The Counterforce No. 8
Glass Remade/Remodelled, Robin Ince's 'Bibliomaniac', Jim Ruland, Steven Wright, Roommushklahn, and more...
I’ve been waiting until my Quietus review of Glass Remade/Remodelled ran to start going on about how great it is. Glass were one of the true indie labels, who did it for the love of music, and put out some great stuff in the 80s. This comp is Glass alumni and friends covering some of the roster. There’s five Jacobites songs, and four originally by The Pastels. Stephen Duffy does a beautiful interpretation of Dave Kusworth’s ‘Little Bird’. And David J of Kusworth’s ‘It’ll All End Up In Tears’. While Astrid Swan gives the Bauhaus bassist a run for his money on ‘Crocodile Tears & The Velvet Cosh’. Gerard Love does a truly lovely rendition of The Pastels’ ‘If I Could Tell You’.
“Matthew Shaw shows that, surprisingly, Spacemen 3’s ‘Mary Anne’ works perfectly well as drugged out electro-pop, a synth bass pulse evoking narcotic night time drives through urban landscapes.” And wor_kspace “offer up a triumphant version of The Perfect Disaster’s ‘Bluebell’. A strong Jesus & Mary Chain vibe, combining Automatic electronics with Psychocandy swagger.” As I also say in the review, “In a better world, either take on this song would be a staple of indie discos across the globe.”
On my audiobook tip this past week I’ve been really enjoying Robin Ince’s Bibliomaniac: An Obsessive's Tour of the Bookshops of Britain . To hear someone talk enthusiastically about things they truly love, and feel the world would be a better place if you loved them too, is a wonderful thing. And if you already love those things yourself, well… I knew I going to be in trouble very early on when Robin described Wigtown as Scotland’s Hay-On-Wye, and I thought ‘I need to go there immediately’. And much as I love audiobooks, I had to keep pausing this one to note down various recommendations such as Spike Milligan’s Small Dreams Of A Scorpion and Donald Henderson’s Mr. Bowling Buys A Newspaper, while the books on Magick became far too numerous to keep track of.
Bibliomaniac is the account of Ince’s 2021 book tour of 112 bookshops across the U.K. An awesome undertaking and by the sound of it, great fun too. I feel exactly what Robin is talking about as he points out the slightest detail of a book he’s just happened upon - perhaps an intriguing cover or a blurb on the back - that convinces him he needs, yes needs, it, even though he has thousands at home and is having trouble carrying all the ones he’s already bought this leg of the tour. He speaks of the literary connections - whether via an author or their works - of the towns and cities he visits and this is a lovely thing. For it is connections, not just these but connections in general, of how they play out in our lives, across the stories we both read and live, that really make this book for me. At one point Ince writes of wanting to organize his library by the connections between the books and this is something I would love to see. And as I’m listening, all sorts of connections are popping out to me, ones stemming from his mention of Douglas Adams or Evelyn Waugh, or Eric Idle’s Rutland Dirty Weekend Book, and I suspect if you love books and bookshops as well, the same will happen that are personal to you as you’re reading it. There are amusing puns and references as well as Robin’s thoughts on puns and references, and a great passage on what a delightful thing it is to pass a book on to a stranger simply because they seem like they need to read it. Ince speaks of the passion and fortitude of these small bookshop owners, in this line of business because they know it’s important and want to share their own love of literature with others, and I want to visit a great many of these places. In a way, I feel I already have.
As coincidences go, when Jim Ruland’s Substack newsletter arrives on Wednesday, he’s also talking about his book collection. I can’t recommend Ruland’s Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise & Fall Of SST Records enough. I listened to the audiobook, which Ruland reads, last year and loved it. Absolutely packed with info, so much that I got so absorbed in the early years - Black Flag, Minutemen, Hüsker Dü - that I completely forgot about all the other great stuff coming up - Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, Soundgarden, etc.. Jim’s got a new novel, Make It Stop, coming out in April that I’m looking forward to.
One night this week I had the rare instance of some spare time to watch some TV and scrolling through YouTube, I found this compilation of one-liners from Mitch Hedberg and Steven Wright. Anytime I come across something of Mitch Hedberg’s I’ll stop to watch and revel in its genius, but it had been a long time since I’d listened to Steven Wright (who, coincidentally, has a novel, Harold, coming out in May). And it’s just freaking great. Lines like ‘What’s another word for thesaurus?’ and ‘If you shoot a mime, do you use a silencer?’ have stuck with me since the 80s, and I have his albums, but some of these were new to me
I’m digging Svart Records’ release of the Roommushklahn recordings. A Finnish free-jazz unit from the 80s, no albums were ever released. The two recordings that have surfaced are from their first time ever playing together (track one) and from a festival two years later with the addition of Jarmo Savolainen on keyboards. This is the latter, which features a rad figure around 14:40 that they soon all jump in on
If you’re in the Maryland/DC area this weekend, I’m doing a reading at Bird City Records in La Plata, MD on Friday at 6PM. Then Saturday evening in Baltimore on Timothy DeLizza’s Drinking Club show (message me for details). And Sunday April 2nd, I’m ‘in conversation’ at Lost City Books in Washington, DC at 6 PM. Come on out, it’ll be fun
I’m also tempted to message all the shops mentioned in Bibliomaniac to get them to stock The Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass. But I’m having trouble with UK shops taking a chance on it due to an annoying glitch with my current distributor. But any of these shops can order it for you, so if you’re in the UK, or anywhere, and want a copy please ask your local independent bookshop to get it for you.
SEVEN SONGS
George Harrison - ‘What Is Life’. This is just such a fantastic pop song. I keep hearing it when I’m out lately and then it’s stuck in my head the rest of the time
Magnapop - ‘Slowly Slowly’.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - ‘Straight To You’. Very probably my favourite Nick Cave song. “Gone are the days of rainbows, and gone are the nights of swinging from the stars” gets me every time
Coming Up Roses - ‘I Could’ve Been Your Girlfriend’. Debsey & Hester’s post-Dolly Mixture band, on Billy Bragg’s Utility label. Should’ve been a number one.
Stud Count - ‘Give Me Time’. I mentioned Stud Count last week. Loving their punky energy and big sense of melody
Luxembourg - (I Need) A Little Bit More (Than You Can Give Me). I originally chose ‘Luxembourg Vs. Great Britain’ and it’s a shame there’s a dearth of Lux videos on YouTube. Back in 2005, I would’ve told you these guys were one of the best bands in the world. I loved them and went to all their gigs. I found this vid though, and it was my first favourite song of theirs. More songs with two sets of parentheses, please
Pulp - ‘Stacks’.
Thanks for the shout out, Aug!