From Matt Murtagh
Photos are posted here from the Birmingham Flickr community. Click on the image for more details.
Archive for June, 2007
BBC Birmingham has photos from Tunnel Vision
© BBC presumably
If you didn’t already know it runs until next Sunday.
John Tighe of The Spotted Dog pub and venue in Digbeth has been issued with a Noise Abatement Notice following three complaints from the nearby Abacus housing development. As he writes on The Stirrer’s message board this is the first time in 22 years he’s had such a complaint and expects it will seriously affect his business.
Two issues leap out. The first is that Noise Abatement Notices can be imposed based on a tiny number of complaints, do not take other opinions into account, do not require the use of monitoring equipment and do not appear to be appealable.
The more critical point is that the existing nature of Digbeth was never taken in account when the development was first planned. I did a bit of digging around and found this article from 2005 on a property investment site:
“But [residential agency] Knight Frank reports that after decades of decline, the time has come for the huge success of Bullring and the emerging city living community around the Arcadian and Chinese Quarter to ripple out to the dormant heart of Digbeth.” (my emphasis)
Then there’s this piece of business news from the Post in 2004, quoting Tony Corbett, director of the Abacus project:
“We didn’t know the first thing about the area, even in terms of who owned the land, and it was clearly going to involve significant resources.”
Though to be fair they then went on to work closely with the Council and other agencies. Which is where it all gets messy.
John Tighe’s contention is that the council planning department did not take into account existing Public Entertainment Licenses when they gave the wonderfully named Concept Development Solutions the go-ahead. As he writes:
Of one thing I am certain – that I was never asked what were the terms of my licence. No interest seems to have been taken in the fact that The Spotted Dog was licensed for music until 2.00 am on Saturday and Sunday and 12.30 am Monday, which is surprising in view of the fact that we have been conducting live music events here for years.
However, this apparent dereliction of duty is more than adequately explained in Mr Dutton’s letter. After informing me of the procedures of the Environmental Health Department (EHD) he states that he “is mindful of [my] concerns, however, the City Council cannot legally provide any exceptions to this legal requirement and if complaints are received, they will need to be investigated, and any noise nuisance mitigated againstâ€.
Thus it would seem to be clear that no consideration was made for the potential environmental noise associated with The Spotted Dog. Inadequate sound insulation was recommended, at further financial benefit to the developer, and Mr Dutton and the developers could sleep soundly knowing that EHD would be on hand to counteract their dereliction. The fact that it results in the closure of The Spotted Dog, one of the reasons that people move into the area and an integral part of the widely-touted Irish Quarter as well as being the venue for the initial discussions that resulted in the concept of the Irish Quarter, will prove to be irrelevant once the developer has maximised his profits.
He then goes on to speculate where this will lead.
Tomorrow is Rootsville where there will be live music being played at a significant volume outside from 12 noon til 6am. A fortnight later is Supersonic. In November Gigbeth are planning to shut the High Street and erect a massive stage in the middle of it, close to the Custard Factory and the Spotted Dog. And that’s just some of the big things going on. The issue here is that a precedent is set in place. Digbeth was not a dead zone before the residential development started. It already had the seeds of a vibrant community that were, if you’ll excuse the metaphor, fertilised by the low rents and blind eye from the Council. But I don’t think there’s a conscious desire form the powers that plan to wipe it all away. I genuinely think they don’t realize it’s there, or if they do they don’t understand how it works. We need to teach them. The person at the council directly responsible for this particular case is Clive Dutton. That link takes you to his profile on the BCC site and his email is clive.dutton@birmingham.gov.uk. Beyond that Adrian at The Stirrer is running a campaign and I’m sure others will emerge. More on this as it develops. Previously:
A Quiet Digbeth
Let’s Start A Campaign
I love how the Birmingham Jazz Festival is advertised with a lone guitarist playing in an empty theatre. Aesthetically spot on but probably not the result they’re looking for.
This is the 23rd such festival in Birmingham and I’m not sure there are any that have run for longer – do correct me if I’m wrong. The launch is at 8am (!!!) on July 6th and there are a slew of events running for the next 10 days until July 15th.
All events are free (again, correct me if I’m wrong) and take place all over the city so the chances are you’ll bump into some kind of Jazz wherever you are.
They’re claiming “more jazz per square metre than has New Orleans” which, potential bad taste aside, is a bold statement but I’m no Jazz aficionado so I can’t say whether the quality of the Jazz will be as high. There certainly aren’t any names being shouted on the website, something you’d expect from an “International” festival.
Still, it’s good to see this still running after all these years and still taking over the city.
Every month the 7 Inch Cinema folks send out a newsletter highlighting not just what they’re doing but a whole slew of other stuff they think is cool. As such it’s kinda essential and a perfect example of what could go on a blog. They’re in touch with the local scene and they have a mission to tell the world about it. It’s a no brainer really. Ian from 7 Inch has told me they’re working on a blog strategy but it can’t hurt to reiterate to others in their situation how simple and effective blogging can be. It doesn’t have to be integrated into your existing site – the two have pretty different purposes really so a link between them will do. Just set up one for free on Blogger or WordPress in a minute or two and start throwing content at it. A good example of this is Ten4 magazine with their fancy showcasing website and more useful blog.
In the meanwhile here’s the July 7inch newsletter all hyperlinked up for your enjoyment.
Birmingham’s “Lords of All That’s Wrong” Mistress have a new album out. The gloriously titled Glory Bitches of Doghead came out on Feto Records in April and is now available worldwide.
Taking in subject matter ranging from grimy obsessions and seeking alcohol oblivion to a bitter attack on Immanuel Kant, The Glory Bitches Of Doghead is an aggressive, frequently surprising and supremely energetic collection that should appeal to anyone with a love for extreme metal and even anyone with an axe to grind!
Here’s a track, entitled KUNT.
[audio:mistress_kunt.mp3]
I’m not an extreme metal fan as a rule but I went to a Mistress gig once (photos) and it blew my tiny mind out of my nose. Astonishing stuff.
Feto Records is a Birmingham-based label formed by Shane Embury (Napalm Death, Brujeria, Lock up, Venomous Concept) and Mick Kenney (Anaal Nathrakh, Exploder, Mistress, Frost).
The name of the Label FETO derives itself from the title of the second Napalm Death album “From Enslavement to Obliterationâ€. When the album rocketed into the NME Indie album charts at No1 in 1988, it settled itself above bands such as Sonic Youth and Big Black. Such was the musical diversity of extremity at that time, it is a reminder to us all that rules are meant to be broken!
Over the coming months as the label continues to grow and expand, you can expect releases from many genre’s of extreme music. Be it grindcore/ death metal/ heavy metal/ punk/ hardcore/ industrial or experimental, FETO aims to become a guiding light in the darkness of ignorance..
From Candice Smith
Photos are posted here from the Birmingham Flickr community. Click on the image for more details.
- The Birmingham International Comics Show scheduled for October 13th – 14th in Thinktank, has confirmed three star guests, Americans Kevin Nolan and Mike Mignola and Brit Bryan Talbot.
- TAK talk about Walkie Talkie, a rather sumptuous magazine they created for Clarkes shoes.
- The Stirrer reports on the financial debacle surrounding The Public arts centre in West Brom. I confess to not really following this story but it appears that “£1 million in professional fees went unaccounted for ultimately bringing the project down.” More here (warning – will resize your browser window).
- Birmingham Words have launched a potentially very useful forum, Share Your Work. “This is a place for constructive feedback on work by other members of Birmingham Words. So you can post a piece you are working on, and use the massed minds of the Birmingham Words community to get feedback.” Anything in word form is welcome but “300 page epic poems or retellings of the Mahabharata” are discouraged.
- Local ska heroes The Klopeks have called it a day citing “terminal rubbish” as the root cause. “The Klopeks slipped from this world without fuss. There will be no funeral as we were not a religious band. The memory will be merely pushed out onto the Birmingham – Fazley canal aflame not unlike the burial of a mighty Viking warrior.”
“The Winterval Conspiracy is a collection of entirely liberal musical theology. drawing on influences as diverse as classical indian, arabic, and iranian music, terry riley, mike oldfield, the divine comedy, david arnold, tangerine dream, philip glass, pink floyd, guillaume de machaut, john dresher, the residents, john mclaughlin, grand union orchestra, miles davis, vangelis, european folk music, and hildegard of bingen the attempt is to take fusion to its limits & create a musical soundworld which defies category. you may like it, or you may loathe it – the choice is yours.”
There be 18 mp3s for your right-clicky downloading pleasure which seem to be by one Simon Gray. Who that is I can’t say but I’d like to find out.
via Birmingham Alive which I’ve just discovered and will be reporting on soon.
In an update that was so important they posted to their MySpace blog 17 times* Misty’s Big Adventure have announced they’re setting up their own record label, Grumpy Fun Records, which will release their new album, Funny Times, followed by “other bands we’d love you to hear”. Needless to say this is great news, giving more focus to that strange genre of music that isn’t really a genre, more a way of life, and which could only come form Birmingham. More news as it emerges.
They also have gigs lined up, on the 7th July at the Jug with support from Betty and the Id and “an afternoon all ages gig in Birmingham on the 21st of July at The Custard Factory in benefit of Moseley Road Swimming Baths. Kate Goes are supporting.”
*Not that I’m casting aspersions on their web-fu. This is MySpace we’re talking about where ineptitude is thrust upon you.
At some point recently Mark Locke updated his website with a slew of new videos and short films. You’ll remember Mark from the event at the MAC in February as part of the Flatpack Festival with Misty’s Big Adventure as the house band.
A fair number of the films shown there are now online, including the long-awaited Misty’s video for Night Time’s Better The The Daytime which has also surfaced on YouTube:
I’d also recommend checking out the so-non-rock-it-rocks-hard Hollow Head promo for Blaze.
Do check out his short films, though, as this is where the great stuff really lives, especially Eat In and The Missing Link. Top stuff.
Here’s the metal sheet that forms the centre-piece of the logically titled Piece for Large Metal Sheet that took place last night.
The sheet will stay in situ in the Entrance Foyer of the UCE Department of Art until lunchtime on Monday 2nd July where sub-sonic sounds will be played through it.
Videos of the performance are promised and you can be sure I’ll let you know when they’re up. My arse is sore from kicking myself about missing this one…
Gareth Courage’s Viewer Magazine reaches issue five. It’s a free PDF download of his recent work. Here’s a direct link.
Are there any PDF publishers in the city I should know about?
News reaches me through Facebook that the Moseley Festival‘s Music in the Park has been postponed until the weekend of August 11th – 12th. No reason given as yet, and I’m sure details will filter out over time, but I’d suspect the forecast of stupid amounts of rain, not to mention to overlapping Rootsville (which could be considered rather Moseley-friendly), has something to do with it.
As part of their ongoing work with Thomas Tallis school TAK have launched Tallis Shorts, a video / audio showcasing site for the pupil’s work.
So yeah, it’s another Flash video hosting site. Yawn-tastic. But go have a look at it. More importantly, go use it.
I’m no fan of fancy Flash interfaces but this pretty much rocks. It’s completely different to the standard YouTube / Vimeo model but still works intuitively and has all the widgets you need. (Except permalinks. They’d be nice, in an essential kinda way). It’s always nice to see cutting edge web design that actually works properly, so well done TAK.
