Martin is refreshingly balanced about the sad passing of Ari Up.

48 is too young to die and as a lot of people have said in the last few days, her contribution was important and inspiring.

Ari Up at BASH, Plastic People, April 2006 – with Nicolette right, top.

But… she was a bit annoying when we saw her at BASH. Charging about and educating us about how things are done in Jamaica in a rather patronising way.

Putting a positive spin on it, she was full of energy and a good counterfoil to the godlike Nicolette. And she certainly kept Kevin Martin on his toes whilst frenziedly demanding the next riddim. Which was quite funny.

I read Zoe Street-Howe’s “Typical Girls: The Story of The Slits” a few months back and would thoroughly recommend it. What I liked best was the uncalculating nature of the group – yes they certainly wanted to wind the right people up, but musically they were fiercely open minded in a way that seems very of its time – very postpunk but not very 2010.

In retrospect we probably could do with more people being annoying like Ari Up.