London agenda for Friday 15 June 2012

1. Spend the evening in a massive three-room indie disco at Subsonic Live [Le Cool]

2.Go down the rabbit hole for some storytelling with cucumber sandwiches, cakes, treats, literary competitions and beautiful music and images at Are you sitting comfortably? [Run Riot]

3. Discuss Egyptian politics with Katia Jarjoura, director of Goodbye Mubarak [Don’t Panic]

4. Gawk at a huge mass of human bones discovered in UCL during construction work in 2010 at Buried on Campus [Ian Visits]

5. Visit the St Bartholomew’s Hospital Museum [Tired of London]

The "Nomadic Occupiers" of Hampstead Heath are now just occupying their own narcissism

Here’s protester Tammy Samede speaking to the Standard, after a rump of Occupiers were evicted from Hampstead Heath.

“What they don’t realise is that this is a victory for us. It doesn’t matter if they move us on after three months or 24 hours. The fact is that we were here.”

Their very presence was a triumph. Their very being is a win. In this way, for many protesters although I concede not all, protest has become an end in itself. And the Occupiers, busily admiring their reflection in the Heath’s bathing ponds and scrawling “we woz ere 2012” on the benches, have become irrelevant to everyone else.

Evening Standard – Protesters booted off Hampstead Heath by police
Occupy LSX website

Friends of the Earth's clean energy stunt bedecks London statues

I can’t help feeling that the proximity of a sizable spherical medal does nothing for Queen Victoria’s figure.

It’s one of those stunts that charities have to do to get coverage from the likes of us. In this case, Friends of the Earth want to promote clean British energy and encourage you to switch your supplier.

The press release is here.

Friends of the Earth are on Twitter – @wwwfoecouk

London agenda for Thursday 14 June 2012

1. Discuss mistreated, malnourished, sleep-deprived child camel-racing jockeys after watching Desert Riders [Le Cool]

2. Listen to Oliver Burkeman give the potion for happiness for only £15 at The Antidote [Run Riot]

3. Agenda doesn’t know anything about Joe Gideon And The Shark, but they are at Sailor Jerry’s Hotel and who has been there yet? [Don’t Panic]

4. Pub crawl around Little Venice [Ian Visits]

5. Walk in Six Brothers Field [Tired of London]

Ariel Pink - Baby

Creepy acid-pop crooner Ariel Pink will release a new album this August, self-consciously titled “Mature Themes”. The first single, “Baby”, is streaming now on Soundcloud. It’s a cover, originally by 70s duo Donnie & Joe Emerson, and despite quite conventional production it still carries a slight skewed weirdness that permeates everything Ariel Pink turns his hand to.

New Icelandic Sounds

We make no secret of our fixation with all things Icelandic here at Snipe. The small volcanic isle flung out in the Arctic Ocean powers its remote villages and cities via the molten rock and hot water that lies just under the barren surface; the amount of art and bands that erupt from its shores reveal a similarly natural, simmering creative core.

So here is a compilation of some new Icelandic sounds, presented by the Iceland Music Export, an organisation designed to champion Icelandic music around the world. From the skewed songwriting of Sóley to the soulful, immersive techno of electronica veterans Gus Gus, and from the Afro-indie-funk-metal genre pileup of pop pioneers Retro Stefson to the svelte electro of Sykur (pictured above, dressed by Icelandic designer Mundi Vondi), there is something here for everyone.

Iceland is a renewable creative resource the world should be proud of.

Five lessons for London from Clapton's verdant "poppy" estate

The estates of Clapton Park are in bloom. For over a decade their communal spaces have been maintained in a different way to most other estates, with a focus on flowers, food and reducing herbicides. The fruits of this stewardship are all around. I took a look last week as part of a tour given for the Chelsea Fringe. Here are some things I learnt.

1. People come first

John Little, whose Grass Roof Company maintains the estate on behalf of the tenants association, is clear where his priorities lie. Birds and bees are all very well, but it’s people he really wants to please. The estates form a island of biodiversity in the tarmacked city, but not an any cost. “We talk about biodiversity if we’re applying for grants”, says John. But wildflower stems are not left on the ground for overwintering insects. The residents don’t want that, they think it looks messy. The residents get what they want. This is important, he says, because otherwise the whole project could break down. There’s a lesson here for environmentalists: compromise might not be perfect, but it’s better than nothing at all.

2. There’s no accounting for taste. Estate residents massively underrate the delicious taste of rosemary

The founding legend of the poppy estate says that one resident, Fatima, began it all by sowing coriander seeds under a rose bush outside her flat. From these handsown seeds did all the others grow. Now the estates have four veg plots, and walls are lined with communal herbs – free for anyone to come and pick. The local preferences surprised me. Mint is very popular, by all accounts. Rosemary grows strong and healthy, but only because it is never plucked. Exotic vines coil round pillars, railings and posts. They are grown not for the grapes, but for the leaves, which the estate’s Turkish residents use in their cooking. Sounds delicious. But come on guys, eat some rosemary!

3. Gradual change is good

The first wildflowers were sown around 2000. Progress since then has been gradual, dependent on funding and the wishes of the residents. In 2007 the estate went to the Chelsea Flower Show proper. John emphasisied that many years of piecemeal impovement have created the estate as it is now. It simply wouldn’t have been possible to impose this change from above.

4. There’s a bit of grant money and support around if you know where to look

Rob Elliott, one of the residents accompanying the tour, told me that Capital Growth is a source of financial support for food-growing projects. Anyone with any interest in urban food growing should check out their website. Rob also drew this brilliant map which you can use to guide yourself round the estate.

Clapton Park Estate Map

5. It takes people to make things happen

This all started from residents like Fatima planting their own seeds. Then the tenants association appointed a forward thinking maintenance firm, led by John Little, to look after the estate. Spaces were created for vegetables to be grown, and people started to grow them. People like Rob filled in forms, applied for grants and improved their own parts of the estate. Other residents, who liked the old grass spaces, perhaps for their children to play in, allowed some spaces to be given up for different uses, like vegetables. The result is really lovely, but it didn’t happen by chance. It was people who made it happen.

The Clapton Park, Millfields and Nye Bevan Estates can be found here. The 242 bus is probably your best bet.

View Larger Map

London agenda for Wednesday 13 June 2012

1. Welcome the Photographer’s Gallery back to the scene with Burtynsky: Oil [Le Cool]

2. Hear Gabby Young and Other Animals at Scala [Run Riot]

3. Discuss the heroin doc Opium Brides with the film makers and journalist Najibullah Quraishi at The Mosaic Rooms [Don’t Panic]

4. Talk about why paranormal phenomena should be taken serious at Weird Science [Ian Visits]

5. Drink at the Cask Pub & Kitchen [Tired of London]

Keel Her - Prize Catch

Every sane indie person is quite rationally crushing out on Keel Her right now. Each skewed-up ball of lo-fi guitar-pop to appear on her Soundcloud belies a knack for tousled, blushing earworms masked beneath 4-track hiss and distortion. See her play for free, tonight at the Old Blue Last, to celebrate signing to Critical Heights. Onstage 10.30pm.

Olympic opening ceremony plans are revealed: sound very Midsomer Murders

The BBC reports details of Danny Boyle’s plans for the London 2012 Opening Ceremony:

“A cast of 10,000 volunteers will help recreate country scenes, against a backdrop featuring farmyard animals and landmarks like Glastonbury Tor.”

Shakespeare is prominent, and the Britain depicted sounds merrie, old and English.

“The set will feature meadows, fields and rivers, with families taking picnics, people playing sports on the village green and farmers tilling the soil.”

Then John Nettles will come on and solve a brutal combine harvester murder before nipping into a tavern for a well deserved pint of pale ale.

But enough snark. Let’s not prejudge this until we’ve seen it. Danny Boyle deserves a fair crack and I’m sure he’s got plenty up his sleeve. But I hope he finds room for a modern, urban vision of Britain too.