Un docufilm sulla storia delle Slits, con testimonianze d'epoca e il racconto di molti diretti protagonisti. Ci lavorava la stessa Ari Up prima di venire a mancare, l'ha invece portato a termine William E. Badgley e al momento circola in alcune sale cinematografiche di Regno Unito e Stati Uniti: Here to be Heard: The Story of The Slits. 

Here to be Heard: The Story of The Slits tells the story of the first all-girl punk band, shedding light on the mid-70’s British Punk era from a female point of view. Contemporaries of The Clash and Sex Pistols and godmothers of the musical movement known as "Punky Reggae", the film follows the band’s story from their inception in 1976, through two albums including 1979’s classic Cut, break up, reunion, and eventual end in 2010 with the death of lead vocalist, Ari Up. When Ari passed away she was working with Slits tour manager and friend Jennifer Shagawat on a film about the band. After Ari passed and the film was still not completed Jennifer contacted her long time friend Bill over at Molasses Manifesto to come on and help finish the project.

Here to be Heard includes previously unseen footage and recordings of the band, and interviews with Don Letts (former Slits manager, punk documentarian), Viv Albertine (Slits guitarist), Ari Up (Slits vocalist), Palmolive (Slits founder, first drummer), Tessa Pollitt (Slits bass player), Bruce Smith (Slits second drummer, PIL drummer), Hollie Cook (Slits vocalist, keyboards, percussion), Vivien Goldman (New York University's punk professor), Dennis Bovell (producer of The Slits album Cut), Paul Cook (Sex Pistols drummer), Gina Birch (Raincoats bass player), and many more.

http://www.slitsdoc.com
https://www.facebook.com/slitsdoc
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/mar/23/here-to-be-heard
https://vimeo.com/231761921
https://www.mixcloud.com/DublinDigitalRadio/xxx-the-slits

Proprio ora che fa furore la nuova esuberante versione realizzata dal Colin Currie Group con Synergy Vocals riaffiora una delle primissime registrazioni di uno dei superclassici di Steve Reich, Drumming. Si tratta di un concerto del dicembre 1971 alla Town Hall di New York, quando con Reich c'erano Art Murphy, Steve Chambers, Russ Hartenberger, James Preiss, Jon Gibson, Joan La Barbara, Judy Sherman, Jay Clayton, Ben Harms, Gary Burke, Frank Maefsky e James Ogden. Lo diffonde, anche in cd, l'etichetta di San Francisco Superior Viaduct specializzata in riedizioni in vinile.

Steve Reich's minimalist classic Drumming is reissued on vinyl for the first time this month. Superior Viaduct oversees the re-release of the Reich piece which is also being remastered. The original performance of Drumming, which was written for eight tuned drums, three marimbas, three glockenspiels, piccolo and voice, took place at MoMA in New York City in 1971, with Reich leading an ensemble of performers. The piece was subsequently released in 1972 and pressed in an edition of 600 copies by John Gibbons. It now sells for hundreds of pounds on the resale market due to its rarity. Another version was released more widely in 1974 by the Deutsche Grammophon label.

https://www.superiorviaduct.com/steve-reich-drumming-2cd
https://www.superiorviaduct.com/steve-reich-drumming-2xlp

Due buone notizie in una: la gloriosa etichetta Cadillac Records riprende le pubblicazioni - grazie all'impegno di Mike Gavin, ora che John Jack non è più qui - e la prima di queste è un concerto inedito della Mike Westbrook Concert Band: The Last Night At The Old Place. Era il 25 maggio del 1968 a Londra, era il compleanno di John e questo era l'ultimo evento in calendario nella vecchia sede del Ronnie Scott’s in Gerrard Street, riaperta nemmeno due anni prima. Sul palco assieme a Mike c'era il fior fiore: Dave Holdsworth, Malcolm Griffiths, Paul Rutherford, Mike Osborne, Bernie Living, George Khan, John Surman, Harry Miller e Alan Jackson. Per onorare il cinquantesimo anniversario, e per amor di cifra tonda, l'album esce ufficialmente questo mese proprio il 25.

Founded in 1973 by John Jack and Mike Westbrook as a means of releasing Westbrook's music, the British jazz label Cadillac grew to release a host of artist including Ken Colyer, Stan Tracey, Frank Lowe, David Murray, Andy Sheppard, the Joe Harriott Quintet, and many others. Jack died on 7 September 2017, leaving behind a number of unfinished projects for the label, which new label manager Mike Gavin is now set to shine some light on. Cadillac will continue to trade as a label, reissuing out of print recordings and “bringing out never before issued gems from Cadillac’s dusty archive”, it says. The first new release will be a previously unreleased live session by the Mike Westbrook Concert Band that was recorded 25 May 1968 at London's Ronnie Scott’s in Gerrard Street, Chinatown, which Jack was managing at the time of recording. The recording was the last time a performance would be held at that old venue of Ronnie Scott's, a night that also coincided with Jack's birthday.

https://mikewestbrookconcertband.bandcamp.com
https://www.thewire.co.uk/news/50737/cadillac-reissues-gems-from-its-dusty-archive