Day: 14 March 2013
Column: Talk About, Pop Music
Pop is one of the most productive nouns in music, but perhaps the most misunderstood. Would anyone describe themselves as a ‘pop’ fan? You’ve got rock, metal, jazz, dance, folk fans – but rarely would someone label themselves as an out and out pop fan. The term originated in the 1920’s as an abbreviation of the word ‘popular’, reflecting what the mainstream was at the time, but pop as we know it (from the late 50’s/early 60’s onwards) isn’t necessarily befitting of this title.
Starting out as a single’s game, pop songs squeezed themselves onto 45’s and were intended to provide three minutes of non-stop satisfaction. Dusty Springfield, Buddy Holly and Elvis all enjoyed success with the single, however nailing them down to a particular album isn’t easy. By 1968 album sales overtook singles as more bands began to experiment with the pop album. The Beach Boys Pet Sounds showed that an album could have more than 2 singles and a load of filler; this was a sophisticated record for the maturing market.
Those early records at the dawn of the sexual revolution provided as many life lessons as any novel could. Pop albeit three minutes at the max played the soundtrack to pivotal moments along the great journey of growing up, the effervescent excitement of ‘she loves you’ could enthral the young romantic whilst Roy Orbison was there for those harder moments.
To say pop was mainstream and popular back in the 60’s and early 70’s isn’t completely true. It was still something affiliated with rebellion; the sight of Ziggy Stardust was something a lot of parents found shocking. But was Ziggy pop? To most he’s a symbol of the Glam Rock genre, but there’s no getting away from the pop values of a song like ‘changes’. Carole Kay, a prolific 60’s session bassist, talked about making a song ‘pop’, and any band could do this, regardless of genre.
Pop in the 21st century has lost a little of its excitement for me, and it’s nothing to do with the songs as Carly Rae Jepsen and Taylor Swift prove. Unfortunately we’re victims of technology; the 24hour nature of music was something that just didn’t exist back when TOTP was the only music programme for teenagers. Pop isn’t something to cherish anymore, the average non-muso iTunes reads like one long compilation CD.
Pop can be applied to those early rock n roll bands like The Beatles, to the Soul stars like The Ronettes and all the way to the New Romantics of the 1980’s. It’s a matter of art, not enterprise – being popular has nothing to do with it. Currently pop is being mixed up with dance music, the like of LMFAO just isn’t pop – yes it’s danceable, but that’s all it is. Despite being a somewhat unsavoury term for artists, the label is not as shallow as was make out. A three minute single can teach us about life and love, Phil Spector described them as a “little symphony for the kids” – this ‘party rock anthem’ is most certainly not.
Candidates hit out at election rules
To The Returning Officer, 12/03/2012
To The Trustees Of The University of Manchester,
To All Students And Whomever It May Concern,
Severe allegations of electoral malpractice have been raised in connection with the use of hired, personal or borrowed iPads and other portable electronic devices to gather votes. Students have complained about being harassed or intimidated into voting for certain candidates, being observed while voting, or having votes cast ‘on their behalf’ by others. Grave allegations have even been made that some candidates and/or campaigners have used iPads and other portable electronic devices to aggressively solicit votes from drunk students – unfit to give reasoned consent- at nightclubs and bars.
Part 2, Section 22, Subsection (d) of the Education Act 1994 states in Relation to Student Unions that “appointment to major union offices should be by election in a secret ballot in which all members are entitled to vote.” Operational Guidance from the Charity Commission also makes explicit that Student Union elections must be “fairly and properly conducted”.
We thus feel that the student electorate is entitled -morally, politically and legally- to make its wishes clear by means of free, secret and fair elections. Having the opportunity to cast your secret vote in your own space at a place and time of your own choosing and without being observed is a student’s basic, essential and inalienable electoral right. We cannot remain silent when this is at risk.
We feel that permitting, in any way, shape or form, the continued use of iPads or other electronic devices by candidates or campaigners for the gathering of votes risks severely and irrecoverably undermining the legitimacy, validity and fairness of these elections.
On the basis of our experiences and conversations with students, we know that an overwhelming majority of students feels that being urged to vote, there and then, on a candidate’s iPad or other electronic device is or can be a harassing, intimidating and intrusive experience, even where the candidate is well-intentioned, keeps an appropriate distance and abides by good practice. Furthermore, not every student will have the resolve to overtly reject candidates’ or campaigners’ urging them to vote there and then on such a device- some may simply and quietly oblige and vote in order to a void having to answer back or for fear of being seen as discourteous. There are simply too many grey areas and uncertainties to ever be duly certain that a student has fairly, freely and secretly cast their vote on candidate’ or campaigner’s device. Attempts to further train candidates or create stricter regulations on the use of iPads and other devices for gathering votes are very unlikely to be effective.
Candidates or Campaigners who may have committed intentional abuses knew very well that their conduct was in breach of electoral regulations and principles, and we have little confidence that such individuals will change their conduct. Moreover, there are simply too many student spaces, PC clusters, bars, nightclubs, common rooms (&cetera) to ever effectively control, enforce and verify the ‘appropriate’ use of iPads and other electronic devices to gather votes and detect abuses, no matter how genuine and well-resourced attempts to do so may be.
Allowing candidates and campaigners to use their own or hired iPads or other electronic devices also breaches the principles of equity and equality, severely disadvantaging candidates unable to afford such devices and affecting campaign spending regulations.
We thus urge the Students Union in the strongest possible terms to completely ban any future of use of hired, borrowed or privately owned iPads and other electronic devices by candidates and or their campaigners to gather votes. We urge the Students Union to conduct a robust, transparent and full investigation into all allegations of electoral malpractice and take strong, clear and appropriate action against any individual found to be breaching electoral procedure. We would also urge the Students’ Union to make every effort to identify the IP addresses of devices used to coerce students to vote, while drunk, in nightclubs or other localities and cancel the votes cast from these devices/IP addresses. Some candidates have already expressed their view that they might consider withdrawing from the election. It is imperative that trust in the electoral processes and outcomes is restored as a matter of urgency.
Yours faithfully,
Ellie Bradbury, Candidate (Wellbeing)
Natalie Chard, Candidate (Community)
Charlotte Cook, Candidate (Community)
Colin Cortbus, Candidate (General Secretary)
Clifford Fleming, Candidate (Campaigns)
Philippa Hughes, Candidate (Campaigns & Citizenship)
Susannah Law, Candidate (Womens’)
Lily Risby, Candidate (Wellbeing)
Jonathan Rowe, Candidate (Wellbeing)
Grace Skelton, Candidate (General Secretary)
The Conquest to the South Pole – review
The UMDS stage a performance of economic austerity, expeditionary imaginations and impressive acting in ‘The Conquest to the South Pole’.
In many ways this is a play that reverberates with any contemporary viewer. With austerity measures still plaguing the budget and cuts to public services still hitting hard this play, which followed a group of unemployed men escaping the reality of their joblessness, couldn’t have been more relevant.
Whilst part of the production’s success lay in its relevance, the acting, for me, was the strongest element. Comedy is often hard to get right, especially when it requires nuanced and complex character portrayals to create any kind of empathy for the characters’ situation – something which was definitely important in The Conquest. There is also, with comedy, the danger of over acting, but that boundary was impressively navigated here by each of the actors.
Henry Page managed to portray a facetious, domineering, leader of the pack figure without drifting off into a hateful character and completely alienating us from the drama. Whilst Jake Jones, Stan Benes and Oliver Hamilton all worked well together as the other members of this motley crew, whose trials and tribulations we followed, offering humour and poignancy, in their imaginary conquest to the South Pole.
Natalia Schwartz’s La Braukmann offered a powerful female role within the drama, in contrast with Hannah Jackson’s Rosi, whose part gave us one of the most unsettling and poignant moments of the play, in the scene which depicted her troubled relationship with Rudi, played by Mathew Kerry.
The scene’s quiet and unsettling atmosphere created for awkward viewing and culminated in Frankieboy, played by Ross Carey, mauling Rudi’s leg.
But this was no regular staging of a dog mauling a man’s leg (not that I think its something which is all that regularly staged), no relieved of Frankieboy Rudi hobbled off and turning to face us Frankieboy opened his mouth to show blood dripping through his teeth. I have no idea how they did it but it was a brilliant moment, disgusting granted, but I think for that all the more brilliant.
However, I think the play did, at times, struggle to overcome the challenges presented by the script. I think the evocation of the setting could have been much sharper. Coming to it with little prior in-depth knowledge of the play I have to admit there were moments where I was slightly confused.
I felt, at points, it was hard to distinguish where the line between fiction and reality lay. The script uses a plethora of analogies and humorous ditties and I felt the staging and the action could have been used more effectively to make their meaning a little clearer for the audience.
Nonetheless the play was compelling and humorous and the performance suggested that a lot of hard work had gone into its production. The idea of team work invoked within the narrative also extended beyond the plot line as the performance felt like the product of extensive team work.
I felt that the actors worked well together on stage, they struck up a really good dynamic which was one of the most successful aspects of the performance. I would definitely like to see the same team tackle something else in the future.
Three and a half stars out of five
Beyond the Oxford Road corridor: 1 in 5 Mancunians living in extreme poverty
A world away from the purple hoodies of Oxford Road, increasing numbers of Mancunians are living in conditions of extreme poverty.
On Wednesday 20th February, the ‘Campaign to End Poverty’ published figures which revealed that Manchester Central has the highest levels of child poverty in the whole of the UK, with nearly half (47%) of children experiencing severe poverty.
This news follows the shocking findings published by ‘Greater Manchester Poverty Commission’ in January. The commission revealed that over one in five residents in Greater Manchester lives in conditions of ‘extreme poverty’. Bishop McCulloch, the chair of the report, classed ‘extreme poverty’ as an income of less than £12,000 a year.
In revealing that one in five Mancunians lives in the 10% most severely deprived areas in the country, the report exposed the stark reality of unemployment, low income and public sector neglect in Manchester. Furthermore, the commission warned that if economic conditions worsen and welfare services further diminish, then up to 1.6 million, half of Manchester’s population, will risk falling into poverty. With rising unemployment rates and dwindling public services, the gulf between South and North Manchester has never felt greater.
Nevertheless, as a student, it is easy to remain isolated from the deprivation which lies beyond the impermeable bubble of Oxford Road. In between the anxious wait for exam results and the dread of impending deadlines, it is inexcusably easy to become detached from the wider city in which we live. Surrounded by an abundance of academic, consumer and entertainment facilities, the majority of students limit themselves to the Oxford Road corridor and seldom venture beyond either Fallowfield or Picadilly. For this reason, the extreme deprivation of the surrounding areas often goes unnoticed. Whilst we impatiently reload our student portals in desperate anticipation for exam results, the choice between hunger, heating and transport is one faced by one fifth of Manchester residents.
While we fail to notice the daily privileges of our bus-pass or internet access – not to mention our monopoly-sized loans – many young people in Manchester have highly limited access to basic transport and technology facilities. If poverty is defined as a lack of choice – not being able to choose how you spend your time, where you live, what you buy, who you meet and where you go – then ‘studenthood’ is its very antithesis. Whilst the student life is characterised by a wealth of free time and a sociable lifestyle, for many Mancunians poverty permeates everyday life and the threat of being laid off, having benefits cut or houses repossessed remains a reality for many.
As the largest student city in Western Europe, it seems ironic that Manchester is also home to the highest levels of child poverty and property repossession in the whole of the UK. In this highly polarized city, the student population remains a world apart from its surrounding areas of deprivation. Nevertheless, students inability to detect the poverty which surrounds them is neither the result of apathy or social exclusion, rather it is because students have no reason or desire to visit the parts of Manchester hit hardest by destitution. Real deprivation has no place in ‘student ghettos’. Furthermore, ‘studentification’ has led to minimal interaction between students and local communities. The inherently transient, cyclical nature of student life – many of us come for three years and then leave – has meant that students often have little commitment to the past or future of the city of Manchester, instead they remain involved in the perpetual present.
It is not enough to accept the disparity between our beloved Russell Group university and the wider city in which it is situated. The university and those within it must play a greater role in shaping the fabric of adjacent neighbourhoods surrounding campus. Rather than turning a blind eye to Moss Side, which is half a mile to the East of John Rylands or Longsight which is half a mile to the West of University Place, the university must take responsibility for the wider community in which it is located. By delivering provision for the community and widening participation from under-represented groups, the university would be able to expand its role within the wider city. Moreover, in expanding student placements in the community and increasing funding to groups like ‘Student Action’, who have a long legacy of a remarkable work in the community, Manchester would become increasingly integrated into the wider community. In congruence with the recommendations of the recent report, we must address the gross disparities in wealth and improve practical solutions for those living in poverty. As ‘Mancunians’, we hold a responsibility to the wider city in which we live.
Live: The Magic Band
7th March 2013
Band on the Wall
8/10
Had the uninitiated stumbled into Band on the Wall last Thursday they would have been greeted by what may sound like the world’s worst band; Clashing chords, flat vocals and strange offbeat rhythms. But if by some chance they stayed around long enough to actually listen, they would in fact hear a tightly rehearsed and well received show by one of the influential bands of the 60s. This is The Magic Band, of Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band fame, whose famed seminal album Troutmask Replica is regularly found in top 100 lists in countless reviews, even if it is the weirdest album there.
Of course, Don Van Vliet – Captain Beefheart himself – is no longer with us. John ‘Drumbo’ French, previously the drummer in the original Magic Band takes over his vocals (and sax) with a great degree of success. He does a brilliant job interacting and bantering with the audience tonight, who are just as excited to see originals Rockette Morton on Bass and Denny Wally on guitar.
As performances go, not a bad word can be said – from the opening ‘My Human Gets Me Blues’ tangling of about 50 guitar hooks to the closing encore of ‘When It Blows Its Stacks’. An early cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘I ain’t Superstitious’ gets even the oldest fans in the audience moving their feet whilst harking back to band’s blues roots. The crowd love every minute, their only criticism being the unavoidable absence of Captain Beefheart and the raw spontaneity he would have brought. But without a single spotlight the rest of the band shine, giving the night its highlights in the form of a few small solo sections. The Captain may be long gone, but no-one can say the magic is dead.