Launch party Thursday 24th June from 5pm Sauce Gallery, Custard Factory Birmingham.

Lead by award winning saxophonist and rapper Soweto Kinch and featuring a stellar rostra, The Flyover Show returns to Birmingham with dynamic and challenging performances on the 29th May. Now in its third year the unconventional inner city festival transforms the grey space beneath the Hockley Flyover into an oasis of cultural expression, celebrating generations of black British music and art. For the first time this show explores the specific theme of black female identity.

This year’s Flyover Show is a week on Saturday, in Soweto’s words it is about ‘Jazz and Poetry and Hip Hop’ – well worth going to and free might I add, for more info check here. For the revolution see below…

Just peeped this over at Ideal Skate Supply, looks like they have secured a screening of the Vans film just out. This is a high coo by any standard. The film will be shown at the shop down at The Custard Factory on 24th April, for all the info peep here.

…Just had Kris Vile in the store and we worked out a date for a Birmingham premiere of the Vans Europe DVD. We are going to hold it in the Cinema space at 5.30pm on Saturday the 24th of April. Tickets will be on sale in the store this weekend and for a measly £2 you will get to see Chris Pfanner, Danny Wainwright, Ross McGouran, Flo Marfaing, Sam Partaix and more in the first video to come out under the Vans banner. And of course you will be able to shake Kris by the hand and congratulate him on his section which, so I have heard, is rather good.

Joint Artistic Directors of Fierce Festival, Laura McDermott and Harun Morrison invite you to Fierce Start Party!!! |||| What’s a Start Party? It’s the beginning of an exciting journey. What will be there? Fierce Festival artists sharing tasters of their work. When’s the next festival? We’ll tell you the shape of Fierce’s next year |||| A.E Harris Building,128 Northwood Street, Birmingham, Jewellery Quarter, B3 1SZ |||| Save the Date!!! |||| Thursday 15^th April |||| visit our new blog at www.wearefierce.org for additional details about the Start Party|||| Doors open from 3pm. Words at 7pm. Party from 9pm.||||

Photo: Tim Berry

The Smash Bro’z Hip Hop Collective are a Birmingham based crew who are currently dining out  on the competition’s Puma States and dancing the ‘Victory Wig Out’ for taking gold at this year’s Hip Hop Championships. The crew are now preparing for the finals in Las Vegas and the last I heard still wearing their winning gold medals.

They have a nice feature on the BBC Birmingham site here.

The crew also run the Open Circles Radio Show which is hosted by Bboy veteran – Silence (pictured centre).

This is a radio show for people in the dance community to link up, share stories and info on training spots, performances, classes, jam nights, battles etc…
Music policy is all those beats that have inspired people to get up a be creative with movement.
That’s anything from Hip-Hop to House, Jazz to Rock, Salsa to Samba I could go on all day! Music that B-Boys battle to. Lockers, Lock to. House dancers, Jack to. Waackerz, Waack to etc….

OK! say there’s people getting into the dance world and they are looking for classes to go and learn a new style.
They want to find out about the music that inspired that style.
Then they want to find a place to practise what they’ve learnt with others that have more and less experience then them to share ideas with.
Then find a place to throwdown all these new styles with other dancers. THIS IS THE PLACE!

The show is on Rhubarb Radio every Thursday from 3pm-5pm.

Underneath Eastside’s arches you’ll find a whole host of organisations making and presenting film, music, visual arts, digital media, craft, literature, and photography – and some great pubs and cafes too. We Are Eastside is a guide to some of these hidden treasures.

We are Eastside is made up of;

7 INCH CINEMA – BIRMINGHAM JAZZ – CAPSULE – CRAFTSPACE – THE CUSTARD FACTORY – EASTSIDE PROJECTS – GRAND UNION – IKON EASTSIDE – PROJECT PIGEON (Photo featured above) – PUNCH – RHUBARB RHUBARB – THE EDGE – TINDAL STREET PRESS – THE LOMBARD METHOD – VIVID – VRU

A couple of exciting developments in the We are Eastside camp in Digbeth, Birmingham is the addition of a new photographic gallery space called Rhubarb East Gallery situated in the Rhubarb Building and a performance by Japanese artist Atsuhiro Ito.

Vivid and Capsule are combining forces to present Atsuhiro Ito. Atsuhiro uses a fluorescent light with pick up mics attached, and alters the voltage applied to tubes causing the lights to flicker. Microphones pick up electromagnetic noise perfectly synchronised with the flickering lights in a light/noise/electric eye festival at only a fiver it is well worth a look next week on Wednesday 10th March 2010, more information can be found here.

This is very exciting! On Thursday 4th March The Electric Cinema will be screening Beyond Biba a portrait of the life of 1960s fashion legend Barbara Hulanicki. All information can be found here with tickets available from The Electric.

Our first screening in Birmingham. We’re screening for one night at the Electric Cinema, Birmingham. The cinema is the oldest working cinema in the UK first opening on December 27th 1909. The building is now home to luxury sofa seating, waiter service and a full bar.

There will be a post screening Q&A with Director Louis price and Producer James Collie, which will be hosted by Tom Lawes, owner of the Electric Cinema.

Special edition DVDs signed by Barbara Hulanicki will be available after the screening.

Here is a collection of alternative Christmas gifts available from creative folks in and around Birmingham. Firstly a Christmas type mix of records from me. Feel free to wang this mix on whilst wrapping your presents or mulling your pies… enjoy!

At the top of the page we have the infamous Spinwell Bobble Beanie – which had almost sold out from this Birmingham based cycle blog, before the delivery had even arrived. Thankfully some are still available and now in stock ready for Christmas, very reasonably priced at £15 a pop. You will look hot when you are cold.

Spinwell Projects No.1 will be the Spinwell Bobble Beanie. Limited to 30 pieces and available in two colour options – Red/Grey/White and Grey/Red/White ( unfortunately not the colour pictured, this is my special sample! ).

Current State is the work of Birmingham based designer and illustrator Jane Anderson. Current State do lovely bold prints and are often feature in Fused Magazine. You can purchase postcards and Eco bags from Studio 4 Gallery aka The Framers along with a whole bunch of other stylish prints, postcards, bags and stickers from other artists and designers. Picture of Current State’s Eco Bag below - online shop and information here.

Mouldy Loaf is an independent company and brand which stocks the best in men’s and women’s wares. We have created an innovative and alternative brand which provides a great change to mainstream, high street fashion.

I say amen to that! Mouldy Loaf also run We Create* in Oasis Market. To go peep their wares just head down to the Custard Factory or look online here.

From mouldy bread to tasty and mouldy (if you so please) cheese! I love cheese and I love this shop! Newly opened in Kings Heath with a tasty collection of cheese, deli goodies and chutneys.

Capeling and Co is a specialist cheese shop and delicatessen on York Road, Kings Heath. We sell a large range of artisan cheeses, charcuterie, olives, antipasti, chutneys, vinegars, oils and lots more!

You can find out more here and become a fan on facebook. Support your local independent cheese retailer!

Merry Christmas!

Best Believe xx

The closing party to Capsule’s 10th birthday celebrations is on Saturday 19th December at Vivid on Heath Mill Lane in Digbeth. This party will see a gathering of some of Birmingham’s most exciting experimental live acts including the fabulous Modified Toy Orchestra plus someone called Stinky Wizzleteat and others – all paying tribute to the ten years of exciting, genre pushing music that Capsule have produced and provided a stage for. You can get more info here and tickets from here. See you down the front.

Pioneering typographer, sleeve designer and artist Swifty will be setting up shop at the Sauce Gallery in Birmingham’s Custard Factory from Saturday 12th December. Everything from originals and one off prints to T-shirts, skateboards and stickers will be for sale in The Swifty Pop Shop.

The Pop Shop, which is being brought to Birmingham by Sauce Gallery and Punch Records, will feature Swifty’s Newsagents installation. This life size shop front was partly inspired by Peter Blake’s ‘Toy Shop’ and the artist’s fond memories of a local village newsagent in Lancashire. The Shop will also be home to the A-Z of Swifty Show, including pieces based around everything from Action Man to Zebedee from the Magic Roundabout.

The Pop Shop is the latest branch of Swifty’s expansive career. Having studied design at Manchester Polytechnic, at the age of 21 he trained under Neville Brody at The Face magazine. His work at The Face and later led him to be recognised as one of the top new talents in the specialist world of typography.

In 1989 he joined the team at Straight No Chaser, a publication aimed at the jazz, jive and soul community. As art editor he drove the creative style that went on to embody the magazine as a whole. At the same time he established his own font company, Swifty Typograpfix, and spread himself between the magazine and producing fonts, record sleeves, club flyer designs and many other sidelines. Swifty dominated the scene, being the designer of choice for nearly every acid jazz label.

Punch Director Ammo Talwar said:

“Swifty is a design legend whose work cuts across all typography boundaries. Bringing the Pop Shop to Birmingham is a real scoop for the city, and will give visitors a rare opportunity to see many of Swifty’s personal projects first hand.”

The Pop Shop will be open to the public at the Sauce Gallery, 5 The Custard Factory, Gibb Street, Digbeth from 11th December to 10th January 2009. For more information visit www.punch-records.co.uk