London this weekend? What's really good?

cardovacardova 743 Posts
edited May 2007 in Strut Central
I'll be in town later today for the first time in 5+ years. I'm deejaying at Nottinghill Arts Club thursday night but won't fly out until Sunday, so any and all club tips for tonight, Friday & Saturday are welcome.Record shopping wise, are Camden on Saturday and the Kilburn fair on Sunday worth going to?Finally, if anyone can recommend extraordinarily good Indian or falafel spots that'd be appreciated. Cheap or expensive doesn't matter if it's worth the money and the tube ride.

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  • youngEINSTEINyoungEINSTEIN 2,443 Posts

    20 london locations. peace, stein. . .

  • DWGDWG 334 Posts
    Hit up Record & Tape Exchange in Notting Hill: still the best place to pick up second hand vinyl in town. Particularly good for hip-hop bits, if that interests you. Ignore the wall pieces (and prices) and have a dig through the bins.
    Haggle Vinyl in Islington is sometimes worth the trip, but do as the name suggests and haggle.


  • cardovacardova 743 Posts
    thanks for the tips.. keep em coming.

    what's the consensus on fabric live? worth going or too much of a megaclub?

  • JuniorJunior 4,853 Posts
    thanks for the tips.. keep em coming.

    what's the consensus on fabric live? worth going or too much of a megaclub?

    Last time I went (which was a good while ago) it didn't feel too much like a super club. Friday nights are mainly breakbeat while i seem to remember saturdays being more on a house tip. Sure there's someone on here who can give a more up to date view though.

    Actually work just down the road from it and have to say one of the bonuses about going to fabric is that due to the still functioning meat market round the corner all the pubs etc are open all night so there's always somewhere to relax in when you get outside the club.

    Otherwise, Bar Rhumba is usually worth checking out, tend to have a good mix of music and excellent atmosphere.

  • BeatnicholasBeatnicholas 1,005 Posts
    Cardova, check pm, i will take you to some shhh spots if you like

    indian wise, my favourite is LaWhores on commercial road - usually chock a block with people gorging a fine selection of cheap and cheerful and killer spicy lamb chops. It really is the nuts!

    on the more upmarket tip, the two Rasa restaurants on Stoke Newington Church Street offer traditional keralan cuisine that will blow your mind.. a cardamon rice pudding for dessert that is .. it's all about the aubergine dish

    peace

  • LamontLamont 1,089 Posts
    On saturday they got Idjut Boys & Todd Terje in the backroom, now that's a no-brainer. Tickets are 16?? thanks to Luciano in the main...

  • cardovacardova 743 Posts
    i spent some 4 hours at haggle once, found one bargain (steve parks lp i think) and some deceant bits and pieces. still wasn't worth the time.

  • BeatnicholasBeatnicholas 1,005 Posts
    pfff i mean why are you going in there if you don't know Lynn, would be the question

    it's all about the day, weather, and how you're talking to him

  • FlomotionFlomotion 2,390 Posts
    pfff i mean why are you going in there if you don't know Lynn, would be the question

    it's all about the day, weather, and how you're talking to him

    i have been going there for many years. I get on with him well enough, but I've seen him be amazingly rude to people on a pretty regular basis. In any case your response points out pretty clearly that if you show up out of the blue and try to haggle you'll get short shrift. All the other folk that work in there are cool though.
    Same here. Been going for years and seen in him in all moods - he veers between amusingly rude and extremely polite, which is even more unnerving....The good thing about Haggle is the vast quantity of stock he has piled up under the racks - if you can spare the time it can sometimes be worth it. I've never seen Lynn really haggle, though he will drop a quid or two here and there.

    Flashback, which is only 50 metres away, is a much nicer shop although with far less stock. Disque, 5 minutes walk up the road, is great for new stuff, re-edits and reissues. Alan's Records, which a ten minute Tube ride to Finchley, is my favourite shop but there's fuck all else around there so it's not exactly a day out.

    Camden's not great for records these days. One good stall in the Lock and there's Out On the Floor two minutes away on Inverness Street. The record and tape exchange on the corner next to Fopp (right by the canal) is one big dollar bin and can yield some fantastic stuff if you go on the right day - I buy lots of Latin and jazz there for around ??2 a pop. The record fair can be a bit patchy but it's only a couple of quid to get in and usually has about 20 stalls. Never been to the Kilburn one.

    For food I'd say try the Bangladeshi restaurants on Brick Lane - ask a local to make a recommendation but there are several fantastic ones. For falafels and Middle Eastern food then Edgeware is the area for the real deal.

    Have fun.

  • BeatnicholasBeatnicholas 1,005 Posts
    hahahahahaa.. yes lynn is a legendary figure, it is that simple! it's all about batch deals from the floor

    Alan's is good - he had a 50 % sale a few weeks back, we got some nice polish bits that way, some uk jazz heaters.

    I got another killer polish jazz at the exchange you described next to fopp at the weekend in fact - a tenner - real mixed crates that can deliver the goods depending on the day

    there are spots all over really, some of the less known ones can yield gold.. A tour of all the oxfams is still worth it, particularly right now!

  • FlomotionFlomotion 2,390 Posts
    They had two or three interesting looking Polish LPs in there - I bought one and left the others because I know nothing about Polish releases. Which one did you get?

    I did buy a two Wilson das Neves LPs and three Eddie Harris albums in there last Wednesday for about ??15, though... I've pulled tons of nice stuff out of there recently


  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,913 Posts
    I'll be in town later today for the first time in 5+ years. I'm deejaying at Nottinghill Arts Club thursday night but won't fly out until Sunday, so any and all club tips for tonight, Friday & Saturday are welcome.

    Record shopping wise, are Camden on Saturday and the Kilburn fair on Sunday worth going to?

    Finally, if anyone can recommend extraordinarily good Indian or falafel spots that'd be appreciated. Cheap or expensive doesn't matter if it's worth the money and the tube ride.

    Although Brick Lane tends to be more Bangladeshi cuisine than Indian, the City Spice, just down from the Truman Brewery, is a good bet. I've eaten there a few times, and the food is nice. If you're south of the River at any point, the Kastoori on Upper Tooting Road is incredible. Menu is strictly vegetarian, which suits me, but even meat-eaters enthuse about this place. It's a bit short on atmosphere, but the food is something else.

  • SnagglepusSnagglepus 1,756 Posts
    There's always Keb Darge's Friday night weekly at Madame Jojo's.
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