Microscopic by Andrés Pichardo
At time of writing London is a slushy citadel of collapsing infrastructure. Cue the crisp dream-pop of 19-year-old multi-instrumentalist Andrés Pichardo, aka Grand Resort. The Massachusetts teen offers a shiny antidote to the winter blues – his is music equally indebted to the slick FM rock of his homeland as to erstwhile British indie. Download Microscopic below.
07 Feb 2012
Too Much Too Young: Bengali Backlash in Somers Town
This video is a slice of 1997, directed by Arun Kumar for Channel 4 back in the day. It follows some young Bengali boys living on the Somers Town estate in Camden and the racial abuse that follows after the murder of another boy on the area.
Our pal Zuber, publisher of Footy Matters and a proud resident of Somers Town, suggested today’s video.
07 Feb 2012
Mayor Johnson's new campaign video makes £3.10 go a hell of a long way
Last week the Mayor announced he was cutting his share of the council tax by 1%, or £3.10 a year for a band D property. Everyone had a lot of fun with that figure, and it was all quite LOL, but now we get to see why he bothered – so he could make videos like this one. Subtle it aint.
You’ll note that there’s no mention of £3.10. And there’s a repetition of the disingenuous implication that Labour assembley members don’t support freezing or lowering the council tax. Dave Hill debunked this Johnson campaign meme here.
So, we’ve got to February, and the dividing lines for this campaign are now clear. Ken Livingstone says Boris Johnson means higher fares. Boris Johnson says Ken Livingstone means higher tax. That’s pretty much it.
Expect to hear those formulations again and again and again between now and May. So often, in fact, that as you enter the polling booth your ears will be bleeding and your head will be sore, and you’ll have forgotten that any third party candidates even exist.
Just embrace it, people. It will be over soon.
Snipe – Mayor Johnson cuts council tax by £3.10. What will you buy?
Adam Bienkov – Boris Johnson to save Londoners three whole pounds
Dave Hill at The Guardian – Ken Livingstone and council tax: porkies and possibilities
07 Feb 2012
London agenda for Tuesday 7 February
1. Listen to homeless person Vijay Jagun, sex industry worker Madam Becky, and Beefeater and YouTube sensation Bill Callaghan tell stories at All Ears [Le Cool]
2. Celebrate Dicken’s birthday by talking about death [Run Riot]
3 See the only London show of Portland’s Blouse [Flavorpill]
4. Finally, a giant session of Ping Pong [Don’t Panic]
5. Take a look at how TFL is going to solve the Euston Circus mess [Ian Visits]
6. Find a Dickens memorial [Tired of London]
07 Feb 2012
'London's trains don't really matter,' Lib Dems' mayoral candidate declares
When you’re running for London’s top job, it probably isn’t a wise idea to tell the capital’s train travellers their journeys aren’t really that important.
Monday saw Boris Johnson declare he wanted to take charge of London’s National Rail franchise. It won’t have come as a surprise to hardened rail-watchers, but the Evening Standard loyally gave him its front page splash, with vox-pops of grateful Londoners queuing up to say why they might vote for him.
Of course, Ken Livingstone announced something very similar a few weeks ago – but funnily enough, didn’t get the same coverage from the Standard. Wonder why that was?
For many who endure the likes of Southeastern, First Capital Connect and the late, unlamented National Express East Anglia each day, these are welcome signs that they might end up seeing improved services at some point during their lifetimes.
But left out of all this coverage was Lib Dem mayoral candidate Brian Paddick. What are his plans for London’s trains? This press release hit political hacks’ inboxes this afternoon…
Six months from London riots-Johnson and Livingstone can only talk about trains
Commenting on Mayor Boris Johnson’s transport announcement today, Lib Dem Mayoral Candidate and former Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Brian Paddick said:
“Today it is exactly 6 months since the London riots, yet Mayor Boris Johnson decided to mark this serious event by announcing he should have control of overground trains.
“This is unacceptable. Londoners consistently rate crime and policing as the most important issues in this election – not transport.
“Until he and his Labour opponent have addressed the causes of the riots and the need for serious reform of policing they continue to demonstrate themselves unfit to hold the post of Mayor.”
Roughly translated, that means Brian’s pissed off his trip to Tottenham has gone largely unnoticed.
But mocking Boris and Ken for putting transport centre stage seems an odd strategy. It’s the one area the mayor has always had strong powers over. Ken moved ahead of Boris in the polls after last month’s fare rises.
To mock this big issue as mere “talking about trains” won’t lift Brian’s low profile in the minds of Londoners who struggle daily to use those trains. Yet the prospect of TfL taking over the capital’s dirty, dimly-lit and poorly-staffed mainline stations and giving them an Overground-style makeover should surely appeal to his crime-fighting agenda.
Until he realises what Boris and Ken have realised, Brian Paddick will struggle to win over voters stuck on platforms in Ladywell and London Fields.
06 Feb 2012
Friends of Friends by Hospitality
For NYC four-piece Hospitality, making sophisticated, intelligent indie-pop appears, on the surface at least, to be the most effortless thing in the world. No doubt singer Amber Papini and her cohorts toil for days over their neat, dynamic compositions. Or perhaps they don’t and they are in fact geniuses. Today’s MPFree is a taster from their self-titled debut, released April 9th on Fire Records.
06 Feb 2012
Camden installs scary robo-voice to chase away residents from their garden
The Big Smoke has published a cracker of a story. In the communal gardens of Walker House, Camden Council has installed a camera that, in best Robocop fashion, barks out ‘Stop. This is a restricted area and your photograph is being taken. It will be sent for processing if you do not leave the area now.’
Forget about the why Camden would want to drive people away from their garden, the real question is where Camden will find a film processor in this day and age—otherwise, we would have to assume that the photo is digital and they are lying about it.
Source: The Big Smoke Who the hell do Camden Council think they are?
06 Feb 2012
London agenda for Monday 6 February
1. View Stuart Pearson Wright’s tattooed musclemen and gym chicks painted heroically on wonky china cups [Le Cool]
2. Watch ‘actors from the live fiction salon perform stories of desire and conflict from Granta’s latest issue’ at the Betsy Trotwood [Run Riot]
3. See the award-winning doc ‘If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front’ at Foto8 [Don’t Panic]
4. Find a national icon at the LSE [Ian Visits]
5. Water your four legged friend at the Pilot’s Dog Bar [Tired of London]
06 Feb 2012
Snipe on DIY Radio
Snipe’s music editor John Rogers has started hosting a monthly radio show on DIY Radio. This episode features an interview with former Snipe cover star David Thomas Broughton and tracks by lots of bands that have featured in the mag and on Daily MPfree over the last few months. Enjoy!
04 Feb 2012
The Malpractice - Boss Stallion
Danish solo artist The Malpractice makes electronic popSLASHrock with flickers of influence from as far and wide as Nine Inch Nails, Faith No More, Hot Chip and Enon. Boss Stallion is one of the more “pop” numbers from his fantastic debut “Tectonics”, out Feb 13th on Crunchy Frog. Catch him live at Crunchy Club at Camden’s Wheelbarrow on March 8th, with labelmates Snake and Jets Amazing Bullit Band.
03 Feb 2012
Snipe Highlights
Some popular articles from past years
- Hope and despair in Woolwich town centre
- Random Interview: Eileen Conn, co-ordinator of Peckham Vision
- The five best places in London to have an epiphany
- Summer Camp: Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days
- Nice map of London's fruit trees shows you where to pick free food
- Punk brewery just as sexist and homophobic as the industry they rail against
- Nice Interactive timeline lets you follow Londoners' historic fight against racism
- The five spookiest abandoned London hospitals
- Could red kites be London's next big nature success story?
- The best church names in London, and where they come from
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