Sunday, February 24, 2008

What Should I Write? You Tell Me!

Want me to write more articles on the topics you are interested in? Starting today I'm implementing a "ransom" system: You donate funds towards the article you want to see written. When the funds reach a designated cut-off point I provide the goods. Basically, buy me a coffee and I'll write something in my usual fact-filled, research-driven and jargon-free style. Read on for the details!
Sunday, February 24, 2008

Re-Evaluating Krautrock

The Cosmic Jokers album cover
Julian Cope's Krautrocksampler is a brilliant book that did much to promote the trancy, indulgent, cross-genre musical hybrids that emerged from Germany late in the sixties, flowered and diversified through the seventies, then did much to pave the way for punk and post-punk idioms. Published in 1995 and receiving a second issuing the following year, this book is drenched in drugs, hyperbolic prose and nostalgia.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Bristol in Two Days: Part Two

Bristol has lots to offer in several loose categories: street life, industrial heritage, music, and water.

In terms of street life you can do no better than to start at St. Nicholas Market. Depending on the day this is either a thriving array of stalls, a slow food fair, a farmer's market, or a rather abandoned section of the city. I recommend you go on a Friday or Saturday for maximum effect. The weekend we were in town banners announced a Sunday market, but little was open. What we found on other days were amazing food vendors, over-priced CDs, a lovely store of fossils, and other miscellanea. We were tempted to drag bag a large block of petrified cuttlefish from Morocco, but common sense prevailed.
Sunday, February 10, 2008

Ten Films Based On P.K. Dick

A while back I promised some news of P.K. Dick adaptations. Certainly fewer writers have had such a rich posthumous career in Hollywood. There is something about his mind-bending existential conundrums that makes for compelling cinema, and producers do manage to find an action arc through his down-to-earth narratives and philosophical musings. Read to the end of the post for news of the next film in this tradition.