Times Square, New York, New Years Eve 2008

“Revelers begin to gather in the late afternoon on New Year’s Eve, December 31st. The best advice we can give is to get there as early as possible. We cannot predict how quickly the viewing areas will fill up. Prime viewing areas may fill up early in the afternoon.

At approximately 6:00 p.m. EST the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball will be raised to the top of the 77-foot flagpole at One Times Square (Broadway at 43rd Street) and lit. At exactly 11:59 p.m. EST, the Ball will make its 60-second descent down the flagpole to signal the start of the New Year.

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Will there be portable public restrooms available?

No.

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Is alcohol or champagne allowed?

No. Public drinking is illegal in New York City. Police will confiscate alcohol.

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Will there be food and drink vendors in the square?

No. There will be no licensed food and beverage vendors in Times Square. However, there are hundreds of restaurants in and around Times Square (see below).

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So let me get this straight, you have to arrive early and stand outside, in December, all -fuck shitting- night without food or booze or toilets in order to witness the spectacle that is… wait for it… a glowing “ball” slowly sliding down a stupid fucking flagpole?!?! May I be the first to say ‘fuck that for a game of tit bollocking bum-soldiers’, sounds about as much fun as spending a whole day in a dentists waiting room but considerably colder. Bah frigging humbug!

”I’m sick and tired of old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.”

It’s got to be seen, it’s on at Dalston RIO at the moment.

A clear crisp voice in a world squawks and moans………………………..

”A high wire without a safety net.”

I first saw The Bays in the basement of The Ocean Rooms in Brighton with twenty people, three years later I was lucky enough to see them in a packed Brighton Dome with over 1500 people, but one thing hadn’t changed, the music .

The music hadn’t changed because it never was and never will be, it is in it’s entirety just that moment.

A gifted group of musicians that meet together in an improvised, multi generalized art form, they possess an inimitable style and rely purely on musicianship and jazz influenced improvisation. For some years they have been working as a four piece and performing awe inspiring sets, then in true forward thinking style they chose to work with The Heritage Orchestra in the ultimate free-form super jamski, check out the video for just an influential taster.

The Bays are not to be listened to, they need to be witnessed in person, there is no other way.

www.thebays.com

LT

——01.12.2008——-

Watching another super edition of ‘Hollyoaks Later’ (strictly for research purposes) I found it amusing that an advert for High School Musical 3 and Hannah Montana DVDs was sandwiched between an advert for Durex Play sex toys and a Bacardi advert.  At first, cynically, I had thought that the advertisers were marketting sex toys and booze at the High School Musical generation.  Until I realised that actually Hannah & co were being aimed at adults shopping for vibrating ring pieces.  Either way…

Seb x

Tonight I cannot write for shit.  I had this wonderful passage all worked out in my head, a well written piece about the birth of the teenager, mods and rockers, through to  punk and acid house, with interesting and insightful comment about why we’ve had no great revolution to call our own.  But I’ve sat in front of this big white screen for the past fucking hour and it ain’t happening, so you’ll have to put up with my general ramblings about the past week instead…

Someone released a list of BNP members online!  Oops! I had thought that it was simply a list of members names, which would be information enough, but on closer inspection, it turns out we’ve got full access to members e-mail addresses, phone numbers, postal addresses, the lot.  I’d thought about posting a link to the list but actually, we’re not here to harrass anyone, we live in a country in which we’re entitled to free speech and thought and this should be respected.  However…..we can have a damn good laugh at their expense….I got this from a website of a well known lifestyle magazine…I’m not going to pass it off as my own but it made me laugh….I present to you……THE BNP AWARDS 2008…

BEST EMAIL ADDRESS:
Mr Tim Rudge. scrotaljakhammer666@*******.co.uk

BEST EMAIL ADDRESS (Runner up):
Mr Doug Thwaites. douggyfresh@*******.co.uk

USEFUL SKILLS AWARD (1):
Mr Vernon Atkinson. Activist – Makes kites with BNP logos.

USEFUL SKILLS AWARD (2):
Mr Ronald Anthony Frankland. Activist – Qualified firefighter, farrier, equine dentist. Semi-retired.

BEST ALL ALL ROUNDER AWARD: Mr Rod Chapman. Window cleaner. Former pig farmer. Pagan prison chaplain. Hobbies: growing mistletoe, rune making (wood).

THEY’LL LET ANYONE IN THESE DAYS AWARD: Paul Shaddick. Report from Mike Howson 2/8/07: member describes himself as a witch: potential embarrassment if active.

THE ARISTOCRACY IS ALIVE & WELL AWARD: Lord Adam Murray. angloantiquities@msn.com Activist – Business owner (antiquities). Pubic speaker. Has two suits of medieval 14th & 15th century armour and can joust for rallies.

Can Joust for rallies!?  Brilliant!  Of course, we should make it clear for legality’s sake that the BNP is a legitimate political organisation and not in anyway affiliated with the National Front.  Just like Sinn Fien is a legitimate political organisation and not simply the IRA with a different badge…hmm…

Anyway, moving on before I get myself shot (anonymity, yay!), its nice to welcome Rachel to the DCR team this week.  Its good to have a female perspective on things, the 5×5 basement that Liam keeps the DCR team locked in was getting a bit too cock-tastic even for the most open minded amongst us.

Maybe next week I’ll have another crack at the whole revolution essay I was due to bore people with tonight…maybe I’ll just take the piss out of the BNP some more…its decidedly easier.

Much love.  Seb. x

So Hip-Hop’s dead right? It’s not what it used to be, there’s no Public Enemy, no Grandmaster Flash, no Afrika Bambaataa and there’s definitely no Sugar Hill Gang, so with the ageing of those pioneers the down-tempo, melodic, ego boosting genre died…………………………….no…………………it…………….didn’t.

Just take a little time out to look up: El-P, Dan le Sac & Scroobius Pip, Roots Manuva, Metaform, Sage Francis and definitely Cubbiebear to name but a few.

Cubbie A.K.A Joshua Bailey contacted me last week after a shared interest in Sage Francis, so I listened to his work and was knocked for six by a truly original artist. Cubbiebear sets himself apart from the HH main-set, not fussed whether he’s in the club or not, he’s doing his thing, his way, his style. A mix of guitars and dark beats with scathing vocal samples and of course the lyrical dexterity of bear. His debut album ‘The Rape’ sets itself up for the high profile position it deserves, a rapper with something to say, well I never, the album title refers to the disintegration of Hip-Hop, the money involved with big artists and subsequent financial starvation of fresh blood.

He’s a rapper that hates rap and that single mindedness cannot be ignored, expect big things because they’re here.

Listen to two tracks from Cubbiebear in Liam’s show:

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Download it

LT

Let’s get the support acts out of the way so we can bask in the glory of Mount Eerie.

First up was High Places, if you’ve read my previous review I’m sure you don’t want to hear anymore of my praise for them, but once again they were fantastic.

Then it was the effeminate ethereal indie of Parenthetical Girls. The skeletal lead singer stalked the stage, and into the crowd, miming the movement of a string puppet, which genuinely made it look like he had just been sown together and brought to life.

I enjoyed their set but all the impassive and aloof posturing left me slightly confused. I’m still not sure if it was middle-class pretensions of art or pure emotion crafted into lovely pop songs.

There can be no mistaking the emotion in Phil Elverum’s live set, playing here on his own as Mount Eerie.

Armed with just an electric guitar, soft distortion and a true voice he invaded territory held by Neil Young and Daniel Johnston.

He unleashed a breathless cascade of meditations on love, loss and nature, sometimes dragging heavy sounds out of his instrument and sometimes plucking softly at the strings.

By the end of his set I’m glad the friend I had gone with had already left and no one else I had invited turned up so they couldn’t witness obvious lump in my throat.

If you missed the gig I feel for you, it was Elverum’s only UK appearance on this tour and he mentioned he might not tour in Europe for a while, citing his guilt at having to travel from the US on carbon spewing planes. However serious you took his musing he certainly won’t be back for another year, so you’ll just have to do with the tracks I’m planning on playing in a couple of show’s time.

The problem with going to a gig on your own is that you have no distractions to keep you from intensely focusing on those around you, the bands and drinking. The problem with going to see High Places at the Old Blue Last on my own was that the venue is owned by Vice magazine, the gig was to celebrate the launch of the latest issue of Vice and it was full of Vice reading idiots.

I am not a fan of Vice. Anyone who has seen Nathan Barley will understand who their target reader is.

On two separate occasions I was standing next to a group of girls minding my own business when they started pointing and giggling at me. I can only assume it was because I was there to watch a band rather than huddle in a pack wearing ridiculous clothes and talk loudly about my inane life like everyone else was.

But it was a free gig and the wonderful High Places were headlining so I persevered.

The first band on were a grindie outfit. That’s right grindie, the bastard offspring of grime and indie. I will give it no more space in this review.

The second support act were tolerable, kind of like what the Brian Jonestown Massacre would be like if you sucked all the fun and God-like arrogance out of them.

And then it was time for High Places. If you have haven’t heard them they are the sixth track on my current show, so put it on right now and enjoy. Think Animal Collective, Holy Fuck or Black Dice, with a hint of tribal drumming, a splash of 80s pop and soft school girl vocals floating through odds-and-ends percussion.

By this time the portion of my night spent intensely focusing on drinking had kicked in and I was dancing away, as were a good chunk of Vice readers. Good for them, or maybe good for me as they seemed to have accepted me by now.

The two band members looked pretty tired, this was the first stop in England on their current European tour and they had arrived in the country that day, but they kept the drum machine pounding well into the night. Every time they looked up at the crowd they smiled back and despite informing us they had one song left they were cheered on and played another three.

They raised the night out of Shoreditch monotony and took it to a higher place.

Catch them if you can on the last few days of their UK tour or listen to my Debris Slide show as I’ll definitely be playing more of their tracks on upcoming broadcasts.

HAHAHAHA!  The best one yet!!

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I should get in for free because……..”I’ve worked with Muse”….

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Ten pounds please.

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