Just some cultural notes worthy of note:
– “Subtle Edens” is out now from Elastic Press. This is an anthology of new slipstream stories. Slipstream (I’ve never been comfortable with the term, but that’s part of the point I suppose) was an early influence on my writing as I discovered the British small press scene in the 90s. From the early issues of TTA and its contemporaries to the Barrington Books anthologies, there was so much good strange fiction out there it was impossible not to be influenced by it.
Get over to Elastic and order this now, you’re in for a treat. And as an extra treat, those ordering direct from their website get a free copy of Geoffrey Maloney’s “Six Silly Stories”, which is a lovely little hardback of whimsical stories complete with illustrations.
– The View – yeah…. well, see, it’s a long story. That involves a text one night from two friends in different bands who had been drafted into a gig in the pub across the road from us. So we popped over, watched and enjoyed said acts and stuck around for the last band of the night – a bunch of guys called Holy Ghost Revival, originally from Seattle but currently based in London while they tour the living hell out of the UK and Europe. An energetic set that balanced finely between 80s and 70s rock, a purchase of a CD, a pleasant chat and exchange of numbers later we headed home, having promised to go out and see them at the next opportunity.
Wind forward a few weeks and I get this text as I’m getting ready to go out and play fives. HGR supporting The View at Tuts – d’you want on the guest list. Sure, we said. Wouldn’t normally have gone anywhere near a gig that The View were playing – don’t have any great experience of them, but sometimes you just know, don’t you? Anyway, HGR were grand – if not a great fit for The View’s audience – they have elements of GnR and elements of Mott The Hoople, and it’s just a kind of music you don’t see in Glasgow very often any more. Watch this space in a couple of weeks when HGR meet Miss Leggy Pee.
We did stick around for about half of The View’s set. Don’t have much to say. BirthdayGirl sums it up nicely.
ayeahmur 