Product Placement is a Bitch

How to piss off the Olympic 'brand police'

Re-post from Dangerous Minds:

Picture by Rob Hyde

This window display might look like it was put together by someone with severe dyslexia, but it is in fact a glorious “fuck you” to the London 2012 Olympics and their ludicrous and draconian “brand police.”

“Brand police”? What’s that? I’ll let The Independent:

Hundreds of uniformed Olympics officers will begin touring the country today enforcing sponsors’ multimillion-pound marketing deals, in a highly organised mission that contrasts with the scramble to find enough staff to secure Olympic sites.

Almost 300 enforcement officers will be seen across the country checking firms to ensure they are not staging “ambush marketing” or illegally associating themselves with the Games at the expense of official sponsors such as Adidas, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and BP. The clampdown goes on while 3,500 soldiers on leave are brought in to bail out the security firm G4S which admitted it could not supply the numbers of security staff it had promised.

...

Olympics organisers have warned businesses that during London 2012 their advertising should not include a list of banned words, including “gold”, “silver” and “bronze”, “summer”, “sponsors” and “London”, if they give the impression of a formal connection to the Olympics.

A lot of grumbling has been going on about the “brand police” and I hope we’ll see more of this as the games roll on.

Like Em Fat sneak peek 2

Cheers to everyone who came to the video shoot on Sunday (Joe, Justin, Dean & Craig), thanks to Louie for filking it, and thanks to Riv and the folks at the Islington Mill for letting us use their space. The finished vid will be coming very soon...

Radio Magnetic "Summer Holidays Mix" 2004

I've been back in Glasgow this week, cleaning out our office space at Hope Street Studios as we never really use it any more, and should really be letting someone who needs it use it. In the process of clearing out (and tripping down memory lane!) I have stumbled across a few old mixes from when I used to dj on Radio Magnetic (as Trippy Disco and on The Discopia Show). I will be uploading these mixes to Mixcloud in the near future, and here is the first one, recorded in the summer of 2004. The tracklist for this is a bit patchy, as I can't recall what some of these tunes are! If you can help, leave track ids in the comments...

Radio Magnetic Summer Mix 2004 by Theniallist on Mixcloud

More Homoelectric pics

Found some stray pics from the last HomoElectric with guests Bicep. Think these are by Thom Docking:

Drunk At Vogue boat party

We had a really great time at the Drunk At Vogue boat party - a trip up and down the Manchester canals in the sunshine to a soundtrack of classic disco and 90s house. Bliss! Here's some photos, mostly by Lee Baxter, and also by Thom Docking:

CUNT TRAXXX "Basic Bitches"

AND ANOTHER brand new C Traxxx! This time sampling that YouTube clip of Lohanthony's announcement to the Basic Bitches. I'm very happy with this, it's the best CT so far: 

  BASIC BITCHES by CUNT TRAXXX

The Dark Knight Rises mini-review

Mild spoliers ahead. 

We went to see it at a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises on Saturday and I have to say, I was very impressed. I've not been the biggest fan of Nolan's take on the Batman legacy, but by this, the third instalment, I was willing to let go of my reservations and just go with his vision.

The fundamental flaws I perceived in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were these: firstly, trying to turn the Batman mythos into a reality-based, completely believable, The Wire-type universe was too limiting, and secondly that Christian Bale didn't convince me as he was neither a charming Bruce Wayne nor a threatening Batman. Maybe it's the silly voice?

By now Nolan has a very firm grasp on the material, and is able to execute his own take on the mythos with great ease. It's maybe taken his three attempts to get there, but he has arrived, and it was worth the wait. There's an ease and a fluidity in the story-telling now that wasn't there before.

Other elements that annoyed me before are neatly taken care of here. Take Michael Caine for instance. I'm sorry, but Michael Caine is NOT Alfred, he is simply Michael Caine with a serving dish, and acts as a constant reminder that this is no ordinary superhero franchise, it's serious. Thankfully, Caine disappears pretty early on in TDKR, and his purpose is simply to be an emotional cypher, something he does very well.

In fact, the entire cast are on top form here. Even Morgan Freeman has more to do than being just another reminder, like Caine, of how serious this franchise is. Even Bale delivers, despite the silly voice, and his Bruce Wayne-as-reclusive-loner is much more convincing than Bruce Wayne-as-charmless-playboy.

But biggest props of all go to the other "heroes". Tom Hardy is excellent as Bane, emoting with merely his eyes and his neck muscles, and despite the constant comparisons to Heath Ledger's Joker (a wildly different character) comfortably holds his own. He'd also whip the Joker's ass, easy.

However, the whole show was stolen for me by Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, who thankfully is NEVER refered to as "Catwoman", though the word "cat:" is mentioned a couple of times. I have to admit I was very doubtful about the casting choice of Hathaway. Not that I dislike her as an actress, but that I doubted her suitability for the role. I am glad to say I was proven very wrong, and Hathaway delivers in spades. She is slinky and feline, without ever resorting to linking the back of her hand and uttering "meow", and physically a presence to be reckoned with.

I'll definitely be going to see this again, probably in the IMAX to see the stunts in glorious large-screen format, and if there is any kind of a follow up to this film, I hope Hathaway as Selina Kyle has a key role.

Bollox pics

Still, just cos the UK is going to corporate hell in a hand-basket, we can still dance and have fun, right?

Time to go?

Man, it seems like the news is just a never ending stream of reasons to leave the UK at the moment. Top of the list is the fucking Olympics (trying to turn London and the UK into a corporate-controlled nightmare), but there's also the cop who killed Ian Tomlinson walking free, plus more and more excessive control over the media. Here's a short selection of the stories I am talking about:

Tomlinson Death: PC not guilty
Nobody can tell you why you can't watch the BBC riots docu-drama
Britain flooded with 'brand police' to protect Olympic sponsors
Police deny Olympic residents access to home
£13tn hoard hidden form taxman by global elite

Live @ MEAT NIGHT (Gullivers)

A new night of fun and frolics from the ladies of MEAT.
Ft yours truly and some of the stars of Tranarchy...

CUNT TRAXXX "Vogue 4 Life"

MORE new Cunt Traxxx - I'm on a roll at the moment. Recognise the sample?


VOGUE 4 LIFE by CUNT TRAXXX

Dangerous Minds July 9th-15th

Elephant Man beanie toy
Is this the best sign ever? (answer = yes!)
More John Lydon on 'Question Time', this time sticking it to the banks
The Fuilth & The Fury: Christeene's LA album launch, tomorrow night

Malc Stone pics

LOVING these pics of me by the very talented Malc Stone, taken downstairs at the Trash-O-Rama room at Homoelectric. One of these is getting used as my next single sleeve:

Diplo ft Nicky Da B "Express Yourself"

ARGH! I'm obsessed with this tune at the moment - esp the killer synth break down and Nicky Da B's rapping - I may have to do an edit or a remix:

Roseanne calls my friend "SHIT-BRAINS"

OMG this is amazing!!! WHAT I would give to be called "shit-brains" by the fabulous Ms Barr: 

MY FIRST VICE ARTICLE!

Yeah, so I may have landed a new writing gig - reporting on all things drag/queer/underground for Vice's Noisey music channel. Here is my first piece, covering (who else?) Christeene:

Remember when hip-hop used to be ground breaking? When it was fresh, and shocking, and relevant, and felt like it actually might be working towards changing the way we lived, or some other profound bullshit like that? Y'know, back in the day when it actually pissed off your parents?

I do. I fell in love with it in the mid-90s when I was a kid. It felt transgressive, exciting and in my naive, teenage mind, I thought it was a music for and about everyone. Like, we're all oppressed by the man and stuff, so we should all unite under one banner and fight back, yeah? Yeah! Well, unfortunately it didn't really pan out like that. I quickly found out that rap had no place for me, not because I was white, but because I like to suck a dick. In fact, I don't just like it, I LOVE it. 

Read the full thing here. 

Dangerous Minds July 2nd - 8th

Man versus T-Mobile shop '
K-11': the most brutal cell block of all?
Motherbanger: the music of Chris Morris
Gorgeous animated video for Hahn & Hauschka's 'Bounce Bounce'

Homoelectric pics

Nice pics, by Malc Stone:

The Glasgow Years - 90s House mix for Bicep

I've uploaded the mix I did last year for Bicep to my Mixcloud page, and added some notes:

The Glasgow Years - 90s house mix for FEEL MY BICEP by Theniallist on Mixcloud

This is a mix I put together for the Feel My Bicep blog, covering the kind of music I was into and played in the mid-90s. It's called "The Glasgow Years" because it's the kind of music I heard/played when I first moved to Glasgow. Living in Glasgow and going out there got me more serious about clubbing and djing. Very housey, this mix is influenced by nights at the Sub Club like Subculture, Tangent and Kinky Afro, and Slam and early Pressure at the Arches.

Bicep are playing tomorrow night at Homoelectric! Looking forward to thatt.

Sneak peek:

At the new video for "Like Em Fat" from the album "AKA" - featuring Jezebel Steele and Gemma Lethal Leigh:

   

 Here's the track:

 
  Like Em Fat w/ Dr Ghe & MC Chubby Chase by theniallist

The Music of Chris Morris

This is a cross-post from Dangerous Minds, an article about the music made by one of my favourite comedians/satirists:

I think we can all agree that Chris Morris is a comedic genius, right?

His work, from BBC Radio’s On The Hour and The Chris Morris Music Show in the early 90s, through The Day Today, Brass Eye and Nathan Barley on TV, and all the way up to his most recent work, Four Lions, is both howlingly funny and the pinnacle of biting satire.

One of the reasons his work is so powerful is the attention to detail, from the small linguistic tics to the perfectly-framed, over-the-top computer graphics. But in particular, for me, it’s his use music that is most impressive. Morris can simultaneously rip the piss out of a tune or a band while lodging a brand new melody in the style of that act permanently into your brain. That’s no mean feat.

While Chris Morris’ musical works are never really foregrounded in his films and shows, they are definitely worthy of attention in their own right. (Heads up WARP - why not put out a compilation of Morris’ musical satires?) So, after a discussion with a friend that was sparked by the discovery of an American band non-ironically named “Blouse”, I decided to compile the best of Morris’ musical parodies for DM.

A major tip of the hat is due to the YouTube uploader FourJamLions, who has uploaded quite a bit of Morris’ music, though some of it is not embeddable on other sites. Here is FourJamLions’ compiled clip of the best musical moments from the classic series Brass Eye. This clip includes the priceless Pulp parody “Blouse” (with Morris playing the lead singer “Purves”) singing an ode to serial child killer Myra Hindley. After the jump there’s more of Morris’ musical monstrosities, but if you need some bizarre-but-familiar aural refreshment this Friday, here’s a great introduction:

BRASS EYE Music (inc Pulp parody BLOUSE “Me Oh Myra”)

There's LOADS more Chris Morris musical parodies in the post itself, which you can read here.

Artwork by David Bailey

Dangerous Minds June 25th - July 1st

Christians prove Evolution is a lie, with help from the Loch Ness Monster
Disco from the streets: the entire catalog of P&P records on 15 CDs
That's genius! GZA 'Liquid Swords' chess set
'The Second Second Coming': brilliant Stone Roses spoof starring Peter Serafinowicz