Islington Mill Studios

The Dynamic Death Party launch was a fantasic sucess last night, a massive thank you to everyone that came and was involved! It was great to see a lot of new faces and such interation with Art.

Local curators Jeni Wright and Gass Pendergast have invited 7 artists from across the North of England to contribute to a conversation about death, including amongst others work by Melissa Tutin, Jacqueline Smith and Stephen Nuttall aka the Fag Baboon. A giddy eulogy for the cracking mass. The mundane spectacle takes a wild stab at faith and it's suspension of disbelief.

This exhibition will be open during events but if you would like to book your own private viewing e-mail: exhibition@islingtonmill.com 

After what has been a great 2011 for the Mill, we have decided to change things around a bit for 2012. This year, we are going to experiment with a new seasonal opening pattern. By changing the ‘look’ of our gallery and club space as well the Mill's opening times, we hope to present an even more exciting and cohesive experience when you come to visit us, as well as a programme that includes only the very best in music and visual arts.  

After selling out our three arena New Year’s Eve party we will be closed until January 25th. We will then reopen for our first season of 2012 on Wednesday 25th January with a preview of our new gallery show 'Dynamic Death, showcasing new and emerging young artists from the North in a building-wide exhibition titled ‘Dynamic Death’. During this  season the Mill will be open for gigs, parties and events from Wednesdays till Sundays until February 26th. Some of the region’s finest promoters including Bohemian Grove, Now Wave, Herbal Sessions, Faktion, and I Am will bring you the best in live music, dj's and parties.

 

Sunday 6th May: 3pm to 3am

Our very own music festival is back for it's 8th year running! With the cream of Salford and Manchester's promoters curating stages offering a flavour of what the cities have to offer with less of the egos and more of the talent.

This year newcomers Panoply, a performance art collective, Drowned In Sound, the critically acclaimed music mag and Faktion purvey the newest in new music. Including Now Wave (past bookings include The XX, Wild Beasts, Ghost Poet) curating a ‘female focused’ stage, while Bad Uncle and Hear Here will be asking bands to soundtrack films as they did to acclaim at last year’s event.

Having played host to some serious talent over the years such as The Ting Tings in the cosy surrounds of Chapel Street’s Rover’s Return,Marina and the Diamonds in Sacred Trinity church, New York taste-makers, Creep, as well as rising electronic artists like D/R/U/G/S and Denis Jones you are sure to see stuff you'd never normally see - in terms of both bands, and venues - together, the whole thing makes for a really different, exciting, and fun experience.

Expect more announcements over the next few weeks

£14 Earlybird tickets available from Skiddle

Friday 23rd December: the night before the night before Christmas. The party season is well and truly under way, but it’s not really Christmas yet. There’s no sitting around, feeling bored and consuming more food in one day than you have done all week. This is the fun bit of Christmas, making time for friends, getting drunk and dancing around merrily – cue: DJ Derek. The 68 year old DJ took a liking to the black music that was coming to the fore in the early 60s as a young man in Bristol (such as Reggae, Rocksteady and Soul). The man has a record collection to make any DJ feel humble and will ensure bookings till he kicks the bucket. cont...

Woohoo! We have been crowned 'Salford's No.1 Cultural Haven'. Yep, old rough and unpopular us. We are very excited about this as we think it is quite an accolade.

The Best Of Salford is voted by members of the community and celebrates the best that this fair city can offer which is a hell of a lot. We look forward to working with these guys more in the future to really show newcomers to the area what we are all about!

We are very proud of the fact that Agnew's Gallery in London is hosting an exhibition of Susie MacMurray's work. Titled 'The Eyes Of The Skin' this exhibition will be an amazing chance to see a collection of Susie's drawings, sculptures and exhibitions in one place. 

The exhibition opens next week, Tuesday 8th November through to the 4th of December, so if you are down in the Big Smoke you  should definately check it out.

Christmas at The Mill saw the wealth of creative talent based here showcase their work and offer a range of unusual, one-of-a-kind gifts and treats. The Mill's residents offered a range of beautiful, limited-edition pieces, from ceramics and jewellery to photography and printmaking. There was music from members of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, mulled wine, hearty homemade soup and of course mince pies!

Thank you to everyone that came, we had a lovely time and we hope that you did too.

Words from Northern Comfort

So tonight I went to Islington Mill to an event run by Beep Industries. It was a talk by Aaron Draplin – founder of Portland’s Draplin Design Company and co-creator of Field Notes.

Now – got to say straight away – I wasn’t aware of him really until a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, I know. A friend of mine posted a link to a video of his, I then read his blog, then his twitter, then he posted that he was in Manchester this week. So I bought tickets, quickly passed on the baby to Elisabeth and drove over to the Mill.

Cutting to the chase – man was I glad I went. A great, funny, super-talented, inspirational guy. Above all what struck me was his sheer passion, the sheer joy and love he had that all day he could work for himself, making things that he loved and live that way. It was clear that this was a privilege to him; that the ability to do this, and to work and live like this is not something to be taken for granted, but something to be cherished and loved and celebrated.

Now he’s about 12 months or so older than I, but waaaay ahead of me on this thing. He’s a way better designer, way more experienced, etc. And sometimes, as I’m going greyer, losing hair and am constantly tired, that could get one down. But actually, it was all just super inspiring. Just the idea that your life can be what you make of it, if you work hard. I’m not saying anybody can do anything, but as someone who went completely freelance in March this year, and has a 6 month old baby, that’s genuinely inspirational.

I started freelancing with no clients and from a job which wasn’t the one I freelance in (so I wasn’t ‘known’ in the industry), and knowing I had a baby on the way, and a mortgage to pay. Scary. But it’s working. Slowly, but it’s working. And I can get up in the morning, I don’t need to put on a suit, or even get dressed. My commute is to my computer with a coffee. I can listen to whatever I want, work the hours I need to, spend time with Evie and my fiancé, catch up on shit on the internet without having to hide my computer screen, and what’s the worst I have to do? Make more amends than I’d like to a client’s work? Have to chase an invoice a couple of times? So what?

Also – it shows that if you work hard, work like it means something, like you’re the client, then you can produce great stuff that you love, and have a job that you love. And in these days of ‘a missing decade’, etc, that’s quite something.

So thanks to Draplin, and thanks to Beep. Shame more people weren’t there, you missed out. It’s sending me back to my work inspired, fired up, and ready to work harder and better. But not for some shareholders, or a boss, or whatever. But for me.

Praises are sung by Cutteruption

On Bonfire Night, I found myself at Off With Their Heads at Islington Mill watching one of the gnarliest musical peformances of recent memory. I’m not in the habit of referring to things as ‘gnarly’ but if there’s one band deserving of the epithet, Organ Freeman could be it.

I’m a big fan of immersive performances: ones where the line between the audience and the performer is blurred, both spatially and figuratively. I have been ever since I saw Jean Genet bouncing up and down on a stage wearing tit-tape and squirting the audience with water pistols in a pub in Leeds a few years back.  In my own performances, one of the most enjoyable things can be wandering into the audience’s space and seeing what happens.

If you get a chance to see Organ Freeman, do. They combine live drumming with hyper electronic backings, blend pop hits into their own original numbers and dance like they’ve got ants in their pants. They also drenched themselves in an avalanche of talcum powder, launched illuminated balloons into the audience and menaced the audience with their fleshy pincers to an instructional dance called The Wirral Crab.

 

Review by Quenched Music

The first time I saw Suzuki Method was probably while Quenched Music was still just a blog and it is incredible to see how far they have come over such a short space of time.

To be honest the first two bands Working for a Nuclear Free City and The Rial To Burns absolutely tore the house down and everyone was dancing wildly to these two bands. Both really impressed me they were very original, yet not niche which is always a fear.

I hope to hear more from these two groups of musicians as they flourish during the following year.

Suzuki Method have had rapid success in that their debut EP sold out, which was a decisive statement of intent. Each of their tracks get the crowd dancing as well as posses a certain intelligence to them, which make the hardened music critic take a moment to notice them.

The smoky atmosphere of Islington Mill just added to the overall refreshing and vibrant performance of Suzuki Method. It is no wonder why soon the world will be their oyster as their originality these days transcends genre, which is a rarity these days.

The main track that got the crowd invading the stage was ‘You asked for the moon and you got it,’ simple electronic bliss coupled with strong distinctive vocals a trademark Suzuki Method track.

The night was kept in check by the Djing skills of the Salford City Radio gentlemen, a mixture of tracks to keep everyone’s appetites moist during the set breaks as well as after all the musicians had finished performing.

I look forward to the next Helmets for Men gig as they do not seem to disappoint.

 

Check out these lovely reviews of Islington Mill that were in THe Gusrdian earlier in the year. There is one piece on the cool and trendy things to do in and around Manchester, where we are rightly described as a 'creative hub of a minor cultural renaissance' and the other is a lovely review of our 2 storey open plan B&B. Exciting things are being planned for the B&B which will be announced very soon!

The B&B is housed in a converted workshop with an open plan contemporary feel. With two double bedrooms and a dormitory room sleeping six the B&B can house a maximum of ten at any one time. Each room has ensuite facilities and there is a communal kitchen and dinning area for guests to share. The B&B predominantly houses bands and artists visiting the city, recent guests have included Billy Childish, David Medalla, and Roger Cardinal and musical stars Earth, Salem and Group Doueh. Housed in the midst of Islington Mill artist’s studios, the B&B provides a lively and alternative introduction to the city. If you are interested in booking a room please contact Morry on 07917714369.

 

The powers of One69A and RAG are collaborating to give you the opportunity to design, print and create your own tshirt. Dont miss out on this fantastic opportunity to learn from the masters.

The price is £15 for one person or £25 for 2 people and more information is on our events page which you can see by clicking here. But remember you must book your place on any of these workshops and they do sell out so, please email sally@one69a.com

The walk from the bright lights of Manchester is short, and if the signs didn’t tell you so, you’d still think you were in the rainy city. For many it may as well be a different country, with Urban Mancunia seemingly frightened to step outside of its Northern Quarter comfort zone for any length of time. Whilst some would shy away from the risk of doing anything away from the usual haunts, Sounds from the Other City is a festival that absolutely revels in its outsider status, an obvious link to the new music is around to champion. So whilst Maps festival took residency in some of the more bizarre venues dotted around Manchester, a whole other world of sound lay just over a canal.

As with any festival, the weather seems to conspire to dampen the hopes of a carnival atmosphere, but whilst the threat of rain doesn’t ever really show up, the bitter cold does. The walk to collecting a wristband is immediately brightened by some ArtYarn knitted animals hanging from a tree – a blue octopuses’ awkward smile cancelling out the grim numbness of the fingers.

After huddling around for a wristband, it’s time for the first band of the day. Using the excellent SFTOC special edition of Shrieking Violets as a guide, The Angel Centre is found with enough time to browse through Salford ‘Zine Library’s collection whilst taking in the slightly bizarre surroundings. Wonderfully, there have been no efforts made to conceal the fact that Girl Mountain is playing in what is essentially a canteen. Indeed, as he opens up his set, people take the opportunity to grab a late lunch, whilst the workers openly look bemused at what’s going on in front of them.

Consisting of one man, a synth and a whole lot of presets, the room is filled with a cacophonous racket whilst the crowd slowly swells. Girl Mountain is far from the easy listening that you might want to ease you into the day, coming across like a more brutal, sociopathic Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. As far as statements go it’s pretty daring, and after half an hour of feedback, fuzzy synth, distorted vocals, stilted rapping and a claim to be sponsored by Sanitary pads, the set is ended with the refrain of ‘I’ve not got cancer/I’m just thin’.

Down the road at the Old Pint Pot, the locals set about watching the football whilst the masses crowd on the floor above for the start of the most hyped line-up of the festival. There’s no room to move as Dutch Uncles rip into

DUTCH UNCLES - THE INK

their set. They might look as though they’ve been dragged backwards through a charity shop and have some of the most bizarre dancing around, but they’ve got the tunes to back it up. In the flesh is where their quirky math-pop really comes to the fore, all angular guitars and falsetto vocals. Showcasing new material, the band have taken huge strides from their earlier work and understandably, the cramped crowd seem to love every second.

The gamble on seeing the enigmatic Wu Lyf on the same bill means that the chance to see Jo Rose is the ornate surrounds of St. Phil’s Church is pointlessly missed as it’s announced the band have cancelled, so the opportunity is taken to visit Old Pint Pot’s downstairs and have a listen to The Cavalcade. Shamelessly dream pop, it’s difficult not to fall for their swirling sound. Their debut album due later in the year could be one of the more exciting releases of the summer.

Despite the many drawbacks of purpose built gig venues – the lack of soul, purposeful sense of identity and overpriced drinks – they do have some advantages. The queue for the toilets as Tim and Sam’s Tim and Sam band with Tim and Sam opened their set would’ve killed for a decent amount of grotty cubicles. In every other aspect, the church surpasses pretty much any other kind of venue you could imagine, and the acoustics mean that Tim and Sam’s wondering instrumentals sound like they’ve found their home.

After nipping off for some chips, it’s up to The Crescent for a delicious vegan cupcake and The Graveyard Shift. Coming on around 20 minutes late, they batter the audience with easily the loudest performance of the day. There’s some rockabilly in their sound, but they built their own unique, ramshackle house on a bluesy base. The only thing guaranteed at festivals is that set times will conspire against you, and just as the band get into their stride, it’s time for Divorce’s set for Lamb and Wolf. The five piece absolutely dominate the floor of Islington Mill with their fierce reinvention of noise metal. The relentless Juice of Youth is an obvious highlight, but it’s a flawless set that gets a few people jumping and the rest nodding along.

EGYPTIAN HIP HOP - HEAVENLY

As the sun goes down and the chill intensifies, it’s back to Bring on the Dancing horses at the Old Pint Pot for Egyptian Hip Hop. Chronically overcrowded, the bouncers are called down to keep order by the time the band start playing. Looking like a collection of friend’s younger brothers, in amongst all the blogs and NME articles it’s easy to overlook the fact that they’re actually incredibly talented. Proficient on several instruments, they alternate between the breakdowns of a major rock band and the experimental posturing that has garnered them such a following. Instead of getting swept away by the praise, it seems to have grounded them, as they put in an engaging performance that the teeming queue at the door are desperate to be a part of.

Whilst internet bloggers have been all over Egyptian Hip Hop, Islet have purposely stayed away from online. Having only recently started their own website and still without the industry-standard MySpace, they’ve got their following on the back of a series of emphatic live performances. Blessing Postcards from Manchester’s stage, they’re unlike anything else on the bill – or, indeed, anything else in music at the minute. At one point a member of the band takes a rattle, saunters through the crowd and cowers underneath the stairs for a couple of moments, before rejoining Islet on stage. It’s weird, but experimental is what they do, and brilliantly so, being primitive and tribal whilst keeping tuneful. Above all else, it’s a feat.

Headliners downstairs at Islington Mill, word about Chrome Hoof has really got out. The sorrow of a one in, one out policy is compounded by the band themselves, dressed in sparkling silver robes, passing by on their way in. Admittedly, they sound as astonishing as you’d expect a nine-piece experimental orchestra to, but even their otherworldly noises can’t detract from being at the back of a crammed venue and the gnawing pain in the feet. 8 hours and 9 bands later the walk back to Manchester commences, but not without constant reminders of what a spectacularly individual concept sounds from the Other City is – a few hundred people crowd around a Manchester Scenewipe street show whilst knitted artyarn bombs cling to railings. There are many festivals that tread similar ground, but none of them come close to doing it with the deftness and personality that Sounds from the Other City has in buckets. If 2010’s edition is anything to go by, it’d be a crime to miss out next year.

From - The Pigeon Post

Rowf! Rowf! Rowf!5 Islington Mill, Salford
Ears can get tired, but for eager clubbers suffering auditory fatigue due to unavoidable unpleasantness at work - heavy industrial machinary or the in-office stereo being permanently tuned to Radio 1 - recuperating in a quiet space of a weekend night is seldom the cure.  Annual freakfest Rowf Rowf Rowf! might be.  The Golden Lab label specialise in the less well trodden paths of contemporary music, as the drone, weird folk, psych, improv and free rock occurring here might suggest.  The artists delivering the sounds such as Brooklyn's Blues Control, dub/folk singer Staphanie Hladowski, sound experimenters Bridget Hayden and Blood Stereo, would be recognised by those who read the Wire rather than watch it, but with only 300 places available for this mind melt, plus the Gnod DJs providing kraut rock, dub, psych and world music into the small hours, there should be a healthy attendance.
Marc Rowlands
Islington Mill, James Street, Sat & Sun

Perimeter Islington Mill, Salford, Friday, A celebration of leftfield pop music, old and new, from Blondie, World of Twist and teh B-52's to the Whip and MGMT.  Ace, weird pop group Fol Chen Play Live Early doors

Perimeter Salford
Promising even bigger and better things, lineups have been released and tickets will be close to selling out for some nights at the returning, efficient Warehouse Project, a hugely enjoyable addition to MAnchester's annual clubbing programme.  Less than two miles away in Salford, another warehouse project is helping to revive that city's cultural contributions.  In a perhaps less sterile environ than its legal rave brethren, arts space Islington Mill manages to attain more of the exciting, spontaneous feel of the original earlly 90s warehouse parties, drawing a cool clubbing crowd away from Manchester as a result.  The variety of nights held there may account for the ever present sense of surprise (as does the finely stocked, well priced bar).  This Friday's live guests, werido Californian pop group Fol Chen seem perfectly placed to kick off proceedings at Perimeter, a celebration of leftfield pop, old and new.
Marc Rowlands
Islington Mill, James Street, Fri

Congratulations to all the nominees for this years Best of Manchester Awards. It was really heartening for us to see recognition given to so many that have been associated with the Mill over the past few years, from Rachel Goodyear who was involved in the early days of the Mill with events such as Chapel Street Open and Sho 1, to Jayne Compton who resurrected her performance party Club Brenda and worked with fellow Mill residents The Ting Tings whilst based here as well Contents May Vary and Owl Project who are also previous studio members.

There was also a special commendation for Morry Carlin for his role in setting up both Sounds from the Other City and Islington Mill Art Academy and the icing on the cake with SFTOC programming the music for this years awards ceremony.

Good work and well done one and all

The Islington Mill Reference Library is an arts resource comprised of Artists monographs, exhibition catalogues and survey publications as well as cultural theory ranging from philosophy to art. One of the long-term goals of the library is to develop a specialised section of publications from locally based artists.

The library is a free and publicly available resource complied on a donations basis, with over 300 publications attained from the initial call.
 
The library was launched in mid march and will be officially open to use by appointment from then onwards. The library is  open for browsing and is also actively seeking firther donations

For more info:
islington Mill Reference Library

 

The Ting Tings release there first single since signing to Columbia on March 3rd.  Great DJ is available to download for a limited time and there will be a 1500 7" vinyl for release.

As part of the single release the band are gathering up old 7" singles, which are going to be reversed and used as the new covers for the single.

Some of these have already been done and you will be be able to buy these on any of their upcoming NME tour dates and the remainder in selected stores. In order to get a copy you need to bring along an old 7" to swap at the gigs. If you can't make it to any of the gigs but want to get involved by recycling an old gem anyway, drop an email to artsclub@islingtonmill.com

The band also have loads of stuff coming up including live sessions on Radio 1 with Jo Whiley and Zane Lowe - more info on www.myspace.com/thetingtings

 

Artyarn would like to share with you a link to their website:

www.artyarn.org

Here you will find out about all of their projects from the past 12 months.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the people who have assisted in making Artyarns first 12 months in operation fun and creative and for those of you have given the support and opportunities for them to make their projects.

We would like to thank Arts Council England, Central Salford Urban Regeneration Company,  Anna Scrine, Architects Britch and everyone invovled with supporting the refurbishment of  Ground Floor of Islington Mill and giving us new toilets! amongst other things, but new toilets! let's here it for new toilets! and full disability access! Woop woop! a nice floor and cobbles that you don't twist your feet on! yes! that's right! and many other improvements.