An Afternoon at the Museum

So, what do you do on a rainy, cold Sunday afternoon end of April, when it's supposed to be spring? All your European friends enjoy some sunshine and you don't even wanna go outside? Go to a museum!
I have been to a lot of museums lately: National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Tate Modern, British Museum, V&A, Natural History Museum, Science Museum...
The absolutely fabulous thing about London's museums is that they are free of charge and since there are 240 museums to choose from and they frequently change their exhibitions, it never gets boring.
My Top 3 are the National Portrait Gallery, the Tate Modern and the V&A.

The V&A is described as the world's greatest museum of art and design. I love its Performance and Theatre section. They copied Kylie Minogue's dressroom, you can see one of Mick Jagger's stage outfits, and the best part, you can dress up yourself: 

The Tate Modern is just THE place to be. Wikipedia says "it is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year" which is very impressive. The MoMA in NYC by comparison had "only" 3 million last year. The Tate Modern even hosted the Universal Records Brit Awards 2012 after party.

The National Portrait Gallery is not that hip, but I like that it combines century-old paintings with comtemporary photography. On each floor you find pictures of a different generation of the royal family. I like particularly the Late Shift every Thursday and Friday until 21.00 where you can enjoy a wide range of events including tours, talks, live music, DJs, films, art workshops, lectures, philosophy salons and drop-in drawing sessions while having a cocktail.

One of the museums I still wanna check out is the Cartoon Museum for British cartoons, caricatures, comic strips and animation in Camden. It has a library of over 5,000 books and 4,000 comics relating to the subject. Also, the Design Museum in Southwark that covers product, industrial, graphic, fashion and architectural design. And the Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret which is a museum of surgical history and one of the oldest surviving operating theatres. Gross? Interesting? Well, worth a visit...

Happy Record Store Day!

I was celebrating Record Store Day yesterday right off Brick Lane at Rough Trade East. Some of you might know the other stores in Notting Hill and Covent Garden or some of you might know the Rough Trade Label that represents artists like Arcade Fire, The Libertines, The Smiths, and Belle & Sebastian.

If you go to the Record Store Day website http://www.recordstoreday.com, you can read lots of quotes by lots of great artists, such as Jack White, Tom Waits, Norah Jones, and Paul McCartney, regarding Record Store Day. Here are two quotes that express what I was experiencing yesterday:

“My local independent record shop (Honest Jons) is a library, where you can go to listen to music, learn about it, exchange ideas about it and be inspired by it. I think independent record shops will outlive the music industry as we know it because long term their value to people is far greater, because even in our era of file-sharing and blogs, you cant replace the actual look on someone’s face when they are playing something they really rate and think you should listen to it too. It’s special.”
- Damon Albarn (Blur, The Gorillaz, etc.)

“Record stores have a magic about them that’s totally unique. They are a place where you can come across music and culture that you’re not open to in any other way, often by accident. I love that hands-on experience of browsing and buying music, and so I wish the Record Store Day every success “
- James Morrison

I have to admit I don't own a record player and I mostly get introduced to new artists and songs by friends and my favourite radio station: http://www.fritz.de/ that also promotes a lot of unsigned artists. But I very much liked the atmosphere at Rough Trade East. They have a Café and a "snug area" with sofas and desks. So, it's a great place to spend a rainy afternoon and just listen to amazing songs and discover new artists. I think Record Stores are all about discovery, diversity and passion. As Store Director Stephen Godfroy says: "You've got to create an environment where people want to spend time. It's got to be complementary to modern lifestyles, distinctive and competitive on pricing and have confidence in recommending exciting new products and not rely on chart product." If you are interested in exploring, check their website: http://www.roughtrade.com/

But the best thing about Record Store Day was of course that we saw Little Boots and Keane playing live on a small stage a couple of metres away from us. Amazing!!
If you don't live in the UK, you might not have heard of Little Boots yet, but you should definitely check out her website: http://www.littlebootsmusic.co.uk
I really liked her new song "Every Night I say a  Prayer".

Well, and what can I say about Keane? Spectacular! If you have a chance to see them live, do it! That's their website: http://www.keanemusic.com/

I love, love, love "Silenced by the night":

Street Art London

I have lived in Berlin for several years and Berlin has a very vibrant street art scene, too. Especially in the hip neighbourhoods such as Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain you can see a lot of great urban art. I personally enjoyed the chalk slogans on Berlin's streets, such as:

And of course the East Side Gallery which is a 1.3 km long section of the Berlin wall that has been covered by approximately 106 paintings by artists from all over the world and is the largest open air gallery in the world:

If you are interested in knowing more about Berlin's street art, check out this blog: http://streetart.berlinpiraten.de/

And even though Berlin has a long history of street art, I would argue that especially since Banksy became a worldwide icon London is the hub of street art. In particular Brick Lane and Camden Town are famous for its graffitis:

There are even tours that take you to the best pieces. Have a look at: http://streetartlondon.co.uk/tours/ and book your East London street art tour. Street art in London is incredibly dynamic and changes every day as older pieces get painted over by other artists or get removed by the Council. That means these tours are always fresh and these guys always know where the latest street art is to be found.

If you wanna watch a great movie about street art, watch Banksy's "Exit through the gift shop" - the world's first street art disaster movie. I watched this very ironic documentary at the Berlinale Film Festival and laughed A LOT.