Monday 9th February
The Thermals, pharm ailment The Lexington, more about buy London
The resurgence of the early 90s in fashion seems simultaneously to have heralded something of a nu-grunge second wave, pharm view with the Pacific Northwest once again providing a fertile breeding ground for lo-fi punk band The Thermals amongst others.
Tuesday 10th February
Moriarty, Borderline, London
A French-based international bunch inspired by the Wild West from their album artwork to their folk-blues-burlesque-jazz sounds and ramshackle production.
Burningpilot, Eugene McGuiness, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Madame Jo Jos, London
A mixed bunch at White Heat tonight. 80s-ish, synthey punk funk from the headliners with overtones of the Fall. Eugene McGuiness will support his new album of upbeat weirdo folk.
Wednesday 11th February
The Fence Collective feat. HMS Ginafore, King Creosote, Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, London
Indie-folk from the wilds of Scotland, that sounds much sweeter and funnier than the scary Wicker Man stuff you might expect.
The Constantines, Cargo, London
Canadian indie band who’ve duetted with compatriot Feist a la Dolly and Kenny.
Thursday 12th February
Talibam!, Eagle Boston, Throwing Up, Old Blue Last, London
Bonkers synth and drum sounds from the headliners with Berlin electropop and London art-punk support.
Ponytail, Durrr at 100 Club, London
Shouty art-rock that retains its poppy edge despite its experimental leanings.
Friday 13th February
Crystal Stilts, Let’s Wrestle, The Windmill, London
Gloomy but danceable 80s-ish sounds from the Angular-signed Brooklynites on their inaugural visit to the UK.
Lulu and the Lampshades, Lock Tavern, London
One of the best emerging London bands about, and I’m not just saying that because they’re sitting next to me.
Saturday 14th February
Fanfarlo, The Lexington, London
David Bowie’s new favourite band playing sweet, insanely catch indie.
Vivian Girls, Proud Galleries, London
Shoegaze-punk Brooklyn girls look set to repeat their pre-Christmas success when they return with more London dates.
Sunday 15th February
Jeremy Warmsley, Slow Club, Johnny Flynn, The Heartbreak Ball at the Slaughtered Lamb, London
Part of the new young folk invasion – he’s friends with Emmy the Great – Warmsley plays funny electro-tinged songs, with more traditional folk offerings from Slow Club and Johnny Flynn.
Holly Golightly, The Victoria, London
Witty, ballsy country blues from Ex-Billy Childish associate.
This evening London Climate Camp is hosting ‘Floods, sale Drought, look Pollution and Survival‘ at the Ethiopian Community Hall. It will be a unique opportunity to hear women from the global south speak out about how Climate Change is affecting them, order and what they are doing to protect their homes, land, water supplies, and communities.
Illustration by Karolin Schnoor
There is little doubt about the fact that women suffer most from the effects of Climate Change. It is estimated that 85% of people who die from climate-related disasters are women. It is also mainly women who carry water for miles, who walk through flood water to fetch food, and who fight for their community’s right for survival. Tonight’s speakers are all courageous grassroots women from India to Bolivia, and each with a unique story to tell about their fight against Climate Change.
Wintress Morris from Guyana is a single mother and survivor of the devastating flood of 2005. She is an organizer of Red Thread, a women’s organisation that crosses racial and geographical divides. She works specifically around issues of violence against women and children. Manju Gardia from India is the founder of Nawa Chiattisgarh Mahila Samiti (NCMS), an organization that has overcome deep rooted social divides by uniting Dalit and indigenous women in campaigning for issues such as food security, land rights, and the end to child labour. Grace Loumo from Uganda is the founder of AWARE. Since 1989 she has fought through droughts, famine and gold-mining pollution. Other contributors unclude Wang Shu Mei from a cotton-growing village in China who be talking about her community’s struggle to protect their land and water. Nell Myhand from the USA works with survivors of Hurricane Katrina and Hanna Ibrahim of The Women’s Will Association in Iraq.
If you read this in time I thoroughly recommend you head to Finchley to catch what will be a very important event. Otherwise check out our write-up of what happens.
Tonight (Thursday 5th January). 7pm. Ethiopian Community Hall, 2a Lithos Road, London NW3 6EF.
Sunday was my second zine-related outing (of two) at the St Aloysius Social Centre. On both occasions a cluster of regulars looked on in bemusement as their much loved and endearingly dingy basement was turned to the hands of devotees to the home-crafted print; though I reckon the rowdy girls with guitars, check spilling cocktails and a fresh faced brand of feminism at the KB launch party left a different kind of impression – more on them soon.
The Alternative Press Fair went on resiliantly despite the brewing storm outside – sparsely populated and whitening streets were immediately juxtaposed with a warm and bubbling crowd inside. Snailing between hunched frames and peering eyes you could find your way to stall holders and their treasures of all shapes and themes: a hand-knitted book for idle hands, sick a bisexual soap opera set in oxford, sick sushi ballet shoes and the illustrated dairy of a a floppy haired boy named Charles. First time publishers shouldered better known zines in a multi-media circus of the printed form, it was almost overwhelming to try and look at everything, let alone decide where to spend money. I went for installment two of Meat Magazine where a particularly good article berated me for liking such magazines; an issue of Attack that followed the theme of sleep, and my favourite acquisition of the day, a runaway circus kit, some of the goodies of which are pictured below, click here to get in touch with its creator.
I came away with hands itching to make something of my own and happy with my new little collectables. The world of the small press is an important one, pure for the absence of agenda and exciting for the breadth of variety, some you like some you don’t. So a message from organisers Jimi Gherkin and Peter Lally to finish with:
We really show the best of the small press so get your pens and pencils out, your glue and glitter and let’s show people what we’re made of!
You heard them. Get involved!
Monday 9th February
Climate Justice Now
The next UN Climate Conference will take place in December in Copenhagen. Here the world’s leaders will meet to strike a new deal to combat climate change. Although they agree that climate change is a problem, this web they do not agree on how it will be solved. Most governments still prioritise economic growth over sustainable living and bold cutbacks. Their proposals so far are corporate-minded and promote a green washed form of capitalism.
This is not good enough and soon it will be too late!
The alternative is ‘climate justice.’ Damage to the environment is the crime of only the world’s rich minority, side effects but it is the poor majority living in the global south who have suffered the consequences. This is where oil is extracted, land is stripped to grow crops for agro -fuels, chemical waste is dumped, and humanity is most abused.
Social movements from the global south are calling for this inequality to be put right-the rich minority need to start paying for their contribution to climate change and stop dumping it on the world’s poor. This is also the premise behind the mobilisation around the Copenhagen climate talks.
Kevin Smith (Carbon Trade Watch) and Mel Evans (Camp for Climate Action) will kick start tonight’s discussion as to how activists should approach the Copenhagen talks; ‘should we be calling on governments to do better, blockading them in until they come up with a good deal, or be saying they are so flawed we should try to close them down?’
7pm. The Studio at 22 Betterton Street, London WC2 (through the blue door and upstairs).
Tuesday 10th February
Learn how to be an 21st century female activist with firm convictions and bags of style. Speakers include Sam Roddick of Bondage for Freedom, Dr Cat Dorey of Greenpeace, Tamsin Omond of Climate Rush, Jennifer Nadel of WeCAN (Climate Action Network) and Misty Oldland who will be launching Babes for the Biosphere!
Tonight looks to be not only inspirational and hilarious, with courageous and interesting female speakers and the opportunity to learn important practical stuff on legal rights, how to avoid being arrested and what to do if you are. I am particularly looking forward to the ‘purse-sized emergency cards’ on offer.
6.30pm. The Hub, 5 Torrens Street, London EC1V 1NQ.
Similar Posts:
- Warm-up for Copenhagen!
- Reclaiming power at Copenhagen!
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- Earth Listings: 16th – 22nd November 2009