More Cricket?

More traditional this time... and follow that with...



for couch-based sports fans everywhere.

Normal Business Resumes; Jiggery Pokery

Glad to see they haven't called the cricket off. We still have some veneer of being a decent civilization after all. Here's a video to celebrate:



After all, what could be more civilized than Neil Hannon singing about a test match? And let's have a look at The Ball of the Century as well:

By Way of Balance...

Yes yes, I know, people like London. *I* quite like London. I am generally opposed to its wholesale destruction, at least. Here are some songs about what a nice place London is.



Elizabeth Taylor reading Wordsworth. I don't think looting occurs in cities where this also happens.



Some slightly different poetry, from Lord Upminster.



The Pogues - Lullaby of London



Mr Strummer eulogises the capital's takeaways...



Oops, not sure how that one slipped through the net...

Songs for the Discerning Rioter

There's some discussion on Twitter about whether Kaiser Chiefs or The Smiths will be replacing Amy Winehouse in the download charts, after this week's incidents. In light of this, here's the first part of a series of posts: 5 alternative songs about rioting



The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, from their recent comeback album. I'm a sucker for a novelty cover version anyhow, and this would add a delightfully silly air to proceedings if they used it to soundtrack vandals on News 24.



Denim - Council Houses. Lawrence from Felt explains the social context of the riots in Birmingham, without coming over all Polly Toynbee.



The Clash - This Is England. The sole redeeming feature of the terrible, terrible 'Cut The Crap' album.



McCarthy - Charles Windsor. Bit of a throwback to the student demonstrations perhaps, but a nice bit of wish fulfilment.



Jeffrey Lewis - Securicor. Far more listenable than the Crass original, a nice portrait of the people whose job it is to protect property from the majority.

Topical

For a first post, let's have something topical. This comes from Stiff Records, and is one of the angriest things I have ever heard. Mick Farren was a writer at IT magazine, doorman at the UFO club, acquaintance of Germaine Greer and Sid Vicious, and author of the excellent autobiography 'Give The Anarchist a Cigarette'. He is also a man who has a way with a title.

This is what the discerning looter will be listening to this evening.

Mick Farren: Let's All Loot The Supermarket Like We Did Last Summer