//dis:003_January, 2001
Happy New Year - sorry for the break in correspondence, darlings.
After the most enchanting experience with a film crew in a pastoral nirvana in September, vibrational forces have taken over sending me into a whirlwind of gorgeousness. Back to my birth place in Harajuku, then over to Barcelona to check developments on the happening that is Sonar, then to London - only to find the strange past time of 'sales stomping' taking place.
Pleased to see that the boys have been busy though - Matt recently voted a 'Face to Watch' by the UK advertising industry magazine, Campaign; Andy pushing the electronic frontiers; and the infamous US based Xlr8r magazine and Cultural Enterprise giving the site props. Thanks x.
This month we see Kat Aurelia-Thompson embrace Folkdevil™ within //Dispatches, at last another female in the sweatshop - phew. Oh, I soiled my Sheila Maloney sleeve - er. Matt and Andy check the sounds that are flicking their switches, more digital thought is delivered in //Psycho-Babble.
So what's forthcoming. We see the festival season shimmy off to a glittering start with all tommorrow's parties. While on the subject of festivals, be sure to get your tickets for this year's Sonar and Future Sonic - both fibre optic insights into the landscaping of the electronic frontier.
Elsewhere we see the ICA play host to Paradigm Poets, a monthly ranting platform for local poets and general aural enthusiasts (12 Feb). On 27 Feb we also see the ICA host Mapping the '90s, an evening panel discussing mutations in digital music and the evolution of Internet communities. On the celluloid tip, make a trip to the nearest tiered neon showcase and check Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Ang Lee's latest cinematic pleasure, surely securing himself the Best Foreign Language Oscar. And finally, be sure to check our Folkdevil™ DJs playing across the etha at Toronto's own 2kool4radio.com in the comings weeks.
Be good, be positive, be YOU. Studded hipster belts to you all, Kimura x.
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Polyester Lifestyle_Kat Aurelia-Thompson
Launch parties aren't what they used to be.
Billed as the launch party to die for, E4 left everyone wondering what message
the new channel was trying to put out. If you'd not heard anything about the
channel's remit for youth-oriented entertainment, you could easily have been
forgiven for thinking it was all about esoteric gimmicks in Arctic climes.
I've never been so cold in all my life. Warehouse space may be de rigeur at
the moment, but a word of advice: if you're going to host a party in a converted
warehouse on Brick Lane on one of the coldest nights of the year, then install
a few heavy-duty heaters. Even the poor ol' liggers left over from Big Brother
soon scarpered after their skimpy outfits were in danger of giving them pneumonia.
Mad Nicola, now sporting a rather odd mohecan, was forced into dancing the
pogo because her transparent paper-thin leaf clearly gave off very scant heat.
It also gave her very little modesty. She was spotted in the ladies touting
for a safety pin to hold up her trademark G-string which of course, was on
show to all and sundry.
The entertainment for the evening left reams to be desired; after reading about that French woman that got a machete through the eye last week, the last thing that I wanted to see was some old duffer dressed in deep south regalia chucking knives at his frumpy missus. That's entertainment is it?
In between pleasant flashbacks to the eighties, the band came on. Think youth, think funky and different. Everyone was expecting something along the lines of the Brand New Heavies, instead we were given a leather-clad ageing rocker who's moves had clearly been inspired by Alvin Stardust and Tom Jones. Actually Tom Jones wouldn't have been so bad, at least he wouldn't have pumped out dreadful ACDC and INXS cover versions.
If that's a taste of E4, then perhaps Channel 4 has to go back to their focus groups. Give me the head of light entertainment……
Catch me under the skin of future media parties. No holds barred.