SPIKE MAGAZINE

Greg Lowe Stories We Could Tell – Tony Parsons See all books by Tony Parsons at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com Sex, drugs, and rock and roll, sprinkled with love and betrayal, plus the odd smattering of violence, forms the basis of Tony Parson’s

“…very much into the bellowing apparently- random- words- as- associational- poetry mode. “Cheese-sticks!” “Goldfish bowl!” “No Newsnight for you Baby!”…” Ben Granger Reformation Post TLC

Ben Granger Simpatico – The Charlatans See all albums by The Charlatans at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com A childish and vapid point, but some bands make it really easy for childish and vapid reviewers

Nick Mitchell Psychoraag – Suhayl Saadi See all books by Suhayl Saadi at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com NM: First of all, congratulations on Psychoraag, a wonderfully ambitious and enjoyable novel. What was your inspiration for

Chris Mitchell Suicide: No Compromise – David Nobakht See all music by Suicide at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com Just finished the top notch hardback edition of David Nobakht’s biography of synth-rock pioneers Suicide. I would have

The Bar-Band Thing That Can’t Be Killed marches on, this time straight into Shepherd’s Bush Empire Theatre with the tape rolling. Dressed in chaps and Stetsons, reeking of eau de Budweiser, Fee Waybill and his coterie of slap-head bounders

Suhayl Saadi on why his writing remains ignored by the British literary establishment Suhayl Saadi Psychoraag – Suhayl Saadi See all books by Suhayl Saadi at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com In the context of the publicity

Chris Mitchell 4 Play – Irvine Welsh [collected scripts of plays based on Welsh's work] See all books by Irvine Welsh at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com [Note: this is the complete text of a syndicated interview with Harry

Ben Granger Fall Heads Roll – The Fall See all music by The Fall at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com It’s time again for the Seer of Salford to blast forth his enchanted bombast. With more albums now than anyone can count,

Chris Mitchell These days I’m reduced to randomly choosing new music at the bootleg CD stalls on Bangkok’s streets. I don’t bother with the music press anymore so I have no idea who’s up and coming, who to find out about, who

Craig Johnson talks to Ralph Steadman about the death of Hunter S. Thompson, paranoid flashes and the “terrible betrayal” of modern politics “One of the reasons he’s fun to work with – he has a really fine, raw sense of

Ben Granger They may have been going for years beforehand but it was in 2001 that weirdo-duo The White Stripes became known to the world, arriving in fine feral style with their supercharged brand of primeval punk blues. They were hyped to the max

Craig Johnson talks to Trash DJ pioneer Erol Alkan, feted by Face magazine as the new Fat Boy Slim Anarchic, eclectic and unique are some of the words used to describe dee-jay Erol Alkan, who’s been injecting his imagination and energies into his

Craig Johnson hears Factory Records supremo Tony Wilson on the rebirth of his record label, the upcoming Joy Division film, how he accidentally created Frankie Goes To Hollywood and why photographer Kevin Cummings is a miserable twat. ‘Wilson

Chris Mitchell Music is the best mood-alterer we have. Put on a record and you can find yourself grinning involuntarily a few moments later; conversely, stand in an elevator for more than a few seconds involuntarily listening to crackly saxophone-driven

Craig Johnson talks to Pere Ubu’s David Thomas Think of alternative rock in the 1970s and we immediately think of The Ramones, Talking Heads, Television as the major musical forces in those heady times. An under-rated band of that much

Craig Johnson meets the legendary member of Can who’s too busy looking into the future to care much about the past Does anybody ever go out on a Sunday night? I’m always too knackered to bother most weeks, but this particular night was

Chris Mitchell The Book Of Fuck – Ben Myers See all books by Ben Myers at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com With a title like that, you’ve got to write a good book or have the word “wanker” silently appended to your name forever

Jerome Deg “This is Whiplash Rock’n’roll from the Raveonettes” announces the cover of Chain Gang of Love, striking the right note of self-mocking bombast and Girl on a Motorcycle raw cool. The Raveonettes

Jayne Margetts Oryx And Crake – Margaret Atwood See all books by Margaret Atwood at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com Have you ever hit that juncture at the gritty-4am-to-sunrise shift when the TV is fuzzing in the background to the

Jayne Margetts on Anthony Bourdain’s quest to eat the most gastronomically dangerous dishes on the planet I love my authors a tad on the fresh, petulant and carnal side. A splatter of blood-and-guts-style reportage only heightens the pleasure,

Chris Mitchell on the end of Michael Gira’s intense, undefinable and deafeningly loud musical outfit SWANS The history of music is littered with the debris of those who paid dearly for being different. From

Jayne Margetts Creepy Susie: and 13 Other Tragic Tales For Troubled Children – Angus Oblong See all books by Angus Oblong at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com The first time I laid eyes upon the troubled cast of Royston Vasey’s

John Edwards Gunn The diva of black Peru comes with her response to 9/11 – ‘to sing is to overcome pain and death’ – an album recorded in New York with a band including reknowned avant/world/fusion guitarist

Peter Wild Ryan Adams has already said that Elephant is the greatest rock n roll album ever recorded (laying to rest, once and for all, his spat with “cissy boy” Jack White). Jack White himself – well, Jack White