Blog: Uprock Narratives and Unknown Pleasures

It has been merry to relax a little recently, listen to some new sounds but mainly read some new books. Since St. Stephen's Day, I've been ploughing my way through a mighty tome, Philip Norman's John Lennon biography , 800+ pages of incredibly well-researched work. There are few surprises to be met here but several telling interviews reveal Lennon to be either utterly cruel or beatifically kind with hundreds of shades of grey in between. The bulk of the book concerns The Beatles which is a shame as the last decade of Lennon's life, his years living [...]

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It was my official birthday last week and, yet again, I have not received the tool kits, driving gloves and gardening equipment that I crave; a selection of those new-fangled compact discs and popular fiction and non-fiction books were proffered instead. I'll cope. None of my new long playing albums are contemporary ones. I received a gorgeous Brazilian Funk compilation featuring up-tempo gems and riddims from the 1970s, At My Age by Nick Lowe which is a sumptuous collection of mellow slices of pop perfection, North Marine Drive [...]

It has proved a busy week. On Wednesday I joined a group of curmudgeonly middle-aged types at Gloucester's much-admired and pleasant Guildhall Arts Centre for a concert featuring punk legends, The Damned . To be frank, I enjoyed myself merrily. The band featured only Captain Sensible (who was supping Asda Smart Price lager all evening) and the remarkable Dave Vanian from the original line-up but I appreciated the pair's showmanship, strength of character and élan. The set was a mixture of old favourites ( Neat, Neat, Neat was blisteringly thrilling) and newer material that, controversially, I [...]

A few small pieces of housekeeping today. First of all, I have my lift back from London Irish sorted out. Mrs Cole appeared on Shaun Keavany's BBC 6Music Breakshow Show last Thursday. She was discussing Merrie Gloucester on the 'Toast the Nation' slot, suggesting some interesting facts about the dear place and picking a suitable song to play. The number in question was Elvis Costello's Everyday I Write The Book commemorating Gloucester's role in the commission of the Domesday Book. The whole thing can be found on [...]

Joan As Police Woman at Bristol Thekla - Monday 8th December Joan As Police Woman , as any schoolboy knows, is actually the splendid singer and musician Joan Wasser, a sassy New Yorker and all round good egg with an interesting history and two stunning albums under her thrift store belt. Last Monday, backed by a drummer fellow and a bassist/guitarist fellow (both of whom oozed Big Apple attitude), Wasser produced a bewitching set. Bedecked uncompromisingly in silvery robe and sporting big, big, big hair, the chanteuse thrilled an older yet hip Bristol crowd with all [...]

This is a request but not an urgent one as other options potentially exist. I'm going to be in London on the 19th of this month, scampering through the busy streets with the modish D, pilfering silk handkerchiefs from toffs' pockets before attending a concert party at Camden's fashionable Koko where the mighty Stereolab will be performing some numbers. The next day we'll be heading t'Reading to view the fabled Cherry and Whites play London Irish and, cor blimey, I'm wondering if anyone who visits these pages and who is driving to that game from Gloucester [...]

Whilst working at Oxfam yesterday, a middle-aged hipster languidly entered the store and donated boxes of cool stuff. There were more foreign language art films than one could shake un bâton pointu at, some charming and esoteric books and, hurrah, numerous CDs. Many I owned already (Portishead, Blur, Elbow etc.) but I snaffled up and bought a brace of belters from this year that had, thus far, somehow avoided my radar. The Last Shadow Puppets' The Age Of The Understatement is a stylish blighter, all cinematic poise and orchestral elegance. The media have picked [...]

Last Tuesday's 'Giggle at the Guild' was, er, interesting and, er, different. 'Twas this punter's debut at the monthly comedic club that meets at the fabled Gloucester Guildhall's cinema area. A frankly dreadful compere, name of Nik Hill , bewilderingly high on confidence, regretfully low on talent/mirth, introduced three acts ranging from the adequate to the satisfactory. The finest comic was from Oxford, Oxon and I forget his name. He had a beard 'n' an electric guitar and carolled the throng with merry parodies of rock stars; the fellow proved generally whimsical, quaint and gently [...]

Calmer* was tidy last evening. Always a sucker for the end of year lists, I had noted that Pete Greenwood's long player, Sirens , had been adjudged by Uncut to be the 40-somethingth best album of 2008 so I was keen to see and hear the fellow in a live forum. He was most decent. His guitar picking was complex and haunting, leading to a few fairly obvious Nick Drake comparisons but I enjoyed his work for other reasons. Hushed and sultry tones delivered maudlin tales and I appreciated his slightly downbeat, world weary subject matter. Greenwood wasn't the [...]

I've been spinning Beck's latest long player, Modern Guilt , relentlessly recently. I have been a long term admirer of the young pop prince, especially his more muted, melancholic offerings, Sea Change and Mutations, which are both fabulous. Modern Guilt is a marvellous achievement and certainly one of my favourite albums of this year. Ten immaculately produced tracks, full of swagger, grace, melody and intelligence are proffered. Danger, er, Mouse, the production wizard, has helped conjure up an elegant, breathy, neo-psychedelic ambience, a layered sonic gem that dazzles and challenges without losing a tangible sense [...]

White Lies at Gloucester Guildhall Thursday 20th November This is a derivative group. This is a derivative group. White Lies provided adequate entertainment for the sizeable collection of hepcats that gathered at the fabled Guildhall last Thursday. The black-clad and much hyped youngsters produced epic songs full of gloom and menace but succeeded mainly in inspiring comments such as, 'This one is like Joy Division, n'est pas ?' and 'That sounded rather like Interpol' and 'Blimey! Editors!' Early in their set, the earnest, affable and, on this occasion, prescient S even hinted at a [...]

The rugby football proved an exhilarating thrill last evening. The Gloucester club – an outfit I continue to favour – produced a master class in attacking sport; tremendous running lines, snappy passin' o' the leather egg and wondrous sprinting skills combined to dispatch a faintly disappointing Bristol team by a decent 39-10 scoreline. The city club scored five tries and at least two were of the highest class. Thoroughbred full back, Oliver 'Olly' Morgan galloped home majestically in the first half, sidestepping through tackles and bamboozling many a defender before joyously reaching the tump-end whitewash. The finest touchdown was [...]

I've been too busy and distracted to visit and post on these pages this week. It was heartening to listen to the radio commentary from Vicarage Road today (I chose, in a fairly avant-garde manner, Three Counties Radio over BBC Radio Gloucestershire) as my favoured Gloucester club rampaged to victory over the historic yet itinerant Saracens outfit. By all accounts this was the Kingsholm-based team's finest performance of the season. D, a London media dude, sent me one or two SMS texts during and after the match and I salute his dedication to the cause. [...]

I like it when the Gloucester Guildhall is packed to the rafters and there was not a spare seat available last evening for the visit of American stand-up comic Rich Hall . The three oldest Coles attended and guffawed merrily throughout. The first half saw the acerbic fellow provide many memorable observations about the recent US election as well as his usual offerings highlighting the fascinating differences between the British and American personalities. After the break, Hall played his popular red-neck country singer character, Otis Lee Crenshaw, and raised more exuberant chortles from the assembled throng. A visit to [...]

Signs of recession, signs of the so-called credit crunch are becoming more and more unusual. I was delighted to amble around Gloucester's large and labyrinthine Asda Store earlier this morning and discover one could enjoy a different and unexpected 'two-for-a-fiver' offer on, of all things, Super Furry Animals long playing albums. I did, as our American chums would say, 'the math' and, seconds later, Radiator and Fuzzy Logic were nestling in my ample trolley. I look forward to playing them. They are both in that new 'compact disc' format. Here's another screen grab. [...]

Just because I don't ever write about politics on here (or any of that religion malarkey, come to that) doesn't mean I don't hold firm views. As a one-off, I'm very keen to say 'Nice one, son' to the Obama fellow. I watched events unfold live in the early hours of this morning and confess to feeling rather emotional as the newly elected President and, cliché alert, Leader of the Free World addressed the euphoric masses in Chicago. The election of a black U.S. President had seemed unthinkable really and I'm thrilled and heartened by the unexpected response [...]

I hinted yesterday at some old classics being spun here at Cole Towers. Specifically, I was referring to a brace of Talking Heads long players that exist in vinyl format 'ome 'ere but not, until last week, as what boffins, ICT professionals and Tomorrow's World presenters call 'MP3s'. My favoured albums by the aforementioned art-rock collective are Remain In Light and Fear Of Music. If held in a Half-Nelson* by someone nasty, I'd admit to the former being my favourite but both recordings are packed with sublime moments and wondrous songs. Every schoolboy will know [...]

I've been listening to plenty of freshly downloaded delights over the past week or so. Several 2008 long players have been burning themselves wittily into my consciousness and I hope to report on one or two of them here soon. Some old favourites from my youth have been placed onto the welcoming and bewitching hard-drive of my information pod too. I've been goin' MP3 crackers. However, I'm keen to report and recommend a feature of iTunes that I've recently grown to admire greatly. The element known as 'Genius' allows the earnest and enterprising user to [...]

I've hardly been busy but I have strayed away from these pages for a week. There is little to report. The Coles, joined by the affable S, watched the latest Shane Meadows feature, Somers Town , last week. This is a shortish film, monochrome and atmospheric, that makes up for a lack of plot and thrills with some decently constructed character sketches and arresting London-based set pieces. There was plenty of warmth in the evocation of a wide-eyed teenage runaway from the delightful East Midlands, the Polish construction worker and his bored and restless son and the kind-hearted Parisian [...]