Black Swan Green - David Mitchell

What can I say about David Mitchell, the man has written some phenomenal books over the last few years, including Cloud Atlas which is undoubtedly a classic of modern meta-fiction.

Black Swan Green is ostensibly a novel about a 13 year old boy growing up (quickly) somewhere in middle England in the mid 1980s. Mitchell captures perfectly the feel of that era, the bad clothes, dodgy fashion, faddy food, and Falklands war. He also captures the feel of being 13 and discovering the world as it really exists, rather than as you initially think it exists. Some reviewers have been underwhelmed by Mitchell's latest book, but I feel that in some ways that is its strength. It is subtle, it doesn't bash you round the head like Cloud Atlas did, or amaze you with narratives like Ghostwritten, but it ensnares you and gets inside your head in a rather insidious manner. It makes you nostalgic, but also melancholic about life, and the innocence of youth.

Read it...

Footie Post Mortem

We lost. Big style. One man stretchered off with an ankle injury. Crap game anyway. I reckon that you shouldn't be taken off at football unless you do this.

Back of the net

What's up y'all.

It's friday evening and I'm just kicking back, drinking a beer, listening to Ghostface's bonus Fishscale LP (you can find it on the net somewhere). I'm supposed to be playing football (soccer!) tomorrow , so I thought I'd check out some YouTube football videos to get me in the mood.

This video is how I imagine I play football.



I think this more accurately represents my skill level.

Enjoy the weekend, post-footie analysis coming your way on sunday at some point...

Things I'm rocking at the moment

In terms of music, top of my playlist at the moment is Bayani by Blue Scholars released soon on Rawkus. I was turned on to this by the boys at When they reminisce who have been going on about it on their blog for ages, so I copped a copy to check it out, and it is pure excellence. I'd never heard of these guys before, and to be honest had pretty low expectations, but the combination of the lyrics, delivery, and most of all the production make this a brilliant LP. There's three top tunes on it, Bayani, Fire for the People, and the biggie Loyalty. Loyalty and Bayani are pure summer vibes, BBQ on the go and Red Stripe in hand and I could listen to these on repeat for a minute. The production is so deep on these tracks that you hear new elements each time you listen to them. Support them, buy a copy of Bayani. I did.


Just finished Arthur & George by Julian Barnes, wicked book, Booker nominated a couple of years ago. The cover is pretty underwhelming, but everyone loves Sherlock Holmes so I thought a fictional book about his creator Arthur Conan Doyle would be worth a read, and believe me it was.
It's probably best described as a creeper, not that much happens, but you get sucked in by the feelings you develop for the characters, and the engaging story that keeps you interested, but never overwhelms the characters. Overall, I really enjoyed it, well worth checking.

Virgin Post

Yep, that's right, time for my virgin blog post.

Once I summon up enough energy I'm gonna get some info on beats, breaks, bass (and drums), and books I'm feeling at the moment, as well as taking the time to get some things off my chest.

Some of the things I'm gonna be talking about are slow walkers, wanky bars, the UK train system, and anything else that hacks me off over the next few weeks.

I'm also gonna put up some reviews and links to new (and old) music.

For now, till I get stuff sorted, check out some of the links on the right. I guarentee you'll like them...

One.