Daisy's Letter From London: May 2013

It's warm, it's cold...Not sure what the weather's doing. I've just put a shepherd's pie in the oven to heat the house. Gary's bouncing about because the Stone Roses MADE OF STONE movie premiere, live from Manchester, is being beamed into the legendary Screen on the Green later. He's had his ticket booked for weeks. He went to that reunion gig in Manchester last year. He bought me a hat:

Arrived into Heathrow last week and went to Chancery Lane where I looked after Bo The Cat. I got a four-paw foot massage every morning (lovely) and walked up Charterhouse Street to the City to meet some friends at Host Cafe on Watling Street (in a church!) - actually the oldest church to St Mary - St Mary Alderymary - opposite Mansion House Tube Station. We had a lovely cup of free-trade coffee (£1) and there were pastries for not very expensive, too. There were sofas (and restrooms). At 8:15am they had meditation (til 8:50) and drop-in yoga. It was a quiet, soothing place to have a catch-up chat, high ceilings and stained glass and gentle whispering barristers before heading over to St Paul's Cathedral. (Continued after the jump.)

America's youth reacting to the fact that the Stone Roses are a Coachella headliner

For more fun, visit http://whoarethestoneroses.tumblr.com/

Daisy's Letter From London: Best of 2012

 

1. 198 Gallery:  Blank Generation Punk Poster Exhibition - Daisy's friend from art school, Lucy Davies, now runs a great Community Gallery that hosted Gary Loveridge's punk poster collection…a good time was had by all!

2. Moonrise Kingdom by Wes Anderson

2A: To ward off homesickness:  I listen to Radio Free Song Club 

3. Dexy's new album, One Day I'm Going to Soar, played in full at Shepherd's Bush (not a dry eye in the house).

4.  Stone Roses reform and play 3 sold out gigs in their home town, Manchester.  This is Gary holding up my new hat in Heaton Park (left).

6.  There is actually a sunny day in the summer and we sit on a hill by Alexandra Palace and have a picnic.  

5.  We played Jack White's fantastic but creepy new solo album Blunderbuss in the car.  Meanwhile Jack White wears BLUE clothes!

6.  Gary visits San Francisco, goes to see Rise and Fall of The Clash and meets up and coming Spanish filmmaker, Danny Garcia - introduces Daisy via Facebook, and Daisy starts transcribing interviews for his new movie Looking For Johnny (Thunders) and the flashbacks begin!

7. Daisy goes to Paris with Alexandra.  While Alex goes to her 30th high school reunion, Daisy enjoys Noir Blanche.  We stay in the crepe district, visit Samuel Beckett, buy a new umbrella.

8. Rough Trade Record Shop events:  We particularly enjoyed Jarvis Cocker reading from Mother Brother Lover.

9. Living legend, Lee Black Childers' book launch at Soho's Society Club.

10.  Gary goes to all of the Memorial events for 10th Anniversary of Joe Strummer's death. Namely:  

- The Arms Aloft in Acton Town gig at the Tabernacle Notting Hill

- Joe Strummer Memorial Poster Pop Up Exhibition at Tabernacle

- Meeting Joe Strummer - a play by Paul Hodson at the Cockpit, NW8

- London's Burning (a particularly good performance by The Phobics) 

- 100 Club weekend of gigs, Remembering Joe: 10th Anniversary Memorial Weekend, which featured Spizz, The Duel, Ruts DC, The Latchicos, Glen Matlock, Eddie Tenpole, and TV Smith

 

Stone Roses - The Second Second Coming

Hat tip to the Quietus. It may be time for the Brit Pop version of Yacht Rock.

Shot By: Ian Tilton

I've always loved this photo of the Stone Roses. It was taken by Ian Tilton who, while snapping many photos of the band, helped to fix the band's image in the public consciousness. If you look long & hard enough you'll find many examples of specific photographers & writers who were almost as important as a given band's manager or producer in helping promote a certain image and ultimately "selling" a band or artist to music fans.

Anyway, Mr. Tilton has an exhibit of his Stone Roses work happening in Manchester beginning today - get the details here. And read a nice piece about Tilton by his childhood friend, John Robb, over at Louder Than War. Also be sure to visit Tilton's official site where I'm sure you'll recognize quite a few other images.

Before and After: I Wanna Be Adored

Before - The Stone Roses (The Stone Roses 20th Anniversary):


After - Badly Drawn Boy:

Pictures On My Wall - John Squire

Best known as the guitarist of the Stone Roses, John Squire began painting at least as far back as the the band began which was in the early-mid 80's. The majority, if not all, of the band's releases featured his work on it's covers. Although his style could probably be described as a bit derivative, it happens to be derivative of a lot of other artists whom I like very much. In other words, he's got good taste, and I like where he's coming from. And he does it very well. Click here to see a short video of John discussing a recent exhibition in London. See more of John's work at JohnSquire.com.