Science, Politics and Religion

Finally managed to plough my way through Neal Stephenson’s extremely lengthy novel ‘Quicksilver’ last week. It’s a remarkable work set in the 17th century amongst court and political intrigue in England, France and the Netherlands all against a golden age of scientific discovery. It’s also an alternate historical novel since whilst it features many, many…

Gratuitous Rabbit Nudity

With 2 still relatively small children to entertain, getting out for anything other than kids’ films is still something of a rarity for reasons of time and energy. Last night however myself and Mrs MPT went out to see the Cumbernauld Theatre’s version of ‘The Wasp Factory’ at the Adam Smith Theatre in Kirkcaldy. This…

Something To Believe In

Bob Mould Band, Glasgow ABC 2, 23rd May 2008 It was surely an optimistic promoter who booked Bob Mould for the ABC in Glasgow. Whilst Beggar’s seem to have been active in promoting Bob’s latest LP ‘District Line’, his profile in the UK hasn’t been high for well over a decade. Trying to put Bob…

All Your Victories Feel Like Defeats

Having finally freed a large section of my vinyl collection from a sort of prison, I’m going to celebrate with a record by the Room. The intervening years have played havoc with my memory of this band. I recall very little – they were from Liverpool and I saw them just once live – at…

Party Like It’s 1986

In something of a first for the normally insular MPT, I’ve contributed to Sweeping the Nation’s Muxtape project, which is intended to provide a mixtape for every year of rock’n’roll. 1986 seemed an appropriate year for me to pick not just because it was a good year but also because this blog’s title originates from…

Surf’s Up!

This post has been prompted by a musician getting in touch. But whilst a number of musicians have contacted me in response to postings about their music, Tom from the Beat Poets actually emailed about James King & The Lone Wolves. In fact it was only his email signature which alerted me to his band….