Well the pessimists are at least quietened for a moment, as one of the most racist nations on the planet elects a black president and the unusual events of last Monday brings people of all sorts together to make merry in the snow. If like me you were enchanted to see the same old piss-drizzled alleys transformed by dramatic icicles from lampposts and decorated with cornices of pure white, let's celebrate! It was so calm on the Monday morning as I wended my way cautiously along to the studio in three jumpers, two pairs of socks, a Russian hat and leopard print coat...I expected Edmund to appear with a box of Turkish delight or Mr Tumnus to be under the next streetlight. Even the hideous daily grrrrr of traffic was muffled by the snow, by media spin on an impenetrable central London, by traffic lights whose immovable tri-coloured orders were filled in completely with snow. Bliss.
Many thanks to poet Jeremy Reed for gifting me that coat when I was a student. I found it to be the perfect antidote to everyone else's hung-over vibes the morning after New Year's eve. Something about animal print hits people senses still. Especially in this nature-lorn landscape.
So it's been an exciting winter, the most exciting for ages. Still to come we have Valentines and April Fools, which if you plan could still be quite sweet and not at all commerce driven, a good excuse for a break or some fun. But perhaps you are not the kind of person to enjoy replacing the entire sugar store in the pot for salt. I can't help it, the faces and the ensuing tales are not to be forgotten!
We perform on Feb 15th at Club Integral at a Resonancefm benefit, possibly an unofficial one. Tetine are an exciting Brazilian duo! Come for their sultry electro and stage skills if nothing else.
Last night I was overwhelmed by a 19 year old singer and song writer called Master Shortie. No sooner had we heard of him than he was in the radio studio telling us about his masterplan to release perfumes and clothes lines in the wake of his MTV success (we made the monster, right) and then we got to see him call his mate son stage to do the dance to the song "Dance Like a White Boy", Note this is not a diss, it's a cultural reference. The dancing was powerful, the tune so un-PC as to appeal to me, quite distinct: I've never heard a heavy metal and funk guitar playing live along rapping like that, it was well done.
Broadcaster, sonic artist, researcher
