Gordon in the morning: One man crimewave

Gordon reports that Noel Gallagher filled his boots after the Brits:

Noel wrote on his blog: "I'm having trouble remembering anything after the Brits! What a smash up!

"Called it a day at about 10am. Proper old-school business.

"Didn't get home until 5pm the next evening and I'd somehow managed to nick a giant shoe and ended up with an £8,000 watch! And I don't even wear a watch!"

"Smash ups", stealing shoes and valuable items? What does that remind me of.

Oh, yes, the riots last year.

I remember Noel being quite clear on those:

. The people who are at these riots aren't poor. These are kids with fucking mobile phones and all sorts of shit. The police and government have to take drastic measures.

Clearly, the trouble with the rioters is they didn't first play a track with Chris Martin, which makes the difference between mindless criminality and high-spirited larks.

Alan McGee laughs as the world burns

Long-term friend of this blog Alan McGee has been sharing the benefit of his insight into the modern world of music with The Australian.

Shall we listen in?

“I don’t really like music,” he said, adding that considering that people in the industry were “drug-addled” and he’d grown tired of them. “With music it’s never enough for anybody… everyone wants to be Jagger or McCartney. As you grow older, it’s bullshit, you’re not that.”

Alan McGee was thirty six when he helped bring Be Here Now into the world. So clearly he must mean you have to quite a bit older before you realise that shouting drug-doused donkeys isn't that interesting. Thank god he's reached 50 and finally worked that one out.

He explained that in his time away from the industry not much has caught his attention. In fact, outside Glasvegas and The Libertines he wasn’t fussed on much these days.

Yeah, if you want an example of band that doesn't have any sense of a singer with a drug-addled Jagger complex, The Libertines would be exactly the sort of thing you should go for.

Still, McGee knows the struggles of being a small label owner, so perhaps he'll drop his grumpy old sod persona when asked about the PIAS fire?

“I read that the Sony PIAS Building burnt down. I’m probably the only person who thought that was funny. I call that a result. Got rid of all the shit music. And you get paid for it, the stuff you couldn’t sell.”

Oh.

What a contrarian, right?

Indeed, when asked about the comments later, McGee even trotted out a defence which even included that last refuge of the boring old fart, the "I'm not afraid of being politically correct" line:

I hate Sony, if the Sony building burnt to the ground again as it did, I’d say that was a result, I think it's funny. Loads of shit music getting burned, I think it's great, and I'm sorry if that’s not popular and if that's not PC, but fuck PC, that’s what’s ruined England, not being able to say what you think; sorry, but I do, and if you don’t like it go fuck yourself.

Let's just try and stop our eyes rolling for a couple of minutes to squeeze in one last quote - because as well as standing by his oh-so-brave assault on PC, he also claims all the other things he said were just ignored:

The British media have tried to ignore what I think. They took the statement, they weren't even there; come down here and basically take what I said out of context, which was basically taken from 5 or 10 seconds from a 30-minute chat, but I don't back off it, there’s loads of shit music and if it gets burned so what?

Perhaps they only took those few seconds because everything else was boring, confused garbage like how all music is rubbish apart from The Libertines?

[Thanks to Michael M]

Leona Lewis comments on current events

Talking to The Guardian Guide, Leona Lewis struggled to explain the riots.

Fair enough: it's going to be quite a while before anyone will actually really understand the causes of the riots, and by then the world will have moved on and will be rioting elsewhere, for different reasons. So perhaps it's a bit much to expect Leona to have something coherent to offer.

"It was just hoodrats getting totally out of control," she froths, with an indignant swish of her newly dark, single-plaited hair. "I don't think there was any motivation behind it other than to cause trouble cos they're bored and want free stuff. Total, total hoodrats. Little shits!"

If we take this as a thought-through position, doesn't Leona think that 'boredom' is a motivation of itself? And that 'boredom' has its own causes and impulses?

And, given that Lewis is effectively trilling Cameron's "criminality pure and simple" line, albeit while wearing slightly nicer underwear, surely there's a question why these pure, simple criminals acted out on those three or four days last month, and not at any time before or since? Didn't something cause those "hoodrats" to suddenly swarm like hoodrats over branches of 3?

"I don't care how poor you are," she scoffs, "there's no excuse for setting fire to people's property. I was, 'This is our community and you're setting fire to your neighbour's house? You could kill someone!' They weren't even thinking about it."

That's true; there wasn't a lot of analytical thinking going on. And, indeed, there won't be any if Lewis has anything to do with it, not while people confuse 'understanding the causes' with 'making excuses for'.

"My dad was saying, 'It's been a long time coming,'" she notes. "He was, 'We have so many laws and regulations against us that we can't discipline the kids. There is no discipline.' It's a lack of discipline and respect. Yeah, some were opportunists just taking stuff but the ones setting light to stuff? When I was young there were always troublemakers but it's changed so much."

I've tried to pick this apart to work out what Lewis actually means here - is she saying that the looters had understandable motivations if they weren't also arsonists? Or just the opportunist looters? How does an opportunist looter differ from a hoodrat?

The suggestion that troublemakers have got out of hand is fascinating, given what Lewis is in the paper to promote:

Most intriguingly, there's the stunning trip-hop of Trouble ("It's very London,"), as if Kate Bush in 1979 was transported through a pop Tardis to front Massive Attack in 1991. Her spectral vocal imploring "I'm a whole lot of trouble."

"It's definitely true," she smiles. "I am a whole lot of trouble."

So, presumably, in Lewis' moral kingdom, troublemaking is a finely-graded thing - some troublemaking is fine; some, even desirable. But there's a point at which troublemaking turns into hoodratting, and then it becomes a thing that's bad.

But let's just turn back to her views on a lack of respect. Leona Lewis owes her fame to a television programme whose premise is inviting people to come and have a go at achieving fame and fortune without the need to demonstrate much in the way of talent or work to achieve that end, and which, especially in its early stages, consists of very rich people sitting in judgement on the have-nots, alternating between pissing on their dreams and deriding their deficiencies. Perhaps Lewis doesn't want to look too closely at the culture that has rioted, because it might be close to home in ways that aren't solely geographic?

Gary Numan: Me, I disconnect from UK

You'd have thought a chap like Gary Numan, who made his fortune picturing a post-apocalyptic world of electronic friend rentals, car-dwelling survivors and people wearing second-string branded jeans, would have been in his element over the last couple of weeks.

Turns out not, though: Numan is hitching up his skirts and fleeing England for America.

It's understandable, though: Numan lives in one of the riot hotspots, Waldron. Yes, just forty miles as the looted, lit bottle of four star flies from the nearest bit of rioting.

Numan is insisting that his sleepy home village is something of a gangsta's paradise, though, cracking the door open enough to squeak to the Argus:

“We live right out in the country. It is very rural and there are no big cities. You would think it would be the most peaceful place in the world and it is very pretty and relatively affluent. Yet the other day my wife was walking down the High Street and a bunch of kids between 12 and 14 were telling her what they would like to do to her. She had my children with her. You’ve got to be kidding.”

Yes, slightly boisterous teenagers. One incident with cheeky kids, and Numan is sat in the saferoom, Remax on speed dial, plotting his escape.

His neighbours are a bit bemused:

Father David Charles, the priest in charge of All Saints church in Waldron, said: “There’s only a couple of hundred residents and they are mostly retired. If there are any gangs roaming about I’ve certainly missed them.”

To be fair, the single incident Numan could think of was probably in nearby Heathfield rather than Waldron itself; perhaps outside The Cushion Warehouse or in the shady precincts of The Wealden Talking News.

But can central Sussex stand to lose such a significant member of its population?

Wealden District councillor Dick Angel said: “I can’t say I’ve ever heard of him, so it wouldn’t be much of a loss. I think it’s absolutely astounding he could say this.”

Gary Numan, Councillor Angel. You remember: the bloke who crashed his plane. Was going to shoot anyone who didn't like the Royal Family. Owner of the most famous hair weave, for a while. Surely you recall?

So where is Numan off to? He's going for a quiet life in Santa Monica:

“America clearly has its own problems, but Santa Monica is great. It has beautiful beaches and the Pacific Ocean. There is not one bit of trouble and not one surly or aggressive person there. Everyone is friendly.

You ask the teenagers there for directions and they are polite and helpful.

“Do that here and you are as likely to get stabbed as you are to get directions. The fact is the English are pretty miserable.”

Yes, that's right, Gary. In fact, it's a fact that satnavs were only invented because of the greater than 50% likelihood that asking the way in Britain would get you stabbed. It was the only way to stop the bloodshed of the late 1990s when thirty or forty people would be stabbed at every poorly signposted junction each week.

The Argus helpfully points out that Numan's view of Santa Monica might be based on poor research:

A comparison of crime statistics for the two areas shows that for the last available month Wealden had 30 incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour, compared to 317 offences recorded for the city of Santa Monica.

The American city recorded 14 assaults with a deadly weapon compared to none in Wealden. There were 16 counts of grand theft auto, compared to zero vehicle crimes in Wealden.

Santa Monica's Wikipedia entry actually has its own section for gang activity. Wealden's entry doesn't even mention crime.

Goodbye, Gary. Good luck in your new home.

Talking of that fire, though...

I've been poking round the Guardian's map of all verified incidents and the Sony Distribution Warehouse fire looks to be unique.

All the other incidents recorded seem to be on High Streets, and attacks on retail units. This seems to be the only time rioting looters took the time to go to a suburban business park and target a business.

Now, maybe the Sony logo made people think this was the place where PlayStations come from, and thus worth a detour.

But given that the focus of the lootathon was on retail units with low-level protection, the targeting of a massive, secure unit away from the High Street seems to be something other.

Noel Gallagher comments on current events

Noel Gallagher has shared his views on the riots:

"I can't understand where their energy for these riots is coming from. We live in this age of violence - and I don't care what other people say: Brutal TV and brutal video games are a reason for this pointless violence as well. The people are immune to violence, they are used to it. And if they get caught they aren't punished the right way. The prisons are already full? Then build new ones!

"It's crazy! It's just violence for the sake of violence. The people who are at these riots aren't poor. These are kids with f***ing mobile phones and all sorts of shit. The police and government have to take drastic measures."

You'll notice that it's TV and video games which are setting the bad examples. Not - and let's be very clear about this - certain musicians who have banged on about fighting their brothers or building an image around laddishness and killing pigeons for kicks.

"There aren't any reasons! There's a guy who gets shot - a gangster if I may add that, who had a gun. If you live by the sword, you die by the sword! Then suddenly there are riots everywhere. There is no reason for that. It's just pointless violence of f***ing idiots. When it rains no one is rioting! And you can always rely on rain in London - except for now when we would need it."

Given that Noel is the king of pointless swaggering, it's... oh... you know what?

More on the PIAS fire

Distribution is a funny thing, isn't it? Most of the time, it's just there, in the background. People are aware of it, not least as it being some sort of factor in deciding what records are indie and which aren't.

But take it out - as the fire has done to PIAS - and it suddenly becomes very obvious indeed.

Chemikal Underground have sent a mailing on the loss of all that stock:

While we’ve lost a considerable chunk of our own back catalogue in addition to stock of our more recent titles, the repercussions of last night’s events will be felt by all labels and retailers up and down the country for months to come. We also have enormous sympathy for PIAS itself: a wonderful independent distributor and an unfailingly supportive partner for Chemikal Underground over the last twelve years.

Quantifying the financial impact this will have on labels will take time but one thing is becoming abundantly clear: the suggestion that people no longer value music or those who endeavour to make it is myth; the collective support and sympathy being offered online for artists and labels demonstrates that we have a uniquely passionate and proactive community of music fans throughout the UK and it’s this passion and support that can, and will, ultimately, sustain the labels currently under threat.

They suggest buying something from one of the labels who rely on PIAS. I think everyone hearily endorses that idea and - although you've seen this list elsewhere, time to pick your favourites and give them a shout:

1234
2020 Vision
Accidental
Ad Altiora
Adventures Close to home
Alberts
All City
Alt Delete
Ambush Reality
Angular
Ark
ATC
Atic
Atlantic Jaxx
Azuli
B Unique
Backyard
Bad Sneakers
Bandstock
Banquet
Basick
Beggars
Big Chill
Big Dada
Big Life / Nul / Sindy Stroker
Boombox
Border Community
Boysnoize
Brille
Bronzerat
Brownswood
Buzzin Fly
Can You Feel It
Catskills
ChannelFly
Chemikal Underground
City Rockers
Counter
D Cypher
Dance To The Radio
Deceptive
Def Jux
Dirtee Stank
Divine Comedy
Domino
Drag City
Drive Thru
Drowned in Sound
Dummy
Duophonic
Eat Sleep / Sorepoint
Electric Toaster
Emfire
F. Comm
Fabric
Faith And Hope
Fantastic Plastic
Fargo
FatCat
Feraltone
Finders Keepers / Twisted Nerve
Fingerlickin'
Flock
Free Range
From The Basement
Full Time Hobby
Goldsoul
Gronland
Groove Attack
Halftime
Hassle
Heron
Hum&Haw
Independiente
Info UK
Join Us
Kartel
Kensaltown
Kitsune
Kompakt
Laughing Stock
Leftroom
Lex
Lo Max
Loose
Love Box
Lowlife
Lucky Number
Marquis Cha Cha
Memphis Industry
Merok
Metroline
Mute
Naïve
Nation
Navigator
New World
Ninja Tune
Nuclear Blast
One Little Indian
Output / People in the Sky / Process
Pale Blue
Palm
Peacefrog
PIAS Recordings
PIP 555 Productions
Play To Work
Powerhouse (T2)
Propaganda / Ho Hum
Raw Canvas
Red Grape
Red Telephone Box
Rekids
Renaissance
Respect Productions (PES digital)
Reveal Records
RMG
Rock Action
Roots
Rough Trade
Rough Trade Comps
Rubyworks
Ruffa Lane
Search And Destroy
Secret Sundaze
Secretly Canadian / Jagjaguwar / Dead Oceans
Sell Yourself
Setanta
Shatterproof
Sideone Dummy
Slam Dunk
Smalltown
Soma
Something In Construction
Sonic Cathedral
Sonar Kollectiv
Soul Jazz
Southern Fried
Stranded Soldier
Subliminal
Sunday Best
TARGO
Taste
Ten Worlds
Thrill Jockey
Total Fitness
Touch And Go
Track And Field
TriTone
Trouble
Try Harder
Turk
Turnstile
Twenty 20
Underworld
Union Square
Urban Torque
Vagrant
Vice
Victory
Wagram
Wall Of Sound
Warp
Wi45
Wonky Atlas
Word And Sound
Xtra Mile
You Are Here

Mindless event reported in Manchester

Seriously, the Manchester looters? You looted Pretty Green last night? It really is thieving without discrimination.

PIAS official statement

As news of the loss of the PIAS/Sony warehouse has been spreading, the PIAS website has been suffering too (well-wishers rather than arsonists this time).

Their statement:

"There was a fire last night at the SonyDADC warehouse which services the physical distribution for PIAS in the UK and Ireland. PIAS is working closely with SonyDADC who are implementing their emergency plans. PIAS's UK offices in London and all other areas of our business are unaffected. More information will be communicated shortly to all our labels and partners"

Joe McElderry: The Omarion of the London Riots

Joe McElderry was in Hackney last night, so we are blessed to have his first-hand report from the scene:

Joe McElderry found himself in the middle of the London riots yesterday, August 8, while filming a new music video.

The talented singer was working "right in the middle of Hackney" on a video shoot and experienced first hand the severity of the situation. Tweeting at about 8pm BST last night, McElderry let his followers know that he was fine, but had witnessed some shocking sights:

"That's a wrap!! Video is done!! We were filming in a location building! Right in the middle of hackney were the riots were!!!"

"It's all kicking off! Cars on fire and everything! So sad that these people are doing this to there own towns!! just left now got out safe!"

Goodness, a three exclamation mark riot.

This comes from PressParty who appear to be slightly distancing themselves from the claim that he was in "the middle" of riots, or even Hackney, by the second paragraph. I'm not entirely sure the claim that McElderly "saw some shocking sights" is actually supported by his second tweet, either.

It's unlikely if Joe really was in the middle, rather than sort-of-near, his first thought would have been "that's a wrap", no? Although Nero did fiddle while Rome burned, so maybe Joe would lip-sync while Hackney blazed?

[via @wadeywade]

Sony Distribtuion Centre destroyed

The Sony Distribution warehouse in Enfield looks to have been

A LFB spokesman said: "We were called just before midnight to a warehouse in Solar Way, Enfield.
"Eight fire engines are in attendance and around 40 firefighters have been fighting the fire.
"They are making steady progress and will remain on the scene into the morning.
"There was quite a lot of black smoke and the building has partially collapsed into itself."

A hit smaller labels could have done without - like too many other small businesses, they've taken a massive hit just because they were in the way.

MIA also comments on current events

On Twitter:

im going down to the riots to hand out tea and mars bars #london

I think you'll find that most of asshats have grabbed Mars bars for themselves, MIA. Also, aren't you tucked up in Malibu at the moment?

Morrissey responds to current events

Morrissey played London last night - Brixton, where apparently there was a minor kick-off later on - and offered his response to the riots:

Performing as rioting erupted in Brixton less than 24 hours after similar clashes in Tottenham, Morrissey criticised the prime minister's response to the incidents.

"Does anyone think that David Cameron has been to Tottenham? I don't think so," he told the crowd.

Later in the gig, Morrissey also referred to the student riots last December, according to the Evening Standard.

"In what our slanted media called the student riots, Charles and 'Camel' came face to face with the British public, without the protection of Buckingham Palace or the police,” he said.

“And what happened to them, I couldn't stop laughing about for weeks - no, months."

He probably has a point on Cameron.

Death From Above cause 'riot'; CBC vanishes article

Nasty scenes as overexcitement and undersized venues combined to turn Death From Above 1979's comeback show into a riot.

Consequence Of Sound's Jeremy D Larson was inside:

From inside, we witnessed firsthand a man being repeatedly punched in the face by a police officer. This was all happening as the band played. As DFA 1979 finished “Romantic Rights” (I believe), two or three police walked on stage, followed by a man in charge of the venue.

“The alley needs to be cleared in ten minutes or the show is over,” said the man. He was met with a mixed reaction from the crowd — no one wanted the show to end, but those of us inside — or at least myself — had no problems with the people watching. During the ten minutes, police stood by as those in the alley reluctantly dispersed. A report came back that two to three people were arrested, and as of posting, this is still unconfirmed. Meanwhile, Grainger told some yuck-yuck jokes and jawed with the audience about their rehearsals and previous setlists. It was unnerving but commendable.

CBC's Radio 3 blog also had a story on the riot, which appeared about an hour ago but has since vanished from their site. What's interesting about the CBC story is it suggests there wasn't actually any need for cops on horses to turn up with pepper spray:

I, like many, got close to the gaping space when the fence came down. I shot photos, took video, so many did. It was scary, but after no one rushed the stage, I felt a bit relieved. It was obvious the fans outside wanted to be there, wanted to be cooperative, wanted to dance around and experience the bands first show since 2005.

The security at Beauty Bar also did a great job of securing the fence, holding it up with their bodies, and even some rope. From what I saw, they were trying to accommodate fans on both sides of the fence.

Things seemed to be going well, the band resumed playing, everyone started dancing. Then the riot police showed up on horseback. They sideswiped the crowd, pepper spraying and even tasing some fans. The band stopped playing, the fans were given 10 minutes to clear the alley, if the fans didn’t leave, they would have to cancel the show.

From this, it sounds like a not-unusual crush at an overpopular gig was turned into a riot by the addition of heavy-handed policing - although the unnamed fan's account doesn't condemn the police:

Did I get scared? Yes. Did I think the fans, band and security handled it well? Absolutely. Do I blame the cops for showing up? No. I understand why they were called. If fans did rush the stage, cramping hundreds of excess people into a small fenced in space, their presence would have been definitely needed.

Maybe that's true, but did waving tasers round and spraying pepper into fans eyes' really help?

There's some footage on YouTube:


It's important to note that, once the cops had been, the gig continued to a peaceful conclusion, which is something that wouldn't normally happen after an actual riot.

[UPDATE: The CBC blog has reappeared, credited to Lana Gay.]

Iron Maiden move their audience

Bogota played host to Iron Maiden yesterday; it wasn't a total success as chaos descended on the city. First, there was trouble inside as metal fans failed to respect the VIP area and clambered in, in order to get closer to the stage.

Outside, fans who had been unable to get tickets at all milled about, with the presence of unfriendly police managing to tip the atmosphere over into a mini-riot.

Colombian commentators are suggesting that Iron Maiden and their fans may now have spoiled it for all metal acts wanting to play the country.

She wasn't Toni Braxton enough for me

What could be worse than turning up to see Toni Braxton, and discovering that the person on stage wasn't Toni Braxton at all? Besides turning up, it not being her, and then a riot ensuing.

Somehow, people in Suriname were able to remember what the real Toni Braxton looks like, and, realising that the woman on stage was Trina Johnson, a Braxton impersonator, set about trashing the joint and looting.

It's the worst tribute-act related violence since Nowaysis fans kicked stuff after realising the Knebworth gigs were actually being played by the real Gallaghers.

Toni Braxton's people have issued a statement, glad of a reason to be in the news:

"Toni Braxton is aware of what happened and is obviously displeased with what happened. She regrets that both she and her fans have been victimized by this hoax. Ms. Braxton's attorneys are exploring the legal ramifications."

It's not entirely clear why Ms Braxton's attorneys would think there would be any legal ramifications of 'tribute act in Suriname goes awry' which should detain them; it's even less clear if the Braxton camp could show any working to justify how Toni has been "victimized" by the event - unless, perhaps, she was also playing a gig in neighbourhood and lost ticket sales?

[Thanks to Michael M]