Joe Strummer, Class War and Welsh language revival

Retro time. I recently had the good fortune to come across the welshnot site on which was a comprehensive interview with Welsh music man Rhys Mwyn.

Mwyn was one member of legendary Welsh-language punk band Anhrefn. Despite the English media not quite understanding why any band would want to use a language other than English as a medium, they enjoyed good coverage and were well respected. I saw them a few times in Edinburgh including at anti-Poll Tax fundraisers and supporting Joe Strummer and Oi Polloi on Class War's Rock Against the Rich date in Edinburgh.

After Anhrefn, Mwyn was involved in various projects involving well-kent names such as Super Furry Animals and Catatonia. This rise in confident Welsh-language rock music was subsequently labelled 'Cool Cymru'.

Myself and Ruairidh Polloi also managed to bring Mwyn's later techno project Land of My Mothers and rockers Gwacamoli to entertain students at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on Skye. This opened the door for other 'alternative' acts to play at the Scottish language college including ska-punks the Newtown Grunts and Breton-language rockers Sarah.

Welsh language

We always sang in Welsh but it was never done to exclude anyone. And we didn’t think of ourselves as a Welsh language band – we were just a band who sang in Welsh.

It was something we would constantly get asked about in interviews but when it came to the music itself, I’m not sure how many knew, or cared, about the language.

Anhrefn was just loud, full-on music with guitars blasting; so nobody gave a shit about the language really. As long as they liked the noise.

Our record company, Workers Playtime, did once ask us to do a song in English and we told them politely to get stuffed – they gave up trying after that. I’m sure a lack of compromise did limit our success but we were never motivated by getting on Top of the Pops or any of that.

I particularly admire Anhrefn's politics. Are they anarchists, socialists or Welsh nationalists? Who knows and who cares? They took a pragmatic approach but involved themselves in various grass roots campaigns supporting anti-Poll Tax resistance, Welsh devolution and of course, the Welsh language. This is the kind of approach that some on the anarcho/left in Scotland could learn from - voting 'yes' in the forthcoming referendum is only a new beginning. It doesn't preclude the wider aims for whatever type of fair and progressive society you wish for in the future. Voting 'no' or not voting does nothing for no-one. Mwyn's views on Welsh politics, music and Scottish independence are detailed in the link below.

Celtic Connections indeed and here's hoping we can see more of them soon.

Rhys Mwyn: Go Ahead, Punk

England's Arab Summer - time to name and shame

As someone old enough to remember the riots of Brixton and Toxteth in the 1980s as well as the mass unemployment caused by a hated Tory government, there's a sense of deja-vu about this - our very own Arab Summer. 

The morality of today's rioters isn't that clear cut though. On one hand, its not just cops and shops that are the targets but ordinary people's homes. On the other hand, if you're an unemployed person, young or middle-aged, and have sat and watched greedy bankers wreck the economy and be rewarded with fat bonuses as well as corrupt Westminster MPs line their pockets then you may think, 'Well, they lead, I'll follow'.

Add to that mixture, the revelations of Rupert Murdoch's sick News International empire break the law by spying on ordinary people and by paying corrupt police for information. The police themselves seem to kill with impunity and when held to account are never charged with murder like other murderers. As well as that, we've seen successive Labour and Tory governments override international law and wage war on small 'undemocratic' nations such as Iraq, Afghanistan and now Libya. We've heard Cameron talk in glowing terms of the rioters in Syria and Libya though the freedom fighters on the streets of Bahrain were a bit too close to upsetting his oil-rich pals in Saudi Arabia.

"But" says the Daily Mail and outraged conservative navel-gazers everywhere, "if these people want change, they can just vote."

Those 'nice' rioters in Syria.

To be frank though, just who the fuck are unemployed English youths of any racial background meant to vote for? Every single one of the big three Ugly Sisters of Westminster - Labour, Tory and Lib Dem are run by privately educated millionaires. Even the lunatic fringe parties of UKIP and the BNP are lead by wealthy wide-boys with posh accents. The present ConDem government can only just scrape together more than 50% of those who voted with only 1 in 3 voting for Cameron and those voters mostly in England. No wonder Gaddaffi thinks that the UK has no right to challenge his leadership of Libya.

England and by extension, Scotland, have some of the most iniquitous societies in Europe. Under Labour, the gap between rich and poor actually widened. The whole Labour/ Tory circus at Westminster is like some kind of mutual masturbation love-in. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were inspired by Thatcher. David Cameron was inspired by Tony Blair. Nick Clegg is inspired by David Cameron. In London, we have the buffoon Boris Johnson - the kind of Eton caricature who is inspired by lighting his own farts.

As things stand the best employment opportunities for many young people in parts of England and Scotland are in the armed forces. That's your choice - dole queue or Taleban target. Why seek to hold the Olympic torch when you can go and torch the Armani store?

Back in the day, I remember a bus load of Hearts' supporters - many of them striking miners - returning from an away game cheer loudly when the radio announced the death of a policemen in rioting in London. Today, there will be many who look to England and say, 'destroy our jobs and communities, destroy society and this is what you get'.

The need for Scotland to divorce itself from this kind of society and aim for a progressive and egalitarian society as we see in the small Nordic nations has never been greater.

Murdoch: London Calling

What better way to get your head around the enormity of  Wappinggate, Rebekahgate, Tapgate, Filthgate etc than by kicking back with the Clash on loud and a large dram of Bunnahabhain. Coming hot on the heals of 'Duckhousegate' and the MPs' expenses scandal then it's little wonder that an increasing number of Scots are seeking independence from a London that seems to be sinking in corruption. Certainly, after watching Michael Portillo on Newsnight last week, I fail to see a 'sense of fair play' as one of the constituent parts of the 'British' identity.

This latest episode in shame stems from the megalomania of an Australian though. Not only were child murder victims, dead soldiers' families and other people, famous or not, deemed worthy of having their phones bugged but the ordinary staff on News of the World are being shat on too. Murdoch senior and Murdoch junior are at this point, standing by their hypocrite of a former editor.

Upon receiving a lengthy communique from James Murdoch last week, ordinary staff thought that is was to announce the resignation/ sacking of Rebekah Brooks. But no... somewhere down in the 18th paragraph, ordinary staff were told that it was they who were losing their jobs.

Murdoch's middle finger as seen on Twitter.

News International are bloodied but unbowed. They see the whole mess as being the fault of the Guardian or the chinless and unconvincing millionaire leader of the Labour Party. There has been no apology. Worse of all, there seems to be a determination to rub salt into the wounds by establishing a 'Sun on Sunday'.

Joe Strummer would have loved it...

The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin
Engines stop running, but I have no fear
'Cause London is drowning, and I live by the river

Seeing Rebekah Brooks hounded by packs of journos and angry protesters has brought some light relief though. After all, the Sun and News of the World has whipped up more than enough hate of others over the decades: from glorifying the deaths of hundreds of Argentinians with their 'Gotcha' headline to slandering the dead and injured at the Hillsborough tragedy to inciting mobs of morons to attack paediatricians in a campaign to 'out' paedophiles.

Those British boots go kick Bengali in the head
Police sit watchin'
The newspapers been read
Who cares to protest
After the attacker fled
Out came the batons and
The British warned themselves

Poor Rebekah, like the harassed youth in the 'Guns of Brixton'...

The money feels good
And your life you like it well
But surely your time will come
As in heaven, as in hell

Capitalism is dog eat dog, a constant cycle of boom and bust. Murdoch's support for Thatcher indirectly lead to death of much of our industry. Let's hope his empire starts to crumble as well.

If you can play on the fiddle
How's about a British jig and reel?
Speaking King's English in quotation
As railhead towns feel the steel mills rust water froze
In the generation
Clear as winter ice
This is your paradise