Out with the old in with the..................

So the year 2008 draws to a close, a year that has seen Global Free Market capitalism start to implode and Democracy brought into question with the state intruding deeper into the lives of the individual and incompetence rewarded by hugh financial payouts. The continuing illegal war on terror justifies their anti-terror laws, greed and want not need has seen the market crash. It was a year that has seen a whole ton of shit dropped on people.
What ever shit is thrown at us, it’s what we do with it that counts. We can either sink slowly and slowly deeper into it, or we can throw it back at them.
Divide and rule; a tool in their armoury. Time to pick it up and beat them with it. It aint the immigrants taking jobs. It’s the fat cats taking all the money and our government wasting it that’s keeping the poor and the workers working, if they aint lost their jobs due to government actions or inactions.
Unemployed and angry? Use your time wisely! Get organised!! Take stock! Don’t sit around watching television. That’s what they want to you to be doing, passive acceptance. Take the technology they gave us, and make yer own TV, Computers are our weapon.
A Time For Change!? Indeed! What sort of change, well we could start with our minds, before we lose them completely., or should I say.. Give them away, because that is what people have done, because that is all they have known. Now’s the time for them to realise that in a world were everything is up for sale, and the illusion that Money brings peace of mind has enabled them to take a piece of peoples minds, that it was all a crock of shit. The free market costs, and the price people have paid has been an expensive one, and thanks to them will continue to be as governments either bail out the businesses and lenders, at our cost, or let them go to the wall at the cost to the workers. I’m sorry that people are gonna lose their jobs, but if a business is failing it’s because something aint right. MFI; Wooden crap. Woolworths; Plastic crap. Jaguar; Metal crap. We don’t need anymore crap!
Fuck New Year Resolutions! What we need is a new Years revolution, I aint talking building barricades in the streets and ripping up the pavement to get to the beach beneath it and chucking the slabs at the cops, but if that’s what you fancy doing, go for it. it’s all about breaking the barricades in the mind, the ones that people have let get built there, through endless brainwashing by a system that wants them kept in their place. Question everything, especially yourself. Everything is up for sale. What price freedom? The newspaper headlines are meant for your head, it’s what yer head does with them that matters. You are not alone, you might think you are, but that’s just what they want you to think, because that way you’re no threat to them, because what they fear most is people being united and standing against them. It’s a battle of hearts and minds. They want our minds, and we need to have the heart to tell ‘em NO! 2009, bring it on!

HOWMUCHMORE?

How much more real can the unreal become?
How much more can the process be processed?
How much more perfection can be perfected?
How much more celebrity can be celebrated?
How much more to buy before it’s a good bye?

"You don't care for music do ya!"

THEY'RE TEACHING THEM HOW TO BE THICK!

I Was thinking the other day it was coming up to the anniversary of Joe Strummers death, and I wondered… If he was still us, what he’d make of all the shit that’s been going on over the past couple of years, continued war, economic crisis, state surveillance, you know the stuff, I then thought perhaps, more importantly, who was the kids of today and adults of tomorrow’s Joe Strummer. Who’s speaking out for them, and to them about all the shit!?

THE CLASH - Out Of Control, Nov 83 Demos

Both myself and the PC have come down with some sort of virus. The computer doesn’t want to do anything, and when it does, it does it so slowly, and me.. I feel pretty much the same. Virus scan and paracetamol it is then!

THE CRISP CRUNCH!

My tolerance levels are low, the smallest things. A person eating crisps! It was 8.15 the other morning, and I’m sitting on the bus waiting for it to take me to work, and in the seat behind me there’s someone eating a packet of crisps. Crunch, Crunch, Crunch, Crunch. For fucks sake! Why didn’t they have their breakfast at home, before they left for work, and they must have had one of those Jumbo bags, the one’s were you get more air for your money cos it seemed to go on forever. I could feel my blood beginning to boil, so I had to get of the bus and have a fag until the bus went at 8.30. Fuck banning smoking in public places, ban the eating of crisps as well, that’s what I say.

THE STRANGLERS - In Concert 1977/78 (Bootleg)

Another band that some felt didn’t fit the punk rock profile were The Stranglers, they were too old, could play their instruments, had long hair/beards, blah, blah, blah. Yes they were politicaly poles apart from some percieved punk rock theory, with their misogynistic, macho attitude and stance, politicaly correct they weren’t, but they still fitted into the punk rock picture. Songs like; Peaches, Bring On The Nubiles and I Feel Like A Wog, all guarenteed shock, horror and outrage, and all are featured on this bootleg made up from 2 recordings for the BBC. The first six tracks are from an In Concert recording at London’s Paris Theatre on 24/4/77, and the last five are from BBC TV’s Rock Goes to Collage when it visited The University of Surrey on 19/10/78, I don’t think this part of the evening was broadcast, because the band were a bit abusive to the audience, still that’s punk rock for yer. Anyway you know what to do if you fancy a blast of some vintage Stranglers, that’s right just click! As an end note, former Strangler Hugh Cornwall recently appeared on stage with The Paddingtons helping to keep the punk flag flying high.

SLAUGHTER AND THE DOGS - Do It Dog Style (Tape)

No self respecting lover of Punk Rawk or Rawk’n’Roll should be without a copy of this album. From punks second city; Manchester. Slaughter and The Dogs brought some street style bootboy swagger along with their New York Dolls Rock’n’Roll riffs to the London punk rock party at places like The Roxy, where they were captured on film by Don Letts for his Punk Rock film. A band that are still remembered fondly by Ian Brown and Mani (Stone Roses/Primal Scream) who often drop their name in interviews when asked about their influences. So if you fancy cranking it up real high and doing it dog style you know where to click!

Notes on a winters day.

You Couldn't Make This Shit Up (Part.....)

So the banking/economic shit continues; recession will be worse and longer than expected, probably due to more scandals and scams in the financial sector coming to light. The latest one involves millions of missing dollars and a guy in the US by the name of, (I thought I’d misheard this when the news was on) Bernie Madeoff!!! Yes….Bernie fucking Madeoff, I’ll leave you to make up the rest…………… While I'm on the subject of the news; Hats off to the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George Bush!

I Love the smell of burning Greece in the morning!

The British people may not be showing much interest in demonstrating any dissatisfaction against the governments handling of the economy, but they’re certainly watching what the people of Greece, the birth place of democracy have been doing. It was the top story on the BBC’s news website this week. Thanks to the power of modern technology over 2 million have logged on to see, hear and read all about what the Greek people have been doing with their dissatisfaction towards their Government. It would appear that we would prefer to watch a struugle rather than participate in one; such is the Society of the Spectacle.

THE PADDINGTONS - Demos

Built up and knocked down by the musick biz. From major label, to their own label. Vocal supporters of Love Music Hate Racism, The Paddingtons released one of my favourite albums this year; No Mundane Options. On this one the band sound like they’ve taken more control over it all with a less polished product than First Comes First, more Punk than Rock. If yer expecting to hear it here, sorry to disappoint but here’s a batch of their demos instead.

Fact or Fiction? What, If and Only!

GORDON IS TREATING US LIKE MORONS!

So Gordon Brown makes a Freudian slip and says he’s “saved the world” what a wanker. The only thing he’s done is save his sorry arse, because if recent opinion polls are to be believed his rating as a leader has risen. For fucks sake! It seems you can fool people all of the time. Blind acceptance is a sign of stupid fools that stand in line, yeah lines of queues snapping up ½ price bargains courtesy of flash the cash Gordon saviour of the universe. How much longer are people gonna sit back and take it? I mean in somewhere like Greece what’s going on in Britain at the moment would result in a show of force and discontent at their Government, but no not here. The Police can shoot as many people as they like, The Government can lie, steal and cheat, and people do fuck all except live on their own little planets!

TWISTED WHEEL

I've decided to fuck the Twisted Wheel embeded player off, but if you liked what you heard, here's 13 tracks by those new upstarts on the block.

THE STANLEY BLACKS

My girlfriends recently got herself a new man; Stanley. A Three month old Affenpinscher, Kennel name Attila Devils Own, they weren’t wrong there. He’s a fucking nutter! Stan The Man!! Ordinarily I wouldn’t have bothered telling you about this, but in one of those strange moments of synchronicity I received an email the other day from garyching, the man who’s Always Searching For Music. He asked if I’d do him a favour and post a track by a local band he’s seen a few times, to get some feedback from people. Ordinarily I don't know if I'd have done this sort of thing, but when I saw the name of the band I thought erm! Why the hell not…..here you go it’s: THE STANLEY BLACKS with a track called In Sight, which sounds the exact opposite of my girlfriends Stanley; Calm and laid back! Let us know what you think.

THE VIBRATORS - Guilty (7" vinyl-rip)

A bit of an odd one this. Released in 1983, but a different version to the one that’s on the Guilty album. Neither this nor the b -side appear on any of their best off compilations, which is about right because both tracks aint anywhere near the best stuff they’ve recorded. Guilty is an attempt at a sort of Hip Hop Rock Rap hybrid and Hang Ten is a mutant surf R’n’B instrumental. Both tracks are ...interesting, but for completists only I’d say, but hey don’t take my word for it, hear what you think for yerself here!

Their words mean nothing but bullshit!

SOCIAL DISTORTION - An Almost Acoustic Christmas. (Bootleg)

This may be the only concession to the coming festive time of Consumer-mass you’re gonna get from me and this is stretching it a bit; but I give you SOCIAL DISTORTION’S Almost Acoustic Christmas, a widely circulated bootleg which is neither acoustic or particularly ’Christmassy’ if you’re looking for some festive rock’n’roll yer better off checking out The Yobs Christmas albums. But if yer after a set of self confessional punk’n’roll then this might just be the prescription. Recorded on Dec 12th 2004 at the annual KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas in California. The set the band played veers more to the Rock than the Punk, but Mommy’s Little Monster still sounds mighty fine, as does Bad Luck and their covers of Johnny Cash’s Ring Of Fire and the Stones’s Under My Thumb, in fact they all do. Anyway check it out here for yourselves and make up yer own mind. Quick story before I go. Back in 1992 I promoted a gig with Social Distortion in Stevenage. It was one of four they did in Britain to promote their Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell album, a great gig only marred by a swastika being carved on my girlfriends car by a disgruntled skinhead, but that’s a whole other story. Anyway spoke to the band who were a nice bunch of people, and blagged a guest list place and backstage pass from their booking agent for the gig at The Underworld in Camden . Two great gigs in the space of a few days. At the London gig singer Mike Ness was reminiscing about the short tour to the audience and mentioned that they played Stevenage and how it was “a strange concrete muthafucking place” Thanks to the backstage pass I got a chance to speak to Mike in the dressing room afterwards. I mentioned what he‘d said about my hometown and he was all apologetic for the remark, and then surprised when I shook his hand and said “you aint fucking wrong there mate.”

"You've got to know who the enemy is"

I dunno how much more of this shit I can take, there’s not enough time to pass comment on what’s going on and been going on. From babies killed under the noses of the state, and the vicarious media coverage and out pouring of public grief, to politicians arrested by the state for leaking information that our government would rather we didn’t know about. While anti terrorist officers raided Damian Greens house the war on terror exploded in Mumbai; just who are the terrorists. Thousands are losing their jobs and the Unions are saying nothing and the workers are doing nothing. What is it that they fear? Being branded terrorists for speaking out against the present regime, because that’s what it is a fucking regime that’s in danger of becoming a totality if we let it happen. Talking of totalitarian regimes; in China recently some office workers lost their jobs, so they smashed their office up, computers, desks, the whole fucking lot! I’d have thought they’d have a lot more to fear from their state than ours. So what’s gripping the public at the moment? The fucking X-Factor and I’m a Celebrity, and people are still getting their knickers in a twist about standards and swearing on the BBC. Like I said; I’ve had enough of this shit!

Still at least we’ve got the music, and it doesn’t come much better than this, it’s THE ENEMY with a live track Shed a Tear, which recalls The Clash and The Jam and points towards what could and should be an important album for next year, both musically and lyrically; the follow up to We Live and Die in these Towns. Here’s to hoping and waiting.

BRITAIN......

FUCKED! and FUCKING!