BBC Radio 7 have broadcast a radio version of John Wyndham’s Chocky. It has been modernised, but it still sticks to the story quite well. Its worth a listen if you have a spare 90 minutes.
Archive for the 'book' Category
I’ve recently been going through a period where I have been unable to read books. I’m never quite sure why this happens, but it does. I’ve been trying to read several books on and off for about the last year. I usually return to something familiar to help me get through this. Recently I was back at my parent’s house and I started to read Going Solo by Roald Dahl. I love his work. It really is incredible. He makes books so easy to read and also highly enjoyable. I remember getting Boy and Going Solo at the same time and devouring both of them. They were probably the first non-fiction books that I ever read. I think they were closely followed by Gerald Durrell’s My Family And Other Animals. Anyway, to get back to to the point, Roald Dahl’s Going Solo is an excellent book. It tells of his time in Africa and also as a pilot during the Second World War. One of the best parts of the book is when he is describing his voyage by boat to Africa from England and all the interesting people that he meets. His time working for Shell is full of anecdotes about the various animals he met and also some eccentric people. His time in the RAF is highly interesting. I don’t really want to give anything away. Obviously you should read Boy first, as this deal’s with his childhood. I really do highly recommend both these books, especially if you have enjoyed any of his work.
I love seeing pictures of other people’s collections. So I was excited to discover that Agnes B had produced a book showcasing some of her collection of artworks. You can find works by Andy Warhol, Futura, Harmony Korine and a host of others. There are also some short essays in the book. It’s available from all good bookstores now!
I’ve always been interested in the music scene from Bristol. I guess its because I was into Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky. Anyway, I bought the The Wild Bunch – Story Of A Sound System Mixed by DJ Milo a few years ago and was really into it. I loved the photographs of the Wild Bunch in action and wanted to know more! It was unti a few years later when I was in WH Smith‘s and noticed there was an article in Hip Hop Connection about the Wild Bunch. I bought it, took it home and there was a nice article about them and also an interview with the photographer, Beezer. It turned out he had published a book with all his photographs from that time, 83-88. Sadly, the book was only available in Japan and my friend out there couldn’t find it. I was surprised to see that it had been published here in the UK by Tangent Books. It appeared in the Massive Attack shop, but its much cheaper on Amazon as usual. It’s amazing! Just packed full of photos from Bristol in the 80s. Definitely and exciting time for music. It also contains some early artwork by 3D. If you are into graffiti, then this is worth checking out.
The Wild Bunch – The Look Of Love
I saved this from the book sale at work, which explains why it is a bit beat up. It’s pretty cool. Lots of old advertising campaigns in it. Its funny to see how Sony adverts haven’t really change much. Its also funny to see how much Apple adverts look like old Braun ones.
Props to Craig for telling me about the pre-order available for this book over at Amazon. Not much information has been released about this, but you can view some information about it over at the publisher’s website, Rizzoli.
I was in Edinburgh a while ago, I am so far behind in my blog posts its unreal. Anyway, I picked up a copy of Maps by Nigel Peake when I was in Analogue Books checking out the Julian House Ghost Box exhibition, which was excellent. Maps is similar to Sheds and it is a collection of Maps that Nigel Peake has drawn. I really like it. There is an introduction by Nicolas Firket and a short essay by Tim Abrahams. I really like his drawing style and if you liked Sheds, then this is definitely worth picking up as well. Its been out for a while and is available from the Analogue website.
To celebrate Warp‘s 20th anniversary they are releasing a special box set. Just watch this video to see what it looks like and then head on over to Bleep to preorder it. It’s due in September.
I was lucky enough to have a look through this at work last week. It’s totally crazy and amazing at the same time. It’s weird as I was reading about this online the other week and then there it was in work. It’s by the artist, Luigi Serafini. It appears to be an encyclopedia of a planet full of weird and wonderful creatures. As well as dreaming up all of the fantastic creatures, the language the book is written in is also completely made up! If you ever get the chance to look through this book then I recommend checking it out. It’s very inspiring.
I really enjoy the work of Yves Tanguy. I got into it through an old Penguin book cover for JG Ballard‘s The Drowned World.