The crows like to insist a single crow is enough to destroy heaven.
This is incontestably true, but it says nothing about heaven,
because heaven is just another way of saying: the impossibility of crows
(Kafka: Aphorism 32)

To a Friend's House the Way is Never Long!
(The Grubby Mitts)

Originally arranged as the launch party for the single, To a Friend's House, the Grubby Mitts have, after the recent tragic death of Dan Cox on the crossroads of Dalston Junction, changed the emphasis of the evening to a celebration for their close friend. The song To a Friend's House was Dan's favorite track, and due to the sentiment of the song, it seems only right to dedicate the night to him. All are welcome and all money from the concert will go to the London Cycling Campaign. Johnny Parry, one of Dan's favorite musicians, will now also perform on the night.

THE GRUBBY MITTS

The Grubby Mitts have bee described as “…Wonderfully sad, with huge conviction and emotion” (the Guardian). Hailing from Bedfordshire, the band are fronted by visual artist Andy Holden; whose recent solo exhibition at the TATE Britain was praised by The Guardian as "Inward-looking and subtly monumental... Holden's work confirms the seriousness and intelligence of young art at the moment."

The band describe their music as, “assembled from scraps and fragments of melody, as if remembered from the night before or heard floating down from a window and taken up as a hum by someone passing by on the street below”. Lyrics and refrains are taken from unlikely sources, such as a cross stitch that used to hang in Holden's Grandmother's house. These are then looped, layered with woodwind, electronics, harmonium, guitars, percussion and strings, and then brought to epic conclusions. The live shows also incorporate specially made videos and films.

To A Friends House is released April 18th 2011 on 7” Vinyl and digital download.




JOHNNY PARRY CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Johnny Parry’s mixture of dark songwriting and intricate orchestra arrangements have drawn comparisons with Scott Walker. Recent concerts with his sixteen piece Chamber Orchestra at the Union Chapel and St Giles Churches saw the full extent of his vision realized, with passages recalling Michael Nyman, Avro Part and Ennio Morricone, interspersed with sparse passages of song in the tradition of Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave. The live performance will incorporate specially made films by Andy Holden.