This is another poem from Inua Ellam’s book ‘Thirteen Fairy Negro Tales’ The book is available from Amazon here for £4.

Dustbin Diaries -Inua Ellams

Once
upon a time,
a young man gleaned
from an archaic continent creamed
in the light fantastic;
from the borders of history baked
before an African sun
came to this kingdom
of Babylon.

This kingdom became his home.
And as time turned its page
suit followed his age -
this now withered warrior
is whom I see before me.
Read the rest

Ideal is a British television program that is now in it’s fifth series. The main character Moz, played by Johnny Vegas is a hash dealer in Manchester who runs his small business from his flat. Because of this, the entire program is set in his cluttered abode.

I’d definitely consider it a comedy program although it’s very surreal with the atmosphere constantly changing due to the bizarre story lines, I suppose you have to watch it to understand what I mean by this.

Moz is frequented by many clients through out the program such as Brain, a very camp man who appears with a different boyfriend each episode, Jenny, the borderline retarded single parent, Derrick, the vegetable farmer, Colin, who is on probation, and a minor gang as shown above composed of Stemroach, Psycho Paul, Cartoon Head and Stevie. Moz is supplied by his best friend PC the policeman who gives him cannabis in bulk that he has raided from rival dealers.

It’s a program worth giving a go although I doubt it will appeal to everyone. A lot of it is on youtube but I managed to find a torrent with the first 3 series on The Pirate Bay. The first couple of series are also on Play for £4 each.

The Hector Fund is an organisation that aims to help independent artists find the money to produce their material. They provide a platform in which an artist can offer certain privileges to fans like a signed copy of the album or having your name listed in the “thank you” section of the liner notes. These offers come at a range of prices for different levels.

At the moment there are only three artists in The Hector Fund, Linda Thompson, Bodega Girls and Alex Alvear. Linda Thompson is offering a free download of her track ‘Never The Bride’ exclusively for The Hector Fund.

This sort of initiative is important as it stops artists becoming locked into contracts whilst allowing them to professionally produce their albums.

“The Hector Fund is changing the way the world finances music by applying the principles of microfinancing to the music industry. The Hector Fund is supporting economic development in music capitals around the globe by developing an Artistfunding Platform that allows music fans to give financial support directly to their favorite artist in exchange for a more fulfilling fan experience.”

Ten and Six are an interesting indie band from Michigan. They employ a range of instruments into their music, bells in particular which offer quite a unique sound.

Ten and Six started out as a cover band before beginning to produce their own material. They’re first self-titled EP was released in April and is available for just $4.95 here. They also go for the Radiohead, In Rainbows approach of giving fans the option  to download the whole thing hassle free first here at 320kbps quality.

I’ve included the video to their song ‘Bedside Regiments’ below, it’s very impressive.

Trolley – Ten and Six

Bedside Regiments – Ten and Six

Mercury Lullaby – Ten and Six

Paris Song and Michael’s Bells – Ten and Six

Antique Heart – Ten and Six

Bad Chad & The Good Girls are a pop crunk outfit from Louisiana. They have a delightfully chaotic sound with some  dub/grime traits. The man behind this act, Chad Faulk, is also a part of imagineIAM and We Cajun. Also in Bad Chad &  The Good Girls are obviously the two good girls Moontea on vocals and drums and Carrie 2 Shoes on keyboard/synth and DJing.

They’ve so far released a 10 track demo available here on iTunes and Amazon. It sounds very well put together for a demo and could be considered a proper album by most standards.