Artist: Billy Talent
Album: Billy Talent III
Label: Atlantic Records
Release Date: 13th July 2009

This month sees the release of yet another eponymous offering from Canadian punk rock outfit Billy Talent. No seriously, they’re still going. That band from college with the guy who’s got a bit of a weird voice and songs that all sound pretty much the same? Yeah, the ones you pretended not to like but secretly did, them.

Billy Talent III is much less frantic than previous offerings. On first listen it seems there are no really compelling tracks that jump out of the speakers, grab the listener by the T-shirt and shake them into submission. Tracks like River Below, Living In The Shadows or This Is How It Goes from 2003’s offering or Devil In A Midnight Mass, Red Flag and Covered In Cowardice from their 2006 opus are noticeable by their absence.

This time round there’s a touch more melody to the rock on the album, as heard in Diamond Into The Landmine, which could easily have been a song Sting And The Police jammed out during rehearsals for their reunion back in 2007. It's hard not to starting singing "Rooooxxxxanne!" over the top of it in fact.

Despite it being a very slight departure in style there’s the same unmistakeable sound in the guitars of Ian D’Sa and in Benjamin Kowalewicz’s vocals. They still have that knack for writing catchy rock songs that retain they “alternative” feel, something that very few bands can get away with.

Some infectious riffage can be found in Saint Veronica, Turn Your Back and The Dead Can't Testify, which sounds like some of System Of A Down's more recent Mesmerize/Hypnotize stuff, helped not least by the interjections of a mandolin. It’s these kind of numbers that are Billy Talent’s strength; a snare drum clapping authoritatively every second, guitar riffs that most teenagers can play in their bedrooms after a couple of listens and lyrics delivered with a contagious vim and vigour that anybody can pick up and sing along with. It’s simple, but it’s bloody effective.

It takes a few listens but eventually each and every track on this record - from Rusted From The Rain’s down-tempo rock balladry to Saint Veronika’s urgent pleading to a loved one after a failed suicide attempt, the “fuck you” attitude of Tears Into Wine to the mournful White Sparrows - will get under the skin and into the head, refusing to leave.

As that may suggest, Billy Talent manage to cover a range of subject matter on this album, something many of their more popular post-Fugazi and Refused modern punk rock contemporaries don’t seem to be able to grasp.

Regardless of said glimpses of gravitas, Billy Talent III is catchy, fun and it’s invigorating (providing you don’t take it or yourself too seriously). Play this loud, very loud and be prepared to cathartically jump about, scream, shout and release all that angst like a whiny 17 year old all over again.

This review originally appeared on ThrashHits.com. To see it in it's full glory, complete with video to Rusted From The Rain, click here.

Webcams in not used for wanking and stuff shocker.

Interesting music video by the band Sour made entirely on webcams by the band and fans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfBlUQguvyw

Blur live at Hyde Park, London, Friday 3rd July 2009

Blur: (l-r: Alex James, Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Dave Rowntree)

Artist: Blur
Venue: Hyde Park, London
Date: Friday 3rd July 2009
Support: Deerhoof, Florence & The Machine, Amadou & Mariam, Vampire Weekend

Meteorologists were predicting heavy rain and thunderstorms for Friday 3rd July but the only rumble anyone around London will have heard that day was the brontidual noises emanating from Hyde Park.

So deafening, desperate and delighted was the cheer, nay roar, from the tens of thousands congregated in front of the Hyde Park stage who greeted Blur that it almost blew the Colchester quartet back into the dressing room.

Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree appeared on stage to Parklife’s The Debt Collector - a nod towards other bands’ cash-grabbing reunions, or their own, perhaps? – soaking up not only the sun but the complete love, adoration and thanks of the dedicated following they have collected over the years. Any cynics claiming Blur got back together to make a fast buck were soon proved to have misplaced their suspicions. The band’s emotion was etched all over their faces, clear as the blue skies above Hyde Park.

After taking it all in and a brief hello, they kicked off proceedings with four rapid-fire numbers. She’s So High, Girls And Boys, Tracy Jack and There’s No Other Way all got the crowd dancing, singing and bouncing but they went by in a flash. So involved were the crowd in – at the risk of sounding like a babbling sponge-headed happy-clapper - “the moment”, it was hard to remember what the last song was after about 10 seconds of the next.

It didn’t stop there. In fact it didn’t stop for another two and a bit hours. Jubilee very quickly followed, complete with Coxon acrobatics. Or rather a bit of flailing about on the floor while indulging in some guitar-noodlry during the “plays on his computer games” bit and then almost falling over on the way back up, to which he cracked a smile.

After a frenetic start the mood was lowered as Damon Albarn announced Andy Murray’s exit from our national tennis tournament. If there was ever a mood-killer, that was it. Momentarily, miraculously, the focus was not on Blur and the green grass of Hyde Park but on one solitary Scot and the green lawns of Wimbledon. Things were wound down yet further with Badhead and Beetlebum which offered some rest bite to both the band and fans.

This was the first gig announced when Blur reunited so the vast majority of those in attendance were the most eager of Blur fans, evident when Albarn had to ask the crowd at the front to calm down as they were starting to squash fellow onlookers. There was a sense that the band knew these were some of the most loyal fans and wanted to put on an extra impressive performance for them. They certainly delivered, bashing out a mix of classic singles and album favourites like Trimm Trabb, Coffee And TV, an apparently infinite version of Tender which began to border on tedious if we’re being completely honest, Country House, Oily Water, Chemical World, Sunday Sunday and Parklife for which, as at Glastonbury, Phil Daniels joined them on stage and joined Albarn in running and jumping around the stage with an exuberance that span the clock back those 15 years.

The various demographics in attendance, particularly the wide ranging age groups, were a testament to the band’s longevity and relevance. Their observations and social commentary are as applicable today as they were in the 1990’s, their pop craftsmanship just as infectious, and that is clearly something that younger fans have picked up on. A significant proportion of the crowd looked like they may not have even been born, or at least old enough to know about them, when Blur were in their youth.

The whole band was visibly affected by their fans’ reactions and wrapping the set up with End Of A Century, To The End, This Is A Low, Death Of A Party, For Tomorrow and the hugely moving The Universal sandwiching Popscene, Advert and Song 2 was too much for many a fan to take.

“It really, really, really, could happen…” sang a teary Albarn. Well, it just did and long will this most joyous of days live in the memory of every Blur fan and the band.

This review was originally written by myself for Noize Makes Enemies and can be found in full here.

Black Daniel - Here Comes Caesar/I Love You But Don't Touch Me 'Cos You're Sick

Artist: Black Daniel
Track Name: Hear Comes Caesar/I Love You But Don't Touch Me 'Cos You're Sick (Double A-Side)
Label: Dustbowl Records
Release Date: 20th July 2009
Producer: Black Daniel (Here Comes Caesar co-produced by Stan Kybert - Oasis/Massive Attack/Bjork/New Order)

Summer is here and so are the exponents of polished, over-produced Euro-dance anthems and sickly-sweet pop with guitars and beaches in the video to soundtrack it.

So is Swine Flu. It's hard to know what is more infectious. The swine sniffles or the first two tracks by Black Daniel.

In fact, we suspect that some of these pig colds have been cases of mistaken diagnosis. It's understandable when the artwork to Black Daniel's double A-side single features one of the very beasts in question while one of the songs has been dubbed, 'I Love You But Don't Touch Me 'Cos You're Sick'.

Instead of being laid low by highly infectious little bugs it seems some suffers have in fact been floored by the grimy, sexy, heavy hitting bassline of 'Here Comes Caesar'. This is the kind of thing sub-woofers we built for.

In stark contrast to the electronic euphoria is 'I Love You But...', a spaced-out indie number. Black Daniel have been on tour with Kasabian in the past and there's certainly an early Kasabian-esque hint in the track's vocals and a touch of Mudhoney with clean guitars strumming over paper-over-a-comb type fuzz and restless, upbeat drums.

With a 6Music and Radio 1 single of the week, plus the seal of approval from Art Brut already under their belt, this should be the beginning of something beautiful for the three to five assorted folks that are Black Daniel (one of which goes by the name Lamik2000 - which just reminds us of 15peter20 - but we'll gloss over that bit).

You can download the tracks from July 20th from their website.

Catch Black Daniel live:

03 July Camden Head
07 July South of the Border, London
23 July BLACK DANIEL SHOWCASE - Electric Cinema, Notting Hill

Blur - Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur

Artist: Blur

Album: Midlife: A Beginner’s Guide To Blur

Label: EMI

Release Date: 15^th June 2009

Producer: Blur

For the most part this compilation is simply a best of album, maybe a hint at the setlist for their Hyde Park shows in July. It gives the impression that it’s a collection of the band’s favourite songs, rather than a list of their biggest selling singles, which may too hint at the approach they will take to their larger reunion gigs.

It would be no surprise as unlike many of their Brit-pop counter parts, Blur have an eclectic back-catalogue and the musical ventures of Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon since the latter’s acrimonious departure from the band in 2002 have proven that the band are no one trick ponies. This compilation album reminds the listener of just how dexterous Blur are and were.

Fans hoping to hear golden oldies like There’s No Other Way, Charmless Man and Country House may be a little disappointed in this record. In their place are the likes of Bugman, Death Of A Party and Trimm Trabb. Fans of bands not churning out the same old stuff when they reunite will be pleased.

Midlife: A Beginner’s Guide To Blur is exactly that, a beginners guide. It showcases Blur in their multi-skilled best. Their catchy pop songs, their baggy early days, their raucous grunge-esque indulgencies, their off-piste, quirky art rock and their sumptuous, hymn-like anthems are all present in one way or another, offering delicious nibbles and entrées before any newcomers dive right into the meat of their, frankly brilliant, half dozen albums (and the slightly dodgy Think Tank post-Coxon). It is worth picking up if you haven’t already got all the Blur records or haven’t ever really given them a go before.

It remains to be seen whether Blur will record any new material once this short set of gigs have been played. With Graham Coxon having recently released a new solo album it looks unlikely but murmurings have been overheard that a new record may be on the cards.

If one does materialise it can be just about guaranteed that it won’t be some churned out 1990’s revival, retro bullshit like certain Mancunian contemporaries of Blur’s have been doing ever since but an innovative, evolving approach to a band changing as individuals.

Midlife… proves that Oasis may have won that daft Brit-pop battle, but Blur won the war. Their artistic integrity, ability to create stunning pop songs in a variety of styles and eclectic leanings are on show for all to see in this record, affirming their position as the most important pop-band of a generation. As far as compilations go, it’s a cracker.

Glastonbury Jacko Tribute T-shirts.

Just read this news story on the BBC website.

"Several stalls are now selling T-shirts printed with Jackson-related slogans including..."I was at Glasto when Jacko died".

Why don't they go the whole hog and just have it say, "I'm a massive cunt"?

Jackson Dies

Michael Jackson: 1958-2009

Two obituary/tributes in two days. Not a great start to the summer.

Just about everybody in world will know this by now. Michael Jackson, American popular music superstar, died yesterday evening (British time).

Tributes have been flooding in to official websites, fan sites, news websites and blogs around the internet, 24 hour news channels, radio stations, tv channels and all media, from all corners of the world.

It is a great loss to popular music that such an icon has died, especially on the verge of what would have been a landmark return to the business at London's O2 arena next month.

Like James Brown, Kurt Cobain, Jeff Buckley, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and the countless others who have shaped popular music before him, he will live on in his music and in the hearts of all his fans.

Jackson was man who did as much for civil rights and equality as any other entertainer. He helped to make what was a traditionally black art form accessible to whites and in turn white folk found a new appreciation for r'n'b, hip-hop and ultimately all black culture as a result of Jackson's work both in the Jackson 5 and as a solo artist.

His later solo material may have been erring on the side of comical at times with his outlandish music videos and often parodied vocal ad-libs but it resonated with a vast array of people and had a huge influence on millions of fans.

His album Thriller, widely considered to be his greatest moment, remains the world's biggest selling record and will forever be embedded in pop culture's history (despite almost everything that came after it being pretty poor, with the exception of Bad - the song- Black or White, Smooth Criminal and a few others).

His story was a sad one. A child star whose father was, by all accounts, hardline to say the least (stories last night were telling of how Jackson's father would stand at the end of Michael's bed with a knife, wake him up and scare him with it to toughen him up), Michael would probably not have had much of a childhood, which could possibly be a factor in his strange behaviour as a adult and particular affinity with children, which landed him in court under paedophilia charges. Although never convicted, the rumours and accusations would stay with him for the rest of his life, which was unfortunately cut short just weeks before he was due to make a globally anticipated return to performing at the O2 in London.

Reports on BBC Radio 4 this morning (about 5 mins in) from Jackson's lighting director Patrick Woodraft suggested Jackson seemed in fine health and had given a stunning and, "electric", performance at a rehearsal for the O2 shows on Tuesday evening.

Reports are currently suggesting, which are alluded to in the BBC Radio 4 programme previously mentioned, that his heart attack may have been triggered by a medicinal overdose. His autopsy will be carried out today and the results will follow in due course.

Regardless of our opinions of his personal life or music, his contribution to popular culture was undeniably monumental, helping to change the perception of black music in modern society and inspiring millions of fans and entertainers the world over. He will be missed by the music community.

RIP Steven Wells

Steven Wells: 1960-2009

Journalism has lost a hugely entertaining voice. Straight-talking music journalist and columnist Steven Wells has lost his battle with cancer.

Wells, a punk poet in the 1970's and an NME writer in the 1980's who branched out into screenwriting in the 1990's on great satirical shows like The Day Today, never beat about the bush, often swearing his head off and bashing the caps loack to bits for good measure, by all accounts.

His style split readers. It was uncompromising and deliberately antagonising and many found it offensive, missing a lot of the humour he soaked it in.

If you haven't ever read any of his articles, do so. His recent ones for the Philadelphia Weekly, which he started in 2006, were typically aggrevating, humorous but most importantly, often right. Recent highlights included rants on the lunacy of anti-gay marriage supporters and right-wing mentalists in the US as well as the trials and tribulations of his ultimately fatal wrestle with lymphatic cancer and a pop at Glenn Beck.

His moving final column can be found here along with some heartfelt tributes.

He also wrote some cracking stuff for The Grauniad, and FourFourTwo, among others like The Quietus.com.

Journalism is a poorer place without him.

Conor McNicholas: Off to fill the position of editor at the BBC's Top Gear Magazine

In other NME related news, it's been a turbulent week for the ailing publication. Editor Conor McNicholas resigned yesterday, a man who has been widely accused of turning it from a much respected music fans' bible to a trend concerned, hype-machine style picture book for cunts who shop in Topman and whose musical experience extends as far as the arse-end of Brit-pop.

What does this mean for the magazine and its website now? Hopefully a restoration project. A massive change in approach is needed. Out with the indie-schmindie psuedo genres they try and invent on an almost monthly basis, out with the awful bands regurjitating all the bad parts of good music from the last 40 year that they praise for inexplicable reasons (Glasvegas, The Horrors, The Kooks, The Klaxons... anyone?) in with writers who know their stuff, have an ear for a good tune and value musicianship and ethos above trousers, scarves and pointy fucking shoes.

Get John Doran in.

The Mars Volta - Octahedron

Artist: The Mars Volta

Album: Octahedron

Label: Mercury Records

Release Date: 22^nd June 2009

Producer: Omar Rodriguez-Lopez

Few artists nowadays release enough material for five albums, even fewer release enough for five albums in six years while working on multiple side-projects (Omar Rodriguez-Lopez has so many fingers in so many pies we think he’s got a couple of spare arms hidden away somewhere, would also explain his enviable propensity to be outrageously good on the guitar).

The Mars Volta’s Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez are two such artists. The brains behind the sorely missed, hugely influential late 1990’s post-hardcore of At The Drive-In, they left to form prog outfit The Mars Volta in 2001 and have since gone on to produce some of the most awe-inspiring, enthusing and simultaneously impenetrable, self-indulgent music in existence.

That inconsistency of quality has been a problem with TMV over the years, as well as the revolving door of band members who’ve quit, died, been fired or only guested on tour and records.

Debut album, 2003’s De-loused In The Comatorium was a massively accessible prog infused extension of their work in At The Drive-In which featured catchy singles and other rock heroes, in the shape of Flea and John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers among others, helping out on instrumental duties. It told the story of a man living through a drug induced coma and fighting the evil within his mind. It was based around the true story of the band’s friend, Julio Venegas (referred to as Cerpin Taxt), who was in a coma for years, woke up and killed himself by jumping from a bridge into rush-hour traffic.

The first single from the album was dedicated to Jeremy Ward, a friend, original TMV member and cousin of ATD-I member Jim Ward, who died from a heroin overdose just weeks before the album’s release.

Then came Frances The Mute in 2005. Again featuring Flea and Frusciante but a whole new band had emerged. This was a full-on symphony, a concept record of orchestral proportions inspired by and modelled on a diary that Jeremy Ward found when working as a ‘repo-man’ in Los Angeles. It was the first hint of the polarisation that would follow, equal parts praised and derided.

The following album, Amputechture, in 2006, was like running into an invisible brick wall and the force of the impact knocking you back into an ocean-sized tub of treacle, so hard it was to make sense of it. It was prog to the core, in truth it was trying to be too clever for its own good. The first guitar riff didn’t appear until the 16 minute second track, the seven minute opener leading up to it being jazz style improvisation. Despite it being the first time the band created and album without a single unifying narrative it was labelled by many critics and fans alike as impenetrable and Cedric and Omar has since referred to it as their, “autistic child”.

Last year’s album, The Bedlam In Goliath, saw a return to form. It combined the pomp and prog showmanship of their previous records, in a new harnessed, restrained and calculated form, with the urgency and compelling nature of their debut and work with At The Drive-In. It saw a return to their technique of using a unifying theme throughout their records. This time it was all about a Ouija board that vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala owned and how it transformed from something they did on tour for fun to a psycho-spiritual force that threatened the band’s very existence. Or so they say. (Yeah, I know.)

And finally we come to their latest offering, Octahedron, which features John Frusciante yet again. Unsurprisingly, it’s a tale of the unexpected, if that doesn’t sound too much like a contradiction.

Rather than the powerful funk and Latino inspired guitar riffs that appear in their previous work, Octahedron is predominately a chilled-out affair filled with sprawling basslines and meandering guitar noodling akin to Pink Floyd’s finest moments that weave their way across its eight tracks.

Cedric and Omar had been talking about this album since January 2008, the month in which Bedlam was released, saying it is their “mellow” and “acoustic” record, and those initial impressions they gave us were pretty much on the money.

All their albums take the listener on a wild, miraculous journey (which would probably be even better were they, how shall we say this…off their tits on drugs. Not that we encourage that or anything – we’d much rather you ate a lot of cheese and gawped at the swirly shapes on Windows Media Player) but this one is very different.

Rather than erratically being taken from pillar to post in surges of energy, Octahedron gently floats the listener downstream while retaining the enthusiasm and enthralling, all enveloping feel of De-loused and Bedlam.

With the label stating in a press release that the Octahedron would be "much more accessible than the previous four" Mars Volta records, people may be given cause to think this album is laden with radio one friendly hit singles. It’s not, don’t worry. It’s still a prog-heads record, an acquired taste to say the least, an example of a band truly pushing themselves with each record and long may it continue in an era when popular music is as turgid, stagnant and unchanging as it’s ever been.

Big Brother contestant with two secret identities?

Is it just me or does the one from Big Brother 2009 who looks like a mid-life crisis version of Wolverine from X-Men also look a bit like Nick Griffin?

Come to think about it, I've never seen any of them in the same place at the same time. Could this be a maniacal, evil scheme hatched by the BNP to send subliminal messages to the British Public?

Home - Directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Produced by Luc Besson

We've all had one of those moments. You know, the sudden realisation that no matter what you do with a situation, you're in some serious trouble.

Now, imagine such a situation being turned into a film. Imagine that film is an apocalyptic thriller in which one person is told he/she can save the world. Exciting huh? Now imagine that film is a documentary, the situation is that the planet you live on is dying and its most powerful inhabitants, of which you are one, are unknowingly destroying their co-habitants. Oh, and that person who can save it is you.

Nice idea. Shame you're going to fail.

This documentary, Home, while full of absolutely magnificent, mind-blowingly beautiful aerial images of our sumptuous planet (at times reminiscent of the 1982 film by Godfrey Reggio, Koyaanisqati), will essentially do little more than remind you that you, as an individual, are a small insignificant speck on the monumental time-line of earth's life, and humanity as a species isn't much more.

Don't have kids. You'll bring them into a world where there will be 200 million refugees due to our gargantuan appetite for energy, natural resources and the threat of rising sea levels by 2050. This is a world where Home will tell you that already, now, as you read this, 20% of the human race consume 80% of the planet's resources and 80% of the world's wealth is in the hands of 2% of the population. The rich are so powerful that the poor are dying to serve our wants and we're so happy that we don't seem to notice, or care, and climate change is only exacerbating this disparity.

Climate change is unstoppable. The human contribution towards it is so minute, according to some, that it will do little to slow down what is an inevitable and natural course of action for the planet.

Home begs to differ, eventually. Once it's destroyed your soul and rendered your life's ambitions utterly pointless, futile and potentially dangerous. While showing you glorious images of the earth, humanity in action and the damage we as a species have inflicted on our planet and selves in three generations (during which time, Home says, the global population has trebled) and making you feel incredibly guilty for it, it sets about telling you that, "It's too late for pessimism". It tells us that we can make a difference. Now is the time to change our ways. Now is the time to save the world. It's too late for pessimism.

Is it? Is it really? By the sounds of what Glenn Close (narrator of the English language version) has been saying to you for the last hour and twenty minutes, we're beyond salvation. We're sailing a rudderless ship off the edge of the flat earth, eagerly speeding towards it like seafaring lemmings chock-full of Lucozade.

This is an absolutely stunning piece of cinematography but its message feels a little confused (at one point Close says, "All living things are linked [a key concept of the documentary]; water; air; soil; trees." Now I only did science to GCSE level but I'm pretty sure that, of that list, only trees are actually living things) and a little too much like propaganda, with the stirring music pulling at the heartstrings and the dumbfounding footage providing the backdrop to unreferenced claims about global issues (I personally believe them to be true but without referencing and hearing such statistics from experts it seems to lack authority and an ability to put our influence on the planet in perspective).

From the very start, with the image of planet earth looming into view and Glenn Close's Mother Earth character giving our little bit of rock a voice, almost as if to say, "Look what you have done to me! I used to be so beautiful...", the feeling is that it may not be water-tight in the way of nailed-on facts. That Close sounds like the Desperate Housewives narrator doesn't help either.

It tries to grab some factual credibility with shocking figures, some of which I've previously mentioned, intersecting yet more spectacular images for the last fifteen minutes or so but, again, there's no referencing so it feels like simply the claims of some ill-informed pseudo-eco-warrior.

It's more stirring speech advocating social change than critical essay.

That said, thought it might not be backed up with cold hard evidence, it certainly makes you think and that, ultimately, is the point of it.

Home is a wonderful example of photography and I would urge anybody to watch it so they begin to think about their influence on other people and their surroundings but as a documentary about scientific issues it lacks any real analysis, or at least fails to show its background information and research. Home appeals more to the heart than the head, which is a critical flaw in any scientific argument.



Home was released on 5th June 2009.

To watch the film in full on Youtube go here. There's also added 'making of' videos and trailers too. Various language versions are viewable on the Youtube site.

To find out more about the film and its associated projects, visit the official website.

Digital Britain report published

The Digital Britain report was published today. I'll have a proper read of it tonight and hopefully blog about it tomorrow afternoon after my dentist appointment. For now, here are some summaries of it on the Guardian and BBC websites.

The full report is downloadable here.

Initial problems I have are with BBC licence fee going to ITV to bail them out. ITV is a commercial entity. If they put terrible programmes on that nobody watches, meanign they lose advertising revenue, it's their own fault. BBC shouldn't suffer as a result of a non-PSB's mistakes. Give ITV the thoroughly un-Reithian, Strictly Come Dancing, to boost viewing figures.

Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide to launch a join venture seems good. More funding for our other PSB, Channel 4, is always a good thing. With any luck they'll be able to get back to more high-brow programming after financial difficulties.

50p per month charge for all phone lines to boost broadband technology seems ok. Needs improving and we have to pay for it somehow. It's this or higher tax somewhere.

More reflection and reaction tomorrow.

Police Britality or a Proportionate Response?

A still image from the video of the arrest in question.

This lunchtime I had a discussion with a friend of mine via Facebook about a recent incident in my birth city of Nottingham.

In the early hours of Monday morning, police tasered and arrested a man for GBH. A video of the event was caught on a mobile phone and sent to the press.

My friend says it's evidence of Britain being a police state. I say it's unfair to label it that and tar all police officers with the same brush without first seeing all the evidence.

The video on YouTube is only short and captures the last minute or so of the arrest. What it does not show are the moments leading up to the use of the taser and the arresst. For all we know it could have been proportionate. What the video does show is one officer making a punching motion in the head area of the man being arrested.

Here are some extracts from our conversation, starting with my friend:

"He may have been arrested for GBH, but I didn't see any violent behaviour. All I saw was a drunken bloke 'not being cooperative' as the dreadful Sky News would put it. Incidents like this are often symptomatic of a wider culture; tazers were only given to police on the grounds they be used as an alternative to firearms, and firearms would never be used in this way. Tazers are not a means of subduing someone; they're for self-defence or dealing with someone who's a serious danger to others. This guy isn't even a danger to himself. Give a power, it WILL be abused. It's totally predictable.

Two more examples of misuse, I'm sure there are more, but I have to go to work...

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/4387494.Taser_used_on_man_threatening_death_leap_in_Brighton/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/06/ovine_tasering_shocker/"

And my response,

"Of course some people will abuse any power they're given, that's what I said...As for this case, I'd say a guy being arrested for GBH is an indication that he was being a significant "danger to others" and so any tasering would be valid.

I'm not saying all police play by the rules and should be trusted...but these stories and clips that turn up every so often are not proof that we live in a police state and that the entire British police force is corrupt or intent on injuring rather than protecting the public. It's simply proof that some police officers aren't up to the job because they go on a power trip.

Think about the thousands of people who work in the police and then think how many of them do things like taser a sheep. The percentage will be a very small one. It's like saying that because the BNP won one of Burnley's seats in the recent council elections that everybody in Burnley is a racist. It makes no sense.

If, as I suspect, the guy was being a complete ******* prior to the filming starting, being physically abusive to bouncers, members of the public etc, then the use of the taser was valid. He will have been asked several times to clam down etc and probably didn't, they tried to arrest him and he violently resisted so the officer had to taser him. The case was voluntarily referred to the IPCC by Nottinghamshire Police and they'll look at CCTV in the area to see if the police did act correctly or not.

We don't know what happened before this film started so it's not fair to accuse them of anything until all the evidence has been taken into account. If it does emerge that they've acted wrongly or over-zealously...then those officers involved should be punished accordingly but even then it will not mean we live in a police state, because they will have been punished for their wrongdoing, proving the police can't act unlawfully and get away with it. If they were to get away with it, then we could start thinking about police state."

It may be useful to point out that when watching this on the BBC East Midlands Today news bulletin yesterday evening they reported that the man arrested had not made an official complaint to the IPCC or Nottinghamshire Police. As I understand it that is still the case.

So, is this a case of police brutality or of a video taking a select part of a wider event, making it seem worse than it is. Is it a case of citizen journalism gone wrong? It's an ugly scene either way but the important point is, is it ugly and justified or ugly and overzealous?

Virgin teams up with Universal to launch Spotify competitor

In yet another attempt by businesses to find a way to make money from downloading and/or streaming music, Virgin media have struck a deal that will mean their subscribers will be able to listen to as much music as they want, for a monthly fee.

Four main problems:-

1) Can't people already listen to music they like at home anyway, for free? Well, free-ish. Once they've bought the record.

2) Spotify got there first with the free, legal library thing and as is often the case in business, the first mover is often the one who sees the most brand loyalty. Do Virgin really think they can compete with Spotify? Yes they will flog it to the hilt to their customers but any who would be interested will probably already use Spotify anyway.

3) This will do nothing to stop illegal downloaders. That really is free. Until the media and music industries come up with a way to distribute fully legal, completely free music, they will always lose out.

4) The BBC report says,

"The service is due to be launched before Christmas 2009. Virgin has not said how much the service will cost every month. But it said it could be comparable to the cost of a couple of albums a month."

The cost of a couple of albums a month?! That's getting on for well over £20 by today's standards. How do they propose their customers will be able to afford this on top of their subscription costs? It seems fairly clear that most will go to the free legal and illegal alternatives.

Grammatics to play Radiohead day at Reading/Leeds 2009

Grammatics playing live at Leeds festival 2007.

They're one of the many artists recently announced by festival organisers as performing on the Festival Republic stage over the course of the weekend, but no day has been officially fixed. The Rorschach Test can reveal that Leed's very own quirky alt-popsters Grammatics will in fact be playing on the Saturday at Leeds and presumably the Sunday down South.

No time has yet been fixed but they'll be on sometime before the three stage headliners, The Rumble Strips, Lightspeed Champion and La Roux.

As long as they don't clash with Passion Pit or Frank Turner it should all be ok.

In other Reading/Leeds news, Thrash Hits reported from Download over the weekend and finally confirmed that Faith No More will be playing at Reading and Leeds this summer.

There was some confusion over the matter after the band's website displayed the festivals as part of their tour dates back in April and then rapidly removed them but T-shirts on sale at Download listed the dates, as well as some more UK dates.