Typical Weekend in London and Live Music (Josienne Clarke)

Friday, October 28. 2011

Typical Weekend in London and Live Music (Josienne Clarke)

Last weekend I was busy once again, basically I've been following my old formula of randomly meeting lots of people which ends up with us inviting each other to random events.

I did a lot, including:

• going to the Bloomsbury Festival near the British Museum


• eating okonomiyaki at Abeno (which ended up being lackluster and expensive) with some people I met at Imperial College London


• doing a 3(!!)-hour Japanese/English language session with a friend of a Facebook friend from my Tokyo uni


• going to some slightly dodgy (but still worthwhile) parts of London to see a park and do Russian exchange with an Estonian (which ended up being just English exchange). Above is a lovely picture I took of Tottenham by the way.


• and having a really nice time at a small (and I mean small!) gig at Dusk Till Dawn Archway Tavern with a friend from undergrad

I actually went there specifically to see Josienne Clarke, a folksy UK singer I've become familiar with through this blog. She's quite good, with a rich acoustic sound that seeps into you.

Here's a performance of "Done":



Her album One Light Is Gone has really grown on me. Favorite tracks: Done, Die Trying, One Light Is Gone, A Troubled Win.



I'd say it's a really good debut, although her lyrics, which aim toward the mature and deep, are slightly clumsy in places. Sometimes that adds to the charm, making it more raw, but it also shows the potential she has. And her performance, accompanied by Ben Walker, was really strong.

And I love the whole pub-going UK experience of just buying a drink and sitting down for some free and great music a few feet away!