The best Christmas song ever

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Doug Johnstone

This is so amazing – best vocal harmonies in the world. Happy Festivus, peeps!

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Five albums I’ve loved this year

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Doug Johnstone

I don’t do music journalism anymore, and one of the nice upshots of that is that I’ve reverted to loving music like a fan again. I’ve listened to tons of stuff old and new, not being arsed about whatever is meant to be cool or hot or supposed to be written about or whatever the fuck, and it’s great.

So anyway, I’ve obsessed over a handful of albums this year. Five, in fact. I listened to each one of these continuously until I should’ve been sick of them, but I never was. They’re pretty varied, I guess, I don’t know, whatever. They’re all fairly mainstream, and I make no apology for that. The great thing in not writing about music is that I don’t have to bother explaining or describing why I love something, I just love it. That’s pretty liberating.

Aye so, here are the five albums in reverse chronological order,  because that’s how they came to mind:

1. Lorde, Pure Heroine – just pure pop tunes, from a moody New Zealand teenager who got famous.

2. Chvrches, The Bones of What You Believe – electro-pop genius from Glasgow, taking over the world.

3. Low, The Invisible Way – Still creeping me out and filling my heart with their incredible harmonies, deep sincerity and less-is-more ethos.

4. Mogwai, Les Revenants – Possibly the best thing the lads have ever done, and a perfect fit for the French series it soundtracked.

5. Biffy Clyro, Opposites – It’s great to see a band you’ve loved for years and years break through into playing stadiums and shit like that.

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My Top Ten Books of the Year

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Doug Johnstone

OK, so here are my top ten novels of the year. Lemme know what you think, and what your own favourites are. I won’t write much about each here, but you can click on the book covers for my reviews in either The Independent on Sunday or The Big Issue magazine from throughout the year. Let’s do this!

1. James Sallis, Others of My Kind (No Exit)

others of my mind
Amazing novella about psychological and physical damage, and how we might possibly survive both and thrive. Sallis manages to pack so much into so few pages. As far as I can find, I was the only person to review this in the UK’s national press, which is a scandal.

2. Helen FitzGerald, The Cry (Faber)

41MM8UVEF1LClassic dilemma fiction, as a couple with a newborn baby try to cover up a terrible accident. Truly horrifying because it’s so believable.

3. Sara Gran, Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway (Faber)

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Loads of authors do fucked-up detectives, but Claire DeWitt is so much more, an ultra-cool, fierce as fuck, existential force of nature. Gran is such a brilliant writer. I also read her older novel Come Closer this year, and it was extraordinarily good.

4. Alissa Nutting, Tampa (Faber)

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Written from the point of view of a female teacher who abuses the teenage boys in her class. Brutal and uncompromising, a really brave piece of writing.

5. Ruth Ozeki, A Tale for the Time Being (Canongate)

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A poignant and life-affirming tale that spans the Pacific Ocean as well as several generations of life and loss in both Canada and Japan. Remarkable.

6. John Niven, Straight White Male (William Heinemann)

61XkTcbRtfLg._SL1315_I’ve been a fan of Niven’s since his debut Kill Your Friends, but this is the first time he’s added real depth and heart to his usual coruscating satire and self-loathing. Quality!

7. Alan Glynn, Graveland (Faber)

Graveland UK, Alan GlynnA big but beautifully controlled narrative takes in corruption and collusion between politics, big business and the media, with some modern urban terrorism thrown in. Kind of mind-blowing.

8. David Vann, Goat Mountain (William Heinemann)

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This felt like the logical end-point of Vann’s obsession with violence between fathers and sons. Intense and terrifying aftermath of a shooting trip gone wrong. Oof.

9. Derek B. Miller, Norwegian By Night (Faber)

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A thriller with a difference, as an elderly man and a small boy go on the run across rural Norway. As much a character study as anything else. Lovely writing.

10. Marcel Theroux, Strange Bodies (Faber)

tumblr_inline_mm2uvv09pI1qz4rgpA very smart update of the Frankenstein story, with a handful of literary allusions thrown in. Sharp, sharp writing about identity and self.

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My reviews of Sarah Pinborough and Kelly Braffet novels in The Big Issue magazine

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Doug Johnstone
illustration by Mitch Blunt

illustration by Mitch Blunt

Aye so, here are my last proper book reviews of the year in The Big Issue, before all the ‘books of the year’ shenanigans start. Very different novels from Sarah Pinborough and Kelly Braffet, but both mighty impressive in their own ways.

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A handful of new reviews for Gone Again

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Doug Johnstone

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The mass market paperback edition of Gone Again came out back in November, and it got a handful of very good reviews here and there. I’ve only just got round to getting them together, so here they are below. There were a couple of others that aren’t online, will try to track em down if I can be arsed.

First off, Rich Westwood over at Eurocrime loved it, saying very nice things left, right and centre.

Then lovereading made it their book of the month for November, Sarah Broadhurst using the word ‘touching’, indeed.

The Daily Express got in on the act, Thom James calling it ‘deeply compelling’, which is nice.

And The Herald did the business, referring to the novel as ‘smouldering’.

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My review of Jeeves and the Wedding Bells by Sebastian Faulks

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Doug Johnstone

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Aye so, I was asked to review this by The Independent on Sunday. I enjoyed the Wodehouse books as a kid, but I wouldn’t say I was slavishly a fan or anything. Either way you look at it, though, this ‘homage’ from Faulks is shit.

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Reviews of Metallica and Alan McGee books in the Big Issue

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Doug Johnstone
illustration by Mitch Blunt

illustration by Mitch Blunt

‘Metal up your ass’. Guess who’s catchphrase that was, Metallica or Alan McGee? Correct. Last month saw a couple of pretty interesting music tomes out, Birth School Metallica Death (Faber) by Paul Brannigan and Ian Winwood and Alan McGee’s autobiography, Creation Stories (Sidgwick & Jackson). Here’s what I thought of them.

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Some thoughts on Book Week Scotland

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Doug Johnstone
buckhaven-mural-bws

Aye so, just about recovered from a hectic week last week. For those not in the know it was Book Week Scotland, put together by the brilliant team at the Scottish Book Trust, who organised thousands of events across the country to celebrate the culture of books in this country.

So I went from the high security Shotts Prison to a Morningside reading group of ladies-who-lunch. I’ll let you figure out which was the more intimidating of the two. I also did a handful of terrific library gigs and the whole thing was incredibly uplifting, which is not something I was expecting, if I’m honest. I’m generally not much of a joiner-in, but I did feel a sense of camaraderie and communal spirit through the week that really surprised me. Questions asked at events ranged from ‘are you rich?’ to ‘why don’t you write about football?’. Both interesting in their own ways.

It was pretty surreal seeing authors talking about books on Newsnight Scotland, as well as literature being the lead story on the Scottish news. I was delighted to see Trainspotting voted as the best book of the last fifty years. I don’t really believe in these kinds of lists and all this voting bollocks, but if any book should win that title it’s probably that one.

Elsewhere, my five-year-old daughter got a bag of books that she loves at a library visit on the Monday. She was excited to meet a real author on that trip. When I pointed out her dad was a real author, she said, “No, a real one, who writes books for children”. Fair enough.

Also, my son took part in a musical of Treasure Island at his school. Pretty sure that wasn’t part of Book Week Scotland, but it was fantastic anyway. The kids were clearly very enthused about the whole thing, and the story especially, and it was indicative of the general enthusiasm for storytelling that I felt throughout the week, both in person and online.

All that and a bunch of amazing murals were unveiled on various libraries around the country, including the one above by graffiti artist Rogue One at Buckhaven Library. So well done to the Scottish Book Trust for an amazing campaign, and to everyone who took part,  helped out or came to an event.

Let’s do it again next year!

Dx

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A review of S. by J J Abrams and Doug Dorst

Posted on November 29, 2013 by Doug Johnstone
S. - a story within a story within a...

S. – a story within a story within a…

Bit behind at getting this up here, but here’s my review in the Independent on Sunday of S., conceived by JJ Abrams and written by Doug Dorst. This meta-fictional tome got a lot of press, and while it was undeniably impressive, I didn’t think it quiteadded up. Interesting, though, definitely!

Dx

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BOOK WEEK SCOTLAND IS LANDING!

Posted on November 21, 2013 by Doug Johnstone

bookweekorange2013

Ooft. Book Week Scotland is NEXT WEEK, folks, and I’m doing a shitload of events and happenings. For a start there are three library events, namely:

Tuesday 26th November, Johnstone Library, 7.30pm

Wednesday 27th November, Dalmuir Library with Chris Brookmyre, 7.30pm

Thursday 28th November, Motherwell Library, 7pm

As well as that, I’m going to chat to a reading group in Edinburgh on Thursday and I’m doing an event in HMP Shotts, the high security prison, on Tuesday morning.

In amongst all this, maybe I’ll also manage to write some of my new novel, eh?

Hopefully see some of you out and about!

Dx

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