Towers and records
PRODUCT is a new Liverpool based record label that, on one level, is as far away from the idea of Simon Cowell and corporate record industry as you can imagine. And yet, a bit like the Botoxed Adonis himself, it will take no risks. But for different reasons: it has no money to take risks with.
Product is run by Ade Blackburn and John Hartley from the band Clinic, Static's Paul Sullivan and artist Sam Wiehl of the Hive Collective.
It is throwing a launch party at Static tonight, the one-time gig venue that now operates under noise curfew.
And speaking of Curfews...
The label’s first release was an album earlier this month, The Curfew Tower. It included tracks by Clinic, Jinx Lennon, Paul Simpson, Damon Fairclough, Paul Sullivan, Jeff Young, Dave Jackson, Andy Eastwood, Alan Dunn, Sophie Coyle, Dan Simpkins, Penny Whitehead and Tenzing Scott-Brown.
We could be here all day detailing the whys and wherefores of how this all came into being, but it's full of twists and turns. Instead, turn up and let the hosts explain.
Sam Wiehl said: “Product could be considered a highly commercial label in that it won't actually be taking any risks as it can't actually lose any money because it has no money.
He added: “The aim is to build a catalogue of interesting physical output by a wide range of artists. Its a platform for ideas and the opportunity for collaboration.”
The label launch is an opportunity to eat risotto, drink their decent wine, hear haunting piano from leading UK jazz musician Matthew Bourne and guitar picking by Howie Reeve. You can also purchase one of the remaining copies of The Curfew Tower record being flogged off (250 in a limited edition).
Forthcoming releases include a contemporary Liverpool music anthology, an architectural plan and a field recording of a Tesco car park attendant. Given the latter, maybe it is like the X-factor after all.
*Product Records, launch party, Static Gallery, 23 Roscoe Lane, Liverpool 1, Friday Aug 30, 7.30pm. Free.
Walk on the wild side
As dusk falls over RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands, near Neston on Wirral, the nature reserve comes alive – and this weekend visitors have the chance to uncover the site’s secret wildlife on a special dusk walk.
With the help of RSPB wardens, visitors can discover the nocturnal creatures which make their home at the reserve, including owls, bats, and sweet badgers (before Farmer Jack "culls" them all, but don't tell the kids that).
There will also be the opportunity to witness a bird spectacle at Burton Mere Wetlands which is home to one of the UK’s largest colonies of little egrets. As dusk approaches, close to 400 of the birds – a new record for the reserve – gather from across the estuary, creating a remarkable sight.
During the walk, visitors will also have the chance to venture into the Gorse Covert woodland, listen to the tawny owls calling to each other and hopefully catch a glimpse of young badgers foraging in the woods (now, remember, no upsetting remarks, ok?).
*Dusk Walk, Burton Mere RSPB, Neston, Wirral, CH64 5SF. Friday Aug 30, 6.30pm. £5 per adult (£3 for RSPB members) and £1 per child (free for RSPB Wildlife Explorer members). Tel: 0151 353 8478. Find out how to get there by clicking here
Last of the summer fairs
Last weekend was all about Sefton Park, a big weekend for music lovers, so much so that the entire area was in traffic lock-down for three days.
The residents of Calderstones would never have any truck (or 4x4) with that sort of thing but this weekend it's the turn of their green patch, with the much more sedate Calderstones Summer Fair.
Harry Potter Lookalike CompetitionCourtesy of new Mansion House residents The Reader Organisation, expect a spectacular day for the whole family with games, crafts, stall, live music, a Harry Potter lookalike competition, fancy dress, perhaps the world’s first poetry photo-booth and much, much more.
*Summer Fair, Mansion House, Calderstone's Park, Menlove Avenue, Mossley Hill, L18, Sat Aug 31, 11am-5pm. Free.
Space is the place
A HOMAGE to the late, great cosmic pharaoh and Saturnian - Sun Ra – takes place tomorrow night as part of Space Is The Place – the place in this case being The Kazimier.
Philosopher, poet, pianist, composer, band leader, afro futurist and cosmic messenger, Sun Ra produced a staggering amount of music in his lifetime, some 200 albums plus, between 1956 to 1993.
A pioneer of jazz, electronic and space-age exotica, Ra’s intergalactic sounds influenced a vast spectrum of popular music; from soul to psychedelic, funk to hip hop, electro to techno and beyond infinitum.
As a unique tribute to the life and music of Sun Ra the event celebrates the man behind the mystery, the modern day luminary with an interstellar lineup of astral travellers, space cadets and interplanetary beings to take you to a cosmic place in another dimension.
The evenuing features United Vibrations, We, The Undersigned, Spaceheads, The Harlequin Dynamite Marching Band, The Part Time Heliocentric Cosmo Drama After School Club (12-piece feat Paddy Steer, Graham Massey, John Ellis and Gus Fairbairn), Mr Resistor, Liverpool Psych Fest Psound Psystem, Cosmic Girl VJ, TVLux VJ and a full screening of the 1974 film Space Is The Place in the alchemists alley.
*Space Is The Place, The Kazimier, 4-5 Wolstenholme Square, Liverpool, L1 4JJ. Sat Aug 31, 8pm-late. Tickets, £5, available from here.
