Tangent Calling: Recent Episodes
Tangent Calling
Join Richard and Sol on weekly tangents, chatting to authors, artists, musicians and each other about everything from trip-hop albums to street art to ghost stories to the history of pirates to foraging for mildly psychedelic tea.
We're back!
And we have a wonderful new episode to celebrate.
We chat to the legendary Patrick Duff (singer/songwriter, former frontman of Strangelove) about homeless busking on the streets of Bristol, trying (and succeeding?) to summon John Lennon's ghost in Abbey Road studios, a night of debauchery at a local Chinese restaurant and much, much more.
Buy Patrick's excellent new book here: https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/the-singer-by-patrick-duff
Mark Stewart returns to talk about his new album VS, as well as the city of Bristol and its music and supernatural phenomena. We also chat about noise music, its history and Bristol's relationship with the genre.
Buy the album: https://emergencyhearts.bandcamp.com/album/vs
Mark's website: https://www.markstewartmusic.com
Sol & Richard chat to Rhian Graham, one of the Colston 4, her partner Luke and historian and author Mark Steeds about the whole experience of toppling the statue, the trial and the aftermath following their acquittal.
Buy Mark's book: https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/new-from-wulfstan-to-colston-severing-the-sinews-of-slavery-in-bristol
We chat to Bristol Radical History Group members and co-authors of the fantastic book From Wulfstan To Colston: Severing The Sinews Of Slavery In Bristol, Mark Steeds and Roger Ball, about the Colston 4 verdict. They talk about how they contributed to the defence case, their reaction the verdict, some history of Colston and what the man was like and the horrific conditions of his slave trade, as well as some discussion of the merchant venturers and what Bristol should do now moving forward from this.
Clive Stevens returns for the fifth and final instalment of his series where he breaks down the central ideas of his fantastic book, After The Revolution, which you can buy from our website here: https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/pre-order-now-after-the-revolution-lessons-from-local-government-on-designing-a-dynamic-democracy
In this episode, Clive talks about proportional representation, Marvin Rees' leadership, the great white whale of the Bristol stadium and much more.
Bristol author extraordinaire Mike Manson joins the pod to chat about his new book Manson's Bristol Miscellany and his search for the 'soul of the city'. We interrogate Mike on what exactly this soul is and where might it be found, whilst also offering our own muddled theories.
Buy Mike's new book Bristol Miscellanyhere, the perfect Christmas gift for every proud Bristolian.
https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/mansons-bristol-miscellany-pre-order-signed-copies
Richard and Sol chat to Phil Shepherd and Victoria Forbes Adam about their wonderful and inspiring book Bath Arts Workshop, based on the eccentric community of creatives who erupted a scene of counterculture upon Bath in the 70s.
Clive Stevens return for the fourth instalment of his series where he breaks down the central ideas of his fantastic book After The Revolution, which you can buy from our website here: https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/pre-order-now-after-the-revolution-lessons-from-local-government-on-designing-a-dynamic-democracy
This episode deals with the notion of 'fairness' in society and politics.
Richard and Sol chat to Mark Stewart, lead vocalist of the legendary Bristol post-punk band The Pop Group, about the new Y in Dub album. Mark takes us on a musical odyssey through his own personal history with dub music to its influence on The Pop Group, as well as the history of the band and their experimental production style.
Additional Music by Sol Wilkinson.
Sol, Richard and Mark Steeds tell each other 3 more spooky tales of Bristol's most haunted spots, but which are true and which are false?
Continuing our series of bite-sized lectures with Clive Stevens, divulging the ideas and theories in his book After The Revolution, today we discuss markets, their impact on third-parties and the need for regulations.
Buy Clive's book! : https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/pre-order-now-after-the-revolution-lessons-from-local-government-on-designing-a-dynamic-democracy
Sol and Richard talk to Gerry King about his excellent new book Come Back To Me Then Go Away, which is now available on the Tangent books website. Go get yourself a copy here: https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/come-back-to-me-then-go-away
Together we discuss the mysterious literary genre of autofiction, to which Gerry's book belongs, alongside chats about Gerry's literary influences, lockdown struggles, thoughts on and experience with drug writing, reverence for Andy Warhol and much, much more!
Clive Stevens returns to talk about affordable housing and land ownership.
We recorded this episode in the midst of a thunderstorm, so apologies for any sounds of thunder, rain and lightning (if you can hear lightning).
Also, I mention Clive will discuss public transport in this episode but that will actually be in a future discussion with Clive.
Buy Clive's book! : https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/pre-order-now-after-the-revolution-lessons-from-local-government-on-designing-a-dynamic-democracy
Local government is broken. But Clive Stevens knows how to fix it.
Stevens combines a lifetime of skills drawn from business, academia, local activism, parenting and politics to present a forensic, engaging analysis as to how and why political decisions are made.
After spending five years as a Bristol City Councillor, he lifts the lid off city and national democracy and discovers some golden nuggets and rotten apples to help guide voters, activists and policy makers.
After The Revolution is the result of this study and details Clive’s use of the term “The Mathematics Of Power” in precise detail to explain how politics works and democracy doesn’t.
It’s an amusing and yet sad, ground-breaking and meticulous study of how we can both rescue our democracy and increase the country’s wealth.
In this first instalment of a series of discussions with Clive, Sol and Richard talk to the author about his theory of the Maths of Power - what it means, how he developed it, how we can see it manifest today and how we may be able to escape it.
Get Clive's book, After The Revolution, for yourself here.
Here is the nice bitesized second part of our conversation with the lovely folks over at the I'm Scum: An Idlescast podcast.
Enjoy!
We're back and we're ready to do it all over again!
This is part one of our interview with I'm Scum: An Idlescast.
We chat about everything from San Diego to what inspired Haley and Russ to start a podcast all about IDLES to the Quiz of Bristle!
Make sure to play the Quiz of Bristle at home and let us know what your score is via our twitter!
We chat to Mark Steeds, historian and co-author of From Wulfstan to Colston: Severing the Sinews of Slavery in Bristol, about ten of Bristol's most radical, trailblazing and under appreciated abolitionists from history.
Get the book here: https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/new-from-wulfstan-to-colston-severing-the-sinews-of-slavery-in-bristol
Sol and Richard conclude their discussion and analysis of Massive Attack's astonishing debut album Blue Lines.Get yourself a copy of Melissa Chemam's Massive Attack: Out Of The Comfort Zone here.
Sol and Richard discuss the first half of Massive Attack's visionary and unparalleled debut album, Blue Lines.
This year marks the album's 30th anniversary, the exact anniversary was a few weeks ago. The reason we took so long to get round to this episode is because we are - as Daddy G says of the band - lazy Bristol twats.
Get yourself a copy of Melissa Chemam's Massive Attack: Out Of The Comfort Zone for the the full story: https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/massive-attack-out-of-the-comfort-zone
Richard and Sol discuss the life and career of the man, the myth, the Bristolian: Banksy.
Our coveted Banksy cards are back in stock with limited edition new designs available! Get 'em before you have to pay £400 on Ebay for 'em.
https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop?category=Banksy+Cards
Paul Stephenson is one of the most significant figures in the UK civil rights movement. Memoirs of a Black Englishmanby Dr. Paul Stephenson OBE and Lilleith Morrison tells the extraordinary story of his life and protest, including the Bristol Bus Boycott , which remains one of the most positive examples of Black protest in recent British history. We talk to Lilleith about the second edition of the book, which is now available on the Tangent Books website.
Richard and Sol discuss Bristol's guitar-driven indie music scene in the 1980's and early 90's.
This was recorded towards the end of 2020 so apologies for the outdated references to Christmas etc.
Discount code: CINDY
Richard and Sol discuss IDLES' third album Ultra Mono in the final instalment of our IDLES trilogy.
Check out the website and Bristol music books here: https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop?category=Bristol+Music
Use discount code PODCAST to get 10% off Bristol music books!
Our second instalment in the IDLES trilogy sees Richard and Sol discussing the band's second album: Joy As An Act Of Resistance.
Discount code for 10% off selected titles: PODCAST
Find those titles here.
Richard and Sol discuss Brutalism, the phenomenal debut album of the Bristolian art-punk/indie rock outfit IDLES.
Check out our selection of brilliant books and learn more about Bristol's legendary music scene here.
Richard and Sol try to make sense of 2020 but end up on a series of random tangents, discussing Banksy's latest piece and his impact on Bristol, as well as Sol finally realising the genius of The Beatles, some films Richard's been enjoying over lockdown and a debate on what really went wrong in society in order to produce a phenomenon like Ed Sheeran.
As this is an old episode from Youtube series, discount codes no longer work.
Richard and Sol chat to author/journalist extraordinaire Jane Duffus about her upcoming project on Sarah Records as well as 5 amazing ordinary women from history.
As this is an old episode from the youtube series, the discount codes no longer work.
Ahoy me hearties! Join our crew of buccaneers and sea dogs as we sail the seven seas searching for the top five most bloodthirsty, ruthless and fascinating pirates to ever live and decide who comes out top as the scourge of the seven seas. Captain Mark Steeds will be manning the helm and guiding us through the saltiest, scurviest and most mutinous side of history.
As this is an old episode from the Youtube series, discounts no longer work.
‘What’s a city without sound?’, sings Dave McDonald in his new single 'Save Our Venues', the rallying cry for music lovers everywhere to help out our city's live music venues, which have been hit hard due to closures during the COVID-19 crisis. If you're a listener of our podcast and you love music please please consider donating to The Thunderbolt crowdfunder to make sure this venue can survive. It is local venues like The Thunderbolt that keep real music alive all across the country, so we need to keep them alive too. If you can't donate, please share this video or the single. We also chat about goths, Dave's top 5 Thunderbolt performances and much more.
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/the-thunderbolt-covid-19-appeal
This week's cover art is by the brilliant @jaz_ee_
Richard and Sol chat to Stanley Donwood and Mat Consume. The pair take us on a mesmerising journey from discount raves with brain machines in Plymouth to working with Radiohead to their recent collaborative project - the enigmatic, profound and utterly fantastic ‘Broadmead The Movie’. The film examines Bristol’s slightly outdated shopping district, transfiguring it into a sublime landscape of brutalist angles, indifferent expanses of sky, melancholy meditations on consumerism, hyperreality and existence, all accompanied by John Matthias' and Jay Auborn's moving and haunting score that evokes both medieval music and trip-hop.
We hope to do a special Tangent showing of ‘Broadmead: The Movie’ as soon as possible, so keep an eye out for that as it will be an event you won’t want to miss.
As this is an old episode from the Youtube series, discount codes no longer work form this episode.
https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop?category=Podcast
Richard and Sol chat to the amazing Jonathan Evans about his new book 'The Mystery of Ernie Taylor's Abdomen and Other Stories', which is available now on Tangent website. Jonathan takes us on a humorous and inspiring journey through his hometown of Kirkby, sifting through memories of colourful characters, badgers in boxes, homemade erotica, promises of Cup Final tickets and filtering them all through the fantastical, bemused vision of childhood. As well as all this, Jonathan performs three immersive and hilarious readings from his book.
As these are old episodes from the Youtube series, the discount codes no longer work.
BUY MYSTERY OF ERNIE TAYLOR AND ITS AUDIOBOOK HERE:
https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/the-mystery-of-ernie-taylors-abdomen-and-other-stories
https://www.tangentbooks.co.uk/shop/double-cd-the-mystery-of-ernie-taylors-abdomen-and-other-stories
Join Sol and Richard as they go head to head(less) with their top 5 spookiest spots in Bristol. Vote in the comment section for who you think comes out on top! Please like and subscribe!
As these are old episodes from the Youtube series, the discount codes mentioned in this episode no longer work.
Mail bag: sol@tangentbooks.co.uk
Follow us at: @TangentBooks
Jonathan twitter: @JonathanEvans45
Music and editing by: Sol Wilkinson
Welcome to Tangent Calling! This episode delves into the strange and oft overlooked history of Bristol's idiosyncratic and influential music scene. From its cider folk beginnings to the worldwide success of trip hop to a resurgence of its 70s art-punk sound, Bristol has consistently bucked the trend and danced to the beat of its own dubby, downtempo drum. We end up on some odd tangents here too, from Nietzsche to sea shanties to the moon landing!
Timestamps
5:15 The Eagles - The Maigret Theme www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BKKphXeW1k
6:15 The New Seekers - I’d like to teach the world to sing www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWKznrEjJK4
11:00 The Wurzels - Drink Up Thy Zider www.youtube.com/watch?v=X67ZhnTjlSw
12:00 The Wurzels - Ferry to Glastonbury www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-h4BdM_yiE
13:20 Fred Wedlock - The Folker www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb9S7GKpf04
15:00 Fred Wedlock - The Oldest Swinger in Town www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kALGhbTxdg
19:15 The Cortinas - Fascist Dictator www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2hKuPWpJ48
25:09 Talisman - Dole Age www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTLrtrEGVXc
27:15 Restriction - Four Point Plan www.youtube.com/watch?v=R19gckvMZ0E
28:50 Joshua Moses - Rise Up www.youtube.com/watch?v=21fMLpJa-3I
31:18 The Pop Group - We Are All Prostitutes www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnfKcZhbF_k
34:28 The Pop Group - She Is Beyond Good and Evil www.youtube.com/watch?v=VONjSHTAIto
37:30 Gary Clail - Human Nature www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2Qg73_lK1A
41:11 The Wild Bunch - Friends and Countrymen www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH6KUC7LJg0&t=200s
44:23 Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWohPJHicFE
49:15 Massive Attack - Five Man Army www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_pg29keUCU
54:20 Massive Attack - Teardrop www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb0MC0jFv6M
58:50: Massive Attack - Mezzanine www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcsjz0HXGYk
1:00:54 Tricky - Hell Is Round The Corner www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3R_3h6zQEs
1:04:30 Tricky - Ponderosa www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM7bdiamY…tch?v=oM7bdiamYDU
1:06:20 Portishead - glory box www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ylDDs3mdJE
1:12:26 IDLES - I’m Scum www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrM5y-iCNiE
1:15:20 IDLES - Grounds www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRkUt9VnaR0
1:18:16 IDLES - Samaritans www.youtube.com/watch?v=si2pZRifgIo
Follow us on Twitter at: @TangentBooks
And check out our books and much more at: www.tangentbooks.co.uk
Hosted by Richard Jones and Sol Wilkinson
Edited by Sol Wilkinson
Music by Sol Wilkinson
Vice Chancellor: Oscar Marden