coolest stuff ever - things you should check out

This page is just a list of random things that I think are cool


Music

Fugazi - one of the best punk bands ever.  made up of member of minor threat and rites of spring.  They do there best to avoid music business bullshit and they are a great live act.  Check them out at Dischord records


Neutral Milk Hotel - I was a bit slow on the uptake with neutral milk hotel.  some of my mates saw them supporting sparklehorse in Glasgow but I fucked up and missed them (mainly due to a bad sparklehorse interview experience at an earlier time).  I finally got into them properly when I picked up the reissue of in an aeroplane over the sea which I believe to be one of the best albums ever.  Read about them at wikipedia


mogwai - a world class band that i've been lucky enough to see up close over the years.  buy their records and go to their shows.  probably as good as all your other favourite noise rock bands mogwai 2017 note - Mogwai just had a uk top 10 (number 6) best-selling album so they are probably one of the biggest noise rock bands about.  which is cool
Collection of Mogwai posts in a neat wee post here!


my bloody valentine - check out loveless their 1991 album and see them live if you can


Sonic youth -  one of the most consistent and reliable noise rock bands of the last 30 years.  My personal favourite albums are daydream nation, sister and dirty.  investigate at sonic youth

belle & sebastian - another Glasgow band that help capture the spirit of the city I love.  The twee bits anyway.  Their first 3 albums and first 3 e.p.s are some of my favourite things ever.  If you've never heard them start with the boy with the arab strap  or if you're feeling sinister.  The e.p.s are compiled on push barman to open old wounds.  Their website can be found here Belle & Sebastian

Husker Du  - The sound of anguish and angst.  Zen Arcade from 1983 is a harcore punk concept album that pushed the limits of the genre.  New Day Rising and Candy Apple Grey were poppy and paved the way for Nirvana.  They should have been REM but heroin and intra-band relationships fucked them up.  Bob Mould went on to form Sugar who were pretty fucking good too.Bob Mould Homepage

Steve Albini - fairly extreme music - check out Big Black,  especially Songs about Fucking.  His current band is called Shellac and you should see them live if you can.  My favourite Shellac stuff was their first couple of singles which are not really in the shops now.  You can find them online if you look.  Albini is well know for his production work for Nirvana and the pixies among other.  He doesn't call himself a producer.

Nick Cave - for fairly obvious reasons.  The Bad Seeds are the acceptable face.  The Birthday Party were less acceptable but more messed up

Comic books

I realise that a lot of people think comic books are for kids but a lot of people are wrong.  I learned to read with comic books and I still love the medium.  Here is a brief reading list -

Alan Moore - one of the best comic book writers.  Most of his stuff is easily found on amazon.  he's an interesting guy

Watchmen - superheroes if they were miserable fuckers like the rest of us
V for vendetta - an anonymous anarchist hero fighting against a fascist British state closely based on the UK under Thatcher in the '80s.  Still inspires young anarchists today.  The film was rather good too
Lost girls - Literary comic book pornography.  Really
From hell  - Alan Moore presents his theories on Jack the Ripper
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - meta-fiction combining characters from Dracula and the works og H.G Wells and R.L.  Stevenson.  Great fun (although the film was a bit pish)
Dodgem Logic -  his ongoing underground magazine Dodgem Logic

Grant Morrison - Another master of the genre and more importantly a Glaswegian.  I first read his Zoids comic strip when I was 7 or 8 and Zenith a few years later.  He is well known for fucked-up weird shit like the Invisibles as well as great runs on New X-Men and All-Star Superman His website

Zenith - Probably my favourite Morrison strip.  Out of print due to legal wrangles.  It's about an '80s popstar with super-powers who becomes embroiled in some sort of cosmic battle against evil while maintaining his status as a total prick.  Hunt it down.  2017 note - Zenith is now back in print so should be much easier to find
All Star Superman Beautiful version of Superman with fellow Glaswegian artist dude Frank Quietly

Mark Millar - Another Glaswegian (notice a trend?) who has worked on series such as Ultimate X-Men and Fantastic Four as well as creater owned strips which have become blockbuster films such as Wanted and Kick Ass.  Millar is also responsible for Samuel L. Jackson playing Nick Fury in the Iron Man films.  His website.

Peter Bagge - Find his Hate/Buddy Bradley books and read them

Pat Mills - 2000AD, Toxic!, Charlie's War, Judge Dredd, Nemesis the Warlock, Marshall Law, ABC Warriors, Accident Man.  Great British comic book writer.  Has written some classy novels based on his comic editing experiences in recent years.

Books

Iain Banks - a great Scottish author, sadly dead now.  Best known for The Wasp Factory although The Crow Road may be an easier read for some people.  On a personal level I remember really enjoying Dead Air.  I personally like most of his later books.  He also wrote a lot of interesting science fiction under the name Iain M. Banks

Chris Brookmyre - another contemporary Scottish author.  Crime with comedy elements.  Black Widow, Quite Ugly One Morning, A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil and All Fun and Games Until Someone Loses an Eye.  I look forward to all of his books.  For fans of Elmore Leonard.

Alan Moore - the comic book writer.  As above. Read Jerusalem or listen to the audiobook.  It's really good.

Ian Rankin - writes the Rebus detective novels.  Contemporary Scottish crime writing.  Set in a recognisable Edinburgh 

Oliver Sacks - an early popular science/neurology writer who had a profound effect on my life with The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.

Hunter S Thompson - An amazingly energetic writer who was brilliant at his peak.  Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail is a bit better than Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in my opinion

Kurt Vonnegut - I always found his writing to be very calming for some reason.  Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions stick out as two of his best

F Paul Wilson - a recent discovery.  Repairman Jack and the Adversary Cycle.  Medical writer


Films

Star Wars - I was born in 1977.  Star Wars shaped my life.  Even the most recent Star Wars film had been good.



this page is still under construction and more cool stuff will be added when i can be arsed - updated april 2018