By Anindita Basu
Urban75 is a UK-based site for ravers. The site is quite extensive,
ranging from cartoons of various rave dancers-the silly moves that
can be pinned to certain people at any rave such as "fruit picking
in the country." The animated dancers are set to different techno
beats. But the site also has a magazine section, photos, a drug guide
(which according to the site does not support or condemn drug usage
but wants to just provide "straight facts"), rave resources
and laws, games and events (mostly activist-related). There are bulletin
boards around almost all of these topics, and even a section on football,
as this is a British site and football is mandatory for a raving Brit.
The site makes interesting choices to tailor itself to ravers. Looking
through the drugs that are described, everything is covered from heroin
to cocaine to shrooms, alcohol and roofies, but marijuana is missing.
In the games section, the games have names such as "eco-connect
four" with a description of "fight the evil corporates."
There's a punch section where one can warp and beat the faces of various
celebrities, like George W. and Moby.
Throughout the pages, there is a strong emphasis on rights, both
for an individual raver and in a more global sense. The action pages
cover topics ranging from Free Tibet to sweatshops to Canadian seal
hunting. There are news articles, feature articles and event information
around many types of activism.
The site is quite well rounded and addresses concerns and interests
important to ravers and many punks, as well. The discussions address
music, protests, drugs, anarchy, terrorism-everything from the social
to the political.