Last Words

2023 saw me read 46 books, acquire 31 pieces of music in various formats and attend 20 live performances. Here's a list of them & a consideration of those I came across during the last 2 months of the year -:

Music obtained:

Husker Du	Don't Want to Know if You're Lonely (12")
Molar Crime	New Fun (CD)
BRB Voicecoil	Dissolve into the Now (CD)
Culver & Cathal Rodgers	Terra Incognito (CD)
The Fall	Live @ Newcastle Riverside (CD)
Stephen Evans	Songs for TQ (CD)
Yo La Tengo	This Stupid World (CD)
Bartholomew	Moorbound (CD)
Gidouille	Zineogenesis (CD)
Wedding Present	Flying Saucer (7")
Wedding Present	No Christmas (7")
Swell Maps C21	Polar Regions (LP)
Wedding Present	24 Songs (CD)
Shunyata Improvisation Group	Aesthetics (CD)
Brume	Reality Is Not Enough (CD)
Deaf German	Mute Whore (CD)
Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan	Moonbuilding (CD)
Sound Effects of Death & Horror	Mota-Rolla (CD)
Feelin'	TQ Zine (CD)
Pettaluck	Pass (Cassette)
The Bevis Frond	What Did for The Dinosaurs (CD)
Teenage Fanclub	Nothing Lasts Forever (CD)
Various	Songs for T (CD)
Reynols	Live in Mechelen (CD)
Meredith	Blindspot (CD)
Dragged Up	Hex Domestic (Cassette)
Tibshelf	Understander (Cassette)
Wedding Present	Huw Stephens Session (CD)
Various	Half Century, All Heart (CD)
Various	A Wormhole Xmas 2023 (CD)

 Performances attended:

Culver, Firas Khnaisser, SGERBWD	Lit & Phil	Jan-20
Mogwai	Sage 1	Feb-12
Theatre RE: The Nature of Forgetting	Northern Stage	Feb-17
National Theatre: Othello	ODEON Silverlink	Feb-23
The Agarfinger Inexperience, Nagrushka, SGERBWD, David De La Haye	Lit & Phil	Mar-03
Banners	The Cluny	Mar-04
Bartholomew	Little Buildings	Mar-09
Big Road Breaker, TSR2, Gidouille	Lit & Phil	Mar-31
Unthank Smith, Alex Rex	Wylam Brewery	Apr-02
National Theatre: Good	Jam Jar Cinema	Apr-27
UT	Lubber Fiend	May-27
The Vaselines, Jon Langford	The Cumberland Arms	Jun-25
The Proclaimers, Roddy Woomble	Tynemouth Priory	Jul-06
Shunyata Improvisation Group	Brinkburn Street Brewery	Aug-03
The Bevis Frond	The Cumberland Arms	Sep-13
English Touring Theatre: I, Daniel Blake	Northern Stage	Sep-15
Gang of Four	The Grove	Oct-02
English Touring Theatre: Macbeth	Northern Stage	Oct-05
Teenage Fanclub, Sweet Baboo	Sage 2	Nov-09
John Garner & John Pope	St James URC	Nov-14

Books read:

Bob Mortimer	The Satsuma Complex	Fiction
Steve Pringle	You Must Get Them All	Non-Fiction
Glen James Brown	Ironopolis	Fiction
Various	Songs from the Underground	Fiction
Cormac McCarthy	The Passenger	Fiction
Cormac McCarthy	Stella Maris	Fiction
Gerard Brodribb	Next Man In	Non-Fiction
Mike Brearley	On Cricket	Non-Fiction
Desmond Morris	The Soccer Tribe	Non-Fiction
Peter Carey	Jack Maggs	Fiction
Various	Granta 45	Fiction
Various	Perfect Pitch 3	Non-Fiction
Various	Perfect Pitch 4	Non-Fiction
Magnus Mills	Mistaken for Sunbathers	Fiction
Stephen Powell	Love Me Fierce in Danger	Non-Fiction
James Ellroy	LAPD '53	Non-Fiction
Hugh McIlvanney	On Football	Non-Fiction
James Ellroy	The Hilliker Curse	Non-Fiction
John Arlott	Basingstoke Boy	Non-Fiction
Ian Rankin	Saints of the Shadow Bible	Fiction
Various	All the Songs Sound the Same	Non-Fiction
James Ellroy	Destination Morgue!	Non-Fiction
Harry Pearson	No Pie, No Priest	Non-Fiction
Miguel Pinero	Short Eyes	Play
Valentine Dyall	A Flood of Mutiny	Non-Fiction
Ian Rankin	The Beat Goes On	Fiction
David Keenan	England's Hidden Reverse	Non-Fiction
Neil Samworth	A Prison Officer's Story	Non-Fiction
John Anderson	Utilita Football Yearbook	Non-Fiction
Glenn Patterson	Lapsed Protestant	Non-Fiction
Donal Ryan	All We Shall Know	Fiction
Ian Rankin	The Names of the Dead	Fiction
Ian Rankin	Heart Full of Headstones	Fiction
James Ellroy	The Enchanters	Fiction
Anthony Clavane	Promised Land	Non-Fiction
Michael Keenaghan	Smiler with Knife	Fiction
Various	Never Work Anthology	Non-Fiction
Howard Falshaw	From Despair to Delirium	Non-Fiction
Thurston Moore	Sonic Life	Non-Fiction
Jon McGregor	Even the Dogs	Fiction
Enrico Monacelli	The Great Psychic Outdoors	Non-Fiction
Julian Barnes	Metroland	Fiction
Iain Banks	The Steep Approach to Garbadale	Fiction
Ian Rankin	Exit Music	Fiction
Fleur Hitchcock	Waiting for Murder	Fiction
Nige Tassell	Whatever Happened to the C86 Kids?	Non-Fiction

 Music:

 

The last time I blogged culturally was Monday 6 November (https://payaso-de-mierda.blogspot.com/2023/11/he-fills-his-head-with.html ). Three days later, on Thursday 6 November, Shelley, Ben and I went to see Teenage Fanclub at Sage 2, or The Glasshouse as we must now call it. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen them in an all seater venue; that was Whitley Bay Playhouse in November 2016, nor was it the first time I’d seen them since Gerry Love left the band. That was at Leeds Beckett University in April 2022. These two factors did not detract one iota from how much I loved watching them play. Without trying to sound controversial, I think I prefer The Fannies without Gerry. Sure he wrote some classic songs, and it really is a shame not hearing Don’t Look Back or Sparky’s Dream, but Norman’s work is as steady as ever and Raymond has stepped up to the mark, with his work getting better with every album, to the extent that I find him to be the chief songwriter in the band. Also, Dave’s bass and Euros on the keyboards, not to mention Stephen Sweet Baboo Black helping out on reeds, are all of a sublime quality, helping to lift the band to hitherto unexplored heights. Seriously, a whole set of Gerry songs would just be too sickly sweet and C86 oriented for my palate; I prefer Norman’s rhythmic rock and Raymond’s obtuse angularity. However, unsurprisingly, the song that had me up and pogoing, against the stated house rules, was the closing Everything Flows. I think I will react like that for the rest of my life whenever I hear that song played live.

The last gig I saw in 2023 was at a new venue for me, St James United Reformed Church, just by the City Hall. I was the first one there for a lunchtime performance by Shunyata Improvisation Group’s violinist John Garner, who was accompanying peripatetic double bass player John Pope. The crowd eventually grew to 23 punters, a couple of whom I knew. The set, lasting about half an hour, was a calming set of short pieces, featuring interpretations of compositions by the likes of Carla Bley, Ornette Coleman and Alice Coltrane. In short, the originals were jumping off points for where the Two Johns took things to. It was a charming and educational experience. Nice surroundings as well, if a little too Calvinist and cold.

My renascent love for cassettes saw me buy a couple of Cruel Nature’s recent releases. Of especial merit is Hex Domestic by Dragged Up, who are a fine combo of scuzzy Glaswegian fuzz popsters; part Stooges, part MBV, part Runaways, I came in search of them as Simon Shaw, ex of the magisterial Trembling Bells has swapped bass for axe with this gang. One of my big hopes for 2024 is seeing this lot live, which should be the case in early May, fingers crossed. The other tape I purchased was the highly recommended Understander by Tibshelf. Apparently, this sort of sound collage is called “plunderphonics.” Interesting, but I’d call it plagiarism, pure and simple, with some of it, such as achingly dated sections of dialogue lifted wholesale from Withnail & I, lacking any kind of artistic merit. It would take me quite a lot of persuasion to listen to such tosh again, I must admit.

However, there is nothing wrong with a good cover version and The Wedding Present are skilled exponents of the art of reinterpretation and, courtesy of Hatch Records having a flash sale, I got hold of the band’s 2015 Huw Stephens Session EP for buttons. It’s an eclectic mix, featuring their takes on Cilla Black’s Step Inside Love (which I used to think was actually called Step Outside Love, which imparts a considerably less romantic message), a fabulous run at the Minnie Ripperton classic Loving You, where David Gedge doesn’t quite hit the high notes, The Go-Betweens / Fun Boy Three standard Our Lips are Sealed delivered in fine fashion and, bizarrely, an almost enjoyable stab at Take That’s Back for Good. A hidden gem this one, but not as obscure as the Argentinian band Reynols, who had an exhibition dedicated to them at High Bridge Gallery in November, curated by TQ media mogul Andy Wood.

It was a fascinating insight into a band I knew almost nothing about, although I did find a track by them on the TQ 50^th edition anniversary double CD, Half Century All Art that I picked up at the exhibition. There are a couple of superb Faust live tracks on there as well, plus plenty of other noise from the No Audience Underground. Indeed, I’d recommend a good browse round the website https://tqzine.blogspot.com/ where there are plenty of obscure gems on offer, including the current brilliant issue about The Canterbury Scene and a back issue dedicated to Reynols. You might also have a skeg at the ever wonderful https://wormholeworld.bandcamp.com/ who recently put out a 3 CD festive present, A Wormhole Xmas, on which I’d proud to say BARTHOLOMEW cusack’s My Name is Diana plays a minor part. If there are any left, grab one, even if the Saturnalian songs are not what you feel most inclined to listen to during damned, dry, dreary January.

Books:

The first book I read in this past while was Promised Land by Anthony Clavane, a writer I’d met through David Peace in Barnsley back in August 2012. David is a Huddersfield Town fan, but Anthony is Leeds through and through. Despite having lived away from his home city since he went to university, Clavane is passionate about the tale he has to tell, of the influence on the civic and sporting history Leeds of the waves of Irish, then European Jewish, then Asian and currently East European immigration. Written back when The Loiners were barely sentient after the almost irreparable damage of the meltdown morning after the Ridsdale Era, it is a bleak tale of financial and political malfeasance at every step of the way. Brilliant and depressing, it is a compelling read from start to end.

Similarly, the brilliant London Irish writer Michael Keenaghan, whose debut novel London is Dead was raved about on this very site in 2022, has an incredible series of depressing vignettes set in West, North and North East London, in his collection of short stories, Smiler with Knife. Some of these have been published in the past, a couple in my own Glove lit zine, but that matters little as old and new material sits cheek by jowl, telling terrible tales of the nightmare dystopia parts of our capital city has become. I urge you to buy this book.

I’ve read a couple of quality music books of late, though the first thing that the studied naivety and gaps in the narrative that Thurston Moore’s Sonic Life prompted me to do, was get hold of a copy of his ex-wife and bandmate Kim Gordon’s own memoir, Girl in a Band, which I’ve been shockingly remiss in not reading. As that’s on the to read pile, I’ll get back to you about that one, but I’d wager it will be more engaging than Italian cultural theorist Enrico Monacelli’s highbrow take on lo fi, The Great Psychic Outdoors. Of course, the artists a writer chooses to discuss are a personal choice, but I didn’t learn much I didn’t know about Daniel Johnston for instance, in this churn of pointy headed, jargon rich academic prose. Given the choice, I’d recommend David Keenan’s England’s Hidden Reverse every time. In fact, I’d also recommend the anthology of the Marxist art zine Never Work that Difficult Art and Music put out. While I don’t wholly agree with their Leninist advocation of Revolutionary Art, I did get the point behind their raging at the machinery of state. You might be able to get a copy of it from https://difficultartandmusic.bandcamp.com/merch

The music book I liked the most was Shelley’s Christmas present to me; Nige Tassell’s Whatever Happened to the C86 Kids? If you’ve ever suspected Bobby Gillespie is a tool, then the opening pages of this lovingly researched tome will prove you are right. I can’t urge you too strongly to get this book, to read about the sad stories of Bogshed and The Shop Assistants, as well as the life-affirming tales told by The Soup Dragons, The Servants and, especially, The Mackenzies. A wonderful book.

If you like happy endings, From Despair to Delirium, my old mate Howard Falshaw’s story of following Carlisle United for two seasons, post-retirement, culminating in promotion at Wembley is well worth dipping into. A story of hard miles on the motorway, his teenage son’s unblinking devotion and his own cynicism being worn away by positive play, is an engaging read. Check out more at: https://toomanythoughtsleftover.wordpress.com/ but don’t look too hard at the current League 1 table, unless you want your dreams to be shattered by the cold, hard reality of a relegation battle.

Additionally, I’ve made my way through 5 novels. Jon McGregor’s Even the Dogs is a desperately depressing reverse narrative about an alcoholic dying alone in his filthy flat, while his various addict friends succumb to the impact of extra pure heroin on the streets of Nottingham in the week after Christmas. Well written, but hellishly difficult to get through. Fleur Hitchcock’s teen mystery, Waiting for Murder is a rattlingly good read and any reluctant reader with an interest in sleuthing might just love this book. I’m happy to pass it on, if anyone has an interest. Ian Rankin’s Exit Music is about Rebus getting ready to retire and, like every book of his I’ve read, I couldn’t put it down. Loved it and don’t care that I’m reading the series out of sequence. The Steep Approach to Garbadale is top quality Iain Banks; grim, hilarious and jaw dropping by turns, the usual convoluted plot knots are masterfully finessed by a scintillating denouement. I rather wish I hadn’t read Metroland by Julian Barnes. Published in 1980, it comes across as an awful load of self-indulgent sub Kingsley Amis style chauvinism that would not be tolerated these days. It portrays women in a way that would make Joey Barton blush.