Evergreen

In the darkest times
Most tree lose their leaves but the
Evergreens persist

Konnichiwa by Skepta

I came to this with no idea what to expect and ended up being pleasantly surprised. It’s interesting to compare this with the Genius SZA album that I listened to recently - they have some similarities - the spoken interludes and martial arts movie samples - but I ended up liking this album a lot more. It’s probably because I could understand what he was rapping about and I got a lot more of the cultural references from Fireman Sam to Knock Down Ginger. Good stuff and righteously angry.

https://album.link/gb/i/1168936007

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

Just before the lockdowns of 2020, protagonist Jamie Ward unceremoniously loses his job at a tech start up, and is forced to scratch a living as a ‘food deliverator’ for the very company that just fired him. A chance doorstep meeting with an old acquaintance gives him a new opportunity to work for the society of the title, where his can-do attitude and knowledge of sci-fi trivia are the main qualifications.

The title of the book explains the premise - the KPS that Jamie is recruited into are tasked with studying, understanding and preserving giant Kaiju creatures. Quite how this comes about is a neat twist on the Godzilla movie mythos and the book moves at a rapid clip as Scalzi gives a good sci-fi based explanation of what these creatures are, the eco-systems that surround them and the way that they interact with the world that we know. Setup out of the way, the plot kicks in with a few twists and turns, and some satisfying action scenes that give you all the giant stompy monster action that you want in a short novel.

According to afterward to this book, the author John Scalzi started work on a ‘dark, complex, ambitious’ book around the end of 2020, still struggling with the after effects of that dreadful year. After writing a few thousand words a computer crash and lost manuscript caused him to have something of an epiphany and he sat down and wrote this book instead, which is a good job because it’s a lot of fun and a nice distraction from the state of the world right now. 

The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger by Stephen King

"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed"

I first read this book sometime in the 90’s and found it surprisingly hard going. It’s effectively an overture for The Dark Tower series, King’s magnum opus, and introduces the themes that will be explored over the course of seven volumes. For someone used to reading about horror authors in small Maine towns, the idea of a gunslinger who was also somehow an Arthurian knight, chasing a mysterious adversary through an arid, dying world that has ‘moved on’ was a challenging one. 

I persevered, eventually making sense of the flashbacks and the story of how Roland of Gilead came of age and earned his guns, taking the first steps on the road to the Dark Tower. I eventually picked up the subsequent books in the series and at some point, the Gunslinger clicked for me as the throwaway references to characters like Susan Delgado and Roland’s Ka Tet were fleshed out. 

This book was originally written as a series of short stories, very early in King’s writing career, then stitched together and revised as the rest of the Dark Tower series took shape. The edition now in print and audio form is the perfect introduction to lead you into the series, and you can be assured that you are in safe hands on this quest. I’ve not read these books for a long time but this feels like the right year to revisit them.

Nick of Time by Bonnie Raitt

Judging by the cover (and I know that’s a bad idea) I was expecting this to be more of a country album, but it turned out to be an amiable bit of 70s style funky bluesy rock/easy listening that put me in mind of Fleetwood Mac. I really loved Bonnie Raitt’s vocals on this, but the music didn’t really do it for me - the opening track is pure 80s cheese (and was somehow a breakthrough hit) but the rest is an improvement (even if she does somehow manage to rhyme ‘Queen of Sheba’ with ‘Amoeba’). I’m guessing this was a lot more popular in the USA than over here in the UK.

https://album.link/gb/i/715516713

Wind

I remember the
Daily ritual winding 
My old alarm clock

Smile

Tuesday Dragonbane
Mirth and Mayhem with good friends 
Always makes me smile!

Aqualung by Jethro Tull

1971 was an odd year for music, and this unusual mix of folk and prog is a prime example. We have weird vocals, elaborate guitar noodling, flutes, fingers in ears and plenty of standing on one leg. It’s definitely not a concept album though, at least according to Ian Anderson. There is a theme of organised religion in opposition to a more hippy, dippy god though, which crops up in several places. This probably seemed very deep and meaningful at the time but I suspect that a lot of the lyrics were chemically assisted.

https://album.link/gb/i/726371044

Overcoat

My granny always
Wore her overcoat when out
Just in case of rain

The Clash by The Clash

One of the earliest UK punk albums, beating Never Mind the Bollocks to record shops by at least six months (although not released Stateside until 1979, probably due to the track ‘I’m So Bored with the USA’). Also, definitely one of the most overtly political and influential, taking solid hits against racism, police brutality, US imperialism and the generally moribund state of the United Kingdom in the 1970s. 

Musically, it’s rock solid, with accomplished musicians building on the 60s garage sound with a solid helping of 70s pub rock and nods to reggae/ska with a great cover of Police and Thieves. A five star classic, no questions.

https://album.link/gb/i/684737755

Grove

One thing that I have

In common with banana trees

We both live in Groves

Day

A day in my life
Coffee, haiku, iaido 
But first, feed the cat 

Tranquil

A single footprint
Frozen until the end of time
Tranquility Base

(What's The Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis

Oasis were the apotheosis of 90’s lad culture, swaggering and boorish and utterly convinced of their own greatness. They’d obviously grown up listening to Revolver on repeat and did a pretty good job of channelling some of the energy and attitude of that era, if not the musical or lyrical ability. One of the major problems I have listening back is the way that the sound is so compressed to seem louder. I can imagine them in the studio asking the technicians to turn everything up to 11. Blur were better.

https://album.link/gb/i/1525933483