BBC 6 Music and Asian Network for the chop

The BBC has dismissed a newspaper report that 6Music and the Asian Network are to be closed as “speculation” - but speculation is often rooted in truth.

Last week 6Music was told to grow it’s audience. This week rumours fly that it will be axed as the BBC looks to cut costs.

BBC 6Music is a digital radio station broadcasting everything that Radio1 and Radio2 won’t. It offers a valuable leg up to younger and often more vibrant broadcasters. It deliberately strays away from the mainstream of 1 and 2. It is, by its nature, less popular – alternative (arguably defined as “not mainstream”) always is. By growing it’s audience, does this mean selling the soul of 6Music?

If 6Music and the Asian Network were axed under the guise of cost cutting, I would be angered at the continuation of paying Chris Moyles £650,000 a year for presenting a breakfast radio show.

If the taxpayer is looking for justification, why don’t we start with Moyles? This isn’t a personal attack. I catch his show sometimes and find him quite amusing - but no more so than listening to George Lamb on 6Music. Moyles' salary is sickening. What are the chances of most of us being able to pull in that kind of money doing a ‘normal’ job? And that’s not bitterness. If the BBC were commercially funded, I wouldn’t have a problem with Moyles earning that much. Radio 1 can only pay it’s presenters this kind of money because it isn’t commercially funded. It doesn’t make business sense does it? (See how you feel when a license fee hike is announced and you find out how much Jonathan Ross pulls in).

Between Moyles and Ross, the BBC is wasting money on superficially ‘talented’ individuals who are part of teams that make great radio and TV shows. Let’s not forget the producers, assistants and sidekicks that make the shows humorous, engaging and witty. Radio and TV presenters are not a one-man-band.

So BBC, listen up. We admire you for allowing the development of alternative radio stations. Don’t pull the plug when things get tough. Don’t lose respect because it’s what you think you should do.

Show support for the underdog and save Radio6.

Steve McNeill

Restaurant Review - The Luxe, Spitalfields

Restaurant Review

The Luxe Spitalfields, 109 Commercial Street, London E1 6BG

Food ** / Service *** / Ambience ****

Great location, amiable unpretentious staff – disappointing food.

“This competition just gets tougher”. How many times have we heard John Torode announce this over the opening chimes of BBC Masterchef? I have a hunch that life at The Luxe is getting tougher.

Being in the bar and restaurant business, I am unusual in the sense that I don’t like to criticise small things when the overall experience is excellent. The waiter may have his tie-knot slightly loose but if the food is good and he’s polite and attentive, I couldn’t give two hoots. Likewise, the service may be a bit on the slow side and the place a little quiet, but if the food is spot on, I’ll leave a happy man. Two and a half years ago I visited Smiths of Smithfield, Torode’s original London project. The experience was good but nothing to make you return with haste.

When the food – let’s face it, the overriding reason you are sat in a restaurant, knife and fork at the ready - is disappointing, then I’m a bit narked off. At The Luxe, disappointment is one of more costly items on the menu.

Valentine’s Day in the restaurant industry is a chance to make some money. There shouldn’t be too much trouble filling tables. Filling coffers is the challenge – ensuring you can persuade those glamorous wives to prise open the wallets of their scrooge-like husbands is more than half the battle. After working all Valentine’s weekend, I took my girlfriend, herself a glamorous other half to bloke with a tight wallet, on a soiree to Spitalfields.

Having spent a little time around Spitalfields (a couple of gigs and the odd restaurant) in the past, I’ve always enjoyed the vibe of the area. Unpretentious but stylish - bit of dirt around the edges. Proper London Guv’nor. The ambience of The Luxe, despite being an immaculately done up building, preserves my out-of-town-but-still-a-London-regular idealism of Shoreditch.

Ordering a bottle of 2009 NZ Sauvignon to accompany us for the evening (I prefer a red but after a recent Paris trip, I have still failed to convert mademoiselle to the rouger berries delight’s) we set about choosing from the well balanced menu. “I could eat every single starter on here and am stuck between three main courses” the loved one exclaimed as we desperately staved off fits of overheating from the blazing radiator behind her and the open-kitchen of 20 hot lamps behind me.

Mrs. Steve settled for salt & pepper squid rings teased with a sweet chilli sauce that had a welcome kick to it. My cured ham and mozzarella salad was light on the mozzarella and heavy on the salad, although a salty stick of black olive toast saved the dish from complete disenchantment. “How is the beef? I haven’t tried that one,” asked the friendly (and for once English) waitress. Nervously laughing I explained it was the ham and mozzarella salad. “Sorry!” she blushed, “the man next to you has ordered the beef!”

The good lady’s main course of halibut with roast tomatoes was reportedly as tasty as it looked, complemented by some unannounced wilted spinach. My smoked haddock with lobster mash and a poached egg was the most uninspiring serving of fish this side of Loch Fyne. The pan had dried the haddock to give the impression it was Sahara farmed and the mash was on the verge of being scientifically frigid. The same wilted spinach was to be found hiding under my desert fish. Glancing behind at a steak waiting for service, I hung my head in a moment of regret.

A perfect sharer of Tiramisu sweetened my opinion slightly, both of us agreeing it was one of the best we’d tasted. The balance between lingering coffee and alcoholic kick married with the textures of the sponge and fresh cream perfectly. Last orders called at half ten signalled we should really finish the wine and head home. Not forgetting to pay the bill. At just over £100 for 2 and a bit courses plus wine, The Luxe won’t break the bank – but it won’t represent value for money either.

I wonder how, being faced with such uninspirational food on Masterchef, Mr Torode would react. Perhaps he has taken his eye off The Luxe after the food press set it up with positive opening weekend reviews. To be a great restaurant, great food needs to be served every night – every night needs to be the Masterchef final. Unfortunately, we could only get tickets to the practice round.

Steve McNeill

Corinne Bailey-Rae - The Sea

Corinne Bailey-Rae - The Sea (Good Groove/Virgin)

Melancholy meets masterful on wistful soul songstresses’ new arrival ****

To many, Corinne Bailey-Rae is still defined by the two singles that launched her onto the UK music scene back in 2006. “The Sea” doesn’t quite represent a goodbye to the feel-good soul vibe of “Put Your Records On” but the record certainly suggests a changed woman.

“The Sea” is an album that intertwines life and death. The loss of her husband (saxophonist Jason Rae) plays a significant role in some of the songs and performances here, creating equally great moments of tragedy and triumph.

Eyes to heaven, Bailey-Rae begins with “Are You Here” a calling card to her lost love and in the context of her recent bereavement it’s obvious that the vocal and instrumental anguish here is real. Gladly enough Bailey-Rae doesn’t dwell on despair throughout the entire record. A classic-sounding soul romp “The Blackest Lily” is enough to keep the foot tapping for the remainder of the record and “Paris Nights/New York Mornings” is an affirmation of life in the fast lane –a steadfast commitment to staying alive.

Facing death with elegance and style has resulted in an album that is a tribute to a man who is credited with opening a young Corrine’s eyes to the delights of jazz and soul. The production, at a moments notice swells from low-key to epic on several tracks and Bailey-Rae’s at times whimpering vocal is in danger of being swamped by the orchestral emotion – but she always pulls it through.

Caught up in the web she spins its Corrine’s emotion that we feel – her loss and her tragedy. In the moments of darkness she finds light and beauty. Despite the surely cathartic nature of creating this record, Bailey-Rae has dredged up a mini masterpiece that leaves us satisfied for now, but ultimately looking forward to the future.

Steve McNeill

"57 Channels and nothin' on"

On his 1992 album Human Touch, Bruce Springsteen included a swipe at the new couch potato, TV addicted generation that was growing up in America with the song "57 Channels (And Nothin' On)".

I was reading an article in The Independent a couple of weeks ago about a controversial billboard campaign by the news channel Russia Today (RT). The network was advertising in the UK and US with a poster of President Ahmadinejad and President Obama morphing into one under the words "Who poses the greater nuclear threat?"

I decided to investigate this RT network a little further. I find it mind-boggling that we have so many channels at our disposal on digital TV and still don't know what is at our fingertips. It turns out RT is owned by the Russian state. "Biased! Biased!" I hear you cry. Well, only as much as FOX News is in the US. When i was revising for my A-Level exams (the memory is getting ever more distant) i used to watch FOX while eating my lunch. Why? It was different from BBC News (bored me at the time) and not quite as tacky as SKY News (prior to the poaching of BBC news anchors). I can therefore vouch that FOX was as pro-Republican as RT is pro-Russia.

So can news ever be free from bias? The BBC has an obligation under OFCOM to produce news that is "free from political bias." Respected all over the world, i think it does a pretty good job.

RT's manifesto is to provide "an unbiased portrait of Russia". That's about as believable as Britney Spears claiming her recent album is an accurate portrayal of American life. What is does do is puts Russia's opinion forward to the west in the medium that we all now live with - digital TV. China (CCTV), The Middle East (Al-Jazeera), Europe (EuroNews), France (France 24) and the US (Fox News, CNN) are all represented by a 5-0-something channel in our homes. Russia needs to be there fight it's corner.

I have just finished an article examining the Russian government's tactics with regard to RT. The article discusses the poster campaign and the reasons behind the state owned TV station making it's presence so controversially felt in the West. I hope to post it here soon. An extract runs below.

One broadcaster, Russia Today, (RT –Sky Channel 512) has recently launched an advertising campaign across the UK and US. This has featured a poster of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad morphing into President Obama questioning, “Who poses the greater nuclear threat?” It has been banned from US airports and caused quite a stir wherever it has been displayed. Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of RT says the station’s intention is to present “an unbiased portrait of Russia”. RT is sponsored by the state owned Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

Phillip Hanson, Professor of the Political Economy of Russia at Birmingham University, fails to see what the controversial poster will achieve. “Maliciously linking Ahmedinajad and Obama doesn't fit Russian foreign policy. The Putin team is ambivalent about both of them, but at least seems currently to be cooperating with the US over sanctions on Iran.” RT can however guarantee that the head-turning billboards will get people discussing the channel and will bring the station to more prominence.

So are we a soft touch for allowing this kind of advertising on our streets? Such a poster featuring Prime Minister Putin would never be allowed in Russia. Professor Hanson believes that being a soft touch on issues such as freedom is expression isn’t such a bad thing, “…freedom of speech should be restricted only by a prohibition on incitement to violence.” Perhaps by banning the posters in their nations airports – spaces where sensitivity towards terrorism and patriotism are magnified – the US considers these an incitement to violence? More likely it is their own self-censorship that means they’re thrown in the can.

If Bruce Springsteen was writing his Human Touch album now, 57 Channels (And Nothin' On) might not be quite so true.