moving off blog

Dear all;

I have moved blogs to here now...

http://onewriterandhispc.blogspot.com/

Cheers

Andy N

Hot Roddy - Six Lines of Separation / Same Actor - Kraftspiel reviews

Hot Roddy – ‘Six Lanes of Separation’ EP

Same Actor – Kraftwork cover versions EP

I first met Chris Cook aka Hot Roddy I think in 2004 or 2005 through my friend, Bela Emerson, a cello player from Brighton and was fascinated by his use of the traditional Indian instrument the sitar which is famous of course through Ravi Shankar.

Chris’s approach is totally different from this of course in the sense of he uses it often in conjunction electronica elements and touching on experimental, frequently making it sound totally different to what you would expect.

Both EP’s (which are free to download) are totally different with the Kratfwork one, firstly being a major surprise to start with Chris’s almost solo sitar playing over Kraftwork material which shouldn’t work, but the subtle nature off it transfers itself over to Kraftwork’s perfectly in particular probably because the original is quite minimal in places of most of these tracks in particular of ‘Computer Love’ which is beautiful and re-invents the track lovely.

Well worth a listen.

Six Lanes of Separation EP, his other new EP under the Hot Roddy name is very different with Chris himself saying the underlying theme for this electronic music is the hollow houses and the constant traffic of the north circular road that orbits London’.

Certainly listening to it is bleak certainly, almost sparse and quite disorienting which I think sums up London is some ways and is a experience alright in tracks like ‘The Quaint Noise Super Highway’ and the finale ‘Best Before 1997’ which is electronical music but in a minimal, and frightening way (and mostly free of the Sitar) and totally different from the Kraftwork covers EP.

Both are excellent, and even better free to download.

Hot Roddy – ‘Six Lanes of Separation’ EP

Is released on 09/08/2010 and can be downloaded FREE from:

http://www.bit-phalanx.com/#/releases

Same Actor - Kraftspiel’ EP is available for FREE download from:

http://wombnet.blogspot.com/2010/07/same-actor-kraftspiel.html

New Poetry

Dear All;

For those interested in reading new poetry, I have just posted two new poems on the

following links.. These cover a short break during my tour round Ireland recent with

my band...

http://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=15753

http://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=15754

Cheers Andy N

Read more:http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&bID=538021480#ixzz0w2nw85mJ

Temporary Closed for Business

Not much planned for the rest of the month as my keyboardist is away for the next few weeks in my band ‘Wordmusic’, the guitarist is still away, one of the girl singers is getting married (Unclear if she will be coming back) and in general life is a lot more mellow, but that’s what August’s are for in my mind… A general time to chill.

Of course, even though I am not out performing I am still plotting and writing – this will involve the creation of a number of new pieces for the Wordmusic set when we start gigging again in September.

Other pieces are still being developed slowly for my second and third books (More details to follow) and maybe even further in the future books and I would like to write either a novel or a full length play.

Watch this space……….

Misery begins at home (Book Review)

‘Misery begins at Home’ by Rachel Bond, Marianne L Daniels, John Darwin and Winston Plowes, a review

Books like this I think in more than a few ways are like buying compilation records which feature new artists who do a few tracks each and can be used as a nice introduction to their work.

I did the other approach recently with my book ‘Return to Kemptown’ where I did it as a slim introduction to my works almost as a short album, but here in each of the 4 writer’s cases, each one a good writer (and with the expectation of Marianne who I haven’t seen yet but have heard she is excellent) excellent readers too, they all have selected a short selection of their own work so it comes together as 4 EP’s.

On the four writers, I first met Rachel Bond through Bolton Punk poet Jeff Dawson Aka Jeffarama last year, although she did also attend the writing workshop I used to co-run for a bit ‘Trio Writers’ and Rachel’s work has always impressed with it’s technical nature where she would often add very serious topics to her pieces which for me has always given it a very haunting feel.

Rachel’s poetry for me is possibly at it’s best during this short collection on pieces like ‘Barkless Trees’ which contains superb bits like ‘Pricks of lights fought for cover in that swell / Of a faraway deep near a land once I fell’ which contain that much detail in such a short bit, it makes you read over and over.

Other bits like ‘Death’ while on one first glimpses ‘death curls up to me as I sleep / and presses his skull into my temple’ is a adapt for a title with the collection title, but Rachel cleverly twists the piece at the end with a sense of freedom like memory, which is spellbinding I think.

The second poet out of the four, Marianne L Daniels is the only one out of the four I have never met or heard her perform, but I have being reading a blog where her writing is featured for some time and have always being impressed by what she has wrote for some time now, always found it filled with a lyrical content that is never pretentious.

Speaking as a person who has a BA Joint Honours in Creative Writing, I know from experience how many training and help it can give you with your writing, but I know also from experience that while doing a dissertation for example in Poetry, I know five other people at university who did poetry dissertations and totally failed to grasp the basic point of what is good and what is bad poetry, so whenever you mention you have a masters for example in poetry, it can have the counterbalance of putting people off a little from reading your work.

Marianne’s poetry however does not have that affect in particular on pieces like ‘Picking up a broken mirror’ which contains a incredible image right at the end of the piece ‘that curse of the feather stroking the chainsaw’ which made me shiver.

My favourite piece of hers from the ‘The house outside and other stories’ contains enough detail in it that could probably fill a novel or at least four or five poems, instead she contains detail in 19 lines that I could almost give my left arm for with lines like ‘and is a human in holocaust’ which is a harrowing last line.

John Darwin who follows after that is I met last summer again through Jeffarama (on his busking for beer tour) in Salford in the summer of 2009 and have always found a amazing gentleman who can do a amazing trick with a few pints of beer (worth watching believe me) and then step up onto stage and blow you away almost literally with his poetry.

John’s poetry often to me is miserable and bleak but in is summed up best in the introduction himself in his introduction as dealing with people’s extremes. Take for example ‘Heroine Heroin’ on first readings it seemed to be quite a hard hitting piece about the title in question, but the last line at the end of the piece had the sort of twist it completely changes the juxoposition of the piece and leave you thinking ‘oooooh’

‘Drenched’ is another example of John’s poetry that I love where nothing happens ‘your face still damp from your undried hair’ right up to the end ‘where the scent of last night lingers’, John is a master of poetry in the twilight of existence where nothing happens but everything touches, scratches in the distance..

Winston H Plowes I know as the juggling poet and have seen him do that on several occasions to an amazing response if you have ever seen him perform, and as the final Poet in the collection on initial thinking made me think he is a total contrast to John’s sometimes bleak verse but I then remembered Winston the first time I met him at Write Out Sale at the beginning of 2009 I think where he read out a track about abuse in relationships which although touched on the same kind of misery approached it from a different angle.

On pieces like ‘Ignition distraction’ – it is a natural follow on from John’s pieces with a beginning like ‘After the winter’s first scraping / I’m encased in the car, apprehensive’ – this is a poem set in darkness in a short time period where nothing happens but life is scratching on the car window.

This is contrasted by less miserable poems I felt, but just as skilfully wrote pieces such as ‘Oil & Cheese / Chalk & Water’ which seems to be talking about relationship difficulties with family (something I could relate to certainly). Excellent Stuff.

The book as you can see is not a book that will be full of light stuff, pixies and jolly dreams. This is a book that I think cuts under the underbelly of Modern day Manchester poetry and looks deeper and darker than is explored I think in a lot of other poetry but within its Misery is hope and where Freedom (like freedom of expression) is dangerous.

More details can be found here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/0955362016/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_0?ie=UTF8&index=0

The Decision, a play by Mia Darlone (Review)

Last time, I saw a play by the Manchester Poet Mia Darlone, it was full of very adult based humour that made me blush more than a few times in total.

Last time, I saw a play by Mia Darlone, ‘Below the Belt’ was without doubt for me one of the funniest but also dirtiest plays that I have ever seen but which was well worth going to watch.

Last time, the pace was so frantic if you blinked for more than a few seconds, you may have missed a stupidly funny line.

This time however, with her second play (I believe) the pace is totally different and filled with silences and live music interludes which were clearly wrote for the play (which was advertised as a dramatic comedy but if I am honest more of a drama to me although chunks of the audience did chuckle at little bits in the play) which was totally different from Below the Belt.

The story of the play itself started off quite simple focusing around the relationship of two characters Dan played by Paul Brandreth, a busker on Middlesbrough and his girlfriend Genna played by Rebecca Andrews who is as different to him as almost possible. Without giving too much of the plot away in particular the excellent second half, the crux of the play originally seemed to be the decision Dan would have to make when he got a better offer from a friend to come and perform in Manchester and leave his girlfriend behind.

The first half of the play started off strong with a nice use of multi media in the theatre with conversations on facebook and on mobile phones that I know confused more than one or two people but which I loved. Doing my degree in theatre studies some years back, I always enjoy seeing multi media used in the theatre and can most memorably at the Royal Theatre seeing flying toilets in an Ibsen version. In this play however, the two separate stories of the couple slowed down the pace of the play after they split but slowly began to click together when Genna became pregnant which may or may not have being Dan’s after a one night stand after a major row.

Without giving too much more of the plot away which thankfully did not go down the Gavin and Stacey route, the play in the excellent second half contained a twist which I didn’t see coming and found particularly brave although maybe a bit rushed bit for the theatre and, but no doubt would work brilliantly in the TV or Film field with a slightly larger budget.

Special praise must go to the backing cast, of who Parisa Nikkhah- eshghi who played the light, almost bimboesque (nicked from a review by Gus Johnson as I liked the term) character Michelle which made a nice contrast to Genna’s darkness very, very effectively and Jennifer Edwards who played Sally who Dan met in Manchester and was clearly used as a alternative to Gena subtly enough to leave me thinking whether there was more that could be said with that role.

Being honest, the play itself to me did have one or two minor faults, in particular when it felt it was 15 – 20 minutes too long for the theatre and one or two bits of the multi media bits (Some of the shorter scenes in the night-club for example) would have worked better on TV, Film or Radio better than the theatre, I did enjoy the play overall and can certainly see this getting made as a film or TV special.

And thankfully with a ending like they had, nothing to do with Gavin and Stacey whatsoever

Coll B Lue – Poetical Inspirations, a review

I first met Coll B Lue (Coll to me) at the end of 2007 after I got to know her through myspace which then led to me and some members of my then writing group doing a interview for her internet radio show ‘Literaryspot’ (Later Lit Media Reviews) on a number of occasions from 2007 to the end of 2009. I always remember her telling me at the time, she had published a few books but wasn’t aware until recently, they were both still in print.

The first one I got (the second has just being ordered) ‘Poetical Inspirations’ I think dates originally from 2007 for a first collection is perhaps a little longer than I have normally seen (with the exception of Charles Bukowski of which this is nothing like in the slightest) at almost 100 pages with something around 94 poems in it. Of course,

certainly reading that many poems is interesting as of course, so many poems in a book frame adds up to a lot off poetry to take in, but given patience I think the rewards are justified as poems like ‘Your Truly’ which has a subtle twist in it’s ending (‘So here lies my bed’) which is close, very close to William Carlos Williams.

Col lists her influences as of artists as much as writers as Van Gogh, Jacob Van Rusidael, Rembrandt’s ‘Sasha’ and Frans Hal’s ‘Laughing Cavilar’ which is interesting as her use of language throughout a lot of the poetry in the book is stripped down, often using just a few words per lines like ‘The airy light / gets lighter / when time is spent / and lent’ in Ethereal is sparse enough to be a painting with words and being painted under a Candle in the dim of night.

Certainly with poetry books like this, it would be interesting to see how the writer would project herself with poems like this on the stage, as a lot of the sounds in the book for me are possibly best read in late night softly, but it’s a book that certainly has layers and layers that require some exploring.

And that in my mind is always a good thing with books.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Poetical-Inspirations-Ad-Hoc-Per/dp/1847531113/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1280606985&sr=8-1-fkmr0

Short Play

This got cowrote at a writing workshop yesterday called 'Weaving Words'

with a young lad called Paul I think.

We were set a scene where I was a teacher trying not to expel a pupil,

and Paul was a pupil who wanted to get expelled.

Enjoy!

Andy

Teacher:

You know why I have called you here.

Pupil:

Yeah, cause I do! It's because I made that pie out of a rabbit, a cat, a dog and a sausage roll.

Teacher:

And what did you do with it afterwards?

Pupil:

Threw it at your wife, ha

Teacher:

But instead, hit the school governor and our local MP, didn't you?

Pupil:

Yeah, that was a bonus.

Teacher:

You know we could expel you for that after you then broke into Mr. Jenkin's

office and had a er...... in his office.

Pupil:

It was all about the sex really. I wasn't going to do all that and not get the girl, which was your daughter by the way.

Teacher:

And when did you realise I don't have a daughter?

Pupil:

What do I have to get expelled, come to mention it the girl was a bit stiff.

I think I shagged the life aid dummy.

Teacher:

I've being trying to for 20 years.

Poem published and magazine submission

A old one of my poems (which I submitted years ago) has appeared
On We Love Poems Net called ‘The true Meaning of Family’

Little embarrassed by it as it’s certainly not the way I write now
But oh well..

http://www.we-love-poems.net/readpoem.asp?Ref=11767

I’ve just submitted a few poems over the Mental Virus Zine
(After submissions for their August Issue – Closing date – 25th July 2010)

Submissions to their editor, John Togher can be emailed to:
woodenhorse@tiscali.co.uk.

Jude Cowan - Doodlebug Alley (Review)

I first met Jude Cowan during my adventures at Poets Express, the annual music festival near Bantry in Southern Ireland. Run by Dark World International, it’s an interesting festival aimed primarily at the spoken word and the different ways it can be interrupted.

The first time in 2009 I went down the previous year, I remember meeting a whole host of poets and artists and had a cracking time and if I am honest delivered one of my best even sets I have ever performed spoken word wise with or without a band.

The second time, this year 2010 was very different as well as a lot of poets and musicians, there was also a number of acoustic musicians and certainly the best among them was a young lady from London (but who I found out has links to my hometown, Manchester) called Jude Cowan who played a set I missed with an un-usual kind of ukulele that I had never seen before.

Luckingly I caught her at another gig before we both left and was totally spell-bound by what I was heard, and then got hold of a copy of her CD ‘Doodlebug Alley’.

I don’t have tons of details to hand with the CD, but the CD is certainly one of the most wide ranging CD’s I’d heard this year certainly crossing over a number of boundaries this year from folk, to spoken word, to Joanna Newsom with a less annoying voice (from one of my friends) to most memorably from another friend ‘This doesn’t sound like George Formby in the slightest’ – this is a CD that certainly is not a CD for everybody, but it was one I totally loved.

Favorite tracks for me was the Jack Kirby influenced ‘Alien Folk Valediction’ which was the most traditional folk based track of the CD but had some lyrics that were surprising certainly and ‘Remember Sinners’ a duet with Tom Fawcett which I read somewhere compared him to Tom Waits, which I think from my love of ‘Frank’s Wild Years’ from many years is very, very close there but most off all the spoken word mostly 'She sits at the window' which I wasn't sure to laugh at or cry, but thought it was brilliant!

Expanded comment from Katy's blog

On Katy Konrad's excellent blog:

(http://quickbrownfox-katy.blogspot.com/)

I posted a long comment about developments in writing - this is the highlights off it with a little bit of expansion

' I think it is always nice to have a development in your writing if you feel you are making that much progress and it is natural to want to try out other fields within it.

I think I started myself back in 2008 making appearances here and there and by the end of the year had made 37 appearances in some form or the other. (I keep a log book on everything so I know what I have read out and where to prevent duplication.

In 2009, I took it a bit further and did 57 - yep, that's at least one a week before my health failed me a bit at the end of the year and this year I have took it a bit easier and only managed 28 by now! lol

As you progress, I think you start to discover with every night as with every audience what works somewhere does not work in other places. I read out a Christmas poem for example last year in one venue near where I live and it went down okay near where I live, and then a week later I read it out at a night I used to co-run and the audience

went nuts over it. Crazy or what?

Of course, this natural development will involve wanting to get your stuff published. This I find is somewhat harder. I published my first book (a best off my stuff from last year) through lulu.com earlier on this year as I wanted

full control off it. The second book which I reckon will be out at the end of this year, maybe the start off 2011 maybe a bit different but it's worth keeping your eyes open on publishers, just don't expect to make lots off money

on it as I don't think there is tons flying ..

A good suggestion would to buy or borrow the writers yearbook.. It's pretty helpful but my most important advice is to simply keep enjoying it'

back from sunny West Cork

Never seem to get any time for writing much here but now I am back from

Sunny West Cork in Ireland after a short tour with a stripped down verison

of my band 'Wordmusic' - it sort of made sense if you know what I mean.

Over the past few months, certainly it has being a busy few months with me

busy at work and also busy with my band and also carrying on work slowly

but surely with what is possibly going to be my second book 'Words and Paintings' which maybe out towards the end of 2010. Plans of course change but I am working through this at a nice pace, and I think at the moment there is something like 13 or 14 confirmed poems for this book which will be a joint book with my painter friend, Olga Gerke (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=754782852) who is a excellent, excellent painter.

I met Olga earlier in the year at a exhibition in Manchester and was blown away by his water colours paintings and wrote a poem based on one of her pieces quite quickly. The rest as they say is history.

I have a few other poetry books in mind which I don't mind admitting to - at what pace is a different ball game.

Firstly, is a children's poetry book... I've being writing this slowly for years and years and recently did a children's gig in Ireland featuring a number of them. It was a major challenge too as I hadn't done a gig like that before but it has given me real encourage to carry on with it.

Secondly, is a poetry novel called 'Nothing to Hide'. Not going to say tons more about this yet, but it'll feature poems wrote from several viewpoints.

I am also toying around with a proper follow up book to 'Return to Kemptown' which has maybe 8 or 9 pieces wrote for it, and for fun at the moment a sequence of poetry in the style of James Joyce's 'Chamber Music'.

Gigs wise for Wordmusic, it is all quiet now for a while when I get the next two gigs out of the way - the first is at a place called Kim by the Sea on Wednesday 14th July 2010 in Hulme where me and Jeff (Keys) with maybe one or two of the gang will be doing a few pieces.

After that, I think it's just me but I will be appearing at Jeffarama's 'Jamming with Jefframa' tour on 25th July 2010 in Butterflies in Bolton on a afternoon show which I am looking forward to also.

Write Out Loud - Gig at Chorlton Arts Festival

Write Out Loud - Gig at Chorlton Arts Festival

Maybe off interest, folks????????

manchester central library readings

Honoured to be asked to read a poem here on Friday 19th March (http://manchesterlitlist.blogspot.com/2010/03/central-library-celebration.html).

I am looking forward to this but am also quite sad as the library has a lot off

memories for me. I'm also down for reading at the Poetica reading

also there the following week on Wednesday 24th March 2010 from

6pm - 8pm. Will have a surprise on my set too (No hints in advance

folks - lol).

latest news

Dear all;

Rarely seem to get time to log much on here nowadays, but a little list off current activities perhaps wouldn’t go amiss.

Firstly, for once I am in the middle of taking it easy with my poetry readings. I currently don’t have any plans to do much now for the next few months as I takea well deserved break. I stupidly didn’t rest last year (in summer-time) which resulted in several bad illnesses not helped by exhaustion.

After I got my involvement finished for the desperately seeking Alex night at Manchester’s Green Room (which the final figure raised which soon be revealed which I believe was over 4 figures), I knew I needed to take a well deserved break from doing much. I shall be back soon – more towards spring-time when I am feeling much more rested.

Secondly, my book….A book I can almost hear you say.. Yes, a book. After writing so much poetry I was proud off last year – I made the decision just before the Alex night got going in December I wanted to do one collected mostly out off piecesI performed and wrote last year called ‘Return to Kemptown’. After some time editing the book is pretty well done now and I am hoping will be out over the Spring period.

Thirdly, my band Words & Music.. Sadly the band finished off at the beginning of this year but only in name which is currently wordmusic (although this maybe changing) as two new members came in, and I think there will be more coming in shortly soon. So far, there has being a few full rehearsals and plenty off on-line jams that is resulting in a number off brand new material (which I am pleased to admit so far also) isn’t all just my words also. We have a fires in the oven gigs-wise but I’ll reveal more on that in due course.

Fourthly, the final album from my experimental band DIH is now also completed. Has being a while I get this sorted out while I wait for a new keyboard (Had nothing but problems with PC’s last year) so I can tidy it up a bit but it looks like it is okay now, so things shall be back to normal shortly. DIH itself has being going since 1999, and after the busyness that is Wordmusic – it finally makes sense for DIH to finally finish off now with two full length albums (this’ll be our third) and at least five EP’s, it makes sense to finish off with our best statement. I am hopeful this’ll be out shortly for FREE download.

Fifth, the long delayed third M.A.N. CD ‘From a Boy’ is also done. Andy my vocalist in M.A.N. had being sitting on this for longer than I am gonna remember but it’s done now, so I am hopeful that’ll be out later on this year.

Sixth over the Christmas period, I also conclude the third proper release by Grey Ear, White Noise. The vocalist and me Pete need to sit down and go through that for a final track listing whether it will be an album or a EP. (Am hopeful for an album).

Hopeful that’ll be later in the year.

Otherwise, there is a chance off a second poetry book later on this year (Called ‘Winter Verses’ for the end of the year) and plans are afoot for a third book(Maybe for release in 2011 or 2012), but life as you can see is busy, whichI guess it is always with or without health issues etc.