tUnE-YaRdS
Wed 8 June @ Scala
Upstaging the wonderful Dirty Projectors is difficult to do. When Merill Garbus, the one woman force-of-nature behind tUnE-YaRdS, opened for the band back in 2009 she didn’t just outshine them – she repeatedly blew them off stage with her intense, loop-driven solo performances. Since then, Garubs’s live show has expanded to include a backing band touting two saxophonists (amongst others), and her reputation has increased similarly. The loops are still there, but now hers is a fuller, more theatrical performance, driven by her incredible voice. tUne-YaRdS’s show at Scala, currently their only London date in support of their universally-lauded second album W h o k i l l, promises to be the hottest ticket in town, so don’t miss out.
08 Jun 2011
When Saints Go Machine - Kelly
So, a new music obsession is born. We’d previously been impressed by Danish four-piece When Saints Go Machine at the relentlessly ace Ja Ja Ja night; but upon closer inspection, it appears their new album “Konkylie” (Danish for ‘conch’) is really rather spectacularly good. Operatic, icy electronic pop with a one-off falsetto – this is the kind of intelligent pop music that the dumbed-down, hyper-contrived divas of today make me yearn for.
When Saints Go Machine – Kelly by snipelondon
Bonus: Last night they played XOYO supporting coming-of-age solo artist Saint Saviour – a modern day Kate Bush with a striking voice and some really fantastic dramatic pop songs up her sleeve. See below for Birdsong, from her current EP, out today.
08 Jun 2011
08 Jun 2011
Great Circular O by Burning Buildings
Strident keyboards, crackling vocals and laid-back drums jostle for your attention during the first two minutes of this excellent new track from Manchester three-piece Burning Buildings, succinctly described by the TLOBF as emoting ‘Great Eastern-era Delgados’. It then descends into an unexpectedly jaunty, Hot Club de Paris style outro, albeit with heavier guitars. This writer would’ve preferred a little more of the former, but it’s impressive stuff nonetheless. More please! Download their new EP, The Sleep Tapes, for free via their Bandcamp page.
07 Jun 2011
This app will save your relationship
One of the hardest parts about maintaining a relationship is communication. Not just over the big things (sex, holidays, affairs, food), but also the daily drip of back and forth that keeps things ticking over. How do you get through each day without ignoring each other, yet without descending into texts of utter inanity? E.g. “Wot u up to?” “Just at work” “R u ok?” “Yes. R u?”
It turns out that there’s a smartphone app for that. It’s called Words with Friends, and it looks a lot like Scrabble. In fact it is Scrabble, but changed just enough to prevent infringing the trademark.
The game’s genius is that it allows a couple to stay in touch implicitly. When it’s your move you get a push notification telling you that your lover is thinking of you. And that they’ve just shafted you by nailing a triple word score. Best of all, if you’re good, you can play some ribald words which nicely set up the evening’s activities. Win/win.
07 Jun 2011
Yes, 90 minutes of Jerry Seinfeld is worth £75 pounds, actually
To the uninformed outsider, the clamour for Jerry Seinfeld’s first UK live show in 12 years at London’s O2 Arena must seem a bit bemusing. The observational crux of his act – marriage, child-rearing, the British climate and new-fangled technology – are hardly cutting edge in 2011, and with ticket prices starting at a hefty £75, the demand must be even harder to fathom.
Those in the know, however – and there are almost 20,000 of us in the house tonight – are acutely aware that the cynics who compare Seinfeld’s reflections to, say, the folksy ruminations of Michael McIntyre are guilty of a disservice as grave as likening Jimi Hendrix to Lenny Kravitz.
How can a multi-millionaire comic icon still pick apart the minutiae of everyday 21st century life? Well, even if he is employing an army of minions to analyse pop cultural ephemera on his behalf, the 57-year old New Yorker remains a supremely empathetic performer.
A 90 minute set certainly delivers bang for the (not inconsiderable) buck; one of the evening’s most physical skits, reflecting how the battery charge levels of a mobile phone reflects its owner’s outward demeanour, is a particular highlight. The point at which he fantazies about picking up a magazine and opening it in the face of a discourteous Blackberry addict and drawing attention to an article about someone who was ‘MURDERED just for being A TOTAL ASSHOLE!!’ will strike a chord with anyone who has had been forced to compete with electronic gadgets for a dining companion’s full attention.
Similarly, the skewering of the robotic single-mindedness of the coffee shop customer (‘I’m holding a hot beverage; I believe I have the right of way’) is spot-on. After taking a lengthy break from performance, the vast majority of tonight’s set comprises fresh material, although in a riff on culinary experiences, there’s a small lift from the introductory stand-up segment from Seinfeld Season Two favourite ‘The Busboy’ (‘Sometimes you go to a nice restaurant, they put the check in a little book. What is this? The story of the bill?’) that will have gone unnoticed by all but the most fanatical obsessive.
A decade and a half after wrapping up the adventures of Jerry, George, Kramer and Elaine, tonight proves Seinfeld is still absolutely Master of His Domain.
07 Jun 2011
How London's Tube map tricks you into taking longer routes
What’s the best way from Paddington to Bond St? It’s certainly not to go to Notting Hill Gate and get the Central Line, but 30% of people do, because it looks like the shortest route on the map. Click through to Nudge Blog for more.
07 Jun 2011
07 Jun 2011
Mono & Holy Ground Orchestra @ Koko
Blurring the boundary between art-metal and neo-classical, Japanese post-rockers MONO, hailing from Tokyo, have long established themselves as the leading voice of epic majestic noise. Their instrumental compositions are powerful, sweeping studies in the limits of the musical spectrum; from rumbling subsonic lows to dizzying harmonic highs. This June, for the first time ever, One Inch Badge and Tidal Shift are bringing this unique spectacle to Europe, entitled “MONO and The Holy Ground Orchestra”. MONO and The Holy Ground Orchestra performance is incredibly special as MONO will only perform in this capacity once every few years.
07 Jun 2011
London agenda for Tuesday 7 June
1. Watch the outstanding documentary, Restrepo, by the British war photographer Tim Hetherington, who was killed in Libya earlier this year, at the Riverside [Le Cool]
2. Check out one of Jean-Luc Godard’s last good films, Made In USA [Run Riot]
3. Practise theatre-oke at The Book Club [Flavorpill]
4. Listen to some outdoor opera at Holland Park [Time Out]
5. Play god by creating plants with atomic rays [Ian Visits]
6. Admire Boudica’s chariot [Tired of London]
7. Watch Japanese post-rockers Mono and their art-metal and neo-classical sound [John Rogers]
07 Jun 2011
Snipe Highlights
Some popular articles from past years
- London has chosen its mayor, but why can’t it choose its own media?
- A unique collection of photos of Edwardian Londoners
- Diary of the shy Londoner
- An interview with Desiree Akhavan
- Silencing the Brick Lane curry touts could be fatal for the city's self-esteem
- Punk brewery just as sexist and homophobic as the industry they rail against
- Summer Camp: Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days
- The best church names in London, and where they come from
- Random Interview: Eileen Conn, co-ordinator of Peckham Vision
- 9 poems about London: one for each of your moods
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