20122013

It's list and reflection time....Top 10's of this and that, seem to be the thang to be done, so here we go then a NPW Top however many list of my favourite records of 2012. In no particular order:

THE BERMONDSEY JOYRIDERS – Noise and Revolution.

The revolution Rocks and Rolls.

NIGHT OF TREASON – Night Of Treason.

A blast of old school punk rock played by old school punks.

THE JIM JONES REVUE – The Savage Heart.

The devil doesn't have all the best tunes.

ELECTRIC RIVER – In Your Name EP.

The sound of the stadiums. Big guitars, big tunes. The Clash meet Bruce Springsteen.

URBAN DOGS – Acoustic Album.

Punk Rock Lullaby’s. Beautiful stuff.

THE DERELLAS – Stick It To The Man (7" Single)

Glam stomping and Punk Rocking.

LIKE JUNK – The Host (CD Single)

A dark and hypnotic Post Punk throb.

GODS LONELY MEN – Chemical Landslide

The Lurkers meet Amebix, a really grower.

A TRIBUTE TO PAUL FOX - See You On The Otherside. (Various Artists)

An eclectic collection of Punk and Reggae crossover grooves from a selection of old and new faces.

And a couple that were....re-released this year:

THE FALLEN ANGELS – In Loving Memory/Wheel Of Fortune.

A double CD set from Knox (The Vibrators) 80's side project, the second and third albums had less Hanoi Rocks input, although Andy and Nasty make appearances.

JOHNNY THUNDERS AND THE HEARTBREAKERS – LAMF (Definitive Edition Box Set.)

A lovingly packaged box set that collects various mixes and demos from the sessions that produced The Heartbreakers flawed but classic album, the versions found across the 4 CD's show what could have been. There's also a booklet that tells the story of the recording of LAMF and four badges.

Unfortunately, especially as I was looking forward to both of them, but THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM's Handwritten, and THE ENEMY's Streets In The Sky didn't do it for me, and left me feeling slightly disappointed.

Right then, that was the music, but it's not just about the music, what else has been going on over these last twelve months? Time to reflect.  Pretty much the same shit that always goes down every year. Scandals, exposes, enquires, truth, lies, death and destruction.

The 'issues' of gay marriage and female bishops showed how broad-minded both the church of England and the Roman Catholic church have become with the passing of time.

Free speech for the dumb. Enquires into press standards and the behaviour of the media, raise issues about the free press, democracy and state control over the media.

Housing benefit changes are bringing about social cleansing with affordable housing that people can't afford.

We are still at war in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting their terror and fear of the Easternization of the West.

The weather has taken a turn for the worse with record rainfall and flooding, lets remember that when in the summer they tell us we are living in a drought and water is being rashioned.

Then there are plans to blow up parts of the country in order to get to gas supplies buried underground. The process is known as Fracking, and it involves setting off explosions beneath the earths surface in order to release the gas. It has caused structural damage to several places up North where they have been extracting gas using this process, Politicians think this is a good idea....well they can Fuck Off with their Fracking Shit! and take their high speed London to Birmingham rail link with them. England’s green and pleasant land is rapidly turning into a concrete and steel mess.

The nation was brainwashed this year by the Olympics and Jubilee celebrations and turned into a mass of red, white and blue flag waving plebs.

The divide between the haves and have nots got wider. Artistic accounting and legal tax avoidance schemes explained why the haves have and the have nots haven't. We, the workers are told how much tax we have to pay, yet corporations like Ogle and Starfucks can choose how much they want to pay, and we are all in it together.

Margaret Thatcher survives another year.

Institutions like the BBC and the Police Force start shaking when the truth is outed and the cover ups uncovered. Justice for the Hillsborough 96! But who's gonna be paying for their lies when claims for compensation start coming in? We will....the tax payer. We pay for the people with the power to maintain their power, what price freedom?

Get Angry! and stay angry with their carry on. The reason they tell us to stay calm is because when people are calm, they are not saying or doing anything. The passive don't protest! Jutice 4 Everyone!