I Eat Music

A mural by Banksy, which was used as the cover of Blur’s 2003 single ‘Crazy Beat’, has been partially painted over by mistake. Workmen from Hackney Council began covering the artwork, on the side of a building in Stoke Newington in London, with black paint and had removed much of the work before the building’s owner, Sofie Attrill, could convince them to stop.

Attrill told the BBC: “The workmen were smiling as they did it – they thought it was funny. I just burst into tears. But a crowd gathered and we managed to get them to stop before destroying it completely. I don’t care about art or politics – I am just an ordinary girl who liked being cheered up by seeing this on my street”.

She continued: “People have always been telling us to sell it or cover it in Perspex, but we only wanted it to be here for the public’s enjoyment. You can’t take a photo if it’s behind a thick plastic screen. We never wanted to make money out of it like many do – but it was a part of our lives. Now it’s gone. People are always doing down Hackney but this was something we could all be proud of”.

Hackney Council’s Alan Laing initially said in a statement: “The council’s position is not to make a judgement call on whether graffiti is art”, although he later added: “Due to a problem at the land registry, unfortunately our letters stating our intention to clean this building didn’t reach the owner. As soon as we realised this, work stopped. We are now speaking with her about how to resolve the issue”.

I have some pictures of it on my phone, if that helps (that’s one of them just up there).

More film news now (and another one that will be presented in 3D). Long-time Michael Jackson collaborator Kenny Ortega has been announced as the director of the upcoming documentary featuring the singer’s rehearsals for his O2 Dome residency that didn’t happen on account of him being dead.

Titled ‘Michael Jackson: This Is It’, after the name of the residency, rather than some reminder that the star is not alive any more, the film will hit cinemas on 28 Oct. Sony Pictures say that they have brought the release date forward by two days from the previously announced 30 Oct due to anticipated high demand, adding that the film will only be released for a two week run. However, if they expect demand to be so high, it seems unlikely that they will hold to the “limited run” thing. Expect it to be extended “for the fans” sometime between 27 Sep, when tickets for the screenings go on sale, and the middle of the first week of the initial run.

Confirming his involvement in the project, Ortega, who is also behind the ‘High School Musical’ films and the upcoming remake of ‘Footloose’ (oh look, another film that didn’t need remaking!), told reporters: “This film is Michael’s gift to his fans. It’s a very private, exclusive look into a creative genius’ world. For the first time ever, fans will see Michael as they have never seen him before – this great artist at work. It is raw, emotional, moving and powerful footage that captures his interactions with the This Is It collaborators that he had personally assembled for this once-in-a-lifetime project”.

In other Jackson news, a portrait of the singer by Andy Warhol has sold at auction in New York for over $1 million.

The 1984 portrait, which was commissioned to celebrate the record-breaking sales of the singer’s ‘Thriller’ album, was sold off at the Vered Gallery in Long Island yesterday, after being displayed at the O2 Dome in London.

Although the gallery would not say the exact price the 76cm by 66cm piece had gone for, they said that the buyer had paid “over $1m dollars”. The highest price ever paid for a Warhol painting was $71.7 million in 2007.

I know, you’ve only just got over the news that Duffy has been named Poet Laureate here in the UK. And now rapper Cadence Weapon has been awarded the title too; albeit for his home town of Edmonton in Canada (and yes, we do realise it wasn’t that Duffy who got the title over here).

Cadence Weapon, real name Roland Pemberton, was sworn in as the Alberta capital’s chief poet at Edmonton City Hall on Tuesday and will officially become the third person to take on the post on 1 Jul, taking over from poet and academic ED Blodgett.

Pemberton told The Edmonton Journal: “By appointing me they’re taking a chance. To me it represents an opportunity to change the view of Edmonton. If people see me as representing Edmonton maybe it will give them an overall different perception. I think that’s a positive thing. And it’s getting people talking. I’m excited. At first I thought, ‘well, I don’t know’. Poet laureate – whoa. Getting heavy. Do I need a staff, and a big grey beard? But then I actually starting thinking about what I do already, and most of my content is about Edmonton. Most of the music I’ve put together comes from a very specific regional source. And I feel like I can just expand that into the poetry as well. It’s basically another outlet for the writing I’m already doing, and I can focus it even more now”.

He added that he’s ready for anyone who thinks he shouldn’t be in the role: “If anybody has any problems, we’ll have a poem battle. A poem-off”.

Unfortunately, the first person to have a problem with Pemberton’s appointment seems to be his predecessor, who told The Globe And Mail that he “didn’t think that this was how a poet laureate was to be defined”. Although the city’s first Poet Laureate, Alice Major, said that she thought it was a “really interesting and wonderful appointment”.

At his inauguration, Pemberton read a poem entitled ‘Valley Girls’, which is apparently a tribute to the river valley and the transience of youth. As Edmonton’s Poet Laureate, a post he will hold for two years, Pemberton will be expected to reflect life in the city through a series of at least six poems and will receive an annual sum of $5000.

Pete Doherty has agreed to split the proceeds of the sale of 45 signed prints of one of his blood paintings with a London taxi company owner to cover a £1800 bill. The painting shows the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury from the crowd’s point of view and was apparently completed after Doherty had an argument with his management at the festival.

Says Doherty of the painting: “Even if you’re in a terrible mood and just painting blind, the finished result is something to look at and cherish. Like writing a song lyric, carving something, anything made out of nothing you can call your own, something that’s been worth doing”.

The singer told the NME that it was the “best painting” he had ever created. Judge for yourself at www.arrowgalleries.com.

This article originally appeared in CMU Daily on 12 Feb 2009

Okay, I made a promise yesterday and today I’m breaking it. Don’t worry, I’m not going to start bleating on about another musical. No, this time I’m going to risk what little indie credibility I have left by telling you about the contemporary dance I watched last night.

Zero Degrees is a performance by dancers Akram Khan and Sidi Larbi Cherkauoi, with set design by sculptor Antony Gormley and score by Nitin Sawhney (which is how this gets onto a music blog, in case you were wondering). It’s based on an actual experience Khan had on a train in Bangladesh with a dead body and explores the transition between life and death.

The show premiered at Sadlers Wells on 8th July 2005 and it was at the same theatre last night that it was performed for the last time. Although it is often described as such, it’s very difficult to see Zero Degrees as just a dance performance. The unique styles of both Khan and Larbi are obviously the focal point, particularly Larbi’s seemingly inhuman movement in many sections, but there is vocal performance, the sparse set (just two life-sized casts of the dancers) and the haunting score, performed live with violin, cello, percussion and voice.

The spoken word sections are almost, if not equally as impressive as the dances. Performed in unison by Khan and Larbi, they have not only managed to synchronise their voices, but also their mannerisms – something that is developed and used to amazing effect as the show proceeds.

Zero Degrees is an incredibly moving work that constantly excites both visually and sonically. The 90 minute performance sped past in what seemed like less than half that time. I wanted to see it again as soon as it had finished. That isn’t going to be possible, but I’m glad I was able to see it once.

Now, watch one of these videos (or both):

1 minute compilation of clips from Zero Degrees

8 minute feature from BBC 2’s Desi DNA

Akram Khan Company website
Sadler’s Wells

Buy music by Nitin Sawhney