Wednesday 22 February 2023

UndergRound Up of the Year, Part 2....

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Welcome to Part 2 of Braw's UndergRound up of 2022 - congratulations if you survived the plethora of brackets first 'up around' - where this time it's all about the ears and eyes as we delve into music, surely the purest art form of all, one that can transcend every border and boundary, the one that best expresses every shape or form of human emotion - music is love indeed! - and the wonder of books and comics, signing off with the year's favourite sight....

David Crosby - Music Is Love

PlatOOBE

When the going gets tough The Orb gets going! First things first in 2022 saw Agent Rob compile an album of live and alternate mixes (5 of each) of their titanic 'Godlike'-era tracks Plateau and O.O.B.E. in order to provide 2+ hours of horizontal listening pleasure that just about generated enough womb-like warmth to comfort blanket him through the colder months....


Regular heavy doses of UFORB and Live 93 also acted as industrial strength sonic soothers for all manner of mental ailments. The year ended on a definite high as Rob once more (ha!) returned to 'reconstructing Cydonia' (as per his old blog here>>) - expect a 2023 postscript to that coming some (spring) time soon....

Chocolate Hills - Joy To All (In Peas and Lava)

The Good Doctor was fairly quiet in 2022 - tho side project Chocolate Hills did release a rather pretty Christmas track, Joy To All – cancelling the long Covid-delayed Abolition of The Royal Familia tour (at Glasgow Barrowlands, yes please!) in favour of administering a UFORB anniversary/nostalgia/cashgrab tour (at Maryhill Community Hall, no thanks!) evidently helping to pay the studio bills for The Orb's just this minute announced Prism album. Expect a 2023 verdict on that some time not so soon....

The War on Dugs - A Deeper Understanding

Other than that 2022 was 'the year of living safely', Rob delving into back catalogues or rediscovering overlooked or ignored albums. Much time was devoted to GY!BE's more recent and more rounded 'end times' output of Luciferian Towers and G_d's Pee at State's End – there's just something inherently Scottish about their snaking riffs – as well as hitting the highway in the company of The War on Drugs slow drip emo-rock of 2017's A Deeper Understanding, or getting lost in the tumbling weed crawls of Earth's 2005 album Hex; or Printing In The Infernal Method or simply finding himself flattened by the spiky sprawl of Tonstartsbandht's 2014 live compilation Overseas....

Rose City Band - Earth Trip

Rose City Band treated us to the mellow country vibes of their spacious Earth Trip and Slint kicked down the post-rock doors with the spindly guitars of 1991's Spiderland while Canyon's long forgotten Empty Rooms from 2002 stewed away in a breathless gust of surging keyboard and guitar squalls and Suede's 1994 album Dog Man Star (finally) impressed with its decadent sonics....

Crippled Black Phoenix - Banefyre (The Musical)

Then there was the welcome return of post-prog-heavy rockers Crippled Black Phoenix who took no prisoners with a double album dose of Banefyre (The Musical) and one-time indie also-rans (who actually went the distance!) Thousand Yard Stare with their aptly titled Earthanasia album as well as Paul Draper's second solo effort the cannily cutting Cult Leader Tactics....

Dreadzone - Cave of Angels

Or how about the sprightly techno grooves of 2016's Principe Del Norte by Prins Thomas or the tingling timelessness of Dreadzone's (near-Orb equalling) Second Light, an absolute ambient dub delight from 1995....

The Charlatans - Live at Reading Festival 1992

Not only did Tim Burgess turn himself up to 11(x2) on his (anything but) Typical Music double album, but The Charlatans continued to dig up their own retro treats in the form of Live at Reading Festival 1992 – not quite the 'seminal' set the press release claimed, more a written-off band using a towering Hammond sound to signal a statement of (future) intent. Fingers crossed for something a little more Daytripper-ish shaped this year, joint US tour with RIDE aside – Rob'll have to make do with his home-made Up To Our Hips deluxe edition in the meantime. Serious enthusiasts might enjoy this brisk 2010 run-through of debut album Some Friendly from Primavera, a compact set with sparkling Hammond – this time courtesy of Rob Collins replacement Tony Rogers – and seriously thundering drums from the late Jon Brookes....

Grateful Dead - American Beauty

With retro Rob being fortunate enough to visit San Francisco it was inevitable he'd fall for the transatlantic charms of American Beauty, generally considered to be the finest near-hour of the Grateful Dead's studio albums. There were also plenty solo vintage albums to be revisited afresh - some deliciously 'bombed out', others less so - from the likes of Alexander Skip Spence (Oar), David Crosby (If I Could Only Remember My Name), Tim Buckley (Greetings From L.A.), Lee Hazlewood (Cowboy in Sweden), John Phillips (John, The Wolf King of L.A.), Gene Clark (White Light), Gary Higgins (Red Hash) and Dennis Wilson (Pacific Ocean Blue)....

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

There was also time to wallow in the generous middle-aged spread of Pink Floyd's towering Wish You Were Here and to drift in the jazzy stretch of John Martyn's effortlessly languid Cooltide and to shamble along to the rambling twang of Bob Dylan's dusty Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid....

Nick McCabe - Sankey Brook Lab Rat, N.O.S

Over on Bandcamp Braw saw the return of two guitar legends (in Agent Rob's work lunchtime) with ex-Verve six stringer Nick McCabe – some truly tasty Urban Hymns-era out-takes are to be found here>> - ploughing a subtle downtempo instrumental furrow for trip hop-esque guitar explorations that reward repeat listening as the endlessly clever textures and production skills shine through....

The Ecstacy of Gold - Volume one 

The same cannot easily be said for Mark Lightcap's The Ecstacy of Gold project, a raw, jammy instrumental affair that seldom harks back to his more measured playing of Rob's beloved Acetone. Former sticksmith of the same group, Steve Hadley not only contributes to this release but also found the time to share his own instrumental grooves under the Bee Pieces moniker....


In late February 2020 the frontman of DIIV's support at their Glasgow QMU gig – unusual in itself as Rob couldn't remember the last time he'd seen a band with a singer who just 'fronted' and nothing else – took to shouting, “your country's sick!” at one point and Rob recalls thinking 'yep, Covid-19 sick'.... How right he was – within 4 weeks he was wandering Glasgow City Centre all alone, a (supposed) 'key working' Omega Man, not a (sensible) soul to be seen, concerts and touring (and life) as we knew it having come to and abrupt (and for some, final) end....


Then in July 2022 it was time to embrace nightlife once again, Glasgow now the sort of lawless zone that makes Fury Road look like Sesame Street to catch Nadja (sort of supported by himself as, er, Bismuth) at Audio, a suitably primitive setting for bathing in vast, all encompassing washes of shimmering guitar effects. Then, come September, there was a triple rush of gigs, Rose City Band beefing up their sound – jazzy keyboards and pedal steel, mmm! - to space out Broadcast, while Crippled Black Phoenix decimated Classic Grand with their ever-ambitious/inventive post-metal dynamics before GY!BE raised the roof at The Barrowlands, propping it up with great slabs of sound, building and building to an almighty climax. By comparison Mogwai's December show at the same, where they were capably supported by Brit-DIIVs bdrmm, was a trifle underwhelming, the stripped back staging, wobbly sound and so-so setlist – Ratts of the Capital and Mogwai Fear Satan saved the night – making it impossible for them to go 'one louder' and match the Canadian's supreme spectacle....


Fading seamlessly from music into books there's no doubt Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run was the absolute 'Boss' of this year's clutch of (auto)biographies (which also included works by comedian Mel Brooks and musicians Lol Tolhurst and Wilko Johnson). Unlike most his memoir transcended his music – which admittedly Rob more admires as he's so far been unable to wholly steep himself in it – and becomes an engrossing account of what it means to be an (Italian) American, of what it means to have a calling, the struggle to create, the will to succeed and to finally find your voice (and to have it chime with so many millions of others the world over) and so much more besides....


Simon Spence covered another (quite different type of) E-street band in his double double good Happy Mondays biography Excess All Areas. By separating out the music from the cartoonish drug hoover personas of Shaun and Bez, he shines a groovy light on the startling talents of the more unsung musical members of the band - rest in peace Paul 'Big Arm' Ryder – while placing them right at the heart of '88's seismic second 'Summer of Love'. The sounds, the drugs, the clubs, the clobber – God might have created Manchester, but there's no doubt the Mondays were wholly responsible for MADchester - they were a mobile cultural big bang, totally twisting melons everywhere they went. It certainly proves that The Stone Roses themselves were mere charlatans trailing in their influential wake, their studied cool being just that, as evidenced by the shapeless and sluggish retro slop of their limp Second Coming – it's not half bad, but it's not half good either....


Equally fascinating – thank you, Chuck Klosterman – was Michael Azerrad's Come As You Are: The (authorized) Story of Nirvana, culled from hours of interviews with Kurt (and Kris.... and Dave) and released just before In Utero hit the shelves and Kurt hit the skids. If anything Cobain mostly trashes himself throughout – he doesn't honestly come across as a terribly nice guy – while exonerating (sorry, haters) Courtney Love at the same time. What cannot be denied is how savage the press were at the time, particularly in their portrayal of the happy couple, and how there's little doubt that was a massive contributing factor to Kurt's eventual downfall*

*see Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty for '00's details....


That said, perhaps the best read of the year was I, Partridge, a pitch perfect piss-take of those mid-career C-list ghost-written cash grabs that truly belong remaindered on the shelves of Poundlands everywhere. Just think, Chris Evans and Peter Andre have written 2 ½ each while Katie Price/Jordan has already squeezed out 6 with a 7th on the way. Eff eff ess....


Rob's well documented Dudley Moore obsession reached its zenith/nadir in the aptly compact form of Douglas Thompson's Dudley Moore On The Couch, a more salacious 'sex thimble' account of his life and (many) loves in the form of a sort of biographical interview. Aside from a grab bag of insightful quotes and the jaw-dropping bevy of Hollywood beauties he bedded – Jane Fonda, Faye DunawayRaquel Welch, Julie Christie, Bo Derek – there's little to really recommend in it's tabloid leanings. Still, it packs some late emotional heft as Dudley's fame wanes and his personal life truly begins to unwind, ending on a sudden sad note as Moore reflects on being fired from The Mirror Has Two Faces for forgetting his lines – he puts this down to chaos at home (as opposed to the off-the-next-page diagnosis that would curtail his talents and ultimately end his life). With an 'Intimate Portrait', an 'Authorised Biography' and 'An Audience With...' yet to come it's likely that 'Cuddly Dudley' will feature again in 2023's round up....


Speaking of 'an (oft repeated) audience with...' Billy Connolly's autobiography Windswept & Interesting breezed by in a typically singular and anarchic fashion. Whilst not nearly as concise as some of the other books listed here, its sheer joie de vivre and playfulness made it utterly irresistible, and the perfect companion piece to his wonderful Billy Connolly Does... television series. If anything its love of life and sheer warmth has prompted Agent Rob to try and look on the bright(er) side of life in 2023 and #be more Billy!


2022's stand out novel was Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time, a fantastic epic of enviable world-building and accessible high-concept science fiction, a book that easily fits the tag 'masterwork' (surpassing many ingrained classics on the way). How can the sequel Children of Ruin – on 2023's must read list – possibly compare? Other books with an SF tinge included The Strugatsky's curious The Inhabited Island, the despairing dystopia of Children of Men by PD James, the (almost) PKD strangeness of China Mieville's The City and The City, the multiversal Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, the satisfying sequel of Margaret Atwood's The Testaments, the thought provoking and surprisingly tender The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break by Steven Sherrill, the scope and splendour of Neil Gaimen's ambitious American Gods and Michael Moorcock's gargantuan A Cornelius Calendar, a beautifully written, but ultimately confounding omnibus – maybe some of his finest, most considered writing is therein, displaying an outstanding grasp of global politics and machinations – only for it to feel as if it fits (as it indeed does) into a much larger tale that lingers just out of reach....


Delving into 'straight' fiction brought its own rewards as, all bets off, The Hustler and its sequel The Color of Money provided a brilliant one-two punch – no apt pool based terminology springs to Rob's mind, sorry – with the second book perhaps edging the original as we catch up with an ageing and somewhat aimless 'fast' Eddie Felson, chasing that feeling of his youth. A real twin treat!


Rob continued his 'deep dive' into the mighty ouevre of Stephen King in 2022, cherry-picking his way through books such as The Stand (uncut) – trimmed for good reason perhaps? - and the supernaturally claustrophobic scares offered up by The Shining, identifying with the very fatherly failings and fears that haunt Jack Torrance as well as marvelling at King's confident and canny expansion of that universe for the sequel Dr. Sleep, a book that very slowly finds its feet before you're off and running (for your life)....


No doubt that Moorcock nails the quote(s) of the year, with 2022's stand outs both from The Entropy Tango, "His eyes, wasted by a thousand indulgences, moved like worms in his skull." and secondly, "The room was full of heavy metal. In one corner about 15 old hippies were wondering where it had all gone, while in the opposite corner 15 punks were wondering where it was all going."


Comics-wise the only tome on the range was a Reno-based run-through of Jeff Smith's whopping Bone, one of those very special works of singular comics vision (akin to Rob's dearly beloved Bacchus) that is so well paced and so well told – it helps that Smith has a clean but expressive fine line that straddles both the realistic and the cartoonish and displays a mastery of shadows. Of course, ever the purist, Rob couldn't help but hanker after the original black and white artwork as opposed to Scholastic's (understandably) color mass market volumes....


Sadly 2022 saw two true titans of the UK/world comics scene depart for the 'great convention in the sky'. First was Alan 'Strontium Dog, Judge Anderson, Sam Slade, ACE Trucking Co., Judge Dredd, Batman, this-list-is-not-exhaustive' Grant, writer and (just as notable) editor, a man whose contribution to the industry in both roles from the grassroots right up to the very top tip is near impossible to quantify. Speaking of, ahem, 'grass roots', it was thanks to Alan (via Jamie Grant's Glasgow-based Hope Street Studios) that Agent Rob got his first foothold in the industry proper when he brought him into the 'Wasted Comic' fold, trusting him to oversee the day-to-day running of the deviously dopey title. It wasn't the easiest of times, but Alan's patience, sense, savvy, trust, generosity (and, y'know occasional very gracious 'forgive and forgetness') made for a memorable learning (often on!) the ropes publishing experience (that ultimately sparked the whole Braw Books endeavour)....


Who alone would have thought that Rob would ever meet, let alone work alongside, the man who wrote the very first 2000AD story he was to set eyes upon as a near-eleven-year-old-nipper? Yep, there it is kicking off Prog 490, Strontium Dog's striking 'Incident on Mayjer Minor'. Thank you, Alan....


Joining Alan at the great signing table in the sky was Kevin O'Neill who, with the possible exception of Mike McMahon, was 2000AD's most unique artist, his angry, biting style – surely at its absolute unhinged peak in Braw favourite Marshal Law – an affront to clean-living, God-fearing comic artists and readers the world over....

Honestly, judge this book by its cover!

2022 finally saw some progress on all things Braw Books, er, given that the, um, 'all things' are in fact the 'one thing' Rob's been blogging on about for the past 3-4 years, that being the John Stark: Secret Agent comic. Thankfully Agent Johnny's recovered some of his former mojo, rising to the challenge of working on scripts, art and overall story arcs, meaning that everything is around 95% complete in some form or another. Super tales already 'in the (s)can include Cross of Wax, Lockdown, Death March of the Missile Men, Bleeding Black and The Double Death of Agent X, so you can see that Rob, Adam J. Smith and John are 'Brawficially' 'on it'. Maybe 2023 will be our year....

"Hmm, is there a Greggs around here?"

Last but never ever least it's time to wrap things up by taking a look at the sights that tickled Braw a distinct shade of pink in 2022. There's always New Glasgow City making a big (green-ish) screen debut in the Indiana Jones 5 trailer (which, pure fan-fic shocker of a title and dodgy old man's face posted on a stunt double's body aside, kinda looks okay)....


Or how about Kurt Cobain in a dress.... with a Hitler moustache.... mouthing along to hate mail in the A Montage of Heck documentary? Then again there were unexpectedly hearty chuckles to be found in the prison keys scene in Hot Shots II as well as Jack Lemmon literally hacking it up in The Odd couple. Or if dancing's your thing then there were the wonderfully kooky opening titles to Peacemaker or perhaps the sheer disco delight of John Travolta far from murdering it on the dancefloor in Saturday Night Fever. Maybe the sly gut punch of Slim Pickins pegging out to Knocking on Heaven's Door in Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid does it for you....


But it's fair to say that the one scene that got right under Rob's decidedly pink skin, catching and holding his attention and making him sit up straight in the 'now' is this pure moment of reflection perfection from Masamune Shirow's Ghost In The Shell anime. Enjoy (if that's the right word)....