Krishna at the Klinker, 02 07 09

Well, last week was a very cultural week, with Michael Moorcock, Iain Sinclair and Alan Moore live at the British Library at one end, and Zali Krishna playing live at the Klinker at the other. I didn’t record any of the Moorcock / Moore / Sinclair triumvirate, but I did manage to get this –Continue reading “Krishna at the Klinker, 02 07 09”

Reviewing ‘The City and The City’

Well, I’ve just finished China Miéville’s superb new book, ‘The City and The City’. It’s utterly gripping, a noir-ish police procedural with an Eastern European feel that both builds on, reacts against and moves beyond the concerns and achievements of his previous novels. So you’ve probably worked out that I’d recommend it to anyone whoContinue reading “Reviewing ‘The City and The City’”

Prove to my daughter that you love her

Well, last night was a gig by the mighty Thomas Truax, so today – by the power of YouTube!!!! – he’s helping allumination celebrate Valentine’s Day. Happy romancing, all! May the tentacles of love rise from their endless dreaming beneath the Pacific and penetrate the hearts of both you and your male, female or otherlyContinue reading “Prove to my daughter that you love her”

Cities, alienation, spaceship design and fish

  Space is so often seen as an open field that exists to support some form of vast, optimistic transcendence. But in fact, reality suggests that it will force an almost infinite claustrophobia on us. Surrounded by its empty hostility, we’ll travel it in tiny metal tubes, at best spending only years locked together withContinue reading “Cities, alienation, spaceship design and fish”

A heart of darkness

Felt a bit bummed out yesterday, so that inevitably made me think of William Hope Hodgson’s ‘The Night Land’, the book that nearly gave me a nervous breakdown over New Year 1999 / 2000. Normally, I love William Hope Hodgson. His berserk imagery, unhinged sense of space and time, and deep nautical experience (at timesContinue reading “A heart of darkness”

Coal sculptures

Last Friday night’s excursion was a trip to see compellingly strange French SF animation ‘La Planete Sauvage’, plus a pre-film performance of some groovy improvised music from The Stargazer’s Assistant. The film was fantastic; the music was marvellous; but what really made the evening for me were David Smith’s coal sculptures, forming his exhibition ‘TheContinue reading “Coal sculptures”