CAMDEN CRAWL 2011 - LAST MINUTE TIPS

IT RAINED for the first time in the history of the Camden Crawl last year. When I say rained, more like giants stood atop Primrose Hill hosing down Camden High Street until all the little indie ants were washed down the drain.


So let’s hope this year, the giants take a break from watering their gardens just long enough to let us music-loving ants swarm over Camden and Kentish Town’s finest venues for the Camden Crawl’s 10th anniversary.



Odd Future, Miles Kane, Killing Joke, British Sea Power, St Etienne, Graham Coxon, Frankie and the Heartstrings, Villagers, Giggs – the list of unmissable acts is endless but to be sure to catch your top choices requires military precision.

Army-style discipline alone is tough but throw in sun, good times, queues, clinging onto friends in a sea of people, navigating dark venues, and mountains of alcohol and the best laid plans are bound to dissolve into a haze of good intentions and gigs you didn’t quite plan to see.

This is not a bad thing –the Crawl is the ideal spotting ground for new music so enjoy the unknown acts and see if you can predict which ones are going to make it.

Here’s a few tips for the day – I won’t labour the wear comfy shoes point this year no matter how vital I think it is:

- It’s not all about gigs in dark places. There’s a whole daytime programme of comedy, theatre and the chance to pit your mind against some of the industry’s biggest musos at a choice of challenging pub quizzes.

- Manage expectations – don’t expect to see every band you want – there will be timetable clashes, mad dashes from Mornington Crescent to Kentish Town, and just plain old queues so prioritise and enjoy the unknown.

- Keep your eyes and ears open for secret appearances, pop-up gigs and the unexpected, last year Amy Winehouse was pulling pints at The Dublin Castle and Pete Doherty was hanging around outside the job centre, a few years previously David Schwimmer joined the crawl.

- Try to predict collaborations – as Giggs and Lethal Bizzle are both booked to play and they’ve just released the Monsta Man remix, that’s the one I’m guessing.

- Check out the Red Bull outdoor stage – it’ll be a rare chance to see rap collective Odd Future who made waves at this year’s SXSW festival. And if you can prove you’re an NW1 resident, you can get into Hawley Crescent for free.

- Download the Gaymers Camden Crawl 2011 The Album compilation – free to ticketholders from www.7digital.com/camdencrawl – and check out the bands you haven’t heard yet, you never know, it might just stop you missing out on the next band of the year.

- AND FINALLY – follow me on twitter for live updates throughout the weekend and tweet me any Crawl news, gossip or rumours of secret gigs – I promise to share – @roisingadelrab

ROCK 'N ROLL MAYORESS LINES UP EXTRAVAGANT BARFLY BALL

CAMDEN'S rock and roll Mayoralty were such a hit the first time they DJd at Barfly Camden they’ve been invited to return.
But this time Camden’s illustrious Mayoress Amy Lamé takes control alone as she plays gracious hostess at The Mayoress of Camden’s Charity Ball.

Ms Lamé has handpicked the acts that will invade Barfly Camden on May 6, chosen a bunch of class DJs and thought very carefully about the entertainment for the night.

And unlike what you might expect from a parochial do, this mayoress will not be turning out the lights at the respectable time of 10.30pm and there will be no carriages awaiting.

Instead, the night will run into the early hours – 3am to be exact so pack your flat shoes in your handbag for the stagger home.

Playing live will be The Caezars, UP, Suburban Mousewife, Emily Cappell and Kites with DJ sets from HORSEMEAT DISCO, Kevin Rowland (Dexy’s Midnight Runners), Hushpuppy, Gary Crowley, Readers Wifes, Martin Green and Broken Hearts.

There will also be installations and performances from the notorious Scottee, last year’s Time Out Performer of the Year, a Charity Cake Stall by Lily Vanilli (who has baked for Elton John, Alexander Mc Queen and Henry Holland), a mini salon giving Camden makeovers – a must for outsiders keen to capture that deliberately scrappy look – by Nina's Vintage Hair Parlour and a badge making stall by Philip Normal.
Expect surprise guests and performances throughout the night.

Proceeds go to the Mayor’s chosen charity, The Roundhouse Trust.
Tickets - £5adv from www.barflyclub.com

CAMDEN CRAWL TWEETERS + POLY STYRENE SLEEPS + PALOMA FAITH, TIM BOOTH AND HUGH LAURIE

A QUICK reminder to anyone not heading for the Camden Crawl – though can’t imagine what else you want to do with the long weekend – you can still feel like part of the festivities by catching Graham Coxon, Marques Toliver and more at their Levi’s Crawl set at Proud Camden on Sunday for a separate £10 ticket. Entry free to Crawl wristband holders.


And in case you didn’t see my appeal in our final preview, remember to tweet any Crawl news, sightings, gossip or secret gig rumours to me @roisingadelrab, I’ll be reporting the whole weekend live on Twitter.



• Really sorry to hear about the death of X-Ray Spex frontwoman Poly Styrene. Poly, whose real name is Marianne Elliot Said rejoined the band for a one-off show at Camden Roundhouse in 2008.

In a tribute this week, Jonathan Ross told how X-Ray Spex were the first live band he ever saw – at the Hope & Anchor in Islington.

• Coming up at the Union Chapel – Paloma Faith’s special charity show (May 5) to help raise funds for a friend who suffered brain damage in an accident. She will be joined by Noisettes, her X-Factor favourite Rebecca Ferguson, Michael Nyman, Claire Maguire, Rox, Alfie Boe, David Arnold & Ricky Wilson and the night will be hosted by Keith Lemon.

• Remember when James was great? Maybe Tim Booth can recreate some of their heyday magic when he headlines Koko on Tuesday – maybe he can fill us in.

• Former Record of the Week contenders and all-round new favourites Warehouse Republic play The Bowery on Wednesday – what else have you got do?

• Anyone got a golden ticket for Hugh Laurie’s Union Chapel show on Wednesday? Let me know, is he a better musician or actor?

KENTISH TOWN'S HIP HOP CONNECTIONS - SNOOP DOGG & WU-TANG CLAN HEADING TO NORTH LONDON

WHO said genuine hip-hop is the domain of south London?


Camden may be the natural lair of the guitar-plucking indie kid but it’s fast becoming a credible rival to Brixton when it comes to quality rap – both old school and decidedly much newer school.



These days anything slightly urban is no longer confined to the Jazz Café, which continues to host the gold standard acts for which it has become famous.

It’s just as likely that visiting rappers will play Koko, Electric Ballroom or, in the case of Ghostface Killah, be found chilling with Mark Ronson at Proud Camden.

Take a stroll down Kentish Town Road over the next couple of months and you’ll find some of the biggest names in the world bringing their hip-hop vibes to HMV Forum.

First, tha DoggFather himself, Snoop Dogg and his lazy ways launches his album Doggumentary – the permutations of the moniker knows no bounds – on May 17.

Then, on June 11 and 12, the stage will do well not to buckle under the heavyweight players that make up the Wu-Tang Clan.

Snoop has picked Kentish Town to debut his 11th studio album and is bringing a bunch of as yet unreleased special guests to the party.

Although we do know countless international producers including Damon Albarn, Gorillaz, DJ Khalil and Kanye West worked on the plaited rapper’s latest album.

Doggumentary chronicles Snoop’s long career – nearly 20 years in the business – and will be a useful aid-memoir to established fans as well as a convenient pocket history for a whole new generation.

The Long Beach rapper’s long been a fan of Twitter and now he’s using his social media prowess "doggument" – yes seriously – the album’s progress online.

He has launched the obtusely-labelled #PuffPuffPassTuesdays campaign, where he releases exclusive clips and tracks to his 2.5 million Twitter followers every week and is giving unprecedented access to his inner circle via his frequent Ustream sessions.

And did you know his real name was Calvin Broadus?

Don’t forget the sunglasses to avoid being dazzled by his accompanying bling.

The second and arguably more significant hip-hop show to hit The Forum this summer will be the might of the Wu-Tang Clan.

Over the years, RZA, GZA, and Ghostface Killah, among others, have appeared separately in Camden Town but to have the collective together at last is what we’ve been waiting for.

In their first tour together in four years, Method Man, Raekwon, Inspectah Deck, U-God and Masta Killa as well as the aforementioned trio should all be there.

Significantly absent will be Ol’ Dirty Bastard, who died in 2004, but his son, the aptly named Young Dirty Bastard will take on the rhymes of his father.

Yelawolf, recently signed to Eminem’s Shady Records label will also support.

RIP GERARD SMITH - TV ON THE RADIO BASSIST DIED TOO YOUNG

How sad to hear about the untimely death of TV on the Radio bassist Gerard Smith of lung cancer at just 34.
The band put the following on their website.:

"We are very sad to announce the death of our beloved friend and bandmate, Gerard Smith, following a courageous fight against lung cancer. Gerard passed away the morning of April 20th, 2011. We will miss him terribly.


The following shows will be cancelled:
April 20 St. Andrew Halls, Detroit MI
April 22 Metro, Chicago IL
April 23 First Ave, Minneapolis MN
April 24 First Ave, Minneapolis MN
April 26 Ogden, Denver CO
There will be more information as it becomes available."

Terrible news for a stunning band, due to play the Wireless Festival in Hyde Park later this year in support of Pulp.
In the meantime, take a moment to appreciate Gerard Smith's talents in Nine Types of Light, linked here.

Alternatively, here's an older video but worth watching.

GLASVEGAS NEW DRUMMER JONNA LÖFGREN - "I DIDN'T KNOW WHO THEY WERE"

GLASVEGAS have toured with U2, Kings of Leon and supported Oasis.

Three years ago they were winning universal critical acclaim for their debut album but over in Sweden, young drummer Jonna Löfgren, had never heard of them.
In fact she nearly missed the lecture that changed her life and catapulted her into one of Scotland’s most talked about bands of the last decade.




It may have been a joke, no-one really knows but when Rab Allan (guitarist and frontman James’ cousin), said he wanted a female Swedish drummer to replace original drummer Caroline McKay, Sony listened.

“I’m glad they took it seriously, otherwise I wouldn’t be here,” 23-year-old Jonna says.
She still not clear about Rab’s motives: “He likes Sweden, he likes Swedish girls and he likes girls. I think he just said it one day, I don’t know if he was really serious. When they tell me, they don’t know if he’s serious or not.”

Glasvegas play HMV Forum in Kentish Town on May 10. Expect to hear tracks from album Euphoric /// Heartbreak \\\ released last week.

Jonna has been in the band for just five months.
She was studying at music college in Sweden and had just signed a contract to drum for a musical production of Snow White for the next six months when everything changed.

She said: “We had a guest teacher for a day (at college) and I just had a fight with my ex-boyfriend. I didn’t want to go but we ended up going to the lecture. I think it was meant to be.”
She got talking to the speaker who mentioned Sony was looking for a Swedish female drummer.

So Jonna sent demos to Sony and Glasvegas’ management but it was a DVD recording of her drumming over the track Geraldine that clinched it.
“I was playing the song standing up like how they play it. I think that video was the thing that got them to like me. I think they felt my drumming was good enough so I didn’t have to audition for them.”

Jonna was invited to meet the band in London.
She said: “I was really nervous. I had a whisky on the plane down. Before I went I looked on Youtube for interviews with them speaking because I wanted to practice the accent, it’s so difficult. It didn’t work because I couldn’t understand them at all. Now it’s different because I’ve been hanging out with them so much. I really enjoy the accent.”

Jonna confesses she didn’t quite understand the enormity of being chosen to play for Glasvegas.
She said: “When I got the first phone call I didn’t know who they were. (The caller) was telling me on the phone how big this was. My hands started shaking when he was telling me. When I hung up the phone I Googled them. There was so much to read about them, how they’ve been touring with U2 and Kings of Leon, I was like Oh my God.”

Jonna showed early ambitions to be a drummer. At three she was banging pots and pans around in the kitchen, at six, she was telling her father just how much she wanted to be like a drummer on TV and at seven she got her first drum kit.

She said: “My dad said he was going to take me to buy some winter shoes and I was so happy because I have three siblings and he was only going to take me. I was like “yeah I’m going to get winter shoes”. So we went to this city and then it turned out we didn’t go to the shoe store. We went down to a basement and this guy opened the door and it was a drum kit. My dad asked me "Do you want this?" and I was like "Oh yes", I was so happy. So my first drum kit is my winter shoes.”

HUGH LAURIE'S GOT THE UNION CHAPEL BLUES + ODD FUTURE AT THE CAMDEN CRAWL

LISTEN up NW1 residents.

Those generous Camden Crawl people have saved up some of their most treasured signings for the Red Bull Bedroom Jam, which takes over Hawley Crescent for the May Bank Holiday weekend (April 30 – May 1). Entry is free for residents aged 14 or over (under 16s accompanied by an adult) who show proof of residence and age on arrival space allowing.

The King Blues headline on Saturday and the much-hyped ODD FUTURE WOLF GANG KILL THEM ALL play their first UK festival show on the Sunday. Others lined up include Attack! Attack!, The Qemists, Turbowolf, P Money and S.C.U.M. Crawl wristband holders also welcome.

Not easy to find a clip of Odd Future in their collective element so here's Tyler the Creator doing his own thing - Warning some may find lyrics offensive.


Forget the menacing hip-hop, this second clip shows Odd Future as straight-up skater boys - brings back memories of my own reprobate skater friends of the past.



• He’s so convincing on House, I’d forgotten he’s English – now Hugh Laurie’s embracing the deep South soul. He plays New Orleans blues from album Let Them Talk, which features collaborations with Tom Jones and Dr John, at the Union Chapel on May 4 – shame it’s sold out.

• Want to break into the music biz? Head to King’s Place for MusicConnex (April 19-21) where more than 100 industry experts will share their expertise on securing a career in the digital age in a series of seminars sponsored by Facebook, Youtube and MPA. Plus showcases from ILUVLIVE, Canadian Blast, One Taste and Busker Tales.

• We’re in the middle of London Latin Music Festival and the best is yet to come – see Ojos de Brujo’s 10th Anniversary Show at the Barbican (April 15), supported by Depedro, and A Night of Twisted Cumbia ft Mexican Institute of Sound, Axel Krygier and Pollito Boogaloo at Koko (April 17).

RECORD OF THE WEEK - GLASVEGAS, Euphoric /// Heartbreak \\\

GLASVEGAS have evolved just the right amount – the music is bigger, more produced and tinged with futuristic elements in the Blade Runner vein – but they’re still in there.

The accents haven’t softened, the lyrics are as gritty as expected and James Allan’s vocals are as laden with pain and heartbreak as ever.
What is missing is much of their characteristic retro percussion, which seems to have been superseded by Euphoric /// Heartbreak’s spacey dimension.

Single The World is Yours bursts through the French intro as a formidable anthem, an apt preamble to Euphoric///Heartbreak’s oddly jarring and hypnotic arrangement – expect to wake from your slumber. Almost faultless, although we could do without the forward/backslashes in the title.

SHAKESPEARE V WORLD CLASS RAPPER - AKALA'S HIP HOP SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PUTS THEM TO THE TEST

“MAYBE it’s hatred I spew, maybe it’s food for the spirit,” – Shakespeare or an internationally renowned rapper?
This is just one of the tests Akala poses in his quest to show young people the Bard’s work is not as archaic as they think.



For those who couldn’t work it out, the answer’s Eminem, on Renegade with Jay-Z.
The success of the hip-hop Shakespeare Company – which explores the social, cultural and linguistic parallels between Shakespeare and hip-hop – spearheaded by rapper Akala aka Kingslee Daley, and brother of Ms Dynamite, has not gone unnoticed.
They’ve featured on CNN, there’s a film in the pipeline and they’re due to appear at the Roundhouse Studios during the Camden Crawl (April 30-May 1).

Any trepidation youngsters have when joining a workshop is immediately broken when faced with the Shakespeare v Rapper test.
Kingslee, who grew up in Camden, and went to Acland Burghley School, said: “We ask if they think they can tell the difference between a quote from one of their favourite rappers and Shakespeare and they all say it’d be obvious, Shakespeare’s so different, so old. We do the test and no one can ever tell the difference.
“Once you take the language out of context you start to get a sense of how much your perception affects your treatment of art... Whether you like it or not, that’s just a part of the human condition. You make these judgements not solely based on the quality of the work and that’s what really becomes obvious to people.”

The Company aims to remove the elitism that surrounds Shakespeare, the “ignorant crass stereotypes” that surround hip-hop and to highlight entitlement.
Kingslee was attracted to Shakespeare from an early age because of its parallels to the lyrical music he already listened to: “It just clicked with me this is the same kind of stuff I already listen to – it’s poetry...he captured to human condition the way few writers have,” and is torn between Hamlet and Richard II as his favourite play.
He said: “Richard II is the most rhythmic, it sounds like a rap. Hamlet for the complexity of the story, the betrayal, the cauldron of feelings – it’s maybe his strongest character.”

The project has provided jobs and training for some of the most promising participants. One young writer has gone on to scribe plays for the Young Vic and Kingslee hopes one day to set up a whole institution dedicated to the cause.
Kingslee said: “Ultimately we all want the same thing – young people that can read and write well and are enthusiastic about language. Whatever methods we use that are most effective – that is the most sensible thing to do.”
Kingslee finds the job particularly rewarding.
He said: “When you work with young people in difficult circumstances and they share something with you through a piece of writing and it becomes a cathartic experience for them or they realise they have a passion no-one’s ever stoked in them or they have an intelligence that no one ever told them they have – that kind of ability to help people self discover is the thing I’m most proud of.”

He has just returned from Sudan, where he hosted workshops in-between gigs.
He said: “It went really well. I hate to say it but every time I travel, particularly to countries in the so-called third world, it’s embarrassing the level of education. No disrespect, but they have a much firmer grasp of the English language than most of the young people (he works with here). You have 16 year old kids when we’re talking about Shakespeare, saying, yeah he wrote in archaic English – this is the level of grasp of the language we’re talking about.

“Perhaps because education over there is so much more difficult to obtain, there’s so much more respect for it once it’s gone...They take it very seriously if they get the opportunity to get a decent education.”
And while Shakespeare proved a hit, so did the hip-hop.

He said: “Hip hop over there is as big as it is over here – all over Africa – hip hop and reggae – Bob Marley’s become bigger then he even was in Jamaica. He’s become a larger than life persona throughout the African continent. And hip-hop, particularly the more politically aware socially conscious hip-hop, has really connected, from my experience throughout the continent and the world.”

Kingslee no longer lives in Camden, having left for the peace of Hertfordshire but he’s having a change of heart: “I’m out in the sticks now but it’s a bit too quiet for me. I think I’m going to move back into Camden.”
• Further info from http://www.hiphopshakespeare.com/

SPOILED FOR CHOICE + ADAM ANT BOOK LAUNCH + JOSE GONZALES WAS A PUNK + THE VACCINES DJ

I SOMETIMES forget how lucky we are, living on the music-rich soil of Camden, Islington and Westminster – but then a week like this comes along and I remember how spoiled I am.


I was supposed to exclusively reveal Killing Joke are playing the Camden Crawl but Japanese Voyeurs beat me to it – Romily told Glasswerk Wales website they’ll be supporting the post-punk legends at the Electric Ballroom – Don’t forget to enter our ticket competition.

After the Crawl there’s still Wireless, Kenwood, Hard Rock Calling and the totally free iTunes Festival – and that’s just the festivals.

• Adam Ant’s as spirited as ever. He plays live at the launch of his book All The King’s Horses – there’s also a short play featuring a surprise actor – at Monto Water Rats tonight (Thurs).

• Badly Drawn Boy, Gideon Conn + Jim Noir join special guests at the Union Chapel tonight (Thurs) for Manchester Aid to Kosovo’s Ten album launch.

• If you miss The Vaccines at the Electric Ballroom, they DJ afterwards at The Wheelbarrow (April 8) – totally free.

• Did you know Jose Gonzales was Swedish? He’s mellowed since his days in hardcore punk bands and has teamed up with the 20-piece Gothenburg String Theory orchestra to play the Barbican (April 11).



• Music Week’s Breakout night is NOT to be missed – acts include Dog is Dead, Manchester Orchestra and felon turned rapper Fem Fel – Proud Camden (April 13).

• Wonder what Dinosaur Jr frontman J Mascis would sound like on his own? He plays solo at Relentless Garage (April 14).