The Government is Working (it's just no-one else is)
Fuck Section 696 - More Idiocy from tha Filth
Drugs are Fucking Some of Us Over & We're Too Fucked to Notice
Let's Have a Sketchy Party
Know Your Enemy - The Identity Database
Music Reviews
More unemployment more cameras more debt more police more homeless more stress more anger / less freedom less money less choice less charity... 600 people applying for one part-time job? 20 extras in your “one-on-one” dole review? Walk peacefully by a protest & die from a police beating. A war we don’t want or need. Millions of pounds spunked on an Olympics very few but politicians & sportsmen desire. “Extraordinary rendition”. ID cards. Doubt. The voices of the people count for fuck all & the advice of the governments own think-tanks is ignored. Welcome to New Britain in 2009- a place for Conservatives & Labour alike to grease their palms & line their pockets with human dignity. Public & private video Cameras record your waking moments whilst police photograph innocents faces & number plates, building up their KGB databases, yet a new act recently passed makes it an offence to photograph an officer of the (states) law. Section 696 wants to profile concert-goers, promoters & artists. Echelon (the massive listening post at RAF Menwith Hill) monitors all communication. Feel a need for change here?
“Completing this document will enable police to give you appropriate support and advice to ensure a safe event... Full co-operation is regarded as demonstrating positive and effective venue management.” > So begins the latest ridiculous bit of pseudo-public security beauracracy from the Metropolitan Police... The catchily titled Section 696 requires that anyone promoting a licensed music event within London provide the Met with a selection of various personal data, which must be lodged a minimum of 14 days in advance and can be retained for up to 6 years. A Detective Superintendent from the Vice office outlines it thus “We can’t demand it - we recommend that you provide it as best practice. But you’re bloody silly if you don’t, because you’re putting your venue at risk”. The details required from the promoter include the event name, target audience, expected number of patrons and the promoters personal details, Not targeting any subculture specifically(!), the 696 goes on to request the musical style of the event, with the examples given being “Bashment, R’n’B, Garage”. As well as this information, it requires notification of the real name, stage name, role, date of birth, telephone number and address of all those involved (“artistes, acts, sound systems, (co-)promoters”)... Now I’m not going to tell you what this all means - draw your own conclusions innit - but what could this part of the act alone mean for the illegal party scene? Hypothetical - Rig A gets known by the Babylon, then puts on a legal event with the same crew, same name, acts, etc. thus providing anyone who cares to look with their details. But then I’m a drama queen... The form then requests some pretty standard information about the security staff and deployment patterns and more ominously, “what equipment will be available to facilitate searching on entry”. The promoter is asked whether they have any knowledge of acts or crowds attending that require “special considerations” to limit crime and disorder (e.g. problems at previous venues, the makeup of the patrons, whether they are local or are expected to travel from long distances, etc.). The final measure is a request to complete an after event debrief; “please complete this page if you have any information considering the event that will enable police to give you appropriate support and advice to ensure safer future events. Full, honest disclosure is essential”. Another excellent move by our nation’s finest.
Sign the petition @ http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Scrapthe696/
How many people do you know who regularly consume psychoactive drugs of some sort? Now, think carefully and consider how many of these people may actually have some kind of *drug problem* (& by this I mean a mental or physical dependency). Get up in the morning & smoke a spliff, have a line ‘cos they can, pop Valium to sleep, smoke rocks for the comedown, etc. etc. ad infinitum... How do they affect themselves? And how are they affecting others? Are we just enjoying nature’s bounty or causing ourselves untold secret damage? I’m not denying that getting out of one’s mind is a healthy & valuable drive of the Human psyche, just that maybe if we took a step back then we’d realise more moderation is often called for (and I do realise how that might sound). Rarely have I met a mind that I considered truly competent to navigate the murky waters of long-term, high-dose tripping, for example. A rule of thumb that I once adhered to (& optimistically will again) is the general tribal tradition of using entheogens no more than once a month, maximum, and even then for a specific purpose. Now I’m too lazy to attempt to research the incidence of mental health issues within Amazonian / Native American tribal culture, but I’m willing to bet that it’s a hell of a lot lower than that of the average Western country.
Points of Contact:
Dance Safe - DANCESAFE.ORG
MAPS - MAPS.ORG
Release - RELEASE.ORG.UK
Samaritans -
SAMARITANS.ORG
Recently I’ve been to a number of large multi-rig parties in London and I have noticed far too many incidences of violence (most seemingly unprovoked and targeted at strangers) and petty crime (muggings, theft, etc.). Another thing that I find disappointing is the tendency to tolerate the “smashy smashy crew” amongst us; seriously damaging someone else’s property is not really the way to engender respect for or understanding of our chosen culture, after all. When I first entered the party-scene, people talked about how party people had to (& did) stop violence as it occurred, “we are the Temporary Autonomous Zone, man”, you know. Unfortunately (& despite also seeing some inspiring reactions to enmity over the years), I have on many occasions seen and heard about some pretty lame examples of looking out for your brother. I understand that violence and anti-social behaviour is intimidating to the average person (especially considering the current state of the media and government “hoodie” propaganda), but come on now people- strength in numbers an’ all that jazz...
* examples of negatives reported from London parties over the last year or so- punters being charged TO LEAVE a site (with guns involved), punishment beatings / breakings, new and working buildings being partied, “security teams” (supposedly justifying a higher door tax) being aggro or just fucking off before an event has finished, fake drugs being sold, intimidation, etc. etc. Same shit, different day...
The government’s Identity Cards Act 2006 is but one facet of the ongoing historical efforts of both European & American powers to introduce yet more electronic ID cards, passports & databases to our world. The introduction of a National Identity Register for the UK is planned between 2009 - 2012, affecting all who apply for or renew a passport. This means that the 80% of the populace currently holding a UK passport will find themselves registered on the database, with Identity & Passport Service offices (vetting applications via interviews & collecting biometric data) already starting to open across the country. In addition to this, just one more act of parliament & everyone aged 16 & over will be forced to register with the scheme. Other “stealth” methods are also being used to hasten the introduction of these “human barcodes”, for example “biometric visas” for all foreign nationals entering the country & mandatory fingerprinting & facial scanning for all children & adults travelling within the E.U. Abandoning the original proposal of a brand new, “clean” database, those in power now envisage merging the data collected under the ID cards scheme with that already held by the Home Office & the Department for Work & Pensions, as well as the possibility of the inclusion of data already held by local councils. Some schools have also introduced fingerprint & retinal-scanning(!) to check attendance, free school meals, etc. This smacks of something beyond the government’s originally stated “anti-terror” reasoning- see for yourselves below...
CIRCUIT PARALLELE - UMANI AUTODISTRUTTIVI (spine01, Spine) - 12” vinyl
Brutal and beautiful noise here from Yann Hekate (and real nice sleeve art too). Rewards repeated listening, but you should buy it just for “Planete Guerre”, simple as.
ELY MUFF & RONIN - RESTING ON LAURELS (b2k10, B2K) - 12” vinyl
Proving yet again why they’ve such enviable reputations as producers, the ladies turn in some fine as ‘fuk gabba, breakcore and stuff ‘n’ whateverkore. “The Orifice of Captain Dumb Dumb” has been played literally TO DEATH by all of our crew and thus this record comes highly recommended to all and sundry.
NAUTILIS - ARE YOU AN AXOLOTL (ziq050, Planet Mu) - CD
A classic from the vaults that not many seem to have noticed, this album is extremely beautiful & varied, with some rather impressive DSP-trickery & lush melodies.
LEECH WOMAN - NO NAME (legioni202, Quai Loh) - 12” vinyl
Original - serviceable industrial/grind; Zombie Flesh Eater mix - ultra-deconstructed, strangely funky breakcore with some barely recognisable samples; Machinochrist mix - a more traditionally structured breakcore take, building up nicely toward the end; Queynte mix - rounds things off with some howling filters in a more repetitive & spacious “indubstrial” style.
V/A - PLOT THICKENS 2: THE ARCHETIST (plotcd2, Anathematica / Coven H) - CD
As you may have read elsewhere, The Plot Thickens is a travelling exhibition / event, based on a story selected from several entries (this year’s winner was “The Archetist” by Anon). It must be said that this concept is a refreshing one & so bigups to Anathematica, Hekate, Random Artists & all others involved with this project for all the graft they’ve put in. However this compilation is not just a worthy companion to the art - overall, this is a thoroughly well put together collection of music and it certainly holds its own in its own right. Genre-wise it ranges wildly but with a definite logic between many varieties of dark atmospherics, bass and beats, but the stand out tracks for me are from Anxt!, Hue Jah Fink?, The Edita & The Pirate.