CRAWLING, WRIGGLING OR WRITHING

A list of 8 things worth talking about.

1.

THE STRIP AND THE DREAM (News)

The release date of my forthcoming novel The Strip was brought forward. It will now be in stores mid-December. Australians can pre-order it here. I’ll be selling copies direct in the coming weeks.

If that were not enough, I just submitted the manuscript for the sequel, currently titled The Dream. As I mentioned a fortnight back, working on multiple projects like this has been hectic, and I’m exhausted as I write this.

But it’s what I want.

David Peace released the the Red Riding Quartet annually between 1999 and 2002. That’s the insanely lofty goal I’m holding myself to.

2.

PORTISHEAD & THE MARK OF CAIN (Live Albums)

Live albums are supposed to be terrible, but I like the format. This week I’ve been listening to two: one is a stone-cold classic, the other is a new addition.

Portishead’s 1998 Roseland NYC Live is incredible; one of the best live acts I’ve ever seen, performing with the New York Philharmonic. Even the video document of the show is captivating. A new remastered version is streaming now.

The other live album is Livid Live ‘96 by The Mark Of Cain (TMOC). For international readers, TMOC are a great band — Australia’s answer to (early) Helmet or Unsane, and every bit as brutal, strange and dedicated. True outsider material. I’m a fan. I was at the show documented here, as a fresh-faced 20 year old. The only band who even got close to them that day were The Jesus Lizard, which is really saying something.

3.

DANZIG BEING DANZIG

It was Halloween the other day and I celebrate the spooky season by listening to the Misfits and looking at these hilariously swarmy photos of Glenn Danzig:

You just want to punch him. But long may he reign.

4.

‘I HATE HIM’ - VAL KILMER ON MAMET (Commentary)

This video of Val Kilmer mercilessly roasting David Mamet is priceless:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1667970191072931843

5.

CHUCK PALAHNIUK INTERVIEW (YouTube)

I had a fairly sustained Palahniuk phase as a younger dude and I will not recant. He was my introduction to minimalism. I know enough about him to have heard many of the stories told here in the video below, but for the uninitiated, it will be eye-opening. His life story is wild, and Fight Club is loaded up with it.

6.

Currently Reading

I have a bunch of stuff on the go. I’m nearly done with David Whish-Wilson’s I Am Already Dead (fantastic), B.R. Yeager’s Burn You the Fuck Alive and Alexia Kannas’s Deep Red. Taken together, I’m in some fairly dark territory, I guess.

7.

THE SOMERSET GIMP (News Item)

The world is a wreck at the moment and I encourage you all to moderate your news intake. Be responsible with your vibe. That said, I can recommend that you read stories about the Somerset Gimp — a 32-year-old gardener who has terrorised an English village by lurking around in a gimp suit. He is now legally banned from ‘Crawling, wriggling or writhing on the ground in a public place while wearing a full-body covering, clothing that appears like a full-body covering and/or mask/full-face covering.’

8.

YOU CAN’T QUIT ME BABY (Story)

Last week’s story is a personal favourite for one simple reason: it introduces an intertextual element (the citation / link to a previous story). This feels like one of the only true affordances of publishing this work online here, rather than in physical. I’m going to do more of this.

That’s all.

— IAIN

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