come taste my mind

"Allowing the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing to be returned to Libya has produced howls..."

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:23:02 -0400

“Allowing the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing to be returned to Libya has produced howls of outrage on both sides of the Atlantic. (That is, apart from the rare voices of the UN observer at the trial and some of the British victims’ families, who have studied every aspect of the case and believe there has been a miscarriage of justice.) That outrage would be better focused on the governments and justice systems that have ensured we have all been denied the full truth about Lockerbie.”

- Private Eye, nailing it once again. Are you listening, Jack McConnell, you ridiculous man?

The late Paul Foot’s Lockerbie investigation — a triumph of investigative journalism — is still available at http://www.private-eye.co.uk, priced £5

I know you think I'm joking with all that "Gedge is god" stuff. But a heaven with this on endless repeat would suit me just fine.

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:58:59 -0400

I know you think I'm joking with all that "Gedge is god" stuff. But a heaven with this on endless repeat would suit me just fine.:

(For those who don’t have Spotify: 1) Why not?; 2) It’s Flying Saucer.)

This morning I listened to ...

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0400

… the Dirty Projectors. (Yes, I know. Late to the party here.)

In this case, I think a picture is worth, ooh, about 50-75 words. (Three of which would have been “absolutely”, “fucking” and “awful”.)

Blows dust off Tumblr account … right, where were we?

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 07:49:00 -0400

So, yeh, I’ve shitcanned my old Last.fm account but the one thing I will miss is the occasional debate it occasioned (even if three-quarters of it was “lol Gedge”).

Anyway. Rather than trusting The Man and his increasingly flaky and half-arsed site to track my listening, I thought I’d resurrect this Tumblr as a kind of “What I’m Listening To” blog-type thing, even if it’s just so the occasional excellent dude gets to hear the occasional excellent band.

And this seems as fitting way as any to begin: Melody Maker’s Singles of 1988, courtesy of Mike T-Diva by way of John Doran. Prince: a bit over-rated? Discuss.

Tumbling over?

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 05:15:36 -0500

Tumbling over?:

I’ve enjoyed using Tumblr. But, given that most of what I was doing with it was posting links and going: “Hmm, dudes, look at this”, I can’t help feeling Twitter has taken its place.

As I’ve said before: I’ve no idea who reads this. I get the impression the majority of hits are picked up by proxy when it feeds back into Facebook … in which case Twitter does the job just as well.

So. This is where it’s at, I guess.

"You don't have to be a nationalist, or English, to accept the case for an English parliament"

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 03:37:12 -0500

"You don't have to be a nationalist, or English, to accept the case for an English parliament":

George Monbiot argues cogently in The Guardian.

"Shit."

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 05:45:37 -0500

"Shit."

“A man who informs people that he gets up at six...

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 11:21:00 -0500

“A man who informs people that he gets up at six o’clock every morning, and seems to want a medal. People who say they speak as they find, and are somehow proud of it. Journalists who try and spell an interviewee’s laugh”

Half Man Half Biscuit: Breaking News. I’ve been mainlining them for a couple of days (ever since Ich Lüge Bullets linked to a complete archive of their Peel Sessions), remembering how much I love them, and wondering why I don’t listen to them more. Not big, but fucking clever.

Shite = Lazy journalists x Self-promoting academics

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:00:00 -0500

Shite = Lazy journalists x Self-promoting academics:

Roll up, roll up: debunk that most depressing day of the year nonsense in the most creative way possible. From the estimable Mind Hacks.

"We can only hope that original news reporting by top-flight journalists is not a major casualty"

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 07:20:00 -0500

"We can only hope that original news reporting by top-flight journalists is not a major casualty":

Nothing we didn’t know already in this bleak little analysis from Dan Farber, but it’s a point that bears repeating. Now go out there and do your bit for democracy: buy a newspaper.

Yes, even the Daily Mail.

Subterraneans

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:50:28 -0500

Subterraneans:

The Corsham nuclear bunker, courtesy of the BBC. Not cheery, obviously.

I can't decide whether this is the single stupidest thing I've heard in a long time, or the accidental beginning of a bold new future for the legal system.

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 05:43:00 -0500

I can't decide whether this is the single stupidest thing I've heard in a long time, or the accidental beginning of a bold new future for the legal system.:

Maybe I should start a poll.

"It is noteworthy to watch so many on the right assume that they think those who voted for Obama did..."

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:26:00 -0500

“It is noteworthy to watch so many on the right assume that they think those who voted for Obama did so assuming he would fix everything with a wave of the hand, when so many on the left speak clearly about how they assume nothing of the sort. It is noteworthy too that in his acceptance speech Obama stressed challenges and not only the possibilities of mistakes but the inevitability of them. I’ll take that level-headedness and awareness, thanks, and here’s to it being put in place to the full.”

- Ned Raggett on the president-elect. I think this sums it up beautifully.

I’ve already waxed lyrical about Godley and...

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:07:00 -0500

I’ve already waxed lyrical about Godley and Creme’s Under Your Thumb elsewhere. This, however, is An Englishman in New York and I can’t begin to count the ways in which it is wonderful.

This version is from the German TV show Musikladen (I think) and isn’t actually the one I wanted to post. The original video (which is thematically identical but a more overtly visual experience) is here, but won’t allow me to embed it. Bugger. That said: each version has its own surreal, spine-chilling charm, and there are a couple of details with this one (the lighting, the computer typeface, the bit where they’re watching on the monitor) that might even make it the better to watch.

I love this band. Absolutely fucking adore them.

Fitbin!

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 08:50:00 -0400

Fitbin!:

John Preston in The Telegraph gets arsey about swearing but misses the most interesting point: can we imagine a society where no taboo expletives remain?

"What I'm trying to say is that knowing Nick was out there made me feel better, feel stronger"

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 14:48:58 -0400

"What I'm trying to say is that knowing Nick was out there made me feel better, feel stronger":

A heart-warmingly personal tribute to the late, lamented Nick Sanderson of Earl Brutus, linked in turn from this rather enjoyable piece by Roy Sanderson for the Quietus. Features public-school japes, backwards haircuts, lust for a lighthouse, and Peter Gabriel’s living room. As so many great tales should.

Mogwai: Batcat. Animation by Fernando Mena.

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:44:31 -0400

Mogwai: Batcat. Animation by Fernando Mena.

Stop press: someone, somewhere still cares about quality

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:31:45 -0400

Stop press: someone, somewhere still cares about quality:

This, from the Media Guardian website yesterday, has made my day. Good work, un-named Sunday Express executive.

Psychoanalysis, cognitive behavioural therapy, capitalism (and kicking off)

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:23:35 -0400

A very interesting argument, this: Darian Leader in the Guardian has a pop at CBT for being a “quick fix”; Vaughan Bell replies: wouldn’t it help to know what you’re talking about?

Before I started studying any of this, I drew a naive distinction between what I saw as “counselling” — targeted treatment, for want of a better word, of a specific trouble — and “therapy” … which, to be honest, I saw as a bit of a racket. “Feeling unhappy? What you need is to spend the rest of your life talking to me. At £80 a pop. Sign here, and here.”

It is, as is so often the case, substantially more complex than my initial flippancy suggested. But this little spat does touch on one issue I find compelling: is it always desirable, necessary or even healthy to plumb the depths of the mind?

I was mightily impressed that one of the first things my...

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:55:06 -0400

I was mightily impressed that one of the first things my developmental psychology tutor told us to consider was a Radiohead video. Not for sentimental or indeed economic/globalist reasons; for social-constructivist ones.

So: a new perspective, already. But with a top soundtrack.

come taste my mind

"Allowing the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing to be returned to Libya has produced howls..."

I know you think I'm joking with all that "Gedge is god" stuff. But a heaven with this on endless repeat would suit me just fine.

This morning I listened to ...

*Blows dust off Tumblr account* … right, where were we?

Tumbling over?

"You don't have to be a nationalist, or English, to accept the case for an English parliament"

"Shit."

“A man who informs people that he gets up at six...

Shite = Lazy journalists x Self-promoting academics

"We can only hope that original news reporting by top-flight journalists is not a major casualty"

Subterraneans

I can't decide whether this is the single stupidest thing I've heard in a long time, or the accidental beginning of a bold new future for the legal system.

"It is noteworthy to watch so many on the right assume that they think those who voted for Obama did..."

I’ve already waxed lyrical about Godley and...

Fitbin!

"What I'm trying to say is that knowing Nick was out there made me feel better, feel stronger"

Mogwai: Batcat. Animation by Fernando Mena.

Stop press: someone, somewhere still cares about quality

Psychoanalysis, cognitive behavioural therapy, capitalism (and kicking off)

I was mightily impressed that one of the first things my...

Blows dust off Tumblr account … right, where were we?