Honoured to contribute to Bad Punk – performing a piece by Johny Brown at around 20′. There are also bits from Bill Drummond, Brian Eno – trainspotter’s paradise.
The engineering/production is by Peter Smith, keyboardist in Band of Holy Joy – he’s good, uh?
Images from Phil Strongman’s exhibition of Street Culture at 8 Balmes Road, London, N1 – closes Tuesday.
At the end of 2012, I’m bidding adieu to a fab radio series on Resonance FM -produced by Art Saves Lives’ Dean Stalham. It’s been double-double good to get behind the mic, read a few poems and interview all manna of guests.
This last show starred the bullet which is Penny Arcade (a teen Superstar from Warhol’s factory, currently in town with her performance of Bitch! Dyke! Faghag! Whore! at The Albany SE8) she did a performance with Komla – who played a few tracks from their forthcoming EP, produced by Paul Reeve who’s been working with Muse. I shall remember it til the Alzheimer’s kicks in.
Also in the studio, pagan rock, post-Devo-ers, SNAPPED ANKLES. Love them.
And Wolfgang Mostl and co from Mile Me Deaf, Sex Jams and the 9 Volt Batteries. Oh yes.
Twas a pleasure.
Later. X
And if you want to read the lines I didn’t have time to perform:
I got home LATE last nite
No keys
No cash: No hotel
No one in
No broken glass
My neighbours hate that smash, reminds them of Angolan past
My phone dead
i walked like I’d once walked in Dublin
Passing a line of underagers posing
I went to an all nite bar
Irish cursing fizzing with the Stella
Losing looks wellah wellah
Pair of greasy lesbians wearing grey hoodies
Foul mouths singing Christmas cheer
Too drunk to work the electronic jukebox
I plugged my phone in, put off beer
I called up people who were not there
Walked home, unsure
Slipped past my campervan
Blonde enough to leave it open
In a loud, London street
Climbed in
Turned on the gas
Into the wild i used sun reflectors to fend the ice away, growing down the glass
Homeless near so close to slip
Pulled out the bed
Sheets inside the house
My black mohair shawl around me
As the gas flicked out
The transmission almost from the end of the world – yes, the Mayan calendar is upon us and on the dancefloor of Shoom last nite (the 25th anniversary of the club founded by Danny and Jenny Rampling which gave birth to a movement bigger than any of us, ACID HOUSE) it felt like an apocalyptic wake for past times – GRAVE IS THE NU RAVE – never go back, said the mods – I hate mods, so stupidly conformist with their Weller-cuts, I shall forever be a rocker – K-RoKa was my DJ moniker -and that ROCKER comes from a deal I struck with DJ Fee (fashion designer, Fiona Doran) when we started playing records out – we would not let our gender sell our music. The spirit of punk rock lives on. As does the retro-modernism of the mods – yes, alright – take your franking machine – rip it up to start again. Last nite, with the Art Saves Lives performances by all manner of folk at the party at Blacks which took us til midnite (pre-Shoom)- never has it been so much in my headlights that the importance of NOW is to create NEW work – pastiches are for pastry shops.
The ART SAVES LIVES party had the most genuine poetry vibe I’ve ever experienced – a rapt audience got all kind of voices between some fab acoustic sets. I was proud to introduce all manner of folk. Felt like a right Joolz Holland. Got to check in to see how much was raised in the art auction, feat. work by Grayson Perry, Jeremy Deller, Duggie Fields, myself and many more. Master of ceremonies on that was Robert Pereno, whose film, The Promoter, also played.
I played a short set on vinyl with my fiancee, Alex Snelling of Slack Alice Films – we took it back with a lil Sabres of Paradise, Afro Dizziac, Adeva, Beastie Boys – man – at Shoom it was so lovely to hear Alfredo – he did a top mixed bag (we used to play together at Manumission, Ibiza).
So, back to the radio show – the penultimate ART SAVES LIVES show which I’ve had great pleasure to co-host, and be Resident Poet for. This transmission’s guests include: Kelli Ali (former Sneaker Pimp), Erik Stein – Cult With No Name, the beat 22 year poet, JJ, the grindcore jazz band, George Caplan Presents, the goth folk band, Gallows Ghost, poetry from Anna Savage & Stu from Pig7 and Marie Guise-Williams –
KEEP A ROCKIN IN THE FREEE WORLD, BLUDZ
Pic by the magnificent preservationist David Kilburn
Latest instalment of the Resonance FM radio show promoting the charity, Art Saves Lives, founded by writer, Dean Stalham, who kindly invited me onboard as co-host & resident poet on this run of eight shows. Music from a capella group, Apollo 5; uke player and actress, Anne-Marie Piazza. Plus, the graphic designer, art director and contemporary street art expert, Olly Walker – speaking about his stencil art book, Stencil Republic – tasty launch at The Griffin pub in Shoreditch this Thursday, plus The Illustrated Ape party at the Orbital Gallery, plus Book Club Boutique’s – and a zillion others in this sexy Lahndon town, what a happy Thursday that’ll be… and a happy Christmas, oooh, yes, that Stencil Republic book would make a lovely present. As would some of the art to be auctioned at the Art Saves Lives Fundraiser on Sunday…g’wan, put a sneaky bid in…
Photo by Stephanie Correll
kirsty allison 