Friday Mar 24, 2023
New English Library - Bikermania
Breakfast in the Ruins
Friends old and new join me in Derry and Toms roof gardens to discuss the work and influence of prolific British fantasist Michael Moorcock, as well as other bits of 60s and 70s genre fiction that came to me via my Grandad in the 80s and informed my world view. Books, music, role-playing games, wrestling in Featherstone Library and many other digressions await.
Listen on:
Episodes
Episodes
Tuesday Mar 07, 2023
Tuesday Mar 07, 2023
Allister Thompson, musician and author of The Music of the Spheres, is back in Derry & Toms to talk about the scientific romance and hardcore disco prog phenomenon that is... The War of the Worlds.
We look at our entry points into WOTW fandom, the original 1897 classic by HG Wells, a number of adaptations and spin-offs, and the one adaptation that looms large over all the others (the Jeff Wayne album, obviously).
Monday Feb 27, 2023
Monday Feb 27, 2023
Dave AKA SÖNUS returns to Derry & Toms and we pick up the exploits of Dorian Hawkmoon and his amusing companion Huillam D'Averc in The Sword of the Dawn, third volume of Moorcock's epic The History of the Runestaff.
Meliadus gets miffed, Hawkmoon's stoicism is tested, D'Averc gets naked and Count Brass is bored shitless.
Join us as we discuss this and much more!
Monday Feb 13, 2023
Monday Feb 13, 2023
Graham and Miles join me in Derry & Toms to delve into more James Herbert disaster action and muse over the glut of uncosy catastrophes coming out of the 70s paperback boom to answer Aldiss's dismissal of the British sci-fi apocalypse novels of the 60s.
We talk about The Dark and touch upon some other examples we've been picking up.
As trailed in the show you can find The Casual Trek Podcast on all good podcatchers and you can still find the episode of the Closer to Midnight Podcast covering John Christopher's The Death of Grass and the Cornel Wilde film adaptation No Blade of Grass on DeathofGrass.com
Check out Graham's music on his bandcamp pages for Decadnids, Decanids vs NΛＮD (The Black Corridor) and The Duck Pond Sailors.
Wednesday Feb 01, 2023
Wednesday Feb 01, 2023
Oliver Brackenbury drops by Derry & Toms to give us the low down on New Edge Sword & Sorcery, his new anthology magazine heading to Kickstarter around about the time this show goes out.
We talk about the magazine as well as numerous things including the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation & Fantasy at Toronto Public Library, Oliver's related podcast Unknown Worlds of the Merril Collection, his path to writing and editing and his main podcast So I'm Writing a Novel.
You can find more info about Oliver and all of his projects and activities at https://www.oliverbrackenbury.com
This show is played out with Demesne of the Rocks, the opening track from the new N Λ Ṇ D release Journal Vol II.
Wednesday Jan 25, 2023
Wednesday Jan 25, 2023
Loz returns to Derry & Toms to pick up our coverage of The Fortress of the Pearl, muse on Elric's 'nice guy' characterisation, grumble at Jack Three-Beaks, coo over weird sky descriptions and suffer the depredations of the returning D6 wandering beer table.
In other news I was delighted to be a guest of Jeff and Hoi on the Appendix N Book Club. Be sure to check out their interview with Mr Moorcock himself too.
Also, check out the exquisite black metal dungeon synth of Fortress of the Pearl on Bandcamp.
Friday Jan 06, 2023
Friday Jan 06, 2023
After falling foul of birthday libations first time around, we're back to finish our exploration of Graham Masterton's The Devils of D-Day.
The Seven Tests return, Dan McCook still isn't owning his fundamental rookie error, the Official Secrets Act counts for sweet FA and it turns out Eloise is the MVP of this whole story.
We also watch a movie! Surely there has to be a better Graham Masterton protagonist out there right? Turns out there's two (and a very unfortunate doctor)!
Friday Dec 30, 2022
Friday Dec 30, 2022
Simon is back in Derry & Toms to carry on our chinwagging and this time we're joined by Guy Lawley, author of Saga of the Man Elf. This 1989 five issue Trident comics run is my most highly treasured Moorcock-related comic and Guy tells us how it came to be, how Mike gave it his blessing, and how he worked and moved through UK comics and fanzines.
We also discuss the artists involved in the conception of the Man Elf character and story, and dedicate this show to the memory of Steve Whitaker.
Tuesday Dec 20, 2022
Tuesday Dec 20, 2022
Another year has flown by and we return to Derry and Toms for our fourth annual Phil and MM birthday special and celebrate another year on the planet. This time by reading some patron-selected festive horror!
Tanks, demons, onion soup, calvados and freezing weather all combine to create a truly seasonal challenge for a horny cartographer.
This is a little bit late for reasons explained in the show (birthday boozing) but Happy Birthday to Phil, MM and Sebastian Weetabix - and Happy Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza and whatever you may celebrate at this time of year even if it's just putting your feet up and having a break. If you're working through it, take care and stay safe.
We'll be back with Part II of our musings on The Devils of D-Day in the next few days. In the meantime.. HAVE A COOL YULE!
Breakfast in the Ruins
It had been a few years since I tried anything new hobby-wise and particularly anything t’interweb related beyond twitter and generally using it for all of the general reasons we use it (gifs, cat pics, buying things I don’t need etc).
However in recent years, whilst doing lengthy commutes, I found that podcasts had moved on somewhat from the type I’d been exposed to previously, with less of the ‘yuck yuck’ interactions between podcast hosts that felt the need to be artificially heightened, and more of a naturalistic and joyous approach to a specific subject matter that drew me in to feel part of the conversation.
Combined with this new found interest I’ve been needing a hobby and outlet for my creative energies, such that they are.
A few years back, for similar reasons, I started a blog (mentallicohullic.com), where I was able to have a good rant, but also link to the online articles I’d written for thequietus.com. I didn’t really keep that up with any regularity though, so it fell by the wayside, although it is still live.
Anyway, it struck me a while later that a sudden upsurge in interest amongst my friends in fantasy fiction, and particularly Michael Moorcock, had generated a number of conversations that I really enjoyed participating in. We were also having particular discussions about how to best model Moorcock in a table top role playing game. One night I started typing up some thoughts regarding my approach to it and, reading it back, it was written in a conversational style and for a split second the idea of a podcast themed around Michael Moorcock’s books and other associated art seemed appealing. A few sherries later I’d ordered a USB audio hub and a condenser microphone and the next day recorded a five minute podcast introduction as a proof of concept. I shared it with some like-minded friends and, following feedback, decided to give it a whirl.
Michael Moorcock as a subject seemed the natural choice, for reasons that may become apparent during the introductory episode. As you'll see as the show progresses, there's a reason why I call it 'Moorcock flavoured'.