Rock IV

Today is Wednesday. Things that rock today

The Auteurs. Paul O’Brien made me a tape of Luke Haines projects a little over 18 months ago, and it blew the top of my head off. I head he’s playing in London tonight and tomorrow, but I don’t have the time to go, and anyway, I confess, I’ve heard he’s shit live. Still, if you like Black Box Recorder, then you ought to give the Auteurs, and the other Haines project Baader Meinhoff a listen. Soon.

Master of the Obvious. Steven Grant’s weekly column on comics. Far and away the best internet column on comics out there. Steven’s a clever chap with years of experience at the sharp end of comics, and what he has to say is always interesting and informative.

And, because I forgot to mention it in yesterday’s list of things that rock, You’ll All Be Sorry, Gail Simone’s unfailingly hysterical humour column.

Barbelith

Tom Coates has got Barbelith up and running again, as a webzine/community site for the kind of people that like The Invisibles. The community there is interesting, and one I occaisionally think about particiapating in, but remain put off by the fact that they’re using UBB. The ‘zine looks like it’s going to excellent.

Rock III

Today is Tuesday. Things that rock today:

The Pixies. Late eighties, early ninties. Guitars, drums, shouting and strange bleeding melodies. This is what Kurt Cobain wanted to be, only ten times better than he ever did it. I’ve heard it said of the Pixies that they were a Velvet Underground for their time – not everyone bought their records, but everyone who did started a band. I don’t think that’s right, but still, they sounded like nothing else out there when they started. They still don’t sound like any other band you’ve ever heard.

Wax Lyrical. I don’t set my store by the mystic bullshit bits of Feng Shui, but it seems pretty obvious to me that if you like the environment you’re in, you’ll feel better about yourself, and generally be a more useful and productive person. I’m also aware the scent is one of the easiest ways to manipulate your own head – it’s an easier shortcut to memory than most of the other senses. So, scented candles and suchlike score highly with me. Strawberry, vanilla and cinnamon, in particular. Between Wax Lyrical and a local shop called Greencades, I’m a happy person.

Integrity

Things that don’t rock today: e-mails like the one I have just received (yeah, serves me right for making it easier to drop me a line from this page). Because I quite like the person in question, I shan’t quote them verbatim, or publish their name or e-mail address. I am kind like that. They’ve already had a private mail in response, but I tend to operate on the assumption that if one person actually says it, then another bunch are thinking it.

Gist of the e-mail: They like Sequential Tart but think that I was just recommending my friends articles. Their contention was that I was just being nice to my friends, and my recommendation of ST was debased as a result. So full disclosure: I’ve known Lee Atchison on-and-off for years, on-line. I have never actually met Lee and look forward to doing so in San Diego this year. Lee has been very helpful in providing hosting and assistance for Ninth Art. I like Lee.

Back in January, I described Andrea as “intelligent, attractive, and generally pleasant company”, having only met her a few times. I’ve since got to know Andrea better, and I remain more than happy to stand by that. In all honesty, I probably wouldn’t have read the review (because the link to it didn’t mark it out as being a review of Nick Cave), but I went to the concert in question with Andrea, she sent me an early draft of the review to read, and I wanted to see what had changed between that draft and the final version. I like Andrea.

I don’t recall ever having had any contact with Katherine Keller. She’s been described to me as a decent human being. I am entirely prepared to believe this.

My point, though: None of any of the above matters. Not a bit of it.

I said it the other week: I don’t say things I don’t mean. I certainly don’t pay insincere compliments. It’s a revolting fucking habit that cheapens both the person giving and worse, the person recieving the compliment. It’s a rotten thing to do. Likewise, when I link to something on here, and say that it’s worth your attention, I mean it. I don’t mean “You should be looking at my friend’s work”. I don’t mean “I think I ought to be paying my mate a compliment”. I mean exactly what I say: I think it’s worth your attention. You may not agree, which is fair enough. If you’re reading this even semi-regularly, I’m sure you have a fair idea whether you like the same sort of things I do, and can make your own call about whether or not my opinion is worth listening to.

If all I wanted to do was pay my friends compliments, I could do it much more easily that by posting on here. I have their e-mail, phone numbers, and other means to get in touch. Doing it via a blog that they may or may not read seems like a pretty fucking stupid way to do it. Besides, I try and assume that they’re not reading, as much as I can. I’d be a fool to say that the knowledge that a few people I know read this doesn’t affect what I say here, but that means I tend to ignore certain topics entirely, rather than water down what I would have to say on the topic. But I certainly don’t alter what I write in order to please them or anyone else. This is my rantpoint, and if I’m not honest in what I write on it, then what’s the point of having it?

Rock II

Today is Monday. Things that rock today:

Huw and Michelle – My old friend and flatmate is getting married. To Michelle, obviously. This news pleases me immensely, and I wish them both every happiness and good fortune for the future.

Sequential Tart – New month, new issue. I particularly commend your attention to Tarot, Comics and Archetypes – The Magician, the second in a series of articles by Lee Atchison, to this review of one of Nick Cave’s London shows by Andrea Burgess, and to If You Build It We Will Come an essay by Katherine Keller on copyright, fan-fiction with some interesting ideas on the topic that hadn’t previously occured to me. All of these are excellent, and deserve your time. Actually, the whole site deserves your time, every month. But these are the ones I’ve had time to read so far today that particularly caught my eye. Go. Read.

Rock I

Right. Bollocks to whingeing. Bad week last week. Like you’ve never had one of them. This week, a whole host of ace things, because frankly, my life rocks, and I fully intend to remind myself of it.

Today is Sunday. Things that rock today:

The Undertones – Everyone knows “Teenage Kicks”. Everything else they did also rocks, provided you ignore the fact that one of them went on to be Fergal Sharkey. Well, he was Fergal at the time, but he was good in the late seventies. Not entirely unlike what happened to Paul Weller after The Jam, I suppose. Yeah, they’re a teenage band. They’re being sixteen and having the time of your fucking life, are The Undertones. Everyone deserves to remember what it was like to be invincible for time to time, because that’s the bit that gets lost when you look back on being a teenager. You spend so much time laughing wryly at your arrogance, or desparing over what a little shit you were that you forget how much fun it was when you were young, attractive and knew everything. And that’s a shame. It may have been bullshit, but it was a lovely feeling.

Derek Raymond – Finest crime writer you’ve never heard of. Died a few years back, which is a crying shame. Anyone who could write like him deserves to go on for a lot longer. Burning, brutal stories of love and murder, told with poetry and style. And, of course, they’re bastard hard to find, but they’re well worth the effort.

London – London rocks. There are so many reasons why that I could list them for ever and ever and not reach the end. If you’ve never lived in London, then you’ve missed out. This is true of a load of cities, and I’ll get round to them later on, but for now, I’m going to go out and enjoy my home city. Because that’s what Sunday’s are for.

Why are you still sitting there reading this?

Coyote Ugly

Watched Coyote Ugly last night. I’m not proud of it, but I was bored and Andrew had been given a review copy. It was dumb beyond belief, had gigantic plot holes, and reeked of cheese, was a good laugh nonetheless. If you can see it without paying any money to do so, I suggest you do.