Entropic State Report 15th February 2025

Bradford remains chiily and wet this February but all the more reason to muse upon interesting readings and rustle up more stupid names for ships for my Let’s Play Fucking D&D game (latest, Dish of Ploons).

I’ve also just managed to get another episode largely in the can as my mate John came back to look at another Trevor Hoyle B7 novelisation. One of the wonderful things about podcasting, other than yakking with like minds about how amazing Avon is, is the odd things that crop up.

On this occasion, Big Ron Tarr.

RIP Big Ron.

Also awaiting editing, our first look at Luther Arkwright in the company of Tom Murphy and Bryan Talbot himself. We had a lovely conversation with Bryan last week about Arkwright, his work on Nemesis the Warlock and more, and it looks like it will be just the first of two or maybe even three appearances for the legendary author and artist over the coming year as we continue the journey through his work, including the further Luther stories but also Alice in Sunderland and Grandville. What a brilliant bloke.

We have a few other things lined up too of course, with Andy Derby returning to look at another of Mike’s 60s SF offerings, more Runestaff with Dave, the debut of some Jack Vance action on the podcast along with an all-new co-host and, for the first time, an Easter Special?!

No prizes for guessing what that is likely to be… But it’s probably high time we got to it.

And that’s before we’ve even had the chance to plan in a long requested bit of Zelazny (it’s coming Steve) and a look at the greatest Rock film ever made (and its novelisation).

I also heard from Ralph Lovegrove a day or two ago, and he’s revising his StormHack rules so we may have a chat about them at some point soon too. Those of you who’ve been around for the long haul will remember Ralph from an early RPG episode back in 2021.

If you missed it, I also appeared that year on Ralph’s Fictoplasm podcast talking about Roadside Picnic. Fictoplasm has been on a hiatus for a while but I hope it comes back soon.

I wish there were more hours in the day, there are so many more things I’d like to look at. That said, it looks like there may be redundancies on the horizon in the day job, so… who knows… I might have some time on my hands to do more fun things for a while?

Whilst being catapluted out of work again would be a pain in the arse on many levels, it’s not like I didn’t enjoy a few months watching Judge Judy in my pants last time round, so I’ll always look at the positives.

Besides, I need to finish The Journal of Gerard Arthur Connelly vol 3 and maybe even write vol 4. I’ve also have some other things gestating with Ian aka @biomassart for fucking yonks and it would be really nice to follow through.

Plus, AMBER, ROOFTOPCON, THE MOTE IN GOD’S EYE, VERMILLION SANDS, VOYAGE TO ARCTURUS, NEW WORLDS, JOHN BRUNNER, SHITLOADS MORE MOORCOCK…

Uuuuuurgh…

We’ll see.

Entropic State Report 7th January 2025

Welcome friends… to 2025!

The festive period here at Derry & Toms (Bradford branch) has been a funny one, punctuated by hospital visits to the awd fella, lifted in the middle by a boozy visit from Loz (see Episode 101), and then run down to a gooey conclusion by a heroic dose of lurgy that Phil and I are still trying to shake off. But that has given us ample opportunities to sit in a heap and catch up on some movies, not least of which was The Keep. I first came across this oddity in the mid-80s as a video rental and was instantly captivated by its unique style and atmosphere. I read the novel a few years later and was largely disappointed by it, but have come to appreciate it on its own terms on subsequent re-reads over the years (in fact I’m just in the middle of it once again).

The film has remained a staple part of my top 10 all time loves though, so imagine how delighted I was that, despite never even having had a blu ray release and not even adecent DVD release outside of Australia, it got released in a gorgeous 4k UHD format by Vinegar Syndrome last month.

Bonzer!

It’s probably inevitable now that we will cover it at some point in 2025 because it fits right into that 80s sweet spot where the core of my love of genre fiction was formed.

I’ve also had the chance to take a look at some of the groovy presents I got and in terms of podcast fodder, this brace sits atop the pile:

My old bud Yarky knows what makes me tick, and both of these items tie nicely into a conversation I had a while back with Dave about potentially looking at a bit more Conan but, rather than covering more RE Howard, taking a look at some of the inferior but still of value L Sprague de Camp stories including the novelisation of the John Milius film. That Sphere edition of Conan the Freebooter is a nice replacement for the one I got from Pops back in the day, now long lost to time and incident.

And the Subotai figure is fucking cool too.

These are ideas for the coming year, but what do we have in store in terms of firm itinerary?

First up for 2025 will be the conclusion of some 2024 activity as we conclude our Doctor Who reportage with The Coming of the Terraphiles Part Three.

We’ll be headed back to the Tragic Millennium to pick up the efforts of Hawkmoon and D’Averc to finally defeat the evil empire of Granbretan…

After a couple of years mulling it over, we’re going Moorcock adjacent with the adventures of Luther Arkwright…

And then we’re going back to the 60s MM SF well with The Shores of Death…

And that’s just for starters.

So stay safe, keep warm and continue to tune in pards!

Entropic State Report 29th June 2024

It’s time for us to decamp to the coast for our jollies again. Not Morecambe this time though, no. We’re headed to the far side of Morecambe Bay to Grange-over-Sands, a bonny place with an incredibly picturesque railways station, some nice boozers and (most importantly perhaps) a used book shop with a pretty cracking fantasy and scifi section.

Or at least it did have last time we were there.

We’ll pass through Carnforth so it may be inevitable that we end up in their incredible three floor book shop along the way, even though I’m yet to even scratch the surface of my last Carnforth haul. On that occasion, from memory, it was a mixture of M John Harrisons, John Brunners, and a 70s book about UFOs in Bedminster or somewhere.

In fact it was a brace of nice Brunner hardcovers that I picked up in Carnforth last time too. Scandalous then that I still haven’t read any of them (despite my doomed efforts to read The Sheep Look Up for a podcast with Joe Banks that never got off the launchpad thanks to the appalling typeface/set/quality of print of whatever you call it).

I’m excited to see what this trip has in store for us. Our most recent forays in this direction have yielded a lot… and I mean A LOT… of Dumarest books so I’m going to impose a moratorium on those for now as I haven’t got to any of those either.

I need to retire damn it.

As you’ll see from the pic above, we’ve already kicked off our week with a hearty and mildly boozy lunch (start as you mean to go on I say) and we’re having a siesta to catch up on some reading.

I’m travelling light on the book front with Phoenix in Obsidian, because we will do Part Two damn it, and a couple of other likely candidates for a follow-up of sorts to the Snowcastles episode with Clarky. We’ll call it Barbarian Bingo or something.

Naturally, this will all hinge on whether I get distracted by any pick-ups in Carnforth or Grange-over-Sands. Best laid plans and all that.

Meanwhile, Part Two of The Coming of the Terraphiles (thanks Miles) is in the can and I’ll get that out in a couple of weeks when we’re back home (there may/will definitely be a part three). We have a couple of other things pencilled in for July and August, including a new RPG-related episode in which I grill Steve Round and his players about their epic Stormbringer campaign, what their ‘dance’ and ‘balance’ stats are and how many two-man canoes they managed to hoard by the end. Steve has also prepped them ahead of time with knowledge so foul, so vaguely unsettling, so gnarly on the wallet… Yes… It will involve the D6 wandering beer table.

Prepare your demon-bound flagons of stupid beer tolerance!!!

Amazing really that we’re half way through the year already. 86 episodes down in fact, so it’s looking like our centenary might even neatly coincide with this year’s Birthday episode.

I have a plan for that. Just need to shape it up a bit…

More on that later though! Halloween first and we’re going to try for a three-fer again with William Hope Hodgson definitely on the cards with Allister, a bit of eco-horror with Graham and an all new poll for some kind of blood-curling book/film combo for the 31st October.

I’m still quite fond of the idea of doing Nick Sharman’s The Cats with the movie CATS. You must decide though.

Right. I’m off to eat a two pack of snack biscuits from our hotel tea tray before working up an appetite for a good dinner and some Barolo.

Take care pards…

Entropic State Report 16th June 2024

Greetings pards,

I hope you’re playing a good hand at the tables this fine day.

A few years ago when I recorded the episode on Letters From Hollywood with Dirk, we raised a glass to departed friends. One was my old mate Magic Paul who I’d lost contact with some time in the early 2000s. When I learned that he’d passed away I spread the word amongst all my old muckers and none of us had seen him for years. It’s such a shame we do this as we get older. Drifting apart, moving towns, changing interests etc.

Anyway.

This morning one of those muckers sent me a couple of pics he found whilst having a clear out. Back in those days a few of us shared a house down De la Pole Ave in Hull, scene of many a debauched evening and subject of many fondly recalled anecdotes about being a smashed 20-something year-old in the early 90s. Heady days.

Paul was a huge Trek fan, even having his own Wrath of Khan era starfleet uniform (which was a much rarer thing in those days as cosplay was way more niche than it is today). He spent an age trying to convince a few of us, including Loz, to play the FASA Star Trek RPG. When we finally did, I was so mashed I fell asleep an hour in and missed most of it but Loz and Neil (AKA Noel Clippingstalk) sat through it and later vowed never to play it, or allow Paul to GM for them, ever again. They weren’t Trek fans and the meticulous approach from our Games Master and adherence to Trek aesthetics was just too dry for them I suspect.

Paul was a character. He was a classic old school geek with a vast RPG collection (I still wonder what happened to all of his Morrow Project and Aftermath stuff when he passed away as his parents were both long since gone and he had no siblings), and a passion for wargaming, napoleonic history, folk music, Samson tobacco and Rich Tea biscuits. He also had a ridiculous collection of 60s and 70s SF and Fantasy paperbacks and I’m pretty sure, had he still been around today, his to-read pile would probably dwarf any of ours.

I first met him when he trained to be a psychiatric nurse in the same school as myself and Robbo (see Wheels of Terror Part One – Part Two WILL arrive some day). He never completed the training for one reason or another but we stayed friends for a number of years afterwards. He was an acquired taste for some, but to me he was kind, generous, quick to laugh and an all-round good bloke. If a bit nicotine stained round the edges. What’s more, had we still been in touch he would have been a marvellous presence in a podcast like this because his knowledge of all the gubbins we gas about was deep. And I like doing this podcast with old friends like Robbo, Loz and Tash as well as making new ones along the way.

I regret losing touch with him.

He wasn’t particularly into technology and had no social media presence that I was ever aware of so I dedicate this report, and this tiny section of the Internet, to him.

Entropic State Report 24th January 2024

How is January 2024 almost up already???

That’s a rhetorical question really as I’ve long since come to the realisation that as we gradually return to our natural state of sludge and atoms time just speeds up at a frankly ridiculous rate. It’s a shame too as (as ever) all I want to do is produce more episodes and talk to more people about the things I’m into. Only this morning in fact, I clocked the book cover above (another marvellous 70s thriller photo cover) on social media and immediately regretted not having the time to dip into the copious shelves/piles of similarly adorned paperbacks and run a side podcast diving into the world of Panther Crime novels, the wild array of Pan and Mayflower wonders, and further into NEL pulp exploitation books (which we have of course touched on with Andrew Nette). I’m sure Andrew would agree that there is probably an entire podcast just covering photo covers featuring women with guns (photo c/o his twitter feed).

But… no time…

So I’ll be sticking with the main roster of content for BITR, the next of which will be Moorcock/Butterworth/Hawkwind cross-over/mash-up The Time of the Hawklords in the company of Hawkwind: Days of the Underground author Joe Banks, returning to Derry & Toms for the third time. That will be out in a few days.

Over the coming weeks, we have some other things in the pipeline in the form of:

a bit of Sheckley from Pops’s shelves that’s been on my mind for over 30 years w/Derek AKA Imrryr
the return of Andrew Nette to talk about Quatermass (for reasons that will become apparent)
Part two of The Pheonix in Obsidian w/ Phil
a long overdue second look at Conan in some shape or form with Dave AKA SÖNUS
MM’s obscure political chapbook w/ a variety of guests (possibly in multiple parts)
Luther Arkwright w/ Tom Murphy
Oswald Bastable (finally) with Robert MacMillan
The Land That Time Forgot (in its various forms) with Allister Thompson AKA The Gateless Gate (and we’ll probably talk about The War of the Worlds again at some point)

…and some other stuff I’ve talked about with various interlocuters that we just haven’t managed to get in the diary yet including Loz, Hussein, Tash and Miles. The latter is something Miles and I have been mulling over for a while related to the perils of writing spin-offs for established IPs. MM has form for this of course… more on that when we decide how to tackle it.

Meanwhile, Andy Darby pinged me a link to a decent article on Esquire titled The Death of the Multiverse, ostensibly an observation on why ‘multiverse stories’ are getting tiring and a little bit passé for mainstream audiences thanks to Marvel and co but it delves deep into the philosophical dimensions of that type of storytelling and MM gets some coverage too. Well worth a read, particularly the bit about the actual origins of the term ‘multiverse’.

Now, I must take my leave to eat crisps, listen to the howling gales and hope our wheely bins are still local.

For now I’ll sign off with another Pulpcurry special, so wherever you are pards… take care, stay safe and be SUPER.

Entropic State Report 6th February 2023

Dear friends,

Phil and I have embarked upon our winter retreat, on this occasion to the incredibly picturesque harbour town of Barmouth.

Yes, Barmouth. The scene of Guy N Smith’s terror double-bill of Night of the Crabs and its subsequent sidequel, Crabs Moon. Now I’m not saying we decided to commit a whole week of our annual leave allocations to visiting the site of a brace of 70s horror novels, but we may well have committed a whole week of our annual leave allocations to visiting the site of a brace of 70s horror novels.

It was a good choice though.

I’m not going to knock Smith’s literary credentials for a second, but he didn’t really sell Barmouth’s qualities. It’s a really beautiful bit of coast and the key landmarks do not disappoint, with Arthog Bridge being a particularly impressive piece of Victorian engineering. That was obviously wasted on that down-in-the-mouth train driver but not on us.

Amusingly, our digs are in Llanaber – the very site of Professor Cliff Davenport’s boarding house (and scene of his alarmingly immediate bond with Pat). We’re going all in for the authentic experience. Shell Beach awaits.

Amongst our holiday reading we have the final instalment in the Cliff Davenport triptych, CRABS ON THE RAMPAGE. Sadly it isn’t set in Barmouth, but, weirdly, it does feature some of our older holiday stomping grounds up in the highlands of Scotland that we are very familiar with.

Anyway, enough of my holiday snaps.

It’s suddenly February and 2023 is already feeling productive. We’re keeping up a decent pace with the show, I have two more in the can undergoing editing, and Phil and I will hopefully record our thoughts on The Phoenix in Obsidian AKA The Silver Warriors very soon. This month I’m scheduled to revisit the NEL story with Andrew Nette and Dave will be back to pick up the Hawkmoon saga with The Sword of the Dawn.

To add to that, if you missed it, I popped up on the Appendix N Book Club and that was a fine time all round.

In a addition to that, we passed a couple of Podbean milestones in January too…

…and I have to say Podbean, you could put a bit more effort in with your badges.

Still, it’s always good to note progress. Long may it continue. And thanks to all of you for supporting us and making it happen.

That’s all for now though, I have to go down Barmouth beach in search of crevices (I remain unconvinced).

So go steady out there and we’ll catch up again soon… On t’moonbeam roads.

Entropic State Report 20th January 2023

Dear pards,

It’s a steely cold and foggy day up in the hills of Bradford, which I’m fine with. It beats cold, wet and muddy and I do find the crispness and crunchiness underfoot weirdly energising. I’ll just listen out for the creak of massive wheels and remain vigilant regarding strange, distorted shapes in the fog and we should be fine.

I had a lovely delivery from Christos AKA Fortress of the Pearl – psychedelic black metal dungeon synth from Greece – timely as I’m in the middle of editing the second part of our deep dive into Moorcock’s The Fortress of the Pearl! Loz and I indulged in some appropriately funky beers along the way, but two ended up being a stretch too far for the evening. Well, technically only one for me but Loz rolled snake eyes on the resistance table so his final brace are going out to a lucky patron – Paul Hillary, they’ll be winging their way to you shortly. Exactly how lucky you are will be for you to judge.

A couple of nights ago I hopped on a call with our friend and collaborator N Λ Ṇ D to talk about a variety of things, not least of which was the second album based upon volume II of the adventures of Gerard Arthur Connelly, my old roleplaying alter-ego from the olden days. As with his first, this is an album suffused with the smells and colours of our own meandering Moonbeam dreams. We’ve nailed down the running order and album art and that should see the light of day very soon. As ever, N Λ Ṇ D’s compositions are inspiring to me and have already provided high-calorie fodder for my imagination as I continue drafting and fleshing out volume III.

The latest edition of Jim Kirkland’s newsletter Pursuit of the Pale Prince is in inboxes right about now. This issue has news about a pending blu ray release of The Final Programme, a Silver Warriors skate deck c/o Frazetta Girls, the latest Centipede Press release and more. Get on that subscription list.

In a week or so the Appendix N Podcast will release their 133rd episode featuring an all new guest. Me! It’s very exciting to be asked to drop in to other talking shops and this was the third time, having previously appeared on Rob Aka Menion’s Confessions of a Wee Tim’rous Bushi and Ralph Lovegrove’s Fictoplasm. I had a great time despite being far too ignorant of the intricacies of D&D. I’ll boost that when it drops.

And finally…

Tash has settled in to her new country pile in Gloucestershire. She messaged me last night to suggest a date for our next, long past due appointment at Derry & Toms when we will finally take a look at Zelazny’s Nine Princes in Amber. More on that soon.

Take care friends, the Moonbeam Roads are slippery right now, and see you again soon.

Entropic State Report 6th December 2022 – RELEASE DATE

It’s finally release day* for the new Elric novel, The Citadel of Forgotten Myths. If you’re in the UK I hope your delivery isn’t delayed too badly by the mail strikes. Solidarity with Royal Mail staff btw – I can wait – also Neil Burton and I were very fortunate to receive advanced reader copies from Joe at SAGA. I’ve been bashing my way through it and look forward to eventually covering it here on BitR.

If you haven’t seen it already you can enjoy MM discussing it on Forbidden Planet TV.

In other news, last night I was delighted to record with Hoi and Jeff as a guest on the Appendix N Book Club talking about Operation Chaos by Poul Anderson. That was a rare treat for me as I love their show and that episode will emerge in late January. If you haven’t listened to their interview with MM already, hop over and do so at your earliest opportunity. It’s terrific.

Meanwhile, in Derry & Toms, Simon Perrins and I had the great pleasure of being able to grill Guy Lawley over his late 80s/ turn of the 90s comic Saga of the Man Elf, his approval from MM and his time working on fanzines and independent comics with a host of business luminaries.

Look out for that in the New Year.

Now Operation Chaos and Man Elf are ticked off though, I can dive through the rusty driver’s hatch** of a mysterious abandoned Sherman and tackle The Devils of D-Day, our Patron’s Choice for the Xmas/Birthday show. We’ll be issuing that one from our boozy HQ in Morecambe on Phil’s and MM’s birthday.

On top of all of that we have a very busy schedule in January where we’ll be talking about bikersploitation, Martian war machines, uncosy catastrophes and lots of other stuff no doubt.

In the meantime take care…

Stay warm and safe…

Load up on cheese footballs/twiglets/[insert festive niche snack here]…

And we’ll see you soon…

On the Moonbeam Roads.

*Technically it’s release week – chalk it up to excitement on my part

**I would never fit through the driver’s hatch of a Sherman

Entropic State Report 4th September 2022

Well, that’s summer just about over. A record-breaking heatwave, some muggy, humid weeks and now into September – rain. And more rain. Feels much more traditional now.

Accompanying the change, a good dose of lurgy has landed in this house and every couple of hours I’ve been alternating between teeth-chatteringly cold and slowly cooking in my own seepage. Not covid though so the D-Squads haven’t got to me yet. Hussein suggested that I must be possessed and there’s a battle going on between good and evil jinn for control of my weak human flesh.

Plausible.

I just wish one of them would hurry up and win or at least come to some form of compromise, the shirty fuckers.

Anyway, I used these past few days to do a lot of reading. Most of it bad. I was curious about the novelisation of Alien Isolation (although a video game, it is for my money the best tie-in/spin-off from the Alien franchise). As I’m a mug for a bargain I picked it up in a pack of 7 Alien tie-in novels and, long story short, they’re mostly incredibly mediocre. The exception is Alien: Cold Forge by Alex White, largely by dint of the fact that the central conceit is – what if a financial auditor visits a remote research station to cut costs and streamline operations. On top of that, what if the auditor is essentially Patrick Bateman in space.

Very entertaining.

It just so happens that, as I was ploughing my way through them, Ted AKA @tedankhamen sent me a link to his blog sharing his thoughts re gaming within established IPs (in this case Star Wars). His take really resonated, particularly given our previous shows on gaming, but I think those points apply across all expanded fiction based upon established IPs. Those Alien tie-in novels are a great example and they reinforce the beliefs Clarky, Dave and I expounded in the last show – make new shit. Take the themes and tropes and flavour, but freshen it up. Those Alien novels all revolve around the same tired, rote elements. Weyland-Yutani… colonial marines… ‘bug hunts’…

MAKE NEW SHIT!

I am of course guilty of this myself. The first section of The Journal of Gerard Arthur Connelly is set in Tragic Millennium Europe. In my own defence though, that was a write-up of a couple of Hawkmoon RPG gaming sessions so it is faithful to that at least. But I’ve tried beyond that point to diverge a bit. Wait… am I comparing my nonsense to licensed, published fiction? No. I’m just trying to not be hypocritical I suppose. And I’m not a writer. I’m a hobbyist. So I’m giving myself a pass.

That said, I entirely understand that being commissioned to operate within a juggernaut IP means that one must tick boxes. I do wonder if that’s why the Alien Isolation novelisation, based upon a game that does a nice job of expanding some universe details and features no mention whatsoever of colonial marines or any trappings thereof, introduces colonial marines elements by the fourth chapter.

All of this also leads me to a long sigh of sadness and some regret.

Ridley Scott’s Alien deservedly led to an initially modest but eventually pretty enormous expansion of the canon and a multi-billion dollar IP. Sequels, comics, video games, novels, cross-overs (Judge Dredd vs Aliens!) and an upcoming TV show.

Meanwhile, Britain’s (the world’s?) greatest living fantasist can’t catch a break in any medium outside of comics and tabletop games, and in the case of the latter only currently in France. The Runestaff TV show is apparently still in development but the Elric project appears to be dead in the water. Unsurprising given that The Witcher and GOT/House of the Dragon have effectively taken screen ownership of so many of Moorcock’s trappings (sadly, whilst entirely jettisoning the themes). If a Warhammer 40,000 show or movie ever emerges then the gig is truly up.

That’s something to explore on a future show for sure.

Anyway, I’ve obviously had too much time on my hands (and brain).

Fucking germs. As a result I had to postpone a couple of visits to Derry and Toms this past week, so apologies to Derek and Steve. We can hook up in the future ASAP.

On a positive note, two shows are already in the can. The first is the second part of our summer gaming diptych, recorded with the aforementioned Ted, where we look at his extensive take on Moorcockian gaming. That will be out in the next day or two.

The second is Book Two of The Mad God’s Amulet with Dave. That will follow in a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, our patron poll for the looming Halloween episode has been live for a couple of weeks and James Herbert’s The Fog maintains its healthy lead. Still plenty of time for patrons to vote though and Shaun Hutson’s Slugs finally got a couple of sympathy votes.

Right. My Lemsip is wearing off.

Stay safe, avoid lurgy, see you again soon…

…on t’Moonbeam Roads.

Entropic State Report 8th June 2022

It’s been a joyous few weeks since I sent out the Patron Demon and contributor copies of Vol II of the Journal and I’ve heard back from most folks that they arrived safe and sound across the globe. So, despite frequent reports to the contrary, Brexit has not quite fucked up our postal system.

HUZZAH!

Sunlit Uplands and all that.

Since bunging FotP Part One out in May we continue to get some nice feedback from various angles around the social media landscape. It’s very satisfying. We’ll be hitting you up with part two very soon but, in the meantime, Hussein is coming back to Derry & Toms to pick up our last bits of chat around The Final programme. Back when we did Phase Three we didn’t spoil the climax, which is quite unlike us as we generally spoil everything. However, part of the reason for our return to JC is my successful effort to convince H to dive into the film adaptation and having done that there are things to talk about. If you’ve seen the film you’ll be fully aware that one can’t really talk about it WITHOUT looking at the different approaches to that climax. So that’s coming up very soon and I would dearly love to coerce him into watching a few other films that, in my opinion, align with The Final Programme rather nicely (Jubilee, The Bed Sitting Room, Performance, any of Lindsay Anderson’s Mick Travis trilogy but probably Britannia Hospital in particular… there are many others). As it took me months to get him to do this though, that may be a long shot.

Meanwhile, in music news, I came across experimental, electronic music duo Network 23 and their epic release Elric of Melniboné. I dropped them a line via Bandcamp and they groovily allowed me to give them some airplay (netplay?) on BITR Radio too. Very cool. The album is excellent, driving electronica with some rock overtones and also has a really nice cover c/o Isra Llona. Their discography is extensive and there’s plenty to go at including some atmospheric Lovecraft-inspired ambient pieces if that’s your bag. Check their gear out and give them some support if you can.

I have something of a mixed relationship with HPL. Oddly, I never got any of his stuff from Pops and only became aware of him due to the one-liner from him on the cover of the Sphere edition of The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson, describing it as “a classic of the first water”. Later, I came across the Call of Cthulhu RPG in an early issue of White Dwarf and decided to give him a look. I picked up the Grafton editions with the excellent but entirely misleading Tim White covers. I was a bit underwhelmed by most of it but did come to appreciate bits and pieces in later years, although it’s a good twenty or more since I gave them any real attention. As HPL is much maligned (including by MM himself as briefly touched upon in the Wizardry and Wild Romance episode) and more recently has received much criticism for his politics and attitudes to race, I have been thinking about dusting off his Dreamlands cycle for another look. Not to pull him apart for any of the aforementioned reasons particularly, but rather because I do remember enjoying them more than his ‘Mythos’ heavy tales. Also, I was listening to The Silver Key again by Ah Pook the Destroyer on a long drive recently, an excellent album. Don’t be put off by the odd name. They recently followed that up (after a ten year hiatus) with The King in Yellow, also well worth a listen. They are quite theatrical but thoughtful, layered and proggy as fuck.

Anyway, should anyone be interested in listening to us waffle on about Randolph Carter, the Plains of Unknown Kadath, Thog, Ghouls and the Cats of Ulthar, give us a shout.

That’s all for this update, TFP Phase Four (The Last Days of Man on Earth) coming in the next week or so.

Have fun out there.

Andy