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 Dallas Seitz |
Cultural Stimuli in LONDON
Issue 209: reborn flavour
A bit like the England rugby team, this week's edition of Flavorpill LDN is the last in its present incarnation. We don't want to spoil the surprise, but next week get ready for a new-look weekly mailer, a revamped website, tonnes more listings and plenty of extra fun. Still, that gives you one more week to continue partying on in the current style, and where better than at an Innervisions night of deep 'n dark house, Mem Morrison's theatrical homage to the greasy spoon or a gig by psych-pop guru Anton Barbeau. Whether you call it a revolution or a rebirth, be sure you're ready to spread it.
- Kieran Wyatt, Managing Editor
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Flavorpill LONDON is an email magazine covering a hand-picked selection of music, art and cultural events — delivered each Tuesday afternoon.
 Psst... Fill out our quick reader survey, and you could win tickets to a Flavorpill-listed event in the city of your choice.
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Fashionable Fish
Fish fingers as haute cuisine? You'll be amazed at what the creative cooks at Covent Garden's temporary restaurant Omega can do with the Captain's best this Thursday and Friday.
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| FILM: Double Bill |
Mon Meilleur Ami and La Vie en Rose
| when: |
Tue 23 Oct (6:30pm) |
| where: |
Riverside Studios (Crisp Road, W6, 020.8237.1111) Tube: Hammersmith map |
| price: |
£6.50 / £5.50 concessions |
| links: |
Event info |
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This cinematic double-whammy from our cross-Channel chums is a Francophile's delight. The ubiquitous Daniel Auteuil kicks off the proceedings in 2006's Mon Meilleur Ami (My Best Friend), the tale of François Coste, a disagreeable antiques dealer whose business partner challenges him to prove he has friends. Failing to find any genuine candidates, François enlists sociable cabbie Bruno to teach him the finer points of friendship. Second up is this year's award-winning biopic La Vie en Rose, which tells the tragic story of songstress Édith Piaf with an Oscar-worthy performance by Marion Cotillard in the lead. (LCD)
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| DISCUSSION |
Café Scientifique
| when: |
Tue 23 Oct (7pm) |
| where: |
The Photographers' Gallery (5 & 8 Great Newport Street, WC2, 020.7831.1772) Tube: Leicester Square map |
| price: |
£5 / £3.50 concessions |
| links: |
Event info |
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This weeknight session is inspired by the work of Jack Burnham, a critic who wrote three landmark texts in the late '60s dismissing formalist techniques in favour of so-called "systems esthetics". Though Burnham rejected these ideas almost as quickly as he adopted them, they nevertheless influenced a generation of artists with a new aesthetic that embraced disciplines as diverse as semiotics and cybernetics. This symposium, which examines systems theory and the resulting work, is not one for the intellectually faint-hearted, but for anyone willing to dip their toes into the ever-controversial world of theory, there's plenty of artistic enlightenment on offer. (RH)
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| MUSIC: Classical |
A Victorian Evening at St John's
| when: |
Tue 23 Oct (7-9:30pm) |
| where: |
St John's (Smith Square, SW1, 020.7887.8888) Tube: Westminster map |
| price: |
£32 / £27 concessions |
| links: |
Event info |
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Set in the baroque splendour of St John's, and dedicated to Victorian music, this classical evening transports the audience back to the 19th century. Four singers — soprano Geraldine McGreevy, mezzo-soprano Catherine Wyn-Rogers, tenor Timothy Robinson and baritone Neal Davies — join pianist Graham Johnson for a celebration of the sounds that Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir John Everett Millais and his contemporaries would have listened to. The programme includes pieces from Beethoven and Fauré, plus, on a lighter note, Gilbert & Sullivan. Curator Christine Riding gives a talk on Tate Britain's current exhibition, Millais, before the concert. (LCD)
NB: Advance booking is essential.
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| LECTURE |
Computational Brain
| when: |
Wed 24 Oct (7-8:30pm) |
| where: |
The Dana Centre (165 Queen's Gate, SW7, 020.7942.4040) Tube: Gloucester Road, South Kensington map |
| price: |
 (RSVP essential) |
| links: |
Event info |
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Whether a science obsessive or not, if you've seen at least a handful of science-fiction films, you'll be somewhat familiar with the notion of the brain-computer interface. Gaetan Lee of the Science Museum chairs this discussion about all things artificially intelligent, while neurology mastermind Karl Friston, computational-intelligence guru Leslie Smith and self-confessed neurofuzzy-networks geek Francisco Sepulveda amass their collective brain power to answer the big questions regarding what happens when you mix computers, robots and those little grey cells. (RH)
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| PERFORMANCE |
Mem Morrison: Leftovers
| when: |
Wed 24 Oct (7pm) |
| where: |
Chelsea Theatre (World's End Place, Kings Road, SW1, 020.7352.1967) Tube: Sloane Square map |
| price: |
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| links: |
Event info | Mem Morrison |
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Brought up in Britain as a Muslim Turkish Cypriot, Mem Morrison delineates the collisions of cultural identity based on direct experience. Morrison's family ran a café in Forest Hill, so he grew up with the full English tradition of the greasy spoon; here, in this homage to his childhood, Morrison gently uncovers how food brings people together, defines and, sometimes, divides them. Pensively exploring family history in a delectable performance, Leftovers brings to life a personal understanding of citizenship. (ZB)
NB: To book tickets please call 020.7361.3844 or email.
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| MUSIC: Psych Rock |
Anton Barbeau w/ Pat Fish
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With a list of influences that includes Bowie, Eno and the Beatles, it's no surprise that Sacramento-based singer/songwriter Anton Barbeau seems to be forging strong links with our shores. Over the past few years, Barbeau has recorded in Bromley and held album launches in the Cavern Club, picking up plenty of psych influences along the way. The result is a memorable, but sometimes unsettling, series of freak-out power-pop tunes. For this crazed live performance, Northampton's finest, Pat "the Jazz Butcher" Fish, is on hand to show how weird English music can really get. (RH)
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| FESTIVAL |
BBC Electric Proms 2007
| when: |
Wed 24 - Sun 28 Oct (schedule) |
| where: |
Various locations |
| price: |
Various prices |
| links: |
Event info |
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As we wave goodbye to summer and the classical Proms, the Electric Proms rev up to provide sparks in the oncoming dreary days. Yet again, it's a first-class line-up, including an unusual collaboration between producer/DJ Mark Ronson and the BBC Concert Orchestra, as well as the John Peel night that features a return performance from Siouxsie Sioux. And that's just the tip of a musical iceberg that also includes lively sets from indie darlings such as Cold War Kids and Bloc Party. (AB)
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| SCULPTURE |
Northern Fire 2: Sculpture, Wall Pieces and Ceramics from the Northern Potters Association
| when: |
Thur 25 Oct - Sun 11 Nov (daily: 11am-6pm) |
| where: |
the.gallery@oxo (Oxo Tower Wharf, Bargehouse Street, SE1, 020.7401.4255) Tube: Blackfriars, Waterloo, Waterloo East map |
| price: |
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| links: |
Event info |
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Forget buying your mum that novelty mug for Christmas and head down to the.gallery@oxo for a prime selection of the best fired earth from the other side of the Watford Gap. Eighteen members of the Northern Potters Association display their work on this sleepy South Bank wharf for your enjoyment; offering a plethora of clay-based goods that range from tableware to wall-mounted sculpture, they provide visitors with the chance to pick up a one-off trinket, or even find a coveted masterpiece to fill their hallways. With experts on hand, even well-moulded pottery questions and concerns will not be left by the wayside. (OS)
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| THEATRE |
Cloud Nine
| when: |
Thur 25 Oct - Sat 8 Dec (Mon-Fri: 7:30pm / Sat: 3 & 7:30pm) |
| where: |
Almeida Theatre (Almeida Street, NI, 020.7359.4404) Tube: Angel, Highbury & Islington map |
| price: |
£6-29.50 |
| links: |
Event info |
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This 1979 piece by provocative playwright Caryl Churchill still has the power to disturb. The first act, set in colonial Africa, is carefully contrasted with the second, which takes place in a London park during the late '70s; the characters remain the same, only aged by 20 years. Drawing stark comparisons between colonial and sexual oppression, Cloud Nine maintains a recurrent theme in Churchill's funny yet powerfully political plays. True to the original, Thea Sharrock's production features plenty of sex, obscenity and cross-dressing, as well as a strong cast — including James Fleet, fresh from the Hampstead Theatre. (ZB)
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| CITY GEM |
Fish Fingers Just Got Fashionable
| when: |
Thur 25 (8:30-9:30pm) & Fri 26 Oct (1-2:30 & 6:30-9:30pm) |
| where: |
Omega (King Street and The Piazza, WC2) Tube: Covent Garden map |
| price: |
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| links: |
Event info |
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Flipping the lid on what has always been an indispensable British tea-time staple, the Birds Eye team recently hit the drawing board in an attempt to transform the typically uninspiring fish finger into a more contemporary dish. Aiming to tickle the fancy of the finer-palated foodies among us, temporary restaurant Omega presents the likes of tortilla wraps, paella and thermador — each embracing the key ingredient — in what is either a feat of gastronomic virtuosity or just sheer audacity. Sample the trailblazing fare and judge for yourself. (NL)
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| CLUB |
Innervisions presents Henrik Schwarz w/ Âme and Dixon
| when: |
Thur 25 Oct (10pm-3am) |
| where: |
Plastic People (147-149 Curtain Road, EC2, 020.7739.6471) Tube: Liverpool Street map |
| price: |
£12 / £10 advance |
| links: |
Event info | Henrik Schwarz |
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High-profile German house and techno label Innervisions — formerly a sub-label of Sonar Kollektiv — return to London to continue its series of intimate club sessions. This evening's very special guest is German spin-master Henrik Schwarz, who performs with a peculiar mix of house, jazz and techno for his only London live appearance this year. The night also celebrates the launch of Schwarz's new live album, released on dance-music label !K7, as well as his forthcoming single on Innervisions, "Where We At". Dixon and Âme help maintain the dance-floor vibe with a pleasing selection of chunky and deep house. (GP)
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| LECTURE |
Why Can't a Man Be More Like a Woman?
| when: |
Fri 26 Oct (8-9pm) |
| where: |
Royal Institution of Great Britain (21 Albemarle Street, W1, 020.7409.2992) Tube: Green Park map |
| price: |
£9 (RSVP essential) |
| links: |
Event info |
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The nature-versus-nurture argument is as old as the hills, yet it never seems to get anywhere near a satisfactory conclusion. However, as both a member of Oxford University's Department of Experimental Psychology and a mother of four, speaker Jane Mellanby seems to have a pretty good grasp of the issues. This discussion aims to get past the basic "snakes and snails and puppy-dog tails" stereotypes of what makes boys and girls tick and instead attempts to account for the undeniable differences in the sexes through an examination of cognitive functions and academic performance. (RH)
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| MUSIC: Glam Revival |
Deep Disco Culture
| when: |
Fri 26 Oct (8pm-1am) |
| where: |
The Vibe Bar (Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, E1, 020.7426.0491) Tube: Liverpool Street map |
| price: |
£4 |
| links: |
Event info |
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Don your flares and big hair and groove on down at the appropriately named Vibe Bar. Disco is back, thanks to Suss'd Records and its loyal followers, who turn the venue into a tarted-up throwback to the glory days of the late '70s and early '80s. Deep Disco Culture pays homage to the ultra-hedonistic pursuits of New York's party mob in a debauched soiree of top-class disco and acid jazz. And, if you can also handle a gallery visit, Suss'd also exhibits New York-based nocturnal connoisseur Allan Tannenbaum's provocative photographs of the city's more savoury after-dark revellers at the Drey Walk Gallery. (OS)
 What was NYC's Soho neighbourhood called during the '70s? Five randomly drawn correct responses each receive a pair of tickets to this show. Entries close at 10pm on Wed 24 Oct.
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| ALSO ON FRI |
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SPORTS
Nike Supersonic
Fri 26 Oct (6pm) Crystal Palace Park (Ledrington Road, SE19) BR: Crystal Palace map (RSVP recommended)
Event info
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Get your sprinting shoes on and race other fitness aficionados over 100m. The most fleet-of-foot score iPods, sports gear and tickets for themselves and their mates for a massive invite-only gig — featuring artists such as Dizzee Rascal — on Sat 17 Nov. (KW)
NB: There are further time trials on Fri 2 and Sat 3 Nov.
 
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CLUB
I Love Acid: Halloween Rave feat. Luke Vibert
Fri 26 Oct (10pm-6am) The Corsica Arts Club (Corsica Studios, 5 Elephant Road, SE17, 020.7703.4760) Tube: Elephant & Castle map £10 advance
Event info
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I Love Acid is an all-night homage to the 303, so expect squelchy acid bass lines and 808 drum beats from electronic legends such as B12, Luke Vibert and Cylob. And don't forget your costume, as tonight promises Halloween giveaways to early arrivals. (HB)
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| DISCUSSION |
Battle of Ideas
| when: |
Sat 27 & Sun 28 Oct (schedule) |
| where: |
Royal College of Art (Kensington Gore, SW7, 020.7269.9220) Tube: South Kensington, High Street Kensington map |
| price: |
£10-100 |
| links: |
Event info | Institute of Ideas |
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Gargle some salt, practice your oratory and sport your favourite monocle for this debate-filled bonanza brought to you by the RCA and the Institute of Ideas. Chew the fat on varied topics, from iPods to toxic children, inside the walls of South Kensington's long-standing creative hub. Don't be bored by waffling intellectuals or switched off by turncoat politicians; instead, bare your soul to leaders in their field — across topics from "Bar Room Rants" to "Liberty and Law" — and help engage London in productive discussion for the sheer sake of it. (OS)
What idea would you do battle for? The four most interesting ideas in 50 words or less each receive a pair of day passes. Entries close at 6pm on Wed 24 Oct.
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| ALSO ON SAT |
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MUSIC: Rock Pop
The Prayers w/ Bearknuckles
Sat 27 Oct (7:30-10:30pm) Metro (19-23 Oxford Street, W1, 020.7437.0964) Tube: Tottenham Court Road map £5 advance
Event info
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The Prayers' Kinks-inspired hooks and pop are more influenced by the East End than the skate punk of their native San Diego. This drunken house party of a show is rounded out with Bristol's Bearknuckles. (AS)
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| FESTIVAL |
October Plenty
| when: |
Sun 28 Oct (12pm) |
| where: |
Shakespeare's Globe (21 New Globe Walk, Bankside, SE1, 020.7401.9919) Tube: Blackfriars, London Bridge, Southwark map |
| price: |
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| links: |
Event info |
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Come over all rosy-cheeked and starry-eyed at today's October Plenty. The autumn-harvest celebration spices up traditional customs with a contemporary twist, kicking off at Bankside with a theatrical performance. A procession, led by a wheat-laden Corn Queene effigy and the fruit-and-foliage-bedecked Berry Man, winds its way to Southwark's Borough Market, where a selection of thoroughly wholesome amusements awaits. Among the autumn fair's attractions are activities such as apple bobbing, conker fighting and — thanks to the orchard playing a starring role in today's festivities — the delicious, time-honoured ritual of cider tasting. (NL)
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| MUSIC: Epic Score |
Plague Songs
| when: |
Sun Oct 28 (7:30pm) |
| where: |
Barbican Centre (Silk Street, EC2, 020.7638.8891) Tube: Barbican map |
| price: |
£15-25 |
| links: |
Event info |
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In 2006, film director Penny Woolcock got together with Artangel and Channel 4 to make an epic film about the Book of Exodus. In addition to the peculiar Margate setting, ten musicians were commissioned to write songs for a record based on the ten plagues (think lice, frogs, flies and a lament about the death of a first-born). Many of the recording artists come together tonight to play both the originals and new songs at a performance timed to coincide with the film's first screening. Featuring Imogen Heap's breathy pop backed by locust samples, Rufus Wainwright's melodic balladeering and an appearance from Scottish folk-rock singer King Creosote, it's an evening that reveals the upside of biblical suffering. (ZB)
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| ALSO ON SUN |
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FESTIVAL
Diwali in the Square
Sun 28 Oct (12-8pm) Trafalgar Square (WC2) Tube: Charing Cross map
Event info
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The Hindu Festival of Light transforms Trafalgar Square with yummy vegetarian food and family-friendly activities starting at noon. A host of music and dance performances play throughout the afternoon, and hundreds of lamps light up the square come evening. (ZB)
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| MULTIMEDIA |
Sonic Cathedral presents Some Velvet Evening
| when: |
Mon 29 Oct (7pm-midnight) |
| where: |
The Social (5 Little Portland Street, W1, 020.7636.4992) Tube: Oxford Circus map |
| price: |
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| links: |
Event info |
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Sonic Cathedral presents a fitting tribute to late American musical virtuoso Lee Hazlewood. To commemorate his passing, a rabble of the moustachioed visionary's admirers gathers to perform renditions of his songs. Recordings of his collaborations with the likes of Iceland's Amiina play alongside heart-rending screenings of footage from Hazlewood's last birthday and the film Cowboy in Sweden. Shake your boots to Strange Idols and other, yet-to be disclosed special hat-tippers, as they pick and choose from the artist's chasm-like catalogue. And don't forget to buy yourself a novelty moustache (or grow a real one) in the man's memory. (OS)
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| FILM |
The UCL Festival of the Moving Image
| when: |
Mon 29 Oct - Thur 1 Nov (schedule) |
| where: |
Bloomsbury Theatre (15 Gordon Street, WC1, 020.7388.8822) Tube: Warren Street, Euston map |
| price: |
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| links: |
Event info |
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The UCL Festival of the Moving Image launches with a bill full of men in tights, documentaries about gender discourse and workshops on the mechanics of filmmaking. Created with the sole intention of providing film students with a platform to show off their wares, the event features a packed schedule marked by a plethora of activities in the coming days. Cuban ballet dancer Yat-Sen Chang opens the whole shebang, while a screening of Octavio Cortazar's black-and-white film Por Primera Vez follows. Conversational opportunities, meanwhile, include the lecture "Shoot-Capture-Edit" and discussion panel "The Old and New in Filmmaking". (NL)
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| FASHION |
Matthew Williamson: 10 Years in Fashion
| when: |
Now until Thur 31 Jan (daily: 10am-5:45pm) |
| where: |
Design Museum (Shad Thames, SE1, 0870.833.9955) Tube: Tower Hill map |
| price: |
£7 / £4 concessions |
| links: |
Event info | Matthew Williamson |
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He counts Madonna, Sienna, Kylie and a host of other glamorous red-carpet habitués as both fans and muses, while his "boho glam" signature style has sparked a million high-street copies. This year, Mancunian designer Matthew Williamson celebrates a decade in the fashion industry, from his beginnings as a student at Central St Martins to his current position as creative director at Pucci. This exhibition focuses on his use of pattern, print and colour and includes a fly-on-the-wall film about the creation of a catwalk collection — as well as a satellite show of spectacular dresses at event sponsor Coutts Bank's head office on the Strand. (LCD)
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EATING & DRINKING: The Grapes |
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when: Mon-Fri: 12-3pm & 5:30-11pm / Sat: 12-11pm / Sun: 12-10:30pm
where: The Grapes (76 Narrow Street, E14, 020.7987.4396)
tube: West Ferry
price: £17 mains
A haunt in true East End style, the Grapes is marked by murky stained-glass windows and wooden beams that hide a relic of old London amid the brazen modernity that surrounds it. In the past, the Grapes was frequented by ladies of the night, unsavoury folk, and even Charles Dickens himself, who would knock back a few here before digging in to his literary portraits of London's underworld. Settle in with a Victorian tome, sip on a pint of ale next to the Limehouse Marina and watch the bustling world go by on its frantic journey to Docklands and beyond. Alternately, come in on Sunday to be treated to a roast that rivals mum's, or just sample the traditional English seafare within the cosy, pubby dinginess that seems to have flitted away from so many other modern establishments. (OS)
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CD REVIEW: Commix, Call to Mind |
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Metalheadz
Available 29 Oct
£7.98 (Amazon)
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Ever since Hospital Records dropped the Future Sound of Cambridge compilation back in 2004, the region has hosted a drum 'n bass resurgence. Of the three artists featured on that breakthrough EP, two — brothers Nu:Tone and Logistics — have already achieved solo success with the label. However, the world has had to wait until now to hear the final part of the jigsaw: Commix's debut LP. Signing to the biggest outfit of its type in town — Goldie's Metalheadz imprint — production duo Guy Brewer and George Levings remained unconcerned with the resulting hype, waiting their turn to burn the rule book with a release that goes off like cluster bombs across categories. "Be True" reinvents atmospheric "Inner City Life" for a new world, fusing space-line breaks with techno tonal sensibilities; organic grooves "Call to Mind" and "Satellite Type" steal soul from Detroit and Philly; and "Spectical (Derek)" turns expectations on their head, gleefully pirating d 'n b motifs across a stripped-out 4/4 techscape. (JR)
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MEDIA: Beats in Space |
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Seven years since its inception, Tim Sweeney's Beats in Space has grown from a small student-run radio show to one the most popular dance-music programs on the Internet (and that's saying something). While the show's archives are full of cameos from big-name DJs, the past few instalments have featured on-the-rise producers of particular interest: Andy Butler, from new DFA-signees Hercules and Love Affair, lays down a groove-disco-infused set, while Berlin-based Macro label boss, Stefan Goldmann, drops house and deep techno cuts. Also, don't miss Brooklyn Runaway duo, whose original cuts reimagine samples and textures from old records for the modern dance floor. (CJN)
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| Header Design: |
| Dallas Seitz |
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| Editors: |
| Chelsea Bauch | | Zoe Boden | | Jennifer Chen | | Lucy C. Davies | | Rob Hinchcliffe | | Doug Levy | | Sascha Lewis | | Natalie Liechti | | Mark Mangan | | Colin J. Nagy | | Joe Rudkin | | Oliver Spall | | Kieran Wyatt | | Zolton Zavos |
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| ABOUT US |
| Flavorpill LDN is a free weekly email magazine covering cultural happenings across art, music, film, theatre, dance, literature and DJ events. Despite our American roots, all content is produced by a local team of writers and editors in London. We don't include sold-out events, and all listings are pure editorial — no money is accepted from venues, artists or promoters.
Read more about us. |
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| FEEDBACK |
| Please let us know what's on your mind, any and all feedback — comments, questions, ideas or rants. |
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| EVENT & DESIGN SUBMISSIONS |
To let us know about an upcoming event that you think belongs here, please email us at events at least two weeks prior to the date. To increase the chances of your event being listed, read our full event submission guidelines.
To find out more about submitting cover art to run at the top of Flavorpill publications, go to flavorpill.net/design. |
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| Contributors: |
| Heather Blair | | Amy Brooke | | Jessica Crombie | | Holly Howe | | Melissa Maouris | | Graziela Pancheri | | Amy Schmalz | | Adeline Tan | | Naomi Tarszisz |
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| Production: |
| Axel Anderson | | Anjuli Ayer | | Morgan Croney | | Myla Dalbesio | | Teel Lassiter | | Judah Wiedre | | Sarah Steele | | Daphne Yang |
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