The idea of the Linear Life plays on my mind a lot. It’s a reoccurring theme in TED Talks too; Steve Jobs and Sir Ken Robinson are both advocates of following what you like, and I swing between two thoughts. One against a linear outlook; for experimentation, commitment, wanting to try things and dreams, and the other lurching back to remind me I’m a graduate without capacious pockets of money. Maybe I just think invigorating talks are hip.

I like this talk a lot. I’m excited about finding a job where I love what I do. I want to make the world better and get involved (or at least feel that I do). Awkwardly for me, the idea of being involved often means being involved with online comms. Cheers Generation Y world.

My Mother said something nice this week.

“You sound like I used to. Like you can do anything.”
“Maybe it leaves you when you’re older because you expect to do great and bold things when you’re young,” I said.

I hope that’s not true.

“One balloon and a couple of evenings after work — Dyson engineers show how inducement and entrainment works on the Air Multiplier™ fan.”

This video is fun and whilst it shouts “Hello. I am a hip and minimal video-that-wants-to-be-a-viral” it’s lovely. Engineers are doing engineering things in an entertaining and non-techy way. “We could line up fans!” we think. “I was great at dominoes when I was younger.” Suddenly the world’s inner-child suddenly wants to be a fan engineer when it grows up.

“Inducement and entrainment of the air” says Dyson. “Wheeee” I say.

via Andy Kinsella

Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit are introduced to us as the next folk sensation, so we plod along to Brighton’s Komedia which sees an excited crowd from far-a-field gushing to see him. Some have brought parents.

The focus is hardly on ‘the wit’ though. Watching, you can see why the audience is mostly female, and listening I can hear why they’ve done well. He’s got a teenage heart-throb haircut which doesn’t immediately tell of his grounding; actor, poet, songwriter, and theatre trouper (citing W.B. Yeats and Shakespeare among influences). His look swings between waistcoated artisan, paint smeared jumpers and as tonight brings, and more often to plain checkered shirts when not on a photo-shoot. But when he sings it’s out of the ordinary and barely fits his age.

When he plays it’s incredibly polished, coming across very much as a performance; speaking briefly to the audience and simply getting on and playing to the crowd. The cellist and Johhny hijack the show and whilst they’re all good, the rest of the band disappears into the orifices of our memory. I could vaguely tell you about the keyboardist’s haircut (mop like) and some languishing strokes from the drumer but I could tell you for longer about the cellist. Shining under stage lights by the all-too-loud speaker, he’s playing with thin strings of horsehair broken and floating about under the bow as it slides about. They steal the show together.

Towards the end Flynn’s enthusiasm ventures out from behind the polish. The second that sells him to me is when he falters and a bit of musician focus streams out. A couple of drunk fans bellow “Oh, Johnny!” and he smirks as he changes from guitar to banjo, and tunes it. Everyone stands politely, and he strums a couple of notes.

Stops, retunes. Looks out, unabashed – strums and stops. The crowd shuffles and they launch into song, playing upbeat notes. They stop seconds later. I grin my face off and squeak my enthusiasm to Elliott, whilst a couple of the crowd look vastly unimpressed. He ignores them and concentrates on tuning. He starts up again, and their enthusiasm’s dwindled, but three tunings and a focus on getting the sound right have made me watch a little closer. What follows is the best song, and is like a couple of their tunes is incredibly catchy.

He is good, and touted as “the next poster boy of the nu-folk scene” by the Times. However, whilst this might seem a frivolous complaint I leave feeling that some of the songs are almost too wholesome, and too easily slide by.

My parting thought is with the support.

My favourite band of the night comes in the form of Dry the River; a awkwardly delightful forerunner. The singer is a chap in a grey tshirt and skinny trousers who rotates about the stage in a silly arm-flailing and angular sort of way. They’re incredibly tight as a band, they’ve got a mandolin, and they’re really fucking fun. It’s upbeat, tuneful, clappy chanty sort of stuff and makes you smile outright. They make me feel at home, included in their well-formed music and jolly as hell.

I recommend you investigate them.

Johnny Flynn – Been Listening by cooperativemusic1
Of them all, I recommend Barnacled Warship

It made me realise how many folk and indie gigs I go to though, where everyone’s polite and it’s not all about ME ME ME. Maybe I’m bias. But I got annoyed at a pushy girl’s mass of hair in my face and a sweaty guy rubbing all over my arm. That made me feel old.

Half the audience were kids and half were middle-aged people with double necks. It made me smile. Especially when the obscure tunes (read: not on the best of album) came on and the kids went quiet whilst doublenecks got dancing. I can’t talk though as could be heard loudly asking “How long’s a chick been in the Pixies?” I got laughed at.

They played Where is My Mind? as a good first encore song. It was all ace though. The video’s in HD but you have to press the magic HD button. This is them waving: wave wave wave.