What a macabre bag. Imagine the Peter and Jane books of our childhood; now imagine what the Ladybird illustrator would have drawn if he’d been on acid. The bag from The Twilight Sad's merchandise collection reminds me of Martin McDonagh’s play, The Pillowman. In this, the Pillowman is styled as a kindly Father Christmas character that helps children (who will otherwise have deeply traumatic lives) pre-emptively kill themselves. It employs the same absurdist humour as this lovely bag which shows a son with a cloth mask about to smother his sleeping mother, with an inset of a mystery hand pouring a bottle of poison. It's a series of confusing cartoon events that would have Jonathan Creek baffled for at least twenty minutes about who is to blame and who is the real victim in this two-dimensional world. But this is not just a generic piece of merchandise aiming to make money with as little creative effort as possible, in fact it doesn’t directly advertise the band at all. There’s no huge slogan distracting the eye from the unnerving image (taken from the Fourteen Autumns And Fifteen Winters LP artwork). This style of artwork has become a recurring theme for the Glaswegian band, as there are a series of these images available on t-shirts, screen prints, and previous EPs, all of which complement their passionate anthems. You can be sure you won't be mugged with this subversively vicious image hanging from your shoulder.
The Twilight Sad and other Fat-Cat merchandise available here
Not to be confused with Shoreditch Hall, Hoxton Hall is a stunning Victorian venue more commonly used as a community centre, hosting coffee mornings and craft sessions in the forgotten art of basket weaving. For tonight, the ornate iron balcony and draped red curtain were the perfect setting for an intimate gathering of just eighty invited guests to showcase Micah‘s forth coming album.
Micah performed with all his usual vim and vigour, a two hour set of tracks old and new, from the tender, heart-wrenching chords of Beneath The Rose to the crashing tones of The Leading Guy. Insisting that nothing he played from the upcoming album sounded anything like the record, Micah sang quiet songs about wishing wells and loud songs about regret intermission by anecdotal tales of life’s ironies. He also spoke of the happiness he’s found with wife of two weeks and four days, Mrs Ashley Bryn Hinson, a picture of whom now adorns his guitar.
Picture if you will a young man sitting on the front porch of his family home in the secluded town of Abilene, Texas. Convalescing from intensive surgery, the young man is confined by a back brace and the haziness induced by a cocktail of sedatives and weed. He spends his days writing songs for the girl next door whom he longs to see if only for a moment as she cycles past. This was just one of many fables regaled by Micah at the showcase. Such romantic yarns are the stuff of fiction, just another chapter in the life of Micah P Hinson.
A pale, brooding character takes to the stage armed with only a small keyboard, which hangs from his neck, and a laptop. Joe (not so) Dangerous’ lack of musical apparatus and physical presence does not do justice to the richness of sound he creates from so little, filling the spacious Hoxton venue with fragmented tones and hushed, eloquent vocals. To celebrate the release of his debut single, My Allergies And Me, on Mannequin Republic (the label owned and run by Sam Duckworth of Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly), the short set he performed included songs inspired by diverse and weighty topics ranging from religion to Michael Jackson. I’m informed that Joe Dangerous is soon to appear with a full band including backing vocals, drums and violinist which can only add to his intensely atmospheric electronica
There’s plenty in the pipeline to keep this young man busy in the coming months. Joe Dangerous will be performing at the Dot to Dot festival alongside Hercules & Love Affair and the Mystery Jets, he’ll also be appearing at Kendal Calling in Cumbria and the Kentish Town Forum festivals with the likes of Amon Tobin and Chris Clark. All in a days work for this rare, unassuming gent.
Whether it's taking a walk to that street block around the corner you have yet to explore or jet setting across the world to trek the peaks of the Andes, traveling to the unknown, no matter the distance, is an invigorating experience.
The Everson Museum of Art, nestled in the center of New York State in the city of Syracuse, is currently celebrating the art of travel in its recent exhibition, On the Move: Images of Travel from Everson Museum of Art and Syracuse University Collections.
Upon entering the gallery room, the large words of Japanese writer, Ikku Jippensha first caught my attention. “Now this is the time to visit all the celebrated places in the country and fill our heads with what we have seen, so that when we become old and bald we shall have something to talk about over our teacups.” I was immediately inspired to embark on an adventure, and began by viewing the photographs, paintings, sculptures and journals produced by travelers as early as the American Industrial Revolution through present-day.
I absolutely loved a polaroid taken in 1974 by an unknown photographer of unidentified people posing in front of the Grand Canyon. It was a brilliant representation of the desire we have as humans to capture and preserve the moment we conquer a famously made territory for the first time.
Another favorite of mine was a vibrant and lively collage created by artist, Howardena Pindell. She used a collection of postcards gathered during her eight-month visit to Japan. The cards were cut into strips and placed in rows to add a sense of abstraction and pattern, yet known landmarks such as Mt. Fugi were kept in tact to give proper representation of Japan.
Overall, I thought the exhibition was successful in portraying a variety of artists’ intrepretations of the unknown environments they’re surrounded by while traveling. After exiting the museum I was completely craving an exploration, parked myself near a fountain and started to devise my next adventure.
