MUSIC THAT MATTERS – ICYMI: STÖJ SNAK INTERVIEW WITH NIELS SØRENSON

Posted on July 24, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Music That Matters and tagged Aalborg, acoustic, Billy Liar, concert, Copenhagen, danish, denmark, DIY, electronic, Frank Turner, gig, grand collapse, grindcore, Guns'n'Roses, hardcore, hip hop, icymi, interview, kollapse, Lemlæstet Fosterbræk, metal, Mighty Midgets, MTM, music, music that matters, NIELS SØRENSON, Pizza Tramp, punk, reggae, rock n roll, screamersongwriter, series, Ska, STÖJ SNAK, streaming, underground, venue, vocalist.

by Sara Harrington

Part of a series exploring great music from the DIY music scene that you may have missed.

Hi Niels, thanks so much for letting me bother you with lots of questions! How are you doing today?

No worries. My pleasure. I’m pretty good today – currently in an airport, waiting for a plane to Copenhagen where I’m going to visit an old friend and see a Guns ‘n’ Roses show. Ten year old me is stoked.

So, I’m pretty late to the game and only just stumbled across you and your musical endeavours – Can you tell me a bit about ‘Stöj Snak’ and how it started and who is involved?

Stöj Snak is a ScreamerSongwriter band from Denmark. I started Stöj Snak as an acoustic solo act around 4 years ago – basically just me recording songs in my apartment as a hobby project. It was never meant for anyone to hear.

Since then the band has grown to a four piece with drums, washboard, upright bass and other trash instruments but the attitude towards the music is still very much the same – we do everything ourselves and because it’s fun. It’s basically the antithesis to Guns ‘n’ Roses.Continue Reading

GENTRIFICATION AND DISAPPEARING NIGHTCLUBS

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Community and tagged business, city council, closure, creativity, drinking culture, gentrification, Hideout, hip hop, lgbtQ+, Lola Lo, music, night out, nightclub, noise complaint, noise complaints, norfolk, norwich, party, prince of wales road, rap, sexuality, subculture.

by James Anthony

In my first year of university, I had the pleasure to live on Prince of Wales Road in Norwich, one of the most dangerous roads in Norfolk and one of England’s worst drinking areas in terms of late-night violence. While it might not have been for everyone, I honestly loved the feeling of being at the heart of the city’s nightlife and counted myself week in week out as one of the thousands of club-goers descending onto the strip. For me, nightclubs are a way to relive stress, relax and enjoy yourself alongside scores of friends and strangers, and represent a sort of coming together of people of all different backgrounds to lose yourself in the dance.Continue Reading

THE 20 BEST RADICAL MUSIC RELEASES OF 2016

Posted on January 1, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Music That Matters and tagged a tribe called quest, Against Me!, anohni, austerity, b-real, chris t-t, chuck d, climate change, cypress hill, drone warfare, dubstep, enter shikari, far right, fascism, folk, folk-punk, fugazi, gentrification, Green Day, hardcore, hip hop, Kate Nash, Lobster, Martha, michael kiwanuka, mischief brew, Muncie Girls, obama, OPS, petrol girls, pop punk, post-hardcore, post-punk, prophets of rage, public enemy, punk, racism, rage against the machine, rap, refused, reggae, reggae punk, Saul Williams, Ska, ska punk, sleaford mods, slyvia plath, Solange, Sonic Boom Six, soul, suffragettes, surveillance, taj weekes, The Selecter, The Tuts, tom morello, war.

By Chris Jarvis

Yes, yes, we all know that 2016 has been an unmitigated cluster-fuck, with rising fascism, worsening humanitarian crises and intensifying conflict. In moments of darkness, many of us turn to the arts world – especially music – for comfort, for release, for explanation. With David Bowie, Prince, George Michael, Glenn Frey, Paul Kantner, Maurice White, George Martin, Phife Dawg, Erik Petersen, Leonard Cohen, Nick Menza, Greg Lake, Sharon Jones, and too many others all having passed away, many have found music to have also fallen on dark times.

That notwithstanding, 2016 has been a year of some undeniably and uniquely brilliant music too, especially music that espouses messages of a better world, of political analysis, of radical alternatives. Here are the 20 best of those radical releases from the past year.

A PLACE FOR POETRY

Posted on October 20, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Perspectives and tagged Beyonce, bob dylan, haruki murakami, hip hop, LEMONADE, music, ngugi wa thiong'o, nobel, poems, poetry, rap, tarantula, Warsan Shire.

by Candice Nembhard

The Nobel Prize for Literature is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated and respected arts prizes in the calendar year. Previous winners include Harold Pinter, V.S. Naipaul and Toni Morrison – all of whom have gone on to achieve worldwide and commercial success. This year’s prize was awarded to singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, who – surprisingly – only ever wrote one novel. The Blonde on Blonde singer was awarded the honour over rumoured nominees Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Haruki Murakami.‘Having created new poetic expressions within the American songbook tradition’, Dylan’s surrealist, stream-of-consciousness protest lyrics have been given the Nobel stamp of approval – but what impact does this have on our understanding of this increasingly popular form?

A SEAT AT THE TABLE

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Perspectives and tagged a seat at the table, album, artivism, arts, BHM, black history month, black pride, black women, Chance the Rapper, creative, empowerment, FUBU, hip hop, Jill Scott, Kelela, Kelly Rowland, LEMONADE, message, music, Nina Simone, Noname, prince, Puma, QTip, racism, Raphael Saadiq, review, Sampha, Solange, solange knowles, South Africa, style, Tink, women artists.

by Candice Nembhard

‘A Seat at the Table’ is the newly debuted project by the enigmatic Solange Knowles. The 21 track album marries intricate layers of R&B with densely packed lyrics, carving open a bigger space to discuss the beauty of black creatives. With features from the likes of Kelly Rowland, Q-Tip, Sampha and Kelela – not forgetting incredible production credits from Raphael Saadiq – there is no denying that Knowles is opening and changing the space for admiring and respecting black creativity.

SKEPTA, CHANCE THE RAPPER AND RAP’S DIY REVOLUTION

Posted on May 15, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged anarchist, anti-establishment, BBK, Chance the Rapper, Chicago, Chiraq, Coloring Book, critics, DIY, gang, Gil Scott Heron, Grime, hip hop, independent, Konnichiwa, london, MC, music, music industry, politics, progressive, radical, rap, release, revolution, Rick Ross, Saul Williams, stereotypes.

by Mike Vinti

The last week or so has seen the release of two of the most anticipated projects in recent musical history; Skepta’s fourth album Konnichiwa and Chance the Rapper’s third mixtape Coloring Book.

With both MCs having made a name for themselves over the past couple of years as being pioneers in their respective fields of rap music, the release of their full length efforts has served to cement their reputations and effectively crown them as kings of their respective sides of the Atlantic. However, while both projects are excellent musically speaking, what’s most interesting about the hype surrounding both Chance and Skepta is that they’re both totally independent artists.Continue Reading

BLAST FROM THE PAST – CHRISTINA AGUILERA: STRIPPED

Posted on April 27, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged album, Beautiful, bell hooks, binaries, body, Christina Aguilera, Dirrty, empowerment, equality, feminism, feminist, Genie in a Bottle, hip hop, love, music, pop, rap, relationships, review, revisit, sex positive, sexuality, slut shaming, stereotypes, Stripped, tbt, teenage, Terry Young Jr, The Hampton Institute, Top of the Pops, vulnerabilty, Xtina.

by Carmina Masoliver

I have a strange memory of Christina Aguilera performing Genie in a Bottle on Top of the Pops and my dad asking if I liked her songs. Strange, because it’s so unremarkable to be kept inside my head. At this stage I her career, she had made her big break, and soon enough I was listening to her album, with hits such as What a Girls Wants and Come On Over (All I Want Is You). Yet, it was three years later, when she released what I will always think of as her best album: Stripped.

I was having a hard time at school, and listening to this album was the very definition of empowering. I had been pushed out of a friendship group during a time where looking back, I honestly believe I was depressed, and this escalated to the extent where I felt I was a target for lots of different groups at school. I did make some new friends, and remember connecting with one of them through a shared love of this album. This was before we had learnt to talk about why it is that Beautiful holds so much resonance with us, but fourteen years later and we are still friends, now sharing a love of bell hooks.Continue Reading

NOT YOUR PUNK – AN INTERVIEW WITH NIKOLAI JONES OF KING PRAWN

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Music That Matters and tagged asian dub foundation, Babar Luck, babylon whackers, bob marley, crass, dead kennedys, east end trinity, hardcore, hip hop, King Prawn, music, music that matters, politics, public enemy, punk, rage against the machine, Random Hand, Ska, the king blues.

By Chris Jarvis

In 1993, a new icon was born. King Prawn’s incendiary sound emerged from London, and paved the way for countless other bands on a burgeoning and ever developing scene. Over the next decade, they would lay waste to notions of genre as album after album would reinvent punk, ska, hip-hop and hardcore blazing a trail for many others to follow. Sonic Boom Six, Random Hand, The King Blues all built upon the legacy of King Prawn. So diverse and innovative, they coined their own label to define their music – Wildstyle, and their rebel rousing songs combined with their flagrant disregard for musical convention led to comparisons with American rap-metal pioneers Rage Against the Machine.Continue Reading

SOUNDTRACK OF THE REVOLUTION – AN INTERVIEW WITH SPUD OF LOBSTER

Posted on February 28, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Music That Matters and tagged anarchist, band, DIY, dub, Gil Scott Heron, hip hop, homeless, interview, left wing, libertarian, Lobster, Midlands, MTM, music, music that matters, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, politics, punk, QELD, reggae, Ska, Spud, The Selecter, The Specials, UB40, uk.

by Chris Jarvis

The Midlands have been for many years a breeding ground for the very best talents on the UK ska scene. In the 1980s, it was the pioneering sounds of Coventry’s two-tone bands – The Specials and The Selecter that led the way. Nowadays, Birmingham has a lively and burgeoning scene of acts that are fusing traditional reggae and dub music with the energy and raw anger of punk and hip-hop. Building on the reggae vibes of Brummie legends such as Steel Pulse and UB40, Lobster and their peers have built a sound and a scene that brings together the many traditions of these musical legacies. Throughout this, they have maintained a focus on politics and conscious lyricism. Because of this, we decided to talk with Lobster’s frontman Spud about his and the band’s outlook and the implications this has for their music as part of our series Music That Matters.
Continue Reading

IN TRANSITION – AN INTERVIEW WITH JOSH CHANDLER MORRIS OF HOPE IN HIGH WATER

Posted on January 19, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Music That Matters and tagged Anti-Vigilante, B Dolan, Community, hip hop, Hope in High Water, impact, Inner Terrestrials, interview, JME, Joey Bada$$, John Stoltenberg, Josh Chandler Morris, Kendrick Lamar, King Prawn, music, music that matters, Noam Chomsky, politics, Propagandhi, rock, Sage Francis, Ska, skacore, Supporting Caste, vegan.

by Chris Jarvis

For years, Josh Chandler Morris was known as the energetic frontman of skacore band Anti-Vigilante, whose powerful stage presence, piercing sax segments and fast paced vocals thrilled crowds across the country including on tours with veterans of the ska scene such as King Prawn and Inner Terrestrials. Nowadays, Josh has teamed up with Carly Slade to form Hope in High Water, a two piece acoustic folk band, whose focus is much mellower and whose lyrics are less focussed on the political issues that Anti-Vigilante were well known for. But because of Josh’s background, The Norwich Radical decided to discuss with Josh his political outlook, how it interplays with his musical outputs and why his most recent outfit has decided to steer away from the politics as part of our series Music That Matters.Continue Reading

hip hop

MUSIC THAT MATTERS – ICYMI: STÖJ SNAK INTERVIEW WITH NIELS SØRENSON

GENTRIFICATION AND DISAPPEARING NIGHTCLUBS

THE 20 BEST RADICAL MUSIC RELEASES OF 2016

A PLACE FOR POETRY

A SEAT AT THE TABLE

SKEPTA, CHANCE THE RAPPER AND RAP’S DIY REVOLUTION

BLAST FROM THE PAST – CHRISTINA AGUILERA: STRIPPED

NOT YOUR PUNK – AN INTERVIEW WITH NIKOLAI JONES OF KING PRAWN

SOUNDTRACK OF THE REVOLUTION – AN INTERVIEW WITH SPUD OF LOBSTER

IN TRANSITION – AN INTERVIEW WITH JOSH CHANDLER MORRIS OF HOPE IN HIGH WATER

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