Fence Hallowe'en Party!

Peanut Snake/Hardsparrow will be bringing the Pine Cone Kick book-&-tape to Glasgow on October 31st, for a live reading as part of Fence Record's Hallowe'en party (awesome poster above by David Galletly)! Here's the full line-up and info, straight from the horse's face - should be an amazing day!

"As you'll have seen on the Fence home-page, we've already announced the following ...

King Creosote // James Yorkston // Silver Columns // James Yuill // Lord Cut Glass // Alasdair Roberts // John MacLean (DJ) // Jo Mango // Vladimir Lad // Randolph’s Leap // John B McKenna // Jonnie Common // Gummi Bako // Pictish Trail

in addition to the line-up on the website, we will have the following ...

* Debut screening of the Fence Home Game Film - put together by The Forest Of Black
* Special screening of Separado! - a film by Super Furry Animal's front man Gruff Rhys.
* A very special performance of King Creosote's 'My Nth Bit Of Strange In Umpteen Years'
* New electronic solo project from Kev Sim, of FOUND fame, entitled River Of Slime
* FOUND will also be DJ'ing, and there will be a solo performance from Ziggy Campbell too
* Solo performances from Seamus Fogarty and Emily Scott
* A talking picture book performance from Hardsparrow
* Stand-up comedy from James Acaster, and more TBC

We've also invited our friends at Glasgow's Words Per Minute to devise a programme of spoken-word / film / music for one of our more intimate venues, including ...

* An exclusive screening of The Shutdown, Alan Bissett and Adam Stafford's documentary short about the Grangemouth petrochemical plant, which has won Best Documentary Short at the San Francisco Golden Gate and Palm Springs Film Festivals.
* Live music performances from Adam Stafford (Y'all Is Fantasy Island) and Seafield Road (solo project of Swimmer One's Andrew Eaton).
* Performance from theatre-makers Gary McNair, Kieran Hurley and Eilidh McAskill of Eilidh's Daily Ukulele Ceilidh.
* New writing from Katy Macaulay

NOT ONLY THAT ... we can now reveal that all advance ticketholders for Hallowe'en will will have the opportunity to reserve their tickets for Home Game 2011 before anyone else! There will be a sign-up sheet at the Hallowe'en Party for those that wish to put aside some tickets for our big bash in Anstruther next year - the dates will also be revealed at this time


The whole thing is taking place on Hallowe’en itself – Sunday, 31st October 2010 … across three adjacent venues in Glasgow:

* Stereo, on Renfield Lane.
* The (newly refurbished) Old Hairdresser, and
* The (still currently under refurbishment) upstairs bit of The Old Hairdresser.

The music starts at 2pm and goes on until 2am.

TICKETS – are £25, and that gets you in all day from 2pm until 2am! Only available from www.fencerecords.com"



This post seems like as good an excuse as any to wheel out this fabulous video of last year's Fence Hallowe'en party, as filmed by Forest Of Black, whose Homegame film will be screening this year. The music is, of course, by the wonderful Withered Hand - "No Cigarettes".

Pine Cone Hiccups

Just to mention that the Pine Cone Kick audio book will soon be available - sometime in the next month or so, hopefully!

There have been some hiccups. During the debut reading, it emerged that not only had I not coloured in the yorkshire puddings in one picture, but also that there were six words missing from the narration.

Now, this might not sound like a lot, but take note, for when tragedy strikes, it often takes careful aim; for the missing words result in a major bone-based continuity error - and tragedy's foot is last seen planted firmly in the more tender regions of your unsuspecting narrator's plot.

What we suddenly have, in complex technical language, is a "ghost-bone" - and even the most elementary creative writing courses will advise you against the sudden introduction of a ghost-bone in all but the most whimsical and unrewarding of horror stories.

Anyone that records audio will also be able to tell you that something recorded in Hankinson Road with Alan's microphone, while tired and slightly intoxicated, will probably sound quite different when recorded in the Triangle with your own microphone, whilst sober and unemployed and distracted by pigeons.

But.. these challenges will be overcome (possibly via the application of some inappropriate sound effects) and I'll hope to be able to present the finished object very soon!

Wooopty!

Roam London Video

Just a wee update on the story below. The Guardian were there filming the Fence Picnic on the day, and the resultant film is now up on their site.

You get organiser Robin Turner explaining the ethos behind the Roam bus, plus music from Adem and Player Piano. No mention of Adam's pork pie, sadly, but some great footage of Peanut Snake's debut public reading of the Pine Cone Kick audio-book, followed by some highly complimentary words regarding it. Wow! What can I say? Go and buy The Guardian people, what a fantastic paper.

Out-of-control ego-stoking aside, the film is simply a splendid reminder of what was a very wonderful afternoon. Ooooooh yeah. Big thanks to Roam, Fence and The Guardian!

Watch the video here!

Fence Picnic, 9/7/10

While I was in London for Free Range, I popped out from the Truman Brewery early one afternoon and trekked up the road to Haggerston Park in Hackney. There, the Fence Collective were hosting an acoustic picnic, as part of Roam London. Roam is the brainsprog of a chap called Robin Turner, who has been taking a converted mobile library around various locations in London, providing a rolling venue for all manner of artists, musicians and speakers; a true roaming festival. Fence's day featured performances from The Pictish Trail, Adem, Player Piano, Love.Stop.Repeat, Vio/Mire and others, and talks from Ian Vince and Dan Kieran (The Idler).

The scene was about as idyllic as could be feasible.. a sizeable crowd lounged on the grass in blazing sunshine, plucked notes wafting like stray dandelion seeds over their heads, punctuated only by an occasional "ping!", or perhaps a "pong!", from the outdoor ping-pong table in the park.




Adam, of Fence Beefboard legend and myth, had prepared a special Fence pork pie, which was declared by many present to be the best they had ever tasted. Cripes!

I'd also been asked to somehow perform the Pine Cone Kick audio-book, and so it was that, in the cosy confines of the mobile reading room, with pine cones adorning the front of the small raised stage, a life-preserver marked "Titanic" behind me, and the Pictish Trail helpfully holding up the pictures and making concerned faces to my right, the book received its début public reading.
I had been uncertain about how well the reading would go, but the reception was very encouraging, and good times were seemingly had by all (although Dave from Love.Stop.Repeat did point out that the Yorkshire Puddings hadn't been coloured in in one picture.). Now very much looking forward to presenting the audio-book live again, albeit in a more developed form!




The whole afternoon was absolutely delicious and lovely, huge thanks to Roam (for apparently sending unspecified images from the Hardsparrow Myspace to Time Out, eek!), and to Fence for having the twisted (impaired?) vision to put me on. ;)



The Pictish Trail, being ignored by a sun-dappled and unbothered populace (not really).



Dave from Love.Stop.Repeat brings the noise