Well the Socialist Worker Party’s comment form on the rose-tinted sweetness and light article about the festival isn’t working, so I’ll post this here:

“I was one of the people at the Love Music Hate Racism carnival, too young for the original Rock Against Racism but regard that concert with great respect.

Overall it was a great festival, but with a few major issues.

It’s a shame though that unlike the Pride events held at Victoria Park in the 90s there was fences and police everywhere, people confiscating or refusing entry to people with plastic water bottles (not just glass and alcohol) – but a really poor selection of alcohol inside.

But the biscuit was taken (away) by the police stopping the event – the aforementioned PCS tent. It wasn’t unsafe – in fact the tent was part empty – and people were just having a good time. I don’t expect the police at a political event to just shut the tent down at 5:20 for no explained reason – leaving DJ Hype and the poor MC to try and explain after getting us to step back, which we did. It was lucky that there wasn’t a riot…

Yes people had a great time, and it was the one part of the LMHR I felt racial and cultural divides breaking down with people dancing to everything to banghra to drum and bass – but I find it odd that the police would be in control of such an event, given the SWP/IS history. And as we left the organisers (not police) were rudely barking at people to move out of the way, but most of the problem was the ice cream van parked in front of the exit.

Also the irony of asking people to buy tshirts and bags to support the event. Capitalism anyone? Oh it’s ok to wear a tshirt if it has the right logo on it? Very dodgy.

So although I did have a good time, I did feel LMHR and SWP and the Unions involved were skating a very fine line -  I was left feeling disheartened rather than empowered, and felt that rather than talk to someone about it they’d rather sell me a tshirt.

So this is the revolution in action is it?”

I was talking about this with John (who is a member of the SWP, I am most definitely not although have leanings that way) – I think the festival compromised the SWP and LMHR and various groups involved.

They became the very things they railed against.

Yes it’s 3 years I’ve been doing Radio Clash, and we celebrate with a Punky well Dancey Live Mashup Party at the Parkade in Second Life with international stupid-star DJ, DJNoNo Ulysses.

He played a mixture of old classics played in previous Radio Clash shows and new mashups, especially from the new Chemical Bros remix album(s) ‘Block Rockin Boots’ and featuring some of the best mashup artists around atm.

It’s Super Mashin Party Tonight! (93Mb, 113mins)

BlowoutAndWishlist:

• Second Life Splashdown
• El barto & Liam B – I Feel Out Of Control (Block Rockin’ Boots Part.1)
• Ian Fondue – Edit (played RC:128 GYBOAT Show)
• team9 – Britney’s Dead or Alive
• c.h.a.o.s. productions – m.i.a. in funkytown (played RC:48 Enraged Pirate Edition)
• The Chemical Brothers – Star Guitar (PartyBen‘s A Big Bright Shining Star Remix – Block Rockin’ Boots Part.1)
• Jay Zeezer - 99 Luft Balloons (RC:99 SF pt 3- Botox and Dreadlocks)
• FSOL – Cascade (Dunproofin‘s Slight Breaks mix)
• Dean Gray – Dr Who’s Holiday (RC:55 1st year show)
• Sidney Looper – Ectave
• Dunproofin – Casbah Wonder (RC:75 This One’s for Joe)
• rx – Dick is a Killer (RC:64 Anal Staircase)
• DJ Clive$ter – The Surface Of Saturday Night (Block Rockin’ Boots Part.1)
• Audioshrapnel – He Loved The Sound Of The Crowd
• Beatbox Saboteurs – KneesUpMF (RC:119 Incomplete Medium)
• Steve Supercollider ft Octafish – Black Metal Tarantula (RC 54 Abba Madda Gabba Yabba Doo/RC:64)
• World Famous Audio Hacker – Setting Sun (Hacker’s Hardcore Inferno – Block Rockin’ Boots Part.2)
• Freelance Hairdresser – One minute marioland (RC:14 El3tr0n1c ed1t10n)
• C.H.A.O.S. Productions – Bootlegs Are Dead (RC:108 Radio Clash LIVE!)
• Phil n’ Dog – Gay Muppet Bastard (original played in RC:89 DJNoNo is a Muppet)
• Churchill – Hear Missy Work It (RC:28 DJNoNo II Revenge of the Hiss)
• Gameover – Heart ov Glass
• Lobsterdust - SaySayism Allstar Jam
• The Kleptones – My People Feel That Way In The Morning (RC:23 Stinging in the Rain)
• Partyben – Boulevard of Broken Songs (played in RC:1 Show premiere/show 9)
• DJ Earworm – Stairway to Bootleg Heaven (played in RC:2/RC:35 London Fear and Pride -Earworm interview/RC:55)

Not one but 2 episodes of Radio Clash – this is the first where I get as loud as hell and I’m not going to take it any more.

And talk about car bombs, Pride, Doctor Who, sponsored by the letter K for bootleg albums, and the upcoming gig in Second Life at Delos at 8pm UK / 12pm SL/PST this Saturday – come along!

Shout shout let it all out: (54Mb, 67mins) http://media.libsyn.com/media/radioclash/rc_122.mp3

Notes:

• Negativland – Car Bomb
• Sepultura – Bullet the Blue Sky
• Die Krupps – Fatherland (Sisters of Mercy mix)
• Pride Washout and Car Bombs
• DJ Schmolli – Land of Sonic Numbers (from Bootwerk)
• Electrosound – Relax, I wanna be Trash (from Kitsune Maison Mashed)
• Lesbians on Ecstasy – Sisters in the Struggle (from We Know You Know)
• Electrosound – Supermassive Rainbow (from Kitsune Maison Mashed)
• The Robots (Dunproofin‘s Where Were You In ’92 Mix – from Bootwerk)
• Doctor Who and Donna
• Aaron Spectre – B1 Pay To Cum VIP (clip)
• Juxtaposeur – Here Come the Drums
• Dalek, I Love You – Dalek, I Love You
• Copycat vs. Celebrity Murder Party – In A Trans European Manner Of Speaking ( from Bootwerk)
• Electrosound – Cherry Blossom Sister
• Instamatic – Comfortable Run
• I’ve got a Gig in Second Life! (at Delos, Saturday at 8pm UK / 12pm SL)
• Iron and Wine – Always On My Mind (live)

Supposed to be part of RC 121 but it all got way too long, so here it is as a separate long mix. Swap with your friends! Or swap FOR your friends! Sell them into slavery, I don’t care…

As it’s Gay Pride Month, here’s another alternative love/hate mix about Gay Pride – called Gay Shame  again in honour of Duckie, who aren’t running one this year. So maybe this mix will do?

Or maybe not?

It’s a sequel to this mix/podcast I did back in March 06 – which I thought was called Gay Shame but that’s the subtitle of one of Jeb’s mixes – oops. Bad, bad, bad memory! Jeb’s mix certainly inspired this one…as well as my love of campy silly music that I’ve played throughout Radio Clash.

Don tiny white tee, tiny black thong, stupid hat and those really annoying whistles here: (45mins / 37Mb) http://media.libsyn.com/media/radioclash/gayshame2_mix.mp3

Tracklist:

• Kinsey Sicks – Gay Sera Sera (live – from Boyz 2 Girlz)
• Kay Why? – Brothers Butch (From the Closet to the Charts)
• Eric Idle – Gay Animal Song
• Bill Hicks – Gays in the Military
• Scissor Sisters – Bicycle of the Devil (demo)
• La Terremoto De Alcorcon – Sin Afeitar (Gloria Gaynor Homenaje)
• Strawberry Shortcake – I Was Born to Disco
• Michael Gum – Lovefool
• Peter Grudzien – White Trash Hillbilly Trick (From the Closet to the Charts)
• William Shatner – Keep it Gay
• No More Abba
• Nation – Waterloo
• Hidden Cameras – Ban Marriage
• Graveworm – It’s a Sin
• Tornados – Do You Come Here Often? (From the Closet to the Charts)
• Cinerama – All the Things She Said
• Magnetic Fields – No One Will Ever Love You (from 69 Love Songs)
• Buy My Pride (with Spoken intro live – from I Wanna Be a Republican)
• Jay and Silent Bob ending

Well for the next couple of months it’s Pride season, traditionally June because of Stonewall but London Pride is in July and Brighton is in August. Prides in this country are fun mostly apolitical affairs (I’ve commented on that in the podcast before now). But spare a thought for those in countries where it’s still stuck in the 1960s/1970s attitudes – places like Poland and Latvia as mentioned in this article.

Gay rights still have to be fought for in many parts of the world, ironically though the assumption is that the main fight is in places like Africa, Asia and the Carribean with human rights abuses, but it looks like in our very own European Union we have countries like Poland who have not only brought in their version of Clause 28, but also have followed Jerry Fallwell’s line about Tinky Winky! It’s absurd and shows a disturbing level of homophobia…and the irony is that a lot of their super-Catholic values are being challenged as workers leave to work in other countries, and find the cultures there very different.

And it’s being wrapped up in an anti-EU stance by these parties (sound familiar, taking a minority and using it for political gain?) making EU action difficult, but the idea that places like Warsaw just instantly gained a gay scene and homosexual ‘propagandists’ when they joined the EU is frankly preposterous. But that’s the angle they are taking, and it reminds me of the Islamophobia since 9/11, political opportunism through prejudice.

That’s not to say all Eastern European people think like that – look at Romania’s attempts to improve things, for example – but I do think if Turkey can be refused entry partly on human rights concerns, then why have we let such countries into the EU, or why do we keep them in the Union when they commit abuses against the very EU legislation they signed up to when they joined?* They get the benefits of membership, so why should they shirk the responsibilities to EU citizens?

Anyway I think action is needed now, by the EU putting pressure on the governments, and even UK government. Otherwise I think there’s eventually going to be a riot at one of these prides that makes Stonewall look like a walk in the parade.

* Actually I can guess the answer to that one on mostly religious grounds…