Town keeps swinging

[imomus]

1. Momus finds himself in tune with the London graffiti.

2. Old friends show up at the Spitz. Left, Vici MacDonald, who used to write for Smash Hits and designed Momus album sleeves like 1989's "Don't Stop The Night". Right, Tammy Yoseloff, who tour-managed the first two Momus tours to Japan in 1992 and 1993.

3. Bert Teunisserc show at The Photographer's Gallery.

4. Also at the Photographer's Gallery, gorgeous Wizard of Oz-style colours and scenes in a show called Bound for Glory: America in Colour, 1939-43.

5. Why did colour film start so rich and then lose its subtlety so quickly?

6. Riflemaker becomes Indica. Beak Street gallery Riflemaker is recreating Indica, the experimental and collaborative gallery that operated between 1965 and 1967. For two years Indica was absolutely where it was happening in London -- as the press release for this recreation says, "a teenage Marc Bolan ran errands, Paul McCartney helped knock in nails, Polanski and Antonioni, Burroughs and Ginsberg hung out. International Times got started in the basement. John met Yoko there." Indica was actually in Mayfair, exactly where White Cube has opened its new branch. But Riflemaker have recreated it in Soho, calling in original curators Barry Miles and John Dunbar. Young emerging artists like Janfamily have been mixed with some of the original Indica people (like Yoko Ono) for this new show. The private view for Part 2 of the show is tonight, 6-9pm, at 79 Beak Street.

7. In front of the Spitz, where Momus played on Thursday night.

8. i-D journalist Suzy Corrigan in the Tate's rather funky hospitality room, full of children's activity equipment.

9. The curry proves just a little too spicy for Hisae at Sweet and Spicy, Brick Lane.

Oh, and happy birthday to London Boy David Bowie, who today sets a new standard of cool for all culturally-active 60somethings! Keep swinging, mate!

Comments

[myani.livejournal.com]

When I first glanced at this on My LJ, I saw the Myspace graffiti and immediately read "Tom keeps swinging" -- That's frightening, especially considering how relatively short-lived mine was.

I didn't know curry could be too spicy!

[(Anonymous)]

Wow! It actually sounds like you're enjoying your
visit to London! Careful.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm back in Berlin now. London was actually a bit grey this time, even Brick Lane lacked its former pizzazz, but perhaps that's just holiday season doldrums.

Anyway, London itself isn't the enemy -- that's MySpace, denim, conformity, the death penalty, cell phones, er, global warming, budget airlines...

0ff

[mnog.livejournal.com]

Hi, Nick! have you a concert plan for this year?
what about your comming to st petersburg?

Re: 0ff

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Email me at momasu@gmail.com, please.

run, bolan, run!

[electricwitch.livejournal.com]

Lolz at Bolan running errands. You know, in my head he looks like one of those street urchins in Sherlock Holmes. Not too far from the truth I suppose.

I wish Bowie would stop being culturally active in the "sucking up to P.Diddy" sense and start being culturally active in the "gaying P.Diddy" sense. Go on, Bowie, if you start being interesting again I'll stop writing horrific fanfiction about you, I promise.
Maybe.
No, I won't.

[electricwitch.livejournal.com]

PS: Yes, MySpace is for losers. Why else do you think I'm on it?????

[imomus.livejournal.com]

How on earth do you inset a movie into your icon, minisnape? Is it just an animated gif?

[electricwitch.livejournal.com]

Well, yes, as far as I understand the process, you can make an animated gif on it from adding stills into a sequence and then inserting it. But you'll have to ask heraliceeyes about it, since she made it. She's an icon jedi!

[darling-effect.livejournal.com]

My best friend's uncle is John Dunbar! (Which makes Marianne Faithfull her aunt.) I assume he's not involved in the new gallery?

[darling-effect.livejournal.com]

My close-reading skills have obviously abandoned me this morning! Never mind.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

I think I was slightly inaccurate: he's involved for this one-off reconstruction, but is not technically the curator. The show is curated by Tot Taylor and Virginia Damtsa.

[darling-effect.livejournal.com]

Ah! I see he's interviewing Yoko Ono on the 15th. Perhaps I'll go!

hi

[01-lazyuno.livejournal.com]

hi momus, nice to see you and your girlfriend yesterday in my shop. the artist from the song suis je normale is nini raviolette but i guess you know by know.
x

Re: hi

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Yes! God bless YouTube!

[Error: unknown template video]

And seriously, you have one of the most inspiring shops in an otherwise rather disappointing and grey London. What's its name again?

Re: hi

[01-lazyuno.livejournal.com]

i know, the video suits the song perfectly.
wow! do you really like the shop? thank you so much, we are really flattered! it's called The Lazy Ones.
xx

[junkerr.livejournal.com]

something deep down inside makes me want to get some white paint to make that read "myspace is for lobsters"

[qscrisp.livejournal.com]

Ironically, not only am I a loser with a MySpace page (I know, I know, but I was feeling experimental), but one of my MySpace friends is goes by the name 'lobster'. You can see why I felt moved to comment.

[rroland.livejournal.com]

i too am a loser, as is Sean Talley, John Fashion Flesh, Hikaru Furuhashi, Toog. it's a *free* place to put up music. that is why i'm there, if anyone knows of another free alternative please let me know.

oh, and Happy New Year to you as well Quentin.

5.

[lolitard.livejournal.com]

My friend Sarah performs magic with color... Here's an awfully nice compilation from last year:
http://www.urbanhonking.com/owl/2006/09/epic_summer.html

[qscrisp.livejournal.com]

Happy New Year, Rroland, I hope it's treating you well so far, and continues to do so.

I'm experimenting again with some new LJ avatars, but I'm not sure about this Napoleon Dynamite one...

[(Anonymous)]

Where is that myspace graffitti? I want to go see it.

[lord-whimsy.livejournal.com]

"Man is a wonderful toad!"--Lord Timothy Dexter (http://fifth-estate.home.comcast.net/lord_dexter/)

[(Anonymous)]

5. Why did colour film start so rich and then lose its subtlety so quickly?

IT'S CALLED TECHNICOLOR NICK...........................................................................ask for it by name.

love,
John Flesh

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Bowie's Berlin period is documented in this Radio 2 documentary (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio2_aod.shtml?radio2/r2_bowie).

[imomus.livejournal.com]

It might be somewhere near Holywell Row, between Great Eastern Street and Liverpool Street Station. Quite a small backstreet.

[qscrisp.livejournal.com]

Just thought I'd add, after some experience with tone of voice not coming across on Internet, and in case anyone cared, that the above comment is not written in an offended voice. To be offended, I'd have to believe that having a MySpace profile makes me a loser, and, unfortunately, it doesn't. I say unfortunately - if it did, curing myself of loser-hood would be a simple matter, as simple as deleting the profile in question.

[(Anonymous)]

good to see you play a song at the bethnal green working mens club on saturday! why just the one though? x

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Because Tony, you can leave the stage with them still wanting more (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1984501,00.html)!

[alphacomp.livejournal.com]

Out of curiosity, has Vici McDonald designed all of your pre-O trilogy albums?

[(Anonymous)]

Why exactly are budget airlines 'the enemy'? They have made foreign travel to places of cultural interest available to working class people, hitherto the concept of city breaks was largely a middle class diversion. Perhaps that why the middle class rooted, unquestioned orthodoxy/religion of enviromentalism has singled out budget airlines as it's latest target. Can't have those proles enjoying culture can we?

[imomus.livejournal.com]

has Vici McDonald designed all of your pre-O trilogy albums?

No, just Poison Boyfriend and Don't Stop the Night.

Tender Pervert and Monsters of Love are by Thomi Wroblewski. Hippopotamomus is by Paul White of Me Company (famous for his Bjork sleeves). Voyager is Rafael Jiminez, Ultraconformist is Mike Alway (possibly his worst sleeve ever), then all the sleeves after that are by me (the UK ones, anyway; the US ones were often by Matt Jacobson) until Folktronic, which is Florian Perret, as is Oskar Tennis Champion, then the last two are by James Goggin. Voila!

[alphacomp.livejournal.com]

Good design all around(well, with the exception of the Ultraconformist one; why distort perfectly good typefaces?)!

[(Anonymous)]

I saw that a couple of weeks ago, and it made me laugh out loud. But I had no camera on me.

I think it's near the centre of this map: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&ie=UTF8&z=17&ll=51.523938,-0.080348&spn=0.004786,0.009302&om=1

[butterflyrobert.livejournal.com]

As rroland put it:
"i too am a loser, as is Sean Talley, John Fashion Flesh, Hikaru Furuhashi, Toog."

http://www.myspace.com/theseahorseorchestra !

[lord-whimsy.livejournal.com]

Mightn't Poison Boyfriend, Tender Pervert and Don't Stop the Night be coined "the eyebrow trilogy"?

Mike usually does fun, colorful, poppy, cheerful sleeves. Good enough for The King of Luxembourg (http://www.dottwo.com/elgraphic/design/kingoflux.html), Lord Buckley (http://www.cherryred.co.uk/el/artists/lordbuckley.htm) and David Candy (http://www.dottwo.com/elgraphic/design/candy.html), good enough for me.

There, I defended him.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

His sleeves are usually great, which is why The Ultraconformist is such a mystery. What happened? Is it some sort of deliberate sabotage, or an aesthetic that we just didn't understand at the time? Or is it something to do with the low-res Atari computer images I supplied him with? My fault?

[lord-whimsy.livejournal.com]

The Helvetica Scare rampant at the time might have had a hand in things, I suspect.

I sometimes miss designing cd packaging, and the rich microcosm one could create by making sure a fixed set of selected/fabricated elements would echo, expand, recede or invert as one views the cover, tray card, booklet and cd label. So much could be done within such tight parameters--half the fun was setting up the arbitrary rules.

MySpace

[ashleyandel.livejournal.com]

Please don't be so judgemental--many of your friends and fans have MySpace pages.

I use the site to keep in touch with long lost friends who happen to use the site as well. It would hurt me if you called us losers.

Don't be such a twit! I like you!