foxy has left the building

I read this today:

PAUL FOX OF THE RUTS DIES AGED 56

Legendary guitarist, Paul Fox, died at home in Uxbridge at 3AM this morning.

Over the years Paul has performed and recorded with many of the worlds greatest musicians but he will mainly be remembered for his revolutionary punk/dub reggae fusion guitar playing with influential punk band The Ruts.

Paul had been in semi retirement for several years but went back out on the road again in 2006 playing the Ruts music with Foxys Ruts which featured his son Lawrence Fox on drums. The band were well received, both in the UK and Europe.

Following his diagnosis with cancer at the end of May 2007 a benefit gig was organised featuring many of the musicians that Paul had worked with or alongside over the years. There was no doubt about the high esteem in which Paul was held by his fellow musicians as the line up read like a who’s who of the UK punk scene with performances by The Damned, Misty in Roots, the UK Subs, Tom Robinson, John Otway, Splodge, TV Smith and many more.

For the first time in 27 years the surviving members of the Ruts took to the stage together with Henry Rollins standing in for the late Malcolm Owen who died of a drugs overdose in 1980.

The night was a fitting tribute to one of our much under rated and unsung guitar heros.

Paul leaves behind his sons Lawrence and William and his wife, Sharon.

He will be dearly missed.

Sarah Pink, on behalf of the Ruts.

The Ruts are part of my life’s soundtrack, and Foxy’s guitar work was central to making the band the visionaries they were. His ability to mash up the chaotic power of punk with the laid-back dub chops was a blast of fresh air to mine and many other young (and not so young) ears, taking me in new directions and giving me a much-appreciated musical lesson. He’s been frequently imitated but never bettered, which seems like a fitting memorial to the bloke.

‘Staring At The Rude Boys’ is my favourite track, and pretty much sums up some of the best and worst nights of my life. Listen with a smile and raise a glass to the man.

Download

remembering absent friends

This Sunday, 21st October, some of the finest bands in the UK underground are gathering to pay tribute to Stig, one of our own who sadly died three years ago. It’s at TJ’s, Clarence Place, Newport in Wales, kick-off from 4 p.m. It’s only a fiver in and all money goes to Stig’s wife and kids.

Stig and Icons Of Filth raised tens of thousands of pounds for those who want a better world, and helped open the eyes of millions more. He was also more than willing to get involved at the sharp end. His kind don’t come along very often and we feel the loss even more keenly when they leave too soon. But the light he sparked burns brighter every day.

Cheers mate.

green your eats!

Thursday 1st November is World Vegan Day, a chance for vegans globally to show just how positive veganism is. And not just for the animals we don’t kill, but also for our own wellbeing and for the health of the planet. In fact, this year the focus will be on the ecological catastrophe that is animal farming. ‘Eating The Earth? How Your Diet Could Change The World’ (PDF) pulls together the evidence and makes a forceful case for veganism for those who claim to be concerned with environmental issues.

I’ll be inviting a few friends round for some good vegan nosh, sociable amounts of alcohol and a bit of high- and low-brow debate to mark the day. I don’t expect my bonecrunching friends to give up eating dead stuff, but if they eat a bit less of it it’s no bad thing.

There are plenty of excellent vegan recipes online - I’d particularly recommend Post Punk Kitchen for some really top-class fancy examples of vegan cuisine. The rich chocolate cake is the best cake I’ve ever eaten, vegan or otherwise, a view shared by most of those who’ve also tried it. But to help you get started, here’s one of my own creations.

Tofu & Veg Thai Curry

It’s sometimes hard to find food that is both light and substantial, but Thai food is generally just that. Lots of fresh flavours, sharp spicing and a certain creamy fattiness all make for a lovely mouthful. It’s also bloody quick.

This recipe uses Thai curry paste, which isn’t cheating as the fresh ingredients can be a bit of a bugger to find sometimes (and even harder to prepare - lemon grass should definitely be renamed lemon wood to honestly reflect how tough it is). One thing to watch out for - many Thai pastes contain fish in one form or another, so check the label carefully - I use the ‘Maesri’ brand.

Serves 2-3.

• 1-2 tbs sunflower oil
• 150g of smoked or marinated tofu cut into cubes (Taifun smoked tofu with almonds and sesame seeds is very good in this recipe)
• 1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks
• 1 stick celery, sliced diagonally
• 2-3 shallots, thinly sliced into rings
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 8 medium florets broccoli, halved
• 75g sweetcorn
• 75g green beans, sliced, or fine green beans topped, tailed and cut in half
• 100g mushrooms, sliced
• Half a red pepper, halved lengthways again and sliced
• 2 tbs vegan red or green Thai curry paste (or according to your brand’s instructions)
• 3/4 -1 tin (approx 3-400g) coconut milk
• Juice of half a lime
• 1 tbs shoyu, tamari or vegetarian ‘fish / oyster’ sauce
• Fresh basil (Thai if available), shredded

Heat the oil in a wok or big frying pan over a medium high heat for a minute, then throw in the tofu and stir fry until starting to brown. Add the carrots, celery, shallots, garlic, broccoli, sweetcorn and beans, and continue to stir fry for about 4 mins. Add the mushrooms and pepper and stir fry for 2 mins, add the curry paste and fry for a further min. Pour in the coconut milk so there’s enough liquid for your own preferences, lime juice and shoyu / tamari / ‘fish’ sauce and heat until it starts to bubble, then remove from heat. If you like your veg a bit softer, then let it simmer for a few more mins in the coconut milk. Stir in the shredded basil to taste and dollop over rice (white works best with this recipe, both basmati and jasmine rice are excellent and will cook in the time it takes you to make the curry).

Best eaten with a spoon to get all the juices (call me simple, but I always prefer an easy shovel motion to the complex two-handed approach when eating saucy foods).

occupy!

This is a bit late notice but I think it’s a worthwhile story…

Workers at the Bike Systems GmbH bike factory in Thuringian Nordhausen, Germany, have followed the lead of their Argentinian comrades and occupied their factory (unfortunately, there are no reports of them having shot the bosses first). The occupation was in response to a long-term running down of the factory by the owner followed by a swift filing for bankruptcy, with allegations of underhand dealings to cash in on the whole affair. Knowing that there was a demand for the bikes they made and aware of the boss class’ connivance, the workers responded in time-honoured fashion.

In order to take things to the next level, the workers are planning to produce the Strike-Bike, a gloriously red n’ black-coloured machine for getting around town. They need to get around 1800 paid orders for the bike by the 2nd October (tomorrow!) to make the operation financially viable. Costs for individual customers in Germany are €275 inclusive of all charges. Wholesale prices are also available. If you’re outside of Germany and want one, they’ll happily negotiate international shipping with you.

If they don’t hit their target, all orders will be refunded in full. So if you need a bike in the next 24 hours or so, you know where to go!

UPDATE: 2nd October - a press conference at the factory today revealed that over 1300 orders have been placed with the rest expected imminently, and production will recommence at the end of October. All hail the workers soviets!

fist in the face

Behind Enemy Lines - One Nation Under The Iron Fist Of God
Profane Existence / Antagony / Alerta Antifascista

Before you even put this record anywhere near your hifi you’ll be blown away by it. Quality from every angle. The cover is matt-finished heavyweight charcoal-coloured card, the image dripping with menace as the Christ figure, draped in the Stars n’ Stripes, stands triumphant in front of a burning cross. With the tracklisting printed in pale red Gothic type, you just KNOW this record is gonna be unrelenting.

THEN you get to the book that comes with the album. Although I’ve not seen the CD version of this, I’d strongly recommend getting the 12″ vinyl and doing it justice. Because the booklet with the vinyl is also 12″ (and 48 pages), while the CD one is CD-sized (and 64 pages), and you’ll appreciate it much more at this size. A screaming angry God, punching out with a ‘HATE’-tattooed fist, faces you from the glossy card cover. Open the book and you’ll find pages of intelligent and venomous lyrics married perfectly to poster images of Dubya and his cohorts emblazoned with slogans that show them in their true light. It is a visual treat and a political education.

THEN you slide the clear red vinyl out of its protective sleeve and prepare (or so you think) for what comes next. But you’re not ready, and shiver involuntarily as the dark malevolent tones of Big Brother (aka Richard Burton) creep from your speakers and target you as if you yourself were Winston, in that room, alone, vulnerable, afraid. What hope is left? And who carries its banner?

The answer is Behind Enemy Lines. But don’t expect it to be an easy one. This band slice open the underbelly of the neocon fundamentalist programme that is the U.S. of A and lay bare the entrails. As each layer is exposed, their apocalyptic desires are dragged forth from the shadows. And as the lie is revealed and the truth unveiled, the anger builds. How DARE they? Who are these people to twist and pervert all that is good for their own malevolent ends? What right do they have to enslave millions by word and by deed, to use us as mere currency in their blood-soaked transactions?

These songs tell the truth. The nightmare that even Orwell couldn’t imagine is detailed in the opening two tracks, ‘George’s Vision’ and ‘Faceless’, and the ease with which the masses comply. They invite a cold, hard look at ourselves. The war in Iraq and its devastating consequences are also unveiled, from the growing despair and hatred amongst the occupied populations (’Retribution’), via the closed cells where ‘interrogation erodes into inhumane torture’ (’American Rape Rooms’), and ending in the almost necrophiliac exploitation of the young American corpses as they are returned to their loved ones (’Molesting The Dead’). Having given their lives, the vultures will still pick the bones clean.

But even as the war machine is funded without thought, not so far away another child dies in pain, fear and poverty. How can this be allowed to happen? As genocide rips through Darfur, ‘we sit and debate while the militias bathe in blood’ (’Turning A Blind Eye’). And as the corpses in the third world mount ever higher, we benefit directly from the cash crops, labour, resources and oil that their deaths paid for (’Third World Blood’). Privilege exacts a terrible price. Yet even that privilege is nothing more than a sop to keep us mollified. Our masters will keep squeezing us too, maybe not so brutally, but the end result isn’t too dissimilar.

With the rest of the tracks combining to make the connections between religious fundamentalism, fascism, ecological destruction, corporate power, media control, economic privilege and class, Behind Enemy Lines pull no punches lyrically or musically with this release.

Information is power and this record is an incendiary device.

Download sample track - ‘Gutter Religion’

OP’s opinion: @@@@@

noise solution

Just recently, a friend asked me what my all-time top ten favourite punk records were. That’s quite a tall order but I gave it some thought and what follows is the result. With the exception of the number one and number ten spots, this list is not in any particular order. Feel free to argue the toss but don’t expect me to change my mind on this one.

1. Conflict - The Ungovernable Force. When the revolution comes, this record will be the score to it. It could easily be retitled ‘Class War - The Musical’. Conflict were always slightly at odds with the more pacifist nature of their Crass label counterparts, they were far more street; they didn’t denounce pacifism as such but they weren’t prepared to take a kicking at the hands of fascist thugs either. TUF marks the point when they clearly drew that line in the sand.

2. Stiff Little Finger - Hanx! I saw SLF during the tour when this album was recorded, only the second live gig I’d been to (the first was The Clash), and it captures them at their absolute finest. People always go on about how The Clash brought politics and punk together, but to my mind SLF always did it better.

3. Crass - Stations Of The Crass. An obvious band to include, a hard choice to make. But everything about this record - the music, the lyrics, the price, the packaging, the three sides played at 45rpm and the fourth at 33 - nicely summarises just how vital and important Crass were. Anarchy in the UK took on a whole different meaning after they took to the stage.

4. The Ruts - The Crack. The Ruts got their breaks on the Rock Against Racism reggae circuit and their incorporation of the dub sound with punk’s energy united working-class kids at a time when the far-right were trying to tear us apart. The Crack opens with the sound of a police siren and an alarm bell before launching into ‘Babylon’s Burning’ and it doesn’t let up ’til the last sweat-drenched shout of ‘Human Punk’.

5. MDC - Millions Of Dead Cops. I knew nothing about this band until I saw them supporting the Dead Kennedys in the winter of ‘82 and I was stunned. It was a wall of noise but so perfectly controlled and directed. Me and my mate Rut were the only ones ‘dancing’. Everyone else seemed shellshocked. Some idiots even started throwing cans at them. That’s not the close-minded attitude I associated with punk, and we just danced more furiously, dragging them into it (with me getting a busted nose in the process). When I got a copy of the album I knew I was right and they were wrong.

6. Antisect - In Darkness There Is No Choice. Antisect brought a much darker and more intense sound to the anarcho-punk table, heavy and metal without being heavy metal, and matched it to some very thoughtful and emotive lyrics, in places seeming almost to be at odds with the brutality of the noise behind them. At certain points it’s still able to send a shiver through me even after twenty or so years.

7. The Mob - Let The Tribe Increase. Although lumped in with the Crass bands, The Mob took a different path from the shouty politics of their comrades and looked more at how it felt to be an individual in the middle of it all. Love and loss, fears and hopes, looking for a light in the darkness, all wrapped in minor scale melancholy. When they did explore the ‘bigger picture’ they did so far more indirectly, using dream/nightmare-like imagery to paint their visions. A haunting classic.

8. Operation Ivy - Energy. This album still puts a big smile on my face and a shuffle in my step every time I play it. The slightly raw and unpolished nature of the recording just adds to it and keeps it sounding as fresh as the day I first heard it. Sharp, sassy and humourous, the maturity in this record belied the ages of the band members. And let’s face it, ska and punk were destined to mash it up together. Op Ivy showed the rest of the world how to do it and do it well.

9. The Levellers - Levelling The Land. The Levellers took the more folky punk sounds of The Pogues and partnered them up to a very English rebel yell which sprang from the free festival scene of the 1980’s. This record paints a very pastoral vision of anarchy which, while far-removed from my urban roots, demonstrates just how varied and inclusive punk (and, by extension, anarchism) can and should be.

10. Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks. Cos you’ve got to have a reference point and this, for me, was the record that started it all. Forget about all the art-school crap that the Yanks claimed as punk before the Pistols, this album was the catalyst for a musical and social revolution. It taught me how to say ‘Fuck You’ and mean it, and I’ve been putting it into practice ever since.

Punk: it’s a state of mind not a musical style.

geography lesson

A brief profile of Tian An Men 89 Records

Chances are, you’ve never heard of this label, the bands on it, or most of the countries they come from. Kyrgyzstan, Kabardino-Bulkaria, Reunion Island…even if you know the names, I bet you couldn’t find ‘em on a map! But if you aren’t afraid to challenge your definition of what punk is, the stuff put out on TAM89 is absolutely unbelievable, and I’d urge every last one of you to try at least one of their releases.

The following is lifted straight from their website, where I suggest you go immediately after reading.

Tian An Men 89 Records was created in 1993 in the purpose of releasing punk music from parts of the world where, due to financial reasons, civil wars, or lack of record factories, there is no possibility for the bands to release their music on vinyl.

We got the whole idea after extensive travelling and meeting great bands in various corners of the world. Our idea of punk is to accept that exist different definitions of it in different places. Punk is universal and transcends cultures. It is definitely not a sterile, narrow style, monopolized by Westerners, as some would like to believe.

We release limited editions 7″ vinyl EP’s (500 copies) (and 12″LPs too now) coz it seems that’s been enough so far for the worldwide underground punk network which is usually more into the latest MTV cloned punk stars. We don’t care coz we know WHY we do this and that’s certainly not for the money! 20% of each release pressed is sent to the bands as their share, so that records are also distributed in the country of origin. Our records (and books!) are not distributed through the commercial circuit. DIY network only. Tian An Men 89 is non-profit and fueled by passion and friendship only!

Tian An Men 89 believes individual positive actions and international solidarity can make a change towards a fairer and more beautiful world.

So what are you waiting for?

OP’s opinion: @@@@@

21st century skipdiving

Recycling usable stuff online with Freecycle

Like many punks and other proles with limited income, I’ve often been found rummaging through skips to see if there’s anything useful to blag. Over the years I’ve managed to find things that I needed (sometimes quite desperately but which I couldn’t afford to buy), often because others were so wealthy they could just afford to throw away perfectly decent shit, or the stuff was no longer needed but the owners simply didn’t think about any alternative to ditching it.

It has to be said that skipdiving, for all the ‘treasure’ that can be found, can also be a deeply unplesant experience (says the man who once found himself elbow deep in old nappies).

Nowadays, there’s a far more humane alternative called Freecycle. The premise is very simple: you have something you don’t need anymore that someone else may potentially need, you advertise that fact via an online list and, hopefully, that someone else will reply and say ‘hell, yeah, that’s exactly the shit I’ve been looking for’. Or some such thing. The worst-case scenario is that no-one else will want your old tat, and you’ll have to do a little bit more than typing on your keyboard to try and find a sound way of getting rid of it. But you’re a punk, you’re resourceful and you know a lot of shit that others don’t, right? So you’ll find a way. All I’m doing is showing you another option to add to your arsenal.

Does it work? In a word, yes. So far I’ve managed to find a home for everything I’ve put up on my local group’s list. Today, for example, a referee for a local commie netball team gladly took the black plastic whistle (traditional style in perfect working order) that I’d found in a box, the remnants of a demo from years back, and which I really no longer felt I needed. After all, shouting like fuck is far more cathartic than blowing a whistle, especially if you just do it for no reason whatsoever other than you can. And I went and collected a foot spa, complete with bubbles, massage capability and spinny things for getting the hard crud off. Which is just about perfect for tired Old Punk feet.

There’s a reasonable chance you’re close to a Freecycle group and, if you’re not, then the means to set one up are freely available. Of course, where you live there may be no need for such a thing. When I was a kid, recycling between friends, family and neighbours was taken for granted. But like I say, Freecycle is just another tool.

Mind you, I still do a bit of skipdiving on occasion - in fact, it’s where I’ve found one or two things that I’ve then Freecycled. Old Punk habits die hard.

torrent-tastic, punk-pickers!

Getting to grips with file-sharing technology

Note: since writing this, Punktorrents has closed its registration. However, registration is occasionally re-opened for a day or two so I’ll post up the details if that happens.

Despite the fact that I ventured into the world of the hairless head many moons ago (more recently by nature rather than design), I still try and keep the grey matter inside up to date and modern. So I decided to try and fathom out a bit more about torrents and trackers or, more precisely, what they are and how I, an Old Punk, can use them. For all the other Old Punks out there, here’s what I discovered.

Before I get into the details, a word of warning: the sharing of copyrighted material using torrent sotware is technically illegal (the software itself is not). But, if what you are sharing is long-deleted or as rare as hen’s teeth and not from a label or group affiliated to the music industry’s police force (check out the RIAA Radar for starters), then you really shouldn’t be afraid of using the software to share music. Remember, too, that there are some bands and labels who actively encourage the sharing of their music, or who at least recognise the advantages of exposure that file-sharing brings and don’t prosecute those who are sharing what they create. Be smart and you should be safe.

On with the show…

BitTorrent is a type of peer-to-peer (P2P) network (Napster was a famous P2P network, although it worked in a slightly different way to BitTorrent). P2P networks allow people to share files with each other over the internet. To be able to use the BitTorrent network, you first need to install torrent client software on your computer.

A torrent client is the program you use to upload and download files. It does two things: it chops the file(s) you want to share up into lots of little pieces, creating an additional torrent file in the process, and makes them available for sharing; and, if there are files you want to download, it connects to all the other computers containing pieces of those files (providing they’ve all used the same torrent file) that it can find via the tracker and re-assembles them in one place on your computer.

A torrent file is a small ’signature’ file that contains some basic information about the file (or, more usually, a set of files in a folder) that you want to share, most commonly mp3 files (although you can also share other content, such as video files, using torrents).

A tracker is in effect an online database of files that people like you want to share with each other. But rather than upload megabytes and megabytes of audio (or whatever) files to the tracker, the small torrent file is uploaded instead. The tracker makes the torrent file available for download to other users, which then enables them to download the main file(s) directly from your computer. The tracker also uses the torrent file to keep track of who has downloaded all or part of the files that are being shared.

A seeder is someone who makes a file or files available for sharing and uploads the relevant torrent file to a tracker.

A leecher is someone who uses the torrent file on the tracker to link to other peoples computers so that they can download the files being shared.

This is the clever bit that differentiates BitTorrent networks from other P2P networks: firstly, more than one person can be downloading the same file from you at the same time, as they each download different bits of your file; secondly, because the tracker know which computers have which bits of the file, it allows the leechers’ computers to immediately seed the bits of files they’ve just downloaded to others who still need them, and vice versa. It’s like a big simultaneous file swap shop that continues until all users have downloaded all of the bits they need from everyone else until everyone has a complete set.

So, that’s the basics explained (any questions, just raise your hand). On to the practicals.

Before you do anything, you need to install a client. I’ve used two torrent clients, Azureus and uTorrent, and found both easy to install, set up and use thanks to a couple of great walkthroughs at Punk Torrents. Azureus has a bigger install footprint and is more complex (if you want it to be), but is open source, very configurable and (apparently) Mac-friendly (Mac users could also try Transmission, although it may need a simple fix to work properly). uTorrent is much smaller after installation and the configuration options less scary looking, but it is closed source, PC-only and now owned by a commercial company, so future versions may not be free of spyware or other things the owners may also wish to install on your machine without your knowledge.

Once you’ve got the client installed, you’ll need to find a tracker where you can upload and download torrents. There are some big trackers out there, with hundreds of thousands of users and files and requiring no registration (with all the security risks that entails), but for virtually all of my torrent needs I head straight to Punk Torrents. You’ll need to sign up to be able to share files but it’s free and quick to do this. Since joining I’ve managed to track down some great old albums from my past, ones that have either gone walkabouts or have suffered as a result of my rather hectic lifestyle in years gone by, as well as check out some cool new stuff that I’ve not heard before. I’ve also had the chance to share a lot of my old collection with those keen to add to or fill the gaps in theirs, and share tracks from bands who I think are worth listening to. Personally, I don’t share whole albums from bands or labels that are genuinely independent and could do with the cash (although some on PT do), as I personally prefer to spend a few of my hard-earned readies supporting these people directly. It sits well with my conscience.

There is much debate about file-sharing at the moment but, with common sense, I can’t see any problem with it. Unless, of course, you happen to be a capitalist whore who sees music as just one more product to be milked for every last drop of profit. In which case - A BIG PUNK ROCK ‘FUCK YOU!’

never mind the burqas

Dead Police Story Music is a DIY anarcho label based in Ottawa, Canada, another malevolently-governed part of North America. To highlight the dirty pies that Canuckian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has his fingers in, DPS have released a benefit CD to raise awareness and funds for the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan and the Canada - Haiti Action Network.

30 bands from across the land of the loon have contributed a track each to the project. There’s also a 60-page booklet covering a wide spectrum of political discourse accompanying the disc. At only $8 (that’s Canadian not Yankee) including postage if you live in the country, and only a couple of dollars more if you don’t, it won’t break the bank balance. But it will give you a great collection of music and an education all in one handy package and the satisfaction of knowing that you’re helping undermine everything that you hate.