April 28th - Day 10

This whole idea is feeling a bit bananas today. First test of nerve ten days in. The boy's ill again so daytime music is out. However I should have time to catch a band called Mescal Circus tonight, who intriguingly incorporate live painting into their shows, but tomorrow's going to be a squash. I could hang around town till after midnight tonight and hope to catch tomorrow's act then. Or is that cheating? Friday's looking tough too.

I ended up going to Hootananny in Brixton and listening to the mellow blues of Nelson King, and the sound check of Benjamin Thomas, and was back home by ten.

2015 update - Nelson King still gigging - down by the sea at St Leonards last night (August 2nd). Benjamin Folke Thomas's star has risen since 2009 - he's about to set off on tour, mainly Germany and England, London's venue being The Union Chapel. He also has three acclaimed albums under his belt.

http://www.nelsonking.net

http://www.benfolkethomas.com

May 29th - Day 41

The Beat at Hootananny, Brixton. The version of the band who play more in England rather than The English Beat who are America based (the latter with vocalist Dave Wakeling at the helm). Leading tonight’s cracking bouncy evening was original member Ranking Roger alongside, amongst others, his son Ranking Junior.

June 8th - Day 51

Katie Stelmanis myspace.com/katiestelmanis "Toronto wonk popper on Vice/Loog" at The Windmill, Brixton (more on the way - this week's excuse for bareboned blogs is that I currently have no internet connection)

October 15th - Day 180

In the large seating area outside the front of the Hootananny pub in Brixton the smell of barbequed whole sweetcorns rolled-up in their green leaves mixed sweetly with the burning smell of small, brown leaves rolled-up in white papers. Rasta hats were prevailent in and out of the building. The MC had a heavy Jamaican accent and said "Jah" and "Rastafari" a lot. Tonight was Reggae night.

The main act was Baptist and The Rebels. Baptist is a singer, rhythm guitarist, composer and arranger. Angolan flags being waved by audience members to welcome him onto the stage, with The Rebels already up there having played a bouncy intro, told us of his Angolan roots. He was brought up there and learnt his love of music there, began performing when he lived in Spain in the nineties and took things to more professional levels upon moving to London, where The Rebels hail from.

I drove to the pub tonight. Baptist and the others didn't come on till quite late and I ended up nursing my pint of Guinness for two hours. Actually, an hour and a half. The last half an hour was a reminder that I don't need to be holding a beer to enjoy music. At a church recital, the first thing I do after picking up a programme is not to look under the stained-glass windows at the side of the church for the nearest bar. It's to sit down and wait for the music. Likewise, I am able to sit and watch a busker on the South Bank without first having ducked into the National Theatre to buy a swift half in a plastic glass.

myspace.com/baptistmusic

December 3rd - Day 229

Inside The Arch Bar, Clapham - open mic night...jaunty blues from Anita from Hastings ("I'm from Hastings. People say there's a drug problem in Hastings, but that's not true, they're very easy to get") and piano balladry from Kasia Komosa accompanied on drum by boyfriend and co-host Dan...

Outside the Windmill Brixton (after waiting a fruitless fifteen minutes for the big dog to appear on the roof)...

And inside the Windmill Brixton - Louis Eliot and The Embers...(interesting fact - the fiddler, Martin, used to be in The Wonder Stuff)

And outside the Brixton Windmill...(managed to take a couple without the top of the tree and crane lopped off, but not from a solid resting place!)

arch635.co.uk

myspace.com/kasiasound

windmillbrixton.co.uk

myspace.com/louiseliot

brixtonwindmill.org

December 6th- Day 232

This is the hyperactive (his description) and likeable Jahnkonoo and the Borderline Band knocking out energetic reggae at Upstairs at The Ritzy - The Ritzy being the rather wonderful cinema in the centre of Brixton town. Jahnkonoo is possibly the springiest musician I've seen on my quest, performing regular standing jumps that suggest he has shock absorbers where other people have knees.

December 17th - Day 243

Hmmm...I was going to go to check out a freebie in Dalston tonight...start racking up the north London count a bit...ten cm of snow forecast in London this evening...Dalston's quite a long way...Brixton's not...there's a freebie there also...somewhere new I've not been to before...hmmmm....

Plumped for Brixton. I saw Swedish dreamy, harmonious, indie-folk outfit The Forest & The Trees playing at new venue The Rest is Noise. The band are centred around core duo Linnea and Joel who live in an apartment outside Stockholm where they "sleep, eat and create music". They started making music together last year when contributing to a Christmas cd for their friends, as an alternative to carols. So, with Christmas decorations encrouching their stage and snow swirling around Brixton Road outside the pub, this was an appropriate time to catch them for the first time...though maybe not, because they didn't sing any carols.

myspace.com/forestandtreesmusic

January 28th - Day 285

The soundcheck of indie-rocky Betty and The Werewolves preceded delicate acoustic melancholia from Enderby's Room at Jamm on Brixton Road - ukulele, violin, viola (or was it cello?) and voice. So delicate I couldn't bring myself to disrupt the mood by taking a flash photo, so settled for the shaky one below...oh yes, guitar for one song as well. After their last song, lead man Dan told the audience, they were going to get drunk and listen to the noisy bands.

enderbysroom.co.uk

Theremin arrived today!!! Wooooooohooooooowoooooooo!!!