Club Rouges is a new club night format at the fantastic Rivoli Ballroom in Brockley, Crofton Park, South East London.
The first night was 25 July 2015 and featured music from the 1970s and 1980s via DJ Kobayashi Doron. Judging by the energy by those who attended (both young and old) it was a huge success. I am already looking forward to their next themed evening 'Hollywood' on 25 September, and this is coming from someone who hasn't 'danced' since his college years.
A Grade II listed 1930s art deco building, the Rivoli is the only intact 1950s ballroom to remain in London. It has hosted plenty of epic music nights, including gigs by Florence and the Machine, music videos by Lana del Ray and appearing in blockbusters such as Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Rivoli Ballroom
350 Brockley Road
Crofton Park SE4 2BY
Transport: Crofton Park, Brockley
Last weekend, I've had the opportunity to attend the pre inaugural sailing of Royal Carribean's newest ship, Anthem of the Seas. While I prepare a post about our experience on Anthem, you can read about my experience on Quantum of the Seas, the lead ship of the Quantum-class cruise ships of which Anthem of the Seas is part of (and therefore is almost identical).
During our weekend stay on board, we also attended the dress rehearsals to We Will Rock You, the popular musical based on songs by Queen. As someone who has always wanted to watch the West End musical but unable to do so, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. There were two live dress rehearsals held on Sunday, and we enjoyed the first one so much I insisted we went to watch the second one a couple of hours later!
We Will Rock You tells the story about a group of Bohemians outcast stuck in a future Orwellian world now dubbed the iPlanet where people listen to computer generated music. Free thoughts are not only frowned upon, but are also forbidden. Rock music, and the concept of rock and roll (free thinking, fashion) itself has been lost.
Meridian is a Cambridge based audio company known in the audiophile circle as a good trusted brand when it comes to sound quality. Their products are on the upper end of the market and, as all their products are designed and manufactured in the UK, therefore comes at a premium. The Meridian Explorer is a product aimed at cornering the slightly lower end of the market, and to a different segment of audio lovers.
The pocket size USB DAC is designed for those who mainly listen to music using computers. It is a growing segment of the audio market. Long gone when you need a PC size amp and book shelf speaker in order to enjoy good audio quality. The Explorer in intended to do two things. It is designed first to bypass a typical PC's soundcard (which are normall inadequate), routing the digital file through the USB onto the Explorer's on board Texas Instrument DAC. This by itself will almost always make a difference for the better. The second thing the Explorer does is up sample the audio file.
A CD and MP3 file typically contains audio tracks in 16-bit resolution and 44.1kHz sampling, which is adequate for majority of music listeners. However to some, this isn't enough. You can find albums encoded in 24/192, but these are rare and expensive. The Meridian Explorer on the other hand is designed to take these 16/44 files and resample them. This isn't quite the same as buying audio files encoded in native 24/192, and is similar to buying a Blu-Ray player that is capable of up sampling a 1080p source for playback onto a 4K monitor.
The Meridian Explorer is a new pocket size USB DAC by Cambridge based audio company, Meridian. The portable audio gear is aimed for those who aims to improve the audio quality delivered by their computers. It is designed to bypass your PC's normally inadequate sound card as the source.
A CD and MP3 file typically contains audio tracks in 16-bit resolution and 44.1kHz sampling. For some people, this isn't enough. Specialist stores do sell albums encoded in 24/192, but these are rare and expensive. The Meridian Explorer on the other hand is designed to take these 16/44 files and up sample them. This isn't quite the same as buying audio files encoded in native 24/192, and is more akin to buying a Blu-Ray player that is capable of up sampling a 1080p source for playback onto a 4K monitor.
Ahoy Londoners, the Lunar/Chinese New Year festival is once again upon us. On Sunday, 10 February, Trafalgar Square will once again be transformed for this year's Chinese New year festival in London. A parade of floats and traditional drum music will begin at 10am from Trafalgar Square and ending in Rupert Street in Chinatown, ending at 11am, presumably when everyone would rush to their favourite Dim Sum restaurant.
A host of live performance will greet party goers in Trafalgar Square from noon. This includes one of my favourite London-based indie folk musician, the lovely Emmy the Great (see the videos below of her and Tim Wheeler rocking our Christmas of 2011). Other performances include the Chen Brothers Flying Lion Dance (I've got to see this!) and other performers from China.
The celebration will be followed by a display of fireworks at 5.55pm, ushering the year of the snake.
Yesterday evening Nokia hosted a Lumia #Switch Party at the Flat Iron Square in Southwark. The event celebrated the launch of the Lumia 920 and 820 Windows Phone 8 smartphones, and is a sequal to last year's mind blowing '4D' projection performance at the Millbank Tower in London.
That one
So how could Nokia and deadmau5 top last year's crazy display? Well they didn't, but then again, they didn't exactly have to. As this year's performance location was kept secret (the event was exclusive to Nokia staffs, competition winners and a few guests), it was billed as a more intimate event. The rather heavy handed approach by security did annoy us a little bit (the event was oversubscribed) and it didn't help that no one knew exactly where they should be facing so everyone just pushed forward towards the Shard.
Sure, the effects did not blow our mind like last year's, but the music at least did. Using the surrounding buildings around Flat Iron Square as props and special effects for the gig, deadmau5's cracking performance matches the area perfectly. Props to Nokia for the invite and deadmau5 for an entertaining, if chilly, night.
The Royal Albert Hall hosted the first of this season's Distant Worlds: Final Fantasy orchestra, a worldwide event celebrating the 25th anniversary of the series. The first game was released in Japan on 18 December 1987 by Square on the Famicom (NES) platform, popularising the RPG genre. Since then, 13 main numbered games within the series has also been released, including various none-numbered spin-offs and sequels. The next game in the numbered series would be Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII and is a further sequel to Final Fantasy XIII.
It was a great evening, and I have always enjoyed concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. The famous Kensington venue, while traditional in architecture, seems apt for a wide range of performance styles and music genres. In fact, the last time we were there was last year for the BBC Radio 3's Big Red Nose Snow and, before that the Cirque Du Solei's Totem (thanks London Midland!) circus!
The sound quality of a smartphone is something I have often ignored, but one I will revive for the Xperia S, mainly because this device is built by Sony, the creator of the Walkman and also the best DAP I ever owned, period. Because of the sheer size of the Xperia S, it isn't a device I would have used personally as a portable audio. The iPhone 4S and Lumia 800, in my opinion, are perfect digital audio players. Shame that the Lumia 800 sounds awful, and the iPhone 4S isn't actually mine.
Out of the box the Xperia S supports a variety of audio codecs. Because of the open nature of smartphones however you can easily download replacement music players with different codec supports. The one that I would recommend using is UberMusic, but there are other competent apps to suit anyone's different needs. For the purpose of this review however I will be sticking to the default music player by Sony. FLAC lossless is not supported by the player, and while this may disappoint a few people, the vast majority will carry on fine with listening to high quality MP3 files.
Nokia Music, the radio mix player for Windows Phone 7 has finally been updated to support offline mode. The mode, which was demonstrated to us at Nokia World, allows for users to download mixes for offline listening. Similar to Spotify, except it is free. On the downside, each mixes are curated, so you won't be getting the freedom as you get with Spotify.
It is worth noting that while the app integrates itself with the Zune player, Nokia Music is still a separate app. So expect to see the splash screen each time you launch it. Still as it a Windows Phone 7.5 Mango-compatible app, you can easily switch to it quickly via fast application switching method.
Once inside Nokia Music you can easily listen to your music files, buy mp3 files or check for gigs nearest to you. Tapping on a gig listing will bring up details of the gig itself, as well as direct shortcuts to purchase tickets. Gigs can be pinned as a live tile, as well as viewed on the Bing Map.
However more importantly with the new Nokia Music brings the aforementioned offline mode. To download a mix for offline listening, simply tap on a genre and look for a mix you want. Once a mix has been chosen, tap it to play or hold down to make it available offline.
As there are 100+ mixes to choose over ten genres, with each mixes holding roughly 20-30 tracks, there's plenty of music to be discovered here. Mixes are also regularly updated, which can be refreshed from the offline menu. All mixes, downloaded or otherwise, can be pinned as a live tile. Sadly only four mixes can be downloaded for offline listening at any one time.
You can also create custom mixes. By searching for a favourite artist, Nokia Music will create a custom playlist of music that matches the one of your favourite artists. This is similar to the Last.fm similar artists radio mode, and works just as well. Unfortunately custom mixes can not be made available offline.
There are however a couple of downsides. The most obvious is you can only skip up to six tracks per hour. This is a limitation that, I presume, has been imposed by the record labels. While Nokia Music doesn't provide the user with the same freedom as Spotify does, but it is hard to argue when you do not have a monthly subscription to pay to listen on your mobile. I also wish that it would support custom search for gigs, for example in a different city or date rather than just the one closest to you. I would also like to see last.fm integrated not only with Nokia Music, but the Zune player so I can scrobble my plays.
After just a day with the new Nokia Music, I am finding it indispensable for music discovery on the go. Offline mode is a highly useful feature as not everyone has access to fast 3G Internet all the time, especially here in London where network congestion are frequent. Is it worth buying a Lumia just for Nokia Music? Perhaps not. But if you are going to get one anyway, Nokia Music is one of the few invaluable apps you can find bundled in any smartphone right now.
Nokia Music with offline Mix Radio should be available as a Marketplace update for the new Nokia Lumia 800 now.
At last week's gig at the Cecil Sharp House in Camden, Emma Lee-Moss of Emmy the Great jokingly announced that they are not a folk music band. Which was ironic as the venue they were playing was the headquarters to the English Folk Dance and Song Society. A rather fitting venue to Emmy the Great, whose music has been described as anti-folk or indie folk.
The venue lent an atmosphere of intimacy and audiences were as close to Emma as they can ever be. Sadly the sound system left much to be desired and was not able to cope with Emma's powerful and beautiful voice - often ringing. It was also too loud, an unfortunate downside of being a music fan in 2011 when there is no end in sight to the pointless and musicality atrocious loudness war.
For more pictures of Emmy the Great's gig at Cecil Sharp House please visit my Flickr page.
UberMusic is a third party replacement music player for Android platform. It is developed by Federico Carnales, the man behind the popular LauncherPro replacement home launcher for Android. The default skin is inspired by the Windows Phone 7 Zune music player clone (with very subtle differences), and that doesn't mean it is a bad thing. Considering that people are willing to pay for something like this is a proof that Microsoft has nailed down the UX for WP7 and, more importantly, the default Android music player is just that bad.
On Wednesday I was invited to a Aloft VIP party at The Vinyl Factory in Soho, London. The location was tricky to find as it was tucked away inside a record store, the Phonica Records on Poland Street, but thankfully some forward thinking helped.
The event/party was an early launch celebration of the Aloft hotel brand by Starwood due to open near the ExCel London exhibition centre later this year. In addition to celebrating Aloft's entry into the UK hotel market with Aloft London ExCel, they have also collaborated with Live Nation and Music Dealers to showcase some emerging unsigned British music talent.
According to Aloft, the event is aimed to highlight the sort of brand Aloft is aiming to become - in that it would be hip, modern and contemporary - hence the location and atmosphere of the party. Which is weird, as the hotel would be built in the London Borough of Newham. Still they have their reasons for building the new hotel there. Due to its proximity to some of East London's Olympic venues, as well as ExCel London, Aloft will surely acquire plenty of business, especially if they have a wicked party venue.
Still I can't help wonder if they should be targeting the hip and trendy part of London, like Soho and Shoreditch instead. But hei, what do I know about hotels? ;) On the other hand Starwood has recently brought their W boutique brand of hotels to London. The recently launched W in Leicester Square on the former grounds of the Swiss Centre building was the first.
The artists featured on the evening were Jay James Picton, Bones and Tiger Love, who recently supported Yelle. I have never heard of any of these artists prior to the invite. I have to say, from an outsider of the industry but a music lover, that all three have potential. I enjoyed Jay James Picton's opening set of modern soul music. The Indie Rock Camden-based Bones played a highly energetic set until some of the guests started dancing. Finally Tiger Love, also based in London, closed the evening with their brand of electro psychedelic rock. Check out their Under Control music video below. I certainly hope they get signed soon.
On Wednesday I will be attending a new artists evening event at The Vinyl Factory, Soho, London. The event, appropriately called Artist Spotlight, is a collaboration by Aloft, the new hotel brand by Starwood Hotels; and music licensing company, Music Dealers. The event aims to promote new music talent and also to celebrate the launch of the Aloft hotels in London later this year.
Artists featured will include Jay James Picton, local Camden band Bones and Tiger Love, who recently supported Yelle. Check out the video of Jay James Picton below. I have not heard of him before, but his brand of acoustic soul sounds great.
If there is anything that proves that School of Seven Bell's brilliant and energetic debut Alpinisms was anything but a fluke, Disconnect from Desire further cements the Brooklyn trio as master craftspeople of modern shoegaze and dream pop genre. There isn't anything bad but songs like I L U, Windstorm and Bye Bye Bye due to their mesmerising and lucid melody. You could argue that Disconnect from Desire sounds even more mainstream than Alpinisms was and that isn't a bad thing as long as it sounds good. And it does.
While I would nominate Disconnect from Desire for the Mercury Prize (after burning their only-British rule), the same enthusiasm can't be said about their live performance. The setlist was solid if a bit safe, beginning with one of my Alpinisms favourite Half Asleep and going through songs like Windstorm, Dial, Bye Bye Bye, ILU and My Cabal. Unfortunately the band lacks one of the most important aspect in any great live performers - the interaction with the audience.
I've been to a couple of gigs this year and every band (including openers) were engaged with the audience. Tegan & Sara were always popular for their on-stage banters, Metric has this crazy performer you may have heard of also known as Emily Haines and Broken Social Scene... well nuff said there. While the gig in The Drop was memorable, if only because it was intimate, the one at Scala yesterday was utterly souless.
There was nothing technically wrong with their performance (though it does suffer from the usual stupid trend that is 'play it as loud possible till you can't hear the vocals' syndrome), but if I wanted to see Alejandra doing the same moves all the time, or Claudia not moving (at all) then I would rather just listen to the album on repeat at home.
Set list:
Half Asleep Windstorm Camarilla Dial Conniur Babelonia Bye Bye Bye Heart Is Strange Joviann I L U My Cabal Sempiternal/Amaranth
The lovely School of Seven Bells (@sviib on twitter) played The Drop in Stoke Newington, London yesterday evening as part of a pre-order bonus for Pure Groove customers.
The set list is dominated by songs from the new album, Disconnect From Desire, due out next week. So I can't really blame the audience for being a bit too stoned, as most would not have heard the new album yet. I have but that's another matter ;) They played I L U and Bye Bye Bye, some of my favourites from the new album, though My Cabal was the highlight of the evening (duh).
In any case great short gig in a lovely basement bar. Looking forward to seeing them play again in Scala on 20 July.
Set list:
Windstorm Bye Bye Bye Joviann I L U Heart Is Strange My Cabal Sempiternal/Amaranth
If there is one thing you can count on with a Broken Social Scene gig is that you'll be guaranteed to have a good time, even if you've not heard any of their materials (like half the crowd, for shame people!).
Opening with World Sick from their new album Forgiveness Rock Record, BSS sludged through a slew of new and old favourites including 7/4 (Shoreline), Fire Eye'd Boy, Sweetest Kill and my absolute favourite (and crowd pleaser) Superconnected.
Gutted that they didn't play KC Accidental, Almost Crimes, Shampoo Suicide and Major Label Debut, but there is only so much time for old materials. Lisa may not be held in highly like Emily, Amy or Leslie, but completely held her own with All to All. Also joining the core members of BSS were Andrew Whiteman of Apostle of Hustle and Charles Spearin.
Went to see Canadian indie pop/rock band Tegan & Sara at the Roundhouse theatre in Camden last week. They were simply fucking brilliant - such natural performers, very talented and funny too. If you haven't heard of them I suggest you do so now, particularly if you are into the Canadian indie/new wave scene.
Shame that half the crowd does not seem to have heard of them and that Roundhouse employed a sound engineer who prefer loudness over clarity. Then there's the broken aircon, which didn't help on one of hottest days of the month so far...
Didn't bring my proper camera, and got there late (thanks London Overground for breaking down) so was pretty much near the back (there were a couple hundred fans by the time we joined the queue at 6pm). Instead shot loads of videos from my compact. The stills here are all from the video. I was hoping to upload a video, but am having massive issues trying to demux the proprietary mov file to something a bit more usable...
This was my first gig photography with a photo pass, and the fact that it was for Metric made the whole deal sweeter. All the pictures from the pit were shot with a cheap but fast 50mm AF f/1.8D Nikkor lens as I found my 18-105mm to be inadequately slow.
I had loads of fun and to be able to shoot Emily Haines was a dream come true. Also thanks to Davoud D (flickr id: sony_boy) for the tips, and to Metric for providing such an exhilarating and entertaining performance. The acoustic version of 'Combat Baby', performed as an encore, was simply sublime. The crowd in particular was amazing and both Metric fans and none fans alike seems to be lapping it up. Surely mainstream success is just around the corner?
The special edition version of Fantasies is out today. Do make sure to grab it.
