Good design is...

Those who are very conscious of good design, probably need not read on as I'm sure you'll have already heard about or even been to see the Dieter Rams/Braun exhibition at The Design Museum in London. However, if this celebration of minimalist design has happened to pass you by I recommend you pay a visit and admire all the lovely items on display. Though the exhibition is effectively glorifying mass produced goods it does attempt to instill the ethic that good design is in a sense eternal and will hopefully encourage people to place more emphasis on the goods they purchase (why shouldn't your blender be not only practical but also good looking?). The only thing that lets down this message is the insistence on Dieter Rams's part that none of his designs, or those that he over saw production of whilst being head of the design department at Braun, followed fashion. This is clearly not true when you compare his designs from different decades, for example the chunky black stereo systems he designed in the 80s whilst still having great aesthetic appeal are obviously of the time. Never the less, it is still a wonderful exhibition with a wealth of items on display, and a lot of information supplied on the designer and the history of the Braun company. If you enjoyed the Cold War Modern exhibition that took place at the V&A last year you really need to get down to Tower Bridge to see this.




-Dale

In a Nutshell

Orange Juice: Mike Read live session, 9th January, 1981

Felicity mp3

Upwards & Onwards mp3

Wan Light mp3

(mp3s courtesy of fruitierthanthou)



-Dale

Have a 'Look at Life!'

Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/iqbalaalam/

These some episodes taken from a fantastic series of short films entitled 'Look at Life' produced by Rank. They were made to be shown during interludes at the cinema and offer a rare glimpse of aspects of London life not usually covered in the lat fifties and sixties. The film on sixties fashion is also especially popular having been used in countless TV programs on the subject and no doubt you will recognize parts of it. A DVD compilation of all the episodes in the series is available and you can watch some episodes at the BFI Mediatech.

'Look at Life - Market Place'


'Look at Life - Coffee Bar'


'Look at Life - In Gear'



-Annie

Wide Boy Awake

Before you download these songs let me just say I don't listen to music ironically. Perhaps I get carried away if I'm into a particular genre at a given time by listening to stuff that a few weeks later I'll look back on with shame (and I know right now this is going to be one of those cases) but I would hate to think that I spend all this time collecting records purely as a joke. Sure Wide Boy Awake may be very corny and admittedly their music is trite and therefore funny for that reason, but how can you resist that early 80s pop-funk, Bow-wow-wow rip off? I suppose I've answered my own question, but there's a reason for posting this. Yes its crap but it's interesting, and hilarious, but let's make it clear that's not being ironic. I suppose its a so called 'guilty pleasure' whatever I shamefully like it (and the b-side is slightly less awful).

Wide Boy Awake - Chicken Outlaw mp3



Wide Boy Awake - Slang Teacher mp3




-Dale

A Man Could Get Lost

This post was just going to simply be a link to download a Soft Cell song, but when searching on youtube to find a video for demonstration, I stumbled across this rather great early 80s amateur footage of various London scenes, particularly Soho, shot on an super 8 by a group of friends.



Not only does it have said song as the soundtrack but is very much in the Soft Cell aesthetic, black pleather wearing youths wandering around seedy neon-lit Soho in awe and so on. Anyway here's the song itself for you to conjure up more images of perverse men in strip bars beings laughed at by adolescents...

Soft Cell - A Man Could Get Lost


-Dale

Set The Tone

Set The Tone were a great little Glaswegian Electro-Funk outfit from 1982 who sadly only released two singles, but fortunately they are vocodering, slap bass, funky-synth beasts. Here are said songs, 'Dance Sucker' and 'Rap Your Love', as well as a clipping from The Face (Number 29, September 1982) introducing the group before they're first release, apparently their first single was called 'Smile (Here Comes a Surprise)' but whether that ever surfaced or not is a mystery to me.


Set The Tone - Dance Sucker mp3



Set The Tone - Rap Your Love mp3




-Dale

The Egyptian Theater, Essex Road

Built in 1930 for the 'Carlton' cinema chain, this is one of the few remaining examples of a unique style of architecture which came about as a result of a fad which lasted only a few years. It is also one of the very few remaining examples of an important period in which cinema and good design came together to try to bring a bit of the opulence and glamor seen in Hollywood film sets from the 1920's and 30's to the British public. Allowing, for the first time, people of all classes to experience something which would otherwise seem out of their reach for just a few hours. Apparently there are plans to turn it into a church, luckily though it is currently Grade II listed. Though, whether this protects the interior as well as the fantastic exterior I do not know and this worriers me because, one of the saddest losses is that on the whole, of the great cinemas like this one that are left and which are being preserved, very few of them have managed to retain their interiors and, for me, that is often the most spectacular part.

-Annie