Tag Archives: Jarvis Cocker

STARS LAUNCH SAVE THE ARCTIC CAMPAIGN

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Greenpeace to plant a million names on seabed beneath the pole

Stars from the worlds of music, film, TV and business are today launching a campaign to save the Arctic.

Sir Paul McCartney, Penelope Cruz, Robert Redford, One Direction, Alexandra Burke, Jarvis Cocker and Sir Richard Branson are among dozens of famous names who are asking for a global sanctuary in the Arctic. They have joined forces with Greenpeace to demand that oil drilling and unsustainable fishing are banned in Arctic waters.

Others demanding that the uninhabited area around the North Pole is legally protected and made off-limits to polluters include Edward Norton, Woody Harrelson, Jude Law, John Hurt, Rita Ora, Thom Yorke, Tim Roth, Thandie Newton, Bruce Parry, Lawrence Dallaglio, explorer David de Rothschild and Cilla Black. (Full list below.)

They are among the first one hundred names to be written on an Arctic Scroll, which is launched by Greenpeace today at the Rio Earth Summit. When a million others add their own names Greenpeace will embark on an expedition to plant it on the seabed at the North Pole, four kilometres beneath the ice. The spot will be marked by a Flag for the Future designed by the youth of the world.

Anybody in the world can add their name to the Arctic Scroll and have their name planted beneath the pole by visiting www.SaveTheArctic.org

The huge expanse around the pole belongs to all of us because it is defined in international law as the high seas. But as temperatures rise and the ice melts the Arctic states – Russia, Canada, the US, Norway and Denmark – are making territorial claims on the seabed so they can open the door to oil companies. Arctic sea ice has retreated dramatically in recent years and scientists say the North Pole could soon be ice free.

The campaign is formally launched today at the Rio Earth Summit at a press conference (details below) hosted by Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo, Sir Richard Branson and actress Lucy Lawless, star of Battlestar Galactica and Xena: Warrior Princess. Lucy will be sentenced in September after scaling oil company Shell’s Arctic drilling rig and blocking its operations for 72 hours in New Zealand in February.

Sir Paul McCartney said: “The Arctic is one of the most beautiful and last untouched regions on our planet, but now it’s under threat. Some countries and companies want to open it up to oil drilling and industrial fishing and do to the Arctic what they’ve done to the rest of our fragile planet. It seems madness that we are willing to go to the ends of the Earth to find the last drops of oil when our best scientific minds are telling us we need to get off fossil fuels to give our children a future. At some time, in some place, we need to take a stand. I believe that time is now and that place is the Arctic.”

Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo said: “The Arctic is coming under assault and needs people from around the world to stand up and demand action to protect it. A ban on offshore oil drilling and unsustainable fishing would be a huge victory against the forces ranged against this precious region and the four million people who live there. And a sanctuary in the uninhabited area around the pole would in a stroke stop the polluters colonising the top of the world without infringing on the rights of Indigenous communities.”

As part of today’s launch, polar bears have been appearing in cities around the world.

Shell is due to begin exploratory drilling at two offshore sites in the Alaskan Arctic in the coming weeks. If Shell is successful this summer, an Arctic oil rush will be sparked and the push to carve up the region will accelerate. Russian oil giant Gazprom is also pushing into the offshore Arctic this year.

In 2007 Russian explorer Artur Chilingarov planted a Russian flag on the seabed beneath the pole and ‘claimed’ it for Moscow. Wikileaks documents later revealed he was acting on the instructions of the Russian Government. Now Greenpeace is planting the names of a million global citizens beneath the pole and marking the spot with a Flag for the Future designed by children in a global competition organised by the ten million-strong Girl Guide movement.

The campaign will initially focus on pushing for a UN resolution demanding a global sanctuary around the pole and a ban on oil drilling and unsustainable fishing in the wider Arctic. The campaign was launched today because the Arctic Circle is defined as the area of the globe which on the longest day – 21 June – experiences 24 hours of sunlight. On 21 June the sun never sets on the Arctic.

Rodion Sulyandziga from the Udega People and First Vice President of RAIPON (Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North) said:

“At present, the Arctic – one of the last unique and intact places on Earth – is facing a real threat from active oil drilling. A large scale oil exploration ‘development’ can irreversibly destroy the virgin purity of the Arctic region, putting at stake the physical existence and survival of Indigenous Peoples who, without their traditional living patterns, without their eternal habitat, will have no future.”

Three Arctic states, the US, Canada and Russia were responsible for sinking an Oceans Rescue Plan in Rio which would protect the vulnerable marine life of the Arctic’s international waters and enable the establishment of a sanctuary in the area around the pole.

Kumi Naidoo added: “We’re drawing a line in the ice and saying to polluters ‘you come no further.’ People ask me why I, as an African, care so deeply about the Arctic, but the answer is simple. The Arctic is the world’s refrigerator, it keeps us cool by reflecting the sun’s energy off its icy surface, but as the ice melts it’s accelerating global warming, threatening lives and livelihoods on every continent. Wherever we come from, the Arctic is our destiny.”

A new short film written and produced by advertising legend Trevor Beattie and released today uses stunning Arctic footage shot by world-renowned ‘Earth from the Air’ photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The film is narrated by Golden Globe-winning actor John Hurt and can be viewed at www.savethearctic.org

Glasvegas + Es Muss Sein – Relentless Garage, London | Music Review

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Es Muss Sein

Tonight’s show was opened by Es Muss Sein, a 16 year old singer-songwriter from Kent. EMS was personally invited to open the show by Rab from Glasvegas who found her via her facebook page. Her debut EP has been earning her rave reviews, including here at Frost, and so we took the opportunity to catch her at her biggest live performance to date.

At four songs short it was a quick set. “Wave Goodbye”, “Sail”, “Seeping” and “Those Eyes” give off little more than the EP did. Hauntingly soulful, achingly beautiful. Nerves showed at the start but she grew in confidence with every  strum of her guitar. She told me afterwards that she”doubted she was good enough” and that she was “very scared”. On this performance the only thing you doubt is that she’ll be bottom of the bill for much longer.

Glasvegas

It’s been a few years since I last saw Glasvegas, atop a mountain near Bern, and it’s fair to say a lot’s happened. In those two years the band have released a new album, Europric Heartbreak, lost their original drummer, Caroline McKay, gained a new drummer, Jonna Löfgren (more on her later), but the most striking change in them is they’re no longer fresh faced new kids on the block. They’ve less teeth and more tattoos yet still, after battling the drugs, perils and heartbreak of fame appear to wear the “happy to be here” look.

Frontman James Allen, as usual dressed all in black, looks exactly like Joe Strummer but despite his attire and the fact that he has the look of a man who may bite your neck at any moment, his autobiographical lyrics about his absent father, his social worker and the struggles of growing up in working class Britain gave him an air of vulnerability that had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand.

They began with songs from Mercury Award nominated debut album Glasvegas. Opening song “Flowers & Football Tops”, or in Scottish “Flowers & Fitba Tops”, was written about the reaction to the racially motivated murder in Glasgow of Kriss Donald, a Celtic fan – the same team the band support. It works equally as well as a eulogy for their arch rivals Rangers Football Club, a club staring into the abyss. “Geraldine” comes next, followed by “It’s my own cheating heart . . . ” and the band are on a roll. Hit after hit with the audience. Anthem after working class anthem. It’s a brilliant talent of Allen’s, much like that of Alex Turner and Jarvis Cocker, to turn the mundane aspects of life into anthemic greatness.

Sounds from “Euphoric Heartbreak” didn’t quite stir the same excitement as songs from their previous record but it was an interesting sound and certainly a bit of a departure. Less straightforward rock n roll and a bit more experimental.

It must be said though that new drummer, Jonna Löfgren, is the star of the show. She’s taken over from James Allen as the band’s sunglasses-wearer and oozes rock ‘n’ roll swagger. No sitting down for her though. She stands. All the way through. What you get is pure energy. Imagine Rage Against the Machine’s Brad Wilk dosed to the max on cocaine and pro plus and you’re only halfway there.

Glasvegas tonight in London felt like they were beginning something again. The audience saw a band testing themselves and their boundaries but also a band looking at the mountain off success that they scaled with their first album and thinking “I’ll climb that”. And so they just might!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In that two years the band have recorded a new album, lost their original drummer – Caroline McKay, gained a new one – Jonna Löfgren, bassistPaul Donoghue has lost some teeth, guitarist Rab Allen got some tattoos and singer James Allen nearly lost his mind.