Rest Stops: No. 67
I’ve recently realised the beauty of a weekend morning brunch which isn’t in direct relation to a horribly drunken Friday evening. Introduced to me by the lovely Maya, my new favourite spot and home of our brunch club is No67 at the South London Gallery.
Located a short bus ride (or equidistant walk if you’re feeling for a perambulate) from Camberwell and Peckham the cafe has plenty of seating in both it’s two indoor dining rooms, front garden and piece de resistance - the back garden. Covered in perfect leafy green foliage, warm sunlight hits it’s two tables at around 11.30am and there isn’t a better place to sit on a weekend morning. If the weather isn’t suited to al fresco dining, the back room has beautiful steel-framed floor to ceiling windows which offer a perfect view of the aforementioned vegetation.
The menu though slightly (read: very) short on vegan options, only holding one labelled main and side, is at least delicious. The House Beans in Pepper Stew on Sourdough aren’t your average Heinz on sliced white. These chunky butter beans arrive at the table glistening with goodness. Sat on top of two perfectly toasted pieces of sourdough, the warm and spicy sweet tomato sauce is the perfect morning kickstart. In happy news, if you ask you will find that the Bubble & Squeak is cooked in oil, not butter - as are the roast mushrooms. So the menu opens up a little with a variety of side offerings.
I’m also reliably informed that the non-vegan options are delicious too, with the granola yogurt receiving a special mention.
To accompany your meal, the only option is to order yourself a Mimosa (it’s the weekend), and if you’re lucky it won’t just include traditional orange juice but a hint of blood orange sweetening things up.
Monday Moods: I'm Melting
So, with that in mind this playlist is a celebration of hot melty summer heat. You've got Bruce Springsteen singing about the hot sun beating on the tarmac, Elton talking about how much he loves Jamaica and the classic Rivieras celebrating the gorgeous California Sun. As with last week here are some fast and fun facts about some of these tracks.
- - The excellent Sherry Darling features on the Bruce Springsteen Promise documentary, about the making of Darkness On The Edge of Town. Bruce & Steven Van Zandt play it on a piano, finishing with saying it was the one and only performance of that song. Little did they know..
- - Elton and his band had originally planned on recording the whole of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road in Jamaica, however studio facilities were not quite up to par and they eventually decamped to the South of France. This song sums up their feelings pretty much perfectly
- - California Sun is not orginally by The Rivieras, but by singer Joe Jones. It's since been covered by a metric fuckton of people, but if you're a fan I would recommend checking out this version by legendary NYC punk band The Dictators
Style: Iced Tees
You know the old adage, a good t-shirt is hard to find. Okay, that isn’t an old adage but I stand by it, they really are hard to find. Sure you can go just about anywhere and get something with a shitty logo or a lame band t-shirt which has been seen a million times before, but scouring for something perfect? That’s a skill, a skill I’m certainly not anywhere near perfecting. However I’m definitely getting closer than some people out there so I thought I’d put together a post showing off my favourite new additions to my collection from TSPTR, Thundergirl City and Stay At Home Club.
First up is this awesome TSPTR tee, shown above and above (again) - featuring Astro Snoopy. According to their spiffy website, the SS’15 collection “focuses on American counter culture in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, specifically the war in Vietnam and the cultural revolution that surrounded it ... as often happens in situations such as this the best way to express opposition was through humour. Vietnam was no exception, while magazines such as LIFE and TIME reported the reality and daily horrors, the soldiers themselves responded by using slogans and parodies of pop culture icons such as Snoopy and Charlie Brown to express their anxieties and frustration at the grim situation they were in.” Pretty deep stuff. All I can say is that though the subject matters is heavy, it only adds to this being is one rad t-shirt. Plus, if you don’t like Snoopy then really I don’t like you. Check out their whole SS’15 collection here.
Thundergirl City is a cool British brand founded by two friends who wanted to ‘address the lack of cool t-shirt designs on the market’. So basically, as noted above, most tees suck and sadly people buy them and wear them a lot. I picked up this bad boy in yellow because I once had a girlfriend who had a yellow Great Wall of China t-shirt which I stole for ages but sadly had to give back, and miss terribly... I was a pretty shitty boyfriend though so it's fair that it had to be returned. I also bought it because it’s fucking rad. Good shit by good people, recommend 1000% (It also comes in black or white if you’re fancy/dull).
Last up is this tee from Stay At Home Club, a Canadian brand.. I don’t really have much to say about it or them. But I like Sad songs, they’re often the best songs, so I feel sharing that is probably a pretty good shout. Grab one here.
Monday Moods: Moving to the woods
Right now in London it’s pretty warm, and if like me you work in a giant air conditioned building you’re probably craving a trip to the woods to sit in the shade of a big tree and watch nature go by. So this is what this playlist is for. If you can’t be there, you can at least close your eyes and imagine it.
Cool facts about some of these tracks:
- Lookin’ Out My Back Door was written for John Fogerty’s three year old son and inspired by the Dr Seuss book ‘And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street'
- Key To the Highway was first recorded in 1940 and has since been recorded by seemingly a million and one different people. This version with B.B. King is Eric Clapton’s 4th out of his 5 released versions of the song
- Led Zeppelin’s Going To California is reportedly written about Joni Mitchell and Jimmy Page and Robert Plant’s shared infatuation with her. To be fair, who wouldn’t fall for Joni in 1970?
Style: The Chuck '70s
It’s fair to say that simple is in most cases, often better. The Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars were first produced in 1917, and are still being worn across the world today. Admittedly in many different colours and styles. A bonafide classic, I join the rest of the world in being a huge fan of the shoe, finding the only problem with it it’s tendency to fall apart under extreme duress (or 6 months of solid wear, whatever).
The thing I like about this shoe is it’s probably the most versatile you’re ever going to own. If you have a pair of Nike runners or the latest pair of Adidas, they’re going to look the business but everyone’s going to know that’s exactly what they are. The All Star is nice, it’s subtle, the logo is even on the inside leg! But when you notice someone wearing them it looks, and will probably always look, effortlessly cool.
Team them up with a pair of your favourite faded blue jeans, a pair of black skinnies, shorts even a suit if you're imagination really takes you that way! From Patti Smith to Joe Cocker to The Strokes and everyone you can imagine in between, they’ve all worn the Chuck Taylor and it’s probably important that you do too. You can grab yourself a pair from the very excellent Number Six here.
Friday Tracks: Running On Empty
If you’re not familiar with Jackson Browne’s work but his name rings a bell, you might remember him for producing Warren Zevon’s first album which I talked about in the first Friday Tracks. He also worked with The Eagles, co-writing their hit Take It Easy (which I’ve only just discovered so get ready for me to start going on about that as a Friday track in a few weeks time..)
Running on Empty starts with a little bit of audience noise and guitar ambience and then a bang and you’re in, out on the road. The piano carrying the melody with the warm hum of the lap steel humming underneath everything before punctuating the song with high notes (and two killer solos no less). There’s something about road songs that highlight the unseen world of the touring musician and glamourise it into something mystical and amazing. This song captures that perfectly with the perfect hint of sadness and loneliness needed to make everything great.
Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels,
I don’t know how to tell you all just how crazy this life feels,
I look around for the friends that I used to turn to to pull me through,
Looking into their eyes I see them running too
It would be foolish to write about this song and not mention the soaring harmony work undertaken by the backing group The Section and backing singer Rosemary Butler. Creating a rich warm harmony they give this song such a depth that without it the tone of the song would drastically alter. Summer’s here and there’s no better time to get on the road, let this song take you there.
