Canvas Magazine

Micah P Hinson

Phil Muncaster — Mon, 21 May 2012 06:00:15 +0000

In a neatly-pressed dark suit, crisp white shirt and black tie, Micah P Hinson is every inch the modern Man in Black, talking passionately about his music in a distinctive, slow Texas drawl. Well, every inch aside from his trademark thick-rimmed glasses that are more Buddy Holly than Johnny Cash. But as you’ll find out, Micah Paul Hinson doesn’t really do pigeon holes …

If you want to know all about his colourful past, just Google it – most interviews contain all the outrageous details of homelessness, ill-fated love and drug addiction, and it is a fascinating story. When he sang Here’s all that I have to give/ I’ll admit it’s not a lot but it’s all that I’ve got, to hang myself with, on the spine-tingling closing track to his critically acclaimed debut album The Gospel of Progress, you know Hinson meant it. But it’s a story that hasn’t been updated for a good many years.

“I know it’s a story to tell but I find it all pretty obnoxious to a degree that it is talked about so much,” he says. “It was just a bunch of bad decisions and I wouldn’t wish them on anybody; doing those things may have given me songs and helped me write music but it hindered my life in some ways.”

Hinson’s music – which is usually labelled alternative country, but could more accurately be described subversive country – is intensely personal; more reflective of his character and state of mind than most other musicians. So to follow his music over the years is to chart the progress of his life. After the almost apocalyptic zeal of Gospel of Progress and the lo-fi appeal of his second album, Micah P Hinson and the Opera Circuit, the new album’s sound is richer and fuller and the message is one of hope.

Hinson looks to each new sunrise now with anticipation rather than dreadful yearning. Where he is afraid, it’s the imagined dread of Dying Alone, in which Hinson wonders what life would be like without the newly-found love of his life. But mostly it’s about eternal love; Red Empire is effectively the testament of a tortured soul who’s finally found his soul mate – hometown sweetheart Ashley, who is an ever-present by his side and whose images adorn the album cover, and Hinson’s guitar.

All change

“It’s a lot different talking about love now because it seems to be the only true and real thing I’ve found in my life, so there’s not as much yearning and self pity as on the other records,” he says. “The way the record was made, my approach on stage – I’m in a suit for Christ’s sake – the excruciatingly long rehearsals with the band; I felt it was time to take life by the horns because to a degree I’ve ridden a wave up until now.”

If Hinson has ridden a wave his musicianship has barely taken a knock, despite chronic back troubles that have had him in a corset more times than Jane Austen. On stage he makes the solitary 6-string guitar sound as if there is a five-piece backing band. Yet despite the “huge inspiration” the musicians he’s worked with over the years have given, Hinson’s real talent is in taking the normal and making it unique.

“The words never come first, really it’s just coming up with chords I think sound good together, which are probably the chords of 1000 other songs throughout history,” he explains. “Then I’ll take these and try to add on a different melody, and that’s the way I try to make it my own. A lot of my songs are extremely simple and it’s just a case of repeating some verses with a couple of changes, putting them in a different perspective as they go along.”

But can a musician whose career has been built on songs written out of despair and longing be as good now that those feelings have largely been vanquished? When I came across him performing at Benicassim, he screamed out an incendiary version of Patience so loud the sound technicians looked worried the microphone might explode. Then came an achingly painful rendition of Beyond the Rose, sung with that trademark voice as raw as the wind that whips the Texas plains. The answer is yes. Hinson has already walked the line; we can allow him his happiness now as long as he continues to make music as good as this.

www.micahphinson.com

Pix – ever eaten pintxos?

Phil Muncaster — Mon, 21 May 2012 05:27:46 +0000

The problem with this insatiable appetite for new gastronomic conquests, is that these wonderful cuisines rarely get time for more than the most cursory of nods before it’s time to move on to the next.

Foodies are always looking for the next big thing. Whether its Elizabeth David and the rediscovery of French classics (50s) or the Italian trattorias with their comically oversized pepper grinders of the 60s, nouvelle cuisine (80s), or sushi and noodles (90s/00s), we just can’t get enough.

So here’s the thing. While all that’s been going on we’ve sort of taken tapas for granted. Yes; been there, done that. But in the meantime the capital has started playing host to some truly exceptional Iberian nosh houses. Fino and Barrafina lead the way, but there are other gems too, such as Salt Yard and the Opera Tavern.

So you think you know tapas, you smug urbanite, what do you know about pintxos?

They’re essentially tiny tapas with a small wooden stick poked through the middle (pintxos means ‘spike’ in Spanish). At Pix, a lovely little hole-in-the-wall bar smack bang in the middle of Soho; the bar counter is stacked to the rafters with all manner of impaled delights; in shot glasses, ramekin dishes and on pieces of crusty bread.

All crimson walls, dark wooden furnishing and cosy candles, this is a spot to enjoy a few snacks with wine rather than the other way around – as attested to by the decent Spanish wine list and really rather good selection of cavas and champagnes. It’s basically the kind of female friendly 21st century bar that will have unreconstructed cockneys rolling their eyes over their London Pride, but for all that the food’s definitely worth a detour if you’re in the area and feel a bit peckish. They even have beer, boys.

Prices are £1.95 for the short skewers, £2.75 for the larger. Simply take a plate to the bar, grab what you want and pay before you leave by handing over your skewers. Iberian ham on bread, smoked salmon and blackberry (not sure about the fruit addition), and seared tuna with lovely soft sweet pipperade all hit the spot. Hot dishes were missing when we arrived, but luckily the brisk turnover on a Friday night meant we didn’t have long to wait before a fresh batch arrived. Iberian ham croquetas, deep fried calamares and some deep fried goats cheese with honey were all bursting with flavour, hitting up those tried-and-tested combinations, and went well with a £21 bottle of decent cava.

It may not be on the same culinary strata as the never-empty Barrafina round the corner, but settle in with a bottle and you could happily spend an hour here watching the groups of Soho office girls come and go. My only fear is that with a branch in Covent Garden already, Pix will soon be in every town centre and out-of-town seventh circle of hell shopping mall. Please God, don’t let this business get the Wagamama treatment and ruin it for everyone.

Pix

16 Bateman St, Soho and 63 Neal St, Covent Garden

www.pix-bar.com

Caro Emerald – 40s style, modern funkyness

Liton Ali — Mon, 21 May 2012 05:15:43 +0000

Caro Emerald’s ridiculously catchy music is inspired by films and music from the 1940s and 1950s, with some hot beats and very modern sounds thrown in. Her style of music is light, fun and very accessible for music that is inspired by this period and the singer has the kind of smooth gorgeous voice that just makes you relax without even trying.

The music has a wide appeal as it’s a mash up of the kind of music you’d hear at a burlesque club or one of those Prohibition themed bars and funky pop. Her single ‘Back it Up’ is typical of the fusion of different styles this woman straddles, it’s like a cross between Jazz and modern R and B. It would probably fit quite well on MTV Base despite being A-listed on Radio 2.

Back It Up video

Caro’s debut album ‘Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor’ just hit number 10 in the Album Chart. The album features ballroom jazz, cinematic tangos, jazz tracks and some great pop numbers. It’s a very individual and distinctive pop album, and features singles ‘Back It Up, ‘Riviera Life’ and ‘A Night Like This.’

Caro is another one of those word-of-mouth sensations that became an overnight hit via the internet. An impromptu performance of her first single ‘Back It Up’ on a Dutch TV station was posted to YouTube and led to a huge amount of views and buzz about her. At the time, she only had one song out, so her producers go to sticking an album together sharpish.

When ‘Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor’ was released in Holland it quickly became a huge hit over there, spending 30 weeks at number one and breaking MJ’s record for the longest time at number one.

She’s already getting a large amount of press attention over here – look out for the inevitable sound-alikes on the way soon and remember who led the way.

www.caroemerald.com

North Road – modern Nordic dining

Phil Muncaster — Mon, 21 May 2012 05:13:35 +0000

There are good meals, there are great meals, there are meals to forget. Then there’s an altogether different class of meal where the dining experience is fondly remembered in a fit of wistful daydreaming months or even years after the event. Thems are the rare ones, when boundary pushing chef combines with impeccable sourcing and razor sharp cooking. North Road has come closer than many in recent experience to achieving the latter.

First let’s get the boring stuff out of the way. You may have heard of Noma, the Copenhagen joint famous for being the ‘best restaurant in the universe’ and popularising a renaissance in modern Scandinavian cooking? Good. Well, North Road chef and proud Dane Christoffer Hruskova had been doing similar things for a goodly while at his north London restaurant Fig, before reaching for the (Michelin) stars with the opening of this place on a non-descript stretch of St John street.

The cooking is modern, inventive and very much out of the comfort zone of most of us Brits who have grown used to the flavours of the Mediterranean, France and even the Orient as if they were our own. What this means in practice is lots of smoking and pickling of ingredients and thinly sliced, raw veg alongside foraged herbs and the odd Scandinavian curiosity such as milk skin. Yes, milk skin. If you want rich creamy sauces or drizzles of olive oil, head elsewhere because this ain’t the place, don’t you know there’s a recession on?

Well, Hruskova clearly doesn’t, given the prices (around £9 for starters, £17-24 for mains), although this is cooking of a very high standard, one Michelin star to be exact. As such, a trio of things to munch on arrive at our table while we choose between dishes such pickled and raw vegetable salad and Dorset brown crab with sea buckthorn, carrot and wild watercress. There’s sublime pork scratchings which immediately fill the somewhat sterile, hushed dining room with a cacophony of crackling; bland little fried dumplings filled with pearl barley; and a giant egg (fake) filled with hay, smoke and two perfectly soft yolked quails eggs (real).

All of which set the tone for the evening: modern, inventive and sublime in parts, slightly ill-judged in others. Ditto the starters. A hare dish came as little towers of loin, seared almost as briefly as good tuna, with comice pear and a small mound of pulled hare leg cooked in what I think was billed as some kind of liquorice sauce, and covered with a thin sheen of pear aquavit jelly. Yup, it’s pretty intricate stuff, looking great and mostly hitting the right notes, except at this level of cooking you don’t really want the hare leg over seasoned as it was.

Mains fared better. Mallard and caramelised cabbage with Scottish girolles and thyme came as very rare breast – maybe a tad too rare – alongside a crispy confit leg and super thin shavings of what tasted like pickled daikon; autumn on a plate. The cabbage in question appeared to have been pureed and cooked down to within an inch of its life to resemble butterscotch and delivered a bloody brilliant rich umami hit. Herdwick mutton loin with Jerusalem artichokes and wild herbs was similarly well received. Huge flavour punch from the nice pink mutton, rich jus and crispy fried artichoke skins poked in between, along with a strange ball of what could have been poached artichoke rolled in parsley. It added nothing apart from ramping up the quirk factor. Sadly there was no one to explain the main course and in a place like this you really need that kind of help. Oh, and the wild herbs were inedibly bitter. Maybe they were foraged for in the dark.

Dessert more than any other course takes the happy western diner out of their comfort zone and slaps them round the chops with a gloved Danish fist. Beetroot and blackberries with tarragon or carrot and sweet cicely anyone? No, we chose sheep milk yoghurt and swede ice cream actually. A spectacular dome of almost foamy yoghurt surrounded the ice cream, which, yup, tasted of nothing but swede.

North Road is of those rarities that seems to be enjoyed more by the dirty pedants that hang around the user review sites than the collective cultured palates of the food critics, but its treatment by the latter has been rather unfair at times. Yes, the austere, hushed white-on-white-on-white dining room may make it feel a little like eating in a particularly swanky private hospital and yes, the cooking can be a tad on the unusual side, but there is much to recommend this place. A glimpse of the future? Maybe not, but if you’re curious as to what all this modern Nordic nonsense is about, there are few better places to try in the capital than North Road.

Price: Around £36 a head without wine (3 courses)

North Road, 69 St John Street, London
0203 217 0033
www.northroadrestaurant.co.uk

Get ready for a pop up Beard to Tail meal

Liton Ali — Sat, 19 May 2012 22:43:41 +0000

We just got wind of plans for an exciting pop up restaurant from the team at Shoreditch’s Callooh Callay. For four days in June, ‘Beard to Tail’ promises amazing cocktails and, as the name suggests, a very carnivorous menu of dishes such as the ‘Rumpie-Pumpie for Two’ – a chunk of slow-roasted Old Spot pork rump, sage and wild garlic crust with house Bramley apple sauce. The pop-up will be the precursor to the company’s forthcoming restaurant with the same name.

They tell us that dishes will be reasonably priced at £8-£13, and despite the fact that you won’t be able to book in advance, despite the fact that the restaurant will have just 35 covers. The location? Ignore the graphics, it’s been confirmed – head to 24 Chart Street in Hoxton between June the 12^th and 15^th for a taste of what’s to come.

Beard To Tail – The Pop-up, 24 Chart Street, London N1 6DD www.beardtotail.co.uk

Follow their progress at: @beardtotail

Ray Charles – New Chiddy Bang video

Liton Ali — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:12:20 +0000

We love a bit of happy rapping, so here’s the long awaited video from happy-go-lucky Philadelphian hip hop duo Chiddy Bang. “Ray Charles” will be the first single from their highly anticipated new album Breakfast.

Interesting Chiddy Bang Fact: The band’s rapper Chiddy holds the Guinness World Record for Longest Freestyle Rap, he broke the original record at an MTV event last year by freestyling for nine hours and eighteen minutes.

www.chiddybang.net

Breakfast will be released (in the UK) on the 5^th March.

Chiddy Bang will play a one off gig at London’s Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen on February 8^th.

Use iPad gloves instead of sausages

Liton Ali — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:29:12 +0000

When it’s really cold, using touchscreen gadgets such as an iPad or smartphone can be a real pain in the backside because most of them won’t work while you’re wearing gloves. It’s got something to do with the way the screens use an electronic charge from your skin and how a glove’s material insulates that charge (proper explanation here).

While you can take your gloves off, or use hot dog sausages (yes it’s been done) – there’s a more convenient, less weird solution. Oh yes, you can use fingerless gloves but they kind of defeat the object of warming your fingers and you might end up looking like a market trader.

Etre’s Fivepoint gloves allow you to use any touchscreen with all ten digits while they’re still fully covered. They’re specially designed so the tips of the glove interact with the screen like your fingertips, which means you can touch, tap, stroke, pinch, etc. They’re particularly handy (couldn’t resist) because having ten touch-points means you can touch type on a tablet.

They come in three colours – rosemary with pearl tips, Oxford Blue with pearl tips and black with charcoal tips and will set you back £40.

Buy them at www.etreshop.com or Selfridges.

Fashion Week experience for the rest of us

Liton Ali — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:37:39 +0000

Here comes Fashion Week again – it seems to take over London’s media twice a year but if you’re not a fashion buyer, someone from the media or a celebrity; you may not see an invitation on your doormat any time soon.

Despite all the glamour and celebrity surrounding them, fashion weeks are essentially trade shows. However, you can now get the full fashion week experience at Somerset House – catwalks, goody bags and all.

Once the curtain falls on September’s spring/summer 2012 LFW shows, Vodafone London Fashion Weekend gives you the chance to see some of the capital’s hottest designers.

From 22nd – 25th September, the event space used by LFW becomes one of the best shopping experiences in London with some amazing discounts on designer labels.

With boutiques such as KJ’s Laundry, The House of Harlow and Winter Kate Boutique and Designer Studio, selling ready-to-wear, accessories and jewellery pieces, at up to 70% off.

We think these features are worth checking out:
- Catwalk shows hosted by Grace Woodward and styled by Miss Molly
- Boutique Street – a hub of London’s hottest boutiques including KJ’s Laundry, House of Harlow and lots more
- Discounts on designers such as American Retro, Alice & Olivia and Hudson
- A vintage area curated by Wayne Hemingway featuring live music, a vintage concierge, photo booths, dressing up and carefully selected vintage dealers
- A Levi’s area with bespoke fittings for their Curve ID jeans
- The Shoe Studio – showcasing and selling some serious footwear in the depths of Somerset House
- The Weekend Boutique featuring Sophie Hulme, Vassilisa, Holly Fulton, Bodyamr, Liz Black, James Long, Sibling and Lou Dalton
- The Retreat, a pop up beauty salon/spa

Tickets range from £15 to £39.50 depending on what you want to do at the show and there’s a tremendously posh ‘Platinum Package’ at £125.

www.londonfashionweekend.co.uk

London Fashion Weekend opening times

Thursday 22nd- 5pm-10pm
Friday 23rd- 11am-10pm
Saturday 24th- 9.30am-7pm
Sunday 25th- 9.30am – 6pm

A unique view of London – Sky Lounge

Liton Ali — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 08:17:35 +0000

I’ve just found an incredible new view of London on the outskirts of the city – the new Sky Lounge at Nido in Spitalfields sits on the 32nd floor offering 270-degree views of the city.

This gorgeous champagne and cocktail bar looks much like a penthouse apartment with floor to ceiling windows and a double height ceiling. The views are astonishing. As you move from one room to another you see past Tower Bridge all the way to Crystal Palace, round to Shoreditch, the Olympic Park, and beyond. The site also has unique views of the City’s best architecture.

I’ve got something of an addiction to rooftops and high-up city bars, and this is my new favourite – for now. The pop-up bar and dining spot will only be around until April 2012. You’ve got to be organised to get in – it’s open Tuesday to Friday, 5 to 11.30 and you must reserve 24 hours before you turn up.

Sky Lounge at Nido

9 Frying Pan Alley, London E1 7HS,

07585 400 800

Note – don’t confuse it with Skylounge at the Mint Hotel near Tower Bridge – www.minthotel.com/skylounge

Yes, a Hardcore Dance Festival in London

Liton Ali — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 12:00:27 +0000

How do you fancy a huge outdoor dance music festival that captures the big love spirit of the early nineties but just outside a Central Line station? Check out the High Definition Dance weekender on June 18th and 19th.

Do you remember the old dance ‘festivals’ (er, raves) we used to have in the open air – beyond the days of the illegal gatherings in barns, warehouse and fields? Things got organised and legal; Fantazia, Obsession, Dreamscape and Universe started to throw amazingly diverse dance music events that had proper toilets, security and even police standing outside to stop them dealers turning up. We’re not sure the dealers were invited by the way.

Since those heady days, the various genres and sub genres of dance music have expanded and grown continually while the events themselves seem to have become confined to clubs as the original ravers start to retreat into their suburban homes with their 2.1 kids. (Sorry old skool ravers, the first Tribal Gathering was in 1993. Yes it sucks to be your age).

2011′s biggest outdoor rave

Thank goodness for the High Definition Dance weekender which has finally given hardcore dance music a place in the London sun again. As dance weekenders go, this is a big one – they’re talking 15,000 people, 3000 campers, over 100 DJs and PAs across 3 arenas.

The event will be held at Forest Farm near Ilford which is a walk away from Fairlop station. Alright, so when we say London, we kind of mean Essex, but we’re talking zone 4, so it’s almost within the average commuting distance.

When it comes to proving they are legitimate, the organisers of HD Fest can drop the names of some big name partners and sponsors. They’re in bed with Kiss FM, Dontstayin.com, Pukka Up, Mixcloud and a whole load of well known promoters.

Expect everything from the heaviest bass led jungle from the early 90s to the funkiest 2011 dubstep bootlegs.

The line up

Saturday:

Main Stage

Boy George, Dave Pearce, Freestylers, Scratch Perverts, Loose Cannons (Kiss), Alex P, Charlie Hedges (Kiss), Neev (Kiss) and DJ Competition Winner.

House Arena

Jonathan Ulysses, Rob Tissera, Micky Slim, Miss Divine, Philgood & Ram, Mr Natralist, Joshua Roberts, Jay Funk, Danny May, Harry Pearce and Nicky Fingers.

Old Skool Arena

Danny Byrd, Kutski, SL2 (Live PA), Jilted Generation (Prodigy Tribute), Slipmatt, Nicky Blackmarket, Ellis Dee, Kenny Ken, Sy, Uncle Dugs, Lee John, Jason J & Kezman, Harry Shotta, Skibadee, Jay J, Charlie B, 3Flow, 5ive-o, Strict and Cutter

Sunset Terrace

Diason, Bernie T, Damo, Colin Chiddle, Jaxx, Rbee & Jim Sargent, Danny Quattro, Alex Muirden, Liam Cullen, Damo Walsh, Dan Johnson, Rob Ramos, Redifine, Ad Love and live electronic percussion by Pivotal.

Sunday:

Main Stage

Yolanda Be Cool, Seb Fontaine, Bodyrox, Trophy Twins, Vula (Voice of Basement Jaxx), Dermot C and Scott Giles.

Dubstep Arena

Hatcha (Kiss), N-Type, Plastician, Coki, Chef, Trolley Snatcha, Lost, Bannerworx, Crazy D, Viper and Mighty Moe.

Old Skool Arena

Baby D (Live PA), Liquid (Live PA), Dub Hooligan (Live PA), Ratpack, EZ (Kiss), Slipmatt, Artful Dodger, Matt Jam Lamont, Billy Daniel Bunter, Phantasy, DJ Vibes b2b Johnny G, Twista, Evenson Allen, B Live, MC Alistair, Charlie B, 3Flow, Faction G and Jefferson.

Sunset Terrace

Damien Stone, Laura Essence, Danny Keston, Vince Frimpong, David Lee, Katie Cooper, Carl Smeaton, Twisted Beatz, Brad Hudson, Silks & Switch and Matt Caldwell

High Definition Dance Festival

Forest Farm, IG63HQ Ilford, United Kingdom