I often struggle to articulate what I feel is wrong about the X Factor-style shows that seem to have devoured much of the music industry, and why it’s incredibly important that people make a point of not letting such ‘product’ dominate the airwaves.

Well, I don’t need to try anymore. For those of you that havent seen Anvil, well, do. For those of you that have, you know what I mean.

Nothing particularly remarkable at first about the story. Guy arrested for drink driving, police officers drive his car back to station.

Only said car - a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution - ended up on it’s side across two front gardens.

Most people would assume to achieve such an outcome, the car has to be driven at speed, hit something, and then skid uncontrollably across the gardens before coming to a rest.

But no - according to the police spokesman: “Following the arrest of the driver, officers drove the vehicle from the scene. The car then collided with two front gardens.”

Genius. I’d better dig out my insurance forms to check I’m covered if an uninsured garden collides with me while I’m driving.

You can see the pictures and full story here:

(Hat tip to Old Holborn)

Another neat idea, another Radiohead project. This time they’ve given an audio rip of a live show to a collaborative project which has basically made a gig DVD from fan footage. The team behind it had a hell of a job on bringing all the different camera feeds together and keeping it so tightly synced, and while I’m sure the quality won’t have the corporate types worrying too much, it’s an interesting sign of the times. How long before the quality of small cameras catches up with what you can now get on a 5D or a D3s and we’ll see much sharper efforts? Axl Rose probably won’t like it, and Metallica will probably sue video camera companies, but it potentially opens up a whole new world of opportunities for creative projects. Once again, it’s nice to see a band (not for the first time being Radiohead) putting something out there as a creative project without seeing it as a revenue-generating tool.

m83 -night

thom yorke - harrowdown hill

beck - motorcade

arcade fire - city with no children in

good shoes - morden

aphex twin - avril 14th

field music -them that do nothing

the shins - kissing the lipless

battles - race out

clint mansell - we’re going home

I’ve been lucky to work with some incredibly talented people who have spurred a whole new range of interests and insights. I am more convinced than ever of the importance of SMEs as a key part of a vibrant economy, and the procurement minefield that currently hampers that endeavor. I believe that technology has the ability to transform beyond recognition public services, and that the current climate of faliure is a product of the people and processes (moreso the latter) involved, and not a flaw of the use of new methods. I have been heartened by the Coalition’s renewed determination to explore different ways of working and to drive an agenda of doing more for less by exploring innovation and lateral approaches.

Equally, I’ve built on my experience and skills as a communications professional, developed a far greater understanding of policy networks and enjoyed the kind of support for my political ambitions few can ever hope for. My success as a PPC in May, which I was told the other day was the 6th highest swing to the Conservatives in the country, was in no small part down to the support I received from those who were colleagues but remain friends.

And so, as they say, as one door closes, you notice how many others are slightly ajar, going off on a whole range of tangents and with exciting new opportunities and adventures that await.

This is the first summer I haven’t had to worry about campaigning every weekend since I left university, after starting work a few hours after my finals. I havent seen a beach for five years, and havent read on a sun lounger for an afternoon for the best part of a decade. So, first up I’m going to finish what is currently the best festival season (in terms of the quality of my work) I’ve ever had, then I’m going on holiday.

When I come back, it’ll be time to think about my next steps and then Conservative conference and the blogging will resume. I may post from time to time in between but it’s nice to draw a line under things for a while.

So, be well, and I’ll see you on the other side.

nckx

During the election campaign, I was struck by how many people in my own party were quite aggressive in supporting the closure of 6Music. Yes, it caters for niche audiences, but equally offering a platform to break new bands that was unrivalled anywhere else.

There is something absolutely true about the cultural vibrancy of a country and progress. Innovation comes from unexpected places, not least the creative industries.

Yes – the BBC, like the rest of the economy, needs to reduce spending. I for one would certainly oppose any increase in the license fee, and support the top-slicing proposed to increase the roll out of digital and broadband services.

But equally, the BBC has a role to fulfil. Many people feel simply that we should abolish the license fee – why should taxpayers be forced to pay for a service with no opt-out? And I do sympathise with that viewpoint. But then again, the BBC does lots of great things for a relatively small amount of money that would just disappear – not profitable enough for the commercial broadcasters to take up.

In my view, part of the BBC’s role is offer a ‘sandpit’ for up and coming artists, be they comedians/musicians/writers – and that comes with a cost. In the same way the easiest cut to make in a business is to stop R&D and training, it’s also the best way to guarantee you go out of business in a few years.

6music offered this function, along with playing a great mix of older music. It’s also worth noting 6music also plays a role within the BBC – scouting out talent and sharing it around the wider organisation. That’s a function that on a cost basis is much cheaper than having the function duplicated in every department.

Yes, in part the rigidity of the Radio 1 playlist contributes to the problem which 6 music is solving, but John Peel never had a peak slot, so to think that a rough demo from an unsigned band could be broken on lunchtime shows is pretty naive. You can almost hear the complaints of ‘I refuse to listen to Radio 1 because it doesn’t play anything I know’ now.

Many of the people who wanted 6music closed simply did so because of either a lack of understanding about the role it played in the industry, or because they’d support any part of the BBC being shut.

Perhaps the greatest irony of all this is hearing many of the people who so vocally championed 6music closing talking about how much they enjoyed seeing an artist who a few years ago was given their first major broadcast exposure by 6Music.

I for one am glad the BBC trust listened and stopped this short-sighted decision. I just hope they don’t stop here and actually go on to tackle the massively bloated salaries of some of the BBC’s top stars. Working for the BBC is a privilege because they have things like 6music – if stars want mega salaries they can go elsewhere. It’s the same process by which Glastonbury book headliners, avoiding the massive fees of V and Reading/Leeds and they never seem to have any problem booking people.

I know I’m probably in a minority of Conservatives who think this, but I was also in a minority at a gig many years back at a pub in Sheffield watching some student band plugging away. It cost me £4 and the singer brought me a cup of tea because I looked cold in the que outside. At the time I struggled to give away my spare ticket to friends. Had I gone to Conservative conference and asked people to come with me, I imagine I would have got a similar response to this blog post.
The point? Well, that band was Coldplay.

Sometimes bigger things start from minorities. So let’s not stamp on them to save a few quid.

(Yes I also appreciate some readers would be quite happy for Coldplay to never have happened but the wider point is still true!)
Disclosure – in the interests of openness, I should add I work for the BBC as a photographer a few times a year, but with the interactive team, and do not work directly for 6music.

Yet I don’t agree that this was ‘the’ social media election - I think that’s going to be 2015, maybe 2020. This was the TV election, thanks largely to the two defining events of the campaign, the first leaders debate and the ‘bigotgate’ moment.

I debated this point with Rob Brown, MD of agency staniforth and chair of the Social Media Panel at the CIPR. He’s even written a book, ‘Public Relations and the Social Web’ - but I waded in anyway.

You can read the full interview debate online now at Communicate magazine.

All pretty established acts as they were the ones I’ve been shooting recently, mainly at Glastonbury, but there will be some more variation as I get into the swing of the smaller festivals.

1. Mistaken for Strangers - The National

2. You’ve got the Love (live) - The XX

3. Sigh no more - Mumford and Sons

4. Tenderoni - Kele

5. Miami - Foals

6. Automatic Stop - The Strokes

7. Drunk Girls - LCD Soundsystem

8. Dr Who theme - Orbital

9. Cradle - The Joy Formidable

10. Where the streets have no name - U2

The only problem was, as the cabinet is a pretty important group of people, they need protecting. They also need transport, food and suchlike. All in, some put the bill for each of these events at £250,000 a pop.

Quite rightly, they were lambasted at the time as a “scandalous waste of money” by then Shadow Treasury Minister Mark Hoban and in 2008 George Osborne said“The cabinet taking a day trip out of London is not going to solve Britain’s economic problems.”

He isn’t wrong. This isnt a hugely important policy or sign of the ‘new politics’ - it’s just good, old fashioned hypocracy. While increasing VAT may have not been explicitly ruled out, I think it’s fair to say quotes like this would give people the idea that the junket would stop under a Tory government. I mean, I assume we’re still for stopping scandalous wastes of money? (Although I havent double checked this in the coalition agreement)

It’s also tough to avoid the irony of the Westminster Conservative-led cabinet going on tour to Bradford (within spitting distance of about 4 or 5 marginal seats) days after the Conservatives in Scotland said the SNP should pay for the Scottish Cabinet tour events as they were held in, erm, marginal seats.

I think I’m not alone in thinking that the important thing about cabinet is the decisions made there and the strategic direction set for the country. Where they hold it is not a big deal. And if ministers are serious about getting out into the country to learn more about their departments, why not go nuts and visit!?

But what really irks me is the fact that simply by going from opposition to Government, our former anger of wasting taxpayers money has overnight become a desire to ‘engage the regional communities’ or whatever bollocks phrase is used to justify the events.

And we wonder why people don’t trust politicians.

I was sat in the public gallery when the former Conservative leader stood up and argued, extremely passionately, about how introducing top-up fees, something then PM Blair and many Conservatives supported, was not just an issue of policy - it was one of trust, given all major parties had stood on manifestoes ruling out the move.

He said: “We all said—the entire House of Commons said—that we would not introduce such legislation….Normally, manifestos contain contrasting promises for the electorate to choose from. But this was the same from every political party, and by my calculation it means that 635 or more of the 659 Members of Parliament stood on a platform of not introducing top-up fees.

It is not just the Government who are breaking faith with the electorate—the body politic is breaching their faith. We all go to schools and universities and say, “Politics matters, and your vote matters.” We are all ashamed in the House, or we jolly well should be, that only 59 per cent. of people voted in the general election. We tell people that their participation counts, but what are we supposed to say if we pass legislation that the entire House of Commons said it would not pass—if within two and a half years of the election it is passed through the House of Commons in direct defiance of all those pledges? I went to a primary school the other week to talk to the children about Westminster and what MPs do. An 11-year-old put up their hand and said, “But Mr. Hague how do we know, if you are going there for five years, that you are going to do what you said you would?” I said, “We all try.” In fact, in that rare spirit of cross-party generosity that comes across us all when we talk to people who do not have a vote for another seven years, I even said, “Mr. Blair tries. We all try. Sometimes it doesn’t work, aspirations are unfulfilled, targets aren’t met, but we try to keep the promises that we made to the people.” What will we say in future?”

While it wasnt a manifesto pledge not to increase VAT, and as the TPA’s video on the topic points out, during the campaign senior members of all major parties avoided every opportunity to say their plans included raising VAT. Indeed, they went as far as to say their plans did not involve raising VAT.

I think it’s time to heed these wise words. Mr Osborne should think what he will say to the country in five years before he gives his budget today.