If the Daily Mail is to be believed, Eastern Europe ought to be a vast, deserted swathe of land stretching from halfway through Germany to nearly Moscow: from the Baltic to the Black Sea. A place of unbroken silence then – perhaps occasionally enlivened by the mournful howl of a wolf. The ravening human hordes of this region are, of course, already in the UK ‘illegally’ and ‘taking the jobs away’ from British people. One speculates as to whether the Daily Mail has ever considered investigating exactly which patriotic British employers must be cynically exploiting such cheap and illegal labour if such a worldview is to be believed. But let’s put aside such media bile and consider some first hand evidence. As Basement Freaks‘ East Block Tour video shows, Eastern Europe appears to be rather noisy (since Basement Freaks have brought the party) and rather populous. And they seem to like the craic as much as Western Europeans. Also, far from ravening, the people appear, well, quite normal. All that Daily Mail bullshit almost makes you want to shoot the rabid bigots that run the paper. Coincidentally, Basement Freaks are giving away a moombah edit of their nufunk album cut called Gotta Make Me A Gun…