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Alison Swann considers if your family’s past affects your present

Wandering home up Lewes Road I started to notice the gradual trickle and then tsunami-like flood of fresh faces. They’re back. Well, not exactly back, as for many this is their first time but it’s started again.

“As we move about so much maybe the past becomes more important to give us a sense of self”

The new kids are in town and as the new intake of students lands in the city, Bambi-eyed and still working out how much pasta can feed eight people sharing a house designed for two, I got to thinking about where they all come from? And how their arrival in town will influence future generations.

Some will stay for three years, leave and never come back; some will drag it on a bit longer, or bounce backwards and forwards – like I have. And for others, this will be their life, the place they call home, where they will settle down, have children and build a life.

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Nick Aldwinckle touched down at the Beachdown Festival and checked out some of the smaller stages

Brighton Stage

With so many local bands playing Beachdown’s Brighton Stage it’s easy for some of the weekend’s real highlights to go unnoticed, first of which is the Tori Amos-like singer songwriter Shona Foster.

Shona Foster

Reigning in the vocal idiosyncrasies that make the likes of Regina Spektor such an acquired taste, Foster focusses on strong tunes with the odd dip into loud, full on rock crescendo. The end result is spectacular. Restlesslist are a bit of a Brighton supergroup, featuring members of Brakes, The Electric Soft Parade and Zettasaur. As such, their instrumental sound, incorporating math-rock, surf and even moments of proper metal, is eclectic and vastly different to almost everything else on this weekend’s bill.

Read on for more music and caberet reviews

The Latest speak to Jimmy Cricket

A show that celebrates old fashioned British cabaret has come to Worthing. The Best of British Variety Tour 2008 has been entertaining audiences at seaside resorts up and down the country during what has been a very British summer – with perfect weather for spending the evenings inside a theatre.

Among those appearing in Worthing is Jimmy Cricket, the much-loved comedian. Jimmy told Latest 7 it would be like a pantomime with something for all ages – and definitely suitable for children. He said: “I think it is going to be an eclectic mix. It is a family show. It is like a panto. All the humour’s basically clean. All the youngsters will be there, right through to granny and grandad.” Read the rest of this article »

Andrew Kay finds hot new Indian cuisine at Chilli Pickle

There are moments when I crave the womb-like security of a flock wallpaper-adorned booth, with decorative panels cut from plywood. But not many. These days the lure of the old-school Indian restaurant has waned, a situation brought on by a visit to India and the appearance of a new wave of Indian restaurants, where the tendency to a pot of stock sauce has been eschewed in favour of real cooking.

“A potato curry had us cooing with delight at how brilliantly subtle the use of Indian spices can be”

Chilli Pickle is part of the new school, and one performing at an A-star level – within a very short time of opening. I spotted it a few weeks back, but chose to leave it a few weeks to bed in before hitting it with the full force of my tongue – in both senses.

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