BOOK REVIEW: MARTIN ASTON – FACING THE OTHER WAY: THE STORY OF 4AD

This might seem blasphemous appearing on a Manchester-based website but I would argue that 4AD was the most important record label to emerge in the post-punk era, eclipsing even Factory Records. Although it would be impossible to deny the impact of a select few acts that Tony Wilson’s label is associated with (Joy Division / […]
The Liverpool punk and post-punk scene centring around legendary club Eric’s has been celebrated in a number of books. Performers whose names are indelibly linked with the venue have offered memorable recollections, starting with Julian Cope’s Head On and followed more recently by Will Sergeant’s Bunnyman and Paul Simpson’s Revolutionary Spirit. As a scene whose […]

BOOK REVIEW: PENNY KILEY – ATYPICAL GIRL: PUNK ROCK, LIVERPOOL AND TRYING TO BE NORMAL

BOOK REVIEW – CARGO RECORDING STUDIOS 1977 – 1985 BY CHRIS CONNELLY

For those with an interest in music from the punk era and its varied aftermath, Cargo Studios has legendary status. John Peel confided that he would often play a track, having not previously heard it, just because it said “recorded at Cargo” on the label. It started to gain its reputation when ‘Anthrax’ by the […]
When Robert Forster and Grant McLennan announced a reunion in 1999 having split The Go-Betweens at the end of the 1980s, I greeted it like the equivalent of Lennon and McCartney getting back together. While they never achieved the commercial success that their songwriting deserved, amongst their devoted following they attained legendary status.  Seventeen years […]

BOOK REVIEW – THANK YOU FOR A LOVELY DAY: 11 THE GO-BETWEENS SONGCOMICS (EDITED BY GUNTHER BUSKIES AND JONAS ENGELMANN)

BOOK REVIEW – WE PEAKED AT PAPER: AN ORAL HISTORY OF BRITISH ZINES BY GAVIN HOGG AND HAMISH IRONSIDE

As a former fanzine editor, I was naturally drawn to this book. Enthusiasm and the willingness to share that excitement without any expectation of financial reward are endearing qualities. Because of personal experience, my first thought when fanzines are mentioned is of publications about music. However, what makes Hogg and Ironside’s study especially enjoyable is […]
WRITTEN BY LISA SOFIANOS, ROBIN RYDE & CHARLIE WATERHOUSE “If punk was an explosion, then is about what’s happened after the dust settled”, says the foreword of ‘The Truth of Revolution, Brother: An Exploration of Punk Philosophy’ (Situation Press, 2014), by Lisa Sofianos, Robin Ryde and Charlie Waterhouse. This beautifully designed book has a hidden […]

BOOK: ‘THE TRUTH OF REVOLUTION, BROTHER: AN EXPLORATION OF PUNK PHILOSOPHY’

BOOK: MATTHEW COLLIN ‘POP GRENADE’

FROM PUBLIC ENEMY TO PUSSY RIOT: DISPATCHES FROM MUSICAL FRONTLINES Check the shelves and you’ll find all sorts of books that contain ‘Dispatches’ from some place of other.  Christ, even I’ve written one.  My particular Dispatches were ‘From The Wrong Side’ but of course I, in turn, picked up that meme from some now forgotten […]