Shopping and listening...

Playlist

Various - iPod Shuffleplay

Cloudland Blue Quartet - Twenty Four Paintings (Single Disc Version)

Up early despite the 3:30 am sack hitting...

Breakfast and out into the sun...

I was on a mission - tube to London Bridge...

..and Borough Market...

...where I procured Anne's sought after spices - which I would now have to carry around all day...

A further look around - I should probably have foregone breakfast at the hotel in order to partake of some of the wares here...

I could have sat in this previously unnoticed enclosure...

Not to worry...

I was looking up...

Over London Bridge...

I cannot resist the lure of the Shard...

Only today did I realise that the tube station Monument is so named after this monument...

...which stands in remembrance of the Great Fire of London...

It is possible to climb to the top but I passed on this, preferring to wait till another time when Anne could also partake of the several hundred step spiral staircase to enjoy the views...

Onward to the town, noting this which was once seen as we left our hotel in Southwark...

To St Paul's...

...from where a short bus ride was enjoyed , followed by a short walk to Covent Garden...

...where the entertainment was in full swing...

To Fopp, where the first purchase of the day was made, Sigur Ros' Jonsi's second album, "Go"...

Onward into Soho, where some mods seemed to be gathering...

It was, of course, Record Store Day...

The day when people who don't normally buy records flood record stores to see what all the fuss is about...

In Reckless, following last night's impressive show, I beat my way to the counter to purchase the Ulrich Schnauss double disc I'd seen yesterday...

I did not venture into Sister Ray, given the queue was round the block...

It was, however, being entertained, sort of...

Neither did I enter Phonica - unlike last year when i stood in a queue for over an hour and ended up buying a Velvet underground album I really didn't need...

No, the place for me was Harold Moore - which does not take part in the stupid annual music industry marketing coup...

Here, in the basement, I found seven albums in the jazz section going for peanuts and which rather took my fancy...

Back upstairs, I noted the drone disc by David First which I spotted last year, remains in the "drone" section of the display...

Once again, I did not partake...

Out onto Berwick St - a little busier than yesterday...

The local art shop was teaching people how to make their own record cover bags...

...while I picked up a Roger Eno double CD anthology at a nearby stall, before heading to the corner of Frith and Old Compton for a seat, a coffee and a peruse of today's acquisitions...

Wondering what to do next I decided to head to Portobello Road over at Notting Hill, not having been there for a goodly number of years...

To say it was mobbed would be an understatement...

I liked these houses on the way down to the main drag...

...where all sorts of nonsense was on sale...

I wandered into Rough Trade...

...took this pic...

..and wandered out again, continuing on my way to the end of the road...

...before heading back again, time having been killed and my having been somewhat entertained...

Took the tube...

...back to Kings Cross...

...and the hotel...

...to polish off the remains of yesterday's bottle of red wine and inspect my ill-gotten gains from the last two days...

At six, I set off again...

...past last year's interesting roof statue...

...walking to The Angel Islington...

..from where I caught a bus (not pictured) to Dalston Junction...

Said bus was not like Berwick Street or Portobello Road...

I alighted at Farr's School of Dancing...

..a very interesting bar (which was indeed a school of dancing back in the thirties)...

...and whose wall bears a striking mural...

Having asked the barman if he knew where Cafe Oto was, he advised just round the corner and that he had been there recently for some "Japanese drone music"...

With half an hour or so till the doors would be open, I took a walk around the area, noting last night's area of attendance in the distance...

At eight, we were admitted to the performance space, with prep almost complete and I managed to bag a front row seat beside "Steve", a regular visitor to the cafe and coincidently originally from Edinburgh...

Between acts we had some interesting chat regarding this type of music and it turned out we had both been drawn to the festival mainly by the presence of Thomas Koner...

And so the stage was set...

Tonight's "gig" was much more intimate than last night's - the venue was packed and hot as Petrels kicked things off with a Dictaphone held against a close miked cymbal...

Guitar and drums added to the (good) cacophony...

...and the piece gradually unfolded...

...until, after having been left alone by his erstwhile cacophonous cohorts, Mr Petrels brought his set to a close with a very moving choral excerpt on a loop...

I saw him at last year's festival and was impressed - I was even more impressed this time round...

A great start to the night...

Origamibiro had an interesting set up....

Ostensibly a trio, one member worked solely on visuals, using a macro camera to project images of the pages of a book and mix those with film while the remaining duo used a variety of stringed instruments and loop machines...

...creating music over rhythms seemingly created by chance using the scratching and scrunching pieces of closely miked paper...

Another excellent performance...

Despite the presence of Herr Koner later, my stars of the evening had to be the four man (piano, laptop and machines, cello and double bass) line up of Piano Interrupted...

..who gave a quite ingenious and masterful musical display...

...including mucking about inside the piano (and who doesn't want to see that?)....

...quite rightly receiving an ovation at then end of their set...

..from the enthralled audience...

And so Thomas Koner got himself set up, like an ordinary punter sitting at a table with his laptop in front of him...

I was so captivated, I only managed this one pic (and I know, I know, I've been taking pics during performances for the last two days which goes against much I've spouted here in the past - but you can tell from the quality that I wasn't exactly setting flashes off in performers' faces)...

Accompanied by a slightly faster moving (though still very slow) film than last year, a quite excellent set of minimalistic ambience sounded forth from the speakers...

And all too soon it was all over once again...

Bidding farewell to Steve, I made my way out into the night (stopping only to purchase Piano Interrupted's latest disc at the merch desk) and caught a bus back to Angel straight away, before walking the mile or so back...

... to King's Cross...

...and into the hotel for an earlier night than yesterday...

Another excellent day...

Highlight of the day : Shopping and listening...