All-ages gig this Sunday, 25 November

No ID, no problem. This Sunday between 2 and 6pm, upstairs at the Lexington features The School, The Werewandas, Mi Mye and Alphabet Backwards live and amplified.

The Hangover Lounge will be operating as usual - refined and elegantly rakish - downstairs from 2pm. While you're here, whet your appetite with this splendid new video from The School for their bubblegum smash Why Do You Have To Break My Heart Again?

Name That Tune: "Weather Report" by The Tennors

"Hey", at least two people asked me yesterday, "what was that reggae version of "Only Living Boy In New York" ?" It was this, produced by Duke Reid in the late 60s. "Weather Report" by The Tennors. 

 

 

I've probably played this one more than any other record at the Lounge. I've definitely been asked about it more than any other. What a treat.

Coming Down In November

Well we've already cashed in our bonus hour of clock-going-forward sleep and the nights are drawing in and it's cold and it's rainy but HOT DAMN we're excited about what's coming up in November. Seriously, it's gonna be great.

NOVEMBER THE FOURTH! Two eminent friends of ours popping along to drop some exquisitely-tooled DJ sets for us: not only Tom Cox, music journalist and cat tickler but also Lounge favourite Darren Hayman, who promises us a set of English folk tunes to celebrate the release of his "The Violence" LP, which is, frankly, effing brilliant and utterly unique. There'll be a jumble sale upstairs as well. What a bargain.

NOVEMBER THE ELEVENTH: The excellent Robert Rotifer will be our guest DJ this afternoon, and there might be more special guests that day too, so keep 'em peeled for more news.

NOVEMBER THE EIGHTEENTH: it's the big one! The Chickfactor All-Dayer, part two of the London leg of our favourite fanzine's twenty-year celebrations. A proper galaxy of stars will be performing upstairs through the afternoon. The bad news is that it's a ticketed event and is all sold out. So we're sorry about that but it's not like we didn't warn you. Downstairs will be open as usual - though it'll likely be a bit busy - and some key figures in the celebrations will be playing records, so if you don't have a ticket but you fancy mingling please drop in and have a beer downstairs. 

NOVEMBER THE TWENTY FIFTH: DJ Downfall's birthday. There's nothing more to be said. It could get messy. It'll sound brilliant along the way. 

P.P. Arnold - The First Cut Is The Deepest

It's always a real joy to play this classic. That joy was amplified on Sunday when a punter thanked us for playing his favourite song. I suggested that the fan seek out P.P. Arnold's debut album, The First Lady Of Immediate; it's not easy to find but the reward is worth the hunt.

The record runs from taut, heart-rending balladry to punchy smashes to orchestral pop. Arnold wrote three of the tracks herself. Everything Is Gonna Be Alright is in Kev Roberts' Northern Soul Top 500. The producers include Mick Jagger, Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane and Andrew Loog Oldham. It's an album that must be reissued. You'll love it.

The First Cut Is The Deepest has been covered with greater commercial success, but Arnold's remains the definitive cut. There is a superb reggae version by Norma Fraser and that too gets spun at the club. But nothing else comes close.

Book Swap for Book Lovers, Sunday 21 October

This Sunday we’ve got a book swap happening. It’s simple: bring a book you’re finished with, someone takes it; you take a book someone else has finished with. Everyone’s happy.

You can bring more than one book, if you like. Any books left over will be taken to the local charity shop the next day by the lovely staff at the Lexington.

Coming Up In October!

Season of misty mellow tunefulness. Yes. It's already bloody October and it's time we told you all the good reasons for coming to visit the Lounge this month.

ONE! October 7th. It's Tim's birthday Hangover Lounge and he'd love you to join us for a drink or two. I am not sure why I am talking about myself in the third person but it's my birthday and I'll do what I bleeding well want thank you very much. There might be a special treat lined up for this afternoon. But it might not happen. Eyes peeled.
TWO! October 14th:  we have the privilege to welcome Ben Haggar as a guest DJ! Ben writes this ace blog on the underground, the leftfield, grarge, psych, weird and out there. He also plays in the mighty Give It Ups  who are sadly playing their last ever gig at the George Tavern on Sat Oct 20.
THREE! October 21st: we're still waiting on confirmation from a guest DJ on this Sunday but we'll let you know when we know. But you'll surely be needing some HL care and attention after the Give It Ups last show the night before.
FOUR! October 28th we'll be welcoming our friend Helen McCookerybook who'll be running her Club Artyfartle at the Lounge. Helen's set earlier this year was absolutely amazing, and Artyfartle sounds fab too http://www.thelexington.co.uk/event?id=1764
FIVE! It'll be November soon. Talking of November, there are only a small handful of Chickfactor show tickets left. Grab them while you can!

Believe the Hype!

Coming up this Sunday, we not only have a guest DJ set from the excellent Colm McCrory of Help Stamp Out Loneliness / Language of Flowers fame, but we're planning another of our board game afternoons, this time hosted by the lovely Karren from the Stolen Wine Social.

We are particularly excited at the prospect of getting stuck into a recent charity shop board game find: HYPE!

On the box it says "HYPE: The Only Boardgame with all the slime and grime of the Music Industry" (1983)".

Obviously, our experience with the HLEPs has made us experts on the music industry, but the rules were probably different in 1983. The game comes with it's own 12 inch single, which we promise not to play on Sunday. See you there, we hope.