Monday 30 April 2018

Rock Against Racism Victoria Park Carnival 40th Anniversary Special Event, Migration Museum, London, Sunday 29 April

Yesterday was the Rock Against Racism exhibition/anniversary event at the Migration Museum in Lambeth, South London.

I elected to go down by train again because it seemed easiest, despite the discombobulation I tend to feel at the speed of travel: It just feels weird being in Stockport one minute and two and a bit hours later being in London.

I had a nervous moment when the bus took ages to arrive, and another when the platform at Stockport seemed to be filling up almost entirely with Man City FC fans*, many carrying six packs of beer, but they must have got in the reserved coaches on the train because I didn't see them after that.

The train was on time so I got into Euston at 11am, which is the earliest you can get to London from Stockport on a Sunday, which meant I missed the start of the event. I arrived at the Museum just before 12, in time to catch the final few minutes of the exhibition tour and discussion by Lucy Whitman, Ruth Gregory and Kate Webb. The museum itself looks to have been an old warehouse that's been done up - cavernous and minimalist, and very, very cold! Everyone kept their coats on.

Between twelve and one we watched three films, firstly a film about RAR in Leeds and the Leeds Carnival of 1981, then part two of a three part series about RAR, made by a firefighter called Alan Miles, which was called Who Shot The Sheriff? (a reference to Eric Clapton's appropriation of Bob Marley, later referred to in the famous letter that launched Rock Against Racism) in which footage from an LWT documentary on the National Front and Anti Nazi League was deployed, and three short RAR propaganda films that were shown at RAR events on screens and were recently re-mastered and updated slightly.

The LWT footage used in Who Shot The Sheriff? provided a lot of historical context, and the Leeds film showed the resourcefulness of the grassroots foot soldiers of RAR very well (not to mention an instance of a campaign going viral pre internet), whereas the RAR films were kind of a history of late 20th Century racism and how that racism served the interests of various governments and people in power. It was very marxist in tone, which given the links between RAR and the SWP, isn't a surprise. It's funny that tone sticks out so much now, in a way it probably didn't at the time, just because the left were in a very different position in relation to the mainstream than they are now. People hadn't had 11 years of Thatcher yet and the left wasn't seen as an extremist influence from a bygone era at that point. Which, Corbyn or no Corbyn, does seem to be the mainstream media point of view at present.

The footage of the riot in Lewisham when the National Front attempted to march through and anti-nazi groups and residents sought to stop them, ending up in pitched battles and multiple injuries and arrests, was very powerful. You read about these events in (very few) cultural history books, but seeing the footage really brings it home to you what people were up against in the mid 1970s.

After that it was time for lunch downstairs, provided by a caterer from Essex who is a re-settled refugee from Syria. A number of other re-settled Syrians have set-up either restaurants or catering companies in their host countries, most famously in Germany, particularly Berlin, where a number of projects have started. There have also been projects in Austria and Portugal. I hope the UK initiative is successful, it certainly deserves to be as the food was amazing.

After we'd eaten, and chatted, it was off upstairs for the second half of the day and two young, articulate and talented spoken word artists/poets: The Repeat Beat Poet (Peter Johnson) and The Brown Hijabi Poet (Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan). He is a black beat boxing influenced poet, she is a Muslim poet. One of The Repeat Beat poet's was called 'Beware The Vicar's Daughter', a fantastic title for a poem alluding to and criticising Theresa May, whereas one of the Brown Hijabi Poet's was about her not wanting to write a poem about the London Bridge attack last year, but feeling she had to, then wrestling with herself in the poem about notions of The Good Muslim and assimilation and acceptance. Because both poets were discussing identity and racism, along with (to a certain extent) personal politics, I thought that they would both be of interest to Between Two Books in that the book group read a lot of contemporary poetry and a lot of books exploring identity. I really liked both poets and intend to check them out online.

The event ended with a panel and floor discussion on RAR, chaired by Daniel Rachel. Panellists were Pervez Bilgrami of the punk band Alien Kulture, Caroline Coon, Kate Webb and Debbie Golt. Caroline Coon was on sparkling form, but I liked Pervez Bilgrami best; he spoke in a very matter of fact way about the impact of Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood speech on his childhood, and how he was terrorised by racist bullies at his grammar school, having previously hung out with and been protected by his black friends at primary school. He said that Alien Kulture were formed as a way to try and draw in more asian kids to the RAR gigs and carnivals.

There was some discussion of strategies used to try and fend off the National Front at gigs and the importance of never, ever letting them take the stage. Full on warfare on the dance floor.

It was quite a rangy Q&A, which went off on a lot of tangents, but it was set up to do that so that was fine. There was some discussion of how the younger generation and older generation can work together on anti-racism platforms, but it didn't go very far. I think Peter Johnson (The Repeat Beat Poet) who raised it, went away disappointed. Rhoda Dakkar returned to it at the end of the event by saying that the kids are going to have to find their own way to do it for themselves, we can't tell them how to do it, only support them - to an extent - in doing it. Unfortunately I think Peter had gone by then so he missed that bit.

Afterwards I had a proper look at the exhibition, which was really good and sat very nicely with the wider exhibitions at the Migration Museum. I then bought a lot of Syrian pastries to take to work on Tuesday, and was back at Euston just after 5pm.

I had quite a lot of time to kill before my train was due, but multiple tube lines seemed to be suspended, it was a Sunday after 5pm so everywhere seemed to be closing, plus it was bitterly cold. As such, I went to Pret A Manger opposite the British Library and had soup and peppermint tea, then headed back to Euston to wait for the train at 19:17. I think it's quite possible to go mad staring at the departures boards at Euston, waiting for train platforms to be announced, so I sat on the seats by the loos for a bit and people watched, then went shopping in Heema for a bit.

The train home was very quiet, yet British Transport Police were regularly patrolling up and down the aisles for some reason. Not sure why. There had been what sounded like some noisy football crowd style chanting form just outside the station concourse as I was waiting, but I don't know if that had anything to do with it. Some of the police also got off the train at Stockport and were waiting by the ticket barrier, which was open anyway (as is generally the custom at Stockport). I bet they were bored stiff, not to mention freezing.

*For the record, I have no interest in football. My sister supports Bolton Wanderers FC, a friend supports Bury Town FC, other friends support Man UTD, but most of my friends support Man City FC and have done for years. Weirdly I know no Stockport County FC fans...

This post was updated on Friday 4 May in order to clarify some details about the film Who Shot The Sheriff? Specifically, that the film was not made for Thames TV but made use of footage from a 1970s documentary for LWT about the National Front, and that the director of Who Shot The Sheriff? was Alan Miles.

Sunday 22 April 2018

Here to be Heard: The Story of The Slits, HOME, Manchester, Saturday 21st April



This is shaping up to be a good year for women and punk, what with the Poly Styrene film and Gina Birch and Helen Reddington's She Punks.

I heard, anecdotally, that last nights showing of the film at HOME was originally scheduled for Cinema 2, not Cinema 1, but had evidently been moved due to the level of interest in the film. The large queue for drinks in the bar and, especially, to get into Cinema 1 would attest to this.

Here to be Heard, which is directed by William Badgley, seeks to tell the story of the Slits from beginning to end, interviewing not just the classic lineup of Ari Up, Tessa Pollitt, Viv Albertine and Palmolive, but early band members Kate Korus (who later joined the Mo-dettes) and Suzy Gutsy. We also travel beyond the classic debut album Cut (Island, 1979), with a lengthy exploration of Return of the Giant Slits (CBS, 1981) and the band's new lineup, including the teenage Neneh Cherry, and new sounds, including world music and free jazz as well as the more established 'punky reggae' sound. The 2005-2010 lineup was also musically experimental, and included dancehall elements and electronica.

Along the way the film becomes not just the story of the Slits, but a hymn to Ari Up, who died in 2010. She had intended to make her own film about the Slits, and Badgley's film is in essence the completion of that unfinished project.

This is not the first time that the Slits story has been told; Zoe Howe's book Typical Girls? paved the way for a more in depth account in 2009, and Viv Albertine's memoir Clothes Clothes Clothes, Music Music Music, Boys Boys Boys in 2014 provided another perspective on the band. That said, it is definitely time  that the Slits were given the celluloid treatment.

Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to have been a lot of archive footage of the band from the 1970s meaning that Badgley is often working with material that has been seen before. That's not to say there isn't fresh material in there - there is - more that footage in general appears to be scarce. I don't think the footage that exists has been seen so much that this would necessarily matter, but it does make it harder to make that section of the film as fresh and exciting as it needs to be.

Some of the strongest parts of the film, for me, centred around the reasons for reforming the Slits in the 2000's and the interviews with the later lineup, including the always excellent Hollie Cook. There is a suggested sense that Ari Up wanted to complete unfinished business, or consolidate the bands legacy.

Throughout the film there is the continued presence of Tessa Pollitt, a taciturn, understated figure who not only holds the film together but who, aside from Ari Up, has been the constant presence throughout all the bands lineups. She represents a determination to see the bands importance acknowledged, to respect and document their role within and outside of punk, and their legacy.

The film appears to have had mixed reviews, and I was myself left with a vague feeling of dissatisfaction that I can't quite put my finger on. It is in no way a bad film, or even an indifferent film, it certainly didn't infuriate me in the way that a number of punk films have, and it does have a lot of interesting elements to it, but I still felt something was missing. I just can't put my finger on what exactly.

Friday 13 April 2018

Thursday 12 April 2018

Henry Green - Another Light (Official Video)



The debut album by this Bristol based producer is out soon, and this has been my favourite track so far.

Tuesday 10 April 2018

Let's Eat Grandma - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)



By way of follow up on yesterday's post. This is Let's Eat Grandma doing a set for KEXP in Iceland a year ago. The songs featured are from their first album, I, Gemini, which came out in 2016.

Monday 9 April 2018

Let's Eat Grandma - Falling Into Me (Official Audio)



Ladies and Gentleman, the sound of 2018...

Precocious is not a word I would use lightly, but it really does apply in this case. June 2018 will see the release of the second album (I'm All Ears) by Norwich band Let's Eat Grandma, a duo comprised of Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth. Their debut, I, Gemini, was released in 2016 and they have been making music together since they were 13.

'Falling Into Me' is a gleeful, skipping pop odyssey that checks off pretty much every pop and electronica musical sub genre you can think of in a giddy effortless style. It demonstrates that, while they are only 17, they are also well and truly epic in their vision and really know how to execute it with ease.

Piccadilly Records await the new album with excited anticipation, as do I.

The band are currently on tour, and will be playing The Deaf Institute in Manchester tonight. You can see the rest of the details of their tour dates on their website.


Saturday 7 April 2018

Jade Bird - Lottery (Official Video)



One of the BBC 2018 talent list, and well worth looking out for. Clearly a girl who knows her Janis from her Grace and her Carole from her Joni.

Thursday 5 April 2018

Basia Bulat - Infamous (Official Video)



I was first introduced to the excellent Basia Bulat via the 2016 Piccadilly Records End of Year Lists. I think the Good Advice album (from which 'Infamous' is taken) appeared in a number of individual staff lists as well as the overall one and it's just a really, really good pop record. Well worth checking out.

Monday 2 April 2018

KENZO SS18 "YO! MY SAINT", a film by Ana Lily Amirpour and music by Kare...



Where high fashion, high concept, spaghetti western and film noir meet head on so that it becomes something a bit more interesting than merely an advert for Kenzo.

Strangely reminiscent of Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra.