books
Whenever I Go
Home…
KRAUTROCK: COSMIC ROCK AND ITS LEGACY
Edited by Nikolaos Kotsopoulos (Black Dog)
…something weird always happens
For a nominally xenophobic term which does little to describe what it tags – and at times, encapsulates
driving through Harpurhey.
bands that could be seen as opposites of each other – ‘Krautrock’ has proven to have some staying power.
Encapsulating 70s German bands that should be familiar to the casual rock snob, like Kraftwerk, Can and
The first time it was a guy having a
Neu!, as well as dozens of other truly obscure longhaired oddities, this book gets a raft of thoughtful scribes shit by the side of Rochdale Road.
to profile them, with input from a select few musicians who’ve been heavily influenced by this gaggle of fear-
It was broad daylight, three in the
less soundmakers. Prior to this, there’s only been one notable book published on Krautrock – Julian Cope’s
afternoon maybe. We’d seen him jog
mid-90s tome Krautrocksampler, which introduced legions of dorks to Ash Ra Tempel, Guru Guru, Cosmic
Jokers and the like, but has long been out of print. This not only redresses the balance somewhat, but may
towards the Top Derby but he just
even be worth owning if you consider yourself an expert, thanks to some fairly fantastic archive photos.
hadn’t made it in time. My mate,
NOEL GARDNER Greg had turned to me and said,
“Welcome home, mate.”
Actually, Greg was driving this last
NEXT TO GUNS
time too.
Lara Konesky (Grievous Jones) This last time it was later – about
Grievous Jones is a small, independent, Cardiff-based publisher that specialises in books “full of angst, human-
half eleven at night. Greg was giving
ity, and truth” in which the reader “can see a reflection of themselves, their real selves”. It is fitting, then, that
us a lift into town, me and another
Konesky’s book is a volume of strikingly personal, confessional poetry.
At its best, as in Fucking Next To Guns and Moving In, Konesky’s work is startling, lucid and stoic, with a
mate who doesn’t want to be named.
dark wit that buoys her poetry. At its worst, it bears all the hallmarks of the worst kind of adolescent ramblings,
We’d just passed… I can’t say
sounding brattish and, at times, unwittingly bordering on self-parody. You only need to read the title of I Don’t
exactly, we’d had a few and my
Care About Your Fucking Myspace to understand why this might be the case. Her preoccupation with sex,
memory… you know, we might have
swearing and violence can be exciting, but also means she has an unfortunate tendency to lapse into cliché,
and her poems are at their best when they are more considered and sparing. Still, this confessional volume from
actually been in Collyhurst. On that
Grievous Jones is bold and different, and they are a publisher worth keeping an eye on. BEN BRYANT
17 bus route, districts just seem to
wash into each other for miles don’t
they?
Anyway, the brake lights of the
cars in front told us something
was up. I remembered there were
speed cameras around those parts
YOU BETTER NOT CRY: TRUE PRESENT DANGER
STORIES FOR CHRISTMAS Stella Rimington (Quercus)
and seeing as Greg didn’t seem too
Augusten Burroughs (Atlantic) Never judge a book by its cover. Taken
bothered I figured it must have been
Anyone who knows American writer at face value, Present Danger looks like that. And we were listening to my
Augusten Burroughs from Running With another run-of-the-mill crime thriller, full
other mate telling us a story about
Scissors – his first memoir of his luridly of inconceivable plot twists and paper-thin
a recent trip to the Lake District. We
dysfunctional life, and the best known characters. This, however, is not the case.
thanks to the 2006 film adaption – may Stella Rimington, former Director General
were laughing when we saw it wasn’t
boggle at how one life can contain this of MI5, pens a plausible and fast-paced the speed cameras.
many murky, preposterous episodes. plot that submerges you into the world of
Some guy was in the road. He wasn’t
Well, the 43-year-old hasn’t exhausted his undercover intelligence with panache and
dead or anything; wasn’t even lying
stockpile yet – here are seven chapters exhilarating pace. It may be fiction, but
of festive-themed recollections. These you can’t help but feel that you’re getting
down, just walking down the middle
include sleeping with an elderly French- a detailed insight into the shrouded world
of the lane into the oncoming traffic
man in a Santa costume and spending one of MI5. CS with his fingers, two fingers, raised
Christmas getting pissed with Manhattan’s
in a fuck off or fuck you (it was
homeless contingent, just because. NG THE GROUND REMEMBERS
definitely something along those
Matthew David Scott (Parthian)
DROOD The Ground Remembers left me with more
lines). He had a carrier bag in his
Dan Simmons (Quercus) questions than the text itself answered. other hand and looked right through
Drood is a great read: atmospheric, grip- Not that this is a bad thing; simply that
us as we swerved around him. We
ping and with well drawn characters. Our Matthew David Scott has skilfully managed
laughed and wondered what was
narrator, the novelist and opium addict to present all of his characters (espe-
Wilkie Collins, leads us into the search for cially that of Edwin and Phillip) in such
going on. Then Greg dropped us off
Mr. Drood, a mysterious and eerie figure a manner that I felt compelled to know
and we went out.
witnessed by his best friend Charles Dick- everything about them, even after the nar- He text me later saying the
ens at the site of a rail crash. The London rative conclusion. This novel is raw, edgy,
ambulance was already there on his
slums of the 1860s are magnificently and uncomfortable at times, yet compelling
way back. We hadn’t text him; forgot
rendered, the characters of Dickens and all the same, with its twisted story of love,
Collins are suitably shady and the story loss, and shame. AB
all about it.
itself hooks you in immediately. Very enter-
taining and highly recommended. EG THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE
HORNETS’ NEST
MAPPING NEW YORK Stieg Larsson (Maclehose Press)
Duncan McCorquodale (Black Dog) This is the last book in the bestselling
In a similar fashion to other Black Dog Millennium Trilogy, and it starts in aptly
publications, this is a visually stunning over-the-top blockbuster style. Salander
book. Mapping New York contains infor- is at death’s door having been shot in the
mation on the history of the city with maps head, and her friend’s trying to prove her
from the 16th century, and a fascinating innocence in the vague hope that she will
mixture of 21st century maps demonstrat- survive. It’s overblown, of course, and you
ing the infrastructure of NY’s transport will have to totally suspend your disbelief,
system, population growth, areas of crime, but fans will be reeling with delight – and
and aerial images of the Big Apple. This Salander is just so damn cool. EG
isn’t just for those with a keen interest in
New York or map geeks, but is a work of art
Matthew David Scott’s novel The
in itself. AB
Ground Remembers is published by
Parthian
BUZZ 52
NOVEMBER 2009.indd 52 28/10/09 10:36:40
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