Playing, listening, watching and ... typing
Over the last week I've encountered a giant puppet, a loop of paper, radio airwaves, big bass drums, podcasts and Greek mythology. Yet nobody wants to speak about these things in the aisles of Heron.
Beating a drum for Little Amal
On Sunday, Little Amal’s journey took her to Pearson Park in Hull, where the dryly titled Yorkshire Integration Festival was taking place. Designed and built by the Handspring Puppet Company, Little Amal is the 12 foot puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee at the heart of The Walk. She has become a global symbol of human rights, especially those of refugees.
Since July 2021, Amal has travelled to 166 towns and cities in 17 countries and been welcomed by two million people on the street and by tens of millions online. 475 events unique to each community that she visits have been created for her by thousands of artists and civil society and faith leaders. Her journeys are festivals of art and hope that draw attention to the huge numbers of children fleeing war, violence and persecution, each with their own story. Her urgent message to the world is “Don’t forget about us”.
As someone who has taken to hitting a surdo drum, mostly on the beats 2 and 4 (with an occasional flourish that could see my drum stick flying across a park and getting stuck in a puppet), with Hull Samba, it was nice to be part of a group of people providing Little Amal with some rhythms to move about to. We had a lot of fun.
After Little Amal had waved goodbye ahead of her onward journey we took advantage of having a large public space at our disposal by working our way through a complicated piece that we daren’t play when on puppet-accompanying duties. Everything sounded good. We usually practice and rehearse inside, and the difference away from those odd room resonances when 20-or-so people are playing a variety of percussion instruments is somewhat mind-blowing. It was good to give it a go in front of a few people.
Little Amal’s visit to Yorkshire was jointly organised by Migration Yorkshire, Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council and Hull City Council.
Typeloops
I’ve had a few typewriters over the years. My first, I stole off my sister. It was a Hull-made Imperial in a lovely shade of green. A sturdy number that was a joy to clatter away on, I never owned another like it. Subsequent Silver Reed’s never felt as satisfactory. I’m currently in possession of a Boots’ typewriter, which also came with its original instructions and a lovely cleaning kit to get the bits of toast and crisps out of it. The red/black ribbon has about had it. It’s mainly just an ornament.
I suppose in part because of the above I was keen to swing by Typeloops, a two-day performance where two friends communicate with each other using typewriters, a building, and a single loop of paper. This collaboration between Alexander Stubbs and The Aimless Archive took place at the Hull Artist Research Initiative’s new building on Francis Street in the city, from sunrise to sunset on each of the days in September.
When I called in the artists had moved inside due to the weather - up to that point they’d been located on the roof and the ground floor, with the loop of paper stretching between them.
I only read a small sample of the writing that was created but look forward to reading more and to seeing what comes next for what is a fascinating project.
The Party Train
Sometimes things get out of hand before you know it. I was offered some free training at Hull’s 107fm and, as I got to grips with buttons, faders, microphones and broadcast software, got talking about what I’d play on the radio should the opportunity arise. Then the opportunity presented itself. Then I went on the radio. I’m now hosting The Party Train on the station, two hours playing the kind of stuff that makes me (and hopefully the listener) move at parties and on the dancefloor and intermittently saying a few words. I guess when I’m on - 6-8pm on a Saturday night - I’d probably be playing a few tracks anyway and it’s a good excuse, not that one is needed, to listen to some more stuff a bit more deeply than might otherwise be the case. And to share some favourite tunes. And to get better at talking out loud. The most recent show is available to listen to again here and I’ll be live from 6pm this coming Saturday, on 107.4fm and online at https://107fm.co.uk
In yer ears
Nevermind
I often drift off to sleep listening to podcasts. I’m still mourning the 2019 passing of Harmontown, the comedy podcast hosted by writer and Community and Rick and Morty creator Dan Harmon and his comptroller sidekick Jeff B. Davis, which miraculously kept me awake each and every episode. I thought I’d find something that quickly filled that gap but, no, nothing quite like it exists. But Nevermind, on which comedy partners and roommates Veronika Slowikowska and Kyle Chase discuss some seriously groundbreaking subjects and laugh a lot, is getting close. Slowikowska’s comedy is odd and leftfield - like Harmon she’s grounded in improv but the comedy character she’s honing is, half the time, terrible at improv. And the are they/aren’t they nature of the duo’s relationship status makes their instagram output extremely watchable, as well as very funny. The podcast is them breaking character and being themselves. Or is it? Time will tell. You can also watch Nevermind on YouTube.
Jamie XX - In Waves
When I first started buying records, as we called them once, I used to head into the city centre on a Saturday, nip to the local record shop, flick through a load of LPs, as we used to call them, find a cover I liked the look of and, on the basis of that, hand over the cash, as we used to call it, then head home and give it a listen.
Often, my approach did prove that you can, very often, judge something by its cover. I’d often find a few tracks, at least, on said LP that I liked. These days, the equivalent process* is scouring new album release lists on a Friday to try and find something that might be of interest. Hence, I found myself listening to Jamie xx’s In Waves over the weekend. But, were I still to adopt my youthful approach, I might have still been drawn to it. As someone commented re the op-art cover on Facebook, “my eyes have gone funny.”
Does it make your ears and your brain go funny too? I mostly like it. It’s a decent listen. Although it simultaneously feels like a parody. And at times like a complete piss-take. I’ll bow to some wiser words from Resident Advisor: “The LP's best moments come when Smith shelves the cheesy lyrics and overblown instrumentation to let his masterful use of sampling shine.”
*I went on these weekend vinyl-buying bus rides when I was about 12, I think. I started buying NME, Sounds and Melody Maker when I was 13. And it would make more sense to compare scouring new album release lists to the way I used to scrape album and single reviews and each paper’s charts to work out what to buy.
On the box
In the beginning there was only…KAOS
A LOT of people told me I should watch KAOS (on Netflix). My natural response in the face of this overbearing advice was to not bother. Then curiosity got the better of me and I gave it a go. They were right - this fast and loose take on the Greek myths is witty, fun and intelligent, with some rather casual brutal violence, multiple story arcs and an ensemble cast the size of an army. KAOS is created, and all but one episode is written by Charlie Covell, who wrote the comic-book adaptation End of the F***ing World, a darkly comic, BAFTA nominated but still underrated TV masterpiece. Covell’s writing is as sharply brilliant here as for that show.
There are only eight episodes and I consumed them all in 3 days. A lot has been written about Jeff Goldblum’s swaggeringly brilliant Jeff Goldblum-like portrayal of Zeus, although he was a late replacement for an unavailable Hugh Grant (which may well have rendered the show unwatchable). The pleasant surprise for me was seeing David Thewlis on screen. Thewlis plays Hades, who’s mismanaging the monochromatic underworld, like a hyper-northern version of Johnny from Mike Leigh’s Naked.
You don’t need an in-depth knowledge of Greek mythology to enjoy - you might be surprised how much you already know though - but it did remind me that I’ve got a copy of Robert Graves’ The Greek Myths lurking in a box somewhere. It used to be on my desk for those moments when I needed to steal a mythological storyline. I must give it another read.