Someone sent me an interview I did with the great Tav Falco some years ago for @caughtbytheriver.bsky.social, so I’m sharing it again. A white-hot mind and original spirit ⬇️ caughtbytheriver.net/2018/03/nick-p…

A good read here. Ghosts, toast and Tony Hancock, plus the new Arab Strap.

For my 25th Magnetic North in the 25th edition of Science & Magic I wrote about my afternoons in this pub in the 80’s and the ghost of Irish Dave, Kirkdale’s carpet sweeper Elvis. Read and subscribe: www.violetterecords.com/science-and-...

It’s Agnes Owens’s centenary on Sunday. I was thrilled to be able to write about her life and her bitterly funny books for @theobserveruk.bsky.social, talking to her family, her first readers (“What the fuck is this?!”), her first publisher, and fans like Douglas Stuart:

For my 25th Magnetic North in the 25th edition of Science & Magic I wrote about my afternoons in this pub in the 80’s and the ghost of Irish Dave, Kirkdale’s carpet sweeper Elvis. Read and subscribe: www.violetterecords.com/science-and-...

50 Years of the Pool of Life # 8 : The Decline and 3rd Rebirth of the Cavern The real-time press story of the transition of The Cavern to Eric's 1973-1976 : The Cavern to Eric's grantmcphee.substack.com/p/50-years-o...

50 Years of Liverpool DIY #9 Dream. The two dreams which changed a city and the very strange story of how they opened a warehouse on Mathew St. grantmcphee.substack.com/p/50-years-o...

An ultra low-budget adaptation of Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, made by a school in Fulham in 1972. Realistically the most interesting film you'll watch this year. youtu.be/Yhht9DFqlxU?...

“There are two Wakefields... There’s an imaginary Wakefield and there’s a real Wakefield which, horrifically, I see when I get there. And the two are increasingly separated.” thebeemagazine.com/a-guide-to-t...

Minor White. His mission, from 1946, was to capture the essence of the city, from corner to corner, yielded thousands of black-and-white photographs of a place that will be both familiar and alien to modern residents.

Fuck capitalism. Celebrate insects. www.tom-cox.com/a-brief-guid...

I love Éliane Radigue’s music – it informs me, it expresses me – and so I’m very honoured indeed that @electronicsound.bsky.social magazine have published my essay on her music. She was a one-off, the like of which we shall see again. www.electronicsound.co.uk/features/wav...

@richardnskinner.bsky.social on Agnes Martin richardskinner.weebly.com/blogposts/ag...

A letter written by my grandfather Albert to my mum when she was an evacuee in Wales in 1941. Albert was a fire fighter during the May Blitz of Liverpool and ‘I am very busy…’ probably refers to that. Tim and Mickie are her dog and cat!

The first chapter of my novel ‘All Our Love’, in Science & Magic: www.violetterecords.com/science-and-...

That’s an absolute joy Jeff. Have you ever heard Pirates of Stone County Road by John Stewart ? Both bring tears to my eyes.

Dens, scabbed knees, cocky watchmen, Karen Dalton. All this and more in my 24th missive from Magnetic North in the new Science & Magic. Plus lots more from the Violette massive. Read and subscribe: www.violetterecords.com/science-and-...

Dens, scabbed knees, cocky watchmen, Karen Dalton. All this and more in my 24th missive from Magnetic North in the new Science & Magic. Plus lots more from the Violette massive. Read and subscribe: www.violetterecords.com/science-and-...

Morning all. Photographer Mike Abrahams. Friar Street, Everton, Liverpool, 1973. www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/gallery...

Jamie Sexton's 'The Sounds of Lost Futures: British Musical Hauntology', which I edited for @reaktionbooks.bsky.social, is about to go to print. Thanks to @wildtwin.bsky.social and Kevin Donnelly for their kind endorsements. Published in July. Available for pre-order now.

For my 23rd Magnetic North missive in the 23rd edition of Science & Magic I wrote about this Princes Park Fritillary and the importance of being available for astonishment. This one’s for David Keenan @reversediorama.bsky.social and you can read it here: www.violetterecords.com/science-and-...

"Benches are where optimistic visions of civic life meet reality. To remove them, or to curate who gets to sit, is to abandon the work of defining a civic ideal and determining, together, how to live up to it." NEW: Why benches are slowly disappearing from public spaces — and why we need them back:

A rather lovely interview with J L Carr. For anyone suffering a reading drought - his novel A Month in the Country is a reliable antidote. His charm and sense of mischief are very evident here. With thanks to @backlisted.bsky.social who first made me aware of him. m.youtube.com/watch?v=924-...

their slender means J.H. Prynne, ‘Against Hurt’

I had no idea this was even available - or if I’ve even heard it. The Bayeux Tapestry, Simon Armitage and Jeff Young BBC Radio 4… a long time ago. www.penguin.co.uk/books/439896...

Great choice!

Delighted to share our new short film on Agnes Owens, marking her 2026 centenary, now live on AGA’s YouTube. Discover her life, work, and legacy—or watch it on a retro TV at the Lillie Art Gallery exhibition from today!

Female Bauhaus students c.1927 #womensart

Experimenting with hand-colouring pinhole photos with watercolours. I‘m terrible and impatient with painting, but it‘s turned the forest into something else and I quite like that.

Dorothea Lange, Gas Station, Kern Couny, California, 1938

Gianni Boradori, La Fillette et les Bulles de Savon

For ROUGH TRADE's 50th celebrations and for this year‘a NATIONAL YEAR OF READING all Rough Trade pamphlets are down to just £5 for the rest of 2026 or until stock lasts. Get your Deliria madness and other delights here: roughtradebooks.com/collections/...

Moss Side, Manchester, 1964, photo by Sefton Samuels, L.S. Lowry's favourite photographer.

This is a properly weird book. Highly recommended.

For ROUGH TRADE's 50th celebrations and for this year‘a NATIONAL YEAR OF READING all Rough Trade pamphlets are down to just £5 for the rest of 2026 or until stock lasts. Get your Deliria madness and other delights here: roughtradebooks.com/collections/...

My friend and neighbour Saul Leslie isn’t on social media. His debut novel is out soon, the launch is at @waterstoneslpl.bsky.social on 21 April. It’s called A Working Title I Want To Change. It’s brilliant. He’s in conversation with @davidhering.bsky.social www.waterstones.com/events/saul-...

My friend and neighbour Saul Leslie isn’t on social media. His debut novel is out soon, the launch is at @waterstoneslpl.bsky.social on 21 April. It’s called A Working Title I Want To Change. It’s brilliant. He’s in conversation with @davidhering.bsky.social www.waterstones.com/events/saul-...

Come have a drink, bring burning questions and cherished memories. 📅 Tuesday 14 April ☕ Café Tabac, Bold Street ⏰ Arrive from 18:30 (19:00 start, lasting around 1 hour) Tickets available below, get them while you can 🪩

The Post presents: "Total Stranger: The Unseen Photographs of Pete Burns and Dead or Alive." An evening with photographer Francesco Mellina and writer Melissa Blease at Cafe Tabac. Get your tickets today: www.livpost.co.uk/total-strang...

I wrote a very personal piece about Boyhood, angels and astonishment and how writers must learn to fly backwards for @unherd.com unherd.com/2026/04/on-a... @whiterabbitbks.bsky.social

The Boyhood tour continues tonight in Liverpool where I’ll be in conversation with Jeff Young. Looking forward to seeing everyone! @whiterabbitbks.bsky.social

Amazing review of Boyhood in the Sunday Times today: “An exuberant novel bursting with punk rock, outré sex and grisly murder.” What more could you ask?! @whiterabbitbks.bsky.social

I think my 90th essay at my newsletter is one of my best there. A meditation on cooperative power versus violence, with detours on Iran/Vance/Orban/Swalwell, and a zen ending, literally.

Stuart Sutcliffe was born 85 years ago today grantmcphee.substack.com/p/stuart-sut...

For my 22nd Magnetic North column in the 23rd edition of Science & Magic I went to ‘Fifth Beatle’ Stuart Sutcliffe’s grave and had ‘a big think’. You can read and subscribe to Violette’s excellent magazine here: www.violetterecords.com/science-and-...

TONIGHT!

Liverpool 📷 Lomo LC-A 🎞 Bergger Pancro 400 #lomolca #berggerpancro400 #shootfilmstaybroke #believeinfilm #grainisgood

Hope Street, Liverpool 📷 Canon EOS 500n 🎞 Kentmere 400 #believeinfilm #canoneos500n #kentmere400 #shootfilmstaybroke #filmisnotdead

This week Anneliese has mostly been reading Ghost Town by @wildtwin.bsky.social youtube.com/shorts/uAVC4...

Tomorrow. David Keenan. Boyhood. This book is astonishing. Come and be astonished too. @reversediorama.bsky.social @waterstoneslpl.bsky.social @whiterabbitbks.bsky.social Details: www.waterstones.com/events/an-ev...