Well, here we stand on the cusp of 2011, so it’s time to look back on the year that’s almost finished. Quite a year it’s been, too, certainly on the writing front.
Once again, I’m lucky enough to be paid for writing about music and musicians who have some meaning to me. Records labels sent me CDs for possible review (or send me downloads, as is becoming more common these days). I’m exposed to some of the most interesting music being made today – or in previous years, in the case of those glorious compilations of West African rock from the ‘60s and ‘70s. I have the chance to interview musicians like Tim Eriksen and Justin Adams whom I’ve come to know and respect. That’s pretty damn good.
The fact that people will pay me for all this stuff is still sometimes strange to me. I’m glad they do it, even if I’m not publishing as much music journalism as I did a decade ago. But with that lower quantity comes greater discrimination, so I’m definitely a happy bunny. And along the way I hear some great artists like Mama Roisin and Krista Detor I’d never have come across otherwise.
That said, my personal crowning achievement for this year has been the publication of The Broken Token. Or, rather, that was the first. The second was receiving a contract – with an advance – for my next two books. Now I’ve published plenty of non-fiction books, most of them crap that paid the bills handsomely, although holding my first-ever book was a magical feeling. It couldn’t compare to holding my first novel, though. That was my baby, nearly as lovely as my son. It had taken a long time to reach that stage, and now I’ve started on a new road. No idea where it will lead, but that’s part of the fun, really.
So, yes, I’m looking forward to 2011. More writing, the new novel out in May…life is good, and I hope that for the coming year yours is just as fine.
Thursday 30 December 2010
Friday 10 December 2010
Waving Goodbye to Democracy
This week has given us the proof that democracy has become little more than a word, rather than a practice. Both in Britain and the United States, government has bared its fangs quite openly.
In the US, various payment services have cut off Wikileaks after suddenly (and, coincidentally, all at the same time) discovering it had violated their terms of service. PayPal at least had the decency to admit pressure had been put on it by the US government to sever any ties with Wikileaks. Both Mastercard and Visa took action right as it was revealed that the US government had put pressure on Russia to allow them to continue doing business in that country and not be frozen out by a new system. A quid pro quo? You hardly need to ask, do you?
And all this because the US is highly embarrassed by the cables coming out into public view of the way it does business and conducts policy. The Emperor’s new clothes have been shown to be nothing more than a mass illusion. More than that, it certainly ripped away any last vestiges people might have held of Obama as a man of real principle, standing up for right and justice.
On this side of the Atlantic, the coalition forced through a measure not really discussed before the election, without the mandate of the people, and only because a number of Lib Dems have been willing to blatantly break a written promise they’d made. Kudos to those who stood firm to their pledge, and those who resigned positions to be able to vote no on increased student fees, especially the Tories.
More worrying is David Cameron’s position on the student demonstrations. He can only focus on damage done by a few of the thousands out there, not the general sense of outrage and betrayal. Nor does he mention the wanton violence of the police, some of whom seemed to relish the violence, and to operate in ways that are, at best, on the edge of the law. The tactic seems to be to punish the young for daring to speak out. If, as Cameron says, those who broke laws should feel the full force of the law, that should apply equally to the police. Ideally, no one should get hurt, but when the police are so provocative (banging weapon on shield or metal as an aggressive tactic is older than the Romans), charging students on horseback, squeezing into smaller and smaller spaces, lashing out indiscriminately and dragging a protester from his wheelchair, this isn’t a force there to serve the public, it’s one meant to cow the public.
The focus of today’s papers is the horror of Charles and Camilla having to face a very small group of angry protesters. They represent the type of entrenched privilege this government wants to perpetuate at the expense of the less well-off. I’d have been angry to see them, too. What is truly worrying is that the head of the Metropolitan Police felt that the armed bodyguards showed great restraint – as in not shooting anyone.
The good news is that the Web makes fighting back possible. Hackers have attacked Visa, Mastercard and Paypal. Tweeting, texting, and other things help savvy protesters evade police and also quickly document outages. A generation has become politicised. In both the long and short term, that’s a good thing. In Britain these demonstrations are likely to continue and grow as the cuts truly start to bite. As well they should.
In the US, various payment services have cut off Wikileaks after suddenly (and, coincidentally, all at the same time) discovering it had violated their terms of service. PayPal at least had the decency to admit pressure had been put on it by the US government to sever any ties with Wikileaks. Both Mastercard and Visa took action right as it was revealed that the US government had put pressure on Russia to allow them to continue doing business in that country and not be frozen out by a new system. A quid pro quo? You hardly need to ask, do you?
And all this because the US is highly embarrassed by the cables coming out into public view of the way it does business and conducts policy. The Emperor’s new clothes have been shown to be nothing more than a mass illusion. More than that, it certainly ripped away any last vestiges people might have held of Obama as a man of real principle, standing up for right and justice.
On this side of the Atlantic, the coalition forced through a measure not really discussed before the election, without the mandate of the people, and only because a number of Lib Dems have been willing to blatantly break a written promise they’d made. Kudos to those who stood firm to their pledge, and those who resigned positions to be able to vote no on increased student fees, especially the Tories.
More worrying is David Cameron’s position on the student demonstrations. He can only focus on damage done by a few of the thousands out there, not the general sense of outrage and betrayal. Nor does he mention the wanton violence of the police, some of whom seemed to relish the violence, and to operate in ways that are, at best, on the edge of the law. The tactic seems to be to punish the young for daring to speak out. If, as Cameron says, those who broke laws should feel the full force of the law, that should apply equally to the police. Ideally, no one should get hurt, but when the police are so provocative (banging weapon on shield or metal as an aggressive tactic is older than the Romans), charging students on horseback, squeezing into smaller and smaller spaces, lashing out indiscriminately and dragging a protester from his wheelchair, this isn’t a force there to serve the public, it’s one meant to cow the public.
The focus of today’s papers is the horror of Charles and Camilla having to face a very small group of angry protesters. They represent the type of entrenched privilege this government wants to perpetuate at the expense of the less well-off. I’d have been angry to see them, too. What is truly worrying is that the head of the Metropolitan Police felt that the armed bodyguards showed great restraint – as in not shooting anyone.
The good news is that the Web makes fighting back possible. Hackers have attacked Visa, Mastercard and Paypal. Tweeting, texting, and other things help savvy protesters evade police and also quickly document outages. A generation has become politicised. In both the long and short term, that’s a good thing. In Britain these demonstrations are likely to continue and grow as the cuts truly start to bite. As well they should.
Saturday 4 December 2010
Where Wikileaks Meets Student Demos
In Europe and the US we’re constantly being reminded by our governments that we live in democratic societies where free speech is allowed. In the last few years, however, that seems to have become mere lip service, more honoured in the breach than the observance.
Take the perfectly legitimate student protests in Britain, for example. They can protest, but the police will kettle them and keep them in one place because they might cause trouble if allowed to move. I know the police have employed psychics before, but have they now found one who can accurately predict how an afternoon will turn out? And if so, why are they letting him/her work for the Met Office?
America, for all the hope that entered with Obama, is nothing more than business as usual. The Wikileaks revelations have brought real transparency to government and no one in power is pleased. Sarkozy has reportedly issued orders that the services can’t be hosted in France, the US has banned Federal employees from looking at Wikileaks as the papers are still classified (the words bolt, horse, and stable door spring to mind). The death knell was sounded when Bush announced that anyone who wasn’t for America was against it in this war on terror, even as his people were arresting people on no pretext.
Governments don’t want democracy or transparency. Osborne didn’t want the HMRC deal with Vodafone made public, for instance, in part because that £6 billion could have saved plenty of cuts. The police have had plain clothes people at demos in spite of saying they don’t. They leave a police van, an expensive piece of equipment, around students they’ve kettled as bait, then, when it’s damaged, it’s a crime scene so they can keep students there for hours. An interesting tactic.
Maybe, just maybe, governments are beginning to run a little bit scared. The student protests, along with the flash mobs closing down shops, are real democracy in action. It’s a groundswell with no obvious leaders, the power of the people. And the Americans can’t contain what’s out there on Wikileaks. Overall, maybe, the grasp on power is beginning to weaken a little. What that will bring in return, of course, remains to be seen…
Take the perfectly legitimate student protests in Britain, for example. They can protest, but the police will kettle them and keep them in one place because they might cause trouble if allowed to move. I know the police have employed psychics before, but have they now found one who can accurately predict how an afternoon will turn out? And if so, why are they letting him/her work for the Met Office?
America, for all the hope that entered with Obama, is nothing more than business as usual. The Wikileaks revelations have brought real transparency to government and no one in power is pleased. Sarkozy has reportedly issued orders that the services can’t be hosted in France, the US has banned Federal employees from looking at Wikileaks as the papers are still classified (the words bolt, horse, and stable door spring to mind). The death knell was sounded when Bush announced that anyone who wasn’t for America was against it in this war on terror, even as his people were arresting people on no pretext.
Governments don’t want democracy or transparency. Osborne didn’t want the HMRC deal with Vodafone made public, for instance, in part because that £6 billion could have saved plenty of cuts. The police have had plain clothes people at demos in spite of saying they don’t. They leave a police van, an expensive piece of equipment, around students they’ve kettled as bait, then, when it’s damaged, it’s a crime scene so they can keep students there for hours. An interesting tactic.
Maybe, just maybe, governments are beginning to run a little bit scared. The student protests, along with the flash mobs closing down shops, are real democracy in action. It’s a groundswell with no obvious leaders, the power of the people. And the Americans can’t contain what’s out there on Wikileaks. Overall, maybe, the grasp on power is beginning to weaken a little. What that will bring in return, of course, remains to be seen…
Friday 3 December 2010
The Missing Stieg Larsson Book?
I’ve no idea whether Julian Assange is guilty of the sexual misconduct charges that have been levelled against him in Sweden. I do, however, find the timing of this new warrant for his arrest disturbing. These charges first appeared earlier this year, then seemed to vanish, then returned more strongly just as Wikileaks was about to come out with its new batch of revelations.
Timing, as they say, is everything. Add to that the hacking of the Wikileaks site and pressure on various hosts (reportedly from the US Department of Homeland Security) to take it down and the whole thing is beginning to take on a bizarre conspiracy theory feel.
There’s a rumour that there’s another, unfinished Stieg Larsson novel on a laptop, which may, or may not, see the light of day. Whatever your opinion of his three books, they’ve sold in huge quantities and have, perhaps, made people more aware of conspiracies and the darker corners of politics. That can be no bad thing. Maybe it’s the Swedish association, but what’s going on with Wikileaks and Assange has all of the feel of a Larsson novel coming to life.
It’s far from an exact analogy, of course. For a start, this is real life, not fiction. But it certainly raises plenty of questions, especially when Assange’s lawyer says his client has asked to meet with prosecutors to answer questions and was rebuffed. If he ends up in court there will be questions marks over any evidence present (from both sides) and the verdict.
What is perhaps unsurprising is some of the American reaction to these leaks. Sarah Palin suggested he be hunted down and killed like Al-Queda, which hardly comes as a shock from her. But the assertion that these leaks put lives as risk seems excessive. In many ways this was a series of revelations waiting to happen, as the US supposedly gave a staggering three million people access to these documents. Not what anyone would call secure, by any means.
Yes, some communications do need to be secret. There’s no doubt about that. But the putting them on a network available to so many who don’t need to see them, that’s just asking for trouble. And that, it appears, is just what the US government got.
Timing, as they say, is everything. Add to that the hacking of the Wikileaks site and pressure on various hosts (reportedly from the US Department of Homeland Security) to take it down and the whole thing is beginning to take on a bizarre conspiracy theory feel.
There’s a rumour that there’s another, unfinished Stieg Larsson novel on a laptop, which may, or may not, see the light of day. Whatever your opinion of his three books, they’ve sold in huge quantities and have, perhaps, made people more aware of conspiracies and the darker corners of politics. That can be no bad thing. Maybe it’s the Swedish association, but what’s going on with Wikileaks and Assange has all of the feel of a Larsson novel coming to life.
It’s far from an exact analogy, of course. For a start, this is real life, not fiction. But it certainly raises plenty of questions, especially when Assange’s lawyer says his client has asked to meet with prosecutors to answer questions and was rebuffed. If he ends up in court there will be questions marks over any evidence present (from both sides) and the verdict.
What is perhaps unsurprising is some of the American reaction to these leaks. Sarah Palin suggested he be hunted down and killed like Al-Queda, which hardly comes as a shock from her. But the assertion that these leaks put lives as risk seems excessive. In many ways this was a series of revelations waiting to happen, as the US supposedly gave a staggering three million people access to these documents. Not what anyone would call secure, by any means.
Yes, some communications do need to be secret. There’s no doubt about that. But the putting them on a network available to so many who don’t need to see them, that’s just asking for trouble. And that, it appears, is just what the US government got.
Wednesday 1 December 2010
On Music Journalism
One of the joys of what I do is that some of the time I have the chance to write about wonderful music, ranging from the sublime to the bizarre. In the last week, for example, I’ve covered The Sound of Siam, vintage music from the 60s and 70s in Thailand, easily one of the strangest discs I’ve ever heard, Angola Soundtrack, some excellent rock from Angola in the same period (and hard to believe the capital rocked so hard during the war for independence and the ensuing civil war, and Ballaké Sissoko and Vincent Ségal’s Chamber Music, a series of duets for the kora (a West African harp) and cello, a disc of intimate beauty.
That I’m paid to listen to and write about this stills amazes me after 17 years of doing it. I’m sent CDs in the hope I’ll review them, so I have a small mountains of music, which can lead to lovely discoveries periodically. I’d have listened to those discs anyway, but perhaps not with the same intensity.
I’m lucky in what I do. I’m lucky to be a writer who makes a living at it (although I do work bloody hard and often long hours). So few do. I have the job I wanted when I was 15, even if it took a few decades to get there. Writing is never a chore for me, it’s a pleasure. Maybe not always an easy pleasure, when words won’t flow quite the way I want, but a joy nonetheless.
What makes it even better is that this particular outlets for me means I combine my two loves, music and writing. I was never good enough as a musician to make it. But I can help those I do believe it to hopefully win a slightly wider audience.
That I’m paid to listen to and write about this stills amazes me after 17 years of doing it. I’m sent CDs in the hope I’ll review them, so I have a small mountains of music, which can lead to lovely discoveries periodically. I’d have listened to those discs anyway, but perhaps not with the same intensity.
I’m lucky in what I do. I’m lucky to be a writer who makes a living at it (although I do work bloody hard and often long hours). So few do. I have the job I wanted when I was 15, even if it took a few decades to get there. Writing is never a chore for me, it’s a pleasure. Maybe not always an easy pleasure, when words won’t flow quite the way I want, but a joy nonetheless.
What makes it even better is that this particular outlets for me means I combine my two loves, music and writing. I was never good enough as a musician to make it. But I can help those I do believe it to hopefully win a slightly wider audience.
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