VIV ALBERTINE ‘Home Sweet Home (...at Christmas)’ December 13th download only Let’s face it, Christmas never goes to plan. There’s always something that gets in the way. The perfect seasonal tale, with it’s Dickensian morality or heartwarming Hollywood values is, for the vast majority of the human race, an unattainable myth... This year, we’re hoping that Simon Cowell chokes on his turkey feet and chips when he realises that his Government-sanctioned Z Factor chart dominance has been trounced by the return of a much-loved British punk icon. Legendary former Slits guitarist Viv Albertine has recorded the ultimate alternative Christmas song, ‘Home Sweet Home (...at Christmas)’. What an incredible triumph of taste, humour, politics, feminism, counter-culture and freedom of thought it would be to elevate this record to a mainstream hit, sweeping aside the misogynist, ageist, sterile teen pap that the pop moguls would love to lumber us with. Viv Albertine shot to prominence in 1976 as lead guitarist of the original all-girl punk band The Slits. The band became hugely influential, both musically and culturally. They meshed punk and reggae culture, and smashed the preconceptions surrounding ‘women in rock’. The band’s debut album Cut is still regularly cited on lists of the greatest albums ever made. Viv retired from music after The Slits disbanded in 1982, but has been making a gradual return over the last two years. ‘Home Sweet Home (...at Christmas)’ not only showcases the imagination, originality and chops that changed rock music forever in the Seventies, it also demonstrates that Albertine has lost none of her edge and wit. Time has failed to diminish her willingness to challenge convention, throw a spanner in the works, and unite people under a banner of well-natured honesty. Virginia Woolf once stated that the three rules of great writing were to survive, create beauty, and tell the truth. Viv Albertine did this as a girl and a young woman, and now she’s doing it again. Give her your support, and give her your ears. download the MP3 here: http://www.electriclabel.net/viv/xmas.mp3 or listen to a stream here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2S_gIfz6yA