Tuesday, 21 June 2016
Vote REMAIN
Professor of European Law at the University of Liverpool, Professor Dougan provides his viewpoint on the EU referendum, and discussed the facts and figures circulated by both the ‘Leave’ and ‘Remain’ campaigns
Monday, 20 June 2016
Stephen O'Malley - NTS Radio (7/6/16)
Includes 'Jerk, the radio play' (2007), directed by Gisele Vienne, written by Dennis Cooper, starring the voices of Jonathan Capdevielle and DC, and scored by Peter Rehberg/Pita
Sunday, 19 June 2016
The Great Hunger: The Life & Songs Of Shane MacGowan (BBC 1997)
Back in my London days before leaving in 1984 (to Amsterdam first before finally coming here to Melbourne in '86) I knew Shane pretty well, having first met him when the Nips were still a going concern. I met him in a west end bar (you didn't see that coming did you?) recognising him from pictures that had appeared in the UK music inkies like the two above.
The Nips first gig took place in October 1977 but I don't think I saw them until May of '78 or so but I do distinctly remember Shane asking me if I had any ideas for a logo for the band as my first job was in an advertising agency that was situated right on the corner of Cromer Street and Gray's Inn Road in KingsX directly opposite The Pindar of Wakefield (now The Water Rat) a pub that had been the site of Dylan's first Uk appearance back in 1962 and would also host The Pogues debut in '82 as well as being the venue that hosted Oasis's first London show as well and also the nearest pub to where Shane lived at the time. The first gigs that I saw by The Nips were really shambolic to say the least but I really enjoyed their singles especially 'Gabrielle'.
Their third and final single 'Happy Song' had the added cachet (at the time) of being produced by Paul Weller.
And then I remember Shane telling me about this new band idea he had and did I know any musicians who would be into an Irish punky trad band type of thing and as it happened I did. Sandra and her squeezebox. (That tho is another story for another time.) Unfortunately the last time I 'saw' him was out here in Melbourne probably about 20 years ago and er...it was a weird day. I was hoping to catch up with him before the gig but had a phone call from Phil Chevron saying that they were trying to er...revive him. Not a great sign but come gig time the show itself was pretty okay ending with Spider and Shane writhing on the floor belting out a version of 'White Light White Heat'. Anyway at the end of the gig having given the band twenty minutes or so to 'come down' I flashed my backstage pass and was greeted in the dressing room with no sign of Shane, Spider crying and the rest of the band in total shell shock as Shane had apparently been knocked out unconscious by Terry Woods. Spider between tears was just mumbling 'it's not supposed to be like this' over and over again. Fuck - this was a world apart from their early days playing around the traps at the Bull & Gate, the Irish Centre in Camden (at one of their gigs there I ended up helping mix the band as the guy with the PA had a broken arm and yes I resisted ALL temptation to dub it up LOL) or at Dingwalls. I actually worked behind the bar at that particular establishment and had been constantly hassling ***** ******* to book them, which he eventually did (probably just to shut me up!) Now on ******'s Facebook page he will tell you about what a great night it was etc etc but actually at the time he said it was the biggest load of shite he had ever had the misfortune to see. But hey what's a little bit of rewriting history between friends? Another couple of memories were the coach trip one St Patrick's night up to Birmingham from London with the band and friends. Now I have been told that that was an 'interesting' excursion from a few other people trying to piece the adventure together. A 'busload of alcoholic amnesia' is the collective adjective isn't it? Another stand out gig was one time when the band were playing a private party down at a friend's place, Stanley Buildings in KingsX. This was only a stone's throw from the then Pogues HQ of the Pindar and I caught up with Shane there probably around oneish and we got locked in by John(?) This was a time in the UK when by law the pubs were shut between three and five and from memory I think the band were supposed to play at maybe six or seven. With about ten minutes to get to just down the road Shane and I set off and it was probably at this point that we sort of both came to the realisation that we seemed to have lost the knack of actually being able to walk. But somehow the two of us managed to get to the party where Shane played one of the best gigs I had ever seen him do. (Strangely I still have the flyer(s) for that particular gig, one of which was used as the cover on the 'Look Them In The Eye & Say Pogue Mahone' boxset.) As well as all The Nips 7"s I also still have my first pressing with the harp sticker (of which there were only 237 copies) of the Pogue's debut single 'Dark Streets of London' on their own Pogue Mahone label that Stan Brennan put out before Stiff re-released it. What is missing, however, is the sleeve on which Cáit had written her parent's Hounslow address and phone number.
Enough of this reminiscing - though I could go on about the times that Shane would threaten, while being basically unable to stand, to kneecap you 'in the name of the IRA' if you didn't give him a freebie pint when I was working at the 100 Club on the nights of the once a month (?) soul all nighter or the afternoon of the 'Death In The Afternoon' cocktails pre them playing at The Paradiso in Amsterdam or the far too many nights at The Devonshire Arms on my flying visits back to London and and...but finally I do have to say that yer man does look really well currently. It's amazing what a new set of teeth can do...though in the past I did see him a few times with his teeth fixed only for them to disintegrate again pretty bloody sharpish.
(And here I really wish that I had the money to get mine done, hell I wish I had the money just to even get my totally fucked front teeth fixed...thinks to self maybe I should introduce ad sense to 'Exile'.
Just kidding this blog shall forever be ad free but wouldn't my life be different if all these visitors had contributed ten cents each...oh well)
Great Australian Albums: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads
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Nick Cave: Stranger In A Strange Land (VPRO Nederlands 31/5/87)
The making of No More Shall We Part (from the God Is In the House DVD)
Mark Stewart & The Maffia - Live @Oosterpoort Groningen Nederlands (18/10/03)
Mark Stewart appeared on the On-U Sound festival InputOutput, backed by the Maffia (Skip McDonald, Doug Wimbish & Keith LeBlanc) with Adrian Sherwood on the controls
Tracklist
1. As The Veneer Of Democracy Starts To Fade / Stranger
2. The Resistance Of The Cell
3. Forbidden Colour
4. Liberty City / High Ideals And Crazy Dreams
5. Hysteria
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Here's Adrian Sherwood's DJ set from the same festival
Click arrow on players to download
Via / Via
Saturday, 18 June 2016
Mark Stewart & The Maffia - As The Veneer of Democracy Starts To Fade
Still as relevant as ever as is this...
Rapid Eye Movement #1 PDF (1979)
HERE
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REM #3 PDF
PS: Would anyone have a scan of #2 to share or indeed any other of Simon Dwyer's writings. I do already have a hard copy of the Rapid Eye Movement book
Peter Gabriel on Jo Cox
Two years ago when she was thinking of trying to become an MP, she and I were amongst a small group of people invited by Ricken Patel and Avaaz to take part in an intense week’s leadership training led by Robert Gass.
I was by far the oldest person there and I found all the other participants really inspiring, they were all young passionate optimists and had all made making the world a better place their life’s work.
I had quite a few far-ranging conversations with Jo, played with her kids and was amazed at how she was able to be an attentive and loving mum and at the same time take the deep dive the course was taking us on.
She had lots of dreams of creating a more just world in which human rights were respected, poverty could be eradicated and in which opportunity was not determined by where you were born or who your parents were.
She was determined, passionate, open, always ready to listen, humble, generous with a mischievous sense of humour.
In that week she was testing herself out with us, to get some feel of just how far she might go. It was exciting to see her begin to trust her own capabilities and get a real sense of what she might be able to achieve. You knew she was always motivated to serve others, not herself, and it felt that in that time on the course, she decided not to limit herself or listen to the voice of doubt, but to trust her heart. None of us were surprised to see her elected.
We have been robbed of a potential leader, a wonderful mum and a soul that could both listen to and inspire those with whom she came into contact.
I can’t bear to think of her family and the terrible loss they now have to face.
This is what Brendan, her husband, wrote: "Today is the beginning of a new chapter in our lives. More difficult, more painful, less joyful, less full of love. I and Jo’s friends and family are going to work every moment of our lives to love and nurture our kids and to fight against the hate that killed Jo.
Jo believed in a better world and she fought for it every day of her life with an energy, and a zest for life that would exhaust most people. She would have wanted two things above all else to happen now, one that our precious children are bathed in love and two, that we all unite to fight against the hatred that killed her. Hate doesn’t have a creed, race or religion, it is poisionous. Jo would have no regrets about her life, she lived every day of it to the full."
We can choose a world that is based on hate, fear, isolation and separation or a world based on hope, trust and coming together. There is absolutely no doubt which side Jo was on - or which world I would want to see for my own kids and grandchildren.
Please remember her and what she stood for.
- pg
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