LTW Newsletter 42

Welcome Warriors!

Another week of national chaos surrounds us with the UK blundering around which was put into a sharp contrast by hanging around at Beautiful Days Festival where I was the trusty compere. Whilst there surrounded by the stage bustle a curious notion came into my monkey mind…how come the former hippies and travellers can run a festival perfectly and make sense of the potential chaos and yet the spoilt brats from Britain’s elitist education system have no idea what they are doing!

Imagine Grant Shapps running a festival? Even if his cousin is the great Mick Jones from the Clash he would still have no idea where to put the plugs in!

Somehow the former dogs on string travellers have not not only got their shit together and making things happen they are moving beyond - so much ground breaking stuff is going on out there and most of it dreamt up at the burning bonfires outside the traveller trucks and convoys of the eighties and nineties. Here they come galloping in like the cavalry at the last minute to make the change they once dreamed about…!

This week we have being tidying up summer with the usual gamut of musical mayhem starting with a review of Beautiful Days Festival itself.

There was also a whole series of reviews we posted from Rebellion R Fest in Blackpool where about 300 punk and punk related bands brought 20 000 people to Blackpool Winter Gardens and the new stage on the prom. The event has gone through the roof in size and scale and looking to get bigger in a celebration of the noizzzzzy culture we often call home.

We are looking forward to the upcoming Manchester psych fest. The event has really established itself on the calander and looks even stronger than ever as the preview of this September event details here.

Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz are one of the most ground breaking bands in the world. Their multi media approach to music is both thrilling and great Day-Glo fun. Their on stage guest list is like the world’s greatest Spotify playlist come to life as was underlined at their recent one off show in London which was a sensual treat for all the senses with a perfect soundtrack.

Speaking of groundbreaking! we love this new tune from electronic music groundbreaker and forever Throbbing Gristle mainstay Cosey Fanni Tutti.

Crass Records were the true independents from the days when independent didnt mean ‘indie’ but meant independent thinking and music. There is a bunch of rereleases going on from the label including this tasty morsel from Captain Sensible.

https://louderthanwar.com/crass-records-to-reissue-captain-sensible-and-omega-tribe/ (Opens in a new window)

Bjork has retuned with anew album of suitably game changing dramatic pop…

Ferocious Dog have been making a barking name for themselves as the punk take on the levellers and the band has plenty to say as this interview underlines.

We dug out an old Bob Vylan interview out of the archives after his spellbinding sets which were the talk of both Rebellion and Beautiful Days Fest. This was his first in depth interview and much has happened since then sees him on the verge of the big headline type slots that his brilliant punk grime music and outspoken politics demands.

Missouri-born singer-songwriter Kristeen Young has been producing her unique cocktail of ‘dissonant piano bashing, operatic vocals and serrated lyrics’ since her debut album Meet Miss Young And Her All Boy Band in 1997. She has toured and worked with artists such as Morrissey and David Bowie. Her 11th studio album The Beauty Shop was released in July 2022.

Since the historiography of punk is a male-dominated one, a ‘Revenge of the She-Punks’ was long overdue. This feminist reckoning was written by none other than post-punk pioneer Vivien Goldman (Opens in a new window), who has an insider’s perspective due to her work as a musician and one of Britain’s first female music writers. Along four themes – Identity, Money, Love and Protest – the ‘punk professor’ traces empowering moments that punk holds especially for women.

This Compilation is inspired by the book, which was originally released by University of Texas Press in 2019. Compiled and with liner notes by Vivien Goldman ( who writes….)

Billy Idol reconstructed his sneer and has a new single to match with a slice of brilliant pantomime rock roll…

Finally the much loved Ian Curtis mural in Manchester was painted over for an advert for young manc rapper Aitch. It caused a lot of anger which to be fair was not the fault of the young rapper who had no idea what was going on and was caught in the broadside but handled himself really well and is paying the Ian Curtis mural to be repainted.

https://louderthanwar.com/anger-as-iconic-manchester-ian-curtis-wall-painting-painted-over/ (Opens in a new window)