All fall down: what lies behind the toppling of the statues?
“As a true picture of British history, with its imperial connections stretching back hundreds of years, this country’s statuary is beyond inadequate – it’s downright offensive…”
Dead End Drive-in: a clever and political genre movie
Brian Trenchard-Smith’s film Dead End Drive-in is a low-budget action movie centred on a teenage couple trapped in a drive-in cinema – but it is much more than that. It’s one of the most political films I’ve ever seen.
Subversion on screen: a tribute to the film maker George Romero
In 1968, the year of the Tet Offensive, the assassination of Martin Luther King and the stand of Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the Olympic Games in Mexico, a little-known filmmaker from Pittsburgh made a movie The Night of the Living Dead. Its central theme was of a smart, assertive, compassionate black man surviving the zombie apocalypse, only to be murdered by nervous whites the next morning.
France: the cultural war against the fascist Front National
The results of the French presidential elections are in, with Macron beating the fascist Le Pen. Here we look at the cultural war challenging Marine Le Pen and the FN, and the conditions that have allowed the fascists to flourish
The women who made punk
If I recall right, the first woman punk musician I saw on stage was Gaye Advert (Gaye Black), the Adverts’ bass player. It was sometime in 1977 and they were touring with my favourite band, The Damned.
Your favourite tracks/albums of 2016
Every year we invite musicians, DJs and readers to send us their five favourite albums or tracks of 2016. In a year that saw so many great musicians pass away, there were a number of brilliant musical recordings. Our readers’ selections are eclectic and cross many genres. I hope you find some new music to explore.