CALLING ALL CRAFTERS...

Next Thursday 3rd November from 7pm sees Rough Trade East celebrating all things craft in conjunction with Cicada Books latest book State Of Craft.

Lots of things to see and make on the night with some very special guests and contributors from State Of Craft.

Make a moustache for free for those of you who are unable to grow one for Movember. Print a tote bag for £1 or create a feathered hipster headdress for £3; then at 8pm put your DIY dilemmas to our crack team of crafters.

Fire questions to our guests u ber jewellers Tatty Devine, natty knitters and in-store vendors Prick Your Finger, sublime seamstress DIY Couture and print prodigy Mr Wingate.

This creative frenzy marks the release of State of Craft (Cicada Books), a new book featuring over 60 step-by-step projects from successful designer-makers - from pom-pom necklaces and cross-stitched tote bags to jam-jar lamps and old-jumper pouffes. Edited by BUST Craftacular London organiser Victoria Woodcock, the book also includes interviews with craftsters and how-to sections on knitting, crochet and sewing.

All materials supplied, no skills needed: bring your creativity and your crafting questions! No wristbands needed, just turn up on the night. Be early though as this is expected to be a busy one!

CAMDEN CRAWL 2012

CAMDEN CRAWL 2012 EARLY BIRD TICKETS GO ON SALE 9:00 AM on WEDNESDAY 26th OCTOBER!

Next year’s Crawl, scheduled for Friday 4th – Sunday 6th May, will be one of Olympic proportion. As a warm up to the weekend’s full programme, the Crawl will host an opening night marathon to be held at Camden’s historic KOKO venue featuring six live acts and a special guest headliner to be announced later this month.

Tickets for the Friday 4th May event and 15% reduced early bird weekend passes for Camden Crawl are on sale exclusively through www.thecamdencrawl.com and a limited amount of weekend ticket purchases will include the option to attend the festival’s opening night party.


To mark the launch of next year’s festival, Camden Crawl unveils its brand new VARIETY club night. VARIETY is four great nights out in one featuring an eclectic assortment of cutting edge comedy, London’s most competitive pop quizzes, guest DJs and a very special live music guest each week…and its FREE ENTRY!!

WHERE:... VARIETY at The Star Of Kings, 126 York Way, London N1 (Kings X O 5 min walk)

WHEN:... TONIGHT Wednesday, 26th October 2011 from 6:00pm until 12:00am curfew

WHO:... 7pm ROUGH TRADE SHOPS POP QUIZ / 8pm TIERNAN DOUIEB / PHIL NICHOL (live comedy)
9pm TWO WOUNDED BIRDS / 10pm YOUNG LEGIONNAIRE / 10.45pm GOOD GIRLS GONE BAD (DJ)

FREE ENTRY

The 2012 Camden Crawl programme will feature more than 250 of next year’s brightest music talents and special guests from the UK and abroad across Camden Town’s two mile stretch of historic pubs and venues. Previous line ups may be found at www.thecamdencrawl.com/archive. Additionally, its extensive daytime arts festival showcases cutting-edge independent talent across a variety of disciplines. 2012 events will include comedy, storytelling & spoken word, fringe theatre, a fanzine, poster and record fair, independent film screenings, outdoor live music stages and more. The festival’s interactive events will continue to include pop quizzes, live karaoke and plans are afoot for an ‘alternative pub-Olympics’.

Line ups are announced from January 2012 and, as always, venue schedules and surprise guest appearances remain under raps until the event.

VISIT WWW.THECAMDENCRAWL.COM FOR INFO AND TICKET DETAILS

Pat Graham - Instrument

One of next month's exhibitions is by photographer Pat Graham entitled 'Instrument'. It will be displayed in the shop from Tuesday 1st November running for two weeks until 15th November and will feature images from Pat's book of the same name.

On the opening night, Pat will discuss the process and stories behind the project that spanned 15 years in the making. Including tours with bands The Cribs and Modest Mouse, visits to the musicians homes, and studios, etc. Many of the UK based musicians will be on hand along with Pat to celebrate the release of Instrument. The night will include an exhibition of some of the best shots in the series as well as proofs from the book. Listening stations will be set up with the songs that go with the photos. So come and join us for this night of Sound and Vision. Books will be signed and prints will also be available.

In the mid nineties while living in Washington DC music photographer Pat Graham photographed Ian Mackaye (Fugazi, Dischord Records) and his iconic white Gibson SG. At that point his photo project Instrument was born. Over the next 15 years Graham documented/photographed and interviewed 50 plus musicians about there favourite instrument and the stories that went along with them.

Some of the artists in the book include:

Johnny Marr - The Smiths, Modest Mouse, Cribs, Healers, etc
Bernard Sumner - Joy Division, New Order
Colin Newman - Wire
Alex Kapranos - Franz Ferdinand
Gary and Ryan Jarman - The Cribs
James Cauty - KLF, The Orb
Ian Curtis - Joy Division
Tom Cullinan - Th Faith Healers, Quickspace
Jerry Dammers - The Specials, Special AKA Arkestsra
Justin Vernon - Bon Iver
Hal Blaine - Beach Boys, Phil Spector, etc
Jeff Tweedy - Wilco
Kim Deal - The Pixies
Billy Childish
Kate Nash


Here's a selection of a few of the images taken from Pat's book...



Alex Kapranos - Fender 1973 Fender Telecaster - Alex bought this guitar in 2003 for 666.00 pounds he has played it every since.



Billy Childish's - Kira guitar - Billy learned to play on this



Hal Blaine's Sleigh Bells, etc. These bells and percussion instruments can are the sound of Good Vibrations as well as Phil Spectors wall of sound.



Ian Curtis' Vox - Heard on the Love will Tear us Apart and seen in the video as well.



Johnny Marr's red 1959 Gibson 355 - One of Johnny's favorite guitars. He wrote Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now and Girl Afraid on this guitar.



Bernard Sumner's Moog Source - This is the sound of the bass in Blue Monday.

More information can be found here.

Mother, Brother, Lover by Jarvis Cocker

Jarvis Cocker is widely regarded as one of the most original and memorable lyricists and performers of the last three decades. Mother, Brother, Lover (his first book) is a collection of seventy lyrics, selected and annotated by the author.

Opening with an essay on the art of lyric-writing, the selection features Pulp classics such as 'Common People', 'Babies' and 'This is Hardcore', as well as less familiar and unreleased songs. Spanning thirty years of songwriting, the collection reveals a unique sensibility: a sometimes visceral, sometimes everyday take on love, relationships and the things we do to each other when the lights get low.

Mother, Brother, Lover takes the reader on a tour into the life, art and preoccupations of one of the great British artists of the late twentieth century. Shocking, sharp, clever and funny, it is a beautiful, enduring collection.

There will be a super limited edition version of the book. 100 copies at £100 each. It will contain a bookmark made from an individual strip of passport photos. Each bookmark is unique and will be signed, numbered and dated by Jarvis. The book itself will be signed numbered and slipcased. Books can be pre-ordered from our online shop here.

Faber & Faber recently announced an expansion of their relationship with Jarvis Cocker, as he is appointed Editor-at-Large. Cocker will work closely with Lee Brackstone and Hannah Griffiths in a broad commissioning role. Cocker's appointment echoes the role famously played by Pete Townshend in the 1980s at Faber.

Here's an interview with publishing director Lee Brackstone where Jarvis talks about writing lyrics, his inspiration and his thoughts on putting together his first published collection.

NICKY WIRE IN CONVERSATION WITH DORIAN LYNSKEY

To celebrate the launch of his new book 'Death Of A Polaroid' - A Manics Family Album, Nicky Wire will be in conversation with Dorian Lynskey, author and Guardian music critic.

Documenting more than twenty years of the band's career, Nicky Wire has kept a personal visual history of the Manic Street Preachers' various evolutions and travels across the world, right from their early beginnings in Blackwood, Wales. Nicky will discuss his passion for polaroid photography and the history of the iconoclastic band, and take part in a book signing following the Q&A.

The event, brought to you by Faber & Faber in association with the Guardian, will be hosted here at Rough Trade East on Wednesday 16 November.

An exhibition of Nicky's own polaroids will also be on display in the shop from 16th - 30th November.

Tickets for this special event are exclusively available to Guardian readers, at £11 or £9 for Extra members.

An invite will also be included with preorders of the special limited edition hardback version from Rough Trade. More information on the book can be found here.

Here's a video of Nicky Wire introducing the book and talking of his love for Larkin...

30 Years of On-U Sound... Disturbing The Comfortable, Comforting The Disturbed

Since 1981, with label boss and producer Adrian Sherwood at the helm, On-U Sound has released over 100 albums and singles and has launched the careers of, and inspired an endless list of artists.

In celebration of this cult British label reaching the grand age of 30 years, On-U Sound and Rough Trade East are excited to present a very exclusive London in-store special event.

A night not to be missed, Thursday October 27th 2011, will begin with a rare in-person Q&A between Adrian Sherwood and Steve Barker of the highly respected BBC radio show, On The Wire. This will be followed by a mind-bending DJ ‘head-to-head’ between Adrian Sherwood and reggae maestro musician/producer, Dennis Bovell.

On-U Sound and Rough Trade will also collaborate to release an exclusive and limited New Age Steppers 7” vinyl collectors’ item. Featuring the track Fade Away, the A-Side of the first ever single to be released by On–U Sound in 1981, the single will be backed by a sneak preview track from the brand new forthcoming New Age Steppers album to be released in 2012.

The single will only be available to fans upon entry to the in-store event on the night. Pre-ordering the single via the Rough Trade website will guarantee entry to the event (one per person) and must be collected on the night. Otherwise entry is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Unique, maverick and massively respected, On-U Sound is undoubtedly one of the UK’s most influential independent labels. Never straying far from the cutting edge, it has contributed to a strikingly diverse soundtrack to chaotic post-punk, post-colonial Britain.

For more information on On-U Sound click here...

TECHNOLOGY WILL SAVE US AT ROUGH TRADE EAST

Do you love sound? Have you ever wanted to know more about it? Come learn how to solder an amplifier as well as design and construct your own set of speakers out of any material.

We have a DIY SPEAKERS WORKSHOP by TECHNOLOGY WILL SAVE US this Saturday 15th October from 10am - 1pm.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW ONLINE OR AT ROUGH TRADE EAST.

There are 20 tickets for this workshop priced at £60 per ticket and includes all materials.

Check out this video demo...

DIY Speaker Demo from Daniel Hirschmann on Vimeo.

ADJAYE. AFRICA. ARCHITECTURE.

One of the world's most exciting young architects, David Adjaye has built acclaimed houses, commercial and public buildings all over the world and is coming to Rough Trade East to discuss his new book "Adjaye. Africa. Architecture."

Rough Trade East will be hosting an event entitled "An evening with David and Peter Adjaye" on Monday 17th October at 6pm.

Join David and Peter Adjaye for conversation, images and sound from their new collaborative project.

Over a ten-year period, the architect David Adjaye has visited 53 major African cities and photographed thousands of buildings, sites and places that few of us will ever be able to visit.

Now he shares his observations in a new book. It documents Adjaye's tribute to African metropolitan architecture. The individual volumes present cities according to the terrain in which they are situated - the Maghreb, Desert, The Sahel, Savanna and Grassland, Mountain and Highveld, and Forest.

In conjunction with this project, his brother, Peter Adjaye, has curated the African Metropolitan Music Compilation that explores some of the most significant styles of African music across these geographical zones .

David Adjaye will introduce the project and talk about his journey. Peter Adjaye will then respond. This will be followed by a book signing and a DJ set showcasing the African Metropolitan Music Compilation.

More information about the night can be found here and you can also pre order the book here.

Fires and Fanzines from Caught By The River

We've got a couple of things to mention on the Caught By The River side of things.

Firstly, Caught By The River's book of the month is now on sale here at Rough Trade East along with their eclectic selection of books on nature and culture.

October's chosen title is Fire Season: Field Notes From A Wilderness Lookout by Philip Connors. 
For five months of every year Philip Connors quits the city and becomes a fire lookout. Connors had me fascinated as he tells what he sees from his observation tower in New Mexico’s Gila wilderness and joins the dots between Aldo Leopold and Jack Kerouac with a subtle nod to Thoreau – “Every day in a lookout is a day not subtracted from the sum of one’s life.” 

A short video about the book can be viewed here...



Secondly, next Wednesday 12th October from 6.30pm - 8pm sees the second installment of monthly events brought to you by the Caught By The River boys. Read on for more details but this looks like it's an event not to be missed…



Xerox – A Celebration Of Fanzine Culture From The 70s To Now

Time and again, we’ve found ourselves saying that Caught By The River is like a fanzine. As longtime fanzine readers, writers and buyers, it makes total sense that there would be something lo-fi and DIY deep inside us; an ever present and excitable urgency to pass on newly learnt information to as many people as possible.
Earlier this year, we decided to join the dots between our site and some of the grassroots mags that had been inspirational to us by holding Tales From The Typographic Ocean, a symposium at Port Eliot Festival to discuss the roots of the UK’s underground press. Our very good friend Emma Warren (formerly of Jockey Slut) hosted a panel that featured Rough Trade’s Geoff Travis, Elektra record’s biographer Mick Houghton and ZigZag man Andy Childs. Tripping back to the late 60s, the talk moved onto punk rock and beyond, painting a kaleidoscopic picture of a time before today’s heavily sponsored, focus grouped music press.
Back in the Smoke, we thought it was something worth revisiting. On Weds October 12th, we’re staging a second fanzine panel. We’re calling it Xerox. This time it’ll go beyond punk, taking in C86, acid house and a whole bunch more. The line up on the night will feature Caught By The River contributors Andy Childs (ZigZag), Andrew Weatherall (Boy’s Own), Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne) and Geoff Travis (Rough Trade), all in conversation again with Emma Warren.

It’s free.

It’ll also be the launch of our own Caught By The River fanzine. More of that later though…

Stormtroopers Arrive At Rough Trade

Rough Trade East has become exclusive UK retailer of Andrew Ainsworth’s Original Stormtrooper range of replica helmets.



Andrew Ainsworth, prop designer of the iconic figures, recently won a Supreme Court ruling against George Lucas, allowing him the right to sell replicas (outside of the US) made using his original designs.

Andrew says, "I'm very excited to be working with Rough Trade, a wonderfully inspiring independent retailer whose roots, like mine, go back to the mid-70's. Rough Trade East is the perfect modern environment to appreciate my work, given its joyous celebration of all things independently creative."

Director of Rough Trade Retail Group, Stephen Godfroy, says "Andrew is a undisputed design genius, fiercely independent in his astonishing battle to retain rights to his seminal contribution to popular culture. We're naturally very proud and excited to exclusively represent his work."

Following the Original Stormtrooper range on-sale here at Rough Trade East, a Q&A event will be held at the store (date TBC) in which Andrew will tell his incredible story… make sure you follow our twitter @roughtradeshops for more announcements and updates.

In the meantime here's a short video on how the iconic stormtrooper helmet is made...

It's National Poetry Day...

... so we've got a load of new poetry bits in the café over at East, and all available online as well. Here's everything you need to get your poetic kicks this weekend...



Firstly, we have the truly beautiful Faber Romantics set. All the poets you need, with great new selections from the likes of Andrew Motion, Paul Muldoon and Fiona Sampson. Keats, Blake, Clare (my personal favourite) et al all exquisitely packaged in hardback form with a design nod to Josiah Wedgewood. Get the whole set. Seriously.



Secondly, we have two new books from two of the most exciting poets currently working...



Daljit Nagra's latest is a kaleidoscopic, pan-cultural masterpiece; deftly blending linguistic and cultural tropes to create an exhilarating, humming melting pot. This book becomes city itself. The whole world in fact.



And then, out today, the elegant, rich and sometimes harrowing new book from Alice Oswald. A meditative, distilled translation of the "atmosphere" of Homer's Iliad, Oswald has turned the great narrative epic into a bittersweet, elegiac jeremiad. A great review can be found on the Caught By The River site here.

It is said the English love poetry, but never buy it.

More information on National Poetry Day can be found here.

Yarn @ The Nursery Festival **THIS FRIDAY**

Our friends at YARNFEST are making a guest appearance, joining up with The Nursery Festival for a very special night of storytelling this Friday 7th October at Light Industrial Theatre on Ewer Street.

With not one, but two shows in one night, this is an extra special double bill to welcome you to a season of dark nights and cockle-warming wine drinking evenings.

DUET

... by Richard Marsh and Katie Bonna

Duet is a brand-new piece - expect tales of the world's least romantic, most romantic stag and hen dos, festivals, lonely Christmas dinners and a pineapple. A wry, warm, real romance told in a hopeful, heartfelt way. Richard and Katie perform hilarious, heartbreaking poems together. Both work as playwrights. Richard's one man play Skittles has just finished a very successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Katie is currently writing a new play for the theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds.

THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP

Nudging our regular monthly night to a Friday evening, comedian and playwright Tom Basden will be back in action, with Sam Taradash and some very special guests. Barry Walsh is a born Londoner. His novel, ‘The Pimlico Kid’ (soon to be published by Harper Collins), is a tragicomedy about growing up in central London in the 60s. Fluttering somewhere between theatre, comedy and performance art, and renowned for his inquisitive wonder, Radio Four star Julian Fox joins the Special Relationship.

And your Friday night doesn't need to stop there, we'll be going into the early hours with THE DIXIE TICKLERS ft. GUSTAVE ANDREW DJ SET (WAX COTTON). The Dixie Ticklers are one of the UK's most respected acoustic bands. They are transforming and revisiting classic New Orleans music. These guys are so hot that even New Orleans enthusiast Woody Allen has a copy of their album.

Take a look at the rest of The Nursery Festival line-up, and book your tickets here

VINYLMANIA LAUNCHES CROWD-FUNDING CAMPAIGN

VINYLMANIA LAUNCHES A CROWD-FUNDING CAMPAIGN - "The 33 in 45".

$33,000 in 45 day - Kickstarter campaign launches to fund the VINYLMANIA special double edition DVD set

ABOUT THE FILM

The 75 minute feature length documentary is an epic love story filled with fascinating characters and internationally recognized artists including PHILIPPE COHEN SOLAL (Gotan Project), WINSTON SMITH (Dead Kennedys, Green Day record sleeve artist), PETER SAVILLE (Joy Division, New Order record sleeve artist) and DJ KENTARO (2002 DMC World DJ Champion).

Devotion, ecstasy, infatuation, agony – all feelings that the director of the film, Paolo Campana, has experienced from childhood and shares with like-minded record collectors, Djs, musicians and artists (the said vinylmaniacs) in the documentary.
Also featuring: SANJU CHIBA (Elp corp. Laser Turntable), EDDIE PILLER (producer Acid Jazz/DJ), THE KARMINSKY EXPERIENCE (DJ) JEROME SYDEHNAM (DJ), G.RINA (DJ/producer), KEY KOBAYASHI (Routine Jazz/DJ), THE MILLIONAIRE (Combustible Edison), PHILIP JECK (music performer), BOB GEORGE (ARC/Archive of Contemporary Music, New York), RICH MEDINA (DJ), CHRISS DE GAN (collector), DANIEL BINDER (record dealer), JOEL STONES (Tropicalia In Furs)
And... GZ (vinyl factory - Czech Republic), ARC/Archive of Contemporary Music (New York) and record stores: AMOEBA RECORDS, 101RECORDS STORE, GROOVES (San Francisco), ROUGH TRADE, INTOXICA, PHONICA (London), TROPICALIA IN FURS (New York), DISK UNION (Tokyo), BINDERPHON (Prague), SPACE HALL (Berlin)...

Here's a trailer...




ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN

Now VINYLMANIA is launching a crowdfunding bid on KICKSTARTER - the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world!

Their goal? To raise the money to bring the music documentary onto a special edition dvd to distribute worldwide.

Presented with a cover sleeve created for the film by the notable American artist, Winston Smith (Dead Kennedys, Green Day record sleeves), the special edition double dvd set will include:
- The 75 minute documentary film Vinylmania with booklet insert
- Exclusive bonus material filmed with outtakes from the film and short personal stories from artists, collectors, Djs and Musicians, records stores, labels and other curiosities from the groove of vinyl records. With: Klaus Flouride (lead bassist of the Dead Kennedys), Richie Hawtin (alias Plastikman), V.Vale (Re/search publisher), DJ's from Luxuria Music internet radio in LA, Disk Union (Tokyo), Rough Trade (London), Amoeba (San Francisco) and other hidden away records store on the planet.

PLEASE MAKE YOUR DONATIONS HERE

More information about the film can be found at www.vinylmaniafilm.com

PHOTOMONTH - East London's International Photography Festival 2011

Last Thursday was the official opening of Photomonth 2011 East London's international photography exhibition.

The Opening Exhibition this year is a retrospective of Phil Maxwell's work entitled "Forty Years On - A photographic journey from the 70's to the present. "

Celebrating 40 years of Phil Maxwell’s work and its archiving for public use by the Bishopsgate Institute, the exhibition takes you on a journey through his youth in Liverpool to his later life in the East End of London. Housed in two venues - the Bishopsgate Institute and here at Rough Trade East – you can walk between the two buildings and experience the vibrancy of the East End first hand.
This is the East End seen through Phil Maxwell’s lens - his backdrop and canvas against which he’s captured sketches of life, documenting an instant in time and the social conditions and history of his community.

Rough Trade East also plays host to another exhibition in conjunction with Photomonth by Constantine Gras entitled "Vinyl Replay."

Vinyl Replay from Constantine Gras on Vimeo.

Vinyl Replay is a unique visual exploration of Constantine's record collection. In the studio and on location, he used long exposures, often with a camera in motion, to reinterpret his dusty and scratched vinyl records. These records range from 1966 when the Beach Boys filtered across his mum's amniotic sac, up until his last days of active vinyl collecting from Mole Jazz in the early 1990's.

"I want to re-invoke the space and time of this analogue existence: early days of collective family listening; rushing down to Woolworth's with pocket money to buy singles; the flowering of sexual identity in post-punk teens; and the outrage and civil disobedience against Thatcherite Britain."

On display until 31st October at Rough Trade East.

Other highlights of the festival include an exhibition of works by Carole Suety on display from Thursday 6th October at agnès b on Lamb Street. Carole explores relationships through the appropriation of an old French tradition of keeping a bell jar to preserve the memories of married life.



One of our favorite local boozers The Carpenter's Arms are displaying the works of Andrew Grainger. This is Andrew's first solo exhibition after having removed himself from nearly a decade of photographing the fast paced industry of fashion and advertising, he has rediscovered his passion for photography by capturing the reality and spontaneity of his surroundings in his body of work "What's The Brief."

More information on Photomonth 2011 can be found at www.photomonth.org