310 NX Road
Peter Austin from Goldsmiths writes:
A pop-up record shop in the heart of New Cross will open on Saturday (19 October) in association with NX Records, a collaborative independent label from Matthew Herbert’s Accidental record label, and Goldsmiths, University of London.
Launched just six months ago as a platform for Goldsmiths students from the BMus in Popular Music, NX Records has already hosted live shows, produced an acclaimed introductory mix-tape and is now proud to announce the opening of the NX Records Pop Up Shop.
The first venture of its kind in New Cross, the shop will be open until Saturday 23 November, and will offer a unique record-buying experience in a lively, friendly atmosphere.
The most desirable new vinyl and CDs from a range of labels, limited edition releases from NX Records artists and friends unavailable elsewhere, and unique handcrafted releases and zines will also be on offer.
From mainstream to underground, the BMus in Popular Music at Goldsmiths embraces popular music in its many forms: rock, pop, folk, urban, jazz, experimental and commercial. It is also the programme that produced Mercury Prize 2011 nominee Katy B, and James Blake – also nominated for the Mercury Prize and a 2012 Ivor Novello award.
Honouring Goldsmiths' commitment to the local creative community and to a new generation of upcoming artists, the shop will also host talks, workshops and Q&A sessions from industry experts, and one-of-a-kind, intimate in-store performances from NX and other local artists including Holy Milk, Thefft, Buffalo Ink and Crewdson.
Goldsmiths recently announced it will be creating new recording studios at 286 New Cross Road for the use of its students from the Department of Music. Once completed, it is hoped the professional-level studios will be available for public hire.
For more information about the pop up shop visit http://310nxroad.tumblr.com/
The Goldsmiths Prize 2013
Goldsmiths has announced the shortlist for the first ever Goldsmiths Prize for innovative fiction. The six finalists for the £10,000 annual award are:
Jim Crace, for Harvest
Lars Iyer, for Exodus
Eimear McBride, A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing
David Peace, for Red or Dead
Ali Smith, for Artful
Philip Terry, for Tapestry
Developed in partnership with the New Statesman, the award helps to throw a spotlight on the Goldsmiths' Writers Centre. Goldsmiths explains:
There are many prizes with a brief to reward the ‘best’ fiction, but while that implies openness to excellent novels of all kinds, the books that win prizes tend, for all their merits, to be unsurprising and conventional. Launching in the tercentenary year of the births of Laurence Sterne and Denis Diderot, the Goldsmiths Prize will go to a novel that shares something of the exuberant inventiveness and restlessness with conventions manifest in Tristram Shandy and Jacques the Fatalist.
The modern equivalents of Sterne and Diderot are often labelled ‘experimental,’ with the implication that their fiction is an eccentric deviation from the novel’s natural concerns, structures and idioms. A long view of the novel’s history, however, suggests that it is the most flexible and varied of genres, and the Goldsmiths Prize will encourage and reward writers who make best use of its many resources and possibilities.
The winner will be announced on November 13th and awarded at a ceremony to be held at Goldsmiths.
[Full disclosure: I am a member of Council for Goldsmiths].
Jim Crace, for Harvest
Lars Iyer, for Exodus
Eimear McBride, A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing
David Peace, for Red or Dead
Ali Smith, for Artful
Philip Terry, for Tapestry
Developed in partnership with the New Statesman, the award helps to throw a spotlight on the Goldsmiths' Writers Centre. Goldsmiths explains:
There are many prizes with a brief to reward the ‘best’ fiction, but while that implies openness to excellent novels of all kinds, the books that win prizes tend, for all their merits, to be unsurprising and conventional. Launching in the tercentenary year of the births of Laurence Sterne and Denis Diderot, the Goldsmiths Prize will go to a novel that shares something of the exuberant inventiveness and restlessness with conventions manifest in Tristram Shandy and Jacques the Fatalist.
The modern equivalents of Sterne and Diderot are often labelled ‘experimental,’ with the implication that their fiction is an eccentric deviation from the novel’s natural concerns, structures and idioms. A long view of the novel’s history, however, suggests that it is the most flexible and varied of genres, and the Goldsmiths Prize will encourage and reward writers who make best use of its many resources and possibilities.
The winner will be announced on November 13th and awarded at a ceremony to be held at Goldsmiths.
[Full disclosure: I am a member of Council for Goldsmiths].
Goldsmiths to restore New Cross landmark
Goldsmiths announces:
The iconic Richard Hoggart Building on Lewisham Way is the focus of a major restoration project by Goldsmiths, University of London.
The building, which dates back more than 160 years and is named after a former head of the College, is the main building on Goldsmiths’ 16 acre campus in New Cross and the first port of call for visitors, staff and students.
A six month programme of work will restore the period features of the façade and landscape the forecourt into a social area with outdoor seating, improved access and a space that can be used for outdoor performances and events. The entrance lobby and reception of the building will also be widened.
A key objective of the work is to transform the forecourt and entrance into an open and inviting space for the whole of the Goldsmiths community to enjoy.
Warden of Goldsmiths, Patrick Loughrey commented:
“Over the next few months, you will see a great deal of activity as we work on improving the campus for students and, just as importantly, the local community. This will be Goldsmiths’ biggest renewal in 50 years and will, we hope, play a part in re-shaping the architectural landscape of New Cross.”
He added: “We are proud to be in New Cross and keen to reach out to the community in inspiring and exciting ways. I warmly invite local residents to one of our many events on campus. Each week brings and engaging array of free lectures, performances, exhibitions and more. Our next open day takes place on 15 June – a chance for you to explore our campus, meet our academics and staff and find out more about our courses.”
Former Goldsmiths student Mary Quant is heading up an appeal to the Goldsmiths community of friends and former students to raise funds for the project.
In a letter to former students, she wrote: “For many of us, Goldsmiths was a coming of age. We learnt of beauty, encountered people from worlds outside our own. We were challenged intellectually and creatively, we experienced the indulgence and pleasure of youth, we grew up, we fell in love. I am still in love with Goldsmiths, and that is why, today, I commend to you this very special appeal to renew the heart of Goldsmiths, by restoring the entrance and forecourt garden of our beautiful and historic building.”
Goldsmiths has also started work to convert 286 New Cross Road into a professional recording studio, enabling students to graduate with a portfolio of recordings and it is hoped the studio will also be available for community hire. Former students at Goldsmiths include Blur, Dire Straits and the Velvet Underground and artists such as Mercury Prize nominees Katy B, and James Blake.
The external frontage will be refurbished, but changes to appearance will be minimal, to maintain the character of the street and be in keeping with the conservation area. A single storey extension will be added to the south of the building to create more space. To see more of the exciting plans, go to: http://www.gold.ac.uk/music/studying-music/recording-studios/
Full disclosure: I will become a member of the Council for Goldsmiths in September 2013. Back in July 2012 I was asked to promote the application process for the Council and decided to apply myself. I was lucky enough to be selected. For obvious reasons therefore, I will avoid making further comment on these plans, other than to say that Goldsmiths’ potential to enhance New Cross and wider area was one of the main reasons that I wanted to get involved.
The iconic Richard Hoggart Building on Lewisham Way is the focus of a major restoration project by Goldsmiths, University of London.
The building, which dates back more than 160 years and is named after a former head of the College, is the main building on Goldsmiths’ 16 acre campus in New Cross and the first port of call for visitors, staff and students.
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| How the RHB will look after its makeover |
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| An historic view of the building |
A key objective of the work is to transform the forecourt and entrance into an open and inviting space for the whole of the Goldsmiths community to enjoy.
Warden of Goldsmiths, Patrick Loughrey commented:
“Over the next few months, you will see a great deal of activity as we work on improving the campus for students and, just as importantly, the local community. This will be Goldsmiths’ biggest renewal in 50 years and will, we hope, play a part in re-shaping the architectural landscape of New Cross.”
He added: “We are proud to be in New Cross and keen to reach out to the community in inspiring and exciting ways. I warmly invite local residents to one of our many events on campus. Each week brings and engaging array of free lectures, performances, exhibitions and more. Our next open day takes place on 15 June – a chance for you to explore our campus, meet our academics and staff and find out more about our courses.”
Former Goldsmiths student Mary Quant is heading up an appeal to the Goldsmiths community of friends and former students to raise funds for the project.
In a letter to former students, she wrote: “For many of us, Goldsmiths was a coming of age. We learnt of beauty, encountered people from worlds outside our own. We were challenged intellectually and creatively, we experienced the indulgence and pleasure of youth, we grew up, we fell in love. I am still in love with Goldsmiths, and that is why, today, I commend to you this very special appeal to renew the heart of Goldsmiths, by restoring the entrance and forecourt garden of our beautiful and historic building.”
Goldsmiths has also started work to convert 286 New Cross Road into a professional recording studio, enabling students to graduate with a portfolio of recordings and it is hoped the studio will also be available for community hire. Former students at Goldsmiths include Blur, Dire Straits and the Velvet Underground and artists such as Mercury Prize nominees Katy B, and James Blake.
The external frontage will be refurbished, but changes to appearance will be minimal, to maintain the character of the street and be in keeping with the conservation area. A single storey extension will be added to the south of the building to create more space. To see more of the exciting plans, go to: http://www.gold.ac.uk/music/studying-music/recording-studios/
Full disclosure: I will become a member of the Council for Goldsmiths in September 2013. Back in July 2012 I was asked to promote the application process for the Council and decided to apply myself. I was lucky enough to be selected. For obvious reasons therefore, I will avoid making further comment on these plans, other than to say that Goldsmiths’ potential to enhance New Cross and wider area was one of the main reasons that I wanted to get involved.
Opera Gold in New Cross
Event: Britten's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'
Date & Time: 6-7 June 2013, 19:00 - 22:00
Venue: Great Hall, Richard Hoggart Building (New Cross Gate/New Cross Overground)
Price: £10 full / £5 concessions
Contact: Imogen Burman (i.burman@gold.ac.uk / 020 7919 7645)
Goldsmiths says:
OperaGold is proud to present Benjamin Britten's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', produced and directed by internationally feted soprano Nan Christie (Opera Scotland) and conducted by Tim Hooper. The performance will be staged with a full orchestra, handmade costumes, and a cast comprised of current students and alumni from the Department of Music at Goldsmiths and special guests.
Britten's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' was first performed at the reopening of the refurbished Jubilee Hall in Aldeburgh in June 1960. With little time to prepare a libretto, Britten chose to adapt it with Peter Pears Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, though as he admitted at the time, he had always admired the original play and was excited by the various levels of action between the different groups of characters.
The opera is completely faithful to the spirit of the original and must be counted as one of the most successful operatic adaptations of a Shakespeare play.
Forming part of PureGold – Goldsmiths’ annual six week music festival - OperaGold stages a major opera in June every year, with rehearsals starting the previous October.
All performances are staged in their original language and aim to make opera more accessible to staff, students and the local community.
Previous productions include Blow's Venus and Adonis (2004); Purcell's Dido and Aeneas (2005); Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (2006); Bizet's Carmen (2007); Britten's Peter Grimes (2008); Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro (2009); Verdi's Rigoletto (2010); Puccini's La Bohème (2011) and Verdi's La Traviata (2012).
To view the full PureGold programme, visit: http://www.gold.ac.uk/puregold/
Date & Time: 6-7 June 2013, 19:00 - 22:00
Venue: Great Hall, Richard Hoggart Building (New Cross Gate/New Cross Overground)
Price: £10 full / £5 concessions
Contact: Imogen Burman (i.burman@gold.ac.uk / 020 7919 7645)
Goldsmiths says:
OperaGold is proud to present Benjamin Britten's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', produced and directed by internationally feted soprano Nan Christie (Opera Scotland) and conducted by Tim Hooper. The performance will be staged with a full orchestra, handmade costumes, and a cast comprised of current students and alumni from the Department of Music at Goldsmiths and special guests.
Britten's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' was first performed at the reopening of the refurbished Jubilee Hall in Aldeburgh in June 1960. With little time to prepare a libretto, Britten chose to adapt it with Peter Pears Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, though as he admitted at the time, he had always admired the original play and was excited by the various levels of action between the different groups of characters.
The opera is completely faithful to the spirit of the original and must be counted as one of the most successful operatic adaptations of a Shakespeare play.
Forming part of PureGold – Goldsmiths’ annual six week music festival - OperaGold stages a major opera in June every year, with rehearsals starting the previous October.
All performances are staged in their original language and aim to make opera more accessible to staff, students and the local community.
Previous productions include Blow's Venus and Adonis (2004); Purcell's Dido and Aeneas (2005); Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (2006); Bizet's Carmen (2007); Britten's Peter Grimes (2008); Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro (2009); Verdi's Rigoletto (2010); Puccini's La Bohème (2011) and Verdi's La Traviata (2012).
To view the full PureGold programme, visit: http://www.gold.ac.uk/puregold/
NX Records
Tony Wilson: Most of all, I love Manchester. The crumbling warehouses, the railway arches, the cheap abundant drugs. That's what did it in the end. Not the money, not the music, not even the guns. That is my heroic flaw: my excess of civic pride.
- 24 Hour Party People
Goldsmiths says:
Goldsmiths, University of London has partnered with leading electronic producer Matthew Herbert, founder of Accidental Records, to launch NX Records - a new independent label, run by and for artists and students.
An evening of eclectic live performances on Thursday 9 May at London's Southbank Centre will officially launch NX Records and PureGold - a six-week festival showcasing the wealth of musical talent from Goldsmiths.
Talking about the partnership, Matthew commented: "It feels really exciting to be partnering up with an institution, and in particular an educational institution rather than a bigger record company, or heaven forbid - a brand, to support new artists making music.
"Goldsmiths has a proud and impressive pedigree and I know the next generation there will be likely to produce broad and brilliant music. Instead of the tired major label model of throwing money at something and hoping it works, we will endeavour instead to give the many artists on the label the tools, skills, confidence and backing to be able to not only realise a meaningful version of their music, but to own the rights in it and to take an active role in how that music is made public.
"After all, who better to render a convincing re-imagining of the currently unstable music industry than those most likely to be inventing what it will sound like in the years to come."
Simon Deacon, Director of Popular Music at Goldsmiths, commented: "NX Records exists to showcase the talents, and hopefully launch the careers, of up and coming artists who have begun their creative journey at Goldsmiths. Initially it is intended as a platform for students from the popular music course."
Students on the Popular Music programme, who came up with the name NX to reflect the label and the College's home in New Cross, will also be involved with A&R, organisation and the running of the label alongside Matthew and Accidental.
NX Records has its official launch party on Thursday 9 May at the Queen Elizabeth Hall at London's Southbank Centre, as part of the launch for the PureGold Festival.
The launch evening will run across three stages: The Front Room (NX Records launch with live performances from featured acts & DJs), The Purcell Room (a combination of contemporary, classical & pop performances) and The Queen Elizabeth Hall (featuring audio & visual work from the Electronic Music Studios).
For the PureGold festival programme, click here. To find out more about the Department of Music, click here.
To download the NX Records mixtape, click here. To stream, click here.
- 24 Hour Party People
Goldsmiths says:
Goldsmiths, University of London has partnered with leading electronic producer Matthew Herbert, founder of Accidental Records, to launch NX Records - a new independent label, run by and for artists and students.
An evening of eclectic live performances on Thursday 9 May at London's Southbank Centre will officially launch NX Records and PureGold - a six-week festival showcasing the wealth of musical talent from Goldsmiths.
Talking about the partnership, Matthew commented: "It feels really exciting to be partnering up with an institution, and in particular an educational institution rather than a bigger record company, or heaven forbid - a brand, to support new artists making music.
"Goldsmiths has a proud and impressive pedigree and I know the next generation there will be likely to produce broad and brilliant music. Instead of the tired major label model of throwing money at something and hoping it works, we will endeavour instead to give the many artists on the label the tools, skills, confidence and backing to be able to not only realise a meaningful version of their music, but to own the rights in it and to take an active role in how that music is made public.
"After all, who better to render a convincing re-imagining of the currently unstable music industry than those most likely to be inventing what it will sound like in the years to come."
Simon Deacon, Director of Popular Music at Goldsmiths, commented: "NX Records exists to showcase the talents, and hopefully launch the careers, of up and coming artists who have begun their creative journey at Goldsmiths. Initially it is intended as a platform for students from the popular music course."
Students on the Popular Music programme, who came up with the name NX to reflect the label and the College's home in New Cross, will also be involved with A&R, organisation and the running of the label alongside Matthew and Accidental.
NX Records has its official launch party on Thursday 9 May at the Queen Elizabeth Hall at London's Southbank Centre, as part of the launch for the PureGold Festival.
The launch evening will run across three stages: The Front Room (NX Records launch with live performances from featured acts & DJs), The Purcell Room (a combination of contemporary, classical & pop performances) and The Queen Elizabeth Hall (featuring audio & visual work from the Electronic Music Studios).
For the PureGold festival programme, click here. To find out more about the Department of Music, click here.
To download the NX Records mixtape, click here. To stream, click here.
Goldsmiths and Lewisham: Shared Histories
The Goldsmiths team write:
The intertwined histories of Goldsmiths, University of London and its local community in Lewisham are to be explored in a special exhibition of works of art and historical artefacts. 'Goldsmiths & Lewisham: Shared Histories' will run from 24 April - 3 May 2013 across four sites in New Cross and Deptford.
The collaborative exhibition, organised by the Department of Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, in partnership with the Goldsmiths Art Collections and the Lewisham Local History Society, offers an insight into the area as a centre of creative work over the past century. Each of the four sites - Goldsmiths' New Academic Building and 310 New Cross Road, New Cross Learning, and The Albany in Deptford - will be linked by interactive technology 'We Curate' that allows collective browsing of objects across all four installations.
- The New Pastoralists: A selection of etchings from the Goldsmiths Collection, inspired by the Romantic artist Samuel Palmer, produced by a group of printmakers based at the College in the 1920s. These artists enjoyed great success in that era in which etchings were in high demand, and some stayed on to teach at Goldsmiths for many years. Artists on display include: Edward Bouverie-Hoyton, Paul Drury, William Larkins, Graham Sutherland, and Robin Tanner. On display in the Weston Atrium, lower ground floor, New Academic Building; opening times 11am-6pm.
- Art, Education, Activism: Artefacts drawn from Goldsmiths' holdings of the Rachel McMillan College collection, emphasising the local work of Margaret and Rachel McMillan, activists at the turn of the century who were highly influential in state provision for the education of children, and Goldsmiths' inheritance of this legacy. This installation will also include a pop-up reading room, and additional works related to Goldsmiths' active history in the promotion of arts education. On display at 310 New Cross Road; opening times 11am-6pm.
- Lewisham Life: Making & Using: A jointly-curated installation by the Lewisham Local History Society that draws from the Borough's history as a manufacturing centre, integrating objects that were made here into a thematic display based on daily life here, addressing the home, work, and leisure. On display at New Cross Learning, 283-285 New Cross Road; opening times Tues 10am-5pm, Wed-Thurs 10am-7pm, Sat 10am-5pm.
- Made in New Cross: A snapshot of the present with a theatrical installation of a selection of works acquired through the annual Warden's Art Purchase Prize made by Goldsmiths students that have studied and worked as cohabitants of the Lewisham community. On display at The Albany, Douglas Way, Deptford; opening times Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 10am-3pm.
The intertwined histories of Goldsmiths, University of London and its local community in Lewisham are to be explored in a special exhibition of works of art and historical artefacts. 'Goldsmiths & Lewisham: Shared Histories' will run from 24 April - 3 May 2013 across four sites in New Cross and Deptford.
The collaborative exhibition, organised by the Department of Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, in partnership with the Goldsmiths Art Collections and the Lewisham Local History Society, offers an insight into the area as a centre of creative work over the past century. Each of the four sites - Goldsmiths' New Academic Building and 310 New Cross Road, New Cross Learning, and The Albany in Deptford - will be linked by interactive technology 'We Curate' that allows collective browsing of objects across all four installations.
- The New Pastoralists: A selection of etchings from the Goldsmiths Collection, inspired by the Romantic artist Samuel Palmer, produced by a group of printmakers based at the College in the 1920s. These artists enjoyed great success in that era in which etchings were in high demand, and some stayed on to teach at Goldsmiths for many years. Artists on display include: Edward Bouverie-Hoyton, Paul Drury, William Larkins, Graham Sutherland, and Robin Tanner. On display in the Weston Atrium, lower ground floor, New Academic Building; opening times 11am-6pm.
- Art, Education, Activism: Artefacts drawn from Goldsmiths' holdings of the Rachel McMillan College collection, emphasising the local work of Margaret and Rachel McMillan, activists at the turn of the century who were highly influential in state provision for the education of children, and Goldsmiths' inheritance of this legacy. This installation will also include a pop-up reading room, and additional works related to Goldsmiths' active history in the promotion of arts education. On display at 310 New Cross Road; opening times 11am-6pm.
- Lewisham Life: Making & Using: A jointly-curated installation by the Lewisham Local History Society that draws from the Borough's history as a manufacturing centre, integrating objects that were made here into a thematic display based on daily life here, addressing the home, work, and leisure. On display at New Cross Learning, 283-285 New Cross Road; opening times Tues 10am-5pm, Wed-Thurs 10am-7pm, Sat 10am-5pm.
- Made in New Cross: A snapshot of the present with a theatrical installation of a selection of works acquired through the annual Warden's Art Purchase Prize made by Goldsmiths students that have studied and worked as cohabitants of the Lewisham community. On display at The Albany, Douglas Way, Deptford; opening times Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 10am-3pm.
