bun-u: February 2006

Monday, February 27, 2006

Grimey Coventry

Nabbed from Chantelle's site, this is notice of a grime night in Coventry this Wednesday at the Collesium (a place I got barred from for beef 'n' ting...well for popping a balloon actually).

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Eel Communications

The Eel Blog is live again - click on link over on the right

(or type http://eelfanzine.blogspot.com/ into your browser)

Monday, February 20, 2006

Currently listening to....

Battles - EP C/B
Target - Aim High Vol 3
Bruce Haack - Way out record for children
Wendy Carlos - Switched on bach
Death in June - In memoriam
Phil Ochs - There but for fortune
Slapp Happy - Acnalbasac Noom
Kim Fowley - nuggets stuff
Lily’s - Better can’t make my life bettter
Tones on tail - Night music
Germs - GI
Solex - Low kick and hard bop
Shortwave Set – Slingshot
Bill Fay – Time of the last persecution

Dirty Canvas (17th Feb): review and therapy

Dirty Canvas on Friday went pretty well. I'm still getting to grips with some aspects of putting on this kind of show, some of it down to experience but other bits are down to the fact that this is a pretty unusual sort of event. Preparation for the night is obviously important and takes up a shitload of time, and where a crew or act lacks a manager, you become their manager by default. For this one, I spent plenty of time coaxing the Essentials crew in one form or another. I've known the crew from my community work in New Cross - they've performed at community events and got involved in music mentoring schemes that my work has run. They seemed like a fairly safe bet for the second Dirty Canvas night and the fact that I'd nabbed Davinchie's EP name for the night made it even more relevant to choose them.

Back in December I spoke to the two members I knew most and, after raising it at their meeting, they gave their booking the all clear. In the two months since this, making contact became difficult and when I did (as mentioned below) it seemed things between crew members had become a little strained. The bottom line was that Jendor and Nu Era were going to rep for the Essentials on the night, so some patching up the line-up was needed in the form of getting Purple & the Renegade boys and DJ Logan Sama along. In my tribulations I’ve managed to collect a partner – Peter Todd (aka DJ Magic) who has shared the workload, and chucked in a lot of good ideas, contacts and is a fine deejay to boot.

The other time-consuming bit of prep is the marketing. The first (Ruff Sqwad) night received a bit of flak about only seemingly targeting a white middle class audience. Although not strictly true, what I took on board was that the venue (an art gallery) was only really attracting the kind of people who normally go there and so extra effort was needed to get some of grime’s core audience through the door. More work was therefore spent on flyering shops and other grime nights and setting up the myspace malarkey and trying to turn some heads over at the RWD web forums.

Back to the night itself, which as with the last one, got off to a slow start - the early start and pre-performance section of the night needs to be looked at. When the performances did get underway – the night came together well.

Logan arrived (and despite some dodgy DJ equipment) got on with spinning a finely mixed set, airing plenty of new unreleased dubs. The came Jendor and Nu Era, repping for the Essentials and gave a show which they clearly enjoyed, as did the crowd. I mentioned to Jendor that some of the audience may be new to grime and he took it quite literally patiently explaining audience-artist feedback tips.

DJ Magic took over from Logan (as he headed to his next gig), Ruff Sqwad checked-into the audience and then West London’s Purple and G Double took to the stage.

Purple, with his sculpted poodle hair and beard combo, was wearing his Arsenal top inside out (perhaps embarrassed by the name on the back….Viera?) and with G Double spat some of the scene’s more “conscious bars”, reminding us how George Bush is a baddie etc. They are obviously coming to the scene differently, but there is a worry from some (see RWD forums) that it's another case of UK hip hop-heads attempting to somehow gentrify the scene...particularly as Purple is fairly new to the scene, but are semmingly getting plenty of exposure (after the Urban Classics, this was the second night on the trot that he was reppin for grime to ‘the wider audience’). On the night though, he and G Double put in an excellent show (part of it can be heard at the myspace site).

Overall then, good…some stuff to work on. The night missed the intensity of having a whole crew feature to sustain the main performances - as with Ruff Sqwad. Perhaps I saw the full distance to travel when after the gig, I went across the road to the Heatwave at the Rhythm Factory. This is a night that has really come together. A great crowd, a brilliant atmosphere and some corking sets and performances, which in a strange sort of way composite grime’s heritage – dancehall, rap, jungle etc. Big up Gabriel and co for putting on a big regular night, with an atmosphere so chilled it reminded me of the sweeter rave years.

Also big up everyone who came down to Dirty Canvas….to all my Dissensus crew, my Leeds crew, my Wolverhampton crew and my Coventry crew….you’re large (...really fat most of you, go on a diet).

Any ideas for crews to feature at our next night in May (pref ones with managers of some sort, please)?

Friday, February 17, 2006

Tonight's other performers

Logan Sama, sometimes called "the Westwood of Grime" made his name on Rinse FM and has since moved into legit radio with a Monday night show (11-1) showcasing all that is good with the scene.

Purple meanwhile, has been making some big steps over the last year to provide the scene with something different both in image and lyrics. He was worked with the likes of Plan B and was one of the mcs featured in last night's Urban Classics performance (see below)

Both Logan and Purple will be going on to the 333 in Shoreditch later for the Straight Outta Bethnal night

"Hey tonight we've made history, cuz we've made posh people say GET ME"

Urban Classics last night was both funny and quite good. Dreamt up by Genevieve Dowokpo of the youth organisation Bigger Fish, the concept was about bringing together urban and classical music. A wet dream for liberal parents this was a shared family experience for the many who filled Hackney Empire last night. The one-off performance brought together the BBC orchestra, with a mish-mash of figures representing 'urban music' - Davinchie (on the ivories), Bruzu, Purple, Pase, Tor and (human jukebox) Faith SFX.

By far the stand-out performer was Bruza, who just seems comfortable with what ever audience he gets put in front of. He also seemed comfortable having an orchestra behind him…almost mimicking the waving hand gestures of the conductor and inviting all fifty-or-so of its members to shout “get me” with the rest of the audience. Though at one point he briefly forgot where he was, and called for “selector" to "wheel it up” as the crowd’s energy reached the night's crescendo…. only one or two members of the orchestra stopped while others carried on… Bruza then had to restate the principle in plain English “orchestra stop!”…then explained “in our scene we stop a song when it is going well and then start it again” (some orchestra members looked at each other…baffled).

Other mcs performed reasonably well without ever hitting Bruza’s heights. Pase had a whole set of lyrics based on celebrating his Mum's Irish lineage, which could’ve been written in an O’Neil’s bar….Purple (who's at Dirty Canvas tonight)merked unoriginal mcs and Tor prowled the stage with her conscious lyrics about better paths. I saw Faith SFX at the last Notting Hill Carnival so knew what to expect, but he again left jaws dropped as he showed how he could beatbox, scratch, run basslines and sing (with a great voice) ….all at THE SAME TIME! In the cleverly worked opening to his performance, the orchestra began and worked up to a soloist.... the whole audience were straining their necks to see who and what was playing (a strange mix between a violin and oboe) and then Faith SFX reached the stage serenading with his mic.

So the middle classes learnt a bit about grime, maybe they’ve dropped a few ‘GET MEs’ over lattes this morning. There were also lots of young people there – a sign perhaps that this was a rare chance for under 18s to see some of their heros. I also overheard some family members of one of the performing mcs who seemed genuinely proud that this strange bedroom hobby was now being paraded in front of the BBC’s orchestra for all to see.

The whole thing is being aired on 1xtra (http://www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/) on Saturday and I'm sure will be downloadable thereafter

Monday, February 13, 2006

Who you repppin for?

Dirty Canvas is just a few days off now (this Friday night kids) and the last week or so has proved a bit of a pain in trying to pull it all together. First of all I seemed to lose all contact with Essentials, phones & emails weren't being picked up...then when we did meet up there seemed to be some kind of growing reluctance from them to the night, which was a change from their earlier enthusiasm and for reasons I couldn't really put my finger on.

Then it all becomes clear - you have a crew of 8 or 9 which has been on the road for over 4 years, things perhaps things aren't altogether rosy between members - the cohesiveness, which characterises the Essentials (in performance/on DVDs) isn't perhaps there any more. Anyway, to cut a long story short, we won't be seeing the whole Essentials crew on Friday because.... maybe there isn't a whole crew anymore. What I do know is that Jendor, Nu Era and Davinchie are still working together and they'll be the ones who'll take to the stage on Friday (either as Essentials or not). The likes of Remerdee, Bossman and 2 face are all 'working on solo stuff'.

Last week was therefore about plugging the void ...promising the Essentials and only giving up a couple of members would surely leave me with bare showerfaces. I'm pretty sure, with the help of a new recruit to the DC team (Pete aka DJ Magic - that's two of us now) I've managed to come up trumps. Logan Sama (who owes me one) will be spinning some vocal tunes on decks and Purple and the Renegade Boys will also be playing. There will also be an open mic session (trying to overcome that kinda wierdness pre-performance last time), where people have to register early to get a slot on a first come first served basis (which seems to be attracting alot of interest at the myspace site).

Remember to get down early because its a 7.30-11.30 gig and afterwards there's the choice of Heatwave's reggaeton night over the road in the Rythmn Factory (with a special PA by the Dcotor from South Agents) or Straight Outta Bethnal over at the 333.

Street Soundz UK

A new magazine covering grime is doing the rounds at the moment. Street Soundz UK is apparently the work of a young 19-year old Londoner and issue 1 is free at Uptown records (normal retail price is £2). Why the plug? Well, the Ruff Sqwad at Dirty Canvas night (last November) gets a double page spread with loads of photos (if you were there you're probably in it), plus there's some decent interviews with the likes of Doctor, Cameo, Ghetto and Shystie.

Monday, February 06, 2006

Saving the spirit of Broadway market

"Mon Feb 6:
Lowell Grant aka Spirit of 71 Broadway Market won a reprieve at Shoreditch County Court today. He will
continue to make payments on his arrears until the next hearing in mid April. The Judge was concerned that previous judgements have not taken into account that Spirit is both a resident and a business tenant at 71 Broadway Market. Spirit owes nearly £30.000 to the owners Broadway Investments who acquired the property in dubious circumstances in 2001. They are demanding immediate possession of the property. There were no representatives from Broadway Investments in court and their barrister had no idea where they were based. Spirit said he was delighted with the outcome and plans to re-open for business tomorrow."

Sunday, February 05, 2006

The Eel Fanzine (Issue 3)

I worked on Broadway Market selling this...I've gained huge admiration for market traders doing this malarkey in all weathers...my knackers have just thawed out. Big up editors Tony Collins and Adam Wright for putting their all into it, another great issue...power to the people!!

Pop into Broadway market for a copy (the cafe squatters and most traders have them)

............or you could go along to the launch party at the Perseverence (at the bottom end of the market) this Friday night for the third issue launch

Dave the rave

Hold tight Mr Dave Stelfox for the Dirty Canvas prop in this month's i-D magazine

Friday, February 03, 2006

Jesus Licks Rats Water

Tonight!!

Make sure you come down.....

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Mods and Rockists

Blissblogger and K-punk both on good form, ridiculing the current rockist hegemony in pop.

Particularly like Simon’s reminder of the rockist manifesto here:

”It’s rockist rockist rockist to the core: auteurism, authenticity, substance, durability; long-form Works that take effort and perseverance and time to unlock their depth and detail; artists-who-keep-getting-better-we-firmly-believe-that-and-we-stick-to-them-loyally-unlike-those-fickle-pop-fans; singer-songwriter torn-from-heart gut-grit; Concepts and confession and “character studies”; Opuses and Oeuvres.”

..and k-punk’s highlighting of indie and pop’s false opposition here

“A little insight into the times can be gleaned from the fact that NME has been reduced to ostentatiously banning Blunt from its awards ceremony (because there are a MILLION miles between his maudlin mumbling and that of their darlings, naturally). James Blunt versus Coldplay: is this what Pop antagonism is reduced to?

Such plastic antagonisms (and NME/ Corporate Indie can't survive without convincing its consumers that they are an alternative to something, that there is some region of commonsense, complacent, middle of the road mediocrity that they don't already occupy) ..."

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

The Ricoh Arena

I’ve been to the Ricoh Arena, Coventry City FC’s new home since the beginning of the 2005/6 season, three times. After a difficult start, I am starting to warm to the place.

The Arena was subject to the sort of delays, which make similar concerns about the rebuilding of Wembley look ridiculous. Initially billed as Arena 2000, it was first proposed in the mid 1990s when the Coventry team, though you couldn’t say they were riding high, were nevertheless an established part of the Premiership having been in the top flight for going on 30 years. Gordon Strachan was managing the club, the team’s attack was spearheaded by Dion Dublin and Darren Huckerby with Gary McAllister pulling the strings behind them. In the Boardroom was Chairman Bryan Richardson, who seemed to have big ambitions for the club. On his wing was the MP (and soon-to-be discredited Paymaster General) Geoffrey Robinson. A new stadium was deemed to be a logical way forward, and one which had been done or was being planned by several other clubs of Coventry’s stature.

The plan was extremely ambitious, a stadium located on a site close to a M6 junction between Coventry and Nuneaton, serviced by a railway station, which could hold up to 40,000 fans and with innovative

features a retractable roof AND pitch. The scheme would be embedded in a regeneration scheme building an adjacent retail park and refurbishing a disused colliery site in Keresley into a business park. As well as the club itself, both Coventry and Nuneaton Councils got involved as did the newly set-up Regional Development Agency “Advantage West Midlands” – who assigned the area a “regeneration zone” specifically for the project.

Problems began with site clearance (a shrewd small landowner held out for a high payment and was eventually rewarded with a £1 million pay-off), decontamination of the former gasworks site proved more problematic and expensive, and, to compound matters, the club’s financial situation and success on the pitch were simultaneously plummeting.

By 2001 the club had been relegated and annual accounts revealed the club to be £60 million in debt. This forced the departures of both Strachan, Richardson and any player deemed any worth in value. The new stadium scheme, which fans had dubbed either “Arena 3000” or “Arena Whenever” seemed dead in the water. What appeared to save the Arena though was its role in the wider regeneration zone, which had substantial commitment from public authorities. Finally, Coventry Council (which ironically had its first Tory majority) bit the bullet and decided to underwrite the whole scheme, thereby allowing it to proceed. The club, for their part, were given a tough contract as leaseholders, which required them to virtually fill the stadium for every game (with a new reduced capacity size of 30,000). The retractable gimmicks were gone as was the plan to put a railway station there. Arena 2000 became the Jaguar Arena, and then the Ricoh Arena when the Jaguar announced the closure of its car plant in Coventry.

With the finances, contracts and name in place it seemed little else could go wrong with the new stadium, but they did at the construction stage with contractors falling behind the target for a 2005/6 season start. However following some fixture swapping at the start of the season, the Arena finally opened (with reduced capacity of 23,000 on health and safety grounds) on 20th August 2005, for the home game with Queens Park Rangers. The team won 3-0 with goals from Jorgensen and two from Adebola. The team has since maintained a good record there (with the local fans and media quick to dub the place “Fortress Arena”) though have been let down overall with their poor away form.

My first vist to the Arena was for the game against Luton, which we won 1-0 (the goal again courtesy of Adebola). I’d heard good reviews about the stadium from media and friends so my expectations were high. Overall though, my own first impressions fell short. My first problem was the retail park setting, which is common to all new stadia. This usually allows clubs to promote their grounds as being ‘more accessible’ but end up being a pain in the neck to get to whatever your chosen transport. A couple of friends and I, were dropped off by car in a place that appeared close to the Arena, but the car-tailored urban design features makes it difficult to move in the obvious ‘as the crow flies’ directions. Coming up against 10 feet walls, highway barricades and inhospitable roadside shrubbery made unpleasant and time-consuming the experience of getting to the turnstiles.

From the outside, the Arena reminded me of several other new stadiums I had been to at Derby, Sunderland, Reading and Leicester. Exposed jagged structures on top of a seamless almost circular perimeter wall. Together with the obligatory corporate advertising the Arena exterior is marked with fans’ contributions (in the form of personalised bricks) to the wall of fame honouring players from the bygone era and not-too-distance past.

Inside is altogether more impressive (especially now having seen 3 games – none lost), with a design that conjures a raucous atmosphere, even when there are sparse areas.

The last game I went to was on Saturday, where we almost (and should’ve) sunk Middlesborough in the FA Cup 4th Round, but drew 1-1 instead. The game attracted the Arena’s largest crowd of almost 29,000 (one of the biggest gates of the day), which I’m sure contributed to the Sky Blues outplaying of their hosts. The increased crowd contributed to chaotic traffic conditions before and after the game, which apparently has become a regular feature on match days.

The exit that game from the Arena to the car park (in Tescos – where you have to convince the parking attendant that you’ve spent over £25 on shopping)

was a strangely thrilling experience. To avoid the long walk around the retail park features, canal and railway line, we followed some people who seemed to be making their way to the car park in a more direct fashion. They led us to what amounted to be a challenging assault course, comprising a scramble down a steep muddy hill, a careful manoeuvring across a narrow ledge across the canal and then through a disused, derelict and pitch black tunnel, which was about 30 metres long and had a truncated exit that you need to crawl out of before again scrambling up a steep hill to the Tescos car park. All this was while in the company of up to a hundred other people performing the same task. I wish I had a video camera for this (though it might’ve proved tricky) because it was such a surreal and yet exhilarating experience, like a mob of psycho-geographers disregarding architects/planners’strategies and tunnelling their own way through.

bun-u