Resolution

I’m extremely bad at keeping new years resolutions, I don’t really intend to have any for the coming year, but I do hope to keep this writing malarkey going. Here’s what to expect:

Working for a company that publishes graphic novels you'd rightly expect me to have access to plenty of the buggers. In 2008 I’ll be bringing you more reviews on the illuminated word.

If you’ve spent as little as five minutes clicking around this blog you’ll know how much I love my tunes. Expect more comment on the beats, the melody and the bass line in the New Year.

Liars League is a neat little group that has a monthly short story competition, based on a theme. The five winners then have their work read out by actors to a spellbound audience – well, that and the night is hosted in a pub. I’ll be trying my hand at the short story game throughout 2008.

J’aime le film! No really: I’ll endeavour to bring you a film review once a month from the glowing screens of London town’s cinemas. Plus, it gives me an excuse to go to the movies. Everyone wins.

In addition to all this blogging I’ll also be aiming to finish a chapter a month on my (seemingly endless) novel. This is a pretty conservative goal as my chapters are quite short. Still, it’s would be nice to get a complete draft of the book done before 2009!

Season's Greetings

I’d like to thank you reading my blog, whether it be for the first time, or if you’re a ‘regular’. Have a peaceful Christmas, have whatever kinda NYE you want to have, and may you achieve all you want in 2008. Below I’ve compiled a list of tunes that have been doing it for me this year, and in particular this December. Feel free to go on Itunes and compile your own Christmas playlist.

Edit - 28 December: note, this playlist is all about the beats, mad jazzed out moments and funky basslines. Rockers and metalheads beware.

Around The Clock by the Teddy Rok Seven – get the horn, or horns in this case. I am of course talking about the brass. A great, sexy, seven-minute beast of track. Enjoy.

Ode To The Big Sea by the Cinematic Orchestra – despite Everyday and Ma Fleur having some outstanding tracks I still tap my toes feverishly every time I hear this. From the album Motion.

The Krohn Session by the Bobby Hughes Experience – infectious drumming and a jazzed out Hammond organ, garnished with tweaks and samples. Listen out for the subtle bass line in the background. Sublime.

Mishaps Happening by Quantic – a song just aching to be danced to. Wait for the great shift in the song before you unleash you’re best moves! From the album of the same name.

Green Eyes by Erykah Badu – not so much a single track as three in one. She manages to cover a multitude of styles influences whilst using her amazing vocal talents during this bitter sweet song.

No Pain by Broadway Project – from the album Compassion, which I have raved about elsewhere on this blog. A ponderous track, loaded with stabs of guitar over a hazy background of samples and harmonicas.

Ketto by Bonobo – featuring the usual darkness we’ve come to expect from the Brighton producer, Ketto steals beats from hip hop and fuses them to a great rumbling bass sound. Far from being a one trick pony, this song has great moments and changes.

Sound Mirrors by Coldcut – both tender and slightly mournful. Sound Mirrors is my favourite track from the 2006 album of the same name. Wait for the double bass to drop in. Bliss.

Transitions by the Beastie Boys – the last track on the astonishingly good Ill Communication, feel the spaces between the beats and relish the feeling of yearning this track creates.

That’s all from me for 2007. See you in the New Year!

Favourite Albums – Beastie Boys – Review

Being the time of year where a great many record store vouchers change hands, I thought I’d take the time to mention one of my favourite albums by the Beastie Boys.
Ill Communication was released back in 1994, when I was a fresh faced, naïve seventeen year old. I bought the album purely on the strength that someone else’s (very cool) older brother was into the Beasties, and for good reason.

Despite the fact that the Beastie Boys are commonly known as a rap group Ill Communication encompasses a slew of influences and ideas that are at odds with such frat boy antics as Fight For Your Right or No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn from the first album. Not only do MCA, Adrock and Mike D, engage in their usual word play, but they also take up a variety of instruments. Accomplished and well crafted jazz/ funk instrumentals hold their own alongside Hardcore tracks, and head nodding hip hop. The cheeky sense of parody is still there (Spike Jonez’ Sabotage video has to be one of the most famous videos on MTV) but there are touches of maturity and compassion – including props to Buddhism, something MCA discovered and continues to practice to this day.

Although the Beastie Boys favoured a distorted vocal motif on much of the album that is sometimes maddening, you’d do well to get a copy of the lyrics and buckle up for the long haul. Tracks such as Root Down, Sure Shot and Transitions are worth the asking price alone. This really is an album that rewards with repeat listening and is about as far removed from the Bling-constipated posturing of Gansta rap as you could hope to get.

Heroes

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been obsessed with heroes and the varying shades they come in. Being a child of the 70s my first introduction was of course, the iconic Jedi. Dignified, wise, measured and wielding one of the coolest weapons in the history of cinema - who wouldn’t be a Jedi?

Then of course there was the less obvious scoundrel: a would be ne’er do well with a heart of gold. Sure, he drove a hard bargain, but he always came through, and even Princess Leia gave into his charm in the end.

As time passed, more heroes came and went, heroes that frequently boasted their own toy lines, or heroes cast in lead that required careful painting. These days I’m equally happy reading about heroes (although my tastes have run darker and more noir of late) or trying to create my own and tell my own stories.

Sometimes you don’t need a film, or book or comic to see someone heroic. That someone would be my Great Uncle Wally. During the first 12 years or so of my life he was a regular at family get-togethers. Instantly recognisable for the fact he bears a resemblance to Fred Flintstone from the cartoon, and of course, he is called Wally. What child could resist?

However, Great Uncle Wally wasn’t just comic relief – he was always upbeat, had a smile for everyone and knew great anecdotes. He was the kind of guy who would wait until all the adults were talking and then wink at you, making you complicit in some cheeky unspoken business, he had a gift for inclusion.

As the years have passed I’ve seen less of Great Uncle Wally than I’d like. Our paths crossed a couple of years ago; he was 74 then and had nursed his wife through cancer until she had passed away. In spite of this he still wore a broad smile, still had a twinkle in his eye. I remember thinking I’d never seen him in a bad mood or hear him say a bad word about anyone.

Unfortunately I got news last night that Great Uncle Wally has been diagnosed with Cancer. I honestly can’t think of a more unfair, or unfitting end for someone of his character and stature. I can only hope that the months ahead are as comfortable as possible and that I can emulate one of my heroes in my own way.

Two Turntables And A Microphone

A few months back it was announced that the Titan Christmas party would feature a chance for vinyl aficionados to spin their wares .

Owning no vinyl whatsoever and not knowing my cross fader from my Gain, I volunteered immediately. Soon I was hooked on tracking down cheap tracks from Ebay and welding them together in some sort of mentalist ‘2ManyDJs-play-a-wedding’ set.

I’m kicking off with Motown. I’ve been indoctrinated into Motown since I could walk – and I figure most people my age are familiar with Motown too. I’m particularly pleased with Nowhere To Run by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas. I’ve also got Tears Of A Clown by Smokey Robinson, ABC by the Jackson 5 and Rescue Me by Fontella Bass. Sweet.

As I’m going back to back with a friend from work we’ll be slipping in 80s nostalgia (Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics), old hip hop (Beat Dis by Bomb Da Bass & Push It by Salt and Pepper) right up to tracks from Mylo, Max Sedgley, Beastie Boys, Kelis and er, Electric Six (ahem!).

Anyway, all that’s left now is one more practice session, and concentrating on not getting p*ssed before I get on the decks.
Also, getting my voice back may help… I seem to have a habit of getting ill for parties, and this year is no exception.

Jon Courtenay Grimwood – Book Review

9tail Fox
Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Paperback

Sergeant Bobby Zha is a veteran of the SFPD. He’s got a wife who can’t stand the sight of him, a daughter he barely sees, and an intuition that sets him at odds with most of his colleagues. This time the case is going to be a little harder to solve
- He’s just been killed.

Jon Courtenay Grimwood takes us on a seedy journey through San Francisco’s less glamorous side, in this near-future crime thriller with a supernatural twist. He paints a picture of homeless people and jaded cops against a backdrop of perfect corporate consumerism and oblivious tourism. The book is fairly saturated with details about the city and China town, and is clearly extensively researched.

The prose is polished, poetic and slick, showing real literary muscle: the tone of the dialogue, equally well judged. Sergeant Bobby Zha is neither a hero, nor an anti-hero, and at times not particularly likeable – but Grimwood makes good use of the redemption angle and it’s difficult not to be impressed by the protagonists ingenuity.

Grimwood clearly enjoys crafting flawed characters with great back stories, although at times the book almost feels crowded with half mad vagrants and policemen keeping dark secrets. As with most crime novels, it is interesting to watch Grimwood take a series of seemingly unconnected threads, and reveal a greater tapestry. However, the conclusion to the mystery doesn’t satisfy as much as the personal journey Bobby Zha takes, in fact it plays second fiddle to the Sergeant’s chance to set things right. The ending itself feels quite rushed, and ideally would have more of a build up, but all in all 9tail Fox is an enjoyable read, beautifully written and painstakingly researched.

A genre mongrel, mixing crime with supernatural, and yet remaining a drama on a very human scale.

8 / 10