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In this blogs very first post I warned you all that I had a nasty habit of deleting blogs and starting again somewhere else.
That's not quite what's happened this time.
The Ignoble Savage has actually moved to http://citizen16.com. So the name has changed, the site has changed but, essentially, nothing else has.
All the old posts and comments have been moved there and things will continue in much the same way as they would have here. The only difference is that I know don't have to deal with Blogger's hideous blog posting software.
So update your bookmarks and RSS feeds and head on over. It looks right good, it does.
-Phil
14.10.09
The Ignoble Savage Is Dead, Long Live Its Inevitable Replacement
4.10.09
September's Jumbo Album Round-Up
By a quirk of Fate September seemed to feature album releases from a lot of artists I like or, in some cases, kind of like... I guess.
I'm not going to do a separate post for each album, partly because the time it would take me to do this would eventually render the subject matter somewhat irrelevant but mostly because there is a direct correlation between how many words I write about a single album and how much of a knob I sound like. Instead here are some loose thoughts on some of the releases.
16 Volt - American Porn Songs
American Porn Songs is the first 16 Volt (or 16Volt, I'm never completely sure) album to feature spaces in the title! That's by no means the most striking thing about the album but at this point, the 6th studio release from Eric Powell, you're in safe hands. If you like 16 Volt then chances are you'll really like this album - It's a heavier sound than 2007's FullBlackHabit, more akin to SuperCoolNothing (fitting, perhaps, thanks to a couple of songs on the album originally being Primal-era demos). Even songs that appear to be slower, more melodic numbers, something 16 Volt has always experimented with, eventually build into an aggressive, driving climax.
The production behind the tracks is as tight as ever as Eric continues to use influences from current Industrial trends to shape an album that still feels like it fits with the band's sound. In places the album hints at becoming Glitchcore, presenting a darker, more aggressive version of the digital corruption used in NIN's Year Zero, but still pulls away before the point at which it would detract from the sound (by which I mean: become completely unlistenable for people who aren't, and I include myself in this description, mad.)
It's a great shame that 16 Volt aren't better known as, like Reznor, there is a definite commercial accessibility to the music that is still clearly uncompromised. Nevertheless 16 Volt appear to have moved beyond the turbulence that defined their early years and, as long as Powell continues to make music this assured, that's a good sign for the future.
My 16Volt review tweet on their web-site front page. I can die happy.
16 Volt - To Hell
Muse - The Resistance
There appear to be a hell of a lot of evangelical (read: crazy) Muse fans on the internet. Their primary defence of The Resistance seems to be that from the beginning the band said they were going to do something different with this album and people should just accept that it doesn't sound like their previous output. To combat this let me say that my problem with The Resistance isn't that it doesn't sound like traditional Muse; my problem with The Resistance is that it's shit.
That's a little harsh perhaps. In fact a couple of tracks are perfectly solid, workaday affairs and one track, Undisclosed Desires, is genuinely very good. Ironically my issue with the album is that tracks either sound like a poor Muse rip-off act (see Uprising, Resistance, Unnatural Selection) or like a band trying desperately to embrace the art-rock high concept that was meant to be the point of the album but instead playing it far too safe so as not to alienate their increasingly mainstream audience (see everything else). I don't know what they were trying to achieve with the three part Exogenesis but, while technically competent, it just doesn't display the creativity or experimentation needed to stand with prog-rock's greatest. Also United States of Eurasia is possibly the dreariest Queen rip-off I've ever heard.
Brand New - Daisy
When I posted about At The Bottom a couple of weeks ago I had a good idea of the direction Brand New were taking with Daisy. When I actually heard Daisy I realised I was completely wrong.
It took a while before I was able to take the mental step that would form it into a cohesive whole. At times I thought it might be their best album while at others I wondered if this time they'd only made a 'good' album. Of course the answer lay in the other direction: Brand New have always varied their approach album to album enough to not court direct comparison.
Daisy is, perhaps, the dictionary definition of a 'grower' and with each successive listen I take a step closer to embracing it. It's by far the bands most complex release. Like The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me it relies heavily on the juxtaposition between fragile, reflective sadness and the cathartic release of anger but this time there's a lot more going on.
Even the local garage is doing promo's for Brand New's album!
Brand New - Daisy
Ian Brown - My Way
It's an Ian Brown album. There's not really a lot more to say as I think Ian Brown may have given up trying to do anything new or interesting with his music a couple of albums ago.
Actually that's not fair. Each of the previous albums had at least a couple of tracks that stood out. Not so here, everything seems to have melded into a completely inconsequential mess of pointlessness. Most tracks feature a sub-Gorillaz hip-hop infused production that just cements how everything the album presents has been done better somewhere else. Also, the album cover is terrible.
If I was forced to pick a stand out track it would be Always Remember Me, probably the most distinct sounding song on the album (although it still sounds like many things he's done before). Worst track is In The Year 2525 which makes the fatal flaw of thinking I'd care about what Ian Brown thinks is going to happen to humanity when I'd be dead anyway.
29.9.09
The Making of Twisted City: Themes
When I christened September 'Productivity Month' (which I did, by the way) I'd always planned to use some time to take a long hard look at my long-dormant novel. As I go through this process I'll post some of the thoughts and notes here, assuming that those notes aren't too spoiler-ish. In the first instance, it seemed like a good idea to re-familiarise myself with some of the themes that are to run through the book.
The Multiverse!
Yeah, I know. To be fair I had planned this story long before parallel universes started to become the most overused idea in fiction. Surely that should count for something?
In my favour is the fact that I'm not using the multiple worlds in a quantum sense. While I'm sure the implications of an entire separate universe in which the only difference is that I had Frosted Wheats for breakfast instead of 2 cigarettes and some coffee are genuinely fascinating; it just seems slightly wasteful. Therefore parallel universes in my fiction won't feature slightly different versions of my main characters because those characters don't exist in separate universes. Some names and events may be similar however, due to the Law of Narrative Convenience (this is, genuinely, a law I conceived so that Led Zeppelin references could be made in multiple worlds.) There's actually a specific event in Earth's history that I'm thinking of tying to the creation of multiple universes - take a quick look over the history of our planet and see if you can guess which!
The actual import of parallel universes is significant in the overarching narrative of the book but not in the characters specific journey. Much more important to them is the existence of sub-dimensions: small realms whose existence is intrinsically tied to its version of Earth. I need to find a way to make that not confusing.
Magic/Science
One thing I want to be a solid theme within the book is the divide between both magic and science. Characters will attempt to treat the magical force that is present in the world as something that can be studied, tested and controlled. The reason for this is because the magic present in the primary reality was never meant to exist there. The attempt to study and control this wild, unpredictable, living (sort-of) force will be key to the narrative set-up.
Politics
I'm a big fan of the Empire trilogy by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts. One of the interesting elements of their books is the way different houses are forced into varying positions based on their clans and political affiliation.
Thanks to the nature of the city the story is set in and, in part, due to both themes mentioned above, there is no acknowledgement of the government of the country. Instead politics with the city happen on a grass-roots level: public houses choose to affiliate with a particular interest group, providing a base of operations and sense of fellowship for those that believe, or are willing to believe, in that group's ideals.
As someone who grew up in a pub this is a pretty natural extension of reality. You can blame the newspapers and the media for setting the level of discussion among the 'common man' but just as powerful are the politics discussed among the locals at whichever pub you frequent. It's they who set the tone for that particular pub and, based on that constant base, influences the sort of people who will generally frequent and feel at home in that particular location.
It does mean that I'll need to come up with a name for an organisation that is 'basically CAMRA' that isn't CAMRA, because I'm going to be very mean about them.
Layers
You know, like onions. Not like parfait. One of the prime driving factors of the story is that none of the characters actually have the whole story. Most are just working with the knowledge that they've been given, however inaccurate it may be. At the bottom end of this are the two main characters, Ash and Roe, who collectively know absolutely nothing and are dragged into the narrative by a quirk of fate... or Fate... or 'fate'.
Most characters are being lied to. Even the ones who aren't being lied to are being told the 'truth' by someone who is being lied to. This makes it bloody complicated for me to remember who actually knows what, and is the primary reason why I have a hell of a lot of note taking to do before I actually write anything.
These are just a few of the things that will make up Twisted City should it ever get released. As the story only exists in my head at current it does mean huge chunks are frequently being re-written, but these central concepts and plot points are the ones that have proven the most durable over the years. Feel free to comment and suggest and voice concerns; at this stage any feedback is welcome and will be considered, even if it won't necessarily be acted upon.
28.9.09
I Would Punch Your Life In The Face: Scott Pilgrim
With both a film and videogame based on Bryan O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim comics currently in the works now is a great time to get them, if only so you can roll your eyes at people in the future and exasperatedly say "you've only just heard of Scott Pilgrim?"
It also helps that they're really fucking good.
So what is Scott Pilgrim? The series part soap-drama about a bunch of friends in their early 20s, part pop-culture inspired comedy and part anime-styled action. Scott Pilgrim, the eponymous lead, starts dating the mysterious Ramona Flowers. In order to continue their relationship he must defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends.
Except that's just the framework for the story. Phonogram writer Kieron Gillen described the series as the Canadian Spaced, which is as perfect a description as you're ever likely to get. Scott and his friends' dialogue are tinged with videogame/anime/music/film references in a way that so few works that try it get right. This is a particularly curious thing given that the way we see the world is so often tinged by the culture we've absorbed through the years. This is starkly evident if you've ever met an existing group of friends and not had a clue what they're talking about: you've not yet learned their language.
Of course, in using the format, O'Malley can take this to hyper-exaggerated lengths. In volume 3 Ramona's hammer is described as +2 against girls. In volume 4, and I'm doing my best to tiptoe around spoilers here, Scott levels up and gains a sword which he can use because he "picked that longsword proficiency in grade 5". A heartbreaking panel in volume 5 features no dialogue apart from a simple "Continue?" message.
Oh God, volumes 4 and 5. For the first few volumes I had Scott Pilgrim pegged as a gloriously funny pulp-comedy. What I hadn't counted on was for the last couple of volumes to use the fact that these characters have got under your skin to really wring out some great emotional drama. Volume 4, Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together, features him doing just that: breaking out from his previously oblivious, slightly self-obsessed personality. Then in volume 5, everything that has been built up before slowly begins to unravel. The final scene between Kim Pine and Scott is masterfully written and drawn, and manages to be so using only the slightest change of expression on Kim's part.
And now I find myself with a familiar problem: coming to a series at its penultimate episode and finding I now have to wait until 2010 for the final book. I wish it was next year already.
Hopefully my slightly demented 10-to-2-in-the-morning ramblings have encouraged you to actually try, and not avoid, the comics. They can be a bit of a shit to find. Amazon usually has them available from their marketplace sellers, but a quick check is showing volumes 4 and 5 going for over £20 each. This will probably change fairly quickly and, if you shop around, I'm sure they're at a reasonable price somewhere.
Bonus Picture Post #2
Recently I was called into work during the weekend due to an impending audit driving all managers in the building simultaneously insane. Nothing useful happened.
Except, perhaps, the discovery that despite the number of years that seperate 'me now' from 'me when I first played Silent Hill', I still find that dark school corridors look creepy as shit.
25.9.09
Bonus Picture Post #1
While I'm procrastinating from writing a couple of album reviews it seemed like a good time to throw up a couple of picture posts.
What happens if you're walking down the street one day and a freak accident involving an electricity pylon, a phone box, a Delorian and a flux capacitor send you back in time? Thanks to my new t-shirt I have that problem under control.
Readable Text (and buying info) here.
The t-shirt, created by Dinosaur Comics' Ryan North, covers a few important points about health and technology in the past, as well as a few things that you might want to take the credit for seeing as they won't have been discovered yet (assuming you don't go back to 1972).
So go buy one if you want your own piece of past-proof clothing. Unless I actually know you, in which case you'll render my own one considerably less awesome.
14.9.09
Insert Contractually Obligated Italian Job Quote Here
Considering I don't own a car or even drive there was seemingly very little reason for me to go to the National Mini Show at Stanford Hall in Leicestershire. In fact my reasons for going were very much tied to a sense of re-experiencing some childhood memories.
My dad loved Minis and throughout my childhood we had various models functioning as the family car. To be fair they were the perfect family vehicle, as most malfunctions could be fixed at the side of the road with some precision administration of a hammer. Unfortunately my dad also thought that a young Phil would love nothing more than to be dragged around a field to look at lots and lots of different Minis every year at Stanford Hall during the weekend of his birthday. He was, of course, way off. At that age Minis basically look the same (to be frank they still do, to an extent) and on those days when it actually was my birthday I was far more interested in playing the copy of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 I'd just been given than standing in a field for hours.
This time I was much more receptive of the field. There is genuine charm in the enthusiasm of the people proudly displaying their cars. Their openness to discuss and boast about their lovingly restored machine meant that even I couldn't bring myself to tell them that they'd done it wrong by not painting it either red or British racing green.
It should also be noted that the Hinckley Knight pub in Hinckley cooks a good steak.
31.8.09
Ukraine Has Talent... No, Really
While Britain gets a seemingly endless parade of street dancers (although I was quite glad when George Sampson won because it meant he stopped clogging up Market Street on a regular basis) and a woman who can miraculously sing while being ugly, the Ukraine strand of the Got Talent franchise has produced a winner who actually has... well, talent.
Via Rock, Paper, Shotgun (again).
30.8.09
A Special Die-Dictated Review of Luke Rhinehart's The Dice Man
I have a feeling that James recommended the book The Dice Man to me about 6 years ago. I say this to show that, despite me taking over half a decade to do so, I do follow up recommendations from friends. I can confirm that this book is worth recommmending. As a brief aside it should be noted that I am using a die to dictate the structure of each paragraph - it seemed appropriate - which shouldn't make a difference unless I roll a 6. A 6 means I stop.
If that die has a one face up, I thought, I'm going downstairs and rape Arlene. 'If it's a one, I'll rape Arlene,' kept blinking on and off in my mind like a huge neon light and my terror increased. But when I thought if it's not a one I'll go to bed, the terror was boiled away by a pleasant excitement and my mouth swelled into a gargantuan grin: a one means rape, the other numbers mean bed, the die is cast. Who am I to question the die? I picked up the queen of spades and saw staring at me a cyclopean eye: a one.A 6. Bugger.
21.8.09
Twisted City: Episode 1, Author's Commentary
[Recently I posted my second short story; the first of what I hope will build up into a prequel series for future projects. Think of this post as a kind of DVD-style commentary divulging certain notes and background information. By all means ignore it and let the stories speak for themselves. If you haven't read the story yet then do that first.]
Firstly, some info on the story itself:
It should be pretty obvious that I've never worked for any directory enquiries service, nor do I know anyone who does. I don't imagine for a second that any of them actually hire people to specifically pander to pissheads. I do know that no such Golden Rule exists because on a couple of times we've drunkenly text them they've responded with an "I don't know" or "No information is available". Luckily there is a very specific narrative reason as to why the story's company seemingly only operates in this one city and is very much in the business of pandering to the shitcanned classes... Ooh.. foreshadowing.
One such time was when we asked them if Slash was richer than Valentino Rossi. This was easily the most passionate drunken argument over pointless minutia I've ever had. Fitzy actually stormed out of the flat during a particularly heated exchange. Of course the next day we were in the pub laughing about it, such is the nature of these arguments.
We also asked the main Question that has been causing Roe such soul searching. For those that don't know, and for shame if you're in that category, Jimmy Page is the guitarist in Led Zeppelin. The actual answer we got back was:
In a physical brawl between Jimmy Page and the Pope in Rome, no one wins because the Pope is guarded & will not fight & Page will be shot if he harms him.Now for some more general background on the series itself:
It feels slightly strange having something publically released under the Twisted City banner. As a concept it has existed for around 7 years, in one form or another. Originally a planned webcomic written by me and drawn by a friend (incidentally, I should take a second to thank Dom for naming Ash and Roe, the main characters, because I hate naming things). When we couldn't be bothered to make that I started adapting the story for novelisation - a process somewhat halted by the fact that I lost everything when my laptop died a couple of years ago. This is the first time since then that I've written anything substantial for the series.
The purpose of the TC Episodes is to tell mini stories that focus on character development. Sometimes these will focus on the main characters and sometimes they won't. Hopefully through time the mystery of the city in which the story is set will start to come into focus, but there won't be anything in the way of major plot development.
The reasons for choosing this as the first episode story were twofold. Firstly, and most importantly, I've always had a much better hold of Ash as a character and it seemed necessary to focus some time purely on Roe, even if he does spend the majority of the story in a "fragile state". Secondly, I'd never planned on revealing what Roe's job was, only that he had one. It is, of course, a rubbish mystery and so as an act of defiance I decided the first thing to be written should be exactly that.
Finally I should point out, although this should be obvious, that there is no timetable for releasing these. When a strong enough concept rears its head then I'm usually pretty motivated to get it written - this story was conceptualised and written in less than a day. That said, the original first episode has been sat on a notepad for over a year, so who knows...
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