Modern Antiquarian

Getting increasingly addicted to The Modern Antiquarian, a fantastic compendium of stone circles and other ancient sites in UK and Ireland named after Grandmaster Julian Cope's book of the same name and subject. Most London sites have long since vanished, but there are still a few burial mounds to be found, including at Winns Common (Plumstead), Shooter's Hill (Shrewsbury Tumulus) and Wimbledon Common.

Yule be sorry if you miss it

South East London Folklore Society returns with Folk Yule: an evening of story telling, song, acoustic music, traditional and magical games and other (mostly) carbon neutral entertainments. You're welcome to join in with a song, story or some other entertainment.

Thursday 14th December, revels shall commence from 8pm in the upstairs room of The Royal George, 85 Tanners Hill, Deptford, London, SE8 4QD. Just off the Lewisham Way. (map here). A £2.50 donation is requested to cover room hire and other costs.

Contact scott@selfs. org.uk or clare@selfs. org.uk

I'm Your Fan

Greenwich Picturehouse are showing Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man next week, a documentary about my favourite Jewish Buddhist Canadian singer-songwriter. Should be good, even if features a tribute concert with obligatory performances from U2, Rufus Wainwright and others not worthy to touch the hem of Len's garment.

Sympathy for the Devil

Watched Sympathy for the Devil last night, Jean-Luc Godard’s film structured (very loosely) around The Rolling Stones recording their greatest song. I am not a great fan of The Stones but this song has a particular resonance as the track always played as the last record at The Venue in New Cross during many 1990s indie-nights, with hundreds of drunk people 'whoo whooing' in chorus for most of the song.

In musical terms the film demonstrates what a triumph the recorded version is in comparison with some of the dire earlier takes. Also noteable is that Keith Richards plays bass throughout with ostensible Stones bassist Bill Wyman relegated to Maracas.

But this is radical avant garde 'cinemarxism' circa 1968, so the music is only one element of a collage with elements including a narrator reading political porn (‘Foster Dulles went inside to order Princess Beatrice a Molotov Cocktail’) , staged scenes of armed Black Power activists in a car scrapyard down by the Thames and a parody of the banality of interviews with a young woman pursued through a wood answering in monosyllables to questions like 'Do you feel exploited from the moment you step into an interview?' and 'Do you think drugs are a spiritual form of gambling'. Meanwhile figures pop up in the London landscape painting graffiti about Viet Nam.

God knows what the later Sir Michael Jagger made of it all, though apparently even this version was too much of a compromise for Godard whose final take left out a complete version of 'Sympathy for the Devil' only for the film to be edited to include it at the end without his consent over images of fighting on the sand in a section entitled 'Under the Stones the Beach'.

Life is Cheap

A horrific story on the front page of this week's South London Press (17.11.2006), which for some reason isn't on their website at present:

A corpse was left rotting for weeks after council officials failed to help a man living in a cleaning cupboard, it was claimed today. The man, an immigrant from Togo known as Atayi, was found after residents reported a sickening smell. Police went to a cupboard used to store cleaning products at Perronet House in Elephant & Castle at 12.15pm on Wednesday. After smashing down the door officers found the body of the man, in his late 40s. Cops at the scene told people living on the second floor the man was thought to have been dead for at least three weeks.

People who live in Perronet House told the South London Press Atayi had been working in the block but lived rough so he could send as much money as possible back to his wife and children in Togo. Early reports suggest he died from carbon monoxide poisoning - it is believed as a result of cooking on a camping stove - but a full post-mortem is expected today. Questions are being asked of Southwark Council after claims they had been told the man was squatting in the 8ft by 4ft cupboard as long ago as May but failed to act. It is said that Atayi worked as cleaner for the council and was therefore able to get past security doors at Perronet House....."

Although this an extreme case, it is indicative of the conditions of migrant workers in London today, people who may be branded as 'illegal' and denied rights such as access to healthcare, but who are relied on to the dirty jobs that nobody else wants to do. People who work as low paid cleaners in every office in town, paid a pittance and making profits for multi-national cleaning firms like ISS. If you feel the urge to do more than sigh and turn away, you might want to check out the Justice for Cleaners campaign which is organsing two weeks of action in support of ISS cleaners next week. This isn't just a London issue either, check out the current Justice for Janitors strike in Houston, Texas.

Strange vehicles of South London (1)

This Russian T-34 tank has been situated at the corner of Mandela Way and Pages Walk (just off New Kent Road) for a few years. From time to time it gets painted - at one time it was pink, but this is its latest colour scheme.

Vultures

After the recent Nunhead Black Panther incident, we now have reports of vulture sightings in Richmond Park and Beddington sewage farm, near Croydon.

Ladywell Pool Saved

Well done to Save Ladywell Pool campaign - Lewisham Council has now reversed its decision to demolish it to make way for a much-needed new secondary school. The school will be built instead at Lewisham Bridge. Details here

Your Arsenal

Down by the River Thames at the site of Woolwich Arsenal today, many of the old buildings still standing from when it supplied guns and ammunition for the Empire, but now being turned into luxury flats.

My great great grandfather, Thomas Cook, worked there in the 19th century and his father and grandfather before him (in the 1851 Census, Thomas junior is listed as a 'laboratory boy' and his father as 'labourer, Royal Arsenal'). Later Thomas's sister Jane worked there as a teenage 'cartridge maker' while another brother, John, worked as a 'metal turner' in the Royal Laboratory.

You can only take nostalgia so far, and it is surely better that these buildings are now homes instead of factories producing lethal weapons for the British army. Still, once again I ponder the irony of riverside locations where the poor once lived and worked becoming, in the words of a brochure I picked up today, spaces for 'bespoke penthouse living'.

On another tack entirely, entering the site from Beresford Street, there is an unusual weather worn statue (above) bearing the plaque 'Deus Lunus - late Roman work, brought from Egypt'. Any ideas what a statue of a moon god is doing at Woolwich Arsenal? It stares across to a fine 1764 sundial, complete with moon and St George & Dragon imagery (below).

Beerism

Tales of a Nunhead micro-brewery, anyone?

Cyclism

I've also been intrigued by Witcomb cycles, an ancient looking bike shop in an even more ancient looking building in Deptford. Now thanks to Slightly Lost in the World you can read the full story of its pivotal role for the global cyclist massive. Must get the two wheeled monster out of the cellar.

Openlab

In a Peckham art squat today it's the last day chance to take in Openlab 3, featuring 'Installations, sonic interventions, video works, animations, digital musics' from more than 20 artists and musicians engaging 'in the aesthetics and politics of Free Open Source Software'. It's open from 1 to 7 pm, with performance from 4 pm at The Midnight Blue Gallery (autoitalia south-east london gallery), 82-86 Queens Road, Peckham.

Lost Penguin Found in New Cross

Strolling down the New Cross Road last Saturday afternoon I stumbled across a gig at Rubbish & Nasty by Lost Penguin. It was great, amidst the retro clothes and vinyl in the shop there was a riot of fuzzy bass, shouty boy/girls vocals, drum machine and korg synth noises, stripy jumpers, yellow jackets and more. Ever in search of the Riot Grrrl revival (OK I know it never really went away), I am pleased to report that some of their faster tracks reminded me a little of Le Tigre.

Anyway there's more free music action on Saturday afternoons until Christmas, with Tea and Toast Band tomorrow at 3 pm, and a Wonktronica Showcase on 18th November. All at 308 New Cross Road.

Dis-Orient X

'Ten years after the book Dis-Orienting Rhythms: the Politics of the New Asian Dance Music (zed books 1996) we've decided to have a party (or a wake) and discuss, and dance, about the new world disorder.

3pm start - speakers - Sonia from ADFED, Anamik Saha of Goldsmiths, Sanjay Sharma, Aki Nawaz showing the new Fun-da-mental video, & panel discussion... finish 6pm

Followed by Dis-Orient X club night 7.30 - 12with Aki Nawaz from Fun-da-mental and SPARK! on the decks.

Friday 17 November @ New Cross Inn.

A benefit for the 1857 Indian war of Independence Commemoration Committee. Donations at the door. All welcome'.

How does it feel? gig at the Windmill

Our fave indie-pop night, How Does if Feel? are putting on a gig on Thursday November 9th at The Windmill, Blenheim Gardens, Brixton. The line up is
Francois/Amida/The Steadies/The Darlings and it all starts at 8pm, a mere five pounds entry.

Francois are described as 'Bookish boys with library tans singing', Amida as 'quietly cool, gloriously romantic, indie pop janglers'. The Steadies reference 'Nick Drake and Belle & Sebastian and every loveable acoustic
dreamer going'. The Darlings remain a mystery, but doubtless have impeccable music taste.

Radical film night in New Cross

Class Acts presents a double bill of cinematic delights plus yummy food.

'The Free Voice of Labor-the Jewish Anarchists' tells the story of the anarchist movement among Jewwish immigrants to the USA from the 1880s until the final days of the Jewish anarchist newspaper 'Freie Arbeiter Stimme' in the 1970s.

'An injury to One- the Frank Little story' tells the story of the mysterious death of the Wobbly organiser Frank Little in 1917, following his radical organising of the workers of the Anaconda Mining Company. The film includes music from Low, Jim O'Rourke and William Oldham.

Wenesday 15th November, 7.30 for food, 8.00pm for film. At the Cafe Crema, 306 New Cross Rd, SE14. Only £4 includes delicous veggie meal.

Further information from useyourloaf@btinternet.com

New River

'The roving South London Radical History Groupies are going to walk along the south end of North London's New River and do a bit of sightseeing, and politico-historical chattering along the way... the idea is to meet up at Turnpike Lane tube at 2pm on Sunday 26th November and work our way down the river, stopping at Clissold Park cafe for a cup of tea, and then on to Sadlers Wells. After that we can wander back to Angel or Chapel Market to hang out in a pub and maybe try one of the "eat as much as you like" buffets... bring umbrellas, gossip and chat about historical spots we pass...'

For further information, or to be added to the SLRHG mailing list, contact mudlark1@postmaster.co.uk

Klaxons

Good to see James Righton of 'new rave' instigators The Klaxons giving South East London its dues in the NME student guide (October 2006). Among his five favourite London places he lists are the Montague Arms in New Cross, the Skillian Centre rehearsal studio in Deptford, the Wah Wah squat in Peckham and the silver box in the middle of the Elephant and Castle roundabout, a 'portal to another dimension' where he once spoke to a fox!

Beast of Nunhead

'Interesting if true' report in the South London Press (20 October 2006) about a possible Alien Black Cat sighting in Nunhead:

Panther prowled into my lounge

A space scientist had a close encounter of the furred kind when a black panther called at his home. Astro physicist Brian Shear claims the big cat walked into his living room and settled on his settee in the early hours of Thursday.

Brian said: "It had green eyes and was between four to five feet long, nose to tail. This was no pussycat. It didn't miaow, it growled. I'd been sitting in my armchair when it walked in. I didn't try to get too close to it because I was concerned it might bite me. I just sat there and talked to it like you would a normal pussy cat. I said, 'Hello puss, where've you been then?' and it just growled. It seemed quite content and I didn't feel threatened. I don't think it would have harmed me.It seemed familiar with humans."

The 64-year-old diabetic said he had woken up at his home in Nunhead Lane, Nunhead, feeling ill and opened his front door to let some air in but got the uninvited house guest instead. After an hour the cat left Brian's home and disappeared towards Dulwich.

It is not the first time a big cat has been reported in South London. Last year dad-of-three Tony Holder said he was pounced on by a large cat-like animal in the backyard of his Sydenham home. Armed police patrolled the neighbourhood for several days afterwards and people were warned not to use local parks. Experts suspected a black panther had leapt at Mr Holder.

Ghosts and Monsters of south-east London

Samhein is over but today is the Day of the Dead.

SELFS is resting at the moment ('retreating to jump further' as they say) but we're still doing the odd bit. I'm giving a talk on the 'Ghosts & Monsters of Brockley & Surrounds' at Moonbow Jakes coffee shop and bar from 8pm tonight.

That'll be strange and fortean things happening in Brockley, Nunhead, Honor Oak, Lewisham, Deptford and Sydenham. There'll also be a couple of other local writers doing readings.

Sorry it's late notice, I didn't have a time until this morning, but I hope someone could come along.

Moonbow Jakes Brockley: 020 86949128

325 Brockley Road, London SE4 2QZ.

Find them equidistant between Brockley (turn right and up Brockley Road) & Crofton Park (turn left and down Brockley Road)

Train stations. Buses 122, 171, 172 & 484

Royal Albert

Went for a drink at the Royal Albert this week (460 New Cross Road), formerly the Paradise Bar. It's a perfectly fine pub for a beer and a chat, run by Antic, the firm behind the East Dulwich Tavern, Dogstar (Brixton) and various other South London watering holes.

Still even as I sat on a comfortable sofa I couldn't help missing the scruffy glamour of the old Paradise Bar. In fact my sofa, under a stuffed bird of prey, was at the very spot where the stage used to be, with its plastic flashing disco floor. Was this really the place which just two or three years ago helped launch Art Brut, Bloc Party, The Long Blondes and many others? Actually a quick check on Google shows that it was three years ago this very night that Bloc Party played there. The Art Brut gig was an Angular records launch, a night when I climbed up on that stage myself to talk a bit about my Deptford Fun City book. Anyway enough instant nostalgia, for a reminder of what it was like check out this short film of Clor playing at the Paradise Bar.

Mules etc.

Haven't really done enough justice here to the Artful festival, suffice it to say that there's still plenty of music and other fun to be had before the end of October, including Shot by Both Sides tomorrow at the Venue in New Cross:


Line-up is:
THE MULES
Skiffle, music hall, hillbilly knees-up and jug-band blues fed through a new wave mixer.

STAINED GLASS HEROES
Taut, angular melodies, skewed punk/funk and fuzzy electronics, evoking Can, Magazine & PiL.

THE BRIAN JACKET LETDOWN
Balmy kaleidoscopic pop, complete with kitchen-sink melodies, kazoos and bent psych-folk.

Notes from the Island

Notes from the Island is a project exploring the mysteries of the traffic island at the junction of New Cross Road and Queens Road: 'The Island welcomes everybody. Every day many visit and thousands pass close by, though few notice it. It is a place of brief encounters, of buried secrets, of moments glimpsed in rear-view mirrors. A brief pause on a journey. The Island has no border controls, no prisons, no buying and selling. Is it a utopia? Perhaps it could be, a sanctuary of non-interference amidst the surveillance cameras'.

As a contribution to Artful month, Notes from the Island will be collaborating with You are here but why? on some exploratory mapping of the Island at 3 pm on Sunday 15th October 2006. After a guided stroll around the Island 'we will consider ways of mapping the Island and the routes through and around it in time and space. If its raining we will be in the White Hart pub opposite'.

Radical Stuff at Goldsmiths

5pm on Thursday 12th October (This Thursday), Town Hall Pirates present 'The Weather Underground' a documentary by Sam Green and Bill Siegel about US urban guerillas of the late 1960s/early 1970s. Somewhere at Goldsmiths, venue to be confirmed but wander around looking for posters and you should be able to find it.

Then on Thursday, November 2 at 5.30pm there will be a commemoration of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 in Room 143 of the Richard Hoggart building of Goldsmiths College, Lewisham Way, New Cross, London, SE14. The meeting is sponsored by Revolutionary History journal and the London Socialist Historians Group.

March for Migrants Rights

Tomorrow (Saturday October 7th 2006) the London-wide 'March for Migrants' Rights' is taking place in Southwark demanding an end to detention and deportations, and equal rights for migrants and refugees.

It start at 12 noon by the Imperial War Museum (Geraldine Mary Harmsworth park) before heading up Borough High Street and past Becket House, a government reporting centre for asylum seekers in St Thomas Street, SE1.

It's all part of an international day of action. Further details here and at No Borders London.

Update: Report on march

Several hundred people took part in the March for Migrants' Rights today in South London, starting off from the Imperial War Museum and marching up Borough High Street before pausing at Becket House in St Thomas Street, a Home Office 'reporting centre' where asylum seekers have to report and may be detained without warning. The march finished with a rally in Tanner Street Park in Bermondsey.

Banners on the march included the new No Borders London one making its debut, as well as Southall Black Sisters, Latin American Workers Association, Bolivia Solidarity Campaign, Barbed Wire Britain, International Organisation of Iranian Refugees and many others.

Pull Tiger Tail in New Cross

The Wolfgang Bopp presents;

Pull Tiger Tail

Pull Tiger Tail – Selected on the Guardians weekly playlist and making Steve Lamacq froth at the mouth like a rabid badger in a sherbet factory, Pull Tiger Tail are certainly on somewhat of an upward trajectory. They have already appeared in session on John Kennedys XFM show and have been described by the NME as “the sound of the summer”…well its Autumn now but you get their drift. If you listen to any radio station other than Magic FM you will likely have heard their marvellous Animator single and then have had it stuck in your head for the a week.

Fear of Flying

Fear of Flying – Described as “very promising” by the clued up folk at Soundsxp, Fear of Flying have been signed up to the Young and Lost label along with PTT. Their single “Routemaster” garnered much critical praise, and we will be delighted to see what all the fuss is about this Friday.

Date: Friday 6th October
Doors: 8pm – 12.15am
Price: £4 on door
Venue: The Montague Arms, 289 Queens Road , New Cross, SE15 2PA
Tel: 0207 6394923
Nearest Tube: New Cross Gate
Nearest BR: Queens Rd , Peckham

The Mystical Forest

South East London Folklore Society, 11th September: Jack Gale – London's Green Web

Jack Gale is a pagan and magickal writer on much experience, warmth and wisdom and tonight he shall be discussing London's "mystical forest". South London features heavily in the talk and Jack in an expert in the magickal history of south-east London. At the Spanish Galleon in Greenwich at 8 pm.

Contact SELFS and Subscribe to SELFS newsletter.

Autum walk from the wood to the River

On Sunday 17th September there will be a chance to explore the sites of ancient rites, apparitions, folklore and natural wonders with Pagan Federation South East London and South East London Folklore Society. Join them for a Sunday afternoon picnic and stroll along part of the Green Chain Walk, from Oxleas Woods to the Thames Barrier.

The walk starts at Oxleas Wood (meet by the café at 1pm) and finishes by the Thames, and will wander through the ancient woodland of Oxleas and the hideaways of highwaymen before taking in the site of Charlton's notorious Horn Fair (where apparently men `quite frequently wore women's clothes and amused themselves by striking women encountered on the fairground with sprigs of furze') and stopping to picnic near Charlton House, haunted Jacobean mansion. Then onwards for deer and peacock-spotting and over a Roman hill fort before passing a modern stone circle on the way to the Thames.

It's also international Chalk4Peace weekend, so people are encouraged to bring chalks if they feel so inclined.

For further information contact clare@selfs.org.uk or scott@selfs.org.uk.

Reservoir Reservations

At the top of Telegraph Hill, on Jerningham Road in New Cross, there is a walled off covered reservoir site. The reservoir is apparently now redundant, and St James Homes is planning to build 13 houses on the site. In the mean time, the site is a nature reserve in all but name. Human visitors are not encouraged, which for me makes it somehow more appealing as a kind of Secret Garden (I must scale the wall before they build on it). Anyway not everyone's happy with the loss of this green space, and there's a public meeting on the 11th September at 8 pm to discuss the plans. It takes place at the Telegraph Hill Centre (next to the Church at the top of the hill), where the plans are currently on display in the foyer.

Blow-Up

At the Photographers Gallery there's an exhibition of stills from Michelangelo Antonioni's classic swinging London movie Blow-Up, including some set in south east London locations. There's a shot of David Hemmings emerging from a building with a sign saying National Assistance Board Camberwell Reception Centre - this is the old Spike homeless hostel in Consort Road, SE15 which features at the beginning of the film. Part of this is still standing and has been squatted for several years, with the Council recently granting a licence.

There are also a number of photos of Maryon Park in Charlton, a crucial location where Hemmings' photographer character inadvertently takes pictures of the crime which is central to the film's plot.

Also on at the Photographers Gallery is an exhibition of photos from the London Fire Brigade archive. Thrill to the sight of a 1951 bus crash in the Walworth Road, chortle at a 1947 image of a 'boy being rescued from a milk churn' in Lambeth. My favourite was of a fire in Lyndhurst Grove SE15 in 1963 seemingly contributed to by the haphazard piles of books stacked all over the house including up the staircase. There but for the grace of God go I...

Both run until September 17th and are free. The Gallery is at 5 & 8 Great Newport Street, London WC2H 7HY (Nearest tube Leicester Square).

Walking the Ravensbourne

From London Below blog

Green Gatherings

A couple of interesting sounding green events coming up locally. On Monday 28 August there's a Green Man Fayre at the One Tree Hill Allotments, behind Honor Oak Park train station, SE23. Its on from 12 - 6 pm and costs £2. More information about the allotments from South London Permaculture.

Then on Sunday 3rd September there's an invitation to picnic at the Brockley Common Opend Day (next to Brockley Station). It's on from 12 noon to 4 pm. More details from Brockley Cross Action Group.

Shot by Both Sides

Shot by Both Sides promise 'A spektakular soiree of degeneracy and bloodlust' in the Basement Bar at the Venue in New Cross on Friday (August 11th), featuring three bands: 'Luxembourg (Extravagant and alluring 5-piece angular pop, with a similar swaggering spirit to Roxy Music or early Suede), The Low Edges (Widescreen melodies and Spector-ish atmospherics from band who cite classic novels and folk tales as influences) and Gifthorse (Bedsit glamour and arch, sardonic lyrics from tragic romanticists). All this plus DJs playing '60s garage, northern soul, motown, funk and - cripes - indie until the wee hours'. Its on from 9pm-2am (£4/£3 NUS). [apologies - earlier version of this post had the wrong date - good news is you haven't missed it]

Return of the Daisy Age

It has been brought to our attention by Drumz of the South (who were drawn to our attention by Uncarved) that hip hop legends De La Soul are playing for free in Croydon this weekend.

Whatever happended to the cosmic dream?

Shame about Syd Barrett. Its well known that he went to Camberwell Art College, but did he play music locally with any early Pink Floyd incarnations? Where did he live/hang out when he graced the streets of South East London? Was 'Piper at the gates of dawn' inspired by a night wandering on acid through Burgess Park? (OK I'm making this up). Who knows?

Held

A dark (ex) Church, all that is visible are ten glass bowls, each containing an image of the sky. Lift up a bowl and the sounds of the place are triggered, the significance being that each is a location marked by a death. Over the past two years Graeme Miller has visited places around the world where migrants have fallen from aircraft - stowaways who have hidden in the wheel bays of planes, only to fall to their death as the planes approach airports and lower their wheels.

Miller's installation 'Held'is a very powerful work that breaks the silence about the many deaths caused by the efforts of Fortress Europe to deny sanctuary to those fleeing war, persecution and poverty. United Against Racism have tracked more than 7000 such deaths since 1993, including the death of a man who fell from the sky at the Sainsburys in Richmond pictured in one of Miller's images shown above.

'Held' is on until July 16th (Thurs - Sun, 11-5) at Dilston Grove, the former Clare College Mission Church, in the Southwest corner of Southwar Park (see map). Try and get along if you can.

Lewishambles People's Day

Too much to do this weekend, as well as stuff we've already mentioned it's Lewisham People's Day Festival tomorrow in Mountsfield Park, Catford, with a Rocklands stage showcasing south east London talent including STREET VIBES + CHET + THE DARLING REDS + INDIGO MOSS + DEXY + THE FAIRIES BAND + FRUIT MACHINE BLUES + CERI JAMES / DREZONE / MALMO + THE MOON (all for free).

In the evening, Tom Hingley (from Inspiral Carpets) is DJing at Dirty South, while down the road at the Fox in Lewisham there's a 2bob night with J D & The Longfellows, The Singing Loins + Blah Blah Blah (also free entry ).

Austin Osman Spare

South East London Folklore Society presents

10th July: Geraldine Beskin – The Life of Austin Osman Spare

The proprietress of Atlantis Bookshop casts her research skills on to the life of south-east London’s own artist, magician and god-less father of Chaos Magic, Austin Osman Spare.


SELFS meets every second Monday of the month upstairs at The Spanish Galleon, 48 Greenwich Church Street, SE10 9BL. Talks start at 8.00pm and costs £2.50 / £1.50 concessions.

Greenwich Mainline & DLR: Turn left from the main exit, walk about 5-10 minutes, the Galleon is on your right, at the cross-roads.

Cutty Sark DLR: Turn left from the station, right when you get to the road, the Spanish Galleon is across the road.

Buses: 177, 180, 188, 199, 286, 386.

Bopp Hops on to World Cup Bandwagon (but late)

The unredoubtable Wolfgang Bopp just popped this into our electronic box:

"One week has nearly passed since England’s ignominious exit from the World Cup and we at the Bopp feel it is only right and proper to offer a musical pick me up to the disenchanted residents of London.

To fulfil this task we have engineered a line up of immense quality, if we do say so ourselves.

The Wolfgang Bopp presents

Fury of the Headteachers
Hailing from Leicester we have we have Fury of the Headteachers a band with an astonishingly brilliant name and a portfolio of tunes to match. They have already featured in session on 6music and their live show has been called “breathtaking” by Soundsxp. Intriguingly described as sounding like “the Buzzcocks underwater” by the Daily Record we look forward to them gracing The Montague.

I've never met a normal person from Leicester. I've met some nice people from Leicester, don't get me wrong, some of my best friends are from Leicster, but none of them are ever anywhere near what you'd call 'normal'.

Anyway, back to the Bopp:

Redcarsgofaster
From Sheffield in the Peoples Republic of Yorkshire Redcarsgofaster who were so good when they played the Bopp last summer we have asked them back. Described by Drowned in Sound as “utterly fantastic” they are recipients of probably the best line of any review I have ever seen courtesy of Joyzine; “People are shaking their heads in disbelief; looking at each other the way couples do after the birth of their first child” high praise indeed. Needless to say it seems we are far from being the only ones who love this band.

+ Wolf Gang DJs playing out twisted rock n roll, retro grooves and bleak disco… Date: Friday 7th July Doors: 8pm – 12.15am (bands finish 11pmish) Price: £3 Venue: The Montague Arms, 289 Queens Road, New Cross, SE15 2PA
Nearest Tube: New Cross Gate
Nearest BR: Queens Rd, Peckham

Red Thread

Here's an interesting thing that came my way via the SELFS chat list and Rocklands. Bonnington Square is nice, it feels like how the sixties must have been.

"""""" let's get straight to the point... i'm putting a kinda 'secret' red thread festival on on the 9th july in bonnington square, vauxhall,and i'm gonna need some help!! it's got a good chance of being fairlychaotic but it should be a riot if everyone get's on board.. the square itself is a really quaint slice of urban bohemia, just south of theriver and well out of the public eye. everyone's invited and it's allfree so START TELLING EVERYONE!!!

we ain't gonna do much traditionaladvertising so it's up us lot to get a crowd down.. doing it this meanswe should only attract cool heads!! the line up so far reads.. LIAMFROST, THE MONKS KITCHEN, THE BRIAN JACKET LET DOWN, JOHN STAMMERS and PETE GREENWOOD. plus a load of eccentric locals who wanna do their ownthing! IT'S GONNA BE A GREAT AND UNIQUE DAY OUT! things kick off with apaganesque animal procession round the square at 2 o'clock [damn work means I'll miss that, I love a procession, I do], then music all day. there's beautiful community gardens to lay about in and loads of random entertainment planned, feel free to get involved, if you wanna dress up, do magic or be a human fruit machine?!? your welcome to!! spread the word and enjoy!!! x x x """""""""

Open Air Poetry Night in Southwark

SOUTHWARK MYSTERIES
in association with Bankside Open Spaces Trust
presents Red Cross Bards

6.30 to 8.30pm on Tuesday July 4th 2006
Red Cross Garden, Redcross Way, London SE1
Tube: Borough or London Bridge Bus: 133, 35, 40 and many more

A summer¹s evening of inspirational poetry and song in Red Cross Garden - hosted by John Constable (aka John Crow, author of The Southwark Mysteries) with guest poets Liza Hayden, Niall McDevitt, Christopher Twigg - and YOU!

Red Cross Cottages were built by Octavia Hill to improve the lives of the poor in what were then London¹s most deprived and violent slums. The cottages form a stunning backdrop to these beautiful Victorian gardens in the heart of the city. The gardens were recently restored by BOST, complete with pond and fountain. Southwark poet John Constable will perform his own work inspired by the history of the area, along with leading exponents of visionary poetry and song. Audience members will also be invited to perform a short poem of their own.

Together we'll reclaim the Red Cross of St George, celebrating south London¹s multicultural heritage. (* The last half-hour of the performance may overlap slightly with the first half-hour of the World Cup semi-final. If so, for those who honour the Muse but need their fussball fix, we'll feature a short poetic commentary on ze game, before decamping to one of the many local big screen pubs to watch the rest of the match.)

all welcome : free entry: free refreshments Funded by Borough and Bankside Community Fund

So farewell then....

This sad bit of news just came through from Ian of the band 23Frames.....

The inevitable occured this week when we finally received the letter - "Redevelopment of the Old Seager Distillery" We have to be out by September.

We knew it was coming but it still feels like such a shock,especially when there is stilll so much going on there. There are four bands and two painters who share our studio (The Polling Station) and we'll all be without anywhere to work this Autumn.

Displaced, as will Temporary Contempoary, The Mash Potato gallery & many, many other groups of artists, muscians, acrobats etc. What a shame. Dunno when exactly they plan to bulldoze the building, but I hope at least some of it is protected. Luxuary Apartments all round, then.

Will Deptford even exist in 10 years time?

That question is up to us all to answer.

Listings

Guilfin, the excellent alternative listings site is back and starting from scratch.

Be sure to be part of it.

Camberwell Degree Show

Lots of good stuff at the Camberwell College of Arts Summer Show, on all this week ('Felt Window', Juleigh Gordon-Orr's human hair and glass piece, is in the third floor painting studio).

I also checked out the Goldsmiths degree show a couple of weeks ago, I didn't think it was as strong but it was worth a visit just to go out on the terrace of the new Ben Pimlott building in New Cross. Yes you get to stand outside next to that scribble sculpture with fanastic views across London.

Nick Nicely

For some time we've been trying to track down an early 1980s psychedelic track called Hilly Fields (1892)by Nick Nicely. In an interview at the time he explained: "Hilly Fields is a large park in South London, close to where I live. It's a beautiful place. And the area where I live still retains a lot of the atmosphere of the 1890s - all late Victorian houses, really wonderful. All the songs I wrote are situated in this part of London, Brockley. And Hilly Fields... I used to go there a lot in various stages of high, stoned, tripping, and that's where the song comes from. It's about someone who goes to hilly Fields and then disappears.... and that someone could very well be me, tripping out".

Now comes the news that on 18th July 2006 there will be a gathering of Nicely enthusiasts at Hilly Fields, possibly even an appearance by the man himself. Further details here

Summer Solstice

The Summer Solstice passed in various ways in South London. I went to Burgess Park, where Christopher Jones launched his new booklet ' I saw a tiger running wild... on the trail of Burgess Park' (published by Past Tense) accompanied by reading, incense and people in animal masks. It all took place on the bridge in the park that once spanned the now filled in canal.

On Lambeth Bridge, the Tribe of Avalon Summer Solstice ritual ended with offerings of flower petals on the waters of Goddess Tamesa, deity of the River Thames.

Others stayed up (or got up very early) to see the sun rise in Hilly Fields.

....we love bears....

29.06.06 [that's this Thursday] SUPERBOMPERS the new project from Need New Body/HIM's Tookie Sherman & agaskodo teliverek, hungarian duo presenting angular energetic rock epics
in conjunction with the bearspace private view for the exhibition Kounosuke Kawakami - Mindustrial Evolution. another perfect time to get your compilation 03

£3 voluntary contribution starting at 7.45

Bear Space, 154 Deptford High St London SE8 9PQ

Happy Birthday to Glue

The Glue Rooms are always good but this month is extra special (this is via Disinformation who gave a mind-melting show at Corsica Studio's under the Elephant a couple of years ago...)

Disinformation vs. Strange Attractor perform "CircuitBlasting" at The Glue Rooms (3rd Birthday Party),Amersham Arms, 388 New Cross Road, London, Wed 28 June2006, 7 to 11pm (bar till 12), £3, nearest BR and tubeNew Cross.

Full line-up also includes Bela Emerson,Led Bib, Sudden Infant, Temperatures, Complete Idiot,Uniform, DJ Tendraw & The Gypsies Dog, DJ Body Damage,DJ Possibly Sick, and (Disinformation remixer and Wireguitarist) Bruce Gilbert.

DJ Tendraw also gave an ace performance at the Seager Distillary at the end of May as part of a DIY response to the 'Made in Deptford' party. It was mostly to the indifference of the bastards with expensive haircuts, though.

Psychic Experiment

Throughout June and July you can take part in a parapsychology experiment investigating psychic ability and beliefs about luck and the paranormal. David Luke is inviting voluteers to give up 20-30mins of their time in SE London as part of his PhD project. The researcher will come to you in SE London, or you can come to Goldsmiths in New Cross. Volunteers will also be entered into a draw for a cash prize. For further information call or text 07727 681832 or email David.Luke@northampton.ac.uk.

Balata in Brockley

Next Thursday at the fantastic Rivoli Ballroom in Brockley there's a benefit git for children in the Balata refugee camp in Palestine. Artists/musicians performing includeDavid Rovics,Attila the Stockbroker, Strawberry Thieves Socialist Choir, Doc Jazz and Zaid Tayem.

Date and Time: Thursday 29 June at 7.30 pm. Location: Rivoli Ballroom, 350 Brockley Road, London SE4 2BY. Tickets: in advance £10 (unwaged £7), at the door £12(unwaged £10). For tickets and further information email strawberrythief@btinternet.com or call 07723 015926.