The future of the Academy

Following on from the Venue Surveys, which prompted this thread on LiveJournal, I’ve been thinking more about the Carling Academy and what’s going to happen to it when the area around Dale End is redeveloped. Plans are still sketchy (the page on BCC’s site is somewhat old) but it’s going to happen, probably in the … [Read more…]

What Was Lost

Birmingham author Catherine O’Flynn’s debut novel What Was Lost was released by local publishers Tindal Street Press this month. “A lost little girl appears on CCTV screens at the Green Oaks shopping centre, evoking memories of junior detective Kate Meaney, missing for 20 years. Kurt, a security guard with a sleep disorder, and Lisa, a … [Read more…]

Live Music Venue Surveys

Last year Digital Central undertook a survey of live music venues in the West Midlands to try and pinpoint where investment is needed. They questioned 184 people, 141 of whom were audience members with the rest being promoters or performers. You can download a PDF of the report but here are the conclusions: The most … [Read more…]

Flickr Friday

A weekly grab from the Birmingham Flickr community. by Photo-Gedden by nobody knows anything by Tippeh by ADAMSKI01 To suggest photos for this feature post them to this thread on Flickr or leave a link in the comments here.

Creative 4casts

Antonio Gould has started a series of podcasts, New Media 4casts, for the Channel 4 4talent site exploring how creatives can use new media techniques and technologies effectively. Two shows are online so far on selling online and building a website and he’ll be covering the music and film industries soon. Here’s the RSS feed … [Read more…]

Gigbeth 2007 applications open

Gigbeth, the three day free music festival in Digbeth (see what they did there?), takes place on 1-3 November this year based around the Sanctuary, Barfly, Custard Factory and Glee Club amongst other venues. Bands and musicians from all genres are welcome to apply to play and will be paid at least Musicians’ Union rates. … [Read more…]

Brumcast Podcast

I came across the Brumcast podcast around the time it started and my initial impressions were “meh…” so I filed it away under “Nice idea, shame about the execution.” That was a mistake and having dabbled in podcasting myself I should have known it takes a while to get into the swing of things. Prompted … [Read more…]

The Seashell and The Clergyman

A Flatpack Film Festival spotlight. The opening film of the Flatpack Festival is The Seashell And The Clergyman. Made in 1927 by Germaine Dulac from a script by Antonin Artand it is widely considered the first surrealist film. If you fancy a bit of academia there’s a nice article on Dulac here and a couple … [Read more…]