blissblogger

Well-known member
I am an American citizen (joined enthusiastically, back during Obama's second term) but remain still (at least as far as the UK is concerned) a British citizen. America expects you to renounce all allegiance to foreign powers. But the UK's not bothered, which is handy, as we might have to flee at some point, you never know.

Although from Brexit/Trump to the covid response, it's like I have two civic identities now to be ashamed of.

But I actually feel more British than ever though. Never felt patriotic or even sentimental about the country until I left it but it just sort of gradually happened during exile.

I'm so British that the other week I perforated my thumb with a shard of glass from a shattered Marmite jar.
 
Last edited:

blissblogger

Well-known member
Simon, what's your favourite thing you've written?

Probably the first nuum-essay, the one on ardkore. As much for how I was feeling at the time as the end result. The execution is a little clumsy here and there but the spirit was in me. Sometimes if you are lucky, History aligns and you can surf it.

In recent years, my favorite thing is not about music at all - it's about the English countryside, weather, the seasons, my mother, my first girlfriend, death ... And Brexit comes into it.
http://blissout.blogspot.com/2016/09/landscape-and-loss.html
 

blissblogger

Well-known member
How about Smash Hits though?
I think a lot of us young readers graduated to the inkies from there, and it was also impactful in a way that doesnt really have a parallel these days. I'd like to see an anthropology

I was probably a little too old for Smash Hits - although I do know a few people my age who loved it - and the generation just after mine, it seems to be a formative thing. People like Bob Stanley go on about it as the best music mag of the Eighties.

One thing that rubbed me up the wrong way was its generalized stance of irreverence - amusement at the foibles and pretensions of pop folk. Mocking everything equally, but mildly.

I preferred the more bi-polar inkie approach where you could be savagely iconoclastic (in a brutally humorous way) about certain things, but then also very reverent and gushing about the things you rated.

The S.Hits approach seemed oddly grown-up - less adolescent than the music papers, even though the readership was younger and more immature. And in fact if you look at the writers's trajectories, S.Hits was like the ante-room for the all grown up music monthlies like Q or men's magazines like Arena / Details / GQ / Esquire.

In a funny sort of way, there seemed to be more embarrassment about being an adult writing about kid's stuff, than you would get on NME and MM where we would quite regularly rave about certain pop things in a totally religious sort of way.
 
Last edited:

IdleRich

IdleRich
S.Hits is an unfortunate contraction.
A few years (probably quite a few now) i remember meeting with Dan Hancox and he had a friend with him who was a user of an alternative music forum and he said "The problem with dissensus is that you're all obsessed with Simon Reynolds" - I argued at the time but maybe I was wrong.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
We never denied that, though, Rich.
I didn't know what to say... I was suddenly THE representative in this guy's eyes in a battle vs ILM or whatever it was.
Dan is another one for the "who should come back" thread.
 

catalog

Well-known member
I didn't know what to say... I was suddenly THE representative in this guy's eyes in a battle vs ILM or whatever it was.
Dan is another one for the "who should come back" thread.

Have you read his grime book? I was gonna but I feel like I'll hate it.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Er... Dan's? No. I gotta admit, I've never read any of his books. I would like to give that one The Village Against The World a go.
 

version

Well-known member
I am an American citizen (joined enthusiastically, back during Obama's second term) but remain still (at least as far as the UK is concerned) a British citizen. America expects you to renounce all allegiance to foreign powers. But the UK's not bothered, which is handy, as we might have to flee at some point, you never know.

Although from Brexit/Trump to the covid response, it's like I have two civic identities now to be ashamed of.

But I actually feel more British than ever though. Never felt patriotic or even sentimental about the country until I left it but it just sort of gradually happened during exile.

I'm so British that the other week I perforated my thumb with a shard of glass from a shattered Marmite jar.

Do you own a gun, Simon?
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I wont hear a word against Dan, and the grime book is really good.
Yep great guy - we used to play in the same five-a-side team, as well as turning out a mean article (and book I assume) he can do a job as a sweeper with an eye for bringing the ball out and attacking from defence.
 

Leo

Well-known member
every time I see this thread on the main page I think I should call him Sticky Simon.
 

mvuent

Void Dweller
another really good one is the takedown (or two?) of squarepusher from the late 90s. blissblogger, do you think it's likely that you'll write something in that vein again?

that's what your next book should be. just 900 pages of owning squarepusher
 

thirdform

pass the sick bucket
that's what your next book should be. just 900 pages of owning squarepusher

meh it's played out. Square isn't even significant anymore, he just has fanbase and thats it. much more interested in bliss doing a quick blogpost about all the speedcore/flashcore ive been sending him, unless ive missed it.
 
Top