The illustrated Friends: Stanley Spencer

Spencer was the reason why Adam Ant studied art - a huge inspiration to him. And, wonderfully, the two men's paths did cross, as Adam told BBC News earlier this year:

"I actually saw Stanley Spencer when I was about four," he said.

"I saw him coming over the bridge with his umbrella and his little pram. We thought he was the bogeyman and we hid."

I was going to hide too - Spencer never collaborated with a beat combo; didn't record an album of Christmas songs; never even created a tumblr with pictures of Jellyhead in it. He never even made it into A House's Endless Art.

Luckily, though, Ant isn't the only art school bopper inspired by Spencer. Luke Haines gives him a namecheck on English Southern Man:


[Part of the illustrated Friends]

Coughlan & Haines are coming together

There's going to be North Sea Scrolls dates in Ireland. This explains more:

The North Sea Scrolls have long been a bone of contention amongst historians, theologians and people shouting at bins in car parks. The Scrolls are believed, in certain quarters, to record a parallel, semi-hidden history of these islands. Now, a triumvirate of unlikely questers has at last pinned down the full story of these legendary documents. They are; Luke Haines, who has recorded as The Auteurs,
Baader Meinhof, Black Box Recorder and solo; Cathal Coughlan, who has recorded as Microdisney, Fatima Mansions, Bubonique and solo; Andrew Mueller, journalist and author.

This dauntless trio are now ready to share the terrible knowledge they have disinterred. In song. The parchments reached the hands of messrs Haines, Coughlan and Mueller by means which need not trouble us, and have been meticulously distilled and tactfully rewritten into fourteen new songs by Mr Haines and Mr Coughlan, to be performed on guitar and piano, and accompanied by the cello stylings of Audrey Riley. The songs will be linked by explanatory footnotes read by Mr Mueller.

The truths contained in the scrolls are at once profoundly disturbing and peculiarly reassuring. Certainly, they answer many long-pressing questions. How did a Dublin criminal overlord become an imperial
viceroy? Is England really just two counties – Northshire and Southshire? Could it be that the guttering violence of Northern Ireland is caused by terrorist tribute acts from Australia? Who is Tony Allen? How did Tim Hardin end up commanding a nationalist militia in Cornwall? Can it be true that Morris Men, far from the prancing buffoons of popular repute, are murderous vigilantes – a Cotswoldian thugee cult? Was Chris Evans really burnt at the stake? If not, why not? Is Jim Corr actually right about everything?

The places to be are:

Friday 2nd December, Triskel Christchurch, Cork
Saturday 3rd December, The Sugar Club, Dublin

Why would you be anywhere else?

Bookmarks: Some stuff to read on the internet - Luke Haines

Luke Haines is doing the promotional rounds as he publishes his sort-of memoir Bad Vibes: Britpop And My Part In Its Downfall

The Scotsman meets him:

As for the Britpop movement, Haines may have damned it at the time, but is even less happy with its legacy. "The worst thing about that whole period was that, with the exception of Pulp, it kind of quashed any kind of eccentricity in British music. Britpop really flattened it all out and left us with these homogenous guitar bands. Nowadays it would be a lot harder for people like Vivian Stanshall or Ian Dury to come along. You'll never get a pottymouth cripple back on stages again, it's not going to happen."

Stephen Jelbert reviews for The Independent:

Yet it's this obliviousness to his own obnoxiousness that makes Bad Vibes such an entertaining read. At one point Haines recalls hanging out with Donna Matthews, just as she was forming the fleetingly popular, notoriously toxic band Elastica. A decade later he invited the now cleaned-up guitarist to support him on tour, only to find out that they wouldn't be exchanging old war stories, since Matthews had no recollection of even knowing Haines at the time. But his description of Matthews arriving in the Big City with just enough skag to corrupt the fresh and fruity metropolitans sharply references all those heroin(e)s of picaresque novels where ingénues go bad.

The Sunday Times gets Robert Sandall to have a look:

He ends up in hospital after a drunken brawl on the night the Auteurs' album misses out - by one vote - on the Mercury. Naturally insubordinate, he gets thrown off a UK tour supporting The The. He's equally rude to underlings: his attempt to break America comes unstuck after he quarrels with the management of the Auteurs' support act. Even the people Haines professes to like stateside, he can't get along with. His tour manager Gene, for example, “claims to be employed by our US record company, but I just can't imagine anyone paying this guy money and having to see him every day”.

Naturally, Record Collector's Jake Kennedy is most interested in the music:

Likewise, when referring to an album of Auteurs remixes as “fuckawful, seizure inducing amateurish meanderings”, he’s grateful that he retained the publishing rights as it goes on to “sell well in the States”. Alex James’ A Bit Of A Blur this is not…

Somewhat surprisingly, Amazon.co.uk reports that Haines is doing well amongst, erm, car part enthusiasts - many of whom, you suspect, are feeling that Haynes Manuals have lost their edge a little.

Tribute

Over now, on MySpace: Rare Victory, a musical tribute to Grant McLennan, featuring The Orchids, Trembling Blue Stars, Luke Haines and others; we've posted about this before, but it's worth mentioning again.

Luke Haines goes to Argos for Christmas

That sound? That's Malcolm Middleton getting some competition in the least-likely Christmas number one stakes, as Black Arts announces its Christmas Number One contender, called, erm, Christmas Number One.

Black Arts? Oh, yes: a combination of the fire power of Black Box Recorder and Eddie Argos. It's coming out on December 3rd.

Love Goes On sale: Tribute to McClennan

A quick mention that Love Goes On, the tribute to Grant Mclennan, has gone on sale. It includes covers by Luke Haines, The Orchids, Future Pilot AKA and - as the KTel ads would always have it - many, many more.

TAM Commandments: 10. Taboo is a dirty word

If you're just joining us, this weekend we've been illustrating These Animal Men's ten commandments with appropriate videos. This is the last one, but you can read the full list and access all the videos via the introductory post.

Taboo? There are still taboos, although someone will push at every one. Perhaps the most-rigidly adhered to taboo is the one about treating child disappearance with kid gloves, and trying to pretend they never happened as soon as the kid is back home, or the bodies buried. Here's Luke Haines, doing Unsolved Child Murder, at a European Festival this summer: