Let The Tribe Increase.

Found a copy of The Mob album Let The Tribe Increase. Well, I say found but I really just dug it out from a mountain of old vinyl leaning against the wall.My home is increasingly looking like the set of Steptoe And Son.It crackles in the way well played, well listened too vinyl,does. First discovered The Mob with the single Unexpected Guest.They were a very political band but that was nothing to someone whos ma used to play The Men Behind The Wire all the time.I really got the feelung they meant every word they sang and it was not posturing or posing.I never really thought that way about music, I sort off treated all genres as if they were the same. In fact, i still feel awkward when people wax knowingly about music or film. I always feel as if everyone is aware of a rule book I have not seen. Thankfully, The Mob performed as though there were no rules. Back in the day I had a copy of this magazine and the pages ,including the cover, ended up cellotaped to my bedroom wall. Let the tribe increase,indeed.

Ghostly Double-Bill.

I really cannot recommend these two ghostly treats for Christmas highly enough. Created while the BBC were on topof their game when it came to period drama and these stories definitely feel as though they are off a very different era. Despite the poverty and hardship, the yolk of class and a genuine belief in an immaterial world. I do not believe that MR James , for all his learning and erudation, could have concieved that within two generations God himself might die. They are two beautifully crafted meditations on hubris and greed, seen through a prism of cranky scholarlship. Do your imagination a favour this Christmas and set aside a couple of evenings to enjoy these visions of a lost England, or at least an England that sleeps, its slumber restless and touched by gossamer threads.

Rude Boy Cant Fail.

Have a vistor to the house.Rudi the Rude Boy. Gifted to me by my nephew Eamon Jnr. This explains why i got home the other night to find a Trojan Records compilation blarring out of the speakers,mind you, a quick blast of Israelites does chase away the workaday blue

and speaking of Ghost Stories For Christmas; Dolly.

Could not resist this lovely looking little novella by Susan Hill. Steeped in Jamesian tropes with a subtle flavour all her own devising it has proved to be the perfect little treat for these cold December evenings. There is something delicously satisfying about stories told in this form, in this very format, which lends itself to a Christmas scare. Small but pefectly formed it sits just right .. And you can do the same while reading it.

Behind The Sofa.

Came across this amazing piece of artwork on a letter page of an old British comic, an issue of Valiant from 25th May 1974. I wonder if this was the first time this entered the public shared cultural zeitgeist. The whole "Behind The Sofa" meme is such a broad stroke when it comes to Doctor Who it would be hard to pin down when it first made its way into our shared conciousness. Or the little bit of the shared pop-conciousness we all carry a part off...

The North Water.

I think it was Sir Winston Churchill who once dismissed life in the navy as little more than a life of "Rum, sodomy and the lash.", reading Ian McGuire's compelling and disturbing novel the only thing missing from that soundbite was "Weavils in the cheese."I suppose it could be argued that life on a whaler is different from life in the royalist of navys , but i think the differences might have well come down to "whatever floats your boat" Literally. The tone reminded me of The Tiger Lillies adaption of Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, except the monsters in this story are not slimy products of the slimy sea, they are crew members.One in particular. a sly vicious monster of a man, not some mythical demon but an all too plausable being. Its damn grim up north., all right. Life on board a whaling vessel was not for the faint hearted. I had picked up a copy of The North Water thinking it was an adventure story along the lines of Moby Dick. I now realise that is like thinking Orca The Killer Whale is a bit like Finding Nemo. This is a book, as well as a boat, filled with some bone-chilling personas. As much as I found aspects of the world whaling trade interesting to read and learn about, I also found the industry a source of genuine horror. It involves, after all, the slaughter and butchery of a magnificent species. It was partly a fascination about the extremes of hardship people used to be prepared to subject themselves to, whether it was to further the knwledge of mankind or earn a crust of bread.A source of morbid intrest? Maybe.morbidity abounds.... This book is not for the faint hearted. It is genuinely unsettling. Swimming, as it does, into the dark shallows of the human soul.Some one mentioned to me that the BBC were going to, or possibly already have, produced an adaption of Ian Mc Guire's book. I would have considered certain aspects of this book to be unfilmable. Mind you, I would have said that about a work based on the work of Tolkien that does not involve any work by Tolkien. But what do I know... This ship of fools heads out into dark and dangerous realms. There are few places on any map that ever was that quite covers the dark terrotories of the human heart. Men in extremis are capable of anything and no beast is truly so fierce. One of the few creatures moving on the face of the Earth who is self enough aware to understand deliberately inflicted cruelty and bask in its lurid glow.

Coming Home #1.

I picked up issue one of this new comic COMING HOME, as published by RE-LIVE, a mental health charity based in Wales, one that seeks through using the arts to give voice to marginalised groups. In this instance allowing veterans of conflict to discuss their experiences and in particular what they they went through when attempting to pick up the threads of their lives when returning to Civey street. Nothing is ever as simple and straightforward as we wish things would be, complex, difficult and painfully humane this comic is a great read. Each story echoes the experiences of a different voice, each served by a different artist and it works very well indeed as the stories range in complexity and insight. Have to mention Stretcher Bearer Stan, it takes a very humane observation of the verey complex political and social era of The Troubles and handles it in one of the most insightful and quite moving ways I have seen in any medium. Its a gooed cause and a good comic. Just the perfect mix of human variables. Why not lend an attentive ear and a helping hand.