Hymns to London Revisited

St Etienne's gig at the Barbican was the place to be on Thursday night.

Hymns to London Revisited is a specially-commissioned documentary about the Lea valley, East London's marshy industrial wasteland and future home of the Olympics. Directed by Paul Kelly and written by Kevin Pearce, the documentary is set on July 7th, 2005, one day after the announcement of London's successful Olympic bid, and the day of the terrorist attacks on the capital, which lends the film an unintended sense of poignancy. It follows a teenager's newspaper round, capturing the images with which the east of London has become so associated: derelict factories, deserted buildings, grafitti and abandoned urban landscapes overgrown with weeds. The images are intercut with narrative and interviews of residents reminiscing about more prosperous, past times.

The Lea valley was the home of modern industrial London; it was a major waterway into the capital for centuries; the first paper mill was built there in the 15th Century, powered by the currents of the Lea river; plastic and petrol were both invented there; it was the birth of the modern Labour movement; and for years it was even the home of Matchbox cars. Eventually, it became a victim of its own success, and rising labour costs and cheaper imports drove industries out of the valley, leaving behind the crumbling bricks and mortar that remain to this day, and the ghosts of a rich history that risks being forgotten.

The inevitable changes that will come in anticipation of 2012 are received with mixed feelings by the residents; the excitement of the Games and the renewed focus on the region is couterbalanced by soaring property prices and an apprehension of the new and a sense of unwelcome invasion. "They wanna build a hockey stadium here. Work that one out. Who the f*** plays hockey around here?", ponders a resident over images of abandoned sports fields and the now defunct Eton Manor Cricket Club, reminders of recent chronic under-investment in the area.

An excellent soundtrack, written and performed live by St Etienne, accompanied the film, with some vibrant rhythm parts, interesting keyboard effects and fluttering flute melodies, all topped with the wispy vocals of Sarah Cracknell. The film serves as a touching memorial to East London, capturing the soul a place at a brief moment in time, before the inevitabe forces of urban regeneration rip it out and sell it with your morning cappuccino.

The second half was a set dedicated to tracks from the band's latest album, Tales from Turnpike House, ranging from the bossa nova Sun in My Morning, through the urbanely cute Milkbottle Symphony and retro chic Sidestreets, to the positively rocky Last Orders for Gary Stead, and the new single A Good Thing, which is released tomorrow.

iTunes here I come.......

From the favelas to the future (via Hackney...)

Favela Rising, Jeff Zimbalist (Dir.)
From the Favelas to Hackney
This is the Future, Paul Kelly (Dir.), Saint Etienne

Following brutal police massacres in Rio de Janeiro's Vigário Geral slum in the 1990s, the AfroReggae movement was born with the aim of offering a positive alternative to the drug-fuelled violence of the favelas. Jeff Zimbalist's documentary, Favela Rising, follows the movement's founder, Anderson Sá, a former drug trafficker turned musician, social activist and community leader. The film describes the structure of life in the favela, the dominant role of its drug gangs and the resultant social exclusion of its residents. Through the AfroReggae movement, Anderson Sá provides young kids with an opportunity to channel their energies more creatively by teaching them percussion and dance and holding mass social awareness parties. He makes insightful observations about the destructiveness of false hope. For many in the favelas, becoming a drug soldier provides one of very few ways of earning good money, but a drug soldier can rarely expect to live beyond 25 years. Poignantly, as AfroReggae's founder comments on the paralysis that violence imposes on the favelas, he himself is faced with his own paralysis when he fractures his fourth vertebra in a surfing accident. As AfroReggae's members consider whether to end the movement, Anderson Sá makes an unlikely recovery, walking unaided within four days of his surgery. Zimbalist's documentary is a rare film, about the power of social organization against negative influence and the role of culture in bringing hope.

In 2005, AfroReggae were invited to spend one week at Hackney Free and Parochial School to bring their experiences to inner city schoolchildren 6000 miles away and help them prepare for a performance at Amnesty International. From the Favelas to Hackney demonstrates the transforming influence of the experience, providing often challenging students with an outlet through performance, and an opportunity to focus on positive activities and enabling them to work together. The school is taking this experience forward, with performances at the Barbican planned for next year.

Completed in 1951, the newly renovated Royal Festival Hall is a historical landmark on London's South Bank. Built as the capital's showcase for the Festival of Britain, the building's post-war modernist design was a symbol of hope and a vision of the future. Following last year's hugely successful Hymns To London Revisited, Saint Etienne were invited as the RFH's resident artists. During the following 12 months, together with director Paul Kelly, the band made a film about the restoration of the hall. Much in the style of Revisited, the film is accompanied by a live soundtrack from the band, this time with a 60-piece orchestra and youth choir, and details the historic importance of the South Bank and the hall's careful refit, from the new acoustic ceiling membranes, to the hand restoration of the original Race seats and 4000 square metres of hand-woven carpet. As usual, Saint Etienne demonstrate a great sensitivity to the spirit of the city, producing a film that is both educational and compelling, and a vision of the future today.