coolography

jay electronica @ the jazz cafe

Posted on: 27 February 2010


Jay Electronica has been around for a while. Blessed with a penchant for intelligently referenced rap, charismatic delivery, and a remarkably good ear for beats, he has nonetheless remained a relatively obscure figure outside of only the most hardcore hip-hop nerds. Similar to other professed futures of Hip-Hop, Drake and J. Cole, Jay Electronica has also yet to release a full studio album, instead having mixtapes, guest features, and an always welcome predilection to rhyme over J Dilla beats escalate his hype. In recent weeks he has truly blown – backed by the neverending crescendos of Just Blaze’s production on ‘Exhibit C’, Jay Electronica has now been pushed firmly in the spotlight. With further backing from the well respected Gilles Peterson and DJ Semtex, Jay is slowly garnering more exposure to a wider UK audience. So, when Jay touched down in London for his first ever UK show at the legendary Jazz Cafe, we were sure to be in attendance to see if his live act could stand head to head with the internet hype… continue reading »

london photography by stuart gleave

Posted on: 18 January 2010

We love London, and we love photography. Similar sentiments are shared by many, and often the love for both can be brought beautifully together – in particular, by friend of coolography, Stuart Gleave. Playful, colourful, imaginative – compositions that make us sit back and fall deeper in love with this city of ours. Having followed his work for some time, we felt a coolography feature was long overdue. Continue reading for a compilation of his favourite London shots as well as a short Q&A…

continue reading »

livin’ proof x pause NYE

Posted on: 18 December 2009

flyer

New year’s eve is always a tough one. The first, and last, party of every year should be a special thing indeed, yet between grotty house parties, extortionate central London venues, and underwhelming fireworks displays, coolography’s NYE record is a bit hit and miss. This year, our hopes are up, with London’s finest hip-hop collective Livin’ Proof throwing a house-party vibed NYE at the aptly named Big Chill House. Playing hip-hop, soul, new jack swing, boogie… coolography sees nothing finer than ringing in the future with some old school tunes. DJs Mr Thing, DJ Snips, Rags, Budgie and Khalil battle it out in the main room, with marketplace fixture PAUSE heading up the second room for more of the same. Never disappointing with their previous special events, expect a cool crowd, cool vibes, and of course, coolography propping up the bar and cuttin up the dance floor.

Details follow… continue reading »

mooli’s

Posted on: 3 December 2009

moolis

The curiously named Mooli’s opened with slowly building fanfare a week or so ago, with local twitterers abuzz over their special opening offer of a free wrap, or ‘mooli’ to any passer by. With London’s Soho a regular coolography haunt, it was trivial to pop by Mooli’s Frith street location to see just exactly what the fuss was about – and what a fuss indeed! Lines scores deep fully exceeded our expectations for both Soho dwellers’ curiosity and their eagerness for a free meal.

A  beautifully simple preposition – Mooli’s offers Indian style wraps in 5 different flavours. And that’s about it. A menu this short is both refreshing and frustrating; one would expect such a limited menu to offer ease of choice, yet we found ourselves deliberating at length over the varied quintet on offer. Eventually settling for the Goan pork with pomegranate salsa, we were not disappointed – slow, tender pork emanated a deep spice and sultry heat, punctuated perfectly with sweet, crisp and refreshing bursts of pomegranate. A creamy yet light and sweet mango lassi tempered the feisty wrap, rounding off the quick meal and marking Mooli’s firmly in coolography’s ‘return visit’ mental pile… continue reading »

texture

Posted on: 1 November 2009

texture_logo

coolography loves collaborations. Usually these are limited to the realm of fashion, music, and art, but rarely do we come across this in things gastronomical. In this case, Texture grabbed our attention with their bold claim to be the first restaurant founded by both a top chef and an award winning sommelier. The formidable pairing in question is Agnar Sverrisson (formerly of Gordon Ramsey’s Petrus, and head chef of Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons), and Xavier Rousset (once UK sommelier of the year and also head sommelier at Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons). The two respective experts in food and wine’s joint venture has already garnered a flurry of recognition and newcomer awards – so naturally, we felt it was our duty to see what the fuss is all about…

continue reading »