Say no to hibernation

In these bleak winter days, it's hard to go out during the day, let alone venture out at night. However, I feel one has to take a stand against these hibernatory instincts, otherwise it's just a slippery slope, isn't it? You'd spend all winter cooped up, then get to May and think, what have I done for the last six months?

In that spirit, I've seen some inspiring and interesting gigs in the last couple of weeks - hell, I've even done some! First off, I caught an audiovisual extravaganza by The Real Tuesday Weld at the V&A, as part of its Cold War Weekend. If you haven't heard of him, The Real Tuesday Weld melds electronica with jazz-inspired riffs and nostalgic-sounding samples.The soundtrack he created for this particular event, with live band, had a backdrop of mainly Cold War footage, punctuated by a dictator-like figure (David Piper) commanding us to "love" and fall in line with the new "State of Love". A nicely subversive take on the whole theme, I thought. I'd also forgotten what an amazing space the V&A is - perfect for a big-scale event like this. The place was rammed.

I also managed to catch Cellorhythmics at the Vortex - I'd been meaning to see them for ages, ever since I read a write-up about them the first time I took a show to Edinburgh (2005). Better late than never, eh! Their line-up has expanded considerably since then, though - instead of three cellists, there are now 10 musicians, with a more expansive sound world to match. The simplest way to describe it would be classical-jazz fusion, but that doesn't really do them justice - there's so much more going on than that. Apart from virtuosic musicianship, there are bits of Bollywood, '70s cop carve-ups and Irish fiddle-inspired airs. Great stuff.

Weirdly, I ran into a couple of the band members at my Rythme Futur gig at the Chelsea Arts Club last night - small world, eh. Of course, the Rythme Future repertoire is slightly more conventional, you could say, than what I heard at the Vortex! However, it was a really fun gig, with our own dash of French and Spanish flair, I like to think...Apart from George Trebar (bass) and Simon Moore (guitar), we also had virtuosic flourishes from our violinist, Andy Aitchison, who wowed the crowd on not a few occasions. The album I recorded with those guys, by the way, is nearly ready and should be out early next year. So watch this space for updates.