Dizraeli's Blog
Alright then! It’s at times like these when it feels like the great, rusted, backwards-rolling old tank of Western civilisation is actually cranking a few heaves forwards. There’s hope painted on people’s faces everywhere, and yes we know that power has corrupted many a saint, and we know that the reality of governing the Universal Soldiers of Absolutelyeverything is that it’s a crazy muddle of challenges… But the king is dead! Long live Barack Obama! It still doesn’t seem possible, and people in their cynicism are still whispering that the worst could happen (look at
On the eve of the American elections, my housemate coughs violently in the kitchen and I’m on the phone to my mate in
In other news, Bad Science recently returned from our world tour of the West Country, heads ringing from the volume of experience we’ve had along the way. Thank you
Chris recorded the whole set for us at the Thekla, multitracked, and we’re going to cobble a live LP together from it alongside some other pieces of Science liveliness: look out for that which’ll hit your earholes in a few weeks’ time. In the mean-thyme (nasty herbs), we’re getting all worked up about a Tom Caruana/ Dizraeli hiphop remix of my favourite Bad Science tune ‘the Moon’, being loaded into the cannon as I write, which bumps harder than Slipknot (in a better way, too). If you’re on our mailing list, that’ll get sent to you free of charge on Friday. If you’re not on the mailing list, get on it QUICK (messaging us on myspace is one way to go). Because shortly after the Moon comes South West, another collaboration with a wicked producer, this time Jon Hendicott. We want to make it into a Westcountry anthem, and again we’re sending it free of charge to anyone on our mailing list, so spread the word like salty butter on your credit toast.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the ramblings,
And I hope too that tomorrow we can all unclench our bums
Peace and Unitea
Dizraeli
Done our first night of the tour now… It’s only a short trip, taking us round the West Countryshire, but it feels good to get away, heads out the window down the motorway like dogs in the wind, ears streaming. We were down in Southampton last night, at the Soul Cellar – nice one Tom for putting us on. We were joined for the evening by Sam and Jay from First Degree Burns, who were up to all kinds of mischief on a weeknight, flexing the Jackson dance moves during soundcheck – nice handstands Sam. We had a glimpse of Sly and Robbie’s set at the Brook early on in the evening, bellies full of Chinese food (Jah Mason’s looked like the jelly from inside a man’s eye), admiring Robbie Shakespeare’s belly which is full of All Kinds of Food, food down the ages, a one-man food hall. Their set was weird. I thought, all over the place really but with moments of Steppa genius too. Sam and Jay stepped up anyway, grooving all over the frigging shop, spilling cider on the dubcrazed oldgeezer crowd and Jay shaking his head in blissed reminiscence for his Jamaica youth.
The crowd in the Soul Cellar was beautiful, sucking up the words like wordslurpers, loving the music and the movement. Thank you Southampton. Looking forward to the Bell in Bath tonight… Make sure you make it down if you’re in the area.
Peace and love
Dizraeli
Credit crunch is raining down around our ears, crackling the airwaves and filling our bowls with news about stock exchanges and banks in trouble. Some people are tearing their newly grey hair out, desperate and suddenly unemployed after feeling like the prosperity of our cruise ship would go on forever. Some are pottering on exactly as they were before. Some folk are saying that a global economic slowdown is the very thing the planet needs: less money, less ability to buy, less needless consumption. Of course, and as usual, the people that can afford to hold opinions like that tend not to be the same people who're struggling on sixtyone pounds a week dole money, but then again Marx was a wealthy man, and he had some nifty ideas.
I don't know, I'm not knowledgeable about the economy, my brother was trying to explain it to me the other day and as far as I understand, it's all to do with people borrowing money to buy houses they couldn't afford. So I'm not going to offer up any insights here. You want opinions?
I think we could probably get used to growing our own cabbages, living in small-scale communities on as little as we physically need. We could find happiness there, in the daily detail of human existence. Disease would steal us away more often. Women would die in childbirth more often. Is the payoff worth it? More struggle, for a longer lasting world? Probably yes. But I'm typing on a laptop that didn't grow on a tree; it grew on the back of a centuries-old whale of a monstereconomy that I can't get my head round. It would be a twist and a screw that I would find as hard as the next man, to lose all this.
So here comes the wave: let's see where it takes us this time.
If anyone's got any tips on growing cabbages, let me know....
Peace and homegrown peas
Dizraeli
I just wanted to write a little something to introduce you all to the new blog part of our website (thanks George for sorting out this swish-assed site of ours). I hope you're all well out there in the world; Bad Science are good, all of us working at our things and bringing those together to make sweet moo-sick. We played with Dreadzone the other day at the Coalition in Brighton. Our first gig for a while without our horn section, but it was good, we pulled through and I could not get the grin off my face. Up on stage, it's a Happy Spot, with friends, playing songs you've written together in moments of passion. I Could Stand Here Forever, yes the crowd felt it too, singing it back at us with gusto (not pesto), and after we stood down, Dreadzone rocked the friggin Cazbah, they wrecked the bleedin Kaiser with a set of hyperdubbreakbeat that kept the grin present on my noggin all the way through to the end.
Someone asked me if I was on drugs. NAH MATE. But yes, if you only knew the buzz. Honestly the closest I've come to Enlightenment is in a mad mash of sweat and beats and words and lights, up on Stage with Bad Science.
Big up Bad Science and big up Dreadzone, yes we'll link soon.
Peace.
Right there folks, it takes a long time for wealth to trickle down through the mantle of high society to the poor folk below. To draw attention to this tendency, we decided to take as long as possible getting the video for Mr Politician online. Sam Craigan and crew (nice one Sam) made it about two years ago (was it longer?), and now the last of the ones and oh's have dribbled down through the fabric of injustice, we've got it up for the masses to see.
In other words, we lost Sam's phone number.
Check it out; go to youtube and put it Bad Science and Mr Politician. And keep the questions coming innit.....
Alright then.
On Saturday I won the BBC Radio 4 UK Slam Finals: it was a thing I hadn't expected really at all. I like how chilled the attitude between the poets normally is at these events. You can say whatever whatever poets are pussies but life's far too short to worry about being hiphop enough, being hardcore enough. It's a good thing, a slam. I was shitting bricks about the competition itself... sat shaking wondering whether I had enough points to get through to the next round Yeah I smacked it man it was raw, took the whole thing by storm shut up you nob you're a oet not a prapper. It was a completely nerve racking evening, the other poets were brilliant i thought, nah i won't get through of course I won't. But I did and there I was standing at the end in front of the Radi Oh 4 banner going Oh.
Big up to the other Poets they were all dope,
Love to my family who came and supported, and all the Smerins people and old Bristol people who came and shouted at the right points
Fight! FIght! Fight!
Peace
Dizraeli
HEY FOLKS.. Well excited at the minute.. I've just heard the masters for the brand new Mud Sun ep, my sideproject with Baba Brinkman (the mighty canadian rapper best known for turning the Canterbury Tales into dope rap songs). Mud Sun, forging art from the dirt and making it lovely, sons of the soil, casting light through the fuckry, and anything else you might think it means. Go and check it for yourselves, on www.myspace.com/mudsun
Five songs of wickedness
And watch that space, as well as watching this one.
love
dizraeli