This is my monthly link dump, a regular monthly series containing a mix of links to interesting blog posts I’ve read from the past month covering arts & culture, myth, folklore, landscape punk, hauntology, anarchism, utopianism, the gothic, neo-fabulism, and the Weird - all discovered through my RSS feed reader (another reason why you should get a feed reader too). Returning to owning things in a streaming worldby Sophie Koonin at localghost Will buying CDs and mp3s instead of streaming services drastically change the way I consume music? Maybe, maybe not? I'll probably give things a more considered listen because I have to decide whether to buy albums. I find streaming services already pretty terrible for discoverability of new music, because they algorithmically recommend you things like what you're already listening to, so you miss everything else (Spotify was the worst for this). I've already been listening to some albums I haven't heard for ages, and remembering how much I loved them. But mostly, I'm protecting myself from the whims of big companies, and I'm also putting a bit more money in the pockets of the artists who made the music. My emergency food supply is extra normal foodby Tracy Durnell at Tracy Durnell's Mind Garden I used to stock emergency ration bars and cans of veggies that I never cook with (mushrooms, beets, green beans, peas), and then I would throw it all away when it hit its Best By date. Now I just keep extra normal food on hand. A Manifesto for a Re-Enchanted Countrysideby Sean Prentice at Caught by the River There is a difference between being an owner and being a custodian and it is not possible to be both. The commonwealth once stolen by legislation, force, and murder can be reclaimed and reparations made. The lord and landowner will be compensated for their loss in the same manner that the peasant and small holder were compensated for the loss of the commons. I Hear A New Worldby Ian Holloway at Wyrd Britain The second 'Long London' novel kicks of 10 years after the first with our hapless protagonist 'Dennis Knuckleyard' now a purveyor of improbable pornographic escapades, and free - he hopes - of any and all obligations towards that terrifying other place, 'The Great When', that other London hidden beyond, behind and within the one he inhabits, except, well, there is that key that 'Slenderhorse' gave him but he's palmed that off on some sucker at a party and unless she asks for it back he's now free of all that scary bollocks. Hauntology Parish Newsletter - Late Summer Editionby Simon Reynolds at Retromania Memories of another long-ago era waft pungently from the first of this season's offerings (dead it might be in the streets and the fields, but musicians and other creative sorts have been busy). nightmare machines (two different ones)by Paul Graham Raven at Velcro City Tourist Board Somehow stumbled on to my new favourite artist, Carlijn Kingma, who does these huge and insanely intricate hand-drawn econo-political allegory… things? Visage – Visage (1980) Album Reviewby forestpunk at forestpunk With its greasy sax and primetime guitar solos, glassy digital pianos and dayglo sci-fi synths, Visage is as 80s as it comes. Not the Nike Air/Capri Sun neon green slime all-plastic-everything of the back half of the decade, though. Think more side shimmies and hustle handclaps than stunner shades and Jem. Visage’s first record is a time capsule from 1980, an important reminder that The Long 70s lasted far longer than decade-defining nostalgia retrospectives would have us believe. Self-censorship practices as anti-shibbolethby Laura Michet at Laura Michet's Blog In my experience, self-censoring adult terminology on that site in particular is a great sign that you're dealing with someone so incurious, with such a limited experience of online conversation, that they don't understand where they are, or who they're dealing with, or who's accountable for maintaining the peace in the community where they're speaking. I do not want to read the things these people write, and I do not want to talk to them. I'd rather not be the person who teaches them to be curious. untitledby M John Harrison at the M John Harrison blog I lost interest in “possibility” science fiction long ago. I think because the “possibilities”, like the “futures” of Futurism, are all so anthropocentric. Also, as ideas, they’re so clunky. Look around. Musk on Mars will define the “possibility” of colonisation, “terraforming” etc, by defining the anthropocentric (indeed Muskocentric) uses of colonisation. We already have experience of that. We won’t, in the end, be going anywhere new: we’ll be going to a place we already made, the one we’ve had so many dreary arguments about; a version of here. Process is the productby Tom Hackshaw at tom.so I think that there is going to be a resurgence of this kind of approach, where the process and documentation BECOMES the artifact, and that the output becomes increasingly smooth and invisible. This is especially apparently in software where I am not particularly interested in the semantics of code as much as I used to be, but moreso the larger patterns and thinking at play. I want to be able to see a dev’s thinking, planning and decisions made with a model as much as I want to see how a feature looks etc. For the arts and humanities, this is going to be even more important with time so that we can actually reason clearly and look at how others think/deal with ideas, rather than just being a meat proxy for Claude/GPT. With mathematics and the sciences this has probably always been a thing, with my teachers having told me to “always show my working” as a means of good practice and to show my thinking. Wyrd Daze issue 1by Leigh Wright at Wyrd Daze Wyrd Daze is back with a bumper issue 1 – 119 pages of extraordinary music, art & writing. Huge thanks to the brilliant contributors that have made this issue so wonderful. Cosy Rebel, Part IIIby Dickon Edwards at Diary at the Centre of the Earth My 55th birthday is spent exploring Shoreham-on-Sea, West Sussex. Am here mainly to see the Art Deco airport, having been musing on a line that opens one of Douglas Adams’s novels: It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on Earth has ever produced the expression ‘as pretty as an airport.’ But surely, I thought, some airports are prettier than others. Hence seeking the one at Shoreham, which has been used for Agatha Christie adaptations. It is still operational, but is so small it can only handle helicopters and light aircraft. Why Tom Baker Was the Perfect Doctor Who: Memories of a 1970s Childhoodby RJ Evans at Kuriositas Everyone in the UK has their doctor and Tom Baker was mine.When he took on the role of Doctor Who, I was nine years old.I already loved the show but his appearance as the doctor took my appreciation to another level – one that would last for many years and still has its moments. You can email me at lazarus@lazaruscorporation.co.uk with a comment or response.