Durham Book Festival and Durham Amateur Pianists

In the spirit of friendly comparison with Ottawa International Writers' Festival, last week M and I went to see a few events at this year's Durham Book Festival. The week started off with an excellent talk at the Gala Theatre on Tuesday 15th October by Dr Lucy Worsley on her new book A Very British Murder. Humourous and informative, with extra information about her day job and some good questions and comments afterwards (I also found her website, which answered my question, where does Lucy get her coats!?)

Saturday 19th October saw us at Durham Town Hall for 2 events. Stuart Maconie delighted a full house with a very witty talk about British social history through pop music, themed from but encompassing more than his latest tome, The People's Songs. The following event was entitled 'Discovering the North'. Filmmakers Michael Smith and Maxy Neil Bianco introduced 3 films from their series Another England, exploring the ideas of home and belonging with their portrayals of Hartlepool. Whilst the short films were insightful and often hard-hitting, the ensuing discussion was rather inane: badly chaired, overly long and definitely Missing Paul Morley (who was unable to attend due to transport issues).

Returning to matters musical, Durham Amateur Pianists is growing slowly but surely, now with an official website! Now 2 successful events down and a third arranged for November.

Comments

Pigeon Funk

Notes on a very random purchase. Earlier today I acquired Venetian Snares 'Rossz Csillag Alatt Sz ü letett ' purely on the basis of the language and artwork. Its certainly something different - and most definitely not pop. After a bit of searching: Venetial Snares is, according to Wikipedia, the performing name of Aaron Funk, who seems to specialise in experimental tracks in odd time signatures. Article here . The sleeve notes for this album (whose title is Hungarian for 'Born under a bad star') poses the question: what if, for just a day, we could both be pigeons? Interessant. Apparently this concept (a day in the life of a Hungarian pigeon) is non-typical of Venetian Snares sound, but one could ask, does Mr Funk do 'typical'? On first listening, the sound of this CD mixes classical/traditional Hungarian sounds and breakbeats. but aside from that? Definitely a 'listen for yourself' artist; try the website , fan site or myspace .

Hidden Witness

Moving house completed - for now - and we are back in the Vale of Evesham. The wonders of Facebook unearthed a live gig and St Richard's Hospice fundraiser by slow-burning band Hidden Witness so off we went for an evening out in Worcester. I honestly can't remember the last time either of us did that.... cue pleasant surprise at our venue for the evening, Keystones Cafe Bar . Quite open and spacious in terms of standing room, reasonably large stage and a bar ensconced in the remaining medieval walls - much more atmosphere than many other small bars... A busy few weeks meant I hadn't had time to check out Hidden Witness' SoundCloud page so I had fresh ears and no expectation. The support band, The Miffs , were ok, with a few engaging covers, but sadly (for my ears) nothing memorable. After a short break - in which the background music made me feel both young and old simultaneously - Dan, Chris, Neil and Dan took the stage for an interesting set. A few ...

Mini update

I have finally sorted out my site links to reflect some new/renewed interests and my current location. We have something of a National Arts Centre bonanza shortly: I had already booked to see Angela Hewitt on 16th Feb but found a good ticket offer on LivingSocial.com to see Radu Lupu this coming Wednesday, 26th. In addition to all that, New Yorker music critic Alex Ross (his recent book, Listen To This , is excellent, as well as his previous tome, The Rest Is Noise ) is giving a talk there on 13th February. This is all followed in March by a complete about turn to the Bronson Centre to see Finnish band Apocalyptica . They have been somewhere on my radar for a while but I was spurred on to book tickets after a bout of nostalgia. M and I were regular visitors to Wolverhampton UK to see various bands at Civic Hall/Wulfrun Hall; a few months ago a mutual friend posted on that there Facebook thing about seeing said Apocalyptica at Wulfrun Hall. Nostalgia for the venue and renewed intere...

PrettyInScarlett

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