So as a new venture we’re embarking on some discussion based broadcasting, the premise is that guests from the DCR team and the music industry combined all bring an unsigned track to the table, then the guests contribute their opinions and let the discussion develop, sounds pretty simple. Unsigned acts represent the non-egotistical future of our music and we need to give it as much exposure as possible, plus it’s always good to hear people that think they know a lot about music bang heads.

The podcast is in conjunction with www.turnupandtalk.com run by Richard Elms.

First discussion features:

Myself & Digby from DCR

Tom Rogerson a London based music promoter & some other very special guests.

The podcast will be available on i-tunes and other download sites which benefit the industry far better in February.

LT

There is a depressing lack of Stilton in this town.  It appears to be disappearing from our shelves like bread in Communist Russia.  I realise in some parts of the world they’re not too hot on their cheese, but we’re in England, the home of the Stilton.

Not one, not two, but thrice shops visited and not a sausage.  Or not a Stilton.  Stilton is, as we know, one of the few key ingredients of Stilton & Broccoli soup.  The fine grocers of my part of London offer an array of quality goods, including a fine selection of cheeses such as Ricotta, Parmezan, Cheddar, Wensleydale, Halloumi, Feta, Dairylea….the list goes on.  Yet the best that M Hazzar & Co 24 hour Grocery & Alcohol Stores could offer was a Danish Blue – that long lost cousin of the stilton that went wandering to Europe many moons ago, soured somewhat and never came back.  You see the Danish blue is un-creamy in taste, much sharper than the native Stilton we know and love – and is therefore rendered useless for soups.

Putting on a last ever show for a band is a bit special.  I had the pleasure of this the other night and it was a good feeling to see how much it meant to the band, their friends, and fans to be up on stage for one last time, even though at one point they didn’t know if they would have the opportunity again.

I see bands coming in and out of the venue every night of the week and although I’m lucky to do a job I’m passionate about, sometimes it really is a case of going in and getting the job done.  This show reminded me of the good side of music, where its not all about the money, egos or who has the coolest hair but just watching a good rock n roll show with your friends and other fans.  Thank you to the band for doing the show – hope you enjoyed it as much as I did – and to those that came down to drink, have fun and listen to some music.  It put a big smile on my face.  Lovely.

Finally, My first post of 2009!!  Sadly time ran away with me and I didn’t have time for a ‘Christmas Post’.  Booking the Christmas, New Years Eve and New Year schedule for the venue whilst running the place at the same damn time doesn’t leave much room for eating, let alone blogging.   However, now that normality has returned, I can’t resist temptation to say a few things.  I’m calling it a New Years’ Message.  Others may call it a rant…

There will never be peace on this planet and mankind will eventually destroy itself and our environment.  We can’t uninvent the gun, nor nuclear missiles and at some point these missiles will be used.  It will probably happen in our lifetime.   The sooner we deal with this prospect the better.  We’ve been killing each other for thousands of years and it ain’t gonna stop now.

Obama will not be able to solve the the problems of the US or indeed the world.  A cause for hope he is, the messiah he is not.

If you have someone to hold, don’t fuck it up, its a beautiful thing.  If you continually push someone, eventually they’ll snap and there may be no way back.  I repeat – don’t fuck it up.

Simple pleasures are the best.  Sunset, fresh-cut grass, string instruments, new sheets, someone to wake up with.

Simple pleasures are the best but sex, drugs and rock n roll beats everything.

You will never find a more perfect example of a light show than on the dvd of Pink Floyd’s ‘Pulse’ concert.

If you want hard and fast rules by which to live your life, listen to Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill’ – he explains it far better than I ever could.

Shopping should be conducted in independant shops where possible. Shopping should not be conducted in Tesco unless absolutely necessary.  Steer clear of Starbucks too.

A shop is not a ’store’ and a back garden is not a ‘yard’.

There are no ghettos in London – I refer you to ‘No Ghetto’ by La Rebla Fam.

Mainline train services should be bunked whenever possible.

Graffiti is art.

You fall, my pride, call me closer, your sex is on fire.

You should not buy a second hand PA for 100 quid, put it in the corner of your pub, and call yourself a ‘venue’.

There is no excuse for body odour unless you work in a physical job, ie, builder, soldier, prostitute.

The Ting Tings are an absolute crock of shit.  Never have I witnessed such unnecessary hype, bandwagon jumping and general blaaaah as over this terrible band.

‘My Immortal’ by Evanescence is a beautiful song and I will never tire of it.  I am prepared to be shot down.

Kate Nash and the Arctic Monkeys were not signed because they had a massive myspace following.  This was a gimmick and a further blog will follow on this subject shortly.

‘Battle Of The Bands’ competitions are nothing more than a front for pay to play promoters to make an easy few quid and ensure that their venues are busy.  If I can give one piece of advice to bands, it is that you do not enter these competitions – you will be charged an ‘entry’ fee and the winner is decided by the band that bought the most people into the venue.  They have nothing to do with musical ability or songwriting.  A further blog will cover this in more depth and I will take great pleasure in naming and shaming the ‘promoters’ that are doing it.  I will name one right now – Emergenza.  Stay away people.

Alright, I admit, its a rant.

Much Love and happy New Year!

Seb  x

Right that’s it! I’ve had it, enough enough enough of people putting together their big guns they think will make it in ‘09, and now, and now, Vernon Kay has been preaching to the masses, so if he can do it I’m gonna have my fucking say, my slim reputation is on the idiots line. If you listen to Digby’s show he rightly points out that the ‘best new’ lists are all about promo and PR, fundamentally money. Listeners to my humble show will know I’m not a fan in the least bit of ‘new’ music, so this is a list of people I think should be listened to, not who’ll ‘make it’.  What is ‘made it’ anyway ? Because it’s surely not history.

They are in no particular order:

Introducing play DJ Shadow’s album Endtroducing in full note for note, enough said:

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HTRK, dirgeglitch shoe-gaze, if you talk like a twat:

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Drums of Death, been following him since seeing his charred face play a warehouse party 18 months ago:

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Cubbiebear, The anti- HipHop turncoat:

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We Have Band, the shit, just wait for WHB demo release!

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LT

So January let’s face it, is not the best month, it’s not even one of the better months, it is, lets face it, one of the lesser months. Christmas is the best holiday of the year, everyone is off together so parties are everywhere you look and by the end of it your gut begins to feel like a sodden pack of rotten sprouts and those pounds you were so keen to lose well, they’re back, fuckers.

But what a new year does hold is potential, the time off at Crimbi allows plenty of time for foresight and clarity but talk is undoubtedly cheap, everyone has dreams but few see it through to tangible effect, but nothing is a given, so set yourself a target and do it, don’t get ahead of yourself but do it.

My ambition this year is two fold, 1: we’re going to go to Berlin and make a special show and mini documentary, listeners to my show will know this as I repeat it often, Berlin is a Cultural Show Stud unloading buckets of creamy talent and we want to know why, we’ll be engrossed thoroughly in the city for a week and at the end we’ll record ‘The Berlin Show’, don’t worry you won’t forget that. 2: Advance and expand DCR the station, we’ve had plenty of ideas about future projects but firstly I want to expand the website and radio station it’s our hub and tantamount to a successful future, making it more accessible and interactive for you the listeners as it’s you who matter, we’ll be taking on more presenters when they raise their colourful heads, this I mean, I’m looking for quality not quantity, standard. Any ideas I’m all ears people.

So have a prosperous, inventive and colourful 2009 people, give a bit, take a bit.

LT