Here is a link to “Countercultural Capital & the Creative Economy – How do 1990s DiY Music ‘Entrepreneurs’ talk about the contemporary music business?” written by Charlotte Bedford for her MA Media Enterprise – Birmingham City University (May 2008)

It makes an interesting read…..

Placing independent music at the centre of the wider creative industries, this paper captures experiences and perspectives from 1990s DiY Music in order to inform the understanding of the rapidly changing ‘business’ of music……The role of the cultural entrepreneur is examined through accounts and opinions of independent music practice then and now, exploring the extent to which the current Do-it-Yourself digital music trend is new and ‘independent’.

Celebrating Sanctuary is back this year with our best ever music line-up and an exciting range of events across the city. Offering musicians originating from Angola to Albania, Kurdistan to Kazakhstan, across Africa, the Balkans and the Middle East, our events demonstrate the rich diversity of talent that is settled here in Birmingham.

The key date in our calendar will be the Celebrating Sanctuary Festival on Victoria and Chamberlain Squares on Saturday 13 June. Alongside the music there will be workshops, displays, entertainment and activities for children, performances, arts and crafts, and samples of food from around the world – and all for free! In addition we offer music nights, a family music event, schools workshops and a schools festival.

Birmingham’s main contribution to National Refugee Week, which is celebrated between 14 and 20 June 2009.

Our guest will be Jez from the Birmingham Music Archive and we’re going to pick our favourite Birmingham music gems. But. We’re going to turn half the show over to you — to pick your favourite brum bands and songs.

You can suggest anything you like, but we’ll not be deviating too far from the Big Paws policy of playing brand new tunes and obscure classics — so try and think of something that we and our audience might not have heard before.

This article is about culture and the arts in the city of Birmingham, England. It covers both notable history and notable contemporary activities

it’s a work in progress but they want people to add there own content. There is a fairly good list of bands on there already

June has been declared to be Brum Music Month – a month-long celebration of all things Birmingham Music.

Do with that what you will. We're just trying to encourage activities, events, t-shirts, media coverage, free compilation releases, film screenings, photography exhibitions – anything you can think of that will help commemorate Brum Music Month.

Keep an eye on the site for developments, music videos, announcements and more… but most importantly – get involved!

We're not organising Brum Music Month – YOU ARE!

Last Under The Sun will be played and discussed on the June 3rd edition of METAL TIME on BASEMENTSOUND RADIO which can be heard this Wednesday June 3rd 8pm GMT on www.basementsound.co.uk

The following bands all feature on the show –
LAST UNDER THE SUN
THE DECLINE
MOTHER TRUCKER
TWELVE GAUGE
PINK INDUSTRIAL WHORES
MISS HALLIWELL

Big thanks to our man Nick J.Townsend who has fixed us all up good and proper

The Local Underground Presents

The Nightingales plus Christy and Emily

3rd July at Mothers Ruin, 7-9 St Nicholas Street, Bristol, BS1 1UE8pm, £3,

Facebook – The Comicbook.
A Few words from Paul: Written, drawn and finished within a month, it felt like the well could have run forever were it not for the fact that full colour printing is probably on the tombstone of many impoverished, dead cartoonists. Well worth it though.

So you get 72 pages focusing on the absurd and sinister elements of social networking. I set up a group on the website in question, and scoped for various ideas and experiences people had had. The response was really good, with members from just about ever country in the world.

However, the irony of using the very vehicle I was condemning made me feel like I may as well have been driving to Friends Of The Earth meetings in a 4×4. Despite this, making the leap into full colour feels fantastic…

War System:
Pat Terrorain Vocals
Scary Dave Guitar/Vocals
Sean Drums
Jon Bass/Vocals

01. Beneath the Machine
02. They Lied
03. The Gods of Famine
04. Overlord
05. Cast Your Net
06. Nailed to the Cross

Descent to Hell
Jim – Vocals
Stiff – Bass
Maynard – Drums
Michel – Guitar

7. Judas Disciple
8. Nothing Will Change
9. Hate Fuel
10. The Other Side
11. Fu k It
12. Dig Your Own Grave

The BNP’s message of hate is being spread across the country by a small but dedicated band of racist activists.

But now, a commercial media organisation is seeking to financially profit from the BNP’s campaign. Clear Channel – one of the UK’s largest poster and billboard companies, that has a close relationship with Music and it’s promotion – have sold the BNP adverts across the country.

They have provided the BNP with high profile sites – putting the BNP’s racist message on a pedestal and giving them the oxygen of publicity. In a matter of days these billboards and posters will be spreading across the country. But we can stop them if enough of us complain to Clear Channel and we get them to cancel their contract.

We have set an easy-to-use page so you can send a letter of complaint – will you send them a message of complaint?

http://action.hopenothate.org.uk/integrity

Police surveillance of a peaceful protester was ruled unlawful today in a decison that lawyers say will change the way demonstrations and protests are policed.

Judges ruled that specialist ­surveillance units from the Metropolitan police had breached the human rights of Andrew Wood, an arms trade campaigner, when they photographed him and stored the pictures on a police database.

One judge said there were ­unresolved civil liberties questions about the way images were taken and retained in "the modern surveillance society". Lord ­Justice Dyson said there were "very serious human rights issues which arise when the state obtains and retains the images of persons who have committed no offence and are not suspected of having ­committed any offence".

The judgment is a blow to the Met, which has been criticised over the way it polices protests since last month's G20 ­demonstrations and the death of Ian Tomlinson.

AJP Presents & Tom Mayne AFUK
The Nightingales, Ted Chippington, Violet Violet, DCW

a few pics and a review (only of ted) by simon of kid's tv's trevor & simon

The background to the 'Gales' homecoming gig was disaster – deportation and unseemly inebriation rendered their prestigious gig at London's 100 Club a disaster – although the venue manager thought it was fantastic and invited them to play any time, despite some punters demanding their money back! Then on Monday they played a live session for Marc Riley on 6 Music and a decent gig in Mankychester.

But Wolverhampton's what it's all about. On the bill were Violet Violet and Ted Chippington. The Violets of themselves disprove the existence of any kind of deity. It's simple really. They're hugely talented and aesthetically pleasing. A just deity would make talented people ugly, or ugly people talented out of a sense of fairness. A cruel deity would make talented people ugly, or ugly people talented, to punish them for hubris. Ergo, there's no god. They're all-round ace, and I'm neither. Next philosophical problem?

http://www.kneidl.de/lala/nightingales_palace.mov

The success of our events relies heavily on the sponsorships from local businesses. If you would like to raise the profile of your business in the local community, no matter how large or small you are, we have advertising packages to suit your needs

Friends of Parks are local voluntary groups who work in partnership with other organizations to maintain their park as an accessible, pleasant and valuable amenity for the local community. Stourbridge & Black Country Events aim to assist these groups and other community groups to raise money towards their causes.

Traditionally the park fun day attracts in excess of 12,000 visitors through the day and the entertainment also includes: Tug-of-War, WWFC Community Football penalty shoot out with Wolfie, a wide variety of live bands, community stalls, funfairs, side shows and other entertainment.

Mick Willetts
Stourbridge & Black Country Events.

Based on author Eve Ensler’s ‘Vagina Interviews’ conducted with women from all around the world, this hilariously witty and moving collection of tales give voice to a chorus of lusty, outrageous, poignant, brave and thoroughly human stories.

A staggering number of the world’s most famous & talented women, from Kate Winslet and Whoopi Goldberg to Sophie Dahl and Jerry Hall have chosen to take part in the show in New York, Los Angeles and London.

PLAYWRIGHT/PERFORMER
Eve opened her new play, The Good Body, on Broadway after hit runs in San Francisco and Seattle. She toured America with it beginning in the autumn of 2005. Eve is the OBIE Award-winning author of The Vagina Monologues and the founder and artistic director of V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls.