The joy about the exhibition is that it is free but the downside is that sometimes there is a tendency to want to rush through some of the rooms because there is ‘nothing to see’ in police parlance. The mix of artists means that there is sometimes a hit and miss approach so that some things will stun and amaze whilst others will give rise to a shrug of the shoulders.

Here are some shots of what is on display – yes you can take your camera in and you can snap away all you want.

The exhibition runs until October 17 2010.

Reviews for the Newspeak Exhibition at the Saatchi gallery:

Guardian

Telegraph

Independent

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So what do we know about them so far?

Clock Opera is very familiar to those in the know. With White Noise they have shown just how it is possible to make music that’s good to listen to and which stimulates the minds whilst also being entertaining and they are a fave on this site as you probably already know.

They have a slight change in the line up with Dan (formerly one of the Rushes) taking over from Nick and, of course, Guy’s beard is getting biblical by now so we wait and see if he can part the waters or turn at least turn them into wine.

Fenech Soler – well they sound French and their first single cam,e out on a French label so they must be French? No, they are from King’s Cliffe in Northamptonshire and they do Electro Pop very very well. They have a Marina and the Diamonds remix under their belt and little thing going on with Groove Armada (see them at the Forum later this year with GA) and they have an energy that is quite a sight on stage.

Marina and Diamonds – ’nuff said. There would be pictures here from yours truly but you will have to make do with a quote ‘you cant take pictures of Marina, we have to protect her image’ – courtesy of someone from their management who clearly cant see the difference between me and the dozens of Marina fans up against the front of the stage all with their camera out and snapping away to do what? Put them on their facebook pages and let the world see the protected image of Marina.

Ah well, maybe I should use a smaller camera like the Ricoh Capillo – does raw images and looks like a domestic fun camera so doesnt attract officious management jobsworths. That’s the rant over.

If you like Kate Bush then you’ll like Marina. If you like the eighties then you’ll like Marina. If you like lyrics that are not going to stretch you or your intellect then you’ll like Marina.

Apart from that she’s quite mundane. (I will await comments and flames very soon  for being so heretical but hey I cant help that).

So, here are some pictures for you.

Clock Opera

Fenech Soler

Marina and the Diamonds

Sadly someone had seen fit to make the inside even cooler by switching the air con to ‘ice age’ setting but fortunately a quiet word from a gentlemen in authority led to a b bit more heat.

So it was that Clock Opera played their first London gig of the year (that I have been to at least). They were just back from Bournemouth  and they have been busy. A quick look at their myspace page and you see that they are going to be supporting the band de nos jours ‘Marina and the Diamonds’ across the UK.

Mr Clock Opera, Guy Connelly, has done a fresh remix that is to die for and the line up has changed. Nick has gone on to other pastures to be replaced by former ‘Rushes’ keyboards/vocals  dude Dan Armstrong.

The change has occurred seamlessly, even though there has been some rearranging of the tracks to accommodate Dan’s keyboard and vocal skills and we look forward to seeing more of him in future shows as he beds down.

Following Clock Opera came Samuel and the Dragon. Those of you that know the band will need no introduction whilst those of you that don’t will have to rely other, more cogent, reviewers on the internetty to tell you what they were like since they didn’t go down too well over in this corner of the room. Nice show, nice voice but the music is not quite my cup of tea so I will say no more.

Sadly, the headline act, Lone Lady, were trumped by a pressing appointment with the tax-mans personal website and so I didn’t get a chance to see how it went but rest assured Adventures In The Beetroot Field was a great night to be out on a cold January and Lone Lady’s album, Nerve Up, which is out on February 22nd, will by all accounts be brilliant.

Tangled Feet have begun work on their latest project which looks to be as innovative and eye opening theatre as ‘Home’.

The project is the Measurement Shop which kicked off in Brixton last week and will build up over the coming months and years.

There is website up and running which you can visit at www.tangledfeet-media.co.uk where the company members will be contemplating measurement in all it’s forms.

Not just physical but also everything from emotional, intellectual, practical, personal and impersonal.

In fact if it can be measured then they will want to consider it.

So if there is something that you feel might be relevant then hop on over to the website, have a look around and make a comment or two, who knows what it might lead to.

All Images Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

What does Earth look like when viewed from Mars? At 13:00 GMT on 8 May 2003, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) had an opportunity to find out. In addition, a fortuitous alignment of Earth and Jupiter—the first planetary conjunction viewed from another planet—permitted the MOC to acquire an image of both of these bodies and their larger satellites.

At the time, Mars and the orbiting camera were 139 million kilometers (86 million miles) from Earth and almost 1 billion kilometers (nearly 600 million miles) from Jupiter. The orbit diagram, below, shows the geometry at the time the images were obtained.

Because Jupiter is over 5 times farther from the Sun than Earth, two different exposures were needed to image the two planets. Mosaiced together, the images are shown above (top picture). The composite has been highly contrast-enhanced and “colorized” to show both planets and their satellites. The MGS MOC high resolution camera only takes grayscale (black-and-white) images; the color was derived from Mariner 10 and Cassini pictures of Earth/Moon and Jupiter, respectively.

Below are the images: The main image of Jupiter and Earth in the same shot; closeup detail of the Earth to show the features that can be discerned; schematic of the orbots of Mars, Jupiter and Earth to show the positioning of the planets when the image was made.

In 2005 a new development, part of the Evolution Quarter of what was formerly the North Peckham Estate was burnt to the ground when a fire started on the site and destroyed the partially built homes that were part of the Berkely Homes new build.

This time around there is a similar event – as before it is thought that gas canisters exploded and from here on Calypso Crescent at 4:30 this morning it did sound like it, with people evacuated and damage to inhabited properties.

Take a look at the pictures below, some from 2005 and some from now, so close together geographically and so similar is their seeming cause. Dies something need to be done in terms of safety inspections when there is so much work going on in such a built up area – have a look at the new Tuke School development that is also going on and then there is also the demolition in progress of the last parts of the North Peckham Estate (these are parts that have been baorded off, and so surreptitiously inhabited, for some time now.)

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Sitting by the keyboard as I type is the first physical release of Clock Opera’s music.

Those of you who have followed Clock Opera as they have wowed the audience will already know that there’s many a digital tune to be had from their myspace page and they have been drip feeding the industry with their nuggets of pure creativity for some time now.

But this is not digits, not ones and zeroes, not a emailable packet of pure information, no, not at all. This is a seven inch vinyl release of White Noise (and with the hauntingly melodic Alouette on the B side you have twice the pleasure).

With Clock Opera’s trademark circular motif on the cover the only other things you get are the track titles, some copyright information, Clock Opera’s myspace address and Pure Groove the company that has released this seven incher.

Pure Groove was also the venue for last nigth’s launch of the single and Clock Opera played a set to celebrate it.

Here are the pictures, now go out and buy the single, and if you cant go out and buy it, then go online and buy it from Pure Groove

Clock Opera on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/clockopera

Clock Opera are playing a number of gigs this week to coincide with the launch of the single, some are sold out but you still have a chance with some of the others so check out their myspace page for details.

Here is the video for White Noise too:

An evening of entertainment featuring a host of acts from Luke Wirght compering through performance poetry from Josh Idehen, live DJ sets, comedy and theatre. But most impressive was set by Clock Opera which intertwined with the world premiere of Showtime by Tangled Feet.

Now when these two get together you know something amazing is going to happen and so it did. Tangled Feet performers on ropes going up and down the walls against video projections of drowning bankers, Clock Oper’s music not just accompanying the performance but being an equal partner in it, gogo dancers appearing from nowhere, a flash mob, super sized hadn fans and much much more.

Theres a video of the event ot be put up but for now here are the pictures.

There are others to be found over on the Nabokov flickr site, those ones have been taken byLudovic Des Cognets , a photographer who I would highly recommend.

The acts featured were as follows (from the Oh Inverted World Facebook page):

GAGGLE
Headlining for us are the incredible 22-piece, all female, alternative choir known as Gaggle. This will be amazing and probably the most mindblowing spectacle ever at an OIW, although expect La Shark to have a few things to say about that!

“The most extraordinary band I’ve heard in a long time… With a name like Gaggle they’re going to be good, right? They are. They’re brilliant” HUW STEPHENS (BBC – Radio 1)

“Gaggle – the most exciting, innovative and genuinely imaginative force at large in music right now” REBECCA ROBINSON (NME)

CLOCK OPERA
receding Gaggle we are delighted to announce Clock Opera will be playing their special brand of “chop-pop” that we’ve been harping on about on our blog ever since we first saw them perform at Neon Gold’s night at Notting Hill Arts Centre. The music is experimental and totally wonderful. Prepare to be bowled over. – These pictures have their own page on the site – see them here

SO SAY SO
Second on the bill are So Say So, a five piece from London who enjoy a bit of keys led indie-pop. They’re twee and charming in a wonderful way, and thankfully not twee in a way that makes you want to listen to death metal and scream at the band to grow some balls. Nope, So Say So are far more likely to make your heart swoon.

LA SHARK
Opening for us are our Oh, Inverted World favourites La Shark. Making this their third full band performance with us, not to mention the countless other La Shark spawned side-projects we’ve had gracing our stage, La Shark definitely hold a special place in our hearts and are responsible for some of our most memorable moments at Oh, Inverted World. Their ramshackle wonderfulness, insane attire and general remarkableness of their ‘riddle pop’ makes them one of a kind, but a kind you should definitely see and then see again and again.