For that kind of music, Honest Johns on Portabello Road and Sounds of the Universe in soho, plus try second hand places like record and tape exchange in notting hill.

http://www.artupdate.com/ for art listings

http://www.kultureflash.net/ for a selection of art club and other event listings

A lot of small galleries will be closed over the xmas period

plus buy a copy of time out when you get here

NYE, there is always Poptimism, run by people of this parish

what kind of restaurants (cuisine, price) are you interested in?

Also come on the Between Christmas And New Year Pub Crawl round Borough on the 29th (or at least some of it). We have a visiting American every year!

If you’re in Putney then you have one of the best disco/soul/jazz shops in London just up the road—Soul Brother Records, across the road and about 100 yards up on the left from Putney East tube.

Also in south west London, if you want some live Jazz, the Bull at Barnes normally has some pretty decent stuff on.

That’ll be the Bull’s Head, Barnes.

Also there is the Half Moon Putney as immortalised in High Fidelity though that tends to feature stars of 1978 in reduced circumstances.

*green with envy* would love to visit london next year. maybe around the time of marcello’s wedding? (update needed marcello!, how’s things progressing???)

Oh it’s all progressing reasonably well. The wedding has been provisionally set for August but we’ve still to decide on venue, etc., and will send out invites etc. nearer the time when everything’s been sorted out. Be great to have you & T & O there!

Can’yt promise anything but I’m gonna TRY my hardest to attend. :-)

There’s a whole bunch of record stores in Soho, mostly on Berwick St. (Sounds of the Universe is just round the corner), including a pair of Reckless Records stores and a Music and Video Exchange, which is always reliable for a few decent finds. There’s also a series of M&VE in Notting Hill, and a pair in Camden too. AND, if you’re in Soho, you should head over to On The Beat, which is on a little side street called Hanway St, just off Tottenham Court Rd. It’s filled with loads of junk, and the guy in there is a cool old Andy Warhol type, who’s always playing something interesting.

Avoid Kensal Green. Extreme weather.

There are a couple of good record shops on Essex Rd, Islington- Haggle and Flashback. There are also some decent reatuarants round there, and some good pubs.

Sneakers- Carnaby St? That has that big Puma store.

yes, pub crawl on the 29th and Poptimism on New Year’s Eve!

oh, howabout boutique-y type places for the lady?

what kind of restaurants (cuisine, price) are you interested in?

we’ll prolly do a few nice places, but favorite regular locals spots are always great.

the lady should check out poste mistress for (pricey) shoes.

as for restaurants, i don’t know anything about putney but if you want a nice, very reasonably priced meal in central london with great cozy/romantic atmosphere then book a table at andrew edmunds.

my favorite places to walk, which might not be yours, were the bridges/south bank/borough, bloomsbury/holborn/the inns/aldwych, westminster/whitehall/st james’s, marylebone, and covent garden. the london walks are pretty worthwhile, depending on the guide (Tom was my favorite).

my best meals were lunches. go to the rectory at southwark cathedral, bank of england, and orrery epicerie. the st martin’s basement and cheshire cheese were only ok, food-wise, but cool places.

also, the museums are really fantastic

Barbican and ICA seemed to have interesting stuff at night

David White, you’ve forgotten Sister Ray, which is about 100 yards down the road (Berwick Street) from Reckless Records. I discovered it (via a friend) about a week ago and it’s probably the most comprehensive, interesting record-store I’ve been to in London, with an unparalleled range and a mixture of classics and outright obscurities. The music exchange seconded (my friend showed that one to me as well), but unfortunately Reckless Records was closed so I can’t give that one a glowing report, alas.

may follow the On The Beat lead myself, cheers for that.

Reckless isn’t that great really compared to the other shops on that street. I have got a load of cool records from there but it tends to be a bit overpriced and they don’t reduce the prices like the MVE.

Saying that some of my best buys from Reckless have been really underpriced compared to what they go for on Ebay! I got Cold Hands by Boss Hog for a tenner and Bullshit Detector #3 for £15, seen both go for quite a bit more than that.

i wouldn’t bother with records or much else at the way the exchange rate is right now. esp. shoes or fashion-y type stuff that you could also easily get in sf. waste your money on booze and food instead.

it’s true the exchange rate is shit, but if you’re into fashiony stuff then there’s going to be a ton of stuff to buy that’s not easily available in the states.

i confess to knowing nothing about fashiony stuff.

well luckily we’re staying in a friend’s parent’s house for free. so the money we save on that goes towards more expensive goods.

Gabbneb speaks the truth with his walk recommendations. Bloomsbury/Holborn/The Inns/Aldwych is particularly lovely.

Restaurants: my top picks are Yauatcha and the Anchor and Hope:

http://www.london-eating.co.uk/4028.htm

http://www.london-eating.co.uk/3917.htm

There are lots ots of good Vietnamese restaurants in Hackney—I’m sure someone here knows more than me. There are lots of mediocore Indian restaurants but also some great ones at amazing prices, eg Ragam:

http://www.london-eating.co.uk/5420.htm

Maybe someone with more South London knowledge can suggest good cheap Indians nearer Putney?

After the feast that was served up on Saturday, I’d say forget South London and head to Tayyabs in Whitechapel. No booze though.

Kastoori in Tooting is excellent Veggie Indian in south London.

It is as well. Went there summer before last with Ned, Ed, Suzy and others and the food was superb.

Sister Ray is alright for new stuff, yeah, but I was thinking second hand, really, even if they have brought in a bit of stuff since converting from selectadisc. And like hstencil sez, the exchange rate ain’t all that great right now anyway. Always good to look around though. I’ve often found bargains in Reckless, even if they don’t have the biggest selection. Plus, the nice girl from the Television Personalities works in there!

For food, you’ve gotta check out the New Piccadilly Cafe. It’s a genuine timewarp. Cliff Richard and the Shadows used to hang out in there, and it hasn’t changed a bit since the 50’s (not that I was there). Formica heaven. Only place I’ve ever seen serving salami and chips.

I don’t know anything about sneakers, so maybe this place stinks, but that place ‘Size?’ in Covent Garden (the quotation mark is in the store name) seems like it has those kind of limited-edition shoes like on that ‘Entourage’ episode last season. Plus it’s right across from the Rough Trade shop in the bottom of the skateboard store.

This thread has been helpful for me, actually, as an American who moved to London 4 months ago and didn’t know most of this stuff!

go to The Brothers in Edgware

for “sneakers”

I meant “trainers,” for god’s sake. Don’t get all pissed. I mean angry! Not drunk!

You have proper boxing day sales here I understand? Anyone know if and what record stores offer sales?