General Blog About Everything

On my way to meet Björk in Lower Manhattan, my cab is held up by around 1,000
protesters who are snaking their way along Lafayette Street. A woman with a
loudhailer leads a chant of “Free Tibet now!” and the marchers carry the
province’s yellow, red and blue flags. It’s a serendipitous reminder, were
it needed, that I should ask Björk about the gig she played in Shanghai,
China on 2 March. A widely reported furore ensued when the chanteuse
mentioned Tibet during her anti-imperialist set-closer Declare
Independence, a vibrant protest song whose lyrics include the lines
“Don’t let them do that to you!” and “Raise your flag!”

The stocky, articulate Chris T-T looks like Jack Black without the manic
twitches, while the lean, equally garrulous Frank Turner resembles Ed
Norton’s Disquieting Derek Vinyard in American History X. Both
of these bolshy folkies are from Winchester (“I’m furiously middle class,”
claims Turner), both sport beards, both swear profusely and they’re both
signed to Xtra Mile Recordings, the fiercely independent record label.