Arts Council are giving an introduction for their National Portfolio Organisations on Wednesday this week. Digital innovation is one of the key priorities in the Arts Council’s five year plan.

The seminar is aimed at cultural organisationsand and will explain how they should plan their approach to digital working and achieving a presence in the digital media space?

A couple of items have come up on my Rights and IP radar, first off is this Building Digital Capacity for the Arts seminar from Arts Council England coming up on the 9th July in London. The event is aimed at arts and arts organisatons and aims to:

• outline the range of different elements of IP involved in artistic content
• share insights into different approaches to securing and clearing rights
• develop delegates’ understanding of the issues and potential solutions to rights clearances

Secondly the video from the Who Owns It seminar at FACT on the 12th June is now available to consume online. With talks by Ben Prangell a lawyer from Shipley IP and Joscelyn Upendran a lawer from Creative Commons UK. 

 Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival, the only festival of its kind in the UK, returns to the city from 6 - 15 July after a record 10^th year in 2011. With a packed programme of music, dance, performance, visual art, comedy, debates, talks, workshops, film, exhibitions and poetry - including many free events - this year’s festival promises to be bigger than ever.

Key events include a World Premiere at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on 15^th July from the Alif Ensemble and the play Rest Upon the Wind at Unity Theatre from veteran actor and writer Nadim Sawalha. Festival goers can also enjoy a breathtaking solo piece from ballet dancer Ayman Safiah at St Georges Hall on 14 July. The talented young dancer has been dubbed ‘The Arab Billy Elliot’ and has just been snapped up by dance guru Matthew Bourne’s company New Adventures.

Refresh your Ears with a City Centre Soundwalk starting at the Bluecoat. 

“When was the last time you went somewhere just to hear the sounds there? Whether experienced as private meditation or as collective silence SOUNDWALKS refresh your ears and reset your sensual awareness to where you are, live or work"

A soundwalk is a practice: it is walking without talking, focussing on the sound around, focussing on being there rather than talking about it. The Listening Room takes you to undiscovered places: means of transport, your senses.

Normal service continues this week as I played an eclectic selection of the best independent music on the web and also chatted about all kinds of rubbish. I attempted a live song but broke a string halfway through and had to abort. So instead I’ve embedded the last live acoustic video I did on YouTube for your listening pleasure. Hope it makes up for it. Enjoy the show 

Download or listen below

After the live show last time it’s back to normal service. I played an eclectic mix of music and performed a live cover song by the band Cream. I also rambled a lot and I think the heat melted my brain, so it might be even more disorganised than usual. I hope you enjoy the show anyway.

Download to listen now.

 I even get a mention in the notes above.

A very special show this time as I present recordings from the Rathole Roadshow 2012 which took place on Friday May 11th @ LEAF, Liverpool. Hear live sets from Thom Morecroft, 20lb Sounds,P’Chenga and The Corinthians. I have to give a big thanks to Andrew Bates our recording engineer,Jon Hall our live engineer, Neil Morrin for his excellent video work and Adrian McEwen for the audience bot, Bubblino and keeping us in touch with the chat room.

Download to listen now.

 I even get a mention in the notes above.

Africa Oye is back this coming weekend and we are all hoping for good weather - I'll be dusting off my picknic blankets and getting the BBQ out and heading to Sefton Park for a fantastic weekend of Family Fun. I'll be sure to taste the delights of some of the best food stalls ever while soaking up some music from the UK's largest festival of African Music and Culture. 

AND festival preview events 22- 23 June 2012

Abandon Normal Devices Festival heads back to Manchester during the Olympic summer, with an eclectic programme of art, new cinema and digital culture.Celebrations begin with the AND Festival Preview, Fri 22 - Sat 23 Jun, timed to coincide with the Manchester leg of the Olympic Torch Relay.

This free webinar hosted by AmbITion Scotland and New Media Scotland is sold out for the live event but there is plenty of space online! And you can Register here to participate in the Thursday 21 June 2012 webcast.

The live webinar will take place at Inspace as part of their EIFF Atmosphere programme.  Matt Adams of Blast Theory will introduce the core concepts behind interactive storytelling and artists Thompson & Craighead will discuss their work in the context of digital storytelling.