Absolute Ice Bar

by Heba Keshk on 07th of February 2008


Located in Mayfair, in the heart of London, Absolute Ice Bar is notorious for its all ice interior.


From the walls, to the seats, the tables and the drinking glass, everything is ice.

So coughing up £15 for admission to the venue for 40 minutes and a complimentary drink doesn't sound too bad at all!

The ice is transported especially from the Torne River in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden afterall.

However once you get to the venue, expect to wait an additional ten minutes at least for purchasing your tickets.

As you walk into the bar two men literately chuck a designer thermal cape with a hood over your head, without warning.

Leaving you with your coat and bag still on, so not much of a bar atmosphere.

Over priced

Once you finally get into the "Ice Bar", the staff flood in crowds at one go, so you'd anticipate the size of the room to be somewhat gigantic and the music to be pumping.


However to much dissatisfaction, you can walk around the perimeter of the room in 10 seconds and be back where you started. As for the music, it felt like you just entered a gallery!

You are given a ticket for your drinks, which all the choices consist of Vodka, minus the three options of fruit juice.

Once you get past the shock of the size of the venue, it is almost impossible to find a seat to experience the full ice atmosphere.

The only way it can be fun is if you make it enjoyable by taking plenty of pictures with your mates, otherwise you will leave the venue even more disappointed.

Ice Bar is over priced for 40 mintues of nothing. Only one ice sculpture could be seen and people walking around puzzled and confused due to much disappointment. Definitely a one-time experience, not worth doing again.

Visit Absolute Ice Bar at:
31-33 Hedden St
London
W1B 4BN

Adele

Young 19…

Known to most people as the next Amy Winehouse and can easily be mistaken as KT Tunstall (with similar dress code and style), Adele at a young age of 19 has, shot to stardom even before her album, ‘19’, was released.

With the new age of technology, Myspace has opened many opportunities for new artist like Adele, who gained fame through a growing fan base.

Born and bred in London, Adele Adkins newest single, chasing pavements was an instant hit and still standing at number two after three weeks of its release. The song is based about her and her ex “I had a $%*! boyfriend who I knew would be $%*!, and I knew when I started fancying him, let alone when I got with him it would be a ' car crash relationship ' ......that’s the crash bit in the video!”(taken from her Myspace)

Soulful…

Throughout the album you can hear a unique mature sound with a husky “croak” and soulfulness in Adele’s vocals which could reflect some of her inspirations such as Jill Scott and Bjork, like them, she has a unique way of rhyming and sounding. And similarly need minimal instruments to make each song strong.

Sounding similar to Kate Nash, with the same use of their British accent, some songs are not so easy to adjust to, however after hearing them a few times, you begin to appreciate the vocals as well as the lyrics.

Tracks that stood out due to its soulful approach are “day dreamer”, “melt my heart to stone”, in contrast “tired” and “cold shoulder” are catchy owed to the combination of the beat and her voice

The winner of this year’s Critics’ Choice at the Brit Awards is set for a long career as this album is only an immense opening to an interval of her recognition.

Ratings: 3/5

Jump Off

Jump Off Review

Located in the heart of London, The Jump Off takes place every first Monday of the month in Astoria 2, formally known as Meanfiddler.

If you’ve seen “8mile” and love the choreography of “Stomp the Yard” then Jump Off is the place to be. The night is filled with different segments from a fashion show, dance off to an MC battle, however not taken seriously, as there is nothing but good vibes from get go.

Doors opened at 8pm to the audience, where they watched and participated in a professional photo shoot.

The main show was scheduled to start at nine but like most live gigs there is a delay, but finally when it got started everyone was beginning to liven up and some even shook a leg.

With a combination of Hip Hop and comical dialogue, the night was hosted by “Rap 6” along side Kiss FM DJ, Manny Norte, with the help of Kimberly Jay, former presenter and Nike Athlete.

First off was the dance battle; the competitors ranged from both genders aged 3-30 from all over Europe and parts South Africa. The dance moves were breathtaking and the music perfectly set the scene.

A fashion show, shortly followed, by designer “Stush”, it consisted of two lines, one of which was lingerie and the other being ladies evening wear. The majority of the outfits were very flamboyant and were uniquely designed, which left most men with their jaws hanging trying to capture pictures with mobile phones.

The most exhilarating part of the night was the MC Battles and the stand-up segments as they both had jokes at other peoples expense and with much ad-libbing, not a single straight face could be seen in sight, “Laugh out Loud” humour is the best description for the two parts.

Definitely a “must go” event! It’s a good laugh, a brilliant atmosphere and unforgettable experience.

Tickets: £6 in advance/£10 at the door
Location: Astoria 2
Rating 4/5

www.jumpoff.tv

FACE OFF!

Omarion and Bow Wow - Face Off

by Heba Keshk on 24th of January 2008

Omarion and Bow Wow first appeared together in their collaboration Let Me Hold You in 2005.

Three years later they finally did what both their fan bases have always wanted: a collaboration album.

Face Off brings the lyrics and vocals of the incredible Omarion of B2K, and Bow Wow formally known as Lil' Bow Wow. Both on one album, together on each track, surely this could not be more ideal.

It seems that the album tries to recuperate R. Kelly's and Jay-Z's Best of Both Worlds but how do they match up?

The album is full of chart toppers, such as their usual lovey dovey tracks such as Girlfriend and Baby Girl, which shows a mature side to the double act.

However their choices of words aren't exactly what you would call romantic:

"She's my girl but I wanna tip her/yeeah/And her body's built like a stripper."

Mature side to the double act

For the charts and club scene there are a few tracks that would work effortlessly as a club banger.

They are Hey Baby (Jump off), Number Ones and Another Girl.


Another potential hit that stands out is He ain't gotta know about me which is co-written by T-pain. T-pain also produced the beat as part of Nappy Boy Production.

T-Pain's distinctive sound has proven to be succesful in the charts and the track will prove to be catchier the more you hear of it.

The album is full of sound and fury. Each track is skilfully produced and some of the up-tempo tracks can put you in a trance but for the true fans of the two this by far is not the strongest material that they can bring to the "game".


Tracks to look out for:

Girlfriend
Listen
He ain't gotta know about me


Ones to pass up:

Bachelor pad
Hood Star

Floetry

Floetry Review:

The partners in crime, originally from SE 5 -Thornton Heath travelled all the way from Philadelphia, US to the heart of Camden Town to perform to a small but packed venue of Floetry fans in the famous Jazz Café for four days and for everyone who knows about Jazz Café would know how intimate the venue is.


The two South London ladies began their evening with the intro track to the Fo’ology album (“Blessed”). Walking down a set of steps Marsha (Songstress) was in a very elegant red dress, complimenting her new look and weight loss. Natalie (Floacist) who was dressed in casual jeans and white vest then followed her, a very extreme make over was evident, with her hair almost all shaved off dyed red matching her retro red shades aka The “Stunnas” and additional tattoos to her collection.


From the second the beat began to the outro of their evening the crowd, which Floetry referred to them as “family”, couldn’t stand still or stay silent, everyone was singing like there was no tomorrow both the ladies and men were hitting the high and low notes, with one person fainting, either from the heat or the overwhelming vibes of Floetry. It was without doubt a mind-boggling experience.


The twosomes definitely haven’t forgotten where they were from. Proud to be British, and stating to the crowd that they were happy to be “home”, they explained that all they need to say is that they are British when they are in the States and didn’t see the point of clarifying whether they were Afro-Caribbean or African as they were representing were they are from at heart, London.


They made you feel each beat and lyric. From the up beat tracks of “Floetic” to the classic lyrics of “getting late”, all I can hear around me were people saying their hairs are standing or they are getting shivers down their spine. A remix of “Superstar” was made with a Crunk feel and a drum and base beat switched up their usual style but enjoyed and appreciated by the audience. With the angelic and hypnotic voice of songstress and the Deep heart felt poetry and expression of Floacist everyone was moved and felt cosy as Floetry truly set the tone.


Interacting with the audience Floetry made the crowd finish of the lyrics to getting late, Marsha would say “I’m afraid” and the audience would respond with a very high pitched “Don’t be”, they also sang the infamous track “Butterflies” which was given as a present to Michael Jackson from Floetry themselves. Marsha kept on stopping and starting again claiming she can never do the beginning like MJ does which goes “One love”, the crowd sang the chorus over three times, shivers was the correct feeling that was running through me and the rest of the 100 and so people. To add a bit of a London vibe the crowd was made to sing a ‘Hooligan like” tone which made everyone laugh out loud while singing along.


Still with their comical talks, Floacist took everyone to the old days of childhood, being the dominant talker, she really made you feel like you were her friend as you can relate and know exactly were she was coming from. She sang the theme tune to Danger Mouse cartoon and proudly bigged up Andy peters and all four dogs in Blue Peters, which again had the crowd laughing.


The most memorable song was “Sunshine”, the song was so heart felt and moving to the extent that I spotted a few people tearing up as many could relate and feel what the duo had to say. The song was based on a person loosing their sunshine, sunshine being a soul mate or a loved one.


Astounding is understatement to begin describing the atmosphere. This defiantly wasn’t your average concert, it wasn’t just music and muffled voices from a bad mic, but spoken words of wisdom with light hearted joke where after two hours performance they didn’t get booed, which meant the crowd was beyond stratified as they couldn’t stop applauding and were very happy to be part of such an experience.


Almost all the recent concerts I’ve been to the artist has been booed and as I’m leaving the venue all I usual hear is a lot of dissatisfied people. However this was far from the case. The only negative criticism was the fact that I almost missed my last train.