Yes, but also by taking emotion out of the discussion because 'outrage' is weaponised.

This is a 'no win' for progressive liberals because pursuing identity politics (or politicising identity, if you prefer) is to engage in the very essence of what drives hard-right-leaning argument ('freedom' of expression, cult of individualism etc). It stokes the fires either way :(

In Praise of John Moore We are already nearly a month into 2025 (and who shall not be delighted to see the back end of January recede into the distance once again?) and I realise that, for all the words written about book…

I've been writing about the books of John Moore this morning, in particular his excellent final novel 'The Waters Under The Earth' from 1965. unpopularuk.wordpress.com/2025/01/23/i...

This sounds like one of those Philomena Cunk “my mate Paul…” detours :)

Of course there is a lot of reference to John and Christine Nash in the Ronald Blythe biography. Here's one of John Nash's paintings, which I cannot see without also seeing Jem Southam's photograph at Upton Pyne, just over the river from where we live.
unpopularuk.wordpress.com/2025/01/09/a...

I've always liked Maggi Hambling's paintings. Here she is with the obligatory cigarette. She also pops up in the Ronald Blythe biography, making a great observation on his self-invention. unpopularuk.wordpress.com/2025/01/09/a...

Reading the Ronald Blythe biography, one of the most unexpected and unlikely connections unveiled was one between Blythe and Patricia Highsmith. Here they are looking young and beautiful. My piece about the biography is here: unpopularuk.wordpress.com/2025/01/09/a...

More Books and Beverages So the year has turned once more and here we are, heads bent to it again, battling the January gloom. A opportunity perhaps to try and flex the mind, scrape off some of those flakes of rust. Books …

Earlier this week I wittered on a bit about some #detectivefiction that I (mostly) enjoyed reading over the festive season. Niche interest, no doubt, but here we are: unpopularuk.wordpress.com/2025/01/06/m...

Last night I finished reading this terrific biography of Ronald Blythe which was a lovely Christmas present from my mum. This morning I have been marshalling some thoughts about it into a new Unpopular blog post: unpopularuk.wordpress.com/2025/01/09/a...

Wiggle Your Fingers, by GospelbeacH 11 track album

Unpopular Advent 2024 - Day 7: GospelbeacH - ‘Wiggle Your Fingers’

This is the sound of a band taking musical templates created by/for youth and grappling with how to transfigure them for advancing adulthood. Evidence that one can both embrace and reject tradition in the same breath.
bit.ly/49nZSCT

Unpop 249 The cover illustration is a linocut print showing the Gurnard’s Head cliffs in Cornwall. Original prints are available in the UNPOPSHOP Past present future – Jet Set Willy vs The Shangr…

It's Bandcamp Friday, so if ever there was a day to buy something from the Unpopular mix for December, today is the day. Links to band and label Bandcamp pages are in the tracklisting on the Unpopular blog: unpopularuk.wordpress.com/2024/12/01/u...

"a new menace is revealed..." LOL

Harm's Way, by Ducks Ltd. 9 track album

Unpopular Advent 2024 - Day 6: Ducks Ltd. – ‘Harm’s Way’
This LP of chiming, charming guitar driven Pop clocks in at 28 minutes and delivers 9 songs that step up, do their thing and then bugger off, grinning a little sheepishly at their audacity and infectiousness. Ace.
bit.ly/3ZEYd8v

More Break-Up Songs, by New Starts 12 track album

Unpopular Advent 2024 - Day 5: New Starts - ‘More Break-Up Songs’
There's an excitable movement to the sound here, a degree of the dervish offset by a lyrical tone that is mature, certainly, but still fuelled by glorious observational bemusement. Marvellous. New (Stop) Starts indeed.
bit.ly/4ikzn5k

Yikes! Thanks for letting me know! All fixed now hopefully :)

The Cleansing, by Peter Perrett 20 track album

Unpopular Advent 2024 - Day 4. Peter Perrett - ‘The Cleansing’ ...might be the most barren, beaten yet surprisingly uplifting record of the year... a wilful mess of contradictions, at once full of sneering barbs at Modern Life and profound declarations of Love In Spite Of It All. bit.ly/3VpOnVx

Ceramic, by Death And The Maiden from the album Uneven Ground

Unpopular Advent 2024 - Day 3. Death And The Maiden: ‘Uneven Ground’. The sound of trauma unwinding; a mass of memory, dream, regret and confusion meshing in a heavenly nightmare of DoomDisco introspection. Songs of a lost world for those of us too perverse to listen to a Cure album. bit.ly/3CQZEb2

Saturday's Son, by Isobel Campbell from the album Bow To Love (Digital)

Unpopular Advent 2024 - Day 2: Isobel Campbell – ‘Saturday’s Son’ (from ‘Bow to Love’ LP). With this record Campbell asks us to bow not only to love but to the tenderness and vulnerability that come with it. An assured and delicate delight. isobelcampbell.bandcamp.com/track/saturd...

DELPHI, by Alula Down from the album The Leyline

Belated Unpopular Advent 2014 – Day 1: Alula Down – ‘DELPHI’ (from ‘The Leyline’ LP). The sound of simplicity, whilst being far from simple... the sound of inhaling earth energy and exhaling a contemplation of our own impermanence. aluladown.bandcamp.com/track/delphi

I've made a Bluesky Starter pack for some of the artists/labels who feature on the Unpopular mix for December 2024. Go follow them and buy their music of you like what you hear on the mix/playlist! go.bsky.app/3NURxUD

Unpop 249 The cover illustration is a linocut print showing the Gurnard’s Head cliffs in Cornwall. Original prints are available in the UNPOPSHOP Past present future – Jet Set Willy vs The Shangr…

The Unpopular mix for December is available now to stream/download). It's the usual mix of new and old, with a short segment of Christmas numbers for seasonal cheer. As ever, please support the artists and labels by buying anything you like the sound of. bit.ly/unpop249

Thank you so much :)

New additions to the Unpopular shop on ETSY: a wren in a winter garden; a Dansette record player; Netherexe church in the snow; Netherexe church Spring sunrise. unpopshop.uk

gurnard's head cornwall print

portencross castle print

boats on beer beach print

durdle door print

It's a rainy day in Devon so I've spent the morning updating my ETSY shop with prints from most of the Unpopular mixes in 2024. From Beer beach to Corrugated Iron barns, from Scottish castles to Cornish cliffs and from Sea Scouts huts to teasels, there is something for everyone. unpopshop.uk

It has been snowing a bit in Devon, which is as rare as a rare thing. Now turning a bit wetter, so the snow hat is sliding off the pizza oven chimney…

Not strictly relevant but Lalitree Darnielle has a lovely mini-LP just released which to my ears is a great contemporary take on traditional folk traditions. It’s on Bandcamp if you do a wee search. Apologies if you are already aware :)

Big news. Our debut album is being released on 14 March on the fabulous Tapete Records label. ‘Everything Changes Everything Stays The Same’ has ten new songs, plus a bonus flexi-disc for vinyl buyers. Preorder it now from a range of great shops: orcd.co/the-loft

Lovely morning walk around Killerton

More recent reading: Gibbons' is a strange magical nature tale with a setting that puts me in mind of the cottage that John Nash and Ronald Blythe lived in. Streatfeild's is a rumination on the End Of The English Country House in the early days of WW2 and is pretty much perfectly pitched.

Catching up with some beverage/book photographs. I thoroughly enjoyed these two John Trench novels towards the end of the summer. To my knowledge none of Trench's books have been reissued, which is a shame because they have an intriguing archaeologist/amateur detective slant to them. #penguincrime