Evening everyone, hope your weekend was better than ours. Relentless heat and a beautiful dirty dust storm bookended ours though I hear its about 16c and chucking it down in London. Though at least you have Twiglets!

Right, more important matters then. This December marks the 30th anniversary of the release of London Calling which in itself seems far too long ago. December also marks the anniversary of the loss of Joe back in 2002. A very special album is being released to coincide with these anniversaries and again it’s of great significance to the name Strummer.

Strummerville is the beneficiary in 2009 and I wanted to share with you an exciting project that’s being compiled called Shatter The Hotel : The Songs of Joe Strummer in Dub.

In addition to both anniversaries the release also pays homage to the spirit of Joe Strummer’s connection with Jamaican music via reggae and dub.  Though primarily a Toronto-based collective project, ex-pat Londoner and musician Prince Blanco (and Portsmouth fan it turns out) unites  Canadian artists and producers along with contributors, friends and collaborators from England, Scotland and the USA. Featuring tracks from both the Clash and Mescaleros catalogue, all artists  go about reinterpreting Joe’s works in a booming dub and reggae style

I’ll be keeping in touch with Prince (pompey) Blanco in the weeks ahead and be sure to relay information back to you via the Clash Blog. Check out the video below as well as the official press release from Blanco:

“The tracks I’ve heard so far run from straight-up roots dub to contemporary reggae sounds to dubbed out punk and dub-house styles. With this release, I want to further explore the concept Joe Strummer once defined as the ‘punk-rasta interface’. Some of the artists involved in the project so far are: Dubmatix, Don Letts, Creation Rockers, John Brown’s Body, Strummer biographer Chris Salewicz and photographer Adrian Boot.

From the beginning, it was my intention to make this release a benefit for ‘Strummerville: The Joe Strummer Foundation For New Music’. Strummerville is a registered charity that aims to create new opportunities

Don Letts & Prince Blanco

for aspiring musicians. Set up by the friends and family of Joe Strummer in the year after his death, the charity seeks to reflect Joe’s unique contribution to the music world by offering support, resources and performance opportunities to artists who would not normally have access to them. Proceeds from the sale of ‘Shatter The Hotel: The Songs Of Joe Strummer In Dub‘ will then benefit the Strummerville charity.

The planned release date is December14th, 2009. I’m also hoping to set up live shows to celebrate the CD’s release both in Notting Hill (London) and in Toronto for early 2010 – stay tuned and tell your friends! ”

1. Shatter The Hotel updates (a Strummerville project)
2. Shatter The Hotel UK launch event
3. Shatter The Hotel UK Launch – The inside story
4. Fiction, Male Models and Shatter The Hotel
5. Coachella rumours, Viv speaks, Shatter the Hotel and a poll of no worth
6. Fantastic new range of merchandise over at Strummerville
7. Strummer, Sean Penn, Weller and Terry Hall….what more do you need?