Disco 2009

Last Thursday was a gig I'd been looking forward to for ages; the label Italians Do It Better taking over Koko, with Lindstrom, Glass Candy and Desire. It's a label I've been listening to pretty much constantly for the last few months, and one of those songs that I DJd back in the Club Rees days which was almost always followed up with an enquiry from a curious punter. The genre Italodisco has its roots in the clubs of late 1970s and 1980s southern Europe; as its name suggests, it incorporates some of the disco motifs of synthesisers, but mixes them into a spacey, trippy and altogether more chilled-out mood. That's not to say it's not without some absolutely corking tunes however. It emerged as music entirely made electronically was in its infancy; and the clubbing scene as we know know was it just taking off. Its recent revival hasn't involved much of a change of sound, but since the interest in electro has risen through the indie scene, a similar indie mindset of ephemeral and unusual approaches has been sought. Mike Simonetti's record label Italians Do It Better has been one of the spearheads of this movement. Along with established Swedish DJ and Producer Lindstrom, his bands have brought this sounds back. Seeing them in the theatrical environment of Koko, whose sparse but bass-heavy sound system finally sounded it it element was an absolute dream. I'd been on the verge of ordering a massive package of CDs from his Viva Italians store, and had even arranged for a US address for them to be sent to thus avoiding $40 of international shipping, but once I realised he'd be playing here, I put that on hold and decided to hit the merch stand here. Luckily, the lovely Megan Louise from Desire was on the stand, and even signed my CD. I also picked up this tshirt. In all my years of festivals and gigs, I'd never yet felt compelled to buy a band tshirt, so for me this was a real exception. And the music of Desire, Glass Candy and Lindstrom was so on the button, that I stayed far too late on a school night, and didn't even mind Koko's extortionate beer prices as much as I would normally have. It was an unmissable Staple, and I'll definitely be on the lookout for more of the same. Other Staples this week:
A night of gorgeous Italodisco at Koko
Monochrome Gingham
Lunching by the river
'The Way We Wore: A Life in Threads' by Robert Elms
Desire's album, II
The Jerusalem Tavern in Farringdon
Bourbon biscuits

Pizzalicious

To continue where I left off (some weeks ago), another of my regular haunts in central London where everything...just...works...it's Charlotte Street Staple, Icco. Like Sam Smith's', I've been coming here since I was a student, and in the last 6 and a half years, the prices have gone up by 50p. Where else in London can you get an entire pizza for £3.50? I think the best thing about Icco (Charlotte Street, and also in Pimlico - though I only discovered this a month or so ago) is that it's no frills simplicity. There's no faffing about with rocket, snooty waiters or complicated menus. You go in, order what you want and pay, find a seat and wait for the nice lady to call your name. Recently, they've installed a speaker system which means you're more likely to hear. It's also one of the places in London with the most comprehensive range of Snapple flavours. Et voila, you're sat, with mates (probably a little drunk), a knife and fork and some delicious, simple, thin crust pizza. What more could you want? Icco (Italian Coffee COmpany) is one of those places that exemplify what's great about London; it can be simple, filling, inexpensive and genuinely full of pleasant people. A rarity, and even more so in its location, surrounded by the posh restaurant alley of Charlotte Street, and a stonesthrow from gourmet mecca Soho. Of all the eateries, this one is the most authentic, simple
y because it does a great thing well.

Blogged Down

I've been a bit blogged down of late; there's just so much good stuff going on across there (to the right ->) that I'm not getting time to write. Added to not having internet at home, and a rather hectic week last week, I've not posted any Staples yet. This week I've been chilling in preparation for a long weekend away to Berlin; full details on the return. God I need a holiday! I might even get a post or two in from there. In the meantime please enjoy this photo of me in my new All Saints clobber, from Saturday (brandishing my DJ book - a Touch of Frost branded notebook) and here are this week's Staples:
All Saints end-of-sale-sale (yes, I am still shopping!)
Finally being paid
Lena jazz bar on Great Eastern Street
Seeing Grace Jones (of course)
Looking forward to Berlin
Saturdays=Youth by M83
The new issue of 10+ Men

The Staple - Grace Jones Live

I couldn't leave for the day without recounting last night's epic gig at the Roundhouse. I bought the tickets the minute they came out after Ms. Jone's phenomenal surprise performance at Bestival. My love for her is well-documented, but seeing her last night without the festival 'haze' was an absolute highlight, and I'd go so far as to say it's in my top 3 Best Gigs of All Time. She is a complete Goddess; Who else could look that good at the age of 62? Who else would perform an entire song whilst hoola-hooping? Who else would change into a different, ever more outrageous costume (and custome-made Philip Treacy hat) between EACH song? Who else would put on a mirror-ball encrusted hat and have a laser shine down so that their head became like a star in the process of going supernova? Who else would have their own indoor ticker-tape parade for 'Pull Up to My Bumper'? No-one. In the surprisingly intimate Camden venue, Grace rocked the house, had everyone dancing from the first bars of 'Nightclubbing' to the last beats of 'Hurricane'. She's there for the next two nights, so if you can, go. Absolute joy, and a Staple par excellence.

Pubfection

So it's been over 6 years since I moved to London, and it has to be said that very little has remained constant. I no longer wear flared brown cords, share a bathroom with 13 other people, drink a bottle of cheap white wine before going out, watch Neighbours twice a day, or go the Trash/Durrr on a Monday (well, since last Monday; the End's closed). I think that, friends aside, the constants of living in London have all either metamorphosed into more mature habits, or disappeared altogether. But there are two institutions which I still visit regularly; Icco's and Sam Smith's pubs.
Sam Smith's is a Tadcaster-based brewery which owns some 32 pubs in London, mostly in Bloomsbury, Fitzrovia and Soho. They serve only Sam Smith's branded drinks, play no music and despite being linked by their brewery, each pub has it's own selling point. The Angel in the Fields on Marylebone High Street has amazing stained glass walls; The Princess Louise on High Holborn has individual panelled booths; The Fitzroy Tavern on Charlotte Street was a literary haunt (and is also ultra-handy for the aforementioned Icco's); The Champion on Wells Street has stained glass images of champions and The Crown is nicely situated on New Oxford Street. I could go on, but there are 32 across town and apparently more outside of London. I had planned to do a Sam Smith's map and pubcrawl together, but it seems that I have been beaten to it; nonetheless, this is a useful site detailing all the centrally-located pubs. As with Claudia Schiffer and Elnett, for me, they're the best pubs in the world, and where I am likely to be found at least once a week, out with mates and dates and friends.

The streets are alive with the Sound of Music too...

I listen to music practically non-stop. I don't like it when there's no music in the background. From the moment I get up, either the TV or the stereo is on; the only way I can deal with the tube (at any hour) is to clamp my headphones over my ears and retreat into some appropriate tunes; at work, I always have some music playing and when I am napping I need some appropriately chilled music in the background. Every so often, I stumble across an album which shapes the next six months or so, and will not be leaving my iPod. Previous examples (in chronological order) include: Sound of Silver (LCD), Transparent Things (Fujiya & Miyagi), Writer's Block (Peter Bjorn and John) and a Bugz in the Attic LifeStyles compilation of '80s funk. Just before Xmas, I read about the incognito DJ and producer Burial, whose new album had been rated amongst the best of 2007. Normally, end-of-year lists are a little overone, but this was on DrownedinSound.com, the forum of uberMusos and sonic aesthetes of the highest (and often elitest and most pretentious) order. Duly, I investigated, after having many pleasant aural discoveriesas a result of positive reviews. And the fantastic sounds within - muffled garage beats over orchestral arrangements; choral crescendoes clashing with electronic shufflings - have provided a soundtrack to the last few months of dark winter. The sonic landscape (yes, it sounds grand, but it's not until you listen to this album that you can really grasp just how visual and grand a noise it makes) on display in 'Untrue' genuinely envelops you, swirls around you, sucks you down into a thickly smoky and richly delicious place; perfect for when you're swaddled in your scarf in the rain on your way home from a club at 3am. It's the kind of album that I have played, then heard in several different places, the kind that slowly seeps into your unconscious and before you realise it, the album has become a Staple. This is what makes a great album; personal conenctions with truly fantastic music. Other Staples this week:
Burial's album 'Untrue'
A slim silver leather belt
The Queen Mary pub on the Thames
American Apparel pants
Having a working boiler
Hoegaarden with Lime
Argos' self-service machines & "the laminated catalogue of dreams"