Blog: Uprock Narratives and Unknown Pleasures

I'm looking out for something new to read although I'm dipping into one or one things at the moment. The last two books I've finished were really enjoyable. Sebastian Faulks' Engleby was rather different from his classic Birdsong but, nevertheless, compelling and powerful. It's a first person narrative focussing on the troubled childhood and awkward university years of a socially inept but exceptionally academically gifted misfit. Progressive rock aficionado Mike Engleby is able to breeze into Cambridge but makes appalling decisions and struggles in all social situations away from the lecture halls. Dark happenings, er, happen [...]

I congratulate my favoured rugby union team on a hard-fought but merited victory over a spirited and hard-running Newcastle this afternoon. Gloucester are much improved from the ramshackle rabble that proffered mediocre fare earlier this term and I am delighted to note a considerable improvement in handling skills, commitment and forward grunt. Despite a tricky twenty minute period in the first half when the visiting side conspired to play some keen and incisive football, the city club won plenty of the key confrontations and offered a fairly simple gameplan that lacked a touch of ambition but made the [...]

I salute the beat combo Primal Scream for journeying to the (ye?) historic city of Gloucester last Thursday; their set at the compact and bijou Guildhall proved loud, merry, vigorous, up-tempo, melodic, rifftastic and loud. When a 'big' group attends the Guild, it's part recital, part happening and the plethora of hepcats in attendance (some e'en travelling all the way from Cheltenham Spa) indicated that the scene was celebrating itself effervescently. The Scream rocked and rolled with insouciance and cool. The lead vocalist Bobby Gillespie played the part of lead vocalist Bobby Gillespie with wit and swagger, sprinkling [...]

I'm not prone to boasting but whenever I attend a concert with the good-natured A, I tend to post my report a few days before him. It's not a competition of course. However, he's beaten me to it this time with an articulate and worthy review of the evening he, S and I spent on Monday visiting The Fall in Bristol. He's even proffered his recordings of all the songs they played and I simply can't compete. It proved a lot of fun. It's always merry to chalk up a new venue and The [...]

9-6 is such a comfortingly old-fashioned scoreline. You can sniff the embrocation in those lowish multiples of three; gnarled forwards of yore paid their doughty dues during 9-6 epics while fancy-dan three-quarter team-mates shivered. It's a back-to-basics score, an unfashionable glimpse into past times, into mudbaths, into half-time team talks on the pitch, into the shadowy mindsets of Malcolm Preedy and Bobby Fowke. If 9-6 were a TV Show it would be a murky World In Action exposé from 1973, it's Lieutenant Pigeon playing Mouldy Old Dough on Top of the Pops, it's the Winter of Discontent crossed with an [...]

I can't get over how many people pitch up to watch features screened by the Cheltenham Film Society . I trotted over to the Bacon Theatre on Tuesday to view, at the invitation of J, a Brazilian production, Linha de Passé and was stunned to witness throngs of gentlefolk flocking into the building. I genuinely believed there was something else on at the complex; I'm so used to watching films at Gloucester's Guildhall in an audience of twenty or so (on a good night) that I was thrown by such a multitude. About 250-300 cinema lovers attend [...]

I admit I may have become a Green Man Festival bore in the weeks after last summer's event. I think the rank disappointment of the previous couple of years, when cold, hard and wetter than usual rain conspired to break the music-lovin' hearts of my accomplished sidekick and me, had rendered the need for third-time-lucky glee more than crucial. The warm 2009 weather and fine fare and, pardon me, cheerful vibes were heart-warming and welcome. I only say this because I note that 'early bird' tickets for next summer's bash are on sale now. I'm tempted. I don't [...]

Earlier today I flicked through this month's Q Magazine in the palatial environs of Gloucester's historic Northgate Street branch of J Sainsbury . My heart sank. I was intrigued to scan the pages to discover what their favoured 50 albums of 2009 were and, alas, my view that Q is a music magazine for people who don't really like music that much was fortified. I know I'm at risk of sounding an utter snob but the Q list was as conservative and mundane and life-unaffirming and unadventurous as I feared. The top ten contains one album I rather like [...]

Last night was rather marvellous. A quartet of ageing hipsters set sail for Stroud and an evening of splendid musical entertainment. Rodborough's Prince Albert public house was hosting a trio of wonderful acts, with Celtic pop imp, Euros Childs, headlining proceedings. A brief word about the venue. The Prince Albert proved a charming base for jollity, a non-corporate old-style boozer with roaring fire, fine ales, pet dogs striding around the carpet and walls covered in esoteric and eye-catching artefacts. The main (only?) bar was an ample L-shape and, without trying to be Madison Square Garden, accommodated plenty of [...]

Verily, this is the season of gigs and the latest recital took place last night: Grizzly Bear at Bristol's Anson Rooms. Mr and Mrs Cole attended and we spent a goodly time before the event enjoying the peculiar ambience of a Students' Union building. Hipsters galore paraded; some tried too hard but I empathised. A and A joined I and I; 'twas jolly. The support act was St. Vincent (a solo female artist, for the uninitiated) whom I last viewed/heard supporting the young prince of popular music, Sufjan Stevens, almost exactly three years ago . I appreciate [...]

Tuesday night at Kingsholm was special and exciting. The 36-5 scoreline flattered Gloucester's Australian visitors a tad and it was pleasing to witness an abrasive pack performance with plenty to celebrate both in tight and loose. I appreciated Paul Doran-Jones's adherence to the front row basics and I thought young hooker Darren Dawiduik enjoyed an energetic and bright match. Returning hero Jake Boer performed splendidly for the full eighty minutes with his trademark uncompromising ball-carrying catching the eye again and again; it was rather emotional hearing the legend's name announced before kick-off with a resounding roar from the popular side [...]

The Coles went to the nearish and notable city of Bristol on Monday and packed plenty in; a monumental Chinese meal and a trip to @Bristol proved particular crowd pleasers. Personally, it was merry to shop in Fopp, my favoured music store chain which has an outlet at the bottom of Park Street. To be honest, I could have spent longer in there as racks and racks of utterly tempting treats costing as little as 3 or 5 British quids were beckoning me brazenly. I ended up purchasing Our Favourite Shop by The Style Council (as I only read glowing [...]

I've used the last day or three to view (on Digital Versatile Disc) a couple of feature films that for one reason or another I missed when the local and outstanding Guildhall Arts Centre proffered them recently. Both motion pictures possessed an association football theme. The Damned United was based on the wondrous novel by David Peace and focussed on the infamous forty-four days that Brian Clough managed Leeds United in 1974. I preferred the book. Its pages successfully portrayed the fragility of Clough, his drinking, his insecurities, his reliance on the [...]

I don't want to dwell too long on last night's rugby union . My favoured club Gloucester appeared devoid of ideas and inspiration and lost heavily to a Wasps outfit that appeared mediocre and below par itself. It was, by a margin, the worst Wasps side I've seen at Kingsholm and they had the city on toast. Alas, I'm finding myself more and more adrift from the Gloucester club and am beginning to question why I continue to proffer it my support. Almost everything that I loved about the Kingsholm culture has either disappeared or been dramatically diluted as [...]

Here is the Top Ten and I'm rather pleased with it. There's a bit of dance music, some esoteric British aptitude/attitude and experimentalism, plenty of guitars and plenty of synthesisers, some hearts worn on sleeves and some curious meanderings that keep you guessing. These are recordings I return to again and again, old friends and worthy cohorts. I could cope quite happily with just these ten LPs for company and ne'er feel bored or unchallenged. Deciding which Sufjan Stevens album was my favourite proved tricky but the sheer class and majesty of Michigan won through. 1. Sufjan [...]

Here are the twentieth to the eleventh finest long playing records of the past decade (in the opinion of your humble host). As Radiohead crooned – but far too early to qualify for this list – 'No surprises'. The Top Ten follows soon. Blazin' Squad, Scouting for Girls, Maroon 5, Does It Offend You Yeah? inter alia wait with bated breath. 11. Joan As Police Woman – Real Life As 15. but wi' a touch more sass and sizzle. 12. The Go-Betweens – Oceans Apart A sumptuous [...]

Was it really almost ten years since I cowered, trembling, expecting the Millennium Bug to cause planes to fall from the sky and nuclear power stations to go into meltdown? Where did that decade go? Whoosh... There's been some wondrous music produced in that time period though. Having pored, brow furrowed, over Uncut's 150 albums of the decade , I've drawn up a longlist of my own which, over the past few days, I've snipped away at and rearranged lovingly. Twenty or so (it has to be said) absolute belters have been discarded and I have constructed my Top [...]

I joined A at Kingsholm Stadium last evening; a last minute decision to attend the Gloucester club's 'A' team fixture against counterparts from the Harlequin FC tempted me away from the warmth and comfort of the front parlour. I haven't been to one of these fixtures for a while. I used to trot along to most of the old style United matches a few years ago and enjoyed spotting players on the way up and players on the way down – there were often several from both category. I made the fundamental error last evening (as did the [...]

Verily, gentle reader, it has proved a busy weekend. Last night proved late and giddy; a colleague's wedding near the Welsh border entertained and diverted. This fellow is wan and delicate as a result. On Friday night – and it seems like ages ago to be honest – the crack squad of S, A and your humble host cascaded down to Bristol to attend a musical concert. Girls were playing at a new venue for me, The Cooler Club on the mighty and pleasing Park Street and, I'll tell you what, I [...]

Well, the new scheme to set up a vinyl listening area is gathering pace. Earlier, during a visit to a local supermarket store, I purchased a home cinema surround system which I constructed with sagacity before plugging in my turntable. It sounds wonderful. Ironically, perhaps, the first song I blasted out of my new speakers was It's Better This Way by The Associates from the peerless Sulk long player. I've also been spinning, literally pop-pickers, some Go-Betweens and some Fall 33 and a third treats. The plan is to buy some 'new' vinyl soon. I browsed the racks in the [...]