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In this issue

Armani and Trotsky
Torture in the Town Hall
Martin Rowson
Pa' Flanagan
Diane Abbott
News in Brief
A Very Personal Message
Festival News
The Cannabis Debate
Stokey's Baroness
Risk and Restaurants
Matthew's Gospel
Music Listings
Gifts for Green Fingers
Things For Kids to Do
Hackney Crisis
Speak Out!
Here Comes The Sun
Angry Brigade
Listing to Port
Our Man in the North Bank
X-word

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The Gospel according to Mathew

Mathew Priest, Church Street resident and drummer with rock band Dodgy begins his residency as regular music reviewer for N16 magazine.

You send ‘em, we’ll review em. We aim to be firm yet yielding, fair yet easily bribed. Remember our motto: ‘send a little bit extra with your demo, you get a little bit extra on your marks’.

Dodgy, with Mathew in the centre of the photo. The band are releasing their new album - provisionally titled Moustache - in March of next year and will be playing their next London gig at the Astoria at the end of March. Check for updates on www.dodgy.co.uk

Only three to review this issue, so not enough of a movement forming to kickstart the much anticipated ‘Newington Sound’ but, if the standard remains this high, then I won’t ever have to get nasty and Polyfilla Records will be opening up an office on Church Street.

The first one is from a guy called Freddy Macha (pronounced Matcha, by the way). Basically, he is one of the world’s good guys. He is a widely-travelled, published author, a performance poet, and he sets up workshops at the drop of a hat. I think you know the score - he’s a one-man, good vibes machine. The music is loosely African! reggae but I wouldn’t want to pin it down. It’s just very well performed without being too flashy. The lyrics are spot-on, funny, passionate and bizarre. I would recommend you getting hold of this CD even if it’s just to listen to the title track’ Constipation’ an amazing ‘song’ where he manages to move from toilet behaviour to freedom fighting in Nigeria without making you think of ‘whose line is it anyway?’. Contact him on 0207 502 9814 or fmacha@yahoo.com.

The second one comes from an artist who calls himself Mojosis. In his accompanying letter he has gone for the ‘I have a young child as well’ sympathy vote. Well, lovely
though it is, it won’t wash unless you include a tenner in the envelope. OK? Anyway, the music here is great. The three tracks are all electronic instrumentals in the Aphex Twin! DJ Shadow mode, even though Spaghetti Hiatus sounded like an updated version of Japan (steady!). A nice touch, I thought, was telling me in his letter what equipment he used to make the music - Cubase, Rave-o-lution 309 etc. Thank you, Chris. For this review, I mainly used an Oxford A4 pad and a Bic medium blue pen. Hope this helps in some way. Definitely worth checking out, though. Contact 020 7249 4858 or mojosis@tesco.net.

The last one (and by no means the least, folks) is by a young duo - soon to be four piece - called Marcel. Again, the standard on all five songs is very high and, at times, reminds me of Jonathan Richman, sometimes Hefner and only occasionally the Violet Femmes. But even if you don’t like these bands (which I’m not too fussed about) I think you’d still like it. There is some really top stuff on here and, considering that this is their first demo, I predict (please note this) a healthy future for these sparky fellas. Contact 020 7923 9201 or dskmarcel@hotmail.com .

News

• If any of you are up for an altemative, spacey, punky, soul knees-up, then there is a special Christmas gig for you on the cards, featuring local heroes Quickspace, Monkey Island and The Impossible. The date and venue are yet to be confirmed so look out for posters or call Mel on 07779939240.

• The punk soulsters The Impossible, mentioned above, have been busy recording their second album due for release in the New Year. For an update or any other info contact Steve at lobooks@dircon.co.uk

• My ‘one to watch’ (catchy yet cliched) this issue is Discobomber. Formed on NewYear’s Day 2000 (yeah, right), this Stokey-based band are releasing their debut 3-track EP called ‘Hackneyed Psalms’ on New Year’s Day 2001 (even better!). They have been described as ‘early Roxy Music covering The Pixies via Primal Scream’ and ‘the MC5 for the 21st century’. Blimey. You can catch them live at the Bull and Gate in Camden on 7th January 2001 or contact them on  Thediscobomber@hotmail.com .

Well. That’s it for now. Send your demos and information about the music scene in Stoke Newington to Mathew at Nl6 Magazine. Just remember, ‘Keep your eyes to the ground and keep reaching for the stairs’..