A question is written down, the paper folded to conceal it from the next player, who writes an answer. The paper is unfolded to reveal the results. Remarkable facts emerge. - Surrealist Games, Redstone Press, 1991. In a 21st Century update of this game, I asked ChatGPT to provide me with the answers. I first… Continue reading Question & Answer
Author: James Robinson
Renters v Rentiers
To make a Dadaist poem: Take a newspaper. Take a pair of scissors. Choose an article as long as you are planning to make your poem. Cut out the article. Then cut out each of the words that make up this article and put them in a bag. Shake it gently. Then take out the… Continue reading Renters v Rentiers
Interior Monologue of a Paranoid, Grumpy Butcher
A modification of automatic writing is the technique of SIMULATION. Instead of assuming a passive or 'receptive' frame of mind, one can with practice assume an active mental state not of one's own. - Surrealist Games, Redstone Press, 1991. The steaks are sourced from a remote farm deep within the Isle of Man. Dealing with… Continue reading Interior Monologue of a Paranoid, Grumpy Butcher
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Automatic Writing is the most direct of Surrealist techniques. Sit at a table with a pen and paper, put yourself in a 'receptive' state of mind, and start writing. Continue writing without thinking about what is appearing beneath your pen. Write as fast as you can. If, for some reason, the flow stops, leave a… Continue reading W
Typewriters: An Illustrated Guide and a Debt of Thanks
A tribute to every writer's best friend first published in The Guardian to mark the closure of UK's last manufacturer of typewriters: They say if you gave an infinite number of monkeys an infinite number of typewriters, one would eventually produce the complete works of Shakespeare. If you gave those same monkeys a laptop you'd… Continue reading Typewriters: An Illustrated Guide and a Debt of Thanks
The Last Waltz
The Sixties sink into the abyss in Scorsese’s seminal concert film: It’s a common refrain of the serial gig-goer, particularly among those who were around in the 1960s and 70s: ‘you had to be there, maaaaan.’ Although probably nothing could match the experience of having a ticket to the Band’s legendary farewell concert on Thanksgiving… Continue reading The Last Waltz
Nick Waterhouse – Nick Waterhouse
Hep cat Strat: Old school rock’n’roll albums are now so common that the ‘retro’ genre could arguably be described as incredibly modern. Nevertheless some do it better than others, and Nick Waterhouse does it about as well as anyone outside of the 1962. Every track on his self-titled fourth album is a perfect a facsimile of… Continue reading Nick Waterhouse – Nick Waterhouse
Jack Savoretti – Singing to Strangers
Un ucelllo canoro triste in una maglia di lana: With his windswept hair and taste in chunky knitwear, Jack Savoretti is every inch the heart-throb, but he has a fathoms-deep voice and a melancholy bent that belies his cherubic appearance. As befits such a voice, many of the tracks on Singing to Strangers are bathed… Continue reading Jack Savoretti – Singing to Strangers
Skinny Lister – The Story Is…
Ska Fowk: Folk-rock, particularly folk punk rock, can be a bit of hard sell. As a genre it conjures up images of crusty hippy types in cargo pants being tiresomely political. The Story Is..., the fourth album from cult folk-rock band Skinny Lister, threatens to head into the heart of that territory with the Ska-infused… Continue reading Skinny Lister – The Story Is…
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
REVIEW: Yours insincerley.... Melissa McCarthy puts her stamp on the role of author-turned-forger Lee Israel in this love letter to New York. Whatever happened to New York movies? Is it the films that have changed or the place itself? Can You Ever Forgive Me? is a reminder of a genre and a place that seems… Continue reading Can You Ever Forgive Me?
James JW Robinson 