ENTERTAINMENT

SPECIAL SELECTION

LIGHT TOUCH

THIS AUTUMN LONDON WILL ONCE AGAIN play host to some of the world’s finest design talent, as the seventh annual London Design Festival hits town. Galleries, shops and public spaces will be turned over to a programme of exhibitions, installations, talks and seminars across the capital.

The festival will take up residence in the V&A for the first time, with a variety of shows and activities including In Praise of Shadows, an exhibition supported by the European Commission to mark the EU directive to phase out low-efficiency light bulbs by 2012.

Visitors will be given torches and then allowed to roam through the darkened galleries, discovering light installations, such as Pieke Bergmans’ Light Blub (pictured), on display as part of a series of unique crystal lamps by the Dutch artist.

The London Design Festival runs from 19-27 September www.londondesignfestival.com

BOOKS

BESPOKE

RICHARD ANDERSON
OUT 7 OCTOBER, £14.99 (APPROX. €18)

For those of us who don’t know our vicuña from our Velcro, Richard Anderson, a head of the youngest bespoke tailoring house on Savile Row, has helpfully included a 32-page glossary at the back of his autobiography. A good thing, too, since getting a proper suit made is a complicated business. At one point Anderson takes us through the 19 key measurements that must be plugged into the ‘Thorntonian algorithm’ before the process of making a suit can even begin.

When it sticks to the mechanics of how a suit is made, this book is a very good fit indeed. Anderson evokes the strange, cigarette-scented machismo and petty rivalries of the men who live and die by the quality of their cut with wit and warmth. However, Bespoke can feel slightly unsure of whether it’s a e

Kitchen Confidential-style exposé of Savile Row, or a genteel stroll down memory lane. Anderson began as an apprentice in 1982 and it’s only natural that the recent history of the industry is entwined with his own life story, but too often it veers off into personal anecdotes that add little and could quite easily have been cut. Much more engaging are the snippets of historical background and evocations of the aristocracy behaving as badly as only they can.

Perhaps the biggest problem is that it seems to have been written partly as an appeal for individuality, but it’s difficult to get worked up about the rights of the very wealthy to spend their money on hugely expensive jackets, however rare and exquisite the tweed. Anderson does at least seem to be aware of this, though, and Bespoke will certainly make you want to have a suit made, if only to e try out all the new words you’ve learnt.

THE AUDACITY OF HYPE

ARMANDO IANNUCCI
OUT 3 SEPTEMBER, £10.99 (APPROX. €13)

Armando Iannucci is the man behind some of Britain’s best comedy of the past 10 years. His work in television includes The Day Today, Alan Partridge and The Thick of It, he co-wrote and t directed the feature film In the Loop, and he’s a prolific writer, with a column in The Observer and a long list of articles r to his name. So this collection of rants and musings has a guaranteed audience of Iannucci fans waiting for it, and they won’t be disappointed.

Whether he’s criticising the Hutton report into the death of Dr David Kelly or compiling a list of James Bond’s likely expenses, Iannucci demonstrates his wit and intelligence, focusing his attention most often on favourite targets, such as politicians and the dumbing down of mainstream media. Much of the material in the book seems to have been written several years ago, giving the events he references the clarity that comes with time, while also casting them in the new light of his witheringly articulate criticism. Presented in small chunks that only ever run to a few pages at most, it’s ideal for dipping into and out of in quiet moments, but is so addictively funny that you won’t want to put it down.

I KNOW HOW TO COOK

GINETTE MATHIOT
OUT 18 SEPTEMBER, £24.95 (APPROX. €29)

With French cooking enjoying a renaissance across Europe (see pages 40-41) it seems perfect timing for Phaidon to release the English version of the French classic Je Sais Cuisiner by Ginette Mathiot. First published in 1932, it has sold more than six million copies, and Phaidon will be hoping that the English version, the more pedestrian-sounding I Know How to Cook, can replicate k a modicum of that success.
Packed with more than 1,400 recipes, it covers a huge range of French dishes, including croque monsieur, cassoulet and t boeuf bourguignon, and takes readers from simple snacks through to homemade haute cuisine.

Beautifully designed, with lovely colour photographs and clear recipes, it’s sure to spread the love of French food even further. The ingredients may prove tricky, though. The cassoulet recipe looks lovely, t but there aren’t many British cooks who will know what preserved goose looks like, let alone where they can lay their hands on 600g of the stuff!

MUSIC

LOVE 2

AIR
OUT 5 OCTOBER, £9.99 (APPROX. €12)

While this is Parisian duo Air’s fifth full-length album, it’s the first they have made entirely on their own, outside of external producers and mixing techniques. The result is a cleaner, clearer sound and, as always, there are intricacies to be picked apart beneath the overarching dance, lo-fiand minimal house. This time the result is less cluttered, as a more developed structure holds the whole thing together, from the suspiciously soothingLove to the more virulent Eat My Beat. The duo even take care of all vocal duties in-house, singing their own songs and in doing so showcasing an element rarely experimented with alongside the instrumentals. Their singing voices are as soft and serene as you might imagine, but with enough pulsating through the sound to satisfy. This latest release from the Frenchmen won’t awake any demons, but there’s little here to put you to sleep either.

FORGET THE NIGHT AHEAD

THE TWILIGHT SAD
OUT 5 OCTOBER, £8.99 (APPROX. €11)

Edinburgh’s The Twilight Sad have found a way to take a multitude of potentially unpalatable elements and turn them into some of the most affecting pop music written this year. For starters, vocalist James Graham is undeniably Scottish, his every yelp wrapped in a thick, Marmite-style ‘love it or hate it’ tartan brogue. And then there’s the distortion – the quintet fills its music with cloudy reverb, so much so that noise often overwhelms melody. So the odds are stacked against it, but Forget The Night Ahead turns d adversity to its advantage, overwhelming the listener with those warm, fuzzy reverberations and telling a brilliantly illuminated story hidden inside the mess. Pulsating waves of sound engulf you, evidence of a band who know melody as well as they know noise. And all the while, you’re wondering why this left field racket is so lovely. Music need not be musical all the time.

MOVIES

IS ANYBODY THERE?
OUT 14 SEPTEMBER, £17.99 (APPROX. €20)

Michael Caine plays Clarence, a retired magician consigned to an old people’s home in this quietly funny and moving film. Young actor Bill Milner was fantastic in Son of Rambow, and he reprises the role of the innocent lad who has his eyes opened to the world. But this time it’s by Clarence and his insistence on the finality of death. It’s a hard heart which remains unmoved by the actors’ excellent performances.

WAVERIDERS
OUT 7 SEPTEMBER, £15.99 (APPROX. €18)

George Freeth was the Hawaiian of Irish descent who exported surfing to California, and this documentary uses his story to build a connection between Ireland and surfing. It’s interesting, but the film’s real power comes from the modern day surfers who gather to tackle the huge waves that pound the Irish coast. The footage of their skill in the perilous water is awe-inspiring, and makes the film well worth watching.

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