Róisín Murphy (Koko, Camden) 28/11/07

Saw a lunchtime piano recital by Alexander Karpeyer at the St James's Church in Piccadilly (designed by Christopher Wren, and where William Blake was baptised). Was also interviewed by a street camera crew for a Virgin 1 documentary called Money Envy!

All in all an interesting day, capped off by another gig at our Camden local, Koko - this time by irish electronica singer Róisín Murphy, formerly of Moloko:

Roisin Murphy has become the fashionistas’ favourite dance-pop diva since striking out solo. More cutting-edge than Kylie, much cooler than Madonna and with an adventurous dress sense surpassed only by Alison Goldfrapp, the glossy blonde had only to stride on stage and strike a modelling pose to send the Koko crowd crazy.

Murphy altered her outfit between every track — skintight trousers and a body-hugging top were accessorised with a puffy smock, long leather gloves and a bright pink beret. Later came various outrageous hats, designer jackets and, for a routine with a chair, what looked like a feather-trimmed negligée.

Setlist:
Cry Baby
You Know Me Better
Checkin' Up On Me
Primitive
Dear Miami
Pandora
Sow Into You
Footprints
Scarlet Ribbons
The Truth (Handsome Boy Modelling School)
Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Movie Star
Tell Everybody
Forever More (Moloko)
Let Me Know
Overpowered

Encore:
Ramalama (Bang Bang)

More Lucky Quid

And that's a wrap!

Lucky Quid

Spent all weekend working on Andy's new short film, The Lucky Quid. It was a tough shoot, as we were outside the whole time (it was freezing) and I did a lot of set dressing under a filthy rail bridge. I still haven't been able to clean my nails properly :)

They say 'don't work with children or animals'. Well, this weekend we did both. Our child actor was pretty intransigent on Saturday, but was blessedly well-behaved on Sunday. We also did a sequence with a couple of rats, which turned out to be a cakewalk - without a single escape attempt!

Andy directing Keo:

Andy and cameraman Simon checking a shot:

Keo becomes a film-maker himself with my little Sony:

Filming in the same underpass as the hobo scene from Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange:

Freya, our downtrodden lady of the evening:

I know it's cold, but that's only going to keep him warm for a few seconds...

Simon shows off some of his mountaineering skills to get a tricky shot:

A few embers in the BBQ set to keep the fingers warm!

Keo grabs a few minutes...

The adult rag-boy in his hobo hovel:

November update

Cold, cold, cold. London is officially freezing the balls off a brass monkey again... and it's only Autumn! In preparation, I have bought a nice new jacket (with Anna's capable assistance of course). I had my eye on a rather spiffy jacket at a nearby Italian samples shop, for a mere £185. Anna helped me find a much cheaper, yet suitable and similar alternative at Esprit.

As it happens, right now is a bad time to be shopping in London. The Christmas lights are out over Oxford Street, and the foot traffic has increased exponentially. Fortunately, we have done all of our holiday shopping, and sent the pressies home with Terry, so we don't have to worry about the crazy seasonal mail either.

I wanted to show Anna the neat displays at Hamleys, but it was like entering a mosh pit, so we only made it a few feet in before high-tailing out again. They do have a great Dr Who window display, with a life-size Tardis and Dalek, and a couple of the clockwork monsters from The Girl in the Fireplace. Seemed popular with the kids, and dorky old fans like me.

Recently we've attended a couple more BFI events. First we went and saw the cast and writers of popular Mitchell and Webb comedy Peep Show, and then did the same a week later for the cult Simon Pegg series Spaced. A great atmosphere both times, and some interesting background discussions. Didn't bother with signatures and photos this time - it's too cold to wait around!

We also said goodbye to some emigrating friends. York-pal Rachel is back off to NZ, and our first London hosts, Ian and Nerida are back to Aussie. Now we need some new immigrés to fill the gaps. Boo hoo hoo!

What else? We managed to miss all of the Guy Fawkes celebrations. Anna got her UK passport. I got food poisoning. We saw kiwi horror-comedy Black Sheep with Simon, and came 7th out of 13 at a pub quiz with Connor and Mark. (We just need a British team member to raise our average.) I had my first short week at work, and mostly finished editing a music video.

Bat for Lashes (Koko, Camden) 29/10/07

Took Anna to see this wonderful band last night. It's a female four piece headed by singer/writer Natasha Khan, and they play a rather odd, but deliciously layered, kind of music. It was a great show, with a decorated set of ghostly trees and support from a string trio and a brass section with French horn, trumpet and trombone.

Intro band was a French group called Spleen, who were fun to watch as they interacted with the audience and seemed to be having a good time.

Setlist:
Trophy
Tahiti
Horse And I
What's A Girl To Do?
Sad Eyes
Missing Time (new song)
I Saw A Light
The Wizard
Bat's Mouth
Lonely (Tom Waits cover)
Sarah

Encore:
Moon And Moon
Prescilla

Natasha also sang a little ditty from 1955 film The Night of the Hunter: "Once upon a time there was a pretty fly, he had a wife this pretty fly but one day she flew away, flew away. She had two pretty children, but one night those pretty children flew away into the sky, into the moon."