooth necklace. I wanted one of those necklaces of course, but the only place you could find them was in the 5p-a-grab machines at Mablethorpe that were impossible to win on. Of course my Dad still used to take me down to Forest with him, but I was never that bothered by who won or scored, my eyes were always firmly fixed on the half-time scoreboard. As the whistle blew and the fella behind the windows started lifting 3ft numbers around, everyone waited to see what would be placed in window J. QPR 1…Notts County 0. The crowd booed. Why would they boo when their closest rivals were losing? Surely, like everyone at Meadow Lane did, they should cheer when their rivals are losing? I didn’t understand it, but then the rivalry in Nottingham is not the easiest one to explain to an outsider anyway.

Unlike cities such as Bristol and Sheffield, there is no North/ South divide. A Nottingham lad doesn’t follow the Tricky Trees because he lives in Ruddington, like a Magpies fan doesn’t follow them because he’s from Bulwell. We’re not Catholic, Forest aren’t Protestant or vice versa. Hell, my Dad followed Forest home and away throughout the sixties and seventies, while my idea of fun on a Saturday is a road trip to Rochdale. There’s simply no rhyme or reason to it. One thing that is clear on the rare occasions that we meet in a fixture these days is that when it resurfaces, that rivalry is as strong as any other in the country. The plain fact is that we Magpies hate Forest because they’re like that bigger brother who gets you in a headlock while his mate raps his knuckles on your head. When he eventually lets go, you try to swing back but miss and fall on your arse. Then, as you sit ‘round the dinner table with holes in the knees of your new school trousers and your mam asks you how you did it, you keep quiet… and that makes you hate him even more. These days, with my Dad living away, his weekend visits to Nottingham require him to sit in the Jimmy Sirrell stand with me, Ken, Thommo, Dave, Adrian, Liam, Martin, Laurence and the rest of us. Ignoring the dross that we’ve had to endure on the pitch for the last fifteen years or so, we idle away another afternoon by testing each other to name a team of eleven ginger Notts players over the years, or whether there’s ever been another Delroy to play for us other than our current striker, Delroy Facey. Dad loves it and as we walk back home from the pub analysing why we could never seem to beat Rushden and Diamonds, I ask him if he misses going to Forest these days: ‘I fell out of love with Forest 25 years ago,’ he answers. ‘These days I’d just rather come to watch Notts with you and your mates and have a laugh regardless of the result.’ A few years ago, when I had a different job and more time on my hands, I was watching a reserve game at Meadow Lane on a Tuesday afternoon with my mate Phil. As two old blokes sitting in front of us berated the linesman for a dodgy offside decision I turned to Phil and said: ‘Do you reckon that’ll be us in thirty years time?’ ‘I hope so,’ came his reply.

COUNTY vs. FOREST HISTORY

�

5. 1914 Forest have to apply for re-election after finishing bottom of Division Two.

20 21

��

G L O RY

4. 1898 Forest win their first FA Cup.

��

1. 1888 Notts play in the inaugural season of the Football League.

3. 1894 Notts get relegated, but become the first team out of the top division to win the FA Cup.

��

15 8

��

�� 14

��

COUNTY

7. 1926 Notts are relegated out of the top division, starting an exile of over half a century. 8. 1932 Forest batter Notts 6-2, their biggest derby victory.

6. 1925 Forest bounce back, but are relegated from Division One, not returning for 32 years.

��

2. 1892 Forest win the Football Alliance and get promoted to the Football League. Notts tonk ‘em 3-0 in the first meeting between the two.

FOREST �� 26

9. 1935 Notts relegated to Division Three South. ��

10. 1947 Notts become the dominant club in Nottingham after signing Tommy Lawton from Chelsea and getting promoted to Division Two while Forest slip down to Division Three.

��

TIME

11. 1955 Notts spank Forest 4-1, their biggest derby victory. 12. 1958 The balance tilts in Forest’s direction – they get promoted and win the FA Cup, while Notts are relegated twice in consecutive seasons.

17. 1976 The last season that Notts finished higher in the league than Forest.

21. 1992-3 The beginning of the end for both clubs, who get relegated from the top division, just as the Premier League starts and the serious money rolls in.

13. 1967 Forest come this close to winning the Double, while Notts are fourth from bottom in Division Four – the furthest away the two clubs have ever been from each other.

18. 1978-81 The Glory Years: Under Cloughie Forest get promoted back to Division One and win the League Cup twice, The League and the European Cup twice, while Jimmy Sirrel becomes one of just three managers in history to take a club from the bottom division to the top.

14. 1969 Jimmy Sirrel joins Notts, and gets them into Division Two in four years.

19. 1984 Notts get relegated two years running again, and flirt with bankruptcy.

24. 2004 Notts end up in Division Four and very nearly go bankrupt.

15. 1972 Forest are relegated to Division Two.

20. 1991 Notts claw their way back to the top division under Neil Warnock.

25. 2005 Forest end up in Division Three.

16. 1975 Brian Clough joins Forest.

22. 1994 The last league game between the two clubs sees Notts win 2-1. Sir Charlie Palmer Day! 23. 1994-99 Forest yo-yo upwards, Notts yo-yo downwards.

26. 2008 Forest get promoted to the Championship, whilst Notts continue to languish in the bottom tier.

Why Our Local Rivalry Is Rubbish, And Why We Should Celebrate That! words: Al Needham FACT: when it comes to football, Nottingham’s two-team rivalry is by far the weakest in the country, which is pretty strange when you consider we have the oldest local derby in the world. Please don’t jump down me throat, rabid Magpies and Reds, because when you consider the facts I‘m about to lay out, you won’t only agree with me, but you’ll be jumping in the Square in celebration. It’s not that our teams are crap. It’s because our city is that damn good! It can’t be denied that success-wise, and barring a golden period for both clubs from the late seventies to the early nineties, both Forest and Notts have spent most of their lives punching below their weight. But there are far more important reasons why our rivalry lacks the bite of other cities.

Sectarianism Most clubs formed in the Victorian era sprang directly out of religious sports clubs and schools, meaning that if one started up in a city for one creed, another would invariably come into being to cater for the other lot. So, a multi-team city would end up having a Catholic club (Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Hibernian, Celtic) and a protestant club (Man City, Chelsea, Everton, Hearts, Rangers), meaning that an entire family tree would stick to one club - and, in the case of Glasgow, can still be the cause of some serious needle. Although Forest were formed as an off-shoot of an Irish shinty club, no Notts fan has ever referred to them as ‘The Pope’s XI’. We’re right heathens in this town.

Catchment Area In places like Birmingham, Bristol and Sheffield, the local clubs are a fair distance from each other, meaning they have full reign over their outlying areas. But Forest and Notts have been virtual next door neighbours for years, in a city that isn’t that big. The only real catchment areas either club has ever had have been Bridgford for

Forest in the sixties and seventies, and The Meadows for Notts up until the same time (renowned local journalist David McVay pinpoints the rebuilding of the Meadows and the scattering of its fanbase as a killer blow for the club’s fortunes).

LOCAL DERBIES GAMES PLAYED

Success Both clubs have yo-yoed all over the shop for nearly 150 years, meaning that crucial, history-making games have been few and far between. Neither club has ever prevented the other from winning silverware - the last time they met in the FA Cup was in 1894, and they’ve only met once in the League Cup.

GLASGOW

381

LIVERPOOL

208

NORTH LONDON

160

Football Hotbediness

MANCHESTER

149

This is a factor that I’ve made up, but it’s a vital one. Yes, you hear that Nottingham football is less intense than it is in Newcastle, Liverpool or even Derby, but if you ask me, ‘Football Hotbed’ is shorthand for ‘there’s arse all else to do here on a Saturday afternoon’.

BRISTOL

108

NOTTINGHAM

So what makes a Forest fan a Forest fan, and so on? Well, here’s the great thing about Nottingham; there’s no one reason. Some people will support a club because their Dad does, while some will support a club because their Dad doesn’t. Some went for Forest when they were beating everyone in sight (or because they used to), while others go for Caanteh because they like the underdog. Most of us, on the other hand, were dragged to a game and thought to ourselves ‘Yeah, I like this team - I’m one o’ them now’. Being given the freedom to pick your local team regardless of religion or history is a beautiful thing, people; let us never forget that. (Oh, and a quick word about people from Notts who support one of the Big Four: Scum.)

LOCAL DERBY STATS Forest win

Notts win

Draw

League

FA Cup

League Cup

136

118

Goals

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Rob Cutforth wanted to immerse himself in a totally authentic Nottingham historical experience. But then he thought ‘sod it’, and went to Tales of Robin Hood instead... I’VE HAD NUMEROUS ARGUMENTS with Nottinghamians about how this city should grab on to Robin Hood’s big ol’ medieval teats, milk them until they’re red raw and then milk ‘em some more. Trust me: speaking as a foreigner, there is a lot of money in those merry men - and after walking around St Anns for a couple of hours, I can tell ya, this city could use it. I could never understand why the people in this city are so anti-Robin Hood. Simply saying ‘Robin Hood’ to a local will invoke his gag reflex. I’ve always thought this was a shame considering how crap or un-Nottinghamish the other touristy things in this town are. Don’t get me wrong; the Galleries of Justice are wonderful, the outdoor ice arena was okay and that big ferris wheel that breezed through town had its charm, but none of them really scream ‘Nottingham’ at the tourists, do they? In fact, that ferris wheel screamed ‘fourth-rate London wannabe’. And the Goose Fair? What in the seventh level of Hades does a Goose have to do with Nottingham? In fact, the very few geese I have seen around here are Canadian! You’d be closer to the mark calling it Gimp-footed Pigeon Fair. Lord knows we’ve got enough of those. Anyway, I walk past the Tales of Robin Hood on an almost daily basis and had always meant to go in. It looks sketchy with those naff (I love that word) decorations in the window, but it’s got ‘Robin Hood’ on the marquee and it’s on Maid Marian Way. It’s got to be good, right? I had no idea. My wife and I arrive at TORH, hungover, on a grey Sunday morning. We pay our £9 each and are told to wait in the lobby for the tour

guide. I haven’t read the dictionary definition of ‘lobby’, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t contain a water wheel, a giant fibreglass horse, a very live falcon and a dead-looking dog. After waiting in Dante’s lobby with a French family for about ten minutes, someone who appears to be the doughy love-child of Dave Grohl and Peter Pan bounds in and leads us toward a huge wooden door that is absolutely blanketed

in falcon shit. I look at my wife and say, ‘Jeez, they could’ve at least cleaned that stuff off,’ to which she replied, ‘I think they leave it on there on purpose to add to the reality’. Of course. Silly me. Our guide - who is not Fat Dave Grohl at all, but Robin Hood’s pal Will Scarlet himself - knocks on the big wooden door and shouts ‘Open up in the name of Robin Hood!’ No answer. He knocks again even louder and pushes the door open a crack to peek in. This engages the automatic door mechanism and the door starts opening. ‘Whoops!’ he says and pulls the door shut again. ‘Hm, I don’t think that was supposed to happen,’ I whisper to my wife. I learn very quickly that if you turned Tales of Robin Hood into a drinking game, where you took a swig every time you said ‘Hm, I don’t think that was supposed to happen’, you’d be comatose fifteen minutes in. Something behind the door is obviously askew. Will now has to stall us until whatever is behind the door is fixed, so he attempts some shtick. To two hungover people and a family that doesn’t speak English, God help him. He pretends he’s going to kick the door in and tells a couple of gags about how Robin Hood used to wee in the water wheel, and that the dead dog actually belonged to the man himself. You could hear a pin drop. Ordinarily, I am the king of the sympathy laugh, but even I can’t manage it. Finally, Will takes another peek past the door and gets the signal that everything is OK. The door swings open…onto what looks like the crappiest tourist attraction I have ever seen. If there was a place called Crapland where the buildings were made of crap, where crap people drive crap boats over rivers of crap and are lorded over by King Turd, Tales of Robin Hood would be more crap than that. Thing is… it’s also brilliant. I have never seen anything like it. You wander through underground caves while these mad dummies talk to you and each other. I couldn’t really understand what many of them were saying (did I mention it was crap?), but I think the gist is that you are trapped by the Sheriff of Nottingham and sentenced to death. Before you are sent down, however, Robin Hood’s Merry Men (led by our hero, Will Scarlet) help you escape on what can only be described as an underground chairlift. Yes, you heard me right. We get to the chairlift bit where Will Scarlet is sorting out the moving chairs out with

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‘Maintenance Man’, who must’ve been one of the background Merry Men not mentioned in the story. While glory hounds Little John and Friar Tuck are out swashbuckling, Maintenance Man sits back at camp in Sherwood Forest sharpening arrows and stitching rope ladders together. Yeah, that must be it. Will and Maintenance Man swap perplexed looks and start letting empty carriages go through. Hm, I don’t think that was supposed to happen. We get on one that they both deem to be safe and we’re off. The car moves past a number of medieval scenes where the mannequins quake about like giant Action Men in the midst of a death rattle. As if that isn’t strange enough, you can actually smell the action. When you go past the fake coal fire, it smells like coal, when you go past the fake food it smells of roast dinner. Everywhere else smells of pee. No, seriously. If you learn nothing else from TORH, it’s that medieval Nottingham funked like a Top Valley subway on Sunday morning. At the halfway point it dawns on my wife and I that it’s very quiet. This is the Tales of Robin Hood, damn it - where’s the bloody tale? I look up and see a speaker above our heads and point at it inquisitively. She shrugs, and I poke at the speaker cover only for it to pop out of the top of the car giving me a clear view of the ceiling. Hmmm, I don’t think that was supposed to happen. It was at this point the sheer ridiculousness of my current situation hits me. I am sitting in a broken underground gondola, rolling past twitching, leprous dummies that stink of piss in complete silence. My wife and I lapse into a giggling fit that doesn’t end until we go to bed that night. At the end of the ride, my wife asks Will if there was supposed to be any sound. He looks up at the now misaligned speaker cover and replies, ‘Yes, there was. Hmmm, go upstairs and tell them Will Scarlet says you can have a free go on the archery’. Suffice to say that when we went up to ‘the archery’, there was no-one there. I think I saw Robin Hood himself though, sitting on the bar chatting up some girls, but it could have been a tramp. Speaking as someone who Tales of Robin Hood is firmly aimed at, I have to say that it’s so bizarre that it belies belief. We left in a weird state of giddiness, that had in actual fact cured our hangovers. I hadn’t laughed like that in a long time and although it might’ve been for all the wrong reasons, there’s no denying we had a day I would recommend to anyone.

You can take the girl out of Nottingham, but you can’t take Nottingham out of the girl. Samantha Morton is one of the UK’s most respected and versatile actresses. In 2007 alone she played Marilyn Monroe, Deborah Curtis, Mary Queen of Scots and Myra Hindley. She’s acted in Hollywood blockbusters alongside Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp and Daniel Craig. She’s a national treasure and she came back to Notts in November to do a benefit appearance at Broadway for The Television Workshop. Here’s the highlights… words: Jared Wilson On her early days in The Television Workshop… The thing I love about the Television Workshop was that you met people from all walks of life who came together. I was predominately homeless at the time. I was in and out of foster homes and had left school at the age of twelve. So for me it was just good to be part of something so constructive and to have something that was consistent in my life. At one point Ian (the workshop leader) kicked me out for misbehaviour - it was ages until he let me back in, but he also gave me train fare to go to London to audition for Peak Practice where I played a blind runaway. It seemed fitting. I got the part and things went well for me from there.

On how acting sends you a bit mad… I think back in 1996 I went a bit bonkers. I was working all the time, but not putting anything back into myself. I decided to go and live in Bali for a bit and write poetry, do yoga and get my head together. I didn’t really care about being famous or earning money. But listening to other people helped and sometimes it’s just about trying to escape your profession. I’ve got an Uncle Jeff and he’s a builder, but he’s not building houses 24 hours a day is he? I just had to learn to stand back a bit, rather than staying up until 4am stressing over scripts. Another major turning point was having children. There’s nothing like having someone else to look after to focus your mind on the important things.

Arguably the most globally famous of all the ex-students as Po the Teletubbie. Pui is currently a presenter on CBeebies, but has appeared in the steamy Channel 4 series Metrosexuality and also had a small role in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.

Toby Kebbell Mr RockNRolla himself, Toby made his film debut as the mentally challenged Anthony in Shane Meadows’ excellent Dead Man’s Shoes. Since then he’s worked with Oliver Stone (Alexander), Woody Allen (Match Point) and Guy Ritchie (RockNRolla). His portrayal of Joy Division manager Rob Gretton, alongside Sam Morton in Control wowed audiences.

A mainstay of Shane Meadows films having appeared as Romeo Brass (A Room For Romeo Brass), Donut (Once Upon a Time in the Midlands), Elvis (Dead Man’s Shoes) and Milky (This Is England). He was also the voice of Grot in a TV version of Fungus The Bogeyman.

Georgia Groome Star of London To Brighton and the lead in new movie Angus, Thongs and Passionate Snogging. Named by The Times as a ‘movie megastar of tommorow.’

I have to go on my instincts as to whether I can get inside a character or not. As a parent myself I initially said no to the part. But I thought about it more and thought about what art is about and I thought I should do it and try to be respectful, even to her memory, which might seem a bit wrong in the scheme of things. There are layers upon layers to everything and my job as an actor isn’t just about turning up on time and reading my lines.

I didn’t really want to be a director because a lot of the directors I see are more like stage managers. They have ideas and stuff, but I don’t see a lot of them putting their necks on the line. A long time ago I had a vision of a film, with various images in my head like photographs or a recurring dream. I tried to write it but failed miserably. Then a friend of mine Toni wrote it for me into one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever read.

Pui Fan Lee

Andrew Shim

On playing Myra Hindley…

On making her directing debut with The Unloved, which is currently filming in Notts…

Seven rising stars from The Television Workshop

Joe Dempsie

On meeting Woody Allen, during casting for Sweet and Lowdown… I think my ignorance helped as I didn’t really know who he was at the time. I still spoke in a really broad Nottingham accent when I met him - you can take the girl out of Nottingham, but you can’t take Nottingham out of the girl. So I just told him I’d have a proper look through the script and let him know if I was interested. Looking back I wish I could do that now, it was cheeky but also honest and showed a sense of confidence, which I think impressed him. It’s not that I was stupid, I just knew who I was and didn’t give a flying monkey’s what anyone else thought. As my gran and my nana always told me, ‘Even the Queen has a shit!’

respectful in the way I said it, but they’d paid a lot of money to get me out there and I had to let them know how to get the best out of me.

Shot to fame playing Chris in Skins, but Joe has also recently appeared in Doctor Who and is currently filming as Duncan Mackenzie in the movie adaptation of The Damned United, a film about Brian Clough’s fateful time in charge of Leeds United.

On childcare… If I hadn’t been an actor I would have been working in childcare. I know a lot of actors do the whole charity and social conscience thing, but I’m always giving myself a kick up the arse to say I’m really lucky with where I am. I could easily have been working in Birds cake shop still, which would be a problem for my weight as I really like egg custards. But I wouldn’t have any of it were it not for acting or The Television Workshop.

Vicky McClure As well as leading roles for Shane Meadows in both A Room For Romeo Brass (Ladine) and This is England (Lol), Vicky has recently been directed by Madonna (yes, as in the singer) in Filth and Wisdom.

On fashion… On working with Steven Spielberg… Minority Report was the biggest film I’d worked on, but I work the same way on all of them. I remember being on set, I had a stand in and there were loads of lights everywhere. So I asked for a word with Steven and said ‘Listen, you’re not going to get the best out of me like this and if that’s the case I might as well go home now. You’ve got to get all the lights out, we’ve got to rehearse it and get to know what’s going on inside out.’ I was very

I was born in 1977 and I think that says a lot for who I am as a spirit. I was voted worst dressed person at the Oscars. I was wearing a Paul Smith designer suit that was a rip-off of the cover from the Patti Smith album Horses. Eight years later everyone is wearing it!

For more information, or to donate to The Television Workshop, visit thetelevisionworkshop.co.uk

Mista Jam With regular Radio 1 and 1xtra shows under his belt, Mista Jam (aka Peter Dalton) is one of the rising stars of British radio and runs the UK Takeover hip-hop nights. Acting-wise he started out as a teenager in Crossroads, but more recently appeared in BBC3’s Trexx and Flipside.

MORE FILM REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS AT LEFTLION.CO.UK/FILM www.leftlion.co.uk/issue26

Taking lo-fi, scuzzy blues, and bone rattling punk head-on in a free for all, Lovvers are here to slam mediocrity against the wall and slit its throat with their jagged post-punk sounds. They got together in Nottingham, released a bunch of class 7”s and are now signed to the wicked Wichita Records. So at the moment things are going well for the band, and with a tour itinerary that would make even the most hardened road warriors weary, they’re definitely making sure that they keep up the momentum. Fortunately for LeftLion, Michael and Henry from the band were able to spare a few minutes from their busy schedule for a chat... words: Paul Klotschkow For the people reading this who don’t know who you are, please tell us who’s in the band... Hi, Lovvers are Henry on guitar, Shaun is the singer, Michael plays bass, and Steve is the drummer. How would you describe the music you play? Pop music for people who like good music. Tell us one secret that you’ve never told anyone else? One of us recently ran over a cat - accidentally of course! What is your association with Nottingham? It’s where we formed. What’s your opinion of the current music scene in Nottingham? I don’t think the scene is as good as it was when we all lived there but with promoters like Damn You! and venues like Chameleon and the Arts Organisation, it definitely has some good things going for it. For you, what makes a memorable night out in the city? Nowadays it’s just going somewhere with friends who we haven’t seen for a while and hanging out with them. Anything which does not involve going to Stealth, basically. For example the Annexinema short film nights at Stand Assembly or the gigs at Chameleon. Your album Think came out in September. One of the noticeable things about it is its brevity; it’s direct, straight to the point and just 27 minutes long! Was it a conscious intention to make the LP so short? To begin with it’s not an LP, its an EP. I don’t know where people get the impression it’s an album, but it’s not. It is direct and straight to the point. It wasn’t a conscious decision; it’s just the way the songs we wrote for the EP are. But seeing as it’s kind of an introduction to us for people who never heard the 7”s, I think the length helps. It’s hard to get bored of it anyway. Your first releases as a band were a group of swiftly released 7”s. Why release your music this way instead of simply sticking up an mp3 on a website? What is it that attracts you to the format? For us, the logical step when starting a band is to demo some songs and then put out a 7” - whether it is self-released or on a small label. We were lucky and had a great label with Jonson Family who wanted to put out our demo on a 7”. We then did two more 7”s on that label as working with them was really easy. None of us have ever bought an mp3 and we all buy vinyl so it was an obvious choice. Also vinyl sounds the best, and all our recordings sound much better on vinyl than on CD or mp3. Even my dad said the same about the new 12”. After seeing you live a couple of times this year, I can honestly say the band is a great live act, and you always seem to be playing a gig somewhere. What do you enjoy most about playing live? It’s fun, you get to meet lots of nice people and get to see lots of places. We also get asked to play with bands we like so that’s always good. ...and what’s the worst thing about playing live? Bad sound men.

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“With promoters like Damn You! and venues like Chameleon and the Arts Organisation, Nottingham deﬁnitely has some good things going for it.” What’s the best gig you’ve attended as a punter? It’s a long list but seeing as this is a Nottingham-based magazine, my personal favorite Nottingham gig was Arab On Radar at Bunkers Hill. What makes you want to be in a band and write songs? Thinking about having to go back to working an office job. How does the songwriting take place in Lovvers? One of us comes up with a guitar part or a bass part to a song and then we just build on that. We usually do it with just the guitars then go into a practice room and add drums. Pretty much the standard way I think. What music have you been listening to recently? Eddy Current Suppression Ring, The Strange Boys, The Hipshakes.

If you could put together your own fantasy festival, who would you have playing and where would you hold it? Captain Beefheart, The Urinals, Pavement, Holger Czukay, Warren G, Chromatics, The Replacements, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, German Oak, Screeching Weasel. We would not give a toss where it was held if those acts were on the bill. What’s the last thing that made you laugh? What is the difference between Gordon Ramsay and a crosscountry run? One is a Pant in the Country... What’s the last book you read? Raise High The Roofbeam, Carpenters by J D Salinger. After what I can imagine has been a busy year, what’s the plan for Lovvers in 2009? We want to record a new 7”, tour Europe again, then go to America. Record the album and release it in the summer. Tour. Play the festivals. Then more touring... What do you get up to when not doing stuff with the band? We all have girlfriends so I guess see them and other friends. Michael likes to cook as that’s one thing you can’t do on tour. Henry has another band and a solo project and likes to make funny songs in his attic. Shaun helps his girlfriend run her vintage clothes shop, and Steve rides his new bike a lot.

Lovvers debut EP Think is out in record shops now. www.myspace.com/letscommunicate

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The Drop

That Keeps On Dripping... Three years ago Nottingham musicians, promoters, bar owners, staff and music lovers came together and created Drop In The Ocean (DITO) - a charity music festival that took place in dozens of venues across Nottingham. The first event took place on Sunday 20 January 2005. The second took place on Sunday 11 June 2006. Between them the festivals raised £84,200 which was distributed amongst worthy causes. Jared Wilson paid a visit to Cambodia and the children’s shelter in Phnom Peng that your beer money helped to build… IF YOU THINK CRIME AND CORRUPTION in Nottingham has been bad over the last decade then Phnmon Penh, six thousand miles away in Cambodia, is on a whole new level. I hadn’t even got to my hotel from the airport before I was offered guns and prostitutes. A friend of mine who was there around the same time had a guy in the street offer him ‘little girls, all under ten years old’. From our safe base in the UK it’s hard not to judge because of these horrors, but you have to know more about the upheaval the country has been through to understand why it’s like this.

Ocean, Nottingham, UK.’ As I enter I am greeted by the happy faces of the mainly female children who live there. Despite the fact that they have experienced atrocities that people like us will never have to deal with, there are beaming smiles all around. Unlike in their family homes, the children now have their own bed in a safe environment (rather than just a blanket on a dirty floor) and are schooled in English, maths, knitting, farming and word processing. The emphasis of the shelter is on them recovering from the traumas they have been through whilst learning skills that can offer them a future out of crime.

Put simply, it can be a struggle for Cambodian people to guarantee a half-decent standard of life for themselves and their families. Summing Cambodian history up in a few paragraphs is like trying to write a dictionary on a matchbox, but after several decades of political upheaval and the tyranny of Pol Pot (which claimed the lives of up to three million people - including all schoolteachers, doctors, journalists and anyone deemed to be an ‘intellectual’) the country is still recovering and so are the people.

You’d think that the children would look older than their years because of their past. If anything it’s the opposite. Years of malnourishment have meant that many of the older teenagers appear to be barely into their teens. On my way there I stopped off at a fruit market and spent $20 (they trade in US currency as well as Khmer) on bananas, rambutans and apples (which are an expensive treat out there). This bought three binbags worth and when I handed it over to them as a pre-dinner treat they were all delighted, though insistent that I eat it with them.

There are no state benefits and not enough jobs for the amount of people there. One of the main ways to make money is through crime, and children are one of the few resources which they can trade. Despite the fact prostitution is illegal in Cambodia, if you have enough money you can do just about anything including buying police protection. Sadly, as a result the country has become a regular holiday spot for Western paedophiles. We’ve read all about Gary Glitter in the UK press, but there are hundreds more like him out there, just without the ex-pop star baggage to attract tabloid attention. The Cambodian Center for the Protection of Children’s Rights (CCPCR) is located on a quiet street outside the centre of Phnom Peng and was set up to help the victims of sex crimes. From the outside you can’t tell what is behind the big wooden gates and the people involved with the shelter clearly appreciate this privacy. The children that come through the doors are referred by Social Services and many of them (some as young as six or seven) had been working as child prostitutes. The place is custom-built for their needs and is run by a small team comprising the shelter manager, the housemother and part-time teachers. It is overseen by Anne and Alex, representatives of Family Care Cambodia, who acted as guides for the day I spent there. All of them do their jobs out of a powerful sense of belief for the cause. The plaque above the door on my way in made me smile, stating proudly ‘This building was funded by Drop In The

Then, with the help of their teacher Huch Phat, I took a class for half an hour - a good chance for them to practice their already impressive English language skills. They ask me about my family, my job and my life back in England. The cultural differences are obvious to see. When I tell them I have been travelling the world for the last few months they look astonished. Most of them have never even been or will ever go outside of the city. Even though I am not religious, I say a quick prayer for them and count myself lucky to be born in a country where I have levels of freedom I’d never fully appreciated until that moment. There’s a little bit of Nottingham culture in Cambodia and it’s changing the lives of young people there forever. Everyone who had any involvement in the festival should feel really proud that three years on the money is changing Cambodian children’s lives forever. The organisers of the festival have told us that there is unlikely to be another DITO as they feel they have passed the torch onto the likes of Hockley Hustle (who raised over £15,000 with their festival in October) and Oxjam. It only takes a drop in the ocean to change the tide… See more photos from the shelter at www.leftlion.co.uk/ditoshelter www.familycarefoundation.org www.dropintheocean.org

LETTER FROM PAK SREY VONG - One of the children in the shelter

My name is Pak Srey Vong. I am 17 years old and I study in grade 10. I live in CCPCR now (Cambodian Center for the Protection of Children’s Rights). I have two older brothers, one older sister and a younger brother. My older brothers are working now, my sister studies in grade 12 and my younger brother is in grade 8. My father is a policeman. He is 49 years old. My mother is a housewife. She is 47 years old. I came to the Center because there were many problems in my family and also some bad influences from friends and sometimes violence and other problems too. I want to be a journalist because I want to travel around the world. I love writing and reading books, newspapers and magazines. When I leave the Center and go home, I’ll study many languages. In the future, if I have enough money, I want to study in England. Those are my dreams. Why do I love the Center? Because it has many children, so I have older and younger sisters here. It is fun. I can study Khmer, English, computers, dancing, cooking, art and other things. I have a lot of friends in this Center. It’s very fun! My house-mother cooks very nice! My teachers are very good and very funny. I love being in the Center so much. When my house-mother goes to the market, I go with her. She is very funny! She is a good mother. I was very happy when you came here, Mr. Jared, and visited the Center. I thank you for coming to Cambodia. I wish you good luck. God bless you with good health. God loves you. I thank you, brother, so much. Bye-bye! From Pak Srey Vong www.leftlion.co.uk/issue26

If you’re a music head in Notts then just the mention of the dynamic duo Paul S and DJ Ivory signifies heavy beats and well-crafted dopeness. With links into the Zulu Nation and a notoriety which spans from HoodTown to the far flung US shores, they’ve worked alongside a host of Nottingham talent including Mr 45, Cappo and Scorzayzee and crossed the pond to add the likes of Boss Money and Sadat X of Brand Nubian to their address books. Their new album, The Gas, is out now. LeftLion caught up with them in an old-time watering hole for some politicking science of a musical nature… words: Jesse Keene photo: Dom Henry How did you first get into hiphop? Paul S: I saw the video Buffalo Gal around 1983 and things kind of went from there. I gained knowledge, watched videos and just developed passion and love for the culture. Ivory: If you were based in Nottingham at the time then you were either into The Smiths, King Kurt or hiphop. I remember meeting Paul around that time. There was a spot in town before Rock City called Hoofers which was just full of breakers and crews, so I would see Paul about there from time to time. We both had similar experiences growing up and we both come from a Nottingham New York-centric point of view. What made you start putting out your own music? Paul S: It came about from us DJing at The Bomb in town on Thursday nights. It was around 97-98 and hiphop at that stage had got really shit! I went into a local record shop

and asked the guy behind the counter ‘what’s new?’ He handed over this record by Mace and Puff Daddy where they were rapping over the classic tune The Message. That really marked a day for me where I saw hiphop start to take a downward turn. Before that you would go and

to find the emotion they once had for this beautiful thing. We needed to put our money where our mouth was and that was the reason that we started putting out records. I feel that you have to have a strong reason for putting any kind of music out there, don’t just dash it out for the sake of it!

“You have to have a strong reason for putting any kind of music out there, don’t just dash it out for the sake of it!” dig through the crates and find classic tunes from the likes of EPMD and Gangstarr. Then suddenly you’re just presented with this complete shit. Ivory: It got worse because a certain part of hiphop grew massive, while other heads were turning their back on it. So while this was all going on Paul and I were growing into these really bitter people who were trying

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So tell us about the new album... Paul S: Basically everything we have done has evolved naturally, like when we worked with Sadat X, we just made it happen. We play out a lot in New York and feel that we have more of a connection with the scene there than at home. A while back we did a live show for John Peel and for me that was the pinnacle of the UK scene at the time, we worked with a lot of

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good MCs from Notts on that show and we smashed it, so from there it was just a natural progression to move on to do more in the US. Ivory: We pay for everything off our own back so it has to be the best that we can put out at the time plus we need to be really vibing with the artists that we’re using for the project to truly work. It’s been an honour for us to go out to NYC and

work with these artists and to get respect for our music from them!

The Gas is out now on Heavy Bronx records (and reviewed on page 28). Read a longer version of this interview online at www.leftlion.co.uk/music www.heavybronx.com

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Oh. My. GOD! You run into Su Pollard and Des Coleman, who offer you a sexy threesome if you can sort out a cab right now! Roll three consecutive sixes and you win the game outright! You manage to get a short in at The Maze, Fade, The Poacher, The Loft, The Fleece, Nag’s Head, Rose of England and The Peacock. Win seven points. Oh no! You step upon the big slippery tramp-wee slide of Mansfield Road

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You run into your Nana

You find the sacred scalp of Brian Harvey behind a bin round the back of Muse.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

ROLL THE DICE…

?

You feel the urge to line your stomach at Food Factreh.

BROAD MARSH BUS STATION

Lose two points.

O ? ? M ? ? M ? ? U ? N ? S ? o I  ? m T ? co eo Y ? ?  bu you mm ne w ? C ? t y in un h H ? ? o t it o h y  u n E ? yo los e ch att eed ST u e e em s ? r  be two st. pt car ? st p Th s t e i ? t ro oin ey o st n th us ts m a e e a is b r s. ll o s ve r

14. VICCY CENTRE 15. You feel the urge to line your stomach at Food Factreh. Roll the dice… 1. The queue goes all the way down Parliament Street. Go round the board twice. If you pass The Lions for the fourth time, your night is over. 2-3. You get all peas down your best top. Lose two points. 4-5. You see a really entertaining fight over the last fishcake. Win one point. 6. You get a photo on your mobile of your boss off their tits, performing a lewd act on a saveloy. Win five points! 16. You run into your Nana - roll the dice… 1. She’s in a bra and leather mini-skirt, on her way to Jumpin’ Jaks. Vomit up three points. 2-3. She’s in a queue for Daniel O’Donnell tickets. For August 2010. Lose one point. 4-5. She can’t be arsed to go to Primark for your obligatory three pairs of pants, so gives you the money up front - which you ‘accidentally’ spend on one point. 6. She’s come out the bingo with a wheelbarrow full of money - win five points! 17. You find the sacred scalp of Brian Harvey behind a bin round the back of Muse. Win ten points. 18. You trip over a group of kaylide harridans in Santa hats who are frozen to the pavement - roll the dice… 1. Your forehead is impaled on a stiletto. Go to the QMC. Game over. 2-5. Your head gets wedged in a particularly large hoopy earring. Go right round the board and back here again while the fire brigade free you. If it’s your fourth time, your night is over. 6. You land on the fat one. Nothing happens. 19. You stop to contemplate the true meaning of Christmas - buying rammell so your Mam doesn’t get the hump with you for the next twelve months. Peg it to Viccy Centre now - if you pass The Lions for the fourth time, your night is over. 20. Make repairs on all your houses and hotels. Ooh, hang on, wrong game. Lose two points.

CHANCE

Somehow you end up in Reflex.

You run into your Dad.

ROLL THE DICE...

The statue of Brian Clough comes to life and offers to take you for a pint through time and space. You hold his big bronzey hand and ROLL THE DICE...

You’re in Chambers on the Karaoke, but the DJ has cued up the wrong song.

SKY MIRROR

ROLL THE DICE…

You run into the Fish Man

10 3

24. You’re in a pub in the poncey bit of town and dying to curl one off. Roll the dice… 1-5. All the cubicles are full of shopboys and hairdressers making strange snuffling noises. Go all the way round to Broad Marsh Bus Station, but if you pass The Lions for the fourth time, your night is over. 6. There’s one free. When you come out, the bar gives you a certificate. And ten points!

Oh dear! You run into Twatty Random Mate. ROLL THE DICE to see where he drags you…

25. You get Sam Lindo to play When The Saints Go Marching In, changing the lyrics to Nottingham Is Full Of Fun. Everyone on the board goes round once while they mindlessly chant it over and over for 90 minutes, and if they go past The Lions for the fourth time, their night is over.

CO H R O N US ER E

ILLUSTRATIONS: RIKKI MARR

?

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  ? ?  ? ?

? ? ? ? C ? ? H ? . A ? .  .  ? N of of g ?  L ? C os nig et ? t  e at t ht in E ? ? g w ? i  gn o In a ? ? or po a t ta an in p x ? t d ts ig’ i a ? riv w s a t th ? er hile rse is s ? lik yo , m tim e u w ate e a pr av . at e .

WORDS: AL NEEDHAM

22. You run into a Capital One redundancy party. Roll the dice… 1. You get caught up in a massive three-hour fight between Accounts and Telesales. Go to QMC. Game Over. 2-3. Everyone is slitting their wrists on sharpened-up credit cards. Go directly to the Sky Mirror whilst you wash the blood off your best shirt. 4-6. Your mate who worked there gets you in on the last round he will be able to afford for the next two years. Win one point. 23. A huge stack of rubbish glossy magazines that no-one picks up finally gives way at Dogma, trapping hundreds of people. You get three points for pitching in with the rescue effort, but you go right round the board and back again. If you do this for the fourth time, your night is over.

COMMUNITY CHEST

11. Oh no! You step upon the big slippery tramp-wee slide of Mansfield Road - roll the dice… 1. You go right under the 17 to Bulwell. Go to the QMC. Game over. 2-3 - Slide all the way forwards to Viccy Centre. 4-5 - You manage to cling on and take down everyone else playing. Everyone loses two points. 6 - You knock over all the mouth-breathers who hang outside kebab shops and ponce fags off you all year without even saying thank you. Win five points.

10. You run into the Fish Man - roll the dice… 1. You get into an hour-long argument about the rights and wrongs of selling Peperamis. Go forward to the Lions. If it’s your fourth time, your night is over. 2-3. He accidentally catches you in the groin with the corner of his basket. Lose one point. 4-5. He gets unselfish with the shellfish. Win one point. 6. You find a cockle clinging on to a huge diamond ring. Win five points!

9. EEEEEEEE! The Xmas robots in Viccy Centre are rebelling against their overlords and are rampaging up Parliament Street, led by the Gordon Scott’s Monkey, destroying every pub in their wake! Fortunately, that’s no real loss. Win three points.

You enter the Pit and Oh no! Someone taps Pendulum. Roll two you on the back at the D20s plus the level of cashpoint, and by the your Cloak of Goth sounds of it, they want Repellence, minus three to start on you! D12 rolls. And have ROLL THE DICE three points while to see who it is… you’re doing it.

8. Oh dear - you run into Twatty Random Mate. Roll the dice to see where he drags you… 1. Tantra. You sit on one of the beds and end up with the DNA of half the morons in Nottingham on your arse. Lose five points. 2. Old Dog and Partridge. None of the latter, plenty of the former. Lose two points. 3. Wetherspoons. You spend an uncomfortable half an hour trying to get served. You don’t. Lose one point. 4. The Newcastle. He doesn’t realise it’s been shut for months. Nothing happens. 5. Varsity. All the students have gone, and you don’t have to wait seven hours to get on the pool table. Win one point. 6. The Social. He gets you upstairs for nowt. Win three points.

Ooer! You must have had a bad pint, as you’re feeling a bit badleh.

7. SKY MIRROR

13. Oh. My. GOD! You run into Su Pollard and Des Coleman, who offer you a sexy threesome if you can sort out a cab right now! Roll three consecutive sixes and you win the game outright!

21. BROAD MARSH BUS STATION

ROLL THE DICE…

6. You’re in Chambers on the Karaoke, but the DJ has cued up the wrong song. Roll the dice… 1. Do You Wanna Touch, Gary Glitter. You get dragged out and nailed to a tree. Go to QMC. Game over. 2-3. Angels, Robbie Williams - someone throws a half-full bottle of WKD at you. Go right round the board to The Lions while you recover consciousness. 4-5. Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen. You nail the ‘Galileo’ bit. Win three points. 6. Please Don’t Go, KWS - the national anthem of Nottingham. Win five points.

You’re in a pub in the poncey bit of town and dying to curl one off.

5. The statue of Brian Clough comes to life and offers to take you for a pint through time and space. You hold his big bronzey hand and roll the dice… 1. The Works, 2002. Go to QMC. Game over. 2. The Olde Trip to Jerusalem, 1147. A load of knights on their way to the Crusades are making a nuisance of theirsens by taking three hours to get their arses out. Lose three points. 3. The Bell, 1322. A monk on the door won’t let you in, because your sandals look casual. Lose one point. 4. The Old Corner Peg, 1958. Arthur Seaton crashes you a Woodbine. Win one point. 5. The Beer Keller, 1979. You drink Shippos out of the European Cup with Robbo and Larry Lloyd,. Win three points. 6. The Bomb, 1998. Wahey! Win five points!

ROLL THE DICE…

4. You run into your Dad - roll the dice… 1. He’s sitting under a cashpoint, playing the theme tune to EastEnders. Lose five points out of shame. 2-3. He’s dancing in the pub like a gnome trying to put out a fire. Lose one point. 4-5. He gets a round in. Win one point. 6. He’s on a promise with that tranny from Mansfield Road, and on his way to some club called ‘NG1’. Win five points worth of hush money so you won’t bring it up over Xmas dinner.

You run into a Capital One redundancy party.

3. Somehow, you end up in Re-Flex. Roll the dice… 1. A gang of meatheads recreate the Battle of Orgreave. Go to QMC. Game over. 2-3. You get groped by someone dressed as Margaret Thatcher. Lose three points. 4-5. They actually play a song not by Duran Duran or Wham! by mistake. Win one point. 6. Crikey! You get bought a pint by Toneh Adleh aht ter Spandaah Balleh! Five points!

ROLL THE DICE…

2. You’re utterly transfixed by the tender yuletide sight of a pisshead climbing up the Xmas tree to impress some girls. By the time he gets arrested, your mates are already at the Sky Mirror - go there now.

ROLL THE DICE…

1. THE LIONS

Win ten points.

You’ll need a dice, a pen and paper, and a counter for each person. As you go around the board, you’ll pick up or lose points - but when you’ve been ‘round the board four times, you’re absolutely kaylide and your game is over. The winner is the one with the most points after everyone has finished, but be warned - you can also win the game by being the last person standing after everyone has gone to hospital…

ROLL THE DICE…

THE RULES:

Y E C C TR I V EN C

12. You manage to get a short in at The Maze, Fade, The Poacher, The Loft, The Fleece, Nag’s Head, Rose of England and The Peacock. Win seven points.

26. Ooer! You must have had a bad pint, as you’re feeling a bit badleh. Roll the dice… 1. You vomit a perfect Derby County logo right outside the doorway of the Thurland. Go to the QMC. Game over. 2-3. You boff all down your best shoes. Go directly to the Sky Mirror to wash it off in the water installation. If it’s your fourth time past the board, your night is over. 4-6. You hold it down. Well done! Win two points. 27. You enter the Pit and Pendulum. Roll two D20s plus the level of your Cloak of Goth Repellence, minus three D12 rolls. And have three points while you’re doing it. 28. Oh no! Someone taps you on the back at the cashpoint, and by the sounds of it, they want to start on you! Roll the dice to see who it is… 1. Eek! It’s Nottzilla! Go to the QMC. Game over. 2-3. Ooer - it’s a pissed-up slapper who’s mistaken you for the ex she had a row with on Jeremy Kyle two years ago. She tries to snog you. And then demands a ‘Lie Detekarrr’ Lose three points. 4-5. It’s your mate from out of town who you haven’t seen for years. Win one point. 6. Cor! It’s Jesus, come out on an early birthday piss-up! Win twenty points!

Artist Proﬁles Aylwin Lambert What kind of art do you make? My work varies in media - I’ve produced stop motion animations, collages and dioramas. I’d say the one thing all my work has in common is that it looks deliberately outdated. What inspires/drives you? Trying to figure out the world around me, doing this visually is just what works best for me. In particular I’d say my interests are myths, ideas of utopia and progress and the concept of hauntology. What’s the best thing about being an artist? Being able to spend an unhealthy amount of time in a fantasy world of my own creation. What’s the hardest thing about being an artist? Trying to find enough time, money and space to produce work. Can you tell us about a recent project or goal? I had my first solo show at Southwell Artspace a few months back which is the thing I’m happiest with achieving so far. In terms of goals I’m aiming for, I’d like to finally get round to doing a big canvas that I’ve had in my mind for the past eighteen months. What are your career aspirations over the next five years? I’d like to find the money to do an MA. Other than that I just want to make and show as much work as possible. What does the future hold in store for you? Ideally, to somehow start selling enough work so I can have the time and money to realise all my ideas. Realistically I try not to think about it too much.

Curated on the theme of a cabinet of curiosities. Four Nottingham artists show their weird and wonderful artworks - imaginative investigations sprung from deep within their psyches. By Frances Ashton, Gallery Manager Southwell Artspace.

Yelena Popova What kind of art do you make? I paint, draw and work with text; live art sometimes. I’m interested in applying durational qualities of the film to traditional media - I make wall running (sequential) paintings and video streams of drawings. What inspires/drives you? The unknown. The future. Progress. Time. Complexity. Matter. What’s the best thing about being an artist? You keep on playing. What’s the hardest thing about being an artist? Raising your game. Can you tell us about a recent project or goal? I usually have a few projects on the go at the same time. We are developing a project called Actual Wall, a space in Oldknows studio, which is open for small shows, residencies and collaborations. It’s about collaborating and connecting with other artists. As part of this initiative I’ve started the +ARA project (+ Another Russian Artist), where I exhibit the work of contemporary young Russian artists. Perhaps in the future we can exchange shows between Nottingham and Russia and twin Nottingham and Russian artistic communities together? What are your career aspirations over the next five years? Well, apart from developing my personal work and pushing my practice further, I’d like to take part in the development of arts in Nottingham - to make it as compelling as London¹s East End. I feel that Oldknows Building and all the artist groups in there could play a bigger role in the local community. What does the future hold in store for you? Hard work for sure. New exciting people and friends hopefully. www.yelenapopova.co.uk

Jackie Berridge What kind of art do you make? After many years as an abstract painter, I am now making figurative work based on politics in the playground. At first glance, the paintings appear to be bright and child-like but on closer inspection, a more sinister and hostile environment is revealed. I also finished an MA in chldren’s book illustration in 2007 and I hope to self-publish a book called Grace which is a fusion of both figurative and abstract elements. What inspires/drives you? I love a challenge and the leap from large abstract paintings to small scale picture books demonstrates this. From working in a more organic way where I was able to move abstract elements around, I have learned to plan a 32 page picture book where pace, narrative, text, sequential image and character were all new considerations. What’s the best thing about being an artist? I love developing of seed of an idea into a body of work. What’s the hardest thing about being an artist? I hate the business and marketing side of arts practice which is so necessary to promote work, submit proposals and apply for funding. Can you tell us about a recent project or goal? I set up Harrington Mill Studios (HMS) in Long Eaton on the first floor of a beautiful Victorian lace factory. It has been a slog but we have 18 spaces and a growing waiting list. It has meant the promotion of my own work has taken a back seat, but I think this will change as the studios become more established. What are your career aspirations over the next five years? To continue pushing personal bounderies. What does the future hold in store for you? I have recently taken part in two open studio events, one at HMS and the other at my home town in Southwell. As a result of these I have been offered two shows, one at Millgate Museum, Newark and the other at DEDA in Derby. With a solo exhibition at HMS in September and an inv itation to participate in a curated show in London relating to hidden narratives, I am going to be busy... oh, and I am also looking forward to participating in the Florence Biennale in Dec 2009. www.jackieberridge.co.uk www.harringtonmillstudios.co.uk

Simon Raven What kind of art do you make? I mainly make performances and films - and when I’m working towards those will write, draw, paint and put things together in a sculptural way. For some of the films - which I make in collaboration as part of a group called 15mm Films - I’ve contributed towards writing and recording music. What inspires/drives you? Being open to new experiences is inspiring. There are a handful of ar tists I feel lucky to know as friends, who I find constantly inspiring. I’m driven by the idea of being as good as they are. What’s the best thing about being an artist? The best thing about being an artist, and I imagine this is true of most things, is the unexpected things which happen. I often have no idea what it is I’m working on until something accidental occurs and then a kind of clarity, which is very rewarding, surrounds everything for a while. Often it is talking to people who bring a new way of looking at things which clicks and stays with you and makes life more interesting. I love having a studio, a kind of hermetic refuge, in which to play. What’s the hardest thing about being an artist? The hardest thing about being an artist is striking a balance between art and life. Can you tell us about a recent project or goal? I’ve recently joined Backlit studios, which is a new artist run gallery/studio group in Nottingham. We just opened a month ago - the turnout for our first exhibition was very encouraging. I’m currently working on a series of performances and films under the collective title Hood. The work is about outlaw mythology in Nottingham, combining personal history with an enjoyment of baroque ‘Shottz’ gun culture. The new 15mm film The Way Out, made in partnership with Beaconsfield, London, is nearing completion, and I hope to bring that work to Nottingham. The Way Out is a series of trailers for films which don’t exist, about a hapless group of disabled terrorists - hellbent, Angry Brigade style, on disabling the world... What are your career aspirations over the next five years? I’d love to be able to live solely from my work, or training as an artist. Travelling round the world making performances... and having a home to return to, that’s what I want. www.15mmfilms.com

If you are a Nottingham-based artist and would like to be proﬁled in this section, please email frances@leftlion.co.uk MORE ART REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS AT LEFTLION.CO.UK/ART 18

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue26

LEFTLION LISTINGS

featured listing

OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2008

It’s Christmas-time in Nottingham, which means that town is going to be (a) busy and (b) cold. However the Ice Rink is up in the Square again this season and the German Market is alongside it again too. So you can fight off the cold after your shopping trip with the choice of either mulled wine or a glass of quality pilsner. Then you can attempt to find your snow shoes on the ice and pretend you’re skating around in Canada or Antarctica or somewhere else equally nesh.

PG 21 ∙ GIGS Touring bands and artists playing this season include: The Roots, Bad Manners, Klute, Hot Chip, Jools Holland, Ocean Colour Scene, the Bootleg Beatles, Isobel Campbell and Mark Laneghan, Aaron Liberator, Erol Alkan, The Buzzcocks, The Quireboys, The Fratellis, Ugly Duckling, and... erm Status Quo.

PG 22-23 LEFTLION LIVE We’re loving life at our new live music venue Brownes and have three fun events to tell you about. Our free entry monthlies are an ace way to beat the credit crunch and for December we have a Farmyard Records night lined up on 12 December with Natalie Duncan (page 22) and Mable’s Husbands. Then in January we go all hiphoptastic with a Son Records night featuring Styly Cee (page 23), Cappo and C-Mone. But the big gig this winter is our New Years Eve party in association with Spectrum – featuring The Freestylers, Old Basford, The Money, Vinyl Abort and others. More details in the article opposite.

The Last Night Of The Year New Year’s Eve is the one nights of the year where everyone wants to go out and find a good party. So LeftLion brings you nine suggestions of how to spend the last hour of 2008... words: Paul Klotschkow and Shariff Ibrahim LeftLion and Spectrum Brownes and the Market Bar Not content with bringing you the only magazine and website that matter in this city, LeftLion have got together with the best breaks promoters around to bring you one of the greatest New Year’s Eve parties this town has ever seen. If you know what’s good for you, you will get yourself down to Brownes, where you will be treated to some of Nottingham’s best music makers; with Old Basford, The Stiff Kittens, Vinyl Abort, The Money and Alright the Captain all performing. Over the road in the Market Bar, breaks legends The Freestylers (featuring MC Sir Real) head a line-up that also includes Heavyfeet, Pete Jordan, Teddy Boshanks and the Clubfoot soundsystem. One ticket will get you into both venues. Prices are £7 for the first 100, £10 before Christmas and £12 before NYE. www.leftlion.co.uk/tickets £7-12 8pm-5am

Countdown 2008 Rock City/Stealth/Rescue Rooms The biggest music event in Notts this New Year. Three clubs, seven arenas and 50 acts from 9pm until 6am. Heading up the immense roster are turntablist supremos Scratch Perverts and Hospital Records’ High Contrast, so expect some hiphop and drum & bass sets of calendar shattering magnitude. Hosted jointly by Detonate and Hospitality among others, there will be more heavyweight DJ action in the form of Goldie, Brazil’s DJ Marky, Shy FX, Friction and electro-boy Kissy Sell Out. Tickets are £20 for the first 100, £25 after that and £30 after 21 December, but don’t count on there being any left by then. www.alt-tickets.co.uk £20-30 9pm-6am

Pitty Patt Club The Social

PG 21 ∙ THEATRE & COMEDY Touring bands and artists playing this season include: The Roots, Bad Manners, Klute, Hot Chip, Jools Holland, Ocean Colour Scene, the Bootleg Beatles, Isobel Campbell and Mark Laneghan, Aaron Liberator, Erol Alkan, The Buzzcocks, The Quireboys, The Fratellis, Ugly Duckling, and... erm Status Quo.

For even more listings, check our regularly updated online section at leftlion.co.uk/listings. And if your event is still not in there, spread the word by aiming your browser at leftlion.co.uk/add. 20

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue26

A good way to not only have a class New Year’s Eve, but also escape the flim flam of chain bars and pubs, is to head to The Social. Here you will be able to welcome in 2009 by watching a bevy of beautiful ladies strutting their stuff on stage, thanks to the Pitty Patt Club – Nottingham’s greatest burlesque night. So what’s it going to be, a bar full of drunken lads from Top Valley or a room full of the most beautiful women you are ever going to set your eyes upon? www.myspace.com/thepittypattclub £8 adv 8pm-2am

Boatyard Boogaloo Canal House If lacing up your favourite dancing shoes and coming over all Flashdance is your thing, then there is only one place for you this New Year Eve. The Basement Boogaloo people are throwing one hell of a party for you above the Canal House. The stellar line-up includes resident Boogaloo DJs Nick Shaw, Ed Cotton and Beane, along with Greg Wilson who will be throwing down some electrofunk, Maddslinky, and Schmoov! Dance to your heart’s content, get smashed, and then accidentally fall in to the water....maybe. www.myspace.com/basementboogaloo £10 from Selectadisc, Funky Monkey and the Canalhouse 10pm-late

Just The Tonic The Approach New Year’s Eve can possibly be the most depressing night of the year. It’s the time when you look back over the past twelve months and think of all the missed opportunities and things you should

have done, but didn’t. Then you look at the up and coming months, and you realise that next year will just be as bad. But for a couple of hours on 31st December you can forget all about your worries and laugh until you start shitting beer, thanks to one of the best comedy clubs in the country, Just The Tonic. The night’s headlined by Earl Okin, with Dave Longley and Matt Reed. Once the comedy is over you can have a boogie on the dance floor. www.justthetonic.com £23.50 8pm-late

The Maze Right, we know that New Year’s Eve is the worst night of the year to go out in town. Fact. Every place charges you the earth to get in, you even have to pay to get in to Weathercruds! Not only that, but it’s the one night of the year when every moron within a 20 mile radius of the city descends upon it, and inevitably ends up where you want to go. So do yourself a favour and head to one of Nottingham’s best venues (which happens to be attached to one of Nottingham’s best pubs) for some trippy dub dance in the form of Deep Sound Channel. There will also be a one-off super group, DJs from Muzika and loads of quality ale on tap! www.themazerocks.com £10 adv 9pm-late

Murder Mystery Event Eastwood Hall For all you Columbo wannabes out there, what better way to see in the New Year than by donning your sleuthing hat and getting those detective juices flowing? Set in the grounds of picturesque Eastwood Hall, this Cluedo-style mystery unfolds over a three course dinner. The winner receives a bottle of bubbly and major bragging rights at the disco afterwards. The event starts at 3pm, with dinner and mystery solving until 10pm, then a disco until 1am. An overnight stay in a double en-suite room costs £200. www.new-years-eve-parties-uk.co.uk £170-200 4pm-late

Junktion 7 If you want to go out on New Year’s Eve, but don’t fancy going in to the centre of town because of all the broken glass, bodily fluids, and morons that will be laying about the place, then do yourself a favour and head out to Junktion 7. Situated in Canning Junction, it’s close enough to town to be part of the action, but far away to not be near all the carnage. What’s even better is that they are treating the good people of Nottingham to a free gig on 31 December, with Pickups N’ Pitchforks, The Kull and Union X bringing the rock in to the early hours of 2009. www.junktion7.co.uk Free entry 9pm-late

Sinfonia VIVA’s New Year’s Eve Classical Gala The Royal Concert Hall New Year’s Eve isn’t just about cramming premium lager down your neck before trying to cop off with the person standing next to you at the strike of midnight. If you have more refined tastes and fancy going off on a classical trip, then you need to get yourself down to the Royal Concert Hall. They are going to be bringing in the new year with popular sinfonia VIVA who are going to be serving up a medley of popular Scottish tunes that will then be chased down with some Strauss. Spiffing. www.royalcentre-nottingham.co.uk From £7.50 7:30pm onwards

nottingham event listings... Monday 01/12

Thursday 04/12

The Roots Rock City £16.50 adv, 7.30

Tina Dico The Rescue Rooms £10, 7.30pm

Monday Mayhem Junktion 7 £1 / £2, 8pm With Jet Set Disco, These Waves, Hackenbush and For This Day.

Radar The Bodega Social Club £4, 9pm With Vivian Girls.

Tuesday 02/12

Richie Muir Southbank Bar Free, 7pm

Acoustic Tuesdays The Malt Cross Free, 9pm - 11pm

Halle Christmas Concert Royal Centre £9 - £26, 7.30pm

Tayo’s Tracksuit Party Brownes £4, 9pm - 1.30am

The Lost Cause Band Deux £4 (charity), 8pm

Wednesday 03/12

Friday 05/12

Bad Manners The Rescue Rooms £15, 7.30pm Plus Max Splodge from Splodgenessabounds.

Mood Indigo Shaw’s Restaurant and Bar Free, 9pm - 11.30pm

Official Secrets Act The Bodega Social Club £5, 6.30pm Plus (We Are) Performance. The Steel City Tour Royal Centre £29.50, 6.30pm With The Human League, ABC and Heaven 17. Alright The Captain Junktion 7 £3, 8.30pm Plus Maybeshewill and Buenos Aires.

Thursday 04/12 Klute Dogma Free, 10pm - 3am Plus Transit Mafia and MC Ruthless. Invasion The Orange Tree Free, 8pm With The Voom Blooms. Apocalyptica Rock City £12.50 adv, 6.30pm Viking Skull Rock City £8 adv, 7pm Plus Vains of Jenna.

Human Fly Junktion 7 £2 After 11pm., 10pm - 2am Working Nights The Loggerheads Free, 8pm – late With Matt, Alex and Neetin. Twin Atlantic Rock City £6adv, 7pm Livewire The Rescue Rooms £12, 7.30pm The Mixmag Xmas Party Stealth £8, 10pm Detonate, dollop, Smakkit, Wigflex, Futureproof, Misst and Hoodoo. Station The Approach Free, 9.30pm Spectrum December Blow Out Gatecrasher Loves Nottingham £tbc, 10pm - late Hot Chip, Fake Blood, Pete Jordan and more tbc.

PULP

The new face on Nottingham’s retail scene is Pulp, situated upstairs in the Victoria Centre (close to Game and House of Fraser). The expansive store is a treasure trove of items selling a huge range of gifts and accessories, all of which are very much inspired by the world of popular culture. Choose from a wide range of CDs and DVDs alongside books from the silver screen and a multitude of other items and accessories inspired by music, film and TV. Their clothing ranges from an impressive selection of official band merchandise, to kids clothes for the more fashion-conscious mums and dads out there (t-shirts featuring slogans such as ‘my dad listens to Led Zeppelin’). There’s also funky merchandise exclusive to Nottingham such as Banksy prints and mutant dolls. The emphasis is on a feelgood store that puts a smile on your face as you shop, taking a range of products spun from iconic highlights of the last forty years and putting them all under one roof. The independent store is the first of its type in the country. Owner James comments ‘as soon as we visited the city we knew it was right for us. People have their own sense of style here and that was a very important aspect in choosing a location. Music sells in many formats now, from downloads to CDs to merchandise, we’re seeing clothing ranges becoming an additional way of showing support for a band or genre of music and we’re responding to this’. Stocking fillers galore for the avid Christmas shopper! Pulp, Unit 311, Victoria Shopping Centre, Nottingham, NG1 3QN. 0115 941 5775

Friday 05/12

Saturday 06/12

Tuesday 09/12

Bruce Myers and The Brucifers Deux £3, 8pm

Eli Paperboy Reed The Bodega Social Club £7, 7pm Plus The True Loves

Mood Indigo Skin Free, 8pm

Stealth Vs Rescued Stealth Various, 8pm - 3am CULT D&B Sessions Muse £4 before 11pm / £6, 10pm - 3am With Blame, DJ Snaxx, Mouse, Houghmeister and MC Anger.

Youngsta The Bodega Social Club £5, 10.30pm Plus Seven, Early Bird and Senate.

MNSTR, Detonate and Rave Trent Brownes Free, 9pm - 1.30am Icicle, Transit Mafia and more.

The Log Jam The Loggerheads Free, 8pm - 1.30am

Zach Hill The Bodega Social Club £5 advance, 7.30 pm Plus Shield Your Eyes and Shapes.

Spunge Rock City £10 adv, 7pm

Amy LaVere The Maze £8, 7pm

Warrior Soul Rock City £10, 7.30pm

Ocean Colour Scene Rock City £22.50 adv, 6.30pm

Basement Boogaloo Junktion 7 £5, 10.30pm

The Hold Steady Rock City £14, 7.30pm

Saturday 06/12

Dynamics The Golden Fleece Free, 8pm - late

Wednesday 10/12

Jools Holland Royal Centre £31.50, 7.30pm With his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra.

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan Rock City £14, 7.30pm Plus House of Brothers .

I Luv Live The New Art Exchange £3 / £5, 11pm

Flamboyant Bella Stealth £6, 7pm

BASEMENT BOOGALOO

for more: leftlion.co.uk/listings

Basement Boogaloo continues its quest to bring us the finest parties from across the disco galaxy on Saturday 6 December. The word ‘pioneer’ should never be used lightly within music, but its one that you will consistently hear associated with the mighty Ashley Beedle, who will be taking to the decks on the night. Various production outfits throughout the nineties have seen Beedle gain a strong reputation as one of the dons of dance music. Establishing his deep disco sound as The Black Science Orchestra in the early nineties, a remix of the Trammps tune Where were you? made its way into many a DJ’s box alongside the seminal anthem New Jersey Deep, then moving into two major artist albums as the Ballistic Brothers. X-press 2, his most recent pseudonym provided mainstream success with the chart hit Lazy (featuring Talking Heads vocalist David Byrne) and made him one of the most sought after bookings around. Now a prolific remixer and head of three record labels, Beedle has taken his musical journey to a level that allows him to bring new talent into the scene and help it flourish. Boogaloo has secured a reputation as one of the best underground nights the city can offer, bringing consistently impressive bookings (such as the recent Faze Action) to The Maze on Mansfield Road. With dependable support from Nick Shaw, Ed Cotton and Beane, expect good time dancefloor music from the deeper side of the clubbing spectrum. Basement Boogaloo at The Maze, Saturday 6 December, 11pm-3.30am, £5 entry. www.myspace.com/basementboogaloo

Pure Filth BluePrint £6, 10pm - 3am Aaron Liberator, Techno Phil, Tinitus, Kez, Agent Smith, Suspect One, Fijjitt, DJ Lobes, Red K, Bashy Flash and Rigbee Deep.

From The Jam Rock City £20, 7.30pm Joan As Policewoman The Rescue Rooms £12.50, 7.30pm

Messiah Royal Centre £10 - £18, 7pm

DoleDrum The Maze £3, 8pm Alright the Captain, Apparatus of Sleep and more.

Rompastompa Igloo £tbc, 10pm - 4am

Thursday 11/12

Mick Lawler and Friends Deux £3, 8pm

Word of Mouth Muse £2, 8.30pm - 2am Ill Citizen, Jalporte, Jay Thomas and Say Say.

Sunday 07/12 The Quireboys Junktion 7 £15 adv, 7.30pm - 12am Plus The Breakdowns. Tribal Infinity The Maze £3, 8pm Plus This Machine.

Monday 08/12 Bayside and Hit The Lights Rock City £10, 7.30pm Plus Oh No Not Stereo. Monday Mayhem The Maze £1/ £2, 8pm The Brightsparks, Wolftickets, Gallery 47 and The Hubris.

Blessed By a Broken Heart and I Am Ghost Rock City £10, 6pm Radar - Everything Everything The Bodega Social Club £3, 9pm Fromage Funk The Loggerheads Free, 20.30 Bobby Dazzler and Karen. Smeely Mob Presents... The Maze £tbc, 8pm Contempt, Automads, Up Against The Wall Motherfucker and Kerbface. Spectrum Christmas Party Dogma £tbc, 9pm - late With Hexadecimal, HeavyFeet and Pete Jordan. leftlion.co.uk/issue26

event listings... Friday 12/12

Saturday 13/12

Captain Dangerous Album Launch Gig/Party Rock City £tbc, 7pm

Noodle Xmas Frolics Moog Free, 8pm - 4am With Peter Mangalore, Jimmy Bolus, Felson, Duncan Whiteley, Ally Reilly, Mark Allen, Matt Hinton and DJ Weiss.

Rigbee Deep at The Alley Cafe Alley Cafe Free, 8:30pm – close With Minister Hill, Jah Bundy and Nowhere Common. Futureproof BluePrint £6, 11pm - 4am Headhunter, Actress (live), Oneman, Spam Chop, Bizmarc, Ben Start, Chamboche and Aled. Bopp The Rescue Rooms £4, 10pm With Reverend Ribble and The Ginger Nuts and Bopp House DJs. People in Planes The Bodega Social Club £6, 7pm Mr Scruff - Keep It Unreal Stealth £10, 10pm UK Subs Xmas Gig Junktion 7 £8, 9pm - 2am

for more: leftlion.co.uk/listings

LUCCA Lucca is a new Italian restaurant on Fletcher Gate. It’s named after a village in the North of Italy and run by chef M Ricci, who puts the flavours on his varied venue down to his “experience of being brought up watching and helping Nonna make pasta, drying it in the sun”.

A Funeral Party The Loft Free, 7pm - 12am With Luxury Stranger and guest DJs.

The interior of the restaurant is nice and plush. There is plenty of space and it’s smart without being overly formal - with sultry deep burgundy décor and intimate, yet never invasive, lighting. The staff are young and helpful, adding an upbeat atmosphere to the place.

Santa Slaughter Xmas Tour The Rescue Rooms £9, 6pm With Bury Your Dead, Full Blown Chaos, Emmure, Your Demise and The Boy Will Drown.

The food is everything you’d expect of a classy Italian restaurant, plentiful in portion and full of flavour. For starters I went for the Ricci Signature Antipasto (£7.50), a tasty selection of Artisan cured meats, farmhouse cheeses, olives, chargrilled vegetables, salad and a sweet pear. My guest had the Pate Ai Fegatini (£4.45), which was a Tuscan-style chicken liver and pancetta pate - surprisingly sweet and subtle in its flavour.

The Pitty Pat Club The Bodega Social Club £6, 8pm The Winter Wonderland Masquerade Ball The Popes Junktion 7 £10, 7.30pm - late Plus The Beast and The Priest and support.

For mains I tried the Ribeye steak (£14.95), which came served with potato wedges, a huge field mushroom and a grilled tomato. My friend went for the house special of Pan Fried Bream (£11.95) which came with home-made gnocci and sun dried tomato pesto. They were both cooked to perfection and the portions were generous. We were almost too full to have a dessert, but in the interests of journalism we tried the huge Tiramisu (£4.95) and ice creams - chilli and mango (fruity and refreshing, but with a hot kick), parmesan (rich, with a light texture) and After Eight mint (classic). This was a great feed, made from ingredients sourced locally, but tasting like they had come straight from the heart of Milan’s restaurant quarter. Including our bottle of Chilean Merlot (£13.99) our bill came to £60, but for those on more of a budget their large pizzas start at £6.95 and everything served here is healthy and filling. Buon alimento! Lucca Ristorante Italiano, 1 Fletcher Gate, The Lace Market, Nottingham, NG1 1QQ Tel: 0115 9483313

Skaville Xmas Party The Maze £15 adv, 8pm Symarip, Smoke Like A Fish and Skazz.

A Christmas Spectacular The Maze £7 adv, 8pm Rebel Soul Collective, Trevor Organ, The Skinnys, Bambi B Tame, Crimson Sugar, The Jet Boys and Girls and Sir Isla Man.

Sunday 14/12

Thursday 18/12

Saturday 20/12

Roy De Wired The Approach Free, 10pm

Koshka Lakeside Arts Centre £12 / £15, 7.30pm

Buster Southbank Bar Free, 7pm

Stak It Up The Approach Free, 8pm

Spectrum Gatecrasher Loves Nottingham £tbc, 10pm - late Audio Bullys, Pete Jordan and Freeman.

Purple Radio Xmas Party Ride Bar Free, 1pm - 1am

Emmett Brown The Maze £3 / £4, 7.30pm

The Fratellis Rock City £20, 6.30pm

The Ghost of a Thousand Rock City £6, 9pm Plus The Casino Brawl.

Eastville Deux Free, 8pm

Monday 15/12

Radar - The Redwalls The Bodega Social Club £3, 9pm

Acoustic Jupiter Monkeys Deux £3, 8pm Poppycock Moog Free, 8pm - late LeftLion Brownes Free, 8pm - 1.30am With Natalie Duncan, Mables Husbands and the Stiff Kittens.

Saturday 13/12 Go Go vs Mufti Fancy Dress The Loggerheads Free, 8pm - 1.30am

Natalie Duncan

Psycle BluePrint £5, 10pm - late

Sew What Vs Monday Mayhem The Maze £5 (charity), 8pm With The Notebook, Crimson Circle, Goon Squad and Fenix Fire.

Sunday 14/12

Wednesday 17/12

Stiff Dylans Rock City £4, 7pm

Thunder Xmas Show Rock City £27.50, 7.30pm

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart The Bodega Social Club £6.50, 8pm

Hidden Talents The Maze £5, 9pm Ladies only cabaret show.

Natalie Duncan, Mables Husbands and the Stiff Kittens play the LeftLion Christmas Party at Brownes (in association with Farmyard Records) on Friday 12 December. Free entry. Come and celebrate the festive season!

leftlion.co.uk/issue26

Mindvox Xmas Party The Maze £4 / £5, 7.30pm With Black Fuzz, Lois, No Comment and Dirty Royals. The Bootleg Beatles Royal Centre £22.50, 8pm

Friday 19/12 Mood Indigo Shaw’s Restaurant and Bar Free, 9pm - 11.30pm

Best gig you’ve ever played? I really enjoyed playing in the cave at Loggerheads. There’s always a comforting, drunken vibe down there.

exciting. It’s nice to hear my songs with a cello, flute and If you could get anyone to make a saxophone. song with you, who would it be? Either Win Butler, frontman of Arcade What kind of people do you Fire or CocoRosie. Because they’re two think will be into your music? of the most original and adventurous Anyone with a broad imagination artists I’ve come across. who enjoys soulful singing and is interested in lyrics. Choose a super power! I’d have Bernard’s watch (which can Describe your style... stop time). Quirky, lyrical and emotional. Photo: Nicholas Stevenson What’s your ideal night out in Natalie Duncan has the kind of What are you listening to at the Nottingham? soulful voice that could make even a moment? Bestwood Estate gangleader reflect Probably a few drinks at the Orange I’m listening to a lot of Joanna Tree or Broadway and then either to on his life and ultimately break down Newsom and Bat for Lashes. the Malt Cross to watch some music, with regret and cry like a big girl. Like or somewhere like The Maze or Stealth a Nottingham version of Nina Simone, Tell us about one of your songs and for some drum and bass. she usually sings alongside a piano or what inspired you to write it… saxophone and will be representing One of my songs is called Joe, What’s coming up next? for us at Brownes in December… and it was inspired by a mixture I’ve just started playing with new of, admittedly, quite a sadistic people and new instruments and What have you been up to recently? relationship I was in as well as the should be recording an album soon. Recently I have had enough free time illusion and stigma surrounding on my hands to be writing some new prostitution and possibly the image www.myspace.com/betweenthekeys songs and practicing the old ones portrayed by a pimp. www.farmyardrecords.com with new musicians which has been

Robbo Southbank Bar Free, 7pm

Headway Rock City £6, 7pm Censored Xmas Party The Rescue Rooms £5, 7pm Evil:Scarecrow Junktion 7 £5, 8pm - 2am Plus Illuminatus and Spirytus. The Maze Xmas Party The Maze £5, 9pm Royal Gala, Three Beards, DJs Kel, Monkeyman and Adam Wise. Roy De Wired The Approach Free, 9.30pm Plus Good Times DJs from midnight. Beck Stacey Deux £3, 8pm Plus Zoe Pinder. P Brothers Muse £3, 10pm Plus Jonathan.

Road Block The Loggerheads Free, 8pm - 1.30am Smokescreen The Maze £5, 10pm Legendary Deep House Sound System with DJs Frandanski and Rob. Highness Sound System The Bodega Social Club £6, 11pm - 4am Family Carol Concert Royal Centre £8 - £15, 7pm Firestorm Igloo Various, 10pm - 4am Electric Church Deux £5, 8pm

Sunday 21/12 Johnny and the Raindrops Christmas Party Polish Club £2, 2.30pm Performance Southbank Bar Free, 7pm Revolution Sounds Xmas Party The Maze £9 / £11, 5pm With Sonic Boom 6, Nylon, Jimmy The Squirrel, JB Conspiracy, Mouthwash, Dirty Revolution, The Skints, Minus Society and more acoustic acts and DJs. Cantamus Christmas Concert Royal Centre £12 - £20, 7.30pm

Wednesday 24/12 Xmas Eve The Approach Free, 8pm Andy Whittle and Friends Deux £5, 8pm

nottingham event listings...

for more: leftlion.co.uk/listings

Sunday 28/12

Sunday 04/01

Friday 16/01

The Establishment Southbank Bar Free, 7pm

Establishment Southbank Bar Free, 7pm

Erol Alkan Stealth £8, 10pm

Christmas with The Rat Pack Royal Centre £21.50 - £27.50, 7.30pm

Monday 05/01

Shivver The Maze £5 (NUS), 8pm

Monday 29/12

Monday Mayhem The Maze £1 / £2, 8pm

Monday Mayhem The Maze £1 / £2, 8pm Satans Minions, Talking Shape, Red Eyes of Russia and The Reverb.

Tuesday 06/01

Tuesday 30/12

Wednesday 07/01

Kerbface The Maze £tbc, 8pm Plus support.

Roses Kings Castles The Bodega Social Club £6, 7pm

The Glen Miller Orchestra Royal Centre £13 - £17.50, 5pm

Wednesday 31/12 LeftLion and Spectrum NYE Brownes and The Market Bar £7 / £10 / £12 / MOTD, 8pm - 5am LeftLion: Old Basford, The Money, Vinyl [Abort], Alright The Captain, Stiff Kittens DJs. Spectrum: The Freestylers feat MC Sir Real, Heavyfeet, Pete Jordan, Teddy Boshanks, Freeman, Clubfoot SoundSytem and Chow. The Pitty Pat Club NYE Masquerade Ball The Bodega Social Club £10, 8pm

Kevin Montgomery The Maze £12, 7.30pm

Thursday 08/01 Tee Dymond Southbank Bar Free, 7pm Devil’s Haircut Junktion 7 £4 / £5, 8pm

Friday 09/01

LeftLion Brownes Free, 8pm - 2am With Styly Cee, Cappo and C-Mone

Saturday 17/01 Saturday Night Knees Up! The Malt Cross £3, 8pm Limehouse Lizzy Rock City £12, 7pm Presenting the Very Best of Thin Lizzy Roisin Dubh: The Spirit Of The Black Rose Tour. All That Remains The Rescue Rooms £10, 7pm Plus The Haunted. Sticky Morales Southbank Bar Free, 7pm

A Night of Reggae The Maze £8, 9pm

Liam O’Kane Album Launch The Maze £5, 9pm Plus Babar and more.

Poppycock Moog Free, 8pm - late

Highness Sound System The Bodega Social Club £6, 11pm - 4am

I’m Not From London The Loggerheads Free, 8pm - 1.30am

Sunday 18/01 Buster Southbank Bar Free, 7pm

NYE Party The Loggerheads Free, 7pm - 4am

Saturday 10/01

Alternative New Year’s Eve The Rig £6, 8pm

Saturday Night Knees Up! The Malt Cross £3, 8pm

The Bittersweets The Maze £10 adv, 7.30pm

Detonate Hospitality NYE Rock City £25, 9pm - 6am High Contrast (NYE), Annie Mac, Scratch Perverts, DJ Marky, Kissy Sell Out, Friction, Shy FX, Rusko, Goldie, Hatcha, Logistics, Tomb Crew, Cyantific, Joker, Nu Tone, Andy George, Transit Mafia, Highness Soundsystem, Jaymo, Detail, Dollop DJs, Stamina MC, SP MC, MC Wrec, Rage, I.D, Ruthless and more!

Urban Intro Southbank Bar Free, 7pm

Monday 19/01

New Years Eve Party Junktion 7 Free, 9pm Union X, The Beast and The Priest and Pickups and Pitchforks. New Years Eve The Maze £10, 8pm Deep Sound Channel, We Are The Man and Muzika DJs. NYE Party The Golden Fleece £5 adv, 7pm - 4am Percussion and DJs tbc. Sinfonia Viva NYE Classical Gala Royal Centre £13 - £19, 7.30pm Electric Catfish New Year Swamp Dance Deux £5, 8pm

Friday 02/01 Stumble in The Jungle The Maze £5, 9pm

Wildside Clubnight Junktion 7 £tbc, 9pm - 2am Ghoul Garden The Maze £3 / £3.50, 9pm Depraved Igloo Various, 10pm - 4am

Sunday 11/01 Roy De Wired Southbank Bar Free, 7pm

Wednesday 14/01 John Wheeler aka Barley Scotch The Maze £10, 7.45pm Solo show - Stories (and songs) from the mind of Hayseed Dixie.

Thursday 15/01 Duke Special The Rescue Rooms £10, 7.30pm Richie Muir Southbank Bar Free, 7pm Random Hand The Maze £5 / £6, 8pm Plus China Shop Bull, Love and A 45, Fat Lady Singh and Red

Teddy Thompson The Rescue Rooms £11, 7.30pm Plus Tift Merritt.

Styly Cee, Cappo, C-Mone and more play LeftLion at Brownes (in association with Son Records) at Brownes on Friday 16 January 2009. It’s free entry so get your arse down to our first event of 2009!

Styly Cee Styly Cee is a man known in many guises. He started as a pirate radio host, then became half of Lost Island, dropping the Forbidden Ground album on Son Records in 2000. Then, most famously, he had a stint as everyone’s favourite rapping miner Pitman (Witness The Pitness etc). During this time he’s also been a producer and mentor for the likes of Cappo and C-Mone. Alongside Cappo he’s just dropped The H-Bomb EP and we’ve got the gang along for a gig with us at Brownes in January… What have you been up to recently? I’ve been working on the H-Bomb project with Cappo. It’s been on the go for about a year now, from first recording to getting the finished vinyl, which is out now. We have also produced a music video for the track Unwritten Rule with Pete 1st Blood, who did a great job. I think he has only recently been able to listen to that song again after his marathon of pain editing the thing. People that appreciate straight-up energised hiphop should love it. Neither of us

Nottingham’s favourite bands talk about their favourite venues The Highness Sound System play at The Golden Fleece “Highness first ran a monthly session at the Fleece ten years ago; it was truly our birthplace. We’ve played numerous sessions at the Fleece, but the one that sums up the pub to me was last New Year, the two separate levels made sure that we could rub shoulders with the people while still maintaining a stage type setup. And with our speaker boxes at close proximity on two levels the sound was all-enveloping” The Golden Fleece, 105 Mansfield Road myspace.com/goldenfleecenottingham / myspace.com/highnesssounds

Wednesday 21/01

Saturday 24/01

Buzzcocks Rock City £15, 7.30pm

Smokescreen The Maze £5, 10pm

Thursday 22/01

Lord Auch Stealth £8, 10.15pm

Kerrang! Relentless Energy Drink Tour 2009 Rock City £15, 7.30pm Mindless Self Indulgence, Bring Me The Horizon, Black Tide and In Case of Fire. Jason Heart Southbank Bar Free, 7pm Vula Malinga The Maze £7 / £8, 9pm All women cabaret.

Firefly Marcus Garvey Ballroom £tbc, 10pm - late

Sunday 25/01 Richie Muir Band Southbank Bar Free, 7pm Justin Townes Earle The Maze £10, 7.30pm

Saturday 24/01

Monday 26/01

Saturday Night Knees Up! The Malt Cross £3, 8pm

Ugly Duckling The Bodega Social Club £8, 8pm Plus Jimmy Screech.

We Are The Ocean Rock City £7, 7pm The View The Rescue Rooms £12.50, 7pm

Tuesday 27/01 David Thomas Broughton The Maze £tbc, 8.30pm Plus Samamidon and Doveman.

holding back in our own departments here. Cappo’s on the money as usual, plenty of scratches which you don’t seem to get alot of these days. Throw it all in there. Drop the Bomb! Bang. What kind of people do you think will be into your music? Mothers, inbreds, tractor bastards, confused Christians, slags, angry slags, Obama, Obama’s kids, two of the security guards at Viccy Centre and Chuck D. Describe your style... Funky authentic energised pure-core breaks. What’s your ideal night out in Nottingham? Tell us about one of your songs and I’d get drunk on Mansfield Road then what inspired you to write it… get a taxi to the Commodore club On the Unwritten Rule remix with (RIP) to see Bucks Fizz relive their Cappo, I dusted my mic off and Eurovision glory. Then get a taxi attempted to keep up. I thought I’d home, drive past Ocean to see all the lay down a few verses and see if i still police vans, while racing a spot in a could and I’m pleased to say it worked. Corsa. We have completely different styles and flows and it’s a good contrast. What’s coming up next? It should be on the Son Records web H-Bomb live shows. My construction site soon. of the pyramid - I’ve just finished a half scale model made out of mash potato. Pick a superpower... I’m going to import an internet bride The obvious one, the ability to stop in the sales and try Reggae Sauce on people talking shit instantly, just by my chips. going sshhh! www.sonrecords.com leftlion.co.uk/issue26

event listings... Wednesday 28/01 Don Broco The Maze £tbc, 8pm

Thursday 29/01

Weeklies Mondays Open Mic Night Golden Fleece Free, 8pm

Daylight Robbery Southbank Bar Free, 7pm

Neon Rocks Stealth £3, 9pm - late NTU student night.

Nottingham Folk Club The Maze £tbc, 8pm

Motherfunker The Cookie Club £1 before 11pm, 10.30pm - 3am

Friday 30/01

Tuesdays

Poppycock Moog Free, 8pm - late

Drawing Club Hand and Heart Free, 7pm - 11pm Come and use the gallery as your drawing studio for the evening.

Barb Jungr Playhouse 8pm, £tbc Wire and Wool The Loggerheads Free, 8pm - 1.30am Bands, acoustic acts, visuals, light shows, artwork, performance and more.

Saturday 31/01 Saturday Night Knees Up! The Malt Cross £3, 8pm Stak It Up Southbank Bar Free, 7pm Rubber Room The Maze £3, 9pm La Roux Stealth £5, 10.15pm

leftlion.co.uk/issue26

MNSTR! Brownes Free, 9pm - 1.30am Detonate, Spectrum and ClubFoot residents. Acoustic Tuesdays Malt Cross Free, 8pm A selection of local acts. Live Jazz Hand and Heart Free, 8pm - late

Wednesdays Electric Banana Bodega Social Club £2 / £5 adv (NUS), 10pm - 3am LeftLion Pub Quiz Golden Fleece £2 / team, 8pm Like booze? Like quizzes? Sorted.

for more: leftlion.co.uk/listings Wednesdays Joe Strange Band Approach Free, 8pm Plus guests. Joe’s Musical Circus Hand and Heart Free, 8pm - late A showcase for singer-songwriters.

Thursdays Showcase Loggerheads Free, 8pm Live Thursdays Golden Fleece Free, 8.30pm Live music every week. Club NME Stealth £2 / £4, 10pm - 2am Word Of Mouth Muse Run in partnership with Camouflage, the home of live underground hip-hop, bringing the finest quality acts for your acoustical enchantment. Modern World The Cookie Club £1 / £3, 10.30pm - 2am Tuned Rock City £1 - £5, 10pm - 3am All the latest alternative music alongside a healthy dose of pop and chart music. Chic Gatecrasher £4 / £5, 10.30pm - 3am Four floors of music.

Thursdays

Fridays

Open Decks and Open Mic Loggerheads Free, 5pm - 12am Bring some records or bring an instrument and come and set the scene for the start of the weekend.

Num Lock Hand and Heart Free, 8pm - late A night of experimental, unusual and innovative music with DJs every week and live groups once a month.

Your Disco Bodega Social Club Free, 8pm - late Regulars and friends get a chance to become the DJ. Roar!!! Hand and Heart Free, 8pm - late A night dedicated to premiering new or screening oldschool skateboarding videos with DJs. Chow Brownes Free, 9pm - 1.30am

Fridays Superstar Boudoir Gatecrasher £10 / £12, 10pm - 4am A slice of action from the world’s leading dance music brands. Atomic / Sabotage The Cookie Club £2 b4 11pm, £4 after (NUS discount), 10.30pm - 3am The Pop Confessional Bodega Social Club £1 / £3 / £5, 11pm - 3am Classic POP tunes from all eras, and lots of fun and games with prizes. Love Shack Rock City £4 - £5, 9.30pm - 2am

Santero Brownes Free, 9pm - 1.30am Fridays Golden Fleece Free, 8pm Reggae, DnB, funk, hip hop and disco.

Saturdays Saturday Night Knees Up! Malt Cross £3, 8pm - late Resident bands and special guests every week. Play Gatecrasher £7 / £9, 10pm - 4am Make your own night! Hand and Heart Free, 8pm - late You provide the music; we’ll provide the atmosphere. Freeman Brownes Free, 9pm - 1.30am

Sundays Sunday Jam Sessions Loggerheads Free, 8pm Reggae Roast Golden Fleece Free entry, all day.

nottingham event listings... Theatre Monday 01/12

Comedy Monday 01/12

Aladdin Playhouse Runs until: 24/01 Kenneth Alan Taylor is back as Widow Twankey to celebrate his 25th Playhouse pantomime!

Just The Tonic Approach £tbc, 7.15pm Big Value comedy showcase.

Friday 05/12 Cinderella Royal Centre £10 - £22, Various Runs until: 18/01 With Brian Conley as Buttons.

Monday 08/12 A Christmas Carol Lace Market Theatre £6 / £7 / £8 / £9, 7.30pm Runs until: 13/12 Ghosts rattle their chains, miserly Ebenezer undergoes a nocturnal transformation…

Sunday 14/12 Winter Lights Concert Lace Market Theatre £12, 2.30pm

Tuesday 13/01 Hatch Loggerheads Free, 7pm - 12am Showcasing performance-y work for creative minds.

Wednesday 14/01 The Shape of Things Lace Market Theatre £6 / £7, 7.30pm Runs until: 17/01

Tuesday 20/01 Sir Gowen and The Green Night Lakeside Arts Centre £5 / £7, Various Runs until: 31/01 Boeing Boeing Royal Centre £10 -£25, Various Runs until: 24/01

Wednesday 28/01 Yesterday Playhouse £various, 8pm

Tuesday 02/12 Jimmy Carr Royal Centre £20, 8pm The Big Jam Junktion 7 Free, 8pm - 2am Sarah Millican Grove £4 / £5, 8pm Plus Gary Delaney, Jonathan Elston, Ashley Turner and Compere Spiky Mike.

Saturday 06/12 Rock$star Junktion 7 £3 / £4 / £6, 8pm - 2am

Sunday 07/12 Just The Tonic Approach £10, 7.15pm Secret Headline Act. Fun Upstairs Robin Hood Free/£2, 7.30pm doors. 8pm start. With Jim Smallman, Rex Purnell, Tom Roche, Simon Gunnell, 80s Luke, Tudur Owen and compere Matt Turner.

Monday 08/12 Just The Tonic Approach £tbc, 7.15pm Big Value Comedy Showcase.

Wednesday 10/12 Simon Day Lakeside Arts Centre £12 / £15, 8pm

Sunday 14/12 Just The Tonic Approach £5 / £7.50, 7.15pm Simon Munnary, Lucy Porter and Charlie Baker.

INSTALLATION OVERDRIVE

for more: leftlion.co.uk/listings

RADIATOR FESTIVAL Since its inception in 2000 the AngloGerman Radiator Festival which is curated in Nottingham by the Berlin-based Anette Schafer and Miles Chalcraft has earned itself a reputation of excellence. This year they’re taking their particular brand of hi-fi creativity underground, bringing together a cadre of artists, academics, geographers, urban theorists, scientists, sociologists and fellow citizens in a series of events around the city. A symposium on Thursday 15 and Friday 16 January explores various Exploits in the Wireless City, with heavyweight contributors from across Europe and the US. And they’re not messing about – the organisers’ aim is to ‘explore, remodel and re-present space in both its traditional and emergent forms’. If you’re looking to get ahead of the metropolitan curve, this is where the horizon is.

Meanwhile, an elite squadron of artists will be Going Underground, into the organisations that spin the web of the city’s infrastructure - architects, planning departments, telemarketeers, city council offices, surveillance and monitoring centres. Working as undercover agents, they’ll gather information before interpreting and presenting it as new artworks. A number of associated satellite events are also happening around the festival and responding to its themes. These include Annexinema masterminds AMIS, who will be hosting one of their always fascinating film nights, as well as new school impresarios Hatch, presenting a third collection of the weirdest and most wonderful performers they can find.

13 January – 18 January, various venues and times www.radiator-festival.org

Monday 15/12

Sunday 21/12

Monday 01/12

Just The Tonic Approach £tbc, 7.15pm Big Value Comedy Showcase

Just The Tonic Approach £8 / £10, 7.15pm Xmas Special with Ivan Brackenbury and Sarah Millican.

Sokari Douglas-Camp New Art Exchange Free Runs until: 19/01

Tuesday 16/12 Should I Stay or Should I Go Maze £4 / £5 / £6, 8pm

Friday 19/12 Funhouse Comedy Trent Bridge Inn £4 / £5 / £6, 8pm With Andy White, Rob and Skatz, Tyson Boyce and Tudur Owe. Comedy Underground Loggerheads Free, 7.30pm - 1.30am Stuart Wilde, Ryan Mcdonnell and Craig Murray.

Words: Frances Ashton

Exploring issues of imprisonment, genocide and anger, are three exhibitions that show a darker side of contemporary art at Nottingham’s two newest venues. Steel sculptor, Sokari Douglas Camp’s exhibition Strength of Feeling explores issues of race, gender, exploitation and violence, including a life-sized steel bus parked outside carved with the words “I accuse the oil companies of practising genocide against the Ogoni.” Adjoining this is Anthony Jadunath’s work Red, named after the dominant colour in his art which symbolises the anger he feels at the way he, as a double amputee, has been treated throughout his life. Both are overtly political exhibitions which celebrate personal victories over oppression. Nottingham Contemporary’s current exhibition, The Impossible Prison, is housed in the abandoned police cells of the Galleries of Justice - a fantastic location for an exhibition exploring the theme of confinement. Each artwork is contained by its own cell and the line-up boasts impressive international artists such as Bruce Nauman, Dan Graham and Vito Acconti. This intriguing combination of video, sculpture and conceptual work has been selected to celebrate Michel Foucault’s seminal text Discipline and Punish. Sokari Douglas Camp’s Strength of Feeling and Anthony Jadunath’s Red are at the New Art Exchange until 18 January. Nottingham Contemporary’s The Impossible Prison is at The Galleries of Justice until 14 December. More previews and reviews at www.leftlion.co.uk/art

Monday 22/12 Just The Tonic Approach £tbc (NUS), 7.15pm Big Value Comedy Showcase.

Figuring Light Lakeside Arts Centre Free, All day Runs until: 18/01 Duncan Bullen, Jane Bustin, Rebecca Partridge, and Richard Kenton Webb.

Ken Dodd Royal Centre £15 - £18, 7pm

Inspired View from The Top Free, All day Runs until: 21/12 Jill Perry and Lizzie Adcock present their festive gallery gift.

Wednesday 31/12

Wednesday 03/12

Just The Tonic NYE Approach £23.50, 7.15pm With Earl Okin, Dave Longley, Mat Reed and guest.

Late Night Shopping Event Bead Shop Free, 6pm - 9pm Learn new beading techniques.

Saturday 27/12

Friday 09/01

Friday 05/12

The Mighty Boosh Nottingham Arena £25, 7.30pm Runs until: 10/01

Windows on War Soviet Posters 1943-1945 Lakeside Arts Centre Free, All day Runs until: 22/03

Friday 16/01

Saturday 06/12

Comedy Underground Loggerheads Free, 7.30pm - 1.30am

Postcard Show 2008 Surface Gallery Runs until: 20/12

Tuesday 20/01

Tuesday 13/01

Funhouse Comedy Maze £4 / £5 / £6, 7.30pm

Radiator Festival Various Locations Free, all day Runs until: 18/01 See box out above for more information.

Exhibitions Monday 01/12 It’s Almost Always Fiction in the End Nottingham Castle Runs until: 04/01 Anthony Jadunath: Red New Art Exchange Free Runs until: 11/01

Friday 16/01 Lucinda Chua Lakeside Arts Centre Free, All day Runs until: 22/02 A retrospective of her photography from the late eighties to the present. leftlion.co.uk/issue26

Write Lion

This month from the Write Lion forum we have a few pieces on a theme that everyone from the Bard to the Beatles has pondered in the past: Love. We also have a piece about a journey from a writer named after a raincoat. What better way to end 2008 (or start 2009) than by putting pen to paper (or ﬁnger to keyboard), and laying down some words for posterity? If you want others to read your work (and it to be considered for publication in here) then log on and post at leftlion.co.uk/forum.

06/10/08 I like black coffee. I lie. Sometimes, I have white. And sometimes, if I’m feeling really naughty, I have a biscuit with it; a good one though, not one like a rich tea whose whole infrastructure crumbles as it touches the pleasant brew, leaving you with a nasty, mushy conglomerate and a dose of regret in the base of your mug. It must also be a mug. I require a high concentration to water ratio for this event. It is while I’m drinking this fine concoction that I think of you. My thoughts are as bitter as these cheap coffee granules.

It frustrates me to high heaven, which I suspect is far, given the connotations that this phrase evokes, that you manage to ruin and infiltrate my thoughts against my will. So if you must know, yes. Yours was not the only hand that I held, or the only lips I kissed, as if I would never be kissed again. I am exhausted with guilt. Although, I am still angry with you. Your affection, or lack of, turns me into this monster. A self-destructive, needy monster. I imagine myself as this creature, with blue fur, big blue eyes and little claws, stamping its feet in a huff, like a little black rain cloud. Am I in love? And I find it more than odd that I like the smell of cigarettes. Maybe it is only when

10 Years On

Upon Far Shore

He doesn’t love me For my Art Or my Poetry What, then? I broke his heart (Way back when) He’s healed mine

I saw, I swear, a shadow I saw! Across the bank, upon far shore. All dressed in black and shrouded face – A grey fog carried in deathly grace. I asked him where he travelled to, His gaze so cold it travelled through! A hiss, a crackle, a cruel croak of voice: ‘I am the end, the hollow creep, That stalks these shores that man doth keep. The final flight, the Boatman. Please!

Wendy House

Aimez vous la Guitare?

you smoke them? You make them glamorous and sexy and I have to channel all my self-control through my veins and into my fingers to prevent myself from tearing all your clothes off. It is possibly a good thing that I met you after the smoking ban was enforced, otherwise there could be some very traumatised children in Weatherspoons. This is why I like you and not him. He is mundane. Dull and tedious to the point where I think if the government sent him to Iraq, the war would cease. He would be capable of boring the soldiers to death. Although, this may result in the unfortunate death of many British soldiers and personally, I do not wish for this level of blame.

You, on the other hand, are addictive; like cocaine. You are so exciting. Just thinking of you, I feel electrified. My stomach fills with butterflies. I am utterly infatuated, my sweet addiction. To me, you are beautiful; perfect. I crave your scent, your touch, your voice. I need you, I must have you. Instead, I am stuck with him. I count the seconds until he is gone, ‘til I can stop faking everything. With him everything is rubbish. This is why I need my coffee, my dirty, naughty, little, two-sugars coffee. Kaylen

No Tittles Any More Gold never covered sins with ease… Go live your life, go play the game, Go search in vain for futile fame, Yet come the end, don’t cry to me; For judgements done, it’s yours to be, Lest remember this - My ride’s not free.’ Le Cagoule

You should have never done that She said, her arms beating his chest Watching him slowly shake His head As the last drops of warmth left The day curled like a salted rose And laughter is a cherry on fire In the autumn A.Catterall

Café Deux

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Enjoy fresh coffee, handmade sandwiches, panini’s, soups and patisserie in a relaxed and stylish atmosphere. Pre-orders welcome, text 07799886369 or Pre-orde e-mail cafe@hoteldeux.com (before 11am please)

Enjoy or join in!

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Hotel Deux, Clumber Avenue, Sherwood Rise, Nottingham, NG5 1AP If you haven’t found us yet you should have gone to Specsavers.

Time, once again, to clear through that pile of CDs, books, mags, and all the other stuff we get sent. If you have anything you want us to give the once-over, please send it to natasha@leftlion.co.uk

MUSIC P Brothers The Gas (Heavy Bronx Records)

Electric Baths Electric Baths (Haiku My IQ Records)

Ocean Bottom Nightmare We Are Serious EP (Phat Phidelity)

Ever since the P Brothers’ DJ Ivory dropped the first Hear No Evil mix, these Nottingham beat merchants have had a worldwide reputation as some of the finest crate diggers in the game but are only now releasing their first LP proper, The Gas. A collection of new joints and some vinyl releases from the past few years, the album is a truly masterful work. Despite working with Cappo, Mr 45, Scorzayzee and other Nottingham acts in the past, The Gas is really a New York album at heart. Meeting on the eighties Rock City scene, it was only a matter of time before these two gravitated towards their spiritual home. Tracks like Blam Blam, Cold World and Boss Money Gangsters, which all feature Boss Money, bump along with that boom bap style perfected in nineties NY by DJ Premier. The Gary Numan flipping Digital B-Boy and flute rocking Got It On Me, with rapper Milano, are two highlights of a consistently brilliant album. This is pure, raw hiphop crafted with genuine knowledge and love for the art. Shariff Ibrahim

It is clear from the opening track of the album that we are dealing with yet another fine example of the wealth of talent to be found on the Nottingham music scene. Both the band and their label deal in original and innovating music, as is evident throughout this release. The album states its intention with opening track Western Daughter, a psychedelic folk song with haunting double-tracked vocals. Everything is well arranged, with intelligent overdubs that serve only to complement, not smother, the strong writing and performances. Atoms And Muscles combines a beautiful vocal melody with ever building electric guitar, intertwining around each other in a style reminiscent of John Frusciante’s solo work. This is a mature and intelligently produced effort that is worthy of multiple listens. Another success for Notts! Tom Quickfall

A group already well established on the scene within the East Midlands, this is the debut EP from local Nottingham alternative rock band Ocean Bottom Nightmare. Influenced by acts such as Biffy Clryo and hardcore punks Refused, this four track release gives a fair insight to their talent. Itchy / Tasty confirms the opinion that the three-piece thrashy rock outfit are on the ascent. OBN have forthcoming dates around Nottingham, Derby and Leicester. If you have already witnessed them live, then you will be familiar with the ferocious energy thrown into a performance. Judging from their savage burst of an EP, you can expect nothing less than a frantic storm of crashing guitars at ear-splitting volume that would not be out of place at Rock City on a Saturday night. Jaycee

Buy this if you like: Gomez

www.oceanbottomnightmare.com Available now

Buy this if you like: Nas

www.myspace.com/electricbaths Available now

Buy this if you like: Slipknot

www.heavybronx.com Available now

Hellset Orchestra The Carrousel Awaits (Wicked Wicked Bird Records)

The Datsuns Headstunts (Cooking Vinyl)

Cornelia Engine (Ramjac)

Quite easily one of Nottingham’s most compelling bands to see at the moment. Luckily the band manage to translate the sense of drama and excitement of their live shows to their records, which makes listening to this second album a joy from start to finish. The Carrousel Awaits carries on their tradition of writing songs that have as much adventure, interest and intrigue as any great Victorian vaudevillian theatre. It’s hard not to write about the Hellset Orchestra without referencing the 1800s, as they seem to have a particular fascination with this era. For instance, there is a sneaking suspicion that the year in Miss July ‘89 is 1889 rather than 1989, while the sound of the The Carrousel Awaits, with its tinkling pianos, dizzying strings and arch vocals, could have been delivered straight from an old music hall. The music twists and turns at every opportunity, while the songs are all stories about events that have happened or are going to happen, as predicted and told by a crazed evangelical babbling preacher. The Hellset Orchestra teleport the listener to their own world for the best part of fifty minutes, and what a joyous, perverse and thrilling world it is. Paul Klotschkow

Headstunts is the band’s fourth album to date and arguably their punchiest and most entertaining offering so far. The Datsuns, purveyors of hard and fast garage rock from New Zealand, are currently touring Europe to promote this new album. Several tracks here immediately grab your attention, and with frenetic guitars and heavy drum work most of the album can best be described as having a punk rock slant to it such as on Highschool Hoodlums. Not to say the band are in anyway limited to one style of play. Eye of the Needle shows a more measured approach, which builds rather then attacks from the off. Definitely recommended, The Datsuns latest album really is that entertaining. Dan Skurok

This album is a surge of long awaited Swedish tranquillity. Cornelia takes electronica and turns it into folktronica. Its futuristic fusions are mixed with gentle vocals to create an air of simplicity which both soothes and satisfies. It is not the kind of electronic jangle that confuses you as to what planet you’re on, but creates an album with a dreamy aura. Cornelia’s vocals are chilling, particularly during I’m a Fool, which suggests a cry of heartache and internal scarring. Blackbird has a chorus which resonates Madonna’s What It Feels Like For A Girl, with a less commercial feel. Any one of these tracks would fit contentedly on the type of compilation album that you buy your mum for mother’s day, convinced that she can relax to it whilst doing her yoga in the front room. It’s definitely an album to crack open a bottle of wine to, turn down the lights and bask in the hypnotic hybrid of Engine’s healing sounds. Nikki Barr

Buy this if you like: The Von Bodies or Green Day www.thedatsuns.com Available now

Buy this if you like: Sia www.myspace.com/corneliacornelia Available now

Buy this if you like: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds or The Arcade Fire www.thehellsetorchestra.co.uk Available now

FILM

BOOKS

Big Things (Anonymous Room)

Terrence J. R. Green The First Prince of London (AuthorHouse)

David Belbin The Pretender (Five Leaves)

We’re always happy to receive DVDs through the post at LeftLion, especially when they’re as good as this! With a strong Notts-based cast which includes Tony Claasen (who also wrote it), Mark Devenport (who directed), Rupert Proctor (star of 2004’s One For The Road) and Dean Palo (aka rapper Scorzayzee) this is a feature length comedy about a subject with which the cast are likely to be very familiar; a group of people trying to make a film on a miniscule budget. It’s nicely made with footage of local places you will recognise from the streets of Nottingham. It transcends its budget with hard work, good production values and a heavy dose of self-depreciating humour. Hopefully they’ll get a distributor soon. Until then watch clips on their website and read an interview with the director on www.leftlion.co.uk/film. Jared Wilson

This murder mystery set in the fictional city of Wattingham sees the main protagonist Charlie try to unravel the murder of Karen, the daughter of his close friend, Mr Smith. The mystery is a voyage of self-discovery as the hero is forced to confront many issues about his life, his friends and the city where he has grown up. The self-published author must also confront some harsh truths, most notably that he will never be taken seriously unless he improves the poor spelling and grammar which result from an eagerness to see his words in print. Having said that, it is the very same impatience that has compelled him to write about conflicts faced by urban living Afro Caribbean males. This makes his flouting of syntax etiquette more forgivable. James Walker.

David Belbin continues his prolific literary output with his first adult novel The Pretender, the story of a young man with an accidental gift for literary forgery. The novel itself is 22 years in the making, originating as The StoryForger, and proving patience is not only a virtue but the defining trait of any ambitious author. The book’s underlying theme will touch a raw nerve with many writers, particularly the (deluded) belief that we are all able to produce masterpieces. If we were, I doubt many would we be as altruistic as Mark Trace, the 19 year old protagonist. A thriller using literary forensics to uncover the ageless question of originality, Belbin’s best to date. James Walker. Buy this if you like: C4 documentary The Artful Codgers or Shakespeare and the Ireland Forgeries by Derek Bodde.

Watch this if you like: One For The Road, A Room For Romeo Brass, British films generally.

Buy this if you liked: Watching John McCain eat humble pie

www.big-things.co.uk

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue26

www.alibris.com

www.davidbelbin.com

LETS briNG IN THE NEW YEAR RIGHT. WELL, WRONG

BASEMENT

BOOGALOO

NYE LOFT PARTY THE CANAL HOUSE, NOTTINGHAM

GREG WILSON

electrofunk roots

MADDSLINKY

Saturday 6th December MANSFIELD RD

NOTTINGHAM

ASHLEY BEEDLE

BLACK SCIENCE ORCHESTRA / X-PRESS 2

with residents

AKA Zed bias

NICK SHAW & ED COTTON

SCHMOOV!

11pm-3.30am £5 entry

LIVE

PLUS RESIDENTS

ED COTTON, NICK SHAW & BEANE

10pm till very very late TICKETS £10

0791 279 0084 www.groups.to/basementboogaloo www.myspace.com/basementboogaloo

TICKETS AVAILABLE in advance ONLY FROM

Pre-party at

FUNKY MONKEY, SELECTADISC anD THE CANAL HOUSE

with

www.groups.to/basementboogaloo www.myspace.com/basementboogaloo

48-52 Canal Street Nottingham

THE LOFT > 8pm-12am

BEANE and friends

Capricorn (December 23 - January 19) December and January appear to be the quietest months in the garden... but appearances can be deceptive. The soil is absorbing the rainfall as microorganisms convert fodder into usable nutrients for the next crop and the souls of the ex-neighbours buried under the patio curse you late into the cold dark night.

Aquarius (January 20 - February 19) A beautiful, symmetrical fir tree is a perfect symbol of the Christmas season. By decorating it with treasures, you create a one-of-a-kind memory of the season and gain favour from those gods who judge people in measurements of tinsel and baubles.

Pisces (February 20 - March 20) I was reading a book the other day by Albert Camus, where he said; “In the depths of winter I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” I thought about this for a while and realised that I feel almost exactly the opposite. I’m an invincible winter kind of guy.

LEFTLION ABROAD

Room 8, The Joshua Tree Inn, Joshua Tree Park, California, USA

Aries (March 21 - April 20) The stars foresee a change in careers this week. Because of the credit crunch they’ve changed their orbit and will be now be aiming for a career in a secure government-funded public organisation, instead of wasting their time predicting your future - which is actually really dull.

Taurus (April 21 - May 21) Avoid the humdrum this month by wearing fancy dress... all the time! Yes, your workmates will think you’re an absolute hoot, your partner will be aroused by your consistent changes in outfit and those people in the jury at your case will be absolutely charmed and laugh your case out of the courtroom.

Many famous people have visited the Joshua Tree Inn and Park in California, but room number 8 is usually reserved for morbidly curious country music fans. While staying there on 18 September, 1973, American singer songwriter Gram Parsons overdosed after one last day of too much tequila and morphine and died aged 26. Fulfilling his last wishes, his manager Phil Kaufman and a friend stole Parsons’ body from the airport in a borrowed hearse, drove it back to the park, poured five gallons of gasoline into the coffin and turning it into an enormous fireball. The two were arrested several days later, but since there was no law against stealing and the body, they were fined $750 for stealing the coffin. If you can get a photo of a LeftLion sticker or copy of the mag somewhere dead exotic, send it to info@leftlion.co.uk.

Gemini (May 22 - June 22) If you often feel like you can’t be bothered then the best thing is not to be. You’ll be able to fix the car and do the housework another day, so why worry about this one? Instead do absolutely nothing and see how long you can stick it. Please remember, however, that eating, drinking, sleeping and breathing are all something.

Cancer (June 23 - July 23) As Oscar Wilde said, a pessimist is one who, when he has the choice of two evils, chooses both. No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit. They also tend to make a really crap cuppa.

Leo (July 24 - August 23) You are kind, you are compassionate and always willing to take a diversion to help someone else. These are all qualities to be proud of. If you feel bad about drawing the line with someone face to face then wait until they’re asleep and do it then instead with a biro over both cheeks.

Virgo (August 24 - September 23) I went to an astrology conference in Blackpool the other week. It was one of those ‘networking’ events where you’re supposed to make links and share ‘best practice’ etc. So I shaved Mystic Meg’s legs for her, shampooed Russell Grant’s chest hair and gave Jonathan Cainer a blowjob. All in all I went down pretty well.

Libra (September 24 - October 23) I put a bird table up outside, next to the shed yesterday. Spent ages making it, cutting the wood down to size, fixing it together and then varnishing it all. The missus went absolutely mental when she saw it! I’m not sure why she was so angry. I’d put her on there in eighth place, which was quite flattering really.

Scorpio (October 24 - November 22) Some people think it’s cruel to shave a cat’s fur off, but even they would have to admit that it can be kind of funny. For even more fun and frolics sellotape empty Smarties boxes over their legs and get them to parade around the house on your homemade cat-stilts.

Sagittarius (November 23 - December 22) This Christmas when you’re drinking and eating to excess please spare a thought for the real victim of the season: the turkey. Not only do they have a country full of hairy men named after them, but once a year their family and friends are killed so that we can eat them. Poor sods!

CHRISTMAS FOR KIDS

CHRISTMAS FOR ADULTS

The next LeftLion Magazine will be out in Nottingham venues at the beginning of February, ready for the start of Spring 30

www.leftlion.co.uk/issue26

Presents received (£

total): 300

Total spent: £8.20 sent: Castle Grayskull

Best pre

Presents received (£

Total spent: £820 Best present: Grey soc

morning - presents! High point: Christmas

High point: Christma

ool. Januar y 2 - back to sch

Low point: Januar y 2

Low point:

total): 30

s Eve - drinking! - back to work.