David Bramwell’s Odditorium returns and if you’re at all familiar with Dr Bramwell and The Catalyst Club – “celebrating the singular passions of everyday folk” – you’ll know we’re in the world of curious talks, performances, music and arch-weirdness from the fringes of culture. There’ll be people who’ll make you think or maybe smile. Expect the unexpected, as someone else probably said about something else.
Lucy Cooke Bitch: Sex, Evolution and the Female Animal
Sun 14th 7.30-8.30pm, Bosco Theater
What does it mean to be female? Mother, carer, the weaker sex? Think again. Author and filmmaker Lucy Cooke demonstrates how the female of the species has been marginalised and misunderstood by the scientific patriarchy; not least Darwin, who cast the female in the shape of a Victorian housewife: passive, coy and monogamous.
The Weird and Wonderful World of Some Bizarre Records + The Book of Goth with Wesley Doyle & Cathi Unsworth
Wed 17th 7-8pm, Bosco Theater
Featuring the likes of Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, Blancmange and The The, Some Bizarre was the vanguard of outsider music in the 1980s. Label boss Stevo’s unconventional dealings with the industry are legendary. Wesley Doyle tells us how a teenager from Dagenham took on the music industry and beat it at its own game.
Lifelong Goth, music journalist and crime-writer Cathi Unsworth takes us on a journey through Gothic music during the Eighties.
Sing-Along-A-Wicker Man 50th Anniversary + Magnet’s Peter Brewis
Wed 17th 9-11pm, Spiegeltent
Dust down your best Scottish accent, dress up as your favourite character and come join in with this horror classic. To mark the 50th anniversary of the film they’re joined by Peter Brewis, who appeared in the film and was on the Wicker Man soundtrack.
Legacy of the Stones with Jeremy Deller, Annebella Pollen and other guests
Tues 23rd 9-12pm, Spiegeltent
Billed as “An evening celebrating the rich neolithic history and stories around our henges and monoliths, our folk horror legacies and occult artists and groups”, speakers including Jeremy Deller and Annabella Pollen talk about Britain’s neolithic monuments and counterculture, and how they helped shape his work, and the mysterious green-clad hooded figures of the 1920s who performed ritual gestures (naked, obvs) on Silbury Hill, Stonehenge. The evening wouldn’t be complete without more Wicker Man (which Bramwell claims to have seen over 200 times) in the shape of The Dark Heart of Wicker Land.
The Drone in Music
Wed 31st 7.30-8.30pm, Bosco Tent
Harry Sword, author of “Monolithic Undertow” joins David Bramwell, for an exploration of the sub-cultural and spiritual significance of ‘the drone’. From the neolithic burial chambers of Malta to the psychedelic glory of Hawkwind; the vital influence of Indian drone traditions on the 1960’s counter culture to the thieving doom and stoner rock underground of today, They’ll also talk about the personal and spiritual significance of the ‘universal hum’.
There’s also a Catalyst Club Special: Live from the End of the Pier at Horatio’s Bar on Palace Pier,
Tues 9th 8pm
Tickets:
westhillwhistler.com 